Chapter 129
The Resistance Begins
Note from J.M. Jackson: So, one thing you'll notice from this chapter is that a lot of history has been added, and altered from canon, because there's so much that could have been done, and maybe should have been done. We're hoping you'll enjoy the story as the resistance against Voldemort begins.
Two weeks had passed since the wedding, and the attack, and every day brought more dark news for Lily and the group. So far, the public had been told that Rufus Scrimgeour had resigned, due to stress and anxiety, and so Pius Thicknesse, his longtime friend and Deputy Minister, had taken over the role of Minister for Magic. The news had reached them that day, with Lily reading the previous evening's paper to the group, and Rufus, who had brought the paper so they could see the news.
"Rufus is a dear friend, and I hope, in time, he will be ready to return to his role as Minister for Magic. In the meantime, I remain dedicated to keeping not only the Ministry safe, but also our country. Over the next two weeks, there are going to be a number of changes made, for the betterment of our people, and for the safety of our children," Lily read aloud, as she sat back in her armchair in the living room.
"No wonder people believe him; it sounds nice and pretty," Hermione scoffed, as she finished her jam on toast.
"I don't understand why people aren't seeing the truth. I mean, some of these planned changes, including a 'Muggleborn' register, don't make sense," Ron replied.
"It's all about perception, Ron," Rufus replied. "One life lesson you'll learn is many of the truth's we cling to depend greatly on our own points of view."
Lily chuckled softly at that comment. "What's funny?" Ron asked. "He's not wrong."
"No, he's not, but he's been watching Star Wars with Uncle Sirius," Lily replied. "That's Return of the Jedi, right?"
"It's a good movie," Rufus confirmed, smiling at her. "But the lesson is true. There are a lot of truths in life that will depend on perspective and points of view. From You-Know-Who's perspective, he's taking over the Ministry to make the wizarding world better for everyone, with him in charge. From ours, he's doing this for the wrong reasons, and the wrong way. For us, he's wrong, but his followers, and he, believes he isn't."
"Which is how they sleep at night, killing innocent people, because anyone not with them is against them, right?" Lavender asked.
"Exactly," Rufus agreed. "Right now, the muggles have no idea what's happening. I don't know what his plans are for muggles, but they can't be good."
"You said about some of the attackers at the wedding being muggles who were given magic? How does that work?" Lily asked.
"It's an old spell. About a thousand years ago, before Hogwarts was founded, there were those who felt that the whole world should be nothing but magical people and beings, but not for dark reasons, purely because they felt the world would be better. This was in the period of time known by Muggles as the Dark Ages," Rufus explained.
"When culture and science declined, and people gave in to superstition and muggle religion grew and spread quickly. So, it was felt that magical people would do better in control, and certain witches and wizards tried to find a way to imbibe muggles with magic. It was found to be possible, but it was dangerous, and many muggles were killed in the attempts," Rufus continued.
"When were they stopped? The people behind it?" Draco asked, finishing his juice.
"They were stopped by the founders of Hogwarts, who felt that the rise of the belief that the world should be entirely magical was down to a lack of consistent education and beliefs, so they first approached the group, and asked them to stand down, before explaining their plan to create a school where young witches and wizards could be taught in the same manner as each other, creating an outstanding educational system. Now, the group, known as The Eternal Circle, agreed to this plan, on the condition that students were not taught about any form of religion, and were taught of equality. This was accepted by the four. Like I said, the Eternal Circle weren't bad people, though some would see them that way for the number of muggles they sacrificed. They wanted to do the right thing, but wrong thing done for the right reason is still the wrong thing," Rufus continued.
"But now Vol… Riddle knows about this, he's going to start trying to bring it back?" Lily asked. "If that's the case, why have a Muggleborn register?"
"Power, for one," Hermione replied.
"Plus, anyone who is given magic will still be treated as a lower class citizen, but muggles won't exist anymore. After that, who knows what Riddle will do," Pansy added.
"That's what we think, yes," Rufus agreed. "But the people are currently supporting Pius, so it's going to be difficult to rise up against him."
"And anyone who does suspect is going to be in the minority, right?" Fleur asked.
"Very likely. People might whisper about it, but it'll never be more than that," Rufus said, as Sirius, Remus, and Angeline arrived.
"Morning," Sirius greeted, giving Lily a hug when he walked in. "Kreacher, is there any breakfast left?"
"Yes, Master Sirius, Kreacher will fetch some now. Please, sit down, be comfortable, all of you," Kreacher replied, bowing before heading off towards the kitchen.
"We just got todays paper, and it's not good news," Remus said, opening it up, and showing the front page, which was of Snape. "It seems that Severus has been 'officially cleared' in the murder of Albus Dumbledore, and now the Auror's want to speak with Lily, who is their chief suspect."
"WHAT?" Lily demanded angrily.
"Lily cub, deep breaths," Sirius said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We suspected Mouldy Shorts would do something to turn people against you, remember?"
"But this?" Ginny asked. "What crap are they saying?"
