Chapter 62. Emancipation.

AN: welcome to me going FAST over some things which I could write a whole chapter about: The summer. I don’t really want to write 500+ pages of just one summer, but want to write the general plot. Mostly because the more I write and the fiddlier it gets, the longer it will take me to write, then edit, then put out because everything will have to be just so. If I mention it, then your imaginations can fill in the gaps. I try to fill in the important bits, but I don’t really have a desire for exhaustively doing every detail right now - that’s kinda what the big edit we’re working on is for.

So I’ll be trying to keep this to four chapters - start of summer, birthday, dueling tournament, end of summer. No promises. Tournament might end up being three chapters because it’s still 2 stages - as she is a minor and there is time between the two stages, like last summer.

And I don’t plan summer activities almost at all, so if something comes up that I have to write about, well, it’s being written.

Thanks for understanding as always!~

Rotsu.

The first day back from Hogwarts did not go how I expected. Really, as soon as I stepped off of the Express, I knew something wasn’t right. I was still beside myself with grief over Cedric’s death, being unable to help Harry, and generally failing my life mission.

Getting off the Express, the cloud of failure humming over me as the Prophet begins slamming into Harry for declaring - correctly - the Dark Lord is back, is another blow.

Then I see her. Mum. Alone.

This is just wrong. Mum never picked us up alone. Ever. Papa had, of course, but never had mum, ever. I feel my stomach clench in fear of the unseen hammer, coming to drop, again, so soon after the last stroke.

Because something isn’t right.

First, we go home. We use the Floo, and Jasmine, along with Adam, are gone fast, tossing their things into their rooms.

I corner Mum in the kitchen, and lock the door with a lazy flick of my wand, proofing it against any charms or magical tools to unlock it. They’ll need to break it down. Then, I silence any outgoing sound, but allow incoming sound to continue.

“Where is father?” I ask, voice shaking in worry of this blow coming.

One of the strongest ministry employees. An operative, used to collect information. That’s what my dad was.

“Your father… He went out on a work trip two weeks ago. He said it should take one - maybe two weeks. He gave me explicit instructions. I was to, if by tomorrow, he was not home, have you go to Gringotts. He also told me to explain that he was sorry about everything, in case he couldn’t say it himself.” She tells me, tiredly. An immense sadness is radiating from her - but she isn’t crying. She seems to have cried herself out already - or is holding it together so if I need to cry, I can.  I do need to cry, but not in front of her.

If he is dead, then the second I go to Gringotts and confirm, I will be the head of the family. I know for a fact I am by far the strongest - in every sense - in the family. It’s not even close.

“I’ll go in the morning. We’ll know, then, if I come back with the ring, well. I’m glad he left that message with you, and I wish I could tell him that, while I hated what was done, I know there was very little choice in the matter. It worked out, and in spite of the pain - I am stronger in the end. We, as a family, are stronger.” I tell her warmly, giving her a hug.

If my shirt got a bit wet in the next few minutes, I didn’t say anything. Nor did she, when she went away with mildly damp hair.

So, we parted, and I went to unpack, and write two letters. Dumbledore and the Greengrass family will need to be informed.

.*****.

Gringotts is open from 5:30 am to 10:00pm. I am at their doors as they open for the day, gliding up the steps as the front doors open, and the outer guard exits. I nod to them curtly as I pass, my scrolls from the past, the Ring of Rowena and various other bits I may need on my person.

The goblin on the right give a bow back, looking a bit confused, and I stride in, then straight to the eldest teller at a desk. His desk-sign reads ‘Master Teller Alkrak’. I pull out my key and, as I move to a stop, hold it out.

“I am Aubrey Hawthrone, here to see my family's vault master, on account of the fact my father is missing, and if he is dead - which only you can confirm - then I will need to take over headship.” I say calmly and clearly. Alkrak takes my key, waves his hand over it, and nods, then hops off his stool and quietly wanders into a back door. I follow. Within a minute, we are before an ornate door, which Alkrak opens without knocking, gesturing for me to enter.

I do so, seeing the goblin behind this desk has the name-plate of ‘Master of Accounts and Ledgers, Hrok’

“Master Hrok, I am here on business. I need to confirm if my head of house is alive.” I tell him - skipping all niceties. Goblins don’t like those. I place the key on the desk in front of him to verify it, and get the data he needs. He nods, and waves his hand over the key and then blinks, before opening a drawer and pulling out a folder, which is sealed.

