Sequel - Catharsis
A.N. This story remains me blow-off-steam project. Take it as such. Story continues directly from the ending of the first arc. Thanks to ‘Johnny Farrar’ of DLP for edits.
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James Potter stood in front of the bookshelf pretending he was perusing the titles. In the waning light of day he couldn’t see much of the names of the old tomes, but it was a necessary act to cover he was waiting to assist his hostess. For some years now her house was the place he felt most at ease, including his own home. With a negligent wave of his hand the candles in the study lit up.
“Thank you, James,” he heard his hostess as she entered through a side door.
“Madam Dumbledore,” he greeted, quickly walking behind her to push her wheelchair into the room.
“Tut, tut, I am perfectly capable, thank you,” the old woman said with good humor. Gray hair with some streaks of black remaining fell on her shoulders. Her blue eyes seemed extraordinarily bright against her aged and papery skin. The slender face still hinted of a kindly beauty. “Tea?” she asked.
“I have it ready,” James answered, handing her a cup. She smiled indulgently up at him and took it graciously.
James seated himself across from her on a chair older than his hostess. He took pleasure in the warmth of the teacup in his hands as the familiar ritual helped him escape his troubles. Still quite young at thirty-three he felt much older for his age. Sometimes he felt he was perpetually fatigued. It was a wonder to him his hair hadn’t turned gray yet. The expectations of everyone around him had become more and more difficult to live up to every year. The companionship of Ariana Dumbledore was his only relief.
“I presume you are coming from a meeting with my brother?” the old woman asked, breaking their comfortable silence.
James nodded. “Yes. He asked me again if there was something I wanted to tell him.” He played with the teaspoon in contemplation. “I suppose it is that time of the year again.”
Ariana Dumbledore nodded twice quickly as she was wont to do when about to give something her full attention. She stretched her arm to set her tea on the table but James reached across quickly to take it from her. She sighed a little at being treated like an invalid but bore it as patiently as she had for nearly two decades.
“My brother is nothing if not observant. I am sure he was waiting for the end of May to pass, as I was,” she said while looking out the window at the night sky. She knew well enough that James didn’t like being asked questions directly. She could feel his discomfiture and restrained from prompting him.
James put his tea aside, having lost the pleasure in it. “…Lily is alright,” he finally said.
Despite knowing better, Ariana pressed him, she had been anxiously awaiting news of this. “She did not become melancholy or secretive?”
“No. But I don’t know if I should be happy or worried,” James confessed abruptly.
Ariana was taken aback. As comfortable as the young wizard was with her, it was an exercise in tact and patience usually to get him to share anything about Lily. “James, my son, you should be ecstatic. If Lily has stopped obsessing about that false memory then she can live life fully, and it is no longer a strain on your relationship. Are your daughters not happier?”
James met the clear eyes of his confidant with deep sadness. “It feels false.”
Ariana Dumbledore slapped her forehead in exasperation. “Why can’t you ever be happy? You wear this damned cloak of fear and guilt. Your wife is safe from my brother’s inquisitiveness. She is free from knowledge of the secret he wishes to protect. Make your peace, James.”
James Potter hung his head but not in shame. He simply didn’t want the woman he held in high regard to see how much she had angered him. She should have known better than to speak of his affairs like that but he had burdened her with his worries for too many years to now become prickly.
“I am thankful that you charmed her memory, Madam Dumbledore. You and I both know it was getting difficult to hide from Professor Dumbledore that his memory charm had failed so many years ago,” James paused to weigh if he should reveal what had been really bothering him, in the end he shared as he always did with her. He wet his lips before saying, “What if what Lily remembered wasn’t a lie…what if she was right?”
Ariana Dumbledore’s face fell and she felt any patience in her evaporate. She gave James Potter the look her brothers said was the only time she looked like their mother; it wasn’t a compliment. “James,” she said softly in warning.
“I know, I know,” James held up his hands in defeat.
“I am not finished, son,” Ariana Dumbledore continued in her soft tone. “For how many years did the taint of that year affect Lily? For how many years you lived in fear that Albus would discover Lily secretly bore animosity for him? I only agreed to help you after I couldn’t see you or her suffer year in and year out anymore, and I did not want Albus to do something regrettable for her own good.” Ariana Dumbledore wiped her forehead, trying to physically remove her tension. It had been a long time since she had become so angry. “Do not start thinking dangerous thoughts.”
