Chapter 8: The Prophecy

After several minutes of silence, Hermione rose from her seat and began to pass out blankets, through an unspoken agreement they lay down to sleep content to discuss these events in the morning. They were all fast asleep half an hour later when Mrs. Weasley looked in to check on them.

Harry awoke several hours later to find that it was still dark; looking around to see what woke him. Straining his ears heard Hermione crying faintly into her pillow. He moved silently over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "'Mione, it's going to be alright, I'm here for you if you need me." She sat up and hugged him, and they sat there clinging to each other, Hermione crying into his shoulder, when she fell asleep Harry shifted her so that her head rested on his shoulder and allowed her to sleep on, he then drifted off to sleep.

They awoke the next morning to find the other four staring at them, Ron and Ginny both had a sickly green tint. Neville and Luna looked seemed amused by the looks on the Weasleys' faces. "Morning," Harry mumbled, shifting slightly and groaning at the stiffness in his muscles. He reached out to the table next to him to grab his glasses, they weren't there. "Anybody seen my glasses?"

"Umm…Harry, mate your wearing your glasses," Ron informed him, looking a little concerned.

Harry reached up to his face and sure enough he had his glasses on, he pulled them off, "Whoa," he could see, clearly, "I can see, without my glasses, although you do all seem to be glowing. Ron is sort of light blue, with traces of purple and green. And Ginny is…"

Harry was cut off, as Hermione squealed and threw her arms around his neck. "Harry, do you know what you are doing? You're seeing their auras! Those are the emotions bands, can you see the others?"

Harry eased her away from him, and gazed at Ginny; her aura turned slightly pink before he mentally pushed it away, bringing forward a new type of light, this light was stable and consisted strictly of one color, he looked from Ginny to the others, and sure enough they each had one color of light. Once again he forced this away saw another band of light, this one was the most beautiful of all, it seemed to combine multiple colors for light without them actually being separated, the color more than anything seemed to feel different, and the light was actually a halo, which seemed to posses no color. "Yeah, I can see all three of them."

"Wow, that's cool, do you think we will all be able to see auras?"

They all paused to think for a moment, before Hermione answered his question. "I suppose it is possible but, I would not hold out much hope, I mean after all Dumbledore said that Harry is much more powerful than the rest of us."

They all turned to door as Mrs. Weasley came bustling in carrying a tray, "Good Morning, dears, I brought you some breakfast, I wasn't sure what Neville and Luna liked so I brought some of everything. Can I get you anything else, from any part of the house? I know Professor Dumbledore has asked you to say in here."

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley, I think we would all like some clean cloths, and there is a book in the Library that I would like on aura reading, please."

"Of course, dear, I will bring those things right back for you." And as she walked back out the down, the all sat down to eat the feast that she had prepared for them.

"So, what powers do you think we all have?" asked Ron, through a mouth full of scrambled eggs.

"Well, so far you can levitate, Neville has the ability to heal without aid of potions or spells, Luna is a seer, Ginny can blast things wandlessly, with a level of power that no wizard I've heard of ever could, I can see auras, and it seems Harry can to, but he also appears to have some other powers that I can't identify."

"Seems odd though, I mean what do we need so much power for, okay so we tend to attract trouble but that still doesn't explain it," Ginny said all this while looking directly at Harry, as if she knew there was something that he had not told them.

Harry dropped his head into his hands and sighed, he remained like this as Mrs. Weasley brought in the things Hermione had requested and a few extra magazines. When she left he looked up at them all, a little uncertain of how he should proceed. He took a deep breath and began, "You all know that the thing Voldemort wanted from the Department of Mysteries was a prophecy, and you all know that the prophecy was smashed and no one heard it." He looked up at them and they nodded their confirmation, "The part you don't know is that, some one did hear that prophecy, but not that night in the Ministry. Professor Dumbledore heard the prophecy when it was made. I think the prophecy maybe part of the reason we are so powerful, I think it may be fate's way of giving the world a chance. So here it goes, 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as an equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…' So you see why, we may need to have extra power, I can't do it without you guys."

"Well be there for you mate, but can I ask you what 'the power the Dark Lord knows not' is supposed to be?"

"It's love, Ron, Harry's ability and capacity to love." Hermione said looking at him piteously. "He's right though, we will be right beside you; you're my brother Harry I couldn't leave you to face something like that alone." Harry looked up at her and beamed at her words.

Neville was sitting up ramrod straight, looking like he would be sick, "I was…it said…it could have been me…we even have the same birthday," he said in a high-pitched voice. Then he shook himself cleared his throat, and said "You can count on me, I'll be there, because I know you would have been if I were the one."

