An unclear vision

On the first of April during breakfast, Errol arrived with a letter for Fred, George and Kate, it was only written on it to wait until around midnight to open it. George packed it away, then they started talking about what they would do that night. Fred and George wanted to celebrate their birthday, as well as Kate's one.

- 'I'm not sure it's a good idea to let people know I'm born on the second of April, that'll be quite suspicious. Kate Labelle, born on the same day as the girl they're looking for…'

- 'Then celebrate it with us today. After all, you're the third twin, we're born just a few hours before you, that makes no big difference,' said Fred lightly.

- 'Maybe… I don't know.'

- 'That's it, Kate, it's our birthday tonight, all three of us. That's even better as we have quidditch tomorrow… And we'll have a good time,' George said, putting an end to the discussion.

- 'But you'll all stay here in the Great Hall longer after dinner,' said Lee. 'I'd like to set up the mood in the Common Room before you come back.'

The four friends kept talking together until they had to leave for their respective classes. During lunch, Kate reminded the twins to behave in Potions if they didn't want to spend the evening in detention with Snape.

During dinner, Muninn entered the Great Hall. All students looked strangely at the bird, it wasn't time for mail. He came straight to Kate, he carried a letter and the pouch.

- 'How come Muninn arrives now? Post is only in the morning,' wondered Lee.

- 'I guess Dumbledore made an exception for him as he's travelling back and forth to Romania,' answered Kate while taking the letter and the pouch away from the bird and sending him to the owlery.

She opened the letter. There was a second envelope inside addressed to 'the three twins' and a piece of parchment.

"Hi Kate,

I hope Muninn will make it before the first of April. Do not open the letter nor the pouch before that day, as close to midnight as possible. It's my small contribution to your birthdays.
With love,

Charlie"

- 'It seems to be birthday gifts,' she said, showing the short message to the others and packing the rest in her bag.

Lee left as soon as he was done eating, reminding the others to wait there as long as possible before joining the Common Room. That's what they did, chatting quietly. Kyle and Alec came wishing a happy birthday to the twins, all three thanked them, what surprised Alec.

- 'Isn't your birthday –' he started to ask Kate.

- '– tonight, like Fred and George,' she cut with a wink.

She explained him mentally that it was better if people believed she was born on the first like Fred and George, rather than on her real birth day. He nodded.

- 'I have a gift for you, but I forgot it in my bedroom, I'll give it to you tomorrow,' he said.

- 'That's sweet of you, I wasn't expecting anything,' she said, smiling.

- 'You should wait to get it before being happy, maybe you won't like it.'

- 'It's a gift from you, of course I'll like it.'

Professor Dumbledore walked to the group of friends.

- 'I believe there is a party waiting in the Gryffindor Common Room, and I would be grateful if I could close the Great Hall for tonight,' he smiled.

All five students left, Dumbledore walking behind them.

- 'Oh, I nearly forgot,' said the Headmaster, 'happy birthday to the three of you. It's amusing to see how similar you are, although one of you has different parents.'

- 'Thank you,' answered the three Gryffindors at once.

Fred proposed the two Hufflepuff boys to come with them to their Common Room for the party, Alec accepted immediately. He hadn't been in the Gryffindor Common Room since the Christmas holidays. Kyle wasn't as sure as his friend, but he followed anyway. When they entered, the whole quidditch team was there, waiting with Lee and Katie under a banner on which 'happy birthday to our three twins' was written. Katie seemed happy to see Kyle and Alec there, the others were a bit surprised. All came congratulating the trio of twins, hugging and shaking hands, while drinking pumpkin juice. Even Percy came wishing Fred and George a happy birthday, then he awkwardly went to Kate. He muttered some birthday wishes to her as well, and she smiled to him, probably for the first time, as she thanked him.

The group sat together, Lee had installed a table with snacks in the middle of a circle of armchairs. Kate drew her wand and conjured some candles floating in the air that were spreading light of different colours. They played some games – exploding snap, mimes, a kind of Pictionary where the lines drawn were moving, rendering the exercise much more complicated – and had a lot of fun. Around half past nine, Alec and Kyle left to join their own Common Room.

Then Oliver and Ethan said they still had homework to do and left them. Ainsworth was the only older student left with the first and second years. They kept playing for a while, and around eleven, Katie, Angelina and Alicia decided to go to bed, Lee followed soon after.

- 'Do you start enjoying the company of such young witches and wizard?' Kate asked Ainsworth.

- 'I think so,' he smiled. 'I told you I understand why Charlie enjoyed your company so much. And Fred and George are fun to be around.'

- 'You should not take a liking in her, she'll break your heart,' joked Fred.

- 'Right, there's only place for Charlie in hers,' George continued.

- 'I know, don't worry,' laughed Ainsworth. 'I think I rather see Kate like a little sister now that I learned to know and appreciate her. I just feel like I should protect her, and I have to admit, after what happened with Emma, I wrote Charlie and told him I'll try to look after her.'

- 'I don't need anyone looking after me,' the young witch answered moodily.

- 'Yet you were injured,' the last year student answered.

- 'Yes, because I looked after Fred. I could have gone through this uninjured, but either Fred would be dead, Emma would not have been expelled, or a fight would have taken place and there would have been more injured. I made the decision that was having the least negative effects. But if you really want to waste your time, do so. Just don't be in my way if I have to fight.'

- 'I swear I won't,' he said with a smile. 'I will just try to avoid any fight involving you takes place as long as I'm at school.'

- 'That's fine,' Kate said. 'It's eleven forty-five, maybe it's time to open our mail.'

- 'Right,' said George, taking out the envelope that arrived in the morning.

- 'With which should we start?' asked Fred.

- 'The one Errol brought arrived first, maybe we should start with that,' proposed Kate.

