Chapter 2 – In which Dumbledore is suspicious, Harry is resigned and Fawkes just preens

Now, as I have stated before, the world in which we have a vested interest is World G of Series Seven, so I think I will gloss over the rather long and convoluted adventures Cat had in the rest of the series. Suffice it to say that Cat arrived in World G with several nasty bite marks, a small garden gnome and a lingering fear when in the presence of marmalade.

Cat had travelled from world to world, appearing before his equivalent in each, which had been a most interesting experience at times. He brushed himself off, and looked around the room he'd ended up in.

It was evidently an office, with a wide mahogany desk, curious silver instruments and chattering portraits. One of its occupants – a phoenix, Cat recognised – gazed at Cat inscrutably for a few seconds, before returning to his preening. The other, a white bearded old man in long sweeping robes had half risen from his chair, probably in surprise at this strange man appearing from nowhere in the middle of his office. He seemed to recover himself quickly, though, and he soon regained enough composure to ask politely who his visitor was, although he couldn't disguise the curiosity and suspicion in his eyes.

Cat didn't even have a chance to introduce himself before there came a knock on the door and a rather scrawny boy with messy black hair and a veritable torrent of power pouring off him entered the room.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"Ah, Harry," said the ancient man. "If you'd excuse me for a moment while I attend to Mr…"

"Chrestomanci, just Chrestomanci. And I believe that it is Harry, did you say, that I must talk to you about."

"Oh?" The professor nodded at Harry to sit, though Cat's previous pronouncement seemed to have made him even more wary than before. "Exactly what is your business here, Mr Chrestomanci?"

"Please call me Chrestomanci. It's my official title. I am the supervisor of magic in World A of your series."

Professor Dumbledore almost choked on the sherbet lemon he was eating."You mean all that guff about the Related Worlds is actually true? I thought Rufus Ukenzi was merely making up waffle because his thesis on the Crumple Horned Snorkack wasn't bizarre enough to be believed."

"It's true, Professor. I monitor all magic users on World A to ensure those without such talents are protected."

Professor Dumbledore's puzzlement seemed only to increase with each further explanation Cat offered.

"So, Chrestomanci, if your job is so vital, what, exactly, are you doing here?"

"Ah. Of course. You must be finding this enigmatic to say the least. Well, in order to exert some degree of control over the combined masses of the magicians of World A, the post of Chrestomanci can only be held by an Enchanter of the highest degree of power. Nothing is sufficient other than a nine-lifed Enchanter. It was discovered I had nine lives at the age of eleven, and thereafter I lived at Chrestomanci Castle, training to replace the previous Chrestomanci. Unfortunately, I am now on my last life due to various misadventures we need not go into. Suffice it to say, I am in dire need of a successor."

Dumbledore smiled slightly, his light blue eyes twinkling for the first time in conversation.

"Another very successful evasion of the question, interesting though it was. But now can you please tell me why you appeared in my office."

Cat noticed that the boy, Harry, who had been very quiet throughout the conversation, was torn between amusement and awe at the spectacle of someone beating his professor at vagueness and dodging questions.

"Ah, now we come to it. The answer is that I cannot find a successor in World A. There is simply not a single nine-lifed Enchanter alive there. So therefore it stands to reason that one has been born in another of the worlds in the series. I have been travelling through them, searching for an heir, and my search has brought me here."

Harry spoke for the first time in the conversation as his curiosity won the battle over his politeness.

"But what has this to do with me? You said you were going to talk about me."

Cat smiled. "It's very simple, my boy. You are my successor – the only nine-lifed Enchanter – apart from me, of course – in the whole of Series Seven."

Harry's shocked gasp was drowned out by the professor's thundering roar of "WHAT!?!"

Completely ignoring the professor, Cat turned to Harry, who looked completely gobsmacked.

"Now, I think it's best if you begin your training as soon as possible – if you come back to World A with me…"

But Professor Dumbledore, incandescent with rage, wasn't having any of it.

"Absolutely out of the question!" Looking at Harry's slightly mutinous face, he admonished, "Harry, you're not considering this madness? What about Voldemort? The prophecy? Look, Mr Chrestomanci, that is completely impossible – Harry must remain here. He is the only person who has a hope of defeating the Dark Lord Voldemort who wages war against us."

"And what is he doing for the cause at the present? Training a little, waiting to grow up and handle it? He may as well do that at Chrestomanci Castle. And we can teach him something useful for a change. Poor Harry needs to learn Enchanter's magic, none of your messing about with wands and cauldrons and broomsticks, or he'll start dying all over the place. We'll train him up for a while, he can come back with a veritable army of weapons that your Voldemort character won't be able to comprehend, let alone defend against – it seems like a perfect solution for you."

Little did Chrestomanci know it, but a few unspoken words lingered in the silence between Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter…

"He will have powers the Dark Lord knows not…"

Cat continued, blithely ignoring the mutinous look on Dumbledore's face.

"Honestly, there is really no option. Harry must be trained, or he'll be dead within a year or two. Untrained Enchanters lose lives with an astonishing speed. I'm surprised Harry has only lost three to this point."

Dumbledore looked almost resigned, but was not prepared to give in without a fight.

"What about Ron? Hermione? Hagrid? You'll be leaving everyone and everything you know, probably for years. Is that what you want, Harry?"

Harry was now looking very shaken up and thoroughly miserable, but shrugged sadly.

"Professor, what choice do I have? If it will give me any kind of advantage over Voldemort, I have to do it. And if it's true about losing lives…"

Chrestomanci beamed at the despondent pair.

"That's settled then. Harry, if you want to pack your things and say goodbye to your friends, we'll be on our way."