Let The Games Begin

            Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, his aged hands steepled before him.  "After all, why shouldn't we have a little fun", he thought, with a telltale twinkle in his eyes and a slightly devious grin on his face. He stared down at the blank parchment before him. "They have all been through so much and its time for life to go on".

            The year ahead would be rather trying for many of the teachers.  Taking a year off from school was necessary in the wake of the war, but not without its repercussions.  They were now faced with 7th years that were a year older than usual (and adults by all standards) and twice the usual number of first years, considering they have the previous year's intended newcomers, along with the children that would normally start this term.

            He thought about what had transpired over the last year while Hogwarts was effectively shut down to concentrate on the war.  In the end, it was no surprise that Harry Potter was the one to bring down Voldemort.  His innate but superior abilities showed themselves at the crucial moment, and the Dark Lord ceased to be. It had been a difficult year for all of them. Lives put on hold....lives lost.  .

            But that was all over now.  And with it, so much had changed.  Surprisingly, inter-house rivalries had started to crumble, even between Gryffindor and Slytherin by some miracle.  There was still tension, of course, but it was more out of habit than out of hate.  Albus had done his job.  He had planted the seeds that began to grow when they were no longer consumed by the dark. There would always be a few that would cling to that darkness, but when many of the children, particularly from Slytherin, saw what being a Death Eater was really about...saw it with their own eyes...they knew that there was something innately wrong with it, and came to Dumbledore's aid in the end. Draco Malfoy was the first to join Dumbledore.  Albus had expected it, but it was quite a shock to everyone else.  Draco hadn't even waited for things to start to come to a head.  He had reconciled with Albus after his 5th year and had spied for the Order for nearly a year before anyone suspected he might have crossed. Near the end of his 6th year when his fellow Slytherins realized where his loyalties lie, many began to have doubts as to whether they had to follow in their parents' footsteps.

            Albus absently fingered the jar of Scoprire Occultare that rested next to the parchment. "It's now time to heal my children", he thought to himself. Popping the cork out of the little vial of powder, he considered how it all might play out.  "Its not like I'm actually meddling. I'm just giving them the push they need to do what is already in their hearts".  With a little pinch of the crystalline mixture sprinkled over the blank parchment, and a well-chosen incantation, the parchment disappeared.

            He smiled; a real smile.  Something he hadn't had the luxury of allowing himself for a long, long time.  He smiled...and began to feel the weight of the past year lift from his weary shoulders.  He knew his little act of healing was as much for himself as for the others.  He had lost a lot through the years...probably more than most.  He also knew that he had the benefit of a lifetime of experience to help cope with his losses; something that the others didn't have as of yet.

            "I wonder who the first... victim will be", he thought aloud, in Fawkes' direction. "Do you have any thoughts on the subject?"  Fawkes gave a melodic trill and ruffled his feathers.  "Yes, yes.  I think you may be right about that.  Its high time our Potions Master loosens up a bit.  He's been living for other people for so long.  Its time he lives for himself.  But we really don't have a say in it, do we?  The parchment has a mind of its own".  With that, Dumbledore stood up to go join the rest of the school for lunch. 

            "Let the games begin".  He chuckled softly to himself and made his way down to the Great Hall.