Chapter 40

THE REACTIVE STRATEGY

The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix was located on top of a prominent bald hill surrounded by the green fields and meadows of Ireland. There was a taller hilltop a few miles to the west, but the hermit who had chosen the lower hilltop as his home had probably done so because of a small lake nearby. Quite a lovely place, I thought, especially if magically protected against wind.

Greenane Castle – that was the name by which Dumbledore had called the place. But the building on the hilltop could hardly be called a castle. It was sturdy enough, but lacked any elegance: it was just a mess of rugged stone walls held together more likely with magic rather than good stonework. It seemed obvious to me that the hermit had planned himself a much more impressive building, but the plan had been stripped down due to lack of funding, skills or something. It reminded me of the pictures I had seen of the Bent Pyramid in Egypt; the plan had been changed to be less ambitious after half of the pyramid had already been built, resulting in a much less formidable building than it could have been.

Dumbledore, who had already returned to his own appearance, popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth and headed towards the building. Remus and I dispelled our own disguises as well and followed him.

"While the Fidelius Charm is immensely useful, it has its limitations," Dumbledore said. "All magical theoreticians agree that nothing can be hidden completely. That means the subject of the Fidelius Charm cannot be the Secret Keeper himself, and if the Secret Keeper stays in the house he is hiding, the charm will weaken and break in a matter of hours; the reason why I cannot stay here for long. Similarly, you cannot form a chain of Secret Keepers, two or more people keeping the secrets of each other. And one person can be the keeper of only one secret."

"Now I see why you weren't the Secret Keeper of the Potters," I said. "But why is our Headquarters here instead of Hogwarts?"

"Members of the Order come and go all the time. If they did so at Hogwarts, it would be noticed, and soon everyone would know who the members are. Those who work at the Ministry would most likely lose their jobs, making it easier for Voldemort to seize power."

That problem wouldn't be difficult to overcome, I thought. Seize power yourself! And if Lucius protests, take Draco hostage.

"Harry and the Weasley children are upstairs," Remus said as we entered the dull, unfinished entrance hall of the castle. "They're eager to help the Order, but we can't let them do anything else but make this place more comfortable."

"I do not approve of the use of child soldiers," Dumbledore stated.

"Why don't you summon a couple of house-elves from Hogwarts for the job?" I asked.

"Because then the children would have nothing to do," Dumbledore said. "This is the only way they will not become too restless. Besides, the Weasleys are not well off financially, and I happily give the four youngest children a summer job."

I fought down my urge to groan with difficulty. The Weasleys had financial troubles for very good reasons: they had more children than they could afford, Mrs Weasley was a housewife by her own choice and immediately after winning the Daily Prophet drawing they had wasted the winnings on a holiday trip to Egypt! No extra income could help their financial troubles if their lifestyle remained wasteful.

"There are some members of the Order in the living room," Dumbledore said and popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth. "I will introduce you to your new comrades-in-arms."

The living room was much more pleasant to the eye than the building in general: the stone walls were covered with wood panels and the floor with thick carpets, each window had red curtains and there were lots of furniture; perhaps the hermit had only finished this part of the building. I recignised some of the people in the room: Alastor Moody, reading through some parchments and sipping from his flask; Arthur, Molly and Bill Weasley, speaking about something I presumed involved wasting money; Mundungus Fletcher, who stopped doing whatever he had been doing with one of the many oak chests by the wall the moment we entered; and Sturgis Podmore, writing a letter.

"The Hogwarts Triwizard champion?" Bill Weasley asked with a smile after Dumbledore had announced my membership in the Order and introduced everyone. "Very good!"

Moody did not seem pleased, but I could not understand why. He had been really impressed with me as my Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, but apparently his paranoia towards Slytherins prevented him from considering me a valuable ally. Many times he had suggested he would have liked to meet me in the battlefield as an enemy. Would he really have preferred it if I had offered my skills to Voldemort?

"So, when will the action begin?" I asked and rubbed my palms against one another in an anticipatory gesture. "How many battles have you already fought against the Death Eaters?"

"The war has not yet begun in earnest," Dumbledore said and popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth.

"Well, it's about time it did," I said. "We've got the upper hand for now. It'll take time for Voldemort to gather all his supporters. We should strike before he gains more advantages."