Fred and Kate gathered around George, he opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

"Dear Fred, George and Kate,

We couldn't afford gifts, but I guess this will make you happy anyway. I talked with your father, and we will be honoured to welcome Kate at home for the summer, if she wants to, of course. We will pick you up at King's Cross and we'll find some sleeping arrangements so it's comfortable for everyone.

We wish all three of you a happy birthday. Don't do anything silly.

Mum."

The three of them celebrated this news with shouts of joy. Kate was glad she wouldn't have to spend the summer alone, and Fred and George seemed really happy to spend more time with her. Then the which took the letter Muninn brought during dinner, and the pouch. She gave the letter to George, who was sitting in the middle. He opened it and they all read.

"Hi you three,

I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. You're basically born at the same time, so I thought it's better if you open this together. In the leather pouch, there are three packages, one for each of you. There's a name tag on each, I was not quite sure whom of Fred and George would prefer what, so I will not be angry if you decide to switch. But I know they each will please one of you.

Then there's another package, but it's not wrapped as a birthday present. It's ingredients I gathered, I remembered you were trying to go to the Forest to collect some, maybe with this you won't have to go back there too soon.

And then, there's my answer to Kate's last letter, this is private, so I think you'll prefer looking at it alone.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed a nice evening together, knowing you I'm sure you ended up celebrating together on the first of April.

Happy Birthday!
Take care.

Charlie."

Kate open the pouch and distributed the birthday gifts. She opened hers, it was a necklace and a bracelet, both handmade. They were made of different dragon scales encased by macramé. In the middle of the necklace was a metallic grey scale, it was a bit bigger than the other ones, forming a pointy end. There were four other scales having all different colours – red, black, blue and brown – and on each of them was drawn the symbol of one of the elements. The macramé was made of black leather and silver thread. The bracelet was similar, but simpler, displaying smaller scales of the same colour, the elements of water, fire, earth and air being represented by their symbol as well. There was a note accompanying the jewellery.

'We are allowed to gather broken dragon scales we find, and that gave me an idea. Now that you discovered your gift for elemental magic, I thought this would would be a nice reminder of your strengths. The necklace and bracelet are reinforced, so they shouldn't break, no matter what you make them go through. I hope you'll like it. Happy Birthday.'

The young witch turned to Fred and George who were quite stunned by their own gifts. They received highly decorated daggers, the handles were made out of bones. They were carved and coloured in beautiful manner. A note was explaining that a dragon died, the sanctuary used all the valuable parts, but he asked to get some bones to do crafts. Charlie hoped they would enjoy what he made out of it. And they definitely did. They didn't even think about exchanging them, their brother found out exactly what each would like.

- 'It's the first time ever we receive such gifts from a family member,' Fred started.

- 'Yeah, he managed to find out what we like, it's so personalised…' whispered George.

- 'Look what he made for me,' said Kate.

They looked, George took the necklace and went behind Kate to help her put it on, while Fred was fixing the bracelet on her left arm. Then they sat again, Fred and George showed Ainsworth the daggers, he was appreciative of the work that had been done.

- 'It's like he's the first in the family to realise we are not the same person,' said George.

- 'How come? It's obvious that you're two different person, isn't it?' Kate answered.

- 'Well, they're always doing everything together, spending their whole time together and they're identical. I can see how one could easily think they are more or less the same person,' said Ainsworth.

- 'I really don't know how you all have troubles to differentiate them,' mumbled Kate. 'Of course they do everything together, and they look quite similar, but they are different. You can see them as the two faces of a coin. They always come together, but they're not the same.'

- 'If you say so,' answered the last year student. 'I don't know where you see the differences, but I'll trust you.'

- 'Well, look! Fred's nose is a bit thinner, also their eyes are not exactly the same, and the way they smile is different as well.'

- 'That's not really obvious, you know,' he laughed.

- 'I think it is. Maybe I'm just used to pay attention to little things. But come on, at least for the character, you must see differences.'

- 'Hmm – yes, of course,' he muttered. 'But it's getting late, I guess I'll go sleeping now.'

Ainsworth bade the trio good night and left the Common Room. After he was gone, Fred and George burst in laughter. They needed a few minutes to calm down.

- 'I guess it's easier for you, because you were a twin yourself, you're used to pay attention to what makes you unique,' said George.

- 'Right, for all the others, it was always difficult. Most wait until we say the name of the other, but that's also how we trick them the most,' explained Fred.

- 'But even if they can't differentiate you physically, they should be able to see you have different personalities, different tastes, … Of course, that's often complementary, that's why I say two sides of the same coin. With all your differences you create another unity. That's maybe why people tend to consider you as basically the same person, now that I think about it.'

- 'Yeah, maybe,' George said.

- 'Anyway, we'll have to thank Charlie. When do you want to answer him?' asked Fred.

- 'I don't know yet, definitely not tonight. I'll tell you after reading his letter, if he needs potions soon, I'll wait a few days, so I can send him quite a lot. If he says he's fine, I'll send him my answer tomorrow.'

- 'All right. We'll write something to thank him tomorrow then, don't send Muninn before we're done,' said George.

- 'Of course not, I'll wait for your letter,' Kate said while pulling a bag out of the pouch. 'I guess that's the ingredients he said he had for you.'

- 'Oh right,' cried Fred, eagerly checking what was inside.

There was a lot of herbs, roots, berries, beans, and even dragon horn and spikes. Charlie wrote that he gathered plants from the surroundings. Everything had a tag telling what it was. The twins seemed happy about it. It was late, they had classes the next day, they decided to go sleeping. Kate stayed a bit longer, though, and used this time alone to read Charlie's letter before going to bed.

