Chapter Eight.
Dumbledore's Preparations.
The frigid night air lightly blew across the Astronomy tower at Hogwarts and was biting the dirt smeared, chilled cheeks of Albus Dumbledore. He didn't mind it at all though as he gazed across the clear night sky patiently waiting for her to appear.
Any moment now.
In his mouth he pushed around the remaining bit of a creamy nougat dissolving on his tongue. He sincerely hoped she would return uninjured from the dangerous, unpleasant task he had asked of her. It was not an astronomy class night on the tower and the students were likely all settled in if not sleeping as it was well past midnight. Dumbledore's robes were unusually covered in dirt.
Whoosh! Pow!
Suddenly, a tall, middle-aged witch appeared; with black hair pulled tightly back into a bun yet stray hairs ruffled from the flight. She wore square shaped glasses and was now in plain sight whizzing along determinedly on a broomstick in midair in front of the tower.
Dumbledore had expected her to show up at any moment but nevertheless the sudden noise and appearance of her arrival switching back to being visible again from the disillusionment charm still made him jump. His momentary scare was quickly replaced by deep relief that she was back safe from the harrowing and grievous experience she would soon report on.
She wore deep green tartan robes; had a tight-lipped expression and naturally made a perfect landing on the tower with her excellent flying skills as always.
Memories flashed through his mind of how she had been a gifted Quidditch player for the Gryffindor team during her time at Hogwarts… well, other than that nasty fall her final year.
"Welcome back, Minerva."
"Oh Albus, please don't ever ask me to do that again," she said with a shudder while dismounting her broomstick.
"I trust 'that' to mean you did in fact find the camps as we previously discussed?"
"Yes. Yes indeed. It was… one of the worst things I've ever seen, to be perfectly honest. Absolutely disturbing and dreadful. We really shouldn't discuss it out here, though. I know the students are all in their houses and it's likely that it is only the two of us conversing up here but we never know what other ears could be listening in these dark times."
"Oh yes, of course, you're very wise. Let's discuss it in my office and I'll fix you a nice hot cup of tea, shall we?"
She walked closer to him and eyed him through her square spectacles from head to toe. She remarked,
"Hot tea in your office would be lovely.
Oh for Merlin's sake, Albus, look at you - covered in dirt all over! Have you spent the day in the Greenhouse with Pomona?"
Dumbledore shook his head, gave a little jovial laugh and looked down at his soiled robes in a curious manner as if he were just now discovering them to be filthy.
She shook her head, rolled her eyes and muttered, "Perhaps it best I don't even know."
They headed down the long stairwell of the castle's highest tower. When they arrived at Dumbledore's office, he immediately flicked his wand, Incendio, and a jet of flames flew out of the wand-tip quickly filling up his fireplace.
Minerva set down her broomstick and settled herself wearily into one of the chairs closest to fireplace. She enjoyed the soothing warmth and no longer cold air whipping at her face during her recent broomstick ride.
Dumbledore cast a shield charm around his office and then set to work to make her a cup of tea. She gazed around the room and said,
"I see you've settled yourself well into your new office. I couldn't of agreed more with Dippet and the Hogwarts Board of Governors that you were the best man for the job as Headmaster."
"Thank you, kindly. I'm so honored and will be forever grateful to succeed the former Armondo Dippet in this position. However, I can't deny it's very dark times to begin this new chapter," Dumbledore replied with a troubled expression and handed her a tea cup swirling with steam.
Minerva nodded tersely and graciously accepted the tea. She took several thoughtful sips staring into the flames not sure where to even begin.
Finally, she shared,
"As I said before, it was truly one of the most, unsettling... appalling... disturbing and dreadful sights I have ever laid my eyes on. I made it, in and out, to spy on the camps. There were children, groups of innocent children of various ages that obviously had been snatched away from their families living in complete squalor of the forest in very primitive stick and tent dwellings. It's likely they're starving or savagely fighting over limited raw animals to eat.
Why, I feared they would see me in my cat form and it was like I 'dodged a bludger' not becoming the next course on their menu!
I can't tell you how difficult it was to restrain myself from not trying to rescue some of those pathetic, stolen little souls to take back with me. It was shocking, Albus, utterly shocking to see. Something must be done."
