The air whistled past Selena's ears and could feel the thumping of Anne's heart beneath her fists. The Ministry wouldn't be far at this speed.
Selena hugged her cousin tighter.
Sirius Black was within reach now. Just barely.
Half an hour later
Below London, England
Ministry of Magic
10:07 pm
"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening."
The cramped red telephone box - that was also a lift from the sidewalks of London below ground into the Ministry of Magic - snapped open. All eight Hogwarts teenagers who had been shoved in the telephone box fell out. Selena crashed to the polished wooden floor, wincing as she barely caught herself. Anne huffed on the ground next to her.
"The whole blooming Ministry, and they can't put an Extension Charm on their stupid box?" Anne said through gritted teeth. She rubbed her elbow, standing up.
Selena sighed and stood up as well, fixing her rumpled robes and checking that her wand was okay in her pleated skirt pocket. Selena peered around the giant room they found themselves in. She had never been inside the Ministry of Magic before, only seen it in photos in the Daily Prophet. The main atrium was a gaping hallway, lined with gilded fireplaces. Selena gazed up at the high ceiling, painted a royal blue, with gold symbols floating around. For a moment she was reminded of the Great Hall at Hogwarts with its enchanted ceiling.
Selena squinted at a golden fountain further down, the sound of its rushing water filling up the atrium. The fountain seemed to depict different species, such as a witch with a wand and a house-elf with ears spurting water.
The whole room was empty except for their group. The only light came from the gentle glow of lamps set above the fireplaces, running down the hall into shadows. For a moment, Selena found herself wondering if her older brother had worked at the Ministry that day. Did Cody have any idea of what the Ministry held tonight?
"Come on," Harry murmured. He led them down the hallway in a sprint, past the fountain, beyond an empty polished desk, and finally to a lift gated with iron painted in gold.
Harry pressed the 'down' button, calling the lift, and the gold gates rattled open. This elevator was mercifully more spacious, so Selena tucked herself beside Luna and Neville, close enough to hear them panting from the run. Harry jabbed at a button and the gates shut so hard Selena thought they might break. The lift dropped, making Selena press herself against the wall to not fall. She bit her lip as the lift clanged around. What if someone heard them?
But, then again, Voldemort probably knew they were coming, didn't he?
Selena shivered at the thought.
The lift came to a gentle stop and a woman's voice said "Department of Mysteries." The lift doors opened, revealing a long corridor extending into darkness. Flickering torches lined the hallway, crackling softly. Selena's hair fluttered over her shoulders from some unseen air source.
"Let's go," Harry said in a whisper. He walked determinedly down the corridor. Luna hurried next to him, in front of Selena, her platinum blonde waves practically glowing in the darkness.
Harry stopped. A black door stood a few feet beyond them.
Selena knitted her eyebrows. How in the world was this door particular? She didn't ask. Something told her Harry already knew.
"Okay, listen," Harry said, "maybe… maybe a couple of people should stay here as a - as a lookout, and-"
"And how're we going to let you know something's coming?" Ginny retorted, raising her red eyebrows. "You could be miles away."
"We're coming with you, Harry," Neville said in a stop-being-thick kind of way.
Anne nodded. "Stop trying to get us to leave, Harry. We're in this with you."
"Let's get on with it," Ron said, ending the conversation.
Harry scowled the tiniest bit, but he didn't argue anymore. The door opened with a push, no handle in sight, and Harry walked inside.
Selena gazed around the empty room, completely black and circular like a windowless tower chamber. All around the room, equal distances apart, were black doors with handles. Between them were bunches of candles with blue flames that reflected in the shiny black marble floor.
Harry murmured "someone shut the door."
The room became instantly darker. Selena blinked, trying to let her eyes adjust. All she could make out were the little blue lights on the walls and their shuddering reflections on the floor.
Harry's footsteps echoed. Selena could just make out his dark silhouette walking straight across the floor.
A rumbling suddenly echoed in the room, making Selena grab her wand from her pocket. The blue candles moved, as if someone was holding and carrying them around the perimeter.
"The room is spinning," Anne whispered to Selena, stepping close to her so that their arms touched. "I think?"