"We are not ready either," Dumbledore explained with the patience I had grown to resent. "The Ministry is not on our side, so we must be careful. Each member of the Order has been given certain tasks. Alastor and I, obviously, are in charge of planning our strategies. Severus has infiltrated the Death Eaters. Arthur is one of our agents within the Ministry, keeping an eye on Voldemort's agents. Molly is in charge of the Headquarters. Remus is in contact with werewolves, William with goblins and Rubeus with giants. Mundungus gathers intelligence from Knockturn Alley and other places where Voldemort might seek support. Sturgis and many others are in contact with potential new members. Minerva helps me at Hogwarts."

"I offer myself for covert operations," I said. "You know, if you need someone to disappear without a trace –"

"Actually, I already have something for you in mind," Dumbledore interrupted. "I am very pleased with how much you changed the House of Slytherin for the better during your two years at Hogwarts, and you are a good friend of a few Gryffindors, too. The thing is, I am in constant need of new teachers of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts."

I felt like being submerged in icy cold water. Of course Dumbledore had planned something like this for me. Offering the Defence professorship was just a slightly veiled way of saying, 'I'd like to get rid of you, preferably for good.'

However, despite all the downsides, Dumbledore's offer had certain appeal to it. I was very fond of Hogwarts, and I would return there gladly. That was what I had planned in my first life: become a permanent resident and start manipulating the minds of young witches and wizards in order to make them my followers. But this was not something I would have liked to use my time with during wartime. Lecturing to children, reading homework and marking exam papers was a total waste of time compared to learning much more advanced magic from Karkaroff with Legilimency-enhanced efficiency. And I also had the job at the Department of Mysteries to pursue. If I was to defeat Voldemort sooner rather than later, I simply could not waste my time with teaching duties.

And then there was the question of Voldemort's curse. I had learned how he had created the curse when I had tried to turn it against Snape in the Chamber of Secrets at the end of my sixth year, but it had been far too complex for me to understand, let alone remove. It was possible, maybe, that the curse would consider me Voldemort and not strike me as it had struck every other Defence Professor save Moody, but I did not want to risk it. The foundation of the curse had not seemed to be based on soul magic, which would have made it safer for me.

"You have shown extraordinary talent both in your studies and in the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore praised me, imagining wrongly that enough flattery could make me accept suicide. "You are the perfect example for young Slytherins that joining Voldemort is not what an upstanding Slytherin should do. As Head Boy you gained experience of authority over students. I know you taught Harry many charms and fighting techniques during the tournament. You are exactly the person we need to prepare our young to defend themselves. Hogwarts has never employed anyone as a teacher right after graduation, but if anyone, you deserve to be the first one. Would you take the job?"

"Uhh…" I voiced, feeling distracted as the person I secretly considered my enemy smiled at me benignly and popped another sherbet lemon into his mouth. "Headmaster, I would not like to join the list of failed Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers. The position is cursed! I happen to know what fates befell some of those who taught before I came to Hogwarts. Lockhart died. Quirrell died. Blake was a pervert. Summers was an even worse educator than Binns. I've also heard whispered tales of a certain Professor Barney –"

"But, Mr Valedro," Dumbledore interrupted me hastily, "surely you understand that we are living very dire times. The Ministry refuses to believe in Voldemort's return and is actively harassing us for speaking the truth. I fear that if I do not find a new Defence Professor soon, Minister Fudge will see this as an opportunity to send his agent to Hogwarts."

"Professor Dumbledore, I see you're not thinking like a Slytherin," I said. "Anything can be an opportunity. Let Fudge send his agent to Hogwarts as the Defence Professor. He'll be gone after a year, the curse will make sure of it. And how? What will the scandalous incident be that will convince the Ministry that it no longer needs an agent at Hogwarts?"

"The Ministry will realise that Voldemort has, in fact, returned," Dumbledore said, clearly impressed with my reasoning.

"Exactly. I'm not particularly impressed with Voldemort's intelligence. I'm sure he doesn't even realise it when we use his own weapons against him."

The other members of the Order, Moody in particular, stared at me with somewhat startled expressions.

"Very well, Tom," Dumbledore said. "That is a gamble, but perhaps it will turn out for the best. Then we must come up with something else for you to do."

"We've got no use for covert operations yet? Most of the Order seems to be working with the recruitment of potential allies, and it's something I'll manage as well. Last summer I arranged several gatherings of Slytherins who've graduated from Hogwarts within a few years. They're eager to have something exciting to do, and I assume some of them consider Voldemort as someone who can provide them the excitement. They only need a constructive way of finding a purpose in life, and Voldemort will have trouble with his recruitment."

"Great idea," Dumbledore said and popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth. "Last time we did not have anyone like you, and it cost us terribly. So many Slytherins joined Voldemort the moment they graduated."

