The air was thick with tension. I had never seen Piper so angry with anyone in my entire life. The fact that she was still recovering from mom's death made her vulnerable. Truth be told, I myself was significantly angry with James for giving Piper such a scare. Piper was one of the kindest people around. But after what he had done, she had become snappish and easily annoyed. I knew I had to do something for her.
James had changed too. He was distant. He barely paid attention to his friends. He spent more time with Lily. She was concerned about him, as were his friends. No one had ever seen him so human.
The whole school's balance seemed to be affected by this. It was too calm, too quiet. It appeared that if something was going to happen any time soon, it was going to be big.
"Prue, you've got to do something," Paige murmured to me.
"Me? Why me?"
"Because Piper is too angry, Phoebe is too confused, and I'm having trouble with my power."
"What?"
"It's no biggie, but I can't really orb things as well. Watch." Paige feebly tried to orb her backpack.
"Maybe that's just too big," I said.
She shook her head. "No. I've tried everything. I hope it's not permanent."
"It can't be. The Charmed Ones are the most powerful witches of all time."
"I can still orb myself," she said. "It's just the telekinesis."
"Well, what do you suggest I do?"
"You'll have to use a potion. It's in the Book. I found it ages ago. It's called the light spell. It lifts the fear of opinion that all humans carry. The fear is our problem."
"I don't see why we can't work things out the normal way," I said.
"I tried. No one wants to listen."
"I'll attempt the potion," I said. "I can't promise anything, though."
"All I ask is that you try."
Little sisters have a way of convincing you to do things you don't want to do. Paige naturally had this ability. I didn't how she was able to do it, but somehow she got me out and onto the grounds in the dead of night with the Book and a cauldron.
Nota bene: This potion is to be created under the full moon in an exact alignment with the moon.
Fill your cauldron with a mix of dragon's blood and liquid extract of truth stone. Stir until they become a deep azure. Allow the moon to reflect off of this mix for a full ten minutes. Any longer will create an unfixable imbalance. Add precisely two pinches of crushed willow. Immediately stir in orris root and the enith stone. Mix well and say the words: no greater than truth, no less than deceit, no judgment or fear, and now will they meet. Dump the contents of the cauldron on the site where you want the spell to be effective. Do not leave the place where you have preformed the spell until the moon has gone from the sky.
I looked up at my youngest sister. "Paige, do you realize how difficult this spell is?"
"Yes," Paige replied.
"Are you going to help me?"
"You'd doubt that I would?"
I sighed. "Do you have the materials?"
Paige produced them deftly. "Impressed?"
"Quite. The moon will be coming up soon." I paused, listening carefully. "Did you hear something?"
She shook her head. "There's the moon."
We lined up the cauldron carefully. "Dragon's blood and truth stone." She handed them to me and I poured them in.
"Where did you get this stuff? Most of it's not allowed."
"I have my sources," she said. "It's turning azure. Let the moon shine in."
We stepped back. "I can't understand how the situation could've changed so quickly."
Paige quietly thought. "I think it had something to do with the alternate reality spell. When Phoebe went there, she changed the balance between the realities. That affected our world." She stopped, and then lowered her voice a little. "When I went there, I saw some scary things. In that world, the Charmed Ones and the Marauders have been killed by this man named Voldemort."
"I've heard his name a few times. Is he really that much of a threat?"
"I don't know. It was horrible, that world. It revolved around fear and agony. I'm afraid that if Voldemort isn't stopped, he's going to do the same thing in our world."
This talk wasn't very comforting, so I got up and continued to create the potion. I spoke the words and dumped out the contents of the cauldron. The potion made a loud hissing sound and the ground sunk in a little.
A howl interrupted the silence of the night. It made the hair on the back off my neck stand up. Paige shivered. "What was that?"
"I don't want to know. Wish it hadn't picked tonight to be prowling about."
Just as we were about to drop off to sleep, a rat ran into us.
"EWWW! Rat!" Paige shrieked.
I tried to shoo it away. The rat didn't like that. It bit my hand and ran off.
"Did it bite you?"
"Yeah," I said.
"You'll get rabies!"
"I highly doubt that, Paige." I pointed my wand at my finger and muttered, "salubris."
Paige nudged me. "Prue, look."
