Awakening the Power Within

***Chapter 2****

The Village of Descartes

They arrived in the middle of a path going a long a river bank. There was a vast forest on one side and a great mountain on the other. Ginny had no idea where she was. She looked around to see if she could recognize something familiar, but the only thing she recognized was Dumbledore. The sun was shining through the trees on to her face and Dumbledore, making him look surreal. The sun was warming her face in the cool morning breeze. She knew they must not be near Hogwarts or Hogsmeade because it was cloudy when they left. This place was absolutely beautiful, the river running the birds singing, but then it had come back to her as to why they were there.

Turning to Dumbledore, Ginny spoke with pleasantness in her voice, "Where are we?"

"Ginny my dear, we are in a place called Descartes," he looked around taking in the beauty as he spoke.

"Where is it? What is it?" she narrowed her eyes, looking past him to the mountain.

"Where it is, I can not really say. What it is, well that is another story," he gave a chuckle as he spoke.

What on earth was he talking about; he just answered her by not answering her at all. Sometimes Dumbledore could really confuse her. They continued walking along this path for about ten minutes when they came to a fork in a clearing. One path went towards the mountain and the other went into the forest. Before she could ask which way to go Dumbledore pointed to the path that led to the woods. "That way Ginny dear, just a wee bit further."

They walked for what seemed about ten more minutes, Ginny could hear the birds chirping as the sound of the river was fading. They came to another clearing, the path forked to the left of them was cave in the side of a hill and on the right was a wall of trees. Dumbledore stopped and walked towards the trees.

He raised his wand and tapped the biggest tree in the middle once, then the one to the left twice then back to the middle tapped once and to the right three times and spoke, "Subrutous." The trees started to part, Ginny could see a village in the short distance. It was very primitive even for a wizarding village, it was nothing like she had ever seen, and it was beautiful.

Dumbledore did not pressure Ginny for conversation while they were walking and for that she was thankful. Sometimes talking to him, well could really give you a headache. They walked towards the village, when she looked at him and asked, "Why are we here?"

"Well Ginny, the lady who made this prophecy about you has made ones before that pertain to you," he said as they kept walking forward.

"About me? I have never heard them," she said pushing her hair back over her shoulder.

"Ahh, I know, not many people get to hear the prophecies for told of them by Taliesan."

"Why, are they so bad they can't be heard?" she was now a little breathy from walking and talking.

"Well Ginny, that all depends on how you look at it. You see the consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is very difficult," he said, still in a slow stride.

"So you are saying that you don't believe in prophecy," she said catching up to him

"No and yes. You see there is such a fine line here Ginny. We are responsible for our actions, now there are some things we can not control. Like being a pure blooded, you can not help that. What you can help is how you treat others who are not of the same. Are you understanding me here?" he stopped to look at her.

"Sort of, I think," she said with a bewildered look on her face.

"You will in time. You will," he started walking again.

They were walking through the village now. As she walked through with Dumbledore, people stopped to stare at them. Some greeted Dumbledore as if they had not seen him in a while. A lady carrying what looked to be old broken wands in a basket looked at her and bowed her head to her. She got the feeling that this place was older than Dumbledore himself. A lot of the houses looked like her parents, not very showy or overdone just homes. There were little shops for this and that similar to that of Hogsmeade but not as crowded. They were near the end of the village when she noticed a falcon flying over head. It flew down towards them, and to her amazement it turned into a man standing before her. He reminded her of Dumbledore, except his beard was not as long.

"The young Miss Weasley I presume. I am Aryn," he said taking her hand and kissing it ever so gently.

"Hope your flight home was safe last evening Aryn," Dumbledore said to the man as if he had known him for ages.

"No trouble, very peaceful. She is in the back room and is delighted that you are here," Aryn said as they walked into a house that reminded Ginny of the Shrieking Shack from the outside.