"Hi Kate,

First, I guess it's better if you send back Muninn when you can give him potions to come back, I definitely have enough to wait until you answer this time, even more, but I don't think that will make it for let's say nearly a month, to let Muninn time to make the trip again.

I read your letter with attention, what you tell about Snape coming to check on you during the night was surprising. It doesn't sound like something he would ever do, not even for someone of his house. Maybe having to work with you made that he started caring about you? But that doesn't explain why he asked you about healers in your family, does it? Or why it seemed to interest him why you think he's better than your parents. I fear he's the only one who could answer this, but I don't think he will.

It's great to know that you're able to protect someone else's mind. Can you only do it when you're in the same room as this person, or does it also work in the distance? Anyway, it's already impressive that you can do it. Not everybody is able to protect their own mind, so someone else's, that's huge. Sometimes I have the feeling you can do whatever you want, that there's nothing impossible for you, given time enough to try and practice until you get it.

Did you tell Fred and George you can do that? If they don't manage to learn occlumency, that could be a solution, no?

Anyway, I don't have much to tell, all is going well here, I'm busy with my lessons after work, but it's all right. The work in itself is so great, I think I can deal with everything else, except knowing you're injured or you got into troubles. I'm glad Dumbledore proposed me to visit you to see by myself that you were doing okay. I believe I couldn't have focused on anything else before I was entirely sure you were all right.

Take care of you.

With Love

Charlie"

The next day, at the end of breakfast, Alec came talking with Kate.

- 'I just received a letter, my mum is allowed to leave the hospital at the end of the week. They say she should be fine now, at least they hope. We'll see if she finds a job and a place to live, so I know where I'll spend the summer holidays,' he said, both happy and nervous.

- 'I thought Kyle said he would ask his parents if it would be all right that you stay there over the holidays if your mother doesn't manage,' Kate answered.

- 'Yeah, he said that, but he didn't until now. I don't like not knowing where I'll go.'

- 'Why don't you ask him to write his parents so you get an answer?'

- 'You think it's okay to do that?'

- 'Sure. I mean, it's horrible to not know what will happen when you'll have to leave school, you don't have a home yet. It's not easy to focus on anything else than this uncertainty.'

- 'Yeah, I guess you're right. Here, that's the gift I forgot yesterday,' he said, giving her a package.

Kate opened it. It was a painting, Alec was really skilled. It was representing her, Fred George and Alec making snow sculptures during the Christmas holidays. The young witch was moved by this gift. She hugged her friend tightly. 'Thank you,' she whispered in his ear.

- 'That's nothing much,' he answered, blushing slightly. 'I just thought it was a good way to keep some memories of the good times we had together.'

- 'It's awesome,' said Kate. 'Fred and George's parents waited for our birthday to tell us that I'm allowed to spend the summer at their place, and look, that's what Charlie made for me,' she said, pulling the necklace from under her shirt and showing the bracelet.

- 'Wow, that looks great!' cried Alec. 'Are these dragon scales?'

- 'Yes, they are. They represent the elements, you can recognise it with the symbols he drew on them.'

- 'What's the grey one?'

- 'It's either for metal, some people say it's an element as well, or it's for my eyes,' she joked.

- 'Then I'd say it's for your eyes,' seriously answered the boy. 'There's no symbol on it, after all, so it must symbolise you.'

- 'Maybe we should go if we don't want to be late,' said Kate after packing the painting in her school bag and hiding her necklace under her shirt again.

- 'Right, let's go. I'll ask Kyle if we can write his parents today, then.'

- 'I guess you can use History of Magic to do so, it's not like Binns would notice anything. We're still working together tonight?'

- 'Of course we do,' he said as they arrived at the classroom.

As always, the class was boring, Kate kept taking notes to be prepared for the exam two months later. At the end of the lesson, she showed Katie the gifts she received from Alec and Charlie, and told her that she would spend the summer at the Weasleys. Katie was genuinely happy for her friend. They arrived at the greenhouses before Alec and Kyle who had rushed out of the classroom after History of Magic. The boys joined right as Herbology was about to start.

- 'We just went posting the letter,' said Alec, panting and looking at Kate.

- 'Great! I hope you'll get an answer soon, so you can relax a bit,' she answered.

- 'What letter?' wondered Katie.

They kept quiet as Professor Sprout explained the students what they will have to do that day. Once she was done and they started to work, Alec used the Muffliato spell Kate taught him.

- 'That's a long story,' he said. 'We wrote to Kyle's parents to ask if I could spend the summer there in the eventuality my mother doesn't find a place for both of us to live.'

- 'I'm sure they'll be fine with it, really,' said Kyle. 'Mum always complain that the house is so empty.'

- 'Wait, where were you living before coming to school then?' asked Katie.

Alec looked at Kate, she could see he was wondering if he could tell her the story safely. Kate nodded and smiled. She knew her friend was a kind person.

- 'Well, we lived with my father, but he was violent. Do you remember the day when I couldn't talk or do anything?' Katie nodded. 'I just received a letter from my mother basically saying he would probably kill me if I was coming back home.'

- 'What? Why?' Katie cried.

- 'Because – well,… Do you remember I had troubles getting along with Kate last year? It's because I was jealous of the attention she was getting from guys, I wanted them to like me just as they liked her. I opened up about it to my mum, she told my father. He's one of the worse kind of muggles, he said he didn't want to have a gay son, and that I should try to be sure of what I feel before putting a foot back under his roof. That's why I stayed at school over the holidays. Kate made me talk about it on Christmas Day. And then I received this new letter, in which my mum explained she tried to argue about it with him, but he beat her up, and he said he would beat that crap out of me, because he will not tolerate to have a faggot as a son. That's a very offensive word muggles use for gay men.'

- 'So your mother left?'

