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What if hidden between the cracks of Hogwarts all these years has been a girl wizards and witches everywhere thought to be dead. But hiding in the midst of the all the darkness that lurks within the wizarding world is a child that may be the safe haven for many lives that are about to be lost.
Apparating in and out of the halls throughout the school and all the hidden passageways, to unsuspecting eyes, I was invisible and merely a flash of smoke before them. That was how it had been for years now, that was how it had to be. Staying here had proven risky in times of great hardship, but this was a place I had been given as a sanctuary as long as I needed it, and I wasn't going to leave without putting up a fight.
Professor McGonagall took her place at the head of the great hall and the stutter of pending conversations and off end chatter took a mighty halt. All eyes turned towards her as she began to speak. "A great sadness lurks around us nowadays and though it is difficult, we must rejoice for our triumph. We have to stick together and grow out of this shadow that passes over us. We have lost many, but gained a freedom that future generations will always remember us for." I hid in the shadows as she spoke to the first years about their sorting and houses, then began to place the hat on their heads, sorting them into either Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw.
Suddenly as the process ended and the houses gave their last cheer for the student that had just been sorted, I watched amused as the Professor searched around the great hall for a missing student that was listed. Her eyes seemed to widen as she read the name over more then once. As though it were an illusion that waited before her, and not reality. And as surprising as it was, it was true.
After all my hidden years watching the Golden Trio succeed from the shadows, it was now my time to make my life complete. I had watched for almost seven years as Harry Potter, Ronald Weasly, and Hermione Granger triumphed time after time again, and as Harry's guardian, my destiny was to make sure they succeeded, and now I had completed my task, I was free.
"Gwendolyn Gryffindor…" her voice cracked as she said the name allowed, beginning an uprising that made the Gryffindor table swell with confusion. Smiling, I felt the nauseating sensation of apparating to the front of the room. I had three weeks until I was seventeen, but I had been oblivious to the rules and doing underage magic in the shadows ever since I was young, you can't punish a person that doesn't exist.
Standing before every table, a shocked gasp seemed to creep eerily across hall. Looking from the students' wide mouths to the professor, I couldn't help but chuckled as she leaned closer, as if to check if I were real. "Your Gwendolyn?" she asked almost in a whisper of a voice.
"In the flesh. I actually go by Jynx, if you'd be so kind." I smiled as her mouth continued to hang in shock. Catching herself, she straightened and looked sceptically. She had a certain air about her. This was a woman that didn't tolerate rule breaking, she didn't miss an appointment and she was never late. This was the kind of teacher that would fail you if you were late, scare you well into your adult years and held a soft spot for very little students, Harry Potter, being one of those few people.
"Care to explain yourself? Is this suppose to be some consumed joke?" her tone was clipped, making me almost amused as I watched her mouth form a thin line. I had watched Professor McGonagall closely over the years, and though she was serious and never joking, I truly believed she had moments where she there were flashes of caring that she would pass through, almost like phases of life.
"No Professor. My name is Gwendolyn Gryffindor. Pure blood descendent of Goderic Gryffindor, founder of the Gryffindor house, and co founder of four of Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm sorry to enrolee late, but I assure you I am not a stranger to this school. In fact, I know it better then most students here now." Professor McGonagall looked taken aback as I spoke to her, clearly surprised.
"Is that so?" she asked in a clipped tone before adding, "Well Miss Gryffindor, care to explain why that is?"
"Yes it is. Most recall Harry Potter's second year here? Do you not?" I watched as puzzled faces looked around, and as I watched, I met the very eyes of the boy I had spent the last seven years watching over. Confusion was evident on all their faces. "Well, Tom Riddle" I watched as all the students flinched at the name. But fear in a name only creates fear of oneself, and he was no longer around to be feared. "Was successful at concealing himself inside the pages of his diary, I just happened to be successful at concealing myself in the walls of this very school. Watching over you all as the years past."
"In what right mind would give you the idea such a task is alright, or tolerable in this school? You could have been stuck in there forever!" she was clearly astounded at my actions. Her voice high strung as all the eyes adverted between us. Professor McGonagall had seen many things over the years while she had been teaching here, and though it surprised me that this came as a shock to her, I knew there were no consequences to these actions. How could she possibly punish a person that had ceased to exist for the past seven to eight years?
