Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter16

A Family of Prophecy

"Fizzing Whizbee!"

The stone Gargoyle moved aside and, once again, the stairway rose to admit Harry, this time accompanied by Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Natalia and Marie, to Dumbledore's office. Fawkes flew over and perched on Harry's shoulder, before turning to Marie, and then Natalia.

"Welcome home Marie. Welcome home Natalia. It has been far too long since we last met." Marie and Natalia looked at each other. Harry stared at Fawkes, dumbfounded.

"It was YOU?" Harry said to Fawkes, whilst repeating their conversation silently to the other three.

"Oh yes! You do not think that I simply stay here all year do you, Harry?" Come to think of it, Harry hadn't been to Dumbledore's office THAT often, and wasn't he likely to deliver messages for Dumbledore as well? After all, that wasn't an owl that Sirius sent during the Summer Holidays after his third year.

"Sorry," he replied humbly. Fawkes nuzzled Harry affectionately, before flying to Marie, and then Natalia, doing the same.

Only now did Harry look around Dumbledore's office to see who was there. Freulenka Diminova and the Headmaster were having a quiet conversation with Madame Maxime, Sirius was indeed there and was talking quietly to Lupin in front of the Window behind Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore's chair was turned towards the window. The moonlight shining across the fabric gave it quite a pleasant glow, Harry thought idly. He turned to look at Marie and Natalia. Hermione was talking to Marie, as Harry had already suspected, in fairly fluent French, and to Natalia in English. He suspected that Natalia still had the Translation Charm running, and, quite honestly, he didn't blame her in the slightest. He heard her speaking English, but if he watched her lips closely, he simply couldn't read a word she was saying. Either that, or he simply never got the hang of lip-reading more than monosyllabic words. Ron and Ginny were simply gawking at the scene, although they occasionally contributed to Hermione Marie and Natalia's conversation, when their point of view was asked. Harry thought he heard Remus say something along the lines of

"...And about time too. Dumbledore at least owes him this much after all he's been through these last few years. No one deserves that!"

But that part of the conversation was completely lost on him too, so he decided to simply gaze into the fire and think on the day so far. He had woken up, as usual. He had performed a brief transformation into a Phoenix, a Stag, his Centaur (just to practice of course), a teacup, a pillow (he nearly lost himself in the bed), and he had done individual parts of his Sphinx transformations. If truth were to be told, then he didn't have a clue as to why Hermione thought it would take so long. He was finding most of the transformations he had attempted quite easy. Although he would wait for Hermione and Professor McGonagall before he attempted his atomic transformation, because that could go severely wrong. However it would prove useful as a substitute for apparition and an invisibility cloak. Then after breakfast, it was down to Hagrid's Hut for Care of Magical Creatures. The Gryffin cubs were now a month old and were beginning to attempt to fly. Both Bold and Killer, the Gryffindor and Slytherin cubs could spread their wings, but Bold was still having a little trouble co-ordinating the flapping motion, and Killer could only beat his wings a few times before falling to the ground, spread-eagled with exhaustion. Care of Magical Creatures was fast becoming Harry's genuinely favourite subject. He used to praise the lessons simply to placate Hagrid, but the lessons were now actually really enjoyable. Harry had turned to Hermione that very morning and asked her if it was nice to be having a proper Care of Magical Creatures Lesson, remembering with a small trace of bitterness her comment towards Hagrid. Then after a short break, a most boring double History of Magic lesson. They were studying the thirteenth Goblin Civil War of Kazakhstan in depressingly minuscule detail, Minuscule to the extent that they were learning the individual eating habits of Bulrig the Brainless and Crappon the Crass. Even Hermione had trouble moving her hand in a motion that induced the ability to write and take notes. Then, during the Lunch Hour, Harry had the Quidditch team and reserves practising for half an hour.

