New Associates Ⅱ

Having allowed the members to study Caradoc Dearborn long enough, Dumbledore says, "Excellent, now let us go forth and introduce ourselves." Dumbledore begins with himself and is swiftly followed by everyone else until they are all introduced with the exception of Aberforth. Aberforth was noticeably missing from the meeting but Dumbledore did not say a single remark on the subject nor that of Mundungus.

With the introductions finished, Dumbledore says, "Now that introductions are finished, let us begin with the reports."

The Bones brothers' glance at each other until the darker haired and elder brother, Auror Edgar Bones said, "The raid on the Death Eater's camp and after careful interrogation has revealed two important facts. One, that the Dark Lord is indeed absent and abroad. But secondly, he went forth in search of allies."

"Allies?" Dumbledore said with a frown.

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore," Edgar quietly muttered. "Though just what kind of allies yet remains to be seen."

"Dark Creatures, no doubt," Elphias Doge huffed.

Emmaline pointedly narrows her eyes at the elderly wizard. "Just because a being is classified as a dark creature does not imply that the creature is evil nor much less to be considered a danger to wizarding society," Emmaline stiffly argued.

Elphias Doge snorts in reply which only caused the stately looking witch to further glare at him. Seeing Emmaline and Doge glaring at each other so, Fabian gently reaches over to squeeze Emmaline's hand. Fabian softly whispers into her ear, "Let it go, Emmaline. He's an old fart, who is set in his ways."

Emmaline subtly nods at Fabian's words and withdraws her intense glare. Doge triumphantly stares back at her as Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt says, "Pardon me, but by dark creature allies exactly to which group are you referring to?"

There is a moment's pause as the older Auror's, and member's faces darken. There is a moment of silence until the lighter-haired, younger Bones brother speaks, Jacques. "There have been whispers and rumors among the foreign dignitaries. Apparently, there have been movements in the forgotten forests and mountains of the world."

"What kind of movements?" Alastor snapped. "Have there been muggle disappearances and the like?"

"None reported thus far," Jacques shook his head. "But many magical creatures are being riled up and are fleeing their territories or have become temporarily very hostile to intruders. To be honest it has been quite vexing for many Ministries of the world as they are running around attempting to calm the fleeing creatures and their oblivator's at present are being overworked."

"It most likely is just a coincidence," Auror Dorcas Meadows muttered. "After all, no muggles have been hurt. And historically each time such magical creature surge or displacement has occurred has been only due to external factors. The first one is a change in the environment or far more likely in this case an unknown magical creature traveling about in search of a mate. Everything should go back to normal in a month or two."

"Perchance," Jacques muttered in assent of the distant possibility.

Auror Dorcas Meadows flashes the married wizard a pretty smile causing Jacques to instantly glance away as he was a married man. An impish gleam is seen in Dorcas eyes as Auror Marlene McKinnon merely rolls her eyes at seeing the flirty single witch. "The unwed, really," Marlene muttered under her breath with a bit of a frown.

Gideon Prewett frowned and interjected, "Even if that is the case, at least one of those incidents is related to us. If the report from Bones is correct the Dark Lord will be seeking allies among Magical Creatures. Exactly which groups can we expect for there is no small lacking number of enemies among magical creatures against the wizarding world as we know it?"

"Vampires," shuddered Auror Sturgis Podmore.

"A possibility," Fabian thoughtfully muttered but shook his head regretfully at the option. "With the creation of the new Animagus Police Department also known as A.P.D. And since many of our new members are former werewolves, there is no Vampire Coven that would willingly agree to enter a war under such unfavorable circumstances. Something very valuable would have to be at stake for any of the Coven's to dare to break the existing treatise."

"What about the Goblins?" Dorcas naively interjected.

Alastor furrowed his brow and flashed the young Auror, a fierce scowl. "We have been at peace with the Goblins since the 1400s and despite our differences, the Goblins have always remained as neutral parties. And in the rare instances where they have been allies, they have done nothing to merit such accusations, Auror Meadows."

Dorcas flushed and stuttered, "Sorry, Auror Moody. I just meant that the Goblins are technically classified as magical creatures as well and not ought to be discarded so quickly."

Seeing Auror Moody about to shout at the young witch, Edgar intervenes, "Auror Meadows, despite the fact that the Goblins and the wizarding world were once at odds, the Goblins will never break the existing treatise unless they were promised to be the rulers over the wizarding world. And since the Dark Lord desires to rule all, the Goblins will never do so. That being said that does not mean that they are our allies either merely a neutral party."

Dorcas nods in thanks at Auror Edgar Bones, while Alastor Moody seriously contemplates how the girl managed to graduate from the Auror Academy. It must have been luck. But then again, Auror Meadows was a pretty young thing. And it had occurred in the past unmentioned history of the Auror Academy where certain cadets had slept their way to graduation so to speak.

"Well, there is always Giants," Marlene carefully interjected after a long pause. "They have no reason to like the wizarding world. They hunger for human flesh, they are rather powerful and are magically resistant making them highly difficult to kill. A perfect candidate so to speak, I believe. And given that the Dark Lord holds no love for the muggle world, he'd easily hand over the lives of muggles as livestock so to speak. It would be a win-win situation for both parties."

There is a heavy silence as Alastor grumbles, "Aye, and in retrospect, the mentioned magical creature issues by Bones points exactly to that. There is a powerful Grug moving about gathering the last remaining Giant tribes. Well done, McKinnon." Despite the praise, Marlene does not perk up at the rare praise by Auror Moody. In this instance, it was not a pleasure to be found to be right. It was rather the opposite sentiment.

The silence is rather heavy as Dumbledore slowly says, "If that is the case then there will be much bloodshed and horror that is to come."

The room goes rather quiet as the older members in the room understood the true horrors that would come as they had already been born before or during the era when Grindelwald held great power. It was a dark time that they had hoped to never witness again with their own two eyes, and yet here it was again. After all, fate is a fickle creature always walking in repeated circles over and over again until the end of time.