Chapter 66
Kimberly was thoroughly enjoying her little sightseeing trip through the private lab of Sirius grandfather.
All the interesting potions ingredients had revived her interest. Most of them were known just by name and only few people had ever truly seen them.
"You like Remus, don't you?" Sirius said bluntly while he put away some of the old machines his grandfather had worked on.
Kimberly didn't reply. Somehow it didn't fell right to talk to Sirius about Remus.
"I've seen how you looked at him at the Christmas party" he continued, not ready to give up just yet.
"Yes I do like him. We are friends since forever" she said airily, but her voice sounded a bit strained.
"Don't be ridiculous Kim. You know what I mean."
Kimberly sighed. It had been such a wonderful afternoon, relaxing and enjoyable, and now he has to ruin everything.
What could she say? She wasn't sure about her feelings towards Remus. He had been a friend for too long to suddenly mutate into a potential lover.
Sirius sensed the tension and cursed himself for being so frank. He would have to have a little chat with the werewolf tonight after the meeting to find out what his intentions were.
Kimberly had already left the lab and proceeded to the library. It was still a bit filthy, but better than to spend your whole time in the kitchen.
"Hermione would be delighted" she said cheekily as she spotted Ron in the library, reading a book about international quidditch.
"Oh please don't tell her. She will use it against me as soon as we get back to school" he pleaded.
Kimberly obliged and found a comfortable place next to the crackling fire.
She picked an old novel from the table in front of her and started to read.
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After their return from Privet Drive, Lily decided to take a nap. The day had been very tiresome and she was still not totally recovered.
Harry and Hermione started searching for Ron and were totally surprised as they found him in the library.
"You're not going to believe, what we found out today" Harry said and fell on an armchair next to Ron's.
"What's that mate?"
"My cousin Dudley is a wizard"
"Bloody hell!" Ron shouted and was instantly scolded by the old house-elf who was dusting books with a very dirty rag.
"Be quiet, little brat"
Ron rose from his chair and scuffled over to Kreacher.
"You better show some manners or your ugly head will be hanging over the fireplace before you can say quidditch" he called. "This is not a public library, so I might as well talk as much as I want to."
Kimberly was hiding her face behind her novel. She didn't want Ron to see, how hard she had to laugh.
The house-elf now stepped up on the ladder, which allowed reaching the books on the higher shelves, and called equally loud "You're guests in the house of my Misses and Kreacher is not tolerating insolent behavior"
Ron who was now face to face with the house-elf growled "Your Misses bit the dust ages ago and you should better behave like a house-elf. You're here to serve and not to command"
"RON!" Hermione shouted appalled. "How can you say something like that to poor Kreacher"
Harry was shocked, then even in this private library, Hermione's voice had never been louder than a whisper. For her places like this were holy, like cathedrals and you were supposed to behave appropriately.
Kreacher and Ron showed exactly the same expression, that is to say utter disgust, after Hermione's comment.
"You truly should take your membership in S.P.E.W. a little more serious."
Harry and Ron shook their heads in disbelief and started to play a game of wizarding chess, while Hermione told Kimberly everything about her organization.
After dinner all the children were supposed to go upstairs until the big meeting was over.
However this decision of Mrs Weasley raised a tremendous protest. The loudest ones complaining were her own twins, Fred and George.
"You can't exclude us" George pouted and looked around for support.
"We're of age" Fred continued and smiled cheekily at his mother.
"No matter how old you are, you're no members of the order, so this meeting is none of your business." Mrs Weasley said irritated. She just had their best interests at heart and wanted to keep their lives as carefree and innocent as possible.
"Harry is going to be the one who's fighting You-know-who again anyway, so you should at least let him attend the meeting."
"George is right" Ron stated finally and received grateful grins from his twin brothers.
"Harry will be informed about everything he needs to know in time."
"How can you decide what Harry is supposed to do anyway? Shouldn't his parents do that?" Fred argued.
Molly sat down on a kitchen chair and sighed. She honestly had no say about Harry, but she knew that she wouldn't give permission to one of her own children.
Arthur, who had held back any comment until then, sat down next to her and padded her hand reassuringly.
"Molly, the boys are right. Fred and George are of age and I think Harry needs to know firsthand what risk we all will have to face"
When he recognized the hurt expression on his wife's face he quickly continued "I know why you do not want them to attend, but you need to face reality. Dark times are lying before us and the best way to protect our children is to give them the best possible preparation"
Tears started streaming down her face as she nodded mutely.
Hermione walked up to Mrs Weasley and handed her a cup of tea. "You remain here and relax and we clean up the kitchen until the others arrive"
Molly looked at her gratefully and a shadow of a smile crept on her face.
Soon, the whole room was full of people. Severus was sitting next to McGonagall and Flitwick, on the opposite side of the table were the Warrens and the Weasleys.
The Potters were sitting next to several aurors who all stated that they wanted James to be minister again, as soon as possible.
Mrs Figg was talking to Hermione and Zara as Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"I'm glad that you could all attend this meeting tonight. Some of you might be a little bit surprised that our students are joining us, but I think it's of highest importance, that they know what they will have to face soon. The enemy is getting stronger and has powerful allies. Not only the vampire and wolfmen are on his side, but Severus informed us that the Sons of Sekhmet have joined him too."
