Chapter 3: Trust
Another visit to the Evans household. This time, Dementors appeared. Lily, Rose, and I managed to fend them off. I was surprised that Lily knew the Patronus Charm. The fact that her's was a doe was a bit of a shock as it compliments James's stag... perhaps there's hope for those two yet. If James can deflate his ego first anyway.
"Surprised she's still here, to be perfectly honest," Leo remarked.
"We've been trying to get her down for a month but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Been trying to convince Cas to freeze it over so we can't hear her, but he says he can't. Personally, I think he just enjoys arguing with her," Sirius replied with a roll of his eyes. "Let's get downstairs, quick, before they all wake up again."
They all traipsed down the stairs into the kitchen, where Leo was quite pleased to see that it was just as clean as when he had left it two years ago. There was, however, a marked difference this time around. A haze of pipe smoke hung in the air like battle fumes, through which loomed the menacing shapes of heavy iron pots and pans hanging from the dark ceiling. Many chairs had been crammed into the room for the meeting and a long wooden table stood in the middle of the room, littered with rolls of parchment, goblets, empty wine bottles, and a heap of what appeared to be rags. Mr. Weasley and his eldest son, Bill, were talking quietly with their heads together at the end of the table.
Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat. Her husband, a thin, balding, red-haired man, who wore horn-rimmed glasses, looked around and jumped to his feet.
"Harry! Leo!" Mr. Weasley said, hurrying forward to greet them and shaking each of their hands vigorously. "Good to see you both!"
Over his shoulder Leo saw Bill, who still wore his long hair in a ponytail, hastily rolling up the lengths of parchment left on the table.
"How'd you two get here?" Bill called, trying to gather up twelve scrolls at once. "Sirius and I have a bet – he says Portkey and I said flying."
"Looks like Uncle Siri wins the bet," Leo chuckled.
"Damn, I was hoping the former Quidditch player would choose broomsticks," Bill huffed, vanishing the scrolls with a tap of his wand.
"Nah, flying's too open for Cas. Portkey's his preferred method if he's bringing people with him or needs to get somewhere fast," Sirius grinned, catching the gold Galleon Bill flipped at him.
"Shouldn't have made that bet, Bill," Remus shook his head as he sat down. "Sirius knows Cas better than anyone – even after almost fifteen years apart."
"My brother has always been somewhat predictable," Sirius shrugged as he sat down next to Remus. "I used to be able to predict when he'd arrive places – figure it might be the 'twin sense'. But I reckon the ability has waned considerably over the years -"
"Well, go on, try it," Leo said eagerly, sitting across from him. "Let's see if you've still got it."
"All right," Sirius frowned and took on a look of intense concentration. "I predict he'll be here in three... two... one -"
They all jumped in surprise when they heard muffled footsteps above them. Sirius tried to hide his expression of shock as Cas came down the stairs, instead grinning broadly and winking at Leo. His smile fell when they saw the expression on the man's face. He looked irritated, his eyes narrowed as he peered through the smoke before he glared at the pile of rags on the table.
"Mundungus," he growled. "What have I said about smoking in my house?"
The thing Leo had taken to be a pile of rags gave a prolonged, grunting snore and then jerked awake.
"Some'n say m' name?" Mundungus mumbled sleepily. "I 'gree with Sirius..."
He raised a very grubby hand in the air as though voting, his droopy, bloodshot eyes unfocused. Ginny giggled.
"The meeting's over, Dung," said Sirius, as they all sat down around him at the table. "Guess your trip to the Ministry didn't go so well eh, Cas?"
Cas rubbed a hand over his face as he sat down beside his brother, momentarily ignoring Mundungus.
"Fudge tried to cause problems – said the papers couldn't go through since Harry was technically under investigation," he sighed. "Unfortunately for him, I've been doing a bit of research into wizarding law and discovered that guardian transference cannot be interrupted unless the minor in question is being accused of murder, theft, or any other severe crime that involves harming another. He wasn't too pleased about that."