As they entered the house Ginny could smell a heavy scent of Myrrh with Sandalwood and Lavender. Wow! Ginny didn't know she could smell that many different things at once. With the light of the fire and lanterns she could see the walls were decorated in heavy tapestries of different families, there were also pictures on the walls of different witches and wizards. One caught her eye in particular it was a picture of Dumbledore and Aryn they were young men about eighteen or nineteen, Dumbledore had red hair and Aryn had white blonde hair, but their eyes they were the same. They had on Hogwarts robes; they were standing in an atrium it looked like, they were waving and holding up there diplomas. Ginny was looking at the picture studying it closely, could this be professor Dumbledore's brother.

She jumped as Dumbledore spoke to her, "Young weren't we," he said like he was reliving the day in his mind.

"Is he your brother?" she asked him looking back and forth between the two of them.

"No, not brother, he is my cousin. You see my mother and his mother were sisters," Aryn also spoke looking as if were reliving that same day in the picture. "We grew up in this house together me, Albus, Aberforth and Taliesan."

"Taliesan?" Ginny spoke in a confused voice.

"Aryn's sister. She is a seer Ginny. Not like Professor Trelawney, who uses things like tea leaves and things like that to tell the future. All though she knows all those ways of fortune telling, Taliesan has a true gift like Sybil Trelawney's great-great-grandmother Cassandra," said Dumbledore. "Yes, I know before you say it, Professor Trelawney predicted Harry's prophecy, but she does not do things like that often," he said holding up a hand.

"Taliesan has had this gift since she was a small child Ginny. She has for told things about your family along with many others for ages," Aryn said looking at Ginny with a twinkle in his eyes just like Dumbledore's.

"Like what?" Ginny looked suspiciously at them both of them.

"Well the fact that you were going to be born for instance," Aryn looked at Ginny with his eyebrows raised smiling.

"Really, what else?" Ginny was still having a hard time believing all this.

"Well Ginny, you have to understand that all prophecies are not ones that are going to affect a great deal of people at once. Some only affect the person or persons it is being for told about. She prophesied that Albus, Aberforth and I would get into very big trouble when we were fifteen for practicing charms on animals. And we did, we got into trouble by our Uncle caught us red handed. Unfortunately though, Aberforth did not learn his lesson that day," Aryn was smiling at Dumbledore as he spoke. "On the other hand the ones she has prophesied about you are of great magnitude indeed, not on just concerning you and what these actions will lead to for you, but your children, your family and many others." He studied her face intently before he spoke again, "Ginny, things that will take place will be so life altering to us all, not just you."

Ginny was still not sure she understood what was about to befall her.

"And if these things never happen?" Ginny said looking very scared.

"They will," said a warm voice from behind her putting a hand on her shoulder.

This startled Ginny, she spun around to see a beautiful woman standing before her. She too had long flowing white hair, and eyes had that same twinkle but they were a deeper blue like the ocean on a stormy day. Her red robes were of the finest silk, she didn't wear any jewelry, except for a crystal around her neck. Ginny could smell the Sandalwood on her.

"How do you know?" Ginny spoke to Taliesan like she had known her all her life.

"You are a special woman Ginny, much more than you know. You have powers in you that have not yet to surface. They are there you just need a reason to use them," she said looking at Ginny very close. "I can see why he loves you."

"Harry?" Ginny questioned this once again with sarcasm in her voice.

Taliesan was looking deeper into Ginny's eyes, "Love Ginny, binds all things together, it has the power heal, comfort and forgive. Love is the blood of life; all you have to do is give it selflessly. It will be returned to you in more ways than you can imagine."

Ginny was getting a headache, talking to Taliesan was like talking to Dumbledore, the more she talked the more confused she got. Still not sure she felt comfortable talking about all this yet. It was all still rushing around in her head like a swarm of bees. How could she Ginny Weasley have powers that she did not know about? What was that supposed to mean anyway. She never felt anything more special about herself than she did anyone else in her family. With all these thoughts in her head she needed a quite place to think for a moment.

"I need to use the restroom, please," Ginny said very distraught.

"Down the hall and to the left," Aryn said pointing down the hallway.

