Chapter 10: The Order Of Phoenix
Magically expanded (of course).
A secret passage at the bottom of the bakery led to it, for it was not just a basement. It could never be just a basement.
The people who stood there proved it.
In the center of the room, there was a big oval table with cushioned chairs. A couch lay on one side of the table. The walls were painted in aquamarine blue, giving the room a feeling of seclusion. The only light came from a tall night lamp next to the dark blue couch. There were no windows, no way for curious eyes to look at the intriguing group that sat around the table.
Dumbledore sat in the center, looking the same as usual except for the expression that did not give anything of his thoughts away.
Next to him Newt, looking at his lap, that wound above his brow still visible from the fight with Grindelwald's supporters.
Tinnie was holding his hand, a reassuring expression on her face.
Jacob and Quennie were next, living in their universe. Jacob had brought a ton or two of pastries, and porcelain plates lying on the table. Everybody should have been eating from them, but Jacob was eating enough for all of them, unable to let today's events scare him.
Then, there was Newt's older brother, Theseus, same brown hair, thin face, and broad shoulders as his brother's. He was looking at Dumbledore as if demanding an explanation.
Aberforth sat silent while looking at Jacob overwhelmed. He shook his head. They were here to talk about something important, and there was the original muggle his brother invited to this meeting.
His son Aurelius was sitting next to him quietly.
This was the 1st Order of Phoenix since the table had a big Phoenix logo carved onto it.
"What do we know about Grindelwald's whereabouts?", Dumbledore asked as he raised his stare towards Newt.
Newt sighed and replied, "We know nothing. I saw his people today for the first time after months since the International Confederation Elections."
"How many of them were there?", Dumbledore asked.
"Four were there when they first ambushed me with Annie. Later on, when I finally found her in that winery, there were three disarmed bodies, so I would assume seven in total." Newt explained.
He sighed again with a sad expression on his face and said, "I-I shouldn't have taken her with me. I should've known that she was a threat to Grindelwald. Of course, after his humiliation in the elections, he is more desperate than ever and probably hatching another plan for the wizard-muggle war.."
"You need to stop listening to teenagers, Newt.", Theseus scolded him and said,"I can agree with you on something for once."
"Hey!", Tina frowned at Theseus and said, "Newt was caught off guard. He was looking for materials to make an antidote for the injured Hungarian Horntail. He didn't deliberately take her there nor did he or anyone of us expect Grindelwald to attack Annie. Sure he could've been more careful, but this is our Newt. He could've been God knows where, but he found Annie and brought her back with him."
She squeezed Newt's hand three times and his cheeks became almost red and he touched her lovingly on the shoulder.
Tina looked at Newt and was about to kiss him when..
"Ahem! I'm sorry to interrupt the lovebirds", Aberforth looked at Tina and Newt with disapproval and said, "But as you can see, we are discussing something a bit more serious than... whatever you're doing right now."
Tina rolled her eyes and said, "This is called love. Reassuring my husband is giving him strength. If you look at my sister and Jacob, you would be alarmed."
Alberforth looked towards Queenie and Jacob and his eyes became the size of Everest.
Tina smiled in satisfaction seeing his reaction and said, "Well, I wasn't wrong after all."
Aberforth cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, let's get back to the point. They need Annie, that's why they confronted them today. Maybe it's because of what Albus mentioned. Right, Albus?"
Tinnie looked at Dumbledore, who was still someplace else, and asked, "Mr. Dumbledore?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, yes!", Dumbledore came back from wherever his mind was on and he replied, "The girl is far more special than any one of us understand. Maybe, Grindelwald has caught the other disturbance and he knows now something that we don't. Maybe, he wants to use her for his purposes and also teach me a lesson for protecting her."
The rest of the group looked at each other troubled and Dumbledore continued, "We are going to keep this as hidden as possible. She needs to tell us whatever we don't know so that we can make up a more stable plan."
He finally looked around the table and said, "But I'll ask you to be discrete, like always."
"When Annie is fully recovered, we should proceed delicately with telling her about this. To be honest, sometimes I wonder how is she still sane. Maybe whatever the disturbance is has been helping her without her knowledge on a mental level. I don't know. " Dumbledore sighed and everybody stared at him with shock. No, he had never done that.
"I'm also human. I can't know everything." Dumbledore smiled at them and said.
"Thank you for being a part of this. Now let's get some sleep.", He said and disapparated with everyone following him.
Queenie and Jacob were the only ones left.
"How do we tell them?", Queenie sighed and said, "That I paid attention to you the whole time."
Both of them started laughing.