CHAPTER THREE
Lili was, to put it politely, a unique addition to Gryffindor house. Everyone thought her incredibly strange, and none of them were too far off the mark. Herbology was by far her best subject, and she had a talent for it that surpassed Professor Sprout herself. By early November, as soon as she stepped into the greenhouse, every plant inside would turn towards her and stretch themselves as far as they could without leaving their pots. The plants that could leave the dirt often did, and after a few weeks, she had young Mandrakes trailing her almost everywhere, demanding in shrill little voices to be told a story. After she was knocked unconscious on several occasions, the Mandrakes quickly learned to stay quiet once out of their pots.
Lili had an incredible talent with plants, the Mandrakes were only the beginning. The Venomous Tentacula refused to bite her, and quailed, hiding behind its leaves when she threw it a furious glance after it bit Ron. Soon enough, she had dropped both of her normal electives in favor of a few hours of advanced Herbology. Hermione was a little put out that she was being surpassed in even one of her classes, but made her peace with Lili after being given a large and beautiful Canap plant as a birthday gift.
She also had that rare gift of unconcious power. Wherever she went and whatever she did, it was accepted without question. She had that air of subtle natural power that people watch jealously and wish they had, and often make fools of themselves trying to imitate. In the Hogwarts social hierarchy, Draco Malfoy was the undisputed king, although Harry Potter ran a close second. And Lili was most undoubtedly the queen.
One day in early December, Hermione, Ron, and Lili were lounging on the Quidditch bleachers, watching the Gryffindor team practice, and arguing. "Hermione, you really should read "The Prince". Even if it is a Muggle book, it has some very good ideas, and it's not only evil people who read it. I read it, and I'm not evil, am I?"
"I'm not saying you are, Lili," Hermione replied sharply. She knew that she was arguing more because she disliked the idea that one of her friends had read something she hadn't than because she didn't like the book. Ron grinned, he could tell what Hermione was thinking. "I'm just saying that it's mostly Slytherins and such who have read it, people that turned out wrong."
"Yes, but just because-" she was cut off in mid-sentence as Harry swooped down on his broom and grabbed her. His practice had ended a few minutes ago, and he had decided to have some fun. He flew higher, and she began to shriek. Clinging to the broom with one hand and the front of Harry's robes with the other, she yelled, "Harry Potter, I am going to kill you! Put me down!" Harry laughed, and helped her to adjust her seat on the broom. "I really mean it, put me down!"
"Why?" he asked, as he flew even higher. Lili shut her eyes tightly as he did a loop, hearing the distant call of admiration from Ron. He turned into a steep dive, and Lili snapped. Screaming, she tried to jump off the broom. Only Harry grabbing her wrist stopped her from falling. He flew down to the ground and she immediately fell off the broom, ran to a corner of the field and threw up. He marched to where she was bent over, and glared at her.
"What in the hell did you do, Lili? You tried to jump off the broom? You could have died!"
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and glared up at him, her face pale. "Harry James Potter," she said in a low, dangerous voice. "Never, EVER do that to me again. I am afraid of heights, and I don't even realize it when I jump, but I always do. And if you ever do that to me again, I will strangle you with your own intestines." This was a common threat from Lili, but the usual joking tone wasn't there. She was deadly serious.
"Afraid of heights? Paranoid is more like it," Ron muttered to Hermione, who nodded fervently in agreement. Turning on her heel, she marched off the field. Shaking her head, Hermione checked her watch.
"It's time for Potions. Lili should be able to make it there on her own, we don't need to follow her. Harry, put your broom away! Snape won't like you dragging it along with you." Harry glanced from the broom to Hermione, and smiled sheepishly, sliding it carefully into the broomshed.
Lili was standing quietly outside the door to the Potions dungeon. Malfoy was trying vainly to torment her, but she was having nothing to do with him. Relieved to find new prey approaching, he turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "What happened to Miss Stone-Face here?" He sneered. "Did she look into a mirror? Saw her own reflection?"
"At least she has a reflection, Malfoy," Ron shot back. Malfoy put a hand to his heart.
"Oh, I'm wounded, Weasley. You couldn't think up anything better? Well, I'll save you the trouble of having to think. I know you're out of practise. I challenge you to a wizard's duel. Right here, right now."
"Fine." Ron rolled up his sleeves, and pulled out his wand. But Lili stepped in front of him.
"No," she said sharply. "I'll fight you, Malfoy. I challenge you."
