Seeing the Invisible 6
Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable, but please do not steal what little things are mine. Thank you for your time- enjoy!
~
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The hollow tapping of knuckles on wood roused Dumbledore from his reading.
"Come in," he said hoarsely before looking down to the stacks of volumes that lay open on his desk.
The door gently swung open and the bespectacled eyes of Minerva McGonagall peered around the entrance to the headmaster's study.
"Are you busy?" she asked softly, careful not to disturb him too much.
Dumbledore sighed, snapped the thick, leather bound book shut, and looked up, rubbing his reddened eyes.
"Too busy for my own good, though with lack of sufficient progress," he said, trying to laugh, but only managing a weary smile, " oh, do come in Minerva."
Minerva came around the edge of the door, revealing a tray of dinner she'd been carrying for him. She set it upon the desk and sat down.
"I've brought you some dinner," she said, indicating to the tray," you know, Albus, you've cooped yourself up in here for three days straight. Have you slept or eaten? You don't look well at all," said Minerva, her voice growing stricter with concern.
"Thank you, Minerva, but I'm sure I'll be fine. We've much more to worry about now than my health," he said in a flat kind of voice, shaking a scratched, empty glass jar at her.
" Such as what? And what is that?" she asked, examining the jar in his gnarled old hand. She looked closer, staring at the jar, calculating predictions and thoughts in her head, her brow furrowing in concentration. Finally, understanding dawned on her face, and she paled with shock.
" The key…"
"Yes, Minerva. The key to the unseen city is missing."
"But why would anyone take the key? It is of no use without knowing the whereabouts of the city itself," asked Minerva, looking intently at the ancient glass jar.
"Obviously someone has located it. And from what I've read," said Dumbledore, nodding towards the stacks of volumes that cluttered his desk," that can only be a bad occurrence."
~
In the girls' dormitory, in the dead of the night, Farrell rolled over in her bed, tangled in the sheets, feeling uncomfortable and annoyed. No matter what she did, there was a dull feeling of foreboding lingering in the back of head.
"What in heaven's name could I be dreading?" she thought to herself, aggravated with her behavior, " Life couldn't be better! I have friends, family, good marks…I mean…what could it be!"
After a few more minutes of restlessness she sighed and stepped out of bed, pulling on a robe over her pajamas, and a cloak over that. Farrell tiptoed down the girls' staircase and out of the common room. She was considering heading down to the kitchens for a cup of tea, or perhaps up to professor McGonagall's study, she was always working now, and never minded Farrell's company.
But on her way to the kitchen a thought flew into her head. It was almost a command of sorts. It was an image of the quidditch pitch, clear as daylight. She turned right around and started towards the entrance hall and out of the castle.
Shivering in the freezing wind, Farrell stood on the quidditch pitch, mentally unaware of the cold. Her mind was consumed by the image of the pitch itself, though she knew not why. She suddenly found a small silver triangle sitting in front of her on the ground. As she looked at it, the thought that flooded her head was " Touch the top" and she obeyed. She stretched her hand out and laid her finger on the tip of the small pyramid. Instantly, Farrell was shocked with a wave of pain. The throbbing pain welled up in her stomach and burst in ripples of agony up through her chest and neck and head, shining out through her eyes in the form of light. Her eyes misted over until they were completely white, and though she could not see her surroundings, she saw much more.
In her mind, a hunched dark figure stood before her. He stretched out his gaunt arm and a ghastly white hand emerged from the sleeve of his robe. Two long, sharp fingers bent in a beckoning fashion, sucking her in with a magnetic force. Through his thick hood, Farrell could feel his red eyes burning into hers. Though her eyes were fogged over, she could feel the heat of the creature's blazing pupils in hers. Then, like a call in the darkness, a thought penetrated her captive mind.
"Conquer"
The word sounded in her mind like a gunshot, and she clenched her teeth in rage. From the edges of the scene in her mind, a hazel mist drifted in, quickly engulfing the figure and his painful, burning stare. Farrell's eyes returned to their hazel color and she saw the darkened pitch once more, but the pyramid was gone. She swayed on the spot, drained of energy. Her eyelids fluttered and she fainted, falling into the grass.
~
The hooded black figure walked into a room, his robes billowing behind him. Before him sat two death eaters who rose as he entered.
"I've found her," said the cloaked figure.
One of the two men, a short, rather plump one said, " Who, master? Who did you find?"
The figure glared at the plump man from behind his hood, " The Seer, you insolent fool. Whom did you think I was referring to?" said the dark man in a cutting tone.
"How long shall it be now, Master?" said the other man with an angular face and blonde hair.
"Not long, Lucius. Though she is strong, we can break her, just as the rest. And through her, we shall rid ourselves of that meddling fool, Dumbledore, and his little wonder boy…Harry Potter."
"Yes, Master," chorused the two men in unison.
" And the rewards," said the sinister creature," shall be great."
And following these words, a high, piercing cackle sliced through the silence.
(a/n: sorry so short, but I can't just have a foreshadowing session with the dark lord in the middle of a chapter, can I ? yea, I didn't think so. Well, thanks for reading- but could you all please review? I mean, I'm not one of those people who will say, " I'm not writing the next chapter until I get 15 reviews" just because that is mean. But I'm sure I'd write faster if I had them. I just want to know how I'm doing! Thanks to Rosie (tellytubby, and so on) for the great suggestions, and to Taymer Gowdil and Athena McGonagall for always reviewing. Thank you!)