Three Animagi and a Werewolf

Three Animagi and a Werewolf, Chapter 10: The Prediction

End of Term

James seemed to be pursued by what Sirius called the 'PPFC' (the Potty Potter Fan Club) - consisting mostly of a very giggly gang of girls led by Mary Crimple - for the rest of the school year.

He was almost glad when, after the longest months he had ever known at Hogwarts, the day of the leaving feast was finally there. Sirius, James, Peter and Remus hurried down the stairs in the direction of the Great Hall. They were eager for a feast of delicious dishes washed down with pumpkin juice, with entertainment provided by the house ghosts and a lot of hilarity owing to the start of the holidays tomorrow.

James jumped the last couple of steps and waited for his friends at the bottom. He turned to continue into the Hall, and in so doing collided with something wrapped in dark, glittering robes. Looking up, he found himself face to face with the gigantic spectacles of Professor Sybill Trelawney.

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled.

"That is quite all right, my dear," the young Divination teacher began in her unearthly voice. "I knew you were going to run into me tonight, but one doesn't like always to avoid these encounters simply because one can."

Her eyes peered so deeply into James's that it made him feel uncomfortable. All around him, teachers and students alike had stopped in their tracks and were staring his way.

"Yes, well ... sorry anyway," he mumbled.

Professor Trelawney shifted almost like a ghost and walked towards the door into the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall was waiting impatiently.

"Really, Sybill," James heard her say quietly, "Must you always make such an exhibition? Now what?" she added, and James turned his head to see what was happening.

Professor Trelawney was staring in Professor McGonagall's direction, but seemed to be looking through her. Then she turned right around again and faced the entrance hall, packed with students. Her eyes were glazed. She stood there like that for a long time without moving.

"What's she up to?" Sirius whispered to James.

"I don't know," James answered. "I think we'd best just ignore her. She seems ."

"Death!" Professor Trelawney shrieked suddenly.

A hush fell on all the students in the entrance hall, and even Professor McGonagall's face lost its scorn. Professor Trelawney seemed to go rigid all of a sudden, and her eyes focused for a moment on James. They weren't empty and vacant as usual, but so cold and hard as they fixed him that he felt as though someone had driven a spear of ice into him. He involuntarily took a frightened step backwards. Professor Trelawney spoke again, and when she did her voice was very different, as though it wasn't really her speaking, but a deep and cold voice, hollow as though it were speaking from the grave.

"Darkness. Evil is coming. A power arises that is greater than any. It is littering the world with its seed. The spark has been kindled, and soon a flame will spring up and engulf us all. No force on earth can stop it. No force but one."

James shivered under her cold stare, but then Professor Trelawney's eyes glazed over again. She began turning in circles, her arms spread wide, palms upwards.

"Where are you, Gryffindor?" the strange voice said in a barely audible whisper as cold as the morning frost, "Where are you in our time of need? Reveal yourself, for on you alone rests the charge of defeating the Dark Lord. You alone can stem the tide of evil. You alone can save us."

She stopped, and her arms dropped to her side. She began walking towards the door, and her gait was quite normal, for her standards anyway.

"Sybill .," Professor McGonagall said, starting towards her.

"Yes, Minerva?" Professor Trelawney replied in her familiar chanting voice.

"What was all that about?" McGonagall hissed.

"What was what about?" she asked innocently.

Professor McGonagall shook her head in disbelief. The Divination teacher seemed totally oblivious to what had been going on. James stood watching her while she entered the Great Hall.

"Come on," Sirius said in his ear, looking around at the inquisitive faces of the other students, "Let's go in, shall we?"

James allowed his friends to lead him into the Great Hall, but he had lost all enthusiasm for the feast. Somehow he felt that Professor Trelawney - famous for making up predictions she could fulfil herself as it suited her - had at least one real vision on her record now. He wondered what it meant, and why she had stared so intently at him when she had spoken of the growing evil. All through dinner, it was all he could think of. Surely, she hadn't meant that he was somehow connected to the dark power? What had she said to him?

"Death. Darkness. Evil is coming. A power arises . No force on earth can stop it," she had said. And then,

"Where are you, Gryffindor? . on you alone rests the charge of defeating the Dark Lord."

