Part 9
Hogwarts: Dumbledore's office
August 18th, 1994. 2pm
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"I am terribly sorry for calling this meeting a week prior. I am aware each and one of you have sacrificed your time, but I am afraid the events that occurred are equally as important." Dumbledore looked at each members of the Order. Most of them, if not all, looked restless.
Snape observed the headmaster then eyed Remus and Sirius, who was in his Animagus form. He wasn't happy to say the least, but what annoyed him more was the person sitting next to Shacklebolt.
Hadwin James...
He could tell he wasn't the only one disturbed by the man's presence. McGonagall was looking unsurely at Dumbledore, while Snape's two rivals were trying to figure the stranger out. Snape figured James was the main reason Sirius was in his 'mutt' form.
"Before we begin, I would like everyone to meet Mr. Hadwin James. A new member of the Order."
Dumbledore nodded to James. The man swiftly stood up, bowed, and sat back down.
"!"
It took everyone by surprise, especially Snape and McGonagall. They knew the headmaster only met the man the night before, and he's already gained Dumbledore's full trust.
Has Albus Dumbledore gone insane?
"Albus... I-"
McGonagall started to argue, but Dumbledore raised his hand.
"I know what everyone in this room is thinking. And I assure you, I am quite sane," he smiled at Snape in particular, "but I trust James with my life and the fate of the entire Wizarding World."
"The old coot has lost it..."
Snape thought as he watched Dumbledore signal Shacklebolt. The Auror nodded and stood up.
"As do I. I know James well enough to know he is completely against the Dark Lord and is willing to sacrifice his own life for his destruction."
"Wowhoa... Isn't that a little too much?"
James narrowed his eyes at Shacklebolt who gave him a confident smile. But James knew it was all too true.
"We trained for the Auror together, and James here is fully capable of fighting against the Death Eaters."
Shacklebolt praised. He said it with enough force that some members were looking at James with awe. It was hard to believe Shacklebolt and James met only few hours ago.
"I might have heard incorrectly, but did you mention 'Dark Lord'?"
Mad Eye Moody pointed. James turned to the ex-Auror without changing any expression and this impressed Snape somewhat. He never met anyone who was undaunted by Mad Eye's appearance. But then he figured since James was an Auror, he probably knew about the famous veteran fighter.
"Yes, we have a reason to believe he has returned."
Dumbledore was composed, but the others were anything but.
"Oh my..."
"Albus..."
"You can't be serious!"
Couple of the members voiced their terror as the others seemed speechless. Though it wasn't a big surprise for Snape, Remus, and Sirius. They knew this would happen sooner or later, and it just so happens to be the former.
"This late morning, we found two dead bodies and we're very certain they were done by You-Know-Who. One was that of a man named Frank Bryce, a gardener who worked for the Riddle residence," there were gasps among some people, "and the other, …I deeply regret to say, is our own…. Bertha Jorkins was found in the deep forest of Albania..."
Shacklebolt paused to let it sink in. All the school staff, as well as Remus and Sirius, knew Jorkins and it was quite a shock to hear the death of a fellow student.
"...We did some tests and apparently, there were traces of memory charm on her. A very dangerous and powerful one."
"…. Why would he want to kill Bertha Jorkins?"
The usually quiet Remus spoke out. Sirius kept his eyes on Shacklebolt.
"We have eyewitnesses saying they saw her with someone who fits the description of Peter Pettigrew," Remus flinched as Sirius gave a low growl, "so we think Pettigrew took some vital information from her."
"Actually, it was Voldemort." James thought, but let Shacklebolt continue. The powerful memory charm was too difficult for someone like Pettigrew to perform, he figured, and he has actually seen her being killed. She was in a very bad state before the final blow, and now James knew it was the result of the charm.
"Vital information?"
Snape finally opened his sealed mouth.
Shacklebolt nodded.
"Yes, but we're not sure what… It could be any knowledge she obtained."
"Which makes this problem even greater since Ms. Jorkins worked for the Ministry."
Dumbledore added. This brought wrinkles between the brows of everyone in the room.
"We are going to gather much information of Jorkins as we can and try to know what they know."
Everyone was lost in their thoughts and worries for a while, until Mad Eye Moody shook his head.
"All this talk…. Yes, it makes it very possible he has returned. But it's all circumstantial, is it not? How do we know Pettigrew didn't act alone or simply with another Death Eater?"
Everyone nodded their head in agreement. Dumbledore turned to James who opened his mouth for the first time.
"Because Harry Potter saw it."
"WHAT!"
Among the surprised gasps, one by Sirius was very loud. He has returned to the human form before anyone could snap their fingers and was about to tackle James. And he would have if Remus hasn't interfered.
"What do you mean he saw it? Harry was there?"
Despite the calmed voice, the werewolf's eyes gave out a deadly glare towards James to demand an explanation.
"Sirius, sit down," Dumbledore sighed, "I apologize for keeping secrets from you, but Harry's been having... visions of Voldemort lately..."
"Visions? What visions !"
"Sirius!"
Remus pushed his friend on the chair next to him and turned to Dumbledore.
"Don't you mean dreams?"
James sighed inwardly as he recalled thinking it was just a dream… until realizing their significance on the beginning of the fourth year. He had told Remus and Sirius it was nothing they should concern themselves with.
"Yes, Harry and I both thought it was a dream at first…. But," Dumbledore looked at James who gave him a small nod, "he saw both Mr. Bryce and Ms. Jorkins killed by the hands of Voldemort before their bodies were discovered this morning..."
This was a hard blow, especially to Remus and Sirius.
