Chapter 22: Tempting Fate

Albus sat alone in his office for a long time, waiting for the Minster to arrive. Cornelius Fudge had heard of this latest attack and informed him that he would be coming this evening to discuss what he was planning on doing. Fudge's words hadn't fooled him however, he knew right away what the minster was planning to do. He knew all too well that the only thing that Fudge cared about was making himself look good to the Wizarding community.

After all, for a long time, he had been demanding that he meet Harry… he supposed that having a good relationship with the Boy-Who-Lived would make him look better to the Wizarding world.

But that wasn't important at the moment, he knew that Fudge was coming here to talk about taking Hagrid…

He sighed, he couldn't let that happen. But without proof, there really wasn't much he could do. "At that moment, Dilys came into her painting, looking grim. "I just got back from the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore."

He looked up, expecting the worst, "And how did Harry and Ron take the news?"

She sighed unhappily. "What do you think? It could've gone better. You're lucky you didn't see the looks on their faces when they saw her. They were devastated."

Albus sighed. This whole affair was hardest on the friends of the attacked victims and he couldn't do anything to help them except wait for the Mandrake Draft to be made. "Dumbledore?" called the voice of Everard. Albus turned his attention to him and asked, "Yes?"

"I was just in the Gryffindor common room," he told him. "It looks like Harry and Ronald plan on visiting Hagrid tonight. They intend to sneak out underneath the cloak later and talk to him about what he knows about the Chamber of Secrets."

Albus gave him a short nod and thanked him. "Now be sure that you keep a very close eye on them, make sure that they get out safely."

"Why am I not surprised that you're not going to do anything about this?" Phineas called annoyed. "You always said that you never show any favoritism… but what about this? They're breaking curfew and you still insist on helping them get away with it!"

"Phineas," Albus called soothingly. "I'm sure that they aren't in any danger tonight and I'm also sure that Hagrid is going to be needing some company… if the Minister is going to do what I fear he's planning…" he shook his head, not wanting to say it. Instead he turned back to Everard and repeated his instructions. Everard gave a quick nod of his head and walked out of his painting.

"Dilys?" he asked the former Headmistress in a tired voice, "You're the only one with a portrait in the Hospital Wing, please keep an eye on all the students in there."

She nodded dully but said in a slightly exasperated voice, "If you insist. But I don't see much point. It's like watching a bunch of statues lying in spare beds."

He gave her a grateful smile and watched her leave also before turning back to his depressing mood. 'How is this happening?' he thought to himself for the millionth time that year. 'How is it that you can do so much damage when you don't have a body, Tom?'

He sat there, lost in his own thoughts for a long time. Until finally, he heard a sharp knock on the door.

"Enter," he called, knowing who it must be. And sure enough the Minster of Magic, with his trade-mark green bowler hat, walked into his office with an anxious look.

"Evening, Dumbledore," he said briskly. He shut the door behind him and took of his black cloak before saying, "I assume that you received my letter that I'm coming tonight?"

"Obviously," Albus said as pleasantly as he could. "Otherwise, I would be asking you why you're here."

A slight pink blush came into Fudge's face but he said quickly, "Yes, yes… well. I'm here to talk about what you plan on doing about these attacks. I'm sure that I don't need to tell you that if they don't stop soon then I'll have no choice but to close the school. Parents will not be sending their children to a place where they could end up being sent to the hospital like your students have been lately. I've left you to deal with this problem for months now, and I thought that we were over and done when the attacks seemed to stop. But we've had two more attacks this afternoon and the public is demanding that I do something about it."

"And what do you intend on doing?" Albus asked politely, but he could feel a deep anger beginning to erupt inside him.

Fudge played with his hat for a moment before finally saying, "I'm afraid that I have no choice but to take Hagrid, Dumbledore. He's the only suspect that we have, and it's the only thing that I can think of to do."

Albus knew that was what he was planning on doing all along, but to hear the words come out of his mouth so calmly, gave him the urge to pull out his wand and curse him. But instead, Albus frowned at him and said in a much colder voice than usual, "As I have explained to you before Cornelius, I don't believe for a second that Hagrid is behind these attacks. He has already come to me and told me everything he knows about the Chamber of Secrets which, I have to remind you, isn't anymore than what anyone else knows."

