Don't be mad! I can explain everything...
I am a lazy bum. There you have it. Actually, I was busier than I could have ever thought the last month of school. Apparently, positions of leadership require one to do stuff. Who knew? Now summer has started, and I can finally return to my passion...Or not. I got a job at Blockbuster, and now I'm slaving for Viacom Inc. I also am in two plays at the local theatre. Okay, so I don't have time for anything. Here's a desperate attempt to continue my story before I lose it for good:
Chapter 4: A Little Progress
"...and then she grasped the necklace, realizing with her dying breath that perhaps she had been mistaken. The fallen form of her brother began to stir. He raised his head and stared straight into her eyes.
'Not dead yet, Claire?'
She gasped in terror and tried to summon strength from somewhere deep inside herself. He started to rise and crawled a few feet towards her. It was then that she saw the wand, HER wand, clutched tightly in his hand..."
"Miss McGonagall! Did you not hear my directions? I said find a partner."
Oh, yeah. Charms class. I slip the book into my bag, thinking ahead to when I could next find time for reading. Red laughs lightly. Wizard fiction makes muggle stories look like boring documentaries on the mating rituals of wood-ants. Professor Flitwick needn't have snapped. I hear someone slide into the seat next to me. I'll never, to my dying day it seems, be in want of a partner when Bill is around. This is a good thing, though, as Charms is certainly not my best class. I don't know why, but for some reason feathers refuse to fly for me. I excel everywhere else, but I'll be damned if I could levitate a molecule. Bill explains the task and we (he) start (s) in with the charming.
Next I have history. The aforementioned muggle literature makes Professor Binns' teaching look like the fast paced world of growing grass. Instead of going straight to sleep, however, it is time for a session with Dumbledore again. "Today," I tell myself. My stomach does a flop.
Students rush past me on their way to class, and I follow Reds perfect instructions all the way to the Headmaster's office.
"You're going to turn me off now, aren't you dear?" She sounds faintly disappointed. She knows nothing of why I'm blind or how I'm healing. I don't want to tell her. At first, it was nice to have a friend, but there's something eerie about her. It's as if she doesn't know she's just a piece of magic. I'm not too keen on becoming her close companion.
"Yes, Red. I'll turn you on in an hour or so."
The door slides open and I sense Dumbledore's tall presence. He sweeps me into the room.
"Come, come! I have a good feeling about today."
"You said that yesterday," I say, not meaning to sound impertinent, but I'm sure I come across as cheeky.
"Yes, well, it's a week until your birthday, or so your Aunt tells me, and I was thinking that you could see in time to open lovely presents by yourself."
His cheer is genuine. I can't help but feel a little more hopeful as he helps me onto the 'operating table'. My aunt bursts into the room and sighs with relief.
"Oh, good. I'm on time. I was worried I wouldn't be due to some little ruffian and his pet miniature dragon. Can you believe it? It was tied up under his bed."
I smile. Two months ago, this would have sounded ridiculous. Now it's (somewhat) normal. The restraints are clasped, and I feel myself relax. "Please," I whisper, "please let me see more today." I have yet to see anything that I haven't before. I start to remember. The scene is very vivid in my mind. The houses, the gardens, the huge tree...it's all there. Time is accelerated as I remember more and more...and then the laughter. I gag a bit in the back of my throat. That laughter disgusts me. I now know who emits it. I'm peeking in the window. The wand goes up, words are shouted, a woman falls. Now for the part when I stop remembering. I've got to force myself to watch. The green light fills the room and I fly backwards. I don't feel my head hit the tree, but I know it does. I know I'm about to black out, but this time I raise my eyes to see the house again. Light shoots from every window. Just above the roof, high in the sky, a greenish horror illuminates the clouds. A large green skull with a snake crawling...well...it's flickering. I can't really see where the snake when. The earth seems to shake with the anticipation of what is about to happen. The skull ceases to flicker, grows very bright, and then explodes into thousands of photons of light, and I finally black out once more. The darkness fills my head. My heart is pounding and my head hurts. I blink awake on the table. What was that? A flash of white hair! The color of skin as someone's hand brushes my face. I think I saw...no. It is black once more. I see nothing.
"Triss, dear, are you all right?"
"I...I saw a skull above the house." My aunt gasps.
"The dark mark? Indeed. Well, I'm happy to say you've made some progress. Just a little, but more than enough for one day."
"You mean...I saw something for real? I wasn't just imagining? Oh, then can't I try again? Please! I'll just try again..." but Dumbledore is already untying me. "C'mon! Aunt Minerva? What did I see? Let me try..."
I jump to my feet, trying to plead my case, only to stumble a bit as dizziness fills my head.
"Okay, maybe not. I'll just catch a nap in history." Dumbledore chuckles appreciatively, but my aunt just instructs me to lay down in my room until dinner. Before I leave, she embraces me quickly and tells me she's very proud. Just as my aching head hits the pillow, I realize that I never turned Red on after I left. I somehow made it back on my own. How did that happen? Oh, my head hurts to badly to think. Tomorrow, I'll try again. Yes, I'll just have to try.
