Chapter 14 Love and Truth
Holly sat still in her seat, confused for a second.
"What do mean? I don't… What about me could help… him?"
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and started explaining everything:
"I have thought about telling you the following thing for a long time. Maybe I should have told you earlier, but I never wanted to unsettle you, you were and still are so very young.
But I'm afraid things could turn out quite difficult for you without knowing about it…
Before you were born, a prophecy was made about you. And about Voldemort.
It predicted a child to be born at the end of July. A child who would have the power to finish the Dark Lord… At least that is the most likely interpretation.
But come, see and hear for yourself."
He headed over to one of his cupboards and opened the doors. Inside stood the shallow stone basin Holly instantly identified as his Pensieve. Dumbledore lifted it magically up in front of him and it floated all the way to Holly. Slowly it sank down onto the table.
At the same time, Dumbledore had come over as well and now touched the silvery surface of the substance inside the Pensieve and slowly a figure rose from it, the figure of Professor Trelawney. Her eyes were wide open staring into emptiness while she started to turn around herself. In a low, haunting voice she whispered:
""The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark them as his equal, but they will have a power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
The figure sank down into the basin again, leaving behind only an uncomfortable sound of silence.
Dumbledore sat down again, sighing:
"You see, Holly? Voldemort tried to kill you because of this prophecy when you very merely a child. He knew of this prediction, though he did not know its full contents. He thought by killing you while you were still a baby he would fulfil the prophecy. But he didn't know the part about you having a power he doesn't, nor about the importance of him marking you as equal. He had to discover, to his cost, that he was mistaken, when the curse intended to kill you backfired and nearly finished himself.
Now that he has returned to his body he strives to hear the full prophecy, determined to find out how to destroy you. He fears your power, Holly."
Holly shook her head, trying to understand the meaning of everything she had just learned.
"But… I don't have any power that he doesn't. I'm only 15, still learning simplest spells and techniques of defence while he is the most powerful dark wizard ever. How am I supposed to stand a chance against…"
She stopped midsentence, she had only just realized something.
"What was that last part again? Something like 'neither can live…'?"
"…while the other survives. And either must die at the hand of the other", Dumbledore stated dryly.
"So… One of us will have to kill the other one? There is no other way of ending him? It has to be me?"
The old wizard slightly nodded his head once.
Holly couldn't wrap her mind around all that information. It was just too much.
"That's impossible. It can't be! How am I supposed to survive fighting him?! I have no power at all compared to Voldemort. I won't stand a chance… I won't be the one to survive, I will die, failing to fight him. He will kill me!"
Holly was angry. Why did her life always have to be such a mess? Why couldn't she just be a normal girl, lead a normal life, like her friends?
There was always something "special" about her, something odd. She didn't want any of this no longer.
"Holly" she heard Dumbledore's soft voice speaking sympathetically.
"You will not die. I won't let that happen.
You might not have the kind of power Voldemort has, but you have something much more important, a power he really does not know, something he never took seriously. The very thing that nearly finished him off at your first encounter 14 years ago."
"My mother died to safe me, that's what finished him off!
Not my power. She shielded me from him and it was her death that made the course backfire against Voldemort, not me!"
Holly nearly screamed at the old man in front of her. Why didn't he see? How could he stay so calm while she felt herself getting angrier by the minute?
"Your mother died to safe you, you are right.
Her sacrifice created a shield, a protection Voldemort doesn't understand. It is a very old branch of magic few people even know about. She died out of love, Holly. Her love for you was stronger than Voldemort. Even now years after her death her blood still lives, it runs through your body, protecting you."
Holly snorted.
"Yeah, I knew that part already. But Voldemort used my blood for his resurrection, remember? I no longer am protected by my mother's sacrifice.
It all was for nothing."
"Yes, I remember. Voldemort might be able to touch you now, but you are still under your mother's protection. It's not only about blood, Holly. It's her love.
Voldemort knows nothing about the power of love. That's what nearly finished him off before, Holly, and it will the thing that will end his power when you face him."
She sat silently, she had no words left to speak. After several minutes of silence, Dumbledore spoke again:
"I see, you will need some time to process all that information.