"That Lily was being taught by Dumbledore, and the lessons went wrong, so she panicked, and blamed Snape, who, it was well documented, was the target of a grudge from Lily, due to her parents not liking him," Remus explained calmly.
"And people are buying it?" Ginny scoffed, as Lily was gripping the arms of her chair.
"Unfortunately, yes," Remus said. "But it gets worse. Severus has also been named the new headmaster of Hogwarts."
"Are you kidding me? What are they saying about Aunt Minnie?" Lily asked.
"That she retired, having been a teacher for a long time, and wanting to take a nice rest from teaching," Sirius said. "Your Aunt was not happy about that. She… well, I'm not sure where she is, but she said she had something she needed to do."
"Did she say what?" Lily asked.
"Ask her yourself," Draco said, pointing out the window, where Minerva had appeared, and was walking to the door.
"Aunt Minnie! Are you okay?" Lily asked, getting up and hugging her.
"I will be, Lily, don't you worry," Minerva said. "Though I'm going to be rather busy for some time now."
"Oh?" Lily asked, seeing a book in Minerva's hands.
"Wait, is that what I think it is?" Rufus asked, frowning.
"Merely a copy. I wasn't about to let Snape destroy the hopes of all these children," Minerva replied.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked, confused.
"You hadn't been told yet?" Minerva asked.
"Not yet," Rufus replied. "I was getting to that part."
"What part?" Lily demanded, looking at them.
"It's been said that any Muggleborn student must be registered on the Muggleborn register before they can attend Hogwarts, and attendance is compulsory. They're saying that with the dangerous teachings in the past, it's time every young witch and wizard was taught in the manner that the founders intended," Minerva replied.
"Which is Riddle's way of getting rid of anyone he doesn't deem worthy," Lily snarled angrily.
"Aye, but I'm going to get to those students first. Barty Crouch and I have created an underground school area, where we'll be teaching the Muggleborn students, and keeping them away from Snape. There aren't many who would be deemed… unworthy," Minerva practically forced the last word out, which Lily understood perfectly. She could see how angry Minerva was, and she shared that anger. "I know which students would be removed from the list, thanks to a little spell work, and a few contacts at the Ministry."
"Be careful, Aunt Minnie," Lily said.
"Minerva, with your permission, I'd like to join you, and help you get those students. We should begin today," Rufus said, standing up, as Kreacher and Dobby brought in breakfast for Angeline, Sirius, and Remus, who sat at the dining table with their food.
"Miss Minerva, would you like some breakfast?" Dobby asked.
"No, thank you Dobby, I'm not staying," Minerva replied. She knelt in front of Lily's chair. "Lily, I'm not likely going to be able to see you for a while," Minerva began. "But I want you to know that I love you very much, and I am so very proud of you."
"Thank… thank you, Aunt Minnie," Lily said, tears in her eyes as she sniffed softly. She wrapped her arms around Minerva, holding onto her. "I love you too, and I'll keep making you proud," she said softly.
"Of that, I have no doubt," Minerva smiled as she replied. "Just be safe, and don't let hate, anger, or fear win."
"Never," Lily promised. "And we'll see each other again, I know we will."
"Too right," Minerva agreed, smiling as she stood up. "All of you, look after yourselves, and be careful, and safe."
"We will," Ginny promised, followed by everyone promising the same. Lily watched as Minerva and Rufus left the house, disapparating nearby.
"She'll be okay, Lily, don't worry," Sirius assured her, smiling. "If there's anyone that Mouldy Shorts should be afraid of, it's your aunt when she's pissed off."
"I'm just glad we're here together, and we've got a safe place to be," Lily admitted. "I thought we'd be apart for the rest of the year whilst we searched for the Horcruxes."
"There is no way your Uncle Remus or I would let you do this alone. Hell, no one in their right mind would let you do this alone. You may be the chosen one, according to prophecy, but that doesn't mean you can't have help," Sirius said.
"He's right, Lily," Ginny said. "I would never want to go back to Hogwarts without you there, if you were out saving the world."
"Thank you, both of you. Hell, all of you. I'm lucky to have you with me," Lily said, smiling. Her smile then faded. "Only downside to things being the way they are is we can't exactly go looking in Gringotts now, can we?"
"No, but we'll find a way to get that place searched," Remus replied, as he took a bite of his toast. "There's always a solution; we just have to be patient and find it."
"Not like we have anything more pressing to do, so we'll manage this," Ron pointed out, as he finished stretching. "Lavender and I will be back shortly."
"Going for a jog again?" Lily asked.
"I have to admit, it's kinda refreshing, going for a morning run. I see why Lavender loved doing it at Hogwarts," Ron admitted.
"And you're building up some more muscles," Lavender added, smiling as she put a hand on Ron's chest, which made him blush.
"Well, have fun, be careful, the usual," Lily said, as Ron and Lavender headed out of the cottage. The protection spells had been extended around the forest, so no one wanted to come near it. It was in the middle of nowhere anyway, with no houses anywhere nearby. Thanks to the trace having been lifted from everyone in the group, there was no way they'd be able to be detected by the Ministry.
"He's working out a lot more lately," Sirius noted.
