Chapter 3

The office of the Hogwarts headmaster was a truly marvelous place. The walls were filled with countless rare and priceless books, which contained without a doubt some of the most arcane forms of magic known to wizards. Upon some shelves shimmering metal devices spun around, puffed smoke, or glowed in a multitude of different colors. Near the entrance door a majestic phoenix enthroned a wooden perch, his red and golden feathers shimmering in the glow of the nearby fireplace.

The other occupants of the room were currently locked in a heated discussion.

"Why don't we just directly take care of the problem? We corner them one by one in Knockturn Alley and get rid of them once and for all." said an annoyed Alastor Moody.

Albus Dumbledore shook his head "Even if we disregard the morality of that matter for a second. What do you think would happen if former Death Eather's are found dead in the streets?"

The Auror only shrugged nonchalantly.

"We might get one or two of them before the rest will become suspicious. They would hide themselves and increase their security. Maybe even resort to more drastic measures. We would accomplish virtually nothing and the hounds would be on our tails." explained Dumbledore and took a deep breath before continuing "Therefore, we need to play this slow and methodical, without them suspecting anything before it is already too late."

"And how do you suppose we do this?"

At that question the headmaster of Hogwarts smiled.

"Tell me - what had been the most dangerous part of the inner circle Death Eaters in the last war? Sure, a lot of them had been formidable duelists, but we had those in the Order as well. So why were they nevertheless on the verge of winning?"

Dumbledore then grabbed a folder from his desk and pushed it over to Moody who looked at it questioningly.

"What is that?"

"That, my dear friend, contains rough estimations of the wealth and businesses from each member of Voldemort's inner circle."

Moody gaped at him and briefly went through some pages, the more he read, the more his one eye widened.

"How did you get this?" he finally asked.

Dumbledore looked quite smug "I do curry favor with several Goblins in Gringotts. Without severely violating their bylaws, they were only able to provide a very rough estimation and by no means a complete one. However, this alone does paint a rather glaring picture because it means in terms of monetary assets, we are hopelessly outmatched. They were able to buy all the mercenaries that they wanted and bribe all the needed politicians to make sure that everything we could have thrown their way was useless."

"So, that's your grand plan? We take away their gold? How do you suppose we do that? Break into Gringotts and empty their vaults? Moody sarcastically asked "I'm not a financial expert and correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think you are secretly into economics. What can the two of us possibly do?"

"Alone, not much I'm afraid. As you rightly pointed out, none of us has all that much knowledge to do some actual damage to them. But I might know someone who can." Dumbledore said and pushed another folder to him.

When Moody opened it, he laughed at first. It contained several notes on the history and businesses of a single family and more specifically about one certain man.

"You gotta be shitting me. Him?! For all we know he financed the Death Eaters the first time around."

"That was never confirmed. Based on his most recent votes in the Wizengamot, he is more likely in our corner than theirs."

The old Auror snorted "Even if that might be true. He won't help us. His kind never does. Not when he has nothing to gain."

"Well, we will never know unless we try. And let us face it. Without him we will be blind."

"Fine."

With that matter done, Albus clapped into his hands "Now, if I may ask; how is our other project progressing?"

"You mean Potter?" Moody asked.

"Precisely! Is he performing as expected? His previous teacher in Defense Against the Dark Arts did say that he had a remarkable potential in the subject."

At that the man before him shrugged and said "I wouldn't know. We haven't gotten to spells so far. Still working on his stamina for now. The lad is still a bit wet behind his ears, but I'll get him in form eventually."

"What do you have him do?" he asked curiously.

"Eh, just the standard Auror training program. Had to condense it a bit because of our time restriction, but it'll do."

He frowned. The training of Aurors was both psychologically and physically highly demanding. As far as he remembered almost a third of the new recruits dropped out after barely a week, with another thirty percent following after a month. And that were fully grown adult wizards.

Albus pinched his nose "Please don't tell me you are subjecting, a not even fourteen year old boy, to the training regimen of the Auror academy."

His friend looked confused at him "What do you mean? Of course I do. How else do you want him to combat Death Eaters?"

Desperately trying to calm himself, Albus took a couple deep breaths.

I should have known…

"Alastor, I asked you to provide Harry with some training, so he would have a better chance to get out of a sticky situation. I did not want you to transform a teenager into a hunter of dark wizards!" he said through gritted teeth.

"Forgive me for not coddling your protegee. But I thought it's better for him to have it rough now, than when shit hits the fan!" Alastor replied stubbornly.

"He is still a child! I don't want him to become a warrior at his age!" he snapped.

The Auror snorted "So why did you place him with his relatives then? The boy already knows rough handling. I'm certain his uncle made sure of that. What I'm doing at least helps him in the long run."

