A Really Bad Idea
“Ah, gentlemen,” Dumbledore smiled at the Marauders as they entered his office. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
“What’s this about, Professor?” James asked, sitting in one of the armchairs in front of Dumbledore’s desk. Sirius and Remus sat on either side of him.
“Would you care for a lemon drop?” Dumbledore asked, offering a bowl to them.
“No, thank you,” Sirius said.
“Is everything okay?” Remus asked. “You don’t normally see all three of us.”
“First things first,” Dumbledore said, his voice as grandfatherly as always. “As you know, we are looking for a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor-”
“Only because Sni-Snape snitched on Remus,” Sirius grumbled, still infuriated by the occurrence.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, giving Sirius a stern look. Sirius glared back.
“As I was saying, we need a new professor for this year,” Dumbledore said, his tone a bit more brisk than before. “And I thought I would offer the post to you, Mr. Black.”
All three Marauders were silent.
“Me?” Sirius asked, stunned. “Uh, why?”
“Well, as you were in residence with Mr. Lupin last year, the students all know you already, besides the first years, of course,” Dumbledore said. “And Mr. Lupin was quite a hit with the students, I might add. You witnessed his teaching, you helped out quite often, and I heard quite favourable things about you from several students. And as Remus has experience, he could help you out with anything you needed. It really wouldn’t be that different from last year, except you would be the lead teacher, with Remus assisting as needed.”
Remus coughed lightly, leaning forward. “I don’t see how that would work, Professor. I left because of what Severus revealed, I don’t see how me still living here and being around the students would be accepted by the parents.”
Dumbledore smiled gently. “I have actually had many owls from the parents, expressing disappointment that you would not be returning. Many of them know you from your school days, and remember you favourably. Add to that the students own endorsements, there are only a few parents that have expressed any concern.”
“So why don’t you just hire Moony again?” James asked.
“I’m sure you’re all aware of the rumours about a jinx on the position,” Dumbledore said.
All three nodded.
“Well, I suppose I can reveal to you that I have reason to suspect that it is more than rumour.”
The office was silent.
“What reasons?” Remus finally asked.
“It’s not very well known that Voldemort approached me, a while after his own graduation, asking if I would consider him for the post,” Dumbledore said genially. “Naturally, I refused. And ever since then, we can’t seem to hold on to a teacher for longer than a year.”
“So you want me to take on a teaching position that’s been cursed by Voldemort?” Sirius asked incredulously. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us this last year? Quirrel died, and Lockhart’s in St. Mungo’s permanently! What if something like that had happened to Remus?”
Remus put a hand on Sirius’s arm, giving him a look that had him quieting.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” James said cautiously. “Sirius has a point. It’s bad enough that Remus’s condition got out, I don’t want Sirius ending up… hurt.”
“I understand your concerns,” Dumbledore said gently. “But I believe I have a way around them. I asked Alastor Moody to fill the post, and he asked about the same thing. I suggested that he merely sign on for a single year. If you’re planning on staying only for a year, then there’s no reason for any such jinx to take matters into its own hands, so to speak. Alastor turned me down, which I will explain in a moment, but I thought that a similar strategy would work with you.”
Sirius glanced at James and Remus.
“You think that’ll work, do you?” he asked after a moment. “Going into it for just a year?”
“I am confident that you will be fine, Mr. Black,” Dumbledore said.
“It would be good to be here, be able to keep an eye on Harry,” Sirius mused. “Especially in light of…” he glanced significantly at James, who understood him to mean Harry’s dream.
The look did not go unnoticed by Dumbledore, but he didn’t comment.
“Alright,” Sirius said, nodding. “Yeah, I’ll do it. As long as Remus gets to come with, like last year.”
“Excellent!” Dumbledore said brightly. “You’ll have the same office and quarters as last year.”
“Why did Moody turn you down?” James asked. “Didn’t want to come out of retirement?”
“More like he found a more… fitting route for his return from retirement,” Dumbledore said lightly. “Now, this is top secret information, you understand? You’re not to be telling anyone. Anyone. Not even fourteen-year-olds, understood?”
“It’s a secret from Harry?” Remus asked, sounding confused. “Why from Harry?”
