Chapter Twenty-Six– Ensnared By Prophecy?
When we were about to take our seats in the Great Hall, McGonagall approached Harry and asked if she could have a word with him. She guided him over to a vacant corner of the room and they talked for perhaps five minutes, with McGonagall doing most of the talking. The meeting ended with Harry nodding yes, and seeming to briefly put a comforting hand on McGonagall's forearm. They turned and strode back to their places at the table, with nary a hint in word or manner about the content of their discussion. I felt proud of myself for exercising enough self control not to reach out for Harry's thigh and a reading on his mood, and perhaps an explanation of what had transpired. I confess to feeling annoyed at both Harry and McGonagall - really a partially wound-down version of my feelings since the meeting with the Minister in McGonagall's office.
Dinner smelled good, but I, at least, ate very mechanically with my mind focused upon the meeting that had just occurred and the more personally important meeting that awaited after dinner. One difference in this dinner, which gave a foreshadowing of the meeting to come, was that McGonagall and Trelawney were seated side by side and spent most of the dinner chatting with each other, as if the rest of us did not exist. After
dinner, we lingered until Draco and Pansy had left for the Slytherin common room.
McGonagall begged her leave of the others, and asked the four of us to follow her. When we reached the third floor, she and Trelawney led us through the hallway on the right, one that I had never seen before. Harry touched my hand {[excited] This is the corridor that had a trapdoor to the chamber where the Sorcerer's Stone was hidden during my first year. I've never explored this whole corridor.}
We went through a couple doors and then turned left to face a blank wall. McGonagall tapped the wall at a point a few feet to the right of a glass case that housed the stuffed carcass of a very improbable-looking five-foot long lizard. The wall split, revealing a staircase leading up to a higher level.
We ascended the narrow spiral stairs, climbing perhaps fifteen feet, to have our path blocked by a very ancient-looking dark wooden door. The door, and indeed the entire stairway, was lit by glowing crystal globes that produced a soft glow as McGonagall approached them. McGonagall extracted a very large antique brass key from her robes and used it to unlock the door. The key had a round almost handle at the end of the shaft to help the user turn it. The business end was also unusual with three prongs. The two end prongs curved outward, quite a distance beyond the body of the business end. The center prong was divided into three smaller prongs, like a W. The key turned easily in the lock and the door seemed to spring slightly open. She pushed against it and it seemed to move very easily into the room. She led us through a short and narrow entry hall, into a good-sized and very comfortable looking sitting room. The room was pleasantly lit by glowing crystal globes in the four ceiling corners and a blazing fire in a large fireplace in the middle of the long wall directly ahead of us. The room was about fifteen by twenty feet, with a window on the shorter side wall to our left. The walls and floor were roughly finished stone, but the effect was softened by rich crimson curtains at the window and a thick woven blue woolen rug that covered about half of the floor. We approached a semi-circle of chairs in front of the fireplace and noticed the rich wooden mantle and shining brass fireplace pieces and screen. It was a pleasant effect, and the room was warm in both temperature and emotion. I noticed that there were exactly six chairs in the semi-circle, and no other chairs in the room. The chairs were arranged two on the right and four on the left, with a low table in between. It was quite clear where we were intended to sit, so that's where we sat, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and me, moving out from the fireplace. Since Trelawney sat closest to the fireplace, I was left with just the short table between McGonagall and myself.
"Welcome to our apartment," said Professor Trelawney pleasantly. "You are the first students to enter this room. Professor McGonagall and I have lived here together ever since Umbridge threw me out of my own apartment. It has been such an eminently agreeable arrangement that we continued it after Umbridge departed".
"May I offer you some sherry," chimed in McGonagall, raising her wand and causing a tray of large, and well-filled sherry glasses to levitate from atop a small cupboard against one of the side walls, and float across the room to the table between McGonagall and myself. McGonagall picked up a glass and passed it to Professor Trelawney, and then taking a glass for herself. I did the same, passing three glasses down the line and keeping the final one for myself.
