Remus Lupin

MEETING MINUTES
Order of the Phoenix

Date: 22/6/1995
Location: 12 Grimmauld

Members Present: Sirius Black (public enemy), Minerva McGonagall (Headmistress), Poppy Pomfrey (Matron), Pomona Sprout (Herbology Professor), Alice Longbottom (wanted fugitive), Frank Longbottom (ditto), Fred Weasley (student), George Weasley (student), Molly Weasley (woman of mystery), Arthur Weasley (Ministry Official), Dora Ponds (ditto), Charlie Weasley (Dragon Wrangler), Bill Weasley (Death Eater Wrangler / Undercover Lackey), Kingsley Shacklebolt (actor), Severus Snape (caretaker), Walden Macnair (retired Hogwarts professor), this one bloke who asked not to be named because he STILL doesn't trust the lock Bill made for us but I'll give you a hint, he's missing an eye, and Remus Lupin (secretary).

Members Absent: Hermione Granger, Arabella Scrim

Guests: Terry Boot

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES:
Whomever was supposed to be taking minutes at the Christmas party must have been drunk distracted.

TREASURER'S REPORT:
Sirius complained we're going broke. Actually, what with the smuggling and the beer garden, we're more or less breaking even, but he does like to complain remind us that we do have finances to monitor.

AGENDA:
There was really only one official item, which was, ALBUS DUMBLEDORE, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL? We did cover a few other items as the meeting progressed, however.

AGENDA ITEM 1: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?

Albus declined to give details on why he's back in England or what he's been up to. He assured us that he thought Minerva had been doing a fine job and that we should keep on as we have been. Oh, and he's not using Polyjuice; he really DOES look approximately thirty-five these days. Apparently the special waters of Florida will do amazing things for one's health, and after shaving off his beard and doing some transfiguration on his nose he was confident he wouldn't be recognised. Considering that Minerva, Poppy, and Pomona looked at him at dozens of Hogwarts staff meetings and were never the wiser, it seems he was correct. He returned to France, assumed the name Brutka and seized the opportunity to ingratiate himself to Lucius Malfoy three years ago.

When pressed (and thank you, Kingsley, Arthur, Pomona, and Frank--No, I'm not forgetting you, Sirius!) he admitted that he's been doing some research into the wards (which is why he wanted Charlie present) and the Sleepers.

Just when we were all about to throw down wands and punch him in the nose he turned to Dora to tell her how absolutely delighted he was that she'd found her way to the Order, and was so bloody charming about it that no one had the heart to turn to violence after that.

That bloke who doesn't wish to be named but whose name rhymes with Rudy (so I think I'll just call him Rudy from here on out) said that he didn't know why the rest of us were so cross, he thought Albus had shown excellent sense keeping it a complete secret, so everyone shouted at him for a few minutes and then we moved on.

Sirius pointed out that seeing as we’ve had someone researching the Sleepers, it might have been rather helpful if Albus had popped in, oh, two and a half years ago, to avoid duplication of efforts. Albus assured us that he thought independent lines of research were all for the good and Snape should keep at it. He added that he’d visited Charlie several times, Obliviating him with his consent after each visit, and that his research into the wards was going quite well.

Charlie looked quite startled at that, but he would, wouldn’t he? that being the point of the Obliviate spell, after all.

Oh, right, and Ridley. Kingsley wanted to know if Albus actually had a PLAN for what we were supposed to be doing with her. Albus seemed disappointed (in her? in us? I'm just going to assume it's her, not us) and said we should keep at it, surely we'd win her over with kindness eventually. This brought up the subject of the Lord Protector somehow and Minerva mentioned he's been getting stranger. Creepier. Sirius gave us a summary of what happened with Harry after the Triwizard -- apparently Voldemort took him to some private magical laboratory in what used to be Eton and wanted him to personally kill Ridley while holding a Snitch. That last bit was probably the strangest. Albus looked like he had a thought, but declined to share it, even when pressed. Come to think of it, that might have been what almost provoked someone to punch him in the nose.

No one even realised Voldemort had set up private laboratories in Eton. Minerva said she’s never been summoned there before that night. Some discussion from Rudy of what other strongholds he might have that we know nothing about. Minerva offered to see what Lucius might be persuaded to tell her, or Rabastan Lestrange. She did mention that Malfoy seemed much harried of late and the back-chatter among the Death Eaters is that some new players are trying to give him the elbow out of the Dark Lord’s good graces. Mac thought perhaps there could be merit to trying again the idea he and Sirius had about sowing even more discord among their ranks.

Several people proposed that Poppy and Pomona spend more time drawing out Aurora Sinistra as a source of information - suggested that she was surely less cautious than Lestrange would be. Poppy made one of those faces, and Pomona got her stubborn look, so the matter was tabled. Those wishing to discuss further may make their cases individually and leave the rest of us out of the middle. (Rudy, Macnair, that means you.)

