Chapter Nine

Anton dressed in the set of plain black robes that Sirius and Lupin had acquired for him and tied his hair back, he also left off his sword and took only his wand. There was no need to worsen matters by looking threatening and giving the Ministry the chance to make assumptions about him.

He was just about to leave the house when Mrs Weasley grabbed his arm

'One moment,' she said pulling him into the kitchen 'you need a haircut to make yourself more respectable.'

'What's wrong with my hair?' Anton said indignantly.

'The Minister,' Mrs Weasley said sternly 'will take one look at this mess and peg you for a murderer immediately.'

She pushed Anton into a chair and pulled a silver pair of scissors out of her pocket. When Anton's hair was free of its band she brushed it out and began snipping. In the years that Anton had let his hair go wild it had reached nearly a foot down his back.

'I suppose you want to keep it longer?' Mrs Weasley said disapprovingly.

'Yes,' Anton said as he watched in horror as a long strip of hair fell to the floor.

'Right keep still then,' she instructed.

When she had eventually finished she summoned a mirror and passed it to Anton, he looked into it nervously and was actually quite pleased with how it had turned out. She had cut his hair so it fell just millimetres below his shoulders, she had cut the sides shorter so he could sweep them out of his face and added a few layers.

'Wow' he said the effect made him look more responsible, he still had the aura of danger to him but now it looked like he knew when and when not to lose his temper 'thanks Molly.'

She beamed happily and gestured him up from the chair 'I'm glad you like it dear, I just wish Bill would let me do his. Now go or you'll be late!'

After Mr Weasley had given him the number of the Ministry's entrance point he opened the front door and stepped out on to the top step, pausing he surveyed the street before disaperating with a crack.

He arrived next to a red telephone Anton quickly opened the door and stepped inside, picking up the telephone receiver he looked at the dial and began turning it

'Six…two…four…four…two' Anton muttered under his breath.

The dial whirred smoothly back into place and the voice of a cool female filled the box.

'Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business.'

'Anton Lukyen,' he spoke into the mouth piece 'meeting with the Minister at three.'

'Thank you,' said the cool female voice 'Please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes.'

Anton picked the silver badge up from the metal shoot and read Anton Lukyen, Meeting with the Minister. He pinned it to the front of his robes and the female voice spoke again.

'Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium.'

Anton waited for the floor of the box to start to swallow him. When it eventually did he waited a minute in the darkness until the light appeared by his feet, it grew until the light filled the whole box, the door sprang open and the woman's voice came again saying.

'The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day.'

Anton stepped out and came face to face with Percy Weasley who was looking pompous and important.

'Welcome to the Ministry' he said surveying Anton through his horn rimmed spectacles 'if you would follow me please.'

Percy walked down the hall and past the fountain with Anton following at a slight distance as the Weasley headed to the Golden gates. He stopped by the security desk and the badly shaven wizard passed a golden rod up and down his back. When he had finished Anton knowing the drill handed his wand over to the security wizard, the wizard dropped it onto the strange brass instrument. The instrument vibrated fro a few seconds before dispelling a narrow strip of parchment.

'Thirteen inches, mahogany containing phoenix feather and one salamander scale, been using it for three days is that correct?'

'Yes,' Anton acknowledged.

He impaled the parchment with a brass spike and handed the wand back to Anton

'Wait a minute?' he said noticing Anton's badge 'aren't you that guy?'

'Thank you Eric,' Percy Weasley said motioning Anton to follow him into the stream of witches and wizards heading through the gates.

They branched off into the corridor of elevators and Percy stepped into an empty one, the golden grille slid back and the lift ascended.

'Level One, Minister for Magic and support staff,' the same woman's voice said as the grille sprang open.

Percy stepped out of the lift and Anton walked next to him, the Weasley walked down the hall until he came to an office labelled Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic. He knocked on the door and pushed open with a flourish, standing back he gestured for Anton to enter.

Anton swept through the door and came to a halt in front of Fudge's desk, next to the Minister stood Dolores Umbridge in her usual pink.

'Ah Mr Lukyen,' Fudge said 'if you would take a seat, that'll be all Percy.'

As Percy left the room Anton sat down in the chair facing Fudge.

'Now we have summoned you to talk about the events on the 10th June' Fudge said seriously 'and how you came to be fighting Mr Pettigrew. But first it would be better if you could tell us were you have been staying this past month.'

'I've been staying with friends,' Anton replied having already decided he would tell the Minister the bare minimum of his story.

