The Touch Of Prometheus

THE TOUCH OF PROMETHEUS

Written originally in Portuguese, english version: Fabianna Bluhn

Thanks to my beta readers: Silvia Rodrigues and Audrey Fischer.

Chapter 2 - Memories

"I’m the seventh child. My parents, as Hermione’s and your grandparents, Harry, were completely Muggle. My dad was Greek and my mum, Egyptian. We used to live near the harbour, in Southampton. When I was born, everybody found some peculiarities about me: my skin was way too pale and I had this birthmark here," Sheeba pointed at her forehead, "We didn’t have much money; basically, we were poor, like your family, Ron. Since I was a little girl, I used to have inaccurate forebodings when I touched people. Those visions were like a blur, and my life began to be affected by them as they started becoming clearer and more accurate. I simply touched people and said what popped into my mind, and strangely enough, everything I said was right. It, of course, caused fear in people and what you’d just seen at the Three Broomsticks has accompanied me throughout my whole life. The adults thought I had some kind of demoniac power. When I was seven, I saved a girl’s life. She happened to be a dear friend of mine. I touched her at school and said ‘Don’t use the old abandoned quay as a shortcut’. She didn’t take my advice seriously until the last moment. At the edge of the old quay, she turned aside, just in time to see the dock sinking under a strong wave. This made her avoid me and everybody started looking at me as if I was a prophet of doom."

"Everybody, except a policeman who lived near my house," she added, "Don’t ask me how, I still don’t know, but somehow, he knew Albus Dumbledore, who was currently the Head of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts. They were friends, even though the cop was a Muggle. I met Dumbledore when I was eight and when he first saw me he was astonished. There were over a hundred years since the last witch who had the Touch of Prometheus was born, and I, a Muggle, had it. Certainly, the Ministry of Magic would end up finding me, but the first was Dumbledore. He didn’t need to, but he wanted to test my skill; he touched my hands and smiled. Immediately, I saw that a powerful Dark wizard wanted to kill him. When I told him about this foreboding, he smiled again and told me all about Lord Voldemort, how he was gathering power and that he would soon try to destroy and enslave Muggles. Before he told me anything, I knew who I was and with whom I was. I wouldn’t let anybody do harm to families such as mine. After this event, Dumbledore started sending me owls regularly."

She took a breath, "At the right time, I got the Hogwarts’s invitation letter. The Ministry considered me an investment, so they gave me all the books and stuff I needed to study, and also a hundred-galleons scholarship so that I would be able to buy the needed items for the following years. My parents had never understood particularly well what I used to do, but as I was studying without putting any expenses on my family, everything was welcomed. I remember every detail of the day I arrived at Hogwarts. The first student I met, while still on the Hogwarts Express, was a displeasing hook-nosed boy, who knew everything about me. Severus Snape. He challenged me to predict his future, and then, I touched him and told him what I saw; he would be deeply sorry for every wrong choice he would make," she said, "Then he told me that no ‘Mudblood’ could ever be a good witch, but he walked away from me frightened by the prediction."

"Then," Sheeba went on, "I met a lovely girl, who had auburn hair and green eyes. She was your mother, Harry. Lily. When I touched her, I discovered she was like me, but much more special. There was something about her, an air of kindness and fondness. I knew she would be my best friend at that very moment," she said, "However, there’s one thing people who have the Touch of Prometheus can’t predict. Their own future. This made me frustrated for a lifetime, but my first real frustration was at that very first day at Hogwarts, at the Sorting Ceremony. I was so sure I would be a Gryffindor, since it was the house in which Dumbledore, my mentor and best friend, was in. When they put that hat on my head, it yelled just as it touched me, ‘Ravenclaw’. I walked grimly to Ravenclaw’s table. In the middle of my way to the table, the boy who was going to be sorted next said ‘Cheers, maybe we may even end up together at Ravenclaw?" I turned around just in time to see Sirius Black’s cynical grin before the Sorting Hat covered his head. I abhorred him from that very moment on, and I thanked God when he was sorted into Gryffindor."

