F&L: Interlude: Albus Dumbledore

Albus Dumbledore frowned as he watched Lisa Turpin be taken to Madame Pomfrey and the Hospital Wing. The poor girl was the latest victim of Salazar Slytherin's Creature, and though Luna Lovegood had been revived thanks to Blaise Zabini managing to get his hands on a dose of Mandrake Restorative Draught, the same was not forthcoming for Miss Turpin. It was a shame, but also a fact of life. Wizarding Britain simply did not often need to deal with cases of Petrification often enough to warrant keeping a supply of Mandrake Restorative Draught on hand. While Saint Mungo's would have a small supply, Albus was loath to go through them for such items.

This was largely due to political concerns. The need for Hogwarts to avoid scandal had been made very clear to him at the last meeting of the Hogwarts Board of Governors. They were adamant that if it came to a choice between the reputation of the school and removing Albus Dumbledore from his position as headmaster, they would always choose to sacrifice the latter for the sake of the former. In a way, Albus thought that he could at least understand their point. Absent of context, it certainly appeared that Albus may not be as capable of keeping the Children of Wizarding Britain safe as had been assumed. Hogwarts had, in past decades, had to fight with Bauxbatons in Magical France and Durmstrang on the Isle of Bornholm, for admissions.

This largely came down to family background on the part of the students. Many of the families who lived in such places as the Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, Sunderland, and the Faeroes used to send their children to Durmstrang for cultural reasons. Many of those Pureblood Families were descended from Norse Witches and Wizards, after all, and the classes on Combat Magic at Durmstrang were more comprehensive. Some of the finest Aurors in the past four centuries had come from those families. It had been considered a point of massive pride for Hogwarts when they began to attract the Children of more of those families to study here.

Bauxbatons was a much lesser case for attracting students away, however, as Bauxbatons had Alchemy and Enchantment Courses as part of the standard curriculum, with the former course having been taught by Nicholas Flamel for many years, it had often been the case that Children who showed interest or aptitude for such studies would go to Bauxbatons rather than Hogwarts. This only began to change once Nicholas had retired from teaching in eighteen-ninety-eight and had only really subsided once Albus had taken his post here in the twenties, as he was known to have apprenticed with Nicholas during and immediately after the Necromancer's War.

Really, Hogwarts' claim to be the Best Wizarding School in Europe was largely based on the past seventy-odd years, more than any real historical basis. However, it drew funding and donations from Alumni, the Ministry, Businesses, and half a dozen other sources in a way little else could. For that alone, the Board of Governors would replace Albus if he should cause a scandal. Albus could definitely see where they were coming from. That did not mean he agreed with their viewpoint, however. In fact, their viewpoint was absent knowledge of various factors, and even clouded by the lies of a Young Tom Riddle, decades after the fact. Still, their position, while regrettable and made with imperfect knowledge, was all too understandable.

However, Albus felt that, if he could just take a small sabbatical from his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, he might yet be able to get his arms around this issue, as it were. Unfortunately, such a thing was quite impossible at this time, as last year's fiasco with the Goblin Nation, which almost started a war, clearly showed. The Minister had erred in that whole affair, and Lucius Malfoy and his cadre of former Death Eaters had been there to capitalize off of that error. The Inherited Seats in the Wizengamot, which Lucius and the other Purebloods who followed him in pledging their lives and wands to the Dark Lord had been stripped from them as punishment by Minister Bagnold in the aftermath of the War. These seats had been placed in abeyance, to be reclaimed by their heirs.

Because of that punishment, Lucius and his allies had needed to work through proxies and middlemen, using their still vast fortunes to gather influence, working at a remove from the levers of power. It had allowed Albus to take advantage of the delay that inevitably cropped up because of the metaphorical distance such clandestine measures imposed. Several statutes had been pushed through despite the misgivings of Lucius Malfoy and his ilk, thanks to such delays. Unfortunately, that was no longer the case, and between the influence he had gained this way and Fudge's fiasco with the Goblins, Lucius and his allies had been able to regain their inherited seats.

