Chapter 15: Musings and Meetings

++++++Harry's Musings++++++

It had been more than 2 weeks since the Will reading of Harry Potter's godfather, Sirius Black. Harry had watched the whole proceedings through Hermione's eyes. He loved the way Sirius had seen through headmaster's agenda regarding Moony and put him in his place. It was obvious that most people gathered there did not like the headmasters approach. Following the will reading, Harry had received the following letter from the headmaster.

Dear Harry,

I thank you for listening to me and staying away from the will reading. As expected, there were a few relatives of Death Eaters there and your security could have been seriously compromised. Even the Minister of Magic was present and I am sure you would have been uncomfortable dodging the Minister's attempts to garner your political support. As a sign of goodwill and working towards building trust between us, I have arranged for you to be waived the restriction on Underage Magic Usage. That means that you can freely use magic, however, I request you to please not abuse this privilege.

Your godfather has willed you his home and sum of 12,000 galleons to you which has been deposited into your vault. He has also sent you his portrait which unfortunately will take a few months for it to be activated. Usually when portraits wake up for the first time, they do not know how much magic they can safely use and it is a common mistake of the portrait to utilize too much magic, sending the portrait into a 'coma' of sorts from which they recuperate eventually.

See you on September 1st.

Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry had spent 2 days fuming at the Headmaster and it took all the four witches to knock some sense into him. Harry took a portkey to the 'Orion island' which was under the Black Familial Fidelius and located 200 kilometers east of the Shetland Islands, United Kingdom. The Goblin council had voted to build their underground vaults here and planned to move all the excess gold here and try Harry's idea on most of the low-deposit vaults. Harry helped them in their excavations by blasting the rocks into pieces which provided him a good avenue to vent his pent up frustration. After a few hours of such blasting, a very happy Goblin promised him a job at the blasting site whenever he needed it. A relaxed Harry took the cart to the surface and ensured that the hundred plus Acromantula that has moved to this island through the Elven portal were being cared for well and that the Acromantula were providing enough silk and venom.

From there, Harry had portkeyed to a Potter island called 'Paradise on Earth'. This island was located in the Bermuda Triangle and was under the Potter Familial Fidelius Charm. Harry was surprised to find that the Fidelius Charm was co-invented by a Potter and Black ancestor many centuries ago. While they had released the generic charm for use by the general public, they had not released the details of the 'Familial Fidelius Charm' which made the Lord of the family the secret keeper automatically. Harry had found the book that explained this charm in a book in the Potter Vault. The Goblins had informed him that he should find a similar book in the Black Library as soon as they recover all the books that were missing. Harry hoped that most of these missing books were in the Malfoy library that Draco Malfoy promised to return as part of his deal with Sirius Black.

Harry and the Elves had decided that this island 'Paradise on Earth' would be their manufacturing base for their Newspaper printing industry, the Potions company and the Phase-I of the Broomstick manufacturing plant. The centaurs had agreed to use their magic and within a week, had converted the center half the island into a thick tropical forest. Harry was in awe of the Centaurian magic that the Centaurs could use to manipulate seeds into growing into entire trees within a few days. That the island was rich in magic and there was plenty of underground water was a huge advantage. There was a clearing in the center of the forest, where the Elves and the centaurs helped trim the stems of the magical trees to make the skeleton of the broomsticks. These broomstick skeletons were to be transported to a Goblin facility in England for the Goblins to etch the runes, do the enchantments, wax and paint the brooms, package them and distribute them to stores or through 'rune-ports'.

The Elves had also built four buildings on one end of the 'Paradise on Earth' island. One building housed the printing presses of the newspaper, while the next heavily warded multi-storey building housed about 250 huge cauldrons that had been enchanted to automatically produce and bottle the potions as per the instructions provided. The large amount of ambient magic in the Bermuda islands powered these enchantments and Harry was happy that these processess will not dig into his magic.

On the other side of the forest on the island, the Elves built a Transformation Recovery Center (TRec Center) for the werewolves. This center mainly consisted of beds on which the werewolves may recover. Each werewolf was provided newer clothes and food after they recover from the transformation before they are portkeyed back to where they came from.

Harry was very happy with the progress of all his ventures. Pretty soon, his proverbial theater was set and the game would begin on the day after his 16th birthday.