As we sipped our sherry, McGonagall began to speak, "Prophecies are very tricky things. They are seldom completely precise and accurate, but I have never known one from as gifted a seer as Professor Trelawney to be completely lacking in value. While I would never ignore a prophecy, and would certainly devote significant effort to trying to understand any that related to me, neither would I allow such a prophecy to take hold of my life. In my experience, even the best prophecies, like the Harry/Neville/Voldemort prophecy, which as you know also derives from Professor Trelawney, are ambiguous. That prophecy could have applied equally to Neville as to Harry. It is how Voldemort and then Dumbledore reacted to that prophecy that drove it to its conclusion, and made it as important as it became. One could argue that had Voldemort simply ignored that prophecy and walked away from it that he might still be alive and ruling over all of us, while Harry and Neville would be anonymous students looking forward to their graduation in a week. So prophecies can have a powerful impact on lives, but not because they are inherently immutable. Their impact is altered by how we choose to react to them. I hope you will not choose to over-react. Professor Trelawney…"
"These prophecies came to me at the start of this past term. Like the prophecy dealing with Harry and Voldemort, I had no knowledge of these two until the headmaster told me that on those two evenings I had fallen into a trance as I sat here by the fire, and suddenly started to speak in a voice that was much deeper than my normal voice. She was shocked enough when I started speaking that she doesn't think she was able to jot down all the words exactly, but I'll tell you what she wrote.
"When Muggle blood mixes with the pure-blood, red-headed clan, two cousins shall lead the magical folk to new heights, and two Great Families shall be reborn. Many dangers must be overcome for them to be born and they shall surely face hazards as great as their parents and their magical parents' parents. Only the Slayer of the Dark One can guard their birth and only the Conqueror of the Giant Snake can guard their lives, for if one shall die or not be born, surely we all must perish. They cannot be born unless the Slayer of the Dark One finds and conquers the underground mountain."
"That's as close as we could get to capturing the original. I think it has the full gist, if not all the poetic subtlety of the original. That last bit may well have been 'surely THEY must all perish", but Minerva doesn't think so. That first line might have been 'two BROTHERS', but again, Minerva doesn't think so. The last phrase might be 'underground fountain', but again, I don't think so. Until Ron and Hermione started getting along much better together, we couldn't be sure that this applied to them. We're still not fully sure. It is always difficult to decide whether or not a prophecy should be passed on to its likely subject. I still wish Minerva hadn't raised the issue so prematurely.
"The second prophecy seems a little clearer on its face, and Minerva was less startled by my speech, so she thinks she got it down exactly, but one can never be absolutely certain."
Professor McGonagall read her transcription of the second prophecy. "Muggle and pure born Witches shall teach the Slayer of the Dark to use the Ancient Mysteries, so the children of the Slayer can lead the magical creatures to the Golden Age. The circle will protect them at the time of their greatest learning. One Witch shall be the Mother of the Future and shall carry a new magic. The wisdom of the other shall light her way.
"That's certainly a lot for you to think about. It seemed to us that these two prophecies were a matched set. I suggest you have another sherry." She flicked her wand and a large cut crystal decanter floated over to her. She handed the decanter to Professor Trelawney to start its circuit, which resulted in all of our glasses being refilled.
"I should also add that Professor Trelawney has had only five such vivid visions in her lifetime. The fifth is likely not for your ears. We shall continue to think on that. These visions come to her not as the spoken word, but as a brilliant illuminated manuscript, with the capitals exactly as I have pronounced them." As we sipped our sherry, she asked if we had any questions.
"When you met with Harry before dinner, were you discussing the wisdom of revealing these prophecies," I asked."
"No, Ginny, I was merely apologizing to Harry for how badly I had botched the earlier meeting and how clear it had become to me that Harry must lead your circle, while I must lead mine, but that coordination would be vital. You have all progressed beyond the point that I can or should order you about. I told Harry that I feared my awkwardness in talking to you and even Hermione could doom whatever chance for success we have on our shared mission. I offend without meaning to. I'm more suited to protecting the young than leading them as equals."
"I think you react to me as you do more because of the prophecies than because of my age," I ventured.
