A thunderstorm rolled into Hogwarts. It was a vicious thing, more volatile than even the nastiest dragon. Thunder and lightning rolled, rain pounded the walls and windows, the wind howled like a feral beast. It was a storm of biblical proportions, unlike any the professors at Hogwarts had seen.

Dumbledore observed it all from his tower above the school. The storm brought anxiety in waves to the headmaster. The grounds at Hogwarts had not seen a storm this potent before. Not since the dastardly betrayal of Tom Riddle and his horrendous crimes did the school feel such unease all around. Even Fawkes was bothered, constantly shifting around in his cage. Worst of all was that Albus knew not how to alleviate such anxiety since he knew not what was causing the unease felt on this stormy night.

It was in the middle of such ruminations that the professor felt something…off. It felt like an explosion of magic went off in the courtyard of the school. But that would make no sense. It couldn't be one of the students. After all who would be outside with such harsh wind and rain. The headmaster proceeded to leave his quarters and descend to the schoolyard to investigate the source. As he descended from his tower, he ran into Professor McGonagall and Hagrid who were both soaked to the bone. As he approached, he heard crying. Not unlike the typical crying of a first-year student when they fall and scrape their knee. The crying he heard was softer, almost drowned out by the torrential rain.

As he approached, he noticed that Minerva was cradling a bundle of cloth within her arms. Hagrid looked as stupefied as he felt with the directions that his thoughts were taking. It wasn't possible, was it? "Are you holding what I think you are holding Minerva?"

"It is indeed what you believe it to be Albus. I take it you felt that magical explosion?" The question was rather redundant since anyone with the capability to detect magic that wasn't currently asleep would have felt it.

"That is the reason why I am here currently. I take it that it has to do with the child you are currently cradling?" As he inquired, he noticed that Hagrid had gotten over the initial shock of finding what appeared to be a newborn babe after attempting to investigate what could cause such a potent burst of magic. He had taken to playing with the child, attempting to make the child smile and laugh. An admirable attempt since the child was soaked and presumed cranky due to that fact.

The night was cold, partly due to the encroaching winter season and due to the torrential rains making an already cold night, bitterly cold. But the moment Dumbledore took the child and held him in his arms he felt the cold touch of Death itself descend upon him. Within that supreme coldness of death, he felt the beginnings of a message from a being so much greater than any being alive or deceased.

Albus found himself on a dark plain. There was no solid ground that he could see from where he was standing but nonetheless, he stood within that inky black. It was dead silent; no noises were heard even from his robes when he began moving around. As he attempted to understand what could have led him to this place, he heard a noise. It began as a dull buzz coming from the nonexistent ground beneath him that grew louder and louder as the moments dragged on. He was able to perceive individual noises after about 30 seconds of just the buzzing noise, and what he heard horrified him. The buzzing devolved to what he could only describe the cries of the dead. Screaming, shouting, moans, all coming together into a horrid chorus of eternal suffering for the dead that the reaper clutched within its realm. The Chorus of the Damned continued on and on. It went on for so long that Albus felt as if that he would go mad from the horrid sight and sounds of the dead, and as he teetered on the edge of madness the chorus abruptly ceased.

The suddenness of the cessation startled Albus somewhat fiercely. As one the masses of the dead turned, and all stared to the right of the plane he found himself on. From the darkest darkness he had ever seen in his long lifetime, something utterly massive emerged. What emerged could only be called the avatar of death itself.

A massive humanoid figure covered in a cloak that seemed as if cut from the darkness it emerged from. Its features were hard to make out…if only because they were completely missing. The figure underneath the cloak was nothing but a skeleton whose jaw was somehow set into a menacing grin.

The Reaper's jaw then opened and from its maw a mist emerged that rapidly made its way to Albus and enveloped him with a swiftness he did not think possible. It was only when he was completely covered within the mist that he heard an earth-shaking voice boom from everywhere and nowhere. It was simultaneously deafening in its intensity and as sinister as a whisper.

"Protect the child. Raise him, for I have chosen him."

He was unable to process the words spoken to him before he felt a crushing force push him backwards with a savage intensity. He closed his eyes from the pressure and suddenly it all ceased. The coldness of the night returned to him, and he could once again hear the torrential rain. He then became aware of Minerva shaking him. "Albus! Albus! What has gotten into you?" He also became aware of the fact that the child was no longer in his arms. Hagrid was rocking the child back and forth, trying to lull him to sleep.

"What…what just happened?"

"I have no idea Albus. The moment you held the child you when as white as a sheet! We've been trying to get your attention for the past 5 minutes!" That wasn't possible. It felt like he was within that plane for ages.

"Did either of you happen to see what I just saw?"

"See what Albus?"

"I need to gather myself. Tell the staff to gather tomorrow at the great hall. I shall tell them all what has happened."

"What about the child? What should we do with him?" He recalled the words of the reaper spoken not even moments ago and he reached a decision rather quickly.

"We shall raise him here. Hogwarts shall be his home from here on out." At once he saw the stitching on the blanket the child was wrapped in.

"Naruto? Is that your name?"

The child only smiled his adorable, toothless smile.