A/N: I have only one word to say. Sorry. I could sit here and tell you all a detailed explanation of why it's been over a month since I updated, but that would be a waste of time. All I need to say is I've had a hectic schedule with many practices for concerts, issues with people, and of course school. Do not take these as excuses, only as reasons. I am not begging for forgiveness only expressing my sincere apologies. Thanx to:
Duckymander: Hey! I am so sorry you had to wait longer than just a week. To answer your question Ron and Hermione are still dating, but they are not married. Thanx for being patient! :)
michelleywelley: Thanx! I am so glad you thought it was funny, so did I. Clay ROX! ;)
Jessica Flores: LOL! I don't think Ron and Hermione will ever have good timing, huh? Thanx for waiting!
Cheese Diva: Ah, yes confusion makes the world go round doesn't it? Sounds good to me. "Lord help the sex symbol world, it I'm one of 'em." :)
RusselGrl15: Well, you never know. Ginny's baby could be some sort of Harry hater! LOL, nah...or maybe...:) Thanx for waiting!
SusieQ1: Thanx!
N@ttyNight: Well sorry I didn't hurry up. I know I said I would. BAD 'Mione!
morgan: Well I'm glad you like Clay now. If you thought LAST time was hard to wait for, you probably disowned me by now! Hope you hung in there!
Tiffiany-45: Hey Tiff, my girl! How goes the job? Hope it's great. I will try to get your chapter edited soon. I am going to Mexico Friday (13th) So I don't know, but hpefully I can get it done before I leave. Thanx!
David Ken: Well if you have Ickititis the only cure is to go stand outside on Thursday at exactly 2:03 am and howl at the moon, until all the neighbors complain that there is a physco on their block. Yeah Ickititis was some random off the top of my head name. I know it sounds cheesy. :)
mayelbridwen-singer: Hey! Thanx for readin, and I hope you hung in there when I didn't update for so many weeks. Thanx so much!
Rosie O: Gotta go for Clay on my part sorry. ;) Thanx for readin and I hope you continue!
DracosBaby06: Thanx! Hope you keep reading.
Penelope Richmond: Hey! Nice to see you again! Sucks that you couldn't get the Australian version. The American Idol chain is pretty great! There is even someone competeing from my home town this year! ;)
Tom-Feltons-Hot: YES! Clay totally will sell more albums! YOU ROCK! Thanx for reading and I hope you hung in there!
IcebreaKER20037: Totally savvy. Clay rocks hard! Thanx so much, and I hope you hung in there while I was gone!
Ron's Best Mate: So which review name do i use for you, since you reviewed 3 times to tell me to hurry up? LOL. If your curious, your reviews reminded me to right. I kep thinking, "That person is going to kill me!" So thanx a whole bunch! Hope the next chapter come sooner for ya! :)
WHEW! 17 ppl to thank! Thanx so much y'all and onto the much aniticipated chapter!
Chapter 3: Tea and Talk
Harry had been pretty busy what with Ginny being pregnant. Everyone at work seemed to want to wish him his or her congratulations.
"Hey," Kingsley said. "I heard about Ginny. Congratulations!"
Harry nodded at him and hurried in to his office. When he entered he found Luna already waiting for him.
"I heard about Ginny," she said taking a sip of coffee. Luna always seemed to be drinking coffee.
"Oh," Harry said. "Who told you?"
"It's all over the office," she said making her coffee mug disappear.
"Ah," Harry said taking a seat in the chair at his desk. "Well I suppose it's a good thing she isn't ill than, eh?"
"Well she very well could have been," Luna said defensively. "Although I must say that I prefer this option much more." Her eyes were spacing out as she went into her own world. "I always wanted to have a family, but I suppose I never found the right guy."
"Or he's taken," Harry muttered shuffling some papers on his cluttered desk.
"I heard that Harry," Luna said simply. "And I protest to all meaning behind it."
Harry laughed under his breath. "Of course, Luna."
"Besides," she said her strong front quavering slightly. "You don't know that."
Harry laughed. "Oh but I think I do."
Luna said nothing.
"Anyway, that's not important right now," Harry continued. "We need to start your training."
Luna's eyes seemed to brighten as the previous topic of conversation was forgotten.
"So I'm thinking we should go to the Training Hall," Harry said as he gathered a few things off his desk.
Within moment Harry and Luna and arrived at the Training Hall. The room was one of the most intriguing in the entire Ministry. It was a large room that was completely blank, for basic training of curses, and spells. However, it could morph into any place in the world. This way you could train in combat, so to speak. It was one of Harry's favorite rooms.
"Now," Harry said pulling out his wand. "Let's refresh your memory. Cast the disarming spell."
Luna obliged and Harry's wand went flying several feet away from him.
"Excellent. Now try the stunning spell."
Seconds later Harry was being awoken with a very bad headache, but it quickly disappeared.
"Splendid. Patronus."
A silvery bird erupted from the wand tip, glided around the room for several moments before fading into a wisp of smoke. (A/N: Did it ever say what kind of Patronus Luna had? If it did notify me and I'll fix it.)
"Brilliant!" Harry praised. "Well that's great. I think we should try some complex spells now. Show me an Invisibility spell."
Luna muttered words inaudible and seconds later she had vanished. This caused Harry to feel rather weird. He looked around the room searching for Luna, but of course this was pointless. Eventually he seemed satisfied.
"Okay, Luna, well done. Show yourself."
Luna reappeared very quickly right where she had been before. Harry grinned.
"Terrific." He looked at his watch. The hands were pointing towards "Lunch Time". "Well I think that we should take a break for lunch. How about we go back to my office."
"Actually, I have to go home for lunch. My plants need to be watered at the exact time everyday or they'll go into depression and die. Well see you."
"Yeah, bye," Harry said. Luna was proving to weirder and weirder everyday.
Harry hurried back to his office, his mindset on the delicious lunch he had waiting for him. Ginny had been in an excellent mood this morning, due to her moodiness the day before, and had packed him a lunch. Normally Harry would've just bought a lunch from the kitchen at the Ministry, but when Ginny offered, he was all for it. She had definitely inherited her mum's cooking skills.
Harry settled himself in the chair, in his cramped office. Clearing a pile of papers off of his desk, he pulled out a sack. Inside was a fresh piece of kidney pie (A/N: Ew! Please tell me they eat something better in England, besides that!) and plenty of strawberry tarts. (A/N: Now that's what I'm talking about.) He was just about to bite into one of the tarts, when he heard a fluttering noise behind him.
Harry turned around to see a large barn owl perched on his filing cabinet. It's head was cocked to one side, and his eyes were wide, as if in surprise. He ruffled his wings at the sight of Harry and hooted gleefully.
