Martin Miggs and the School of Wizardry

Headmaster Dumbledore

After Dierdre had left, Penrose took Martin back to the Ministry. The front lobby was very impressive affair, with animated writing on the ceilings, a fountain which featured golden statues, and paired rows of fireplaces in which people were appearing or disappearing in bursts of green flame every few moments. Martin wondered if he had come through this area on those now-forgotten occasions he had broken in, but his thoughts were interrupted by several loud gasps. He turned to the sound and saw that his entrance had not gone unnoticed; at least a half dozen people were watching him warily, and a few had their wands drawn.

"No cause for alarm," Penrose said to them, his hands up. "He's with me." He waited long enough for the people who had noticed Martin to return to what they were doing, and then motioned for Martin to follow him. Together they got in queue for one of the fireplaces. When it was their turn, Penrose had Martin stand on the unlit grate.

"Now this may startle you a bit, but please keep still," Penrose said. "I am about to send you to a pub in Scotland. You will see glimpses of many other places, but you must keep still. Our destination will not pass by quickly, and you'll feel like you've just landed on your feet. When that happens, step out quickly so that I can follow you." He raised his voice a bit, said "The Three Broomsticks," and threw a handful of powder at Martin's feet.

He was immediately engulfed in green flames, which faded as a spinning sensation overtook him. He caught only the most fleeting glimpse of dozens of places--some of which seemed to be people's homes--before one final scene stayed put, and Martin found himself standing in another fireplace in an old but well-kept and quite large pub. He got out of the way, as Penrose had told him, and after a moment Penrose appeared in a burst of green flame.

There were a few customers in the pub; they turned to look at Martin and Penrose as the latter stepped out of the fireplace, but then they turned their attention back their conversations. The landlady called from behind the bar. "What can I do for you gentlemen?" she asked.

"We're here to see Dumbledore," Penrose replied.

"He's waiting in the parlor," she replied. She led them to a set of doors off towards their right, and knocked lightly. "Headmaster? Your visitors are here."

The door opened, revealing a small room, furnished with a table and a few chairs, two of which were occupied. One of the occupants, an old man dressed in an elaborate robe, white with pruple trim, rose as they entered. "Good day, Phoebus," he said, bowing them towards two of the chairs. "Come in, come in."

"Martin, this is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts," Penrose said as they entered. "Headmaster, meet Martin Miggs."

Martin shook Dumbledore's hand, and Dumbledore introduced him to the other person in the parlor, a woman named Charity Burbage. As she slowly rose to greet him, he noted that she was not only pregnant, but not far from term. "Professor Burbage teaches Muggle Studies at Hogwarts," Dumbledore explained, "but as you can see, she will soon need to take a leave of absence, so I have begun looking for a suitable replacement. Please, make yourselves comfortable." Together the four sat down. "Ah, thank you, Rosmerta," he said, as the landlady appeared with a tea service. "Would any of you like a spot of tea?"

"Yes, thank you," Penrose replied, and Burbage and Martin nodded. Rosmerta poured tea for all of them, and then stepped out, closing the door behind her.

Dumbledore began. "You have made a bit of a name for yourself, Mr. Miggs. You've been a bit of trouble for the Ministry, at least."

"I lost my family to those," he began, then turning to Penrose, asked, "what did you call them?"

"Death Eaters," Penrose replied. He was looking into his teacup.

"And the customary precautions were not effective?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, not entirely. Simply blanking out his memory of the period didn't work. He kept finding all of the loose ends in his life."

"This happens more often than the Ministry likes to admit," Burbage said.

"As you said, Headmaster," Penrose continued, "it has led to trouble for us at the Ministry. He broke into the Ministry again yesterday morning."

"That makes it three times, if my memory serves me correctly," Dumbledore said.

Penrose nodded. "There was a bit of a scuffle--Arthur Weasley got a dislocated shoulder out of it--but no real harm done. Umbridge," he said, rolling his eyes a bit, "hit him with a Memory Charm, and nobody saw him enter, so now we'll probably never figure out how he did it. I was in favor of another strategy after his second break-in, and now that the same policy has failed three times, we need to try something else. His nephew is one of your students, so there's no real harm in letting him know about our society."

"I am given to wonder if our mantle of secrecy is worth the tremendous effort we expend on it," Dumbledore said.

"If I didn't know better, I'd swear he had some wizarding ability," Penrose continued. "He'd make a decent Auror. But he needs a way to keep himself occupied. Where someone can keep his mind on other things."

"That someone being myself."

"Well, Headmaster, he is a fully qualified teacher, he knows Muggles perfectly well, of course, and, as you say, you have need for a Muggle Studies teacher. So we can kill two dragons with one hex."

Dumbledore nodded. "What was Minister Fudge's opinion?"

Penrose looked sheepish. "The Minister is not yet aware of my plan. I thought he would be more amenable to the idea if you were already in favor of it."

Dumbledore briefly rolled his eyes, in good humor, then turned and regarded Martin for a minute. "I suppose I should tell you about the school."

Martin nodded. "I should like very much to hear about it."

"Hogwarts is the school where young wizards and witches go to learn how to control and use their inborn abilities," he began. "Twelve subjects are taught at the school. Muggle Studies, which is the position for which I am considering you, concerns the ways and affairs of Muggles, specifically British Muggles. This may not have occurred to you, but it is often the case that wizards who do not come from a Muggle background have very little first-hand knowledge of the Muggle world. The purpose of Muggle Studies is to remedy that ignorance in those students who wish, for whatever reason, to know more about Muggles. The Muggle Studies teacher also acts as liaison between the school and the parents of the Muggle-born students, and provides remedial academic instruction in reading and writing."

Martin made the faintest shrug. "Makes sense."

"I owe it to you to inform you that I have already taken the liberty of looking into your work record, and I have found that it was exemplary until the events that took your family away from you. I am satisfied that you are fully capable of performing at the level that I expect of my staff."

"Thank you very much."

The headmaster nodded. "Which leaves one final question," the old man said. "Mr. Miggs, can you find it in yourself to trust us and accept the position?"

Martin sat back slightly and gave the proposal some serious thought. The only real fly in the ointment, as Martin saw it, was that by accepting the position he would be throwing in, to however a slight degree, with people who had fiddled with his memory for reasons that in truth had nothing to do with his own welfare; still further, among these people lurked the ones who had murdered his family. On the other hand, he guessed that if he refused the job these same people would make him forget it again, and leave him the task of once again piecing his life back together, and he would never learn what had happened to Claire and Elizabeth.

Furthermore, and in spite of the reservations he knew he should have had, he found himself genuinely liking Dumbledore; he could not shake the notion that such a deeply-seated sense of manners could be found only in a man he could trust.

"Yes," he said.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said. "I should like you to start on Monday morning."