New chapter, now with English dialogs! Hurray! Finally understood how they are supposed to work :)

Also, please take time to review, any little comment will do. You never know how your opinion can change a text...

As Harry articulated this thought, a small clicking sound hit his ears. The boy quickly took a few steps backwards and bashed into Thalia's desk, which moved back more than a few inches. The room was then filled with silence, and Harry's reflexes took over. He turned around to observe the desk and make sure it had not moved to much, but when he managed to turn his back to the door, he simply froze. He felt as though an insane drummer was using his heart as an instrument. His hands were trembling as they searched for a grip on the small chair besides him. He took a few deep breaths until the jolts that had taken possession of his body ceased. When he finally managed to stand still and hold himself up without support, he let go of the furniture's back rest. He took another step back, voluntarily this time, and within seconds he felt a cool wand being pressed against his neck, it's sharp tip digging in his flesh. He was about to reach for his own wand when the weapon placed against his body turned slightly, inflicting more pain to the student. As Harry felt warm blood leaking down on his school uniform, he realized that his attacker was not using a magical wand but a common blade. Once again shivers took control the boy's body. His trembling knees were about to give out when his attacker raised the knife. The bloodcurdling pain that was caused by the contact with the blade immediately stopped, and the pain remaining in his body became dull. Harry let air fill his lungs again, but still avoided making any sound. Though he could not feel it, he knew the blade was still close to his neck. "What is it with Potters and the disrespect of other's privacy?" a feminine voice asked. The Gryffondor closed his eyes and kept them shut. He understood that the question he had been asked was rhetorical, but still, he had to reply. Something was triggering his curiosity, and even the threat that lay in his life could not stop him from asking his teacher: "A blade?"

"Too crude for Mister Potter?"

Harry knew he had made a mistake as he felt the sharp knife piercing his skin again. "As opposite to a certain magic spell, these do not leave any traces… And they never fail," Harry heard. He let out a small gasp, but soon enough the blade was taken away, for good. Harry opened his eyes and turned to face his teacher. She was firmly grasping her weapon, eyes wide with what Harry guessed was shock. She was wildly staring at him, muttering something the boy could not hear. A small line of light coming from the DADA classroom was reflected on the blade of the knife, making the crimson stain on it shine as boldly as fire. Harry didn't know what to do. Miss Beauregard was obviously out of her mind. She was still intensely gazing at him, but she had ended her whispers. As Harry saw her fingers tightly wrapped around the knife, he reached into his pocket for his wand. After a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, he realized that Thalia didn't intend on moving. Scared that any attempt of escaping might rekindle her wrath, he slowly approached her and gently but strongly pulled the knife out of her hand. He placed the weapon on her desk and as he was about to leave, life seemed to flow into the woman's body. "Hold on a second," she said as Harry reached the wooden door behind her. He felt an irresistible envy to run pounding in his heart, but instead chose to walk back into his teacher's office. As he took place on a small chair as he was asked to, he saw Thalia close the door and trap him, once again, inside her office.

"First of all, Thalia said, sitting on her desk, I'm sorry for the knife." Though the guilty look on her face seemed credible, Harry was not ready to forgive her for making him live such a traumatizing experience. He had faced death more times than he could count, but it was the first time he felt danger threatening him in such a raw way. He nevertheless nodded when she asked him the permission to take her weapon back. He deeply frowned as he watched her insert it in some sort of pouch she wore at her waist, under her shirt. "You always carry it with you?" Harry asked, his voice filled with reproach.

"Some habits you never lose," she answered with an apologetic grin.

"I can see that…"

"Harry, this saved my life more times than my wand has," she said rather harshly. "Of all students here, I thought you would be in the best situation to understand that life is cruel and that you always have to be prepared."

"Still…"

Harry withdrew himself in a grumpy silence. It was only when the blood on his neck became too much to deal with on his own that he addressed Miss Beauregard again. "Could you help me with this?" he asked, trying to contain the gushing blood between his fingers.

"Oh yes, I'm so sorry I forgot!" Thalia exclaimed, exiting the daydream she had entered.