James Potter had been massaging his temples through Ariana Dumbledore’s reproach. Uncertainty gripped him as he was plagued by second thoughts. Internally he scoffed at what people would think if they knew how unsure he was of himself. They only saw the man who had defeated Lord Voldemort and thought he was invincible. Little did they know he had no idea what had happened the night of the Dark Lord’s fall.
“It was part of her for so long, I’m afraid what we did is just temporary. I keep waiting for her to break through the memory charm again. I know Lily is powerful, but to be powerful enough to shred Professor Dumbledore’s magic?” James looked askance to Ariana.
Ariana stoically resisted reminding James they had already had this discussion. If no magic worked on her legs she wasn’t shocked that magic on Lily’s mind failed as well; both had been attacked by the same thing. Instead she said, “Lily is a remarkable witch. You two are matched well. Go home to her; make some happy memories with her and your daughters.”
James nodded without looking at her and stood up. “I actually have some news for you. It’s about the forgotten case.”
Ariana’s frustration disappeared in a second. “You have found something?” she asked eagerly.
James shrugged. “A hint of something. We might need to bring others of the Order into this.”
“Not until we are sure, James, it is too dangerous,” Ariana warned clutching the arms of her wheel chair. “Tell me.”
“One of Sirius’s reconnaissance Aurors was captured by the rebelling goblin factions. He escaped only yesterday. While in their cells he swears he heard the voices of human children, he also overheard the guards complain about the ‘wizard brats.’ What is really bizarre is the story of his escape…he claims he was let go by a drunken goblin. He was taken from his cell and marched out and then told to get lost because he stank.” James shrugged into his cloak and put on his hat. “We need more information,” he concluded. “We will be going in tonight.”
Ariana Dumbledore nodded sharply twice. “Don’t let the Longbottoms hear of this. I still think we should have obliviated them like the rest about what happened. What did Albus say?”
“I didn’t remember to tell him. I was busy dodging his questions about Lily,” said James.
“It will be wonderful if it is them, James, Merlin I so hope it is them.” Ariana smiled wistfully. “They should all be ready to start Hogwarts this year.”
James shook his head sadly. “It has already been eleven years since they were kidnapped? It is too cruel.”
“It is,” Ariana said with fury. “Find my granddaughter, James. Find her!” Tears leaked from the old woman’s eyes and her hand trembled when she wiped them.
James leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I haven’t let up once. We will find them. We will find all the children who Voldemort took.”
When Harry came to he was propped against the trunk of a tree with the uncomfortable feeling of drool on his face. He moaned in pain when he moved to wipe the spittle. Bianca made a shushing motion and he finally noticed her crouching by his side with her wand outstretched. His eyes widened as he noticed a squad of goblins in their clunky but ornate armor walk past their spot. Their beady eyes were searching but somehow kept missing them.
Harry tried reaching for his wand but his hand felt like it was detached and numb. Fever made his vision swim a little and he thought it best to stay still. The thought of trusting in luck and his fifteen year old sister didn’t fill him with too much confidence but he had little choice. The curses and wounds Dumbledore had left on him were not easy to recover from without aid.
He had drifted off without realizing and came around with a start when Bianca shook him awake. She looked worn to him even through his hazy vision. She was kneeling next to him with a bladder of water she brought to his lips. He drank from it greedily. After that she broke off morsels of bread and fed him. He tried to take the food from her hands but didn’t even have the energy to raise his hands off his lap. It was beginning to frighten him.
“What shield…” he trailed off too weak to speak. He wanted to tell her normal shields and notice-me-not charms didn’t work with goblins long if they decided to use their talismans. She just shushed him and went back to ministering him. They will have them, one of them will have a talisman, it’s only a matter of time they find us, he wanted to say but couldn’t get his tongue to obey him.
“Harry, if you really are Harry. We have to get to St. Mungo’s. I can’t – I don’t know what to do. I’m going to levitate you,” Bianca said getting to her feet.
Harry’s head lolled to the left as he tried to shake it, he only managed to ground out a no. “Mungo’s…enemies…danger…wait.”
