Albus
It was past half past nine. Lily watched as Dumbledore spoke briefly to McGonagall, seated to his left, then rose and leaned over to whisper in Slughorn's ear. He is asking him to go to his office so that the malefic Slys can leave as soon as possible through Floo.We kicked them out.
Meanwhile, the trio arrived with their other two yearmates. "What happened? Potter asked Remus. "The Hall is half empty."
"It must be because it's Saturday," Remus replied.
"There are much fewer people than on a Saturday at this time," Black said, and turning to look at the Sly table. "And in Slytherin there are less than half the people. All the malefics have disappeared."
Soon you will find out, the three thought, with an enigmatic smile.
"You've already finished your breakfast," Potter said.
"Yeah, we were down on time," Remus replied.
"Come on, tell us what happened," that one was Wormtail, excited.
"When you finish having breakfast, go outside and see for yourselves."
The trio ate hastily.
Ten minutes after Dumbledore left, Lily said to Remus and Cecile, "Will you walk me home for a moment?"
"Of course, honey," replied her girlfriend.
"Shall we meet outside when you come down?" Potter asked.
"Well, maybe we'll stay at home or study, wait for us there just in case," Remus replied him. "Come on, girls."
The three of them got up from the table. As they left the Great Hall, Lily told them, "Direct to Dumbledore's office. He has projected to me with his mind that you accompany me there."
They both already know what Projection is, because of Red Magic.
"Perfect," Cecile said.
"And I think Sev too, because they laughed at the same time."
"Sure," Remus said.
"And Dumbledore has spoken to Slughorn before he left, so the bad guys can get away," Lily added.
"We've kicked them out, Lily. It was worth the effort," Cecile said.
Remus was silent, thinking about the five camouflaged malefics that were still in the school, two of them in his own House, and how he should be the one to tell Dumbledore about it, and also about the existence of the Map and how to make it.
On the stairs they came across some Gryffs and Raves who were coming down for breakfast. They reached the third floor and headed for the Headmaster's office. They did not meet anyone there. Well, if anyone we've come across was a malefic Rave, he hasn't realized we're here to meet Dumbledore, Remus thought.
Before the gargoyle, Lily said aloud, "Bitter Orange Marmalade."
"And so?" Cecile asked.
"The only one that Sev likes."
"Then he did read him," she laughed.
"Of course, but surely it was to make a joke, that's why they laughed when he projected to him."
"That's good, they're going to get along great."
The gargoyle moved, exposing the spiral staircase. They climbed the first step and let it turn until they were led to the office door. Lily knocked and the door was immediately opened.
They entered, Dumbledore was standing waiting for them with a tender and touched smile. "Morning guys. Miss Evans, Miss Harb, Mr. Lupin. You will understand that it is not convenient, at least for the moment, waiting for what happens, that nobody else suspects that we are in contact. Therefore, we are going to use a Time Turner between the four of us."
(Lauren is a wonder, she knows him inside out,) Lily thought.
Remus thought like lightning, (But I have to talk to him alone. I have to tell him in front of the girls.) "Professor, I must also speak alone with you. Is it possible to use it first with just me and go back again with all three?"
"Ugh... complicated, I didn't count on that," the Headmaster answered. "Can you briefly summarize what the subject is about so that I can assess whether all three of you should know about it? We will go to a private room."
"Yes, I can do it, and it won't be necessary. We know a spell with which what we speak will not be heard."
"Wow… interesting…"
"Snape's invention," Remus said.
"I should have imagined it. All right, come close to me and conjure it up."
They withdrew to a corner of the office. Remus conjured the verbal Muffliato around them. "You see, professor, two topics. There are five more malefics in the school apart from the Slytherins, camouflaged, two of them seventh-years in Gryffindor and three Ravenclaws, two seventh-years and one sixth-year. I know the names of all of them."
"It was expected," said Dumbledore. "I suppose Mr. Snape didn't want to worry the girls about it, but it's convenient they know it as well. Next topic?"
"I am in possession of a Map of the castle and its surroundings, created by exploring it and using Arithmancy, in which it appears where each and every one of the people inside it are located at all times. I was going to show you how to make another one for you."
"Oh! Also Snape?"
"No. Me and the other three," Remus replied. "I took care of the arithmantic part."
"Oh, Mr. Lupin. You are a true wonder."
"Well, I must have spent a lot of time on it. That's why I've been behind in my studies for the last few years."
