Chapter 13: Conference
A group of concerned adults discuss Harry's whereabouts.
Dumbledore watched patiently as the parchment and newspaper clippings passed hand to hand. Minerva's lips were pressed into a thin white line. There was a faint tremor in Dedalus Diggle's hand as he exchanged articles with an openly weeping Emmaline Vance. Alastor had already seen the reports and his magical eye was fixed firmly on Severus Snape. The Potions Master himself was maintaining an impassive expression. Beside him, Remus Lupin seemed to grew more and more worried with each passing clipping. Sirius Black switched between pale and furious, his cheeks splotched with white and red in ugly patches. The Headmaster waited until all eyes had observed the findings before sighing deeply.
"This new information is troubling. We must enhance our search."
"Indeed!" Minerva said shortly. Her tone was hot, as was her temper.
"And how do you propose we do that without drawing attention to ourselves?" Snape drawled. "You were the one who said this must be kept strictly in confidence. Doing any more will certainly draw eyes. Already some have come to my with their suspicions."
"Malfoy?" Alastor growled. Snape did not confirm or deny, pressing on with his line of thought.
"How do these sightings relate to Potter?"
The Headmaster tapped a finger on the clipping from the Daily Prophet featuring the Longbottom family, who were recovering from a terrifying ordeal. "There is a dangerous creature from ancient times roaming the Wizarding World," Dumbledore said gravely. "Harry Potter is in great danger. We must find him as quickly as possible and return him to the care of his Aunt and Uncle—"
Sirius Black banged his fists on the table and leapt to his feet. A chair down, Severus Snape's grip on the table turned white.
"You're sending him back to those blasted Muggle bastards?!—"
Gasps erupted from around the room.
"Sirius!"
"Mister Black!"
"How dare you speak to the Headmaster that way!" Minerva McGonagall had also risen to her feet. "Lower your voice and return to your seat!"
"I shall not!" Sirius thundered, knocking his chair away and bringing his fist down again upon the table. Dedalus Diggle jumped nearly out of his own seat. Beside him, Snape drew his wand, a caustic expression across his face.
"Take. Your. Seat."
"I am not a child! I will not be spoken to like one—"
"Perhaps when you can manage to prove your age with a reasonable response—"
"Oh, very mature of you, Snivellus! Flex that impressive adult vocabulary of yours at me one more time, I beg of you—"
Dumbledore held up two hands. "Now, now. We are all gathered here for a common cause! Let us channel our passions to more productive conversations. Severus? Sirius?" The two men looked directly at the Headmaster with similar expressions.
"I would like to extend a personal apology. I was wrong."
The statement effectively shocked Sirius into silence and caused Snape to lower his wand. The two men, humbled at Dumbledore's modesty, did offer mumbled apologies and returned to their seats. He waited until the remaining members refreshed themselves best they could, smoothing their cloaks and sitting straight in their chairs, before he continued.
"The fact of the matter remains: we must find Mr. Potter post-haste. I have been exploring my own unique methods for locating him with no results. I must admit, if it were not such an important matter, I would be pleasantly puzzled." The old wizard smiled despite his colleagues' looks of surprise. "It has been some time since I have been so stumped," he admitted easily. "I may be old but I still enjoy the odd challenge here and again."
"But Albus," McGonagall protested, "This is a matter of the boy's safety..."
"Precisely," The Headmaster agreed with a deep sigh of regret. "If it were less urgent I would find great joy in being put against this task. Alas!"
He clapped for a House Elf. A small creature with drooping ears and wide blue eyes appeared with a short bow. "Aggie, please fetch refreshments and biscuits for our guests! We need to think, and thinking is hungry work." The Elf nodded eagerly and disappeared in a crack.
"What have you tried already, Headmaster?" asked Mr. Diggle.
"I have Scryed," Dumbledore answered, causing looks of astonishment and wonder from his gathered companions, "For longer than any witch or wizard should. I had hoped..." He paused and held a long look to someplace far out of sight, then waved a hand. "But it was a fool's hope. Young Harry is hidden from my Scrying sight and so I have turned to other avenues."
"Have you tried Summoning him, Headmaster?" posed Ms. Vance.
The Headmaster smiled. "But Ms. Vance! Of course I haven't."
Emmaline Vance looked startled at his jovial remark. "Then, why don't we try?" She suggested tentatively, confused at the old man's expression. The thin line of Minerva's mouth seemed to suggest the Professor was holding back a remark of some kind.
"Please," Dumbledore agreed, his blue eyes twinkling behind half-moon spectacles.
Emmaline drew her wand and stood to cast.