'And those friends would be?' Umbridge asked with her girly voice.

'Nothing to do with you,' Anton said smartly enjoying watching her getting peeved.

'If you wished to be cleared of responsibility,' she simpered 'you'd better answer our questions.'

'Is that a threat?' Anton asked calmly 'because I fail to see the relevance of who I've been staying with to this investigation.'

'No it's a slight warning,' Fudge intervened 'let's get on with the next question. How did you get to be fighting Pettigrew?'

'I was ambushed,' Anton replied 'a curse he shot at me hit a transporter I was carrying and we were deposited outside this building.'

'A transporter,' Fudge said looking unconvinced 'where were you when this fight was taking place?'

'In a forest,' Anton said vaguely 'somewhere in East Europe.'

'You don't know where?' Umbridge said raising an eyebrow 'what date was it?'

'10th June,' Anton said looking at her with an expression of confusion.

'So the transporter- which I might add is a regulated device, brought you straight to outside the Ministry.' Fudge said closely.

'Yes,' Anton replied 'that was lucky.'

'Right,' Fudge said standing up seemingly satisfied with Anton's story of events 'why did you kill Pettigrew?'

'He was trying to kill me,' Anton said keeping eye contact with the minister 'I'm not a natural killer, the fact I had to take another person's life…' he trailed off convincingly 'it pains me deeply.'

'If it had not been revealed that Pettigrew was a former Death Eater you would be being charged with murder right now,' Fudge paused 'however as he is now classified as a criminal you are lucky enough not to be going to Azkaban this instant.'

'Is that would could have happened,' Anton said pretending to look shocked 'I didn't realise.'

'I'm sure you didn't,' Umbridge threw in looking annoyed.

'I didn't,' Anton repeated calmly 'was there anything else?'

'Albus Dumbledore came to visit you while you were in hospital,' Fudge said 'moments after he had left you disappeared, can you tell me why Dumbledore went to visit you?'

'You'll have to ask him that,' Anton answered 'I have no idea why.'

'You have no idea why Dumbledore came to see you,' Umbridge said unconvinced 'I find that debatable.'

'Albus has recently been asked to leave the Wizengamot,' Fudge continued 'he is probably not the best person to place trust in.'

'Why because he believes that Voldemort has returned?' Anton asked ignoring the blanches 'why does that make him less trustworthy than any other?'

'He is delusional,' Fudge exclaimed 'and it would be better if you told us exactly what he said to you and why it caused you to leave St Mungo's.'

'I didn't leave because of Dumbledore,' Anton said pretending to look surprised 'I left due to private matter which I will not discuss and does not have any relevance to this meeting whatsoever.'

'Hem Hem,' Umbridge cut in and Anton was hard pressed to suppress a grimace 'I think we will be the judge of that.'

'I suppose you believe this madcap idea that You-Know-Who is back then,' Fudge said impatiently 'and who is the fool there I ask you.'

'That Minister, no offence would be you,' Anton said ignoring the looks of outrage 'it is a bigger fool who ignores all the possibilities and allows his fears to cloud his judgements.'

'Well!' Fudge said his temper rising 'who exactly are you to dare to call me a fool, you will be sorry indeed when the Ministry is able to take control of Hogwarts' he glanced at Umbridge who was smirking.

Anton sat back with a smile, they didn't know that Dumbledore had already employed him, the minister was still under the impression he was putting Umbridge up for the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts.

A knock came at the door and Fudge yelled 'Come in!'

Dumbledore swept through the door looking supremely unconcerned with the glares he was getting.

'Afternoon Cornelius,' he said eyes twinkling 'I have come personally to tell you the good news.'

'And what would that be?' Fudge said still glaring at the headmaster.

'There is no need for Madam Umbridge to degrade herself to the role of teacher in September.' Dumbledore beamed and Anton was biting his lip in an effort not to laugh at the looks of their faces 'I have found someone willing to take on the role.'

'You've found someone!' Fudge seethed.

'Oh yes he's is excellent for the position,' Dumbledore nodded 'and I am pleased to say he has readily accepted the challenge.'

'Hem Hem,' Umbridge interrupted smiling sweetly 'may I remind you Educational Decree No.22…'

'The ministry will supply a candidate if I am unable to procure one,' Dumbledore smiled 'I have however Cornelius, found one, so that is something we can all say was a stroke of luck.'

'Indeed,' Fudge said doing an admirable impression of Vernon Dursley.

'Mr Lukyen,' Dumbledore said as if he hadn't known Anton would be there 'what a surprise to see you here, I trust you are well?'

