Swept From the Past

Chapter 49: The Emerald's Heart -- part two

Harry ran down the corridor at St. Mungo's, hunted by the spiders. He knocked over a few stretchers and threw all the medical material he could find in the path of the disgusting arachnids. Then he saw a door at the other end of the corridor. He rushed over to the door and managed to open it, although one of the spiders already hung from his leg. When he passed the door and closed it, the spider bit him. He cried from pain and kicked the creature hard with his other leg until the spider didn't move anymore. Then he realised he was standing in his dormitory. His dress robes lay on his bed.

Dress robes? Oh! The Spring Ball! He had completely forgotten. What time what it? Where had he put his watch?

Harry had to hurry. What would Ginny think if he didn't show up? He put on his dress robes, although his leg ached again. The bite had disappeared, but the sensation hadn't. The boy limped. His leg was stiff. He felt ill at ease. Had the bite been poisonous? Harry didn't have time to check. His friends... Were they still his friends? Harry didn't remember. His friends... were waiting for him. He mustn't make them wait.

Harry left his empty common room and walked in the corridors. Where was the Great Hall? The corridors were lit by the full moon's beam, and they looked like a labyrinth. And those gargoyles along the passageways... scary...

Music filled the place. A weird song, the discordant, cringe-inducing sound of an out-of-tune violin. Something disagreeable.

"Harry," Ginny's voice said behind him. He stopped and turned around. Ginny was dressed in a pale violet dress. Her face was not visible, covered with a veil.

"Ginny?" Harry asked.

"Where were you?" Ginny queried. "I was waiting for you. Now everyone has left. It made me sad."

"I'm sorry," Harry replied. "I don't know what happened. I'm not myself today."

"Will you dance with me?" Ginny said. "I love this song."

"Of course," Harry replied. A song? It sounded more like an orchestra of dying cats.

Ginny approached and put her arms around Harry's neck. He hadn't expected such closeness. He gulped. His whole body stiffened.

"Why are you wearing that veil on your head?" Harry asked. "I can't even see your face."

"It's because of the light," Ginny replied. "I can't bear it."

"But there's not much light," Harry said. "Just the light of the full moon. And I didn't know that you couldn't bear it."

"It's recent," Ginny responded. "That's why there's no one left in the castle. They couldn't accept my disease."

"Your disease?" Harry asked, terribly shocked and sorry. His heart tightened. Ginny was ill? "Can... can I do something for you?" he said. "Anything?"

"Well," Ginny replied, "there's something you could do for me. Something you can give to me."

"Which is?" Harry asked.

"Your soul," Ginny hissed. The veil opened in front of her face, and Harry saw her features. He shrieked. Ginny's face was very white, and blue veins appeared on it. At the centre of her now pale blue eyes, her pupils had changed. They looked like those of a cat. Her mouth was full red with two sharpened fangs coming under her lips. The colour of her veil changed too, turning black. Her dress transformed into a black cloak. Ginny looked like a vampire dressed like a Dementor.

She increased the pressure on his neck and tried to kiss him. Harry felt the last bits of happiness in him leave.

"Give me your soul," Ginny said. "One little kiss and I won't be alone in this castle anymore."

"Nooo!" Harry replied, fighting her grasp. He was terrified. No! Ginny couldn't be a vampire! She couldn't be a Dementor! It was so unfair! He had expected he could kiss her one day, and now... it was so scary! A wave of cold swept over him. If he didn't do anything, Harry felt he would faint.

Gathering all of his strength, he broke free of Ginny's hold and threw her backwards. She hissed and scratched his right arm deeply with her long nails, making him howl. He ran off, limping, holding his wounded and bleeding arm, and followed the first corridor that he found. Ginny was hunting him, he knew it. He kept running with terror, almost falling because of his leg, racing down the stairs, turning the corridors without knowing where to go. He cast a quick glance behind and saw that he had lost Ginny.

"Hhhharry," a voice murmured, "followww the liiiiiiggghttt." It seemed to come from far away, like a whisper. Harry wondered if he hadn't dreamt it.

A ray of light flashed briefly at the other end of the corridor. But a few dark clouds obscured the light. Harry's terror got the upper hand. He entered one of the doors along the corridor, hoping he'd be safe.

He found himself at the top of a staircase. He went downstairs and arrived to a round sitting room. In front of Harry stood a long, brown settee surrounded by two armchairs. It faced a coffee table on a crimson velvet carpet and a fireplace, lit with great flames. Those flames were the only light in the room. On Harry's left, floor-to-ceiling draperies covered the entire wall. The rest of the walls were covered by bookshelves. Harry felt safe in this reassuring room.

The boy approached the fire to warm up and noticed two streaming cups of tea on the coffee table. He grabbed one of them and took little sips. He still felt cold after what had happened with...? Harry didn't remember. He just... felt very bad... exhausted... He couldn't recall what he was searching for. He couldn't find his way back to his dormitory. The boy felt lost, hurt, and ill. Was he feverish? He shivered and wiped his moist forehead with his sleeve. His body ached. He had a big lump on his right temple, bruises on his face, a terrible ache in his leg, and a deep scratch on his right arm, but he didn't know where they came from. What had happened to him?

