Harry Potter and the Mother Who Lived

by Gracques

When Lord Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow to kill Harry Potter, he agreed to a request from one of his disciples to spare his mother. The Dark Lord remained true to his word. Lily Evans Potter survived the night of October 31, 1981. Follow the story of Harry Potter where Voldemort kept his word and Harry was raised by his mother.

218. Parvati V

The new chapter is there. I apologize. I said it would be uploaded soon after the previous one, and I ended up taking a week. The chapter simply proved to be much longer than I anticipated.

This chapter takes place at the same time as Ron's previous chapter. And you'll see that a lot happens that Ron simply couldn't see while the likes of Umbridge and Snape made his life miserable.

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PARVATI V

She avidly read the article of Witch Weekly during her breakfast of the second Friday since their return from the holidays. Lavender showed her the article as soon as she stumbled on it. Now both girls were reading it, their foreheads touching.

The content was so unexpected, so surprising, so over the top of everything they ever read in that magazine that neither of them could take away their eyes from the printed words. When they were done, Parvati looked straight into Lavender's eyes, who stared back at her in utter incredulity.

"Did you hear anything about that?" Parvati asked her best friend.

"No, never," Lavender said. "If I had heard about it… You would think I would have talked about…" Lavender frowned then. "You truly never heard about this? Even back then, you were neighbors."

"Yes," Parvati acknowledged, feeling insulted, "but come on, Lavender. You know very well that she's doing things on her side. And Hannah was her best friend, not me. I didn't talk much with her." Parvati looked towards the table of Hufflepuffs. " Maybe we should ask her. If someone could know, that's her."

"Okay. But we will need to find the right moment to ask her. And it would be better if I was the one asking. Considering your history with Harry, I doubt Hannah would like it if you were the one asking about her best friend."

Parvati had to agree. With such a question, Hannah would at best refuse to answer, at worst… She would rather not think about it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the characteristic and far too well-known clearing of throat. Parvati looked at its origin, Dolores Umbridge, standing at the entrance of the Great Hall.

"The following Prefects are to follow me. In accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-five, they are to complete the evaluations that they haven't completed by the due date yesterday. Refusal to do so will result in sanctions."

"What?"

Parvati heard the indignation in the voice of Ron Weasley following this announcement. His name was among those that this woman called. He sullenly followed with a few other Prefects outside the Great Hall. In other circumstances, Parvati might have felt Ron got what he deserved. He kept mocking Professor Trelawney all the time, despite how Umbridge treated her. He could show some sympathy towards her, given her situation. However, Parvati hated Umbridge so much that she could only feel pity for whoever that woman targeted, no matter how or who was targeted. She was only glad to not be a Prefect. Her sister told her that the High Inquisitor could now evaluate them as much as she evaluated the staff. Luckily, Padma was not among those she called this morning.

"What do you think will happen to them?" Parvati asked Lavender.

"I don't know. But maybe they will keep that woman's attention away from Professor Trelawney for today," Lavender hoped.

"That would certainly do her some good. Umbridge has been attending each one of our lessons since we returned from vacation."

But before Divination, they had Potions to start the morning. Snape was as horrible, displeasing and demanding towards them. Parvati always arranged her hair into a very tight tail behind her neck for this lesson. Despite this, she always ended up sweating so much and rushing to complete her potion in time that wet strands of black hair covered her forehead no later than the middle of each lesson. She was always exhausted by the end of any Potions lesson.

Snape further added to Gryffindors' misery for this lesson by almost reducing Lavender to tears when he commented on her potion midway through preparation, giving a detention to Ron for arriving late because Umbridge held him, and vanishing Harry's potion like he always did, to the glee of Slytherins who snickered and laughed in their corner as usual.

Potions was always a nightmare for anyone who wasn't a Slytherin. Parvati had tried to complain to McGonagall once, without success. It was a long time ago, and she received such a clear, unequivocal answer that she never dared to complain about Snape to any other teacher afterwards.

The Divination lesson that followed would usually have lifted up her mood, but since December, Trelawney was predicting her particularly dreadful things. And Umbridge always attended Divination. Against her deepest wishes, Parvati spotted Umbridge sitting in a corner the moment she walked into the Divination tower. She sat down with Lavender and waited for the lesson to begin.

"What do you think she's writing on her notepad?" Lavender whispered as they watched Umbridge from the corner of their eyes.

"Probably more horrible things about Professor Trelawney. She has some grudge against her, I tell you," Parvati whispered back.

"Let's try to keep Trelawney occupied," Lavender suggested. "This way, Umbridge will have fewer opportunities to interrupt her, and she might feel more at ease."

Parvati nodded in agreement. Professor Trelawney needed their help right now. If they didn't help their favorite professor, they would never forgive themselves.

The lesson began as usual. Unfortunately, this meant that as soon as Professor Trelawney tried to explain today's work, that Umbridge woman coughed to ask her whether she could predict any dream the student would describe today. Parvati wished there was something she could do right now, but she was powerless as that horrible woman derailed the beginning of their Divination lesson.

After many interruptions, they could start their dream interpretations.

"Okay. So this time, we start with mine?" Lavender asked. Parvati nodded as they opened their Divination book. From the side, Parvati saw Umbridge approaching Seamus.

"Last night, I made quite an odd dream," Lavender went on to explain. Parvati stood ready to write as many details about the dream. It was really important so that the interpretation was as precise as possible. Missing details, even tiny ones, could make the difference between an accurate and totally wrong prediction. "We were in the dungeons, but instead of Snape giving a lesson, it was Mrs Evans, and we were boiling Quaffles, Bludgers and even Golden Snitches in our cauldrons. Everything was fine for a time, then Neville overtopped his cauldron, and his Bludger began destroying the classroom. Then others toppled their cauldrons as well, and balls were flying all around the dungeons, while Mrs Evans kept giving her lesson. But that's all. I think the dream ended there."

"Do you remember what the lesson Mrs Evans gave was about?" Parvati asked her friend.

Lavender frowned, trying to remember. "No. I don't."

"Try. It may be an important part of your dream."

Lavender kept trying. In the meantime, Parvati spied on Seamus talking with Umbridge.

"This is not my favorite subject, but there are others that I dislike way more," he said on a low tone.

"But would you say that Professor Trelawney's lessons will be useful later in your life?"

Umbridge didn't even try to whisper as she asked her question. She said it loudly, for everyone to hear.

"Probably not," Seamus replied. "At the same time, I doubt that History of Magic will be…"

"Thank you, Mr Finnigan. You can go back to whatever it is you are doing."

Parvati felt her hair standing up, so irritated she was with that woman. She could at least let them finish what they wanted to say. Professor Trelawney was twisting her fingers, obviously upset. Parvati decided it was time to take action.

"Professor Trelawney, can I have your help, please?" she asked.

"Of course, my dear," the professor answered, clearly glad to be of assistance.

"You should remind your students that they should wait for you to address them before they can speak," Umbridge declared, again for everyone to hear. Trelawney did her best to ignore her, and Parvati did the same.

"How can I help you, Miss Patil?" Trelawney asked.

"Well, I'm trying to interpret one of Lavender's dream, and there is a detail about that dream she is not sure to remember. I wonder if this is important to interpret her dream."

Parvati went on to explain the dream in details, helped by Lavender, who managed to remember more details as she told it a second time.

"What do you think this dream means?" Umbridge asked Trelawney.

"This is to Miss Patil to interpret it as an exercise. I cannot interpret it for her. It would taint her judgment," Trelawney said from an acute voice. She repositioned one of her shawls. "The important is to determine what the subject of the dream is, Miss Patil. For this, you need Miss Brown's help. What do you think your dream is about?"

"Lots of Bludgers smashing everything," Lavender said right away.

"Not necessarily," Parvati said. "You remember this dream Sophie once did? Where she and her sister stood in front of a werewolf? We thought the werewolf was the subject of the dream, but in truth it was her sister next to her and how she reacted to the werewolf's presence."

"Very good, Miss Patil," their professor congratulated. "We must never jump to conclusions when it comes to interpreting dreams. Each one must be very carefully analyzed. We must keep ours minds open."

Parvati smiled. The old Trelawney was back.

"Why don't you interpret another student's dream while Miss Patil interprets her friend's dream?" Umbridge asked, taking Trelawney back down.

"I can tell her my dream," Parvati shot, reacting without thinking. Luckily, Trelawney was quick to react as well.

"Or course, my dear. Please tell me your dream."

Their professor looked relieved. Parvati thought it would be easier if it was her who told her about a dream.

"I made this dream two nights ago," she began. "But in fact, there were two dreams. I woke up after the first dream and fell asleep again, but then I dreamed once more. I woke up again and fell back asleep, but after that I did no other dreams."

"Intriguing," Trelawney said. "Share with me both dreams."

"In the first one, I was standing on a on some sort of springboard, with a large dark hole beneath my feet. I stayed there for a moment. I don't know for how long. I remember you said that time was hard to estimate in dreams. Then I heard a sound from behind my back. Maybe a scream, but I'm not sure. And I just fell. I don't think I jumped. I believe the springboard simply disappeared under my feet. And then I woke up as darkness engulfed me."

"Very interesting story," Umbridge commented. "Can you tell what it means for this young girl's future?"

"In my second dream," Parvati went on, not giving time to either Umbridge or Trelawney to react, "I was deep in the ocean. Or maybe the Black Lake. But I was very deep into dark waters. Then I heard a scream again, I pushed to swim up and I woke up again."

"Fascinating," Trelawney declared.

"So, what does it mean?" Umbridge insisted. "I hope this will not mean Miss Patil's death again."

Trelawney seemed to be focusing very hard to ignore Umbridge. Parvati tried to encourage her with her gaze, but their professor had her eyes closed and didn't seem to notice her.

"I see…"

"What do you see?" Umbridge insisted.

"I see…" Trelawney said in a tragic voice, "that you are troubled, my dear Miss Patil. And that great challenge and grave danger is waiting for you."

"Again," Umbridge commented, writing a note. Parvati knew she purposefully said it loud so that Professor Trelawney would hear it.

"I see…" Trelawney insisted, "that you will find balance in your life. But only at very great costs. You may die. Or not. But you will suffer. You will suffer greatly before you find this balance. You are in very great danger."

"I believe this is enough," Umbridge cut shortly. "Let's give attention to your other students, Professor Trelawney."

Their professor was shaking as she obviously reluctantly followed the High Inquisitor. Parvati was shaken by Trelawney's predictions, but it barely occupied the place it should in her thoughts as she witnessed her favorite teacher struggling to fulfill Umbridge's instructions.

Trelawney was on the brink of tears when the bell rang, and Parvati was just as relieved that it was over as to see Umbridge leaving the classroom the moment it was over."

"I hate that woman," Lavender commented after she was gone while all other students gathered their material to leave.

"Me too," Parvati agreed. "How long will we have to suffer her?"

