"We have to go," Hermione said to them abruptly as Sirius and Buckbeak went out of sight. "They'll be up here any minute, and we have to get back to the Hospital Wing."
"Have you still got the rat?" Harry asked, and Calla prodded the lump in her pocket, which yelped and hissed at her.
"I've got him. Come on, I know the quickest way back."
She led Harry and Hermione through a small doorway just behind them, hastily tossing the Invisibility Cloak over them all as they scampered down a tight spiralling staircase. They weren't far from Ravenclaw Tower, and from there they could take a passage that cut between floors to the Entrance Hall, and then run up to the Wing when Dumbledore was about to leave and give him Scabbers. It would all be done with soon. She grinned at the thought; she could change this.
At the sound of voices at the bottom of the stairs, they paused, Calla shoving Harry and Hermione behind her. She listened closely to the voices, which sounded like Snape and Fudge. "...only hope Dumbledore won't put up a fuss about the Kiss," Snape was saying. "It will be performed immediately, yes?"
"As soon as MacNair returns with the Dementors, yes. I can't tell you how embarrassing this whole Sirius Black affair has been, I'm very much looking for learn to informing the Daily Prophet when the Kiss is performed. I rather expect they'll want to interview you, Snape... And once they are back to their right minds, Harry and Calla, too." Calla pulled a face at that. "I'm sure they'll want to tell the Prophet exactly what Black was going to do, and how you saved the two of them." She scoffed quietly. It was never like Snape to save anybody. "Though I must ask, what was it the Greengrass girl wanted with you?"
Calla's eyes widened and she pressed closer. Hermione tugged her sleeve. "Nothing of importance now," Snape said smoothly. "Only that she was concerned for her friend and wanted to ensure it was all in hand. She will be informed of tonight's events in the morning."
Calla pulled away then, with a feeling they were about to pass them, and she led Harry and Hermione running out of the Tower, into a little alcove. She checked and there was no one there, so she ran the rest of the way to Ravenclaw Tower, tearing around a corner and sweeping aside a tapestry. "Averis," she whispered, and the bricks made way for her. "Come on, quickly. Follow me, and watch your step."
"How did you remember all these?"
"It's fun," she said simply, hopping over a stone. "I quite like exploring. Come on, you two, hurry up, we can't miss Dumbledore!"
"We haven't got very long!" said Hermione anxiously, and Calla fumbled to find her hand in the dark, dragging her along.
"I know, that's why I'm running! Turn left!"
They turned, and Calla took the next narrow staircase two at a time, half galloping down the steps in her haste. They came to an abrupt stop at the wall, and Calla bent down to peek through the small gap in the stones. Dumbledore was still inside the Hospital Wing. "All clear," she whispered, wand at the ready to clear the bricks. "Wait on my cue."
It was only a minute before she heard Dumbledore's footsteps come from the Hospital Wing, and whispered again, "Averis."
The bricks cleared and she stepped out, followed by Harry and Hermione. Dumbledore stopped as he saw them come out, Calla still with a cobweb in her hair. "My," he said, eyes wide. "That was quite the unexpected Entrance."
She sprinted over to him, fumbling in her pocket and grabbing Scabbers tightly, thrusting him out to Dumbledore, who stared at her. "It's Peter Pettigrew," she said triumphantly. "You have to show Fudge."
"Of course," he said, taking a squealing Scabbers tightly. "Well?"
"Sirius got away, on Buckbeak," said Harry breathlessly. "He's free, and we - now we can prove he's innocent."
"Indeed," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling. "I believe you have gone now, too. Get inside. I will see to Peter here."
Calla nodded furiously and ducked inside. She crept over to her own bed, crawling under the covers again as she heard the lock click behind her. A moment later, as Harry and Hermione also got back to their beds, Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office. "Am I allowed to look after my patients now?" she demanded.
Calla smiled at her meekly. Madam Pomfrey grumpily handed her a bar of chocolate and she accepted it quietly, which she thought was probably for the best. Pomfrey stood over the three of them as they ate, making sure they had it all, but Calla wasn't sure she could eat. There was a very nervous lump in her throat as she listened out, nerves on edge, waiting for something. As she took another bit of chocolate from Madam Pomfrey, she heard a distant roar of fury coming from afar, somewhere high above them.
"What on Earth is that?" Madam Pomfrey asked, looking quite alarmed.
Now there were angry voices, growing even louder. They ebbed for a moment, followed by a shout and a series of muffled yelling and bangs. Calla stared at the door. "Really," Madam Pomfrey huffed. "They'll wake everyone up with that racket!"
Calla listened closer, ears straining. "He must have Disapparated, Severus, we should have had someone in the room with him. But really, this - this changes everything. Dumbledore, how on earth did you find him?"
"Chance is a fickle thing," Dumbledore said pleasantly. "How happy it is that Sirius has escaped and the true criminal been found, just in time. Don't you agree, Cornelius?"
