Professor Dumbledore strode down the corridor, his long purple rode flapping at his ankles. His boots clicked as he quickly approached his destination, a brown paper package rustling in his grasp. With a wave of his wand the doors of the great hall opened, the furnishings inside much different to the usual four tables that oh so many were familiar with.
In their place was just one broad oak table, with many, many seats. The oval shaped mass took up an extraordinary amount of space; it was half the length of one of the house tables but width ways was equal to three.
Nodding to himself in approval, Dumbledore stepped in and begun preparing for his guests to arrive. He took his seat at one end of the table where his usual headmasters throne sat. Opposite him was another magnificent chair, the dark leather and frightening gold had quite the contrast to his own. The lightning bolt mark engraved into the wood above where the sitter's head would be giving no clue as to whom exactly the chair was intended for.
It did not take long before the rushed steps of many feet could be heard echoing in the corridors near the hall. Dumbledore sighed and prepared himself for the onslaught of questions that were inevitably going to posed to him. He placed the wrapped package he had been carrying with him down and folded his hands over one another.
Soon a large crowd appeared in the entrance to the hall; a mixture of men and women all looking confused and worried. It wasn't at all usual for every single member of the order to be called together in one place. Many were on missions or in hiding during meetings, but they had all been explicitly told to come to Hogwarts immediately. No exceptions. Surely, this could only mean something very serious had occurred.
"Well there's no point standing around all day," was Dumbledore's form of greeting. "Come in, please. Take a seat, as you can see there is many to go around" he chortled. The order followed instruction and began to sit around the table. Professor McGonagall sat to Dumbledore's left while Mad-Eye took his right with a grumble. The others all took seats as close to Dumbledore as the could, leaving a large proportion of the table empty.
"Oh James, Lily, how lovely it is to see you again" Dumbledore acknowledged their presence among the rest. The Potter's had been in hiding for many months now, their son, Harry, gurgled happily in his mother's arms. "Now, I will explain in a moment but could you please sit next to the second head of the table? Remus, Sirius, you may sit opposite to them if you wish." Looking rather perplexed, the quartet made their way to the other side of the table, seeming quite isolated from the rest of the group.
"Now then" Dumbledore cleared his throat and addressed the gathering before him, "this morning I received a rather odd letter". Concerned mumbling made its way around the table. "I can assure you the contents of said letter are of no cause for alarm" he continued over the voices. "In summary, the writer explained that this very war was won and another that was fought not too long after was also won by the light. However, many innocent lives were sadly lost. So, the have entrusted us with an account of what happens in the coming years as to use it instructively to alter the fate of wizard kind."
There was a long pause… and then – "Professor, you can't be suggesting that someone from the future has sent you this? Let alone trust the information to not be either false or highly dangerous?" Lily spoke up from her end of the table, "that's not only unwise but completely illegal!". Not many had the will to speak against Dumbledore but Mrs Potter had spoken many of their thoughts aloud for them. This was an incredibly suspicious situation.
"I can assure you that I took the extra precautions necessary to determine if this was fact or fiction" Dumbledore replied in his usual calm manner, "I would have not asked you all here with such urgency if I had not thought this to be undoubtedly true."
This seemed to put the majority of the room at peace, so the Professor went on to explain that they would be entertaining the company of some guests from the future as well as the writer's own messages if anything needed clarifying along the way. This explained the extra space at the table.
It was as though the man's words had triggered it as not a moment after he had spoken that a second group of people could be heard travelling down the corridors, concerned voices floating through the open door. Despite being assured of their safety, many of the order drew their wands and sat up straighter. Lily and Alice, both held their sons closer to their chests. They watched the entrance with trained eyes as the group of newcomers burst in.
At the front (and most probably their leader) was a tall and lean figure. His robes were akin to a ministry official's, it appeared that he had not too long ago been at work. His hair was shaggy and came to his shoulders, it was jet black, much like the stubble around his jaw. Piercing emerald eyes surveyed the scene before him behind neat, circular frames. The man's wand was held tightly in is right hand, twitching, ready to be used a second's notice. He scanned the faces in the room, from Dumbledore all the way to the four sitting on the opposite end of the table. His glare softened and he lowered his wand, the rest of his group following suit.
"Good day, my dear boy, please come sit with us" Dumbledore welcomed. The group hesitantly made their way over, the leader visibly grimacing at the throne that was no doubt for him. He wasted no time vanishing it and replacing it with a similar wooden chair the majority of the table were sat on. He gave a nervous smile to Lily, James, Remus and Sirius before addressing Dumbledore.
"I assume you received a letter not unlike the one I received Professor?" his deep voice spoke with a tone that meant nothing but business. A woman from his party with long bushy gave him a reproachful look.
"You assume correctly. Are your friends here informed on the situation at hand?"
"Yes, sir"
"Well then, I think some introductions are in order, don't you?" the Professor asked kindly. He had some suspicions on the identity of a few the group but was as curious as anyone else to the others.
"Yes, sir. I believe it would be appropriate for me to start?" The man looked around his group to see if anyone else would volunteer to go first but none seemed willing so he took in a breath to steady his nerves before speaking aloud. "My name is Harry Potter. The only child born to Lily and James Potter. I am also the current head of the Auror Department and the Ministry." Harry's voice was not was clear as it had been a moment before and he stared ahead, refusing to look at his family.
