Chapter 27 – The Minister

After the Holidays, January came, and before Connor knew it, it was already gone. Now that Gregory had apologised, Connor and he spoke some and even did some homework together but the trust was so severely damaged they didn't hang out like they used to do. Connor's dreams about preparing armies were becoming increasingly frequent and he began to dread going to sleep. Already, the War in Afghanistan had begun and Connor knew it wouldn't be the end of it. Armies were still preparing and another war was brewing. And somewhere, hidden deep in mountainous country, Connor was dreaming of a man laughing, just watching the war and laughing. This last dream was the most disturbing of all.

Connor's lack of sleep was rapidly catching up with him. He was increasingly moody and could not concentrate in class. He was rapidly falling behind but couldn't find it in him to care.

"Connor, please, you've got to work on all this," said Joanna at breakfast the first Friday of February. "I'll help you if you want."

"Okay," conceded Connor. "But let's work in the Chamber. I'm going to ask Professor Longbottom if I can spend the weekend there. It may help with the dreams."

After lunch, once Connor got permission from Professor Longbottom, Connor and Joanna made their way to the fourth floor of the Wing and found the painting right around the corner from the corridor facing the school, in the corridor facing the Quidditch pitch.

"I don't like it when it's there," said Connor about the painting. "I'm always afraid someone would see us go in from the school."

"But could they follow if they knew which painting?" she asked.

"No," answered Connor. "From as far as I can tell, they would have to have some Seer powers to be able to come in on their own."

A few minutes later, they were in the Chamber's study, their books spread over the table and working on their assignments. Joanna left about half an hour before curfew and told him she would send him an owl the next morning to tell him at what time she would be back for more homework.

That night, and the one following, Connor finally slept restfully. He did have a dream about the army in combat again but this time, the dream did not take out as much energy out of him as the others had, to his immense relief. On both mornings, he woke up well into the morning, refreshed and relieved. On both mornings, an owl was waiting for him on the perch next to the window, announcing the time Joanna would come by.

That Sunday morning, after being rested to the point of being cheerful, Connor got dressed and went to meet Joanna. To his surprised, when he walked through the exit door, he was facing the Forbidden Forest and the painting behind him was not the landscape that served as a doorway. That's when Connor heard them.

"Get me out of here!" screamed a voice that was distorted by anger.

"But Professor, I don't know how," answered Joanna almost panicked.

Connor walked towards the voices and found Joanna in the corridor facing the lake. Next to her, her body half stuck in the wall, was Professor Trelawney.

"You!" she spat when she saw Connor. "You did this to me!"

Connor looked at the wall and recognised the landscape painting. That could only mean one thing: Professor Trelawney had seen them go through the wall.

"Do something!" spat the witch angrily.

"Do you have an idea what to do?" asked Joanna to Connor.

"No," answered Connor with a frown.

Since he had absolutely no desire to take the Professor through the wall, especially when the Chamber held the proof he had spent the last two nights there, he knew that option wouldn't work. And the more he thought about, the more he became totally opposed of having her see anything of the Keeper's Chambers.

"Maybe we should go get Professor McGonagall," offered Joanna. "She may know what to do."

"No, dear girl, no," said Professor Trelawney suddenly panicked. "That won't be necessary."

"Professor, we don't really have a choice here," said Connor. "We cannot help you."

"Come, Connor," said Joanna. "Let's go get the Headmistress."

Connor followed her, leaving behind a protesting Professor Trelawney.

"How in the world did she get stuck in the wall?" asked Joanna once they were out of earshot.

"I'm not sure but I think I know," answered Connor with a small smile. "In order to cross the wall you need to know which painting to go through and you need some of the Seer powers. Obviously, Professor Trelawney has some. She made two known prophecies after all. But also, the wall is there to stop anybody who would hurt me. So what I think happened was the wall was letting her in and then, she may have had a bad thought towards me, or the wall didn't trust her with my safety. Consequently, she got stuck."

"You don't seem overly concerned. Are you afraid she'll try to come in again?" asked Joanna.

"Not really," answered Connor. "I don't think the wall will ever let her in again except if I'm the one bringing her in. Besides, the Chambers have other protection mechanisms and I think I now know how to change the painting. I read it last night in the Wing book. But I may not be strong enough in transfiguration to be able to do it yet," he added with a wince.

"I wonder why she didn't want us to get the Headmistress," said Joanna.

