Disclaimer: I own nothing, I just like to play. Well, maybe I own the poem at the bottom, but that is an adapted version of one of mine.
"Ron, where do we go from here?" Harry questions. The boys are for the first time taking this game of life and death seriously. While they are deep in thought trying to figure out what to do, they unconsciously turn their heads towards me. Not really seeing or knowing that they are looking to me for an impossible answer. I finally break.
"Don't look at me!" I howl with an intense rage, capturing the attention of the boys in front of me. "You want me to decided what to do next? You expect me to know what to do? I know nothing!" As they being to protest, I cut them off. "Yes, I can tell you what a book says, but that isn't anything. I know nothing, nothing of love, nothing of life. My eyes are blind to the atrocities of the world. My feet haven't walked along the path of greatness. I'm just a simple book worm that has been caught up in the battle for the world." I cry in desperation.
I spy the boys looking wearily at each other and break down. "What do you want from me? You act like I can do things on my own. I can't fill Dumbledore's shoes!" I know that is a low blow, but I had to get through to them. "We have to come up with a plan together." After I have said my peace, we all look around desperately, like the room surround us has the answers. All of us lost in our own thoughts, working out an invisible problem.
Harry jumps to his feet like the hero I know he will become, but he doesn't have any clue of what we have to do. He looks like he finally hit upon an idea, but then it disappears. Like clouds after the storm his idea is gone or thrown in the rubbish bin in hopes of a better one.
Watching the boy before me wear the carpet, I am just as worried about our futures as he is. He may claim it is just his, but we all know that Ron and I will never leave his side. He suddenly stops and exclaims, "I'm not returning to Hogwarts! That is the only way that I can achieve my destiny and fulfill Dumbledore's sacrifice." Harry has finally come to a decision. It isn't like I didn't see this as an option, but I'm not going to push Harry into anything.
Many have said Harry is the leader of our trio and I can't argue. We all fell into our parts, Harry makes the decisions because they usually all concern him, Ron plans when there is time and I, I research to make sure we are never in over our heads. But all the research in the world can never foresee all possibilities. Only a true seer, not like the fraud that never comes down from her tower because it "clouds her inner eye", could see what is going to happen next.
I wonder if this is the right path. As I sit on Ron's bed and ponder, I realize that their dorm is still a mess of clothes, books and papers. Even a few recently broken quills that the house elves, those poor creators, haven't had time to clean. I know that I will have to motivate them to pack their trunk seeing as the train is coming in the morning.
How they could put it off this long is mystifying, but they always do. Maybe packing at the last moment makes leaving Hogwarts less real for them. What ever reason, they need to pack. "Harry, I'm going with you to look for the Horcruxes, but first you must pack your trunks. Tomorrow we are going back to the real world." Harry nods in acceptance and Ron hurriedly states he will be going to help too. The boys start to pack their respective trunks. I decided to pitch in to speed up the process. I come across a crumbled piece of parchment. My curiosity getting the better of me I open it and spy Harry's messy scrawl.
I carry the torch
Of my past, present and future
I stand as still as a statue
Trying to figure out
Where to turn next
The burden I bear can
Change the life of many
Yet, I am lost
A parentless child
Making my way
Blindly through this world.
I let out a small gasp and pocket the poem. I will make sure Harry knows that he may be lost, we all are, but he is not alone. Definitely not alone.