++++++Dumbledore's Musings++++++

Albus Dumbledore was uneasy. He had a strong premonition that something was going to go very wrong soon. He was acclaimed by all as the 'leader of the light' and he took his responsibility seriously. The only way to stay ahead of the game was by making sure that he had all the information. He knew how to play his cards right for the greater good of the society. As soon as he came back from the will reading, he had sent a letter to young Harry and had received a polite reply. He really did not want Harry to know that he had been emancipated, lest he got any ideas. Harry was already showing signs of his rebellious streak and Albus believed that with teenagers, there was a thin line between rebelliousness and irresponsibility.

His first jolt came when the Prophet announced that it would be shutting down the publication in its current form and that a new newspaper called 'The High Inquisitor' would be published from the next day. The reporter talked about inconsistencies in almost every article in the newspaper for the past 10 years. The new management hoped to create a newspaper that would only report the truth and not political propaganda. They refered to the press as 'the fourth estate', a term borrowed from the muggles bring up speculations if the Ministry, Death Eaters and Order of the Phoenix are the other estates.

True enough, the next day, the owls delivered "The High Inquisitor" and they described the Dolores Umbridge role at Hogwarts during the previous academic year. Albus chuckled at the irony of the name of the newspaper exposing what Ms. Umbridge did in a role with the same name. The paper claimed that Ms. Umbridge had tortured the students during their detentions with a blood quill which was illegal as corporal punishment had been banned for many years from now. The reporter claimed to have collected pensieve and signed oaths by students to support their claims.

The Minister supported his colleague and threatened to stop the funding for the Daily Prophet if the newspaper would not stop this slander campaign. The chief editor of the newspaper, Mrs. Augusta Longbottom explained, "Perhaps the Minister is unaware that as The High Inquisitor, we are no longer being funded by his government. We are going to lodge a complaint against Ms. Umbridge with the DMLE on behalf of the students (who shall remain unnamed and we willing to testify under Veritaserum). The Truth Shall Set You Free."

Albus Dumbledore was weary of Mrs. Longbottom and the old witch seemed to loath him. Albus knew that she partially blamed Dumbledore for the condition of her son and daughter-in-law. 'This witch is creating a fourth front in the war! Maybe I should invite her to join the Order again.' Dumbledore could still not get rid of the feeling that the floor was going to be pulled from under his feet soon.

++++++The Weasley's Musings++++++

Arthur Weasley and his family (excluding Percy and the twins) had taken the international floo to Romania. Flooing was much more cheaper than buying an international portkey. In the lodge on the dragon reserve, he unshrunk the box that he had received from Sirius. He could not believe what he was seeing. In the box, were papers describing how the owners of Ogden's Firewhisky company had defrauded his grandfather, Patrick Weasley, of his rightful share of the company after his untimely death in an encounter fighting Grindelwald's forces. Arthur and his father had grown up not knowing the reason why they were so poor even though their family was very old. Arthur wondered how much Sirius had paid the Goblins to investigate the matter.

When Mrs. Weasley saw that they might expect up to 750,000 galleons as payment and a 24% share in the Firewhisky business, she promptly fainted. The Weasleys celebrated in their traditional style by having a raucous feast, followed by dancing to Celestina Warbeck. They decided to wait until the 30th before filing the papers that had already been prepared by the Goblins with the Wizengamot.

++++++Mad-eye Moody's Musings++++++

Moody loved his new eye and his new prosthetic leg. He had visited Sushrutha's Cosmetic and Prosthetic Clinic' which the Patils ran in an expanded section of their garage at home. The Patils lived in the muggle world and practiced both the muggle and magical art of healing. Dr. Pushpa Patil was a graduate from a premier medical institute in India while Mr. Abhiram Patil was a healer trained at St. Mungos.

Moody approached them after ensuring that they had no links to any death eaters. Mrs. Patil berated the old auror for not keeping up with the newest developments in medical field. He should have gotten his wooden stump he called a leg changed at least a decade ago. She replaced his magic eye with a bi-corneal prosthetic eyeball so that Moody might be able to see both front and back without the eye having to spin like the way it used it. Also, as this would be an intra-ocular prosthetic, he may risk the chance of losing his nickname. The artificial eyeball came with all the standard charms including a permanent cleaning and vision correction charm in case he had wear eye-glasses. Dr. Patil also mentioned that she had a onetime permission to use the special charms that Mrs. Laura Lovegood had invented. Apparently Sirius Black had acquired this permission from the patent owner.

