Ad Infinitum

Chapter Three: A Tale of Two Letters

 

Dear Remus,

I had hoped to hear from you by now, you know. How are your parents? Please be sure to thank your mother for the woolen socks I received last Christmas -- I didn’t have the opportunity to thank her at the graduation ceremony. Madam Pomfrey wanted me to tell you that the ointment she usually gave you after the full moon is available in most apothecary shops and medical supply stores on Diagon Alley, and to inform you that if you didn’t take care of yourself she would have something to say about it.

Barty (be sure not to tell him I called him that -- he does detest the nickname) has informed me that you performed admirably during your first training session, as did James and Sirius. I am extremely pleased with the fact that the three of you have been accepted. As I told you, I had feared that Barty would take your obvious potential into less consideration than the fact that you are a werewolf. He did mention that you had informed the entire class of that fact, as well. That took a great deal of courage, Remus. It was, however, necessary. I hope you haven’t encountered any animosity among your fellow students because of it, although I suspect that there will be some uncertainty. That is to be expected. I am sure that you will handle it with your usual composure.

Minerva is, I believe, enjoying the relative calm of the castle without all the students, as are the other teachers who chose to remain here over the summer. Ever since you four became students, I have found myself greatly pitying the Head of Gryffindor House, who naturally must attend to all the scrapes that you manage to get yourselves into. However, I think we shall find that the calm will quickly progress into tedium, unless the coming batch of students proves to be as audaciously mischievous as the four of you were. I hardly think it likely. We shall see, on September the first. The intervening months will no doubt prove to hold more than enough excitement to make up for any absences, although I have no doubt that it will be excitement of a far graver sort. And, at last, this brings me to the real reason I am writing this letter. I do carry on.

As you know doubt know, I have been holding regular meetings of a group of witches and wizards who are both Aurors and others who have shown a desire and the capacity to be involved in the struggle against Voldemort, including many of the staff and teachers at Hogwarts. We work closely in affiliation with the Ministry. Both Barty Crouch and the Minister of Magic attend these meetings, as well as other top-ranking officials. This is no secret to the Dark Lord and his followers, and so I feel no hesitation in sending this information by owl post. However, there is more information you will need to receive face-to-face, including the time and place of the next meeting. Such information cannot be sent by owl post, considering the risk of the owls being intercepted.

What I am trying to do, and unfortunately taking an excessive amount of time and parchment to accomplish, is extend to you our invitation to become a member of our rather extensive organization. The invitation is, of course, extended to James, Sirius, Lily, and Peter as well; I would be much obliged if you would pass the word along to them, and I hope to see all of you at the next meeting.

This also brings me to something else -- the matter of your friend, Peter Pettigrew. I am aware that he was not accepted into the Ministry’s training program, and I deeply regret that fact. I know how much the opportunity meant to him. How is he handling the disappointment? I never was able to get to know Peter as well as the rest of you, as you know, but hopefully a place in our "network" will change that. Even if the Ministry chooses not to accept him, I know he will be exceedingly valuable in our efforts, and I think it may lessen the disappointment. Be sure to let him know that I expect him at the next meeting, along with the rest of you.

Take care, as always.

Albus

P. S.- Do you think you could convince your mother to send along the recipe for those mouthwatering pies of hers? She sent some along with the socks, and they were extraordinary.

* * * * *

The Crouch mansion was even more enormous than Sirius had expected. It loomed gloomily over the long gravel pathway and row of carefully trimmed fir trees leading up to it, as well as the handful of witches and wizards attempting to reach the front door. This process was made unexpectedly difficult by the pelting rain that turned the dirt imbedded in the gravel into mud and made the steps going up to the doorway slippery with freezing water. It wasn’t right, Sirius thought, for it to be so cold in late June. Pulling the completely inadequate summer cloak tighter over his shoulders, he managed to work his way up to the door behind another dripping figure, who reached out to the brass knocker and banged it against the door. After a moment, the door opened, and they all were crowding into the warmth of the entry hall.