What Dark Lord was she speaking about? The feast was followed by another sleepless night for James, and the next morning he decided he had to do something, if no more than to speak to someone about it. He needed the advice of someone who might understand the words of the prediction.

He thought of waiting until later and talking to his mother, but he wasn't sure if she would be able to help.

Professor McGonagall, perhaps? She was their house teacher, but still . No. James decided there was only one person he could discuss this with.

-----------------------------

James Potter was not the only one deeply intrigued by Professor Trelawney's words. In the Slytherin common room, Severus Snape sat up after midnight, still fully dressed and wearing an even deeper frown than usual. Like James, he was convinced that Professor Trelawney's prediction had, for once, been genuine. But, unlike James, he knew the power no force on earth could stop . no force but one. She had implied that, somehow, Gryffindor would return and defeat the Dark Lord.

This part of the prediction worried Severus. On the one hand, he couldn't imagine that anyone or anything could stop the Lord, but on the other, the prediction had rung all too true to be invented.

He thought hard. From what he had heard, he gathered that Gryffindor's last living heir still bore that name. Could Professor Trelawney have meant him? But he was by now an old wizard long past his prime, a hermit who rarely ventured out of his home. What threat could he be?

Still frowning and trying to find the solution to the problem, Severus took out a piece of parchment, fetched his quill and ink pot, and began to write a letter.

Words of Advice

James approached the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office cautiously. He had risen early and slipped away before any of his friends were awake. Today was the day they got on the Hogwarts Express and went home, but he felt that he had to at least make a start on this mystery before he left. In his hand he held the Marauder's Map. It showed the hidden staircase to the headmaster's office, and also the circular room beyond and Dumbledore in it, sitting at his desk. Mrs. Norris, James noticed, was prowling around the entrance hall. He waved his wand across the map and said quietly,

"Mischief managed."

At once, the map wiped itself clean. James stored it in his pocket. He turned to the gargoyle and said,

"Pepper imp."

He grinned as the gargoyle moved aside and the moving spiral staircase appeared. Being called up to the headmaster's office frequently for such offences as putting toppling charms on other people's cauldrons and jinxing Slytherins did have the advantage of keeping him up-to-date on Dumbledore's passwords. James stepped onto the stairs and let them carry him up to the headmaster's door. He cleared his throat and knocked.

"Come in," said Dumbledore's voice, muffled by the door between them.

James entered and looked around him. No matter how often he came here, this circular room was still the most fascinating in all of Hogwarts to him. All around the walls, past headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts sat attending to their morning toilet, some waving merrily at him, others ducking hastily out of sight. And behind the desk sat the present headmaster, Albus Dumbledore himself, looking at James over the rim of his half-moon glasses, apparently not the least bit surprised to see him there.

"Good morning, James," he said. "Have some tea?"

"Good morning, sir. No, thank you," James replied.

He stood there feeling awkward. Now that it had come to it, he didn't quite know how to begin. Dumbledore assisted him by saying,

"Professor McGonagall tells me you had a very interesting encounter with Professor Trelawney last night. I presume that is what brings you here?"

"Yes," James said gratefully. "She said some very strange things."

"That is hardly unusual," Dumbledore remarked.

"No . I mean ." James looked anxious, but Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled.

"I understand this time was rather different from her usual ramblings," he said. "From what I hear, it seems more than likely that she actually made a true prediction - her first ever."

"It certainly felt very real. I don't think she was . well . putting it on."

"No," the headmaster agreed gravely, "I don't think so either."

"The things she said though - about the rise of a 'Dark Lord', an evil tide or something. They got me thinking. I know she didn't seem to know who she was talking to most of the time, but she fixed me with her eyes at that point, and I felt . I felt like she meant me. But that can't be true, can it? I mean, I can't have anything to do with the evil power, can I?"

Dumbledore's eyes seemed to delve deep into his mind.

"Do you have reason to believe you might?"

"No. That is ."

James thought back.

"In my first year, the Sorting Hat took a long time to decide where to put me. It said something about my father. I know it chose in the end to put me in Gryffindor, but what it had said worried me at the time. It said it would put me in Gryffindor to 'give me a chance'. I stopped thinking about it after a while. I thought the Hat wouldn't have put me in Gryffindor if I really didn't belong there. But now with this happening, I wonder whether it wasn't wrong after all. Could the evil that Professor Trelawney spoke about be connected with me?"

