Shattered Dreams
On the broom ride to Hogwarts, the sky had stayed beautiful and clear. As Annie, her siblings, and the hit wizards got closer to Hogwarts, the view was amazing. Annie would have enjoyed looking at the forest and the lake, but she was to shocked by the day's event to care.
James, Sirius, and Remus landed their brooms as carefully as they could, so the young passengers wouldn't have to endure anymore shock that day.
Annie carefully got off of the broom she had been sharing with Sirius. Looking around, she saw the front of Hogwarts, framed by the red rays of the setting sun. "Red." she thought. "The color of blood." She sniffed, then started to cry softly. Annie had been able to deal with the pain a good four hours after seeing her family shredded, but now the knowledge of what had happened started to sink in. It was terrible.
~
***
James looked around. "Hogwarts." he thought. "This is the only truly safe place. I hope these kids can stay here."
He was very troubled by what had happened to the Phifer family. It was fairly well known that the manor was one of the best protected places in Europe. "If Voldemort could get the Phifers, then what chance do Lily and I stand?"
James thought of his house in Godric's Hollow, and of Lily. "The Phifers had plenty of capable wizards at their home, along with hundreds of years of safety spells, plus whatever that blue stone was."
The thought of the stone jolted James back into reality. "Dumbledore said there was something strange protecting that house, and I'd bet my wand that little blue stone has something to do with it."
"Remus, can you carry the brooms? I'll get Alexia; we need to get them somewhere where they can sleep."
Sirius bent down to ask Annie if she wanted to be carried inside. Annie shook her head, no. The six weary people trudged into the front steps. The front doors opened, and they were greeted by a worried looking McGonagall.
"Come inside." She said. "Dumbledore wants to see you."
"Do you think we could put the little ones to sleep first? They've had a long day." Remus asked, as they walked into Hogwarts' familiar front hall.
"Of course. Dumbledore said to turn both children over to Madame Pomfrey." McGonagall paused, seeing three children, not two.
"Yes, Minerva. Both children." Dumbledore said suddenly from behind them. He smiled down at Annie. "Miss Annie, do you think you could come with me?"
Annie nodded. Dumbledore turned to walk slowly up the stairs to his office. Annie thought it was strange when he stopped in front of a rather ugly gargoyle. "Bubble gum." He said to the statue. To Annie's amazement, the gargoyle jumped out of the way, reviling a door.
"Come with me, Annie." Dumbledore said, stepping on the moving spiral stairs. Annie looked at them doubtfully, then stepped on behind the strange man.
~
***
Once inside Dumbledore's office, Annie sat down in one of the soft chairs that surrounded the large desk. She didn't notice any of the moving pictures, any of the whirling silver contraptions; indeed, all she noticed was how much this office reminded her of her father.
Dumbledore bent down in front of Annie's chair. He cupped the child's face in his hands and looked into her eyes. He seemed to understand something in those eyes, something special.
"Annie. You have been incredibly strong for your siblings today, and you were very strong to show Sirius, Remus and James around your house after all that had happened. Now, I must ask one more thing of you. May I see the stone?"
Annie wasn't at all sure she should let anyone else touch the stone after what it had done to James. But she knew, somehow, that this man wouldn't be hurt. She slipped the chain over her head and handed Dumbledore the chain.
So this is what has protected the Phifer family for so long, Dumbledore thought. It is a very powerful talisman, and it can only be wielded by the chosen few. Alas! That Sophia was a Squib! She could have done so much more if she had had enough magic to work the stone to it's full potential.
Dumbledore looked at Annie again. The child sat, curled up with her feet in the chair, all manners forgotten. She was staring at her knees, and her eyes were glassy. Yet she did not cry.
I truly hate to put this responsibility on her shoulders, but the stone has chosen her. I must send her to someone who can teach her to use the magic that has been given to her. I fear I will have to further break apart this family to do this.
Dumbledore sighed quietly.
"Annie," he said, and the girl looked up. "Here is your stone back. Now, I want you to promise me something." Annie nodded. "Promise me, that as long as you live, you will never let another person take that stone from you. Not even myself, understand?"
Of course, Annie didn't understand the whys and hows of this promise, but she understood how important it was that she do as Dumbledore asked.
"Yes sir. I understand."
~
***
James stood in the hospital wing, watching the two sleeping children.
I wonder what Dumbledore wanted Annie for. Surely he knew what she'd been through, so it must have been extremely important, to keep her from her sleep.
James sighed, and looked at the two children who lay sleeping. Madame Pomfrey had given them each Dreamless Sleep potion, and they had fallen asleep instantly. As he looked at the children, his thoughts wandered back to his own home, where Lily and he were hiding from the world, just like the Phifers had been.
I hope Lily is all right. We must be crazy, to think we can hide from Voldemort. The Phifers couldn't do it, the Boneses couldn't do it, the Grangiers, the Yamputs, nobody has been able to hide from Him for long. What makes us think we can do it?
"James?"
The tentative call came from Remus. Remus, who was one of James's best friends.
"James, you should go home. Lily must be getting worried. After all, you have been gone a lot recently." Remus was very sincere in his concern.
"You're right. I should go home. Good-bye, Remus. Keep on living."
"And you, James. You keep on living for Lily, and all of us."
James walked out the door. He needed to get his broom and cloak, then he would be gone. After all, he couldn't stay in one place for long.