Dumbledore had cozied himself into a chair and listened to her intently while rubbing his bearded chin. He gave a heavy sigh and replied,
"Yes. I don't doubt what you saw was utterly shocking, Minerva, and I very much agree that something must be done indeed. I can assure you, that your harrowing experience was not done in vain. Thank you for using your superior transfiguration abilities to obtain this knowledge for me. Unfortunately, it confirms my suspicions to be true."
"Suspicions, in regards to... You-Know-Who? " Minerva asked hesitantly. Her hands began shaking in fright and she tried not to let her teacup rattle off the saucer.
"Yes. Precisely. It is precisely as I feared. The attacks everywhere are increasing and not just against Muggles. Unfortunately, I have reason to believe the Ministry has been aware of it for quite some time but sadly, has done a poor job of acting upon it. It's been a downward spiral of mayhem. Voldemort is taking full advantage of the beings and creatures our world deems outcasts - recruiting giants and werewolves. He's using Greyback for building up an army for himself starting them off disgustingly young," he concluded.
Minerva flinched when he used the name Voldemort. She whispered, "Merlin help us."
Dumbledore frowned in dismay, he passed her a glass dish of nougat candies and she popped one hurriedly in her mouth. He wiped away a small clod of dirt that was annoying one of his eyes and said,
"Nevertheless, I must thank you for the helpful Ministry connection with your former Ministry boss, Elphinstone Urquart. Without him I would not have been able to uncover a hidden bit of useful data about a particular registered werewolf child that has *not* been snatched away."
She politely finished chewing the nougat and said,
"Elphinstone is a good man despite the Ministry's shortcomings dealing with the rising insurgency of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Likewise, as you mentioned, I do appreciate Elphinstone's cooperation with us. I'm glad we've remained friends over the years. Tell me more about the werewolf child."
"He's a boy, the only child and son of Lyall and Hope Lupin. Lyall Lupin was a student here in the '40s and I was his Transfiguration professor. He was not especially good at transfiguration but a very gifted wizard in defense against the dark arts. He's now become a world-renowned authority on the mysteries of non spirituous apparitions like boggarts and works for the Ministry.
I think Lyall graduated from Hogwarts in '47. If I recall correctly, that would be the same year a certain young witch caused a 'hat stall' that lasted five and a half minutes when sorted," he said with a mischievous wink at her.
Minerva blushed and looked around the room until her eyes fixed on the sorting hat placed quietly on a shelf. She could almost hear it's voice again agonizing inside her head back and forth over whether she ought to go to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. It never lied. She had never felt more like a Gryffindor after what she had accomplished tonight.
Dumbledore continued, "Most unfortunately, Lyall's son was bitten by Greyback at a very young age of four. The Lupin family has done an admirable job at keeping his lycanthropy hush-hush over the years. But now the boy is close to the age to enter Hogwarts."
Minerva's eyes widened and she accidentally inhaled some of her tea. She began coughing profusely. Dumbledore whipped up his wand, pointed it at her throat and said,
"Anapeo!"
Her throat instantly cleared.
She took some relaxed, deep breaths and then told him gratefully, "Thank you."
Before she could say anymore, he said,
"I am well aware of the obvious safety concerns raised by the idea of a student with lycanthropy attending Hogwarts. But you must trust me on this, Minerva, and swear to me you will keep the utmost secrecy on it.
This boy, though... I can't explain it yet fully, I just know it, has an important part to play in our fight against Lord Voldemort.
I have constructed a safe house nearby Hogsmeade so the boy has a place of refuge for his monthly transformations. The dirt you see on me is due to my use of the gouging spell, Defodio, allowing me to carve through the earth with ease as I have been establishing a secret passageway for the boy."
She listened and still stared at him with grave concern magnified through her square lenses.
"Minerva, I beg of you. It's imperative that you tell absolutely no one. Only Madam Pomfrey and I know besides you," he pleaded with her.
She sighed and said reluctantly, "I don't deny I have some serious safety concerns for the well-being of our students. However, I must say your preparations are sound most admirable. I trust your decisions, Albus. Yes, of course, I give you my word."
He nodded and picked off a tree root piece stuck to the fabric of his robe.
"I've managed to carve the tunnel or passageway from under the safe house all the way to the castle grounds but have not worked out the dilemma of how to keep the entrance hidden," he told her perplexed.