Selena nodded, wanting to hold her cousin's arm, terrified the floor might give out beneath them or something else crazy.
As the walls moved faster, the blue candles began to blend together, turning into a bright blue stripe encircling them.
Then it stopped.
Selena rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the imprint of the blue stripe.
"What was that about?" Ron whispered, his voice trembling.
"I think it was to stop us knowing which door we came in through," Ginny said softly.
"How're we going to get back out?" Neville choked out, mirroring Selena's thoughts.
"Well, that doesn't matter now," Harry said without hesitation. "We won't need to get out till we've found Sirius-"
"Don't go calling for him, though!" Hermione hissed.
"Where do we go, then, Harry?" Ron asked.
"I don't-" Harry started. He paused for a moment. "In the dreams I went through the door at the end of the corridor from the lifts into a dark room - that's this one - and then I went through another door into a room that kind of… glitters. We should try a few doors," he added quickly, "I'll know the right way when I see it. C'mon."
He hurried ahead in a straight line, and Selena and the others followed him. Harry pressed a hand against the polished black door and pushed. The door swung open without as much as a creak.
Selena followed Harry into the room, trying to keep her black Mary Jane's quiet as she stepped inside. Her shoulders relaxed a bit to find this room brighter, lit by lamps dangling from golden chains only a few feet above them. The room continued in a long rectangular shape, some doors lining the walls. A handful of desks were scattered around. In the center was a massive tank holding some water the same dark green as armadillo bile in Potions class. The glass tank was practically the size of a small swimming pool.
But when Selena narrowed her eyes, she could see several white, lumpy objects floating around inside.
"What're those things?" Ron whispered.
"Dunno," Harry replied.
"Are they fish?" Ginny said in a hushed voice.
"Aquavirius Maggots!" Luna chirped, her voice bright as her eyes lit. "Dad said the Ministry were breeding-"
"No," Hermione said, her voice sounding slightly clipped. She walked closer to the side of the tank. "They're brains."
"Brains?" Selena echoed. Her stomach churned.
"Yes… I wonder what they're doing with them?" Hermione turned, giving them a concerned look before she peered back at the tank.
Harry walked up next to her. Selena stayed rooted to the spot. No way was she going close to a swimming pool of brains. Why would the Ministry be keeping brains in a tank? And why the green liquid?
"Let's get out of here," Harry said. He turned away. "This isn't right, we need to try another door."
"There are doors here, too," Ron pointed out, motioning to the walls.
"In my dream I went through that dark room into the second one," Harry said. "I think we should go back and try from there."
The group turned, almost running back into the jet-black, circular room again.
"Wait!" Hermione snapped, just before Luna shut the door they had come through. "Flagrate!" Hermione traced her wand in the air, and an 'X' suddenly glowed on the door in red flames.
The moment the door shut, the room walls began to spin again. Selena closed her eyes, shielding her face from the spinning blue flames. When it stopped and she opened her eyes again, the 'X' still remained over the door they had already tried.
"Good thinking," Harry said. "Okay, let's try this one." He walked to the nearest door, pushing it gently, raising his wand. Selena followed closely, taking in this large room, even bigger than the brain one. It was a rectangle too, but dimmer, and it dipped in the center into a twenty-foot pit lined with stone. It had benches like a Roman amphitheater, stepping down in tiers. In the center was a stone dais, raised up with a cracked, pointed stone archway in its center. Hanging from the archway was a fluttering black cloth.
"Who's there?" Harry said, hopping down onto the next tier of benches. No one answered, and Harry kept staring at the moving black cloth.
"Careful!" Hermione whispered. She began to descend the stone stairs, taking large steps.
Harry didn't seem to listen, hurrying down the benches before jumping onto the stone floor of the pit. Selena watched, listening to his echoing footsteps as Harry approached the dais. He was dwarfed by the stone archway.
"Sirius?" Harry said, so quiet Selena nearly didn't hear him. He carefully circled the dais.
"Let's go," Hermione called, voice wavering. She was halfway between Harry and the others, standing on the benches. "This isn't right, Harry, come on, let's go."