(While Ginny is in the Bathroom)

"Albus, I have not seen you in ages it seems," Taliesan said to her cousin hugging him around the neck. "Aryn told me you would be bringing the girl to see me. I am very glad you did. She will need some time to digest what she has heard. She soon will discover the power inside herself."

"What exactly is that?" Dumbledore said looking at Taliesan over his half-moon spectacles.

"There are two ways of spreading light Albus, to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. It is possible to be both at the same time," she said to him with great reverence.

Ginny came back down hall watching all the pictures wave to her and say hello. She entered into the small room in which they had all been before.

"Ah, Ginny, are you hungry? I am starving," said Professor Dumbledore patting his stomach heartily.

"Come to the kitchen, I have prepared some lunch for us," Taliesan motioned for them to follow her.

They all followed her into the kitchen. To Ginny's surprise it looked a lot like her own at The Burrow. Small and cozy, dishes washing in the sink, food on the table ready to eat. It was simply wonderful. This was the first time she had been comfortable all day. She had a glass of pumpkin juice and took one of the corned beef sandwiches. She was listening to the three cousins reminisce about their childhood. It was very odd thinking of Dumbledore as a child or a young man for that matter. Then something occurred to her, Aryn said that Taliesan had made predictions of her and her family before.

"Taliesan, if I may call you that. What else have you predicted about my family?" she asked her while taking a drink.

"Well, there are a few things, I predicated that your father would marry your mother and they would have you. You know you are the first female child to be born in more than a century to a Weasley man," she said looking at Ginny. "I also have predicted that your brother Ron will be the first in your family ever to marry a muggle-born witch. I predicted that when he was first born."

"Did he know that?" Ginny said as she thought about Hermione and Ron getting married in December.

"I don't know, but your parents did." she said as she blinked her eyes. "Whether they told him or not was up to them."

"Any more about me?" she asked not sure she really wanted to know the answer.

Taliesan looked at Dumbledore and then at Aryn, as if to ask for permission to tell Ginny what she had predicted a very, very long time ago, shortly after she predicted Ginny's birth to Mr. & Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes." she said taking a drink of her tea.

"Well, I want to hear it," Ginny said feeling like they were trying to hide something from her.

"Okay. Before your parents got married I predicted their marriage and that you would be the seventh child born to them, the first female in over a century," she began.

"Yes that's what you said before," Ginny replied almost impatiently.

"Well in that same prophecy it was predicted that you would weld a special gift like no other Weasley before you," she went on to say.

"What was the special gift?" Ginny said very curious now.

"That, was not for seen. There are many things it could be, or it could be many things at once," she said with a frustration in her voice. Ginny could tell that this was weighing on Taliesan. She hadn't been able to predict what her special gift would be. "But I am sure you will know in time."

"How are my children supposed to bring balance?" she asked another difficult question to Taliesan.

"The parents exist to teach a child, but also they must learn what the child has to teach them in return, to help the child learn what he needs to know," she said taking Ginny's hand.

Ginny just stared at her, trying to understand what she had just said. She was getting very confused and tired, but for some reason she liked talking to Taliesan, even if she did confuse her as much as Dumbledore.

"I have one more question. Should I tell Harry?" she looked at Taliesan with great questioning on her face.

"I can not tell you one way or the other," Taliesan let go of Ginny's hand. "For the father is not clear."

With that Dumbledore asked Ginny if she was ready to go. They stood and helped clean the table before they left, Taliesan told Ginny and Dumbledore she would be sending Aryn to check on them now and again. If Ginny needed her just let Dumbledore know, he could see to it that she got to Descartes safely.

"Albus, a word before you leave, please," Taliesan pulled him to the side. Ginny and Aryn walked out to the front porch. "She needs a little help finding her strength with in herself. I know with the right encouragement from you, her family she will soon discover all that lies with in her," she paused, "One more thing Albus, she should know and soon, you can not keep it from her much longer."

Dumbledore nodded his head in agreement and they made their way to the porch.