In Which Kingsley Betrays the Order and the Old Man
Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt,
My name is Luna Lovegood and I have some information that is vitally important to the safety and well-being of the Boy Who Lived. I have it on very good authority that headmaster Dumbledore has been trying to dose Harry Potter with a variety of extremely Dark potions for the purpose of subverting his will and turning him into a person no better than and inferius, all for his Greater Good. He intends to wield my friend like a marionette to do his bidding, and then kill him when his job is finished.
I implore you to heed the heliopaths and save my friend. If you need to prove the veracity of my accusations, you need look no further than this truth parchment and Molly Weasley. She was the one that Dumbledore approached to brew the potions that he had created. He didn’t want to use Potions Master Snape because our professor would have refused the order point blank. The man is a menace to good, decent wizards and witches and should be put away.
Sincerely,
Luna Lovegood
Kingsley stared at the missive for long minutes, eyebrows sliding into his non-existent hairline in shock. It was Dawlish’s noisy entrance into the Auror department that startled the dark-skinned man out of his astonishment. “John!” he barked loudly, waving the parchment in the air to gain the other man’s attention.
“What is it, sir?” Dawlish asked, recognizing the look on his boss’ face.
“I just received this letter from someone named Luna Lovegood, and she’s accusing Albus Dumbledore of trying to poison Harry Potter!” Dawlish read the letter, snorting at the reference to heliopaths but recognizing the slight shimmer that the parchment reflected as he turned it toward the torchlight.
“It is on truth parchment,” the other Auror said softly, “so she’s telling the truth as she knows it. As well, she’s provided a witness to the alleged crime, so we have someone else with whom to speak.” Dawlish paused for a moment, contemplating his next words carefully. “Look, Kings, I know you have a certain amount of reverence for the headmaster but I’ve got to be honest here. I don’t like Albus Dumbledore, at all. I don’t trust that he’s ever had the welfare of the wizarding world in mind when he’s done all of the things he’s done. Especially with the way he tries to interfere with the Wizengamot when proposed laws are submitted. Let’s take this to the Senior Undersecretary and see what he has to say about it.”
“I can’t believe I have to discuss this with Lucius ruddy Malfoy,” Shacklebolt grumbled petulantly as they left the department for the Minister of Magic’s office.
“Come on, Kings,” Dawlish said with a cheery smile. “Since Malfoy’s been Minister, things have gone so much better. The budgetary constraints that Fudge had us under are a thing of the past. We can have someone design us new Auror robes that won’t interfere with our jobs. We’ve got more trainees who were extensively vetted as to their suitability for the job. Face it, Shacklebolt, Malfoy’s the best Minister we’ve ever had.”
“I see,” Lucius murmured as he re-read the letter for the fourth time. This particular spanner in the works hadn’t been brought to his attention at any of the meetings they’d had, so he was completely blindsided. I’m going to have a chat with Harry, Draco and Severus as soon as possible. “I’ll have the law department write up a search warrant whilst the two of you go and talk to Mrs. Weasley,” the Minister told the men. “As soon as you’re finished taking her statement, head over to the school; the warrant should have reached deputy headmistress McGonagall’s desk by that time.”
“Understood, sir,” Dawlish saluted with a smile. Grumbling under his breath, Kingsley turned and accompanied his partner out the door and to the Atrium. They approached the nearest fireplace, where Shacklebolt tossed some floo powder in and stuck his head in the firebox.
“Molly Weasley, the Burrow,” he shouted, waiting a few moments for her to answer.
“Kingsley,” she gasped as she approached her fireplace, “to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”
“We’ve received a letter from a student at Hogwarts,” Kingsley explained, “accusing Albus Dumbledore of trying to poison Harry Potter. The letter also claims that you were the one approached to make the potions. May we come through?”
“Of course you may,” the Weasley matriarch gasped out, hand to her chest. “Who’s coming with you?”
“John Dawlish, ma’am,” the other Auror replied, bending down so the woman could see his face.
“Come on through, then,” she sighed, grimacing at the thought of the upcoming interrogation. She closed down her side and stepped back, waiting a few moments. She watched with a jaundiced eye as the fire flared green before Kingsley stepped through first, followed very quickly by Dawlish. “Would you like some tea?” she offered, gesturing for the men to have a seat at her kitchen table.
“That would be lovely, ma’am,” John replied with a smile. Moments later there was a full tea set before the men, the tray covered with a variety of homemade biscuits and cakes. “Thank you, ma’am!” Dawlish chirped cheerfully as he took a saucer and helped himself to several biscuits and a slice of pineapple upside down cake. Once Molly had poured the tea and sat, the questioning began.
“We’ve received this letter accusing headmaster Dumbledore of a crime, and naming you as a corroborating witness,” Kingsley said, sliding the letter across the table to the witch. She picked it up and read it, eyes widening slightly before setting it back down and looking at Shacklebolt.
“It’s true,” she replied softly, blue eyes shuttered. “Albus called me to his office, handed me several pieces of parchment with recipes on them and asked me to brew the potions he’d created.”
