Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Fifteen

The Mystic

**~~~~~**

We all sat around Sweet, who was looking positively miserable at having attacked Harry. She had a towel pulled up over her head and she was shivering slightly. Hermione leaned forward and rubbed her back comfortingly. "It's all right, Sweet. Just start slowly and take your time."

Sweet nodded and wound a piece of red hair around her finger. "I'm one of many Souls that bound together to protect this girl from HIM."

"Who exactly is 'HIM'?" asked Ron.

"It must be the Soul of the Murderer that Old Woman mentioned," guessed Hermione.

"I think so..." said Sweet. "We don't even know exactly what HE's called, but HE's bad. That's all we know. And HE's always fighting for control. But we don't know what HE wants or who sent HIM." She took a drink of pumpkin juice and continued. "We were sent by someone. Someone who was once very powerful, but is now being controlled by another. He sent us to protect this body from the evil Soul. And we've been trying so hard, but sometimes HE breaks free and takes over. Like in the lake." Once again, she closed her eyes and tears threatened to fall.

Harry leaned forward and took her hand. "I'm not upset. I understand it wasn't you, or any of the good Souls, who tried to hurt me. Please continue."

Sweet sighed. "We also have to protect this body for another reason. Not only are we supposed to keep HIM in check, we also have to keep the body safe so SHE can come through."

"And who is 'SHE'?" I asked with great interest. Who was this Soul we hadn't met yet?

Sweet's eyes took on a look of deep reverence. "Oh yes...SHE is the greatest Soul of all time. We call HER 'The Mystic'."

A feeling of peace rushed through us all at the name, even though we didn't know who this person was or had been. But there was something reassuring in the name and I immediately felt that this person could help Ginny.

"What does she do?" asked Snape, very interested.

Sweet took on a very funny look. "I...think...she wants to tell you herself." Her eyes shone as she looked at us. "You've been very kind to all of us, even the Souls who were a little more out of the ordinary."

We all looked at each other, amused looks on our faces. We were all thinking of Wild Thing.

Sweet grasped my hand. "Don't worry, Draco. The right Soul will soon be back. And please know that we wanted nothing more than to be able to protect you all from HIM...even if no one was there to protect us."

And with that, Ginny's eyes took on the blank look and we knew Sweet was gone. We all looked at each other. "So what happens now?" asked Ron. "Is this new person supposed to appear?"

"Be silent and watch," commanded Snape.

Ginny's eyes had shut and she was smiling peacefully. We all watched her expectantly, waiting to meet this great Soul who the other Souls lived to serve. Suddenly her eyes slid open and she regarded us all kindly. "I am the one they call The Mystic. I see both parts of the future, and the past. I have waited in the Hall of Lost Souls for this dear girl to come along and now I see that she has."

I leaned forwards and asked as respectfully as I could, "Did you know this was going to happen?"

"I foresaw it, yes. But I do not know how it is to end, for I can not see my own future."

"Can you see Ginny's?" Ron asked hopefully.

She shook her head sadly. "I can not, for I am now a part of her. But..." she looked at me and then at Harry. "I have a story to tell."

"Most of them do," Ron muttered sarcastically, and Hermione threw him a look.

The Mystic composed herself for a moment and then spoke, her eyes very vacant as if looking deep into the past. "Long ago, there was a story, a prediction of two boys being born in the same year, one child was of Light, the other child Dark. One child was to be good in all ways, the other one would have a love for the Dark Arts. Both boys were to be the most powerful wizards of all time, and others would come to them for help both of good and evil nature."

I was confused. "But what do these boys have to do with us?"

The Mystic smiled faintly. "It was also predicted that the most evil wizard of our times would be killed by the Child of Light. Not only would the boy save the wizarding world from destruction, but he would also possess great powers of good."

"Could the evil wizard be Voldemort?" asked Hermione.

"And what about the boys?" added Harry. "Are they born yet? Who are they?"

The Mystic shook her head. "No one knows who the children are or even if they exist. But if they are indeed alive, you must find them. That is why I have come...you must find the Child of Light if he exists and only then can you destroy the Dark Lord."

Hermione huffed a bit. "Why do they always have to be boys? Why can't there be a powerful girl too?"

The Mystic smiled, an amused expression on her face. "We will have to wait and see what the future brings."

"Can I ask something?" asked Harry. Once The Mystic had nodded he continued. "Do you know who the other Souls are? I mean, can you tell us?"

"I can not tell you all," said The Mystic, "but I can tell you that. The Souls who have been protecting this body have all come across the Soul of the Murderer in the past. Some were related to him, others were destroyed by him. But all of them know of his evil."

"But we don't even know who he is and what he did," said Hermione. "I looked in all sorts of books and I couldn't find a mention of him anywhere."

"That is because he would not be in any book. The Soul of the Murderer is made up of all the purely evil Souls of those who hurt others physically in some way and had no remorse. There are not so many of them, but they were powerful enough to mesh and create one truly evil Soul with a lust for killing. And that is the one that now inhabits this body."

"It's no wonder Tom Riddle was so upset about this Soul making it into Ginny! How horrible!" I exclaimed.

The Mystic looked sharply at me. "Do not be too trusting," she cautioned. "Trust can often lead to downfall."

I held her gaze for a moment before I was forced to look away. She brought up too much insecurity in me.

*~~~~~*

Later on, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I were sitting on the boys' bed in Snape's flat. Snape was in the room that Hermione and Ginny were sharing, making sure that The Mystic was comfortable and settling in. We had been silent and brooding until Ron's irritated sigh broke the silence. He flopped over onto his back on the bed and exclaimed with irritation: "Do you get the feeling that that woman knows more than she's telling us?"

"Yes," I agreed. I was still upset about her trying to turn me against Tom, making me feel manipulated.

Hermione sat cross-legged, a book spread across her lap. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe she's not supposed to tell us everything about our futures?"

Harry nodded. "I think Hermione's right. It may seem irritating now, but how much of your future do you really want to know? If you knew everything, you wouldn't have any excitement of discovery."

"But this is Ginny!" I argued. "Why can't she just tell us who's behind it and how to stop it, rather than telling us riddles?"

Hermione was getting fed up with us, I could tell, and I was also getting a vibe from her that said: 'these are some really stupid boys!'. "Look. Maybe you don't pay attention in Divination, but Ginny did. She's talked to me about it and although she's always thought that some of the things Trelawney made us do was stupid, she also learned a few things about real Divination. She said that true Seers aren't supposed to tell people their full futures. It isn't a good idea to give people that much power over their lives, because it gives them a tendency to do stupid things that could end up changing their future or even killing them. You know, giving them the idea that they will be alive to do all these great things, so they drive recklessly and get into a horrible car accident. That sort of thing. The future is not set in stone."

I hesitated. "I think I get it. You mean that The Mystic is allowed to give us clues about what we should do, but she can't actually tell us how it will turn out."

Hermione seemed pleased. "Exactly. You're listening...that's good!"

Harry nodded. "People have to make their own decisions based on their instincts - not on what someone tells them."

I smirked. "Thanks Potter...I think I get it." Bloody hell, he could still be such a goody-goody!

*~~~~~*

Hermione went into the girls' room at that point, and we boys threw on pajamas and crawled into bed. I decided to just give it some time and not to expect more from The Mystic than she was able to give us. Besides, we had more important things to think about, like finding this Child of Light in hopes of taking out the Dark Lord. But I wanted to find him for a different reason...I wanted to make sure that he never did anything to Tom Riddle. This was one prediction that just could not come true...and I would do anything for a friend…

*~~~~~*