"Good thinking Harry," George had said. "Better pull practices whenever we can, just to be on the safe side. We really need to get a message across. Especially to Slytherin!" Everyone nodded their agreement. Harry even had them trying out a few new moves he'd thought of over the holidays whilst thumbing through "Quidditch Captaincy".

After lunch saw a WONDERFUL (?) Divination class. They were studying true seers, and a little bit of history behind them.

"I won't depress you all with the chagrin of my own life my dears," Professor Sibyll Trelawney, their slight, huge-eyed teacher said to them in her own annoyingly patronising misty voice. "I have seen too much sorrow in my life to worry you all with. Some more than others," she added gazing tragically at Harry. "No. Today we will be looking at the life of the ancient Greek Seeress Cassandra, who was ill-fated to have woefully accurate predictions but nobody would believe her."

"That's Trelawney in a nutshell!" Ron had said to Harry quietly. There was a distinct advantage to being able to communicate one's thoughts without moving one's lips.

"I thought Trelawney was a nut CASE!" Harry replied. There was the one distinct disadvantage. Ron couldn't help himself. He burst out into an hysterical fit of laughter, was laughing so hard that he was soon wheezing, and ended up having to be taken to the hospital wing, because everyone else thought that he had been struck with a tickling curse, and when the counter was performed, the hilarity of THAT made him laugh even harder. Harry volunteered to take him, and so he and Ron were amongst the first out to greet the students at half past three, after dropping their bags off in the common room. There was nothing Madame Pomfrey could do. She just waited until he had calmed down enough to take some water, which calmed him down even further.

And then they came. First the Durmstrang Galleon, then the Beauxbatons Fleet of Horse-and-Carts, and he suddenly had two sisters. He, Harry had two sisters! Harry Potter has two sisters!

Harry has two sisters!

Harry!

Harry!

"Harry?" This voice sounded familiar. "Harry? What's the time?"

"I don't know. It looks dark outside. Must be after five."

"Why are we in here again? I thought you weren't going to ask any more questions!"

"I didn't. Aunt Petunia took me to Vinnie's for a hair cut..."

"OH! Well, you can't tell the difference!"

"I know! I wouldn't have minded, except that he was in a bad mood today, and he nearly chopped off my ear. And of course he commented on my scar."

"You still don't remember the crash?"

"Nope. Just some weird green light."

"Are you okay Harry? You look awfully white!"

"No, no Evan, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. You always worry! I've just got a bit of a headache. That's all. I think Dudley hit me a little too hard at break time. I didn't see Piers coming up behind me, and I got trapped."

"How do you reckon they'd fair against the both of us?"

"I don't know. Do skinny runts punch well?" They both laughed at this.

"You really have to learn to defend yourself Harry. These meanies always hurt you. Can't you at least try to not be there?"

"What? And end up on the roof again! No thanks! Uncle Vernon goes ballistic when I even suggest doing something out of the ordinary like having pudding first! I saw him watching Paul Daniels the other night, but when I walked into the room, he switched over to watch a gardening programme! He HATES gardening, that's why he gets me to do it!"

"I wish I could help you with it you know, but..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll be able to lift the spade eventually. Then it'll get a lot easier."

"Harry?"

"Yes Evan?"

"Harry?"

"Mmmhm?"

"HARRY!" Someone was punching his arm and gently tapping him across the face. The fire was crackling lightly, and he suddenly felt very tired. He had another look around Dumbledore's office. Everyone was looking at him. Ginny, it turned out, was tapping his face, and Sirius was punching his arm.

"Sorry. I was remembering something from years ago and I dozed off."

"Actually Harry, your eyes were wide open," Dumbledore said, amused. "What were you remembering?"

"Oh, just an old friend," Harry replied vaguely.

