"At the time, he had committed no crime," he firmly retorted to her. "He was simply a young man, barely out of his teens, complaining about his perceived unjust treatment at the hands of the then Highmaster of Durmstrang.
"We spoke about what we'd like to see changed. Not that eitherof us would actually be in a position to do something about it."
"And yet, you later were in that position; as Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump," pushed Hammer. "Are you saying you didn't use the opportunity accorded to you?"
With a huff and with a certain finality, he replied, "All I have ever done is for the benefit and betterment of the magical world."
"According to whom?" she shot back.
He refused to answer, claiming the question to be a nonsense. When she'd then pushed into his relationship with Grindelwald, he flatly refused to answer by claiming his relationship with anyone, so long as it wasn't otherwise a breach of law, was private and she was being rude by even asking.
"Doesn't matter," she said, sitting back and smirking at him. "You've confirmed it enough for me."
After giving that a moment to sink in she said, "Frankly, I don't give a hex what lifts your wand for you. What I do care about, Mister Dumbledore, is the following points: One; as a homosexual male and Head of House, even if it is for the Minor House of Dumbledore, you were required to hand over Headship of your House to your brother... and you didn't do that. Two; back in the first half of the century you had a pre-existing close relationship with the then ICW-declared dark lord, Grindelwald, and didn't disclose it. Three; you've since then been the supposed magical guardian of two young under-aged males... one of which was Harry Potter... and you were required to disclose your sexuality when you applied for the position of magical guardian in both cases. And four; you were required, also by law, to disclose the fact you're a homosexual when you applied for the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Other than disclosing the pre-existing relationship with Grindelwald, that's four blatant breaches of the law, right there. As such, I so far have sufficient evidence to fully investigate. If my investigation into this matter proves my case or cases, you're going before the Wizengamot to be trialled."
Before she released him she charged him with magical assault, nine cases based on how many people he had with him and who also cast stunners, when he attacked 'Lord Peverell' in the Alley outside Gringotts. All she was waiting for was to find the Peverell man and get him to lay a formal complaint, before she could then take the matter before the Wizengamot.
"In the mean time," she said. "If I hear of one more case where you've been involved in assaulting anyone except someone wearing full Death Eater regalia or is You-Know-Who himself... your arse is going into one of my holding cells and remaining there until your very soon-to-be-held-thereafter trial. You'll have proven yourself to be an ongoing threat and likely to re-offend; which is all I need to hold someone beyond the limit of seventy-two hours.
"Stop attacking people!
"Oh! And, from this moment forth," she said, "I'm having any organisation that has not properly registered with the Ministry proscribed as an illegal organisation. Lord Peverell, if Skeeter isn't up to her old tricks, is right that your silly little Order is an illegal vigilante organisation. From now on, if any of them are spotted at the scene of a Death Eater attack and had no legitimate reason to be there, they'll be arrested and charged."
"You can't do that!" Dumbledore exclaimed, finally having been pushed 'too far'. "People of our society have the freedom to go wherever they want!"
"Hippogriff shit!" she snapped back. "They've never had that freedom. And you, from at least your time as Chief Warlock, are fully aware of that!"
That and others were the reasons the old man returned to the castle in a right royal snit.
How was he to keep the Longbottom boy in line if he couldn't take him to scenes of Death Eater attacks and witness Death Eaters, including Tom himself, being driven off?
Oh, yes. He already knew why Tom was immediately withdrawing and ordering his boys and girls to do the same when young Neville turned up. He had, after all, made sure his then pet Seer, Trelawney, knew the full prophecy.
Prophetesses, those Seers who gave prophecies, never remembered the prophecies they gave. However, Dumbledore made sure Trelawney was shown his memory of her giving the prophecy, on the chance it would have the woman kidnapped and brought to Tom.
It worked. She was, on both counts.
He also made sure she 'knew' that, as long as Tom or any of his minions... his 'hands'... didn't mark the boy, the prophecy wouldn't actually come to pass. And further made sure she 'knew' that, if Tom or one of his minions did mark the boy, then Tom would surely die.
That, too, seemed to work; as each time after that when Neville turned up anywhere, Tom and his forces immediately withdrew. Oh, yes, Dumbledore was also pleased with how he'd engineered things to allow the Order to turn up at most attacks within minutes of them occurring.
He'd first used an alchemical-based combined loyalty-compulsion potion to create a Death Eater who would replace Snape and report to him. Then did the same with another wizard who would then work the permanent night-shift in the magical detection grid set up within the Ministry of Magic to detect underage magic and locate its source. That second person would, each night, alter what it detected to be a certain set of spells Dumbledore wanted detected; including the Unforgivables, the Dark Mark cloud and ward breaking charms used by the Death Eaters when they attacked a warded home.
For them to contact him he used the idea he'd once 'suggested' to the Granger girl to use within the DA and used himself with the Order medallions; a protean-based charm linking coins that could be used to surreptitiously send instant short messages over long distances. With a slight modification his spy would send a short message letting him know an attack was 'imminent' and he'd call in the Order. Then his monitor spy within the Magic Detection Office within the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, after also being alerted an attack was imminent, would watch for any of the spells on the list to be cast and, once detected, immediately send via their own protean-charmed galleon the location to Dumbledore.
For those homes that were warded, Dumbledore - together with a side-along apparated Longbottom and those Order members who could attend - would often be there before the Death Eaters could finish getting through the wards. For unwarded homes, such as those of the muggleborns, they'd usually be alerted once one of the Unforgivables, especially the Cruciatus Curse, was cast.
Yes, a few people died. However, Trelawney's 'sacrifice' ended up, to date, saving hundreds of lives. In Dumbledore's mind, from a strategic point of view it was well worth it. And he, Dumbledore, was willing to weather the resultant guilt of her death on his own shoulders.
It was, after all, For the Greater Good. And he needed the time to have the boy properly trained and conditioned to meet his own destiny.
He just wished people would stop doubting him and let him do what he knew needed to be done when he decided it needed doing.
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