"When do I get to choose?"
"Right now. Oh wait a minute. PERCY WEASLEY!"
A bell stroked and Percy Weasley suddenly appeared next to Merlin. Except it wasn't Percy Weasley, the frail eighty year old man that Albus had seen on the man's death bed. This Percy was clearly only twenty five years old.
Percy glanced at Dumbledore, smiled, and said "Yes sir?"
"Could you get out a piece of parchment, and write whatever our Visitor Albus Dumbledore has to say?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. You might as well start now Albus."
"Thank you. Thank you so much." A tear was suddenly traveling down Albus's face, as he realized that he could call back his family.
(A/N: Fun Fun! By the way, all the people with STARS next to their name were mentioned in the 5th book under Moody's photograph of the original Order of Phoenix. Everyone with # signs, I've made up. Thanks)
"Emmelisa Dumbledore!" (mother)#
"Elizabeth Dumbledore" (sister)#
"Charles Dumbledore" (father)#
"Minerva McCongall!"
"Severus Snape!"
"Alastor Moody!"
"Dedalus Diggle!" *
"Marlene McKinnon!" * (Voldemort got her entire family soo..)
"Jeniffer McKinnon!"#
"Andrew McKinnon!"#
"Frank Longbottom!" *
"Alice Longbottom!"*
"Emmeline Vance!"*
"Remus Lupin!"
"Benjy Fenwick!" * ( found in bits)
"Edgar Bones"*
"Amelia Bones"
"Sturgis Podmore!"*
"Caradoc Dearborn"* (vanished)
"Hagrid" *
"Veronica Potter!" # (Harry's mysterious former wife)
"Poppy Pomphrey!"
"Lily Potter!" *
"James Potter!" *
"Arabella Figg" (I assume that she helps later in sixth and seventh books)
"Elphias Doge!" *
"Gideon Prewitt!"*
"Fabian Prewitt!" * (took five death eaters to kill the brothers)
"Nymphadora Tonks!"*
"Dorcas Meadowes!" * (killed personally by Voldemort)
"Sirius Black!" (A/N you didn't think I'd forget HIM!")
"Molly Weasley!"
"Arthur Weasley!"
"Bill Weasley!"
"Charlie Weasley!"
"Fred Weasley!"
"George Weasley!"
"Percy Weasley!"
(At this, Percy looked up, gave a confused smile, and turned back to his parchment)
"Neville Longbottom!"
"Hermione Weasley!"
"Parvati Thomas!"
"Lavender Finnigan!"
"Justin Finch-Fleshley!"
"Draco Malfoy!" (He obviously turns spy in other war, I like him too much for him to become evil)
"Rowena Ravenclaw!"
"Wait.... was Salazar a good guy?" asked the breathless Albus.
Merlin smiled. "Yes, he was."
"Salazar Slytherin!"
"Helga Hufflepuff!"
"Godric Gryffindor!"
Dumbledore fell silent, desperately thinking about all the heroes he'd ever met.
"You do know you can use people from way back? And there ARE such things as Greek Gods you know."
"KING ARTHUR!"
"Sir Lancelot!"
A/N: Hoo boy, i'm going CRAZY! Fun-fun! Try to keep up with me :P)
"Can the Greek Gods stay up here for now? I think they'd be better off guiding us in heaven." Sorry guys, but I MYSELF wouldn't be able to catch up :D)
"Sure, thats fine. Just call on any one of them, and they'll either appear on Earth, or help you from there. Is that it?"
"All I can think of right now, yes."
"Okie-doke. Percy please give me the parchment." He turned to Dumbledore, "Albus, the people have a choice of what age they want to appear in. I have a guess that most will be around twenty five, they miss young age so much! They'll be in your Great Hall at Hogwarts in exactly four hours. Prepare the living for them, especially their relatives. You also might want to give all the living retired Aurors an anti-aging potion, they won't be able to fight when they're ninety!"
"What about you and me?"
"We're special," Merlin looked smugly, "We can fight when we're over two hundred years old!"
"And now, you must leave. I will talk to the people you have mentioned."
"Goodbye."
There was a flash, and suddenly, Dumbledore was back at his desk.
The first thing he did was stare at the spot where Merlin had vanished.
The second thing he did was run to his Penseive, and start emptying out thoughts that he didn't need right now. The sixth year fight under the staircase, the invitation to the Hogwarts Garden Party – none of that was important – now.
Then, he made a list of all those who would probably need an aging potion:
Harry Potter
Ronald Weasley
Virginia Weasley
Luna Longbottom
Dean Thomas
Seamus Finnigan
Hannah Finch-Flechley.
"Emilia!"
Emilia McCongall opened the door.
"Yes sir?"
"Emelia, contact the following people, tell them to apparate to Hogwarts."
"But you can't apparate to H--."
"Tell them to use the Security Lifting Spell. Hurry, please be back in three minutes."
"Security lifting spell? I have to use it, don't I?"
"Yes. Hogwartus Apparatus Liftia!"
Without a word, McCongall disappeared.
She and seven other old men and women returned with her.
"Sit down."
Seven comfortable plus chairs appeared. They (the people) looked rather confused. Dumbledore's face grew softer. He didn't know how to start.
"You will each receive an anti-aging potion which will last as long as you want it to. This is to ensure that you fight in the best shape possible. I will recite your name, and you will tell me what age you would like to be.
"Harry Potter." Harry staggered up and limped to Dumbledore.
"Twenty Five."
Dumbledore gave him a 500 ml bottle, and he returned to his seat.
"Ronald Weasley."
"Twenty Five."
"Virginia Malfoy."
"Twenty-four."
"Luna Longbottom."
"Twenty-four."
Dean Thomas.
"Twenty five"
"Seamus Finnigan."