"Merlin's beard, is there a big gaping hole on the grounds now?"
"No, not yet. But I'm nearly there."
Minerva sipped her tea and had a stern, thoughtful expression. She had a memory of her Scottish upbringing with her two younger brothers flash through her head.
Suddenly, she broke out in a fit of unexpected, uncharacteristic giggles.
Dumbledore grinned back at her with twinkling eyes.
She put her hand over her mouth and worked hard to restraint herself. She said, "Pardon me. I apologize for the outburst. A ridiculous memory of my two brothers, Malcom and Robert popped up in my mind."
"No need for apologies. Pray tell, Minerva."
Regaining her composure, she shared,
"I should first tell you that my mother and I were kept very busy trying to conceal from my Muggle father the never ending magical mischief making of my two younger brothers.
Where we lived had a rare magical willow tree in the forest behind our neighborhood, my mother identified it to be a Whomping Willow. Well named as it would literally whomp at anything that came near it in a violent manner with its branches. I was terrified to go near it.
One day, my brothers were in a particularly impish mood and decided to play a prank on our neighbors. They shamelessly stole all their undergarments right off their clothes line and somehow rehung them all on the whomping willow. How they managed to hang the undergarments on the branches they never would confess. It's a wonder they were not whomped to pieces themselves.
Needless to say, my mother and I had our work cut out for us that day Accio-ing all those shredded undergarments out of the angry branches. I had the Mending charm, Reparo, mastered by the end of that day and certainly didn't need any practice in Charms class by the time I was a student at Hogwarts."
Dumbledore laughed heartily at her story. Then after a thoughtful pause, his eyes grew big and he said,
"Brilliant... Minerva, you're brilliant, that's it! It's perfect, we'll plant a whomping willow on the grounds to protect the secret entrance to the tunnel and prevent other students from entering when the boy is in his transformed werewolf state!"
"Well, you didn't hear it from me."
"Hear what?"
"Exactly."
"I will need your help again, though."
"I'd rather not go near another Whomping Willow, Albus, as I've had my fair share of near accidents by one and I've definitely never been one to excel at carving tunnels."
He shook his head and explained,
"Oh not to worry, it's neither of those things. It's finding the Lupin family location that I'm concerned about because from what I've gathered they have to move frequently to protect the secret of their son's lycanthropy.
Since I've found out Lyall works for the Ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, I was hopeful your connection could be of use to locate their current place of residence.
The time shall soon come after the boy's eleventh birthday when I'll need to pay a visit to his home to hand deliver his Hogwarts invitation. Of course, I imagine his parents will need to be fully informed of my preparations and take some convincing."
Minerva nodded in agreement, "I can correspond with Elphinstone again and track them down. Herbology may not be my specialty but I do know Pomona will likely take great offense if you don't involve her in some capacity with the planting of such a monumental tree on the school grounds."
Dumbledore said, "Good point. I shall certainly take that into account. She doesn't have to know the reason for which it will be planted there."
She yawned and stood up quietly tapping her wand on her empty teacup muttering the incantation quietly, "Scourgify." Then she placed it on Dumbledore's desk and thanked him politely.
Dumbledore asked, "Would you fancy a dreamless sleep potion for tonight?"
"Yes indeed," she replied right away and frowned remembering some of the disturbing images from the pack of werewolf children.
Dumbledore pulled out a corked bottle of potion out of a wooden chest and handed it to her. She thanked him and picked up her broom stick. He said,
"Goodnight, wishing you a long, rejuvenating nights rest. Thank you for your faithful support and help in the fight against the Dark Lord, Minerva.
I will follow you out. I think it's a good time for me to pay a visit to the Prefects' Bathroom."
Several months later, Minerva dutifully obtained the information for Dumbledore he requested on finding the current residence of the Lupin family. She also agreed to do a quick reconnaissance spy mission in her animagus feline form to double check it was in fact the correct address.
Although Pomona Sprout was not fully informed of the true reason for Dumbledore's search for a Whomping Willow transplant to the Hogwarts grounds, she was nevertheless very excited about the prospect. She readily agreed to provide her expertise and assistance in the process.