Perplexed beyond reason, Harry stood and took the thin letter from the barn owl's leg. Without a moment's hesitation the owl was off down the hall, looking for the nearest open window. Harry heard faint shrieks from some of the women working in the office, and chuckled to himself.
Ripping open the letter, Harry sat down at his chair and went to take another bite of the strawberry tart. Seeing Hermione's neat and precise handwriting, made him in a much better mood.
Harry,
I'm sorry to bother you at work, but I really must talk to you. Would you consider Apparating to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds? My office is the same as Professor McGonagall's old one was.
I know this is short notice, but it really is most urgent that you attend. Unless of course you have something else that you need to do, that demands you assistance. I understand with training Luna, things are probably a tad hectic around the office. But like I said, I would really appreciate it.
Love,
Hermione
Harry stared down at the letter puzzled beyond words. He then sighed stood up and pulled out his wand to Apparate, but not before grabbing his strawberry tarts.
The edge of the grounds, or at least as far as he could Apparate was the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Harry could see the wizarding village was filled with people as he walked down the road towards Hogwarts. It must have been a Hogsmeade weekend.
As Harry arrived at the towering gates of the castle, he saw Hagrid's cabin. Hagrid was sitting on his front porch whittling at something, and didn't see Harry coming. Harry supposed this was for the best, however, since Hermione seemed pretty keen on talking to him.
Harry stopped to look up and the giant structure that was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It hadn't changed a bit since the day he had left. Of course Harry didn't have any doubts that Hogwarts had ever changed. It had been around for quite some time. The doors were massive and made of the same gorgeous oak, he had remembered. He reached up to allow himself in, but then realized that he didn't go to the school anymore and why was he just letting himself in? Although he felt rather ridiculous knocking when it was quite apparent no one was going to hear him in such a large building. But all the same he gave the door a hard rap.
Slowly but surely the door creaked open and revealed the inside of Hogwarts School. The hallways were vacant except for a few first years that had finished their lunch early and were heading back to their common rooms.
"Well, well, well, look who decided to grace us with their presence."
Harry looked up in the direction of the voice only to see Peeves. It surprised him that the poltergeist was still around.
"Hello, Peeves," Harry said in sincere attempt to be pleasant.
Peeves cackled. "Hello yourself." He then stuck out his tongue and glided away cackling madly.
Harry shook his head in pity and continued to walk down the hall. The walls were still covered with portraits that were whispering behind their hands as he passed. One of them didn't seem to have the need to whisper, however.
"Come and fight, you yellow bellied Coward!"
Harry turned to see the very familiar picture of Sir Cadagon. The knight was as mad as ever, and teetering helplessly from the weight of his armor.
"Hello Sir Cadagon," Harry said before walking away. All the way down the hall he could hear the knight shouting from his portrait.
"Oy! Come back and fight me, I say! No one dare speaks the name of Sir Cadagon without a fight!"
Harry was almost to Hermione's office when he heard another voice behind him.
"Potter!"
Harry stopped abruptly at the sound of the recognizable voice. He turned slowly to see Professor McGonagall staring at him rather sternly.
"Walking around the halls, while everyone is either at lunch or Hogsmeade? I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you detention."
Harry stared back into the eyes of his former Transfiguration teacher and broke into a huge grin. Professor McGongall grinned back and pulled him into a hug.
"It's great to see you too, Professor," he said through his chuckles.
"What brings you here, Potter?" Professor McGongall asked.
"I'm actually here to see Hermione," Harry said. He was getting rather nervous. He was already pretty behind schedule.
"Oh," Professor McGonagall replied. "Well she should be in her office. Do you want me to take you there?"
"Oh no, Professor. I think I can find my own way about this place, thanks."
Professor McGonagall smiled. "It was nice speaking with you Harry."
"You too, Professor." Harry then gave her a small wave as he walked on down the hall.
He didn't stop for any other distractions now. Some of the students were pointing and whispering behind their hands as he past, but he paid them no mind. As he came upon the door to Hermione's office, his strides became longer. When he arrived he rapped on the door.
"Come in," Hermione's voice said.
Harry opened the door and walked into the familiar office he had once known, although it looked rather different now. The walls were covered with maps of various lands. A towering bookshelf was full to overflowing; it would appear that Hermione had borrowed the whole library. On her desk were several pictures of himself and Ron, and quite a few of Ron and Hermione. One that immediately came to his attention was a picture that Collin, now a professional photographer for the Daily Prophet, had taken at Harry and Ginny's wedding. Ginny was smiling widely, her hair burning like fire in the brilliant sun. Harry looked overjoyed, as did Ron and Hermione who were at his side. He was watching the Harry in the picture bend down to kiss Ginny when a voice broke through his thoughts.
"Oh, Harry! You needn't have knocked! Come in and close the door you."
Harry looked up from the picture into the bright face of Hermione Granger. But when he took a second look, he could tell she looked rather tired, and her eyes had lost some of their spark. Funny he hadn't noticed it when she and Ron had barged in on him and Ginny just a few weeks previous.
"Hi there, Hermione," he said closing the door as she had requested and walking over to give her a quick hug.
"Hi Harry," she said giving him a genuine smile. "How's Ginny?"
"She's alright. How are you? I came as soon as I got your letter."
The weariness that had left Hermione's eyes for a split second returned with full force. Only it seemed to be mixed with another emotion. Worry.
"I wanted to speak with you about something. Here sit down." Hermione motioned to a chair on the other side of her desk. Harry couldn't help but think about how many kids had sat in this chair being lectured by the now Professor Granger. But this thought was quickly pushed out of his mind as Hermione handed him a cup of tea. He accepted it gratefully and sipped it waiting in the silence.
Hermione cleared her throat. "I'm sorry I called you on such short notice Harry, but when this came up I panicked."
Harry suddenly grew very tense as a horrible realization overcame him. "What did Ron do?"
Hermione stared at Harry obviously perplexed, but her face broke out into a smile. She threw her head back and laughed outright. Harry relaxed.
"I'm sorry Harry," she said wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "I just find that funny. Ron didn't do anything!"
Harry found himself grinning too. "Well you know. When you're upset it usually has something to do with him, so I just assumed."
"Well you know what they say about assuming things, Harry," Hermione said, but she didn't bother to finish the quote.
"So this isn't about Ron then?" Harry asked again, just for confirmation.
"No! In fact everything is great between Ron and I. He's wonderful." Hermione sighed in contentment and a far off looked overcame her eyes. Harry allowed her a moment's reminiscence and then cleared his throat.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Hermione said, her face slowly resembling the aforementioned man.
Harry chuckled. "It's okay. I know how you feel. I mean not with Ron, but you know."
Hermione laughed. "Yeah. Anyway! Harry I did not ask you to come down here so we could discuss my personal life."
