Author's notes:
Standard disclaimer. It all belongs to JKR. Thank you for letting us play with your toys.
I will continue to use the occasional song lyric in the story and will give credit at the time when needed.
This is the seventh book in my Slytherin Harry series and covers Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts.
Book 1: Harry Potter and the Muggle's Daughter
Book 2: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Book 3: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Book 4: Harry Potter and the Blood Traitor's Daughter
Book 5: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Book 6: Harry Potter; Flesh, Blood and Bone
Book 7: Harry Potter and the Lady of the Lake
If you haven't read books 1-6 you won't know what's going on. But the bonus is you've got six completed books before you even get to this one!
Fair warning, this story will continue to be dark and have mature language and situations in it.
Harry Potter and the Lady of the Lake
Chapter XXXII
Well I Can Hardly Braid Hers.
As it turned out, things were far worse in Ravenclaw than anyone could have guessed. Professor Flitwick had been the target of Compulsion Hexes by members of his house going back for at least the whole time Harry and the rest had been at the school. Which, as Harry had said when it all came to light, explained the Jekyll and Hyde persona the man had presented over the years. The fallout had been swift, harsh and was still happening; with an eighth student just yesterday joining the seven to be expelled already. In all they'd discovered some twelve students, all the way down to a second-year, who were at least aware of the conspiracy. So far they'd only expelled those they could prove had slipped Flitwick food or drink tainted with the Compulsion Hex Potion, with the rest being put on probation and banned from ever being appointed to prefect or one of the head positions. All but three of Ravenclaws prefects – Padma Patil, Terry Boot both sixth-years and Philip Rahm a fifth-year – to start the year had been part of the scheme. Past students already graduated were being implicated as well. Though it seemed most of them came from families that had sided with Voldemort and once apprehended whatever crimes they'd committed whilst students were going to be the least of their worries. Needless to say, the house and especially, professor Flitwick were struggling mightily. The ignominy didn't just belong to Ravenclaw house though. Dumbledore and the rest of the staff were being raked over the coals in the press for failing to recognize what was going on and it was likely only the situation with Voldemort that was keeping calls for Dumbledore's resignation to a minimum.
Regardless though, the world and Hogwarts carried on and the sextet minus Harry – he was working on his next performances in the Slytherin dormitories – were in one of the castle's many courtyards studying when a familiar fairy flew up and joined them, alighting on Luna's shoulder beside Cinder she reached to scratch under the dragon's chin. The little dragon chirped happily and leaned into her ministrations eagerly.
"Erm," Ginny said after a few moments of watching. "Is there something you needed from us, my Lady?" The fairy waved her off disinterestedly. She was now floating again on buzzing wings just at the edge of Cinder's reach. The dragon darted her head out. Kai dodged to the left, no more than half an inch, and before the dragon could withdraw again she tapped the creature on its nose. Cinder jumped to her feet, crouched low while Kai continued to hover just at the edge of her reach again. The fairy edged in, closer and closer. Cinder growled a warning. Kai chittered, darted forward impossible quick and tapped the dragon on the nose again before skittering away from Cinder's counter strike. Cinder let out a squawk of fury and took wing. Kai darted away and the dragon streaked after her. What followed was one of the most lopsided games of tag ever played as Kai landed tap after tap on the dragon's nose without ever getting caught once herself. Not until the dragon landed, curled up with it's tail covering its nose and pretended to pout, luring Kai down right next to her, did she managed to pounce and pin the fairy to the ground under her paws, growling victoriously.
'Oh, well done, Love," Luna cheered. The others were in stiches for the two's antics. Cinder huffed out a puff of smoke. Kai chittered at the dragon. She puffed out another cloud of smoke while her tail twitched back and forth. Kai reached into a little satchel she had tied by a string around her waist and withdrew a much larger bit of meat than one would have thought the satchel could hold. Cinder immediately let her up and sat, obediently awaiting the treat. Kai tossed it to her and the dragon snatched it out of the air. One swallow and it was gone and she was looking for more. Kai produced another piece and tossed it to her and it was gone just as quickly with the dragon looking for more. Kai held her hands up, indicating she had no more. Cinder stomped a foot. Kai opened the satchel and invited the dragon to look. Cinder stretched out her neck and pushed her entire head, which was bigger than the fairy herself, into the bag before withdrawing it dejectedly. Kai opened her arms and the dragon jumped forward to receive the hug. Then, encircling the fairy with her neck she tugged her down to nap in the sunbeam with her.