"When this gets out!" Fudge was shouting. "The Daily Prophet will have my head for this, Dumbledore!"
"This does not prove Black is not a killer," Snape was saying. "He broke the law running from the Dementors! And he had help, Fudge, Albus, mark my words! Potter-"
"Harry and Calla are both locked safely in the Hospital Wing," Dumbledore said calmly, his voice growing louder and closer. "Perhaps we ought to make sure Peter here is secure before you go accusing anybody, Severus."
"You can't take me!" Pettigrew screeched then, and something thrashed against a wall. "Please, please, I was scared, so scared! I ran! He killed the rest of them, he was going to kill me too! I had to get out!"
"Understandable for an innocent man," Dumbledore said. "But, Cornelius, I am sure you agree this will need a full trial and inquest. The points of the charge against Sirius Black have changed now."
Just then, the doors to the Hospital Wing opened and Dumbledore strode in, followed by a whimpering Pettigrew, held by ropes, and Fudge and Snape, the latter of whom looked absolutely furious that Sirius has gotten away. "And as you can see, Severus, Harry, Calla and Miss Granger are all safely here in their hospital beds."
"THEY HELPED HIM!" Snape roared, and Calla jumped. "THEY HELPED BLACK ESCAPE!"
Calla blinked at him, putting on a very confused look. "He's escaped?"
"There he is!" Hermione said shrilly, pointing at Pettigrew. "See, we told you, didn't we? It's Pettigrew."
Madam Pomfrey looked quite uncaring. "Really," she said, "this is a Hospital Wing. Unless one of you required medical assistance-"
"OUT WITH IT, POTTER!" Snape was spitting. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"They flew him away on the Hippogriff!" Pettigrew whined. "The Hippogriff, Buckbeak! I saw them, after they grabbed me! He could have killed me!"
"And yet, he did not," Dumbledore said quietly. "You are quite alive, Peter. As for how they got a Hippogriff to carry Black away, why, I doubt they could do that from the Hospital Wing."
"THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE!" Snape bellowed again. "I KNOW THEY DID!"
"Calm down, man!" Fudge barked. "You're talking nonsense."
"YOU DON'T KNOW POTTER! HE DID IT! SEE, HEAR WHAT PETTIGREW TELLS YOU!"
"Forgive me, Severus, I believe Peter's words are already rather suspect. No doubt spending twelve years as a rat has addled his coherence."
"BUT HE TOLD YOU! THEY TOOK THE HIPPOGRIFF!"
"I don't understand," Calla said quickly, blinking rapidly. She had to stop them from thinking anything was amiss there. "What - what do you mean, about Buckbeak? I thought... Did they not... You know... do it?"
"When we returned outside, the Hippogriff had gotten loose," said Fudge curtly. "Quite how, none of us can fathom."
"He got loose?" Calla asked, feigning shock. "But we... We saw the executioner... He was there with us," she said, pointing at Pettigrew. "If you can believe him about some... Whatever he's trying to say about helping Black escape, he was with us. He knows we never got Buckbeak."
Pettigrew did indeed look very confused. "But they - they..."
"I believe we should leave Calla, Harry and Hermione to their recovery," Dumbledore said. "And we must at once get to the bottom of what on Earth has happened here, Peter."
"He tried to kill me!" Pettigrew started yelling again.
"You killed that whole street!" Harry yelled back. "He was the Secret Keeper, they switched without telling anyone, he got Mum and Dad killed!"
"I - I never - betray James and Lily... I would never, Dumbledore, I would never!"
"I suspect Sirius Black might say the same," Dumbledore said. "Come now. Cornelius-"
"Yes, Yes, Dumbledore," Fudge said. "We had best get to the bottom of this. Frightful storm it'll cause, I can't tell you how embarrassing it all is..."
They traipsed from the room, Pettigrew held very securely by Dumbledore. Calla breathed a sigh of relief once they were gone, her head spinning. Once they got to the bottom of the truth with Pettigrew, they could lock him up and set Sirius free. Pomfrey hurried over to the giant hospital doors, locking them loudly and went back to her office, muttering furiously to herself.
Just then, Ron began to stir in his own bed. Calla could see him sitting up, rubbing his head, and frowned at them, looking quite confused. "What's - What's happened?" he asked, staring around. "Where's Pettigrew? And Black and Lupin? What's going on?"
Calla shook her head, lying back down and staring a the ceiling. "You explain, Harry," she said, groaning as she remembered something. "I've got an exam in eight hours."
As it happened, Calla did not have to attend her exam. Dumbledore came by at eight to inform her that Hagrid would vouch for her performance throughout the year and due to the night's events, she didn't have to sit the exam, which was an immense relief. Apparently, Pettigrew was in Ministry custody, and had after hours, confessed to everything. She went back to sleep again as he left.
