September, 1997
Because Blaise wasn't an idiot, he spent a good half hour of his train ride socializing with his housemates before heading off to find Ginny and Neville. He'd avoided Crabbe and Goyle since first year, and had distanced himself from Draco, Pansy, and Theodore since fifth—though, he'd noticed, Theodore seemed to be doing his own bit of distancing from the others. He had nothing against Tracey Davis or Sophie Roper, though, and was friendly enough with Niles Hanley and Chris Harper that he was comfortable enough joining their compartment, just long enough to be seen talking to them. He wasn't confident that he could maintain the illusion all year, or even much beyond that night, but that might be enough time to hear something important.
The trolley rolled around just as conversation shifted from small talk about summer activities to a discussion of classes, and Blaise made his excuses and ducked out the door behind the trolley witch, heading down the train toward the compartments usually filled by the Gryffindors.
In the second from the end, he found Ginny and Neville deep in conversation with Terry Boot, Luna Lovegood sitting with them, but staring out the window. She was clearly not unaware, however, because she turned as he approached and waved him in, the motion catching the attention of the others. Neville, who was closest to the door, opened it for him and carefully closed it behind him.
For a moment, Blaise reeled from the shift in tone from one compartment to another: he'd left behind a conversation filled with worries about academics and anecdotes from vacations, and it couldn't be more clear that he was about to enter one about going to war.
"I assume we're planning to get the DA back together?" Blaise asked, and Ginny's serious expression shifted to a wicked smile.
"Glad to hear that you're on the same page."
"We were just talking about the coins—do you have yours still?" Blaise pulled his Galleon out of his pocket to show Terry.
"Thought I might need it."
"Good. We can make more, of course, but it'll be helpful if some of them are set up already, so I can copy Granger's spellwork. I've got to look into re-keying it first, though, to make sure that we can send out messages on them."
"That's good, but it'll take time. We need action, right away. Even if it's just the five of us—six, if Daphne can get away to join us." Blaise paused, turning to Neville. "You spoke with her?"
"She told me her plan, and I let everyone know." Neville gestured around the compartment as he said this, as though being sure to let Blaise know that everyone wasn't actually everyone.
"Great. But the five or six of us have to do something in the next few days if we want to be seen as legitimate opposition. If we wait for something to be done, we're just reactionary; if we act before they do something, we're clearly setting ourselves against the established powers."
"Wouldn't that let them claim they were just responding, not instigating?" Neville sounded uncertain, but Blaise pressed on.
"Maybe, if they hadn't totally undermined Professor McGonagall's power by placing Snape as Head."
"If we're doing that, we should make it something that lets people know it's us—well, not us, but the DA. Give them a name that they can associate with whatever we do this year, and remind them of what the Death Eaters did at Hogwarts last year."
"What if we put up recruitment messages?" Ginny asked. "You know, 'Dumbledore's Army, still recruiting,' 'Dumbledore's Army, back in business,' things like that? Maybe we could figure out the charm that whoever it was used back in fourth year, with the decrees."
"That's good," Blaise agreed, "But the charm might have to wait for later—who knows how long it'll take to find."
Luna Lovegood turned to face the conversation for the first time since Blaise had come in.
"Oh, that shouldn't be difficult—I'm sure Adrian Pucey would tell us how he did it, as long as you have a way to contact him."
/
"Oh—hi." Adrian stopped at the door to the library, but Granger's answering smile encouraged him to continue in.
"Were you able to help Ginny with…well, whatever it was she was asking about?"
"Yeah, it was just a spell I've worked with, and they were wondering about the incantation and movement and everything." Hermione's brow furrowed.
"Worked with at the hospital?" she asked—and wasn't that idea fucked up, Adrian thought, that a bunch of kids might be asking him to teach them a healing spell in preparation for school—that it would be logical to ask it of him.
