Chapter 2: The Prophecy

Sibyll Trelawney walked into the Hog's Head with a smile on her face, appearing to glide across the ground with an eerily graceful stride, broken and confused as it seemed to be. It almost looked like she was not sure where her foot would land at any moment but allowed the momentum to carry her forward regardless. She smelled heavily of incense, so much that many around her wrinkled their noses in distaste, and whispered lightly beneath her breath, like a soft wind of incoherent secrets. She had been meditating frequently over the past week to stir the activity of her inner eye, calling to the Void for a sign of her true abilities to make itself known when it was most needed.

Sibyll caught sight of Albus Dumbledore and followed him into the private room. The wizard greeted her kindly, his aura strong and comforting with a gentle hum, seemingly untroubled by the weight of war. Sibyll responded with the necessary pleasantries while adjusting her large round glasses to settle neatly atop the bridge of her nose, green eyes drifting to a place beyond vision. Albus began to question the strange woman on her techniques, and she outlined the usual ways of looking into the Void, but Albus did not seem particularly interested. She knew she would need something more convincing to prove she was not a fraud.

"Naturally, the more efficient ways of seeing the future are more dangerous and should not be attempted by children. Perhaps fifth years and higher could also work with some Shadow Water and ivory daggers. I would, of course, recommend diamond looking glasses, but they are far too expensive for commercial use."

At this, Albus raised a brow in curiosity. He had heard of Shadow Water being used for advanced divination, but the other methods were unusual. Just as he was about to question the logic though, Sibyll fell abruptly into a trance and began to speak with the voices of the Forgotten.

"Power, Sight, Truth, and Light,

Joined together they will fight.

Destruction, Time, Creation, Space,

The Dark Lord they'll have to face.

Torment, Solitude, Madness, Restriction,

To overcome the Divine Affliction,

Power, Sight, Truth, and Light,

Only one beholds the Rite."

When Sibyll returned to herself, she offered Albus a questioning gaze for his stunned expression.

"Is something wrong?"

The old wizard slowly shook his head before coming back to himself. He smiled softly at Sibyll, his blue eyes tiredly unfocused. "Nothing is wrong. In fact, I would like to officially offer you the position of Divination Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Sibyll smiled widely and shook the old wizard's hand. "I cannot wait for the opportunity to work with you and the rest of the staff."

Though she was not sure what happened, Sibyll reveled in her success, thanking the Void for its aid while sending her own magic into it via her natural link. She was certainly not as strongly connected to the Void as others could claim, but the link was strong enough to make her a Seer. She would not dare to complain.

Meanwhile, a tall, pale young man with black eyes and hair walked quickly away from the Hog's Head.

Severus Snape apparated to the top of a grassy hill and pressed his wand to the Dark Mark on his left forearm. A portal appeared before him, the edges covered in flickering purple flames. Nothing was visible beyond the door-shaped connection, but Severus walked through it without fear.

When Severus emerged from the portal, it closed behind him, and he was left in a stone room with a throne of bones set in the center ring. There was enough space to hold the entire Great Hall of Hogwarts in the cylindrical room.

Severus strolled along the blood-red carpet toward his Lord's throne until he could see Voldemort's red eyes clearly. Then, he bowed low and waited for acknowledgement. "Severus Snape, what brings you to my domain unannounced?"

The wizard sighed to relieve his tension. "My Lord, I overheard a prophecy being delivered. I thought you would want to know."

Voldemort listened as Severus recited the prophecy, his anger building with each word. He mentally released a raging rant. "How dare they? I am a demigod! I am immortal! What could four mere mortals do to me? I am untouchable! I have surpassed the limits of humans! They cannot touch me! This prophecy though… It is far too close to my situation to risk ignoring. Dark Lord… Divine Affliction...yes, there can be little doubt. These four mortals will threaten me somehow." He looked down at his follower, angry but controlled. "The prophecy implies that the four can only succeed together, so I really only need to kill one to win. If we assume that the four words are always coordinated with the same people in order, we may be able to figure out who they are before they become threats. What do you think Severus?"

"My Lord, I believe the first line refers to traits while the third refers to magical affinities."

Voldemort nodded thoughtfully and paused before responding. "If so, then the first person would theoretically be the biggest magical threat: Power and Destruction. They say Monsters are born only to destroy: they're extremely powerful and can even become immortal if allowed to master their magic... Pure, Elemental, Abstract, Natural, and Transformation. They are notoriously difficult to predict though since they can be purebloods, mudbloods, or somewhere in-between. Sight and Time probably refers to a Psychic or Seer. That one would have the benefit of knowledge but wouldn't contribute much to an attack. The final two are far more vague. Truth and Creation could refer to an elf or some other creature, but I have never heard of magic relating to space. Have you anything to contribute?"

Severus thought for a moment but shook his head in resignation. Voldemort dismissed the wizard before returning to his thoughts. "Monsters are dangerous. After all, there is a reason the Egyptians enslaved them. Black hair, vivid eyes, and pale skin aren't exactly uncommon here in England. What else gives away a Monster? I suppose I'll have to research the Egyptians. Surely, they must have found a way to track them down. There must have been a few foolish parents who tried to hide their children."

Voldemort sneered into the empty room, cursing the fact that, even as a divinity, he still had to fear for his life. He would not stand for it.

