GINNY"S QUEST - HARRY POTTER FINALLY GRADUATES PART IV
Author's Note: all the original characters, settings, and plot from the original Harry Potter series remain the exclusive property of J.K. Rowling, whom this author thanks for permitting amateurs to e-publish extensions and alternatives to her creative works. New characters, settings, and plot belong to me. Thus, this story may not be reproduced in whole or in part by others, although anyone is permitted (invited) to pick up and run with any of the new characters, settings, and plots.
This e-book is not going to make much sense unless you have already read Harry Potter Finally Graduates, Parts I, II, and III. Many of the characters in this novel were introduced in those earlier parts.
This is the story of Ginny's final progression into adulthood and the fulfilment of her prophecy. Hermione and Ginny are truly bound together by the shared prophecy and the experience of leading this Quest. For a Quest to succeed, a Mother and her Muse must be as close and emotionally intimate as spouses; they must understand how the other thinks and be able to act instinctively when the need arises. They share responsibility for many lives. Harry and Ron are present, but often frustrated in the background.
This story includes several national magical myths, but not exactly in their original form. Odin becomes a major character.
The Quest begins with Harry Potter Finally Graduates, Part III, especially the EPILOGUE. Some of the characters and plot threads are introduced in Parts I, II, and III of Harry Potter Finally Graduates, so you should begin with Part I, although you'll pick up almost all the background beginning with Part II.
Chapter One (1 September 1999)
The information about my Quest had me in a mental turmoil. I couldn't simply stand and wait. My future depended upon this. I suppose that I should have expected to find Cotto or Firenze in the cave. Yet I had been surprised. I think I had expected just the disembodied voice of the Stone in my head. Perhaps even another visit from the Light Guardian. I would have found that heartening, as the Light Guardian seemed a more civilised sponsor for the Quest. But then, couldn't it just fix the circles itself?
As it was, I felt that I was being led by the nose by the leaders of the other magical communities, just as I had been when we confronted Ruppasta. I think it was the whole surprise of having Narcissa shoved in my face. And Voldemort! The other magical leaders certainly knew what they wanted from me. They conspired among themselves to get me to do what they wanted. They clearly spent a lot of time talking about me and deciding what I should be told and when I should be told it. Cotto was infinitely friendly and helpful and even played at being servile at times, but he was manipulating me. I think he honestly liked me and wished me well, but he was manipulating me. I had no idea what he and the other leaders would do if I chose to march away in exactly the opposite direction from where I had been pointed. Everyone assumed that I would be eager enough or sufficiently self-bound by an ill-defined sense of duty to play my role in their game.
What I had just heard explained why Voldemort would abandon all interest in the Quest. Sharing his powers with Muggles wouldn't appeal to him. I hadn't heard anything, either today or previously, to suggest a reward great enough to interest Voldemort in the first place. Yet, he and Narcissa had come as far as the second trip to the cave. I could think of nothing which would have brought them to this cave a second time.
My nerves were all abuzz. I was ready to fight someone or something. I told Hermione "I can't just stand here and wait. Nothing makes sense to me and I need answers."
She nodded agreement, complaining "I think we've been given the opportunity to die or be honoured as the world's most altruistic and useful saps."
I didn't know how long Harry and Ron would be with Cotto. I expected that the three of them would fight, or at least do a lot of shouting. I probably should have waited to discuss everything that I'd heard with Harry and Ron. It had been a lot to take in. I just couldn't wait to visit Narcissa. If she had been prepared for a Quest, I had to know how she had been prepared and if she knew anything that I didn't. Why me and not her?
I also shouldn't have interrupted whatever my husband had to say to Cotto, but I didn't want him to leave the cave and find me missing. He was able to sense when I was troubled, and I had clearly been upset in the cave. I sent him a message through the Stone, telling him that I was calm again and quite fine, but that Hermione and I were off to visit Narcissa. I suspected that if intruding on Harry's meeting with Cotto was not at all the done thing, that the Stone would block the message and deliver it later.
Harry got right back to me. Just Okay, Bill will Apparate you. I guess I had intruded.
I asked Bill to Apparate us to Narcissa.
"She's still with Professor McGonagall in Edinburgh. We can just catch her, before she leaves. Please grab a hand."
Reason over-came nerves. I didn't want McGonagall to know what I had to say to Narcissa. If she knew that Narcissa harboured Quest knowledge, she would find a way to stay with her and pry that information loose for her own ends.
