FicWad

Meeting Harry Potter

Cool winds from the recent rain caused the temperature on Privet Drive to seem much colder than it truly was. Realizing how far she was from home, Melodia thought of Severus. She missed him desperately and could hardly wait to see him, but right now there was business to attend to. She had been set the task of finding Harry Potter and convincing him that she not only was, indeed, Dumbledore's niece, but that he was expected to accompany her back to headquarters.

Dumbledore had offered no advice to her regarding how to contact Harry initially. She didn't feel comfortable ringing the doorbell of his Muggle family right away. Albus had warned her about the Dursley's disposition and knowing that she was not blessed with the same temperament as that of her uncle, she decided that meeting with them with no prior warning to Harry, could be potentially, unpleasant.

After careful thought, she settled on using the one skill that few knew she possessed. It may be a bit frightening for him, but it was the only way, she believed, to contact Harry effectively.

Harry sat alone in his bedroom, looking through the Advanced Potion-Making book that once belonged to the Half Blood Prince. Cold chills over took him whenever he opened it. This book belonged to that traitor, Severus Snape. He was convinced that if he studied the scribbled notes within the pages of this book long enough they would lead him to Snape. He had believed all along that Snape was up to something, and had tried to warn Dumbledore on several occasions.

Oh no, Professor Dumbledore! You just had to trust the greasy git, didn't you? He said to himself sarcastically.

Guilt racked his body for thinking that way, and he began to cry. He had cried many times over the last few weeks, morning the death of the kindest and wisest, wizard of all time. He slammed the book shut, and laid his head on the desk, sobbing into the cover.

Just then, he heard a swooshing sound at his window. He ran over to look, wiping his eyes with his shirt. What was that? He wondered. He looked to Hedwig's cage and realized that Hedwig never makes that kind of noise when she arrives.

It must have been the wind. He decided. After all, it had been raining for the last two days, and with it came some harsh gusts of wind. He took one more look out of the window, and turned toward the desk again. A hazy form appeared in his path. He stopped suddenly with a jolt, and drew his wand instinctively.

"You must be Harry Potter," said a warm female voice. It seemed to be coming from the apparition.

"So what if I am," he retorted, wand pointed directly at the center of the form.

The woman's voice spoke again, "You don't know me, Harry, but I promise, I mean you no harm."

Just then the apparition transformed into a lady. She stood holding a large blue carrying case in her right hand. She was of medium build, and rather buxom, but curved very nicely Harry noticed.

Her straight auburn hair came to rest at her collarbones. Harry thought it was the shiniest hair that he had ever seen. She was not a girl, but was not that old. He noticed that her large brown eyes seemed gentle and kind. There was something oddly familiar about them, although he couldn't pinpoint just why.

"I understand if you feel that you need that thing," she nodded toward his wand, "but I can assure you, that you don't." Harry stood mesmerized, staring into the eyes of the woman that stood before him, unsure if he should jinx her, or prepare to block a curse.

He finally found his voice, and more frightened than anything, he almost shouted, "Who are you, and how do you know who I am?"

Calmly, she explained, "My name is Melodia. I was sent here by Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, and..." she paused a moment deciding just who else she should name, then added quickly, "all of the other Order members." Harry's eyes grew wide with something resembling enlightenment, but he narrowed them again with suspicion.

"Tell me...Melodia is it? Do you have a last name?"

She shifted a bit and replied, "Yes. My full name is Melodia Hadass Vaughn Dumbledore. I am the only niece of Albus Dumbledore," she paused looking for his reaction, then added, "I assume you recognize that name?" She smiled hopefully and afforded him a very gracious nod.

Harry's expression changed, this time it was contempt she saw in his eyes.

"You're lying! Dumbledore had no family, except for his brother...er... Aberforth, and he has no children!" His wand remained at the ready; he was shaking with rage now.

"You are correct, Harry. Uncle Albus has no living relatives other than Uncle Aberforth that you know of" she corrected. "If I can prove to you that I am who I say, will you trust me, then?"

A part of Harry wanted desperately to believe her, but he couldn't. Surely Dumbledore would have mentioned her to him at some point over the past six years.

