RED SPARROW ➼ George Weasley

[𝟎𝟎𝟒] - creature in the attic

What followed was a brief conversation taking place in the living room, in which Dumbledore and Lupin cleared Sirius's name and explained that this was the home of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Once Magdalina had managed to wrap her head the circumstances of their situation, Sirius clapped his hands together.

            "Right then," he said excitedly. "It must be dinner time! What are you craving, my new friend from the North?" he asked the girl. "Some kind of...I don't know, goulash? What's Russia's national dish? I've been pretty into cooking recently, there's not much else to do around here so I've gotten pretty good-"

            "No, wait, hold on a second," she interrupted. "You still haven't told me what the Order of the Phoenix is?" She looked at Dumbledore, who had at some point in the conversation summoned himself a floral teacup full of what smelled like brandy and was sipping it smoothly.

            "My goodness, it must have slipped my mind," he said, setting his cup down on the claw footed accent table next to the ornate black chaise longue he was perched on. "I suppose you could call it a 'secret society', a resistance of sorts. I created the group in 1970 and we collectively disbanded in 1981 but given Voldemort's recent return it seemed wise to re-coupe. Sirius here was very generously offered his family home as our new headquarters-" at the mention is his name, Sirius gave a small two-fingered salute in Dumbledore's direction, "-and we are currently in the process of gathering new members."

            "And what sort of work have you been doing as of late?" asked Magdalina, leaning forward in her armchair, the mention of resistance fighters sparking her interest. "He has only been back for a fortnight, what militance could you possibly be carrying out at this point in the war?"

            "Let's not bring words like 'war' and 'militance' into the conversation just yet," said Lupin hesitantly. "Like you say, it's only been two weeks. Right now, the Order is mainly keeping guard over Harry Potter and recruiting new people."

            She gave a low chuckle. "Did you fight in the last war, Lupin?"

            "Yes," he said cautiously.

            "I see. And I take it that wasn't a very pleasant experience for you?"

            "It was a war," he said coolly. "I don't see how it could possibly have been pleasant for anybody."

            "This is true. But have you fought in any other wars since?"

            "No. If anything, I've made an effort to distance myself from the Wizarding world entirely ever since."

            "Ah. So, you've never been on the losing side of the battlefield." He shook his head. "The thing is, Lupin," she said calmly. "For the unfortunate few, war doesn't simply end after whichever leader is shot down. Just because the Death Eaters haven't been a problem in Britain for fifteen years doesn't mean they were simply wiped from existence after Voldemort's death."

She directed her attention to the rest of the group and spoke to everybody. "His ideology has never died. There was nothing special about Tom Riddle – he wasn't even a pure of blood. But because of his meteoric rise to power, there are still many wizards all around the world who believe they can reach the same status and achieve what he achieved. Many Vasilisa missions were spent hunting down new potential Dark Lords who's existence somehow managed to slip past your precious Aurors, then stopping them from creating a next Wizarding World War. For all of the new victims that have been persecuted and hunted and killed because of their blood status; victims that we saw the torture and destruction of first hand, the War never ended. If Voldemort himself is back then there should be no question that we are automatically in battle, and so, Mr Lupin-" she said, turning back to face him, "-please do not sit there and tell me not to bring words like 'war' into the conversation just because it ended for you. If anything, this word should have been the at the forefront of every conversation concerning Tom Riddle since your school's little incident with Quirinius Quirrell," she finished, slumping back in her chair, arms crossed.