Two house-elves stood there, taking their sodden outer clothing for them and ushering them through the entryway. Sirius took the time to examine his surroundings as he went. The walls were lined with ancient-looking suits of armor, ornate tapestries, and a number of bronze statuettes that had been placed on waist-high tables. The corridors were lit by torches hung at eye level every few feet, and enormous oak doors led into other parts of the house. He didn’t recognize the witch in front of him, or the tall wizard directly behind him. The house-elves eventually reached the end of the corridor and opened the doors there, allowing the still-dripping witches and wizards to pass through.

The doors opened onto a large, dimly lit square room that was filled with rows and rows of extremely dry and comfortable-looking chairs. About half were already occupied. As those on either side of him began to find seats and talk with acquaintances, Sirius stood just inside the doorway, feeling extremely uncomfortable, as he didn’t see anyone he knew. Before long, however, a familiar face caught his eye, and he threaded his way across the small crowd to the other side of the room.

"Professor?"

Vincent Gregoram, the Head of Slytherin house and Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, turned around in his seat. Despite his almost perpetually grim face and the intimidating air he seemed to carry around with him, Gregoram was one of Sirius’ favorite teachers.

"Well," he said with the slightest of smiles, "if it isn’t Sirius Black. And early, too. There’s a surprise. I don’t recall you ever being early to one of my classes, but sit down, if you like." Sirius took the seat next to Gregoram, wincing slightly at the mud and rainwater that he rubbed against the chair in the process. "I hear you’ve been accepted at the Ministry."

"I have," Sirius replied, "we started training yesterday."

"Who is teaching you?"

"Alastor Moody."

"Ah, Alastor -- he’ll be an excellent teacher for you. He’ll work you hard, I expect."

"I think so, sir." At that moment, James, Peter, Remus, and Lily appeared, all just as wet as Sirius was, and sat down in the nearby seats.

James shook his head in disgust. "I don’t believe this weather. Oh, hello, Professor."

"And here’s the rest of the infamous Gryffindor four, and their Ravenclaw counterpart." Gregoram’s attention was suddenly taken by a tall man with shockingly red hair, who was waving an arm to get the Professor’s attention. "If you would excuse me for just a moment...." He moved quickly through the chairs and people over to the man, who immediately began to speak earnestly to him.

"Who’s that?" Sirius asked.

Peter spoke up immediately. "Arthur Weasley. He works for the Ministry, in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. He gave me a job for the time being, that’s how I know him."

James looked surprised. "You got a job? That’s great. When?"

"Last Saturday -- wait a minute, there’s Dumbledore." The headmaster was standing up at the front of the room and raising his arms for attention.

"Pardon me, ladies and gentlemen, but it’s time to begin. If you would all take your seats...."

The talk died down immediately, and Gregoram returned to his seat with a very preoccupied look on his face. "Thank you...we will begin, I think, with a word from our esteemed Minister of Magic. Jonathan, you had something to inform us of, I believe."

Dumbledore sat down in the front row of chairs, and Jonathan Prewett, Minister of Magic, rose to his feet. Sirius had never actually met the Minister, but he’d seen pictures in the Daily Prophet. He was a short, stocky man, with an open, friendly face and authoritative figure, but at the moment he was looking extremely upset about something. Beads of sweat stood out on his face, and his hands shook slightly as cleared his throat.

"Thank you, Albus. Now, I have some rather...unsettling...information for all of you. This afternoon, I received a report of unauthorized dementor activity in several areas near London with high wizarding populations. It is our belief that the Death Eaters have found a way of infiltrating the fortress of Azkaban." Sirius felt his blood run cold at these words, and a frightened hush fell over the room. "We at the Ministry are doing our best to put a stop to this, but at this point the dementors are also necessary for keeping our captured Death Eaters in check." Prewett swallowed to reduce the strain in his voice. "Any incident you feel may be related -- no matter how inconsequential -- must be reported. You all know what the dementors are capable of. I shudder to think of the possibilities if the Dark Lord manages to break into Azkaban. Your help in this matter is greatly appreciated.