"As soon as I sat at Ravenclaw’s table," she said, "they gave me a thick pair of gloves and a recommendation: I should never touch anybody without them on my hands. Those were Reflector Gloves, and I would spend six of the following seven years I would attend Hogwarts with my predictions under control. I always thought that that would be the happiest day in my whole life, but it ended up being the worst, and it got even worse when Lily was sorted into Gryffindor. I was isolated, sitting next to a blabbering insupportable sort of girl, who was fascinated for premonitions: Sybil Trelawney, my roommate at Ravenclaw. She assured me she could foresee the future, however, even before I could touch her, I knew she was indeed nothing more than a fool."

"I was deeply depressed when Dumbledore made things easier for me by saying that Hogwarts wasn’t always what we expected it would be, but that the more I learn there, the more I would like being there. Then he told me I would have an extra class per week, from that very first year, with Professor Viviane Lake, who used to teach Divination. The purpose of beginning such a class so early was to tame my gift, so it wouldn’t dominate me and then I wouldn’t suffer from the Prometheus’s Syndrome; the despair before what was unavoidable. My first days at Hogwarts weren’t less horrible than my very first was; I used to hear whisperings and murmurings everywhere. You know it very well, don’t you, Harry?"

She looked at her godson, "Being considered special is a heavy burden. And it got even worse, with those gloves, I could not be considered anything except special. Without the only magical power I knew, it seemed I was less than a Muggle. I could barely hold my wand; the gloves disturbed me. Our first Transfiguration class, along with the Slytherins, was humiliating; I was supposed to turn my eraser into a stone. I was the only student whose eraser didn’t transform into anything at all. You can imagine what the Slytherin’s gang made of it, can’t you? All the horrible jokes were aimed directly at me."

A faint smile played on her lips, "It was your mother who saved me, Harry. I was very, very depressed after another fiasco in Charms, and deeply believing I was a complete Muggle, or worse; I was thinking that I was neither a Muggle nor a witch. Defeated, humiliated, a nothing. Slytherin’s gang, lead by Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape, had gotten the taste of humiliating me in public. Lily got closer to me and said that I was gifted, that I was a real witch, or else, Dumbledore would never have invited me to Hogwarts… I doubted it, then. At the exact moment Lucius Malfoy was planning a peculiarly cruel joke about the fact of the ‘Mudbloods’ by getting ever closer to those of Pureblood. Just then I saw how powerful Lily was; she turned on her heels, and then I saw she wasn’t the sweet and kind girl anymore; she faced him with a haughty stare and said ‘Malfoy, you’re calling us Mudblood because you’re afraid, aren't you? You’re afraid of not being a competent wizard and losing your place to Muggle-born witches like us. Just imagine if Sheeba removed her gloves now and predicted a nasty future for you? You’re scared of what she’s going to say then, aren’t you?’"

"From that day on," Sheeba went on, "Lily helped me a lot. It was your mother who taught me not to complain for having to wear gloves. She helped me discovering talents I did not know I had; I studied hard to find out each little spark of magic I had inside, and the results cheered me up, so then I became one of the best students in Ravenclaw."

"Besides your mother," she said, "my best friend was Professor Viviane Lake. With her, I learned that some things are better left unsaid. She never wanted to hear a word about her future. She had the Touch of Cassandra and was the first witch in the world to predict Voldemort’s rise. I found out in my first class with her that he would kill her in a horrible way. I would spend the next seven years trying to give her hints about this, but she insisted on ignoring them. Vivian Lake also showed me why I was sorted into Ravenclaw; the defiance of being among those you aren’t fond of is essential to keep the premonitory gifts under control. If I had been sorted into Gryffindor, I wouldn’t have had nothing to fight against and I probably would end up being mediocre in everything, except in the gift I already had and would have done very little to polish in it."

