Reviews
Masteria
I'm glad you like the story
Alan
I was thinking about using a booby trap. Dumbledore was foolish enough to put on the ring Horcrux when he saw the Resurrection Stone. Perhaps the MC could bait a trap with the stone. There's no Snape around to help him this time.
Mugen-Muse
It is easy to fall into the trap of seeing an invisible hand behind everything when you know someone is manipulating events.
Malfoy will soon have something else to worry about and I don't think he'd do anything to draw attention to the fact that he has any connection to Hiddleston or anything in Hiddleston's possession.
Isebas and IcySneasel
My mistake I meant to update the chapter as I forgot to add something and I added a chapter instead.
Spiritblade89
I'm keeping my options open in terms of relationships. I might even have a vote on it later.
I decided to have things start going a bit wrong in this chapter. The MC has been getting away with a lot without much trouble.
Crossworld 1 - Harry Potter
Part 35
Charms Classroom. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
When I entered the classroom for my weekly lesson in the finer arts of duelling with Professor Flitwick, not long after returning for the second term of my third year here at Hogwarts, I was surprised to see that Hermione Granger here talking with the Charms Master. Hermione was still taking flying lessons just not with me as she'd started flying on her own and since we didn't have lessons together I only saw her in the Common Room or the library, so it was a bit of a surprise to see her here.
"Mr Hiddleston," said Flitwick "I'm glad you're here I have something of importance to tell you both".
I soon stood before the teacher who was standing elevated on a stack of books as he was during lessons. More than once I'd wondered why he didn't have a proper platform, something with steps that he could walk up, rather than risk a fall. Wizards could be so illogical about how they handled their affairs. I really should mention the idea to him one of these days.
"Mr Black has decided to fund and organise a duelling competition within the school" we were told "Originally it was going to be a contest for all the students, but the Headmaster imposed some limitations".
I usually might accuse Dumbledore of meddling as he enjoys doing that far too much, but Sirius Black was known for being reckless so in this case, the old man most likely had stepped in to make the event safer. Nice to see hear about him doing his job for a change. Mind you if Harry Potter were a first-year I'd be willing to bet that the first years would either be allowed to compete or some exception would be made just so Dumbledore could test him.
"The first years won't be allowed to compete and the rest of the duellists have been divided into age groups" we were now being informed "Which is sensible in my view. We don't allow first-years to play Quidditch and neither should they be duelling in this contest".
Seemed fair to me, although if I were a first-year I might feel differently about the matter.
"Second and third years will be the junior division" Flitwick went on to say "The fourth and fifth years will make up the intermediary, and sixth and seventh years will be the advanced group".
I felt sure I'd win the Hogwarts junior division as I'd won a similar contest twice before without much trouble since they weren't at all fair contests given my level of power, and ability to learn more advanced magic. I should feel bad about that, but I reminded myself that I was learning to duel so as to be a better guardian for the world-seed, not for fame and riches.
After all, I wasn't Lockhard, greedy for glory. Add to that I'd used some of my wealth to fund a hospital and this school, which if nothing else made me feel better about myself. Okay so my motivations weren't pure, but I still helped people and that was what really mattered.
"Mr Black wants one student from each year to compete, so I need six students and I've chosen you two to duel for Ravenclaw in the junior division," our Head of House let us know "Mr Hiddleston is already a junior level duelling champion and you Miss Granger are ahead of your peers in theory work so if you agree to be the second year duellist for Ravenclaw we'll be focusing on your practical skills. My hope is that Mr Hiddleston will aid in your training".
Hermione was flattered by this despite her practical skills having been questioned. As for me, I couldn't help thinking that something out there was trying to force the two of us together. Was it members of the staff? Flitwick and Hooch had arranged the flying lessons and now for us to duel together. Perhaps I was reading too much into this. Hermione and I were, in the view of the teachers, two very gifted students, so it made sense for them to have us work together to see if well we could do.
"I also want your opinion on who among the first years would make a good duellist for next year," said the professor "I like to plan this sort of thing well in advance".
There was no need for me to even think about it.
"While I'm not the most objective person to ask" I admitted "I have to go with Luna Lovegood. I've been tutoring her, going over the first year material, and she grasps it all very quickly. I wouldn't want her duelling now, but give her a year and she can be ready".
Hermione didn't like it when I praised Luna, some territorial female thing I assumed, but she didn't argue with me and even somewhat supported the nomination.
"The other first years aren't as devoted to their studies as Luna is," she supplied.