“You will die, I’m not going to let that happen again,” said Bianca. To Harry’s ears she was too loud and desperate. He wanted to call his secret power but had no idea if he could control it in his weakened state. If he was alone he would have risked it, but he could not put his sister in danger.
“Leave me. Run,” said Harry. He saw a flash of anger in her hazel eyes and knew it would not work.
He was expecting her to say something painfully heroic but just then there was an explosion. Magical light burst over the copse of trees they were hiding in and the angered screams of goblins filled the air.
“Oh, fuck me,” swore Bianca. Harry was yet again troubled hearing such words come out of an eleven-year-old’s mouth. He couldn’t help agree with her when the unmistakable sounds of armor started coming towards them.
Bianca moved so she was standing over him in a protective stance. Her robes and cloak were dirty as was the back of her head he could see. He was very afraid for her and cursing his condition. Someone who didn’t know how goblins fought was vulnerable. The creatures had spent centuries learning to outwit those with more magical power than them. Wizards, outside of when a rebellion was on their hands, did not work too hard to be prepared for goblins.
Her wand was moving and she was spelling under her breath. His eyes throbbed in pain but he tried to stay conscious. In another few heartbeats the goblin horde was upon them. The word ‘retreat’ came through to Harry in Gobbledygook. For a few seconds Bianca’s notice-me-not charms held before some goblin with a talisman passed close enough to their circle to get a hint that something was there.
Harry knew what came next, they would blindly attack the area they knew someone was hiding in but couldn’t quite see. The retreating goblins launched arrows and spears in the spot Bianca and Harry were hiding. As sudden the attack was Bianca was prepared for it, her shields repelled the weapons back. She shouted a spell that caused explosions in a circle around them. Goblins screamed in rage as they were thrown away. With dismay Harry realized Bianca’s attacks were not lethal. She did not understand what she was up against. She was simply buying time.
The adrenaline rush from being attacked went a long way for his body to respond to him. Harry was able to grab his wand and at least stand while propping himself against the tree. Seeing him move Bianca yelled at him to stay down and moved to cover him with her body. The goblins had redoubled their attack on the area around the tree they had their back to. Bianca could only shield now. Harry gained some hope when he saw that she was using shields far more advanced than the average witch or wizard would use. It was the only thing that was keeping the enchanted weaponry of the goblins from reaching them.
Weakly he pointed his wand at a number of the armored creatures hiding behind trees and cast a curse. It went off target and only made him feel more drained. In answer the goblins snuffed the lights they were carrying. It was all dark in the copse but for the glint of steel right before Bianca’s shield repelled it or the steel cut through.
Bianca was moving swiftly around him, intercepting anything that was aimed at him. She already had a gash in her side and on one arm; wounds she had received protecting him. The goblins were no longer using light and taking the advantage of nightfall to hide from her. It was only the whistle of arrows or ‘thwack’ of a spear hitting their tree that warned them of an attack.
The attacks were coming in a steady pattern from all sides. Harry knew they were being kept distracted till the goblins amassed enough of a force of their wizard-killers. They would move in close with their enchanted swords and knives, much more potent than the arrows and spears. The more metal and jewels on a weapon the better they could use their magic on it to disrupt wand magic.
Bianca was breathing hard and her movements were becoming sloppy, he could feel her stumbling from side to side. Frustration and anger was boiling inside him, leaving little sanity along with what the fever was doing to him. He’d lost his whole family, she was the only one left, and he couldn’t fail her too.
“Bianca!” He grabbed her cloak with Herculean effort. “Andros shield, now!”He wrapped his arms around her middle and leaned on her. In his mind he prayed and cast his spell. Orori Atrox.
James Potter stood on the small hill looking down in the valley where the goblins had gathered. Only a few of the Order who were under his direct command were on this mission. Sirius was running interference at the Ministry, and Remus had taken point. James was waiting in the reserves.
As soon as the sun had set he had given his go ahead. Out of necessity James had to use the less experienced Order members for the mission to watch Remus’s back. They had made a mistake immediately. The alarm had gone up, but strangely instead of staying and fighting one of the factions had decided to run away immediately, clashing with the other which wanted to stay and fight. It was in James’s favor that the goblins just leave. But it didn’t make sense for them to run away, since they outnumbered the wizards in their camp. It made him uneasy; it all smelled of a trap.
