The Past and Present Collide

Padma shifted under the weight of the four girls' intense stares. She struggled with her breath for a moment, trying to fight the ragged gasps that tore at her throat, then brushed a few rogue curls off her sweaty, sticky forehead and inhaled deeply. Laboring hard, she spoke some moments later.

"I saw it," she gasped. "The thing. In the hallway."

Cho and Lisa, both prefects, leapt to their feet, immediately professional, but Padma saw pure terror flashing in Cho's black eyes. Padma felt a wave of sympathy towards the girl and wondered how she had been managing since Cedric's death. She never spoke of him anymore. Quickly diverting her eyes, she noticed that Mandy's lip was quivering and Alexis was near hyperventilating.

"I'll get Dumbledore. Alexis, you can come with me," Lisa was saying. "Cho, Mandy, Padma: you try to round up the students and get them to the Great Hall as fast as you can. Try to stay in big groups. We'll be safer if we're together."

Alexis nodded and stood up slowly. Lisa grabbed Alexis's chubby wrist and proceeded to drag her out the door. Mandy stood up, her bony shoulder still exposed, and Cho nodded silently to both Mandy and Padma. The three of them stood up and left the dorm--

--and ran straight into Dumbledore. He looked more serious than Mandy had seen him since fourth year. The twinkle in his eyes was gone; a cold flame had replaced it. A dry sob came from directly behind him, and Mandy leaned over slightly to see Alexis and Lisa standing there.

"The Common Room has been evacuated," he said. "How you ladies missed the announcement I do not know, but everyone else is safe in the Great Hall. Cho, Lisa, and Alexis, you may join the rest of the students. But I wish to have a word with you two." He looked directly at Padma and Mandy as he spoke the last word. "Please, follow me."

He turned on his heel and began to walk quickly down the hall and out of the Common Room. Alexis had to jog to keep up, and Padma was still having trouble breathing. Cho looked almost frightened to tears, but Lisa remained cool and calm. Her mouth was set in a straight line and her blue eyes were emotionless.

Mandy was hesitant to ask Professor Dumbledore the question that was burning on her tongue. Picking her pace up so that she was walking alongside the headmaster, she decided to test her luck.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

He looked sharply down at her, but his features softened when he saw the look on her face.

"Yes, Mandy?"

"The, um, thing that's been attacking - do you know what it is? Because there's something I need to tell you, and it might be of help--"

He cut her off with a wave of his hand. His eyes, behind his half-moon spectacles, were warning her to stop talking. A quick glance over her shoulder told her that the other girls were listening with intense curiosity.

"We will discuss that matter when we reach my office," he replied. Mandy nodded.

They passed quite a few rather alarmed paintings, especially one of a paranoid, white-haired witch named Nancy Ann Cianci that the Slytherin boys were especially fond of mocking. She had been a mediwitch during the French Revolution, and a good one at that, but since she had been immortalized in this particular painting, she had become increasingly suspicious that the bloodshed she had witnessed during the revolution would return again. Her frizzy hair, warbling voice, and paranoia caused her to be the butt of many a prank. The name didn't help, either. Mandy had a theory that Nancy's parents must have been some kind of sadists.

Nancy stopped Dumbledore in his tracks with one quick screech.

"Dumbledore!" she trilled, and he stopped to look at her. "What is going on? I keep hearing raised voices. Is there another attack? Are we going to die? Please don't let them slash up my canvas! It was a nightmare to have Filch restore me last time."

"Do calm down, Nancy. Everything is all right. We are not going to die, and your canvas will not be slashed. We are having a slight monster problem, that's all."

"Monsters! How can any kind of monster problem be slight? Oh, Dumbledore, please lock me in a safe! I don't fancy seeing a monster!" she moaned.

Lisa rolled her eyes, apparently exasperated. Mandy was dying to tell Dumbledore about Patrick, so she looked up at him with pleading eyes and prayed that they could be on their way soon.

Dumbledore held a finger to his lips. "Shhh, Nancy, there is nothing to worry about. We have it under control. Now please, I have to get these students to the Great Hall."

Nancy seemed to notice the girls for the first time. She blinked at them in surprise, then smoothed her dress and tried to look dignified. She failed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You may go on your way. But please don't let the monster near me . . ."

Dumbledore smiled, nodded curtly, and continued walking down the hall.

The shadows were lengthening as evening approached and the sky was turning faintly orange. This eerie atmosphere did nothing to improve Mandy's spirits, but she was glad that it wasn't dark. The night before was still vivid in her mind, from the dancing flames of the torches to the emptiness of the Common Room to the strange sensation of Patrick's palm pressing against hers.

Patrick. Where was he now? What was he thinking? Did he, in fact, know what was behind this, as Mandy somewhat suspected, or was he as terrified as she? Would Dumbledore tell her? Did she really want to see him again? And how did he die?

The final question lingered in her mind the longest. Her mind whirled, churning out theories, each one more far-fetched than the one before it. In the end, none of them seemed logical. The only evidence she had to go by was the lack of visible wounds on his body. She shuddered, trying to force the idea of his body out of her mind.