"I think," Dumbledore began slowly, "that Professor Trelawney's prediction may be very closely connected to you."

James paled. He started to say something, but Dumbledore raised a hand to silence him.

"You misunderstand me, James. I do not believe that you have anything to do with the dark power. I have been aware of its presence for some time, and I believe I know who is at the bottom of it."

"Who?" James asked anxiously.

Dumbledore eyed him thoughtfully. At last he said,

"Someone I once knew. A former student of this school."

James swallowed hard.

"You don't mean my . my father?"

Dumbledore smiled.

"No, James. But someone your father was rather close to. Someone who influenced him greatly, both at school and in later years."

James frowned and sighed.

"I don't really know anything about my father."

"No. That is because, all your life, your mother has done everything in her power to protect you from him, and more still from the person he most admired and whom, I believe, he still serves.

It is that person whom I suspect of being the moving force behind things that have been happening. The Ministry has chosen to deny that there are evil doings afoot, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. He has been gaining influence for a couple of years now, and soon even the Ministry will have to acknowledge that something must be done about it. It will no longer be possible to hide the truth from the world, or for the world to hide from the truth.

But hopefully, it will be possible to hide you from the evil power that is growing for a while longer. For I do believe that part of the prediction may have been addressed to you, and that you have an important part to play yet."

He paused, and studied James for a long time. Finally he went on,

"Do you know the story of Godric Gryffindor, James?"

"No," James admitted. "I expect it's in Hogwarts - A History, isn't it? Why, is it important?"

"I think it could not hurt for you to learn it."

"Then couldn't you tell me about it?"

Dumbledore smiled.

"I could. But I think I have given you enough to think about today already. I suggest you consult your friends, for you may yet need them in times to come. I believe, also, that your friend Remus will be able to tell you all you want to know about Godric Gryffindor."

"Moony?" James used his friend's nickname by accident, so surprised was he to hear Dumbledore speak his name.

The headmaster watched his face.

"Ah, so I see you know about your friend's difficulty," he said slowly. "I am glad."

"Yes sir."

James felt awkward. He sincerely hoped Dumbledore wouldn't discover what they had done about it. But he said nothing more on the subject. Instead, he went on,

"Remus is the only boy I know who had read Hogwarts - A History before he ever came here, and probably one of the few students who ever will read it. I'm sure he will be able to help you."

The Journey Home

The Hogwarts Express was chugging along. Remus sat with his nose buried in a heavy book, Peter was munching a sandwich and Sirius had yawned about a dozen times in the past fifteen minutes. James was staring out of the window, watching the countryside go by. At last he turned round.

"Moony," he said, "Look, I know this is going to sound odd, but . I was wondering . What do you know about Godric Gryffindor?"

Remus, surprised, looked up from his book.

"Gryffindor? What do you want to know about him for?" Sirius asked.

"Well, you remember Professor Trelawney's prediction?" James replied.

"Yes. But look here, James, you're not saying you take her seriously? She's completely batty," Sirius said.

Remus was still watching James's face.

"You think what she said was true?" he asked.

"I think it might be," said James. "And Dumbledore thinks so too."

"D-Dumbledore?" Peter stammered. "You went to see Dumbledore?"

"Yes. And he told me to ask Moony about Gryffindor."

James turned his face to Remus, who laid his book aside.

"How much do you want to know?"

James sighed.

"I don't know. Anything might be important. You'd better start at the beginning."

"Well," Remus began slowly, "No one really knows where Godric Gryffindor came from. The earliest account states that he was a blacksmith's apprentice in a place called Pine Hollow - its name was later changed to Godric's Hollow. He wasn't content with being a blacksmith, though, and at night, he secretly forged himself a magic sword and armour of his own.

According to legend, Pine Hollow was a dangerous place in those days - there were lots of robbers and evil goblins about. The people were too frightened to stand up to them. The only one who would was a 'mysterious black knight' who appeared at night and raided the robbers' camps. He drove the goblins away and made Pine Hollow a safer place.

Then a dragon came to Pine Hollow. It's said he set fire to several of the houses and made off with the farmers' sheep and cattle. No one fought him, so he kept coming back. One day, the dragon supposedly attacked the nearby stronghold, where the lord of the region lived, and kidnapped the lord's daughter.

