The Ordeal of Fire

The Ordeal of Fire

Prologue: Raising an Army



"Instead of going in there, we could go down to the beach and have a swim, don't you think, Moony?"

"Stop it, Sirius, this is important!" said a tired looking Remus Lupin while approaching the little cabin. It was located at the foot of a hill in the middle of a deserted region in the Southwest of England. Some hundreds of meters away the ocean was rolling steadily against the chalk cliffs. Everything seemed quiet in the hot July night. No cloud covered the star-spangled sky or the moon that had reached its full height 3 days ago. The only sounds were of owls and the rustle of an animal in the undergrowth in the near wood.

"Come on, Padfoot, don't let them wait," Remus impatiently called back to Sirius. "We are late already!"

Meanwhile he opened the heavy cabin door, which lead him directly into a cosy living room. In the middle of the room, Molly and Arthur Weasley, Arabella Figg, Mad-Eye Moody, Minerva McGonagall, and Mundungus Fletcher sat in big, colourful and comfortable armchairs, which were grouped around a coffee table. Only Severus Snape stood, looking morose, leaning against the mantelpiece of the large fireplace, staring through the window into the night. He was clothed in a high-collared, black robe that made him look aristocratic but didn't do anything to hide his weariness.

The fire someone had made filled the room with pleasant light, but was obviously charmed as it didn't radiate any heat. All in all one could easily mistake the reason for the meeting for a joyous one, not a meeting that had defending the world against an evil force as a subject.

As soon as Molly Weasley heard the door open, she stood up to meet the latecomers, crossed the room and stood by Remus's side, extending her hand towards him. Kindly she said "Remus Lupin, nice to have you here at last. Professor Dumbledore was getting worried. By the way, he is in the kitchen making tea." Before Remus could say anything, she turned to Sirius. "Sirius, how good to see you. Have a seat." and invitingly gestured to the armchairs.

As soon as Snape heard Molly exclaim Sirius' name, he turned, lightning-struck, and glared at Sirius with hatred. Hostility could be seen in his eyes and felt crackling across the room. Sirius returned Snape's glare.

Meanwhile the rest of the assembled stood up to greet the newcomers. Although Dumbledore had explained to them all about Sirius' innocence, most still mistrusted him. Sirius didn't expect it to be otherwise, but looking at him closely, Remus could see the hurt in his eyes. Sirius would get used to it, but it was strange that the friends that had trusted him and liked him so much now thought of him as a criminal.

During the exchange of greetings the kitchen door opened and Dumbledore entered the room, carrying a tray. On it towered tea cups, a teapot and a plate full of cookies. "Nice to see you here at last, Sirius, Remus. Now, please sit down, we are nearly ready to begin. Just waiting for one more," he said and put the tray down on the coffee table. He distributed the tea cups, filled them with hot, steaming tea and took a seat in a mauve armchair that contrasted wonderfully with his purple velvet robes, embroidered with little silver stars and unicorns, and indicated the others to follow his example.

"One more? Who else did you invite, Albus?" asked Minerva McGonagall, visibly surprised. After all had sat down, they noticed the empty chair next to Dumbledore.

"I don't understand it either, we're all here, aren't we? I know, at the last meeting 14 years ago, we were more, but…" With these words, Mundungus Fletcher trailed off and all were lost in their thoughts. The history of the last meeting and the events of the following days and months played through their minds. The mood in the room turned to a melancholy one.

"Yes, I know," Dumbledore sighed, breaking the silence. "I asked one of our former students to join us today in order to give him some tasks even before he is formally introduced into our midst."

Before questions regarding the identity of the new member could arise, someone knocked on the door. "Come in, Liam," Dumbledore called. He motioned for everyone to remain seated.

Through the door came a young man, tall, wearing in a black hooded cloak, despite the July heat. "Late again, Liam, when will you learn to be on time?" Dumbledore asked with twinkling eyes, smiling as Liam began to apologise.

"Liam MacLachlan!" Prof. McGonagall called out, surprised. The tall man smiled and quietly said, "Professor, nice to meet you here."

Meanwhile Molly Weasley addressed Dumbledore. "Albus, I thought we were going to discuss whom to initiate into the Order today." As she spoke, Liam put down his suitcase and took off his cloak. He was wearing jeans and black sweatshirt underneath. His features were delicate and he looked fragile. His most remarkable characteristics, however, were the long, black braided hair and the shining blue eyes. All in all he could be described as beautiful, but he seemed too delicate to be called handsome.

Dumbledore put a hand on Liam's shoulder. "Liam, you still remember Professor Snape, don't you?" Liam walked over to Snape, who stood up and shook his hand. Extraordinarily, Snape didn't sneer as he usually did, just looked surprised.