Moody was surprised to note that Sirius had bought the patent for the prosthetic creation charm from Mr. Tom Morvalo Riddle. Moody suspected that Voldemort had used that charm to create the silver arm for Wormtail. As Tom Riddle technically is dead, the Goblins had no problem selling the patent and depositing the money in Riddle's vault which had been inoperational for many years now. Moody chuckled at the irony. Transfiguration of outer layers of the titanium prosthetic made both legs almost identical. Dr. Patil then adjusted the weight of the prosthetic to match the weight of the natural leg.

Dr. Patil then applied a numbing charm to Moody's face and using a muggle procedure called cosmetic surgery, she removed the old battle scars and healed the cut tissue with magic. She gave him an aloe cream with Veela blood to apply for the next two days. Moody could not believe that he looked normal. 'Albus is going to freak out!' Moody chuckled.

++++++Remus' Musings++++++

Remus was in Seventh Heaven. Soon after the will reading, Remus gave Dumbledore his resignation from the Order of the Phoenix. He requested that he be able to keep the memories of the Order proceedings and his work till date and Albus accepted it provided he gave a magical oath never to disclose or betray the Order of the Phoenix upon pain of loss of his magic or even life. Remus readily agreed to it and gave him his oath.

When Remus was ushered into a conference room, he was surprised to see Luna Lovegood waiting for him. She refused to speak a word till he signed the secrecy oath which he did. She then described the four different methods they were adopting to counter-act Lycanthropy.

The first method was obviously, Wolfsbane potion. Luna handed his a necklace made of white gold which had a pendant in the shape of an hour glass. When Remus touched the pendant, the pendant expanded in size and Remus found that the outer surface of the pendant was a cylinder, but the inner surface was divided into two. There were two caps at either end of the tube. Luna explained that these tubes have an auto-fill charm for both the Wolfsbane potion and the Transformation pain reducing potion. She explained that the second potion was a new potion created by a company called Pleasant Potions Inc. and WOLF had the license to distribute it.

When a Lycanthrope wears this necklace, the pendant will grow warm an hour before transformation, indicating that it was time for the modified Wolfsbane potion and half an hour before transformation, the pendant will grow cold indicating that it is time for the pain potion. Fifteen minutes before the time of Lunar ascent, the pendants will change into a portkey and transport the Lycanthrope to a padded cell or a human-uninhabited forest. When the werewolf transforms back into a human, the pendant will port-key the wearer into his/her bedroom. The necklace comes with elongating and shrinking charms and once worn, cannot be removed unless the Lycanthrope is cured of Lycanthropy. If anyone tries to tamper with the necklace, it will auto-destruct itself.

When Remus heard about the pendant, his only question was "Lily's Magical Construct? Sirius got it to work?" Luna smiled and nodded. Luna then explained that these necklaces were to be distributed free as were the potions. The only condition is that they sign a secrecy oath which also bars them from taking either side in this war and not to deliberately infect other individuals.

The second method WOLF was exploring was portkeying the lycanthropes 15 minutes before the lunar ascent to a place west of them, so that they will never actually experience a lunar ascent. For example, Remus could get portkeyed to the Caribbean islands before full moon in England and then portkeyed to an island in South China Sea before the full moon in the Carribbean, and then portkeyed to an island on the Indian ocean before the full moon in Japan before finally being portkeyed back to England. Remus considered this approach and realized that this idea might have a solution. When enquired, he was informed that the portkeys would cost next to nothing.

The third method was a muggle method. Luna informed Remus that he would help their team collect samples of werewolf saliva, blood and urine. Remus blushed a Weasley red, when she informed Remus that her team had initially asked for werewolf semen too, but logistics dictate that it was not possible to collect such a sample. Remus' objections were put to rest, when Luna showed him a photograph of the cage they would use to collect the samples. Lune explained about their theory of Lycanthropy being a form of magical rabies like disease and if muggles can create a cure for rabies, they can create a cure for Lycanthropy too.

