Chapter 44. A Meeting with the Headmaster.

Dumbledore sighed, placing his entwined hands on his wooden desk. His room was quite clean and tidy, and he had replaced the objects that Harry had destroyed last year. A small buzz came from the portraits as they talked to one another, loud enough so Dumbledore could hear them, but quiet enough so he could work.

He took off his glasses and placed them on the desk. He massaged his temples and sighed again.

"Are you all right headmaster?" One of the occupants of the paintings called out, and Dumbledore smiled.

"Yes, I am just a bit tired." He said, and he stood up, and walked slowly over to his fireplace. He took a bowl of floo powder, pinched a bit and threw it into the fireplace. The flames turned emerald green and he knelt into the fire. He muttered a few words, and after a few moments, he found that he was looking into Sirius' living room. "Hello."

Willow, who had been sitting on the sofa reading a book, shrieked with fright. She looked around for the voice and her eyes widened with shock as she saw Dumbledore in the fire. "H-hi Dumbledore. W-what's up?"

"Can you come to my office please Willow?" He said, and Willow nodded and stood up. "Can you also bring Rupert, Sirius, Angel, Faith, Spike and Remus with you?"

"Will we all fit?"

"Oh yes, of course. Please hurry." He said, disappearing back to his office.

After a few minutes, Dumbledore's guests arrived and sat down on the chairs that Dumbledore had transfigured for them. Each of them bore curious looks on their faces, and Dumbledore wasted no time on pleasantries.

"It is time I told you the truth." He started, looking into each of their eyes. "Buffy's death was tragic, and while none of you knew it was going to happen, I did."

Sirius' head jerked up and his eyes immediately met Dumbledore's. "You knew she was going to die?" He said hoarsely, and Dumbledore nodded.

"I once told a young boy, many years ago, that it is the choices that define who we are. Many months ago, I made a choice, and I stick to that choice even now, despite the consequences.

"In the middle of this summer, I met with Sybill Trelawney, our divination professor. The meeting was meant to be a business meeting only, reflecting on our past year at this school. However, my meeting proved to be more interesting, and more devastating then I had imagined.

"Sybill is the great-great-granddaughter of a famous, gifted Seer; however Sybill rarely shows that same gift her ancestor possessed. In fact, she has only displayed such a gift three times, and I was lucky enough to witness her prophecy telling two out of those three times. One of those times was on a cold night sixteen years ago at Hog's Head, and the other, was July 30th, four months ago."

Dumbledore stood up and walked over to the black cabinet next to Fawkes. He opened the cabinet and took out a shallow stone basin, carved with Runes around the edges. Dumbledore placed the Pensive on the table and sat down. The others watched in a curious silence.

Dumbledore placed his wand at his temple and withdrew silvery, thin strands of thought and he deposited it in the basin. He leant back, and then prodded the swirls of thought with his wand tip.

A figure rose out of the basin, draped in large shawls and beads. She revolved slowly, like something on display in a shop, and Dumbledore's guests leant closer for a better view. And in her harsh voice, Trelawney retold her prophecy.

"Sixteen years after her sister's death…the slayer shall fall…then… the Dark Wizard can be defeated…and only then can his equal fall…until the slayer dies…neither can be vanquished…only after she falls…they can be killed…Only one spell can kill the Dark Wizard…and only one can kill his equal…only after the slayer is resurrected for the second time…can the spells be revealed…and only then can the Dark Wizard and his equal fall forever…"

The slowly revolving figure sank into the silvery substance in the bowl and vanished.

The room was silent; all occupants did not make a sound. The faint buzz of the portraits had hushed, and even Fawkes was silent. Dumbledore stared at the Pensieve, waiting for the outburst, which was inevitable, to happen.

When no one made a move to speak, Dumbledore started to talk softly. "I made a choice. It was a hard decision to make, and I spent many hours laboring over it, but in the end, I decided to do what was right. Buffy's death, though tragic, served for a higher purpose. She was merely a bishop, a knight, which needed to be sacrificed in order to achieve check mate.

"I called you here because you were the closest to her, and I can almost hear the grief from here in my office. I wanted you to know the truth about her death, and the importance she will play in our fight against Voldemort."

The office fell into silence again, as each guest pondered what they had just been told. The moon shone brightly outside, and each star twinkled in the velvet sky. Faith stared out of the window, her gaze resting on the lake that shimmered. She looked back at Dumbledore, and found he was looking at her.

"Did she know?" Faith whispered hoarsely.

"No." Dumbledore admitted. "I didn't think there was a need, for then her last few months alive would be overshadowed by something she couldn't control. But, she must have realized in the back of her mind that something was amiss, as I had appeared in her apartment, having literally announced my coming moment's before, three days after hearing the prophecy. I had never asked her to come to Hogwarts before, so why then? Why so abruptly, why so spontaneously had I asked? She may not have paid attention to these details then, but I'm sure she may have pondered them at the back of her mind sometime after."

"The prophecy." Giles said bluntly, taking off his glasses. He held them in his lap, tightly, and as if it pained him to talk even further, he furrowed his eyebrows and squinted at Dumbledore. "What…does…it…mean?" He said slowly, and he replaced his glasses.

