* * * *
Weeks passed without any luck in the Restricted Area of the library. Hermione had related the entire story to Ron and every night he insisted on sneaking down to the library with Hermione, Harry and Kendra. At first they had thought that fitting four people under the invisibility cloak would be impossible, but the material seemed to expand around them, letting them all in comfortably.
Ron glanced around their hiding place in approval. "I wonder how many people you could fit in this thing before it-"
"Shh!" Kendra hissed, elbowing him in the ribs.
He muttered something under his breath and rubbed his side. As pretty as Ron thought she was, he had discovered that she acted an awful lot like Hermione. He definitely did not need another cute little know-it-all telling him what to do. Ron nearly stopped walking and Kendra tripped over his foot. Ignoring her glare, Ron frowned. Had he really just used the word 'cute' while thinking about Hermione?
Kendra reached forward and grabbed Harry's arm, interrupting his thought. They stopped short and a moment later Argus Filch, the school's caretaker, rounded a corner just ahead of them and paused, staring down the long hallway to where they were standing.
"Someone there?" he called, holding out his lantern further. A battered looking cat wove around his ankles, pausing occasionally to hiss in the direction of the students.
"You see someone Mrs Norris?" he asked the cat, staring into the darkness.
The cat hissed again, then darted back down the hallway she had come from. A moment later Filch turned and followed her.
"If you keep talking so loudly, we're going to get caught," Hermione whispered to Ron. "Just hush up."
They walked the rest of the way to the library in silence, Ron purposely trying to step on the backs of Hermione's feet the entire time. She glared at him a few times, but kept her mouth shut until they had slipped into the Restricted Section of the library.
"Okay, so we've already searched the first few rows of books," Hermione murmured, sliding out from under the invisibility cloak. "We haven't found anything on mind reading or visions yet. Do you think it would even be in the Restricted Section?" she asked suddenly, turning toward the others. "Maybe we've been going about this all wrong. Maybe books of this type are at our fingertips, out there." She pointed to the rows of regular books that students were allowed to look at.
Kendra shook her head. "Harry and I looked last week and we couldn't find anything."
"You know what might work?" Ron asked suddenly, staring at a book. "This." He pulled the book off the shelf, carefully untangling the chains and showed the cover to them. It read 'A Dissection of Wizarding Prophecies; Volume Six'
Hermione frowned. "I've heard Dumbledore talk about Wizarding prophecies before. He says they're all so vague that they can be taken to mean almost anything. Just like Professor Trelawny's predictions."
"It's worth a shot," Kendra said gently, then took the book from Ron and muttered a quick charm to keep the book from screaming. She settled on the floor cross legged and opened the book, flipping quickly to the contents and searching for anything that would help them discover what was happening.
"Nothing," Kendra said after a moment. "These prophecies all relate to things happening hundreds of years ago. There's nothing about us in them at all."
Harry sighed. "Maybe we're just reading too far into this. Maybe Parvati was right. She just has visions of things and you just hear people. Some wizards and witches are known to have different powers, right? I mean, I'm a Parseltongue and we all know how many wizards can speak to snakes."
"Not many," Ron said.
Harry nodded. "Right. So maybe Kendra hearing us is just a special power she inherited from someone in her family. We've been searching for weeks and come up with nothing."
Hermione sighed as well and sunk to the floor beside Kendra. "You're right Harry. We should probably just give up. We're so used to having bad things happen that we're now going to look for them. This is silly."
Kendra closed the book and handed it back to Ron. "But Dumbledore kept telling me that I'd soon understand."
Harry nodded. "Maybe he meant you'd soon understand that we're all making a big deal out of nothing. You have to admit that it's getting a little hard to find a reason to keep looking."
Kendra nodded slowly. "I know," she said. "I was just so convinced that . . ." she trailed off and shook her head. "No, you're right. So I hear people and Parvati has visions. Big deal."
The four students looked at each other, then covered themselves with the invisibility cloak once more. Soft footsteps were heard as they walked toward the library door, letting it swing shut behind them.
A moment later Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape stepped out of the shadows in the Restricted Area. Snape was twisting a corner of his cloak nervously in his fingers, his eyes darting around the room. Dumbledore had a book held tightly in his hands. ''A Dissection of Wizarding Prophecies; Volume Seven'
"I just wish we could tell them," Snape said in a low voice. "Or at least let them find the book. This sneaking out in the middle of the night . . ." he trailed off in obvious disgust.
Dumbledore squeezed his shoulder gently. "In time Severus, all in good time. They will find out their destiny on their own."
"What destiny?" Snape hissed. "There is no reason behind this Albus, no reason at all. You and I both know that I was simply led to them. You remember it as well as I do."
Dumbledore nodded. He did remember . . .
. . . Albus Dumbledore stood on Privet Drive, just down the road from the house where he had left the tiny bundle that was Harry Potter. He watched in anticipation, waiting for morning to arrive when the door would open and the baby would be taken inside. He would wait all night if he had to, he would wait forever just to make sure that the child was safe.
"Albus," a soft, cold voice said from behind him. "The school needs you. You must return."
He chuckled softly and without turning said, "I will return when young Harry is safe."
