LUX IN TENEBRIS LUCET (ORIGINAL VERSION)

CHAPTER 5:

JEALOUS REDHEADS AND KINDRED SPIRITS

The present day…

After a final examination, Madam Pomfrey reluctantly allowed Alma to leave the hospital wing, with Hermione donating one of her uniforms to wear. Alma was a bit taller than Hermione, but it fit well enough. Like an honour guard, Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley twins escorted Alma through the corridors of Hogwarts. It was now time for lunch.

Walking came back surprisingly easy to Alma. After a brief moment of staggering on her feet, she managed to walk again quite well. As she walked down the corridors of Hogwarts, she watched the moving portraits as they watched her, whispering and staring. Their scrutiny burned, but she felt more interested in seeing the sights of Hogwarts with her own eyes, rather than through Harry's.

She whistled Oranges and Lemons as they walked down the corridors. The eerie sound wafted down the corridor ahead of the strange quintet.

Eventually, they got to the Great Hall, where most of the other students were already seated and eating. Conversations stopped when they arrived, and Alma felt the stares of the students acutely. But one pair of eyes had something else behind them. She felt that stare, that scrutiny, more than any other. She saw a pair of grey eyes beneath a mane of dirty-blonde hair at the Ravenclaw table.

Dumbledore, noticing their arrival, beckoned them over, particularly Alma. As conversations resumed, Dumbledore leaned forward, and asked, quietly, "How are you, my dear girl?"

Better than I have been for a long time, Professor, she said. I want to talk to you about…the Hunt, later. But not here, obviously. Only Harry heard that bit about the Hunt, and only because he knew what it meant. I will sit with my friends, if you do not mind. I haven't been Sorted, of course, not officially.

Dumbledore smiled, and his eyes twinkled in that way that the old man probably had a patent for. Harry, Alma, and Dumbledore all knew that Alma did get an unofficial Sorting, of sorts, when Harry himself was Sorted. Anyone who saw Alma, but didn't know her very well, would have pegged her for Slytherin. How amazed they would be if they learned that she was actually, albeit unofficially, a Hufflepuff(1)!

Alma and her little entourage sat at the Gryffindor table. The smells of all those foods tugged at her appetite, considering that she hadn't actually eaten anything for years. Her stomach had been filled with the life-support liquid, and necessary nutrients had been provided by IV line, with the waste disposal tubing provided to deal with the waste product of semi-digested oxygenated liquid. Armacham gave her the bare minimum of nutrients to stay alive.

One thing that did hamper her appetite was the sight of Ronald Weasley stuffing himself with food, as usual. He had appalling table manners, and while Alma wasn't one to stand on convention, that was just plain disgusting. He looked up and said, through a mouthful of food, "What're you doing here?"

Sitting with my friends, Alma said pointedly. And you.

Ron frowned. "Of course, because you're a Champion, you're looking down on me."

No. I'm looking down on you because you're a jealous idiot who thinks Harry wants to risk his life for fame he already has and fortune he doesn't need. Alma clapped slowly. Well done, Ron. Well done. I mean, I thought you couldn't do anything less stupid after making Hermione cry in first year, or that Parseltongue crap in second year, and don't get me started on that mess with the Firebolt Harry was sent last year. Clearly, you suffer from an allergy to thinking, like all the magical world.

Ron stood, glowering at Alma. "Better that than to associate with something dark like you." But as he made to walk away, he yelped as he began to fly into the air. "Let me down!"

In a moment. This is called a practical demonstration, Alma said.

"Alma…" Harry said warningly. Ron was being a prat, but he didn't want to see Alma hurt him.

He won't be harmed.

With that, Alma walked to the centre of the Great Hall. Some of the students, particularly the Slytherins, were laughing at Ron's plight. Others were staring at Alma in awe and fear. "Miss Wade, I must insist that…" Dumbledore began.

Hush. This won't take long. She then looked at the gathered students of Hogwarts, as well as the delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Her voice echoed in their minds. This is a warning, she said. Neither Harry nor myself put our names into the Goblet of Fire. If you believe that, then you are bigger idiots than I have thought. We are bound to this competition, obliged to do it, but we do not want to. And if Harry or myself come under fire for something we didn't do, then you will wish for what I am doing to Ronald Weasley.

She then turned to the teachers at the Great Table, the two guest headmasters, as well as the Tournament officials: Ludo Bagman, Barty Crouch Senior, and Percy Weasley. All of those present were staring at her in various shades of fear, horror, and hatred. I know one of you put Harry's name into the Goblet. I will hunt down the culprit. I will show them Hell first-hand. And I will take. My. Time(2).

She saw, just for a moment, the faintest of flickers in one of those present. She looked into their mind, and saw confirmation.

"Miss Wade, I must insist that you let Mr Weasley down!" Dumbledore commanded.

Alma looked to him. In the eyes of others, they would have thought the impassive expression to be contemptuous. But of those present, only Dumbledore actually had a chance of fighting off Alma Wade, and she knew it. With a thought, she let Ron drop. Inches before the floor, she held him again, before letting him drop the rest of the way. It was painful, but the worst injuries was to his pride.

