Chapter Ten: Revelations

Albus Dumbledore sat alone in his office; his head bent low over parchment. He felt a constant anxiety pulling at the back of his mind, which he could only consider normal due to the stress of war. Ministry documents were piled high on a table next to him, each requiring information or assistance in one form or another. Dumbledore made a mental note to visit the Ministry itself later that day.

He lifted a quill and began to scratch away at the parchment before him, when without warning a figure cloaked in black burst through his office door before spinning around to face him.

Dumbledore lifted his head sharply, but showed no sign of alarm as he recognised the figure.

"Good evening, Severus. I do not believe we have an appointment? Though you must forgive me if that is indeed the case, the mind does wander with age."

Severus Snape threw back his hood, revealing his face which was incredibly pale.

"What can I do for you, Severus?"

Snape stared at the headmaster incredulously.

"You mean you haven't heard?"

"What have I not heard?"

"He's gone, Albus."

A brief silence passed between the two men as Dumbledore set down his quill, and gazed hard at Snape.

"Excuse me?"

"What's going on? You didn't give me any warning, and now everyone's asking questions -"

"Who is gone?"

"The Dark Lord! No one's seen hide nor hair of him since last night, and now news is coming in that Mulciber has been arrested in Kent, and we heard that Imperius Charms have started to wear off — people are giving information everywhere - there was even a raid at a safe-house in Glasgow! Though I'm not sure if there is any truth in that."

"Severus -"

"Does this mean I'll go to Azkaban now? I must know."

Dumbledore stared into the face of the anxious young man in front of him.

"You are under my protection, Severus, but your fellows are not. Where did Voldemort go last night?"

"I wasn't there then, but I heard this morning that he went after the Potters. But he couldn't have gotten to them; the Fidelius Charm -"

"Stop."

Snape stopped speaking immediately, waiting for Dumbledore's explanation, but none came.

"Albus, what is going on?"

As Dumbledore pondered this, the answer he gave surprised him.

"I must confess, I really do not know."

There was a moments silence as Dumbledore swept the entire bundle of documents off his desk and into a bag.

"Come, Severus, time is of the essence now."

"Where are we going?" Snape asked anxiously.

"To the Ministry of Magic."

When Dumbledore arrived at the Ministry with Snape moments later, he found chaos had broken out. Spokespeople were outside the main entrance dealing with the press; trying to convince them that the rumours meant nothing and everything was as it should be.

Inside however, was a very different story.

Memos zoomed from office to office, as Aurors and Unspeakables ran down corridors and hallways with paperwork under their arms. Members of the Wizengamot could be spied through doorways in serious conversation with the heads of individual departments, and through it all, Bartemius Crouch Senior could be seen surrounded by officials heading towards the main conference room.

"Mr. Crouch, may I have a word?"

"Ah, Dumbledore, I'm afraid it seems the entire of England wishes to have a word with me at the moment. I assume you've heard the rumours too?"

"Do you believe it?"

"Hard to tell really, though law enforcement is all up in a heap, apparently scores of suspects have been apprehended since last night, the system of protection and concealment He Who Must Not Be Named has in place seems to have encountered a glitch. That doesn't give any basis to say he's gone though! I'm sure someone's made a serious error on his side — and I'm sure they'll end up paying for it. Good for us though, I must say, wouldn't you agree?"

"It seems it must be a bit more than that," Dumbledore said, as he struggled alongside Crouch through the flurry of activity. "I really must have a word with you, forgive me gentlemen."

With that, Dumbledore took hold of Crouch's upper arm and steered him away from the clamouring officials who begged for his attention.

"I must say, Dumbledore, I do have business to attend to!"

"Barty, I have word that the Death Eaters have had no news from Voldemort since last night. It is believed he went to the Potters."

"Now, now, Albus, you got permission for a Fidelius Charm to be enacted in that area. What more can we do? I mean how much store can you really set by a prophecy?"

"I need you to check if the Charm is still active."

"But, Albus -"

"If you find that it isn't you may have a solid lead on where Voldemort's assumed disappearance took place."

"Oh, very well. I'll send a memo to Improper Use of Magic; they'll have the Charm on file."

