Disclaimer: I am not James Luceno or J.K. Rowling.
Enter Riddle and Yaxley, meeting in the abandoned factory in Knockturn Alley.
Yaxley. What is this place?
Riddle. An old factory. It was owned by Caractacus Burke, but he deeded it to me before he died.
Yaxley. For what purpose?
Riddle. He thought I might have some use for it in jump-starting a plan of urban revitalization.
Yaxley regards Riddle.
Yaxley. No guards?
Riddle. They're within comm range should I need them.
Yaxley. I would have thought you at least wanted me to see your new office. Then I recalled what you said last time we spoke, about our not being seen together in public.
Riddle. The office is temporary. One more suited to the position is already in the planning stages.
Riddle and Yaxley proceed to walk together.
Yaxley. So you've hooked them already.
Riddle feigns a look of innocence.
Riddle. Not at all. The Appropriations Committee approached me with the idea of constructing a dome near the Ministry Headquarters that will also serve as a docking facility.
Yaxley. You appear to be very pleased with the idea.
Riddle. Most pleased.
Yaxley pauses to study the Minister.
Yaxley. Your truer nature begins to reveal itself, I think. Congratulations, by the way, on Hangleton's defeat of the Trading Standards Body. An odd series of events, wouldn't you agree?
Riddle. [nods] Everyone involved—including me—underestimated the abilities of our Queen. It pained me to learn that Master Remus Lupin had been killed. Was it his death that firmed your decision to leave the Order?
Yaxley. To a degree. I've learned recently that another of my Trainees, Patricia Rakepick, is alive.
Riddle. I hope that's some consolation . . .
Yaxley. It isn't, as she is said to be leading the Cabal. She could be a danger to the Ministry, Minister.
Riddle. Then thank you for the warning. How did the Order react to your departure?
Yaxley. Not well. They demanded more explanation than I was willing to provide.
Riddle. And Master Flamel?
Yaxley. [frowns] He knew that my leaving was simply a matter of time. Although he did say something I found to be rather curious. He said that if I had any designs on instigating dissent, he would be one step ahead of me.
Riddle. [shakes his head] Are you planning to instigate dissent?
Yaxley. [smiles] My first order of business is to reclaim my title.
Riddle. Count Yaxley. Somehow it suits you better than Master Yaxley.
Yaxley. I'm tempted to adopt a new name altogether.
Riddle. A new beginning.
Yaxley. Perhaps I should do as you've done.
Riddle. As I've done?
Yaxley. Call myself Yaxley, as you retitled yourself Riddle.
Riddle. I see. Well, what meaning is conveyed by a name, in any case? I understand that Remus fell to a lightwand.
Yaxley. The same Death Eater he confronted in Surrey. The Order is hoping that Wormtail can shed some light on the matter once the trial is under way.
Riddle. I wouldn't put much faith in that. Does the Order know anything at all?
Yaxley. Not even his Death Eater name. But they know that there is another.
Riddle. How could they?
Yaxley. In theory, when the Death Eaters went into hiding one thousand years ago, they vowed that there should be only two of them at any given time—one Master, one apprentice, through the generations.
Riddle. Was this one who killed Remus the apprentice or the Master?
Yaxley. My every instinct tells me that he was the apprentice. Sirius suspects as much, as well, based on the Maledictus's behavior. The Order is being more circumspect, but naturally they want the other one found. The Death Eaters deliberately revealed himself on Surrey and on Hangleton. More than disclosing their alliance with the Trading Standards Body, he did so to send a message to the Aurors. It amounts to a declaration of war.
Riddle. How would one even begin to know where to look for this other Death Eater?
Yaxley. I'm not sure. Several crises of the past decade bear the signature of a more sinister intelligence than those who planned and perpetrated the events. The Hebrideans, for example; but especially Cokeworth and the assassination of the Trading Standards Body leadership. Clearly, certain people have dealt with the Death Eaters—perhaps without realizing it—and some may be dealing with the surviving one currently. Now that I'm no longer an Auror, there may be a way for me to extract information from the crime cartels and other organizations. Eventually I will find him—or her—and with any fortune before the Aurors do.
