Heads or Tails

Prologue

Ten thousand years ago there was a dragon that traveled the lands of Europe named Magie. Magie stopped at every village and town on his route to Athens, Greece to understand more about the humans who lived there and their needs. The dragon left gifts and tokens with the children who played with him - he was only a small dragon at the time - and tokens with the adults who he met and spoke with about their culture and life. He was thankful for any company and any knowledge he could gather.

The small dragon traveling to Athens was just old enough to understand that his presence was important, but also understood that his presence was most unusual in human villages. Those who took care of him on his journey and those who played with him were given a special and unique gift that transgressed through the ages. Magic.

Athens, the city where it had been said fire was bred and welded so perfectly it was magical, was hosting the first festival of its kind between humans and dragons. Dragons were viewed as holy and cherished back then, and humans would learn and take knowledge from the dragons to implement into their places of dwelling. Food and other delicacies that were created from this knowledge were, in part, given back to the dragons as a token of appreciation. This is how it had always been, and everyone was content.

The festival of dragons was hosted yearly, as the first one had been a success, for the next eight thousand years until humans started to believe they were above such things as providing to dragons for knowledge. Wars broke out for the next 100 years, decreasing the dragon population to almost extinction - leaving just one dragon, Magie, the one who gifted magic, to go into hiding in the hills of England. Thus ending the Athens Festival of the Dragons.

Magie, despite everything that had happened to his kind and the horrors that he was put through, decided he still wanted to help his people. He, for the previous eight thousand years, had been sprinkling magic into human kind, creating a new breed of people. He named them wizards and they had been following Magie and protecting him since he was a small dragon.

Magie used the last of his strength to build a castle to spread knowledge of love, innovation, bravery, and stealth amongst the people he created. He protected it with magical, unbreakable borders that hid it from the humans that had killed his kind. He built villages and dwellings for his created people, ushering them to safety from the onslaught of the unfriendly humans. Once this was completed, he placed himself at the steps of the castle and became one with the stone steps, molding until his scales had turned to an unbreakable marble, his eyes a thick glass, and his fire a continual and everlasting burn.

This is how the first wizarding place of education was created, a place protected from outsiders and encouraged a foundation of growth and development. A place who for the next two thousand years would not be infiltrated or disturbed from its duties. This was the creation of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was the first of many, but it holds the true values and accomplishments of those that came before it and what it would come to be.

At this very moment there are three-hundred and fifty witches and wizards attending this educational institute under the eyes of Albus Dumbledore, a wizard that was chosen by Magie from the moment his name was put on the list. You see, every headmaster of Hogwarts is chosen at birth. This person's name is not known by any until they reach the age of 17 or when they have officially graduated from Hogwarts. Do people try to guess? Of course, it is only in the nature of a witch or wizard that they would be curious as to who will take over the education of their young. Albus Dumbledore had been named the next Hogwarts Headmaster on the day of his graduation, when the Magie had burned his name into the steps of Hogwarts as he crossed the stage. He did not take over right away. No, Albus spent the next 15 years as a defense against the dark arts teacher while he got his bearings, and ultimately his traveling needs, out of the way.

When Albus took over he was not given a timeline on how long he would be in his role. Would he die and that was when the next headmaster was announced, or would he have time to transition over the duties of the Headmaster like he experienced? He was only thirty-two when he took on this role - they could not expect him to be in it for the rest of his life. Wizards lived to be one-hundred and fifty years old on average - another one-hundred and twenty years dedicated to a school he had started at when he was eleven? It was hard to comprehend, but he knew he had a civic duty to uphold. Even if it meant setting aside his own priorities and wishes so his community, one that had taken him and his family in during their worst of times, would thrive and grow into a place that Magie could continue to be proud of. After all, there had been thousands of pupils that walked through Hogwarts' doors under the last headmaster and Magie had selected him of all people.

Albus spent the next seventy-five years as headmaster. He saw pupils come and go through his door, learning and becoming people outside of Hogwarts that he was proud of and proud to have had a chance to influence. As time went on, the rest of the wizarding world learnt to respect Albus and his place he had. He had been asked several times to step down from his place and Hogwarts and run the magical government as Minister of Magic. He knew, as all headmasters knew before him, that this plan and request was not possible for there was no one who had been selected by Magie to replace him. He knew that it could happen at any time, but understood that he had no say or influence on when this process transpired.

Therefore, even as his popularity and accomplishments outside of Hogwarts grew, Albus maintained his occupation as Headmaster of Hogwarts. Waiting in anticipation for the time when his successor would be named. He thought it would happen a few times - with Minerva McGonagall he was sure he was right - but they never planned out the way he had thought. It was tiring, especially as he started to see those around him who he had shared boyhood with do amazing and respectable things. Things that he had only ever thought about doing, or had accomplished only by expressing his own opinions before those people did what they succeeded in.

So the anticipation for the next Hogwarts head continued. Magie was ready, for the next Hogwarts head had just been born.