Metaplot and Masterplan

2 - Ginny

Ginny had known this conversation would come. Every time Varlerta wanted them to do something, she had them sit down and have a serious talk. Probably, Ginny reasoned, she did not want to be a commander who forced minors into dangerous missions, but rather a coach informing them of the danger and asked for their cooperation. This time, she would ask, too.

Ginny was not disappointed: Two days after the party, Varlerta asked Neville and her to come to her building. Professor Lyons was sitting on the grass, extinguishing and hiding a cigarette butt when he saw them coming. Probably he did not want to give a bad example.

"I've asked you to come here because I'd like to talk with you about a new project we should undertake," Varlerta said when everyone had settled down.

"As you all know -" she took a look around and lowered her voice, even though nobody else was near enough to overhear her, "as you know, since Dumbledore's death we have to reconsider our options of surviving a fight against Voldemort. Decisions have to be made even if we find them painful. We can hope to be left in peace for a while because Voldemort and his Death Eaters probably have to recover from the last battle, too. After that, however, he is likely to attack again. We have to be ready for that. And as our defences are weakened, we have to look for means of a counter-attack. We must get ready to face him, and to deal him a final blow if possible."

She gave Ginny and Neville a long look. "What I'm telling you now is highly confidential. Just as Dumbledore's death, this is something nobody but those who absolutely have to know should hear about - not even our best friends or lovers." Again, she looked at Ginny, obviously thinking of Joolz. Ginny nodded assent, wanting the teacher to continue.

"For various reasons, we believe it is Harry Potter's fate to fight Voldemort, and to succeed where others failed - to fight him in person, I should say. This is, of course, an extremely dangerous task. Therefore, I believe we should protect Harry as well as possible. We should Shield and guard him so Harry can concentrate on attack. When Harry faces Voldemort, I believe we should be at his side."

Ginny had known what the teacher would ask them - but she had not realised what consequences this would have. Be at Harry's side? That would mean being right there in the first line of attack with him - that would mean they'd have to face Voldemort themselves.

The feeling was like a cold hand grabbing her heart. A face appeared in front of her eyes, young and handsome, speaking commands. She had obeyed these commands once, had killed roosters and had opened doors against better knowledge. No, she must not think of that. That was long forgotten and had nothing to do with the present task.

"Once more, I find myself in the position of asking highly dangerous things of you," Varlerta continued. "However, if we prepare ourselves well, it will not be a desperate suicide mission. Between the four of us, we know a lot about defence magic and have gotten a lot of practise over time. If we find ways to access stone circle power before a fight, we will have even better chances. Most importantly, we will learn to work as a team and protect each other. Our job is to shield ourselves as well as Harry - if we did not do that, we would not be able to help him for more than a few minutes. We will have to depend on each other even more than before, and we will work with Harry so he will learn to depend on us - if you're willing, that is."

"I'm willing to do my share, no matter what the risk is," Ginny heard Neville say. "So far, you've never lead us into unnecessary danger, so I trust your leadership.

Pushing her fear aside, Ginny added: "So do I." She would not let her own courage be bettered by Neville's.

Varlerta smiled warmly. "I'm honoured by your trust, and I will do my best to deserve it," she replied.

"What about our band mates?" Ginny asked. She knew she had asked before, but then the danger of being attacked with the Eliminatus curse had been immediate. Now they had a bit of time to prepare if Varlerta wasn't mistaken.

Varlerta audibly suppressed a sigh. "Well, I'm not sure," she replied, shooting a furtive glance at Roary. "Kay is too young, I said, and she plays an electronic keyboard - well, the electricity isn't the problem, to be honest. Please don't tell her I said this, but I believe there is not enough magic in her music, at least not yet. The same goes for Rhonda. Don't get me wrong, they do fine in your band - but the certain spark of magic somehow is missing in their music. At least I perceive it that way. I would not want to spend time on training them in this moment of danger, partly for their own safety." She looked at Roary, who nodded. Obviously, the teacher needed reassurance in these matters.