“Your Head of House is dead.” He confirms coldly. I nod.

“I am the Heiress apparent. I will take my seat immediately.” I tell him, and he nods, pulling out another folder, and opens it.

“Your father emancipates you in his will, though your file shows you are magically emancipated, somehow. This will cover the Ministry, though…” He grumbles with satisfaction, then he reaches over and grabs a box, which he places a duplicate of the paper in the file into, and then he swaps back to the first paper, then flips to the second, then the third. Eyebrows raising as he rapidly devours the contents of the page.

“You were eligible to take headship as early as a year ago.” He tells me, and I nod. “Why wait?”

“I hate most wizarding politics. I did not want to deal with them, but now with Voldemort back, we need a strong face. I will lead my family through this time. We will destroy all who might be an issue.” I declare coldly in response to the question, and he nods with a bloodthirsty smile on his face.

“Do you have any enemies to destroy?” He asks, and I nod.

I have two. Dragon-pals and friend-killers.

“I will declare a Blood feud with them, and follow the notification owl to their house. The laws are, if the Owl has been in the wards of those you declare on for three minutes, the feud is legal, correct?” I ask.

No one has done this in over two-hundred years, and so, people haven’t been increasing ward power, however, my family has been doing so. For no other reason than to test if we can make our wards better. Some others also do this, but not many.

I’ve also spent a year shredding wards, so I’m very good at it now. Even without the person who is losing the wards noticing.

“It is. Would you like to declare one now, or in the future?” He asks as a smaller, younger Goblin runs in carrying a cushion with a case on it.

“Later. I have to set the rules first. Then, I will prove I enforce those rules with extreme prejudice.” I explain, and he nods with a smile.

I follow a code. Goblins like that. I don’t just attack randomly.

I open the box as the little Goblin runs up to me, and pulls out the Hawthorne ring, putting it on the proper ring finger. I feel a mantle of power settle upon me, and I feel the divine power of our Patron flow into me. Finalizing everything.

I get a notification from the system as well. Then I move on to the next business.

“I have had an experience with what you may call a Time Rift, this year. Due to the extremely potent mana in the Goblet of Fire, I was sent back to the first time it was used at Hogwarts, incidentally. While there, I acquired these-” I pull out the four scrolls, and hand them to Hrok, who looks astonished at what he is seeing.

“F-four? This has only happened once in history - and those were never…” He trails, then turns to me, paleing rapidly. “You were the slayer of Karl, destroyer of Ancient Durmstrang, and Saviour of Scandinavia?” He asks slowly. I nod, curtly, and wave my hand.

“I have also slain the great red wyrm who lay in the mountains north of Hogwarts, with Albus Dumbledore. I have slain Maldrax the Ancient manticore who resided in the forbidden forest, and I am the champion of champions. One of the Dragons in this country. To further my claim, on Ravenclaw, at least, I present to you Rowena’s Diadem, and the Ring of Ravenclaw Vault.” I say, putting both on the desk before Hrok’s astonished eyes.

The astonishment bleeds into fear, then he pulls a chain on the wall to his left. I hear a low chirping noise all around me, like a really fat bird, and then I hear a very loud commotion.

“This is not something I can handle. You have just become the sole heir of four of the eldest vaults - the Hogwarts Curio Vault, and your own - already wealthy - vault. Congratulations. You are officially the richest client for British Gringotts, and as such..” he doesn’t finish. The door busts open - splintering off the hinges as it slams the wall behind, and hanging limply.

“You called?” A middle aged goblin male asks, in full war-plate with helm and sword.

“Yes, sire. This is the one. The holder of the four scrolls - and also she is the newest head of the Hawthorne vaults. She had the key for the Curio vault and the Diadem of Ravenclaw on her person as well. There is no doubt…” he babbles, but is silent as the other goblin - the king? Ragnuk the 13th, right? Claps his metal hands.

“Good. Witch, follow me. These vaults are those I oversee, but will now have you find a new set of managers for, as I do not consort with humans.” He tells me gruffly, and I nod.

