Harry Potter and the Dreamer of Fears

Chapter 14 - Shifting Meetings

Marion sighed and rubbed her temples with her index fingers in a circular motion.  It was her idea after all, and now Dumbledore was getting the punishment that she was supposed to receive.  The noise from the Great Hall was slowly dying away, and for once, she let her impatience shine through as she wished that the students would hurry it up and move, so the other Aurors would be able to Apparate, or walk into the hall then the meeting could start.

"Treacle, Marion?" Dumbledore's soothing voice asked her and she shook her head, daring not to face the Headmaster.  Even since graduating Hogwarts roughly eighteen years ago, Dumbledore still had an effect around her, imposing, but father-like.  And it unnerved her.  It was the father-like part that scared her the most, since she didn't want to feel the disappointment of her `father'.

"You know it's not your fault, Marion Sadow," Dumbledore sighed, "the letter doesn't even say much of anything short of a punishment."

"It's the punishment that I'm worried about, Headmaster," she replied, as she stared at the fireplace, burning a mild heat around the room.  "Fudge doesn't really trust Crouch's Aurors, not after the fiasco of the Triwizard Tournament."

"But then again, Fudge never trusted any of us from the start, Sadow," Figg's croaky voice brought her gaze from the roaring embers to the entrance where Arabella Figg was standing, her weathered old hands, crossed and folded.  "You're still a youngling, Sadow.  Don't worry about old Fudge's repercussions.  The worst the old fat fart can do is sit and twiddle his thumbs."

"Language, Mrs. Figg," Dumbledore chided, then smiled as the rest of the Aurors came in, some disgruntled looking, while others were a bit sleepy having been woken up from their sleep as they were the night patrols.

"What?!  There aren't any young ones in here," Figg retorted and Marion smiled slightly.  She loved the old woman like her own mother, and her sense of sarcastic humor was a welcomed relief to the cloud that had settled over her heart.  But it was the same cloud that had never really disappeared.  It was the cloud that had turned her to become a ruthless Auror that she was.

"Good, now that you're all here," Dumbledore clapped his hands lightly, "anyone have any comments about last night's events?"

They all stared at him like he had grown another head.  Marion blinked slightly then took a quick glance at Snape who had a stony look.  But Snape earned the right to have the stony look she reminded herself.  He was going to be leaving tomorrow for his mission and she would be filling in his classes.

"Um...Potter and his friends really kicked the Dementors' arses?" Fletcher spoke up, grinning slightly while giving her, and some of the other young women in the room roguish winks.

Marion shook her head slightly.  Mundungus Fletcher was the one who would always come up with the most obvious remarks and give every woman who at least was young looking the dashing male treatment.  "That's beside the point, Fletcher," she replied, "you might want to reconsider the facts."

"Ouch, and the Ice Lady wounds me yet another one," Fletcher mock fainted then rebounded and grinned, "do it again."

"Git," she sniffed, ignoring him.

"I think Harry's feelings of last night was something of strange curiosity.  He was very interested in the motives of the Dementors and of why Miss Chang and the others with her were suddenly lost.  But I also think that he has an interest in the Fieres they conjured up last night.  Which I might add, were very impressive considering you didn't do anything to enhance them, Marion," an Auror with spiky blonde hair and grey eyes spoke up and Marion recognized him as Kester Pointe, one of the three other Aurors who were with her guarding Harry.

"His friends, Ron and the very intelligent girl, Hermione, I think-yes, that was her name-Hermione, were also curious, but I think that Ronald Weasley's Chinese Fireball was the one that got everyone's attention.  The mini one he summoned today in Defense Against Dark Arts, was interesting enough to warrant attention from everyone.  Which could be trouble..." Kester's partner, Avalon spoke quietly.

"Then the question would be, was the story Cho Chang spoke of, the truth?" Fletcher turned somber, as all the Aurors considered his words.

"Alastor?" Dumbledore turned to the their leader, second only to Dumbledore, who had been watching the whole proceedings without any comment.

"I would consider Chang's story to be true, but...you mustn't forget that Chang's father, Avery, is a Death Eater, so she might be in league with Voldemort," Moody frowned, his magical eye bouncing all over its socket and he stared at Snape who was standing in the corner of the room, having nothing to do with the meeting.  "What would you say Miss Chang's loyalties lie, Snape?"

Everyone turned to Snape and Marion almost wished it were she in Snape's position instead of the Potions teacher who glared at Moody darkly.

"She isn't in league.  She hasn't even had a clue that her father's a Death Eater.  No, I think Chang is out of the loop.  From what I could gather, she has been living with her mother in Liverpool, while her father has been living in London.  Check her file, and you'll see that Chang's parents have been separated for quite a while," Snape said, then gave another glare at Moody, the message clearly written.  Don't bother me.

