The Family That Lived

¹⁸|ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ ʙᴏx

Harry had occasionally heard of The Order, not much because talking about the secret society would also include talking about the night of almost death and betrayal. The boy with a lightning scar knew that Dumbledore was the head and McGonagall was also a part of it.

"The ministry would refuse to do anything about this, Imperius Curse had already targeted the most important men and women in charge of defense," Remus commented.

"We disbanded the order years ago Albus and we have not even talked about coming together since that night", James mentioned. It was true that all the people had agreed that they would stop calling themselves the members of The Order. They would still meet together occasionally, but only as friends and not as those who fought against the evil.

"So we get them back", Lily rose from her chair and said casually. She walked over to the huge book kept on a desk nearby.

As if rehearsed, she opened the exact page which had the image of everybody in The Order.

"My hair looked good then, not like they don't still look good", Sirius said dramatically flipping his hair.

Harry and Draco chuckled recalling a discussion they had in the past about the dramatics of Sirius Black.

"Not right now, there is nothing to fight. They would make internal changes for a long time, try to invade Hogwarts, and change the system to their favor. Right now, we need to collect information", said Dumbledore. The monotone for some raised panic but calmed the others.

"What information?" Lily asked, more interested in the entire conversation than anybody else.

"During the tournament, Harry heard Voldemort mention the beginning of a word. If it is what I think it is we can defeat Tom, but it will be difficult to find. The only way to know for sure is by contacting..."

Dumbledore stood up, the intensity of the moment increasing by the second "... Slughorn. Horace Slughorn."

Lily and Remus were more familiar with the teacher than the others. After all, they were a part of the slug club. For James and Sirius, he was the Potions Master.

"Why Professor Slughorn?" Lily asked.

"Tom had won over the trust and love of almost every faculty member while his time in Hogwarts, except me. You see, I brought him from the orphanage. There he used to steal, the nurses reported his behavior to be sinister. Amongst all those who were fond of the Slytherin boy, was Slughorn."

Nobody was surprised by the fact that Tom Riddle was a good actor. He had opened the chamber of secrets and blamed it on somebody else, so the genuineness of the statement was evident.

"He always would boast about his brilliant students. Tom also would love to feed his pride and compel information and extra material from him."

"So why did you never ask him about this before", came a voice from the end of the table where James sat.

"I did, he gave me his memory but something was not right, it was edited, muted."

"So Horace Slughorn edited his own memory?" Draco was curious

"Maybe he did it out of guilt, or maybe his mind did it itself to stop the trauma that again would be enforced by guilt" Dumbledore answered all the questions with calm. He recognized their curiosity and appreciated it.

"How would we get it out of him headmaster?" Harry asked sitting in between his father and friend. "I mean if he did not give it up before, why will he give it up again?" explained the boy.

"This time I will not go alone, Lily, Remus and you will come with me. He will try to collect you, Harry, the way he collected these two", Albus rationalized by pointing at the red head woman and the man next to her.