Albus VII

Wisdom, power and good intent

Great honour does Arcanus give

Friend, confidante, conduit he

Resilience be naught save guide

Just before midnight...

There is no time to explain, Albus. Summon the keys!

It's done, Arcanus. They're all on their way to the Staffroom as I write this. I contacted Severus and Minerva personally. I also took the liberty of asking Baron Romsey to alert Miss Granger and accompany her to the meeting. All are bringing their journals with them, though I do hope you have some sort of safeguards in place to stop them from inadvertently 'forgetting', or worse, trying to destroy them quickly?

I know, Arcanus, that that particular question isn't worthy of a response from you, but Severus looked particularly put out by the request. If this whole situation wasn't so gravely serious, I might have had the energy to laugh at the shocked look on his face, not to mention my dearly beloved Minerva pointing her wand at me and the energy of her temper crackling around her like a shield. There is something to be said for the advantage of not actually being in the room with an irate witch woken from a sound sleep.

There are too many secrets, and all of them are waiting to emerge in the next little while. I just hope that it's not too much to ask of my friends...

Secrets hold a benefit only when they aid the honourable. This is not such an instance, you know that Albus.

I know old friend, but I am so weary of all of this. I just wish it was all over and that the struggle looming over us was but a distant memory.

You wish for something you cannot have, and it is therefore a wasted wish. It serves no purpose other than to delay your action. Take comfort in the fact that you will have the advantage of knowing about me, whilst the other keys present are likely to have much more varied reactions to...everything.

True, and on that note I'd better hasten to the Staffroom before Sir Nicholas and Baron Romsey blurt it all out in their own unique way.

Just after midnight in the fifth floor Staffroom...

"Thank you all of you for coming here so quickly, and I do apologise for the lateness of the hour. It could not be helped."

Albus moved swiftly into the room after his initial greeting, all the while looking carefully around the room and ensuring that the three other journal holders were indeed present. But for the seriousness of the situation, and the varying degrees of confusion flitting across the faces of the gathered Professors, ghosts and lone student in front of him, Albus felt he probably would have quite enjoyed to moment of total confusion. This however was not the time to gloat, though the results of this most unusual gathering had not yet begun.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I called this unusual gathering in such haste, and why indeed I would choose the ghosts to alert most of you. Well, it's a long story and I would ask that you all make yourselves comfortable and allow me to tell you; with some unusual help, exactly what is going on."

Albus watched as they all started to sit down in the comfortably appointed armchairs scattered around the room. Severus sat down gingerly guarding his left arm, though Albus noted that he kept his gaze firmly on Miss Granger, as if silently asking the purpose of her presence. When everyone was seated; including Hermione, Albus sat behind the small desk that had magically appeared directly in front of him.

"As some of you are not doubt well aware, there are students missing from the castle. This has been confirmed by a head count of every student conducted by Professors' McGonagall. Flitwick, Sprout, and Snape. I can tell you all that they have left to join Riddle's forces and that their whereabouts otherwise is unknown. Remus Lupin was able to confirm this; amongst other things, at a meeting I had with him earlier this evening."

Holding his hand up to still the mutters in the room, Albus continued, "I've no doubt that many of you have much you wish to say on this issue alone, but I beg you to keep those thoughts to yourselves until I finish everything I need to say."

At the nods from his staff and an oddly comforting grunt from Severus, Albus felt as though he wished an abyss to open up so that he might find someone else to continue onto the most explosive part of the night.

"If I could ask Severus, Minerva and Hermione to deposit their journals on my desk, we can continue onto the next most important part of this meeting."

A startled squeak from Miss Granger sitting quietly on the periphery of the room saw Albus swivelling his head in her direction.

"Hermione, do you remember when you first received your journal that you came and asked me if it was safe for you to keep it?"

At her nod, Albus smiled softly and then said, "I seem to recall that I told you that you 'were most favoured to receive such a gift'."

"Y-yes...sir, I remember."

