Chapter twenty

A surprising revelation

/

Although the light snow powdered the school grounds late at night, the strong wind blew the clouds away, and in the morning, the sunny sky greeted the awakening Hogwarts students. They still had to wait for the real winter to come.

The week went on as usual. Shiernov was completely exhausting them physically, Snape mentally, Hermione and Ron continued to flirt, Harry and Angela were 'subtly' glancing at each other, and Malfoy and Daria were desperately trying to pretend that the other did not exist. This would not be so difficult if they did not keep bumping into each other, mainly thanks to the fact that Daria was Angela´s very good friend.

As far as Draco knew, the two had been like twins since childhood, but then something happened that caused them to fall out and not speak to each other for a long time. Now it seemed that they had finally gotten the hang of it, so every time Draco ran into Angela, she was bound to be laughing at something with Daria or whispering in quite a secretive manner. Thanks to that, his determination to completely ignore everything about Daria was rather wasted.

And Daria... She almost did not understand herself. She was glad that things were finally back to normal with Angela, but every time they met Malfoy, her heart jumped into her throat, making her unable to speak.

Naturally, Angela noticed after a few such meetings that something more was going on between those two. However, when she thought about it and realized what it could be, she quickly dismissed the idea. If it was true, she did not even want to imagine what consequences might something like that have. She thought they should forget about the other completely. Even though, she did not really follow this reasonable attitude herself.

At least her prophetic dreams left her alone for now, perhaps also because she took the pills against them every evening…

/

On Friday evening, Angela stood indecisively in front of the massive gargoyle guarding the entrance to the Headmaster´s office. She did not attend Snape's detention because of this arranged meeting. Draco had reluctantly promised to cover for her, even if she had not told him where she was going instead.

She finally made up her mind and stammered out the password. The gargoyle moved out of her way and she went up the stairs. Stopping herself from pondering her actions further, she knocked on the door and waited for the invitation.

After entering the office, all eyes from the portraits on the walls turned to her, including the azure blue one behind the half-moon glasses.

"Good evening," she greeted seriously.

"Good evening. Take a seat, Miss Rosier," Headmaster gestured to a comfortable chair with a smile.

"Thank you," Angela replied and sat down a little stiffly.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Dumbledore addressed her kindly. "I suppose it won't be anything trifling, since you came straight to me."

"You´re right about that, Professor. It's not easy... But I don't know who else to ask for advice.''

"Advice?" Dumbledore wondered.

"Yes. And there is quite a long history behind my request…"

"It doesn't matter, I'll be happy to listen to it," responded Headmaster seriously, connecting his fingertips together in a typical gesture.

Angela was silent for a while, wondering if she had made a mistake in coming here. If word got around that she had met Headmaster Dumbledore privately on her own initiative… She looked into the professor's eyes, which were watching her kindly and with serious interest. It encouraged her. No, she was not gonna back down now.

"First of all, I would like to ask you not to talk to anyone about anything I´m going to tell you now. It might inconvenience or even endanger not only myself," Angela began with an unusually serious tone.

"That goes without saying," Dumbledore nodded. "You can trust me."

Angela took a breath: "I would start by asking… What do you know about my mother? About Mary Rosier?"

Dumbledore frowned slightly. "Mary was an excellent student, but as far as I know, after leaving Hogwarts she did not attend any specialized course for magical profession. She used to live with her sister Marion near London. You´re her only daughter. You were not even one year old when she perished in a fight with Death Eaters, who were fleeing from justice back then. Since then, you were raised by your aunt, who just recently passed away… My condolences, by the way. Is everything as I said?" Dumbledore finished with a question.

"Yes," Angela breathed out softly. "I was taken in by her distant relative and I now live with her – at Malfoy Manor."

"Yes, so I´ve heard."

"But what you said about my mother is not true," Angela said even more quietly.

"Which of it isn't true, Miss?" Dumbledore asked, taken aback.

Angela looked into his eyes: "My mother is not dead."

Headmaster Dumbledore really had something to do not to show surprise on his face.

"She's alive and she's making my life pretty miserable at the moment," the serious girl began with difficulty as she recounted her mother's life, which she knew partly from her aunt, partly from Narcissa Malfoy teasing remarks and partly from the Daily Prophet…

/

After several minutes of talking non-stop in an almost disinterested voice and Dumbledore not interrupting her at all, Angela's voice suddenly broke.

"But I don't want it, Professor... I don't want to go through my mother's fate! But I don't know what to do... I can't refuse, I can't run away, I can't even tell anyone about my doubts... I´m helpless to do anything about it!"

