As Always I Own Nothing!

and a big thanks to my editor the mighty pazed!

Please allow me one small rant: Of late I have seen something in others writing that just seem to be driving me insane, the use of learnt. Learnt, as far as I know, not a word the word is learned. Ok, end of soapbox.

READ! ENJOY! and REVIEW! Remember that your review is the only form of payment any of the writers here expect!

Chapter 35

Amelia looked at him in shock. "You mean to tell me that a full grown troll made its way into the school?" The headmaster at least had the sense to look embarrassed by the fact, but nodded his head. "Do you care to enlighten me on just how this was possible?" she asked glancing between Albus and Minerva.

Albus sighed deeply, maybe it was time… "A former staff member, Quirinus Quirrell may have been responsible."

She sat forward in her chair, she knew that name… "Quirrell… he died here that year."

Albus nodded again. "He did, I believe he was trying to obtain an object that had been placed with me for safe keeping, till the owner could make other arrangements."

She glared at him. "And just what was this object?" she asked, her anger rising.

"That is of no importance," he said trying to wave her concern away. "Suffice it to say, its safety is no longer an issue." He continued, "The concern at the time was that someone had made an attempt to abscond with it previously, and the chance of it falling into hands that would misuse it was of the utmost concern. So, I chose to place it here as this is the most secure place in Britain."

Amelia's mouth dropped open. "Yo-you chose to bring a possibly dangerous object... one that was being actively sought… to Hogwarts?"

He nodded. "It seemed prudent at the time… The object while not dangerous in itself, was very powerful. I placed it here in an unused section of the castle, hidden and protected."

Amelia's face reddened, her anger pushed to the very edge of her ability to control. "You made a target of the school! Albus, what in Merlin's name were you thinking?" She then looked at Minerva. "And where were you during all of this? Why didn't you stop him?"

"I didn't know…" she said quietly. "He had told us…" She looked up into Amelia's eyes. "He told us… it was nothing… just a trinket... He assured us that it would be perfectly safe… Then… then Ms. Granger was hurt…" Tears began streaming down her cheeks at that point.

Albus interrupted before Minerva could continue. "After the attempted theft at Gringotts, I felt that the decision had been correct."

Amelia's eyes widened at that statement. "That failed robbery was because of the object you brought here?" she yelled.

Albus cringed, this explanation was spiraling out of control. "I did not say that! I am not positive what the perpetrators were after that day." Which was true, though it was more than a little coincidental, as the statement from the Goblins did include that the vault attacked had recently been emptied and that nothing had been stolen.

Amelia stared into his eyes and he continued. "In hindsight, I believe that the troll was unleashed as a probe of our reactions… One that led to a few changes of our procedures. When the troll was made known to us we acted as we thought was best. Each house was escorted to their quarters by prefects, and we proceeded to search the castle in teams of two."

Minerva continued, "We found a collapsed wall in the dungeons… behind it was an old tunnel, we believe it was to be used as an escape if the castle was under siege. We thought that was how it gained entry."

Albus nodded. "By all indications it was just age that had caused the tunnel, which led out to the edge of the forbidden forest, to collapse when the troll was walking over it."

Minerva sat in the chair next to Amelia's. "What we did not realize at the time was that Ms. Granger was missing. Filius and I found the troll… it had just come out of the girls' restroom on the second floor… There was… so much blood…"

Albus called, "Mippy." A small female house elf appeared next to him. "Could you bring us some water please."

The elf nodded quickly then popped away, returning moments later with a tray, placing it on the headmaster's desk. He then poured them each a drink, took a swallow and continued. "It never occurred to me that it may have been an attempted theft… Ms. Granger's injuries, while serious, were nothing Poppy could not handle in the end."

"When we spoke to her later," Minerva said, after taking a drink, "we found that she was having a… difficult time adjusting, and had ended up at odds with one of her house mates… After a discussion with her it was decided that perhaps a resorting was in order. She soon became a Ravenclaw. I was sad to see her leave my cubs… but she seemed much happier."

Amelia was shocked by what she was hearing. "And why was this not brought to the investigators' attention when they were here for the inquiry into his death?"

Albus sighed, "It did not seem necessary to besmirch the memory of the man. He had failed in his attempt and succumbed to his affliction."

"Affliction?" Amelia asked.

