Dumbledore, Sirius and Arabella were all sitting in Dumbledore's office.
He had given them both tea to calm their nerves, but neither one looked
even remotely calm. Sirius alternated between pacing about the office
rapidly and sitting in the chair fidgeting. He was starting to get on
Arabella's nerves. Not that she wasn't just as worried, probably even more
worried. It was her mother in danger after all, but her emotions usually
came in extremes. She jerked herself out of her thoughts when Dumbledore
asked her a question.
"Have you Arabella?"
"Er- have I what?"
"Have you ever visited France?"
He was completely serious. Arabella could not understand exactly why they were talking about France at a time like this.
"No, no I haven't Prof- Albus."
Sirius was sitting fidgeting with a loose thread on his robes. Arabella was about to scream at him when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
To her great relief Penelope entered. She leapt up to give her cousin a hug.
"Penny! This is wonderful, what are you doing here?"
"Professor Dumbledore asked." but she never finished the sentence she had intended to say. She was staring at Sirius eyes wide. To Arabella's surprise Sirius also had a blank wide eyed expression on his face.
"Penelope, I trust you remember Sirius Black. He was wrongly imprisoned in Azkaban for a long time, but he is working for us."
Arabella almost laughed. Penelope's face was one of complete confusion. She barely managed to choke out something that sounded like "alright."
Sirius's initial shock had worn off now, but there was still a glazed look in his eye.
"I don't want to put any pressure on you Penelope, but I have a favor to ask of you."
Penelope managed to focus on Dumbledore. "Go ahead."
"I would like you to join the staff this year at Hogwarts as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
If it were possible Penelope's eyes got even bigger, and this time Arabella couldn't hold herself back, she jumped to her feet.
"Are you nuts!" she yelled at Dumbledore. "None of them have lasted more than a year. The last one ended up locked in his trunk the entire year! There is no way."
"Arabella," said Penelope quietly. "Please let me-"
"No! There is NO way I am going to let you do this! I MIGHT HAVE LOST THE ONLY OTHER FAMILY MEMBER I HAVE TONIGHT. I AM NOT GOING TO RISK YOU FOR A STUPID JOB!"
Penelope was not impressed by her cousin's outburst, she had dealt with them before. Looking her cousin straight in the eye she spoke evenly.
"First, lower your voice. Second, the job isn't cursed. And third, this is not your decision to make."
Arabella sat back down and stared at her feet, afraid to look back up.
"It's alright Arabella, no harm done."
Dumbledore was at her side now.
"I expect you are worried about your mother, but I feel we are going to hear from her soon."
Arabella was going to ask how he knew, but Dumbledore kept right on going.
"I won't lie to you all, there are dark times. However, we all decided long ago what we are willing to sacrifice. We must continue to fight the battle we started many years ago, I need you here Penelope."
Penelope weighed it in her mind.
"Alright. I'll do it."
"Excellent my dear. Now Sirius, I am going to need your help as well."
Sirius, who had been watching the scene very quietly looked up puzzled.
"What is it you need me to do?"
Dumbledore was about to say what, when there was another knock on the door, and to Arabella's relief her mother came into the office, followed by four cats.
"Marie," said Dumbledore going to meet her.
"Albus, it's been a very long time." She greeted him and then her daughter and her niece.
"I have a feeling everything did not go to plan tonight Marie." Dumbledore said in a pleasant conversational tone.
"No, not exactly," she answered back matching his attitude. "There was a slight bump, but my cats handled it very effectively."
As she motioned to them all four looked uninterested, as if they were constantly fighting of the most powerful wizards ever.
"Indeed," said Dumbledore, his eye's sparkling. "Well I would like to hear what happened, but we are on our way out. You, and the cats, must come with us."
"Where are we going?" Penelope spoke up.
"France," Arabella suggested.
She could have sworn Dumbledore gave her a sharp look, but he was smiling now.
"No, we are going to see Harry, Ron, Hermione and Remus. We will have to travel by floo powder, it's the quickest way."
Dumbledore said no more about the place, but handed a jar to Mrs. Figg who took a handful of powder and threw it into the flames. As she stepped in she spoke loudly, "Phoenix." And was whisked away.
Arabella, Penelope, Sirius and Dumbledore followed. Soon they were all standing inside a cozy room with huge fluffy couches and chairs. It was very much like a house, but an eclectic one. In one corned there were all fashions of muggle devices and papers, in another section was group of objects obviously from the wizarding world.
"Welcome to Katoikia." Dumbledore said proudly.
All of a sudden the lights went out. They were plunged into darkness.
