Chapter 9 – An Innocence Lost – Final part
It was an indescribable feeling being up in the air, surrounded by a strange aura for both Ginny, and Hermione. Neither realized that there was an intense battle going on in Harry's mind.
"Who do I care about more?" Harry questioned himself. They are both special to me in so many ways, he thought. Harry's mind raced at the possibilities both girls offered, and he could not seem to wrap his head around any of them at all. It all seemed so surreal to him, that he would even be thinking these thoughts towards either Hermione, or Ginny.
"What in the heck is going on Albus?" Molly Weasley asked, scared for all three of them. She looked down at Harry, concern etched on her face, and a certain despair creeping into her eyes. She then looked at the two girls hovering in the air. There was Hermione, a girl almost like a daughter, and then there was Ginny, her own fifteen year old daughter, who was being torn from side to side by two different boys.
Harry had never shown any interest in any girl as far as Molly knew, which was just as well to Ron, and Hermione, as well as Ginny, since she didn't know about the Cho disaster, and all her fright seemed to take hold of her all at one moment. How would she be able to hold on to all three, all so dear to her.
"I believe Harry has narrowed down his feelings towards Ms. Granger, and young Ms. Weasley," was all Albus could say. "I have my opinions as to what is happening, but they are little more than that at the moment.
Molly's worst feelings were confirmed. If Dumbledore didn't have a firm feeling as to what was going on, whom could she count on.
Severus Snape watched the scene play out with a little sneer. How could someone so young defeat the Dark Lord, he thought to himself. The sneer was never out of place whence it came to Harry Potter, but now it looked more like a true hatred had finally boiled up beneath Severus Snape, and it looked like it was about to boil over.
Petunia Dursley watched the scene with a mixture of shock, and surprise. She had never expected top see such a spectacle within a few days of reentering the magical world. This was not what she had come to expect from life, but as Dumbledore looked on, she noticed his eyes turn her way, as if to say "He's always been this way."
"What is wrong with her?" Boris Parkinson asked his master, the Dark Lord.
"If I told you how long she had to live, my friend, it would not help you. She will die in the name of the Death Eaters fight for purification of the magical world.
"But, I want to know what happened to her?
"She was picked by some sort of ancient magic, something that Dumbledore claims is the ultimate magic, but she appears to have been rejected all the same.
"Can we do anything to help her?
"No," Voldemort said in a chilly voice. "She is beyond saving.
Harry finally came to wake up, and became aware that one of his best friends was floating in the air, and his other best friend's sister was also floating in the air. Shaking his head, as if to free it from cobwebs, he carefully got off the table he landed on, and looked at them both.
"What happened here?" he asked, and looked over at Dumbledore for an explination.
"Do you not know about anything that happened?" Dumbledore asked, to which Harry shook his head no, and then hesitated for a second, as if remembering some details.
"I think I killed someone," he said finally, and everyone in the room gasped, except for Severus Snape, and Dumbledore, who just looked on and waited for Harry to continue.
"I remember coming back form a run, and then passing out. After that, I don't really remember anything, until I heard someone calling for Voldemort. I think it was Pansy Parkinson's father. I don't know what happened, but I think she had the same glow around her, like Ginny and Hermione do, and I also remember seeing a muggle with the same glow around her, and lastly Luna.
"That is interesting. Severus, I need you to report to him, please," Dumbledore said with authority, and Snape nodded his head, and left Grimmauld Place. "That is very interesting. How could Pansy Parkinson, a muggle, Tonks, Hermione, and Ginny, amd Miss Lovegood all be related?
"Don't you have any idea as to this puzzle?" Arthur Weasley asked.
"My only guess would be that Harry felt strong feelings towards each, however I can not even guess as to how the muggle girl ended up in this chain. Pansy was thrown against a wall, possibly because Harry rejected her. Tonks merely descended to the floor, and more than likely the muggle girl did as well, although that is not something I can even guess about right now, since I don't have all the information needed.
"So, why are these two still in the air?" Harry asked.
"You have to pick which one you love," Remus said, and Dumbledore simply nodded.
"But, I don't love either," Harry said stubbornly.
"Listen to what your heart says Harry," Remus told him. "There is no other reason for them to be up there. Your father never gave up on love, and he wouldn't want you to either. After everything you have gone through in your life, don't you feel you need some happiness?