The last method was a mind arts approach. When Luna explained about Goblin Occlumency, Remus was very intrigued by being able to find the Arithmantic equivalent of various parts of a persons magical core. He readily agreed to volunteer as a test subject.

'I wonder when Sirius had all this time to think about this so well.' Remus promised himself that he would do his best to help his werewolf brethern and wonder how the great Albus Dumbledore with all his wisdom, could not come up with such simple solutions as this 15 year old explained.

++++++Fleur's Musings++++++

Fleur and Gabrielle were ecstatic. They were so happy that they spent the whole night squealing! Last week they had attended the meeting at Gringotts and were asked a simple question after they had signed the secrecy oaths by a hooded figure. "Which allegiance did Fleur and Gabrielle hold in the highest esteem? Your family, your French Magical Citizenship, Beaubatons Academy and its faculty, your employer Gringotts, the Order of the Phoenix, French or British Ministry of Magic or the Veela Nation?"

Fleur and Gabrielle did not blink before they both answered, "The Veela Nation, of course. How did you know about the Order of the Phoenix? I thought it was a secret organization."

The hooded figure removed his hood to reveal that it was a very healthy and handsome Harry! Both girls squeeled and hugged and kissed him. Gabrielle blushed while doing so. Harry then asked a question that would change the lives of all Veela all over the world? "Fleur and Gabrielle, how would you like to learn to control the Veela charm? Not suppression, but total 100% control?"

Fleur had gasped before asking, "Is it even possible? Of course we would love to learn that."

Thus started the daily 3-hour sessions at Gringotts on Goblin Occlumency. By the fourth day, both Fleur and Gabrielle were able to create their meeting/control rooms. Both Fleur and Gabrielle found three different forms of magic in their core, the witches magic, the Veela Allure Charm, and the Veela transformation magic. Griphook taught them to build a ward with a porthole around the Veela Allure Charm and the Veela Transformation Magic. By the seventh day, with the help of the wards, both Fleur and Gabrielle were able to completely cut off the Veela charm. They could always go back and open the portholes to use the Veela charms. Griphook asked Gabrielle to modify her wards to be self-expanding so that she would not have a problem during her Veela maturation.

Harry then taught Fleur to create a mental Arithmantic probe to measure the Arithmantic equivalent of both the Veela charms. Harry promised to keep this a secret and any potions or products they create using this information will automatically give them a 20% profit. Both Fleur and Gabrielle were pleased to hear that. That was the least they could do to repay the gift they have been given.

On the final day, she had asked Harry, "Harry, do you know why Veela are persecuted?" When Harry shook his head, she explained, "The Veela have never been able to completely control their charm. Hence in Europe and other countries, most Veela are kidnapped and forced into sex-trade. They are seen as objects of desire. Only those Veela who are able to control their magic are able to have some semblance of a normal life. Do you know what the Veela Nation could do with this?"

"That is why we taught it to you Fleur! Will you be my representative to the Veela Nation? Ask them what they want to give me in return. Mind you, I am only looking for business cooperation and friendship. I am not in this to fleece them. Also, remember that I do not represent either the Ministry of Magic or the Death Eaters or the Order of the Phoenix, but rather as an apolitical entity. I will take anything that the Veela are ready to give, including voluntarily donated Veela blood, hair samples, anything. My business interests are very varied. Please make sure you get secrecy oaths signed before you disclose my role in this."

Fleur had gladly agreed and was ready to make a trip to the Veela Nation the very next day. "Aren't you glad that Sirius left you money to buy Formal robes? You sure will need some." Harry chuckled as Fleur gaped in wonder at how Harry knew about it.

++++++Snape's Musings++++++

"Pleasant Potions Inc." Severus Snape had snorted when he heard about the name of the potions company during a meeting of the Potions Masters Guild. A potion is never meant to be pleasant, otherwise the patient will get addicted to it! The next day Severus had paled when "The High Inquisitor" reported that the company had bid for contracts to supply healing potions at a price less than the total cost of the ingredients. How was that possible? What about compensation for the brewer's time? What about profit? How is this company going to stay afloat?