***
Harry couldn't believe all the wonderful things that were in the place Lupin took him, Ron and Hermione. There were loads of magical and non- magical devices. Lupin showed them one-- a deceit detector. It looked like a small metal detector and Lupin said you could use it to find people who were being deceitful, but unfortunately it did not tell you what they were being deceitful about.
As Lupin showed them more Harry drifted off to his own thoughts. Why hadn't Voldemort killed him today? The death eater had told Harry that Voldemort had only wanted to torture him. Harry understood that Voldemort wanted to see him in pain, but after many attempts to kill him why did he pass up another opportunity?
Perhaps Voldemort was trying to scare Harry, or maybe he was trying to prove his power. But Voldemort had warned Harry that he was not safe anywhere, so if Voldemort had so much power why wasn't Harry dead yet? There must be a reason he though grimly. Voldemort certainly wouldn't keep him alive out of kindness.
Lupin led them into a kitchen, sat them down at the table and started to make tea.
"Are you okay Harry?" He asked.
Harry forced a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Lupin didn't look convinced, but continued making the tea. He had just poured the tea when there was a noise in the other room. Ron got up to see who it was. All of a sudden the lights went out. They were plunged into darkness.
***
Four men sat huddled around a table in a dark room saying nothing except for a few nervous words. All of a sudden a dark figure aparated next to the table. The four men jumped, and the dark man sneered under his hood.
"Where is he?" he snarled at them.
"I am right here," replied a cold voice from behind him.
It was Voldemort.
"Are you satisfied? I have come to meet you," the cold voice mocked.
"That remains to be seen."
"You are forgetting your place!" Voldemort spat with cold furry
"No," said the dark man evenly. "You are forgetting yours. I am not your servant, you are not my master. If you want Dumbledore and the boy dead you will listen to me."
"I could just kill the boy--"
"You know you can not."
The two men stood facing each other until Voldemort controlled his anger and broke the silence.
"What must I do?"
The dark man drew out a roll of parchment
"My instructions are here. Follow them to the letter. You know how to contact me when you have finished."
Voldemort took the parchment from him. He opened it and began to read a few lines, a cruel smile crawling onto his face.
The dark man watched this and continued. "And no more pointless attacks on the boy."
Voldemort looked up with anger, but the dark man had already disaparated. Instead Voldemort turned to the four men at the table who cowered before him.
"Crucio!"
One of the men fell from his chair jerking violently. Voldemort lifted the curse and pointed his wand at another of the men. The man shrank back, waiting for the curse to come.
"It's time to leave," said Voldemort and he turned to go.
"Have you Arabella?"
"Er- have I what?"
"Have you ever visited France?"
He was completely serious. Arabella could not understand exactly why they were talking about France at a time like this.
"No, no I haven't Prof- Albus."
Sirius was sitting fidgeting with a loose thread on his robes. Arabella was about to scream at him when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
To her great relief Penelope entered. She leapt up to give her cousin a hug.
"Penny! This is wonderful, what are you doing here?"
"Professor Dumbledore asked." but she never finished the sentence she had intended to say. She was staring at Sirius eyes wide. To Arabella's surprise Sirius also had a blank wide eyed expression on his face.
"Penelope, I trust you remember Sirius Black. He was wrongly imprisoned in Azkaban for a long time, but he is working for us."
Arabella almost laughed. Penelope's face was one of complete confusion. She barely managed to choke out something that sounded like "alright."
Sirius's initial shock had worn off now, but there was still a glazed look in his eye.
"I don't want to put any pressure on you Penelope, but I have a favor to ask of you."
Penelope managed to focus on Dumbledore. "Go ahead."
"I would like you to join the staff this year at Hogwarts as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
If it were possible Penelope's eyes got even bigger, and this time Arabella couldn't hold herself back, she jumped to her feet.
"Are you nuts!" she yelled at Dumbledore. "None of them have lasted more than a year. The last one ended up locked in his trunk the entire year! There is no way."
"Arabella," said Penelope quietly. "Please let me-"
"No! There is NO way I am going to let you do this! I MIGHT HAVE LOST THE ONLY OTHER FAMILY MEMBER I HAVE TONIGHT. I AM NOT GOING TO RISK YOU FOR A STUPID JOB!"
Penelope was not impressed by her cousin's outburst, she had dealt with them before. Looking her cousin straight in the eye she spoke evenly.
"First, lower your voice. Second, the job isn't cursed. And third, this is not your decision to make."
Arabella sat back down and stared at her feet, afraid to look back up.
"It's alright Arabella, no harm done."
Dumbledore was at her side now.
"I expect you are worried about your mother, but I feel we are going to hear from her soon."