- 'That wasn't so easy. Kate convinced me to talk to Professor Sprout who led us to Dumbledore. We immediately went to my father's house to gather my belongings. He first only wanted to let me in, without a wand, but Kate asked if she could come with me to go faster. That's good that she did it, because after not even ten minutes, he joined us, he broke the door, threw my mum aside and wanted to beat me. He punched me once, and then Kate was so angry and scared for me she managed to neutralise him. When they heard the noise, Professor Sprout and Dumbledore came in. Dumbledore convinced my mother to leave as well, and I think he modified my father's memories so he doesn't try to find us, because he would most likely try to kill us. That's it.'

- 'Wow, I had no idea,' whispered Katie. 'Are you all right now?'

- 'Yeah, I had incredible support from Kate. Anyway, my mum was for a while in St Mungo, because she kept passing out, she'll be allowed to leave at the end of the week. But she has no money, she's living at the Hog's Head and tries to earn enough so she can afford a place to live for both of us. But it's not sure she'll manage before summer.'

- 'That's why we asked my parents if he could live with us if it doesn't work out with his mum,' said Kyle with a big smile. 'I'll be happy to have someone to play and talk.'

- 'I can imagine,' answered Katie. 'I'm happy each time my cousins are visiting us.'

- 'But Katie, please, don't tell anyone. I'm not ready for the whole school to know about me.'

- 'About what? That your father was a horrible person? It's not your fault.'

- 'No, for the fact that I like boys,' he said, his cheeks turning pink.

- 'Oh, all right, as you want. It's really not a big deal you know.'

- 'That's what everyone keeps telling me, but… I'll need a while to believe it. It's not the same for muggles.'

- 'Maybe the day you'll feel comfortable enough, you should talk to Fred and George. They're still quite suspicious about you, because of how tense it was between us before. As I can't tell them why there were tensions and how we resolved it, they kind of look for next time you'll get mad at me for no obvious reason,' Kate said calmly.

- 'I'm a bit scared of them, I must say.'

- 'Why?' wondered Kate. 'They always accepted you with us, even if they are cautious. Fred even invited you to our birthday party yesterday.'

- 'I know, but… They're always rather cold with me and I don't know, with their habit of laughing of everything, I'm afraid they'd tell it to everyone, make jokes about it, …'

- 'They won't if you tell them you're not comfortable with that at the moment and you prefer if it stays secret. They can make the difference between what needs to be treated seriously and what can be laughed about. But anyway, if and when you'll feel like it. No hurry. I just think it would make their attitude towards you friendlier.'

- 'Thanks for the tip. I'll think about it.'

Alec removed the spell, signifying the discussion was over.

Alec and Kate worked on shield charms that evening, the young Hufflepuff was learning really fast, Kate was glad to see him get better with each of their lessons. The young witch told him at the end of their extra lesson that she was happy to see how much progress he was making. Alec blushed. But then Kate's eyes lost their focus, she grabbed his arm to keep her balance, she was having a vision.

- 'What's up, Kate?' he asked, worried.

- 'Shhh,' she only answered, she wanted to keep focused on all information she could get.

When the vision was over, her eyes focused again and she released her grip on Alec's arm.

- 'I had a vision,' she said. 'But it was not clear. I only saw images, something red… But it seemed really important. I have to go to the Forest!'

- 'Are you mad? In the middle of the night? It's forbidden to go there anyway!' cried Alec.

- 'I have to find Firenze, a Centaur I met in December. They allowed me on their territory. Don't worry for me, I'll be fine. But I need help to find out what that means.'

- 'Kate, that's crazy! If anything happens, who will go to save you?'

- 'No one will have to save me, Alec, I'll be fine. The only thing I fear is Filch, the rest will be fine.'

She used the disillusionment charm on herself and left the classroom with Alec. In the Entrance Hall, she wished him to have a good night and she left through the huge oak doors. On the way, Kate focused on George, telling him she had to see Firenze to sort out the vision she just had, she wouldn't come back soon. Then she wondered how she would find him in the forest, she didn't know where the Centaurs were living exactly, nor what habits they had.

Once under the cover of the trees, Kate took out her wand and made some light. The sky was cloudy, it was a very dark night. After a moment spent walking deeper inside the forest, the girl stopped. She closed her eyes and listened attentively to every noise around her. Somewhere on her left, far in the distance, she could hear some clicking noise. Some wind was making the young leafs move in the trees, branches were slightly cracking, but she couldn't hear any activity. The young witch focused on Firenze, repeating 'I need to talk with you.' She never tried communicating in the mind of a Centaur, she didn't know if it would work. After maybe a minute, she felt some interrogation coming back.

Kate opened her eyes and slowly, directing her wand in front of her, she turned on herself, showing what she was seeing around her. At some point during her turn, a feeling of certitude took over, she walked in that direction. After a few minutes, this feeling seemed to move to the left somehow, she followed it and kept walking. And finally, she started to hear hooves approaching. When they were really close, the girl made herself visible again and she saw the blond Centaur approaching. He was smiling to her.

- 'I knew we would meet again, Kate. What can I do for you?'

- 'I had a vision tonight, it wasn't clear, but it seemed really important. Do you know how I can get a clearer understanding of what I saw? Or a clearer vision altogether?'

- 'I can probably help you, but we will have to go to our camp,' he said, helping her to climb on his back.

He galloped between the trees for a while, then he slowed down and stopped.

- 'We're nearly there, it's better if you walk now, some of my herd won't appreciate if I carry you.'

Kate jumped down and walked beside him. As they arrived at the top of a little hill, the girl saw the Centaurs' camp for the first time. It was in a clearing, a few fires were lit, a cave was bordering the clearing on one side, probably providing some protection when the weather was too bad. There were Centaurs of all colours, size and age, even really young ones walking beside their mother.