"It's both. I'm not quite sure how to treat a young Witch who is confronting danger at my behest and yet with whom I have an in loco parentis responsibility because, although you are taking on adult responsibilities, you are not yet an adult. It is tougher still when the one parent is the Deputy Minister of Magic and the other is a Professor on my staff. But you're right, that is the easy part compared to trying to figure out how to properly relate to a minor student who might possibly be the Mother of the Future. I'm not at all sure what was ethical to tell you of the prophecy and when you should be told. You present me with my own Harry/Dumbledore relationship quandary and that has always been my greatest nightmare, since I became the leader of both the Order and this school. They are two irreconcilable roles with conflicting moral responsibilities.
"It can be a terrible, terrible burden to hear a prophecy that does not belong to you. There are very ancient legends about the Mother of the Future. They date from the time when both the ancient pagan nature religion and the almost as ancient Light Guardian religion were both common among Witches and Wizards. Legend says that the Mother of the Future was to be the actual voice of all the Gods and Goddesses and that she would reunite all magical creatures and allow them to prosper. Legend can be very confusing. It also says that the Mother of the Future was already called to service and that this happened over three millennia ago. The legend does not seem to permit a second Mother, even a second one this greatly removed in time. So… you're prophesied to become what legend says no Witch can ever become. It is as if the age of powerful Witches is long gone. It was a terrible burden for Trew and me to keep such a secret to ourselves. It seems very selfish to ease that burden by transferring it to you.
"I don't need to tell you that these prophecies must remain secret. You would be an extremely unpopular Witch if they became known. We are dealing with religion. The Mother of the Future is automatically the head of both of our ancient religions. Those erudite about ancient ways will view you as a selfish fraud, since the Mother was only to come once and legend says that has already happened. The rest of our community are Church of England and will view you as a dangerous pagan, who threatens their very survival. You are in a most difficult position. It pains me to have placed you there.
I wasn't ready to think too deeply on these prophecies and the bizarre future they set before me. Instead, I babbled, "Then you don't dislike me."
"Of course not, you've always been one of my favorite students. I like the Weasley feistiness and irreverence in a young Witch. I'm just not fully comfortable around you. You have a very mature mind in a very young body, and you cause me to worry about going down Dumbledore's path. I've told myself that all will be fine if I can push you to the sidelines for a year and not have to endanger you. Instead, I've chosen to take the more cowardly way and hand that particular burden to Harry."
"So then, you tried to schedule the trip to Beauxbatons and Durmstrang at a time that you knew I had a NEWT, in order to protect me from danger?"
"Yes, I was feeling quite guilty about the dangers that you had already faced. I feel much more comfortable asking those of your circle who are over seventeen to undertake missions that may carry some risk. I realize that you and Harry want to protect each other, which is why I've chosen to leave these decisions in Harry's hands. Why do you think that I dislike you? I know we could happily leave things as they are, but I feel this is an important question. I don't dislike you. I admire what you did against the Carrows and during the Battle of Hogwarts."
"You try to silence me, as you did during the meeting in your office. I had good questions. I was right. Pansy wasn't telling the truth, but you tried to silence me."
"I didn't do that because I don't like you or because I thought you were wrong. I was trying to protect Pansy and safeguard Hogwarts. The Minister was already angry. I didn't think Pansy had done anything seriously wrong, but she was frightened and she was obviously shading the truth. I feared the Minister would arrest Pansy. He might even end the Malfoy project or replace me at Hogwarts. Our Minister was the head of the aurors. His bias is towards strong action. That isn't always best in dealing with the young. You were right, but you could have done a lot of harm to Pansy. It is my responsibility to protect her. She's basically a good girl, or at least she can be turned into a good person, now that she is away from the Slytherin common room."
"No, she's not a good girl. I've known her for six years. She's a terrible bully and she sided with the Carrows. She was really cruel to the other students. I shouldn't speak for all of us, so I'll just say that I don't feel safe with Pansy and Draco here together. I especially don't feel safe with them learning apparation-fighting with us. We agreed to help you protect Draco, then Pansy was just dropped on us, then Draco nearly killed my brother and Pansy led attackers into Hogwarts, maybe actual Death Eaters in addition to Lucius Malfoy. Despite what Draco says, there may be one or two Death Eaters who are Lucius allies. He was their leader, while Voldemort was gone."