The pale boy grinned, looking down his nose at Lili, who was a few inches shorter than he was. "All right then. Looks like you'll have to wait, then, Weasley. I'm about to get my pound of flesh from this one."
Lili shook her head with a grim smile. "You've never even read that play, have you, Malfoy? If you did you'd know what happens in the end." She pointed her wand at him. "On the count of three. One. Two. Th-" She was cut off as Malfoy abruptly threw the Furnuculus Curse at her. Malfoy was dueling the Slytherin way, and rule number one was never wait until the count finishes.
But Lili had been expecting it, after all, she had almost been in Slytherin herself. She dodged it easily, and threw back a curse of her own. Malfoy managed to block it just in time. But instead of sending a curse back at her, he swiftly pivoted, shouting out, "Verderana!" A jet of light shot out of his wand, hitting Hermione squarely in the stomach. With a shriek and a loud pop, she turned into a toad.
For a moment, everyone stared at the toad. Then Lili rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "That is it!" She muttered, and she threw her wand to the side and launched herself at Malfoy.
The two of them rolled around on the floor for a moment, a kicking, punching, biting ball of flesh and hair. The others in the hallway glanced at each other for a moment, then, with a loud roar, both sides, Gryffindor and Slytherin, joined the brawl. The lone toad hopped nervously to the wall, doing its best to avoid being squashed.
The fight was interrupted by a loud bang down the hallway. All the fighters looked up, some with hold on other people's hair, some clutching wounds. Standing in front of them were Professors Snape and McGonagall, holding their wands and looking ready to spit nails. Everyone froze in fear, except for Lili and Malfoy, who were still on the ground, trying to kill each other. Lili was crouched over Malfoy, knee over his legs, punching him violently. Malfoy freed an arm and hit her; her grip loosened, and the fight became more violent.
"Miss Grey! Mr. Malfoy!" Professor McGonagall shrieked, and both of them looked up, Malfoy wincing as his neck cracked. "What is going on here?"
"It's not my fault, Professor, she attacked me!" Malfoy cried, wiggling out of Lili's hold. She snorted in annoyance.
"And I suppose turning Hermione into a toad wasn't your fault either, Malfoy?" She sneered. The toad in question hopped out of the shadows and looked at McGonagall beseechingly.
McGonagall, one eyebrow raised, muttered "Finite Incantem," and a very relieved Hermione, her face red, reappeared.
"Oh, thank you, Professor! I was afraid I'd get stepped on like that." She smiled gratefully.
Professor McGonagall turned back to Lili and Malfoy. "All right then. Who started it?"
Lili raised her head high with a regal air spoiled only by the large bruise beginning to blossom around her left eye. "I attacked Malfoy first, Professor. But only because he turned Hermione into a toad, without provocation."
McGonagall looked around her. "Is this true?" The Gryffindors nodded emphatically, while the Slytherins muttered under their breaths. "All right. Miss Grey, you have a detention. And twenty points from Gryffindor." The Gryfindors muttered among themselves, McGonagall was being unusually light. "And Mr. Malfoy, seventy-five points from Slytherin. No detention." The Gryffindors howled in outrage, but McGonagall ignored them and continued. "Mr. Malfoy, the Headmaster sent me to tell you that you will be leaving for home tomorrow morning. You are to go directly to your dormitory and pack. And Miss Grey, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Mr. Weasley, all of you to the Headmaster's office, now. Mr. Potter, I believe you know where it is. The password is 'acid pop'."
"Oh, Lili," Hermione muttered, once they were out of hearing range. "Why did you have to go and attack Malfoy? I was perfectly fine."
"It wasn't all about that," Lili shrugged. "I've been looking for an excuse to pummel Malfoy for some time. This just worked very nicely." Harry rolled his eyes as he muttered the password to the gargoyle, which hopped aside and let them enter.
As the four entered his office, Lili and Hermione still bickering quietly, Dumbledore looked up. "Ah, welcome," he said, putting down his quill and moving a stack of parchment to the side."Mr. Weasley, Miss Grey, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, please take a seat. Do you know why you are here?"
"We didn't do anything!" Hermione said.
"Well, I did," Lili muttered. Hermione elbowed her in the side.
"Please, calm down Miss Granger, you are not in trouble." He smiled at them. "Let me cut right to the chase. Harry, do you remember in your third year, when you heard Professor Trelawney's second real prediction?" Harry nodded mutely, and Lili looked as though she had some scathing comment about Professor Trelawney that she was working hard at to keep in. They had, to say the least, not gotten along too well. "Her first prediction, the one she made before the one you heard, is finally coming into effect. Allow me to read it to you." He picked up a piece of parchment, and read slowly, emphasizing every word.