"My friendship with Lily was my foundation," Sheeba said. "She was like a sister to me, and I dare say, I was like a sister to her, even though we were very different from each other. We resembled two different sides of the same coin; Lily was kind, sincere and calm; I was bold, the provoking-kind and very irritable. There was a group of four boys who used to annoy us, not like the Slytherin gang, but still… Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter. Sirius loved to say how nasty looking my gloves were, which upset me. Among those four, only Pettigrew used to share the fear of me I could feel in the other students. James, Remus and Sirius didn’t seem to be afraid of the future at all," she went on. "In our second year, when James started playing seeker in Gryffindor’s team, Sirius’s jokes started irritating me even more. Then I did something I shouldn’t have done; I decided I would use my gift secretly on him. I hid myself behind a pillar, waiting for him to show up, and I slowly took off my gloves. I saw when the four of them approaching and I prepared myself to throw myself at Sirius. But instead of touching him, my gloveless hand touched Remus Lupin! I heard a howling and saw the unmistakable silhouette of a werewolf. I stepped back, horrified as I was. He looked at me with a scared look on his face and ran away. I ran after him to tell him his secret would be safe with me. While I still had one hand gloved adn one hand gloveless, Dumbledore found me. I saw disappointment in his eyes and I felt enormously ashamed of what I had just done; I had disobeyed an order that was given to me for my own benefit, and I had used my gift in a stupid and frivolous way. I deserved the punishment I got for doing this; the gloves were conjured to my hands by Professor Lake and were only taken off at my Divination classes. I looked for Remus to apologize, and I found a very furious Sirius. He told me that Remus’s secret could have been revealed by my actions, and that he could have been expelled from Hogwarts. He also told me that I deserved being locked up with Remus when he was turning into his wolf form. Nowadays, I think it would have been way better if I had accidentally touched Peter, instead of Remus, so then I would have found out who he was before it was too late," she sighed, "To forget what I had done, I decided to talk to Professor McGonagall and tell her I wanted to be a registered Animagus. As usual, she loved students being hardworking, so she gave me all the support I needed and became my particular mentor in this task."

Hermione interrupted Sheeba at this moment, "Oh, I know where I had found your name! You turn into a…"

At this very moment, Sheeba turned into a huge white tiger, and then, back again. "Unfortunately, my vanity prevented me from choosing a more useful animal," Sheeba laughed, "I apologized to Remus Lupin, and my relationship with their group got better and better from our third year on. Except with Sirius, who insisted on making inconvenient jokes about my gift. He loved to call me a ‘Miss Piton Know-it-All’, what annoyed me terribly. We argued every time we met. A teacher witnessed a 'discussion' of ours, and gave us detention, which was right indeed. We would accomplish our detention at that night, under Filch’s alert eyes. We would have to clean the trophies in the trophy room… without magic. I obtained authorization to take off my gloves, so then I wouldn’t damage them. We started cleaning the trophies, with Sirius and I on opposite sides of the room. Filch was bothering us when Peeves, the poltergeist, showed up and flew off with an enormous Quidditch trophy cup. Filch ran after him. At the moment, I picked up a trophy to clean it, and I had a terrible vision that knocked me out. When I came back into reality, Sirius was leaning over me, listening to my heart beats. He thought I was dead."

"‘What are you doing, you moron?’ I asked, and for the first time in my life, I saw Sirius losing his presence of mind," she said, "He asked me what had happened, and I remembered the trophy. I pointed to it and said ‘This trophy is a lie; it was awarded without merit,’ and then, Sirius asked, ‘Who the hell is Tom Marvolo Riddle?’ I knew the answer, and I didn’t want to hide it, so I said, ‘It’s Lord Voldemort, Black.’"

"From this day on, we stopped showing hostility towards each other," Sheeba went on, "I accidentally touched Sirius’s hand when he helped me in that Detention, and I found out that he wanted to be an Animagus too, but secretly. I knew he wanted to be one in order to help Remus. As time passed by, we were in our fifth year when an embarrassed Severus Snape came over to invite me to the Ball. Even though I didn’t know who Sirius was going with, I said that I would be going with him. I would do anything to get rid of Snape. Then, I immediately ran towards Lily and told her what had happened. She assured me Sirius hadn’t invited anybody to the Ball, so I asked her to ask him to invite me. Sirius always had a strange ability of getting closer without being noticed and listening to my conversations with Lily. I don’t know how much of it he had listened to, I just realized he was listening to it when I heard the sound of mock laughter behind me, and then, the statement ‘So Miss Piton needs my help?’… before I could start an argument, Sirius made a mock bow and invited me to escort him to the Ball in a very mock way. He looked up at me and said between laughter, ‘Don’t you even think about refusing me, miss… imagine then, you’ll have to spend all the Ball dancing with that hooked nose snake!’. On the day of the Ball, Sirius really seemed to be willing to provoke Snape, since he didn’t let me stop dancing for a single minute."

