A Letter From An Old Friend

"Freeze!" Harry yelled as he pointed up his wand at the masked stranger.

The man stopped, realizing he had reached a dead end, unable to run any farther down the dark alleyway in which he had sought refuge. He sighed. This was the third time in a row.

Thoroughly embarrassed, he turned slowly around and began to take off his mask.

"Hands where I can see them!" Harry shouted. He swore it looked like that ski mask was turning red.

"Good golly no need to get so worked up!"

Harry growled, "Mundungus!"

Mundungus Fletcher tore off his mask and revealed a quite unfortunate sight. The years had not been kind to Mr. Fletcher.

Instead of moles there were now boils, instead of eyes there were now flabby eye sockets, and in place of a nose there was a huge monstrosity of bulbous proportions.

"Come on ole buddy ole pal, just give a guy a break!" Mundungus sniveled, his voice like nails on a chalkboard.

"This is the third time in a row Fletcher!" Harry was furious. "I had to stop interrogating a murder suspect for this!"

Mundungus shrunk back into the dark alleyway corner, resorting once again to his gross snivel. "Come on 'arry! It was just a pair of gloves. I've gotta keep warm you know! It's hard times out there!"

"It's hard times for everyone you dolt!" Harry growled, "even harder when thieves like you are running about."

Mundungus's chest swelled and his face turned radish red, "Now you listen here you Harry Potter, I ain't no thief and you know it!"

Harry sighed. He just didn't have the heart to put Mundungus in jail. He wouldn't last two seconds. But he had to learn somehow. It was becoming a real pain for Harry to just drop everything so he could chase down Mundungus Fletcher in a ski mask.

Suddenly, he grinned as a plan came to mind.

Before he could open his tiny little mouth again, Mundungus Fletcher suddenly found himself hanging straight upside down, suspended in midair by his very expensive looking trousers.

"Ginny, I'm home!" Harry decided to come straight home after the Mundungus incident- better to end the day with a little bit of entertainment.

"Hey!" Ginny's voice could be heard from somewhere upstairs. "There's a stack of letters for you on the table!"

"Why didn't you just throw them out like the rest?!" Harry asked, making a rather rude face.

"Oh you know how Albus likes to read your fan mail!"

Harry decided not to argue, heading for the letters. He guessed it was good for his son to look up to him and all, but he'd much rather it be for his actions now than what he did as a kid.

"Yeah," he muttered under his breath, "like the great escapades of Mundungus Fletcher."

He sat down at his desk and tried to decide which one to open first. He noticed one with an interesting marking. He'd never seen anything like it.

Taking his letter opener, Harry sliced the top off of the mysterious envelope and pulled out a yellowed old piece of parchment. It read:

Harry,

We have something to discuss.

Come quickly,come alone,

Dumbledore

P.S. Oh I almost forgot, I'm at Hogwarts

"Ginny!"

The early morning sun filtered through the olive colored shades in Harry's bedroom, making his eyes blink open. Stretching his arms and yawning silently, he thought about the day ahead. He had some paperwork to do in the office, the Minister wanted him to testify at some court hearing, he heard about some mysterious muggle bank robbery, it would probably be a good idea to look into that- wait. How could he have forgotten?!

Catapulting out of bed, Harry grabbed his glasses off the nightstand and put on his slippers in one quick, fluid motion. He ran to the closet where he quickly put on his best suit, grinning when he caught a glimpse of his old Gryffindor scarf hanging in the back and put it on. He slipped on his shoes and tucked his wand into his inside jacket pocket as he sprinted down the stairs. In the whirlwind of excitement, he only stopped once on his way out.

He touched the doorknob, and halted, wondering if he was doing the right thing. He knew Ginny would kill him when she found out he went by himself, but if he had learned anything during his time at Hogwarts, it was to do what Dumbledore told him. Sighing, he pushed open the door and joined the heavy flow of London traffic. He hoped she wouldn't slap him too hard when he came home.

He walked to the corner of the street and waited for what seemed like an eternity for a taxi to pull up and let him in.

"King's Cross Station, step on it."

"Don't you want to wait for your wife?"

"What?" Harry said, suddenly concerned. He had never seen this taxi driver before.

"Your wife, sir. The one you just slammed the door on."

Harry whipped his head around, and red hair was the first thing he saw. The next was a toe tapping impatiently inside a pair of black flats. The speed with which jumped out of the taxi was extraordinary, and the gentlemanly manner in which he opened the door for his wife was quite impressive to the old taxi driver, who was chuckling to himself softly.

"Honey, I was wondering where you were."

"Mhmmm," Ginny said, turning her attention to the taxi driver. "King's Cross Station. Step on it."

"Yes ma'am!"

Harry could see Ron was very much enjoying himself in the driver's seat of the old Hogwarts Express. He could barely control his laughter when they found a red and yellow conductor's cap, which Ron hurriedly donned upon his flaming red hair. He looked ridiculous- although never happier. He did mention, however, that he was quite disappointed there wasn't a matching hat for Hermione. She was, as you can imagine, very disappointed herself.

