Bedknobs and Broomsticks [HP fanfic; BNB Book 1]

Early November, 1993

"Headmaster, I really must question your decision to bring Jaeger, Lupin, and Mansfield back to Hogwarts, given the current circumstances."

Dumbledore placed the silver trinket he had been examining back in its spot on the shelf, glancing over at Snape through his half-moon spectacles as he shut the cabinet doors. "Whatever do you mean, Severus?" he asked.

"Given that Black has escaped, and that we have reason to believe his next target is the Potter boy, do you really think it wise to reunite Black's little gang?"

From the corner of his eye, Dumbledore saw McGonagall stiffen, her already thin lips pressing themselves into an even thinner line. "Severus," she said, "I hardly think that you, of all people, are in any position to question the headmaster's faith in anyone."

"Don't you think it's a remarkable coincidence that Black should enter the castle the very night that Mariah Jaeger chose to arrive?" Snape went on, ignoring McGonagall. "As I recall, the two were quite close before his arrest."

"He was close to the Potters, too, and look where they are," McGonagall said. "Surely you aren't suggesting that Mariah helped Black to enter the castle?"

Snape gave her a pointed look.

She scoffed. "I'll not believe it," she said. "Albus, surely you can't think that Mariah would help Black? Not after what he did to the Potters."

"Certainly not," Dumbledore said, settling himself into the chair behind his desk. He pulled another silver instrument toward himself and began prodding it with his wand tip. "She, Remus, and Geoffrey are here for a simple reason. They are here for Harry's protection, and for their own."

"Sir," Snape said, stepping forward and putting his hands on Dumbledore's desk, "I am begging you to reconsider. Need I remind you that Geoffrey Mansfield's wife is in Azkaban for supporting the Dark Lord? And Remus was one of Black's closest friends when they were at school -- never mind the other security risks in bringing him here."

Dumbledore set the instrument aside, and steepled his fingers in front of him, giving Snape a serene smile. "I appreciate your concern, Severus, but I am asking you to trust me, as I have trusted you. It is in the boy's best interest that his parents' old friends are here; he is the spitting image of James, but has so much of Lily in him -- I suspect Remus and the others would go to great lengths to protect what is left of their old friends."

Snape sighed, dropping his hands from the headmaster's desk, and straightened. "As you say, headmaster," he said, and promptly left the office.

* * *

Storms were raging across the grounds of Hogwarts, the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest tossing this way and that in the fierce gales. A gaggle of third-years stood in the entryway to the castle, peering out across the grounds in the direction of the gamekeeper's hut.

"D'you reckon we should run for it?" Seamus Finnegan asked. He yanked at the cloak hung around his shoulders as though preparing for a mad dash through the downpour.

"Dad can shove those bowtruckles up his arse. I'm not going out in that," Joel said from the back of the group. His friends sent up a murmur of assent, Draco loudest of them all.

"We can't be having class in this," Dean Thomas said. "Professor Mansfield would have to be mad to think we'd go out in this."

"I wouldn't be surprised. He does seem a bit touched, doesn't he?" Ron asked.

"Ron!" Hermione hissed.

"I'm just saying, if my old lady got shipped off to Azkaban--"