Rebirth

Rebirth

Chapter 11: The Pensieve

At breakfast the following morning, it was obvious to everyone that the Avises had had an uneasy sleep. All of them (except Irina, who had refused to leave the dormitory) ate slowly and in a dead, disturbing silence, eyeing each other with confused expressions. Irina's absence intrigued Magda, who approached their table as usual.

"Bad night?" she asked.

"Hmm," was Dulce's only reply, as Geno sighed and the boys remained silent.

"I slept very well myself, actually," Magda continued, with her usual cheerfulness. "I guess I missed my bed here."

"Lucky you," snarled Aenor, who obviously wished that she would still be enjoying her bed instead of pestering them. Magda, however, was used to his aggressiveness and ignored him.

"Where's Irina?"

"Indisposed," Geno lied. She didn't think it was right to talk about Irina's parents without her being present.

"Have you seen Matilde?" Half-Pint suddenly turned to Magda, his eyes showing desperation.

"Er, your Puffskein? No, sorry."

"I searched all over our Common Room and she's not there. Perhaps she's escaped."

"I'll let you know if I see her, then," Magda said, before something at the Head Table startled her. "Is that an... an elf?"

Every eye in the Hall turned to the Head Table. Most students had never seen a house elf, even those who came from wizarding families, so it was an unusual sight. The tiny elf approached the Headmistress slowly and timidly, whispered something nervously, and disappearing swiftly right afterwards, as if embarrassed to be seen. Professor Penumbra turned to Ventura and Coleraine and said something that caused them to stand up and leave the Hall, followed by every student's curious gaze.

At the Avis table, Dulce turned to Aenor.

"You read lips," she said. "Did you get what they were saying?"

"Only Penumbra," he replied, his eyes wide. "She said, she's awake."

Magda was still confused, but the four Avises nodded to themselves, in silent understanding.

***

Coleraine knocked on the door. Lockhart's face darkened when he opened it and recognized him.

"Oh, it's you," he said dryly. "What do you want?"

"The Headmistress has just heard that Miss Cassidy is awake, Lockhart," Coleraine said quickly, "so I was sent here."

"How do you know she's awake?" There was a defiant tone in Lockhart's voice, which displeased Coleraine immensely.

"The house elf, Tili," he replied. "You asked her to bring enough food for two. Now, unless you decided to ruin your figure," here, Coleraine gave a nasty smile, "or you're trying to fatten up that flea-ridden furball you've adopted - which incidentally is to be returned to its rightful owner - it means Miss Cassidy is awake."

"Not right now. She's asleep."

"Then we need to wake her up. I need to ask her some questions." Coleraine did not like the way Lockhart was glaring at him. Certainly he's not sulky because I forbid him to help Cassidy the other night, he though.

"You can't disturb her," snapped Lockhart in obvious rage.

Looks like he is, Coleraine concluded. However, he wasn't going to be intimidated by an idiotic imbecile like this.

"Don't be stupid," he hissed, as Lockhart was about to slam the door in his face. "I can think of over thirty ways to get through that door in spite of your objections," he pointed his wand at him, "and most of them are quite painful and nasty for you. I have got orders to talk to Cassidy right now, and it's not going to be a blithering fool such as yourself who's going to stop me from doing it."

"Are you deaf?" Lockhart's voice was now a roar that sent shivers up Coleraine's spine. "Julia's asleep, and I won't let you disturb her. If you do so much as breathe near her, I swear to everything that's sacred that I will kill you."

Coleraine took a step back. There was something feral in Lockhart's expression, like a lioness protecting her cub. He wasn't joking - even without his wand, he would kill Coleraine without a second thought.

"ENOUGH!"

Ventura was now near Coleraine. She was holding a stone basin in her hands, and was glaring at her colleague. "Really, Professor, I expected you to have some common sense." She then turned to Lockhart. "I'm sorry about this, but we need to talk to Miss Cassidy. We won't force her to say anything she doesn't want to remember," she added, as Lockhart was about to open his mouth. "In fact, we should be the ones doing the explaining, and not her. She must be feeling extremely confused, after what has happened."

