The Face of Evil

There was a time long ago,

when seeds of future magic,

laid scattered across the world,

then came the Hogwarts four.

There was Godric brave and tall,

Rowena wise beyond all,

Helga was everyone's friend,

while Slytherin ambitious to no wits end.

They came and built a school,

all, choosing their students,

from among the crowd,

taking the ones which had,

qualities they prized best.

But, Immortal not were these few,

so to continue, with the selection,

into the houses of the school,

I was made and converted to choose.

So, think thoughts and put me on,

I have yet to be proved wrong.

The hat abruptly went quiet and the hall erupted in applause.

'That was short,' said Hermione the disappointment quite clear in her voice.

Harry and Ron nodded in agreement; they had come to expect great things from a hat that spent all year thinking of the next year's song.

'Your names will be called out; one by one put the sorting hat on your heads,' said Professor McGonagall.

Hermione remembered Sirius and gave out a giggle. She had not forgotten his crush on Professor McGonagall.

Harry and Ron stared at her as if she had gone mad. Harry raised his eyebrow in question, but Hermione waved him off.

'Agat, Tracy.'

Hufflepuff!

There was much applause from the Hufflepuff table as Tracy Agat quickly sat down.

'Bane, Yvonne.'

Ravenclaw!

'Dutch, Richie.'

Gryffindor!

Thus the sorting went on, each table cheering for their students. When the Gryffindor first years came to the table, the ones from the wizarding families stared at Harry, recognising the scar. Harry looked away, trying not to give eye contact.

Once again he was reminded of his fame in the wizarding world and as usual, it was not welcome.

Why does he get all the attention? Thought Ron, a slight amount of envy creeping back in. Ron was still recovering from the incident in the train. His mind was trying to dwell on the present to lock out the immediate past. But the present had begun to prick him.

Just then Dumbledore stood up, his long beard flowing everywhere. His face radiated as usual with the mirth and power he was known and loved for. These were his students, his cares, his children.

'Let the feast begin,' he said, with the air of a Roman Emperor starting the Circus Maximus. All such, was disillusioned when he flopped back onto his chair in an undignified manner.

'Look, there are two new faces on the staff table,' said Seamus midway through a potato.

Ginny gave him a look of disgust, which he promptly shrugged off.

This comment did make the Gryffindor's look up to staff table. Next, to Professor Flitwick there was a charming lady. She had her hair in curls and was smiling.

'Herm, it's Ms. Figg!' said Harry trying to get a better look.

Ron said incredibly, 'she was you baby sitter?' Envious thoughts left his mind. This was something he could use to tease Harry.

Dean grinned, 'lucky you Harry, she's a doll.'

'I told you about the illusion charm, Ron,' said Harry punching him on the shoulder playfully.

He turned to look at Hermione, but she was staring at the staff table. They followed her gaze, and gasped. Instead of Snape, there was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Dark hair and blue eyed, she must have been hardly twenty-four.

Seamus and Dean sat gaping at her, along with most of the male population of Hogwarts.

'What happened to Snape?' Hermione asked, more concerned over the potions master's absence that the appearance of the new teacher.

'Hermione, forget Snape!' Dean whispered, 'she's an angel!'

'She's probably the new head of Slytherin,' said Harry pretending to be unaffected by her. But secretly even his heart gave a skip.

Lucky for him, Hermione did not notice. Harry was usually terrible at hiding his emotions.

'She's so young,' said Ron dreamily, mentally trying to tally the age difference.

'Can we switch houses?' asked Fred.

He received a hard poke in the ribs from Angelina, his girlfriend.

'Just joking, just joking,' he hastily added smiling at her apologetically.

The feast proceeded with the general chitchat. Most of which was admiration for the new Slytherin House Head, much to the chagrin of the Gryffindor ladies.

Dumbledore got up again. He waved his hand and the plates were cleared from the tables.

'I have a few announcements to make,' he said loudly trying to be heard over the din.

'Firstly, the forbidden forest is still quite forbidden, second Mr. Filch has increased the list of banned items once more, a copy of which has been placed in you common rooms,' he continued.

'Professor Snape will not be with us this year, due to unforeseen circumstances. He had taken a year off for personal reasons.'

There was a muttering in the Slytherin table, which soon turned into a roar of angry voices. Dumbledore raised his hand to silence them.