Firenze put a hand on the girl's shoulder and made her walk by his side. As they arrived at the clearing, Magorian approached.

- 'Good evening, Magorian,' said Kate.

- 'Why did you bring her here?' he asked Firenze, ignoring Kate.

- 'She had an important vision that wasn't clear, she needs to find more information, I can help with that only here, where I have fire, herbs and we are safe.'

- 'Keep her aside, will you?' Magorian said before walking away.

- 'I guess I couldn't expect any better,' stated Kate.

He smiled to her and made her walk around the clearing until they arrived at the side of the cave. There he helped her sit on a rock, a bit higher, so she would be at his height. Then he left her a moment and came back with a torch and some sage. He gave Kate the torch and gathered some branches and dry wood to prepare a fire.

- 'We often use the smoke produced by the burning of sage and other herbs to define more clearly what we foresaw. That might be difficult for you, it is your first time. But it is worth trying. What did you see?'

- 'I saw something red, small, a bit shiny, it was feeling like it was in danger and had to be protected. I heard something hissing. The vision was revolving around this red object, maybe it was a stone.'

- 'This is not much to go,' said the blond Centaur.

- 'I know, but there was a heavy feeling of danger surrounding it, I have to understand what it means.'

He prepared a small fire between him and Kate and used the torch to turn it on.

- 'Now, I need you to close your eyes. Focus on what you foresaw, bring all these images, sounds, feelings back in your mind. Breathe deeply, call your vision back. When it is there, open your eyes again and fix them on the smoke of the fire,' he quietly explained.

Kate did as she was told, eyes closed, calling back the vision she had not even an hour earlier. The smell of the smoke changed, her vision started to be more vivid, intense. The girl opened her eyes and she was fully brought back in it. Except this time, she could discern some words coming from the hissing sound. 'Elixir of life', 'come back', 'Flamel' were spoken, the high pitch hiss seemed to turn around that red stone, but it wasn't defined. It seemed like an idea. Then in the smoke, Kate saw a pale snake like face with red eyes.

- 'Voldemort,' she whispered.

- 'What is it?' asked Firenze.

- 'He's after something, a kind of stone, from what I see, that he believes would give him the possibility to come back. I have to talk to Professor Dumbledore.'

- 'All right,' he calmly said. 'I will bring you back to the edge of the forest. It is not safe for a young girl alone at this time of the night.'

- 'Is it safer for a Centaur alone? I can defend myself. The only problem I see is that I won't find the way back, but I do not fear the creatures I can find here.'

- 'You are a brave young witch. Do not fear for me, I know this forest and its dangers.'

He put out the fire and walked to Magorian. They talked a moment, then Firenze picked up his bow and arrows and joined Kate again.
- 'We will walk until we are out of sight, then I will carry you again,' he said, helping her jump down the rock.

- 'I can walk the whole way, it's not a problem.'

- 'I know you can, but one should not spend so much time alone in the forest. It's less dangerous with a group because all beasts would be more wary of a bigger amount of opponent.'

They started walking away, Kate waved at Magorian, he simply nodded nervously.

- 'Why is Magorian so nervous, and why was he upset that you brought me here? He said I could come in the forest and you were allowed to help me.'

- 'He did. Only some of us have huge prejudice against wizard kind. He's afraid that your presence might be used against him. Bane would be too happy to take the lead, and he wouldn't let any wizard step in the forest.'

- 'I think I can understand where that feeling comes from, but I don't believe it will help in any way to get better relationship between Centaurs and Wizards. I mean, wizards took over the ruling, they confined you to always smaller territories, they pretend to know better than you what is good for you, I see some reasons for you to have a certain hostility against us.'

- 'What do you think could help?' he asked as they started to walk out of sight.

- 'Some influential wizards who would help change the perception most have of Centaurs, or creatures altogether, bringing the knowledge that you are the ones knowing best how to manage your own life, and that it's not ours to decide if you need bigger or smaller territories. I think arguing about who's better than the other is useless and ridiculous. You're better in some areas, we are in others. Being different doesn't mean being better or worse. I believe we are richer from all these differences.'

- 'I agree with you, Kate. Come, we're far enough, climb on my back,' he said, giving her his arm so she could pull herself and climb.

She tightly wrapped her arms around his chest and he started galloping. The Centaurs camp was deep within the forest, the way was quite long. At some point, Firenze slowed down, but they were still in the forest. Something seemed wrong to both of them.

- 'What's this clicking sound ahead of us?' whispered Kate.

- 'Acromantulas,' he breathed.

- 'They're quite a few.'

- 'Yes, we should probably take another way,' said Firenze, turning to the left.

He was walking carefully now, trying not to make noise. Kate was completely focused on the sounds around her. The clicking sounds were moving, it seemed to circle them, letting only one way free, the direction they were taking. The clicking was getting louder.

- 'Stop,' breathed Kate. 'It's a trap. We shouldn't go that way.'

- 'That's the only one.'

Kate stood on Firenze's back, grabbed her wand and whispered 'Lumos Maxima'. A few meters ahead of them was a gigantic spider web barring the way. They turned around, understanding that the only way was to face the spiders. The Centaur grabbed his bow and an arrow, ready to arm. Slowly, in the light coming from Kate's wand, they saw the first long hairy legs appear between the trees. There were about ten of them slowly coming closer, circling them. The young girl swallowed loudly, she never liked spiders and theses ones were huge.

- 'Do you know if they fear fire?' she asked.

- 'I don't think they like it, but we can't take the risk of burning the forest.'

The spiders suddenly ran to them. Firenze started shooting arrows but it was difficult to reach a place that might badly injure these beasts.

- 'Don't worry for that,' Kate answered.

With her free hand, she conjured these black flames once more, forming a circle around them in which the acromantulas couldn't penetrate. One of them tried to get in and ran away, screaming in pain, some fire consuming its leg. The flames were spreading a blue light around, Kate turned out her wand.

