"Curiosity is not a sin...But we should exercise caution with our curiosity...yes, indeed..."

- J.K. Rowling, The Goblet of Fire, Chapter Thirty

Chapter 6: Tarot Cards on the Table

Security at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Cup was not the same as security at Hogwarts during a normal school year. Kara could feel the wards watching her, but they did nothing to prevent her or Remus from entering the grounds. They had not warned Dumbledore they were coming.

Now they were here, Kara was starting to feel nervous. Her conversation with Remus had gone on long into the night, but in the end, there was only one possible conclusion: They had to tell Dumbledore. Not only because of what might happen at the school while they went through with their plan, but because they would need the Sword of Gryffindor. It might be their only chance to kill Nagini.

They were lucky enough to meet Hagrid in the entrance hall. Jovially, he guided them up to Dumbledore's office, giving the gargoyle the password. They were even more lucky that Dumbledore was inside and had no other company. His eyebrows raised at the sight of them, and he studied Kara closely.

Finally, he nodded his head in a resigned fashion. "Thank you, Hagrid."

Hagrid smiled at them both as he left.

Dumbledore indicated they should sit, then approached the door. He used a spell Kara was unfamiliar with, though its purpose was clear: locking and sealing the office against any intrusion on their conversation. And any eavesdroppers.

When he had resumed his seat, Dumbledore wasted no time. "The spell on your mind is broken, Miss Thrace."

She felt a stirring, and looking up and around, noted that every single one of the portraits was awake. Of course. They had been the only other witnesses to her arrival eighteen years ago.

She looked back at Dumbledore and nodded.

"If we act now..."

He held up a hand. "Miss Thrace..."

"Albus," Remus said calmly. His fingers were linked in his lap in front of him. "Kara has told me...a great deal. I think we need to do this."

"We are on dangerous ground. You know that, both of you? Do you understand what happens to wizard who meddle like this? In prophecies, in time."

"You yourself only put some stock in prophecies," Kara answered quickly. "And I did not travel through time. I came from another world, and it is through magic from that world that I know what is about to happen. Dangerous ground this may be, but...Can you not see that the greater sin would be to do nothing? Too many innocent lives! Your stupid hat didn't put me in Gryffindor so I could stand back and watch people get hurt!"

At some point in this speech, her hands had come to grip the arms of the chair she sat in, and propelled her forward in it. She sat, half ready to rise, glaring at Dumbledore.

He and Remus were infuriating, the way they were always so calm.

From deep in her chest the ache that was always there for Sirius thrummed. He was not calm.

Dumbledore hesitated, then said, "I do not think I ever realized how angry you have been with me, Miss Thrace."

"You have not been paying attention."

She sat back, ran a hand through her hair, then tried again. "Forgive me, Dumbledore, but you are not the only clever person in the room. And I have the entire chess board before me. And would it make a difference if I told Voldemort himself was partially responsible for my coming here?"

That peaked his interest, as she'd hoped it would. She saw as well that he was aware of the subtle manipulation. He had always favored letting Voldemort's mistakes be his own undoing.

What was she if not another of Voldemort's mistakes?

But they weren't there yet, so she drove the knife in.

"It is a choice between acting now to save lives, or letting things play out so that the end I have always known to be coming does come to pass. But I can see no higher purpose if it does, not if we can defeat Voldemort here and now. And I have never put the same stock you do in the greater good."

He did not pale, or start, or give any sign that he felt what she had done. Only, somewhere deep in his eyes, the light that was always there seemed a little dimmer.

Perhaps she belied her own words. She was, after all, willing to hurt him to achieve her end.

Beside her Remus was watching them both quizzically, but did not interject.

After a long, long silence, Dumbledore spoke. "Tell me only what you need to."

They laid out their plan.

As they left, the Sword of Gryffindor in its sheath in Kara's hand, she spared a glance for the mountains around Hogsmeade. Remus' hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"Soon," he said. "Dumbledore is right. The less we do now, the better. We can't risk telling him. And we might risk him if we try to meet him."

"He's going to be as angry with me as you were," Kara said quietly.

"I don't think so," said Remus. "Dumbledore and I can both vouch for you, and he has experience with overlooking people's peculiarities." He smiled at her.

She sighed, and they resumed walking. "I don't know how I'm going to handle the suspense of the next few weeks."

"I know exactly how we're going to handle it," Remus replied.

"Oh?"

"We're going to do what Harry's doing: We're going to train."

She stopped again to look at him. "Train?"

"Of course," he said sensibly. "Neither you nor I have been in a battle in thirteen years. If we're going to take on one of the darkest wizards in history all on our own, in a cemetery no less, we're going to need to brush up on our spellwork."

There was no arguing with that.