Harry Potter and The Secret of The Heirs

Chapter Twelve

Choices

Harry told Ron, Hermione and Lavender what he had seen. They were clueless as to what it meant. None of them had ever heard of this creature before. The bells had been totally forgotten in their search for the face. A face that Harry simply could not erase from his mind.

'Let me get this right,' Hermione said. 'The face was still there, it said it didn't have arms, so it couldn't cast a spell? How did cast one in the first place then?'

'I don't know,' Harry replied. 'I don't think it was human. I think it was some dark creation of Voldemort's, but he just killed it, because it had failed.'

'Wonder what the other task was?' Ron said. 'It failed in bringing you and something else.'

'It said something about either you or You-know-who?' Lavender questioned. 'What do you suppose that means? I'll have a look in the orb and see if I can see anything.'

She had kissed Harry and walked upstairs, sensing that Harry needed sometime with his two best friends. And to be honest she didn't completely feel comfortable around Hermione at the moment, there was a sensation about her that was making her feel completely uncomfortable. She knew she was falling for Harry, she just hoped he felt the same way. She knew she didn't want to lose him. She wished she didn't posses the gift of being able to see the future. She didn't want to look, but she felt drawn. She had a taste for glancing into the future and lately she hadn't really enjoyed what she had seen. Harry was right when he sensed that You-know-who wasn't going to stay quiet forever. She gave into temptation and gazed into the Orb. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't.

*~*

Ginny was holding Malfoy close to her. It seemed like he had been sobbing into her clothes for hours.

'It's okay Draco,' she kept saying. 'You don't have to do anything you don't want to.'

'They'll kill me' he finally said. 'If I don't they'll kill me, as soon as I leave Hogwarts. My father would do it himself in a moment without any hesitation.'

Ginny had known that there was a chance that Draco would become a Death Eater; she just hadn't thought it would happen so soon.

'What do you want to do Draco?' she asked.

"I don't know' he said. 'I just don't know. I know I don't want to be a Death Eater. I've never had a choice, Gin. I've always done what's expected. Then Professor Áille told me that Potter had seen that I was to be initiated today. What do you know about his scar?'

'I know that he can see You-know-who when it hurts' she whispered.

'That's what Professor Áille said. But I think she knows more than that. Father says she's a Celt and a very dangerous witch. Father wasn't very happy with her appointment. She's the only Celt in recent times to stay on the good side. I think she could sense that I don't really want to serve the Dark Lord. She thinks I should spy. If they find out they'll kill me, but if I refuse they'll kill me as well. Ginny, I don't want to lose you but if they make me a Death Eater, I can't be with you. I don't want to hurt you.'

'What if you spy?' she replied 'Will you break up with me then?'

Draco nodded his head slowly. His face looked entirely distraught.

'They'd make you a target. I couldn't put you at risk like that.'

'Well, that's not good enough for me Draco,' she snapped. 'I'd prefer to be at risk and with you, than be safe and without you. If you really don't want to be a Death Eater, then I'll stand by you. If they try and kill you, they'll have to kill me first. You could even tell your dad you're dating me to try and get information. And if you're that scared, we could, you know, get rid of him.'

Draco stared at her. She seemed very vicious in that statement.

'What do you mean get rid of him?' he asked.

'I don't know, perhaps you could think of something, but if he was going to hurt you, I swear, I'd kill him.' She gazed into his sad eyes.

Draco was speechless. He'd had no idea Ginny felt so strongly for him. Her letters over summer had been sweet, but brief, because both of them had been hiding it from their parents. Then Ron today had been particularly vicious with curses today, threatening him that he'd be getting much worse if he hurt Ginny in anyway.

Seeing Ginny made it clear what he would do. When the time came, he would give them his father, and then it would be all right. There'd be no one to hurt him anymore.

'It's time for me to start controlling my life' he said.

*~*

Harry headed down the corridor towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers office. It had had many owners over the seven years.

