― CHAPTER FIVE ―

Ordo Phoenix

>

Harry did indeed order Kreacher, his inherited house-elf, to prepare number twelve, Grimmauld Place for the upcoming Order meeting. So that when he, Ron, and Hermione arrived there early the following morning, bleary-eyed and yawning (the wedding after-party had kept them up) they found themselves Apparated into an acceptably clean stone-walled kitchen. The long wooden table was scrubbed, the fireplace swept, and a large iron tea-cauldron was boiling over the fire, sending wisps of steam curling into the chilly, dimly lit room.

A jumble of mixed emotions flooded through Harry upon revisiting the ancestral house of Black, which now belonged to him. On one hand, Harry considered it to be a cage that had confined Sirius in restless, pent-up frustration during his last year alive; thus the sad legacy of his godfather's death seemed etched in the very walls of the derelict mansion. On the other hand, now that he would not be returning to school, Harry was grateful of having somewhere to call –not 'home,' per se, but at least a safe, unplottable 'base,' as Lupin had put it, wherein to establish both himself and the Order for the duration of the war.

"Kreacher seems to have regained his housekeeping faculties," said Hermione brightly, running a finger over the dust-free pantry shelves.

"I wanted to keep him busy and out of sight," muttered Harry. "He should be upstairs now scrubbing out the attic."

"He's old, don't overwork –" Hermione began, but stopped at the warning glare in her friend's eye. Harry had no sympathy whatsoever for the traitorous hunchbacked creature whom he blamed, after Bellatrix Lestrange, as a direct agent in Sirius' murder.

"Make sure to order him to not poison our food," advised Ron. "I wouldn't put it past the shady little f –"

He was interrupted by a series of Pop!s echoing through the air. Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Dedalus Diggle, and Minerva McGonagall had materialized in different spots around the kitchen.

"Er –welcome," said Harry, realizing with a start that he was the host.

"Potter," growled Moody, his electric blue eye swiveling madly in its socket. "Observe security protocol!"

"Oh, right," said Harry nervously. "Um –what is today's meeting's password?"

"Et tu, Severus!" said six voices in union.

"Right," said a slightly red Harry, kicking himself for having agreed to use another 'themed' brainwave of Hermione's. Just then another five Pop!s resounded and Arthur, Molly, Charlie, Fred and George Weasley joined them, prompting a second round of Shakespearian password validation.

The cavernous kitchen space suddenly seemed much smaller as people settled around the table. Mrs. Weasley bustled about pouring and magicking over cups of tea as Lupin, standing at the head of the table, seated Harry on his right and Professor McGonagall on his left.

"Friends, your attention, please … "

All chattering stopped as everyone turned to Lupin.

"Our first item today is the candidacy of five new young persons desiring initiation into the Order of the Phoenix." Lupin paused. "Fredrick Weasley, George Weasley, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter … please stand."

Harry got to his feet and grinned back down the table at Ron.

"As wizards of age you are eligible to enter the service of the Order, however … none of you have technically finished your education."

Fred and George exchanged outraged looks. "But we've invented more bloody useful –"

"I was merely noting," said Lupin quietly. "That your undergraduate status does not meet legal criteria for 'fully-qualified' practitioners of magic; therefore, each of you will need an Order member who does have the said credentials to vouch for your capability in fighting the Dark Arts." He gestured to his left. "This is precisely why Headmistress McGonagall has been so kind as to join our meeting."

Ron shot Harry an alarmed look. Their Transfiguration teacher could be a very strict judge of talent.

"Thank you, Remus," said McGonagall, rising as he sat down. She fixed them all with her stern gaze. "Among the candidates, academically speaking, Miss Granger alone has exceeded N.E.W.T. level magical proficiency."

Hermione flushed while the boys looked stricken.

"But as Albus Dumbledore always reminded me," said McGonagall, her voice quivering faintly, "There are many different paths to achievement."

She flashed a brief smile at Fred and George. "The Weasley twins have demonstrated such innovative ingenuity in wizardry as to justify their premature departure from Hogwarts."

Turning from the beaming twins to consider Ron, she continued, "The youngest Mr. Weasley thwarted my guard for the Philosopher's Stone at age eleven. As an adult, he is even better equipped to checkmate obstacles."

Predictably, Ron's ears turned the color of the Hogwarts Express.

"And Mr. Potter ..." McGonagall adjusted her spectacles and coughed. "Remains beyond the realm of question."

Harry's jaw dropped. That was the most forthright declaration of trust she had made in the six years that he had been in her House.

"Very well, Minerva," said Lupin, and his jaded face seemed to take on a renewed strength as he addressed the youths once more.

"The decision to enlist rests with you. Just remember –" he regarded them gravely. "An oath of allegiance is in a way like an Unbreakable Vow: breaking it will not kill you, but … you must be willing to die to keep it."

Harry heard Mrs. Weasley make a strange strangled sound. He knew she was remembering the terrible boggart corpses she had seen in this very house. Now three more of her children would be in active combat.

"Fighting as protectors of wizardkind!" piped Dedalus Diggle.

"Courage and Integrity!" boomed Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Vigilance to the last!" Moody banged his fist on the table.

Lupin gestured at his wand, which had begun to glow bright white. "Fully aware of such –occupational hazards – please weigh your response carefully." Pause. "Do you wish to join us?"

"YES, SIR!" came four male voices and one soft, "yes, Professor."

Harry had been longing for this moment since the day he first learned of the Order's existence; and suddenly, with a great stab of emotion, he thought of blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles that should have been twinkling now while voicing this long-awaited invitation …

As if reading Harry's feelings, Lupin said gently, "Our Founder is here today with us in spirit; it is after his rare and magnificent bird that we are named: Fire of the Phoenix as light against the Dark."

