Chapter 14; The Headmaster's Socks

Hogwarts castle stood silent as a sentinel, its towering spires and verdant grounds a testament to the best and worst of wizardkind. To stand in its shadow was to be immersed in history. The rough stone walls had long proven a formidable defense against goblin rebellions, dark uprisings and even the occasional schoolboy prank.

One of the current residents was all too familiar with its considerable protections. He stood looking out the third floor window at the picturesque view of the lake and the high, craggy peaks in the distance. His thoughts were not, as you might expect, centered on the past. No, he was very much concerned for his future.

Remus Lupin had arrived at this unwelcome waypoint, courtesy of a bit of trickery by the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore. To say that Remus was surprised at the events that brought him here would be a lesson in understatement.

The portkey had deposited him in the imposing office of the Headmaster. The room had been securely locked. Remus presumed it was password protected, but with certainty it was impervious to every spell he cast at it. He had even briefly attempted to blast his way through the wall, but the Headmaster's pet phoenix and created such a fuss, that he thought better of it. With a defeated sigh, Remus had slumped into one of the visitor's chairs and steeled himself for a long and uncomfortable wait.

As he waited, Remus studied his surroundings. He had never put much weight on ostentation. For much of his life he could, and often did, condense his possessions into a single trunk. Granted, the trunk was impressively charmed, but still, space was at a premium.

To put it bluntly, the room was a mess. Everywhere he looked, trinkets and bric-a-brac stood cloistered in nooks and table ends. Books lay in profusions and every flat surface was overrun with oddments and curiosities. Remus couldn't help but wonder at how the room's appearance might reflect the mind of its owner.

Nervously, he struggled to think of any way to get out of the mess in which he found himself and mulled over his response to the questions sure to come his way. In his agitation, he barely noticed when the polyjuice wore off.

After what seemed an eternity, the old man arrived in his office.

If Dumbledore was surprised at Remus' presence, he didn't show it. He had only raised one of his bushy, silver eyebrows and strolled casually behind his desk, sinking with a sigh into the comfy overstuffed chair. As he sat, he reached over and grabbed a candy from a dish on his desk. Wordlessly, he worked the candy back and forth in his mouth, studying Remus behind tented fingers.

Remus returned the silence, all too familiar with Dumbledore's tactics. At length, the Headmaster gave up on his sucking and Remus winced slightly as heard the distinct crack and crunch of the candy's demise.

"Remus my boy," Dumbledore said, "it's always such a welcome pleasure to encounter old friends in unexpected places! Don't you agree?"

Remus stared back at the old wizard, agog at his nonchalance. "Of course." He answered a few seconds later.

After several moments of study, Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again. His bushy, white eyebrows drew together in thought.

"You know," he said, "Wednesdays are quite my least favorite days."

Remus had expected all manner of accusations and recriminations when he was confronted by the Headmaster. His actions at the Ministry were criminal offenses and despite his cordial relationship with Dumbledore, he didn't expect it to shield him from the man's disappointment. Thus, he was quite taken aback by the non sequitur.

"Oh?" Remus answered.

"Oh, yes. All of the others days have numerous things to recommend them. Mondays are always full of promise. They are days of renewal and new beginnings. Tuesdays are my bowling days. They're among my favorite. Fridays are Fridays and Thursdays are nearly so. But Wednesdays are neither pregnant with hope, nor do they have the promise of release. At best, they are placeholders, at worst….well,….they are like today."

"I see." Remus said, though in truth he didn't.

"Oh, yes. For instance, today I was quite looking forward to a peaceful morning organizing my sock drawer, when I received an emergency floo from the Minister of Magic. I was told I was needed to consult with him on a most urgent matter. In deference to the honorable Minister, I of course agreed, and made dignified haste to his office."

Remus nodded his head, quite sure that such summons' were part and parcel of the life of the leader of the Wizengamot.

Dumbledore appeared to have read his mind and answered his unspoken thoughts. "Such interruptions are not unusual, I'm sorry to say. Tell me Remus, have you ever met the Minister?"