"Yeah, I think he's going a little stir crazy, since we don't actually have a plan yet, or an idea where to search, but maybe we should do something to try and help the people Riddle's been targeting," Lily suggested. "Is there somewhere hidden we could hide hundreds of people?"
"Actually, Crouch has been working on that, and we've got a few spies in the Ministry. So far, Thicknesse has been pushing his propaganda through the Prophet, though we're kinda hoping to find out more of his plans soon. Apparently, he keeps things close to his chest. His Deputy Minister, sadly, is Yaxley, who we know is a Death Eater," Remus explained.
"Do we know much about the Muggleborn registry?" Hermione asked, as she finished her morning tea.
"Not much. A couple of people have vanished from public view, but since there's no news about it, people don't know or don't really care. There's a new wandmaker in Diagon Alley, and obviously Fred and George's shop was shut down, and given to Zonko's. The owner of Zonko's, however, is on our side, so we know a little about Diagon Alley," Sirius replied.
"That's something, at least. Still, there's gotta be a way to let everyone know what's really going on," Lily mused.
"Nothing concrete, but we'll find a way," Angeline said. "Like Remus said, we just have to be patient."
"I know. I just feel… well, useless, if I'm honest," Lily admitted.
"A feeling I know all too well," Sirius remarked. "But we're making some progress, at least, in terms of gathering information."
"In the meantime, I'm going to keep researching Slytherin's tomb. There're some ancient records I found, and there are, thankfully, enough conspiracy theorists on the internet have been researching tombs of myths and legends, and there are several witches and wizards who use the internet to communicate, since Riddle doesn't really consider the Internet to be a threat. I doubt he even knows what it is," Hermione said.
"No, he probably doesn't, which gives us an advantage. Let's face it, we've got the advantage because we know of the muggle world, we've lived in it and it's our home turf. That means we can set whatever trap we want, and we can move the pieces where we need them to be," Lily agreed.
"I won't lie, I've considered getting some muggle weapons to use against Mouldy Shorts," Sirius said. "I doubt he knows what a gun is, or how to stop it."
"What's a gun?" Draco asked.
"It's a weapon made by muggles, mostly used to kill each other, or animals. They use them in their world wars. They fire a small metal projectile which pierces a person's body, and can tear through their organs, killing them instantly, much like the killing curse, just… well, messier," Remus explained. "Using gunpowder as an accelerant, it's dangerous, and some can be designed to be fired from a great distance."
"Seriously?" Draco asked, his eyes widening. "I mean… damn, that's…"
"Yeah, muggles found inventive ways to kill each other. Poison, blades, guns, bombs, it all… it doesn't make sense, but it works for them, though it's also insane. Too many innocent people get killed every day because of guns around the world," Sirius agreed. He sighed. "Still, that requires a lot of training, and I'm not sure how to get hold of any anyway."
"Still, might be worth looking into. If muggles have anything that can help us, then let's use it," Lily said.
"I do have a question, actually, and it's something I probably should know," Ginny said. "When we've been out shopping, I've seen muggles speaking into small devices. What are they?"
"You mean mobile phones?" Sirius asked, pulling one out of his pocket. "Yeah, they invented these which allows them to talk instantly anywhere around the world, though it does cost money to use."
"Wait, seriously?" Ginny asked, looking at it as Sirius handed it to her.
"Yeah, it works well. I've had one for a while, so does Remus. Took us a little time to get them working in magical areas, but we managed," Sirius replied. "Maybe we should buy some for you today."
"Really? I've been meaning to ask if I can have one," Lily admitted.
"Okay, how the hell does Riddle think muggles aren't clever, given what they've created without magic?" Ginny asked, as Remus began to show her how to use the phone.
"That's why he's going to lose," Lily said, smiling. "He underestimates muggles, and us, and his stupidity is going to end him."
"You sound like you've had an idea," Sirius remarked.
"I have," Lily said. "Riddle took some innocent muggles, forced magic in them to use them and let them die. We don't need muggles to have magic, but we have some friends who are muggles who can help, right? Rufus said the Muggle Prime Minister knows about magic, right?"
"That's right, he has to. There was a new guy made muggle Prime Minister a couple of months ago, who Rufus met with. Before that, Cornelius needed to meet with the previous prime minister to let him know there were Dragon's being imported, and a Sphynx for the Tri-Wizard tournament," Sirius agreed.
"Alright, so let's find a way to meet with him, and warn him about what's going on, and get the muggles on our side," Lily said. "Let's face it, this is a war for freedom for everyone; if Riddle wins, then muggles are gonna be his next target. Look at Lana; she helped save me in so many ways. Maybe she can help, medically speaking."
"Alright, that sounds like a good plan," Sirius said, smiling. "I'll let you contact Lana, and I'll ask Rufus to help us contact the muggle Prime Minister."
"Finally, we're getting things moving," Lily said, smiling. She knew it was risky, but she knew it would be wrong not to warn the muggles what was happening, especially since they were also being used by Voldemort. But would enough of them believe her story, or would she just be seen as a lunatic?