Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 32 - The Impostor

"Professor –" Selene had finally gotten to Dumbledore, after what seemed to have been half an hour. She tugged on the back of his robes.

Dumbledore whirled around. "Where is Harry? He hasn't gone off with Moody, has he?"

Selene looked startled. "Moody? I don't – I mean Harry's disappeared – I can't find him... that's why I've come to you –"

"We've got to go, immediately," the headmaster said, striding towards the castle, Selene at his heels.

McGonagall and Snape materialized on either side of them, following closely behind.

"What's going on?" Selene asked urgently.

"I'm afraid the Moody is an impostor," Dumbledore said shortly. "It's a working theory, but I fear it may be correct."

They had reached the castle doors. They flew open to let the professors in.

"I'm sorry – what?" Selene said, fury creeping into her voice.

They were headed in the direction of Moody's office. Dumbledore didn't respond. Selene, McGonagall, and Snape were jogging to keep up with Dumbledore's strides.

As they drew closer, Selene could only hope that nothing further had happened to Harry.

As they approached Moody's office door, Dumbledore said in a hurried, hushed voice, "Selene, you must let me handle this. You mustn't let your temper dictate how you handle the situation."

"Let you handle it?" Selene repeated angrily, coming close enough to the door that she could almost grab the handle. "Like you've handled it all year? I think not!" She threw open the door with great force and cried, "Stupefy!"

There was a flash of red light, and Moody, who had previously been standing in the middle of his office — in front of Harry, with his wand pointed at Harry's heart — flew backwards onto the floor.

Selene paid no mind to the old Auror who lay face down on the floor; instead, she rushed to Harry's side, gripping his face in her hands, and said, "Harry, are you alright?"

He nodded quickly, looking completely overwhelmed by the situation at hand.

McGonagall approached the two of them, looking extremely grave. "Come along, Potter," she whispered. "Come along... let Selene and I take you to the hospital wing..."

"No," Dumbledore said sharply.

"Dumbledore," Selene said in a dangerous voice. "Let me take him to the hospital wing. He's been through enough."

"He will stay, Selene, because he needs to understand," Dumbledore said in a curt voice. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight, and why."

Selene pursed her lips. Despite her want to be in control of the situation — for Harry's sake — there was sense in this.

"Moody," Harry said blankly. "How can it have been Moody?"

"This is not Alastor Moody," Dumbledore said quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment Selene alerted me that he had taken you, I knew — and I followed."

Dumbledore knelt beside the unconscious Moody-impostor and rummaged inside a pocket in his robes. He pulled out the hip flask that Moody frequently drank from, along with a set of keys. Then he turned to Snape and McGonagall.

"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."