"So - so does that mean -?" Harry began, hardly daring to believe his ears.
"Yes, Harry, I'm officially your legal guardian," Cas grinned at him.
"Well, that's as a good a reason to celebrate as I've ever heard," Mrs. Weasley smiled brightly before looking at everyone else. "Now, if you want dinner before midnight I'll need a hand. Harry, Leo, you've both had a rather exciting night, so you two rest up -"
"What can I do, Molly?" said Tonks enthusiastically, bounding forward.
Mrs. Weasley hesitated, looking apprehensive.
"Er — no, it's all right, Tonks, you have a rest too, you've had a rather long day at work —"
"No, no, I want to help!" said Tonks brightly, knocking over a chair as she hurried toward the dresser from which Ginny was collecting cutlery.
Soon a series of heavy knives were chopping meat and vegetables of their own accord, supervised by Mr. Weasley, while Mrs. Weasley stirred a cauldron dangling over the fire and the others took out plates, more goblets, and food from the pantry.
Leo blinked as Cas put his face down on the table and soft snores began to escape his mouth. He glanced up at Sirius, who didn't seem to be concerned by this. He felt something brush against his knees and started, but it was only Crookshanks, Hermione's bandy-legged ginger cat, who wound himself once around Leo's legs, purring, then jumped onto Sirius's lap and curled up. Sirius scratched him absentmindedly behind the ears as he turned and smiled broadly at Harry.
"So, how does it feel to be the adopted brother of Draco Malfoy and Leo Black?"
"Like I should probably get my will written early," Harry smiled back.
"Hey, that's rude," Leo pouted before nodding at his father. "Is he all right?"
"Yeah, he's fine," Sirius waved a dismissive hand. "Dealing with loads of people – like he was at the Ministry – wears him out more than it does ordinary people. Just let him rest for a bit and he'll be all right."
"Is there something I can do for him?" Harry questioned. "I mean, he's done so much for me and I just -"
"Don't worry about it, Harry," Sirius grinned. "You're family, and Cas always goes the extra mile for family – even if it involves court."
Leo chuckled as Harry grimaced.
"You heard about the dementors?"
"Yeah, bet you had loads of fun with that, eh, Leo?" Sirius winked at the teen who grinned in response. "Lucky, I'd've welcomed a dementor attack. A deadly struggle for my soul would have broken the monotony nicely. You think you've had it bad, at least you've been able to get out and about, stretch your legs, get into a few fights... I've been stuck inside two different houses for a month."
"How come?" asked Harry, frowning.
"Because the Ministry of Magic's still after me, and Voldemort will know all about me being an Animagus by now, Wormtail will have told him, so my big disguise is useless. There's not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix... or so Dumbledore feels."
"Since when do Blacks give a damn about Dumbledore's feelings?" Leo rolled his eyes. "Just do what my dad and I would do and tell him to stuff it."
Sirius gave a bark-like laugh.
"If there was ever any doubt what family you belonged to, I think you may have just washed it away, kiddo," he grinned before lowering his voice dramatically. "You two looking forward to completing your transformations in a few weeks?"
Leo and Harry both nodded eagerly.
"I know there's supposed to be a full moon on the tenth – but what about the lightning storm?" Leo questioned in a quiet voice.
"Cas has a few ideas about that. He doesn't want to wait until you lot are in school for you to finish your transformations, so he's looking for some alternatives for the storm," Sirius informed them. "Any ideas what your forms might be?"
They both shook their heads.
"The three of us – Remus, Cas, and myself – have a few bets on what the three of you will end up being," he told them with a wide smile. "Only one we could all really agree on was Leo." He glanced at Harry. "You and Draco are a bit of a mystery, however."
"What do you think Leo -" Harry began before Leo clapped his hand over his mouth.
"Don't spoil the surprise – that's just rude," the blonde pouted as Sirius laughed.
