Ophiuchus Ascending

 

My eyes fluttered open, and I noticed quizzically that my glasses were still on my face. I breathed in deeply, trying to figure out where I was, and, coughing, remembered that I was in the Divination room on the North Tower. My dream came rushing back to me, and I was shocked at the detail I remembered it in.

As I began to sit up, Ruby rushed over to me. "Gennie!" She exclaimed, bringing quill, ink, and parchment with her. "What did you dream?"

My head was totally clear now, but my words were so cryptic. "Ophiuchus ascending. She who sees the future becomes one with the Mysteries. The brown-haired girl fights the Darkness with an unknown spell. He who is respected is lower than the sludge of the Earth, for he lies to himself as well as to the rest of the world. The red and the black are married, tied by the green in her eyes. And the words of the royally-robed lady are true: ‘What begins in hate shall end with love. Though it seems to end, the nightmare only takes an intermission. The beginning is green, the end is scarlet. The Founders’ war will finally be won by the one who bears the mark of evil.’ She is as great as the philosophers of old; she is one with Socrates; she speaks truth truer than she knows. In search of truth, though, the children of those without the gift are killed at the place of beautiful wands. What is done with happy results may be done again to kill. Nothing is perfect, not all things are always good."

Suddenly, I was aware that my mind was my own. It seemed as if what I’d just said hadn’t been controlled by me, but from the tongue of another. "Ruby? What did I just say?" I asked, very aware of how stupid I sounded.

"Here. Read this," she said, handing me the parchment she’d written on. I read it with growing astonishment. What did it all mean? For my dream was fading, as if it’d just been a normal, ordinary dream that one forgets soon after waking.

"What have the others said?" I asked, getting up and immediately beginning to cough.

Ruby poured me a goblet of water, and handed it to me before saying: "You’re the first to wake up! But you should’ve heard yourselves talking in your sleep! It’s good you weren’t having ordinary dreams; I don’t want to know what comes out of your mouth then!"

I gulped the water down, my face red. A thousand thoughts were exploding inside my head at once, and I wanted to just sit there and let them explode. "Ruby? Can I wait for the others to wake? I want to hear what they’ve dreamed."

"I really don’t see why not! Professor Trelawney’s retired to her office; she said her Inner Eye was clearer when she was alone," Ruby replied, going back to sit at one of the tables.

I got up from the cot and went to sit with her, stretching. My hair was very flat and somewhat stringy, so I finger-combed it as I sat next to Ruby, just enjoying her company.

"So, what time is it?" I asked after a few minutes had passed. My hair looked somewhat better, and now I was re-polishing my glasses with the sleeve of my robe.

"About six o’ clock," she replied, gazing languidly at the crystal ball at the center of our table. "You will bear his child, you know."

"What?" I asked, extremely confused. Was she talking to me? Who was "he"? Ralph?

"The child of the one you love," she replied, and then she seemed as if someone had spoken instead of her. She looked shocked that she’d spoken this way; it seemed that the better you got at Divination, the more you had consciousness over what you were saying.

"Ruby? Are you going to be an Auror?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from me.

"No. I want to do something with Divination. Professor Trelawney suggested working in the Department of Mysteries. An Auror is too much split-second thinking for me, though I suppose I could do well there if I tried…" she trailed off, and I couldn’t help but wonder about her. Wasn’t this the girl who’d been so jubilant after our first Charms lesson? Who’d made the feather fly after only three tries, who left us all gasping at her talent? Wasn’t it whispered that she was Professor Flitwick’s favorite student, and that was why she was a prefect? And now, why was she contemplating a life only with her other forte in mind?

"Gennie! I have thought about Charms! But what’s the future in that? Just telling some silly Muggles that our world doesn’t exist! And yes, I know that’s hypocritical, but it’d be more hypocritical to live a life I’d rather not live!" By this time, Ruby was practically screaming, and Ralph began to stir.

"Shush up, Ruby!" I whispered, covering her mouth with my hand. "If any one of them wakes, won’t their dream be cut short? What if they’re now dreaming a dream that could destroy Voldemort?"

"All right…" she whispered grudgingly, turning back to her crystal ball. "Can I get back to this?"

"I suppose. I’ll go back up to our dormitory and grab our Potions work. Want to do it together?" I asked, rising from my seat, sorry to interrupt her but needing to say something.

"All right. Just bring up the assignment, we can use Professor Trelawney’s supplies," she whispered, her eyes never moving from the crystal ball.

So I quietly ran down the steps of the North Tower, past three tapestries, five suits of armor, and a statue of a wizard with a broomstick in hand, and whispered the password (Coma Berenices) to a tapestry of rainbows and sunshine, with a young witch in blue blissfully smiling in the center.

°

Charlie had woken up when I returned. Since he seemed perfectly clear-headed, I assumed he’d told his prophecy-dream to Ruby. I’d just come in when he brushed past me, coughing.

