Chapter 5 is here!
I officially hate writing Dumbledore. Absolute pain.
Not stisfied with his dialogue, suggestion on how to improve it would be appreciated; as would the usual grammar, flow checking and reactions
So, without further ado:
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Chapter 5: Half-Life Three Confirmed!
"Me?" Remus frowned confusedly.
"Yes, you were standing on a hill... under the full moon... and nothing had happened. You were... you."
Remus's eyes widened in shock.
"That's... not possible."
"I know what I saw."
Remus scratched his chin.
"Hmm... you say you saw this in a mirror? I never encountered such a mirror in my time at Hogwarts – but I doubt anyone can claim to have found all Hogwarts's secrets. I could ask around, I suppose."
"Remus... is.. could it be that... this mirror shows the future? I showed it to Ron and he saw himself as Head Boy and Quidditch Captain."
Remus sighed knowingly at that.
"Harry," he began, "There is no cure for Lycanthropy. You can't just cure me. I am who I am. That... won't change-"
"But what if it could?" said Harry, frantically. "What if... if someone finds a potion, or a spell, or-"
"Harry," Remus said firmly, "There is no cure. There is nothing you can do – whatever this mirror is; it does not show the future."
A minute's silence passed. Finally, Harry nodded glumly.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be," said Remus; a pained smile playing on his face, "Now is there anything else I can do for you?"
Harry began to shake his head, then stopped and asked, "Is Ginny around?"
"Ginny is firmly asleep – as you should be. It is well past both your bedtimes, I shall give her your regards."
"Thanks," Harry grinned, "Bye, Remus."
Then he was gone.
Outside in the corridor, Ginny was slumped against the wall, next to the door Remus had accidentally left ajar. Her hair covered her face, but it was possible to make out tears dripping from underneath.
"Back again, Harry?"
Harry looked round. Professor Dumbledore was sitting on one of the desks. Harry started.
"Er- Professor! I-I'm sorry, I-"
"Quite alright," said Dumbledore. He surveyed Harry piercingly. "What do you see?"
"Professor?"
"In the mirror."
Harry hesitated for a while.
"Remus, one of my Dad's friends. He... he helped raise me. He's standing under a full moon. He... um, he's... well... he's a... er-"
"Not to worry," interrupted Dumbledore, "I am fully aware of Remus's condition. I see. Most interesting. You do not see your parents?"
Harry shrugged.
"There's a picture of them above our fireplace; I talk to them sometimes. But... Remus... his life... it's hard. It's not fair."
Dumbledore sighed.
"No. No, it is not. Unfortunately life can be like that sometimes. You have visited this mirror three times now; can you tell me what it does?"
"It... shows us... what we want?"
"In a manner. It shows us only our most desperate desire; the one thing we wish for above all else."
Dumbledore was staring into the mirror as he spoke; he seemed almost... lost in contemplation. Then he snapped out of his trance.
"The mirror shall be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry. I do not recommend looking for it again; if you dwell too much on dreams, you can forget to live. People have been maddened before this mirror; forever yearning for that which they cannot have."
Harry nodded, "Sir? If I may ask... what do you see?"
Dumbledore looked slightly taken aback. After a moment's pause he replied.
"
There was once a pair of socks I held very dear to myself. In an argument with a friend, during my youth, I lost those socks. I became so fixated on the disagreement, I did not realise that I had misplaced them. Ever since, I have found that I have never had enough socks. I hope to get some for Christmas from time to time – it being the classic last resort – but another year has come and gone and I haven't received any." He looked at Harry, his eyes obscured by a glint of moonlight catching his half-moon spectacles. "But, enough ruminating, I think. Off to bed with you."
It was with a slight feeling of foreboding, that Ginny sat down with the diary. Nevertheless she shunted it aside and picked up her quill.
'Hi Tom; how are you?'
'As I always am. What about you?'
'I'm doing okay. Christmas was actually pretty fun!'