“Who is your best?” I ask shortly, and he glances at me, then nods.

“I’ll put Gamul, Kor and Zorvas on your vaults. Good, you know how to find those who are best, and don’t gamble on whichever goblin you know best.” He grunts, then slams open a much larger and heavier door than the last door - the one to the office - he had opened. He tromps over to a massive desk with a massive throne behind it, and he opens a drawer, and tosses a folder down on it, the symbol of Hogwarts on it.

“Just so you know, in the next year I plan to kill the Carrow family to the man, and the Druidic clan Gore, as well. Both have committed sins I view as too despicable, and none in either family are under the age of twenty-one. As a result of their not leaving, I take it they all agree with the choices of the family, and will erase them.” I tell him. He looks surprised, but nods.

“Blood feud declaration…” He begins, but I hold up a hand, shaking my head. He gets the idea. “You plan, first? Good. Both families will be unready for you. They have grown lazy since the last great war between light and dark. The last assault by Lord Voldemort does not count. The Light is too soft to fight any wars. Stupid Wizards.” Ragnuk spits. I agree with a nod.

“My rules are as follows - if you support lord Voldemort then I will kill you. Support counts as having a Dark Mark, giving anyone with a Dark Mark aid in any way, including funding the Dark Lord. There is two general exceptions to this rule, but I will not stress them. If a member of any family wishes to be free of my hunt, they only need to renounce their name. This is for the over-seventeen people. If they are under seventeen, then the other rule comes in. I will simply declare a feud with every member of the house, and the last feud will be for all titles held by that person, in exchange for my own if I lose. This way, the underaged people will not suffer for something they have no choice in. If the names are renounced, or they surrender fully to me before I’ve killed over half of their family, I will restore the name to the renouncers, and give it to the one I most align with. If they do it after, they will remain nameless and shamed, and I will pass the name to one of my siblings. Already, my mother, grandfather and grandmother will need to sit for me. Thankfully, this is doable.” I elaborate, and get a nod of surprise at the fact I was ready for this.

The last bonus seat will need to go to Dumbledore in all likelihood. His family does not have a seat, and this will make it so he can come to meetings if he is ousted somehow. Have a say. Letting him Proxy as Lord Gryffindor is a good move.

On that train of thought, who else could I have proxy for me so it’s not obvious I hold all of the seats? Dumbledore, Lady Davies, Lady Pucey and Lord Walker would all do. Lord Walker had been traditionally dark, but he didn’t like the talk that all Muggleborns ought to be kicked out. The rest were light - Dumbledore or Lady Davies or solidly Neutral. The Proxy seats with no strings attached until I was with at least 5 children to pass on all of the titles to would buy their loyalty, and let me control most of the votes. Sealing a tight power block between myself, the Greengrass family, the Bones, Black, Potter, Longbottom, Shafiq, Davies, Pucey, Walker and Dumbledore. Then the people who Dumbledore has sway over as well, which is most of the light seats. We, that is to say Lord Greengrass and Lord Shafiq, have most of the Neutral families - and a couple of the more friendly Dark families under their influence as well.

That’s about 70% of the families on the Wizengamot. Sadly, the elected seats were still full of Dark supporters, so we’re at about 50/50 overall with the Dark Lord’s forces. Precarious, but manageable.

Having concluded my business, I bow once, and then calmly walk out of the bank to contact my political allies about these thoughts. It’s best to strike while the iron is hot.

After all, Proxy seats do not need to be declared based on who the actual owner of the seat is - as long as they have proper authorization. The reason behind this is usually everyone knows who holds what seat. Who belongs to which family.

The founders' houses coming back is exactly the political edge we needed. First, Dumbledore and the Greengrass family. They’d be the two best for lining this up.

.*****.

It is one long day of frantic Floo travel and meetings before we codify our plan. We swap Lady Davies for Lord Page - a public favorite who was not elected for the Wizengamot last cycle, to much public dismay. This requires my contacting Merric, who is head of the Page family, and graduated while I was just a first year.