"Fair enough," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling benevolently. Harry had the eerie suspicion that Dumbledore knew exactly what he was remembering, but he had had that suspicion on several occasions previously, and had simply resigned himself to the fact that it would happen. "Anyway, Harry, I imagine you might possibly have the odd question poking around in your mind. In fact, after today, I imagine you have some VERY odd questions poking around in your mind!" Harry simply nodded dumbly. "Mister Weasley, and Misses Weasley, Granger, Blaireau and Borosheva will also have some questions, as probably do everyone in this room as a whole." Harry stared at him. What was he going on about? "Well, anyway, I suppose I had better start at the beginning."

"A very good place to start!" Sirius cut in with a smirk.

"That it is, Sirius!" Dumbledore said benignly. "Now then, I know you are not going to be happy to hear this Miss Granger, but I am afraid that the whole story begins... with Professor Trelawney."

"PROFESSOR TRELAWNEY?" Hermione spluttered. "What's that fra..." she blushed violently. "I'm sorry Professor. I'm sure you know I don't hold much stock in that department."

"That may be true, but Harry will confirm for me that she did in fact predict Wormtail going back to Voldemort. However, Harry will also tell you, that, at the end of your third year, at the end of your second year, Miss Weasley, Sibyll had, in fact, given another true prediction previously. What you must understand about the difference between a true Seer and a professional Seer, is that the true Seer will actually see the future in absolute certainty. Although the meaning behind his words might not be clear, he will indeed see exactly what will happen. However the professional Seer will use logic, a small amount of vague guesswork and the power of suggestion to make seemingly accurate predictions. But that's all they are. They are predictions. Said before they occur. And, I'm afraid, Harry, that her first prediction was all about you!"

"ME?"

"Well not just you. She was in my office, you see. We were talking about... well in fact it was during the Summer Holidays after your parents had left Hogwarts, Harry, and I had just recently been handed a notice of leaving by the previous Divination Teacher, Norrie Sledge. He had decided to retire. Well anyway, I was interviewing a young Miss Sibyll Trelawney, and I was giving her various situations to handle. She used to work in Beauxbatons, and I had occasion to step into one of her classes once, and I had seen that she was competent and could handle a class, even if she seemed a fraud! Well, anyway, she was talking to me about the work she was doing there, her favourite aspects about teaching, and then... Well you remember how she goes, don't you Harry?" All eyes in the room, Harry could see, were turned on him, as if wondering how she went.

"It's nothing spectacular. Not like the stuff she tries to put on in class," Harry mused. "She just goes rigid, her eyes roll back in her head, and she... you know how her voice is? Really mystical?" A rally of nods. "Well her voice goes really harsh. And, she's more direct than ever. It still doesn't make sense until you know all the events, but it's accurate." He sighed, shrugging. He remembered thinking, during his end of year exams in the Third Year, right at the end of the Divination Exam, this exact thing happening to Professor Trelawney. She had said that,

"The Dark Lord's servant who has been chained for the past twelve years will set out before midnight tonight to rejoin his master and help him rise more terrible than ever before."

Harry could safely say that the events of that day hadn't exactly endeared Divination to him, even if it did mean that he was a little more open to the theory.

"What was this Prophecy, Professor?"

"Ah yes, an interesting question, Miss Granger. I trust you still have that admirable little translation charm running?" Hermione nodded eagerly. "Excellent. Very well then, the Prophecy according to the Prophet Trelawney." Harry, Ron. and Hermione stifled laughter at this. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled kindly at them. He was searching in his desk for something or other. Finally he took out a fairly crisp piece of parchment and began to scan it. "Ah yes... he we are. Right,

"Four cubs shall be borne from a young vixen's womb;

The youngest, the Stag, bares the Dark One's first doom.

But woe-betide those who would rest on their laurels,

For this is but first of the Wizard World's quarrels.

When Rat Cat and Dog meet 'neath fiery plant's bough,

The Rat shall power unto the Dark One endow.

And the four shall be called upon to strive once again,

To halt, hinder, terminate Malevolence's reign.

Three Phoenix shall stand by Lion and by Fox,

The Owl and the Vixen, the Stag and the Ox.

The Charmer shall stand by Concealer of Noun

The Potion shall calm the vexed Prophet right down.