Fifteen minutes into the infiltration Remus’s patronus ran up the hill to him to report that he did indeed find children and had secured them. In another minute the patronus came back.
“James…it’s them. We’ve found them,” the patronus said and disappeared. James felt as if he had suddenly grown wings as he felt relief and joy take him. There was no doubt from Remus’s tone who he was talking about. It was the Order’s children Death Eaters had stolen eleven years ago after obliviating them of their existence. They were the forgotten ones.
Only a select few knew the terrible secret, because Dumbledore had allowed most of the parents to remain obliviated. James knew what would come next, after the wonderful reunions of parents and children, the Order would split. But he couldn’t think of that now, he had to make sure everyone was safe. Below things seemed to be getting worse, the group who wanted to stay and fight were cutting through the goblins running away and were rushing the caves. He sent a quick message to the Order members to port-key away.
Just as he was about to go down and join the fray light exploded in the night opposite from the cave cells Remus and his team had infiltrated. It burned in his retinas even as he tried to shield his eyes. A great dome of a magical shield had appeared inside a copse of trees through which the goblins had been running away. Terrible shrieks soon followed as the shield continued to grow, within seconds enveloping the trees into its violent white light.
“Bloody Hell! That isn’t goblin magic!” James swore. A goblin which was running into the trees about turned but not fast enough, the white light caught him and twisted his body as it was repelled.
There was a crack behind him. Sirius Black appeared in a flurry of heavy Auror’s robes with his wand at the ready.
“The fuck, Prongs, I told you ‘low profile!’ The scouts got back to the department with a critical magic event report. Crouch has ordered a full scale attack in five minutes!” Sirius shouted.
“It’s not us,” James retorted, equally angry and worried that the Ministry was about to descend on them. “Tell me doesn’t that look like an Andros shield?”
Sirius surveyed the dome while shielding his eyes. “It has layers like an Andros shield, but it can’t be one, mate. I don’t know anyone who can cast one bigger than their body. Too much power needed. Get out now. If it’s not our people then it might be the Death Eaters. Either way Crouch shouldn’t find you here.”
James’s eyes were fixed on the shield. “It is receding. I will apparate out before the Ministry gets here, but I have to look.” With that he popped away towards the source of the dome.
“God damn it, Potter!” Sirius swore behind him. He surveyed the goblins in disarray between the caves and the dome and hoped the Order team had already made it out. He followed his old friend and lashed out as soon as he landed by the panicked goblins. Running into the trees he soon saw James’s back.
James raised his hand when he looked over his shoulder to find Sirius there. Getting the signal Sirius crept closer quietly. The shield had receded to the point it was circling around two children standing against a tree. Crumpled and twisted goblin bodies were strewn around.
“Shit, Remus didn’t find these two. Sirius we have to get them out before the Ministry gets here.” James turned to him.
Sirius shook his head. “No time, James. You need to leave now! Otherwise the Order will be compromised. Do they resemble like anyone we know?” he asked trying to peer through the bright shield.
“All I can tell is that there are two of them. Can’t see through this shield…What about you?” James asked walking to the perimeter of the shield.
Suddenly there was a cacophony of cracks around them. Sirius motioned urgently to James. His friend apparated away before any Hit Wizards or Aurors made it to them. Sounds of spell fire were not far behind the sounds of multiple apparations. The Ministry was here to wipe out the rebelling goblins. The battle had been joined.
The shield had been getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared. It left behind a small girl with a boy draped around her back hugging her from behind. To Sirius it looked like he was asleep. The girl had a wild look on her face, she was bleeding from several places, but her wand was unnervingly pointed steadily at him.
Sirius raised his hands in a calming gesture. “It’s alright. You’re safe now. I’m an Auror. You can put the wand down now.”
“No,” the girl said. She had one hand clutching tightly the boy’s arm wrapped around her middle and she started backing away.
Sirius stepped forward. “I’m here to help-”
“Then make me a portkey to St. Mungo’s,” the girl said suddenly stopping.
Sirius was taken aback by the gall of the girl but his lips twitched in a smile despite himself. He had to somehow get the girl and boy out of there before anyone else from the Ministry saw them. “Alright, I’ll make you a portkey. I just want you to be safe.”
The girl’s wand never left his center mass, and she looked anything but convinced by his soothing voice.