"We can't just take so many Slytherins in!" Moody growled. "We've got to be absolutely sure about the loyalties of new members. If Valedro floods the Order with his friends, there will soon be a majority of new Blacks and Pettigrews in here!"

"They don't need to know anything about the Order," I pointed out. "Let them think it's an organisation led by me – a Slytherin conspiracy." That way it would be easy to turn them against Dumbledore after Voldemort's defeat.

"It will be a strategic advantage," Dumbledore said, oblivious to the next level of my plan.

"I don't know if I'm aware of everything the Order is up to," I said. "Recruitment aside, what are our other plans? What kinds of operations are under way?"

"We're guarding –" Remus began, but Moody interrupted him with a loud cough.

"I object to telling everything to such a new member," the old Auror snapped.

"What have I done to earn such distrust?" I asked, not offended, but genuinely curious.

Moody barked with laughter. "Trust is earned, lad, not distrust. This is war we're preparing for, not Quidditch. So far all our members are veterans of the last war or people who've got a personal grudge against the Death Eaters – except you. You're from New Zealand, eh? From a school no one has ever heard of? Not long ago someone called you the most Slytherin student of Hogwarts ever, suggesting you've got no ideological reasons to side with us. There seems to be nothing at stake for you in this war, and yet you're willing to risk your life. You're also very proficient in disguising charms. One wouldn't have to be Mad-Eye Moody to be suspicious."

"I do have a grudge against Voldemort," I said, desperate to steer the conversation away from the disguise I used all the time in order to hide my true identity from Dumbledore. "He abducted Harry, and Harry is my friend. But if that's not enough, Voldemort also has a grudge against me. I foiled his plan."

"This is how conversations in the Order tend to go," Dumbledore said, smiled apologetically and popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth. "Usually we reach a compromise. Alastor and I have agreed that we will not task our newest members with the most confidential missions."

"Is guarding one of the most confidential missions?" I asked, my voice heavy with irony. Apparently the Order of the Phoenix did nothing to win the war, just to make sure it did not lose.

"All the time we have someone invisibly at the Ministry," Dumbledore said. "There are places in there that we do not want the Death Eaters to access, and individuals whom we do not want to be put under the Imperius Curse. We must do this without the Ministry knowing and without permission, because the Ministry is not alert enough itself. This much we can confide in you until Alastor is convinced of your sincerity."

"It's enough for now," I said. Being given boring guarding missions was something I certainly did not want. If being a full member meant wasting my time, it was better not to be one.

Dumbledore had been using his wand on a parchment while Moody had lectured to me, and now he handed it to me.

"This is a Communication Parchment," he said. "The Protean Charm connects it to the parchments of the other members of the Order, allowing us to write messages. It is also charmed so that only members of the Order can read it. Keep it upon you at all times and you will be informed of meetings and the like."

I took the parchment and pocketed it.

"But now I have stayed here long enough," Dumbledore said after checking his pocket watch. "There is still time before the Fidelius Charm weakens too much, but let us not take unnecessary risks."

I decided to explore the castle and asked Remus to accompany me. Together we left the living room, and in the entrance hall we immediately met the youngest of the temporary residents of the castle: Harry, Ginny, Ron and the Weasley twins. They looked a little sheepish as we opened the door, and I realised they had been trying to eavesdrop.

"Oh, hi, Tom, you're back!" Harry greeted.

"Hello, everyone," I said. "My tour is over, and it was successful, thanks for asking. Now I'm back in Britain, helping in our fight against the forces of evil."

"I can't wait to hear what you've got to tell us," Harry said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Unfortunately, Mrs Weasley knew what the children were up to and appeared behind me in an instant.

"We're not telling them more than they need to know," she said sternly. "They already heard much the night Harry arrived. Don't let them bully you into spilling all our secrets, Tom."

The children grimaced with disappointment.

"I heard you've had an exciting summer too," I said to Harry.

"Exciting?" he asked incredulously. "There was one Dementor attack, but it only lasted two minutes. The rest of the month in Privet Drive was so boring that you can't even imagine! You were on your tour, Hermione travelled to Bulgaria and Ron and the others were forbidden to tell me anything. It was maddening!"

At that moment Dumbledore came out of the living room too. His eyes scanned the children briefly, and he said in a very neutral tone,

"Good day to you all."

He popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth and headed out.

"Headmaster?" Harry asked in a somewhat startled tone.

"Yes, Harry?" Dumbledore said and turned. He seemed not to be looking straight at Harry.

"Er… the hearing at the Ministry," Harry said. "How should I prepare for it? I don't know what to do."

