Aionios

Chapter 32

"I can't believe it", Ace shook his head in dismay as he sat against the lone tree in the middle of the courtyard, the rest of the Elite Eight and Kingsley gathered around him. "I honestly can't believe how someone like Barty Crouch Jr. got out of Azkaban", he huffed.

Isabelle felt the same annoyance and disappointment that laced her best friend's voice as she sat beside him. The redhead had her eyes closed, listening to the calming sounds of the night that surrounded them in hopes of easing away all the negative emotions that battled inside of her.

The events that happened today had left all of the Elite Eight into stunned and tired silence. Not only were they shaken by the fact that Voldemort was now back, but the fact that the Minister of Magic blindly rejected the return of the Dark Lord bothered them to their core.

"Kingsley", Atheina called from where she sat on one of the low branches of the tree, catching the attention of their leader, who stood a good feet away from them in order to be able to look at the starry night, "Fudge doesn't believe Harry. What are we going to do about that?", she asked, greatly concerned at how such a factor could hinder their preparations for the war that Voldemort was bound to bring upon them all soon.

"Instead of ordering us to rally an army against Voldemort", Cordon grumbled from the branch above Atheina, sitting beside Triton and looking down at Kingsley with dismay, "The Ministry has us monitoring Harry like he's some sort of lunatic".

At the mention of what the Minister had labeled her brother only moments ago, the calmness that Isabelle was trying to grasp diminished into thin air, replaced instantly with that same level of rage and disbelief that had made Kingsley tell her, "For Merlin's great sake, Isabelle, sit your bum down and calm yourself!", just 30 minutes ago.

"The Ministry's dumb as hell", the redhead spat, "Calling my brother a lunatic? I should be the one calling him that! He's the one crazily denying the return of Voldemort just so he'd have more time to enjoy lounging in his office and not worry about protecting a fucking country!", she huffed, slammed her back against the tree, and crossed her arms indignantly, "Does he not understand the gravity of Voldemort's return?!".

"He does", Kingsley sighed, "He does understand the gravity of Voldemort's return. That is why he is choosing to deny it", he bows his head, "Fear has made him abandon all reason, and he is acting out of desperation for peace at this point".

"That's going to get a lot of people killed", Thomas shook his head in disapproval from where he and Elizabeth sat on the grass under the shadows casted by the extending boughs of the tree, "Instead of taking action right now like how a leader should, he's choosing to cower and wait for the enemy to strike first, clinging on to the hope that the enemy won't strike at all".

"Fudge is too much of a coward to be Minister", Triton scoffed, "Should've put someone like Kingsley in that position. Especially during a time like this!".

"We cannot change who leads over us, Triton", Kingsley comments solemnly, shrugging off the rest of what Triton said, "It will be a lot harder, but we'll just have to proceed with our original plan of working undercover", he turns to face his team, a look of determination still burning in his eyes, "Our top priority now is to complete the Order of the Phoenix. Not only that, but we must try our best to gather recruits as well", he exhaled with a troubled breath, "That is why I must ask all of you to sacrifice your entire summer into gathering the Order".

"Of course, Kingsley!", Thalia was quick to agree, followed by everyone else, "We'd be glad to do so!".

"Not only that, but you'll have to pretend to be of Fudge's side", he sends an apologetic look over to Isabelle, "That means agreeing with his claims that Harry Potter is completely delusional".