Which was a factually true statement. I'd go as far as to say that not many of my Ravenclaw peers, if that term applied, weren't that interested in learning outside of the classroom or within one a lot of the time. For so many of them, magic was something they'd grown with, they didn't see it as anything special, and thus they took it for granted. I thought that this was partly why student's like Hermione end up doing so well when compared to them. Muggle-borns have a passion for their classes that the Pureblood just can't match and they end up resentful when really it's their own fault for not devoting themselves.
Luna was different because she had a sense of wonder about magic. She didn't see it as something that just was there. She found magical creatures to be fascinating and magical spells as something to marvel at. Showing her that she could perform wandless magic had also helped with that I figured.
"Yes I thought Miss Lovegood's name would come up," said Flitwick "Her mother was always very gifted at charms and she wanted to create new spells so she got into Arithmancy later on. I know she did some theory work. Her father cared for Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes".
Luna seemed a good mixture of her parents given her love of magical creatures and skill with charms.
"I'll meet with her towards the end of the year" the teacher decided "For now we need to focus on you two. Assuming that you are both on board with becoming our House's junior duellists I'll be overseeing two training sessions a week".
Saying no to extra duelling practice would be foolish of me. I figured that Hermione was going to need them since she'd have to take on Harry Potter before the contest was finished.
(Line Break)
Chamber of Secrets. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Dra-car-ys" I carefully pronounced
While creating whole new spells was beyond my skill even after all the studying I'd done and the memories that were taken from Voldemort's soul fragments, I could modify existing spells. In fact, it wasn't that complex of a process and I'd been working on this spell a lot since the end of the Christmas holidays, when not in class, tutoring, or training for duelling. It had gotten to the point that even my fellow Ravenclaws were starting to notice that I spent far too much time on my own and they were used to me not being around.
"Dra-car-ys," I said again.
This time I was holding my wand and when the spell started a stream of fire shot out of the wand and struck the stone wall. The Chamber was protected magically so all I did was blacken the wall.
"Not as powerful as I was would like" I commented.
Cortana's projection, which only I could see since it wasn't really a projection at all she just fooled my senses into thinking there was one, looked somewhat impressed at the mess I'd made.
"Looks like it would do a lot more damage than an incendio," she said "Even it is based on that spell and other spells using fire".
Dracarys was meant to magical mimic dragon's fire, which was something I could study because I could turn into a dragon and make some. I'd named the spell Dracarys because that was what Daenerys Targaryen would say when commanding her dragons to burn people while they were still alive. Which was the point of this spell although I was actually planning on using it to destroy buildings rather than incinerate people.
My spell wasn't as special as it might seem and not many people got a chance to study dragon's fire as dragons were not cooperative types.
"Dracarys!"
The stream of fire left my wand and blackened another part of the Chamber. Salazar would have been very annoyed if he knew about this. Not that I intended to ever tell his spirit about this.
I went over to the wall and tried to fix the damage, only I couldn't, magical fire was hard to repair and dragon's fire more so. The flames didn't last for long and while this might seem like a bad thing only it was actually by design since I wanted to be able to destroy a target without causing a lot of collateral damage such as burning down a street when I just wanted to wreak the inside of a single house.
"It's focused and short-lived just how I wanted," I said.
The mimicked dragon's fire needed a lot of magical power to fuel it and unlike fiendfyre, it didn't feed on whatever it could burn to sustain itself, it simply destroyed and then went out. I didn't know how effective shields would be against it, but solid barriers such as stone walls worked well enough. Not many places were as solid or as magically protected as the Chamber. Which was good given the target I had in mind.
"It should do the job just fine" assured Cortana.
Since this was a new spell no one other than me would recognise it and it was unlikely that anyone investigating the act of terrorism I was about to carry out would look for answers at this school. Even if they did they were unlikely to question a student who hadn't yet taken their OWL exams.
"Well, no time like the present" I muttered.
I shifted into the form of a house-elf and appeared in Diagon Alley a moment later. No one warded against House Elves and they could teleport better than wizards. I still had to know exactly where I was going, but that wasn't an issue since I'd been here many times before.
Moving quickly I headed over to the apothecary that was owned by the Malfoy family and named after them since they were an egotistical lot.
"Today is the day" I whispered.
I'd been waiting a long time for this moment. This would be the first attack carried out by Kol the Red Mage. I would even leave my mark at the scene. On a nearby wall, I left the image of a thestral's head. The creatures were seen as omens of death and they were my favourite magical creature. My sign was also an omen, a warning that things were going to change around here.