“Do you still have those recipes?” Dawlish asked eagerly. Nodding, Molly stood and went to her personal potions lab, returning moments later with the stack of parchment in her hands. She handed them to Kingsley, who perused the pages with narrowed eyes. He recognized Dumbledore’s handwriting from the many requests, proposals and orders he’d sent to the senior Auror. Most of the ingredients were standard fare; a few, however, were nearly impossible to come by and highly dangerous in the wrong hands. Sighing, Shacklebolt handed the sheets to Dawlish to look over whilst he looked at Molly sadly.
“Did you brew any of these potions?” he asked softly.
“No, I didn’t. I gave the recipes to Severus to examine because I was wary of some of the ingredients and I wasn’t sure about what the potions would do.”
"How do you have the recipes if you gave them to Snape?" Kingsley questioned.
"When he called me to his quarters to have me infuse the finished product with my magic, he returned the recipes. He said that he didn't want Albus to accidentally discover them in his rooms."
“So Potions Master Snape brewed the elixirs?” Dawlish asked, eyes still on the parchments.
“He did. He wanted to see what their mode of action would be; what they would do to Harry if they’d been given to him.”
“And what did he tell you they would do?” Kingsley asked, not sure if he even wanted to hear the answer.
“They would have made Harry completely obedient to Albus. They would have made sure that the child would be unable to lie to Albus. They would have made that boy a willing sacrifice to Albus’ Greater Good.”
“Willing sacrifice?” John asked, scowling. “How?”
“Those potions would have subverted Harry’s will so drastically that he would have been eager to sacrifice his life if Albus would have asked it of him. We all know about the prophecy; Albus was just trying to make sure that it would be resolved to his liking.”
“By making sure that Harry Potter died?” Shacklebolt asked incredulously. The reverence that the seasoned Auror felt for the old man slowly died a horrifying death as he considered all he’d been told.
“Yes,” Molly told the Aurors with tears in her eyes. “He’d been trying to groom Harry to be a sacrificial lamb almost from the moment his parents had died. That poor boy was left with abusive muggles who hardly fed him and kept him locked up in a boot cupboard underneath their front stairs until Harry came to Hogwarts. When I found out that they were starving him, I made sure to send him food every week so he’d have something to sustain him.
“Then Draco Malfoy sent Dobby to keep Harry company and provide him food whilst he was locked up in a bedroom upstairs. The purpose for the abuse and neglect, as I understand it, was to make sure that Harry saw Albus as the only being in the world to care enough about him to remove him from his muggle relatives for a little while at the end of every summer. Dumbledore wanted Harry to see him as the boy’s own personal savior. For a while, it worked, until things started becoming clearer to the child. My sons helped keep Harry away from the headmaster’s manipulations and they encouraged him to question the old man’s motives. Then he was ‘abducted’ from his muggle home and was shown a different side to the war, and he never looked back.
“It’s because Harry turned away from certain beliefs that Albus is panicking now. Harry is showing that he’s ‘questioning’ his ‘mentor’ and Dumbledore isn’t happy about it. So he decided to poison Harry with potions he created, and, well, now we’re here.”
“That’s...that’s quite a story you’ve told me,” Kingsley said hesitantly. “With these recipes and another witness to interrogate, it seems that Albus Dumbledore isn’t who we’d thought he was all these years.”
“I know it’s hard to have your perceptions ripped away like this, Kings,” Dawlish said sympathetically. “Just know that we’re doing what we’re meant to do in protecting the innocent. In this case, we’re protecting the most innocent victim of all.”
The tap at the Potions Master’s classroom door startled the man, who was elbows deep in fourth year essays. With a put-upon sigh, he rose from behind his desk and stalked to the door, yanking it open with a snarl on his face. The snarl disappeared as ebon eyes flew wide in astonishment. “Auror Shacklebolt? To what do I owe the honor of your visit?”
“We’re here to ask you a few questions,” Kingsley replied with a grimace. “May we come in?”
“Of course,” Severus said, stepping back with a bow of his head and allowing the Aurors into the room. “May I ask what this is about?”
“We received a letter explaining that Dumbledore was attempting to dose Harry Potter with illegal potions,” Dawlish explained. “We interviewed Molly Weasley, who was Dumbledore’s first contact. She pointed us in your direction as the actual brewer of the poisons.”
“Let us adjourn to my quarters,” Severus said with a heavy sigh. “This is a conversation that no one else needs to overhear.”
“Albus Dumbledore, we are here to serve you with a search warrant from the legal department of the Ministry which grants us permission to search your office and personal quarters,” Kingsley said as soon as he walked through the office door. Albus sat in his chair, eyes wide and mouth hanging open in stunned surprise.
“Kingsley?” he asked querulously, his voice quavering and old. “Whatever did I do to earn such disrespect?”
“An anonymous source sent us a letter explaining that you had potions brewed to give to Harry Potter with the purpose of subverting his free will. We’ve just interviewed two witnesses to your crime, and now we’re here to ransack your office and quarters to see if there’s further evidence of your misdeeds,” Dawlish explained with a feral grin. “As of this moment, you’re under suspicion and any evidence we may find will be examined by the DMLE. Once we’ve finished our investigations and if there’s any evidence that points to further crimes, we will return with an arrest warrant. Now, if you will please leave so that we may do our jobs...”