Chapter Two
Up in the tallest room of the Tower, Severus sat in one of the plain black leather chairs, staring out the window. Outside, streaks of sunlight spilt down to earth, parting the gray clouds like water breaking against stone. There was so much to tell her. So much she needed to know. He heard her footsteps first, then saw her enter, the black cat at her heel. He'd never seen here mother without the black cat either.
"Good morning to you, Kathleen."
"And the same to you, Severus. You're being pleasant this morning." Kate smiled over the rim of the cup of tea he'd given her. Pleasantly warm to her fingers, Kate sipped the steaming liquid. The astringent aroma camped out in her nose. Chamomile.
"Sara?" Severus squinted at Kali.
"No…this is Kali, Severus. Not Sara," Kate corrected.
"Ah, I must be mistaken. I could have sworn… Your mother, as I recall, had one just like her. Sara was her name."
Kate was uncomfortable hearing talk of her mother. Especially about something they shared. "A descendant daughter, maybe," she said awkwardly, looking away.
"Yes, I suppose." Severus was being meek that morning. The subject of Diana was a touchy topic. "What were you doing in the Temple Garden?"
"You saw that? How?"
"Never mind how. Why were you poking around there last night?"
"I don't know. I just felt it, I guess. What's inside?" Kate already knew, but she needed reassurance for what she saw.
"I have no way of knowing that, Kathleen. I've never been inside. Why? Did you see something?" He said see like he knew there was more to her story.
Kate nodded timidly.
"Your gift is advancing quickly. More so than I expected." His eyes dulled as if lost in a memory of long ago as Kate watched him.
"What gift?"
Snape cocked an eyebrow as if she'd gone simple. "Clairvoyance. The gift of visions," he said as if talking to a child. "Your mother had the gift. It was assumed you would as well."
"Oh. What's in the Temple? The one in the Garden?" Kate quivered at the memory of her vision. She was afraid of it, of the control it took from her.
"You've been inside? They are working in haste…"
"Yes. That's what I saw," she repeated. "Who are they?" Kate thought of the strange harp music that called her to the garden.
Severus looked away from her again. "Forces. Energies. I don't know. You can't see them, but they are always there. Always controlling the trials of men, as they have for centuries, for nearly two millennia of human life. They are always watching, Kathleen." Snape stopped again, as if just the process of sharing this was draining him. "The Temple Garden. Only those ready to see it will be able to see. Only the chosen will see it. You must be ready for its secrets, Kathleen. There is no other option. You must be ready for what lies within it, ready to be the Guardian of the Temple."
Kate sighed and asked again. He was going senile. "Do you…know what's in the Temple?"
Severus seemed to consider this for a moment, as if in another time, exploring. "The Temple holds the secret to all the evils in the world. It is rumored that the weapon of the Dark Lord resides there. In truth, I do not know what exactly is inside. I have never been there. Only a Guardian may enter. I have only theories."
"How, exactly, does one become a Guardian?"
"It's hereditary, Kathleen. I know your mother, Diana, never told you about it. She rejected the charge assigned her when you were a child. Diana thought the job to be…well, dangerous. Too dangerous for a child to be raised around. The gift to open the Garden runs through the female line." There he stopped. He shook his head and stood. He mumbled at her. "You should be discovering this on your own. Not hearing it from me. I've said too much. Goodbye, Kathleen." And again, he left her confused with a swish of his black cloak.
Days passed, turned into months and Kate remained in the Tower, watching everything from a window high in a Tower. Invisible. The air grew colder, urging the students indoors. The lake froze over and the ever-graying clouds poured the silky smooth layer of white snow over Hogwarts. Fluffy bunches of snowflakes softened the appearance of the land until it was Christmas. Since most students had gone home for the break, Dumbledore gave Kate a break from the Tower. She could roam the school as she liked for the two week holiday. Virtually only seven students had stayed behind; she only had to steer clear of them to earn her short-lived freedom.