"What about Joolz, though?" For some reason, Ginny really wanted Joolz in the group - especially if Rhonda wasn't. She liked her bass player friend a lot, but somehow she was never quite sure that Joolz was hers and would not go back to Rhonda one day. Rhonda was pretty, she played Quidditch, she was popular and from a more respected family than Ginny - especially now that the Weasleys were refugees. Joolz seemed to be Ginny's boyfriend these days, but she knew he was a flirt. Music magic would tie him to her. Once he'd felt that special bond that the interweaving of magical strands created, he would see nobody but Ginny. Also, if she really had to face Voldemort, she wanted him by her side.

"Well ..." Varlerta was visibly undecided. Again, she looked at Roary for confirmation.

"Why don't you want to?" he asked her, interpreting her drawn-up shoulders and worried expression.

"You see, I don't really know," the teacher answered. "Maybe I'm just being silly. I know Julian is a good musician, and I can picture him quite well doing music magic. He is good at Coaxing in my class, which also is a good sign. It's just that I'm not entirely comfortable with admitting somebody new into our team."

"You admitted me, too," Roary said.

"You were familiar with my methods," Varlerta replied. She chewed her bottom lip for a moment before continuing: "Of course, neither is Julian. I've taught him for two years, and I am sure he could do well at these things." She looked at Ginny and Neville. "I believe it should be a joint decision, because it concerns all of us. I'd like to hear your opinions."

"I'm in favour of accepting Joolz," Ginny said all too quickly, even for her own taste. She suddenly felt silly. Would the others see her as a silly girl who only wanted to keep her boyfriend close by?

"I don't want to cast my vote either way," Roary said. "I'm new to the group and I know Julian far less than everybody else here. I'm happy with whatever you will decide."

Ginny cast a sidelong glance at Neville. Now it was up to him. Somehow, she had the sure feeling that if he was against admitting Joolz, Varlerta would not do it. And of course, Neville would vote against it. After all, he was jealous of Joolz, wasn't he? She held her breath while Neville took his sweet time deciding.

"I don't have a problem with admitting Joolz," he said at last. "If you believe he is up to it, Professor Varlerta, we should probably admit him. The more we are, the stronger we are, aren't we?"

"Not if we disagree on things as crucial as who belongs to our group," she retorted. "Forgive me the pun, but I believe all members should be in harmony."

"Why should we disagree?" Neville asked, but there was a blank in his eyes, as if something inside of him had been switched off. "No problem," he repeated.

Professor Varlerta waited for a few seconds, as if expecting anyone to contradict, but when nobody did, she said: "It is decided, then. I will ask Julian if he is willing to join."

Ginny knew she ought to be thankful, but something inexplicable had just turned her victory sour. Nevertheless, she nodded. She would talk to Joolz first, though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joolz was presiding over a Ravenclaw Quidditch meeting this afternoon, so Ginny had to wait until after supper to talk to him privately. Over the meal, she chatted with Hermione and Ron over things of minor importance. Neville, who was sitting next to them, was not meeting her eyes. Seeing him somehow made her stomach clench, but she told herself he would get over things.

Finally, everybody had finished eating. As soon as the house-elves had cleared the plates, Ginny went over to Joolz to take him on a walk through the grounds. Of course, it was dangerous to go outside; then again, everything was dangerous these days. Even under the protection of a teacher, they would not be safe. But on such a lovely summer evening, staying inside was out of question. The air was balmy and heavily scented with mown grass. Birds were chirping in the trees; the softest breeze stirred the warm air. Walking hand in hand with Joolz, however, was the sweetest of summer pleasures.

Ginny let Joolz tell her all the details of his Quidditch meeting first. It was important to him, so she was interested in it, too. Of course, her own news mattered far more, but he would listen to her all the better for having cleared his own mind, first.

Finally, after he had finished relating all the details of finding new players to her, she said: "Joolz, there is something I'd like to ask you."

"Go ahead, then," the handsome, dreadlocked Ravenclaw boy retorted.

"I believe you should join our music magic group - you know, the group of Professor Varlerta, Professor Lyons, Neville and me. Varlerta said she believed you are qualified for it. And in the fight against the enemy, we need all the support we could get."

She had expected him to be overjoyed. Being in the group was important to her - it made her feel powerful, made her feel she was no pawn in the confrontation, but an active player. Her own mastery of magic had improved considerably since she had learned to weave the strands of reality with the rhythm of her drum. She valued the things she had learned as well as the feeling of belonging to a select and exclusive, but nevertheless very supportive group. Also, in the group she was learning things about music she could have learned nowhere else: Rhythm and magic had become one to her and were among the things dearest to her heart. All these were the things she meant to share with the man she loved.

