A Little Knowledge

A few days after that, during breakfast in the Great Hall, something unexpected happened. Rubeus Hagrid, the apprentice to the groundskeeper, lumbered into the hall and right up to the high table. As a matter of course one did not often see the sizable young man inside the castle, especially during mealtimes. The girls were of the opinion that he generally was not allowed. Consequently, his presence that morning piqued their interest.

The very large failed wizard made his way to the High Table and stopped in front of the headmaster, who looked up from his breakfast with a mild start. As they watched, Hagrid leaned across the table and tried to whisper something to Dippet. This did not work very well as Hagrid hardly had a voice for whispering.

“They want ta see you, sir. Them that’s out there, I mean,” he told Dippet quite earnestly.

Dippet might have asked him who, but they could not hear him.

Hagrid only smiled a bit oddly as he replied, “Them, sir! What lives in the forest. They’re awfully upset.”

The headmaster glanced at his deputy, who couldn’t help but hear Hagrid too, and both professors left their seats. Several other faculty members began to rise, but Dippet gestured for them to remain seated, except Professor Kettleburn, whose silently offered assistance and support he did not refuse. The three professors followed Hagrid quickly from the Great Hall.

Sissy had rarely ever been given cause to be grateful to the impetuosity of her Gryffindor schoolmates, but that morning as a number them left their table, following the professors and Hagrid, she felt rather in their debt. Their actions, easily attributed to curiosity, motivated the rest of the hall, including her Ravenclaw peers, and they found themselves on their feet almost without realizing it. The entire student body was moving toward the doors.

Sophia glanced at the high table where a number of the professors had rose from their chairs, but none of them called out a warning to the students, or if they did, then their voice did not rise above the sudden clamor. Sophia surmised than none of them had taken the initiative to stop the stampede and as the first Gryffindors rushed from the hall, they knew it was too late.

Alastor Moody, she noted, had made his way through the crowd against the implicit order of the headmaster.

“What do you suppose has happened?” asked Martin as they pushed their way through the crowd, which was hard work for first and second years. He glanced at Corinna with a hopeful expression on his face.

She rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t know anything.”

It was several minutes before they found themselves at the open doors of the school looking out upon the grounds. The crowd had stopped near the top of the stairs as it offered a good view of what was going on.

Four centaurs could be seen at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Three were holding spears, one of which was tied with a white flag of truce. They had come to talk. The leader had an iron gray beard that covered much his bare chest and the horse half of him was also gray. The two others who bore arms were brown in color, though one was dappled and the other plain, and they seemed much younger with short beards and muscular arms. Their faces were stony, but there was something angry about the way that they stamped their hooves against the earth as the wizards approached them.

The fourth centaur was different. Sophia was the first to notice him, if the others even heeded him at all. He appeared to be a foal, a young centaur, with pale blond hair and the body of a palomino. He had wandered a bit from the rest of the group, looking at the castle with a sad, but thoughtful expression.

She wondered what they were doing outside the forest as centaurs did not often choose to mix with humans. Whatever the cause of their visit, it was likely to be grave and unpleasant. She glanced at the three centaurs and the staff members who had gone out to meet them. Their voices did not carry over so great a distance, but as she watched, the leader of the group pointed toward the castle, back into the forest, and to the castle again.

“Perhaps they have word of the vampire’s movements,” she mused, knowing that the two types of beings, vampires and centaurs, were natural enemies, though she had never heard tell of exactly why.

Then she turned her attention to the young centaur again. He had wandered nearer to the castle, taking in the sight of it as though he had never beheld it before. Sophia had the sudden urge to go and speak with him. She slipped unnoticed through the crowd and down the stairs toward him. The others were busy trying to figure out what was the matter with the trio with spears.

She was still several paces away from the centaur when he turned and looked at her with a calm, but perhaps ever-so-slightly curious expression on his face.

“Hello,” she said. Sophia paused as she did not know what his reaction to her would be.

His gaze dropped her legs. They were hidden by her long school robes, which were buttoned against the cold. He seemed mildly disappointed.

“Hello,” he replied solemnly.

“You’ve never seen Hogwarts before, have you?” Sophia asked him.

“Only from a great distance, and in my dreams,” he answered. “I never realized it was so large,” he added, craning his neck to look up at one of the towers.

“I was surprised the first time I saw it too,” she said.

He looked at her again with mild amazement in his eyes.

“Really? Are you not accustomed to such things?” he asked.

“No,” she replied, shaking he head, “I had never seen a castle before I came here.”

The centaur looked more thoughtful, more pensive than ever as he said, “I don’t know very much about the ways of wizards or ought else that walks as you do. It is strange that you should build yourself cages when you could walk free under the stars. Or so it seems to me.”

“Cages?” questioned Sophia.

He gestured to the castle and said, “Such as this.”

“It’s hardly a cage. We can leave whenever we like,” she told him.

“Can you really?” he asked, though it was not a question, but more of a jest. But whether jest or no, he remained solemn.

“Why have you come here?” she asked.

