The Marauders: Year Four

A Risky Plan

A Risky Plan

There was a little village on the edge of the Great Northern Woods that Dumbledore apparated to from the Potter's house. It was raining and the air smelled thick of the moss and forest that surrounded the little village, the ocean air from twelve miles away adding a salty twinge to it as well. Tucking his wand safely into his pocket to hide it from any muggle eyes, he walked swiftly over a stone bridge into the town, weaving through quaint little houses with thatched roofs and stone walls until he found the little pub - The Brine Stone - and pushed his way through the doors.

Although it was still early in the day - not yet even nine o'clock - the Brine Stone was still busy. A woman in an apron told Albus she'd be right with him, but he waved her off and pointed to the table in the far corner of the room, where he could see his friends waiting for him. He walked up to them quickly and Ned Veigler rose from the table. "Dumbledore!" he said, waving to the vacant seat beside where he'd just risen from.

"Hello, Ned," Dumbledore greeted him, nodding to the two sitting across from him as he lowered himself into the offered seat - "Tina, Newt."

"Morning, Albus," Tina replied, nodding back.

Newt Scamander smiled awkwardly, his overlarge front teeth resting on his lower lip and he nodded, clutching a food-stained paper menu in his hands, his briefcase on the bench between Tina and himself, his elbow resting on the handle. The case creaked and a tiny snout popped out and Newt glanced down and pushed it back in. "Not now, you nosey thing," he muttered, then looked back up at Dumbledore, "You know how she is."

"I do. Hello there, Niffler," Dumbledore answered, and a couple little claws squeezed their way out of the case, waving to Dumbledore. He chuckled, even as Newt pushed her paw back in, muttering to her to stay inside.

The woman with the apron on came over and sloshed a cup of coffee down before Dumbledore, along with a menu similar to the one Newt was holding, and walked away, hurriedly. Dumbledore pushed the menu away and sniffed at the black coffee a moment, then muttered, "I've never been over fond of coffee."

"Nor have I," Newt agreed.

Dumbledore looked about a moment, then waved his palm slightly, casting a charm that would allow them to speak unheard by eavesdroppers. "You've confirmed the army's presence in the woods, then?" he asked, looking around the table at Newt and Tina Scamander, and Ned Veigler in turn.

"Yes," Tina whispered, leaning forward, a half-picked bit of croissant on a plate before her. "We sent our dear Niffler friend in and she's confirmed for us giants, centaurs, goblins, werewolves, and dementors."

Dumbledore looked quite concerned. "And Remus Lupin?"

"Detained in a small cell in the cellar of a stone cottage about seven miles deep," Viegler said. "The army stands between us and the cottage."

Dumbledore sighed and ran his hands over his beard nervously.

"I can get in," Veigler said, "But it'll be quite dangerous and I'll need a second, someone Fenrir won't recognize. Preferably someone young, though not too, of course..."

And Ned Veigler quickly filled Dumbledore in on the plan that he, Tina, and Newt had spent the night divising. Dumbledore nodded as he listened, humming and musing over the finer points until Ned had reached the very end and stared at him expectantly. "What do you think?" he asked.

"It is extremely risky, of course," Dumbledore answered.

"Of course," agreed Ned Veigler. "But the alternative is leaving Remus Lupin at the mercy of Fenrir Greyback and that is not an option I can live with. I would prefer to put my own life on the line at any cost than to abandon that boy to Greyback." His voice was passionate. "Perhaps not by blood, but in other ways much stronger than such, he's my little brother, and I hate the thought of him being in that room." Veigler shuddered -- he knew the room too well himself.