The sound of knocking on the door caused the woman to look up from her desk. Taking out her wand, she waved it at the door, opening it to show a short old man, his face wizened and back hunched with age.
'Lord Nathanael,' Hermione greeted as she stood up swiftly. Walking around the desk, she approached to assist the old man.
'I am fine, I am fine,' he said in a frail voice as he waved her off, putting his wand, an ancient looking tool, inside his pocket. 'I managed to get to this office without you. I think I can get to the chair the same way.' He said good-naturedly. Taking out a red silk handkerchief, he coughed violently into it as he slowly walked in, his highly polished mahogany cane tapping along as it assisted him inside.
Gracelessly falling into the chair opposite Hermione's desk, he gave out a loud sigh, wiping at his glistening forehead with the kerchief. 'You should get an assistant,' he declared, looking around imperiously.
'I shall think about it. What may I do for you today, sir?' Hermione said as she sat behind her desk, giving her all his attention. She practically revered this man. Lord Nathanael Smith, great grandfather of Zacharias Smith had sponsored her entrance into the Ministry as an intern to begin with. She owed her success to the old man. In fact, it was also due to the recommendation of the same man that she had got the position of the head of the department three months ago.
Peering at the mountain of work around her desk, Lord Nathanael nodded approvingly. 'It is good to see the head of a department putting in a lot of hard work. May I ask as to what it is you are working on?'
'Oh, just some old marriage law that I am looking to get repealed,' Hermione responded dismissively.
'Old marriage law?' Hermione noticed that the man, while old, had two of the most piercing grey eyes as he gazed at her. They spoke of a great acuity of the mind unhampered by age.
'Yes, sir, basically, it's a law that allows polygamous marriages.' Hermione sniffed, unable to hide her disapproval. She had devoted as much of her free time as she could in researching that law. It was so mired in tradition and legalese that getting it amended or repealed would take a lot of effort. Not only was there an outright law permitting polygamy, that would need a two-third majority vote from the Ancient and Noble Houses (as the law itself was ancient) but there were at least four other bills that had a clause allowing the practice. And that wasn't counting the loopholes that could be used.
A small quirk of the lips was the only response she got.
Putting both hands on the knob of his cane, a smoothened amber rock, the man looked at her thoughtfully. 'I am having a dinner party tonight, and was hoping that you would be interested in coming. Some of my friends will be there, and I think you might enjoy their company.'
Hermione was ecstatic. Finally, her years of hard work were going to pay off! She might be able to get some support for her new project. 'I would be honoured, sir!' she enthused. Getting a sudden thought, she continued. 'May I bring my husband along?'
'Ah, yes,' the old aristocrat exclaimed. 'Ronald is his name, yes? Well, bring him along. The more the merrier. Although I don't think it would be advisable to bring your little one along.' He smiled indulgently. 'I imagine such gatherings will be very boring for someone as young as you, so they might be unbearable for someone of Rose, I believe her name was?' Hermione nodded. 'Yes, Rose's age.'
'I will make arrangements for a babysitter,' Hermione readily agreed. 'Her grandmother so adores taking care of children anyway.'
'Ah, Molly Prewitt,' the old man nodded sagely. 'I have heard many things about her.' Leaning on his cane he got up. 'Well, I will see you tonight at eight sharp. I have sent you a small gift for the occasion. I hope you don't mind. At my age I like to indulge.' Not waiting for a response, Smith slowly walked out, extracting and waving his wand to open the door for him.
The "small gift" turned out to be two sets of dress robes, one each for Ron and her.
Hermione held her dress robe up, examining it with a critical eye. The amaranthine coloured raw silk robe both looked and felt as if it would be worth her year's salary. Hermione could also detect dust repellent charms woven into the cloth. That factor alone would account for a fourth of the price as the enchantment was fiendishly difficult to weave, and was generally applied on the material, wearing off in a few days.
Had she been any less enthusiastic about the prospect of meeting so many powerful people, Hermione would have found it quite strange that the two clearly tailor-made robes fit Ron and her so perfectly.
Ron was initially wary of going to the party, but the prospect of getting out of the house, away from Rose and his overbearing mother was too much to pass up. It wasn't that he did not love them (he adored them both equally) but he wanted a break. He needed a break. Taking care of Rose (Fred and George's penchant for destruction and practical jokes, put together with Hermione's brilliant mind was a dangerous combination) was quite taxing without listening as his mother gave subtle hints every second minute about him going out and finding what she called "a real job".
When Hermione added that the party might help them get more money and possibly ease their financial strain (which was slowly lessening thanks to her new job) Ron was moving so fast to get changed that Hermione swore that she could see his afterimage in the kitchen where she was sitting.
The manor belonging to the Smiths was elegant in its simplicity. The family crest, a black badger on a gold background, proudly displayed on the gates and above the door told every visitor there the family's connexion to one of the legendary founders of Hogwarts.
Upon reaching the front doors, Ron looked warily at his wife when the liveried manservant that greeted them called for a House-Elf to take their coats. He was gratified to notice that other than a small tightening around her eyes, Hermione did not say anything. Self-consciously smoothing his new light blue dress robes, he escorted his wife inside the large house.
If it wasn't for the fact that he was far away from toys, frilly child-sized clothes that once belonged to his sister or the shrieking of his daughter as she ran around demonstrating that, indeed, she took after Fred and George (and come to think of it, Ginny as well) having good quality food and in adult company, Ronald Weasley would have found the entire party incredibly boring.