"Too long, whatever the time it takes," Lavender said between her teeth. "One minute in her presence is already too long. And we have to suffer her in all our courses of Divination, but also Care of Magical Creatures, and even Defence…" Lavender's voice trailed off. Parvati frowned. Lavender seemed to suddenly realize something. "Oh no. I haven't finished that homework Professor Evans gave us. I'm still missing the conclusion. I told myself yesterday I would have time to finish it before breakfast this morning, but I woke up too late."

Parvati remembered as well all of a sudden. They had gone to bed after Parvati completed her own conclusion, but Lavender had not been done yet.

"I've got to go to the library," Lavender said, panicking. "I can't afford to give an unfinished work."

"I'll come with you," Parvati decided.

"No. Go and see Professor Trelawney. She needs support after what this Umbridge got her through."

Parvati looked at their professor, who had collapsed in her armchair. Indeed, she needed more help than Lavender did. A homework was not as important as supporting their teacher right now. Still, Parvati searched her bag and seized a roll of parchment she handed to Lavender.

"This is my homework. Take inspiration from it," she told her best friend.

"Thank you, Parvati. You're the best," Lavender said as she rushed outside with the other students.

Parvati waited for all the others to have left. When she was the only one who remained behind, she approached the professor who had her eyes closed.

"Professor Trelawney?" she asked tentatively. Her teacher jumped at the mention of her name, her senses in alert, but she calmed down the moment her eyes fell upon Parvati.

"Oh, my dear, it is you. I believed that it was… Well, it doesn't matter. What can I do for you, my child?"

"I just… I wanted to make sure you were alright."

Trelawney rearranged the shawls around her neck and shoulders. "I am very fine, my child. I do not concern myself with the troubles of this world. Otherwise, I couldn't see the future."

Parvati smiled. She knew it wasn't true, that Trelawney was deeply affected by the pressure this Umbridge woman put on her, but it was brave from her part to behave this way.

"Lavender and I, we truly enjoy your classes. No matter what anybody else is saying."

"I appreciate your interest," Trelawney replied while nodding. She then looked at Parvati. "You have a gift, my child. I can see it. I can feel it. No matter what happens, no matter what life has in reserve for you, I hope your gift will blossom before it is too late." Trelawney agitated her hand before her face. "Now leave me. I need time to rest and meditate."

"Of course, Professor."

Parvati turned on her heels, but she nonetheless cast a glance behind her as she walked towards the exit. Professor Trelawney really looked exhausted. She almost looked like she was sleeping now.

Parvati made to look at the exit door again, when she heard a crashing sound behind. She looked behind to see that the armchair in which Professor Trelawney was sitting had toppled, along with Professor Trelawney who fell on her back, hidden by the armchair.

"Professor…" Parvati called, worried that Trelawney might be injured.

"It will happen tonight."

Parvati froze, her stomach making a turnaround. She recognized this voice. This was Trelawney's voice, but the different one. The one Parvati only ever heard her use once before, nearly two years ago. It came loud from the other of the chair.

"Death and pain are roaming this land. Before the day ends, death and pain will strike. Tears and blood will flow on both sides of the great salty waters. The powerful and the weak will tremble. The Dark Lord's plans will be thwarted. Two freedoms will be deprived. Two lives will be taken. Lightning will strike the guilty. The house will waver but survive. The Dark Lord's plans will be thwarted."

Then Professor Trelawney released a grunt. Parvati didn't move. It was as if she was paralyzed, her feet stuck to the floor. She heard other grunts coming from behind the toppled armchair.

"Oh… What…" Other grunts came out, but more natural. Trelawney painfully stood up. "I must have dosed off…"

She then seemed to realize that Parvati was still there and looked very surprised to see her still in the classroom.

"What are you still doing here, my child?"

Parvati was still unmoving, petrified.

"Go. I must rest." When Trelawney noticed Parvati was still standing here without moving, she made a wave with her hand. "Go! This is an order!"

This kind of snapped Parvati back into reality, and she literally ran down the ladder. She then ran a few steps away from the trapdoor and pulled the diary in which she wrote down her dreams from her bag, rushing to write down what Trelawney just said while it was still fresh in her mind.

It will happen tonight.

Death and pain are roaming this land.

Before the day ends, death and pain will strike.

Tears and blood will flow on both sides of the great salty waters.

The powerful and the weak will tremble.

The Dark Lord's plans will be thwarted.

His fury will be without bounds.

Two freedoms will be deprived. Two lives will be taken.

Lightning will strike the guilty.

The house will waver but survive.

The Dark Lord's plans will be thwarted.

Parvati headed for the Great Hall, her heart pounding, her breathing fast. She read and read again the prophecy Trelawney just made. She hadn't pressed her teacher with questions about it. She obviously didn't remember saying those things, and questions would have been a loss of time.

Before the day ends, death and pain will strike.

Considering what happened the last time Trelawney made predictions in a similar way, Parvati was very worried. People nearly died two years ago in those circumstances. She didn't want that to happen again.

She hid her diary in her pocket when she approached the Great Hall. Walking to the table of Gryffindors, she was surprised to find Lavender sitting there.

"You already completed your conclusion?" she asked her best friend.

Lavender frowned. "It's rather you who took your time coming here."

Parvati frowned in return. She looked at her watch, and she was surprised to see the hour. According to it, she needed half an hour to arrive in the Great Hall after the Divination class was over. Did she really take that much time to write down and think about Trelawney's new prophecy.

"Was there a problem with Professor Trelawney?" Lavender asked, worried. "Is she alright?"

Parvati shook herself. "Yes. She's fine. I think. Only…" Parvati sat down and began whispering to her best friend. "You remember two years ago? When Professor Trelawney made a prophecy?" Lavender nodded. "It happened again."

Lavender's eyes widened. She gripped Parvati's hand. "What did she say?"

Parvati subtly took her diary from her pocket and opened it at the last page she completed. Lavender avidly read the words of the prophecy.

"What does it mean? Have you asked Trelawney about what it meant?"

"No, of course not," Parvati replied. "She wouldn't have believed me, anyway. She didn't the last time. I have no idea what it could mean."

Lavender looked at the prophecy more closely. "Whatever this is about, it should happen tonight."

"Very insightful," Parvati commented dryly. She didn't want to be rude with her friend, but she wanted to interpret this thing. If they were to speak, Parvati wished that Lavender could tell things that weren't already obvious to her.

"Two people will lose their freedom and die," Lavender said.

That was another thing Parvati already knew. Though, after Lavender said it aloud, she looked at this passage more closely.

Two freedoms will be deprived. Two lives will be taken.

"What if it was about two people who would lose their freedom, and two others who would die?" Parvati suggested. "Or it could even be one person who both loses her freedom and dies, another who only loses her freedom, and a third who only dies."

Lavender scratched her neck. "Trelawney's prophecies are always quite mysterious. Even more than usual, I mean. Do you think salty waters could mean tears?"

"Maybe." Parvati had thought about it, but something in the back of her mind was telling her that it was something else.

"At the same time, it confirms that Dumbledore and Harry were right. You-Know-Who has truly returned. Or else, Professor Trelawney would never predict that his plans are going to fail. I guess this is good news."

The two girls spent the entire lunch writing down ideas of how to interpret the prophecy on a piece of parchment. As a result, Parvati barely ate before they went for their Charms lesson.

Parvati proved to be quite mediocre during Flitwick's lesson. She couldn't get Trelawney's predictions out of her mind. She thought about it all the time, making her attempts to perform the charm Flitwick was teaching them today quite miserable. Lavender didn't help, as she kept coming with hypothesis about the meaning of the predictions. It wasn't really that Lavender was looking for explanations and trying to decipher the prophecy that bothered Parvati. It was that some of Lavender's proposed solutions were so ludicrous that it distracted her not only from her attempts to perform magic, but also to actually interpret Trelawney's words.

As a result, Parvati was nowhere advanced in interpreting the prophecy, and Flitwick gave her additional work to master the charm they studied today. So at the end of the class, when Lavender went on with another hypothesis, advancing that that salty waters Trelawney mentioned could be about a substance like vinegar, Parvati snapped.

"Lavender, please! Give me time. I need to think about this. I don't need to be bombarded with ideas. It only stops me from thinking."

She said it low, so no one else would hear them, but Lavender looked insulted all the same and didn't talk to Parvati during the pause. This was what Parvati hoped for. She would apologize to Lavender later. For now, she needed to collect her thoughts.

She noticed how Ron looked to be in a foul mood as well. She supposed it was understandable. He had Umbridge on his back a part of the morning, then Snape gave him a detention for tonight. His day was in no way better than Parvati's. At least, he didn't have to interpret predictions on which someone's life may depend.

Parvati felt responsible when she failed to interpret Trelawney's predictions and they ended in catastrophe. She was the one to who those prophecies were made. Trelawney claimed that she had the capacity of a true seer. How could she be one if she couldn't even interpret the future and prevent the worst possible events to happen? She didn't know how Professor Trelawney could keep seeing terrible fates and announcing them as if they were a fatality, without even trying to change things. Perhaps she had tried in the past and failed, and she eventually resigned herself in seeing the future without being able to influence it. Parvati respected Trelawney, but she couldn't do the same. She couldn't stand idle while someone was about to die. And according to today's predictions, two people were going to die.

She recited the prophecy in her mind, free from Lavender's meddling.

It will happen tonight.

This needed no analysis. Whatever it was the prophecy predicted, it would take place before tomorrow morning. This meant that Parvati had little time. To find out what this was all about.

Death and pain are roaming this land.

This was more problematic. Were death and pain supposed to represent something other than death and pain themselves? Were they clues that something or someone causing death and pain was wandering outside? Parvati could think about many things fitting that description, both human and non-human. She only had to think about You-Know-Who and all those of his people who recently escaped Azkaban. But there were other dangers. For example, dragons. They could cause widespread suffering. However, given that the prophecy directly mentioned You-Know-Who, it was very likely that whatever caused pain and death was tied to him.

Before the day ends, death and pain will strike.

Again, it didn't need much further analysis. Whatever inflicted death and pain, it would strike very soon. But it also reduced the window of time from Trelawney's first words. And this meant Parvati had even fewer time to find out what this was all about.

Tears and blood will flow on both sides of the great salty waters.

Tears and blood. Could blood mean death, and tears the sadness of people who lost loved ones? At the same time, Parvati had learned to look for all potential explanations. People didn't only cry when they were sad. They also cried when they were laughing very hard, or very happy, or when they peeled onions. And also when they were tortured or in excruciating pain. Given the prophecy mentioned pain roaming the land, this may very well be the best explanation for the mention of tears. But about the salty waters, Parvati was at a loss. What could salty waters mean? Tears were salty, so was it another reference? But then, the prophecy was saying that tears would be flowing from both sides of greater tears? Could that mean that someone could be crying very much, and people would cry all around this person? Or was it a reference of a body of water made of seawater? Parvati was not dumb. She knew that seawater was highly saline. Snape would probably say that he was surprised she even retained this from his Potions lessons. But what water body could this reference to? Could it be the English Channel? Would people in both England and France cry?

