"No way!" Ron gasped, staring at Hermione in shock. "Does it really say
that?"
Hermione nodded, a stark serious look on her face. "It says so right here in the fifth paragraph." She cleared her throat and began to read aloud. "On the sixth day of the fourth month a child shall be born to parents who have close ties with a very powerful wizard and who have seen the world."
For the past half an hour Harry and Ron had been sitting in the library listening to Hermione explain to them in a hushed voice about why she was being so openly hostile towards Galleria.
"So," Harry said, "whatever you're telling us has to do with Voldemort?"
Hermione and Ron both flinched at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, but Hermione nodded just the same. "That's exactly what I'm trying to say." She paused for a second and flipped a page in the book that was in front of her. "The child shall have a mark somewhere on his or her body that resembles an arrow fused through a star." She slammed the book shut. "That's exactly the mark Galleria has on her hand!"
Harry and Ron looked at each other skeptically. "Hermione," Ron began slowly, "I don't mean to come across as a skeptic, but you read that from a book right?"
Hermione nodded. "So?"
Ron hesitated for a moment so Harry took over. "What Ron's trying to say, Hermione, is that books can be misleading and that you shouldn't believe everything you read."
Ron nodded. "Remember Lockhart?"
Hermione shrugged. "Yes, but this is the real thing." She showed them the name on the front of the book. "Aure Leiasau was a real seer."
"I read about her once!" Ron said, as if a light-bulb turned on in his head. "She lived back in the same time period as Nicolas Flamel."
"Do you remember what she was famous for?" Hermione asked.
"Hang on." Ron pushed his mind to remember. "Yeah, something about the downfall of some dark wizard."
Hermione let out what could be considered as a shocked hiss. "That's right. Leiasau predicted the downfall of Lord Gewiston, a dark wizard almost as powerful as You-Know-Who was." She paused to let that information sink into their heads. "Gewiston was the wizard You-Know-Who fashioned himself after."
"But Voldemort prided himself on being the most powerful wizard there ever was," Harry said with an almost confused look on his face.
"And he was," Hermione said. "Gewiston didn't have half the power he had, but he was the most powerful dark wizard of his time."
"But why," Harry said, "Was she so famous for predicting this Gewiston fellow's downfall?"
Hermione smiled. "Now this is where it starts to get interesting." She launched into an explanation of Aure Leiasau's life. "You see, Leiasau's mother, Aretina Leiasau, fell in love with Gewiston and had an affair with him. Aure was the result of the brief affair. Gewiston ended it with Aretina as soon as he found out that she was pregnant. Aretina died when Aure was only four years old and left Aure to live with her Grandmother.
"When she was eight years old, Aure saw the death of her father in a dream. By the time she was seventeen she had killed her father."
"How?" Ron asked.
Hermione inclined her head. "Nobody really knows. He just kind of disappeared one day and Leiasau was found at the scene he disappeared from, unconcious. Nobody ever heard from Gewiston again."
"What's the point of the whole story?" Harry asked while shivering from the cool draft wafting in through the windows.
"The point is that Leiasau had the same mark on the back of her neck that Galleria has on her hand." Hermione said importantly. "Galleria was born on the sixth day of the fourth month, and so was Leiasau."
Harry and Ron stared back at Hermione blankly.
Hermione sighed. "Leiasau destroyed her father who just so happened to be an evil wizard; Galleria could be key in destroying You-Know-Who."
********
The Following Day, Defense Against the Dark Arts Class
"Now class, I would like for you all to begin on tonight's homework: a three foot essay on the downfall of some well-known dark creature or being." Professor White, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher said while looking around at the fifth year students. "There are plenty of resources here in the classroom." She gestured around the room at the rows of books lined up along the wall behind her desk. "And I'll be here also, if you need any extra help."
Harry and Ron looked at each other, wide-eyed. None of their previous teachers had given them any time in class to work on their homework before.
"I hope she doesn't expect us to have this finished by our next lesson," Ron said, pulling out his quill and getting started on his essay.
