The Marauders: Year Four

Recruiting

Recruiting

The next Hogsmeade Weekend was to be held on March 29th, just two days after James's fifteenth birthday - which also happened to be the full moon. James sent off a letter to Sirius detailing the information about the trip, requesting that he let them know if he was coming and to meet them at the Hog's Head on the 29th around eleven in the morning. They would be there with any and all who were interested in joining what James had come to start referring to as The Order of the Phoenix, after the words that Sirius had written in his letter.

They began their recruiting immediately.

Frank Longbottom was, as expected, the first to agree to join. In fact, Frank was just as passionate about the idea as James and Sirius were. "It's about bloody time someone does something like this!" he said, leaning into the huddle 'round the table in Gryffindor common room. "If they won't have us, we'll fight on our own, you lot are right. It shouldn't matter how old we are, if we're willing and able - and we're bloody able!"

"Count me in, too," whispered Ali Prewitt, who sat next to him, "Girls are just as capable of fighting as you boys are and I'm not going to stand back and let you lot fight without me. It's my friends and my family that are in danger from him as much as it is yours."

Ali turned out to be quite the little agent, too, as she immediately turned around and recruited Marlene and Annalee McKinnon, Emmaline Vance, Pandora Jenkins (who came with a grudging Xenophilius Lovegood), and several other girls she knew including, much to James's dismay, both Maryrose Jenkins and Lily Evans.

Andy Woodhouse, Jackson Maw, Tobias Clement, Carly Shaw, McKenna Alliston, and Meg Johnson were all on board when approached for the idea, too, and Meg told Jessica Abbott and Marty Brown from Hufflepuff about it, and Pandora told Padamar Turin who told her brother Ian, who wanted to bring his friends Jasper Odair and Breanne Gemini.

The most shocking of all was when Harry Warbeck came over to James one evening in the Great Hall and whispered, "I have someone who wants to come to the meeting about the resistance you want to start. But he wants to meet with you in private."

James looked surprised, "Alright. But not alone..." he looked at Frank, "Oi. Longbottom. Come with me?"

Frank nodded and the two of them went with Harry into the entrance hall, down the stairs into the dungeons and 'round the corner toward the boat landings. When they stepped into the underground cove, there was a boy standing on the pier, watching the boats floating on the water, moored all around. James started over confidently - until the boy turned around and James's eyes landed on the green and silver tie 'round the boy's neck. James froze.

"It's alright, Potter," Harry said. "This is Alabastar Jackson. He's in my year and he's alright."

Alabastar smiled, "I don't bite, Potter." He took a few steps forward, extending his hand to James. James hesitated before shaking it. "I know you think all Slytherins are evil, but I'm not like the others. And I'm not the only one that's not, either."

James stared at him warily.

"Al wants to help fight You Know Who," Harry said.

James asked, "Do you? Or are you a spy trying just to infiltrate our group?"

"Voldemort killed my parents, my sister, my brother, and destroyed my house. He killed my uncle and two of my cousins. My aunt and I are all that's left and we both despise Voldemort with every fiber of our beings," Alabastar replied.

James wondered why he hadn't heard about it - about Alabastar Jackson's family being murdered. It seemed something as massive as nearly an entire family being killed would've made its way through the school.