"Do the rest of you feel this way? I thought Harry was satisfied with the way things were resolved."
"No, I wasn't. You were in a tough position with the Minister and I didn't want to make it worse for you, but I was very upset that Draco and Pansy participated again in our training session. That came as a surprise. I was upset that the last Parseltongue class wasn't canceled. I was upset by how the snake attack on Ron was handled. I'm not as happy as I seemed to be. Perhaps I just fear rocking the boat now. I would have told Ginny that now isn't the time to say what she said, but she said the truth."
"I'm not happy at all," Ron complained. "I'm not happy about the snake, or how you fawn over Draco, or how you talk about Hermione and Viktor."
"I can see, I have a problem. You obviously went along with staying at Hogwarts and protecting Draco, thinking you were helping me out in a difficult time, rather than because you bought into my vision of the Malfoy Plan, or my vision - no, in fairness I should say my path towards - the future of Hogwarts and the Wizarding world. My lecture on Wizard families was meant as an introduction to my thinking. I made a mistake not sitting you all down and at least trying to convince you of my vision. I shall do that, then you will all have to decide to what extent you wish to help me. I now recognize that you must make your own decisions. Is tomorrow soon enough?"
"That will be fine," Hermione told her in a very gentle voice. "I am hopeful that we can work things out. Before we go, there is a bit more to discuss about the visions. I'll let Harry go first."
"I'm not buying the prophecies," Harry declared. "You don't even believe in divination, Professor, I've heard you scoff at it many times. I've seen Professor Trelawney look at the dregs of my tea cup and pronounce that I had The Grim and would be dead very shortly, but years later here I am, sitting with you."
"You're right, Harry, I don't believe in reading tea cups, or palms, or crystal balls, or the entrails of animals. But I do believe in Trew's prophecies, and for the same reason that Dumbledore did, because I have watched Trew, when she is in the grip of a prophecy, and seen the look on her face, and heard her voice. To experience that is to be disposed to believe in her prophecies. And then there is the prophecy of you and Voldemort."
"But, as you've said, Professor Trelawney didn't so much predict the future as precipitate it. She threw something out there that was too attractive to pass up, particularly for a lonely boy who grew up in an orphanage and joined a new Wizard world, where he was still an outsider. I well know the irresistible appeal of such a prophecy to a Muggle-born boy with a burning desire to prove himself special. Just being part of a prophecy makes one special and almost unique and that one was the stuff of heroic legend. I fell for it. It would have been irresistible to Voldemort – a path to be the best and to connect to somebody, even if that somebody was just a baby that he was told was inextricably linked to him in a kill or be-killed bond.
"You explained that to me days ago. There was no need for Voldemort to attack me. Even having done that and created a physical link between us, there was no need to kill me in a duel. Voldemort had me paralyzed and tied to his father's tombstone. He could easily have killed me, rather than give me a wand and a fighting chance. He could have ordered any of his followers to kill me. It's hard to read the prophecy as demanding personal action, and even if it did, once one of us was dead, the prophecy was clearly void. So, basically the prophecy became meaningful, because Voldemort was insane and it fed his megalomania to believe he was the subject of a great prophecy. I got involved because Dumbledore accepted the prophecy as true. Had Snape not overheard the prophecy, it's very doubtful it would have any more effect than those thousands of forgotten prophecies trapped in glass balls at the Ministry, or than the dregs in my tea cup. Voldemort could have walked away from the grasp of the prophecy at any time, just by calling it crap. I was trapped because Voldemort and Dumbledore were driving the..."
"Harry! You used the word 'irresistable' twice. Such is the power of a particular sort of prophecy. You are free to ignore it – and yet, even at your great peril, you cannot ignore it. For those who believe in the power of prophecy, the answer is that all of the improbable circumstances you cite are proof of the prophecy reaching out to steer you back to your fate. I can't say I truly believe that," McGonagall countered him, "but I don't dismiss it out of hand, either. If the impact of a prophecy is through the true believers among those who hear it, perhaps we are best off limiting the audience for these prophecies. You yourself could have, as you say, called crap on your prophecy. You didn't have to face Voldemort alone at the end, unless you actually believed in the prophecy. And yet, against all reason, you did exactly that."
