Chapter 25! Enjoy!

"It is said that the greatest tragedy in life isn't death, but a life without purpose," said Albus Dumbledore as he walked behind a young, tall, well-built man.

"Professor Dumbledore," said John as he turned back sharply.

"I'm surprised to find you here," said Dumbledore.

"Are you?" asked John, sceptical.

"No," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"What are you doing here Professor?" asked John.

"I like to come here sometimes. The Hollow has a special place in all our hearts. For some, this is where their greatest fear withered away. There are others who lost a great deal here. There are those whose dreams collapsed here. And there are others like you, Mr Smith, whose life turned upside down here," replied Dumbledore calmly.

"Which one are you?" asked John.

"The Hollow is where I grew up," replied Dumbledore. John's expression was one of surprise.

"I did... not... know that," replied John.

"You'll get your wand soon," said Dumbledore.

"I know... just a matter of a few months," replied John.

"Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it," said Dumbledore after a minute's silence.

"Do you really believe that?" asked John. Dumbledore remained silent. "Did you know that, when I was 11, like so many before me did, and so many after me will, I desired to come to the great Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? And guess what happened? I didn't get my letter. My twin sister did, and I didn't. Professor Dumbledore, do you know what it feels like to be called a squib? To have magic in you, yet not be able to practice it like everybody your age does? Where were you when that happened? Hogwarts didn't seem to be of much help at that time," replied John in a coarse voice.

"As a matter of fact, I do Mr Smith. I do know what that feels like," replied Dumbledore. John looked at him shocked. "But, that's a story for another time."

The 2 gentlemen stood in the graveyard without speaking another word for a good 10-15 minutes. John read and re-read the message that was written on the grave in front of him.

It read, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death"

"Why are you here Professor?" asked John finally.

"I'm here to tell you that your purpose isn't over yet," replied Dumbledore.

"And what purpose is that? Protect Harry from any and all danger?" retorted John.

"That Mr Smith, only you can determine. Just remember that, good people have many ways to make their presence felt, not just one," replied Dumbledore calmly.

"Jane told you... She shouldn't have," sighed John.

"You're upset that she told me, or are you upset that she didn't tell me sooner?"

John remained silent.

"She also told me that Miss Weasley will have considerable challenges to overcome this year," added Dumbledore.

"Death... not considerable challenges... death... she faces death," replied John looking Dumbledore in the eye.

"And that's why you don't want to return? Because you think you'll fail in protecting her from death? Because your magic is weaker than you'd like it to be?" asked Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore, what good am I, if I can't even control my magic," replied John sulking.

"A student, Mr Smith... you will be a student. But you'll be at Hogwarts. Not Godric's Hollow. It's been 4 weeks since we suspended you. Officially, you have 2 more weeks of hiatus. I hope to see you by Halloween," finished Dumbledore. John remained silent. He saw Dumbledore walk a few steps and then apparate away. John however spent the rest of the evening seated in front of Lily and James' grave.

After getting suspended from Hogwarts, John came back home immediately. He lay low in his house for a week. Being back home soon after leaving took a toll on him. By the end of his first week in, he had called for help to his sister. Jane came back home for a few hours one evening and helped John transform back into his original self. John spent the following couple of weeks drowned in books he didn't understand, drinking and sleeping. In his 4th week of isolation, John finally decided to explore the country. John spent every evening at the Hollow during this week, at the end of which, he got a visit from Albus Dumbledore. His brief conversation with Dumbledore had opened his eyes to what he needed to do.

John knew of a healing facility in Iceland. This healing facility specialised in diagnosing wizards and witches who seemed unable to control their magic, among other things. Early on the following morning, John booked a muggle flight to Iceland's capital city, Reykjavik. The healing facility was about 20 miles away from the city. He had only been at this facility once before in his life. And it looked very different from his memory.

There was a receptionist sitting in the front, a few feet from the entrance door.

{Conversation in this part is happening in Icelandic (Unless told otherwise). Since I don't know the language, I'll be writing them in English}

"Hi, I'm John Smith. I have an appointment with Dr Kristin Magnusson," said John and handed the receptionist a note.

"This way," replied the receptionist and pointed John towards the right side of the building. John had to walk about 50 feet and then he came across a room with Dr Kristin Magnusson's name written on the door. He knocked and entered the room. If John hadn't known that the facility was a wizard healing facility, he would have thought that it was just another muggle hospital. Nothing about the place suggested it had anything to do with magic.

"Yes?" asked a faint sweet voice the moment John entered.

"Hi... I'm John Smith," replied John and handed Kristin a note.

"Hello, Mr Smith... I was expecting you," replied Kristin. "Could you please hand over your personal belongings, wands, anything else you might have in your possession?"