Parvati felt that this was a very important aspect of the prophecy. Those salty waters had to mean something. But if they were about a body of water, shouldn't Trelawney have said seawater instead? And salty waters could be about so many other things, including a potion experiment literally involving salted water. Would these deaths happen in the dungeons, here at Hogwarts?

Parvati's brain was running mad, so much that she was still analyzing everything when they arrived in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

The powerful and the weak will tremble.

What could this mean? It was so vague. Could that mean that among the victims of death and pain, the people who would lose their freedom, there would be both powerful and weak people? Was trembling about pain and suffering? Or was it that everything that was about to happen would cause fear to everybody, both powerful and weak?

Parvati was still in the middle of her thinking when she noticed Dolores Umbridge in a corner of the classroom. She crisped her fists immediately, thinking about how horrible this woman was. No one seemed any happier than she was to see this High Inquisitor, neither among the students, nor for their teacher.

That woman from the Ministry only allowed Mrs Evans to speak for less than a minute before she interrupted her. Parvati had to say that she admired the way Harry's mother dealt with Umbridge. She always remained calm, opposed logical reasons to not follow Umbridge's advice, and although the voices could rise, she never lost her temper. Parvati wished Trelawney could be as solid.

Parvati looked to her right side. Two tables away, Harry was sitting with Ron. Susan and Hermione were sitting in front of them. Parvati had noticed how Harry and Susan avoided sitting together in Defence Against the Dark Arts, while they remained close in all other classes. She grinned, wondering how things were going between Susan and her mother-in-law. Parvati had avoided that side of the relationship back when she was dating Harry, their relationship having begun while Mrs Evans was absent, completing her Auror training, and ended when she returned. Parvati sometimes laughed with Lavender how the timid Susan must be feeling in front of that woman.

Lily Evans Potter was a very good and competent Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. However, she was also intimidating, like Professor Moody. Not that she threatened students, quite the opposite. She was quite warm and kind. But she was also very demanding of them. There was also her status as the Mother Who Lived, one of the only two people who survived a confrontation with You-Know-Who. Being in her presence was impressive. Most of students in Parvati's year had become accustomed to Harry and no longer viewed him as the Boy Who Survived. Some even looked down at him, especially among Slytherins, but also among students who viewed him as crazy since Diggory's death. But with his mother, it was different. She was their teacher. She was an adult. She wasn't a baby who got lucky. She was a person who actually fought You-Know-Who and came out alive. So even after several months of teaching, many students were still feeling intimidated by this woman. And the fact that Dolores Umbridge roamed around her, looking for opportunities to make her look bad, didn't encourage students to get close with their new professor. As a result, a distance existed between all students and Mrs Evans. So Parvati sometimes had good moments when thinking about how awkward Susan must feel when standing in front of the woman whose son she was dating.

The lesson soon switched to the practical portion. Parvati, as usual, paired up with Lavender. However, her spells proved quite ineffective again, as she kept thinking and reflecting on the prophecy. Parvati didn't understand how Voldemort could be furious and how his plans fail. This didn't sound like the general message this prediction seemed trying to transmit. And deciphering how two people would lose their freedom, and two others would die was a mental nightmare.

And then there was the mention of lighting striking the guilty. What could that mean? Would people die and suffer in pain because of lightning? And why would those people be guilty? And if… What if people would suffer and die who were supporters of Voldemort? Maybe this was why he would be furious. Why his plans would fail. Maybe this was the message of the prophecy, finally. Then… These predictions were positive?

Parvati's wand jumped from her hand.

"Focus, Parvati," Lavender said.

"I know." She added on a way lower tone. "I'm focusing on something else."

Lavender seemed partially comprehensive. It wasn't the first time Parvati snapped at her. She was used to forgiving her after some time. Parvati went to recover her wand, bending to take it back… when her head smashed someone else's.

"Be careful," Megan Jones told her, rubbing her head like Parvati was doing. She had leaned forward at the same time to recover her own wand. "Look where you're going."

Parvati was about to retort when she noticed something. Behind Megan's back, Harry and Ron were facing each other. And Harry scratched his forehead.

Parvati was frozen in place all of a sudden, staring in Harry's direction. She didn't know for how long she remained there, gazing, as she wondered how she couldn't have thought about it earlier.

"Parvati!" Lavender called her.

Parvati slowly went back to training with her best friend. But she spent the remainder of the lesson thinking about the lightning mentioned in the prophecy. Could this lightning refer to the same person as the prophecy Trelawney made two years ago?

After the lesson was over, Parvati told Lavender about what she realized as they walked to the Great Hall.

"Do you really believe that Trelawney's prophecy could be about Harry?" Lavender said.

"Why not? The last time, she referred to Harry as a lightning. It is clearly a reference to his scar. What if this is also the case here?" Parvati brought up.

"And how would Harry fit into that prophecy?"

"Well… Already, if a prophecy is about You-Know-Who, there are good odds that it could concern Harry."

"True," Lavender conceded, "but there is nothing else that seems to indicate it could be about him. What role should Harry play, do you think?"

"I'm not sure." Parvati had taken out her diary and read the passage again as they walked. "Lightning will strike the guilty. Perhaps it means that Harry is going to fight…" The implications rushed in Parvati's head. "Perhaps this is why it says that You-Know-Who will be furious. Harry has already faced him before. Perhaps he's going to thwart his plans again. Perhaps this is all this is about."

"Tonight?" Lavender asked, both skeptical and afraid.

"It seems so. Last time, Trelawney also made the prediction the very day it happened, even though no one could have guessed what would happen."

"Well… in this case…" Lavender began. "We don't have to worry. If according to Trelawney, Harry is going to win, we can sleep peacefully."

"No, wait, Lavender. Trelawney also said that people would die. I mean… What if Harry was one of those who die?"

Lavender burst into laughter. "Parvati, that doesn't make any sense. You-Know-Who's plan would fail, but Harry would die? This is somewhat contradictory."

"And what if Harry causes him trouble but also dies?" Parvati insisted. She was beginning to panic. The prophecy literally stated that two people would die, and that others would most likely suffer greatly.

"That's a little far-fetched," Lavender commented. "Well, we may never know what this means, anyway."

But unlike Lavender, Parvati couldn't stop wondering. There were so many possibilities to what this prophecy entailed. The only thing that was certain with it was that people were to die. Last time, Trelawney only said that blood would be shed. This time, she directly said that people would be dead before the end of the day.

As the two girls sat down in the Great Hall, Parvati took a decision. She wouldn't let that happen this time. Two years ago, she failed to stop Harry from going outside, when Professor Trelawney had warned her of the danger. Parvati also failed to warn Harry before his grave injury at the match against Hufflepuff that same year. Now, with people who could die, Parvati could not fail. She couldn't let this happen.

As a result, Parvati talked little with Lavender during dinner. She first watched the entrance door, and regretted to not have tagged alongside Harry when he left Defence Against the Dark Arts. Lucky enough, she watched him walk in relatively soon, with other Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. The two groups separated to join their respective tables. Lucky again, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down next to them.

"Is that too much to ask you what Percy was saying in his letter?" Hermione asked Ronald.

"Do you want the short version or the long one?" he replied, seeming in a very dark mood.

"Whatever you prefer. You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to share."

"Very well. It will be the long version then. I don't mind if you know all the details of what this idiot wrote."

"Ron…" Hermione said, seeming to want to warn him, but he went on.

"He asked me again to cut all ties with Harry, and to stand with Umbridge. And he also says I should cut ties with anybody who has ties to Harry. Not to mention that he says I should stop seeing my parents."

"No. He didn't really say that," Hermione asked, scandalized.

"Yes, he did. He even said I could stay with him. As if I would want to live with an imbecile like him. He truly is the greatest dumb fool I have ever met."

Parvati and Lavender listened intently to Ron's unending tirade against one of his brothers. The words he used to describe him were sometimes so absurd that Parvati had to hide her mouth to dissimulate smiles and chuckles.

Percy Weasley was a Weasley who was hard to not notice. He had been at Hogwarts over the first three years of Parvati at this school. She remembered he was the Prefect who escorted her to the Gryffindor Tower on their first night in the castle. He was also Head Boy during her third year. But of all the Weasley brothers, he was the one Parvati cared the less about.

The Weasley family was a phenomenon in Hogwarts. Six brothers and a sister who all went through Gryffindor. For Parvati, it was odd considering she and her twin sister were in different houses. She hadn't known the two eldest brothers, who left Hogwarts before she arrived, but she heard about them, especially Charlie Weasley, who had brought them the Quidditch Cup for the last time before Harry came. Parvati knew the twins, Fred and George, very well. Everyone knew them. No matter how many points they caused Gryffindor to lose, everyone loved them. She also knew Ron, of course, since they were in the same year and house. Ginny also stood out, being the only girl in the family. But Percy was the one who didn't seem to fit in this family. He was always serious, and he seemed to consider himself to be way too important. Parvati had never really liked him, though she didn't hate him either. He was simply the Weasley she didn't mind at all. Ron was funny, just like Fred and George. Ginny had her moments as well, especially this year. But Percy Weasley…

Parvati always felt that their former Head Boy differed from the rest of his family, but hearing everything Ron had to say about him now… This was a first. Parvati had no idea that there was a conflict between Percy Weasley and his other siblings. Following Ron's ranting, she was as much amused by the way he told it and how Fred and George added fuel to his story, as she was sometimes stunned and even horrified by things their brother did and said.

The worst was when the Weasleys mentioned that Percy Weasley never went to see his father when he was at the hospital. News travelled fast in Hogwarts, and despite the space that the mass evasion rom Azkaban occupied soon after their return from the holidays, Parvati had been made aware quite early that Ron's father had been hospitalized. She didn't have details so far, but tonight she learned his life had been in danger. How could a son not rush to his father's side when he was perhaps about to die? No matter their differences, Parvati and Padma would both have run to them if their parents had found themselves in danger. Maybe Parvati would have rushed without thinking while Padma would have thought about it for a moment, but they would both have gone nonetheless.

And so, a large part of dinner was occupied by hearing Ron emptying his bag about his brother. By the end, she agreed with him. Percy Weasley was an idiot. Learning that he worked in the Minister's office and continued to think You-Know-Who had not returned helped a lot to convince Parvati, but the final nail in the coffin was when Ron depicted how his brother appreciated Dolores Umbridge. You really had to be crazy to even appreciate that woman.

"He is really the greatest idiot in the universe!" Ron concluded his exposé with those words. And if everything he said was true, Parvati could only agree with him.

"You only realized it today?" one of the Weasley twins wondered aloud, with more seriousness than usual. Parvati thought it was George, though she sometimes proved to be wrong. Despite being a twin herself, the Weasley twins were so alike that even her trained eyes sometimes failed to distinguish them.

"Wait until we wrote about this to our parents. When Dad and Mom hear…" the other twin, Fred, began.

"No, don't," Hermione interrupted. "Your mother is already crying every time she hears Percy's name. Imagine how it will be if you tell her about this letter?"