Joolz, however, looked sceptical. "How much time do we have to spend with this group every day?"

"We are meeting one hour for regular practice every morning," Ginny told him. "Professor Varlerta gets us out of our classes for that and makes the necessary arrangements with the other teachers if our schedules clash. You would probably have to drop two classes for that. Also, we sometimes meet in the afternoon, and sometimes we meet at night to gather stone circle energy. - Oh, you'll love the stone circles!"

"I'm not sure," Joolz replied to her disappointment. "I'm Quidditch captain now that Cho's gone, and then there's the band. I can't drop Quidditch, and I'd hate to drop the band. You wouldn't want me to, either, would you?"

"Of course not," Ginny retorted slightly indignant. However much she loved her music magic group, she loved her band more. While unique magical powers were something that made her feel good about herself, playing real music, music that only existed for its own sake, made her happy.

"Then when do you expect me to find time for your other group?" he asked.

"Well, some of it takes place during school hours, so that doesn't cut into either Quidditch or band time," she replied. "You will have to practise a bit for the group, especially at first, I expect, but then again you have to do homework for your other classes, too, and you also have to study for tests, so the amount of time you will have to spend for either the group or classes does not differ much. Also, you will get an extra credit for the group - I got a separate OWL just for this. And of course, if your powers improve, so will your Defence Against the Dark Arts marks." She could not believe it. Here she was, praising her group like a merchant eager to sell, when really he should have been the one to show eagerness.

"It's not like you have to join," she told him a bit miffed.

"I'll think about it," he replied. "Please don't take it personally. It's just that there are so many things on my schedule right now."

She bit back a remark about fighting Voldemort being more important than Quidditch. However much this was true, she knew she would not have liked to give up her band if someone had demanded it of her, even if it gave her more power to fight Voldemort.

"Well, think about it," she told him curtly. "Professor Varlerta will ask you officially if you want to join. Please be aware that you're the only one in the whole school who qualified for this - except us, of course."

He cut her words short by kissing her. "I'll think about it," he promised her again. "I won't turn it down lightly." It was all the promise she could get at the moment, she supposed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She did not ask Joolz about the matter again, because she did not want to seem too pushy. Patiently, she waited until Professor Varlerta announced that she had talked to him, and that he had agreed to join the group. He would receive some special training with her before training with the others, however; Varlerta did not want to waste Ginny's and Neville's time training with a novice.

Ginny was quite content to hear this, although she wished Joolz had told her himself instead of letting her hear it from the teacher. What had Varlerta said to him that had convinced him more than Ginny's words? Maybe she'd ask him - but not yet, she decided. She did not want to seem too interested in all of this. After all, she was superior to her popular, good-looking boyfriend for once - she was the expert, he was the novice. Even though Joolz was such a great guitar player, he did not have her experience with music magic. Of course, she'd also train with him in private - if he asked her. As for now, she would concentrate on her own training.

"So are we doing anything new this year?" she asked.

"We are doing shields," the teacher responded. "Not the stuff you learned two years ago, though - we will be creating solid, impregnable means of protection, and the energy we use will come from the earth itself. We will have to learn how to do shields in the traditional way first. You have all learned how to do a simple protective field in my class during your fifth year, and you know a good deal about Shielding with music. We will combine our different skills and methods of Shielding to create something even Voldemort can't break - or at least we hope we will."

"The power of the earth?" Neville asked. "What do you mean with that?"

"You'll see next week, when Ambrose Curtis comes back to the castle," the teacher replied. "Most of my preparations are done, and I've got our training plan all laid out. Tomorrow, we'll start a practical revision of protective fields. I hope you don't mind me making you work through the holidays. I hope we all had enough time to recover from the last fight, but now we have to think of the future. After all, it's our lives that we are going to protect."