She approached him and sucked the liquid right off his skin with her wand. "Don't worry, wounds around your head always bleed a lot for nothing. It's barely a scratch… It'll heal fast, it's a clean cut…"

She went back to her place and observed Harry's grim expression. Suddenly, without warning, she burst. "Keep giving me that angry look and I'll take the blade out again! I thought you were a smart guy, but apparently you're not clever enough to understand that your father has scarred me for life. What he has done to me has traumatized me more than you seem to believe. He didn't only fuck up my life, he messed up my entire head. When you put both of us in situations that remind me of him, you toy with my mind in some sadistic way. If you find it funny to surprise me at night in my private apartments, then deal with the consequences. You want to make me lose my mid, fine, but don't start complaining when I actually lose it." She took a small pause, then added: "You know I used to be a Death Eater, and though I don't share their ideology anymore, I still share their reflexes. So when it comes down to defending myself, I thought you'd understand what techniques I used." Harry could not believe it. After attacking with his a knife, his teacher had the boldness to place the blame on him. "That doesn't excuse this attack!"

"Well you were looking for trouble coming all the way down here simply to remind me the worst night of my night! I warned you to stay away…"

"That's not why I'm here!" Harry interrupted, frustrated.

"Then why are you here?!"

Immediately, the boy regretted his words. "I, erm, I wanted to…"

"Ohh…" Thalia said. "The Thin Ice?"

Harry searched for an excuse in every corner of his brain, but finally had to admit the truth. "And you were stupid enough to think I wouldn't be in my own apartments at night?"

"No I didn't," Harry instantly replied, insulted.

"And how is that?"Thalia asked, bending forward in order to look straight into his eyes.

The boy cursed himself for falling into such a childish trap. After a while, he told Thalia almost everything, simply omitting that he had already used the most powerful Thin Ice in her very presence. When he finished his short narrative, she simply nodded. "Poor thing, you left a second too early. Dumbledore was hoping I'd believe him when he said Severus finished in an hour instead of in three… Well, two and a half now."

Harry looked at his watch and saw it was already eleven thirty. All the emotions of the evening seemed to fall on his shoulders in a second, and suddenly tiredness invaded his heavy limbs. His teacher seemed to remark that change of posture and immediately stated: " I'll be ready to bring you back to your common room the second you tell me truth."

"What?"

"You really want to make me believe that you thought of seeing the Thin Ice just like that, out of the blue?"

Harry was about to find a perfectly logical explanation to this anomaly when Thalia said: "Remember my boyfriend is the man known throughout England for the quality of his Veritaserums."

"I saw it once… last week, when you left me alone in the room with all the mirrors… when I used the two other ones," Harry growled.

"What did I say about Veritaserum?"

"I'm not lying!" Harry screamed.

"Alright, just checking…" Thalia said, rolling her eyes. "You've already lied to me half a dozen times, so I do have a good reason for doing so…"

Harry chose not to answer to what he considered an unfair accusation, and simply remained silent. His eyelids shut them without Harry realizing, and soon he was drowsing on the uncomfortable chair. "So what did you see?" Thalia suddenly asked, pulling Harry out of his sleepiness.

"Erm, me, I guess…"

"It was like you were looking at yourself in a mirror?"

"No… no, actually," Harry replied, frowning at the thought of this fact. "Actually it was like, like a tougher version of me… Like if I was staring at myself, only older…"

"Harry that's not possible. Thin Ices can't show us the future."

The student's jaw dropped. "Well then, he said, I, I just can't say…"

"It's alright Harry, I think I know what you saw…"

"Really?"

"Well, maybe… Only I have to be sure before I tell you anything."

"Wait… You're going to tell me what's going to kill me?"

"Well of course."

"Isn't that… isn't that bad?" Harry said, finding it suddenly painful to swallow the saliva that had filled his mouth.

"I think you've already faced enough in your life to face this… Plus, if I'm right, I won't be telling you anything new."

"Wow… thanks," Harry murmured.

"No problem. But I'm also doing this at the condition that you don't try to see it again."

Harry nodded, and this time he was sure he would respect his promise. The image he had seen a week ago had truly frightened him, and he was already reluctant to face it again. Nevertheless he followed Thalia into her apartments and, placing himself in front of it, he gently blew on the thinnest piece of glass. Only this time, as the second the man appeared on the mirror surface, he moved back and let Thalia observe it. After only a few seconds, she said: "It's alright. You can break eye contact now." Harry did as he was told, and the dreadful image vanished. "So," the boy started…

"Harry," Thalia interrupted him, "the last time you saw him, were was he?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"A week ago, did you see where the man was, who he was with?"

"Ermm… no, actually," Harry answered, thinking. "I only saw his face, it… it occupied the entire place."

"Alright."

Harry thought he saw a tear running down Thalia's cheek, but when she turned to face him, she seemed normal. "Funny thing, these Thin Ices…" she simply stated.

"How come?"