"Nah, just at school. Nothing to do with healing." Adrian had been thrown by the request—he'd been sure that no one apart from Andrew (and, he supposed, maybe Jack) had known the graffiti back in their seventh year had been his work. Learning that Luna Lovegood of all people had been the other person to have known had been even more confounding, particularly after her explanation that it had 'looked just like his magic during DA meetings,' whatever that meant. In the end, he'd walked them through it as well as possible via mirror call, giving Terry Boot the name of the book he'd found the spell in.
"Oh, that's good, then." Hermione looked uncertain of what else to say, and so they fell into a somewhat uncomfortable silence as Adrian scanned the shelves for texts on healing and she sank back into her reading, which appeared to be a runic dictionary. The note sheet next to her was incredibly messy and, if the noises of frustration she was making were any indication, inconclusive.
"Independent study work?" he asked finally, once it became apparent that she wasn't finding whatever it was that she was looking for, and that he would be hearing about it—albeit unintentionally—until she did. Her eyes shot up, taking a moment to focus on him.
"Well…yes, I suppose. I found this symbol in a book, and I've heard of two different instances of it being used, but I don't have details for either of them, so I just can't understand what it means." She sounded as though the fact infuriated her, and Adrian did his best to hold back a grin at her expense, knowing it wouldn't be appreciated.
"I took all the years of Runes, if you want me to take a look," he offered, and after a moment of looking torn, Granger sketched a symbol in the lower corner of her notes sheet and turned it toward him.
Adrian sucked in a breath as he saw it, glancing up at Hermione.
"I assume one of the answers you've already gotten is that this is the mark of Grindelwald?" he asked, and she nodded. "I don't suppose that your book was a history of the war in the forties, was it?"
"No, it was…it was just a book of children's stories." Adrian had grown up hearing stories about Grindelwald's rule, about his ideals and his goals, and none of them quite aligned with something you'd associate with a children's story.
"You don't happen to have the book with you?" Hermione hesitated once more, as though she was weighing the decision, and then pointed her wand into her bag and summoned a book to her hand. Adrian blinked at the little beaded clutch, bemused.
"That's a neat extension charm, Granger," he told her, honestly impressed.
"Oh—I suppose so," she was obviously pleased by the compliment, but didn't see anything extraordinary about the spell itself. It reminded him of when she'd given them the coins at the beginning of the DA, and Boot had been shocked at her execution of the Protean charm. Hermione Granger was, he realized in that moment more than ever, an exceptionally good witch, walking proof that the blood purity the Death Eaters supported was absolutely baseless.
"It's here." Adrian immediately recognized the book as a collection of Beedle the Bard—the Tale of Three Brothers had been one of his favorites growing up—and his eyes slid from the story's title to the symbol drawn above it, identical to the way Hermione had recreated it, he found a memory of the connection between the two.
"What was the other way you saw it being used, apart from as Grindelwald's mark?"
"Oh—Luna's father was wearing it at Bill's wedding. And I can't imagine that Mr. Lovegood would be supporting Grindelwald."
"No," Adrian agreed, "but if he's anything like Luna I'd just bet that he believes in the Deathly Hallows."
"The what?" Adrian tapped the mark.
"It's what the mark means. It's an old legend, and from what I've heard, no one really believed it even before Grindelwald started going around using its mark as his own. My grandfather told me about it once, because he knew I loved the story." He glanced over at Hermione. "You have read the story?"
"Yes, but I don't see how the mark has anything to do with it."
"It's meant to represent the gifts from Death: line for wand, circle for stone, triangle for cloak." He paused at the last, shaking his head. "I never really got why the cloak was a triangle. Anyway, the legend says that the story's real, and that those three things—the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and a true Cloak of Invisibility—are actually out there. Of course, most people think it's absolutely bonkers, but I wouldn't put it past Luna's dad. It's no more impossible than a Crumple-horned…whatever the creature she's always talking about is called."
"No, I suppose it isn't." Hermione looked thoughtful, but more in a 'cataloging-new-information' way than a 'believing-this-is-real' one. She was, Adrian had been coming to find out these past few weeks, a great deal like him. "I should tell Ron and Harry I've found it—they might come ask you questions."
