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Chapter 1

"Life is full of infinite absurdities, which, strangely enough,

do not even need to appear plausible, since they are true."

-Luigi Pirandello

Albus Dumbledore stared at the piece of paper in front of him. His brow was furrowed with weariness. He knew he held in his hands a prophecy to end the darkness that had almost eclipsed England these last ten years. But how to decipher it? Who could he trust with such words?

Mentally, Albus reviewed the list of the top members of the Order of the Phoenix. On a perch beside him, Fawkes trilled, fluttering his fire-lit feathers as if trying to help.

Madame Pince would be able to figure the prophecy out, Albus thought of Hogwarts' quietly brilliant librarian. He'd ask for her help in a minute, but he knew Irma detested anything remotely connected to Divination, after a prophecy involved her older sister as a key player in the last war against Grindelwald. Eighteen-year old Olivia Pince did not survive.

The only other wizard and witch Albus knew would be intelligent and discreet enough to be entrusted with this information was Severus Snape--and Lily Evans Potter.

Albus tapped his wand on a blank letter embossed with a phoenix, its wingspan extended. "Lily," he whispered into the balmy night air. After several minutes, the fire turned green, and Lily Potter stepped out.

"Headmaster," Lily said in greeting, a smile lighting up her face and making her green eyes shine brighter.

Albus nodded, gesturing for her to sit. It has only been a couple of weeks after Lily's marriage to James, and Albus still thought of her as Lily Evans, the quiet muggle-born with a surprisingly quick mind. Without a word, Albus pushed forward the piece of paper.

Lily raised an eyebrow before swiftly scanning the rough parchment.

Twice came the peal of the trumpet

Twice came the ring of the bell

Twice cried the hart in the darkness

That the phoenix fought to quell

When the seven vessels are broken

By the snake and the wolf dispelled

Shattered by mother, shattered by child

Twice came the ring of the bell

And Nirvana to the darkness dwelled

Lily repeated the words over and over under her breath. "Well, the reference to the Order of the Phoenix is obvious. And the wolf is probably Remus. But if that is so, then the other animals also refer to people. The snake, the hart..." Lily gasped softly.

"What is it, Lily?" Albus asked gently.

"I cannot tell you the reason but the hart refers to James." Lily refused to meet Albus' twinkling eyes.

"And the snake that is working for our side is logically Severus," Albus finished.

"But it still isn't clear!" Lily bit her lower lip in frustration. "These instruments! And the vessels! Are they connected to You-Know-Who's defeat somehow? And what is this Nirvana?"

"I didn't expect you to decipher everything in an instant, child." Albus smiled down at her. "The library is open to your perusal. I ask only that nobody learns of this. Not Sirius nor Remus. Not even your husband. Learn the words by heart, because neither of us would ever see them written down again."

Lily nodded, her eyes shadowed. It wasn't the first secret she kept from James Potter.

Since Lily's first encounter with the prophecy, she and Dumbledore had written to each other when they believed they found out an important detail. One month later, they felt they had something concrete to work with.

Albus ordered a meeting inside his office. He called Remus, Severus and James through Fawkes, whose magic could not be tampered with by any outside force. Lily was already sitting there, fidgeting. Albus laid his hand atop hers. Lily calmed down immediately. She trusted this man with her fate. And with the fate of all of England.

Remus and James arrived one after the other. The two were working on combining magical and muggle weapons to use for the war. The NEWT Remus got in Muggle Studies was really paying off, and they had made several prototypes of magical potion bombs, and making a kind of bullet that worked as a net to capture Death Eaters. These hybrids had the advantage of being harder to detect by both muggles and their blood-obsessed enemies.

Severus arrived a couple of minutes later. He had been preparing for class. Lily and Albus were the only ones who greeted him. Severus nodded back solemnly, making him look older as usual. Very few people knew he was two years younger than the rest of his batch, called to Hogwarts by age nine after a huge magical disaster at home. And now he was a teacher at past fifteen, with the responsibility over students older than himself.

