Aurors Part II
Remus' first stop was the home of Mundungus Fletcher, a crotchety old man with a fondness for enchanted Muggle items that occasionally ran him afoul of the Ministry. Fletcher had been one of the best Aurors in his day, though, and he could still cast a hex stronger than anyone else Remus knew.
Fletcher was also a monster hunter, though he had settled down and rarely killed these days. He had known Remus to be a werewolf soon after they met; Remus still wasn't sure how the old man had found out. Surprisingly, it hadn't caused trouble. Remus had, one day, asked why.
"Son, I've killed all manner of beasts in my day," Fletcher had said, drawling a bit. "And a good few have done their best to take me with them. There's some as are animals, through and through, like Grindylows and kappas. They've just gotta be killed or captured, or left alone. Then there's the part-humans, and most of them are much worse. Human intelligence mixed with, say, a vampire's instinct, or a goblin's…" he'd paused. "But werewolves, now. Werewolves are the most human monsters of all, Remus, you know that. You're the only kind that is human, most of the time, and you're not like vampires, you don't have to kill humans to live." He'd paused, sucking a sherbet lemon slowly. "That sort, it's us or them, no truce, no coexistence possible. But your kind –well, I've known werewolves to live their whole lives and never bite no one." He'd smiled. "And I like you, boy. Your heart's in the right place, whatever shape you've got once a month."
Remus hadn't spoken to Fletcher in some time, not since before taking the job at Hogwarts. Now he was knocking on the old man's door at nine o'clock in the morning.
The door swung open and a grumpy face appeared.
"Hello, Mundungus," Remus said politely. "I'm sorry to call on you like this, but it's quite important."
"Come in, Remus," Fletcher invited. Remus stepped inside the room. It was hung with various trophies; a stuffed kappa, a tanked grindylow, and assorted other creatures.
"I'm guessing this has something to do with the rumpus in the Prophet," Fletcher said shrewdly.
"Yes." Remus hesitated. How was he to explain everything properly? "Professor Dumbledore wants us to alert all the – all the old Aurors to the news. Voldemort's back."
"Back? How back?" Fletcher asked, paling just slightly below his tanned features.
"Back in a body," Remus said grimly. "It'll all be explained properly later, I suppose – no doubt Dumbledore will want to see all of us."
"You said we before," Fletcher prodded. "Are you expecting me to help with something?"
"No." Remus took a deep breath. "I received this word from an old friend, someone who's been wrongfully imprisoned for most of the past fourteen years. A man who isn't a Death Eater, isn't a traitor, at all." He waited for Fletcher to say something, then continued. "Sirius Black."
"You're telling me that Black is innocent?" Fletcher asked skeptically, after a moment. "Son, I know you were friends with him, but he was guilty as anything. It was obvious!"
"No, he wasn't," Remus said stubbornly. "We all thought he blew up that street, but he didn't. It was Pettigrew, Peter Pettigrew." Quickly he gave a short version of the events of fourteen years ago, skimping on details. When he finished, he sat back.
"Well, Remus, you've told me a wild tale," Fletcher said slowly. "I'd like to believe you – I always liked young Sirius, you know. Are you sure?"
"Very," Remus said. "You can write to Dumbledore, if you wish. He knows."
"Or I could catch me a Death Eater and get it out of him," Fletcher growled. "You've got me all riled up again, Remus. I'm ready to hunt, and this time I want big prey, dangerous prey."
"Death Eaters are that," Remus said grimly. "I'd like to stay, but I've got a lot more people to talk to."
"If you're going to see Figg, she's visiting an aunt," Fletcher advised him. "She left the address with me in case of problems. Old habits die hard," he mused, scrounging through a drawer in the table at his side. "Here you go."
"Thank you," Remus said. He stood up, read the address, and Apparated from the room.
Little Whinging was a pleasant enough place, Remus thought, though the area he was in had a disconcerting habit of naming all the streets after plants. Remus rather instinctively preferred animals to plants, and being surrounded by streets named Magnolia, Cedar, and Privet was a bit odd.
There it was, ten Cedar Drive, right back of Privet – he scratched his head and tried to remember what it was about Privet Drive he was trying to remember. Knocking on the door, he was not surprised when a middle-aged woman opened it. He remembered her, all right.
"Arabelle?"
"Remus, how nice to see you." She smiled at him. "Come in, won't you?"
He followed her in.
"I'm assuming this has something to do with that tragedy at Hogwarts?" she said. "You'd not come out here for much less."
"Yes," he said sadly. "I'm here to alert all of the Aurors."