Harry just kept staring at the archway, seeming almost mesmerized.
"Harry, let's go, okay?" Hermione said, her voice more firm this time.
"Okay," Harry said. But he stayed where he stood, gazing at the archway. "What are you saying?" Harry suddenly said, almost yelling.
Selena jumped, grabbing Anne's arm. Her heart began to beat faster. Who did Harry see?
Ron began to jump down the stone steps.
Hermione started to walk down the steps again too. "Nobody's talking, Harry!"
"Someone's whispering behind there," Harry responded. Hermione reached for him, but he side-stepped her, now hidden on the other side of the black cloth. "Is that you, Ron?"
"I'm here, mate," Ron said, walking around the side of the archway.
Anne tugged at Selena's arm, nodding towards the dais. Selena swallowed, her instinct screaming at her to stay at the top of the amphitheater. But Anne pulled her along without a word, and Selena followed numbly as they walked down the stone steps. She could hear Ginny and Luna following them.
"Can't anyone else hear it?" Harry said. He raised one foot onto the dais.
"I can hear them too," Luna murmured, her silvery eyes wide as she stared at the black cloth. "There are people in there!"
"What do you mean, 'in there'?" Hermione snarled. She jumped off of the bottom step, landing on the stone pit. "There isn't any 'in there', it's just an archway, there's no room for anybody to be there. Harry, stop it, come away." She pulled at Harry's arm, but he tried to tug away.
Selena looked over at Anne, expecting her to pipe up and agree with Hermione. Instead she found Anne's blue eyes glued to the archway. Selena's stomach dropped.
"Anne," she whispered. "Anne?"
"Harry, we are supposed to be here for Sirius!" Selena heard Hermione say, her voice hoarse and high-pitched.
Selena tugged at Anne's robe sleeve. "Anne?"
"Can you hear them?" Anne breathed. She shook her head the slightest bit. Her red curls brushed her shoulders. "Selena, listen."
"No one's speaking," Selena whispered urgently, clenching her teeth together so hard they hurt.
"Sirius," Selena heard Harry murmur from the other side of the archway. "Yeah…" Selena watched his feet take a few steps back from the archway. He turned away. "Let's go."
"That's what I've been trying to - well, come on, then!" Hermione said, turning and walking back around the dais.
Relief washed over Selena, but she looked at Anne who was still transfixed. Next to them, Ginny and Neville were mesmerized, staring slack-jawed at the archway in awe. Selena kept her eyes away from the archway. Whatever it was, it felt evil. Something about it was wrong, and it was taking over her friends.
Hermione and Harry appeared. Hermione grabbed Ginny's arm and Ron took Neville's. Selena tightened her grip on Anne's sleeve and they all led the others back to the closest stone bench. Selena pulled Anne along at they all stepped up the stones, and by the top tier, Anne was shaking her head confusedly as if awakening from a bad dream.
"What d'you reckon that arch was?" Harry finally spoke up once they were back in the dark circular room.
"I don't know, but whatever it was, it was dangerous," Hermione said with a touch of anger, drawing an 'X' over that door.
Selena closed her eyes again, waiting until the spinning stopped. When Harry walked to a door and tried to push it open this time, it didn't budge.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"It's… locked…" Harry said. He slammed his shoulder into the door, but it was firmly shut.
"This is it, then, isn't it?" Ron said with excitement. He walked over to Harry, both of them shoving against the locked door. "Bound to be!"
"Get out of the way!" Hermione snapped. When the two boys moved, she pointed her wand. "Alohomora!" The door didn't move.
"Sirius's knife!" Harry said. He reached into his robes, pulling out a foot-long blade that glinted in the blue firelight. He shoved the blade into the crack between the door and the wall.
Selena let go of Anne's sleeve, crossing her fingers as Harry moved the knife. He rammed his shoulder into the door again. But nothing changed, the door was still stubbornly shut. When Harry pulled the knife out, Selena blinked in surprise - the knife's blade had melted.
"Right, we're leaving that room," Hermione finally announced.
"But what if that's the one?" Ron said, gazing at the door.