"'The elements of nature will be embodied by four powerful witches and wizards of our time. Together, before the turn of the millenium, all the elements will find their legendary weapons and use them to create the light that will banish the dark. Earth is the master swordsman, Air is the Archer, Fire carries the spear, and Water is the Defender. The Elements will know each other from the past, and know things about each other they have never been told. Air, Fire, and Water are close, but Earth is far and alone. But Earth is the tie that will bind the others closer to create the light.'" Dumbledore put the paper down and looked each of them in the eye. "I believe the four of you are the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water."
Each one had a different reaction. Harry sighed, and his expression clearly said: great, another thing for Voldemort to want to kill me over. Hermione looked estatic at the idea. Ron and Lili glanced at each other, both with identical looks of skeptism on their faces.
"Allow me to explain. Harry Potter- Air." Dumbledore started pacing around the office. "My first clue was your talent at flying. You will always be most comfortable in your own element. Also, Air is known for mental and psychic powers, as well as visions. So add the visions you have of Lord Voldemort, and you have an accurate Air Mage. I told you once that when you were older, I would let you know why Voldemort tried to kill you when you were young. This is the reason."
"But Professor Dumbledore, if we're all Mages, like you said, why did You-Know-Who only attack Harry?" Hermione looked about to burst with curiosity.
Dumbledore smiled benevolently. "First of all, he only knew about three of you: Miss Grey, for some reason unknown to us, was not recognized as having magical talents until the age of fourteen. She has trained every summer since then to bring herself to the level she is now. And may I applaud you for that, Miss Grey. Additionally, Voldemort had a personal vendetta against the Potters. James had taken down his second in command at one point, and the opportunity to hurt the Potters and additionally destroy an Elemental Mage was too much for him to resist. He intended to destroy the rest of you after the Potters, but, as we know, he met his downfall there and then."
He looked back at Hermione. "Miss Granger, I believe you to be Water. For one thing Water is the most feminine of the elements. Also, Water is intensely loyal, shown in you when you put aside your own doubts and fears in order to help Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. And, prophetic dreams, which I believe you have had on occasion." Hermione turned red, and her friends looked at her in amazement.
"You had dreams?" Harry asked in amazement. "You never told us?" Hermione went redder.
"Well, yes," she said carefully. "But they're very hard for me to remember. They're why I was able to figure out about the basilisk in our second year, you know. I had a dream, but I didn't remember it until later. And then of course I was Petrified, and..." she trailed off, and Lili grinned at her.
"So that's what you've been talking about," Lili mused. "You talk in your sleep, you know," she explained. "I was wondering why you dreamed about the questions on tests, and then those were the questions. And thanks, by the way, your dreams have really helped my Charms grade."
Ron grinned. "And Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura, the old bat!"
"Yes, well," Dumbledore said politely. "Mr. Weasley, you seem to be the element of Fire. For one thing, your rather... easily-triggered temper, a famous Fiery trait. Others are strong emotions, a tendency towards quick, sometimes rash, decisions, and a representation of courage and strength." (Ron went very red here.) "And lastly, the famous animosity between Fire and Water which is shown quite vividly through the... arguments between Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, although Fire and Water balance each other, and turn out excellent companions in the end."
"Oh yes, excellent companions," Lili said, in a stage whisper. "Very excellent. Why, just yesterday I found them enjoying each other's excellent company in the broom closet on the fourth floor." Both Ron and Hermione turned bright red, and Lili snickered.
"That's it, I'm learning a locking charm," Ron muttered.
"Ahem." Dumbledore cleared his throat, and they all turned back to him. "One element left. I belive it is obvious, but I enjoy stating the obvious. Miss Grey, of course, represents the element of Earth. Her talents in Herbology alone prove it." Lili shrugged, if she was really an elemental, then of course she would be nothing but Earth.
Dumbledore looked at the four teenagers. One looked resigned, two still looked skeptical, and one was bouncing off the chair with enthusiasm.
"Hermione," he heard Lili whisper. "Did you take a sip of my coffee?"
"Yes, why?" She responded, jiggling her foot at a high speed. Lili groaned.
"Hermione, you drink decaf! That had caffeine! A serious amount of caffeine, oh, you're going to be bouncing off the walls today..." Dumbledore had to hide a smile.
