Chapter 1119: A Well-Intended Warning
Chapter 1119: A Well-Intended Warning
"Wake up, Nymphadora, wake up!"
"Mom, what is it?"
Tonks blinked her eyes in confusion as she had just fallen asleep when her mother woke her up.
"An Auror from the Ministry is here to see you," Mrs. Andromeda whispered.
"An Auror?" Tonks turned her head to glance at the pitch-black window and complained, "At this time? Are they serious?"
When Tonks, rubbing her eyes, entered the living room, she found one of her colleagues standing there.
"Williamson?"
"Amelia Bones is dead, and there's a Dark Mark floating above her house," Williamson said to a drowsy Tonks. "We also found Emmeline Vance's body near there. She was a member of the Order, right?"
"What? Emmeline is dead?"
Tonks' sleepiness vanished, and she stood there dumbfounded.
"Yes, she's dead. She was found in an alley near Bones' house," the middle-aged Auror said and then nodded slightly to Tonks' family before turning and leaving.
By the time Tonks came back to her senses, the Auror named Williamson had disappeared, and only her parents were left in the living room, looking at her with worried eyes.
"I have to go out."
Tonks hurried back to her room to change her clothes and then rushed to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.
The Auror had passed on the message to her because she was a member of the Order, and Emmeline Vance was also a member. Scrimgeour hoped that Tonks would convey the news to the Order or Dumbledore.
When Tonks arrived at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, with the news of Emmeline Vance's sacrifice, she caused an uproar at the Order's headquarters. Everyone notified the other members to gather at Grimmauld Place, and Mrs. Weasley prepared strong tea to drive away their sleepiness.
"I said it all along. Amelia Bones would get herself killed sooner or later," Sirius said angrily upon learning of Emmeline Vance's sacrifice.
"Calm down, Sirius," Lupin looked helplessly at his old friend.
Back when the Order had planned to provide hidden protection for Amelia Bones, Sirius had strongly opposed it, believing that Amelia would eventually bring about her own demise.
As Albert had predicted, Amelia Bones was murdered by Voldemort, and the worst part was that Emmeline Vance, who had been protecting her, had also perished.
"Emmeline Vance's death is suspicious," Mad-Eye Moody frowned. "She was ambushed while on patrol outside the headquarters, and she didn't even put up a fight."
In fact, whether at headquarters or away from it, the members of the Order would always cast Disillusionment Charms on themselves to ensure their safety.
Usually, with the protection of Disillusionment Charms, it would be difficult for Death Eaters to find and kill members of the Order in the headquarters immediately.
Emmeline Vance had been attacked while on patrol and killed without any resistance. The attacker had somehow seen through the Disillusionment Charm and ambushed her when she was off guard. This whole situation seemed very odd.
"Those Death Eaters were well prepared," Sirius lightly tapped his fingers on the table and murmured, "Don't forget that besides us, there were also Aurors from the Ministry responsible for Amelia Bones' safety, yet they were taken down without raising any alarm."
"Are you saying there's a traitor among the Ministry's Aurors, or..." Tonks was also emotionally unstable, not just because of Emmeline Vance's murder but also because she had come close to death herself.
"Voldemort and the Death Eaters knew from the beginning that we were protecting Amelia Bones," Sirius reminded them. "Someone must have leaked the information to them."
"Calm down, Sirius, no one here would leak information to the Death Eaters," Lupin guessed who Sirius was talking about.
"You know who I'm talking about, and I'm calmer than any of you," Sirius took a big gulp of butterbeer and sneered, "Because I expected this day to come, I just didn't think Emmeline Vance would sacrifice her life because of it."
"You're too superstitious about those prophecies!" Moody frowned.
"But those prophecies have all come true," Sirius put down his cup heavily on the table and reminded him angrily, "I know what you're going to say, but I'd rather believe in Anderson's prophecy than see such sacrifices."
"Don't blame me for being blunt, but Amelia Bones brought this upon herself. Knowing that Voldemort would come after her personally, she still didn't take it seriously... She deserved to die," Sirius said mockingly, "From the start, we shouldn't have held on to any wishful thinking."
"What do we do now? Is the Ministry really going to... collapse?"
Arthur hesitated for a moment before voicing his concern. They had secretly provided protection for Amelia Bones, hoping that she could change the current situation.
Sirius had once mentioned that in Albert's prophecy, Fudge's successor would be an unlucky person who would die during his term, causing the Ministry to collapse and fall under Voldemort and the Death Eaters' control.
"I don't think it's going to happen now," Sirius frowned. "I remember Fred and George saying that the Ministry would collapse in a year or two."
"Fred and George?" Everyone was a little taken aback.
Wasn't it Albert who said that?
"Maybe we should find Fred and George to clarify the specifics," Lupin stopped Sirius from continuing.
"No need, I remember taking notes," Sirius waved his wand and conjured a notebook out of thin air.
"You took notes?"
Everyone was surprised and looked at Sirius with incredulous eyes.
"Fred and George said that Albert predicted this war a long time ago, which is why he created those Dark Magic defense items," Sirius, unconcerned about the others' gazes, flipped through his notes and said, "Found it. He predicted that Fudge's successor would be an unlucky person who would meet a terrible end during his term, and the successor after that would also be unlucky because he would become Voldemort's puppet. I think the Ministry's collapse refers to this. Albert mentioned that everyone would need to hide at that time."
"Is there anything else?" Lupin broke the silence and asked.