When he arrived he saw Chrystal and Sirius waiting for him. Sirius shut the door behind Harry.

'What was Voldemort doing Harry?'

Both Sirius and Dumbledore had learnt to take any pain Harry felt from his scar seriously. He had foretold several things that had occurred already.

'The face that was there at Kings Cross was there. Voldemort was angry; the face had failed in its two tasks so Voldemort killed it. But it said in the same voice it had spoken in when it said I would have to make a choice, it said that it's either him or me,' Harry said.

'You or Voldemort?' Sirius asked 'Is that what it said?'

Harry nodded.

'I wonder what that means.' Chrystal thought out loud.

'Did you hear the bells again?' Sirius asked.

'Only until he killed the face, they stopped afterward,' Harry answered. 'They were much softer than when Wormtail was killed.'

'What bells?' Chrystal asked.

'I think he means the bells of Azkaban, the ones I told you about,' Sirius answered.

'Right,' she hesitated for a moment. 'Harry I'm going to get Madam Pomfrey to give you a sleeping draught, I don't want you to worry about it anymore tonight. Once you have taken it, we shall go and speak to Dumbledore, we shall keep you informed Harry, but it's best you get some rest. Okay?'

Harry nodded and allowed himself to be led to the infirmary for a dreamless sleep potion. He had been given it once before, after the Triwizard Tournament, he knew he should follow everyone's advice and take it; he wondered what Lavender was seeing in the Orb.

'Lavender's looking in the Orb,' Harry said.

'Don't take anything she says too seriously' Chrystal said. 'I know she's more accurate than Trelawney, but unless she's a true Seer it doesn't really count for much.'

'I think she might be,' Harry said, 'but if she tells me what she saw I'll let you know.'

Madam Pomfrey gave Harry the sleeping potion, telling him to take it once he was ready to sleep, then Sirius and Chrystal headed towards Dumbledore's office.

Harry headed back to Gryffindor Tower really not feeling any better. It was clear that Voldemort was after him, but Harry sensed that there was more to it than Voldemort disliking him. Like why he gone after his parents in the first place. Did anyone know or were they just not telling him?

He kicked the ground in frustration.

'Great first day back,' he said as he entered the common room.

*~*

Severus Snape had overheard the conversation between Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley with much interest. He knew Draco had been seeing the girl in the potions dungeon the previous year, but he had thought it was because she was close to Potter and therefore a potential source of information for his father. Snape had no idea that there was anything going on between them, he trusted Draco not to steal his potions and often left them alone. Snape knew what Draco was destined to be. He had retaken his position spying for Dumbledore, and to all those concerned he was the Loyal Death Eater. He was rarely assigned anything, except to keep Voldemort up to date with what was happening at Hogwarts. That he could do easily, Voldemort could extract the information from The Daily Prophet if he wanted. Truth was Snape was probably safe from being found out because Voldemort had no real use for a potions master.

But what he had just heard could be a turning point in their battle. If you could get inside the inner circle, you'd know everything and Snape knew that Draco Malfoy was the chosen one. Voldemort considered the boy his heir. The operatives had been largely unsuccessful in the past two years; they were not able to get information quick enough to do anything, except in the case of the capture of Peter Pettigrew. Damn Potter being right. Snape hated having to concede that the boy had been right and had taken it out on him in class. This might be the turning point.

Snape went to Dumbledore's office immediately. He hoped that the damned Auror Áille hadn't interfered too much. If she kept interfering she could jeopardise the entire operation.

'Dumbledore' Snape said, puffing as he reached the office. 'I think our luck may be changing.'

Snape told Dumbledore of the events that had unfolded in the Potions Dungeon.

'If we could get him to agree to spy' Snape began.

