Albus, Severus and Minerva met the next morning in the Headmaster's office, where they had a light breakfast delivered by one of the house elves.

“What Council has Merlin been talking about? I've never heard of any Council other than the Wizengamot. We know that isn't the one he is talking about because as the chief Warlock you would be the first to know about all of this." Severus asked.

Minerva spoke up, "He is right Albus, and I’ve been thinking the same thing. If Merlin is involved then it must be a very important body, but why have we never heard of it?"

Albus simply smiled and sipped his tea. "I've been thinking about this, and I have come to believe that whatever they wish to speak to us about is going to change our world. This Council has never, to my knowledge, shown themselves before. If they do have anything to do with the happenings in the magical world they have never interfered. Surely they were aware when it went through dark times in the past. Merlin mentioned Fate and Fate has never been known to interfere with the time line of mortals. I'm positive that Harry is involved, but I don't believe that this involves Voldemort. They would not interfere in what would be considered by them to be just another war."

As Albus finished speaking the phoenix music sounded again, the air shimmered and Merlin was with them. He smiled at the three professors and asked if they were ready. Receiving assurances that they were he waved his wand and recited a spell.

Dumbledore's office disappeared and the four of them were standing in a large room. The room had white marble walls that were veined with gold in the centre of which there were breathtaking stained glass windows made of various shades of blue and purple with gold flakes embedded.  The floor was just like the walls and in the exact middle of the large expanse of marble was a huge picture of a beautiful blue phoenix. The King of the Magical Animals was the same beautiful colours as the stained glass windows.  High above their heads was a skylight with the same beautiful stained glass. The bit which most caught Minerva’s attention was the huge crystal fireplace with a magical fire which was residing on the wall opposite them.

Sitting in front of the fireplace was a large mahogany table with carvings of ivory and ebony unicorns, phoenixes and other magical creatures inlaid into the top. A large throne-like chair made of mahogany and upholstered with indigo velvet was at the head of the table. Fifteen less opulent chairs were around the table, six on each side and three at the end of the table opposite of Fate.

As Merlin led our dazed trio to the table the hauntingly beautiful music swelled around them again. As they listened, entranced, the larger chair at the head of the table started to glow getting brighter and brighter. The light continued to get brighter until Albus, Severus and Minerva had to shield their eyes. Never had they seen anything that bright, nor heard anything as beautiful as this music! When the light faded to a dim glow they saw the figure of a large man at the head of the table. The light engulfed him while at the same time it appeared to be coming from him. It sparkled like the figure’s bright blue eyes and it made his long white hair stand out like the moon at midnight. He was dressed in white and held a white staff in his left hand. Fate looked at Albus and smiled gently.

"You are correct Albus, we do watch everyone all of the time. We know everything that happens in your world and though we do sometimes try to guide you mortals from this dimension, we never interfere. And now it is time for you to meet the rest of the Council."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth a door opened in the wall and the Council came into the room in single file. The Headmaster and the two Professors looked at the first four as they came through the doors with astonishment. They recognized all four of them as their pictures were all over the place in Hogwarts, they were the Founders of the magical school.

Merlin introduced the rest of the Council as they stepped through the door. There was Falco Asealon who was in Hogwarts: A History as the first known Animagus. Severus remembered reading about him vividly. It was the sort of story which made his lip curl; One day while walking through the woods Falco was watching a falcon in the sky and the next thing he knew he was flying alongside it. After landing upon firm earth he managed to change back into his human form and discovered that he could change back and forth between the two forms.  Severus’s attention snapped back to the front of the room when they were joined by the famous wizard duellist Alberta Toothill and Queen Maeve, who had trained witches in Ireland long before Hogwarts was founded. Then there was the famous Quong Po who specialised in magical creatures, Elladora Ketteridge who almost drowned when she discovered the properties of gillyweed as she accidentally consumed it one night after having also consumed a lot of firewhiskey. Out desperation she stuck her head in a bowl of water. 

Next to enter the room was the founder of Hogsmeade, Hengist of Woodcroft. The last was a mysterious wizard named Paracelsus. There was no written history about him other than the basics, but for some reason his image was on the most popular chocolate frog trading card and Severus distinctly remembered being hit on the head by a bust of this very same wizard when Peeves dropped it down on his head. Merlin joined the wizards and witches and all twelve seated themselves. When the three mortals had seated themselves Fate spoke again.

