Ch 6

Victoria spent most of her waking hours that she wasn't working in Flourish and Blotts. She couldn't get enough of all of the books they had there. She'd never seen any place like it. The library at her old school was good, but it was lacking in some areas.

It was while she was there one afternoon, wandering through the transfiguration section that she saw a flyer on one of the walls advertising a flat for rent. Looking over the small flyer she was amazed to see that it was directly above the bookstore. Immediately getting excited she went to the front of the store to enquire about the place. It was mere moments later when she was handing Mr. Flourish enough Galleons to pay for the first month and she was handed the keys.

The first night she spent in her new place she had a hard time sleeping. Thoughts seemed to flood her mind as she closed her eyes. She couldn't stop thinking about how well things were going for her. Yes, it was true that she wasn't any closer to finding her parents than she'd been back in the States, but the simple fact of being here was a comfort to her. She was happier than ever. She loved her job at the Leaky Cauldron, waiting tables, filling in as a bartender now and then, and meeting so many kinds of people. She realized a few days after she'd started that she'd learned more about various creatures here than in all her years of taking DADA.

Sirius would come to visit her a few times a week and occasionally Remus would join him. Victoria had become very good friends with the two rather odd men. Sirius mostly just a charming flirt, but she'd come to realize that there was more to him than met the eye. There were times, especially when he was drunk, that she noticed a look in his eye, somewhat akin to loneliness. It was something that she still couldn't quite understand from a man who had friends as close as he had, but it was still there. Remus on the other hand was still very kind to her, but it was harder to get him to open up. She knew it had to be hard for him being a werewolf, but she hoped someday that he could enough to let her in. The Wolfsbane seemed to help him though she'd made it for him twice now. He always stopped in the day after his transformation to thank her again for making the complex potion for him, and he was looking much better than he had the night she'd first seen him.

One thought seemed to nag at her as she laid there. It was something so innocuous that it wouldn't have bothered anyone else, but it had been on her mind since the first time Sirius had taken her around Diagon Alley. It was what Mr. Ollivander had said when he was looking at her old wand. Small things that added together to make her think that he knew more than he was letting on, between the comment about it being her mother's wand, and knowing her name without saying anything. What really made her think about it was the way he said "the wand chooses the witch". She'd heard it said before about wands, but it was the look he had as he said it, like he was keeping a secret. She didn't know why it had bothered her so much, but she decided that she needed to talk to him again.

The next day she didn't have to be at work until 5 again, so after lunch she made her way down the back stairs from her flat, a nice little feature that meant she didn't have to go through the shop every time she went home. She made her way down the street to Ollivander's relatively quickly. As she opened the door she noticed that again she was the only one in the shop and started to wonder if this was common. She looked around the dusty shop filled with boxes realizing how quiet the place was, almost eerie with an odd tingle of secret magic. Suddenly Mr. Ollivander was standing behind the desk, his silvery eyes almost looking through her as he smiled, "Ah Miss Knight, I didn't expect to see you here so soon. No troubles with the wand I hope."

"Oh, the wand is great Mr. Ollivander," she smiled stepping closer to the counter. "You were right; it works much better for me. I wish I would have had it for my tests back home."

"I'm glad to hear it."

She swallowed hard, trying to give herself another second to come up with the words for what she wanted to say. "Mr. Ollivander," she started warily, not entirely sure if he would answer her question, "how did you know that the old wand was my mother's?"

He smiled at her again, this time as if he were placating a small child, "As I said before, the wand chooses the witch Miss Knight."

"I understand that, but how did you know it was hers?"

"It's simple; your mother got her first wand from me."

"She got her first wand from you?"

"That's correct. As I never forget a wand that I've sold, I never forget the witch or wizard that bought it."

"You knew my mother?"

"Yes, my dear. Your mother, Shannon, is a very gifted witch. She came to me as with many others for her first wand when she was 11. It was ebony and unicorn tail hair 11 inches, as I remember even then she was showing signs of being a true seer."

Victoria was floored, she knew that her parents were from England originally, but she never knew that they had been here.

After a minute of silence he continued on, "Although you are a very powerful witch as well, I see different things in you. It's strange. You see, normally if someone has a parent who has the sight they get it themselves, but I see none of it in you."

A small smile crept to her face, "There's a simple reason for that."

"I dare say there is." He smiled at her knowingly.