"I thought they were a myth!" Hermione spoke up. "I read about them in a book about ancient Egypt. The Sons of Sekhmet were a cult that worshiped the goddess of war and destruction"
Dumbledore smiled at her appreciatively and continued.
"I thought that the students were only allowed in the meeting under the condition that they remain quiet" Snape said sulkily.
Albus ignored the comment and continued.
"Fortunately for us, Tom has never studied the Sekhmet cult himself; otherwise he would know that there are more aspects to this goddess than war and destruction"
"Could you give us some more information about this goddess and the cult? I think we all would like to know who these people are and how we can defeat them." Sirius said and most of the others murmured agreement.
Hermione's eyes were twinkling with excitement. To find out that an Egyptian cult which was said to be extinct was still out there was just amazing.
"I think Nicole can tell us more about that. She has studied all the different cultures and surely has enough information to still your thirst for knowledge" Albus stated and beckoned Nicole to go on.
"The Sons of Sekhmet are very dangerous. This cult was founded in Ancient Egypt but the exact time is unknown. There is not much stated about the cult, but during my travels I could get a few insider informations. A man named Sefti was their leader. He was said to be a very wicked and malicious man, who loved nothing more than to torture and kill. Other men, who had the same nature, soon became his followers.
Sefti was a very educated man and some people even said he was the son of the pharaoh but this is not certain. He was also said to be a priest of Sekhmet, but I doubt that very much. I think he was just a monster who disguised his cruel intentions with the service of a goddess. The Sons of Sekhmet started with 'simply' slaughtering people who were a thorn in their side, but soon Sefti wasn't satisfied with that anymore. He conjured deadly deceases and wars with the help of Sekhmet. Nobody ever found out how he established this connection"
"I thinks enough with the rambling now." Severus growled. "Would you now tell us something useful for a change? Maybe how they attack, what weapons they use and what we can do against them?"
Nicole shot the potion master an offended look and growled back "I was just about to do that – Snivellus"
Sirius and James burst into laughter at the sight of the disgusted expression on Snape's face.
"Quiet!" McGonagall said in an annoyed, high-pitched voice and the two men were silent.
"To make it short now and to make sure I'm not offending anymore ears –" Another sharp look in Severus direction followed. "Here are the facts. The Sons of Sekhmet utilize the destructive force of the sun. They use arrows to pierce their enemies with fire and they conjure the hot wind of the desert at will, burning everything around them to ashes. Nobody knows the whole truth, because they were said to be extinct for centuries."
"Thank you Nicole for the information. Anybody else who wants to add to it?"
Hermione's hand shot in the air.
Harry and Ron let out a groan. "No not here as well. We're not in school, Hermione!"
Hermione just shook her head and sighed.
"You had something to say Hermione?" Dumbledore encouraged her.
"I don't think that our Miss Know-it-all is going to have something productive to add to our discussion here. If I had something to say, these children wouldn't be allowed to be here anyway." Severus flared up.
Now Kimberly had enough of the bickering and banged her fist on the table. "Damn it Severus. That's quite enough. Let the girl have her say and then we will know how useful it is. Until then – Stuff it"
The whole room was laughing hysterically now at the outburst of Kim, but even more because of the flabbergasted face of Severus.
Hermione just said there, slightly blushed but eager to say something.
"What I read about Sekhmet, she was not just the goddess of war and destruction, but also of healing and surgery. So I thought that if they can use her powers to attack us, we might also be able to use Sekhmet to defend us"
Severus let out a disgusted snort and mumbled something under his breath.
Dumbledore however nodded gently and said "Very good Miss Granger. I exactly had that in mind when I heard about it."
The Gryffindor prefect beamed at the old wizard and shot a triumphant glance at her potion master.
This encouraged the Weasley twins, who had managed to remain quiet until then, to start chanting in a war cry manner "GRYF-FIN-DOR GRYF-FIN-DOR."
Mrs Weasley shot them a stern glance and the chanting died off.
Then they discussed the spell Lily had discovered and several members volunteered to help with the research.
After several other things had been discussed, Dumbledore ended the meeting.
Nobody was eager to leave just yet, so soon several little groups had arisen.
Zara, Ginny and Hermione chatted animatedly with Mrs Figg, while Ron, Harry and the two sets of twins had surrounded Shacklebolt, Sirius and James, who were talking about quidditch.
"I trust that Slytherin is going to win the cup next year" Severus taunted and handed out some butterbeer.
Sirius and James were too upset about the statement to recognize the odd behavior of the potion master.
"As long as my son is on the team, Slytherin will not even get close to the cup again" James bellowed and had a sip of his butterbeer.
"If you say so" Severus said airily and left them. After a few steps, however, he bumped into George, who apologized frantically and started to dust off non existent dirt from the teacher's robes.
"Get your hands off of me you dunderhead" Snape roared and pushed the Weasley boy away.
Just when he was about to walk off once more, Fred, who was standing close, pushed a button on a little box in his hand and a sizzling noise came from the potion masters robes.
