Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe or any of the recognizable
characters living there. I am just borrowing them to tell this story.

Summary: Dumbledore explains to Bryan why he needs his help.

A/N: I hope that this chapter finishes the backstory. I hope to start the real story with the
next chapter. I also hope to break away from the heavy-talking chapters that the last two have been. I 
don't know if I like the way that this chapter flowed, and Dumbledore sounds a little too ... off.
Sorry about that.

 Also, I had some trouble getting Bryan into Hogwarts. I had thought about changing his age back in
the first chapter and that would've solved that problem. But it would have created some problems with
his back story. Either I would have had him just recently finished battling Malchien, or I could have
made it so he fought at an even younger age. Neither would have worked to my satisfaction. I hope you
like how I worked it out. I've even got a few ideas for plot complications that could develop from it.


It had been perhaps six minutes since Bryan had last spoken. Dumbledore waited patiently for him to recollect himself. Having had to fight many such fights as he has in his one hundred and fifty odd years, he was well aware of the impact they can have on an individual. The battle may have stopped on the outside, but on the inside, it never really ends. The memories can surface at the most inopportune times, shaking you to your very core. Each time it happens, its like being there again, fighting for life. And each time you must force yourself to remember that you survived and that the battle has been over for a long time. To consciously recall those memories, to live them again in order to talk about them must be inordinately more difficult. Especially if you've been trying to forget them, like Bryan has been for four years. He should've had someone to talk to about them a long time ago. Perhaps they wouldn't be as traumatic to talk about. But one cannot change the past. Bryan had finally tucked the last memory safely away and looked up to see Dumbledore quietly waiting. He could see understanding looking back at him over the half-moon glasses. Nevertheless, he felt it was necessary to apologize for the delay. "I'm sorry about that, Albus. I had thought that I had come to terms with my past, but I guess its still something of a sore subject." "There's no need for apologies. I can sympathize with what you're going through. I, myself, have had similar incidents in my past. More than I care to admit, in fact." He paused for a moment. "Perhaps I was lucky to have someone that I could talk to about them soon after they happened. I was able to work through the grief and other emotions much quicker because of it. If you ever need someone to talk to about this or anything else, please feel free to seek me out." Bryan gave him a weak smile. "Thank you for the offer, but I've never been comfortable talking about my emotions. If it becomes too much I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything." And almost as if a switch had been thrown somewhere, Bryan changed demeanor. He smiled warmly this time. "Now that I've told you my story, it's your turn. You have hinted several times that you needed my help with something. A student, I think it was?" Dumbledore recognized the ploy for what it was. Bryan was changing the subject to one that didn't focus on him. Very well, we'll have to discuss it anyway. "Yes, quite. Well, I had another thought I'd wanted to share with you before we continued, but it can wait. Like your own story, it is best if I start at the beginning. "Almost sixty years ago I was a teacher here at Hogwarts. I took pride in the fact that I honestly liked all my students. There was one student, however, that I had trouble liking. There was just something about him that didn't fit. Oh, he was always polite and well-mannered, but it always struck me as an act. I didn't have anything solid to grab onto and analyze, so I let it pass. But the feeling never went away. "This student lived in an orphanage when he wasn't attending school. His mother had died when he was very young and his muggle father had wanted nothing to do with him. I think that was where his hatred had started. From there it just grew. He started to immerse himself in his studies. Learn as much as he could, as fast as he could. He wanted to prove himself better than his muggle father. To prove that he could do anything in spite of his muggle father. Soon, the curriculum couldn't offer him enough material for his quest for knowledge. Soon enough that quest changed. He started seeking power and it didn't matter where he got it from. The magic he couldn't learn in class, he learned from books or from any witch or wizard who he could convince to teach him. Light magic or Dark, it didn't matter to him. As long as it made him more powerful. The more power he amassed, the more he wanted. By the time he graduated, he had laid the groundwork for continuing his quest. The graduation ceremony was the last time that he answered to his given name: Tom Marvolo Riddle. "Upon graduation, he disappeared for many years. It is now known that he had altered his quest once