"Accio Harry Potter!"
The biscuits and tea arrived while they waited to see the results of Emmaline's spell. The witch's cheeks grew redder and redder as time passed. Finally, after a round of tea had disappeared from everyone else's cup, she sat down in her chair and withdrew her wand. Dedalus Diggle brushed biscuit crumbs from his collar.
"Well, of course it wouldn't work," he mused, "No wonder the Headmaster hadn't tried it yet."
"Now, now," Dumbledore admonished, "There is no reason to cast doubt. Ms. Vance did her best, and her idea was not without merit. It is regrettable that it was unsuccessful." He explained to the room at large his suspicions why the spell did not function. Tea was poured and more biscuits appeared as his explanation filled the room. When he finished, Emmaline looked less embarrassed, and Dedalus looked intrigued. McGonagall smiled privately; Dumbledore always did have a passion for teaching. Moody cleared his throat and drew the room's attentions.
"Thank you for enlightening us, Headmaster. The question remains: How do we find the boy?"
"That is one of the reasons we are gathered here today, Alastor. I open the floor to all suggestions. How would you find Harry Potter?"
Sirius tapped his wand against the table, frustration clear across his face. The other members of the group looked thoughtful, concerned, or hopeless. Moody was muttering to himself under his breath. Snape vacillated between rolling his eyes and resting an assuring hand across Remus' opening and closing fist. The other man murmured a quiet thanks but continued to fret. Beside him, Sirius finally stood and put his wand flat on his open palm.
"Point Me, Harry Potter!"
The wand spun in circles on his open palm.
"I'm sure you're aware of why that particular spell won't work," McGonagall said tartly as Sirius turned puce, "We are in one of the most secluded, secure locations in all of Europe. Even if Mr. Potter were in the vicinity of the castle the spell couldn't Point us. There are far too many wards concealing the school for the spell to work on the grounds."
"Which is why we don't teach it to students until Sixth year," Snape said with a sneer. "And then it is only practiced in Hogsmade off the school grounds proper. Something you might have known if you hadn't been so busy skipping classes."
"I don't see you putting up anything better," Sirius snapped. "At least I'm trying."
"And failing," Snape added.
Remus snatched his friend's wand as Sirius dove to level it at Snape.
"Sirius! Please!" Snape merely turned his head from the scene and took a fresh biscuit. Sirius gave a wordless snarl but Remus had him by an arm. Across the table, McGonagall made a noise of disapproval. Remus dragged the other man back from the table a step and the two shared a harsh whispered conference. Emmaline and Dedalus looked concerned, while Moody made an obscure suggestion himself.
"Why don't we try luring the lad? Surely he's lost, alone. We need to appeal to his sense of security..."
"How could we? We don't even know where to begin," McGonagall said. "He could be lost in London, or sleeping on the streets in Surrey! As it is, we don't have enough resources to be spread so thin over all of England."
"There's always Divination," Remus suggested. Half the table snorted in derision.
Dumbledore looked around and the noises stopped.
"Thank you, Remus," he said sincerely, "But I did not want to alert Professor Trelawney to Mr. Potter's disappearance. As I said, it is imperative that this is kept between as few of us as possible. As tempting as it may be to look for answers from the future, it is best that we keep looking in the present."
Several more ideas were brought up and dismissed. The tea cups stood empty on the table and the biscuit tray stopped refreshing itself. Though there were no windows in the room McGonagall could tell it was nearly dusk. Their discussion continued for some time with no conclusive decision reached. Finally, Sirius threw up his hands.
"We've been at this for hours and we're no where closer to finding Harry. There must be something we can do!"
"I agree," Remus said in a weary tone. "But what? Dumbledore has made it clear we must limit how many people are involved in the search, and without increasing our numbers, we have to work together to find him."
"Hear, hear!" Dedalus agreed, "Where have you been all afternoon, man? We've been racking our brains together, trying to come up with new ideas!"
"I don't know," Sirius grumbled, "All Snape's done is shoot down everyone's ideas. I haven't heard him put up any suggestions."
The Potions Master was sitting with his arms crossed over his chest. He had, in fact, been shooting down ideas all day. With calm, bored indifference, he had addressed the flaws in each potential search scenario until the original speaker had backed down. The pale man didn't bother meeting Sirius' accusing glare.
"Perhaps he has been waiting to share an idea of his own?" Dumbledore suggested gently. The other faces in the room turned to look at Snape, apparently waiting for him to propose a new idea.
Snape's lip twitched back into a scowl.
"I did not want to be baselessly accused of suggesting this method out of untoward intentions," he drawled eventually, "There is a way to Summon the boy."