"Well, I figured it won't be easy for her to explain how she got stuck there in the first place," said Connor with an amused chuckle.

Ten minutes later, they had located the Headmistress in the Great Hall and she followed them back to the Wing. The Headmistress had frowned when they had told her what was going on and had followed them without questions. Connor was under the impression the Headmistress was rather annoyed by Professor Trelawney's behaviour.

"Sybil, how in Merlin's name did you get yourself in such predicament?" asked the Headmistress once they arrived.

"It's this boy, Minerva!" answered Professor Trelawney, pointing at Connor. "He's cursed me to prevent me from accessing the tower. The tower is rightfully mine! I am the Seer! He cursed me! He is using dark magic against me!"

Connor looked at her in shock. How could anyone believe he was powerful enough to put a curse on someone, let alone use dark magic.

"Connor is a third year, Sybil," stated the Headmistress severely. "He is barely strong enough to curse a toad and I seriously doubt he is powerful enough to neutralise the wards against Dark Magic we installed on the school.

"I will try to Apparate you to your room, Sybil. Take my hand," she commended.

"But the boy," whined Professor Trelawney. "What will you do with the boy?"

"Nothing! Connor has done nothing wrong!" answered the Headmistress. "Now take my hand."

A few moments later, they were gone and Connor and Joanna were in the study.

"I didn't think anyone could Apparate from within the school ground," said Joanna.

"Well, Harry once told me being the Headmaster had its privileges, Apparating being one of them."

"Do you think she could Apparate into the Chamber?"

"Maybe," answered Connor. "I would have to check on that. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if she could, really. She is strict but she is rather nice. And Harry trusts her."

They returned to their assignments and by the time they left the Chamber that night, Connor was relatively caught up with his homework.

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The rest of the month was miserable for Connor. The dreams were still very present, if not as frequent, but still very disturbing however. Connor barely had any appetite left and was losing weight. Most of the time, he remained by himself.

To make matter worse, it seemed Professor Trelawney was always around, looking at him disapprovingly. It was really getting on his already very frayed nerves and he knew he would have to do something about it soon. He definitely did not need that aggravation on top of everything else.

The morning of the last Thursday of the month of February, he took his courage in his hands and walked to the table Professor Trelawney was occupying with some of the older students.

"Professor, can I have a word?" he asked, not at all sure he was doing the right thing.

The look of resentment she gave him almost made him want to turn around and leave but he stood his ground. He had to do this if he ever wanted some peace.

She stood up and followed him out of the Great Hall.

"Professor, I was wondering if you would like to visit the tower," asked Connor once he was in the Entrance Hall.

He did not know if that would appeased the Professor but he was so desperate, he needed to do something, anything to get her off his back.

She looked at him suspiciously for a few moments than nodded twice vigorously, making her numerous necklaces jingle. The moment she said yes, Connor immediately regretted this course of action but it was too late; now, he had to go with it.

Connor walked to the Wing of Seers, the Professor following behind. A few minutes later, they were on the fourth floor, in front of the landscaping painting.

'You've got to want this,' he told himself. 'Otherwise, it won't work.'

Then he thought about how much he wanted peace and figured showing the Chamber was a small enough price to pay. He sighed and turned to the Professor.

"Take my hand, Professor," he said, offering her his hand.

For a reason he could not explain, Connor disliked being touched by her. Her hand was cold and rough, and was covered with cold rings. Connor took a deep breath, closed his eyes, thought about peace, and walked through the wall. To his surprise, it worked. They made their way in the narrow corridor and a few moments later, entered the antechamber. Connor gave Professor Trelawney the tour, all the while feeling like his personal space had been invaded by someone who was not welcomed. The few minutes they spent going through the tower were spent mostly with Connor telling Professor Trelawney the bare minimum and the Professor followed him in a heavy silence. Once she was gone, he sighed heavily.

"That was a brave thing you did," said Profina's ghost appearing next to him. "I don't know if it was very wise however."

"Neither do I," admitted Connor. "But I need to try something. I cannot handle her and everything else that is going on anymore. I am just too tired."

"You don't sleep well?" asked the ghost concerned, following Connor up the stairs to the sitting room.

"No, not at all," he replied shortly. "I just have these dreams about soldiers and armies and they just won't stop. They are not as frequent but they are bothering me."

