Visitors at the Shrieking Shack

Shacklebolt stopped pacing as he saw the owl. James' owl, he noted. He looked curiously at the package, hoping it was something useful. As the owl unwrapped it, Shacklebolt watched enthusiastically until... A Rubik cube? He stared at the object for some time, as if expecting it to explode, then shrugged and went to go read the letter. He saw the first line, looked at the Rubiks cube again and snorted. He then read below. The house elf idea was brilliant, but it was a little too late now, seeing as he was leaving the Shack soon. What Khaat had told him had deeply disturbed him, he needed to announce that he was back. And soon.

Opening the door of the Shack, Wilson entered, hearing voices. ''Bloody hell, how I hate those hooded idiots!'', he ejaculated and made his way to the source of the sound.

''You know, if you need help with the cube, I am a master at solving them, my old comrade'', he said upon entering the room with Khaat and Kingsley. ''I am sorry for being late, the Death Eaters don't even respect the staff anymore... I had to knock out that idiot guard at the Main Gate... my biggest mistake is that I tried to reason with him first'', he said. ''Khaat'', he said, greeting his colleague from the Order.

''Now, Kingsley... you old cock... you look the same as always... still old.. and yet, still so vivid. I do hope you have had something to eat during the period you were dead... so tell me, how is Death? Is it dreadful as they say or is it the Life of the Party?'', he asked, standing there, looking at his old friend.

Kingsley turned around has he heard someone grumbling near the entrance. Clearly, it was Wilson. His assumption was confirmed when the grumpy man appeared in the room, immediately talking about the rubiks cube in Kingsleys hand without even directly greeting him. "Well its good you came, me and Khaat were just wondering where your loyalties lie. I hope Majere hasn't been getting to you Wilson?" he asked sternly, paranoid as ever.

"Death is just the next journey.." Kingsley said poetically, before being serious again, or as serious as he ever became. "Though I wouldn't know, I'm quite alive, see? And I wasn't resurrected either! Though that would be a marvelous experience, not that its possible, without becoming a ghost, which would also be quite amazing!"

"However, these are serious times so lets get to business. You two are the only people I can currently trust, so that is why I called you. But you both also have positions of power. Wilson, I seem to recall I asked you to gain Vincent Majeres trust, do you have it?"

''I'm here... so the answer to your question is more than obvious, not?'', he said with a smile on his face. ''And yet, death hasn't changed you a bit... you're still that wise old man... but you seem to be happier than before... is Death so horrible that you want to return among us?'', he wondered, comically.

''I have enough trust with him for him not to doubt that I am deputy Headmaster, which, of course, I wasn't until recently. There was a situation, I cannot remember quite correctly, but I lied that you had made me deputy and that he can't do anything to me... and he bought it - it was a well thought lie. So yes, I can say he trusts me. But, why would you be interested in him? I do not know if your wackey told you, but Majere has gone missing, which is why he has been replaced as Headmaster, permanently, not acting, by my dear friend and mentor, Edgar Albert Doyle, who also teaches Potions. And yes, he trusts me too. But, why do you ask about Vincent?'', he asked.

Khaat looked at Wilson rather pointedly, "Well, first of all, Wilson, I told him about the fall of the Order. I am going to allow myself to talk about you for a moment, Shacklebolt. No disrepect intended. But, Wilson, If I were him, I would be most interested in Vincent after news of the state of the political affairs. Shacklebolt has been one of the most dedicated headmasters that Hogwarts has had in many years. I presume he has wanted to know about Vincent's tenure as headmaster.

"Although, you both might be interested in this tidbit. I can tell you this much. Vincent is back in the area. He has somehow manipulated himself back onto the Wizengamot and, I suspect, will be gunning to be named the next Minister. If there is one thing I do know about Vincent, he never takes a career move that is a downward move or a lateral move. It always has to be upward. And after headmaster, there aren't that many career moves in England that he would perceive to have any upward motion to them. Minister seems to be the only logical career target that he might be after, in light of Matt Lestrange's resignation, uphill as that will be for him. To him, my guess is that it makes the contest all that more appealing. I do believe Wilson has earned some of Vincent's trust, as difficult a feat as that is to do, but I believe I do as well. That is to say, as much as Vincent Majere trusts anyone."

She looked at Shacklebolt again. "Your threat in Hogwarts, I don't think, is going to be from Doyle. I think it will be far more from the Death Eaters that have the actual control over the school. Another one of Vincent's master plans."

''Your reply seems illogical... now that he has vanished into thin air and now that Hogwarts got a new Headmaster, I do not see how my relationship with Majere could be relevant. Yes, if he still trusts me, and I presume he does, he could call me for a meeting... he knows where I stand with all the fractions... or he think s he does, and he knows that my loyalty lies within the school... and everything else comes after. If he were to call me on a meeting, I would, as per our agreement and the, so called, task, or agreement, we have worked out... accept and meet him. But I suppose you shouldn't doubt my loyalty'', he said, coldly.

