the good, the bad, and the dirty [Ouroboros Squad Leaders]

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

28 June 2025

Cas was itching for a fight. It was rare to push him to a point of such anger, away from his usual passive and adaptable composure – but the events of the last few weeks had pushed him to a new breaking point. He’d been simmering since Lúthien had first come to see him again and every interaction since. The (at the time apparently authentic) news of Elaine’s death had kindled a new desire for action, to get something done and restart the organization. And the events of the Quidditch final, the explosion and the loss of one of their most valuable members, had been the last grain of rice to tip the scale. 

He’d spent his entire recovery period stewing, waiting for his injuries to heal so he could truly get back to business. There were so many things constantly rolling agitatedly in his head – thinking of Azkaban and Lúthien and his father, of Hermione Granger and squad leaders and Ouroboros, of an irritating and teeth-clenching conversation with Claire Slater. He needed an outlet. He needed a debriefing, or some way of unleashing some of this tension coiled constantly in his chest. Cas was a patient person, but he was tired of waiting. 

His last conversation with Parvati about a meeting of the squad leaders had stuck in his mind, and it was certainly the right move to make now. The only move they could make now. Calling them together had been difficult (as important as they were in the organization, they were also important in other arenas too), and Parvati had taken the lead, as she was best-equipped to do so. But, as usual, Cas was the first one to arrive to the Ouroboros safe house, an apparently empty briefcase that actually contained his ledgers clenched tightly in his fist. He set the bag down by the table (it might never come up, but he wanted to be prepared), ignited the near-minimum amount of lights necessary, and paced agitatedly as he waited for the others to arrive. There was too much to discuss, too much that needed to be done. Cas was anxious to get started. 

parvati patil macmillan  

@edward

Ginevra Molly Potter  

[OOC: I think order can be open for now, jump in when you can and we'll determine order after]

[parvati patil macmillan]

Parvati felt as though a lifetime had passed since her conversation with Cas Karkaroff about Elaine Dupree's death. She had felt like such a fool to learn that Elaine wasn't truly dead, especially as the news had come at the expense of another hundred people—Hermione and Laurel among them. While she considered herself lucky that she hadn't been at the Quidditch match on the day that it had happened, the coverage of it on the radio had triggered something in her that had remained dormant for a very long time. Emotionally, she had been a wreck, and she had finally come to the decision that she needed to see a Healer to deal with it all.

Her appointment at the hospital had been a few days prior, and she had been prescribed a few different potions to take to make it easier for her to function. Parvati hadn't realized just how long it had been since she had felt like herself, but it was as if the potions had flipped a switch within her. She was careful not to take any more than was absolutely necessary, lest she stop feeling entirely, but it was strange to say that she felt… good, for once. It wasn't perfect, per se, but she had a clear head; the combination of guilt and sadness and grief and fear had evaporated.

With the time and date agreed upon by the four Ouroboros squad leaders after Cas had left her in charge of getting Ginny and Teddy in the loop, Parvati arrived back to Safe Harbour. After getting past the security enchantments and through the door, she saw immediately that Cas was restless, pacing back and forth. She wondered how strange it would look to him to see her as her "normal" self for the first time in a while, in cream-colored robes and jewelry with her face made up—not to mask what she was feeling but as evidence of it.

"Cas, it's alright." Parvati encouraged him softly as she stepped into the room, mindful of how much he apparently had felt like an outsider in the organization from their conversation from weeks before. "Ginny and Teddy will be here soon. They've both confirmed it."

@edward
Ginevra Molly Potter
Casimir Elias Karkaroff

[Deleted]

Ginevra Molly Potter & parvati patil macmillan & Casimir Elias Karkaroff

teddy didn't want to walk back into this place. so much had changed since the last time he'd been there and he wasn't sure he was ready to face those changes. things at the ministry were close to insanity, the people he loved were suffering more than he could tell and he couldn't make it better for any of them, he was getting through his days on coffee and his nights with firewhiskey and there was soemthing to that saying burning the candle at both ends. he'd been there that night, close enough to see but far enough away that he'd been helpless. it's what hurt the most really. he rubbed his hand down his face as he entered the building, knowing that he wasn't going to be the first one there. he never was. he just hoped that he didn't look as haggard as he felt, though with the low light of the rooms in this place it would probably be impossible to notice.

he heard parvati's voice float through the halls and he stopped for a second. he had to go in there, he had to talk about what they were going to do next and he had to put more than two thoughts together at a time. he knew that ginny was going to be here too, he'd seen her in the past few days. having spent a lot of his time at the potter house and the burrow. it had taken tragedy to thrust him back into the lives of the people he loved, after he'd spent many months finding himself pulling away from them all. he steeled himself and started walking back towards the room, shoving his hands into the pockets of his well worn jacket, he hadn't bothered with robes. he rarely did, they were cumbersome, annoying and sometimes made it downright impossible to find your wand. "i'm here." he said in greeting as he walked into the room they were in. it wasn't much of a greeting but even the word hello felt too cheerful right now.