Albus offered them tea and biscuits before getting down to business. "Lily and I have been working on a possible prophecy about the fall of our enemy. It involves everyone here right now. So I will ask, first and foremost that whatever is said does not leave this room." He waited for everyone to nod.

"According to this prophecy, there is a way to truly defeat Voldemort. Severus has been trying to discover the secret of our enemy's immortality, because to do so would lead us to the best weapon against him." Albus gestured for Severus to continue.

Severus cleared his throat, ignoring James's smirk. "It has been very difficult to gain the trust of the higher-ups, especially since I am just a new member. But as it isn't that suspicious for someone in the circle to ask about power and immortality, I had a few interesting responses."

"Hurry up," James muttered under his breath. "Get to the point." Remus nudged him with a sharp elbow while Lily glared at him so he subsided.

"Have you ever heard of horcruxes?" The question Severus threw out quieted them all.

Albus took up the thread of the narrative. "Horcruxes are objects of power to which a wizard entrusts a piece of his soul. A wizard left with a soul incomplete will inevitably turn mad. But as long as any piece of his soul or essence remains, he will never die a true death."

Lily's eyes widened. That must be what the prophecy referred to as the vessels that they must break.

"The prophecy clearly stated that there are seven horcruxes. And indeed, Severus has heard that Voldemort managed to divide his soul into seven different pieces. And it will be your task to gather and destroy them all." Albus looked deeply into the sober faces of his former students. They are too young, he thought. Much too young for this war. And I am far too old.

One by one, they nodded.

The silence that followed was broken by Lily. "If V-voldemort divided his soul into seven pieces, then there are only six horcruxes. The seventh is in his body."

Severus added, "I have also heard further rumors that some of the objects have been scattered all over the world."

Albus held up a hand. "We need not be dismayed at that news. Voldemort himself traveled Europe and Asia, and therefore most likely left a track for us to follow. Also, while I'm sure our enemy found it wise to scatter some pieces far away, he would also keep a few close by." Albus nodded at Severus. "The prophecy did not give a time table, so above all act prudently."

Lily began to fidget again, and started when Albus called her by name. "Lily, why don't you start on the rest of the prophecy."

Lily smoothed her skirt while she gathered her thoughts. "The words of the prophecy were vague but mostly it talked about James and me." James blinked in surprise. Lily blushed. "It talked about our child."

Remus looked back at Albus' face before returning to Lily's. "Yes, I did hear of another prophecy up in the North that a child will be the one to defeat the Dark Lord."

"This one was much clearer and more believable in that respect," Albus interrupted. "All of us will defeat Voldemort by destroying the vessels of his essence. Perhaps the child will strike the final blow, perhaps not. But we must not take chances, so James and Lily will leave the continent as soon as they are able. And they will have to train their children much earlier."

James grasped his wife's hand. "I guess that means we should have as many children as possible." He tried to make his voice light.

Severus snorted. "It means you should take every precaution possible. Perhaps we could arrange for emergency portkeys when the children are born, and your contact should also be limited to a few people."

Albus nodded. "That's a very good idea. Remus would be your contact person, and he could pass on whatever information to and from Severus. In the meantime, Lily should try the archives for newspaper clippings about Voldemort. We might discover the most likely place he would deposit a horcrux."

"Are there ways to detect it?" James asked, his mind churning with ideas.

"It has a very distinct nature, and I believe we would feel Voldemort's presence instantly once we are near it," Albus stated calmly.

"I wouldn't be too sure, Headmaster," Severus interrupted softly. "The Dark Lord has a commanding presence, but he also has his subtle ways. I would think that he'd hide pieces of himself in ordinary, everyday things. They will probably be corrupted, but his touch is not always immediately evident."

"Then I'm sure James and Remus could cobble together something before they leave." Albus raised an eyebrow, which had everyone nodding, deep in thought.

The discussion lasted deep into the night until morning.