Chapter 65

The boy stayed for a while longer in Albus' office, not seeming in any rush to go back to his classes and naturally asking questions about the Longbottoms, Ludo, and Bartemius Crouch Jr.

The fact that Barty Snr. had mentioned his son along with Bertha and Tom right before he had been killed was interesting, but Albus couldn't begin to guess what might have been going through Barty's befuddled mind. Guilt, most likely, perhaps regret. Having convicted his son to a lifetime in Azkaban to then not even show up to bury the body a year later must have been eating him up for the last decade.

Albus wondered why Barty had been targeted. Of course the most obvious reason might be revenge, since Bartemius Crouch had harshly convicted Tom's most loyal followers, but if that were the only reason Albus would have expected the man to simply be tortured and killed. And it didn't make much sense for Tom to target someone so high profile when he plainly was trying to keep his return a secret. That was no doubt why Barty had been put under the Imperius and at least initially made to go about his normal routine, but it still didn't explain why. It could be speculated that his position as judge in the Triwizard Tournament might have something to do with it, but that theory was unsatisfying given that Barty hadn't had private access to the Goblet of Fire nor he had had opportunity to confund Harry as far as Albus could tell. Perhaps Barty had simply been targeted because of the information he held?

Barty had mentioned his son right before dying, and Bartemius Jr. had been caught with the Lestranges, so perhaps the boy had known something important about their master? Could he have been the one to retrieve Tom's wand from Godric's Hollow and hide it in his father's house? Albus very much doubted Tom's spirit could have carried away a wand, and no wand had been found at the cottage so someone must have retrieved it. Although not someone willing to kill the surviving baby...

Had Barty already been under the Imperius Curse during the incident at the Quidditch World Cup? Or had he been covering up for someone? Perhaps being extorted? What had his house-elf known?

It was driving Albus crazy to have so many answered questions circling around his head.

He was also uncertain as to how to proceed. Now that he knew Tom had returned to full strength he felt that he should be doing something, more, to actively oppose him, but what? The first thing would be to alert the population and put the Ministry on guard, but he feared it might be unwise to speak up without any evidence to offer about Lord Voldemort's return, especially considering Cornelius' current attitude and all the blows Albus' reputation had suffered this year. With or without evidence, he would have to raise the alarm soon, but perhaps he should wait until the Triwizard Tournament was resolved, and make the announcement in some official setting like the annual gathering of the International Confederation of Wizards, or the first summer session of the Wizengamot. By that time Albus might have more evidence than simple guesses to support his claims, since Harry's likely survival of the third task no doubt would force Tom to expose some of his pieces.

It made him feel neglectful not to do anything in the meantime, though. Perhaps he should reconvene the Order of the Phoenix, at least, alert certain people so they could be on the lookout. Contact Mundungus to see if he had heard something around Knockturn Alley. Perhaps recruit someone within the Ministry to keep an eye on Cornelius and his interactions with Lucius Malfoy.

He had already placed spies between the giants and werewolves, but perhaps he should consider taking more active steps towards ensuring their neutrality. The Vampires would likely stay out of the war on their own volition, but it would not hurt to do a little probing there too.

Albus sighed.

And he definitely needed to make a decision about his most crucial spy.

Not particularly wishing to have his summons ignored, he decided to directly go to the mountain himself even if the mountain was likely to throw a fit at the intrusion.

He had not expected to be assaulted by yelling the moment he stepped out of the fireplace.

"You're being an insensitive arse!" Minerva's angry voice came from the direction of Severus' study. "You could give the poor boy a break!"

"I am not going to coddle that insolent brat!" snarled Severus. "He has you and Dumbledore for that!"

Albus wondered since when the two Heads of House were in friendly enough terms as for Minerva to dare coming to yell at Severus in his own private rooms. Half the staff didn't even know where the Potions Master's chambers were located, and until now Albus had been sure all the other Heads of House pretended there existed no Floo connection between their hearths and Severus'.

"Harry just saw someone die in front of him, Severus," exclaimed Minerva, "he needs support, not insults!"

"Yes, well, insults is all I have to give him," spat the Potions Master. "And it's not like it's the first time Potter witnesses death, Minerva, the boy killed Quirrell himself in case you have forgotten, and he's in the habit of slaying magical creatures once every other year. He'll be just fine!"

"He's having nightmares, Severus, he needs Dreamless Sleep!"