Knowing that his wife's job and the future of the family was at stake, he made sure to conduct himself with impeccable manners. To that end, he, in a burst of inspiration, decided to watch and mimic the actions of the other guests. Not really knowing anyone in the party, he also elected to keep to himself, silently sitting at his place at the large table and enjoying the food as he watched people around him talk about things he had no clue about, even if they were not work related. The only times he spoke was when he was directly addressed. So he concentrated on keeping his mouth closed as he chewed, and lowering his eating speed. While he agreed with his mother that he did not eat too fast, he still decided to follow his wife's advice. It would make her a bit happy.
Hermione was mentally hyperventilating. This night was going to be a make it or break it moment for the family. Anxiously, she cast a glance at Ron, noting the barely concealed look of abject boredom on his face with additional angst. At least he was making a good effort to be well-mannered. She couldn't help but notice that the two of them stuck out amongst the genteel. For the first time in her life she wished that she had not refused when her mother had tried to sign her up for etiquette lessons in the summer after her first year.
The party wasn't even really a party, more like a small gathering of Lord Nathanael's companions. Of the eleven present there (excluding their host) she and Ron were the youngest there. The next youngest person in the whole room was someone that Hermione recognised only as a member of the Wizengamot. And he was at least in his fifties.
Once the last of the food was cleared away magically, the host slowly stood up, leaning heavily on his cane. 'I trust that all of us found the food satisfying?' Not waiting for any response, he continued. 'Shall we adjourn for some drinks?' he looked at Hermione directly. 'I think Mrs Weasley would like to join us as well.'
Taking a deep shaky breath, Hermione followed Lord Nathanael along with five others, four of which she noticed, were male.
The last glimpse she had of the dining room was that of Ron, surrounded by the equally antediluvian wives of her ancient companions, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
Hermione need only take one look around the room to know that it was a man's domain. The smell of rich expensive leather coming no doubt from the large armchairs grouped around an expansive fireplace was prevalent, competing with the aroma of tobacco. The wall opposite to the fireplace was occupied by a wet bar from which drinks were being mixed invisibly. The third wall was dominated by numerous highly polished mediaeval weapons.
The men and woman all settled in quickly, drinks automatically floating to them. Feeling decidedly uncomfortable, Hermione perched on one of the armchairs.
Hermione was surprised to find that all of them, even the woman, lit cigars. While she had learnt, a long time back, that tobacco was not as addictive and harmful to witches and wizards, Hermione had never seen a woman with a cigar. While she had seen French women smoke cigarettes, and on occasion, her own mother (which was a secret that her father was to never know) a cigar was always seen to the Muggleborn as a thing that a man used. Then again, she supposed that she shouldn't be too surprised. Cigarettes never caught on in the magical world. Even amongst the people in her generation.
What she found even more surprising was the lack of smell that she knew should come out from the lit smokes. From her experience she knew that they smelled. And she hated that smell.
'Relax, girl, you are not on trial here.' Lord Samuel, an old wrinkled bald man with more liver spots than Hermione could count on his head said as he lazily let smoke waft out from his mouth.
Hermione marginally relaxed. Seeing this, Lord Nathanael spoke up. 'I hope you liked the dinner party?'
'Yes, sir,' Hermione replied eagerly. 'Though if I may, I do have a question.' Seeing her host nod, Hermione soldiered on. 'I was wondering where Zacharias was. I was hoping to meet him tonight. You know, catch up with an old school mate and all...?' she trailed off.
Lord Nathanael chuckled. 'Ah, young Zachary,' he said fondly. 'He's away at the moment. Gone with some friends for a night out, I believe.'
'Oh,' the other woman in the group, Lady Margret, enquired politely. 'What does Zacharias do nowadays?'
'Glad you asked, Marge,' Nathanael replied. 'He's currently studying for a Masters in Charms in Nice. Just came over for the holidays. Quite a hard worker too, you know. Why, my son has nothing but praise for the boy. According to him, Zachary will be more than capable of taking the reins in about a year's time after he starts the business.'
As the others made quiet noises of appreciation, Hermione couldn't help but feel a small amount of jealousy. Over the course of the past few years as she worked for the ministry, she knew that heirs of very old, rich and established families had quite a life. After they finished school, they would either go to university where they would get degrees in whatever field they wanted or travel the world and learn as they moved. After that, they would start taking care of the family business, allowing their fathers to retire and play in the field of politics. Once that happened, the grandfathers would in turn retire and take part in the legislative part of the Wizengamot, sitting in on sessions in their own fathers' place.
Once the great-grandfathers of the heir were replaced, they would do whatever it is that old men like Lord Nathanael do in their pastime.
Of course, that was the ideal situation. Thanks to Voldemort, younger people were now doing things earlier. She, Ron, Harry, Neville and even Draco Malfoy were prime examples of this. Lord Nathanael and his friends were all that remained of that old guard, the generation that was around when people of Dumbledore's generation were born. Thankfully, Grindelwald had not made that much of an impact on Britain.
Oh how she wished that she had taken more care. If she had only listened to her head instead of her hormones, then she would not have trusted that potion and insisted that Ron use a condom. But she had been unable to resist those adorable blue eyes and that pout. Besides, she also wanted to feel him inside of her.
'Right,' Lord Nathanael's suddenly business-like tone interrupted her thoughts. 'Let us cut to the chase, so to speak.' Fixing Hermione with a piercing gaze he addressed her. 'I hear, Mrs Weasley, that you had an, encounter … with Lord Potter a few months back?'
The other occupants in the room sat up straighter in their chairs, looking far more alert than before. Hermione herself stiffened at the reminder of their meeting last week.
'Yes I did,' she began warily. 'It was after I learnt of the Harry Potter Magical Child Protection Act.'