'Quite,' Anton smiled 'how are you?'

'I'm fine Anton,' Dumbledore replied outwardly oblivious to the angry looks they were getting as they continued with there charade 'what brings you to the ministry today?'

'I was summoned,' Anton answered ignoring both Fudge and Umbridge 'my actions towards Peter Pettigrew,'

'A noble act to obtain an innocent mans release,' Dumbledore continued 'at least Sirius was healthily reimbursed for the hardship he endured.'

'Have you quite finished?' Fudge next to spat 'just get out of my sight Lukyen, you are hereby cleared of murder, the ministry has decided not to pursue any other charges.'

'Great I'll be going then,' Anton said jumping out of the chair 'hopefully I won't be seeing you again'- this directed mainly at Umbridge.

As he left the room he heard Dumbledore saying.

'Good day to you Cornelius, Madam Umbridge. I really must get going, only a month before everyone returns to school.'

Dumbledore left the office and headed over to where Anton was waiting looking somewhat amused.

'Headmaster?' he said smiling.

'Shall we walk?' Dumbledore said ignoring Anton's question and walking down the hall 'I feel sometimes as if everyone is always wanting to talk and listen to me' he said jovially.

Anton followed the man who obviously knew his way around the government building and he also picked up the mans hint about not talking about anything important.

'The Minister,' Anton said clearly 'was under the impression that you had come to see me in St Mungo's and told me something important that was connected with me leaving.'

'Really,' Dumbledore said in a voice of utter surprise 'how peculiar that he would think something like that.'

Anton nodded seriously 'and congratulations' he continued 'with finding someone suitable for the post at your school.'

'Anton,' Dumbledore twinkled 'I could not be more delighted with who I have appointed, no doubt the minister will be applying some of his best aurors to discover who it is and no doubt he will find out in a very short amount of time.'

They walked back to the elevators and when they got back to the Atrium Dumbledore led the way to a fire.

'May I suggest you come to Hogwarts before returning home,' he said meaningfully.

Anton nodded as he recognised the need to keep 12 Grimmauld Place a secret.

'Excellent,' Dumbledore said gesturing to the flames 'after you.'

-=-=-=-=-

Anton arrived in the Headmasters office and a few moments later Dumbledore arrived dusting himself off as he stepped out of the grate.

'Now Anton,' he said walking to the door 'I thought I might take this opportunity to show you your accommodation for the next year. Unless of course you stay longer though many are convinced this job is cursed.'

Anton matched the older mans pace as he marched down the familiar corridor leading to the Grand Staircase.

'The house-elf's,' he said conversationally 'have been cleaning out the rooms over the last week, I'm told it took quite a while for them to get rid of the remnants of Polyjuice potion, it appears our last teacher was less than careful where he spilt it.'

Anton felt a slight grimace at the thought of sleeping in the same room that had housed two Death Eaters and Gilderoy Lockhart, though then again, he slept and lived in worse places.

Dumbledore led Anton towards the third floor (A/N please tell me if this is wrong) and when they reached there he walked a short distance up the corridor before stopping at a plain unmarked door, Dumbledore tapped his wand on the handle and pushed the door open, stepping back he allowed for Anton to enter first.

Anton's first though was 'Wow' the door had opened onto a living area that contained all the grandeur associated with Hogwarts. It was a medium sized room with a large settee in the centre a chandelier hung from the ceiling and the walls were covered with bookcases each filled to the brim with books. The colour scheme was red and gold which was one of the things that made Anton smile, a heavy antique desk and chair were positioned to face out of the window out of which the Quidditch pitch was visible.

Anton went over to one of the two doors that led off from the room, one was a decently sized bathroom in marble, a sink that was a glass water feature, a shower that resembled a waterfall and a large pool bath Anton knew he would never use for fear of the effects of prolonged water contact.

The other door was his bedroom, a large four poster bed was centred in the middle with cabinets on each side and a heavy wardrobe in the corner, again red and gold was obviously the theme.

Anton smiled his approval at the head as he decided he was feeling extremely pleased with how his living quarters looked.

'I never expected anything on this scale,' he said to the twinkling headmaster.

'We treat our staff well,' Dumbledore replied 'I only wish sometimes that some of them repay the school in a more favourable way.'

Anton inclined his head in understanding at the older man's words, he had never before considered what it was like to be let down constantly by teachers he had thought he had trusted.

'Well now you've seen this would you like to see your classroom?' Dumbledore asked turning to leave.

