Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter. That honor belongs to J.K. Rowling. I just like to play in her world and mess with her characters.

A/N: This is for the Snakes and Ladders Challenge on HPFC. This takes place after the Triwizard Tournament, but before Harry gets out of the hospital wing.


A New Day

Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk, his pensieve in front of him. He was going over everything that Harry Potter had done and said since exiting the maze clutching the dead body of his schoolmate, Cedric Diggory.

Albus sighed heavily. He knew what this meant for the whole of the nation. Unexplained Muggle deaths, disappearances of wizards, the dark mark in the sky again. It was too much.

For the first time Albus felt his age. He was tired and wished he could put off the unpleasantness until he felt rested and hale, but knew that was impossible. He had letters to write, people to visit, plans to formulate. He felt as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders.

Albus stopped at that thought. The weight shouldn't be on his shoulders. It should be on the shoulders of the fourteen year old boy in the hospital wing. That poor boy had not just the weight of the world, but the fate of the world resting on his shoulders.

A sudden thought struck Albus. He grabbed a quill and some parchment and quickly made a list of all former members of the First Order of the Phoenix…those that were still living anyway. He quickly sent the list to Remus and Sirius since he had asked them to get in touch with the old crew.

Albus grabbed another sheet of parchment and made a list of all the people he hoped to count on to join the New Order. The Weasleys were at the top of his list. He knew they would do anything to protect Harry. He mentally ran through his contacts at the Ministry and added the names of those he knew could be convinced. He was hoping those people could convince the ones he couldn't.

Pulling an entire sheaf of parchment to him, Albus wrote letters to all those that were on his list, minus the Weasleys. When he was finally finished with the letters, the first rays of the sun could be seen over the horizon. He wasn't really surprised. He knew he would not be sleeping for a while.

Albus stood from his desk and stretched. He needed to wash up and change his robes. He still had a school to run and had to figure out not only how to warn the students, but how to best protect the precious children in his care.

It was time to begin a new day.