"I don't have my wand," replied John while handing Kristin his watch.

"But you have someone else's?" asked Kristin.

John looked at her dumbstruck for a few seconds and removed a wand from his pocket and handed it over. Kristin examined the wand closely for a few seconds.

"Made of willow, 10 ΒΌ inches long, Unicorn hair, right?" remarked Kristin.

"Yes," replied John in awe.

"I hope you didn't steal this from a dead body," said Kristin with a piercing stare.

"No... uh... What? No, of course not," replied John.

"Relax, that was a joke," remarked Kristin a few seconds later and gave a small laugh.

"Would you like a drink? I have some Wine, Vodka, anything?" she asked looking over his shoulder at the shelves behind John.

"Water is enough," he replied, surprised at being offered alcohol. She walked over to the other side of the room and got John a glass of water.

"You are from England?" she asked.

"Yes," replied John sipping his water.

"So, Mr Smith, what is this problem you've been facing?" asked Kristin. She had been writing things down on a piece of paper, muggle style all the while chatting with John.

John began narrating a brief version of the events that he thought led to what he was experiencing, a lack of control over magic. But he got interrupted a few seconds in by Kristin.

"Mr Smith, I need the whole story. An uncut version, please?"

"I can't tell you the whole story," said John faintly.

"You need help from us. You need to tell us everything for us to provide you with the help you truly need," replied Kristin. There was something about the woman that made John feel different, a bit intimidated, mesmerised even. From the moment he heard her voice, he had been smitten. But nothing could make him narrate his whole story, or so he thought.

"Mr Smith, you have been silent for a couple of minutes now. Could we please wrap this up as fast as we can?" asked Kristin.

"I genuinely can't," replied John.

"Okay... how about this? You need not tell your secrets to us. Just me should be sufficient. I'll keep your records strictly confidential. And you needn't worry, even Voldemort can't get in here," she added and gave a smile at the end.

"I am sorry, you have to underst... Wait..." began John but stopped speaking almost instantly. He got up and looked around swiftly. "There's something wrong... my head's spinning... No... did you... did you drug me?" asked John and fell down with a thud a moment later, his vision went blurry.

"You can trust me, Mr Smith... but now, you need to rest," whispered Kristin in his ear and John's eyes closed.

It was well over a day later that John woke up. His eyes opened slowly, but closed immediately for the room he was in was extremely bright. He opened his eyes again, even slower this time.

"Hello... is there anyone here?" he asked, but barely any voice came out. "Hello... Hello... can anybody hear me?" he continued {English}. This time, his voice was slightly better. He saw the door open and in came Dr Kristin and a man alongside her.

"Good evening, Mr Smith, how are you feeling? You look parched, would you like some water?" asked Kristin. {Icelandic} A rush of memories came back to John in an instant.

"The water... I was drugged... why did you drug me?" he asked and got up rapidly. {Icelandic}

"Mr Smith... Mr Smith... please calm down. We're not trying to hurt you. I'm sorry I drugged you, but it's standard practice," replied Kristin {Icelandic} but John didn't seem any calm. So, the man beside her gestured to her to let him continue.

"Mr Smith... Hi! I'm Remus Lupin. I help Dr Kristin here with her patients. Please drink this," said Remus and handed John the water. "And here, have some chocolate... it helps, trust me..." he added {English}. John looked stunned at Remus. He rubbed his eyes and stared at Remus for a few seconds. He took the glass of water and chocolate that was offered to him.

"You are Remus Lupin?" asked John {English}, still struggling to believe who was standing in front of him.

"Yes, you seem surprised, why do you ask?" asked Remus {English}, amused at seeing John's face.

"I solemnly swear, I am up to no good," said John with a satisfied smile {English} and saw the colour in Remus's face drain. It was Remus's turn to look stunned.

"Dr Kristin... would you please excuse us for a minute?" said Remus looking at Kristin. {Icelandic}

"Sure," she replied and left the room. {Icelandic}

"I didn't know you worked here," said John with a grin the moment Kristin left. {English}

"Who are you? And how do you know that phrase?" asked Remus. He didn't look angry, but more rattled. {English}

"Well, that's a first. I have never seen you angry. Is this your angry face, or are you more surprised how I know that phrase?" retorted John. {English}

"You could not possibly know that... There are only 2 people alive who know it and I'm one of them," replied Remus. {English}

"You're obviously wrong, but that doesn't matter. I need your help. Can I trust that woman not to kill me or something? She does play that pretty and innocent looking card pretty well," sighed John {English}. Remus looked confused by that question.