Lockhart thought about it for a moment. He looked inside, where Julia was now completely awake after the yelling. She nodded at him, and he turned back to Ventura.

"Very well, you can come in," he said, his voice now calmer and his expression a bit careworn and tired, but very close to his old self. He moved out of the way, allowing Ventura to pass, but blocked the passage again as Coleraine was about to enter.

"Just Professor Ventura," he said with a nasty smile mimicking Coleraine's, as he finally slammed the door in his face.

Coleraine stood for a few seconds staring perplexed at the oak door. Of all the people in the world, Gilderoy Lockhart had been the one who finally had managed to give him a taste of his own medicine. And he hated it.

After a while, he grumbled and turned quickly to the direction of his office.

Inside the bedroom, Ventura turned to Julia.

"Miss Cassidy," she said, "my name is Djanira Ventura. I have been in charge of your treatment and recovery."

Julia didn't reply. Ventura was impressed with her fragility; she looked so small and pale, her long hair spread on her pillow like a cape. Lockhart sat next to her bed, on a chair between the room's two single beds, and held her hand. Half-Pint's Puffskein jumped to his shoulder and began to purr softly.

"This won't take long, will it, Professor?" he asked with such worry and concern that Ventura was temporarily unable to reply. This was definitely not the man she had met at Hogwarts the year before.

"Actually," she said with a sigh, "I need to ask her a few questions. I know this is going to be painful, so a solution was thought." She showed them the basin she was holding.

Lockhart stared blankly at the basin, since he couldn't tell what it was, but Julia obviously recognized it, and she finally spoke in a faint voice, "Is that... a Pensieve?"

"Yes, it is," Ventura replied with a pained expression. "After what you have been through, Professor Dumbledore thought it was better to give you the choice of putting your memories of those events in here," she pointed to the Pensieve again, "and freeing your mind of them, perhaps with the help of a Memory Charm."

Julia understood her words. "I don't want to forget my family's death," she said, resolution evident in her weak voice.

"You won't," Ventura reassured her. "You will still remember the fact that they have died, but the way they died will be gone. You will recall the way they were in life, instead of having the image of their death disturbing you."

Julia shuddered. "God knows I want to forget." She squeezed Lockhart's hand. "Just give me some time to think about it."

"That's understandable. I think it's better if I explain what has happened before those thoughts are transferred to the Pensieve. That way you can ask me questions with the events still fresh in your mind, and things will make more sense afterwards."

"It's too painful to talk about," Julia said.

"I understand. Do you want to do this later?"

"You'll only do this when you feel up to it," Gilderoy said comfortingly. Julia looked deeply into his eyes and he nodded, understanding what she was thinking.

"Let's get this over with," she said to Ventura. "The sooner, the better."

"Very well," Ventura said as she sat on the second bed, which was meant for Lockhart, but obviously had not been used. "I think I should start by describing..."

***

Since it was a Friday, the Avises' first class was Transfiguration. With only the four of them to teach, Professor Raimundo was able to keep a closer eye on them, and they were able to forget about the Sertorian issue and focus more deeply on their work. However, they were still unable to concentrate as usual, and their revision work of turning copper thimbles into acorns created some strange objects. Geno's thimble remained metallic-looking and shiny, but it was rubbery to the touch, while Dulce's apparently ordinary acorn jumped upwards when Professor Raimundo touched it and Aenor's thimble remained unchanged. The worst of all was Half-Pint's work, which developed a crack similar to a mouth, and belched noisily until he dipped it into his ink bottle.

The following class was Charms with Professor Sampaio, which meant that the Avises faded in the background while the Goas answered all of the questions. This, of course, made the four children more nervous. Half-Pint and Aenor, who were separated from the others according to seating arrangements, fidgeted nervously through the entire lesson. As Crispim Pinto answered pompously to a very direct question, earning ten more points for the Goas, Half-Pint almost rose from his chair to strangle him.