"Detention, Miss Wade. You cannot attack and humiliate students in this manner!" Dumbledore said.

Says the man who allows Malfoy to run amok and do the same, Alma replied, favouring him with a glare. She then left. However, a few pieces of food rose from the tables, and drifted her way, following her like large mosquitos and flies. She hadn't lost her appetite completely after all…

Alma had decided to eat out on the shores of the Black Lake. The sunlight hurt her eyes, but she dealt with it. It was the first time she had ever been out in sunlight for years, after all. The food orbited around her lazily, while she began to bite into a chicken drumstick.

She sensed the others coming not long after. She sighed. She could hear the lecture buzzing around Hermione's mind. Don't bother, she sent back to Hermione. I want to have lunch, not a lecture.

"Alma, you humiliated Ron in front of the whole school, you threatened them with worse, and you threatened torture and possible to an adult. Are you trying to turn the whole Wizarding World against you?"

"They'd be against me anyway," Alma rasped out loud. This got their attention. The four of them waited for her to continue. "Look at me. With the grey skin and orange eyes…they already think I'm the next Voldemort, or worse. And Ron…he said it was better not to think than associate with something dark like me. Something. Not someone." She hurled the chicken bone as hard as she could, telekinesis lending it wings, so it splashed into the middle of the Black Lake. "I melted a troll for him, stopped Lockhart from obliviating him, stopped Dementors from supping on his soul…and for what?"

She plucked a bread roll from the food orbiting her head and bit into it. He doesn't see me as a person. How can I change that? I could force him to, but what's the point? That would just alienate the rest of you. People like that don't change. They just reveal what was beneath the surface all the time.

"Now, that's not true," Fred said.

"Ron may be a jealous prat…" George concurred.

"…But he's also a good guy."

"The best chess player amongst the students…"

"A damn good Quidditch player when he puts his mind to it…"

"And when he doesn't let his feelings get in the way…"

"He's loyal to the end!" the twins chorused.

"Give him time," Fred said. "He'll come around."

"Once the Wrackspurts infesting him have gone," said a rather dreamy, ethereal voice. Alma's eyes widened. She hadn't sensed the person coming up behind her. And everyone else jumped.

"Whoa! Luna! You scared us!" George yelped.

"That's the Phobophilix filling you with fear," said the girl behind them. "You should try and relax."

Alma stared. This was the girl she had noted at the Ravenclaw table, with dirty-blonde hair and grey eyes that seemed to stare. There was something vaguely ethereal about the girl. Alma may have seen her once or twice at most before.

"Fred, George," Harry asked, "who is this?"

"Luna Lovegood. She lives near the Burrow with her father. She's friends with Ginny," George said.

"The other kids call her Loony. Ginny's the only one who does so as an affectionate nickname," Fred added.

"And yes, it makes me happy I'm so strange(3)." This near non-sequitur from Luna, spoken in a weird, almost singing voice, drew her more looks. She skipped over to Alma, and peered into the older girl's eyes. Luna's were wide and unblinking.

You're like me, aren't you?

Luna's voice entered her head, and Alma's eyes widened. You're a psychic too?

Yes. I knew it when you arrived. A psychic is different, even from a magical person who can use Legilimency and Occlumency. It is built into us. We see and hear and feel things others don't. And I could feel your aura. You have to be careful of Nargles, though.

Alma blinked. I'm…not sure what they are.

You'll know them when you see them, Luna said with a smile.

"So…you're like Alma? A psychic?" Hermione asked.

Luna nodded, smiling. "So was my mother." At this, her face fell. "Unfortunately, she died while trying to use her powers in advanced spellcrafting. I saw it happen. That is why I can see the Thestrals pulling the carriages."

"But they are horseless…" Hermione frowned.

"Thestrals?" Fred asked. "Nah, they're real. They're supposed to be winged carnivorous horses who can only be seen by those who've seen someone die. We once talked to Hagrid about them."

"Carnivorous?" Harry asked, a bit nervous.

"Yeah, but they're peaceful enough, they're not dangerous. Hell, on the Hagrid Hazardous Animals Scale, they rank a two at best. Just creepy."

My sort of horse, Alma said with a rather sinister smile. She realised that someone was approaching. Someone who felt very familiar. Someone who was, for the moment, unwelcome. Sighing with irritation, she said, I'm curious as to how you can assign me a detention when I am not a student at your school, Dumbledore.

"I have the authority with visiting students, as long as it is cleared by their headmaster. However, you are something of a special case," Dumbledore said.

Indeed. I'm also curious as to how you think you can make me attend a detention. You have seen my power, and my memories. Armacham barely caged me. How can you?

"With extreme difficulty, Miss Wade. But…I know you struggle on the path you walk. I want to help keep you on the twilit road to dawn you travel down(4). I don't want to lose more to the darkness. Even twilight is better than the dark. I want to help, Alma. Can't you see it in my mind?"

She could. He had let down the barriers, and the old fool did want to help her. He was so insufferably well-meaning. And he was sincere.

But old men accumulate many mistakes in their lifetimes. She knew this all too well from both Dumbledore's memories, and Voldemort's.

