Monday 5th July

For the Attention of All Ministry of Magic Employees

RE: Albus Dumbledore

It has recently been brought to my attention that a number of valued employees have been approached by the wizard Albus Dumbledore in an attempt to recruit them to a dubious society, the purpose of which (Dumbledore claims) is to fight dark wizards and witches. However, the true nature of this group has been exposed as an endeavour to disrepute the Ministry of Magic and to facilitate an attempt by Dumbledore to promote himself as a future Minister for Magic.

Dumbledore is also perpetrating serious lies surrounding the death of a Hogwarts student on 24th June. The death has been ruled an accident and any rumours broadcast by Dumbledore regarding this issue are to be disregarded.

Dumbledore has been deemed a severe threat to the Ministry. His actions have been interpreted as an aggressive attempt to overthrow the current Minister for Magic using a combination of menace and manipulation. Such an attempt will not be tolerated, and has led to the implementation of strict observations on all communications throughout the Ministry of Magic.

Furthermore, any Ministry Employee found to be in regular contact with Dumbledore without due cause may be subject to an investigation and possible disciplinary proceedings.

Cornelius Fudge

Minister for Magic

'What a load of bollocks.'

Nymphadora Tonks tossed the piece of parchment carelessly onto her desk, her heart-shaped face screwed up in contempt. Her pale complexion flushed with annoyance so that her cheeks turned the same shade of pink as her hair.

'How can anyone seriously believe Dumbledore's cracking up? Everyone knows he's the smartest wizard around these days. And this sounds really dodgy: some kid at Hogwarts dies and everyone just ignores it? What's Fudge playing at?'

Nearby, the secretary for the Auror Headquarters – a nervous-looking witch named Rose – was dictating a document to her Smart-Write Quill, the latest in Ministry of Magic stationery, and clearly a cheap copy of the Quick-Notes Quills the Daily Prophet newspaper had been using for years. About thirty years old, Rose had a second quill tucked behind one ear and a pair of extremely thick glasses perched low down on her nose. She looked up at Tonks in alarm, and the Smart-Write Quill carried on scribbling across the parchment of its own accord until it left a streak of brilliant blue ink across the desk. Though it was not unusual to hear Nymphadora Tonks speaking her mind, on this occasion Rose looked rather anxious.

'Watch what you're saying, Tonks,' said Rose, warningly. 'Fudge isn't going to look lightly upon anyone taking Dumbledore's side.'

'Don't be daft,' Tonks scoffed, narrowing her grey eyes. 'Who's going to bother reporting every little word we say to Fudge?'

But Tonks suddenly became aware that Kingsley Shacklebolt was staring at her curiously from his desk, two cubicles away. Feeling her face heat up slightly, Tonks sat down quickly so that the partitions blocked her from his view, wondering if she should have kept her opinions to herself after all. Rose had noticed Kingsley's look too, and made a face at Tonks that plainly said 'What did I tell you?'

Tonks was too busy to give Kingsley's odd look a second thought for the next couple of days. In fact, she was out of the Ministry for most of the following day, chasing what turned out to be a false lead on a suspected dark wizard whom the Ministry had been pursuing for several months.

But during the brief moments she was there, Tonks became vaguely aware of Kingsley watching her when he thought she was not looking, and even caught him a couple of times holding a furtive conversation with another Ministry wizard whose name she did not know, the two of them shooting her suspicious glances.

'Who's that? The bloke with the red hair talking to Kingsley?' Tonks asked Rose inconspicuously one morning.

'Arthur Weasley. Improper Use of Magic Office,' Rose replied, barely looking up from the documents she was sending with her wand to the Ministry's latest administrative contraption, the Quick-Retrieving Filing Cabinet. 'Why do you ask?'

Tonks shrugged and shook her head in reply, but for the rest of the day a sense of discomfort grew in her gut. She knew she had not done anything wrong, but maybe she had been naïve to think no one would be bothered by her shooting her mouth off about Fudge and Dumbledore.

Near the end of the day, when the office was empty apart from herself and Kingsley, the same red-haired wizard appeared once more at Kingsley's cubicle, and once again, Tonks could feel their eyes on her as they spoke indistinctly. Eventually the suspense grew too great to ignore and she marched over to Kingsley's cubicle.

'All right, Shacklebolt, out with it.' Tonks was never one to beat about the bush. 'You and Mr Weasley here have been giving me funny looks and whispering about me for three days running. What's going on?'

Kingsley and the red-haired wizard exchanged a quick look, and Tonks raised her eyebrows expectantly.

'Miss Tonks, is it? I'm Arthur Weasley,' said the red-haired wizard brightly, holding out his hand for her to shake. 'I understand you were not terribly impressed with Fudge's memo about Dumbledore.'

Damn, thought Tonks as she shook his hand. It was about that after all. She thought quickly. How much trouble could she possibly be in? And how could she explain herself out of it?

'Mr Weasley, look – ' she began.

'Call me Arthur,' he said pleasantly. 'And don't worry, you're not in trouble.'

A look of confusion must have crossed Tonks's face, because Arthur Weasley exchanged another look with Kingsley and their expressions became more serious. Glancing around and looking slightly paranoid, Arthur discreetly aimed his wand at the door at the far end of the office. A familiar hissing sound told Tonks he had just cast an Imperturbable Charm on the door. He did the same to the other entrance next to them. Tonks's heart was beating rather fast and she was beginning to feel nervous.