Sirius cut her off, between laughter, "I’d drank some Restless Feet potion, and I’d secretly put some in her punch too… I wanted to make her dance with me the whole Ball. Then, I thought it was just to tease Snape, but actually, I was in love with her ever since I first saw her at the Great Hall. The Ball ended and we went on dancing for over an hour, in the middle of the house-elves that were cleaning the hall, and our feet didn’t seem to be willing to stop. She thought it was very stupid to dance without music, so then I started singing, to hers and the elves’ despair."

"And you sing terribly bad," Sheeba said as she laughed and covered her face with her hands, "After this event, I realized that the hatred between Sirius and Snape was growing larger. At the same time, I was getting closer to Sirius, explaining to him how an Animagus transformation went. He didn’t have the faintest idea that I knew all about his plans. Without even touching him, I knew when he succeeded in it; we were in our sixth year at Hogwarts. He was joyous, and then, I told him I knew about his Animagus transformation and that I had known about it ever since that day in the Trophy room. He gulped, and after that, we talked very little about this. In that year, Slytherin and Gryffindor disputed the final match of Hogwarts’s Quidditch championship."

"It was usual for your mother to hold my hand very tight during the matches, because she always got very nervous, Harry," said Sheeba. "I was cheering Gryffindor, as almost all the other students were, and I saw, along with your mother, as your father captured the Snitch just some feet above our heads. She held my hand almost painfully when James Potter smiled showing the snitch in his hand and winked at her. Immediately, I said, ‘You and James Potter will get married’. Lily looked at me astonished; I was her best friend and she hadn’t ever told me anything about her love for James. Besides, I was using my Reflector Gloves! I grinned and showed her a minuscule hole in my gloves’ fabric. I ‘d been collecting visions through that hole. At that time, I was already a prefect, and I wasn’t used to breaking rules aimlessly… Lily asked me suspiciously the reason why I kept that hole in my gloves, and then, I said, ‘I want to know if Sirius Black’s in love with somebody,’ so then, I heard a voice just behind me."

Sirius interrupted her and said, "You don’t need to have the Touch of Prometheus to know I want to date you, Sheeba Amapoulos. Wasn’t exactly this what I said?"

"Exactly," Sheeba answered, a smile playing on her lips, "And, as far as I can remember, the best time in my life began from that day on."

Chapter 3 - Dark Times

Sirius went on with Sheeba’s narrative, "Sheeba and I started dating almost eactly at the same time as James and Lily did. We kissed for the first time exactly at the place where two years ago I ran away from Hogwarts with Buckbeak. Remus didn’t change at all; I knew he was very fond of both Sheeba and Lily, however, Peter started feeling excluded from our circle of friends due to my dating of Sheeba, and James being dating Lily. James and I tried to show him that nothing was changed, but he always said he didn’t trust Sheeba, and he never allowed her to get closer to him. We thought it came from his cowardice. At the end of our sixth year at Hogwarts, Sheeba could finally get rid of those damned gloves, changing them eventually for some special gloves which just allow good visions. When she touched me…"

"Although Sirius was part of my life," Sheeba went on, "what prevented me from having great visions about him was that when I touched him, without my gloves, I heard horrible cries of pain and a terrible anguish. I saw him suffering for a long period of time, which made my heart break. I was afraid. I wasn’t fainting any longer when I had strong predictions, as had happened before. However, I always saw a good thing; Sirius would always be against Voldemort."

"At that time, the Dark Times had begun; many wizards started to get very frightened," she said. "There were many death rumors that were confirmed a little later. Lord Voldemort was close to acquiring the maximum power. And those who were afraid of him even refused to say his name. Our group – except for Peter – did say it. Albus Dumbledore was our mentor and we weren’t afraid of Voldemort, as he wasn’t either. Our Graduation day at Hogwarts arrived. As my heart was beating twice as fast as usual, I heard my name being called to the Futurology Commission of the Ministry of Magic. I would finally work with my visions and make a good use of them, against the Dark Forces. Sirius, Remus and James would be part of a Combat Order against the Dark Wizards. Lily would be specialized in healing those wizards who were hurt in the combats. Peter Pettigrew asked to work in a more distant place, he said he wanted to engage himself in the combats far away from his friends. Everybody believed in this, except me, who always had doubts about him. However, I never had chance to confirm anything. Severus Snape also disappeared."