“Say the spell out loud, I don’t want you to send us somewhere else,” she demanded, finally making a move towards him.
“You know the incantation for it?” Sirius asked surprised. The girl simply looked at him. He found the little child very annoying, on top of which her familiar eyes were worrying him. Logically he knew that she was the child of someone from the Order who had been abducted as a baby but he just couldn’t place her. He had been expecting to instantly recognize the traits of the parents. Besides himself he couldn’t think of anyone who had as much cheek as her. For a moment the thought that she might be his made his stomach drop.
She was six feet away from him by then and he was kneeling to charm a rock when someone came through the trees to them. The girl backed away as fast as she could with the boy she was dragging behind her.
“I received a message you required back up,” Kingsley said a second before Sirius would have stunned him.
“Just watch my back, have to get these kids out,” Sirius said in relief that it was an ally; even if Kingsley wasn’t privy to the forgotten case.
When he turned back to the stone he found the girl was back to the tree and steadily creeping away with her wand trained now on him and now on Kingsley. Her eyes said it all, she was terrified.
“It’s alright, he’s a friend. He won’t hurt you. Come on, we should go to St. Mungo’s,” said Sirius urgently.
The girl shook her head. “I’m not going back. You won’t take him from me. You’re from the Order. You lied to me, you all lie. Stay away!”
Sirius shared a shocked glance with Kingsley. “We’re just here to help,” said Sirius inching toward her.
In answer the girl disillusioned herself and the boy. The last glimpse Sirius had of them was her moving further into the trees.
Kingsley strode forward. “Miss we can hear you, and I can see where you’re walking. I give you my word I will not hurt you. You are hurt, let us assist you.” For his trouble a bolt of red light came at Kingsley which he quickly shielded himself from. “Sirius I don’t think she’s hearing us. How does she know about the Order?”
Sirius strode up next to the taller man. Kingsley was not part of the small circle of people who knew who these children were and what had happened to them. He couldn’t share his thoughts that the Death Eaters had probably brainwashed the girl. It sickened him that the child of one of his friends from the Order was afraid of them. “I don’t know, but we don’t have much time, stun her and take her before the Ministry gets to them or the goblins. At least that boy with her is out.”
The tall man beside him grumbled. “She is fairly bent on protecting him. I would rather not force her. But we have little time.” Kingsley nodded to the left moving quickly in that direction.
Sirius understood and went after the girl knowing Kingsley would circle around to cut her off. She hadn’t gotten far; he could see the tracks in the underbrush. He could not hear her anymore however. He guessed she had cast a moving silencing charm; a remarkable achievement for such a young witch. The thought that it was her who had cast the Andros shield made him extremely wary. She shouldn’t even have a wand, let alone be able to cast a shield on the final year’s syllabus of Auror College.
After five minutes he felt a standard trapping jinx go up. Sirius cast his own jinx to reinforce Kingsley’s. Now the girl and the boy she was dragging around were trapped in a rough circle.
“Oh fuck you!” the little girl’s enraged oath rend the relative quiet under the trees.
Sirius shook his head in dismay. “And this is why Death Eaters shouldn’t be allowed to raise sweet little girls.”
A few minutes later Sirius heard someone running and readied himself. The girl burst out of the bushes in front of him. The look on her face was anything but sweet. Her eyes were intense and filled with purpose. She slashed her wand in the air sending two severing hexes straight at his chest. Before he shielded himself from those, the ground by his feet exploded making him lose his footing. She sent a petrifying curse he just managed to block as he rolled to his feet. She was running before he regained himself and he tore after her.
Bianca had despaired at the trap jinx but soon realized there was only one way for her to keep Harry out of the Order’s hands. She checked his temperature before leaving him and took heart that he wasn’t hot anymore. She hoped that he would be okay, because going to the Order meant certain death, this was the only chance he had. She disillusioned him again and set up charms to hide him. She could hear the two Order men getting closer and had gone to meet one.
Now she was running from him looking for Kingsley. The diameter of the trap jinx wasn’t too wide. Kingsley had judged perfectly where she would be. She saw the tail of a cloak and came around the tree with a powerful banishing hex. It took Kingsley full on, sending him hard into another tree. He fell with a grunt and began coughing. She felt terrible cursing him, he had always been kind to her, but she wanted to save Harry more. The trapping jinx disappeared and she had both men following her away from Harry.