'I know what you are thinking Severus' the headmaster began. 'But there's more to consider here. If he is prepared to spy, then that must be his decision, we cannot influence that. But if he desperately does not want to do either, we must hide him and Miss Weasley as well. I had hoped that the Death Eaters would dare not approach students still in school, but I guess that is too much to hope for. When is he to be initiated?'

'During the semester break, just before Christmas,' Snape answered. 'We do not have much time.'

At this moment Sirius and Chrystal burst into Dumbledore's office.

'We must speak with you immediately, sir,' they said when they entered, spying Snape there.

'Sit down' Dumbledore said. 'I understand you had a conversation with young Malfoy today Professor Áille.'

Chrystal nodded.

'It appears your words have had an impact on him. Severus, tell them what you overheard.'

Reluctantly, Snape told them about what he had seen in the Potions Dungeon.

'Do you really think he'd spy Snape?' Chrystal asked.

'Yes,' he replied. 'I think he wants to get back at his father for the last seventeen years of his life. He may be cunning and an arrogant pureblood but he's not evil. We don't have that much time to convince him.'

Everyone nodded.

'We must work on a contingency plan.'

'What was it you wanted to speak about?' Dumbledore asked Sirius.

Sirius told Snape and Dumbledore what had happened to Harry in their lesson that afternoon, and what Harry had told them about what he had seen.

'Where is Harry now?' Dumbledore asked,

'I sent him to bed' Chrystal said. 'With the aid of a sleeping potion. The boy looks exhausted.'

'Do you know anything about this face or what it is referring to Severus?'

He nodded slowly.

'The face is a creation of the Dark Lord; it is a servant that undertakes his work. The spell is not perfected yet.' Snape said. 'As for the choice, I'm not sure what it is referring to. But Voldemort had a belief that James was the Heir of Gryffindor. I'm not sure how he reached this conclusion, but if James in fact was the Heir of Gryffindor that means Harry is now. There was a prophecy, which you may have heard of which involves the heirs of the founders. Either the Heir of Slytherin or the Heir of Gryffindor will fall. Voldemort will kill Harry to fulfill the prophecy. Unfortunately I don't know what The Prophecy of Saoghal involves. I was never privy to the details, but if you could find out who gave it, we may be able to find out what it means.'

'Is Harry the Heir?' Sirius asked Dumbledore. 'Is that why Voldemort was after them?'

'I believe so' Dumbledore answered. 'I have someone working on it, but the only Heir we know for sure is that Tom Riddle is Slytherin's Heir. I shall have someone work on The Prophecy of Saoghal, I think I know who originally gave it, but it will take time to work it out. For know, we should watch Mr Malfoy carefully and if he does not come to us with a decision before the holidays, we should put him into hiding. That should be all for now.'

Dumbledore signalled that he would like to be left alone.

The three reluctantly walked out the door.

*~*

Sirius and Chrystal headed back to the staff quarters as Snape went back to the dungeons, to finish the work he had been doing.

'I can't believe you had words to Malfoy' Sirius said.

'I could sense the boy did not really feel comfortable in the path chosen for him,' she replied. 'Besides he may be an asset we can utilise. It is important tat the boy realises he has a choice. Anyhow do you really think he will give us his father?'

'I don't know Chrys,' he said. 'Snape has a fairly accurate assessment of things, he was the one who warned Dumbledore that James and Lily were a target, not that I think he was too upset when James was blown up. If he thinks Malfoy can carry it off convincingly then I'm willing to try it. The Ministry's a complete waste of time, it's so infiltrated with Death Eaters there's no point going through them, and the operatives have a much better assessment of things anyhow. There's just one thing, are you technically still an Auror?'

'Why?' she asked.

'Because that would be to our advantage. Then you authority to destroy any Death eater using whatever means, and they can't throw you in Azkaban for it.'

Sirius saw her cringe in response to that remark.

'Yes I am, I saw Lucius the other day and threatened to throw him in Azkaban. Sirius, they can't afford to sack me, I'm the best air Auror they've ever had and they know it. I just choose when to use that kind of thing. Some people need o realise that some people can be dealt with harmlessly before you try and torture them.'