"Do you want to play with me?" Burns' voice asked from nowhere. Harry jumped, pouring half of his hot tea on his clothes. He stood up and looked around. No Burns.

A white furry bunny dressed in blue dungarees appeared in the air. The bunny moved his legs and his arms.

"Isn't it adorable?" Burns said with a childish voice. Harry looked around again, irritated. Where was she?

"Find me," she said, giggling.

Harry looked at the flying bunny again, but it had disappeared.

"I'm not here," Burns said, almost singing.

Harry spun around.

"Not here either!" Burns added with an amused voice.

She giggled again. Suddenly, a pearly-white, translucent form, dove from the ceiling and drifted around Harry before returning to the ceiling again. It flew so fast that Harry couldn't see what it was.

Burns sang a lullaby like a little girl. It sounded like a riddle:

"I can be visible if I want to be,

I am here and I am not here,

I don't have any shadow, but I live in the shadows,

My state is transient, but also permanent,

I am as cold as ice and I am not very nice,

Who am I? Who am I?"

"Professor B--," Harry said, irritated.

The cup of tea that Harry had put back on the coffee table burst, startling him.

"That's not the right answer," Burns interrupted. She whimpered.

Harry stared with surprise at the broken cup and the spilled remains of the tea on the table. He was half scared, half irate.

"I want to know where--" he snapped.

She sang again:

"If Harry Potter doesn't want to play,

Kat will show him how much she wants to slay."

Harry felt so anxious that his stomach ached. Or was it the tea? He didn't know. Would Burns kill him if he didn't play? Harry was confused. He tried to think, but he didn't remember the riddle.

"Repeat the riddle," Harry said.

The second steaming cup of tea exploded. Harry's heart pounded faster.

Burns whined. "Harry Potter is badly-behaved. Bad boy. He should be ashamed of himself. He didn't say please."

"Er... could you repeat the riddle, please," Harry corrected, trying to sound as polite as possible. No need to anger her more.

Burns tittered. She sang:

"I can be visible if I want to be,

I am here and I am not here,

I don't have any shadow, but I live in the shadows,

My state is transient, but also permanent,

I am as cold as ice and I am not very nice,

Who am I? Who am I?"

What was the answer? Harry felt it was obvious, but he couldn't think properly. His brains went slow. His scar ached.

"So?" Burns asked after a minute.

"The wind?" Harry replied. The wind was like air. It was here without being here... transient, but also permanent... it could be frozen and blow everything on its way... it was invisible most of the time, except when it took the shape of a tornado... it didn't have any shadow... but it lived in the shadows when it was night. Yes, 'the Wind' must be the correct answer.

"That is not right," Burns snapped, as if she had been insulted.

"But..." Harry objected, surprised.

A dagger fell from the ceiling and stuck in the floor, a few feet from Harry. He jumped and looked above him, terrified. What if Burns dropped another blade over his head? He felt a rush of panic.

"I am not the wind," Burns exclaimed, irritation in her voice.

Harry shook from head to foot. Burns wanted a response. He couldn't make another mistake. Thinking hard... thinking hard... Where had he gone wrong? Suddenly, he understood. The riddle was about Burns. She wanted Harry to discover who she was.

"Of course you're not the wind," Harry replied, trying to sound as serious as possible although his voice quavered. What would she do if she felt insulted? "It was only a joke," he continued.

So, who was Burns? Harry's teacher? Harry was tempted to reply 'Professor Burns,' but she had already said it wasn't the right answer. Then he remembered the pearly-white, translucent form, that he had seen a few moments ago. Of course! The response was 'a ghost!' Why hadn't he thought of that? But... since when had Burns been a ghost? Harry's scar ached again. He massaged his temple. The more he thought, the more he suffered.

He breathed and tried to relax, but it didn't work. Burns wasn't the patient type. Not replying at all would be as bad as giving a wrong answer. Then she would throw another dagger at Harry.

"A ghost?" he asked anxiously, observing the slightest sign of agitation from above.

The translucent form dove rapidly from the ceiling. Burns' face stopped a few inches from Harry's face. "Boohooo!" she yelled.

Harry was so surprised and scared that he lost his balance and fell on the floor.

"I am a ghost," Burns said quietly. Harry stared at her and blinked. The Burns he had in front of him was very young, probably five or six. And she was wearing a white night-gown splattered with blood. Harry gasped.

Burns hummed and sat on the floor. She pulled a doll dressed in black robes out of her pocket and pulled on its dark hair. But... wait a minute! The doll looked like Snape!

"Why are you hurting that doll?" Harry asked, regretting his question almost immediately.

Burns stopped pulling on the doll's hair. She pouted and whimpered. Then she flew away from Harry and turned her back to him. She seemed to sulk.

Harry stood up. "I'm sorry," he said, trying to repair his mistake. It was not clever or prudent to bother her. "I just wanted to understand."

Burns turned around.

