CHAPTER TWO: CAN WE CHANGE THE SUBJECT, PLEASE?



Once all the introductions were made, Dippet offered to show Minerva her new office, to which she accepted. She and Dumbledore made eye contact for a brief moment one more time before she left. His eyes didn't move from the spot she had been standing in until long after she and Dippet had gone.

When he was sure Dippet and Minerva were out of earshot, Grindelwald said, "I saw that."

"Saw what?" Dumbledore asked innocently, even though he knew perfectly well what the deputy headmaster was talking about.

"Come on, Albus. You can't fool me. You always had a thing for that girl, didn't you?"

"I'm surprised that you would even think that. She was my student. To have a 'thing', as you so crudely put it, would be totally unprofessional."

Grindelwald smiled mischievously, leaned in closer to Dumbledore, and whispered, "She's not your student anymore."

Dumbledore rolled his eyes. "Really, Quinn. I never would have expected this from you."

"Well, I never would have expected you to fall for a student."

"Quinn," said Professor Revueltas in a warning tone of voice.

"Sorry, sorry," said Grindelwald. "Apologies around." He looked at the chessboard. "Knight to E-6. Check."

Dumbledore sighed and looked at the chessboard. "Bishop to E-6. Checkmate." He stood up and said, "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my office."

"Still memorizing the dictionary, eh?" Grindelwald asked.

Dumbledore nodded.

"You mean you really ARE memorizing the dictionary?" inquired an amazed Professor Fenner. He rubbed his forehead and said, "And all this time I thought it was just another one of Quinn's gimmicks."

"How long have you been working on that, anyway?" inquired Professor Revueltas.

"Since my fourth year as a student," Dumbledore answered. "It's really not that difficult... just a few words a day will do you wonders. I'm almost through F."

Fenner looked at Revueltas and said, "Am I the only one who didn't know Albus was memorizing the dictionary?"

Revueltas shrugged and said, "Probably."

"He doesn't get a lot of dates," Grindelwald explained.

Dumbledore groaned. "Quinn, we are NOT having this conversation again. And for future reference, nothing you can say or do will make me change my mind about Min- Professor McGonagall."

He excused himself, and left the staff room. Grindelwald watched him go, and once he was gone, muttered under his breath, "Does that mean she's fair game?"



"... and that concludes our tour of..." Dippet paused dramatically, and then finished, "Your classroom. I would offer to show you around the rest of the school, but I'm sure you are quite familiar with it."

He had just finished showing the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher the room in which she would instruct students in the said field. Minerva smiled and said, "Thank you, Professor Dippet. Yes, I think I will be perfectly capable of finding my way around the school."

"Indeed. And like I said, you may call me Armando. Now, if you'll excuse me, please, I have a lot of work to do."

"I understand."

Before leaving, Dippet smiled at her and said, "Again, welcome to the staff."

"And again, thank you, Prof - Armando."



Dippet was on his way back to his office when he passed Albus Dumbledore, who appeared to be going in the direction of the Transfiguration classroom. "Beat Grindelwald already, Albus?" Dippet asked with a grin.

Dumbledore had been daydreaming as he walked, and Dippet's comment almost didn't register. "Huh?" he said as he snapped to attention. "Oh, chess... yes, I did."

"I always told Quinn that chess was never his game," said Dippet, nodding his head slightly. "What are you up to?"

"Funicular," Dumbledore answered. He cleared his throat and said, "Adjective; operating by cable with ascending and descending cars counterbalanced. Second definition, noun; funicular railway."

Dippet arched an eyebrow. He, too, knew of Dumbledore's unusual hobby of trying to memorize the dictionary, but unlike most, he also knew that he only did it when something was weighing heavily on his mind. "What is it?"

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked innocently.

Dippet gave him a look that clearly said, "You know what I'm talking about."

Dumbledore sighed and leaned against the wall. "It's Quinn," he admitted. "He's, well... he's being Quinn again."

