Diagon AlleyII forum Grand New Year Battle: The Death Eaters vs. The Order.
This was written for the Diagon AlleyII forum Grand New Year Battle between the Death Eaters and The Order. (Down with the Order!) The two teams are battling it out, so to speak, by writing stories based off of prompts. We have a great many number of prompts to choose from, each with their own point value and conditions. Below are my chosen prompts and their point tally. (this time I put them at the end so the beginning isn't all cluttered with them)
This story is for Round 5 in the overall contest. It was originally supposed to be the second round in the Next Gen Era, but in a last minute twist, the prompts for this round are from the Riddle Era. See my profile for my Rounds 1 and 2 submissions, both from the Marauder Era, Of Secrets and Hope and Snape's Story: The Evolution of a Death Eater, and my Round 3 and 4 submissions from the Golden Trio Era, Harry Potter and the Uncertainty of Youth and Love and Loss, and my Round 5 submission from the Next Gen Era, Things Forgotten.
Rounds 1, 2, 4, and 5 saw victory for the DEs!
Visions of Things to Come
Cassandra Trelawny knew that her time on this earth was nearing an end. She'd seen it last month in her own tea leaves, but wasn't bothered by the fact. She'd lived a long and celebrated life, and had known for a long time that her gift could show her her own death someday. Most true Seers foresaw at least a vague general time line of their lives, including their own demise. The lucky ones, like her, received hints in their tea leaves, the unlucky ones saw the precise moment of death in their crystal balls.
Cassandra knew it would happen soon. Along with the symbol of her own death, she'd also seen signs of spring and renewal in the soggy dregs of that fateful afternoon cup of tea. Today was Easter and she was still here, but she suspected that it was unlikely that she'd see the rest of the month through.
She'd spent the day watching her young grandson filling his belly with chocolate and jellies, his candy covered hands leaving sticky spots on her fingers and cheeks. She made no attempt to wash up. Instead she chose to let the sensation take her back to a time when the sticky fingers entwined with hers had been those of her own son. The memories made her happy.
Now though, she'd put her grandson to bed, tucking him in with the teddy bear he loved so much. Now it was time to sit and prepare for the happiness to be whisked away. Settling into her chair, she slowly uncovered her crystal ball. Over the past week she'd been doing what she suspected every Seer who knew their time was short did. She'd been crystal gazing and watching the events of the future unfold before her eyes.
Most times Cassandra would look into the crystal and simply see events unfolding without knowing the names of the people she saw. Occasionally she could read the lips of the people within the orbs depths, but most of the things she could make out weren't usually helpful. Some phrases were easy to recognize, like 'I love you' or 'I'm sorry'. Others had become recognizable to her over the years by the sheer number of times she had witnessed them. She'd often been amused by the vast number of men who would use the phrase 'the wand in my pants', accompanied by a predictable gesture, when hoping for a bit of fun with a pretty little witch. 'Get away from me', became another phrase Cassandra had learned to recognized as it was usually the response. These phrases would endure through time.
Already she'd seen countless future generations of Wizarding families bloom and fade. She'd seen conflict and struggle, life and death, war and peace. A parade of fashions and fads had danced in front of her eyes as she searched the swirling depths of her crystal. She'd seen the next generation of her family and the families of her friends, and the generation after that, and the generation after that. Some of the families would fade away, practically into nothingness. All would mingle. Some would marry into Muggle blood and some would not. Eventually only twenty eight wizarding families would be considered pure.
She'd seen that the Prewett line would become extinct in the male linage. One of the last of the males would marry into the Black line, but his wife would prove infertile, so they would have no children of their own. When Cassandra had peered deeply into the orb she had seen a flash of a family tapestry. The name Lucretia had come through clearly. Next to her was stitched the name, Ignatius.
Ignatius' nephews would be lost in the first part of what would be known as the greatest war of it's time, before having a chance to father sons of their own. The family blood would continue through his one remaining niece and on into six sons and a daughter and then into numerous grandchildren. Cassandra had seen all the female faces quite clearly in the misty depths of her crystal; a line of smiling, powerful witches with red hair.
Though she wasn't often able to discern the names of the future generations simply by reading lips or seeing them on family tapestries, there were times where she would be able to assume the lineage of the people she'd see, based on the strong physical traits that some of the families possessed. Other, very rare, times her Inner Eye would whisper to her names she could put to the faces.
These times were usually few and far between, but as she continued to gaze into the future, the names Tom Riddle, Albus Dumbledore, and Harry Potter began to invade her mind all at once.
Tom Riddle would become a powerful wizard and his ideas would spark the attention of numerous pure-bloods. Many of these supporters would go on to head their families and would sire children who would sire children who would be devoted to the same ideals and practices. Cassandra recognized the pale blonde hair and steel gray eyes that could only belong to someone possessing Malfoy linage. Barely out of Hogwarts, he would join Tom Riddle. In later years, his son and grandson would follow suit and serve at Riddle's right hand just as he himself had. Eventually the patriarch would pass on, and the son and grandson would defect and abandon Tom, realizing that the only important thing was family.
