The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie

by Clouded Senses

Secrets are lies in pretty disguise, and their family is full of them. This is a re-working of Harry Potter and the Mark of the Panther, which I originally published and later discontinued on Quizilla. Title borrowed from The Joy Formidable; I do not own.

Growth. Change. Age.

Learning and development. Sacrifices and honour. Achievements and atrocities. But always moving forward. Always evolving. Never staying the same. This is life; this is what it means to be human. Our kind understands that the world is volatile, transformations inevitable. The escapists treasure this notion and use it as fuel to evade the reality of the present and dwell in the fantasies of their minds. Some look to the future for the answers, in the hope that it will bring relief. But the future doesn't hold answers, it holds only questions. And in a world like ours, more questions arise with each passing day.

After all, Man dwells in both poverty and wealth, in despair and hope. In starvation and health, and in deprivation and excess. All is full of uncertainty; times are hardly fair. And there are always those who would seek to use these imbalances against others for personal gain. In a world like ours, ceaseless vigilance is the only way to ensure safety, and stepping on others is the method by which success is attained. Ours is the era of lawful greed, in which the careless individual will ultimately pay the price.

The intelligent among us recognize one aspect of humanity that is static, unrelenting, constant; one aspect of our race that is both our greatest triumph and our greatest defeat. In a word: history—the story of Man, the key to understanding his present and the means by which the future can be foretold. They say knowledge is power; there is truth yet in this old cliché. The one who holds knowledge of history is the one to be feared, for he understands that to command someone's future, you will need to command his present—and to command his present, you must know how to use his past against him.

If you want to survive, you must be the one in command. You must condition your mind with the past, for this is a weapon most powerful and most dangerous. It must be wielded with prudence and respect—and most of all, never forgotten. Because History is the worst adversary, it always comes back for those who ignore it.

And so, dear reader, I leave you with a plea as our story unfolds…

Be vigilant. Look out for yourself and for those you love.

And for mercy's sake—don't ever forget.