That Membership Form

I is for Idris

Idris Oakby had founded the S.S.S. However, as an old woman now, she found herself less inclined to lead the Society for the Support of Squibs onward and upward.

She sighed, stared at the large pile of fan mail on her desk, and gave a sad smile. She had wanted to pass on the torch to someone else, but these fans had kept her going. Only, now she knew that she would die soon.

She had been in St. Mungo's today – December 6th – and had found out that her magic was depleting. It was a rare occurrence and there was a chance that she would survive, but she could only hope of such a good outcome. She had asked the nurses at the hospital to give it to her straight –and she was surprised at how forward they had been.

"Well, Mrs. Oakby – you're going to die from magic depletion."

"Is there any chance of me surviving?" The gray-haired lady asked.

"It's slim. Generally, this only happens if a witch or wizard doesn't exercise their magic as much as they should."

"How would it be that the founder of the Society for the Support of Squibs would use magic constantly, though?" Idris had protested.

"I'm sorry. You have until the 24th with the rate your magic is leaving you."

Idris shook her head. It was such a shame – she loved Christmas and she would miss it. Oh dear, how could she possibly go through any of the witches and wizards that were members, and ask them to live as she did with these Squibs?

Idris lived in a large multi-floored house with many Squibs who wanted to be a part of the magical world, but found they could not do it on their own. Therefore, out of respect for their sensitivity to magic, she always made a point to cut down on magic while living here. These people looked up to her.

Idris sat down at her desk and fixed her blue glasses higher up on her nose. She sifted through all the fan mail and gave smiles at each one, slowly penning out thankful replies.

Thinking to herself, she concluded that it would be a wonderful Christmas present if only she could find someone perfect to take over her job. Then she could go to rest calmly – not even worrying about missing Christmas day.

Idris jumped as someone knocked at her bedroom door and then stood up to open it. "Yes?" She asked the man named Bob.

"Er – Ms. Arabella Figg is here for you, ma'am," Bob said timidly.

"Bob," Idris said, "I know that you're new to the group, but really – you can call me Idris. We'll be hanging out for quite a while."

Idris let her mouth drop as she realized what a lie that was. She wouldn't be here for much longer; she wouldn't get to know Bob very well. She wouldn't get to change any more Squibs lives.

Idris coughed to cover up the momentary lapse and fixed her bright blue robes. "All right, well how about you send Ms. Figg up here for me, Bob?"

Bob nodded and Idris closed the door as soon as he was down the stairs.

Idris quickly walked to her desk, trying to push all the fan mail into one of the giant mail bags she had stashed away in her closet. She had accumulated many over the years from members and Squibs, but she had to be honest – most of them were from people regularly as she always found time to reply to them all. She had gained many pen pals over the years.

A knock sounded at the door again and then a thin lady entered the room. She wore slippers and a very large coat. She walked over to Idris, once she had seen her and immediately held out her hand. "Arabella Figg. I just wanted to meet you in person to tell you how much I support your cause. I also wanted to hand in this membership form in person," Arabella said swiftly as she held out a folded piece of paper.

Idris smiled graciously and took the piece of paper after letting go of Arabella's hand. "Of course. I shouldn't be surprised."

"What?" Arabella asked.

"You're a Squib," Idris said. "For some reason I felt like you were a witch. We don't get many witches and wizards as members."

Arabella nodded. "I keep myself very involved in the magical world."

Idris gave a wide smile and nodded, suddenly with an idea. Why hadn't she thought of it before? "Ms. Figg – I have a proposition for you."

"Yes?" Arabella asked.

"Here – sit down. We're going to be talking for a while," Idris said as she gestured to two lounging chairs she had placed by the window.

Arabella nodded curtly and shuffled over to the chair, sitting herself down primly. "What is this proposition?" She asked as Idris sat down across from her.

"Well, I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before – but I am going to need to pass on my torch to someone. I'm growing old, and I know I will die by the 24th. None of this has been announced as I haven't had an idea of what I should do to pass on my President status," Idris started.

"Sorry for interrupting – but are you asking me?" Arabella asked, flushing a deep red and staring at Idris with wide eyes.

Idris nodded and smiled. "I'm dying of magic depletion. I don't use much magic around here as I don't want to hurt the Squibs of this household. They're sensitive, you know. I really did not want to ask another witch or wizard to take over my place though because I feel that many members would act in the same way."

"Of course," Arabella agreed.

"So, hearing how you feel about this cause – how you wished to hand me the membership paper yourself and give your praise, I can only feel that you might be perfect for the job. You seem like a very dedicated, studious lady."
Arabella nodded and smiled.

"Would you accept this job?" Idris asked swiftly.

Arabella opened her mouth in surprise, but closed it. Then, she slowly inclined her head forward and smiled. "I'd love to."

And Idris' heart soared. She got her Christmas present.


A/N: So, Idris Oakby is not very well known. If anything, she was mentioned once or not at all. Anyway, I found her on a character list, and she was a part of JK Rowling's Wizard of the Month Archive. Therefore, this idea just came to me instantly.

By the way, within all these chapters there is a hidden message. I suppose it is very hard to see, but it is a long message with one part being added after every single chapter. Whoever figures it out gets brownie points! (At this point, though, it will be too early to figure out what the message is, but by the end of this challenge, if everyone figures out where to look, you will know what the message is.)

How did you like it? Review please!