Professor Dumbledore's office was buzzing with many outraged and confused voices. Among those were Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. A few portraits of past headmasters were also voicing their opinions as well. All the while, Professor Dumbledore was sitting calmly, listening to the chaos that was going on in his presence. When he didn't respond, everyone stopped quarreling to look at him. He smiled serenely and took a piece of parchment, along with a quill and ink, and wrote a short and simple letter. He rolled and waxed the parchment closed, and tied the letter to the leg of a brown school owl. Professor Dumbledore simply nodded to the owl and the owl flew out of the open window.

"Aren't you going to explain yourself, Albus? How can you just come to a decision like that!" Professor McGonagall outraged.

"My dear lady," Professor Dumbledore explained, "all will be revealed in due time. You and Severus have a seat and wait for the owl to return with her reply."

Professor Dumbledore offered the pair tea and lemon drops; both were refused. He sat back down behind his desk and smiled calmy once again; a twinkle in his blue eyes. The portraits were whispering to each other. "Can it be?" one whispered, "Do you think she will?". Professor Snape glared at the gossiping portraits, wondering how the headmaster could have formulated such a plan. What he was thinking about was dangerous, the risks it proposed! Professor McGonagall simply pursed her lips, staring out of the open window, waiting for the owl to return. Some people thought that Albus Dumbledore had simply gone mad in his old age. Others thought him too senile to run a school. Then there were those who thought him genius, to follow him even to the point of blindness. He was a great wizard, yes, but was this idea he schemed simply too mad to work?

A young girl sat by the fire of her parents house. The firelight casting a warm orange glow to the book she was reading. The house was almost too quiet to relax and get comfortable. How she longed to have things back the way they were before. She was startled by a tapping at her window. Setting her book down by the hearth, she rose from her seat and made her way to the window. Peering out, she saw a tiny brown owl with a note attached to its leg. The young girl opened the window and the owl flew in and landed on a nearby desk. She walked over to the desk and untied the note. Unrolling it, she read the note.

"Miss Stratford,

I request a meeting with you at your earliest convience. I wish to discuss something which I think might be of some interest to you. If you are willing to listen, please send your reply by owl and I will open the Floo to my office. Please come, your help is urgently needed.

Yours,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

She re-read the note several times; was she imagining things? Doubts ran across her mind as she thought about going back to her old school. Should she at least go and hear what the headmaster has to say? 'It is only fair,' she thought. But she will still a bit wary. She paced the floor in front of the fireplace, going over the letter in her mind. 'My help is urgently needed? For what, I wonder...'. Finally coming to a decision, she took out a piece of parchment and wrote her reply.

"Headmaster,

I will be able to speak with you. Please open your Floo to 16 Canterbury Court in London. I will be there within an hour of your recieving my letter.

Respectfully,

Charlotte Romilly Stratford"

After she had tied her reply to the tiny brown owl, Charlotte headed upstairs to her bedroom to change out of her pajamas and into a pair of jeans, a worn out t-shirt, and robes. Slipping on a pair of shoes, she tucked her wand into the sleeve of her robe and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Giving herself a quick once over, Charlotte decided that looking like hell froze over was as good as one could get at this time of night. As she glanced at herself in the mirror, it said, "Take off those robes and show the people what you've got! Don't hide what it took nine months to make and twenty years to perfect!" Charlotte smirked at the mirror and rolled her eyes. 'What a cheeky thing you are, silly mirror.', she thought. Leaving the bathroom, Charlotte headed back downstairs to the fireplace used for Floo purposes. She vaguely heard the mirror yell out, "You'll wish you had listened to me!" She laughed at the chances of the mirror being right.

Back at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore had just recieved the reply he had been waiting for. He untied the letter from the owl's leg and gave him a treat. The owl flew back out of the room and to the owlery. He read the reply and smiled; his eyes sparkling.

"What has she said, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"If it isn't obvious by his giddy face, then you should really be the Head of Hufflepuff." Professor Snape said cooly.

"As to your question, Minerva," Dumbledore replied, "she is Floo'ing over here. She should be here at any moment."

"Do you really expect her to give this kind of help, headmaster?" Professor Snape inquired.

"Honestly, Severus, I cannot say. I do believe she does want to see Lord Voldemort fall, but as to the lengths it will take for this to happen and the part she would have to play, I honestly do not know." the headmaster replied.

"Surely you aren't seriously considering sending her into the serpent's lair, are you Albus? It is downright foolish! That is too much of a risk!" Professor McGonagall ranted.

"We shall let her decide what course of action she wishes to take, if any, Minerva." Professor Dumbledore remarked.