She woke again at twelve, just in time to see Daphne and Padma rushing in after their Care of Magical Creatures exam. "Calla!" Daphne yelled, and she grimaced, still relieved beyond belief to see her friend. "Calla! You're okay! We couldn't find you, we went to Remus' office because we didn't know if you'd be there but he wasn't there either so we were confused and then we saw this - this map and-" She panted.
"It said Peter Pettigrew on it, we saw you going to the Whomping Willow, and we saw Sirius Black's name too, we didn't know what was going on but-"
"I took a photo! With my camera, you know the one I got for Christmas! I went to show Snape but he didn't seem to listen but then they - they're saying Black got away-"
"And that he was innocent too, but not everyone believes that, but apparently you said it was so, that's what everyone's saying but no one actually knows-"
"But obviously you just had to be right in the middle of it, when we realised you were hurt-"
"We should have come with you, the exam was awfully boring anyway, you didn't miss much, we had more of a challenge-"
"But are you alright? We didn't know what to think, it's all so confusing and it's all anyone can talk about, they're all headed off to Hogsmeade but we wanted to see you as soon as the exam was done-"
"But Snape said-" Daphne caught Padma's eyes and bent down, whispering. "Snape said Remus Lupin's a werewolf."
Ice went right through her. "What - what do you mean?"
"He's a werewolf. We didn't know if you knew..."
"I - I know," Calla said. "But... What do you mean, Snape told you?"
"He told everyone," Padma whispered. "At breakfast."
Calla flung her duvet off. "What? I have to go and see Remus! Harry!"
Her brother glanced over, and startled at the worried expression on her face. "Snape's told everyone," she hissed. "About Remus."
"WHAT?"
Harry, too, flung his bedsheets off. Madam Pomfrey came storming out of her office. "What's all this commotion? Miss Greengrass, Miss Patil, I thought you might take advantage of the weather and go outside?"
"We had to see Calla," Daphne said, grasping her hand.
"Can we go now, Madam Pomfrey?" Calla asked urgently. Hermione looked over at her confusedly. "Please?"
She tutted. "Yes, I suppose. But keep eating chocolate, remember. And don't strain yourself." Calla nodded, getting up and grabbing the bag at the bottom of her bed, sprinting out of the Hospital Wing with Harry just behind her. "Don't run!"
They were breathing heavily by the time they got to Remus' office, the two of them bursting in and shouting. "Remus! Daphne just saw us, Snape's told everyone, he can't do that!"
"Are you okay, what happened?"
"They've got Pettigrew, Sirius escaped and so did Buckbeak - it's a long story I don't think we're actually allowed to tell you - but its all alright, but how are you? What's going on, did you get hurt?"
Remus held up a calm hand. "Sit down, the two of you. I'm quite alright."
Calla sighed as she took a seat, staring at her godfather. "Are you sure? What happened?" She looked around then, noting the boxes and the trunks around his room. "Are you packing?"
"I've just handed in my resignation."
"WHAT?"
"But you can't resign!"
"You're the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had!"
"Everyone says so! Just because Snape-"
"Parents will no doubt know of my condition by now," Remus said tiredly. He placed a small basket of teacups in his trunk. "The letters will be flooding Dumbledore's office soon enough; no one will want a werewolf around their children."
"But you're not dangerous!"
"I think I proved that wrong last night. The two of you could have been seriously hurt, as could any of my students."
"But that's because you were coming to save us!"
"Unfortunately few will see it that way. And Snape is very angry, I doubt he will let me remain in my post if he has anything to do with it."
"He shouldn't have anything to do with it! He had no right to tell anyone!"
"The loss of his Order of Merlin has hit him very hard, I'm afraid," said Remus wryly. "In his anger I believe he, er, accidentally let slip about my condition."
"I doubt it was an accident," Calla muttered. "He shouldn't have told anyone!"
"But he did," Remus said quietly. "And in all honesty, after last night, I couldn't bring myself to remain somewhere that I put you at risk." Calla floundered. She didn't know what to say. "Dumbledore told me this morning, you saved a lot of lives last night. Both of you. If I'm proud of anything, it's how the two of you have learned. Tell me, Harry, what form does your Patronus take?"
"You heard about that?" Harry asked, suddenly distracted.
"What else could have driven the Dementors back?" Remus said quietly.
So Harry hesitated before he told Remus everything. "Yes," Remus said eventually, "your father was always a stag when he transformed. That's why we called him Prongs."
"I knew it," Calla whispered, smiling gently.
Remus tossed the last of his books into his trunk, and closed the lid firmly. "I am no longer your teacher," he said. "As such, I have no issues with giving you the Map back. I'm sure you will find plenty of use for it."
Calla took the parchment nervously, holding it in her hands. After the events of last night, it felt all the heavier. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Have you... Have you heard from Sirius at all?"