“My father insisted that I should do so,” he said. “My mother was killed last night by one who was once of your kind, but is now an enemy to us all.”

“I’m sorry,” she stammered.

“For what? His deeds are not yours that you may be sorry for them,” said the young centaur.

“It was a vampire, wasn’t it?” she asked.

“Yes,” he nodded. “It comes and goes through the forest as it has a will. A very cunning creature that none can track. Few of us have even seen it. We are fortunate that it more often prefers to feed upon its own kind.”

“Have you seen it?”

“Only its shadow,” he answered.

Suddenly Sophia felt a hand upon her shoulder and started.

“Back to the castle with you,” growled Alastor Moody, pulling her backward a few paces before allowing her to turn.

“But ...” she began to say.

“It’s not safe, lass, and you’ve seen enough trouble of late,” he interrupted, looking over her at the young centaur, who was watching them placidly and calmly.

Across the grounds one of the other centaurs called, “Firenze!”

He glanced at the castle and at her one last time before galloping away toward the Dark Forest and the others of his kind.

“He was nice,” said Sophia softly.

“He’s young. It wouldn’t do for you to approach a full-grown centaur that way. You’d certainly find yourself in a spot of trouble then,” he said, walking back toward the stairs with her. The crowd there was beginning to disperse as the professors returned to the castle. “They may look very nearly human and very lordly and wise, but they are Beasts, you know, and quite wild. They have no love for our kind either,” he explained to her.

She frowned and tried to think of something to say, but Sophia knew that what Alastor said was the truth, though it pained her to admit it.

When the others learned what had happened in the forest the previous night, they all felt a guilty sense of relief. The vampire had fed, they assumed, but it had cost a centaur her life. That meant the vampire would be biding its time. Maybe they would be safe ... at least for a little while, until it needed to feed again.

Nonetheless Sissy and Corinna knew that there were no guarantees, as did Martin, because they were aware that the vampire might come for him at any time, hungry or not. Sophia and Olivia were beginning to have certain suspicions too. But they all hoped that the time would not soon come when their young friend would be forced to face the vampire again. Sissy, Sophia, and Olivia were pinning their hopes on Alastor Moody. But Corinna couldn’t do that. She knew too much.

And maybe it was because of those thoughts that Corinna had what she considered to be a prophetic dream ...

She walking down an alley in wizarding London. She could tell that it was the early hours of the morning and that she was not alone. There was a man walking in front of her in Ministry robes. She glanced over her shoulder and laughed at two wizards who were walking behind her. They smiled at her. One of them said something, but she couldn’t hear the words, only her own happy laughter, ringing in her ears. It had been a good night, and these were her friends and colleagues, worthy wizards one and all.

She knew that she was due home soon, that her husband would be waiting, even though she always instructed him not to wait up for her. He was silly, but he loved her. An image of laughing, sparkling eyes flashed through her mind.

One of her escorts said something that made her laugh again. She glimpsed the insignia of the Department of Mysteries on his robes. She felt very proud. The best department in the entire Ministry ...

They passed a closed shop as they neared Diagon Alley, and Corinna glanced at her own reflection in the darkened window. She was taller, of course, but still a few pounds overweight, at least in her opinion, and her hair was incredibly messy. The insignia on her own black robes also belonged to the Department of Mysteries and marked her as an Unspeakable. She was still rather young and seemed so very happy.

Then something strange happened. An eerie green light flashed from behind her. She could see its reflection in the window too as it rushed toward her. She frowned in confusion for an instant before it enveloped her. Then everything became suddenly dark and cold ...

Corinna awoke in a cold sweat, tangled up in the blankets and quilts that she normally tossed off during the night. She swallowed and tried not to gag. Her hands were shaking so much that she could hardly grasp the covers to untangle them.

“The Killing Curse ...” she whispered, remembering everything Sissy had told her about it the year before. The Unforgiveables were one of Sissy’s many Dark Arts-related obsessions.

Corinna realized that she had foreseen her own death and shivered.

“Not supposed to happen,” she said to herself, not meaning the event of her death, but the dream. She was certain that she was not meant to possess that terrible knowledge.

She drew her knees up and pulled the blankets close around herself. The coldness of the curse still pervaded her body, covering her like an icy, damp second skin.

“Corinna, what’s the matter?” asked a voice in the darkness.

Her movements and whispers had awakened Olivia, who, probably due to her incessant teeth grinding, was a lighter sleeper than Sissy or Sophia.

“Just a dream ...” she stammered in a high and shrill voice that was louder than she had intended.

She heard Olivia stirring, climbing from bed, and longed to tell her that she was all right and just to go back to sleep. But she couldn’t.

A moment later her own curtains opened, but it was too dark to see anything but a vague movement. There was a momentary cool breeze that accompanied it, making her shiver again.

“Are you all right?” asked Olivia in a low voice.

“For now ...” whispered Corinna, not knowing how to answer her question.

She was jostled slightly as Olivia clambered none too gracefully onto the bed and closed the curtains again.