Professor White was a tall, slender woman with long, raven black hair that she kept tied at the nape of her neck with a blue satin ribbon. Her large eyes were dark and fathomless. She too had the commanding pressence of Professor Snape. Although she wasn't cruel and she didn't favor her students(she was also the new head of Ravenclaw) more than the other students. She reminded Galleria of a little bit of Professor Snape and Professor McGonogall in one, with a touch of her own perpetual cheeriness that was slightly on the morbid side.
"She's interesting, eh?" Said a Ravenclaw boy from behind Galleria and Mayalyn Roman.(They now had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws.) "Never seen someone quite like her so far."
"I think she's somewhat like Snape and McGonogall mashed together," Galleria said, studying Professor White with interest.
The boy, Weston Greene, and Mayalyn looked at Galleria horrified. They probably thought she was off her rocker.
Three tables over Hermione was busy not doing her essay, but was studying Galleria intently. 'I wonder,' she thought. 'Is she really capable of helping in the defeat of You-Know-Who?' She shook her head. Only time would tell.
*********
Back in London
Mrs. Summers paced the length of her semi-spacious living room worriedly. Her husband sat on the couch reading the Daily Prophet and humming "Mary Had a Little Lamb" lazily to himself. Mrs. Summers stopped her pacing suddenly and noisily, startling Mr. Summers. "I can't stand this! With him on the loose and the girls being so far away; him and his goons could attack them at any moment and we wouldn't be able to stop them."
Mr. Summers sat down his newspaper and turned to face his wife. "Tammy, everything will be fine. Albus is doing everything he can to protect them and that Potter boy from being harmed. As long as they remain at school they will be just fine."
Mrs. Summers shot her husband a disbelieving look. "They're my babies! Paul, if anything happens to them I'll just die."
Mr. Summers stood up, trying to comfort his wife. "It's alright, dear. If it makes you feel any better, we'll visit the school tomorrow and see how they're doing. How does that sound?"
"Oh, Paul," Mrs. Summers said, pulling back a little ways from her husband to look into his eyes. "Could we? It would make me feel so much better about them being gone."
"We'll go first thing in the morning."
Hermione nodded, a stark serious look on her face. "It says so right here in the fifth paragraph." She cleared her throat and began to read aloud. "On the sixth day of the fourth month a child shall be born to parents who have close ties with a very powerful wizard and who have seen the world."
For the past half an hour Harry and Ron had been sitting in the library listening to Hermione explain to them in a hushed voice about why she was being so openly hostile towards Galleria.
"So," Harry said, "whatever you're telling us has to do with Voldemort?"
Hermione and Ron both flinched at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, but Hermione nodded just the same. "That's exactly what I'm trying to say." She paused for a second and flipped a page in the book that was in front of her. "The child shall have a mark somewhere on his or her body that resembles an arrow fused through a star." She slammed the book shut. "That's exactly the mark Galleria has on her hand!"
Harry and Ron looked at each other skeptically. "Hermione," Ron began slowly, "I don't mean to come across as a skeptic, but you read that from a book right?"
Hermione nodded. "So?"
Ron hesitated for a moment so Harry took over. "What Ron's trying to say, Hermione, is that books can be misleading and that you shouldn't believe everything you read."
Ron nodded. "Remember Lockhart?"
Hermione shrugged. "Yes, but this is the real thing." She showed them the name on the front of the book. "Aure Leiasau was a real seer."
"I read about her once!" Ron said, as if a light-bulb turned on in his head. "She lived back in the same time period as Nicolas Flamel."
"Do you remember what she was famous for?" Hermione asked.
"Hang on." Ron pushed his mind to remember. "Yeah, something about the downfall of some dark wizard."
Hermione let out what could be considered as a shocked hiss. "That's right. Leiasau predicted the downfall of Lord Gewiston, a dark wizard almost as powerful as You-Know-Who was." She paused to let that information sink into their heads. "Gewiston was the wizard You-Know-Who fashioned himself after."
"But Voldemort prided himself on being the most powerful wizard there ever was," Harry said with an almost confused look on his face.
