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There are many tea invitations that herald nothing more than an hour or two of polite chatting and no complications beyond choosing which flavor of jam to put on one’s scone.

An invitation from the Minister of Magic is never one of them.

But Dumbledore had readily gone down to London, because the fact of the matter is that they are living in complicated times. And the troubles with Voldemort are growing steadily, insidiously worse.

It had been sheer happenstance that Dumbledore had run into one of his former Defense Against the Dark Arts professors in a corridor. Marlene McKinnon, now an Auror with the Ministry. And he had gladly accepted her invitation to join her and her family for dinner.

Marlene’s husband, Ian, had looked a bit taken aback at the sight of their guest, but they had passed an altogether pleasant evening. Talk of Quidditch, admiring the work the Marlene and Ian had done to their home, and amusing anecdotes about Hogwarts and the McKinnons’ small daughter.

At least until after dinner, when the dishes had been cleared and Ian had gone to put the baby to bed.

Dumbledore settled into a chair in the sitting room, his glass of firewhisky cradled lightly in his hands, and fixed Marlene with a look that was as sharp as it was pleasant.

“So, tell me, Marlene. How are things in the Auror’s Office?”

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"Honestly?" Marlene says. "I'd say we're up to our necks. We're not in over our heads yet, but we're definitely in up to our necks."

She pauses to light her cigarette.

"It's getting worse, but slowly. It's when you look at reports months or year apart, rather than days or weeks, that you can see it. The cases are increasing in both number and severity."

"Is the Minister providing you any additional resources? Help?"

He could ask the Minister himself, of course. But the answer had the potential to be evasive and highly subjective.

Marlene has a tendency to be direct.

It's one of her best qualities.

Ask anyone who's ever had an argument with her.

"I don't think he's opposed, but ... well, it's not exactly the steno pool, is it? You can't hire a dozen people and declare them Aurors. There's a lot of training, and it takes time.

"And we've got good people, Dumbledore. Moody. Longbottom. Waverly. Dare I add myself?

"But I don't know that we can keep up. Not if it gets much worse.

"And I think we both know it's going to go on getting worse until it's stopped."

"That has been, I'm sorry to say, my assessment."

Dumbledore hears a lot of rumors. And even if you halve the rumors and douse them with salt, there's still more than enough to make him less than optimistic about the immediate future of the wizarding world.

"The Aurors currently at work in the Ministry are exemplary, there is no doubt."

He should know. He remembers them all from school. Even Moody.

"But it has crossed my mind that perhaps an adjacent organization of sorts might be helpful."

"'Adjacent organization'?" Marlene asks, eyebrows raised.

She exhales smoke toward the ceiling and studies him for a moment.

"Just what are you up to, Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore raises his eyebrows innocently. Only not.

"My dear Marlene. I'm not up to anything."

Really. He's still just in the planning stages. Execution is yet to come.

"It has merely come to mind that, as you say, the Auror's office is limited by size and to a degree by the oversight of the Ministry. Therefore, the only sensible conclusion is that we need the help of witches and wizards who are not perhaps Aurors, but no less capable."

"And who are not necessarily answerable to the Ministry."

Particularly if Voldemort should ever attempt to extend his influence there.

"My dear Dumbledore. I know you too well to believe that. You're always up to something."

It's just a question of what.

"So this would be what? A sort of ... Anti-Voldemort Partisan Organization?"

That's because Marlene has good sense.

"A rather unwieldy name, don't you think?"

Dumbledore looks a bit more serious as he sets his glass aside.

"But in essence, correct. Any witch or wizard with eyes and ears knows that Voldemort's actions mean disaster, not only for us, but likely for the Muggle world as well."

"And for each one that has the common intelligence to fear actively engaging in fighting him, I believe there will be just as many who would welcome a chance to work against him."

"A little unwieldy, perhaps. And probably a bit too on the nose."

Marlene stubs her cigarette out in the ashtray.

"I don't know. I think you'd have to choose very carefully. Not everyone who welcome a chance to actively work against him actually should.

"I've taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. Unless you're going to tell me that that year was an aberration, I'd say you don't have more than five students a year who could make it through Auror training, ten if I'm being generous. And if you're talking about actively engaging him, you'd need witches and wizards at least that good.

"Because a lot of his supporters are that good.

"And I think he's got more than we know."

She sighs.

"On the other hand, not actively engaging him is hardly going to work, either."

"No. I fear we've really only one choice in the matter."

And as the current situation is doing nothing to deter Voldemort, they need to find one that will.

"Five students per year is still not an insignificant number. And it has been my experience that you can see surprising improvements in magical prowess when there is a solid and active threat."

As opposed to a classroom of student of the When am I ever going to need this in the real world ANYWAY? mindset.

"It is also worth bearing in mind that fighters are not the only things we would need. One does not need to conjure a patronus to, say, pass information."

No, he hasn't given this any thought at all.

"But you are correct that we'd need to be selective. Which is why, if I were to attempt to organize such a group, I would probably start with Aurors already at work in the Ministry."

"Now that almost sounds like flattery," Marlene says, with a smile.

"Though it's not a bad plan.

"Unless you've already spoken to them, I suspect you'd be not ill-served to talk to Moody or Longbottom. Or to Alice Plume. She's very talented, though I'm sure you know that, and she's just finished training.

"Watch out for Waverly, though. She's capable, but she's too close to Crouch.

"And you will definitely want to watch out for Crouch. He's territorial and ambitious. I'm not sure he'd take kindly to your, ah, 'adjacent organization'."

Oh, he knew accepting this dinner invitation was a good idea.

"It is always good to know where potential pitfalls are located."

And it wouldn't do to have the wrong people get wind of this. Not at such an early stage, especially.

"It is always good to reconnect with my old students. I remember Longbottom, well. And I should extend my congratulations to Miss Plume on her new job."

Dumbledore knows Moody well enough by reputation to think he'll not need a great deal of persuading.

"I'm sure she'd appreciate that," Marlene says, and it's only the slightest bit dry.

"And you know I'll help in any way I can, of course."

"I did have some idea."

Dumbledore smiles a bit.

He'd hardly have broached the subject with her if he'd suspected otherwise.

"I believe I'll be needing a great deal of it."

And if the fact that the situation was dire had somehow escaped her attention up till now, that would have put paid to that misconception.

Marlene cannot imagine there is all that much out there that Albus Dumbledore needs 'a great deal' of help with.

"I'll keep eyes and ears open at the Ministry, then."

"Thank you, Marlene."

It's a very foolish man who does not admit to needing help once in a while.

"And I'm certain we'll be in touch."