'And what do you think of this act?' Lord Samuel, a barrel chested man asked with the air of a person who already knew the answer.
'I … don't approve.' Hermione finally said slowly.
Her statement caused the occupants to chuckle softly.
'Too bad that the Wizengamot does not support your views, girl,' Lady Margret said with a tight smile.
Hermione's mouth tightened at that.
'Perhaps, Mrs Weasley would not mind showing us her memory of that meeting between her and Lord Potter?' Lord Samuel interjected, still looking at Hermione with his rheumy eyes. 'That is if, you don't mind?' he asked her courteously.
Getting a nod from Hermione, the host rang a small soundless bell.
Immediately, a House-Elf popped in.
'Bring me my Pensieve, will you, Char?'
Without replying, the silent elf popped away, appearing moments later with the instrument in question.
Lord Nathanael floated the bowl towards her, his request more than clear.
After some instruction, Hermione deposited the memory in question into the bowl.
Hermione was left alone in the room as the older people examined the memory. A few moments later, as they took their seats, Lord Nathanael spoke thoughtfully. 'This is disturbing.'
'But not unexpected.' Lady Margaret replied.
'Yes, not unexpected at all,' Lord Samuel repeated. 'I hate to say it, but your suspicions were right, Nathanael.'
'How I wish I was wrong, old friend.'
There was a very long silence.
Bursting with questions, Hermione finally cracked. 'May I ask what you are talking about?' she asked in as respectful a tone as she could manage.
'Ah, of course,' Lord Nathanael said. 'Please allow me to introduce ourselves. We are The Order of the Phoenix.'
Hermione looked at him blankly. 'You are Dumbledore's group?'
'No, girl, we are not.' Lord Samuel said irritably. 'The Order of the Phoenix was not formed by Albus Dumbledore. It was, and still continues to be, an ancient secret organisation formed about six hundred years ago. Our goal is to fight and defeat, or help in defeating, dark lords, and keeping the peace in the magical world.'
'But Voldemort is long gone,' Hermione replied.
'Who,' Lady Margaret scoffed, 'that popinjay? While he was dangerous, Voldemort was nothing but a fledgling, a child, compared to who we are talking about.'
'What does that have to do with Harry?' Hermione asked slowly. 'Are you saying that he is a D – Dark Lord?' her voice hitched over the term. No matter what her relationship with her former friend, the thought of him being evil was too much to bear.
'No, we are not,' Lord Nathanael said heavily. 'Potter is nothing but a pawn here. No, the real Dark Lord that we have been fighting is someone far more insidious than Voldemort, more terrible than Grindelwald and nearly on par with Morgana LeFey herself.'
Hermione took a moment to furiously think this through. 'You can't mean … Nicolas Flamel?' she said incredulously.
Lord Samuel smiled grimly. 'This is one intelligent little girl, you made a good choice, Nathanael.'
'I'm sorry?'
Lord Nathanael stared steadily at Hermione for a very long time. 'I think we should enlighten you on the formation of the Order first, Mrs Weasley.' He eventually said.
Getting comfortable in his chair, he started talking, his gaze far away.
'My ancestor knew Flamel, before he became a famous alchemist. According to his journals, back then, all Nicolas and his wife wanted to do is discover the intricacies of magic and find a way to better mankind. Not just wizard-kind, mind you, but Muggle life as well. Their vision was a noble one; to integrate both wizard- and Muggle-kind.
'But one day, tragedy struck. Their five year old son was kidnapped by a group of Muggles. As you know, at that time, the statue of secrecy hadn't been implemented or conceived. So Muggles knew of magic, and they knew of Flamel's work and standing in society, even if they could not prove it. Nobody knew their motivations for abducting the boy in the first place, but the end result was ... horrifying. The child's mangled and broken body was found a few days later lying on the streets.'
Lord Nathanael took a sip of his whiskey. 'Nicolas and Perenelle took their son's death hard. That one incident changed their very attitudes towards Muggles. You see, the boy was their only son, born to Perenelle after decades of trying. What was worse was that the abduction of the boy at least was ordered for by the king of France himself as he knew of Flamel's work in alchemy. Some say that he desired Flamel's secrets for himself and himself alone. What nobody knows is if he desired the death of the child.
'Then one day, Flamel and his wife just disappeared. Their home was empty, as was Nicolas' laboratory, hastily stripped bare. The Flamels were presumed dead. But that wasn't the end of it.'
Lord Nathanael took a long drag of his cigar and blew the smoke into the air. 'What do you know of the Black Death of the fourteenth century?' he asked from behind the cloud of smoke.
'It was one of the worst pandemics of human history, peaking between thirteen forty eight and thirteen fifty.' Hermione immediately rattled off. 'The cause was said to have been a bacterium called Yersinia pestis –'
'The cause was magical.' Lord Samuel spoke over Hermione's spiel. 'More specifically, Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel,' he paused to look at her shocked expression. 'It was one of Nicolas' first experiments at mass Muggle killing. He identified and isolated the cause of the plague that ravaged Constantinople in The Plague of Justinian in the 6th and 7th centuries and used his skills to modify it. Then, he unleashed it onto an unsuspecting world. What most don't know is that he started it off in France.'
'If it wasn't for the actions of magical Healers, the damage caused by Flamel's actions would have been far graver.' Lord Nathanael said softly.
'If I remember the information I read about Flamel correctly, he would have been a young man when the plague broke out.' Hermione said warily. 'I believe he was born around thirteen twenty seven.'
