Chapter 40
The Parting of the Ways
KIARA
Crighton stood up. She stared down at Bea Clutch for a moment with disgust on her face. Then she raised her wand once more and ropes flew out of it, ropes which twisted themselves around Bea Clutch, binding her tightly.
She turned to Professor Darbus. "Deidre, could I ask you to stand guard here while Sian and I take Kiara upstairs?"
"Of course," said Professor Darbus. She looked slightly nauseous, as though she had just watched someone being sick. However, when she drew out her wand and pointed it at Bea Clutch, her hand was quite steady.
"Tiana," Crighton turned to Triphorm, "please tell Matron to come down here. We need to get Aoife Grumpy into the hospital wing. then go down into the grounds, find Cornelia Sweets, and bring her up to this office. she will undoubtedly want to question Clutch herself. Tell her I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if she needs me."
Triphorm nodded silently and swept out of the room.
"Kiara?" Crighton said gently.
I got up and swayed again; the pain in my leg, which I had not noticed all the time I had listened to Clutch, now returned in full measure. I also realised that I was shaking. Sian, who was standing next to me, quickly grabbed my arm to hold me steady. Crighton grabbed my other arm, and mother and daughter helped me out into the corridor.
"I want you to come to my office first, Kiara," she said quietly, as the three of us headed up the passageway. "Your parents and Sarabi are waiting for us there."
i nodded. A kind of numbness and a sense of complete unreality were upon me, but at that moment I did not care; I was even glad of it. I did not want to have to think about anything that had happened since I had first touched the Triwizard Cup. I didn't want to have to examine the memories, fresh and sharp as photographs, which kept flashing across my mind. Crazy-Head Grumpy, inside the trunk. Wormy, slumped on the ground, cradling his stump of an arm. Zira, rising from the steaming cauldron. Georgia ... dead ... Georgia, asking to be returned to her parents ...
"Professor," I mumbled, "where are Mr and Mrs Diggs?"
"They are with Spud," said Crighton. Her voice, which had been so calm throughout the interrogation of Bea Clutch, shook very slightly for the first time. "He was Head of Georgia's house, and knew her best." I then looked at Sian. She turned to me and smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes; they were shining brightly, as her lips quivered, and she was gulping convulsively.
We had reached the glass elevator. Crighton dropped three tokens into the slot, and we stepped inside. Seeing as Sian and her mother were supporting me, they grabbed onto a hook each with one hand, and held me tightly with the other. I didn't notice anything until we got out of the elevator, and Crighton pushed the oak door open.
My parents and Grandmother Sarabi were there. Grandmother Sarabi was looking out of a window with her back to the door. My mother was sat in the chair in front of the desk, watching my father nervously as he paced the floor. The three of them turned round to face Sian, Crighton and I when we came in. Their faces were white, and my parents' faces looked as gaunt as they had been when they had escaped Azkaban. My parents and Grandmother Sarabi looked at me, but it was my father who got to me first. "Kiara, are you all right? We knew it - your mother and I both knew something like this would - "
But I cut him off as I embraced him tightly, with my arms behind his back, and my face buried in his chest, never wanting to let go. I needed my father's love and protection at that moment, after all the horror I had faced that night. I felt my father stiffen for a moment, surprised by my actions I assumed, before he held me just as tightly. "Daddy," I breathed out shakily, letting his warmth and love comfort me, as he whispered soothing words to me, telling me that I was safe and that I had nothing to fear. Once I had calmed down a bit, my father and I let go, and he helped me to sit in one of the four chairs - three had been conjured magically by Crighton -, two of which contained my mother and Grandmother Sarabi. It was then that I noticed that Crighton was seated behind her desk, and that Sian was standing beside her, looking at me gently, as my father sat next to my mother, and I sat next to him. He squeezed my hand gently, and smiled at me with just as much gentleness, before he turned to Crighton, a much more serious expression crossing his features.
"What happened?" he asked Crighton urgently.
Crighton began to tell my parents and Grandmother Sarabi everything Bea Clutch had said. I was only half listening. I was so tired that every bone in my body ached, and I wanted nothing more than to sit there, undisturbed, for hours and hours, until I fell asleep, and I didn't have to think or feel anymore.
There was a soft rush of wings. Kenna the phoenix had left her perch, flown across the office, and landed on my knee.
