Okay, now how come I only have one review? I mean, it's not that hard to just type a little something. Even if you hate the story, just REVIEW and tell me so. I just want to know that people are reading this and I'm not writing this for nobody. Because if I'm writing it for nobody I might not write too much more. I know everybody says it but reviews really do inspire the writer. So come, inspire me!
Disclaimer: Me no own.
Chapter 4: The First Disappearance
Ginny lay in the Hospital Wing, the moonlight streaming through the window. After Draco had left her there that night, Madame Pomfrey calmed Ginny down enough for the girl to tell her what had happened. Then Madame Pomfrey cleaned her cuts and healed them with magic so there wouldn't be any scars. Ginny had still been shaken up afterward, so Madame Pomfrey insisted that she stay the night. Ginny had agreed, and now lay quietly, thinking things over.
Draco had called her duck and her face had gotten beaten up by some creature. What a night, Ginny thought. She wasn't very tired and she couldn't sleep. Ron would probably be wondering where she was; she hadn't gotten back to the Gryffindor common room. Oh well, let them worry. Maybe Harry will notice me now that I'm not there, Ginny thought wryly. She really did need to stop thinking about him, but she knew she couldn't. She had been in love with Harry since she first saw him. But what does an 11-year old know about love? No, maybe she wasn't in love with Harry. Was it obsession? Ginny always thought obsession went with somebody who was crazy, and she wasn't crazy, so she wouldn't call it that. Temporary infatuation? Six years didn't seem too temporary to Ginny. What was it then? What did she feel for Harry?
She sighed and turned her head. As the clock on the wall continued to tick, she heard a noise. Just a slight creaking. She sat up and looked around. Nothing looked out of place, but she still strained her ears, listening for the noise again.
Then, right before her eyes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione appeared. Hermione was holding Harry's invisibility cloak in her hands, and they were all peering at her. Then Ron rushed over to her side.
"Ginny! What happened? How come you never came back from detention? Why are you in the Hospital Wing?" Ron kept throwing questions at her, but Hermione came up and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Ron, slow down. Give her a chance to answer back." Hermione turned to Ginny, and Ginny looked at Harry, who was looking back at her. She was happy to see concern on his face.
"I was doing my detention down in Snape's office and I was cleaning out the student cupboard and this thing jumped out at me and started ripping my face to shreds. That's all, really." Ginny said all in one breathe. Ron opened his mouth to say something but Hermione interrupted him.
"That can't be all, Ginny. There must be more details. What happened?" Harry still had not said anything.
Ginny sighed. "Something jumped out of the cupboard and was attacking me. Then Malfoy cursed it or something so it fell-"
"Malfoy?" Harry and Ron said simultaneously. "What was Malfoy doing there?" Ron looked angry.
"He had a detention too that night, and we both had to clean out the student cupboard. It was very nasty actually," Ginny remembered that awful smell. She gave a slight chuckle. "It smelt so bloody disgusting. But anyway, Malfoy cursed it off and Snape made him bring me up here. Then he left, Pomfrey fixed me, I had to stay the night, that's all there is to it!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were just staring at her.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Well what was it that attacked you?" Ron questioned. "I always thought there was something living in that cupboard; it always tried to get me when I went in there. I don't think it likes me much."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I don't know what it was. I wasn't too concerned about that at the moment. Then Snape made us leave before we could ask questions. Or did Malfoy ask what it was?" Ginny thought back for a moment. The pain had been terrible, so she wasn't too sure what had happened. Also, blood had been all over her face, so she hadn't been able to see well at the time. "I really don't remember much of what happened."
"It was probably a werrel," Hermione said casually. Three sets of eyes turned to look at her.
"A what?" Harry asked.
"A werrel," Hermione said. "I read about them. They like to live in dark places, preferably malodorous ones. I suppose when you were cleaning out his home, he didn't like that too much, and since there were no more bottles or containers for him to hide behind, he felt threatened and attacked you out of self-defense. It would've been like a ball of fur, teeth, and claws, right? And brown and black in color?"
"Yeah," Ginny replied. "Well I don't think I like werrels much, then." Everybody was silent for a minute, and Harry coughed.