Albus shook his head "I'm certain his relatives are not the most pleasant of people, however…"

"Ha! Not pleasant?" Alastor interrupted him "They downright abused the boy. That's what they have done. When I picked him up, I could see a mattress in the cupboard under the stairs. I guess he slept there for most of his life and I would bet my life that the fat oaf he calls uncle has beaten him more than once. Heck, he even tried to attack me."

The headmaster of Hogwarts stared at his old friend with a look of horror.

Sure, he had known that they weren't comfortable with the subject of magic, but he would have never assumed that they would abuse a family member.

Merlin! Minerva told me back then. Why did I not listen to her?

Thoroughly humbled, he looked at his lap. How could he fix this? What he had allowed to befall on the boy was inexcusable. A long due apology was the least he would have to make but he was unsure how further reparations could be done.

After a while he finally said "I had no idea that his relatives would treat him like that. Rest be assured he will never return to that place."

Moody nodded.

"In regards to training, I want you to go easier on Harry. I will defer to your judgment on what you show him, but I will not allow him to go through a full Auror training program at his age."

Another nod, albeit more reluctant.

"I also want you to give him a bit more time off and offer him a way to get into contact with his friends - preferably by owl. And before the end of the summer, he shall take some time to enjoy himself. I will arrange something with the Weasley family."

"You do realize that every day of training could make the difference between life and death, yes?" pointed out the aged Auror with a frown on his marred face.

"Indeed, but rest is also important. I've hoped that you might consider proceeding with his training at Hogwarts."

Moody scowled for a while but eventually accepted with a sigh.

Cyrus Greengrass was a man that very few people would ever dare to cross. Those that did sooner or later found their businesses in shambles and delicate personal secrets leaked to the public.

When Albus Dumbledore had been very young the family had been a traditionally dark family, which had consistently voted for the conservative block in the Wizengamot. That had changed when Cyrus' grandfather had taken over as head of the family, who had moved them in a neutral position. Initially that had brought some very troublesome times to the family - old business connections had been severed and former allies had turned against them. Their former wealth had started to dwindle.

What had followed were of course only rumors, albeit very detailed rumors.

The fate of the Greengrass family had taken an even worse turn when Cyrus' father had briefly taken the headship, who had rather unsuccessfully tried to move the family back to the dark faction. Apparently the Benucci family from Italy, a former ally, had taken the attempt to reconcile as an offense and promptly had him assassinated.

The young Cyrus then had to take over the family after his father's untimely death, but instead of following his predecessors footsteps, he had stuck to his grandfather's plan instead and remained neutral. With diligent planning he had then created a network of a selected few firmly loyal members through the entire wizarding economy. It had cost him nearly the entire remaining family fortune, but it eventually paid back tenfold.

Their wealth had eventually reached its former glory with shares in hundreds of businesses. Then the young businessman had then set his eyes on the Benucci's to enact his vengeance. And by Merlin was he successful. After a few years the family was bankrupt and had half of the italian magically ministry after them for breaking the statue of secrecy due to their alleged dealings with the muggle mafia. Since then, no one had ever heard anything from the family again.

The headmaster of Hogwarts had never really cared much for the business dealings of the British families and he also hardly ever visited anyone for political reasons in his role as Chief Warlock. Thus, it must have been a bit of a surprise to the Greengrass family to see him making his way through their pristine garden on the cobblestone path that leads to their front door. To be honest if it wasn't of utmost importance he wouldn't have. He preferred a quiet place and good book to the pretentiousness and grandeur of politics.

However desperate times required equal drastic actions, so after adjusting his robes he knocked lightly on the big oak door, which was immediately opened by a blonde girl in a fancy green summer dress. If his mind served him right, she was the oldest daughter of Cyrus Greengrass, Daphne.

"Good afternoon, Headmaster Dumbledore! To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" she greeted him politely, though seemed a bit nervous in his presence.

Thus he gave her a warm smile and said "Good evening Miss Greengrass - is your father here by any chance?"

At the mention of her father all signs of nervousness on the girl were gone and were replaced by a neutral mask that seemed to not give away anything.

Well trained by her father no doubt.

"Of course, headmaster. I will see if he is available. In the meantime, you may wait in the parlour, sir." Daphne said while waving him in and then pointed to her right "Would you like some refreshments?"

He nodded gratefully and took in the grand room before him "Thank you. A glass of water would be much appreciated."

"Of course, professor." she said and then turned to a house-elf that had apparently followed them "Tipsy? Please fetch our guest some water."

"At once mistress." the small creature answered and was gone with a short bow.

Seemingly satisfied, the heir of house Greengrass nodded to herself and then went to fetch her father.

It didn't take long before a tall man with short brown hair, dressed in fine robes entered the parlour. Like his daughter, his face didn't seem to give away any emotion, at least to the untrained eye.

However, as a master Legillimens, he was able to detect quite a bit of irritation coming off the noble Lord. Dumbledore frowned slightly, he did seem to have that effect on people in the recent years.

