Some Like It Hot

by Matthew W. Quinn and Kyli Ann Rasco

December 8th, 1997 AD

4 PM

Fenrir Greyback leaned back in his big chair.

"You've been doing a good job training the werewolf army," he said. "And this school of yours has been working out very well, much better than I expected. The parents all love it, and it's turned into a big morale booster in the colony."

Remus Lupin smiled gamely.

"Thank you, sir."

Greyback leaned forward.

"There is, however, something that's lacking."

Lupin swallowed.

Uh oh.

"There's a particular kind of Dark Magic I think the werewolves should know, something that most Death Eaters don't."

He looked at Lupin.

"I think it's something you might be aware of."

"What might that be, sir?"

Greyback grinned.

"Fiendfyre."

Oh dear.

Either Greyback was rifling through Lupin's grotto when he was away or Yaxley had clued him in on the books Lupin had taken out of 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Sir, I don't know if Fiendfyre is an entirely safe thing to be teaching the werewolves," Lupin said hesitantly. "It's very difficult to control…"

"I think the army should have challenges to equal their abilities," Greyback said. "They've been doing quite well with you as their trainer and I think they're up for it."

He's getting overconfident. That could be a bad thing.

"Sir, in the best interests of the colony, I must prot…"

"You know," Greyback interrupted. "I'm sure you miss not seeing your wife every day. If I were married to that piece, I sure would."

A wistful, lustful expression briefly crossed the senior werewolf's face. Lupin's heart sank.

Oh Merlin. He's probably going to try to threaten her to make me do something again.

"And I was thinking, if we made her a werewolf, she could come live in the colony with you without causing any undue problems."

He looked straight at Lupin.

"You know, there's a full moon coming up."

Lupin paled.

All part of the plan, he told himself. All part of the plan.

"Very well, sir," Lupin said. "But I must warn you, Fiendfyre is still exceedingly dangerous and difficult to control. It gave me problems the one time I used it, and I'm one of the better wizards in the colony."

Greyback looked at Lupin for a moment.

"A fair point," he said.

"Therefore," Lupin continued. "I think only the most talented wizards in our army should be taught Fiendfyre. Furthermore, we'll need a special area designated for the use of Fiendfyre, one of the farthest parts of the free-fire zone probably."

Greyback nodded.

"Very well," the senior werewolf said. "I want you to pick out the best candidates within three days and start teaching it within five."

"Yes sir."

December 8th, 1997 AD

6:30 PM

"Fiendfyre," Connor Lykos repeated. "Fiendfyre."

Lupin nodded.

"One of the most dangerous forms of Dark Magic."

He and his fellow conspirators had assembled in the snow-dusted free-fire zone outside the colony, well away from prying ears. He and Lykos had disguised their meetings as additional training and planning sessions, so he doubted that many people would care.

"Sod all," Cedric Rawlings said. "I've heard of Fiendfyre. If enough werewolves can use it, we'll be more powerful than the bloody Death Eaters."

Lupin regarded Rawlings.

He's already thinking of himself as a werewolf. This isn't good.

"That assumes somebody doesn't accidentally burn the colony to the ground," Lupin cautioned. "It's very dangerous."

"You know," Rawlings said. "This might be a deniable way to kill off You-Know-Who."

"The Dark Lord?" Taylor Andrews asked. "That'd be an ambitious project."

Rawlings shook his head.

"The other You-Know-Who."

"Ah."

"And how would you do this?" Lupin asked. "You can't just tell Fiendfyre to kill a particular person and dissipate. At least I don't know how."

Rawlings fell silent for a moment.

"True. However, what if there's some way to contain it until it's done its job, then drive it away?"

Now it was Lupin's turn to be quiet. Rawlings' idea had set wheels turning in his brain.

If it could be contained. Fiendfyre in a container, when released, would function like a Muggle firebomb.

And if one of the conspirators was nearby when it was released, they could control it while it incinerated one Fenrir Greyback.

"Do we make it look like an accident, then?" Lykos asked. "Have him come see us practice with it? We could take him out within a week."

Lupin shook his head.

"Too obvious, given my previous affiliation," he said. "In any case, we want someone to blame — the Death Eaters. Just not us."

Andrews looked thoughtful for a moment.

"You know," he said. "There are people in Greyback's inner circle who are true believers in the Dark Lord. They say he wants equal rights for all magical beings, he wants us to come out of hiding."

Lupin raised an eyebrow.

"The perfect scapegoats. How powerful are they in magic?"

"I don't know," Andrews said. "I know Joseph Marshall's pretty good. Tabitha Alexander might be too."

Gears resumed turning in Lupin's mind.

"I think all of us should participate in this class," he said. "As should those two. We'll get some better wizards out of this, and some convenient scapegoats."

"We should test our theory out before we make our move," Lykos cautioned. "If it fails, as you said earlier, it might destroy the entire colony."

"A fair point," Lupin replied. "I wonder how we could test it out without possibly implicating ourselves…"

The thought hit Lupin like a lightning bolt.

Dora.