again. Now he not only sought out power, he sought immortality as well. By the time he resurfaced in the mid-seventies, he was as unrecognizable as his new name, Lord Voldemort. He started to gather some followers, slowly at first. As his following increased, so did his arrogance. He started selecting members of his following that were most loyal and made them Death Eaters, and binding them to him by use of a Dark Mark placed on the arm of the follower. Its purpose was two-fold. First, it was a mark that would identify each other. Second, it could be used to summon the Death Eaters to him. With his Death Eaters at his side, Lord Voldemort began to really terrorize the wizarding world. He wanted to rule it all. By the late-seventies, I and several of my closest friends had formed our own group and were openly fighting him, soon others joined in until it seemed that all-out war was about to consume the entire wizarding world. We all knew that once the wizarding world fell, the muggle one wouldn't stand a chance. And we held no illusions that Voldemort would destroy it as well. It got so bad that many grown witches and wizards were afraid to even say his name. He started to be referred to as You- Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Even today most people still will not speak his name. Anyway, I digress. Voldemort feared no one, although some feel he may have feared me. I'm not certain why. "Even while helping in the battle against Voldemort, two of my young friends had gotten married and soon had a son. Their son was special and Voldemort knew it somehow. He feared the child more than even me. As soon as we learned of his plan to kill the child, I insisted that my friends go into hiding along with their son. And for a while they were safe, up until the child was a year old, at least. Another of their friends betrayed them to Voldemort. He wasted no time in going after them. The boy's parents tried to protect him as much as possible, the mother even sacrificed herself. However, they were no match for Voldemort's power. He killed them both, then turned on the boy. When he tried to kill the boy, he found he couldn't. His mother's sacrifice had given the boy some protection from the Killing Curse. Instead of killing the boy, the Curse rebounded back at Voldemort, nearly destroying him. The boy received a distinctive scar on his forehead, but otherwise seemed unaffected. From that point forward, the two of them have been unintentionally linked. Although the wizarding world thought that Voldemort was dead, I felt it prudent to ensure his protection by placing the young boy in the care of his muggle relatives. He would be much harder to find there than anywhere in the wizarding world. He had become an overnight celebrity at the age of one. There isn't a witch or wizard who doesn't know who he is or what he looks like. I knew it would be unhealthy for him to grow up in such an environment. "As word spread through the wizarding world of the demise of the Dark Lord and the child who defeated him, some of Voldemort's followers started recanting their allegiences to him and tried to reenter their lives as they were before. Some were successful, most were not. Those that were caught and convicted were sent to the worst place in the wizarding world, Azkaban Prison. That place'll suck any happiness you have right out of you, leaving only endless hopelessness in its wake. They've been there ever since. "Soon the world returned to what it was before Voldemort's rise, for the most part anyway. The rumors that Voldemort was still alive kept everyone silently holding their breath, dreading his return. As time passed and no new information had surfaced, people started living again. They still feared to say his name, and by extension him, but they went about their daily lives as usual. And so it went for ten years. "In 1991, Harry Potter, or as he's often referred to in many books about Voldemort, The-Boy-Who-Lived, started attending Hogwarts, like his parents had before him. His muggle relatives tried to stop him from coming, but not for reasons one would think. They weren't afraid for his safety. No, they just don't like witches and wizards. To them, we're unnatural. Horrendous people. It pains me to have to send Harry back to them every summer, but its still the safest place for him. No matter how badly the Dursley's treat him. Again, I digress. Sorry about that. As fate would have it, that was the same year that Voldemort made his first real attempt to return to power. Harry managed to stop him. Once again the protection his mother had given him had saved him. Since then, young Harry Potter has faced Voldemort twice more. Both times he's lived. This has only added to people's belief that he's a great hero that'll bring Voldemort down for good. However, what very few people know is that in his last encounter with Voldemort, Harry lost his protection. Voldemort used some of Harry's blood to regain his power, thus nullifying the protection that Lily Potter had given Harry all those years ago. That was just this past month. "Since Harry's last encounter with him, Voldemort has been calling his supporters back to him. He is no doubt deep in planning his next move. I