Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise. Characters, places, spells – anything from the Harry Potter books are not mine. I am simply a poor student with a severe lack of money and spare time.

James' Duel

Finding Dumbledore: Part 2: Take Me On

Hogwarts security seemed a bit…lax. After apparating to Hogsmeade, James walked across the Hogwarts grounds and straight through the front entrance of the castle without any problems.

Who would be going for the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching job though? James tried to think of people, but could only think of a few old timers who would possibly apply for the job – they could be dead by now. People could have had all sorts of career changes since he'd been gone and the job had been unpopular for a long time anyway.

Even though they were fully curable in the wizarding world, James didn't want to give Dumbledore a heart attack by just walking in as himself. He was also wary of the other people who might see him there, so he remained as the blend-in-with-the-wallpaper ministry worker whom he was already disguised as. Eventually he would have to revert back to his normal form to attempt to prove who he was to Dumbledore, but just for now he wasn't James Potter.

Disguised James walked along the corridors until he found the entrance to Dumbledore's office. The stone gargoyle leapt aside before James could even begin to guess the password and Severus Snape strode out, red faced, and glared at James before storming off.

Dumbledore himself appeared a few seconds later, looking very old and worn. He gave James a light smile and gestured for him to follow him up to his office. Once inside they both sat down and Dumbledore let out a long sigh and shook his head as if to clear certain thoughts from it before he spoke to James.

"I assume, and hope that you are here to apply for the job of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Well…" To be honest, James thought that teaching might be quite interesting, but it might be a bit awkward for Harry. "…not –"

"Fantastic. What experience do you have?" Before James could even reply Dumbledore had butted in, letting his hope for another applicant get the better of him.

"Er…" James dragged his hands through his hair, trying to go along with Dumbledore. "I've got full Auror training and the experience of working as an Auror. And I've fought Voldemort on several occasions."

"Good, good." Dumbledore replied, and then it seemed to sink in. He lowered his spectacles slightly to get a better look at James.

"Maybe you're overqualified for this job – right now we need all the Aurors we can get."

James cleared his throat. "I'm about 14 odd years out of practise. I think that teaching would be a good way to get back into everything."

"And what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't."

"Oh…well, I can't say that I recognise you at all."

"Ah. I'm in disguise, so that's a good thing." James grinned. He was really getting into the interview now.

"Yes, a good demonstration of disguising oneself beyond all recognition. This certainly shows some of your expertise in the subject area. The question of your identity still remains though." The old man looked at James expectantly.

"This might be a bit of a shock."

"Go ahead."

"I'm James Potter."

"So, what now?" Ron asked Hermione.

"Is there anywhere else we can go from here? I mean, we can't go round asking random people because we'd be giving too much information away." Hermione looked to Ron for an answer.

"And people are getting suspicious of you guys already. What are you two sneaking around for?"

Harry interrupted Hermione and Ron's 'quiet' conversation rather abruptly, causing Ron to let out a small scream and Hermione to let out a small gasp.

"Christ Harry, what are you doing sneaking up on us like that?"

"Christ Ron, what are you doing sneaking around and keeping secrets?"

Hermione looked from one annoyed face to another and sighed.

"Harry, we're not keeping secrets. We just saw…something and we wanted to find out more before we worried anyone with it."

"Right. So…what was it?"

Hermione looked unsure of whether to say anything.

"Fine, be like that." Harry turned to leave.

"Hey, wait." Ron was also unsure of himself and very uneasy about what he was about to do.

"We saw – we saw a…bloke."

Harry smiled a little. "A bloke?"

"Er…yeah…a-a bloke-"

Hermione decided to take over. "We saw a man who looked like you, and we thought it might be you after you'd taken an ageing potion. But then he collapsed and they took him to St. Mungo's. We went there and they didn't know who he was."

"Weird."

"Yeah, that's what we thought."

Dumbledore's eyebrows disappeared into his hair and his beard rolled up like a blind. He stared intently at James, as if he could determine his identity through the disguise.

"Erm…I'll lose the disguise if you want."

James stood up and performed the counter curses on himself and soon stood before Dumbledore with his usual appearance. He sat back down and stared back at the shocked Dumbledore, who seemed to be stuck in position. He waved a hand in front of his face.

Dumbledore shook his head. "This, I did not expect. At all…I must be getting old-"

"Well, I didn't want to mention that, but-"

"If you are James Potter, how did you survive Voldemort? And where have you been for the last 14 odd years?"

He placed his glasses on the table in front of him and summoned up a large pot of tea, from which he poured out two tankards and added milk.

"It's a long story."

Dumbledore nodded and summoned up a few more pots of tea.

A few hours later James had finished telling Dumbledore his whole story and proceeded to ask questions about Harry – he knew what had happened to Lily from the papers already. It still felt raw in his heart, but adrenaline held back the pain and tears, keeping him focused on finding Harry before he broke down.

"I'm sure he'll want to tell you himself and get to know you as well, once he comes round to the idea of you still being alive."

James just nodded. "So, do you need proof of what I'm telling you?"

"Yes. Times are just like they were when you left us, but they're getting worse. A lot worse. I know that you must've been to Rendakadavra because of your description of it. I ventured there as a tourist once and had a bit of an unpleasant experience. Do you have the fake passport you said you had?"

James pulled out his fake Rendakadavra passport and studied Dumbledore's reaction to it. His forehead was wrinkled and his nose scrunched up.

"However, this is the first time I've heard of someone getting there in such a way. I've heard of other cases where spells have mixed during duels and caused unpleasant or unpredicted consequences, but never this particular one."

"I can produce my Patronus if that would help."

"Hmmm…I think the best thing for you to do would be to transform into your animagus form. From your detailed account of events and from your knowledge of certain things before you left us, things that only James Potter would know, I believe that you are who you say you are. The ministry will, no doubt, want to perform certain spells and tests on you to check your identity for themselves and will also want to know about the spell mixing consequence in as much detail as they can."

"So, why the animagus?"

"To concrete your identity to me and to members of the Order and, most importantly, to Harry. You've read about his adventures in the papers – he doesn't exactly trust the Ministry very much, so their word won't convince him."

"Right."

James stood up and transformed for the first time in 14 odd years (well, not including the toilet/tramp incident, which was an accident).

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at him.

"Welcome back, Mr Potter."

James transformed back into his human form and performed the Patronus charm to further prove his identity.

"To the ministry?" James asked Dumbledore, who seemed to be lost in thought once again.

"To the ministry." Dumbledore confirmed as he and James left his office.

"Hang on." They both halted and Dumbledore gave James a questioning look. "Did I get the job?"

A/N: I've reuploaded this chapter just to add in something I thought of after I'd uploaded the first time. So far 91 page views and 0 reviews. I'm feeling very unloved. Anyway, just this:
Please drop me a line, and maybe add in which way you would like it to continue:
1. At the end of Harry's fourth year, with Sirius still alive etc.
2. At the end of Harry's fifth year, with Sirius dead.
3. At the end of Harry's fifth year, with Sirius alive and having been found innocent.