Location: Hogwarts Headmaster’s Office. Present: B. Bode, A. Dumbledore, phoenix (Fawkes). Bode and Dumbledore sip brandy drinks.
BODE: Scrimgeour is getting itchy. Rumours have made it downstairs that he wants your head.
DUMBLEDORE: He never did learn patience. But he will.
BODE: Mhm. How is your DMLE man holding up? You’ve managed to keep him at the head of the investigation, I see.
DUMBLEDORE: He will keep things at a tempered pace. I have every reason to trust him.
BODE: Let us hope. Regardless, I see every reason to – er – make haste.
DUMBLEDORE: Why the race, Broderick? We can’t rush the process of education.
BODE: Well, unfortunately we don’t have seven years for the boy to figure out how to alohamora a locked door on his own.
DUMBLEDORE: Oh, that one he’s learned.
BODE: Incredible. A fine recruit he’ll make for the Auror’s Office someday.
DUMBLEDORE: You jest. But I believe that the boy is making adequate progress.
BODE: Marvellously adequate, yes. Has he made the Flamel connexion yet? Does he know what is – beneath the – animal?
DUMBLEDORE: Hmm. To my knowledge he has not. He has discovered the animal – I expected he might, er, investigate on his own accord, but he required a bit of persuasion. It took some negotiation with our blessed poltergeist, but he got there in the end. But Flamel – the Stone – no, he has not yet discerned the Stone.
BODE: It’s already November. The DMLE wanted this done by Christmas.
DUMBLEDORE: Again with the rush! But I suppose we could drop a few hints. I thought the Chocolate Frog edits would –
BODE: Blast it, Albus, no one collects Chocolate Frog cards any more.
DUMBLEDORE: Pity. What an educational delight. Not a bad chocolate, either, though the texture is a bit – well, anyway –
BODE: Is there not a more – overt hint you can drop?
DUMBLEDORE: Hmm. I will consider.
BODE: Consider. Consider.
[Falls into silence.]
DUMBLEDORE: What is it, Broderick?
BODE: The – when I told you before, about the Cassius file.
DUMBLEDORE: Yes?
BODE: The man who accessed it – word around the Department is he’s asking questions.
DUMBLEDORE: Hmm. Questions. Questions about what?
BODE: About – well, Gage’s ties to Cassius.
DUMBLEDORE: [Smiling faintly] But there are none.
BODE: Er – well, the man who’s asking, who accessed the file – it’s Greengrass, Albus.
DUMBLEDORE: Greengrass?
BODE: Greengrass. Gareth Greengrass. He’s currently stationed in – he’s currently stationed in Albania.
DUMBLEDORE: Hmmm. Gareth Greengrass – Greengrass – surely not one of the Greengrasses? I don’t recall a Gareth.
BODE: He’s of the American branch. He didn’t come through Hogwarts. Up through Ilvermorny, he came to Britain after finishing – ancestral ties, I suppose.
DUMBLEDORE: Ah! Naturally. Well, what can you tell me about this Greengrass?
BODE: We hired him on as a research assistant. Quite brilliant – promoted to artificer and Unspeakable only two years after. He has a particular interest in muggle artefacts. He’s the one that brought in the – the machine. That I showed you.
DUMBLEDORE: Ah. The World Wide Web. The – Weapon.
BODE: Yes.
DUMBLEDORE: Do we trust this Greengrass?
BODE: He’s – he’s very much Crane’s man. Crane sent him Shköder to – keep an eye on things.
DUMBLEDORE: On Gage.
BODE: Yes.
DUMBLEDORE: Hmm. Very well, very well. And he’s become interested in Cassius.
BODE: There’s more. He’s – rumour is, he’s looking into what exactly Gage is doing – in Shköder. And –
DUMBLEDORE: Go on then.
BODE: He’s sent a report in to Crane about – suspicious imports.
DUMBLEDORE: Hmm. What sort?
BODE: I do not know. As I’ve told you countless times, I am not classified –
DUMBLEDORE: Not classified to that operation. Yes, yes. Neither am I. I know nothing of what Gage is doing in Albania.
BODE: I find that hard to bel –
DUMBLEDORE: Well, my dear Broderick, believe it. At least for your own sake, believe it. I do not happen to know what exactly it is that Gage is importing, or what Gage is doing there, or how your Department has anything to do with any of it. I have not understood for some time why either Department has found themselves a need to be there. Surely not to do with any legends about Rowena Ravenclaw. Surely not to do with any other – rumours I’ve heard.
BODE: There is – have you heard this word, kukudh?
DUMBLEDORE: ‘Kukudh.’ I have not. Now what on earth is that, Broderick?
BODE: I do not know. I saw it on Greengrass’s report. I do not know what it means. I do not know what any of this means. Surely none of this has any ties to what we’re doing at Hogwarts, with Isc –
DUMBLEDORE: No, no. No, it does not. This business with Quirinus is most unfortunate, the result of coincidence. As I’m sure is this kukudh, and these – imports – and anything it might have to do with a certain Operation of ten years past. Let your Greengrass look. He will find nothing. Rest assured, Broderick – he will find nothing.
BODE: The longer I know you, Albus, the harder I find it to palate you as a man I can trust.
DUMBLEDORE: Or do you simply grow older, and accordingly wiser? Trust, Broderick, is the fancy of young men. Or at least that of men who do not ply their trade in intelligence and mysteries. If you want to trust your fellow man, the civilian life awaits. Though I fear you’ll find no peace there. You’ve plumbed too deep.
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THE PENSIEVE PAPERS 