'You misunderstand, Mrs Weasley.' Lord Nathanael replied. 'Nicolas Flamel, the alchemist was born around thirteen twenty seven. In fact, that is the date he uses as his birthdate as it was the year he made the Stone and drank the Elixir, becoming much younger in the process.' He paused before adding, 'and sterile as well. Nicolas Flamel the person was born about seventy years earlier. In fact, it took people some time to realise that the strange young man was indeed Nicolas himself.'
Another question occurred to Hermione. 'Then why didn't people do something? Surely the Wizard's council would have been able to take care of it.'
Lord Nathanael stretched his mouth into a humourless smile. 'If only. It was years after the incident before anyone even got a hint that Nicolas was behind it. People were too busy doing damage control to investigate the source. Also, Flamel is quite adept at covering his tracks, and as I said before, at that time had become significantly younger, and thus was not easily recognisable. By the time the furore died down somewhat, he made his innocence well established in the eyes of the authority. He is also quite good at taking care of his enemies as well. There were initially quite a few vocal opponents to him, you know. They were quite insistent, publicly, of his guilt and culpability. His reputation back then wasn't so rosy.'
'What happened to them?' Hermione breathed.
Everyone in the room snorted. 'Well, considering that currently he is not met with suspicion and distrust, I think it is quite evident as to what he did to those people.' Lord Nathanael said dryly. 'The deaths were seen as accidental or suicidal. He even managed to pin some on Muggles in order to further his agenda. Later on, he would even use upcoming Dark Wizards to further his schemes, both in France and the rest of Europe. The Order of the Phoenix was formed to combat the threat that he posed all those centuries ago. We,' he waved around the room with his cigar, 'are the only ones left of that Order. Dumbledore's … ah, spinoff was organised to fight the threat that Voldemort presented and hopefully get more people aware of the threat that is Flamel. With that understanding, we helped finance it. Sadly the latter goal was not reached.'
Hermione was silent as she digested this. 'If he was such a threat,' she said slowly, 'then why didn't you try and … you know, take care of him and his wife before?'
'Oh we have tried,' Began Lord Samuel. 'Many, many, times,' he chuckled ruefully. 'But the problem with Flamel is that there is next to nothing that we can do legally. Flamel is far slipperier and more cunning than all of the Malfoys and Blacks put together. Pinning something on him is harder than killing a Nundu with your bare hands. So our only recourse is to assassinate or otherwise kill him. And the problem with that is that Flamel is for all intents and purposes, immortal, and possessing unlimited wealth thanks to that stone of his. What's more, he has kept the object hidden. It is impossible to get that stone away from him to destroy it. Not that we haven't tried …'
'Dumbledore,' Hermione breathed.
'Indeed,' Lord Nathanael nodded. 'He was once Flamel's protégée you know. He was recruited through Grindelwald. Dumbledore was also the best person we ever had the fortune of getting on our side. As unfortunate as it was, that incident with his sister was the best thing to have happened to us.'
'Rita Skeeter's book was true?'
'Rita does have a knack for finding out the best kept secrets. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Dumbledore was the best person we could have had on our side.' Lord Nathanael continued. 'He even managed to outfox Flamel. He still had the alchemist thinking that he was on his side, even after defeating Grindelwald. Truly a brilliant man, his loss is a major blow. He was the only one who got really close to killing Flamel.'
'You mean the events in my first year at Hogwarts were a setup aimed at destroying Flamel?'
'Indeed,' Lord Nathanael intoned sombrely. 'Well, there was another purpose. We hoped to trap Voldemort as well. Those traps were deliberately engineered to allow a person in, you see, while presenting a decent enough challenge to allay any suspicions. But the minute they obtained the Philosopher's Stone, powerful wards would immediately spring up, sealing all the doors and trapping the thief inside. The Stone was supposed to be "destroyed" in the "struggle" with the thief. What was unexpected was yours, your husband's and Potter's involvement. Dumbledore was actually in a meeting with us. We were going to make our final killing move then. Then the three of you got involved. Albus had no choice but to rush back to the castle in the hopes of rescuing you.
'Till about a few months back, we actually thought that Flamel was finally dead when Dumbledore had the stone destroyed. But alas, it was not to be.' He sighed. 'He had tricked Dumbledore by giving him a fake.'
Hermione looked at the old man for a long moment. 'So you had the Stone, the secret of Flamel's immortality, or you basically had what you thought was the key to his immortality, but instead of destroying it outright, you decided to use it to lure Voldemort so that you could destroy him as well?' seeing Lord Nathanael nod, she continued. 'Not to sound disrespectful, but why hide it in the school then? Weren't you putting your own great-grandson in danger? After all, you had Voldemort inside the castle!'
Lord Samuel cleared his throat. 'Yes, it was a big risk. Looking back on it, we realise the peril that we put the future of our world through, but Dumbledore assured us that Voldemort would not be able to do much. Albus was pretty certain that Voldemort would only focus on the Stone to the exclusion of everything else. Seeing that he had taught the Dark Lord, I would trust Albus' judgement.'
'But – but Harry nearly died once!' Hermione said indignantly. 'Quirrel was able to jinx his broom!'
'We know,' Lord Samuel said ponderously. 'That incident was what told us that Voldemort was inside the school and how he got there. Knowing where he was, Dumbledore made the appropriate steps to ensure that he could not harm the students as we waited for him to make his move.'
'Our initial choice for fighting our war with Flamel, when we realised that he was still alive, was Potter, but now … now, we know what we had suspected but desperately hoped was false. Flamel has sunk his claws into Potter already.'
Hermione looked at the old man shrewdly. 'That's where I come in, isn't it.'