"Over time Professor, the sacrifice was the last thing on my mind."
"Why might I ask that you would do such a thing?"
"Harry Potter miss." her eyes widened at the thought as her lips pierced into a thin line once again. "I am the last standing Guardian of the Crest. And my job was to make sure Harry Potter and the Golden trio were to triumph. I took the job in the name of Goderic Gryffindor, and now… my mission is complete. I am free of all duties and granted permission to continue life." I smiled as her eyes widened at the thought.
Shaking her head, she looked from me to the paper and sighed, motioning for me to take a seat on the wobbly stool and placing the old tattered sorting hat on top of my head. "Hmm, ah, I see. Cunning, brave, loyal, and strong willed. Yes I see it all here, simply no place to put you but in your families' own house? You have done great things, your place is in Gryffindor!" the sorting hat screeched as I removed him from my head and began to join my own table. Bursts of confused applause erupt throughout the hall in small spurts as the Headmaster remained composed at the front of the room.
"I wish you all the best of luck through the year." she huffed, shrugging her shoulders in defeat as the food appeared and she took her seat in the headmaster's chair along with all the other professors that continued to talk of the matter at hand in hushed voices.
Taking my seat at my house table beside another first year, I began to dig in hungrily, but I hadn't a chance to enjoy it as suddenly my meal was cut short when a tall, lanky, black haired boy with glasses and a lightening bolt scar on his forehead stepped forward, followed closely by Ron Weasly, Hermione Granger, and Harry's long time crush Ginny Weasly. Looks of determination were plastered on their faces and as I wiped my hands, I swung my legs around the bench and stood from my seat. I wasn't the tallest of all people, but in no way was I the smallest either.
"How?" he asked appalled, clearly voicing his confusion and opinion on the matter. "How are you my guardian, why is it that if you were suppose to protect me, everything that happened, still happened? Why weren't you there when Sirius died, or when I needed your help saving Dumbledore, what about Umbrigde, or Lupin. I've needed you so many times and you've never been there, how do you expect me to believe you? You've never helped me in my life!" I couldn't help but grimace at his words. His eyes were fuming and as I looked into the eyes of his followers, I saw that they believed his words also, seeing no proof of who I was. But how could they have? I was exceptionally good at my job.
"Really… is that so? Well Harry Potter, answer me this. Who do you think opened the doors to lead you to the mirror in your first year when you found the Philosopher's stone? You wouldn't have found that room all by yourself, trust me Potter, I know."
"Or how about in your second year? Cars just don't drive by themselves, not that good at least, and the spiders, who do you think tipped of the spiders not to attack you as they left the castle in lines. Those things aren't forgiving animals Harry, they will attack if not told to stand down." I looked undisputedly towards Hermione as I continued, amused by her confused look. "And Hermione, when you 'found' that book with the information on the monster before you were petrified, didn't it fall off the shelf at you? Practically thrown in your lap I'd say, as if someone just pushed it out towards you. And the diary, do you honestly think that young Ginny Weasley could have gotten into your dorm if I hadn't let her in? Or how about the Basilisk, who do you think arranged for Dumbledore to find Fawkes anyways? And the sword, my sword? That was no stroke of luck, because if anything, luck has never been part of the plan."
I ranted on as their eyes grew wide in realization. "In your third year, when the school was on lock down. Who do you think hid the fat lady? Or told Sirius when to hide from passing professors. How about the Marauder's map? Do you honestly think the Weasly Twin's would have just coincidently had that with them when they found you if I hadn't convinced them to take it? Is that enough for you Harry? Or dare I go on. Everything that ever happened to you was written down in stone for me, it was your prophecy. Everything you ever did was lead by greatness, a greatness that has been passed down through my family for generations, and my job was to make sure you would never fail. This school did what it did for you because I made it so. You may be your own person, but nothing ever happened within these walls without me knowing it." I smiled as their eyes grew wide once again, by this time, many onlookers were watching and listening intently.
