The Traveler's Secret

CHAPTER 14 THE HARMLESS HALF-WIT WIZARD

Homer Borden lounged luxuriously behind his desk, a bowl of strawberries balanced neatly on his slightly rounded stomach. He plucked up one of the succulent fruits, and slowly took a bite out of it. The sweet, warm juice squirted into his mouth, and he knew he couldn't be having a better day. By tomorrow all the students would be leaving to go home for the summer, and soon Mr. Borden would find some real peace. Due to the excellent weather, most students had not stayed indoors, and thus were not making disastrous messes for Borden to clean up. This suited him quite nicely, since he planned on spending the rest of the day relaxing and eating his strawberries. Mr. Borden had only the smallest of pleasures to make him happy.

The drowsy warm summer sun filtered down into his small cramped office, and the flower scented breeze numbed his mind. His lids began to grow heavy, and his large head lolled on his porky shoulders. Mr. Borden was on his way into a nice nap, when a loud pounding at his door jousted out of his easy frame of mind.

At first, he thought it no more than Peeves the Poltergeist creating mayhem as usual, which he promptly was going to ignore today. All the same Mr. Borden waited for the noise to repeat itself, before he let his eye lids sag in drowsiness. That was when the noise or pounding broke through to the caretaker, and Mr. Borden soon realized that someone was knocking at his door. The knock was anxious and slightly irritated. The caretaker wasn't quite sure he wanted to know who was on the other side of his door, but then a voice spoke with the next knock.

"Mr. Borden, it's me, Professor Frederick. I have someone here who would like to see you!"

Borden quickly put his bowl of strawberries down, and leapt up from his chair. He would have known that voice anywhere, without having to be told a name. He scanned over his office quickly, making sure it was presentable enough for a Professor, and walked over to his door. Borden swung the door open, a huge smile on his face ready to welcome Frederick, but Frederick wasn't the first person the caretaker saw. Borden recognized the French Muggle right away from his strange white hair, and harsh blue eyes. He couldn't quite remember the French soldier's name. James, Javier, Jesse. All the French names, and a few that were not ran through his mind, but nothing seemed to hold. As he tried to remember the Muggle's name, he watched, in horror, as the French soldier shouldered Professor Frederick out of the way of the door, and strode into the room.

"Thanks Professor. I have it from here," the Muggle stated, as he shut the door in Frederick's face.

Borden was stunned by the rude behavior, and angry that Professor Frederick should be treated with anything less than respect. A growl of anger and discontentment could be heard on the other side of the door, but Frederick didn't press the matter. Soon Borden heard the Professor's recognizable stride move away from his office. Borden hadn't realized he had been focusing so acutely on the door until he turned around, and faced the stare of cold blue eyes.

Professor Frederick had gone, leaving the caretaker in the room with a dangerous Muggle. Mr. Borden took a step back, his heart thudding rapidly in his chest. He suddenly remembered the Muggle's name. Jean Fulver stared at the caretaker with such intensity that Borden wanted to be anywhere, but in a tiny room with this French soldier. This surprised the caretaker. He was a wizard after all, but Borden had a suspicion that if he ever got into a conflict with this Jean Fulver, he would not walk away unscathed.

Jean Fulver, on the other hand, watched the caretaker carefully, analyzing the man. The Muggle wasn't sure how much of a threat Borden was. By the way Borden crept away from the Muggle, Fulver figured none at all. The silence was ominous in the room. Borden started to fidget, unnerved by Fulver's cool demeanor. This seemed to go on for a lifetime, but the tense silence only lasted a few minutes.

The tension broke when Jean Fulver smiled. He wasn't use to having to smile, so he was sure it was more frightening, then inviting. He did his best to seem happy to see Borden again, though he was far from it. Mr. Borden was stunned by the smile, but did relax a bit. The change in atmosphere lightened, and, though it didn't dispel all of Borden's anger, it did make the caretaker curious as to why Fulver was there.

"Hello Mr. Borden. I hope you remember me," Jean Fulver stated.

Borden nodded his head, the words he wanted to say lodged in the back of his throat. Jean Fulver waited for a reply, but when he saw that none was to come, he continued on.

"I hear that you're the person who knows everything that happens around here. I heard from Professor Frederick that you were a very important asset to this school!" Fulver said smoothly.

Professor Frederick had said no such thing. Jean Fulver hated lying to Borden, but if a lie got him the information he needed, then he would lie. Fulver watched as a light of pride began to trickle into Borden's face. The caretaker relaxed even more; any anger or reticence Borden may have had earlier was gone.

"I'm flattered that Professor Frederick thinks so. I take care of all the practical issues that the staff and Headmaster are too busy to handle themselves. I supervise the house elves in their cleaning, clean up any messes the students make during the day, punish any rule breakers, deliver any mail that an owl can't..." Mr. Borden's speech petered away as Jean Fulver raised his hand to stop him. A flash of fear seeped into the caretaker's face again. Borden couldn't help, but notice that the French soldier looked at him like an eagle would watch its prey. The look on Jean Fulver's face did not, on the other hand, match the jovial voice that came from his mouth.

