PLEASE FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION HERE! I REPEAT! PLEASE FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION HERE!
Now that I have your attention, congratulations Red Phoenix Dragon for getting the right answer to my question at the begining of the last chapter. The answer was Harry was performing magic in his bedroom at the Dursleys, this would have been underage magic. Now I have another question. Who has spotted the HUGE continuaty error at the begining of the sixth Harry Potter film. First person to answer correctly get an imaginary cookie.

Ok lets get this over with. I do not own Harry Potter. I make no money from this story or any of my stories.

The Apprentice

Harry only had to wait about a minute before the air in his room started to shimmer and sparkle. When the light show was over Harry looked up expecting Anthony. What he saw shocked him.

The girl before him had the black raven wings and almost black eyes of an angle of death. She had dark red hair and appeared to be around seventeen. She was wearing black NewRock boots and black jeggings. She wore a bullet belt at an angle around her hips. Her t-shirt was black and she wore a black leather jacket. Around her neck she had a spiked dog collar choker and she was wearing black lipstick and matching eye shadow. She was almost definitely a Goth.

Or so he thought.

"Hello." He said tentatively. She stared at him for a few seconds before giving him a smile.

"Hi there," she said. She sounded … Cheerful, "I'm Alyssia, but you can call me Alys. I'm Anthony's apprentice. He's a little busy starting on paperwork right now so he sent me to answer your call. So, what seems to be the problem?" she rushed out, hardly taking a breath.

Harry just stared at her. She had to be the happiest Goth he had ever met. Finally he managed to get his brain back into gear. He picked up the letter from where it had fallen on the floor and flipped to the last page and last name.

"Well … umm, Alys … there appears to be a mistake on this list. It says that Dumbledore has to die." Alys took the list from him and looked through it before staring at the last name for a while. Eventually she looked up and said "Nope. No mistake." Harry's jaw dropped. He was finally able to make coherent thoughts again.

"What do you mean 'No mistake?' There has to be. He's Albus Dumbledore for crying out loud. I can't kill him." He was indignant. Not just because they wanted him to do it, but also because they expected him to be able to. He looked up at Alys to see she wasn't smiling anymore. She actually looked pretty sad. She sighed before sitting on his bed and gesturing for him to do the same. He sat down and looked at her, moving his hand in the way that says 'Go on' or 'Explain.'

"You have to Harry. Death wants his soul." She whispered.

"But why?" He pleaded. Why did he have to kill a great man?

"Because, his death is overdue." She answered. He froze. He did not know how many more shocks he could take. Albus Dumbledore. The Albus Dumbledore. The Great and Powerful, All Knowing Albus Dumbledore had escaped his date with death. So shocked was he that he couldn't say anything for a while. Finally he managed to say one word.

"How?"

"Albus Dumbledore had a destiny. Just like you. His destiny was to defeat Grindelwald and to destroy the Elder wand. You see, Death no longer wanted a wand that had such a bloody history to remain in your world. But just as you mortals can't interfere with fate, we can't interfere with your free will, and so Albus Dumbledore took the Elder wand for himself, convincing himself that his destiny was to use the wand, but never to brag about it, telling himself it was for 'The Greater Good.'"

Harry sat there digesting this information. He had heard the esteemed headmaster use the phrase 'For the Greater Good' before. Thanks to Hermione and Rita Skeeter he knew where the phrase originally came from. He knew that a young Dumbledore and Grindelwald had spent one summer planning to take over the world using that phrase as an excuse. He swallowed his objections and sighed. There was no point in arguing, he had signed a contract.

"How and when was he supposed to die?" he asked. Nothing prepared him for the answer she gave.

"Albus Dumbledore was meant to die at the hands of Tom Riddle in 1979. Dumbledore was a powerful wizard in his youth, but he was growing weaker the older he got. Dumbledore first faced Tom in battle in June of 1979. At this point Tom was the more powerful one of the two, but with the Elder wand, Dumbledore was his equal. Instead of dieing, he fought Tom to a stand still and Tom retreated.

If Dumbledore had died as he was supposed to that day, then Tom would have lost support from all but his most die hard supporters. To kill Dumbledore, an icon, a hero, a man respected even by those who didn't agree with him, it would have been considered bad form. The light would not have fallen to despair as Tom hoped, but rather they would have been motivated to avenge their leader, their hero. To finish what he started. Tom's forces would have been devastated and Tom caught. He would have been sent through the veil. The veil is pretty much Death's Judgement. There's no way to survive going through but it takes you, all of you to your final judgement. That would include Tom's soul pieces. Tom would have gone through the veil in 1983 and your life would have been normal. You would have ended up with one of your matches and had a fulfilling life.

