ORDER ONLY

[alt_alice]

We've had an eventful 24 hours. The Institute pulled off a successful extraction of one of their Sophie's Army members. There might be repercussions after the fact, but we'll keep our eyes open and hope for the best. Hermione, Fred, George, Lee, please keep us appraised.

From what Sarah's told me, Umbridge was prepared to torture her until she revealed who gave her the potion. She expected that her offence would mean she'd be shipped immediately off to the camps (or killed, like Ms Fleet) along with anyone else she mentioned, endangering the rest of the Army, especially Sally-Anne Perks.

Sarah made it very clear to me that when she volunteered to take the medicine to a fellow student, she did it knowing full well what the risks were, and made the conscious choice to proceed due to her sense of moral obligation. And what's more, she followed a specific protocol -- she dropped off the potion in an out of the way place, left an anonymous note for Ms Jones to find with the potion's location, and didn't check to see if the potion had been taken until several hours later. Unfortunately, her one error was that she did not anticipate that Ms Jones would lie in wait for her to return and then turn her in.

Kingsley, I do agree that a post-mortem would be very useful when we're all able to get back together again. However, from what I've heard, the level of planning and coordination that went into this entire set of actions from the attempted potion delivery to her extraction is quite sophisticated, and even though she's a member of the larger Sophie's Army rather than our core Institute members, Sarah has displayed incredible resolve, dedication, and bravery. The Institute has been key in the creation of this Army, and as a result, has created a powerful movement within Hogwarts that is far bigger than their core membership, which is encouraging indeed.

Severus, what's your anticipated timeline?

What are everyone else's thoughts about Order admission for the Institute?

Comments

[alt_severus]

If you are referring to the timeline for my Sleeper research: McGivern's notes on his furtherance of our work over holiday have contained some promise, though I am not yet willing to commit to trial as of yet. Predicting advances in research is difficult, particularly when I do not have a quality laboratory in which to work, but I am confident I have isolated the key ingredients of the potion; now it is simply a matter of building an antidote, step by step. I cannot imagine it will take much past summer for a working version, unless the final steps prove tricky. The chance to examine a living Sleeper in person would likely speed the research, but I am not yet confident enough in my formulation to suggest that an operation be conducted to obtain one at risk to the Order or the risk of heightened security in future.

If you are referring to the timeline for removing that woman: the best (and most undetectable) poison must be started under a full moon and finished under a new moon, which brings us to 10th May. I have gathered the ingredients and will begin the brewing on schedule.

I am in favor of admission for the children, though someone ought have an extremely emphatic word with Mr Weasley about his temper first.

[alt_alice]

May the 10th it is, then.

And let me know when you're ready to move to the next step of your analysis.