"You can always count on me Harry, you're my friend and I will always be there to help you." Harry's heart fell as Ginny spoke, he never would have thought those words could hurt so much, 'you're my friend.' They all looked toward Luna.

"Absolutely, I'll be there, have to keep the world safe for the Crumpled Horn Snorkack." Hermione rolled her eyes but, decided it was not the time to argue with the Ravenclaw girl.

"Thank you, all of you, for your support, I could not ask for a better group of friends," Harry said fighting back tears, at their loyalty and belief in him. They all looked so confident in him, not even wondering as he did if he would really be able to defeat Voldemort.

Sensing Harry's distress, Hermione quickly changed the subject, "Harry, you really should start looking through textbooks today. I am going to shower, and then I want to do some research on auras but after that if you need me to I will help you look." She said this in a brisk matter of fact tone, that reminded them all of Professor McGonagall. When she finished speaking she rose and headed for the door conjured the night before.

Neville and Luna turned to look at Harry, "Is she trying to get you to do Homework? I don't remember getting…" Neville asked looking at Harry with panic written on his face.

Harry chuckled a little, before clarifying, "No, we didn't have any homework, Professor Dumbledore has asked that I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."

"Awesome, Harry, I learned more from you in the DA, than form any of our Defense professors, even Professor Lupin…"

"I am sorry that, I could not be of more assistance Neville," Remus teased the boy as he entered the room. Neville looked like he would die of embarrassment, and accidentally fell of off his seat. "It's alright Mr. Longbottom, it is good to hear that Harry will be so successful in educating the students."

"Remus," Harry greeted him, jumping to his feet and catching him in a hug, "where have you been, we have been in here for two days, and a visit from a Marauder would have done us wonders."

As the two broke apart, Hermione stepped out of the bathroom, hair still wet, dressed in clean cloths, "Remus," she gasped hurrying over and giving him a hug, "it is so good to see you, I was just wondering when you planned to come visit, the Grimmauld Place Quarantine Ward."

"Surely, it is not so bad, but actually I was afraid that I would be blown to bits." Temper rose in Ginny, and Ron lapsed into a fit of giggle and started to leave the floor again, he began to panic until he looked and saw Harry, even higher off the floor than himself. "Boys, clear your minds and picture yourself slowly descending back to the floor." They both did as they were told and Harry descended gently back down and landed on his feet, there was a loud thump and they knew Ron had not had as much luck. Ron quickly got to his feet his ears turning bright red.

"I actually came to say good bye, I have to go away for awhile on Order business, but I should be back in time to see you two to the school train. Also Hermione, I spoke with you parents lawyer and you have been placed under my care until you come of age also we have arranged to have all of their assets converted to galleons and placed in a Gringotts account. I'm sorry to bring this up but I felt you needed to know." With that he pulled Harry and Hermione into another hug. When he released them he headed towards the door, calling over his shoulder, "See the rest of you when it is time to go to the train."

"See ya, Professor."

"Stay safe."

"Watch out for heliopaths."

"Sorry and good bye."

The rest of the morning passed peacefully. Luna and Ginny passed the time reading Teen Witch Weekly, and gossiping about their classmates. Neville and Ron played chess and Harry and Hermione each took up a book to begin there research. The next time they looked up it was to see Mrs. Weasley bringing lunch into them; Harry glance at his watch and was shocked to discover that it was nearly one o'clock.

"You will need to eat quickly; Professor McGonagall will be here to see you in half an hour. How was your morning? Did Remus stop in to say good bye?"

"Yes, Mum he did, and we have had a good morning, thank you for bringing us lunch," Ginny said before taking a plate of food.

"I'm glad; I'll just be in the kitchen; call me if you need me."

They ate in silence, wondering how their teacher planned to determine what powers they possessed. As Harry looked around the room, at the nervous faces of his friends, he was reminded of his arrival at Hogwarts. He remembered standing in the entrance hall staring at the doors to the Great Hall and wondering what awful test would determine their school houses. Harry could not help but laugh; the incredulous looks on his friends' faces only made him laugh even more. "Sorry, guys it's just that this reminded me of our first day at Hogwarts, do you remember? We were all standing in the entrance hall, and everybody looked so terrified not knowing what the ceremony would be." At that the others began to laugh as well and the mood in the room increased greatly. They talked about the coming year, about what classes would be like, who the new care of magical creatures instructor would be, then the topic changed to Quidditch, and who the new Gryffindor team would be. Neville surprised them all when he mentioned that he would be trying out as a chaser, since he knew there were three open spots, he had been training all summer until Dumbledore came to collect him. After this announcement the door opened and in walked their Transfiguration Professor.