Cast Aside

Divination and Laying Plans

Chapter 9

He wasn't sure what it was exactly that he wanted from the mysterious couple, but Dumbledore was positive they were important in some way. They'd turned up out of nowhere, practically on his doorstep, potent residual magic radiating off of them. From the way they had behaved that morning in the grey light, he thought they might not have even noticed it.

The first thing he'd done after packing them off with the Prewett twins was to look into their story. Claiming to be a distant cousin of the family had been an easy thing to refute. As one of the sacred twenty-eight, the Prewett Lineage was a matter of public record and there had only been one George Prewett in recent memory. He had died some thirty years earlier.

But Gideon had been correct. Family magic was not something that could be faked. It was obvious that George and the twins were blood kin. How and why he was not marked down in their lineage, Dumbledore could not discover. Perhaps he had been the child of a squib? He could have lied about his education, for he could not have been homeschooled if he were the child of a squib. Young George Prewett remained a mystery.

Information on Helen Wilson had been even harder to come by. Dumbledore was not on good terms with the current headmaster of Beauxbaton's and so any student records were closed to him. For all he knew she really was who she claimed to be. There were precious few muggleborns in the United Kingdom that didn't end up at Hogwarts but if they'd lived in France most of her life she wouldn't necessarily have shown up in the book of Magical births. If only she hadn't noticed his attempts at legilimency and thus shut her shields when they had first met, perhaps he might have learned something.

Besides the rather obvious questions they posed, the accusations they had laid at his feet at their first meeting had rankled. Perhaps that was the real reason for his continued interest. They did not approve of his methods. In fact they seemed hostile towards him personally. Odd considering the excuse they had given for their presence at Hogwarts, but their disdain could not be more plain. It was a rare experience for him.

Returning to his office after the rather disappointing afternoon meeting, Dumbledore tried to resign himself to the idea of forgetting them. They clearly wanted nothing to do with him or the Order. As fascinating as George and Helen may be, he had to focus on Tom. He couldn't afford to get caught up worrying about a pair of non combatants who would scarper off across the channel as soon as they could.

Sighing heavily, he leaned back in his plush desk chair and stared at the ceiling as if every answer he sought lay in the swirling plaster. More than one former headmaster pestered him for news, but he ignored them. Tom gained power every day and despite what Miss Wilson implied, Dumbledore didn't believe it would be as simple as confronting him.

A knock at his office door pulled him from his thoughts. Wiping at his eyes and sitting up, he bade whomever it was to enter. When he realized who it was, he suppressed an exasperated sigh and smiled genially.

"Ah, Miss Trelawny."

Sybill Trelawny, a fifth year Ravenclaw and great granddaughter of the last true seer Cassandra, wandered into his office as though searching for something. Feeling himself fortunate for it, Dumbledore hadn't had too many encounters with the girl in her years at Hogwarts. Though, he'd heard plenty about her from the staff. According to Flitwick, she had mentioned more than once wanting to teach Divination after graduating.

Famously critical of the particular branch of magic, beyond the prophecies of true seers, Dumbledore hoped her interest would lead her elsewhere.

"Good afternoon professor."