Molly then remembered to ask about Trelawney. Apparently, she is still living happily in America, there is no new news on the Prophecy, except that Albus seems sure that Voldemort’s interpretation has not changed, and further attempts at discussion on the topic proved annoying so we moved on.

AGENDA ITEM 2: TERRY BOOT

Terry had asked to come to the Order meeting because he wanted to thank us all personally. Ironic, considering how much guilt we've felt over failing him. The bloody Sorting Hat's comment about the 'fake book' makes a great deal more sense to him now (why didn't anyone invite the Hat to the meeting? we could tell it to KEEP ITS GOB SHUT IN THE FUTURE). Alice and Frank think he has a brilliant future ahead of him -- bloody right, considering he mastered the animagus transformation at 15 without ever having had formal instruction in Transfiguration.

One of the Twins brought up the possibility of inducting Terry into the Order, so that they could talk to him on the journals after going back to school. I said I was for it. Sirius said he was for it. Molly waffled a bit because Terry's underage. But there's precedent: Hermione is underage and has been an Order member since she was eleven. The consensus was favourable, and we added an action item: swear in Terry after the meeting.

Frank then brought up another possible member: Neville. That one, everyone agreed, was a great deal more complicated. Terry will be living at Moddey Dhoo; Neville, on the other hand, is at Hogwarts. But he's already privy to more than a few secrets, including that he sees his parents in the summers, and given that Terry turned up with one of Frank's old Auror textbooks it's not exactly a secret that Neville is a member of the Jr. Auxiliary.

But. Given THAT, would it be wise to admit Neville into the Order while not bringing in the rest of them? Fred and George thought it would be okay; Neville has already conscientiously kept secrets from the rest of the Jr. Auxiliary. For instance, he hasn't shared information with the group about the summer visits with his parents, although he did share Auror textbooks (I heard Poppy mutter 'Junior Auror blue' under her breath at that point, I think, and shoot a look at Frank).

I spoke up at that point and asked whether we perhaps we should let them ALL in -- whether the whole loaf would actually be safer than the partial information they have. If they were in the Order, they'd have access to the Order Lock and would know exactly who on the Hogwarts faculty they could go to in an emergency. Poppy noted that she doesn't know how necessary it is to lay out the details given their apparent facility at guessing, and that with the benefit of hindsight it's plainly obvious that Sally-Anne Perks is perfectly aware that she, at least, is a member of the Order. (Fred spoke up at that point to say that they call us the Wand Smugglers, which made Sirius laugh so hard I thought he was going to hurt himself.)

After he'd pulled himself together, Sirius noted that Sally-Anne had asked him to help her mother get out of the Protectorate -- revealing to him that she was definitely a member of the Jr. Auxiliary, since they'd asked him questions through Hermione a few months back. He added that she'd made it quite clear that she was trustworthy, so why not add her to the Order, along with Ron, Neville, and Justin Finch-Fletchley?

Molly objected vehemently to admitting Ron to the Order on the grounds that he's not even of age yet and has had far fewer burdens of secrecy in his life than Neville.

Fred and George said that while individually they thought that everyone mentioned for possible membership was highly trustworthy, they thought it would create problems within the Auxiliary if some were Order members and had to keep it a secret from the rest. And they were not entirely sure that it would be a good idea to admit every single member of the Auxiliary into the Order, just yet. (Sirius, did you sneeze then or were you trying to say ‘Parkinson’ under your breath?) They did, however, want to propose Lee Jordan for membership, as he's highly trustworthy and having a birthday before the school year starts, cycling him out of the Jr. Auxiliary. They added that they thought it made sense to admit Neville to the Order if for no other reason than to allow him to use the Order lock to communicate with Frank and Alice.

Rudy spoke up and objected vehemently to the idea of admitting ANYONE underage to the Order and things degenerated and we tabled the discussion for now, except for Lee Jordan, whom everyone agreed could be admitted on his 17th birthday (or as soon thereafter as the Twins could make arrangements). Minerva can easily swear him in on his return to the school, if it doesn't work out before then. At this point, since everyone was obviously getting testy, we decided to take a break, soothing the feelings running high by resorting to refreshments. (Molly’s cake was considerably applauded. And demolished, down to the last crumbs.)

AGENDA ITEM 3: ALECTO CARROW

We reconvened twenty minutes later, in a considerably better mood, only to spoil our digestion by discussing Alecto Carrow. Rudy wanted to congratulate Minerva on eliminating a particularly dangerous enemy; she denied involvement and said that she found Alecto dead in her office. Based on some quiet conversations she's fairly certain that Alecto's illness resulted from a plaque made by Rodolphus Lestrange and given to Alecto by Narcissa Malfoy in the guise of it being an award. Which incidentally opens a position at Hogwarts: Dark Arts instructor.