He gladly accepts, as do the rest of the families, as we set up our plan. I write - in four different, distinct handwritings, the wish for the people I elect to be my proxy seats on the Wizengamot, with the official seal from each house. We set up a different person to back each. I will be the first nominee to step forward, Lady Longbottom will admit me. After that, Dumbledore will be admitted, then Lord Walked will enter then, and feign anger at Gryffindor’s seat being re-activated, make a general fuss about how he wasn’t supposed to activate the seat, but if Gryffindor is back, so is Slytherin.

This will make him a target of the Dark Lord. He appears to go along with the general flow of the Dark side, but occasionally votes against them due to ‘direct orders’.

He’s all too happy to do this - as he explains Lord Voldemort likes to claim he is the Heir of Slytherin - the head of that house. He either says he put Walker on that seat, and is ordering him, or he tries to kill him behind his new Fidelius, of which Lord Greengrass is the Secret Keeper.

Walker, it turns out, does not like the Dark Lord. At all.

He also hates Dumbledore for not respecting the old ways, but alas. Better to have a country than not. Voldemort won’t really let people survive with opinions, and Walker thinks that’s worse.

Lady Pucey will then ‘reveal’ that Pucey is the last line of Ravenclaw, and take the seat ‘in proxy of her Husband’. Lord Pucey thinks this is a good joke, and happily agrees - at last - to join our alliance.

The quest completes, finally.

Quest Alert -

To Lead Men

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Objectives -

Achieve Level 5 Political visibility!

Create a political faction - or have a hand in the creation of one

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Bonus objectives -

Steal parties from would-be-opposing factions!

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Reward -

Alliance with Clan Pucey

10,000 xp

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Bonus Reward

5,000 xp per additional family

Variable reward depending on family

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Secret Objectives-

Obtain a level 10 Political Visibility.

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Rewards -

Alliance with Clan Pucey

55,000xp

Politician Title

Spies (War Resource)

Combat Mages (War Resource)

Specialists (War Resource)

Access to all Shops in Diagon Alley

Optional Specialist Training

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Drawbacks -

-3/10 with “Voldemort” and “Death Eaters”

“Marked (Voldemort)” Drawback

Politician

You’re a known factor in the political space - and a respected one.

+2 rep with all other ‘Politicians’ or high ranking government employees.

-1 rep with the poorest parts of society.

Marked (Voldemort)

Voldemort has marked you for death. You are only below Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore in his list of ‘who needs to die’. Congratulations! You’ve earned the personal ire of who is likely the strongest Dark Lord of the last few hundred years!

Lastly, Lord Page will take his seat, with a dramatic flair of “The four founders are back again”. No one will think this is a coincidence, but hopefully the angry act of Walker will make them think it just snowballed way out of control, forcing the hands of the others who would have more strategically played the cards. Now that they’ve been forced - maybe they’re off balance.

This is, of course, the goal.

We get Dumbledore to agree to help ward and defend the houses of all of the people who have a Founders seat, because they’re obvious targets for Lord Voldemort. Luckily, most of them don’t have any children of schooling age right now. There is only a single baby in Lord Page’s house, but they agree to take to their summer home in France for the next little bit, so they’ll be relatively safe. Everyone else starts to bunker down, activating their wards.

Then, the first Wizengamot session is upon us. 3rd of July, 1995.

In spite of the chaos, the plan goes off without a hitch, and we’re all seated in no time.

Six hours of useless debate later, we adjourn for the week, and I go home.

Time to get ready for the tournament this summer, along with the rest of my plans. Training my friends and attending order meetings…

Chaos, soon.

.*****.

The 17th of July, the day of my first order meeting, is a dull grey day. It mirrors my emotions pretty well. I’d had to break up with Fleur, though it wasn’t particularly mean in how it had happened, it had happened. We weren’t really developing deeper connections than people who are romantically interested, and already have a very close bond. We work well together, true, but with so much on my plate, I don’t want to neglect her - and our relationship. It would just wither over time.

While I had made clear I’d be willing to try again when things are calmer, I absolutely want her to be as happy as she can - satisfied with her relationship. Her romantic life.

I can’t be that, so I had to let go. She had been very understanding, and told me to call her if, ever, I wanted to go out, had time to, given my chaotic schedule.

So it is, sullenly, I say hello to both of my siblings, carefully ruffling Jasmine's hair and giving Adam a smile which can’t reach my eyes due to the chaos of the summer before me, along with other events. Then I settle in to eat my breakfast.