"Oh, what a shame. And I suppose the others wanted it so they could catch Mr. Snape at any moment, and you have kept it for just the opposite, to protect him. Does he know?" the old man asked.
"Yes, he figured it out. And also Miss Evans knows of its existence."
"Then I don't see what problem there could be in his girlfriend also knowing it."
"You see, I'm a little ashamed of having done it, because it was at the time when I also bullied him," Remus explained.
"Well, Mr. Lupin… But since then you have used it for the opposite, his girlfriend will also understand it and she will be proud of you. It is now going to prove essential for the protection of Miss Evans and Mr. Snape. Trust me, there is no problem. How long do you reckon it will take you to explain the arithmantic part to me?"
"A couple of hours, maybe."
"Alright. I calculate another two to communicate the necessary knowledge for your protection," Dumbledore said. "Just in case it takes more time, we'll use the Time-Turner to its full capacity, five hours, and if we have extra time, we'll keep chatting for a while. Undo the spell if you'd be so kind."
"It is not necessary, it is enough for us to leave the corner." They did it.
"Ladies, we can communicate the secrets to you, so we will use the Time-Turner all together," said the Headmaster. "Let me find some material that I will need for a moment." He went to a bookshelf and picked up a folder."
(Castle maps,) Remus thought.
"That's it. Let's move the four of us into this adjacent room," asked the old man.
(So we won't meet when Sev comes over in the afternoon,) Lily thought.
They entered a wide room prepared to practice Duel, in a corner there was another door. The Headmaster closed the door behind him.
"Very good. I got two Time Turners from the Ministry," Dumbledore explained. "One for Mr. Snape and one for you. It was hard for me, because the usual thing is to ask for them at the beginning of the term, when students enroll in too many electives that they cannot attend. I had to make the excuse that there were students willing to prepare several OWLs, as in fact you are doing. Luckily, it slipped in. I have had to extend the chain to this one to be able to use it between the four of us."
"Thank you very much, Professor," Lily said.
"Don't thank me, Miss Evans, it's the little I've been able to do for you so far. Let's use it now and that way we can talk more calmly."
The four approached each other and Dumbledore passed the golden chain around their necks. He checked his watch. "Ten o'clock. Do you have the same time?"
The three consulted and adjusted their watches.
"Very well, when we go back five hours, it will be five in the morning. A long day awaits you."
(And him even more, because in the afternoon he has to meet Sev,) Lily thought.
The Headmaster turned the mechanism of the golden sphere five times, while night fell behind the windows and the torches were lit. (Wow, right now we are sleeping at home and Sev is still in the Infirmary.)
"Let's go to this other room, to talk quietly for a while." The old man went to the corner where the other door was, which opened at his approach, without the need for him to draw his wand.
(Everything with the mind, like the Ancestral Magics.)
"Come in, if you are so kind."
There was a large table with four comfortable chairs to sit around. (All the same, he is going to treat us as equals. He has already prepared this in advance, perhaps since Sev let him know that there was little time left. He must have rested very little these days, and what a day awaits him,) Lily thought.
"Have a seat, please. Miss Evans, you by my side," asked the Headmaster.
"Professor, stop with the formalities," Cecile said. "Call us by our first names, we are all in the same boat and we are collaborators."
The three of them noticed Albus Dumbledore deeply moved. "Thanks, Harb. Forgive me, I don't remember your name."
"Cecile, Professor."
"Don't treat me formally either. I'm Albus, without further ado, you can also call me by my first name." He turned to Lily, "Lily or Lillian?"
"Everyone calls me Lily, except my father when he gets serious with me," she replied.
"Okay, I'll do it too, although I hope it won't be necessary, daughter."
(Wow… he is about to cry with emotion,) Lily thought.
"First question and more urgent, because I must coordinate the use of the Time Turners. Do you know what time the training will end?"
"Yeah. At lunch time," Lily replied.
"Do they plan to repeat in the afternoon? I've already projected to Severus that he should come see me as soon as he's done."
"No, Albus, just in the morning," Remus answered. "Assuming that the new ones won't last that long and they should have time to study, we're a month away from exams. They plan to repeat tomorrow morning."
"Very well, then something after one he will be ready. Let's put one and a quarter. Do you have any idea how much time we will need?"
(A lot, because I bet Lauren and Sev haven't told me half the things they know, with all they must have read,) Lily thought, and replied, "He'll tell you, Albus, but count another five hours."
