I came. I saw. I conquered.
Em
Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters or of any of the places. As many fanfic authors say, I am just taking them all for a spin. The characters and their personalities as well as many other things I've mentioned were made up by the renowned JKR. Whom I'm sure you're all familiar with.
Authors note: Hmmm…I hope this is alright. I'm not sure. I don't mind any form of input you give me, as long as its what you think. You know what I usually say, if not read my other Authors notes. And now for the thanks:
Smarty: Thankyou…your threat worked.
Ravenclaw Filly: And the plot thickens.Thankyou…I'm glad you think its interesting. I hope the spelling is up to scratch.
Rachael: Thankyou.
Vmr: Thankyou.
Just after breakfast Dumbledore meandered towards his office. The sun was shinning brightly and as he passed class rooms he could hear the voices of various staff members dictating notes to their classes, giving lectures or giving praise. Every now and then he'd hear a gasp as a class was shown something new and wondrous.
When he reached the dominant Gargoyle he said 'Toffee Bon Bons' and entered. Fawks was sat on his perch, basking in the morning sun. Out the window he could see Hagrid teach a class how feed some sort of deadly creature. Of course he insisted were harmless, but in reality they could take any number of your limbs away with their eyes shut. The last remnants of dew still clung to the patches of grass that had only just been exposed to sunlight. The lake glistened with silver specks and a few patches of the grounds were dappled with shade from scattered groups of trees. Yes, it was a beautiful day, but one of few or many?
A few hours passed and Dumbledore realised that he hadn't opened his mail. Reluctant to read what might be in the letters he hesitantly brought them out of his pocket and placed them in front of him. A few moments passed and he just stared at them. You're being silly. He told himself. Just open them, there might be something positive. A late birthday card. He always liked birthdays and although hardly anyone knew when his birthday was he celebrated it with as much enthusiasm as a child of six. He eventually decided to open the first one, it read:
Dear Albus Dumbledore
I regret to inform you that due to an attack from you-know-who Jason Smith and his son died. I'm sorry that I had to be the bringer of such bad news, but I knew the ministry would cover it up. His wife luckily did survive and is staying with my family and me however it may not be safe for her to stay with us for too long and I was wondering that if worst comes to worst she could have residence at Hogwarts. It may not come to that, but can you owl me as soon as possible so that if it does become unsafe I can send her to you.
David- A friend.
Such sad news. He'd watched Jason grow up over the years, from a skittish boy to an accomplished wizard. How many more have to die? And how long before the ministry realises that Voldemort is alive. He opened the next letter. It was yet another complaint from Fudge about how he shouldn't be telling everyone that Voldemort was alive. The third however was one he hadn't expected, in a million years. Maybe in a million years. It was written in red ink and said:
Dear Albus Dumbledore
The Order Of The Phoenix will be enlisting Harry Potter, a student at Hogwarts into the order of the phoenix. His enlistment will take place four full moons from now. We hope that you can prepare him for what is to come as well as guide him in the way of the Phoenix. We would appreciate it if this is kept confidential. Your co-operation is a great help, but be warned. You cannot prevent him joining us for it is meant to be.
Yours sincerely
Marcus Filch
Member of The Order Of The Phoenix
Dumbledore sat there in silence, taking in everything. So the Order are going to enlist him. I knew it would eventually happen, but now? They know what they're doing; perhaps this is what he needs. His joining the Order will help bring more hope to the light and Snape and I will guide him towards the Order. Everything will turn out alright. With that he turned towards one of his many shelves that held many books and pulled down a tatty one. On the cover of the book in silver lettering was 'The Order Of The Phoenix.'
It was later on that day. When I say later on, I mean it was late evening and Professor Snape and Trelawney were on patrol with Filch and of course Mrs Noris. Dumbledore couldn't seem to sleep so took to pacing around his office. The moonlight cast a silver streak of light along the floor and as he passed through it his white hair and beard glowed. Whenever he felt so much unrest in the past it meant that something was going to happen, whether it was good or bad, but what was it this time? I do hope that Voldemort isn't going to attack tonight, we're not ready. He thought dismally. Perhaps I should organise some more protection for the school, but that would undoubtabley result in the stationing of dementors and there's no way I'm letting them on the schools premises again. Suddenly he heard shouting from just outside the gargoyle and he ran to see what it was. He stepped out from the gargoyle and was greeted with the scene of Snape shouting at Trelawney.