Granted I was going after the Malfoy family mostly because the idea of becoming Fudge's main advisor as Tom Hiddleston was becoming more appealing over time, despite my distaste for politics. If nothing else it could be a great learning experience and if I could make this society a little better then it wouldn't be a waste of time.
"Okay here it goes," I said.
"Dracarys!"
To my surprise, the shop exploded and the blast threw me into the door of another place of business so hard that if not for the resistance to blunt force trauma that the wand waves seem to have, I would have been knocked out. Despite this, I struggled to find my emergency portkey and activate it. Thankfully I managed it and ended up back in the Chamber.
"Do not pass out!" I heard Cortana shout in my mind.
It was a bit of a struggle not to. I managed to stay focused long enough to use my Final Fanasty magic to cast a healing spell, and then another one. I started to feel much better and I dug through my collection of potions for something that would help.
"I feel like an idiot," said my AI "I didn't think that something in the apothecary might react so badly to your spell".
To be fair neither had I as dragon's fire tends to outright destroy anything it comes into contact with rather than react with other things. Dragon's fire isn't known for causing explosions as it wasn't like letting loose with a flamethrower there's a lot of magic involved. About the only thing that normally survives a dragon's fire is charred corpses that the dragon can eat. Living creatures react differently to magic than lifeless objects do even if they did come from life forms as potion ingredients do.
"There must be a mistake in my arithmancy," I confessed.
The magical maths made no sense to Cortana and I must not understand it as well as I thought I did. I'd overreached, thinking myself more clever than I actually was. I could not afford to make this kind of mistake ever again. I would have to move carefully and double-check everything about that spell.
(Line Break)
Study. Malfoy Manor.
Despite all of its massive windows and the fact that it was a clear day, it was rather dark inside the home of the Malfoys. Heavy drapes kept out direct sunlight and the inside of the house was mostly lit up by candles. Because of this, it was hard to see any precise details about the house and a person could be forgiven for thinking that some vampires called this place home. Yet it was actually the residence of one of the most powerful wizards in Europe.
"You still have no idea who destroyed the apothecary?" Lucius Malfoy demanded to know.
In terms of influence, property owned and wealth stored away there was no magical family better off than the Malfoys. However, in terms of money coming in, they didn't actually have a lot of income outside of investments and their businesses. Their investments did well enough it was just that you couldn't just turn that into money at short notice. As such it was the profit generated by the apothecary and the business that the Malfoy's owned a share of, that generated the money required to pay for day to day expenses.
This wasn't a big concern, the family vaults were filled with treasure, and those funds could be dipped into without causing any problems, really it was more of an annoyance than anything else in terms of money even with the cost of rebuilding and the resupplying of the store. If anything the recent loss of business with the trade of dark artefacts had cost him more in terms of gold and influence.
No the real issue here was that someone had attacked the Malfoy family and gotten away with it. Lucis would look weak unless the person or person's behind this attack ended up in Azkaban or better yet suffered an unfortunate accident. The problem was that there was no one to blame and there were few that would ever dare go up against the Malfoys, and none of them would do it by blowing up a shop.
The Dark Lord might have punished them this way, but judging by their recent meeting his master seemed to still favour the Malfoy family having shown himself to both of the male members of the family not so long ago. The Dark Lord also would have made sure that Lucius knew he was being punished and why even if the excuse would be a very flimsy one.
Besides, there was no reason for the Dark Lord to punish Malfoy as he'd done as his lord commanded and handed over the diary. It was a little worrying to hear that some thief had been caught poking around the Hiddleston property, but the crook had never even gotten into the house and while the criminal had been set free, Malfoy didn't want to draw attention to Hiddleston by getting involved. If Dumbledore was investigating Hiddleston for some reason then it would be a bad idea to give any hint to the Headmaster that the two wizards knew of each other.
Perhaps there was a new player on the board. Someone who was powerful enough to dare challenge the Malfoy family, but not known already to Lucius. No one who served the Headmaster would be so brazen and given Snape's disappearance, it looked as if someone might be targeting the Death Eaters who'd escaped dreaded Azkaban.
He did wonder a little if it might be Tom Hiddleston behind this, who while not a Death Eater seemed to be in favour with the Dark Lord and who might be looking to cement his position at Voldemort's side by making Lucius look weak.
