Chapter 4: Dumbledore's Dismissal
Albus Dumbledore was pacing in his office at Hogwarts, pondering Tom's accusations against him, when he stopped with a sudden realisation. He had forgotten something, or more accurately, he no longer knew something. He knew that he was the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, but he no longer knew where its Headquarters was. That meant only one thing – the Fidelius Charm that he had cast upon the building, wherever it was, had been taken down, and recast by another. Dumbledore considered his response. He still knew the identities of those in the Order, after all, so all he had to do was contact one of them.
As he reached for the jar of Floo powder on the mantelpiece of his office fireplace, the soft double pop of an elf Apparating and Disapparating gave him pause. Turning back to his desk, he saw that the elf had delivered three letters to him. Two were in official envelopes, and from the seals, they were from the Ministry and the ICW. The third letter was a simple sheet of parchment, bearing Alastor Moody's rough handwriting.
Dumbledore.
You're out. You didn't show CONSTANT VIGILANCE, and the whole of Britain is going to suffer for it. As you will have realised, the Fidelius on Headquarters has been recast, so you can't come back, and none of us are going to tell you where it is. Do the right thing and actually CARE about security for once, and Obliviate yourself of anything to do with the Order, including this message. This parchment is charmed to Vanish itself once you've finished reading it.
Moody.
As Dumbledore's eyes passed over Moody's scrawl of a signature, the parchment disappeared from the top of his desk. Sitting down with a sigh, he opened the letter from the Ministry. It was a similar letter from Minister Bagnold, informing him that following "You-Know-Who"'s murder of the Potter and Longbottom boys, due to his (Dumbledore's) actions that led to You-Know-Who learning of Sybil Trelawney's prophecy, he was dismissed from the post of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. The letter from the ICW was much the same, stating that until "You-Know-Who" was defeated permanently (Dumbledore winced at that – he knew Tom had Horcruxes, but how many, what they were, and their locations, he had no idea of, and their use of the word meant the ICW knew as well), he was suspended from the Supreme Mugwump position, and once that defeat occurred, whether he was reinstated or replaced would be dependent on what he had done in the interim. He was, however, still permitted to attend Wizengamot and ICW meetings, but only as a visitor.
A soft crooning broke Dumbledore out of his sorrow. "I never should have trusted in Sybil's prophecy, Fawkes." he told the phoenix. "I forgot that how one acts after learning it is just as important as what it contains. I suppose Alastor is right, now that Tom is employing stealth tactics. Even I could be taken unawares." Dumbledore placed the tip of his wand against his temple, and held it there for some time. A few minutes later, he drew it away, and a softly glowing ball of silver the size of a pumpkin came with it. Dumbledore flicked his wand, and the ball hovered in midair. "Obliviate." he told it, and the ball faded to nothingness. Of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore now knew nothing. Rather than draw out his memories and store them, he had destroyed them completely.