No one said a word after that. Even Parvati felt this was no time to say anything. A few moments later, Susan Bones showed up to talk to her boyfriend.

"Harry, I won't study this evening. And I think you better not work either. You look terrible," she commented.

"She's right," Ron approved with a full mouth.

"Thank you both," Harry sarcastically replied. "Anyway, I don't think I could have worked."

Indeed, looking at Harry now, Parvati noticed that he was paler than usual. In fact, she had noticed how unusually tired he was since they all returned from the holidays. She initially blamed their O.W.L. preparations, but thinking about it now, she wondered whether it might have a link to the massive escape from Azkaban the day after. After all, Harry had looked normal on their return. It was only after that his state seemingly worsened.

"But we've got tons of homework," Hermione Granger contested, as you could expect from her. "Even if you work a little, only an hour tonight, this will free your time…"

"Hermione, give them a break," Ron interrupted. "If we exhaust ourselves early in the semester, we won't have any energy left in June when our O.W.L.s actually take place. It's not because I have detention with Snape that Harry must be forced to work as well."

That was what made Ron sympathetic. He could be somewhat arrogant, insensitive, even stupid by moments. He could also literally ignore everyone else around him when he wasn't happy or things weren't going his way. Parvati had a firsthand experience of this during the Yule Ball last year. But he could also be funny, going so far as to ridicule himself. And he wasn't the type to ruin his friends' lives if his own went bad, like today with the detention Snape gave him.

"We should do something outside. We have been stuck inside the castle for the entire week," Harry said as Susan sat down next to him. She sometimes did this. No Gryffindor found it odd any longer.

"With the snow, there isn't much we can do," Susan said.

"Is the Black Lake still frozen?"

The conversation turned around what they could do outside the walls tonight. Fred and George joined the conversation, while Ron kept poking in his plate. In this instant, Parvati felt a little sorry for him. He didn't deserve this detention. Finally, many Gryffindors decided to go skating on the Black Lake.

"I think I will rather stay inside," Lavender said in low tone. "With that cold outside, we are going to freeze on the lake."

Parvati said nothing, continuing to listen to the conversation. When dinner was over, they all stood up. Hermione, without surprise, announced she would go to the library. This girl really never took a break. Most other Gryffindors headed for their tower. One exception was Ron who gloomily went down to the dungeons.

Parvati rushed Lavender out of the table of Gryffindors to follow the group around Harry. She stayed in retreat while following them. On their way to the Gryffindor Tower, Parvati noticed people whispering as Harry walked by them. It was like that since the news of the elven people who escaped Azkaban came out. People were no longer thinking that Harry was crazy. They were beginning to believe his story about Voldemort's return. Lavender herself confided in Parvati that she had lost all her doubts about his return.

Once they reached the common rooms, they were welcomed by the warm atmosphere of cushioned armchairs and fireplaces. Harry and the others who agreed to skate this evening went to their dormitories. Parvati was about to head to the girls' dormitory when Lavender stopped.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'll go skating," Parvati said. "I don't mind if you want to stay inside, but I'm going."

Lavender frowned. She looked troubled and worried. "Shouldn't we focus on finding out what Trelawney's prophecy means?"

Parvati thought about it for a moment. She wondered, then she made the decision. "Lavender, I'm sure, but… whatever it is that Trelawney predicted, I believe it concerns Harry. So I'm going to keep an eye on him. That's why I'm going to the lake."

Lavender blinked several times. "You're serious?"

"I am. The mention of the lighting… The previous prophecy referenced Harry with the same word. And to be honest, Lavender, usually, when it comes to You-Know-Who, Harry is never too far. It's almost as if he purposefully made sure he became involved each time."

"Parvati… isn't that dangerous? If the prophecy concerns Harry, then being close to him… That might not be very wise."

Really? Did Lavender truly think that? "I'm not going to stay idle when people might die."

"But… If Trelawney predicted these deaths, then they must be unavoidable."

Parvati felt fury rising within her. "Would you do nothing if I was in danger because Professor Trelawney predicted I would die?" This made Lavender speechless, but Parvati wasn't done. "We predict that horrible things will happen, so we do nothing? We let the future unfold? What's the use of seeing the future if we cannot do anything about it? If we cannot even stop someone from dying? I'm not to cross my arms and wait for the inevitable to happen. I'm not going to let something happen to Harry."

Nor to anyone else for that matter. Right as Parvati was done saying this, Harry came out of the dormitory with Neville and Dean. They all had bags that were probably containing their skates. Sophie Roper and Lily Moon also emerged from the girls' dormitory and followed the boys. Parvati rushed to her dormitory. She had to hurry. She couldn't lose sight of this group of people tonight.

"Parvati…" Lavender complained as they closed the door of their dormitory behind them. They were alone. Sophie and Lily were heading for the lake while Hermione was in the library at this hour. "Do you remember what happened last time you tried to stop one of Trelawney's prophecies?"

"Yes, I remember it very well. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mrs Evans almost died." She wasn't about to let that happen again. She searched her baggage to find her own skates.

"And you ended up dating Harry. For a month… before he dumped you."

Parvati stopped. She looked at Her best friend, stunned. So that was the reason of Lavender's concerns? Her past relationship with Harry Potter? Parvati shook her head and recovered her skates, seizing them by the laces. However, as she headed for the exit, Lavender placed herself into her path.

"Parvati, please… Tell me you're not still in love with that guy?"

Parvati looked to the ceiling and sighed heavily. This wasn't the time for this. However, before she could speak, Lavender went on.

"Look, you were devastated when he dumped you. I know you claimed it was nothing, but I saw how it affected you that summer. And despite this, you remained friendly with him and even hoped he would invite you to the Yule Ball last year. I… Just tell me that you've really turned the page."

Now, Parvati was really fed up with her friend. "Lavender, look, I don't have time to discuss about it. But it's not because Harry ended things between us a long time ago that I'm going to do nothing when his life is in danger. Do what you want, Lavender, but I'm not going to stand behind because the future supposedly cannot be undone!"

She walked past her best friend and slammed the door of the dormitory behind her, walking fast to the stairs that would lead her to the park.

Lavender had been Parvati's best friend in Hogwarts ever since they arrived, but sometimes, they disagreed. And their disagreements could turn very serious. Lavender thought no prediction of Trelawney could be challenged, that whatever she predicted would happen, no matter what they did. Parvati looked up to Trelawney as well, but ever since Harry almost died in a Quidditch match because of Dementors, she decided to do something when the worst was predicted. And while Lavender viewed Harry as a monster for breaking up with her best friend, Parvati had come over this a long time ago.

For now, the only thing that concerned Parvati was to do everything in her power to prevent Trelawney's prophecy to happen. She didn't know how it was supposed to happen. But last time, she had failed and let Harry leave Gryffindor's Tower, which had put him in harm's way. She couldn't let this happen once again. Not when this time, the prophecy clearly stated that people would die.

It was indeed very cold outside when Parvati came out. She understood why people thought about skating. Snow wasn't falling, and the temperature would ensure that the ice on the lake was in pristine state. Far away, Parvati saw magical lights illuminating the ice. Two dozen figures were sliding on it. From afar, it was hard to recognize Harry among the group. Parvati walked as fast as she could in the heavy snow. Approaching, she finally noticed a girl with long red hair. She set her sight on her, thinking that Harry wouldn't be far from Susan. However, as Parvati neared the border of the lake, she realized that this girl had red and gold cap and scarf. Wait, what was Susan doing with… Realization dawned on her when she got a good look at the face of the girl. It was Ginny Weasley. Parvati found herself stupid on the moment. Then, she noticed two people, one with red colors and the other with yellow ones. It didn't take long for her to recognize Harry, who was skating while holding Susan's hand. Parvati rolled her eyes. Susan had arranged her hair into a plait today. It must be hidden under her cap. She should have thought about it.

Parvati proceeded to position her skates to put them on before she jumped on the iced water…

She stopped right before she was to remove her first boot and stared at the lake. Water. Salty waters. Could that be…?

Parvati looked at the surface of the Black Lake. Around twenty people were skating on it. What if… They were more than enough for two of them to die.

Was it there? Was it the place where it would all happen? Were death and pain roaming the lands of the park? Would they strike on the lake? Would tears and blood flow on both sides of this lake?

Parvati was beginning to panic. The skies were already black. This wasn't surprising at this time of the year. Some would say that the day was over. She wished she was sure of that, for that meant Trelawney's predictions couldn't be about something that would happen on the lake, since this was supposed to happen before the end of the day. However, according to Parvati's watch, they were still a few hours before midnight. This was the end of the day.

Parvati gripped her wand inside her shirt. She brought it with her. She should warn Harry. However, would he believe her? He didn't believe her the last time. He regretted afterwards, but would he still consider what she had to say today? She heard him several times mock Trelawney with Ron. And with Susan around, Parvati may never have a chance to talk with Harry alone. She couldn't tell him about Trelawney's predictions in front of everybody. And his girlfriend wouldn't let Parvati alone with Harry.

She gripped her wand more tightly. She considered the skates at her feet. If she embarked on the ice, she could be close to Harry. At the same time, she would be at a disadvantage. Parvati knew how to skate, but she wasn't the best at it. If danger struck while she was sliding on ice… No, she better stay on the borders of the lake. From there, she had a general view of events. She couldn't tell Harry about the upcoming danger, but she could keep an eye on him and all the others.

And so Parvati spent the next hours freezing close to the Black Lake. It was even colder than close to the ice than in the rest of the park. But she couldn't move away. She needed to remain close.

She looked at her watch every few minutes. Time advanced very slowly. She expected something to happen at any moment. Maybe Dementors would show up. They couldn't trust them years ago, why should they trust them today, after let criminals escape? Or maybe it would be one of the criminals who escaped the prison? It wouldn't be the first time that a former prisoner from Azkaban would manage to enter Hogwarts grounds. Or could it be Voldemort himself? Would he dare to come here?

Every scenario Parvati thought about looked worse than the other. She even cast glances towards Hagrid's hut, wondering if dragons or other abominable creatures could come out. When you thought about it, there were a few creatures they studied with him that could correspond to death and pain. Skrewts were hard to forget.

And there were also those Thestrals who no one could see. Parvati could hardly forget the lesson where they were introduced. Considering what Professor Trelawney told her about what happened to those who saw them, she had been glad to be unable to see them. But having experienced firsthand how it felt when one walked right next to you and all you could see were pieces of meat disappearing, she now wished in a short moment of folly that she had witnessed someone dying.

Parvati ended pacing and shaking her feet regularly to try and keep warm, but temperature only further lowered as time went on. Some decided they had enough and left the icy lake. Neville was among those who left early. he noticed Parvati as he left the lake.

"Hey. You came to skate?" he asked her. "I warn you. It's freezing." His nose was running profusely as he said so. He sniffed loudly in his scarf as he headed back to the castle.

Dean left not long after, and he also came to see Parvati. "Haven't dared to jump on the ice?" he asked, looking at her own skates.

"No," she replied, not wanting to divulge the real reason of her presence.