"Oh, but Hermione it's so interesting!" Harry said in mock interest.
Hermione rolled her eyes and the weariness seemed to come back. "Really, Harry this is serious."
Harry took a gulp of his tea and sat back in his chair. "Shoot, Hermione."
Hermione clasped her hands across the top of her desk, looking very much like the professor she was. With another deep breath she began to speak.
"You remember Sarah Adams don't you?" she asked, knowing full well that it was a ridiculous question.
Harry remembered Sarah all too well, and just the mention of her name brought a grin to his face. How could he have forgotten her? Even after Hogwarts Harry and Ginny had kept in good contact with her. She had been in their wedding as one of the Jr. Bridesmaids. Although Ginny repeated endlessly that she could have easily been a regular one, even with the 6-year age difference Sarah always seemed to show maturity beyond her years.
"How could I forget her?" Harry asked beaming broadly. The worry that had flooded Hermione's face was enough to wipe his smile from his own. "What is it? Hermione is she alright?"
"Oh yes, well I think so…if it's all that I think it is, she is perfectly…alright." Hermione took another deep breath and started into her story.
"Sarah and I have been able to maintain a close friendship even if I am one of her professors. She talks to me often, and occasionally we have tea. In fact we've started making some sort of habit of it. She usually comes in on Saturdays around this time. Unless of course either of us is busy. That's why I purposely asked you to come today, because she's at Hogsmeade."
Harry nodded at Hermione willing her to continue on with the story. It seemed to be going nowhere, and if he knew Hermione she could talk until she was blue in the face and still not make any sense.
"Anyway," Hermione said catching Harry's drift. "A few weeks ago she was complaining that she was very tired. I thought maybe it had something to do with some overload of schoolwork. She's quite like me in most ways and tends to want to get as much studying done as possible. I told her that as much as I admired her diligent study habits, that maybe she should lay off the books for a while."
Harry was genuinely shocked that Hermione had told one of her students to not study. He must have showed it on his face, because Hermione glared at him.
"I'm not completely heartless, you know," she said in reply to his expression.
"I'm sorry Hermione," Harry said stifling his laughter with a sip of tea. "Please continue."
"Anyway my plan seemed to have worked and she didn't complain about being tired for sometime after that. Only lately she's been getting exceedingly hot during class, and experiencing dizzy spells. Once I even had to send her to the hospital wing. She never got dizzy again, although she said she was having bad headaches. As you can well imagine I was concerned and tried to lighten the class workload, although it was particularly hard because of an exam I was planning on giving. I couldn't give her special assignments and not the rest of the class. I would be accused of playing favorites, and I needed the rest of the class to be prepared."
"Why not cancel the exam?" Harry asked.
Hermione stared at Harry like he had just said one of the most ridiculous things she had ever heard. "Cancel an exam? All because one student was suffering from overload?"
"Well why not?" Harry asked.
Hermione shook her head at Harry. It was obvious that she thought he didn't have a clue as to how to deal with teaching a class.
"That is beside the point," Hermione said. "Now everything seemed okay for about two days, but them something extra peculiar happened."
Hermione stopped her account to take a sip of tea. Harry felt certain she was just trying to keep him interested.
"We were sitting in class, working on the very exam I was giving. The room was silent and I was working on grading some essays. Half way through grading them I ran out of ink, so I stopped to open my drawer and get a new bottle. I scanned the class to make sure that everyone was doing ok, and I noticed Sarah staring at the girl next to her, Jasmine Cadley, rather annoyed. Eventually Sarah just rolled her eyes and went back to work. A few moments later I heard someone sigh angrily and it was Sarah looking again at Jasmine. Apparently something about Jasmine was bothering her, so I asked Sarah to come to my desk.
"She walked up and I asked her if something was wrong, and Sarah replied that Jasmine was talking during a test. She wasn't saying anything that would lead to cheating, just simply wondering what was for lunch. Naturally that irked me, considering I have a very strict policy against talking during tests, no matter what the subject matter.
"So I simply asked Jasmine to come to my desk. I told her that Sarah had been complaining that she was whispering during a test."
Harry was beginning to wonder where this whole thing was going anyway. It seemed an awfully long story to waste such a valuable lunch on. His stomach growled and he reached for one of the strawberry tarts from the bag Ginny had packed him.
Hermione continued. "Sarah then said that she hadn't been whispering, but talking in a quite normal tone. Like one you would use addressing someone right across from you. Jasmine looked flustered and said she had been doing nothing of the sort. I was just beginning to think that I should believe Sarah on this one, since Jasmine has a notorious record for talking during class. She's very much like a young Parvati or Lavender actually." Hermione took another sip of her tea and continued. "Anyway Sarah continued to say that Jasmine had indeed been talking during the test, and that she had heard her. Jasmine was beginning to get rather angry and she would not budge on her notion. Then Sarah whipped around and stared at a boy who was sitting in the front row. She then turned and glared at another one of her classmates, although none of them were looking back at her. She began to look rather frightened at this and started looking all around the room at something Jasmine and I could not see. She then turned back to me, horror written all over her face and fainted." Hermione finished this last part of her story practically quivering with excitement, although Harry wasn't quite sure why.
"What happened to her?" he asked in alarm.
"I wasn't sure what was wrong with her at the time, only that she needed to be brought to the hospital wing. So I went to the door of my classroom and upon seeing Professor McGonagall I asked if she would look after the class while I took Sarah up to see Madame Pomfery. She looked rather alarmed to see that a pupil had just passed out on the floor, but obliged to take over and didn't press the matter.
"Later on in the day I visited the infirmary to check on her, and Madame Pomfery she had been incredibly quiet ever since she had come to a little more than an hour ago. She left us alone and I asked Sarah if she was all right. She looked pretty shaken up and said, 'They were all talking. All of them, I could hear them. I don't know what they were saying, but they were talking. Hermione I could hear them!' Then she buried her face in her pillow and began to cry."
Harry stared at Hermione in absolute astonishment. "Was she hearing voices?"
"That's just it Harry. There is no other possible explanation. If one or two people had been talking I would have heard it, much less the whole class. Besides I was watching them the whole time, none of them were even looking at us. They were all just doing their work!"
Harry stared at Hermione, positively perplexed. "You mean Sarah…was hearing voices?"
Hermione nodded slowly. "She said she heard them, and I don't know what else it could have been. She distinctly said it was the voices of the students."
Harry stared at Hermione. He remembered how horrible he had felt back in his second year, when he thought he had been going mad. He had in fact heard voices that year too, but that had all been explained with his Parseltongue.
"You think she's…mad?" Harry asked, his voice quieting instinctively on the word 'mad'.
"Oh for the love of Merlin!" Hermione said to Harry. "No! At least I don't now."
