Dumbledore arrived back at Hogwarts and found McGonagall waiting for him at the bottom of the staircase to his office.
"My dear professor," he began.
"Yes," she said, raising an eyebrow.
Dumbledore stood still, looked at the woman, then turned and gestured for her to follow him up the stairs past the gargoyle that guarded the entrance. "Jelly babies," he said to the gargoyle, then continued on.
"I will be meeting with all of the staff first thing in the morning so everyone is prepared to answer questions from the students," he told her as they entered his office. It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and sitting on a shelf behind it was the Sorting Hat, where it spent the year creating the sorting song for the next school year. Minerva was certain that the stories told in this office were part of the inspiration for the song. Next year's was going to be interesting.
"How much will there be to tell? I assume the Daily Prophet has put out a special edition in which case the children have all read it and talked about it and heard from their parents unless you somehow stopped the mail before that could happen.," Minerva said.
Dumbledore aimed his wand at the window, and shortly a copy of the Prophet came sailing in, landing on the desk in front of McGonagall as she sat down, but he did not respond in any other way.
The headline nearly screamed "YOU KNOW WHO IS DEAD" in flashing letters. Towards the bottom of the page was a smaller headline. "Potters dead at their home in Godric's Hollow, son Harry survived." She read quickly through the two articles, then looked across the desk to the headmaster.
"So, tell me what happened. This doesn't really say anything or give any information other than that Lily and James are dead and Harry lived. They don't say how it happened or what happened," she said, holding up the paper. She paused and swallowed. "Is he really, is he…"
"Minerva." Dumbledore shook his head. "How many times have we talked about this? It's bad enough that the Prophet didn't call him by name in their headline. The least you can do is use it. Using it will help remove its power to frighten others. Say his name."
She nodded curtly, straightened her shoulders, and took a breath. "Is Voldemort really dead?" she asked.
"I don't believe so, no," Dumbledore responded. "He's not dead, but he is gone."
"Gone?"
"Yes, gone."
"What does that mean? Gone, as in he could return at any time. Are we not safe, and the paper is lying, or do they just not know better?" She asked, shaking the paper in the air. "Is all this celebrating for naught?"
The headmaster again shook his head. "No, I mean he is gone, as in, he is weakened and unlikely to return anytime soon. It could be years or even decades for him to find the strength to recover if he ever can, though I am sure he will try. He was always too intelligent for his own good. I fear he has done horrible things to be sure he can survive."
"What things?"
The Headmaster hesitated. "I don't want to answer that until I have proof."
"But you will tell me when you do?"
"If I can find what I'm looking for, I will most certainly be telling those that need to know."
The answer wasn't reassuring for her, but Minerva accepted it and asked, "What happened on the night of Halloween? What happened to James and Lily? How did they die? How was he able to find them?"
"I'll share that with the whole staff first thing in the morning."
"Albus, don't make me ask for every single detail. Just tell me!" she demanded.
He sighed, knowing that his longtime friend, a witch of incredible strength and intelligence who possessed a stubbornness that could outwait the most stubborn of teenagers, wouldn't leave his office until he filled her in. "It appears from my investigation of the home and from that of the Aurors, including Bartemis Crouch Sr., with whom I spoke at the house, that Voldemort entered and hit James with the killing curse. He then went upstairs and found Lily in Harry's room. We believe she was standing in front of him. He was in his crib. Voldemort killed Lily and attempted to kill Harry. The curse appears to have rebounded back to him, or at least that is the assumption we are all going with, as it makes the most sense. He has disappeared. There is no trace of him anywhere, but there is no body, which is also why I don't believe he is actually dead."
"Rebounded? What on earth does that mean? No one has ever survived the killing curse. How in Merlin's name could Harry have survived? He's just a child. He can't possibly be that strong magically."
"Harry has a remarkable scar on his forehead that is most certainly curse damage," Dumbledore replied.
"Most certainly?" She raised an eyebrow. "Has he been seen by a healer?"
"Yes, the healer embedded with the Aurors looked him over."
She scowled. "So, you didn't take him to St. Mungo's or bring him here for Poppy to look him over?"
"No."
"Wait, you said Harry was found in his crib, but Hagrid said Sirius had Harry with him when he arrived at Godric's Hollow."
"And Sirius said that he found the child in his crib. A follow-up by the Aurors was able to ascertain that Lily's magical signature was strongest on the floor in front of the crib and along the bars of it. She must have been standing in front of the boy."
"In other words, you believe he was in the crib."
"Yes."
"Why did Sirius leave Harry with Hagrid?"