They reached the Great Hall a minute later, and Mandy was surprised by the steady buzz of conversation that filled the large room. A quick scan of the room revealed to her that many of the Slytherins had been released from the hospital wing and were sitting huddled together on benches, whining about their injuries. She could not find Adrian among them.

Terry, however, was sitting on a bench with his two closest male friends, Slytherin Julian Montague and Ravenclaw Andrew Boyd. Boyd was talking rather loudly in his deep, musical Scottish brogue, while Montague sat in sullen silence, fiddling with the bandage wrapped around his left forearm. Terry was listening to Boyd, but as soon as the five girls walked in, he turned to look at them. Montague fixed his gaze on Padma, who stared hungrily back.

The three boys started to stand and make their way to Mandy and Padma, but Mandy held up a hand and shook her head. "Later," she mouthed. Terry nodded, looking worried.

Cho, Lisa, and Alexis fled to the tables as soon as Dumbledore had motioned for them to take seats. Padma stood unmoving while Mandy nervously fiddled with her locket, rehearsing the conversation she would soon be having with Dumbledore.

The locket was old, plain, and ugly. It had once been a pretty, shining copper, but it had turned slightly green with age. The outside didn't matter to Mandy. On the inside were two of her favourite pictures. The first was of Liza, her four-year-old sister. Liza had a shock of curly brown hair, her mother's strong nose (which Mandy had not inherited) and her father's slightly upturned mouth (which Mandy had). She was grinning playfully and holding the Brocklehurst family cat, Willow, in what looked suspiciously like a headlock.

The other picture was worn with age, and it didn't move. It was of her parents at their wedding, euphoric and glowing, just before her father had revealed his wizarding heritage to her Muggle mum. Their relationship had survived for quite awhile, but in Mandy's fourth year, they had divorced. The picture was a testament to the happy times when the words "wizard" and "Muggle" didn't mean anything.

Mandy dropped the locket and wiped her sweaty palms on her robes. Dumbledore motioned something to McGonagall, who was standing across the room, and then turned and began to walk towards his office. Padma and Mandy followed.

They took a few twisting and turning corridors and one set of stairs until they ended up in front of a gargoyle statue on the second floor. Dumbledore stopped abruptly in front of it, causing Padma to crash into Mandy. The headmaster took no heed of them.

"Fizzing whizbees," he muttered, and the statue moved aside to reveal another short corridor that ended in a spiral staircase, which seemed to be moving slowly upward.

He stepped into the corridor and then strode onto the staircase. A quick glance over her shoulder told Mandy that the gargoyle was sliding back into place behind them. She and Padma followed Dumbledore onto the staircase and waited nervously as it took them upwards.

They came to a small platform and a polished oak door with a brass knocker, which was where they stepped off. Dumbledore turned to Mandy and said, "Wait here, Mandy. I want to have a word with Padma first."

Mandy nodded, and the headmaster and Padma walked into the office, leaving Mandy alone with her thoughts. She was scared, most of all. She was scared of the thing that was in the castle, scared of the connection it might have to Patrick, and even scared that Dumbledore was suspicious of her for spending time with Patrick. She wondered if they'd have to close down Hogwarts if the problem wasn't solved soon. If it was . . . she didn't know what she would do. Even if Patrick wasn't involved in this at all, she must be, because Dumbledore wanted to talk to her.

"Oh, please let this be over!" she cried, and then looked alarmed at the fact that she had spoken aloud. She looked around, hoping Padma and Professor Dumbledore hadn't heard her. When no one came to investigate, she stood still and stared at the ceiling.

She could hear Dumbledore's voice, and then Padma's, but she couldn't distinguish any words. She wished she knew what they were saying. A quarter of an hour later, Dumbledore opened the door and Padma walked out. The headmaster smiled at Mandy, who tried to return the gesture.

"Mandy, please come in. Miss Patil, please wait here. I will escort both of you to the Great Hall when Mandy and I have finished speaking," he said.

Mandy nodded and followed Dumbledore into the room, leaving a very confused Padma alone again.

Dumbledore's office was a large, beautiful, circular room, and Mandy instantly wished that she could have a good look around. Portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses smiled at her from their frames. A huge desk, cluttered with papers, books, quills, and strange miniature machines, sat in the middle of the room. Funny little whirring noises drifted through the warm air. But the best part of the room, Mandy thought, was the huge, glorious bird sitting in the far corner of the room on a wooden perch.

Fawkes. She had heard rumours of the bird, especially in her second year after it had helped rescue Harry in the Chamber, but nothing had prepared her for its beauty. Its feathers glowed like fire, and its large eyes seemed as wise to her as Dumbledore himself. Mandy couldn't help but sigh a little when she saw it.

"Ah," Dumbledore said, and when Mandy looked at him, some of the twinkle had returned to his eyes. "This is Fawkes. He's a--"

"Phoenix," Mandy finished, grinning.

Professor Dumbledore smiled slightly. "You've heard of him, then."

Mandy nodded. "I've read all about them, too. I never thought I'd live to see a real one."

