Chapter III - Of Interesting Meetings

It was early morning, 3 am. Professor Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk, contemplating the people in front of it. On his far left sat Alastor Moody, over-paranoid ex-Auror and the one with the most experience in these things after the esteemed professor himself. To Alastor's left sat Severus Snape, talented Potions Master and Death Eater turned spy. Next in line was Remus Lupin, looking haggard as ever and the determined glint in his amber eyes could be mistaken for madness, but Dumbledore knew better: Remus now had more motivation than ever to seek revenge and bring Voldemort and his followers down.

The last in line, but certainly not any less than most of the males in the room, was the respected deputy headmistress herself, Minerva McGonagall. It was she who broke the rather tense silence they had been held under since he had announced the potential attack on Azkaban.

'Who exactly is this D.E.P. person, Albus?'

Dumbledore smiled slightly: he had wondered who'd ask this particular question. His smile dwindled again, although the sparkle in his eye did not disappear entirely, as he answered.

'I am afraid that I have no knowledge of anyone with the initials D.E.P.'

'I do,' grunted Snape.

Dumbledore smiled and turned full-fledged twinkling eyes on his young friend.

'I was hoping you did, Severus.'

Severus scowled and clasped his hands.

'He is own of the Dark Lord's newest servants. His full name is Dominique Eduardo Parcelli and the Dark Lord seems especially fond of him. He tells us he is a year-old Durmstrang student…'

'He tells us?' Dumbledore interrupted.

'I say he is much too young to be eighteen. He might as well be fifteen, sixteen at most.'

'What does he look like?' growled Moody.

'How should I know? None of us ever take our masks of during meetings. I personally doubt the Dark Lord himself has seen his face.'

'You-Know-Who accepts recruits without seeing their faces?' McGonagall whispered incredulously.

'Stature?' Moody growled again.

'Three inches shorter than I am, he holds himself tall, confident or arrogant, more likely. I presume that he is Italian originally, although his accent is smooth. Dark hair; tanned skin.'

'How strong is he magically?' The question came from McGonagall.

'Average, I'd say, slightly stronger perhaps.'

'He'd have to be fairly strong if he managed to get through Hogwarts' wards. Not even Voldemort has been able to do that yet. Unless he hasn't tried yet,' Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a minute and then returned his attention to the dark-haired spy.

'Anything else, Severus?'

'No, although I wonder where he gets his information from.'

'How d'ya mean?' Moody grunted.

'Unless he is heading this attack, he wouldn't have known the location until he was summoned.'

'Is that why you didn't know about this?'

'Indeed. The Dark Lord suspects someone and does not trust anyone with anything unless we are participating.'

'So you believe this is false information?'

'I do. I believe it is a trap.'

'Ignore it,' was Moody's opinion.

'What do you think, Albus? Is this person trustworthy?' McGonagall asked.

Dumbledore smiled.

'To be honest I do believe that our informant is trustworthy. It is indeed why I called you here at this time. However, as I see it there is a one to two chance. Either our informant is giving false information to trap us. It could also be that he will continue giving us this information until we do stop reacting, resulting in a large scale attack. On the other hand it may be genuine.'

'You trust too easily, Headmaster.'

'I trusted you, Severus.'

'You have never met the man!'

'On the contrary, I do believe I have. His handwriting is familiar, although I do not recall where I have seen it.'

'May I see it, Albus?'

'I am afraid the note vanished not long after I read it, my dear Minerva, I have no idea how.'

'I still say ignore it,' Moody grunted.

The two others nodded. Dumbledore looked towards the one who had stayed silent throughout the conversation.

'Remus, what do you think?'

'Hmm? Oh, I'll go with whatever you decide, Albus. I'm afraid I did not follow the entire conversation.'

'Stupid werewolf,' Snape muttered under his breath.

Dumbledore shot him a look and effectively silenced him before turning back to the thoughtful looking man.

'What is it, Remus?'

'Nothing probably, I just thought I could smell something.'

'What was that?'

'Harry.'

Dumbledore looked surprised.

'You can smell Harry almost a month after his last visit?'

'What? No, no that isn't possible, I must be imagining it.'

'I suspect Potter has a rather strong smell,' Snape said, 'I doubt he ever uses the…'

'Actually no. Harry's scent always seems to blend into the background. A bit like he himself always tries to do.'

'Potter try to blend into the background! Ha, impossible! He is just as arrogant as his father before him.'

Lupin stayed silent but Dumbledore commented.

'I am afraid that you seem to have mistaken there, Severus. Rather like Sirius, I believe. Harry is not James Potter, as you'd find if you looked a little more closely. I'd even go so far as to say that you have things in common.'

'That's all well,' Moody grunted, 'but what are we doing about Azkaban? It's five to four.'

'Well, if we all agree, I do believe that we shall let it be at present.'

The four nodded.

'Very well. I shall see you in the morning.'