*Note: This is a very important chapter. Please read carefully*
Chapter XIX: The Heroine & the Hero
"I think I saw something," Daniel O'Grady whined as he ogled out the window.
"I told you, keep away from there," Kimberly said. "I want all of you to come over here near the fire."
Having no other choice, the first and second years huddled around the almost burnt out fire. They whispered amongst themselves, scared that they might suffer the same fate as Ginny, who now lay half awake on the floor near the window. Every few second she would open her eyes and stare at Kimberly. When she made eye contact with her, Ginny suddenly jolted and then fell again into a sleep.
"I am sorry to do this to you," Kimberly started, reaching for her wand, "but He has left me with little choice as well."
The first years exchanged confused glances. Bewildered, they watched as Kimberly Hooch's body glowed an aura of blue and white mist. She smirked as she took out her wand and pointed it first at the fire, lighting it with a blue blaze and smoke. Then, she turned around and grinned an unpleasant smile.
"Kim, what are you doing?" Maybelle asked in a sweet voice as she always does.
Her response was clear. As she lifted her wand, her steadied her arm and stretched it toward the Maybelle's face. Such a milky complexion faced her, dainty green eyes and flowing blonde hair, half of which was now tied messily in the back. Maybelle's lips mouthed the word "no" but Kimberly ignored such pleas. Somewhere, she knew that this was wrong but the larger screamed for her to kill.
"Crucio!" Kimberly screamed with flames bursting out her wand and right at Maybelle's unblemished face.
However, the girl did not scream back in pain, as she should have. Instead, she stood there with a confused look, waiting for the worst to happen. Kimberly glared at Maybelle and then to her wand as she shook her head.
"You're too young to use those spells," a girl's voice echoed.
"How would you know?"
"Because Voldemort tried to do the same thing to me," she said as she limped from her spot at the window and staggered to Kimberly. "I know, you won't even remember this when this is all done with, but believe me, you will remember when you see all those you hurt."
"Shut up, Weasley," Kimberly yelled back. By now, Ginny was only a few feet away from Kimberly and the fire, with her aching body barely able to stand still.
"Your spells cannot harm me," Ginny said with a more confident voice, "because you are too young to control your gifts. Sure, Voldemort may have chosen you but what will he do with you now that you cannot fulfill your task? What now, Kimberly? What now!"
"I will do as He says!" Kimberly howled and then lifted her wand, pointing it at Ginny.
"Can't you seen what he's doing to you? Tell me, Kimberly, if he had to kill the one you loved, would you? Just because Voldemort wants you to?"
Harry. Kimberly's mind shifted to Harry's dead body, killed by a curse that she had yelled at. Her wand still sizzled with smoke as Harry lay there, staring straight up into Kimberly's eyes with a look of 'how could you?' Immediately, Kimberly shrugged the thought away, unable to concentrate on her mission.
"You can picture it, can't you? What Voldemort can force you do… I had to kill chickens, Kimberly, with my own teeth! Digging my jaw into their necks and cracking them. Their blood ran deep into my throat, and I could smell their raw hides!" Ginny stopped and squinted her face, trying to forget those horrid memories. "And after Harry saved me from Voldemort's grip, at first I did not remember all that I did… But I read about, I heard about it from others, and soon, your memories will return to you."
But Ginny's words did not seem to faze Kimberly. Her wand still fixated at Ginny's face, shaking ever so slightly. The first years had scooted back to the far side of the Common Room as Ginny and Kimberly yelled at one another. They tried not to whisper; they did not want to provoke the enemy any more.
"Put down your wand, Kim," Ginny commanded, her hand reaching toward the wand, "Or I will have to take it from you."
"Then take it!" Kim screamed and jolted forward, waving her wand. "Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!" But her curses did nothing. She did not have the skill or experience to carry out such a dangerous and forbidden curse. "Crucio!" her last scream was full of tears and a shattered pitch.
"Confundo!" Ginny yelled using her own wand. However, her spell worked.
Kimberly stopped in her tracks and looked about in a daze. She looked over at the first years and smiled an innocent grin as if she had done nothing before.
"What did you do to her?" Maybelle asked from across the room.
"She is very confused right now," Ginny said smugly. "Quite Confunded indeed."
The first years gawked in amazement. "What will happen to her?"
"Right now, she does not know where she is or what is happening. But we can tell her anything, and she will believe it. Kimberly," Ginny said and snapped her fingers to get the dazed girl's attention, "You are a very good girl who does not want to kill anyone. You are actually a bit tired and want to take a nap." Kim smiled back and then fell back onto the ground. She immediately closed her eyes. Ginny smirked to herself, praising her brilliant abilities.