She was running blindly zigzagging amongst the trees. They were hot on her heels but somehow she was keeping ahead. To her horror she suddenly ran straight into a clearing. She bolted across the clearing for the trees. Red light of a stunner whizzed pass her right ear. She jerked to the left and saw the red of another stunner too late. Everything went black.
James Potter was waiting the next night in Arianna Dumbledore’s study again. Sirius Black arrived apparating straight into the study. James shot him an annoyed look which the other man shrugged off. Remus arrived next knocking before entering. He nodded to the other two wearily and quickly took a chair. James smiled at his old friend. Remus was the one who inevitably had to chase down every lead they had had over the last eleven years. He was physically hardy, magically powerful, and welcome in such parts of the wizarding world that James and Sirius were not allowed in because of their privileged families.
Ariana Dumbledore rolled in on her wheelchair. Sirius stepped forward to assist her but she waved him away. They automatically took their usual seats and waited for her to join them.
“Thank you,” the old woman said with deep feeling. “Albus tells me Poppy hasn’t stopped working since last night to match the children with their parents. The blood enchantments are difficult, it will take time. But they are safe.” She beamed at them.
“Madame Dumbledore, has Poppy found her yet?” Remus asked, referring to the woman’s granddaughter.
Ariana shook her head. “No, she is still running tests. I have seen them all. I believe I know who she is but my brother is right, before I become emotional and leap at a scared child and claim her, we should make certain she truly is my grandchild. Well, I have heard from James and Remus what happened last night, but I believe, Sirius, you know best about the circumstances of the girl you brought to me last night?”
James Potter looked to his friend. “Was she the one inside the shield? Did the other one with her go with the rest of the children?”
Sirius held up a hand. “You’ll need to hear this from the beginning. I’ll start from where James left, you should all know what happened till then?”
Remus nodded. “Went over it with Albus and Madame Dumbledore. It was a shock to me seeing that magic, luckily I was the last one left in the caves when it happened. The goblins went mad.”
Sirius ran a hand through his dark hair before continuing. To the others he seemed distracted. “The magic was something like an Andros shield. After James left it completely disappeared. There were an injured girl and boy behind it. The boy was unconscious. It seems to me it was the girl who had cast the shield. I tried to make friends with her but she was suspicious, still she asked for a portkey to St. Mungo’s. So far everything was working fine. I thought I’d give her a portkey to Mungo’s and follow after her, get her and the boy taken care of and bring them to the meeting point. Then Kingsley arrived and everything went to Hell.” Sirius blew out a puff of air.
“What happened, Sirius?” James asked, not liking the expression on Sirius’s face.
“She knew Kingsley was part of the Order and started running from us. She said I lied to her about who I was and that she wouldn’t let us take him; I presume she meant the boy she was dragging along. Oh, and she also said she wasn’t going back again. Whatever that means.
Kingsley and I pursued in which time she cast disillusionment charms, silencing charms, cutting hexes, bombarding curses, a ridiculously powerful banishing curse, before we stunned her. And top it all off she outwitted both Kingsley’s and my trapping jinxes to lead us away from the boy who she hid somewhere and we were unable to find. Now I would very much like a drink,” finished Sirius and got up for decanter of amber liquid on the shelf.
Remus leaned forward on his knees and held up a finger, “This is very worrisome. One, she knew of Kingsley and the Order. Two,” and here he raised another finger, “she distrusts the Order. Three, she is capable of magic that distracted them long enough to hide the boy, which brings me to four and most importantly we have not recovered one of the forgotten children!” Remus stood up in a rage. “I thought we had them. After eleven years, we lost one again?”
“Calm down, Remus,” Sirius said sourly. “I’ve spent nearly every hour since last night searching that whole valley, and when I had to get away Kingsley searched, and when he got away another Order Auror searched. I know I fucked up.”
“Language, Mr. Black,” Ariana chided distractedly. “This is most disturbing. None of the other children had a reaction like that to us. Why were that boy and girl not locked in cells and so far away?”
“You said she stopped cooperating when Kingsley showed up and she recognized him for an Order member?” asked James.