But I assure you, Holly, you will not die at Voldemort' hands, not as long as I am around. And I will help you find your power, Holly. I will do anything in my might to help you at winning.
For the moment you are safe. Voldemort is seeking to get this prophecy, but there is no chance of him gaining this piece of information since the only two people knowing the prophecy's full content are sitting in this very room. There is only one other record and I guarantee you it is well protected at all times.
"If you feel able to gain some more information, I would like to move on., but if you'd rather leave now I will not force you to stay."
At that time, Holly had calmed down a bit again, so she stayed in her seat.
"Very well. There is one other thing I'm afraid Voldemort might be involved with and that is the sudden disappearance of the person who was supposed to be our new teacher of Defence against the Dark Arts, Mrs. Amelia Bones.
She was prepared to take on this position and seemed to be looking forward to it the last time I saw her. Then, some weeks ago, she went missing without a note left and hasn't been seen ever since. Her family of course is devastated.
There are no signs of her being taken against her will, but the circumstances are very odd. It is my belief, she might have been captured by Death Eaters, since she had been working at the Ministry for a long time before she accepted this position at Hogwarts. Maybe Voldemort tries to get some kind of information out of her… It's the only plausible explanation to me. You actually knew her, well, saw her once at least, at Sirius' trial. The woman with the monocle."
Holly remembered the witch. She hadn't been old, maybe in her mid-40s. Then, another memory popped up in her head, and Holly's face turned even paler than it already was, her mouth dropped open in shock.
"Holly? What is it? I didn't think you knew…"
"I know what happened to her", she heard herself talk in a weird monotonous way.
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.
"What do you mean? There were no signs left…"
"I saw her. I didn't recognize her at the time, she was so badly injured, her face bruised and swollen, but I always knew I had seen her before, I just couldn't put it together until now…"
"What do you mean, you saw her? How is this possible, no one has seen her for several weeks!"
Holly inhaled deeply, coming back to her senses and began to tell him everything about her dream. Only that it hadn't been a dream and she told him that as well.
After she finished they both sat there, not saying a word for a while. Dumbledore's face seemed concentrated, his forehead furrowed while he tried to understand everything.
"You say it was like a nightmare, right? Only different than usual?
You saw all of that happen whilst sleeping?"
Holly nodded.
"And you saw it from which perspective? From above, the side, ...?"
Holly hesitated before answering:
"I saw it as if I were Voldemort. As if I were the one torturing and killing her."
"That's what I thought", Dumbledore whispered.
Then, suddenly, he jumped to his feet and went around his office, talking to himself.
"Poor Mrs. Bones… Of course, I can't let anyone know about it, there is already too much unfavourable talk about you without this new revelation of your being able to see into Voldemort's head… Since she's dead there is nothing to be done about it anyway… Sure, if she were still alive things would be different… The only thing left to do now -"
Without warning he stopped in his movement, turning back at Holly.
"There is only one important thing for us to think about, Holly.
If you were able to see into Voldemort's head… There might be a chance of him being able to do the same to you.
We must protect you at all means. You must learn to shield your mind against him for the possibility that he finds out about this connection. You have to learn Occlumency and I will teach you myself."
It had been a long day for Holly.
After all the information about the prophecy and the talk about Voldemort's doings and her nightmares Dumbledore had told her everything about this technique, Occlumency. Then, they had even started working on it and after her mind had been penetrated and attacked several times, finally the headmaster dismissed her, but not withount handing her a book she should read until their next Occlumency lesson, which would be in three days.
Dumbledore had insisted they needed to train at least twice a week until she was able to close her mind and protect it from Legilimency.
Holly passed a window and looked outside at the stunning view of Hogwarts' surroundings.
The silvery silhouette of the nearly full moon hung amidst billions of bright stars, sparkling against the black night. Beneath the cloudless sky the Great Lake lay smooth like the surface of dark glass, like a mirror reflecting the stars above. It had to be nearly midnight, Holly thought.
Her brain felt terribly tired, worn out from everything it had to process today and she fell into her bed, not bothering to change into her pyjamas, only stripping off the heavy robes before drifting off into a sleep immediately, something she hadn't done in a long time.
Look forward to the next chapter, I think you're gonna like it... ;)
Stay tuned
- A