"Damn you, Minerva!" roared Severus, slamming his hand on his desk judging by the loud thump. "I told you I don't want to know! I will fry your brain if you keep pissing me off!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"You don't want to know what I would dare to do, Minerva. Now get the hell out!"

"Severus..."

"GET OUT!"

Severus must have looked really scary, because Minerva scurried out of the study just as fast as first year Hufflepuffs out of his classroom, fear mixed with anger in her face. She stopped dead and her expression turned to horror when she saw Albus still standing by the fireplace, though.

"Dumbledore," she gasped, looking for a moment as if she had been caught doing something indecent before quickly rearranging her features into a neutral, though slightly fearful expression.

Albus found the reaction quite odd, but he didn't have much time to analyze it before Severus emerged from his study too, no doubt alerted by Minerva's gasp. He had a frightening scowl in place, but Albus thought there might be some uneasiness in his dark eyes too.

"I believe I told you not to show up in my private quarters unannounced ever again," he said coldly, looking at Albus as if he wished nothing more than to forcefully evict him from the place. "That goes for you too, Minerva," he added with a glare in her direction. "Get out!"

Minerva scowled at him and huffed before stalking to the fireplace, not meeting Albus' eyes again as she walked past him.

"If you came to search my personal space again I'm afraid you will have to wait until I'm out of the way," drawled Severus once the flames had died down after Minerva's departure.

Albus sighed. Of course Severus knew about his secret visits to his quarters.

"I came to talk to you, actually," he said calmly. "There is an important matter we need to discuss."

"If said matter begins with the letter P, I will save you the time and tell you from the start that I don't give a fuck," spat Severus, turning his back on Albus and going to serve himself a glass of firewhisky.

It was never wise to engage in any argument with Severus Snape when he was riled up enough as to indulge in coarse vocabulary, but Albus didn't expect the man to be less hostile at any other time so he braced himself for an unpleasant chat.

"I wish to discuss your role as a spy," he said inviting himself to sit on Severus' couch. "Particularly whether you should resume it or not."

Severus looked at him through narrowed eyes for a long minute before reluctantly going to sit across from him.

"It was you who insisted that I should," he said curtly. "I don't remember having been given much of a choice in the matter."

"I insisted on it when I thought it was safe for you to do so," said Albus. "Now I fear it might be too dangerous."

Severus let out a bitter snort.

"It was never safe for me to go back to the Dark Lord, Dumbledore," he said coldly, "and you knew that. You didn't care about me dying a horrible death last summer, and I highly doubt you have grown to care in the last year."

"I do care, Severus," said Albus sincerely. "I am sorry if I have made you feel otherwise. I have always cared about you, and this year has not changed that." Severus made a skeptical sound and poured himself another generous measure. Albus found the alcohol consumption as worrying as the foul language and the Dark Magic usage. "I knew last summer that it would be dangerous for you to answer Tom's summons, but I was also well aware of your survival skills, and confident that you could lie your way out of the Quirrell incident. Now, however, the situation has changed."

"Not much," said Severus. "My chances of surviving a meeting with the Dark Lord are pretty much the same now than they were last summer."

"I'm afraid they might be considerably lower," said Albus. "I am certain that both Bartemius Crouch and Bertha Jorkins were Tom's prisoners, and they were both present at your trial."

"So?" asked Severus with an unconcerned shrug. "It was a given that the Dark Lord would try to access the records of his subjects' trials to find out who remained loyal and who didn't. He probably did that first thing when he returned from exile with Quirrell. I have long assumed that when he summoned me he would already know everything about my trial."

Albus frowned.

"Well, I confess I had hoped he wouldn't. The records of your trial are sealed, after all."

Severus scoffed.

"There were multiple witnesses to my trial, Dumbledore," he said. "Plenty of people to track down and legilimize. And the Ministry is corrupted to the core, it would have been easy for Lucius to bribe someone to gain access to sealed records. Or Quirrell could have broken into the Ministry Record Room, just like he broke into Gringotts under the Dark Lord's guidance."

"If you had already considered this, why didn't you mention it last summer?" asked Albus in confusion. "I would not have insisted if I you had presented this argument."

"You would have insisted just the same," argued Severus coldly. "I did not mention it because I thought it was obvious, Dumbledore. Sealed records have never stopped the Dark Lord, I knew while I was sitting in that courtroom insulting the bastard that he would know all about it if he ever returned. At the time I even hoped he would."