 "I know you are wondering why you are here. Your world, both magical and muggle, is on the very pinnacle of a New Age. As we sit in this room there is a wave of new children in the world. We are on the brink the next stage of the evolution of mankind. Never before has change occurred as rapidly as it is going to be happening now. These children will be called Indigos, they are our future and they are coming. These children are going to have special needs simply because they have such special abilities. Often in the muggle world they are misdiagnosed and prescribed medicine that constricts their abilities. We cannot let this happen to them in our world and we need to help the muggles to realize what is happening so their children will be able to flourish and do what they are here to do. There are not a lot of them in the world as yet, but the number is growing and will continue to grow. You will see more of them every year and we are going to help you get ready for them.  The Indigos are here to lead and to unite us." 

Dumbledore spoke up "In what way are these children going to be different?" 

Rowena Ravenclaw stood up, looked at the three educators and said. "They are said to have warrior personalities, which indicates that they will lead and take charge. They know that they have things to do and will not be deterred from their goals. But they do not always like authority and rules. They demand absolute honesty and possess that trait themselves. They will not react well to the typical classroom scenario of separate classes for each subject and each age educational program. An indigo child will find a subject that interests him or her and will plunge into that subject to the exclusion of others. When they have learned what they know to be enough they will go onto something else and the cycle will continue.” She paused for breath before continuing.  “They are very sensitive and some will be considered to be prodigies. Some may be brilliant artists or extremely talented musicians and they will firmly believe that everyone can do this if they want and if they believe that they can. Some will have no interest in the arts, some will be drawn to technology and some will be seers. They are all different.  They will not be forced to do things that they know are wrong for them but if you can make them understand that it may be wrong, they will usually be willing to reconsider." 

Albus, Severus, and Minerva were reeling.  Finally Severus spoke. "We cannot just let the students decide what they want to study! Why, that would be chaos! They will want to laze about or play all day. They will not learn anything except possibly how to play Quidditch." 

"No," said Godric Gryffindor "you will find that they learn more. Why make someone who is not interested in Divination study it? Why make someone who is not interested in charms, or transfiguration, or potions study those subjects? If they are not interested in what they are studying then they will not learn it well and will not use it."

 Salazar Slytherin looked at Snape and said "Severus, I believe that you will find that these children will be interested in most of the subjects offered, and will probably request teaching in subjects that are not normally offered in our schools. This must be encouraged, it is one of the things that the Indigos will need, the freedom and encouragement to explore and to learn and to grow at their own pace is extremely important."  Looking at all three he continued, "The main problem we are going to contend with will be making the people understand that dark magic does not necessarily mean bad magic. There is very little magic that is evil, even though it can be used for evil purposes by evil wizards." Once again he paused to look around the room impressively  

“Fate told you that the muggles misdiagnose some of the Indigos as ADHD, Autistic or disruptive. You will find that your greatest educational tool will be communication. You must communicate, openly and honestly with these new kids. If you give them cause to distrust they will be disruptive and rebellious. They know better than we do what they need to be successful and they intend to get it. They are strong-willed but not really stubborn." 

Helga Hufflepuff looked at them and said "this is such a wonderful thing. You will see two children who are best friends mingling with other children for a day or an hour or a week. This will not mean that the two are at odds; it just means that they do not have the need to be with that friend at that time. In a short time you will see children from different houses interacting in a way that they never have. Some of the students who are not Indigo will be drawn to these children and eventually may even become Indigo themselves. They will want to go to the special wing to learn with them, and this must be allowed.” Helga’s face betrayed just how excited she really was and she was nearly gasping for breath as she finished her speech.  “They will eat with their friends, instead of with their houses. Quidditch teams will no longer be house teams, but teams that are formed by the students themselves. The children will also be more tolerant of muggles and they will not like or approve of the rules about muggle- wizard interaction. Oh, I am so going to enjoy watching and helping with this new stage of mankind's journey." 

Merlin arose from his chair. "You have learned much today my friends. I am going to transport you to your home now and I am planning to stay at Hogwarts for a while, if that would be agreeable." Fate spoke one more time."The Council will be watching and helping. If you need us as a body or if you need just one member tell Merlin and he will arrange it. Together we will help these children accomplish their mission and while we are leading and teaching the Indigos, the Indigos will be leading and teaching us."  With this Merlin approached the three, waved his arm and recited another spell causing the four to disappear.