NOX° SIRIUS BLACK

Chapter Twenty-Two

       The rest of Christmas break went by fast and, before Calypso knew it, she was back on the train with the rest of the boys and flipping through the Daily Prophet. She stopped when she looked at the headline on the first page:

EUGENIA JENKINS OUSTED AS MINISTER OF MAGIC AND REPLACED BY HAROLD MITCHUM

   Calypso gasped, shocked.

   "What?" Remus asked when he noticed the expression on her face. Calypso turned the newspaper so that he could read what it said.

     "I'm surprised it's taken them this long." Sirius said once he caught a peek. "Jenkins wasn't doing anything to calm the public or ease concerns. Maybe this Harold Mitchum will be better."

      "Hopefully," James sighed. "This whole thing is getting out of hand. I wish we could do more."

     "What do you mean?" Calypso asked.

     "It doesn't feel right for us to just sit around and not do anything. If the war is still going on when we graduate then I want to fight these Death Eaters and You-Know-Who." James declared. "I think we all should."

      "All of us?" Peter squeaked hesitantly. "I don't know if I'd be much help . . ."

       "Don't be ridiculous, Peter, you're a great wizard." James said sternly. "We all are. We're all fantastic at Defense Against the Dark Arts and we all have our own interests that could help with the war. Calypso's brilliant, Remus is practically a genius, Sirius is the definition of brave, and Peter, you don't give yourself nearly as much credit as you should."

        Calypso smiled at James's words as she looked between her best friends.

       "Do you really think we could do it?" Remus asked.

        James nodded his head.

       "I know we could." Jamese said confidently.

       Calypso and Sirius glanced at each other. She knew James was right. This war was too important for them to sit aside and do nothing.

       Upon returning to the castle, Calypso made her way to Ravenclaw Tower to have a conversation with Helena about what she'd been up to over break and Professor Arcturus's lessons. Now, Professor Arcturus had moved on to developing her skills by having her manufacture memories in his mind — which was a lot more difficult than she had originally anticipated.

       The thirtieth of January rolled around and Calypso found Lily sitting in the library alone.

       ''Happy Birthday, Lily.'' Calypso said excitedly, sitting down in the seat beside her. She noticed that Lily's brows were drawn tightly together. ''What's wrong, Lils? Why're you sad?"'

       ''It's nothing, it's just . . . Sev. He's been spending all his time around people like Mulciber and Avery. I think he's even starting to be friends with Evan and Rabastan too. I'm worried about him, Cal. I know what they think about . . . about people like me.'' Lily confessed. Calypso sadly looked at Lily and placed a comforting hand on her back.

        ''It'll be okay, Lily. If he's truly your best friend like you say he is, then he would never change for them. I'm sure Snape will come to the realization that Avery and Mulciber especially are a bad bunch.'' Calypso said with a shudder. Avery and Mulciber were brutal. They always took taunting Muggleborns to the extremes and almost always got away with it because people were too scared to stand up to them.