She knew that there was nothing more that she was going to get from the older man. Thanking him she left the store. She wasn't sure what she felt at that moment. Talking with Mr. Ollivander made her think about her adoptive parents, something she hadn't done much since she'd moved to London. She did love her parents, but she was still mad at them for not telling her the truth. She sighed as she walked back down the road back to Flourish and Blotts. She had a few more hours before her shift so what better way was there to kill a few hours.

…

That night as Victoria was working in the Leaky Cauldron Sirius and Remus came in. A wide smile crossed Sirius's face as he saw her and both men waved as they took up seats at the bar. She finished cleaning off a table quickly and then came up to them. "It's great to see you guys tonight. I thought you said you couldn't get in for a few days?"

Remus nodded, "We got done with our mission early."

"Mission?" she asked curiously, "What are you guys spies?"

They shared a look for a moment, and then Sirius looked back at her, "Well…"

Remus cut him off, "Sirius I really think we should talk this over with… the others before we tell her."

"Remus who is she going to tell?" Sirius countered, looking infuriated.

"The girl works in a pub. Think about how many people could potentially know if she let it slip."

"Do you really trust her so little?" Sirius studied his friend, amazed at his reaction. "She is the one who makes you Wolfsbane for Merlin's sake. If she really wanted to harm you it would have been easy."

Remus was still not backing down, "That's a completely different thing. This is a huge secret, and you and I are not the only ones who would be affected by us saying anything."

Victoria rolled her eyes, putting her hands up in surrender, "It's okay I really don't need to know, I was just joking."

Neither of the men seemed to even notice that she had said anything. Sirius countered again, "Yes there are others involved, but why couldn't she be? She could help us out as well."

Remus seemed curious now, "What do you mean?"

"How many people do we have set up in different areas around England?"

Remus contemplated, "Quite a few. There are some in the Ministry, most of the staff at Hogwarts, we have one at the Daily Prophet, and of course one at the Hogs Head. I'm sure that there are others that we don't know about."

"Yes, but this is one of the few places we couldn't get anyone." Sirius explained crossing his arms in front of his chest, "Tom had a full staff when we tried. There was no way he could take anyone on, but now we have her. It's perfect she's already here."

Remus looked from his friend to the girl in front of them. He seemed to consider what Sirius had said. "I agree that it would be helpful to have someone here, but I do think we need to discuss it with the others before we say anything."

Sirius finally conceded, "Alright, we'll talk to them first."

Victoria continued to look at the men as if they'd gone insane. Deciding that she didn't need to know what they were talking about for the time being she shook her head, "So what can I get you guys?"

"Just a Butterbeer for me thanks." Remus smiled at her kindly.

"I'll take a Firewhisky." Sirius answered leaning back on his stool.

Victoria's eyes lit up as he said those words, "Firewhisky! That reminds me, I wanted to show you something." She took a glass from behind the bar and poured some water into it. Both men looked at her curiously, but she just smiled and took out her wand. She pointed it at the glass and suddenly the liquid started on fire. Startled they both backed as far away from the glass as their stools would allow. They watched as the liquid was quickly consumed by the fire, until it reached the bottom of the glass. As the flame was about to hit the bottom it was suddenly gone and the glass was nothing more than a heap of sand, but underneath the sand a small piece of parchment could be seen. The men looked at each other curiously, finally Remus reached cautiously into the heap of sand and picked up the parchment. As he did the sand disappeared and he read the paper it said: "Thought I'd show you my new favorite piece of transfiguration. I just learned it today. – Victoria"

He smiled and handed the parchment to Sirius, "That is a great trick."

She smiled setting down their drinks, "I thought so. I came across it this afternoon and have been dying to try it out."

Sirius looked from the small paper to Victoria, "You've never done this before?"

She shrugged, "Nope, just thought it sounded like fun."

Sirius looked back at his best friend, "Moony, you know this could come in really handy."

Remus nodded, "I agree, but we still need to talk it over."

Sirius sighed, knowing it was a lost cause. Both men set into their drinks and easy conversation with their new friend.

…

A few nights later Sirius and Remus came into the pub again, this time another man followed them. The three sat at a booth in the back corner, away from the other patrons. "Good evening gentlemen. What can I get for you?" Victoria asked kindly, looking over the stranger. He had a long beard and hair to match, both of which were starting to show gray through the auburn that had originally been there. He smiled up at her his half-moon glasses glinting in the candle light. When he looked up she saw his brilliant blue eyes, the exact shade of hers and she smiled back.

"Good evening," the new man said, "are you Miss Knight?"

"I am," she looked curiously at him, "but please call me Victoria."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." He stuck out his hand.