"Dumbledore has sent him an owl," Remus said. "Wherever it is he may be."
"I hope he can be freed," Calla told him. "Not just for him. I know it must have been hard all these years, without any of them."
Remus smiled sadly, closing his trunk. "Yes. Yes, it has."
There was a knock at the door and Calla folded the map, placing it safely in her pocket. Professor Dumbledore entered. "Your carriage is at the gates, Remus."
Remus nodded, looking very tiredly. "Goodbye for now, Calla, Harry. I will... See if I can visit you over the holidays. I don't know where I'm going to be staying, but I promise you, I will try."
"We know," Harry said, and the two of them went to hug him a final time. "Sirius - Sirius said he'd speak to you. About if we could stay with him and you instead of with the Dursleys."
Remus smiled kindly. "I'm sure we will find some solution."
Then he picked up his case and trunk and nodded firmly. "There's no need to see me to the gates, Headmaster. I can manage myself."
Calla stared after him as he left, and Harry sank down into a chair. She did the same, looking miserably at the floor. "Why so glum, the two of you?" Dumbledore asked as the door closed. "You did a wonderful thing last night."
"Yeah, but Remus has to leave." She looked at the floor. "If we'd only been more sensible, if he hadn't have had to come..."
"Then you may very well have been killed. You may not have known the truth, and saved Sirius' innocent life."
Calla knew he was right, but she shook her head anyway, clutching her knees to her chest. "Remus could have been hurt. I was so worried..."
"As was he about you. But you have been fantastic, both of you. Pettigrew has confessed to his crimes and his intention to return to his master, whose location he still will not disclose - though we can guess - and we have multiple Ministry figures here who are dealing with the case. The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Head of International Co-Operation are both working to get justice and to track down Sirius. Pettigrew will be out of the castle and taken to a secure cell. Then we will find Sirius."
"And give him a trial?" Calla asked. "A fair one? We can testify!"
"And I am sure you will," Dumbledore told her. "Thank you, Calla. I know you are upset, but you have saved a great many lives tonight. In finding Peter Pettigrew, you have halted Voldemort's return."
"Halted?"
"Professor Dumbledore," Harry said quickly. "I... I haven't told you or Calla this yet, but in my Divination exam yesterday, Professor Trelawney said something very strange."
"Did she now?"
"Yes. She... Her voice went all funny and her eyes rolled back and she started speaking. She said Voldemort's servant was going to set out to find him, that he would help him back to power. That the one once hiding would be freed, and - and that servant and master would be reunited... Once more."
"A prophecy," Calla whispered. She could hardly believe it, but she did. Trelawney had made a true prophecy, despite what everyone would have said. She knew it.
"Was she really making a real prediction, Professor?"
Dumbledore looked a mixture of impressed and surprised. "Do you know, Harry, I think she might have been. I believe that takes her number of true predictions up to two. Perhaps I should offer her a pay raise..."
"But-" Harry spluttered. "I didn't... She never talked about it the way Calla does. I didn't think that she... Could really See."
"I told you," Calla said, sighing. "I said she was the real thing. You didn't listen, but I did tell you."
"But... We - no, I saved Pettigrew's life! If he really had gotten away then it would have been my fault that he returned!"
"But he did not," Dumbledore said gently. "You and your sister saw to that."
"More Calla than me," Harry muttered.
"Even so," said Dumbledore. "You did a very noble thing in saving Pettigrew's life. When a wizard saved another wizard's life, it creates a certain bond between them. Pettigrew is forever in your debt, whether he realises it or not. And Harry... I do believe that were your father in your situation, he would have spared Pettigrew, too."
Calla smiled weakly. She hadn't wanted Pettigrew dead either; now real justice could be enacted, with all the facts gathered. "I..." Harry started, looking nervous. "I thought I saw my dad earlier. I thought it had been him who had cast the Patronus. When I saw myself across the lake... Well, it looked like him."
"An easy mistake to make," Dumbledore said gently. "I suspect you are tired of hearing this, Harry, but you really do look extraordinarily like your father. Except your eyes... You both have your mother's eyes."
"It was stupid," Harry muttered. "Thinking it was him. I knew he was dead."
"You think the ones we have loved ever truly leave us?" Dumbledore looked kindly at them both, warmly. "You think that we don't recall them clearer than ever when we are in trouble, when we are scared? Your father is alive in both of you. Harry, James showed himself most clearly when you had need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again that night."
Calla blinked. Did Dumbledore mean what she thought he meant? "Sirius told me all about how they became Animagi while at school," Dumbledore continued, still smiling at them. "Quite an extraordinary feat, not least the keeping it from me all that time. And then, Harry, I remembered the most unusual form your Patronus took that day at Ravenclaw match, against Mr Malfoy and his companions. So you did see your father that night, Harry. You found him inside of yourself."