"Lily and James got married a few days after our Graduation. Sirius and I wanted to do the same, however, my work at the Commission was exhaustive and Sirius’s at the Direct Combat was also. My work was collecting the remains of duels and clues of those who had disappeared and then find out what exactly had happened and where should the Aurors go to find wizards who committed any atrocity… I had a 100% index of rightness. At the end of the day, I usually was really jaded. At this time, Sirius was way too far from me, but we talked to each other everyday, and sometimes he showed up on his enormous motorcycle and we wnt out. During those moments we both wanted to forget we were living in the Dark Times…"

"So then, Voldemort turned his attention towards the Order which Sirius, James and Remus were part of. Lily was pregnant and invited me and Sirius to be Harry’s godparents. Your christening day was the last time I saw your mum. It was a happy day among the hard times we were living; Sirius and I got engaged that day. I decided I would take off my gloves and touch James and Lily to find out if they were in danger. When I touched your dad, I saw he was in much more danger than even Sirius. I told him that they needed to hide as soon as possible. So then, I touched Lily, and I saw her dying for you, Harry. I knew then that I couldn’t avoid her death unless Sirius was their Secret-Keeper. He was the only and last chance, and for me, it was quite clear. I made James and Lily promise they would use Sirius as their Secret-Keeper. Then, I held you in my arms, Harry. I immediately saw a sharp green light in the darkness and you crying. A moment later, more of this green light and a cry of pain. I looked astonished at your innocent childish face and said, to everybody’s surprise ‘This boy,’ I told Lily, ‘this boy is the solution! He’s going to save the world from Voldemort!’"

"It didn’t occur me that, for this to happen, the Fidelius Charm ought to be broken and your mother would have to die," Sheeba went on, "I wasn’t counting on a lost link in the chain. Sirius walked me home and again I made him promise he would be the Potters’ Secret-Keeper. It’s necessary to make six months preparation to guarantee the Fidelius Charm success. During this preparation, I assured that Sirius would be the Secret-Keeper. I communicated with the couple and with Sirius everyday. One day, a normal workday, I fell across the remains of a duel, in which one of the participants had surrendered. It was Severus Snape. The other duelist was doubtlessly Albus Dumbledore. I rode my broomstick to Hogwarts and I found Dumbledore safe and sound. Then I asked what I already knew ‘Why did you forgive Snape, Headmaster?’ I knew Voldemort had appointed Snape to kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore headed me towards the Hospital Wing where Snape was lying unconsciously, the Dark Mark glowing on his forearm. I touched it and I saw what I had seen years ago: the bitterness of sorrow. Severus Snape had changed his convictions."

"I also saw Snape in the future; helping our side, and then, teaching at Hogwarts… and picking on you because of the anger he felt towards your dad. Dumbledore told me once, ‘Sheeba, Severus used to think that he would be important, just as if he was the hammer. Now, he’ll discover the importance of being the anvil. While he is among the Death Eaters as a Double Agent for our side, he will be taking beatings like an anvil, but his effort is going to placate his heart.’ I didn’t understand his words then, for I was way too worried about Sirius and Potters’ Fidelius Charm. I didn’t talk to him for about two days. I needed to come back before the charm was concluded, but something delayed me for almost a week; Professor Viviane Lake was kidnapped in Hogsmeade. Voldemort wanted to hear about his future, and as he wasn’t glad with what he heard; he killed her without mercy. I found her when it was just too late. I thought the next one would be me."

"Then, it happened. The Potters were killed and you know what happened next. The whole Commission turned against me. They said I was wrong when I chose Sirius as the Potters’ Secret-Keeper. They said I let myself be compromised because of the fact he was my fiancé. Even though I had hit rock bottom, I decided I would make it my last work to examine the place where Sirius had been arrested. I needed to know the truth. The first thing I saw was Peter Pettigrew’s finger, and as soon as I touched it, I knew. Sirius was innocent, the owner of that finger was alive, and killed the thirteen Muggles just to incriminate Sirius. As I stated this, I was summarily fired and almost considered a conspirator. I was forbidden to see Sirius, and it was Dumbledore who saved me from going to Azkaban."