Albus Dumbledore would be the riddle master, unraveling Tom's plans and secrets. Without him, Riddle would win. Dumbledore was the only person who could see Tom as the mere human he was, rather than the god he believed himself to be. Cassandra looked far forward into her own family's line, seeing a great great granddaughter who would also be possessed of the Inner Eye. She would play a major role in the second part of the war, passing on the most valuable piece of information that Albus Dumbledore would receive. Her prediction would be the start of the downfall of the darkest wizard of the age.
Harry Potter, whom all would rely on to end the horrible long war, would be someone who managed to succeed despite the fact that he would find himself in all the wrong places his entire life. From his initial conflict with Tom Riddle as a mere baby, right up to discovering the key to end it all, the boy was destined to skirt Death himself.
Early that morning, before the sun had come up, a war still hundreds of years in the future had unfolded in front of Cassandra's horrified eyes. Atrocity after atrocity passed before her in the swirling mists of the crystal. Countless people were tortured and killed in the name of blood purity. The death toll of the final battle alone was enough to make her weep. There had been images that she began to see over and over again as she continued to crystal gaze.
Dumbledore's two most loyal followers would duel; the Anamagi professor believing the greasy haired spy to be a traitor. That spy would later be cut down by Tom Riddle while trying to fulfill the mission he'd promised to undertake, loyal to Dumbledore to the end.
A joking red haired youth would be slain and left with vacant eyes and a ghost of a smile on his lips. His identical brother would fall into a severe depression for many years, brought out only by the love of a school days friend.
A wane looking tall man with partially unhealed scars raking across his face would fall to the same masked and robed infiltrator of Hogwarts who had helped to extinguish the male Prewett line. In the crystalline depths of the ball, Cassandra saw a flash of an Azkaban prison number printed next to the name, 'Dolohov'. That masked man would later be defeated as he dueled with a diminutive but powerful wizard.
A woman with pink hair would be killed by a crazed looking, wild haired, cackling woman with heavily lidded eyes. The surprise and pain on the pink haired woman's face as she was cut down like a beast made Cassandra's heart ache.
When the crystal had started to show her these random and shifting images, she'd had to stop looking. She'd thrown a shawl over the transparent and slick glass surface, hiding it from her eyes as she'd shakily stood, and walked away. By that time the sun had been up and she could hear the rest of the family stirring throughout the house.
She'd been unable to leave the misty visions for long. All through the Easter activities that afternoon, she'd wondered what waited for the yet unborn people who acted out their future trials and triumphs in her crystal ball. Now that her family were all asleep in their beds, she would be able to find out.
With a heavy sigh, she opened her Inner Eye and waited for them to tell her the rest of the story.
In the glass, she saw that Harry Potter would defeat Tom Riddle with the help of many people along the way. The entire wizarding world would rejoice and slowly life would return to normal. The dead would be remembered and revered, and wizarding society would learn a lesson or two. Good times would return.
She gazed further ahead to the happy times after the great war. Times that would birth the oddest of customs, colloquialisms, and couples.
A joke shop in Diagon Alley would begin to sell edible versions of the mark worn by the followers of Tom Riddle.
The Animagi Hogwarts professor, who would become the Headmistress after the war, would often find solace in the half giant who had also known and loved Albus Dumbledore. Together they would carry out a quiet affair for many years, drawn together by sadness, held together by love.
Harry Potter would marry and help to continue the Prewett line on through his children. He would also fight to clear the name of the greasy haired spy who had been killed in the line of duty, assuring that his portrait would hang in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts.
Cassandra's own kin would survive the war and go on to teach the children of Hogwarts about the mysteries of the Inner Eye for many years.
Eventually all would be right with the world.
For a time.
Unable to to countenance the idea of watching another war emerge from the swirling depth of the orb, Cassandra sat back with a sigh and rested her head on the back of the chair she always sat in while she was crystal gazing. She'd seen far enough into the future for one lifetime.
Her son found her there in the morning, eyes peaceful and vacant; staring at nothing. She'd been predicting her own demise all month and he was glad she'd made it through into the morning so that his own son wouldn't have to think of Easter as the day his grandmother had passed from this world and onto the next.
Character Prompts: You may choose four.
1. Tom Marvolo Riddle 5 [You cannot choose any Pairing Prompts with him in it]
4. Antonin Dolohov 3 [Plus 1 Pairing Prompt if you write Remus' death]
5. Minerva McGonagall 5
7. Abraxas Malfoy 2 [Negates a condition on any prompt if you bring in Lucius]
Pairing Prompts: You may choose one. Pairings can be platonic/romantic/unrequited/love-hate but not friendship. Plus 1 paring from Antonin Dolohov
4. Rubeus Hagrid/Minerva McGonagall 2 [Plus 1 Extra Prompt of 3p if you write them after the war]
7. Ignatius Prewett/Lucretia Black 2 [Plus 1 Extra Prompt of 2p if you bring in Molly I]
Extra Prompts: You may choose 1 if 3p, 2 if 2p and 3 if 1p. [p = points] Plus one worth 3 from Hagrid/McG, plus one worth 2 from Prewett/Black.
(phrase) in my pants 2
(occasion) Easter 3
(phrase) like a beast 2
(phrase) all the wrong places 2
Theme: Each for 10 points.
1. Pre-Wizarding War I [No Dialogue Prompts]
2. During Wizarding War I [No Extra Prompts] – Negated.
3. Post-Wizarding War I [No Spell Prompts]