Calla felt then an awful pang. If she had cast her Patronus, if she'd realised what Harry did, would she have found her father in her, or her mother? Would she have found either of them? There had only ever been one stag.
She wasn't sure now that she wanted to know what form her Patronus took. Maybe she wouldn't ever know.
Dumbledore left the office quietly, leaving the two of them to their own thoughts.
She spent the rest of the day with Daphne and Padma, in the quiet between drawing and reading. Her mind was occupied, and she was sure her friends wanted to speak to her, but they let her stay in her silence and she appreciated that.
Before dinner though, the rest of the School returned, and she couldn't stay quiet forever. She had to endure all the questions from her yearmates - Lisa's shocked look, Isobel's exclamation over Buckbeak, Michael's confusion about Peter Pettigrew - all the way until they got down to the Great Hall, when Padma and Terry insisted they leave her alone to eat.
"Thanks," she muttered, sitting down. She still couldn't shake her lingering sense of unease. Everything still didn't feel quite right. Trelawney's prophecy... Hadn't been completed yet. And her vision still weighed on her mind.
Xx
It was all over the Daily Prophet the next morning. How Sirius Black had escaped, how the Ministry had been forced to reveal Pettigrew was still alive and slipped through their fingers all these years, how it was 'a dreadful embarrassment for Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge' and would require 'serious inquiry into the Ministry's shortcomings'. The author of the piece seemed very conflicted on whether Sirius was a murderer or not, but it said that there would be a trial soon.
"People think Fudge might have to resign," Daphne said conversationally.
"He won't," said Michael, also reading the paper. "Father's always said Fudge would never let go of being Minister."
"After this, though?" Daphne shook her head.
The rest of the article basically just went over what Calla already knew, but at the bottom told her that Sirius Black was being tracked and called for trial and that Pettigrew had been moved to a secure location within the Ministry. Not Azkaban, she noted curiously. Perhaps they realised that to send him to Azkaban would be futile, but she did wonder where else he might be.
"Come on," Padma said after breakfast, trying to herd them outside. "We should take our minds off this. It's a lovely day."
And Calla supposed it was, but she still felt chilly. Maybe it was just the Dementors, having a lasting effect, as they often did. They were gone now, at least; Dumbledore had ordered it.
But the next day, there was a new headline. Calla had known before she even saw it. More Scandal for Fudge: Death Eater Escapes Justice Again. They were calling into question his grip on his Ministry, but Calla heard all sorts later that day, until she couldn't bear it. People were saying that the Department for Magical Law Enforcement had failed, some were whispering about a Mister Crouch, how Pettigrew had probably gotten to France by now, how the Department of International Co-Operation didn't know what to do. It sounded like chaos.
Calla was exhausted by it. She went back to the dormitory, haunted and tired and heavy, and she slept.
Xx
The exam results came out on the last day of term. Calla had refused to leave the dormitory at first - what was so important about exams when Voldemort could return at any moment? - but Padma had all but hauled her out. "I know this is messed up," she said. "But you have to come out at some point."
"I'll have failed anyway," Calla said huffily. "There's no point."
"Don't be silly," Padma sighed. "You won't have and if you have, who cares? O.W.L.s are still two years away. Come on."
She'd protested quietly all the way to the board where their exam results had been posted, squashing in the middle of Rachel Harris and Tracey Davis. "Ravenclaw scores are over that end," Tracey said, and Calla and Padma shuffled along through the crowd.
Their names were next to each other, and Calla grabbed the two sheets of parchment, handing Padma's over without looking. "Well?" Padma asked her, as Calla still hadn't looked at hers. "Open them together?"
"Together," Calla said, unfolding the parchment.
Her stomach twisted as she read. E in Astronomy. O in Ancient Runes. E's in Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and Potions, somehow. She had an O in Divination, too, which wasn't a surprise but still a relief. And one E in History of Magic, too. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration which she was most worried about. Her stomach flipped as she checked them. Two As.
She could feel herself about to cry and so dragged Padma away, towards where Daphne and Isobel also lingered. "I passed," she whispered when they were all together. "I passed everything."
It was the first time.
Despite everything else, the exam results had been enough to put her in a pleasant mood the rest of the day, until she went to see Dumbledore, who had summoned her. She entered nervously, looking around. Fawkes was preening himself on his perch, and Dumbledore sat serenly behind his desk. "Ah, Calla," he said calmly, glancing up. "Sit, please."
She did so, a little nervous, but smiled when she caught Fawkes' eyes. "Is this about Peter Pettigrew, Professor?"
"Yes," he said, "and no. I suspected you had a lot of questions, which you haven't quite had answered."
"Well," Calla said awkwardly, "yeah. How did he get away?"
