Something had gone terribly wrong ! She had missed something. She must have, why else would professor McGonagall summon Ginny to her office while most other students were enjoying their post exam freedom ? She had been so sure that no one had any suspicions about her new identity, but perhaps she had grown careless with time. It had been almost a month since the Chamber of Secrets situation had been resolved and in that time Ginny had tried to slowly reveal her changes in personality and her prodigious talents, so no one would make the connection with her brief absence during the climax of the Chamber crisis.
And yet here she was, on her way to the deputy headmistress' office wondering if she could subdue McGonagall and flee the castle fast enough. Alas, it was hopeless, Dumbledore would be there, of course. They had merely chosen McGonagall's office so as not to raise Ginny's suspicions, which made her even more suspicious.
Tragically she couldn't devise a brilliant plan involving a time turner to erase whatever had given her away and create another reason for McGonagall to summon her to stabilise the time loop. She couldn't because, inconceivable as it was, she had been wrong, Percy didn't have a time turner. She had search everywhere, once a day, for a month !
Well no, of course, she hadn't actually done that. It Would have been an insane waste of time when the object of her search offered a far more efficient way to look for it. All she'd had to do was decide, every morning, to spend a couple of hours searching for Percy's time turner, then if she found it go back in time and leave herself a note that read 'Go' so that she'd go looking for the time turner. Since she had never found a note, she obviously hadn't found the time turner and so she hadn't bothered searching at all. It had been a flawless method and yet here she was still lacking the prised artefact. Conclusion ? There was no time turner, at least not in Percy's possession or in his dorm for that mater or in any of the Griffindor dorms, since day after day, she had started to broaden the area she would search in the event of a 'go'.
And yet both OG and Tom remembered coming across Percy paroling the hallways at times where he was supposed to be in class. At least two times and Percy would never skip a class ! Perhaps there was something wrong with OG and Tom's memories of the last few months before merger (BM). The only other eventuality was that Percy was capable of hiding something well enough that Ginny couldn't find it, but that was simply laughable. Back in his day, Tom had heard a rumour that some overworked and particularly responsible (and probably very boring) students were given time turners, perhaps the rumour was false after all.
She shook her head. This was no time lament the terrible lack of time turners in the world. She had to think ! Should she just run now ? Surely there would be someone guarding the main exits, perhaps even aurors. How many aurors could she take on ? She had practised quite a lot in the room of requirements over the past month, mostly to check if she could count on all of Tom's spells, skills and reflexes and luckily she could, but still. No, if Dumbledore truly knew who she was, she would not escape. He would not let a part of Voldemort's soul escape.
She had been surprised to learn that Voldemort was indeed Tom Riddle and not some impostor who had taken on his pseudonym. Diary Tom thought the botched Hocrux ritual had killed and then saved him, but as it turned out it had made a copy of 16 year old Tom while the real one went on living. There where records of Tom Riddle finishing his education at Hogwarts, he'd even been Head Boy in his last year, and the written accounts of Volthemort's battle tactics sounded too familiar. Though what had possessed Tom to turn himself into a weird sake man at some point, she could not guess, perhaps it had merely been a glamour.
So she was indeed part Voldemort and if Dumbledore had discovered that fact, finding herself on the receiving end of a massive obliviation would be the best case scenario, and even that was likely wishful thinking, he'd probably think her soul was tainted or some similar bollocks.
Ginny took a deep breath. Perhaps they suspected something was wrong with her but didn't know it involved Tom Riddle. She had been avoiding Dumbledore's gaze and had used oclumancy in the presence of every teacher, so maybe they suspected nothing at all and she was being paranoid. Paranoia, that was one trait she wished she hadn't inherited from Tom, though for now it was the only undesirable one she had found. If they merely had some suspicions or none at all, attempting a daring escape was the last thing she should do.
She reached McGonagall's office and knocked after anther calming breath. When Ginny entered the office McGonagall seemed to be alone, sitting at her desk, doing paperwork. Ugh, such a tedious thing to do for someone who could wield arcane might… Ginny discretely cast an antidisilusionment charm. It revealed no one. She sat down when asked and waited anxiously for the professor to reveal just how deep in shit she was.
"Miss Weasely, euh where should I begin ?" McGonagall started with her tick Scottish accent. "I believe I now understand what happened to you this year."
Ginny tensed up, pointing her wand at the professor under the desk. "Oh euh, You do ?"
"Yes, I do. I must say at first I was a little disappointed by your performance in my classes especially by how distracted you seemed. But now it all makes perfect sense to me. You must have been terribly bored."
"Euh, yes. I suppose I was, a little." Ginny answered, as it seemed to be what the professor expected. This was not taking an expected turn at all.
"I thought perhaps you had an exceptional gift for the art of transfiguration , but I asked about you to my colleagues and you seem to have followed the same pattern in every class: dissipated and not putting much of an effort for most of the year and then, as the exams approached you started to actually try and you outperformed all of your yearmates. I even asked them to grade your exams in priority to confirm my suspicions, you see."