By not dieing, Dumbledore mucked things up. Fate needed another way to get rid of Tom. Your parents would die for you and you would banish Tom. Your love would be the ultimate weapon against him when he returned. You were to be raised by Sirius to ensure your love was allowed to grow and mature, but Dumbledore interfered again and sent you to your aunt's, here, for the blood wards, but also to be humbled. He didn't want you turning up at Hogwarts like your father. That would have made it hard to push you towards your destiny as he saw it. On the path you were on you would have ended up with Ginny Weasley, a fan girl who thought it was romantic for her mother to use a love potion to get her father to notice her. What Ginny was never told was that Arthur liked Molly too, and just needed the confidence to ask her out." Harry held up his hand before she could go on.

"Hold on. Are you saying Ginny dosed me with love potions?" Harry looked sceptical.

"Of course not." Alys said. Harry's relief lasted about five seconds. "She knew you and Hermione were to smart for that. She dosed you both with jealousy potion. Think about it. One minute she's your best friends sister and practically your own and the next your jealous of her and Dean being together. Your mind told you that since you were jealous then you must love her. Hermione and Ron did not bicker like an old married couple, they argued constantly. Ron acted like it was a game to see how fast he could make her cry. He belittled her beliefs and constantly pushed her around. Their marriage would not have been a happy one and their children would have grown up in the middle of the fights.

Ginny dosed you with jealousy potion until you all started dating. By that point you didn't question the love you felt and you were dosed with love potion. The doses would be administered until she and Hermione were married and pregnant. They assumed you would stay together. They would never see the divorces coming. And yes I meant they.

Ron was in on it. He was dosing you and Ginny was dosing Hermione until the Horcrux hunt and then Ron was dosing you both. That's the real reason Ron left, he ran out of potion. You see, when preparing the potion to take with him Ron forgot to take into account the lack of food you would have. With out the food the potion had nothing to slow the effects and so you went through it quicker than you should have done. Did you ask Bill if Ron had been there? Ron snuck onto the grounds of Hogwarts through the shrieking shack. It's just far enough outside of Hogsmeade to avoid setting off any alarms. He signalled to Ginny when he could and she made more of the potion for him. He lived in the shack and she sent one of the castle elves to feed and look after him. It took a couple months to finish the potion, that's why it took him so long to get back to you. When he did make it back you were so relieved to see him that you didn't question what happened with the Horcrux. You saw it as his insecurities rather than the jealousy that it was.

Ron was always jealous of you. When he realised just how close you were to Hermione he wanted her for himself, just to be able to say that he got something that you didn't. He would have beaten you. Due to the way you were raised you didn't recognise the love you felt for Hermione and passed it off as a sibling bond. And you had only known Luna for nearly a year when they started dosing you as they started dosing you and Hermione during the summer before your sixth year. You hadn't had the time to sort your feelings out, especially with all the grief and guilt you felt over Sirius' death." Harry sat there and thought. It was a lot of information to take in in half an hour. He picked up on something.

"They started dosing us before sixth year?" It sounded unbelievable. He hadn't started liking Ginny until after the first Quidditch game, when he first saw her and Dean together. Dawning comprehension appeared on his face as he remembered something Hermione had once said while they were revising for their exams. 'While love potions begin to work immediately, jealousy potions have a delayed reaction. They don't affect the subject until they are confronted by the object the potion is keyed to.' Even though he knew Ginny was dating Dean, and had dated Michael Corner in the past, it was only when he was confronted by it that he felt jealous. He frowned as he thought. It was strange and oddly "coincidental" that Ginny was making out with her boyfriend in the exact short cut that they took. That it was Ron who led him to the short cut … well, need he think anymore. He looked up at Alys and saw understanding in her eyes as she gave a small nod. She knew what he was thinking. 'Well, I guess I know why they aren't on the list of trusted people now.' He thought.

"There's one thing I don't under stand." He said with confusion in his voice. "If Death wants the Elder wand destroyed and no longer on earth, then why does he want me to have it?"

"Because becoming the Master of Death will help you to complete the list. Once you've delivered the last soul to him, he will release you from that power and allow you to live your life in piece. He would really appreciate it if you destroyed the wand for him after this is all over." He nodded at her explanation. He would definitely need all the help he could get in taking the souls of Voldemort and Dumbledore.

They sat there in silence for a while as he let it all sink in. So he wasn't Fates bitch after all. He was never supposed to be in this position. The beliefs of one man had sealed his fate. Because Albus Dumbledore believed that he knew best, Harry's parents, along with so many others had died. Harry looked at the clock again and saw that it was nearly one o'clock. He yawned. His younger body might be rested, but his mind was not. He looked at Alys and she could see he was tired.

"Well, if that's all then it's time for me to go." She said as she stood up. She moved into the middle of the room and spun around. She smiled at him. "Don't forget to call when you need help. Night Reaper." The air started to sparkle again and she spread her wings a bit for dramatic affect. Soon she was gone and Harry packed everything back into the little chest and placed the chest in his trunk. He locked his trunk and got into bed. Soon he was asleep, dreaming of the changes he'd make and of two very pretty young witches.

Hope you enjoyed it, sorry it took so long. Please don't kill me for it, it's Christmas. Please leave many reviews.