"Twenty five."
"Hannah Flechley."
"Twenty five."
"Now, on the count of three, drink. One. Two. THREE!"
* * *
The changes started occurring immediately. First, their skin smoothed out, taking
out any wrinkles or sagging skin. Then, their body grew anywhere between 5`9 or 6`4.
The men now had bulging muscles, and the women had thin bodies – but beautiful
curves. Both had extremely white teeth, and the white color disappeared from the hair,
making a strong brown, red, or black.
Harry Potter now had jet-black hair, which now went beautifully with his emerald-green eyes. He now looked like the twenty-five year old version of the late Muggle – Colin Ferrel. He was itching his now-grown muscles, and wincing.
Ronald Weasley was looking at his torn jeans in astonishment. He had grown from 5`4 to 6`4 in thirty seconds. He had red hair that looked surprisingly tame.
Virginia Malfoy, a.k.a. "the grandmotherly hen", had turned – well – beautiful. She looked with surprise at her new thin body, and with embarrassment at her newfound curves. She had red curly hair that went down her back. The hair was not carrot-red, but rather a soft auborn.
Hannah Abott cowered in mortification. When she was twenty, she had decided to lose her plump figure, and started dieting. She had also straightened her hair – so now she looked like a Britney Spears – with clothes.
Luna Lovegood had also started to take care of her looks in her early twenties – although she used a sense of unique style. She was the exact replica of Phoebe from the medieval show: Friends.
Dean and Seamus also looked very handsome. Dean had decided to grown his hear out in his Hogwarts graduation. He now looked like a mini Johnny Depp.
Seamus had decided to keep his plump looks – declaring indignantly that they made him look 'cute'. He now looked like the character of 'Chandler' from the same show of Friends.
Dumbledore nodded approvingly, and handed each an expensive Invisibility Cloak. When they looked at him curiously, he smiled, and said softly:
"I wouldn't think it would be moral to show yourself this young to your family just yet..."
They smiled awkwardly, and put on the cloaks. Dumbledore said to the seemingly blank space:
"Wait here. Salazar!"
Salazar Snape opened the door. "Yes sir?"
"Contact the people in our last meeting... tell them to be in the Great Hall in half an hour."
"Yes sir."
When the door closed, Dumbledore turned to the invisible people and said "Follow me." He went to the Great Hall.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GREAT HALL: HALF AN HOUR LATER
The people from the last meeting, entered, confused. They were peace-loving people, who had never experienced a tinkle of real evil in their lifetime. Already, it seemed, the subject of Voldemort was interrupting their peace. They had had two meetings regarding his arrival. When they all arrived, Dumbledore started speaking.
"How many people believe in Heaven?"
Everyone's hand went up (except for Salazar Snape).
"How many people could believe that a living man could visit Heaven, talk with the head of Heaven, and could still be talking to you right now?"
There was a silence, punctured with raised eyebrows and eye-rolling.
"I thought so." He smiled sadly.
"What would you do if I told you we have help to defeat Voldemort?"
"From who?"
There was a flash, and a figure appeared next to Dumbledore.
"From me." Dumbledore smiled, grateful that Merlin would help him explain.
"My name is Merlin."
There were gasps and sudden whispers: "But he's dead!"
"Of course I'm dead. I've returned from Heaven. Want proof?" He cupped his hands, and a star appeared. He threw it, and it alighted itself in the thundering sky above.
(A/N: Remember in the first book, the Great Hall is supposed to have a ceiling that portrays whatever weather it is outside.)
"There Albus, something to give your Hogwarts a sense of style. So I've come to help you. Actually I'm going to send people to help you. In exactly one hour and fifteen minutes."
"Who are these people? People who have been sent to heaven. Which ones? They
are all people who are related to you people, who have been heroes in the past worlds,
Most of them lived in the childhood days of Harry Potter and Virginia Malfoy, and other
heroes. I warn you, one of them may be your spouse, your father, your mother, your
sister, your brother... I have also called on the four founderse of Hogwarts and the Greek
Gods."
The tears on Merlin's crowd's faces still kept running, but now there was something else – a sense of shock and awe.
There was another silence. Sniffs were heard, but mostly the crowd could not rid themselves of the shock... the unbelievable shock...
Dumbledore decided it was his time to talk.
"Since we'll need live warriors as well, I have given Harry, Ronald, Viriginia,
Luna, Seamus and Dean an anti-aging potion. They are now...," his eyes settled on
Harry's fifty year old son, and winced "twenty five years old."
There was, naturally, an uproar of voices.
"But I'm sure you, being the most kindest people I have ever seen in Heaven, can handle it." Merlin smiled, and the voices stopped as soon as it had started.
Merlin winked at Albus, and nodded.
Dumbledore nodded at the blank space in the crowd. The twenty-five (and twenty-four) year olds removed their cloaks and smiled apologetic at their respective children (if they had any). The muttering started again, but now it was in the form of comments like:
"This is too weird."
The twenty-five year olds also looked shock and had tears in their eyes, as Dumbledore had not told them everything, when he had invited them in his office.
Dumbledore smiled at the twenty-five year olds, and said:
"Our guests will be arriving in an hour. Personally, I think we should give them a type of... formal welcoming."
He waved his wand, and suddenly the Great Hall – changed. It now looked like it had been in Harry Potter's first Yule Ball. The only thing missing, was the Weird Sisters, and the formal participants.
Gradually, the crowd also began taking out their wands and waving them. They just kept an outfit in their mind, and three seconds later, they were wearing them. The men were all wearing tuxedos and the women had elegant ball gowns. The women also had their hair up in fancy buns.
They started conversing to each other, admiring each of their outfits, and talking about the people that they might see soon.
Then, Merlin cleared his throat, and all went quiet.
"It is time."