Pre-Mission Briefing, <Abel, Sebastian, Keith>

[Headmistress McGonagall]

McGonagall stood behind her desk and watched the students gathered in front of her a few moments, then told them, "First, let me assure you that none of you are in trouble. I have only summoned you here at the Minister's request. He wants you to undertake an important mission over the summer."

She paused, but nobody had any questions yet... these were among the smartest students in their respective houses, so she had figured they would have the sense to wait until she had told them what the mission was and then ask more specific questions.

"Hogwarts is in an unusual position to help the Wizarding Intelligence Agency's efforts in France," she continued. "With five werewolf students, each having received some degree of military and intelligence training from Dumbledore's Army -- Keith, I understand that you're rather high-ranking in that organization -- we can get infiltrators in place in France without arousing too much Death Eater suspicion. It also helps that none of you are very well-known to the Death Eaters -- the only people who saw Keith at Azkaban are now dead -- and that two of you have Slytherin credentials that will allow you to more easily gain the trust of anyone you encounter. However, we already have a mole in the Death Eaters' organization... what we need more from you is data. Your role is to observe first, and to infiltrate only if you can do so with a reasonably low amount of danger." She paused once more, with the full expectation that questions would now be forthcoming.

[Abel King]

As soon as McGonagall began speaking. Something struck Abel. Why was WIA looking for informants from Hogwarts of all places. Then came the almost immediate mention of the DA. Abel was beginning to have suspicions that one of the students, or Jason to be more exact had some business going on with the WIA. He was really the obvious choice.

Also, Abel wasn't aware that Keith was a werewolf either. It was going to be a day of more surprises he guessed. It was certainly turning out to be better than the last time he had entered this office for a chat with the Headmistress. This time it was only about France, death eaters and infiltrating them to get back information for the WIA.

He listened quietly and spoke only when McGonagall had finished for the moment. "I have two questions for the moment. How much more information can I ask for in terms of what they already have from the mole and what exactly is the objective of this mission really is?" He paused then asked his second question, "What if I refuse?" He actually was ready to help already mostly because he thought it would be nice to take Abrianna on a trip to France. He figured with his record in Hogwarts, the Death Eaters would welcome him eagerly and he had a very good story for being there too. Of course there was an added danger to Abrianna but he figured, being in France and having sided with the Death Eaters for the summer, he wouldn't have to worry about much... unless he got caught.

What he was really asking McGonagall was what the catch was. How important was this mission to the WIA. Would they blackmail Hogwarts students, threatening to expose their secret if they refused? If not that, what was it that the WIA had on them that could be used against them. That was something Abel was always very interested in.

[Headmistress McGonagall]

(Abel would have likely known Keith was a werewolf once McGonagall removed all the enchantments from him... it's pretty difficult for werewolves to not identify each other by smell, and Abel's work with the DA has him in pretty close proximity to Keith. Also, in case Keith thought his secret was safe, this is how it was exposed... somebody here turned him in.)

"Most of the information they have from the mole pertains to werewolves," McGonagall replied. "Apparently, the death of Fenrir Greyback wasn't quite the demoralizing blow we thought it would be... the new werewolf leader has molded them into an elite fighting force, and they are inflicting massive casualties against the British army. This is why it is imperative to get werewolves of our own in place, but unfortunately the man we would ordinarily use for this job is too well-known, and has a young child to take care of to boot. Also, the mole has mentioned that Muggle soldiers are now fighting for the enemy as well, although unlike the British soldiers they appear to be under the Imperius Curse in most cases."

She paused, then answered his second question. "If you refuse, I've been instructed to give you the following message: Have a good summer."

[Abel King]

((Well... crap. I guess we should just go ahead and ignore that blunder eh lol?))

Abel looked around at the others. It seemed he was the only one who had these questions but then his questions also made it impossible for him to hide that he had already made up his mind about going. He smiled at the Headmistress when she answered his question about the consequences of a refusal but didn't comment on it further. Weak offer. It might not be enough to get the others convinced.

Abel, on the other hand was genuinely interested in meeting more of his kind. He wanted to see what a werewolf was really capable of in this force the headmistress was talking about. "Alright, I will go. Hope its ok if I take Abrianna along. It would be part of my cover and since she is Syltherin as well, it shouldn't be a problem."