“Was it about the vampire?” she asked in a low voice.

“No,” Corinna replied, “it had nothing to do with it at all. It was just ... a bad dream.”

“About the future?” guessed Olivia. She was quite perceptive and had not missed the whispered comment Corinna had made.

“Yes,” Corinna told her with another shiver.

“Stop being stubborn or cryptic or whatever it is you’re doing and just tell me about it,” said Olivia rather forcefully.

Corinna blinked away tears and said, “I died ... in my dream.”

Olivia reached out in the darkness and silently patted what she surmised to be Corinna’s foot.

“Sorry, but at least you’ve answered a rather interesting question: if you die in a dream, do you die for real,” said Olivia in a false-humorous, but comforting tone. “Apparently, you don’t.”

“But don’t you see. I really will die ... and ... and it isn’t that long from now. I don’t think I was more than thirty years old, if even that,” she explained.

“That’s eighteen years,” Olivia pointed out.

“If that!” protested Corinna.

Olivia sighed softly and said, “Well, you have been wrong before. You could be wrong now.”

“I’m not,” said Corinna flatly.

“But you could be, Corinna!” Olivia insisted. “I mean, I’m not going to plan to lose one of my best friends in eighteen, twenty, or even fifty years! We’re all going to be together ‘til the end.”

“Don’t say that. You’re going to have a long and wonderful life, Olivia,” said Corinna not at all grudgingly.

“Not if you don’t!” argued Olivia angrily.

The next thing they knew, they were both nearly blinded by a flash of light as someone lit a lamp and threw back the curtains around Corinna’s bed.

“What on earth is the matter with the two of you?” asked Sissy in an irritated voice. It could be reasoned that Sophia was lighting the lamp. She scowled as she looked at Corinna. “Have you been blubbing?” she asked crossly.

“No,” said Corinna with a sniff and what was meant to be a defiant look. That as good as cinched it for Sissy.

Sissy made a bit of a face as she made room for Sophia in the gap in the curtains.

“What happened?” she asked much more kindly than Sissy had, although her eyes were bleary with sleep.

“Corinna says she’s going to die,” blurted out Olivia, who Corinna now noticed looked pinched and pale.

“We’re all going to die someday. Does she plan on doing it immediately? Tonight?” asked Sissy harshly.

“I’ve got about eighteen years, I think,” said Corinna with a mechanical sort of shrug.

“No good worrying about it now then,” said Sissy, leaning against the bed.

“Sissy! Corinna says she’s going to die!” gasped Sophia. “Can’t you at least pretend to care?”

“I will do no such thing. I do care. I just don’t see what can be done about it tonight,” said Sissy with a hard glare. She did care about her friends, and Corinna was her best friend. It was an unkind thing for Sophia to say. She was only be practical about the matter.

“Thanks,” said Corinna, very much wanting to be left alone with her revelation.

“Can we do anything for you?” asked Sophia, reaching to brush Corinna’s hair from her eyes.

“I don’t think so,” she replied.

“How did it happen?” asked Sissy, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest as Sophia gave her a menacing look.

“It was an Unforgivable ... the Killing Curse ... from behind. I hardly even saw it coming,” she answered, rubbing her eyes as she remembered the reflection. The scene replayed itself over and over in her mind.

Sophia gasped, and Olivia looked horrified. Sissy just nodded thoughtfully.

“Do you know who did it to you?” asked Olivia.

“I ...” she began, her eyes darting toward Sissy, “The people I was with ... I think they were all with the Department of Mysteries.”

“Impossible!” Sissy snorted. “The Ministry would never employ people who were willing to use a curse like that.”

“I only know what I saw,” said Corinna.

“Do you know why they did it? What their motives were?” questioned Sissy in a very business-like fashion.

“We were in London, and they were walking home with me ... or maybe they lived nearby too, and we were all laughing together ... There was no reason ...” she said, shaking her head.

“There’s always a reason,” said Sissy logically. “Did you see their faces?” she asked.

Corinna squinted and found that she could not make them out. They were all men and all wearing Ministry robes, but she could not recall their faces. Her memory of them was blurry and distorted at best.

“No,” she answered.

A meow from the floor caused Sophia and Sissy to turn. Oscar had been awakened by the excitement and was staring up expectantly at his mistress’s bed with wide eyes. Sissy made room for him to jump onto the bed where he landed with a plop on the covers before scrambling toward Corinna. She smiled slightly and gathered the kitten into her arms. He purred and butted his head against her chin as though sensing her distress.

“Who will take care of you when I’m gone, I wonder,” she thought, scratching behind his ears.

“Corinna ... don’t take this the wrong way, but maybe you should try and forget about the dream,” suggested Olivia hesitantly.

“She’s right,” said Sissy. “It will only make you unhappy to think about such things. Remember it, but don’t think about it, not until you have to.”

“I ... I’ll try,” she said.

“Try and get some rest too. Tomorrow may be Saturday, but there’s still no good exhausting yourself, all right?” said Olivia, climbing from the bed and giving her a weak smile.

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