"Every true man is a cause, a country, and an age."

If there was one person Audriana needed to talk to that week, it was Elijah Krum. Surely he would know what was happening with the Muggles? She wasn't sure who else would know more than he, given his influence and general tendency to somehow know things she didn't expect him to. Making up her mind to meet with him the next day, Audriana sat herself down in the living room and wrote a letter to the members of the Order, requesting a meeting that evening. Oliver, she knew, could be drawn away from his writing without much trouble. But from what she understood, there was a chance that the Muggle world was starting to see the one she lived in, and that opened a number of possibilities for the brunette witch.

Her parents, after all, had been so afraid of her magical abilities that they had left her to her grandmother and moved away, off to do whatever it was that they intended on doing - for, she obviously didn't know. She couldn't bring herself to travel to Florida and look for them, and had no clues as to how she could get in touch with them. But if Muggles were starting to realize what was happening, perhaps her parents would not find it all so strange. And, really, she didn't see why the Muggles had to be kept from the truth anymore. Witches and Wizards could do an incredible amount of good for their community, and the Wizarding World would be better off for using their technology regularly instead of a few televisions here or a cell phone or two there.

When Oliver showed up, she mentioned these things, completely oblivious to the shock that was actually quite plain on the man's face. He didn't disagree with the technology side of things, but he also did not think that they would be safe from Muggle weapons, or vice versa. It would start a war, he thought to himself, terrified to realize that it was just as he had expected. Things were changing and it was possible that people would be in danger because of it. Deciding it might be better to let people speak against Audriana on their own - so he would not have to be the bad guy, and so Audriana would not decide to put his opinions down in front of the others - Oliver kept quiet about his problems with her theories, instead moving over to take up Holly, one of her twins. Noëlle was in her little rocking chair, so Oliver sat beside her, looking over at the girls' mother who, he felt, was taking everything way too seriously.

"Well," she huffed after realizing he was not going to give her any positive affirmation, "that's what the meeting is for. To see if anyone knows what's happening and to talk about maybe convincing the Ministry to change their ways. Merlin knows the current system is already rather iffy."

Oliver lifted an eyebrow but just let his lips narrow into a line before turning back to look at the babies as they waited for people to arrive.

There was some kind of Order meeting. Well, not some kind. Selwyn assumed it would be the usual kind; the kind that was full of the huffing and puffing of inflated egos that ultimately ended up nowhere. He still liked knowing what was going on inside the Order far more than being left to wonder, which was what he'd mostly done while he'd been trying to get Sithe Brugh back on its feet.

Being stuck up in the highlands did have its high points, though. Most everyone overlooked the muggle superstitions and if the Thorfinn family adopted the name as a point of pride, well, they had always been a brazen lot.

Selwyn coughed as he exited the floo. Merlin, what an awful way to travel. Still, in current conditions, safer than apparition - or was it?

"What's iffy?" he asked, catching the last of Audrianna's words.

Oliver wanted to sigh when Selwyn asked after Audriana's comment, but not because the man didn't deserve to know what they were talking about. Instead, he worried that the brunette would go off at length about how ridiculous the Ministry had become. She had essentially done so the last time they had met, and Oliver was becoming more and more wary of allowing her to give speeches. The last thing he needed was for someone to start agreeing with her.

"Well!" she began brightly, turning from Oliver so she could face Selwyn properly. "I intend to ask everyone what they think of the happenings within the Ministry. Perhaps, if we brought up the problems they've presented us with - this new trouble with magic came from them, after all - they would re-evaluate their system and change how they run things. The current administration isn't taking things seriously enough. It's time for change."

Oliver frowned, merely lifting an eyebrow as the floo lit up again, and he had to admit that he had not been as affected by the inconsistencies in his magic as others had. After all, he had grown up with a mother who was a Muggle and preferred to do things their way. Tobias stepped out, brushing soot from his shoulders, and greeted everyone quietly once Audriana had finished. Shooting a look in Oliver's direction, the man looked like he, too, wanted to frown but thought better of it.