"Sirius?" said Mundungus, who did not appear to have paid any attention to this conversation, but had been minutely examining an empty goblet. "This solid silver, mate?"
"Yes," said Sirius, surveying it with distaste. "Finest fifteenth-century goblin-wrought silver, embossed with the Black family crest."
"That'd come off, though," muttered Mundungus, polishing it with his cuff.
"Steal my stuff and I will burn you alive," Leo snapped, snatching the cup from his hands.
Mundungus looked startled at the pronouncement.
"Fred — George — NO, JUST CARRY THEM!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.
Leo, Harry, Sirius, and Mundungus looked around and, a split second later, dived away from the table. Fred and George had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of butterbeer, and a heavy wooden breadboard, complete with knife, to hurtle through the air toward them. The stew skidded the length of the table and came to a halt just before the end, leaving a long black burn on the wooden surface, the flagon of butterbeer fell with a crash, spilling its contents everywhere, and the bread knife slipped off the board and landed, point down and quivering ominously, exactly where Sirius's right hand had been seconds before. Cas didn't move an inch.
"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" screamed Mrs. Weasley. "THERE WAS NO NEED — I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS — JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!"
"We were just trying to save a bit of time!" said Fred, hurrying forward and wrenching the bread knife out of the table. "Sorry, Sirius, mate — didn't mean to —"
Leo, Harry, and Sirius were all laughing. Mundungus, who had toppled backward off his chair, was swearing as he got to his feet. Crookshanks had given an angry hiss and shot off under the dresser, from whence his large yellow eyes glowed in the darkness.
"Boys," Mr. Weasley said, lifting the stew back into the middle of the table, "your mother's right, you're supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age —"
"— none of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!" Mrs. Weasley raged at the twins, slamming a fresh flagon of butterbeer onto the table and spilling almost as much again. "Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't Charm everything he met! Percy —"
She stopped dead, catching her breath with a frightened look at her husband, whose expression was suddenly wooden.
"Let's eat," said Bill quickly.
"It looks wonderful, Molly," said Remus, ladling stew onto a plate for her and handing it across the table.
For a few minutes there was silence but for the chink of plates and cutlery and the scraping of chairs as everyone settled down to their food. Then Mrs. Weasley turned to Sirius and said, "I've been meaning to tell you, there's something trapped in that writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. Of course, it could just be a boggart, but I thought we ought to ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out."
"Whatever you like," said Sirius indifferently.
"The curtains in there are full of doxies too," Mrs. Weasley went on. "I thought we might try and tackle them tomorrow."
"I look forward to it," said Sirius. Leo heard the sarcasm in his voice, but he was not sure that anyone else did.
Cas continued to sleep on, practically dead to the world around him. Leo was slightly envious of his ability to fall asleep so quickly and deeply.
"Should we, er, wake him?" Leo questioned, pointing his spoon at his father.
"Wouldn't recommend it," Remus stated, eyeing his friend with mild amusement. "James tried to do that during dinner one time and Cas accidentally froze him to his seat. Best to just let him wake up in his own time."
"'Accidentally'?" Leo raised an eyebrow.
"For once in our family, it truly was an accident, Leo," Sirius laughed.
A gale of laughter from the middle of the table interrupted the rest of their conversation. Fred, George, Ron, and Mundungus were rolling around in their seats.
"... and then," choked Mundungus, tears running down his face, "and then, if you'll believe it, 'e says to me, 'e says, ' 'ere, Dung, where didja get all them toads from? 'Cos some son of a Bludger's gone and nicked all mine!' And I says, 'Nicked all your toads, Will, what next? So you'll be wanting some more, then?' And if you'll believe me, lads, the gormless gargoyle buys all 'is own toads back orf me for twice what 'e paid in the first place —"
"I don't think we need to hear any more of your business dealings, thank you very much, Mundungus," said Mrs. Weasley sharply, as Ron slumped forward onto the table, howling with laughter.