[Deleted]

My power's turned on starting right now
I'll be strong I'll play my fight song And
I don't really care if nobody else believes

Ginny didn't know how much more she could take of this. First, Harry disappeared, leaving nothing but a wand for Ron to find and resulted in her praying that he was still alive. She thought he had died, and now he was back - though not many people knew that little fact. And now, Hermione was dead. Her best friend, the person who's shoulder she cried on if she needed to. The woman that had helped her get through the beginning of Harry's disappearance, promising that they would find him alive and once returned home, help figure out how to get her memories back. And now...she was dead.

And while weeks had passed since the fateful day that Hermione and so many other people had died. She still couldn't get over it. She still couldn't believe that it happened. While she was no longer crazy in grief, she was still destroyed inside. There were doubts in her head, doubts that she wished would disappear. The same doubts that almost had her contacting Vic and joining her side, to help the Heliopaths because, even though she was a squad leader, they weren't doing crap.

But she had refrained from doing so; it just meant that they would have to step up. And when Parvati contacted her, saying that Casimir wanted to hold a meeting with the squad leaders, she agreed. She would bring her doubts to the table, and they would figure it out. Either they did something now, instead of sitting back on their heels and waiting for them to all end up dead - or they had to fight now. It was like the Battle of Hogwarts now; she was ready for the battle to come even if the others didn't agree.

Ginny was the last to arrive, fashionably late. She had walked into the safe house, finding Casimir, Parvati, and Teddy already inside. She swallowed, plastering on a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Hope I didn't keep you all waiting long..." she breathed out.

Casimir Elias Karkaroff, parvati patil macmillan, & @edward

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

It was easier to pace and walk out the frustrations while he was still alone. He’d become familiar with Safe Harbor in the time it had been used as a safe house -- it was too difficult in usual circumstances for Cas to contact other members of Ouroboros, given his background, so he typically resorted to in-person visits to Ouroboros-controlled locations to receive his news. In the rare times he was alone here, he’d carved out a similar path to pace and mull over his thoughts.

Naturally, Parvati was the next to arrive. As she spoke, Cas stilled his movements and turned on his heel to study her. The last time they’d spoken, she’d been visibly more upset and the conflicting emotions had played out on her face. Peaceful wasn’t the right word to describe her, but she was calm and collected and developing an unnerving ability to read his moods. He opened his mouth to respond, although he really had no idea what he would have said, when Teddy Lupin slinked into the room. Cas closed his mouth and gave a tight nod to Parvati and Teddy, keeping a tight silence until Ginny could join.

Once every squad leader was present in the room, Cas wordlessly dragged out a chair and sat at the table. He was still restless, and his fingers idly traced over his wand in a nervous habit he usually kept hidden but couldn’t be bothered to at this point. They were all equals in this room – and Cas took a moment to absorb the rarity of the four heads of Ouroboros congregating in the same room – but it was time to start the meeting. Occasions like this only rarely came about, and not a second could be wasted. Beyond that, Cas wasn’t really the type for small talk.

“Thank you all for coming,” he began, voice tight with anxiety but closer to his usual relaxed persona than when he’d first started pacing. He shifted his gaze between Parvati, who continued to look composed; Teddy, visibly disheveled; and Ginny, seemingly trying as hard as Cas to appear more put-together than was reality. Cas exhaled slowly and continued to fidget with his wand. He spoke slowly and weighed every word as if he were still in Borgin and Burke’s. “The importance of this meeting speaks for itself, given the events of the 10th of June. We have entered into a critical period of time and our reaction must be appropriate.” He guessed they might have different definitions of what that meant, but that would be hashed out in this meeting and he was still uncertain of his own position. “It seems to be the right moment to reevaluate our…priorities.”

parvati patil macmillan
@edward
Ginevra Molly Potter

[parvati patil macmillan]

Parvati nodded to Teddy as he said that he was there. They only had Ginny left, though she quickly arrived and asked if she had kept the rest of them waiting for long. If it had been a nightmare of a time for her, it had been even worse for Ginny, who had just lost her sister-in-law and perhaps her closest friend. "No, not at all," Parvati told her, reaching a hand out to her. She had only just arrived to the safe house, as had Teddy.