I am a lazy bum. There you have it. Actually, I was busier than I could have ever thought the last month of school. Apparently, positions of leadership require one to do stuff. Who knew? Now summer has started, and I can finally return to my passion...Or not. I got a job at Blockbuster, and now I'm slaving for Viacom Inc. I also am in two plays at the local theatre. Okay, so I don't have time for anything. Here's a desperate attempt to continue my story before I lose it for good:
Chapter 4: A Little Progress
"...and then she grasped the necklace, realizing with her dying breath that perhaps she had been mistaken. The fallen form of her brother began to stir. He raised his head and stared straight into her eyes.
'Not dead yet, Claire?'
She gasped in terror and tried to summon strength from somewhere deep inside herself. He started to rise and crawled a few feet towards her. It was then that she saw the wand, HER wand, clutched tightly in his hand..."
"Miss McGonagall! Did you not hear my directions? I said find a partner."
Oh, yeah. Charms class. I slip the book into my bag, thinking ahead to when I could next find time for reading. Red laughs lightly. Wizard fiction makes muggle stories look like boring documentaries on the mating rituals of wood-ants. Professor Flitwick needn't have snapped. I hear someone slide into the seat next to me. I'll never, to my dying day it seems, be in want of a partner when Bill is around. This is a good thing, though, as Charms is certainly not my best class. I don't know why, but for some reason feathers refuse to fly for me. I excel everywhere else, but I'll be damned if I could levitate a molecule. Bill explains the task and we (he) start (s) in with the charming.
Next I have history. The aforementioned muggle literature makes Professor Binns' teaching look like the fast paced world of growing grass. Instead of going straight to sleep, however, it is time for a session with Dumbledore again. "Today," I tell myself. My stomach does a flop.
Students rush past me on their way to class, and I follow Reds perfect instructions all the way to the Headmaster's office.
"You're going to turn me off now, aren't you dear?" She sounds faintly disappointed. She knows nothing of why I'm blind or how I'm healing. I don't want to tell her. At first, it was nice to have a friend, but there's something eerie about her. It's as if she doesn't know she's just a piece of magic. I'm not too keen on becoming her close companion.
"Yes, Red. I'll turn you on in an hour or so."
The door slides open and I sense Dumbledore's tall presence. He sweeps me into the room.
"Come, come! I have a good feeling about today."
"You said that yesterday," I say, not meaning to sound impertinent, but I'm sure I come across as cheeky.
"Yes, well, it's a week until your birthday, or so your Aunt tells me, and I was thinking that you could see in time to open lovely presents by yourself."
His cheer is genuine. I can't help but feel a little more hopeful as he helps me onto the 'operating table'. My aunt bursts into the room and sighs with relief.
"Oh, good. I'm on time. I was worried I wouldn't be due to some little ruffian and his pet miniature dragon. Can you believe it? It was tied up under his bed."
I smile. Two months ago, this would have sounded ridiculous. Now it's (somewhat) normal. The restraints are clasped, and I feel myself relax. "Please," I whisper, "please let me see more today." I have yet to see anything that I haven't before. I start to remember. The scene is very vivid in my mind. The houses, the gardens, the huge tree...it's all there. Time is accelerated as I remember more and more...and then the laughter. I gag a bit in the back of my throat. That laughter disgusts me. I now know who emits it. I'm peeking in the window. The wand goes up, words are shouted, a woman falls. Now for the part when I stop remembering. I've got to force myself to watch. The green light fills the room and I fly backwards. I don't feel my head hit the tree, but I know it does. I know I'm about to black out, but this time I raise my eyes to see the house again. Light shoots from every window. Just above the roof, high in the sky, a greenish horror illuminates the clouds. A large green skull with a snake crawling...well...it's flickering. I can't really see where the snake when. The earth seems to shake with the anticipation of what is about to happen. The skull ceases to flicker, grows very bright, and then explodes into thousands of photons of light, and I finally black out once more. The darkness fills my head. My heart is pounding and my head hurts. I blink awake on the table. What was that? A flash of white hair! The color of skin as someone's hand brushes my face. I think I saw...no. It is black once more. I see nothing.
"Triss, dear, are you all right?"
"I...I saw a skull above the house." My aunt gasps.
"The dark mark? Indeed. Well, I'm happy to say you've made some progress. Just a little, but more than enough for one day."
"You mean...I saw something for real? I wasn't just imagining? Oh, then can't I try again? Please! I'll just try again..." but Dumbledore is already untying me. "C'mon! Aunt Minerva? What did I see? Let me try..."
I jump to my feet, trying to plead my case, only to stumble a bit as dizziness fills my head.
"Okay, maybe not. I'll just catch a nap in history." Dumbledore chuckles appreciatively, but my aunt just instructs me to lay down in my room until dinner. Before I leave, she embraces me quickly and tells me she's very proud. Just as my aching head hits the pillow, I realize that I never turned Red on after I left. I somehow made it back on my own. How did that happen? Oh, my head hurts to badly to think. Tomorrow, I'll try again. Yes, I'll just have to try.
