Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts
Albus raised his glass, the wine in it sloshing around from the motion. Across the table, Augustus mirrored him.
"Absent friends," Albus said and drank deeply.
"Absent friends" Augustus echoed, drinking his own.
"I can't say I knew him, hateful, paranoid man that he was. But I think it's how he would have liked to go. Surrounded by bodies of his enemies"
Albus nodded. "Yes. It suits him"
"What will be with his spy now?"
"Alastor was nothing if not prepared. I already was given a code to confirm that it is our spy, and already had a visit from him"
"And? Who is he?"
"I have no clue," Albus said brightly.
"Why?" Augustus asked flatly. "Do you truly expect me to believe he somehow managed to hide his identity from you?"
"He did. Polyjuice under a series of illusory charms. He is very… dedicated to his cover"
"I'll bet. Do they know about him? That there is a spy within their organization?"
Albus nodded slowly. "Voldemort used legilemency on them all. But both our spies are accomplished Occlumens'"
"What other information did you receive?"
"We can expect the Dementors to abandon Azkaban within the month"
"Well, we've been expecting that for a while," Augustus said with a shrug. "Anything about the students here?"
Albus didn't reply.
"Albus. He gave you identities, didn't he?"
"No. But he confirmed that there are"
"And?"
"And what?"
"When are we testing them?"
"Augustus!" Albus said sharply. "We are not going to dose students with veritaserum or rape their minds simply because some of them may be Death Eaters"
"So you would rather keep the vipers clutched close to your chest? You even know which house these students have been sorted into! Just test them"
"You believe I should make sacrifices for the greater good, do you not?" He said bitterly.
Augustus' eyes narrowed. "Have you not already done so?"
"I-"
"You have a spy in the Death Eater camp. I know what he had to do in order to be accepted by them. You happily sacrificed a muggle to the greater good. This is not as bad"
"I will not sacrifice any more than is absolutely required"
"And do you will lose the war"
"And if we do as you suggested, in another twenty years the same thing as is currently occurring will happen again. Voldemort did not arise in a vacuum, Augustus. The suspicion we place upon the Slytherins, the way we treat them. It pushes them away from our side. Even if Voldemort himself was not around, many of his followers would be acting as they already are"
"Worry about the future when the current crisis has passed. Or will you leave this world with us to fix your mistakes?"
Albus slammed his hand into the table and leaned forward, eyes piercingly bright, power etched into every line of his face.
It took all of Augustus' wondrous self-control to not cringe backward.
"As long as I live, students will not be treated like criminals. When I am gone and you are in charge, you may add crimes to your conscience as you choose. But while I am here, you will not cross me on this. Do not cross me"
"I will write it on your tombstone," Augustus said, rising from his chair. "Here lies Albus Dumbledore. The man who refused to do what was necessary"
He stalked out the office, his robe swirling put behind him.
Lord Voldemort's Manor
"Repeat that"
Lucius swallowed, trembling slightly where he stood.
"Horace Slughorn has-has sought refuge with-with Dumbledore. As far as we know, wherever he is, it's under the Fidelius, and Dumbledore refuses to discuss the man's whereabouts"
"Leave me"
Lucius started walking away.
"Lucius"
The man turned and was just opening his mouth to speak when Voldemort interrupted.
"I grow tired of your failures. Improve yourself. Find me the spy"
"I-I will, my lord. I will not let you down, I-"
"Will suffer if your failures continue. Your only saving grace at the moment is that I am pleased with the results of your inquiries at Borgin and Burke's. Believe me, Lucius. As things stand now, I would not suffer a great loss if I killed you. Do better. Now get out of my sight"
Stammering his apologies, Lucius left the room.
Voldemort's lips curled in a horrific parody of a smile. There was something so enjoyable about crushing Lucius' noble facade.
' Were it not for his connections and the power of his name, Lucius would have suffered a terrible accident years ago. Pompous fool. Useful, but far too arrogant'
His smile vanished, as a furious frown replaced it.
' I must find this spy! If Slughorn told Dumbledore about my idiotic question if Shriner is nearly as knowledgeable in the Dark Arts as he has been reported to be. Well, the man could know what Harry is. And if he then finds out that Harry has allied with me, he will certainly kill him. I will not risk another Horcrux being destroyed. And Harry can be most useful to me. No, I must find the spy as soon as possible'
The problem remained. How to find him?
Every single one of his followers had been cleared by his legilemency. But of course, any spy with his salt would be an accomplished Occlumens. And as he had once told Snape, even when it comes to an Occlumens, the truth can be ascertained.
But the process of ascertaining that truth would be most painful. And as Voldemort knew well, it was one thing to punish a servant for his failures. But putting them through the hell of Cruciatus' and Imperius' followed by his own, horrifically painful brand of legilemency.
Well, that was another thing entirely. And even his followers had breaking points. A point where instead of being cowed, they would be pushed to rebel against his rule.
He had no interest in pushing a single one of his followers past that point.
An idea arose.
' Yes. That could certainly work'
He propped his chin on his fist and began to think through the details.
Slowly, a smile spread across his face.
Unknown location
His hand shook as he reached for the bottle of firewhisky.
He stared at it for a moment.
He was beginning to think that this had been a mistake.
This was nothing like any other job he'd ever taken. It was just-so, so much more intense.
And Voldemort. He shivered, thinking of the man.
He was beginning to suspect that he wouldn't get out of this one alive.
And oddly enough, he found it didn't bother him quite as much as once it would have.
What was far more important than surviving, he realized, was being known as the man who'd done the impossible.
And so, he began to think of how he would kill Lord Voldemort.
' Wouldn't possibly work in a duel. Not a chance. I'm good, but he's on a different level entirely. But maybe. Maybe I could surprise him'
He could remember his Mexico job well. And he could remember what the opposing cartel had done.
He had seen firsthand, the horrific results of C4.
And he began to formulate a plan.
' It'll mean my death. It's the only way. But to be honest, life's become quite boring. And I'd go down in history. Just got to make sure to send Dumbledore a letter with my name. Make sure he'll tell people what I did. And make sure to give him all the info I can. But not yet. I'll leave it as late as I possibly can. Just in case. Just in case it doesn't work'
His hands stopped their shaking, and he poured himself a large glass.
' Yeah. It's a gamble, but damn, what a story it'll make. Go out in a blast'
He chuckled.