Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter!

This is an interlude that sets up Chapter 27. The next chapter, which should be up in a few hours, is the first of three taking place on Halloween.

Interlude: The Sea in Storm

The Sanctuary

October 27th, 1994

Dear Harry:

I know you're probably surprised to hear from me, and wondering what in the world I'm doing sending a letter to you now, when I haven't written in months. Well, I'll answer that question first, and then explain the other things you'll need to know.

I'm coming to Hogwarts on Halloween to see you. I'm not coming alone, so don't worry that I'll get captured by Aurors the moment I step out of my hiding place. One of my hosts will be coming with me. She feels the need to see you, and she thinks that she and the others have managed to weaken my phoenix web enough that you can safely remove the final remnants of it.

As to where I've been…well, the problem with this is mostly the language that I need to use to explain matters to you. I can call my hosts Seers, because they are, but that doesn't mean the same thing that it does when applied to a charlatan like Trelawney. They don't See the future, and they don't make prophecies, except educated guesses based on knowledge of human character and intelligence. They See the present, and the true state of human souls. I think the best term I've heard is clairvoyant, although even that has other meanings.

You see why this is confusing.

Most of the Seers find it hard to be around wizards or Muggles or magical creatures all the time; they can travel freely for a few months or years, and then they have to retreat, or their Sight would overwhelm them with all the information they're receiving. So they created the Sanctuary, which is a retiring place for Seers, and sometimes other people who have deep problems influencing their minds and souls. They surrounded it with shadows of their own creation that owls have a hard time finding their way through, and which slow down those who try to approach, long enough for the Seers to judge if they're safe. They've lifted the shadows briefly so that my owl can get to Hogwarts before Halloween. They don't consider it fair that you should have no warning of what's coming.

These Seers have a gift of absolute honesty, Harry, and thus absolute Light. One of them met me while I was spying among the Death Eaters, saw that I was not actually as dark of soul as I pretended to be, and realized why I was pretending in the first place. She offered me the peace of the Sanctuary if I was ever able to get away. That is the invitation I accepted when I left you last May, and the months here have done me more good than I can say. I am ready to come back into the world, see you again, and have the phoenix web taken off. The Seers can heal the soul, but not the more intricate portions of the mind.

As for why one of them wants to come and See you—well, they've felt the rumors of your magic even here, and we do get news, if a few weeks after everyone else in the wizarding world. They've heard of what's happened with you and Dumbledore, with you and Snape, and with you and your father. They are concerned about what impact this has had on your soul. A powerful wizard with a broken soul is not good news for anyone. The Seer who will come with me, Vera, is the same one who Saw me among the Death Eaters all those years ago, and she is rested enough after months here to make the journey again with open eyes. She is personally curious about you, since she's listened to the tales I've spun of you, and I assure you she will be sympathetic. She will not lie, however. That is anathema to any Seer.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot to mention this, in my haste to get the owl away—Remus is here as well. He has told me the story of his parting with James. He showed James the note that you sent with the antidote to the insanity potion in all innocence, thinking that James would be pleased to know his son had taken the step of healing him. James seized it and used it as evidence, and told the Aurors that Remus would testify against Snape, too. Remus argued with him, couldn't persuade him to take that back, and left. We're reconciled, in a way. Ours is a tentative sort of friendship, but even I can see that Remus needs to recover from the hold his wolf has on his soul, and I don't have any Seers' gifts. We talk and spend a little time together every day. There's no point in rushing it. He needs more healing still, though, so he won't come with me and Vera.

I know that you have other commitments on Halloween, more than likely. If Vera and I arrive when someone else is there, we are more than willing to wait. A newly recovered Seer tends to be proof against most people who might want to hurt her.

I'll see you soon, Harry. And don't even bother to write back telling me that it's dangerous for me to come or that you don't need anyone to look at you. No, it's not, and yes, you do. We're coming.

In hope,

Peter Pettigrew.