When Dumbledore successfully located a Whomping Willow to transplant from a forest in Scotland, he also enlisted the help of the groundskeeper, Hagrid, to assist in the arduous task of transferring it. If it weren't for the use of a concealment charm, it would have been a ludicrous sight for a Muggle to catch a glimpse of Dumbledore, a half-giant, and a temporarily immobilized Whomping Willow, moving across the sky in a flying motorcycle.
A month after Remus Lupin's eleventh birthday, the full moon was one of the worst the family had ever experienced yet.
Remus getting older equated to him getting stronger. Lyall was noticing the environmental damage getting worse after he transformed and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his son contained in his werewolf form.
Despite boarding up the entry door to the basement, they would hear him in the werewolf form snarling angrily while tearing off each nailed piece with alarming ease. Remus had asked his parents half jokingly for manacles and chains to restrain himself monthly as a birthday gift. But they neither laughed at nor honored that request.
Hope and Lyall tried to be discreet when discussing their growing fears about keeping their son safely contained as they didn't want to upset Remus. However, he was highly intuitive and could easily pick up on their non-verbal cues in the days leading up to the full moon such as the faint terror lingering in their eyes as the time grew closer to his transformation. He really hated being a burden to his parents.
Minerva insisted on making a visit to the presumed residence of the Lupin family on a full moon night after checking the lunar charts. She hoped it would provide some additional clues for the seeking confirmation it was in fact the right place. Dumbledore was looking forward hand delivering Remus's official Hogwarts invitation and she needed the peace of mind she would not be sending him to the wrong family.
She landed in a wooded area in Yorkshire, pulled out her wand made of fir wood with a dragon heartstring core and began muttering the levitation charm quietly, "Wingardium Leviosa." She stacked a pile of stones next to a tree trunk as a marker for herself to remember where she would hide her broomstick hidden beneath a concealment charm.
17 Trafalgar Avenue. She checked the small piece of parchment in the inner pocket of her robes again before she transfigured herself into a tabby cat form with markings on her fur around the eyes like glasses.
Her paws crept softly down the cement sidewalk and her pointed ears swiveled sideways to localize where different sounds were coming from. She enjoyed how her cat ears picked up on pitches of sound in much higher frequencies than when in human form.
She carefully watched the numbers on each dwelling to make sure she did not miss number seventeen.
She noticed moonlight illuminating the yellow eyes of another neighborhood cat watching her under a bush but she made no moves to interact with it. Most other cats were never worth her time to try to initiate any communication with as they nearly always met her with low humming hostility. Historically, she had acquired much more information out of bored, friendly dogs who were not very intelligent.
When number seventeen was visible she noticed a small dog in the previous neighboring yard of number sixteen sniffing and snuffling around the grass. She stopped creeping along and sat on her back legs with her front legs still erected upright. As she observed the dog she felt thankful for the illumination of the bright, full moon as Trafalgar Avenue was not well lit with any street lamps.
There was a high brick wall around the residence of number sixteen so Minerva decided to leap upwards and get a closer look at the dog who acted oblivious to her watching it from the street. The was was high enough she would be at a safe distance from the dog potentially jumping at her.
WOOF!
Her closer proximity on top of the brick wall caught the small dog's attention. Thankfully, it did not keep barking in an obnoxious manner. Merlin how she hated to listen to obsessive yapping in dogs. It wagged its small nub of a tail and came trotting over to the wall happily as if it had been waiting for her visit the whole night.
Meeeow.
She reached out to the dog softly trying to be mindful her voice was not audible to any of the Muggles sleeping nearby. Over the years, she had learned to practice a tricky combination of both using legilimency and a natural flow that just seemed to happen between animals when in her animagus form.
Hello dog.
Hi cat. Wanna play?
No thank you.
Bone?
What?
You seen my bone?
No. I'm sorry, I can't help you with that.
Okay. Wanna play?
No.
Jump down. I want to sniff you more.
No.
Buggers. Okay.
Are the neighbors in the next house new?
What?
The neighbors, the people in the next yard.
Who?
Minerva flicked her striped furry tail impatiently. She contemplated giving up on this conversation with the simpleminded canine.
Follow me.
She crept along the top of the wall toward the adjacent line between number sixteen and seventeen.The dog curiously ran along the inside parameter of the wall following her.
