Wizards and Snakes

Ted Tonks knocked on the large oak door. He noticed some rust on the iron reinforcing straps. The preservation charms were starting to fade and needed to be recast. Ted stood in the dim light and waited for the door to open. He had been in Headmaster Dumbledore's office exactly one time before. The previous visit had been decades ago, though he couldn't remember why he'd been there as a student. This time he was here on business. The view of the headmaster's office exceeded the vague impressions he remembered. The eclectic collection of books and monitoring devices on the wall were beautifully illuminated by the sunlight falling through the tower windows. The room and its contents were impressive in many ways. The Headmaster.. was less so. The intervening decades had been hard on Albus Dumbledore.

Solicitor Tonks got to work. "Thank you for seeing me, Headmaster. I represent a large black dog and we're looking to buy a recently deceased basilisk. I understand you have one you no longer need."

Dumbledore sat down and indicated a chair for Tonks. "A.. a basilisk? Yes, I suppose I do. Did you say a large black dog?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, not as big as your Cerberus, but large enough, and a very Black dog all the same. I thought an opening offer of two-thousand Galleons would be a good place to start."

Tonks did not want to dwell on his client. Lord Sirius Black was out of Azkaban, though his legal status was currently in flux. Offering almost five stone in gold was deliberately generous.

Ted got right to the point. "If you're in a position to negotiate the sale, then we can take care of removing the carcass and the shed snakeskins. For a slight fee we can clean up the discarded bones on the floor and leave the room broom-clean and ready for the next tenants."

Dumbledore was surprised. "That is a considerable sum. You seem.. um, well prepared." The headmaster certainly wasn't.

Ted Tonks gave Headmaster Albus Dumbledore a sincere smile. "I try to be prepared. Those are the standard commercial terms and conditions when we turn over a property. We do that several times a month. I brought the Galleons with me today if you'd like to weigh them. They are marked for easy counting. I also have the papers drawn.

"Could you clear a space for us? You might also want to make sure the door is locked until we're done and this is put away." Tonks asked.

The hardest part of this negotiation might be finding a place to work. Rolls of parchment covered the tables like white drifts between precarious mountains. Dumbledore conjured another table instead of disturbing his earlier projects.

In fact, they were not Galleons at all. A thousand ounces of gold was a nuisance to count. Tonks stacked gold bars on the table. Each was stamped and bonded with the Gringotts seal. The color of sunlight on gold along with the resounding "thunk" of heavy metal bars on wood changed the very atmosphere of the room. That sound often had a magic all its own. Tonks had seen its magical effects, particularly if his clients were not familiar with the sight and sound.

He left the expanded and lightweight carry sack with the headmaster. The enchanted sack was the only practical way to move gold bars.

"Here is the contract signature, and I need you to sign here to show receipt of payment. Yes, right there. Thank you. And initial here, and here.

"I'd like you to use the quill I provided. We get fewer mistakes that way," Tonks added.

Dumbledore skimmed the page, then scanned the quill. Only then did he "hmmm" in reply.

"I hope I've given you enough room for your full name."

"Very accommodating," Dumbledore muttered. Tonks verified the magical signature.

Albus Dumbledore stood up and suddenly found himself to be a much richer man. He waved his visitor toward the door. "Thank you, Mister Tonks. Let me know if we can do business again."

The Solicitor, dressed in black and simply cut robes, collected his papers and sat down again in his chair. "Now that you mention it, my client is also interested in the disposition of the fourth contestant in the Triwizard Tournament. We believe the fourth contestant was forced into a binding, and potentially harmful, magical contract against his will. We have laws against that."

The magical instruments in the room ticked and chugged as Dumbledore thought about the solicitor's abrupt change in attitude. This was not the response he expected.

"Yes, it is a most unusual situation," Dumbledore said.

Now it was Solicitor Tonks who waved Dumbledore back to his chair. "Is it really, sir? It seems to be part of a larger pattern of abuse."

"That is a rather harsh accusation, and completely unfounded," Dumbledore replied.

