Tested In Fire

Tested In Fire, Chapter 6: Back to Hogwarts

In the future, when Ginny Weasley reflected on the train ride to Hogwarts just before her fifth year, she would never quite know just how she got through it.

Having survived Harry's absence for a week and a half before the start of term so he could visit his godfather and Remus, Ginny felt that she'd done a remarkable job so far this summer, and was just reminding herself not to make a complete idiot of herself when Harry, Hermione, and Ron entered her car.

"Oy, Ginny! Can we sit with you? The rest of the cars are full," Ron said, his hand tucked firmly into Hermione's.

"Of course," she said, sure that the dizziness she was feeling was due to the close proximity to Harry Potter.

"Are you feeling okay, Ginny?" Hermione asked, concerned. "You look awfully pale."

"I'll be all right once we get to Hogwarts, I'm sure." As she said this, she fought hard not to gag.

Harry looked as though he didn't believe her, and kept stealing looks in her direction to make sure she was okay. In fact, Ginny wasn't certain. she believed herself. Ron and Hermione, who had taken the seat opposite her, kept fading in and out of focus. It felt like the world was spinning just underneath her feet, and her head was pounding.

While the other three in the car discussed teachers, classes, summer holidays, Quidditch and acquaintances, Ginny fought to keep herself conscious and coherent. She heard something about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher; apparently it was someone they all three knew quite well, and were looking forward to. Unable to force herself to think, she couldn't tell who it was.

It wasn't until the conversation turned to her that she tried to focus on them.

"You know, Gin, you don't look well," Ron observed.

"Ron!" Hermione protested.

"Well, she doesn't," Ron fired back.

"You're not supposed to tell her that!"

Ginny found herself unable to respond to any of it, as though someone were holding her tongue and filling her mouth with something liquid and decidedly unpleasant. Perhaps it was best, she decided, to keep her mouth shut.

While Hermione and Ron argued, Ginny closed her eyes. After a bit, she heard a voice coaxing her.

"Come on, Gin. Wake up. We're at Hogwarts."

It was Harry's voice she'd heard in her mind, she was sure of it. Just as sure as she was that she had passed out. Fighting hard to wake up, she found that the more she pushed her conscious to awake, the more it resisted.

"Something's not right. Quick, let's get her to the Hospital Wing."

"Are you sure? Ginny's never been sick a day in her life," she heard Ron saying.

"Of course he's sure. Look at her," Hermione's voice responded, and after that, cotton filled her ears like the blackness covering her eyes, and she could hear no more.

**

The Great Hall was filled to the brim with Hogwarts students, but Harry couldn't think about any of them. His mind kept running in circles.

All of a sudden he felt anger like he'd only felt on rare occasions. Ginny Weasley was in the Hospital Wing, and no one could tell Ron or Harry what was going on. Apparently Madame Pomfrey had only seen this type of case once in her career, and felt unprepared to deal with it, so they had sent for an expert. Worst of all, there was no one here to reassure him, no one here to fix him hard rock cakes and tea...and Harry realized, very suddenly, that that was the reason he was having a hard time dealing with the current dilemma.

The pain of losing Hagrid was more than the pain of a constant stomach ache, as he had heard someone describe grief before. It was as if someone was continually stabbing him in the heart with a knife, pulling the metal weapon in and out slowly so that the shock came in waves.

Oftentimes he caught himself thinking that Hagrid was still around, wanting to go his hut, wanting to inquire about something, just wanting to talk to the friendly half-giant who had become so much more than Harry's friend over the years.

It was Hagrid who had given him his first birthday present, Hagrid who had helped him, however inadvertently, find where the Sorcerer's Stone was being kept, Hagrid who had reassured Hermione that she was one of the most brilliant witches in the world when she was doubtful, Hagrid who had almost killed them, yet helped them solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets by leading them to the spiders, Hagrid who had... well, the list just went on and on.

Harry felt a sudden urge to punch someone... something. There was no way he could get to the real murderer. He had to wait for Voldemort to make his move first, and there was something irritating in that the Dark Lord seemingly had all the power. Dumbledore, who rose out of his seat and tapped his goblet with his spoon, saved him from his violent urge.

"If I could have your attention, we're ready to begin the Sorting now."

As Professor McGonagall read the names out loud after the Sorting Hat's song, Harry watched the faces of the first-years that had their destiny decided for them in that moment. Some of them looked scared. Others looked hopeful, while yet another group looked confident. So many expressions, so many feelings... yet he felt like he was on the outside looking in.

He clapped enthusiastically for the new Gryffindors the same as everyone else, but the feeling of looking through a snow globe didn't leave him for quite a long time. The feast began, and while he ate, he just couldn't put down the amount of food that Ron did, which worried Hermione.