"You have heard the prophecy," Dumbledore said suddenly. They all turned and looked at him. "I assume you remember the bit about the Legendary Weapons. The first three are relatively easy to figure out: Earth has a sword, Air has a bow and arrows, Fire has a spear. Water is a bit harder to figure out. The Defender. But, if you consider the traditional weapons of war, besides a sword, the one thing that every knight would carry was a shield. Therefore, it makes sense that Water's weapon would be a shield. At the moment, it is your task to find the Temple that each weapon is in. And, when you have found all the weapons, you must use them to create the Light spoken of in the prophecy, to defeat Voldemort. Now,"
He pushed a globe to the center of the desk. An ordinary, non-magical, muggle globe. Ron raised an eyebrow. "I want you to try and locate your element's Temple. Use your mind, stretch out with your feelings."
"Thanks for the advice, Obi-Wan," Lili muttered as she closed her eyes to concentrate. She was feeling a bit nervous, and when she was nervous, she always got sarcastic. Her mind roamed the globe, searching for a hint of green. Sitting next to her, she heard the others make small sounds of surprise as they found the Temples. No... it wasn't in America... or Canada... or South America... not Asia, or Africa.... not Australia, and she couldn't find it in Europe... maybe Dumbledore could help her. Drawing her mind back into her body, she felt something strange. It felt a bit like... like the sensation she got when she saw the first flowers blooming in the spring. She probed the feeling a little deeper, and smiled. Without a doubt, it was the Earth Temple. She opened her eyes. "Here." She touched a spot on the globe, and her finger left a green spot to mark it. She saw a blue spot around the Great Lakes in America, a yellow one in the Himalayas, and a red one off in Egypt.
"Well done!" Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, satisfied. "Well. Now that you have located your Temples, following the Call shall be the proverbial piece of cake."
"The Call, sir?" Hermione asked quizzically.
"Yes, Miss Granger, the Call. The summoning a Mage recieves to guide him or her to their Temple. Now," he leaned forward in his chair. "Voldemort will do anything to stop you from fufilling this prophecy. To start with, he will attempt to steal the weapons. He cannot be allowed to do so. You must gather your weapons before he does, and avoid being murdered as you do so. I have recieved word that Voldemort is growing more and more anxious as the new millenium nears, and he has set out to find the weapons for himself. So, I am sending you out to get them yourselves. You now know where they are. You must use your Mage powers to survive."
"Wait, wait, wait. Mage powers? What are these Mage powers?" Lili asked, a new gleam in her eyes.
Dumbledore shook his head. "I am sorry to say that I do not know. It is not my field of research. But here is a book that has been written on the subject of Element Mages, you may find it useful." He handed Hermione a large leather-bound book with faded gold lettering on the spine, and she took it, looking as though Christmas had come early. "I daresay that you will find many things incorrect, but it may help you. Now," he finished, "You must set out to get the weapons. Tomorrow morning. You will meet us at five-thirty am on the Quidditch pitch. If you have a broomstick better than the school's-"
"What? Wait a minute. What's this about brooms?" All the color from Lili's rosy face drained, leaving her pale and even more elven looking. Her eyes were wide, and they seemed to be taking up her entire face.
"Brooms, Miss Grey. You will be traveling on brooms," Dumbledore said, and anyone else would have had sounded irritated.
"No," she said flatly.
"No?" he repeated mildly.
"No," she said again. "I won't fly. I can't fly. I literally can't. Ask Harry what I did the last time I flew."
"She jumped off the broom," Harry said grimly, not waiting to be asked.
Lili nodded. "I'm afraid of heights," she said, making what was possibly the understatement of the century. "Can't we hitchike?"
"To the Himalayas?" Hermione asked, amused.
"Miss Grey, you must use the brooms. If you would like, I will ask Professor Snape to mix you up an Anti-Phobia Potion. It won't rid you of it, but it will make it much less acute. You won't have any need to jump off a broom." Dumbledore smiled, but Lili seemed less than reassured. "Pack lightly, warm clothes, although no more than you can fit in a backpack, please. I will provide all you need other than that: food, money, tents, and all those such things." He rose from his chair and opened the door, watching them file out. "I will see you at five-thirty tomorrow morning, on the Quidditch pitch." And he closed the door.
(A/N) Okay, I realize the height phobia might be overdoing it slightly, but hey, I'm the all-powerful writer, right? She hates heights (understatement). Capiesh?