It was because of this reason that Albus could not afford a sabbatical from his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Lucius Malfoy was no longer working at a remove, and if Albus took a sabbatical, he would be. Albus Dumbledore had no illusions that Lucius Malfoy would not take advantage of the same delays that Albus had previously in order to push through more of his own agenda. Turnabout, as they said, was fair play, after all. It was a shame, because the students were in very real danger. However, with last year proving that Voldemort was indeed still alive in some fashion, the bigger picture clearly dictated that Albus could not afford to have Death Eaters, Former or otherwise, in power in the Wizengamot.

"I suppose I shall just have to redouble my efforts on both fronts." Sighed Albus, shaking his head.

Stretched thin as he was, Albus knew the odds of his being able to search for and find the Chamber of Secrets were slim. He had already attempted the most obvious and surefire ways to do so he could think of, all to no avail. After all, the Headmaster of Hogwarts had access to certain powers while on the grounds. Normally, that was true, at any rate. Albus, however, was swiftly finding that Salazar Slytherin had built exceptions to this into his hidden sanctum. The wards could not tell Albus anything useful, nor could even the eldest of the portraits. It seemed that the Chamber was, for all intents and purposes, as invisible to the Castle as anything outside the grounds.

That left searching manually, a fraught prospect in a place such as Hogwarts, and one that would take time, manpower, or both to properly carry out. Neither was something Albus had in any great abundance, and even that approach was not guaranteed to work. For all Albus knew, the Chamber could be keyed only to reveal itself when certain conditions were met. After all, such things had been known to occur at Hogwarts. The Room of Lost Things was one such chamber up on the Seventh Floor. The Cursed Vaults that had plagued the school in the latter half of the previous decade had been another. Who is to say that Salazar Slytherin did not key his chamber to reveal itself only to one of his bloodline, for instance? Albus could not rule out the possibility.

"It is a shame." Sighed Albus.

"What is, Headmaster?" Questioned a voice which made Albus want to cringe internally.

Albus sighed once more, turning to regard the smiling form of Gilderoy Lockhart. Honestly, Albus was beginning to regret hiring the man on. Oh, certainly, he was competent enough. Not nearly enough to have gained that Order of Merlin he had somehow managed to be awarded, though, nor to have gathered so much fame at such a young age. It was a mystery to Albus how he could have done so, though if he were a betting man, he would have put it down to the Man's uncanny facility to network despite his more annoying tendencies and personality traits.

For one thing, Gilderoy Lockhart was quite the glory hound. Albus had noticed it right from the start, when the man had begun to recount various deeds he may or may not have actually performed at the interview, clearly embellishing some, if not most, of them. However, embellishment by itself is not a crime, and the man had the references to attest to his skills available for Albus to peruse. Unfortunately, his glory-hounding was seconded by his second personality trait, enough pride in himself that it crossed the border into arrogance. Gilderoy Lockhart was a proud man. This had been evident during office selection, when he had demanded to be given a real office, not associated with a 'failed Dark Wizard' as he had called Quirinius.

The combination made for quite an annoying person, even without the third and final annoying character trait, Gilderoy Lockhart was a shameless flirt. Albus had already received complaints from Bathsheeba, Aurora, and Septima about it. If that weren't bad enough, Madame Rosemerta at the Three Broomsticks had barred Gilderoy from the premises after he had made one too many passes at her one evening. Gilderoy had been forced to stay on the Hogwarts Grounds for many of the nights since, though every so often he would apparently visit Albus' brother at the Hogshead Inn to resupply his stash of Firewhiskey.

That the man had clearly made powerful connections despite it all was either insane luck or there was something else going on that Albus could not put his finger on. Either way, it mattered little. Gilderoy Lockhart was here to stay, at least for the remainder of the Year. Albus could not hope to remove him now, even if he truly wanted to, thanks to the trouble he was having with the Board of Governors. Shaking his head at his misfortune, Albus prepared himself for a conversation with the Man.