"I don't care how many moons are eclipsing my inner sun, I'm not going to die!" He snapped and his all to familiar sneer made itself known. How many more people's deaths is she going to predict? He chuckled inwardly at this and then decided to cough slightly to announce his arrival. They looked at him and different degrees of red blossomed on their faces, they were obviously embarrassed by their lack of control. The hallway was dark and a cold current of air swept along it. The gargoyle stood tall and foreboding.
"Ah, I knew you would come and see how we were doing." Trelawney said in a mysterious voice. "My inner eye told me so." Snape seemed infuriated by what she said and snapped.
"Your inner eye? I'm surprised the whole castle hasn't woken up and come here. What with your incessant babbling about your inner eye and how it tells you everything that has just happened." He paused to take breath and in the few seconds it took him to breathe she remarked.
"Well my inner eye has told me you're going to die soon and that hasn't happened yet." The two of them stood opposite each other in the middle of the draughty corridor, completely oblivious to Dumbledore.
"That's quite enough talk about death, everyones apprehensive enough about Voldemort's return." He said to her. Snape smirked, but then Dumbledore turned to him. "And no more snide comments to each other, we need to co-operate." He was about to return to his office, thinking that he'd be able to sleep now, but fate had other things in mind. There was the high pitch yell of a cat, presumably Mrs Noris. Snape and Trelawney ran to where the noise came from to be met with an angry Filch and his scared pet that had three foot horns extruding out of her head. Dumbledore walked slowly behind them and just as he was turning a corner he was knocked over by an invisible force. What in Merlin's name was that? He thought to himself as he fell, he momentarily stunned. As the force that hit him also fell and hit the floor it became visible and Dumbledore could see the silhouette of a boy. It was William Bungle. Further down the hall he heard a quiet gasp and assumed that it was Sheridan Peridot, but he could not see them because they were invisible. William got up and then helped his headmaster up. I suppose they had something to do with Mrs Norris. I was right about them two…I wonder what exactly they did? Just then he heard footsteps approaching and he decided to cast a spell on William to make him invisible again. "Follow me." He said under his breath.
Snape, Trelawney and filch turned the corner. Filch was clutching the frightened cat in his arms. He held her so tightly it seemed as if he felt that if he let her go something else would happen.
"Professor Dumbledore." He said, running up towards him. "Look…look what those pesky brats have done to her." By now the three-foot horns were, for some odd reason going bright orange. "I hope you do something about this, and quick. They're not supposed to be wandering the halls at night and vandalising poor, innocent beings." Mrs Norris isn't what you would call innocent, but none the less Dumbledore agreed with him.
"Don't you worry. I'll sort this matter out. Professor Snape I do believe that the only way to cure this is by feeding her a potion. Can you please immediately start brewing it." At this point Trelawney interrupted.
"I'd watch out for her, Filch. My inner eye tells me that the potion may be her last." She stopped abruptly when Dumbledore looked at her sternly. Soon afterwards he left them and headed to his office, swiftly followed by two invisible mischief-makers. I wonder what's next? He thought. I wonder.
When the door of the office closed Dumbledore flicked his wand and two scared boys stood before him. He jestured for them to sit and when they did they looked up at him. Youthful, wide eyes met old, exuberant ones and suddenly the atmosphere began to lighten. Dumbledore had always been good at this, he'd always been able to make evrything alright, just by being there.
"Thankyou." William said. His feelings not showing in his voice.
"You're quite welcome. This however doesn't mean that you can go wondering around the halls at night." The two boys nodded vigorously. "Although I do think that not even the infamous Weasley twins would have pulled that one off." He had to admit that he found it quite amusing, Mrs Norris had been the subject of many pranks, but not one quite like that one. Especially not by two first years.
The twinkle in the old headmaster's eyes shone bright and looked as if they were emitting light. By looking at him you would think he'd had a short childhood. That he hadn't done all the things that children did, like grow up and that the twinkle that small children have that goes as they grow older in his case never got a chance to leave. Perhaps that was why he was so kind and forgiving towards the children; he wanted to give him what he had not. The two boys chuckled slightly, but not too loudly as they didn't want to overstep the line. It was a wonder to Dumbledore that they had been able to do such advanced magic, but instead of bombarding them with questions and lectures he let them leave. What will the year hold next? He asked himself, before wearily going to bed.