A Marauder's Guide to Falling Apart

Chapter Five

There were quite a few more people at the meeting than Marlene had imagined there would be. Sturgis Podmore was an average sized Wizard, only a few years older than Marlene. He had straw-colored hair and a nervous twitch in his eye but the later could have likely been from the mission he was assigned to. He had been nervously looking around him the entire time since they had met.

The meeting was held at his place in Clapham. Marlene recognized a few of the people that were already there when they arrived but had to be introduced to most. Dumbledore was there of course, and he seemed very pleased that she had decided to join. Professor McGonagall was also there as was the groundskeeper Hagrid. Remus and Peter were already sitting with Lily, Frank and Alice in the back corner. It appeared that they had been the last to arrive for the evening.

"Very good then," Dumbledore said loudly and the chatter in the room ceased immediately. "We have a few new faces among us this evening. I'd like to start by giving them a warm welcome. Next on our list of business is to obviously discuss our strategy for the Ministry. Alastor seems to think that with the help of more Auror's we could perhaps stand a chance to persuade the Minister with attempts at weeding out any threats within the Ministry."

"Got a couple of new recruits in the room," the man named Alastor – Alastor Moody as Remus leaned over to whisper to Marlene – was a very well known and skilled Auror in the Auror's Office in the Department of Magical Enforcement. Marlene had never heard of him before but he looked rather intimidating with one eye missing, replaced by a magical one that seemed to swivel around more often than usual. He was also missing a leg and a large chunk out of his nose. "The Longbottoms haven't started training yet but no doubt having a couple extra Aurors in the room will help our cause.

Marlene turned to look at Alice. She was looking sheepish. "We only just found out last week," she whispered. Marlene had known that Frank was applying to the Auror program but Alice had never said anything.

The conversation continued on in much the same fashion. Marlene learned a few more names as people discussed the role they were taking in securing Ministry influence. Edgar Bones and Caradoc Dearborn worked within the Department of Security and talked briefly about potential leaks within the Ministry; it seemed that the greatest issue seemed to not know who could be trusted.

As people took turns speaking, Marlene couldn't help but notice how young everyone seemed to be. There were a few middle aged Witches and Wizards but most of them seemed to be within ten years of her own age. She couldn't help but recall what her Uncle Tom had said about Dumbledore recruiting teenagers.

Though a handful of members had jobs within the Ministry or at least partial influence, most of them were just ordinary Witches and Wizards with great ability. Marlene felt slightly out of place. She had always struggled with certain topics at school and suddenly she was surrounded with people who were extraordinary with their magical abilities. Peter was beside her and he was shifting his gaze around uncomfortably and she briefly wondered whether or not he shared her sentiment.

"I think it's safe to say that we're rather well known around the streets," a man named Mundungus Fletcher said.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Dumbledore said solemnly. "Especially after Hogsmeade last year I'm afraid that we've lost the element of surprise."

"On the bright side it gives us the opportunity to build more influence," Elphias Dodge chirped up from the back.

"We just have to be careful with how many we let into our inner circle," McGonagall had been awfully quiet up until this point. "We can't just let anyone into the Order. I've said it before and I'll say it again. We need to be extra cautious now that the Dark Lord is aware of our existence. There will be more effort than ever to squander our efforts."