The Traveler's Secret

CHAPTER 10 A MEETING BETWEEN FRIENDS

Headmaster Dippet watched the door opposite of him with increasing unease, the snapping fire in the hearth behind him unable to thaw the feeling of dread through his body. The warmth and light from the flames spread throughout the Headmaster's room, illuminating the comfortable study with its orange and red fingers of light. Several plush armchairs faced his large desk, which stood near the fireplace. On the walls surrounding and behind the desk were moving portraits of the past Headmasters and Headmistresses. Most times they pretended to be asleep, but tonight they were wide awake, alert and ready to give their opinions.

Headmaster Dippet could feel a dark tidal wave of events bearing down on him, on his school. He knew that Hogwarts was one of the safest places to hide Sergei Krum and his secret, but it terrified the Headmaster to think that he could be bringing horrible danger to his students and staff.

A long moment of anxiety stretched out in front of him, a thin, twisting cord of fear. The rain at least had dissipated a bit, turning from the torrential to the benign. Finally a knock at the door indicated that his guests had arrived. With a wave of his wand, the Headmaster opened the door.

Professor Frederick came through the door first, his calm, albeit unreadable face, a reassurance for Dippet. His measured steps brought him into the room with a surety of man who has everything well in hand. He moved to stand next to the Headmaster, and watched as the rest filed in.

Professor Dumbledore strode in next, his tall lean body imposing for a young man. His hair and robes were soaked through, and thunderclouds of anger and a bit of fear broiled in his bright blue eyes. Albus rarely had a look like this on his face, and this worried Dippet.

Next the American, Johnny Wolfbane, loped through the doorway, a huge being with bulging muscles. His thick, black hair fell limply around his face. His eyes roved around the room, a wilderness in them. Professor Dippet noticed dark stains were splattered across Wolfbane's vest. He didn't want to know where those stains had come from.

Both Johnny and Dumbledore walked over to the hearth, warming up a bit, but their eyes had never left the doorway they had just come from, a wary intensity stiffening their limbs.

The third man to enter was a stouter man in his early thirties. Dark hair covered his face and melded into the dark fur coat he had wrapped tightly around his body. He looked about the room in curiosity. His black eyes looked to be relieved, as if he had finally found his safe haven. And maybe he was right, thought the Headmaster. This must be Sergei Krum.

But Headmaster Dippet had not expected to see a fourth man come through his door. The lean youth moved through the doorway like a wildcat, his lithe gait smooth, powerful and deadly silent. His eyes immediately took in every aspect of the room, looking for possible threats. Those eyes were filled with wonder, but when turned on the Headmaster, steel gleamed out of them. The white haired youth came, and stood semi close to the others, close enough to hear, but far enough to get out of the way of danger. He was a wary man. The young man watched the Headmaster, not once letting his eyes drop or even flinch. Professor Dippet felt the alarm and fear he had been feeling rise up three more notches. The newcomer looked like he was a Muggle, but Dippet couldn't fathom how a Muggle had come to be mixed up in the matter.

Headmaster Dippet looked at Dumbledore, and then back to his unexpected guest. Albus gave him a nod of reassurance, and the Headmaster's fear, that had been building since the young stranger had entered the room, subsided a bit. If Albus Dumbledore, his most gifted and respected teacher, trusted this young one, then Dippet could trust him as well.

The Headmaster gestured toward the chairs surrounding his desk, waving his wand, and creating a new chair out of thin air. The stranger in the old bomber jacket stared at the new creation in surprise and awe. He was definitely a Muggle. Everyone sat down, though the young man hesitated a moment, touching the armchair with his finger to be sure it was real. Sergei Krum stifled the tiniest of laughs. The young man scowled at Krum, and then plopped down into the armchair, which sat on the left of Dumbledore. The Headmaster noticed the odd interaction between the two men, but said nothing. With quick steps Professor Dippet swept around his desk, and sat down. The Headmaster turned to Dumbledore, waiting for an introduction of sorts and information. Dumbledore took his cue.

"Headmaster Dippet, I would like to introduce to you Mr. Sergei Krum, who sits next to Mr. Wolfbane," Dumbledore said as he gestured to his right.

Krum sat closest to the fire, in between Frederick and Wolfbane. Albus sat in the middle on the other side of the American, and the young stranger sat on the other side of Dumbledore, closest to the window and farthest from Sergei Krum. The Headmaster wondered if that was intentional. Though this thought was on the Headmaster's mind, Dippet had not once turned his attention away from Sergei Krum. He gave Krum a courteous nod of his head, which was returned.