"Thank you."

As Dumbledore left Crouch and crossed the corridor towards Snape, he heard excited mutters all around him.

Do you think it's true?

He couldn't be dead, could he?

Imagine, You Know Who - dead! It would be the end of the war!

An extremely angry Snape met him at the other side of the hallway.

"Well?"

"They are as confused as us."

"Bloody hell!"

At that moment, a young Ministry member strode forth importantly towards Dumbledore, waving a piece of parchment in his hand.

"Mr. Dumbledore, sir. Mr. Crouch asked me to inform you that the Fidelius Charm you inquired after was breached at precisely eighteen minutes past two this morning at the Potter's residence in Godric's Hollow."

The colour drained from Dumbledore's face as he read the parchment.

"Sirius was their Secret Keeper…"

"What will I do now?" asked Snape.

"Go home, I will contact you later. I need to give evidence to the Wizengamot for Sirius's arrest. I hope they will get to him on time."

"You mean Black was a Death Eater?" Snape sneered maliciously.

Dumbledore's eyes blazed as he stared at Snape.

"Go home, Severus."

"What about the Potters?"

Dumbledore folded up the piece of parchment and waved his wand, sending a silver phoenix out into the evening light.

"Hagrid."

Sirius backed away from Peter's empty house, wracking his brains to think of where he might have gone. Why on earth would Peter leave hiding now?

Maybe he went to Godric's Hollow.

Sirius thought about it for a while without realising what it meant.

Yeah, he probably went to check on them… Sirius suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He knew where Lily and James were. And if he knew where they were, that could mean only one thing.

The Fidelius Charm had been broken.

Sirius jumped onto his motorcycle and biked to Godric's Hollow immediately, letting the bike fall to the ground as he raced towards the Potter's house. As he approached the smouldering wreckage he slowed down, walking carefully towards the remains. He shook his head with each step as though hoping he could wipe the image from his eyes.

Sirius knelt before the ruins in shock, his chest aching as he realised the horrible truth of what Peter had done.

He jumped when he felt a large, heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Yeh shouldn't be here, Sirius."

"Hagrid! Hagrid, what's happened, were you here? Did you see James, is he -"

Hagrid's beetle black eyes were swimming with tears, telling Sirius all he needed to know. He rose from his knees and walked shakily into the house, almost vomiting when he saw the bodies of his friends; James's eyes staring blankly into his.

"Harry," he choked, "Where's Harry?"

"I got 'im, he's here,"

Sirius stood next to Hagrid, staring at Harry.

"He's alive? But… how?"

"'Tis a miracle," smiled Hagrid. "Poor little blighter."

"He's cut," Sirius muttered.

"Yeah, Dumbledore thought he might be."

"Give him to me, Hagrid," said Sirius suddenly. "I'm his godfather, I'll look after him."

"I'm sorry Si, but I got me orders from Dumbledore to bring 'im to Surrey, an' tha's where he's goin'."

"Hagrid, I am his legal guardian."

"I'm sorry Sirius. Yeh can take it up wit' Dumbledore later on."

"But -" Sirius stopped arguing, it suddenly dawning on him that Dumbledore knew what had happened.

Dumbledore knew.

And Dumbledore thought that he, Sirius, had been the Secret Keeper.

He took a split-second to make his decision.

"Take my bike."

"Wha'?" asked Hagrid, surprised by Sirius's sudden change in attitude.

"You can have it; I won't need it anymore. Use it to get to Surrey. Keep him safe."

"Will do, Sirius. Look after yourself, okay? It'll be fine. Dumbledore'll sort everything out."

"Yeah," Sirius nodded, "… okay."

Hagrid gave Sirius one last comforting pat on the back before taking out his pink umbrella and enlarging the motorcycle for himself. Sirius heard the bike thunder away into the sky as he sat on the roadside, staring at the remnants of his friends.

It was some time later before, white and shaking, he picked himself off the ground and began to walk aimlessly down the deserted street, his tears having dried onto his face.

Dumbledore would think it was him, they all would. They would all blame him.

He deserved their blame, he knew it. It had been his plan.

But they needed to know who had betrayed them. He needed to pay.

He needed to find Peter.