A/N: Quickest update...less than 15 minutes after originally posted. I realize that this gets off to a pretty slow start, so I've decided to grant the non-existant readers another chapter ^_^;; A little more background in this chapter, if anything was confusing...
Disclaimer:Joanne Rowling owns all things that have been previously mentioned in her series. I myself own the idea of Spirits and Roamers, and any OCs that come up (a majority of the main characters, as a general rule, were already dead). If you wish to use any of the themes mentioned, please e-mail me and we'll talk.
Chapter Two: Choosing a Path
"Oh, my."
The two words were a good summation of the last five minutes. They had reappeared on the edge of their base forest, and there Lily's questions had been answered. Though the odd telepathy that was moreover accepted rather than explained, Cedric had given the two a reasonable explanation of why they were needed. The basics themselves were so fantastical the only thinkable reaction to the words was to stare. The odd rush of thoughts of a month before was now confirmed, and they were not the things that one would wish to be informed were true.
"He's back...oh, God...what can we do..." Lily had taken the news very badly. She was, after all, rational, and when you hear that someone who killed you and, due to some reason, was dead, is alive once more, a natural response is to go into shock.
"Lil, calm down." James was, as in most situations of the sort, keeping his head. "So he's back? We have our job set out for us..."
Cedric, expecting reactions of the sort, replied, "We're having a council. That was why we wanted you here. Most people don't stay, so there aren't that many left here. About twenty, maybe. There's a handful of old Aurors, maybe five or six, quite a few kids, and another who's in his teens. Most of the ones who would be from around here didn't choose..."
"Choosing" was a term used for the choice of spiritual life, which was what they had entered. As Spirits, they had their forms as had been at death, and were expected to use a set of powers assigned by a mixture of their past and chance to the benefit of the light side. The dark side had their own counterpart of Spirits, the Roamers, as they were called, but their job was not quite clearly defined. A Spirit's job was to guide those on the brink of darkness to light, and to protect the light side from dangers unseen to the ordinary eye. Roamers, on the other hand, were almost like imps, wreaking havoc wherever it would be beneficial to dark. The only real familiarity was the choice: whether to die or to live on. The choice was only applicable to those who had died through complex and dark magic.
The silence was broken by Lily. "The meeting," she said slowly.
The short walk to the Center Circle, as their meeting place was called, took place in an odd and tight sort of silence. There was still the waning shock of what had happened, and added to that was the strangeness of returning to a place that was familiar, yet the differences were somehow shocking in mind.
When arriving at the Circle, they were met by the small crowd mentioned: Elana Rowan, head of their group by nature, who had been killed, at chance, by Salazar Slytherin at age sixteen, had been the first Spirit in five thousand years at her own Choosing, and was presently equivilent in age as if she was in her late thirties; Rachel Harley, Jackson Thomas, Alexander Mitchei, Kenneth Bones, and Janna Prewett, all Aurors, and, with the exception of Alexander (who had fallen victim to Grindelwald), all killed by Voldemort; six Muggles, the only ones of their kind killed who had not chosen death in fright; two twin eleven year olds, both girls, who were new to the council and slightly confused; a teenager of about fifteen or sixteen who could have easily been their older brother; and then about five who were under the age of eight and were not acutely aware of what was taking place. All but the youngest sat (or levitated, in the case of the twins) in a small circle punctuated by stones in each cardinal direction.
Elana cleared her throat and silence fell. Elana had the same sort of quality that Dumbledore held, as of holding attention and respect: neither could be denied those aspects.
"You all know why the meeting has been called. As it is impossible not to have, unless you didn't comprehend, I don't believe I need to elaborate. What we need to discuss is our duties and how we will fufill them." As a rule, the woman had no intention of mincing words. While her style of speech was, because of her time period, slightly more coordinated, she would only say as much as she meant and nothing more. The style of a language was a mixture of position and of her birth.
Kenneth was the first to speak. "For protection, we should put ourselves on guard in large areas." The man was very sensible and also straight to the point. "The train station, bus terminals, airports, maybe some landmarks. Any place that they might strike."
