Chapter 3

Broken Glass

Hermione screamed. Faith whirled around just in time to see a black shadow crawl in through the broken window and jump on her. Before she had time to react, the thing latched onto her neck and threw her to the floor. The force of the impact carried her backwards and she hit the stairs.

"Harry! Get McGonagall!" Faith managed to force out through her clenched throat. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sprinted down the hallways to the Professor's office.

"No! Must kill. Must kill. Harry die. Harry die!" The shadow hissed and spit as he talked, and his breathing was short and heavy. Faith got one arm free and with her palm hit it on the side of the head. This stunned the creature for a moment and gave Faith time to grad beneath her cloak.

She pulled out, instead of a wand, a long samurai sword. With it, she knocked the thing in the head with the but end and stabbed the cloak to the floor with the other. The thing, however, was stronger than the cloak and it tore as he got up. He slashed at Faith with razor claws and caused her to stumble backwards.

The thing slashed at Faith madly. She did her best to dodge them, but the more he slashed the weaker she became and the harder it was to dodge.

At last faith pulled out her wand and yelled: "MERO HAKRUA!" A white light shot forth from her wand and the creature scurried down the hall.

"No!" Faith cried. "It can't get deeper down into Hogwarts! MESTO HAKURA!"

This time a silver light shot forth and the thing froze in mid-step. It would be paralyzed for several hours even if it were strong. At that moment, McGonagall, Harry, Hermione, and Ron burst of her office.

"Faith Ryers?" yelled McGonagall. Faith knew at that time that she could rest. She let go of her wand and let it hit the floor. Her eyes rolled backwards and she fell back onto the floor.

By the time they got to Faith, she was already deep in sleep.

"Will she be alright?"

"She sustained serious injury from the fight from he-who-must-not-be-named's follower. It is amazing she swallowed so much. If is a good thing we hired her to protect you Harry. He might have finished you, Miss Granger, and Mr. Weasley off. This is a strong one, this is."

Professor applied another damp cloth to faith forehead. She lay unconscious in one of the many infirmary beds.

"So will she?"

"It is hard to say at this point, Mr. Potter. She may, she may not. Only time will tell."

As McGonagall left, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sat around her bed and watched her sleep.

"I wonder what she's thinking," said Ron.

"She isn't thinking anything Ron"

"How do you know Hermione?"

"Don't you ever READ?! In our fifth year, Professor Ayle, my Ancient Runes teacher, gave me a book about The Wizard Healing ground."

"What is that?"

"Goodness! It's a place all witches and wizards go after they sustain serious injury. Conscious people call it a coma, but they are there, healing and training."

"But…Hermione…she is right here."

"The healing ground is all mental, Ron."

"So, in the other world, the Healing ground, she is becoming even stronger," said Harry.

"See! Harry got it!"

"How long are witches in the healing ground?"

"Hours, days, months…years…" Ron inhaled sharply as Hermione spoke. "It can't be measured."

The three waited faithfully by Faith's side. For some reason they didn't know why. Harry noticed that the stone on her necklace was not a sapphire, but it was actually a Phoenix stone. It was deep blue, which was obviously Faith's color. When Ron got close it turned red. Whenever Hermione or himself got close it turned bright purple. He was just looking at it. Not into like her would normally do, just at it. Suddenly his eyes widened. He figured it out! Harry saw into the Phoenix stone.

At that exact moment, Faith opened her eyes. "Someone looked at life."

"What are you talking about Faith?" Harry asked. Faith looked around the room, then looked at Harry.

"Harry you can see into life, not at life. You saw the world: life, liberty, love…"

"I did?"

"The Phoenix stone is my life. You saw into it. Most people can see it and look at it. You can bend it, move it, turn it to your will…you can look into things. Not everyone can do that…"

"Faith, what was that thing you were fighting?" asked Hermione. Faith fell back on her pillow.

"One of Voldemort's followers. Voldemort is dead, so all his followers are coming after to Harry."

"That explains why Malfoy didn't come to Hogwarts this year…" said Ron.

"Harry," Faith held his hand and looked deep into his green eyes. She searched his soul and into his heart with her eyes. "Harry you are in danger here. I was hired to protect to protect you, but I cannot risk my life like that hundreds upon thousands of times. You need to find a way to defend yourself if I cannot."

"How do I do that?"

Faith hesitated. "I'll show you."