The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix Part Three

I Was Once A Sirius Boyfriend

Peter sat in a booth in the Curry restaurant downstairs from the flat, kneeling on one of the bench seats, a bit of parchment unrolled before him and a quill in his hand. Across from him, Oni sat with a cup of something she called karkadeh that Peter thought smelled more like flowers than of a drink. He was nervous, a bit pale, but trying to be cool, his mind repeating the mantra what would James Potter do? over and over again.

"That boy at Speaker's Corner," Peter said, "That was Barty Crouch. He's a Slytherin. Should be in your year at Hogwarts this term. He was mates with Regulus Black. Or at least he was when Regulus first started at Hogwarts, I remember them always being 'round one another back then. Would've been room mates, the same as me and Sirius were. He was a bit of a bully 'round the school."

"Yes," Oni nodded, "He still is. I recognized him, too."

"I'd be interested to hear what the rest of his speech was about, honestly," Peter said. He stared down at the paper in front of him. "I mean, I know obviously blood supremacy is wrong -" he added quickly, "I'm not saying it isn't. And You Know Who is definitely wrong on all counts. But. But I - I mean, I've now heard a couple people talk about Grindelwald's theories and..." Peter flushed. "Is it wrong that I'm not entirely turned off by the idea of a world where peace is protected - or enforced - and people are equals and taken care of and all that? Where magic can be used for the good of everyone?"

Oni flushed, too, and lowered her voice like Peter had done, leaning closer, "I don't think you're mad for it, no. I don't know. Everyone talks about Grindelwald's ideas like they're horrible, but what if they aren't so bad? What if he's been misunderstood? If someone as clever as You Know Who must be - he must be clever, don't you think? at least a little? to have led such an uprising as he's done? - if even he can misunderstand Grindelwald's meaning, then surely everyday people could."

Peter nodded. "Maybe they don't understand that he didn't intend to kill all the muggles, but to take care of them."

"Right, exactly, so they fought against him. And You Know Who thinks he's following the agenda that they all believed Grindelwald was teaching but really it's a whole different thing."

Peter hesitated then. "Well, wait, wait. Dumbledore, though. Dumbledore was against Grindelwald. Surely he didn't misunderstand Grindelwald. Right?"

Oni frowned. "Yeah, that's true. Him and Grindelwald worked together for a really long time, though, they were best friends in school, that's what all the history books say. But they split ways. Dumbledore defeating Grindelwald in 1945 is part of why You Know Who is so scared of him now. Because Grindelwald was so powerful and Dumbledore beat him in a duel."

Peter sat back in his seat. "So if Grindelwald's teaching isn't bad," Peter said, "Then why would Dumbledore duel him?"

"I don't know," Oni murmured.

They were quiet for several moments, each thinking the question over, turning it in their minds.

"You know... James Potter has 't been much fond of Dumbledore lately," Peter said thoughtfully. "Something happened back in March. I don't know what exactly. But ever since Regulus died, there's been some strange feelings about Dumbledore. Maybe he found something out and... maybe... I mean. Dumbledore. Like. Is he - you know - trustworthy?"

Oni thought for a moment, then said, "Regulus didn't trust him either. He was always getting detentions from him and McGonagall."

"McGonagall's alright," Peter said, shaking his head. "Its just Dumbledore I don't know about."

"There must've been more to the duel," Oni said.

"Must've been," Peter echoed.

"I think that our first step is to research the duel between Grindelwald and Dumbledore and find out what the more-to-it is," Oni suggested. "We need to know what Grindelwald's views were and if Dumbledore fought against him on a specific principle or on all of the theories. Then, we can use that to determine why Dumbledore hasn't just dueled Vol -- sorry. Why he hasn't dueled You Know Who. Like, is he afraid he won't win against You Know Who? Is He Who Must Not Be Named more powerful than Grindelwald?"