The family divided shall gather their kin,

And shall then reunite in an age dark and grim.

When the Adder rejects shall Subtractor repent,

And unto the Dark, Light oblivion shall rent.

As Dumbledore had spoken, Harry felt his jaw practically dislocate and hit the floor. He looked at everyone else in the room. Their faces were displaying all sorts of mixed emotions. Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked confused, Sirius and Remus were... smiling? Harry surmised that they must have known of this already. Marie and Natalia were gawping not at Dumbledore, but at Harry! And Freulenka Diminova and Madame Maxime looked grave. And Dumbledore...he looked almost apologetic. An expression of intense excitement suddenly crossed Hermione's face.

"Um, excuse me Professor?"

"Yes Hermione?" Harry could sense that Dumbledore knew exactly what Hermione was about to ask, and he was smiling even more broadly now.

"Um... Is there something you would like to tell Harry, Marie, and Natalia?"

"Ah! As astute as ever I see, Miss Granger! Five points to Gryffindor! As a matter of fact there is, although, and I mean no disrespect to Miss Blaireau and Miss Borosheva, I, as you can imagine, Hermione, owe Harry the biggest explanation of all. However, I think it best to get the most awkward part of this evening out of the way first. MISTER POTTER!" Dumbledore said, turning to his chair. Harry looked up.

"Yes Sir?" Harry replied. But no question came. Dumbledore's eyes were fixed firmly on his chair. As Harry glanced over to the chair, he saw something, which made him blanche, caused his jaw to drop once again, and to practically make him faint.

A figure rose out of the chair. He wasn't very tall, but you would be wrong to call him short. Harry supposed he must have been about half way between himself and Ron in height. From behind he looked to be fairly muscular and stocky. He had a short crop of wild black hair that looked as if a Hair Dresser would prefer to shave it all off and start from scratch. And then he turned. Harry found himself staring into a pair of dazzling green eyes, which glistened strangely in the firelight behind thin wire spectacles. He involuntarily glanced at the forehead. It was clean. Harry took a step forward. So did the boy.

"H... H... Harry?"

That voice! Harry knew that voice. He hadn't heard it consciously for years! That voice had haunted his dreams for the last few months. It was a little deeper than he remembered, but Harry knew who he must be. He had thought about him so often in his youth. For the past few years, Harry supposed he had been too busy to know what was going on.

"Harry, Marie, Natalia. There is someone whom you might want to meet." And it dawned on him. He knew EXACTLY who it was. "Harry," Dumbledore said again. "I'd like you to meet... I'd like you to meet your brother..."

"E..." Harry interrupted, stammering in surprise. "EVAN?" The boy nodded slowly, and suddenly found himself startled by a weeping Harry throwing himself at him. "EVAN! I can't believe it! It's you? I thought you were just a dream!" He now wept unrestrainedly into Evan's shoulder. Harry held onto him for some time before looking up puffy eyes and saying, "Why though, Evan? Why did you leave me?"

"I didn't," he replied soothingly.

"I haven't heard from you since I was nine."

"I..." He looked crestfallen. "I know. Oh by the way, did Dudley and Piers ever get over that snake?"

"Eventually. I got ages in the cupboard for it though! Didn't let me out until... what the...! How on EARTH did you know about that? I never told ANYONE all the details! Not even Ron and Hermione!" Ron looked slightly hurt at this, but Harry's sole focus was on Evan.

"You know we were always close Harry. After a while, you just stopped calling for me. I didn't think you needed me any more!"

"Of course I needed you Evan! You knew what it was like in there! I mean, of course I got used to it eventually! But to begin with it was scary!" Hermione was looking at them incredulously.

"How did you do that Evan?"

"Do what?"

"You obviously said something to Harry. We didn't hear a word of it."

"Vot do you mean?" Natalia said. "I heard Evan very vell!"

"Moi aussi!" Marie put in.

