ahhhhhhhh so much snow and uni only closed twice wtf. anyway hope you enjoy the chapter!

Alfred was wiggling in his seat. Blah blah blah. It was all the same and pointless to him, all this arguing and mindless babble. He didn't even need to be here to be honest. They already knew what he wanted, and was going, to do. But politicians were politicians and there was nothing he could do to make them stop squabbling like small children. He really should have just went on ahead and got ready by himself. Sadly he was but a mere nation that still needed the permission of those in charge.

"But Dumbledore isn't a threat to us," someone was whining.

"But he will be if he isn't taken care of!" someone else countered.

"But that isn't our responsibility! England needs to deal with its own threats!"

"But we're ALLIES!"

But, but, but. Seriously Alfred wanted to leave right now immediately so he wouldn't have to deal with this inane bullshit anymore. Boooooooooriing…. Alfred sing-songed in his head. Heh heh, but but… butt. Ha. Had this not been a very serious setting with a very serious topic being discussed Alfred would have definitely taken the time to giggle at that. But as it were the country was nothing but sober looking on the outside.

Very serious.

"Fine! It's been decided then!"

Finally.

"Mr. America?"

"Yes, sir?" He might have been a bit too enthusiastic with that reply.

"We're going to need your help."

YES.

"How?" The blond man was now leaning on the conference table in excitement. He was finally going to go do something.

"First, we're going to need you in to do a bit of traveling…"

Harry sat at the edge of his bed, head clasped in his hands and elbows resting on his knees. He wanted nothing more than to sit here for the rest of eternity. He didn't want to get up and be adored by everyone he knew, he didn't want to be watched and gossiped about every minute of the day, he didn't want to walk the halls of a battleground in which hundreds had died and he was to blame. He wanted his fight to be done and over with so badly. He wanted peace damnit. But Dumbledore was still around, still ready to manipulate everyone into war and death. It ate Harry up inside to think about. On the one hand he was so immensely angry, furious, and on the other hand he still didn't want to believe it. Dumbledore had been a man he could respect and trust and follow when there was no one else.

There were so many emotions warring inside him, bundling up into one giant clusterfuck of confusion and a dull throb of pain. There were so many things he didn't want to be, to do; a savior, a hero, a martyr. He was tired. He didn't want to get up. But the inevitable would roll along. He would get up, he would go to classes, he would fight to save the people who almost didn't deserve it. And what a horrible thought that was.

Harry slowly lifted his head and sluggishly rose from the bed. He was already dressed in his school robes and was outwardly ready to tramp down to the Great Hall for breakfast, but inwardly he was still a mess. He jumped slightly as a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"You okay, mate?" there was a look of concern and almost understanding in Ron's eyes. Harry didn't really care at this point though.

"Yeah, Ron. I'm fine." the words sounded dull and hollow in the near empty room.

Ron watched as Harry listlessly turned and shuffled his way toward the door. He was worried about Harry. The war had hit him hard and had left him reeling once it was over. Then Dumbledore had suddenly popped into existence again and an entirely new and even worse mess had appeared with him. He imagined his friend didn't know what to do at this point, still in mourning and with an even greater and more complex danger lying before them.

Ron sighed. This was going to be way harder to fix than it ever was with Voldemort.

Arthur nervously stood in front of his first class. It had been so long since he had taught children in any capacity, not since Alfred and Matthew were still young colonies. The children, adults really with as much growing they were forced to do in wartime, were a group of repeating seventh year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. He spotted Potter among the crowd in the back, glaring daggers at nothing and looking completely miserable. Arthur wanted nothing more than to console the broken young man, but he couldn't. Not yet.

Arthur cleared his throat before beginning class. "Good Morning students, my name is Professor Arthur Kirkland and today we'll be starting with discovering how much you already know..."

His eyes roved over the students in his class nervously before he continued. "Would any of you like to tell me the last thing you went over?"

A hand shot immediately into the air and he had to hide a smile at the eagerness. He knew exactly whom that hand belonged to, a very intelligent muggle-born, Hermione Granger. The Granger family line had always had brilliant minds and he was glad to see the youngest at Hogwarts.

"Yes, Miss...?"

"Granger, Hermione Granger. The last thing Professor Binns covered were the Goblin Wars, sir."

"I see. And before that?"

"The Goblin Wars."

Arthur paused and considered if the girl was playing with him. It didn't seem like the type of thing for Miss Granger to do, but had they only ever gone over the Goblin Wars? That was a pitiful amount to cover in seven years. There was so much to history itself, let alone the role magic played in every bit of it. He would know.

"Did Professor Binns ever teach any of you something besides the Goblin Wars?"

A red-head near the back raised his hand. One of the Weasley clan he noticed, the youngest of the boys. Arthur pointed to him to give him permission to speak.

"I think he taught us about...sn- er... wait, never mind. That was part of Transfiguration." He blushed and shrugged in embarrassment. "I suppose he only ever talked about Goblins."