"Then what did she and the others mean by they were walking and suddenly found themselves cornered by ten Dementors?" a middle aged Auror spoke up.

"A spy?  At Hogwarts?  Someone to tip them off?  Portkey factor like what Potter encountered?" Kester shrugged.

"That's always been the possibility," Figg agreed, "but that could also mean another thing.  The Dark Lord's watching carefully, and he's making his moves in calculated steps.  This Dementor attack is supposed to be a warning, testing our defenses.  Which means, we suck.  We stink.  We're the worst lot of Aurors there is."

Marion flinched at the harshness of her words, but she knew they were true.  Ten Dementors weren't supposed to get into Hogwarts, not with all of them watching.  They had to become more vigilant...watching everyone for clues, watching everything.

"Constant vigilance," Moody spoke into the silence.

The meeting had ended fairly quickly after they had discussed and contemplated what was to be done to beef up security and Marion patiently waited for everyone to file out, before turning to face Dumbledore who was still holding the letter he had received during lunch.

"You're not going to teach your class, Marion?" Dumbledore asked quietly as he motioned for her to follow him, Snape following behind them, still silent.

"Marius is handling them.  We're going to let a Boggart loose on them to teach both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor sixth years about their Patronus," she replied, then hesitated for a second, "Headmaster-"

"You may call me Albus, Marion.  You're not that young wide-eyed student anymore," Dumbledore interrupted her kindly.

"I'm sorry..." she knew that she couldn't bring herself to call her former Headmaster and professor by his first name, or by his last name, "Headmaster.  But I was wondering if I could see the letter that Fudge has written to you."

"Of course, Marion," Dumbledore handed her the letter as he spoke the password to the gargoyle in front of the entrance to his office and the stone statue saluted jauntily before stepping away.

Headmaster Dumbledore-

It has come to my attention that the Dementors your Aurors have...killed yesterday, some of them were mine.  I'm very displeased to say that some of those Dementors wouldn't have betrayed Hogwarts or the Ministry.  They gave me their word to protect the school.  The other Dementors that are stationed around your school have informed me that a particular Auror of yours, one by the name of Marion Sadow, has killed them ruthlessly, without hesitation or questioning their motives.

I advise you to check into Miss Sadow's background and you might discover some interesting facts about her life upon graduation of your school.  As you might have known, she was one of Crouch's prized Aurors, able to use the Unforgivable Curses.  She is not to be trusted and I advise you to keep a vigil on her.  She was also once convicted of being a Death Eater and many of us at the Ministry are worried about her being a spy to the Dark Lord himself.

For the sake and safety of the other students, parents have urged me to tell you to remove all of the Aurors who were in Crouch's service.  They cannot be trusted, as they might be connected with You-Know-Who's Death Eaters.  I'll be expecting your reply by this time tomorrow, and I hope you have taken into consideration the facts placed here before you.

Sincerely,

Cornelius Fudge

Minister of Magic

Order of Merlin, First Class

Marion could feel rage pulsing within her as she read the contents of the letter.  How could he...how could they... she felt like ripping the letter up into pieces when she realized that they had stopped walking and were now in Dumbledore's office.  She also realized that she was shaking slightly from deep anger.  But shunting the anger away, she knew that the letter was specifically designed to create discord among the people of the Order of the Phoenix.  It was idiots like Fudge who was still trying to deny the existence of Voldemort's rise.

But rereading the letter once more, she realized that Fudge had made one calculated mistake.  By calling her and some of the others Dumbledore's Aurors, he had displaced the effect of the letter instead of calling her and the others Crouch's Aurors.  That had also canceled the effect of her being accused of as a Death Eater.

"At least we know that Fudge is still a total idiot to the facts," she handed the letter back to Dumbledore who folded it and placed it on a corner of his desk.

"Marion, I wish you wouldn't say things like that," Dumbledore chided her, "Fudge is slow to see the facts, but he isn't what you call `a total idiot'."

"Sorry sir," she replied.

"You might want to prepare for tomorrow's press.  I doubt that Fudge will definitely want to discredit your name by mentioning you're accusation as a Death Eater," Dumbledore cautioned and out of the corner of her eye, Marion saw Snape blink in surprise but nothing more.

"I get the feeling he'll do more than that.  He'll want to expose Anrion's past, Fletcher's womanizing history, and God know what else among the Order of the Phoenix," Marion said grimly, "but, it doesn't matter.  I should be getting back to see if my sixth years have passed out yet."

Dumbledore nodded sagely and she left his office, heading back down the stairs.  After reaching the bottom, she stepped to the side of the wall and held her head up to look at the arched ceiling.

No one saw a single silent tear that fell from her left eye.