That kind of infighting just hadn't happened with the Death Eaters, oh they'd besmirched each other verbally and tried to outdo each other when serving their lord, but they'd never gone after each other, not like this. Add to this the fact that Hiddleston was keeping a low profile and it seemed unlikely to be him and it wasn't as if any member of the Malfoy family had ever done anything to the Hiddleston family.
Malfoy needed answers and someone to blame, so he'd leaned on the Minister who had given in before long and assigned one of the more competent members of the DMLE to look into the case that officially was being called an accident. The weak excuse involved a potion having been left unattended after the store closed and the staff left. Only readers of the Daily Prophet would believe such foolishness.
The wizard standing before his desk was John Dawlish, a skilled Auror who was very devoted to the Ministry and he understood that while Lucius had no office within the building he was one of the people running the place. Dawlish was a skilled duellist and more intelligent than others would give him credit for, so he knew that displeasing Lucius was not a good idea.
"No, Mr Malfoy" Dawlish admitted.
Lucius did not look pleased. He gave little indication of this and a less wise wizard might have missed the sign. Dawlish was wise enough to know that he was standing on thin ice. Should he upset the wealthy man then John's days at the Ministry could be numbered.
"The damage done doesn't match up to any known spells, but we do know that it was a powerful bit of magic" Dawlish "It was a fire-based spell that seemed to act a lot like dragon's fire".
Lucius was unaware of any fire magic that mimicked that was what was breathed out by dragons. Those magical flames burned very hot and then burned out quickly. Unlike fiendfyre, which could get out of control and be as dangerous to the caster as to everyone else, dragon's fire was very direct as such it would make it a wonderful weapon. However not even the most skilled of dragon handlers could tame one of the beasts well enough to use a dragon as a weapon or even well to make one breathe fire at a suitable target so the flames could be studied. You'd have to be able to control a dragon or become one to understand its fire.
"I'm sure that if a dragon attacked the ally we'd know," said Mr Malfoy.
The beasts were kept in reverses for good reasons.
"I'm just reporting my findings, sir" insisted Dawlish "I've been looking into who could be behind this and the attack doesn't match up with the activities of any criminal we know to be out of Azkaban".
Malfoy could see his sister-in-law Bellatrix Lestrange burning down a store just to watch the flames and the same would be true for a few others who were being hosted by the dementors. Malfoy had wondered if someone had managed to escape the Dementors and had set out to punish the Death Eaters who seemed less loyal to their master than those locked up. He'd bribed a few people to have a headcount down and every prisoner was accounted for.
As for others who belonged in prison, most crooks committed crimes for profit and no one had demanded protection money from Lucius and none of his business rivals would be so bold.
"The only real clue we have that this was planned out was a sign left on a nearby wall," said Dawlish "It was erased by someone from DMLE, and I wouldn't know about it now if someone had taken a picture".
Malfoy looked at the image. It was static and of a horse's head. What was this about?
"It was placed there by magic," said Dawlish "Someone's symbol perhaps?".
Some of the more wellbred magical families had coats of arms. If anyone of them had a horse's head as part of them then they were unknown to Malfoy, but it was a clue and he had plenty of books on the symbols used by different organisations and lone wizards over the centuries.
"Keep looking into this" ordered Lucius "I don't think that this is the last time we'll see that symbol".
It meant something, and when it appeared again, Malfoy felt sure that he'd be able to find out what it meant.
(Line Break)
Chamber of Secrets. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Not long after my return to the school after the Easter holidays, nearly the whole of which I'd spent in the basement of my home in Godric's Hollow deep in research and planning so as to fix my dragonfire spell. I'd been foolish to attack the Malfoy family by going after their place of business as while it had cost them, it had taken weeks to get the shop open again, it hadn't done much other than distract Lucius Malfoy and with him still around Fudge wasn't going to depend on me for advice even if we did still exchange a few letters.
Going after Malfoy directly simply wasn't playing to my strengths. I was the angel of the trickster, and while I was no Slytherin (although I felt sure I'd avoided going into the house only because I was a big nerd and not a Pureblood) I could be more cunning. Kol the Red Mage was not going to take down his foes with brute force unless he really had to.
Which was why I hadn't flown as a thestral to Malfoy Manor, in the form of a thestral and then shape-shifted into a dragon before burning the place down, and not just because my last attempt at magical arson hadn't gone so well for me. I'd nearly died and if not for my Final Fanasty healing spell I might be in a sorry state even if I had gotten to my stored away potions in time.