"There aren't just insults in those sealed records, Severus," reminded him Albus. "Several delicate details about your spying were disclosed during your trial, including the fact that you told me about the Potters being targeted."

"I have a memory and a Pensieve too, Dumbledore," drawled Severus. "I remember every detail of that trial."

"And you would still answer his summons?" asked Albus dubiously.

Severus shrugged.

"According to you I can lie my way out of anything. And it's not like anyone would care if I couldn't."

"That is not true, Severus. If going back is suicidal then we must consider other options."

"I have a Dark Mark in my arm, in case you have forgotten. There are no other options."

"Are you certain of that?"

The Death Eater shrugged again.

"For all I know my Mark might have the power to ensure an excruciating death for me. I would rather take my chances with the Dark Lord."

"If Tom had access to your trial, he will know that you betrayed him, Severus," pointed out Albus, failing to comprehend why the man didn't seem too worried about the possibility.

"He might be able to understand," said Severus, unfazed. "And he killed Lily, so he can't argue that I didn't have reason to take pre-emptive measures just in case he broke his promise."

Albus rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. He had the suspicion that Severus was messing with him, or worse, that he might have some secret reason to believe that Tom would forgive his betrayal.

"I would feel better if you didn't answer his summons," he said after a long silence. "We can try to get rid of the Mark or block its connection to Tom somehow. You never allowed me to study it, but-"

"You will not go anywhere near my Dark Mark," snapped Severus. "The last thing I need is for the Dark Lord to sense your magical signature through the link. I said I will take my chances with the Dark Lord. If you don't want to risk sending me back, that is another discussion altogether."

"It is the same discussion," argued Albus. "I do not wish to send you to a certain death."

"Cut the crap, old man," said Severus harshly. "You're afraid the Dark Lord might corrupt me if I go back to him, or that I might be already corrupted and intent on betrayal. The way to avert those risks is to simply get me arrested or at least fired, even killed if you want to ensure I will never be a threat. I would actually appreciate it if you could make up your mind about that and stop annoying me with your poor attempts at espionage."

Their held each other's eyes for a long, tense minute. Severus' gaze was hard and challenging, with a nasty glint of anticipation in them, as if he were hoping Albus would try to kill him on the spot. Of course the younger man knew he would lose that fight, but in his current belligerent mood he would probably welcome the fight anyway.

Albus sighed.

"I wish you would trust me, Severus," he whispered sadly. "That you would confide in me. Whatever you're going through, we can sort it out. I would understand if you were experiencing doubts or being tempted by darkness again, there is no shame in that. I just wish you would allow me to help you."

"You can help me by leaving me well alone," snapped Severus, "and by not pretending to care when I'm just a rebellious pawn for you. You can't ask for trust when you are full of mistrust, Dumbledore, stop being such a hypocrite."

In times like these, Albus felt certain that Severus Snape had been sent to him by Fate to make sure he was confronted to the hard truths about himself before his life ran out. Of course Severus only ever saw the worse of Albus, ignoring or not wanting to see that he did care and he did trust the good in people, but perhaps Albus needed to have one person like that always around.

"I am only human, Severus," he said humbly. "I try my best, but I am far from perfect and I have never pretended to be an exemplary person no matter what might be said about me. I find difficult to ignore the possibilities and risks my mind is constantly suggesting to me, and I admit I can sometimes be cold and cynical. Despite that, however, I still choose to believe in you. And I trust you with Harry's life."

Severus didn't answer nor meet his eyes again while he nursed his third glass of firewhisky. Albus let out another sigh, feeling sadder and older than ever, and stood up to leave. He stopped before throwing the Floo powder into the flames, though, and turned to address his Potions Master one last time.

"Tom already has a body," he informed him. "I received confirmation today that he performed some sort of resurrection ritual last summer."

The tormented Death Eater just nodded slightly and calmly took another sip of his drink.

Albus wanted nothing more than to return to his private chambers and go to bed early, but this long day wasn't yet over. Cornelius was back after dinner, this time accompanied by Ludo, and together they made their way to the Beauxbatons' carriage, where the French and Bulgarian representatives were already gathered around the Goblet of Fire. Albus made himself comfortable in an armchair by the hearth, silently appreciating the decorations of the Headmistress' office while they waited for the object to spit out the last set of instructions.