She knew why he didn't go so hard after Malfoy or other bullies. Once, he had a more laissez faire attitude to some bullying. But the Marauders' antics helped swell the ranks of the Death Eaters, the very same Death Eaters whose children had become bullies. And many of said Death Eaters were men of influence and power, like Lucius Malfoy. They had already managed to get Dumbledore removed from his position once, during the second Chamber of Secrets fiasco.

Dumbledore had to walk a fine line between trying to keep his position, and making sure his students were safe, as well as encouraging playful behaviour, including the pranks of the Weasleys. The fact that Snape, once a bullying victim himself, now used the system to the utmost advantage for himself and his Slytherins didn't help matters, and Dumbledore's control of the man only went so far. It was well-meant, but it also meant that the situation at Hogwarts was a mess. The system was abused and gamed, and replacing it with something better would only serve to ensure that Dumbledore was evicted, and probably replaced with someone worse.

Alma could see in Dumbledore's mind that already, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was beginning to have doubts about Dumbledore's motives. Fudge believed that Dumbledore was unhappy with his current positions in life. Which was, perversely, the truth: Dumbledore had never asked for his positions as Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. The only reasons he kept these positions were to try and make sure that the Pureblood bigots didn't get their way, or at least not as often as they wanted to. And even then, he was uneasy at having so much power.

Alma was not, not with her power. She felt perfectly at ease using her own, more immediate power. Or at least so she told herself.

"Come along, Alma. I believe Hagrid wishes to make your acquaintance," the old man said, as kindly as he could manage. After all, it was with Hagrid, according to his thoughts, that Alma was going to take detention with. "And come along, everyone, if you wish to lend Alma your support."

The quintet of students, now a sextet, followed Dumbledore away from the shores of the Black Lake. But as they walked, Alma spoke, quietly, to Dumbledore only. I know who put the parchment with Harry's name on it.

Although Dumbledore couldn't actually use telepathy, he was able to speak with his thoughts so that Alma, with her link, could hear him. Then, my dear girl, tell me.

The one with the magical eye. You called him Mad-Eye Moody. But that is not who he is. He is an impostor. He means Harry harm. I only caught a glimpse of his thoughts. But I did not threaten him idly. I will take his mind apart, piece by piece and learn what he is up to. Only then, when his mind is in...ashes…then he'll have my permission to die(5)…

CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:

Well, Alma threatens Hogwarts! And it looks like she may have made the rift between Ron and Harry even worse. To be fair, though, she is a girl with the powers of a god and violent impulse. As far as Alma is concerned, floating Ron around is tame compared to what she could have done to him. Harry doesn't like it, but Ron did say some rather thoughtless things, and to Alma, of all people. That's just stupid. Harry will want to try and patch things up with Ron, though. But it may be a while before Ron is in a contrite mood…

That little bit about Alma thinking about Dumbledore's flaws regarding bullying at Hogwarts is basically my rebuttal to the admittedly good points raised by some Dumbledore-bashers. It's not to say he has good reasons for allowing the BS to go on, but they're understandable reasons. The Dumbledores of my fanfics (two to date) are well-meaning but, too often, ineffectual. However, when push comes to shove, they are decent people who just need to be reminded to look at something other than the Greater Good.

I thought of Luna being psychic shortly before starting this chapter. It works so well with her weird personality and strange non-sequiturs. So Alma has made another friend at Hogwarts. She's going to need as many as she can get.

1. I thought about what House Alma would be in. The canon Alma is really so alien and weird, I don't know what she'd be sorted into (and anyone who says 'Slytherin' because she's 'evil' should think very carefully about why). But this Alma has two traits: she desires knowledge (partially because of her incarceration in the Vault), and she is extremely loyal to Harry, who is her first friend. Because of her extreme loyalty to Harry (not to mention her tenacity: remember, in canon, it took her body six days to die after life support was shut off, and her mind and soul remained alive regardless) I dunno whether I will write the Sorting, but I can imagine the Sorting Hat was understandably freaked out by Alma, but Sorted her nonetheless as a challenge to itself.

2. I pinched this line from Hyde's similar threat in episode three of Jekyll. Alma, however, is not as flamboyant as Hyde.

3. This is a reference to The End is the Beginning is the End. That's a song by the Smashing Pumpkins, one of the few good elements of the execrable Batman and Robin. It's one of my favourite songs, and has a wonderful line that I couldn't resist Luna responding to: Does it make you happy you're so strange? The song, funnily enough, is about Batman, despite the weird lyrics. Of course, the song was released nearly three years after this scene, but hey, this is Luna we're talking about. I wouldn't be surprised if she's like Deadpool and can break the fourth wall. It would explain so much…

4. Another reference, this time to the Kingdom Hearts series. At the end of Chain of Memories, Riku is asked to choose between three roads by DiZ. DiZ indicates one road going to light, and the other to darkness. Riku chooses the third, middle road. DiZ asks whether it's the twilight road to darkness, but Riku responds that it's the road to dawn.

5. Yes. I couldn't resist a reference to Bane's famous line from The Dark Knight Rises.