"Oh," she said, and her face went blank for a moment. "I'd almost forgotten those old days," she said finally." When we never knew who might be a Death Eater, who might be ready to kill us – or who we'd have to kill." She smiled bitterly. Remus knew well that she had faced one of the most horrible pains of all; her own husband had been a Death Eater and had tried to turn her over to Voldemort. She had been forced to kill him. that was shortly before Voldemort's downfall; he hadn't seen her much since.
Remus sketched out the story he had told Fletcher. She accepted it well enough.
"My horoscope told me that someone this week would tell me something odd that I had to believe," she said. Remus winced; he had never gone in for fortune telling, but Arabelle, he knew, was devoted to the stars.
"Er, this is your aunt's house?" he said, trying to break the silence.
"Will – my husband, you know – his aunt's. She's a Muggle, hasn't got a clue about us." She smiled. "Do you know, my aunt used to babysit Harry Potter?"
"That's right," Remus exclaimed. "That's where he lives!" Privet Drive. He'd completely forgotten.
He excused himself and went back outside. He knew he should be moving on to the next person, but he was right here, and surely it wouldn't hurt…
He walked down the streets until he reached Number Four. There he rang the doorbell and waited.
A very thin woman answered.
"Yes?" she said in a nasty vice, and he stared. He's met Petunia Dursley perhaps twice, and every time had been amazed at how very unlike her lovely sister she was.
"Excuse me, but I'm here to see Harry," he said smoothly. A fat boy Remus could see right behind Petunia screamed and waddled off as fast as he could. Petunia had gone white.
"There's no one by that name here," she said coldly.
"I know he lives here," Remus stated. "I'm just trying to make sure he's all right and everything…" it sounded feeble to him, but Petunia's face went even whiter.
"Are you that – that Sirius Black?" she gasped.
"No," Remus said, looking confused. Then he had an idea. "I know him very well, though, is there a message you want me to –"
"Harry!" Petunia shrieked. A moment later, Harry was rushing down the stairs. He stopped halfway.
"Professor Lupin!" he shouted. He ran the rest of the way outside. Petunia locked the door behind him.
"If you attract attention, you can just go sleep somewhere else!" she shrieked through the door.
"We really don't want to attract attention," Remus admitted to Harry. "Perhaps we should go elsewhere? Have you eaten?"
Harry made a face. "Dudley's on a diet still, so no, not really," he said.
"All right, I've not had lunch either. Any suggestions?"
"Er, there's an ice cream place not far from here, near a park," Harry said, glancing at Remus, who was wearing robes. "You might not attract so much attention there, they're used to all sorts of oddly-dressed people." He grinned. "Dudley's gang hangs out there a lot."
Remus laughed and followed Harry.
"So, why did you stop by? I mean, I'm thrilled you did, but you don't live near here, do you?"
"Oh, no, but I had business out here…"
"Something to do with Voldemort?" Harry asked. "Dumbledore was sending Sirius to you…"
"Yes, he showed up early this morning and told me everything that's been happening. I've already spoken with a few people." They had reached the little ice cream shop. Harry said he'd go in and order, so Remus gave him some Muggle money – he always carried a bit in case he got stuck somewhere and couldn't Apparate home.
As they ate, Harry asked Remus what he'd been doing over the past year.
"Oh, not much," Remus said vaguely. "Keeping an eye out for Pettigrew, trying to write a book on monsters…"
"The New Monster Book of Monsters?" Harry asked, grinning and licking the cone where it was dripping down. Remus laughed too.
"It is about due for an update, isn't it? We used those when I was a student – Sirius loved them, of course, he was always setting one loose under the Slytherin table at mealtimes."
"Is Sirius going to be staying with you?"
"For the time being." Remus finished his ice cream. "He'll be safe enough, I think."
"Did he tell you about Snape having been a Death Eater?" Harry asked. "What do you think about that?"
"It –well, to tell the truth, it rather surprised me. Severus and I never got along, but," Remus paused, resting his hand on his chin, "but I never saw him as one of them. I'm not really surprised that he's working as a spy now, though. I can see him in that role."
"But why would Dumbledore trust him, knowing what he'd been?" Harry seemed very puzzled.
"Well, Dumbledore's much smarter than the Minster seems to think," Remus began. "If he trusts Snape, I think he's probably right to. Even if we don't know the whole story." He smiled at Harry, who seemed satisfied.
"Can I come to visit you this summer?" he asked eagerly. "The Dursleys are being awful, just like they always are. It's only because I told them Sirius is a convicted murderer who wants to make sure I'm being taken good care of that I'm not being locked in the cupboard anymore."