"Why do you have to stay here?" Ron asked. "You look fine to me."
"I don't know, Ron," Ginny said exasperated. "You know Pomfrey. She likes having people stay overnight. But she said I could leave in the morning."
"Well, we'll let you rest," Hermione said, motioning Ron and Harry towards the door. "We'll see you at breakfast tomorrow."
"Bye," Ginny said, watching the three retreating figures. When the door shut she lay back down, and after much tossing and turning, she fell sound asleep.
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The next day was Sunday. Ginny was using the last day of the weekend to catch up on homework. The teachers seemed to take pleasure in burdening their students with lots of work. Ginny grumbled to herself has she dumped her heavy load of books down onto a table in the library. Madame Pince looked up from her desk and pursed her lips at the noise Ginny was making, but Ginny didn't care; she had lots of essays to finish.
Hours went by, and before Ginny knew it, dinner was being served in the Great Hall. She had been so absorbed in her research on dragons for Snape's essay that she had completely forgotten about lunch. As she shut her book and looked up, she noticed that she was the only person left in the library.
Standing up, she stretched and sighed at the ache in her neck. Sitting hunched over for too long is not such a good idea, Ginny decided. After she had put all her books back on the shelf she walked out of the library.
On her way down to the Great Hall, she paused to use the girl's lavatory. When she was done and was washing her hands, a small group of 2nd year Ravenclaw girls walked in. One in particular looked distraught. A very short girl with long, straight blonde hair was wringing her hands and looked close to tears. Three other girls where patting her shoulders and trying to comfort her.
"But I just don't know where he could be!" The upset girl said. "He said to meet him in the Great Hall this morning because mum sent him something he wanted to show me. I haven't seen him all day!"
"Oh don't worry, Rebecca, he's probably just hiding because I beat him at Exploding Snap yesterday," one tall girl with brown hair said. "He's just ashamed, that's all. Trust me, he'll turn up soon. And if not, we'll just go to Professor Dumbledore. He'll know what to do."
The other girls murmured their reassurances as well, while Rebecca still looked troubled. Ginny hurried past them and out of the bathroom. Her stomach was rumbling and she wasn't going to let anything get in her way.
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The next day, Monday, Ginny had just finished her Potions lesson. She was in a sour mood, mainly because of Snape. She had worked so hard on that stupid essay, and what did he say about it? Lacks information. Ginny made a twisting motion with her hands, thinking of how she would like to wring Snape's neck. After letting out a small stream of curses, she slammed her bag on the ground and took a seat in Defense Against the Dark Arts.
All the students were assembled and quietly chatting when Professor Juriac strode into the room. He set down a stack of papers on his desk and turned to face his pupils with a bright smile.
"Well, I hope all of you have done the homework that I gave you last week. I will collect the papers at the end of class. Today though, we will be studying Privivero charm. The Privivero charm is used to tell the true nature of something. For example," Professor Juriac put his hand on his chin and leaned against his desk. "Say that you have two owls. One is yours, a pet. The other though, is not. Yet you cannot tell the difference between them. You simply perform the Privivero charm, and the imposter is revealed to you and to you alone. It is, per se, an epiphany. Nobody else other than the caster of the charm knows what is going on. Inside your mind, the imposter is shown to you. We will be practicing it today."
With many curious eyes watching him, Professor Juriac pulled from behind his desk a large, blue piece of poster-board. He set it on the ground, balancing it against the front of the desk. He turned and smiled at his students.
"Now," he said, his eyes twinkling with a light Ginny had never seen there before, "one of the halves of this board is not blue; it is red. However, we must cast the Privivero charm on it to see which the fake is. I will call upon each student, to see how they do. Then, after everybody has had a chance to cast the charm, we will do something a little different."
Ginny looked at her fellow students. They all seemed eager to try this Privivero charm and were gazing at the bored as if they could tell the sides apart by staring at it. She turned her attention back to the professor.
"To cast the Privivero charm, you simply point your wand at the object you wish to reveal, in this case, the board, and you say Privivero, in a strong, clear voice. The rest, you will see if you cast the charm correctly. Now, Travis, come here and you can go first."
