Chapter 11 - Learning of the Present

***** REGULARLY SCHEDULED CHAPTER ***** A/N: First of all, timer didn't work so I'm doing this manually on my phone lol. Thanks for all the comments everyone! Been really interesting reading everyone's perspectives and ideas re. Student vs teacher. Definitely some I haven't considered before. I won't tell you what I've decided, but should be pretty epic. I've started sketching out storylines already so there's proper development for later set ups, and honestly everyone should be happy by the end. Ahaha anyways, enjoy the chapter! *****

Khan was momentarily stunned.

'Senior?' He thought to himself confusedly. 'Is this old man senile?'

Tonks, paying close attention to Khan, noticed his confusion.

"Professor Dumbledore knew one of your old friends." She hurriedly clarified to Khan. "She was his mentor when he was a first year at Hogwarts."

"Indeed." Dumbledore chuckled in amusement. "I was sorted as a first year Gryffindor in 1892."

"That should give you a better idea, which friend of yours I am referring to." He finished, trying to again appear mysterious.

Hearing Gryffindor, Khan did indeed know who Dumbledore was referring to. The first friend he made at Hogwarts!

"Natty!" Khan exclaimed in surprise. "You knew Natty!?!"

"Correct! I met Natsai Onai in her 7th year. She took me under her Gryffindor wings, so to speak, and was my mentor." Dumbledore added fondly.

"How is she doing?" Khan asked excitedly. This old man knew Natty!

"I haven't spoken with her in over 13 years, but when we last spoke, she was doing quite well." Dumbledore answered. "She had just retired from her Headmistress position at Uagadou, and was looking forward to a quiet retirement, running around the African plains."

Remembering her animagus form, Khan smiled, as that did seem appropriate to him.

Dumbledore on the other hand, frowned internally as the last time they had spoke, he was asking for advice about the prophesy.

His long-time mentor and friend, and an equally powerful witch in her own right, not to mention, her mother used to be the divinations professor at Hogwarts; No, Dumbledore wasn't too proud to admit, he still relied on her advice to get him through tough decisions.

Still, Dumbledore frowned, as the last time they had spoken, while he had asked for advice, had ended in an argument. Natsai needless to say, was not a fan of Dumbledore's pacifism with regards to his handling of Voldemort.

Not to mention, over 13 years past, and he had not even spared an owl to check on her wellbeing.

'Well, no time like the present.' Dumbledore mumbled to himself. 'I should probably find a good gift for her.'

Khan meanwhile, was reminiscing about his adventures with Natty, a fond smile on his face.

Natty was still alive!

She went on to become headmistress of Uagadou!

"Sir?" An old grizzled man with a spinning fake eye, interrupted Khans thoughts.

Looking over at the man, he was dressed in what looked to be a combat leather long coat, with Auror robes underneath. He noticed his Fake Eye spinning about, and tried his best not to stare.

"I was wondering if you could tell us about the battle of Hogwarts?" Moody asked politely.

Meanwhile, Tonks stared at her mentor in shock.

Moody barely showed Professor Dumbledore his proper respect, and he was the most powerful wizard in the world!

"You are...." Khan asked hesitantly. He did not want to talk about that battle if he didn't have to.

He had lost his mentor to that battle after all.

"Senior Auror Moody sir!" The grizzled man responded with an auror's salute. "And this is my protégé Nymphadora Tonks.

"Tonks! Just Tonks!" Tonks followed up with a huff, hair turning red to reflect her embarrassment.

"Perhaps our young hero would prefer a more passive way of expressing the battle." Dumbledore advices as he too is interested. "A pensieve memory perhaps?"

Nodding his agreement, Khan recognizes the term 'pensieve' as he had experienced numerous pensive memories during the Ancient Magic Legacy Keeper Trials.

Unfortunately Khan does not know how to generate pensieve memories himself.

Noticing his hesitancy, Dumbledore's clarifies. "I shall help you extract the memory in pensieve form, if you will allow me to help."

Khan nods, and Dumbledore proceeds to conjure a bowl on a nearby table to hold the pensieve memories.

Moving closer to Khan and holding his wand to Khan's temple, Dumbledore comments. "Please picture the battle in your mind and imagine bringing it to the front of your head. I will help you remove that memory in pensieve form and it will be stored in this basin."

Khan did as instructed, and soon a silvery white liquid-like substance appeared at the end of Dumbledore's wand.

Placing the memory in the basin, Dumbledore and Moody both looked excited to view the legendary battle.

"I understand if you would prefer to not view such a memory again. Sometimes memories are a reminder of a very painful moment. You can rest here in the medical wing while we.... experience history." Dumbledore stated with compassion, masking the excitement shown in his eyes.

Nodding his agreement, Khan settled comfortably on a bed, while Moody, Dumbledore, Tonks, Pomfrey, and surprisingly Dobby, prepared to dive into the pensieve memory.

Dipping their faces into the basin, they were enveloped with a flash of light, before subsequently disappearing.

Noticing their departure, Khan took Sol out from his Knab-Sack, to play with her while passing the time waiting for them to finish viewing his memories.

*****

McGonagall was worried.

That young student was already panicking when told what year it is.

One can only imagine how he is going to react to find out he is the only person left alive from the Khan family.

Yes, McGonagall was efficient at her job.

She had researched the Khan family history at the ministry and needless to say, what she found baffled her.

They were an Ancient and Noble Family!

They held a nobility on the same level of the Potters!