On the first Monday morning of Kate's freedom, she woke early to begin her exploration of the mysterious Hogwarts castle. Dressed in a linen wizard's robe and warm cloak, her dark curls pulled back as securely as the pins would allow, she galloped down the many steps of the Tower and outside into the powdery snow. Making deep trails with her boots in the snow, Kate could see the Garden. A thick sheet of the airy snow sat on the ledge of the stone wall and the snow that lie before lay unmarked. Like Severus had said, only she could see the Garden. Kate hadn't tried again to enter the Garden. For one, the nights had turned bitterly cold and in the open Temple, there would surely be no heat. Two, Kate wasn't quite ready to face the Temple again. Not after it had thrown her in a vision, out of control. In Kate's arms, Kali was tucked into the cloak, sharing Kate's body heat. She was heading toward Hagrid's hut on the other side of the grounds, tucked into the outskirts of the forest. Smoke from a fire spilled out of a cobblestone chimney, dispersing into the air like a million tiny bats. The quaint little cabin stood picturesque against the dark of the forest, Kate thought walking up the steps. She knocked once. Twice. Kate hoped Hagrid was home or wasn't already busy. She had come unannounced so maybe she was unwanted. But perhaps he could answer some of Kate's questions. After all, as Groundskeeper, the Garden would be in his power.
Kate heard murmuring inside, a dark barking, then the door opened. The giant of a man with a massive amount of wiry black hair covering his whole head opened the door. A rather large and intimidating hound was pressing against Hagrid to see their guest. Kate gulped and felt Kali squirm in her arms.
"Back, Fang. Back…" Hagrid said to the dog, pressing him back into the cabin with a hand. "How can I help, ye, miss?" he directed at Kate. He was staring at Kate's wild eyes, burning with curiosity.
"I--I just had a few questions, Mister err…Hagrid."
The colossal man called Hagrid eyed her suspiciously but stepped aside to let her in, holding Fang's collar. "Err…come in, then." Her odd green eyes reminded him of someone he couldn't quite remember.
Kate muttered her thanks and stepped inside, the heat from the fire bathing her face. At the warmth, Kali jumped from Kate's arms and onto the wooden floor. Bizarrely, Fang and Kali seemed to have an understanding. They were friends. Both Kate and Hagrid watched in awe as the huge slobbering dog and the elegant black cat padded to the back of the cabin and sat together, sharing in some secret joke.
"Wow. Didn' expect tha to happen. Sit down, then."
Kate sat at the table and accepted the tea Hagrid offered. He settled himself in the chair across from her. "Hagrid, what do you know about the Temple Garden?"
Another suspicious look over the rim of the teacup. "Before I answer tha, you'd best tell me who yah are, miss."
"I'm Kathleen Bennett."
That didn't satisfy him. "Your whole name, miss."
Kate was confused, but she answered anyway. "Kathleen Clara Rose Bennett, if you must know."
Clara Rose. Diana's daughter. The next Guardian, if the legend was to be believed. Hagrid himself believed it to be something Dumbledore made up. But Hagrid trusted Hagrid beyond words. So he believed it. He cleared his throat. "I don't righ'ly know, miss. I've never had a key to it. I don' even know where it is. I've been 'ere all me life and I've never seen it. It's my guess that it's a myth. Nothin' more." He changed the subject, "I'm terribly sorry 'bout your mum, now, and your dad. That's a tragedy, that is. They was powerful for our side, they were."
Kate smiled and sipped her tea. Hagrid obviously didn't know about the Garden and she didn't want to hear about her dead parents. Not just yet. When only dregs remained at the bottom of the cup, Kate thanked Hagrid for his help and gathered Kali in her arms, headed out into the snow once again, towards the castle.
Inside the primary bulk of the fortress that was Hogwarts, Kate wandered about the corridors, her cloak abandoned in a dark corner at the front doors and Kali stalking beside her. Kate glimpsed into a room once in a while, just empty classrooms, unused during the break. The heaviness of dreams suddenly fell upon her shoulders and she blinked slowly, fighting the sensations. It was happening again. Another vision. Again, her breathing slowed and grew loud, filling her ears until it consumed her.
Kate was inside the Garden once again, starting in the Temple. As if it were the Red Sea parting, books moved apart on a shelf to reveal a box slowly opening. Inside, it was blackness. The blackness was seeping out, darkening her vision. Then, she was running, away from the blackness. Kate didn't run out of the Garden, but through it. And it seemed to go on forever. She ran past a hill overlooking a lake with a bridge and another smaller pond, made private with the covering of green trees. She ran away from the ever-growing shadow, ran and ran and ran. Finally, she collapsed with exhaustion to her knees under the overcast sky that was growing darker by the second. She was crying with frustration and fear at the darkness covering her. Breath heavy and difficult, she couldn't do it anymore. Kate's whole body shook and twitched violently and it was over. The vision spit her out of its grasp and into reality.