"Perhaps I did. I guess I used to believe I had a fate. I don't any more. I can decide. Even if I believed in these new prophecies, they have no meaning for me. I'm supposed to protect Ginny and Hermione. I'd do that if I'd never heard the prophecy. The prophecy says I'm going to protect my children. I'd do that too. Ginny and Hermione are very special Witches. I didn't need the prophecy to tell me that. So, for me, it doesn't matter. I'll do my best as protector. The prophecies say dire things happen to everyone, if I fail. That doesn't change anything - I can't do better than my best and I can't be more motivated than I am. I think your first inclination was correct, Professor. You should not have dropped the hints about those prophecies."
"I fear you're right," McGonagall replied, "but having gone this far, I am compelled to ask permission to do one more thing. The prophecies may also involve Professor Longbottom. I think he should be told".
"No," I said, with perhaps more force than I had intended. McGonagall gave me a look, so I elaborated. "That would be very unfair to Neville. He is already concerned about being a very young professor and not being able to command the respect of students a year younger than himself, who shared a common room with him this term. The last thing he needs is to hear the prophecies and realize that you made him a professor to make sure he is here at Hogwarts, to fulfill his part of a prophecy which may or may not apply to him. Neville deserves to know in his heart that he has the job because he is a very intelligent Wizard, who loves plants, will do really well teaching students about them, and because he is very brave and played a crucial role in saving the Wizarding world during the Battle of Hogwarts."
"I'll respect your judgment," McGonagall replied. "I hadn't fully considered the implications for Professor Longbottom. It's time for bed. I trust you can all find the way back to Gryffindor."
"I just want to satisfy one more curiosity," said Harry, pulling out the Marauders Map and spreading it on the stones in front of the fireplace. As he likely suspected, none of us appeared on the map.
"I'm not the least surprised to find that this room is uncharted," McGonagall commented. "Intrepid as the Marauders may have been, I doubt they knew the location of the staff's quarters. We do try to preserve at least a small modicum of individual privacy."
Harry felt compelled to mumble "sorry" before we headed out of the room and down the spiral staircase. I noticed, however, that he was not feeling sufficiently guilty to prevent him from carrying the open map down the stairs with him, in order to determine exactly when we reappeared on the map. We did not show up until we left the stairway and reentered the third floor corridor.
We returned to our common room and, although we continued the watch shifts, we had a sound night's sleep. With the departure of Mr. Bulstrode, there were no more nocturnal wanderings. Our second watch was amused, however, to observe that after spending a very long time in the Slytherin common room, Draco and Pansy did finally make their way to the same boys' bedroom. It would have been more comfortable for us to sleep in our dorm beds, but Mom had made it clear that we would not be permitted to copy the Slytherins' living arrangements. I preferred to share a floor with Harry. With that, I reached over and touched his chin, being rewarded by a rush of warm feelings, but also by the knowledge that Harry was actively worrying that I would allow the two prophecies to dominate my life. The word ENSNARED drifted over to me in vivid, red, capital letters. I didn't want Harry to think I was spying on his thoughts, but felt I needed to respond.
"I'm really alright, Harry. I live too much in the physical here-and-now to be bothered by that sort of rubbish."
"Well, if you're still awake enough to be interested in reading my thoughts let me give you some hard-earned wisdom: just as Dumbledore with me, Professor McGonagall is fully capable of both genuinely liking you and manipulating you for her own purposes. She is clumsier at the manipulation part than Dumbledore was, or perhaps the older me is just more capable of seeing manipulation directed at someone else. Happy as I am to see a break in your feud with Professor McGonagall, I don't believe anything has really changed. I had thought she was manipulating you to control me – and, I do realize how egotistical that makes me seem. The prophecies suggest that she has decided that you are now the primary actor and worthy of manipulation for your own sake. I just see Dumbledore and me all over again. Please be careful."
It was hours before I could clear my mind enough to sleep.