When classes finally ended, Harry rushed up to his room and tossed his books onto his bed before reaching down and grabbed his Firebolt.  He then rushed out of Gryffindor Tower and headed down to the Quidditch Field.  Only a few minutes ago, Angelina had called a practice, and it looked like she was going to be working them hard.  The first game of the season was to be held in two weeks, the week before being a trip to Hogsmeade.

Reaching the field, he stopped to catch his breath and glanced around.  Fred and George were already flying around, beating a Bludger back and forth to each other.  Angelina had not arrived yet and neither did any of the other Chasers.  Ron was...

"Am I late?" Ron was breathing heavily as he arrived, a bit winded from the long run.

"Don't think so," Harry replied, mounting his broom and saw that his best friend did the same, "race you again."

"Sure...just give me a few...seconds," Ron gulped down another breath then suddenly without warning shot off, a challenging grin on his face.

"Cheater," Harry called out good-naturedly as he leaned forward and sped towards his best friend who was circling the goal posts.

"Come on, the Firebolt can do better than that!" Ron shouted back as the wind blew by Harry's ears, making it impossible for him to hear the taunt.  Glancing down to the blur that past by him he saw Katie Bell waving towards them to head towards them.  Angelina was carrying what looked to be parchments of something.

Landing, he saw Ron do the same and the two of them walked over to where Angelina was unrolling the parchments, intricate blue lines drawn about them with little 'X's and 'O's on them.  He realized that they were plans of sorts, maybe the game plan that Angelina had been scribbling into the night every time he and Ron passed by her in the Common Room.

"Okay, guys.  Our first match is against Slytherin.  Now," she eyed each one of them and Harry noticed that her gaze took on an edge of ferocity like Oliver Wood's when he was the Quidditch captain, "we know that they're ruthless and hit hard, but we can also be ruthless and hit even harder."  Harry noted that if she was worried about last night's attacks then she didn't show it.  She stabbed a finger at one of the parchments and waved her wand in the process, making the lines in the parchment come alive in a small miniature version of the Quidditch pitch.

"Usually, Slytherins send their Chasers after us, and after you, Harry," the parchment responded to her words and their names which were written with red ink began flying around, the green inked names chasing after them.  "So, we need you, Fred and George, to slam those Bludgers at them.  No mercy, and I don't care if you think we're in the way, or liable to get hurt.  We'll just have to rely on our instincts and your help to get out of the way."

As soon as she said those words, all the players' names save for the Keepers of both teams went into action, zooming around.  It was something to see and Harry wondered why Wood didn't use this technique when he was captaining the team.

"Harry," Angelina's voice brought his head out of the mini game, "your Firebolt is the best we got, but we don't know what Malfoy has up his sleeve.  So, be prepared.  Over the last few years, you've landed on the injury list once too many times, so the twins will be watching over you.  I saw that Bludger-hit-Snitch trick before we went to Hogsmeade.  That's something to work on.  I don't think its against the rules, but if you find that Malfoy is gaining on you for the Snitch, then whistle twice and the twins will send a Bludger your way."

"Don't worry Harry," Fred slapped him on his back, "we'll be doing double duty this game."

Harry nodded then glanced at Ron who was staring at all the players with great interest and an intense fire seem to light his eyes.

"Ron," Angelina addressed their new Keeper, "you're new, and so I don't really know how your skills are going to par up with the Slytherins trying to take your head off while scoring.  But I do know this, you're good.  Real good."

Harry grinned slightly as Ron ducked his head and blushed, then was ruffled on the head by his brothers who nudged him.

"Ron, I need you to play interference if Harry sees the Snitch, but don't go out of your way.  You still need to play the goal.  We Chasers will try to keep the Slytherins out of the way with the Quaffle, but you're the one that has to stop it."

"Got that Captain," Ron replied.

"Good," Angelina then turned to address her fellow Chasers, "Katie, Alicia, you know what you have to do.  I've already explained it to you."

As soon as she said that, Harry saw that the three names of their chaser circle around and started the Hawkshead Attack Formation, then suddenly as they neared the goal of the Slytherin side, they broke out into a line and the names of Angelina and Alicia, both whom were flanking Katie, converged in, looking as if to attack one of their fellow Chasers when suddenly there was a goal scored.

"Wow," both Fred and George commented at the same time, "any other moves?"

"Much more, George," Angelina smiled then clapped her hands abruptly and the lines of the parchment returned to their original state.  "Well, let's practice so we can push those Slytherins into the dirt."

Harry mounted his broom again, feeling confident that they were going to recapture the Quidditch Cup this year.

Night had fallen at Hogwarts and all the students seemed asleep, but things in the Headmaster's office were just getting started as four people talked quietly.

"We checked into London, but nothing, no sign of him.  It seems that he's only attacking the outer regions so far," Sirius said, pacing around the room, only stopping to stare at the burning fire, crackling in the relative silence of Dumbledore's office.