"I believe we are short one judge," commented Olympe, searching the room as if expecting to see a red-haired boy skulking behind one of the other attendants. Her dark eyes came to a stop when they met Cornelius'. "And we have one Minister to spare."

"I will be taking up the role of judge allotted to the British Head of International Cooperation," said Cornelius pompously, sending a challenging look at Albus, "just to make sure there is no undue favouritism."

Albus couldn't afford to say or do anything that might offend him, so he just smiled pleasantly.

"You are very brave, Mr. Fudge," drawled the Bulgarian Head of International Cooperation. "My Minister would hardly risk occupying two Goblet positions at once, he would be afraid to drop dead for neglecting one of them."

Cornelius paled, eliciting several chuckles around the room. Albus made sure to keep his own face impassive.

"Yes, well, at least I will be able to ensure that there are no irregularities," said Cornelius sharply with a glare at him. "I will not tolerate any more cheating."

"I can't say I know what you are talking about, Cornelius," said Albus innocently.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about," said the foolish Minister hotly, "Mr. Weasley informed me of the suspicious way you handled the reading of the hostages, Dumbledore. I am here to make sure you don't hoard any slip of paper issued by the Goblet."

Albus raised both hands in a pacifying gesture.

"All judges agreed to handle the reading of the hostages the way it was handled," he said. "But if it makes you feel more at ease, Cornelius, know that I won't even come close to the Goblet this time."

It was the truth. None of his fellow judges trusted him with the Goblet of Fire ever since the second task, so Albus had graciously relinquished control of the object to Olympe, who was now in charge of keeping it safe and presiding over the flaming sessions. Of course Albus was still the most powerful wizard amongst them and he would be in charge of the most complex warding and enchanting, but he no longer had so much leeway to do mischief.

"I myself am worried that the champions might try for a common victory," said Ludo, and he sounded truly worried. "What would happen if the four of them touched the Goblet at the exact same time, anyone knows?"

They all exchanged equally worried looks, and as usual they turned to Albus for answers.

"I'm afraid I don't know," he admitted. "There is no precedent of a joined victory or even a tie. Historically the champions preferred to kill each other rather than share the glory."

"It is possible that the alliance will be called off the moment they enter the maze," pointed out a French representative. "Working together is all very well, but no doubt they all still want to win."

"I'm not so sure about that," said Albus. "They seem more friends than allies at this point. More likely they will all resist to win, or they will try to win together like Ludo said."

"They should be warned against doing anything stupid," said Igor coldly. "Even if we don't know exactly what would happen, we should tell them that there can only be one winner."

"I agree," said Olympe, "but could we tell them that? I am completely unable to say a word to Fleur about anything involving her allies. Not that she would listen to me, of course," she added bitterly.

"Perhaps if we found the right words-"

They all fell instantly silent when the Goblet's flames suddenly turned red and a moment later a tongue of fire let a slip of paper land on Olympe's waiting hand.

"Acromantula," she read out loud, a grim expression on her face. "It specifies the size and age range. I honestly don't know where we could find an Acromantula. There are none in France, that is for sure."

"I think there is a colony in Finland," said Igor. "The price would be high, but-"

"No need to look so far, Igor," said Albus, accepting the slip of paper from Ludo and noticing that there was a sketch of the maze on the back where the initial location of the creature was indicated with a red cross. "We have a colony of Acromantulas here at Hogwarts."

Everyone stared at him in shock.

"You have Acromantulas here?" screeched Cornelius. "Why hasn't the Ministry been informed?"

"There are all sorts of creatures living within Hogwarts' boundaries, Cornelius," said Albus with a shrug. "It's hard to keep track of them all. And last I checked, the Forbidden Forest was out of the Ministry's jurisdiction."

"Everything is the Ministry's jurisdiction," declared Cornelius with a slightly mad gleam in his eyes.

Albus sighed. He would have very much rathered not to mention the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest, knowing that such revelation would cause trouble with the Ministry, but it was his duty as a judge and particularly as Head of the hosting school to make available all his resources to the Goblet of Fire. For all he knew the object was aware of the existence of Acromantulas in Hogwarts, being magically connected to the institution, so it would have been dangerous not to offer them.

"At the very least the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures ought to be aware of the existence of Acromantulas in Britain!" continued ranting Cornelius.

"Yes, yes," said the Bulgarian Head of International Cooperation with an annoyed wave of his hand, "you can discuss your national politics later. What I wish to know is where will we find handlers. Do you have any at Hogwarts, Dumbledore?"