“I’m going to be out on business again today. Remember, though, what I told you last night. If the Dark Lord is back, we’re going to be firmly against him. If you face pressure from people in or out of school to join or aid him, then tell me and I’ll deal with it. If I cannot directly deal with it, I will just send you to Beauxbaton or Ilvermorny, both of which you should fit in well with, considering our tutoring in French. You may pick which you go to in such a situation, as we have homes in both countries. Also, while I don’t want to do it, if you break the rules and aid the Dark Lord or whomever is masquerading as him, then I’ll be forced to send you out of the country and have you watched, so you don’t get in trouble. If you keep pushing, there will be further consequences. Please don’t make me do that.” I finish my speech - very similar to one I gave last night over dinner - to them. Mom has acquired a day job - which she starts before anyone but myself is up. She did this to keep herself busy while we’re all gone at school and her Husband is at work. Now, I think it's to keep her busy and not think about her Husband's death.

Adam lost a whole point of reputation each time. -3/10, with a feeling of betrayal, anger, frustration and so forth being the causes.

Did he think I would keep us neutral, or even side with the Dark Lord?

Jasmine has, overall, increased one whole point, to being 10/10 again. She was 8/10 before we hung out later in the year, and now that we’re home.

Adam, well... I’m very worried he’ll either try to - or outright will - join the Dark Lord. I’m trying to keep him off of that path, but it’s not easy, given the fact he hangs around with Draco Malfoy and all of his Blood Supremacist buddies, and father had indirectly endorsed this, claiming he was making good political ties.

But father is dead now - and that leaves me in charge. I’m not neutral. I have no way to be such as a rising star in the political scene with a background of being a law-abiding good person who turns in dark or illegal things when I’m involved.

Oh, and Voldemort knows - and of course hates - me. He knows I’m not the type to go to him.

If Adam takes the Dark Mark, and tries to fight against me, I’ll not be given much of a choice. If I don’t know he’s in a stronghold which I am attacking, well.

Best not to think about it. I can warn him until I’m blue in the face, but if he doesn’t listen…

It doesn’t make me happier.

We finish breakfast, where I, in a subdued way, talk to Jasmine who is happily bouncing after her exciting year at Hogwarts.

I nod dully, after listening to her prattle about lessons, her friends and what they were doing Then, seeing it is 10:00am and I’m due to go to Hogwarts so Dumbledore can debrief me, I bid her farewell after confirming, for the last time, that I’ll be glad to help her work on advanced things, as lessons are a bit easy for her. So, leaving the excited, happy Jasmine, I step into the floo.

“Headmaster's office, Hogwarts!” Then I’m gone.

After a moment of twirling, I pop at the Headmasters office, and give him a grin as we lock eyes. He points to a chair with a long cloak on it, which I put on, according to his instructions at previous meetings like this one.

“The cloak - as you can probably tell - has obscuration charms. You will be put at anywhere between 160 cm and 175 cm. Your face will be hidden - even from Mad-Eye. Other than that, people probably won’t be able to tell if you’re male or female. Your voice will be slightly altered, so to be more androgenous, but that’s easier to see through. I will be backing you as a member of the order. You have earned my confidence as surely as Severus has. Lastly, should I die - and I very well could, with how Horcruxes work - then I would like Mad Eye to take over while you moderate him. I will make sure he knows this too.” He concludes sternly, and I nod. He then stands, and moves to the fireplace. “The Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.” He says, tossing a handful of powder into the fire and walking through.

I follow him, and come out in what has to be the dingiest house I’ve ever seen. The Black family crest tells me whom this belongs to.

“May I clean this up, sir?” I ask, glancing around, and he nods.

“We should. Sirius lent this property, and I put the Fidelius on, but he stays in the Black Cottage with Harry. I hadn’t been inside. Let's do our best to get rid of the issues, since this will be our headquarters.” He agrees.

“Let's make it a race. If I clean 40% of the house, I get to ignore one thing on my schedule next term. If you win, I’ll get you some socks.” I tell him and he chuckles, then nods, and we split. I go for the stairs, and he goes about clearing the ground floor.