A reward was put out for the man who rescued her."

"Let me guess," Sirius interrupted. "He said the man who rescued his daughter could marry her and be rich to the end of his days, right?"

"Got it in one," Remus replied with a smile.

"So Gryffindor rescued the girl and married her - and then what?" James asked.

Remus went on.

"He rescued her and married her, and the lord had a golden suit of armour and a new sword forged for him. A large ruby was set in its hilt, and Godric Gryffindor's name was engraved on it. He continued to fight dragons and ruffians all over the country, and in the end he was knighted for his deeds, and given a castle to be his home - Hogwarts castle. His wife was dead by then, I think, but he had a young son.

He called his friends Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw to him. They wanted to found a school of witchcraft and wizardry, but they had a rival who also planned to start up a school nearby - Salazar Slytherin. Rowena Ravenclaw suggested they should all work together to found just one school. So they did. Then comes the part we all know ."

James nodded. "They couldn't decide how to choose the students for their school, because they all valued different qualities. So they made four houses."

"Yes," Remus confirmed. "And Helga, Rowena and Godric were satisfied. But Slytherin wanted more. He began teaching the students the use of Dark spells and the Unforgivable Curses. He fell out with the other three, and finally left. But before he went, he added a chamber to the castle that only he could open. None of the others knew where it was. The Chamber of Secrets.

They say a deadly monster slept in the Chamber, and that it would awake one day and spread horror and death. But time went by and nothing happened, so people started thinking it was all just a legend, and the other three founders went on as usual.

And then, about thirty years later, Slytherin came back. He wanted to open the Chamber of Secrets. His plan was to set the monster free and let it kill all the students and teachers that weren't pure blood. But Gryffindor found out, and he stopped Slytherin. He killed him with his sword, but when he was dying, Slytherin swore that one day, his true heir would return to Hogwarts and open the Chamber to finish his deed."

"Gryffindor killed him?" Peter exclaimed.

"What would you have done if someone wanted to kill off all the students?" Sirius pointed out. "Go on, Moony."

"Well, there's not much more to tell really," Remus said. "Gryffindor left Hogwarts and hunted down Slytherin's brother and his heirs. He fought them, and he killed them - all except one. The last heir of Slytherin killed Godric Gryffindor. Gryffindor's son went looking for him, but he never found him.

Supposedly, an heir of Slytherin actually did return to Hogwarts once. A girl was actually killed, I think. But they caught whoever did it and still no one's sure whether the Chamber of Secrets really exists. Still, some say Slytherin's heir will return one day and continue to work evil."

"There you are then," Sirius remarked triumphantly, "I was right: Trelawney made it all up. She obviously knows this story, and she was just being a bit spookier than usual. 'Dark Lord' is probably just her melodramatic version of 'Slytherin's heir'. I really don't think there's anything to worry about, James."

But James was looking thoughtful.

"Dumbledore says that part of Professor Trelawney's prediction is definitely true," he said at last in a hushed voice. "He says there is something evil going on, and that he thinks he knows who's behind it. If that part of the prediction was true, why couldn't the rest be?"

"B-but if it is . well, wouldn't it be wiser if we kept our noses out of it, whatever it is?" Peter suggested.

His voice was trembling and he looked white as a sheet.

"I don't know that we can," James whispered back. "Dumbledore seems to think that I, at least, am somehow involved or going to be involved, and he suggested that I should talk to you three, because I might need your help."

Remus leaned forward confidentially.

"But if all this really is true and there is a dark force growing, what can we do? And what does Gryffindor have to do with it? I mean, even his son is long dead by now. Unless she meant that there is a more recent heir of Gryffindor, and that he can stop this evil."

"But who could that be?" Sirius wondered.

James shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know."

"Well, that at least shouldn't be too difficult to discover," Remus said hopefully. "There must be a book somewhere in the library that will tell us about Gryffindor's descendants. All we have to do is go there after the holidays and look it up."

James frowned. He didn't like the idea of waiting so long before finding out more. But there was little else they could do - or that he could do, anyway. He had hardly any access to magic books at all during the holidays. Remus seemed to notice his dissatisfaction, because he said,

"Look, I'll find out what I can at home. But I doubt we'll get very far without the Hogwarts library."