'Yes,' the reply from Lord Samuel was succinct. He gave her an amused look. 'How else did you think that you managed to get to the top of your department so quickly? You were the closest person to Potter, so you will be able to help.' He raised his glass to Lord Nathanael. 'I salute your foresight, Nathanael. If not for you, we would be further behind than where we currently are.'
'I don't see how I could be of any help,' Hermione said bitterly. 'We aren't friends anymore. Ron and I … we did something really horrible. We regret it, we do, but I don't think Harry will be willing to give us the time of the day, let alone listen to us speak.'
Lord Nathanael seemed to ponder this. 'That is …' he paused, waving his cigar as he searched for a word, the expression of sympathy induced on his face through politeness. 'Heartrending. Fortunately for us, we do not plan to have you speak to, or reason with, Potter.'
'However, before we continue any further,' Lord Samuel interjected, trying not to smile at the bland uncaring tone of his companion, 'we need to know where you stand. So, in simple terms; are you in or are you out?'
Hermione looked at the people around her. 'What you say is … incredible.' She began slowly. 'I cannot imagine that Harry is taken so quickly by someone so … dark and … evil. Besides, how do I know that Flamel is as evil as you say? For all I know, you could be making up a plot to bring down a good man.'
The old men and woman made approving noises. 'Well, Albus Dumbledore was much older than Potter is when he was ensnared by Flamel. As to your other question, well, you would be unintelligent if you blindly took our word, Mrs Weasley,' Lord Nathanael answered. 'But we do have proof. And that proof can be verified by outside sources.' He snapped his fingers, causing another House-Elf to appear, carrying two sets of thin files. 'It isn't much,' Lord Nathanael said as the elf handed one to Hermione and the other to the Wizengamot member she realised had yet to introduce himself to her. 'But this is all we have linking Flamel to many events. Namely, other than the Black Death of the fourteenth century, the French and Russian revolutions and the two Muggle World Wars.'
Hermione leafed through the contents rapidly, silently vowing to go through them later on.
'Your opinions, Lord Diagon?' Lord Nathanael's voice broke through Hermione's musing. Starting, she looked at the unnamed Wizengamot member, mouth slightly agape. She had no idea that this was the marquess of Diagon! It explained why he chose to remain quiet and aloof. The marquess was reputed for preferring to stay in the background till the last minute. The eccentric man did not like participating in conversations, nor did he like to be talked to for too long.
'Well, I will have to look through this.' The marquess said idly leafing through the file. 'I shall have an answer soon.'
'Good,' Lord Nathanael said. 'Shall we meet in a week's time then?' Getting nods all around, he continued. 'Excellent. Same place then. I shall inform you of the details.
'Now, before we go, I will require an oath from both of you.' Turning to Diagon, he continued, his tone conciliatorily. 'This is no reflection on you, sir, but to ensure security; both yours and ours.'
The marquess gave a gracious nod. Taking out his wand, he gave the standard oath of secrecy. Once he was done, he gracefully got to his feet. 'Now I am afraid I must be off. The hour grows late.'
'Very well, Lord Diagon,' Lord Nathanael said graciously.
Nodding, the marquess swept out of the room.
At once the attention of all the remaining aristocrats turned to Hermione. 'Your oath, Mrs Weasley,' Lord Archibald said in his gravelly voice, disturbing his impressive walrus moustache.
Taking her wand out, Hermione gave her oath. Once that was done, she left the room without further comment, still mired in deep thought.
Back at home, sitting up on the bed she and Ron shared, Hermione looked through the file given to her.
The documents within, while speculative, did show an interesting set of events that could not be ruled as coincidence. One of the most glaring incidences that nearly exposed his involvement was the French revolution. It was quite suspicious that he was seen as an active member in the Deutscher Magische Gemeinderat, or the German Magical Council, of the Kingdom of Germany just two days before the French Revolution began.
Shortly after that, Flamel was rumoured to have a disagreement with Emperor-elect Franz II just before he left for Britain.
In the decades that followed later, Flamel was relatively quiet. But in the late nineteenth century, sporadic sightings of Flamel with the three Kaisers of the German empire lead to speculation that Flamel was responsible for Kaiser Frederick II's short reign and death as well as the tensions that lead to the outbreak of the First World War.
While Flamel was not directly involved in the Second World War, circumstantial evidence suggested that he was a major influence in the creation of the treaty of Versailles. Hermione even wondered if he was the reason behind the creation of Gavrilo Princip and Adolf Hitler.
His involvement in the Russian revolution and the eventual assassination of Tsar Nicolai and his family was extremely circumspect in comparison.
At every turn, the Order fought the ancient alchemist. Founded on the back of the French Revolution, the organisation had its share of victories as well. The formation of the League of Nations (and later the United Nations) could also be credited to them.
But the battle that they were fighting was a tough one. No matter what they tried, Flamel could not be pinned down. The numerous assassination attempts had all failed spectacularly. What was more, Flamel always managed to find the ones who orchestrated those attempts, always. And he had them all suffer "accidents".
It was a miracle that the current members were actually taking a stand after their latest failed attempt. She supposed that they were hoping to strike a major blow against the alchemist before he found them.
Hermione tiredly rubbed her face. The recent documentation of Flamel's activities showed how, in hindsight, he had Harry working for him. In the past five years alone, almost all of the bills and laws Dumbledore was responsible for that favoured Muggles had slowly been eroded, or were being removed. Chief amongst them (aside from the recently introduced Magical Child Protection Act) was the legislation regarding the Unforgivable Curses. The amendment to the law had been so masterfully done, that few knew that the term "human being" was now replaced with "Witch or Wizard". Essentially, it meant that a person could not be automatically sent to Azkaban for life if he was found guilty of using the Imperius, Cruciatus, or the Avada Kedavra on a Muggle.