'You are not the only one who is dubious about Cornelius Fudge's denunciation of Dumbledore' Kingsley revealed dramatically.

'Oh?' said Tonks. She could not decide whether this was a trap, or she was about to find out something interesting.

'The rumour that the Minister for Magic is so keen to quash is that the student who was killed at Hogwarts … was murdered at the hands of Lord Voldemort,' said Arthur in a low voice.

Tonks stared at him.

'This is a joke, right?' she said flatly to Arthur.

She turned to Kingsley. 'Right?'

'Unfortunately not,' said Kingsley. 'Another student witnessed first-hand Voldemort being restored to his body, and in addition to other evidence, Dumbledore has every faith that this student is telling the truth,'

'And we have every faith in Dumbledore,' added Arthur.

Tonks was silent for several long moments, trying to take in this piece of information.

'So … all that time … Voldemort was not really dead?' she asked slowly, trying to wrap her head around the concept.

'It appears that way, yes,' Arthur replied.

Tonks was silent again. So many questions were floating to the surface of her mind, so many that she did not know quite what to ask first.

'I'm sure you have quite a few questions,' said Arthur, perceptively, 'But first of all, we have one for you.'

Tonks looked at him warily. This conversation was becoming more and more bizarre.

'Having heard the bare facts, are you willing to consider the fact that Dumbledore is telling the truth: that Lord Voldemort has risen again and is once more a threat to the Wizarding community?' Arthur asked her, his tone grave and his expression solemn.

Tonks considered his words carefully. It was almost impossible to imagine that Lord Voldemort was actually out there somewhere right now, alive and dangerous; it sounded like a sick joke. But Tonks had worked with Kingsley Shacklebolt for a year, and she trusted him. And if Albus Dumbledore was behind this theory – Tonks had always had the utmost respect for Dumbledore, far more than she had for that blithering excuse for a Minister, Fudge.

Even though part of her was telling her this whole story was madness, she knew there was only one clear answer.

'Well, if you're saying this came from Dumbledore himself … then I'd believe it one hundred percent,' she replied slowly.

Arthur beamed so that his face matched his red hair. 'Excellent!'

Feeling as though she had just been inducted into a secret club, Tonks was anxious to hear what they had to say next.

'So, what now?' she asked, impatiently. 'If Dumbledore thinks Voldemort's really back, then what's he doing about it?'

'That's a good question, Miss Tonks, and that's where we're hoping you can help us.' Arthur replied.

Tonks was intrigued, if a little scared.

'Both Kingsley here and I are members of a group of wizards and witches called the Order of the Phoenix. The Order was active against Voldemort before he disappeared thirteen years ago, and has very recently reformed. We're currently trying to recruit as many people as possible who believe Voldemort is back in spite of the Ministry's denial and are willing to help find and defeat him.'

Tonks listened, drinking in his words.

'And you want me to join?' she deduced.

'Exactly,' he replied.

'Who else is in this – this "Order"?' Tonks asked curiously.

'Albus Dumbledore, along with a few other Hogwarts teachers who you may remember from your school days – Professors McGonagall and Snape to name a couple; my wife and two of my sons; Alastor Moody, who I am sure you have heard of … '

Tonks nodded, impressed. She certainly had heard plenty of stories about the legendary Mad-Eye Moody's days as an Auror.

'… oh, and a cousin of yours – Sirius,' Arthur added.

'Sirius Black?' Tonks yelped, shocked. 'But he – he – '

'Murdered thirteen muggles? No, he didn't, actually. He is innocent,' disclosed Kingsley, matter-of-factly. 'Framed by the real killer and sent to Azkaban without a trial. The truth was only discovered a couple of years ago, but with no proof to back it up, he is still wanted by the Ministry.'

'I can't believe no one told me,' Tonks mused, shaking her head in disbelief. 'I mean, we're family.'

Even though she had never met Sirius herself, Tonks knew her mother had been close to him when she was younger and that she had been deeply shocked when Sirius, who has always gone against the traditional Black values, appeared to go down the same road so many other Blacks had by becoming a Death Eater. The news that he had been innocent all along made sense from what Tonks's mother had told her about Sirius, and Tonks suddenly felt a surge of sympathy for this cousin she had never known.

'Hardly anyone knows of Sirius's innocence,' Arthur informed her. 'And those of us who do know have had to keep it fairly quiet. I actually only found out myself a few days ago.'

Reeling, Tonks ran a hand through her spiky pink hair.

'Anyway, it is not very safe for us to be discussing any of this in the open.' Arthur cast his eyes around warily as though he expected the partitions between the cubicles to transfigure into Ministry officials at any moment. He thrust a small piece of parchment at Tonks.

'Read this and memorise it,' he instructed her. Tonks stared at the writing, memorising the address it showed, before Arthur snatched it back as though it was a rare and precious jewel, and burned it with his wand until it crumbled into ashes and disappeared .

'Tonight, eight o'clock. Oh, and don't ring the doorbell if you can help it.'

And with that, he turned and walked out of the office. Before Tonks could open her mouth to ask Kingsley anything, he too turned and left through the opposite door, leaving Tonks gaping after them, trying to process everything she had just heard.