Harry felt the frog in his throat retreat and a flame of fierce pride shoot up in his chest. Dumbledore is alive … he lives in us, in our united faiths. He caught the same proud poignant look on Hermione's face across the table. She smiled and mouthed, D.A.

"Well –on to the pledges …"

Lupin raised his now radiantly shining wand and called their names one by one, asking them to repeat after him with wands pressed over their hearts:

In nomine magni veneficus nostri Merlin, enim iunctum Ordo Phoenix, per illumina et custodi contra malum, tribuo fidelitas eternus … voveo vovi votum!

Sparks shot from Lupin's wandtip to linger at each of Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Harry's upheld hands as a feather of red-gold smoke that quivered dancingly before being sucked into their wands. Harry felt a strange energy surge up his arm, making his skin erupt into goosebumps.

"Welcome, members," smiled Lupin, extinguishing his wand.

It was too much for Mrs. Weasley, who flew out of her seat to smother her sons and Harry in a bone-crushing group hug. Hermione, meanwhile, was having her hand shaken by an uncharacteristically bright-eyed Professor McGonagall; and Tonks (her hair bubble gum pink again since her engagement to Lupin) had jumped up and was bouncing around them with a huge grin on her face, exclaiming, "Youngest members in our history, you lot! Beat my record!"

"We're in the Order," Ron kept repeating to himself in an awed hushed voice. He poked Harry in the ribs as the full meaning dawned on him. "Mate, we'll be on missions, spying on Death Eaters and … hey, we're allowed –no, wait, sworn –to fight bloody Malfoy next time we see the slimy git!"

"Ron, that's …" said Hermione, her anti-rulebreaking expression (the one reserved specifically for restraining the impulsive use of unfriendly magic against their school enemy) slowly changing into the spirited look she wore when tackling a library project. "… such a refreshing notion!"

Harry felt giddy with the feeling of his membership: it was like that very first night at Hogwarts, being Sorted into Gryffindor, with Professor McGonagall's memorable words, "Your House will be something like your Family" ringing in his ears … this was as strong a sense of belonging, perhaps even more so, because it was not just about possessing the trait of courage; it was an oath to a legion at war.

Finally (and with the help of an impatient growl-bark from Mad-Eye), everyone had resumed their places for the meeting to continue. As their teacups refilled themselves, Lupin cleared his voice and said, "Our next issue is one of top confidentiality, and concerns," he leveled his gaze to his right. "Our host."

Harry felt thirteen pairs of eyes follow Lupin's, and knew what was coming.

"Harry," said Lupin quietly. "I'm aware that Dumbledore entrusted you with something –information, a mission of some sort –that you didn't want to tell Minerva on the night Hogwarts was attacked. But as Leader, and since you are now allied with the Order, I must ask you to tell us exactly what was going on."

"The boy was the last person to see Dumbledore alive," frowned Kingsley Shacklebolt. "We are entitled to know!"

"With all due respect, sir," said Harry, shaking his head. "You're not … and –" Turning to look Lupin straight in the eye, Harry addressed the older wizard as a peer for the first time. "Remus, I can't."

McGonagall was wearing the same glare as the last time Harry had refused to talk, Moody was scowling his darkest scowl, and even Mr. Weasley looked slightly reproachful. Harry didn't know how to explain to them why his instinct told him not share the truth of the Horcruxes –that it would be dangerous for their existence to become known even within this circle. Luckily Hermione, as usual, came to his rescue with her matter-of-fact logic.

"Harry is not at liberty to confide in anyone," she said firmly. "At Professor Dumbledore's specific request."

To Harry's surprise, Lupin nodded comprehendingly. "I see … let me ask this then: is there anything the Order can do to help with putting this information to good use?"

"Er," said Harry, caught off guard. "Thanks … I mean, I can use loads of help … but I need to think a few things out first."

"Let us know if anything comes up!" called out Fred from the end of the table, and George laughed, "Don't forget we trained as your soldiers Harry!"

The meeting went on for another half hour, with Lupin going over different points on security: the identity of possible Ministry spies, the destruction of Azkaban since the Dementor revolution, and the intelligence damage that Severus Snape's espionage had cost them. Harry at this point began to feel his neck burn with prickly anger as he realized that either nearly everyone here from his parents' generation must have known about Snape and his mother, but purposely avoided telling him; or that it was a clandestine friendship divulged only to a few –which was even worse, because it raised questions that only the two of them would be able to answer.

His musings were interrupted as he realized people were getting up and that Hermione was talking to him. "… not fair at all, don't you think so, Harry?"

"Sorry, what?"

"I said," Hermione repeated. "That Professor McGonagall just told me she'll be receiving the school board's decision this afternoon, and that if they don't offer students a distance study option it wouldn't really be fair to those who want to graduate, would it?"

"Appalling injustice," Ron sympathized mockingly. "Criminal, really!"

"Yeah, we'll sue for robbing us of the joys of homework," added Harry.

"I'm surprised you masters of wit haven't realized its lunchtime," said Hermione. "Usually you'd be complaining of starving … we should be getting back to the Burrow."

"Wait," Harry said suddenly. "I need to tell Kreacher something."

"Not more labor!"

Harry grinned at Hermione. "Actually, yes … preparing living quarters. And guest bedrooms, for whenever you guys want to stay over."

"You mean –" Ron started. "But I thought you didn't want –"

"Well, Sirius did … he left me this place for a reason … and, I've never had a home away from school, so …" Harry's grin widened. "Tonight, I'm moving in."

And tomorrow, he added to himself, I'll ask Lupin if he knew?