Moving out chairs at the table for both Ginny and Teddy after Cas had sat himself down, Parvati seated herself and began to listen as Cas spoke. "Thank you all for coming," he started. "The importance of this meeting speaks for itself, given the events of the 10th of June. We have entered into a critical period of time and our reaction must be appropriate. It seems to be the right moment to reevaluate our… priorities."

Before chiming in, Parvati looked to Teddy and Ginny and back over to Cas. She kept her voice even as she spoke. "Knowing what we do," she began—in other words, that Elaine wasn't dead, that the explosion had been an attack and not some accidental fireworks mishap, that Hermione Granger was dead and would no longer be their Minister for Magic—"we need a plan." And soon. "To be quite honest, I don't trust half the Ministry not to just… appoint someone truly awful," Parvati admitted. It had happened before, of course, though they had had few difficulties in that regard for the past few years. "Our contacts in the Ministry will be vital," she noted, looking specifically to Teddy, "and I don't doubt that Elaine Dupree is looking at her own options." She very well could have targeted the match for the sake of installing one of her followers or their sympathizers as Minister. "I really hate to bring up worst-case scenarios, but there's no guarantee that the next Minister for Magic won't be a Purifier, is there?" If that happened, everything that they had been relying upon until that point would be turned on its head.

@edward
Ginevra Molly Potter
Casimir Elias Karkaroff

[Deleted]

Ginevra Molly Potter & parvati patil macmillan & Casimir Elias Karkaroff

it wasn't long after he walked through the door that ginny followed. he looked at her, fondness in his eyes as he took his spot leaning against the wall. he saw parvati pull a chair out for him but he shook his head a little, he couldn't sit down at the moment. if he sat down he'd fidget. he crossed his arms over his chest and listened to the words coming from the others. he'd never really been a big talker in serious conversations, he'd always been one to stay quiet, consider and think within his own head, play out responses and even argue with his own brain before he'd voice things to the people he was talking to. it's just how he'd always done things. they did need to reevaluate things, but he didn't know how many ways there were to look at things. things had gone from bad to worse and right now where he was standing there was only one way they could go and that was to terrible.

"we have our ears open." he said with a slight not, agreeing with parvati that all their eyes in the ministry would be important. he was one of a few and they'd all need to put their heads to the ground to see if they could get ahead of anything that might happen in the coming days. "she'll have something in mind." he was almost certain of that. ministers had been killed before but not as publicly. he was certain it had been done to cause more than shock and horror but fear and uncertainty about what came next. he didn't want to admit that there was every chance one of her minions could be elected to minister. the network of purifiers wove deep, infiltrated where they'd never think to look and it was near impossible to guess who was under her influence. "something she would never expect needs to happen." something to throw her game, something to change the course any plan elaine might have. the problem was, he didn't k now what.

[Deleted]

My power's turned on starting right now
I'll be strong I'll play my fight song And
I don't really care if nobody else believes

Parvati had reassured her that she was not late at all, reaching out her hand - which Ginny had thankfully took. She gave it a squeeze before they let go, heading for the table that Cas had started sitting at. Ginny slipped into the chair, crossing her leg over the other, and sat forward, elbows on the table as she brought her clasped hands to her lips. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Teddy had refused to sit, not that she blamed him. She didn't even know how long she would be able to sit before she lost her mind—already taking notice that the foot touching the ground started to bounce.

'Thank you all for coming. The importance of this meeting speaks for itself, given the events of the 10th of June. We have entered into a critical period of time and our reaction must be appropriate. It seems to be the right moment to reevaluate our…priorities.' - Ginny's attention looked towards Cas as he spoke, swallowing deeply. She couldn't agree more, they needed to do something, anything, and they needed to do it now. - 'She'll have something in mind. Something she would never expect needs to happen.' Came the reply of Teddy before Parvati herself jumped in. 'Knowing what we do, we need a plan. To be quite honest, I don't trust half the Ministry not to just… appoint someone truly awful. Our contacts in the Ministry will be vital, and I don't doubt that Elaine Dupree is looking at her own options. I really hate to bring up worst-case scenarios, but there's no guarantee that the next Minister for Magic won't be a Purifier, is there?'

