Unrelieved Mythic Correlate
Tonks was inducted into the Order over the summer. They found out not because they had become privy to the information and mechanisms of the Order (which they were miffed about because felt they had earned that right in the Department of Mysteries) but because of Andromeda Tonks.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in Dumbledore’s office one night the first week of class. He said he’d wanted to check in on them to see how they were doing several months after the confrontation with the Death Eaters and Sirius’ death. The conversation, as one would guess, was going poorly. Even in this safest of havens inside of Hogwarts, there was no safe way to process that event. Hermione would previously have guessed that the headmaster’s office was soundproof, but during one of the many lulls in the conversation, an angry bellow reached them from what had to be the corridor beyond the gargoyles.
“DUMBLEDORE!”
McGonagall started, her wand already in her hand; Dumbledore merely frowned and rubbed his eyes under his glasses.
“DUMBLEDORE!” A blast punctuated the last syllable. “DUMBLEDORE YOU LET ME IN RIGHT NOW OR I WILL BURN THIS WHOLE WING DOWN.”
“Minerva, would you please get the door for Mrs. Tonks?” When McGonagall hesitated, he continued, “Remember - the last time she visited it took the elves weeks to repair the gargoyles and one had to be replaced altogether.”
She unhappily obliged him, and in strode Andromeda Tonks tall and ramrod straight, moving smoothly but with force in slim magenta robes that swirled around her feet. Her loose, auburn hair flowed around her shoulders to accentuate eyes ablaze with fury – Hermione thought there literally could be flames in her irises at that moment – and wand in striking position in hand.
“Andromeda. Welcome. It’s a pleasure to see you as always.” Dumbledore was kind but more diplomatic even than usual.
“You bloody bastard inducted MY daughter into the Order?! It is unclear to me what the HELL you think you’re doing.” She had both hands on his desk, wand pressed down into the wood but still pointed at him while she leaned in. The three friends had never even considered that someone could speak this way to their headmaster.
“She wants to be in the Order, Andromeda. She asked many times before we said yes.”
“Because she doesn’t understand!” Sparks erupted from her fingertips - not her wand - and scattered around him.
“She is an excellent auror and commands the most successful unit at the ministry. She’s quite intelligent and knows what she’s getting herself into.”
“No, she doesn’t. None of your minions do. She thinks it’s the logical next step from playing coppers and robbers with her father. It’s all very black and white to her. Good guys, bad guys, everyone is one or the other. It’s a fake cause and a foolish notion and fools don’t succeed – they just get lucky, or they get killed.”
“The Order is – “
“The Order has NO idea what it’s dealing with. You of all people know that. You know it’s not ultimately about the Dark Lord. You know what they’re like. The fucking Order has no fucking clue about the magic of the old families, the way it’s killing them, the way they can only be killed by it or for it. You are leading them into something they don’t know they’re getting into!”
“Andromeda, please –“ Dumbledore gestured at the three students.
It was impressive how unembarrassed Andromeda was when she finally registered their presence. Her demeanor would have been akin to very severe Mrs. Weasley if it were not for that deadly smile on her perfect lips and her wand still pointed confidently at the arguably most powerful wizard in centuries.
“Hello dears. I must apologize for our meeting this way. Harry, Ron, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I hear quite good things about you, especially if you consider a healthy dose of mischief good.” Hermione swore she saw Dumbledore hide an amused grin. “Hermione, is it? Dora speaks so highly of you. Says she knew you were something special when she visited you with Minerva so long ago, and she continues to brag on your achievements. She is normally such a good judge of persons. Her judgment on the other hand…”
Andromeda whirled to face Dumbledore again, displeased.
“So you’re here to ask me to revoke her membership in the Order?”
“No. Fat load of difference that will make. She’s already way in over her head.” Her voice lowered. “I’m here to tell you that I will hold you personally responsible for anything and everything that happens to her. And I am not afraid to make life very hard for you, Albus.”
“I’m quite aware, and I find you reasonable.” The two held eye contact for several moments. The three students were unsure who was more formidable.
Andromeda broke the silence first and faced the students with a genuine smile again. “Ron, give your parents my greetings. All of you, please know that you are always welcome in my home. Any friend of Dora’s is a friend of mine.” She narrowed her eyes at Dumbledore while still facing the three. “Come any time. You don’t have to owl.”