"Yes I hear that you handle all practical matters very well, especially when it comes to the mail. I have a request from Dumbledore," Jean stated. "Recently I received a letter that was delivered to my room. The author may be of some importance to Dumbledore..."

"Do you mean it's important to the secret work that Dumbledore is working on with Sergei Krum?" Mr. Borden blurted out.

Jean Fulver was stunned to hear this from the caretaker. He wondered how Mr. Borden knew about this "secret work". Fulver was quite sure that Dumbledore would not be happy to hear that this half-wit knew that he was working on something top secret with Sergei Krum. Borden must have guessed that he had said too much, because the man's face was pale with dread.

Fulver glared at Borden, and the caretaker backed away from the French soldier. Fulver didn't want to deny or confirm anything about Sergei Krum, so he remained silent. Jean didn't know why he was protecting Krum, but the idea that Borden knew such crucial information sat uneasily in Fulver's stomach. It wouldn't be good if this brainless oaf let the information slip that Krum was at Hogwarts, and that Dumbledore was helping him. Fulver was still trying to figure out how Mr. Borden knew.

"I swear that no one knows about Krum's situation, but Frederick. I, of course, knew that someone important was coming to Hogwarts because I was the one Frederick asked to get the horses and carriage ready for Dumbledore and the American. I won't tell a soul about Kr... about the newcomer!"

Jean Fulver wasn't fully convinced by this. He made a mental note to tell Dumbledore of this new development, but he wasn't here to put Borden on the spot for information the caretaker shouldn't know. He was here for a mysterious letter sent to his room by someone who should be dead.

"Mr. Borden the letter," Fulver calmly prodded.

The caretaker seemed to snap out of his fear, and back to the situation in front of him.

"Ah, yes the letter!" he replied.

Jean Fulver waited for more of an answer, but when he saw that he wasn't going to get anything, he decided to prod some more.

"Do you know which letter I'm talking about?" Jean Fulver asked.

"Yes, the letter that was sent to your room yesterday!"

"Okay. Who sent the letter? Who delivered it? Do you remember?" Fulver could hear his anxiousness seeping into his words. He decided it best not show that much anxiety or interest over the matter again.

"Well, I don't know who sent the letter. It came by owl to the main entrance. I thought the owl was lost, so I took the letter, and sent the confused creature on its way. I put the letter in my office because I had to go deal with Peeves..." Borden stopped and looked over at Fulver anxiously. Jean could tell that none of this was normal. He had remembered from the tour that mail usually came by owl, but that the owls usually went to the owlery or to the Great Hall, but never to the front door.

"When I came back to my office, the letter was gone," Borden continued, though with more unease. "I decided to go to your room, and see if you had gotten it, but when I got there..." Borden paused again, though this time he was puzzled.

"When you got there what?" Jean said, harsher than he intended. Fulver could feel his blood racing through his veins. He was so close to an answer in this mystery. Borden could tell how important his answer would be, even if he didn't know the full details.

"Well I didn't see the letter, but I did see someone at your door. I thought it odd that a student should be in the staff corridor. I figured the boy needed some help or something. I said 'Riddle, what are you doing here?' Tom looked at me, then looked back at your door and said, 'Nothing. I just wanted to see if anyone was here.' I told him you weren't, and shooed him away from your door," Borden answered.

"Tom Riddle was at my door? Is it normal that students come to the staff corridor?" Jean Fulver asked. It unnerved him that that particular person had been to his room. He couldn't quite understand why a fourteen year old boy's actions would bother him so much.

"Sometimes students who need help go to the Teacher's corridor for guidance. Headmaster Dippet plans on sealing off the entrance to the staff corridor from students. Too many students are bothering teachers in their leisure time about grades, but Tom has never been down that corridor. I didn't even know he knew where it was. I must say that that boy is odd, brilliant, but a little odd."

Jean Fulver wouldn't argue with that. He could tell that he had gotten all the information he was going to get from Borden. Disappointed that he hadn't solved the mystery, and disturbed that Tom Riddle had been to his room, Fulver had a lot to grapple with in his mind.

He didn't bother telling the caretaker to be silent about the letter information. Borden would let the secret slip sooner or later. Besides, Jean Fulver planned on telling Dumbledore about the letter himself. Maybe Dumbledore would have some sort of answer. Maybe he wouldn't. What mattered though was that the letter's author was impersonating Marius. How much did he or she know? Something at the back of Fulver's mind nagged at him. He could have sworn that the handwriting on the letter was Marius' handwriting.

"Thank you for the information," Jean said. Fulver turned around, and strode out of Borden's office. As the door was shutting, he saw that the caretaker had already seated himself behind his desk, and propped up his feet. A bowl of strawberries was placed precariously on top of his rounded stomach, and threatened to fall off each time Borden dipped his plump hand inside the bowl.