A Brother's Sacrifice

by Terri Granger

That terrible night Dumbledore was murdered, secrets were revealed. Most were terrible secrets. But what if not everything is as it seems? And WHICH Dumbledore was murdered? Does the Wizarding World still have its mentor, its protector against the Dark?

Dumbledore's Return

Prologue

"One day when the Dark Lord least expects it, the uprising will begin. And the One he fears above all others will attack, but not in the way anyone expects. The Chosen will discover a fake jewel, masquerading as a weapon. And the love of brothers will lead to a terrible sacrifice, so the Castle can continue while the Phoenix's Clan mourns a loss never suffered."

The prophecy had been made many decades ago, and no-one had ever been able to work out what it meant. The only things they had managed to figure out were the identities of the Castle, the One and the Chosen. The castle was Hogwarts, this was finally accepted after the identities of the One, the Chosen and the Dark Lord were discovered.

For a while no one knew how to decipher the prophecy. The Dark Lord could have been anyone, depending on when the prophecy was meant for. But everyone finally agreed that Voldemort was the one the prophecy referred to. The Chosen was Harry Potter, and the One was Albus Dumbledore. This much everyone knew and accepted.

Well, almost everyone accepted. Harry still hated the idea, but Albus was starting to convince Harry that everything was going to be all right. After all, as long as Albus was there, Harry was safe. Albus' presence alone protected Hogwarts from attack, surely Harry knew this.

Harry did know this, and had full confidence in it. However, he also knew that Dumbledore was only a person, and prone to errors, as all people are. Albus had himself admitted this. Harry also knew that, no matter what anyone said, two of the teachers Albus had appointed to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts had tried to murder Harry, and one of them, by sheer incompetence, had almost caused the deaths of three students.

Still, Albus couldn't have known that that would happen.After all, no one recognised the man for the narcissistic git he was, everyone believed his stories, and everyone loved them. There were a few exceptions. Ron Weasley didn't fully believe Lockhart's stories, nor did Hagrid. But they were the exception, rather than the rule.

And then, in fifth year, something TERRIBLE had happened. The Ministry appointed DADA teacher actually condoned the torture of children, and performed it. That's right, Umbitch to those who've forgotten, or didn't read the book. Remember the Blood Quill? Evil Cow, everyone knows that.

And then, this year. Everyone was beginning to doubt Albus' judgement. After all, he would have to be suicidal, people said, to appoint a known death eater to the DADA position. Still he had, and the Trio weren't happy about it. Nor were most of the rest of the students, since everyone hated the new DADA teacher. Then again, potions was easier to cope with, and they liked the new teacher for that.

And there were rumours. Rumours of a new potion. A potion which was like the Polyjuice, yet different. Many times more powerful, and far longer lasting. Indeed, there were rumours of some special conditions being needed for the potion to deactivate.

So, that ends the prologue. More about the potion, and well, just more in the chapters to come,