"Ah and what did I get ?"
"Outstanding !… In everything … Even potions… Do you have any idea how often professor Snape gives an O to a Griffondor ?"
"Ah, hum, I can't be the first, right ? I mean, first year is not that hard…" Damn Tom Riddle and his incorrigible tendency to show of ! But surely this wasn't enough to warrant suspicion ?
"No. Indeed, you are not the first and if that was all you would have received your results at the same time as everyone else. With my personal congratulations, of course. However there is the mater of what you did during some of your practical exams. On the charms exam for example, professor Flithwick told me that you performed all the required charms quickly and without hesitation. Later, when going over his notes for grading he noticed that there was no comment about your incantations, it was only then that he realised that you hadn't spoken the incantations !"
"Oops ? Euh, I had been practising silent casting on my own quite a lot and I guess I forgot…" That was actually the truth even if that practice had been done as Tom Riddle about 50 years ago.
"Miss Weasely, I will try not to rand too much about how impressed I am, but to put it simply, I am not sure there ever has been a student who mastered silent casting at the age of eleven at Howarts. …Could you please show me ?"
Without a word Ginny levitated the mouse shaped paperweight sitting on the desk.
"I see. Now could you please demonstrate how far along you truly are in transfiguration ?"
Ginny touched her wooden stool with her wand and changed it into a comfortable reclining armchair without getting up. She slowed the transfiguration down to about 30 seconds, hoping that would be a conceivable speed for an eleven year old.
McGonagall now wore a strange neutral look on her face. In a somewhat numb voice she said "Well, miss Weasely, evidently you are a magical prodigy of a rare calibre. I have already made some arrangements for your next year, but I am beginning to wonder if it will be enough."
"Oh, you have ? What sort of arrangements ?"
"I have obtained authorisation from the Hogwarts board and from the headmaster for you to join the third years, but that still won't be much of a challenge for you, will it ? I have the impression that you would be able to pass your OWL's within one month with full O's."
"Would that be possible ?" Ginny with a fake hopeful note. She didn't really care either way, Hogwarts was a fun place to start her new life and whether she spent the next 2 or 5 years here she would keep herself entertained even if the classes were dreadfully easy.
"I'm afraid it is not. The department of education would not approve. They can be very …rigid. I can already predict there will be some push back when you get to your OWLs one year early, nevermind more. Skipping one year is the best I can offer you. All of your teachers already approved, even professor Snape. All I need now is your approval. Of course, I would understand if you prefer to remain in your year with your friends."
Ginny almost answered that her only friend was Luna, but held herself back as it sounded a little too sad. "No that's fine, it seems like a good idea. Perhaps I'll be less bored in class that way." And Ron will likely hate it and that will be funny.
"I sure hope so miss Weasely. Now, there's anything else you wish to discus, you may go and enjoy the nice weather."
Ginny got up from her armchair, changing it back with a wave of her wand. Then she thought of something "What about professor Dumbledore ?"
"As I said, the headmaster approves. He did mention an interest in tutoring you personally when we discussed your case. That would, of course, be a great opportunity for you, but you shouldn't expect to much from it, he is a very busy man who already has far too much on his plate."
"Oh, that sounds interesting." she answered in a controlled voice. That might become a problem if he does find the time. "But I meant, what did he do when he went to school ? He must have been quite good already."
"Indeed, he was, but things were done differently at the time. You see, it was before we adopted the muggle system of courses arranged by year. Back then witches and wizards of particular skill and knowledge in a branch of magic came to Hogwarts to pass on their art. Some offered lectures open to all, others were more… selective with their pupils. I suppose, such a system suited wizards like Albus Dumbledore quite well, and would likely be better for you than the current system. But since you both are the exception and not the norm, I believe it is an improvement."
"Huh, must have been an interesting time to be at Howarts." Ginny mused, with a thoughtful look. With that she bade the professor good day and took her leave.
As she Walked though to hallways towards the grounds to go enjoy some sunlight, she laughed at her own earlier paranoia. Why would anyone suspect anything ? Because she was a prodigy who had taken some time to reveal herself ? It was well known that the onset of puberty sometimes caused quite radical changes in magical folks (or there were a lot of early teens getting half possessed by evil diaries and no one knew about it.) And besides, she was a Griffindor ! No one ever suspected Griffindors of anything nefarious. If Griffindor had produced dark mages or criminals, they weren't at the forefront of the collective consciousness lately. So long as that remained so she would be above suspicion by virtue of her house.
Author's Notes:
Perhaps I should pace the release of the already written chapters, but whatever It's not like I have a huge audience impatiently awaiting releases (yet).
Not a fan of this chapter's title so if you have suggestions...
As always fav, follow, review, constructively criticize, explain to me why I shouldn't use adverbs so much (Is it just literary snobbery or is there another reason ? ;) ) and, most importantly, floss ! It is essential for good dental hygiene.
Coming soon Chapter 4: Black is Back