"Snapey Doll was very mean with me." She moaned. "Mum gave me a package of bonbons, but he ate them all." She made a sad pout. "Bad, bad Snapey, bad!" she said, hitting the doll several times on the edge of the coffee table. Then she stared at her lifeless doll, hanging from its arm, and whimpered. She squeezed the doll hard against her chest. Her transparent body slowly shook.

"Katarina is a very mean girl," she said. "She hurt Snapey Doll. He will not forgive her." She sobbed.

Harry didn't know what to do. All this was too strange. He felt he was going stark-raving mad.

"Er," he said awkwardly. "No... er... it'll be okay..."

Burns looked at him with a childish stare. "It's sad he'll have to kill you," she said. Then she laughed devilishly. Behind her laugh, Harry could hear the frightening hiss of a snake.

"What?" Harry asked. "Who will have to..."

Burns pointed at something behind Harry. The boy spun around and gasped. A big, black dog stood in front of him. Padfoot.

***

Hermione stroked Ginny's hair for a few minutes. Soon, she realised that the girl had fallen asleep. The sound of the fireworks -- was it really fireworks? -- hadn't stopped, but Ginny had probably felt too exhausted to notice it.

Hermione herself felt exhausted. She had danced all night, watching Ron dance with Marietta out of the corner of her eye. She had noticed the scene between Burns and Snape, and she had seen Harry collapse on the dance floor, inert. Her heart had almost stopped. She had believed that he'd been killed straight away, hit by some dangerous Dark Spell no one would have noticed. Then she'd realised that he was still alive. But she had seen Dumbledore's worried look when he had examined Harry. A look which meant that Harry was in real danger.

She felt moisture in her eyes. Harry... He was one of her best friends... She remembered the prophecy Harry had spoken about : 'Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...' Was that what had happened tonight? You-Know-Who against Harry? Would You-Know-Who finally win? Hermione felt her tears drop. Harry had escaped He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named several times, but this time was different. What could he do against such a Dark Wizard? He was only a boy, after all. A boy who had so many years to live... Hermione sniffed.

She stood up from Ginny's bed, wiped her eyes and returned to the Gryffindor common room. The loud conversation she heard when she entered stopped almost immediately. Everyone looked at her with embarrassed stares. Only the Creevey brothers looked outside, through the window, with fascinated expressions.

Hermione didn't care. She entered the boy's dormitory, ignoring the comments of several boys who didn't appreciate the intrusion. Then she went up the staircases and found Ron, seated on his bed in the empty room. He sat with his head between his hands, his elbows on his knees. His fingers dug into his hair and scalp. He sniffed as if he was or had been crying.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Ron sniffed again and raised his head. He moved his hands in his hair as if he wanted to mop it, but Hermione knew it was a protective gesture to mask his embarrassment. Then Ron stood up and turned his back to Hermione. With a quick movement of his arm, he rubbed his eyes with his new dress robes. Being caught crying was difficult, especially for a boy like Ron.

"I'm fine," Ron replied without turning around.

"I'm not," Hermione responded. "I'm scared. If Harry--"

"Nothing will happen to Harry," Ron interrupted.

"But..." Hermione said.

"He's The Boy Who Lived," Ron replied. "He'll live."

Hermione didn't respond. They both knew it was not so easy.

"He defeated You-Know-Who when he was a baby," Ron continued. "He'll become a fantastic Auror... and he'll soon be the best Quidditch Seeker in the entire world."

Suddenly, Ron turned around and stared at her right in the eye. "He'll live," he said with assurance.

Hermione closed her eyes for several seconds and sighed deeply. If only Ron could be right... She realised it had been months since they had last spoken to each other. Had they just made up? Or was it just a truce linked to the circumstances? Hermione didn't know.

The thud of the thunder battered her brains. She massaged her left temple. "Where is that sound coming from?" she asked, moaning.

"From Burns' ship, I s'ppose," Ron responded flatly.

"Burns' ship?" Hermione repeated. Of course! In all the excitement, she had completely forgotten about The Emerald Star. What was that thud? Probably one of the ship's cannons. But why were the cannons shooting?

"What's going on?" Hermione asked.

"There are creatures coming from the Forest," Ron responded. "Dunno what they are. It's too dark."

Hermione looked at the window and saw shadows move from the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They were too big to be human. She froze.

"As long as they're not spiders," Ron said, "I don't care."

Hermione smiled slightly. A long and awkward silence followed. All of a sudden, she decided it was time for explanations. Life was so fleeting... and Hermione didn't want to waste it on misunderstandings. Being mad at each other was stupid.

"I... didn't mean it," she uttered, "when I said... that you were jealous of Viktor because he was rich."

Ron grunted.

"I was just mad..." she added, "because..." She gulped. "Because..." she continued. Ron wasn't helping her. He was just staring at the Forbidden Forest without saying a word or even looking at her. He seemed to ignore her. Hermione's temper got the upper hand. "Honestly, Ron!" she exclaimed. "It seems you take pleasure in getting on my nerves!" She frowned.

Ron looked at her crossly. "Nice way to apologise," he replied with a growl.

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. "Why are you always reacting that way?" she asked. "Messing everything up each time things start going right between us ..."

