NOX° SIRIUS BLACK

Chapter Forty-Eight

       "What were your results for O.W.L.s?" Peter asked Calypso when she and Remus returned to their compartment after their Prefect's meeting. Calypso sat down beside Sirius and took out one of the books she brought along with her.

       "She got all O's, of course." James rolled his eyes. Calypso smirked because it was true. She had gotten an Outstanding on every single one of her exams and the only other person to do that in their whole year was Lily. The pair of them had celebrated by going to the theatre, but Calypso wished she could've shared her excitement with her Mum. She knew she would be proud of her for working so hard.

        "James, you got into all of your required classes." Remus said.

       "I know that. We all did." James said. "I just wanted to get all O's for the bragging rights."

       They chuckled at James.

       "What are you planning to do for your birthday? You are turning seventeen." Peter asked Calypso.

        "She already made it explicitly clear to me that she didn't want to do anything for her birthday." Sirius said.

        "WHAT?" James screeched.

        "But it's seventeen. You've been looking forward to it for as long as we've known you." Remus frowned.

         "Yeah, you had the whole thing planned since first year. You said that you wanted to go down to the Great Lake and swim in it and that you wanted to throw a huge party in the Room of Requirement for sixth and seventh years." Peter frowned.

       "I know but I don't really feel like celebrating this year." Calypso shrugged, casting her gaze down to the ground as she thought about how weird it would feel to celebrate her birthday without her mum around. It was also the first birthday that she'd be having following her dad's death and her sister's disappearance. "Can we just spend it together? The five of us?"

        "Of course, Cal." Sirius squeezed her hand and the other boys nodded.

       "Yeah, it'll be the best birthday yet." James said, his expression softening.

      "I'll bake you a cake." Peter smiled at her.

      "And I'll get you whatever books you want." Remus said.

      Calypso brightened at the boys.

      "Thanks. You lot are the best."

      The rest of the train ride went smoothly and Calypso sadly sighed when she looked at the big, winged Thestrals that pulled the carriages which were now visible to her. Sirius helped her into the carriage and they made their way to the school.

       After the welcome feast and she led the first year Ravenclaws back to the common room, she received a message saying that Dumbledore wanted to meet with her in his office before she had to patrol the corridors.

      She made her way to his office and sat down across from him.

      "With your birthday coming up,I wanted to wait to tell you the full truth about the prophecy when we were in person. Your parents wanted to be the ones to tell you the truth and explain everything to you when you turned seventeen, but with them gone and you turning seventeen at the end of next week, I've decided that it's best to tell you now."

     Calypso nodded her head and felt her stomach sink a bit, though she kept a brave look on her face.

     "Over the course of her seven years at Hogwarts, it was well known amongst the teachers and staff that your grandmother Astrea suffered from a genetic ailment that can be found in wizarding families who possess the Inner Eye. It manifests itself differently according to the person, but your grandmother would frequently have intense visions of the future that would come to her at the most unexpected moments. Eventually, she gained the power to control when they came, but that is a difficult skill to acquire and one that took her many years to master.

    "The summer after she graduated Hogwarts, your grandmother came to me because she was pregnant and wanted to see if there was a way to keep her curse from passing down to the next generation. Some may argue that being able to see the future isn't a curse, but it is, Calypso. Knowing what's going to happen doesn't make things easier, especially when it affects the way you live your life.

      "While your grandmother was visiting me, she had one of her episodes except instead of seeing a vision, she told a prophecy.

     "The daughter of the sly and smart shall have the power to see and block. A powerful witch she will be and lead her friends to victory. She will protect them all until the end and then her time will come again. Born at the end of summer, the child will come of age and gain her power and the phoenix will rise."

       Calypso froze. That part of the prophecy had been left out when she heard it from Professor Arcturus.

      "I was born on the eleventh of September and summer doesn't end until the twenty-second of September. And, my Patronus is a Phoenix." Calypso gasped, choosing to omit that her Animagus was Phoenix as well. "But, what power will I gain? And why didn't Professor Arcturus tell me about this?"

     "Professor Arcturus overheard your grandmother Astrea and I discussing the prophecy once, but we refused to tell him in case word ever got back to Voldemort. When I asked him if he would help teach you Occlumency and Legilimency, he asked to know more about the prophecy.

       "I knew that if I denied him, he wouldn't go through with teaching you, so I told him part of it and I told him that the prophecy was about you. It wasn't until you told your grandmother Rhea about the prophecy and she came to see me that I realized it was Professor Arcturus who told you, and subsequently Voldemort, about the prophecy.

      "I left out those lines because I believed them to be the most important ones. Voldemort only cares that whichever side you join might win, but we don't know how he would react if he found out that you were going to gain some sort of gift on your birthday.

      "We don't know what power you will gain on your seventeenth birthday. Astrea had her suspicions that it would have something to do with your Inner Eye and I know that Rhea has experienced a similar phenomenon to that of Astrea's so I am inclined to believe the same thing."

     Calypso sat back in her chair, unable to say anything.

     "There's another thing. This is something that I think you'll be especially interested in." Dumbledore said, catching her attention. "In 1970, after Voldemort first revealed himself to the public, I founded a secret society which is dedicated to fighting Voldemort. We operate secretly and outside of the Ministry and I only recruit students who have turned seventeen. It is called the Order of the Phoenix."

     ''The Order of the Phoenix?'' Calypso repeated. ''What do you do?"

    "We're dedicated to stopping Voldemort completely. We do what the Ministry won't do and we fight against Death Eaters. Previous students such as Frank Longbottom and Fabian and Gideon Prewett were some of our most recent recruits last year." Calypso's eyes widened. She had no idea that Frank, Fabian, and Gideon were a part of Dumbledore's secret organization. She supposed it made sense since the three boys had recently gone off to work as Aurors. "I know I'd be asking a lot of you, but after everything that's happened with your family —"

      "You don't need to convince me to join, Professor. There is no doubt in my mind that this is something that I need to be a part of." Calypso said firmly, straightening her back. There was doubt in her mind that this was what she needed to do. She would do whatever it takes to stop Voldemort's reign of terror and joining the Order sounded like the perfect way she could do it while still being in school.

       "Then, welcome to the Order of the Phoenix."