"It can't be, Harry could get through all the doors in his dream," Hermione said. She drew another 'X' over the door.
The walls began to spin and Selena shielded her eyes.
"You know what could be in there?" Selena heard Luna say.
"Something blibbering, no doubt," Hermione muttered.
Neville laughed nervously.
Selena opened her eyes as Harry walked to the next door. It opened as easily as the first two. A bright light shone from the crack in the doorway. Thousands of small ticking sounds came from the room.
"This is it!" Harry announced.
The group crowded behind him, blinking their eyes as the light burned for a moment. Wind blew their hair back. Selena watched as bright light like the kind that sparkled from gems shimmered around the room. Nearly every centimeter of space was covered with clocks. There were some as large as a coach, and others small enough to fit on a wrist. The clocks were beside the bookcases, and the desks had clocks standing on them. That explained the ticking noises, Selena noticed, watching as the thousands of clocks' little arms moved as though someone had wound each one.
At the distant end of the room, sat on a desk, a large crystal bell jar threw the glittering lights around the space.
"This way!" Harry called.
He walked ahead, the others following as they went down a strip of empty walkway in the sea of desks and clocks. The closer they got to the crystal bell jar, tall above them, the wind grew stronger.
"Oh look!" Ginny said, pointing at the jar.
Selena noticed that inside the jar, a very small egg shone brightly within the gusts of shimmering wind. The egg floated up and cracked like someone had just split a diamond. A hummingbird appeared and was blown to the top of the jar. But the draft died down a bit, and the hummingbird's little feathers became wet again. It sank to the bottom of the jar and the egg swallowed it up again.
"Keep going!" Harry snapped at the others.
"You dawdled enough by that old arch!" Ginny shot back, but kept walking.
They came to a door Harry stopped at. Selena and the others pulled out their wands, tensing. Selena took a deep, slow breath. She tightened her fist so much on her wand that her knuckles turned white.
"This is it," Harry said, his voice shaking, "it's through here." He peered back at them at the ready before turning to the door and pushing it open.
Beyond it was a massive room bigger than all the others, stretching high up above Selena's head. There were giant shelves lining the open space, dotted all over with dusty glass balls. There were candles stuck to some of the shelves with more blue flames that glinted off of the orbs.
Selena hugged herself as a draft of cold air seemed to go through her.
Harry took small steps inside the room, looking down a row of shelves.
The others walked in quietly. Their footsteps were the only sounds. Selena peered around at the crystal balls, the shelves vanishing into darkness further down the aisles.
"You said it was row ninety-seven," Hermione whispered.
"Yeah," Harry murmured. Selena watched him look at a number written on a row in silver letters, glimmering in the blue flames: 53.
"We need to go right, I think," whispered Hermione, squinting to the next row. "Yes… that's fifty-four…"
"Keep your wands ready," Harry said gently to everyone.
Selena unfolded her arms, embracing the cold air. She held her wand up, pointed and ready for the nearest sign of danger. She crept with the group, slowly placing one foot in front of the other. They passed row after row until the blue candles no longer were stationed on the shelves. Selena peered at all the orbs. They varied with some completely black and others glowing with a ghostly light. Little labels were beneath each one, turning yellow and almost curling at the corners of the paper.
Selena glanced around the massive hall. What even were these orbs? Why would the Ministry have a room devoted to glass balls? She watched her reflection skim the dim surface of an orb. Maybe... were they crystal balls, like in Divination? Selena thought back to studying them this year with Professor Trelawney up in the North Tower. But why would the Ministry need all of these?
"Ninety-seven!" Hermione whispered, pulling Selena from her thoughts.
The others clumped together, staring down the aisle next to the row.
Selena held her breath. Where's Sirius? Was he somewhere further down in the shadows? She listened but she couldn't hear anything.
"Where is he, Harry?" Anne demanded. "Is this the right row?"
"He's right down at the end," Harry said. "You can't see properly from here." He walked down the aisle, whispering. Whether that was to himself or the others, Selena couldn't tell.
"He should be near here," Harry whispered. "Anywhere here… really close…"
"Harry?" Hermione began nervously.