Lili was, to put it politely, a unique addition to Gryffindor house. Everyone thought her incredibly strange, and none of them were too far off the mark. Herbology was by far her best subject, and she had a talent for it that surpassed Professor Sprout herself. By early November, as soon as she stepped into the greenhouse, every plant inside would turn towards her and stretch themselves as far as they could without leaving their pots. The plants that could leave the dirt often did, and after a few weeks, she had young Mandrakes trailing her almost everywhere, demanding in shrill little voices to be told a story. After she was knocked unconscious on several occasions, the Mandrakes quickly learned to stay quiet once out of their pots.
Lili had an incredible talent with plants, the Mandrakes were only the beginning. The Venomous Tentacula refused to bite her, and quailed, hiding behind its leaves when she threw it a furious glance after it bit Ron. Soon enough, she had dropped both of her normal electives in favor of a few hours of advanced Herbology. Hermione was a little put out that she was being surpassed in even one of her classes, but made her peace with Lili after being given a large and beautiful Canap plant as a birthday gift.
She also had that rare gift of unconcious power. Wherever she went and whatever she did, it was accepted without question. She had that air of subtle natural power that people watch jealously and wish they had, and often make fools of themselves trying to imitate. In the Hogwarts social hierarchy, Draco Malfoy was the undisputed king, although Harry Potter ran a close second. And Lili was most undoubtedly the queen.
One day in early December, Hermione, Ron, and Lili were lounging on the Quidditch bleachers, watching the Gryffindor team practice, and arguing. "Hermione, you really should read "The Prince". Even if it is a Muggle book, it has some very good ideas, and it's not only evil people who read it. I read it, and I'm not evil, am I?"
"I'm not saying you are, Lili," Hermione replied sharply. She knew that she was arguing more because she disliked the idea that one of her friends had read something she hadn't than because she didn't like the book. Ron grinned, he could tell what Hermione was thinking. "I'm just saying that it's mostly Slytherins and such who have read it, people that turned out wrong."
"Yes, but just because-" she was cut off in mid-sentence as Harry swooped down on his broom and grabbed her. His practice had ended a few minutes ago, and he had decided to have some fun. He flew higher, and she began to shriek. Clinging to the broom with one hand and the front of Harry's robes with the other, she yelled, "Harry Potter, I am going to kill you! Put me down!" Harry laughed, and helped her to adjust her seat on the broom. "I really mean it, put me down!"
"Why?" he asked, as he flew even higher. Lili shut her eyes tightly as he did a loop, hearing the distant call of admiration from Ron. He turned into a steep dive, and Lili snapped. Screaming, she tried to jump off the broom. Only Harry grabbing her wrist stopped her from falling. He flew down to the ground and she immediately fell off the broom, ran to a corner of the field and threw up. He marched to where she was bent over, and glared at her.
"What in the hell did you do, Lili? You tried to jump off the broom? You could have died!"
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and glared up at him, her face pale. "Harry James Potter," she said in a low, dangerous voice. "Never, EVER do that to me again. I am afraid of heights, and I don't even realize it when I jump, but I always do. And if you ever do that to me again, I will strangle you with your own intestines." This was a common threat from Lili, but the usual joking tone wasn't there. She was deadly serious.
"Afraid of heights? Paranoid is more like it," Ron muttered to Hermione, who nodded fervently in agreement. Turning on her heel, she marched off the field. Shaking her head, Hermione checked her watch.
"It's time for Potions. Lili should be able to make it there on her own, we don't need to follow her. Harry, put your broom away! Snape won't like you dragging it along with you." Harry glanced from the broom to Hermione, and smiled sheepishly, sliding it carefully into the broomshed.
Lili was standing quietly outside the door to the Potions dungeon. Malfoy was trying vainly to torment her, but she was having nothing to do with him. Relieved to find new prey approaching, he turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "What happened to Miss Stone-Face here?" He sneered. "Did she look into a mirror? Saw her own reflection?"
"At least she has a reflection, Malfoy," Ron shot back. Malfoy put a hand to his heart.
"Oh, I'm wounded, Weasley. You couldn't think up anything better? Well, I'll save you the trouble of having to think. I know you're out of practise. I challenge you to a wizard's duel. Right here, right now."
"Fine." Ron rolled up his sleeves, and pulled out his wand. But Lili stepped in front of him.
"No," she said sharply. "I'll fight you, Malfoy. I challenge you."