"I can't blame you," Dean said as he changed into his boots. "My feet are so cold… I envy the Hufflepuffs. They have what it takes to warm your feet."

If only he knew how cold Parvati's own feet were. Then, thinking about something, she replied playfully. "If you want, I can warm them for you."

Dean looked slightly surprised, before he burst into laughter. "Thank you, but I doubt the teachers would approve. Especially not Umbridge."

They shared a grimace of disgust at the name's mention. "All the more reasons to do it."

Dean grinned at her. "See you later, Parvati. Don't stay out too long."

He walked away. Parvati wished she could leave as well, but Harry was still skating on the ice. It seemed like he and Susan had decided to stay outside as long as possible. After eight and a half, when Hannah Abbott also abandoned the ice, they were indeed alone. Parvati decided to hide behind a tree. It was better if they did not notice her. Her heart began to pound as she realized they were exactly two people on an iced lake which could break at any moment. They were nearing the curfew. Parvati considered informing a professor to get them out, but she decided to stay. By the time the professor would arrive, something could happen to both of them.

It was barely fifteen minutes before the curfew when the couple finally left the ice. Parvati urged them to leave quickly inside her mind, but they seemed to be taking their time. They came to a spot close to Parvati's location to remove their skates, not noticing her presence behind a huge trunk of tree.

"I'm frozen," Susan said as she undid her laces.

"You're not used to spending most evenings on ice?" Harry said, on a slightly mocking but gentle tone.

"Don't be so sure about that, Harry," Susan retorted, on a light tone as well. "My mother comes from a country where hockey is literally a religion, including among the wizards. Believe me, I had my share of skating time while growing up."

"You never played football, though. Admit it."

"No. You should try to practice another Muggle sport when your father is a Quidditch megalomaniac."

Parvati wasn't sure if it was the best thing to say. Harry's father was dead. However, Harry didn't seem to care. "Perhaps you should threaten him to never speak of Quidditch again if you move to Montreal."

Susan sighed heavily. "If only that could work. You know, Harry… I considered asking my aunt to stay with her."

"Really? You did? What did she say?"

"Nothing. I haven't asked her yet. But if what Ron's brother wrote in his letter is true… If my aunt truly risks losing her job… I just don't want to cause her any problem."

"You believe that staying with her could bring her more problems?" Harry asked, his tone suggesting he already knew the answer.

"I'm afraid it will." She sighed again. "My aunt worked for the Ministry her whole life. She never had children. She never married. She loves all of us, my father, my mother and I, but her career is her real life. I don't want her to lose that. And I wouldn't want someone else to occupy her position. Imagine if it was someone who didn't believe in… his return who managed the Aurors, Azkaban and the judiciary system?"

"Judging by my own experience last summer, it would be way worse." Harry sighed as well. "I would probably have been condemned if it wasn't for her." You could hear gratitude in Harry's voice, even from there. "How worse do you think Defence Against the Dark Arts could be if my mother was removed?"

"Terrible," Susan replied instantly. "When I think that Umbridge could have been our teacher…" The thought probably made Susan shiver of disgust and dread as much as Parvati did. "Well, we are lucky that Fudge forced your mother to leave the Ministry. She would never have been our professor then."

"No, indeed," Harry confirmed, looking thoughtful as both proceeded towards the castle. Parvati looked around, still seeing no danger coming. "By the way… Don't worry too much about what Percy wrote. Ron is not totally wrong when he says he is an idiot. Percy might have gotten excellent grades, but he's not the brightest person. He may be totally wrong about your aunt."

"I wish I could be sure," Susan said as their voices started getting farther.

Parvati leaned a little to look beyond the tree she was hiding behind. They were well on their way to the castle. There was still no danger in sight. Parvati looked at the frozen Black Lake. No one was left behind. It was now empty. It seemed like these were not the salty waters the prophecy talked about. Parvati even realized at this moment that this lake was made of freshwater.

She followed Harry and Susan from afar, trying to make as little sound as possible, to not get caught. She saw them open the doors to the Entrance Hall, disappearing inside the castle. Parvati sighed in relief. It seemed like Trelawney's predictions wouldn't come true now.

She hurried to the castle. It was in part to not lose track of Harry, but also because now that she was less afraid that something terrible might happen, she was more afraid of getting caught in the corridors after the curfew. She was also eager to leave the cold temperature of this winter night.

When Parvati pushed the entrance door, she was welcomed by a warm wave of hot indoor air. It hit her face straight. She removed her gloves and cap to warm her hands and hair. Her extremities were very cold as she closed the heavy doors behind her. She removed her scarf to let Hogwarts' warmth heat her neck as well. She stayed there for a time, removing the cold from her face and extremities. She then cast a glance over the Entrance Hall.

It was empty. She was alone. Where were Harry and Susan? Parvati shouldn't have lost sight of them. Harry was probably on his way to the Gryffindor Tower now.

She was about to take the stairs when she heard the mewing sound no student wanted to hear. Mrs Norris showed up, looking at her with her bright eyes. Parvati stopped a moment, then proceeded to climb the stairs when Filch showed up from a corner.

"Look at this," he said with his mischievous tone. "You're out of bed late, young girl. This means detention."

Parvati was petrified. Filch was the last person any student wanted to be caught by. Even Snape was better if they wanted to get detention. But the caretaker was another story, especially since he kept saying how he missed the time he could torture them.

"Is there a problem here?"

Filch turned sharply to the origin of the voice. Ernie Macmillan just showed up from the top of the stairs.

"You're both late, out of bed at this hour," Filch said on an almost triumphant voice, surely gleeful at catching two students at fault. "You'll both get detention."

Ernie looked at his watch. "True, it is late, but our curfew is at nine o'clock. We still have five minutes before it reaches the hour."

Parvati was beyond relief at hearing this. She should have thought about looking at her watch, instead of panicking in front of Filch. The caretaker, for his part, was red in fury.

"I suggest you head back to the Gryffindor Tower before it's too late, Parvati," Ernie said. He then looked past Parvati's shoulder. "And you too, Harry. You are only four minutes short of the curfew."

Parvati was surprised to see Harry at the feet of the stairs. She expected him to be almost at the common rooms at this point, but for now, the most important was to get away from Filch, and she was only too happy to follow Ernie's advice like Harry did.

They walked fast, almost running for several minutes, until they were sure that Filch was far away.

"That was close," Parvati commented.

"Yeah, indeed. Susan was right. We should have left the lake earlier," Harry said, slightly out of breath.

"But, what were you still doing on the first floor?" Parvati asked, more out of breath than Harry. She wasn't a Quidditch player like him. "I came back inside after you. I thought you would be heading for the tower."

"I accompanied Susan back to her common rooms," Harry explained. Well, that explained. But Harry's expression turned suspicious. "Wait." He looked at the skates she was carrying. "You were at the Black Lake too?"

"Yes," Parvati replied, hiding her embarrassment.

"But… Susan and I were the last ones to leave. How did you come back after us?"

Parvati decided she would be honest. She didn't want Harry to believe she was spying on him. And she wanted even less that he got the wrong idea by thinking she was spying on him and his girlfriend.

"I needed to talk to you, Harry, but I couldn't find the right moment tonight." she took a great inspiration. "Do you remember two years ago, when Professor Trelawney predicted that Peter Pettigrew would die?"

Harry frowned at this, but he looked very intrigued all of a sudden. "Yes, I remember."

"Well, it happened again. I mean, she did the same kind of prophecy, Harry. And… it was about You-Know-Who again."

He stopped abruptly. Not only that, but he seized Parvati's arm and looked straight in the eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. She spoke exactly the same way. And she didn't remember what she said afterwards."

Harry looked at her more intensely than ever. "What did she say?"

Parvati released her arm from his grip and gave him the diary in her pocket, opening at the page where she noted Trelawney's predictions. Harry took his time reading the words the professor had uttered in her secondary state. When he was over, he looked back at her.

"So, today, two people are supposed to die, two others to lose their freedom, and Voldemort will be furious," Harry summarized.

Parvati shivered at the mention of the name. She really wished he would stop saying it. "And before the end of the day."

Harry looked again at the words Parvati put down. He shook his head. "Perhaps this will be a good thing if Voldemort is furious."

Another shiver. Parvati tried to ignore it. "I believe it mentions you, Harry." At this, Harry frowned with obvious skepticism. "The last time Trelawney prophecized, she used the term lightning to designate you. And she uses it there as well."

Harry looked at the prophecy again. He didn't look less skeptical. "I don't see what guilty I could strike. Though I wouldn't mind striking Umbridge or Snape."

Parvati laughed at the comment, but she found back her composure quickly. "It's not funny. I mean, who knows who is going die. I followed you because I thought it could happen around you, but so far…"

"Wait. You followed me?" he asked, hostile all of a sudden. "You were spying on me at the Black Lake?"

"No, I was just... watching over you. It seemed like the right thing to do, considering what happened last time."

Harry seemed angry at her words, but she didn't regret them. Harry gave her back her diary and resumed walking. "Well, who knows? Maybe Trelawney is wrong this time."

"She has never been wrong before," she opposed as she followed him.

"Really? How many times did she predict your death? And in how many different ways? If she was right, I don't think you would look very much alive."

"It's because it hasn't happened yet," she protested. "It could happen in many years. But this time, she clearly said that it would happen today."

"Well, like Ron would say, that's not because she predicted something right one time that it means she is right all the time. If she keeps predicting anything all the time, by pure chance, she is bound to succeed. That doesn't make her a seer."

"You know very well this is not the same this time," Parvati said. "And forgive me, Ron is not the best placed to talk about Trelawney. His grades in her classroom are horrible."

"Everyone's grades are horrible in Divination, Parvati. And wasn't it Trelawney herself who told you at the beginning of the year that grades meant little if nothing?It's Ron who told me."

"Well, Ron is not the best judge," Parvati retorted, angry that Harry attacked Professor Trelawney. She already had enough with Umbridge turning her life into hell. And she especially despised that Harry used arguments from someone as stupid as Ronald Weasley. "He's the one who managed to get in detention today, remember?"

She knew it was unfair to say it, but she retorted the first thing that came to mind to counter Harry's words. They had arrived in front of the Fat Lady. He turned to face Parvati.

"Look, all we know with that supposed prophecy, even if it is true, it's that two people will die, and that Voldemort will be angry. Oh, stop reacting this way to his name," he told her angrily, which Parvati didn't take very well. "We have no idea where it will happen or who could be killed. At least, the last time, she said it was about Voldemort's servant. This time, we have absolutely no clue at all. Mimbulus Mimbletonia. So excuse me if I don't blindly believe someone who spends her time saying that everyone will die. No wonder that someone died eventually. And no wonder Umbridge wants to get rid of her."

He entered the Gryffindor Tower at a fast pace, but Parvati didn't let him lose her. Anger had flared like an explosive cauldron within her. "Considering your mother and Hagrid both risk being fired, you could be more sympathetic to Trelawney."