Harry James Potter had been born on July 31, 1980. Eight months later, as Lily was holding him in a small garden, Harry saw some flowers and reached for them, dismayed that they were so far away. Suddenly, the branches of a rose bush grew several feet to bring a brightly blooming rose right into the infant's face. His bright green eyes lit up with delight, but Lily was shocked. She had never heard of an infant performing such strong accidental magic. When she consulted her husband, he assured her that it was not too odd except for the fact that it could only be done with Natural magic, something neither of them had. Usually, Natural magic came from creatures. Humans rarely developed the gift, so James called in Albus Dumbledore to make sure there were not going to be any more surprises.

When Albus arrived at the Potters' house, he hid his anxiety. After all, what were the odds that a fully human child would have Natural magic? With the prophecy made so recently indicating the involvement of a Monster who would suffer from "torment", he feared for the Potters' safety should Harry prove to be one.

James welcomed his old headmaster into the house where Lily sat nervously upon the couch. Harry restlessly stirred in her lap. Albus offered a few greetings before walking over to the boy, tapping his wand on top of Harry's head.

Harry giggled in delight as the magic flowed through him, warm and comforting with a low hum of power. Streams of light emanated from the wand's tip, spiraling back toward its owner's hand like vines, climbing and intertwining. Red, orange, green, blue, and white ribbons of magic were splitting and twisting together in a dance of life and color. The display was beautiful, but Albus' smile displayed sadness with a twinge of fear. Lily, seeing this up close, nearly burst into tears.

"Albus? There isn't anything wrong… is there?"

"I am sorry Lily, but your son is… a Monster." The words were spoken gravely, but the worried mother only became confused and slightly angered by the statement. "How dare you call my son a monster? He hasn't done anything to warrant such a title!"

James, on the other hand, was in shock, eyes wide and hands trembling. "Albus, are you certain? Is there no other explanation?" The old man hung his head solemnly, trying to find the words to comfort his former students. "Only Monsters have this peculiar combination of magical forms, and the physical attributes match. There can be no denying it."

Lily's face was burning with anger, and she was barely able to keep the grip on her child relaxed. "James, what on Earth are you talking about? How could you call our son a monster?"

James finally came to his senses and sat slowly beside his wife, lightly ruffling Harry's hair. "You never learned about the forms of magic since it's a subject passed down orally within magical families." The man sighed heavily before continuing. "There are seven forms of magic: Pure, Elemental, Abstract, Control, Transformation, Death, and Natural. The test Albus just performed was designed to test how many forms of magic a person has and which ones are present. The forms are color coded: white for Pure, green for Elemental, red for Abstract, yellow for Control, orange for Transformation, purple for Death, and blue for Natural. Therefore, Harry has Pure, Elemental, Abstract, Transformation, and Natural magic. These are the forms which define a certain type of mage, commonly called a Monster. Monsters are rarely born outside of Egypt, and they are seldom born there these days either. Unfortunately, the name was never changed, mostly because nobody cared enough to bother once Monsters became uncommon. Besides, Monsters are still considered very dangerous today. They are naturally intelligent, powerful, develop highly destructive powers which no other person can ever possess, and have the potential to become immortal. Many would rather kill them before they have the chance to grow up. Albus, isn't there something we can do to keep this hidden until he can defend himself?"

The old wizard stared long and hard at the fearful man, contemplating the options. Lily, on the other hand, was more concerned that such an important piece of magical knowledge had been denied to muggleborns. "What do these forms of magic do? Are the subjects of Hogwarts divided between them? Are they separate? Why don't you teach this in Hogwarts?" She nearly kept ranting, but when she saw the resigned look on Albus' face, she fell silent.

"Lily, though I hate to admit it, the old magical families influence standard curriculum more than you would like to think. The board of governors decided that, since muggleborns rarely have any forms other than Pure magic, formal institutions would teach only that form, and families would be in charge of passing down knowledge and skills concerning the other six. However, Pure magic is the most versatile form, so there has never been a reason to demand that other forms be taught at Hogwarts. The purebloods prefer to keep the knowledge of greater magic to themselves. We can talk more about this later, but for now, we have far greater problems. There is a prophecy which implies that a Monster will work with three others to defeat Voldemort. Due to their rarity, I believe it is safe to assume that Harry is involved. I can hide his powers for a time, but if I do, he will be unable to use them. In order to protect himself, he will need to master his magic, not hide it. Therefore, instead of hiding his magic, we could instead hide his location. I could place you all under the fidelius charm so that nobody can harm Harry until he is ready."

As Albus went on to describe the protections he could offer to the family, he could not help but fear for the child. At least he would be able to keep Harry's location hidden from those who would hunt him. The Headmaster simply hoped that would be enough.

Voldemort grinned as he completed the ritual, his body painted with the blood of a panther as he sat upon a stone at the center of a lake. The water was black with shadow-like mists creeping over the surface. The lake of liquid darkness, also known as Shadow Water, remained still in the silence of a night thick with magic.

The demigod rose from his spot and returned to the Stone Tower where he sat upon his skeleton throne. Red eyes shone with anticipation. "Harry Potter, I shall kill you before you can even speak my name. Then, nobody will be able to threaten me. All I have to do is track you down."