The pale boy grinned, looking down his nose at Lili, who was a few inches shorter than he was. "All right then. Looks like you'll have to wait, then, Weasley. I'm about to get my pound of flesh from this one."
Lili shook her head with a grim smile. "You've never even read that play, have you, Malfoy? If you did you'd know what happens in the end." She pointed her wand at him. "On the count of three. One. Two. Th-" She was cut off as Malfoy abruptly threw the Furnuculus Curse at her. Malfoy was dueling the Slytherin way, and rule number one was never wait until the count finishes.
But Lili had been expecting it, after all, she had almost been in Slytherin herself. She dodged it easily, and threw back a curse of her own. Malfoy managed to block it just in time. But instead of sending a curse back at her, he swiftly pivoted, shouting out, "Verderana!" A jet of light shot out of his wand, hitting Hermione squarely in the stomach. With a shriek and a loud pop, she turned into a toad.
For a moment, everyone stared at the toad. Then Lili rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "That is it!" She muttered, and she threw her wand to the side and launched herself at Malfoy.
The two of them rolled around on the floor for a moment, a kicking, punching, biting ball of flesh and hair. The others in the hallway glanced at each other for a moment, then, with a loud roar, both sides, Gryffindor and Slytherin, joined the brawl. The lone toad hopped nervously to the wall, doing its best to avoid being squashed.
The fight was interrupted by a loud bang down the hallway. All the fighters looked up, some with hold on other people's hair, some clutching wounds. Standing in front of them were Professors Snape and McGonagall, holding their wands and looking ready to spit nails. Everyone froze in fear, except for Lili and Malfoy, who were still on the ground, trying to kill each other. Lili was crouched over Malfoy, knee over his legs, punching him violently. Malfoy freed an arm and hit her; her grip loosened, and the fight became more violent.
"Miss Grey! Mr. Malfoy!" Professor McGonagall shrieked, and both of them looked up, Malfoy wincing as his neck cracked. "What is going on here?"
"It's not my fault, Professor, she attacked me!" Malfoy cried, wiggling out of Lili's hold. She snorted in annoyance.
"And I suppose turning Hermione into a toad wasn't your fault either, Malfoy?" She sneered. The toad in question hopped out of the shadows and looked at McGonagall beseechingly.
McGonagall, one eyebrow raised, muttered "Finite Incantem," and a very relieved Hermione, her face red, reappeared.
"Oh, thank you, Professor! I was afraid I'd get stepped on like that." She smiled gratefully.
Professor McGonagall turned back to Lili and Malfoy. "All right then. Who started it?"
Lili raised her head high with a regal air spoiled only by the large bruise beginning to blossom around her left eye. "I attacked Malfoy first, Professor. But only because he turned Hermione into a toad, without provocation."
McGonagall looked around her. "Is this true?" The Gryffindors nodded emphatically, while the Slytherins muttered under their breaths. "All right. Miss Grey, you have a detention. And twenty points from Gryffindor." The Gryfindors muttered among themselves, McGonagall was being unusually light. "And Mr. Malfoy, seventy-five points from Slytherin. No detention." The Gryffindors howled in outrage, but McGonagall ignored them and continued. "Mr. Malfoy, the Headmaster sent me to tell you that you will be leaving for home tomorrow morning. You are to go directly to your dormitory and pack. And Miss Grey, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Mr. Weasley, all of you to the Headmaster's office, now. Mr. Potter, I believe you know where it is. The password is 'acid pop'."
"Oh, Lili," Hermione muttered, once they were out of hearing range. "Why did you have to go and attack Malfoy? I was perfectly fine."
"It wasn't all about that," Lili shrugged. "I've been looking for an excuse to pummel Malfoy for some time. This just worked very nicely." Harry rolled his eyes as he muttered the password to the gargoyle, which hopped aside and let them enter.
As the four entered his office, Lili and Hermione still bickering quietly, Dumbledore looked up. "Ah, welcome," he said, putting down his quill and moving a stack of parchment to the side."Mr. Weasley, Miss Grey, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, please take a seat. Do you know why you are here?"
"We didn't do anything!" Hermione said.
"Well, I did," Lili muttered. Hermione elbowed her in the side.
"Please, calm down Miss Granger, you are not in trouble." He smiled at them. "Let me cut right to the chase. Harry, do you remember in your third year, when you heard Professor Trelawney's second real prediction?" Harry nodded mutely, and Lili looked as though she had some scathing comment about Professor Trelawney that she was working hard at to keep in. They had, to say the least, not gotten along too well. "Her first prediction, the one she made before the one you heard, is finally coming into effect. Allow me to read it to you." He picked up a piece of parchment, and read slowly, emphasizing every word.