"Also, there has been another report of a Death Eater attack on a Muggle town. As the Department for the Magical Catastrophes is extremely shorthanded at this time, we need several volunteers to investigate. It won’t be anything too difficult, just take down statements, etc. Is anyone willing?" Several hands shot up into the air. "Thank you. Please see Albus or myself directly after the meeting for instructions."

"Finally, we have several new members to welcome. Most are currently Aurors-in-training, fresh out of Hogwarts. Please make them feel welcome and bring them up to date on any important information. Albus, that’ll be all."

Dumbledore stood up again. "Regarding the recent dementor activity...." For close to forty-five minutes, he told them all about general information they had received from captured Death Eaters and several unnamed double agents, occasionally calling others up to speak. Sirius found that he could keep up with it very easily, and indeed had already known, or could have guessed, most of it. As the hands of the clock on the far wall crept closer to eleven, Sirius began wondering if it was ever going to end, and just exactly what was the point of this meeting. So far, they had done very little as far as resistance went, besides encouraging everyone in the room to keep their eyes open. It came as something of a relief when Dumbledore finally announced that that would be all, and they could return home. Sirius moved quickly to stand up, but Gregoram put a hand on his arm and indicated that he, as well as Lily, James, Peter, and Remus should remain seated.

"Wait," he said in a low voice, "They’ll explain when this crowd has left." Gregoram didn’t bother to mention who "they" were, Sirius thought, but, with a puzzled frown directed at James, he waited. It took a few minutes for the room to gradually clear up, until there weren’t more than a dozen witches and wizards left, besides the Marauders and Lily. Looking around, Sirius realized that he already knew most of their names, even if he hadn’t spoken to them. Crouch and the Minister remained, as did Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Gregoram, Moody, and -- he noticed with an unpleasant sort of surprise -- Snape.

Dumbledore looked pleasantly around at them all. "Very good. Barty, if you wouldn’t mind, a smaller meeting area might be more suitable."

"Follow me." Crouch led them through one of the many doors leading out of the room, through a hallway similarly furnished to the others Sirius had seen, and eventually into another room. This one was just as dimly lit, but much smaller, although the fireplace was larger, and the armchairs looked even more comfortable. There were no windows, and the only light came from the fireplace and the candles that lined the walls. The outlines of several bookshelves could be seen behind these, with enormous volumes that had titles like "Grindelwald: a Study of his Methods and their Consequences", "Fighting Fire with Fire: Resisting the Dark Forces", and "The Origins and History of the Unforgivable Curses". They did little to endear Crouch to Sirius. Before he could get a good look at any of the others, Crouch was indicating that they should take their seats, and Sirius did so, finding himself between McGonagall and Remus. Nobody stood up to make a speech, this time. Dumbledore instead began in a very conversational tone.

"And here we are. I have a feeling," he said, "that some of you are wondering what exactly we are doing here. Yes, the larger meeting is done, but this is a meeting of a different sort. The other was purely informational. None of the information given was classified. We can be certain that the Death Eaters know all of this, and also that they are aware that we know it, so it is distributed to the general public." Sirius felt rather gratified. When Remus had told them about Dumbledore’s letter, it had seemed far more important then the meeting had been. "Barty, is this room secure?"

Crouch coughed slightly in response. His voice was as near to outright indignation as it could be without losing any dignity in the process. "As secure as I can make it, Albus. It cannot be penetrated by listening devices, nor can anyone enter without my knowing it. The question is, can we trust the people who are already inside?" The question hung rather uncomfortably in the air, before Moody broke it in his usual growl.

"We can’t ever be sure of that, Barty, and you know it as well as I do, but Dumbledore’s vouched for these trainees, and that’s good enough for me to be starting with."