'I would like to introduce, the new head of Slytherin and potions teacher, Professor Rachael Sewensky.'

The blue eyed 'angel', got up and smiled. There was an awkward silence as the entire hall gaped at her, which was soon ended by a tumult of applause from the Slytherin table. Satisfied she sat down.

'Professor Sewensky will be with us for one year. Please do not associate her young age with lack of experience, believe me, if you do, you will regret it,' he chuckled.

'Now, for the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, may I present Professor Arabella Figg.'

There was a hesitant applause from the hall, except at the Gryffindor table. The school was wary of new DADA teachers, the earlier ones included a Voldemort possessed death eater, a publicity and memory charm crazy fraud, a werewolf, and another death eater posing as an Auror.

But Arabella Figg was quite satisfied with the welcome and sat down with a smile.

'I assure you, this is the real Ms. Arabella Figg,' Dumbledore smiled. He knew the curse that followed the job and the previous recipients for it. This year they had been quite thorough in their background check of Professor Sewensky. Even though the applicant pool was small, Dumbledore could not take risks with the return of Voldemort. Especially since Harry Potter was in their care.

The tension in the hall broke and it was plunged into laughter.

Dumbledore then turned serious, 'as I had already announced last year, Voldemort has risen again,' there was a loud gasp from the student body.

'All of us will be affected by his movement of evil, I advise extreme caution this year, especially when you move out of Hogwarts. Hogsmeade visits will still be sanctioned, but they will be few and far between. But do not be worried, Hogwarts is probably the safest place you can be.'

'I believe it is time for bed, please move to your dormitories,' he said and sat down.

People began to file out of the hall in a daze and towards the dormitories, whispering and murmuring about what Dumbledore had just said. He had already shocked them when they had left the previous year with his end of year speech.

The first years were especially shocked; those who had come from wizarding families had known the fear and stories behind Voldemort. He was the monster that lurked in their minds, to find out he was alive was more than a little unnerving.

Hermione and Harry pinned on their Prefect badges.

'They made you two Prefects!' exclaimed Ron, surprised and bitter. He had excused himself in his mind, using the fact that even Hermione and Harry had not become prefects. But they were prefects, and they had not told him.

'Um, yeah actually,' said Harry, 'we got our letters with the supply list.' Mentally Harry cursed himself; they had completely forgotten to tell Ron.

'Sorry, we didn't tell you Ron, I guess after the attack and all, we forgot to mention it,' Hermione said quickly trying to defuse the situation, Ron looked livid.

They have truly shut me out Ron thought. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Their relationship had sent his mind haywire, this deceit added to the turmoil.

'It's fine Hermione,' he finally said putting on a fake smile, wishing that she didn't have such power over him.

Harry and Hermione eyed him suspiciously but said nothing.

'We better get the first years to their dorms,' Harry said. He could not take emotionally strung situations; living without social interaction for years had its tolls.

'Yes we should. We'll meet up later Ron,' Hermione pushed Harry and they went off to file the first years into the dorms, leaving Ron to his thoughts.

Ron headed up to the fifth year dormitories along with Seamus, Dean and Neville. They were all tired with the excitement of returning to their now familiar environment. Ron collapsed onto his four-poster bed and closed his eyes. The other boys talked among themselves, mainly about their vacations.

Ron however did not participate and they presumed him to be asleep.

Harry, after making sure that the first years were settled in, went up to the dorm. He changed into his pyjamas and checked on Ron. He turned the curtains slowly as not to disturb.

He seemed to be in a deep sleep, his eyes shut. Harry released the small bit of curtain in his hand and slowly crept back to his own bed. After saying good night to the rest he fell asleep, nestling himself on the bed which seemed excessively soft.

Ron was wide-awake, too involved in his own thoughts to notice Harry's entrance. He had closed his eyes to rest them from the day's activities.

He recounted the entire day's events, every thing that was said and those things that were not. He felt alienated and cheated; the world as he had known had changed dramatically. He wished it could go back the way it was, the three friends against the world. But, he knew it could never be reversed. The tears came unchecked down his cheeks.

Questioned poured into his mind. Why was he so weak? Everyone in his family had distinguished themselves by the time they were in fifth year. He had so far amounted to nothing, an average boy in an outstanding world. Perhaps that was the reason Hermione chose Harry over him, he mused. Between the boy who lived and the average kid, not a hard choice. He didn't realise when sleep overcame him.