"Somewhere about… here…" Harry continued, leading them down to the other end of the row. Selena looked around as the emerged from the aisle, back within the blue glow of the dim candles.
Nothing.
"He might be…" Harry whispered, his voice hoarse. He hurried, looking down the next aisle. "Or maybe…" He continued on, his steps bordering on frantic.
Selena and Anne exchanged an uncertain look. Had Harry misinterpreted his vision?
"Harry?" Hermione asked.
"What?" he snarled back.
"I… I don't think Sirius is here." Hermione tensed, as if expecting an argument to follow.
But everyone, even Harry, was silent. Harry didn't turn around to look at them. Instead he broke into a run, gazing down row upon row of shadows.
Ron broke off from the group, walking towards one of the orbs, a tiny one that glowed with eerie, ghostly light beneath several layers of dust. Harry circled back, running past them, looking down the other side of aisles.
"Harry?" Ron called as he went by.
"What?" Harry snapped. He didn't slow his pace.
"Have you seen this?" Ron asked.
"What?" Harry said, his voice completely changing to eagerness. He took a few loping steps back to the group, going past them to stand next to Ron. Selena watched Harry's face fall.
"What?" Harry asked, his voice small with disappointment and sadness.
"It's - it's got your name on it," Ron said. He pointed up at the orb.
This time the look Selena and Anne shared was one of surprise. Harry had one of these crystal balls?
Harry inched towards the orb. "My name?" he said, sounding just as puzzled as everyone else. He look up at the shelf to read the label.
"What is it?" Ron asked, a bit nervous. "What's your name doing down here?" He looked along the rest of the shelf of crystal balls. "I'm not here," he said confusedly. "None of the rest of us are here."
Harry reached out his hand towards the orb.
"Harry, I don't think you should touch it," Hermione said quickly, making Harry pause.
"Why not?" he said. "It's something to do with me, isn't it?"
"Don't, Harry," Neville interjected, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of his glistening face.
"It's got my name on it," Harry responded simply. Then he grabbed the orb, wrapping his fingers around it.
Selena gripped her wand, almost expecting something to explode out of the crystal ball. But nothing happened.
Harry looked intently at the orb in his hand, polishing the dust off.
"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."
Selena jumped along with the others at the voice. It wasn't loud or menacing, it was lazy and slow, almost arrogant. But it didn't belong to any of them.
Dark shapes began to appear, encircling the group. Every aisle and row was blocked off as black hooded figures with slits for eyes took shape. They each had their wands glowing brightly, pointing them at the eight teenagers.
Selena knew who they were. Every child in the Wizarding World had grown up seeing their mugshots and photos. These were the people who had been at the Quidditch World Cup two years ago, the ones that all the newspapers talked about, and whom Sasha had told Selena about with a shudder. These were the criminals who they had been seeing all year in the Daily Prophet, probably including the ones who had escaped Azkaban.
A memory came to Selena's mind: Renee slapping a copy of the Prophet down with Death Eaters on the front page, her voice saying "we're all gonna' die."
Selena could only hear the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears for a moment. She swallowed but her mouth was paper-dry. Selena inhaled a breath through her nose. They had known what they were getting into, and now they had to face it. She held her wand tightly.
"To me, Potter," the hooded figure closest to Harry said. He held out a pale hand, palm open for the crystal ball.
Nobody moved. Harry held the glowing orb firmly in his hand.
"To me," the man behind the hood repeated.
"Where's Sirius?" Harry demanded.
Selena tried not to take her eyes off of the closest hooded figure who had their wand pointed at her heart. But then a woman's voice came from one of the figures, her laugh gloating.
"The Dark Lord always knows!" she said sharply.
"Always," the man's voice came again, soft. "Now, give me the prophecy, Potter."
Selena frowned. She knew that voice from somewhere.
"I want to know where Sirius is!" Harry yelled.
"I want to know where Sirius is!" the woman's voice mocked, high-pitched and sickly-sweet in a way that reminded Selena of Umbridge.
The Death Eaters took a few steps forward, close enough for Selena to make out the green eyes of the person in front of her. Selena squinted as their wand glowed a few feet from her eyes.