Before he could react again, she said, "The proof is here, in this case. Will you allow me to show you?" Harry flinched, unsure of what to do next.

"You're welcome to look for yourself if you like." She offered the cased to him with outstretched arms, holding the strap firmly in both hands.

"It is very heavy, Harry, I wish you would take it. He watched her speak, unsure of what he should do next.

As you can see, I have no wand," she pointed out gently.

It was true, she was holding the heavy case in both hands, and there were no signs of a wand. Sensing his rationalization, she urged.

"Please Harry, let me set this down. As you can probably tell, it is fairly difficult to keep holding it this way."

He eyed her cautiously, then relented, "Alright, but don't take your hands off it until I see what is in it!" Gratefully, Melodia stooped down and placed the case on the floor between them. Her hands remained firmly on the strap.

"Go on, then, open it Harry." Armed with his wand in one hand, he carefully knelt down and reached for the opening with his free hand. He kept her in his sight as he opened it.

"Bloody Hell! It's a Pensive!" he exclaimed, "This belongs to Professor Dumbledore!"

Relief flooded her, "Yes. It is his," she answered gratefully.

Harry looked up at her, wand steady as ever, "How did you get it?" he inquired suspiciously.

"If I told you that right now, you would not believe me." Melodia answered impressed with this young man. She saw for herself the qualities that her uncle admired about him.

"Go on. Take it out of the case, Harry," she instructed.

Confusion shadowed his face. How was he supposed to do that with one hand?

As if she read his thoughts, she advised him, "You will need both hands Harry. As you can see, it is very heavy." Harry thought for a moment unable to move.

"I promise to keep both hands on the strap, if that will put you at ease. See? Besides, if I were here to hurt you, don't you think that I could have done so already?"

This made sense of course, so very hesitantly he lowered his wand to the floor, leaving it within reaching distance. Just in case. He reached into the case and lifted the Pensive and placed it on the floor between them.

"May I unhand the strap now, Harry? My arms are growing tired." Harry stared at the pensive. He knew that the white cloudy substance inside was memories. But whose were they? He watched the misty motion of its contents for a long moment, almost forgetting about the lady sitting on the other side of it.

"Sure, I guess so," he answered a bit nervously. Melodia sat upright again, and rubbed her aching arms.

"Thank you. I can't tell you how uncomfortable that was becoming."

"Melodia?" Harry asked. "I....er....still don't know if I should believe you, but I don't think you are here to hurt me. Not anymore, that is."

She said nothing, only smiled. It was the same sweet smile that Severus loved so dearly. Harry could not help but return her smile in kind. He seemed to be in awe of her for some unknown reason.

"I was told to invite you to explore what you find in there," she said pointing to the Pensive. He looked between her and the Pensive unsure of his next move.

"Don't worry Harry, Uncle told me about the charm on this house. No one can hurt you here. "He said that until your seventeenth birthday, no harm will come to you as long as you can call this place home."

Harry's expression brightened substantially, "You know about that? I thought only Dumbledore and the other Order members did."

"You're right, Harry, and I also understand that this house has not been a pleasant place for you to live, but your mother's blood sister lives here; thus the charm." Melodia smiled again, but this time, Harry saw something new in her eyes. They sparkled.

Harry grinned, "Tell me something else about Dumbledore, just for good measure." He asked good-naturedly.

She pointed to the Pensive, "See for yourself, Harry. The memories in the Pensive will tell you more than I ever could. After that, if you feel you are ready, I can give you some more information, that you will find rather....er....surprising."

Harry was curious now, his fear and hesitance about this lady was vanishing more as each minute passed. "What information?" he asked, his mind reeling with questions.

"All in good time, dear, all in good time," she coaxed.

Harry looked into the Pensive again, and leaned over the edge as he did at Hogwarts. Instantly he felt the familiar sensation of being swirled about between memories. There was the trial at the ministry, Tom Riddle's story, Slughorn's memory, along with several others he had never seen before.

Harry believed now that she was not lying to him, but as he passed thru these memories, he realized that he still had a lot of unanswered questions.

