Remus' Recruitment

Hogwarts had seen a fair number of headmistresses and an equal amount of headmasters. Most of them had contributed one thing or another to the school, changing it in the tides of time. Many of them had been great teachers. Some had been especially influential. Another portion had been selected because they were deemed to be the right choice for their time. All of them had been masters of their craft.

Over the course of nine centuries, esteemed witches and wizards had formed a long string which ended in the current headmaster. A wall in his office illustrated this fact better than anything else. Portraits had been hung there. Each headmaster and headmistress was represented by a painting of her- or himself. This tradition had been started in the 15th century when clever enchantments had made it possible to put an imprint of a personality into a painting. They were offering advice and knowledge to the current headmaster.

One day Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore's portrait would hang next to them. There was no question about that. He would willingly grant support and references to his successors. Hopefully, he would be of greater use to the coming headmistresses and headmasters than the current collection was to him. Once or twice it had crossed his mind, that this dilemma was partially his fault. The root of his problem to find useful advice was the kind of challenges he was burdened with. None of his predecessors had fought a Dark Lord. They were here to help him handle Hogwarts and not Britain. In a nutshell, they were simply out of their depths.

For the moment Dumbledore pushed his musings aside. The solution to one of his problems was close. One man held the key for freeing him of a major part of his predicament. Soft knocking announced the arrival of his guest. "Please come in."

The handle of the door tilt downwards and the dark oak swung around in a soft manner. Remus Lupin made a notably different entrance than a few months prior. "Hello, Professor."

"Hello, Remus. Please take a seat." An honest smile spread the headmaster's beard. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

The former student and teacher failed to make himself comfortable in the plush armchair. He squirmed uneasily, "I should not be meeting with you."

"Why not?" Dumbledore questioned smoothly. "We are ex-colleagues, ex-comrades and so I hope still friends."

The wizard looked guiltily at his counterpart, "Are we really?"

"I consider you a friend." offered Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye.

"Certainly you are aware that I'm responsible for the lawsuit against you." Remus groaned. His acceptance of Hermione's decisions had never been enthusiastic and it had dwindled especially over the past month.

A dismissive gesture with his left hand visualized Dumbledore point of view. "It is not you, but your employee that is responsible."

"As much as I want to, I can't drop the accusations." was Remus sad remark on the matter. "Not on your behalf or anybody else."

Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "I was already aware of that."

"Then ..." Remus scratched his chin, feeling the stubble that was once more forming there. "I'm not sure, why you requested my presence?"

"I'm gathering the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore interlaced his fingers. "I'm asking everyone that was willing to oppose Voldemort the last time to rejoin me. We have been given an opportunity to get started before his plans fully unfold. We have to make the best of it."

Surprise sounded in Remus' voice, "You are asking me if I want to rejoin the Order?"

"Certainly." Dumbledore inclined his head in affirmative. "Your participation has been of great value the last time and I think it will be worth even more these days."

Giving the matter barely any thought, Remus offered, "I will do whatever I can."

"This kind of determination will be of great value to us." praised Dumbledore. "Thank you very much for offering it."

"Don't mention it." Remus requested. He was elated since he had not ruined his relationship with the highly esteemed headmaster. "What does the plan look like?"

Dumbledore cocked an eyebrow. Remus had become noticeably more hands-on since he left his post at Hogwarts. "Peter revealed Voldemort's hideout to us. He claimed it was an abandoned manor in a little muggle village. When the Aurors checked his story, they found nothing but a ruin burnt down to the ground. No residue of magical or cursed fire. I tried to trace down Voldemort but the trail was cold."

"I could take a closer look at it." offered the werewolf.

Dumbledore hesitated before declining, "No, that would be a waste of your time. I already checked the place for evidence and found absolutely nothing. Even if you managed to find something I did not, it would be useless. Voldemort has by now run too far to capture him."

"But there is something we will do?" Remus asked worriedly.

"Certainly!" Dumbledore emphasized, "I want us and Britain to be prepared when Voldemort comes out of hiding. Therefore we will prepare ourselves and even more importantly we will prepare the ministry. Sadly the minister denies the danger we are currently living in."

Remus found himself on the receiving end of a pair of bright blue eyes.

"There is something else I wanted to ask. Why did you not come to me?" the headmaster sounded disappointed with Remus, which made the younger man cringe.

"Pardon me?" he asked unsure of himself.

