Tested In Fire

For those overseas in military positions. Here's a bit of fun for all of us.

Chapter Twenty-One: Gryffindor Versus Hufflepuff

Harry woke up with his usual Quidditch-day jitters. Today, though, there was something different mixed in with his unstable emotions. Perhaps it was the fact that Remus, Anna and Sirius would all be there to watch him potentially embarrass himself.

Security was tight all around the castle. There were a number a number of strange men that nobody recognized up at the staff table, whom Ron, who was now allowed to join his classmates, thought were Aurors.

"Though I've got to admit, they are kind of creepy," he mumbled as he chomped through a sausage.

"Ron!" Hermione rebuked.

"Look, Harry, I know I can't play this year, but I've spent some time thinking about it, and look..." He drew out a quill and a piece of parchment and started to sketch a Quidditch pitch. Immediately the two boys were swept up in a conversation.

"Bless you, Ron," Hermione muttered. "Come on, Ginny, I've got something to show you. We'll be back in time to see the match."

Ginny stood reluctantly and began to follow Hermione.

"Ginny!" Harry called out.

"I'll see you at the match. Until then, bye!"

"What was that all about?" Ron asked.

"I dunno. You tell me."

Completely baffled, the two boys returned to their discussion of Quidditch tactics.

"Hermione, where are we going?"

"To the library, of course."

"Of course," Ginny echoed. "Where else would we be going?"

Hermione didn't hear her. "It's time we sat down and talked."

"About what?"

"I'll explain once we get a table." Hermione pushed open the door to the library. "After you."

Ginny shrugged. "All right, Hermione. What's going on?"

"It's the spell."

"The spell to capture Voldemort?"

"Yes. Honestly, this turning out to be a disaster."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that there's no way this will work."

"Hermione, you've got to be more specific. Why won't it work?"

"Oh, it will work all right, at least in the way that you mean, but there's no way Ron and I are going to let you and Harry use it. You'd have to cast it, you know. It's written specifically for you two."

"Why won't you and Ron let us use it? I think it should be a personal decision, don't you? It's my life, not yours."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Hermione muttered. "It's like this. The risk is far too great for anyone to cast, even if it were to be you and Harry. I haven't even developed it all the way, and I know that much."

"Hermione."

"Look. James and Lily Potter wrote that spell for someone who was a Seer. Only a Seer- and for someone who's Animagus form is a griffin. It's there in their notes. The first problem is that we don't know that Harry would transform into that shape."

Ginny rolled her fingernails against the wood of the table and pondered for a moment just how much to tell Hermione. In the end, she decided the direct route would be safest.

"Yes, we do."

Hermione looked sharply at her friend with eyes that saw more than anyone else's that Ginny knew.

Ginny sighed and pushed away from the table, ready for the explosion of her friend's temper.

"We know that it is, according to the second prophecy."

"Which you happen to have in your pocket?" Hermione suggested sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, yes."

Hermione closed her eyes and began to move her mouth. Unless Ginny was very much mistaken, Hermione was counting to ten slowly. After a time, she spoke. "Why didn't you tell anyone that you had the second prophecy? It would have made things a lot easier for everyone else."

"Because Harry and I, that is, we, um, decided to..."

"Harry and I? We? Decided what?" Hermione's breath was coming in short intakes and she was turning very red. It reminded Ginny very uncomfortably of her mother.

"Well, um, the second prophecy has a lot to do with, you know, us..."

"For goodness sake!"

"Hermione..."

"No. You listen to me. You and Harry have been living in this little world that the rest of us can't get to. You don't seem to understand that we're dealing with the Dark Lord here. It's not going to be a picnic. Nothing is going to be handed to you on a silver platter. You've got to utilize what you have! Do you even know what you have? You have me, you have Ron, you have some of the most brilliant professors Hogwarts has ever seen, and you have Professor Dumbledore. None of us can help you reach your happy ending if you don't give us a chance! That means that we have to know what's going on. You can't leave us in the dark! Lack of knowledge means that your brother is going to walk with a limp for the rest of his life. Lack of knowledge means that we will never see Dean Thomas again! Merlin's beard, Ginny, we can't afford anything more happening! I'm trying my best, can't you see? I'm trying, and I can't get through to you people."

"Hermione..."

"There's got to be another way to defeat Lord Voldemort, prophecy or no prophecy. If you use that capturing spell, you'll die. It's as simple as that."

Hermione began to try to massage her headache from her temples.

"Why?" Ginny's voice cut through her momentary relief of pain.

"Because that spell allows you to capture his - that is to say, Lord Voldemort's power in a locket or some other material thing.

"So? How is that bad?"

"That is bad because the energy it would take to capture his power would be phenomenal. You and Harry are up there, but we're talking quite literally hundreds of units of power. Add in the fact that you have to contain him to an object, which is nearly impossible, by the way, and you've got a recipe that will cook up certain energy-drain and then death."

Ginny shook her head. "I don't- I don't understand."

Hermione hissed. "It won't be a nice way to die, Ginny. It would be like having all of the water in your body sucked out in a single gulp. Your skin would shrivel and your eyes would dry out. Your cells would begin to struggle to find any source of water and would resort to cannibalistic behavior. You'd die very quickly. But that's just the beginning."

"Excuse me?"

"You and Harry would be trapped with him. Your spirits would have to coexist peacefully in this locket. Or the power would course through you. With the both of you having as much raw magic as you do, neither one of you would be able to handle it. There would be a possibility of your energies canceling each other out, leaving a void where England used to be."

Ginny hissed.

"That's right. You'd be playing with some pretty serious magic."

"But James and Lily must have thought they could have modified it, or something."