The Headmaster rested his elbow on the table and dropped his forehead into his hand. (Poor man, he is over ninety years old, but he should have made a move much earlier. He spent four years allowing Sev to be bullied by the quartet, three knowing the story of Sev and his brother, last year he found out what he suffersat home with his father and shortly after he ignored him when Remus almost killed him because of Black. And he already saw Sev make contact with Ariel at Christmas. I don't feel sorry for him at all.)
"Well, I've asked for it," said the old man. "You have been doing a huge job for months with hardly any help, and today I am going to have to find out everything at once for not having worried in advance. I already had clear signs at Christmas, even earlier, when Slughorn told me what happened between Severus and Miss Parkinson in Potions."
(Well… he doesn't suspect anything about Lauren,) Lily thought.
"I should have contacted him then, with the castle empty it was much safer and he wouldn't have needed to fight it like he must have," Albus continued. "I lack initiative."
(Of course.)
"Do you know the secret of little Beamy?" asked the Headmaster.
The three nodded very seriously.
"But Severus doesn't know anything, does he?"
All three denied.
"I suppose you already understand that it's better that he doesn't find out anything until the summer, when the three of them can be together," Dumbledore said.
"Yes, Albus," Lily said. "We've all decided that."
"Another very serious mistake of mine. I've known this since the boy's first year, when Eileen Snape started visiting him in Professor Slughorn's office. She called herself something else, but he knew her from when she was young and he quickly deduced from their resemblance that she was Severus's mother. He told me everything, and since Severus was hanging out with Malfoy and the malefics, I decided to leave things as they were so that he wouldn't be a bad influence on the little boy. But now I think that if he had known the truth from the beginning, the opposite would have happened, he would have turned away from them for taking care of his brother," Albus cried, defeated. "I feel so ashamed. A thirteen-year-old boy has had the cunning and tenacity necessary not to hurt his mother and brother at all while rescuing him from the abyss. Both are exceptional, probably because of the difficult life they have led."
The three remained silent, waiting for the Headmaster to recover.
"Eileen has stopped coming since Easter, I guess because Severus himself told her secrets that he understood I shouldn't know and warned her that I would read her," the Headmaster added.
None responded. (Silence agrees.)
"I wouldn't have, of course, but now it's a bit late to back down," Albus continued. "If you tell Severus that he can relieve his mother of that burden, he can smell it all."
Lily thought, (I don't trust his word one bit, and although it no longer matters that he knows that we are aware of the Ancestral Magics, since he must have already discovered that the retired books of the R.S. have disappeared, I don't know if Sev told her toosomething about Lauren, surely yes, because at that time he still couldn't trust me for that and he must have been in a mess, he could only trust his Mum. So he must still not see her under any circumstances.)
"I could get in touch with her, Albus," Lily said. "She's like my second mother, but revealing to her by letter that I know a secret that she has kept for more than fourteen years and that would embarrass her a lot doesn't seem appropriate. My parents have been in charge of her during these months so that she will not let her husband into her house again, and for the moment she has not done so."
"What a responsibility you are carrying on your shoulders, guys, trying to solve the messes that we adults organize," said the Headmaster. "It's okay, there's only a month and a half left for you to finish the term. It is better that you wait and you can support them among all. Stop worrying about it, you have the OWLs a month away. Okay, so five hours back since quarter past one, quarter past eight in the morning. He must still be in the Infirmary or going down to the dungeons. What a long day awaits me."
(Get knotted.)
"Rest until lunch when you're done with us," Cecile said.
"No way. I don't want to miss the training, and I have to protect him while he's there too, be present," Albus said. "In fact, I will leave the office in such a way that I have time to get almost to the beginning of it, even if I do pass myself in the corridors, after making sure with your map, Remus, that no malefic has infiltrated it."
Lily thought, (Ugh, Remus has told him about the map. He's going to be able to control Lauren. But surely he did it because Sev gave him permission, they must have already found a solution. During training I'll talk to her. And he's also saidthat more malefics remain, surely from the other Houses.)
"Sure, although I don't think they'd dare do anything among the mob, they'd all turn against them," Remus replied.