Instantly the room was full of a disgusting foul smell.
The potion master stared at his robes and ripped them off. Dressed in black pants and a white shirt, he went to search for the Weasley twins, but the two culprits seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Professor Flitwick had picked up the robes and performed a cleaning charm on them before he handed them back to Snape.
"Don't take it to serious" he said with his high-pitched voice. "Boys will be boys"
The room soon smelled fresh again and everybody went on with their conversations.
"What was that?" Harry said reverent. The twins, who had watched everything from their little hideout, were grinning from ear to ear.
"These are our remote-controlled dungbombs. We thought Snape would be the perfect candidate to test them"
Ron and Harry could do nothing but gape in the face of such boldness.
Lily had asked for a private conversation with Albus and they withdrew to the library.
"What do you have on your mind that I can help you with" Dumbledore said friendly, as they settled down in the leather armchairs.
Lily pulled her knees up to her chin, what made her look like a little schoolgirl.
"Dudley Dursley is a wizard. I took him to St Mungo's this afternoon and Professor Lockhart tested him. He told me that Dudley possess enough magic to go to Hogwarts and now we have to find the best way to handle it"
Dumbledore looked at his former student over the brim of his half-moon glasses and smiled.
"This is highly interesting. Why has nobody ever discovered his magical abilities before" he said to himself.
"I thought about that as well and I had the idea all the magical oscillations at Privet Drive might have automatically been ascribed to Harry" Lily stated.
"This might be the reason, but it proves that some people in the ministry are not doing their job right"
"Tell me about it" Lily groaned. "Dudley is too old to be a first year, but he can't start in the 6th year either. What is your opinion Albus?"
The old wizard put his fingertips together and closed his eyes. Lily started to get slightly nervous when Dumbledore made no attempt to say anything for several minutes.
Finally he clapped his hands and cheered "I think I have the solution"
Lily looked at him curiously and beckoned him to continue.
"I will have a little chat with the Dursleys to submit my proposal and I would be very grateful, if you would accompany me"
"What kind of proposal is that Albus? You know my sister and her family. I doubt that they will agree to it"
"I trust you have told them already about Dudley's situation and that the ministry has its ways to make them cooperate."
"Yes I told them all about that" Lily retorted impatiently. "I hope that you can convince them that it is the best for their son, but I have the impression, that you will have no luck"
"I know how illiberal the Dursleys are but I still haven't given up hope yet. I will suggest sending Dudley to Hogwarts after the winter break. He will receive tutoring to catch up on the studies and at the beginning of the next school year, we will determine what year he will start in. I trust he should make it at least to the end of the second year until the summer holidays."
"That sounds like a plan that could work, but who do you think should tutor him?"
"Oh I already have someone in mind" Albus said with a broad smile on his face.
"Kimberly can tutor him in History of Magic, Herbology and Astronomy, you can tutor him in Care of Magical Creatures, Divination and Charms and Severus will cover Potions, DADA and transfiguration. We can thank our lucky star that we have two potion teachers available. I will keep up the old schedule. Kim and Severus will split the teaching post at Hogwarts so they both have enough spare time to tutor our new student. I think this idea is brilliant!" he cheered.
"Oh my – Severus is going to kill you" Lily said mischievously and gave her old headmaster a peck on the cheek before she left the library.
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Sirius approached Remus who was just getting ready to leave. He scanned the area around them quickly for a sign of Kimberly, but couldn't see her anywhere close. Although he was just looking out for his best friends, he didn't want to be called a meddling fool.
He leaned casually against the wall next to the fireplace, while Remus put on his cloak. "I've recognized that you have a secret admirer"
Remus stopped what he was doing and frowned.
"Who would that be? I haven't noticed anything. You have to have abilities I had no idea about before" he chuckled
"I see things that you do not see because I don't run around with my nose in the books all the time. If you would be a bit more interested in what's happening around you, you would have recognized that one of your oldest friends has more than just friendly feelings for you"
Remus batted his eyelashes at his friend mockingly and said "You're flattering me, Mr Black. I didn't know that I have captured your heart"
Sirius laughed heartily and punched his friend playfully.
"Not me, silly. It's Kimberly."
Remus dropped his cloak on the floor and swallowed hard.
"How do you know?"
"Let's say that I have a strong feeling about it."
"So she didn't tell you anything."
"No she didn't and I truly believe that she is not sure about her feelings right now. And most definitely she's not going to tell me about it after all that has been between us in the past."
Remus nodded thoughtfully but remained silent.
Sirius was getting tired of these silly games his two friends were playing.
"So how do you fell about her?" he asked impatiently.
"She's my friend and I ..."
"Goodness, Remus!" Sirius called out. "You should get yourself clear about this or in the end you might both be wailing about the missed opportunity. You never know, she might be your soul mate"
The werewolf sighed heavily and picked up the cloak from the floor.
Sirius knew that it was useless to push the issue right now, so he decided to leave it be for now.
Just when Remus was about to step into the fireplace, he touched his arm and whispered "Think about it, mate"
Remus just nodded and disappeared in a whirl of green flames.