“More of a secret from Hogwarts students,” Dumbledore smiled softly. “The Ministry and I have decided the time is ripe to attempt a revival of the Triwizard Tournament, to be hosted at Hogwarts this coming year.”
“What?” James exclaimed, looking incredulously at Dumbledore. “You want to bring back the Triwizard Tournament? Does discontinued due to mounting death toll mean nothing?”
Dumbledore looked mildly surprised. “I thought this would be something that interested you.”
James stood up. “Yeah, when I was fucking fifteen and an idiot! This doesn’t seem like a really stupid idea to you? Harry’s been having dreams of fucking Voldemort getting stronger, always accompanied by his scar hurting. What do you think that means? That he’s just sitting around doing nothing? You’re inviting all these random people into the castle, a castle that happens to hold my son who a lot of people would love to murder, and you think that’s something that would interest me?”
Remus stood too, putting a hand on James’s arm. “James, calm-”
“No!” James exclaimed. “I’m not going to calm down! This tournament seems like a really great way to let a whole bunch of Death Eaters or some shit get right at my kid!”
“Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore said calmly. “I assure you I have no intention of letting any harm come to Harry. That is, in fact, why Alastor turned me down. He shared many of the same concerns you do, and he’s returning strictly to serve as security. He’ll keep his eye on everything. You do, of course, know how good he is at that.”
“Yes, we know how good he is at that,” Sirius rolled his eyes. “We only trained in his Auror Academy for three years, Dumbledore. I’m with James, and Moody, apparently. This is a bad idea.”
“I recognize your worries,” Dumbledore said. “But this was merely a heads up. The tournament is set in stone. All three schools, all three Ministries, are in agreement, and the details have already been laid out. There’s no turning back from it now without severely damaging our relations with Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, possibly irreparably, and that is the last thing we need right now. Now, tell me about Harry’s dream.”
James was clearly still seething, but remembering his promise to Harry, he sat down. “I don’t know all the details. He was having a bit of trouble remembering. They were definitely plotting to get their hands on him. They mentioned the Quidditch World Cup, and Harry said they were talking about having killed Bertha Jorkins.”
“Bertha,” Dumbledore mused. “She’s been missing for quite a while, yes?”
“Yeah,” Sirius said. “Ludo hasn’t even sent anyone out to look for her, says she’s just lost, but with what Harry said, it looks a bit… fishy.”
“That’s an understatement,” Remus muttered.
“Any further details?” Dumbledore prompted.
“Voldemort mentioned a faithful servant at Hogwarts,” James said. “So you’d better put a real close eye on that. And Peter was there, but we kind of figured he was the servant Trelawney was talking about last year, so I’m not too surprised about that. And a Muggle man overheard the conversation, an old guy Harry didn’t recognize. Harry woke up when Voldemort killed the poor guy.”
“Indeed,” Dumbledore murmured. “I will bear this in mind.”
“Do you think it was real?” Sirius asked. “Harry’s really worried about it.”
“I think it would be best to proceed as if it was,” Dumbledore said. “A Muggle man was recently found dead in an estate that I know to be the previous home of Voldemort’s father. Incidentally, he and his family died mysteriously nearly fifty years ago. The same man was accused of their murder, but lack of evidence released him.”
“So it was real,” Remus sighed. “No way that’s a coincidence.”
“Are you gonna tell me why my fourteen-year-old is having dreams about what Voldemort’s doing?” James asked. “That doesn’t strike me as a regular adolescent occurrence.”
Dumbledore was silent for a moment. “I have a few theories. Each as unlikely as the next. We can only guess.”
The Marauders were quiet for a moment.
“Well that stinks of bullshit,” James said, standing again. “But that’s all we’re getting, I assume, so we’ll be off. I don’t like leaving Harry alone with just Ron and Hermione for too long.”
Sirius and Remus stood as well, and all three moved towards the door. James paused with his hand on the handle, and looked back.
“Oh, Professor?” he said conversationally. “If this tournament brings any harm to Harry, I’ll be holding you responsible. If Sirius and Remus are going to be here all next year, I expect to hear from you, either personally or through them, the minute anything weird happens. Anything at all. This isn’t a game. This is Harry’s life, and I expect you to do everything you can to protect it.”
Without giving Dumbledore a chance to respond, the three men disappeared through the office door, letting it bang shut behind them.