"This is Arabella Figg, one of our best Aurors and the new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts." Liam turned to her and also shook her hand.

"Arthur and Molly Weasley, Charlie's parents."

"I was in Hogwarts with Charlie," Liam explained while greeting both of them.

Dumbledore finished the introductions. "Mundungus Fletcher, Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Minerva McGonagall. And now let's begin."

As soon as Liam sat down, Dumbledore handed him a cup of tea. "Before anyone asks questions, I want to explain why I invited Liam to our meeting rather unexpectedly and what purpose he shall serve," Dumbledore said to the members of the Order. "Arabella, I promised you help for your courses. Here he is! Furthermore, he is supposed to teach our students some duelling together with you, Severus. His actual job, however is to keep an eye on our three troublemakers and other endangered students at Hogwarts. It is a dangerous time and this additional protection is going to be good for all of us. Liam has already had encounters with the dark side of magic and proved to me and some of his teachers that he is capable of keeping a cool head while in danger. Does anyone have question? No?" Throughout all of Dumbledore's talking, Liam seemed fascinated with his tea cup. The Headmaster nodded, satisfied.

"With this sorted, could you begin with your report, Severus?"

"Up to this day, everything has been quiet out there. I met some contacts and tried to be integrated again, but nothing extraordinary happened. That however doesn't mean that he doesn't plan anything."

" I know Severus, I fear the same." Dumbledore seemed to be lost in his thoughts for a while. Finally he turned his gaze at Mr. Weasley and asked, "Arthur, could you now tell us of the work you and Mundungus have been doing?"

Arthur sighed. "Fudge still doesn't believe that You-Know-Who has returned. Mundungus and I have talked to some people in the Ministry, people whom we think we can trust. Many think that the whole story is just thought up, but some of them are on our side and don't want to wait until You-Know-Who is in the height of his power again. They are willing to act as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Arthur, Mundungus, I appreciate your help very much. Keep up your good work." Dumbledore turned to the other woman present. "Arabella, did you succeed in contacting anyone?"

"Well, we contacted some of our former students and colleagues and met some last week. We do not yet trust that many, but those we have met are on our side and await orders."

"Well done, all of you, until now, everything we planned has succeeded. Arabella, give me some of the names after the meeting. I want to contact some myself. Now let us plan ahead. Where shall we begin? Minerva, do you have an idea?"

"I think that we should begin with the subject of introducing new members." With an energetic gesture Minerva McGonagall moved her teacup into the middle of the table and pulled a parchment and a quill out of her bag. "Last week, we already worked through all names of former students, but there aren't many left who seem worthy." In fact, there were only a couple of names on the parchment.

"I think it shouldn't be too many at once, anyway. That would only get confusing. I think it should be five or six at most," Mad-Eye Moody said.

"That was the number we thought appropriate as well," Dumbledore said. "Liam, we agreed on everything earlier. I think you know that the date of initiation into the Order will be either July 30th or August 15th. You still need to decide and the decision should be made soon. I'm sorry to put you under this pressure but unfortunately we do not have much time." Liam who had been silent throughout the meeting was still staring at his meanwhile cold tea. Even now he did not look up but merely nodded.

After an awkward moment of silence Dumbledore raised his voice once again and continued. "Well, we have given much thought to who we should introduce to our order. I believe we all agree on William Weasley, couldn't we? Arthur, Molly, what do you think? He already saw the state Harry was in after the Triwizard Tournament and helped us all with our work then. What do you think? Would he agree?"

Molly smiled at Dumbledore and the other members with a glimmer of pride in her face. "I think that Bill would agree instantly. He already asked to be transferred to Gringott's headquarters in London so that he can help us all and protect Ron and Ginny a bit. And we would be proud to have him initiated into the Order,"

"Any disagreements? No?" Nobody said anything against it. Severus seemed hesitant, and Liam paled at the name of Bill Weasley but also shook his head.

Very good", Dumbledore smiled brightly at everybody, seemingly oblivious to Snape's and Liam's reaction. "That makes two. Now the difficult part. Please hear me out first, I will answer your questions later. I want to initiate Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger into the Order this month, preferably on July 30^th, the night before Harry's birthday." For the first time since the meeting started, Sirius moved and began to protest. "They are still too young! What do you mean, initiate them…?" Remus grabbed his arm and he quieted.