"Beg pardon, Molly," said Mundungus at once, wiping his eyes. "But, you know, Will nicked 'em orf Warty Harris in the first place so I wasn't really doing nothing wrong —"
"I don't know where you learned about right and wrong, Mundungus, but you seem to have missed a few crucial lessons," said Mrs. Weasley coldly.
Fred and George buried their faces in their goblets of butterbeer; George was hiccuping. For some reason, Mrs. Weasley threw a very nasty look at Sirius before getting to her feet and going to fetch a large rhubarb crumble for pudding. Leo raised an eyebrow at his uncle.
"What did you do this time?"
"Why do you always assume it's me?" Sirius asked indignantly.
"Because it usually is," the blonde replied simply.
"He's got you there, Padfoot," Remus chuckled.
"Some friend you are Moony," Sirius rolled his eyes. "For the record, it's not me. Molly just doesn't approve of Mundungus."
"How come he's in the Order?" Harry said very quietly.
"He's useful," Sirius muttered. "Knows all the crooks — well, he would, seeing as he's one himself. But he's also very loyal to Dumbledore, who helped him out of a tight spot once. It pays to have someone like Dung around, he hears things we don't. But Molly thinks inviting him to stay for dinner is going too far."
"I'm inclined to agree with her," came Cas's voice. "I don't approve of him smoking up my kitchen and trying to steal my stuff."
His head had lifted up from the table, and he was blinking at them all blearily. He yawned as Sirius ladled him a bowl of stew and handed it to him. Cas nodded in thanks and silently ate his stew, not really saying much else. After a bit of pudding, Leo lay down his spoon in a lull in the general conversation. Mr. Weasley was leaning back in his chair, looking replete and relaxed, Tonks was yawning widely, and Ginny, who had lured Crookshanks out from under the dresser, was sitting cross-legged on the floor, rolling butterbeer corks for him to chase. Draco was idly discussing classes with Hermione while Ron watched on in abject boredom.
"Nearly time for bed, I think," said Mrs. Weasley on a yawn.
"Not just yet, Molly," said Sirius, pushing away his empty plate and turning to look at Harry and Leo. "You know, I'm surprised at you two. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."
The atmosphere in the room changed with the rapidity Leo associated with the arrival of dementors. Where seconds before it had been sleepily relaxed, it was now alert, even tense. A frisson had gone around the table at the mention of Voldemort's name. Remus, who had been about to take a sip of wine, lowered his goblet slowly, looking wary. Even Cas looked up from where he was dozing off, his expression one of mild intrigue.
"I did!" said Harry indignantly. "I asked Draco, Ron, and Hermione but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so —"
"And they're quite right," said Mrs. Weasley. "You're too young."
She was sitting bolt upright in her chair, her fists clenched upon its arms, every trace of drowsiness gone.
"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" asked Sirius. "They've been trapped in that Muggle neighborhood for a month. They've got the right to know what's been happen —"
"Hang on!" interrupted George loudly.
"How come Harry and Leo get their questions answered?" said Fred angrily.
"We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!" said George.
"'You're too young, you're not in the Order,' " said Fred, in a high-pitched voice that sounded uncannily like his mother's. "They're not even of age!"
"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing," said Sirius calmly. "That's your parents' decision. Harry and Leo, on the other hand —"
"It's not down to you to decide what's good for them!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply. Her normally kindly face looked dangerous.
"But it is mine," Cas interjected. "I'm Leo's father and Harry's legal guardian. I say if they want to know – let them. Draco too. Keeping them all in the dark isn't doing them any favors. If anything, it'll get them killed one of these days."
"Arthur!" said Mrs. Weasley, rounding on her husband. "Arthur, back me up!"