Fudge nodded and said slowly, as if he thought that Albus was just being stubborn, "That maybe the case. But Hagrid's past is against him, Albus. I insist that you allow me to take Hagrid. If it turns out that it isn't him, then he'll be brought back here with a full apology."

"Sometimes an apology isn't enough to erase the harm that's been done," Albus said with sadness clearly in his voice. This was true… something he knew all too well. Once you do something to someone… good or bad… you cannot change it. When a life has been taken or damaged beyond all repair… nothing you do can make up for it. The image of his dead sister's glassy, blue eyes staring at him appeared in his mind's eye and he felt the need to cry.

But he fought his tears. Crying wasn't going to help him or Hagrid right now. "Cornelius," he said softly. "I can assure you that taking Hagrid will not do anything."

Fudge merely shrugged in a hopeless sort of way. "Consider my position, Dumbledore," he said. "Four students have already been attacked, and I must be seen doing something."

"And you think that taking an innocent man to Azkaban will help?" he asked coolly, but he could feel a slight wave of his anger beginning to show in his face.

Fudge just gave him a piteous look and said, "I'm sorry, Dumbledore." Though Albus could see that he wasn't sorry at all. "I have the power to have Hagrid arrested, but I don't want it to be harder than it has to be. It's only a temporary stay. If it turns out that Hagrid isn't behind all these attacks, as you believe, then he'll be release and allowed to return to his gamekeeper duties. Now I must ask that you bring me to him right away. You know that I have the power to summon Aurors here, Dumbledore."

Albus hesitated. But at long last, he stood up. He didn't have any other choice. If he refused, then Hagrid would be in even more trouble—and that wasn't what his old friend needed.

So with a sad sigh, he walked around his desk and led Fudge through the castle to the front door. But as he entered the Entrance Hall, he noticed Everard in one of the portraits. When Everard noticed him, he gave Albus a slight wave and pointed to the doors. Albus gave a quick nod of the head, showing him that he understood.

He took his time walking Fudge down to the hut, not bothering to talk to him—trying to think of a way to get Hagrid out of this. But he also knew that he couldn't change Fudge's mind if the man was so set on an idea.

Finally, they arrived at the little cabin. Feeling guilty, he knocked on the door with a heavy heart.

He heard the sounds of several light footsteps that he knew didn't belong to his gamekeeper, and he knew that Harry and Ron were inside. A few seconds later, Hagrid flung open his door with his crossbow pointing straight at his face. Mildly surprised at the crossbow, he simply said, "Good evening, Hagrid."

He and Fudge then entered the house once Hagrid had seen who it was and invited them in. Once Albus stepped inside, he looked around, trying to see if he could figure out where the boys were hiding. It was then he heard a slight gasp in one of the corners of the room and he would've smiled if he didn't feel so miserable.

Hagrid, looking pale, was starting to tremble so much that he fell into one of his chairs and was staring between the two men, fear clearly on his face.

"Bad business, Hagrid," said Fudge in a rather hurried tone, "Very bad business. Had to come. Four attacks on Muggle-borns. Things've gone far enough. Ministry's got to act."

"I never," Hagrid began as he looked at Albus helplessly. Albus felt his heart clenched painfully, feeling terrible that he couldn't do anything to stop this. "You know I never, Professor Dumbledore, sir —"

Albus looked back at Fudge with a frown, hoping against hope that the man would open his eyes and see sense, "I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence."

"Look, Albus," said Fudge, shifting from one foot to the other, "Hagrid's record's against him. Ministry's got to do something — the school governors have been in touch —"

Albus interrupted him, tired of going over this, "Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not help in the slightest."

"Look at it from my point of view," said Fudge, fidgeting with his bowler. "I'm under a lot of pressure. Got to be seen to be doing something. If it turns out it wasn't Hagrid, he'll be back and no more said. But I've got to take him. Got to. Wouldn't be doing my duty —"

'Your duty is to protect people,' Albus thought angrily. 'That doesn't include taking an innocent man away to prison.'

At that moment, Hagrid, shaking from head to foot cried out, "Take me? Take me where?"

Refusing to meet Hagrid's eyes, Fudge only said, "For a short stretch only. Not a punishment, Hagrid, more a precaution. If someone else is caught, you'll be let out with a full apology —"

"Not Azkaban?" croaked Hagrid in a whimpering voice that felt like a punch in the gut.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. Surprised, Albus was the one to open it—only to meet possibly one of the last people on earth he wanted to see at the moment. Lucius Malfoy walked into the hut as if he owned it and gave them all a smug smile as if he just found the cure to all diseases.