- 'I think there's one or two of them above the web, ready to go down on anything that might fall in, they try to be as silent as possible, but sometimes they are too excited and one click comes from there. I'll try to throw one of the other ones in the web, if the spiders above there fall for it, I'll turn the web on fire, that should free this way.'

- 'And what do we do then?'

- 'I'll throw a blast or two at the spiders and you run. But we should keep them busy fighting until that way is free, so they don't guess what our plan is.'

Firenze started to shoot arrows again, they turned on fire before hitting their target, what made the spiders scream and step back. With one move of her wand, Kate caught one of the injured acromantulas and threw it in the huge web behind them. It worked, two spiders came down the trees to the struggling one in the middle. When they were close enough, she cast a jet of flames towards them and the whole web with the beasts inside caught fire. The young witch focused on the other spiders again. She used different blasts, managed to make two of them run away using the 'Arania Exumai' spell. But obviously, the spiders were hungry, they kept coming back.

Kate threw a brief look behind her, the web was now hanging on one side, some big balls of carbonized spiders were laying on the ground.

- 'Are you ready to run?' she asked Firenze in a whisper. 'The way behind us is clear, there are just the corpses in the way.'

- 'Ready, but you'll have to hold yourself.'

- 'Don't worry. When I sit, you run.'

The Centaur nodded. With her wand, Kate cast another blast to distract these eight legged beasts, then she opened the circle of fire behind them, she moved the flames on each side to oblige the spiders to make a bigger way to reach them, then she sat down, holding herself with one arm as Firenze turned around and started galloping full speed towards the dead spiders. He jumped above two of them and kept running. Before they were too far away, Kate turned off the defensive fire. She kept her eyes behind them, ready to fight anything chasing them, but none came after them.

Firenze only stopped when they arrived at the edge of the forest. He wanted to help the girl get down, but she didn't want to.

- 'What is bothering you, Kate?'

- 'How will you go back to your herd? What if the acromantulas are still there, waiting for you? What if they are moving to trap you somewhere else? I'm scared to let you go alone.'

- 'I will take another path, I do not think they will try to attack again tonight. They were hungry, I believe they will feast on the three spiders that died, even if they were burnt. It will be easier for them than trying to chase a living pray while being injured.'

- 'I don't want to let you go back alone,' she whispered, still holding on his chest.

- 'But you have to. You should go warning Professor Dumbledore of what you saw, and I have to join my herd. They will worry if I do not come back.'

- 'They should. They know as well as you do how dangerous the Forest might be, yet they let you go alone with me.'

- 'Who is there?' asked Hagrid's thundering voice as his heavy steps were approaching.

- 'Hagrid? It's Kate and Firenze.'

He arrived, holding a lantern. He was dazzled to see the girl on a Centaur's back.

- 'What were ye doin' in the Forest?'

- 'I needed to talk to Firenze about a vision I had that was unclear. He helped me gather more information. But we were attacked by acromantulas on the way back. I don't want to let him go alone.'

- 'But I have to leave, Kate.'

- 'It's only because we were together that we made it out of there unharmed. Maybe Hagrid can go with you.'

- 'I'm bringin' ye to Professor Dumbledore!' said Hagrid, trying to make Kate go down.

- 'I can find him by myself, I don't need you for that. But Firenze shouldn't go alone!' she answered, clinging stronger than ever to the Centaur's chest.

- 'He's not alone,' said a voice coming from the forest.

Kate looked over her shoulder and saw Magorian with a few other Centaurs, armed. She smiled, released her grip and took Firenze's arm to jump down. She was feeling relieved.

- 'We saw in the sky that something would happen, so I gathered a few warriors to follow you and help, should you need it. You have put up a good fight together. We took care of the rest of the spiders, they should not be a problem any more tonight,' he continued, walking closer.

As he stepped out of the shadow, Kate noticed that he was bleeding on the chest.

- 'You're injured,' she whispered, walking towards the Centaur's leader.

- 'We will take care of that when we will be back at the camp.'

- 'There's poison in this wound, you shouldn't wait,' Kate answered, walking closer to him.

- 'What shall I do, then?' he asked rudely.

- 'Let me help,' she said, looking in his eyes.

She rubbed her hands together on the last meters that were between them, then she approached them of the wound. A black liquid was sucked out of it before it closed slowly. He started at the young witch silently. No one was speaking.

- 'I'm not your enemy, Magorian. I know my kind treated your kind poorly in the past, and because there is so much existing prejudice, it's probable that some will do it again. But for me, your life has just as much value as mine. I hope some good wizards will one day be at the ministry and give you back the territories you deserve, and will acknowledge that you are the ones knowing what is best for you. But I'm only thirteen years old, I can't do more than tell you what I believe and show you that I don't lie.

'And please, don't get angry if I say you are as valuable as me, I do not believe that we should decide who is better or worse than the other, that leads to more prejudice on both sides. It's because Firenze and I were together that we made it through the spiders' trap today, with both our qualities that we managed. Differences are not bad, if we are respecting each other. And I respect you.'

- 'I know,' he answered. 'But you're not like most wizards and witches. Most of them consider us as a half-breed, less worthy, less able and intelligent.'

- 'They do because they grew up with this prejudice, but they can learn. I hope they will. Take care of you and your herd, Magorian.'

- 'Thank you, you give me hope for us. May Fate be kind to you, young witch.'

She bowed to the Centaur's leader, then she turned to Firenze, who had joined them.

- 'Thank you for your help, Firenze.'

- 'Thank you for fighting with me,' he answered.

- 'I'm lucky to have met you. Your kindness is a blessing.'

He smiled and stroke her hair, then he bent down and hugged the thirteen years old.

