Chapter 38
"So who is Albus Dumbledore?" she asked again.
"He is the headmaster of Hogwarts, a school for magic in England" he explained. "He is a very kind and tolerant man. I informed him about my current situation and what the Dark Lord and the prince are planning."
"Do you think he is going to help you, Severus?" Her voice was full of concern for the man in front of her.
"There's not much he can do. All I hope is that he receives this note and takes action immediately. I'm fully aware of the fact that, most likely, I won't get out of this alive."
"You don't have enough faith in him, Severus. I'm sure he will not let you down"
Sirius arrived at Dumbledore's mansion in the middle of the night. Sunrise was still ours away and the shaggy dog was deadly tired. In front of the big gates he changed into his human form and took the letter out of his pocket. The door-knocker, a bronze goblin head, opened one eye and said sleepily "Invitation please"
Sirius showed him the seal and the door swung open.
"Hello Sirius" Dumbledore called friendly when the wizard entered.
"Hello Albus, I came as fast as I could" Sirius answered and shook the old wizards hand.
"Follow me to my study. Winky can bring us something to eat and you can recover for a little while" Dumbledore suggested. "There is a lot I need to tell you"
Sirius followed the headmaster through the hall and they entered a bright room with beautiful pine furniture and bookshelves on every wall that reached up to the ceiling. They sat down in squashy armchairs next to the window as a high-pitched voice could be heard. "What would masters want to eat?" The little house-elf bowed so deep that her pencil-like nose touched the marble floor.
"Just bring us a little bit of everything and some tea" Dumbledore said
"As you wish master. Me is pleased to serve Master Dumbledore and guest" Sirius chuckled when Winky bowed again and left the study.
"Sometimes I miss Becky so much that it hurts. My grandfather's old house- elf was my only friend when I was little. She always knew what to say to cheer me up" the animagi sighed.
Dumbledore nodded and examined Sirius over the top of his half-moon glasses. "When I had to leave Hogwarts, Winky was determined to come with me. I couldn't watch her losing another master again, so I agreed."
"So what news did you get from old Snape" Sirius asked then and Dumbledore's face turned stern instantly.
"Severus informed me that Voldemort has made an alliance with Prince Gregorius. I trust you remember him?"
"I sure do" Sirius said gloomily. "This old bastard gave us quite a hard time, fighting against the ministry degree."
"Yes and Severus is in his castle now together with Malfoy" The younger wizard gasped in shock. "You can't be serious Albus. He will never make it out there alive. This is THE chance for Voldemort to get rid of him... a simple accident"
"I'm fully aware of that Sirius and this is where you come into play. What I have to ask of you is extremely dangerous."
"What else did Snape tell you? What is Old Tom planning?"
"He wants to attack the school together with the vampires, and when they took over the castle, the vampires will be allowed to pick their food among the students" Albus said firmly.
"Oh my god Harry...he's going to feed Harry to these monsters?" Sirius screamed.
"No my friend. Voldemort needs Harry to fulfil the ritual. The vampires are supposed to deliver him to Tom. He also promised them to abolish the vampire ban"
"Dammit, then they could go anywhere without invitation" Sirius cursed banging his fist on the table. At this moment the door opened and Winky entered, followed by 2 other house- elves carrying trays. She provided the two wizards with plates and cutlery, filled tea into their cups and placed several trays with all kinds of food in front of them.
"Do masters need anything else" Winky asked and bowed again, almost sticking her bat-like ears between her legs.
"No thank you Winky. That should be enough for now" Dumbledore chuckled at the sight of the mount of food towering on the table.
"Then I will leave now" Walking backwards, bowing over and over again, Winky left the study again.
"Tuck in Sirius; you will need all your energy for what I need to ask of you"
Sirius gulped down piles of bacon, eggs and pancakes, three bowls of porridge and several pastries. Dumbledore smiled at the starved wizard, who just placed his fork on the plate and sighed.
"That was delicious Albus, but now back to business"
The house-elves came and cleared the table, while Sirius tried to stay awake. After a night without rest, the good food and the comfortable armchair made him sleepy but he knew Dumbledore had more to tell him.
After the house-elves had left, Dumbledore cleared his throat, startling Sirius slightly, who was dozing off.
"I know you're tired my friend, but I need to know if you're going to do what I want to ask you."
"Oh..go ahead Albus I'm wide awake" Sirius said, trying hard to stifle a yawn.
Dumbledore chuckled and said "I know, you and Severus never got along"
"Tell me about it" Sirius snorted.
"He's a good man and a true friend; he knows more about Voldemort's plans than anyone of us and we can't do without him" the headmaster stated firmly.
"Oh I know where this is leading to...you want me to get him out of there in one piece, right"
"Yes Sirius; this is what I ask you to do"
"Albus this won't be easy." Sirius countered sternly. "Even when I get there before they kill him, how happy do you think Snape will be when I come and rescue him. And I don't think I can take several vampires and a stubborn potion master without a wand"
"Severus is not as ignorant as you think he is. He is apprehending the graveness of this situation totally. Believe me, if he has to decide between two evils, he will rather come with you and have a chance to live, than stay with his current hosts and die"
"Ok Albus, I will do this, but I can't guarantee that I won't beat some sense into the Slytherin git"
"You do what you think is necessary for this mission, as long as you bring him home alive" Dumbledore chuckled. "By the way I have something for you, which will surely help you to complete your task." The headmaster opened a drawer to the left, took out a long, black velvet bag and handed it to Sirius. The younger wizard looked bewildered at Dumbledore, who beckoned him to open it. Sirius unfastened the ribbon and retrieved a wand.