Hermione could definitely see the underlying message there. The amendment basically relegated Muggles to the status of beasts. It was sickening.
She was further dismayed to find that the Muggle Protection Act, drafted by Arthur Weasley and sponsored by Dumbledore was also being rendered useless. In a so-called "restructuring" of the Ministry, Arthur Weasley's old department had basically been dissolved while funding had been more focused towards the protection of the magical world from the Muggle world.
Slowly closing the file (which automatically reactivated all the secrecy charms on it) Hermione settled down for the night, her mind whirling as she processed what she had just read. Silently, she wept for her friend. Harry had fallen so far…
The worst bit was that she had to keep the whole thing a secret from Ron. The secrecy charms on the file ensured that. Hopefully, she would be able to tell him everything after the next meeting.
The Marquess of Diagon started off the next meeting of the Order of the Phoenix with a question. 'While I do believe that what you have presented me is true,' he drawled. 'There is one thing I do not understand. Why did the entire Wizengamot vote "yes" to the Magical Child Protection Act considering what you have just told me? If I recall correctly, all of you have heirs that hold seats in that body. Surely if Flamel was the one behind this then the last thing you should be doing is supporting him.'
Hermione silently thought that this was a good question as she expectantly looked at the Order members.
All the old members of the Order looked uncomfortable.
'To begin with,' Lord Nathanael ground out slowly. 'We do not control those votes. Not anymore at least. No, our heirs have that control.'
'Additionally' Lady Margaret continued. 'Even if we did have full influence, we still have to play his game. If Flamel or his wife were to find out that we are his principle enemies; that we are the ones who have worked hard behind the scenes to thwart him for so long, that we are the only ones to stand between him and his goal … he will destroy us and our families. And that was even if we knew that Potter was Flamel's finger puppet at the time of voting. And I assure you, while we suspected that, we did not know. Regardless, we have not shared our knowledge with our heirs yet. They are not ready.'
'Outright opposition would do little at this point,' Lord Samuel spoke up bitterly. 'We are the only ones left who know what Flamel is. So we need to play a far more subtle game here. Unfortunately, Lord Diagon, we aren't getting any younger. And even more unfortunately, he isn't getting any older ... At least not physically.'
'We have to keep a low profile. Flamel has already suspected Dumbledore of attempting to kill him. He would be stupid not to.'
'I still can't get over how he managed to keep Flamel thinking that he was on his side while simultaneously going against him.' Lord Nathanael marvelled.
'And finally,' Lord Samuel remarked, ignoring his companion's waffling. 'Before we found out who was behind that bit of legislature, we actually thought it was a wise decision to make. It would allow us to fully separate from the Muggle world, and promote some unity amongst ourselves. We also would have lesser work to do in keeping the existence of magic a secret. That translates to cuts in taxes. Eventually, we saw this as a way to possibly unite the worlds together somewhere in the future.'
'So Lord Diagon,' Lord Nathanael said finally. 'Are you in?'
The marquess stared at the folder for a long moment before finally nodding his head in consent.
Hermione on the other hand was appalled. 'You mean you support that piece of – of rubbish!' she practically shrieked.
The aristocrats all looked at her disapprovingly. 'Yes we did, and we still do,' Lord Nathanael said in clipped tones. 'Despite who is actually behind it, it is fundamentally a good idea. I wouldn't call it fully moral, but it's the best we can do. How Muggles treat magical children is criminal.'
'But there has to be a better way,' Hermione spoke up. 'All Muggles aren't like this! There are quite a few decent ones!' Dredging up her courage, she spoke up. 'I don't think we really need Potter. I have quite a few good ideas for modernising the Magical world. With your collective influence, we can break Flamel's power and then change the world so that people like him don't come ever again.'
Hermione paused to drink in the shocked expressions around her, smiling internally. With her ideas (formulated over the past week as she thought on the information presented to her) and their financial backing and political influence, Flamel's and Potter's power would be broken forever. Not only that, but her and her family's status would be elevated. Bill, Charlie and the rest would have no choice but to come crawling back.
Lord Samuel was the first to crack. He started laughing quietly, his shoulders shaking so violently that he looked like he was drilling a road. Ancient throats creaked as the rest gave in and followed him.
'Oh, you are serious.' Lord Archibald, who had been quiet all this time, said in a gravelly voice as he wiped his eyes.
'Yes, I am,' Hermione said, miffed. 'I can deliver. I am the smartest witch in my generation. I passed with an O in all my N.E.W.T.s. Something that Potter did not do. We don't really need him.'
The Order looked at her blandly. 'Let me put it this way, Mrs Weasley,' Lord Nathanael finally spoke up. 'Harry James Potter-Black, the Earl Potter, Earl Slytherin, and Baron Black, is the youngest chief warlock of the Wizengamot, as far as I can remember and for longer than I have lived. And trust me, I have lived a very long life and have an excellent memory. Not only that, but he happens to hold four noble titles, three of which are separate. He can claim direct descent to two of the Founders of Hogwarts. Together with mine and Lord Diagon's House, you get the descendants of all four founders united together.
