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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 200: An Alliance
Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, looking at the papers in front of him with a troubled expression.
"At least school is over, and I will have more time to focus on this issue." His hand lifted the newspaper detailing the news about Diagon Alley.
He, of course, already knew about it beforehand. His contacts at the Ministry had informed him almost immediately after the event.
This same afternoon, he had a meeting arranged at the Three Broomsticks with some of them.
"Hopefully that goes well…" He was concerned about working with someone like Lord Black, even after learning about his sudden change of alliances.
Lord Potter was not going to be easy to get along with, since by this point, the man must already know about what happened in Hogsmeade and how his son was taken and questioned by the aurors without him being notified.
Dumbledore sighed. He regretted the decision he made that day of not informing James's father.
The truth was that his insistence on accompanying James had been mostly motivated by his own curiosity, rather than actually protecting one of his students.
Something that made him feel very guilty, even if James had no need for his protection.
"Why do you leave your window open?"
He was startled by the sudden voice and snapped his head back. "Mister Potter?!"
Dumbledore found James floating in front of his window.
"All those protections with the enchanted gargoyle are useless if you don't bother to even close the window, you know?" James said.
Dumbledore felt like he was being scolded. "Students don't usually fly through my window… and I can assure you that the castle is very safe. Also, you should be packing your things. The train will leave at twelve o'clock."
"Mmm…" James jumped inside his office. "Maybe it's safe for now. That won't last." He walked around the desk and to the other chairs before taking a seat. "And we need to talk about something before I leave."
Dumbledore pointed at the newspaper. "About this?"
"What do you know about those masked men?" James asked first.
"No more than the aurors. They wore white masks and black robes. They used a peculiar spell to draw a symbol in the sky before the attack. A skull and a snake."
"What about the emergence of a new Dark Lord? Do you know about that?"
Dumbledore flinched. "He goes by the name Lord Voldemort. Is he the one behind all of this?"
"Who else?" James shrugged.
Dumbledore looked at him with suspicion. "Is this a mere guess, or are you speaking from personal experience?"
"If you are asking about any potential knowledge from the future…"
"No." Dumbledore responded sternly. "Future knowledge is not only dangerous but also unreliable. The mere fact of knowing about something before it happens will already change what was going to happen in the first place."
"We can agree on that one." James could already tell that things were going to be different this time.
"If you are aware of this, then…"
"Then why am I here?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed."
"Let me ask you something first… have you already formed the Order of the Phoenix?"
"Order of the Phoenix?... what is that?" Dumbledore looked genuinely confused before giving Fawkes a side glance.
The phoenix responded with a loud cry.
"Okay, forget the name. Have you formed any group with the goal of facing this Dark Lord?"
"You know about that already?" Dumbledore stared at him for a long moment. "I have been thinking about it since the first rumors about a new Dark Lord began to reach me." He had personal experience with how bad things could get after what happened with Grindelwald.
"So you have already created it."
"We have only arranged a first meeting to talk about possible actions we can take and to measure the threat itself. How dangerous is this Dark Lord? How many wizards and witches does he have under his command?"
"He is an extremely dangerous man. I don't know how many people have already joined him, but I assume that he has already recruited most members of dark wizard families, and some neutral ones," James said.
"There could be several groups of non-humans on his side as well."
"Non-humans?"
"Dementors, werewolves, vampires, trolls, giants… that kind of thing. The Ministry of Magic had done a good job at antagonizing anyone who is not a wizard, so they won't be hard to convince if they are promised some beneficial changes."
Dumbledore's face seemed to go pale. "If that is true, then… we are in some serious trouble."
"That may not have happened yet, but I would keep an eye out."
The Headmaster nodded. "I will keep it in mind." His eyes moved to meet James'. "Why wait until now to warn me?. Are you intending on joining us?"
Dumbledore wasn't sure if he should inform James that his father would also be part of this group.
"Joining you? No. That's not the reason for my visit," said James.
"Then?" Dumbledore waited.
"What I need is for you and this group you are forming to stay away from any combat situation, even more so if it involves the Dark Lord. I will be the only one to face that man."
The Headmaster looked slightly dumbfounded by the request. He had clearly not been expecting James to say something like that.
"You want to… fight this war by yourself?"
"Not necessarily. It has become obvious that I can't do everything by myself, or the attack on Diagon Alley would never have occurred. What I need is people to act as my eyes and ears, to keep me informed of any potential attacks so I can intervene. That's where you and your group will come in. This is not something I could ask from anyone else, as they would not believe me capable of handling it."
"But I do." Dumbledore muttered.
"You still don't sound very convinced," James pointed out.
A glimmer of light appeared on his glasses. "I don't mean to insult your abilities. But you are talking about going against a Dark Lord and his army by yourself. I have personally fought in a war that concerned an opponent such as this, and I know firsthand what kind of challenge it is."
"Six." James said.
"Six?" Dumbledore looked confused.
"That is the number of Dark Lords I have personally killed."
"What?! That's impossible. Since Grindelwald, there has been no m—"
"Perhaps not in Britain. But the world is a big place." James stood up from his chair. "I believe there is a better way to convince you. Would you like to have a friendly spar with me?"
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