"You are right, but we must avoid any serious conflict," said the Headmaster. "People could get hurt, the Ministry would step in and ruin everything. In fact, I already expect that they try to take action with the mess that has been made this morning. Many will send owls telling their families what happened, the word will spread throughout the Wizarding World and tonight we can have reporters from the Daily Prophet here, to publish the news tomorrow. Sunday, maximum circulation. And you must already know how sensationalist they are. You must lock yourself in the Gryffindor house and not grant interviews, minimal prominence, anything you say is going to be distorted. And you least of all, Lily, if they find out about you both in the middle of the whirlwind, Witch Weekly will come too, because of the gossip, two lovers from enemy Houses. Either way, it's going to get back to Voldemort. Severus is putting himself in grave danger even at home. How many people know his address?"
(We already know for sure that we occluded it, by Lauren, but of course, I can't tell him that.) "Only two people, and we both occluded it," Lily replied.
"Will you let me check that you're doing it right, Lily?"
"Of course, Albus."
He looked into her eyes for a few seconds. "Correct. Who is the second?"
"Jack Steed," Lily answered.
"Alright. I'll ask Severus at lunch to come up to my office with him for a moment to do it. How many people know that you are neighbors?"
"Quite a lot, and they don't occlude it."
"Ugh… he needed to tell your story to win them over," Albus deduced.
"Of course."
"How badly I have done things. And your address, how many people know it?"
"Just him, Remus and Cecile," she replied.
"Perfect. Can I read you too?"
"Sure, Albus," Cecile replied.
"Of course," Remus said.
He did, a few seconds with each. "Very well, even if the word spreads that you live nearby, no one will find out where you do it. What a job you have done, guys, the Occlumency book disappeared from the Restricted Section at the beginning of March, you must have spent hours and hours dedicating yourselves to it, taking away from studying... And me doing nothing…"
(Indeed. We never would have made it if Sev and I hadn't already learned from Lauren. An he doesn't suspect anything of her at the moment,) Lily thought.
"Come on Albus, don't worry." Cecile touched his arm.
"At least I will take care of teaching little Beamy, so that he can go to his home in the summer," said the old man.
"No need, Albus," Lily said. "Severus and Steed have already taught him."
"Also?" surprised.
"Yes, he learned the first day they tried it."
"Of course. He has plenty of qualities, keeping a secret like this throughout his life," Albus said. "Well, I'll check him out this afternoon too, so we'll get rid of a problem, but don't inform anyone who can't figure out where you live, not even when you all meet in summer."
"Sure, Albus," Lily replied. "We already know we can't do it."
"Being a Muggle city, I doubt Voldemort would think of looking for you there. Well, let's get to work. I imagine Severus gave you Dueling lessons as well."
"Yes, Albus," answered Cecile. "We participated in the Guard's training for a month and a half before Easter, and then we three continued to do so."
"The Guard?"
"Yes, the Half-Blood Guard, that's what the initial command they formed was called, because they all were."
"Very good name," said Dumbledore.
"And they call him Prince, the Half-Blood Prince, after his mother's last name."
"Wow, how angry he must have been when this morning the whole school started murmuring his father's last name."
"For sure yes," Cecile replied.
"Instead of enjoying it, as it should have been."
"I'm sure those ones training already call him Prince," Remus said.
"Yes, the word will spread soon," Albus said. "Perfect, a name change at the same time as the change of sides, to be born again. I am sure that today has been one of the best days of his life."
"Sure, Albus," Cecile replied.
"Well, I'm going around the bush. What level have you reached?"
"All legal, non-verbal spells, we only lack agility and reflexes."
"Hasn't he taught you curses?" the Headmaster asked.
"No, Albus."
"How careful, too much."
"Me, yes," Remus said.
"Me too," Lily said.
"Also the Unforgivable Curses?" Dumbledore asked.
"No," Lily said.
Remus didn't answer.
"And you, Remus? You can tell me," said the Headmaster. "Hagrid already told me about the carnage you set up in the acromantulas nest."
"I'd rather he do it if he sees it convenient," Remus answered.
"Okay, but I must warn you. If you find yourself in serious trouble, don't kill. Use defensive spells, and curses only as a last resort. And of the Unforgivable only Imperius and Cruciatus, never Avada. If the case arose and you were brought to trial, I would be in charge of defending you, but because of a murder at school it would be impossible to free you from Azkaban. You should only kill if you are at risk of death from a real Death Eater attack, and preferably never with an Avada. Even Aurors are not allowed to use Unforgivables."
"Thanks for warning us, Albus."