Monday 23 September, evening. Dumbledore's study
Another long day at the Wizengamot, overseeing grave and wearisome business. Dumbledore is tired as he slips into his study and clicks for an elf to bring him some supper. He will not visit the Great Hall tonight.
The deaths of enemies are as much to be regretted as those of your own side, he muses, shuffling papers aside to clear space for a dinner plate on his blotter. They will trouble you no more, and kill no more innocents, nor even other soldiers in the war as Amelia Bones had been, but death is a very final adventure. Once they are gone, their lips are sealed for good. There is no more to be learned from them. Although he suspects that the Aurors have tried. They've had him in their custody for long enough while this foolish show trial has faltered its way towards completion; it would have been folly to ignore such a goldmine of possible information.
Dumbledore himself has seen Antonin Dolohov only once outside the courtroom since his arrest however. And he had maintained a stoic and defiant silence today as he was put to the veil, a silence that will now be everlasting. He is now no more than a sigh in the breeze and an incomprehensible whisper behind a dark curtain.
Dumbledore is tired, weary to the bone. For once he eats only lightly when food arrives. He has no stomach for it tonight. For tomorrow the news will be in the papers and the wizarding world may celebrate, but for what? One man down. Voldemort has many more where he came from.
It never hurts to poke at the disaffected though. Dumbledore pulls parchment towards him, still weary but with renewed purpose. He will need to reply to Lucius Malfoy some time. Let it be now.
My dear Lucius and Narcissa,
Include the wife too. He suspects Narcissa of extreme favouritism towards her boy, and it is entirely likely that she is unaware of the tone which her husband took in writing to him.
I am greatly distressed that you should think the school is not endeavouring to take the utmost care of your son. We endeavour to treat all our pupils the same, and certainly the favouritism which you mention with regard to their health and security does not exist.
The security of the children during this weekend's Hogsmeade visit was considered to be of the most paramount importance. In light of the fact that there have been no direct threats to the school and Hogsmeade is a small and enclosed community it did not seem necessary to cancel the outing, but the number of professors patrolling in the vicinity of the village was increased threefold this year, the younger children were escorted down there by either a professor or a teacher, and all children fully understood that they were to be back at the school before dark. As indeed all but your son were.
Had you indicated that you were unhappy in any way with Draco being permitted to participate in this routine school outing along with the rest of his classmates, we would of course have made sure that he remained behind, but Professor McGonagall assures me that his Hogsmeade permission slip is still in order and has not been rescinded. We regret the lack of anticipation of your wishes, but perhaps in future an owl indicating what they might be would be in order?
Similarly, had you wished for Professor Castillo to suspend the work she was doing on dispelling your son's curse, a task I set her at your request, you had only to request it in writing. But again, I seem to have recieved no owl.
As for the nature of the spell which Draco and his companions carried out, it would seem that we were all misled concerning that. I quizzed the boy, upon learning of Professor Castillo's departure, and he informed me that it was a simple unbinding spell, the purpose of which was to counteract a binding spell which he also carried out himself with the same friends during the summer holidays while under parental supervision. My understanding was that he had researched this counter-spell, discussed it with Professor Castillo who approved his preparations, and that her role was only ever intended to be of a supervisory nature. I did call upon Professor Angeli to talk with the boy and give a second opinion on the matter, but there was no indication of any danger involved. Professor Castillo's magic is rather unorthodox, of course, so any spell for which she gave guidance might well appear to be more threatening than it actually is to the untrained eye.
I hope you will be reassured by the knowledge that Professor Angeli, though somewhat excitable and passionate about his own calling, is a very competent wizard and thoroughly trained in the defensive arts. He is a temporary teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts after we were sadly let down by the board of governors, who first nominated a candidate who found more pressing engagements elsewhere before the start of term, and then offered a substitute from amongst their own number who saw us through the first two weeks of term and then departed without having made provision for a more permanent replacement. I have therefore had to improvise for the time being, and other than his unfortunate calling, I consider Professor Angeli to be as good a candidate for the post as I could wish for. He has given his word not to preach his beliefs to the students...
And Dumbledore is sure that he will hear quickly from a number of the parents if Rafael should forget that promise.
... and you are of course at liberty to either withdraw your boy from the Defence Against the Dark Arts NEWT or to provide him with an additional tutor during the holidays. It is even possible that a tutor could be found for him during term time...
There's a werewolf living just off the grounds who has the right teaching qualifications, after all.
...but that might require him to leave the grounds once more. Be reassured that he will not leave them other than on approved school outings without your express permission in future. I have already asked Mrs Tonks to move her painting sessions from her studio at the Manse to the school buildings, and she has been so kind as to agree to that arrangement. We do indeed do our best to look after the security and well being of our students.
You mention Apparation. In the event that Draco returns to the school, do you wish him to participate in the Apparation classes which will run from mid-October until the end of the autumn term? I am entirely at your disposal in this matter, but I would remind you that if the boy does indeed have enemies, then a thorough schooling in Apparation would be to his benefit. Much the same might be said of DADA.
Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster
The deaths of enemies are as much to be regretted as those of your own side, he muses, shuffling papers aside to clear space for a dinner plate on his blotter. They will trouble you no more, and kill no more innocents, nor even other soldiers in the war as Amelia Bones had been, but death is a very final adventure. Once they are gone, their lips are sealed for good. There is no more to be learned from them. Although he suspects that the Aurors have tried. They've had him in their custody for long enough while this foolish show trial has faltered its way towards completion; it would have been folly to ignore such a goldmine of possible information.
Dumbledore himself has seen Antonin Dolohov only once outside the courtroom since his arrest however. And he had maintained a stoic and defiant silence today as he was put to the veil, a silence that will now be everlasting. He is now no more than a sigh in the breeze and an incomprehensible whisper behind a dark curtain.
Dumbledore is tired, weary to the bone. For once he eats only lightly when food arrives. He has no stomach for it tonight. For tomorrow the news will be in the papers and the wizarding world may celebrate, but for what? One man down. Voldemort has many more where he came from.
It never hurts to poke at the disaffected though. Dumbledore pulls parchment towards him, still weary but with renewed purpose. He will need to reply to Lucius Malfoy some time. Let it be now.
My dear Lucius and Narcissa,
Include the wife too. He suspects Narcissa of extreme favouritism towards her boy, and it is entirely likely that she is unaware of the tone which her husband took in writing to him.
I am greatly distressed that you should think the school is not endeavouring to take the utmost care of your son. We endeavour to treat all our pupils the same, and certainly the favouritism which you mention with regard to their health and security does not exist.
The security of the children during this weekend's Hogsmeade visit was considered to be of the most paramount importance. In light of the fact that there have been no direct threats to the school and Hogsmeade is a small and enclosed community it did not seem necessary to cancel the outing, but the number of professors patrolling in the vicinity of the village was increased threefold this year, the younger children were escorted down there by either a professor or a teacher, and all children fully understood that they were to be back at the school before dark. As indeed all but your son were.
Had you indicated that you were unhappy in any way with Draco being permitted to participate in this routine school outing along with the rest of his classmates, we would of course have made sure that he remained behind, but Professor McGonagall assures me that his Hogsmeade permission slip is still in order and has not been rescinded. We regret the lack of anticipation of your wishes, but perhaps in future an owl indicating what they might be would be in order?
Similarly, had you wished for Professor Castillo to suspend the work she was doing on dispelling your son's curse, a task I set her at your request, you had only to request it in writing. But again, I seem to have recieved no owl.
As for the nature of the spell which Draco and his companions carried out, it would seem that we were all misled concerning that. I quizzed the boy, upon learning of Professor Castillo's departure, and he informed me that it was a simple unbinding spell, the purpose of which was to counteract a binding spell which he also carried out himself with the same friends during the summer holidays while under parental supervision. My understanding was that he had researched this counter-spell, discussed it with Professor Castillo who approved his preparations, and that her role was only ever intended to be of a supervisory nature. I did call upon Professor Angeli to talk with the boy and give a second opinion on the matter, but there was no indication of any danger involved. Professor Castillo's magic is rather unorthodox, of course, so any spell for which she gave guidance might well appear to be more threatening than it actually is to the untrained eye.
I hope you will be reassured by the knowledge that Professor Angeli, though somewhat excitable and passionate about his own calling, is a very competent wizard and thoroughly trained in the defensive arts. He is a temporary teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts after we were sadly let down by the board of governors, who first nominated a candidate who found more pressing engagements elsewhere before the start of term, and then offered a substitute from amongst their own number who saw us through the first two weeks of term and then departed without having made provision for a more permanent replacement. I have therefore had to improvise for the time being, and other than his unfortunate calling, I consider Professor Angeli to be as good a candidate for the post as I could wish for. He has given his word not to preach his beliefs to the students...
And Dumbledore is sure that he will hear quickly from a number of the parents if Rafael should forget that promise.
... and you are of course at liberty to either withdraw your boy from the Defence Against the Dark Arts NEWT or to provide him with an additional tutor during the holidays. It is even possible that a tutor could be found for him during term time...
There's a werewolf living just off the grounds who has the right teaching qualifications, after all.
...but that might require him to leave the grounds once more. Be reassured that he will not leave them other than on approved school outings without your express permission in future. I have already asked Mrs Tonks to move her painting sessions from her studio at the Manse to the school buildings, and she has been so kind as to agree to that arrangement. We do indeed do our best to look after the security and well being of our students.
You mention Apparation. In the event that Draco returns to the school, do you wish him to participate in the Apparation classes which will run from mid-October until the end of the autumn term? I am entirely at your disposal in this matter, but I would remind you that if the boy does indeed have enemies, then a thorough schooling in Apparation would be to his benefit. Much the same might be said of DADA.
Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster