Close Shave
The next day David was still confined to bed but was declared well enough to be interviewed by a pair of aurors accompanied by the headmaster who were investigating what had finally been classed as the attempted murder of Hermione Granger. David's response was that it was about time the authorities got involved and he proceeded to give them a detailed account of each attempt that he had observed. The conversation got sidetracked for a while when one of the aurors, Helen Thompson, displayed an interest in the structure behind his ghost image spell to display the origin of an active hex. She dragged her partner out of the room to hex him so that David could demonstrate and would have gone on to discuss the research requirements before such an innovation could be publicly acknowledged had her partner not reminded her why they were there.
Auror Thompson sobered up immediately and kept shooting sympathetic glances at David as the conversation returned to Hermione Granger. David answered their questions carefully since he could not reveal the real reason for his interest in her wellbeing. After five minutes of unsatisfactory replies in the view of the senior auror, Frank Hart, whose patience was wearing particularly thin since his partner seemed to be flirting with David rather than questioning him, Auror Hart declared that there had been questions raised about David's relationships with his students, Miss Granger in particular. David looked shocked for a moment since he had not cottoned on to the trend of the conversation. In a twisted way it was amusing for him to be accused of having an unhealthy interest in one of his students.
"I take it you are considering investigating this matter in accordance with section fourteen B of the code of behaviour for Hogwarts staff?" he asked as he casually flicked his eyes left to right and stroked his chin with his right middle finger keeping his other hand in his lap but hiding the thumb underneath the palm. He was a bit worried that neither auror gave any indication of understanding the signal. The answering gesture came from a surprising source; the headmaster. This left David in a quandary, while he could not afford to be fed a truth serum as the code of behaviour required, neither did he want to let the headmaster think that he was anything other than a regular wizard. Deciding that a truth potion would do more damage David brought his thumb back into view and folded his hands in his lap with both thumbs on top rather than palms down.
"We are simply giving you due warning that there will be an investigation into the matter, which, if necessary, will include an interrogation under veritaserum," said Albus signally for David to play along. "I believe Poppy has decreed that you are not to be given any potions before you are fully recovered in any case. With luck the investigation will be concluded by the time you are fit to return to work and a suspension will not be necessary. I fear our visit has tired you more than you show so I think we should leave it there for now, if that's alright with you Auror Hart?"
The visitors left and David ran his mind over what had taken place and was at a loss to explain why Albus had recognised the signal and more to the point why he did not come out and acknowledge what David was. The signal had been intended for the aurors in the first place since they were the ones who were supposed to understand that David was to be left alone; so why did Albus think it necessary for them not to know. David had fallen into an uncomfortable doze in mid contemplation when Albus returned. He had with him a bound collection of copies of the Daily Prophet from 1989. Albus handed it to David and drew his attention to the obituary of David Dragon and then over a dozen different missing person articles in the months that followed.
"They were all shadow dragons," stated David linking the names. "There can't be more than fifteen left."
"They were. Those are the ones I knew of, but I suspect there were a lot more. I believe they were picked up when they reported in to the Ministry. When I made the connection I warned the others that I was aware of to stay away. I do not believe that many people would have seen the significance; very few people were aware of the identities of any of the shadow dragons. I was unable to do anything about it without revealing myself as one too."
"I did not know you were a shadow dragon. What happened to all of them?" asked David.
"I do not know," said Albus sorrowfully. "None were ever seen again. Once Minister Bagnold was out of office the disappearances stopped. I do not know whether she was behind them or whether whoever it was simply got lost in the ministerial reshuffle. I made several trips to Azkaban in order to discretely look for them but I did not find them. My attempts at scrying for their locations did not bear fruit either."
"They're not dead," said David.
"You're certain?" said Albus raising his eyebrows at the firmness of the statement.
"I am certain they were all alive in February," replied David but did not elaborate. Had any shadow dragons died knowing they were being hunted down David would not have been taught the signs and passwords while in the realm of the dead. His grandfather, David Dragon had founded the shadow dragons as an elite cross between aurors, hit wizards and unspeakables. They swore unbreakable vows to always act in the best interests of the wizarding population of the United Kingdom and were otherwise free agents who chose their own missions. David had not been able to swear the vow since he could not make physical contact with the bonders wand whilst in the realms of the dead but since the vow was a weaker copy of the one he swore when he became the Crimson Lord it made little difference.
"Your presence here raises many questions," mused Albus, "but your ignorance of the danger of you're in raises even more. When you signalled I was unsure whether it was a plot to incriminate me, but I doubted that the Ministry would waste a core healer on an entrapment operation, particularly after all this time. You are lucky that enough time has passed for Hart and Thompson to have forgotten the old signals. As I understand it, the aurors were informed that the secret signs had been compromised and new ones issued; anyone found using the old set was to be lulled into a false sense of security and then covertly detained. Since neither of them replied to your first sign I think you are safe. I assume you signalled because you can't afford to be dosed with veritaserum?"