'That's wonderful to hear. Here is Harry's message:
"Hi Ginny,
This month was pretty quiet. We threw Hagrid a surprise birthday party! Not much happened for most of the month apart from that. Still no luck on Nicholas Flamel.
Things did get interesting on Christmas day though. Somebody sent me an invisibility cloak; there was a note saying it was my father's. I'm tempted to ask Sirius about it, but I like the idea of having something he and Mabel don't know about... what do you think?
Something else very strange also happened. I was testing the cloak out that night when I found this weird mirror. It showed me Remus under the full moon, but he didn't change. I showed the others and Ron saw himself as Head Boy and Quidditch captain. Draco wouldn't tell us what he saw. Nev saw... well I don't think I should say what he saw. Hermione said she saw the world's biggest library, but I'm pretty sure she was lying. Susan saw herself as Minister For Magic.
Dumbledore found out and told me it shows us our heart's desire (or something like that). He said the mirror was being moved and asked me not to look for it again. He said it was unhealthy.
How have you been?
From Harry"'
Ginny pondered the letter for a moment before responding.
'Harry,
Sounds interesting. I vote keep the cloak from Sirius – think of the whacky hijinks!
Charlie came home for his birthday, so that was fun, but apart from that, and staying at Cwpan Tân, not a great deal has happened.
Looking forward to next month's letter,
From Ginny.'
'That looks wonderful.' Wrote Tom, 'But you didn't mention the mirror. (I'm going to assume "whacky hijinks" is slang).'
'There isn't really a lot to say about it; it's interesting and all but I really don't know what to respond with.' She bluntly lied in reply. She felt a little bad about it, but only a little.
'Fair enough. Is there anything you want to talk about?'
'Not really, I just wish I could be at Hogwarts.'
'Pouting again? You'll be here soon enough. I look forward to it.'
'Tired of being flown across the country every month?'
'How could you tell...?'
Ginny chuckled at that.
'Well, good seeing you. Bye Tom.'
'Goodbye, my dear.'
Ginny marked off March 1st on her calendar and turned to the window, just in time to see Hedwig fly through it and land on Ginny's headboard.
She took the diary and petted Hedwig before opening the book.
'Hello Tom.'
'Hello Ginny. How have you been?'
'Bored, as usual.'
'Try being a book.'
Ginny giggled slightly at that.
'Okay, okay, give me Harry's note please.'
'Here it is:
"Hi Ginny,
Well, we thrashed Hufflepuff. Susan was kind of put out. Apparently Ron, Susan and Neville got into a fight with three of Draco's friends; Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle, during the game. I'm getting worried about Draco. According to Hermione he just stood there while it all happened.
I also saw Snape threatening Quirrell. He's trying to get him to find out how to get past Fluffy.
Good news though; we found out about Nicholas Flamel! He is 665 years old and the creator of the Philosopher's Stone! We're fairly sure that's what Fluffy is guarding! It makes gold and stops you ever dying!
How have you been?
From Harry."'
Ginny stared at the letter.
She thought hard for a moment, then began to write again.
'Interesting. What do you think about this Tom?'
'This Tom or that Tom? Use a comma, Ginny. Best case scenario, Quirrell can't help Snape. Are you ready to write back?'
'Yes, here goes:
Harry,
Go to Dumbledore. Get him to stop Snape.
Not really sure what to do about Draco though...
I've been booooooooored, but otherwise okay. Really wishing it was the end of term already. There isn't really much more to say to be honest.
Missing you,
Ginny.'
'Excellent, Ginny. Is there anything else you want to talk about?'
Ginny scoffed.
'Oh please. Nothing happens here to talk about – we live in the middle of nowhere.'
'What about those Lovegoods you mentioned a while back? Why don't you try going to see them.'
'Have you seen their place? There is no way I am going anywhere near it!'
'Well, here's hoping you find something else to do. Until next time.'
Ginny closed the book and sighed. It felt like she had been doing a lot of sighing lately.
"He's not serious is he?" asked Draco as they were plodding back from Hagrid's cabin.