Remus grinned. "I'd love you to stay, Harry," he said, "But I don't think it'll work. First of all, there's sure to be a lot of work Dumbledore has planned for us. And, it's going to be getting very dangerous, for all of us, Harry. I know you don't like the Dursleys, but you are safe there. Dumbledore's got magic surrounding you, Voldemort can't get you, and no doubt the Ministry is keeping a close watch on you." He thought for a minute. "Did you ever use magic over the summer and get in trouble over it quickly?" he asked.
"There was the time a Dobby – house-elf, see – used a charm and I got in trouble," Harry said. "And of course after I blew up Aunt Marge, they must have found that out fast…I thought that was just what they did, though, kept an eye out…"
"Well, they do, to some extent," Remus admitted. "But not as close an eye as they do on you, I'd bet. Sirius used to do all sorts of stuff in the summers – James and I would help him, sometimes – and he was only caught about three times."
"He didn't get expelled?" Harry asked, amazed.
"You wouldn't believe the way he talked himself out of trouble a couple times." Remus grinned to think of it.
"I'm not afraid of Voldemort," Harry said abruptly. "I mean, I guess I'm scared of him – he's, well, very evil and powerful - but I've lived through his attacks four times now."
"And each time, you've almost died," Remus said grimly. "No, Harry, you're staying here. Look, I know it's a long time, two months," he said in a softer voice. "But it's better than what Voldemort would do to you. And, listen." He smiled, trying to cheer Harry up. "I'll come to take you to get your school things from Diagon Alley myself, at the beginning of August."
"All right then," Harry sighed. "Would – er, when we get back, would you mind mentioning Sirius very loudly around my aunt? It might save me getting into trouble."
"Of course I'll do that."
Dumbledore was tired, very tired, and very little of it had to do with a lack of sleep. He felt weighed down by a hundred different burdens, each things that he had to do, or have done for him, a thousand different worries.
Fudge had refused to remove the Dementors from Azkaban, or send emissaries to the giants. Dumbledore had already taken care of the giants problem, but he wasn't sure what to do about the Dementors.
Still, Remus and Sirius would be alerting all the retired Aurors, and Moody would be joining them as soon as he had recovered from his ten months in a chest. Some of the Aurors had now-grown children who would doubtless help, and Arthur Weasley at the Ministry had offered whatever support he could give. Arthur had reported that his eldest son, Bill, had decided to see if Gringotts would let him help out during the emergency that was sure to come. Dumbledore was now composing letters to various people he thought might listen.
He felt as if he were preparing for war – and he knew he was. He and Voldemort were opposing generals who had fought before and now knew many of the other's weaknesses. The clash, when it came, would be worse because of that.
But if he were a general, many of his finest officers were already spent. James and Lily Potter, of course, dead for many years, the McKinnons – a fine and influential family – the Prewetts and Boneses, Frank Longbottom…. But there were many others still left. Sirius Black, who he had thought gone, had returned. Remus Lupin, all the Aurors – and new people, too. He knew that many of the students who had graduated recently would believe him, for they knew first hand what dark plans Voldemort had set into motion already.
And the other professors. Minerva was surely his right-hand – well, not man, but anyway – Severus, who was spying rat the risk of pain, torture and death. Flitwick, who'd spent a lot of time in the past few years perfecting chamrs that would be very useful now. Sprout, whose collection of dangerous magical plants was the finest in Britian. He rather thought that Beauxbatons would be helping however they could, and was not yet ready to rule out Durmstrangs.
The only problem was the Ministry, and the Minister in particular. Perhaps Harry didn't know it, but many of the men he had named as Dark Eaters were powerful at the Ministry. Fudge would not listen, and the few who would were doubtless men like Arthur Weasley – unimportant men who were relegated to unimportant departments. How different it had been the first time.
Yet this time was different in one good way. This time they had Harry Potter.
Remus made one more stop, to the home of Adalbert Waffling, another older man. When he was done there, it was about four o'clock. He thought about going home, but decided that he had better make good use of time.
Because he was tired, and because it wasn't far, he caught a Muggle bus to the town he was headed for next – first making his robes appear to be Muggle clothes. As he rode, his mind drifted back to his visit with Harry, and from there to the past, the time he had spent teaching, the time he had been a student – and the few years afterwards when he had still been happy….