The St. Mungos board of directors had sent prominent researchers in potions samples of their various potions. Severus had received six boxes of potions to test and report back to St. Mungos. Each box had a lattice that housed 5 rows and twenty columns with 20 different potions and 5 units of each potion in 5 vials. He was impressed with the packing and quality of the crystal of the vial. Severus had also received a 6-inch muggle folder with papers explaining the Arithmantic equivalent of each potion. The papers for each potion was divided by a colored separator the same color as the next potion.

Severus now had 120 potions to test and he realized that all the potions had been modified to be better efficacious and better aroma and taste. The only exception was Skelegrow. When Severus had originally opened the box, he could not identify even a single potion without the use of the guide in the muggle folder. Severus then ordered random potions from random batches and was surprised to note that the Arithmantic equivalent was almost the same. He wondered as he wrote his report to St. Mungos. He wondered if his report would be the basis of lay-offs of brewing jobs. Is this company going to destroy "Potions" as an economically feasible employment option? He wondered who the owners of the company are and how they got so much done under the radar. And the big question was how they were able to maintain the same brewing standards?

Severus was surprised to read in The High Inquisitor that the company was part-owned by Madame Marchbanks, Mrs. Tonks and Mrs. Longbottom. Severus was even more surprised that most of the modifications were done by three students, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis and Neville Longbottom. Severus eyes bugged out! NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM?? This has got to be a joke. The scowl on the potions masters face deepened. He wondered why he was not invited to join their research group.

++++++Neville's Musings++++++

Neville was on top of the world. He has been having the best summer of his life. First his gran had expressed that she was proud of him, next, he was getting a custom wand. He had received a lot of money from Sirius Black, though he felt guilty that he had received more than Harry had. He was doing an internship that he loved. Working with Tracey had its own perks. He loved it when she gave him attention and she seemed to be doing a lot of that. He had discovered a love for potions and had been instrumental in suggesting alternatives to ingredients using his Herbology knowledge.

He absolutely loved working in the green-universe. It is every Herbologists dream to be able to see his plants grow and flourish. And with Centaurian magic, it was a matter of a few days for a seed to grow into a plant. That was amazing. They could undo all the damage done to the environment by the muggles like deforestation etc. He was going to talk to the centaurs and request them to teach him their magic. He would only use it as instructed by the Centaurs. He wondered how he had become so proficient in Centaurian etiquette in such a short time, not realizing that he had swallowed that knowledge as a potion.

++++++Ron's Musings++++++

The two weeks vacation to Romania had been the best for Ron. He had inherited a lot of money from Sirius, but he was unhappy that the ferret had inherited more than him. He was ecstatic when his father mentioned that if all goes well, they might become rich. Now, no one will be able to call him a pauper.

He had spent a lot of time on the Dragon reserve with Ginny and a girl who too was visiting, who introduced herself as Sophie, a student from Beaubatons. Things had turned out interesting when thanks to Ginny's positive interference, Sophie and Ron found out that they fancied each other. From that day, they were inseparable, except when things went really badly on the last day.

Sophie confessed that her name was Sophie Moon and she was a Slytherin in Ron's year. The fact that every Weasley had already worked that fact out did not help Ron, when he lashed out at her for being a cunning, evil death eater bitch for deceiving him and playing with him. Sophie could only look at him wide-eyed in shock with tears rolling down her cheeks. She did not wait to hear the rest of Ron's tantrum and walked out.

Ron was now back in Britain and wondered if what he did was right! Sophie was a sweet little girl. But aren't all Slytherins inherently evil? Ginny and the rest of his family stopped talking to him after his outburst. They would only interact with him only as much as it was needed.

++++++Tonks' Musings++++++

Tonks loved the gift that Sirius has given her. Financial freedom. She could do whatever she wanted now. She could live 10 years at her current standard of living without having to work. But she decided that she would have a little fun. She took a sabbatical from the Auror corps and visited Gringotts to withdraw some money. Gringotts provided her the service and the Goblin who introduced himself as Griphook and suggested she take a vacation to France, Rome and Romania. But before that, the Goblin asked her to meet Dr. Patil about her balance problem.