"Honestly, I don't know anything more than I've told you. You might try asking a portrait or two around here, they'd probably be more help than I would."
"That's if they agree to talk to us," Hermione pointed out, and Adrian acknowledged the point. "But it's a good idea, anyway. The Order could use another person who can come up with good ideas."
It was so blunt, so without apology, that Adrian almost groaned aloud. Forget anything he'd said about them being similar: Granger was all Gryffindor, below the deceptively Ravenclaw-like exterior.
"I'm sure they could," he agreed mildly. "Probably why they still don't want Potter and Weasley to come in as full members. They're missing out without you, though."
He'd never been a part of the argument, but he'd heard about it essentially every time the Order of the Phoenix had met in Grimmauld Place. Theoretically, the trio was being kept out of the Order's skirmishes because of their side project, but Adrian was pretty sure that wasn't Molly Weasley's only motivation. They all attended meetings, but they were never the ones in the field.
"They're missing out without you, too."
He'd opened the door for the barb himself, really, but that didn't mean it stung any less.
/
"We've got a name!" Alicia sounded delighted as she waved the day's edition of the Prophet around, describing the article as everyone began looking over at her. "It's all on about how there are 'potentially dangerous escapees' and that anyone with information should let the Ministry know, and then right at the end, they say that everyone should be careful, because they're not sure when 'Great Britain's Ghosts' will strike again."
Marietta looked over her shoulder to see the line for herself, Alicia adjusting her hold on the paper to show her.
"The Ghosts is a lot cooler sounding than the Guard," Gil piped up, grinning.
"It's more than that," Jack added, looking thoughtful. "They've given us a name, which gives us an identity. Gives the people someone to think about when they're thinking about resistance to the Death Eaters' Ministry. We've got to capitalize on it, figure out a way to leave a calling card somehow—one that can't be traced back to us."
Rissa had the paper now, Marietta saw, and her lips were pressed together tightly.
"You said they saw you, at the Ministry?" she asked Andrew.
"Yeah, Yaxley did."
"Do you think that's been spread around?"
"I'd assume Denmore knows," Andrew sounded bitter, and Marietta made a note to check in with him. "And others who are up in the Ministry. Why, is my name in there?"
"No," Rissa said, her flat voice in stark contrast to Andrew's attempt at humor. "I just thought that might explain it. Like Jack said, we've basically been handed an identity on a silver platter. knowing someone's fighting back—successfully, and for ordinary people…" she shrugged, passing the paper over to Andrew. "I can't imagine they're happy with her, is all." Andrew's expression tightened as he registered what Rissa was talking about. Marietta hadn't even read the name of the article's author, but she only knew of one journalist who Rissa would be so worried about.
Jack, glancing at the paper over Andrew's shoulder, confirmed her suspicions.
"I'm sure Scarlett knows what she's doing," he said to Rissa, who looked unconvinced. "But let's not waste her work. I'll call the twins, see if we can't get the name on Potterwatch. Lee was still running the numbers, last I heard from them, but their listener count was already high, and steadily growing. Maybe you can talk about it?" he asked, making eye contact with Marietta.
"Yeah, if Lee doesn't handle it," Marietta agreed—she'd already been scheduled to go on about the Taboo the Death Eaters had put on You-Know-Who's name, and adding one extra bit shouldn't push things too much.
A few days later, sitting in the twins' apartment with them and Lee, she felt as though she was sinking back to old times, when she would pass them an article to weave underneath the writing in the Hogwarts Herald.
"Greetings, Great Britain! It's a new week and another announcement that, despite their best efforts, our new ministry has not brought in Harry Potter. In fact, as you may have heard, they've lost track of a few muggleborns, thanks to friends of Potterwatch known as Great Britain's Ghosts—though I have it on good authority that they prefer just going by 'the Ghosts,' as it's less of a mouthful. A bit ironic that the Death Eaters aren't able to do anything about Ghosts—you'd think it would be a requirement for the title—but we all knew they weren't any good at their jobs anyhow."