"'Lo, Kenna," I said quietly. I stroked the phoenix's beautiful scarlet and gold plumage. Kenna blinked peacefully up at me. There was something comforting about her warm weight.
Crighton had stopped talking, and was looking at me. I avoided her eyes. Crighton was going to question me. She was going to make me relive everything.
"I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze, Kiara," said Crighton.
"We can leave that 'til morning, can't we, Crighton?" said Mum harshly. She stood up, walked over to me and knelt beside my chair. "Look at her. She's suffered enough. Let her sleep. Let her rest."
I felt a rush of gratitude towards my mother, which I showed through my eyes to her, as she brushed a few strands of hair out of my face, but Crighton took no notice of my mother's words, and my father didn't seem to agree with them, either.
"No, Nala. This cannot wait until morning," he said solemnly.
Mum and I both looked at him, shocked.
"Simba?" Mum said, looking shocked and hurt at what Daddy said. "Look at our daughter! Don't you - "
"Of course I care, Nala, and I understand how you're feeling and what Kiara's been through, but will you at least give me a chance to explain to you and Kiara why this can't wait until morning?" I saw my father look pleadingly at my mother, who looked unsure for a few moments, before she nodded her head in assent. My father gave her a curt nod, and then fixed his gaze on me. He gave my hand another squeeze, then said, "Kiara, I understand that tonight's been tough for you, and that you would rather forget what's happened, lock yourself away and never say a word about this to anyone until you're ready to do so. But you can't do that, my daughter. I'm sorry, Kiara," he said, noticing the pain in my eyes, "but numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. I should know ... I've had my own share of horror and pain ..." It was then that I saw that my father looked like he had aged incredibly, and a terrible sadness seeped into his eyes. When he saw my questioning look, he shook his head and said, "You will know what I'm talking about someday, Kiara, but not today. Not now. You've faced too much horror tonight, without me having to divulge the horrors of my past to you, too. Besides, we have to know what happened. Because now that Zira's back, everything you tell us, Kiara, is vital to the cause."
"Exactly, Simba," Crighton said, and smiled with gratitude. She then turned to me, and said, "Your father is right, Kiara, and I would have said the same thing. Kiara, you have shown bravery beyond anything any of us here could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."
The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note. It shivered in the air, and I felt as though a drop of hot liquid had slipped down my throat into my stomach, warming me, and strengthening me.
I took a deep breath, and began to tell them. As I spoke, visions of everything that had passed that night seemed to rise before my eyes; I saw the sparkling surface of the potion which had revived Zira; I saw the Love Destroyers Apparating between the graves all around us; I saw Georgia's body, lying on the ground beside the Cup.
My mother or Grandmother Sarabi would make a noise every so often, as though either one of them was about to say something. My mother's hand was on my shoulder, and Grandmother Sarabi was leaning forwards in her chair, and every time either of them wanted to say something, either my father would give them a look not to talk, or Crighton would raise her hand to stop them, and I was glad of this, because it was easier to keep going once I had started. It was even a relief; I felt as though something poisonous was being extracted from me; it was costing me every bit of determination I had to keep talking, yet I sensed that once I had finished, I would feel better.
When I told of Wormy piercing my arm with the dagger, however, my father stood up in outrage, my mother flung her arms around me and sobbed into my hair, Grandmother Sarabi shrieked and Sian put her hand over her mouth in shock as her face paled. Then Crighton stood up so quickly that I started. Crighton walked around the desk and told me to stretch out my arm. I showed them all the place where my robes were torn, and the cut beneath them.
"She said my blood would make her stronger than if she'd used someone else's," I told Crighton. "She said the protection - " I hesitated as I looked up at my father, who looked down at me, the outrage gone from his eyes. He looked at me expectantly, so I took a deep breath, and said, "The protection you gave me, Daddy - she'd have it, too. And she was right - she could touch me without hurting herself. She touched my face."
My father sank, shocked, back into his seat, breathing hard and not saying a word as I looked at Crighton; and for a fleeting moment, I thought I saw a gleam of triumph in Crighton's eyes. But next second, I was sure I had imagined it, for when Crighton had returned to her seat behind her desk, she looked as old and weary as I had ever seen her.
"Very well," she said, sitting down again. "Zira has overcome that particular barrier. "Kiara, continue, please."