Harry raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well you see naturally I was worried. The thought that se may have been going mad came to mind but only for an instant. I never really thought Sarah was the kind of type to go mad."
Harry snorted. The thought that there was a "type" that generally went mad was slightly comical.
Hermione put on a genuine stern professor glare and continued with her story. "As I was saying, I didn't think Sarah was mad. Of course I went looking for an alternative and I realized something quite peculiar about Sarah's behavior."
Hermione paused as if waiting for Harry to ask a question. When he did not she continued.
"This was not the first of odd things to happen with Sarah. As I'd mentioned before she was complaining about dizzy spells and headaches, all symptoms I assumed from work overload. But when I thought about it I decided there must be some sort of pattern. This of course was not to suggest anything more than what I had already expected, so I slept on it.
"The night after she had passed out, I had a dream about our seventh year. It was pretty unimportant except for one thing. For one moment in the dream you, Ron, and I were about to go through the portrait hole and Ron had forgotten the password. I remembered it, but the fact someone had forgotten the password reminded me of something."
Harry peered at her quizzically, encouraging her to go on.
"Do you remember on the first day of our seventh year term we all had forgotten the password? Well Sarah knew it. It was all we needed so at the time I thought nothing of it, but if you think about…how would a first year know the common room password and Ron and I didn't? We were Head Boy and Girl, shouldn't we have known? It just didn't make sense."
Harry thought back to that day they had first met Sarah. He remembered how stunned she was to meet him and how much she had looked up to Ron and Hermione for being Head Boy and Girl. That day did seem to be rather branded into his memory, and Hermione was right, Sarah had known the password.
"How odd," Harry said faintly.
Hermione nodded. "That brought to my attention all the other little things Sarah seemed to know last year. She seemed to know about Ron and I before it even happened!" Hermione blushed at the recollection.
Harry chuckled. "Hermione. I hardly think that's impressive. EVERYONE knew about you and Ron before is happened."
"Not a first year that barely knew us!" Hermione insisted, although she was blushing a deeper shade of red.
"Well you did sort of make yourselves obvious-"
"The point is," Hermione interrupted before all the blood rushed to her face. "She seemed to know things. And in her first year it was just little things, that no one really found all that apparent, but lately she's been saying things that…well seem odd for her to know."
"Like what?" Harry asked, feeling an odd squirming feeling in his stomach.
"Well once when we were having tea, I was about to tell her about Ginny being pregnant, but she cut me to the chase. She said, 'Ginny's pregnant right?' I was shocked that she would've known. I mean she hasn't seen Ginny since the wedding, right?"
"Right…"Harry said slowly.
"You didn't owl her about the baby, did you?"
Harry shook his head feeling rather guilty. "No, we didn't."
Hermione nodded her head in one quick jerk. "That's what I assumed. This along with the small things from first year, and other miniscule things that have happened in the past, I was able to do a little bit of research."
Hermione reached under her desk and pulled out a dusty tome that was about the thickness of a shoebox. She blew off the sheet of dust and Harry could see its title gleaming from the cover. Though its gold letters were old and peeling off the book, he made out the words, "Mind Tricks of the Physic" on it.
"Physic?" Harry asked in disbelief.
Hermione nodded and opened it up to a page that she had previously book marked.
"Listen to this. 'An Optipsyche, coming from the Latin root 'optic' for 'eye' and the Greek root 'psyche' for 'mind', is someone who can see into the minds of others. This is a gift you are born with and can only be found in the genetic makeup of wizards and witches. Small signs in an Optipsyche are shown at an early age of 10 or shortly after, but are usually not too obvious to notice. In most cases the Optipsyche will not even be aware themselves that they have a gift. As they mature in age signs may become obvious to those around them, although the Optipsyche may not know themselves as it is a rare gift and not eminent. They will, however, begin to experience flights of dizziness, headaches, sleepiness, and occasional fainting. This is usually caused by the sudden flights of dizziness.
'In the first stages of discovery (usually in the middle teens) in an Optipsyche they may be able to hear others thoughts. Many premature Optipsyche have believed themselves to have gone mad because of the sudden occurrence of voices that only they can hear. Until they learn to control this gift the "voices" will continue. If and when and Optipsyche learns to control the gift they will be able to 'read minds' at will, although they will still find themselves knowing things that no one else knows. In the older years of their lives they will still be able to read minds at will, although they will become somewhat omniscient in the case of knowing more than others, but they will never know everything. Some say that an Optipsyche never knows anything, but has only complex brain abilities that make them more susceptible to understanding people's emotions, although this has yet to be confirmed. The only still living Optipsyche at this time (A/N: I don't know what year Harry Potter is based in, so bare with me!) is Albus Dumbledore, the current Head Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'"
Harry sat and stared at Hermione in absolute stunned silence. "You mean Sarah is-"
"An Optipsyche. It all fits," Hermione said. Her eyes had lost the spark they had had when she was telling the story.
'Why so glum?" Harry asked, taking a bite of strawberry tart. "It sounds amazing to me."
"Harry! Don't you see? Sarah doesn't have complete control over her gift yet! In fact she doesn't even know anything about it. If she doesn't learn how to control this gift she could go mad…or worse."
"What could be worse then going mad?" Harry asked in complete bewilderment.
"Her gift could fall into the wrong hands," Hermione said.
Harry slowly began to comprehend what she meant. A flash of his fifth year and Voldemort using Occlumency against him flew through his mind.
"Why are you telling me this?" Harry asked. "What do I need to do?"
Hermione squirmed in her chair. "Well since you are an Auror, I was hoping that maybe you could do some expanded research on the subject. I'm sure you have access to much more useful information at your office. And if it comes down to it, you may need to find out how to control it. Sarah is going to need all the help she can get."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because you have some first hand experience with Occlumency. The two seem to be related somehow."
Harry nodded. His job with Luna could wait. Because if Hermione was right, Sarah could be in danger.
A/N: Yay Sarah's back! A lot of you had been asking for her return and I knew I needed it. I told you she would play a bigger role this fic. Anyway I truly hope this chapter was worth the wait. I happened to think it was a little on the rusty side, so I hope y'all enjoyed it. Now the results of last month's poll are *drum roll* 9 people participated and 2 voted for Ruben, 6 voted for Clay, 1 was rooting for Ruben but now likes Clay more! As for me? Do I really need to answer this question? CLAY ALL THE WAY BABY! He rox my sox! Well here is this weeks (oh, maybe I shouldn't say week...) poll. WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GOOD FANFIC, WHAT DO YOU SEARCH FOR FIRST? SHORT AND WELL WRITTEN FLUFF? OR LONG DRAWN OUT ACTION WITH SOM FLUFF ON THE SIDE? Send in your preference with your review! Thanx so much for waiting!