Angela hit the armrest of the chair angrily. Then she remembered where she was and who was sitting in front of her, closed her eyes and tried to calm down a little, to clear her head. She did not want to represent herself like a hysterical chicken in front of Headmaster.

Dumbledore remained silent for an unusually long time, looking at the agitated girl in front of him with a strange expression in his eyes.

"Well, I must say I´m not surprised by everything you said," Dumbledore finally began and Angela looked up at him. "You're not the only one who's ever had to go through something like this, but your situation is—to put it mildly—complicated. Still, I have two suggestions for you. Although I suppose you won't like either of them."

"Tell me, please," Angela requested firmly.

"You could refuse to obey, move away from the Malfoys and I would guarantee your safety."

"But then I would have to hide for the rest of my life," she reacted disapprovingly.

"That's quite possible, unfortunately," Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully.

"And the other proposal?"

"Before I say it, I want to know how well you can handle Occlumency, Angela," the headmaster leaned across the table to her.

"How do you know I can even do it?" she answered with a cautious question.

"Truthfully, I usually see into people quite easily, like an open book. But you´re very closed up and your current state of mind is hard to recognize."

"Try me then," the young witch challenged him a little hesitantly. "As one of the greatest wizards of all time, I suppose you have great skills in Legilimency."

"Indeed, I have," Dumbledore agreed, his eyes twinkling.

"Then go ahead. Try me, Professor."

Angela almost did not finish her sentence and Dumbledore already tried to penetrate her mind. He attacked hard and unexpectedly. She was surprised at first, and Draco Malfoy's face flashed a few times before Dumbledore´s eyes, and then also Snape´s. But both disappeared once Angela engaged her Occlumency at full power.

Dumbledore tried again and again to find a gap in the solid wall, the girl had built around her mind, but to no avail. He leaned back in his chair in surprise.

Angela was breathing hard, as if she had trotted a while ago, but otherwise she looked completely normal and watched the headmaster curiously.

"Who taught you Occlumency like that?"

"I don't think that's important at this point," she shrugged in an attempt to hide how exhausted she was after Dumbledore's attempt. Such a great wizard was a tough opponent and she suspected he did not use all he could on her. "Now tell me, why you wanted to know this."

"There's one more option you could choose right now, though I shouldn't be suggesting it at all..."

Angela kept watching him intently and waited.

Dumbledore spoke of his suggestion cautiously. Some of the previous headmasters on the portraits gasped in surprise and started whispering to each other. Angela gave Dumbledore a slightly shocked look, but she did not actually see him.

"Of course, this is not request or order. Accepting my offer, you will find yourself in great danger, but… You would certainly be much more beneficial to everyone who fights against the evil. In case they will trust you."

Angela was silent, and dozens of pessimistic theories were running through her head. Such a risk could pay off for her, or not at all.

"My birthday isn't until September," she said then, seemingly incoherently. "Until I will be of age, I'll just be an adept and nothing else."

"Even so, it will be dangerous for you, Angela."

"And I can endanger also others, I know," she added grimly.

Headmaster´s office fell silent with tense anticipation.

"You don't have to decide right away, take your time and think it over..."

She took a slow breath and returned Dumbledore's serious look: "No. Soon, I´ll be out of time, anyway. I will do it," Angela said firmly.

"Are you certain about that?"

"Yes. Like that, I'll definitely have a better chance of surviving than with running and hiding in some dirty hole… They'd have found me anyway."

"All right, if you need anything, come to see me. I will help you if I can."

"Thanks, I'll keep that on mind. And… Can I ask you something, sir?"

Dumbledore nodded his head.

"You mentioned that I'm not the only one… So, there's someone else, who would… You know."

Dumbledore nodded: "Yes, but…"

"No, I don't want to know the name," she cut him off before he could continue. "For both my sake and theirs. I realize it will be safer," she stated seriously and stood up. "I'd better go now."

"Wait a moment, Angela. I might try to find out who your father was… Would you like that?"

She let out a surprised gasp: "Yes, of course. Could you do that?"

"There´re always records of every marriage, even a secret one," Dumbledore nodded assuring her.

"I would be very grateful to you. I'd like to know who he was."

"I'll try, but no promises."

"Never mind, I'll be glad if you try," Angela turned to leave.

"Angela?" the director stopped her for the last time. "Once again – if you're not sure, you shouldn't do it. I would hate to see you regret this decision."

She clenched both hands into fists and did not turn around as she replied: "But I am sure, Professor. I have no other choice if I want to remain, who I am. Good night."

The door slammed shut behind Angela Rosier, and the headmaster of Hogwarts was in for a sleepless night. He had one more concern of rather large dimension. Not to mention he was sure that young Rosier had not told him everything…