Destiny of Souls

Chapter 18: More in Common

Dumbledore was sitting in his office and appeared to be waiting for them as usual the next morning. His eyes showed neither surprise nor expectance, he merely waved them into the room and gestured for them to sit down.

"I believe congratulations are in order Severus."

"Excuse me?"

"I have been informed that you are now engaged." There was a twinkle in his eye. He winked at Kara.

"Yes, thank you Headmaster. However, that is not why we are here," Snape said as he quickly changed the subject from his love life to the issue at hand.

"I see. What then do I owe the pleasure of your company to then Severus?"

Snape couldn't answer him. The words simply wouldn't come out of his mouth. He turned to Kara and with his eyes asked her to continue the conversation.

"We believe that Harry may have Inner Focus Headmaster, he needs to be tested," she replied on his behalf.

Dumbledore sighed heavily and sat back in his chair. He didn't seem surprised at all, which Kara assumed could only be the result of some foreknowledge of Harry's abilities. He looked between the two of them, obviously expecting some sort of negative reaction from Snape. Perhaps he was waiting for Snape to jump up and begin pacing the room like he normally did in times of stress, but something was keeping him glued to his chair. After a few minutes of waiting for Snape's usual overreaction to issues related to Harry Potter, Dumbledore realized it wasn't coming.

"What gives you this impression?"

"He was able to disable me with my Ring on the first try. It's not a clear sign, but it is certainly a curious anomaly that we should investigate."

"We will need consent from Sirius Black and of course from Harry. I will send a note out immediately to Sirius to see if he can come. Would this evening be satisfactory?"

"Yes Headmaster," Kara said.

"Severus?"

Snape merely nodded. He held his face firm, but Kara knew he felt defeated somehow.

* * *

Dumbledore came to her office that evening with Snape in trail. He sent them up to wait in his office while he fetched Harry from the confines of Gryffindor Tower. Sirius Black was already in the room, standing near Fawkes, apparently talking to the bird. Kara assumed this affection for Phoenixes must be a Gryffindor personality trait.

The two men stood on opposite sides of the room, staring at each other. Kara rolled her eyes and sat down.

"Sit. The both of you. This will be hard enough on him without needing to worry about whether or not the two of you are going to break out into a duel," she snapped.

They sat on either side of her. No one said anything else until Harry arrived.

"Sirius! What are you doing here? Am I in trouble Headmaster?" he said as he spied Snape sitting in the room as well.

"On the contrary Harry, please sit down. We have something very important to discuss with you."

Harry sat tentatively in a chair next to Sirius. His eyes fell on Snape as usual. Kara had noticed that either from a habit acquired in Potions class or out of direct fear of the overbearing Professor, that students tended to watch him closely when he was nearby.

"Professor Lynch has informed me that you have succeeded in learning to use her Ring of Epa," Dumbledore began. Harry nodded slightly to give recognition to this fact.

"I'm not sure if you're aware, Harry, but the ease at which you accomplished this feat is quite remarkable." Harry nodded again, clearly unsure of where this conversation was going.

"There are several possible explanations for this. The most probable is that you have Inner Focus," Dumbledore finally said.

For some reason unknown to Kara or to anyone else in the room, Harry's eyes fell back to Snape. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the profile of the man she loved staring back at Harry.

"What exactly does that mean Professor?" Harry asked Dumbledore.

"Well, it means that you have the ability to do magic without a wand of course. However, we will need to test you to determine if you do indeed possess the talent."

"What kind of test?"

Dumbledore glanced in her direction. She took her cue.

"A series of three tests designed to determine if you have Inner Focus. They are relatively difficult compared to what you're used to. I would estimate they are on the same level as the Patronus spell you've already mastered."

"So I just perform the spells, and if I do I have Inner Focus?"

"It will be clear to us, yes."

Harry looked at Sirius and they seemed to have a silent conversation.

"It's up to you Harry if you want to do this. No one is forcing you," Sirius said.

Harry nodded. "Yes I want to."

"Excellent. I trust there is a suitable location available?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, the Defense classroom has been prepared," Snape said. It was the only contribution he had made to the conversation.

The five of them headed towards Kara's classroom. Snape had done an excellent job. He had cleared all of the furniture from the room, and as an added bonus he had covered all the windows with thick boards. She silently concluded she would not be undoing that improvement on her classroom.

Dumbledore instructed Harry to stand in the middle of the room facing in the opposite direction of where Snape, Kara and Sirius Black were now standing. Kara took a deep breath. This experience had been less than pleasant for her, as she suspected it might be for Harry. Snape stood between her and Sirius as they all watched Harry.

"Harry you'll need to take off your school robes and Professor Lynch's Ring of Epa."

Harry slid the black school robes off self-consciously revealing oversized rags underneath. Snape gave Sirius a very cold look as if to ask why he allowed his Godson to walk around in such clothes. Harry then walked over and handed her the Ring that glistened as it hung off of its chain. She was, once again, relieved at his attention to detail when it came to this important piece of her life. He could have easily handed it to Dumbledore, but instead he chose to hand it back to her.