"Well, then it might interest you to know that four others also received similar journals at the same time. None of you need fear that any of your written secrets will be fodder for everyone else in this room. Now, if you could all put your journals next to mine on the table, I'll be better able to continue this rather unique opportunity."

Albus watched closely as first Minerva and then Severus looked as though they were debating the pros and cons of making a break for the door. Both of them then looked pointedly at each other as if daring the other to move first. They unwittingly stood simultaneously and moved to place their journals on the desk next to two other identically bound books. Hermione had stood back watching her teachers' face-off against each other and so she was the last to place her journal on the edge of the desk. Albus noted wryly that she wiped her hands down her robe as she moved back slowly to her seat.

"I'm not at all sure how to begin this story, but I suppose it might be as well to just wade in and hope that it all makes sense. All of those who received these journals in front of me were well favoured, though for a myriad of different reasons. It might never have seemed so, but surely you must have been curious as to how and why you felt the urge to write in them initially?"

A wary nod from Severus and Hermione greeted him, but it was the glint of steel from Minerva that saw Albus visibly startle.

"Err, Professor?"

"Yes, Hermione," Albus answered quickly, turning away from Minerva's harsh glare.

"If there are five journals on the desk, how come there are only four of us here?"

"An excellent question, my dear Miss Granger, but one that I can only partially answer. I don't know who the fifth journal belongs to, but I can tell you that that person is not in the castle at this time. Baron Romsey is aware of the identity of that person and as such he will stand in for that key."

"Key, what key? Really, Albus. I have better things to do with my time than listen to this garbage. If Lupin is correct then Riddle is on the move and we need to start preparing our defences, not sit here listening to this twaddle!"

"Severus, I know you're confused and angry at the deception played upon you, but all of you will just have to trust me that there is a very specific reason that the holders of the journals are called, 'keys.'"

"I'm making a mess of this, but please bear with me and I'll try and explain things more clearly."

"There is an old legend little talked about from the time of the founding of Hogwarts, and thought by many to be just that – a legend. It does, however, have a base in fact. It's a secret every Headmaster and Headmistress passes on when they leave Hogwarts, and it is my task to break a vow of secrecy I have adhered to all these years. The Founders; yes, all four of them, Severus, decided to always protect this wonderful castle and its environs with a powerful spell. In short, this spell was to create an entity whose sole aim was to ensure that Hogwarts, if ever directly threatened, would protect every one of good heart and pure aims under its protection. Now, Hogwarts itself has never before been directly threatened, but there was a caveat to the spell. It was this – that the entity would be given a certain degree of sentience and the ability to directly approach residents in the castle whom he believed would do their best to protect the initial goals of providing a haven for all those who sought to learn and grow within this wonderful domain."

"As you can no doubt surmise, there have been instances when Arcanus – yes, that is the entity's name - has made himself known to a select few. I myself have been most privileged to be the recipient of another visit from Arcanus in my youth. I believe the year was 1917 and Professor Basil Binns can no doubt extrapolate the significance of that date to the Magical timeline – after I've finished what I need to say."

"I suppose I should stop prevaricating and get to the crux of the issue. There are three people in this room other than myself who have also been privileged to have had a direct link to Arcanus. They are known as 'keys' quite simply because that's exactly what they are – keys and a direct link to Arcanus. Now as fantastical as this sounds, it does however demand a payment of those recipients, whilst in return it offers a gift – a gift I might add that is specific to the individual concerned. In my youth the gift I received was wisdom and the ability to look at both sides to any argument. It is something I would feel bereft without, and it goes some way in explaining how I have always been seen as wise beyond my years. I'm digressing, but it was to illuminate a point to three people whom I know have always felt at the periphery of things happening around them. To have been honoured so, even through a mild deception was in and of itself a very great gift."