"Harry will eventually destroy Voldemort," Sirius closed the notebook and said, "Albert obviously also believes that Harry is our hope."
"Destroy Voldemort completely.
Moody muttered, his intuition telling him that the enigmatic Anderson must know something.
He suddenly felt that it was a great loss for Dumbledore not to invite Albert to join the Order of the Phoenix, even if he did lean towards their side and offered them help. But when the person in question was a prophecy master who could almost predict the future with one hundred percent accuracy, then the situation was entirely different.
"Maybe it's time to have a good chat with Dumbledore." Moody suddenly understood why Sirius held Anderson in such high regard.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Tonks suddenly asked.
"Don't know." Moody shook his head. "I've sent a message to Dumbledore, but I haven't received a reply yet. I suspect he might not be in Britain."
"Not in Britain?"
"Don't know. Dumbledore rarely discloses his whereabouts, but I suspect he must be up to something important," Moody speculated.
"Something important? Like what?"
"Finding a way to defeat and completely destroy the Dark Lord," Moody muttered. "I suspect that Anderson might know something about it as well."
"It's best to drop this topic." Sirius suddenly said sternly. "Don't spread this around, especially not to Snape."
"What?"
Everyone was taken aback and turned to look at Sirius.
"What would happen if the Dark Lord were led to believe that Anderson knows his fatal weakness?" Sirius countered.
"Are you saying... the Dark Lord would go on a mad hunt for Anderson?"
"No, the Dark Lord probably wouldn't be able to do anything to Anderson, but we might all end up in trouble because of it." Sirius warned.
"We'd be in trouble?"
"You don't understand him." Sirius lowered his voice. "It was Anderson who got Umbridge thrown into Azkaban."
"But Umbridge..."
"Who do you think reminded Harry?" Sirius sneered. "Do you really think he's just a fresh graduate?"
"I dare say, it was probably Anderson who leaked the location of the Dark Lord's lair to the Aurors. During the Triwizard Tournament, the Dark Lord once tried to kill him."
"He also used our hands to send Death Eaters who had once tried to assassinate him to Azkaban; Avery, Crabbe, and Goyle... The Death Eaters captured in Spain were among those caught."
"But, this..."
An eerie silence fell upon the room as everyone exchanged glances, unsure of what to make of Sirius' statements. But was the truth really as he claimed?
Tonks' intuition told her that what Sirius said might be true, especially about the Dark Lord's lair being revealed to Scrimgeour by Anderson.
"When is Emmeline's funeral?" Mrs. Weasley suddenly asked.
"The day after tomorrow."
Once again, silence filled the room.
"You should all get some rest. I know you're tired." Mrs. Weasley suggested.
No matter how much they discussed, they wouldn't be able to change the fact that Amelia Bones was dead, and the future was uncertain.
"Get some rest, everyone. I'll try to contact Dumbledore as soon as possible." Moody said as he stood up, leaning on his staff. Staying up all night was not kind to an elderly man.
"Remus, I'd like to have a word with you." Sirius called out to his old friend after the meeting.
After the members of the Order had left, Sirius poured a cup of butterbeer and placed it in front of Lupin. The latter reached out and took it but didn't drink, instead fixing Sirius with a tired gaze and asking, "What is it, Sirius?"
"You like Tonks, don't you?" Sirius said with certainty.
"What?" Lupin was taken aback, seemingly unsure why Sirius would say that.
"She almost died tonight!" Sirius reminded him. "If it weren't for Emmeline Vance's bad luck, Tonks might have been the one who died."
"Maybe you're right."
Lupin tightly gripped the cup in his hand and fell silent for a moment. He then downed the butterbeer in one gulp and changed the subject. "Amelia Bones was ultimately killed by the Dark Lord."
"Tonks likes you too, my old friend." Sirius said, looking at the downcast Lupin. "You almost lost her tonight. Maybe it's time to face your feelings."
"What about you, Sirius?" Lupin countered.
"I'm just disappointed." Sirius said irritably. "Just like when Dumbledore wanted to bring the werewolves in, I didn't have high hopes, but you still went. There was nothing I could do. I was powerless."
"Okay, I admit that if we're not even willing to try, then we're truly hopeless." Sirius looked at his old friend calmly and said, "So, I think I should remind you to seize your own happiness."
"I'm not suitable, Sirius." Lupin shook his head and sighed. "I'm too old, too poor, and too dangerous."
"I know what you're worried about." Sirius said slowly. "I asked Anderson, and he said that the probability of a werewolf passing on the condition to their offspring is not high. Even if it does happen, they won't actually turn into a werewolf, at most they'll have some werewolf symptoms."
Lupin opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.
"As for poverty, that's not a big problem either." Sirius patted Lupin on the shoulder. "You've seen how easily Fred and George earned a pile of galleons. You can do the same. Even if you can't make a lot of money, we can help you get a decent job. Fred and George need help, and they want you not just because you need the money, but also because your level of defense against the dark arts is equally high. They respect your abilities."
"Our magazine will also become Britain's most famous magazine on defense against the dark arts after this, and it will sell well. As the editor, you don't have to worry about money." Sirius said softly. "As for being a werewolf, there's the Wolfsbane Potion, and even without it, your threat is minimal."
"Think about it, my old friend." Sirius said softly. "Your concerns aren't really that big of a deal."
"I'm tired. I'm going to get some rest." Lupin lowered his eyes and stood up to leave.
"I still think you should stay." Sirius tried to stop him.
Lupin didn't say anything and didn't stop walking, quickly leaving the room.
(End of Chapter)
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