One of the Muggles, who, oddly enough, shared Kenneth's name, nodded in agreement and added, "The dates, we'll need them to organize how many of us should go to what places."
"Easily obtainable," said Elana, who eyed both in satisfaction. "Are there any other suggestions?"
One of the twin girls raised her hand tentively, to which the fifteen year old gave her some sort of quick explanation. She quickly put it down, but spoke nonetheless: "Could we try to help some people who would let us? We wouldn't have to tell them about anything, but people would need our help, and we're supposed to help them."
Elana, in her own way, gave her an encouraging smile. "A good idea, Margaret, but the only place that would accept would be," and, as she realized what she was saying, an understanding flowed through all, "Hogwarts..."
Both Lily, James, and Cedric, who had been watching in extreme interest but had done nothing to separate themselves from the group, jumped up in unison. The result was for Elena and Alexander to laugh, but the ones younger didn't quite understand, and, in contrast, the last victims did perfectly. Cedric had barely left Hogwarts and had never really had the chance of a goodbye, and Lily and James...well, that was even more easily detectable.
As soon as the laughter had faded, which was reasonably quickly, Elena nodded and said, "I think we've found our delegates, have we not?" At this, all of the adults, including the trio and not to mention the teenager, laughed as well. The twins seemed to understand, but didn't see the joke, and the younger ones were oblivious.
"For those who aren't going to Hogwarts, you need to work out more detailed plans...Anna, Margaret, John...does that sound all right?...you'll all need disguises, if you're going to be seen by anyone..." The rest of the meeting was a bit of a blur, adreneline having claimed victims. Though spirits alone, with body only as much as their mental magic could obtain, it was impossible to say there was no mixture of strong emotions. There had not been anything of this scale for nearly fourteen years, and, while having work was not something which had proven good in the past, it was an improvement from the overriding sameness in their daily patterns. Excitement of what was to come was not missing in the Circle, though there was some apprehension mixed in. Regardless of any emotions, by the time the meeting had concluded all were in the sort of mood one could only get from planning things of great magnitude. There was now only one thing left: to put the plans into action.
Disclaimer:Joanne Rowling owns all things that have been previously mentioned in her series. I myself own the idea of Spirits and Roamers, and any OCs that come up (a majority of the main characters, as a general rule, were already dead). If you wish to use any of the themes mentioned, please e-mail me and we'll talk.
Chapter Two: Choosing a Path
"Oh, my."
The two words were a good summation of the last five minutes. They had reappeared on the edge of their base forest, and there Lily's questions had been answered. Though the odd telepathy that was moreover accepted rather than explained, Cedric had given the two a reasonable explanation of why they were needed. The basics themselves were so fantastical the only thinkable reaction to the words was to stare. The odd rush of thoughts of a month before was now confirmed, and they were not the things that one would wish to be informed were true.
"He's back...oh, God...what can we do..." Lily had taken the news very badly. She was, after all, rational, and when you hear that someone who killed you and, due to some reason, was dead, is alive once more, a natural response is to go into shock.
"Lil, calm down." James was, as in most situations of the sort, keeping his head. "So he's back? We have our job set out for us..."
Cedric, expecting reactions of the sort, replied, "We're having a council. That was why we wanted you here. Most people don't stay, so there aren't that many left here. About twenty, maybe. There's a handful of old Aurors, maybe five or six, quite a few kids, and another who's in his teens. Most of the ones who would be from around here didn't choose..."
"Choosing" was a term used for the choice of spiritual life, which was what they had entered. As Spirits, they had their forms as had been at death, and were expected to use a set of powers assigned by a mixture of their past and chance to the benefit of the light side. The dark side had their own counterpart of Spirits, the Roamers, as they were called, but their job was not quite clearly defined. A Spirit's job was to guide those on the brink of darkness to light, and to protect the light side from dangers unseen to the ordinary eye. Roamers, on the other hand, were almost like imps, wreaking havoc wherever it would be beneficial to dark. The only real familiarity was the choice: whether to die or to live on. The choice was only applicable to those who had died through complex and dark magic.
