"Good thinking, Amelia." Sirius said, regaining his own balance in the face of her determination and steadfastness.
"Did Wood or Cambridge mention luggage?" Remus asked suddenly.
Amelia shook her head.
"You don't think they were intending to stay?" Sirius questioned Remus. "You think their base is elsewhere and they were only at Little Hangleton temporarily to get the bones so we would have lost them anyway?"
"It's a theory." Remus offered, spreading his hands.
"A good one," Amelia commented heaving a sigh, "and one that will help Cambridge. Thank you, Remus."
"We should probably kill the snake when we get an opportunity." Dumbledore said. "I fear Voldemort may have accidentally made another…object through the death of the caretaker. No doubt Voldemort has spent time possessing the snake prior to his new…home. It would be susceptible."
"I don't agree with your reasoning but better safe than sorry." Bertie said. "Shall we move on to the Treasure Team unless Amelia has something else to add?"
"The rest of my report can wait." Amelia sat back and picked up her abandoned drink.
Cornelius shifted restlessly, a frown on his face.
"I think we should revert to the agenda, if that's OK, Bertie?" Sirius asked smoothly.
Bertie nodded and gestured at Cornelius who smiled smugly at his success in trumping Bertie.
"Operation Power Play is on track and probably if I'm honest a little ahead of schedule. Let's see: the Potter alliance has approached the Order of Merlin recipients. The nine muggleborn recipients have already confirmed their willingness to join; the others are still contemplating their various alliances but we expect to have them all by the time the September Session sits." Cornelius said with delight.
"That's excellent news." Amelia said.
Sirius could see she was genuinely glad someone had something positive to report even if it was Cornelius.
"Augusta has been a boon," Cornelius admitted, "we couldn't have done it without her."
"She does seem to have gained a new lease of life." Bertie said with a nod.
"The neutral bloc has also made many overtures in the last few weeks." Cornelius continued, gesturing with his glass of iced mint tea. "Lord Greengrass has agreed an alliance with the Houses of Potter and Black. Zabini, Goldstein, Rickett and Smith have all invited Lord Black and I to various events over the next couple of weeks so I expect they will have alliances in place by the time of the next session."
"And with the neutral Ancient and Noble houses ostensibly taking a side, the rest of the neutral minor houses are likely to fall in line." Sirius said. The minor houses always sought the protection of the Ancient and Noble.
"What about the pureblood alliance?" asked Dumbledore. He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Any news on that front? The alliance with Lord Nott was a surprise."
"According to my latest communication from Malfoy, Selwyn and Wilkes are contemplating a similar alliance arrangement with the House of Black as Nott." Sirius replied. "However, I expect that to be last minute."
"And similarly to the neutrals, if the Ancient and Noble Houses declare a position, the majority of the minor houses will follow." Cornelius said gleefully. "So, alliance wise, we expect to be in a strong position by the October session."
"Which is when we can start to make the major inroads on the legislative front." Sirius added.
"It's a remarkable achievement," Dumbledore said quietly, "you have systematically changed the power dynamic within a few short months."
Cornelius glowed with the praise even though it had been Sirius who Dumbledore had been looking at when he'd commented.
Sirius gave a sharp nod to the old wizard.
"The other small problem I know the House of Potter is dealing with is responding to the numerous requests to join the Potter alliance Heirs in swearing fealty to young Harry." Cornelius said with a teasing glint in his eye as he turned to Sirius.
Sirius grimaced. "Harry got inundated with requests following the Prophet article, mostly from children including his school mates."
Amelia smiled at him sympathetically. "I'm not surprised. Most of our children have been raised on stories of the Boy Who Lived. The prospect of swearing fealty and following him must seem like a wondrously adventurous lark to most youngsters."
"What does Harry think of it all?" Dumbledore asked pointedly.
Remus chuckled. "Mostly he's embarrassed at the attention."
Sirius hid his smirk at the indulgent looks that crept over the others' faces. Remus had known exactly what to say to dismiss any concerns that Harry was thrilled at the prospect of being able to raise his own private army – which he was a little bit – although Remus was right; Harry was mostly embarrassed. Sirius could quite happily torture the Dursleys for hours for the damage they had done to Harry's self-worth.
"He and the rest of the Heirs are sending replies back thanking people for their interest and providing more information about fealty including the fact that their parents would need to swear alliances with the House of Potter and be well known to Harry and myself before any vow of fealty could be accepted." Sirius continued. "There are a few families in there who we'd quite like to ally with…so we'll see what comes of it."
"I believe those are our highlights." Cornelius said pompously.
"Amelia, why don't you finish your report and then we'll cover the Treasure Team?" asked Sirius.
"One last thing to report then," Amelia said briskly, "namely, the Operation Quidditch is proceeding nicely. Avery has dropped out of the suspected Death Eater attack because of an invitation to go abroad on some junket – we believe Malfoy was behind it."
"He's probably protecting Avery's vote." Cornelius commented. "Avery doesn't have a mind of his own."
"Agreed," Amelia said dryly, "Travers and the others are on board. They've exchanged few owls but have met on three occasions to plan. Thanks to the help of Albus's spy, we cracked their code very easily to learn the details. They're planning a disruption the night after the game during the celebrations. Their main targets are the muggle family who own the campsite. Two of them will play with the muggles while the others wreck havoc among those staying at the campsite, targeting muggleborn families. The attack will begin at midnight. Rufus and Barty have been made aware that there is an imminent threat of something happening and will plan the Auror details around that. The Rat Squad will deal with the specifics."
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