Mr. Weasley did not speak at once. He took off his glasses and cleaned them slowly on his robes, not looking at his wife. Only when he had replaced them carefully on his nose did he say, "Dumbledore knows the position has changed, Molly. He accepts that Harry and Leo will have to be filled in to a certain extent now that they are staying at headquarters —"
"Yes, but there's a difference between that and inviting them to ask whatever they like!"
"Personally," said Remus quietly, as Mrs. Weasley turned quickly to him, hopeful that finally she was about to get an ally, "I think it better that Harry and Leo get the facts — not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture — from us, rather than a garbled version from... others."
His expression was mild, but Leo felt sure that Remus, at least, knew that some Extendable Ears had survived Mrs. Weasley's purge.
"Well," said Mrs. Weasley, breathing deeply and looking around the table for support that did not come, "well... I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry and Leo to know too much, and speaking as someone who has got their best interests at heart —"
"They're not your sons," said Sirius quietly.
"They're as good as," said Mrs. Weasley fiercely. "Who else have they got?"
"Their family – me, Sirius, Remus, Draco. They have us," Cas responded, his expression irritated.
"I think Harry and Leo ought to be allowed a say in this," Remus continued. "They're old enough to decide for themselves."
"Well, obviously we want to be filled in," Leo rolled his eyes as Harry nodded vigorously.
"Very well," said Mrs. Weasley, her voice cracking. "Ginny — Ron — Hermione — Draco — Fred — George — I want you out of this kitchen, now."
"Draco can stay," Cas said at once, eyes narrowed at Mrs. Weasley as though daring her to argue.
She did not. However, there was an instant uproar from everyone else.
"We're of age!" Fred and George bellowed together.
"If Harry's allowed, why can't I?" shouted Ron.
"Mum, I want to!" wailed Ginny.
"NO!" shouted Mrs. Weasley, standing up, her eyes overbright. "I absolutely forbid —"
"Molly, you can't stop Fred and George," said Mr. Weasley wearily. "They are of age —"
"They're still at school —"
"But they're legally adults now," said Mr. Weasley in the same tired voice.
Mrs. Weasley was now scarlet in the face.
"I — oh, all right then, Fred and George can stay, but Ron —"
"Harry'll tell me and Hermione everything you say anyway!" said Ron hotly. "Won't — won't you?" he added uncertainly, meeting Harry's eyes.
"'Course I will," Harry said. Ron and Hermione beamed.
"Fine!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "Fine! Ginny — BED!"
Ginny did not go quietly. They could hear her raging and storming at her mother all the way up the stairs, and when she reached the hall Walburga's earsplitting shrieks were added to the din. Remus and Cas hurried off to the portrait to restore calm. It was only after they had returned, closing the kitchen door behind them and taking their seats at the table again, that Sirius spoke.
"Okay... what do you want to know?"
"Everything," Leo said at once.
"Try for some specificity, kiddo," Sirius said dryly before turning to Harry. "Harry -?"
"Where's Voldemort? What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news," Harry said, ignoring the renewed shudders and winces at the name, "and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything —"
"That's because there haven't been any suspicious deaths yet," said Sirius, "not as far as we know, anyway... And we know quite a lot."
"More than he thinks we do anyway," said Remus.
"How come he's stopped killing people?" Harry asked.
"Well... there's no guarantee that he has," Cas said slowly. "He could just be keeping it hidden very well."
"Why?" Leo frowned.
"Because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself at the moment," said Sirius. "It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up."
"Or rather, you lot messed it up for him," said Remus with a satisfied smile.
"How?" Harry asked perplexedly.
"You two weren't supposed to survive!" said Sirius. "Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he'd come back. But you survived to bear witness. Not to mention the fact that Cas here resurfaced – would've loved to have seen the expression on his face when that happened."
"Personally, I sleep much better at night knowing that you weren't anywhere near him," Cas said dryly before turning to Harry. "Much as it pains me to admit it, alerting Dumbledore as soon as you returned was the best decision you could've made."
"How has that helped?" Harry asked.