He looked around at them, to see who was there and said in a cold voice, "Already here, Fudge. Good, good…"

Having Lucius here suddenly turned Hagrid from a cowering wreck to a furious fighter, "What're you doin' here? Get outta my house!" Albus couldn't hid a slight smile as Hagrid's courage began to grow.

Lucius sneered at him as he looked around the cabin with disgust. "My dear man, please believe me, I have no pleasure at all in being inside your — er — d'you call this a house? I simply called at the school and was told that the headmaster was here."

Albus could feel his anger staring to rise all over again. He stepped forward, ready to take whatever Malfoy had to dish out and said as politely as his voice allowed it, "And what exactly did you want with me, Lucius?"

"Dreadful thing, Dumbledore, but the governors feel it's time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Suspension — you'll find all twelve signatures on it," Malfoy told him with a grin as he pulled out a long roll of parchment and held it out to him. Albus looked over the list to see that all twelve names were indeed there.

"I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. How many attacks have there been now? Two more this afternoon, wasn't it? At this rate, there'll be no Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts, and we all know what an awful loss that would be to the school."

That smug smile was making him angrier than anything else that night. He didn't need to look into Lucius's mind to see that the man was hoping that every single Muggle-born in Hogwarts was killed.

To his greatest surprise, Fudge came forward and said in an alarmed voice, "Oh, now, see here, Lucius, Dumbledore suspended — no, no — last thing we want just now."

He privately felt that, for the first time all year, Cornelius was taking sense. But Lucius said calmly, "The appointment — or suspension — of the headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge. And as Dumbledore has failed to stop these attacks —"

Fudge was starting to sweat and Hagrid looked even more scared than before if that was possible. "See here, Malfoy, if Dumbledore can't stop them, I mean to say, who can?"

Lucius just gave Albus a nasty smile that he wasn't even bothering to hide and said in a silky voice, "That remains to be seen. But as all twelve of us have voted —"

"'An' how many did yeh have ter threaten an' blackmail before they agreed, Malfoy, eh?" Hagrid roared, leaping back up to his feet and looking like he wanted nothing more than to throw Lucius out. Albus was couldn't help but feel a slight bit of pride that Hagrid thought so highly of him.

Lucius just took back the parchment and rolled it up, not troubling himself to look at Hagrid. "Dear, dear, you know, that temper of yours will lead you into trouble one of these days, Hagrid. I would advise you not to shout at the Azkaban guards like that. They won't like it at all."

Albus could feel his anger and distaste for the Azkaban guards rise, furious that Hagrid was being sent to such a place when he was innocent.

"Yeh can' take Dumbledore!" Hagrid yelled so loudly that Fang went to his basket and hid underneath the blankets. "Take him away, an' the Muggle-borns won' stand a chance! There'll be killin' next!"

'I pray not,' Albus thought. He could never live with himself if something happened to one of his students just because he wasn't around. But if the governors wanted him removed, there wasn't anything he could do. He gave a quick glance to the corner where the boys were hidden before he said to Hagrid, "Calm yourself, Hagrid," but he was looking at Lucius Malfoy when he said that.

"If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall of course step aside —"

Fudge was looking amazed. "But…"

Hagrid looked distraught, "No."

But Albus never looked away from Lucius. He then said very slowly and clearly so that he was sure that the two boys in the room could also hear every word. "However, you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me… Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

As he said those last few words, his eyes went to the corner where he knew that Harry and Ronald were hiding, trying to let them know that they weren't going to be alone, and he hoped that they would understand.

Lucius Malfoy looked briefly astonished before he made a mock bow and said, "Admirable sentiments. We shall all miss your — er — highly individual way of running things, Albus, and only hope your successor will manage to prevent any — ah — killins."

He strode to the cabin door, opened it, and bowed Dumbledore out. Albus in the meantime could hear Fudge and Hagrid behind him saying something, but he was so lost in his thoughts again that he didn't hear them. He looked up at the castle that he considered to be his home… wondering what was going to happen now.

He went back up to his office to take just a few personal items as Fawkes, fully grown now, let out a sad cry. Smiling at the beautiful bird, he stroked the feathers and said quietly, "I'll be back soon. Until then, take care of the school for me."