'Even if you overlook his ancestry and pedigree, there is the simple fact that he is the only known survivor of the Killing Curse, and has, at the age of sixteen, managed to defeat a Dark Lord more than fifty years his senior.' Seeing Hermione about to interrupt him, he spoke over her. 'I have reviewed Pensieve memories of the Aurors who investigated the scene of the battle a few hours later. I have also read the reports. An impressive amount of magic was thrown around, both from Lord Potter, and from Voldemort. To think that a sixteen year old could do so much …' he inhaled deeply, coughing into his handkerchief. 'He is ridiculously powerful.' He finally said, getting himself back in control. 'I personally doubt that Albus Dumbledore would be a match for him even if you match them up at the same age. I have even talked to Griselda Marchbanks. Not only did Potter, contrary to your assumption, score perfectly in all his N.E.W.T.s, but he also managed to get extra credit in Transfiguration, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Moreover, Madam Marchbanks was impressed with him. Impressed! The stodgiest, hard to impress examiner in the board of examiners, a person who has always criticised everyone she has examined in her entire career was positively raving about Potter's performance in his N.E.W.T.s! Even Dumbledore did not get such praise from her.
'Now that is what he has to offer us. You on the other hand,' he gave her a look that could be interpreted as apologetic, 'are just a first-generation witch. Yes, you are intelligent, and I do not doubt that you have great plans, but you have no idea about the traditions of the wizarding world. While nobody in this room has anything personally against change and new ideas, there is a way to do these things. You will get nothing changed by ramming new ideas down people's throats and ignoring their traditions. It's just not feasible. You also have minimal influence. Potter not only has political capital, but he is revered in the country for getting rid of Voldemort.
'We have to be realistic here. You know Potter, so you know how we can get him over to our side. We need him on our side. Once we have his popularity and reputation, we will be able to get change implemented faster.'
Hermione looked at the lot of them sceptically. 'I guess,' she finally said grudgingly. While she internally bristled at the words spoken to her, she could, in hindsight, see where they were coming from.
Lord Nathanael smiled. 'Now that we have everyone on board, I suggest we get started.' His tone turned brisk. 'Firstly, Mrs Weasley, I would suggest that you cease your pursuit of repealing the legality of polygamy. That law is far too old and mired in complexities. You will not get anywhere trying to strike it off nor will you get many supporters. Are we clear?'
'But that law is outdated and needs to go!' Hermione said indignantly. 'It is for the good of the people!'
Lord Nathanael tiredly rubbed his forehead.
'Changing that law in any way will not benefit society.' He shook his head. 'Potter only mentioned that fact to you openly so that you would be distracted. It seems that he knows how your mind works. He knows very well indeed.'
Lord Diagon internally smirked as he saw the dumbfounded expression on Hermione's face. For all her intelligence, the girl had the social skills of a particularly dim Pygmy Puff, as far as he was concerned.
'I assume that you now see the wisdom in dropping your fruitless endeavour?' Getting an absent nod, Lord Nathanael continued 'Good, further instructions will be sent to you later on. We shall introduce you to a colleague of ours then.'
'That went well,' Lord Samuel said dryly as the door closed behind newest members to their organisation.
Lord Nathanael snorted. 'At least we did not have to remind her of her place. Imagine how much more difficult she would have been if we were forced to do that. Nothing is worse than an uppity pawn. Who does she think she is to try and dictate terms to us?'
'It's not right, I tell you,' Lord Archibald rumbled. 'We are using children to fight our battles.'
'True, but it is necessary. Flamel, for one, has upped the ante. We are at a major disadvantage here. We do not know what his angle is either.'
'She has just proven herself to be a loose cannon,' Lord Archibald said darkly. 'I have a bad feeling about her.'
'Then she will have to be watched.' Lady Margaret said matter-of-factly. 'It was good that you managed to deflect her … enthusiasm, Nathanael. But she is a strong willed one. I predict that a time will come when we will have to forcibly remind her that it is because of us that she is in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the first place, and that we can just as easily boot her out.'
Cameras flashed as Harry cut the ribbon officially opening the Home for Magical Children.
As soon as Harry had shared his idea for Muggleborn children with Flamel, the two of them started on making the act viable before even suggesting it to the Wizengamot. To that end, Harry had enlisted the help of his friends, Neville, Susan and Hannah. Harry had also spoken to his in-laws as well as Draco and Narcissa Malfoy.
Strictly speaking, there was no such thing as "Dark" or "Light". As Flamel had once said, 'There were far better ways to describe someone's political leanings than a vague reference on the amount of light present.' The terms generally preferred in the political circle were "Traditionalist", "Conservative" or "Liberal". Traditionalists were those who preferred to stick to the traditions of the wizarding world exclusively. They had no patience for Muggle ideas or Muggle technology, preferring to violently reject and ridicule them. A good chunk of Ancient and Noble Houses comprised of that group.
It was a complete coincidence that most of the Traditionalists had Death Eater connexions.
Liberals, on the other hand, were on the opposite end of the spectrum. Generally comprising of the newer families, they tended to embrace new ideas, preferring them over the old. More often than not, the source for those ideas came from the Muggle world.
The one thing these two factions had in common was their limited number.
The rest were the Conservatives. Walking the middle path, this group upheld magical tradition and cherished the culture. At the same time, they weren't averse to modernisation. To that end, they also did not mind Muggle technology and ideas, provided that those could be used with magic or fit in with their traditions. Anything else was considered unimportant and useless. So while they found automobiles fascinating, and modern lights ingenious, they really didn't care much for the television and computer.
And the cell phone wasn't even worth considering. Charmed mirrors had been in existence for much longer, and the Floo was plenty convenient. Of course, nothing beat owl post. One did not have to worry about silly things like stamps and remembering the exact address.
The Conservatives were further divided into two. One group was slightly more traditional, and the other a tad more liberal. This internal division was the main reason why the Conservatives did not dominate.