Dumbledore looked at her gently. "There are some things we may never know." Her face fell. That was very much not a satisfactory answer. "But we can speculate on accomplices, and we can consider his own tricks that got him out of the situation. That is not what matters. I'm sure you have an idea of what is coming, moreso than many of us."
Calla flushed. "Yeah. I... I know he's going to come back, Professor." Dumbledore didn't look shocked. "I don't know what to do."
"It is not up to you, Calla," Dumbledore said kindly. "Frankly, as a thirteen year old, there is not much that you can do."
"I want to do something." Another question lingered in her throat. "And Professor, I... I've been wondering... How did people know what happened that night? When..." She struggled to get the words out. "When our..."
"When Voldemort killed your parents?" Dumbledore said it gently, almost too gently. "Many have speculated, Calla. It was Voldemort's intention that night to hunt down your brother, and in attempting to do so, destroyed his own body."
"He wanted Harry?" Calla stared. She'd always assumed Voldemort had been after their parents - why wouldn't he? What had Harry ever done? "Why?"
"All in good time," Dumbledore merely told her, which didn't help at all. "But in causing the curse to rebound, your brother took on the title of the Boy-Who-Lived and one way or another, the wizarding world knew him. And you, too, of course."
"But Harry was the important one."
"Harry was the child the world focused on as their figurehead," Dumbledore corrected. "Of course, no one truly knows what happened that night... why Harry survived... why he has his scar... or why you have one, too."
"I heard him," Calla blurted out before she could stop herself. Dumbledore raised his grey eyebrows. "When the Dementors come near me... I can hear V-Voldemort." She could sworn Dumbledore's face fell, his eyes sad as they looked upon her. "Harry can hear our mother but I... all I can hear is him."
"What does he say?" Dumbledore asked gently, and Calla both hated that he asked and was desperate for the chance to answer.
"He says... mine. He says there's no point fighting or resisting - I think he says it to my mother - but it's like, he wanted something. He wanted to take something. And I don't know what it was but... I'm scared he got it."
There. It didn't feel much better to have gotten the words out, nor to have Dumbledore look at her with his sad, penetrating eyes. "I'm afraid I do not know," he said quietly. "But whether he has or has not, you know what you must do, Miss Potter. You must fight him every step of the way, as you have always done, with your brother."
"With what?" Calla asked. "How am I meant to fight him when I can barely transfigure a gerbil?"
"It takes a different kind of magic to fight evil," Dumbledore told her. "A magic few truly understand and which Voldemort never could. It takes love, Miss Potter, something you have in abundance, despite everything that would stop you."
"And if love isn't enough?"
Dumbledore looked at her with a wan sort of smile. "How do you feel your Occlumency has progressed?"
It wasn't what she expected him to ask. Calla took a moment before she could respond. "I... only a little bit, I think."
"And how do you feel you are controlling your Sight? Better?" She nodded hesitantly and Dumbledore looked pleased. "You have strengths, Calla, even if you do not understand them or accept them yet. Use them, better them. I want you to keep a note of your visions this Summer, and anything else you see. Try to control them, guide them, block them or access them."
"How?"
"Occlumency works by clearing the mind, as I have told you many a time. But you must also understand it, and to do so, you must understand yourself, and your magic. It acts as a defense, to protect you - so use it as one. And use it to fight."
"So I just have to... will it to work?"
"If you know how," Dumbledore said with something of a smile.
"That doesn't really help, Professor."
"It may, if you let it." And with that he smiled and waved Fawkes over; the Phoenix glided over Calla's head, the tip of his tail feathers brushing the top of her hair, and landed handsomely on Dumbledore's shoulder. "Enjoy your summer, Miss Potter. I may be in touch."
When the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station the next morning, everyone was cheerful, even Calla, though she had spent an awful lot of time last night trying to figure out what Dumbledore was talking about. She sat with her feet up on the opposite seat, Daphne leaning her head on her shoulder. It was then that Hermione made a surprising announcement. "I went to see Professor McGonagall this morning," she told them, "before breakfast. I've decided to drop Muggle Studies."
"But you passed your exam with three hundred and thirty per cent!" Ron said.
"You what?" Daphne asked, sitting up sharply. Calla jolted out of the way, surprised. "Hermione!"
"I can't stand another year like that one," Hermione said with a sigh. "That Time-Turner was driving me mad. Without Muggle Studies and Divination I can get back to a normal timetable again, with three subjects like Calla, Padma and Daphne do."
"I still can't believe you didn't tell us about it," Ron huffed. "We're meant to be your friends."
"I couldn't tell anyone," Hermione said. "No matter how much I wanted to. McGonagall made me swear to absolute secrecy."
They rounded a corner, and Calla caught a view of the Hogwarts Castle out of the window, just behind the mountains. It was beautiful... It would be months, long, awful months, before she got to see it again.
"Oh, cheer up, Harry," Hermione said tiredly.