Tonks looked surprised. "Oh, I'm sorry. You may be right. If that's true then I'd like you to correct my misinformation. Right here I have notes about a mountain troll that was loose in this school and put students at risk. The troll injured at least one of them."

"That.. That was years ago, and.. and they were not badly injured."

"Yes, sir. We might have to disagree. I have the reports from the Healer's scans describing the injuries. If those are in error, I also have the memories of the attack in the downstairs bathroom. Since they are the memories of several first-year students facing a large troll, the memories certainly look quite dramatic with all the screaming and shouting. I had forgotten what it was like to be a firstie.

"I wonder what someone else would say if they viewed those memories," Tonks said.

"That.. That hardly seems necessary," Dumbledore said.

"Yes, sir. I hope you're right."

Tonks turned the page of his well-organized notes. "I see where a wraith of Tom Riddle was living in this school for most of the school year and again put students at risk. It rendered at least one of your students unconscious and did so with the willful aid of one of your teaching staff. That shows a shocking negligence in screening your faculty. You kept a dangerous animal on the third floor. A simple mechanical lock was all that protected the students from the Cerberus. That level of security is insufficient for XXXX level creatures. A number of students were able to open that locked door.

"Again, I have the memories in case your recollection of the event isn't clear."

"Another unusual situation." Dumbledore drummed his fingers on the table until Tonks turned to the next page.

"One of your professors passed off the accomplishments of other wizards as his own. That is at least plagiarism if not criminal fraud. Again, his actions contributed to the injury of your students. One student was controlled for several weeks in something like an Imperious curse after she was infected by a diary imbued with dark magic. That at least calls the castle's security wards into question. Other students were petrified for more than a month, and yet you didn't move them to Saint Mungo's or ask for an investigation by the ministry.

"Perhaps that is another "unusual" situation as you said. Would it surprise you if I said I have those memories too?"

"There are extenuating circumstances that I'm not prepared to discuss at this time," Dumbledore answered.

Of course there were. There were always 'extenuating circumstances,' Ted thought.

"Yes, sir. We have laws so that we know what to do even if we're distracted by extenuating circumstances."

Dumbledore looked at Solicitor Tonks and then looked away. The headmaster repeated the motion several times as if he thought Tonks would disappear.

"Headmaster, should I go on and cite the number of accidents from flying lessons and from the potions laboratory. Again, I know you are so busy that those things might have escaped your attention. I see that you have a pensive so we can review all these memories today and be sure that we are talking about the same events."

The solicitor presented evidence rather than leveling accusations or commenting on character. Honest wizards could still disagree about what the facts meant. Unfortunately for Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the evidence when taken as a whole was far more damaging than the individual parts in isolation.

"Headmaster, both magical and mundane businesses have mandatory reporting requirements when someone is injured on their premises. Those requirements are more demanding when there is a custodial relationship, like patients in a hospital or students in a boarding school. I didn't find these reports on file with the ministry. Was that an oversight on the part of your staff?"

"Perhaps," Dumbledore said.

The headmaster became less talkative as the meeting wore on. Dumbledore's mouth was dry and he started to reach for a lemon drop. He stopped himself and forced his attention back to his visitor.

"You also signed documents today that said you were the owner of the basilisk through either a legal purchase or through a hunt and the right of combat or conquest. That wasn't quite true, now was it."

Being prepared with the facts sometimes shortened negotiations from months to minutes. Now the Solicitor waited for Dumbledore to speak.

"I take it that you want something," Dumbledore said.

"I want to talk about our mutual interests. I've read the charter for the Triwizard Tournament. Perhaps we can put that knowledge to good use."

Dumbledore nodded for him to continue but did not say a word.

"There must be at least three contestants when the tournament starts. Until they are eliminated from the competition, each contestant has to participate. Additional events must be held to break any ties so that there are clear winners for the first, second, and third places. Does that suggest anything to you?"

"Yes, the organizers were most thorough. I don't see what that has to do with Harry," Dumbledore said.

"You can release the magical contract on Lord Potter after he is eliminated in three magical games and the other contestants are tied for score. Potter need not participate in the tie-breaking rounds. I suggest three rounds of rock-paper-scissors to test the contestants' legilimency and occlumency skills."

