The Life and Times of Arjulia Rigel

August 1996

After walking down a narrow road with thick green forest on either side, Arjulia came to a telephone pole with a brown phone on the side opposite the street. The rain had settled, she had gotten quite annoyed with the static charge still left in her fro the shock when she reached out and touched the phone.

"Ouch! Damned thing..."

Dialing 64224, a sweet voice came on the line, "Ministry of Magic services?"

"Yes, My name is Arjulia Disareli Rigel, I need a portkey to the outer gate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I have urgent business I must speak to the headmaster about."

"Thank you for using Ministry portkeys. Have a nice day."

A miniature catnip bag materialized on top of the phone. Arjulia put the phone back and touched the catnip with her fingertips. Her lower back was pulled toward the catnip toy and then she was gone.

A blur of color, mostly blue and white flew past her and she was outside the outer gate at Hogwarts.

There was a hard knock on the outer gate to the castle. Mr. Filch answered it.

"I need to see the Headmaster," said the lady.

"Can I have your name?"

The lady was slightly panting when she bit her lip and said, "Arjulia Disareli Rigel."

Filch looked a little overwhelmed, "Can I just say, Ms Rigel?"

"Absolutely, and hurry!"

Fifteen minutes later, Filch returned to the door and said, "He will see you now."

"What year is it, Albus?" the lady said, storming into the office of headmaster Dumbledore.

"Arjulia?" Professor Dumbledore questioned as he looked up from his textbook and looked at the shabby looking girl.

"ALBUS! Don't vex with reunion chatter! I just watched an evil overlord obliterate the only person I was supposed to be diligently protecting. So I get a little pissed off right? I make the stupid decision to zoom off to America and live like a muggle, erase my memory and be content that I failed. I get zapped every time I touch metal because Godric though it was hilarious to bring me back to work by striking me with a lightning bolt. So I ask you again WHAT YEAR IS IT???"

"If you would calm yourself, I could tell you."

"Fine!" she plopped herself in the chair opposite Dumbledore. "Fine..."

"It is August 30^th 1997."

"Okay," said Arjulia, remaining calm. "I need to know a couple more things."

"Alright, but how do I know you aren't someone else in disguise?" he said calmly. "The reason you still look 20 years old doesn't help me believe you are who you say you are."

Arjulia smiled and looked at him, "You used to sneak down to the Hogwarts kitchen with me at night, and eat the left over lemon sherbert from dinner."

"That'll do," he said chuckling. "That'll do."

"I need to know many things, so just answer each question in one short sentence, please."

"Alright," Dumbledore said, sitting down at his desk, folding his hands.

"Did James Potter have a son?"

"Yes."

"What is his name?"

"Harry."

"Harry..." she trailed off. "Nice name. Umm, does he attend school here?"

"Yes."

"Should be a seventh year, right?"

"He is," Dumbledore replied.

"Is there any reason why I can't kill Voldemort?"

Dumbledore paused, "I'm sorry...I guess I should ask what don't I know?"

Arjulia stopped and looked away from Dumbledore. "You'll be the first to know then." She eyed him from behind her hair that had begun to stick to the sides of her face. "I am...a..." she held her breath, then whispered, "Medjai...I never told you when we were at school, but I'm the Medjai from the legend that spread through the school in our seventh year."

"When did this come about?"

"Since I turned 17, first graduating class at Hogwarts," she looked away from him guiltily. "Ever since then I've been fulfilling my duty guarding the heirs of Godric Gryffindor. I've done a pretty good job of it, too. I kept going to school and getting good grades. I went over and over so I could keep a watch on the heir. None of the heirs I watched over knew I existed."

"Why not?"

"It made everything easier. See, if someone knows they have a guardian with unlimited power, they start acting selfish. I learned that the hard way."

Dumbledore sat there and thought.

"Why weren't my powers working the night James was killed? I could've SAVED HIM!"

"I guess the reason for that is because you were not meant to."

"I wasn't MEANT TO?!" she yelled.

"A prophecy was made one night before that, it said that Harry and Voldemort were the only ones who could kill each other, and therefore you couldn't have stopped anything from happening..." He eyed her over his half-moon glasses. "You got emotionally attached to James didn't you?"

Suddenly, the woman looked more like a child and muttered, "Yes..."

"You wouldn't have mentally broke down and got yourself flown off to America to live the life of a muggle had you not been infatuated with James," a small smile crept upon his face. "A mistake many have made before you, many girls at school called him a fine-- "

"Slice of Gryffindor beef, I know... I made it up."

"Did you?" Dumbledore looked amused, Ms Rigel quickly changed the subject.

"Albus, I need to find it. Godric told me that Voldemort now believes in the legend and will be going after the Corpus Aluminati."

"I see. Well, you may be enrolled as a student here. You will need to get some new clothes, you look dreadful," Dumbledore teased.

"Hardy har har..."