Lee went on for a bit, reading through a list of missing Muggleborns and other witches and wizards who'd gone on the run or been taken, and then had the twins pop in for the show's titular segment. Finally, as the show was winding down, Lee motioned her over to enter the range of the transmission equipment.
"Now, a special report from a new correspondent, Raven." Marietta rolled her eyes at the name, and Lee just grinned at her. "Raven, what've you got for us?"
"Well, River, as many of our listeners have probably heard, the Death-Eater-in-Chief has decided that no one is allowed to say his name. I'm honestly not sure why he's so against people being able to call him the name he gave himself, because I'll bet it took a while for him to come up with, but he seems very against it. First there was the business with 'You-know-who' and 'He-who-must-not-be-named' and all, and now he's gone and actually made it Taboo."
"I understand the instinct of wanting to cover up embarrassing school-day nicknames, but a Taboo does seem extreme. For those listeners who don't know, placing a Taboo on a word means that if anyone says it, the holder of that Taboo will be notified, and most wards weaker than a Fidelius or Blood wards will be torn down to let them into your location."
"In other words, we'd recommend you shy away from saying You-know-who's nickname."
"In its place, we at Potterwatch have compiled a list for you to consider using. The classics which Raven mentioned are, of course, still viable."
"My friends are big fans of Moldy Voldy, though I find the rhyme a bit kitschy."
"I think it's good, though I'm inclined towards that git myself. Other friends of Potterless lean toward Tom or Riddle, though we haven't tried saying those together and therefore can't recommend it in good conscience. You may also choose Tommy, Tombo, Thoms, or some other diminutive—the most important thing is to have fun with it, and to smile at the knowledge that he'd hate whatever it is you're saying. As always, keep each other safe, keep faith, and support Harry Potter by choosing an absolutely rotten nickname for that git we can't properly talk about anymore. Until next time, when the password will be 'Wulfric'!" Lee shut off the transmission equipment, grinning from ear to ear.
"You're good at this," Marietta commented, and he turned the grin on her.
"I've had years of commentating to prepare for it. Just glad the word's gotten out. We're having to be pretty careful with it so that no one can trace the signal back to us—usually do it out of Order Headquarters, but everyone's a bit on edge about safety there."
Marietta wasn't sure why everyone in the Order was on edge about safety, but she didn't love the sound of that. Still, it sounded like something not to press.
"Do you have any ideas about what's happening with the missing Muggleborns?"
"We've heard some reports, but we don't have a complete understanding yet—we're planning a segment on it for next week. Right now, we know that there are groups they're calling 'Snatchers,' and that they're hunting down the Muggleborns on the run. As far as the Twins' dad can tell, they're also the ones who respond to the Taboo notices, which is what we're waiting to find out about. We can't exactly test it out, though."
"We'll let you know if we hear anything," Marietta promised. "Ced and Andrew have been talking about next steps, and I think they're planning to lead anyone who's willing out to try to make contact with some of your people on that list."
"Have you found a new place?" Lee asked, and it was Marietta's turn to grin.
"In a manner of speaking—though you can't breathe a word of this to anyone. We had to move out of Rissa's place because her parents were coming back for the winter, and that got us thinking: what's happening with all of those places that the Purebloods are leaving behind for the winter? Between Andrew and Rissa and Jake, they were able to come up with seven houses that they know are only used in the summer and don't have house elves around, and Jake and Corrie looked at them and feel confident about being able to slip through the wards on maybe four of them. They've been out every day to work on them, and they reckon they're pretty close with one, which will be enough to drop off the Muggleborns we've got with us. As it is, we've all been moving around about twice a week, and it's exhausting to try and keep track of everyone."
"So you're using the purebloods against themselves—I love it."
"So does Andrew," Marietta agreed, grinning at Lee. "One of the houses belongs to his Uncle."