Fawkes just let out a musical note, as if trying to tell him not to worry and he'll take care of everything. Then, Albus turned and left the school… but he didn't go as far as you would think.

*The Hog's Head*

Aberforth just gave his brother an annoyed look. "I thought that you were ordered to leave Hogwarts," he said suspiciously.

Albus just gave him a small smile. "Indeed," he answered. "I was order to leave the school. But Hogsmeade isn't part of Hogwarts now is it?"

Aberforth just rolled his eyes. "Do whatever you want, Albus," he said. "But just remember that I don't care who you are. You're going to be paying for your room here just like anyone else."

Albus nodded and held up his goblet of mead and said, "I would be worried if you said I could stay here for free." His brother just gave him another annoyed look before he turned and left the room.

Albus sighed as he looked up to the empty canvas on the wall and waited. A few minutes later, Armando Dippet appeared, looking flustered. "I can't believe that Malfoy character thinks that removing you can do anyone any good apart from himself. You know… I overheard some people saying that he threatened all the other governs if they didn't agree to suspend you in the first place, Dumbledore."

Albus waved his hand. "Yes, I had an idea that was the case. However, I'm afraid that there wasn't anything else I could do." He sighed again before saying, "While I'm gone, I want you to keep an extra close eye on Harry and his friends, alright? And keep me updated with any news that they might discover."

Armando nodded. "We won't let them out of our sights." He then turned and walked straight out of the painting, leaving Albus alone in the little inn, wondering how things were going to turn out.

*A few weeks later*

Albus was still sitting at the small table at his brother's inn. He was reading a magazine of knitting patterns in his room when Dexter came running in the empty portrait and cried out, "Dumbledore!"

Albus wasn't expecting a report so early in the morning and jumped at the voice. "Dexter?" he asked worriedly, noticing the anxious look on his face. "Please don't tell me that there was another attack…"

"No!" Dexter cried out. "It was Potter and Weasley! They… I can't believe they did this… but you see, before they took Hagrid, he told them that if they wanted to find out more about what happened fifty years ago all they had to do is follow the spiders into the forest!"

Albus felt himself go pale, "Don't tell me…"

"What do you think happened?" Dexter yelled out. "They followed the spiders and went into the forest to talk with the Acromantulas! From what they said, they would've been killed if the car didn't arrive and get them out of there."

Albus blinked, startled, "Car? Do you mean the flying Ford Anglia?"

"The very same," Dexter said in astonishment. "When they crashed into the Willow, the car went off on its own. Turns out that it's been roaming around in the forest this whole time and somehow became wild! And apparently it saved them from the spiders."

Albus stared at him in amazement, he didn't know if he should laugh or not. The irony was too funny… if they didn't fly that car then they would've died last night. He was just so amazed by this that he wasn't sure how to react. Finally, he said in a stunned voice, "But they're ok now aren't they?"

"As well as they can be," Dexter told him, staring to calm down. "I know that Ronald Weasley's going to be having nightmares for a long time. But they're alive and unscathed if that's what you want to know. They also found out that Hagrid was framed for the attacks fifty years, and they think that they might have figured out who the last victim was!"

"Oh, so you mean they found out about Myrtle?" Albus said. He knew all along that Moaning Myrtle was the Muggle-born that was killed fifty years ago. He went to ask her, himself, what it was that killed her several times already. But every time he did, she always starting crying and said that she couldn't remember anything that happened before telling him to get lost. Nonetheless, he was impressed that they came this far. It seems like the trio were doing a better job than he and his whole staff put together.

"Yes," Dexter replied. "They're trying to think of a way to sneak off and talk to her."

"I wish them luck," Albus said with a nod. "Myrtle isn't going to talk to just anyone. Is there anything else that you need to tell me?"

He nodded, "Everything is going as normally as possible. The students will be starting their exams just next week, and the students who have all been petrified should be fixed up by the end of this one."

Albus let out a sigh of relief. Knowing that his students will be safe by the end of the week warmed his heart more than any amount of Firewhisky could do. "Good. Come back to me if you learn anything else. Keep up these little reports, and let me know how that talk with Myrtle goes."

Dexter saluted and walked out.

(Sorry for taking so long… but I've been having a little bit of writer's block lately and it hasn't been easy to write this. But now I have everything figured out. I have one more chapter and an epilogue for the Chamber of Secrets and then I'll be moving straight to the Prisoner of Azkaban. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one will be going up as soon as I finish it.)