"Please tell me, why have you not placed Peter in my care?" specified Dumbledore.

"How would that have changed anything?" asked Remus evasively.

"It would have been for the better." the headmaster answered without saying much.

"And how so?"

After a very long moment, Dumbledore explained, "Had Peter been my prisoner, I could have controlled what he was asked and therefore what he would have answered."

"I understand, you would have preferred to keep some of the machinations hidden. That Moody was impersonated for example." Remus tried to sound sure of himself and maybe even a little bit accusatory, but his voice was too weak.

"It would have been for the better," Dumbledore repeated softly. "As it is now, Peter has revealed too much. Neither the Minister nor the public is unwilling to believe all the revelations which have been revealed to them. An imposter inside of Hogwarts. Barty Crouch Junior not dead but hidden by his own father. Sirius Black no Death Eater. Voldemort back from the dead. That is just too much."

"But it's all true!" Remus objected. "You can't lie while subjugated to Veritaserum."

"That is right." Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "But there is a wide gray area between the truth and a lie. If one has mastered a certain technique, one can still leave details out. If a question is not precise enough, one can give answers that would indicate something one could easily understand in the wrong way. And most importantly one can only tell what one knows."

"But Peter knows all these things." countered Remus. "He could not lie about them."

"That is only technically true." lectured Dumbledore factually. "Peter could tell us anything as long as he believes it to be true. And that is the problem. The Minister is of the opinion, that Peter is crazy and has hallucinations. An investigation of his credibility was ordered. Auror Dawlish has been chosen to determine what was a real revelation of the Veritaserum and what was just insanity induced imagination on Peter's part."

Remus blinked in surprise. "I'm sure Auror Dawlish will find evidence."

"If Auror Dawlish wants to find evidence, he will do so. I don't doubt that. He has always found evidence when he was in need of it." Dumbledore summarized the character of the Auror. "But if – and this is a major if – if Dawlish does not want to find evidence, he will not do so. That is why he was chosen."

"He takes the law into his own hands?" gasped Remus at the not very subtle hint about the wizards methods.

"Most of the time he does his job excellently. He gets wizards arrested that need to be restricted for everybody's security." Dumbledore downplayed this as a minor problem. "But I fear in this case, he will come to the plainest of conclusions. Peter will be marked as crazy and dangerous. Guilty of placing Harry in the Tournament with the intent of getting him killed. If Bartemius Crouch Senior will be marked as his victim or as another offender, is not clear at this point in time. Much depends on the question whether his body will be found."

"But that is injustice! There are procedures that have to be followed. The court makes the decisions not a single Auror!"

"It is as it is. Momentarily we are lacking the influence to do anything about Mr. Dawlish. And overall he is just a minor nuisance." Dumbledore's voice rose substantially. "The important thing for us is warning everyone of Voldemort's return."

"That is absurd!" Remus shook his head in disbelieve. He was not willing to let the matter rest. "Why would Peter even kill Harry if Voldemort had not ordered him to do so?"

"Since they cite Peter was insane all along, they will not need a motive. Dawlish can just claim: He did it." Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe he will point at his so-called delusions? Like I said a lot depends on the question if Bartemius will be found or not and if he will be alive or not. So far the evidence accumulated is not conclusive to this question."

"What evidence did Dawlish gather anyway?" Remus wanted to know.

"It is very little. Some evidence could be secured at the Crouch's family home." Albus offered willingly. "Someone has stolen a small number of books. They are clearly missing in the Crouch's private library. I inspected the shelf personally and there was quite a number of gaps while no books at all lay around to fill them. The conclusion is rather obvious. Dawlish barely found a way around it. His report states that an unknown number of books was loaned to unknown wizards."

Remus scowled. He leaned towards Dumbledore's reasoning. Books about magic were rarely given away. Especially borrowing multiple volumes would be seen as very impolite.

"Since the number of missing tombs is so small, even I was not able to deduce, what we witness in this instance. Maybe the thief was interested in one or two themes. Maybe he stole some books for their value or because he was just interested in them. Since the number of missing books is so small I was not able to find a pattern. There are no obvious thematic gaps in Crouch's library. And I saw some rare and old volumes on first glance."

"So, nothing at Crouch's house points at You-Know-Who?"

"Nothing at all."

"What are we going to do?" Remus requested eagerly.