"Are you kidding?" said Bill incredulously. "Dumbledore was one of two people You-Know-Who was ever scared of!"
"Three guesses who the other one is," Leo snickered.
Cas gave unenthusiastic jazz hands.
"Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned," said Sirius.
"So what's the Order been doing?" said Harry, looking around at them all.
"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans," said Sirius.
"And those plans would be...?" Leo trailed off.
"Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again," said Sirius. "In the old days he had huge numbers at his command; witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they'll be just one group he's after. He's certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters."
"So you're trying to stop old Moldy from making new friends?" Leo confirmed.
"We're doing our best," said Remus with a small smile.
"How?" Harry asked.
"Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who really has returned, to put them on their guard," said Bill. "It's proving tricky, though."
"Why?"
"Because Fudge is a deluded, power-hungry, son of a bitch," Cas growled in a way that reminded Leo of his Animagus form.
"You saw Cornelius Fudge after You-Know-Who came back, Harry. Well, he hasn't shifted his position at all. He's absolutely refusing to believe it's happened," Tonks explained.
"But why?" said Harry desperately. "Why's he being so stupid? If Dumbledore —"
"Ah, well, you've put your finger on the problem," said Mr. Weasley with a wry smile. "Dumbledore."
"Fudge is frightened of him, you see," said Tonks sadly.
"Frightened of Dumbledore?" said Harry incredulously.
"Frightened of what he's up to," said Mr. Weasley. "You see, Fudge thinks Dumbledore's plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister of Magic."
"Like I said: deluded," Cas rolled his eyes.
"Dumbles has the school," Leo frowned. "Why would he want Fudge's job?"
"He's never wanted the Minister's job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job," Mr. Weasley stated.
"Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore's much cleverer than he is, a much more powerful wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice," said Remus. "But it seems that he's become fond of power now, and much more confident. He loves being Minister of Magic, and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one and Dumbledore's simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it."
"How can he think that?" said Harry angrily. "How can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up — that I'd make it all up? That Leo would make it up -"
"Well, to be fair, Leo doesn't exactly have the most pristine reputation in the wizarding world," Remus said in an even tone. "Half the population thinks he's mad and the other half thinks he'll become the next Voldemort."
"Unlikely, since I have a nose," Leo sniffed.
There were a few chuckles around the table.
"In answer to your question, Harry," Cas spoke. "Believing that Voldemort's back would cause problems for the Ministry that they haven't dealt with for almost a decade and a half. Problems that Fudge, quite frankly, is not equipped to deal with."
"You see the problem," said Remus. "While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort, it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they're calling Dumbledore's rumor-mongering, so most of the Wizarding community are completely unaware anything's happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they're using the Imperius Curse."
"But you're telling people, aren't you?" said Harry, looking around at everyone. "You're letting people know he's back?"
They all smiled humorlessly.
"Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass murderer and the Ministry's put a ten-thousand-Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?" said Sirius restlessly.
"And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community," said Remus. "It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf."
"Not that anyone really knows. We've kept it pretty well hidden," Cas shrugged. "As for me, most people believe I broke my brother out of prison and am currently hiding him. Not an entirely inaccurate statement, but still. My popularity's dropped since my Quidditch days."
"Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off," said Sirius, "and it's very important for us to have spies inside the Ministry because you can bet Voldemort will have them."
"We've managed to convince a couple of people, though," said Mr. Weasley. "Tonks here, for one — she's too young to have been in the Order of the Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage — Kingsley Shacklebolt's been a real asset too. He's in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he's been feeding the Ministry information that Sirius is in Tibet."
"But if none of you's putting the news out that Voldemort's back —" Harry began.
"Who said none of us was putting the news out?" said Sirius. "Why d'you think Dumbledore's in such trouble?"
"What d'you mean?" Harry asked.