"If you’ll excuse me, headmaster, I should be rather grateful to know exactly what we are starting." That was Snape’s voice, exceedingly sharp and cold, but even Snape wasn’t fool enough to be directly rude to the Minister of Magic, Albus Dumbledore, and Crouch.

"A thoroughly valid question, Severus." Dumbledore’s voice became very businesslike. "Perhaps some introductions would be in order, for those of us who don’t know each other."

A woman in her mid-thirties with dark brown hair and a firm sort of face nodded. "I’ll begin, then, Albus. My name is Arabella Figg, and I work for the Ministry in both the Department of Mysteries and the Department for Magical Law Enforcement."

The man on the other side of her spoke up. "Mundungus Fletcher, Magical Law Enforcement."

"Edward Cole, Department of Mysteries." This was from a short man wearing midnight blue robes, who kept blinking around at them from under thick black eyebrows.

"Jonas McCaffrey, Magical Law Enforcement."

Dumbledore looked over at Sirius. "And our Aurors-in-training?"

"Sirius Black."

"Remus Lupin."

"James Potter."

"Severus Snape."

"There are two more who I thought should be included, though they aren’t in training at this point. This is Lily Evans, who is currently working for St. Mungo’s, and Peter Pettigrew, who has received a job with the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." Dumbledore paused for a moment. "You will, I trust, have the opportunity to get to know each other very soon. For now, we will concentrate on exactly why we are here.

"As I said, the previous meeting was for the general public. This is not. This meeting is for a smaller group of individuals who are directly involved in the struggle against Voldemort." Sirius was surprised to find that, even here, there was a certain amount of discomfort associated with the Dark Lord’s name. "This session will mostly be introductory. We will bring all of you up-to-date on the current situation and explain where you will become involved for the time being. We have decided that it would be best for each of you to be taken on as ‘apprentices’ for some of the more experienced of the group. Lily, you will be with Arabella. James, with Jonas, Peter, with Mundungus, Severus, with Alastor, Remus, with Vincent, and Sirius, with Edward. While those working with the Department of Mysteries, for instance, will not disclose their job information to all of you, your individual ‘masters’, for lack of a better word, will introduce you to their work within our network. You will be asked to gradually take on some of that work until you develop the skills to work individually. You will show them the same courtesy and respect that you have shown to the teachers you have had in the past."

This was followed by a brief period of quiet. Sirius looked curiously up at Edward Cole, who was watching him with the same kind of interest, while still blinking every few seconds. The Minister’s voice broke into the silence.

"Now that we have our introductions taken care of, we should probably move on to other things. As Albus said, this is only an introductory session, and we won’t keep you here much longer, but first, I would like to say a few words regarding the dementors." Sirius leaned forward slightly in his chair to catch everything he said.

"The situation is rather more serious than I implied tonight. Large groups of dementors have been seen, and they reportedly attacked some of the Ministry’s wizards last night. Fortunately, all of them managed to escape, but the next victims may not be so lucky. We are attempting to keep Azkaban more isolated than ever and conduct a thorough search, but it will no doubt be an immensely difficult task. Consequentially, I have spoken to Barty and Alastor about their classes, and we will be making sure that all of our prospective Aurors are properly trained in warding off the dementors. This may include several trips to Azkaban."

Lily let out a muffled gasp of surprised horror, and by the looks on James’, Peter’s, and Remus’ faces, they weren’t any happier about it than Sirius was. It seemed a necessary precaution, but one he’d much rather not have to worry about, especially because Remus was still the only one who could perform the Patronus charm to ward the dementors off.

"You two," and here Prewett was looking at Lily and Peter, "will also need to receive this training, though you are not involved in the formal classes. Any questions?" There was a moment of dead silence, and the Minister nodded. "Good. Albus, was there anything else? No? Very well. You are all free to go. Students, your mentors will contact you shortly." He stood and walked toward the door, followed by Crouch, Moody, and all the others except for Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"Is that all?" Sirius asked.