"Professor Dumbledore! What a … surprise!"

"Apologies, Lord Greengrass, for arriving unannounced. I would have floo-called you before, but the topic is a bit too sensitive to broadcast it through a ministry channel."

The man squinted his eyes suspiciously "A sensitive matter you say? It's not about one of my daughters, is it?"

"No, I can assure you, from what I have heard both of your daughters have been diligent and most exemplary students so far. A true credit to your family." Dumbledore looked behind Cyrus to see a small girl walking nearby the entrance hall pretending to not listen in - it was the youngest daughter Astoria. Her eyes widened when their eyes met, having been caught she quickly turned the other way.

"That is good to hear. However, I have to admit, that leaves me a bit unclear about the nature of your visit?" Lord Greengrass said impatiently.

"I can assure you it is of utmost importance…" Dumbledore started, then looked briefly in the direction that the girl had just left and gave the man an imploring look "... however I think it might require a bit more privacy. It is not necessarily suitable for younger ears."

Lord Greengrass sighed "Fine, but this better be good! I don't want to make it a habit of inviting just anyone unannounced."

At that Dumbledore chuckled and dramatically put a hand over his hearth "And here I thought I wasn't just anyone."

"No, definitely not." he heard the man grumble.

Cyrus Greengrass thoughtfully paced around behind his ancient looking work desk, the sound of his steps was dampened by the elegantly lined carpet that covered the entirety of the office. Occasionally the man stole a glance at him. Dumbledore could almost see the wheels spinning in his head, carefully trying to consider everything that he had just told him.

Finally, the man stopped in his tracks and fixed him with an intense stare "So, let me get this straight. You think that You-Know-Who, a man everybody thought to have been dead for over a decade, is on the rise again and you want my help to take down his allies? To go against the likes of Malfoy and Nott?"

Dumbledore shook his head "I don't just think he will come back. I know for a fact that he will come back. I warned the minister himself about that fact a good decade ago and was called a lunatic."

"BECAUSE IT IS!" Cyrus yelled in denial "THIS IS INSANE! There is no coming back from the dead. Not even for someone like V… You know who!"

At that Albus snorted "My dear Cyrus. Unlike most, I have studied the most arcane of magics. I've come across things that most couldn't even imagine in their faintest dreams. From the back of my hand, I could name you at least five different ways to achieve something similar to what Voldemort has apparently done. Cheating death is not nearly as impossible as you might think. With magic almost anything is within reach if you are willing to pay the price. Someone like Voldemort, who fears death more than anything else, is certainly willing to sacrifice even his very own soul or humanity in search for immortality."

His speech had certainly somewhat put the wind out of the Lord Greengrass sails as he sat down with an exhausted sigh and grasped the glass of scotch on his desk and then chugged the entire content in one go.

"Even if that is the case, there is no guarantee that he will ever fully come back…"

"Yes, there is." Dumbledore interrupted the Lord "I know him - better than anyone else. Voldemort is not the type to accept defeat. He will not rest until he is back in his old form - or even stronger than before. Make no mistake, it is not a question of if he returns - it's only about when."

"I know." Cyrus Greengrass sighed and gazed to the ground in thought.

Finally, he looked up again and resolutely met his eyes "I love my wife and daughters with all my heart. What you want me to do, would put my entire family under a massive risk. If it was just me I might be inclined to help you. But I will not put the safety of my wife and daughters in danger. I'm sorry."

Dejected, Albus opened the door of his office to find his friend Alastor already awaiting his return for the Greengrass estate. In his absence the ex-Auror seemed to have taken the liberty with his liquor cabinet as he had already poured them two glasses of his rather expensive scotch.

His familiar Fawkes seemed to have noticed his bad mood right away, as he immediately left his perch and flew over to him. Seated on his shoulder the Phoenix trilled comfortingly while nudging the side of his head with his beak.

He couldn't help but smile at his familiar and gently let his hand wander through his feathers in appreciation.

"Greengrass said no then?" Moody asked and handed him a glass.

"I'm afraid so." Dumbledore answered with a defeated tone and took a sip.

"Told you."

The aged headmaster frowned and sighed "Yes, but I had to try. His insight into the goings of our economy would have been invaluable. Without his help we will be walking into this almost blindly."

"So you want to keep going anyway?" his friend asked.

"Yes, we shall proceed without him. It is not the ideal scenario but still the best we can do."

Moody nodded "Fine with me, but where?"

Albus smiled, suddenly remembering a conversation they had had about a decade ago.

"It has been some years, but didn't you once complain about a certain warehouse that you could never pin to any actual wrongdoing. Not even with several raids and overnight observations?"

Now Moody grinned as well "Oh, I do remember. Knockturn Alley?"

"Indeed, my friend. I do think the establishment could use some closer… inspection."