Divergence

"Orlando was determined to follow Dumbledore into battle against Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters in order to save the wizarding community from the Dark Lord's terror.

However, your father wanted to do more, so he chose not only to join the Order of the Phoenix, but also to pass his Ministry of Magic exam a year after his graduation and become an Auror…"

Orlando, like the other members of the Order of the Phoenix, actively resisted Voldemort's forces during the Wizarding War, and, due to his Auror status, became a bridge between the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix, along with Moody and the others.

Minister for Magic Millicent Barnott was not as much of an idiot as Fudge, being a competent leader who relied on the Ministry of Magic's protective magical formations to repel Lord Voldemort's advances several times, even passing a bill to allow Aurors to use the Unforgivable Curses against Death Eaters in times of war to reduce casualties.

Working in tandem with the Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix mounted several large-scale counter-attacks, crushing the Dark Lord's arrogance…

However, this joy did not last long, as a carefully planned beheading by the Ministry of Magic destroyed the situation they had worked so hard to reverse.

The deaths of dozens of Aurors brought Lord Voldemort's might to full display and pushed the Dark Lord's power to its peak!

"Didn't Minister Barnott inform Dumbledore of this operation when he planned it?" Ivan asked suspiciously.

He had heard this story from Mr Dudgeon two years ago, but at the time he had no intention of getting to the bottom of the matter, and had neglected to ask many questions.

Given the Ministry's knowledge of Lord Voldemort's movements and the amount of manpower they had deployed, why hadn't Millicent Barnot invited Dumbledore along?

The entire wizarding community knows that Dumbledore is the only one capable of fighting against Lord Voldemort!

"This is why I hate your Headmaster…" said Alicia sarcastically, a cold look on her face.

"Minister Barnott repeatedly begged Dumbledore to step out of Hogwarts and take over as Minister for Magic… All of them, every wizard in the wizarding world, wanted Dumbledore to lead them, to give them hope, to lead them to defeat the You-Know-Who!"

"But each time…Barnold's request was refused or rejected by Dumbledore, and the Minister for Magic must have seen through Albus Dumbledore and been so disappointed in him that he sent a large number of Aurors to carry out this decapitation plan alone…"

She believed that Dumbledore had rejected the position of Minister for Magic because he was afraid of dying — as Minister for Magic, after all, he had to bear the responsibility of fighting Voldemort to the death!

Ivan was silent as he listened to Alicia's story, puzzled.

He did not know much about the war more than a decade ago, but it seems that the righteous side was more inclined to fight their own battles, or Dumbledore would not have needed to secretly form a wizarding community, and the war would not have gone on for eleven years without a winner.

At first, Ivan thought Minister Millicent Barnott was too keen on power and afraid of Dumbledore stealing it from her, so they could not work closely together.

However, according to Alicia, this did not seem to be the case, as Millicent Barnott was a Minister who could see the bigger picture and had repeatedly invited Dumbledore to succeed her.

Ivan could only imagine what it would be like to have a Minister for Magic who could stand up to or even defeat the Dark Lord in the height of the Voldemort-infested Wizarding War.

As he did at Knockturn Alley, after defeating Lord Voldemort in front of everyone, the celebrated mystic fell from grace in the minds of the wizards of Knockturn Alley, and Death Eaters like Malfoy and Crabbe, who were not strong-minded, immediately switched sides…

However, Dumbledore refused the offer, even though Voldemort was no match for him…

Yvonne could not understand the white wizard's choice, even though Dumbledore had been particularly annoyed with her for standing by and allowing Grindelwald to kill his way into the First Wizarding War…

"After that incident, I got a good look at the false face of Albus Dumbledore, who, rather than risk his life, ordered his students and admirers to fight the dangerous Death Eaters!"

After learning that Dumbledore had turned down the position of Minister for Magic on a number of occasions, she was strongly against Orlando's continued membership of the Order of the Phoenix.

However, Orlando placed a lot of trust in Dumbledore, and they soon had their second disagreement!

"This time, I did not back down. I withdrew from the Order of the Phoenix and asked him to leave Britain with me and go to America, where he would not be involved. As such, we had a huge argument…" said Alicia with a complicated look on her face.

Orlando did not change his mind, however, and was unable to abandon his comrades-in-arms whom he had fought alongside for many years to become cowards and deserters.

What's more, Orlando grew up in the British wizarding community, and it was his home and his country … Orlando could not sit idly by and watch Voldemort do as he pleased.

"I'm very worried about hearing from him one day, and I don't want you to be born without a father," said Alicia, closing her eyes in pain. She had thought of many ways to change Orlando's mind, but all of them had failed, and her actions had alienated them.

"Does Father know about your pregnancy?" Ivan asked suddenly.

Alicia shook her head gently, realizing that they had had a disagreement when she was pregnant.

At the time, she was unwilling to show weakness, and was well aware that Orlando would not relent, as such situations were not unheard of in the Order of the Phoenix.

Even though they loved their families and their unborn children, they were willing to fight on the front lines of the cause against the Dark Lord.

Alicia admired their nobility, but unfortunately could not bring herself to do so, as she was not born into the British wizarding community, nor did she have the conviction to do so… She only wanted to survive, to be with her husband and children…