The sound of fast paced steps echoed down the hall. She was running as fast as her aged legs would allow her. She HAD to tell him before it was too late.

She came to the large winged gargoyle at the end of the corridor. "Licorice Snaps," she said firmly, and watched as it spiraled upwards. She didn't wait for it to stop before she ascended up to Dumbledore's office.

"Albus!" she shouted, "Albus, are you here?"

She searched frantically for any signs of Albus Dumbledore in his office. After seeing that he wouldn't appear anytime soon, she turned to the nearest portrait. "Where did he go?"

The man in the sleeping cap shrugged. "He said he had errands to run, told us to take a message."

"I can't do that, I'm afraid. I need him now. Is there anyway you can-"

She didn't need to finish as she heard the scraping of smooth stone behind her. She turned to see a blue cap atop long white hair and sighed in relief. "Albus. Thank goodness."

"You needed to see me, Minerva?"

"You remember that wizard, Aldous Leekie, the one who went to Askaban for trying to split souls?"

"Yes, he used to be a good friend of mine."

"He succeeded."

"He succeeded in splitting a soul?" Albus Dumbledore had been surprised only so many times in his life, the last of them being last year, when Harry Potter survived the infamous death curse. This would certainly make the list. The last person to split a soul was… well… "How do you know this?"

"Matilda Poppich, my source from St. Mungo's, said his subjects survived the birth," Minerva said, dabbing at her forehead with a cloth.

"Subjects? How many were there?" Albus asked while sitting down, needing a cloth of his own.

"Five, girls, but one was a stillborn."

"Merlin," he gasped, "And they were all from the same womb?"

"Yes." Minerva said quietly, taking a seat in the chair adjacent to the headmaster.

"…How is she?" Albus asked cautiously.

"Leekie's group held her in captivity until the aurors found her shortly before she went into labor. They said she was malnourished."

"That is a very fortunate shame," he responded wisely. Minerva looked at him in question. "I would not know what to expect from such an experiment. Will they be entirely human, mind and body? Even if they are now, will they have disabilities growing up? A soul splitting into five means that they only have one fifth of a soul in them. No mother wants to deal with that."

Minerva rubbed at her temple, "I never considered those possibilities."

"Who's soul did they split?" Albus mumbled to himself.

"Excuse me?"

"Who's soul did they split?" he repeated louder.

Minerva looked up at him, "They won't know until they run tests only Leekie's group has to offer."

"So they could be cloning a muggle or Tom Riddle himself and we would not know it." Albus said, almost irritatingly, for Albus.

"We… negotiated with them." Minerva said slowly.

"How so?"

"Well, the Ministry is currently holding the four of them in protective custody, but DYAD wants one."

"Excuse me? DYAD?" Albus was sure he didn't lose his hearing just yet.

"The name of his group."

"What a peculiar name," he pondered aloud, "Did they give the child to this DYAD yet?"

"Not yet. They wanted to consult you on this decision before taking action"

Albus stroked his beard, "There should be no problem with it, so long as the child is healthy." He thought a bit longer before saying, "I want her to come here when she turns 11."

Minerva looked at him in shock, "Albus, are you sure-"

"It's nothing we cannot handle, Minerva. Hagrid has brought greater beasts onto this land than most have seen."

"I doubt we can just cage and shackle a human, Albus," Minerva said, rubbing at her temple again.

"There will be no need. We will make sure they are raised in the proper care."

"Whom will we put them with?"

"Put the eldest with… Siobhan Sadler," Albus said decisively.

"Siobhan? She's a bit of a loose cannon, wouldn't you agree?

"Yes well, she has had her share of troubles, but I am convinced she would do her duty if it came to it."

Minerva's eyebrows furrowed, "Very well, who will be the owners of the second born?"

"Put her in a loving muggle home." Before Minerva could protest, Albus continued, "I will have someone to monitor her from afar, preferably Mrs. Figg."

"Mrs. Figg is currently monitoring the Dursley household,"

Albus all but slapped his forehead, "Right, how could I be so forgetful. What about Mr. Trudgate, from the moors?"

"He is free."

"Right, well assign him to a stable muggle household looking for a daughter."

Minerva wrote this down on a piece of parchment, "And the final child?"

"Give her to the Niehauses, in America."

"In America? How will we watch her from there? And who are these Niehauses?"

"The Niehauses are trusted friends of mine, both magic. They went to America to donate to the programs there."

"Right," Minerva said, "and the fourth will go to DYAD. I'll go tell Kingsley right away."

"Please," Albus said. "And Minerva," she turned around, "Give them a chance, 11 years from now. They will need your guidance."

Minerva smiled, "I will certainly try."