"All for tonight," Dumbledore replied. "Most of the meetings last longer. For now, you still need to get used to working with our system."

"System?’

"Our network of contacts, you know, and of spies."

"And, of course, there are those of us who just keep our eyes open," McGonagall put in.

"Around Hogwarts, Professor?" Lily asked.

McGonagall gave her a stern glare. "Don’t call me ‘Professor’ in that tone of voice, Miss Evans! I am, after all, only two years older than all of you. You make me feel like it’s closer to twenty."

James laughed. "You have no idea how many times I nearly called you ‘Minerva’ this year."

"I can imagine. Headmaster, are you going back to Hogwarts?"

"I have a Portkey ready, if you care to join me."

"I think I will. Goodbye, then, all of you." They left the room, and Sirius turned to the others.

"How are you getting home? I have my motorbike parked out -- "

He stopped, grinning, as the rest of them unanimously declined his offer.

* * * * *

June 25th

Dear Lily,

Hello again. How are you doing? In response to your most recent letter, the training sessions are going really well. Moody’s amazing. He’s begun to teach us the Patronus charm, you know. Remus is still the only one who’s any good at it, naturally. Guess what his Patronus is? None of them have distinct shapes yet, really, but we asked him what he thought his was the other day. He gave me this really weird look -- you know, when he wants to tell you something but isn’t sure how you’ll react -- and said he thinks it’s the wolf. I suppose that sort of makes sense, but still...anyway.

Have you met with your mentor yet? What’s her name...Arabella Figg? I just got an owl from that Jonas McCaffrey. We’re meeting at the Ministry building where we have our training, tomorrow evening. I don’t know what exactly he plans on doing. Dumbledore was really vague, wasn’t he? Apparently McCaffrey’s an Auror, though, so I figure it’ll be really interesting, whatever we’re supposed to do. Introduce me to his job in the "network", as Dumbledore’s so fond of calling it, I suppose. Peter said he’s already met with Fletcher, and he’s kind of weird. He wouldn’t say much. Still, Dumbledore and the Minister trust him, and that counts for a lot. How do you suppose Snape’s getting along with Moody? What I wouldn’t give to see them trying to work together! I mean, Snape so obviously hates Moody. What were they thinking, assigning those two together? Oh, but you haven’t been in the class with them. Snape just sits there, like always, and glares at Moody, especially when he asks him a question. It’s a bit like he was with Gregoram. That’s always puzzled me, come to think of it, considering that he’s the head of Snape’s house. But then again, Gregoram’s the best of the Slytherins, as far as I’ve seen, and Snape’s by far the worst.

Are you doing anything on Thursday? We don’t have training that day, so I thought maybe if you were free, you’d like to come over for dinner or something. Mum would absolutely love to have you, especially since she hasn’t seen you in awhile. I told her you’d started at St. Mungo’s. She’s still hard at work on her book, by the way. I’ve tried reading it, but I still don’t see the point in knowing that Snapping Peas reach their fullest height if planted at the quarter moon. I suppose herbologists care, but I didn’t think Mum was really into that sort of thing. Anyway, I should probably go. I have to leave for the Ministry offices in five minutes. Moody hates it when we’re late.

James

P. S. - Have you found out when we’re meeting with Dumbledore and the Minister next? We haven’t heard anything. Be sure to write about supper on Thursday!

* * * * *

The following excerpt appeared in an article in the June 26th edition of the Daily Prophet.

An unnamed Ministry official was found unconscious late last night in downtown London by a group of several Muggles returning from a concert. They raised an alarm, but fortunately, before the Muggle police could be notified, several Ministry hit wizards arrived on the scene. The official had apparently been walking home after a late night meeting, and was, the Daily Prophet believes, surprised by a group of Azkaban guards. He had been missing for several days. His condition is at this point unknown. The ministry has thus far refused to comment on the situation and whether or not the dementors were a likely cause of the incident.