"It's good to finally meet you Mr. Krum. I know you've come a long way, and we shall get you settled in soon, but first I have to hear from Dumbledore," Dippet politely stated. Sergei nodded in response.

The Headmaster then turned to Albus and Johnny, and said, "Dumbledore, Mr. Wolfbane you're late, and you bring a guest." The Headmaster wasn't quite as polite this time.

"This young man to my left is Mr. Jean Fulver, a Muggle French soldier who has gotten mixed up in our situation. There is a reason why we were late. We were ambushed at the Leaky Bucket by two Dementors, and later on the road coming here!" Dumbledore stated.

The Headmaster was thunderstruck by this statement, his aged eyes widening in terror. He opened his mouth to say something, and found his words to have disappeared. Dumbledore continued on.

"The situation is more dire than we had thought it originally was, some of which needs to be explained by Mr. Krum himself!"

All eyes turned to Sergei Krum, who seemed to sink more into his chair, a deep blush blooming over his rough features. It was Fulver's turn to grin.

"Mr. Krum, do you care to explain what Professor Dumbledore has said?" asked Dippet.

Jean Fulver felt the wicked laughter inside him bubbling up, and he hid it as much as he could behind his widening smile. He watched out the corner of his eyes as Sergei Krum began to squirm. When Sergei didn't answer, Headmaster Dippet turned back to Dumbledore and Johnny. Johnny, who had been sitting in a strange silence, was tense, his eyes thoughtful as if he were beginning to see what Dumbledore had seen already.

"First things first. Are you absolutely sure that the Dementors were after Mr. Krum, and do you have any idea where they came from?" Dippet asked.

"I'm not sure who sent the Dementors, but I would make an inquiry at the Ministry of Magic, if I were you, as to why Dementors were in London, and not at Azkaban as they should have been. As for if they were after Krum well..." Dumbledore started.

"One of the Dementors had followed Krum out of the Leaky Bucket into the alley. The other came after. They would have gotten Krum if Jean Fulver hadn't burst out of the alley, and distracted them," Johnny answered, finishing off Dumbledore's thought. "I wouldn't have been able to hold both Dementors off, get Krum out of there, and deal with the Frenchman at the same time. If Dumbledore hadn't come when he did, they would have gotten Sergei Krum. Which, by the way, how did you know to come back, Albus?" Johnny turned to Dumbledore.

"I'm skilled at the art of Legilimency. I peeked into Tom the bartender's mind to see if he noticed anything odd that night. All I kept seeing in his mind was Jean Fulver, and his strange actions. I knew that these things could not have been coincidence."

Now Headmaster Dippet turned his penetrating gaze to the young French soldier, whose turn it was to squirm. Jean Fulver had not expected to hear that Dumbledore could read minds, and he began to wonder how much Dumbledore really knew about him.

"Well young man, what have you to say for yourself? What were you doing at the Leaky Bucket, and how did you know to follow Sergei Krum?" Dippet asked.

He stared at Fulver as if he had already passed his judgment on him. It's only a matter of procedure now, thought Jean. He felt a sickening anger churn his stomach up. Fulver knew he was going to be blamed for what had happened at the Leaky Bucket and on the road to Hogwarts. Things seemed to be falling through Fulver's hands like water. It was bad enough that Jean no longer knew which side he was on now, or what situation he was in, but now he was to be blamed for things he had never even known existed. He decided it best not to answer, not sure what to say.

"It's obvious by his silence that he's a traitor, and sent those Dementors after Krum. He probably alerted his counterparts to wait on the road as well!" Professor Frederick replied.

The comment hung in the still air, stunning those in the room. That hot broiling anger that Jean had been feeling intensified in the pit of his stomach.

Frederick looked on the Frenchman as if he were a worm. Fulver felt his mind unravel slowly like wet string. Now he really didn't know what to say. Everything pointed against him except the fact that he didn't know any Dementors, and had never seen the people on the road until tonight.

"Hold on a moment. Mr. Fulver was in the carriage with us all night. There was no way he could have alerted anyone to where we were taking him," Albus Dumbledore stated. "He had no idea where it was we would take him once we got out of the alley. Only key people here knew that location. As for the Dementors, Mr. Fulver had nearly ran straight into them, and was being attacked by them as well. Why attack the man that is suppose to be on their side? No, I don't believe Fulver sent those Dementors to the Leaky Bucket. I believe that Mr. Fulver believes that he was after a Russian spy, but I also believe that he hasn't told us everything about his situation."