"Are you feeling okay, Harry? Maybe you've caught whatever it is that Ginny has. You know, I was reading in Common Magical Ailments and Cures the other day that..."

Ron swallowed a particularly large piece of roast and rolled his eyes. "I don't think he's sick, are you, Harry?"

"No, I'm fine."

Suddenly Hermione's eyes lit with understanding. She probably felt guilty for being insensitive about it, but Harry graced her with one of his now rare smiles, and she relaxed.

"If you could lend me your ears once again," Dumbledore said, and the Great Hall quieted once again. "There have been some changes on the Hogwarts staff..."

Just then the door burst open, and two cloaked figures dashed into the Hall. Harry turned around quickly and saw that it was Remus and Sirius. He had known, of course, that Sirius was to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, but he didn't know what Remus was at the school for.

"Ah, Professors. So glad you could join us." Sirius raised his head, and Harry could see that he was slightly charred and out of breath.

"Sorry, Headmaster. We had a bit of a delay," Remus said, glaring slightly at Sirius. Harry bent his head to hide his laugh. Remus caught him, however, and frowned just slightly at him before his face broke into a grin.

"Take your seats, Professors. As I was saying, there have been some changes on the Hogwarts staff this year. Professor Sirius Black was kindly consented to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts position this year, and Professor Remus Lupin will be filling the position of Groundskeeper and will also be teaching Care of Magical Creatures this year, in the place of Rubeus Hagrid, whom we lost earlier this year to a Death Eater attack." After a moment of silence in Hagrid's memory, the older years in Gryffindor burst into very loud applause, and everyone else into polite clapping. Except for the Slytherins, particularly Draco Malfoy, who was making loud comments about how needing ex-convicts to teach at Hogwarts was showing the obvious decline of the quality of the school.

"Another change, although somewhat unexpected, will take place in the Divination tower. Professor Trelawney is taking an extended vacation, to recover from a vision that was taxing to her health. Professor Anna Black will be taking her place indefinitely, most likely for all of this year."

Unenthusiastic applause smattered around the Hall, as the students tried to look for Professor Anna Black. "I have just received word. Professor Black is attending a student. Before I dismiss you, I wanted to remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is exactly that. Forbidden. I would not recommend any unescorted student trips to Hogsmeade or anywhere else this year, with or without an Invisibility Cloak." He was looking directly into Harry's eyes as he said this. "Security will, unfortunately, have to be tight this year. We must ask that you obey all school rules, no matter how ridiculous they sound. Our caretaker has asked me to remind that wandering around the school hallways will not be tolerated this year. Also, the list of banned items has been considerably upgraded this year. A copy of that list can be found in Mr. Filch's office. Good night, everyone. Prefects, you may escort the first years to their dormitories."

**

Ginny Weasley couldn't force herself to wake up. The haze she was fighting seemed to bear down like a dead weight on her conscious.

"Virginia. Virginia Weasley. Wake up, please."

The voice was calling to her softly, but it was not like the voices she had hard before the darkness consumed her. This one seemed to come from inside somewhere.

"No! I cannot! I will not!" she heard herself answering.

"You can and you will. Come on. Wake up."

The voice was definitely female, and definitely impatient.

"I.... I don't want to."

"Why ever not? You have nothing to fear here in the land of the living."

"The light... and the voices..."

"Ah. I understand. Well, it's no use running from your problems, Virginia Weasley, and I have come a long way to meet you. I would appreciate it if you would return to us so that I may talk with you in the normal sense. I must confess that it has been a very long time since I've communicated on this plane. It wears me out. Now, if you will just open your eyes..."

"This plane? What's going on? Who are you? I don't want to wake up, I tell you! You can't make me!"

And suddenly, Ginny Weasley found herself sitting upright in a bed in the hospital wing, definitely awake. Beside her in a chair was one of the most striking and odd women Ginny had ever run across in her relatively short life.

"Ah, Virginia, so nice of you to join us. I'm Professor Anna Black. Pleased to meet you."

"You're the voice."

"Aye, that I am. Well, I'll leave to rest for a bit. We'll talk in the morning." When she stood to leave, Ginny found that she had no energy to protest. Instead, she focused her attention on the new Professor.

Professor Black had a light Scottish accent, she noted, but that wasn't unusual around Hogwarts. What was really unusual was her looks. Small and petite, Professor Anna Black couldn't have been more than five feet tall at her full height. Black hair that reminded her strongly of Harry's godfather had fallen unbound to her waist. Her eyes had been blue. Ice blue, strongly contradicted by the warmth in her voice when she had welcomed Ginny back.