I looked where she was pointing. A thin web of blinding blue light was weaving its way over the land. It quickly made its way over us and spread to the school and the Forbidden Forest. We stood up. I felt a small tingle as I made contact with the web. The network of light completed itself and began to double back, carrying a red light instead of the original blue.
"It worked," Paige murmured.
"What will this do exactly?" I questioned as the light disappeared.
"You'll be able to say whatever you feel without fear of judgment."
"Like a truth spell?"
"Not precisely. You can lie if you want to, but you will feel free to say what you think."
"How will that help?"
"It's going to give everyone a chance to say what they wish," Paige explained. "That way, everyone's problems will work themselves out."
"I'll take your word for it." I yawned. "Will the moon ever go down?" I sat up straight. "Oh no."
"What?"
"I have to meet Dumbledore first thing in the morning."
"Ask Piper to stop time for you."
"That's not all," I said. "I also have to meet Dippet. I forgot about Dumbledore."
"You have a problem."
"Thanks for the advice," I said, maybe a little to harshly.
Paige stared at me. "I already have one sister angry with me. I don't need another one doing the same," she said coolly.
"Sorry, Paige." Then I thought about what she had said. "Who's angry with you?"
"Piper," Paige said quietly.
"Why would Piper be angry with you?"
Paige looked away from me. "Because I'm the intruding sister. I heard her talking to you about me. I heard those things that she said. She won't even look at me. If she talks to me, it's forced."
"Paige—"
"The sun's coming up. We can leave now."
We orbed inside. "You'd better figure out what to do," Paige told me. "I have to see how our little spell is working out."
What was I going to do? I started to head towards Dumbledore's office, and then I turned around and went for Dippet's. Then back, and back once more. Somewhere in the middle of this, a feeling that resembled being ripped apart overcame me. I turned and saw a version of myself. I jumped back. "Whoa. Are you real?"
"I think so," my own doppelganger said.
"What are you?"
It shrugged. "Solves our problem, though."
The initial shock had worn off. "That's right. Okay, you go to Dumbledore's, I'll go to Dippet's."
The other me nodded and we went our separate ways.
"Do sit down, Prue," Dippet said once I had gotten to his office.
I obediently sat.
"You probably don't know why you're here. You are here because of your abilities."
I had realized that he would eventually approach me about this. I vaguely wondered why he hadn't gathered all my sisters instead of just me.
"I would have had your sisters here too, but they were reluctant," he said, as if reading my thoughts. "I would like you to refrain from using your powers during school hours. I know that you will have to work on your powers, so I have found you a teacher of sorts. His name is Leo Wyatt. He is your whitelighter. He will be coming here within the week. That is all for now."
I rose and left his office.
In the hallway, I ran into myself.
"What'd Dumbledore have to say?"
"He said that he wanted to teach us, but Dippet made him chose another person instead."
"Leo Wyatt."
"Yeah. So how do we…" it gestured with its hands.
"Oh, uh…" I touched it and we were joined once again. A huge scream of either terror or anger suddenly echoed through the hall. I ran towards were it was coming from—the hall by the north tower.
Paige
I collided with someone while running to the north tower. "OUCH!" we both yelled and then said, "sorry!" at the same time. "Hey, Prue."
She nodded. "Don't just stand there. Let's go!"
I tried to keep up with her, but she had an amazing pace for someone of her build.
"Prue—wait—up," I panted. She ignored me, so I orbed ahead and landed right between Sirius and Phoebe.
"Paige, watch out!" Prue called and telekinetically knocked me to the ground just in time. A spell ricocheted off the wall broke through a window behind our little group.
"So the truth comes out. Why didn't tell me before I got involved with a sniveling weakling such as yourself?" sneered Phoebe, not even paying attention to us.
"I don't see what's wrong with it," Sirius replied.
"You'd rather fight me to entertain James, wouldn't you?" Phoebe said.
"It's not that at all," Sirius said. "You were just more fun when you were cursing me."
Phoebe emphatically waved her hands. "Fine! If it's a duel you want, a duel you'll get!"
They bowed to each other stiffly. I probably should've interfered then, but I was far too fascinated by the scene before me. Prue had more sense.
"Both of you cut out! I'm going to get—"
We never found out whom she was going to get, though, for Phoebe decided to stun her.
