The Firetah

(part eight)



Anchoret has a strange experience...



That night, Anchoret's first at Hogwarts, she had an unusual dream.

The tall, pale man walked towards her menacingly. He was whispering something she couldn't hear. It was so dark. So dark and dreary. She was in a forest...a silver and black forest. Mist clung to her robes and she shivered. Finally the man came close enough so she could hear what he was saying. The whole black forest joined in his low chorus.

"He comes," the trees sang.

"He comes," the vines replied.

"He comes," the hollow sky shrieked. "Fall down before him in abject surrender!"

Anchoret stood her ground, even as the man stepped closer. The girl's eyes took fire and she stared at him as he spoke.

"And how shall you greet him, my Firetah?"

"I shall defy him, even as I defy you," her dream self said.

"Your puny defiance is of no moment, Firetah," the man declared in tones of deepest contempt. "For I, servant of Darkness, shall bear you down into the pit, and Voldemort, master of all, shall claim your fiery soul."

And Anchoret laughed. "Your illusion bears no truth, Death Eater, but cling to it if you must. Hold your illusion tightly to your breast, and be as wary as a man can be. But in spite of all your care, I shall filch your illusion from out of your arms and turn the sun once more into its proper course. Your illusions are folly, and your curses hollow. I cast my defiance into your heart, servant of Darkness, and even more I cast my defiance into the heart of him who is your master, but never mine."

And the Death Eater Lucius Malfoy screamed and fled.

And Anchoret woke up streaming with cold sweat, safe once again in Gryffindor Tower.



A/N Most of this dream sequence comes from the fabulous book "The Redemption of Althalus" by David and Leigh Eddings. I just "fixed" it a little to suit my purpose.