"I'm okay!" Harry said quickly, startling away. Calla glanced at him and then back out the window. She knew he had been feeling just the same as he had. "Really. Just thinking about the holidays."
"So have I," Daphne said just as Ron opened his mouth. "It's the Quidditch World Cup, you know. We're going, we should all meet there at some point. It's at the end of the holidays but... We can get organised, can't we?"
Ron was nodding. "You two have to come and stay with us," he said. "I'll fix it up with Mum and Dad and you talk to Remus and Sirius and then I'll call you. I know how to use a fellytone now."
"It's called a telephone," said Hermione and Daphne at once.
"You should do Muggle Studies next year," Daphne told him. "You could really use it."
"Anyway," Ron said, looking at them sharply. "We can go to the cup together. Dad can usually get us tickets from work, and I'm sure he can get extra ones for the two of you too."
Harry cheered up immensely at that, and Calla did find herself smiling. "Yeah... I bet the Dursleys'd be pleased to see us gone... Especially after what I did to Aunt Marge..."
They were very cheerful all the rest of the train journey, through several rounds of Exploding Snap. Theodore and Zabini popped in at one point to chat to Daphne and ended up staying for two rounds, in which Theodore beat Ron and Ron was very upset about it. They left just before the Trolley Witch arrived, and Calla had a very pleasantly filling lunch.
"There's one thing I still don't quite understand," said Daphne, finishing her Pumpkin Pasty delicately. "You told us you'd had a vision, that you saw Pettigrew with the Dark Lord. But I don't... Really understand how."
"That's because you've not been in our Divination class," Padma said. "Calla's excellent. Course she could See it."
"Yeah, but, how?"
"I've been wondering that myself, actually," said Hermione. "It makes no sense that you would be able to See the future."
"I can," Calla said quietly. "It's been happening since first year, that night we were in the Forest. I still don't know how it happens, but it does. I'm trying to control it but the visions come at odd times. I can See clearly though." She tapped her glasses with a little laugh. "Ironically. Crystal balls don't worry me, and I can see so many things in fires, all those omens. They're hard to make sense of, but I can see them. That's easier to manage than visions. It's like I get transported sometimes, just for a moment, to see what happens."
"It doesn't sound very precise," Hermione said. "Are you sure it's right?"
"Yes," Calla said tersely. "Of course I'm sure."
"If Calla's sure, she's probably right," Harry told them. She smiled at him, but was stopped from saying anything else by a sharp tapping at the window.
"What's that?" Padma asked, peering over Calla's shoulder to the window. She glanced out to see a very strange sort of ball of fluff bobbing in and out beyond the window pane.
"It looks like a... Flying Pom-Pom," Calla said.
"A flying what?"
"You'll cover it at some point, Daphne." Calla leaned over, straining to see. Matilda scratched at the glass, purring. "I think it's an owl, actually."
When it came closer, she was sure that it was. But it was tiny and it carried a very large letter that looked not only too big but too heavy for it. "Poor thing," she said, pulling the window down. Harry leaned out to catch the little owl, which was being buffeted about in the wind, and snatched it inside. Calla snapped the window shut, leaning over to look at the little owl.
It dropped the letter and then started immediately zooming around the compartment, almost smacking Calla in the face as she startled backwards. Matilda yowled and jumped up into the air, with Calla having to pull her back tightly into her lap. Crookshanks hissed at the owl, and Moony and Hedwig both ruffled their feathers, hooting in a dignified way. "Imagine Lisa's face if she was here," Daphne whispered and Calla giggled as Ron snatched the owl out of harm's way.
The letter was addressed to Harry; Calla handed it over to him, and he opened it nervously, frowning. Then his face lit up. "It's from Sirius!"
"What?" Calla asked excitedly. "Read it out then!"
She came round to his side, reading along with her brother.
Dear Harry,
I hope this finds you before you reach your aunt and Uncle. Remus tells me they're quite unused to owl post.
Buckbeak and I are in hiding for now, until we get word that I can come back. The Ministry isn't too keen on letting all of this about Peter get out, and most still don't know the story. I do have some doubts about this owl's reliability, but he seemed keen and he is the best I could find.
I don't know where Peter might be except running back to Voldemort, but you and Calla did a great thing in capturing him. Soon I should be able to get myself a trial, and prove my innocence. Then I can be free, and may be able to have custody of you - if of course that is still desirable. Remus explained that Dumbledore doesn't want you to live anywhere but with the Dursleys, but he doesn't technically have the legal power to decide that. I'll do everything I can to make this work out.
There is something I never got around to telling you during our brief meeting. It was I who got you the Firebolt-
"I knew it!" Hermione interrupted. "Didn't Calla and I tell you?"
"Wasn't cursed though, was it?" Ron said. "Ow!"
The little owl, which was hooting quite contentedly in his hand, had bitten one of his fingers in what it seemed to think was an affectionate way. "Can't take an owl?" Daphne drawled, grinning at Ron.