Jean Fulver was shocked again by Albus. Just when he thought he had come to understand his companions, they always surprised him. He couldn't help, but be grateful to the man with the half-moon spectacles, the only one who stood up for him. Johnny Wolfbane still seemed to be indecisive about whether or not Jean was a traitor. The Headmaster was along the same lines as Wolfbane. Professor Frederick seemed ready to send him to the guillotine, and Sergei hardly looked at him, only glancing up once and a while with looks of wild terror.

"Well, young man are you a spy for Grindelwald or not? What was it he promised to give you, immortal life, magic charms, treasures of sorts?" Dippet asked, his curt words falling like boulders on Fulver's ears. Fulver became flushed with anger.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I don't know of a Grindelwald, or any Dementors, or the people on the road. As for enemies, if it's the Germans you're referring too, you had better think again before you insult me like that. I am French, and I fight to protect my country, which if you haven't heard has been invaded by Germany. As for magical charms, I didn't even know magic existed until this evening!"

"Then how did you know Mr. Krum had anything with him? How did you know about the plans at all ?" Dippet asked. The temperature in the air seemed to have fallen a fair few degrees.

"He knows Sergei carries something? He has to be the traitor Headmaster!" stated Professor Frederick.

Jean Fulver didn't like being called a traitor, and especially didn't like Frederick's tone of voice. Rage mottled Jean's face.

"I'm no traitor. I'm just trying to get some justice, and make sure the plans don't fall into the hands of Germany!"

"Of course you don't want the plans to fall into the hands of Germany. You plan on giving the blueprints to Grindelwald!" A fierceness flew out of Frederick's mouth. Everyone was stunned to hear the usually mild mannered man so vociferous.

"Blueprints? No, I was following battle plans, ammunition reports. I don't know of any blueprints, and for the last time I don't know a Grindelwald!" Jean was angry, but his words stumbled in doubt and confusion.

Jean felt the walls contract in on him, as if he were a fox stuck in a trap, unable to get out, no matter how hard he tried.

"Enough! There's too much confusion in this room," Headmaster Dippet said, his booming voice bringing the room to a dead silence. He turned to Jean, his aged face stilled by calm and patience, but it also had a hardness of determination in his features.

"Mr. Fulver, how did you know that Sergei Krum carried anything at all, and what justice were you seeking?"

Jean didn't know what to do. He really didn't know what was going on. What was once anger and stubbornness, was now a marsh of doubt. He began to consider the possibility that he had the wrong information. Jean decided to tell the truth, a portion of it at least.

"My friend and I had been tracking Sergei for awhile. My friend had gotten information from a secret source I'd never met, that Mr. Krum was carrying sensitive information, and was going to sell it to Germany. I followed Sergei when he boarded a train in Moscow. I almost lost him when he boarded a ship in the Mediterranean. I finally followed him all the way to England, the last place I thought he would come."

"And where is your friend now? Did he follow Sergei as well?" Dippet asked.

"My friend is dead. He died in Russia, when he tried to retrieve the plans from Mr. Krum's family manor. Little did we know at the time that Sergei Krum had already left, and gone to Moscow. I went on alone. I have no idea what happened at the Leaky Bucket, or on the road, or who sent those people." Jean ended his words flawlessly, never once showing his confusion, and never allowing the sudden horrid lump of sadness, that had appeared in his throat, to take over.

He kept his steadfast eyes on the Headmaster, allowing the man to read him, and see that he told no lies, maybe half truths, but no lies. Headmaster Dippet leaned back in his chair for a moment, and contemplated the young Frenchman and his words. Everyone waited with an abated breathe for the outcome.

Dumbledore finally understood why Jean was so angry with Krum all the time. He also knew there was more to the story than that, but he let Fulver keep those facts to himself. They weren't important for now. It was highly improbable that, out of all the people living in Russia, that a Muggle source of information would point to Sergei Krum as a spy. No, someone else had fed Fulver, and his friend the information about Sergei, someone of the magical community. Dumbledore had guessed this before, but now began to consider that maybe Jean had truly never met his friend's contact, and really didn't know what was going on.

"I believe you for now. There is something going on here that is not fully explained. Dumbledore has vouched for you. Don't prove him wrong," Dippet said, and then he turned to Dumbledore. "Albus, you said there was something more, something that Mr. Krum has to explain for himself?"

Dumbledore nodded, and once again the conversation had moved back to Sergei Krum, who had been sitting silently, hoping not to be noticed. Krum begged Dumbledore with his wide, terror riddled eyes not to have to speak. Dumbledore sighed, and decided it was best to at least start the conversation, even if Sergei was forced to end it.