It wasn't that Oliver had a problem with Muggles, of course. Instead, he wanted to prevent wars or Death Eaters creating conflict. Those Muggles who wanted to be part of their world, of course, were welcome in his mind. But there was no need for panic or attacks. If anyone agreed with that, Oliver knew, it was Tobias.

"You want to organise a riot then?" Selwyn asked.

He didn't think Audriana wanted to organise a riot.  From the way she was talking, it sounded like she wanted to organise a petition at best, or list her gripes with the expectation that the Ministry would turn over control to her at worst.  Audriana was a dreamer.

Oliver, though, seemed unimpressed with his confederate's declaration.  Selwyn wasn't well enough acquainted with the two to tell whether the raised eyebrow was a mere case of sibling rivalry or a sign of something more significant.  Regardless, he'd be keeping a closer eye on the interaction between their co-leaders from now on.

"I've always liked to think that kind of thing was a spontaneous outpouring of the people's rage against the machine, but I suppose this way works too," he added.

(ooc: Just as a note, they're not related. They just don't get along. xD Although, they do kinda act like siblings, so I guess you've got me there lol.)

Tobias frowned at Selwyn's question, unamused with how pedantic the other man was being. It made sense, to an extent, but the auror was a Ministry man through and through, and perhaps that should have changed after the issue with Gideon and the faux vaccine fiasco. But his promotion had brought him purpose, and he was not ready for anymore conflict against the Death Eaters. That had never really gone well for anyone, had it?

"I think her point is more about constituting change, even if it's just by threatening a revolt of some kind. Not all of histories finest moments were random of sudden, to be fair." Tobias pointed out, his tone almost as bland as his expression. He wasn't agreeing with Audriana by any means, but he didn't see the point in throwing her under the bus by keeping quiet, either. After everything he had gone through, it felt like an obligation to speak up for whomever he could, and to help them if possible.

Oliver, for his part, was trying not to be impatient in regards to the arrival of others. He didn't think he could handle the conversation as it was. What he really wanted was to talk to those people who disagreed with her, in hopes of finding a way to cool her out. Ever since the werewolf attack and the vaccine "trial" and the snow... well, it had all come together into Audriana questioning what they had all sort of accepted as the way of things. The last thing they needed, though, was to have after the Minister of Magic. Not now.

"Look," Oliver began, shaking his head a bit as he tried to figure a more productive way to spend their time. "We can all agree that things aren't working as everyone might hope. But no system is perfect. Aud, if you want to talk to those who are interested in changing things, be my guest. I'm not convinced it will be a majority of our members, but that is up to you. Ask them after the meeting, and we'll just hope they're not ridiculously late, eh? But realize that if there's a divided line, it's up to the majority of the group, not just to us. And not just to you, Aud. We're a group. A team."

Looking to Selwyn, Oliver added, "What we're really working on - outside of figuring out what we want to do - is recruiting. It's just lucky we've got someone that the Death Eaters think is on their side. Hopefully, if things go wrong, we'll know before anyone gets hurt. But if you have anyone in mind, or have any ideas for us, we're open to them. Despite appearances," he added with an almost sarcastic chuckle. He was, even if Audriana wasn't.

Hazel heard that there was meeting and she decided to show up here. She left her sister Aqua to their nice neighbour, one older woman who is like grandma to them. Anyways here she was and listening what others said there about muggles and what was going on there now.

She wasn't sure if be against muggles knowing about magic or not. She just kept listening othera there quietly there. She knew ahe has to say something there two at the end. Her opinion still means something too even if she is just regular member.

But right now she wasn't surw what to say to them. So she just nodded her head there and listened. She had no idea who to recruit or anything else like that. She had no good solutions or anything like that at all fot sure there at all. She tried to figure what to say there right now.