"They did. They were moving on to that stage when Voldemort killed them."

"Is there any way it can be avoided?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course. If I had about a decade and thousands of hours of free time. Then I would have to know when, where and how Voldemort would strike. Even then, there's a good possibility that it would backfire."

"Well," Ginny rose and forced her voice to level. "We'll decide what to do when the time comes."

Hermione couldn't bear the look in her friend's eye. "Ginny. No. Don't be a martyr. Just let us work out a different way. I know there's something..."

"Well, if you believe it, I believe it. Nothing will be decided rashly. Okay?"

Hermione drew a shaky breath. "Okay."

"Right now, we've got a Quidditch match to go to."

"Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"It will work out."

"Thanks, Hermione."

**

The crowd seemed to Harry to be in higher spirits than usual. He had given his usual pep talk in the changing room, and he briefly considered his teammates.

James Flannigan, Sean O'Connor and Trisha MacGregor, the second-year Gaelic threesome, were his Chasers for this season. Marie Smith and John Williams had taken over as Beaters last year. His Keeper was Chionia MacGregor. On the whole, Gryffindor had a good chance of winning.

Quickly, Harry scanned the crowd, looking for two familiar redheads. He spotted Ron, who was limping slightly on his right leg, which had gone the longest without treatment. Ron, noticing Harry's gaze, waved his right hand in a semblance of a wave. Harry returned the favor.

Behind Ron, with her hand on his back to support him, was Hermione. Following Ron's gaze, she saw Harry and waved enthusiastically.

Ginny was the last person he saw. Her hair was in wild disarray from the wind and the walk to the pitch. She laughed at something Hermione said, then her eyes landed on Harry's face. She grinned and waved, but Harry saw that her eyes were troubled.

He shook off his sense of foreboding. He owed it to his teammates to give one hundred percent of his attention to the match. So, with an effort, he forced his mind back to Quidditch.

"All right, Captains. Shake hands," Madam Hooch instructed. Harry grasped the Hufflepuff's hand and smiled.

"Good luck," he said, trying to hide how nervous he was.

"Aye, good luck to you as well."

"Teams, mount your brooms!"

Both teams did so, and Harry looked over his team once more. He began to murmur under his breath. "Catch the Snitch, catch the Snitch."

Madam Hooch blasted her shrill whistle and both teams were off.

"Here we go!" Ron's excited voice came over the magical megaphone. Harry was only slightly surprised. "Gryffindor is in possession of the Quaffle. O'Connor passes to Flannigan, Flannigan shoots--And it's a MISS!"

Harry winced, but his quick green eyes were still looking for the Snitch.

"Hufflepuff now with the Quaffle. Murray passes to Weston- Weston fumbles and throws over the Quaffle to Sydney. Sydney takes a shot- but it's blocked by Gryffindor Keeper MacGregor! MacGregor kicks it back out to O'Connor, who takes it down the length of the pitch! She shoots! SCORE! 10-0 Gryffindor!"

The red and gold side of the stadium erupted in cheers, but the game didn't slow down.

"Gryffindor Beaters Smith and Weston hit one of the Bludgers over toward Hufflepuff Seeker Jones, but he's too quick to be hit! It's a narrow miss though!"

Boos came from the Hufflepuff side as Harry's eyes pierced the pitch.

"That'll be a penalty to Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff Chasers makes the shot! We're tied at 10-10!"

In the stands, Ginny and Hermione watched the game closely, not really speaking to one another. The words that Hermione had said to her less than an hour ago kept running through Ginny's mind.

"Don't be a martyr," Hermione had said. Ginny bit her lip and closed her eyes momentarily. She wished, desperately for a moment, that none of this were real. That she could make it go away with a potion or a wand flick or something.

"Well, hello everyone. Sorry we're late." The cheerful male voice caught Ginny by surprise.

"Dad!"

She jumped up and was immediately enveloped in her father's arms.

"Hello, my little one. How's the game going? Oh, hello, Hermione. Hi, Ron. So, tell me, Hermione, how are your parents?"

Hermione grinned. "Their dentist office is booming. Naturally they complain about the state of the general public's oral hygiene, but I know that they're enjoying themselves."

"The game's tied 10-10! Harry hasn't seen the Snitch yet. At least, I don't think so," Ginny said very fast.

Her mother's eyes narrowed, and she made a point to sit next to her daughter.

"What's wrong? Harry?"

"No, Harry's wonderful. Look at him." Ginny's distracted eyes certainly were.

"Ginny."

"We'll talk about it later, Mum."

"Gryffindor has scored again! 20-10 Gryffindor!" Ron was practically jumping up and down in his seat.

"Maybe we should have a chat right now," Molly suggested firmly.

"Mum, I just, I don't know."

"Of course you don't know. That's because we haven't talked."

"There's so much to tell you. Let's wait until I can think, all right?"

"All right."

Up in the air, Harry was frantically searching for the Snitch. He wasn't worried yet, but he liked to be aware of the general direction in which the Snitch was located. Now he had no clue. Suddenly, his eyes lit.

"Found you," he muttered and urged his Firebolt to a higher speed.

"It looks like Potter has seen the Snitch! He's diving..."

The noise of the crowd disappeared around him as Harry entered a zone where nothing existed except for himself and the Snitch. In fact, he didn't see the Bludger at all, until it smashed into his ankle. The whole stadium heard the crunch.

"Son of a..." but Harry's voice trailed off as he found his target again, the Golden Snitch.

"Potter hasn't even stopped! I always knew he was crazy, but this is beyond anything I've seen! He sees the Snitch! Jones is in hot pursuit- but doesn't even have a chance! Harry Potter has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins! 170-10!"

**