Besides, there weren't many dragons in this country and they were all accounted for in a preserve in Wales. The fact that Charlie Weasley had gone to Romania to work with dragons rather than Wales was proof in my mind that Molly Weasley was indeed driving her children away by being overbearing. Although he likely used the excuse of there being a lot more dragons and many different species in Romania.
"You were depressingly easy to find" I mentioned to Mundungus Fletcher.
The shabby-looking thief who stank of tobacco had just woken up and was now rather upset about finding himself in this somewhat scary location. I'd found him in the Leaky Cauldron and I'd pretend to be someone in the market for magical artefacts. Once we were out of sight, Fletcher had willing taken a portkey from me, thinking it was a stolen item I'd wanted to sell, gotten stunned and then ended up here.
Once he was my captive I'd considered taking Fletcher's form and framing him for a crime so that I would be rid of the thief, but Dumbledore would just free him again. He needed Mundungus's criminal connections. Losing him would be a blow, although not as much as losing Snape had been. Thinking about that I wondered if the Headmaster still had people out there looking for Snape or if he'd given up on that.
"Who are you?" Fletcher wished to know "Where am I?".
Both of those were very good questions. Shame that he would never get any answers. I on the other hand would be learning a lot. I made eye contact and began to root around in Mungdungus's mind. It was so easy now to explore a mind. I could see memories, the man's hopes and secrets, and he didn't even know what I was doing.
"So Dumbledore has you looking for artefacts that belong to the Founders of Hogwarts or anything that might be that old," I said once I was done looking around "When you aren't reporting on suspected Death Eater activity".
This proved that the Headmaster knew about the Horcruxes, or at least suspected their existence before Potter showed him the diary and that he knew Voldemort had an interest in the relics of the Founders. I wondered what he'd do if he knew I possessed the locket and Hufflepuff's cup.
"You were in me head!" yelled Fletcher who'd caught on to what was happening.
I went into this mind again and found something else of note. The dark artefacts trade was suffering due to the lack of business in recent months as the Ministry was cracking down on it. Dumbledore was supporting this and it was part of why the Headmaster had bailed Fletcher out. Arthur Weasly was leading the charge despite having been publicly embarrassed by Ron and the flying car at the start of the school year.
The whole reason why Malfoy had sneaked the diary into Hogwarts was to discredit Dumbledore, and Mr Weasly as well. Also, he'd wanted to distract the Ministry from their crackdown on dark artefacts. Which was happening because the Headmaster already knew about the Horcruxes and was looking for them, and perhaps had been for a long time.
"You didn't tell Dumbledore about those latest dark artefact stashes did you?" I questioned.
They weren't worth going after in person, but the Ministry might like to know, even if it did just lead to a slap on the wrist for Lucius Malfoy and someone else getting most of the blame it would still weaken Malfoy's hold on the Ministry somewhat.
"No, they paid me to look the other way," said the crook.
I was sure that this piss poor excuse for a wizard knew more of interest to me and I would be gentle with this mind. Once I was done he could share a ward at the muggle mental hospital with Lockhart. After that, I still had a duelling contest to prepare for.
(Line Break)
Headmasters Office. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The sky outside matched the mood of Professor Albus Dumbledore in that it was raining and the clouds were so dark that it might as well be night. It was cold as well despite summer getting closer each day, and that too reflected how Albus felt on the inside. Even Fawkes, whose burning day was behind him, seemed in poor health, despite the fact that phoenixes don't get sick.
"Come in Alastor," said the Headmaster before the retired Auror even managed to knock on the door.
The fake leg of Mad-Eye Moody sounded louder than normal as it struck the floor and Dumbledore could tell that his friend was frustrated. Did this mean that there had been little to no progress in his work?
"Any news, old friend?" the chief warlock wondered.
For a while now, Alastor had been looking into the fates of Severus Snape and then much more recently Mungdungus Fletcher, without much success. Had it just been Snape who'd vanished then they could have believed that the act was someone who had a grudge against the former potion's teacher, with Fletcher also having up and vanished neither of the old wizards accepted this simple explanation.
Moody might be paranoid, but Dumbledore was beginning to agree that someone was working to undermine them and perhaps planning to destabilise the whole of Wizarding Britain. Those notes to the Ministry had caused problems even if they had led to several injustices being corrected. The latest of which had led the DMLE to uncover two stashes of dark artefacts that had been destroyed and several arrests were made. Granted the charges that stuck were minor, mostly fines and public embarrassment, but it was still a blow against the dark even if nothing truly dangerous had been destroyed.