"Yes," Albus confirmed, his face looking pained. "At some point during his sabbatical he traveled to the forests of Albania, where he came in contact with something that caused a curse… it caused a wasting sickness that affected his magic, he came to believe the object was the key to his survival."

She shook her head. "How did you find out about it? And you did not think that that was important to tell the investigators?"

"When I reached him he was still alive, he told me everything just before he passed… He was desperate and not in his right mind, I believe that the affliction made him paranoid and unable to ask others for help. After he succumbed it did not seem necessary to damage his reputation unnecessarily."

Amelia scowled at him, she pounded a fist on his desk. "Enough! NO MORE! I have had it with your half answers! What was the object you were hiding!"

Albus jerked away from her, and looked away from her gaze. He knew she would not be satisfied any longer unless he told her everything. "Nicolas Flamel and his wife contacted me… I worked with him when I was younger, he asked me to look after his Philosopher's Stone while he secured a new place for it to be stored… Nicolas is… was, very careful with information regarding his stone, so I had no reason to suspect some knew that it was in my possession."

Amelia sat stunned. The Philosopher's Stone was amazingly powerful if the rumors about it were true. Its owner was effectively immortal, not to mention the ability to transmute metals… it was a legendary creation of wizarding kinds' greatest Alchemist.

Albus waited for a moment then continued, "It was destroyed at some point during his attempt… I do not believe Quirinus was ever a danger to any of the students… He was just desperate to survive. I talked with Nicolas after the incident… He was not sure that even his stone would have been any use against such an affliction, as the curse would have needed to be removed before it could have been used to heal him."

She shook her head slowly. "Albus… That was a serious lapse in judgment. Why would you bring the stone here?"

He looked up at her an eyebrow raised in question. "What would you have done in my place?" he asked. "It seemed to be a simple request from an old friend, and Hogwarts was the safest place for the stone. Its wards are the strongest in Britain outside the ministry itself, and I was on premises the majority of time along with Minerva, Severus, Filius… and the others, all of whom are highly capable in their own right."

Amelia's anger grew at that. "That is beside the point! Albus, this is a school! The first priority is the safety of the students! You put them at risk! That is unacceptable! Some other arrangements could have been made!"

Suddenly, like a bolt it struck him, the look on young Ms. Granger's face… at one time he had thought it to be just the image of a young woman in pain… but as the image swam before him he, for the first time saw it for what it was… it was the look of a person that had been betrayed by someone they had faith in… he had destroyed that faith. Next came Harry's angry face as he asked him why… Sirius's disappointed voice rang in his ears asking him 'why, hadn't he, at the very least, come to hear his side of the story'. He had no choice… other than to agree. "Of course you are correct…" he said weakly.

She almost looked shocked at that. "In hind sight it was a mistake to bring the stone here." He slumped into his chair, his mind swirling with the things that his inattention had allowed to come to fruition. "I am afraid that I have fallen into somewhat of a trap of my own making… I am not as young as I once was and cannot do all the things I was once able to."

He sighed deeply, and for the first time Amelia could remember he looked old, and very tired. "I find myself growing tired more easily, and am feeling my age more every year." He sat forward and set his elbows on the table, and removed his glasses "This is something that is difficult for me to come to terms with... and the situation I find my self in, a creation all of my own, is becoming all the more evident..."

He turned his head slowly till he faced his deputy headmaster. "And you, my dear friend, are one of those… of the many I fear, I have wronged." He reached over and patted her hand. "You have tried to warn me over the years of being wary that I may have over reached with my schedule… And I have, and that has caused me to foist many of my responsibilities on to others… I apologise for doing such with you, and my duties here at Hogwarts."

She smiled at him for the first time in several days, and squeezed his hand softly as an offering of acceptance. He turned back to Amelia, and explained. "Over the last few days Minerva has been most upset with me and, rightfully, tried to show me another of my mistakes by refusing to take up the extra work I routinely left for her.

"It pains me to think," he said as he sat back into his chair, sagging, "what I have let pass in my other responsibilities over the years..." He placed his hand over his eyes. "I have made so many mistakes… I have no idea where to even begin to correct them."

Amelia sat with the pair in silence, the myth that was Albus Dumbledore crumbling before them leaving the all too human man behind.

Hermione stepped into the kitchen to find her mother and Shar talking over a pot of coffee. "Good morning, Mum. Shar it's nice to see you."