Ginny didn't want to be that person, but she turned to look at Teddy, raising an eyebrow. "And what do you suggest we do? It seems there is no way to throw her off her game with what we've come up with so far. Not even Victoire and her group has gotten her rattled...what can we do that will?" she questioned before turning to look at Parvati, "Can we talk our contact into running? It's a chance to remove any option for the Purifier candidate, if there is one, to get through if we try to trump them."

Casimir Elias Karkaroff, parvati patil macmillan, &
@edward

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

Cas sat back to absorb each of the other squad leaders’ reaction to his opening statement, leaning back in his chair to study their postures as they talked amongst themselves. Parvati almost immediately brought up the Ministry elections, and he frowned slightly as he considered Teddy’s response. This was the difficulty of Ouroboros at times, finding that balance between being effective and holding themselves to a higher standard than their enemies. All the worst tactics to ensure the advancement of your candidate were certain to be crossing Elaine’s mind right now, but it was something they would have to refrain from.

But in this last round it was Ginny’s comments that were most interesting to him, particularly her mention of Victoire. All the other squad leaders made valid points, but Cas didn’t want to enter quite yet into a discussion of the logistical details of the Ministry elections. It would need to be discussed, of course, and in this their Ministry members would play a valuable role. But there was a larger, more abstract conversation that needed to happen at some point.

Perhaps it was his particular background, but Cas wasn’t interested in addressing the Purifiers right away. They were the known evil, the clear ‘bad guys’ if one liked to use that kind of terminology, and it wasn’t hard to agree that they needed to be stopped. Discussing the semantics of that last point was certainly important, but it was much less controversial. So Cas took the opportunity to interject after Ginny finished speaking. “I find it difficult to have a conversation about the Purifiers without discussing Heliopath first. We know our position on the Purifiers. We know about the danger they pose.”

He leaned forward in his chair, fingers crossed over his wand as he considered his next words. “We don’t have that clarity with Victoire. We’ve been ignoring her for too long, as if pretending that the split didn’t happen neutralizes the liability they’ve become." Cas paused for a moment before mumbling, "Especially given Heliopath's presence in the Ministry. They're another factor to consider in the elections. We’re less effective against the Purifiers when we don’t present a united front. But we’ll be almost powerless if we don’t take a clear stance on Heliopath and what they mean to us. Are they a friend or an enemy?”

parvati patil macmillan
@edward
Ginevra Molly Potter

[parvati patil macmillan]

Although Parvati had pulled out a chair for him, Teddy declined to sit at the table with the other three of them. He remained leaning against the wall, though it was clear that he was listening as their conversation began. It wasn't the easiest conversation to have—of course not, and especially not for Ginny and Teddy. Teddy was in agreement with her, Parvati noted, that Elaine's intentions likely would be to take the opportunity to pull some puppet strings. "Something she would never expect needs to happen," he said.

To that, Ginny directed her attention to Teddy, and Parvati followed their exchange. "And what do you suggest we do? It seems there is no way to throw her off her game with what we've come up with so far. Not even Victoire and her group has gotten her rattled… what can we do that will?" Parvati then paused as Ginny looked to her. "Can we talk our contact into running? It's a chance to remove any option for the Purifier candidate, if there is one, to get through if we try to trump them."

Before Parvati could respond to Ginny, however, Cas cut in. "I find it difficult to have a conversation about the Purifiers without discussing Heliopath first," he explained. "We know our position on the Purifiers. We know about the danger they pose." He leaned forward, his posture and tone changing slightly. "We don’t have that clarity with Victoire. We’ve been ignoring her for too long, as if pretending that the split didn’t happen neutralizes the liability they’ve become." Parvati knew that he had a point; they needed to discuss Victoire, too, even if that was a difficult subject for Ginny and Teddy.

Cas continued to speak, though he was less forthright. "Especially given Heliopath's presence in the Ministry. They're another factor to consider in the elections. We’re less effective against the Purifiers when we don’t present a united front. But we’ll be almost powerless if we don’t take a clear stance on Heliopath and what they mean to us. Are they a friend or an enemy?"

