The Strength of Voldemort
Dumbledore was sitting in his rocking chair, talking to Fawkes.
"I don't have a lot of time left…time for death…the next great adventure…I'm looking forward to it…but, before I go, I need to tell everyone what happened. When Voldemort was in full power almost 30 years ago…Fawkes…go get…oh never mind," he said as the bird fell asleep and burst into flames. "I'll use the summoning charm. Accio Minerva," he said weakly. He was reaching his peak. Dumbledore was now about 120 years old now. (A/N: I have no clue whatsoever how old Dumbledore is, so I just picked that age because wizards have a longer life expectancy than us muggles
J ) Minerva McGonagol came flying towards his office, and with a mighty thump, she bumped into the door. Aggravated, she said, "Candy." The door opened."Professor, you called, or rather, summoned?"
"Yes, thanks for coming so fast. Please…gather Professor Harry Potter," (he said this with the usual twinkle in his eye.) and all the students. I need to tell them something."
"But, here, Albus? Your office is so small and are you sure you have the energy?"
"I'm dying, Minerva! Of course I don't! But determination will get me through this. The children need to know the history… about the dark days. I daresay they're all asleep in Professor Binns class, and he doesn't like to teach about that," he said smiling.
"As you wish."
"Don't worry," he said to an aging Minerva, "I'll bewitch the office…I do have a wand, you know."
"Well, I'll return. And Albus do be gentle. Some of the kids are only 11."
"Minerva, you worry too much! Don't you trust me?"
"Well…no."
He replied with a chuckle, "That's why I hired you. You have a brain in your head."
"I'll come back." With that, she walked out and left. Meanwhile, Fawkes came back to life.
"Hi, Fawkes! My, I wish I could do what you do! Die, and then be reborn."
20 minutes passed.
"Candy!" Dumbledore laughed as he heard the whole school yell his password. As the children all squeezed in, the room seemed to get bigger and bigger. Finally, the whole school was in the office. Harry walked up to Dumbledore, and gave him a hug he would've given his father.
"Ah, Harry. The one who needs to hear this the most."
"Hear what, Albus?" he questioned. Harry had long since grown up. He was now the Defense against the Dark arts teacher.
"Sit, Harry." Dumbledore said. All of the children sat too. The youngest ones closest to him, the older ones in the back. Dumbledore pointed to a small little girl in the front. "Accio Kerrie-Anne." The little girl was not scared of Dumbledore, in fact, quite the opposite. She didn't mind being pulled towards him, as she thumped onto his frail lap. She hugged him. To her, he was her Grandfather. She was Harry's daughter.
"Now, I'm going to tell you a tale of the dark days. When Voldemort was in power." Nobody shivered, because by now, no one was afraid of him anymore.
"You all know about Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, of course." Everyone nodded their heads. Harry, on the other hand, looked down. When they were all grown up, they were working against Voldemort. Out of the three that finally conquered him, Harry was the only one left living. Hermione stunned him, and Ron finished him off. Before the spell hit Voldemort, he yelled Avada Kedavra to all of them. Only Harry survived the curse for the second time. They became just as famous as Harry Potter in death. They defeated Lord Voldemort 3 months ago. Harry saw his two best friends dead on the floor…
Dumbledore had paused and he froze time. Only Harry and him weren't frozen. It was a spell Dumbledore himself had invented.
"Harry…you just have to know. You haven't heard this before, you need to know."
"Why do you have to bring Ron and Hermione into this," he said painfully.
"For your sanity. And, for your daughters. You never told them did you, Harry? I have told you before, 'Numbing the pain for a while makes it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected from you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time.' I made that mistake by not telling you earlier."
"Ok, enough with the guilt. I've heard that before…return the castle to normal…" The room returned to normal.