Lately, his dreams had mostly been of soldiers on missions, as if he was a participant himself. Every time he would wake up, he felt like he had physically been involved and he was waking up already exhausted. While his dreams may not have been as frequent, they were taking a serious toll on him.

"Have you talked to anyone about them?" asked the ghost. "I wasn't having as many dreams as you, my powers being mostly centred on visions, but talking to someone always helped me."

"Did you ever get tired like me?" asked Connor, sitting on a comfortable chair.

He rested his head on the back of it and closed his eyes.

"Not that I recall," she said gently. "Why don't you sleep, Connor? You don't have classes until this afternoon."

"I may just do that," he mumbled and the next thing he knew, he was asleep.

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His sleeping in the Chambers helped him so much that almost every weekend for the next month, he would go and sleep there. He did not ask for permission anymore, he just went. He figured he would face the consequences if he got caught. Since he was able to rest more, he was able to catch up on some of his studying but he was now so far behind, he wondered if he would be able to pass any of his classes.

"What in Merlin's name did you do to Trelawney?" asked Joanna the last Thursday of March, while they were having lunch with Lena, Theo and Zarek.

"What do you mean?" asked Connor. "I haven't seen her in weeks."

After showing her the Keeper's Chamber, the Divination teacher had gone back to her recluse routine, very rarely coming to the Great Hall for meals.

"Well, you must have done something to her," said Joanna. "Yesterday, in class, she kept on talking about false Seers and how some people would make us believe they have the inner eye when they are as blind as teapots."

"Mate, she did not name you, but we knew she was talking about you," said Theo.

Connor sighed.

"I thought she would leave me alone," he said.

"Not a chance," said Joanna sourly. "When she's not predicting our death, it seems she wants to predict our doom if we don't cleanse the school of false prophets."

"She said that?" asked Connor sadly.

"Pretty much, yeah," answered Theo.

"Connor, whatever you did must have been pretty bad," said Joanna seriously.

"I didn't do anything," he said. "The last time I came close to her, I was showing her the Keeper's Chambers."

"You did what?!" exclaimed Joanna.

"Are you crazy?!" exclaimed Lena. "What were you thinking? Now she has every reason to be jealous of you!"

"Wait!" suddenly said Joanna, concentrating hard on something.

She held her hand up to stop any conversation while she was searching her memory for something. Connor and the others waited patiently.

"How long ago did you show her?" she finally asked very slowly, keeping her hand up and her eyes fixed straight in front of her.

"About a month ago," answered Connor.

"The book!" she suddenly said, looking up at Theo. "The book!"

"What book?" asked Theo.

"The book on her desk, the one she keeps glancing at during classes, the one she touches every once in a while like it is something she worships! I knew I had seen it before!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Lena.

Connor frowned, sure he wouldn't like what he was about to hear.

"About a month ago, Professor Trelawney had this book on her desk. I noticed it because of the way she seemed to revere it. It was really odd, but I had the impression I had seen it before."

"Where?" asked Theo.

"In Connor's study," she answered. "Connor, I think she took one of the journals from your tower."

Connor looked at her shocked. A professor, stealing something from him? Stealing something from the tower no less?

"Connor, we should go to the tower to see if something is missing," said Zarek.

Connor nodded and stood up, ready to go right away since he was done with lunch. His friends stood up and they all made their way to the fourth floor of the Wing of Seers. When Connor stopped in front of a safari painting, which was in the corridor facing the lake, Joanna frowned.

"You've changed it!" she exclaimed.

"Of course," he answered. "I thought it was only the wise thing to do after showing the Chambers to Trelawney."

Joanna ginned at him and grabbed his hand. The other three grabbed hold of him and they walked through the wall. Once in the tower, they made their way directly to the study.

"Here it is," said Joanna, pointing at the hole in the series of books where one was definitely missing. "Connor, I think she took Cassandra Trelawney's last journal."

"This is not good," said Connor. "It does not belong to her."

"Connor, didn't Profina tell you the books are jinxed and should return here if they got stolen?" asked Zarek.

"That's the theory, young man," answered the portrait of Profina. "However, the books have to be stolen from the Seer, not the Chambers. It never occurred to us someone who came in here would steal something," she added sadly.

"Then we've got to get it back," said Lena. "She had no right to take it."

"I'll do it," said Joanna firmly. "But I need your help Theo," she added. "At the end of next class, keep her occupied with questions. I'll get it then."

Theo nodded.

The next Wednesday, at dinner, Joanna came to Connor and sat next to him.