The silence was broken by Lily. "The meeting," she said slowly.
The short walk to the Center Circle, as their meeting place was called, took place in an odd and tight sort of silence. There was still the waning shock of what had happened, and added to that was the strangeness of returning to a place that was familiar, yet the differences were somehow shocking in mind.
When arriving at the Circle, they were met by the small crowd mentioned: Elana Rowan, head of their group by nature, who had been killed, at chance, by Salazar Slytherin at age sixteen, had been the first Spirit in five thousand years at her own Choosing, and was presently equivilent in age as if she was in her late thirties; Rachel Harley, Jackson Thomas, Alexander Mitchei, Kenneth Bones, and Janna Prewett, all Aurors, and, with the exception of Alexander (who had fallen victim to Grindelwald), all killed by Voldemort; six Muggles, the only ones of their kind killed who had not chosen death in fright; two twin eleven year olds, both girls, who were new to the council and slightly confused; a teenager of about fifteen or sixteen who could have easily been their older brother; and then about five who were under the age of eight and were not acutely aware of what was taking place. All but the youngest sat (or levitated, in the case of the twins) in a small circle punctuated by stones in each cardinal direction.
Elana cleared her throat and silence fell. Elana had the same sort of quality that Dumbledore held, as of holding attention and respect: neither could be denied those aspects.
"You all know why the meeting has been called. As it is impossible not to have, unless you didn't comprehend, I don't believe I need to elaborate. What we need to discuss is our duties and how we will fufill them." As a rule, the woman had no intention of mincing words. While her style of speech was, because of her time period, slightly more coordinated, she would only say as much as she meant and nothing more. The style of a language was a mixture of position and of her birth.
Kenneth was the first to speak. "For protection, we should put ourselves on guard in large areas." The man was very sensible and also straight to the point. "The train station, bus terminals, airports, maybe some landmarks. Any place that they might strike."
One of the Muggles, who, oddly enough, shared Kenneth's name, nodded in agreement and added, "The dates, we'll need them to organize how many of us should go to what places."
"Easily obtainable," said Elana, who eyed both in satisfaction. "Are there any other suggestions?"
One of the twin girls raised her hand tentively, to which the fifteen year old gave her some sort of quick explanation. She quickly put it down, but spoke nonetheless: "Could we try to help some people who would let us? We wouldn't have to tell them about anything, but people would need our help, and we're supposed to help them."
Elana, in her own way, gave her an encouraging smile. "A good idea, Margaret, but the only place that would accept would be," and, as she realized what she was saying, an understanding flowed through all, "Hogwarts..."
Both Lily, James, and Cedric, who had been watching in extreme interest but had done nothing to separate themselves from the group, jumped up in unison. The result was for Elena and Alexander to laugh, but the ones younger didn't quite understand, and, in contrast, the last victims did perfectly. Cedric had barely left Hogwarts and had never really had the chance of a goodbye, and Lily and James...well, that was even more easily detectable.
As soon as the laughter had faded, which was reasonably quickly, Elena nodded and said, "I think we've found our delegates, have we not?" At this, all of the adults, including the trio and not to mention the teenager, laughed as well. The twins seemed to understand, but didn't see the joke, and the younger ones were oblivious.
"For those who aren't going to Hogwarts, you need to work out more detailed plans...Anna, Margaret, John...does that sound all right?...you'll all need disguises, if you're going to be seen by anyone..." The rest of the meeting was a bit of a blur, adreneline having claimed victims. Though spirits alone, with body only as much as their mental magic could obtain, it was impossible to say there was no mixture of strong emotions. There had not been anything of this scale for nearly fourteen years, and, while having work was not something which had proven good in the past, it was an improvement from the overriding sameness in their daily patterns. Excitement of what was to come was not missing in the Circle, though there was some apprehension mixed in. Regardless of any emotions, by the time the meeting had concluded all were in the sort of mood one could only get from planning things of great magnitude. There was now only one thing left: to put the plans into action.