I went on; I explained how Zira had emerged from the cauldron, and I told them all I could remember of Zira's speech to the Love Destroyers. Then I told them how Zira had untied me, returned my wand to me, and prepared to duel.
But when I reached the part where the golden beam of light had connected mine and Zira's wands, I found my throat obstructed. I tried to keep talking, but the memories of what had come out of Zira's wand were flooding into my mind. I could see Georgia emerging, see the old woman, Bernard Jenkins ... many others ... my grandfather Mufasa ...
I was glad when Sian broke the silence.
"Why did the wands connect, Mother?" she said, looking at her mother earnestly for answers.
I looked at Crighton again, and on her face I saw an arrested look.
"Priori Incantatem," she muttered.
Her eyes gazed into mine and it was almost as though an invisible beam of understanding shot between us.
"The reverse effects spell?" Grandmother Sarabi said sharply.
"Exactly," said Crighton. "Kiara's wand and Zira's wand share cores. Each of them contains a feather from the tail of the same phoenix. This phoenix, in fact," she added, and she pointed at the scarlet and gold bird, perching peacefully on my knee.
"My wand's feather came from Kenna?" I said, amazed.
"Yes," said Crighton. "Madam Wandwick wrote to tell me you had bought the second wand, the moment you left her shop four years ago."
"So, what happens when a wand meets its sister?" my father said.
"Well, brother/sister, in this case, to be precise, Simba."
"Brother/sister? But how? I - " But then my father saw Crighton's pointed look, and comprehension dawned on him, which was quickly replaced by the look of pain again. "Oh," was all he said. I kept looking from Crighton to my father, hoping one of them would say something, but I didn't get any answers (and none of you will be getting any until the seventh book, I'm afraid).
"Anyway, when a wand shares its core with another wand," Crighton continued after a while, "they will not work properly against each other. If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle ... a very rare effect will take place.
"One of the wands will force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed - in reverse. The most recent first ... and then those which preceded it ..."
She looked interrogatively at me, and I nodded.
"Which means," said Crighton slowly, her eyes upon my face, "that some form of Georgia must have reappeared."
I nodded again.
"Diggs came back to life?" Mum said sharply.
"No spell can reawaken the dead," said Crighton heavily. "All that would have happened is a kind of reverse echo. A shadow of the living Georgia would have emerged from the wand ... am I correct, Kiara?"
"She spoke to me," I said. I was suddenly shaking again. "The ... the ghost of Georgia, or whatever she was, spoke."
"An echo," said Crighton, "which retained Georgia's appearance and character. I am guessing other such forms appeared ... less recent victims of Zira's wand ..."
"An old woman," I said, my throat still constricted. Bernard Jenkins. Many others, people I didn't know. And ..."
"Your grandfather Mufasa?" said Crighton quietly.
"Yes," I said.
My parents and Grandmother Sarabi looked at each other, surprised. Then my father turned to me, and said slowly, "What did my father say to you, Kiara?"
"Not much," I said, my voice hollow." "He told me that he and the others would linger for a few moments so that I could escape, after I broke the connection. He then said that I am my father's daughter, with pride in his voice and eyes, before he told me to let go ..."
Grandmother Sarabi started sobbing, as my mother left my side to sit next to my father again and held him as he sank back in his chair and raised his eyes to the ceiling, his eyes shining, but a smile stretched across his lips.
"The last of many murders the wand performed," said Crighton, nodding. "In reverse order. More would have appeared, of course, had you maintained the connection. Very well, Kiara, these echoes, these shadows ... what did they do?"
I described how the figures which had emerged from the wand had prowled the edges of the golden web, how Zira had seemed to fear them, how the shadow of my grandfather had told me what to do (in a bit more detail), how Georgia's had made its final request.
At this point, I found I could not continue. I looked around at my father, and as I did so, he hugged me again, so tightly, that I felt my father's warmth and love and protection envelope me, keeping me safe.
I then became aware that Kenna had left my knee. The phoenix had fluttered to the floor. It was resting its beautiful head against my injured leg, and thick, pearly tears were falling from its eyes onto the wound left by the spider. The pain vanished. The skin mended. My leg was repaired.
