Present Mixed in the Past

Chapter 39| Revealing the Council

The rest of the school year was tense. It had suddenly become a rule that students weren't allowed to sit at any table other than their House. It was cruel, even Professors Snape and McGonagall found this to be cruel!

Now, neither teacher would openly disagree with Dumbledore, but a few students would hear the pair mumbling about how 'unwise' it was to make such a rule. The teachers that openly complained about it, would suddenly find themselves fired for a 'lackluster performance'.

Practically everyone knew that was a lie. Not that they would say anything about it. School was just tense, everyone practically walking on eggshells as to not have to spend a moment of alone time with the man.

The only good thing about all of this was that Rita was doing a damn good job of finding her own dirt on the esteemed Dumbledore. For nearly a week straight, the woman had one article after another about the vile man. One of them even surprised the Gods! Apparently, Dumbledore had romantic, or at least sexual, relations with Grindelwald! The Dark Lord before good ol' Tom!

That news had an emergency Wizengamot, talking about the law that he had proposed. Sadly, the bastard was good at covering his own tracks, giving reasons as to why he should stay in his place as headmaster and why the new law should be in place still.

Severus had brought his new friends back to Hogwarts with him after that, collapsing into an armchair with a growl.

"Are their brains filled with maggots?" He hissed.

Sirius scoffed, immediately going toward the Slytherin's small drinking cabinet.

"I doubt their live maggots." He offered.

The other three offered only nods, even Arthur being displeased with this. His blue eyes looked around the room, narrowing almost suspiciously.

"Is it... Safe?" He quirked an eyebrow at the end.

This caused the others to pause and look around Severus's private chambers themselves. There weren't any portraits for the nosy bastard to spy through and the castle was protected against known spy spells and potions. Still, the man could think of something different, something unique and catch them.

"Safe? You make it sound like you're doing something illegal, Professor." A young voice hummed dreamily.

The group of grown men jolted from their somewhat relaxed positions to their feet, their wands all pointing to a silver-haired girl who casually leaned into the bushy haired muggle. Just behind them were the two most talked about young Wizards, who looked the most amused by the sight of the wands.

"You're not doing something illegal, are you? Like," Harry stepped forward, tilting his head to the side, "siding with Voldemort?"

The room seemed to go cold at the sound of his name, the two Deatheaters tensing the most as their marks burned at his name.

The adults watched as the innocent, naive Harry Potter straighten his back, his forest green eyes sharpening to that of the all too familiar Killing Curse. His face fell into a neutral frown- a perfect Pureblood mask- as he tilted his chin up ever so slightly.

"Siding with him at this point would do us far better than going alone. Which the Council has found saddening."

"We're calling ourselves the Council now?" Draco drifted forward, his own mask in place.

Harry tilted his head to the other, a cruel smirk appearing unnaturally on his lips. Draco's own formed a fanged smile, his eyes sharpening to a deadly silver.

"Of course~"

The adult Wizards felt cold shivers run down their spines. They were not expecting this from the young-looking Wizards.

"Back on topic," the small group took their own seats in the small circle, "Voldemort."

Lucius and Severus winced, their hand going toward their marks. Harry's eyes glanced down, his frown pulling deeper.

"In these meetings, you will address me as Phoenix." The dark-haired boy nodded.

"I am referred to as Raven."

"Hare." The blonde smiled happily, puffing her chest out.

"Polar Owl." The intelligent woman curled closer to Hare, nuzzling into the younger Witch's neck.

The group of men nodded.

"Don't worry, we'll come up with names for you as well. Can't have Lemon Drop know exactly who is against him." Phoenix hummed.

Severus nodded slowly. That made sense, but he wanted to understand what was going on.

Suddenly Raven and Phoenix smirked to them, leaning forward to rest their heads on joined hands. The way that they had mimicked each other was a bit creepy.

"Now, lets get to through the questions quickly, you have a lot of catching up to do on the Council. If you accept."

The Gods were silent as they watched their guardians look at each other. It wasn't long before Sirius sighed heavily, putting the Fire Whiskey back in its rightful place and slumping next to Remus.

"Looks like a dry meeting for now." He grumbled. "Alright, ki... Phoenix," he bowed his head, "lets get this meeting over with. We're going to be needing a drink soon."