"'The elements of nature will be embodied by four powerful witches and wizards of our time. Together, before the turn of the millenium, all the elements will find their legendary weapons and use them to create the light that will banish the dark. Earth is the master swordsman, Air is the Archer, Fire carries the spear, and Water is the Defender. The Elements will know each other from the past, and know things about each other they have never been told. Air, Fire, and Water are close, but Earth is far and alone. But Earth is the tie that will bind the others closer to create the light.'" Dumbledore put the paper down and looked each of them in the eye. "I believe the four of you are the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water."
Each one had a different reaction. Harry sighed, and his expression clearly said: great, another thing for Voldemort to want to kill me over. Hermione looked estatic at the idea. Ron and Lili glanced at each other, both with identical looks of skeptism on their faces.
"Allow me to explain. Harry Potter- Air." Dumbledore started pacing around the office. "My first clue was your talent at flying. You will always be most comfortable in your own element. Also, Air is known for mental and psychic powers, as well as visions. So add the visions you have of Lord Voldemort, and you have an accurate Air Mage. I told you once that when you were older, I would let you know why Voldemort tried to kill you when you were young. This is the reason."
"But Professor Dumbledore, if we're all Mages, like you said, why did You-Know-Who only attack Harry?" Hermione looked about to burst with curiosity.
Dumbledore smiled benevolently. "First of all, he only knew about three of you: Miss Grey, for some reason unknown to us, was not recognized as having magical talents until the age of fourteen. She has trained every summer since then to bring herself to the level she is now. And may I applaud you for that, Miss Grey. Additionally, Voldemort had a personal vendetta against the Potters. James had taken down his second in command at one point, and the opportunity to hurt the Potters and additionally destroy an Elemental Mage was too much for him to resist. He intended to destroy the rest of you after the Potters, but, as we know, he met his downfall there and then."
He looked back at Hermione. "Miss Granger, I believe you to be Water. For one thing Water is the most feminine of the elements. Also, Water is intensely loyal, shown in you when you put aside your own doubts and fears in order to help Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. And, prophetic dreams, which I believe you have had on occasion." Hermione turned red, and her friends looked at her in amazement.
"You had dreams?" Harry asked in amazement. "You never told us?" Hermione went redder.
"Well, yes," she said carefully. "But they're very hard for me to remember. They're why I was able to figure out about the basilisk in our second year, you know. I had a dream, but I didn't remember it until later. And then of course I was Petrified, and..." she trailed off, and Lili grinned at her.
"So that's what you've been talking about," Lili mused. "You talk in your sleep, you know," she explained. "I was wondering why you dreamed about the questions on tests, and then those were the questions. And thanks, by the way, your dreams have really helped my Charms grade."
Ron grinned. "And Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura, the old bat!"
"Yes, well," Dumbledore said politely. "Mr. Weasley, you seem to be the element of Fire. For one thing, your rather... easily-triggered temper, a famous Fiery trait. Others are strong emotions, a tendency towards quick, sometimes rash, decisions, and a representation of courage and strength." (Ron went very red here.) "And lastly, the famous animosity between Fire and Water which is shown quite vividly through the... arguments between Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, although Fire and Water balance each other, and turn out excellent companions in the end."
"Oh yes, excellent companions," Lili said, in a stage whisper. "Very excellent. Why, just yesterday I found them enjoying each other's excellent company in the broom closet on the fourth floor." Both Ron and Hermione turned bright red, and Lili snickered.
"That's it, I'm learning a locking charm," Ron muttered.
"Ahem." Dumbledore cleared his throat, and they all turned back to him. "One element left. I belive it is obvious, but I enjoy stating the obvious. Miss Grey, of course, represents the element of Earth. Her talents in Herbology alone prove it." Lili shrugged, if she was really an elemental, then of course she would be nothing but Earth.
Dumbledore looked at the four teenagers. One looked resigned, two still looked skeptical, and one was bouncing off the chair with enthusiasm.
"Hermione," he heard Lili whisper. "Did you take a sip of my coffee?"
"Yes, why?" She responded, jiggling her foot at a high speed. Lili groaned.
"Hermione, you drink decaf! That had caffeine! A serious amount of caffeine, oh, you're going to be bouncing off the walls today..." Dumbledore had to hide a smile.
