IN WHICH DUMBLEDORE SHEDS SOME LIGHT ABOUT RAVEN AND REALMS

"So who IS this Raven guy anyway?" Harry asked.

They were in Professor Dumbledore's study. They, being Ron, Merloyn, Seamus, Draco, Professor Dumbledore and the aforementioned Harry. The students had decided to come to the Head Master for advice as Ron had returned to his hysterical state as  soon as he woke up. Merloyn knew it was too good to be true. The speedy recovering, especially one after being in Raven's grasp. He kept away from everyone, Merloyn in particular as she was the one he loved most and the one who seemed to unleash his 'power' in the dreams. Ron was now deathly pale and didn't look much more than a bag a bones from lack of food. His hair was even beginning to pale, while his freckled became more noticeable than ever. And this all in a period of 24 hours. Merloyn had begged him time after time to eat or talk to her but it was no use and she too was now refusing to eat. No one understood how he could've gotten so worked up over a dream but Merloyn had warned them that Raven, or as he had called himself Nevar, had powers that could only be imagined by others. She had said that he had a way of making dreams so life like that you sometimes got them mixed with reality. Ron had had to be excused from lessons the day before as he was getting worked up if anyone even came within five metres of him. The traumatized boy was currently seated in a far corner - it had taken much coaxing on Merloyn's part for him to come.

Merloyn looked over at Professor Dumbledore as if to say 'you tell them'.

"Well, Harry. By what I've heard, Raven is a type of Molwordenack. A type of demon crossed with a warlock you might say. Or in his case a warlock who has turned himself into a demon to gain more power. We of the light side know him as Raven, which is what he used to call himself, but now he goes by the name of Nevar to trick unexpected victims. He has created a realm of his own, which the Order of the Phoenix has imprisoned him in, though it seems that he has some how found a way of opening the door back to this realm, the realm in which he originated. Now you may think that this has no relevance to Mr. Weasley's case but we MUST find away to trap Raven in his realm. He is a most deadly force, worst than Voldemort, worst that Grindelwald himself! He has the power to persuade minds and persuasion is one of the most lethal powers when it is accompanied by evil. He has the power to persuade people to do almost anything with his voice. Only the most powerful and trained wizards can escape it and even then sometimes we find it hard. He could persuade Mr. Potter to attack Miss. Weasley or Mr. Finnigan to murder Miss Patil and both of you would perform the deed without a second thought. At least at that time. You see, we are not the only realm in this 'universe' as we call it. A new realm can be created in two ways. The first and most common way is that a realm is automatically created when a historical event can have two conclusions. The universe started as one realm but as the it wore on things began happening and new realms were formed. Say there was a planet, the first life on it was a male manticore. Alas! A new realm is formed in which the first life on that very same planet was a female manticore, and so on and so forth. Right now there is a realm in which Harry did not survive Voldemort and one in which Tom's father had not left his mother and Lord Voldemort is a muggle neurosurgeon. The main question that I cannot understand is the fact that Raven has asked Mr. Weasley to murder Mr. Finnigan. I understand why he wants Mr. Malfoy to be disposed of, as he is Merloyn's closest relative and as much as I hate to pressure you dear, Merloyn, you ARE the key to the survival of this realm. The realm in which everything other realm sprung from. Raven as I may have guessed, wants revenge on the Order of the Phoenix, on the people of the light side, but to do that he needs the help of a laudabilis and Meloyn is the only one for another six millennia," Dumbledore concluded.

"But Professor, you still haven't really answered the question. We now know HOW Ron became like this and what we have to do but WHO is Raven exactly? So far we've established that he's a Molwor-something-or-other and that he turned himself into a demon to gain more power. He calls himself Nevar and he hates the Order of the Phoenix because it locked him in his realm. Oh yeah, and that he has the power to persuade people to do things they normally wouldn't do but that's all. What does he look like? What is his realm like? What IS the second way of creating a realm?" Seamus asked.

The others were impressed by his memory and comprehension  for they could barely take in what had just been said. That was all except from Merloyn who was now staring of into space with an expression of anguish.

"And what's a laudabilis anyway?" Harry asked.

He seriously missed Ron even though the boy was just sitting in the same room as him. Harry was willing to do anything, and he meant ANYTHING to help his friend. Seeing Ron there like that, there in body - even though barely, and his mind seemed to have been replaced by that of one of those street urchins he had seen when his aunt and uncle had dragged him into London for Dudley's birthday. One of those boys who had had been bashed all their lives and were now scared to come even a metre in the vicinity of another living being. Be it animal or human. What happened to the old Ron? Harry wanted to know. What happened to the fiery

red-head who used Victor Krum's figurine as a voodoo doll, the one who threw sarcastic comments and brushed himself against the object of his affections as often as he could. Most of all, what happened to the Ron Weasley that was his bestfriend?

Harry was used to being the one in the spotlight. Not that he minded the spotlight moving on to someone else, but when the spotlight dragged the pain and suffering along with it, and to someone like his bestfriend, he couldn't stand it. No, the spotlight that had shone upon him held more glory than suffering. After all it was just a battle every now and again, he never had to see the one he loved in a traumatic state, or fight the practically supreme evil with an evil father and his master hot on his tail. Merloyn had it a lot worst than he had ever had it and right now Ron was no better off. Harry was determined to make sure that Merloyn knew that she wouldn't be fighting this fight alone. That even if the spotlight shone on her he was gonna be there, behind the curtains, helping her with her role and reaching out an invisible hand when she stumbled. As for Ron, well, if he couldn't pull him back into his old self then heck, Harry James Potter was gonna die trying.

