With that that room began to empty. Harry walked to the far wall and tapped the portrait of Fawkes, which opened onto a wooden set of stairs. Harry led all of those who were staying for the meeting up the stairs and into a smaller chamber. A few moments later, everyone was seated including Molly and Hestia who had just finished up with their other duties.
"KREACHER!" Harry called.
The house elf appeared, "Yes Master Harry. What can Kreacher do for you today?"
"Remember no calling me master ok? Next please make sure the house is empty and then have Dobby and Winky provide snacks and drinks and then I want all three of you to join us."
"Of course Harry Potter sir." And with that the elf disappeared.
Harry turned to the assembled group before him; they were true warriors in every sense of the word; Albus and Minerva, Horace, Kingsley, Remus, Tonks, Moody, the Weasleys, Hermione, Fleur, Susan Bones, Neville, Luna, Hestia and of course Ginny. These people were the generals for the side of light, they were his friends and family, in a nut shell they were his support team.
"Thank you all for coming and getting dragged into the new order's leadership. Good now to other matters, as many of us know, last summer we believed that had lost one of our very best witches and voices in the ministry. I am happy to say that this was proved false, thanks to her advanced planning. I am honored to reintroduce Madam Amelia Bones."
A woman stood up from a chair in the shadows and approached the conference table. Every spotted her immediately. Albus and Minerva ran to Amelia first and hugged her first.
"I'm sorry Albus, but when Voldemort arrived, I had only moments to invoke the ancient magic that saved me. Voldemort killed the doppelganger that the ancient magic created, however what I didn't realize was that the magic backlash from the doppelganger would send me into a coma for 7 months. My house elves cared for me while I was in the coma. Griphook, like many at Gringotts, knew what I had done and why, had proceeded as if I was dead and read the will I made in the event of 'death'. Once I regained my health, I made contact to Susan who then told Harry."
"It's alright Amelia, I understand, Harry why don't we continue?" The old Headmaster said.
Harry agreed wholeheartedly. "What I am about is confidential and over the utmost importance. It is so important in fact that each one of you has had a spell placed on you when you entered the room. It is the same spell that bound you to the order and our secrets, in fact it was required for you to remember anything about the order once the leadership had passed to me from Albus.
"As you all heard, I am Lord Gryffindor, the last direct descendant of Lord Godric Gryffindor. I am also the head of the Houses of Gryffindor/Potter, Black, Azkaban, Slytherin, and Flamel and I also now own and control Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Azkaban Island. I also own 45% of Gringotts and am the 21st person in line to the crown of England.
"Also as the Head of the House of Potter, I have taken my seat as a member of the Council of Twelve. As one of the original families that created the Ministry, I have the power to remove the Minister of Magic without the consent of the Wizengamot. I plan on using this power when I stand before the Wizengamot and take my seats. To top it off, I also hold 5 family seats on the Wizengamot. Along with Arthur, Neville, Albus, and Amelia, we hold enough in the Wizengamot to make major changes."
Amelia spoke up at this point "Harry, you do understand that as the only member of the Royal Family to be magical, you also hold another powerful position, that of Lord Protector of the Realm."
"Really? What does that mean?"
Harry heard Moody chuckle, probably at Harry himself, but chose to ignore him. "When Merlin helped create the Council of Twelve, the leader of the council drafted a treaty with the King of the time. It stated that the wizarding world would be self governed, but still answerable to the crown. Every Minister of Magic since the founding of the Ministry has had to make an Unbreakable Vow stating that they would uphold and honor this treaty and the other documents that are considered the foundations of our government. Every single magical person in England is a subject of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
"Now Harry, this is very important, when the treaty was signed, the title and position of The Lord Protector of the Realm was created. This person was to be the official representative of the crown in all wizarding matters.
"Unlike the sovereign, the Lord Protector's word is not absolute, but it was close. The Lord Protector has always been a wizard who was a member of the royal family. Unfortunately 1292 was the last time we had a Lord Protector of the Realm. He was also the first Minister of Magic. He never married and as there were no other magical members of the Royal Family, the title and position…became legend.