"I can't do that to either of them!" Harry bellowed. "If I do anything, Voldemort will find out, and use them to get to me. I can't inflict that on anyone.
"Trust in yourself, laddie," Mad Eye said. "You will make the right choice for yourself, and we can do the rest. We can do everything in our power to make sure You-Know-Who won't find out anything.
"I choose…
"Who do you choose, Harry?" a voice said to them all. To Dumbledore's astonishment, and Remus' great shock, it sounded as if it was the voice of Lily Evans, Harry's dead mother.
"I choose…
"Who do you choose son?" another voice came down. This time, it sounded as if it was James Potter, Harry's dead father.
"I choose…
"Which one suits your fancy?" came another voice. This one, much to Harry's astonishment, sounded as if it was Sirius.
"I choose…
"You will have to pick one of them," the three voices said together.
"I choose, my choice, is…
Back in America, Kissie was looking about the kitchen, wondering if anything else would happen to her. She was not sure what had happened to her, but she was not very keen to repeat the experience. It had greatly unnerved her to be sitting one moment, then to be floating the next.
"Is it over?" he father asked.
"I sure hope so," Kissie answered him, and hugged him as if trying to say it was over non-verbally.
"I choose…
"Make a choice already," Mundungus said.
"I choose… them both," Harry finished, but they both stayed in the air. It was clear to Harry and the others, that one of them would feel left out.
"You have to choose one, or the other of us," Ginny mentioned. "Don't worry about hurting our feelings if you don't choose one of us, but if you choose neither of us, we may both end up being dead.
"You have to choose, Harry," Hermione told him kindly. "We will all support your decision.
"I choose…
"Hurry up mate," Ron said, and Molly and Arthur hushed him. They both knew that this was not a decision that Harry should rush towards.
"I choose…Ginny," he said quietly, and then both Hermione and Ginny floated back towards the floor, the auras surrounding all three of them, and then an explosion of light erupted from Harry, and seemed to envelop all three of them.
"What was that?" Petunia asked.
"If my observations are correct, Harry just gave some of his power to both Ginny, and Hermione," Dumbledore smiled.
"What do you mean?
"We discussed this earlier," Dumbledore intoned. "When Harry fell into the deep sleep he was in, we figured he was going through something having to do with his powers. It looks like it was indeed.
"But, what was that flash then?" Tonks asked quietly.
"Harry passed some of his powers onto both Ginny, and Hermione, and in doing so, he helped himself absorb the powers he has been given. We won't know what those powers are until Poppy can check on him, however I have my suspicions.
"Has something like this ever happened before?" Remus Lupin asked.
"Not as far as I am aware, but it has been described before in the time of Merlin, several hundred years ago. This kind of situation has never been discussed by any former Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts, but that doesn't mean that something like this hasn't happened before. Miss Granger?
"Yes, Professor?" Hermione said, a little groggy from the experience still.
"Have you seen about anything like this in any of the books you have read?
"If I remember correctly, it was mentioned briefly in Hogwarts: A History, from back in the time of the four founders. According to the book, it is a legend that was set back when Godric Gryffindor was going through some traumatic times, and both Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff both rose up into the air in the same way both Ginny and I did/
"Does this mean Harry is a direct descendant of Gryffindor?
"We can not be sure of that," Dumbledore said quietly, "since all records of Godric's family lines were all erased from the files at Hogwarts. I have gone through them many times, however whenever I look at the files for Godric, everything seems to go blank after him. Now, it may be possible that he himself was the last of his line, however I do not believe that to be so. I believe his line continues, even to this day.
"Is there not anything in the Ministry with regards to the founders families?" Molly asked.
"Not that any of us can get to," Moody announced. "Arthur is not that high ranking, so he would never get the security clearance, so we would never know.
"I think Hogwarts: A History might have a bit about this," Hermione mentioned. She ran off to get her copy, and was back within a minute.
"Ah yes," Dumbledore announced. "This has much more of the lines than the school itself has, since our records are not magically updated, unlike the book. This lists the whole of Gryffindor's line, and includes me, of course, and Harry.
Harry looked over at Dumbledore, as if Dumbledore had made a mistake. Harry had never expected to be related to Dumbledore in such a way, and of course he never expected to be related, however distantly to Godric Gryffindor.
"This just can't be possible," Harry muttered to himself.