"Do not worry, I will be there to defend you from the accusations."

"You will? Thanks. Er… it's just…" Harry tried to find words, and I could tell from the frown on his face that he was not happy with Dumbledore. "Why did I have to stay in the dark of what was happening?"

Dumbledore took a step away from the door.

"These are really serious matters," he said with the mildest frown. "Your friend Tom was just welcomed into the Order, but even he has not been told everything."

"I want to do my part," Harry insisted. "Voldemort is after me, isn't he? I can't simply wait while others are doing important things."

"I understand your frustration, Harry, but you must remember that we are fighting a war," Dumbledore said. "Your encounter with the Dementors could have been disastrous to our cause. You are brave, Harry, a true Gryffindor, like your parents. During the last war, they, too, went on dangerous adventures for our good cause, a few times even against my explicit wishes. They were lucky to survive those adventures, although by doing so they earned Voldemort's ire. Many others were less lucky. I have mourned many friends who could have survived had they been less reckless. I do not want you to become one of them."

"But when Dementors come to Little Whinging? It could've been Death Eaters as well."

"We are making sure nothing like that will happen again. Your time to participate will come, Harry – sooner than you might hope. However, at the moment Voldemort is avoiding attention, and this situation may continue for a long time. Even though it is unfortunate that the wizarding world refuses to believe the truth, the situation keeps Voldemort from killing people, which is good. You still have three years of Hogwarts left. Use them well to prepare for what is to come, because the situation will change, and Voldemort will target you with all his strength."

"Yes, Headmaster," Harry said.

Dumbledore nodded his farewells, popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth and left.

"You wanted to see the castle?" Remus asked.

I followed him and the children to the upper floor. There were many gloomy rooms that the children were tasked with cleaning, but a merrier place was the ramparts which had a spectacular view over the Irish countryside. As I was shown these places, Harry came nearer and whispered,

"Could you possibly let slip some little secret?"

"No," I whispered back. "But only because there doesn't seem to be any. Dumbledore waited for years before he confronted Grindelwald. He never confronted Voldemort. His current strategy is no different: just waiting. A reactive strategy – and no war has ever been won using one."

"You think we're going to lose?"

"Dumbledore is going to lose," I corrected. "We – are not."

Marcus Flint had been in the British Army for a year, and with the subtle help of magic here and there he had become a respected soldier among his Muggle peers. Peregrine Derrick and Lucian Bole had joined the Army as well, and they had managed to convince six other Slytherin alumni to accompany them; it was not much, but it was a start. Graham Montague, Cassius Warrington and Miles Bletchley still had one year left at Hogwarts, and they were spending the summer holiday by practicing fighting together, as I had ordered them. These twelve people became the core of my Slytherin conspiracy, but I had to assume a shadowy role as their leader; there was no telling which ones of the other Slytherins they were in contact with had been recruited by the Death Eaters.

The Muggle weapons Flint had become an expert of had frightening power, but there was a certain magical weapon which was so much more powerful that I was determined to claim it as my own: the Time-Turner. Because of my hunt for Karkaroff, I had not been in contact with anyone at the Ministry as I had planned before the end of my final Hogwarts year. The right person to approach first was someone with more connections than anyone else.

I wrote a letter to Horace Slughorn and asked to meet him. It took a few days for him to reply, but eventually he did, and I was invited to his family manor.

Even though the Slug Club had formally disbanded when Slughorn had retired from Hogwarts, his numerous connections ensured the continuation of his luxurious standard of living. As I had acquainted myself with him again the previous summer, he had grown somewhat eager to form new connections again. No doubt my accomplishments in the Triwizard Tournament had made him even more excited about the prospect of having me as one of his protégés. I would grant him the pleasure as long as he was of use to me.

Slughorn Manor was not a very large or old one, because the family had not been rich or influential before Horace Slughorn had used his cunning to make himself important. Even then the family had not accumulated much wealth, because so much had been wasted in his lavish lifestyle. He had been married four times (the latest three wives had been former students of his and vastly younger than him), and the number of offspring he had produced was one of the reasons he was so respected in the pure-blood supremacist circles, even though not all of his wives had been pure-bloods.

Usually the manor was a lively place with important people dropping for a visit and Slughorn's great-grandchildren running around. But as I was allowed through the wards, what I saw was an empty place save numerous trunks and boxes packed full. In the middle of it all was my former Potions master, looking sad and weary – and old. Earlier he had always been much more youthful than Dumbledore.

"Moving somewhere?" I asked as I handed him a large box of crystallised pineapple.

