18
The Order of The Phoenix:
Friday could not come fast enough. Every day until then was filled with more odd jobs. Moody had almost exclusively given Sirius and Doe any jobs that pertained to Death Eaters and it kept them very busy.
Their finished timeline had been magically strung up in the front of the office and the Senior aurors were constantly adding to it.
Besides work, the days preceding Friday were filled with skepticism from the six of them, trying to figure out what Dumbledore's intent was.
" Maybe he wants us to work at Hogwarts or something" Peter has suggested.
" Don't be so thick, Peter" Sirius said, " he knows we would never do that"
" That wouldn't be the worst thing" Remus said softly.
" I doubt that's what he wants us for though" Lily said biting on her lip, " it probably has something to do with the war"
" Hopefully, I'll kill myself if its something boring" James said.
" Boring sometimes is good" Doe told James.
James shrugged, " coming from the auror"
By the time Friday did arrive, they were all extremely ready to find out what the purpose of the gathering was.
Lily and Doe had gone to the Marauders flat right after work and Sirius was grumbling about how he had had to cancel a date, so whatever Dumbledore had wanted better be important.
" Go back to work tomorrow and I'm sure you'll be able to get another one" Remus told Sirius.
Sirius sighed, " Well I know I can, I just don't want too" he said grumpily.
At eight o'clock they all apparatted to Diggle Manor.
Owned by Deadleus Diggle, the house was a large manor in Godric's Hollow, a wizarding neighborhood.
" Look at the size of this house" Lily said in amazement staring up at the large house in awe.
" It's quite large" Remus said looking at the surrounding houses, which were much smaller.
They walked towards the door and a very grim faced Moody opened the door quickly. Sirius and Doe almost stepped back automatically.
" Moody?" Doe asked in surprise.
" What are you doing here?" Sirius asked.
Moody frowned, " And you show up to a house you've never been before, wands not out? Constant Vigilance! What the hell do you think I teach you two this for?"
Sirius and Doe both sighed, not wanting to sustain a lecture after having already left the ministry. Moody opened the door to let them in, mumbling something under his breath that sounded a lot like 'longer hours', but didn't elaborate.
The Diggle Manor was crawling with witches and wizards. There was a long dining room table that looked as if it had been enchanted to fit over thirty witches and wizards, parading as what looked like a conference table.
Doe looked around and noticed many people from work.
In one corner talking earnestly was Edgar Bones and Mundungus Fletcher, a wizard not to much older than them who had gained a notorious reputation for being a thief.
Benjy Fenwick was standing with Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett. Doe noticed Gideon and Fabian were also there standing with the rest of their brothers. All of them, a cluster of redheads.
Marlene was huddled with Caradoc Dearborn and Emmeline Vance, all of them talking very closely about something.
In the very back of the room Doe spotted Professor Dumbledore. He was engaged in a very intent conversation with Hagrid, Deadleus Diggle, and Professor McGonagall.
Most of the Hogwarts Professors seemed to be here, Doe noticed Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout were also present as well as Professor Slughorn.
There were several other older witches and wizards that Doe didn't recognize.
" Hey you're all here too?" Frank said walking through the front door, he was flanked by Alice, who looked very wary.
" I think that's all of em Albus" Moody shouted to Dumbledore, closing the door roughly.
" Thank you, Alastor" Dumbledore said calmly.
Dumbledore wandered his way towards the middle of the room.
" Ah my guests, there is something I would like to discuss with all of you, so if you could all take a seat that would be great".
There was a shuffle as everyone took a seat at the long table. Dumbledore sat down on one side flanked by Professor McGonagall and Moody.
Doe sat down beside Remus and Lily.
Dumbledore waited for everyone to get settled and then spoke again.
" I have invited all of you here to Mr. Diggle's home to discuss something of utmost importance, and as such I would like all of your word that whatever is discussed here tonight will not be discussed with anyone other than those who are present here tonight"
He stopped and looked at everyone in the room, as if seeing if there were any complaints.
" I have asked all of you here tonight, because you are all some of the brightest and most loyal witches and wizards of the age, and I feel that I can trust you all with what I am about to discuss. The Minister of Magic has officially declared war against Voldemort, but he is very ill equipped to deal with the repercussions of this action. Lord Voldemort is much stronger and has much more power and influence than the minister is willing to admit. As such, we must exercise other ways of defeating the Dark Lord."
" With the help of Alastor Moody, Deadleus Diggle, and Arabella Figg," Dumbledore said pointing out the individuals to those who did not know them,
" We have decided to create a group whose entire aim will be combating and defeating the Dark Lord and his supporters. This group is The Order of the Phoenix, and I have asked you all here to join"
There was silence for a minute, no one dared to speak.
" So you want us to help you stop You-Know-Who?" asked Caradoc Dearborn.
Dumbledore nodded, " Yes, Mr. Dearborn, that is essentially correct, but I must warn you, all of you, that this will not be easy and it will be very dangerous"
" Why all the secrecy?" James asked.