Ginny closed her eyes and was about to go to sleep when she noticed an odd rustling. Things seemed to be moving in a most unnatural way. Like the bed-curtains.

"Ronald Weasley!" she whispered, doing her best imitation of their mother.

"Sorry," whispered a voice, full of laughter and yet totally invisible. "Try again."

"Who are you?"

"Harry Potter."

Ginny giggled and laid back on the bed. "I can't see you, you know."

"I know. That's really very reassuring, as I'm supposed to be invisible."

"You're that good?" The amusement in her voice was evident as she fingered the covers and looked around for any physical evidence that he was there.

"I'm good at lots of things," Harry said, probably not realizing the possible double meaning, "but I'm not good enough to go invisible on my own."

"Well, then?"

"I've got a cloak, Miss Weasley, since you're so curious to know."

"Wow. An invisibility cloak? That's... amazing. They're rare."

"I know. Ron told me."

Ginny narrowed her eyes very suddenly. "Just what are you doing here, Mr. Potter?" Despite her expression, her tone still showed how light-hearted she was feeling, or pretending to feel.

"I came down to make sure you were all right."

"I'm fine."

"I can see that. So I'll... just um....go, then."

Ginny laughed at how nervous he seemed. "I'm supposed to rest. I hope I'll see you all in the morning?"

"Of course. Wild horses couldn't keep Ron away."

She frowned as he turned around to walk out of the door. Wild horses couldn't keep Ron away... what about Harry?

**

Anna Black made her way, exhausted and dirty from her trip, up to the Divination tower. The first order of business when she woke up in the morning was to move all of the junk that Sybil Trelawney had collected over the years down and out- preferably into the bottom of the Hogwarts lake. She also was going to move her room. There was no way she could handle walking down the stairs to eat and then walking back up six times a day.

Unlike Sybil, Anna knew the difference between wishful thinking and a real premonition, and that was why she was here, at Hogwarts. She knew there was another Seer coming to power, which was rare, because there was rarely more than one true Seer alive at one time, and she also knew she had to be there. Virginia Weasley was going to be powerful. Very powerful indeed, which could be dangerous for her, and her friends. This sickness was just the first bout in a very long line of dizzy spells, nausea, headaches and more that was the manifestation of her abilities coming into play. Anna recalled her own transition from witch to Seer with not so fond memories, and allowed herself for a moment to feel pity for the young Weasley.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she stopped for a moment and closed her eyes, trying to feel whether or not anyone was in the room.

Being a Seer rarely worked like Sybil, or anyone else, thought it did. She wasn't psychic, but she could still feel magical auras. Only once in her life had she spouted off a prophecy (and a fat lot of good that had done her) and she never woke up in the morning knowing exactly what was going to happen that day. Tea leaves, crystal balls... those were all enhancers. You couldn't even begin to use them unless you had some traces of the Gift. So, for her class this year, Anna had required nothing. This was going to be an educational course. Famous Seers of the past, how to tell the difference between someone who was faking and someone who knew what they were doing, how to deal with a real Seer in a trance (something she felt that they were going to need if she and Ginny hung around Hogwarts much longer), and what being a Seer was really like.

Suddenly, Anna spun around. There was a new aura in her presence. "SIRIUS!" Anna jumped into Sirius's waiting arms and laughed.

"Anna, my love, what are you doing here at Hogwarts?"

"I'm teaching, dear brother o' mine."

Sirius grinned and kissed both her cheeks. "Two Blacks at Hogwarts. Dumbledore doesn't know what he's got himself into. Now, what's the other motive for appearing at Hogwarts so suddenly?"

"What makes you think I have another motive?"

"Anna Black never does anything simply because someone asked her to, even if that someone was Professor Albus Dumbledore."

"I have another Seer to train. I thought it was my duty."

"Another Seer? Having you around was bad enough, darling..."

"I love you, Sirius."

Sirius's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"I missed you. I don't get to see you for fourteen... no, fifteen years."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't write to you in Azkaban, and it was too dangerous when I was on the run."

"I'm not mad at you, Sirius. Not for what happened here at the school, not for your words. I understand now. I'm not mad, I swear it. Just, don't ever go away like that again."

"I promise, Anna."

"Well, it's no use standing out here blubbering. Why don't you..." Her eyes squinted and then lit in amusement, "and Remus come and have a night cap with me."

Remus Lupin, who was just coming up the stairs at this point, let out a booming laugh. "I couldn't ever get one past you."

Anna nodded, and they stood next to each other, as if trying to decide what exactly to do.

Sirius grinned. This, at least, hadn't changed. "Who's the new Seer, then?"

"There's another Seer?" Remus's voice was concerned.

"Yes, there is. That's why I'm here. You should know that. After all, you were spying on us."

