Chapter 30
The end of the Order of the Phoenix as all the senior members remembered it came during their first Easter vacation meeting. The arrogance they had, overconfident that they would not dare to overhear, brought them to ruin. That and Daisy Potter's bad temper.
The girl was not proud of it. She was often pointed to as the quiet and placid one of the two siblings. However, in her moments of calm, there lurked in her mind a jumble dictated only by anger. Only in the last period did that fury become so monumental that it could no longer be restrained, initiating an escalation of angry outbursts. At another time she would have been concerned about the way she snapped, attacking without the slightest hesitation anyone who dared to strike her loved ones.
However, there were more important things at the moment than her poor self-control. They had to defeat a dark wizard after all.
It only took someone on the inside for them to overhear. As soon as someone approached the door, Cedric would alert them with a cough so that they could return upstairs undetected. It was incredibly worrying how easily they were able to follow the meeting, and judging by the stunned looks on the faces of his friends, the thought was shared.
The plan was just to listen, catching up on the news, but like all things organized by their small group of rebels, it did not work out as they intended.
All it took was one sentence too many from Dumbledore and the world of everyone inside the kitchen turned upside down. The principal had dared to ask Remus in front of everyone to go on a mission among the werewolves, despite having asked him privately a few weeks ago. As promised to his family, he refused. However, Dumbledore hoped to change his mind by asking him to a place where he would be judged for refusing.
When Daisy saw her own fury reflected in Harry's eyes, she knew her brother wouldn't stop her as she crossed the threshold. The others noticed her change of mood too late or they would have tried to stop her from throwing the door wide open with a dramatic kick.
" Have you gone senile? " said the girl, turning all her attention on the principal causing everyone present to gasp at the tone she used. " Don't you dare make our father feel guilty for not wanting to go on a mission that will prove futile. "
" As it was when he was just a boy and as it continued to be a few months ago. The only thing he came back with were horrible wounds that didn't make you feel even a little bit guilty. " Harry continued, trying to defend their family. They will be damned if the man took away everything they had left. " After all, they are all expendable when it comes to a greater purpose, aren't they Principal? "
" They called me... " choked Remus, touched by the way his kids were defending him.
" Of course, you are our parents. " nodded Harry in their direction, making Sirius realize that he was as much a father to them as Remus was, too.
" So we won't let him kill you like the way he did to our biological parents. " nodded Daisy, causing several of those present to groan at the accusation.
" My dear children, you are still so young and do not fully understand what we have to face to defeat the dark side. " the principal tried to call them back.
" Did you have to come in here and ruin all our plans? " scolded them Ron, looking at them not at all impressed while crossing the threshold followed by their unlikely assortment. Most of those present rose to their feet when they noticed several Slytherins among them, causing Daisy to roll her eyes at the not at all unexpected gesture. The twins, Cedric, Sirius and Remus stood before them, acting as a human shield in case anyone dared to attack them.
" What is the point of all this? " exclaimed Molly, shocked at her own children for doing something so thoughtless.
" Mom, I love you, but you have to be quiet for a while. " said Ginny just as Daisy called Kreacher.
" Miss Daisy, what can I do for you? " said the elf, bowing.
" Would you be so kind to prevent everyone from leaving this room? And please also prevent the use of magic. " said Daisy, casting a dirty look at a girl who was about to draw her wand. " We wouldn't want anyone to be hurt. "
The elf promptly complied with his mistress' requests, giving no time for those present to try to stop him.
" Black! Order your elf to let us go. " Professor Snape complained, reminding everyone that what they were committing was hostage taking.
" Kreacher doesn't serve that horrible man. " raged the elf, before disappearing away, leaving everyone stunned.
" This is not a sequester. " said Daisy, begging everyone to return to their seats because they needed to talk. " You would never have listened to us otherwise, you are too arrogant to think that little kids know more than you do. "
" I find that unlikely. " snorted the girl from before, Hestia Jones if she remembered correctly.
" I know these kids, I've watched them grow up, and I know they wouldn't have done any of this if they weren't serious. " said McGranitt, going to their defense. " I'd like to hear what you have to say. "
" That's why she's always been my favorite. " nodded Harry, smiling at his professor with genuine gratitude.
" To begin with, you are a bunch of idiots. " said Theo, complaining when Astoria scolded him in front of everyone for ruining everything with his inappropriate comments.
" I guess I have to agree for once. " Hermione said, glaring at those present. " Who starts a secret organization without casting privacy spells? "
" And without making any unbreakable vows that make it impossible for someone to betray them. " huffed Blaise, nodding in agreement.
" We don't need to make unbreakable vows, we are good people and not Slytherins. " said Emmeline Vance, shocked at the mere implication of having to do something so extreme.
" Trying to ignore your stupidity for even thinking that being part of a particular lineage automatically makes you a walking cliché...I would like to remind everyone that making that unbreakable vow years ago as a requirement for joining the cause would have prevented Peter Pettigrew from betraying you. " said Daisy, attempting to reason with those present. She sent a smile of apology to Molly, knowing she had lost her siblings to the same rat who had sold her best friends to Voldemort. The woman returned the smile, letting her know she felt the same way even if she disagreed with the manner of their speech.
