Chapter Five

Seeing the worried faces of her parents, Virginia thought for a while and said, "Not to worry, no matter what happens, we shall know about it the day after tomorrow, shall we not?"

Obviously her words did not achieve the desired result; her parents do not reckon it as a simple escapade any more, but think all these quite abnormal. Dad sits straight and says seriouely, "At first I thought we should have called the police and inform about this, but considering that these guys will only see this affair as a simple prank, not a real threat…. Well, you'd better stay at home tomorrow. I'll inform the school about your absence. As to the day after tomorrow, let's wait to see what kind of guy the comer is."

Virginia felt a bit nonplussed, being caught in this situation. Nevertheless, she had to keep going on.

The waiting time is always long. That night, Virginia stayed quite awake, recalling past events in her last life. The story of magic seems a long way away; she could only recall impressive moments. As to the details, she has no memory at all.

But all she is sure is that the year is the most turbulent year in the entire story series. Albus Dumbledore has just passed away, and Severus Snape becomes the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as desginatedm by Lord Voldemort.

If she remembers correctly, at this time the Ministry of Magic is already completely under his control.

Virginia starts dreaming wildly. Severus Snape? Lord Voldemort? These are the characters that impose on her the deepest impressions. Well, admittedly, these are perhaps the only two people who can leave deep imprssions on readers. They seem to be alike in many ways: similar family backgrounds, similarly sorrowful life, similar even in their pursuits. One seeks love for his entire life without ramifications, even sacrificing his life in the end; another seeks tyranny and limitless ambitions, paying at last his life and soul.

Perhaps the most intimate in her memory was Albus Dumbledore, and of course, J.K Rowling's main character, Harry Potter. Though he was a bit reckless, he was truly courageous, and, most importantly, he was luckily successful in the end, wasn't he? He made it, despite of the unaccountable sacrifices in the process….

But when it comes to say how Harry Potter beated Voldemort in the end, Virginia hesitated. Did he overcome Voldemort by his own abilities?

No, surely not. If she would like to admit, it was luck. Harry didn't know he can live through this turmoil and stay alife, not to mention overpowering the mighty dark wizard. He didn't know. He was prepared to die, and when he was hit by the Killing Curse at the last moment, he felt relief. Everyone, including himself, did not know that things would progress in this way originally.

Only Albus Dumbledore had some understanding about all these, reckoning there is the possibility that Voldemort might die the way he did.

Not knowing that he unwittingly made Harry into a Horcrux, Voldemort's numerous failures, including failing to kill Potter, arose out of his ignorance. He had been a madcap – this is the most suitable word to describe him.

He treated lives with indifference, so indifferent. He payed no attention to what he should have done, so he failed.

As to Harry Potter, was he really able to stand up to the mighty dark wizard who split his soul into seven pieces and stayed powerful even after that? No, of course not; he himself felt it was so ridiculous.

The ending of the story was such a miracle; Virginia didn't even understand why Dumbledore could assert that Voldemort created seven Horcruxes, just by virtue of the short memory? Yes, seven is indeed a most magical number, but if Voldemort himself was ignorant that he unwittingly made Harry Potter into a Horcrux, then obviously he should have created another. How then could Dumbledore make sure that Voldemort hadn't already made seven Horcruxes before Harry Potter? After all, Harry was just an accident.

At this moment, Virginia felt her thoughts entangled in her mind and couldn't unravel them.

There's nothing perfect in the world, not even literary works.

In children's literature, good and evil men are well distinctive from each other. This is because children are naive, and the characters should be so in children's books. In real life, however, it is an entirely different story. After all, there exists no perfect being on Earth, and defects make people more real.

But at least Rowling did not insist on this point throughout the whole tale.

Dumbledore, for example, is not always so kind toward people. Once a time he regarded Snape as a disgusting guy, and when Snape came to entreat him to save Lily…. Virginia couldn't easily forget his countenance at that moment. That countenance appeared on Albus Dumbledore's face for the first time then.

He also derived that Tom Riddle was a bad guy just because of his first impression and unilateral words he heard. He took it for granted that Tom needed constant surveillance, and did so personally.

He was an addict of dark magic for a time and couldn't resist the lure of the Deathly Hallows. He had ignored his family, betrayed his friend, forced and sacrificed others for his own greater good.