“Mhm,” Sirius agreed taking a sip of his drink. “She was practically terrified.”
“Is it possible they were sold to the goblins after being kept by Death Eaters for many years and in that time they inculcated some of the children with their philosophy. It is possible this girl was taught to fear us by them,” James said, looking to his companions.
Remus had calmed down a little since his outburst. “If that is true, they know of Kingsley. That means we failed to protect him or he was indiscreet, both are unlikely.”
Sirius snorted. “Yeah, if it was unlikely we wouldn’t have this little super secret group within the Order. We never figured out who the traitor is, Remus, might be him who let on about Kingsley.”
It was James’s turn to be frustrated with Sirius. “Think about it, Sirius. Since the first war everything in the Order is compartmentalized. Kingsley has never met or been told of the other members. He only knows those he directly reports to. He is your man, Sirius; neither Remus nor I even knew of him until Madame Dumbledore told us last night.”
Sirius smiled widely. “I suppose that means either me, good lady Dumbledore, or Albus himself is the traitor.”
Remus rolled his eyes. “As I said: unlikely.”
“I haven’t told you the best part yet,” said Sirius sitting down again. “This is the wand the young lady was using so effectively. Lose something, James?”
“No.” James frowned as he caught the wand thrown to him. “This…feels like mine.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wand that was close to identical to the one Sirius had given him. The scratches and nicks on it were in different places. It looked like it had burned sometime long ago, other than it felt very well kept.
“This gets better,” said Sirius, but losing his humor. “I thought the wand was yours but I stopped by Ollivander’s to check. He was upset that you’d burned it but said it belonged to you for certain. I got this off the girl, James.”
Tense silence fell between them as each considered the possibilities. Wild thoughts ran through James’s mind but he could not figure out how two identical wands were possible. There was much lore in fairy tales about brother wands connecting their owners in usually romantic ways, but he didn’t feel the least bit amused by that thought. He caught a motion with the corner of his eyes. Ariana Dumbledore had nodded quickly to herself.
“Gentlemen,” she called them to attention. “It was wise of Sirius to bring her to me. It is best she is isolated from the other children. I do not know what her fear of the Order, magical ability, or her wand mean. What I understand is that we must resolve this quickly. The Order is about to go through its worst internal strife. When we tell our friends that we let them continue their lives oblivious to the existence of their firstborn they will not forgive us. But somehow we must keep their loyalty and not lose them. The healing will be arduous and I don’t wish to be distracted by the riddle this girl presents. Are we agreed?”
It was James’s cue as he knew it. After Ariana Dumbledore he was ranked highest in that room. As defeater of Voldemort he had gained quick following and authority within the Order. He didn’t revel in the status much, as far as he was concerned Remus and Sirius were equally deserving, but Ariana Dumbledore liked to put people in places. “Yes, Ma’am, we are agreed on our goals,” he said.
“Aye,” said Remus and Sirius after one another.
“Thank you, now I will require one of our best interrogators to question the girl.” Ariana looked to them for suggestions.
“Moody is too frightening,” Remus said.
“And don’t even mention Snape, the treacherous bastard,” said Sirius, wiping the weariness out of his eyes.
“Language, Sirius,” Ariana chided again but looked at him concerned. “The guest room is prepared. You will sleep before you go back on duty. And, yes, I agree with you, if the girl already fears us exposing her to Snape is the least intelligent thing we can do.”
They all looked to James who kept his gaze steadily at the floor. Finally Ariana broke the silence, “There is no one better than Lily for this James. Her subtle touch is required, and she truly is the best as you know.”
“I do not want her involved with this case. I have told you this many times, Madame.” James gave her a meaning laden look.
It was Remus who spoke instead of Ariana. “James, she is one of the very few we know with dead certainty is not the traitor who obliviated most of the Order of any knowledge of the abducted children. And she is most qualified. She has the best interrogation record out of all of us. I don’t know why you didn’t want her part of this case, but she already knows the basics. She is guarding those children right now as we speak.”
“The cat’s amongst the pixies now, mate.” Sirius shrugged.
“James, I will speak with the child. You three come with me, keep yourself hidden. Hopefully I will find a clue in her mind. If it doesn’t work we will need Lily. Will you bring her if I fail?”
James nodded and stood up to follow the old woman. He was intensely curious about the girl.