"You've got him," Harry continued. "He's here. I know he is."
"The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo," the woman's voice came again, in the same mocking tone as before.
Ron tensed, turning enough for his hand to brush Selena's arm. She could feel him shaking. Whether it was from adrenaline, fear, or both, she couldn't tell.
"Don't do anything," Harry muttered to the others. "Not yet-"
The woman screamed with laughter. "You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!"
"Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," said the man softly. "He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."
Selena's blood ran cold. Bellatrix.
The memory of Renee with the Prophet came back. The woman on the front page of the paper that day had been tauntingly tapping at the sides of her picture, gray eyes and black hair the same ones Selena's father had.
Bellatrix Lestrange.
"I know Sirius is here," Harry said, sounding almost breathless. "I know you've got him!"
The Death Eaters began to laugh, but Bellatrix's shrill cackle rose above them all.
"It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter," the man continued. "Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."
Suddenly Selena recognized his voice as well: Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father.
"Go on, then," said Harry. He raised his wand up, holding it out to point at Lucius Malfoy's chest.
Selena and the others followed suit. Selena tried to keep her wand from shaking as she pointed it at the Death Eater in front of her, keeping their eyes locked.
The Death Eaters didn't move. They continued holding their wands out too, everyone at a draw.
"Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt," said Lucius calmly.
Harry laughed bitterly. "Yeah, right!" he said. "I give you this - prophecy, is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?"
The woman's voice screeched "Accio Proph-"
"Protego!" Harry bellowed, managing to keep hold of the glass orb.
"Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter," the woman seethed. "Very well, then-"
"I TOLD YOU, NO!" Lucius yelled, his voice echoing through the room. "If you smash it -!"
One of the figures stepped forward, pulling off their hood.
Selena watched as Bellatrix Lestrange narrowed her steel eyes at Harry. But she wasn't the same woman that Selena had seen in that picture from the paper. This woman looked different, gaunt with sickly skin and a mass of black tangles. But that wasn't what Selena focused on. Instead, what gave her goosebumps were Bellatrix's gray eyes, the ones that no longer looked like her father's. Bellatrix's eyes were bright with a wild look, wide and furious, bordering on madness.
"You need more persuasion?" she said, taking quick breaths. She turned to the Death Eater on her right. "Very well - take the smallest one. Let him watch while we torture the little girl. I'll do it."
Selena felt Anne grab her, pulling her behind her. Neville stepped in front of Selena too as the circle tightened, all of them protecting her from Bellatrix's view.
Harry clutched the crystal ball close to his heart. "You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us. I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?"
Selena couldn't see Bellatrix anymore, but she could hear the lack of her deranged voice retorting. For a moment everyone was still. Anne shook the slightest bit next to Selena and she could hear Ginny's erratic breathing.
"So," Harry said, "what kind of prophecy are we talking about, anyway?"
Selena bit her lip. Harry was buying time. But how were they going to get out of this?
"What kind of prophecy?" repeated Bellatrix, any trace of playfulness gone from her voice. "You jest, Harry Potter."
"Nope, not jesting," Harry said. "How come Voldemort wants it?"
Some of the Death Eaters hissed, making Neville tense in front of Selena.
"You dare speak his name?" Bellatrix whispered.
"Yeah," Harry said. "Yeah, I've got no problem with saying Vol—"
"Shut your mouth!" Bellatrix screeched. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue, you dare-"
"Did you know he's a half-blood too?" Harry snapped.
Selena mentally begged Harry to stop taunting them. Surely there was a better way than egging on the murders completely surrounding them.
But Harry didn't stop talking. "Voldemort?" he went on. "Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle - or has he been telling you lot he's pure-blood?"
"STUPEF—"
"NO!"
A red beam of hot light shot towards a shelf nearby, exploding the nearest crystal balls. Selena watched as two tiny, human-like shapes - one a bearded man and the other a young woman - appeared in pearly smoke floating up from the shards on the floor. They started to speak, one voice higher than the other, competing with two different prophecies.
"… at the solstice will come a new…" the man figure said.
"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!" Lucius screamed.