"You never let me fight my own battles, Prue, not even when dad left."
Now was the time to get Piper. Though our sisterly relationship was strained, I need her to help me stop Phoebe and Sirius. I orbed out and found her frantically searching through the Book of Shadows. "Piper, come with me. We've got to stop Sirius and Phoebe before they kill each other!"
"I'm too angry. I've got to curse something." She turned her eyes on me. "Maybe you."
Though I knew I didn't have time for this, I asked, "Why do you hate me so much?"
Piper didn't hesitate before she said, "Because mom was supposed to perfect, and you messed it up."
Now was not the time for emotional displays, so I went right for the throat of the situation. "That's too damn bad. Nobody is perfect." I grabbed her and orbed back. She took in what she was seeing. Phoebe had just thrown the words of a shrinking jinx at Sirius. With a flick of his wand, he was back to normal. He paid her back by putting a blinding curse on her. "Freeze them!"
Piper flicked her fingers and the only window that was not broken exploded, showering glass everywhere. I deflected the shards away from everyone. Again she tried to freeze time. A painting's frame exploded. The woman within the portrait shrieked and ran off. The third flick of her fingers resulting in the entire portrait exploding.
"Stop!" I put her arms firmly by her side.
"Looks like I have a new power. Perfect for my wreaking havoc."
"I don't think so," I said.
"I'm going to find the rest of the pesky Marauders," Piper said, smirking.
"But you're in love with Remus!" I slapped my hand to my mouth. If I had had any hopes of softening Piper's feelings toward me, I had just ruined all my chances. The reason was simple. James, Peter, and Remus were heading up the hallway with Dumbledore by their side. Remus had probably heard what I had just said.
Crap.
Piper, her eyes burning with rage, tried to blow me up using her new power. I orbed and my particles were scattered just a bit. Not the most comfortable of all feelings, but it was better than really being blown up.
"ENOUGH!" Dumbledore roared. "Never have I seen such terrible behavior. Dueling in the middle of a hall! Blowing up everything in sight! Stunning fellow students!"
My body was slowly returning to normal. Dumbledore looked infuriated. I was amazed. I had never seen him like this, and I hoped that I would never have to see him like this ever again.
"Piper, Sirius, and Phoebe, you will be joining me for detention tonight and for the next two weeks. One hundred points from Gryffindor and fifty points from Ravenclaw. I would have expected better from all of you. You will all return to your dormitories for the remainder of the evening."
Piper's face turned beet red and then the color drained as she realized that she was getting detention. Even her lips looked snow white. She gulped and looked as though she was fighting back tears. The anger was leaving her. It seemed that a little bit of not holding back was exactly was she had needed. She was Piper again, and this Piper was scared to death. I was quite sure she had never gotten one point taken away from Ravenclaw and most certainly had never gotten even one detention.
Phoebe doubled over in pain. She was picking up on Piper's feelings. They must have been rather intense, for it seemed that she couldn't move from her position. I had some trouble feeling badly for either of them. Piper had just blown me up and Phoebe had thrown a spell at me.
Then I remembered that Prue was stunned on the floor. I went over to her. She wouldn't wake. What if she had taken the stunning too hard? "Prue, are you all right?"
"She'll be all right. She'll need some time to recover, though," Dumbledore said soothingly to me. It was hard to imagine that this was the same man I had just seen a few moments before.
"Am I in trouble, sir?"
"Of course not. The Maiden told me exactly what happened." He sternly looked at the three troublemakers. "I believe I gave you an order."
"Wait a minute," Phoebe said. "I'm over the limit."
I was confused, but Dumbledore seemed to understand. "Then this is beyond my control," he said. "I'm afraid, Miss Halliwell, that…"
"I'm expelled," Phoebe finished miserably.
"Stop," I said. "This is all my fault. I did a spell to lift everyone's fear of judgment. I was trying to make things better."
Dumbledore studied me. "Though you shouldn't have done something like that… I will accept it. Phoebe, since you were under the influence of a spell, you will not be expelled. However, you will keep your nose clean for the rest of the year. That is all."
Piper, who seemed unaware of her location, turned and moved like a ghost down the hall. Phoebe put some distance between herself and Piper and then headed off. Sirius, looking rather peculiar indeed, followed Phoebe.
