"Alike. So alike."
In the private room at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry Potter had no idea what was going on. He only saw the door to his room open and two wizards walk in.
One was a very tall wizard wearing a hat. Harry had seen him several times before. His name was Kingsley, he thought, an Auror from the Ministry of Magic.
The other wizard followed behind Kingsley. He looked haggard, as if some wild beast had raked its claws across his face, and his hair was going gray.
As soon as he entered the room, the newcomer stared at Harry's eyes and hair, then said, "Alike. So alike."
His voice was gentle and full of pity.
Though Harry didn't know him, he could sense his kindness.
He was like an older relative Harry hadn't seen in a long time.
Harry Potter didn't understand what Lupin meant. He tentatively asked, "I'm sorry, sir, but when you say 'alike,' what do you mean? What's alike?"
Dewey, disguised as Lupin, felt himself slipping into character.
He shook his head and said kindly, "It's nothing, child."
He reached out and ruffled Harry Potter's cowlick. Harry didn't like it, but he didn't pull away.
Kingsley stood to one side without intervening. He knew about Lupin's relationship with James Potter and Lily Potter, so he let him do as he pleased. Only after Lupin had finished ruffling Harry Potter's hair did he introduce him. "Harry Potter, this is Professor Lupin, your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for this term."
Harry Potter felt strange.
He had the sense that this teacher felt something unusual for him.
Something like the affection of an older relative.
Not merely the feelings between teacher and student.
Just as Dewey was about to speak, a voice came from outside the door. The person hadn't even come in yet, but the voice was already here.
"Harry!"
It was Hermione's voice.
Dewey immediately guessed who it belonged to.
Hermione?
"Thump, thump, thump."
Footsteps sounded.
Dewey turned his head and looked toward the clever little girl who appeared in the doorway. She wasn't particularly pretty, but she wasn't unattractive either. She had brown hair and brown eyes, and still looked like she hadn't quite grown into herself.
She made a decent first impression.
Nothing dazzling, though.
So this was Hermione?
Dewey looked at her and smiled kindly.
There was no need to discuss Hermione's skill with spells. Her sharpness when it came to knowledge and insight alone was enough to amaze anyone.
When will she figure out I'm an impostor?
The thought suddenly occurred to Dewey.
What a lovely girl. She'll make a fine witch.
That was Dewey, pretending to be Lupin, thinking the way Lupin would.
Before long, Dewey had pushed the real Dewey down and become Lupin.
"Who's this?" Lupin asked Kingsley. Then he noticed Ron Weasley hurrying in behind Hermione, panting.
The boy seemed to have been lucky; he hadn't been left with any trauma from the Dungbomb.
When Hermione and Ron saw there were other people in Harry's room, they both stopped in their tracks.
"Your friends?"
In the slightly awkward silence, Dewey spoke gently. "A child from the Weasley family? Your hair certainly stands out. It's a real family trait. And the young witch—is she a Gryffindor?
"Harry, life is long. It's best to have friends by your side. Friends who won't betray you, right?"
Dewey spoke with deep feeling. At that, Kingsley suddenly grew alert.
Wait, is Lupin talking about Sirius Black?
At the mention of a friend's betrayal, Kingsley was wide awake. He coughed deliberately, cutting Lupin off, then took the opportunity to introduce him to the other two children.
When Hermione learned that this man was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, she immediately became respectful.
Ron was also very reserved.
Looking at the children who had grown so stiff, Dewey smiled and said, "Shacklebolt, let's step out for a while. It's been a long time since we last met. Maybe we could have a drink?"
He seemed like a thoughtful older man who had noticed how awkward everyone felt and wanted to give the children some space to talk.
"Sure."
Kingsley went along with it and took Dewey outside.
Once they had left, Hermione walked over and asked, "Harry, how do you know the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"
"I don't," Harry said instinctively. "I don't know him."
But then he remembered Professor Lupin ruffling his hair as soon as he'd come in, and the things he'd said. Harry wasn't so sure anymore.
He thought of how he had looked when he saw the Mirror of Erised.
In the mirror, he'd stood with his parents. He looked a lot like his father; even the hair on his head was just as untidy.
As for his eyes, they looked like his mother's.
"I mean, I'm not sure either," Harry said again. "I don't know how to explain it to you."
He looked at his two friends. "Maybe he knew my parents?"
Harry's unnecessary explanation left Hermione and Ron looking at each other.
Dewey and Kingsley went downstairs. When Kingsley asked what he wanted to drink, Dewey said tea.