Dumbledore stopped him. "I know all of your thoughts and doubts. I have them myself. I know they are still very young. But I also know, as you all do too, that they are in danger. All three of them. It is not very easy to be friends with Harry Potter at the moment. If they become part of the Order, they don't have to sneak around on their own. They showed us all that they don't care if they are forbidden to act. They all have the drive to bring justice and prevent evil. If we don't let them in, they will probably go out doing something stupid like trying to search for Pettigrew or defend someone against Voldemort all on their own. We can prevent that by letting them in and showing them all of our actions. Furthermore, they do have advantages of security by being in the Order. The protection the Order offers is enormous and I'm afraid that they will need it. I want to introduce one or two other students later in the year, but I must get a better concept of their loyalties first. " Dumbledore looked at the faces around him. "Please try to understand that they are not untouched by evil. And it is not just that they need us, we need them too. Hermione is a great researcher, Harry is good in quick thinking and has a great magical potential and Ronald is a formidable tactician. Does this help you? Sirius, Molly, Arthur? Will you agree?" During Dumbledore's speech Sirius had calmed down considerably, so that Remus could let his arm go and he, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"I can count on you, then? Right. Remus, Sirius, please go to Harry tomorrow morning take him to Arabella's and inform him about his stay at the Burrow for the rest of the holidays. Afterwards take him to the Burrow via Floo Powder. Arthur, Molly, please explain everything to Ronald, William, Harry and Hermione as soon as they are at your home. Thanks again for looking after both of them.

"Minerva, Liam, please go to Hermione Granger and take her to the Burrow. And Liam, know we arranged for you to live in the new house next to the Burrow for the rest of the holiday, right? I need you there for security reasons." Minerva and Liam nodded and Dumbledore continued.

"As I said, I want to introduce them formally on the night before Harry's birthday. I think we can take care of the exact details via owl post.

"What else is there to talk about? Minerva?"

"We still have to talk about how to contact our friends in foreign countries. And those who are neither in the Ministry nor Aurors haven't been notified yet."

"Right, Minerva. I think, Alastor, you should try to contact as many of your former students and colleagues as possible. Arabella can help you until the end of August. Mundungus, Arthur, please keep an eye on Fudge and try to get some more people in the Ministry on our side. Sirius, Remus, I know that you want to be here for Harry's birthday, but we need you to go to Ireland and afterwards to France. Molly, could you please visit some of your friends in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade? Does everyone agree with the plan so far?" Everyone at the table nodded. "All right. Minerva, you contact people via owl post and Severus, you know what to do. I think that's it then. We will see each other later this month. I am sorry if this all seems rushed, but there is just no need to discuss much at this stage of the war.

"Now please lets have some more tea and talk about things that are more pleasant then these."

Minerva McGonagall looked up from her parchment, seeming relieved that the official part of the meeting was over.

"Mundungus, I understand your son will come to Hogwarts this year?" she asked.

"Yes and he is anxious to be there. He hopes that he is sorted into Hufflepuff, like his dad."

While Professor McGonagall and Mr. Fletcher talked about school in general, Sirius went over to Mrs Weasley. "I just want thank you for letting Harry stay at your place. His last letter was full of hints that he is still having nightmares. I hope it will get better when he stays at your place. It will do him good to be in the company of loving people again." Molly Weasley smiled her motherly smile, looked Sirius in the eyes and said. "Sirius, I know you are concerned. But he will be fine. It will be lovely to have him in our house again. And now that Bill added two rooms to it while he was home on holiday everything will even get better. You know we already see him as our own son."

The exchange of stories about "their" child continued, both still worried about Harry's health and well-being.

At the other corner of the room, Dumbledore, Liam and Snape stood in a circle and discussed matters of far greater importance. Liam seemed sulky. "I don't understand why we can't tell him. I mean he will be initiated into the Order, but doesn't know the real reason nor the consequences this has. He doesn't even have a choice."

Severus put a hand on Liam's shoulder, as Dumbledore continued. "Liam, calm down. You know that he wouldn't choose differently. Would it really be good for him to be told the whole truth at 15? You know what it did to you."

"Still." Liam was obviously angry at Dumbledore and only Snape's hand on his shoulder kept him from continuing. "The Headmaster is right, Liam. You know that I want to tell him, too. Harry should know, but it is too soon. He wouldn't understand it just yet. He already has other things on his mind. And with you there, there is no real reason for telling him just now. You can teach him everything and he will be ready when he is older just the same. Don't be so worried, everything will turn out just fine."

"All right." The statement of the young man was forced through his teeth and he kept biting his lip. "I still don't think that you are right, but I will do as you say. I will go ‘home' then. I was up late last night. Goodbye Headmaster. It was good to see you again. Severus, I expect I will see you soon."

He turned and walked of to say his goodbyes to the rest of the group. "How often did I tell him not to call me Headmaster anymore?" Dumbledore mused. "He is too young, both he and Harry are. Both not much more than children and such a dangerous future ahead of them." Snape said nothing.

Dumbledore turned towards the coffee table and collected the abandoned tea cups. Just as he opened the door to the kitchen, far away, a young man of nearly 15 years woke up from pleasant dreams.