"They're trying to discredit him," said Remus. "Didn't you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported that he'd been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards because he's getting old and losing his grip, but it's not true, he was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a speech announcing Voldemort's return. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot — that's the Wizard High Court — and they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too."
"But Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog cards," said Bill, grinning.
"It's no laughing matter," said Mr. Weasley shortly. "If he carries on defying the Ministry like this, he could end up in Azkaban and the last thing we want is Dumbledore locked up. While You-Know-Who knows Dumbledore's out there and wise to what he's up to, he's going to go cautiously for a while. If Dumbledore's out of the way — well, You-Know-Who will have a clear field."
"Not entirely clear," Leo grinned at his father. "Dad'd still be out there fighting."
Cas gave an incline of his head but said nothing.
"But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters, it's bound to get out that he's come back, isn't it?" asked Harry desperately.
"Voldemort doesn't march up to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry," said Sirius. "He tricks, jinxes, and blackmails them. He's well-practiced at operating in secrecy. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in, he's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he's concentrating on them at the moment."
"What's he after apart from followers?" Harry asked swiftly.
"Something important that he believes will turn the tides in his favor," Cas said vaguely, his eyes narrowing at the kitchen door.
"Like what? Like a weapon -?" Harry questioned.
"That's enough." Mrs. Weasley spoke from the shadows beside the door. Leo had not noticed her return from taking Ginny upstairs. Her arms were crossed and she looked furious.
"I want you in bed, now. All of you," she added, looking around at Fred, George, Ron, Draco, and Hermione.
"You can't boss us —" Fred began.
"Watch me," snarled Mrs. Weasley. She was trembling slightly as she looked at Sirius and Cas. "You've given them plenty of information. Any more and you might just as well induct them into the Order straightaway."
"Might as well – we're joining one day regardless," Leo grinned as Harry nodded firmly.
"No."
It was not Mrs. Weasley who spoke this time, but Remus.
"The Order is comprised only of overage wizards," he said. "Wizards who have left school," he added, as Fred and George opened their mouths. "There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you... I think Molly's right, you two. We've said enough."
Sirius half-shrugged but did not argue. Cas remained silent for a moment as Mrs. Weasley tried to send everyone upstairs.
"I'd like Harry and Leo to stay down here for a moment – we need to discuss what we're going to do at their hearing," he finally said.
"Castor, surely this can wait -" Mrs. Weasley sighed.
"'Fraid not. We need to get things sorted as quickly as possible. I'll send them up to bed in a bit."
Mrs. Weasley looked hesitant before she nodded carefully and ushered the Hogwarts students upstairs. Mr. Weasley and Bill left shortly after, bidding them all goodnight as Mundungus followed swiftly after them before being tripped up momentarily as Cas summoned all the items he had stolen from the house out of the man's pockets. He left in a more disgruntled state after that. Remus and Sirius remained for a moment longer, giving knowing looks to Castor who gave them a determined frown in response. The two left, the door closing behind them and leaving Cas, Leo, and Harry by themselves. Cas didn't waste any time.
"The thing Voldemort's after is a prophecy," he said at once.
Leo and Harry exchanged startled looks.
"Why is he after it?" Harry asked.
"And why tell us?" Leo questioned.
"The prophecy tells of someone who can defeat him, and the description could fit either one of you," Cas responded. "Dumbledore doesn't want you to know, but I think you have the right. You fought him and stopped his return at every given opportunity. It's only fair that you know why he's hunting you."
"What does the prophecy say exactly?" Leo inquired.
Cas gave a wry smile.
"That, I cannot tell you. Not just yet, anyway. There's a lot of things you don't know – things that will be explained to you over time. You just have to be patient."
"According to Uncle Siri, I'm not exactly the 'pinnacle of patience'."
"I know. But I'm going to have to ask you both to trust me – to trust that I know what I'm doing and trust that I'll tell you what you need to know when the time is right. Can you do that?"
Harry and Leo exchanged another look before turning back to Cas and nodding firmly.