"When did I mess anything up?" Ron grunted. "If I remember, it's you who--"

"Last time it was my fault," Hermione interrupted. "But you had already spoiled everything before. You laughed at Viktor. You laughed at me..." Her voice shivered. "And now you're ignoring me, although I'm trying to make up with you."

An awkward silence followed. Ron appeared to be thinking.

"Is it true that I made you cry?" he asked.

Hermione's voice stopped dead within her throat. She felt very ill at ease.

"Who..." she managed to utter, "Who said that?"

"Ginny," Ron responded.

Ginny? How embarrassing! She knew Hermione's feelings for her brother! What had she said to Ron? Hermione felt colour rise on her cheeks.

"I... I don't remember," Hermione replied. "I... was tired because of the exams, so I may have cried. You know Ginny... She probably misunderstood."

What a good excuse. Of course, Ron had often made Hermione cry! His mean comments had hurt her. He had spoiled their first kiss with his remark about Viktor. And Marietta... Oh, it was not as if Hermione had expected to be invited by Ron. They had quarrelled and didn't speak to each other anymore. But it had hurt her. Ron had preferred to invite someone who had betrayed the DA rather than her.

Ron probably believed what she had just said, since he didn't reply. They both kept silent, staring outside. Hermione was confused. A part of her wanted to talk to Ron and ask him why he had kissed her before Christmas. To know why he had invited Marietta. But another part felt it was selfish to think only of herself, while Harry was in such a dangerous situation. She had made up with Ron. That was most important ...

Suddenly, Hermione saw something huge fly in the air. Strangely, it seemed to come from the ground and not from the air. And strangely, it didn't fly to the Forbidden Forest, but to the castle! The object rose in a high arc, then landed on the ground with a loud thump. Hermione gasped. It was a rock, thrown by an enormous creature from the edge of the forest. A creature which could only be... a giant...

***

Burns stared at the big creature that had appeared at the edge of the Forest.

"A giant!" She shouted.

The creature, approximately eight meters high, was wearing what seemed to be armour with a helmet. The giant carried something in his arms, but Burns couldn't determine what it was. With the darkness and the distance, she couldn't see much. Suddenly, the giant's body moved. The giant raised the voluminous thing above his right shoulder and bent backwards as if he was going to...

"Oh no!" Burns gasped.

With a huge heave, the giant threw his burden away in the direction of the castle. The object, which appeared to be a huge rock, made an arc before falling back to the ground.

"Gun him down!" Burns yelled.

The cannons shot. Unfortunately, the cannonballs rebounded on the armour. The giant fell backwards from the impact, but he stood up again. He went back to the Forest.

"The armour must have been made by a goblin," Burns exclaimed with rage. "Reputedly indestructible. Damn!"

"There's another one!" Joachim yelled from the mizzentop.

Burns attentively watched the Forest and noticed another giant.

"Bloody Hell!" she exclaimed. "Where do they come from?"

Like trolls, giants couldn't Disapparate. And even if they had been able to Disapparate, no one could do it within Hogwarts, except Burns. Considering their size -- between six and eight meters -- and their number -- Damn! Did they multiply? -- the giants couldn't have entered the Forest unnoticed.

The answer hit Burns. "Portkeys!" she spat. "They must have used Portkeys!" Her fists clenched. The Death Eaters must have managed to escape the vigilance of her crew and put Portkeys in the Forbidden Forest! With Bellatrix Lestrange's new powers, nothing was impossible...

The second giant left the woods, dragging a big wheelbarrow behind him. Fortunately, he wasn't wearing any armour. Which meant that the first giant who had entered the Hogwarts grounds was probably the Gurg.

"Another one! No, two!" Joachim yelled.

The cannons fired at the second giant, but the creature uttered a deep growl and sidled to his right to avoid being hit. It bent to reach an object from the wheelbarrow. Another rock, of course. The giant threw the boulder. The stone fell onto the Hogwarts grounds, but closer to the castle this time. If the giants managed to move nearer, they would hit the walls eventually.

The Gurg came back, dragging another wheelbarrow. No doubt that the wheelbarrows were magical. They were protected by a barrier that no cannonball could pierce. And each time a giant threw a rock, another boulder appeared in the cart with a flash of light.

"How many giants are there?" Burns yelled.

"Twenty!" Joachim exclaimed.

"Not more, I hope," Burns replied.

The giants seemed to be very resistant. Most of them avoided the attacks. Only two were hit, but they kept throwing stones. As if it wasn't enough, hundreds of trolls left the Forest too.

Cannon fire killed many trolls, but a few made it through to the castle, followed by several giants. In a few strides, the enormous creatures would have overtaken the trolls.

"They're too numerous!" Mox exclaimed.

"Focus on the giants!" Burns yelled. "They can damage us with their rocks. Keep them away!"

She hurried to the hatch on the foredeck and went down the different gun-decks to reach the lowest one.

"Keep shooting, my Hearties," she exclaimed. "Until our enemies go out of the cannons' reach. Then use your wand to shoot them through the gun ports."

"Like when we escorted the Hogwarts Express?" one of the pirates asked.