"Charlie?" I said, noticing that I’d grown used to the sickly-sweet scent. "What did you dream?"

"What do any of us dream? What are dreams, anyway?" he asked, running down the stairs, leaving my homework and a very confused Ruby behind me.

"A philosophic discussion is not my intention when the other person is running away from me," I replied, running after him. "Where are you going, anyway?"

"To see if Melanie’s awake and all right," he replied, not looking at me. He seemed to be trying to get rid of me, but I kept on following him.

"Then can I come with you? I haven’t seen her since last night, and I haven’t talked to her since before, well you know…" I said after a moment, trailing after him.

"Listen, I know you avoid me, so what’s the point in pretending to be my best friend now?" he finally said, after not saying anything for a good five minutes, at which point we were nearly at the Hospital Wing.

"Didn’t you hear Dumbledore yesterday? Hasn’t the world turned upside down? So who’s to say we won’t become the best of friends?" I asked, trying my hardest to be philosophic.

"Yes to the first; you saw me in the Great Hall. Actually, the literal answer to the second is no, since the Earth is a sphere and can never truly be upside down. As for your third question, only probably you, Ruby or I." And with that, he gallantly opened the door to the Hospital Wing for me.

Looking back on it today, I should have been shocked at all the people in beds, all who seemed to be sleeping. But I was more shocked over what Charlie had just done, and followed him silently to Melanie’s bed.

She was still asleep, and looking up, I caught a glimpse of Charlie’s face. The look he gave her pulled a string in my heart. It was the same look Ralph always gave me, the look that clearly meant, "I love you." So shocked at this was I, that I didn’t notice Madam Pomfrey until she tapped me on the shoulder.

"She’s here to see Miss Greyling with me," Charlie put in as I sputtered to find appropriate words.

"Are you?" she asked, fixing me with her piercing brown gaze.

"Yes," I answered firmly, at least, as firmly as one can answer in a whisper.

Madam Pomfrey left us then, and Charlie took out his wand, indicating that I should do the same.

"A Memory-Imprinting charm," he explained, after I'd gotten my wand ready. "Her mind's clogged with all sorts of horrible memories; she thinks that the world only has evil. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey would usually perform it, but it'd take all together too much time and magic with all the people here."

"But what memories should we give her? Seriously Charlie, what do you remember best about Melanie? How kind and generous she is to us. So what will we make her remember?" I asked after a few seconds of thinking.

"Remember that time in our third year, when she got the top grade in Arithmancy? And in our first year, when she got top in Transfiguration? Of course," he added, smiling slightly, "Ralph's been giving her a run for her money there. And do you remember, Gennie, when Ravenclaw won the House Cup last year. How we all knew and told Melanie she'd been the reason we'd won?"

"Yes," I whispered, now remembering all the times that Melanie's sweet smile had shown itself, when she'd done something wonderful and we all rejoiced with her. "Let's start, shall we?"

"We shall!" he whispered back, smiling, though I could see that his eyes held tears.

"Memorio!" we whispered together, our wands meeting.

Then I seemed to be in a black pit, hearing tortured screams. However, we'd learned Memory-Imprinting charms the year before, so I was ready, whispering

"Expecto Patronum!", the second part of the spell. What seemed a huge, silver pen came from my wand, and

I began to speak.

"Melanie, remember your first night at Hogwarts? When I wept for a life-dream lost, and you comforted me? Remember how you answered every question in Transfiguration right on our first day? Don't you remember Lucille's first Quidditch game, how we cheered until we couldn't even whisper? Wasn't our first Hogsmeade trip superb? How Ralph and Charlie drove us crazy when all we wanted to do was shop? And remember how you glowed after your first Arithmancy class?" I paused, almost out of breath. Everything I'd just written was written on the walls of this pit, and there was now light enough to read by. The tortured screams had also stopped, and were now replaced by silence.

"Melanie, if you hear me, don't you remember? Aren’t we all going together to our Muggle Life class? Haven't we looked forward to it since our fifth year? Remember this year's Christmas, and the big mistletoe fiasco? And when 'Cille got her Nimbus 1000? Don't you have the pictures of all that? Oh, and remember the whole Penny Lane thing? When we all sang and danced and scared Edith and some first years? Melanie, don't you remember us?"

I knew I'd said enough, for the walls of the pit I was in glowed as brightly as the snow on a sunny winter day.

"Finis," I whispered, and found myself back in the Hospital Wing. Charlie stood next to me, a dead look on his face, indicating that he was still performing the charm.

I literally ran from the Hospital Wing, hoping to find some sort of comfort on the North Tower.

°

Why did I run? I suppose I’ll never truly know. I’m guessing that I ran away from the knowledge that I was to fight against Voldemort, and that I’d forever lose my innocence, my youth. I wanted to stay a child, to be safe and protected and loved and sheltered from the evil in the world. I ran from the Hospital Wing because it held the truth; Voldemort would destroy us, and how could we do anything to prevent that?