"When will she be alone and where will she be?" I asked Bill.
"She should be back at Malfoy Manor for dinner."
"I'll wait, I'd rather McGonagall not share in our conversation."
Harry and Ron were surprised to find us waiting for them as they left the cave.
"She's with McGonagall," I explained. "I didn't want McGonagall to know of my business with Narcissa"
I was surprised to see Cotto calmly chatting with Ron and my husband. To me, it sort of detracted from all the mystique of the Messenger Elf laying down detailed rules about my Quest pursuit. He had ditched his Messenger Elf/Elf King togs and was once again plain old Cotto. Perhaps he thought Harry would freak out a little less with that return to normalcy.
It was just unsettling and very strange to have Cotto and Firenze switching back and forth between giving me life-and-death hard rules, based upon who really knew what, and being helpful friends and colleagues. You can't be a God-surrogate and a friendly associate, the two just don't happily coexist. You can't be friendly and helpful, while supplying vital information in dribs and drabs on a 'trust me' basis, with no grounding in logic, or anything I knew of the Light Guardian or the Stone. I greeted Cotto in a friendly manner, but I still resented being manipulated.
Rather than Apparate back to the Ministry and encounter inquiring minds demanding an explanation I was unable and unwilling to provide, I suggested to Harry that the four of us take a walk to inspect our new homes. This had the happy effect of detaching Cotto from our group. As soon as he departed and we were well out of ear range of the Goblin Guards, Hermione assaulted Harry and Ron with questions.
"What did Cotto have to say to you, that we weren't supposed to hear?"
"Really not much," Harry's tone of voice was very defensive. "He mainly wanted to convince Ron and me that your Quest is extremely important and not quite as risky as we feared."
"But that means almost as risky and you and Ron were convinced that Ginny and I will die on the Quest. So… not quite definitely suicidal, is that the gist of it?"
"No, he was much more optimistic than that. He said every single Muse recorded as having undertaken the Quest has returned alive. It's not as good for Ginny. Only 60-40 odds in her favour based on past Quests, but Cotto doubts any prior Mother candidate has been as qualified as Ginny is. He says he expects that both of you will live to tell your children about the Quest. He also said that Ginny is the first Mother to think of including magical females from the other communities. He thinks that greatly improves your chances. He says King Gobbledegook wouldn't volunteer his daughter, if he expected her to die. He loves Tendra very much. He says that he would not sacrifice Catta in a Quest with little chance of success."
"So, he gave you grimmer news than he gave us," I prodded Harry.
"No, not really," my brother answered instead of Harry. "He says more of the old Gods are dead or nearly dead than at the time of prior Quests. That makes your chances much better."
"I thought he was going to tell you about your role in our Quest. It sounds more like he ordered you to keep us from becoming too discouraged to begin the Quest," Hermione challenged both Harry and Ron.
"He did accuse us of trying to frighten you out of accepting a very important challenge. He said it was necessary that you have confidence in yourselves, because fear leads to mistakes," Ron admitted. "He really did spend most of the time talking about what we can do, while you're on the Quest. We can visit most of the sites ahead of you and stock them with what you will need. We just must be gone before you arrive, and we can't kill or stun any creatures we find. We can do research for you, including visiting anyone you need information from. We can kill your non-God enemies if they show themselves on the surface. If you can force an enemy to the surface, we can attack from the front, while you attack from the rear, just if we are never in sight of each other and you are always below the surface. We can keep the circles in tune or out of tune after you leave them. There really is quite a lot that Harry and I can do. Cotto, Firenze, and King Gobbledegook can also help in that way."
"If the purpose of the Quest is to get all the magical circles working in harmony, why would you want to detune them after we fixed them? That makes no sense," Hermione challenged Harry.
"I don't understand it either, but Cotto made it sound like that might be really important. Some of the ancient Gods and Goddesses still have a few serious worshippers, from whom they can draw strength. We can also deal with them – not kill them, the Light Guardian would not approve of that, but use the 'Off!' curse at a critical moment so they can't provide any strength. It sounds far-fetched but Cotto believes it's possible. I don't know what to think. At times I thought Cotto was just jollying Ron and me along, giving us something to do while you're away so we don't feel powerless. I've never had to deal with something as strange as this."
"That's all we know," Ron promised. "The important thing is whether you are actually going to go along with this. I don't like this. Cotto and the Goblins are pushing way too hard and being way too secretive about this."