Ginny and Neville both shook their heads. It wasn't that they didn't value their holidays highly. However, now that they could not go home due to safety considerations, they might as well work and improve their chances in the final battle. It was better than sitting around and worrying about the future, at any rate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conjuring up a simple protective field with the help of a wand was relatively easy. Coaxing a shield around themselves or each other was something that Neville and Ginny had mastered more than a year ago. They spent three days hurling solid objects as well as harmless, but perceptible hexes at each other; usually, the colourful haze of their magic was strong enough to stop such attacks. On Sunday, Professor Varlerta even had them try to protect two moving magic targets at the same time. While Neville was shielding Roary and Varlerta, Ginny managed to land a good hit on Varlerta's forehead with a tennis ball. The teacher was not amused and told them they needed more practice before trying the same exercises with hexes instead of moving objects.

On Monday, Ambrose Curtis arrived. He gave them a lesson on building up Shields in the traditional way. Roary and Varlerta practised along Ginny and Neville. The two teachers knew how to build up the solid, glassy-looking shields which were the best protection traditional magic could offer; however, both admitted they were not particularly good at it.

"A true Shield is something a good student may attempt at NEWTs level of Defence Against the Dark Arts, but usually not earlier," Curtis told them. "You two have quite a lot of experience beyond what is normal for your age, but you won't learn it overnight."

"Did you do a Shield for your Defence Against the Dark Arts NEWTs, Professor Varlerta?" Ginny asked.

Professor Varlerta rapidly changed the subject and asked Curtis about his experiments with energy coming from the earth itself.

"I can't really tell you any more about the details than I already did, Var - Unspeakable matters, you know. Let's get going. To give you an idea, I'll conjure up a pretty good Shield for you and let you touch it."

The glassy dome Curtis created with his wand made Ginny think of that night more than a year ago when they had fought against the Death Eater Nott, who had held Professor Varlerta between his knees within such a Shield. It had been quite an effective device and might really help Harry in a fight - though whether it would be strong enough to protect him from Voldemort she did not know.

"Now, Conjuring up such a shield takes a lot of magical strength, much more than I expect you to have at your age," Curtis said, making Ginny think involuntarily of Varlerta's first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson last year. "Knowing what I do of your stone circle experiments, I think it possible that you may be able to do it after the night of a full moon spent filling up with stone circle energy. However, we may not depend on Voldemort attacking on the night after a full moon. - Of course, you two have a bit of experience of receiving strength from outer sources, especially from nature itself. This may enable you to activate certain powers which are in the grasp of only a select few."

Ginny was fascinated by the things Curtis was hinting at. It wasn't only that against Voldemort, they needed any bit of extra strength they could get. Rather, she knew she enjoyed the feeling of being magically empowered, and the more ways there were to reach that state, the better.

"What do we have to do to activate these powers?" she asked.

Curtis made a face. "See, the problem is that I may teach you certain things, but by law I am not entitled to explain them. This is a bit awkward, but I believe it can work, and it is all I can offer."

Ginny snorted. "The law! Now that Malfoy is Minister of Magic, the law is a farce. Laws are changed every day to persecute those who fight on our side. What do we care about the law?"

Curtis smiled indulgently. "This law is far older than Malfoy's presidency, and indeed, older than any of us. You may not respect the laws of our present government - and indeed, there are a good many reasons not to obey them. However, there are laws that go beyond that - the ancient laws of magic, and, even more importantly, the laws of humanity - the laws the Muggles call human rights. Even if your country is ruled by injustice, you can't just disregard them."

Ginny saw Varlerta raise an eyebrow at this. The teacher looked like she wanted to say something to Ambrose Curtis, but she held her tongue in check. If she wasn't mistaken, Roary was smirking.

"To get back to the matter at hand," Curtis said a bit hurriedly, "I think we should spend the next hour or so in meditation out here in the sun and concentrate on the powers that nature can give us. Then you can take out your musical instruments and see whether you can communicate with these powers."

He asked them to sit with their legs crossed and close their eyes. Both the two students and the two adults followed his bidding. Listening to the low, calm voice of Ambrose Curtis, they slowed their breathing and emptied their minds. Ginny had meditated a bit in Professor Varlerta's class, but somehow, Curtis was the better instructor - maybe because he seemed calmer himself. Under his guidance, Ginny felt her mind reach out to the flow of life in the grass and trees around her, in the worms and insects crawling through the dirt, in the birds flowing overhead. The sunshine warmed her limbs and mind; she felt its energy gather around her. To her, all this life was a mighty rhythm, like a million different heartbeats merging into one common pulse. Her own blood flowed in synchronicity to it; her heartbeat was perfectly in time. This was the true nature of magic, she felt. As long as she was in time, as long as she was one with the rhythm, she was in its power, and its power was in her.