"I've got it," she said, discreetly giving it to him. "Put it in your rucksack that way if she tries to take it from you, it will end up in the tower."

Connor rapidly put it in his bag without looking at it.

"Was it the book we thought?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Joanna. "And she must already know it is gone. I've got to admit, Theo did a great job at distracting her."

"Do you think she'll suspect him?"

"Not a chance," she answered. "I think she'll suspect you," she added with a grin.

And it wasn't long before Connor was on the receiving end of Professor Trelawney's accusation. It was Thursday afternoon and Connor was making his way to the Chambers with Joanna, Lena and Zarek when he found the professor waiting for him on the fourth floor of the Wing of Seers.

"You!" she spat.

He looked up at her surprised to see her there.

"You are not just a fraud, you're also a thief!" she accused.

Connor did not respond, so surprised was he of the accusation.

"And what did he steal, may I ask?" asked Lena.

"My book!" she exploded.

Connor had rarely seen an adult behave the way Professor Trelawney was behaving at that moment. Her features were distorted by rage and she looked mad. Honestly, she was scaring him more than he cared to admit.

"Your book? You mean Cassandra Trelawney's journal?" asked Lena.

While Connor didn't really know how to handle the witch, Lena did not seem to have the same problem at all. In fact, she seemed rather ready for a fight.

"You admit it!" she said, looking at Connor. "You took it!"

"No," said Lena. "He didn't take it. It was brought back to him because it belongs in the Keeper's Chambers' library. It never was yours to begin with, you witch!"

"I'm going to report you to the Headmistress right this moment! You'll be expelled," she threatened, looking at Lena.

"You will do no such thing," said Connor, surprisingly calmly.

His words made both witches turn to him.

"And pray tell why not?" she asked petulantly.

"Because you cannot prove it was yours in the first place," he answered.

"My word is worth more than yours," she said nastily. "You're just a fake."

Somehow, Connor seriously doubted her word was worth much than his so he decided not to address the accusation pointlessly.

"Perhaps," he simply said, "but I doubt the Headmistress will contest my proof."

"What proof?" she asked, taking a step towards Connor, her wand out.

"Me!"

Profina's ghost had just appeared in front of the advancing witch and she was furious. Connor and his friends even took a step back. In fact, she was so angry she emitted waves after waves of coldness.

"How dare you threaten my protégé with your wand? How dare you accuse him of stealing a book you stole in the first place? How dare you to steal from the Tower? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't go to the Headmistress right now and tell her about you, you sorry excuse of a witch!"

"Profina, it's okay'" said Connor to try and calm her. "I think Professor Trelawney was just leaving."

But the professor was doing none of the sort. She was standing in front of the ghost in defiance and Connor had to wonder if she hadn't gone completely mad.
"Trelawney?" asked the ghost flippantly.

"Yes!" said the Professor, putting her hands on her waist and taping her right foot on the floor repetitively. "And my great-great-grand-mother's journals do not belong to him!" she added, pointing to Connor. "He's just an impostor! He does not have the inner eye."

To everyone's surprise, the ghost laughed loudly.

"An impostor? Do you really think an impostor could have made the Wing of Seers appear? Do you think an impostor could have accessed the Keeper's Chambers?"

"The Wing of Seers?" asked Trelawney, surprised by the name.

"Yes, of course!" said the ghost. "It was built for me. But you were not able to make it appear, were you? And you were not able to access the Chambers when you tried, were you? And you're the one who call Connor an impostor? Maybe you are mad," added the ghost sadly.

"I'm not mad!" cried the Professor.

"Then you'll leave, right now, before I go and get the Headmistress," said the ghost.

Professor Trelawney harrumphed, threw an angry look at Connor and left, holding her head high.

"I wondered if having her in the Chambers was a good idea," said the ghost.

Connor did not answer. They had had this discussion already and he did not see the use in having it again.

"Will you be all right?" she asked Connor.

"Yes. Thank you Profina," said Connor.

The ghost disappeared and Connor sighed.

"That was rather intense," said Joanna.
"I would say," agreed Zarek.

"Is it me or is she madder by the day?" asked Lena.

Joanna looked at Connor who just shrugged.

"I think so," said Joanna uncertainly.

"Jealousy has made many people do many a crazy thing," said Zarek.

Connor began to walk to the safari painting which he found facing the Forbidden Forest.

"There's nothing to be jealous of," he said, offering his hand to Joanna.