"You WHAT?" Ron was looking completely baffled.

"'E said zat 'Arry stopped calling for 'im."

"He did," Evan said simply. He looked so hurt that Harry momentarily recoiled.

"Evan, I..."

"Harry, don't. Please. I have seen what you have done your whole life. You above all must not feel any remorse for your actions. I doubt I would have coped half as well with all the things you have been through. True you have wonderful friends who have helped you ever so slightly along the way." He winked at them all for reassurance. "Harry. I really am very proud of you."

Harry simply stared at him. This was getting to be simply too much for Harry. Firstly he discovered that he had two sisters that he never even knew existed, then he discovered that they were, like him, Animagi. Then he discovered that Hermione thinks he might have a chance with Cho - he smiled involuntarily at this - and then, to cap off a VERY interesting evening, a brother just jumps out of his childhood imagination and says, "Here I am Harry! Where have you been for the past six years?" Harry was, to say the least, bewildered.

"Um, Evan?" Hermione said, tentatively. "How could you do that? You've only just met him. How was he able to read your thoughts?"

"Actually, Harry, that's a fair question," Evan said thoughtfully. "How were you able to read my thoughts?"

"How were you able to read mine? And HOW could you possibly have seen what I've been doing?"

"I think I may be able to answer that one, Messrs Potter!" Dumbledore said, a wry smile twitching at the corner of his beard. "Ah, Messrs Potter. A phrase that has been long missed in these hallowed walls! But, anyway, you of course know why you are able to communicate with Miss Granger, and Mister and Miss Weasley in the same manner?" Harry nodded. Evan, Marie, and Natalia were looking confused.

"Grace," Harry said simply.

"Exactly! What you don't know, Harry, is that the Dumbledores and the Potters have been close friends, practically from the beginning. They say it started over a simple picnic, a greeting by next-door neighbours. One day, another old family came by and... tried to soil the Dumbledore name, shall we say," he said diplomatically.

"Three guesses as to which family!" Ron said to Harry wryly. Harry scowled in concentration.

"And the Potters came to our defence. Years later, a similar incident occurred, but in reverse, and since then, there has always been a firm bond amongst the families. Not a bond of debt," he added, perhaps a little hurriedly. "But a bond of respect, trust, and love. Whether by accident, or deliberately, a Dumbledore has been Godparent to at least one Potter and vice-versa in every generation for as long as can be remembered by persons living. A tradition which has been kept. I myself am Godfather to you, Marie and Natalia. Sirius is Evan's Godfather too Harry. Lily felt that, at least the girls should have a proper up-bringing!" He chuckled lightly. Harry smiled sadly. "But I am moving away from the subject at hand. Whilst our families have been related by all but Marriage and Blood, the Dumbledores have another, more socially significant family - please forgive me Harry." Harry shook his head and smiled. He knew where this was leading.

"The Sphynxes," he said simply. Dumbledore nodded.

"We are one of the few families who still give their children willingly to the Sphynx community. I was there myself between the ages of four and ten. It should have been Aberforth, but he was ill for much of his childhood, and the Sphynx community would never attempt to take a sick child away from their family, especially when it was no longer required by etiquette. Well, anyway, it was a long-standing joke between the Dumbledores and the Potters that they should try to get past the family Sphynxes. We have a total I think of four in the family. Grace has been within my own line for about six hundred years. We have been protected by her since she was about a hundred. This would make her, equivalently, about as old as Molly Weasley. Well, as you can imagine, after a while, constant exposure to Sphynxes that trusted them, a small amount of the telepathic and soul-searching abilities would make themselves apparent in the Potter bloodline. They can also project images as well. So, as Arabella correctly said to you, you do indeed have an inherent inclination toward telepathy. That is what permits you to project. If you weren't a factor in this, the spell could have been performed on Ginny Hermione and Ron, and, had one of them recently been in contact with a Sphynx, they would have be able to communicate their thoughts, but they would not be able to project. I suggest you try it. Oh yes, and also FINITE INCANTATEM!"