"Oh dear, did I need that," Daphne giggled.
"Tell me about it," Ginny said. "Would that I could take a nap too."
"Amen, Sister," Neville agreed.
Hermione sighed and pulled, The Unforgivables, back into her lap. Their essay on the Death Curse and why it was an Unforgivable wasn't going to write itself. It was near half an hour later she said, "As I understand, it's more than just intent."
"It's really hard to quantify," Ginny agreed. "But it seems like it's more about denying life than delivering death. Which doesn't exactly make a lot of sense," she admitted. Their voices were enough to wake Kai and she carefully extracted herself from Cinder and went to sit on Luna's shoulder.
"Well there's no accident with it, right?" Neville asked. "I mean I could accidentally kill you with a knife or an ax or even probably dozens of different curses, but I can't with the Killing Curse."
"Very true," Luna said. "But I think Ginevra makes a point. I think there's something to the idea it isn't so much about wanting someone or something dead, it's about not wanting it to live."
"When you say it," Daphne said, "it doesn't make much sense, but there is a subtle difference. But how to explain it?"
"It's the motivation, I think," Hermione said. "To cast it, you have to want to deny life, deny happiness, good, love and even the right to existence."
"It's knowing it is wrong and embracing that," Ginny said.
"But is it?" Luna asked.
"Well isn't it?" Hermione asked.
"It seems like that would be the correct thought process," Luna said, "but would it be wrong to use it against Voldemort? The way you're arguing, it would be. Yet he has been sentenced to death. How can denying life be simply wrong when we are regularly doing so? The book says you have to have the most powerful of motivation and conviction to cast the curse. We all assume that has to be hatred. But love is far more powerful. Why couldn't the curse be cast with love instead?"
"But how could you cast it with love?" Hermione said. "That goes against everything ever written on the curse."
"Just because something is written doesn't mean it's true. Nor does the fact it is not written mean something isn't possible. I mean the Imperious Curse is also an Unforgivable, but I can think of a way to use it for good, so why not the Killing Curse as well?"
"How could you use the Imperious for good?" Neville asked.
"A tower, a fire and a moat. If you won't jump, but it saves your life if I Imperious you to do just that, was that not a use of the curse for good? If the Dark Lord is about to kill you and I cast the Killing Curse to save you, did I not do the right thing?"
"I think saving Neville, in either case, is the right thing," Daphne said. "But you still had hatred in your heart to cast the Killing Curse. Good came of it, but there was still evil required to cast it… Is she braiding your hair?" she asked disbelievingly.
"Well I can hardly braid hers, now can I?" Luna answered. "And no, it' no more evil than sending someone through the Death Veil."
"I think it's a circular argument," Hermione said. Though she was a bit distracted by the Kai's actions as well. "If human life is sacred, then there is never a circumstance under which it is acceptable to intentionally take it. If, however, if there are cases where it is justifiable to intentionally take a life, then it may be that the curse gets an unfair judgment."
"Except," Neville said, "that I can send someone through the veil and regret having to do so. If everything we've read about the curse is true, then, even as a means of execution, the curse, at its heart, is evil."
"Unless," Luna said, "It can be cast with Love."
"I don't see how it can be," Daphne said, "But I concede, with no evidence to dispute it, the point of the devil's advocate may have validity."
"Thank you," Luna said as Kai finished with her hair, gave her a kiss to the cheek and flew off, stopping to press her palm to Ginny's brow before disappearing into the distance.
"Did she used to braid your hair as well?" Daphne asked.
"No," Ginny answered, "mostly she just sat with me or encouraged me to work on the curse ciphers Bill would send.
"She does seem to favor Luna," Hermione said.