- 'May the stars hold a safe path for you, my friend,' he whispered in her ear.

- 'I hope the same for you,' she said, her voice a little broken by the emotion.

Firenze straightened up and joined the other Centaurs, Kate waved at them to say goodbye, then she turned to Hagrid who was surprisingly quiet.

- 'Now I can go to Professor Dumbledore, do you want to come with me, or should I go alone?'

- 'I – I comin' with ye. If Filch sees ye with me, he won't say nothin'.'

- 'All right, let's go then,' she said, putting herself on the way.

They walked silently back to the castle and to Dumbledore's office. They only saw Mrs Norris on the way, but Filch wasn't following her. When they arrived at the door, Hagrid gave the password and the gargoyle asked for a moment of patience. After two minutes, the door to the stairs opened, Kate entered first, Hagrid followed, the stairs moved upwards until the office door. The young witch knocked and entered. Dumbledore seemed anxious when he saw her, but he took the time to welcome them and make them sit.

- 'What is it, Kate?' he asked.

She looked at Hagrid interrogatively, wondering if she could tell what she saw in his presence.

- 'I would trust Hagrid with my life, you can talk in front of him,' the Headmaster said, noticing Kate's discomfort.

- 'All right, then. I had a vision tonight. It wasn't clear but it felt really important, so I went to the Forest to find Firenze. He brought me to their camp. We worked together so I could define the vision more clearly.'

- 'Did you succeed?'

- 'I think. In my first vision, I saw a kind of red and shiny stone, it felt as if it needed to be protected. I only heard a hissing sound around it. While burning sage and focusing on my vision with Firenze, I could distinguish the words 'Flamel', 'Elixir of Life' and 'come back' said by this hissing voice, it seemed to turn around this red stone. Then in the smoke I saw Voldemort's face.'

Hagrid gasped at the name, obviously shocked. Dumbledore ignored him.

- 'What do you think this means?' he asked.

- 'Well, according to some of the books I read this year, Nicolas Flamel was able to prepare the Elixir of Life with the Philosopher's stone he created. I believe that's Voldemort's plan – Hagrid, please, get used to that name – finding the stone and use it somehow to come back to a physical form.'

- 'All right,' said the Headmaster, taking parchment from a drawer and quickly writing something.

He then walked to Fawkes and gave him the rolled parchment. The bird took off and disappeared in a flash of golden light.

- 'How long do you think we have?' he asked.

- 'I don't know. I think he only made his decision to go after the stone, he has to find out how. He has no body of his own, he has to find someone willing to help him. Most of the time there are at least a few months between the warning I get and the moment when things happens. So I think we should have time enough to make sure he doesn't succeed.'

- 'Good, good,' he said distractedly. 'Hagrid, I think that will be all right now, you can let us.'

The half giant stood up and left the office as Dumbledore was pacing around nervously. Kate started to be tired, but was wondering what they were waiting for. The waiting wasn't long before she got her answer. Soon after, Fawkes came back with an old couple. They went immediately to Dumbledore and greeted him warmly.

- 'Nicolas, Perenelle, let me introduce you Kate. She's in first year and the reason why I asked you to come. Kate, this is Mrs and Mr Flamel. Did you take it with you?'

- 'Yes, yes Albus, we have it,' said the old man quietly.

From the accent, Kate recognised they were French.

- 'Bonsoir,' said Kate, shaking Mr and Mrs Flamel's hands.

- 'Vous parlez Français?' asked Mrs Flamel with a broad smile.

- 'Je suis Française, je m'appelle Catherine Labelle, mais c'est plus simple pour les gens ici de m'appeler Kate. I guess it's better for Professor Dumbledore if we talk in English. I think it's my fault if you're here, I'm a seer and I had a vision tonight.'

A third seat had appeared beside Kate's and all sat down.

- 'Kate saw that Voldemort has decided to try to steal the Philosopher's Stone. He knows it can help him to gain a new body and after that to achieve immortality. We have to decide what we will do with the Stone.'

- 'We have to make sure he will not get in possession of it,' said Mr Flamel immediately. 'Do you already have an idea?'

- 'We can try to keep it safe, but I don't know how long we can do that,' said Dumbledore. 'Voldemort is not the kind of person who will stop in front of difficulties.'

Mr and Mrs Flamel talked together in whispers, really close to each other, so that neither Kate nor Dumbledore could hear what they were saying. Their discussion lasted a few minutes.

- 'Albus, can you arrange for us a place to stay?'

- 'Of course, why?'

- 'Well, we thought, maybe we can brew some more Elixir as long as we are here, and we will let you keep guard of the stone before going back home. You're the most suited person to keep it safe, and if you see that it is not possible, we allow you to destroy it. We cannot risk that this person gets his hands on it.'

- 'Are you sure that this is what you wish?' asked Dumbledore, his voice shaking slightly.

- 'Yes, we are,' said Mrs Flamel, a huge smile on her face. 'We had a wonderful life, we experienced so much, no other human could imagine how fully we lived. But there has to be an end to all things, and that would be ours. We will prepare enough Elixir to be able to organise all what has to be organised, and then we will be ready for the next big adventure.'

- 'Albus, you're the only one who can make sure he will not get it. If we keep it, he will find us and kill us anyway. It's important for us all that he doesn't get the Philosopher's stone.'

- 'I hope I will be worthy of your trust. We should go to the Hog's Head to get you a room for tonight. Tomorrow we will make better arrangements. Kate, I'd like you to come with us.'

- 'Don't you think this little girl should rather go to sleep?' asked Mrs Flamel.

- 'Probably she should, but I would like her to meet my brother, who might need to be convinced.'

