Chapter 9 - Secrets reviled…
The first few months passed quickly for Kirsty and soon she found herself in October. The last two months had been largely uneventful. Though she had seen Malfoy in the hallways he could not touch her. On the first time they had met in the hall, supposedly alone, he had fired a jinx at her. However, beams of light shot from nowhere covering the older boy in small tentacles.
The 13th of October landed on a Friday, Kirsty had found a small moment to tidy her belongings, which were scattered all over Griffindor tower.
She reached into the bottom of her trunk to find something familiar. It was the book she had found in her pocket at the beginning of term. She examined the front to find Tom. M. Riddle emblazed in gold on the black leather cover. She opened the book to find each page had a date written at the top right hand corner - in black, flowing handwriting - this was the only form of writing inside the small diary. She placed it carefully on her bedside table thinking 'I could use that.'
That night she woke up to one of her old nightmares, the night with Malfoy. His father's words were also part of it. She needed to write it down somewhere so she could look for the meaning. The first piece of paper she came to was the diary. She grabbed her quill and a bottle of ink, then began to write..
Dream 1 (Nightmare)
She paused and looked out of the window, wondering how to phrase it. However, when she looked down again at the yellowing parchment, the writing was gone. She wrote it again, the same thing happened. She was just about to close it when she noticed words forming on the page.
No, don't go.
She paused. Stunned. Diaries do not usually write back, do they?
Who is this? She wrote
The Words Tom Riddle appeared on the page. And you?
Kirsty Broom.
How did you find my diary?
It appeared in my pocket at the beginning of term.
Kirsty can you promise me something?
What Tom?
That you will not show this diary to anyone
Is it special to you then?
There was a long pause
Yes, this diary is very special to me, so do you promise?
Yes, I promise.
"Kirsty, are you up here?" called a voice from the girl's staircase.
"Yes Sophie!" she shouted back.
Sorry I got to go, my friend Sophie's coming
Ok bye for now then
Bye, she relied quickly, banishing her worries about talking diaries to the back of her headasshe quickly hid the book under her pillow.
"Kirsty, come on! I've got to show you something!" Sophie exclaimed, entering the room.
"Sophie, sshhh! You will wake up the others!" whispered Kirsty, looking around worriedly at her other, sleeping, roommates.
"Sorry. Follow me!"
Kirsty followed Sophie downstairs and into the common room.
"Look my mother sent me tomorrow's Daily Prophet. I think you might find this interesting."
Kirsty read the article that had been pushed into her hands:
Breaking news on 'Witch Of The West'….
Though all of you I am sure you have heard of the title 'Witch Of The West,' it is something many, up until now have never truly known the meaning of.
The sort after title 'Witch Of The West' is a title given to a witch by the wizarding monks of a powerful African tribe. The witch bearing that title is considered the most powerful of witches in existence at that point. The tests include: duelling, potion making and wand skills.
However the tribe, having refused to name another witch since the death of Sarah Broom, are being pressured by the ministry to name another. Though the tribe are not weakening their resolve; we now have a date for the next trails. When Kirsty Broom, the first magical descendant of Sarah, comes of age. For they refuse to do the trails without the participation of this young witch.
All those wishing to compete in the trails with Kirsty have a minimum of 6 years to prepare. We wish them all luck, especially Kirsty, we always love an underdog!
There was silence for a long while after Kirsty finished reading the article, her face obviously portraying her shock at the news.
"So they want me to compete in trails to become the most powerful witch in existence?" asked Kirsty.
"Seems so."
"I'm going back to bed, I need to prepare for what tomorrow will bring."
The next morning Kirsty woke up to find a note on her lap
Dear Miss Broom,
Please come to my office at 9:00am as I wish to speak with you. Don't worry about Professor Snape as he has been informed about the meeting and so shall not miss you in class.
Yours sincerely
Professor Dumbledore.
P.S. I love Chocolate frogs.