"As I said before, we were ambushed on the road by two people, a man named Boris and a woman named Marabella. When they were attacking us, Marabella tried to use a Binding spell on Sergei, in an attempt to steal the plans from him. When it didn't work, she was going to try again, until Mr. Fulver shot her," Dumbledore said.

Headmaster Dippet jerked in his seat, and looked once more on the French soldier. He didn't think he could find himself more surprised, but found he was wrong. He wasn't the only one to be shocked by the information.

"Wait, Jean Fulver protected Krum?" Frederick asked incredulously.

"Yes, he saved my life," said Sergei Krum, the last person anyone expected to answer.

Jean Fulver's eyes almost burst out of his head. He couldn't believe that his enemy was now standing up for him. The world had flipped over completely. Jean's head was dizzy with it.

"Now I really don't know what's going on, but please continue Albus. What happened to the other man?" stated a very confused Headmaster.

"I took care of him," Johnny replied. His words were like slabs of concrete dropped on everyone from on high. Headmaster Dippet finally understood the stains on Wolfbane's vest, and felt a nauseous feeling bubbling up inside him.

"Headmaster, the problem has become more complex than we originally thought," stated Dumbledore, bringing everyone's attention back to the situation they were in.

"This woman on the road, this Marabella was Sergei Krum's cousin. Not only is she blood, but she has magic in her. According to the information that Mr. Krum had given me himself, the plans can not be destroyed, and they can not be far from Mr. Krum or a member of his family. If the plans were ever far from Krum or a family member, they would explode, and take out everything within a thousand feet of them. This also suggests that Marabella, a magical and blood relation to Sergei Krum, should have been able to bind and take the plans from Sergei, who said himself he has no magical powers. The plans should have transferred over to her. It should have worked, and it didn't. This is what I've put together, but now Mr. Krum has to explain the rest."

This new information struck everyone hard in the stomach. The Headmaster realized that something much bigger was going on, and that Sergei Krum could be in more danger than they originally thought, and thus could attract more danger. Dumbledore was right. If those were the rules that govern that type of magic, Marabella should have been able to bind the blueprints to her, and take them from Sergei. It was obvious that she thought that would have worked, or else she wouldn't have wasted her time. Things were more complicated. Everyone's eyes now rested on Krum, whose face was now a bright red, but at least he was looking up, no longer trying to hide in his seat. Sergei Krum knew his time had come for him to tell his side of the story.

"You're right Dumbledore. I don't have magical powers, and Marabella should have been able to bind the blueprints to her. The ancient family spell that protected the plans would have worked against me, and given the plans over to any family member who bound the blueprints to them. My Uncle foresaw this problem, seeing as I wouldn't have been able to protect myself against magic. He worked for months on tinkering with the family spell, and secretly altered it. The plans are no longer tied to just the family, but are only tied to me, to my life."

Suddenly, Sergei Krum stood up, and opened his large fur coat, which he had had wrapped so tightly around him all night. Expecting to see a bundle of documents of some sort or a package, everyone was surprised when all they saw was an ordinary loose white shirt and black slack pants. A rough, opaque scar rippled over Krum's pale collar bone, and sliced down his chest, disappearing under his shirt.

"Where are the blueprints?" asked the Headmaster.

Sergei closed his eyes, and the scar on his collarbone began to pulsate with a white light. Soon glimmers of a parchment with scrawls of writing and complex diagrams began to shimmer in the air in front of Krum. There was a sudden gasp of understanding as Krum opened his eyes, and the blueprints disappeared.

"Now you understand. The blueprints are inside of me, in my mind, in my soul. They're a part of me. If I'm killed, the plans will still explode, but would also destroy themselves in the process."

Everyone was stunned in silence as they tried to digest the new information. Everyone except Fulver, who was now looking on Sergei with a mixture of begrudging respect and incredulous disbelief. He had been awestruck by the news that the plans he had been following all along were not pieces of papers or a package, but a man. He began to really wonder why Marius had been told of these plans to begin with, and suspected his source was the real reason Marius was dead. Fulver found a bud of respect growing inside him for Krum, and was horrified by the sentiment. He had been determined to hate Sergei, but he had to admit that it must have taken a lot of courage to not only put much coveted blueprints inside his own body, but a ticking bomb as well. It at least explained the man's anxiety.

"What exactly are these plans anyway? Why are they so important?" Fulver asked intrepidly.

