Geneticus

CHAPTER SEVEN: PUMPKIN PATCH CONFESSIONS

The crowd was silent, not sure whether what they saw had really happened. After a few moments, though, reality set in and the murmurs began.

Mulder turned to Molly. "That wasn't planned, was it?"

Molly shook her head. "Goodness, no! I have no idea why the cup was a Portkey..."

Quickly, Mulder spun around in his seat to face Hermione and Ron. "Portkey?"

Hermione defined it without looking at him: "An object magically charmed to transport someone to a predetermined location when touched."

"Where might they have wanted the winner to go?"

Ron frowned. "It wasn't meant for any winner, it was meant for Harry. Someone's been out to hurt him this whole year!"

Quickly, both students explained how Harry's name had come out of the Goblet of Fire, the magical device used to choose the champions. Harry hadn't entered his own name, as he was underage and unable to participate. The fact that this magical judge had been confused and chose four champions instead of the expected three suggested some very powerful magic at work.

Suddenly the amplified voice of Professor Dumbledore filled the stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may please have your attention?" The crowd hushed. "What has just occurred is, admittedly, unexpected, but you can be sure that everything that can be done *is* being done to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion.

"Now, if the families of the champions would please join me, we can begin to sort through this."

The crowd's mutterings swelled again, and around Mulder the Weasleys and Diggorys and Hermione rose. Mulder hesitated, but followed when Hermione tugged on his sleeve.

They found Dumbledore speaking softly to the Krums and Delacours, who all wore anxious faces.

"They'll both be fine after a bit, no harm done. I do want to apologize for the direction this task took -- there was certainly no intent to harm either Fleur or Viktor. If you'll follow Poppy, she'll take you to the hospital wing." The two families trailed after a woman who looked like a nurse up to the castle.

Dumbledore now turned to the second group, and his gaze paused on Mulder. "Ah, Fox. Would you do me a favor?" Mulder nodded. "Please head up to Hagrid's hut; you'll find a large, black dog waiting in the pumpkin patch. His name is Snuffles. I need you to watch over him."

Mulder frowned, very confused by these instructions, but when he saw both Ron and Hermione nodding eagerly, he realized there was more to the favor than was readily obvious.

He headed up to the gamekeeper's cabin, his robes flowing behind him as the wind picked up near the lake.

Indeed there was a large dog sitting in the pumpkin patch behind Hagrid's hut, the same dog Mulder often saw around Hogsmeade.

"Well, hello again," said Mulder, though he wasn't sure why he felt so compelled to speak to the animal. "So your name is Snuffles, eh?"

Without warning, the dog transformed into a man, much to Mulder's surprise. The man was tall and thin, with a gaunt face and tattered robes. His hair was black and greasy, and Mulder felt sure the man hadn't bathed in a week or two.

"Who are you?" the man asked, suspicion clouding his eyes.

"My name's Fox Mulder, I'm..."

The man cut him off. "A Muggle from America. Yes, Harry's told me about you. Did Dumbledore send you out here? Is Harry all right? Who won?"

Mulder held up a hand. "Just a sec. Who are you to Harry? And just how the hell did you turn into a dog?"

"Would 'it's magic' do for now?" Mulder sighed and nodded. "I'm Harry's godfather, and I go around as a dog because I'm a fugitive. Now, what's going on?"

Mulder quickly explained about the trophy being a Portkey, how Harry and Cedric had disappeared. The man cursed and paced, worry darkening his face. After a few moments the man turned back to Mulder.

"My name is Sirius, by the way. Sirius Black." With a quick smile, he held out his hand, and Mulder grasped it.

"Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to come and worry you like this."

"No, no, I'm glad Dumbledore sent you. I just wish there was something I could do to help Harry. It's frustrating..." Mulder nodded his head, understanding the pain Sirius was feeling.

"Do you have children, Mr. Mulder?"

"It's just Mulder, and...uh, yeah, a new son. He's about a month old now." Thinking of William brought a fresh ache to Mulder's heart.

"Then, if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing here? Why aren't you home with your boy?"

Mulder sighed. "I'm trying to protect him. He's in danger at home in the Muggle world, and Dumbledore has offered some protection for him. Apparently William's a wizard."

Sirius cocked his head to the side. "And both you and your wife are Muggles? No wizards in your families?"

"No, not at all. I mean, I guess there could be someone on Scully's side, but no one I know of...but there doesn't have to be, does there? I mean, the way Dumbledore explained the whole thing it sounded like sometimes wizard children just popped up in the middle of completely Muggle families..."

"It's possible," Sirius assured him. "But it's rather rare that there's absolutely no trace of wizardry at all. I'd put serious money on the idea that either you or your wife had a wizard ancestor a couple of generations back. It's possible they were never trained, but the talent was most likely there."

Mulder sighed, turned to stare off into the forest. "I just want to know for sure that my son is healthy, normal, and safe. If that means he's a wizard, then I'm fine with that."

The men went quiet after that, and the soothing sounds of the early summer evening washed over the pumpkin patch. Mulder watched the giant squid sun itself in the shallows of the lake, and he found himself wondering what other mysterious creatures the cool water hid from view.

A thought occurred to him, and he turned back towards Sirius. "What happened to cause you to be falsely imprisoned?"

Sirius smirked. "What makes you think I was imprisoned falsely?"

"Dumbledore knows you're here, and he keeps your secret. If you were truly guilty he'd get your ass back in jail. What do they say you did?" The interrogator crossed his arms, a natural motion from years of practice.