STOP!! IMPORTANT NEWS!! I am sorry to say that I am leaving for Mexico with my youth group tomorrow. (February 13th) I have no idew when I will be getting around to writing again, although I will bring my fanfic notebook with me for brainstorming. Hopefully I can get some work done. Again I'm sorry for the wait. Writer's block sucks breath mints, and I hope to see y'all again very soon. Love y'all!
Your Procrastinating Writer,
'Mione Weasley
Duckymander: Hey! I am so sorry you had to wait longer than just a week. To answer your question Ron and Hermione are still dating, but they are not married. Thanx for being patient! :)
michelleywelley: Thanx! I am so glad you thought it was funny, so did I. Clay ROX! ;)
Jessica Flores: LOL! I don't think Ron and Hermione will ever have good timing, huh? Thanx for waiting!
Cheese Diva: Ah, yes confusion makes the world go round doesn't it? Sounds good to me. "Lord help the sex symbol world, it I'm one of 'em." :)
RusselGrl15: Well, you never know. Ginny's baby could be some sort of Harry hater! LOL, nah...or maybe...:) Thanx for waiting!
SusieQ1: Thanx!
N@ttyNight: Well sorry I didn't hurry up. I know I said I would. BAD 'Mione!
morgan: Well I'm glad you like Clay now. If you thought LAST time was hard to wait for, you probably disowned me by now! Hope you hung in there!
Tiffiany-45: Hey Tiff, my girl! How goes the job? Hope it's great. I will try to get your chapter edited soon. I am going to Mexico Friday (13th) So I don't know, but hpefully I can get it done before I leave. Thanx!
David Ken: Well if you have Ickititis the only cure is to go stand outside on Thursday at exactly 2:03 am and howl at the moon, until all the neighbors complain that there is a physco on their block. Yeah Ickititis was some random off the top of my head name. I know it sounds cheesy. :)
mayelbridwen-singer: Hey! Thanx for readin, and I hope you hung in there when I didn't update for so many weeks. Thanx so much!
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Penelope Richmond: Hey! Nice to see you again! Sucks that you couldn't get the Australian version. The American Idol chain is pretty great! There is even someone competeing from my home town this year! ;)
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Ron's Best Mate: So which review name do i use for you, since you reviewed 3 times to tell me to hurry up? LOL. If your curious, your reviews reminded me to right. I kep thinking, "That person is going to kill me!" So thanx a whole bunch! Hope the next chapter come sooner for ya! :)
WHEW! 17 ppl to thank! Thanx so much y'all and onto the much aniticipated chapter!
Chapter 3: Tea and Talk
Harry had been pretty busy what with Ginny being pregnant. Everyone at work seemed to want to wish him his or her congratulations.
"Hey," Kingsley said. "I heard about Ginny. Congratulations!"
Harry nodded at him and hurried in to his office. When he entered he found Luna already waiting for him.
"I heard about Ginny," she said taking a sip of coffee. Luna always seemed to be drinking coffee.
"Oh," Harry said. "Who told you?"
"It's all over the office," she said making her coffee mug disappear.
"Ah," Harry said taking a seat in the chair at his desk. "Well I suppose it's a good thing she isn't ill than, eh?"
"Well she very well could have been," Luna said defensively. "Although I must say that I prefer this option much more." Her eyes were spacing out as she went into her own world. "I always wanted to have a family, but I suppose I never found the right guy."
"Or he's taken," Harry muttered shuffling some papers on his cluttered desk.
"I heard that Harry," Luna said simply. "And I protest to all meaning behind it."
Harry laughed under his breath. "Of course, Luna."
"Besides," she said her strong front quavering slightly. "You don't know that."
Harry laughed. "Oh but I think I do."
Luna said nothing.
"Anyway, that's not important right now," Harry continued. "We need to start your training."
Luna's eyes seemed to brighten as the previous topic of conversation was forgotten.
"So I'm thinking we should go to the Training Hall," Harry said as he gathered a few things off his desk.
Within moment Harry and Luna and arrived at the Training Hall. The room was one of the most intriguing in the entire Ministry. It was a large room that was completely blank, for basic training of curses, and spells. However, it could morph into any place in the world. This way you could train in combat, so to speak. It was one of Harry's favorite rooms.
"Now," Harry said pulling out his wand. "Let's refresh your memory. Cast the disarming spell."
Luna obliged and Harry's wand went flying several feet away from him.
"Excellent. Now try the stunning spell."
Seconds later Harry was being awoken with a very bad headache, but it quickly disappeared.
"Splendid. Patronus."
A silvery bird erupted from the wand tip, glided around the room for several moments before fading into a wisp of smoke. (A/N: Did it ever say what kind of Patronus Luna had? If it did notify me and I'll fix it.)
"Brilliant!" Harry praised. "Well that's great. I think we should try some complex spells now. Show me an Invisibility spell."
Luna muttered words inaudible and seconds later she had vanished. This caused Harry to feel rather weird. He looked around the room searching for Luna, but of course this was pointless. Eventually he seemed satisfied.
"Okay, Luna, well done. Show yourself."
Luna reappeared very quickly right where she had been before. Harry grinned.
"Terrific." He looked at his watch. The hands were pointing towards "Lunch Time". "Well I think that we should take a break for lunch. How about we go back to my office."
"Actually, I have to go home for lunch. My plants need to be watered at the exact time everyday or they'll go into depression and die. Well see you."
"Yeah, bye," Harry said. Luna was proving to weirder and weirder everyday.
Harry hurried back to his office, his mindset on the delicious lunch he had waiting for him. Ginny had been in an excellent mood this morning, due to her moodiness the day before, and had packed him a lunch. Normally Harry would've just bought a lunch from the kitchen at the Ministry, but when Ginny offered, he was all for it. She had definitely inherited her mum's cooking skills.
Harry settled himself in the chair, in his cramped office. Clearing a pile of papers off of his desk, he pulled out a sack. Inside was a fresh piece of kidney pie (A/N: Ew! Please tell me they eat something better in England, besides that!) and plenty of strawberry tarts. (A/N: Now that's what I'm talking about.) He was just about to bite into one of the tarts, when he heard a fluttering noise behind him.
Harry turned around to see a large barn owl perched on his filing cabinet. It's head was cocked to one side, and his eyes were wide, as if in surprise. He ruffled his wings at the sight of Harry and hooted gleefully.
Perplexed beyond reason, Harry stood and took the thin letter from the barn owl's leg. Without a moment's hesitation the owl was off down the hall, looking for the nearest open window. Harry heard faint shrieks from some of the women working in the office, and chuckled to himself.
Ripping open the letter, Harry sat down at his chair and went to take another bite of the strawberry tart. Seeing Hermione's neat and precise handwriting, made him in a much better mood.
