It should be again noted that this
was written pre Order of the Phoenix
-----------------------------------------
Chapter Twenty-nine
More than Meets the Eye
"What's happened?" I asked. We were walking so fast.
"No time to explain, you need to hurry." We walked out of the gates. Fudge grabbed hold of my arm roughly, and we vanished. When I felt we had reappeared I saw we were on a bleak moor, the sun almost setting.
"Where the heck?" I began. I was attacked from behind. Fudge knelt on my back and reached for my neck. I shut my eyes and concentrated. I felt the necklace vanish. I knew I had succeeded in sending it to Dumbledore. He'd know something was wrong if Quirrell hadn't thought it. If I had to dies, then be it. I looked up and saw my mother and fathers' ghostly spirits.
"Help me!" I whispered. The hand Fudge put to my neck gripped the back of it, finding no necklace. Fudge was slowly turning into someone else. From the corner of my eye I recognised it as Peter Pettigrew from the pictures I'd seen of him in the Daily Prophet. He rolled me over and I spat in his face.
"Murderer!" I screamed at him. "Traitor!" I kicked out, taking him by surprise. I saw him faint away suddenly. I saw my father and mother reaching out towards me. It looked like they were performing a spell without a wand. Whatever it was, they were fading away fast. I thought of Hogwarts and I saw my parents disappear. Seconds later I must have too, as I reappeared outside the gates, clutching my neck.
Quirrell had raised the alarm first, seeing Snape was safe in the great hall. Dumbledore had received the necklace shortly after and had followed me using it to get to the moor. He'd cast the spell that made Pettigrew faint, and then had made me go back to Hogwarts. He'd seen my parents disappear. Peter Pettigrew was presumed dead, although Voldermort seemed to have apparated his servant before Dumbledore could capture the body.
"There's one thing I'm still a bit confused about thought." I told Dumbledore, Snape and Quirrell. "Why exactly does Voldermort want the necklace, hasn't he almost all the power he wants?"
"Elixa, Voldermort is a little man who is living a cursed life. He may be able to touch Harry now, but he's still got to defeat wizards like the other teachers and me. With the necklace his power would be stronger and it may well outweigh our strength and enable him to defeat us." I looked at the necklace in Dumbledore's hands and swallowed.
"I don't really think I should be looking after it then."
"Miss Amethyst, the necklace by rights belongs to you as Severus made it for you."
"I know that Professor, but if it will help fight Voldermort, and Severus agrees, I am giving it to you." Dumbledore and I looked to Snape.
"I can't see myself arguing with my niece on this occasion." Snape said.
"Then Professor Dumbledore, I am happy for you to keep the necklace." The headmaster nodded a grateful look in his blue eyes.
"I will use it wisely, and I have trust in Severus, so I know it was made with the utmost care." Quirrell had been silent throughout.
"You're rather quiet Slatero." Severus commented.
"Reflecting on a further success against the dark lord… Does the whole school know?" We laughed, nothing got past the students of Hogwarts.
The exam results came out just before the end of term. I shot a glance down the OWL results. Hermione Granger had come top of the year, Harry hadn't done too badly either. Draco more or less got what he wanted. Kerry was doing her best to find her name, which had been put fairly near the bottom of the sixth year list. I found myself around the middle. Transfiguration had gained me a C, at least I hadn't failed. Muggle studies were A, which was normal for me. The other subjects I'd taken varied around B with a C in history of magic. I was suspicious to find A under potions.
"I did abysmally. I failed potions." Kerry told me.
"Bit of variation for me." Kerry glanced along my results.
"See I told you McGonagall wouldn't be to harsh." As she said it, a louder voice shouted over the top of the crowd.
"Right now everyone, stand back and we'll see the colours!" Everyone moved away from the list and Marcus Flint stood forwards to cast a spell. It coloured each person in his or her house colour. The colours dimmed, until Marcus started to call the house names.
"Gryffindor!" The red glow came mainly near the top.
"Hufflepuff!" The yellow glow rose as the red glow disappeared. The marks were lower or in the middle.
"Ravenclaw!" The blue glowed near the middle.
"Slytherin!" The blue vanished and a great green glow appeared. Flint made the Gryffindor red reappear and we could see that our marks mixed with the Gryffindors. There was a scattering further down.
"Not too bad. Alright, off you go." The spell was ended, and everyone swarmed back to the lists.