Tonks almost freaked out when the Goblin mentioned that. It was a very closely guarded secret that only her mother, father and Sirius knew about. Tonks was born with 'club foot' on one of her legs. She had learnt to use her Metamorphomagic skills to mask that condition, but her balance suffered in spite of that. Dr. Patil with her knowledge of both muggle and magical medicine, conducted a series of surgeries on her and set her foot right. She then used a modified Skelegrow potion (thanks to Pleasant Potions, which still tasted as bad) to heal the surgical fractures in the bones. The 'Aloe-Veela' cream did wonders and removed all traces of the surgical procedure.

Tonks spent the next seven days learning balance. She felt as if she had entered into a beauty pageant, learning to walk gracefully with a couple of books on her head. She promised to keep up her balance exercises when she realized that she had not tripped once since the procedure. She decided to buy a house before she left on her vacation in the beginning of August. She sure wanted to meet up with Charlie Weasley, her ex-boyfriend, in Romania. He was the only boy, other than Harry, who had never asked her to change into someone famous and that counted for something in her books.

++++++Meeting of the Order of the Phoenix++++++

On the evening of July 30th, Albus Dumbledore assembled the Order of the Phoenix for a meeting at Number 12, Grimmauld place. "Welcome everyone. If we could all settle down, we will get the meeting started. Let us start with a couple of pleasant observations. Alastor, my friend, it is good to see you young and with two feet again."

Moody grinned maniacally. "It is great to be on two feet. When I walked into the Auror academy to test my skills, I was almost arrested for being an imposter. Nothing short of Veritaserum convinced them."

"And young Nymphadora..." Tonks glared at Dumbledore for using her first name. "Yes professor, I took care of my balance problem. Although, how you knew what problem I had and how you knew that I took care of it is still a surprise."

Albus laughed. "Everyone knew that you had a balancing problem, Nymphadora. How I know you got it corrected, well you haven't tripped even once today." Tonks scowled at him. "Anyway, now for the reports. Does anyone have any comments about The High Inquisitor?"

"Albus, I am surprised at the amount of correct information they have been printing. The account of Sirius Black was very accurate. The Inquisitor surely has been anti-Ministry till date. I hope it stays that way." Arthur commented. "Minerva, do you know anything about this blood-quill usage by Umbridge during detentions?" All eyes turned towards the Gryffindor head of the house.

"I am not aware of any such torture sessions. Surely my students would have come to me." Minerva said.

Poppy Pompfrey gasped and everyone looked at her in anticipation. "I remember seeing a scar on Mr. Potter's hand which looked like his writing. Hermione did ask me for a rather large jar of Essence of Murtlap the next day."

Tonks raised her hand and Dumbledore acknowledged her. "I was in Madam Bones office today and she had a rather large file on her desk, a few pensive memories and photographs. I found one that had fallen down and picked it up, it looked like someone's scrawly handwriting on skin. It said, 'I must not tell lies'."

Everyone looked at her in abject horror. "What the hell has been going on at that school?" Dedalius Diggle questioned.

"I will get to the bottom of this. If it is indeed it is Mr. Potter, I need to know why he did not feel fit to inform one of the professors. What about the next report?" Albus enquired.

"Arthur and I are happy to invite you all to our new home. Our house warming party is on the fourth of next month. And the twins have withdrawn their applications to join the Order." Mrs. Weasley announced. "House warming?"... "New home?"... "Well, it is a surprise," declared Mrs. Weasley stopping all speculations.

"Congratulations Molly and Arthur! And yes, the twins are too young." Dumbledore smiled. "Severus, what can you tell us about this new potions company?"

Severus took a long sigh. "The potions that this company is selling is better than the best quality I have ever seen. I have received detailed documentation of the Arithmantic equivalents of all the 120 modified healing potions that they are selling. The Arithmantic equations are flawless. The potion would do exactly what it is supposed to do and does it very effectively with very minimal side effect. In fact they have a modified dreamless sleep potion that is non addictive and gives you better results." Madam Pompfrey gasped.

"The color, consistency, aroma and taste of each of those modified potions is very different from the original. When sometimes two potions have the same color, one was modified by adding a magically inert, muggle coloring agent to make each potion distinct. Some potions are fruity flavored, while others taste of chocolate, mint, etc. All potions come in single-dose short vials of excellent quality. The concentration of the potions is deliberately altered to ensure that a single dose of a potion is always 10 ml. The healers are going to love these potions because they now do not need to remember the dosage of each drug, it is always one vial - 10 ml. The patients are going to love these potions compared to the traditional ones."