"But-"
"Do not argue with me Severus," Dumbledore said sharply. "You have much to prove still, much trust to regain and much loyalty to rebuild."
The young man behind the Headmaster bowed his head, seething angrily. He hated knowing that Dumbledore was right, hated knowing that everything he had done as a Death Eater would haunt him forever. Just because Dumbledore had given him a second chance didn't meant that the rest of the Wizarding community would be so kind.
"I know," Snape said finally, his words short and clipped. "I will do whatever it is you need me to."
Dumbledore turned, smiling slightly. "First you will accept the position I am about to offer you as Hogwarts' new Potions teacher. Second you will use that power that Voldemort so treasured and you will find the five wizards and witches."
"What power?" Snape asked, suddenly confused.
"The ability you posses to sense powerful witches and wizards," Dumbledore explained. "Is that not how you helped Voldemort collect powerful followers?"
Snape nodded slowly. "It is."
"And I have no doubt that you have heard of The Five, the prophecy that tells of their coming?" Dumbledore asked. "The five witches and wizards who, when connected and standing together, will form the most powerful magical being ever to exist. The Five will be our only defence against Voldemort when he rises again."
Snape nodded again. "It is said they will find each other."
"I want you to find them Severus," Dumbledore said. "Find me The Five and tell me who they are. If they can't find each other in time I want to be able to do it for them."
Snape's dark eyes flickered to the house with the tiny baby lying on the front step. He frowned slightly and took a step toward the house, his eyes still staring at the bundle of blankets.
"There is one," he said finally, pointing to the house. "Harry Potter is one of The Five."
Dumbledore frowned. "How can that be? He is just a child."
"He is a child," Snape said thoughtfully, "but not forever and when he grows up, he will become one of The Five."
Dumbledore stared at Harry Potter pensively. It made sense that the child who survived Voldemort should grow up to become one of The Five, but Dumbledore had not expected any of the wizards that Snape found to be children.
"I will find the others for you," Snape said. "I will return as soon as possible with news. . ."
. . . Two weeks later Snape had returned to Hogwarts with news that had chilled Dumbledore. He had found the other four and they were all children, tiny babies as was Harry Potter. The oldest was barely a year, smiling happily when Snape had leaned over his crib and brushed back the thin, red hair.
With a sigh Dumbledore touched Snape's shoulder again. "We should leave now Severus. They'll come to an understanding soon, I promise you that they will."
Snape nodded slowly and followed the Headmaster out of the library. He prayed that Dumbledore knew what he was doing and that The Five really would understand soon.
* * * *
Weeks passed without any luck in the Restricted Area of the library. Hermione had related the entire story to Ron and every night he insisted on sneaking down to the library with Hermione, Harry and Kendra. At first they had thought that fitting four people under the invisibility cloak would be impossible, but the material seemed to expand around them, letting them all in comfortably.
Ron glanced around their hiding place in approval. "I wonder how many people you could fit in this thing before it-"
"Shh!" Kendra hissed, elbowing him in the ribs.
He muttered something under his breath and rubbed his side. As pretty as Ron thought she was, he had discovered that she acted an awful lot like Hermione. He definitely did not need another cute little know-it-all telling him what to do. Ron nearly stopped walking and Kendra tripped over his foot. Ignoring her glare, Ron frowned. Had he really just used the word 'cute' while thinking about Hermione?
Kendra reached forward and grabbed Harry's arm, interrupting his thought. They stopped short and a moment later Argus Filch, the school's caretaker, rounded a corner just ahead of them and paused, staring down the long hallway to where they were standing.
"Someone there?" he called, holding out his lantern further. A battered looking cat wove around his ankles, pausing occasionally to hiss in the direction of the students.
"You see someone Mrs Norris?" he asked the cat, staring into the darkness.
The cat hissed again, then darted back down the hallway she had come from. A moment later Filch turned and followed her.
"If you keep talking so loudly, we're going to get caught," Hermione whispered to Ron. "Just hush up."
They walked the rest of the way to the library in silence, Ron purposely trying to step on the backs of Hermione's feet the entire time. She glared at him a few times, but kept her mouth shut until they had slipped into the Restricted Section of the library.
"Okay, so we've already searched the first few rows of books," Hermione murmured, sliding out from under the invisibility cloak. "We haven't found anything on mind reading or visions yet. Do you think it would even be in the Restricted Section?" she asked suddenly, turning toward the others. "Maybe we've been going about this all wrong. Maybe books of this type are at our fingertips, out there." She pointed to the rows of regular books that students were allowed to look at.
Kendra shook her head. "Harry and I looked last week and we couldn't find anything."
"You know what might work?" Ron asked suddenly, staring at a book. "This." He pulled the book off the shelf, carefully untangling the chains and showed the cover to them. It read 'A Dissection of Wizarding Prophecies; Volume Six'
Hermione frowned. "I've heard Dumbledore talk about Wizarding prophecies before. He says they're all so vague that they can be taken to mean almost anything. Just like Professor Trelawny's predictions."