"Unfortunately not at the moment," said Albus. "The person who dealt with the colony is currently away. And I'm afraid that these Acromantulas are highly aggressive if set loose. It will likely be easy to persuade one of them to willingly participate of the task —they don't usually have the opportunity to hunt humans—, but we will need to recruit a few handlers to restrain it before and afterwards."

Albus really hoped neither Harry nor any other champion would kill the creature, since that might be interpreted as a declaration of war by Aragog and result on his kin hunting freely within Hogwarts' grounds. Hagrid might be able to make peace with them, but unfortunately the half-giant would not be here to intercede.

"Well, if Hogwarts will provide the Acromantula," said Cornelius with a glare at Albus, "at least it will be free of charge for us. And even profitable, since France and Bulgaria will have to compensate Britain for it."

"Excuse me?" said the French Head of International Cooperation raising an incredulous eyebrow. "We will not pay for your Acromantula!"

"You should!" exclaimed Cornelius, turning red with indignation. "Britain will rent the Acromantula for the Triwizard Tournament, just like Romania rented us the dragons, so you must pay Britain your shares just like you paid for the dragons."

"It doesn't work like that, Cornelius," said Albus patiently. "Leaving aside the fact that our Acromantulas belong to Hogwarts and therefore the British Ministry doesn't have the authority to sell or rent them, the hosting school is obligated to put all its resources at the Goblet's disposal without any charge or condition. The three countries only have to pay equally for any creatures or specialists rented or hired from some other source. If you recall, nobody paid a single galleon for the use of the Merpeople in the second task, only the cost of the eggs had to be afforded." His Minister opened his mouth to protest, but Albus held up a hand, "We can always bring an Acromantula from Finland, if having to equally pay for it is so important to you, Cornelius. I offered to use one from Hogwarts because it is my duty to offer, but the Goblet ultimately does not care where it comes from as long as there is one inside the maze."

Cornelius scowled at him. Albus knew that in this case it was more a matter of pride than money, since an Acromantula would cost nothing compared to four dragons —one of them full price—, but that only made his Minister's rage more nasty. Cornelius hated it when he couldn't get away with his whims, and he was generally resentful because so far his brilliant decision of activating the Goblet of Fire seemed to have backfired on him.

He was forced to let the Acromantula subject drop for the moment, though, since the Goblet had flared again and soon a new demand was being read out loud by Olympe.

The next hour and a half was quite stressful for them all. Once every few minutes the Goblet spat out another slip of paper that Olympe grabbed with trembling hands and read to a room of unbreathing judges before passing it over for everyone's inspection. Then they spent the next few minutes discussing how it was to be procured or designed the latest obstacle —all the while doing their best to pretend that they weren't planning deathly traps for children— until they were again interrupted by the Goblet of Fire flaring up.

They had another heated argument over the Sphinx, which would be really hard to come by and definitely expensive. Egypt was, of course, the country to go to when one was in need of such creature, but certain protection laws had been passed a few years ago forbidding Sphinx traffic so it would not be so easy to obtain one. For the right fee and perhaps a few political incentives the Egyptian government might consider to make an exception, but the possibility of Harry Potter killing the creature would no doubt be a cause for hesitation given that the Egyptians worshiped Sphinxes and the general public would likely revolt if one of theirs was rented out for slaughter.

The suggestion of procuring a Sphinx in the black market was made and dismissed and then suggested again, as well as the possibility of appealing to China. They were not nearly done with the discussion when the next obstacle was emitted by the Goblet, and no doubt it would take several days of negotiations and diplomatic meetings to come up with a solution.

Albus rubbed his temples and prayed for patience every other minute, wishing for a different Minister or at least a headache reliever.

By the time the Goblet of Fire issued its last command, tempers were dangerously frayed and everyone was looking forward to see the last of their fellow judges and especially of Cornelius. Despite the general weariness, though, they held their breaths as usual as the presiding Headmistress pulled the last piece of parchment from the tip of the tongue of fire.

Albus' stomach dropped when he saw the blood drain from Olympe's olive-skinned face. She stared at the slip of parchment with absolute horror in her eyes for a long moment, everyone anxious to know what it said but in no hurry to hear it.

Finally she somewhat composed herself and raised her already grieving eyes to share the horror with them in the most ominous whisper ever breathed.

"Werewolf."