As soon as the trio had gone, Moody began warding the room against eavesdroppers while Mrs. Weasley rounded on Professor Dumbledore. "Is this about the Chamber of Secrets incident?" she demanded.
"No, Molly. The Chamber of Secrets fiasco is merely a symptom of a larger issue that I feel we need to discuss. What happened in this house last night is also a symptom of that larger issue," Dumbledore declared quite calmly, looking at Molly over the rims of his spectacles.
Molly looked ready to retort, but Mr. Weasley interceded. "This sounds like it could be serious."
"Yes," Dumbledore said, nodding faintly to Moody, who had finished warding the room before taking a seat. Briefly, Dumbledore explained everything he had learned about the incidents leading up to Walburga Black's suicide. Once he laid down the facts for everyone present, he began analyzing the information and inviting the Order to help him draw conclusions.
"For years, we have assumed that the field of potential subjects of the prophecy was quite narrow. The requirements seemed very simple-our in-depth analysis of the prophecy strongly suggested that the one with the power to defeat Voldemort would have claim to the Lord Black title and that person would be tied to a 'Daughter of the Stars.' We have assumed that nobody living at the time the prophecy was delivered can possibly be Lord Black for a number of reasons. Standard, logical deduction led us to believe that the only two Lord Black candidates were Leo Black and Draco Malfoy. Fortunately, Mr. Malfoy's June birthday has put our fears about him inheriting the Black title to rest."
"Yes, we know, Albus," Moody said, rolling his eye. "And obviously, Leo Black couldn't help but fall in love with Sidra Potter, whose given name means 'of the stars.' In case you have not noticed, that is not going so well. For all her being overly willing to embrace her prophetic destiny, she has shown young Leo nothing but contempt. Leo hides behind Rose Potter's clairvoyant absurdities and does his level best to embrace a life of mediocrity."
"Ah… yes," Dumbledore said. "That about sums it up."
"There's nothing wrong with my son aspiring to mediocrity," Sirius declared.
"No one is saying otherwise," Remus said, smiling with faint amusement at his old friend.
"Yes, well, I wanted to bring up Rose's 'clairvoyant absurdities,'" Dumbledore announced. "Though she stubbornly maintains that she is a seer of the past, present, and future, she has traditionally limited her declarations of fact to minor, everyday things-for instance, correctly identifying people who steal from cookie jars."
"She's very logically minded," James Potter said, cutting in. "Deducing the truth behind small, everyday mysteries isn't difficult for her. I think she mostly maintains her clairvoyant persona to get under Sidra's skin and draw attention to herself."
Professor Dumbledore steepled his hands and shrugged. "I also believed the same thing about Rose. She is very clever and very logical. Growing up in Sidra's shadow has been very difficult, I am sure. It would be understandable for her to desire to compete or draw attention to herself. However, she did correctly reveal, as it were, that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was dead and had been dead for many years. Had we listened to her, we might have focused our efforts more wisely and discovered Professor Pettigrew's treachery sooner."
There was a slightly oppressive silence, which Kingsley Shacklebolt broke. "What precisely does Rose Potter's accurate Chamber of Secrets prediction have to do with the current situation?"
A small sigh escaped from Professor Dumbledore's lips. He suddenly looked very tired. "During Rose Potter's first year at Hogwarts, she declared that neither Leo Black, nor Sidra Potter by extension, were subjects of the prophecy we have held dear to our hearts. Some of us viewed it as a jealous sister's attempt to steal the limelight from Sidra. Others believed it to be an attempt to console and comfort Leo Black who shuns the notoriety of being the one prophesied. The bottom line is that we have disregarded the possibility, as voiced by Rose, that Leo and Sidra are not subjects of the prophecy."
Kingsley looked around the room. The Potters and Blacks stared glumly at the table even as everyone else pointedly avoiding their eyes. "Err… so what you're going to say is that based on last night's events, you think Rose Potter might be correct about Leo not being the prophesied one?"
"Yes," said Dumbledore. "I'm not saying that we should disregard the possibility that Leo Black and Sidra Potter could be the prophesied ones, but I think we need to seriously reexamine our interpretation of the prophecy and look for other possible candidates."
"And perhaps someone should consult young Rose and see if she has any thoughts to share about the immediate situation," Moody commented quietly.
"I shall handle that personally," Professor Dumbledore told the group. "I think we have nearly covered everything. I just want to highlight a couple of things we need to do and make some assignments."
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