"I think he's deadly serious," replied Susan, who appeared to be in a state of shock.
"I think he's nuts," added Ron, "I mean, seriously? A dragon egg? He bought a dragon egg from some guy he ran into in a pub?"
"Technically won," said Hermione, "But even so, he must be mad."
They all trudged into the entrance hall and into the great hall.
"We've got to convince him to get rid of it," she continued.
"Well, good luck with that," said Neville as he headed towards the Gryffindor table. "If you seriously think I'm getting involved in this then you're an idiot."
Hermione stared incredulously at Neville's back before recovering and turning to the others.
"We'll take turns. We have to convince him!"
They all nodded.
Ginny looked up from Harry's letter.
"A fucking dragon!?"
"Ginny!" Her mother snapped suddenly. Ginny froze. In her haste she had completely forgotten she was there.
Ginny plastered a smile that was best described as untrustworthy onto her face and looked at her mother. Molly's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Where did you learn that word? What's that book?"
She reached over and picked up the diary. She stared down at the blank pages and scrutinised them. She tapped her wand against it, muttering an incantation. Nothing happened. She looked at Ginny.
"Are you hiding something from me, young lady?"
Ginny looked at her mother, then she looked at the diary, then back at her mother, then back at the diary. She did this several more times.
"Yes," she chirped in a jaunty, winning voice.
Molly's eyebrow rose.
"I see."
Quick as a flash, Ginny snatched the diary and ran upstairs.
"GINNY!"
Ginny hurried into her room and locked the door. She quickly scrawled a warning message to Harry to have Hedwig deliver only direct to her window as well as wishing him luck in getting rid of Norbert, then attached the diary to Hedwig – who had somehow known to fly up to her window from the kitchen – and sent her on her way.
Mere seconds later her door flew open and Molly was standing in the doorway. Ginny breathed out. Then remembered she was probably going to be in some serious trouble anyway.
The following month, Ginny double checked that her mother was well and truly preoccupied de-gnoming the garden before she opened her window and allowed Hedwig in.
'Hi Tom. Sorry about the abrupt goodbye last time.'
'Nothing to be sorry about, my dear. How have you been?'
'Mum's been a full on warden – watching me constantly. She's de-gnoming now. Don't know how long that'll take her.'
'In that case, I'd better get straight to the letter then:
"Hi Ginny,
Well, we got Hagrid to get rid of the dragon; only problem was that we got caught out of bed and got detention. Except Neville. He did the smart thing and stayed out of it. We lost fifty points each.
Our detention was in the forbidden forest, looking for a hurt unicorn. We found it, but also something else. Voldemort was drinking its blood! He probably would have killed us if a centaur called Firenze hadn't saved us. Centaurs are just weird. They live in the Forest and talk strangely. Firenze said that drinking a unicorn's blood will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death, but you will have a 'half-life', whatever that is supposed to mean.
We went to Dumbledore but he says he trusts Snape and we don't have any real evidence. The exams went okay though.
Are you okay? Is Mrs. Weasley giving you a hard time?
From Harry."'
Ginny read Harry's handwriting fondly before gathering her thoughts to reply.
'Harry,
Well at least Norbert's gone... sucks that you got caught though. Fred and George must be ashamed of your lack of sneakiness.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!
YOU SAW YOU-KNOW-WHO?!!!!!
HE WAS IN THE FOREST!!!!!!
HARRY, PLEASE PROMISE ME YOU WON'T EVER GO IN THERE AGAIN!
Maybe a 'half-life' means you only live half as long as you would? Or maybe you're missing something in your life, like tasting? Maybe Hermione can help you on that?
Maybe centaurs need to be weird to live in the Forest...
Mum has been watching me like a hawk! Other than that I'm the usual bored me. I'm so glad I have these letters from you! I don't know how I'd cope otherwise.
Hopefully be seeing you soon,
Ginny.
P.S. Do you have to say You-Know-Who's name?'
