Order of the Phoenix Meeting 16

Manson had provided Robert with a spark of inspiration. The beginnings of a plan. He turned to Khaat. "Give him the keys, Khaat," Robert said. "The shop has been closed a long time, Manson, because no one has had the interest in running it. Still, if you are clever and you can raise your creatures without people suspecting what you're doing, you just might be onto something. Your idea has merit, Manson. And it may be that I can grow more from that idea than what you originally intended." He looked at Michael.

"The next time you go to Hogwarts, Michael, take Khaat with you. She is one of the few who can actually do what we need. Khaat, I have a task for you," He looked at his daughter.

"Just..walk onto the grounds with her along?" Michael frowned at Robert.

"Right. Straight through the front gate."

"What the devil are you planning, Robert?" Michael asked.

"All in good time, MIchael," Robert said. "Well done, Manson. Tell no one what we have discussed. If Jess ever gets the burr out of his behind, perhaps I will talk to him then. If not, then so be it. My wife, Kate, has some knowledge of magical creatures. She may be of some help to you. She is a co owner now of Madam Malkins. She can connect with you easily in Diagon Alley without arousing suspicion. Prepare your creatures. Kate will get reports from you regularly and assist you if you need it. You know where to find Khaat or me, should you need us. For tonight, allow the Order to believe that you merely came to try to talk me into coming back to the table. As I said, if the Order and the Ministry align, then that conversation will need to come between Jess and myself. So then, do we have a plan?"

James looked at Robert and then to Khaat as he got the keys. "I have been in the shop a few times, but then life got busy around Ollivander, and I didn't want to waist two shops, but I will take care of that plan Mr.Lupin."He said as he gave a soft and evil smile. He put the key in his pocket as he listened further. "That won't happen. The shop is closed after all and the animals are mostly in the back, when I last checked that, as long as I get into the backroom, that is not a problem, then the animals are served well."He said.

He looked at Robert as he was also confused like Michael was. "Thank you Mr. Lupin."He said. "I am not going to tell Jess about this, you know that. I can lie myself you know."He said as he heard about his wife. "I will call her when I need her, I might need some help with one of the manticores, if I am right one was wounded, but the other one just got a baby, and it needs some strength and food."He said as he looked at him. "But I will talk about that later with Kate."He said.

"I will do my best, and if I need Kate or any of you, I will contact them."He said. "By owl, or by Patronus, I will see what I will pick, the least it can do is to get not find out."He said. "You have a plan Robert, I am completely behind it, and I hope soon the Ministry too then."He said. "Now I shall leave you guys, before Jess gets suspisions that I didn't leave the meeting."He said.

Mariana prefered to pretend that James didn't just walk out to gain on Robert and the rest of the gang that left the room a moment ago. She was ignorant about the fact that Robert had some kind of plan or idea, but she didn't pay too much attention to it. "Nope not me." she replied looking behind her like Jess was speaking to someone invisible behind her.

"I never said he is a coward. Or at least that wasn't what i meant to say. What i meant is that he sure is acting like one. Does he think we're so reckless to go there without a plan right now and get killed as fools who tried to conquer Hogwarts in one day or is it just my impression?" she asked walking to the sink and taking a glass of water before she added anything else.

She walked back to her seat and sinked there rather irritated. Water was calming her nerves down before she would say something unreasonable. "I am not looking for a positive effect here. Simply i am curious to meet the new headmaster as i am not used to judge people before giving them a chance to make better impression. But don't worry i'll be careful." she replied skipping the other order or suggestion about travelling with someone and requesting permission for it.

The last question stayed unanswered as her attitude was more then sufficent to conclude she was ready for fighting as always.

Lauren had sat in silence throughout the meeting. She’d perched herself on the kitchen counter shortly after making herself a cup of coffee and she held the blue mug in one hand, a cigarette in the other. She didn’t care for the arguments. They got nothing done but it seemed to be a recurring feature within Order meetings. They were discussing Hogwarts from what she could tell although it was difficult to try and decode anything while they bickered amongst themselves. She wasn’t exactly impressed with the Lupins, though. Fair enough, they were loyal to their family but that loyalty seemed to prevent any of them from independent thought. The show was run by Robert Lupin and the rest followed suit when he called for it. It was sad to watch really, and even sadder to watch the wand maker race after him so he could say his bit.

The quip about him being a coward made Lauren smirk into her coffee. She put it down on the counter next to her and flicked some of her cigarette ash into the ash tray she’d transfigured out of a piece of broken glass. Lauren cleared her throat and ran her hand through the front of her hair before deciding to speak.