The people behind here.
Yes. There's people behind there.
Yes. I know. Are they new?
New?
The people behind here... past this wall here. Have the people been there a long time?
No.
Minerva felt herself beginning a quiet purr inside her throat. She was pleased she was finally getting somewhere with this dog.
It was probably a good time to end the interaction anyway. It always made her feel leery that a human might grow suspicious at the sight conversing back and forth with each other.
Thank you.
Will you jump down and play?
No. I am leaving now. Goodbye.
Aw buggers. Where did I bury that bone?
She gracefully leaped down off the wall into the next yard of number seventeen. Thesmall brick house set a bit farther back down a paved driveway compared to the other houses in the neighborhood. She noticed a tall Ash tree quickly clawed her way up the trunk to a high branchfor a good lookout spot. There was a Muggle automobile parked in the driveway.
The darkness of the night was beginning to fade and Minerva thought about how the quickly approaching dawn meant the boy would probably be transforming soon back to human form. Her striped ears swiveled 180 listening carefully for any new sounds.
Inside the brick home, Remus's werewolf body wretched and quivered as the light of dawn began the painful transformation process back to the form of a human again. Inside his head there was a loud rhythmic thumping of his heartbeat banging miserably against his skull.
His eyes were clenched shut. The feel inside his mouth of a shorter tongue and human teeth told him he was back to being a boy again. When his eyes slowly opened he felt confused why he wasn't in the basement as usual. It looked like the ceiling of their living room.
Remus felt a burning sensation coming from new slashes across his chest and arms wet with seeping blood. He turned his throbbing head wearily to the side and noticed strips of torn wall paper hanging down where they had not been the day prior.
Then he felt an odd feeling of something hard pressing underneath him. He weakly moved his arm and barely pulled out the object from beneath him. He blinked heavily at it and determined it was the broken leg of one of their arm chairs.
The mental fog cleared and he realized he was not in the basement as he should be. The pain of his physical injuries suddenly dulled in comparison to the pain of strangely no sound coming from his parents anywhere in the house.
Oh Merlin. No. Please no. Where is mum and dad?
He tried not to panic taking some slow, deep breaths despite the sting on his chest when the wounded flesh moved as the air came in and out of his lungs. His arms and legs felt so heavy and he could not will them to get him up off the floor.
His hoarse, scratchy voice failed him in attempts to cry out to his paren as his sore throat ached from the vocal abuse of howling. So he laid there helplessly, closed his eyes and whimpered in despair.
Outside high on the tree branch, a tabby cat's ears twitched. Even though Lyall had placed a shield charm around the home outside so the neighbors would not hear Remus that night, Minerva could still hear the pitch of the boy's whimpers of grief and agony. She experienced a sudden sharp pang of sadness for the boy pitying him in her kitty heart.
FLASH-FLASH!
Suddenly, a blue light flashed twice around the parked automobile. Minerva cocked her head at it and now saw the distinct shape of two people cuddled under a blanket in the back seat. One of them had a wand out at the ready. Then the two adults quietly exited the vehicle and tip toed carefully to the front door. The man was carrying a wand and the woman carried in the blanket.
A few lights turned on after the couple went in the house. The curtains were drawn in the front window but Minerva noticed that one side of the curtains were torn. She felt immense curiosity and with impressive balance her four paws took her farther down to the tree branch for a closer look.
The pupils of her marble-like eyes changed diameter as they focused intensely on the torn spot of the curtain. She could make out the shape of the woman crouched down covering a bloodied boy on the floor with the blanket. There was a soft weeping sound and muffled voices. Her kitty heart swelled once again with pity.
Minerva now had enough confirmation for Dumbledore that this was indeed the current location of the Lupin family. She quickly climbed down the trunk of the Ash tree and ran back to the stone pile marker in the nearby the woods to find her broomstick. Within seconds she changed back to her witch form, cast a concealment charm on herself and was soon hurriedly flying back to Hogwarts.
Two weeks later, Remus unassumingly turned a corner in the hallway and was stunned to see a tall man in wizard robes with a silver beard standing in their living room. His blue eyes looked back at him with a friendly twinkle over half moon shaped glasses.
"Good evening, Remus. My name is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Would you care to play a round of Gobstones with me?"