"I made this school what it is today. Everything that was ever suppose to happen within these ancient walls, happened. Believe me when I say that even the great Golden Trio has not always stood alone." Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all stood before me speechless. I could see the hidden pain masked in their eyes at the pull back of all their old memories. The truth was not for the faint hearted, but they were strong people… they would take what they were given and appreciate the stroke of truth.
Turning to excuse myself, something popped into my head. "You see Harry Potter, even with your friends around, I knew every time you felt alone, every time you were depressed or lonely. Though you believed your losses were no one else's, there are many things that even 'The Boy Who Lived' doesn't know. I felt every emotion, every pain, every time any of you thought you were alone… but you were never without help, you just hadn't the idea that I was there, that I was waiting." silence crept throughout the hall as I could feel every eye on me. Lowering myself slightly in a bow as a sign of riddance, I pursed my lips as the students looked from one to another. "If you'll excuse me, I bid a pleasant evening to you all. Students, Professors… Headmaster." I nodded my head as I walked out of the hall.
I could hear the bursts of whispers that erupted throughout the great hall as I left. I suppose it was dramatic, and the past was better left in the past as with the secrets and memories no one knew of. But I wasn't content with leaving Hogwarts at the end of this year without being noticed. There were things I could do that no others could ever dream of, but I had not been granted with those advantages for no reason, the mission I had been given was one no other person could have carried out. It would have taken a Hogwarts heir. As though my last name is Gryffindor, the blood that ran through my veins were split between the four founders.
Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff founded this school long ago, and though they were unrelated, somehow… a lone of each of their blood runs through my veins. So as I carry the legacy for the four greatest wizards and witches to ever walk our world and the muggle world, their motives question me. Though it was Godric's hat that their knowledge was transferred to, just as Harry's first year, it proves that your choices stand more clear then what fate throws at you, and that is what defined the Golden Trio more then anything, it was their choices that made them stand out.
Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger weren't even suppose to return to their seventh year of Hogwarts, but past the battle between good and evil, the prophecy had been cut short. There was no ongoing plans for the rest of their futures. I was free when their sixth year ended, but I never thought they would come back here. I always believed there were to many memories that pushed the three away from this place, not draw them in closer.
Walking along through the corridors of the ancient school, I took a deep breath, happy that for the first time I was able to take a breath of air for real, and not let my figment of a memory do it for me. Finally making my way to the seventh floor, I approached the large painting of the fat lady as she sat humming to herself quietly and admiring her pink dress. "Good evening miss." I smiled as I caught her attention, her wide eyes looking to me and a grin crawling onto her face.
"I have not seen you around here before young one. What brings you here?" she asked in a high pitched voice, her curiosity evident.
"I seek only an entrance my good lady. As I am a new student, but have seen you many, many times throughout the years."
"Is that so? How could you get around the school without us seeing you?" she asked as if it were not very difficult, even if it were.
"Apparation and small tricks." I grinned as her eyes widened at the thought.
"But there is a spell, no apperation is possible in this school."
"Ah, but you see miss, there are ways around even the strictest rules." I smiled coyly as she nodded her head in agreement.
"Interesting, very interesting. And what might be your name?" she smiled as I stood patiently and talked to her, acknowledging her pink dress and high voice.
"I go by the name of Jynx."
"Ah, a wonderful name, your house definitely fits you. To enter, you will need a password." her voice was normal and her smile still evident. But the small request still seemed to cause me much distress. I had not received the password from my fellow housemates. But I knew it would be something strong. Independent and loyal.
"The loyal lion leads all?" I asked her, it was more of a question then an answer, but I suppose it worked for now. I had heard the password used years ago and the Gryffindor's were impervious to using the same password more then once. This seemed to be the last one I could remember.
"Actually, it's the loyal lion leads, but it works. You may enter." she smiled willingly as the portrait opened up and I looked around before entering the common room. I had been in here many times, but never had I seen it with my human eyes, only through the midst of the soul that lurked through the walls.
With my own eyes, it was brilliant. Red and gold scattered the entire room as I looked around in awe. I had seen in here many times, but never had I seen in to the extent I had today.