"Ginny the Heroine!" Daniel O'Grady shouted.
"Ginny, Ginny, Ginny," the first years chanted. Ginny stood there, feeling an overwhelming sense of pride. She had saved them momentarily, and it felt so good.
***
"I heard screaming!" Snape yelled as he rushed into Professor McGonagall's office. "Are you all right, Minerva?"
"She's never been better."
Snape jerked back, unaware that his friend had company. "You look familiar."
"I should. My face has been splattered across every damn magical paper."
"Theodore. You're standing trial."
"Do I look like I'm standing trial, Mister Snape?" Theodore laughed in a sarcastic tone and looked over at Harry who stared off into space.
"Potter! There you are!" Snape yelled and stepped forward.
"What are trying to do? Be the hero here and save the boy! This time, he will not be the boy who lived! He's the boy who died!"
"So the papers were right… You are a Death Eater," Snape muttered.
"No! I do not blindly follow him! I am his partner! I am a Blue Blood!"
"Can't you hear yourself? You're blindly following Him right now as we speak. You're willing to kill an innocent boy for whatever He has promised you in return."
"Harry Potter is not innocent!" Theodore yelled and ran toward Harry. He grabbed him and stared into his eyes. "This is not the look of innocence! It was not for him, Voldemort would be alive now! Instead, He's just a shade that must rely on help of loyal friends."
"Oh, so you think you are Voldemort's friend, now? If you two are so close, why don't you call him here, right now. Go on, I'd like to see this shade you speak of. I promise, if you can conjure up this claimed shade, then I will not stand in your way when you hand Mister Potter over to him."
"I like promises… Very well then," Theodore said and let go of Harry. "But be careful to whom you make your promises to. I will hold you for it."
"And I aye you. If you cannot call him, will you promise to die?"
"What?!"
Snape smiled. "I will hold my wand against your chest." He took his wand and stuck in between Theodore's nipples, pressing hard against the rib. "And you all your friend here. If successful, he will surely save you, and all will be fine. If, however, Voldemort has turned his back on you, you must promise not to fight me when I kill you."
Trickles of sweat poured down Theodore's forehead, dampening his chin and causing it to hive out. His eyes fluttered from side to side, looking over to the boy and then back to Snape's serious face. He could not help it but start to gasp for breath, realizing that perhaps He would not respond. Immediately, he shook the thought from out of his mind, and he knew that He would come, or at least he desperately hoped he would.
"Well?"
"All right, all right," Theodore began and cleared his throat. "I, Theodore McGonagall, successor of the Dark Lord, my friend, Voldemort, command for He to appear now and claim his prize, Mister Harry Potter."
Silence.
"Voldemort, I command for you to appear!"
Silence.
"Please, Sir Dark Lord, Prince of Darkness, whatever title you wish, please, come now!"
He felt Snape's wand press harder against his rib, hitting so close to his lungs and heart. But still, there was nothing. Snape's grin widened as he prepared destroy the Death Eater he saw before him.
"Please, Severus, do not hurt my brother."
"Minerva?" Snape asked as he raised his head. The wise woman stepped forward from the shadows and placed a cold hand on Snape's shoulder. "Minerva, he is not your brother anymore. Voldemort has him, and there is no way of bringing him back."
"He is but a foolish man, but not an evil one, I assure you."
"I'm sorry, but your words do not comfort me." Snape pressed harder with his wand. "He must be killed."
"No," Minerva said and stepped closer to Snape. "He has brought to you whom he promised to bring."
"What are you talking about? I do not see him."
"He is right next to you," Minerva said in a cackling laugh. "And he has come to take his prize."
Minerva stepped over to Harry and touched his skin, caressing it softly with her fingers. "How I wished to kill you within my own body. But this body will have to do for now. Thank you, Theodore, your Mudblood impurity is not needed anymore."
She waved him off with her hand and with the middle finger. Theodore gawked at her and then to Snape. "I swear, I did not know He had taken her body. If I had known…"
"Silence! Let me savor this moment," Minerva hissed and bent over toward Harry. She sniffed the air and gulped the smells. "The smell of such a bastardly innocence. Goodbye, Mister Potter."
Harry stood there, still under Theodore's spell from before. He was unable to defend himself, to keep away Voldemort and his fated death. Snape tried to step forward but he could not move—the Dark Lord prevented anyone from interrupting him. Snape then turned to Theodore.
"Release Mister Potter from your spell!"
"What?" Theodore asked, ogling at the sight before him.
"We cannot stop Him now. You can see that you meant nothing to Voldemort. You were merely another pawn in his game. He needed you to get to your sister, and you fell for it. But it's not over yet… Release Harry! Now!"