"I will say it again," said Crighton, as the phoenix rose into the air, and resettled itself upon the perch beside the door. "You have shown bravery beyond anything any of us here could have expected of you tonight, Kiara. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Zira at the height of her powers. You have shouldered a great wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it - and you have now given us all we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace ... Simba, Nala, Sarabi, would you like to stay with her?"
My parents and Grandmother Sarabi nodded, and stood up. My parents transformed back into the great black dogs, and walked with Crighton, Sian, Grandmother Sarabi and I out of the office, accompanying us down a flight of stairs to the hospital wing.
When Crighton pushed open the door, I saw Chris, Sam and Chrissie gathered around a harassed-looking Matron. They appeared to be demanding to know where I was and what had happened to me.
All of them whipped around as Crighton, Sian, Grandmother Sarabi, the two great black dogs and myself entered, and Chris let out a kind of muffled sigh of relief. "Kiara! Oh, Kiara!"
He started to walk towards me, but Crighton moved between us.
"Chris, my boy," she said, holding up a hand, "please listen to me for a moment. Kiara has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. She has just had to relive it for me. What she needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If she would like you all to stay with her," she added, looking around at Sam and Chrissie, too, "you may do so. But I do not want you questioning her until she is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."
Chris nodded. He was very white.
He then rounded on Chrissie, and said, "You heard what Ma said, Chrissie!" Chrissie looked confused, and put her arms up in defence, as if to say, "What have I done?" I heard Sian chuckle behind me.
"Headmistress," said Matron, staring at the great black dogs that were my parents, "may I ask what - ?"
"These dogs are remaining with Kiara for a while," said Crighton simply. "I assure you, they are extremely well trained. Kiara - I will wait while you get into bed."
I felt an inexpressible sense of gratitude to Crighton for asking the others not to question me. It wasn't as though I didn't want them there; but the thought of explaining it all over again, the idea of reliving it one more time, was more than I could stand at that moment.
"I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with Sweets, Kiara," said Crighton. "I would like you to remain here tomorrow, until I have spoken to the school." She left.
As Matron led me to a nearby bed, I caught sight of the real Grumpy, lying motionless in a bed at the far end of the room. Her wooden leg and magical eyes were lying on the bedside table.
"Is she OK?" I asked.
"She'll be fine," said Matron, giving me some pyjamas and pulling screens around me. I took off my robes, pulled on the pyjamas and got into bed. Chris, Sian, Chrissie, Sam, Grandmother Sarabi and the two black dogs came around the screen and settled themselves in chairs on either side of me. Chris and Chrissie were looking at me cautiously, as though they were scared of me.
"I'm all right," I told them. "Just tired."
Grandmother Sarabi's eyes filled with tears again as she smoothed my bedcovers unnecessarily.
Matron, who had bustled off to her office, returned holding a goblet and a small bottle of some purple potion.
"You'll need to drink all of this, Kiara," she said. "It's a potion for dreamless sleep."
I took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. I felt myself becoming drowsy at once. Everything around me became hazy; the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at me in a friendly way through the screen around me; my body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feather mattress. Before I could finish the potion, before I could say another word, my exhaustion had carried me off to sleep.
0000
I woke up, so warm, so very sleepy, that I didn't open my eyes, wanting to drop off again. The room was still dimly lit; I was sure it was still night-time, and I had a feeling that I couldn't have been asleep for very long.
Then I heard whispering around me.
"They'll wake her if they don't shut up!"
"What are they shouting about? Nothing else can have happened, can it?"
I opened my eyes blearily. Seeing as I was still dazed from sleep, everything was quite blurry; when I opened my eyes, I saw the fuzzy outlines of Grandmother Sarabi and Sam close by. Grandmother Sarabi was on her feet.
"That's Sweets' voice," she whispered. "And that's Deidre Darbus', isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"
Then I heard them, too: people shouting and running towards the hospital wing.
"Regrettable, but all the same, Deidre - " Cornelia Sweets was saying loudly.
"You should never have brought it inside the castle!" yelled Professor Darbus. "When Crighton finds out - "
I heard the hospital doors burst open. Unnoticed by any of the people around my bed, all of whom were staring at the door as Sam pulled back the screens, I rubbed my eyes, and sat up.
Sweets came striding up the ward. Professors Darbus and Triphorm were at her heels.
"Where's Crighton?" Sweets demanded of Grandmother Sarabi.
