DISCLAIMER:

I BY NO MEANS OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH THE BOOKS/MOVIES. HOWEVER I DO OWN THE CHARACTERS CAIN AND ODIN.

Loud voices echoed throughout the great hall. It was the start of a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students were talking in excited chatters, telling one another what they had done during their holidays. The wise, aged face of Albus Dumbledore beamed down at them all in a proud way. These students, he thought, will build the future, of both Hogwarts and the world.

After the sorting had taken place that evening, during which the new students had been told which house they belonged to by the sorting hat, everyone had taken their seats happily. They were all too aware that a magnificent feast of mouthwatering dishes and delicacies awaited them after the headmaster's speech. Dumbledore had given the usual welcoming speech he gave every other year, changing a word or two for the sake of decorum. However, even the youngest and most foolish human being present that evening could sense a hint of worry, maybe even fear, dwindling on the headmaster's face.

Maybe it was the way his snow white eyebrows were knit deeply. Or maybe it was how he kept glancing at the star filled ceiling as he gave his speech. His fingers refused to settle down, all the while twitching and twining and just going plain nuts. Professor McGonagall spoke a few hushed words with him, to which he simply shook his head, quite desperately.

Dumbledore stood suddenly, pulling back his silvery robes. "Odin!" he called out. A young man stood immediately, and hurried to the center of the great hall. He dropped to one knee, head bowed. "Sir?" He replied. "Where is he...?" Dumbledore asked softly. The man, who seemed to be a year six student by the looks of his uniform, frowned. "He hasn't contacted me in a while. Two weeks, maybe."

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore grew furious. "Two weeks?!" he thundered. According to Odin, two weeks had passed by after his last contact. "Could it be...?"

"You mustn't be so negative, Albus. He will turn up soon," Snape told him coldly. Dumbledore averted his gaze towards Snape. "I can't believe that you, of all people, aren't worried about him," he said. "I trust what I gave life to, Albus. If I didn't, I wouldn't send him out on these wild goose chases of yours" Snape snapped.

Odin raised his eyes to meet Snape's cold stare. "I don't understand..." he whispered. Snape glared down at the young man. "Be silent, dog... Aren't you meant to be his guardian?" he asked, "Useless..."

Odin's silhouette withered down upon hearing these sharp words. Never had anyone spoken to him that way, not even his missing master. He mumbled a few meek words of apology.

"Humiliating the boy solves nothing, Severus," Dumbledore told him softly. Snape's face twisted even further into a grimace. "Albus... My patience is wearing thin... My... He, Cain... My ch-"

"ALBUS!"