"I don't like it either," I admitted "but I think we may not have a choice. I at least want to find out what Narcissa knows. She should be at Malfoy Manor in two hours. I think that we should all drop in for a visit. What should we do between now and then."?
Our husbands wanted to talk to us. They were bothered and both claimed extreme urgency. We moved to the backyard of our house and sat on the benches of our picnic table.
"I'm not happy, but accept that you likely will Quest," Harry stated as fact. "You've given up Quidditch, so you view this as super important. I won't argue against your going, even though I will miss you terribly and will have to fight down my fears for your safety in order to be able to get out of bed in the morning and do my job. You supported me as Deputy Minister, but that has put a strain upon our marriage. It's been a serious strain at times. Being Minister has been an even bigger strain on your parents' marriage. They've fought a lot and I know there have been weeks when they've been too upset to speak at all. I want to make sure that doesn't become us. Neither my job, nor your Quest, is worth tearing us apart. We must plan how to avoid that. It won't just not happen due to love and good intentions. Stress and not seeing each other and talking only at a distance can do terrible things to a marriage."
"I worry about that too. What should we do, Harry."?
"We have to communicate frequently - share our fears, our failures as well as our joys and successes. Not hearing about the bad stuff leads to assuming the worst. It really isn't protecting the other person. That's what Arthur tries to do with Molly. Molly is strong enough to handle the bad and scary. So are you and I. Both of us would rather know than not know. Both of us will want to help and soothe as best we can."
"I agree. I also worry about trying to be too helpful and the other not reacting to suggestions which are meant to be helpful, but will seem stupid or wrong, because some of the context and detail wasn't provided. We can't get mad at each other for offering advice which seems unhelpful. In offering advice, we also can avoid dad's practice of just saying 'be safe!', with no help on how to be safe, while still doing what must be accomplished. We will both have to take some risks. I know we will both be as safe as we possibly can, while still doing what we must. I know we will both be afraid for the other. Communicating that fear constantly is going to hurt, rather than help. We must trust each other."
"Yes, I agree."
Hermione told my brother: "we must do the same. We must be a team and help each other as much as possible. Also, it's important to avoid the topics which we know can set each other off or throw them into a funk. Remember, we will have it easiest. We are the only couples who will be able to directly talk at a distance to each other. That means that we will have to relay messages on behalf of other Questers and their significant others. That puts a burden on you and Harry, but it is important. It will improve the mood of the Questers. By helping them, you are helping us. You are also keeping us safer and more focused."
"We'll do all of that," Ron promised.
"There's more. We may need permission or help from the various communities or have arguments with Firenze and Cotto. We will have only a little time for discussion. You will have to fight for what we need, even if you must offend the Minister, or Tony, or any of the other leaders. I know that all those leaders will want constant updates and tons of details. We may have important things, some super-secret and some maybe secret, which we don't think we can tell them. We will tell the two of you more than we tell them. We will depend upon you to not immediately blab that to everyone, but we will also trust you to decide that the time has come when some of those secrets must be shared with some of the members of my committee. My committee is important, so it is very important that a responsible person guides it in my absence. You or Harry must be that person. You must achieve the level of detachment and logic, which we all know that dad, and McGonagall, and the Goblin Kings, and even Tony can't achieve. Ginny and I will depend upon you to do this well. We know it won't be easy, but you must know that our safety may depend upon you."
"You can trust us," Ron answered. "Of course, you can," Harry echoed.
"Finally, we must all think of metaphorical, or real, flowers which we can leave for each other. Some things to make life a little more pleasant. You are the Keepers of Our Souls. Your souls also need Keepers. Please avoid moping. Spend time with George, Luna, Margaret, Neville and both of our mothers. That's the most helpful advice I can give you. I fear more for Harry than for you. It is easy to get sucked into Arthur's fears and negativity. You must distract Harry from your father's drag upon his spirit. You must confront Arthur, when necessary. I know that will be hard, but I also know you are strong and determined enough to do that. You are Harry's best friend. The two of you must work on boosting each other's spirits. Nobody will know what is really happening as well as the two of you. It is fine to share your fears with each other. It is fine to work together to suggest plans for us to follow. Neither of you is inclined to be a great student. We may need a lot of research during the Quest. You must force yourselves to do some of that. More importantly, you must recruit others to help you, but they must be totally trustworthy, non-panickers who can keep a secret. Avoid McGonagall. Lean on Ellie and Callista and Margaret."
