December 3, 1981

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was tired. He had not been able to rest since the terrible events that had unfolded in Godrics Hollow that had resulted in the deaths of two of his favorite students and the incarceration of another. The third former student, Peter Pettigrew, who had died that terrible night, had never been one of his favorites but he felt bad for him too.

He was also having regrets over the fact that he had left an innocent baby with muggles who he knew would never love him the way he deserved to be loved. He felt strongly though that this was the best, no, the only way to keep young Harry Potter safe. The blood wards that living with his relatives provided were the only ones strong enough to keep the infant safe from the newest and worst dark wizard in history.

Still, he felt guilt for leaving the child there. James & Lily Potter had made him promise to never leave him with the Lily's sister Petunia, but the Dursleys were all that were left due to the fact that Sirius Black was in Azakaban. Remus Lupin would have been his next choice if it were not for the archaic laws that made the fact that Remus was a werewolf disqualify him as guardian for the child.

Suddenly, as Albus was thinking about all of this, his phoenix Fawkes burst into song. Albus had heard Fawkes trill and sometimes even sing, but never like this. This was glorious; the song filled the room with joy. As he was listening, enthralled, to this wonderful music Albus noticed that there was a bright blue shimmer in the air. Then, while he was adjusting his senses to these strange occurances a figure appeared in front of him. At first it was just a mist, but in a moment it solidified into the shape of a very old wizard wearing splendid purple robes with gold symbols embroidered all over them.

As Albus sat with his mouth open the wizard spoke "Hello Albus, I've been waiting many long years to make this visit to you. I am Merlin and we have some extremely serious things to discuss."

Albus, who already had already realized the identity of his visitor was overwhelmed with gratitude that he had been given the opportunity to meet this great wizard who so many thought to be just a legend, so he was more than happy to discuss anything with him. "Merlin, what a wonderful surprise, would you like a lemon drop?" he greeted him.

Merlin accepted the lemon drop and the offer of tea. When they were seated comfortably Merlin asked Dumbledore to call Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall to attend this meeting. They were duly called and after they had been introduced and recovered from the shock of meeting the legendary Merlin he got down to business.

"Young Harry Potter is the first order of business," he said. "Albus, I know the reasons for you placing him with his relatives, but this is not acceptable. He is already being neglected and abused and we cannot and will not let this continue."

Minerva, hearing this, nodded her head. She had begged Albus not to send him to his relatives and had even begged to raise him herself. She knew that the wards were important but she also knew that those horrible people would not take care of Harry properly much less love him. She remembered Petunia and her husband from the one time she met them and knew that they hated magic and everyone connected to the magical world.

Merlin continued, "Albus I know too that you feel being raised in the Wizarding world would be bad for young Mr. Potter because of his fame. You are afraid that the adulation will go to his head and make him think that he doesn't have to follow rules. You are afraid that everyone in the magical world will spoil him rotten and make him arrogant and boastful and impossible to control. This is the reason I have asked for Professor Snape to be here."

Upon hearing this Severus looked apprehensive, what in the world did all of this have to do with him?

Merlin, seeing the look on his face, gave a small chuckle. "Severus, I know that you have been a spy for the order. You have done a wonderful job supplying information about the Dark Lord and his followers, but we have a much more important role for you to play in this war. We want you to adopt young Harry Potter."

Severus stood straight up with a look of horror on his face, "Merlin" he shouted, "I cannot take charge of the child, he is James Potter's son!! He will have his fathers characteristics and I will not abide Potter's child in my home!!"

Merlin, knowing this would be the reaction he would receive just gave Severus a smile. "No" he said. "You are the one who will be able to raise him and keep him grounded in the real world. He will learn the lessons he needs to learn with you and even though I never tell anyone what the future holds for them I assure you that in a very short time you are going to grow to love the child with all of your being. I know how much you loved Lily Potter and you will see her instead of his father when you look at the child. Trust me, you are the perfect one for this job. This will be as beneficial for you as it is for Harry. We are not really giving you choices in this matter. The entire council, which I will tell you about later, has made the decision and Fate has wholeheartedly agreed to it too. I cannot explain everything to you now, but Lily will help you with her son."

"Now, to the next part of the business I need to discuss with you. Starting last year very special children are being been born into this world. They are not the first of their kind, but there have never been as many. They will continue to come and one day the world will change because if them. Some are muggles, some are muggle born and some are witches and wizards. These children will have special powers; they will need special education and special care to realize their full potential. In the muggle world some of these children will be misdiagnosed, as ADHD and some will even be diagnosed to be Autistic. This will not be the case. Unfortunately, some may grow up and never realize who and what they are. We cannot let this happen to the children that we care for. As I said, these children are special; the muggle world will call them Indigos, as they will have a very bright indigo aura. They will not learn well in a structured environment, so we need to make some changes to Hogwarts."

At this Albus spoke, "what types of changes are necessary? The Ministry will give us a bad time about changing very much about this school you know. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic tries to run it as it is."

Merlin, chuckling replied "don't worry about Fudge, or the ministry. We will handle them. We have ten years to get ready as that is when these children will start coming to the school. You need to have a house for them, and a new wing on the school for them. You need to find teachers who will be able to work with these children and they will need special training. They need to be educated in psychology and in the teaching of special needs children. You need to start working on this quickly, it will take every bit of the ten years to get this pulled together."

" But first and foremost is getting Harry out of the home of those terrible muggles. Professor I want you to create accommodations for the child in your quarters immediately and I want him out of that house tonight at the very latest. We have provided a house elf to be nanny for Harry, she will be devoted to him and can be trusted to protect and care for him when you are in class, or otherwise occupied. Now please extend you left arm."

Snape extended his arm and Merlin pushed up his sleeve exposing the dark mark. He waved his hand over the mark and recited an incantation and the mark faded and then disappeared.

Snape sat, absolutely stunned, he was so ashamed of that mark and had resigned himself to the fact that the terrible mark of shame would be with him forever.

"Thank you Merlin," he said. "I will do everything within my power to raise the child as he should be raised, and I will try to get over the fact that his father was an insufferable prat."

Merlin smiled, nodded his head and after assuring them that he would be visiting them on a regular basis for the next ten years to help them with their endeavors, said goodbye to the stunned group he disappeared with a pop.