Chapter 15
After the incident with Mrs. Figg, the baby was never left alone. Yor and Loid hovered him like hawks, firing shots at sudden movements and being incredibly on edge.
WISE had not been able to procure any information on the Order of the Phoenix or Albus Dumbledore, but they had been able to pull up Arabella Figg’s muggle records. Despite clearly being trained as an assassin, they was no indication she had ever committed any wrongdoing, In Westalis, or anywhere else. As they were living as a normal family in a foreign country, Loid was forced to let her go. It wasn’t long after that when Anya saw her on the street, read her mind, and realized it had been obliviated. Not only had the memory of their encounter been removed, but all re-collections of Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix along with it.
Anya was not surprised when she came home one day to find Albus Dumbledore in their sitting room, smiling pleasantly.
“Ah, Anya.” He said jovially, as he stood up. “Little Tom and your parents are out for a little walk.”
“Hello Professor.” She said cheerfully, as she walked towards him. “How are you?”
She drew the knife from underneath her sun dress and slashed it across his chest. Dumbledore stood completely still, smiling pleasantly, as the knife contacted his skin. It bent like rubber.
“Now Anya.” He said, his voice still light and friendly. “I am not here to fight. I simply wish to explain the situation to you. Doubtless you have already noticed certain things. I wish to clear the air.”
Anya stepped away. She had her gun on her as well, but at the moment she felt that it was best to keep talking.
“You want to kill my baby brother.” She said, her lips dry. “There’s nothing to clear the air about.”
“Your brother is, sadly, already dead.” Dumbledore said. “Lord Voldemort has seen to that.”
They stared at each other for a moment. Neither side was backing down. Dumbledore said.
“Voldemort has forced me into a difficult position.” He said. “I do not wish to remove a child from such a loving family… so loving, in fact, that it is willing to overlook his crimes in a past life. But it must be done. For The Greater Good.”
He spoke with a tone of finality.
“For the greater good?” Anya repeated. “How does killing a baby help to achieve that?”
“Do not be a fool.” Dumbledore said. “You know very well just who that child is. You have always known, yet have chosen not to tell the people closest to you. Not even Harry himself.”
Anya smiled grimly. “Neither have you.”
They stared at each other again.
“Harry does not need to know everything.” Dumbledore said, his voice heavy.
“Because that would make him more difficult for you to control… wouldn’t it, Chessmaster?” Anya asked, her voice sickeningly sweet.
Dumbledore raised his hands and folded his fingers. He stared at her. The gaze of his blue eyes were piercing. She knew that look very well. He now saw her as a threat.
“Your powers.” He said. “Have let you communicate with Voldemort, I see.”
“He’s told me some lies.” Anya said, her voice still pleasant. “But among them he let slip some nuggets of information I found very interesting. He’s told me some very interesting things about wizarding culture that don’t make a lot of sense to me… especially, about you.”
“Did he now?”
“For a child in the wizarding world.” Anya said. “You look very accomplished. You run Hogwarts, you’re an important figure in culture and politics, and you spent your youth battling dark wizards, such as Grindelwald and Voldemort. The image of you among the public is that of the ideal citizen.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“But that isn’t true, is it?”
Dumbledore smiled.
“No one is an ideal person, Anya.” He said kindly. “We all have our flaws.”
He stood up. He was incredibly tall, and towered over her. Anya had to stop herself from reaching for her weapon. He’s just an old man, she told herself.
“Tom seems to think you have more than a few.” Anya observed.
“And you believe him?” Dumbledore asked. “The man who killed Lily and James Potter?”
“People aren’t killed for no reason.” Anya said. “I know that better than most people.”
Dumbledore turned his head. His glasses glinted.
“You are an interesting girl.” He said. “I thought at first that it was your powers that made you so unusually obstinate. Or perhaps the influence of your parents. But I see now that you have indeed been awakened to the realities of the world.”
He turned his back to her. Anya reached for her handgun.
“I can see that you are aware of what I am.” Dumbledore said. “I suppose being in so close proximity to Lord Voldemort it was inevitable, I am sure. I had hoped that being so close to Harry and Sirius would have done more to convince you of my good intentions. But it seems that I underestimated your drive, and your intelligence.”
He folded his hands behind his back. “Please, enlighten me. What do you know?”
Anya had encountered men like this before. Men who had spent their entire lives scheming and plotting to gain as much power as possible. When there was no more control to be gained, no more power to be had, the next logical step was to change the world.
“I’m not a witch.” Anya said. “So I can’t say for sure just exactly what your role in your society is. But I can say that I first began to suspect your intentions when you chose to hide the Philosopher’s Stone in Hogwarts. You were very open about its general location, and in front of your students… all of whom have parents in the outside world, and some of whom, I am sure, would try and seize the Stone if given half an opportunity.”
Dumbledore was standing completely still.