Crookshanks took the order to the owl post office for me, the letter continued on. I used your name but told them to take the gold from Gringotts vault number seven hundred and eleven - my own. And we managed to get a goblin to take out Lily's bracelet, which was in there, the most recent deposit. I wanted to have it, and then I wanted to give it to Calla.
She ran her fingers over the bracelet, which was now fastened securely on her wrist.
Please consider the broom as a lifetime's worth of birthday and Christmas gifts from your godfather. And Calla, if there is anything you would ever like from me, I would love to get it for you.
She pulled a face at that. She didn't really want him to get anything for her; Remus was her godfather, not him.
I would also like to apologise for the fright I think I gave you both that night last year when you left your aunt and uncle's house. Calla, you seemed not to mind me so much, but I could tell you were both still rather unsettled and I am sorry. I had only hoped to catch a glimpse of you both before I headed north, but I think I may have worried you instead.
I am also enclosing something else for the two of you, which I believe may make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable.
If you ever need anything from me, please send word. I will hopefully return to the country before the end of the Summer, but your owl can find me either way.
I'll write again soon, and speak to Remus.
Sirius
Harry and Calla both looked curiously inside the envelope. There was another slip of parchment in there, and Calla read it quickly, finding herself suddenly beaming.
I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather and Calla Potter's legal guardian, hereby give them both permission to visit Hogsmeade at weekends.
"That'll be good enough for Dumbledore!" Harry said excitedly, and Calla nodded, grinning. Maybe now she could finally go out with her friends.
"Hang on, there's a P.S..."
I thought your friend Ron might like to keep the owl, as it is my fault he no longer has a rat.
"Really?" Ron asked, eyes wide. The tiny owl was still hooting excitedly and high pitched. "Keep him?" He looked uncertain, and glanced around the compartment. Calla nodded excitedly at him; the owl looked really sweet. Then to Calla's astonishment, Ron held the owl out for Crookshanks to sniff.
"What d'you reckon?" he asked the cat. "Definitely an owl?" Crookshanks purred and Calla grinned. "Good enough for me," Ron said happily. "He's mine."
Harry read and re-read the letter from Sirius all the way back from King's Cross Station, while Calla read the end of 'The Hobbit', Ron settled the owl in and introduced it to everyone, and Hermione, Daphne and Padma discussed Ancient Runes very passionately.
The letter was still clutched in Harry's hand as they traipsed off the train at the station, arriving back on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Calla already knew Remus wasn't coming to pick them up, but his absence was disheartening even so. "I'll write you as soon as I can," Daphne told Calla, hugging her. "I'm going to find out everything I can about Pettigrew, and about Sirius' trial. You'll let us know if anything happens, won't you?"
"Of course," Calla said, as Padma went in search of Parvati and Daphne of Astoria.
"Come on," Harry said, as they slipped through the barrier into the Muggle world together.
Uncle Vernon was waiting on the other side, eyeing Mr and Mrs Weasley very suspiciously indeed. Mrs Weasley hugged Calla and Harry very enthusiastically in greeting, and at this, Uncle Vernon's fears seemed to have been confirmed. He made a very loud huffing sound, shaking his head.
"I'll call you about the World Cup!" Ron called to them as they bid him and Hermione goodbye, trailing their trunks behind them.
"What's that?" Uncle Vernon snarled, pointing at the letter Harry was still clutching. "If that's another form you've got for me to sign, you've got another-"
"It's not," Harry said cheerfully. "It's a letter from my godfather."
"Godfather? Your godfather's left us in the lurch, I've had to take time out of my day to come and get the two of you-"
"No," Harry interrupted, grinning. "My godfather, not Remus."
"You haven't got your own godfather."
"Yes, I have," Harry said brightly. "He was Mum and Dad and Remus' best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's escaped from the wizard prison and now he's on the run, but we're hoping he'll get a re-trial soon. He likes to keep up with me and Calla though now... and Remus... you know, see how we're doing... how we're being treated... catch up on our news... check we're happy..."
Grinning broadly at the look on Uncle Vernon's face, both of the twins set off towards the station exit, their trunks and cages rattling on the trolleys. Matilda leapt out of Calla's arms and hissed at Uncle Vernon, so she called her back. "You've got a cat?"
"She's still a kitten," Calla said pleasantly. "Her name's Matilda, for the book character. You know, the one who moves things with her mind?"
Harry made a snorting sound as Uncle Vernon's face went purple, and together Calla and Harry went out into the sunshine, with a feeling this Summer might still manage to be okay.
Author's Note: Please don't kill me :(. This marks the end of third year and a major turning point for the story. I'm super excited for y'all to read what's ahead. Let me know if there's anything in particular you guys want answered or expanded on for the coming year! And thanks again to everyone for reading and your comments.