"Harry, now this first test will determine if you have the ability to Focus," Dumbledore said as he placed a book on the ground in front of Harry.

"I want you to Focus on the book. Describe to yourself, in your mind, what the book looks like. The intricate details of its shape and other physical properties like it's weight," Dumbledore said.

Harry stared at the book attempting to do just as Dumbledore had asked. Several minutes passed as Harry participated in this exercise.

"Good. Now imagine what it would be like if that book moved itself to the left. Imagine the same sort of properties."

Nothing happened but soon afterwards Dumbledore told Harry to stop. It was clear Harry thought he had failed the test. However, unknown to Harry a small breeze had erupted in the room, making it clear to at least Dumbledore, Snape and Kara that Harry had Inner Focus. Sirius seemed a little puzzled.

"Good. Now the second test will determine your ability to control with your Focus."

Dumbledore said as he replaced the book on the floor with a tiny white mouse. The mouse stood glued to the spot as if it had been frightened into stone.

"I want you to look at this mouse. Describe to yourself what it looks like, it's physical traits, it's movements, it's very essence."

Dumbledore allowed Harry to do this for well over thirty minutes as the five of them stood there in patient silence. Sirius was the only one who seemed to be fidgeting at all. Snape and Kara had been through this before.

Suddenly the mouse began screaming and a huge burst of wind swept through the room. Everyone but Sirius Black and Harry were expecting this. Harry was so engrossed in the activity that he was unaware of the wind and Sirius would have fallen over if it weren't for Snape who absentmindedly reached over a hand and grabbed Sirius' grubby robes to prevent him from falling over and distracting Harry.

"Stop!" Dumbledore yelled finally and the wind in the room died down as Harry turned around to see four wizards standing with ruffled hair. Dumbledore was wearing a pleased smile.

"The final test will determine if you are an Oracle," Dumbledore said as he tucked the scared mouse into a pocket inside his robes.

"Please have a seat on the floor. Place your hands behind you to brace yourself."

Kara remembered this test. It was painful. As tired as Harry no doubt was now, it was nothing compared to how he would feel if it turned out he was an actual Oracle. She had been just eleven when Nabokov tested her.

"Now I want you to picture the most painful memory you have Harry," Dumbledore stated calmly.

Harry returned this statement with a look of horror. Kara couldn't imagine what Harry's most painful memory would be. If he actually was an Oracle, then recalling this memory and chanting the proper incantation would elicit a painful response from his body. She took a deep breath and the memory she had used reluctantly came floating into her mind. For the first time since Harry's testing began she looked at the floor and attempted to drown out the scene from her vision. This unusual alteration in her behavior caused Snape to put an arm around her.

She could hear Harry take a deep breath and Dumbledore asked him to speak the words to the incantation out loud. She could hear Harry muttering "Temporalis Mortalis" over and over again. Staring at the ground was no longer letting her forget what was happening. Tears were streaming down from her puffy eyes and she was forced to turn to face the other direction. Snape's arm slipped from off of her shoulders momentarily and her eyes met a place between his shoulder and the wall. He looked down at her and saw she was crying, it was the first time he'd ever seen her so vulnerable. She felt mortified and wanted to hide as much as possible what was happening to her. Her head fell to her chest so he couldn't see her cheeks as they streaked with tears.

She began hearing Harry's screams as the horror of his visions descended into his mind and his reality began to morph with the memory. Snape now had both arms around her and was cradling her, kissing the top of her head. It was the first time they had openly shown affection for one another in public. She heard Harry stop screaming and the voice of Dumbledore's subtle assurances began to film the room. She looked up into Snape's eyes. They were warm and comforting and she realized she never wanted to let him go. She rested her head back down onto his chest until she realized that Sirius Black was staring mouth agape at them.

She quickly wiped her wet eyes and composed herself. Snape let go of her. Sirius opened his mouth to speak but he didn't know quite what to say.

"You went through this?" he finally said.

"Yes," she replied simply.

Sirius looked at Dumbledore to ask permission if he could console Harry. Silently Dumbledore nodded and walked over to Kara and Snape as Harry sat slumped on the floor in the middle of the room.

"I have never seen a clearer case," Dumbledore said. "We should convene in my office and decide what will happen next. Are you all right Professor Lynch? Would you like some time alone first?"

Snape's hand came up to rub her shoulder.

"No I'm fine Headmaster. Thank you."

* * *

Ten minutes later Kara found herself seated in Dumbledore's office drinking some warm tea and for the second time in her life attempting to push the horrid memories of her past out of her mind. Harry was obviously still recovering as well as he sat slumped in a chair next to her, his head slumped and the curiously friendly Phoenix sat perched on his knee.

"Well it is clear to all of us Harry that you not only have Inner Focus, but you are in fact an Oracle," Dumbledore began.

"Did I get this from Voldemort?" Was Harry's first question. It was a good one, and something Kara had been pondering since she realized Harry's abilities using her ring.