The next morning was disastrous. Most of the students were accustomed to sleeping in on the holidays. It was tiresome work to re-adjust their schedules to the one of Hogwarts. But they showed good form and they were up and ready. A boy with a very remarkable scar was not.

'Harry!' said Ron. 'Wake up!' the thoughts of the previous night remained dormant in the face of the day's activities to come.

'Man, he really sleeps doesn't he?' commented Dean.

'Well, only one way to wake him up,' said Seamus with a sly grin.

Gelu Aqualis Apparere

A jet of ice cold water shot out of Seamus's wand and hit Harry in the face.

He let out a scream and jumped out of bed. The others burst out laughing.

'Good Morning, soggy.' said Ron with a grin.

'What-what was that?' said a shivering Harry, clutching himself for warmth.

'Water dispatch spell, learnt it over the summer,' chuckled Seamus.

Neville popped his head in, 'come on, we'll be late for breakfast.'

There was a scramble to get ready. Half an hour later the entire bunch trooped out of the dormitories and into the common room. A very angry Hermione was waiting for Harry.

'Well, you took long enough,' she exclaimed crossly, a fake flirtatious frown on her face.

'Sorry love,' he reached to kiss her on the cheek, but instead ended up kissing her on the lips, old habits it seems, die hard. The entire common room stared, the boys grinning wide, while the girls shot jealous looks at Hermione. Harry's hand reached behind to stroke Hermione's hair.

'Much better,' said Hermione, not noticing the surrounding occurrences.

'Would you mind keeping your affections in control,' said a very flustered Ron. The morning had made him forget about Harry and Hermione's relationship. This was a slap in the face reminder.

Harry looked around, and then went red. Hermione blushed pink.

'Sorry,' Harry mumbled and took Hermione's hand and led her into the breakfast hall. Ron followed shaking his head.

They sat down at the Gryffindor table and commenced their breakfast. Ron as usual was hungry as ever. Hermione and Harry were more interested in each other than the food. Ron gave them exasperated looks, while managing to hide his true feelings behind them. But he stole glances at Hermione; she was so close, yet farther than she had ever been from him.

'Schedules!' announced Alicia Spinnet, the new Head Girl as she placed a stack on the Gryffindor table.

Everyone reached out and took a copy. The schedules had been enchanted to show the schedule of the person who held them, thus keeping the schedules private.

'Oh no!' said Dean, 'look, double Potions with Slytherin.'

'Hey, it won't be that bad,' said Ron, 'remember, we have a new teacher.'

'Yeah,' said Neville. Potions was Neville's worst subject and Professor Snape never missed a chance to terrorise him. 'She can't be worse than Snape,' he gulped, 'can she?'

'A gal who looks like that?' said George, 'no way!'

George at this time received a swift kick from his girlfriend Katie Bell.

'Sorry Kat,' he gave her a lecherous grin. He nursed his leg; Quidditch had really improved Katie's physical abilities.

'Defence is first, with the Ravenclaws,' said Hermione pulling herself out of Harry's eyes. 'We better make a move; I don't want to be late for our first class.' Grabbing Harry and Ron, she got up. They headed for the DADA classroom.

When they entered the classroom, there were no chairs or tables, not knowing where to sit they just stood standing. The class began to file in slowly, unable to find seating; most of them stood where they were. The room was suddenly flooded with mist and incense, voice much like the divination teacher called out 'I can see into your hearts, there is much evil around us! EVIL!'

The entire class gasped in bewilderment. A few of the girls started to panic. Then suddenly every thing was clear again and an amused Professor Figg stood in front of them.

'Or perhaps not,' she said her eyes full of mirth and a smile on her lips.

A few students let out a reluctant laugh and soon every one was in fits of giggles. Her impression of Professor Trelawney was quite perfect.

'She sounded so much like that old fraud.'

'Nearly scared me to death.'

'What an entrance!'

Professor Figg raised her hand to silence the class.

'Good morning class. My name is Arabella Figg, you are to address me as Professor Figg, at least in front of me,' she gave a wink.

'I have been an Auror for the past 20 years,' she continued moving across the room.

There were quite a few whispers at this statement.

'And I specialise in illusion charms, as you have already experienced,' she finished staring individually at them one by one. 'Now, everybody kindly sit down, yes on the ground. In the real world there does not exist a classroom with chairs.'