Remus, remembering his run in with the portly man in the street, chuckled in reply. "I've run into him before, but we've never been formally introduced. We don't exactly run in the same circles."

"Well, suffice it to say that the Minister's definition of emergency has always been somewhat lacking. In this case, I found that he needed my help with the seating arrangements for a State dinner with the French Ambassador. You can imagine my joy aiding such a noble cause. After a delightful hour in the Minister's company, I regretfully informed him that unexpected business was calling me away."

Remus chuckled again at the thought of the powerful sorceror arranging placards and picking out china patterns. Dumbledore graced him with a rueful smile, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Yes, the rewards of public service are many and varied; Somewhat like torture, I'd imagine."

"Not something they put in the brochure when you applied for the Mugwump's position?" Remus asked.

"Decidedly not! Truly it shows my mother's remarkable wisdom when she advised me to take up the family business as a goatherd. Goats are much more agreeable creatures than politicians in my experience."

Remus could only shake his head at the thought of the ancient wizard at home in the company of goats. As powerful and canny as the Headmaster was, it was his considerable charm and humor that made him indispensable in his position. Remus had seen it many times in life. The Headmaster could put people at ease, even under the most stressful of situations. That thought brought him up short as he remembered his own tenuous position.

Dumbledore, sensing that the chance for levity had passed, returned to his narrative. "To continue our tale. Imagine my surprise when just as I was making my escape, I encountered a familiar face in the atrium. To find that familiar face attached to an even more familiar person, was quite a shock, I'm sure you'll agree."

Remus could think of nothing helpful to say to that, so chose to sit silently instead.

"Not that I'm not delighted to see you, my boy. You were always a favorite of mine and it has been too long since we've had a chance to…catch up, as it were. But It's curious, most curious indeed, to find you in that unusual situation."

"About that, I can explain…" Remus began, before being interrupted by a casual wave of Dumbledore's hand.

"Please, let me continue. Try to imagine my surprise when, after our encounter, I stopped by my offices at the Ministry and received word that Mrs. Malfoy is wanted for questioning in the matter of the escape of Sirius Black. The same Narcissa Malfoy that, to all appearances, I had just encountered in the atrium and whom I was sure was safely ensconced in my office."

"That is…unfortunate." Remus allowed.

"Quite so. That is why, I'm afraid, I now find myself in the unenviable position of posing uncomfortable questions to someone I consider a friend an ally, while my socks lie unsorted and neglected. This is a rather indicative of Wednesdays as a whole, in my experience. Which as I said, is not inconsiderable."

The Headmaster's words drove home to Remus the very serious situation he found himself in. As he was mentally kicking himself for his utter failure, the full import of the Headmaster's words set in. Despite himself, he couldn't help the look of surprise that overcame his face.

"You don't mean Sirius got away, do you? How? That's not possible. How did he escape?" Remus said in a rush.

Dumbledore looked at Remus over the top of his spectacles, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"That is rather the question I was hoping to put to you." The Headmaster replied.

Remus sat back in his chair thinking hard about what he had heard. For the life of him he couldn't figure how it was possible. Nobody but Harry and Charlus knew what they were planning and it strained credulity to think that the real Narcissa Malfoy and picked that day, of all days, to break Sirius out of prison. Not that she would anyway. Still, how had it been done?

The more he thought about it the more he realized that there was only one way it could have happened. He had given Harry the potion and the other supplies were right there in his robes. Somehow Harry had escaped Dumbledore, made his way to Sunderland and pulled off the greatest escape in British history.

It was all Remus could do to keep from laughing at the look he could imagine on Sirius' face when he realized who his rescuer was. Remus clamped down firmly on the joy that was bubbling in his heart and was careful to adopt a pensive frown.

"I can't believe she pulled it off!" he said with an angry snarl.

The Headmaster leaned forward intently. "Who exactly, pulled it off?"