With a nod to Mulder's logic, Sirius explained, "They say I killed a man in 1987. Only he's not dead; he faked it all. Took out twelve Muggles to help seal my fate. I escaped nearly two years ago, when I discovered he'd been close to Harry. Just like I can turn into a dog, this man can become a rat. Quite appropriate, really -- he betrayed me, he betrayed my friends, Harry's parents, and cost them their lives. Almost had him to turn in last year, but he got away." Sirius's eyes shone with anger. "I'm afraid he's got something to do with what's happened to Harry right now," he confessed. "And if he does, nothing will stop me from finally killing him this time!"

For a moment Mulder didn't say anything, but then quipped, "You're lucky I'm not in law enforcement anymore, Mr. Black. Those sentiments probably would be best kept to yourself."

Sirius let out a huff of tired laughter. "That would be my luck, wouldn't it? No, I will try to restrain myself, but only because I need him alive to prove that I'm innocent...if the Ministry will even--" He broke off, put a finger to his lips. "Something's happening down there. I'm not sure what, but there's a large commotion at the Quidditch pitch."

Before Mulder could ask any questions, Sirius had transformed back into a dog and began to prowl around the pumpkins, his large ears perked towards the subtle noise of the crowd at the maze.

They waited in silence for almost a half hour, when finally someone approached the hut. Mulder recognized the witch as Minerva McGonagall, one of Harry's professors and the Assistant Headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Professor, is everything all right?" he asked, eager to know what was going on.

"Oh, hello Mr. Mulder," she said, distracted by Sirius, who'd padded through the dirt to Mulder's side. "I'm afraid things are quite serious. Professor Dumbledore has asked me to come bring this dog to his office." The dog rose and stepped towards her.

"How serious?" Mulder asked, a feeling of panic coming over him. "Is Harry all right? What about Cedric?"

McGonagall pressed a hand to her lips for a moment, then finally said, "Cedric Diggory is dead. Harry is alive, but rather shaken. Now, if you please, I must get back to the castle." She nodded curtly and turned around, walking away from Mulder, Sirius the dog trailing after her, his tail between his legs.

Mulder leaned against the side of the hut, his hands jammed into the pockets of the robe. How the hell could things go so wrong? It was an event that was under control, being monitored by more people than he could count, for the brightest and most talented students in the wizarding world, and one of them ended up dead. He sighed and ground his foot into some of the dirt and debris that the wind had pushed up against the hut.

As far as he could tell, no one knew how Cedric had died. For all intents and purposes he was a normal seventeen-year-old boy. Why would anyone want to kill him? Random act of violence? An accident? He doubted it. There was something rotten about it that sent his investigative senses tingling.

He sighed, a sharp exhalation of breath, and kicked at the dirt again, sending a few decrepit leaves spiraling into the air. If something like this could happen in the wizarding world, what made it any safer than Washington D.C.? Yes, he knew that there were dangers in life in general, but this went far beyond the perils of slipping in the bathtub. And if the dangers were greater than back home, was it really all that wise to bring William into this? There was another sigh, and his head thumped against the wall.

No father wished to send his child into danger. He had to find the safest place for William, and he didn't know if that place existed. This lack of knowledge made his gut twist. What if something like this happened to William while he was in school? It could be so easy to harm him, just one subtle spell, and that was it, it's over.

Not while he was alive.

The responsibility of a father is to protect his child. His own father hadn't done that great a job of it, and Mulder promised himself he wouldn't be like that. He would find the safest place for William and Scully, and so help anyone who tried to hurt them --

His angry thoughts were cut off by a burst of wind, sending some of the dirt and debris he'd been knocking about before straight into his face. Mulder choked and sputtered, spitting dirt out of his mouth and rubbing his eyes to get them clean. A few swipes of his hand through his hair removed any leaves that were clinging to the edges. The quick clean up had calmed him down, enough so he could think rationally again without wanting to vow murder on anyone who harmed William and Scully.

And for all his thoughts, he still wasn't sure if this world was the place that William was really supposed to be.

Turning back towards the castle, he saw the large, dark shape of a dog bounding his way. Mulder moved around to the backside of the hut to give Sirius some extra cover if he wanted to regain his human appearance, which he did immediately.

"I'm leaving, Mr. Mulder, I have to go gather some friends. But I wanted to tell you, quickly, what's going on. It's only fair that you know the whole truth of what you may be getting your son into if you decide to bring him into our world." Mulder nodded, encouraging Sirius to continue.

"Fifteen years ago I was part of a group whose sole purpose was to stop the rise to power of the most evil dark wizard our kind has ever seen. On Halloween night, in 1987, he was finally stopped when his killing curse failed to destroy a one-year-old Harry Potter, and the curse instead struck its caster. Since then the Dark Lord Voldemort has been hiding in his extremely weakened state, slowly regaining his power.

"Tonight it came to fruition. Voldemort is back, and is already resuming his terrible legacy of mindless death and destruction. He killed young Cedric, and he tried to kill Harry. Somehow Harry survived yet again."

Sirius took a breath. "Voldemort was put down once, and we *will* put him down again. It's just that it may take many years, and many, many Muggles will die. Voldemort hates Muggles with a passion." He held Mulder's gaze. "If there's any chance your son can be safe in your world, away from here, then he should be there. Go home and protect him, protect your wife. I can keep in touch with you through the Underground Owl..."

Mulder shook his head. "I'm sorry. I can't just leave. I can't take you at your word. I've seen many terrible things in the last decade, and I know that what my son is facing at home is something I cannot chance happening. I need to know if this battle is truly worse. And I need to find out myself."

The two men stood eye to eye, regarding each other intensely.

Sirius said, "There's only one way that you could do that, Mulder. Come with me. See the fight from the inside, and you'll know exactly what we're up against. And I promise you'll want to go home."

Mulder only thought for a moment.

"Okay. Let's go."

END CHAPTER SEVEN