The Enemy of my Enemy

The Memory, Part III

"After everything he did last year?" Harry and Teddie both exploded.

"I told Cornelius there was no chance of it, but the idea did not die when he left office. Within hours of Scrimgeour's appointment we met, and he demanded that I arrange a meeting with you -"

"That is why you argued," Harry blurted out. "It was in the Daily Prophet."

"The Prophet has no bounds when it comes to gossip," said Teddie. "Look at the crap it keeps reiterating about me? I mean, sure, it's all true, but they're rehashing articles from last year because I refuse to give them anything new."

Dumbledore nodded. "It would seem that Rufus has found a way to corner you at last, Harry," he said.

"He came to see me back in August," said Teddie. "Him and Fudge. Tried to get me to do the same, and even went as far as to say that several mistakes were made last year."

"Mistakes?" Harry echoed.

Teddie nodded. "I told him that those 'mistakes' as he called them were his fault, his and Fudge's, and that I would help them set the story straight with the community. They made their mistakes, and they can clean them up, too," she said.

"Scrimgeour accused me of being Dumbledore's man through and through," said Harry.

"How very rude of him," said Dumbledore.

"I told him I was."

The corner of Dumbledore's lips tugged upwards, his eyes watering slightly. "I am touched, Harry," he said, softly but steady.

"Scrimgeour wanted to know where you go when you leave Hogwarts," Harry added.

"But that's none of his business!" Teddie protested.

"He is rather nosy about that," said Dumbledore, now sounding cheerful. "He has even attempted to have me followed. Amusing, really. He set Dawlish to tail me. It wasn't kind. I have already been forced to jinx Dawlish once. I did it again with the greatest regret."

"If someone was tailing me, and I caught them more than once, I wouldn't regret jinxing them," Teddie muttered.

Harry bit back a smile and nudged her.

Teddie looked up, meeting Dumbledore's gaze and noticing the amusement that twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles. "Sorry," she apologised.

"Is that your way of saying they still don't know where you go?" Harry asked.

"No, they don't, and the time is not quite right for you to know, either," said Dumbledore. "Now, I must insist we press on, unless there's anything else —?"

"There is, actually, sir," said Harry. "It's about Malfoy and Snape."

"Professor Snape," Dumbledore corrected, gently.

Teddie closed her homework book, careful to not smudge the ink of her essays, as Harry explained everything that had happened before Christmas break. By the time she had finished putting everything away, Harry had finished, and Dumbledore was sitting thoughtfully in his seat.

"Thank you for telling me this, Harry, but I suggest that you put it out of your mind. I do not think that it is of great importance," said Dumbledore.

"Not of great importance?" repeated Harry incredulously. "Professor, did you understand-?"

"Yes, Harry, blessed as I am with extraordinary brainpower, I understood everything you told me," said Dumbledore, a little sharply. "I think you might even consider the possibility that I understood more than you did. Again, I am glad that you have confided in me, but let me reassure you that you have not told me anything that causes me disquiet."