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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 203: The First Order Meeting
"I think we went a bit overboard," James commented as he stared down at the destruction.
"We?…" Dumbledore glared at him, clearly upset.
"My bad. I thought the walls were more resistant." James sounded apologetic, and it was sincere. He didn't want to cause so much destruction.
It wasn't just the walls of the Room of Requirement that got demolished, but the ceiling and floor as well.
Since the Room was on the seventh floor of the castle, they could now see the clear sky.
They also got to take a peek at the classroom right beneath them through the holes that the meteors summoned by James had left behind.
"What classroom was that one?" James asked.
"History of Magic," Dumbledore responded.
"Oh, well no one is going to miss that one." James chuckled.
"This is not the time for jests, Mister Potter." Dumbledore had returned to using his last name now that he was upset.
"Come on, the castle has an auto-repair enchantment, right?" James didn't sound too sure.
"It does, but it will take a long time to fix something like this." Dumbledore could already hear the sounds of footsteps approaching.
The entire school must have felt the impact of James's spell, so it wasn't strange that everyone was rushing here to see what had happened.
"Good thing it's summertime." James turned to look behind them. "Lots of people are coming."
"You should not be here when they arrive," Dumbledore told him. "I'll have to come up with some excuse."
"Sure, but before I leave… ehm… am I fired?" James asked just in case.
Technically, he hadn't begun to work as a professor, so he wasn't sure if he could be fired already, but destroying the castle seemed to be grounds for termination.
"I'll have to think about that." Dumbledore glared at him.
"Fair enough." James's body vanished from sight as he cast an invisibility charm over himself.
"Don't forget about our deal, though..." he said before leaving. "Because I won."
Dumbledore was grumbling something under his breath when the first people turned the corner and spotted him behind the broken walls.
"Albus! What happened here?" McGonagall was the first one to arrive, with most of the school behind her.
"Merlin!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed.
"Alright, everyone calm down. It's all under control already." Dumbledore walked into the hall, as he didn't want people getting too close to the rubble.
"Under control? But what…" McGonagall and the other professors were standing at the front while the students did their best to take a peek. "I can see the classroom beneath us..."
"Just a little magical accident that ended up causing some damage to the castle, that is all." Dumbledore tried to downplay it.
"The entire castle shook so much that I fell from my chair and almost got crushed by my wardrobe," Professor Slughorn commented.
"I can see the sky from here…" Professor Kettleburn added.
"This was caused by a very powerful spell." The professor of Defense, Valeria Walker, shared her insight.
"The only thing that matters now is that the students are ready for their departure. The train will leave in only two hours," Dumbledore responded, ignoring all their comments.
"But Albus…" McGonagall began.
"Not now, Minerva. I want you all to escort the students out of the castle. I have everything under control here." Dumbledore insisted.
McGonagall knew that when the Headmaster got like that, there was nothing else to add. "Very well… but I would like a proper explanation later on."
Dumbledore sighed and internally cursed at James for giving him so much extra work on the last day of school.
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Amelia Bones looked around the room. "I never knew the Three Broomsticks had a private place such as this."
"I expected more people to come," Amelia said. "You told me t—"
"Albus Dumbledore should arrive shortly," Fleamont interrupted her. "If it goes well, we can consider expanding this little group. I already have several names of interest."
Amelia was about to say something when the door creaked open.
"My apologies for the delay." Albus Dumbledore walked into the room by himself and closed the door behind him.
"I had some…" His eyes landed on Fleamont Potter for a second. "Issues to resolve."
"We can imagine you were occupied, considering it was the last day of school. I suppose all the students must be on the train by now," Fleamont said.
Dumbledore nodded. "They are."
"Good!" Pollux exclaimed as he poured himself another glass of firewhisky. "Then we can get this damn thing started."
Dumbledore nodded and took a seat. "The topic for this meeting will be…"
"The new Dark Lord and his attack on Diagon Alley. That would be a good place to start," Fleamont suggested.
"Whoa, hold on. What Dark Lord are you speaking of?" Amelia almost jumped from her chair.
"Surely you must have heard at least some rumors." Pollux glanced at the woman. "Aren't you the next candidate for Director of the Auror Department?"
"Of course I have heard rumors, but…" Amelia took a moment to think. "I heard a name being used with fear among the inner circle of Dark Wizard Houses… Voldemort. But is he really a Dark Lord?."
"He is more than a rumor, I can assure you of that," Pollux said. "I met the man in person. He is one dangerous son of a b—"
"Madame Bones," Dumbledore interjected. "I assure you that the threat is very much real. This new Dark Lord is as dangerous as it gets, and something must be done about it before it's too late."
"And these masked men… are his followers?" Amelia asked.
"Indeed." Dumbledore had already confirmed this with James, so he had no doubts about it.
Amelia's expression grew more serious. "Tell me everything you know about this man."
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