The next day the fighting was over, and Harry was exhausted. The townsfolk were sifting through the rubble of their homes. Luckily, most of the muggles living here already knew about the wizarding world; They were friends, family, or even squibs.

Many still slept inside the town hall, only now able to sleep, after they couldn't go on any longer. The children had been forced to swallow sleeping potions for the most part.

He wearily accepted the cup of coffee from Maya. "Do we know what they were looking for? I noticed that they concentrated on the northwest corner of the town."

"I don't know."

"I'm going to go find Gus."

He walked into the City Hall, looking for him. He walked passed a mother holding her three year old son, and hated Voldemort all the more.

He spotted Gus. "Gus?"

"Have you seen an old woman, dark skinned, probably carrying a staff?"

Harry frowned, "No, why?"

"Dumbledore wanted me to find her." Harry had a suspicion that she might be what the Death Eaters were looking for. "She created a barrier around the building last night, using her staff, I've never seen the like." Harry's eyes widened -a staff?

"Her name is Natalia if you are wondering," came a wizened voice. The old woman walked over to them.

"Ma'am, Dumbledore would like to see you." Gus said politely.

"I bet."

"Would you take her Harry?"

Harry nodded but the woman cut in, "I don't need the help, for your information, but I'll accept to be peaceable." She eyes Harry.

"Floo or apparating to Hogsmead?"

"Apparating thank you. I'm way too old for floo."

She said nothing on the way to Hogwarts, except to say that he was an 'interesting young man.'

When they got past the Aurors and other guards, they made their way to Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster stood up and hugged her when they came in. "I see Harry escorted you."

"Humph. I don't suppose you know how he knew about me?"

"Too the point I see. No, I don't. Are you sure they even knew you were there?"

"Yes, I am. I could use some tea."

Harry asked, "What did they want her for?"

Natalia deferred to Dumbledore. "She is an powerful witch, more like a mage, really, and an empath, He could use her to read people."

"Mage?"

Ariana spoke, "A different kind of magic, a different mindset."

"Could you teach me?"

"Maybe. Maybe. You are an interesting young man,"

"What do you mean by that Nat?" questioned Dumbledore.

"Albus, I can sense something from him. Some you don't need to know about. But I think he could learn to be a mage, and most can't." She looked at Harry. "Apart form that I can hear, sense, something unusual about him." She closed her eyes. "A faint song. Like a Phoenix."

Harry didn't quite know what to think about this. "What does that mean?" He looked back and forth between the two.

"I'm not quite sure," he had a thoughtful look, "maybe it has something to do with you being Gryffindor's heir."

Harry made a noncommittal noise.

"What do you plan to do with me Albus?"

Dumbledore turned his attention to her. "Well, we have many Order safehouses, you could go to another country-"

"Like that would help."

"-and there is always the ministry."

She snorted.

"You could find a secluded spot to build a hut. I could send Aurors or Order agents."

"I refuse to tie up anyone that could be helping."

"Would you agree to stay here then?"

"I suppose. You wouldn't leave me alone if I didn't. But I demand a lemon drops in compensation."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "If I must part with them, I must."

"I'll even go to those blasted meetings, although I doubt I'll be much help. But must I live in the school? All these people."

"Ah, I believe we have a cabin on the grounds you could live in." He didn't look quite so happy now, no doubt remembering the former resident. "Harry, if you could?"

"Of course, sir." He and Natalia stood.

"Lead the incredibly long and excruciating way."

He repressed a smile.

The trek through the grounds was muddy, it having just rained. The forest loomed in the distance, and the sky had large puffy clouds rolling overhead.

Inside Hagrid's old cabin he felt the grief welling up. Her voice startled him, "Who did you lose?"

"Hagrid. He was a teacher, though not the best at it. But he was wonderful. My first friend."

He felt her hand on his arm. "Listen."

He closed his eyes. He could hear Hagrid, like a distant voice. The kind of man he was, things he felt. Harry heard his own gasp from far away.

Then he relived a flood of images, such as the time Hagrid kept Norbert in his cabin. It was like it was only just now happening.

He opened his eyes. She said, "You can feel it now?"

He only looked at her in astonishment.

"Everyone leaves echoes of themselves. On places, people. That's another thing you'll learn to feel, the connections between people. The mind, the soul, the being -is in itself a form of magic."