"Children, before our own Professor Harry was even this world, there was a world beyond anything like this one…death…missing witches and wizards…powerful dark wizards. The most prominent one was a man named Voldemort. Voldemort went to this very school…he was in these very walls… I was an old man of 70 at the time. (A/N: don't know if that's true or not but-) There were Dark Marks everywhere you went. I was walking in Diagon Alley when the very first Dark mark was sent up into the sky. I was the first one on the scene. What I saw was awful. People scattering, running for their lives. On the ground, I saw many people dead, including my sister, Avada Dumbledore. That was the first time that the curse Avada Kedavra, was used. My sister was the first to die from that curse. The second person, is a great-great-great-something to," he was pointing his wand in every direction, and finally stopped at, "You!" A young boy, probably in his 6th year, looked very surprised. "Yes, it is you. Young Albus Delacy. Nice name, Albus! Getting on with it. The second person to die from it was named Lowell Kedavra, your Great-great—oh never mind. That's how Avada Kedavra came about. Voldemort had planned who he was going to kill, so he created the deadly curse after my sister and Albus' great something or another. Then there were more killings. I was at my sister's funeral when another Dark Mark was sent up into the sky. It was nobody I knew, but still rose fear into the air for all. I had to abandon my sister's funeral to go see what had happened. At that time, I was working for the ministry of magic and I was the person overseeing the protection of others. A very dangerous job. Whenever Voldemort was about, I had to go there right away, to try to save others. I got there right as he was killing a baby. The worst sight to see…the very worst. Now, Voldemort disappeared for about 20 years. The wizard world was safe yet again…not for long. By then, I was older. But, I had the experience and the knowledge. I was reading a book, and I saw it up in the sky. The Dark Mark. I shut the book and disapparated. Voldemort had risen again.
He killed so many people in those 30 years of power and strength. He killed my sister, your great-great…grand something. He also killed Kerrie-Anne and Jennifer's grandparents." Jennifer was Harry's older daughter. She was in her 4th year. Kerrie-Anne looked up at her father with tears in her eyes. She wasn't old enough to attend Hogwarts yet; she was only 3. They lived with Harry at Hogwarts. Kerri-Anne had beautiful red hair and bright green eyes. Jennifer had green eyes and black hair. Jennifer was looking at her surrogate grandfather too. She was always around Hermione before she died, and a little of Hermione seeped into her. She was a little Hermione…how she missed her Aunt Hermione. That's what she called her; Aunt Hermione. Kerrie-Anne looked so scared. She leaned into her surrogate grandfather and hugged him. (If you could have a peek into my imagination, you would see the sweetest scene right in front of your eyes.) Dumbledore wrapped his arms around the girl, holding her close. His white beard wet with tears, he continued. Harry had his head in his hands. This was a very hard subject for him. "We lost many great wizard families…including the Potters. I-I got there too late. They-James and Lily were…" he was unable to continue for at least a minute. "Sirius Black was the Potter's secret keeper until the last minute, when Peter Pettigrew became the secret keeper. The Potter's had just had a new baby boy…they named him Harry. Harry would grow up to be a great wizard and defeat Voldemort more than once." Dumbledore stopped. The tiny girl in his arms had fallen asleep, and was now snoring. Dumbledore looked up and Harry and smiled warmly at him. Harry got up and lifted his daughter into his arms. He sat back down and snuggled with her. Dumbledore continued again. "I thought Harry was dead…it's a good thing, too. Because if I would have gone in there before Voldemort killed Harry, I probably would've died, and Voldemort might not have met his downfall. I left as I cleared away all the muggles. While the whole wizarding world was celebrating, I was grieving. I lost dear, dear friends of mine. And, I thought we lost Harry, who had only begun to live. But, on the contrary; when I heard, I quickly and quietly arranged for Hagrid to go to the house and get Harry. I sent Harry went to live with his aunt and