"Yes, Hugo," Burns replied, remembering their defeat of the Death Eaters at the beginning of the year. "Trolls and giants are like Death Eaters: easier to kill when you're up in an invisible ship and they're down. Facing them is not really pleasant."

Burns rapidly got back to the upper deck.

"We killed two giants, Capt'n," Mox said.

"Fine," Burns replied. "Now kill the other eighteen."

"Trying to," Mox replied.

He loaded the cannon with a spell. Then he aimed the gun at one of the creatures that had come nearer. He lit the wick with his wand. With a thunderous boom, the cannonball shot from the iron tube. It hit one of the giants straight on his -- no her -- stomach. The giantess fell backwards, dead.

"Seventeen," Mox said with a grin.

A second giant made a dash forward and hurled his rock. The stone crashed the castle with force, making a hole within the upper walls. The tower trembled from the shock.

"SHIT!" Burns yelled.

Another cannonball flew in the air and shot the giant right in his face. The creature collapsed.

"Sixteen!" Mox exclaimed.

Meanwhile, thirteen trolls had ventured dangerously close to the castle. They were approximately fifty meters from the big oak doors. A few rays of spells flew in the air, hitting nearly all the creatures. Most jets of light came from the ship. The others came from the windows of Hogwarts, a few floors above the great doors. Some people -- probably the teachers -- had gathered there to hold off the charge.

"Fifteen!" Mox continued, still counting the number of remaining giants.

"Twelve!" Joachim corrected from the mizzentop.

But suddenly, the giant with the armour ran out of the Forest, a huge stone in his hands. A few incandescent cannonballs flew to stop him, but they missed their aim, only hitting the trolls behind the Gurg. The giant sprinted a long distance, then threw the rock high in the air, right on the ship. The rock hit a part of the main mast.

"NOOO!" Burns yelled furiously.

Three-quarters of the main mast broke with a sinister crack and fell to the port side of the ship. The rigging that linked the main mast to the other masts tensed under the weight of the flagpole. The other masts tilted to the left, but resisted.

"Cut the rigging!" Burns shouted. "And don't stay under the mast! Watch out!"

The pirates ran away from the mast. A few jets of light flew into the air, cutting the ropes. The main mast fell, toppled over the edge of the ship, and crashed on the ground below.

The Invisibility Charm that protected the ship failed. The Emerald Star became visible to their enemies.

"You, stupid fucking giant!" Burns yelled. "You damaged MY SHIP!"

How dare that stupid creature spoil the greatest ship that had ever been commissioned? Burns' fists clenched on her wand. But the Gurg was too far away. If Burns used magic, the giant would foresee the attack and avoid the spell.

The other giants imitated the Gurg. They rushed forward and hurled their rocks at the ship.

"Destroy the rocks!" Burns shouted, pulling her wand out.

A few cannonballs flew, some hitting the stones, others missing their targets.

"Destruere!" Burns yelled, pointing her wand at a rock which flew straight toward the middle of the ship. A green ray of light shot from her wand and hit the boulder, making it explode. Fragments of the boulder and dust fell onto the deck. With a swift movement, Burns turned around, knelt, and tried to protect her face and body as much as possible with her cloak. She coughed hard and felt the pain caused by the pebbles hitting her back.

"Keep..." she said, choking, "keep shooting them!" Her eyes stung.

"Aye, Capt'n!" Mox replied. Fortunately, the man had managed to utter a Shielding Charm at the right time and could still fight, which was not the case for many pirates on the front deck. Some of them had stooped and coughed because of the dust. Others had been knocked by the fragments of the rocks and lay unconscious on the floor.

"How... how many are left?" Burns asked. She stood up and stepped to the starboard side of the ship. Those giants were really dangerous. A few attacks like that and the ship wouldn't survive. The creatures had to be destroyed quickly.

"Ten," Mox replied. His cannon shot. "Damn!" he swore, "so close, but I missed him!" He loaded the gun again.

To Burns' great displeasure, the giants, who had retreated to the Forest for a few minutes, sprinted across the castle grounds.

Mox's cannonball hit a giantess. "Goal!" he exclaimed.

The nine remaining creatures threw their rocks at the ship again. Two boulders missed their target and hit the castle instead. Five stones exploded, three thanks to the cannons, and two thanks to the spells Greg and Burns had uttered. The two remaining stones hit the ship. The first rock fell on the quarterdeck, punching a hole in the solid boards with a terrible crack. But nothing was more terrible than the crash of the second boulder when it pierced the hull. The Emerald Star quaked. All the planks creaked, the macabre growl of a hurt and dying beast.

Burns' heart tightened. That ship was all that she owned. She was so linked to its history and its power that she could feel The Emerald Star's wounds as if it were her own. Her fate was deeply linked to the Galleon's. She felt that tonight, the greatest magical ship ever seen, the last remnant of the Grindelwald's pride and power would fight its last battle and perish in the fight.

With a heavy heart, she hurled herself on the middle gun-deck. A part of her crew had to retreat now. With a hole in the hull, the whole crew on board, and a few giants throwing rocks all the time, the ship wouldn't remain in the air for very long.