I remembered a last warning: "The Daily Prophet and others will say nasty things about us and our motives for Questing. I know that both of you are strong enough to shrug that off. Dad isn't. You must keep him calm. Also, there may be short-term negative consequences of the Quest. You may have to defend our purpose. You'll have to let us know what is causing problems. Together we may be able to plot a path to minimise additional problems. Mom can help you to manage dad. You may have to physically push them together, so that dad has no choice but to share with her and listen to advice. If you must join that conversation to force it to happen, then you must.
"Cotto and Firenze say they cheated a little for us and gave us extra information. Perhaps you will be able to coax more information from one of them or from the Stone."
"You've set out very demanding tasks for us. Is this just to keep me busy so I won't worry as much about you?" Ron clearly was already worried.
"Not at all. I wouldn't do that to you. You're an adult and I trust you. I suspect there will be times during the Quest that what you and Harry do will be more important than what we do. You will be in most of the Quest locations before we arrive, and you will be there again after we leave. We have Ellie's monoliths because we may need them to manage circles or little surprises, we leave at Quest sites. I fear we may be watched closely. You and Harry may have more freedom than us. That reminds me: Ellie can help you manage any surprises, both the one we leave and your own. The monoliths are powerful. I guess you can tell that I'm not entirely pleased with our Quest instructions. A big part of your job may be to manage or distract Cotto and Firenze."
"All right then."
I asked the lads if they had any questions.
"Just one," my husband asked. "Barb is an auror. Can you just be the leader of the Quest and allow her to do her job and protect you?'
Before I could answer, Ron spoke up: "the Muse is supposed to be less of a fighter than even the Mother is. Can you allow Barb to protect you, without running to defend her?" he challenged Hermione.
"I think I can, Ron."
"I'll try, Harry. That's as hard for me as it is for you. I'm more of a fighter than perhaps the Mother ought to be. I'm not at all sure I can stand by and watch a friend be killed; it I think I might be able to save her."
"Would you be better if you replaced Barb with a Witch auror whom you dislike?"
"No, I'd feel awful if she died protecting me. I'd think I allowed her to be killed, because I didn't like her. You and dad think it's safer for me to just let Barb do her job. Is it really? If the bad guys kill Barb, then I face them alone. Far better that they must face us all together. That's how we have the greatest chance of both winning and surviving. I know that's your approach. Don't ask me to do what you can't do yourself."
"I know that you're right. I also know that some of your father's fears and preferences have contaminated me. I apologise."
There were no more questions. I told the lads that Hermione and I needed to visit our mothers. The lads looked surprised. They were more surprised when Hermione said that we must do that without them. "They have a need to speak to us alone. We need advice which they might not share if you were with us. We'd return in plenty of time to catch Narcissa as soon as she arrived at her old Manor."
What did we have to ask our mums, which Harry and Ron shouldn't hear? We needed them to watch Ron and Harry and keep them at least somewhat calm and positive. They understood. The next however many months would be very tough on the lads. I was pleased that they took a few minutes alone to discuss our request before they answered. Yes, of course they were willing to help, and they thought they could be of some help. There was a chance that they would remind our husbands so much of us, that they would be worse than no help, but had decided that working together they could overcome this problem. Of course, they would both try to help Dad. They agreed that he could create problems for us. They would help us to gauge the temperature of Tony and McGonagall. They could do this without raising suspicions that they were our secret agents. They were sure that Neville and Professor Sprout would help. I told them that we must practice long-distance Stone communications before we departed. Mum's only objection was "so soon? That seems awfully fast."
"Yes, the speed of all this may make this offer moot," Mrs. Granger equivocated, "but I think I might be able to help you with your assistants. If I talked individually with them, I think I can learn some ways in which you can make the Quest easier for them. There may be things you can take with you, things that they can't even name, which may calm them and make the journey easier for them. It is easy for fears to run wild and take over even a very brave mind in the conditions that you are likely to encounter on your Quest."
Both mothers wished us well, expressing great faith in our ability to lead a successful Quest, and then hugged us as though they never expected to see us again after our Quest began.
We re-joined the lads in plenty of time for the trip to Malfoy Manor. We were asked about our meeting. I said nothing, beyond giving assurances that all had gone very well. Then, conveniently, departure time arrived.
We linked arms and Hermione Apparated us to the main entry door of Malfoy Manor.