"She's not here," said Grandmother Sarabi angrily. "This is a hospital wing, Minister, don't you think you'd do better to - "
But the door opened, and Crighton came sweeping up the ward.
"What has happened?" said Crighton sharply, looking from Sweets to Professor Darbus. "Why are you disturbing these people? Deidre, I am surprised at you - I asked you to stand guard over Bea Clutch - "
"There is no need to stand guard over her any more, Crighton!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!"
I had never seen Professor Darbus lose control like that. There were angry blotches of colour in her cheeks, her hands were balled into fists; she was trembling with fury.
"When we told Mrs Sweets that we had caught the Love Destroyer responsible for tonight's events," said Triphorm, in a low voice, "she seemed to feel her personal safety was in question. She insisted on summoning a Stinger to accompany her into the castle. She brought it up to the office where Bea Clutch - "
"I told her you would not agree with it, Crighton!" stormed Professor Darbus. "I told her you would never allow Stingers to set foot inside the castle, but - "
"My dear woman!" roared Sweets, who likewise looked angrier than I had ever seen her. "As Minister for Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous - "
But Professor Darbus' voice drowned Sweets'.
"The moment that - that thing entered the room," she screamed, pointing at Sweets, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Clutch and - and - "
I felt a chill in my stomach as Professor Darbus struggled to find words to describe what had happened. I did not need her to finish her sentence. I knew what the Stinger must have done. It had administered its fatal suck to Clutch. It had sucked her soul out through her mouth. She was worse than dead.
"By all accounts, she is no loss!" blustered Sweets. "It seems she has been responsible for several deaths!"
"But she cannot now give testimony, Cornelia," said Crighton. She was staring hard at Sweets, as though seeing her properly for the first time. "She cannot give evidence about why she killed those people."
"Why she killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" blustered Sweets. "She was a raving lunatic! From what Deidre and Tiana have told me, she seems to have thought she was doing it all on She-You-Know's instructions!"
"Lady Zira was giving her instructions, Cornelia," Crighton said. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Zira to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Zira has been restored to her body."
Sweets looked as though someone had just swung a heavy weight into her face. Dazed and blinking, she stared back at Crighton as if she couldn't quite believe what she had just heard.
She began to splutter, still goggling at Crighton. "She-You-Know ... returned? Preposterous. Come now, Crighton ..."
"As Deidre and Tiana have doubtless told you," said Crighton, "we heard Bea Clutch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, she told us how she was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Zira - learning of her continued existence from Bernard Jenkins - went to free her from her mother, and used her to capture Kiara. The plan worked, I tell you. Clutch has helped Zira to return."
"See here, Crighton," said Sweets, and I was astonished to see a slight smile dawning on her face, "you - you can't seriously believe that. She-You-Know - back? Come now, come now ... certainly, Clutch may have believed herself to be acting upon She-You-Know's orders - but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Crighton ..."
"When Kiara touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, she was transported straight to Zira," said Crighton steadily. "She witnessed Lady Zira's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to my office."
Crighton glanced around at me and saw that I was awake, but shook her head, and said, "I am afraid I cannot permit you to question Kiara tonight."
Sweets' curious smile lingered.
She too glanced at me, then looked back at Crighton, and said, "You are - er - prepared to take Kiara's word on this, are you, Crighton?"
There was a moment's silence, which was broken by my parents growling. Their hackles were raised, and they were both glaring at Sweets.
"Certainly I believe Kiara," said Crighton. Her eyes were blazing now. "I heard Clutch's confession, and I heard Kiara's account of what happened after she touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bernard Jenkins disappeared last summer."
Sweets still had that strange smile on her face. Once again, she glanced at me before answering. "You are prepared to believe that Lady Zira has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a girl who ... well ..."
Sweets shot me another look, and I suddenly understood.
"You've been reading Peter Meter, Mrs Sweets," I said quietly.
Chris, Sian, Chrissie, Sam and Grandmother Sarabi all jumped. None of them had realised I had woken up.
Sweets reddened slightly, but a defiant and obstinate look came over her face.
"And if I have?" she said, looking at Crighton. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the girl very quiet? A Parshydamouth, eh? And having funny turns all over the place - "
"I assume that you are referring to the pains Kiara has been experiencing in her scar?" said Crighton coolly.
"You admit that she has been having these pains, then?" said Sweets quickly. "Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly - hallucinations?"
