AUTHOR'S NOTES: I wasn't going to post this next chapter this
soon, but seeing all the reviews (this story is now tying for second place
in # of reviews with my Pirates of the Caribbean/Quantum Leap story) made
me want to write more. I love getting feedback; it's what keeps me motivated
to finish a story (or at least, keep working on it--I still only have 2
complete stories out of the 60 that I have started). Anyway, review responses
are at the bottom.
CHAPTER TWO
Secrets and Decisions
The movement woke Dena. Seeing her daughter awake, she jumped up and rushed to embrace her. Caitlin, struggling to ease the pain searing through her brain, held up her hands to stop her mother. Dena's face washed over with concern.
"Are you okay, honey?"
Caitlin grunted, "Killer headache."
The alert bell was pulled by Dena faster than the speed of light. She then gently wrapped her arms around her daughter as the younger woman buried her face in her chest.
Almost immediately, a homely woman entered the room. "What's the matter, dearie?"
"She's awake and having pain in her head," replied Dena as she stood to let the nurse examine Caitlin.
Caitlin, through the hot white flashes rolling across her mind, looked at the nurse in confusion when the woman produced with a flourish an oak wand from her robes. She carefully tapped the wand on Caitlin's temples while muttering a few foreign-sounding words, and the more intense pain was instantly relieved.
As her head throbbed painlessly on, Caitlin queried, "What's going on?"
The nurse exchanged a look with Dena, who leaned over, patted Caitlin's hand, and said, "We have a lot to talk about."
"Darned sure we do, Mother!" exclaimed Caitlin. Her next words came in a one-breath stream. "Who's Dumbledore and what's a muggle and what is a Magithallus and what in tarnation is a squib?!"
Dena and the nurse exchanged another glance, this one filled with shock and surprise. Cautiously, the nurse ventured, "Where did you hear of such things, m'dear?"
"In my vision," was the sighed reply.
"Vision?" Dena looked downright frightened. "What vision?"
Caitlin screwed up her eyebrows in remembrance, then sped into a detailed description of what had happened. Dena looked on in increasing horror, while the nurse developed a more curious, almost triumphant countenance. When at last she was finished with her account, Caitlin sat back and looked eagerly at the two women, who were staring back at her.
After several moments of silence, Caitlin questioned impatiently, "Well?"
Dena cleared her throat and spoke. "What you just described is exactly what happened."
"My dear," announced the nurse, "you have just demonstrated what we for ages have been attempting to discover--this must be one of the effects of having a fully operational Magithallus!"
Dena pursed her lips. "They'll want to test her, won't they?"
"Test me?" Caitlin didn't like the sound of that. "I don't think so. This is my mind and I'd like to keep it to myself, thank you very much."
The nurse nodded gravely. "We must keep this development a secret. No one must know what you can do, Ms. Boyd, or you'll be subjected to the most rigorous experiments and tests the Ministry of Magic can perform on you. We can't let them get wind of this."
"But... wouldn't it be a good thing for everyone to know what their full powers are capable of?" Caitlin didn't like the idea of tests and experiments, but she did understand that in the normal world, this would be a scientific opportunity like none other. Why would they want to keep it a secret?
"Yes, I suppose it would be, but if the Ministry hears of your powers, they'll want to use you as a weapon in the war. They wouldn't think twice about the fact that you're a human being. All they would be concerned about is that you might be able to help win this war."
"War? What war?"
Dena crossed her arms and hugged them close to her chest. "Honey, as much as I would love to explain what's going on, I think Dumbledore may be a better candidate for introducing you to the magical world and the way things work here. In the meantime," she looked at the nurse, "when will Dumbledore be arriving to escort Caitlin to Hogwarts?"
"Wait a minute," Caitlin said. "Who said anything about me going to Hogwarts? Did you think to ask me what I want to do now that my life's been turned upside down?"
Dena shrugged. "The best way to harness the powers you now possess is to attend Hogwarts and receive proper training."
"But what if I don't want to? What if I just want to go home, forget this ever happened, and go on living the life I had?"
"You can't," said the nurse bluntly. "With the powers you now have, one touch of a house key or one brush up against a car door could send you into a vision. Merlin knows what things you may learn and what things you may want to get involved in. It isn't going to be something that you can simply ignore the rest of your life."
"Why not? You say the Ministry of Magic would want to use me in some war of theirs. Well, wouldn't the best way to avoid them finding out about me be to let me go back to the Muggle world, as you call it, and forget this ever happened?"
Dena stood and picked up the glass on the nightstand. "Tell you what. We'll leave you alone with your thoughts for now; let you take some time to decide what you want to do. To keep you out of sight of the Ministry, you'll have to stay on this floor. Visit some of the wards--I'd recommend the Janus Thickey Ward--and see if perhaps some of the longer-term patients can enlighten you about the magical world. Maybe you'll learn that accepting this new life isn't such a bad idea."
The nurse stood as well, and gesturing kindly, lead Dena out of the room. Caitlin sighed and leaned back into her pillow, closing her eyes in the hope of easing the dull throbbing still lingering in her head.
An interesting day indeed.
-----------------------------------
Review Responses--Chapter One: What Is A Squib?
Karla Marie: I can't wait to see how it turns out, either. I'm still trying to get a final plotline finished, but I'm also letting my characters and the situations I've put them in dictate what happens next... So even I don't know exactly how everything's going to turn out! :-)
person: Reading reviews like yours--"I really want to read more of this"--makes me want to write more. I hope you liked this newest chapter!
Claire: Well, I've updated soon... mainly because of yours and others' reviews. Hope you enjoyed this latest bit.
Cutegirl612: Thanks for the compliment, and I shall.