"Dr Kristin is a great healer. You can trust everyone here to give you good care," replied Remus. {English}

"Did you trust her to tell your secret?" asked John. {English}

"What secret?" retorted Remus alarmed. {English}

"Oh, Loony... you have only 1 secret that you'll never want to be revealed to the world. Don't make me say it out loud," replied John grinning. {English}

"How... how do you..." stuttered Remus stunned at the statement he just heard. He couldn't believe that this strange man knew about his friends, their secret phrase and also that he was a werewolf. "Yes, Dr Kristin knows about my... my condition," replied Remus. {English}

"Okay, in that case, I'm willing to speak with her. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you my secret. A lot is at stake here, and I can't risk it. But, trust me when I say this... Remus... I'm glad I found you here," said John {English}. Remus couldn't decode whether the man in front of him was being genuine, or was trying to play some mind games. But somehow his heart told him that John Smith wasn't lying. After a few moments, he went out of the room and called Dr Kristin back in.

"Hi, Dr Kristin... I'm willing to tell you my story, the uncut version. But I need something from you first," said John the moment Kristin entered the room. {Icelandic}

"What do you want John?" asked Kristin with her characteristic smile. {Icelandic}

"I'm not going to talk to you here, in this facility. Let's take a walk," replied John {Icelandic}. Kristin looked at him curiously and then glanced at Remus who shrugged his shoulder.

"Okay," replied Kristin. {Icelandic}

John was given something to eat and after an hour or so, he was escorted from the room where he had laid unconscious for over a day to Dr Kristin's office.

"Shall we?" asked Kristin the moment John came into her office. {Icelandic}

"Gladly," replied John. {Icelandic}

The pair made their way out of the healing facility onto the pavement and started taking a stroll.

"So, John, tell me something. Why didn't you want us to do this in the facility?" asked Kristin. {Icelandic}

"I wanted to bring you out of your comfort zone. And frankly, I still don't trust you," said John bluntly. {Icelandic}

"I'm sorry, I know that I broke your trust. But I didn't break my client's trust," replied Kristin. {Icelandic}

"What do you mean?" asked John surprised. {Icelandic}

"Jane... She signed off on this. We don't drug our patients without consent. We don't usually need to, but we do have special circumstances," replied Kristin grinning. {Icelandic}

"Jane knew this and didn't tell me? Why am I not surprised," sighed John laughing at how he got played. {Icelandic}

"What could possibly be your story? Why this secrecy? Did you kill someone, Mr Smith?" asked Kristin with a flirtatious smile {Icelandic}. John recognised it immediately.

"Do you usually fraternize with your patients Dr Kristin?" he asked after standing still. {Icelandic}

"Would you mind if I said yes?" she retorted back. {Icelandic}

"Isn't that supposed to be against rules or something?" he asked. {Icelandic}

"Only if someone finds out," she replied. John looked stunned at the way the conversation was progressing. The pair had walked about a mile when they came across a beautiful looking water body, smaller than a lake but slightly bigger than a pond. There was grass cover around it, enough space to sit.

"Shall we?" asked John and gestured to sit. {Icelandic}

"Here? Sure," she replied a moment later. {Icelandic}

They sat admiring the view for a few minutes before Kristin spoke up, "John, what's your story?" she asked. {Icelandic}

"Can I trust you?" he asked again. {Icelandic}

"Yes" {Icelandic}

"Will you be willing to make an unbreakable vow?" asked John. {Icelandic}

"Yes," replied Kristin in an instant. {Icelandic}

"No need," replied John {Icelandic}. Kristin knew that for what it was worth, she had gained a little bit of trust with John.

So, John began from the beginning. From his early childhood, being home-schooled by his parents, the night where the twins found an intruder in their house, the events that followed that night, the night when Voldemort was destroyed or so the world thought, the plan that twins made to transform John into an 11-year-old boy, meeting Harry, first year at Hogwarts and finally to the part where twice in a week, John had an incident with controlling his magic, he told Kristin everything. It took about an hour for John to narrate his whole story. Kristin sat beside him throughout and listened to everything he told carefully. She was so engrossed in the story that for a moment she had forgotten who she was, what she was. And by the time John finished, she had gained enormous respect for the twins who had gone through what they had, who had done what they had done to be where they were. It was time for Kristin to be mesmerized by John.

"... So, that's the story. I almost killed someone... someone that I very much like and admire. And it can never happen again. And I need your help to fix me," finished John. {Icelandic}

Kristin got up and stretched her arms and cleared her throat multiple times. John followed suit and got up and walked beside Kristin.

"Wow... Now I understand why you wanted the secrecy. I promise not to tell anyone what you've just told me. And yes, we'll definitely help you get better. But a word of caution," replied Kristin. And a few seconds later she continued, "there's a very good chance that your condition is irreversible," she added. {Icelandic}

I tried something a little different in this chapter. Hope you all liked it.

PS - Thoughts on Kristin? Was her character any good?