Chapter Nineteen

Lord Voldemort failed again. Harry Potter escaped from his hand in just a millisecond. But it's not that he gained nothing. He picked up a photo from the ground in Godric's Hallow, the very photo he had seeked for for so long a time. He, Voldemort, was a step futhur toward his final success!

Virginia was really tired. This tiredness stems from her spirit, not from her study. It is because she finds that the final battle is very near now. The approaching feeling is much clearer than before.

The parchment helped her a lot indeed, but the listed sure and unsure things supress her in a way that make her feel rather intense, and she begins to doubt herself.

It's good that the winter holiday is approaching. Her mood was tamed a lot by the fact that she is going to see her parents again very soon.

She didn't tell her parents the exact time of her arrival, for she hoped that the family meet at home instead of on the platform, but when she arrived in King's Cross Station in London she truly wished to see her parents standing there welcoming her.

It isn't a big deal though. She consoled herself that she will be seeing them soon.

When she was standing behind the door of her house her heart thumped rather fast as though wishing to jump out of her chest. Her eyes felt sour. She was even afraid of pressing the doorbell. And then it was Mum's shout and the noise of them coming downstaires.

The door was dragged open instantaneously, and then a huge hug took her sight. She was immersed in the aroma of her mum and was enjoying the unbreathable feeling.

But if she cannot draw breath…. Well, it's not desirable then.

"Mum, I can't breathe….." She had to protest.

"Oh my dear, you've grown higher," Mum's voice trembled slightly but loosened her grip nevertheless. She looked up and down at her and tear filled her eyes, "Mum misses you so much, so much indeed."

"Oh Mum, I really miss you and Daddy as well, but can we go inside first?" Virginia's intense mood before going home was "Obliviate-d" by Mum's appearance, and now only happiness leaves.

Daddy was summoned home quick enough, and as to the meeting between the father and the daughter, we can just describe it as five times as intense as before when mum meets her. Virginia avoids describing the meeting as hard as she could.

And then it was talking through the entire night. Virginia talked about her experiences and couldn't stop at all about the fantastic magic. Of course she skipped or obscured several details and apologized to her parents for not being able to show her magic, for the students are banned from using magic outside school.

The parents feel pity for that, but they care more about Virginia herself. They asked whether the intense environment in the wizarding world have influenced the school, whether Virginia has made friends, how well she lived in the dormitory, how tired she studies daily, and whether she has encountered any problem during her life.

Virginia answered all these questions one by one and of course, the premise was not to let her parents worry about her.

The family chatted excitedly till daylight penetrated the house. Mum hurried Virginia to sleep, "The winter holiday is long, so we can't expect you to tell us all about your school life within the first day." Daddy called to his company and claimed that he needs to stay with his daughter these days and would not go to the company recently, and then he went upstairs with Mum to have a sleep, leaving Uncle James on the other side of the telephone to bitterly laugh to himself – this is the busiest time of the company.

Virginia took a bath and changed into her favorite pajame. Though not big, the bed provides her a warm harbor at home and fills her with an easiness not to be found at Hogwarts. This kind of comfort can only be found at home, besides those who love you deeply.

At this moment, she feels nothing is going to frighten her!

She pulled out her donkey-skin pouch and took out the parchment. She has to have an exact plan, no matter what she does in the future, a plan can help her remain composed and unflappable when problems strike.

For example, although she doesn't remember the exact date and time when Harry Potter broke into the Gringotts and took away the golden cup, she knows that after this Voldemort will realize that his Horcruxes are no longer sade and he will corden off Hogwarts to enforce its defense. He will arrange many Death Eaters around to guard over the secret passageways of Hogwarts.

Virginia didn't remember how Harry Potter came to Hogwarts, but she was sure about the increased defensive level at Hogwarts after the Gringotts event, and she knows she has to have countermeasures about that. She is a Mudblood and this is enough for the Death Eaters to notice her, though they might not have the energy to deal with her under Voldemort's command. She has to make plans and not to put her hope on possibilities. She can't always drink Felix Felicis and Obliviate people.

Her eyes now settle on the line that tells that Severus Snape will be bited to death by that snake.

She has thought before that if possible, she would wish to change this. She really doesn't want that man die in such a miserable…. She can find no word to describe his death, but she really cannot realize this dream.

She analyzed the problem reasonablly. Firstly, that death attack is in front of Voldemort, and she can never stop it in the name of this point. She isn't conceited enough to believe that she herself can fight against the powerful Dark Lord. Then, if it isn't that Severus Snape will die, Harry Potter might not have come and will not get the crucial memory to know that he himself is a Horcrux, and then he will not face death so unperturbedly, and whether the Dark Lord will die or not will remain a question. In addition, although she has only seen Severus Snape occasionally and talked to him once, Virginia is quite sure that the headmaster will never give Harry Potter the memory so freely unless he is about to die.

Apart from all these, even if she succeeded, what will happen?

For example, if she stopped her headmaster from going to see Voldemort, then will Voldemort give up killing Severus Snape to gain the ownership of the Elder Wand? Impossible. Things will be far worse. She will lose the advantage of knowing what will happen, and things will turn completely different from her memory. Maybe the headmaster will still die but failed to see Harry Potter before he dies, and the memory is not handed on, and then the world finds itself in complete disturbance.

Virginia turned around and looked at the parchment again. Don't think so much, she told herself, and do everything she can and leave the others to fate. Maybe she could try to warn her headmaster – "Professor, I think you should bring some more Stanch Potions with you."

And then, Virginia fell asleep with the parchment in hand.