He shot her an angry glare and headed for the dormitory. This time, she was the one to grab his arm and hold him back.

"Don't try to take a stroll outside tonight," she warned him in murmurs, so that others around wouldn't hear them. "I know about your Invisibility Cloak. You won't trick me a second time."

He removed his arm, and he headed to the boys' dormitory, turning resolutely his back on her.

When the door closed behind him, Parvati let a sigh of displeasure, anger and frustration out. She headed for an armchair near the fireplace and furiously sat in it. Boys were really stupid, sometimes.

"So… it didn't go well?" Lavender's voice asked, coming from nowhere. Parvati realized her best friend was also sitting by the hearth, and she had taken the seat right next to her.

"Not now, Lavender. I'm not in the mood," she replied.

"You should stay away from him," Lavender insisted. "Being around him can only bring you trouble…"

"I said, not now. Leave me alone. I need actual alone time," she snapped.

Lavender looked very insulted. "Very well." She stood up. "But you can't say I didn't warn you."

Her best friend went to the girls' dormitory. Parvati shook her head in disbelief. Lavender was still on this. She seemed to believe that Parvati still wanted to be with Harry. She couldn't be more wrong. Right now, all she wanted was to understand Trelawney's prophecy and prevent it. She had no other objective tonight.

But Harry wasn't making her life easier. He refused to listen to her about Trelawney's prophecy. Well, actually, he did listen to her in the beginning. He turned hostile after she revealed that she followed him from afar. Perhaps he thought that she was spying on him while he was spending time with Susan. But the truth is, Parvati would have spied on him no matter what. This had nothing to do with Susan. And of course, Harry relied on Ron's opinion of Trelawney.

Parvati didn't get why Ron and Harry were friends. Parvati didn't claim to know Harry perfectly, but she knew enough about him to be surprised by his friendship with someone like Ronald Weasley. Harry had grown up in a largely Muggle society, while Ron grew in an almost exclusively wizarding world. Harry was an only son, while Ron had six brothers and sisters. Ron's father was alive, Harry's was not. Harry had very good grades, unlike Ron. Harry was studious and serious in his work, which Ron never was. Parvati had been very surprised when it was Ron who was chosen as Prefect. Harry was a great Quidditch player, which Ron wasn't. Truly, Harry had much more in common with Hermione. In retrospective, she understood why Hannah insisted for years that Harry and Hermione were meant for each other. Parvati didn't even notice any dispute between Harry and Hermione, unlike with Ron who didn't speak to Harry for weeks after he was chosen to be champion of Hogwarts. No, truly, Parvati didn't get why Harry would rely so extensively on Ron to make his own opinion about Trelawney, especially after her prophecy from two years ago proved to be accurate.

At the same time, Parvati had to admit that she had been unfair to Ron. He didn't deserve the treatments Snape and Umbridge were giving him. And his detention given to Goyle and putting Umbridge back into her place in December was truly brilliant. He was paying for it now. Parvati had indeed said unfair things about him. And perhaps Harry had some rights of feeling insulted that she spied on him. How would Parvati had reacted if she learned that one of her classmates followed her and watched her everywhere? If it had been a boy, she could have felt flattered (depending on the boy). But to Harry, that his former girlfriend would spy on him while he was with his new girlfriend could have been quite… destabilizing.

Parvati sighed. Why were things so complicated? She looked at the door giving on the boys' dormitory. She was tired, and stiff from the cold outside. She would have given anything for a good shower and her warm bed, but given how they just went separate ways, she was afraid that Harry might do something rash. He was concerned by Trelawney's new prophecy. She was sure of that. So Parvati repositioned her armchair to have a direct view on the door to the boys' dormitory. There were only a few other students left in the common room. She grabbed a copy of Witch Weekly and made as if she was reading it. Subtly though, she took her diary and went over the words of the prophecy, trying to decipher it. It wasn't midnight yet. Maybe there was a chance she could decrypt this prediction before it was too late.

Unfortunately, Parvati could read the prediction over and over again, she failed to determine where it could happen, who could get killed or how. There were simply not enough clues. She even began to doubt that Harry could be involved. After all, lightning could mean something else here. What if it meant that the people who would die would be literally struck by lightning? Though she failed to see how. They didn't have the weather for storms right now. At the same time, the prophecy clearly mentioned Lord Voldemort, and Harry was usually concerned whenever it was about this man. So Parvati kept watching the entrance to the boys' dormitory.

The common room slowly emptied, most people going to bed after an exhausting week. Parvati soon remained the only one to be still awake. The advantage was that aside from the cracking fire in the hearth and the pages of her diary she sometimes turned, there was no other sound in the common room. If Harry foolishly tried to leave his dormitory, Parvati might not see him, but she would hear him.

As time went on and Parvati failed to both hear anything or discover anything on the prophecy, she began to think everything she did was useless. However, the portrait of the Fat Lady opened up unexpectedly, very late. And Ron Weasley came from it.

He looked even more exhausted than all the others. Parvati realized that he had to be coming back from his detention with Snape. Their Potions teacher had not missed him. He really gave Ron the full treatment of detention, keeping him until very late. Parvati felt guilty again for what she said about him earlier. As he was stepping on the stairs leading to his dormitory, she decided she had to do something and she stood up.

"Ron, how did your detention with Snape go?" she asked him.

Ron stopped in his tracks. He turned to her. There was no doubt in how he felt about it. "What do you think?"

"Sorry." she apologized. "I… I hope… I mean, it must have been terrible. At least, you don't have regular remedial potions classes like Harry does."

She was trying to be kind, but judging from Ron's reactions, she wasn't particularly succeeding at lifting his mood.

"I have another detention tomorrow," he announced, desperate.

Parvati opened her mouth in surprise. "But… I believed you only had tonight. That's what you told us during dinner."

"Umbridge."

Parvati didn't get it on the moment, but after an instant, she understood. That was why everyone wanted to avoid a detention, out of fear that Umbridge might increase it. "That woman! She's really horrible!" she shouted, this time without thinking to make Ron feel better. She truly believed it with all her heart.

"You don't need to tell me," Ron lamented.

"Padma told me how she rounded up you and the others. Have you seen how she treats Professor Trelawney?I'm really afraid that Trelawney might break up. And Hagrid? I may not like his lessons much, but he doesn't deserve being treated like this. She's almost as horrible with him.I surprised that horrible woman mocking his hippogriff's death the other day. She even wiped mud from her shoes on his grave before she left."

Ron agreed with everything she said without saying a single word.

"And Mrs Evans… She never misses an opportunity to question her. And she is a very good teacher. My mother told me that Umbridge brought another report against her to the Governors. I'm no longer sure whether this is the third or the fourth. And this cow of Pansy Parkinson spends her time telling her lies about our best teachers. I surprised her whispering to Umbridge one day that Flitwick eyed her weirdly. It's completely garbage!"

"Excuse me, Parvati,but I need to go," Ron said.

He turned his back on her, but before he could head to his dormitory, Parvati stopped him.

"Ron, can you verify Harry is in the dormitory?" she asked.

Ron looked back at her, taken aback. "What?"

"Just… make sure he is there," she pleaded.

"That's… all?" Ron asked, sounding skeptical.

"Yes. Just verify that he's still up there."

Ron stared at her in disbelief. He finally shrugged and went on his way to bed.

"Tell me if he's not there!" Parvati begged as he left.

She needed to make sure that Harry was truly still there, not like the last time, two years ago.

Parvati went back to sit. She sighed in relief. Ranting shortly about Umbridge had felt good. She hoped it also made Ron feel good and that he would really check on Harry before crashing into his own bed.

Parvati yawned. She really felt tired. She read the prophecy again. She could recite it by memory now. But she didn't feel anywhere closer to understand it. All she could do was to watch over who might be concerned by the prophecy.

Thinking about it, Parvati wondered why she didn't ask Ron whether he had seen anything out of the ordinary on his way back here. He had been on detention with Professor Snape. Everyone knew by now that Snape had been a supporter of You-Know-Who. If the prophecy was about Voldemort, then… Parvati looked at the door of the dormitory. Should she ask Ron directly? It wouldn't be the first time she would walk into the boys' dormitory. There wasn't much time left to the day, so if she wanted answers, she should do it now.

Parvati was about to stand when the door opened. Harry came out. Parvati opened the mouth to protest. She couldn't believe that he was trying to get out… But she quickly realized that something was wrong. Harry had a troubled expression. Parvati had already seen that expression before. And she also noticed how his hand rubbed against his forehead.

He finally reached the last step of the stairs. He didn't seem to have noticed her presence.

"Harry, are you alright?" she asked.

He almost jumped when he realized she was there. He removed his hand from his forehead right away. "Yes, I'm fine. I… Just a little trouble sleeping."

It was obvious he wasn't telling her the truth. But strangely enough, he didn't avert his eyes or walked away. Instead, he seemed like he wanted to ask her something. "Do I have something on my cheek?" she asked on a ridiculous tone.

Harry shook his head slightly. "Parvati… Can you show me the prophecy again, per chance?"

She was surprised by his request, considering that less than two hours ago, they quarreled because he didn't believe in it. But she wouldn't complain if he was interested again. She silently gave him the diary.

She waited patiently as he looked for a very long time as the small book. He finally closed it quietly, but he didn't give it back to Parvati. He scratched his forehead once again.

"That means something, isn't it?" she asked him.

"I… I'm not sure." He gave her back the diary. "It's probably should go to bed."

He avoided her gaze to look in the fireplace. Parvati felt outraged. However, she contained her anger, though when she spoke, she still had a very clear edge in her voice.

"Don't try that with me, Harry."

"I'm not trying anything," he replied.

"Yes, are." She positioned herself right in front of him, so it was more difficult to not look at her. "Have you forgotten that not so long ago, Harry, you were my boyfriend?"

He stared at her with an exasperated look. "Yes, I remember. No need to remind me."

"Then for your information, while we were together, I noticed that when you wake up at night, you're always massaging your forehead… like you just did."

Parvati didn't remember the last time she stunned Harry so efficiently. The look on his face was worth taking a picture to immortalize the moment. But now was not the time to relish in that kind of things.

"I'm not an idiot, Harry. I know your scar is not hurting randomly. There's always a reason for that." She crossed her arms. "So, what is it, this time?"

She wouldn't move before he gave her an answer. Harry was still unmoving as well, though for different reasons. He looked at Parvati as if he saw her for the first time, though it was far from being the case.

However, after a certain time, Harry seemed to regain his composure. "This is really not what you think," he stated.

"Oh no? Then what is it then? Why was your scar hurting tonight? And stop pretending, we both know this is not a fifteen-year-old wound that still hurts. It can't."

Harry hesitated before he replied. "You don't know that."

"Then tell me what this is about."

"This is nothing."

Parvati sighed, losing patience and snapping. "I told you about the prophecy, okay! I spent the entire evening following you because I was afraid something could happen! Because I was afraid for you. It is to me that Trelawney told the prophecy. I think I've got the right to know what this is about."