"Constant vigilance!" the scar-faced man barked as he stared down at his eleven pupils. They all jumped a bit and tried to avoid his wildly roving magically eye. Remus squirmed a little. He'd heard plenty of rumors about Mad-Eye Moody, and he was afraid, just a little, that somehow the man would discover that he was a werewolf.
Sirius, who was next to him in line, nudged him reassuringly and grinned. Moody's back was turned, and apparently Sirius felt it was a safe enough thing to do. He was wrong.
"Black!" Moody barked, not turning. "What do you find so funny?"
Sirius stared at him.
"I asked you a question, Black!"
"I, uh, nothing, sir," he said, nonplussed for once in his life. Now it appeared that James was having trouble not smiling.
"You are all here to learn from me, learn things that may allow you to survive. I don't have to tell you what the death rate is for Aurors – you all knew that before you signed up. Paying attention will let you learn; remember that. Constant vigilance!"
Remus looked at his friends out of the corner of his eyes. They had all leapt at the chance when Dumbledore offered it to them; danger, possible death, low pay, high risk of pain – and a chance to help defeat Voldemort. Well, not all – Peter hadn't come. Not that they'd expected it. And here they were to learn from Mad-Eye Moody, who was apparently the best Auror there was. He didn't seem that happy to be teaching new recruits – even if it was only for a few weeks.
At the end of those few weeks, Remus felt that he'd learned more than he'd ever learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts. For the first time, they were really expecting people – not monsters – to be attacking them. They knew, now, that the Death Eaters did not hesitate to use the Unforgivable Curses. Three young men had already dropped out; now they were broken up into groups of four and sent off for more training.
James, Sirius and Remus were allowed to remain together, and a fair-haired boy named Frank Longbottom joined them. Frank had been a Ravenclaw and they hadn't ever really met him. He knew who they were, though – their reputation was enough for that. Now they were going to Wales, and they were going to do some real monster fighting – dragons. Apparently someone at the Ministry thought that Voldemort was getting dragons to help him. He was a Parselmouth, and though dragons were not snakes, no one really knew whether they might not speak Parseltongue as well.
The first day the four of them took to the air on broomsticks to try to defeat a dragon – a common Welsh Green. It wasn't very big – only about twenty feet long – and could shoot fire a bare ten feet. Of course, that was more than enough to kill them. And no one had given them any hint how to defeat it.
"Right, listen," James said, settling into his role as leader as they sat on their brooms a few hundred feet above the ground. "We'll try to Stupefy it first. there's four of us, that might work."
"Right," Sirius agreed. "But we've got to get close enough…"
"Just like playing Quidditch," James said, grinning. "I'll do a Wronski Feint, and as soon as I pull out of it, you three fire. It'll be following me – I'll make sure of that –and won't notice you."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Frank asked, a trifle nervous.
"Sure it a good idea," Sirius said, grinning. "James here can pull it off."
Remus didn't really like it, either, but he said nothing and allowed James to fly off.
James darted around the head of the dragon, swerving back and forth to get its attention. It leapt off the ground, after him, and he started up higher and higher.
"Right," said Sirius, watching. "We'd better get moving, we have to be close enough."
James was now a hundred feet from the ground. He pointed his broom sharply downward and began to plummet, faster and faster. Barely three feet from the rocks, he pulled upward suddenly, firing a curse as he went. Sirius, Remus, and Frank fired at the same moment; the blasts hit the dragon and it collapsed.
"Good job!" one of the instructors said after the four had gotten back. "Very creative. Now you have the rest of the day off; tomorrow you can do it one-on-one."
"That's impossible," Frank said as soon as they were out of earshot. "One person can't possibly stun a dragon."
"No," James agreed. "So we'll have to find another way. Moony, any ideas?"
"Well, what weaknesses does a dragon have?" Remus asked.
"I have no idea." Sirius grinned. "As I recall, in Defense we learned to 'avoid dragons at all costs' and in Magical Creatures, Kettleburn refused to let us hatch any…"
"Well, yes, they are illegal," James conceded, remembering. "But still, it would have been interesting."
"Let's think, then." Remus glanced at Frank. "Any ideas, Frank?"
"Well, it can't be their scales – and regardless of legends, they have no holes, unless they're really ill. Their mouth?"
"Perhaps…" Remus thought. "But to get a spell in there, you'd have to be close enough that it could burn you."
"No, that's a bad idea," Sirius said. "Though it might be interesting to let one eat a bunch of fireworks…."
"That won't help." Remus was thinking. "Their eyes," he said finally. "That's all I can think of. Their eyes don't have any special protection."