Geno and Dulce, however, were sitting next to each other, and talked to each other in very low whispers.

"What do you think of this story about Sertorians?" Dulce asked.

"I don't know," replied Geno. "This is too strange, and I don't like it at all."

"I don't see why. It seems so exciting!"

"Exciting? What do you mean?"

"I mean, think about it!" Dulce said with a smile. "This 'return of the hero' thing. It could be any of us. It could be me!"

She was terribly excited with the idea. Geno was afraid that Sampaio would notice Dulce and nudged her to calm down.

"Ventura says that the idea is absurd."

"Oh, what does she know?" Dulce was impatient.

"This nonsense is in Elektra's mind," Geno pointed out.

"What if she's right?"

"Right? Dulce, do you remember what she did to us? We were asleep for most of the Christmas holidays, dreaming that we were covered up in snakes, and when we woke up, she made us train with staffs."

Here, Dulce went quiet.

"If Elektra believes in this return, it can't be real," Geno continued. "She's mad as a hatter."

"You're right, Geno," Dulce said, with clear disappointment in her voice.

At least I hope it isn't real, Geno thought to herself. I don't think I could take it if I was that savior she's looking for...

***

"So it's true?" Ventura was perplexed. "I always thought it was fantasy... an old legend without any fundament..."

Dumbledore's head was staring at her from the fireplace. "Oh, but the legend of the savior has all the fundament, my dear Professor."

"It's impossible!" Ventura continued.

"Is it?" Dumbledore was amused. "What do we know about reincarnation? After all, if some people return as ghosts, why not the possibility of being reborn?"

"That's what Elektra says," Ventura grimaced.

"I know that Elektra's methods are rather... unusual," Dumbledore replied, "and that she went too far this Christmas, endangering those children and their parents' trust in the school, but she is, above all, a scholar, like all centaurs. This obsession of hers, though now flirting with the illogical, had to be born from logical facts."

"Even so, she's wrong about the identity of the savior," Ventura said, picking up the Pensieve again. "The Asterlyth was searching for Gwendolyn."

"As well as it should. I know from historical records that she was able to do quite some damage to the creature, right before she died."

"But then..." Ventura was staring right at the Pensieve, stirring the contents with her wand, "This means that it's not Sebastian the Desired, and it's not Francisco de Ingarnal. The savior is Gwendolyn Gryffindor."

Dumbledore chuckled.

"My dear Professor," he said, "things are not that simple. Are you familiar with all of Bandarra's predictions?"

"No, only what has traveled through oral tradition."

"I'm not surprised. Not many people have had the chance to actually read the original. This means that you don't know about the Gemini Prophecy."

"Gemini Prophecy?" Ventura was curious. "What's that?"

But Dumbledore just smiled and said, "Well, it's too complicated to explain right now. Should I send you the book?"

"I think that would be better, yes." She thought about something for a moment. "Professor, about me telling the story of Sertorius to the children last night -"

"A wise choice, considering what had happened. Under the same circumstances, I would have done the same."

Ventura personally didn't think Dumbledore would have done it, but she didn't mention it. "Well, the thing is, I told Rodrigo Zagalo to have a chat with his daughter this morning, in order to explain his silence, and to tell her what her family's role in all of this is..."

"And?"

"He hasn't shown up yet. Not even a word."

"I'm not surprised," Dumbledore said calmly. "I have known Rodrigo for many years. His father was a good friend of mine. I don't think he is quite prepared to talk to his daughter right now."

"But he promised."

"He did that to calm you, but I don't think he ever considered the possibility of actually having this conversation. Not today, anyway." He looked compassionately at Ventura's shocked expression. "Don't worry, Professor. Sooner or later, he will talk to his daughter. Not today, and perhaps not in the near future, but eventually he will tell her."

Ventura didn't reply.

"You will have to excuse me," Dumbledore added, "but I must go now. I will send you Bandarra's book to read. If you have any doubts, you can talk to Professor Penumbra, who has studied Bandarra exhaustively, though I don't think she has read Gemini either. Good night, Professor."