Travis, a Hufflepuff, walked to the front of the class, looking confident. After a few quiet words between professor and student, Travis pointed his wand at the board and said, "Privivero.
A jet of blue light shot towards the blue board, and the board seemed to absorb it. Travis closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them, and smiled at Professor Juriac.
"Well, Travis, I assume you saw which side is not really blue," Professor Juriac said with a knowing smile. "Whisper it to me, so nobody else will know the answer if they do not cast the charm correctly." Travis whispered something to the professor and received a nod and another smile. Travis then returned to his seat and sat down, looking very proud.
"Okay, then. Who wants to go next?" Many hands shot into the air, including Ginny's. However, another Hufflepuff girl was called on.
After about 15 minutes, only Ginny and a few other students were left to try the Privivero charm. So far, mostly everybody had successfully been able to tell apart the sides of the board. Only a few had failed. When Professor Juriac called up Ginny, she eagerly walked to the front of the class.
"Now, Ginny," Professor Juriac said softly, "just point your wand right in the middle of the board, and say the spell." Ginny nodded and aimed her wand.
"Privivero."
Ginny's eyes were forced shut and a white light seemed to shine in her eyes. In her head, she saw the board, only this time it wasn't all blue. The right side of the board glowed red. Ginny smiled to herself, and the image disappeared. She opened her eyes and glanced at the professor, who was smiling yet again. Ginny walked up to him and whispered in his ear, "The right side is red."
"Very good, Ginny." Professor Juriac beamed at her. She turned and sat down in her seat.
After everybody in the class had attempted the charm and either failed or succeeded, Professor Juriac took the board and placed it once more behind the desk. Then he turned and faced the class.
"Now we are going to do things a little differently. Call it an experiment, if you will. You see, if this were reality, then the objects that you would be casting the spell on would probably not be a mere board. It light of this war, it could very well be a human. As you all know, with the use of a Polyjuice Potion, somebody can basically turn into someone else. In look, feel, and attitude, somebody can appear to be something they're not. The only way to tell them apart is to either wait until the potion wears off, or to use Veritaserum. In certain situations, that may not be quick enough. That is where the Privivero charm is used. Now there is one thing I haven't told you about this particular spell. When cast on a human, if done incorrectly, it backfires. The result is not too terrible. It is more like a jolt of electricity. That and it may knock the caster of the spell out for a few hours." Ginny looked warily at her fellow students, who no longer looked so excited.
"What I will need is three volunteers. Or it doesn't really matter if you volunteer; I'll get three people to help anyway. How about…" Professor Juriac searched through the classroom with his eyes, looking for students to use. "Ginny, Lilas, and Ned. You three please come up front." Ginny nervously led the way to towards Professor Juriac, followed by Lilas, a small girl in Hufflepuff, and Ned, a very tall and handsome boy in Gryffindor.
The three stood in front of the class room, darting looks at each other, remembering Professor Juriac's mentioning of a jolt of electricity. The professor gave them a reassuring nod and addressed the entire room.
"Now, I will cast an allusion spell on Lilas, and she will look exactly like Ginny." Ginny stared at Oleaney Juriac. This was going to be weird. "Ned will then cast the Privivero charm on them, to see which one is really Ginny, and which one is really Lilas. Are you ready everybody?" The three students nodded, but Ginny wasn't sure if she was.
Professor Juriac turned towards Lilas, who had a look of apprehension on her face, and shouted "Fisninani!" A pale green jet of light shot towards Lilas and she was covered in a cloud of smoke of the same color. She was completely obscured in the smoke, and Ginny couldn't see anything of her. Then the smoke cleared, and what Ginny saw gave her a shock. It was like looking into a mirror. Standing five feet away from Ginny was…Ginny. Ginny stared in shock at her clone, and leaned closer to inspect her. Sure enough, Lilas looked exactly like Ginny Weasley. The real Ginny was astounded. Lilas even had the tiny scar on her neck that she had gotten when she had been swimming and cut it on a rock.