have been the same. I have sent word to my friends and have started setting my own plans into action. Like others, I believe that Harry is the one who'll bring Voldemort down. Unlike the others, I have real reasons. First, there's the link between them. Harry has been unintentionally using that link in his dreams to gather information on Voldemort's activities. And second, there's the reason that Voldemort wanted him dead in the first place. In recent months Harry has been showing an increasing proficiency in wandless magic. It's still very uncontrolled and unpredictible. But it is there, nonetheless. It would seem that Harry is developing Mage powers. Voldemort must have detected the potential and decided to eliminate a future threat before Harry had time to develop his gifts. "And that's where you come in. I was hoping that you could train him. I wish it weren't necessary to ask this of you, but there aren't any other likely candidates. I would do it myself except I am not a Mage. I can do some wandless magic, but that's due more to age and experience than anything else. Plus, I haven't the time necessary, especially now that I must reorganize the resistance forces and advising our own Ministry. What do you think?" Dumbledore had wanted to tell him so much more but felt that he had given Bryan enough of the overall picture that anything else could be filled in later. He sincerely hoped that Bryan would agree to help him, but he also understood why he might not want to. He'd fought his own battle and barely made it out alive. Even now, I can see him weighing both sides. Good, he's at least considering it. Bryan took a few moments to process this information before he felt ready to answer him. When he started talking, he still hadn't fully decided what he'd do. He needed some more information. "Albus, I think I might want to help, but I am uncertain of how much I can invest of myself in another fight. I lost everything the last time and don't know if I can go through it again. But I can also sympathize with the boy. To lose one's parents so young, it must have had a tremendous affect on him. What kind of person is Harry Potter? How is he handling his role in all this?" "Well, he's like most other boys his age. He has his friends, and his enemies. He breaks the rules every once in a while. He works hard and gets decent marks in all his classes. But he's also more. He is very loyal, both to his friends and to me. When he does break the rules, it is often for very selfless reasons. He probably takes more responsibility upon himself than he should. He knows what the rest of the wizarding world thinks of him and doesn't like it much. In his mind, I think he knows that he can never fully live up to the reputation he's been given. He wants nothing more than to be like everyone else. Despite everything that's happened, he's still himself. He hasn't let his accomplish- ments go to his head and he doesn't use his status to his advantage. I'm not sure I'm answering your question, so I'll just say this: I think Harry is a very nice young man who also happens to be the most moral, well-mannered, likable people that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Does that answer your question?" "Yes and no. But it doesn't matter. I'll help in any way I can. I'm not sure how effective I might be, but I'll do everything I can. How do you propose we handle his training? We can't exactly do it out in the open. This Voldemort probably has spies everywhere who'd notify him of such. Likewise, we can't hide away somewhere secluded until he's trained. His disappearance would raise too many questions that would best be left unasked." "Indeed, Bryan. I did have a plan, but I don't think it'll work. Like I said before, I had figured that you'd be much older. I also hadn't counted on your lack of knowledge of the wizarding world. My plan was to recruit you to be a teacher. Since everyone knows that we're in need of a new Defense teacher, it would've been the perfect cover. Unfortunately, I don't think you'd be able to pass as a professor. So I'm not sure how to proceed." Both were silent for a few minutes, each lost in thought. The only sounds to be heard in the office were those made by the large red bird as it dozed on its perch, the rustling of fabric as they shifted body positions, and the clinking of ice as it melted in the now forgotten pitcher. Finally one of them spoke. "Albus, I think I have an idea that might work. Let me know what you think. What if I were to come here, not as a professor, but as a student? I can be placed in the same grade as Harry Potter, perhaps even in the same classes. It shouldn't raise too many questions or suspicions. If we were seen spending a lot of time together, it could be mistaken as studying." "Hmm, I was thinking along similar lines. However, I wasn't going to suggest it. It would be a lot of work on your part, especially getting caught up. Harry will be entering his fifth year in the fall. You would have to learn four years worth of material by then. You would also be required to take some sort of cumulative testing on that material since you've never used a wand before. And there will be no way for you to use magic, even such