Dumbledore would have been pleased if not for the fact that people were disappearing as they had when Tom Riddle first began his rise to power as Lord Voldemort.
The attack on that Malfoy business must be connected and it suggested that it wasn't one of the Death Eaters they were dealing with, unless they were trying to divert attention from their actions, that wasn't something they'd done before, even if was a clever move worthy of a true Slytherin.
"Did you ever get around to talking to that John Hiddleston lad?" asked Moody.
As a matter of fact, he hadn't. The Headmaster was a busy man and the talk kept getting pushed back. It hadn't seemed important when compared to Snape's possible murder and the business at the Ministry.
"No," he said to Mad-Eye "Do you think he or his cousin is involved in recent events?".
Moody was thinking along those lines, and this wasn't the first time that the wizard's name had come up in a conversation between them.
"I found out recently that Fudge has been writing to Tom Hiddleston about his plans," said Alastor "It's nothing suspicious by itself, the Minister needs other people to do his thinking for him, it's just that I'm starting to wonder if it is Hiddleston behind all of this. He's nowhere to be found most of the time and while he might be off treasure hunting I can't help thinking that there is more going on".
The Hiddleston family did have an interest in Harry Potter, but then so did many other people. At least with his godfather around the Potter boy had become more focused on spending time with Black and Lupin. This meant he'd become somewhat distant from John Hiddleston, and that should continue due to the upcoming duelling contest.
"If it is Hiddleston then I don't get what the overall plan is" admitted Moody "If he even has one. Sometimes I wonder if he or someone else is just trying to distract us while they figure out what it is they want. Maybe they just like causing a little chaos. That could be why Lockhart suddenly vanished and I heard the witch Zabini hasn't been seen for a while, although she might just be keeping her head down before she goes after husband number seven".
Dumbledore gave the matter some thought. Blaise Zabini didn't have much contact with the infamous Black Widow so it might be a while before the student worried enough to inform the head of Slytherin house about a lack of communication.
"Assuming that it is Hiddleston behind all of this, and you think he's up to something else while causing distractions, then what could be his grander goal?" wondered Dumbledore.
If he was trying to become the next Dark Lord then why wasn't he gathering followers?
"I have no idea?" admitted Moody "I can guess at the motivations of dark wizards easily enough, but Hiddleston isn't acting like a dark wizard I don't think he even is one as we use the term".
They weren't even sure that he'd actually killed anyone.
"I think he's getting us to dance to his tune by doing things that don't make any real sense" Moody was now saying "I've been so busy responding to his moves that I'm missing something important and Hiddleston if it is him is in no rush".
The more the old Auror spoke the more Dumbledore worried.
"You must have noticed that he takes long breaks between carrying out his plans," said Mad-Eye "He goes aboard somewhere for weeks at a time I'm sure of it. Maybe he's really working on something important somewhere else between his treasure hunting trips".
Albus wasn't totally sure about that. Finding all that treasure must have taken years of work. It wasn't as if he could cheat and just ask dead people where they'd last seen their valuables.
"I'd ask Tonks about it only she hasn't seen much of Hiddleston ever since Dung tried breaking into your old place in Godric's Hollow," said Moody "Shame about that, she might have found something out for us".
Dumbledore was now trying to figure out how to be sure that Hiddleston had anything to do with the strange things that had been going on these last few years. What did Tom Hiddleston have against the Wizarding World or Dumbledore? Certainly, he had little reason to trust the DMLE given past events. Were his generous donations just meant to throw people off his scent?
"I need to talk to John Hiddleston" the Headmaster decided "And if you are wasting your time Alastor then stop looking into Tom Hiddleston. Instead, I want you to warn the other members of The Order. I don't want to bring the band back together as the muggles say. I just want them to be careful and to inform me if anything unexpected happens. Make sure they have an escape plan in place should they be attacked".
Moody approved of this idea.
"About time we started acting instead of poorly reacting," he said "We need to set up a safe house for any order members who are worried they might be targeted".
Sirus had already volunteered Grimmulad Place should it be needed. Something that Dumbeldore mentioned and intended to talk to Mr Black about as soon as could be arranged.
"I have an idea about that," said the Headmaster "For now go visit our old friends for a cup of tea and a chat. I'll talk to young John and then we'll meet again".
Moody headed out and left Dumbledore to his gloomy thoughts.