In the four hours before the next order members arrive, I clean the first floor, second floor and part of the third floor. He cleans the whole ground floor, the basement, and the whole of the dungeon. I cast a square-footage checker and we find I cleaned about 42% of the total cleaned space. We shake hands in front of a very stunned looking Sirius Black.

“Who is that?” Sirius asks, voice gravelly but a touch confused at the small figure shaking Dumbledore's hand.

“This is a good friend of mine. They’re rather paranoid, but they like to go by Sindrie. They’re very good at cleaning - as you can see.” Dumbledore replies with a grandfatherly air about him. Presently he is gesturing to the light room, full of natural light from the previously grimy windows. The shining hardwood floor and glistening table, all of which he cleaned - but I don’t argue.

“Well, if they can clean this well, I'll have no issues with them. I figured we’d need ten house elves to get this place going again in any order.” Sirius closes the subject before turning to me, holding a hand out. “Sirius Black! Greatest Prankster Hogwarts has ever seen, and proud Godfather to Harry Potter!” He introduces, and I give him a shake of the hand, ignoring the want to Curtsey.

“Sindrie Amaglain. Master of Defense against the Dark Arts, and Magical Theory. Dumbledore has told me much about this group. Seeing how I was in Hogwarts in the last war, I’m happy to help this time around.” I say coolly, and he nods, happily.

“Good to have someone with two masteries on board! Very few people ever get two, you know.” He continues, and I nod. I did know that. Which is why I had to lean so hard on the boards to keep my three masteries a secret until I was 21. Basically, the Mastery I achieve will be hidden until then. I don’t need that much attention. 32 OWLs is enough, I think.

“It was not easy. I am working on History and Ancient Runes right now. They go hand in hand. Most of the oldest texts are written in runes, so being good with both is usually for the best. Of course, I think I’m ready for the exams, but with the Ministry how it is, I prefer not to put more of a target on my back. Enough people are masters of Defense and Magical theory that I can hide in the crowd. Very few are good with runes, history and wards, too.” I complete the thought, and he pauses, then nods slowly.

“You were a Curse Breaker? Or Auror then?” He asks and I nod.

“I was. After Hogwarts I was taken in for about ten years, then I retired and now I’m just doing freelance work for people's wards and such. Good money, lots of free time. Probably going to be busy soon, though.” I mutter, trying to give off an annoyed air, and he nods.

“Do you have a place I can contact you?” He asks, and I gesture to Dumbledore.

“If you need me, the old man can find me easily. Otherwise, I subcontract through most warding firms if they need something they can’t usually get, and I’m not busy. I’m going to be busy helping him ward a good few homes for the rest of the summer - probably into winter if the list he gave me ‘to start’ is any indication. 32 houses. Really, Albus?” I give him a joking glare, which Sirius somehow picks up on, as he chuckles along with Albus. I go to the kitchen - where an angry House Elf is grumbling and cooking, and I smile down at him.

“What is your name, elf? I would like to know everyone around here, to be sure. And help cook.” I tell him, and he looks up, a bit surprised obviously, and then grumbles “I am named Kreature miss. I serve the House of Black.” Then, in an undertone he continues as though I could not hear him “though the Blood-Traitor master brings mudbloods and filth to us, ohhh yes.” I roll my eyes, and then go to begin cooking a hearty late lunch or early dinner.

“I am, in fact, one of the older houses, very proud. A long line, indeed. My name is a secret, however. None here or elsewhere may know it, but you can probably detect I am the head of my house, so I will show you which house that is.” I tell him then lean down and extend the hand which I have displaying the Ravenclaw Ring, instead of the Hawthorne ring, as it normally would. His eyes go wide, and he bows low.

“You belong to a great family, miss. No need to help Kreature.” He grumbles slowly, his deep croaking voice is almost pleasant to my ears.

“No, no need to worry. I cook often for my family. Cooking here will give me practice.” I murmur and then, begin making a stew with the base that Kreature had been simmering in a large pot. I use magic to speed up the process, and in thirty minutes I have a slow-cooked very nice stew. I taste test it and nod in appreciation.

It’s good. Not the best, but certainly tasty.

“Oh and Kreature, last thing?” I tell him, levitating the stew. “No one is to know I’m a lady, but the fact I am Ravenclaw may as well slip if people ask. Just don’t tell them unless they ask directly, okay. Make them really work for it.” I give him a wink, which he can clearly see despite the hooded cloak with all the obscurement in the world, and bring the stew to the table, with 15 bowls.