"Yes!" James was excited. "A Conjuctivitis Spell, so it can't see, then something else to keep it from squishing you accidentally anyway. Knew you could do it, Moony."
"I still think it would be fun to feed one fireworks," Sirius insisted.
"You go ahead and do that then." James grinned at his friend. "And now that we've
worked that out, why don't we all go eat and get back to our quarters?"
"So that you can write to Lily?" Sirius asked slyly. James colored.
"Well, I did promise to write often… and she'll want to hear about this, I'm sure."
"Just remember not to tell her where we are," Remus said practically. "Or we could get in major trouble."
"And that is different from our usual sate how?" James asked, but his mind was clearly a hundred miles away – with Lily.
Remus was disrupted from his thoughts and jerked back to the present by the bus stopping. Quickly, he got off and stood alone in the village square. Here he was.
He was feeling rather confident; everyone he had spoken to today had believed him, after all – though he rather thought Waffling might write to Dumbledore, just to check. Surely, this would be the easiest trip yet. Surely, she would want to believe him?
He made enquiries in the village shops about her.
"Comes down a couple times a month, she does," an old shopkeeper says. "We don't ask about her, she doesn't bother us. Most of the young 'uns thing she's a witch."
Remus smiled, knowing the man would mistake his wry humor for skepticism.
"Not that I believe it, mind," the keeper continued. "I heard tell her husband left her. Could do funny things to a woman, I suppose. Actually, toady's her shopping day, generally – if you want to see her, she's probably in the market."
Remus thanked the man and hurried off. He walked through a large open marketplace, where various farmers were selling fresh vegetables, keeping his eyes open.
He recognized the woman quickly enough, though she had changed greatly. He had almost reached her when she saw him. Her face went white and she turned away and started off.
"I've got to talk to you!" he shouted after her, hurrying behind.
"Go away, I don't know who you are!"
"Just a minute, please, it's important. Dumbledore sent me!"
She ignored him, hurrying onward out of the village. He followed.
"I said go away," she said after glancing back at him. "I don't want to hear it."
"You have to," he said. "Do you know what's been going on?"
"I read the papers," she said coldly. "I'm not interested in talking-"
"Voldemort's back."
The road was deserted, which was just as well, for any Muggle would have found the scene odd. She turned around and stared at Remus.
"If you see him, tell him where to find me so he can finish off the job he started fourteen years ago," she whispered. He could barely hear. "Thank you for the warning, Remus." She began to turn away.
"I didn't come to warn you." He reached out a hand. "Dumbledore's calling all the Aurors back, getting us ready."
"I was never an Auror. I'm not going to become one now."
"We need you. Things are going to get very bad, very fast."
"I don't care anymore. I don't have anything, anyone left to care about. The whole wizarding world can just go rot for all I care."
"We need you."
"Sod off!" she yelled at him. "I don't care anymore, I just don't! Go away and catch some Death Eater, Remus."
"That's not all," he said as she turned to go. "Sirius is innocent."
He was not prepared for what came next. The basket she had been carrying came flying at his head.
"How can you! You know – know – what he did! You know he was the worst of them, you know he betrayed Lily and James, killed Peter! How can you say such things to me? Is this your perverted idea of a joke, Remus Lupin? Is the fact that I was your friend worth nothing to you?"
"It's not a joke. It's the truth." He spoke quietly, and perhaps his words carried conviction, for she lowered her arm and looked at him.
"You really believe it," she said wonderingly. "How can you believe it?"
"Because it's true." He smiled gently at her. "Why don't you let me explain, Jenny?"
Continued soon!
That's a good-sized part! And I hope you'll forgive me reusing my Jenny. The plain and simple truth is, I have a –er, major – deficiency when it comes to making up characters, and once I've got one, I like to keep him or her. And I really, really like writing romances now (please don't tell my family, they'd never believe you) and Sirius is one of the few characters I can handle writing romances for. And since any woman I write in love with Sirius is going to come out like Jenny anyhow, I figured, well, why not?
This isn't part of Double Trouble – the little twins aren't going to show up at all as they really don't fit this story. Perhaps it's best to think of the stories as totally unrelated – which they are, though hopefully this will still fit ok with Magical Mischief Makers. After all, GoF basically wiped out most of my old stories anyway!
I am thrilled so many people are enjoying this – I know I am! Air conditioner's broken, and writing takes my mind off the heat, so I'm getting pages and pages cranked out.
Er, disclaimer same as usual. Anyone else think that 'Avada Kedavra' is a corruption of 'abracadabra'? And this story is going to get darker!
KB