Parvati swallowed, ready to respond before the silence forced either of Ginny or Teddy had to answer that question—as frank as it was—immediately. "We can't afford not to have them on our side," she reminded them, echoing Cas's point about a united front. "If we treat them as the enemy, then they'll do something to retaliate." She knew that for certain. "They're… volatile," Parvati acknowledged, minding her choice of words, "but they're not the Purifiers." They might have had less regard for the consequences of their actions, but they weren't horrible people. "If we're going to do something—some sort of peacemaking—it needs to happen now." As awful as it was, Hermione's death might have been a chance for them to come to some sort of an agreement, whatever that might look like.

She turned her attention to Ginny specifically. "I did run into Poe Dmello recently, and he mentioned that he's considered running." Poe wasn't an Ouroboros member, but he had been the one to form Statera; he felt like a safe option, though Parvati knew that ensuring that one of their own was Minister would have been preferable. "There are stronger personalities in the Ministry," she added, "and of course Victoire herself…" Parvati then looked between Ginny and Teddy, a thought occurring to her. "She hasn't mentioned…?" Possibly becoming Minister for Magic again, that was.


@edward
Ginevra Molly Potter
Casimir Elias Karkaroff
OOC: Puck granted me permission to mention Poe.

[Deleted]

Ginevra Molly Potter & parvati patil macmillan & Casimir Elias Karkaroff

ginny's answer came quickly though teddy didn't have a well thought out answer for her, not yet. all he had was. "something more than we've been doing. which hasn't been very much." he said as he ran his hand down his face, wondering if he looked as weary as he felt. he knew there was no fault on any of them over the lack of action on their part. they were one of two resistances, against an evil that he was getting tired of loosing too. it was then that parvarti and cas started talking back and forth, his attention taken up by their talking. heliopath? cas wanted to do something about the heliopaths? teddy felt his back go straight as he stepped away from the wall he'd been leaning on and his stance had gone from loose to tense in the space of a word. he might not have agreed when vic had split herself from the group, he'd stayed with the group he'd thought was right and while he and vic weren't together anymore she was no less family now. she was still one of the people he loved the most and she had his loyalty and when it came down to it, his support. as bad as that might look to other members of his faction.

"they don't post any danger. vic is not a threat." he said as he gripped the back of the chair that had been placed at the table for him. he took pride in the fact that most of the time he could remain level headed, calm and take things in his stride but there were some occasions when that was impossible and all the calmness he'd been doing in the last few weeks was starting to take somewhat of a toll on him. "and who said we were the authority? the last i checked we were just trying to stop elaine and her purifiers." he purposefully let his grip relax on the chair as he took the smallest second to steel himself. he looked at ginny and then parvarti, two women he'd spent a great deal of time looking up to for most of his life. he agreed they needed someone in the ministry, someone higher up than anyone in their ranks. "that's all well and good." he chewed his lip, wondering how to put the next bit of what he wanted to say. "we had an ally in hermione.." he said, her name painful as it rolled off his tongue. "and we were still getting nowhere."

he didn't want to be that person, they needed to come up with a justifiable way forward, a plan of action but he didn't want to hedge all their bets on gaining another ally in the next minister. putting all of their eggs in one basket seemed like the less secure way to go about things. he felt a genuine laugh break from him when parvarti looked at him and ginny and spoke about vic mentioning if she wanted to take up office again. he hadn't asked her point blank about it but he had a feeling that he knew what he answer would be. he shook his head a little as he looked at parvarti. "i think she'd rather pack up and leave the country than become the minister again .. but i she hasn't said anything to me about it."

[Deleted]

My power's turned on starting right now
I'll be strong I'll play my fight song And
I don't really care if nobody else believes

This entire meeting was something that was both needed and unwanted, at least, on Ginny's part. They had just lost Hermione, and now things were falling apart. The loss had rocked them, and it was enough to give others the upper hand. The Purifiers, the Heliopaths, had their wits about them - and right now, some of them were still strung because they had lost a friend and an ally. The conversation went back and forth about the Heliopath, with Parvati mentioning they weren't the Purifiers. Still, they needed to be some peacemaking and that it was necessary to happen now. Ginny couldn't agree more. They required the Order, the entirety of it, back.