"Taz!" she exclaimed. "Tactics changing. Use more incandescent cannonballs. Focus your attention on the Gurg and kill him. Without a chief, the other giants will be confused. Half of the men must leave the ship immediately. Tell them the passwords to Floo to the castle as soon as possible with all that they can bring: weapons, cannons... even the ship's treasure. We must make the ship lighter. It will give us time until it sinks. And with the cannons and weapons in the castle, the men will help our retreat when the time comes."

"Aye, Capt'n," Taz responded.

"Where's Alphonso?" Burns asked.

"In the hold," Taz replied. "He's trying to repair the breach in the hull. I mean... to reduce the hole. He said that he was not powerful enough to repair it entirely."

"Indeed," Burns said. "The Emerald Star needs a lot of magic to repair itself completely. Impossible to sort this problem out now. But Alphonso had a good idea. The ship is losing its power because of the breach. Repairing it as much as possible will give us time."

Burns let Taz give orders to the men and returned to the upper deck. The cannons kept shooting.

"Unfurl the sails," Burns exclaimed. "We're losing altitude. We must place the ship above the grounds of Hogwarts. Not above the castle. In case the ship sinks, it must fall on our enemies."

The pirates obeyed. The ship moved, but slowly. Without the main mast and with a hole in the hull, it couldn't fly as fast as before. The Galleon had lost a big part of his power.

"Eight giants left!" Joachim yelled.

Burns went to the starboard side of the ship and stared at the ground below. More trolls had approached the castle. Some of them had almost reached the great doors. But fortunately, hexes held them off for now. Burns felt tired. The battle was so difficult... And something told her that it was far from over... She sighed.

"Capt'n!" Joachim exclaimed suddenly. "Watch out!"

Burns went out of her thoughts. She raised her head and saw without realising that a rock had been aimed at her. Or did she realise? She didn't move. She didn't want to move.

"Destruere!" someone yelled behind her.

A green ray of light hit the stone and made it burst.

"Protego!" the voice shouted immediately. The fragments of the stone fell all around without hitting Burns.

She turned around. Snape was standing on the deck, his wand raised.

***

Severus Snape appeared in the fireplace of The Emerald Star. He had exhausted his options, trying to find a way to board the ship. Then just when he despaired of finding any solution, the answer had come unexpectedly. Who could have guessed that Hagrid, that big oaf, would ever have been useful? It had taken that dunderhead more than five minutes to remember the correct password to Floo to the ship, but Severus had managed to learn what he wanted.

'Chocolate Squid'!" he had yelled. Then he had thrown the Floo powder into the fireplace, stepped forward, and uttered the address of The Emerald Star.

He sprinted through the corridors, looking for the spiral staircase that he knew would take him to the upper decks. He met many pirates who looked surprised by his intrusion, but he didn't care. He had to find Burns.

When he reached the tower that lead to the deck, he noticed that a few stairs below him had collapsed. Looking up, he saw a big hole in the ceiling. Surely the giants' work. Severus tried to find his breath and ran upstairs as fast as possible.

Then he arrived at the ship's upper deck. The place was a mess. Through a haze of smoke, he surveyed the fragments of boulders and wood that littered the deck. The main mast had been broken, and thirty pirates loaded the cannons. Some of the men looked wounded.

Burns stood on the deck and stared at the ground to the starboard side of the ship. A huge rock flew in the air, ready to hit her. Severus' heart almost stopped.

"Capt'n!" a pirate exclaimed. "Watch out!"

Burns raised her head. Severus was sure she'd seen the rock, but she didn't move.

"Destruere!" he yelled, pointing his wand at the rock.

A green ray of light went out of his wand and hit the stone, making it explode.

"Protego!" Severus shouted immediately. The Shielding Charm protected Burns from the dangerous fragments. She turned around, shock painted over her face. Then she frowned.

"What are you doing here?" she exclaimed.

"What do you think I'm doing, silly girl?" Severus replied, disappointed by her reaction. "I'm saving your life." He stepped to her.

"I don't need your help!" She spat.

"If I hadn't intervened," Severus replied, "you'd be dead now."

Burns screwed up her eyes, but didn't reply. Severus realised with pain that it was probably what she had wanted.

"I refu--" he said.

The sound of a rock crashing against the Hogwarts' walls interrupted him. Severus looked at the castle and saw a big hole at the fourth or fifth floor. Blocks of stone were falling from the façade near the gap in the walls. The castle seemed smashed in several places. The boulders had pierced through the walls at a few floors. The crenellated turrets had been damaged.

Another stone flew in the air. Severus had the reflex to duck. The rock tore one of the sails and fell to the port side of the ship without touching the Galleon's deck. Burns looked at the ragged sail sadly. Then she stared back at Severus.

"Leave the ship," she said with a dejected voice. Then she turned around to the starboard side of the ship.

Severus felt angry. He had come for her and she ignored him?

"Six giants left!" the pirate at the mizzentop yelled.

"And the Gurg?" Burns shouted.

"Still alive," the man replied. "Slightly wounded, but very resistant."

"Very resistant, indeed," Burns snapped. "Nothing can pierce armour made by a goblin. Our cannonballs are definitely useless. They can only push him away but they won't destroy him. Damn!"