"You think this is funny?" Harry retorted, obviously angry. "You think all this is a game? You think I chose to be involved in all this? This is not funny! This is not a game!"

"I know! And considering I'm the only one trying to help you now, I think you could at least tell me what you know, because you obviously know something. So what is it?"

She and Harry stared at each other, each sustaining the other's gaze. This lasted a while. Until Harry finally sighed in impatience.

"Okay, you really want to know what's going on?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied firmly.

"He's angry."

Parvati frowned. She didn't expect that. She thought that Harry must have understood something in the prophecy, but this… "What do you mean? Who is angry?" she asked, confused.

"Voldemort!"

The name echoed in the common room. Strangely, this time, Parvati didn't shiver or felt any fear at the mention of the name. She was simply too stunned and confused by the revelation to feel anything else.

"You wanted to know? Now you know. Voldemort is angry. Voldemort is furious," Harry insisted.

This time, Parvati shivered at the name. At the same time, her brain realized the implications of what Harry said. Lord Voldemort was furious. His fury will be without bounds.

"How do you know that?" she asked him.

Obviously unhappy, Harry tapped his forehead with two fingers. "That's why it hurts." He sighed. "It hurts when Voldemort is furious."

Another shiver. But now, it wasn't only because of the name he said aloud. "You mean that…" She gulped. "Your scar is hurting when… when You-Know-Who is angry?"

"Yes," he retorted. "I didn't know it back when… when we were together. I only found out later."

This time, it was Parvati who looked at Harry as if she saw him for the first time. Of course, like everyone, she always found that Harry was no ordinary person. Despite seeing him on a daily basis, he remained the boy who could speak Parseltongue, who lost consciousness in presence of Dementors, and around who strange and dangerous events happened regularly. But this… He was able to perceive the emotions of the most dangerous dark wizard of all times?

"Are you sure?" She didn't know whether she was asking if Voldemort was truly furious, or whether Harry could truly perceive this anger?

"Pretty sure." He put his hand on his scar again for a moment. "I don't know what he's furious about, but he sure is." He closed his eyes, as if struggling to do something. He shook his head. "I have to go."

Parvati made round eyes as Harry tried to make it to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Wait, you're not leaving now." She grabbed his arm for the second time tonight. "You're still mentioned in the prophecy, remember."

"Parvati, I don't…" He seemed to stop before he said something he would regret. Parvati frowned. "Look, Voldemort is really angry about something. I don't know what it is, but I've got to warn someone."

Parvati was troubled for a moment. "Who?" she asked. Who could Harry want to warn?

Harry hesitated to answer. He sighed and shook his head while looking at the ceiling before staring straight into her eyes again. "Look, it's none of your business. You shouldn't be involved in all that."

"Well, I believe I am, whether you want it or not," she retorted. "And don't expect me to stand idle while you leave. Because the last time it happened, you almost got killed."

Harry was obviously unhappy. But after more moments of hesitation, he unclenched his jaws to tell her. "I'm going to see my mother. I have to tell her."

Parvati was surprised, though in hindsight she shouldn't be. It was even very understandable and logical. "Okay. I'm coming with you then."

She noticed that Harry clenched his jaw again. Well, if he wanted to keep her away on this, he would fail. Parvati was determined to go the whole way.

"Okay, let's go," he furiously said.

Harry walked furiously fast to leave the Gryffindor Tower. His pace was so quick that Parvati had to run to catch him by the time he went through the portrait. No one saw them leave as the common room was empty.

"Maybe we should take your Invisibility Cloak," Parvati suggested, remembering its existence and the time when she got to use it.

"We don't have time. It's urgent," Harry replied, not casting a single glance behind.

Harry kept walking fast all the way to the office of the professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Parvati was winded when they arrived. Harry hammered the door.

"Mom, it's me. Open the door! It's urgent!" he shouted as he kept slamming his fist against the wooden frame.

"Be careful. You're going to wake up the whole school," Parvati warned him, not to mention attracting the unwanted attention of Filch and his cat.

"According to what Trelawney told you, there are two people who may be dead or about to die. So I don't give a damn if I wake up Snape so he can give me a detention that Umbridge may triple afterwards."

This efficiently shut up Parvati. She indeed discarded caution through the evening because she was afraid that something terrible might happen. She couldn't blame Harry, as for once tonight, he took the whole issue seriously and tried to prevent it.

"Mom, it's about Voldemort! Open the door!" Harry shouted again.

But the door didn't open. No sound came from the other side.

"Maybe she's not there," Parvati proposed.

Harry cursed, something he rarely did.

"Maybe we should go and see McGonagall," she suggested.

Parvati wasn't sure at all about her idea. McGonagall didn't have a pretty high opinion of Trelawney. She was the first one who told them that her predictions always proved to be wrong. To Parvati's great surprise, Harry approved.

"Yes. That's actually a very good idea. Let's go."

They rushed to the office of the Head of Gryffindor House.

"What are we going to tell her?" Parvati asked as they went downstairs.

"Everything we know," Harry replied.

"What? That your scar is hurting, and that Professor Trelawney predicted people would die?"

Parvati highly doubted that the Transfiguration Professor would believe them. They were most likely to get detentions for wandering in the corridors during the night. She regretted suggesting to see McGonagall now. If only Mrs Evans had been there. Harry was her son. If she didn't believe them, she could have shown some indulgence. But McGonagall.

"She'll believe us," Harry said, with a certainty that troubled Parvati.

"How can you be so sure? Even she believes that Professor Trelawney speaks nonsense."

"This time, I think she might change her mind."

"How can you be so sure?"

They had arrived in front of the office's door. "Because she believed me the last time."

Leaving Parvati in a skeptical state, Harry knocked on the door. Unlike with his mother, he didn't hammer it. It was probably for the best. Parvati didn't think McGonagall would be best disposed towards them if they brutally woke her up in the middle of the night, after a long and arduous week.

They waited a little, without answer. Harry was about to knock again when the door opened. Professor McGonagall looked quite taken aback when she looked at him.

"Potter." She then seemed to notice Parvati's presence as well. "Miss Patil? What are you both doing here at such an hour?"

Harry seemed speechless all of a sudden. This was quite odd, considering his earlier determination. "Professor…"

"It's about Voldemort!"

Parvati was probably as stunned by her own words as Harry and McGonagall seemed. The two of them looked at her, flabbergasted. Parvati felt herself paling as she realized she had uttered the word of You-Know-Who without thinking. It seemed like an eternity before someone spoke again.

"Let them come in."

Parvati's breathing literally stopped. This wasn't the voice of McGonagall, nor that of Harry, and even less her own. The fourth voice came from inside the office, and she only ever heard it when he addressed all students in the Great Hall. With an imperative head movement, Harry and Parvati walked in. She felt like an automaton whose legs carried forward until she stood in front of Albus Dumbledore.

Parvati was tight lipped. She only ever saw the headmaster from afar. She had never found herself in the same room as Albus Dumbledore, or at least never in such a small space. From such a close point of view, he looked even more impressive. And the fact that he was staring through a window, looking away from them, only added to her impression of being no one in front of such a man.

"Considering her presence," he spoke with his usual calm, deep voice, "should I understand that Miss Patil is aware of certain things?"

Parvati frowned at that. What did he mean? What was she aware of?"

"Professor…" Harry began hesitating once more. "Look, you might find it silly…"

"I doubt it is," the headmaster, "or else you wouldn't have come. So, tell me what happened."

"My scar… He is furious, professor. I don't know why, it wasn't like I had… It was like during the night before the Christmas holidays, but Voldemort is really furious. I've never felt him so angry before."

Parvati frowned deeper. Wait. He said it wasn't like the night before the holidays. But then…

"Wait," she interrupted before anyone could talk. "It was this? The night you vomited before the holidays? It was because of your scar… It actually caused you to be sick?"

Harry looked at her with an annoyed expression. "I guess Seamus told you," he groaned.

Parvati scoffed at his stupidity. "Not just Seamus. Dean and Neville talked about it as well. And not only to me. There were quite a few people who were wondering where you were the day after. Your girlfriend even asked ME, of all people, if I knew where you were."

Harry looked particularly embarrassed with the information. As for Parvati, she was angry that Harry kept such information away from her, especially tonight, after Trelawney's prediction.

"I can see that you told Miss Patil certain things," the headmaster further commented, "though not everything." Clearly not. "Well, what happened this time? Tell me what you know."

"I only know that he's angry beyond… beyond anything he's ever been. And…" Harry cast a glance at Parvati before continuing. "Do you remember when Professor Trelawney predicted Peter Pettigrew's death two years ago?"

Parvati looked with wide eyes at both Harry and Dumbledore. Harry had told the headmaster about this? Well, he had clearly hidden a lot of things from her, even during the short time she dated him.

"I do remember," Dumbledore confirmed.

"Well, she did it again. And Parvati heard her."

Parvati felt all gazes upon her, even though Albus Dumbledore kept staring through the window, his back half-turned on her. She looked at Harry for support, but his gaze only told her that it was her turn to speak. She then looked at Professor McGonagall, who looked at her with a very skeptical expression. So Parvati explained herself to her.

"Professor, I know you said that some of Professor Trelawney's predictions are not… very accurate, but… This time, it was different. She wasn't herself. She talked with a different voice, as if she was being strangled… She did not behave normally… She looked to be in some sort of trance. She was like that when she predicted for Pettigrew years ago. And after she made her predictions, she returned to normal, and she didn't remember anything she just said."

Her explanations didn't seem to convince McGonagall, though the Transfiguration teacher didn't voice her beliefs. Instead, she turned to the headmaster.

"Professor Dumbledore?" McGonagall simply asked.

The headmaster took his time. He drew a long breath. "Miss Patil… What did Professor Trelawney say? Do you have the exact words?"

Parvati was surprised that Dumbledore was ready to listen to her. She thought about reciting the prophecy aloud, as she knew it by heart now, but on second thought she instead took her diary. "I wrote it down."

"Bring it to me, please."

Parvati approached Dumbledore carefully and handed him her diary, open at the page of the prophecy. She hoped he wouldn't look at the other pages. Silently, for a few minutes, he consulted the words. Then he handed back the diary to Parvati, who eagerly recovered it.

"I thank you both for informing us. Minerva, please escort your two students back to their dormitory," Dumbledore instructed.

"Professor," Harry interrupted, "what do you think it means?"

"What it means," the headmaster replied, against Parvati's expectations who didn't think he would reply to a student who rashly addressed him, "is that something happened. Something against which neither of you can do anything about. The best thing to do is for you to return to your bed and try to sleep what remains of this night."

"Come, both," McGonagall said, not unkindly to Parvati's surprise. Not wanting to ruin this, since for once she was on the good side of their Transfiguration teacher, Parvati obeyed, and silently insisted for Harry to follow her, almost dragging him by the shoulder to make him leave.

They made their way back to the Gryffindor Tower in silence, no one daring to break it. Parvati realized that Dumbledore said something had happened, and that they could do nothing about it. Did it mean that the headmaster already knew what the prophecy was about? If it had been another professor than McGonagall escorting them, she might have asked him or her about it, or she might have discussed it with Harry. But it was McGonagall, so she remained silent. They finally arrived into the tower.