"That was pretty bizarre to say the least!" Evan said, a little unsure. Two days ago he didn't have any family at all, now he had a brother and two sisters!

"You can say zat again!" Marie commented, awe-struck. "Does zat mean zat I can project to all of you?"

"Try!" Harry said, waiting anxiously to see if anyone else could do it.

Marie cleared her mind and thought very clearly about the scene that had just played out. Dumbledore's face in the firelight as he had told them all about their families, and their history with the Sphynxes. She pictured the kindness in his eyes, and the smile across his lips. Then she remembered his words, and the inflections in his voice. As she projected to Harry, he smiled.

"Brilliant, Marie! That's EXACTLY what I'm talking about! Well done!" She blushed a little at this, but felt really pleased. "Now you, Natalia!"

"Okay. Um... you all know that I voss brought up in a Bulgarian Orphanage, yes?" Harry, Marie, and Evan nodded. "Okay then, here goes!" And she paused for a moment, remembering her friends at the orphanage. She remembered the boys' and girls' dormitories, not too dissimilar to those at Durmstrang, although there were probably about five times as many girls in her room at the orphanage. He remembered Freulic and Freulenka Ferrovic, and how they smiled at them all each morning. She had often wondered about how they coped, looking after and teaching seventy children on their own. They had no government grant, only their own money, which had been left to Freulic Ferrovic when his father had died. She remembered her best friends there. Andrey was like a brother to her. He always made her laugh. He was at her bedside when she was ill, or had just woken up screaming from nightmares. He was always there to look after her when she was frightened, and yet he treated her as an equal and he would often come to her for a natter, or even advice. Then of course, there was Tatyana and Ornaya! What those two wouldn't do to avoid being adopted! They simply loved it too much there to leave, and they would normally bring herself and Andrey in on the attempts as well! She remembered one specific time when a couple came in from nearby Dorfya. She had always had a talent for reading people, their characters, their hopes dreams and fears. She remembered observing the way that they looked straight past Lukas and Tolya who were in wheelchairs, and this made her especially angry. She normally tried to curb her anger, because, when she was angry, strange things would happen. (She remembered one time, when she saw a group of children bullying a kitten; chasing it around the street and kicking it - She was glaring at the scene playing out before her with extreme intensity. Suddenly, without any warning, and startling herself as much as the street urchins, the kitten grew with alarming rapidity. It grew to the size of a man, to the size of a car, to the size of a lorry, and ended up the size of a house. Glowering down at the dumbstruck children, it let out an earth-shattering roar, which caused the by now terrified children to scatter in all directions. The kitten then turned to Natalya and winked, before returning to its proper size.) However, this time, she made certain to let her anger flow freely. She had no idea what would happen, but she knew it would be something spectacular. The group had just put their heads together to begin their scheming, when they heard something, which made them start. As they started, they moved to jerk in different directions...

And found that they couldn't! Their heads were fused together!

Well needless to say, they were panicked for a while, until Andrey twigged.