"My god… Where is he now! Is he with you?"
Dumbledore shook his head.
"That is another important matter we need to discuss."
The old wizard went quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to put things in words.
"Dumbledore!"
Sirius was ready to pounce on the headmaster, but was again ceased by Remus.
"The Triwizard Tournament, as you well know, is being held here at Hogwarts this year. And Ms. Jorkins worked with the Department of Magical Games and Sports... It is very likely our enemy knows this through the charm..-"
"I want to know about Harry! Not the stupid tournament!"
Sirius interrupted. Dumbledore gave him a warning look.
"Let me finish, Sirius. It is very likely our enemy will use this opportunity to attack Hogwarts. With all the different students from other schools, it would be a difficult task to keep everyone in check. Hogwarts ground would not be safe for Harry..."
Dumbledore gave out a very deep sigh.
"That is why we've decided to hide Harry with the Fidelius Charm"
Both Remus and Sirius jumped from their seats.
"You can't fucking be serious! Where the hell is he, Dumbledore?"
"Dumbledore," Remus grabbed Sirius' robe just in case, "why weren't we notified immediately? And who's 'we'?"
"Harry Potter, Albus, and I."
James answered flatly. Remus was taken by surprise that he forgot to keep his hold on Sirius.
"And who the fuck do you think you are?"
Sirius grasped James by his collar and pulled him to his feet.
"Sirius!"
"Mr. Black!"
Dumbledore, Remus, and McGonagall cried in unison and everyone moved to stop them.
"I'm the Secret Keeper for your godson."
James responded, unmoved by the threatful assault.
"...What?"
Remus eyed James as he tried to peel Sirius away.
"You?" Sirius tightened his hold on James then turned to Dumbledore, "Harry chose him to be his Secret Keeper?"
"Yes, ...he did."
Dumbledore confirmed.
"I don't blame him," James smiled coldly, "you've seemed to screw things up last time when given the opportunity."
"You Fucker!"
Sirius yelled as he moved to punch James in the face.
'Well, I asked for it. I guess.' James thought as he closed his eyes and embraced himself for the pain to come... But none came.
"I will not tolerate these childish behaviors, Sirius!"
Dumbledore has petrified Sirius who was stilled at a 'ready to punch' position. It was amusing really, and the only one who had the nerve to smirk was none other than Snape. He was enjoying the unsuspecting turn of events and believed this to be the best Order meeting ever. He was beginning to have second thoughts about James.
"And you, James. I believe you owe Sirius an apology as well."
Dumbledore eyed James with anger and a little confusion. He was puzzled by James' action towards his own godfather. He was determined to confront him about this later.
"My apologies, Mr. Black," James bowed his head to Sirius and looked around the room, "but I assure each and one you, the boy is safe and unharmed. I would die before revealing his location to anyone. That was the promise I made with Albus and Harry Potter, and they gave me their trust in return."
McGonagall turned to Dumbledore.
"Is it true, Albus?"
"Yes, Minerva. As I've said, I trust James with my life."
"And Harry's?"
Remus reminded.
Dumbledore nodded.
"As well as Harry's life, yes. Harry entrusted his own life to James, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen him to be his Secret Keeper."
Remus nodded but wasn't happy. He examined James and promised himself he would get more information out of him.
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It was only after Dumbledore dismissed everyone when Sirius could finally move. He was about to run after James but Remus grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear, "Later, Sirius. We'll get him later."
Sirius watched until James walk out the door and finally nodded, very ill tempered.
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"I see you're not a big fan of overgrown mutts either."
James turned to see a very satisfied expression of Snape, which was a bit creepy to say the least.
"Yes, allergies."
James joked and turned to move on. Snape walked beside him and smirked.
"I must say, Professor James, things are starting to get a bit exciting since you arrived here."
James knew the hidden meaning behind Snape's words and stopped.
"What's your point, Professor Snape?"
"Other than the point that I am looking forward to this school year? Nothing. Good day, professor."
With that, Snape was on his way towards the dungeon stairs with his famous robe fluttering walk.
"Likewise."
James rolled his eyes and trotted the hallway to catch up with Moody.
"What is it, Mr. James?"
Not surprisingly, Moody stopped before James could call out his name.
"Call me James, Mr. Mad Eye Moody." James caught up and smiled.
"Then call me Mad Eye, or just Moody. Whichever one you'd prefer, James."
Moody slowly turned around to face the young man.
"Okay, Mad Eye then. I always liked how it sound," James extended his hand and Moody took it, "I wanted to talk to you about the DADA position."
"What about it?"
"Well, I heard from Albus he offered it to you first and I wanted to make sure you were okay with me taking over."
"No, I'm not."
Moody countered.
"Uhh… umm, well, you can have it if you wish. I mean, you were supposed to be-"
As James started to mumble, Moody started to laugh with his screechy voice.
"I'm only kidding, boy. Loosen up a little."
Moody continued to laugh as he turned around to leave.
"A child your age shouldn't worry about little things. You'll end up looking older than me."
He laughed and turned the corner to the door.
This was the first real conversation James had with Moody. They did meet time to time, but didn't really get to talk to one another. James thought about the time when he went to the future as young Harry and Moody said something about saving his life. It was a little mystery that kept him wondering as he grew up. And it was yet to be solved.
In any case, he could tell he was going to like the old man very much.
'Too bad I didn't get the chance to know him much growing up...' James stretched his arms and headed back to his room.
Maybe he could get more acquainted with Moody when he gets back to his time.
I think Frank Bryce was killed much later than the 18th... Oh well.
Voldemort wanted to speed things up a little.(lol)