" Technically speaking" Dumbledore said, " the Ministry considers groups such as this to be vigilantes, and therefore do not support it. By joining, you would be in some ways, going against the Ministry, so if any of you are uncomfortable with that, It will not be held against you in any way, and you are free to leave at any time"
" However" Dumbledore began, " If you choose to stay, and to join, I must warn you it is dangerous and to be a part of the Order of the Phoenix, you must devote yourself to it completely. There is a very good chance that you may come to harm during tasks or assignments for the Order, and will most likely become a target to those we are trying to combat. The secrecy of this group is imperative, and as members I must ask this of you. You cannot under any circumstances discuss or divulge any of the secrets, information, or identities of the members of this Order to anyone. This is essential"
Dumbledore took out his wand and conjured a piece of parchment and a large feather quill.
" If you would like to join, I ask you to please sign this parchment now, but I warn you it is a binding agreement to everything I just attested to, and breaking it will have certain consequences"
" Where do I sign?" Sirius said eagerly.
Dumbledore laughed slightly, " Somehow I assumed you would have this much enthusiasm, Mr. Black"
Sirius took the quill and quickly signed the parchment, passing it down the line.
Doe watched as James, Lily, and Remus all signed it without hesitation. Remus handed it to Doe and she too scribbled her name, passing it over to Peter. Who looked at it apprehensively before scribbling his own name.
After a few minutes everyone at the table had signed it. Dumbledore smiled slightly as it was passed back to him. Obviously not surprised that his carefully chosen guests had not bowed down at the idea of devoting themselves to the cause.
" Now that the formalities have been hammered out, we can discuss the particulars" Dumbledore said.
" We have decided that for the time being, Mr. Diggle's home will serve as Headquarters for the Order. We have certain protections placed upon it that makes it undetectable to our enemies and only available to those whom we choose. We will be having at minimum weekly meetings, sometimes more often when it is needed. As for communication, we have developed a type of spell that allows us to communicate through our patronuses. The enchantment is 'Expecto Patronum Dictus', this allows us to quickly deliver information to our others Order members." Dumbledore stopped, " now I think I will turn this meeting over to Alastor, who will discuss the information we have gathered so far"
Moody looked extremely serious, " Well I'm sure all of you know how dangerous Voldemort is and don't need me to tell you that"
Several people cringed at the use of his name.
Moody resumed, ignoring them " But it is his support that he gains most of his power from, so as of now the best way to stop him is to find his support and destroy it, while also trying to protect the people who could end up being his victims. So start keeping your eyes open"
" Thank you for that Alastor" Dumbledore said calmly, " I do not want to bury you with too much information tonight, but we have another meeting Monday Evening, same time same place. We can discuss this further then. Thank you all for joining me tonight, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your evenings, for I must not return to Hogwarts"
Dumbledore bed a few goodbyes and then left the house.
" Joining an Order? He wants us to fight You-Know-Who?" Sirius asked in disbelief.
" You might as well say Voldemort now," Doe told him, " You have to fight him either way"
" It makes sense" Remus said, " if the ministry isn't taking all the actions they should, someone should be trying to combat him"
" Black, Longbottom, Meadowes, stay behind a minute" Moody called.
" I'll just be a minute, I'll meet you outside" Doe told Remus. He nodded and left the house.
Sirius, Frank, and Doe walked over to Moody, he was standing with Professor McGonagall.
" Hello Professor, good to see you" Doe told her quickly.
" You as well, Ms. Meadowes" she said quietly.
" What this about Moody?" Sirius asked, his curiosity evident.
Moody eyed him, " Seeing as you three are the only aurors that Dumbledore trusts enough to be a part of the Order, much more work will be placed upon you than the others. I want your number one priority to be capturing Death Eaters. We just recently got a hold of some new information. Voldemort apparently brands his followers with the Dark Mark. On their left arm. So keep your eyes out. They're not likely to be putting their arms on display."
" We'll keep our eyes open" Frank said quickly.
Professor McGonagall smiled slightly, " It makes me happy to so many Gryffindors here"
" Minnie, you're killing me" Sirius said wiping his eyes.
McGonagall eyes him darkly, " Black, so help me if you were still at school, I'd give you a detention so fast"
" Miss me already?" Sirius asked with a wide wink.
" Thank you for information, Moody." Doe said over him, " It's very helpful"
Moody nodded, " Now get out of here quickly, before I kill Black for the hell of it"
" Will do" Doe told him, pushing Sirius out of the house.
Frank stayed behind to discuss his trouble finding a partner with Moody.
James, Lily, and Peter were all waiting for them outside of the house.
" All finished?" Remus asked.
Doe nodded, " Just Moody talking about some work stuff" Doe told him with a shake of her head.
They all decided to go back to the Marauders apartment seeing as it wasn't extremely late yet.
They spent the evening sitting in the living room discussing everything they had heard during the meeting.
" Identifying Death Eaters is a big part of the Order" Remus commented.
" Well It's not hard to guess who is one" Doe said, " I bet my wand that Bellatrix and the Lestranges are involved"
" And the Malfoys must be" James added, " If the Lestranges are, they definitely will be"
" Then Yaxley, Mulciber, and Rosier too then?" Peter said, " they wouldn't be left out"
" Then that means Snape is one too" Doe said, " he wouldn't leave himself out"
Lily flashed her a look, suggesting she didn't want to talk about it.
" He probably is" Remus said.
" Snivelly?" Sirius said with an eyebrow raised, "he's not smart enough"
" He was smart, Sirius" Lily said, " We can't deny that"
" Well then maybe he is" Sirius said, " He's exactly the slimy dark kind of git that Voldemort would look for"