Running With Wolves

Chapter 12: Interlude

Chapter 12: Interlude

Dumbledore's office was an organized mess. A whole manner of magical devices littered his desk. Books of various sizes and colors were stacked against the back wall. Doors along the wall were cracked open, and on the edge of his desk was a bowl of candies Lundly didn't recognize. That was something Professor Lunly liked about it. He felt, in a way that it connected him to the headmaster, as though perhaps Dumbledore had hired him because he reminded the young professor of himself at a younger age. It was mostly fantasy of course. He doubted Professor Dumbledore had really put much though into the hiring of a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. It had been nearly two decades since the post had been kept by any single person for more than a year. At this point, the headmaster was probably relieved to have any one left willing to take the risk.

But waiting in the headmaster's office, covered in the paintings of his predecessors and filled to the brim with fascinating, beautiful objects, Lunly couldn't help but hope maybe there was something Dumbledore had seen in him when he was offered the job.

The first time Lunly had met Professor Dumbledore had been in this office and it had been no less tidy then. Dumbledore had spoken—simply spoken to him, for five minutes before telling him he got the job.

He glanced around the room again. Light streamed in from the high windows of the office. The sun was setting, and the sky beyond the glass was washed in flames. Lunly checked his watch. It was a minute to six. There were no chairs, except the tall-backed one sitting behind the headmaster's desk, so he just stood in the center of the room as his watch ticked away the seconds.

The door of the office burst open the moment his watch hit six. Lunly jumped.

"Ah, Michael, you're here, good," Dumbledore said, without any impression of being aware of the fright he had caused.

"Yes, sir, I arrived a few minutes early, and let myself in, I hope that's alright."

"Perfectly. I'm glad you could meet me tonight, especially on such short notice."

"It's no problem, Sir."

"You should call me Albus, I won't be offended, I promise."

"Yes, sir—er—Albus... um..." Dumbledore chuckled softly.

"Pull up a chair, Michael." He gestured to the wall, where a selection of chairs where lined up, that had definitely not been there before. Lunly chose one and sat down in front of Dumbledore's desk, feeling less like a colleague of the professor, and more light a naughty school boy.

"I trust you have been doing as I asked?"

"Yes."

"Have you noticed anything suspicious?"

"I... well, no sir, other than the isolation from his friends he seems to be experiencing. In classes he's a very bright young man."

"The other professors have agreed with you."

"I don't quite understand why you've been having me... well keep an eye on him," Lunly said, taking care to use Dumbledore's exact words.

"One can never be too careful, Michael. When it comes to the safety of my students I want to take no risks. You understand my concerns I'm sure?"

"I do, of course I do, sir—Albus—but there is nothing about this boy that seems... well untrustworthy or dangerous in any way and as I mentioned before, he's a very bright man and I—"

"Professor."

"Yes, sir?"

"I will ask you to continue checking up on him. I trust you can do this for me without revealing to him what you are doing, and without letting your misgivings get in the way of making sure this school is kept safe. I'd expect you of all people to understand this."

"Yes, of course, I—I'm sorry. It will be no problem.

"Apart from the incident this weekend, do you have anything else to tell me?"

"No, Albus. Nothing."

"Thank you, Michael." With a nod, Dumbledore dismissed him. And despite the invitation to call him by his first name, Lunly still felt as though he were a child being reprimanded for his disobedience. Lunly stood up all too quickly, the chair screeching along the floor loud enough to make him wince, but he walked from the office, without looking behind him. As soon as the door closed behind him, goosebumps erupted over his arms. He scurried down the staircase, and flicked his gaze around each corner.

"Are you quite well, Michael?" Asked Professor McGonagall as she turned into the corridor, eyebrows raised. Lunly cleared his throat.

"Ah, yes Minerva, I'm fine. I was just meeting with Prof—er—Albus."

"So I gathered." Clearing his throat again, Lunly turned back down the corridor failing to act as though nothing was wrong, painfully aware that Professor McGonagall was among some of the teachers who seemed to dislike him despite her assurances that if Dumbledore trusted him, she did as well. They had every right to distrust him, despite the fact Lunly had done his best to try and prove that he was not his sister.