'I forgot to ask Harry before he sent me, but who is this "Voldemort" he mentioned?'
'Oh, of course, you wouldn't know. He was after your time if you've been a diary for fifty years. He's a dark wizard that was trying to take over the country, then Harry defeated him when he was a baby. No-one knows how. Even Harry doesn't seem to know.'
'And this "You-Know-Who" stand in?'
'He was so powerful and so evil that most of us are afraid to say his name.'
'Most?'
'A few people, like Harry, Professor Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus and such use his name.'
'I see. There was a dark wizard in my time with a similar goal. Grindelwald. I don't know how it ended since I was made before.'
'Dumbledore stopped him in 1945'
'Hmm... not long after I was made. Is it just me, or does Dumbledore seem ageless? He's supposed to have been born in the 19th century, but if he's still around in your era... I am impressed. Generally, wizards live a long time but even so. Admittedly not quite as impressive as Nicholas Flamel, but that is just cheating.'
Ginny giggled to herself at that.
'Hey Tom. Can I ask you something?'
'You just did. But feel free to ask me anything.'
'Is it... well'
She stopped, wondering if she should commit this to paper. If someone were to ever read this...
'No,' she told herself, 'it was Tom after all. She could trust Tom.'
'Is it okay to like a friend... well... more than a friend?'
There was a long gap. Ginny waited with bated breath.
'I can't see any reason why not. Do you want to talk about it?'
'It's just... me and this friend have been friends for years. I... don't know if it would be... weird. I've been feeling weird lately. Feeling things I don't understand.'
'I see. You're going through perfectly natural changes, Ginny. I strongly suggest you ask your parents about these feelings. There's no need to be specific with who it is to them. Fear not; term is nearly over. We'll be able to talk more when you see Harry again. For now I think it would be wise to leave the conversation here, lest your mother discover us. I look forward to our next meeting.'
'Thanks Tom.'
'My pleasure.'
Ginny closed the book and reattached it to Hedwig. Then she gave her an owl treat and sent her on her way. After the snowy owl was out of sight, Ginny rolled over to glance at her bedside table. There were several photographs on it. She gazed at one in particular; one with familiar emerald eyes, messy raven hair, round glasses and a very recognisable scar.
"Damn, that sounds like Filch!" whispered Ron.
"Snape must have put him up to this," muttered Harry.
They were clustered under the invisibility cloak, Neville's feet poking out.
"What do we do? He's coming this way."
There was a small silence.
"Go; I'll keep him busy." said Neville.
They gaped at him.
"What?" asked Harry, his mouth much like a dumbstruck fish.
"Go. Stop Snape."
With that, he darted from under the cloak and hared off into Filch's view.
"Who goes there?" Filch called and dashed off after Neville, who was now running at full pelt away from the right-hand-side corridor.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Susan all stared as they both disappeared from view and faded from earshot.
"Er... right, lets go." said Harry. They crossed to the locked door and Hermione unlocked it.
Fluffy was alert and growling in their direction.
"Start playing Harry," whispered Hermione. Harry nodded and put the flute he'd received from Hagrid to his mouth. His playing wasn't particularly good, but apparently Fluffy wasn't discerning when it came to tunes.
Once he was soundly asleep, the group crouched down near the trapdoor.
"That is not a good looking leap of faith," said Susan.
"If it helps I could push you down," said Draco, smirking.
"So, who goes first?" asked Ron.
Everyone looked at him.
"What?"
They kept looking at him. He glowered.
"Wusses. Fine, but if I break my legs you will so owe me."
He took a breath in, then out. Then he slid his legs over the side.
He turned to Hermione and grinned sheepishly.
"Wish me luck."
Then he was gone.
Then a thump sounded. Slightly muffled.
There was a moment's silence.
"It's okay! You can jump! Some kind of plant-thing's down here."
Harry went next, passing the flute to Draco. Then Hermione went. Susan however had some trouble.
