Nobody spoke when Dumbledore finished his last sentence. The room was silent except for Fawkes' fidgeting on Hermione's chair.
Harry was in completely and utter shock. All colour had drained from his face and his eyes looked distant. Hermione was watching Harry, increasingly worried about him as Dumbledore was finishing the story.
He cleared his throat and continued in a quieter voice than before. "As you can imagine, Chris was distraught. He'd lost his daughter and son-in-law who he had loved so much.
As for Rose, she ran away. There has been only one sighting of her but that was years later when she was twenty-two, and that was when her picture was added to this book." He pointed at the page. "No one knew of her whereabouts from then on; no sightings, no deaths, nothing. This is the first I've heard for years." He looked sadly at Harry. "And now, she is back. Why, yet I don't know. But by the way you described her attack, it seems like now she's mastered her powers. But what's worse is she hates her own existence; that makes her more deadly than ever."
"Er… Professor? I still don't understand why she attacked us." Said Hermione. "Why attack now?"
"Well…" Dumbledore started. "I suppose somehow, she found out about Harry's birth, and heard his story. What helped make you who you are. But, we have yet to find out how she may react to you inheriting somehow, one of her powers. One of the powers the Dark Lord knew not; along with the power to love. Rose's birth and existence were covered up, so over time people forgot her name. Forgot her face. She became know to them only as the girl who was power crazy. That everyone had been afraid of."
He looked at Harry, waiting for some sort of reaction. Harry sat back slowly in his seat and breathed in and out deeply. "I er…" he did not know what to say. He knew already Dumbledore was watching him, that he had for while, but Harry turned his head to see Ron and Hermione watching him too.
He sat back up again. "What should I do?" he asked quietly, directing the question at Dumbledore.
"I suppose there are certain choices." He told him. Dumbledore looked into Harry's green eyes and saw what he had not seen for years. A young child; lost and vulnerable.
"You could track her down," Dumbledore said. "Talk to her. See if you can help her see reason. But, it may be to late for that." He stopped, thinking. "You could try and stop her. Stop her from hurting anybody else. Now she has shown herself, she will no doubt show herself again. She's more confident this time, again in how you described her." He paused, his eyes now sweeping over Ron and Hermione.
"Will she… will she be…" Harry started. "Will she be as powerful as Voldemort?" he whispered to Dumbledore.
"Honestly Harry, I do not know." Dumbledore told him. "But… if she is, it were, she could even be stronger. He used mainly only spells. She uses spells and has powers he never had."
Harry's eyes widened.
"Harry, you're going to get through this. And Hermione, Ron and myself, will help you." he gestured towards them and they nodded in agreement.
"How?" Harry whispered.
"You know the spells you used against Voldemort by memory, but I didn't teach you two that may be the most important that you could use against her. One weakens powers temporarily, long enough to make her listen if she doesn't want to; and the second which you will probably have choice but to choose, a power stripping spell. But the question is, will you do it? Will you face her and fight her if necessary?"
Harry didn't hesitate. He had already made up his mind. "Yes," He replied. "Yes I will."