"Arithmancy in Potions?" Snape sneered at that... "Wow!" "Flavored potions!" "Brilliant!"

"Severus, do you know who is behind this company?"

"I found out that Madam Marchbanks, Mrs. Andromeda Tonks and Mrs. Longbottom are part owners of the company. You all know that they hold masteries in potions and Mrs. Longbottom holds a mastery in Herbology and muggle chemistry. But according to the notes I have received, almost all the modifications were due to the combined effort of Ms. Greengrass, Ms. Davis and Mr. Longbottom. While Greengrass and Davis are passable students in my class, I don't see Longbottom contributing anything other than disaster to a potion." Snape sneered.

"Severus, you have seen the boy's OWL potions score, yet you insist that the boy is worthless at your subject." McGonagall defended her Gryffindor."Do you remember what his Boggart was?" Snape sneered in answer.

"I will have you know that Ms. Greengrass and Ms. Davis are on top of my class along with Ms. Granger. While Ms. Granger is interested in Arithmancy of curses and spells, I have always seen the former two with a potions book in hand." Septima Vector, the Arithmancy teacher spoke in the defense of her students.

"To successfully modify 120 potions for the better would mean 120 Potions Masteries between them! Don't you think Severus?" Moody sniggered, while the others had a smile on their faces. Severus was about to go on a rant when Dumbledore cut him off.

"Severus, do you know who their brewers and suppliers are? What about their pricing policy?"

"There are two logical inconsistencies that I cannot explain. One, I have acquired many vials of the same potion, but different batches. In fact, I acquired 36 vials of an aquamarine colored, minty flavored fever reducing potion all from different batches. There was hardly any difference between the Arithmantic equivalents. The standard deviation allowed is about +/- 1 unit. These potions have a standard deviation of a thousandth of what is allowed. I don't know how their brewers can brew so precisely and at such quantities as to supply to a fully functional hospital."

"The second logical inconsistency is their pricing policy. The cost per unit they are quoting is less than the cost of the ingredients of the unmodified potion. Either their modifications have reduced the price drastically, or they are deliberately taking a loss, which does not make any sense. What about compensation for the such high quality brewer's time?"

"Nymphadora, do you have any answers to these questions?" Dumbledore asked.

"I am sorry professor, I do not. You can't expect me to nose around to find out answers to these questions. I cannot betray my mother's trust."

"I have had a very uneasy sensation about something bad to come. I am afraid, I must insist, Nymphadora."

"Then professor, I quit the Order of the Phoenix. I cannot work for someone who does not bother about ethics. And I cannot work for someone who does not remember a simple request from me to not call me by that name." Tonks stood up and walked out purposefully stunning everyone.

Albus looked a the crowd with weary eyes. "Does anybody else feel the need to be dramatic today?" Nobody replied. "Does anybody else have something to add?"

"We do!" Professor Flitwick replied. He motioned to Septima Vector to continue. This was the first Order meeting that Ms. Vector was attending, having just been inducted into the Order. "I was on Summer vacation when two of my brilliant students send me a proposal for extra credit. As the topic encroached on my area and also that of Professor Flitwick, I asked them to contact him too. Before I give you the gist of their proposal, I hope I can trust the integrity of everyone assembled here as this will be patentable work?" She looked at everybody around the table and they all nodded.

"Do you know why people shudder when they hear the name 'Lord Voldemort'?" There were many gasps and screeches in the room. "Don't say that name, Woman!" Snape sneered.

"Hold your horses gentlemen! I have a point. My students petitioned the Department of experimental charms about charms that were invented and patented between 1935 and 1955. They found that 'Lord Voldemort'...", she waited for the shudders and gasps and was rewarded, "was indeed a charm. It was invented by Tom Riddle. When weak-minded people hear the charm, it induces a combination of a Boggart and Dementor type response in them. Since most death eaters worst memory is a Cruciatus curse, they feel the pain." Everybody gaped at Professor Vector at this revelation.

