"It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Albus Dumbledore had been at a loss for words a handful of times in his long life, the majority of them in his youth. Never had he been at such a loss as now, Death himself and a long dead student sat chatting as old friends in front of him.

"I am afraid I don't quite understand," he finally managed. His blue eyes on the pair before him, they both seemed amused by the entire situation. "The laws of magic tell us there is no coming back, that no magic can bring back someone who has truly died. How is it possible for you to truly be here? Why you, Emina? When so many others lost their lives in that war, why were you chosen?"

"You are correct, of course. It is impossible to truly resurrect someone who was died. The laws of your magic do not allow it. Mine, however is a different story." Death answered, surveying Albus critically. "You, as many others have forgotten the old ways. It's to be expected with the passing of time, but even though you have forgotten them they still remain. With the amount of souls leaving this world, I hardly have the time to carry them all. The crows do much of that work, bringing the souls to the afterlife. From time to time there are souls who are not yet ready, or have been lost much too soon. Sometimes, though not often there is a soul who cannot pass through the veil. Even less often there is a soul that is returned to this plane, until now they have always been muggle souls. Emina is the first witch to have ever been brought back from the veil, likely the last. As for why, that is my business and not for you to meddle in."

"Speaking of meddling, Albus. There is something I have been curious about since I took Harry in," Emina said, her eyes locking on Dumbledore's. "Why on earth would you place Harry with Petunia? You knew how she treated Lily and how she felt about magic. Harry had a list of godparents, why was he not placed with the people Lily and James named?"

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Petunia is –was- Harry's last remaining family. When Lily died she granted Harry a measure of protection, living with Petunia cemented that. I am sure she grew out of her jealousy; surely she cared for Harry as though he was her own son."

"I observed them for a morning, and I would hardly call what that woman did caring. I've seen people treat their dogs better. At the age of 4 she had him using the stove on his own. He lived in the cupboard under the stairs from the moment he arrived until I took him away. She called him 'Freak' or 'Boy', he didn't know his name until he started school. That muggle told him his parents died in a car crash because they were worthless drunks! They beat him whenever he had accidental magic all while telling him magic didn't exist." Emina had left her chair now, and the trinkets that lined the shelves began to rattle, "But you! You thought you knew better than Lily, didn't you? Thought you knew better than his parents what was right for Harry! And then to top it, you don't even bother to check in on him! You could have doomed that little boy to a miserable life, all for your greater good!"

"The blood wards-" Albus began, before his window suddenly exploded inward. Death, who until that moment had been looking rather amused, waved a lazy hand and the glass froze in midair. In a blink the window was repaired and his black eyes rested on the still raging witch.

"That I think is quite enough, Emina." His voice was hard, and she jerked back, had she not said the same thing to Harry earlier? "Control your temper."

"Of course," She managed, turning her eyes back to the headmaster. "The blood wards would have been all well and good, if the threat hadn't been in the house with him."

"If I had known, I would never have left him there." Dumbledore managed, eyeing Emina with even more curiosity than before. Wandless magic was rare; very few possessed enough magic to be able to use it. At the moment though, the air in his office positively rang with wild magic. "Unfortunately many of Lily and James choices for caregivers were unavailable."

"Unavailable? I'm not entirely sure what you mean." Emina frowned, "I know that Remus would have been impossible, and about what happened to Alice and Frank. But what about Sirius?"

There was a sudden knock on the door and with it Death stood, clearing his throat, "Well, I am afraid I must be getting back to work. A lot a paper work to be done, you understand. It was interesting meeting you again Albus. Emina, we'll be speaking later." With that he faded from sight.

"Show off," Emina muttered as there was another much sharper knock on the door.

"Come in, Minerva." Dumbledore called, finally breaking out of his thoughts. Emina had never seen the man speechless before today, not that she could really blame him.

"Albus, do you care to explain to me why I have a very distraught first year who thinks you are going to take him away from his family?" Minerva demanded, as she strode into the office.

"Ah, a simple misunderstanding Minerva." Albus answered, leaning away from his irate deputy, "In any case I do not believe I could remove him from his aunt if I tried."

"Finally, he gets it." Emina grumbled, "Do you know how long it took me to convince him I wasn't going to send him back Albus? Years. You've just managed to set that poor boy back years."

Minerva started, obviously not having noticed anyone else was in the office. Her eyes landed on the young witch and widened, before turning back to the headmaster, "Albus, please explain to me why this young woman so strongly resembles Emina Potter."

"I knew you would remember me Minnie!"

Emina sighed tiredly, rubbing her eyes as she opened the letter Hedwig had just delivered. With Harry out of the house she had been working hard on the Voldemort front. Death had an idea of locations as he could feel the shattered pieces of soul, but they were vague and very well hidden. Luckily this had been one of the abilities granted to her when he brought her back; otherwise it would be unlikely anything would be getting done. Her molten eyes slid over the parchment with a yawn before she froze and reread the letter. She set it down and took a deep breath before turning and treading into her room, returning a few moments later fully dressed. The letter was tucked carefully into her robes, and she strode out the door disapparating with a loud crack.

The students parted for her in the halls, staring curiously as she passed and the gargoyle moved aside without a word. She pushed the door to Dumbledore's office without knocking, he looked up in surprise.

"Would you care to explain to me how it is a troll entered your school and my godson came close enough to it to have shoved his wand up its nose?" She asked staring down her nose at the headmaster, who suddenly appeared to be very old. "Not only that, but why is there a three headed dog on the third floor who very nearly ate him and three other first year students?"

"I am unsure as to how the troll entered the castle," Her expression made it clear how exactly she felt about that answer, but he continued. "As for Harry bumping into the troll that is simple- he went against the instructions given to him and instead of returning to his common room saved the life of one of his classmates."

"Which he could have done just as well by telling one of his Professors the girl was missing. Not only did you put him and all of the other children, for that matter, in danger by allowing them to leave the Great Hall in the first place. You rewarded him for going against instructions and putting his life in danger." Her face was hard, and her golden eyes seemed to burn. "Harry is all I have in this world. The single most important thing to me and I've entrusted you with him, so far I am deeply disappointed in the care the school has provided. Lily and James would be as well, this is not at all the Hogwarts I remember attending. I want to speak with Harry immediately, in Minerva's office." It wasn't a request, and the Headmaster seemed to pick up on that.

"Emina, I'm afraid that isn't possible at the moment. Harry is in potions, Severus-" He began, attempting to take control of the conversation before realizing that mentioning Snape may not have been the best route as the witch in front of him zeroed in on that.

"Snape? Even better, I've a few things to speak about with that child parading as an adult." She practically snarled, "And don't you dare attempt to defend him. James was a terrible bully; we both know that despite your refusal to admit it. He was spoiled and childish, but Harry is not. And he is not James and mostly certainly does not need to hear of his dead fathers faults from a petty man who refuses to grow up! Now call my nephew out of class before I go retrieve him myself."