Luna shrugged. "We both love creatures. It gives us more to bond over than Ginny's love of runes. I think we should attempt to test it."
"Test what?" Daphne asked.
"The curse, can we cast it with love?"
"How would you even begin?" Daphne asked. "I mean let's assume you're successful. You'll have killed something in the process and I don't particularly want to kill anything if I don't have to."
"Well, I don't intend to cast the curse at something that's living at all. I just want to see if anything at all can be produced from the incantation with thoughts of love in my heart."
"Well," Hermione said, "according to Lily the incantation doesn't matter at all anyway. Obviously, I'm not going to stop you trying, but whatever you accomplish, I don't think it will be the Death Curse."
"It will be something else," Ginny said.
"Yes," Hermione agreed.
"Is it just me," Neville asked, "or am I the only one to think the goddess' presence here was more than just coincidence?"
The other four focused on him intently. "You're right, Neville," Ginny said. "She's never just around. There's always something behind her actions."
"That's a bit unfair, Ginevra," Luna said.
"You said it yourself more than two years ago when we destroyed the ring, Luna. She never stays anymore. And even before we started school, why did she come to us?"
"Because she sensed we needed her."
"Exactly."
Luna frowned. "It doesn't mean she doesn't care about you," Hermione said gently.
Ginny reached forward and took Luna's hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply she only comes because she wants something from us. It's very much obvious she cares for you deeply."
"She cares for you too, Ginevra. Even if you won't let yourself accept it."
"You're right, she does. And I care for her. But my heart has been broken differently than yours. I can't help but be more cautious than you. I envy you, honestly. I think it would be a less painful life to love as easily as you do." She reached up with her free hand and wiped a tear from Luna's cheek. "Loving you though, has been the easiest thing of my life."
Luna launched herself at Ginny. "I love you too, Ginevra."
Bill picked his way through the crater that had been left behind by the exploded bomb from the American and Canadian ministries. It was… difficult, to even fathom. He'd seen explosions before. But this, this was something else entirely. The fireball had been as much as a quarter mile across and had risen many thousands of feet into the air with the dust cloud extending higher still. He had been two miles away and the sound had been enough to cause his ears to ring. Even at that distance he had been able to feel the pressure wave and heat of the explosion when it had hit. The crater he was walking now was over a hundred meters across and some twenty meters deep. He found himself rather absurdly thinking it an effective excavation tool. That they were going to explode between forty and fifty of these within Azkaban all at once, well, calling it overkill abused the definition.
Another thing abusive was the cost. It hadn't broken the bank, but the memory of Lily's bemused expression as she looked over her statement and subsequent observation she was down to her last ten billion had been eye opening. Bill simply wouldn't have thought a fortune of even a few million could be depleted. But just five short years ago Lily had commanded wealth of over thirty billion. Absurd as it sounded he could understand how one might feel poor in the situation. What made it all the more astonishing was before his death Sirius had been depleting the Black fortune with nearly the same speed. Of course Bill had no idea what had been left to the newly minted Lady Nymphadora Weasley-Black but it certainly wasn't what it had been only a few years previous. The Greengrasses also had been contributing vast sums to the effort. Rumor held their fortune may have been the largest in all of England so Bill rather doubted they were in danger of becoming destitute, but still.
There were, of course, others, most notably the Longbottoms and Daphne, with her control of the Flint fortune, contributing, but it had been Lily, Sirius and Lord and Lady Greengrass who had funded better than 70% of the war expenditures so far. Though things might improve on that front soon. The ministry had just finalized negotiations with the goblin nation for confiscation of the fortunes of convicted Death Eaters. Even with 23% going to the goblins, for however long the war yet lasted, there would be no need of funds from Light families for many years to come. Starved of funds, Voldemort was finding it difficult to even feed his slaves – what else were you, if you called someone master? He disregarded the use of the term within the context of the martial arts and the student/teacher relationship. The term meant something entirely different there. Whatever, as far as he was concerned, the Dark Lord's followers, especially those branded as Death Eaters, were slaves, and they all needed to be fed. Which, of course, explained the rash of non-magical grocery stores to have been stripped bare since the taking of Azkaban Island and prison.