'Yeh that'd be good,' Anton consented 'I am quite interested to see what I can do with my office.'

'Ah the impact factor,' Dumbledore said knowledgeably 'all good teachers have them, and the effect they can have is often worth more than a hundred detentions.'

'I want something unique,' Anton said thoughtfully an idea forming in his mind 'though nothing stupid.'

'Well you have the best part of a month to figure it out,' Dumbledore said pleasantly 'now is there anything else you'd like to see, perhaps the lake?'

Anton was unable to suppress a small shudder which did not go unnoticed by Dumbledore who was watching him carefully.

'Water,' Anton said thinking of his phrasing 'is best in short doses, for me.'

'Fires greatest enemy,' Dumbledore said understanding 'you happen to be the second fire Elemental I have known in my lifetime, when in prolonged contact with water she often was quite ill.'

'It must run in the element,' Anton said wryly 'we all had our weaknesses, yet mine and the traitors were more debilitating to our health.'

'Which may give us the chance to beat her,' Dumbledore said 'now how about seeing your classroom and office.'

-=-=-=-

An hour and a half later Anton thought he had seen everywhere possible in Hogwarts which included a tour of the kitchens, he had the feeling that Dumbledore was keeping him from returning to the house.

'Professor,' he said turning to the man as they walked along yet another corridor 'is there something you're trying to keep me away from?'

'Am I really that obvious?' the older man asked amused 'I have been set the task of keeping you occupied while everyone else prepares the Headquarters?'

'For what?' Anton said confused.

'A surprise,' Dumbledore twinkled 'though when we do return would you please act like it is unexpected.'

'How much longer do you think it will take?' Anton asked both stunned and flattered by the effort.

'Shall we take a stroll to Hagrid's?' Dumbledore suggested 'I believe he's trying to find a home for some of his pets in advance of his departure on his mission.'

-=-=-=-=-

One of the pets turned out to be a salamander that was the only magical creature Hagrid had yet to find a home for.

'They're tricky ya see,' he said keeping out of the way of the salamander's fiery breath 'no one really knows what to expect with them.'

Anton was not in the least perturbed about the fire breathing lizard, in fact he was rather interested in it. Kneeling down on the warm grass he held his arm out to the lizard and the meter long creature ran over in its curiosity, the creature let out a snort and coughed a fire burst at Anton's arm, the fire licked along his arm coiling as if it was a bracelet. Hagrid was seconds away from grabbing a bucket of water when Anton vanished the fire, clicking his fingers he created his own ball of fire and let it hover in the air, the salamander who was still young jumped up and down snapping at it in excitement.

'What the?' Hagrid said confused.

'Rubeus,' Dumbledore said to the stunned gamekeeper 'I believe you've found a home for your salamander.'

'What!' Anton said looking up 'I don't know anything about looking after salamander's.'

'They're quite easy,' Hagrid said his knowledge of the creature coming through 'she's not hard to look after just make sure you give her lots of red meat and vinegar to drink.'

So that's how Anton got a young female salamander as a pet, Dumbledore said it would be better if she remained at the castle until term began and recruited a couple of house-elf's to look after Pyra who looked incredibly sad when Anton had to leave, she whined and followed the young wizard at a distance until Anton set off a couple of fire balls to distract her, much to Hagrid's and Dumbledore's amusement.

It was well past six when they returned to the fire, before Anton stepped into the flames Dumbledore stopped him and handed him a small silver wrapped object. Anton looked at it in confusion.

'This was left to me by the Fire Elemental I used to know,' Dumbledore informed him 'when she died she decided it would be better if I looked after it as I helped create it.'

Anton tore the silver paper off and came across a pendant, the chain was black gold and the pendant was a red glittering swirl set in a black stone, Anton touched it nervously something about the pendant just called to him.

'What is it?' he asked curiously.

'It is a Fire stone,' Dumbledore replied 'it loses the redness if your reserves are low and it turns completely black if you are in a position where you could die, it also has a few other uses but I trust you'll discover those for yourself.'

Anton dropped it over his head and surveyed it wonder, it would certainly save him a lot of effort estimating how long he could stay in contact with water.

'I don't know what to say,' he muttered 'thank you.'

'Quite alright Anton,' Dumbledore beamed 'think of it as a belated birthday present, now get going or you'll be late.'

Anton stepped into the fireplace before dropping the floo powder as usual he ignored the flames that he was waist deep in.

'12 Grimmauld Place' he said clearly before being sucked from the office.