°

Thundering up the steps of the North Tower, I could hardly remember exactly why I was running in this direction, but finally regained my wits when I saw the ladder leading to the Divination room.

I clunked up that ladder, panting, and finally burst into the still-dark room, calling, "Ruby! Ruby!"

Ruby was writing on her parchment, but she stopped as those loud words were so stupidly spoken. For, in the middle of telling his prophecy dream…

Ralph collapsed to the floor, and I froze at the realization of what I’d just done. Ruby, however, walked slowly to me, shaking with suppressed rage. When she reached me, her hand flew out and she punched me in the stomach, her face a mask of rage. As I struggled to breathe, my thoughts wouldn’t come together. Once my mind was working properly, however, I ran to Ralph, tears streaming down my cheeks, sobs beginning to rack my body.

Ralph’s face was paper-white, and a dribble of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth. His dark brown hair looked almost black, and I was struck suddenly with the thought of a vampire. My hand went to his neck in an instant, and, after seconds of praying that he wasn’t dead, I felt a faint pulse. I would’ve cried out with joy, but I didn’t want to find out what would happen to ‘Cille if I woke her.

"Ruby," I whispered after a moment of gazing lovingly at Ralph’s still face, "we’ve got to get him in a room with Madam Pomfrey. Will you get her?"

"Only if you stay quiet!" she whispered angrily, glaring at me, "If you dare wake

‘Cille, I will kill you."

Knowing this to be a dire threat, I nodded and Ruby disappeared, scrambling down the ladder.

My hand, taken back to my side after its frantic search of Ralph’s neck, traced the outlines of his face, rejoicing at the fact that they were still warm with life. Taking a corner of my sleeve, I tenderly wiped the blood from his mouth. I don’t know how long we stayed like that, me stroking Ralph’s face, but after a time, his eyelids fluttered and opened. What I saw in his brown eyes almost made me faint.

Ralph’s eyes were those of a man who’s just seen his village killed, is tortured, and then sold into slavery. I wanted so badly to find a way to take that look from his eyes, to make his eyes gleam with love as they had only last night. But I felt like an old woman that’d forgotten all the words she’d used only moments ago. I could only smile at him, relief written on every atom of my face.

But Ralph only stared back, his eyes dead. Finally, I leaned down and kissed his cheek, praying that he wouldn’t yell. Though a little of the old gleam returned to his eyes, tears began to stream down the sides of Ralph’s.

"Ralph," I whispered, "what’s wrong?"

"You’re going to be killed! And I won’t be able to help you, because I’ll be dead!" I was confused. Was this Ralph? What about the strong young man who’d helped me out of last night’s dinner? This was he who was sobbing like a three-year-old? This anguished moan, though low in volume, pained my heart more that yelling would have.

"But, darling, we’re going to be Aurors! Even if we do die, we’ll be saving our world!" This I whispered while stroking his hair, putting an eerily cheerful face on a horrid predicament. I began to kiss his head, hoping and praying that he wouldn’t be haunted by whatever he remembered of these dreams.

"Gennie! Oh, I hope so! But, what if? What if Voldemort takes over the world?" he asked, his face looking like that of a troubled five-year-old, but his hands clasping mine with all the strength he had.

"Then I’ll hope I’m having a nightmare. Do you want a Memory-Imprinting charm?" I asked, noticing how violently his hand was shaking as it held mine.

"No. If I were cornier, I’d say your face was charm enough," he whispered back, leaning up as if to kiss me.

I was almost sure that he was fine. His head was supported on my thighs (I was kneeling), and my hair hung down, curtaining my face from view. But I turned away, a rueful grin on my face.

"Ralph! You just woke up from collapsing, and already you’re trying to kiss me!" I laughed, desperately trying to bring the usual sparkle into Ralph’s eyes.

"But, haven’t you read that poem that begins, ‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye may’? And what if we die regretting what we haven’t yet done?" he replied, and one look in his eyes proved that he wasn’t jesting about this.

"Oh, the world has turned philosophic on me! And ‘sides," I added, hearing footsteps, "what if Ruby found us kissing?"

"She’d probably run away screaming, and we’d be left to deal with Madam Pomfrey. Now about Auror registration…" And I’m sure we would have kept on talking, had the very Madam we’d mentioned only a moment earlier not come flying in.

"What’s wrong with him?" she panted incredulously, seeing Ralph’s smiling face.

"I have the world’s most unromantic girlfriend," he answered, his eyes dancing. Madam Pomfrey groaned and slowly descended the ladder, keeping a careful eye on me, as if I were the cause of all of the world’s problems

°

Later that day, I found myself in the Charms room with Charlie, Ralph, and an ill-looking Melanie. Professor Flitwick gazed up at us, his eyes tired as we stood before his desk at the front of the room.