"Since 1292, the Minister of Magic has given normal updates to one of the sovereign's chief advisors, never actually meeting the sovereign. In 1730, the Minister of Magic no longer met the sovereign or one his aides, but rather with the Prime Minister.
"Since that time, the sovereign has not received any direct advice or council from the Magical Government which represents a number of her servants. Few individuals, like Albus here, have gone to see her personally, but not as a representative of our government. Today, the Minister of Magic only deals with the Prime Minister when he is ordered by the Wizengamot. This is because of the pureblood belief that muggles are inferior to us.
"With the return of the Lord Protector things will change; the Lord Protector of the Realm reports directly to the sovereign, or queen in this case, weekly or even daily if you wish and can order the Minister of Magic to have more contact with the Prime Minister. Harry, for all intents and purposes, you are the head of the magical government, you don't need the Council of Twelve."
This shocked Harry to no end. He was indeed very, very important to wizard kind. This gets better and better. After Harry regained his ability to speak, he thanked Amelia and moved on.
"Ok then onto other matters. Ron. I want you, Hermione, Albus, Remus, and Horace to look over what is in the trunk I received from Merlin and Morgan Le Fey. I believe that it contains information about his horcruxes, dark rituals, and any other sensitive material that might have trying to hide, including information on the Fidelius Charms he has cast.
"Molly, I need you and Kreacher to take a complete inventory of everything that is needed for Headquarters. I want quills, parchment, food, toiletries, the whole nine yards. Charge everything to Gringotts Vault 713, you are already authorized to charge and make withdrawals. Do not worry about the money, it is being handled.
"Fleur, I would like you to head to Potter Manor along with Dobby and Winky; please inspect it and get it ready for us to move into. Under the circumstances, I would like you to consider having the wedding at Potter Manor, or any one of my other properties, including my home in France if you want, think about it and get back to me.
"Moody, Kingsley, and Tonks…I want you organize teams for capturing the death eaters we discover. Also feel out the Aurors and see who is dirty and who is not. Just because Tom is out of commission, we should not let our guard down. Also I want updated report on all known Death Eaters, their hideouts and other important information.
"Bill, you have a meeting with Mackrack and Percy at 5:00pm today to discuss security and the goblin warriors as we need them. Just to let you know, after my argument with the Minister, I had Percy moved to Gringotts where he is being treated per my request. Penelope is there already and preparing all the evidence Percy has discovered.
"Percy has been a spy for us since Fudge tried to arrest me so be nice, please. The last few years haven't been good to him at all. He came to Kingsley who turned him into a spy for our side, when Scrimgeour and Percy came to Burrow at Christmas; he left me a letter in my trunk. Do not ask how he got up to my trunk, but he did it. Anyway the letter gave us valuable intelligence on the Ministry and Tom, so…please be nice.
"Charlie, I would like you to head to Hogwarts and meet with Hagrid. He has found a small pack of baby griffins that were left to fend for themselves when their mother died. I also know that except for Hagrid, Albus, and Remus that you know the Forbidden Forest better than anyone. I want you make contact with the centaurs, unicorns, acromantulas, and other creatures and inform them that I am calling a meeting of the Council of Magical Brethren. It will be held in 1 week at the council clearing at dusk.
"While in there, set some traps and wards to alert us if anyone tries to do anything in there that they shouldn't be doing. However more importantly, I want you and Hagrid to tend to these baby griffins and treat any sick or injured creature in that forest. It is time for us wizards to do as we mean.
"Mischief, Mayhem, I want you get a hold of Lee Jordan and get some help running your joke shop for a while. I want your devious minds to start working on how to turn your ideas into weapons. Get creative and tap into Remus' devious mind, he is after all Moony. I also have a couple of journals for you to look thru, but I do want them back. They belonged to my father, Prongs, and Sirius, Padfoot.