With that she strode out of the room, and everyone let out a deep breath they didn’t realize they were holding.
At dinner, the students were abuzz with gossip about the long-haired woman who had stormed into Hogwarts without permission. She had apparently hexed the Head Boy when he tried to interfere with her mission to the headmaster’s office.
“I heard she transfigured his eyes into boils that leaked goo and burned off his cheeks.”
“No no, tied him to a statue with snakes and cast a muffliato over him.”
“Well, I heard she kissed him and his lips swelled so big they covered his face! Nearly killed him.”
“She’s one of those sirens crossed with an acromantula.”
The rumors got lustier and more absurd from there. The general consensus was that she was the sexiest woman the students had ever seen and also the most terrifying. No one was confident of any other truth about her, and Hermione, Ron, and Harry kept their experiences to themselves.
**
Harry was more diligent with occlumency now, and weeks passed without any emergencies directly involving the three friends. They did notice Malfoy’s face and shoulders were perpetually pinched, and Ron saw him more than once stalking down the hallway scraping tears from his eyes. A new, anxious magic wafted from him like dying steam. The night Katie Bell was nearly killed by the cursed necklace, Hermione lay awake in bed flipping through mental images of her spread eagle form in the air, her hand on Hermione’s waist at the ball last year, her breathy laugh, and the inhuman scream she had emitted before the necklace cast her to the ground. Two weeks later, she and the boys pieced together from rumor, the Daily Prophet, and casual words from McGonagall an event that occurred in northwestern Poland: the Carrow twins had been found decapitated in an abandoned shack with the Dark Mark in the sky above them. A whole muggle town had to be obliviated, but it was almost certain that some muggles had escaped the spell and retained the memory. Ministry officials in all departments moved about anxiously at home and at work. Even Tonks was snappish the day she sat with Hermione for a butterbeer on a chance meeting in the Three Broomsticks one weekend.
“Your mother-“
“Is a nightmare? Yes, I know.” Tonks was quick to interrupt.
Hermione faltered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… Uhhh. She just caused quite a stir at school.”
Tonks scoffed with a smile. “I’m sure she did. She can’t help it, I think. She either keeps to herself to a fault or destroys the peace. She doesn’t show up in public much, but when she does, she really dominates the space.”
Especially the magical space, thought Hermione. “I’m sorry for bringing it up. We don’t need to talk about family.” Perhaps Andromeda was more like her sisters than she had assumed.
“You misunderstand. My mother is wonderful – the kindest, most intelligent, and gracious woman that I have ever met. I adore her; everyone does. You have seen, though, that she can be quite fierce. Dad always said she was the most merciless duelist in their year at Hogwarts, and based on what she did when I got in trouble growing up, I’m sure I don’t want to see firsthand.” The woman laughed, her hair shimmering with red and orange.
Hermione was also certain she did not want see Tonks’ mother duel in person – but maybe it would be nice on a big screen in a movie theatre behind a large bucket of popcorn. The fleeting fantasy of Andromeda Tonks as a movie star was interrupted when Harry and Ron- accompanied by Fred and George on a surprise visit - squeezed into the small booth hollering about something quidditch. After a bit of banter from the twins (“Going to see Remus, eh Tonks?”), Tonks departed, promising to visit the Burrow for Bill and Fleur’s wedding at the end of their Fall semester.
**
It was hard to remember later, but the wedding celebration was probably beautiful - that is, whatever wasn’t eclipsed by the Death Eaters’ attack on the Burrow. Fiendfyre had ripped through the living room wall and snaked its way upstairs. The sound of whipping wind was followed by flying black smoke shattering glass and cackling with glee. The face of Bellatrix Lestrange lured a vengeful Harry outside, and once again he was chasing her without second thought. Ginny, Lupin, Tonks, and Charlie had followed him. When they came back, they were shaken but would say nothing more than that they had traded spells with Lestrange, Greyback, Yaxley, and someone else they didn’t recognize. They all then evacuated to the Ministry in mass to request aid.
The Weasleys and Harry stayed at Grimmauld Place over the winter break while the Burrow was being rebuilt. Harry offered to escort Hermione home to her parents’ place, but Hermione declined. At home she spent the better part of the time lying to her mother and father about what was happening at school, in her life, and in the wizarding world. Every night, her sparrows chased each other in their circle but quietly now that she had a suspicion her mother knew about them and probably understood them better than she herself did.