Approximately half of the Order thinks that the ideal Dark Arts instructor would be Ludo Bagman: so incompetent as to do no damage. The other half thinks that the ideal Dark Arts instructor would be someone like Rabastan Lestrange: not on our team, but these days at least he plays by the rules. (Mostly.) Rabastan is already teaching, though, so if he took over Dark Arts they'd have to find someone else to teach Defense against them and apparently Professor Lestrange is both competent and popular, so Minerva would strongly prefer to keep him where he is.

The suggestion of Dolores Umbridge (she'd be Category One) was shot down on the grounds that the Hogwarts-based Order members don't want to have to put up with her company. No one could think of a Category Two possibility who was not (a) far too dangerous and (b) already employed anyway.

Someone suggested Barty Crouch, but that was a joke. He'd be competent AND evil AND he's already got a job that he seems to enjoy more than anyone ought to. Rudy suggested kidnapping Crouch and impersonating him via Polyjuice Potion, in order to teach and to infiltrate another Order member into the Voldemort's court but that was also shot down by every other several members.

Other names mentioned included Glendower Jr. (wastrel and layabout), the Mulciber brothers or Gunther Goyle (too dangerous), and then a few possibles, all presenting challenges: Savitha Desai (too intense and charismatic), Aiman Gupta (too ambitious), and Heloise Laverty (too likely to spot Order and Jr. Auxiliary interests.) Also Mafalda Hopkirk and Theodore Nott, Sr. (most of whom Minerva ruled out on the grounds that we hardly need another Death Eater in the castle).

We tabled the discussion but if anyone's had ideas since then, by all means chime in. It's the Board of Governors who hires, but if Minerva can recruit a promising candidate she might be able to persuade them.

But back to Alecto for a moment, Rudy asked whether anyone has made headway on the identity of the mysterious figure Sirius and I spotted leaving her office on the night that we let ourselves in to have a reconnoitre. Snape said he’d been on the lookout but that the castle has detected no one in the walls who shouldn’t be there. Rudy rather acidly pointed out that of course the spy is someone who belongs there. But the only suspicious behaviour of the staff anyone had to report was, well, our own. At least at first.

Pomona remembered here that it’s not just ours - she’s seen Rolanda Hooch in odd places in the grounds near the fluxweed greenhouse, Gwendolyn Acton having conversations with several Ministry folks during the third task, and even admitted that Aurora Sinistra was keeping unusually odd hours. In response to a certain comment Sirius, she says, no, not Rabastan’s doing, but refused to say more. (Pomona, that just sounds more suspicious, you know.)

She also promised to update the security charms on the greenhouse before everyone could yell at her.

AGENDA ITEM 4: BARTY CROUCH, SR.

This wasn't exactly an agenda item so much as topic drift. When we were speaking of Crouch, Jr. (No, Sirius, I’m not calling him Farty the Grouch names in the official minutes, for Merlin’s sake), Snape volunteered that Crouch, Sr. had made contact several months after supplying him and Macnair with their journals. His correspondence ranged from lucid but paranoid to increasingly erratic. In his last communication, he implored Snape to meet him at Hogwarts, claiming that his son had been holding him captive... However on the night of the appointed meeting, Crouch was nowhere to be found, but Snape narrowly avoided running into Igor Karkaroff. He appeared to Karkaroff as Milland and learned that Karkaroff apparently thought he had a meeting, as well. But before either of them could discuss things further, they heard Crouch screaming. They sought the source and found him dead.

There was quite a lot of speculation as to Crouch, Sr's motives in wanting to speak to Snape, and inviting Karkaroff as well. Karkaroff is now missing. Minerva reports he was not at the Leaving Feast and he did not return with his students - no one has seen him since the night of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. Snape pointed out that Viktor Krum was clearly suffering from an Imperius Curse during the task. Karkaroff's own handiwork? No one knew for sure.

AGENDA ITEM 5: OTHER BITS

The question of what to do with the real Milland was raised. Half of us saw no problem in keeping him as is. Poppy raised the question of his continued health and well-being. No satisfying answer was determined, and clearly we can’t just let him go. The matter was tabled. If you have a practical idea (body-binds are not, thank you, Rudy), please apply to Minerva or Poppy.

At this point, seeing that the twins Weasley and Terry Boot, newest members, were nearly falling out of their chairs from exhaustion, and the hour being noted to be ‘half-past-dead-o’clock’ by Charlie Weasley, the meeting was adjourned. Terry Boot was formally sworn into the Order of the Phoenix immediately afterwards.