She nodded her head, "I agree. We need to either bring the entire Order together again, instead of these separate parts. Neither side has done anything fruitful, and I fear that is just what the Purifiers wanted. We all are right where they want us, fighting amongst ourselves. They split us apart, right down the goddamn middle. I don't know if Vic is too far gone to see reason to work together. I haven't spoken to her in quite some time..." It was after she finished her speech that Parvati said that Poe Dmello was running for office, or at least, thinking of doing so. But then she mentioned Victoire running herself, something that even Ginny herself didn't know the answer to. Thankfully, Teddy said that she wasn't - or at least, seemed like she wasn't.

"The question remains if Victoire isn't...will she have someone else run in her place? If we have Poe, they must have thought of this as well. Unless they believe political gain won't stop the Purifiers."

Casimir Elias Karkaroff, parvati patil macmillan, &
@edward

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

Any discussion regarding Heliopath was inevitably going to mix the personal with the business. That was just the reality of things – before there had been Heliopath and Ouroboros, they had all been on the same team with the same goal. There were relationships that spanned the two groups, particularly with Victoire and Teddy and Ginny, and even Cas (cold and calculating as he was) couldn’t avoid the heavy emotions whenever he came into contact with familiar faces from Heliopath. His eyes tracked Teddy’s movements to the table as Parvati spoke in her roundabout diplomatic manner, and Cas put effort into keeping his face expressionless.

He didn’t nod or roll his eyes, although he was tempted to do both. It was a double-edged sword to have few personal relationships – he wasn’t restricted by having multiple loyalties, and so he couldn’t understand the hesitancy to address Heliopath and their potential to be dangerous. But that also meant he lacked an understanding of how they thought and operated, and therefore the best way to interact with them. Cas couldn’t call himself an objective voice, but he wasn’t fully involved either. He decided to address Teddy and Ginny’s comments at once. “Frankly, we don’t know that they don’t pose a threat. Or that they haven’t accomplished anything fruitful either. As long as we avoid discussing what the split means, we limit our options for the future.” It was worth stating his opinion clearly, so Cas elaborated, “It would be better to work with Heliopath, or at least stay out of each other’s way. But if that’s not possible, we need to know. That answer has the potential to drastically change how we operate.”

Cas considered Parvati’s word. Peacemaking. The idea seemed impossible, but it certainly would give them the most tools to use against the Purifiers – and the Quidditch final had shown them they needed it. He addressed his next point to Teddy and Ginny – they had relationships with Victoire, and that meant something. “Then someone should reach out to Victoire. Remind her that we want the same thing. An end to the Purifiers. If that’s not enough…” Cas shrugged, and his gaze drifted to Parvati. “And in the meantime…we should prepare for the worst-case scenario. A Purifier or an unknown actor as Minister. And what that means for us moving forward.” He left the observation dangling…primarily because he didn’t know what that would mean. How the group could best prepare. Parvati ultimately had more experience in this area, and she was the closest Cas came to trusting anybody here. But Teddy had been correct earlier – even with Hermione, Ouroboros had gotten no closer to achieving its goals. Clearly they needed to pivot strategies if they wanted to see results. Perhaps that meant closer coordination with Heliopath, if not a complete reconciliation. But he had his doubts. He believed Ouroboros needed more autonomy to act, not less.

parvati patil macmillan
@edward
Ginevra Molly Potter

[parvati patil macmillan]

They all knew that they needed to be doing more. The question on the table wasn't inaction or action; they were beyond that point. What they faced was the question of what they needed to do next… and how soon. Parvati noticed that Teddy had stepped away from the wall as she was mid-conversation with Cas. He seemed disturbed by the idea that any of them might have viewed Victoire as a threat. He questioned who had made them "the authority" on the matter, and he seemed to be at odds with their thoughts on Hermione. She had been an ally—or a member, to be precise—he reminded them, yet they hadn't gotten anywhere.

In Parvati's mind, the issue wasn't what having the Minister for Magic on their side could do for them. The issue was what having a Minister for Magic who was at all inclined to side against them could do to hamper their progress in any way. She wasn't asking for legislation to be passed that would help their cause, necessarily, although it would have been nice. The Ministry was a bit of a mess, and the old guard that had been such an impediment to change decades before—the purists and traditionalists—weren't going to give up their footholds so readily.

As for the possibility that Victoire would seek to become Minister for Magic again, Teddy said that it wasn't likely. His exact words were that he thought that she would "rather pack up and leave the country than become the Minister again", which was a strong enough sentiment, in itself.