"He dared - he dares-" Bellatrix spluttered furiously, "he stands there - filthy half-blood-"
"WAIT UNTIL WE'VE GOT THE PROPHECY!" Lucius yelled.
"… and none will come after…" the woman figure continued.
Selena watched the two figures fizzle away as though they had never been there. The glass shards glimmered in the light from the blue candles and wands.
"You haven't told me what's so special about this prophecy I'm supposed to be handing over," Harry said. Selena felt his foot shifting behind hers.
"Do not play games with us, Potter," Lucius said, his voice growing impatient.
"I'm not playing games," Harry replied.
Hermione sucked in a breath.
"Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?" Lucius said with a sneer.
"I - what?" Harry said. "What about my scar?"
"Can this be?" Lucius said, the happy note in his voice making Selena's heart skip a terrified beat.
Some of the Death Eaters started laughing again.
"Dumbledore never told you?" Lucius laughed. "Well, this explains why you didn't come earlier, Potter, the Dark Lord wondered why you didn't come running when he showed you the place where it was hidden in your dreams. He thought natural curiosity would make you want to hear the exact wording…"
"Did he?"
And then Hermione's lips were at Selena's ear, whispering "smash the shelves on the signal, you'll know it when you hear it - use the Reductor Curse." And then she vanished, whispering the message to Luna. Selena gulped, feeling a trickle of cold sweat snake down her back. She took a calming breath. They had practiced this at their Dumbledore's Army meetings. She knew this spell like the back of her hand.
Selena forced her shoulders to relax. She had spent weeks practicing for a situation just like this. All those times sneaking past Umbridge to learn spells and counter-curses, charms and jinxes, all to defend themselves against the Dark Arts.
Selena set her eyes on the closest Death Eater, just barely visible around Neville. Selena suddenly knew she was capable of doing what Dumbledore's Army was formed to teach.
Behind her, Harry continued to taunt the Death Eaters. "So he wanted me to come and get it, did he? Why?"
"Why?" Lucius said, his voice delighted and incredulous. "Because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Potter, are those about whom it was made, as the Dark Lord discovered when he attempted to use others to steal it for him."
"And why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?" Harry asked.
"About both of you, Potter, about both of you… haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?"
"Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort and me?" Harry said quietly. "And he's made me come and get it for him? Why couldn't he come and get it himself?"
The Death Eaters burst into laughter again.
"Get it himself?" screamed Bellatrix. "The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of Magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at the moment they are wasting their time on my dear cousin?"
Selena felt Anne clench her free fist.
"So, he's got you doing his dirty work for him, has he?" Harry asked. "Like he tried to get Sturgis to steal it - and Bode?"
"Very good, Potter, very good…" Lucius drawled. "But the Dark Lord knows you are not unintell-"
"NOW!" Harry yelled.
Selena pointed her wand with the others. "REDUCTO!"
Hello!
So I'm happy to be posting this chapter, the second part will posted after I've edited it. After that we'll have the third year epilogue and then it'll be onto Selena's fourth year! I'm really excited because the fourth year is going to be very character-driven, as I mentioned before, so we'll have lots and lots of characters coming onto the scene to really build up the story.
Damon (of course) will be featured even more often, and we'll see more of Damion and Raven and and Serenity too, no worries. Everybody we've met so far is basically going to play a part in the next year, so I'm very thrilled for that!
Anyways, I hope you guys are doing okay. Things have very chaotic with the pandemic happening. I hope you both are staying inside and staying safe. Hopefully the weather is nice so you can still sit outside and read or something nice.
I was studying abroad in England this semester, but after 2 months I had to come home because of what's been going on. I was really upset to have to leave, but being able to write this fanfiction is helpful to get me motivated and still doing stuff.
I still can't believe I started this story back in... when was it? 2012 or 2011? And reposted it in 2014? I've grown up with this story, so I'm really happy to share it with you. Thank you so so much for sticking with Selena and the gang throughout the years.
Okay, thanks for reviewing the last chapter!:
SakuraDragomir
CharmedMilliE- Karry Master
See you guys soon with a new chapter!
~ Meghan