Dumbledore fixed each broken window and the painting and, with one last look at Prue and I, left. I made a move to orb the Prue and myself, but James stopped me.
"This has gone on too long," he said quietly. "Can you do that thing you do and take us to the Room of Requirement?"
"Sure. Everyone grab hands," I said, taking James's hand, and lightly touched Prue on the arm. It wasn't too easy to orb a whole group of people, but I managed it. Having explored the castle before, I knew where the Room of Requirement was. It was far easier to reach when I orbed. I noted that as we landed softly in the room. It looked quite different than it had the last time I'd seen it. This time, instead of just having a sleeping bag in it, it was filled with soft chairs and had a pot of tea quietly brewing in the corner. I placed Prue carefully in one of the cushiony chairs and then sat.
"I've been thinking about something for a while. It's something that's almost impossible to believe. I didn't think anything of it until recently," James said, pacing.
"What exactly is 'it'?" I inquired.
He looked at me with a grim look on his face. "A vision. I know it seems ridiculous, but some things in it came true, and I'm afraid that the rest of it will come true too." He paused to collect his thoughts. "You all remember when Phoebe and I switched bodies accidentally, right?"
We all nodded. It had been an amusing occurrence. "Well, after we were switched back, I had this dream that was so realistic, I could hardly believe that it was a dream. I saw flashes of random moments. The connection between all of them became clear when I saw the last thing. First I saw Phoebe turning us into frogs. Then I saw Phoebe as a metamorphmagus. After that, I saw Phoebe stunning Prue. The last thing I saw…" He stopped. "The last thing I saw was Sirius and Remus dying," he paused for a long time, "with Phoebe standing by them."
"But she wouldn't… she couldn't…" I stumbled over my words. "Why would she?"
"You don't know that it was her. You only saw a moment of it," Remus pointed out.
"But what about everything before it? It was all about Phoebe," James said. "Who else could have done it?"
I didn't want to believe that my half sister could do such a thing. He did have a point, though. I shook my head. "No way. Not Phoebe."
"Is this why you didn't want us to get involved with Phoebe?" Remus asked.
"Yes."
An idea popped into my head. "I'll be right back."
"But—"
I orbed out before he could protest. I grabbed the Book of Shadows and appeared back in the room.
"What's that?"
"A book of magic." I flipped around. The pages suddenly moved on their own accord. I froze, and then cautiously touched it again.
"Does it do that often?"
"That's the first time." I read the page. "This is the right spell. Everyone join hands."
They were hesitant. "What is this spell going to do?" Peter asked.
"It's going to show us the truth."
We grasped hands. "Oh Halliwell line, sacred and true, show us what is real, this we beg of you." A wind arose and blew the pages of the book back. It ended and I saw that the Book was now open to a passage concerning the power of precognition. As I watched in fascinated alarm, an invisible hand wrote the words: Phoebe's power. The words faded quickly. "That didn't make any sense," I muttered. "Phoebe's powers are empathy and levitation, not precognition."
"What are these mysterious powers that you guys have, anyways? Why do you have them?" James asked.
"We're the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches of all time… and so on. We have some sort of destiny….yada yada… And we have special powers. I can orb, Phoebe has the abilities of empathy and levitation, Prue is telekinetic, and Piper can stop time and apparently blow things up. It doesn't make any sense to us yet. No one can tell us exactly what the Charmed Ones are all about. Try not to tell anyone, okay? I'd rather we not have too much attention."
"Why do you have powers?" Remus pressed.
I sighed. "I'm their half-sister. My mother had an affair with an angel. The result was I. I don't feel like a part of the family, even though we all share this mysterious destiny." I was surprised by my own words. I had admitted something that I was terrified to admit. How very curious…
"This is getting way too complicated for me," James said.
"At least you don't have to live it. I think we've found out all we're going to find out, so we should—Prue!"
Prue was stirring. I attacked her with a hug.
"I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to take that spell. I feel close to you, more than Piper and Phoebe. You've been so nice to me, so sisterly. I really feel like we're sisters." That was another surprising comment.
"We are sisters," Prue firmly said.
I grinned. "We'd better get to our rooms. If a teacher catches us, we'll be in as much trouble as our sisters."
"Huh?"
"I'll explain on the way."