"Hestia, I would like you to go over all the assignments our members are currently on; anything that Severus Snape had access to or an idea about need to be discarded at once. Also, in the new Command Center are a lot of maps and other…toys the goblins have given us, they include tracking charms, extendable ears, etc. I want you to sit down with Griphook, the lead goblin, and have him give you a tutorial. Once you are familiar with their operation, assemble your staff and get them up to speed.
"Neville, Luna, and Susan; I want you to go thru the Hogwarts curriculum, all the years and subjects, and everything we worked on with the DA. I want you to come up with a training schedule and list of spells, jinxes, and hexes that you intend to teach. Hermione has her journal of everything we did in the DA also what I learned for the TriWizard Tournament.
"I also want you to contact Blaise Zabini and Cho Chang; have them join your group. The five of you will be the leadership of the DA; Neville, I want you to lead the DA because you have never let me down, and I know you won't do it now.
"Amelia, you, Ginny, and I need to sit down and plan out what we need to do when I confront the Minister and Wizengamot, including possibly meeting the queen. I want Scrimgeour out and I really want some really good people in there to run things.
"Finally, and most importantly, if you need someone else for your projects that are in the order, use them, don't even bother to ask me if it is ok. If you need the assistance of someone who is not the order, talk to Albus or myself. The only group that these orders do not apply to is the group investigating the chest. The contents of that chest are to remain known only to those who are in this room. If you need someone to secure a location, then use others, but the actual knowledge remains here.
"Ok next order of business, the OOTPEC has too many people to try to get reports done the way it has always been done. Albus, nothing personal, but it was a menace. So thanks to Hermione, a bottle of Ogden's Firewhiskey, and too much time last school year, we have created a way to file reports while anywhere in the world.
"As you all have seen, your Phoenix Pendants are not the same color as the other members. This is because you are all members of the OOTPEC; those of you whom do not have a position yet, are considered members at large. In order to file a report all you need to do is grab your phoenix pendant and either speak or think the following:
{Whom you are reporting too}
{Your Name}-
Regular status report for {Your Project}-
Speak your report. When speaking your report, imagine how your report is to look.
Limit your report to no more then 1500 words if possible
When finished, speak {End Report}
"Your pendant will glow red for a moment, stating that your report has been sent. By default your report will be automatically sent to me, if you need to report something to anyone else, simply state or think their names.
"When you transmit your report, it will automatically be transcribed by ditto-quill here at Headquarters and then sent to whomever the report is for.
"All members of the OOTEC have a mail box here Headquarters on the 3rd floor. Everything 3rd floor and above is being warded from unwanted entry. Each of you is already keyed to the wards so you can pass freely. Besides the mail box room, there are smaller suites for you to use as well as office/study space. If you have an office at a different location that you use, take for example Albus' Office at Hogwarts, all you need to do is take the matching mail box which is located directly below your existing mail box. When it is removed, the mail box will automatically keyed to you and you alone. It is charmed to be invisible to anyone but you and will inform you when you have mail.
"Hestia, the MROAR, the Mail Room Organizer And Reader, will automatically CC you anything that you need to know. Also your personal office is here on the 3rd floor, but your main office is on the first floor. You secondary mail box is already charmed to move between the two rooms when you are present in either one. The fourth floor belongs to Ginny and I and is warded to prevent any unwanted entry. If you wish to enter, you must present yourself to the guardian, his name is Max and he is a suit of armor. He is intelligent and so if you wish you may speak with him to your hearts content.
"The renovations and the new communications systems are being provided by the Goblin Nation, and especially Gringotts Bank. I do not want to hear of any of you mistreating any goblins anymore. Does anyone have any questions? Excellent, I want progress reports every eight hours from you please. You may exit the door we entered, which will take you back down the to the main meeting room, or you can exit the door on the opposite side of the room; it opens onto the 3rd floor. At the end of the hallway is a second apparation, portkey, and floo point.