The traditionalists and the traditional conservatives were rather easy to tackle. They loved the idea of further separating the magical and Muggle worlds. Future generations would be fully steeped in wizarding culture and traditions, there would be no outsiders, and no concessions made for Muggleborns as those would simply cease to exist after being fully integrated.
The liberal faction of the conservatives was slightly harder to tackle. In the end, the one point that got them on board was their low numbers. Most of them, like Mungan McKinnon, were all that was left of their family. The chance to ensure the continuity of their line, to make sure that the family name did not die out was something that they grasped with both hands. It also helped that Harry spun it properly. Using his own experiences as an excuse, he proposed that taking the children away was a good thing in the long run. Additionally, he played upon the unrest currently going on in the Muggle world. His main theory was that it was entirely possible for the Muggles to start off another war, and that could possibly expose the magical world. And that risk was significantly higher if more Muggles were allowed to know about them. While they could not stop informing the Muggle leaders, they could limit the number of non-important Muggles knowing.
Harry also used his supposed relationship with Dumbledore shamelessly to get additional sympathy. The world did not know about his true feelings towards the man, and he had no qualms about manipulating that.
The liberals were the hardest to convince. But Flamel handled them well. Harry had no idea what the alchemist had done, but he was certain that it was a combination of blackmail, bribery and other methods that were best not aired out.
But the real victory was the Muggleborn faction. In a burst of inspiration, Harry had proposed to include Muggleborn of various areas of merit into the Wizengamot about a few months after he had claimed his seats.
Knowing that it was too soon for him to propose something so sweeping, he asked Augusta Longbottom to make the initial proposal. Using his fame and celebrity, he endorsed the idea to the press and the general public. They ate it up.
In the end, even if the proposal to include Muggleborns was met with a lot of protest initially, the Wizengamot came to the agreed majority. This was riding on a lot of factors; the first was Harry's celebrity. In supporting this proposal and slyly dropping hints now and then, Harry had made a negative vote very hard on the Wizengamot politically.
But that was only a small factor. The major reasons why the motion went through was that the main opponents to the idea could not vote against it as their position was very delicate. With the Dark Lord truly dead and their biggest ally in the pocket of the Boy Who Lived, making any moves that were seen as supportive towards Voldemort's creed was inadvisable. Additionally, most of them owed the Black family debts.
The rest were more than happy to vote for the motion as they either were Dumbledore's allies and had heard great things about Harry Potter from the grand old man or were generally in favour of equality and inclusion.
Once that fell through, Harry and Nicolas quietly influenced the selection process so that they comprised of those who were either indebted to them or had similar sympathies. After all, to get far in any world, you needed to embrace the culture. Not doing that would only serve to make you an outsider.
Chief amongst them was Healer Anderson. Not only had the Healer wholly taken in the traditions of the magical world, but Harry's rather generous donations to the man's many research projects had more than ensured the man's loyalty.
The result of all of that was the unanimous voting in of the act. Replacing Amelia Bones (who had retired about a year after the war saying that she was done with politics and the Ministry) with Pius Thicknesse helped lower the resistance the Ministry would have to the law.
At the same time, a group led by Narcissa Malfoy and Alana Greengrass took care of the logistics.
As the family was now fully extinct and the only possible claimants were the Malfoys (who were more than happy to donate it for the cause) the ancestral house of the Lestrange family and the surrounding property were converted to house the incoming children. With the exception of one other large property located in Scotland (which was also converted for the same purpose) all the properties and houses the family owned were liquidated and all legal artefacts auctioned off. The proceeds, along with the sizeable fortune of the family, were used to fund the newly christened Magical Child Welfare Department.
Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan would be rolling in their graves, thought Harry as he smiled at the cameras aimed at him, triggering off another round of flashes.
Turning around to look at the converted manor, Harry ruminated that perhaps the new use the place would be put through might meet their approval. After all, they weren't exactly sane.
Harry had also ensured that the department would remain well funded. In addition to placing strict controls, monitoring the spending of the department, additional funds were also arranged for by keeping those properties the Lestranges owned for profit. The large vineyard, the legal investments and the small magical menagerie would allow the department to get an income as well.
Additionally, the Ministry had been slimmed down. Departments such as the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office were absorbed into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement with the members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad while other departments such as the Centaur Liaison Office were removed entirely. Not only did this streamline the Ministry and make things faster, but the money saved from those actions enabled the Ministry to introduce tax cuts and also further bolster the funds of the Department of Child Welfare, which would work closely with the Auror Office and the Obliviator Squad.
Harry smirked as he finished his speech. Basically a rehash of what he had told the Wizengamot, he added in a few more heartrending episodes designed to play with the emotions of the people. As much as he hated to do so, he used the memories of his own horrific childhood to win the sympathies of the common folk.
Of course, he had not achieved universal popularity. There were, predictably, quite a few people not happy with him. These included a majority of the Muggleborns, as well as a few witches and wizards who had married the Muggles they had fallen in love with.
There had been quite a few protests, with people shouting slogans while holding placards and having sit-ins in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, and currently right now outside the perimeter of the new home (Harry could see them if he strained his eyes – the place was pretty big).
Those people could be worked upon, though. It was a simple matter of perseverance and exploiting the unrest currently going on in the Muggle world.
Harry waved before he stepped off the podium. The law was fully in effect, and squads would be dispatched to take the first batch of children during the night. Muggleborn children who were of Hogwarts-attending age were currently exempt, except in special cases, where it was either found that the Muggle parents weren't treating their magical children right or if the child in question specifically requested to be taken away but that would soon change. Once things settled down, they too would no longer need to go back to their odious Muggle guardians and be mistreated.
Child abuse, as far as the British magical world was concerned, was going to be truly unheard of.