A Different Halloween

Chapter 32

-oOoOo-

Albus was currently sitting in a comfortable chair in his but n ben that nestled deep in the countryside outside the little highland village of Glengarry. He'd bought it some years ago from a widowed crofter who was finding that particular style of life a bit too demanding as he got older. The entire transaction was handled in the muggle world with no paper trail to connect the registered owner, one Dick Harris with Albus Dumbledore. Albus may be considerably older than the muggle from whom he bought the property but had no intention of living a hard life here. His personal elf Kitty was staying at Hogwarts, popping over with his meals and all the latest gossip on what was happening inside the castle. No one would notice her there and, unless asked the question directly, the other elves would say nothing.

Albus had the wizarding wireless to keep him apprised of what was happening in the rest of Britain. His days would be divided between listening to the wireless, researching through his shrunken library and beginning his memoirs. With his triumphal return to the wizarding world, Albus was assured an instant best seller that would financially compensate the aging wizard for his years in forced seclusion. He was certain his stay in the tiny house would be secluded, Albus had enough charms, spells and ruins over the area to hide the place from Merlin himself.

He would need to pay particular attention for the first sign of Voldemort's return. Only by defeating the resurrected dark lord would the British magical public forgive him for the things he plotted to take Voldemort down in the first place. His triumphal return was, at best a couple of years away so he might as well make himself as comfortable here as possible.

-oOoOo-

Barty had missed Dumbledore at Hogwarts but was managing to hold that information from the press for now. He wanted to let the affected families know before they read the Prophet's version of events. It wasn't too difficult since all the arrests kept the paper busy speculating where it would all end. With no access to the Potters, Barty was relying on the Longbottoms to pass the information on.

He was now aware Lily Potter must have cast some obscure charm on her nephew, which would allow her sister's death to protect the boy. It was also obvious from speaking with the Longbottoms that they were aware of this as well, Barty was keen to allay any fears they had about resulting investigations. "I see no reason why any of this should become public knowledge. The official reason on how Voldemort met his end is that he died while performing some dark ritual. This works for me and the rest of the magical world, why change it? Severus Snape's trial may be public but we can ensure certain things don't get mentioned. This also goes no further, Snape was more than helpful with our efforts to bring Dumbledore to justice, his aim was to avoid a dementor's kiss. He will definitely be going to Azkaban, only the duration of his stay is to be set by his trial. I honestly think Dumbledore played Snape as much as he did everybody else and the ex-potions professor will be locked away for many years."

Frank and Alice were both aurors and knew how the system worked, they had no problem with seeing Snape as a bit player and would support Barty in this matter. All their rage was directed at Dumbledore, their illustrious leader who smiled at you while working tirelessly behind the scenes to engineer your murder. It was the callous way the whole thing was supposed to play out that really shocked the Longbottoms. Frank reckoned his mother would have been next on Dumbledore's hit list, there was no way she would have allowed the old goat to interfere with Neville's upbringing if the worst happened to them.

Alice understood that Lily had pieced most of this together already but to hear it all laid out like that made her feel sick. Someone they trusted with their lives had betrayed them in the worst possible way. Planning their deaths and taking control of their orphaned children, what a sick bastard! If Voldemort had murdered Lily and James before meeting his end at Godric's Hollow, Alice had to wonder what the old man had in store for her and Sirius. As Harry's godparents, neither of them would have voluntarily relinquished control of the boy. Sirius would have played a major part in Harry's life while Frank and Alice raised him alongside Neville, Dumbledore couldn't allow that to happen for his plans to work. The old wizard would need to be caught and questioned under veritaserum before they would have the answers they needed.

No one there had any trouble believing that Dumbledore had a ready prepared bolthole waiting on him, he would be too proud to skip the country like a common criminal. They were now forced into the situation where they were waiting on him making a mistake before he could be punished for his crimes.

This was all Lily needed to hear just after burying her sister.

-oOoOo-