She took it and his other friends grabbed his shirt. A few seconds later, they were in the corridor, on their way to the tower.

"I think you're selling yourself short," said Joanna.

Connor shrugged again. If only they knew what the dreams were doing to him, they may not think his powers were something to envy. He was pretty sure if he didn't have the Chambers, he would have been exhausted to near death by now. The days of him dreaming about his Christmas and birthday gifts were long gone and he really wished he could go back to those but somehow, he doubted he ever would.

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One of the classes Connor found the most interesting was his wizarding politics class. The class was actually fun in addition to be assignment free and exam free. The only requirement was for all to attend. Those who skipped it lost twenty house points and landed in detention each time. Overall, it was just not worth skipping it.

It was now the first of May and they were revising some of the most important elements of their government to maximise retention. As he was talking, Professor Socart was showing slides of the different places he was referring to, which made the class even more interesting.

When a picture of the lobby of the Ministry of Magic appeared on the screen, Connor's vision became blurry and all of the sudden, he was there. The place was very crowded, as if it was the beginning of the work day or lunchtime. People were coming in and out of the elevators and the fireplaces on different errands, and everybody seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere.

In the middle of this sea of people, a small group lead by the tall black Minister and Percy, was making its way towards the elevators. They walked rapidly and with purposes, as if they were heading to a meeting. While they were walking, the Minister was talking to Percy who was nodding gravely, no doubt taking mental note of what the Minister was telling him for future reference. Suddenly, the scene slowed down to a crawl and that's when Connor saw it: flying through the air, in the direction of the Minister, was a throwing knife. Its path guaranteed a sure hit.

"No!" screamed Connor, knowing full well the death of the Minister would bring chaos and fear to the slowly recovering wizarding world.

"Connor, are you okay?" asked Zarek urgently.

The class came back into focus and Connor realised he had screamed out loud when he saw Professor Socart and all the students looking his way.

"Yes," he mumbled. "No."

Connor could not stop shaking and he had also broken into a sweat.

"Sorry Professor," he said louder to the Professor who seemed to be waiting for him to say something.

Professor Socart frowned and opened his mouth to say something but refrained himself. He turned to the other students and continued his class, bringing the students attention back to himself except for Joanna. Joanna who knew him so well looked at him with a frown.

"Later," he mouthed.

She nodded and turned to the front to listen to the rest of the lesson.

"Connor, what happened?" she asked when they made their way to Herbology.

Connor was still shaking at what he had seen.

"Not now," he said.

"What do you mean, not now? You're as white as parchment and you're shaking like a leaf," she said. "You shouldn't be heading to class. You should be heading to the Hospital Wing!"

"I'll be fine," he said but didn't really believe it himself.

"Well, if you won't go to the Hospital Wing, at least have some pumpkin juice," she said, fishing in her rucksack and taking out a bottle.

Connor took it and drank some. It really did make him feel a lot better.

"You can drink it all if you want," offered Joanna. "Actually, you should always have one with you. We learned, in Healing class last week that the reason why witches and wizards like it so much and drink so much of it is because it is like a shot of Vitamin C for magical energy."

Connor frowned wondering what Joanna meant.

"In other words, it makes your magical abilities healthier and can even replenish it to a certain degree if need be."

Connor drank the rest of the juice and nodded to Joanna. What she was saying explained so much, especially why Ginny kept on feeding him pumpkin juice when he felt off. He wondered if his fright of heights was also related to his powers. After all, the Flying Instructor had also fed him pumpkin juice and it had worked wonders every time.

"Professor Troovus also said she thinks Muggles don't really like pumpkin juice because they don't have magical powers."

Professor Troovus, the Healing teacher, had turned out to be the wife of Healer Troovus, who had healed Connor's dad from his blindness a few years back.

"In any case, you should always carry some with you."

Connor nodded and followed her into the Herbology classroom.

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"You saw what?" asked Guinevere astounded.

She, Connor, Joanna and Zarek were in the Gryffindor study room waiting for the time to go to their Astronomy class.

Connor did not answer her rhetorical question. He had just told his friends the content of the Vision he had had that morning.

"No wonder you were so shaken up," said Zarek, shaking his head.

"Have you told anyone?" asked Joanna.

Connor shook his head.

"What?! Connor, this is serious!" said Guinevere. "You've got to tell someone; you've got to tell someone right away."

"I agree," said Joanna.