"And he was," Hermione said. "Gewiston didn't have half the power he had, but he was the most powerful dark wizard of his time."
"But why," Harry said, "Was she so famous for predicting this Gewiston fellow's downfall?"
Hermione smiled. "Now this is where it starts to get interesting." She launched into an explanation of Aure Leiasau's life. "You see, Leiasau's mother, Aretina Leiasau, fell in love with Gewiston and had an affair with him. Aure was the result of the brief affair. Gewiston ended it with Aretina as soon as he found out that she was pregnant. Aretina died when Aure was only four years old and left Aure to live with her Grandmother.
"When she was eight years old, Aure saw the death of her father in a dream. By the time she was seventeen she had killed her father."
"How?" Ron asked.
Hermione inclined her head. "Nobody really knows. He just kind of disappeared one day and Leiasau was found at the scene he disappeared from, unconcious. Nobody ever heard from Gewiston again."
"What's the point of the whole story?" Harry asked while shivering from the cool draft wafting in through the windows.
"The point is that Leiasau had the same mark on the back of her neck that Galleria has on her hand." Hermione said importantly. "Galleria was born on the sixth day of the fourth month, and so was Leiasau."
Harry and Ron stared back at Hermione blankly.
Hermione sighed. "Leiasau destroyed her father who just so happened to be an evil wizard; Galleria could be key in destroying You-Know-Who."
********
The Following Day, Defense Against the Dark Arts Class
"Now class, I would like for you all to begin on tonight's homework: a three foot essay on the downfall of some well-known dark creature or being." Professor White, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher said while looking around at the fifth year students. "There are plenty of resources here in the classroom." She gestured around the room at the rows of books lined up along the wall behind her desk. "And I'll be here also, if you need any extra help."
Harry and Ron looked at each other, wide-eyed. None of their previous teachers had given them any time in class to work on their homework before.
"I hope she doesn't expect us to have this finished by our next lesson," Ron said, pulling out his quill and getting started on his essay.
Professor White was a tall, slender woman with long, raven black hair that she kept tied at the nape of her neck with a blue satin ribbon. Her large eyes were dark and fathomless. She too had the commanding pressence of Professor Snape. Although she wasn't cruel and she didn't favor her students(she was also the new head of Ravenclaw) more than the other students. She reminded Galleria of a little bit of Professor Snape and Professor McGonogall in one, with a touch of her own perpetual cheeriness that was slightly on the morbid side.
"She's interesting, eh?" Said a Ravenclaw boy from behind Galleria and Mayalyn Roman.(They now had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws.) "Never seen someone quite like her so far."
"I think she's somewhat like Snape and McGonogall mashed together," Galleria said, studying Professor White with interest.
The boy, Weston Greene, and Mayalyn looked at Galleria horrified. They probably thought she was off her rocker.
Three tables over Hermione was busy not doing her essay, but was studying Galleria intently. 'I wonder,' she thought. 'Is she really capable of helping in the defeat of You-Know-Who?' She shook her head. Only time would tell.
*********
Back in London
Mrs. Summers paced the length of her semi-spacious living room worriedly. Her husband sat on the couch reading the Daily Prophet and humming "Mary Had a Little Lamb" lazily to himself. Mrs. Summers stopped her pacing suddenly and noisily, startling Mr. Summers. "I can't stand this! With him on the loose and the girls being so far away; him and his goons could attack them at any moment and we wouldn't be able to stop them."
Mr. Summers sat down his newspaper and turned to face his wife. "Tammy, everything will be fine. Albus is doing everything he can to protect them and that Potter boy from being harmed. As long as they remain at school they will be just fine."
Mrs. Summers shot her husband a disbelieving look. "They're my babies! Paul, if anything happens to them I'll just die."
Mr. Summers stood up, trying to comfort his wife. "It's alright, dear. If it makes you feel any better, we'll visit the school tomorrow and see how they're doing. How does that sound?"
"Oh, Paul," Mrs. Summers said, pulling back a little ways from her husband to look into his eyes. "Could we? It would make me feel so much better about them being gone."
"We'll go first thing in the morning."