Harry,
I'm sorry to bother you at work, but I really must talk to you. Would you consider Apparating to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds? My office is the same as Professor McGonagall's old one was.
I know this is short notice, but it really is most urgent that you attend. Unless of course you have something else that you need to do, that demands you assistance. I understand with training Luna, things are probably a tad hectic around the office. But like I said, I would really appreciate it.
Love,
Hermione
Harry stared down at the letter puzzled beyond words. He then sighed stood up and pulled out his wand to Apparate, but not before grabbing his strawberry tarts.
The edge of the grounds, or at least as far as he could Apparate was the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Harry could see the wizarding village was filled with people as he walked down the road towards Hogwarts. It must have been a Hogsmeade weekend.
As Harry arrived at the towering gates of the castle, he saw Hagrid's cabin. Hagrid was sitting on his front porch whittling at something, and didn't see Harry coming. Harry supposed this was for the best, however, since Hermione seemed pretty keen on talking to him.
Harry stopped to look up and the giant structure that was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It hadn't changed a bit since the day he had left. Of course Harry didn't have any doubts that Hogwarts had ever changed. It had been around for quite some time. The doors were massive and made of the same gorgeous oak, he had remembered. He reached up to allow himself in, but then realized that he didn't go to the school anymore and why was he just letting himself in? Although he felt rather ridiculous knocking when it was quite apparent no one was going to hear him in such a large building. But all the same he gave the door a hard rap.
Slowly but surely the door creaked open and revealed the inside of Hogwarts School. The hallways were vacant except for a few first years that had finished their lunch early and were heading back to their common rooms.
"Well, well, well, look who decided to grace us with their presence."
Harry looked up in the direction of the voice only to see Peeves. It surprised him that the poltergeist was still around.
"Hello, Peeves," Harry said in sincere attempt to be pleasant.
Peeves cackled. "Hello yourself." He then stuck out his tongue and glided away cackling madly.
Harry shook his head in pity and continued to walk down the hall. The walls were still covered with portraits that were whispering behind their hands as he passed. One of them didn't seem to have the need to whisper, however.
"Come and fight, you yellow bellied Coward!"
Harry turned to see the very familiar picture of Sir Cadagon. The knight was as mad as ever, and teetering helplessly from the weight of his armor.
"Hello Sir Cadagon," Harry said before walking away. All the way down the hall he could hear the knight shouting from his portrait.
"Oy! Come back and fight me, I say! No one dare speaks the name of Sir Cadagon without a fight!"
Harry was almost to Hermione's office when he heard another voice behind him.
"Potter!"
Harry stopped abruptly at the sound of the recognizable voice. He turned slowly to see Professor McGonagall staring at him rather sternly.
"Walking around the halls, while everyone is either at lunch or Hogsmeade? I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you detention."
Harry stared back into the eyes of his former Transfiguration teacher and broke into a huge grin. Professor McGongall grinned back and pulled him into a hug.
"It's great to see you too, Professor," he said through his chuckles.
"What brings you here, Potter?" Professor McGongall asked.
"I'm actually here to see Hermione," Harry said. He was getting rather nervous. He was already pretty behind schedule.
"Oh," Professor McGonagall replied. "Well she should be in her office. Do you want me to take you there?"
"Oh no, Professor. I think I can find my own way about this place, thanks."
Professor McGonagall smiled. "It was nice speaking with you Harry."
"You too, Professor." Harry then gave her a small wave as he walked on down the hall.
He didn't stop for any other distractions now. Some of the students were pointing and whispering behind their hands as he past, but he paid them no mind. As he came upon the door to Hermione's office, his strides became longer. When he arrived he rapped on the door.
"Come in," Hermione's voice said.
Harry opened the door and walked into the familiar office he had once known, although it looked rather different now. The walls were covered with maps of various lands. A towering bookshelf was full to overflowing; it would appear that Hermione had borrowed the whole library. On her desk were several pictures of himself and Ron, and quite a few of Ron and Hermione. One that immediately came to his attention was a picture that Collin, now a professional photographer for the Daily Prophet, had taken at Harry and Ginny's wedding. Ginny was smiling widely, her hair burning like fire in the brilliant sun. Harry looked overjoyed, as did Ron and Hermione who were at his side. He was watching the Harry in the picture bend down to kiss Ginny when a voice broke through his thoughts.
"Oh, Harry! You needn't have knocked! Come in and close the door you."
Harry looked up from the picture into the bright face of Hermione Granger. But when he took a second look, he could tell she looked rather tired, and her eyes had lost some of their spark. Funny he hadn't noticed it when she and Ron had barged in on him and Ginny just a few weeks previous.
"Hi there, Hermione," he said closing the door as she had requested and walking over to give her a quick hug.
"Hi Harry," she said giving him a genuine smile. "How's Ginny?"
"She's alright. How are you? I came as soon as I got your letter."
The weariness that had left Hermione's eyes for a split second returned with full force. Only it seemed to be mixed with another emotion. Worry.
"I wanted to speak with you about something. Here sit down." Hermione motioned to a chair on the other side of her desk. Harry couldn't help but think about how many kids had sat in this chair being lectured by the now Professor Granger. But this thought was quickly pushed out of his mind as Hermione handed him a cup of tea. He accepted it gratefully and sipped it waiting in the silence.
Hermione cleared her throat. "I'm sorry I called you on such short notice Harry, but when this came up I panicked."
Harry suddenly grew very tense as a horrible realization overcame him. "What did Ron do?"
Hermione stared at Harry obviously perplexed, but her face broke out into a smile. She threw her head back and laughed outright. Harry relaxed.
"I'm sorry Harry," she said wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "I just find that funny. Ron didn't do anything!"
Harry found himself grinning too. "Well you know. When you're upset it usually has something to do with him, so I just assumed."
"Well you know what they say about assuming things, Harry," Hermione said, but she didn't bother to finish the quote.
"So this isn't about Ron then?" Harry asked again, just for confirmation.
"No! In fact everything is great between Ron and I. He's wonderful." Hermione sighed in contentment and a far off looked overcame her eyes. Harry allowed her a moment's reminiscence and then cleared his throat.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Hermione said, her face slowly resembling the aforementioned man.
Harry chuckled. "It's okay. I know how you feel. I mean not with Ron, but you know."
Hermione laughed. "Yeah. Anyway! Harry I did not ask you to come down here so we could discuss my personal life."
"Oh, but Hermione it's so interesting!" Harry said in mock interest.
Hermione rolled her eyes and the weariness seemed to come back. "Really, Harry this is serious."
Harry took a gulp of his tea and sat back in his chair. "Shoot, Hermione."
Hermione clasped her hands across the top of her desk, looking very much like the professor she was. With another deep breath she began to speak.
"You remember Sarah Adams don't you?" she asked, knowing full well that it was a ridiculous question.
