Lillian 'Anna' Potter || Order of the Phoenix

Chapter Five: Late Night Conversations

They were finally getting somewhere. Anna had been wanting to know what had been going on for weeks - yet now that she was finally getting her answers, her head remained painfully empty.

Luckily, Harry did not share her little dilemma.

“Where’s Voldemort? What is he doing?” He asked immediately. “I’ve been trying to watch out for him on the Muggle news, but there hasn’t been anything that I’ve noticed.”

“That’s because nothing has happened yet...as far as we know anyway. And we know quite a lot.” Sirius added.

“More than he thinks we do anyway.” Lupin murmured.

“That doesn’t make sense.” Anna spoke up, catching onto the conversation. “Why would he just stop killing now?”

“Because he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself.” Sirius offered. “Think about it this way: when you and Harry were taken, you weren’t supposed to survive. No one was supposed to know he had returned. And now, the very person he fears the most knows that he’s come back.”

“Dumbledore.” Harry realizes.

“Exactly. Thanks to you two, Dumbledore was able to gather the Order.”

Harry still didn’t seem satisfied. “And what has the Order been doing?”

“Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can’t finish his plan.” Lupin answered smoothly.

“And what would that be?”

“Dumbledore’s got a shrewd idea - mind you, his shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate. We think he’s going to try and build his army back up again - find witches and wizards who will follow him, as well as a variety of Dark creatures. He knows he can’t overtake us with just a few Death Eaters.”

“So you’re trying to stop him from getting more followers?”

“Precisely.”

“How do you plan on doing this?” Hermione asked curiously.

Bill leaned back in his chair. “Well, what we want to do is convince as many people as possible that he’s returned - to put them on their guard.” He frowned. “It’s proving to be tricky.”

“Why?”

“Because of the Ministry’s attitude.” Tonks scoffed. “You saw him. Fudge still doesn’t want to believe that You-Know-Who is back.”

It was Anna’s turn to snort. “That’s ridiculous! Why is he being so ignorant? If Dumbledore-”

“That’s exactly the problem: Dumbledore.” Mr. Weasley gave a wry smile. “Fudge is afraid of him. Thinks he’s plotting to overthrow him. He’s got it into his mind that Dumbledore wants to take over as Minister of Magic.”

“Well, that’s stupid.” Anna huffed, blowing a piece of hair away from her eyes.

Harry also appeared miffed. “How could he think that? We saw him - the entire world could be in danger! Does he not believe us? It's not like we don't have any evidence.”

She felt his gaze on her collarbone, where a long puckered scar ran across. Usually, it was covered up by various turtlenecks and layers, but at that moment in her pajamas, consisting of a tank top and loose pants, her scar was out on display for everyone in the room to see.

Sirius shook his head. “It’s easier for him to convince himself that Dumbledore’s lying to destabilize him. We’ve been so comfortable for 14 years. Voldemort back means he would have to cope with all sorts of trouble again.”

“The problem is that since people don’t know, it makes them easy targets for the Imperius Curse - how are they supposed to defend themselves from an unknown threat?” Lupin said.

“But you guys are telling people, right?” Harry asked.

Silence.

“Right?”

“It’s hard to warn people when you’re a wanted criminal.” Sirius said wryly. He gestured over to Lupin. “Or a werewolf.”

“There is the fact that Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the ministry if they start talking,” Lupin added. “And it’s very important that they remain there to act as spies - and you can bet Voldemort’s also got them.”

“So no one is saying anything?” Anna asked incredulously.

“We didn’t say that.” Sirius leaned back in his chair. “Why else do you think Dumbledore’s been in so much trouble? He’s being discredited - after he spoke about Voldemort’s return. They’re trying to kick him out of the International Confederation of Wizards - they’re even talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too.”

She put her head down, her fingers continuing to twist away so tightly at her hair, she wouldn’t be surprised if it was ripped right from her head. Anna hated feeling like this - so powerless. Truly, she couldn’t do anything.

“But if Voldemort’s trying to recruit followers, it’s bound to get out that he’s back, right?” Harry tried, sounding equally desperate.

Sirius shook his head. “Voldemort doesn’t just march up to people’s houses - he thrives at tricking and blackmailing witches and wizards to work for him. He’s well practiced at operating in secrecy. Besides, gaining followers isn’t his only goal. He’s still got people working on something else, right at this very moment.”

“What’s he after?”

Lupin and Sirius shared a look. So fleeting, if she hadn’t been paying so close attention, she wouldn’t have caught it.

But she still saw it.

“A weapon - something he didn’t have last time.” Lupin said vaguely - though Anna could tell his answer was carefully worded.

“Like what kind of weapon?” Harry pressed. “Something worse than the Avada Kedavra-”

“That’s enough.”

Mrs. Weasley had emerged from helping Ginny upstairs. Her face was stern, her arms crossed. “I want you all in bed now. It’s late.”

She eyed Sirius and Lupin. “You’ve given them plenty of information. Any more and you might as well induct them into the Order.”

“Why not?” Harry asked. “I’ll join. I want to fight-”

“No.”

This time, it was Lupin.

“The Order is only composed of overage wizards - ones already out of school.” He emphasized, looking over at Fred and George’s expressions. “Molly’s right. There’s some stuff you all are just not yet prepared for.”

Anna wanted to say more, but from the look on the adults' faces told her that she was getting no more leeway that night. With that, she finally stood and stepped away from the dining table in defeat.

She would just have to get more answers a different way.