The Next Dark Lord

The Prophecy

"Enter", came the reply before Ron could knock the door. "How does he know it's us? And how does he know we are at the door before knocking?", Neville asked Hermione.

"Later", Hermione mouthed and opened the door. Inside, the headmaster stood with his back to the door. He was extracting memories from his head and putting them into a stone bowl, which could only be a penseive from Harry's description last year.

"Please take a seat and help yourself to some lemon drops", said Dumbledore and he continued pulling out a few more memories.

While Ron stuffed himself with a handful of them, Neville took one. But before he could pop it in, Hermione who did not take any herself subtly shook her head at Neville. Unsure what might be the reason, he chose to trust the first person to be friendly with him on Hogwarts Express and drop the lemon drop on the floor behind him.

Turning to face the trio, Albus Dumbledore wore his patented 'caring grandfather' smile and addressed the teens. "You must be wondering why I have requested the three of you here so early in the year. Fret not, none of you are in any trouble", he said.

"Myself and Hermione, I understand. We were in so many adventures and you are going to include us as Order members away from mom's presence. What I don't understand is you inviting Neville here", said Ron without any tact.

Any semblance of confidence that Neville had gathered to himself seeped away as soon as hearing Ron criticise him. Before Dumbledore could give Ron a slap on his hand for such a comment, Hermione took matters into her hand showing Ron first hand how Draco must have felt a year ago.

The slap took everyone by surprise. Neville sat there with his mouth open, it was a surprise to him that there are people who'll not only support him but defend him as well. Ron on the floor was getting ready to blow his load and launch into a tirade. Albus Dumbledore recovering faster than others decided to take control of the floor.

"Miss Granger, there will be no fighting in my presence. One point from Gryffindor", Hermione merely huffed. "Mr. Weasley, do not be rude to you fellow schoolmate. I invited him because he has an important role in what we are about to discuss. And One point from Gryffindor". For once Ron kept his mouth shut.

"Now, regarding what I wanted to discuss. Two months ago Harry came back clutching Cedric's body claiming that Lord Voldemort is back. I debated with myself to tell him certain secrets and give him necessary training. But I convinced myself that he was still a child and I decided to wait. Now we never know if Harry might not have turned dark if I had done so. What's done is done, and we can only learn from past mistakes. So I have decided to share certain secrets and I expect you to hold the confidence and not speak about any of this outside this room. The first memory you are going to watch was from the end of 1979", saying so he invited the three students to watch the memory.

All three stood and dipped their heads into the waiting pensive and fell through the memory to find themselves in a room with slightly younger Dumbledore and a lot younger Trelawney. "I'm sorry, but I must say that you do not meet the requirements", said the slightly younger Dumbledore while standing up. Suddenly Trelawney went rigid like a board and said in a slightly mystic deep voice

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies....

As soon as she finished the prophecy, the teens found themselves flung out of the pensive into the headmaster's room. Hermione looked around to see Dumbledore sitting behind his desk. He gestured the three to take their seats. "What you heard was a prophecy given to me. The slight problem was that a death eater heard the first half of the prophecy and shared it with Voldemort. So he started his hunt for his would be vanquisher", said Dumbledore.