The
sunrays crept through the open windows, and reached Harry's four
poster bed, waking him up. Still tired, Harry got out of his bed, and
directly headed downstairs. Hermione, Ron, Parvati, Lavender, and
Ginny were gathered around something he couldn't have seen quite
clearly.
"Good morning friends," said Harry
happily.
"Oh, good morning Harry," replied Hermione.
"Come down and look at what we've got here."
"What?"
asked Harry.
"Just come down here," added Hermione
quickly.
"Allright," proclaimed Harry slowly, yawning.
He came downstairs, and approached the group of his friends.
"
So, what's the big deal?" he asked. Then, Ginny and Lavender
sort of moved away, and Harry saw the thing they were hiding from
him. It was a weird looking creature that looked very familiar to
him. He's seen it before. It was...
"Winky!" shouted
Harry in disbelief.
"Ssssh! You'll wake her up!" said
Parvati.
"Sorry," apologized Harry," so, how did
she come here anyway?"
"Well, maybe she sort of dozed
off when she was cleaning last night," said Hermione.
"Look,
let's wake her up, she's supposed to be with the other house-elves
preparing breakfast in the kitchens," spoke Lavender.
"Do
we have to?" asked Ginny, stretching.
"Well, we can't
have her here all day, can we?" asked Hermione. Then, Hermione
and Harry were patting Winky on her large bat-like ears and on her
head. For moments, nothing happened. And then, suddenly, Winky jumped
out of the armchair, with horror.
"Good to see you sir and
Miss," spoke Winky, still shaking.
"What is it Winky?"
asked Hermione kindly.
"Winky is having a nightmare Miss. A
very terrible nightmare," answered Winky.
"What was it?"
asked Ron.
"Master Barty is welcoming Winky back home sir,
Winky is very happy, and then...He Who Must Not Be Named turns out
in the backyard and kills Master Barty...and then...then..." she
was in tears.
"It's allright Winky," said Hermione,
calming her down, "it was only a nightmare. It's not real."
"But...but...it's looking so real, Miss," said
Winky.
"Don't worry Winky," said Ginny politely.
"
Winky must go now, sirs and Misses. Winky must help prepare
breakfast," spoke Winky, getting away from the group and heading
to the exit.
"Oh, Winky, if Dobby's there, tell him I said
Hi," proclaimed Harry happily.
"Winky is sir. Winky will
tell Dobby. Goodbye," and she left.
"God, she still must
be in that shock of Mr. Crouch setting her free," said Ron.
"You
can't blame her. She simply loved working for him," said
Harry.
"Listen," began Harry, in a quiet voice,"
we've still got about fifty minutes till classes begin, I'm going to
ask Firenze about the vision, ok?"
"Better hurry up,"
said Ron.
"Good luck," said Hermione.
After that ,
Harry got out of the armchair, and headed to the door. He was walking
faster than normal, very keen to get Firenze's advice and explanation
of the vision he had. Only last year, Professor Trelawney got sacked,
and the centaur Firenze, was made the new Divination teacher.
Obviously, he couldn't have climbed up the stairs to reach North
Tower. So, he taught Divination in classroom eleven. He had turned
the classroom to his natural habitat, the forest. It was green,
grassy, and beautiful as Harry remembered it.
At last, he reached
the classroom's door, and knocked three times, but there was no
answer. Then, Harry thought he'd saw something moving behind him. He
realized that there was a very big tall shadow on the door, when he
turned around...
"Good day Mr. Potter, have you been wanting
to see me?" spoke the voice of a centaur.
"Firenze! You
scared me!" said Harry, catching his breath.
"Sorry for
that. So, shall we enter?" and Firenze opened the door to enter
the classroom. Just as Harry remembered it, the room was green, full
of leafy trees, and the ground was grassy. Harry went to the front of
the class, and sat under the shadows of two lovely trees.
"Um...Professor...the other night, I had some type of
vision, that was really bad and terrible. So, um...I came here
seeking your explanation. That's of course it you didn't mind.."
"Not
at all Mr. Potter. So, what did you see?"
"Well, here it
is," began Harry, "I was walking in the corridors of the
eighth floor of this castle. Then, I was looking around me, as though
some danger was approaching. Then, I came near to a door, and opened
it. The room I entered was so dark. After that, I heard some cold
voices, voices of dementors. I tried to say the incantation that was
used to drive them away, the Patronus charm, but nothing happened. I
was nervous. They came closer, and lifted me in the air. Then, I saw
a big wolf come near to me. Its mouth opened, and the voice of
Voldemort spoke (Firenze winced a bit). Sorry about that. Then, he
gave me a talk about waiting sixteen years for this glorious moment.