"Good night," Ventura replied, as she saw Dumbledore's head disappearing from the flames with a loud pop. She then turned her attention back to the Pensieve, shivering at the thought of the atrocities that were lying there.

***

The next day was the one that the Avises dreaded the most: it was Saturday, which meant that they had Special Studies... and they knew that Elektra was still going to teach them.

It was a terrified group that left the Great Hall after breakfast that morning. Among them was Irina, who was coaxed into breathing some fresh air instead of staying behind crying, and who afterwards, instead of returning to the Common Room, followed the others automatically, without realizing what day it was, and what that meant.

Deep inside, all of them had the secret hope that Elektra, angered over what had happened two days before, would refuse to teach. This hope soon dissipated, however, as they entered the hidden classroom and found the centaur.

"Please enter, and take your seats," she said, when she noticed their presence. With a mix of deep terror and anger, they obeyed.

As soon as she noticed where they were, Irina became as white as chalk. She hesitated between following the others or turning back and running away. Geno noticed her eyes, and realized that Irina wasn't feeling the same way as the others. She wasn't just scared of what Elektra could do to her; she was in panic, terrified at everything around her, as if living a terrible nightmare she unable to wake up from.

"Irina, sit down with the others," Elektra said, in a tone that meant that she would be obeyed. "Now."

Irina stayed where she was, this time staring at the centaur in absolute terror.

"Ten points from Avis, and I'll take ten more if you don't sit down now!" Elektra threatened. This time, Irina obeyed, and sat down right at the back.

Then, Elektra handed an old, tattered book to each of them. Geno glanced at the cover of her copy. In faded letters, she read the title The Dementor: Friend or Foe?

"The Dementors are magical entities, not classified as creatures," Elektra said. "You are to read this book in class during the following lessons, so that you can learn how they are, what they can do, and how to deal with them. I want to see you all taking notes of what you find relevant. Throughout the week, you'll be studying those notes, as these books are not to leave the class, and in four weeks, you will be questioned about them. Proceed."

So that was it? An ordinary class, just like before Christmas, as if nothing had happened? As if she hadn't done anything to them?

Geno was so angry at the idea that she broke the tip of her quill and had to search for another inside her bag. She wasn't expecting Elektra to apologize for what she had done, but she wasn't expecting this, either; she was ignoring them, giving them those books to keep them busy while she read a strange black book.

Geno then looked out of the window, and saw the silver bird staring menacingly at Elektra, who flinched as she noticed its presence. For the first time, Geno was comforted by the sight of the bird, seeing it as their guardian against Elektra.

After the class was over, they closed the books and left them on their desks, preparing to leave. A quick glance as she turned to leave made Geno realize that Irina hadn't written a single word during the entire lesson, and that she had been crying the whole time.

As they went up the stairs of the passageway and reached the corridor that lead to their Common Room, they heard Elektra's voice behind them.

"Irina, can I talk to you for a moment?"

The blonde girl was paralyzed at the sound of the centaur's voice.

"Don't go," Aenor said, grabbing her arm and making her walk again. "Pretend you didn't hear anything."

But Elektra wasn't giving up so easily. "Ten more points from Avis if you don't get here in ten seconds," she said. "And one point for each second after that."

Nervously, Irina released herself from Aenor's grip and turned back, disappearing inside the hidden passageway again.

"Irina, don't," said Dulce, but it was too late. She was gone.

The other four Avises remained exactly where they were, waiting for Irina to come back. None of them said anything. All they could think about was what Elektra could be doing to her, and if they should go get Ventura.

After fifteen minutes, Irina returned back to the corridor. The others ran towards her.

"So?" Half-Pint asked. "What did she do to you?"

"Nothing," she said automatically.

"Nothing?" Dulce was surprised. "What do you mean, nothing?"

But Irina didn't reply. She just quickened her pace, giving a strong grip to something in her arms, which Geno noticed was the black book Elektra was reading earlier...