It was a surprisingly smooth ride considering the driver, which Ginny was quick to point out. The train practically operated itself. Only one thing important was really left to the conductor- the horn. Harry, Ginny, and Hermione counted themselves lucky that they didn't go deaf on that train ride.

"You think you're ever gonna get tired of that horn, mate?" Harry asked, trying to be as nice as possible.

Completely oblivious, Ron answered gleefully, "Oh no, I could never get tired of this thing!" The other three groaned upon hearing those words.

At one particular time, while Ron was contentedly blowing his horn and Ginny was in the loo, Harry and Hermione were catching up on old times when something caught Hermione's eye. "Wait a minute, is that who I think it is?!" Ron let off the horn, wide-eyed with bewilderment.

Standing right, smack-dab in the middle of the track was Luna Lovegood.

"Brakes Ron, brakes!"

Ron quickly found the brake lever and pulled as hard as he could, the train grinding to a halt. If it were any other train, Luna would have been squished within seconds. But the Hogwarts Express didn't run people over- however uncomfortable that might be for its passengers.

The train came to an immediate stop, sending Hermione, Harry, and Ron all flying at the windshield. Their cheeks and noses squished up against the glass upon contact. One can only imagine what Ginny might have gone through in the bathroom.

Luna looked completely serene as always, like she hadn't just gotten run over by a train. "Why hello everyone. Dumbledore told me I might find you here."

"So do you know what this is about Luna?" Hermione asked after everyone had once again settled down on the Hogwarts Express and Ron had gone back to his horn blowing.

"Well, actually, he did mention one thing in his letter, said a creature needed taking care of or something but I don't think that had anything to do with this little quest."

"Did he happen to mention how he came back from the dead?" Ginny asked over the whistle of Ron's new hobby.

"No clue," Luna said. "I think we'll just have to find out...but..."

"But what?" Hermione asked.

"Well," Luna began to speak.

"RON STOP MAKING THAT INFERNAL NOISE!" Clearly Ginny had had enough.

Ron sheepishly turned his full attention to the conversation, thoroughly embarrassed and red-faced.

Luna cleared her throat, "Well, I i just have a feeling this is something bigger than we've ever faced before."

Everyone looked at each other, afraid to say aloud what they were all thinking.

"How could it be bigger?"

"I don't know," Luna said. "But Dumbledore is asking for help. And something Dumbledore can't figure out for himself is no joke. I mean, the man might've very well brought himself back from the dead."

The five young wizards looked at each other, suddenly afraid for the first time since that last year at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore had never looked better. He looked around the old oaken table, hidden away in a corner of the Restricted Section. It had been awhile since he had seen these five young wizards. He looked at Harry, remembering the last time they had seen each other- such a tragic adventure.

Hermione had naturally already began digging through the pile of books Dumbledore had assembled on the table. There was much eye rolling as Hermione let out frequent gasps while she read through the material Dumbledore had been pouring over for many sleepless nights. Ron simply could not understand why she wasn't taking advantage of the feast the headmaster had prepared for them.

Waiting for them upon arrival was a mountain of food reminiscent of those old Hogwarts days, when the Great Hall shimmered with bright white light, and echoed with the laughter of children and ghosts alike. Ron immediately went after turkey legs and buttered rolls, not even noticing the man sitting patiently next to it all, watching on with an amused twinkle in his eye. "Is everything to your liking ?"

"Oh yes, yes, top notch," Ron muttered, both his intelligence and manners melting away upon the taste of good food. Harry nudged him to slow down.

"So, we're curious professor," Luna said after a moment of awkward silence, in which the sound of Ron's chomping and Hermione's gasps were the only noises to be heard. A noisy couple.

There was a pause, long, awkward.

"Very well," Dumbledore said. "Here it is." He pulled a book from under the nose of a very irate Hermione and opened it to a dog-eared page.

"Turns out this world we know is not the only one my friends. We are not alone."

The five wizards gathered around the table, looking at each other with fear and apprehension. Outside, the sky was gray, and rain was pouring down in sheets. Droplets stuck to the stained glass windows, which lined the wall of the Hogwarts Library.

"There is a world beyond ours, one called Middle Earth if my research is correct," Dumbledore said. "Which it always is."

For hours, the group learned of the Hobbit, and the wizard, and the creature who went by the name of Gollum. They were engrossed in the tales of how the One Ring was destroyed and the loss and victory which lead to its final decimation. What they were hearing sounded as if it were coming from fantasy, but somehow they knew it had to be real. Because once he was finished telling his tale, out of his pocket Dumbledore pulled the One Ring.

It gleamed with light, illuminating all of their eyes with wonder.

"Dumbledore?" Harry asked. "How?"

"I believe I know the answer," Dumbledore said, bowing his head slightly. "But I have to say, I'm a bit ashamed to share it."