"Narcissa Malfoy!" Remus exclaimed. "I knew she was going to try, but I just never believed she could actually do it! After everything I went through to stop her, she did it anyway!" Remus said lowering his head in his hands with a weary sigh.

After a few seconds he looked up at the Headmaster whose features were drawn down in puzzlement.

"Do you mean to say that Mrs. Malfoy was actually responsible?" Dumbledore asked. "Then what were you doing impersonating her at the Ministry?"

Again Remus sighed. "Something foolish it appears; Ineffective too. Though for the life of me I don't know how she did it."

The old wizard studied Remus for a moment before speaking. "Why don't you start at the beginning. I find myself quite at a loss. What made you think that Narcissa was going to attempt to break Sirius out of prison and how exactly did you intend to stop her?"

"Well it's like this," Remus began. "I'm sure you know that due to my…condition, I am often forced by circumstance to associate with, let's say, less than desirable characters?"

At the Headmaster's nod, he continued. "Well, one night, down at the pub, I ran across a man who also suffers from my ailment. Normally, I wouldn't associate with him you understand, but he had come into some money recently and was eager to buy me a pint. My financial situation being what it is, I could hardly refuse."

Remus looked at the Headmaster, and seeing nothing but interest, he continued.

"Well, one pint turned into several and I asked him where he had come into his money. At first he wouldn't say, but eventually he let it slip that an artifact had come into his possession that could negate even the strongest anti-apparation wards."

At this, the Headmaster's eyebrows rose and he fixed Remus with a determined stare. "And how did Narcissa come into it?"

"I was just coming to that. At first, he couldn't find an interested buyer. But word must have gotten around because not long after, Narcissa owled him claiming she had lost such an object and offered him a "reward" if he could return it to her. Of course he eagerly accepted."

"He agreed to meet with her, I take it?" The Headmaster asked.

"Yes. When they met, she was skeptical that it would work as well as he claimed. According to him, she asked specifically if it could breach the Azkaban wards. When he asked her why, she just claimed that it was a 'family matter' and refused to say any more."

"A family matter, you say? So you immediately thought of Sirius? Why not Bellatrix or one of the other death eaters?"

Remus mulled over the answer. In truth, when he concocted this lie, he didn't even consider that Bellatrix LeStrange was related to Narcissa. But of course, Sirius, Bellatrix and Narcissa were all members of the Black family.

Trying to think of how to answer the Headmaster, he decided that, in this instance, the truth was his friend.

"To be honest, it never occurred to me that Sirius wasn't who she was referring to, though it should have. She and Bellatrix were close and all of them were associated with Voldemort. Just another example of how I bollixed the whole thing up, I guess."

"Yes, but in this case you were not far wrong. Both Sirius and Bellatrix were helped to escape. The auror's are quite baffled by the whole thing. They did however, recover a rather ingenious device that would certainly fit the description you gave. Not before it did considerable damage to the prison wards, I was told."

It took a few minutes for that to process in the werewolf's mind. Sirius AND Bellatrix? What the hell were they thinking? During the first war, Bellatrix was the very worst of the Deatheaters. She had a reputation as a cruel and competent killer. Why on earth would Sirius include her in their escape attempt?

With a shake of his head, Remus decided to put the matter aside for the moment. He could get answers to that question when he saw Harry and Sirius. If he escaped his current predicament, that was.

"I guess it doesn't matter. I probably would have done the same thing if I thought she was going after Bellatrix. At the time, I just knew I had to do something to stop her. There's no way I was going to let that betrayer go free. Not while there was anything I could do about it."

"But why would someone of Mrs. Malfoy's station trust her purpose to such an unsavory character? Surely such a person as he is too leaky a vessel to hold such a secret."

"Well that's just it. She never intended to let him leave with the secret. The way he told it, as soon as the cash changed hands, she tried to obliviate him. Just his good luck that she didn't know of his condition. As you know, werewolves are quite curse resistant. He was content to play dumb and let her believe what she would, so long as he got to keep the money."

"What did you hope to accomplish by impersonating her?" Dumbledore asked.