as you control, to cheat. It wouldn't be fair to any of the other students. Becoming a student would be extremely difficult. Then there's another factor that would draw attention, you're several years older than the fifth years." "I'm not afraid of hard work. I know that I can learn the materials, it just might take a little bit longer than the summer. Perhaps you could arrange to have the tests take place a few months into the term. That should give me enough time. I have a fairly good memory. It's not photographic, but its close enough. I think I might actually enjoy learning magic in a structured environment instead of waking up and finding all the knowledge embedded in my brain. "As far as my being older, I can fix that. One of my specialties happens to be transformation. I can change one thing into another very easily. Joe could as well, but he had more difficulty. He was better at transportation than me so it all worked out. I can literally become younger." "I'm not sure that'll work. Because of certain events this past year, I will be placing some new wards around Hogwarts. They will prevent people from disguising their appearance. Glamour spells and poly- juice potions will have no effect." "I don't know what a poly-juice potion is, but I've heard the term Glamour Spell. What I'm proposing isn't a Glamour. I will transform myself into my younger self. For all intents and purposes, I will be younger. Mentally, I'll still know my true age, but my body will be as it was at that age. And once I transform, I will not have to maintain it. I will stay that way until I choose to return to my true age." "What you're describing sounds a lot like animagus transformations. The only difference is that an Animagus can transform into an animal. Each Animagus may have a unique animal it transforms into but the process is still the same, regardless of animal. Out of curiosity, can you change into an animal?" "I don't know. I've never tried it before. I suppose that if I were to study the animal for a while I could do it." "Any animal?" "In theory. We can test it some other time, if you wish." "Fastinating. You're right, we have more immediate concerns. If you're sure that you want to do this then I have no objections. I can draw up a list of books and supplies that you'll need in order to get caught up. Later this summer you should receive an official letter letting you know what you'll need for your fifth year classes. Do you know where you'll be staying?" "Not yet. I might go back to the tavern and inquire about a room there. If that doesn't work, I can always rent a flat in London. I hadn't thought about such things until now." "I think it would be best if you stayed at The Leaky Cauldron. Just let Tom know that I sent you and he'll get you started in the right direction. Be sure to ask him about getting to Diagon Alley and pointing you toward Gringotts' Bank. You'll need to change your muggle money to wizard money as soon as possible. And while you're in Diagon Alley, you may want to purchase some new clothes. You don't want to draw too much attention to yourself. In fact, it might be a good idea if you changed yourself as soon as possible." "Good idea, Albus." In a matter of seconds, Bryan went from being a twenty-one year old man to that of a fourteen year old boy. He had shrunk several inches and his frame lost some of its bulk. Gone was his mustache and his face lost some of the chiseled look and became a little fuller. It had also seemed to light up as his frown bacame a smile and his eyes seemed more energetic. His skin tone had gone from its pale color to a more healthy appearance. He looked like any healthy, active teenager looked like. Except for the clothes. They were now too big and hung off him at odd angles. After a moment, these too had changed. The jacket simply disappeared. His jeans and shirt had shrunk until they fit correctly. His sneakers were replaced by a different pair. His worn, American sneakers made way for a pair of nondescript black running shoes. "Albus, err, I guess I should call you Professor Dumbledore now, what do you think?" His voice had also lost some of the deep bass that it had. He now spoke as one would expect one who's voice had only just changed maybe a year or two before. "If I hadn't seen you change, I'd swear I was looking at your little brother." Albus Dumbledore got up and came around the desk and held out his hand to Bryan. "I can't thank you enough for helping me. If you need any help, feel free to ask." Bryan stood and shook Dumbledore's hand. "You don't have to thank me. I couldn't, in good conscience, turn away from someone who needs my help. Besides, its not like I don't get something out of this deal. I get to attend a school that teaches witchcraft and wizardry. I think I would've enjoyed school the first time if I wasn't battling Malchien all the time. Not too many people can say that they truly get to be a kid again." He let go of Dumbledore's hand and walked to the fireplace. "I should go talk to Tom. I'll see you later, Professor Dumbledore." As Bryan Dunn reached for the floo powder Dumbledore said goodbye to his newest ally in the fight against Lord Voldemort. With a flash of light, Bryan was gone.