Order Only: Private Message to Remus and Dora

[alt_sirius]

Sorry for bowing out on the park but I think my staying with Ellie was a good compromise. She really seemed nervous still about being left alone but she's comfortable enough with her trusty guard hound. (Have either of you made any progress figuring out what's been troubling her since Monday? I thought she was feeling better until today's panic attack. Maybe I can get her talking this afternoon.)

Well, anyway. How is Bea enjoying the playground?

If you've got time between pushing her on the swings, you should take a closer look at the Juniors' conversation last night. Not that I would ever dream of barging in to their discussion. They need their space just as much as we do sometimes. But Moony, it'll make you smile.

They're seeing the big picture. They're picking up steam and they're getting their contemporaries to question the regime. And they're doing it in a way that we could never do. It's just beautiful.

Times like this I know we made the right decision to bring them all into the Order. That's our future, right there.

And I never thought I'd say it but bless Dolores Umbridge for being such an evil toad. Between her and the Carrows we barely have to lift a finger to show how oppressive the Protectorate is. Or how hypocritical.

I guess there's a reason that teenagers are always revolutionaries. They're already predisposed to find fault in their elders.

Comments

[alt_lupin]

Are we allowed to read those? I wasn't sure. (I'd refrained; I thought it would be a lot harder to resist putting my knut in if I knew what they were up to.)

[alt_sirius]

I didn't mean to read it - I agree, normally I try not to take too close a look - but I admit sometimes I give things a skim now and then. And this one was ... too tempting. (It's a lively discussion, from the look of it.)

But no, I would never, ever tell them I peeked. Might make them look for more private means of communicating to keep things from us.

[alt_lupin]

Yeah. I thought as long as I don't read it, I don't have to worry about what's in there.

I assume Alice is keeping an eye on them, and she can intervene if they decide to try something really dangerous. They walk a little closer to the edge than we do -- can you imagine rounding up a group of Beer Garden regulars and saying, 'Right! We've decided to form a club to talk about all the things that are wrong with the Protectorate!' -- but good for them. It's working.

[alt_lupin]

Right.

That's bloody brilliant. And one of their newcomers was Ginny Weasley -- so hopefully that means Molly won't lose another one, right?

[alt_sirius]

Let's hope. Considering that it sounded for a while there like she was leaning the wrong way but if what she said was reported correctly, then it seems she's got her head back on straight.

I wish ... Well. No.

[alt_lupin]

What?

[alt_sirius]

It's just ... it all seems to be driven by Miss Perks and Justin. Which makes a certain amount of sense, given that Perks is so tetchy and Justin is used to freedom of speech. But I thought Harry would be more central to the effort, more ... self-confident? Assertive?

He seems so cautious about everything. Granted he's been conditioned to be careful but it's so different from James. I can't decide if it's just because he's naturally more meek or if he's holding himself back. If it's the latter then I don't know how to encourage him to be himself, especially in a group he can trust. And if it's the former .... it makes me wonder how different he'd have turned out if I'd been able to keep him out of Riddle's clutches.

But then I think about how he went charging in to the Ministry and I'm sure there's a Gryffindor in there. Maybe it's just that he can only give over to it in the heat of a crisis, or something.

I dunno. I don't want him to feel pressured to 'be like James' - that's not what I'm saying. Maybe I just wonder whether he's found his own voice yet.

[alt_lupin]

Hm.

He's a bit caught on the fence, isn't he? On one side, there's safety, where he's a dutiful loyal son to Voldemort and the Protectorate. On the other side, there's outright rebellion, and there's surely where he WANTS to be.

But he's terrified of the consequences for his friends. And the more time he has to think about it, the more entangled he gets in his own doubts. That night at the Ministry, they surely didn't have much time to think it over -- one moment they were at the wedding, and the next they sprang into action. And really, that's what Gryffindors are best at, those moments when we can run out, wands blazing, to defend the helpless and beat back the Death Eaters and all that.

This isn't that sort of battle. It's a battle for people's thoughts and hearts and beliefs.

Harry needs to realise that it's too late to go back. (It's been too late since that night at the Ministry.) And it's too late to shepherd his friends anywhere safe. The only safety is in sticking together, watching one another's backs, and work for victory -- which will make everyone a good deal safer in the end, even if some of them die to get the rest of us there.

[alt_lupin]

And in those endless grinding daily battles where your weapons are your wits and your words, rather than your wand --

Well.

Watching Miss Perks and Miss Parkinson has me wondering if we'd have done better to recruit a few Slytherins to the Order, back in the day. They're rather good at that sort of thing. Hufflepuffs, too.