“He’s not being a coward, just a self-serving fool. You can see his concern but Merlin knows we can’t barge in there wands blazing. I appreciate the fact that things are difficult but the best we can do is wait until September to put any plans into action. Spend the summer finalising plans. We need to have the Death Eaters surrounded. We need to put people into Hogwarts. If they’re truly causing a ruckus then if those Order members work with Professor Wilson and the Headmaster then perhaps the situation can be contained. I doubt highly that Doyle is as tyrannical as your cousin claims, Jess. This might sound a little bit prejudiced but the prissy little Slytherin Purebloods would have written to their parents by now and the governors would have sorted him. He must be doing something right.”

Lauren put the cigarette to her lips quickly before taking it away and stubbing it out. She blew the smoke towards the open window before turning back to Jess.

“Jack’s right for Christ sake. What do legal issues have to do with the Death Eaters? They are the epitome of illegality. She’s right on both counts. The Ministry should have put energy into rounding up the last of the Death Eaters after the Second Wizarding War. They should have put energy into education, to weed out these prejudices. In fairness they’re probably too inbred within the fabric of the people to make change now but it was worth a shot.

"Everything they stand for is illegal. Whether it is legal or not is completely irrelevant! You want those students safe don’t you? If you need to be ‘legal’ about it all than just work with Doyle...push people into Hogwarts. Apparation lessons need to be taught don’t they? What about N.E.W.T examiners? All of these people could be replaced with us. We’re a gifted bunch, I’m sure we could do it. We can’t just barge in, not while they have the tactical advantage. We need that too. It'll be an uphill battle otherwise. That’s why I think we need to nudge people in, put them into the Death Eater ranks if you want to go that far. We need to make the Death Eaters think they’re safe to do whatever they like then strike. The minute they let their guard down,” Lauren snapped her fingers. “We’ve got them.”

Lauren nodded in response to Jess's question and with her bit said she picked up her coffee once more.

(OOC: I'm just going to do this and suggest she's already here because I don't want her late again particularly.)

Jack really hoped she never got into politics, because she felt that they were the bane of every society's existence because they did nothing but screw things up. She could understand if Robert had said they wanted to remain an important force in the Ministry and to do that they could not actively look as though the Order had people in it, so he could not be apart of it. But he obviously found the Ministry more in the right than the Order. He cared more about being Minister.

Shouldn't he be glad someone was cleaning up the mess the Ministry was SUPPOSED to be in charge of cleaning up? How could she or anyone else honestly believe that the Ministry would SUDDENLY straighten up and fix everything when all year they had let such terrible things happen? She hoped he would eventually stop looking at things from the Ministry's legal view and finally think about people's moral view.

Jess asked about Hogwarts, but he clearly knew that the year was not ending, so she shook her head slowly, intent on not speaking. His agreement had caused her to slowly turn and now she leaned against the door frame, not particularly trying to look at any of the exiting Lupins nor was she avoiding them. Her eyes briefly met Michael's and she wondered if she had lost an ally.

Better lose an ally than have her peers dead, in her opinion.

Mari suggested following her up but Jess shot it down. Jack shrugged. "I'm used to detention, I really don't mind and I doubt Doyle would be too strict. He's cranky but I think to be strict you have to care what people think and he doesn't." She listened to the plan and said, "I can deliver him a note requesting the meeting. Say that I ran into Mari the last time I was in Hogsmeade." She could not believe that people had actually agreed with her. They were actually going to do something.

Jess looked at Mari and shrugged, he honestly didn't know what Robert was thinking, he knew that he was intent on upholding some sort of noble cause, but in doing so he seemed to be blinded from the actual threat on the table - not one of anarchy, but one of death and destruction. It almost seemed as if he couldn't separate the two of them in the current circumstances, and recognise the real threat.

"No, we wont enter the school without a plan, that would be foolish and I think you'd find that we'd walk away far worse from it than we would from walking in with a plan, one we could easily plan out this very night," he said seriously to them all. "Mari, if you insist on going into the school you will go after Jack delivers the message she's agreed to deliver, that is my condition I ask of you," he told her.

"You're right, Lauren," he said, facing the woman who'd sat so quietly for the most part of the meeting. "Robert is not a coward, he is merely caught up in what he believes is right, much as we are caught up in what we, personally, consider as being right. "And you're right that he probably isn't as bad as my cousin suggests, like I said, we've all been to school, and we've all had our least favourite professors," he said with a chuckle.

