Six in the evening.
Douglas received a message delivered by Dumbledore's Patronus.
It invited him to dinner in the Headmaster's Office at seven that evening and told him not to tell anyone else. The special password was "Dragon Blood Copper Cauldron."
So Douglas made up an excuse and sent the four students who had arrived for detention to Professor McGonagall's office.
This time, he had no intention of leaving them outside his office, only to return to another mess.
At seven, he appeared punctually outside the Headmaster's Office.
He was also carrying a box of assorted sweets that the owner of Honeydukes had given him earlier.
"Dragon Blood Copper Cauldron!"
The stone monsters outside the Headmaster's Office cautiously surveyed their surroundings, then parted to reveal the spiral staircase behind them.
When Douglas entered, he found that the office's specially made hot pot table had already been set.
It was covered with all kinds of dishes, including some meat from fantastic beasts that was particularly hard to find on the market.
In Dumbledore's words, these were all materials his friends had been unable to use up in their research.
And beneath the specially made copper cauldron burned Gubraithian Fire. (Gubraithian Fire was an enchanted flame that could burn forever.)
This was why Douglas liked having hot pot with Dumbledore. There was always something here that he could not get anywhere else.
When Dumbledore saw Douglas enter, he winked and said with a smile:
"Don't worry. I've set a special password at the entrance. Severus will never think of it."
Douglas could not help feeling relieved. Not that he was afraid of Professor Snape... all right, he was a little intimidated when it came to this particular matter.
He handed Dumbledore the gift he was carrying.
Dumbledore said in surprise:
"Wonderful! There