"Escape; why else would he leave the child? He needed to get away from the house before the Aurors arrived."
"What exactly are you saying? What are you accusing that boy of?"
Dumbledore sat back in his chair, crossing his fingers, with the pointers extended against each other. "The Potter house was under the Fidelius Charm; it is obviously broken now. Sirius was their Secret-Keeper."
"You can't possibly believe he betrayed them. He wouldn't have. He would never!" she protested.
"Minerva, my dear," Dumbledore said gently. 'We have to face the facts. Sirius was at the house. Lily and James are dead. Voldemort got in somehow. He left Harry and his motorcycle with Hagrid and took off. He was found at the site of the twelve dead Muggles laughing hysterically. Twenty members of the Aurors and Department of Magical Catastrophes took him away."
"I don't believe it. That boy would never turn on his friends," McGonagall stood and began to pace the room.
"He's not a boy anymore."
"No," she snapped. "He hasn't truly been a boy in years. Not since his own mother disowned him. The child was sorted into Gryffindor, and it was the end of the world to his mother. He got Howlers for a week, and then she didn't send him a single letter for the rest of the year. He didn't even dare to go home for Christmas. You know he started to go home with James. Do you truly believe it was all a lie? That all of it was duplicitation? He spent seven years being two-faced. That he was truly on the Dark Side this entire time? He stood by Remus."
"The werewolves are on Voldemort's side," the headmaster pointed out.
"Albus, you cannot be serious. Remus is not evil, nor is Sirius. I simply refuse to believe that for seven years he was more than friends with James and Remus and Peter, that this was a lie the entire time," she insisted.
"He may have been their friend and then turned in the past year."
"No, just no; why would he? What would make him change his mind? What would suddenly cause him to turn over his best friend to the enemy? He loved James. James was another brother to him. He hurt when Regulus came to Hogwarts and wouldn't speak to him when Narcissa ignored him. Andromeda was the only one who still spent any time with him. He didn't speak of it, but we could see how it affected him. You know because we spoke about it on more than one occasion. His friends were a balm, and he was strong, but it didn't keep the pain away completely, nor did they heal it."
"Perhaps he finally decided family was more important."
"Suddenly, after all this time? That makes no sense," she said. "What did he say?"
"When?" the headmaster asked.
"When he was arrested and interrogated," she replied as if the answer was obvious.
"Nothing when he was arrested. Barty said he was laughing—just laughing. He hasn't been interrogated. They've been much too busy for that rushing to take in as many known Death Eaters as they can."
"And you haven't spoken to him?"
It was Dumbledore's turn to shake his head. "I have also been rather busy.
"You said he's in Azkaban. Go see him and ask him what happened and why. He'll talk to you. In the meantime, have you found Remus to put him in protective custody?"
"Protective custody? Whatever for? Sirius is locked up."
"If Sirius has truly gone over to the Dark Side, they won't settle for just James, Lily, and Peter. Anyone who was on the side of the light will be in danger. You said Remus was trying to infiltrate the werewolves. Sirius would surely have turned him over as well. We need to be sure he's safe. All of your various Order of the Phoenix members need to be aware that they may not be as safe as they think."
"Minerva, you must settle, my dear; you're going to have classes in a few hours."
"These children will not be able to attend class. There were owls flying in and out of here all day long yesterday, I'm sure of it. The owls were so crazy flying around the country with messages that the Muggles even spoke about it on their news program. These children will be in no condition to sit in class and attempt to cast spells or make potions that won't blow up."
"We must go on with life as we wish it to continue," he said.
"Albus, these children for the first time in their lives feel completely free if their family fought against Voldemort or if they were simply not on his side, while the other children are now terrified that their parents will be taken away. They know they may never see their parents again. Some of them are worried that their parents will receive the Kiss. There will be more curses and jinxes shot in the hallways than in years. We have to set down the rules firmly, and we have to watch out for all of the children. Not all of the Slytherin students are from families that supported Voldemort, but the students from every other house assume that they are. We have to do something to begin to rebuild school unity. A day off is just a small start. You can have an all-school assembly in the Great Hall after breakfast."
The headmaster sat back, intertwining his fingers with the forefingers steepled at his chin. "I'll take that into consideration.
"Fine, you do that. I have things I need to do. I won't be at the staff meeting, but I will return later."
"Minerva," Dumbledore began.
"You don't need me to meet with the staff or the children; however, I will do my best to be back in time for that second meeting." With that, she strode from the office.
A/N thanks for the lovely messages and reviews. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.