"To summarize, it means that the slayer shall die sixteen years exactly after her sister's death. It is only then, that Voldemort and Harry can die. Before her passing, it would have been impossible to kill the pair, but now she is dead, they can be defeated. It also means that a simple spell, the killing curse, cannot kill Voldemort or Harry. Another spell can, one designed for Voldemort, and another designed for Harry. These two spells will reveal themselves, when the slayer is resurrected for the second time."

"Resurrected?" Willow said, her head snapping up, her tone of voice portraying a piece of hope.

"Yes." Dumbledore replied softly.

"When? How?" Willow asked eagerly, and Dumbledore shook his head, shrugging.

"I do not know. One cannot know. It may be days, months, even years from now." Dumbledore sighed and leant forward, addressing the group. "The truth is, I have been researching for a way to bring Buffy back. But, it just cannot be done."

"Wait, she brought me back. Can't you just do what she did?" Sirius said, hopefully.

"The spell that Buffy performed was not intended to bring you back, Sirius." Dumbledore said softly. "According to those who were there, as Remus was, your resurrection was unintentional."

"She was looking for a dagger, and she used a spell to find something from another dimension." Lupin supplied.

"Can't we just do that spell then?" Spike argued. "Willow can do her magic and we hope for the best."

"That is exactly what is wrong with that method. Sirius' resurrection was a mistake, or rather, Buffy resurrected him by mistake. If we perform the spell again, who knows what could appear out of the portal. Demons, hellish creatures could be brought forth from that portal. You must remember that that spell was not meant for resurrection." Dumbledore explained. "I would also like to show you something else." Once again, Dumbledore put his wand tip to his temple and extracted silver strands of thought. He deposited them in the basin and then prodded the swirls with his wand.

Proffessor Trelawney rose up again, revolving on the basin. She opened her mouth and spoke again in her harsh voice.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"

The revolving figure sank back into the basin and vanished, just as before.

"Remus and Sirius have heard of that prophecy, but none of you have." Dumbledore explained, sitting back in his chair. "This prophecy was made right before my eyes, some sixteen years ago. Sybill speaks of Harry Potter."

"That prophecy is about Harry?" Willow said with wide eyes. "Poor kid."

"Yes, I told him about this prophecy at the end of last year. You understand what all of this means, do you not?"

Giles nodded. "Harry is the only one who can stop Voldemort. They are equals."

"Exactly. However, Harry cannot defeat Voldemort, and vice versa, until Buffy dies, and we know of the spells that are needed to kill them."

"So now that Buffy has died, Harry can kill Voldemort." Angel said softly.

"Yes. On Halloween, the sixteen anniversary of James Potter and Lily Evans' death, Death Eaters set out to kill Buffy and bring Harry back with them, so Voldemort could kill him.

"Fortunately, we stopped them from taking Harry. But, from that night, and from the fact that Voldemort was so ready to kill Harry on that night, I can decipher that Voldemort already knows how to reveal the curses needed, or at least the spell needed for him to kill Harry."

"And let me guess, we don't have a clue about how to reveal the curse to kill Voldemort." Spike said, rolling his eyes.

"Not quite, Spike. I have found a way, a link for the curses to be revealed to us, and that is where you come in Angel." Dumbledore said, looking pointedly at the broody vampire.

"Me? What do I know, I know nothing."

"That's true." Spike muttered.

Dumbledore frowned at Spike and continued. "You're friend, Darla, currently dwells in the dungeons of this castle, is this correct?"

"God knows what she's doing there." Giles said under his breath, his memories of Darla and the Master still fresh.

"She's human!" Angel defended.

"She's still evil!" Giles shot back. "She keeps pestering Spike to bite her!"

"Don't worry mate, I won't." Spike said, at Angel's glare.

"Guys, shut up." Willow demanded, and the three men fell silent. "What has this got to do with Darla?"

"A lot." Dumbledore replied. "Did Darla tell you of how she was resurrected?"

"She said she just woke up and realized she was alive." Angel shrugged dismissively. "What has that got to do with anything?"

"What Darla said was true, but what she failed to mention was that Voldemort resurrected her." Dumbledore said.

"What?" Angel said disbelievingly. "How? Why?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "How, I do not know. Voldemort has incredible power, dark power that I do not possess. While I am powerful, he possesses power I do not, and vice versa. I however do not acquire the power that is needed to defeat Voldemort, like Harry does.

"I fear it is only Voldemort that can resurrect Buffy, which is why he intended to take Harry back with him on Halloween. I think he is searching for a way to do so now, or is finding the supplies needed. Why did he resurrect Darla? Because he believes that she knows the curses, or one of them.

"Here at Hogwarts, we have a large amount of resources about the history of both muggle world and the magical world. However, there is another world that exists among these two, which you, Spike, Angel and Faith, belong to. The demon world.

"Although the books we have tell us about demon history, is not a complete as the books and resources Voldemort has. We only know snippets of your history, and we only know about these snippets because they relate to the magical world.