"I was simply remarking at what a shame it is that Young Miss Turpin was petrified. We do not have the Mandrake Restorative Solution on hand to cure her." Answered Albus.

"Why not? Didn't we have some for Miss Lovegood?" Queried Lockhart.

"We did, thanks to a donation from a student. As you well know, however, Britain has a dearth of Magical Creatures native to these isles which can cause petrification. It is not a common remedy here." Answered Albus.

"I see. Perhaps I might help here? I happen to know a few people in Magical Customs that I am sure would be able to expedite a shipment from Southern Europe. Why, this morning, I was even just wondering what Old Andronicus was up to. He and I had quite the adventure a few years back in Rome, you know." Boasted Lockhart.

"No, Gilderoy, that's quite all right. Pomona is raising Mandrakes in the Greenhouses for our own usage." Refused Albus, restraining the urge to sigh at the bragadoccio on display.

"Are you sure? It would be no trouble." Asked Lockhart.

"Quite. I don't think we need to involve anyone else just yet. Best to avoid a scandal." Responded Albus.

"Well, if you change your mind, I would be happy to help." Offered Lockhart.

"I will keep that in mind." Nodded Albus.

"I had been meaning to ask you something, however, Headmaster." Opined Lockhart.

"I am quite busy at the moment, Gilderoy. Can this wait until the weekly staff meeting?" Questioned Albus.

"It will just take a moment of your time, Headmaster." Pressed Lockhart.

"Very well, Gilderoy. What can I do for you?" Queried Albus, wearily.

"Well, you might have heard about the Girls' NEWT-level Dueling Club that Minerva approved, yes?" Asked Lockhart.

"She mentioned it, yes." Confirmed Albus.

"Well, some of the Girls were asking about more purpose-made Dueling Spells. I had wondered whether or not you might see your way clear to giving us the former Dueling Club's Library? I know that many of those volumes were donated specifically for the Dueling Club's use. However, I did think of a compromise. Miss Clearwater, the Ravenclaw Prefect, brought me an interesting bit of novel spellwork that one of the Ravenclaw Second Years came up with. The Amanuensis Spell. It's a variant of the Gemino. However, it only copies books and scrolls. That limitation allowed for permanent, high-fidelity copies to be made." Informed Lockhart.

"And you wish for my permission to copy the former Duelling Club's Library with this spell? I don't see why that would be a problem. I will have Fillius release the tomes to you, provided you return them once they have been copied." Agreed Albus.

"Thank you, Headmaster! I knew you would see this my way!" Beamed Lockhart.

"Now, I am afraid I am quite busy, Gilderoy. I shall have to leave you for now." Intoned Albus.

"Of course, Headmaster." Affirmed Lockhart.

As he turned to make his way back toward his office, Albus Dumbledore's mind refocused on the task at hand. Gilderoy Lockhart was merely annoying. The Chamber of Secrets, on the other hand, was deadly. He needed to figure out where the chamber was and how to close it permanently, and fast.

Before even more Children had to suffer. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. I realized we could get all of the relevant bits of this from just Dumbledore's POV, so we didn't need to jump around to other people. Essentially, there are a number of reasons why Dumbledore can't just go to the Chamber of Secrets and shut it down, fixing this mess. Both political and practical. At the same time, Lucius Malfoy is clearly gaining power back in the Ministry after a decade in the political wilderness, and wielding it effectively in the form of the Hogwarts Board of Governors and Wizengamot.

At the same time, Dumbledore has no clue about what Lockhart is really capable of, just seeing him as a braggart whose connections are covering for mediocre skill. Meanwhile, Lockhart just got an upgrade for his thralls and himself without Dumbledore even knowing about it, since he's preoccupied with the aforementioned political ramifications of the Chamber of Secrets having been opened.

At any rate, the next chapter will have us back with Blaise's POV and cover the month of November up until the twenty-third. Then we'll have another attempt to stalk Lockhart on the night of the Twenty-Third, before going into a Chapter covering November twenty-fourth to December ninth, where a whole shitload of rituals are going to be done.

Stay tuned. . .