Arabella was going to ask how he knew, but Dumbledore kept right on going.
"I won't lie to you all, there are dark times. However, we all decided long ago what we are willing to sacrifice. We must continue to fight the battle we started many years ago, I need you here Penelope."
Penelope weighed it in her mind.
"Alright. I'll do it."
"Excellent my dear. Now Sirius, I am going to need your help as well."
Sirius, who had been watching the scene very quietly looked up puzzled.
"What is it you need me to do?"
Dumbledore was about to say what, when there was another knock on the door, and to Arabella's relief her mother came into the office, followed by four cats.
"Marie," said Dumbledore going to meet her.
"Albus, it's been a very long time." She greeted him and then her daughter and her niece.
"I have a feeling everything did not go to plan tonight Marie." Dumbledore said in a pleasant conversational tone.
"No, not exactly," she answered back matching his attitude. "There was a slight bump, but my cats handled it very effectively."
As she motioned to them all four looked uninterested, as if they were constantly fighting of the most powerful wizards ever.
"Indeed," said Dumbledore, his eye's sparkling. "Well I would like to hear what happened, but we are on our way out. You, and the cats, must come with us."
"Where are we going?" Penelope spoke up.
"France," Arabella suggested.
She could have sworn Dumbledore gave her a sharp look, but he was smiling now.
"No, we are going to see Harry, Ron, Hermione and Remus. We will have to travel by floo powder, it's the quickest way."
Dumbledore said no more about the place, but handed a jar to Mrs. Figg who took a handful of powder and threw it into the flames. As she stepped in she spoke loudly, "Phoenix." And was whisked away.
Arabella, Penelope, Sirius and Dumbledore followed. Soon they were all standing inside a cozy room with huge fluffy couches and chairs. It was very much like a house, but an eclectic one. In one corned there were all fashions of muggle devices and papers, in another section was group of objects obviously from the wizarding world.
"Welcome to Katoikia." Dumbledore said proudly.
All of a sudden the lights went out. They were plunged into darkness.
***
Harry couldn't believe all the wonderful things that were in the place Lupin took him, Ron and Hermione. There were loads of magical and non- magical devices. Lupin showed them one-- a deceit detector. It looked like a small metal detector and Lupin said you could use it to find people who were being deceitful, but unfortunately it did not tell you what they were being deceitful about.
As Lupin showed them more Harry drifted off to his own thoughts. Why hadn't Voldemort killed him today? The death eater had told Harry that Voldemort had only wanted to torture him. Harry understood that Voldemort wanted to see him in pain, but after many attempts to kill him why did he pass up another opportunity?
Perhaps Voldemort was trying to scare Harry, or maybe he was trying to prove his power. But Voldemort had warned Harry that he was not safe anywhere, so if Voldemort had so much power why wasn't Harry dead yet? There must be a reason he though grimly. Voldemort certainly wouldn't keep him alive out of kindness.
Lupin led them into a kitchen, sat them down at the table and started to make tea.
"Are you okay Harry?" He asked.
Harry forced a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Lupin didn't look convinced, but continued making the tea. He had just poured the tea when there was a noise in the other room. Ron got up to see who it was. All of a sudden the lights went out. They were plunged into darkness.
***
Four men sat huddled around a table in a dark room saying nothing except for a few nervous words. All of a sudden a dark figure aparated next to the table. The four men jumped, and the dark man sneered under his hood.
"Where is he?" he snarled at them.
"I am right here," replied a cold voice from behind him.
It was Voldemort.
"Are you satisfied? I have come to meet you," the cold voice mocked.
"That remains to be seen."
"You are forgetting your place!" Voldemort spat with cold furry
"No," said the dark man evenly. "You are forgetting yours. I am not your servant, you are not my master. If you want Dumbledore and the boy dead you will listen to me."
"I could just kill the boy--"
"You know you can not."
The two men stood facing each other until Voldemort controlled his anger and broke the silence.
"What must I do?"
The dark man drew out a roll of parchment
"My instructions are here. Follow them to the letter. You know how to contact me when you have finished."
Voldemort took the parchment from him. He opened it and began to read a few lines, a cruel smile crawling onto his face.
The dark man watched this and continued. "And no more pointless attacks on the boy."
Voldemort looked up with anger, but the dark man had already disaparated. Instead Voldemort turned to the four men at the table who cowered before him.
"Crucio!"
One of the men fell from his chair jerking violently. Voldemort lifted the curse and pointed his wand at another of the men. The man shrank back, waiting for the curse to come.
"It's time to leave," said Voldemort and he turned to go.