"Now the Founders were quite well aware that if Arcanus chose his recipients poorly, there was a very grave danger that this fortress would become inhabited by those who sought to tear down the ideals of Hogwarts, so a few extra safeguards were instituted. The wards are keyed to Arcanus alone and he has sole control of them. I know many of you have argued that the Anti-Apparition barrier inside the school should be lifted permanently, but imagine if that were to happen and darkness was to descend upon us. We would be like fish in a barrel struggling to escape, and that really isn't an objective I would care to explore. The extra rooms are a whimsy; including a Room of Requirement that can expand to hide and shelter an infinite number of people. It's unplottable too, and only Arcanus can allow it to become visible when someone needs it. I do plan to have the younger years shelter there when the fighting starts – and it will start, my friends, in little more than a few hours from now."

"Arcanus is Hogwarts and Hogwarts is Arcanus. They are not separate, though I have often wondered just how it is that Arcanus does decide to gift his journals too. He is unlikely to answer that question, I might add, and don't think I haven't asked it of him at various stages in his latest visit."

"Finally, there are the House ghosts and others such as Professor Binns and Myrtle Barlow who have each in their own way contributed to the network of visible guardians within the school. Many have often wondered just how omnipotent a school head has to be to get the job. It is an unfortunate sleight of hand, my friends. I am human, and whether you choose to believe it of not is of little consequence, but it would be more appropriate to claim that omnipotence resides in the House Ghosts, and the other ghosts in the castle. They are constantly on alert, with their own network to disseminate information to the sitting Headmaster or Headmistress. It's no secret to the House Heads gathered here that, Sir Nicholas, Sir Archibald, Friar William and Lady Penelope have often known of occurrences in the castle long before the news became widely broadcast to those of us still living. It was another legacy of the Founders to add the protection of these sentinels; or guardians if you prefer, to the network available to Arcanus, and as a by-product to me as well."

"Now, none of this will ever show up in any official history of Hogwarts and we do have a significant advantage when Voldemort and his forces appear – and they will appear very shortly. It is; from my reliable sources, due to commence at four o'clock this morning. Apparently, a new prophecy appeared in the Department of Mysteries announcing this auspicious time, but it is of little consequence really in the long run. The prophecy is false and deliberately planted to mislead Riddle. By all accounts it appears to have worked admirably, but we really shan't know of its true efficacy until it is too late to congratulate ourselves for the subterfuge."

"I have taken the unusual step of quarantining the Owlery and every Floo network in the school. Any and all of the secrets exits have been blocked and the wards will now alert me if anyone tries to fly out of the castle by whatever means at their disposal. Anyone on the school grounds or in the castle is now here for the duration of whatever comes to pass in the next little while. Whilst I can be reasonably assured that those students left within the castle have not been swayed by Riddle or their parents, it would be prudent not to allow any correspondence that might just alert our enemies to the fact that rather than finding us blissfully unaware of their attack, we are prepared and ready to face whatever darkness he and his minions can throw at us. We must be as prepared as we can be before his Death Eaters and other alliances begin to arrive. Arcanus will alert us to any breach in the wards surrounding Hogwarts by turning the night sky in the Great Hall blood red."

"I really cannot answer your many questions now, other than to say that we must be ready to defend ourselves and fight to save Hogwarts. If Hogwarts falls to darkness, then Arcanus will cease to exist and the Founders' dreams and hopes will lie in tatters. The only people capable of stopping that happening are the leaders in this room – including the ghosts, whom I understand have their own part to play this night. It's time for me to stop waffling now, but I do hope the keys can forgive an old man the deception. It was well meant and may your gifts be as wonderful as mine was all those years ago."

With a flick of his right hand, Albus placed a few parchments on the desk in front of him.

"All of the plans we've made in the past, dear friends have come to pass and you will find your tasks on the papers in front of me. I shall leave you all now to prepare your students and see those younger years safely to the marshalling point specified. Good luck and may you all find yourselves safe at the end of whatever is about to start."

All constructive criticism, comments and reviews are most welcome! It's time to feed my muse. :)

This first part of the story is now complete, and yes, I've already started on the second part of the story. The epilogue to this first part will be posted tomorrow night (my time)