Harry remembered Sarah all too well, and just the mention of her name brought a grin to his face. How could he have forgotten her? Even after Hogwarts Harry and Ginny had kept in good contact with her. She had been in their wedding as one of the Jr. Bridesmaids. Although Ginny repeated endlessly that she could have easily been a regular one, even with the 6-year age difference Sarah always seemed to show maturity beyond her years.
"How could I forget her?" Harry asked beaming broadly. The worry that had flooded Hermione's face was enough to wipe his smile from his own. "What is it? Hermione is she alright?"
"Oh yes, well I think so…if it's all that I think it is, she is perfectly…alright." Hermione took another deep breath and started into her story.
"Sarah and I have been able to maintain a close friendship even if I am one of her professors. She talks to me often, and occasionally we have tea. In fact we've started making some sort of habit of it. She usually comes in on Saturdays around this time. Unless of course either of us is busy. That's why I purposely asked you to come today, because she's at Hogsmeade."
Harry nodded at Hermione willing her to continue on with the story. It seemed to be going nowhere, and if he knew Hermione she could talk until she was blue in the face and still not make any sense.
"Anyway," Hermione said catching Harry's drift. "A few weeks ago she was complaining that she was very tired. I thought maybe it had something to do with some overload of schoolwork. She's quite like me in most ways and tends to want to get as much studying done as possible. I told her that as much as I admired her diligent study habits, that maybe she should lay off the books for a while."
Harry was genuinely shocked that Hermione had told one of her students to not study. He must have showed it on his face, because Hermione glared at him.
"I'm not completely heartless, you know," she said in reply to his expression.
"I'm sorry Hermione," Harry said stifling his laughter with a sip of tea. "Please continue."
"Anyway my plan seemed to have worked and she didn't complain about being tired for sometime after that. Only lately she's been getting exceedingly hot during class, and experiencing dizzy spells. Once I even had to send her to the hospital wing. She never got dizzy again, although she said she was having bad headaches. As you can well imagine I was concerned and tried to lighten the class workload, although it was particularly hard because of an exam I was planning on giving. I couldn't give her special assignments and not the rest of the class. I would be accused of playing favorites, and I needed the rest of the class to be prepared."
"Why not cancel the exam?" Harry asked.
Hermione stared at Harry like he had just said one of the most ridiculous things she had ever heard. "Cancel an exam? All because one student was suffering from overload?"
"Well why not?" Harry asked.
Hermione shook her head at Harry. It was obvious that she thought he didn't have a clue as to how to deal with teaching a class.
"That is beside the point," Hermione said. "Now everything seemed okay for about two days, but them something extra peculiar happened."
Hermione stopped her account to take a sip of tea. Harry felt certain she was just trying to keep him interested.
"We were sitting in class, working on the very exam I was giving. The room was silent and I was working on grading some essays. Half way through grading them I ran out of ink, so I stopped to open my drawer and get a new bottle. I scanned the class to make sure that everyone was doing ok, and I noticed Sarah staring at the girl next to her, Jasmine Cadley, rather annoyed. Eventually Sarah just rolled her eyes and went back to work. A few moments later I heard someone sigh angrily and it was Sarah looking again at Jasmine. Apparently something about Jasmine was bothering her, so I asked Sarah to come to my desk.
"She walked up and I asked her if something was wrong, and Sarah replied that Jasmine was talking during a test. She wasn't saying anything that would lead to cheating, just simply wondering what was for lunch. Naturally that irked me, considering I have a very strict policy against talking during tests, no matter what the subject matter.
"So I simply asked Jasmine to come to my desk. I told her that Sarah had been complaining that she was whispering during a test."
Harry was beginning to wonder where this whole thing was going anyway. It seemed an awfully long story to waste such a valuable lunch on. His stomach growled and he reached for one of the strawberry tarts from the bag Ginny had packed him.
Hermione continued. "Sarah then said that she hadn't been whispering, but talking in a quite normal tone. Like one you would use addressing someone right across from you. Jasmine looked flustered and said she had been doing nothing of the sort. I was just beginning to think that I should believe Sarah on this one, since Jasmine has a notorious record for talking during class. She's very much like a young Parvati or Lavender actually." Hermione took another sip of her tea and continued. "Anyway Sarah continued to say that Jasmine had indeed been talking during the test, and that she had heard her. Jasmine was beginning to get rather angry and she would not budge on her notion. Then Sarah whipped around and stared at a boy who was sitting in the front row. She then turned and glared at another one of her classmates, although none of them were looking back at her. She began to look rather frightened at this and started looking all around the room at something Jasmine and I could not see. She then turned back to me, horror written all over her face and fainted." Hermione finished this last part of her story practically quivering with excitement, although Harry wasn't quite sure why.
"What happened to her?" he asked in alarm.
"I wasn't sure what was wrong with her at the time, only that she needed to be brought to the hospital wing. So I went to the door of my classroom and upon seeing Professor McGonagall I asked if she would look after the class while I took Sarah up to see Madame Pomfery. She looked rather alarmed to see that a pupil had just passed out on the floor, but obliged to take over and didn't press the matter.
"Later on in the day I visited the infirmary to check on her, and Madame Pomfery she had been incredibly quiet ever since she had come to a little more than an hour ago. She left us alone and I asked Sarah if she was all right. She looked pretty shaken up and said, 'They were all talking. All of them, I could hear them. I don't know what they were saying, but they were talking. Hermione I could hear them!' Then she buried her face in her pillow and began to cry."
Harry stared at Hermione in absolute astonishment. "Was she hearing voices?"
"That's just it Harry. There is no other possible explanation. If one or two people had been talking I would have heard it, much less the whole class. Besides I was watching them the whole time, none of them were even looking at us. They were all just doing their work!"
Harry stared at Hermione, positively perplexed. "You mean Sarah…was hearing voices?"
Hermione nodded slowly. "She said she heard them, and I don't know what else it could have been. She distinctly said it was the voices of the students."
Harry stared at Hermione. He remembered how horrible he had felt back in his second year, when he thought he had been going mad. He had in fact heard voices that year too, but that had all been explained with his Parseltongue.
"You think she's…mad?" Harry asked, his voice quieting instinctively on the word 'mad'.
"Oh for the love of Merlin!" Hermione said to Harry. "No! At least I don't now."
Harry raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well you see naturally I was worried. The thought that se may have been going mad came to mind but only for an instant. I never really thought Sarah was the kind of type to go mad."
Harry snorted. The thought that there was a "type" that generally went mad was slightly comical.
Hermione put on a genuine stern professor glare and continued with her story. "As I was saying, I didn't think Sarah was mad. Of course I went looking for an alternative and I realized something quite peculiar about Sarah's behavior."
