Chapter 391: Preparations
"Every cloud has a silver lining."
Dudley said it quietly.
"A classic sentiment, is it not?" Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Though hearing it from you, Dudley, makes it feel quite new indeed."
"It is," Dudley said quietly.
"As you say, losing the position of Headmaster may well free me to do a great many things I could not do before. Whether it is good or bad is genuinely difficult to say."
Dumbledore considered it for a moment, then added, "Though all of this rests on one condition: that you remain at the school."
Dudley nodded. "I said I would protect Hogwarts. That promise still stands."
"Then I have nothing left to worry about," Dumbledore said, with evident satisfaction.
Their exchange was private, shielded from everyone nearby. No one else heard a word of it.
"Professor, what do you think the Ministry will do next?"
"Though I have broken with them completely, it will take Fudge time to move against me," Dumbledore replied. "Beyond that, the wizarding world is unsettled at present. Fudge will be wary of pushing me too far. He will fear I might defect to Grindelwald's side."
Dumbledore said it with a dry note of amusement in his voice.
"Well, I wish you and Grindelwald every happiness," Dudley said lightly.
"Thank you," Dumbledore replied. "Though I suspect that ship has rather sailed."
Dudley had the sense not to press further.
"Is there any news of Voldemort?"
"He is hiding well. There have been no confirmed sightings yet, only scattered rumours. The Ministry does not even believe he is still alive, particularly Fudge, who insists Voldemort is dead and gone for good."
"He is probably biding his time for something bigger," Dudley said.
He had no illusions about it. Voldemort was not the kind of person to quietly waste away. Whatever he was doing, he was working toward a return.
As they spoke, Dudley turned his head toward the Forbidden Forest.
Through the heavy rain, a dark shape crouched at the treeline, still and watching.
The moment his gaze landed on it, the shape turned and disappeared back into the forest.
"Was that a dog?"
Dudley frowned.
He could just about make out the outline of a large dog, but something nagged at him. A feeling, not an observation, that what he had seen was not an animal at all.
"What are you looking at?"
Dumbledore followed his gaze, but saw nothing there.
"Professor Dumbledore, I want to ask you something. Was Sirius Black truly made Secret-Keeper for my aunt's family?"
Dumbledore showed no particular surprise at the question.
"It seems you already know something of this. James Potter did intend for Sirius Black to become their Secret-Keeper, but I must be clear: I did not witness it myself. I cannot say with certainty who ultimately took on that role."
"I had wanted to question Black at the time, but the Ministry convicted him and sent him to Azkaban without a trial."
"The Ministry," Dudley said. "How laughable."
"Harry knows something of this as well, I imagine," Dumbledore continued. "Though I suspect no one has yet told him that Black is actually his godfather."
Dudley looked up. "Black is Harry's godfather?"
"Yes. James named him before Harry was even born."
Their conversation did not last much longer. Students were gathering around them in growing numbers.
"Professor Dumbledore, about what just happened..."
Professor McGonagall approached, her face drawn with worry. She had watched everything unfold and could not hide her concern.
"It is all right, Minerva."
Dumbledore offered her a calm smile. "I have had my eye on the Ministry for a long time, and particularly on those dementors. At least they are gone now."
"But you..."
"Everything will be fine," he said simply.
He turned and waved a hand toward the assembled students. "Everyone, back to the castle."
Then he paused, glancing back over his shoulder. "Oh, and did the Quidditch match ever finish? Did anyone catch the Golden Snitch?"
"I caught it," Harry said quickly, pulling the Snitch from his pocket.
He had earned it with his life, quite literally. If not for diving after the Snitch, he would never have come close enough to the dementors to fall from his broom.
"Excellent. Then, by the current score, Gryffindor wins. Congratulations, Gryffindor."
Dumbledore smiled and turned away.
"He still has the presence of mind to think about Quidditch?" Ron stared after him.
"Perhaps that is what makes him extraordinary," Dudley said.
Snape gave Dudley a long, searching look before striding after Dumbledore. The rest of the students began making their way back toward the castle in loose, chattering groups.
The mood was unmistakably high. The members of the Kingdom of Order, in particular, were buzzing with energy; the strength they had shown in the battle had clearly left a strong impression on many of their fellow students.
Several came forward wanting to ask Dudley about the Kingdom of Order, including, notably, a handful of Slytherins.
They understood well enough. Without Dudley's intervention, their own situation would have been far worse.
Even Malfoy, from a distance, directed a long and unreadable look in Dudley's direction.
"I will leave the rest to you," Dudley said to the group around him and stepped away from the crowd.
Now that the break with the Ministry was done, it was time to think seriously about Cole and the others. The moment had come for them to start being useful.
Night fell quickly.
Dudley had already arranged a meeting: tonight, at midnight, at the Shrieking Shack.
"Harry, Ron, Hermione. I need to go to the Shrieking Shack tonight. Come with me."
He said it plainly, leaving no room for debate.
He had decided it was time to start introducing the three of them to the wider world beyond Hogwarts.
"The Shrieking Shack?"
All three of them reacted at once.
They knew the place, the most famously haunted building in Hogsmeade.
"What for?" Harry asked.
"You will find out when we get there," Dudley said, and left it at that.
At midnight, when the rest of Gryffindor Tower lay sleeping, Dudley slipped out quietly. Beside him, the other three moved without a sound beneath the Invisibility Cloak.
"There is a passage beneath the Whomping Willow that leads directly to the Shrieking Shack. We go that way."