"Tom, m'boy," he said. "You of all people must know why! You were there to see it happen!"

"Are you referring to something that the Ministry and the Daily Prophet insist never happened?"

"Dumbledore is convinced that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned. I believe him." He stared at me with his eyes wide in an almost child-like manner. "If anyone, the Dark Lord has found a way to escape death!"

You seem strangely sure about that, I thought by myself, but I had a very shrewd idea as to where his certitude originated from. Before being trapped in my diary, I had been planning to ask him about making multiple Horcruxes, and Voldemort had most likely done so before making the second one.

"Sounds like you know the Dark Lord more closely than most people," I said, unable not to tease him a little bit. "He used to be a student of yours, I take it?" Packed in one of the yet unsealed boxes were piles of photographs of former promising students, so my assumption was not a far-fetched one.

Slughorn paled and his hands began to shake slightly, and I could almost see how he tried to come up with some plausible denial.

"In the Malfoy Yule Ball you mentioned my namesake," I continued, smiling knowingly as his hands began to shake more. "Tom – Riddle, was it?"

"Don't say the name!" Slughorn squealed as if I had said 'Voldemort.'

"Sorry."

"Never have I misjudged a student so horribly!" he exclaimed. "He was the most charming boy, but his heart was cold and cruel already then! For years I have regretted it how I helped him. I have always brought talented people together so that they could serve Britain, but he convinced many of them to follow him into darkness!"

"And now you're afraid that he will come after you," I said, looking around.

"Yes… during the last war I was safely at Hogwarts, but now… I can't feel safe here anymore. I'm moving. He will not find me."

"Then it's fortunate I came here before you're gone," I said, finally getting to my point. "I've graduated from Hogwarts with the best possible grades. I was the Head Boy and the Triwizard champion. Now I'm offering myself to the service of the Ministry. I want to continue my magical studies in the Department of Mysteries. You seemed eager to help me achieve my goals."

"Yes, of course," Slughorn said. "It is always a pleasure to see a young talented wizard getting a swift start for his career. But, Tom, things have changed for the worse very quickly."

"Because of the Dark Lord's return?"

"Yes, and also because you were there to witness it. Where is that newspaper? Accio Daily Prophet!" The newspaper zoomed into his hand from one of the trunks. I came closer to have a look at it. "After Dumbledore announced the Dark Lord's return, the Ministry did everything it could to end the rumours. Someone at the Ministry wanted to ask you about what really happened – you are considered more reliable than Harry Potter for some reason. And… well, look here."

The article he showed me was one of those I had skimmed after returning from Russia. It was a wrap-up reportage of the Triwizard Tournament, full of speculation and conspiracy theories about how Dumbledore had tried to use the spectacle to further his political interests – clearly building on the lies I had told my Slytherin housemates and their parents. Apparently, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had taken Dumbledore's announcement more seriously than Fudge, because it was their job to do so, but the Auror investigation had been cut short very quickly.

"I know more about this story," Slughorn said. "The Auror in charge wanted to speak with you about the events of the third task. However, you were nowhere to be found, and Fudge proclaimed that you had fled Britain after having been caught participating in Dumbledore's lies. I'm afraid the Ministry no longer holds you in high regard. You've become marked as one of Dumbledore's people!"

It was not that unjustified, seeing how I was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but it was a regrettable setback. Lucius, Theodore and Robert Jugson might also have influenced this, because Voldemort had obviously ordered them to do any harm they could to his enemies through their Ministry connections.

"This means there's no way I could get a job at the Ministry, let alone in the Department of Mysteries?" I concluded.

"Yes, and my letter of recommendation would change nothing," Slughorn said sadly.

"Then it is of great importance to convince the Ministry of the Dark Lord's return," I said, only slightly disappointed.

In fact, this turn of events was somewhat a relief to me. I had never even hoped that my accomplishments in the tournament would earn be an instant access to the Department of Mysteries. I still would have needed to work for some time in another department, and even that of Magical Law Enforcement would have been frustrating to me. I readily moved on to Plan B: illegal infiltration.

The Order was guarding the Ministry from the inside in order to prevent the Death Eaters from accessing certain places. The Department of Mysteries had to be one of those, because it would have been pure madness to let Voldemort get his hands on a Time-Turner. There might come an opportunity for me to stay on guard at the Ministry… and an opportunity to sneak into the Department of Mysteries.

The Time-Turner was a weapon that could turn even a losing war into an astounding victory. Even a reactive strategy would become a proactive one.

Posted on the 17th of April, 2021.