"Who?" asked Connor. "My telling about my dreams didn't really help with Filch now, did it?"

Joanna winced. Even if it was now May and Gregory had apologised months ago, Connor and he were still not hanging out like they used to and Connor could not find it in his heart to trust the other boy again.

"Harry," answered Guinevere. "You should tell Harry."

Connor shrugged.

"Connor, if you don't tell him yourself, I will," she added when she saw his reaction.

"Okay," he conceded. "I'll send him an owl tomorrow morning."

"Promise?" asked Guinevere.

"Yeah!"

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When Connor woke up the next morning, he went to the owlery to send a message to Harry, asking to speak with his mentor as soon as possible. When Connor walked out of his Arithmancy classroom on Friday at noon, Harry was waiting for him in the corridor.

"Sorry I couldn't come sooner," apologised Harry.

"'It's okay," said Connor.

Without adding another word, Connor let the way to the Keeper's Chambers. If Profina's ghost had seen Harry, he was fairly sure lunch would be waiting for them in the sitting room as Profina knew Harry's presence could only mean they had to discuss something.

Connor's guess was right: lunch was waiting for them in the sitting room. Connor's half-kneazles were also there, avidly eating their own meal.

"Did you know I was coming?" asked Harry surprised to see the food.

"No," answered Connor. "Profina's ghost must have seen you."

"Oh," said Harry.

They sat and ate mostly in silence. Connor was seeping an extra glass of pumpkin juice after his meal when Harry cleared his throat.

"So, what's going on?" he asked.

"I had a dream and it was rather disturbing. Guinevere threatened me to tell you herself if I didn't tell you."

"What was it?" asked Harry when Connor wouldn't say more.

"I dreamt somebody threw a knife at Kingsley in the Ministry's lobby," said Connor quietly.

"You what?!" asked Harry, suddenly sitting at the edge of his seat and leaning forward. "An attempted assassination?"

"I think," said Connor. "I was looking at the Ministry's lobby. It was very crowded and Kingsley, Percy and some others of his staff were making their way to the elevator. Then I got another view and I saw a throwing knife making its way towards the Minister in a sort of slow motion."

"Did you see it hit?"

"No, thank Merlin," answered Connor. "But the path was very clear."

"I should have come to see you the minute I received your owl," said Harry, standing up, alarmed. "I should have known this was major. It's not like you to ask to see me just because you felt like it. We're very lucky nothing happened today."

"You think it'll happen?" asked Connor.

"Have you ever dreamt of something that didn't, Connor?"

Harry surely had a point. And the thought was a scary one.

"I'm going to go back to the Ministry and make sure we increase the security around the Minister," said Harry. "Unless, of course, there's something else."
Connor stood up, shaking his head.

"I wish I had seen who threw the knife," said Connor.

"That's okay, Connor," said Harry reassuringly. "Even if you knew who it was, we couldn't arrest him with no proof. So don't worry about it."

Once Harry left, Connor sat back on the sofa, feeling useless in preventing the drama which was about to happen. That's where Profina's ghost found him when she appeared in the room.

"You did well," she said gently.

Connor sighed. He was far from being convinced. He felt his dreams were more troubles than what they were worth.

"Why the sigh?" she asked.

"In my dream, I didn't see anything useful. I didn't see who. I didn't see when..."

"How could you even think that?" asked Profina surprised. "You may just have saved this poor man's life! You saw enough to be able to warn someone! Don't you think Harry won't do anything about it? Besides, did you see the knife reaching him?"

Connor shook his head.

"Then do like Harry told you and don't worry about it! You've done what you could."

Connor sighed again and took his rucksack to retrieve his books. There was nothing more he could do so he began working on his assignments.

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It was late Thursday morning two weeks later when Connor walked into the Great Hall for breakfast. To say the Great Hall was in pandemonium was an understatement. Not only were the conversations louder than usual but students were walking from table to table in a state of urgency and almost panic. At a table near the middle of the Hall, Connor spotted some of his friends and walked in their direction. They all had very serious expressions on their face and were discussing urgently.

"What's going on?" asked Connor, sitting down next to Guinevere.

Instead of answering, the girl slammed the Daily Prophet on the table in front of him. Connor took it and unfolded it.

'Assassination Attempt on Minister Shacklebolt,' read the headline.

Connor felt the air flew from his lungs and he began to shake.

