Death is but the Next Great Adventure

            A red-haired man sat around with a group of compulsive adolescents which he knew all too well.  Some were his own children, and others those of his friends.   It was a summer night, and the children were home for their first night of their summer vacation, and were all caught up in the magic of Hogwarts.  The man could see what affect it had on his own children, and sat down to tell a tale of a great man he once knew...

 

            "Those who believe death is inevitable, rarely see the oncoming tragedy waiting to happen.  It was the year one thousand, nineteen hundred, and ninety-nine.   You never can believe when you hear a good friend is gone, left the world, and never to be seen again.   You never know if it could have been prevented, you never know what you could have done.  Death is inevitable, and the world is always unprepared.   You may believe it can happen to anyone, but to this particular person, no thought the world would ever get this bad.   He died.  His legacy left behind him, his life trickling out of a broken glass, his world fading away.  In the last moments of his life, he learned what many wondered about, did you actually see your life in those last few seconds?  Images of his father, mother, and brother flashed before his eyes.   He saw for the first time, the castle which he would call home forever.  He saw dragons, and children, and happiness.  The images flashed through his eyes, and one by one, he was reminded of the great life he had led.  The world would see the last of their great hero, AlbusDumbledore: Hero, Protector, Professor, and Man.

 

            "Evil is a force that pries open the very good of society.   No matter what happens, evil is never truly banished.   It has proved that way for millions of years, from the beginnings of time, till the end, evil will always be present.   Evil is what kills great men.   Evil is what ruins families, and what reminds us of the worse of society.  How can such a force be triumphant over good, and the answer to that is, it can't.  

 

            "But where ever evil is, and when ever evil appears, there is always good to stop it.  To stand in its way, to stop its omnipresent force, to put it off, there is always good.   In modern times, Harry Potter, the boy who lived, is a reminder of the good force.  He lost his parents to evil, he lost his first eleven years of his life to evil, but that didn't stop him.  In this case, and in most modern cases, the Dark Lord, Voldemort, is the man who found a way to kill like no other.   Evil.

 

            "I ask myself why?  But that is just the thing.  Evil cannot be explained in a mere sentence, nor in a hour long speech.  I wanted to understand, but now I know I can't.  It has killed many close to me.  My brother, my father, my friends and my peers.   But they have gone to a better place, a place without evil, a place without death.  It is the next great adventure.  Evil killed my father when I was sixteen.  I couldn't understand it then, and I still don't till this day.  A few years after that, one of my brothers was killed.  He had been ignorant to the loom of death.   But still, I don't know why.   While at my days at that mighty school, I witnessed death second hand.  My friends died at evil's will, and then other peers at school did too.  

 

            "But this is not a story about them, that could fill an entire book.  This is about the death of a great man, the one man who has looked evil in the eye, and refused to give up.  Never have I seen anything more beautiful, more elegant, more benevolent.  He could have easily lived to tell a tale, but he threw that away, for his school and life's work. 

 

            "The year was 1997, and the Dark Lord made his final assault on the last thing that stood in his way: Hogwarts.   If it hadn't been for Dumbeldore , the castle would have met its end long ago.   It was the eve of Halloween...   he led his army of deatheaters and dementors to the gates of Hogwarts, and he destroyed the protections and wards set up.

 

            "No one knew of this attack but Dumbldore , and he stood there waiting.  Legend has it that a smile flickered upon you-know-who's face.   But the he never backed down, he kept his stand in the face of evil.  He didn't waiver, he didn't tremble, he just stood there.   He knew it was his time to go, for he had lived longer than most.  But his memory would never disappear, and his spirit would live through the many students and teachers living at Hogwarts in the years to come.  

 

            "The Dark Lord himself cast Avada Kedavra on Dumbledore, but nothing happened.   The death-curse vanished, not leaving a mark.   Curse after curse was thrown at the old headmaster, but not one touched him.  Finally, in a last effort to kill the old man, Voldemort took out the sword of Slytherin and ran towards Dumbledore. 

 

            "As the blade dug into Dumbledore, Voldemort gave a cruel laugh.  But still, Dumbledore's face did not twist in agony as death came onto him.   Finally, the headmaster spoke.   'You shall never take another soul away, or hurt another being...  I have died in the fight against good and evil...  I have died to stop you.  Vir mortuicasustetuicaedent...'   And with that, both men fell dead.

                                                                                                                 

            "He died to protect the school, he was not just the headmaster, but he was a part of the school, and the school was always a part of him.   He will never be forgotten as long as his story is told..."

 

            And he ended the story, with a tear in his eye.   The memory of the friendly headmaster was still in his mind.   The group of kids stirred as he finished, and sleepily went to bed.  One little boy stayed behind, and asked his father.   "Dad, what was Dumbledore's first name?"

 

            "The same as you, Albus... the same as you."  Albus hopped up the stairs, thinking about the great man his father had told him about.  The man that had saved the world from evil, from Voldemort .  His memory will never be forgotten...

 

He always said, Death is But the Next Great Adventure...

 

AlbusDumbledore: Hero, Protector, Professor and Man