A Day in Life of the White Wizard

*Dumbledore's POV*

"...Albus, I know you'd understand. It's all for the students' sake, after all."

Yes, I know, Karkaroff. Why not spoil all the challenges to make Durmstrang and yourself look good. Even Maxime is hinting at that - it's insufferable how shallow you are. I mobilized a minimal amount of self control and smiled wisely:

"Of course. You should be assured that all safety measures are in place - I do hope Durmstrang is not doubting Hogwart's safety?"

"Oh no, no. Even if the Dark Lord turns up, we'll be safe as long as you're around, Dumbledore." he retreated, yet my intuition tells me that Karkaroff would find out about the dragons if he wants to. I've done my job, however.

Durmstrang's Headmaster continued.

"Barty probably told you already, but we'll be traveling to Hogwarts by ship. I take it the lake is open for us and our students will be at Slytherin table-"

"Severus said he'll be delighted.", I added, selectively ignoring the annoyance of the person in question's at the announcement.

"-then that should be in order. We shall be there by Friday."

Karkaroff went back through the fireplace without as much as a goodbye, possibly annoyed at my refusal. I put down the half-moon spectacles and turned to the Pensieve - which have been used noticeably more in the last few days.

Ever since the beginning of school, I knew... Alastor was not himself. Severus disagreed - he argued that Alastor's hatred of Death Eaters and suspicion remained, and it was he who publicly transfigured that Malfoy boy into a ferret - a feat that only a handful of wizards would dare do. Though, considering the many enemies Lucius made from both sides, it could really be any leftover Death Eaters or extremists masquerading as Alastor.

Though it is troubling that I couldn't find any recent disappearances that would explain the impostor's identity, he seemed conscious of my scrutiny and was acting in line - at least, Alastor should be safe, for the Polyjuice potion requires "new" body tissues to work. The intruder's target - obviously Harry - would be quite safe as there's no way to escape my sight, and the man seemed to be teaching quite well.

I turned around to the previous Heads' portraits and asked:

"Phineas, a fourth participant should theoretically be possible, is it not?"

"Yes... The Goblet's contract has not changed for the last hundred years - it would only chose one most popular contestant, irrespective of their age or affiliation... Though it would take a strong enchantment to increase the number of schools..." headmaster Black suddenly stopped, regretting his slip of tongue.

"You're not selecting that Potter boy, aren't you Dumbledore? He's barely fifteen, for Merlin's sake!"

I ignored the hysteric portrait and reached out for a cabinet underneath my desk. With a simple Switching Spell, the Goblet of Fire, burning with eternal blue flames, were at hand. Even without tricking the item, I could engrave one condition using the Elder Wand: to chose Harry Potter as a champion. Of course, the one who did such a dishonorable act should be Alastor's impostor, who seemed quite dead set on making Harry join,

Chuckling at my own ingenuity, I touched up on the bit of magic and sent the Goblet back to where it belonged. Armando Dippet, my previous superior, looked stoic and calm - though I could tell his lips were twitching. Unfortunately for him, the current Headmaster's command is law, and he could not reveal this tampering to anyone.

After the act, I modified my own memory of the incident, in case future Heads might ask of my own portrait and flipped through the stack of magazines and newspapers in the corner. As usual, Rita Skeeter is having a field day on the Prophet, Transfiguration Today is republishing some of my earlier articles with minimal changes... and Xenophilius is going on about conspiracy theories. Though, the Quibbler seems to have a new addition: one surprisingly Muggle fantasy story.

The writing, just like the magazine itself, might not be for everyone, but its author's initials: "HP", is the most obvious giveaway. Come to think of it, Harry has been getting along with Xenophilius' daughter... just need to make sure that bug lady doesn't sniff that out and ruin people's plans. After all, we can't have her gone too soon - there's much for the Prophecy's child to learn about the press and its treachery...

I summoned a kitchen house elf and told it to take in Winky, Barty's expelled servant, as she's been gone for long enough and no one cares about a mere creature. A few drops of Veritaserum mixed with wine, and I'll be able to confirm my own guess of at least Bertha Jonkin's disappearance...