"Yes."
"You did not know about the clamp down. Why is it you have been out of contact with the Ministry for so long?"
"I have been in deep cover for nearly two decades, and my mission is not yet complete," said David vaguely. "I am not supposed to break cover until it is."
"I knew there was more to you than you told me," said Albus apologetically. "I felt the need to investigate and unwittingly put you in jeopardy. Though if you will accept the criticism of someone who has not been in the field for over half a century, your cover story is sloppy; it invites attention and investigation."
"My deep cover did not include any paperwork since that could have left a clue to my existence. I disappeared. The mission is vital so no risks were taken. It was not expected that I would need or even be able to hold down a job. The background I gave you is mainly true I just omitted the nature of the training I have had."
"I admit to being curious as to why you are here then," said Albus. "You have said before that it is because of Miss Granger, is that true?"
"Yes. My mission is pretty much on hold at the moment because I am waiting for certain events before it can proceed. I discovered that she was in danger by accident; I had no indication of a problem before I healed her in the summer. Since I knew Remus would like to return to Hogwarts but could not do so full time and I had no reason not to I decided to help both of them out and agreed to come here. Sharing the job as we do also enables me to take time away for meetings etc. as required."
"So all the questionable events that were discussed earlier were innocent?"
"You have to ask don't you? Yes, completely innocent. I will confirm under veritaserum if you wish that I do not have nor ever had improper designs on her. I can't confirm that my relationship with her is strictly that of a teacher to a student since I regard her as my 'principal' in the bodyguard and protection detail sense."
"You declared her your 'friend' the night you left," probed Albus.
"I expect you suspected that I knew Harry Potter after the incidents with the Dursley family and Lily's journal? Because of that and after what happened to him I have become protective of those who were close to him. While strictly speaking they are not my friends I have come to regard them as such by extension since I have a lot of knowledge about them."
"That is unhealthy in your line of work, but while it is possible to have no friends for a few months, being undercover for as long as you have I see the need to have some, even if it is by proxy," said Albus sympathetically. "I think given your position it would be best for me to share some information with you. Hart and Thompson believe that Miss Granger is being targeted because of a prophesy which indicates that she will destroy a dark lord the day after the conception of her first child. I only became aware of this prophesy this morning, had I known of it while she was ill I might have acted differently."
David was not pleased at the thought of Hermione being the subject of a prophesy. His own had caused him a lot of suffering and he would not wish that on her. "Can you tell me the actual words of the prophesy? Is it certain that it is about Miss Granger?"
"The exact wording is unknown," said Albus apologetically. "The prophesy was given during a party at which most of the attendees were drunk. So far nobody has been able to supply a clear memory of its wording and since the automatic record at the Ministry can only be retrieved by the person it concerns it has not yet been accessed. Their research so far indicates that it refers to the dark lord being destroyed by the youngest teacher because the darkness cannot abide the growing life within; implying a young female Hogwarts teacher."
"That would appear to contradict the other prophesy I am aware off that was thought to refer to Harry Potter."
"I do not know how you came about knowledge of that prophesy," said Albus disapprovingly, "but it implied that either Voldemort would kill Potter or the other way around, and given the new evidence that Potter was innocent, his death is likely to have been the result of plot by Voldemort. There are also many prophesies which are never fulfilled and so contradictions are bound to arise."
"That's interesting to know, but either way I think it is important to check whether Miss Granger is the subject of the prophesy or not," said David with a smile which did not reach his eyes. Hermione might not be referred to but he thought that he was. "Could it be arranged for her to visit the Department of Mysteries? If it was proved that it was not her then maybe the attempts on her life would stop."
"Sickle for your thoughts," said Remus later than evening when David had given him one word answers to his attempts at conversation for a while.
"I'm thinking about prophesies and fates worse than death," said David sighing. "I am already the subject of one prophesy which has caused a lot of suffering and what I learned today suggests that there might be another one too. Albus thinks it refers to Hermione but I'm almost positive that it means me."
"You may not have had the best experience with them in the past, but prophesies don't only deal with suffering," said Remus gently.
"Well from what I gathered it was slightly positive. The inference is that I will be able to destroy Voldemort – apparently the original prophesy was unclear on that – but that it won't happen for many more years."
"And the time scale worries you? It is comforting to know that you will be successful."
"I suppose. Actually since I don't know the exact text of either prophesy I think I need to somehow arrange for a trip to the Ministry so that I can look them up, preferably with as little publicity as possible."