"My wand!" the black-haired wizard shouted "How did you get my wand?"
"I required it from Barty Crouch 2 years ago, after I had found out that you've been falsely accused. At first he didn't want to, but when I told him I wanted to return it to your mourning mother, he, surprisingly, had no objections."
"I still can't believe that he handed my wand over to you just like that; not after I had escaped from your school in front of everyone's nose" Sirius gasped.
"I can be very persuasive, I'd like to recall" Dumbledore said with a mischievous smile on his face. "Now it's time for you to get some rest before I send you off to your mission"
Albus and Sirius left the study, Winky already waiting for them in the hall.
"Master Sirius ready for bath and bed?" she chirped.
"Yes Winky, please make sure he's not falling asleep in the tub and drowns" Albus smiled at the little elf.
"Oh Winky will sit next to master watching and pull him out in time" she exclaimed and nodded while her big ears wiggled forcefully.
After a bath Sirius made himself comfortable in a warm and comfortable bed, falling asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. He slept well until his subconscious was torturing him with nightmares again, like so often since he escaped from Azkaban. He relived the night his best friend died and with him the only family he had, he dreamed about the morning he had found Snuffles dead hanging from the tree and heard his cousins' malicious laughter over and over again.
Drained in his own sweat he woke up and sat bolt upright. With a heavy sigh, he decided to get up, although he wasn't rested enough.
"Is master feeling fine" a highly concerned voice came from the footboard. Sirius walked around the bed and found Winky sitting on a little footstool next to his bed. Her bat-like ears were wiggling and her fingers were fidgeting with the hem of her blue skirt. "Winky I'm fine, thank you for your concern. I just had a bad dream"
"Yes master, Winky knows. Master was crying in his sleep."
"How long have you been here" Sirius asked amazed.
"Winky stayed here all time. Me promised master Dumbledore to watch over young master and that's what me did."
"Oh Winky, that was so kind of you" Sirius smiled at the little elf.
"There is clothes for master and then master Dumbledore is waiting for young master downstairs" Winky mumbled and pointed at a stack of neatly folded clothes on an armchair.
Sirius dressed quickly and then headed downstairs to talk to Albus about the exact details of the mission.
"Come here Sirius" he could hear Dumbledore calling and crossed the entrance hall. He entered a door on the left and found the headmaster in a room full of scrolls of parchment; some of them looked ancient, some were glowing, obviously under a protection charm. The younger wizard passed a large shelf and settled on a chair next to Dumbledore, who had a map lying on the table in front of them.
"This is Prince Gregorius' castle" he said, pointing at a tiny dot on the map.
"Albus, it will take me weeks to get there." Sirius sighed. "He will be dead long before I even reach Transylvania"
"Yes of course, if you had to run my friend" Albus countered, the familiar twinkle in his eyes.
"And how do you think I shall get there if not on my paws"
"I'm going to restore your disapparating skills" Dumbledore said simply.
"Oh Albus, you can't overrule a ministry decision" Sirius gasped and stared at the old wizard not knowing what else to say.
"Sirius, they took that ability from you when they imprisoned you without a trial. This will be an act of the justice you never received" the headmaster stated firmly.
"I had no idea you could do that...or anyone for that matter" Sirius stammered.
Dumbledore chuckled, picked up his wand and placed it on Sirius temple. The younger wizard winced slightly, when the memory of his first day in Azkaban came back. Crouch himself had placed his wand on him and ripped the ability to disapparate out of his mind. Sirius knew that there were other ways to stop people from disapparating, but Crouch wanted to make an example. The pain had been indescribable; as if somebody was slicing his brain in half.
"Don't worry my friend; this is not going to cause any pain" Dumbledore assured the younger wizard, just if he knew what was on Sirius mind now.
Sirius braced himself when Dumbledore mumbled several words, tipped his temple and all of a sudden, Sirius felt all warm and a little dizzy.
Dumbledore smiled warmly at his friend and pushed him back in the chair.
"We don't want you to fall of your chair, do we?"
"I don't feel any different, Albus" Sirius asked cautiously, after the dizzy feeling had faided "Are you sure it worked?"
"Try it ", Dumbledore chuckled.
Sirius closed his eyes and clenched his fist, when he tried to do something he hadn't done for 14 years. Then with a plop he was gone.
"Yeah...it worked.... Albus... I did it!" Sirius yelled, when he ran back down the stairs. "I apparated to the bedroom and it was just like before...I thought I forgot how to do it, but I can still do it" he poured out and Dumbledore was laughing loudly as he watched Sirius almost bursting for happiness.
"You deserve it my friend, but let's get back to business" the headmaster said.
Dumbledore and Sirius discussed the best way to get Severus out of Transylvania and after dinner, Sirius was ready to go. "There's a last thing I want to give you", the headmaster said. Sirius raised his brows questioningly, while he waited for the old wizard to continue.
"I want to you to take this" Dumbledore said and placed a long golden feather in Sirius' hand.
"A phoenix feather?" Sirius asked bewildered.
"Yes Sirius; one of Fawkes' feathers, to be precise. As soon as you find Severus, you two have to hold on to it. The phoenix feather works like a port key and brings you directly to me, no matter where I will be."
Sirius looked at the headmaster in awe, before he stored the feather in his pocket.
"Now go Sirius and please be successful" Dumbledore said seriously and with a plop Sirius was gone.