The table has 12 occupants when I enter, and I recognize a few.

Mad Eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and even Hestia Jones - whom I had seen in the Leaky Cauldron - along with Merric Page. There are also two people who are clearly Weasleys, Arthur and Molly I guess, with two empty seats between them and the next member, who Observe identifies as Kingsley Shacklebolt. Next to him is a man named Elphias Doge, talking to McGonagall, and then there is Emilline Vance. I settle the stew into the table and take my seat on Dumbledore's left, right next to Mad Eye. I reach for the ladle with my hand, letting Ravenclaws ring show, and grab my ladle of stew, then a second, and begin eating slowly.

Only Mad-Eye seems to have noticed, given his grunt of mild surprise, and everyone else is busy talking or listening to others to have noticed. Dumbledore smiles at the subtle play.

As I eat, more and more people came to realize the stew had not appeared out of nowhere, and there was a new person sitting with them, eating quietly beside Dumbledore. In this time, Daedalus Diggle comes and sits. Stirgus Podmore follows shortly, as the last of the table sees me, and then, Mundungus Fletcher joins us, and Dumbledore claps his hands, to call attention to the meeting.

As he did that, Tonks had been going to engage me in conversation, though 3 chairs are still empty. 2 next to the Weasley family and 1 right next to Dumbledore, across from me.

“The first meeting of the Order of the Phoenix is now in order, we’re here today to make a general strategy to defeat the Dark Lord, and keep Harry Potter - his top target - safe. First, though, I believe introductions are in order. We have new members, after all, so we’ll go around the table and introduce ourselves.” After a short round where everyone introduces themselves, talks a bit about what they do and answer a few short questions, it is my turn. I go last, obviously.

“I am Sindrie Amaglain. I used to do work as a Curse Breaker, but retired to do warding freelance work after an incident in South America. How old I am and why I wear this cloak aren’t really questions I wish to answer, because of personal reasons. Questions?” I ask, and Moody smiles in a friendly way for him.

“You’re the new head of Ravenclaw House, aren’t you? I saw that ring.” He says in his slow deep voice. I nod, then verbally respond.

“Yes, I am the head of Ravenclaw. I knew the heads of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Gryffindor didn’t want to wait for the Dark Lord to gather steam, and when Walker revealed Slytherin was in the mix, well, we had no choice but to play our hands. Of course I wouldn’t go in public, I have some very identifying features which make it hard to hide. The cloak is my best security - not allowed in the Wizengamot.” I replied completely. He nods, and turns away.

“Why so secretive? I can understand, to a point, but we’re friends here.” Remus asks, and I chuckle.

“Some of you may not like me so much if you knew my real face. I’ve been rather poor to some of you in the past, and while I have changed my ways now, I prefer not to let people harbor ill will towards me for deeds which I had done when I was young and stupid.” I tell him with a smile. “I only hope when you do see my face, you all can forgive me for any harm I may have done to you.” I finish projecting my feeling of contentment and hope unto them. I get a nod from a few, and then Dumbledore claps his hands and the meeting really starts.

It takes about an hour to work out a plan - which is basically to play defensive ball until we can force Voldemort to be publicly back, so we can force the Ministry to do things. I don’t really like it, but I understand. Force the war into the open and you suddenly have a lot more agency with which you can do things.

The next part - Harry Potter's defense - takes all of ten minutes. They will have a guard - Sirius and Remus are live-in guards, and while they all sleep, Mad-Eye, myself, Tonks of Kingsley will watch the house and we will make sure no one makes a run for them. When Harry has to go anywhere, they’ll have Sirius, Remus, and two others go with them. Sirius and Remus obviously with him, but two others who are unknown, even to Harry. On the full moon, all four rotating guards will be present.

“I think we should do two guards nightly, at least.” Mad eye says for the fifth time.

“Again, Alastor, we do not have the manpower for it.” Albus reiterates, and I sigh.

“I can do it every night. I’ll not be up until 10am, but there's nothing I need to do before 10am anyways.” I say aloud, and everyone looks confused.