"However just because he's not as bad as he'd made out to be, doesn't mean that he's a good man. I'm not sure of him, personally, and while I'm sure he has the school's best interests at heart, he needs to start taking more actions. Asking students to defend the school's inhabitants is simply unacceptable." He told them all.

And finally there it was, the second opinion that came close to his own in regards to the legality of it, all, for a moment he'd been worried that the others were going to see Robert's view on all this and take a stand with the Ministry, against what he was proposing. "I completely agree with you Lauren, on all but one thing. Like I was saying earlier, it doesn't look like Doyle is willing to have anyone interfere with the school. How do you propose we get our people in there, for the Ministry now seems to be set against us, and lets face it, I don't like our chances of them being allowed in either. From what I've gathered the school is nearing a breach into the summer holidays. Then there's always the chance that Doyle is going to place the school under lockdown," he added, throwing a new idea onto the tables for them to all think about.

Turning to Jack he shook his head slightly. "I don't care about you getting a detention either," he said, shrugging. "It's not nice, but they're bearable. No, I'm more concerned about you being unable to contact us in times of need, or not being able to convey what's happening there to us, so I really, really want to avoid you being caught. Telling Doyle you bumped into her in Hogsmeade is great Idea, and I heavily endorse it," he told her.

"Now," He said, his focus remaining on Jack. "I need you to give me what information you know. Other than the four students 'guarding' the school, what are its defenses. Are there any Death Eaters there. In the event of a Death Eater intervention in the school, could the younger students manage to get out. And more importantly, if the Order were to enter the school, would they have either the staff, or the student's support at all?" He asked, directing his last question at both Jack and Wilson.

Jack nodded, because she understood, but she really did not think Doyle would do anything to stop her, or that he could do anything. She did have the Marauder's Map after all. Still, the Order liked to go by the rules of 'better safe than sorry' which was a concept Jack really could not grasp. If there was no risk in it, it was not worth trying in her opinion.

Jess addressed her again and she nodded, saying, "Well I know Thoar is a Death Eater and the Charms professor Ambrojze is a sketchy character. I don't know about its defenses but I have an item that I do not wish to discuss in detail that lets me view all secret entrances to the school and I know for a fact that only a few of these are functioning and the others are ones I often check."

She thought about it for a second and said, "Yes, there are ways o get out of the school, one being through the Room of Requirement. The other ways... I'll inform Potter's Army of those. I can't tell too many people in case the Death Eaters find them. The Dark Followers might join the Death Eaters but that's only a small group really."

Jess cocked an eyebrow when he heard mention of a certain map and made a mental note to ask Jack who her sources were. All these things he'd thought that few people knew of appeared to be known somehow by her, there must have been a spill in one of his childhood groups, for they all knew of these things too, and at the time were the only ones who did so.

With a distracted nod he frowned a little, Jack'd dodged the main point of his question, the one that, in his opinion, was the most important. "Jack," he said, "If we enter how would the students react. Is our intervention really necessary, or am I reading into things?" He asked, wondering if what she said next would be the deciding answer.

Jack chewed it over, realizing the weight of her next answer. It could be what made Jess and the Order decide or not decide to act. If things went terribly wrong, the root could be found in her. "I don't know that it's... necessary... but it is very much needed and it will be absolutely necessary soon, but if you were to intervene now, it may save lives..."

She chewed on her lip, thinking about the other questions, and quickly scoured her brain for any and all information regarding other students. "Potter's Army and a lot of younger, neutral students are waiting for you I think. The Dark Followers are going to be irritated. But the others...It all depends on how things happen, y'know?" She shrugged.

Mariana shrugged her teeth regreting she ever mentioned to anyone the fact about her planning to meet Doyle. If she was more aware of her words before, now it wouldn't be necessary to argue this and nor that was what she wanted. "I will go after Jack, but she won't be the one to let me in, If I still know the castle nearly as i did before i'll handle myself alright." she said slowly pouring more water into her empty cup.

"What for should i request audience? It's only the best way to say i'm here come and get me. I'll walk in secretly and with a little luck i'll walk out the same way. Hogwarts is crawling with death eaters, death eaters who for the fact know who i am and who i work for. Doyle is not one of them so i shouldn't have too much trouble. What's the worst that can happen after all?" Mari replied taking another sip of her water. If she hadn't mentioned her intentions, these explenations wouldn't be necessary right now.

Her ears went from herself to Jack and the students. It was hard to say how much support will they have with the students. "Jack could mobbilize Potter's army if necessary. Students have aways been divided between order, death eaters and some stayed neutral. Others.. well Wilson should know Professors better then us right?" she commented having dreamy voice not sure if it was from the lack of sleep or she was just thinking too much.