The entire class sat awkwardly around the ground in bunches. Professor Figg also sat down.

'Put away your books, you will not need them,' she said.

The class did as she asked. Harry glanced over at Hermione's perturbed face and grinned, she was out of her element.

'Now, I have been in touch with your previous real Professor, Prof. Lupin, and talked to the Headmaster, it seems you have covered mostly dark creatures and of course the unforgivables,' she said darkly, her voice deepened as she said the unforgivables, sending a shiver through the students.

Harry shifted uncomfortably as her gaze turned to him for a moment.

'With the return of Voldemort,' the entire class flinched, 'the headmaster has decided that you must learn more practical and advanced defence,' she said.

'To defend yourselves against the dark side, you will need more than just spells, you will have to be physically and mentally fit, as well as have a thorough knowledge of the dark arts spells you will encounter.'

'Professor,' Hermione raised her hand.

'Yes Hermione?' said Professor Figg already with the knowledge of Hermione's question.

'Does, that mean we will be taught the Dark Arts?' she asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

'No!' Professor Figg said quickly, 'but you will be learning the names, functions and theories, so that you may know what you are up against.'

'Since you do not have an integrated physical education program, I am going to make it a part your daily routine,' she said faking an evil grin 'every one will have to take laps around the Quidditch pitch at six in the morning.'

There was universal groan. Six in the morning thought the boys, she has to be nuts! The girls were even more terrified, how could they let the boys see them in such a state.

'I know, you all don't want to do this, but believe me sometimes the best way to defend your self is to run,' said Professor Figg 'your body must be in tip top condition to be able to dodge, attack and counterattack.'

Bowing to the inevitable the class grudgingly grumbled its accent to the plan. But, there where those who were already scheming, how to avoid this thorn in their daily routine?

'Excellent, we will start tomorrow at the Quidditch field,' she said.

Another set of groans could be heard from the now very unhappy group.

'I will also be starting a duelling club, one that will be restricted to year levels,' she said with a smile recounting what she had heard from Harry and Hermione about the last attempt.

This cheered up everybody. The only experience they had at duelling was a complete farce setup by their fraudulent second year DADA teacher.

'This is compulsory as a part of your defence education, you will first duel among your own year and if you are good enough you will duel with those who are your senior,' she added, 'this is to keep with our new policy of practical as opposed to theory.'

There was a whisper of excitement this DADA class may not be that bad after all.

'Now, apart from running and duelling, you will also be taught how to create dark magic detectors and identify people who are using covert devices such as the invisibility cloak.'

Harry would later swear that she was staring at him, when she said the last few words.

The bell rang and the students quickly got up to disperse. Potions was next and it was a long walk to the dungeons.

'Harry,' Prof. Figg called, 'I need to talk to you.'

Harry walked up to her, followed by Hermione and Ron.

'The Headmaster wishes to see you after you're done with your classes,' she said, 'it's important.' She stressed on the word important.

Harry nodded his yes.

'Prof. Figg, where are Snuffles and Moony,' said Harry; finally voicing his concerns about his godfather.

'Lupin is fine; he'll probably be at Hogwarts tomorrow, so you can meet him and Sirius then,' she said, 'but who or what on earth is Snuffles?'

'Err, that's our code name for Sirius,' Harry whispered, 'he told us to use it.'

Prof. Figg started giggling in a most un-professor like manner.

'Thank you Harry,' she said between giggles, 'I now have enough ammunition to tease him for at least a week, you better get going.'

The trio ran out, with extremely strange grins pasted on their faces, Snuffles was going to be quite mad.

The dungeons were a depressing place to be, and a horror to navigate. Experience had taught them to find the Potions classroom quickly; tardiness was something looked down harshly upon by Professor Snape.

The first thing Harry noticed when they entered the potions classroom was the air. It was not stuffy and full of potion fumes; it was clean and reasonably pure. The second thing was décor. The classroom had gotten a massive facelift; charts and portraits were hung on the wall. Messages of inspiration dotted the edges of the ceiling; he stifled a laugh as he read a prominent one.

'Success is a potion well brewed, failure is a cauldron melted.'

It was not so much the humour in the joke, but sheer nature of its existence in the dungeons. Inspiration was something banished in the gloom.