Parvati was glad to hear that Ginny was in agreement with her about the split between Ouroboros and Heliopath. "Neither side has done anything fruitful, and I fear that is just what the Purifiers wanted," Ginny stated. "We all are right where they want us, fighting amongst ourselves. They split us apart, right down the goddamn middle." As harsh as her words were, what she said was true. She mentioned that she hadn't spoken to Victoire in some time, which meant that it was probably on Teddy to communicate with her.

On the possibility of Victoire's becoming Minister again, Ginny also chimed in. "The question remains if Victoire isn't… will she have someone else run in her place? If we have Poe, they must have thought of this as well. Unless they believe political gain won't stop the Purifiers."

Throughout all of this, Cas maintained a poker face but spoke up in response to their discussions about the threat level at hand. He reminded them that they didn't know that Heliopath didn't pose a threat or the extent of what they had been doing without their knowledge. It was a mess all around, but he advised that someone should reach out to Victoire. If that wasn't enough, well… Cas left it at that, and Parvati pressed her lips together in thought. It had the potential to get ugly.

"And in the meantime… we should prepare for the worst-case scenario. A Purifier or an unknown actor as Minister. And what that means for us moving forward."

While she knew that it was frustrating to carry on a conversation in purely hypothetical terms, Parvati was aware that they had to establish a plan for the what-ifs. There were outcomes that they couldn't know concretely, and they had to do what they could to prepare for just about anything. "Let's say there's another Cornelius Fudge," Parvati began softly, tapping her fingernails against the tabletop. She hated bringing up the man; he'd been an awful Minister, but that was the point, wasn't it? "A career politician, no morals." It was blunt, perhaps, but she wasn't concerned about that. "Anyone who would prefer to flatter the blood purists for their own gain is just as dangerous as someone who actually believes that rubbish," she reminded them. There were people in the Ministry who were in it for the Galleons, and greed made people do terrible things. "Even if they haven't got a Purifier as Minister, as long as whoever it is doesn't care that what they're doing could hurt people…"

Bringing her other hand physically to the tabletop, Parvati went on. "Or another Pius Thicknesse…" That was all they needed, and Parvati's displeasure was clear by her tone of voice. The Death Eaters had used the Imperius Curse once to act as the Minister's puppeteer, and the Purifiers didn't seem to be above trying the same tactic.

@edward
Ginevra Molly Potter
Casimir Elias Karkaroff

[Deleted]

Ginevra Molly Potter & parvati patil macmillan & Casimir Elias Karkaroff

he was more than suspicious of casimir's determination to get them to see heliopath as something it wasn't. there was no way he'd ever be convinced that vic's group was a threat to them. for one even though vic didn't agree with how they were operating at the moment he was sure that she still loved some of them enough not to do anything that would willingly put one of them in danger. he wasn't unaware of the bias he felt towards her but that didn't mean he couldn't see the whole picture, regardless of what people thought. he frowned a little, aware that he should be letting this go but something deep inside wouldn't let him, it was holding on like a vice and he was almost powerless to stop it. "is there any particular reason you have that makes you think we should turn out attention from the purifiers to heliopath?" he said as he settled his gaze onto cas's face. "they just killed one of our own, someone some of us loved, but you suddenly think heliopath is a bigger threat because you don't know what vic is thinking? does that mean you know what elaine's thinking? because you don't seem all that bothered by what she's doing right now." teddy didn't lack the ability to trust people, in fact he'd been told on numerous occasions that he trusted too quickly but there was something about cas that had flipped a little switch inside of teddy that was sending off warning signals like he'd never felt before.

he took a deliberate step back from the table and crossed his arms over his chest, trying to take in more than one breath to calm whatever anger was building in him at that moment because as much as he was jumping to heliopath's defence, this meeting was about something more important, it was about them coming together and at the moment it seemed like nothing was further from happening. the talk of the table was shifting from helipoath to the next minister and teddy was more than a little glad for that. though he didn't have any answers for that either really. he knew that all he was really contributing was distrust but it was almost like his brain could only focus on one thing at a time. "fudge was scared and he was in denial." as much as he didn't want to defend the guy, he'd played his part in the first wizarding war but there was still the fact that fear drove people to act in ways they'd never normally act. "who in ouroboros do you think could handle an election and win? or any of the allies we have ..." he looked to ginny in that second but didn't say the one person that jumped into his head. he knew it would never happen for two reasons, people thought he was dead and harry had recently expressed his resentment at being asked.