Bill bent and picked up a small glass orb from the charred earth. He examined it carefully before taking out his wand and casting a series of Diagnostic Charms on it. A grim but satisfied smile grew on his face before he tucked the orb in his pocket. The Dark Lord's need to feed his slaves was about due to decline. Drastically. In fact, if all went to plan, it was going to become nonexistent.
The sextet were sitting in the library when a timid voice broke the silence around their table. "Excuse me, Harry."
He turned. "Hey, Isla, how are you?"
"I'm well, yourselves?"
"Good," Harry answered.
"Well/Sick of revision/a grunt/what Luna said," Daphne, Luna, Neville, and Hermione chimed in. Ginny only smiled at the seventh year.
Isla grinned. "Yes, well, be glad it's not N.E.W.T.s for you till next year."
"Kill me now," Luna said.
Harry chuckled. "Is there something we can help you with?"
Isla flushed. "Well, I know it's maybe a bit odd, but I was wondering if you might like to collaborate with me on a piece for the competition?" Harry blinked, surprised, a number of times.
"Ohhh," Luna said. "Now that would be stunning."
"Erm, I don't really do classical all that much, Harry said.
"Oh, I don't want to do classical. I do that every day, all day, for hours on end. Don't get me wrong. I love it, obviously. But I want to do something different."
"You want to do ballet to… rock?" Harry asked.
"See!" she said excitedly. "That's my point. You've been showing this range of talent with vastly different songs that's easy to hear. I dance to different music, but it's all classical and for most people a leap becomes just another leap, a split is a split, they don't catch the nuance of how one lead in is different than another. But changing genres entirely, well that opens eyes in new ways."
"But why perform with Harry?" Hermione asked. "I mean you could get any track you like and dance to it."
"Why perform a duet, or with a group or a full orchestra or even an entire ballet company? It's the harmony of everything together that elevates the group and makes the performance all the more inspiring."
"You should do it, Harry," Ginny said.
"You're sure?" he asked. Since she'd told him of her jealousy, he'd tried to be very conscious of his praise of Isla's performances.
"She's right, sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I think I'd like to see what a collaboration between you two might look like."
Harry watched Ginny a few moments before turning to Isla. "No promises, but let's meet tomorrow and see what we can come up with. If it looks promising, we'll give it a go. If not, I'm going to stick with what I've got planned."
She stuck her hand out. "Fair enough."
"Not to dampen your hopes too much, but you may wish to speak with professor McGonagall on how you'll be judged," Daphne said.
"Good point," Hermione agreed.
"I already asked," Isla said. "She said it would be fine and we would still be judged individually."
"Excellent," Luna said. "I can hardly wait."
"Well?" Ginny asked the following day, "how'd it go?"
Harry sat down beside her on the couch in their sitting room with Daphne in a chair across from them. "Good. I don't think we can put it together for the next round, but we're thinking of maybe using it in the final. Provided we both get there that is."
"You want to perform together in the final?" Daphne asked. She completely ignored the possibility either Harry or Isla wouldn't advance that far. "Doesn't that kind of put one of you at a disadvantage?"
Harry shrugged. "To be honest, I don't really care if I win. I just want to give the best performance I can. I think Isla feels the same."
"Well," Ginny said, "if you're comfortable with it, I think you should give it a go."
Harry turned to her. "You sure about this?"
"I said I was jealous, Harry, not that I didn't trust you."
Harry frowned. He trusted her as well, but that didn't mean he enjoyed the attention she drew from other boys and rather thought he'd not much like it if, for instance, Viktor were still alive and the two were spending hours together flying. Of course, he wouldn't stop her. Training against Viktor could only make her better than she was and it would be a betrayal of his promise to never cage her to deny her the opportunity because he was jealous of the lost time with her. "I know I'm a flirt," Harry said, "so promise me, if something I do ever makes you uncomfortable you'll tell me."
She leaned in and pecked his lips. "Promise."
Author's notes:
There are a few things in this chapter that may or may not be prophetic in both the near and far future.
And next week's torture: Chapter 33, Dream On