Annnd…she's back! Exam free, and darn proud of it! On to the driving theory…oh the joys!
This chapter was meant to be longer. In my head it was longer. I now have many more frees each week than I did before exams…well, five more, anyway, thanks to the dropping of geography…so I've taken to scribbling away in various notebooks. Unfortunately, what was three pages on paper turned into a page and a half on computer. Which is strange, since normally my typed stuff is the longer. But anyway.
The people whose reviews got me through the statistics and chemistry exams, and so have my eternal love, were SweetSummerx3 (Sorry – next week should be on time!), NamelessHeretic, Isis the Sphinx, tickledorange, moony391, seikinoko, Nessa19, disneydork, noname, Gryphie, flower123 and Mei1105.
And the winner of this weeks HTCHB contest was Desperate Darkness with "Hold The Casket, Henry's Back". Slightly bizarre, but I have this voice in my head saying it in this extremely surprised voice. Hmm. Moving swiftly on….
Anyone seen the new Pirates of the Caribbean? Your views, on a stamped addressed envelope! Or, indeed, a review!
The New Year bought cold weather, icy winds and flu to the population of Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey was doling out potions left right and centre, but not fast enough to stem to spread. Both Charlie and Izzy managed to come down with it on the same day, leaving a very grumpy Jane to collect three sets of homework and deal with a double potions alone while they waited for the medicine to work.
The bad weather also resulted in a school wide ban of quidditch practise, after a Hufflepuff chaser ended up in the hospital wing having crashed into the spectator stands when his broom froze up in midair. So the Gryfinndor team were suddenly presented with far too many evenings to be spent in the common room, with no more excuses to avoid homework, much to their collected disapproval.
They had been back at school a week, but teachers across the curriculum appeared to have decided exams were a lot closer this side of Christmas. It seemed to be taking Ginny three times longer to finish work than it had done before the break, and Harry was certain that wasn't simply because he was waiting for her company when she finally finished. Ron, scowl on his face, was scratching at a Charms essay, while Hermione watched him, with only the trace of a smug smile. Harrys own essay lay in front of him, nearly finished, but somehow he couldn't quite bring himself to pen in the final few sentences. Promising himself he'd do it tomorrow, Harry pushed it to one side and slumped back in the arm chair. It took him several moments to notice the timid looking second near who was peering at him nervously from several feet away.
He looked at her, eyebrow raised in question. She blushed deeply, and offered him a scroll.
"Professor Dumbledore asked me to give you this." she mumbled, thrusting it into his hands and retreating quickly. Harry opened it curiously, and read the short message.
"Mr Potter –
I would be very much pleased if you would spare me a few minutes of your time this evening. Around 8:30 would be excellent.
Did you enjoy the dessert tonight?
Dumbledore."
"Harry?"
Harry looked up to see Hermione's questioning gaze directed at him. He shrugged, and passed over the note.
"What d'you reckon he wants?" she asked, reading it with a frown.
"And why's he so interested in the pudding?" asked Ginny, who had peered over Hermione's shoulder to see what was going on.
"That must be the password. Sponge pudding." said Ron with a shrug.
"You'd better be quick, it's nearly twenty five past."
Still puzzled, Harry scrambled to his feet and headed out the portrait hole.
HoldTheCasket,Henry'sBack"Ahh, Harry. Excellent." Dumbledore greeted the teenager's knock with a smile, putting aside the parchment he was holding.
"Chocolate frog?" the headmaster offered as Harry took his seat.
"They were a present." Dumbledore explained. "And I feel I must share them with whoever enters this office at the moment, lest I eat them all myself."
Harry took one, feeling slightly bemused.
"Your sister and her friends are recovered from last October?"
"Yeah. Well, they don't go off on their own as much, but…yeah, they're fine." Somehow, he had the feeling that Dumbledore hadn't called him here to talk about Jane, but if that was the way he wanted to play it…
"Good. It's been an eventful few months for you, Harry."
Now thoroughly confused, Harry nodded. "Yeah. Well, they always are."
Dumbledore chuckled. "Quite. I was wondering, however, if you had talked to Mr Weasley and Miss Granger about the conversation we had in this room last July."
"The prophesy?"
"Yes."
"No."
"Why?"
Harry frowned. Dumbledore had retorted so quickly he was momentarily taken aback. It was almost like a game of ping-pong – he said something, and the headmaster was already waiting, bat in hand, to shoot back a reply.
"I…I don't know. They'd worry. A lot."
"You do not give them their due, Harry."
"No." Harry admitted after a moments thought. "Just…they worry enough as it is. If I told them I was going to end up either murderer or murdered…"
"It would certainly upset them."
"Yeah."
"I had this same dilemma myself, you know, many years ago."