Although not part of the Sacred twenty eight (just like the Potters), they were subconsciously treated on the same level, due to their Mastery over Elemental Magic, and overwhelming wealth amassed from their Spice Empire.

And Jordan Khan was the sole heir, his parents having died from grief, shortly after his disappearance in 1891, with no siblings or directly descended family to speak of.

Not to say that there hadn't been claims to said wealth. McGonagall had spotted numerous heritage claims in the Khan Family Ministry folder.

Knowing how supposedly infamous Genghis Khan was with his progeny, McGonagall supposed she shouldn't be surprised.

This young man had quite the ordeal waiting for him, once he was announced to the ministry.

Letting out a sigh to herself, she strode with purpose towards the Floo-Flames located by the Ministry Atrium, intending to head back to Hogwarts.

Arriving after a few minutes of brisk walking, she pinched some powder before tossing it into the fireplace and loudly announcing "Hogwarts: Medical Wing!".

*****

Arriving in a flash, by the smaller flames on the wall, McGonagall strode into the medical wing, expecting to find Poppy.

Instead, she found the missing student playing with a small, featherless bird.

"I won't mind if you stay this size for a while Sol! Take your time growing up!" McGonagall heard the young man speak quite fondly to the bird.

"Ahem!" McGonagall cleared her throat to announce her arrival.

"I am pleased you have returned. I am Professor McGonagall, Professor of Transfiguration, and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts." McGonagall introduces herself professionally.

"I am Jordan Khan." The young man introduces himself.

Pointing to his bird, he continues, introducing her as well. "And this is Sol."

"You'll have to excuse her lack of plumage at the moment. She just went through a burning day after all!" He finishes fondly petting the tiny bird.

McGonagall is stunned by the implication of what she just heard.

"Burning day?" She questions, expecting that she misheard the young man.

"Indeed. When I left in a rush, my apologies to you specifically by the way, I actually went to check on my beast friends. As you may or may not know, Phoenixes undergo a burning day completing their lifecycle." Going into his research mode and putting on his reading glasses out of habit (they were charmed to help him read 1.5x faster and catch up to his peers), Khan explained.

"When she has fully lived out her Adult Form's life-force, she undergoes a burning day where she is once again reborn from the ashes of her flames. Sol had her burning day today. Thus I am caring for her while she is recovering her adult form." He finishes concisely.

"Sol is a Phoenix?" McGonagall questions in disbelief.

She thought Dumbledore and that New Zealand Quidditch Team were the only known people to successfully domesticate a Phoenix.

"A little hard to believe now, its true. But not to worry, Sol will be back to her beautiful self soon, won't you girl!" Khan adds on, speaking affectionately to Sol at the end.

"The headmaster and the rest are viewing my pensieve memory." Khan went on and answered the professors' unspoken question, as she was still in shock over the recent phoenix revelation. "They should be finished momentarily."

Pointing out the basin full of silvery/white liquid tell-tale of a pensieve memory, Khan directed the Professor's attention away from Sol.

A few moments later, the group emerged from the memory, looking rather surprised!

The sheer number of goblins invading was astounding!

This young man was simply a student! Yet he fought numerous goblins, and even some goblin/dragon construct, before sacrificing himself, not knowing if he would survive.

Tonks herself felt like she had aged 5 years from simply watching that battle.

Moody felt even more respectful of the young hero, if that were even possible.

Pomfrey was overwhelmed with emotion, witnessing one so young sacrifice himself so heroically at the end.

Dobby was quite impressed with the fearsome display of magic. Khan's title had changed from "blue and yellow boy" to "lightning boy" in Dobby's mind.

Dumbledore meanwhile, appeared to be deep in thought.

He himself was deeply impressed by the battle as a whole.

The coordination and power of his former Hogwarts Professors!

The heroism and selflessness displayed by the young hero!

Not to mention the strange magic Khan wielded.

Having experienced the memory directly from the hero, they were all witness to the strange magic vision experienced by Khan. Viewing the different corresponding spell colors of well-known spells were baffling to say the least. To think that Accio, was a purple colored spell!

And this wasn't even speaking about Khan seemingly summoning and controlling a lightning bolt, with no incantations or wand movements.

No, Dumbledore was quite impressed with the entire memory.

What had him so deep in thought was the way his previous seniors handled the entire battle in the first place.

From the professors, to the young hero himself; they all had shot lethal spells, and with no hesitation either.

Ruthless!

Yes, it was a war, and the goblins were invading Hogwarts en masse, but Dumbledore could see no reason for the unnecessary bloodshed. Why destroy them all, when only a few, like Ranrok, are to blame?

Unless, his seniors were correct in their actions….

His mentor Natty, had always told him he was 'too idealistic' to the goodness in others. 'Not everyone deserves to be saved' she had insisted.

Many arguments about his pacifism had resulted from that frequent observation.

She had pointed out that the Death Eaters and Voldemort would not be a problem, if people actually banded together like they used to, and fought back.

Having told him of her adventures with the young hero disbanding a certain group of dark wizards called the ashwinders, Dumbledore knew that the 2 young heroes were the ones primarily responsible for dispatching that particular dark wizard group, although the residents of various wizard of communities were known to fight back against them as well. Lethally, she had emphasized, much to Dumbledore's shock at the time.

And here he was again, being shown this time by his former Hogwarts Professors themselves, not to mention his mentor's best friend, that sometimes, one must be ruthless in combat and war.

'Would less people be dead, even if they all couldn't be saved, if I had listened to Natsai?' Dumbledore thought slightly dejected.