"It would be if I knew your name." she said taking his hand.

"My apologies," he laughed lightly, "I am Albus Dumbledore." He released her hand.

"Well then it is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Dumbledore."

"Actually it is Professor, but please call me Albus."

"Professor?" she asked, "You're a teacher?"

"Yes, at least I was. I am now the Headmaster at Hogwarts." His eyes twinkled as he smiled.

"Wow, impressive."

He laughed, "Perhaps, but I sometimes miss simply being a professor."

She nodded, "Both of my parents are teachers back home."

"Is that so?" He asked, genuinely interested.

"Yeah, my mom teaches Divination and my dad teaches Care of Magical Creatures. They both work at the North American Academy of Magical Arts."

"I have never been to the Academy, but I have heard great things."

She smiled, "Well I'm sure it's not as good as Hogwarts, but we get by."

He laughed, "You do not need to talk badly about your school on my account."

"No, there are just some things that I wish we would have learned better, but it is what it is." She shrugged then changed the subject, "So gentlemen can I get you anything to drink?"

Sirius and Remus who had remained silent until that moment both put in their normal orders of Butterbeer and Firewhisky, Albus decided on an oak-mured mead. She left to get the drinks. She couldn't make out what they were saying but could tell that they were talking about her as she walked away.

When she came back with their orders Albus asked, "Do you have a moment? There is something that I would like to ask you."

She looked around the nearly empty pub. It was late in the evening so the dinner crowd had already left. Only two other tables were left and both of which were still full on their drinks. "Sure." She answered taking a seat next to Sirius who'd scooted over to make room for her.

Albus took a sip of his drink then started, "Miss Knight, I would like to ask a favor of you. A great favor. This is not something to take lightly, so I will not be offended in the least if you decline."

She looked curiously at him as she watched him take another sip of his drink, waiting for him to continue. "Ask away."

"I do not know if you have heard, but there is a dark wizard who has been causing some trouble for the last few years."

She nodded, "I've heard something like that. Some people around here have been talking about someone, but they all refer to him as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"The name he goes by, to his followers anyway is Lord Voldemort. He has a following that they call the Death Eaters. He has been the cause of quite a few mysterious disappearances and many more unspeakable things."

"What can I do?" she asked.

"We have started an organization called the Order of the Phoenix to try and stop this Dark Lord and his followers. We would like you to join our group."

She looked up at him in surprise, "How could I help?"

"We would like you to do exactly what you have been doing. We want you to remain working here, but keep an eye out."

She remained quiet for a moment. She knew that she wanted to help out with their effort, but she was slightly afraid of getting involved. She mentally shook herself, it wasn't like her to back away from a challenge and she wasn't about to start now that it really mattered, "I'll do anything I can to help."

Albus and Remus smiled, Sirius threw his arm around her shoulders looking at Remus, "See we should have told her that night."

She shook her head, "I'm glad you talked it over with everyone else."

Changing the subject Remus spoke up, "Victoria, I told Professor Dumbledore about your trick."

"Ah yes." He smiled looking up at her in amusement. "I would like to see it if you do not mind."

"Certainly." She smiled taking Sirius's glass from him causing him to call out trying to get it back from her. She ignored him placing the glass as far away from him as she could and pointing her wand at it. Within seconds the glass was gone and Albus held a small piece of parchment in his hands.

His eyes twinkled as he looked back up at her after reading it, "You are most welcome my dear."

"What?" Sirius asked childishly, "What does it say?"

Albus shook his head slightly handing the paper to the younger man. Sirius read it, and then hugged her. "Of course we trust you."

Remus nodded, "You are the one who makes the potion for me."

"I said that last time." Sirius argued.

"I know, and I didn't disagree with you then. I just said we needed to talk to the others."

She shook her head in amusement, extricating herself from Sirius's arm, "I'm sorry gentlemen, but I really do need to get back to work."

"Certainly," Albus nodded understandingly, "there will be others coming in to ask for information over the next few weeks. When anyone asks for a drink called the "Flaming Phoenix" you will know it is one of us. Simply use your spell here and give them any information you have at the time."

"I think I can do that." She smiled. "I'm sorry guys, I'll be back later."

The men continued to talk over Order business as they finished their drinks. When Victoria finished with the other tables she noticed that all three were gone, but there was money left on the table along with the same piece of parchment as earlier. As she picked it up this time however, it read: "Thank you for putting your trust in us." She smiled picking up the parchment and tucking it into the pocket of her robes. Once again she felt like this was where she was supposed to be.