Harry Potter and the Desideratum Crusade [Harmione]

32. The Consequences of Leading

The silence in the room was deafening as everyone stared at the golden bird. Albion turned and looked at Harry, cocking his head to one side.

"I certainly hope that future meetings are more lively. I find it quite boring when everyone just sits and stares."

Harry smiled at the phoenix.

"I think you surprised them," he said.

"Harry," asked Tonks, "where did this phoenix come from?"

"Albion is a friend of Fawkes," Harry explained.

"Does he know what's going on? The battle with You-Know-Who?"

Albion ruffled his feathers and Harry heard him chuckle.

Harry held back a laugh. "Yeah, he knows."

Moody snorted. "Are you sayin' that you want to put your trust in a bird that we just met? How do we know he wasn't sent by You-Know-Who to spy on us? We just uncovered the last spy!"

Harry's stomach churned at the though of Snape. It didn't matter what Dumbledore had said, he still didn't trust the slimy teacher.

"Are you sure you can trust him, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Harry replied. "Fawkes introduced him personally. I trust Fawkes."

"What do you think, Minerva?" Lupin asked as he scrutinized the phoenix.

McGonagall had been sitting quietly the whole time, listening to everyone's comments and watching the bird. She leaned forward as Albion turned to look at her. She looked down her nose over the top of her glasses, and their eyes met. They were still for a few seconds, and then McGonagall broke eye contact with a gasp and sat back. She glanced at Harry, who realized suddenly that she knew, and he gave a miniscule shake of his head.

"Minerva?" Lupin asked worriedly.

McGonagall smiled slowly and nodded her head.

"We can trust him," she said.

"Well, lets get started then, shall we?" Mr. Weasley said. "Albion, we request your guidance. We need someone who is wise, brave, and willing to take command. We need someone that our New Order will follow, and yet, someone who is ready to fight for us and with us. In your great wisdom and experience, do you know of an individual who can do this for us?"

Albion nodded his head once.

"Do you need time to find this individual, or can you tell us now?"

Albion squawked once, and stretched out his wings.

"I think he already has someone in mind," Tonks said.

Albion pulled himself up to his full height and began to walk down the table. Harry almost laughed out loud; he could picture Dumbledore doing the same thing. He smiled as he watched the phoenix scrutinize each person sitting at the table before walking on. He heard Ron's sharp intake of breath as the phoenix stopped to look at him carefully, and he heard Mrs. Weasley let out a sigh of relief as Albion moved on to look at Tonks and Moody. Harry figured that Albion would choose either Lupin or McGonagall. They had the experience, and the respect of most of the old order.

He sat back, still smiling, thinking that it would be good for Lupin to get out from under the stigmatism of being a werewolf. He almost laughed at the disappointment on Fred and George's faces. He was surprised when Albion stopped, then carried on past McGonagall.

'It must be Lupin then,' he thought as Albion came back to stare at him and Lupin.

Albion cocked his head at Lupin, before giving a small nod. The smile fell off of Harry's face as Albion came and stopped in front of him, settled down and bowed low to Harry. Harry shook his head at the realization of what the phoenix had obviously planned so many months ago. Once again he was being put in a situation that he did not volunteer for. Albion slowly blinked his eyes.