"Listen to me, Cornelia," said Crighton, taking a step towards Sweets, and once again she seemed to radiate that indefinable sense of power that I had felt after Crighton had Stunned young Clutch. "Kiara is as sane as you or I. That scar upon her forehead has not addled her brains. I believe it hurts her when Lady Zira is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."
Sweets had taken half a step back from Crighton, but she looked no less stubborn. "You'll forgive me, Crighton, but I've heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before ..."
"Look, I saw Zira come back!" I shouted. I tried to get out of bed again, but Grandmother Sarabi forced me back. "I saw the Love Destroyers! I can give you their names! Nerissa Malty - "
Triphorm made a sudden movement, but as I looked at her, Triphorm's eyes flew back to Sweets.
"Malty was cleared!" said Sweets, visibly affronted. "A very old family - donations to excellent causes - "
"Magro!" I continued.
"Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"
Aakster - Necci - Crate - Gabber - "
"You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Love Destroyers thirteen years ago!" said Sweets angrily. "You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! for heave's sake, Crighton - the girl was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year, too - her tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them - the girl can talk to snakes and other reptiles, Crighton, and you still think she's trustworthy?"
"You fool!" Professor Darbus cried. "Georgia Diggs! Mrs Clutch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"
"I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Sweets, now matching her anger, her face purpling. "It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilise everything we have worked for these last ten years!"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Up until that moment, I had always thought of Sweets as a kindly figure, a little blustering, a little pompous, but essentially good-natured. But as I looked at her, all I saw was a short, angry witch who was refusing, point-blank, to accept the prospect of disruption in her comfortable and ordered world - to believe that Zira could have risen.
"Zira has returned," Crighton repeated. "If you accept that fact straight away, Sweets, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the Stingers - "
"Preposterous!" shouted Sweets again. "Remove the Stingers! I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the Stingers are standing guard at Azkaban!"
"The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelia, knowing that you have put Lady Zira's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join her the instance she asks them!" said Crighton. "They will not remain loyal to you, Sweets! Zira can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the Stingers behind her, and her old supporters returned to her, you will be hard pressed to stop her regaining the sort of power she had thirteen years ago!"
Sweets was opening and closing her mouth as though no words could express her outrage.
"The second step you must take - and at once," Crighton pressed on, "is to send envoys to the giants."
"Envoys to the giants?" Sweets shrieked, finding her tongue again. "What madness is this?"
"Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late," said Crighton, "or Zira will persuade them, as she did before, that she alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!"
"You - you cannot be serious!" Sweets gasped, shaking her head, and retreating further from Crighton. "If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants - people hate them, Crighton - end of my career - "
"You are blinded," said Crighton, her voice rising now, the aura of power around her palpable, her eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelia! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognise that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your Stinger has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any - and see what that woman chose to make of her life! I tell you now - take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers for Magic we have ever known. Fail to act - and history will remember you as the woman who stepped aside, and allowed Zira a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild since Lord Voldemort was destroyed - and we all remember what mistakes Minister Fudge made when Voldemort came back the second time round, don't we?"
"Just because mistakes were made before, doesn't mean they'll happen again! Besides, what you're saying is - is insane," Sweets said, still backing away. "Mad ..."
And then there was silence. Matron was standing frozen at the foot of my bed, her hands over her mouth. Grandmother Sarabi stood over me, her hand on my shoulder to prevent me from rising. Chris, Sian, Chrissie and Sam were staring at Sweets.
"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelia," said Crighton, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I - I shall act as I see fit."
Crighton's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Sweets bristled as though Crighton was advancing upon her with a wand.
"Now, see here, Crighton," she said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free reign, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Mina, or decide what to teach your students, without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me - "
"The only one against whom I intend to work," said Crighton, "is Lady Zira. If you are against her, then we remain, Cornelia, on the same side."
It seemed Sweets could think of no answer to this. She rocked backwards and forwards on her small feet for a moment, and wringed her hands nervously.
Finally, she said, with a hint of a plea in her voice, "She can't be back, Crighton, she just can't be ..."
Triphorm strode forwards, past Crighton, pulling up the left sleeve of her robes as she went. She stuck out her forearm, and showed it to Sweets, who recoiled.
