A beautiful red phoenix soared in through the open kitchen window.

“Get me Elphias Doge, Caradoc Dearborn, and Marlene McKinnon.”

The next think I knew, with simultaneously loud cracks, there were three people in the living room.

“Lily, James, Remus, meet your judges,” Dumbledore said.

“Oh, are these the three you told us about, Dumbledore?” asked the only woman present.

“Yes, Marlene, they are.”

“I knew it,” I breathed. “You did plan this beforehand!”

“Alas,” Dumbledore smiled. “You caught me. Meet Marlene McKinnon, one of the brightest witches of our age. I do care for you dearly, Miss Marlene, but I must admit… Miss Evans could give you a run for your money.”

Marlene shrugged idly. “I shall be the judge of that.”

“Next, Elphias Doge,” the Professor introduced. A tall man with a silver beard and an odd hat stepped forward and shook our hands. “And, finally, Caradoc Dearborn, one of the first members.”

After our little meet-and-greet session was over, I couldn’t help but to ask James, “don’t you kind of feel like we’re on a game show?”

We were left upstairs in our separate bedrooms. Remus was called down first.

I listened at closely as I could, but I didn’t hear anything except Remus’ door being closed when he was done. James was called next. I listened again, and this time things were a bit louder; there was an earsplitting crash from below and I even think that I heard someone scream.

When Doge came upstairs, he knocked on my door and told me not to come down until I heard a bell ring.

I stood at the top of the stairs, wand out and shaking slightly. A cowbell sounded from what seemed like fifty miles away. I began to proceed to the living room, but it seemed that each step I took, the darker and foggier my surroundings became.

Finally, when I reached the bottom my jaw dropped; this wasn’t the house we'd been living in. I looked back for the stairs, but they were gone. Slowly, I turned around, and faced my biggest fear; it was nighttime and I was looking at my house, the one that I grew up in… but it wasn’t my house anymore. It was burnt to the ground and the filthy stench of dead bodies swarmed over me.