'Yesterday afternoon, while workers were returning to their posts after the lunch break, a knife was thrown at Minister Shacklebolt when he was crossing the Atrium with his entourage. The Ministry, suspecting such an attempt may occur, had lately increased security around his person. While Minister Shacklebolt remained unharmed, his personal Secretary, Percival Weasley wasn't so lucky. Effectively, Mr Weasley, who saw the projectile, used his body as a shield to spare the Minister's life. Mr Weasley is currently hospitalised at St. Mungo's where...'

"Mr McKeithan," called the Headmistress, reaching his table.

Connor looked up shaken by the interruption but also the news he had just read.

"Come with me, please," said the Headmistress.

She left without waiting to see if Connor was following. Still stunned Connor looked at her leave until Guinevere elbowed him in the ribs.

"Go," she said urgently.

Connor stood up and rapidly followed the Headmistress out of the Great Hall and to her office. Once there, he found Harry waiting for him.

"Percy?" asked Connor.

"It's serious," answered Harry, seriously. "We don't know. Come, they're waiting for us at St. Mungo's."

Connor looked at Harry uncomprehending. Why was he asked to go to St. Mungo's?

"The family should be there in case Percy does not survive," said Professor McGonagall with a sad smile. "You're family now, Connor."

Connor nodded once and followed Harry to the fireplace and through the Floo Network. When he arrived at the Hospital, Harry took him to the waiting area where Mrs Weasley was in tears and Mr Weasley had an arm around her, trying to comfort her. George, Ron and Bill were sitting together in silence while their wives gave them the space they seemed to need. Ginny was standing next to the window, looking at the busy London streets below. Audrey, Percy's wife, was sitting in a corner, her legs against her chest, staring at nothing. Looking at her, Connor knew she was a few days pregnant with the first of the couple's two daughters. Also present was the Minister. All of them looked like they had slept very little if at all.

The Minister stood up and walked to Connor and Harry when they arrived.

"I'm so sorry for what happened," he told Connor seriously.

Connor suddenly turned back to Audrey and stared at her.

The first of the couple's two daughters?

And he just broke in a wide smile which made Harry and the Minister looked at him curiously.

"He'll be fine," said Connor reassuringly.

When they heard his comment, the rest of the family looked at him.

"How do you know?" asked the Minister.

"Audrey's pregnant with the first of her and Percy's two daughters," he answered.

Everybody turned to look at Audrey.

"I'm... I'm not pregnant," she mumbled.

"Are you sure, Connor?" asked Harry.

Connor only smiled back at his mentor.

"Daughters?" asked Mrs Weasley. "Two? Girls?"

Connor nodded.

"Oh! That's wonderful," she said, standing up and hugging her daughter-in-law.

"But I'm not pregnant," said Audrey weakly, tears coming down her eyes.

"Oh! That can be easily verified," said Mrs Weasley, taking her wand and pointing it at the young woman's belly.

The wand tip shined blue.

"See!" said Mrs Weasley. "If you hadn't been pregnant, it would have been red."

"But... but I can't be," said Audrey, looking down at her belly and caressing it with her hand. "Can I?" she asked, looking up at Mrs Weasley.

"Of course you can if you and Percy are doing what every healthy and young married couples are doing. You are doing what healthy couples are doing, aren't you, dear?"

Audrey blushed furiously red while the rest of them smiled or grinned at Mrs Weasley's comment.

"I thought so," said Mrs Weasley with a motherly smile.

About an hour later, the Healer walked into the waiting room and smiled at them.

"He'll be alright," he announced. "We were finally able to identify the poison used on the blade and neutralise its effects right on time. If it had been any longer, we would have lost him."

"When can we see him?" asked Mrs Weasley.

"The other Healers are now repairing the damage left by the blade so it should be in a few hours."

"Harry, have they been working on him since noon yesterday?" asked Connor to his mentor's ear once the Healer was gone.

Harry nodded.

"They called us to come around two o'clock this morning," said Harry. "They didn't think they would be able to identify the poison in order to save his life."

Connor wondered for a moment why they hadn't gone to get him sooner but this question was quickly replaced by another one which puzzled him even more: why hadn't he dreamt or have a vision of the assassination attempt.

"What's wrong?" asked Harry.

Connor moved away from the crowd and Harry followed him.

"I was wondering why I didn't dream or have a vision of the attempt, or of Percy's condition," answered Connor frowning.

"Good question," said Harry, now frowning also.

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