"You are upset aren't you?" She nodded in reply, inadvertently pulling the other three down with her. "Well done! Keep angry, but don't nod too much!" She frowned in concentration and grunted her assent. Well, needless to say, the couple, when they came around to view them, were put off adopting any of them. In fact, their antics managed to put the couple off the entire orphanage. Freulic and Freulenka Ferrovic were beside themselves with anger. Natalia, Andrey, Tatyana and Ornaya were sent to bed without supper and lost their pocket money for the next month. However, the look on everyone's faces after they had separated again was priceless! There were so many wonderful memories there. She decided on a photograph she remembered being taken five months before Professor Dumbledore came to see her, to tell her she was a witch, and to invite her to Durmstrang. She still kept a copy of the photograph by her bed. She still looked at it every night. Unlike Marie, she was the only witch at her orphanage, and she still missed everyone dreadfully. Like Marie, she was given a piece of parchment to trace their movements, but she wouldn't be able to see them again in person, until she left Durmstrang when she was nearly eighteen. The photograph was very worn from the number of times she had handled it, hugged it, stared at it. Her room mates understood. It was the only link she had to ANY sort of family whatsoever. She sought it out for comfort and reminiscence. It was in colour, taken outside the Orphanage on Valentine's day. Natalia, Andrey. Tatyana and Ornaya were sitting cross-legged with their arms around each others' shoulders, in front of Lukas and Tolya in their chairs. On either side of Lukas and Tolya were five of the smaller children, behind Lukas and Tolya stood Freulic and Freulenka Ferrovic, and then next to them, and behind them in five rows of eleven, in ascending height stood the rest of the children. The tallest stood at the back. The sun was shining brightly against a bright blue, cloudless sky. Unlike Wizarding photographs, the images in her photograph didn't move, but they were all smiling broadly.

What Harry saw, made his eyes water again. He had never thought much about what being a witch or a wizard meant to Muggle-Borns. In order to take up their place in the Wizarding World, they had to give up their lives in the Muggle World.

"Oh WOW Natalia! I'm sorry. I didn't know!"

"From vot Evan has told us about the Dursleys you couldn't haff known. You ver so desperate to get avay you can't possibly think of that letter being anything but blessed relief."

"When on EARTH did he tell you that? We only met him twenty minutes ago!"

"About eighteen minutes ago! Whilst you were hugging!" Harry couldn't help it. He laughed.

"So! Messrs Moony and Padfoot! Would you care to make your apologies publicly or privately!" Remus and Sirius looked at each other and nodded.

Remus fell to his knees kissed the hem of Harry's robes and cried, "Forgive our trespasses oh kind and merciful Master!"

Sirius transformed into the enormous black dog, raised a paw to Harry's knee, and whined pitifully. The room was in hysterics. Ginny, who had never heard the conversation in the Three Broomsticks about the antics the Marauders used to get up to, found it odd to see two adults behave in such a manner, but she was reminded strongly of Fred and George and remembering some of their own apologies to their mother, laughed as heartily as all. Harry, who felt a sudden twinge of sadness at not being able to witness Prongs' reaction, gave a gentle smile and said,

"Okay Sirius, we'll talk later."

"Um... Professor?" Ginny asked tentatively.

"Voldemort."

"I don't understand."

"When a prediction is made, there is a fair chance that it is not an original. Just that it would have been worded differently, added to or subtracted from. We don't know if he has any Seers in his circle, or in his pay. Basically, we went to anyone with four children only to warn them to be careful. We knew that Voldemort was after Lily and James, but we didn't know why. We also knew, however, that they had four children. Quadruplets. And that whilst you were together, you weren't safe. So we had to split you up. We were going to collect you after the trouble was over, but... well we didn't expect to lose Lily and James, and, after Sirius apparently killed Peter, you had no family. Only the Dursleys. It was safest for you all the way things were. I myself made sure to check up on you regularly. And of course, Harry, you had Arabella looking after you. Anyway, you have all of this week to catch up before Marie returns to Beauxbatons, Natalia returns to Durmstrang, and Evan returns to Salem."

"You go to Salem!" Hermione squealed excitedly. "Ooh! You must tell me what it's like there!"

"There will be plenty of time for discussions over the next week. Now then, I think you would all benefit from some sleep. It has been a long day for you all. Especially our travellers! Harry, do you wish to see Professor McGonagall?"

"No thank you sir. Would next Monday be okay?" Dumbledore grinned boyishly.

"That would be ideal, I expect. Now then! Off to bed! And don't stay up chatting too late. You will all be expected in lessons tomorrow morning! And I dare say Fillius will have a heart attack when he sees the two of you together." He smiled kindly at Harry and Evan, who had taken up standing positions shoulder to shoulder. "Never mind the four of you! I would imagine the school is going to be buzzing this week!"