"W-what?! That can't be!" James spluttered. Lily staying in silent shock, looking between the delicate baby boy in her arms to the fully-grown man just a foot away from her.
"The resemblance is uncanny Prongs" Remus offered to try and cool his friend down. He had noticed it as soon as Harry had walked into the room, however James was having none of it.
"There is no way! Its impossible!"
Harry looked down at the table, breaking his cool façade. He tried to force down the gloom crawling to the surface of his emotions but couldn't hold it back. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it's the truth." This took the two parents by surprise, not expecting such a comment, let alone one with so much hurt poorly disguised in the man's voice.
"Prove it," James said simply. "Prove that you are my son." Harry looked towards the same woman who had glared at him previously, looking for some advice.
"Your patronus should do it" she offered in a quiet voice. Harry nodded and muttered the incantation under his breath. A bright silver stag burst into existence, its hooved feet making no noise in the silent hall as is gracefully ran around the table before coming to a halt between Harry and his father.
James stared at his soon in disbelief. "It really is you… You're my boy, aren't you?" The patronus of Prongs faded into nothingness as Harry nodded. "Look at me, Harry," his didn't convey any of the previous ire towards the man. For the first time the pair's eyes meet and both felt a pull towards each other.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, pulling the two out of their bubble much to Lily's annoyance. "I hate to interrupt but we still have many people to introduce before we can get this meeting truly underway." James and Harry sat up straighter, a light redness viable across their faces.
The woman from before spoke up as to diffuse the awkward tension in the air, "my name is Hermione Granger, I am a muggle born and one of Harry's best friends. I am currently working in the Ministry as the Minister's personal assistant"
"Not for long though," a new voice piped up, "we all know you're gonna be Kingsley's successor." The speaker was one of the new men in the room.
"Nothing is guaranteed Ronald," Hermione said in such a tone that told everyone else that this conversation wasn't new for the two.
"Oh please, Hermione. The entire wizarding population is just waiting for him to retire, not that he has done a bad job by any means but still." No one in the new comers except Hermione looked to dispute this.
"And who might you be, my dear boy?" Dumbledore cut in once again to prevent further debate on this topic.
"Ronald Weasley, sir" he complied. "The youngest son of Molly and Arthur, I work under Harry in the Auror Department. I'm also Hermione's husband." He turned to his parents, "hi Mum, Dad. You better not be as shocked as you look cause I'm not the only one here"
"Wow Molls, how many did you need?" Fabien laughed to himself, despite already knowing that his sister is pregnant with her seventh child.
"Does that mean this one is a girl?" Gideon joined in, "because finally I was starting to worry we'd never be able to use those pink clothes!"
"Ah yes, speaking of which that would be me," a ginger female spoke, "and my accidental magic burned those clothes to a crisp when I was two." The twins huff childishly at this. "I am Ginevra Weasley, but I much prefer Ginny if you don't mind." It was clearly not a topic that was up for discussion. "I am the only girl among my siblings and I am also the youngest. I was the captain for the Holyhead Harpies for a number of years but I am now a writer for the Daily Prophet. I am Harry's wife." She looked over to her husband with a gentle smile.
Sirius let out a low whistle, "so the Potter curse continues, eh?" he laughed.
"I guess so," Harry responds jokingly.
"That just leaves me then." The final person began to speak, he was visibly nervous, much like Harry. He was tall and blond, with pointed features, his overall look was familiar to many in the room. "I'm Draco Malfoy." The tense nature of his audience didn't go unnoticed with this announcement. "I am afraid that name isn't a fond one for many of you and neither this won't ease your apprehensions: I am the son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. My wife Daphne, didn't come along. I also work for the ministry in the department of international magical cooperation."
"That makes you my cousin then doesn't it?" Sirius spoke once more, "Ole' Narcissa did find someone in the end, shame it had to be that git though. No offence"
"None taken Mr Black" Draco replied formally.
"There's no need for that kind of talk, we're family. Mr Black just makes me feel old" Sirius whined with a pout.
Dumbledore stood and addressed them all once again. "Now that those needed introductions are out of the way, lets get this business underway, shall we?" There were nods and murmurs, "excellent."
Suddenly, a floating orb appeared in the centre of the table, many drew back in shock. "Don't panic please!" A voice came from the glowing ball of light, the voice had obviously been distorted to hide the speaker's identity, "I am the one who sent you the letters. This is how I will be communication with you from this point onwards. Should and clarification be needed, I will be here to assist. Also, should a moment arise where I find visuals to be necessary to convey the situation at hand, I will be using a similar method to project these images to you. Like so:" The orb expanded to form what muggles would describe as a holographic screen, on the screen was the patronus that Harry had cast a few minutes ago, running around the room.
"Now as for the documents I have supplied you with, they are seven books written from the perspective of Harry as has goes through Hogwarts." Harry stiffened in shock, all of the secrets he had kept well-guarded with Ron and Hermione… would they be exposed? "Now, that is all I have to say for the moment, please continue." The light vanished from the centre of the table.