Ch. 18 - The White Phoenix

The real Order meeting arrived just one week later on the evening of December first. Emmeline and Remus walked gloved-hand-in-gloved-hand to the Potters' house, anxious to hear Dumbledore's thoughts on the previous week's incident.

"Do you think we'll have to move out of Godric's Hollow?" Emmeline asked as they walked.

"We'll see what Dumbledore has to say about it."

When they arrived, they were met by Sirius at the door.

"What did James' mum get you for Christmas last year?"

"A copy of Eliot's 'Middlemarch' and a package of butterscotches." Remus stepped towards the door, but it remained only half-opened.

"Alastor insists that I ask Emmeline, too."

She raised an eyebrow at him, amused. "Do your worst, Black."

Sirius squinted at her for a few moments, thinking of a question to test her with. When he had it, his face lit up. "Fifth year. What'd you do to get back at me for lighting your notes on fire in Charms?" Remus chuckled beside her. He knew the answer to this one.

"You were 'accidentally' hit in the gut by a stray bludger at quidditch practice that weekend, and justice was served."

"I haven't forgiven you for that," Sirius jested as he opened the door. "We're still waiting on Dung and Ed."

Remus and Emmeline entered together and drew the eyes of the rest of the Order. Dorcas and a few others made their way to Emmeline to welcome her back to the organization, while others still asked Remus and Sirius about the attack the previous week. Peter gave the couple an awkward congratulations before Dorcas took Emmeline's arm and led her over to Alice and Frank. Remus could not deny that he was proud to watch everybody welcome Emmeline back - she seemed happy to be there. When Edgar arrived and Mundungus trickled in a short while later, Alastor sent Gideon and Sturgis out to cast the protective spells while everyone else waited for Albus to begin the meeting.

But...where was he? One by one, people began to notice that Dumbledore was not present. Suddenly, everyone was startled when a translucent, silvery whisp darted clean through the glass of the window and into the center of the room. The phantasm of a phoenix spread its wings and began to speak in Dumbledore's voice:

"Due to a troubling instance of fraud which occurred in the last week, The Order of the Phoenix will now be implementing a new method of communication that cannot be traced or forged." After it had spoken, the phoenix dissipated into the air.

"Was that a patronus?" Lily asked, clutching her husband's arm.

"It was indeed, Mrs. Potter," replied Albus, who had just strolled in through the front door. People made way for him as he walked through the room to stand next to Alastor. "How many here have learned how to produce a patronus charm?"

Alice and Frank, Elphias, Edgar, Dedalus, and the Prewetts raised their hands. The non-aurors and younger witches and wizards in the room looked around at each other, disheartened. It wasn't exactly a spell they learned for their O.W.L.s.

"But they're for Dementors, aren't they?" asked Benjy.

"Indeed they are; but as you have just seen, they can be used for more than warding off dark creatures."

"I can produce one, but it's never taken the shape of a phoenix," said Fabian, looking sideways at his brother.

"Nor would it," Albus explained. "Each corporeal patronus takes the shape of a creature specific to the witch or wizard who conjures it."

Dedalus leaned over to Sturgis. "Mine's an iguana."

"But how did you get it to speak?" asked Elphias, pointing at the spot the phoenix had been moments ago. "I have never seen that before."

Albus took out his wand. "Ah, that is something of my own invention I have been working on for quite some time." He raised the wand and began moving his arm in a circular motion. "You must first master the ability to conjure the spell, then learn to produce it nonverbally." A thread of white light began to emerge from his wand. "Once you have done this, you must speak your message whilst you are casting the patronus, keeping in mind the person you would like it to appear to." The phoenix flew gracefully from the wand and repeated the words Albus had just said.

"And it will automatically show itself to the person we wish to send the message to?"

"Precisely, Mr. Lupin. I have been successful in sending mine to two or more places at once, but that may take a bit of time to perfect. Patronuses are nearly impossible to produce if you are impure of heart, so I suspect no death eater will ever be able to replicate one. From here on out, this is how we will communicate with one another."

"How do we learn?" asked Marlene, hungry for the capability.

"Your Ravenclaw is showing," Sirius whispered in her ear, which earned him an elbow to the ribs.

"Tomorrow," Alastor bellowed as he stepped in front of the group. "The Dark Forest to the east of Hogwarts castle. 9 pm, sharp. You can apparate to the Hog's Head, and Aberforth will point you in the right direction. A patronus will guide you from the edge of the forest to the rendezvous point. From then on, you'll be able to apparate to the location directly since it's far enough away from the grounds. I apologize in advance for the highland cold, but we can't risk this activity being seen by any of Voldemort's sympathizers, so we'll have to do it near the school. Don't be late."

The room buzzed with excitement. Amid the enthusiasm, Remus felt something brush up against his leg and looked down. "Lily, when did you get another cat?" He knew they had an orange one, but had never seen this gray tabby in the house.

Lily turned from her conversation with Alice and puzzled at him. "We only have one cat…"

"Now, we have one more matter to address," continued Albus. "Minerva, if you would."

The grey tabby which had crossed to the corner of the room morphed into Professor McGonagall.

"That's no cat mate," Sirius gushed, ever holding McGonagall's animagus capabilities in high regard.

"For those of you who don't know," began Alastor, "seven days ago, Lupin and Black received what they thought were letters from Albus at their home addresses. These false letters led to an ambush."

"It has become clear that the Dark Lord has a spy in the Ministry of Magic with access to all of your records," McGonagall informed the group. "I suspect there may be more than one."

"Minerva has been aiding the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's covert operations for a few years now," Albus interjected.

"Wicked," whispered Emmeline.

"It is for this reason that I have made arrangements for all of your records to be...modified. Any personal information that the Ministry possesses pertaining to members of the Order of the Phoenix is fictitious, and should remain so until further notice. For Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black, I have arranged for completed address change forms to be on file for the both of you. For all anybody in the Ministry of Magic knows, Black has moved to Manchester and Lupin has moved to Stockport."

"Isn't that illegal?" James asked under his breath.

"Quite illegal, Mr. Potter, thank you for pointing that out. Seven years of your shenanigans in my classroom has tuned my ears to your mutterings," she snapped with a satisfied smile.

"Sorry professor," he mumbled, seeming to take pleasure in the familiar scolding.

"Should any of you receive another letter, or discover evidence that Voldemort's followers possess additional knowledge about you or your colleagues, do not hesitate to tell Albus or Alastor, and they shall alert me."

"Thank you, Minerva. Your swift action on this matter was most helpful," Albus said fondly.

Professor McGonagall nodded a "you're welcome," then gave James a teasing wink before transfiguring back into her feline form and leaving out the back door.

"If nobody else has any business to bring to everyone's attention, the meeting is concluded. We shall reconvene tomorrow evening."