Merloyn was staring at the beautiful view outside. Why couldn't she be there? Why couldn't she just be Hermione Granger? Plain old Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's brain of a side-kick. The one that looked after the hero, not the hero herself. Ron was like this because of her. He was the traumatized, ticking bomb that would explode at the first touch. All this because she was a god damn laudabilis. No she was THE god damn laudabilis. The only one for another six millennia. Why couldn't Raven wait a measly six millennia? Oh yeah, even Molwordenacks had a life span. His just happened to be 20 millennia. It was now his 16th and the clock was ticking. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Was the clock counting up to the end of his life, or the end of this emotionally exhausted laudabilis?  Why the heck did she have to be a god damn laudabilis anyway? She wasn't the heroine type. She wasn't the angelic type either. And the only one for another six millennia? That meant she NEEDED to defeat this, this thing. Because the life span of a laudabilis was the same as that of an average witch, 200 years at the most. All the information she had gathered would be destroyed after she died. That was just how things was. In six millennia's time there probably wouldn't be any English. It would probably be the type of language like Ancient Egyptian. They think they know what they're reading - even though barely, and had they even interpreted it correctly and were they really sure that it wasn't just a coincidence that the text became words when they interpreted it using that formula? She was gonna destroy Nevar. That she knew for sure. She'd drink unicorn's blood to give her more time if need be. Stuff the fact that her life would be cursed. This wasn't about her, who cared about her? It was about Ron, about Draco, about Harry, about her mother, about Nevar's past victims and most of all it was about the future of the light side. If Nevar won this battle, this war, then that was that. Even if Grindewald came back to life along with Atila the Hun and Voldemort came back to full power, the three reverted to the Light Side and then joined forces with Dumbledore, Merlin and Nicholas Flamel they still wouldn't be able to defeat him. No, they didn't have to trap him back in his realm, they had to destroy the monster of a warlock. How someone, no something, could be this powerful she didn't know but what she knew was that it had to be destroyed. That she had to destroy this thing, grind it in a blender for all she cared, just destroyed it. And she needed to do the deed while it was still getting reacquainted to its old powers. While it was still overwhelmed by this new world. While it was still testing ways of dragging people into his realm, and at this rate, he could conquer the world while he was still trapped in his realm if she didn't do something. And do it fast. Suddenly a single and desperately idea pierced her mind.

She dashed out of the room and headed straight for her prefect's dorm.

IN WHICH THE TEAM DECIDES THAT A PLAN MUST  BE MADE

"Merloyn?" Dumbledore said as the flash of silver brushed past him.

He hadn't answered the questions yet and before anything he heard a cry of "Oh shit!" then another flash of silver had passed him. Then after that a flash of black. The others sat there stunned, while Ron sat, melancholy and slumped in the corner. His face was that of a pained boy, a boy that suspected that the one he loved was going to do something dramatic and risky, that she was doing it for him, that he couldn't do anything about it, and strangely enough, that he didn't quite understand it all and that he was completely out of his mind. Otherwise he would've gotten up surely, he would've risked those dreams coming true to attempt to stop her. Ronald Weasley truly and deeply loved Merloyn Malfoy and vice versa. Professor Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Order of Merlin First Class, first rank member of the Order of the Phoenix, knew this for sure.

The Prefect's Dorm

"You don't want to this Merloyn,' Harry pleaded.

Draco had explained his suspicions to the other boy on their sprint here and it had been confirmed when they walked in to find a room full of incense, flowers, cloth, candles and a dagger, with Merloyn in the process of putting all the objects into the shape of a circle.

"Don't I Harry?" she replied desperately. "Don't I? Don't I want to save Ron? This might be the only chance Harry. You don't understand. Its evil. Its powerful. And those combinations don't go nicely together. It's not a fairytale, life. Love won't defeat evil, and it's the meaning of evil. If you've seen the thing's it's made people do. But this is the real world, and sacrifice could work. He's confused enough to fall for it. I would do anything to save Ron Harry, you should know that. And I'd still do it if the level of success was only 7%. But this has a high chance of success and what's a life worth? Is a single life really worth another's? A million other's? The fate of the whole Light Side? I don't think so Harry and this is the only solution I can come up with so if you have a better idea than tell me or otherwise step out of the way."

Draco was standing in the corner. Harry plainly did not need him and he didn't want his twin to feel outnumbered.

"All I know is that what-ever a laudabilis is, you're important to this war, that you're not thinking properly, that this still has a big chance of not working and that," he sighed. "You'll be no good to us dead."

The girl burst into tears and threw herself at her bestfriend.

"What else can I do Harry?" she whispered. "What's the point of being a god damn laudabilis if I can't do anything. If I can't even get the one I love out of a trauma? If I can't do anything?! I'm useless! I'm absolutely useless!"

She was getting more desperate now and her body was shaking jerkily as tears streamed down her face.

"You're not useless sis," Draco said stepping out of his little corner. The emotional outburst had been his queue.

"You're great. You're the most amazing person I know and I know a lot of people. You're smart, caring and as far as I know you're a great laudabilis," he continued.

"Then why can't I do a god damned thing? Why can't I do a bloody thing?" she continued to sob.

"Because you CAN do something Merloyn," Harry replied. "The only thing is that we don't know WHAT it is we need you to do but I promise you this, you CAN do something. You've already done lots of things. You've saved my life countless times, you've helped Draco with your father, you've become the best student Hogwarts has ever had. And in the long run those things count. You can do something Merloyn, the only question is what."

"What we need," Draco concluded, walking around the two. "Is a plan."