Very softly and carefully, Ambrose Curtis' voice fetched her back into the sunlit grounds. Tentatively, she opened her eyes and saw the bright sky, the green grass as if for the first time. The colours had a vivacity that appeared to be almost pulsating; life around her seemed almost too vivid. Ginny filled her lengths with the sweet, balmy summer's air.

"This was really cool," she said a bit breathlessly. "Can we do that in every lesson?"

Curtis laughed. "It's rare to find teenagers so willing to sit still and meditate," he said appreciatively.

"I agree, though," Neville commented. "It's almost a bit like walking in the stone circle at full moon."

Varlerta grinned. "There you have it - my apprentices," she said proudly to Curtis. "I dare say this has to do with their training - with working music magic, with feeling magic flow through you in the stone circle and with relating to things through Coaxing. Though maybe, of course, they're just very mature for their age." She raised an eyebrow at Ginny and Neville as if to challenge them to object.

Ginny did not want to object. She felt far too relaxed and pleasantly warm for any kind of controversy. Her mind was filled with sweet, cheerful music in which only one plaintive note rang. She wanted Joolz to share all this. She wanted him to sit on the grass next to her while she felt the pulsation of life, and when she opened her eyes, she wanted to look in his and find them a mirror for her own bliss. Soon, she told herself. Soon Joolz would have caught up with them - after all, he was older than her and more advanced in other branches of magic - and then he would be a part of the group.

"Now that we are all well-relaxed and have connected to the magic that slumbers in the earth itself," Curtis said with a trace of humour in his voice that belied his slightly pompous words, "let's get some work done. To practise Conjuring up shields, let's start small. Let's start with models, or rather, let's start with mice. Varlerta, do you have your rodent collection ready?"

Varlerta sighed. "I did what you asked me to do, at any rate, and got a couple of mice from Professor McGonagall. Let me tell you she was not amused and wants them back unharmed and free from any kind of trauma."

"Oh, we'll jinx them only very subtly to test your model shields," Roary promised the two students half-heartedly.

"Be careful," Varlerta replied. "We can't trust the model shields yet, not with Minerva's mice. You know how particular she is about her Transformation material."

"Oh, bring them on," Neville said with laughter in his voice. "The worst thing we can do is turn them into teacups with the notorious teacup jinx."

Varlerta got up. "I'll fetch them for your lordships and ladyship," she announced with an ironic little bow. "And then we'll see whether or not you can do a proper shield for our material."

What came now where the things Ginny knew well from all sorts of lessons: Learn the words of a spell, practice the corresponding wrist flick, get a good mental image of what you want to achieve, have a go. After the better part of an hour, both Ginny and she were able to produce a small glassy dome around one of the squeaky rodents that was at least solid enough to resist the tap of a finger. Curtis gave them a number of tips, corrected their pronunciation and occasionally praised their progress.

Roary and Varlerta meanwhile practised on each other; Conjuring up their man-sized shields did not take them half as long. If Ginny wasn't mistaken, Varlerta had not been able to achieve this so quickly about two years ago; probably the witch had practised. Somehow the thought frustrated her: Even as an adult witch, even if she had achieved something special like Varlerta had with her audio magic research, she would have to keep on learning, would have to keep on practising to get better.

Finally, Curtis decreed that Ginny and Neville might try to hex each other's mice as well as attack the adults with jinxes to test the shields. The result was disillusioning: While Varlerta and Roary remained visibly free of jelly legs, both mice started wobbling as soon as the hex was spoken, as if the little protective shields had not been there at all.

Curtis laughed at the two students' obvious disconcertment. "Meditation or no meditation, you won't learn this on a single afternoon. Many people need years to achieve a decent shield. But I'm sure you two will learn fast. Just don't expect too much of yourself at the very beginning."

Ginny sighed and cast a spell on her mouse to restore it to health and keep it from vomiting. She had heard it a thousand times before: Learning magic took patience. You did not learn these things overnight. But, she wondered, what would happen if she did not learn fast? Was it possible that she'd fail to meet everyone's expectation, much worse, fail to protect Harry when it really mattered? I just have to put all my energy into this, she decided.