Her mother glanced at the clock then back at her daughter. "And good morning to you, she says as the clock strikes eleven." She smiled. "Have a good lie in?"

Hermione stuck her tongue out at her as she pulled a bottle of juice from the refrigerator, then looked at Shar. "She always teases me when I have a lie in after I get home from Hogwarts. I'm always exhausted…" she paused, and leaned against the counter. "It was always hard after the end of term exams… we had to keep on our toes as people were at loose ends, and had more time to…" She shook her head. "But… we don't have to deal with that any more."

Lisa stood and wrapped her arms around her. "No you don't sweetheart."

After a few moments Hermione pulled away and wiped her eyes. "Anyway… where are Daddy and Luna?"

Lisa handed her a Kleenex, and returned to her seat. "Luna went with Chinthliss this morning, he wanted her to begin training her mage sight as soon as possible."

Hermione nodded as Shar spoke. "It is important that her gift is fully understood as well. There are… levels… I guess is the best way to put it. He needs to find out how much she actually sees with her natural ability."

She took a sip of her coffee, then spoke again. "We know that she can at the very least 'see' active magical energy, like that used in active shielding and spell casting as well as auras… think of that as the intermediate level… A lower level would only be able to 'see' active energy. The advanced level would also be able to see ambient magical energy… magic that is floating around us."

The two women across from her looked confused, so she explained. "There are thee types of ambient magic known. The first of which is given off by all living things, kind of a static discharge. This is slightly different from a person's aura, which is linked to their mental and emotional state and denotes sentience… well of a sort anyway. Creatures like the drake that was at the tournament have an aura but only a rudimentary intelligence. While ambient magical energy is connected more to the physical state of the body, the same form of energy is produced in smaller amounts by any living being, be it animal, insect or plant."

Shar paused to see if they were following her train of thought, and gave an example. "Say if a person had lost a limb, their aura would still be visible to someone looking at the aura around where the limb would have been, at least until they had completely accepted the loss of the limb mentally. While a scan of his ambient magical energy would show the presence of the injury but nothing past that point."

They both nodded. "The second type of ambient energy is something akin to the bands of radiation that surround Earth, these are known as ley lines. Magical energy that follows pathways surrounding Earth."

Hermione had read about them in the library at Hogwarts, her mother however surprised her by nodding her understanding. She looked at her daughter and smiled "You're not the only one who used the library when I took you… Granted I never thought my love of fantasy novels would actually be of use for anything other than pleasant reading. Imagine my surprise when your professor popped up and turned our coffee table into a lion."

Shar snickered at the thought of it. "The last type is one not available here, it is only found in Underhill. It is known as the formless, all of Underhill is actually made of it. Thought can give it form. You must be exceptionally careful when you are around any that has not been formed, any thought you may have in the formless can be given shape, and/or life. Fear within an area of formless has led many a person to an unpleasant end."

Hermione looked worried by that. "You said we will be going Underhill, is it safe?"

Shar smiled. "Where you will be, yes, it will be no worse than a trip to London. I won't lie to you there are rough areas, and more than a few you will want to avoid even as an adult, but it's like that anywhere. Until you have learned your way around you will always be with someone, and you won't be going into a pocket of the formless for many years, if ever. Where you will be traveling is well grounded and formed and kept that way by all that pass through."

She nodded her understanding, then turned to her mother. "You never said where Daddy was before we got sidetracked."

Shar laughed. "He's with Tannim's father, Trevor, Joe and Harry. They need a fourth for their golf game… he volunteered…" She laughed some more.

Hermione looked confused as her mother joined in the laughter. "Ok, I guess I'm missing the joke. Daddy loves to play golf…"

Shar was giggling less but managed to speak. "Oh, so do Joe and Trevor… They plan to play thirty-six holes today…'snicker'… but Harry hates it. He made the mistake of telling his grandfather he enjoyed it when we visited a couple of years ago…'snicker'… they've gone to play at least twice every time they've seen each other. He's been too chicken to tell his grandfather the truth." Her eyes were watering at this point. "Trevor knows but plays it up. I think he just enjoys any time with Harry, but he won't even allow him to take his walkman… Or drive the cart!"

A smile blossomed on Hermione's face, as her mother took over. "You should have seen him this morning, the poor boy looked so forlorn… especially when he saw Tannim take his car past and down toward the track."

That did it, Hermione broke out in laughter.