"Thank you Mr. Weasley." Arthur sighed and rubbed his temples. He was going to have to start from bloody scratch. "Alright, though the Goblin Wars were very long and quite important, they weren't the only things to ever happen in history that's relevant today," he turned and flicked his wand, pulling down a white sheet over the chalk board. "We're just going to have to start at the beginning." Arthur tapped his wand against the sheet and a faded, rotating image of the world appeared, he then twirled his wand and the lights dimmed.

"Now, can anyone tell me in which area the first recordings of magic were found?"

The class was still and silent. A few took out their books and shuffled through them, looking in vain for the answer. Well, at least they were trying. Arthur decided to save their effort and stop asking questions they didn't know the answers to. He frowned as he realized how hard it was going to be to teach them what they really needed to know in such a short amount of time.

"You'll not find it in your books," he warned the class. He placed a hand on his desk and leaned against it, forward towards the class. "You'll not find many of the things I teach you in your books. I've always found textbooks to be utter rubbish."

There were a few gasps from the Ravenclaws and Hermione at such disregard for their beloved books. Arthur rolled his eyes before crossing his arms and challenging them. "If they weren't, then why can't any of you tell me where magic was first found?"

Ah, sweet silence. He smirked at the class before noticing a timid hand raised in the back. Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom from a long line of pure-blooded magic folk. Arthur noticed that Neville's book had remained closed on his desk. He nodded his head in the boy's direction.

"I-Isn't it a trick question, sir?"

Arthur's eyes lit up. This boy was smarter that he was made out to be. "Perhaps it is. Please elaborate."

"Well, me Gran always said that magic never ends or has a beginning..."

Arthur smiled reassuringly at the boy before clapping his hands. "Precisely." He turned and waved his wand toward the revolving earth, enlarging it and spreading it out across the classroom. "Magic," he began, "is a natural part of the world. It is found everywhere and within everything. Something you all should have learned in Magical Theory. It can be found in the origins of civilization everywhere on the globe. The Mycenaeans, the Egyptians, the Macedonians, the Minoans, the Greeks, the Persians, the Phocians. And that's only covering the Mediterranean, but some so far back as 7000 BC."

Arthur turned back to the students and started pacing between the desks, raring himself up for discussion time. "Now before we jump into History, let's review a little culture. I want you all to try and name as many nations as you can and their major magical schools. I'll fill in where it's needed."

Hands were instantly in the air. Finally, they were getting somewhere. He pointed toward Granger first.

"Durmstrang in Bulgaria."

"Correct," said Arthur as he walked toward the country on the map and poked the spot Durmstrang should be around with his wand, a bright light settling there when he removed it. "Weasley?"

"Beauxbatons in France."

"Correct again," Arthur repeated the action on the map near France. Damn bloody frog and his stupid bloody school...

"Finnigan?"

"I had a cousin go to Salem Institute in America."

Arthur winced before walking around the floating globe and poking a new spot. "Yes, there are four major schools across America. Can anyone name the others?"

There was silence. He took that as his cue to fill in the information. "The Appalachian School of Magick," a new light appeared. "Crowley's Institute for the True," another light. "And the Maraislieu Academy."

Arthur swiveled away from the map and paced among the desks again, all the hands that had been raised were now lowered. That seemed to be the extent of their knowledge on other magical schools. "Any other schools you can name?" A pause. "No? Alright then, let's see how many countries you can name and we'll fill in the schools later."

Arthur went about the room stating a magic school to each country named and placing a new light with each one. By the time class had ended, the map was surprisingly filled with little dots of light. As the students packed up, there were whisperings of amazement. They had been shocked by the sheer amount of magic that was present throughout the world.

The students began to leave and Arthur was left shrinking the dazzling globe and resetting it to its original blank state, ready to be used for his next class. Arthur slumped into his chair, already exhausted for the day. It had been a very long time since he had last taught and it was wearing him thin. He grunted as a small flare of pain made itself know near his heart. He gently placed his hand over the area and tried to soothe it away. London is still trying to rebuild... He was startled from his thoughts by a polite cough. He looked up to find Hermione Granger fidgeting on the other side of his desk.

"Yes Miss Granger? Did you need something?"

"Ah, Professor," she paused to gather the right words, "I was wondering... If there are so many nations with magic and other magic people..." Hermione shifted uncomfortably, the notion not sitting well with her. "Why did none of them help us during the war?"

Arthur was silent for a moment. Because none of them bloody cared, he wanted to say. But that wasn't the truth. "To put it simply, they didn't know. The first war was much like a civil war and was the business of Britain alone. The second war, as you well know, was denied by the Minister at first and he refused to contact others for help." Just like I did. "By the time the war was in full motion, it was too late to send word."

There was silence as the girl processed what he had told her, a frown marring her face. Arthur leaned back in his chair again. "Is that a satisfactory answer, Miss Granger?"

"Yes, Professor Kirkland. Thank you."

"Good. Now go. You'll be late for your next class."

And with that, he was left to his own thoughts. How in the hell was he supposed to keep up with teaching and take down Dumbledore at the same time? He sighed and rubbed at his temples as he waiting for the next group of students to file in.