The ceiling, Harry realised was no longer there in its grimy glory. It had been enchanted to show the sky just as in the entrance hall. Except it was not accurate, colours such as purple were a permanent thing. He looked around, everyone-even the Slytherins- were quiet, trying to take in the new surroundings.

Just then the new potions teacher walked it.

'Welcome, My name is Rachael Sewensky, or to you all Prof. Sewensky,' she said in a soft and gentle voice. All the boys felt as a hand was gently caressing their face as they heard her voice.

'I think she's part Veela,' Hermione whispered to Harry, noticing the effect on the boys.

'Huh, did you say something?' Harry talked to the empty air in front of him.

'Never mind,' she sighed. This was going to be a long day.

'I'll be taking over from where Snape left off,' she added.

This statement brought the entire class back to its senses. "Snape?' the Slytherins looked at her in horror; this was their new house head. Draco Malfoy looked especially livid; she had forgotten to prefix the Professor Title. The Gryffindors were also stunned; even they knew the basic respect that had to be given to teachers.

Prof. Sewensky acted as if nothing had happened.

'My style of teaching is dramatically different, from Snape's,' the entire class flinched as she said this, 'it will take sometime to make the transition, so I will make some allowances.'

Summoning up all the courage he could muster, Draco Malfoy spoke up, 'kindly do not refer to Professor Snape as Snape, it is disrespectful,' he added a, 'professor,' as an after thought to make his point.

'Five points from Slytherin for interrupting me,' she said still smiling. 'Snape (again the class flinched) taught me for seven long tiring years, I believe I can address him the way I want,' she flashed a charming grin.

The Gryffindors erupted in muffled laughter and immediately warmed up to her. How could you not warm up to someone who was making a public fool of Snape and took points from Slytherin?

The Slytherin boys also seemed quite content, completely oblivious to the fact that she had said something against their beloved Housemaster. However, the Slytherin girls (most) were seething.

'Today we will brew a cheering potion, the potion version of the charm,' she said, 'please note down the ingredients.'

She began to lecture the ingredients and instructions of brewing to the class. The students eagerly noted down whatever she spoke, even those who would normally ignore taking notes.

'The theory of potion making is quite important. Most can simply follow a set of given instructions and brew a potion. But why does it work? Why does the weed have to be put before the liver? Can the ingredients be replaced? These are the questions of potions student,' said Professor Sewensky as she walked around the classroom.

Unfortunately before they could start on the practical aspect of the potion the class ended. Students began to leave the dungeons.

'Wait,' she stopped them from leaving. 'I want you to make a notebook in which you will write the ingredients, instructions and theory of all the potions we brew in class. Your homework is to create this notebook and write down about the cheering potion. The theory is well explained on Page No. 19 of your text books.'

The class murmured its ascent (as if they had a choice) and moved out.

As Harry was leaving Prof Sewensky called him, 'Harry, could you talk to me for a moment?'

Harry, he thought, that felt strange coming from the Potions teacher; Snape had always referred to him as Potter.

'Yes Professor?' he asked, unsure of what fate would bring before him.

'I've heard what all you have had to face, I'm sorry this had to happen to you,' she said in very soothing voice. 'The headmaster has asked me to keep a special eye on you, to ensure you excel in your work.'

Harry was stunned; he did not expect this, 'tha-thank you Professor.'

'If you want someone to talk to, remember I will always be there,' she said with a smile.

Harry simply nodded his head, he could not think of a suitable reply at that juncture.

'You can go now, Harry,' she finished.

Harry was about to leave, when he suddenly turned around and asked her.

'Professor, are you part Veela?' he asked haltingly.

'Of course not, what gave you that idea' she winked as she said this.

'Oh! Nothing Professor,' he said quickly, 'thank you and goodbye!'

He left the room, feeling much better than he when he came in. Potions is becoming my favourite class he thought.

Hospital Wing Secret Section

Remus and Sirius walked into ward. The ward was separated from the rest of the hospital room, thus none of the usual visitors could see the patients inside, even if they tried.

'How is he Arabella?' Remus spoke up a worried look on his face.

'Much, much better,' said Arabella, taking a sponge and pressing it on Snape's forehead.

'So, that means he'll live, right?' said Sirius, trying to appear as if he didn't care.

Arabella nodded. 'He should be back to normal in a week or two.'