"No," was all Dumbledore could say.

"How can you be sure?" Snape said hastily, his voice erupting through the room and shocking everyone.

"Because Lily and James concluded that Harry was most likely an Oracle before they died," Dumbledore said.

"What? That's impossible! They never told me!" Sirius erupted this time.

"They never told anyone, except for myself of course. It was something Lily discovered in doing research for the Ministry. She found that because of her bloodline and James' that they could possibly produce an Oracle."

"Her bloodline? But my Mum was Muggle born."

"She was not," Snape said to the surprise of everyone including Dumbledore.

"Yes she was. My aunt is a Muggle!" Harry retorted, apparently very upset that Snape would assume he could answer questions about Lily Potter.

"Your aunt is a Squib," Snape snapped back. "She found out after she married Potter that her parents had hidden her heritage from her. They did it on your Aunt's behalf so she could have a normal life. She currently has no idea her parents were wizards."

Snape seemed apparently amused that he could break this shocking news to Harry.

Harry simply sat there with his mouth agape and turned his focus to Dumbledore, who nodded and confirmed the information.

"Great. Just great," Harry mumbled.

"You seem less than enthused," Dumbledore pressed.

"Should I be happy?" Harry's voiced raised slightly into a shout. "It's not enough that I'm already a freak?" He stood up suddenly scaring Fawkes back to his perch.

"Sorry Fawkes," Harry said as he acknowledged he had dislodged the phoenix.

"I have this scar, these strange powers, two dead parents that I know absolutely nothing about, people tiptoe whisper and speculate about my life, and now I'm an Oracle. I am not enthused at all," Harry replied. It was perhaps the most grown up thing Kara had ever heard emerge from Harry Potter.

No one responded. Dumbledore was no doubt anticipating this anger.

"I am sick and tired of people staring at me all the time. Pointing, gasping, wondering. And I'm sick of people thinking I enjoy it." This last remark was stated just as Harry stared Snape down.

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me about me? Just when I think I have everything figured out, you tell me something else!"

"Harry sit down," Dumbledore said in his best soothing tone. Harry did reluctantly and dropped his head into his hand as if to block out the rest of the room.

"I will tell you everything you want to know, but I would ask that you refrain from sharing this information with anyone else."

"Ok," Harry said as he sat up straight and looked Dumbledore in the eye.

"When Severus told your parents that Voldemort was after you and your father, we sat down and discussed your future" Dumbledore said, but Harry rudely interrupted him.

"You did what?" he directed at Snape. "You hated my parents, why would you tell them about Voldemort?"

Snape, who was used to having to prod Harry to get this wonderfully angry reaction out of him, realized he was already in a ripe mood and simply responded

"The life debt."

Harry's glasses were slipping off his nose and his green eyes stared at him over the top of them in awe.

"As I was saying Harry, your parents and I sat down and discussed your future. They wrote their will, we determined what you would be told, and if you were an Oracle if you would be trained at all. They would have preferred you not be trained if it was possible to avoid."

"Is that when my Mum decided to use the Amorous charm?" Harry asked.

"Oh. You are aware of its name then. No, that came at a later time I believe, although I'm not sure when," Dumbledore replied. "She did tell me however that she would have a suitable plan. You are not obligated to develop these skills Harry, although there are some things you should know regardless. It is up to you."

"What does the training entail and who would I be training with?"

Dumbledore gave Kara a look; again her cue to begin explaining to Harry what his life would be like.

She described the arduous amounts of work, the long days in a cold room by himself, the studying, the pain, the exhaustion, and she was quick to point out the rewards. He listened attentively, casually throwing looks to Snape for some reason and nodding in the appropriate places.

Harry slipped down into his chair and once again dropped his head into his hands, resting his forehead on the palm of his hand.

"What am I going to tell Hermione and Ron? God and Ginny?" he said, exasperated.

Kara realized this wasn't a question he was expecting an answer to. In reality he shouldn't tell anyone at all, but it wasn't her business to give him advice on his personal relationships.

He finally said, "I want to be trained."

Kara nodded. "We will begin then this summer. That is if you don't mind being away from your family during the holidays."

"I don't."

"There are a few things I must tell you. The first is that you and I cannot touch one another. We will both die if we do. The same goes for any other Oracle. That is very important Harry. The second is that you should wait to tell anyone anything, including your friends. I realize it will be difficult keeping this secret from them, but until you realize the demands this is going to have on you it would be best to not tell them."

"I will have to. Even if I don't, Hermione will figure it out."

She nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. Hermione was a clever witch, and as soon as she realized Harry was spending so much time with his Defense teacher it would be clear why.

"Until then, you should probably be as quiet about it as possible."

He nodded. Dumbledore excused everyone and Kara spent the evening in Snape's arms. His presence was comforting after the evening's events. Her recalling her painful past, him having to concede that Harry Potter shared their special gifts and that Voldemort would kill to have this information was too much for either of them to bear.

They just lay together and fell asleep contemplating what lay ahead of them over the next few months of the summer holiday.