Poohdog: As you'll have read in this chapter, Caitlin is supposed to be 23, but she looks years younger. But, hey, at least when she's older, she won't show it as well.
richellebelle10: Thank you for your review. I hope you like the rest of the story.
CHAPTER TWO
Secrets and Decisions
The movement woke Dena. Seeing her daughter awake, she jumped up and rushed to embrace her. Caitlin, struggling to ease the pain searing through her brain, held up her hands to stop her mother. Dena's face washed over with concern.
"Are you okay, honey?"
Caitlin grunted, "Killer headache."
The alert bell was pulled by Dena faster than the speed of light. She then gently wrapped her arms around her daughter as the younger woman buried her face in her chest.
Almost immediately, a homely woman entered the room. "What's the matter, dearie?"
"She's awake and having pain in her head," replied Dena as she stood to let the nurse examine Caitlin.
Caitlin, through the hot white flashes rolling across her mind, looked at the nurse in confusion when the woman produced with a flourish an oak wand from her robes. She carefully tapped the wand on Caitlin's temples while muttering a few foreign-sounding words, and the more intense pain was instantly relieved.
As her head throbbed painlessly on, Caitlin queried, "What's going on?"
The nurse exchanged a look with Dena, who leaned over, patted Caitlin's hand, and said, "We have a lot to talk about."
"Darned sure we do, Mother!" exclaimed Caitlin. Her next words came in a one-breath stream. "Who's Dumbledore and what's a muggle and what is a Magithallus and what in tarnation is a squib?!"
Dena and the nurse exchanged another glance, this one filled with shock and surprise. Cautiously, the nurse ventured, "Where did you hear of such things, m'dear?"
"In my vision," was the sighed reply.
"Vision?" Dena looked downright frightened. "What vision?"
Caitlin screwed up her eyebrows in remembrance, then sped into a detailed description of what had happened. Dena looked on in increasing horror, while the nurse developed a more curious, almost triumphant countenance. When at last she was finished with her account, Caitlin sat back and looked eagerly at the two women, who were staring back at her.
After several moments of silence, Caitlin questioned impatiently, "Well?"
Dena cleared her throat and spoke. "What you just described is exactly what happened."
"My dear," announced the nurse, "you have just demonstrated what we for ages have been attempting to discover--this must be one of the effects of having a fully operational Magithallus!"
Dena pursed her lips. "They'll want to test her, won't they?"
"Test me?" Caitlin didn't like the sound of that. "I don't think so. This is my mind and I'd like to keep it to myself, thank you very much."
The nurse nodded gravely. "We must keep this development a secret. No one must know what you can do, Ms. Boyd, or you'll be subjected to the most rigorous experiments and tests the Ministry of Magic can perform on you. We can't let them get wind of this."
"But... wouldn't it be a good thing for everyone to know what their full powers are capable of?" Caitlin didn't like the idea of tests and experiments, but she did understand that in the normal world, this would be a scientific opportunity like none other. Why would they want to keep it a secret?
"Yes, I suppose it would be, but if the Ministry hears of your powers, they'll want to use you as a weapon in the war. They wouldn't think twice about the fact that you're a human being. All they would be concerned about is that you might be able to help win this war."
"War? What war?"
Dena crossed her arms and hugged them close to her chest. "Honey, as much as I would love to explain what's going on, I think Dumbledore may be a better candidate for introducing you to the magical world and the way things work here. In the meantime," she looked at the nurse, "when will Dumbledore be arriving to escort Caitlin to Hogwarts?"
"Wait a minute," Caitlin said. "Who said anything about me going to Hogwarts? Did you think to ask me what I want to do now that my life's been turned upside down?"
Dena shrugged. "The best way to harness the powers you now possess is to attend Hogwarts and receive proper training."
"But what if I don't want to? What if I just want to go home, forget this ever happened, and go on living the life I had?"
"You can't," said the nurse bluntly. "With the powers you now have, one touch of a house key or one brush up against a car door could send you into a vision. Merlin knows what things you may learn and what things you may want to get involved in. It isn't going to be something that you can simply ignore the rest of your life."
"Why not? You say the Ministry of Magic would want to use me in some war of theirs. Well, wouldn't the best way to avoid them finding out about me be to let me go back to the Muggle world, as you call it, and forget this ever happened?"
Dena stood and picked up the glass on the nightstand. "Tell you what. We'll leave you alone with your thoughts for now; let you take some time to decide what you want to do. To keep you out of sight of the Ministry, you'll have to stay on this floor. Visit some of the wards--I'd recommend the Janus Thickey Ward--and see if perhaps some of the longer-term patients can enlighten you about the magical world. Maybe you'll learn that accepting this new life isn't such a bad idea."
The nurse stood as well, and gesturing kindly, lead Dena out of the room. Caitlin sighed and leaned back into her pillow, closing her eyes in the hope of easing the dull throbbing still lingering in her head.
An interesting day indeed.
-----------------------------------
Review Responses--Chapter One: What Is A Squib?
Karla Marie: I can't wait to see how it turns out, either. I'm still trying to get a final plotline finished, but I'm also letting my characters and the situations I've put them in dictate what happens next... So even I don't know exactly how everything's going to turn out! :-)
person: Reading reviews like yours--"I really want to read more of this"--makes me want to write more. I hope you liked this newest chapter!
Claire: Well, I've updated soon... mainly because of yours and others' reviews. Hope you enjoyed this latest bit.
Cutegirl612: Thanks for the compliment, and I shall.
Poohdog: As you'll have read in this chapter, Caitlin is supposed to be 23, but she looks years younger. But, hey, at least when she's older, she won't show it as well.
richellebelle10: Thank you for your review. I hope you like the rest of the story.