Suddenly, the ship quaked as if under shock.

"A new hole in the hull!" a pirate exclaimed. "'Cause of that bloody Gurg!"

Severus was scared for Burns. She mustn't stay here. He stepped to her. "Come with me," he said, determined to make her leave the ship.

"What?" Burns replied as if she went out of her thoughts.

"Come with me," Severus repeated. "Leave the ship with me."

"What?" Burns repeated, with a shocked voice this time. She looked angry. "Leave me alone," she said, "and run away now you can still do it! I'm the Captain of The Emerald Star, and I will never abandon my crew or my ship!"

"I don't want you to risk your life!" Severus exclaimed.

"My life is not important," Burns replied.

"To me it is!" he responded. "I will not let--"

"Only the students' lives are important," Burns snapped. "They are the future of the Wizarding World."

Severus knew that Burns was somehow right, but he didn't want to follow her logic. He had sacrificed too many things for the Wizarding World. He wanted to be selfish now, not serve a cause. He only wanted to save the woman he loved.

"And you are my future!" he replied, not caring if others overheard his conversation. Saving her life was more important than feeling uncomfortable.

Burns seemed to be taken aback by his response. Then she looked around, an embarrassed expression on her face, and sighed from exasperation. "I don't have time to quarrel now," she said. "And not in front my crew, is that clear? These men are here to fight. I am here to fight. You'll be more useful inside the castle."

"I won't leave without you," Severus replied stubbornly. "Never."

Burns raised an eyebrow. "Fine," she snapped. "Stay and be killed, cretin. I really don't care."

Her words hurt Severus, but he remembered that what she'd just said couldn't be true. She still loved him.

Burns went to the right side of the ship. Severus followed her and looked at the grounds below. Scattered fires flared on the lawns of Hogwarts. But the smoke of the cannons prevented Severus from seeing much. The Potions master counted six or seven giants lying on the ground. But there were probably more.

One of the crew came out of the hatch on the foredeck. Severus recognized Taz, the wizard who had brought him his wand on his first visit to The Emerald Star.

"Capt'n," he said, "the holds are almost empty. The men brought the treasure and the weapons to Hogwarts. Half of the cannons are still on board. The rest are in the castle, ready to fire."

"Good," Burns said. "The other half of the crew must leave immediately with the remaining cannons. Evacuate the decks progressively. Ten men, ten cannons. When they're in Hogwarts ready to fire, send ten other men with ten other cannons. Sending too many men at the same time is too risky. Those bloody giants can cause real damage to us if our defences are missing."

Severus raised an eyebrow. So Burns had decided to abandon the ship? But what about her? Of course, that stubborn woman had decided to be the last one to leave her Galleon!

"What about the dead?" Taz asked.

"The dead?" Burns repeated.

"The... rocks..." Taz said awkwardly, "when they pierced the hull, a few of us wh--"

With a wave of her hand, Burns motioned for Taz to stop talking. She appeared to be afflicted by what she'd learnt. So afflicted that she closed her eyes and sighed.

Severus was surprised. Hadn't she expected people in her crew to die? Or maybe she hadn't expected those deaths to come so early.

"What must we do for them?" Taz asked.

"Leave them where they are," Burns replied. "The Emerald Star is the best tomb for them. The grounds below will be the tomb of those giants. I swear it."

"Aye, Capt'n," Taz responded. He left.

"Take the sails in," Burns ordered to her crew. "Anchor The Emerald Star here. We're at a correct distance from the castle now."

A rush of stones flew to the ship but exploded before they hit.

"It was close," a pirate said. "Five giants left, but the most dangerous is still alive. Never seen a giant so tough. We keep firing at him with no result. What can we do to get rid of him?"

"Don't know, Mox," Burns replied. "I'm thinking..."

She looked around. Her eyes stopped on the remains of the broken main mast. Suddenly, her stare changed, as if she was in a trance. She stepped to the base of the mast. Severus followed her. She removed her right glove and put her hand on the wood.

"You're scarred," she said. "Like me. Many wounds. Some superficial. Others deep."

Was she talking to the ship? Severus was puzzled.

Burns closed her eyes. "You're a real lady," she continued. "That's how he thought of you." She smiled slightly. "But you're more than that. You're a little fighter. Like his wife."

Grindelwald's wife? Severus raised an eyebrow. He didn't like to hear about Grindelwald after what Katarina had told him tonight... that Grindelwald had said she would die... The Potions master was scared.

"You became the only thing that mattered to him when she died," Katarina added. "Because your figurehead looked like her. He spent hours on the foredeck, looking at her. But she was not his wife. The figurehead reminded him of what he had lost. He couldn't help looking at her image although it only brought him sorrow."

Severus was flabbergasted. Not only was she talking to The Emerald Star, but what she described -- Grindelwald's attitude -- reminded Severus of his own attitude when he had lost Katarina. How many hours had he spent looking at her photographs, thinking with despair that he would never see her again? He had thought he'd become mad.

The ship was knocked hard for a second time. Severus almost lost his balance. But Burns didn't lose her stability. It was as if she'd been a part of the Galleon.