Taking a seat on the couches, I watched as the fire sizzled and danced among the fireplace. Smiling, the sight inspired me. I had yet to use magic openly as my past uses were manipulation and apparation through the walls of the school. Laying out my hand before me, I willed the lighting sparks to fly from the edge of my finger tips. Watching in awe as the mini fireworks exploded along my hand openly.
Time ceased to matter as I continued to watch the display, even when the other Gryffindor's walked through the portrait smiling and laughing as the replay of the night danced in their eyes. They flooded in, on and on, student after student and though my ears were attuned to their racket, my eyes were adverted to the sparks flying on my fingers.
"Hey, you're the Gryffindor girl right?" I was pulled away from my amusement by a voice that caught my attention. I hadn't seen him often, but I believe he seemed familiar. Standing up, I looked into his face and was caught off guard by his looks. He had shaggy, dark blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He was tall and muscular, with a lean stance and a small grin playing on his lips.
"And you must be the Gryffindor boy, am I correct?" I smiled as his grin widened, sensing a hint of sarcasm. I waited in quiet for a minute as he both starred at each other. "But, as the facts stand, yes… I am the Gryffindor girl. And you are?"
"Oh yeah… sorry. My name's Michael. I'm a seventh year here." he stuck his hands in his pockets as I sat down on the couch again and looked up at him, waiting for him to sit also.
"Well Michael the seventh year, are you going to sit down, or would you prefer to stand?" I asked smiling as he let out a small chuckle and took a seat beside me. "So where are you from?"
"Oh, here and there. You?" he asked lightly. I almost had to laugh at the question. The shear irony of the answer would bring a grin to my face every time I remember the simple question.
"This school." I smiled again as his face contorted with confusion. "I have lived within the school for as long as I can remember. You just haven't been able to see me." he nodded his head, obviously not understanding what I really meant, but deciding to drop the subject.
"So do you have any plans for this year?" he asked curiously. His eyes flashing as they met my own, but cowering away when I caught him starring.
"I just want to live this year. I'm kind of use to fading into the background. I want to remember this year forever." I grinned to myself and inwardly smiled more then I had in a while now. It was true. I just wanted to remember this year for as long as I could before I left here and didn't come back.
Turning back to Michael, I found myself locked in his gaze once again. I had never experienced this feeling before… and nor should I have. I had been locked within the walls for the past seven years. But as his ice blue eyes met my own, I saw emotions locked away that I had not seen or experienced before. Secrets that had been locked away, out of reach.
Suddenly, our connection was broken as a shrill voice erupted through the common room. "Oh Mikey!" turning my head, I watched as a medium sized brunette ran over waving her hands at us. Standing up, she smiled and waved to Michael who had now stood up also and was awaiting the arrival of this new girl. I had seen her around few times before now. Michelle, her name was Michelle.
Bounding up, she wrapped her arms around Michael's neck and kissed him on the lips long and sweetly, so long, watching their embrace began to take it's toll on me. Stepping away, I found a shy tinge kick me as I turned and walked away, curious as to meet some different Gryffindor students.
"Hold on Jynx!" I had only taken a few steps, so their voices were not to difficult to be heard. Stopping in my tracks, I turned to face them with a content smile on my face. Their embrace seemed to bother me. But what you've never had you can't miss, so the tug wasn't as strong as perhaps it should have been.
"Oh hi! You're the new girl!" her voice was high and ecstatic as her arms wrapped around Michael's mid section and her head rested on his shoulder.
"Hello Michelle Weirton." she looked taken aback as I stated her first and last name. Most likely unused to the straightforwardness of my greeting. "It is a pleasure to see you again." I smiled lightly as her face contorted with confusion and questioning, much like Michael's had earlier.
"Again?" she questioned. I could feel Michael's eyes on me as I looked expectantly at Michelle.
"If you'll excuse me." I nodded my head as I walked away. I could hear Michelle's faint reply as I began to saunter away, unsure of who I would speak to next.
Walking around aimlessly, I caught sight of Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione as I began to approach them.
Sadly, not before my attention was torn by a faint whispering that seemed to seep through my head like an unwanted plague. Looking around the room, the rest of the students seemed unscathed and untouched by the voice, the rest of the students… but Harry Potter.