"Go to your bed now, in silence," their head of house ordered. "And don't talk about all this to anybody." McGonagall stared intently at Parvati with her severe, common expression. "Is that clear?"

Parvati nodded. She indeed wouldn't tell anybody.

"You know what happened, don't you?" Harry asked all of a sudden. "You know why Voldemort was so angry tonight."

Parvati was afraid that McGonagall would react harshly, but instead she sounded tired when she gave them the order. "To bed."

Neither she nor Harry opposed. They climbed their respective stairs to their dormitories, glancing one last time at each other before disappearing behind their respective doors.

Parvati didn't wake up anybody in her dormitory. Her night was almost sleepless. Too many questions wandered within and filled her mind, between the prophecy, and the implications of Harry's ability to feel Voldemort's emotions and that both Dumbledore and McGonagall seemed to know something about it, not to mention that she just learned why Harry mysteriously disappeared the night before they all left for the Christmas holidays.

As a result, Parvati was far from being rested on the morning, but she felt fully awaken all the same. It was as if her body couldn't allow itself to be exhausted right now. She even got out of bed before Lavender and, even more unusual, before Hermione. She went to sit near the fireplace, thinking about everything that happened last night. A few minutes after she came down, Harry came as well, alone. He noticed her and came to sit next to her. He was even paler than usual.

"I won't ask you if you managed to sleep last night," she dryly said, looking at dark circles around his eyes. "I couldn't sleep me neither."

"You shouldn't worry about all that," Harry said.

"How couldn't I?" She repositioned herself to look straight into his eyes. "What happened last time? Before the holidays? Why was he angry back then?"

Harry hesitated for a very long time. But Parvati waited, and she kept staring into the green eyes until he gave up. Harry looked around though before he whispered.

"You have to promise you will not tell anybody. Not even Lavender or your parents. Nobody, you hear me?"

She nodded. She didn't think about telling anyone, anyway. They would think she was crazy, after all. And Parvati didn't want everyone to believe she was crazy.

"Okay," Harry said while still whispering. "You probably know that Ron also left that night with me?" Parvati nodded. "It's because his father was gravely injured. He almost died."

Definitely, if yesterday was not the day for surprising and unbelievable news. Today would see more. "And… It was You-Know-Who who did this?"

"He was involved. I don't know how, exactly. Mr Weasley happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Parvati blew in despair. "What's going on in that world?" She looked back to Harry. "Yesterday, before we went to bed… You said that Dumbledore and McGonagall already knew what happened. What do you think happened?"

"I don't know!" he snapped, causing Parvati to jump. "I've been asking myself the question for the entire night." Much like she did. "You think I enjoy having my head feeling as if it was split in two, without knowing what Voldemort is so furious about?"

"No, I don't think so," Parvati harshly retorted. She could understand Harry's frustration. She felt it too. But she wasn't going to let him get angry at her for something that wasn't her fault. "Do you think I prefer being told the future without understanding it?"

Harry looked away, still seeming exasperated. Parvati shook her head. Here's what she got for trying to help.

"Believe me," Harry said on an angry tone, "I would like to know what Voldemort is up to. It's not my fault if the others don't want to tell me."

Parvati sighed. "Well, I'll go and talk with Professor Trelawney. I'll tell her about what she told me yesterday. Maybe she'll be able to help."

She left without Harry. However, for once, Trelawney proved helpless in Parvati's endeavour. Despite only showing her the prophecy and not telling her teacher that it came from her, in the hopes it might trigger something, all Parvati got were more predictions. But Trelawney could not help her with interpreting the words.

Discouraged, Parvati ended up spending the day doing the casually enormous amount of homework she accumulated over the week. She talked a little about the prophecy with Lavender while working, but without sharing the details about Harry's abilities or Ron's father being gravely injured last month. There were things she could keep secret.

Unsurprisingly, Lavender and Parvati were not the only ones to dedicate the whole of Saturday to homework. At their table, there were also Lily and Sophie, and Seamus and Dean joined them as well for a time. Hufflepuffs were all together at another table, while Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville shared another. Parvati cast a few glances towards Harry during the morning, but he never returned any. She did notice though that he was rubbing his forehead on an almost regular basis. It wasn't much. The rubbing was more like brushing, like when someone removed sweat from his forehead. But the movements were unmistakable. Parvati wondered what it meant. Could it mean that Voldemort was still angry? She was tempted to ask Harry about it, but she couldn't do this in the library, with all these other people around. She would need to wait for lunch and find an opportunity to talk with him alone.

She observed the people sitting around him. They were his closest friends in Hogwarts. The only one who wasn't there was Susan Bones. Did any of them know anything about Harry's special abilities? Ronald may know, considering Harry's sickness the night his father suffered deadly injuries. Ron wasn't the most brilliant boy Parvati knew, but you didn't need a tremendous IQ to deduce that kind of things. And Hermione? Well, she was Harry's best friend, so she would be likely to know as well. As for Neville, Parvati was more uncertain. She wondered whether Susan knew. She looked at the table where Hufflepuffs had gathered, but she was nowhere in sight. She had probably gone to search the shelves of the library. Since Parvati had kind of guessed the particularities of Harry's scar while she was dating him for only a single month, she supposed that Susan probably suspected something, at the very least, after almost an entire year spent with Harry. Though of course, given the specific circumstances that allowed Parvati to kind of figure out the truth, maybe Susan didn't have this same opportunity so far.

Parvati shook her head, smiling and even chortling in the process. It was so odd to think about the relationship of her former boyfriend with his new girlfriend. She and Lavender would need to discuss it the next time they looked at their Board of Love.

Unfortunately, Parvati didn't get the chance to talk with Harry during lunch. He didn't show up at the Gryffindor table, even though all his friends were present. He simply didn't show up at all during the whole lunch. Normally, Parvati wouldn't have given much attention to this, but current circumstances were exceptional. She stayed as long as she could at the table, until very few people were left. Ron, Hermione, Neville and Lavender were already gone. When Dean and Seamus stood up, Parvati had to do something. She approached them as they were about to leave.

"Dean, Seamus," she asked. "Do you know where Harry is? I need to ask him something, but I haven't seen him during the whole lunch."

Dean shrugged. "I don't know." He frowned in concentration. "It's true that he wasn't there during lunch, you're right." His expression then turned more playful. "Though Susan wasn't at the Hufflepuff table either. The two must have found a remote place to spend time alone together," he said laughing.

If that was the case, this wouldn't help Parvati. She couldn't talk to Harry in Susan's presence.

"You know where Susan is?" Hannah asked all of a sudden, joining the conversation as she was leaving the Hufflepuff table.

"Not precisely, but like I said, probably with Harry somewhere," Dean answered.

"I hope so," Hannah sighed. "I haven't seen her since yesterday. She didn't come to sleep in our dormitory last night, and she wasn't there either this morning when I woke up."

"She must have gone to bed later than you," Parvati said. "Harry accompanied her to your common room yesterday evening, right before curfew. He told me."

"Yes, I know," Hannah replied. "I was still awake at this hour. But Susan remained in the common room to read, and she never went to the dormitory after that. She wasn't in the Great Hall for breakfast and lunch either, and I haven't seen her of the whole morning. I even checked the infirmary, and Madam Pomfrey said she never came. It's not like her to disappear. And don't tell me that she's with Harry somewhere, because Harry was in the library this morning," she warned Dean. "I saw him. Well, I'll head for the library. Maybe I can ask Harry where she is. He might know."

And Hannah left on that. Dean, Seamus and Parvati were somewhat confused by everything she just said. "She probably went to bed late and woke up early," Dean finally said.

"Yeah, that must be it," Seamus supported. "Sometimes, I do that myself to be quiet while doing my homework. It helps."

On that, they all headed for the library. Once there, Dean and Seamus sat down with others at a table, but Parvati went looking for Harry. He wasn't with Ron and Hermione. She searched the shelves without finding any trace of him and returned to the tables, where Ron and Hermione were still alone. Parvati frowned. Was Dean right? Was Harry spending time with Susan somewhere? Maybe they only found a better spot to do their homework in peace, like Seamus suggested. That wouldn't surprise Parvati. But something didn't add up. And she still needed to ask Harry about why his scar kept hurting this morning. She headed back to the Gryffindor Tower.

Harry wasn't in the common room. Parvati only hesitated a few moments after she came to this conclusion, looking around to reduce risks that people might see her.

She climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

Once she closed the door behind her, Parvati could only realize that it was empty. Harry wasn't there. The other boys were all in the library. She made sure of that before taking the decision to come here. But against her hopes, Harry wasn't there. She noticed the door to the washroom was open. She went there. It was empty as well. She noticed the toilet where she vomited two years ago, after Gryffindor's victory against Ravenclaw. Both a nice and bad memory.

As she was about to leave, the door of the dormitory opened. Parvati froze and turned. From the opening of the door, she spotted Harry sitting furiously on his bed. He seized a comic book from Ron's collection and threw it away after he looked at the cover. He was clearly agitated and breathing quickly. She slowly approached as he took his head between his hands. Was his scar hurting again?

"Harry…?"

He jumped the moment she called his name, coming out of the washroom. He looked at her as if she came from another world.

"What are you doing here?" he quickly asked, taken aback.

"I was looking for you. I saw you this morning… Well, I thought that… Did your scar hurt again? Is You-Know-Who still furious?"

He stared in her direction, but it was as if he was looking through her, as if she wasn't even there. And then he looked down at the floor.

"I know what happened last night."

His tone was one Parvati seldom heard. He sounded desperate… defeated. Parvati knew instinctively that whatever it was that happened, this was no good news.

"What happened, Harry?" she asked.

He didn't answer immediately. He buried his head in his hands. For a moment, Parvati thought it could be his scar again. Would he be sick once more? But before she asked him, she thought he might also be… sad.

That's when her eyes fell upon the comic book Harry threw away a moment ago. It was one of those superhero comic books Muggles loved. Ron also read them. It was opened at one of the last pages. Parvati recognized the superhero. Even she, a witch who grew up in a relatively hybrid environment between the wizarding and Muggle worlds, uninterested in those kinds of leisure, she recognized the spider-like superhero in red and blue, holding the body of a woman. The large blue and red letters of the title could be read even from a distance.

The night Gwen Stacy died.

---

To summarize, Parvati kind of became the witness of all Trelawney's prophecies here.

Big change to the story coming in the next chapter. Stay tuned to read it when it releases.

For general knowledge, the comic book we see at the end of this chapter is issue #121 of the The Amazing Spider-Man comic book series, the original comic books of Spider-Man. This particular issue has an almost historical importance, as it is considered to mark a turning point in the history of comic books in the United States. Before this issue, a superhero had never so utterly failed to protect someone he loved. Comic books in the United States slowly took a darker, more mature style after this issue. The ending of the film The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a very good representation of what happened in the comic book.

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