"There," said Triphorm harshly. "There. The Death Trail. It is not as clear as it was, an hour or so ago, when it burnt red, but you can still see it. Every Love Destroyer had the sign burnt into her by the Scarlet Lady. It was a means of distinguishing each other, and her means of summoning us to her. When she touched the Trail of any Love Destroyer, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at her side. This Trail has been growing clearer all year. Kula's, too. Why do you think Kula fled tonight? We both felt the Trail burn. We both knew she had returned. Kula fears the Scarlet Lady's vengeance. She betrayed too many of her fellow Love Destroyers to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."
Sweets stepped back from Triphorm, too. She was shaking her head. She did not seem to have taken in a word of what Triphorm had said. She stared, apparently repelled, at the ugly mark on Triphorm's arm, then looked up at Crighton and whispered, "I don't know what you and your staff are playing at Crighton, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Crighton, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."
She had almost reached the door when she paused. She turned around, strode back down the dormitory, and stopped at my bed.
"Your winnings," she said shortly, taking a large bag of gold out of her pocket, and dropping it onto my bedside table. "One thousand Galleons. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but in the circumstances ..."
She crammed her witch's hat onto her head, and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. The moment she had disappeared, Crighton turned to look at the group around my bed.
"There is work to be done," she said. "My husband I know I can count on. He knows what Sweets is. It's Matthew's fondness for Muggles that leaves him out of Sweets' circle of favourites, but he gets paid well, and as long as that happens, my husband doesn't worry. Sweets thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride, which he does not. So I must send a message to him. All those we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and Matthew is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as short-sighted as Cornelia."
"I'll go to Uncle Matt," said Sam, standing up. "I'll go now."
"Excellent," said Crighton. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. And tell him to try and get The Trio and some of their friends involved too, if he can. He will need to be discreet, however. If Sweets thinks I am interfering at the Ministry - "
"Leave it to me," said Sam.
She gave me a hug, then hugged Chris, Sian and Chrissie, walked over to Crighton and kissed her cheek, pulled on her cloak, and strode quickly from the room.
"Deidre," said Crighton, turning to Professor Darbus, "I want to see Mina in my office as soon as possible. Also - if he will consent to come - Monsieur Legrand."
Professor Darbus nodded, and left without a word.
"Pollyanna," Crighton said to Matron, "would you be very kind, and go down to Professor Grumpy's office, where you will find a house-elf called Blinky in considerable distress? Do you think you can talk to him, and take him back to the kitchens. I think Dokey will look after him for us."
"Very - very well," said Matron, looking startled, and she too left.
Crighton made sure the door was closed, and that Matron's footsteps had died away, before she spoke again.
"And now," she said, "it is time for three of our number to recognise each other for what they are. Simba, Nala ... if you could resume your usual forms."
The great black dogs looked up at Crighton, then, in an instant, they turned back into a man and a woman.
None of us yelled or jumped backwards, not even Triphorm, but the look on her face was one of mingled fury and horror - well, at my mother, anyway. When she looked at my father, I saw the exact same look she had when she saw my father in my third year: a look of longing, pain and something else I couldn't name, whereas my father gave Triphorm a look of pure dislike.
"Them!" Triphorm snarled, staring at my mother in particular, even though my parents shared the same amount of dislike for Triphorm. "What are they doing here?"
"They are here at my invitation," said Crighton, looking between them, "as are you, Tiana. I trust the three of you. It id time for you to lay aside your old differences, and trust each other."
I thought Crighton was asking for a near miracle. My parents and Triphorm were eyeing each other with the utmost loathing, even though Triphorm kept her eyes locked on my mother.
"I will settle, in the short term," said Crighton, with a bite of impatience in her voice, "for a lack of open hostility. The three of you will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth stand united, there is no hope for any of us."
Very slowly - but still glaring at each other as though each wished the other nothing but ill - my mother and Triphorm moved towards each other, and shook hands. They let go extremely quickly. But when my father stepped forward, I saw Triphorm look at him with a slight longing in her eyes; but when my father continued to show her nothing but loathing, I swear Triphorm looked slightly heartbroken, before they shook hands. As they let go, Triphorm seemed reluctant to let my father's fingers slip away, but did so anyway.
"That will do to be getting on with," said Crighton, stepping between them once more. "Now I have work for each of you. Sweets' attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Simba, Nala, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Timon Meers, Pumbaa Warts, Arnie Figgs, Mona Fetch - the old crowd. Lie low at Meers' for a while, I will contact you there."
