Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling or Timothy Zahn.

Grand Admiral Grindelwald sits in his quarters aboard the Ministry cruiser Nurmengard.

Enter Ogden.

Ogden. A word with you, Admiral?

Grindelwald. Certainly, Captain. Come in. Has there been any update from London?

Ogden. No, sir, not since yesterday's. I can request one, if you'd like.

Grindelwald. Probably unnecessary. It looks like the details of the Nottingham trip have been more or less settled. All we have to do is alert one of the commando groups, team eight, I think, and we'll have our Aurors.

Ogden. Yes, sir. Admiral . . . I have to tell you that I'm not convinced dealing with Crouch is a good idea. To be perfectly honest, I don't think he's entirely sane.

Grindelwald. Of course he's not sane. But then, he's not Bartemius Crouch, either.

Ogden. What?

Grindelwald. Bartemius Crouch is dead. He was one of the six Auror Masters aboard the Old Ministry's Advance Guard project. I don't know if you were highly enough placed back then to have known about it.

Ogden. I heard rumors. Some sort of grand effort to extend the Old Ministry's authority outside the galaxy, as I recall, launched just before the Wizarding Wars broke out. I never heard anything more about it.

Grindelwald. That's because there wasn't anything more to be heard. It was intercepted by a task force outside Old Ministry space and destroyed.

Ogden. How do you know?

Grindelwald. Because I was the force's commander. Even at that early date, the Dark Lord recognized that the Aurors had to be exterminated. Six Auror Masters aboard the same ship was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Ogden. But then . . . ?

Grindelwald. Who is it we've brought aboard Nurmengard. I should have thought that obvious. Bartemiuus Crouch, note the telltale mispronunciation of the name Bartemius, is a clone.

Ogden. A clone?

Grindelwald. Certainly. Created from a tissue sample, probably sometime just before the real Crouch's death.

Ogden. Early in the war, in other words. And you deliberately brought this thing aboard my ship?

Grindelwald. Would you rather we have brought back a full-fledged Death Eater? A second Severus Snape, perhaps, with the sort of ambitions and power that might easily lead him to take over your ship? Count your blessings, Captain.

Ogden. At least a Death Eater would have been predictable.

Grindelwald. Crouch is predictable enough. And for those times when he isn't . . . That's what the hinkypunks are for.

Ogden. [grimaces] I still don't like it, Admiral. We can hardly protect the ship from him while at the same time having him coordinate the fleet's attacks.

Grindelwald. There is a degree of risk involved. But risk has always been an inescapable part of warfare. In this case, the potential benefits far outweigh the potential dangers.

Ogden. Yes, sir. You mentioned a message to team eight. Will you be wanting me to transmit that?

Grindelwald. No, I'll handle it myself. Their glorious leader, and all that . . . You know how vampires are. If there's nothing more . . . ?

Ogden. No, sir. I'll be on the bridge if you require me.

Ogden turns to leave.

Grindelwald. It will bring us victory, Captain. Quiet your fears and concentrate on that.

Ogden. Yes, sir.

Exit Ogden.