He looked at Sebastian and the others as he waited for a response.

[Headmistress McGonagall]

"As long as Abrianna wants to go, you can bring her along," McGonagall said, glancing to the girl standing next to Abel... besides McGonagall, the only non-werewolf in the room.

[Abrianna Madoc]

"Like I'm going to let you go to France without me," Abrianna said, winking at Abel. "I know what the women there are like." She was trying to make light of the situation, but on the inside she was a little nervous. Not only was she not sure that the people being asked to undertake this mission were qualified for it, but she realized that if the WIA needed to conscript Hogwarts students into doing this type of work things were even worse than she realized.

[Olivia Dawson]

"I'm going, too," Olivia said. "It'll be refreshing to have something interesting to do over the summer for a change." She glanced over to Sebastian and Keith, wondering whether they would be coming too.

[Sebastian Grade]

Sebastian looked around at the other. His gaze lingered with Olivia until she accepted the mission. He looked away from her just as he turned to him and spoke, "Ok, I will go too." He didn't add a reason. A big part of the reasoning was that he wasn't going to let Olivia go alone. Besides it gave him something to do over the summer, and get to have Olivia's company.

[Olivia Dawson]

Olivia smiled gratefully at Sebastian. She was on friendlier terms with him than the others, so having him along would help her be more comfortable. "So how about you?" she asked Keith. She wondered if he would want to bring his girlfriend Lucy along. It might be a good idea... having a healer of Lucy's talents could help the party out if they ran into trouble.

[Abel King]

Abel smiled as he looked at Abrianna. He didn't take the comment seriously. It was a joke. She knew he had eyes only for her. Abel knew her well enough to note the hint of worry that was beginning to creep up in her eyes. She also didn't seem fully convinced by the Headmistress' explanation on why Hogwarts students, even Slytherins were being asked to join into this mission. Sending Slytherins on a mission like this was almost as good as sending the death eaters more recruits. Not that Abel trusted anyone else in this group.

Abel spoke after some thought, "Wow, the Brits must really be getting the... daylights kicked out of them for the Minister to come to Hogwarts... and Slytherins." Abel smiled at McGonagall. Did she really think they were going to just believe what she said so easily?

[Headmistress McGonagall]

"You have no idea," McGonagall sighed regretfully. "Not only is Beauxbatons just as impregnable as Hogwarts, but our forces are being driven back. And the mole in the Death Eaters that I mentioned earlier... he hasn't reported in in a week. The best-case scenario would actually be that he's dead, since otherwise he's either being tortured for information or has joined the enemy's side."

[Abel King]

Abel frowned just as McGonagall finished speaking. "Wait a minute. Did he know about this plan? About WIA sending others as spies? Cause if there is even a slightest chance of that, you are asking us to go commit suicide..." He glanced at Abrianna. Maybe it would be a bad idea after all to take her with them.

[Headmistress McGonagall]

"No," McGonagall said. "This plan to send you in was concocted in response to us losing contact with our spy... there was no way for him to have known about it, short of giving a prophecy. And as I understand it, he got a D in Divination. Whatever cover identities you choose to operate under should remain secure."

[Sebastian Grade]

Abel had asked a very good question indeed. Sebastian had meant to ask the same thing but Abel had beaten him to it. However MaGonagall's answer didn't really satisfy him completely. He still kept his mouth shut for the moment. He did frown slightly when she mentioned cover identities. He spoke after thinking on it a while longer. "Can't we just... go as students on a vacation... maybe genuinely interested in thinking about joining the death eaters?" He looked at others before turning his gaze back to McGonagall. The way he figured it, cover identities were going to be a problem. But then he wasn't aware how the WIA worked. Maybe they did have the resources to put up with the background checks the Death Eaters would definitely make on the fake identites.

[Headmistress McGonagall]

"That's up to you," McGonagall replied, turning toward Sebastian. "You would have to constantly worry about being caught in a lie if you used aliases, but Olivia and Keith would provoke suspicion from some of the hardliners in the Death Eaters once it became common knowledge which Hogwarts House they were in. There's a slight risk either way, if you choose to approach the Death Eaters directly at all... but remember, all you're being asked to do at the moment is observe, and you can do that without acting as if you've chosen a side."