Dumbledore decided to use Floo powder to go to the Inn. Kate had to go first, Mrs and Mr Flamel followed and Professor Dumbledore arrived last. They came out in a dirty and dark living room where a man, somehow similar to the Hogwarts's Headmaster was sitting. He was however looking grumpier, quite unhappy to see people arriving at this time of the night.

- 'Good evening,' said the Headmaster to his brother. 'Do you have a room for Mrs and Mr Flamel for tonight?'

The brother nodded and led the French couple through a corridor. Dumbledore turned to Kate when he left the room.

- 'This is my brother Aberforth. He's a bit rough, but he's a good man. We will wait for him and explain him what you saw. It's important that he gets to know you.'

- 'Is this where Alec's mother is staying?' asked Kate, quite disgusted by how dirty the place was.

- 'Yes, that's the only place where I knew she could stay without having to pay.'

Aberforth came back in this dirty living room, Kate was really uncomfortable.

- 'Who's this girl?' he asked rudely.

- 'This is Catherine Labelle, one of our new students. She started this year and she will be most helpful for us in the coming years. Can we maybe sit?'

His brother nodded, Professor Dumbledore sat down and Kate sat beside him.

- 'All right, Kate, maybe you can tell my brother about yourself.'

- 'I'm thirteen, I'm a legilimens, an occlumens, a seer – that's the reason why we're here tonight, I think – and I guess I am advanced in many areas for someone my age.'

- 'That's the least we can say,' smiled the Headmaster.

Aberforth was looking from one to the other, not saying anything.

- 'Kate had a vision tonight, that's why Mrs and Mr Flamel are here. Maybe you can tell what you saw?'

- 'At first, I saw a red stone, and I heard a hissing voice turning around it, I know it sounds weird, but it felt like that stone was in danger. As I was lacking information, I went to the forest and asked a Centaur I befriended to help me clearing that up, he agreed. By working with him, I could hear the voice saying Elixir of Life, Flamel and coming back. And then in the smoke the face of Voldemort appeared. From there it is clear. He wants to get the Philosopher's stone to come back to a physical life.'

- 'You should not listen to my brother's mad ideas. You-Know-Who is dead, gone for years now.'

- 'You're wrong. And I don't have to listen to your brother to know it. I had a vision years ago that he will come back. Also I saw battles happening at Hogwarts, that's the reason why I decided to come here. I had to escape my parents and cross half of the world for this, but I knew I had to do all I could to help fight him. That's what I told your brother the day he came picking me up at the airport. I started preparing for a war four years ago already.'

- 'So we will have to go through that again?'Aberforth wondered, lifting an eyebrow.

- 'I fear so,' commented his brother.

- 'I guess you already have a plan…'

- 'We are working on it with Kate.'

- 'You are involving a child in this? You're sick! She too young, she shouldn't be meddling in your crazy plans. Stop using people to reach your goals.'

- 'You shouldn't say that!' firmly said Kate. 'I came here to help fighting. If you have to know, my parents are Death Eaters who fled after Voldemort's downfall. I had a twin sister and they killed her after my mother had a vision, they thought she would be fighting against them. I used my parents to learn all they knew, then I escaped and we organised with your brother how I could safely stay here. I know exactly what I'm going into. I want to be involved. This is a matter bigger than us all! There will be death all around us, with or without a plan. We just hope to keep the number of people who will die to a minimum, but wars aren't pretty. All I know is that if we don't do anything, it will be way worse!'

Aberforth stared at the girl, he seemed quite shocked by what she said. Kate was staring back, scanning his mind. Then after a moment he nodded.

- 'How long are they staying here?' he asked, showing the corridor.

- 'We will try to find other arrangements tomorrow.'

- 'All right, have a good night, then,' said Aberforth, showing the fireplace.

Professor Dumbledore let Kate leave first, he followed immediately after. Back in the office, Kate looked at him a moment.

- 'Why don't you tell him how you feel about your sister?' she asked.

- 'That wouldn't be helpful.'

- 'I believe it would. He thinks you are responsible for what happened, but he's also really mad at you because he thinks you don't care, you seem to deal perfectly with it. He hates that you seem to have no regrets, no pain. I'm sure you know that. So why don't you tell him?'

- 'He would not listen.'

- 'Maybe. Or maybe you think you do not deserve your brother's forgiveness, maybe you believe it is justice that you carry this guilt and pain alone all your life. It was an accident, Professor. You don't have to pay for it until you die.'

- 'That's enough, Kate. I believe it is time for you to go to sleep.'

- 'It was time three hours ago. Would it change something if you knew who cast the spell that killed your sister?'

- 'No, that wouldn't. Whoever did it, it was my fault. I brought Gellert there, I didn't pay attention to the needs of my siblings, and because of that the situation degenerated. I'm the only one to blame.'

Kate nodded and walked to the door. She was really exhausted and was about to leave when Dumbledore called her.

- 'Maybe you should use the disillusionment spell to join your Common Room if you don't want to explain Mr Filch what you are doing in the castle at this time of the night.'

- 'That would be easier if I could just apparate there,' she mumbled, trying to get her wand out.

- 'Maybe you're right,' he said. 'Fawkes?'

The bird flew off, he came close to the young witch who grasped his leg and they apparated in the Gryffindor Common Room. Kate thanked the Phoenix, then she turned around and saw a red haired head laying on the arm of an armchair. She quietly came closer and realised that Fred and George were sleeping in armchairs in front of the fireplace. She softly woke them up.

- 'Hey, it's me, why are you still here?'

- 'We were worried, you went alone in the Forest, we wanted to wait until you're back,' said Fred, repressing a yawn.

- 'What time is it?' asked George.

- 'It's nearly four in the morning,' Kate answered. 'I'm exhausted, is it all right if we talk tomorrow about it?'

The boys nodded, they hugged each other and left for their dormitories.