~
***
Dumbledore escorted Annie down to the hospital wing so she could sleep with what was left of her family. After tucking her into bed, Dumbledore sat until he was sure she was asleep. Then he went back to his office. He sighed. This was going to be a long night.
"Delia!" he called to the house elf that usually watched over his rooms, "Would you please find McGonagall and ask her to meet me in my office as soon as possible?"
The house elf, as always eager to please, scurried off quickly. Dumbledore looked around his office and ran a hand through his beard. He then walked over to a wooden cabinet and opened the doors. Inside there was a large circle made out of the blackest material known to the wizarding world. He took this circle out of the cabinet and looked at it.
"It is a rather amusing twist of fate, is it not, that the strongest opposition to Voldemort happens to come from a family with a strong background of Black Magic." Dumbledore said this to no one in particular, expecting no answer, but he got an answer anyways.
"Fate has an extremely humorous side as well as it's more well known sadistic side, Albus. You know that as well as I do."
A pale outline of a young woman appeared near Dumbledore's desk. One would have thought she was a ghost, were it not for the beautiful colors surrounding her. She had the look of the pale rainbow that shows up in the mist of a waterfall, and one got the feeling that she would dissolve into mist if she so chose.
"Yes. I assume you know what has happened to Sophia. What do you have to tell me, Linan? You are the expert in this type of magic, not I."
Linan looked at him. Now that she had fully materialized, she seemed to glow with an inner light, and she seemed to be made up of every color of the rainbow, yet at the same time she was colorless. Muggles, and most wizards at that, would have thought they were dreaming if they saw her. Few could understand that such beauty could exist on earth, and yet conceal an amazing amount of power and age.
" I have nothing to tell you that you don't already know, Albus. Sophia was a Squib. She knew using the stone would kill her, but she also knew that some female member of her family had to be protected so that the stone would continue to have a carrier. I know the stone chose the child named Andromeda. The only thing I don't know is with whom you intend the children to live."
"As soon as Minerva gets here, I intend to contact William and Louise. I expect they will move back into the manor and raise the children as best they can. I only wish they had someone younger to help them. They were old when they raised Sophia, now, they are not much younger than myself. Raising children will be very hard on them."
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Dumbledore waved his hand, and the door opened by itself. McGonagall walked in, took in the scene, saw the black hoop on the desk, and said, "You are contacting William and Louise, then. Are you sure, Albus? I'm sure somebody would be glad to take them in."
At this Linan spoke again. "No. Voldemort is growing stronger. The Phifer manor is strong, stronger than anywhere besides here."
McGonagall had gone white as a sheet a the mention of Voldemort. However, she said nothing about it, instead she said, "Then what do you propose we do? William and Louise are no longer young, and I don't think they could keep You-Know-Who away from the manor all by themselves."
"Minerva has a point, Linan," Dumbledore said. "There is no way William could hold up the shielding by himself, and Louise would need the stone to do anything. The stone is currently downstairs, with Annie, and that is where the stone will stay until Annie dies."
Linan gave them both a lopsided smile; then she waved her hand and dissolved into the air. When she reappeared, she was no longer as colorful as she had been, rather she was more blue than anything else, and her edges were more clear cut.
"My solution is, you give the children to William and Louise, they stay in the manor, and I hold up the shields, watch the children, and teach Andromeda how to use the stone the way it was meant to be used. Is this solution satisfactory?"
McGonagall and Dumbledore stared at Linan. As long as she had watched over Hogwarts, (nearly 700 years total), Linan had never shown any favoritism, and she had certainly never offered to teach. Finally, Dumbledore came back to his wits.
"Very well. I shall contact William and Louise." He turned towards the desk, but Linan beat him there. She held up the hoop and said, "That is unnecessary, Albus. They have contacted you." She held the hoop in the air and spun it counterclockwise. An image of an elderly couple appeared in the hoop. They were both crying.
The woman in the hoop spoke first. "My baby is gone, gone. What happened to her, Dumbledore? Are Thomas and the children all right? What happened to Sophia, my poor baby?"
Dumbledore looked grave. "Thomas is dead. They were attacked by Voldemort early this afternoon. There wasn't enough warning for us to get there in time. They are all dead, except for Annie, Alexia, and William."
At this, Louise broke into tears and disappeared from the image inside the hoop. William stayed, and looked straight at Dumbledore. "Sophia used the stone, and it killed her." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "Where are the children, and which one did the stone chose?"
Linan answered this question. "The children are here. The stone has chosen Annie. With your permission, I would like to teach her how to use the power inside the stone the way it was meant to used."
William bowed his head. "I will meet you at the manor tomorrow at noon. Don't bring the children. I don't want them to see whatever is left over until we have a chance to clean it up. Then, we will stay in the manor with the children and raise them as best we can. Linan, will you assist me with the shielding?"
"Of course." Linan said. "Gladly."
William swallowed. "I will see you tomorrow, then." His image disappeared for the hoop. The hoop stopped spinning and fell to the ground. McGonagall bent to pick it up and put it on the desk.
"That's that, then," she said.
"Yes, that's that." Dumbledore's grave reply held no humor, even when speaking the amusing phrase.
"Then why do I feel as though I've just signed a death warrant?"
~
***
Hogwarts, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Madame Pomfrey, Sirius, Remus, James, Lily, Harry, Peter, Voldemort, house elves, and anything else you recognize all belong to J.K. Rowling. I would absolutely love it if you reviewed!