"Oh nothing, "she simply said, smiling at him. "Well, I was right, so I'm only delivering second-hand news. You will die because you are the Chosen One."

"The Chosen One?"

"Well, there… there is a prophecy that talks about you Harry, and that says that the Dark Lord will mark someone as his equal and that it will be this person – in this case, you – that will have to kill him."

"And how will that cause my death?"

"Well… I'm not sure Dumbledore would want me to tell you this."

"I'm not sure Dumbledore would want you interpreting these messages for me."

"Alright then," she said with a sad smile. "There is a passage of this prophecy that states that, how does it go again… neither one can die while the other lives… or something like that. And therefore, you will probably die trying to kill Voldemort."

The boy sat on the only chair placed in the room and let this information dig a way through his brain. He would have to die in order to kill He Who Must Not Be Named. The shock of this discovery worn off, Harry realized that this information was quite obvious. He knew that he would have to kill Voldemort himself, and that such a task would probably take his life. He tilted his head upwards in order to stare at Thalia. "That's it?" he asked, surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there are more obvious ways of telling me I will die because of Voldemort… Showing me Voldemort, for instance."

"Oh, but Harry, these mirrors are not meant to be practical," she laughed at the boy's astonishment. "Like I said, they have strange behaviors…"

"Behaviors? You talk as if they were alive!"

"They are alive, Harry."

The boy looked at her with a puzzled expression on his features. "I am a green witch, Harry," she explained. "Do you know what we are?" The boy shook his head from left to right, and his teacher carried on. "Well," she said, "did you ever wonder how the magic was transmitted from a wizard to another before there was a ministry of magic, and schools such as Hogwarts, or even wand manufacturers?" The boy had to admit that he had never thought that possible. In his head, the magical world had always been as it was now. "Then you never paid attention to Professor Bins' class, did you? Oh, it's alright," she reassured him as he was about to say something for his defense, "I didn't like him much either. What I'm going to say doesn't appear anywhere in his class, anyways. Well before the magical world had a structure, wizards taught themselves the use of magic. Since every family had a different way of teaching their kind how to use magic, they were different, species, lets say, of wizards, who all learned spells and potions from a different point of view."

"What about muggle-borns?"

"Well when a family of wizards spotted a muggle-born magician in their community, they usually kidnapped them and raised them as their own. It's not as terrible as it may seem," she added at the sight of Harry's disgusted face." Most children would have been put to death by their parents anyways. Everyone knows the faith reserved to magicians in Europe."

"Anyways," she continued, "most wizards have forgotten of what branch they are issued, but not me. My family was very proud of it's origins and I was taught magic the exact same way my ancestors were."

"Didn't you come to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, but my mother made sure I knew all about Nature's magic."

"Nature?"

"Yes. Green witches are the ones who learned magic in the most natural way. We are the ones who found the properties of most plants and every spell we ever created was linked with what is outdoors, in the wild. This extra knowledge I was taught helps me to understand magic. Because of what my family transmitted me, I know that everything we make using any natural ingredient is alive."

"So when we drink potions…"

"We are drinking life. It's not so surprising. If you bite a plant, you are eating life, so if you drink a mixture of plants, it should be the same no?"

"What else do you know about magic," Harry asked, question marks shining in his eyes.

"Well," Thalia laughed, "too much to explain in a single night."

"Alright… do you know what branch I'm issued from?"

"Harry the only ancestor I know you have is our father, so I am tempted to say your from the family of ..."

"…"

"I'm sorry that was uncalled for," Thalia excused herself before she had time to finish her previous sentence. "But no, I don't know what branch you come from."

"Alright… then talk about the green witches."

"Erm," the woman giggled, "my wand, for instance, was not purchased anywhere. You probably got yours from Olivander's?"

"Yeah."

"What's in it?"

"A phoenix's feather."

"Okay," she said, impressed. "Did Olivander tell you how rare that was?"

"Well he told me that the phoenix in question had only given out two features, but that's it…"

"Right, I heard so… Well a phoenix's feather core is the rarest you can find on the market, as opposed to unicorn's hair, which is found everywhere."

"What does your wand contain?"

"Leafs of basil, coriander and Cornish pixie's wings."

"What?"

"You heard me," Miss Beauregard laughed.

Harry's seemed absolutely startled. "I did not buy my wand," Harry, "Thalia explained, I crafted it when I was seven."

"You… you made it yourself? I didn't even know that was possible."

"Well those who don't have access to wandmakers still have the right to use magic. Thousands of years ago, people had to find a way to create wands. Olivander isn't that old, you know," she replied with a wink.