Just then another memory came into view; it was the one that he saw in Snape's office, before his Occlumency lessons ended. He saw James hex Snape; hanging him in the air by his ankle, with his pants down. James and Sirius were laughing hysterically at the spectacle being made of Snape. Harry's stomach turned, he felt sick. He couldn't watch this again, not after.... I've got to get out of here, he thought as he began to struggle. Suddenly a hand pulled him back into his room.

Melodia's large brown eyes were wide with astonishment. "What is it Harry? Are you alright?"

He was pale, and trembling with anger again, "That unimaginable bastard!" he shouted very shakily.

"Harry, what is it? What did you see that upset you so?" He saw that she was genuinely concerned, and tried to calm himself.

"Nothing, he said bitterly, it was nothing." Melodia thought she knew better, but did not push the issue.

Harry began to regroup after a few minutes, "Sorry, Melodia." His face still rather red, "I wasn't yelling at you. It's just ...I saw a memory from before," he paused, "that I was not prepared to see again. That's all."

Melodia felt badly about whatever it was that upset him, "It's alright Harry. I was not at all offended, just concerned."

Harry began to see glimpses of Dumbledore within this lady; she was very polite and considerate. He had to admit that she was definitely winning him over.

"So, Melodia, before we get into the other information you mentioned, would you tell me more about yourself?" He was looking much calmer now, yet perhaps still a bit anxious. She was relieved to know that he was willing to listen to her now.

She hoped to earn more of his trust before astonishing him further with the news of Dumbledore, and of Severus. "Very well, Harry. What would you like to know?"

"Did you go to Hogwarts? When were you there? Why has no one ever heard of you? Why haven't you been around to help the Order with Voldemort before now?" Harry pretended to wait patiently for her answers.

As if she knew this, Melodia grinned broadly and said, "Whoa, Harry, one at time!" she laughed again.

"I don't blame you for being anxious, and I promise to answer each and every question you have in time. I will start by answering the ones you've put before me now, but I must warn you, our time is running short. There we are only two days away from your seventeenth birthday, at which time the blood protection charm will be gone; therefore, we must waste no time in getting you to headquarters. The remainder of your questions will be answered there."

Harry somewhat nervously agreed.

Melodia took a deep breath and began revealing a series of facts for his digestion.

"First of all, my Dad was Albus' younger brother, Belenus. He was several years younger than Uncle Albus." Harry listened intently as she continued.

"My birth was a surprise to my parents fairly late in their lives, so I have no brothers or sisters." She paused a moment.

"My parents helped Uncle Ablus assemble the Order of the Phoenix, but they were killed by Death Eaters during the early days of Voldemort's rise to power."

Harry was shocked. He had never realized that Dumbledore had other family members, let alone those murdered because of their involvement in the Order.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I know how you feel because Voldemort killed my parents too." Melodia detected sadness in his tone, along with unmistakable fury.

"Thank you, Harry. I am sorry for your loss as well," she said, patting his hand comfortingly.

"Alright, moving forward," she said easily as she gathered control of herself again, "I believe that I have answered your initial questions, so I will now answer the four most recent ones"

Melodia took a drew breath and began again, "Yes, I did go to Hogwarts. After my parents died, Uncle Albus took me in, and I lived there and attended school through my 5th year. I was at school with your Dad, Remus Lupin, and Sev.....er...several other future Order members." She quickly corrected herself. Harry seemed surprised.

"Did you know my Dad?" he asked, attentively awaiting her response.

"Yes I did, but you must realize that I was two years behind him, so I didn't know him very well. I just sort of knew who he was, and I doubt he gave me a second thought." Harry seemed to understand the nature of that answer, so she continued.

"In answer to your other questions, I left Hogwarts in my fifth year, because of circumstances," she paused momentarily, "that my Uncle felt I should not be party to."

Harry asked, "What circumstances?"

Melodia suddenly found herself in a very tight spot, so she answered the only way she could, "Voldermort." She answered hastily, "He was recruiting Death Eaters left and right, and Uncle Albus had his hands full with the business of the Order. He was afraid that I would have been in danger if Tom Riddle found out about me, so he sent me to Beauxbatons for my last two years."