Harry looked up, interested. He had never heard Dumbledore take a stroll down memory lane before, at least outside the pensive, and something told him it would be an interesting experience.
"I heard a prophesy, foretelling the rise or demise of the worst wizard seen for many generations. And I knew of only two people for whom the prophecy applied."
Harry frowned. "Professor, you told me all this, remember? It was either me or Neville. And Voldemort chose me."
"But before I knew that, though, I had another problem. Two families, both with children not even six months old. And I had to decide whether to tell them of the life one of those children could be faced with. They were more than names – those people were friends, who I had known for nearing ten years. I had seen them grow up, discover themselves and each other, and I had the news that could destroy their lives. But I told them. Partly because I knew they deserved to know, and partly because I knew they would never forgive me if I hadn't told them."
"They won't like it."
"They won't like you not telling them even more. I know I told you to keep the information I gave you between ourselves, but I think we could probably extend the trust to Mr Weasley and Miss Granger."
"And…" Harry paused for a moment, thinking. "Anyone…I mean, can I tell anyone else?"
Dumbledore smiled. "I think we could extend the courtesy to Miss Weasley as well, if you wished."
Harry nodded. If he was going to do it…well, all or nothing.
"I must confess, this conversation is rather belated in it's occurrence. I had hoped to discuss this with you last year, but with one thing and another…well, we both had other things on our minds."
There was a short silence, during which Harrys mind worked frantically. He had questions, and plenty of them – things he should have asked the previous July, but had been too upset and angry to think about. Thing was, could he get Dumbledore to answer them?
"Sir," he began, still trying to work out exactly what he was going to say. "Could I ask you something?"
"I do believe you just did. But I don't see how a few more something's can hurt. Ask, and I shall answer where I can."
"What's going on with Voldemort now? What's he up to? Where is he? What's being done to find him? And what'll happen when we do?"
Dumbledore sighed. "Alas, Harry, if I could answer half those questions then I would be a much happier man. Where, we can only begin to imagine, although I suspect it will be a lot closer to home than the forests of Albania. We will, of course, be seeking to regain his own body and full power once more, but whether he will attempt the same route again, or find another way, I don't know."
"But sir…I don't get it. How is it that he doesn't die? I mean, if it were anyone else, surely they'd be dead several times over by now."
"Any other human, perhaps. But any human part of Tom Riddle died long ago."
"What do you mean?"
"Humanity is not a guarantee that comes with life. The soul, the part of us that develops and maintains our human traits, is effectively pure, no matter how evil the actions of its owner are. As a person such as Tom commits crimes of increasing brutality and cruelty, the darkness within him grows, and the soul is repelled."
"Like with oil and water?" mused Harry aloud. "The two can't mix."
"Exactly. Tom's soul disappeared long ago, and with it, so did the last of his humanity."
"He ain't got enough human left in him to die." said Harry, remembering Hagrids words from so long ago.
"Precisely." said Dumbledore, sounding mildly surprised.
"Hagrid told me that, when he first got me from the Dursley's."
"And, as is so often the case, he was right."
"But I don't get it. If Voldemort's got no soul, and you need a soul to be able to die, then how am I meant to kill him?"
"We must give him a bit of a soul."
"And how do we do that?"
Dumbledore sighed, looking suddenly like a defeated old man, not the impregnable wizard Harry had known him as.
"I only wish I knew."
HoldTheCasket,Henry'sBackHarry made his slow way back to the common room. So much to say and explain…the English language had never seemed so restrictive. How would they take it? What would they do? Only one way to find out.
He climbed through the portrait hole, paused, and smiled. In the corner, by the window, sat Hermione and Ron, arguing over what was probably Ron's homework. It wasn't the explosive, angry rows of their earlier years – this was friendly banter, an argument provoked merely for the fun of arguing. Two equals, smiling even as they rowed. Ginny sat next to them, glancing up at them every so often with a fond smile on her face, then returning to scratch at homework of her own with a frown of concentration.
All three looked up as Harry approached, smiling in welcome at their absent friend.
"Well?" asked Hermione. "What did he want?"
Should he tell them now? No-one else was about, after all, and…well. No time like the present.
He slid into the seat next to Ginny, and looked around at the three. Taking a deep breath, he began.
"There's something I need to tell you."
Done and done. Again.
Amazing fact: it is now one month and three days until the release of HP7 in all English speaking countries. Anyone else out there excited…:-)
My friends, I have a request to make. I'm planning on entering a short story competition for welsh writers. I've written a story, but have hit a small problem…the word limit is 3000, whereas I have hit 4000. So would any of you be willing to read afore mentioned story, and do any or all of the following for me:
- Tell me what to cut out
- Check story is ok, and makes sense!
- Give me a title!
If you want a peek, just give me your email in a review. (Remember to write it with spaces and stars etc, or will delete it!)
Many thanks!
And review!