"It's worth a shot," Kendra said gently, then took the book from Ron and muttered a quick charm to keep the book from screaming. She settled on the floor cross legged and opened the book, flipping quickly to the contents and searching for anything that would help them discover what was happening.
"Nothing," Kendra said after a moment. "These prophecies all relate to things happening hundreds of years ago. There's nothing about us in them at all."
Harry sighed. "Maybe we're just reading too far into this. Maybe Parvati was right. She just has visions of things and you just hear people. Some wizards and witches are known to have different powers, right? I mean, I'm a Parseltongue and we all know how many wizards can speak to snakes."
"Not many," Ron said.
Harry nodded. "Right. So maybe Kendra hearing us is just a special power she inherited from someone in her family. We've been searching for weeks and come up with nothing."
Hermione sighed as well and sunk to the floor beside Kendra. "You're right Harry. We should probably just give up. We're so used to having bad things happen that we're now going to look for them. This is silly."
Kendra closed the book and handed it back to Ron. "But Dumbledore kept telling me that I'd soon understand."
Harry nodded. "Maybe he meant you'd soon understand that we're all making a big deal out of nothing. You have to admit that it's getting a little hard to find a reason to keep looking."
Kendra nodded slowly. "I know," she said. "I was just so convinced that . . ." she trailed off and shook her head. "No, you're right. So I hear people and Parvati has visions. Big deal."
The four students looked at each other, then covered themselves with the invisibility cloak once more. Soft footsteps were heard as they walked toward the library door, letting it swing shut behind them.
A moment later Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape stepped out of the shadows in the Restricted Area. Snape was twisting a corner of his cloak nervously in his fingers, his eyes darting around the room. Dumbledore had a book held tightly in his hands. ''A Dissection of Wizarding Prophecies; Volume Seven'
"I just wish we could tell them," Snape said in a low voice. "Or at least let them find the book. This sneaking out in the middle of the night . . ." he trailed off in obvious disgust.
Dumbledore squeezed his shoulder gently. "In time Severus, all in good time. They will find out their destiny on their own."
"What destiny?" Snape hissed. "There is no reason behind this Albus, no reason at all. You and I both know that I was simply led to them. You remember it as well as I do."
Dumbledore nodded. He did remember . . .
. . . Albus Dumbledore stood on Privet Drive, just down the road from the house where he had left the tiny bundle that was Harry Potter. He watched in anticipation, waiting for morning to arrive when the door would open and the baby would be taken inside. He would wait all night if he had to, he would wait forever just to make sure that the child was safe.
"Albus," a soft, cold voice said from behind him. "The school needs you. You must return."
He chuckled softly and without turning said, "I will return when young Harry is safe."
"But-"
"Do not argue with me Severus," Dumbledore said sharply. "You have much to prove still, much trust to regain and much loyalty to rebuild."
The young man behind the Headmaster bowed his head, seething angrily. He hated knowing that Dumbledore was right, hated knowing that everything he had done as a Death Eater would haunt him forever. Just because Dumbledore had given him a second chance didn't meant that the rest of the Wizarding community would be so kind.
"I know," Snape said finally, his words short and clipped. "I will do whatever it is you need me to."
Dumbledore turned, smiling slightly. "First you will accept the position I am about to offer you as Hogwarts' new Potions teacher. Second you will use that power that Voldemort so treasured and you will find the five wizards and witches."
"What power?" Snape asked, suddenly confused.
"The ability you posses to sense powerful witches and wizards," Dumbledore explained. "Is that not how you helped Voldemort collect powerful followers?"
Snape nodded slowly. "It is."
"And I have no doubt that you have heard of The Five, the prophecy that tells of their coming?" Dumbledore asked. "The five witches and wizards who, when connected and standing together, will form the most powerful magical being ever to exist. The Five will be our only defence against Voldemort when he rises again."
Snape nodded again. "It is said they will find each other."
"I want you to find them Severus," Dumbledore said. "Find me The Five and tell me who they are. If they can't find each other in time I want to be able to do it for them."
Snape's dark eyes flickered to the house with the tiny baby lying on the front step. He frowned slightly and took a step toward the house, his eyes still staring at the bundle of blankets.
"There is one," he said finally, pointing to the house. "Harry Potter is one of The Five."
Dumbledore frowned. "How can that be? He is just a child."
"He is a child," Snape said thoughtfully, "but not forever and when he grows up, he will become one of The Five."
Dumbledore stared at Harry Potter pensively. It made sense that the child who survived Voldemort should grow up to become one of The Five, but Dumbledore had not expected any of the wizards that Snape found to be children.
"I will find the others for you," Snape said. "I will return as soon as possible with news. . ."
. . . Two weeks later Snape had returned to Hogwarts with news that had chilled Dumbledore. He had found the other four and they were all children, tiny babies as was Harry Potter. The oldest was barely a year, smiling happily when Snape had leaned over his crib and brushed back the thin, red hair.
With a sigh Dumbledore touched Snape's shoulder again. "We should leave now Severus. They'll come to an understanding soon, I promise you that they will."
Snape nodded slowly and followed the Headmaster out of the library. He prayed that Dumbledore knew what he was doing and that The Five really would understand soon.
* * * *