Lord Voldemort, on the other hand, was indeed outstanding, no denying. But his personality was highly defective. He trusted no one and was aimlessly arrogant. He had been persistent, even fanatic; he made seven Horcruxes for what purpose? Well, for avoiding death. But actually, it was his dread for death that led to his death and unbearable agony.

Severus Snape, indubitably, was also persistent in his love, even naive. No matter why he fell in love with Lily in the first place, a childhood hidden love with no ramifications had influenced his whole life; this is enough to tell how sincere he had treated his love. But still we can perceive imperfections of human beings. He had been glommy and negative, and it made people constrained to get on with him.

Oh then there's Potter, Harry Potter, the main character of the tale –

Potter, perhaps the only truly positive character in the series, was righteous, honest, and rendered good for evil. He put his friends in the first place and respected his elderlies. He longed for kinships and his heart was depresses but not distorted. He didn't appear cynical in encountering difficulties, even though he was credulous, reckless, smug, and easy to be influenced. But he never went wrong in making decisions. He was still a kid, so we couldn't demand too much for him, could we?

Virginia thought of herself. Yes, she had to admit that she wasn't an entirely good guy in all there is to say; this is decided due to real circumstances. If she had been born like Seveus Snape or Voldemort this life, she may not become as evil as Voldemort in the end, but she will absolutely not be a good person, a girl of sunshine; this is too much for her. So she couln't deny at all that Harry Potter truly deserved the main character of a fairy tale.

Of course, if condition allowed, she is willing to be a good person, but when she comes to think of it, she would never push aside all obstacles to be a good person, an honest guy. She wouldn't wish to pay any price; but surely being a bad guy pays more prices, and she was less interested in doing so. When she had choices, she would prefer to find an aboveboard pretence for her conducts, making them seem more justified.

Now she dreams up a good word to descibr herself – a hypocrite.

And now Hypocrite Virginia felt a bit sleepy, so she dumped all these thoughts and allowed herself to fall into the drowsiness brought about by the pillows.

She didn't know that after only a very short time, her thoughts will experience tremendous changes, because real life is not a book she can comment at will, and all these will eventually become a part of her life.

Then she had a dream, a more ridiculous one compared to real life, a completely illogical one. In the dream, she saw herself splitting her soul into seven pieces, creating seven house elfs with each one of them, and all seven attended Hogwarts and also worked in the Gringotts wizarding Banks, but she herself still worked gingerly everyday as a Hogwarts house elf, constantly hitting her head on Hogwart's stonewall, until at last, she was woken by her hits, and at the same time the alarm clock ringed.

Sitting up and feeling at lost, she pressed down the button of the clock and stared blankly at the already pale sky outside. She felt her head aching, recalling suddenly the last scene in her dream, and trembled unwittingly.

Oh! She took away the quilt fast and ran to the washing room as though something was chasing after her.

After washing and rinsing, she went into the kitchen and served herself with a cup of hot water. Watching her mother making breakfast, she finally felt warm and real. The dream seems a thousand miles away now. She smiled to herself and enjoyed the cup of water.

"Why get up so early? You don't have to attend school today, dear. You may go back to sleep if you wish," Mum said tenderly. Virginia shaked her head quickly and replied, "No thanks, I am already awake."

"Then come here to help me dear. Take the fried egg into the plate along with bacons, and arrange them well. Bring daddy his coffee then. The coffee beans are already pulverized. He should be coming soon."

"OK," Virginia responded willingly, and finished the apportioned works with agility. Taking the newspaper from the table, she began reading today's news.

"Morning, my angels," hands suddenly taking newspapers from Virginia, Daddy's voice appeared from behind, "Dears, let's see what we've got today…. Wow, blown up together, shall we?"

"Well, drink your coffee, and you may wish to go to Virginia's school personally to ask for a leave. Now there's nothing more important than our Gini." Mum went outside with a large pot of British tea. Because of Virginia, they haven't had any black tea for several years. This is green tea, Virginia's favorite tea.

"Right." Dad closed the newspapers and bended slightly, kissing Gini on the forehead, "Our little princess is surely most significant; nothing could harm her."

Then he coughed. Seeming to notice that he wasn't gentlemanly just now, he pretended to be seriously lifting up his jaw.

Virginia wiped her face calmly with a paper tissue and said, "Perhaps you should first obtain the permission of a lady next time."

Dad grew red and coughed again. Taking the coffee cup in his hand, he opened the newspapers and hided his face behind.