It took a moment for the headmaster to wrap his mind around the proposal. Ted Tonks didn't move as Dumbledore thought through his options.

"That would be most unusual. I'm not sure that roshambo is in the intended spirit of the games," Dumbledore replied.

Tonks leaned forward across the table. "Remember that I've read the charter documents for the tournament. I'm certain that having an underage wizard entered against his will goes against the spirit of the games. Let's correct the largest injustices first.

"Headmaster, I have never asked anyone to do something against their will or against their interests. So far, I have convincing evidence in my possession, and with a documented chain of custody. You would face almost a dozen charges of criminal negligence resulting in injury. That doesn't include the contract fraud and ministry procurement violations you committed this morning. Financial fraud of that magnitude is a felony.

"What should we do?" Tonks asked.

Tonks couldn't help but wonder if Chief Warlock Dumbledore would adapt to Azkaban as well as Lord Black had done.

"You'd like Mr. Potter to lose," Dumbledore said.

"I want Lord Potter to never compete in a tournament he never entered. I've shown you a method and given you the means, but you can throw the goblet through the Veil of Death for all I care. Mr. Potter can be free in a few days.

"I know you can be persuasive. You also have two-thousand reasons for the other judges to see things your way," Tonks said.

Solicitor Tonks turned his head toward the gold bars lying on the table. Albus eyed his new wealth as well. He was not a businessman, but there were a lot of things he could accomplish with that amount of gold. The Triwizard Tournament only required three champions. Perhaps Harry's training could wait for another day.

Dumbledore tilted his head. "A week at the most, I'd say."

"Sir, this deserves your immediate attention. Let's aim for three days and hope to wrap this up in five days at the outside. You can be persuasive, and you have methods that exceed my own."

Tonks thought they could look at getting Lord Black a trial next week once Harry couldn't be used as a hostage.

"If you'll sign here, we can transfer the legal ownership of the basilisk from Lord Potter to you." Tonks retrieved his quill again and the headmaster signed the transfer.

"So Harry was involved in this?" Dumbledore asked. The wizard looked tired. Dumbledore reached for copies of the sales documents but Solicitor Tonks kept the contracts in his hands.

"My client is the Black dog. Mr. Potter was eager to trade a snake he didn't want in exchange for his freedom." Tonks took both copies of the contract and put them in his expanding bag.

"I'll return your signed copies once we're sure Mr. Potter is free of his magical contract. I hope to hear from you shortly, and I can show myself out once you unlock the door," Ted said. Ted remained standing until he heard the headmaster unlock and open his office door.

As he walked down the long hallways, Ted Tonks was reminded of the many dark corners in the castle. It may be a vanity, but he thought he brought a bit of light to those dark places.

This wasn't the end, but he could see end of the beginning from here. Tonks would count the days until Harry Potter no longer had the Triwizard Tournament hanging over his head. They had made sure that Dumbledore had the means to buy Harry's freedom. It had cost them the equivalent of several million pounds, but it wasn't as if they actually gave the money to Dumbledore. The headmaster was just renting the money for a while. The civil trial over Lord Black's imprisonment should recover all that from Dumbledore and considerably more.

Ted wondered if Chief Warlock Dumbledore would declare the two-thousand Galleons as income. The solicitor remembered a reward program with Revenue and Customs as well as with British Ministry of Magic.
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Author's Notes- Feedback is appreciated. Feedback is essential if you want more stories like this. What did you think of Solicitor Tonks negotiating with Albus?

I assumed that a Galleon was a half-ounce of gold. Gold is twice as dense as silver so a Galleon isn't a large coin. Each Galleon is worth about a thousand US dollars in 2024. It was said that a gold coin was enough money to outfit a Roman soldier. We spend more than that today.

A version of this chapter was originally titled "The Games Wizards Play". It wouldn't leave me alone. The characters wanted to tell their story of what happened before and after this meeting. I finally had to listen. I hope this satisfies them, but we will see. I had to delete that original post since I reused the material in this chapter.
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