" A Gryffindor led to the death of many people, how can you still be prejudiced? " said Daphne, genuinely confused.
" Anyway, we are not here to talk about that, although it wouldn't do some of you any good to have a few lessons about tolerance. " hummed Luna, causing Sirius, who had become used to the girl's shenanigans, to snort in amusement. She spoke in such a tone of voice that no one knew whether they should be offended.
" And what exactly are you here for? " the principal asked, intrigued by his pupils.
" You don't trust any of them. " commented Harry, crossing his arms. " You see the people in this room as expendable pawns. You send them off to fight without a clue about what's going on. "
" But it is not only you who are wrong, Principal. " Neville said, trying to reassure the man despite the fact that they were all angry at his manner. They didn't believe he was really aware of what the sum of his choices would trigger.
" Those present never asked any questions. " Sirius said, reminding them of the way everyone always just obeyed. " We put you on this pedestal, making you the infallible man we thought you were but we lost so much because of the choices we all made. "
" We've been working for a year and I have to admit it's been exhausting to balance school with everything that was going on but we can be stubborn when we want to be. " Ron said, ignoring his brothers who teased him about the word used.
Theo approached the table, clutching in his hands a backpack that was previously hidden in his girlfriend's trunk. He emptied its contents in front of the eyes of those present, causing the principal to get up shocked from his chair.
" How? " gasped the man, unable to look away from the destroyed objects before him.
" Working together. " replied Daisy simply. " It was a nightmare figuring out what the various objects might have been and especially how many he had made but Neville had a hunch that proved to be accurate with the last memory Harry showed you of Professor Slughorn. "
" For those who don't know, those objects in front of you are some of the Horcruxes that Voldemort created to make himself immortal. He divided his soul into seven pieces and we worked hard to find and destroy each one. " Hermione explained.
" Did you destroy two of them? " asked Kingsley, impressed by the kids in front of him while looking at the tiara and cup.
" 5. " corrected Daisy. She explained Regulus' story, the way he died horribly while trying to destroy what he thought was the only Horcrux. She told everyone that the destroyed casing was the locket his elf proudly wore, to remember his brave master.
Harry explained the story of the notebook, blushing with embarrassment when he told everyone that the notebook went back to Mr. Malfoy using it as an excuse to free his elf.
" You have a serious problem with elves. Have they ever pointed this out to you? " commented Ginny, amused by her two friends. She tried to lighten the disturbing silence that had risen in the room. All the adults looked at them in disbelief.
" Instead, the ring was destroyed by our beloved principal. " Theo said, nodding sadly in the man's direction. " Not before wearing it though. "
" I see you have done your research. " Albus nodded, smiling at them proudly even though they could still see how shocked he was by their revelations. " I think I have made many mistakes, you are right my dear children. Working with someone would have saved me from making such a rash gesture. " He added, revealing his now totally blackened hand.
" Isn't there a cure? " Daphne asked, with tears in her eyes.
" I am old. It could have happened at any time. At least this way I know how much time I have left and I have time to do my last chores. " Albus said, attempting to reassure those present who had begun to cry over the principal's imminent departure. Although they didn't think highly of the man at the moment, he had been one of the people in their lives since childhood who had watched them grow up and encouraged them to follow their dreams. " Severus should kill me so from sparing Draco from doing such a horrible thing. "
" Does he know? " Astoria asked, shocked.
" Severus is a very good godfather. " Albus commented, his eyes sparkling with amusement although the situation called for a different emotion.
" What are the last two? We could help you find them so we can end the war. " Tonks proposed.
" The giant snake he carries around. " Ron said, shivering. " But we don't know what the seventh object is. "
Harry despite what many people thought, wasn't an idiot. He had noticed the looks Professor Snape and the principal kept giving him since the Horcruxes had been displayed in front of their faces. He had always known in his heart that it wasn't normal the way it seemed that his mind and Voldemort's were connected but he always tried to suppress that foreboding.
" The last one is me. " Harry said, voicing his thoughts. " That caused the scar, didn't it? "
" No, that's impossible. " said Daisy, looking at the principal while waiting for a denial that unfortunately didn't come, shattering her heart. " You should... No, I will not allow it. "
" It's all right. " Harry reassured her, despite the fact that he wanted to hide in the blankets and cry as everyone seemed to be doing at that moment. " We will find a solution. "
" We won't let anything happen to you. " Sirius reassured him, parading in front of him as if to protect him from those present. He was terrified that someone would try to kill him in front of his eyes.
" We could ask the Goblins. " Luna said, reminding them of the ritual they had used on the cup.
" If you would let us leave this room, we could go and talk to them. " Bill said, remembering that he and Fleur worked at the bank. With that said, Daisy wasted no time in releasing them all, not before forcing everyone to make an unbreakable vow that nothing would be leaked. Only a few complained but Daisy was clear about her point of view. She would kill them risking Azkaban to make her brother's life safer and no one seemed to doubt her words.
" Don't worry little girl, as soon as I see that snake I will take it out. " nodded Moody, before leaving the house with everyone else.