"Can I see it?"

"Of course."

The teacher handed her wand to her student, who delicately picked it up with the tip of his fingers. Twirling it in the air, he noticed it wasn't as smooth as his. It was small and narrow, and it resembled a tree branch. As he observed it more accurately, he realized it was indeed as branch. Thalia had scraped the bark off of it with what seemed to be a knife, which left the surface of the wood covered with long, flat incisions. As he slowly dragged his finger along one of them, he felt a small splinter enter his flesh. In surprise, he let the wand fall on the ground. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I should have warned you," Thalia apologized as she magically healed him. "I've gotten so used to it that I never really realize how badly shaped it is… It's very powerful, since I have always been an excellent magician, but I'm not very good when it comes to manual work."

"You've improved," Harry bitterly said, reaching for the incision on his neck.

His teacher did not reply, and the boy focused his attention on the wand. He noted that it's base was so worn that it was as smooth as his own. "Olivander actually built an empty core that I could place over my wand, but I ended up throwing it out. I like having a direct contact with the wood,"Thalia explained. Harry smiled to her, and then handed the wand back to it's owner.

"So the Thin Ice is alive?" Harry asked, bringing their conversation back to it's initial subject.

"Yes, and it's trying to send both of us a message."

"What is that message?"

"Oh, it's complicated…"

"We have time."

"No we don't," Thalia laughed.

"How come?"

"It's almost two, which means I should be heading, well… for the dungeons," she finished with a smile.

"Oh…"

"So you won't explain how you came to the conclusion that I would die killing Voldemort?"

"Not a chance, Harry, so quit trying," Miss Beauregard recommended.

Harry got up and started walking towards the exit, closely followed by his teacher. When he reached the door, she stopped him. "Wait," she said. "I'd appreciate if you didn't mention the knife incident to… anyone with a high authority."

"Dumbledore?"

"Yeah."

"It's… it's alright…" Harry replied, quite unconvinced.

"Thanks. Remain silent and I'll pretend your little intrusion never happened."

"Good."

Harry smiled. Suddenly he saw a bright side to the woman's peculiar behavior. He was about to step out of the class with his teacher when something hit him. He immediately stopped moving and Thalia accidentally walked into him. "What are you doing?" she asked, puzzled. "Get out, quick!"

"I was just wondering… You won't tell me how you can understand my Thin Ice, but could you please tell me this… What do you see in that Thin Ice?"

Harry did not know why this intrigued him, but he knew it did. He also knew it was irrelevant, if not impolite to ask this to his teacher, but it seemed as thought his relationship with Thalia had passed the student/teacher stade. To his great pleasure, and also to his surprise, she answered. "The Shrieking Shack," she whispered, avoiding to look into his eyes.

"How come?" he also whispered.

"That's were it happened…"

"What did?"

"Everything," she replied, her gaze lost somewhere in the surrounding darkness.

A small spark had appeared in the depths of her pupils, and it's glare reminded Harry of the madness that had filled Sirius' eyes two years ago, the first time he had met him. Something inside him twisted painfully as he realized it was the light that appeared into one's eyes when the person in question had been driven insane by grief and sorrow. Only, seconds later, that light seamed to fade out, and die, leaving Thalia's brown eyes as dark as the night that ruled outside the castle walls. "One day I'll tell you everything. I have too, and I know it. But not tonight," she said with a sad smile. "I'm too tired tonight." The water that filled the eyes of his teacher convinced Harry to remain silent at that moment. The woman gently pushed him into her office and grabbed a large bag that was resting on the ground. Apparently, she was leaving with Harry. As the boy realized he would be escorted back to his dormitory – which meant the end of his excursion – Thalia appeared by his side, eyes clean of any form of tears. "Also," she told him, waving the small silver key that gave access to her apartments, "I am late." She locked the door and was about to put the key away when she realized her student was eagerly watching her every movement, hoping to discover where she hid the key in question. She laughed a little, then said: "Spy all you want, Potter, even if you know where it is, you'll never reach it."

Saying this, she placed the key on her chest, and Harry witnessed the key melting and then entering Thalia's body. The object had been sucked up by her flesh and was now invisible to all. The boy made all his possible not to gasp to loudly. He smiled back to his teacher, and then led the way out in the corridors. They silently walked down to the Fat Lady's portrait where Thalia bade Harry a good night. The portrait had not even covered up the hole leading to the Gryffondor common room that Thalia was marching in the opposite direction.