'Okay' he said. 'We had better keep a watch on Harry and Draco. And it might not be a bad idea to make sure Miss Granger doesn't spend too long in the library trying to discover the creature, I don't think she'll find it there, perhaps in the restricted section maybe, but unless she becomes invisible I doubt she'd get in there.' He laughed. 'Do you know anything about The Prophecy of Saoghal Snape's talking about?'

She bit her lip, hiding her hand as she answered,

'No, nothing,' she whispered. 'Just a feeling. I've got some work to do before tomorrow, I'll see you later.'

She kissed him goodnight in the corridor then disappeared into her room. She closed the door behind her as she let out her breath. No one had mentioned The Prophecy of Saoghal for years and she had never believed it to be true, it had been so implausible. She hoped that the prophecy she had heard wasn't the prophecy Snape meant. It couldn't possibly be. Not if Voldemort believed it and he wouldn't believe the one she had heard. No one had. And Harry had said it was either Voldemort or Harry. No mention of anyone else. That's right, just them.

No reason to alarm anyone else. The time would come.

*~*

Sirius entered the room thinking about Chrys' reaction to the mention of The Prophecy. She had heard it, he was sure of that. Was she afraid to speak it because of what might happen to Harry? Or did she just sense something bad was going to happen? He'd never held the fact that her mother had been a Celt against her, but now he was beginning to wonder if there was more to the tale than she had told him.

Celts were very powerful witches. They had the ability to sense the future, in a way that was different from Seers. But everyone Celt in the last five hundred years had turned dark. Could she possibly be a Celt as well? She didn't act like one, but then Celt's used to be a viable asset, perhaps she had learned to control her powers. She could be very valuable if she was, provided she didn't turn.

*~*

Once they had left his office, Dumbledore turned to the fireplace. He sprinkled some dust over the fire and said;

'Arabella Figg'

Mrs Figg's face appeared in the fire. It was obvious she had not appreciated being disturbed at that moment.

'What is it Dumbledore?' she asked.

'Arabella, I need you to tell me about The Prophecy, can you come to Hogwarts straight away?'

'I'll be there tomorrow Albus' she said, 'Do you think it is time?'

Dumbledore nodded and thanked the old woman.

'I'll see you tomorrow then.'

She may be a Squib but she had given The Prophecy of Saoghal, only a few weeks before Trelawney had given the prophecy saying that a baby would bring about the fall of the Dark Lord. No one had believed her prophecy after Voldemort's downfall, but Dumbledore knew her Divination skills were not to be taken lightly, she had predicted the fall of a few very important wizards. Hopefully she would have the answers.

*~*

Ron was waiting for Harry as he arrived back in the common room. He saw the potion.

'Is that from Madam Pomfrey?' he asked.

Harry nodded.

'Is Hermione in the Library?' Harry asked.

'She's trying to find out what the face was?' Ron replied.

'She's wasting her time' Harry said. 'She won't find it there. Sirius is going to ask Snape. Where's Ginny?'

'Haven't seen her. I think she's with Malfoy. I'm going to wait until she comes back. Make sure that she's okay. If he does anything to her, I swear I'll kill him with my bare hands.'

Harry nodded.

'Do you mind if I don't wait?' Harry asked.

'Go ahead,' Ron replied. 'We've got Quidditch Training in the morning; I need my Seeker to get some rest okay?'

Harry did as he was told, went upstairs, took the potion and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

*~*

A young woman was staring at the moonlight. She had sensed that things were changing in the world. She pulled out a piece of parchment and began drawing triangles, finally pulling out her book on Salazar Slytherin. She needed answers.

Another woman, not to far away also sensed the change. She stared at the sky contemplating what was to come. She had seen it. She knew what lay ahead. She was scared.

The Prophecy of Saoghal would resurface. The time was not too far away.