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[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_bill]

I would have said, I think they should be admitted. EXCEPT now that they've added Draco Malfoy, that's a whole other cage of pixies. Or it could be. I know, I know, you can't judge the son solely on the basis of the father--look at the situation with Sirius' family, or Percy and Dad, for example. Still, it's something that requires careful thought.

Except--has he been actually added to the group? Or does he just know about it? Hermione?

I think the ones we worked with over the Easter Holidays should at least be given the opportunity to be admitted. If they still want it. As for Marvolo, well...I need to hear from Sirius and Hermione on that, since they know him best. On the one hand, what a coup that would be for our intelligence-gathering.

On the other, the danger in his case would also be extreme, given that his foster father is our chief enemy.

Private Message to Severus

[alt_alice]

Sarah couldn't say enough about Harry last night, Severus.

How he came up with the plan for dropping off potions and the emergency evacuation in the first place, and how he's been working so hard to champion on behalf of the halfblooded students. It was so very clear how much she respects and admires him, and how central he was to the entire enterprise last night.

She said that as soon as she saw him bursting into Umbridge's office, she knew everything was going to be all right. Because she trusted that Harry would do whatever he had to in order to keep her safe.

He's an incredible young man.

[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_charlie]

I vote yes.

Not all of them. Not Malfoy, and not Lestrange -- they're too close to the thick of it. And I'm itchy about Marvolo, but if he's the one the Prophecy's about, he's the one the Prophecy's about. But the rest of them, yeah, I'll say they've proven their nerve.

Private Message to Hermione Granger and Harry Marvolo

[alt_alice]

Hermione, please let me know if I've represented things accurately.

I know you've mentioned that some of your members are on the fence about whether they'd join or not, but I'd rather give them all a chance to make that decision than make it ourselves.

I'm coming to some assumptions based on what I've seen thus far. That everyone in the group now knows a considerable amount of information about us, and you are fairly united in purpose and the need for security. I'd be particularly interested in your impression of Mr Malfoy, as his dedication to these things is still only very new.

What are your thoughts?

[alt_terry]

It's been wonderful to meet Sarah. She seems pretty shy today, but we're doing our best to help her fit in. Lisa Turpin's really happy to have another girl her age.

And her story--I mean, I know it was a terrible shock and all to get yanked out of Hogwarts like that. But it's made her into sort of a heroine, as far as the kids are concerned.

I can pass on the suggestion that maybe the Institute might think about doing a postmortem. I think it's a good idea.

[alt_molly]

I can't help being afraid. I'm sorry, I can't.

But they're growing up, whether I want them to or not, and I know I can't stop them from doing so.

It helps a little that I know what Arthur would say, if I'm honest with myself. He would have been so impressed with what they did yesterday. They want to help, they want to serve. Isn't that what we hoped would happen? Sirius wrote his Grim Truth posts hoping to ignite a spark in people, and it would be grossly unfair to now try to snuff it out.

Arthur would say 'yes.'

The very idea makes me almost sick with fear, but I have to say yes, too.

[alt_hermione]

We added Draco to the Institute last night. But we'd been planning to do it for a while, so it's not like it wasn't going to happen eventually.

The thing about the Institute is that not everyone will want to be part of the Order, at least not necessarily fully a member. But what we need to decide is what happens if someone opts not to join, because they'll still know everything the rest of the ISS knows, and that means they'll know a fair amount about the Order. But the thing is that we wouldn't have trusted them in the ISS if we thought they'd tell anything.

Draco just made his first post and he talked about how he's known things about us for a long time--and how he's known that Sirius is an Animagus and he hasn't told anyone, and how he's lied to his parents' faces and they don't know he's doing it. So if he knows about that, and knows how badly his aunt wants to catch Sirius, but he hasn't told her anything, then I don't think he'll tell about anything else, either. Because the moment he starts to tell one thing, he'd have to tell everything, and he won't ever do that to Harry.

But that doesn't mean Draco doesn't still care about his parents, it just means he doesn't think that what the Protectorate is doing is right. I don't know if he'd ever want to join the Order, though.

So I think we should let them decide on their own but we have to be prepared that not everyone will accept the offer.

[alt_poppy]

I have to admit that my thinking about the students has shifted. I know that I was among those who argued in January that we ought to wait until summer because allowing them to join immediately might distract them from their academic pursuits in a year when so many of them face OWLs and NEWTs.

Recent events leave me wishing we'd gone ahead then and sworn them in.

I'm rueing the fact that I cannot communicate safely with Miss Perks. I should very much like to have been available to her since my departure from the school; I know that there have been times when she's needed my expertise.

And I wish sincerely that I could discuss with her the choices she made yesterday and probe whether she'd make the same choices were it possible to do again. I should like to reassure her that in such events, we all make imperfect decisions based on incomplete information, and yet, it is necessary to choose and to act, and it's unfair to judge ourselves too harshly once we have the benefit of hindsight.

Of course, I also simply wish we'd been able to send and receive protected messages last night when we could have assisted them.

[alt_frank]

I say yes.

[alt_sirius]

You already know my position. Hasn't changed. Time and past time, really.

[alt_lee]

Yes. They should join.

[alt_pomona]

Apologies for the delay. There was chaos here last night between that absurd and miserable formal dinner and the arrival of various members of MLE to investigate Sarah. I spent much of the night - after settling my badgers - talking to Septima.

We got onto the agonies of losing students. Too many. Capper, Hannah, Sophie, now Miss Fawcett

As to the Institute, I had to think a lot about the argument for some rather than all. And I say, offer it to them all, and let them choose. They clearly have their reasons for who they've included, and I, for one, do not want to second guess those decisions.

[alt_kingsley]

I'd say they acquitted themselves well. Better than we had any right to expect, without more support.

I, too, would boggle at Draco Malfoy. But the rest should probably be offered the chance at this point.