"Weren't you listening?" asked Dedalus Diggle, "Dumbledore explained at length why that wouldn't work..."
Snape silenced the man with a look and continued. "Not with a spell. With a ritual."
Moody's magical eye swiveled in its socket. Dumbledore's brow creased ever-so-slightly. The others had more expressive reactions; Emmaline Vance gaped and Dedalus Diggle gasped, McGonagall began protesting immediately, and Sirius levelled Snape with a furious scowl.
"To even suggest it is suspicious," Moody growled in a foul mood, "All rituals reek of Dark magic."
"No one's used magic like that in at least a century," McGonagall said smartly, "and with good reason!"
"A Summoning Ritual," Emmaline breathed, "Profane magic!"
"It's Olde Magic, for sure. There are steps involved, a specific order, and proper words to use," Dedalus said cautiously, as though merely speaking of it would bring consequences. "It's not been taught at Hogwarts for well over two hundred years."
"There are very few documented cases of failure," Snape began.
"And there's no doubting that every case is an example of using Dark magic!" Sirius shouted. "I won't allow it!"
Dumbledore rose a hand and forestalled all remaining arguments. He appeared to be seriously considering it for a long while. Sirius stared hard at the old man. He was not alone; every other eye, including both of Moody's, were trained on the wizard. The Headmaster's stare was settled on something off in the distance again as he kept his silence. Finally he spoke.
"The reasons we cannot are twofold. First, although I have limited knowledge about such magic, I do recall reading that for such a ritual we would require something which personally belonged to our intended Summons." He turned to Remus and Sirius. "Do either of you happen to have something that belonged to young Harry?"
The two Marauders exchanged glances and shook their heads.
"Of course we would give up anything in our possession if it could help find Harry," Remus said, "But as we've been forbidden to contact him, we have nothing of his."
"Surely we can go to his former residence and acquire something from there?" McGonagall suggested, though she looked upset at the prospect of revisiting his 'former residence'. Dumbledore shook his head. "The family he had stayed with saw fit to inform me that his personal affects have since been sold, donated, or disposed of. There is nothing of Harry's there now."
The Headmaster seemed to have expected the gargled noise of agony that news elicited from Sirius. Remus put a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. Dumbledore nodded and regarded Snape. "The second reason, Severus, is consent."
"Consent? But he's just a boy," Snape said, "Surely we do not need the consent of a child for the magic to work."
"On the contrary," Dumbledore warned, "Consent is most important. Using magic to Summon a person without their knowledge, or worse, against their will, is certainly Dark magic."
"Even if... Even if it saves them from danger?" asked Emmaline nervously.
"Even then," Dumbledore confirmed. "That is among the reasons such magic is no longer taught at Hogwarts. It has become an obscure branch of magic. I confess myself to be surprised you knew of it, old friend," he said to Snape.
"I find myself fascinated by the methods that have since fallen out of practice," Snape said demurely, "They are often crude executions of sound ideas, held back in efficiency by the limitations of the times in which they were conceived..."
"Trust someone like him to come up with something like that," Moody grumbled. Sirius nodded fervently in agreement, casting dark looks around Remus at the Potions Master. Dumbledore rose a hand and conversation stalled again.
"Thank you for coming," he said benignly, "Alas, the hour is late, and many of you must retire to your families or other obligations. I emphasize again that all you hear and see today must be kept in the strictest confidence. I am ashamed to ask this burden of you when it was I who failed young Harry Potter." Dumbledore waited for the protests to die down before continuing. "I was the one responsible for leaving him in the care of his relatives without the proper wards to ensure Harry's continued safety. It is because of my failure that you are all gathered here now. But one does not do well to linger in the past. We must cast our efforts into the present, so young Harry may be safe in the future."
He rose his wand and Banished the table's contents as his guests stood. They bid him good-night each in turn and left.
The last to go was Severus Snape, who lingered away from the others, waiting. He locked eyes with the Headmaster and watched the older wizard cast a Privacy ward, as well as a muffling charm.
"What news have you about our dear Tom?"
"I wish you wouldn't call Him that," Snape muttered, clearly uncomfortable. "I have heard nothing. All channels suggest his continued absence from any form, corporeal or conjured. My Mark remains dormant. For now."
Dumbledore waved his wand, ending the spells over the room. "Thank you, old friend."
"Is there anything else you needed to ask me, Headmaster?" Snape droned.
"Not to-night, Severus," Dumbledore said.
"Then I take my leave." The Potions Master left, his cloak billowing. Dumbledore waved his wand and watched the candles switch from flame to smoke.
End Chapter