"A friend of mine in the permit office told me she was going to pick up her visitor's pass today. I waited for her near the Ministry entrance. I was able to stun her and get a hair for the polyjuice potion I had brought. She didn't have the artifact on her, so I went to the permit office and picked up her pass. I figured she would realize that her plan had been discovered and would call off the attempt. At the very least she would have to delay her plan until she got a new pass. That would give me time to think of another way to foil her scheme."

As Remus finished his explanation and was internally congratulating himself on his cleverness, Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and chewed absently on his mustache, mulling it over in his mind.

Remus had to remind himself to breath regularly. His years as a marauder were standing him in good stead as he waited on the Headmaster's pronouncement. He didn't have to wait long.

With a weary sigh, Dumbledore straightened himself in his chair and fixed Remus with a level gaze. "Mr. Lupin," he said, "that is the second most convoluted, unlikely and preposterous story I have ever heard uttered in this office. The dubious honor of first place belonging to Maleficent Scaramander when she blamed her repeated truancy on a band of gypsies, an unlicensed timeturner and the illegal slave trade."

Suddenly Remus' self congratulation came to a screeching halt. "You mean you don't believe me?" Remus asked.

"Quite the opposite." Dumbledore explained. "No person of your intelligence would concoct such an unbelievable tale and have any hope to be believed. Neither do I believe that you would, in good conscience, help to free a guilty man from prison, least of all a man who was complicit in the murder of the Potters."

Despite himself, Remus let out an explosive breath that he wasn't aware he was holding. "I should say not!" He exclaimed. "So, what should we do?"

"What indeed? Needless to say, I think we should keep your name out of it. If you told the Auror's the tale you just told me, you would be locked up without delay."

Remus could only nod his head in gratitude.

"The best thing would be to let things stand as they are. Wherever Sirius is, he is unlikely to go far. The international apparation points will be closely monitored and the public will be alerted to his escape. His friends will be few and his movements will be severely limited."

"So you think they will catch him?" Remus asked.

"Undoubtedly." The Headmaster replied. "Unless he displays a great deal more patience and caution than I remember, it is only a matter of time before he is recaptured. At any rate, it is a matter best left to the law enforcement professionals."

Remus pretended to mull the idea over, while internally he was fighting to keep the grin off his face. With his best sober expression he looked at the Headmaster. "If you think its best…."

"I do, my boy. I really do."

"In that case, would you mind too terribly if I take my leave? It's been a trying day and I…"

"Of course!" Dumbledore interrupted. "How thoughtless of me. Please go with my best wishes. I trust you remember the way?"

"I think I can manage." Remus replied, standing up and offering the Headmaster his hand.

After they had shaken hands, Remus turned and made his way to the door, quite happy when the doorknob turned in his hand. Just as he was about to step across the threshold, Dumbledore's words interrupted him.

"Oh, and Remus? Please be careful. I wouldn't want to hear that you had done anything foolish."

Remus swallowed heavily and answered without turning. "I will and you won't."

After the door closed behind Remus, the aging Headmaster withdrew a key from his pocket and bent down to unlock the bottom drawer of his desk. Pulling out the drawer he reached in and pulled out a heavy wooden box, marked only with the single word, 'Potter', written in gold leaf on the top. Setting the box on his desk, he waved his wand over it in an intricate pattern, causing the box to glow briefly.

With great care he laid down his wand and opened the hinged top revealing a lump of silvery cloth.
With trembling fingers he caressed the cloth before lifting it out and placing it next to the wand on his desk. The silvery cloth was a treasure of immeasurable value. Invisibility cloaks were rare and very expensive. However, comparing this one to an average invisibility cloak was like comparing a typhoon to a summer rain. As valuable as it was, it wasn't what captured the wizard's attention.

In the bottom of the box lay a curious silver instrument. Its sides were inscribed with faint runes and its spindly frame ended in a fluted spout. As curious as this object was, what startled the venerable wizard and left him gasping for breath was the emergence of a bright green puff of smoke that poured intermittently from the spout.