Then, he used the killing curse... and the next thing I knew was that
I was lying still on the floor, probably dead,"
"Is that
all?" queried Firenze.
"Yes, that's all I can remember,"
answered Harry.
"I see... Well, in the beginning, you
wondered across the corridors of the eighth floor, am I
correct?"
"Yes,"
"Perhaps this suggests
that you'll somehow be lost, but looking for something. And when you
looked around you, it meant that something you fear was waiting for
you."
"When you entered the room, was it really dark?"
asked Firenze.
"Yes, I couldn't have seen a thing,"
replied Harry.
"Well, I think this means that you're days are
growing darker and darker,"
"What does that
mean?"
"You're reaching the end?"
"End of
what?"
"Then end of this matter between you and the Dark
Lord, that no one really understands," answered Firenze.
"I
understand now," said Harry, in a disappointed voice.
"
Did you say that dementors were present in the scene?" asked
Firenze quickly.
"Yes, ten of them at least," answered
Harry.
"Oh my...a group of people are searching for you. A
group of people you never trusted and you always hated are willing to
... perhaps kill you...the servants of the Dark Lord Mr.
Potter,"
"Death Eaters!" Harry spoke
nervously.
"Exactly my dear," said Firenze, trying to
calm Harry down, "then, the end of it was, your death?"
"Yes,"
"Dear me.. I ... I must stop here. Furthermore talking would
risk the chances of you getting on with your day," said Firenze,
turning his back to Harry. Harry got up, and walked closer to
Firenze.
"What? Why can't you talk a bit more?" asked
Harry, touching Firenze's hand. Firenze's hand held Harry's, and he
was patting him.
"My dear Mr. Potter, possibly, you wouldn't
understand it now...at this age," began Firenze, " if I
continue talking, something bad will happen."
"And what
is that?" said Harry, pulling his hand gently out of Firenze's
grip.
Firenze was speechless.
"Come on Professor, you've
got to tell me,"
"Why do you think that is necessary?"
asked Firenze.
"Because...because...then I'll know the truth
about my future, I'll be able to do something to prevent the bad
thing that's going to happen, even if it was my death,"
"Mr.
Potter, all the things I said were nothing more or less than my
predictions. I cannot admit that I know the exact future, because no
one knows. I think it's best if I don't continue on talking,"
"I
don't care what the things you've said are! I just want to know
what's going to happen!" roared Harry
furiously.
"Perhaps...someday, you will know your fait,"
said Firenze softly.
"Firenze, I'm begging you, tell me! I've
escaped Voldemort five times now, why couldn't I do it again? Even if
I had to suffer the great pains.. I want to..."
"Mr.
Potter, this is all I can say now. I cannot say anymore,"
"Well,
allright, perhaps Trelawney would've been able to explain this more.
She loved predicting my death," said Harry angrily, going near
the door.
"It was nice meeting you again Mr. Potter. If you
ever had something seen, something vague that you cannot understand,
I'll be happy to help you. I'll always be here,"
"Well...thank
you," Harry stepped out of the classroom and was checking his
watch. He totally forgot about the time. Fifteen more minutes were
left till his first lesson began. So, he dashed to Gryffindor Common
Room to get his supplies for the day, and accompanied Hermione and
Ron to the classes.
"Well, what did he say?" asked
Ron.
"Can't you wait till lunch?" replied Harry with a
question.
"No, " answered Hermione.
" Well, he
said something about my days growing darker, and me reaching the end
of it,"
"End of what?" asked Hermione. " Be
more specific Harry."
"Fine," muttered Harry. "He
said that I'll be lost and looking for something that's been waiting
for me. He also said that the dementors resembled a group of people I
always hated coming nearer to me... Death Eaters. When he reached the
end, he stopped. He said that he didn't want to continue on speaking.
That's all. Satisfied now?"
"Why didn't he want to
continue on talking though?" asked Ron.
"I don't know
Ron," said Harry.
"Whatever he was planning to say,
must've been highly surprising and shocking to Harry" said
Hermione.
After that, they reached Hermione's Study of Ancient
Runes class. Hermione waved goodbye to Harry and Ron and entered the
class. Then, Harry walked with Ron till they reached Divination. Ron
clapped Harry on the back, wished him a nice day, and went in. Harry
was heading to his classroom, Defence Against the Dark Arts. He was
to teach the Gryffindor and Slytherin second years now about the
properties of Devil Cats, dark creatures that were highly dangerous
if not handled properly.
Harry was still mad about Firenze and
angrier because he didn't know the exact truth. However, he at last,
managed to get over it. The door stood before him, and he heard
noises of students waiting for him inside. He got in, went to the
front of the class, smiled at everyone, and the lesson began.