He resisted adding sugar, but found the tea tasteless.
Having tea without sugar made Dewey miserable, but he had to act as if nothing was wrong.
"How have you been all these years?" Kingsley asked, then quickly changed the subject.
"We'd better not tell him about Sirius's relationship with James. I'm afraid the boy won't be able to take it and will actually go looking for Sirius Black."
Kingsley said.
Dewey nodded in agreement.
Once that was settled, Kingsley started venting.
The target of his complaints was Lucius Malfoy.
"Sirius and Dewey are both completely mad! We'd planned to have the Weasley family escort Harry Potter. That way, Harry wouldn't suspect a thing."
With the old story brought up again, Kingsley had plenty to say. He still had two or three measures of respect for his superior, Fudge, and didn't say anything too harsh about him. But he had no such restraint when it came to Malfoy.
"Too bad. That sycophant!
"That idiot Lucius Malfoy went straight to the Minister and made all sorts of grand promises."
Kingsley imitated Lucius Malfoy's pompous manner. "'You have to trust me, Minister. Dewey Jones is just a miserable little worm with neither courage nor a sense of responsibility.
"'At school, he was an indecisive Ravenclaw who had no idea what he ought to do. Even if he escaped from Azkaban, he'd be caught again in no time.
"'People like him are always short on brains. There's no need to worry about this, Minister. I have some friends in the press. They know what they should and shouldn't say!'"
Kingsley's imitation was spot-on. He had Lucius's way of speaking down perfectly.
It captured that affected confidence and refinement, which couldn't quite conceal the cruelty beneath, along with his arrogance and self-assurance.
The pure-blood families' haughty attitude toward everything was on full display in Lucius Malfoy.
Kingsley hated that about him.
He was a pure-blood wizard himself, but he didn't care about that sort of thing.
He wouldn't call anyone a Mudblood, and he wouldn't join the Death Eaters.
There were pure-blood wizards beyond the Sacred Twenty-Eight.
He really disliked Lucius Malfoy.
And he was just as unhappy about the Malfoy family getting off scot-free.
He and Lucius Malfoy had a long-standing grudge.
It had started when the Malfoy family escaped punishment.
There wasn't much anyone could do about it, though. To get off, the Malfoy family had paid a steep price. They'd sent a great deal of money to Hogwarts and donated to St Mungo's Hospital. They'd also rallied other pure-blood families and wizards, making it clear that if anyone dared send them to Azkaban, they'd bring the Ministry of Magic to a standstill.
They'd used both threats and inducements.
Fudge, for his part, had been set on maintaining stability.
And so the Malfoy family had escaped trouble and grown more powerful than ever. Kingsley sneered. "Do you know what else Malfoy said?
"He said there was no need to worry about Sirius Black. He was a brainless fool whose only thought was to go to Hogwarts and attack Harry Potter. We had absolutely nothing to worry about.
"But what happened? Two Azkaban prisoners brazenly attacked Ministry employees right in the street, and he actually urged Fudge to stay in the Ministry and never come out again. Not only that, Malfoy had Fudge transfer the elite Aurors to his side to protect him.
"The Director personally went to the Muggle Prime Minister's residence to protect the Prime Minister. Do you know what Malfoy did then?
"Malfoy took advantage of Fudge's fear and joined the Ministry of Magic, becoming our colleague and superior alongside his Death Eater friends.
"They came into the Ministry and made no contributions whatsoever. Instead, they were immediately skilled at office politics, pushing out the other half-blood and poor wizards. Ha! It's unbelievable, isn't it?"
Kingsley spoke through clenched teeth, while Dewey let the words go in one ear and out the other.
He wasn't angry at the Malfoy family. He had picked out only one key point from Kingsley's words.
"Fear."
"Exactly. Fear is man's greatest enemy, and also the most useful tool, isn't it, Shacklebolt? Because of fear, the Minister has done a lot of things beneath his station, hasn't he?"
Dewey spoke softly and calmly. He took a sip of tea, as though agreeing with Kingsley.
In a way, he was.
Professor Lupin agreed with Kingsley's words.
Dewey absorbed the information Kingsley had given him.
A frightening thought suddenly came to him. He set down his teacup and stared down at it, lowering his head so Kingsley couldn't see his eyes.
Fear? Speaking of fear, what in this world could make people more afraid and terrified than the Dark Lord?
When you're climbing stairs, remember to drink more water, stay up less late, and exercise regularly...
Before you continue