"He showed the Commission a dossier saying that I was under much emotional commotion when I examined that place, and that it may had confused the Touch of Prometheus. Among other things, he said that Sirius had been taken by the Dementors on the day that we would have been getting married. When Dumbledore talked to me in private, he told me that it would be impossible to prove that Wormtail was alive without showing where he was. Dumbledore himself didn’t believe Sirius was guilty, but he didn’t have how to prove if he was innocent or not. Sirius’s behavior seemed only to be showing he was guilty. After all, I never knew that Wormtail turned into a rat. Voldemort took upon himself to cast a charm at Pettigrew, a Confusion Charm. And any prediction I would make about him would be as incoherent as if made by a Cassandra."

"Dumbledore made me admit I could have been wrong. It would be my first mistake in years, exactly about the man I loved. The Ministry of Magic didn’t want me anymore. So, I asked Dumbledore to help me, I was willing to go away from everything and everybody. It may seem strange, but Dumbledore hide me among the Muggles. I was going to work secretly for the police by the means of the policeman who had been my neighbor, as a paranormal examiner. I was considered eccentric by my Muggle colleagues; I used the phone very little, I had an owl in my office, pictures of a man, who nobody ever ventured to ask about, on my desk, in short, a madwoman who helped the solution of more complex cases. I went on with my 100% index of rightness for the Muggles, plus I had the advantage of dealing with much less careful criminals than wizards were. During this time, Harry, I accompanied you from far away. I had to struggle so that I wouldn’t turn that awful family into an onion plantation…"

"I’d been among Muggles for ten years when I got a letter from Dumbledore; the Ministry’s secret police needed somebody like me. Although many people hated me, there was nobody else able to take the job," she said. "The last available Cassandra died of age, and nobody trusted on charlatans like Sybil Trelawney. I was hired with the best salary and big boss status. During all those years, I’ve been looking for Wormtail without succeeding. I couldn’t ever have known that he would spend 12 years transformed. I can barely stand being a single day as a tiger…"

"To know how Sirius was doing," she went on, "I used to make use of a resource; I touched his personal objects – mainly his engagement ring - that were with me. I knew that in his mind, he could only think of his being innocent. I cried in relief every time I saw that Sirius kept his mental sanity even though he was surrounded by Dementors. One night, I woke up with my heart beating twice as fast as usual; I knew Sirius had escaped from Azkaban. I’ve passed over a year waiting for him to look for me when I received a letter from Dumbledore in which he apologized for distrusting my visions. He told me he had talked to Sirius, who said that he didn’t want to see me. Sirius was hurt because of me, after everything I had done. Dumbledore also told me, in the letter, everything I didn’t know about Wormtail. My prudence made me wait a bit longer. When the evidence of Voldemort’s rising again were quite visible for me, I started looking for hints about Wormtail, this time knowing more things about him, and passed them to Dumbledore. Then I was transferred to here, I’ve just been waiting for the right moment to meet you, Padfoot."

"I’ve never gotten closer to you, Harry, because I didn’t want to cause you trouble. The last thing a boy like you needs is trouble for having a godmother who is looked upon with dislike by the Magical World; having a renegade godfather seemed awful enough. I reconsolidated prestige as a witch, and now, I know my reputation won’t do you any harm. Almost fifteen years ago, when I touched you, I knew I wouldn’t have the right to interfere in the bad things you would go through, because they would make you stronger; as my being sorted into Ravenclaw made me stronger too."

Sirius looked seriously at Sheeba when he said, "Now that you explained everything to our godson, give me my engagement ring back."

"First of all, you need to stop using lent wands. I won’t be engaged again with a wizard who doesn’t have even his own wand to use…" she took off carefully a long and light wand from her robes. "Let’s see… oak and unicorn hair, sixteen and a half inches," Sheeba mimicked mockingly Mr. Olivander, the wand maker.

Sirius, whose jaw had just dropped, asked, "So it’s been with you for all the time?"

"Yep, and so is your motorcycle, that is in the garage," she laughed, "but you have to promise me you’ll just use it after you clear your name."

Sirius seemed to agree, but he had a look on his face that told Harry that he was not going to keep this promise.

To be continued...