Hermione paused as if waiting for Harry to ask a question. When he did not she continued.
"This was not the first of odd things to happen with Sarah. As I'd mentioned before she was complaining about dizzy spells and headaches, all symptoms I assumed from work overload. But when I thought about it I decided there must be some sort of pattern. This of course was not to suggest anything more than what I had already expected, so I slept on it.
"The night after she had passed out, I had a dream about our seventh year. It was pretty unimportant except for one thing. For one moment in the dream you, Ron, and I were about to go through the portrait hole and Ron had forgotten the password. I remembered it, but the fact someone had forgotten the password reminded me of something."
Harry peered at her quizzically, encouraging her to go on.
"Do you remember on the first day of our seventh year term we all had forgotten the password? Well Sarah knew it. It was all we needed so at the time I thought nothing of it, but if you think about…how would a first year know the common room password and Ron and I didn't? We were Head Boy and Girl, shouldn't we have known? It just didn't make sense."
Harry thought back to that day they had first met Sarah. He remembered how stunned she was to meet him and how much she had looked up to Ron and Hermione for being Head Boy and Girl. That day did seem to be rather branded into his memory, and Hermione was right, Sarah had known the password.
"How odd," Harry said faintly.
Hermione nodded. "That brought to my attention all the other little things Sarah seemed to know last year. She seemed to know about Ron and I before it even happened!" Hermione blushed at the recollection.
Harry chuckled. "Hermione. I hardly think that's impressive. EVERYONE knew about you and Ron before is happened."
"Not a first year that barely knew us!" Hermione insisted, although she was blushing a deeper shade of red.
"Well you did sort of make yourselves obvious-"
"The point is," Hermione interrupted before all the blood rushed to her face. "She seemed to know things. And in her first year it was just little things, that no one really found all that apparent, but lately she's been saying things that…well seem odd for her to know."
"Like what?" Harry asked, feeling an odd squirming feeling in his stomach.
"Well once when we were having tea, I was about to tell her about Ginny being pregnant, but she cut me to the chase. She said, 'Ginny's pregnant right?' I was shocked that she would've known. I mean she hasn't seen Ginny since the wedding, right?"
"Right…"Harry said slowly.
"You didn't owl her about the baby, did you?"
Harry shook his head feeling rather guilty. "No, we didn't."
Hermione nodded her head in one quick jerk. "That's what I assumed. This along with the small things from first year, and other miniscule things that have happened in the past, I was able to do a little bit of research."
Hermione reached under her desk and pulled out a dusty tome that was about the thickness of a shoebox. She blew off the sheet of dust and Harry could see its title gleaming from the cover. Though its gold letters were old and peeling off the book, he made out the words, "Mind Tricks of the Physic" on it.
"Physic?" Harry asked in disbelief.
Hermione nodded and opened it up to a page that she had previously book marked.
"Listen to this. 'An Optipsyche, coming from the Latin root 'optic' for 'eye' and the Greek root 'psyche' for 'mind', is someone who can see into the minds of others. This is a gift you are born with and can only be found in the genetic makeup of wizards and witches. Small signs in an Optipsyche are shown at an early age of 10 or shortly after, but are usually not too obvious to notice. In most cases the Optipsyche will not even be aware themselves that they have a gift. As they mature in age signs may become obvious to those around them, although the Optipsyche may not know themselves as it is a rare gift and not eminent. They will, however, begin to experience flights of dizziness, headaches, sleepiness, and occasional fainting. This is usually caused by the sudden flights of dizziness.
'In the first stages of discovery (usually in the middle teens) in an Optipsyche they may be able to hear others thoughts. Many premature Optipsyche have believed themselves to have gone mad because of the sudden occurrence of voices that only they can hear. Until they learn to control this gift the "voices" will continue. If and when and Optipsyche learns to control the gift they will be able to 'read minds' at will, although they will still find themselves knowing things that no one else knows. In the older years of their lives they will still be able to read minds at will, although they will become somewhat omniscient in the case of knowing more than others, but they will never know everything. Some say that an Optipsyche never knows anything, but has only complex brain abilities that make them more susceptible to understanding people's emotions, although this has yet to be confirmed. The only still living Optipsyche at this time (A/N: I don't know what year Harry Potter is based in, so bare with me!) is Albus Dumbledore, the current Head Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'"
Harry sat and stared at Hermione in absolute stunned silence. "You mean Sarah is-"
"An Optipsyche. It all fits," Hermione said. Her eyes had lost the spark they had had when she was telling the story.
'Why so glum?" Harry asked, taking a bite of strawberry tart. "It sounds amazing to me."
"Harry! Don't you see? Sarah doesn't have complete control over her gift yet! In fact she doesn't even know anything about it. If she doesn't learn how to control this gift she could go mad…or worse."
"What could be worse then going mad?" Harry asked in complete bewilderment.
"Her gift could fall into the wrong hands," Hermione said.
Harry slowly began to comprehend what she meant. A flash of his fifth year and Voldemort using Occlumency against him flew through his mind.
"Why are you telling me this?" Harry asked. "What do I need to do?"
Hermione squirmed in her chair. "Well since you are an Auror, I was hoping that maybe you could do some expanded research on the subject. I'm sure you have access to much more useful information at your office. And if it comes down to it, you may need to find out how to control it. Sarah is going to need all the help she can get."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because you have some first hand experience with Occlumency. The two seem to be related somehow."
Harry nodded. His job with Luna could wait. Because if Hermione was right, Sarah could be in danger.
A/N: Yay Sarah's back! A lot of you had been asking for her return and I knew I needed it. I told you she would play a bigger role this fic. Anyway I truly hope this chapter was worth the wait. I happened to think it was a little on the rusty side, so I hope y'all enjoyed it. Now the results of last month's poll are *drum roll* 9 people participated and 2 voted for Ruben, 6 voted for Clay, 1 was rooting for Ruben but now likes Clay more! As for me? Do I really need to answer this question? CLAY ALL THE WAY BABY! He rox my sox! Well here is this weeks (oh, maybe I shouldn't say week...) poll. WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GOOD FANFIC, WHAT DO YOU SEARCH FOR FIRST? SHORT AND WELL WRITTEN FLUFF? OR LONG DRAWN OUT ACTION WITH SOM FLUFF ON THE SIDE? Send in your preference with your review! Thanx so much for waiting!
STOP!! IMPORTANT NEWS!! I am sorry to say that I am leaving for Mexico with my youth group tomorrow. (February 13th) I have no idew when I will be getting around to writing again, although I will bring my fanfic notebook with me for brainstorming. Hopefully I can get some work done. Again I'm sorry for the wait. Writer's block sucks breath mints, and I hope to see y'all again very soon. Love y'all!
Your Procrastinating Writer,
'Mione Weasley