"You're lucky. You came on a good day. Rarely does he ever look this magnificent. Usually he's moulting, or just a baby sprouting new feathers." He suddenly frowned, as though he had realized that they were getting off-topic and Padma was waiting in the hall. "Please, take a seat."

He sat down at his desk, and Mandy sank into an armchair that sat across from it. Dumbledore looked down his crooked nose at her, and she had a strange feeling that he could read her thoughts. She shifted uncomfortably and waited for him to speak.

"I understand that you have met Patrick Lawrence," he said, and she jumped. So this was about Patrick!

"Yes," she replied, slowly.

"And you are friends with him?"

"We've only met twice." She weighed her words carefully, not sure about how much she should say. "But he asked me to meet him again tomorrow, in the owlery." Dumbledore gave her such a strange look that she blurted out what she had meant to say without even thinking. "I told Professor Sinistra about it, and she said it was all right! I'm not going to get involved with him; we're just friends! He's involved in this, isn't he?"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "I was not accusing you of anything, nor him. And as far as we - the staff - know, he is not directly involved. But there is the matter of his death, which has remained a mystery for two hundred years now. You see, Mandy: he died before my time, and the headmaster of that time tried to cover up the death by leaving no records of it. The only evidence we have that anything ever occurred is Patrick's ghost, but he refuses to speak. Has he said anything to you?"

Mandy shook her head. "Not a word. He never even told me anything about his time at Hogwarts. But then again, I don't know him that well."

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and frowned. "In all the years that Patrick has been haunting this school, he has not made contact with a student before, and he rarely speaks to the faculty. It is rare indeed for him to take an interest in you, although I do trust him, so don't be alarmed. I wonder, Mandy . . . If he tells you anything concerning these attacks, will you tell me? We seem to have the situation under control at present, but anything that you could find about his death would be invaluable." He leaned back in. "I am not asking you to be a spy, or to force anything out of him. But you seem to be our only link to him at the moment. So if he tells you anything related to his death, anything at all, do you promise that you will come straight to me?"

"I will," she said, and then paused. "Er--Professor?"

"Yes?"

"Do I have permission to visit him whenever I want to, then?"

Dumbledore seemed to be fighting back a smile. "I would prefer it if you told a teacher before you go anywhere, but yes, if you have free time, you are allowed to visit him. I will inform the teachers. This does not entitle you to any rule breaking, however. And Mandy . . ."

"Hm?"

"Be careful."

She nodded solemnly. "I'll try."

They left the office and walked back down to the Great Hall a few moments later. Mandy was almost sad to leave the magnificent room, especially Fawkes, but she wanted to talk to Terry and Adrian. Padma didn't speak the whole time, but the way she kept looking at Mandy suggested that there was something she was dying to say.

As soon as they reached their destination, the headmaster joined the other teachers, and Terry, Andrew, and Julian came running up to Mandy and Padma. Padma seemed happy about that.

Julian Montague was tall and thin, with thick black eyebrows, shaggy black hair, and a permanent frown. He was, however, good-looking, and much to his dismay, Millicent Bulstrode seemed to have noticed this. She kept fluttering her eyelashes at him from across the room. He looked ready to be sick, so he focused his attention on Padma.

Andrew was almost the exact opposite of Julian. He was short with a bit of baby fat, and had a mop of curly brown hair and a broad smile. Terry, whose moods seemed to vary from one extreme to the other, found the odd mix of Julian and Andrew to balance him out somewhat.

Terry was currently looking worried, while Andrew wore a look of blissful ignorance and Julian fiddled grimly with the bandage on his arm from the attack.

"You saw it, didn't you, Padma? Lisa said you did," Terry said; Padma nodded.

"I guess you could say that. There wasn't really anything there, just a shadow, and the footsteps. I thought it was a ghost, but ghosts' feet don't touch the floor, and that thing sounded heavy," said Padma.

Terry frowned. "Let's go sit down."

The five of them moved to the nearest open space at the Ravenclaw table, and Millicent quickly ambushed Julian. She gave a high-pitched giggle, which was utterly sickening, and put a hand on his arm.

"Come sit at the Slytherin table, Montague," she ordered. "Don't waist your time with these stupid Ravenclods." She sniggered at her own joke, then shot Padma a look of pure venom. "We're much better company."

"Really witty, Millicent," Julian replied grumpily. "Go away. I'm trying to talk to my friends, and you aren't one of them, as much as you like to think so."

She sniffed haughtily, stood up, and lumbered over to sit by Pansy Parkinson. The two of them immediately began whispering and giggling.

"I think you've gotten yourself a fan club," Padma said, laughing.

"Oh, bite me," he mumbled.

"Gladly. Where?"

He tried not to smile, but he couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Padma grinned, obviously proud of her ability to make him laugh, then said, "Come on, Millicent's not that bad. If you stare at her long enough, she kind of grows on you."

"Yeah, like fungus," Julian replied.

Mandy tuned out the witty repartee of her friends and rested a hand on her chin and stared at the ceiling. Dumbledore's words kept playing over and over again in her mind, like the time her mum's record broke and repeated the same line for fifteen minutes.
"You seem to be our only link to him at the moment."

But why?