"Thinking about it," she mused, worriedly. "Maybe I should stay up here-"
She screamed and a moment later had landed beside Ron. She gesticulated wildly for a moment, apparently unable to voice what had happened. Then the music stopped, Fluffy barked voluminously and Draco landed between Ron and Hermione. Susan pointed a thoroughly outraged finger at him.
"YOU! YOU PUSHED ME IN!"
"Well, I wasn't waiting all day."
"Shut up both of you!" yelped Hermione as she noticed thick vines tangling around her and the others. They all desperately tried to break free but were apparently too late.
"This is Devil's Snare," muttered Hermione. "Let's see... it likes dank, dingy habitats."
"Then fire please!" Harry cried as he tried to wrest a vine from his neck.
"There's no wood!" Hermione said feebly as she wrested her wand-arm free of the plant.
Susan gaped at her, Ron and Draco exploded simultaneously.
"HAVE YOU LOST IT! ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT!?"
"ARE YOU A WITCH OR WHAT, YOU PATHETIC LITTLE MUDBLOOD!?"
It should not need to be said who said which sentence.
Nostrils flaring, Hermione tore her wand free of the plant and pointed it at Draco, sparks flying from the end. Quick as a flash, Draco grabbed her arm and turned it sideways, spraying the sparks onto the Devil's Snare. It caught ablaze in seconds and began to wither. After they had all pulled themselves free and straightened up. Ron rounded on Hermione.
"'There's no wood'? Are. You. Serious? We will never speak of this."
Then he rounded on Draco.
"And you. What is wrong with you?"
Draco smirked.
"It worked, didn't it? Make the stuck up girl angry and you can set fire to anything."
"Oh, did you learn that from Pansy?" cut in Hermione snidely.
Their bickering then dissolved into a vicious blame-circle. Harry leaned close to Susan.
"Should we break this up?"
"Probably."
They both kept watching anyway.
"Knight to H3."
Ron closed his eyes as the horse beneath him cantered to the square. Even when the imposing figure of the white queen bore down on him he kept his eyes squeezed shut. Then she pounced from her throne, hefting her sceptre like a meat-cleaver. The others could only watch in morbid horror as he was mauled like a toddler's rag-doll and thrown from the board to join the stone graveyard amidst the broken remnants of his steed.
Hermione made to move across the board to him.
"NO!" Yelled Draco from the King's throne, "Stay still! We haven't won yet."
She gulped, then nodded and nestled down atop her ebony battlements. Susan was chalk white in stark contrast to the pawn armour shell she nestled in – one of the only pawns left on the black side. She had initially called queen but Draco and Ron had forbid it on the grounds that they planned to sacrifice the queen, which now lay in shards in the trench on the side of the board.
Harry waited for a moment to calm his breathing, then took up his crosier and nervously plodded across the board. To checkmate the king. When the crown fell at his feet, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Then there was a clattering and Harry looked round. Hermione's turret was sliding across the board towards the white queen.
"Hermione? What are you-?"
With a crunch the turret body-slammed the Queen. Taken aback, the white queen dropped her sceptre and raised her hands in protest, only to find Hermione's sword clumsily swung into her face. Flailing in what could only be described as horror, the queen stumbled backwards off the board and twitched feebly for a moment before falling still.
"Hermione?" Harry asked, timidly.
Hermione dropped the sword and shakily dismounted from her turret. They all gathered round the mangled form of Ron. He was alive but definitely hurt. Susan knelt down next to him.
"You guys keep going; I'll take care of him."
"No," said Hermione, quietly, "You go. I'll stay."
Susan frowned.
"Sorry Hermione," she retorted with a noticeable trace of bitterness. "But right now we need the brightest witch in our year – not the extra friend who hangs around with you guys!"
Hermione stared at the bloodied form of Ron on the ground. Then she looked at Harry and Draco.
Then back at Ron.
Finally she looked at Susan.
"Okay."
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So, what do you guys think a 'half-life' is? This really bugged me in the book. We never really got a tangible grasp of what the hell it was.
MOAR TEA!