"Voldemort has dark wizards, evil vampires and bands of demons at his beck and call, which is an advantage for him. He possesses the power we do not, the knowledge of these curses.

"Now, back to the point. Sybill Trelawney is the descendant of a very gifted Seer, Cassandra Trelawney." Dumbledore forced a smile as Angel's eyebrow's rose. "You have heard of her?"

"Yeah." Angel said weakly. "I know her. I killed her."

Sirius and Lupin glared at Angel. "You killed Cassandra Trelawney? The greatest Seer of all time?" Lupin said disbelievingly.

Before Angel got a chance to explain himself, Dumbledore explained to the group of Angel's actions. "In the mid 1800's, Angelus met a Seer. He was in England, with Darla. This was, of course, before the pair met Drusilla. Angelus and Darla decided that they did not care much for the English seer, and decided to kill her, not before Cassandra told her last prophecy. This prophecy wasn't important to Angelus and Darla, and they did not think twice of what they had been told. Can you guess what Angelus and Darla had heard?"

"The curses." Giles and Lupin chorused softly.

"Indeed. Now I know that the curses cannot be revealed to us until Buffy is alive again, but I do not know when that will be. It could be months, even years from now until that is. But Angel, do you have any memories of Cassandra Trelawney, any at all?"

Angel thought for a moment, but shook his head. "No. I remember her screaming, but that's it."

"If this Cassandra was such a powerful Seer, why didn't she use magic to save herself from Angel?" Faith said, skirting away from the topic.

"A Seer's life is a hard one. From a very early age, Cassandra started receiving visions, and unfortunately, this prevented her from learning anything above the lowest level of magic. She was so much in demand, and her visions took up a great amount of her time." Dumbledore explained.

"Why doesn't Angel remember the curses?" Willow asked curiously.

Angel swallowed hard. "There are some things…some things I repress. My memories of my time of Angelus are too painful for me, and I just repress them. There are things I do not remember, because I do not want to."

"Well can you just want to remember them then?" Spike said irritably. "So we can kill this Voldemort guy and get Buffy back."

"It's not that simple, Spike" Angel growled. "I can't just summon it, because I don't want to remember, I don't remember."

"But I bet Angelus does." Giles said softly, and Angel's eyes widened.

"What are you implying Giles…we bring back Angelus? Do you remember what he did last time he was out?" Angel said harshly.

Giles closed his eyes and nodded-the picture of Jenny Calender's dead body still fresh in his mind. "I do remember, good and well, but it's the only chance we've got."

"Wait, what about Darla?" Lupin intervened. "She was there, maybe she knows of the curses?"

Angel sighed. "Yeah, Darla isn't interested in talking to anybody whose heart is still beating. She wouldn't tell us."

"She might." Spike said, with a glint in his eye. "She gives us what we want; we give her what she wants."

"No, I'm not killing her." Angel growled.

Dumbledore held up his hand to stop the fight that was brewing between the two vampires. "We will not bring about Angelus, and we will not ask Darla about it…at least, we won't yet. We'll give it some time, let Darla settle into Hogwarts, and then we'll ask her. If she won't tell us anything by Christmas, we shall have to start thinking about other ways. Our last resort would be to bring back Angelus." The group nodded, understanding Dumbledore's request. "That is all I want to talk to you about, you may go." He said, dismissing them. They all rose and started to leave. "Oh, Willow, may I talk to you for a second?"

Willow nodded and smiled at the rest of the group as they filed out. She took a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk and faked a smile. "What's up?"

Dumbledore peered at Willow from behind his half moon spectacles. "I know what you are planning to do, Willow, and I must advise you to not."

Willow's smile did not falter. "I have no idea what you are talking about Dumbledore."

He looked at her sternly and leant forward in his chair. "Yes you do. You are planning to look up every spell in the Hogwarts library for a resurrection spell, and then when you don't find one, you will ask Xander to look for you in Los Angeles. I advise you not to do this Willow."

"Why Albus?" Willow said crestfallen. "I could resurrect her, I know I could."

"There are no spells of resurrection for wand magic. I do not doubt that there are spells of resurrection in Wicca magic, but I ask you not to Willow."

"Please Albus; you don't know how much this is killing me." Willow pleaded.

"It would require a lot of control for that kind of spell, control that you do not possess. I'm looking into your best interests for this, and I ask you, do not attempt to bring Buffy back."

"So what can I do?" Willow said, her eyes shining with tears. "Let her lie there in her cold coffin, all alone, waiting for Voldemort to figure out how to resurrect her?"

"That is exactly what I propose we do. Voldemort will definitely bring Buffy back; I have no doubt in my mind about that." Dumbledore said knowingly, and Willow could not help but believe him.

"So we wait." Willow said, sighing with frustration.

"We wait. Good night Willow."

Ok, so a big recap chapter just in case people did not understand anything. Next chapter is definitely more interesting, trust me. And something that lots of people want is going to happen…;)

As always, thanks for all of the reviews, and thank you for being so patient while you wait for me to update. I promise that the next chapter will be up soon, in about a week. Till then…don't forget to review!