Seventh Year and Beyond
“No,” said Remus immediately.
Dumbledore blinked at him. “Mr. Lupin, I understand that you have no wish to seek out other werewolves, but I do hope that you'll at least consider --”
“No, sorry,” interrupted Remus. “It's not my part in it that I'm saying no to. I'm saying no, that is a terrible plan.”
Remus felt Sirius' hand tighten on his leg while everyone else turned to stare at him.
“Oh?” said Dumbledore, mildly.
Remus looked around the table and sighed. “First of all, somebody needs to work on recruiting at least a couple people who aren't bloody Gryffindors.” Professor McGonagall looked personally offended by this, and Remus smiled in a way that he was hoping was reassuring. “No offense meant, of course. Us Gryffindors are an excellent asset to any army. I just meant that every group benefits from diversity.” He looked to Peter and caught his eye. The other boy nodded slightly. That comforted Remus; he knew Pete would back up his strategy and point out anything Remus might be missing.
“Okay,” he began. “So the issue is that the other side has the advantage of numbers, correct? Plus they're willing to shoot spells at us that we'd never consider ourselves, so we're at a disadvantage in terms of options. Not only would it be tactless, first of all, to ask werewolves to start forgiving wizards and die in their war for them rather than asking wizards to start apologizing to werewolves –“ he looked around sharply to cut off the murmurs of protest that started at this “– but it's just not a good strategy. We'd be able to recruit at most a handful of werewolves over the course of several years. Voldemort already has entire packs working for him. We won't even be able to match his werewolf numbers, let alone his overall army numbers. Not to mention you'll be sending me, who, as far as I know, is the only member with enhanced speed and strength, not to mention damn good with a wand, out of the actual fighting.
“If we're going to win this war, we have to outsmart him. It's the only way that an army at a disadvantage has ever been able to win a war.”
“And what do you suggest, young man?” asked Diggle. Remus didn't miss the reprimand in the word young.
“We need to play to our strengths, and their weaknesses.” Remus inclined his head to Peter, who took a deep breath before he began.
“Right,” Peter said, wetting his lips. “From my observations, we have many individual strengths, and if we could properly coordinate, we could utilize them more effectively. The Death Eaters work together smoothly because Voldemort rules through fear. Nobody dares to question or disobey him. But that can also be played as a weakness. When we've encountered Death Eaters without Voldemort, they hesitate if they come across a situation they weren't prepared for. They all want power, but none of them want to step into a leadership role and make the wrong call.”
“Excellently put,” said one of the Prewett brothers. “Perhaps the two of you should take over strategy, eh?”
“No,” said Remus emphatically. “I mean, thank you, but no. We're eighteen years old. I have to believe there's someone better qualified for this. Just, I think it's possible that person might be someone who doesn't have such a Gryffindor outlook.”
“Consider the point noted, Mr. Lupin,” said Professor McGonagall tersely. Remus ducked his head, wishing he'd phrased his original points about Gryffindor a little more eloquently.
As the discussion moved on, Remus glanced over at Sirius and James, who had been impressively quiet so far.
“You're amazing, Moons,” whispered Sirius, squeezing his leg again. James grinned and gave him a thumbs-up in support.
Remus let out a breath. He hadn't come in here expecting to contradict Dumbledore like that. But then, he hadn't come in here expecting Dumbledore to throw that utterly ridiculous plan at him, either.
Nobody contradicts him enough, Remus thought. The Order could really benefit from a system of checks and balances...
He sighed. That was another Gryffindor trait, he supposed. Chaos in the name of equality.