"Ah, Captain Potter," the General said, looking for all the world as if the young man's appearance in his office were a complete surprise. "You're here. Please, sit down."

"Yes, sir." Harry sat, keeping his back straight. "I received your owl just after four o'clock, sir. I assume this regards a mission?"

"Indeed. First, and you must understand that this is classified at the highest levels... I don't know, Captain, exactly how well you recall the Settlement?"

"Oh, very well, General. I was already sixteen when they left. Quite a few of my friends went." Harry's lips curved upwards slightly, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "An honorable mission."

"Of course, of course. Forgive an old man's forgetfulness." The General sighed. "A pity we had to separate you from your friends that way."

"I did wish I could join them at the time, sir."

General Dumbledore nodded. "A difficult situation for a sixteen-year-old boy. Nevertheless, you were needed here and the Settlers were needed there. But the War is, of course, definitively over now..."

The young man looked up sharply. "I'd wondered about that, sir," he said, a trace of well-hidden excitement in his tone - it was, he'd learned, important to maintain professional detachment when dealing with commanding officers. "It doesn't seem that we really need the Settlement anymore. But the wards..."

"The wards, Captain, were designed taking into consideration just this situation. The War is over, and nearly all of those whose deaths would have triggered the release of the Settlers remain in quite good health. Fortunately, there's no need to sit around twiddling our thumbs and waiting until the last of us is dead." A smile flickered across the General's face, as if he'd put some time into thinking up that sentence and was pleased to have the chance to use it. "The Portkey that will allow the Settlers through the wards can be carried to them, with my authorization. Your mission, Captain Potter. Whom would you like to take as your crew?"

"My crew, sir?" Harry frowned. "Do I really need one, if all I'm doing is moving a Portkey about?"

"I would think you'd have realized by now, Captain, that solo missions are so rare as to be nearly unthinkable." The General frowned as well, and his frown considerably outranked Harry's. "And even beyond the consideration of your safety, it's quite possible that the Settlers will need more assistance than you alone can provide. There have been times when it has been... difficult, at best, to supply them properly. You will be accompanied by a medical officer and a quartermaster. Now, do you want to choose your crew, or shall I assume that your opinion is irrelevant and simply assign them?"

"I'm sorry, sir," Harry said, lowering his gaze once more to his own lap. "I didn't mean to question you. May I take Lieutenant Longbottom and Doctor Granger? I think they'd be pleased to see our - to see some of the Settlers again."

The General nodded. "Wise choices, Captain," he said solemnly. "I must say, though, that I'm not entirely comfortable with either of them as your second-in-command. The doctor is not very flexible, and Lieutenant Longbottom goes to pieces under stress. Might I suggest Lieutenant Malfoy?"

"Sir, you know-"

"I am aware that you and the lieutenant have had your differences in the past, of course," Dumbledore carried on as if he hadn't heard Harry's interjection. "However, he is the best qualified of any of our officers. I doubt there will be any problems between you on this mission. After all, as you say, you are simply moving a Portkey about."

The General smiled, and Harry sighed, knowing that, like it or not, he was taking Draco Malfoy on this mission. "Yes, sir," he said politely. "Permission to leave, sir, and brief my crew?"

"Permission granted, Captain. I'll need all four of you back here tomorrow morning at nine o'clock."