"Since the ministry is not willing to prepare in any way, we have to work twice as hard." Dumbledore started to explain. "First we have to strengthen our numbers. I'm gathering the old crowd. You're one of the first I asked. But I'm also trying to recruit some new members. We've to prepare for the impending fighting. And another task may be even more important, we have to man strategic positions to restrict Voldemort's access to the Ministry of Magic and thwart his plans."

Remus' face fell. "I can't be of any help in the Ministry." He did not need to mention that as a werewolf his presence inside of the ministry building was barely tolerated. For the same reason, he was not very suited for recruiting either. "Or at recruiting."

"If you think you can't further our goals you are wrong Remus." Dumbledore smiled. "In fact, you can hope to achieve more in that regard than most others."

Finally, Remus understood, "You are talking about the werewolves."

A scarce nod confirmed the assumption. "Indeed I have to ask you to contact them."

"I achieved nothing last time."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Don't underestimate your contribution to our efforts! The last time Voldemort could recruit only a few packs of the most vicious werewolves. Most of those were killed in the war. And I think the surviving ones learned the hard way, what it means to associate with Voldemort."

"There is still as much resentment against the Ministry within the werewolves than back then."

"Maybe you're right. We definitely wasted a chance to reconcile with our cursed brothers after the last war. However, I think you will be able to counter Voldemort's recruiting. You are older, more experienced and – I dare to say so – more respectable. Your word holds more weight today than it did back then."

Remus was a bit surprised, "Naturally I will do my utmost, but don't expect a miracle."

"Thank you, for accepting this task." Dumbledore leaned back. "Sadly there is something else I have to burden you with."

"Another task for the Order?"

"Two in fact."

Remus' eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Both tasks are linked to the same person. Your employee." Dumbledore explained, "The Potters have stood up for the light for generations. And it would be a huge asset if the Regent would be willing to lend us his support."

His back was stiff and his fingers were white from grabbing the armrest of his chair so hard. Remus understood this request very well. He knew this could backfire enormously. Dumbledore had obviously no clue who he was really working for.

"I know what you're thinking." The headmaster assured his guest. "But I'm only asking you to talk to the Regent. If he is anything like James, he will understand, that we have to stand united. You have to reason with him. He has to stop his campaign against me. Nothing will come out of the whole affair."

Before Remus could say something, Dumbledore went on, "Whatever the Regent of House Potter wants to happen, it won't occur. It was unlikely even before Peter Pettigrew was captured. But now that the Ministry has a scapegoat every attempt of the Regent will fail." Dumbledore spread his hands in an apologetic gesture. "They will blame Peter for everything." After a moment of thinking he added, "And if Bartemius does not reappear, they'll interpret that either as an admission of guilt on his behalf or they'll come to the conclusion that he is another victim. Anyway, the ministry will divert all charges to Bartemius."

Remus sighed, "I doubt the Regent will be sharing your sentiment on that matter."

Dumbledore stared at Remus. Finally, he allowed his resignation to show, "First of I never wanted Harry to die."

"I know." Remus mumbled barely understandable, "And I think the Regent is aware of that as well. The lawsuit represents his actual stance. You are accused of neglect and missing care, not of murder. That is because he thinks that you committed these crimes and not because he felt he could not push the case otherwise."

Dumbledore stroked his long white beard, "Can't we drop this Regency humbug and just name everyone as they are meant to be?"

Remus shook his head apologetically, "I'm bound by oath."

The headmaster was not happy about this revelation but he took it in stride. "The Ministry was never willing to condemn itself or one of our foreign guests. And for that reason alone, I'm untouchable in this matter. If I was punished, they would not be safe either. Anything the Regent of House Potter can manage is to slander Harry's name." Dumbledore picked another lemon drop. "Harry does not deserve to be remembered like some scoundrel. He was better than that. I'm trying to protect his name. But there will be a point from which on, I will not be able to proceed on this course of action."

"Is this for my ears only?" asked Remus thoughtfully. This argument held actually some potential to sway Hermione.

"You can pass everything along if you wish." Dumbledore made a dismissive gesture. "Please tell the Regent that he will drag the memory of Harry through the mire. And by doing so he will ultimately ruin his own name too."

They both thought about that for a while.

"If that was all, I will take my leave."

"There is another small favor I would like to ask of you." Before Remus could react, Dumbledore said, "I want to talk to Sirius, but I'm not able to get into contact with him. If you see him, please ask him to meet me."