Gabby had brought Kipling Parsons along with him, but now they were not even sitting together. Gabby had plopped down between two women, one he did not know very well, and another one named Hazel - and yes, the decision had been made based on the attractiveness of the women. Kip had been introduced, and quickly used his relation to Jack as a means for assuring everyone of his place here. Kip was not sure he was exactly ready to call himself a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but he could see some merit currently in helping - especially if it meant restructuring the Ministry.

Kip kept quiet, leaning against one of the walls, directly across from Gabby so he could keep his eyes on his colleague. Gabby had rested an elbow on his desk, his chin straddled in his open palm. He lolled his head and batted his eyelashes at Hazel. Kip cleared his throat, his eyes remaining on Aud and Oliver, but Gabby seemed to get the clue. However, he felt irritated nonetheless - it wasn't like he hadn't been listening.

He'd show Kip.

Gabby straightened up. "I have to say - yes, have to," he added, glancing at Kip, who's lips had twitched at his word choice. "I have to say that this system isn't working, and while every system has its flaws, every one of our meetings here seems to be about the Death Eaters or the Ministry. I mean, we're not just a support group - Ministry survivors. It'd be nice to do something about it."

Audriana sat up a bit straighter at Gabby's words, surprised to find that someone was agreeing with her after hearing too much dissent for her tastes. Her head tilted to the side as she looked at him, wondering why everyone else couldn't see it that way? The Ministry had done wrong by them far too much lately, and now that Muggles were showing up and somehow finding themselves a little bit too involved in the Wizarding World and their way of life. What were they supposed to do about that, hmm? They couldn't just turn away from the chance to combine their knowledge and skills. It was mad to think that they should! So much was there to be gained, she mused to herself as he finished speaking.

"You all should be thinking more like him," she said after a moment, half hoping someone would speak up and agree as well. But alas. "Something needs to be done about the way this system works. There's something to be said about people who have the drive and guts to get things done. And I'm not just speaking as an ex-Gryffindor student here, although that's totally applicable, too. This is about making things better. Not protecting the system that's caused so many problems and so much strife."

Looking to Oliver, she gave him a disappointed frown, adding: "How can you forget what they did to your family?" she asked, referring to the death of his sister that led up to the ridiculous false vaccine, which had brought illness upon many, including the man himself. "You want to just let that happen again?"

Oliver's expression changed from unamused to absolutely furious, and he was suddenly glad that Alice was late. He didn't need her seeing him so angry. Beside him, Tobias tensed, and Oliver remembered that the older man had been through even more than he had, lately.

"Being angry is not a good enough reason to destroy our political system. It's just not. If that's what you're looking for, perhaps it would be better to do so on your own," he snapped, shaking his head.

"Why not?"

As Selwyn was catapulted back into his role of court jester, he suddenly remembered why he'd retreated from wizarding life. He was always the one asking the obvious questions.

"You understand, Oliver, that if you don't consider anger at an unjust system a good reason, we're all left wondering what you do think is a good reason."

"Unless, of course, there's something else stopping you?"

Unfortunately, Oliver's glare wasn't reserved for Audriana alone. "This is about personal grievances she feels have been brought upon us. But an uproar over the Ministry's system would be relevant and worth doing only if we have a good solution for the problems we've found. Until then, being angry isn't good enough. It's a starting point."

Shaking his head, Oliver rose from his seat, settling the little girl that had been in his arms back in her own small chair. "Look, has nobody stopped to consider the real argument she's making? Ousting our Minister is not a solution. It just creates another problem. Not to mention the fact that you want to bring Muggles into our world full-stop," he added, directing his acusatory glare at her. "Why hasn't anyone realized that while some of them will understand, many won't! Wars will be fought over this, endlessly, because some party or other will get angry. We'll be used as supposed doctor, even if our magic does know its limits and they assume we're lying. This is madness, and you all should be wise enough to realize it."

"It doesn't have to be that way," she pointed out from her spot on the couch, not bothering to stand and fight him on it as he seemed to want her to. "There can be a solution if we discuss it and find one. Provided everyone is willing..."