uncle for a whole eleven years. His aunt, uncle and cousin hated him for what his parents were and what harry was. He didn't even know he was a wizard. He didn't even know the truth about how his parents died…he didn't know anything. But, Harry came into this world with a bang. He met his two best friends, here at Hogwarts, in these very walls, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley." The whole room looked around excitedly…except for Harry…he was crying very softly. "The famous trio…that's what I called them…they were always together. They got into trouble…they saved the world…they got into trouble…they saved the world…the very last time this happened was 3 months ago today. But, the only one who survived was Harry. Before Hermione and Ron killed him, Voldemort yelled Avada Kedavra towards the trio. Ron and Hermione were murdered by Voldemort. Ron tried desperately to save Hermione. But, he couldn't. Life was taken from them in an instant, and Harry Potter survived the Avada Kedavra curse once more. Harry has had a tough life, children he has lost so many people, and he is so young…his parents…his best friends…his wife…" at this, even Jennifer looked down. Her best friends put their hands on her shoulder. Harry just sat there and looked into his beautiful sleeping child…the whole school was giving him sympathetic and loving smiles…he would have loved to return them, for he loved them all so much. His wife, Gina, was also cruelly killed by Voldemort. Voldemort, had killed Harry's whole family. His surrogate family. The only ones he didn't get to were Kerrie-Anne, Jennifer, and Albus Dumbledore. He was glad Voldemort was done…over with…gone forever.
"Gina was also killed by the Dark Lord, only 6 months ago. Harry again saw a loved one dead on the floor, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. Everything Harry had kept on living for was gone…" Jennifer got up and took her baby sister out of Harry's arms, to let him be. She sat back down with her friends looking sweetly at her little sister. "But, there is something I would like to tell you all…do not fall into the hands of Darkness…this is what happens…you will cause so much pain to so many people…but, all is safe now…and hopefully, forever. Now, it is time for all of you to go on to bed. Sleep well…I love you all."
"Goodnight Professor!" the school called. Soon, all but Harry and his girls were left in the office.
"Girls, say goodnight to your Grandfather, he needs his rest." Harry spoke gently to his daughters.
"I love you, Grandfather," said Jennifer. She knew what was going on. Then Kerrie-Anne who had just woken up said, "I wuv you, Gwandaffer!" Kerrie-Anne, on the other hand, knew that she was going to bed.
"Jen? Could you put Kerrie-Anne to sleep tonight?"
"Yes, dad."
"Gwood-nighted, Daddy!" Kerrie-Anne said happily. When they were gone, Harry pulled out a chair and sat himself down next to Dumbledore, and took his hands in his.
"Harry, it is time for me to leave this world…the next great adventure is waiting for me…I must go…"
"No, please Albus…just a little longer…not another death please…" tears were now flowing freely from Harry's eyes. "Gina…Hermione…Ron…not you…please not you…don't leave me, Albus…don't leave me!"
"Harry…it's ok…I love you very much…I will never leave you…"
"No please…you're the only father I've ever truly known…you-you taught me everything…you can't leave me now…please, Albus, please…"
"Harry…I will tell Ron, Hermione, Gina, and your parents you miss them and love them…you must let me go…"
"I can't…I love you…please don't leave me alone…I can't live without someone to keep me going…" Harry felt himself pulled into a hug.
"You have your children, Harry. Your beautiful girls. Tell them I love them very much…I will never leave you Harry…never…I love you…" The body holding Harry in a fatherly embrace became lifeless, and with that, Albus Dumbledore breathed his very last breath.
"No, no, please come back, Albus! You can't leave me alone, here…I can't live…" Harry hugged Dumbledore tighter, hoping, wishing in the back of his mind that this could perform some kind of miracle…he cried. He cried for Gina…he cried for Hermione…he cried for Ron…but most of all, he cried for Dumbledore. He put the old man back against the chair, and rested the frail, old hands on the body's lap. Albus Dumbledore…the man Harry loved more than anyone now, was gone…Harry cried again…but for Albus Dumbledore, and only Albus Dumbeldore.