Riddle. [nods] To avenge the death of Master Lupin.
Yaxley. The thought preoccupied me for some time, but no longer.
Riddle. Then why seek this one?
Yaxley. Because I suspect that Hangleton was only the beginning—a kind of opening salvo. The Death Eaters want to see the Ministry brought down. Much as you and I do.
Riddle pauses.
Riddle. But to ally with a Death Eater . . .
Yaxley. For many, they are the embodiment of pure evil, but the Order knows differently. What separates a Death Eater from an Auror is the way each approaches the Magic. The Order of the Phoenix has placed limits on itself, but the Death Eaters have never shied from incorporating the power of the dark side to accomplish their goals.
Riddle. You wish to learn the secrets of the dark side?
Yaxley. I confess that I do.
Riddle pauses as he contemplates his next move.
Riddle. Something tells me that this hidden Death Eater may eventually find his way to you. And if and when he or she does, I hope that the alliance you forge will help us restore order to the galaxy.
Exit Yaxley.
Riddle returns to office at the Ministry of Magic Headquarters, sitting behind his desk.
Enter Sirius and James, escorted into the office by the Minister's aide, Augustus Rookwood.
Riddle rises to greet his Auror visitors.
Thank you both for accepting my invitation. Sit please, both of you.
James starts to sit, but stops upon a shake of the head from Sirius.
Sirius. Thank you, Minister, but we'll stand. We realize that your time is valuable.
Riddle returns to his seat and smiles.
Riddle. Not too valuable to spend with two of the people who saved the life of my Queen and rescued my homeworld from the clutches of the Trading Standards Body. I am sorry for the loss of Remus Lupin, Master Black.
Sirius nods.
Sirius. I have only recently been named an Auror Knight, Minister.
Riddle. [with an air of surprise] And already you've been appointed a Trainee. Remus must have trained you brilliantly.
Sirius. [nods] He was an inspired teacher.
Riddle. [shakes his head] Such a waste of a life . . . [to James] I didn't have an opportunity on Hangleton to thank you, young Potter. Your actions were nothing less than extraordinary. May the Magic ever be as strong with you.
James. Thank you, sir.
Riddle. I'm told that you grew up in Surrey. I visited there, many years ago.
James's eyes narrow for a moment.
James. I did, sir, but I'm not supposed to talk about that.
Riddle glances at Sirius.
Riddle. And why is that?
James. My mother . . .
Sirius. James . . .
In regarding Sirius and James, Riddle recognizes his younger self within the latter.
Riddle. I apologize if I've stirred something between you.
Sirius. [shifts uncomfortably] The Aurors are trained to live in the moment, Minister. Our upbringings have little to do with our lives in the Magic.
Riddle. Easy for an infant, I'm certain, but for a young boy . . . Well, who am I to pass judgment on the tenets of your Order, when the Aurors have kept peace in the Ministry for one thousand years. [to James] But tell me, Trainee Potter, how it feels to have become a member of such a revered group.
James. It's like a dream come true, sir.
Riddle. A dream come true . . . Then you've long thought about the Order of the Phoenix and about the Magic.
James. [nods] I've always wanted to bring justice . . .
Sirius. It's not for you to decide your destiny, James. The Magic will guide you.
Riddle smiles.
Riddle. [aside] Guide you to me, young Potter. Yaxley has talent, and could be a powerful placeholder. But this seemingly guileless pleasant-faced boy, this magical boy, is the one I will take as my apprentice, and use to execute the final stage of the Grand Plan. Let Sirius instruct him in the ways of the Magic, and let Potter grow embittered over the next decade as his mother ages in slavery, the galaxy deteriorated around him, and his fellow Aurors fell to inextricable conflicts. He is too young to be trained in the ways of the Death Eaters in any case, but he is the perfect age to bond with a father figure who will listen to all his troubles and coax him inexorably over to the dark side. [to James] As I told you on Hangleton, James, we will continue to follow your career with great interest. [aside] And assure that it culminates in the ruination of the Order of the Phoenix and the reascendancy of the Death Eaters . . .
Exit all.