“That’s only four hours of sleep!” Ms. Weasley says.

“I only need 4 hours. I can stay up for more than 24 hours easily either way. If I feel tired I’ll take a nap a few hours before my shift. 4 hours is plenty, though.” I tell her calmly, and she looks thunderstruck.

“That’s not really… normal.” Mad-Eye says from beside me.

“No, it isn’t. Thankfully, my family library has a few rituals where you empower items and sacrifice them - inanimate objects - for power. In my case, needing less sleep, greater focus for longer periods of time and a very slightly improved sense of control, manual dexterity.” I explain, and get a few pale faces, but Moody and Dumbledore both nod in acceptance.

“Useful. Not even really dark.” Moody grunts, and I see Molly looking like she’s going to explode about how vile it is.

Sirius looks exhilarated. Like he’s heard of it and has no idea how to do it. How could he..?

Salazar’s notes probably leaked, I guess?

“It is not dark, no.” I agree with Mad-Eye. “I made sure of it - ran it by Dumbledore before I did it. He agreed.”

“Indeed! If I were younger, I may have tried to adapt them for myself, but these days, the bones will not take things like they used to.” He agrees with a sigh, and Molly looks like we’ve just punted her kitten.

“But Rituals are Dark Magic, right?” Arthur asks, looking confused.

“Most are! They require blood sacrifice. That’s always dark. These require only item sacrifices and ritual circles which are carefully made and designed with the person in mind. You’d need to be a master of Magical Theory, quite good at Arithmancy, Alchemy and Runes to even have a chance at these. Of course, our friend is very good at all three!”

“So, what you’re saying is we can do it?” Mad-Eye asks, and I nod.

“Looking forward to working with each of you, Mad-Eye, Tonks, Shacklebolt. Maybe you can teach me some Auror tricks. I may be a master of Defense, but everyone has something useful we can share.” I say, getting a nod from all three!

Perfect.

“We will start immediately. Sindrie, Mad-Eye, you will be on the first shift.” He tells us, and the meeting is adjourned.

Within minutes most have left. Mad-Eye, Tonks and Shacklebolt stay behind, as do I.

“Well, can we at least see your face, since we’ll be working together?” Tonks asks, and I sigh.

“I really can’t. There are a large - very large - number of issues which may come up from that. The only person who I think I could trust with that secret is Mad-Eye, other than Dumbledore. Would it appease you to know that he knew?” I ask, and both nod, and Dumbledore reluctantly does so as well. So I lead Moody up to the second floor where I open into an office. I cast a boatload of privacy charms, and then remove the cloak to immediate laughter from Moody.

“Well played, Girl! So, you have a Mastery in Defense and Magical Theory?” He asks, looking at the pins on my shirt, which I got with my OWLs. All O’s except History, Defense and Magical Theory, which I had requested the Mastery exams for. Well, after the Defense one.

“Yea. And History of Magic, too. You can see now - I am not ritually enhanced, but I will be in less than a year. I’ll be using a Time-Turner for a lot of my stuff. The Rituals I spoke of, well, I’m doing seven sets of seven. Designed by Salazar Slytherin, then improved by Rowena, then again by Dumbledore and whoever he consulted. I am, however, so magically dense that my body just… has too much energy if I sleep for too long. I need to be awake and burning magic, so four hours is my maximum.” I tell him, getting a nod.

“Alright lass, let’s go down and I’ll tell them real somberly that you’re clear, but that you were right to not show your face. Then I’ll give you a sort of glare which Tonks and Kingsley will read as confusion, and we’ll be done.” He tells me, I nod.

It’s 6:22 pm, and I want dinner and a lot of time to study before I have to go watch at 10:00pm. And a nap. Just 2 hours, so I can be awake at 9am. I need to sleep at 5:40pm tomorrow, so I can be up from 10:00pm through the Wizengamot on Monday. Because it is every Monday, and I have to go.

So that’s what I do. Go home, eat dinner, train, go watch the Potter/Black household.

While on watch, Moody explains he is going to give me basic Auror training, tactics and codes which I would do well to know. Since most of it is a barely audible whisper, and a good amount of it is how to train certain things, our watch passes quickly, but it is very informative, those eight hours.

Looks like this summer will be good in the way of my getting revenge.