"Ah," Dippet said with a nod. That explained a lot. In the last few years, Grindelwald had taken an interest in Dumbledore's love life, or rather, lack of it, and tried to do something about it. Dumbledore, who was a very private person, asked Grindelwald to stay out of it, but Grindelwald, convinced he could help, refused. The two men were still friends, but every once in a while, this conflict resurfaced. He wondered what could have brought it on this time.

Dippet didn't have to ask, because Dumbledore continued. "He seems to think that I had a 'thing' for Minerva McGonagall when she was a student."

"Did you?"

Dumbledore shot the headmaster of Hogwarts a shocked look. "Armando Dippet!"

Dippet held his hands up defensively. "I'm just asking, Albus. If you did, I won't judge you."

"No!" Dumbledore said. "What kind of teacher would I be? How do you think Minerva would have felt? Do you think she would have trusted me at all, knowing that I was attracted to her? I would not risk losing her trust for anything."

"And yet, I do recall you saying once that if she wasn't a student-"

"'Once' being the operative word in that sentence," Dumbledore interrupted. "Minerva is brilliant, powerful, and I will admit, quite attractive as well, but she was a student. It was a hypothetical situation and will never happen."

"She's not a student any more," Dippet pointed out.

Don't I know it, Dumbledore mused. "That's not the point. It's the principle of the thing."

"You are absolutely head over heels for that woman, aren't you?"

Dumbledore felt like he was trapped in a corner. "No," he insisted. "It's unprofessional, and anyway, she's... she's too young for me."

That was probably the worst excuse he'd ever come up with, and Dippet could tell. "There may be a considerable amount of difference in your ages," he said, "but as far as mental capacity goes, she has the intelligence and power of someone three times her age. She's an adult, Albus, and even as a teenager, she was far from ever being a naive little girl. If you're going to let a little thing like age get in the way, then maybe you don't deserve her."

"What is this?" Dumbledore asked. He felt like banging his head against the wall, but didn't because the last time that happened, the wall cried out. "None of have seen hardly anything of her in four years, and suddenly she comes back and everyone thinks I'm in love with her! Why?"

"You didn't see your face when Minerva and I came into the staff room," Dippet said. "As soon as you saw her, your eyes lit up like I've never seen them before."

"Armando, this has gone far enough. Can't I be happy for the young woman who was once my finest student without everyone taking it the wrong way?"

Dippet couldn't tell if Dumbledore was being serious or if he was just too shy to admit his feelings about her, but regardless, he decided to end it at that. "Very well. I apologize."

Dumbledore sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, don't worry about it," he said. "I'm sure I'll be getting so much of this from Quinn and Peeves that this conversation won't make much of a difference."

"I'll mention it to Quinn and let him know that it bothers you," Dippet promised. "I don't know what I can do about Peeves, though."

Grindelwald already knew that this sort of thing bothered him, but Dumbledore didn't say that. Peeves would probably lose interest in a few days, but this had been a problem with Grindelwald for years. Now that both of them were in proximity to a woman he had indeed entertained thoughts of being with, there was no telling how far Grindelwald would go. Dumbledore never dreamed of acting on anything he might have felt for Minerva, but that wasn't the point; it was the principle of the thing. There was no telling what would happen if anyone learned about his attraction to her. Dippet would lose faith in his professionalism. Grindelwald would tease the hell out of him. Minerva would think he was some sort of sick pervert and never speak to him again. But it wasn't like he was attracted to all his clever female students; in fact, in all his long years, he'd never been the least bit interested in any woman, student or otherwise, until her. Why this one? What made her so special?

Dippet smiled and said, "Off the record, though, I can see why you like her."

Dumbledore chuckled softly and said, "Maybe Quinn's teasing the wrong person."

"Oh, no, don't take that the wrong way," Dippet quickly said. "It was merely an observation. She's a wonderful person and a valuable addition to the staff. And now, if you will excuse me, I have some work to catch up on."

Dippet continued on his way. Dumbledore waited until the headmaster was out of sight, and then sighed and said, "Yes, she is wonderful."