"Wait - I - " I said.
I wanted my parents to stay. I did not want to say goodbye again so soon. Even one of them staying with me for just one night would have been good enough for me.
My parents turned around to face me, before they came and sat on my bed. "Listen, Kiara," my father said to me gently, "I know it's hard for you to see your mother and I leave you again so soon, but we promise you that you'll see us again soon. But we must do what we can, you understand, don't you?"
I nodded, and said heavily, "Of course I do."
My father smiled gently and said, "That's my girl. Be strong for us, Kiara." My father then hugged and kissed me, before he stood up and my mother took his place. She brushed my hair back gently and said, "Your father and I are so proud of you, my darling. Never forget that we love you." My mother then hugged and kissed me too, before she stood up and joined my father. My parents then nodded to Crighton, received a hug each of Grandmother Sarabi, before they transformed again into the black dogs, and ran the length of the room to the door, whose handle my father turned with his paw. Then they were gone.
"Tiana," said Crighton, turning to Triphorm, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready ... if you are prepared ..."
"I am," said Triphorm.
She looked slightly paler than usual, and her cold, icy eyes glittered strangely.
"Then, good luck," said Crighton, and she watched, with a trace of apprehension on her face, as Triphorm swept wordlessly after my parents.
It was several minutes before Crighton spoke again.
"I must go downstairs," she said finally. "I must see the Diggs. Kiara - take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later."
I slumped back against my pillows as Crighton disappeared. Chris, Sian, Chrissie and Grandmother Sarabi were all looking at me. None of us spoke for a very long time.
"You've got to take the rest of your potion, Kiara," Grandmother Sarabi said at last. Her hand nudged the sack of gold on my bedside cabinet as she reached for the bottle and the goblet. "You have a good long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while ... think about what you're going to buy with your winnings!"
"I don't want that gold," I said in an expressionless voice. "You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn't have won it. It should've been Georgia's."
The thing against which I had been fighting on and off ever since I had come out of the maze was threatening to overpower me. I felt a burning, prickling feeling in the inner corners of my eyes. I blinked and stared up at the ceiling.
"It wasn't your fault, Kiara," Sian then whispered.
"I told her to take the Cup with me," I said.
"Kiara, listen to me," Sian said. I looked at her. She was pale and sad. "You cannot blame yourself for what happened tonight, for it wasn't your fault she died - for you had no idea of what was going to happen tonight as much as Georgia or any of us did. So don't go blaming yourself for this, Kiara, because we don't, and I don't think anyone else blames you, either - and anyone who does blame you is not worth the time or the trouble, as far as I'm concerned."
"Sian's right, Kiara," Chris said, smiling sadly.
"Yeah, we don't blame you for what happened, or hate you, if it helps you to know," Chrissie said, smiling weakly. I smiled back as my eyes misted, and the burning feeling was in my throat.
"They're right, sweetie," Grandmother Sarabi said gently, as she set the potion down on the bedside cabinet, bent down and put her arms around me. Grandmother Sarabi had hugged me like that many times during my childhood, but never had I welcomed a hug like that from her more than I did at that moment. The full weight of everything I had seen that night seemed to fall in upon me as Grandmother Sarabi held me to her. My grandfather's voice and face, the sight of Georgia, dead on the ground, all started spinning in my head until I could hardly bear it, until I was screwing up my face against the howl of misery that fought to get out of me.
There was a loud thudding noise, which broke Grandmother Sarabi and I apart. Sian was standing by the window. She was holding something tight in her hand.
"Sorry," she whispered.
"Smooth, sister," Chrissie said sarcastically, as she and Chris both gave Sian a look that said, "way to ruin the moment."
"Your potion, Kiara," Grandmother Sarabi then said quickly, as she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand.
I drank it in one. The effect was instantaneous. Heavy, irresistible waves of dreamless sleep broke over me, as I fell back onto my pillows, and thought no more.
AN: Hi, guys! Sorry for the long update, but I had internet problems this past weekend, which meant I couldn't update on Sunday, which means I'm late in finishing this book. It will be finished on Sunday - yes, this Sunday - so that's good. Another chapter should be up tomorrow, so keep a lookout for that.