'Do you think we should tell him about Sewensky?' Sirius said with an evil glint in his eyes. They had already researched into her history with a fine-tooth comb.

'Don't you dare!' said Arabella. 'He may have a seizure or something.'

'Come on! You know the effect she has on him!' said Sirius rubbing his hands in anticipation.

'Fancy, you talking,' said Arabella, 'Snuffles,' she giggled.

Sirius Black, escapee of Azkaban, survivor of the dementors for twelve years, one of the few people to say Voldemort's name and Secret Member of the Order of the Phoenix went absolutely white with fear.

'W-What?' he asked.

'Hmm, Snuffles is quite a cute name,' said Arabella, 'don't you think so Remus.'

'I certainly do,' said Remus a grin on his face. Remus had the knowledge of his name and of the budding affair. Truthfully he had been pushing it along.

'Um, I have to go, glass of water, err,' he quickly said changing into his dog form and running out.

As he left he could hear the squeals of laughter echoing from the Hospital Ward. Drat, that Harry! He's going to pay; he's going to pay!

Hogwarts Main

The rest of the day went quite peacefully for the trio; as usual Harry's death was predicted at divination. They tried to convert mice into chairs in Transfiguration and learnt silencing charms with Prof Flitwick.

After the last of their classes, they moved towards the grounds. It was a great day and they had be cooped up inside for hours. Harry suddenly realized he had to talk to Dumbledore.

'Herm, Ron, I almost forgot, I have to meet the headmaster,' he said.

'We'll go with you,' said Ron firmly making it clear that he would not be left out of things.

The three moved to the Gargoyle entrance of Dumbledore's office.

'Pepper Mint,' said Harry, trying to think of names of sweets.

'Rock imps,' said Ron.

'Honeydews,' said Hermione.

'Every Flavour Beans,' said Harry.

'Caramel Toffee,' Ron said is exasperation. The Gargoyle opened.

'It worked!' said Hermione raising her eyebrows in surprise, 'let's go.'

They quickly went up the steps leading to the headmaster's office. When they reached the top, they heard a voice telling them to come in. Recognising the familiar voice of the headmaster they responded and did.

'Ah! Harry, Hermione, Ron. I've wanted to talk to you three,' he said, the same twinkle never leaving his eye. 'Sit, make yourselves comfortable.'

Three extremely large armchairs appeared, and the trio sat down sinking into the cushions.

'I'm sure you have had an extremely interesting holiday,' he said smiling: 'first, I believe you may have some questions for me?'

'Sir, who do you think is the heir of Voldemort,' asked Harry. Ron flinched at the mention of his name.

'What do you three think?' Dumbledore asked back, his eyes searching their faces, as if he was trying to find something wrong with the number of pimples they had, or lack thereof.

Hermione told him all their suspicions and the list they had made. The trio looked at Dumbledore for his approval.

'Excellent work,' said Dumbledore pleased that they had at least attempted to find out, 'we are currently working on the problem.'

'Err, Sir who is we?' Ron ventured to ask.

Dumbledore sighed, 'what I am going to tell you is an absolute secret, many lives depend on your silence.'

He took off his glasses and cleaned them. The action astonished Harry-it was so muggle-like. Dumbledore was in fact having an internal struggle. Part of him had decided that it was time they knew, and part of him said they were just children.

The three gulped, but nodded.

Dumbledore made a decision, 'years ago when Voldemort was in power the ministry was in chaos. The Aurors were in disarray and Voldemort's supporters had infiltrated every department and office. A resistance movement was formed here at Hogwarts called the Order of the Phoenix. Under my leadership, the Order sought out the best in the field of magic and trained them to fight against Voldemort. Keeping a low profile and carefully screening all our agents we achieved great success and managed to contain Voldemort to mainly Britain and some parts of Europe until the tragic incident with your parents Harry,' he said fiddling with a paper weight on his table.

'We have resurrected this Order and the fight against him has already begun,' he said gravely.

'Sir, what does this have to do with us?' Hermione asked slowly, the unanswered question of the heir forgotten.

'Hermione, always to the point,' he chuckled. Hermione went red.

'I would like to extend an invitation to you all, to join the order as members in training,' he finally said.

The three were stunned; this was too much to take in. To join one of the most prestigious and elite forces against darkness, it seemed like a dream come true. It was thrilling and scary at the same time. The ability to be proactive in the war was tempting, but so was the fear of being in constant danger.