"I was not."

"Hey, can we not argue with each other? This is the first time we've seen Anna in fifteen years... well, at least, that's true for me, and I'd really not start on old feuds right now."

Remus nodded. "Agreed."

"Well, then. Come on. I'll pour us all a drink."

When they were all sitting down together in the Tower, Remus finally got up the courage to ask the big question.

"So, who's the new Seer?"

"Virginia Weasley," Anna said calmly and took a sip of the Windelin's Wine they'd all been enjoying. "She's the reason I didn't get to go to the feast. She's having threshold sickness. Not as bad as mine was, mind you, but a decent case of it."

Remus and Sirius winced sympathetically.

"So, what's the plan?" Sirius asked, seemingly nonchalant.

"Well, first I've got to explain to her what this all about. And then," here she heaved a huge sigh. "I've got to convince her to take Divination."

Remus chuckled and Sirius nearly snorted his wine out of his nose.

"I get the impression that Divination isn't exactly the most respected class," Anna said, amusement fringing her voice.

"It wasn't when we were at school," Sirius remarked.

Anna shot him a death glare, but Remus nodded his head. "A lot of students figure it's an easy mark, Anna."

"It's a good thing Sybil kept all her papers on file. I'm going to go through them before I hold my next lesson tomorrow."

"I'm sure you'll find them to be most... entertaining," Remus said diplomatically.

"If they're anything like the Divination papers you two used to write, I'm sure I'll be highly amused."

"Come on now, we put a lot of hard work into our homework assignments." Sirius retorted, insulted.

Anna smiled. "I'm sure you did."

"Well, Sirius, Anna, I'd better get going. There are some things I need to clear up with the Headmaster," Remus announced as he stood to go.

Anna reached out with invisible fingers to feel his aura.

"REMUS J. LUPIN!"

Sirius and Remus both covered their ears in self-defense.

"Did you have to shout? I mean, couldn't you just have cursed him or something?" Sirius pleaded.

"Have you told anybody?" Anna asked, completely ignoring Sirius and walking the two paces to where Remus stood frozen. With her index finger, she pushed him back into his chair.

"What did you do?" Sirius asked.

"Hush, Sirius. Well, Remus?"

"No. I was hoping no one would notice."

"Lucky I showed up then. I thought that fifteen years would have meant that you learned to take care of yourself."

"I have."

"Mmmhmm."

"Would somebody please tell me what's going on?" Sirius demanded.

"Remus's transformations have been causing him pain- too much pain. Even with the Wolfsbane Potion."

"Damn it, Anna!" Remus's eyes were lit with fire and anger that only Anna could provoke.

"Why is that?" Sirius wanted to know, his voice dripping with concern.

"Because he's been a werewolf for far too long."

"Can we please have this conversation as if I were actually in the room?"

"Of course," Anna said. "I'm sorry."

"No apologies. Actually, there is a reason. It will be better this month," Remus said. "Thank you for being concerned."

"It's not because...?" Anna let her voice trail off.

"Yes, it is."

"Excuse me? Will someone tell me what is going on, again?"

"No." Remus said, and his tone booked no argument. "I'm going to see the headmaster. Goodnight Sirius, Anna."

**

Ginny Weasley woke and Anna Black was there, again.

"Good morning. How are you this morning?"

"Honestly? I feel like I've been run over by a train."

Anna chuckled. "That's perfectly natural."

"Nobody will tell me what's happening to me."

"That's because there's very few people who understand what's happening to you."

"Do you?"

"Yes. That's why I'm here, actually. You're on the threshold of something new and different for you, and your body is reacting badly. But then, so does everyone's."

"Threshold of something new?"

"What do you know about Seers?"

"Only that there's no possible way I am one."

"It's time you start to believe in the impossible."

"What?"

"You, my dear, are experiencing threshold sickness. Your abilities are awakening, and your mind can't handle it, so it's treating it like it would a virus. This is only the beginning. When you start to exercise actual Divination, it will be worse."

"I don't want this. I don't need this."

"Well, there's no use denying it. In fact, that almost makes it worse. People are going to need you."

"What do you know about it?"

"Well, my dear, I'm a Seer. We're in the same boat, so to speak."

"You're a Seer?"

"In the flesh. I'm here to make sure that we both don't make the same mistakes I did."

"We both?"

"Well, I hate to repeat mistakes."

"You're not making sense. I'm not making sense..."

"You're doing fine. This is a lot to swallow. Now, I'm going to need to see you this afternoon after your classes to begin our work."

"Um... okay."

"Rest now. And tell young Mr. Potter when he materializes after I've left that you're going to be perfectly fine. I give him my word as his godmother."