Harry's eyes were wide with interest but he said nothing, he instead he waited eagerly to hear the rest.

"After that, the trouble with 'Voldi Man' was even worse than before," Harry laughed out loud at her flippancy regarding the name of Voldermort.

Melodia laughed too, "You liked that did you? Harry gasped for breath, "Yes! Most people can't even say his name, much less make fun of it," he laughed.

Teasingly, she added, "I thought it was time to lighten this conversation up a bit," she grinned as he tried to compose himself.

Despite his earlier reservations, Harry decided that he did like her, and was enjoying her company very much.

Melodia cleared her throat, "Anyway, after my schooling, Uncle sent me to live with a Muggle couple he knew in America. That is when Marcus and Shelby Vaughn became my foster parents.

Harry's suddenly understood, "So that's why there is the 'Von' in your name?" You said your name was Melodia Von Dumbledore."

"Right, but actually, Harry it is Melodia V-a-u-g-h-n Dumbledore. I took the name of my Muggle foster parents as a tribute to their memory."

"Their memory?" he asked.

"They were killed in a car crash several years ago, and it really hit me hard." She sniffled then went on, "Uncle said I couldn't come home to Hogwarts yet, and all of my family members, were gone, with the exception of him. A single tear fell from her eye as she recalled her pain.

She closed her eyes, and forced her self to continue, "That's when I went abroad to travel a bit and further my education. I studied both magical and non magical things, then eventually became a Sorceress." She smiled sweetly at Harry who was now beaming with interest.

"Looking at her watch, Melodia stood up, "Where are your Muggle relatives now". Harry was clearly entranced by her now, and was jarred by the sudden change of subject.

Quickly he recovered himself and answered, "They have gone to some dinner and awards ceremony where my Uncle Vernon works. As usual, I was left here, which is much better than going with them anyway."

"Good. We need no distractions tonight. Now, as I said before, our time is short and I need to give you the most important information of all, before we begin our journey.

Harry's heart lightened again. I am finally able to leave here, for good! He thought happily and smiled at the prospect of never having to stay here with the Dursleys again.

Melodia knew that Harry's life here had been a tough one, and she smiled kindly, "I know the idea of leaving here forever pleases you Harry, but the fact is, at some point, you will need to return once more. Harry looked horrified, and was about to ask why, when she quickly continued.

"It's not what you think Harry. I will tell you more about that later." Harry was still confounded, but decided to let it go for now.

"But we are leaving tonight, right?" he asked hopefully.

"Indeed we are, but not before I enlighten you a bit further," she said simply. Harry nodded, then she asked him, "May I borrow your wand, please?" Harry pulled it from his jeans and handed it to her without a second thought.

"If you are ready, I need to show you something now." Harry nodded, wondering just how much more he was to hear or see.

"I'm ready, Melodia," he said as took his wand.

Melodia held the wand to her right temple and withdrew the misty strands of white that Harry instantly recognized as a memory and released it into the Pensive, then another, and another. Finally she handed his wand back to him.

"We will see these one by one and I will accompany you this time, since they are my memories," she advised him, then added. "I believe you will be glad I did."

With that, they leaned over the basin and were drawn in. "Where are we?" he asked.

She took his arm, and held it fast. "You will soon see, Harry."

They were in a house, a very large, beautiful house. Voices from the study flooded into the foyer where they stood. He recognized Melodia's voice instantly and there was something very familiar about the others. She led him to the doorway of the study. As he peered into the doorway, Harry's heart almost stopped. Seated behind the great desk, sifting through stacks of parchment was Professor Dumbledore.

He whipped his head around to face Melodia, "When was this?" he asked anxiously.

She nudged him forward, "Shhhh just listen, Harry"

Clearly annoyed, Harry moved forward to see her in the chair across the desk from Dumbledore. He watched his headmaster walk around the desk and hand her the case containing the Pensive. He heard him giving her instructions and then saying he would see them in a few days.

This time, Harry turned and exclaimed. "He gave you this to bring to me?" Melodia nodded enthusiastically.

Harry's mouth hung open in shock, "Professor Dumbledore is alive?" he asked euphorically.

"Yes he is, Harry," she answered just as alive as you and I."