'Well?' said Dumbledore.

'I'm in,' Harry said he didn't require second thoughts for his decision. He was already waist deep in the struggle against Voldemort.

'Me too,' said Hermione once Harry had agreed.

'Me three,' said Ron, a smile on his face. Finally, he had achieved something that none of his siblings had, finally he was a part of things again.

'Excellent. Prof. Figg, will be your instructor for your training, Harry I need to talk to you alone for sometime, if that is alright with you two?' Dumbledore said; more of a statement than a question.

Ron and Hermione nodded and got up to leave.

'Remember, don't tell a soul, and always use silencing charms before talking about the Order, discretion should always be your top priority,' he said, his voice smooth and icy.

The two nodded there heads solemnly and exited the office. Hermione gave Harry a last supportive glance as she left.

'Harry, in your second year, you asked me why Voldemort wanted to kill your parents,' Dumbledore said softy. Harry nodded his mind racing with the possibilities.

'I wanted to wait till you came of age, but circumstance and Voldemort have forced my hand, let me tell you a short story.'

'When the four Hogwarts founders had built the school, they worked along with each other for the first two or three decades. Then as you probably know Lord Slytherin argued with the other three on the inclusion of muggle-borns, he did not trust them and finally he left the school. A little known fact, apart from the chamber of secrets was however buried in history.'

'Lord Slytherin stabbed Lord Gryffindor right before he left, but before he died Gryffindor vowed vengeance through his descendants. All this was kept hidden from the students, fearing that they would be house clashes over the incident and Hogwarts would fall. The incident was covered up, and a story was given that Lord Slytherin and Gryffindor were bitter rivals who hated each other. That is why there is so much enmity between the two houses even now,' Dumbledore paused for all this to sink in and then continued.

'The power of the magical vengeance vow is very strong, especially if it is vengeance for treachery. It grants the avenger the ability to set things right, blessing him/her with luck and great power. The Potters are the last descendants of Lord Gryffindor,' he said, his age now clearly showing.

'That makes me,' Harry wondered allowed.

'The Heir of Gryffindor,' Dumbledore finished his sentence for him. 'We discovered, this quite late with your father, he was already out of school and married. But, he was a member of the Order along with your mother; he took an oath to purge the world of Voldemort.'

'But, he had not been trained in the use of very ancient and advanced magic, thus your family hid from Voldemort until they were powerful enough to challenge him. You know what happened,' he said gently.

Tears were moving down Harry's cheeks, his father was a member of the Order; they had given up their lives, so that I could live and continue to exist, so that I will have a chance against Voldemort.

'I'm sorry if this all has been too much for you,' Dumbledore said putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. 'Maybe we should finish this discussion at a more suitable hour.'

'No,' said Harry, his voice cracking, 'I need to know the entire story, sir.'

'Very well,' Dumbledore said. 'Come with me, I need to show you something.'

He got up and led Harry to one of the walls. He touched a complex combination of bricks and a passageway was revealed.

'Follow me,' Dumbledore simply said. Harry followed him into the passageway, which broke into a flight of steps. When they stepped onto the first step the staircase moved on its own, taking them down and down. It finally stopped when they reached the ground.

Dumbledore whispered an incantation and torches everywhere lit, covering the room with light and shadow. Harry stood there gaping at the sight he saw. A room around three times the size of the entrance hall, filled with all kinds of weaponry. There were strange machines all over the place. On the other end there was a huge library stocked with books. The light was too bad for him to read the titles.

He recovered from his initial shock. 'Sir, where are we?' Harry said still awed by his surroundings.

'We are currently, below Hogwarts castle, this is the Hogwarts Warrior Training Centre,' he said waving his hand to cover the room.

'Warrior sir?' Harry asked totally dumbfounded.

'When Hogwarts was founded, the dark ages were about to set in; the age of Kings had arrived. The highest honour a person could hope was to become a warrior. The founders understood this, and the way we teach Defence Against the Dark Arts; they taught how to fight in battle. This is their training centre which is being used as the Head Quarters of the Order,' he explained.

Harry walked around, taking in the new surroundings, his mind refusing to believe what was around him.

'Harry, there is something else you must know, something you cannot tell anyone, even your closest friends,' Dumbledore said. 'You have the potential of being a Mage Warrior.'