“At first.” Anya said. “I assumed that you weren’t as great as Harry and his friends thought you were. That you had simply made a simple mistake. But the more I thought about it… the more I realized just how absurd it was that Lord Voldemort could have snuck into the school on the back of someone’s head without you noticing, I began to suspect your intentions.”
“You felt this way that early on?” Dumbledore inquired. “Without ever meeting me or discussing your feelings with Harry?”
“It made no sense to me that Nicholas Flamel would have the stone destroyed after someone stole it from you.” Anya said. “Or, quite honestly, that he would entrust something so valuable to you to begin with.”
“You are quite wrong about that.” Dumbledore said quietly. “Nicholas trusted me very much.”
“I know now that the real reason he died was due to you never giving the stone back.” Anya said casually. “He was dead for years before Harry was even born. That private, reclusive life he lived was a front that you set up so that the public wouldn’t be aware of what you had done.”
“Ah, the Daily Prophet debunked that story.” Dumbledore said.
Anya ignored him.
“Tom also knew that you were aware that he opened the Chamber of Secrets, and that he was the heir of Slytherin.” Anya said. “But you chose not to speak up about it. You defended Rubeus Hagrid, and won his undying loyalty, but you never did much to restore the rights that he lost after he was expelled from Hogwarts. Even after the truth behind the Chamber was exposed and Hagrid was proven completely innocent.”
“Your views on these matters are based on nothing but pure conjecture.” Dumbledore said. “Voldemort is manipulating you.”
“What Tom has told me makes too much sense.” Anya said. “You have personally overseen the education of every wizard in the United Kingdom and all surrounding territories. You are worshipped as the greatest mind of your generation, and all of the powerful players at the Ministry of Magic come to you for advice. The Minster of Magic himself asks you for approval when it comes to certain laws. Although it is true that you don’t directly control these people… your very shadow is a very powerful influence.”
She gritted her teeth.
“It was your decision to leave Harry Potter with his family at Number Four, Privet Drive.”
Dumbeldore turned to face her. He was smiling.
“Certainly nothing you have said is wrong.” He said. “But that is quite different than being right. Surely you realize that it was I who the public turned to fight Voldemort? It was widely believed, before his fall, that it would be I who defeated him. I did my best to stop Voldemort at the height of his powers… I formed the Order of the Phoenix and helped write laws that would protect the public from him. Everything I have done, is For The Greater Good.”
“You are not fooling me.” Anya said. “And what’s worse you know that I’m not going to be fooled.”
Dumbledore’s face fell.
“You are quite right.” He said. “My apologies. I regret treating you like a child. I truly have underestimated you, Anya Forger. Although it is very much true that you do not understand everything.”
“I feel as if I understand enough.” Anya said. “Enlighten me, then. What do I not understand?”
“You understand very well the nature of my influence.” Dumbledore said. “You understand that I have used my position as headmaster to cultivate generations of witches and wizards. But you do not understand why. I have worked tirelessly to end ancient prejudices and bring forth a new age of culture and progress to our world. Under my leadership Hogwarts has employed half giants, squibs, and werewolves, which would never have been possible under any other headmaster. I have utilized my political influence to protect muggles and the underprivileged of the magical world.”
She cocked her head, considering his words. She knew better than to take his words at face value, but the way he expressed himself seemed perfectly reasonable. Even noble. But she knew that this sort of person was the most dangerous. She decided that she needed to challenge him.
“All extremist leaders believe they are taking action for the greater good.” She said. “You are not special.”
“Again, you are not wrong.” Dumbledore said. “It is true that there is nothing special about me. When you get right down to it, I was nothing more than an above average student.”
He waved his hand around carelessly.
“I thought.” He mused. “Of ways to bring about a better world. Extreme ways, I admit. Ways that I am not proud of…. But I dared to dream them up, consider them, discard them, and repeated the process. For the last century of I have thought. And as I get older I begin to realize more and more how few people are concerned about these things.”
He blinked down at her. “Surely you have noticed?” He asked. “With your powers? How little that everyday people think about those around them. The vast majority of people are unhappy with their situation in life, but choose to do nothing to change it. They think themselves superior to those of lesser status than themselves, but resent the elite for looking down their noses at them. People, you see, do not think. They simply do not care to.”
Anya stared at him. Her hand was trembling. She was seriously thinking about shooting him.
“People like you and I.” Dumbledore said. “Are different. We are aware of the suffering of others, and do the best we possibly can to alleviate it. Those suffering are thankful for our assistance. They worship, and even love us. But they would never even consider becoming more like us.”
He sighed. He shook his head.
“Oh, but I have been prattling on.” He said. “Perhaps I have said too much?”’
“You haven’t told me anything.” Anya snapped. “What are your plans for Harry? Why are you fighting Voldemort? What’s your endgame?”
“I think.” Dumbledore. “That this conversation is over.”
He brought his hands together and exploded into a ball of flame. Anya flinched as the wave of heat washed over her, and then he was gone.