"I see," Dumbledore replied, folding his hands over his lap as he sat in his desk.  Next to him, his Pensieve glowed softly and Fawkes trilled a soft note.

"We met some of Fudge's Aurors who claim that they were just out on a scouting mission.  Though I think Fudge doesn't want to publicly admit it, he's looking into Voldemort's whereabouts as we are, except he doesn't have that many resources to work with.  His Aurors also mentioned that Fudge sent a letter to you today, disgusted that his Dementors were killed.  What did happen, Headmaster?" Lupin spoke quietly and softly, his face gaunt and pale as the full moon was nearing, only roughly two days away.

For a second, Sirius thought he saw a flicker of the calm demeanor wash away, but it was suddenly back and he knew that whatever happened, it was very serious.  "We were attacked yesterday."

He gaped at the Headmaster, but then closed his mouth, as he knew that it was only a matter of time before the Dementors that Fudge has so gladly sent would betray them.

"The Dementors were dispelled easily, but ten of them surrounded a group of students-"

"Was Harry among them?" Sirius suddenly had a fear of worry within him.  If Harry was injured, God help the Dementors and Voldemort when he got his hands on the slimy bloody bastard.

"No," Dumbledore held his hand up, "hear me out, Sirius, before you jump to any conclusions.  Surprisingly, Harry and his friends arrived just in time to save those students from receiving the Kiss."

Sirius shuddered slightly as he remembered just two years ago; he had almost received the Dementor's Kiss.

"They managed to stall the Dementors long enough for Marion to get there and kill them," the Headmaster continued and Sirius blinked in surprise.

"Only Marion?" he asked.

"Yes.  Just her," Dumbledore's voice didn't hold any suspicion to why the teacher had arrived ahead of the other Aurors, but Sirius sensed that there was something not right in the teacher's early arrival.  "She killed them-"

"You can kill Dementors?" he interrupted and got an elbow in his ribs from Lupin, but he had to know.

"Oh shut your trap up, Black," Snape sneered from his corner of the room, him leaning against the door, "I won't be able to hear the nice ending to this story if you keep yapping around like a kid."

"Severus," Dumbledore warned slightly, and the Potions teacher just shrugged, "Yes, to answer your question, Sirius.  Dementors can be killed.  Just not easily.  You must remember, Marion Sadow is an Auror, one of the best."

Sirius nodded, but doubt was still in him.  Just how good were Aurors?  How was the fact that some were allowed to use the Unforgivable Curses considered `good' enough?  Was it based on skill, or based on the fact of `kills' they made?  He remembered that when the Aurors that came to arrest him, they didn't really have to subdue him, even though he had put up a terrific fight, but he also noticed that they were lacking in some areas.  So, were the Aurors who had placed him in Azkaban deemed `good'?

"Remus," Dumbledore continued, "I know that you'll be going though your transformation in a couple of days, but Severus had some of his students prepare some Wolfsbane Potion in advance.  If you do run out of supplies, ask Madam Pomfrey or Marius to make you some."

"Mission, Snape?" Sirius turned to the door where his colleague was standing, his face blank and unreadable.

"You're the smart one, do the guessing," Snape snapped irritably.

"Shut up you-"

"Gentlemen," Dumbledore's voice cut through them like a knife.  "Please.  We are all in the same position.  I suggest that you two get some rest as you look like you would need it.  Remus, please be careful in the dungeons."

"I will Headmaster," Lupin replied then followed Sirius out of the Headmaster's office.

Dumbledore turned to the other occupant in the room and nodded, "You have everything prepared?"

"Yes sir," Snape replied, "I don't know how long I'll be gone but-"

"Severus, be extremely cautious.  After this attack, Voldemort might suspect something.  We can't be too cautious, you know."

"Yes, Headmaster.  Marion Sadow told me all the details beforehand," he hesitated slightly glancing at his forearm where the Dark Mark resided; now blank, hidden underneath his skin.  "And she wants me to look into something about her brother."

"Marius?  And what would that be, Severus?"

"It's...not for me to tell.  I'm sorry Headmaster," Snape replied.

Dumbledore shook his head lightly, "Don't trouble yourself, Severus.  If Marion has some kind of inkling going on, then it is with good reason she's keeping it to herself."

"You really trust her, don't you Headmaster?"

"Don't you, Severus?"

Snape hesitated once more.  He didn't know if he trusted the Auror, but he also knew that Marion was once a fellow student, even though she was sorted into Gryffindor.  But then there was the fact that she was accused as a Death Eater.  What had happened?  "I don't know who to trust anymore," he mumbled the reply, but raised his head, "but as of now, the only person I trust the most is you, Headmaster."

"Thank you," Dumbledore replied then nodded to the door, "you might want to go now before the students awaken."

"Yes sir."

"Oh, and Severus...Godspeed and good luck."

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