''As for his influence... we all know what he is capable of and how tricky he can get. I doubt he could fool the three of us, but the Ministry officials are idiots... Khaats' little girls could manipulate them. He is a man of great intelligence, but I do not see him as a man of great threat... he is dangerous, but I see him as a secondary menace'', he replied.

''As to his tenure... enough is to say he let the Death Eaters in, jeopardizing all of the students inside the school. I had managed to bring them to safety, while McCoy almost killed him... I rarely see him that angry. Doyle managed to portray him as an idiot upon his arrival and he still managed to keep, or attain, his position of Potions Master. After Vincent had left, he became Headmaster. The Death Eaters are formally running the school, but be sure that Doyle is with us, he is careless and intriguing, seemingly a bastard, but I do know him better than that, and his loyalties lie within the school. He won't allow the Death Eaters, especially those idiotic guards and pawns to parade inside the walls, no worries about that, my dear friend. But tell me, do you know about the demons?'', he asked.

Shacklebolt listened to both their arguments, he was starting to get a headache listening to both of them. They talked to much but meant to little. plus they seemed to have opposite views. "Well you see, if Majere somehow does become minister, then we need someone who is close to him which he trusts. If he doesn't, and I sure hope he doesn't, then he is not a threat at all."

"As for Hogwarts, if the Death Eaters currently have it in their control then, for the moment, we cannot do anything about it. The headmaster, I must admit, I do not know this Doyle person. But if you trust him, so do I." Well Kingsley never did trust anyone really. But there were different levels of doubt.

"Demons?" Kingsley asked, scratching his beard. "Yes Khaat told me. And the boy James Wake as well. Both mentioned that they have been randomly attacking people since Summer. I must admit, this all is very worrying. Had we been more united, we could take care of it easily. But the order is gone and the Ministry are useless as ever. So we must be very careful now, we must plan and communicate! As the muggles say, the pen is mightier than the sword. Or in wizards language. The pen is mightier than the wand. Which makes very little sense but.."

He was getting off track. "But enough of the problems people. We need solutions!"

"First of all, Wilson, I would agree with you that a good deal of the time Ministry officials are generally witless and powerless. However, the only two people with any power at the Ministry right now are my father and me. We were Order members, so I daresay we aren't entirely witless. And since that vehicle is clearly within our control right now, then perhaps that is the vehicle we need to use.

"Most of the aurors we have now are new. They're fresh, a couple are a bit young, but its not at all the same squad that were in power when you left. Not overly duel exxperienced, but I know they are in the process of being trained. None of them, to the best of our knowledge, is a death eater. They are either neutral about the ir beliefs or former Order members. They can be assigned to whatever task it appears most appropriate to use them for, so long as it is a goal of the Ministry--which means mine or my father's. I suggest that would be the least convoluted route open to us."

''You do whatever you want with the Ministry, but do keep me out of it. I am as apolitical as you can get. If, by any chance, Vincent should become Minister at one point, I should be able to communicate with him if necessary and she what he is up to'', he added.

''As for the school, Doyle is my old friend... and a mentor at one point, but he is still a very good friend with McCoy, not very good, excellent... which does mean you can stop doubting him. His skills are also useful, as he is probably the greatest living Potions master... or one of the best... but he is also skilled with the wand. As I have said, you should not worry about the Death Eaters causing a lot of trouble within the school, but I cannot vouch the same for the outside. I don't really know what their plans are. What help can I offer? You have some staff members still loyal to just causes and I know some former students... technically I do not know where Jess Potter is at the moment so I cannot say about him mobilizing the Order... but I do have a bunch of people, you could call us The Untouchables, that could help if needed'', he said.

"New? New means weak. And weak means easy to corrupt, nay, we cannot trust the aurors. Besides, even if they were committed, they would be murderd by the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters might be quite stupid, but they are magically skilled, particularly Sandra, Lucius and Vincent. So no, it might be a year or two before these aurors are worth anything, and by then the war will be decided." Kingsley was always a pessimist. However, he preferred to think of himself as a realist. Things did usually did get worse before they got better. "The thing is, the Ministry has never been one of the greatest fighters of dark magic. I myself, have been involved in all the wars against the Death Eaters, and never were they any help. For now, I think just keeping Vincent Majere out of there is the best thing to do."

He turned to Vincent, frowning when he said he did not know where jess was. Potter might not be the most brightest fellow, but he was loyal to the Order. "Very well, as long as they exempt the students from their terror, we don't need to worry about Hogwarts. They might be able to corrupt some students to join their side, but I don't believe that is a big issue for now."

Shacklebolt thought some more now. Before the order repeatedly been the underdog, and yet they had always managed to win in the end. But he did not recall them being in such trouble -with only five or six loyal members. "Where is Ne'os Emof?" he asked suddenly when Wilson mentioned former students.