"Bloody Gurg!" Mox exclaimed. "He hit the hull again!"

The Emerald Star kept vibrating. What happened? Was the ship really about to sink? Severus had to bring Burns away now.

"You're wounded," Burns said to the ship. "But you're strong. You can hold. You must hold. You're a powerful ship. The symbol of his vengeance. I know there's something you can do against that giant. He just told me you possess something to pierce the Gurg's armour."

Who had just what? Severus was terrified. How could Burns talk with a dead Dark Mage? Did it mean that she really was about to... No! He refused to believe that it would happen.

"Show it to me," Burns continued. "Revelare!"

Without thinking, Severus put his hand on Burns' hand. Something flashed in his head. He felt another presence in his mind. A strange pink-orange colour lit the ship's upper deck as if it was flooded with sunlight. The sun? Was Severus in a sort of dream or trance? The sound of the cannons had disappeared.

Burns stood on the foredeck. She faced the figurehead, still turned to the horizon. She didn't seem to have noticed Severus' presence.

"This incantation should have worked," she said.

"It worked," a feminine voice replied. Her voice echoed all around.

Severus jumped. Where did that voice come from?

"I can't ignore the call of the Grindelwald's bloodline," the voice said. "My power is the same as yours. It comes from the same origin."

Severus gasped. Did that voice belong to The Emerald Star?

"Tell me," Burns continued. "How can I defeat the Gurg? The cannons will never work. I must find a way to get rid of the creature."

Something flashed above Burns. A golden bow with a single arrow appeared in the air. But it couldn't be...

"Apollo's Arch," the ship said. "A treasure kept by the Grindelwalds for many generations."

Apollo's Arch. Severus had heard about it. That bow had almost become a legend. So the Grindelwalds had kept it for all this time?

"I'll use it," Burns replied.

Her response made Severus smirk. Burns would be disappointed if she wanted to use that particular weapon. The bow could only be used by a man.

"Not you," the ship responded.

"And why?" Burns asked, a touch of irritation in her voice.

"Only a man is allowed to use it," the ship replied.

"Of course," Burns said with anger. "Bloody machismo!"

"All men can't use it," the ship said. "Only a good archer who serves a great cause can pretend to this honour. He must be a servant of fire, under the protection of Jupiter."

Severus felt the presence leave his mind. The ship's last words reverberated in his head. Then something flashed in front of him again and he found himself back on the upper deck of the Galleon at night with the sound of the cannons. The bow floated in the air above Burns.

"Let go of my hand!" Burns exclaimed, getting rid of the Potions master's hand. She put her glove back on. Then she extended her hands above her and took hold of the bow.

"You can't use it," Severus said, in case Burns would try something stupid.

"I know I can't use it," she retorted. She stared at Severus with a puzzled look. "And how do you know that anyway?"

"The ship told you," he replied. "I was there with you when..."

A big rock fell on the foredeck, making the deck tremble from the shock. Burns looked around, probably to see how damaged her ship had been.

Severus noticed that only fifteen pirates remained on the upper deck.

"Four giants left!" the pirate in the mizzentop yelled.

"Fine," Burns said. "My Hearties!" she exclaimed. "You can all leave now."

The pirates stared at her with surprised expressions.

"But the cannons?" Mox asked.

"Leave them here," Burns replied. "They're just cannons. I'll take care of the munitions. Tell the other men, if they haven't left already, that they must abandon the ship too. Order of the Captain."

"Aye, Capt'n," the pirates said.

Burns turned back to Severus. "Leave the ship too," she said.

"Not without you," he replied with determination.

Burns sighed with exasperation.

Suddenly, a big rock crashed into the mizzenmast, breaking it in half. The upper part of the mast fell to the port side of The Emerald Star. The mast rebounded several times on the edge of the Galleon, damaging the ship, but the pole didn't go overboard. The same could not be said for the man at the top.

"Joachim!" Burns yelled. She rushed over to the port side of the ship and looked below.

"I don't see anything!" she exclaimed. "Bloody Hell!"

"I'm okay, Capt'n!" a voice exclaimed from the quarterdeck after several seconds. The Potions master spun around. Joachim floated on a broomstick above the deck. "Followed your orders," he said. "Must always have a broom when you're in the ship's rigging."

Severus turned to Burns. She looked relieved.

"To the castle now," she said, "and take this bow with you."

She stepped forward and gave the Apollo's Arch to the man.

"I forbid anyone to play with it," she continued. "It's a very precious weapon that only few people can use. Take care of it as if it was your own life. It's a little present for the Gurg. From the whole crew."

"I will," Joachim said. He sneered.

"And if I don't come back before half an hour," Burns added, "try to find a good archer -- a male one --, servant of fire, under the protection of Jupiter. That's the condition for using the bow."

"What does it mean?" Joachim asked.

"I really don't know," Burns said. "Ask the teachers. Go now. And for pity's sake, pay attention to the rocks."

Joachim nodded. The man took off on his broomstick and flew to the castle.

"So?" Severus asked. "When will you leave the ship?"

"Oh, I won't leave the ship," Burns replied.

Severus frowned. What had that stubborn woman planned?

***

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