After telling Sophie that she would see her in Defence Against The Dark Arts Kirsty headed for Dumbledore's office. She was nervous about what the man would say. As it was, she felt like she was being asked to do the impossible.
She whispered 'chocolate frogs' to the gargoyle and followed the stairs to the office that belonged to her Headmaster.
Kirsty's POV
I knocked carefully on the heavy wooden door. Thoughts of the article swirling around my head. I could not remember being so confused and scared about anything before. After all, I hadn't long known about the wizarding world - how were they expecting so much of me?
My small and balled up into a fist and I knocked gently in the door. It opened gently on its own.
"You asked to see me Professor?" I asked, slowly entering the office.
I had really been in here far to many times for a first year student. Harry and I had joked about it at breakfast - even he didn't end up in here as often as me! My eyes were fixed on Professor Dumbledore. His eyes were twinkling again and I knew he had a plan of some sort.
Albus' POV
After I had gently waved the young girl into the room I smiled at her and asked her to take a seat in front of my desk. Even I was shocked when I had read that article this morning. I could not believe the student in front of me could be the most powerful witch in the world in 6 years - I had no doubt in the decisions of the monks. They had requested a meeting with me only the week before I went to visit the girl to explain the wizarding world to her. Though they had told me who she was, they had not informed me how soon they would be testing her.
For a few moments I held the comfortable silence, staring out of the window onto the school grounds. I could see that the sun light was sparkling off the waters of the lake - a very pretty sight that many of the students in my care would not appreciate.
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"I trust you have some idea of to the reason of this meeting?" asked Albus slowly.
"The article sir?" replied Kirsty timidly.
He nodded warily.
"Let me start at the beginning as I do not believe that it discussed what you need to know in enough detail….
"There is a tribe in Africa, it's been around for over a millennia. Some say its been in existence since before the time of Merlin. The tribe is composed of an order of monks. These monks have a job in the wizarding community. They test women, of all ages, for a title. This title is given to the witch who passes the majority of their tests with a skill far surpassing her opposition. This witch is named the most powerful witch in the world…are you following this Miss Broom?"
Kirsty nodded slowly.
"You see the monks had a list," Dumbledore continued, "recorded history about the tribe told us that much, this list was meant to record the name of any witch born into the world that would have any hope of completing all the challenges - these would have the right to challenge the current holder of the title at anytime. Before the death of your great aunt, the monks had held an open trail immediately after the witch had died. However, they had been aware of the circumstances of her death and vowed that they would not re-hold the trail until yourself have come of age. The conclusion I had gathered is that, you, Miss Broom, are a very powerful witch."
Kirsty's POV
"Me?" I stared at him, confused. There was no way I was that powerful. After all, I hadn't even learnt any spells yet!
The aged wizard sat before me nodded, seemingly excited by the prospect of such a challenge. However, how was I meant to learn all I needed to know in 6 years? The school took the students though 7!
"Miss Broom," said the wizard to bring me out of my thoughts, "we will, of course, need to fast track your learning to bring you to the level of ability required by the end of your 6th year in this establishment. However, this will mean that I will need to pull you out of classes this year and fast track your 1st and 2nd year classes into one year. Next year we shall place you in the 3rd year - so you shall be having classes with Mr Potter and his friends. During your weekends, you shall be having classes in specialised sectors of magic - including how to barricade your mind against attack and more specialised defence spells. If all goes to plan, you shall be fine to participate in the trails with successful results."
Albus' POV
I could see that the young witch before me was very confused. This was easily explained really, all this prospects and expectations of her while she was so young. How could anyone expect an eleven year old to go through all this? However, it had to be done. Traditions were traditions and must be kept to.
"You shall be fine Miss Broom," I told her, "I have every faith in you. This new timetable shall begin tomorrow morning. You may have today to finish and uncompleted homework. I shall bid you goodbye and good luck."
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Kirsty smiled at her Professor nervously as she got up and slipped out of the room. Her mind was swirling and she was having trouble thinking straight.