The other students were gasping and gaping, and even Professor Juriac looked a little surprised. Both Ginny and Lilas turned back to the rest of the class.
"Ginny, Lilas, both of you step out of the class and shut the door, and then come back in, so none of us knows who the real Ginny is," Professor Juriac stated. Without a word, Ginny and Lilas exited the classroom.
Once they were outside, Lilas said, "This is really weird."
"Yeah, I know. You look exactly like me! What does it feel like?"
"It feels normal," Lilas replied, staring down at her body. "I actually feel better as you. I'm skinnier this way," Lilas giggled. Ginny offered a weak smile, and after a few moments, opened the door and they walked into the classroom.
Everybody was waiting for them. The two girls walked over to Ned and stood facing him.
"Alright, now Ned, just remember what I said, and you'll be fine." Ned gulped, nodded, and pointed his wand toward Ginny. He shouted, "Privivero!" and a blue light hit her, and Ginny felt oddly light, like she was floating. She felt totally oblivious to her surroundings, but was yanked out of her dreaminess when she heard Ned yell. Ginny opened her eyes and stared at Ned, who was lying unconscious on the floor. Professor Juriac rushed to his side and felt his pulse. He relaxed some, and called over another boy.
"Levitate him to Madame Pomfrey and tell her what happened." The boy nodded and left with Ned floating behind him. Then Professor Juriac walked over to Ginny and Lilas. "Which one of you is Lilas?" he asked, looking back and forth between the two girls. Lilas raised her hand. The professor murmured a few words that Ginny did not here, and when she turned around she was facing Lilas who looked like Lilas, not Ginny.
"Class is dismissed for today," Professor Juriac called out, and everybody immediately gathered their things together and headed out the door. Ginny lingered behind, and after everyone was gone, she approached her teacher.
"Umm, Professor?" Ginny questioned. Oleaney Juriac looked up from his desk, where he was busy writing a letter.
"Oh, yes, Ginny? Did you have a question?"
"Well, sir, will Ned be alright? I mean, what happened to him?" Professor Juriac looked thoughtful for a moment, and then answered her.
"Well, Ginny, the spell did not work," he kept writing his letter. "He cast the spell at one particular person instead of both of you. I explained to the other students while you and Lilas went outside how the backfiring process worked if the spell was cast incorrectly. Obviously, Ned did not do it right. Don't worry; he will be awake in a few hours. In the mean time, though," he put down his quill and folded the paper, "would you please deliver this to Professor McGonagall? It is a note explaining why Ned will not be in her class."
"Yes, Professor," Ginny nodded and grabbed the letter. Then she turned and left to deliver the note.
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The next evening at dinner, Ginny was just finishing a second helping of treacle tart. She gave a small burp, but nobody noticed. Ginny was especially thankful for that, since Harry was sitting directly across from her, talking to Ron about Quidditch. Hermione had her nose stuffed in a surprisingly thin book, and was ignoring her two best friends' idle chatter.
She was about to leave to finish off some homework when Professor Dumbledore stood.
"I have an announcement to make, and it is not of pleasant things." Indeed, Dumbledore did not look happy, but rather grave. "It seems one of our students is missing." The previously quiet hall suddenly filled with whisperings. Ginny glanced over at the Ravenclaw table and saw the girl she had seen yesterday, Rebecca. She looked somber. "It seems we cannot find Albert Harding, a 3rd year Ravenclaw boy. If anybody has seen him in the last two days, or sees him since now, please tell one of the teachers or me at once. We have posted pictures and information about him in all the common rooms. We do not think he is in any danger, rather that perhaps he has gotten lost somewhere in the castle. There are many passageways and tunnels that have yet to be discovered, and we are hoping that he has stumbled into one of these and has not found his way out. We will be conducting searches soon, and we urge everybody to join in these. Thank you, and have a good night."
A/N: Hope you liked that chapter because it wasn't my favorite. I had a bit of writer's block halfway through it, but I fixed it. Anyway, I hate that ending, but I couldn't think of anything better and I wanted to post this chapter tonight, so there you go. Sorry about the lack of Draco, but we'll see more of him soon. PLEASE review and tell me what you think.
Lauren