"You have heard the prophecy," Dumbledore said suddenly. They all turned and looked at him. "I assume you remember the bit about the Legendary Weapons. The first three are relatively easy to figure out: Earth has a sword, Air has a bow and arrows, Fire has a spear. Water is a bit harder to figure out. The Defender. But, if you consider the traditional weapons of war, besides a sword, the one thing that every knight would carry was a shield. Therefore, it makes sense that Water's weapon would be a shield. At the moment, it is your task to find the Temple that each weapon is in. And, when you have found all the weapons, you must use them to create the Light spoken of in the prophecy, to defeat Voldemort. Now,"
He pushed a globe to the center of the desk. An ordinary, non-magical, muggle globe. Ron raised an eyebrow. "I want you to try and locate your element's Temple. Use your mind, stretch out with your feelings."
"Thanks for the advice, Obi-Wan," Lili muttered as she closed her eyes to concentrate. She was feeling a bit nervous, and when she was nervous, she always got sarcastic. Her mind roamed the globe, searching for a hint of green. Sitting next to her, she heard the others make small sounds of surprise as they found the Temples. No... it wasn't in America... or Canada... or South America... not Asia, or Africa.... not Australia, and she couldn't find it in Europe... maybe Dumbledore could help her. Drawing her mind back into her body, she felt something strange. It felt a bit like... like the sensation she got when she saw the first flowers blooming in the spring. She probed the feeling a little deeper, and smiled. Without a doubt, it was the Earth Temple. She opened her eyes. "Here." She touched a spot on the globe, and her finger left a green spot to mark it. She saw a blue spot around the Great Lakes in America, a yellow one in the Himalayas, and a red one off in Egypt.
"Well done!" Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, satisfied. "Well. Now that you have located your Temples, following the Call shall be the proverbial piece of cake."
"The Call, sir?" Hermione asked quizzically.
"Yes, Miss Granger, the Call. The summoning a Mage recieves to guide him or her to their Temple. Now," he leaned forward in his chair. "Voldemort will do anything to stop you from fufilling this prophecy. To start with, he will attempt to steal the weapons. He cannot be allowed to do so. You must gather your weapons before he does, and avoid being murdered as you do so. I have recieved word that Voldemort is growing more and more anxious as the new millenium nears, and he has set out to find the weapons for himself. So, I am sending you out to get them yourselves. You now know where they are. You must use your Mage powers to survive."
"Wait, wait, wait. Mage powers? What are these Mage powers?" Lili asked, a new gleam in her eyes.
Dumbledore shook his head. "I am sorry to say that I do not know. It is not my field of research. But here is a book that has been written on the subject of Element Mages, you may find it useful." He handed Hermione a large leather-bound book with faded gold lettering on the spine, and she took it, looking as though Christmas had come early. "I daresay that you will find many things incorrect, but it may help you. Now," he finished, "You must set out to get the weapons. Tomorrow morning. You will meet us at five-thirty am on the Quidditch pitch. If you have a broomstick better than the school's-"
"What? Wait a minute. What's this about brooms?" All the color from Lili's rosy face drained, leaving her pale and even more elven looking. Her eyes were wide, and they seemed to be taking up her entire face.
"Brooms, Miss Grey. You will be traveling on brooms," Dumbledore said, and anyone else would have had sounded irritated.
"No," she said flatly.
"No?" he repeated mildly.
"No," she said again. "I won't fly. I can't fly. I literally can't. Ask Harry what I did the last time I flew."
"She jumped off the broom," Harry said grimly, not waiting to be asked.
Lili nodded. "I'm afraid of heights," she said, making what was possibly the understatement of the century. "Can't we hitchike?"
"To the Himalayas?" Hermione asked, amused.
"Miss Grey, you must use the brooms. If you would like, I will ask Professor Snape to mix you up an Anti-Phobia Potion. It won't rid you of it, but it will make it much less acute. You won't have any need to jump off a broom." Dumbledore smiled, but Lili seemed less than reassured. "Pack lightly, warm clothes, although no more than you can fit in a backpack, please. I will provide all you need other than that: food, money, tents, and all those such things." He rose from his chair and opened the door, watching them file out. "I will see you at five-thirty tomorrow morning, on the Quidditch pitch." And he closed the door.
(A/N) Okay, I realize the height phobia might be overdoing it slightly, but hey, I'm the all-powerful writer, right? She hates heights (understatement). Capiesh?