The silence had been broken.

Everyone looked upon the Frenchman as if he was either someone not to be trusted, or had said something incredibly stupid. He didn't really care what the others thought of him. Battle strategies and troop movements were bad enough for Jean to allow the enemy to get, but blueprints for something that caused an uproar in the magical community was much, much worse.

"What? I can't know what it was you were calling me a traitor for? Did I not pass your test, or are you still going to treat me like a pariah?" Fulver snapped, that old anger rising up again.

Dumbledore's keen eyes twinkled. He really didn't think Fulver was working with the enemy, but he really didn't know how much he could tell him. It would be best if the plans remained a secret, and Dumbledore only had a vague idea what the weapon Sergei carried blueprints for could do from his contact, Sergei's Uncle. It was Sergei's Uncle, the one who was now in hiding somewhere in Bulgaria, who wrote to Dumbledore, and told Albus to meet Sergei at the Leaky Bucket. It was Sergei's Uncle who told Albus the secret password that would identify him to Krum. And it was Krum's Uncle, who had done a very brave and dangerous thing by altering the Krum family spell. Sergei's Uncle couldn't write much to Dumbledore about what it was Krum carried, but Dumbledore had guessed it must be a horrible weapon of some sort for this amount of action to be taken. Since Jean Fulver was honest to an extent, so could Dumbledore be. To an extent.

"As far as I know, the blueprints are of a weapon that could cause a massive and devastating attack if used on the magical community. It could wipe out all non magic people born to a magical family like Sergei, and all Muggle-born witches and wizards in one blow within the weapons impact radius. I don't know how big of a radius this weapon could reach, but knowing Grindelwald, it'll be large," Dumbledore stated.

It sounded to Jean as if these blueprints were similar to the horrific weapon rumored to being created by Germany or America , and was going to be used in much the same manner. The horror of this shook Fulver's body. He knew of the hatred there was out there right now, insane ideologies of pure blood and racial cleansing. It depressed him to think that even in the world of magic, that that stain of hatred had come through.

Jean began to say something, but found he couldn't. He looked again at Sergei, and found he felt sympathy for the man. Krum had agreed to carry within his own body the very blueprints for a weapon that could be used against him, could kill him. Even now, it was more than likely those plans would still kill Krum. There was so much new information for Jean to process that he found his head felt weighed down by it. He no longer wanted to care, because if he didn't care about what was happening in the world, it wouldn't hurt as much.

"It's late and we have a lot to do in the coming days. Professor Frederick please show Mr. Krum, Mr. Fulver and Mr. Wolfbane to their new rooms. I'm sure there is an extra room we can make up for Mr. Fulver," stated the Headmaster.

Professor Frederick got up smoothly, his once angered face, now a passive, unreadable mask. He motioned to Johnny, Sergei and Jean, who got up wearily from their chairs, and followed him out the room. Jean still looked at Frederick with distrust and anger. Albus Dumbledore stood up, and walked over to the now standing Headmaster, watching as the others left the room. As soon as they were gone, Headmaster Dippet turned to Dumbledore.

"Are you sure we can trust this Jean Fulver? It's odd that a Muggle should come to know that Sergei Krum has anything at all!" Dippet said.

"There were plenty of times when Mr. Fulver could have killed Sergei, which for our sakes, considering the new information, is a blessing in disguise. I generally believe he had no idea about the Dementors in the alley. I trust the young man. He did save Sergei Krum's life, and the plans. That will have to do for now. I agree with you that he hasn't told us everything yet, but we have a bigger problem."

"Bigger than all the other problems that seemed to have followed Sergei Krum from Russia?"

"Maybe not as big, but big enough to really worry me," Dumbledore whispered. "Someone did alert Grindelwald's people which road to Hogwarts we would be on, which is not one of the more traveled roads to the school. That should have been a secret. I believe we have a traitor amongst us, someone very close who knew that we would be using that particular road!"

"Find the traitor Albus, but be discreet. We don't want accusations and panic spreading throughout the castle, especially not in these dark and tense times. If you have to work with anyone, trust only those you would trust with your life." Fringes of panic already had seeped into the Headmaster's words.

Dumbledore gave the Headmaster a stern nod of his head, his eyes ablaze with determination. Anyone who had ever seen this look on Albus Dumbledore's face knew he meant business. He was going to find the traitor before any more damage could be done.

Dumbledore left the Headmaster's room, and headed to his own room. A heaviness had settled on his shoulders, a despairing weight that could drain him of all hope. He had a lot to do, and so very little time to do it in.