Albus sat in his study the morning of the 29th of July. He had gone over different plans to collect Harry from the home of his relatives. The most likely of them had been centered around Polyjuice. He had the idea that several of the order members would ingest the potion and the other half of the group would all take the Harrys on different paths to get to the Headquarters. Harry didn't know that of course. He knew that if the boy did know he would of course refuse the idea quite vehemently.

Severus had been certain that Voldemort was unaware of this. He also had passed the message that for whatever reason the man had decided to not attack. This of course did not sound like the crazed monster he knew Tom to be, and as such he dismissed Severus' confirmations that the monster would not attack.

That left him to his musings now as he sat looking out the window. His thoughts drifted off to the past days. His past mistakes and attempts to understand the one who was prophesied to be his foe.

When he had met the young Tom Riddle he had been so sure the boy was evil. He could feel the dark magic pouring off of him. He had felt much like his Gellert had felt to him before becoming consumed with the maddening search for power.

The thought that he was the reason the young boy had gone so dark had left his mind years ago. He couldn't help but wonder however, if he had given the boy sanctuary at Hogwarts and had taken the time to teach him as a regular student if the monster within would never have awoken.

He sighed sadly. Alas, now was not the time to focus on his past mistakes. Harry was what he needed to focus on, he had to think of how to save the boy. It seemed that the boy would have to sacrifice himself in the end to save them all.

The precautions Tom had taken had left a scar on the boy. He could see the taint of the dark magic on the boy. Toms soul had become so shattered that upon his defeat it had taken up residence inside the only living thing left. Harry. The years had made it so that the shard was able to merge itself so well that it would be impossible to separate the two. The only thing that he knew would possibly do the deed would be if Harry willingly sacrificed himself at the hands of Tom and Tom be the one to cast the killing curse.

He desperately hoped that the plan would work and when the time came Harry would understand what had to be done was for the Greater Good. For the time being he sighed again. He felt very much his age today. From his perch in the corner Fawkes trilled a happy tune.

"Thank you my friend. I fear I was losing myself in thought."

Dumbledore stood and approached the pedestal of his longtime friend. He gently stroked the head of the bird and looked at the clock. It was time to go.

He stepped towards the floor and grabbed a handful of green powder. Tossing it into the fireplace he shouted out the name of his destination before being whisked away in the green flame.

Down in the dungeons Severus sat brewing a potion. He carefully was carving up the ingredients he needed for the final touches when he felt the wards shift to alert them that the headmaster had left.

It was the 29th already and they would be moving the Potter boy later that evening. He had given the headmaster his stock of polyjuice potion and was hence making more.

The plan sounded absurd especially since he knew the Dark Lord meant the boy no harm. Albus didn't trust the information he had passed on. And if he didn't know his master he wouldn't have believed it either.

He carefully added the next ingredient to the potion and stirred it clockwise twice before placing a stasis charm on it. The potions master stepped over the threshold and into his living quarters.

They were painted in soft greens and browns much like that found in the Forrest. Bookshelves made of Oak lined the far wall beside the fireplace. His furniture was a matching light oak that helped bring more light into the area.

Contrary to popular belief his quarters were not solid black and full of bats. Not that the students needed to know otherwise. He enjoyed his privacy and his homely rooms with their touches of color that reminded him of the times he would spend in the woods with his Lily.

The fact that she was a descendent of the Gryffindor line had been a surprise at first. But then when he had thought about it and realized how strong lily was it had made sense. The creature blood that the line held WAS a shock. He couldn't imagine that Lily could have been such a creature.

Nothing about her that had changed in the time he knew her. Her appearance always seemed the same. The haunting green eyes that her son had were the same eyes that he looked into as a child. Her laugh had stayed the same. Her vivacious temper when she was angry had stayed the same. It seemed that when they were 15 her inherited powers had come into play but nothing had changed. Could that have been that she didn't want any of it to come through to her human form? Did it work that way?

More importantly was there a way to check for creature inheritance beyond going to Greengotts. He was sure it was to be a component in the blood or that magic that hid the creature inside until called forth but would it be possible to create a test for that? If he could find a way to create a potion that could test for an inheritance such as that then he could further aid the school by encouraging classes that help the students deal with all the troubles that came with being of creature blood.

It would be a long and tedious task. The best place to start however, would be the library. With that thought Severus made his way from his dungeons and out onto the grounds.

Hagrid was outside tending to some of his creatures as he made his way to the gates. The squid was playing in the lake and splashing water at the nymphs that were lingering along the shore. He cast a look up at the sky and quickly made his way to the border of the wards.

His long time friend would no doubt have a better library than Hogwarts with more on the topic he wished to search for. Perhaps the Dark Lord would allow him access to his library as well and provide insight into such a quest for the potion. He would have to check with them after the Order meeting this afternoon. Turning on his heel he disappeared with a soft pop.