~OOooOO~
Albus Dumbledore rarely, if ever, second guessed his own actions; normally he had everything well planned and thought out far in advance of ever needing said plan. He began to look back over his actions of the last two years and realised that they didn't seem like something he would do. As he mulled over this finding, he reached for another lemon drop and popped it into his mouth. He stood and walked over to the hearth and fire-called his Deputy Headmistress.
"Minerva McGonagall."
After a moment, Minerva's head appeared in the green flames. "You called me, Albus?"
"Yes, please come through. I have something I wish to discuss with you." He started pacing the floor in front of his desk, now intent upon the outcome of this conversation. He watched quietly as his Deputy Headmistress settled herself in a comfortable armchair. "Minerva, I need you to hear me out completely before saying anything." At her nod, he continued. "I have been thinking about some of my actions recently and have realised that I have not behaved how I normally would. I have put my own wishes and desires ahead of what is best for the students. I think it would be best for me to step down as Headmaster of this school and for you to step up in my place. I fear I have done irreparable harm to Harry Potter-Black and Charles Weasley. I am not sure what exactly I have done, but I know that I am responsible. I'm certain that you have noticed Mr. Potter-Black's odd behaviour and I know that there are stories circulating around the school as to the cause; I am afraid that I am the cause."
"Albus, before you do anything, if you are concerned about your actions and that they may not have been your own, we need to have Poppy and Severus examine you. Between the two of them, they would be able to find any problem, whether physical, mental or otherwise. Come with me to the Infirmary; we will ask them to run several scans on you to see if there is a logical explanation for this. Do you agree?" Minerva couldn't believe that, just hours after discovering the issue with the candy dish, Albus was requesting her to take over his duties. The potion must be wearing off fairly quickly for him to be regaining his own personality this soon. Albus nodded and handed her his wand; he followed her to the Infirmary, where Minerva fire-called Severus to have him join them.
~OOooOO~
Late that night, Severus called a meeting in Charlie and Harry's quarters; he and Minerva wanted to let everyone know what had happened and what the results of the tests had been. Once people started arriving, a spell was cast so that none of them could mention what was said to anyone who was not in that room. Lucius and Narcissa arrived, heavily glamoured and under disillusionment spells, and stood in the back, closest to Charlie's bedroom; they could just go in there if anyone tried to gain entry to the rooms. Severus was the only one to know that they were even in the rooms.
Severus looked around and, seeing that everyone had arrived, began to tell them what had happened. He started with Minerva suspecting that the sweets were responsible for Albus' behaviours and finished with the scans that he and Poppy had run on Albus. "The results were very interesting and definitive. For at least two years, Albus has been fed a steady supply of a very invasive potion. The potion itself is not illegal, but it's effects are."
Sirius looked at Severus in confusion. "How can the effects of a legal potion be illegal?"
"Good question, Mutt, please listen. The potion is a liquid version of the Imperius Curse. One dose is not enough to make anyone do anything; however, over the course of several weeks or months, the build-up of the potion in the victim's blood will cause them to do whatever the brewer wants them to do. The brewer need not even be there to give the instructions to the victim...as long as the instructions are stated aloud, in a room that the victim spends time in, the potion will cause the victim to follow the instructions of the brewer. This is what has been happening to Albus. The dish that he keeps those infernal lemon drops in was a solid form of the potion; it leached the potion into the sweets slowly, so that he got an almost constant dose. Fortunately for Albus, the potion leaves the body within 36 hours of being ingested."
Remus looked thoughtful. "So, if the bowl was made of the potion and he also had tainted sweets, he would be under this person's control for an indefinite length of time."
"Correct, Wolf. He just ran out of the older sweets today and had Minerva bring her supply of them to his office. That means that he has had no contact with the brewer for at least two weeks, since Minerva said that he usually keeps about two weeks worth of lemon drops in his office. We need to think of someone who has been here for at least two years, but has been away for the last two weeks."
Everyone looked around as they mentally ran through the list of everyone in the school. Severus thought about his Slytherins; Minerva, about the teachers; Ron and Hermione thought about Gryffindor House. Everyone was stumped until Remus thought of someone that no one would ever suspect.
"Harry, Charlie, you wouldn't have known this, but everyone else will. There's one person who fits that description. Does everyone remember when Aurora Sinistra was struck down with that unknown illness in the beginning of Harry's third year? We were never able to find out what the illness was, but she was unable to continue teaching. She was replaced by Devon McAndrews, who has remained in the position of Astronomy professor for the last two years. McAndrews has been away for the last week and a half; first he attended the funeral for his grandmother and then he stayed to help his parents. He's the only one that would fit every description."
Minerva's eyes widened and then narrowed. "He was top in his Astronomy class when he attended here, but it surprised me when he was recommended for the position; I hadn't thought that he would make a good teacher." She turned to look at Harry and Hermione. "How is his teaching?"
Hermione made a face. "He's alright, not great, but passable. He's not nearly as good as Professor Sinistra was."
Harry thought before answering. "He always seems to be very interested in what I'm doing, no matter what it is. Could he be the one? That would make him a Death Eater, wouldn't it?"
Severus nodded. "There are several new Death Eaters who always wear glamours, with the permission of the Dark Lord. He may well be one of them. I have a personal spy who is looking into who the newest Death Eaters are; this person offered their services to me in exchange for my protection to avoid becoming a Death Eater. I will ask if McAndrews is one of the newer recruits. I may not receive an answer for several weeks, but, once the Christmas holidays have started, my spy should be able to get some information to me about it. I will speak with them soon." Severus was not going to let Minerva know that his spy was Gregory Goyle; it was bad enough that the boy had offered his services as a spy, but if the Deputy Headmistress found out about it...he would lose his position.
~OOooOO~
Severus didn't have to wait until the Christmas holidays to find out. He called Gregory Goyle to his office the next evening, after dinner; what the boy had to tell him was enlightening, to say the least.
"Father sent me a list of people to go to if I needed help. Not surprisingly, all of them are Death Eaters; you're number one on the list." Greg handed the list to Severus and sat straight in his chair; he was hoping he had done well by asking his father who he could go to if he needed advice or any kind of help to avoid Dumbledore.
"I had hoped that I would be; I wasn't sure after I gave the Dark Lord the latest information about my son's condition." Severus scanned the list, noting that most of them were not anywhere near Hogwarts. Only his name and those of Vincent Crabbe, Pansy Parkinson and Devon McAndrews were close by. "McAndrews, is he new?"
"Yes sir. I wrote back and asked about him and how trustworthy he is, but haven't received an answer yet. I know he's new because he wasn't on the list last year, but he's been here for two years. I was kind of surprised to see his name because he seems to be neutral."
"Obviously not. I think I need to speak with Professor McAndrews when he comes back from his leave; I want to know exactly where he is in the Dark Lord's standings."
"Father said that, now that Lucius Malfoy is dead, you are his most trusted Death Eater. Sir, isn't that awfully dangerous for you?" Greg was sincere in his desire not to become a Death Eater and he was very concerned for his Head of House.
"Thank you for your concern Gregory. I do appreciate it; with your assistance I should be able to remain on your list for the foreseeable future. You and I need to work together to find out exactly where McAndrews stands. As soon as you receive an answer from your father, please let me know."
Greg nodded and left Severus' office. He went back to the Slytherin dorms, making plans all the while on how to ingratiate himself with Professor McAndrews.