"Now comes the interesting part!" Professor Vector clapped her hands loudly breaking everyone out of their reverie. "My students have come up with a way to use the same mechanism for another purpose. The plan to use the phrase 'Merlin' for the charm" She grinned widely. Immediately, there was utter chaos at the table. "How dare they!" "Now, we have to fear Merlin!"

"Gentlemen! calm down! Let me explain. These two students want the phrase 'Merlin' to reinforce the Magical World Secrecy Act, so that any muggle not knowing about our world will only be reinforced that magic does not exist every time they hear the phrase 'Merlin'. And how many times do you use 'Merlin' as an exclamation? I think they wanted to use the phrase 'Jesus' too, but were afraid that they would face legal issues from religious fanatics later."

"Who are these brilliant students of yours?" Albus' eyes twinkled.

"Why of course it is Ms. Granger and Ms. Lovegood. They must have filed for a patent for the charm by now. We may probably read more about it in the High Inquisitor tomorrow." She winked. She looked at Moody and said, "They have invented a charm together, one more charm and they can apply for Charms Mastery." She smiled as Moody guffawed.

"That is brilliant. Any update from Gringotts?" Albus asked Bill.

"Fleur is not here today. The whole of last week, Fleur and Gabrielle were in some special training and it seems that the training was a success. They are now visiting the Veela Nation. I am not sure of the particulars as Veela are pretty tight lipped about Veela issues. "

"However, about Gringotts, there has been an unusual amount of activity lately. For anyone with less than 100,000 galleons in their vaults, the Goblins have made it compulsory to issue a Gringotts money pouch. The Goblins no longer encourage the customers to visit their vaults only to withdraw money. The Goblins claim that it improves security and frees personnel. The customers love it, as they do not have to interact with the Goblins, or waste time just for a withdrawal, or not take the cart ride. As some of you might know, the money bags are very useful. You can get the latest balance in your vault, a transaction summary, etc, by just wishing it. And for just 1 Galleon, instead of 50, it is dead useful."

"Any news about the werewolves?" Everybody shook their head. "About Mr. Potter?" Again everybody shook their head. "He seems to be very quiet these days." Mundungus replied.

"Minerva, do you have any news to report?" Dumbledore enquired.

"The Hogwarts letters to the first years have been sent out yesterday. The number of people who have responded are...", McGonagall referred to her self-updating parchment and paled. "194 till date."

"Did I hear you correctly Minerva? Did you say 194?" McGonagall just nodded in shock.

"And 189 of them are muggle-born! What is going on here?" McGonagall was getting worked up.

"Why don't you cross check the letters with the list that was sent out and let us know Minerva? We may have to call a board of Governors meeting day after tomorrow."

"Severus, any news about Tom?" Albus questioned.

"The Dark lord has not been happy since the fiasco at the Ministry of Magic. He was weakened when he tried to possess potter. Following that a few ago, he went into a magical exhaustion again. He has been weak and been on strengthening potions. He keeps muttering about wanting more followers, probably because many of his inner circle are now in Azkaban. So he might attempt to break them out. I also bring grave news about possible attacks tomorrow at noon on occasion of Potters birthday. These attacks are primarily to be on Potters friends, but I don't have any names."

"I was expecting that. Now that Tom has come out in the open, he wants to shock the world and tomorrow is as good as a day as any to make an announcement. We will try to keep an eye out and be ready to go and help tomorrow."

"Anybody else with any news?" Albus asked the crowd impatiently waiting to finish the meeting.

Hagrid raised his hand. Albus was surprised and asked him to speak. "The Acromantula have disappeared!" He declared.

"What do you mean Hagrid? How could so many Acromantulae have disappeared?" Albus asked. He has had too many unexpected revelations today.

"I don't know. I went to see how my old friend Aragog was doing. He is dying and not able to speak Human language. His bonded Mosag told me that all her children have left to find food." Everyone in the room paled. "We are talking about more than 400 hungry giant spiders, isn't it Hagrid?" Moody asked.

"Yes! And there are no signs of Unicorns. I met only a handful of Centaur warriors. Everyone else seems to have disappeared and I don't know where."

Albus looked at the chaos in the room and decided to call the meeting to a close. He hated it when he had no idea of what is happening out there. At least one thing consoled him. Mr. Potter was living in his Aunts house and not being an additional drain on the resources.