"Sir, we’d like to register as Aurors." Melanie spoke in a voice that, although quiet, was clear and caught one’s attention.

"Yes?" he asked, digging through the papers on top of his desk. "Ah, here they are!" Professor Flitwick held the parchment forms in his little hands, holding them up as if these forms were made of diamonds. He handed one to each of us a form, a quill, and handed Melanie a vial of red ink.

After filling in my name, age, birthday, House, and almost everything else anyone would want to know about me, including my grades in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and my wand’s wood and core. Then, after about ten minutes of writing, my eyes passed across an interesting statement.

I raised my hand, and asked Professor Flitwick, "Is this correct? If we register as Aurors, we only have to take one N.E.W.T.?"

He smiled his small smile and replied, "Yes, and you’ll be accredited depending on your scores in the rest of your subjects."

Well, that was the reason Mum always told me to work harder on Herbology and Transfiguration! Writing "Astronomy" in the blank, I sighed in relief. After the work I’d done, I could just concentrate on my best subject! I looked up and met Melanie’s eyes. Though her eyes were as sad as I’d ever seen them, there was a gleam of hope that clearly showed that she thought this was her future; she’d leave the past behind and help save the world.

And I was glad.

As we left, I thought I could see a sparkle in everyone’s eyes. We all knew what might happen, but we were ready. If we died, who could think of a worthier purpose?

°

At Monday’s breakfast, Melanie handed me a crisp piece of parchment. It read, in large bold green ink:

Dear Melanie Greyling and Genevieve Dione,

Auror training begins today. Please meet in the purple tent erected on the far side of the lake. Boats have been spelled to take you there, so report to the end of the lake closest to Hogwarts (the boats will have huge white sails; you can’t miss them). This letter is also to inform you that you will be sharing Tent 8, which will be shown to you after your first class is completed today.

A few questions have been raised, such as if your group will stay together, if you will still have access to your Common Rooms, and if you will still be attending the Muggle Life class. These questions will be answered today.

Oh, and before we forget, enjoy breakfast!

Professors Dumbledore and Fletcher

"Well, that was interesting," I said, putting the letter down and grabbing a piece of toast. "But why in the world are we sleeping in tents?"

Melanie only smiled, commenting about how Hogwarts should supply us with more chocolate at breakfast.

°

Rising from the boat that contained Charlie, Melanie, Ralph, and me, I saw a flutter of paper fall to the floor of the boat. Quickly picking it up, I stuffed it in my robe’s pocket and then climbed to the other side of the lake.

I then noticed that the purple tent in front of me was really only a lean-to, and the desks and chairs were the only things reminiscent of a classroom. Professors Fletcher and Dumbledore, whom I assumed to be our teachers, waited in the front of the "classroom", with parchment in hand and tired looks on their faces. As Melanie and I sat down, Ralph and Charlie choosing seats behind us, I remembered the piece of paper I’d found, and grabbed it from my robe’s pocket. After looking at it a moment, I noticed with great surprise that it was folded, as a note would be. Unfolding it, and knowing that I probably shouldn’t be reading whatever this note said, I began to read:

Gennie-

Please excuse the rather Muggle-esque way that I am passing this note to you. You must tell Professor Dumbledore that Voldemort is planning to attack Hogsmeade this Wednesday. I swear that I am telling the truth, and so you must tell him as soon as you have a chance.

Lyddie

The note, clearly meant for me, took my breath away in an instant. Lyddie, the Slytherin girl who’d befriended me in my first year, but had ignored me after our third for some reason only known to her? The girl, who, beautiful as she was, had been expelled in our fifth year for use of Dark Magic? And now this girl was telling me that the greatest Dark Wizard in the world was going to attack? I slipped the note back into my robe’s pocket, more confused than before.

Then Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat, and, looking up at him, I noticed that all the desks were full, and everyone looked very eager to begin. Professor Fletcher called roll, and I noticed with a certain sadness that mostly Gryffindors had signed up as Aurors, and no Slytherins had registered, though there were representatives from Hufflepuff.

Snapping me out of my reverie was Professor Fletcher’s comment: "Please follow me, as today we will be having a practical lesson. Only your wands are needed, but please pair up."

So we all rose to our seats, and I, feeling quite the matchmaker, I clasped Ralph’s hand as he started past my desk. "Partners?" I asked, as I rose and we followed the Professors into the Forbidden Forest.

"If you say so," he replied, a smile on his face as he watched Charlie awkwardly ask Melanie if it would be all right if they paired up.

After about ten minutes of walking a long a path only the Professors could see, we reached a small clearing, where the branches nearly touched our heads and I could sense some sort of Dark Magic behind the trees. Clinging ever closer to Ralph, I edged closer to the Professors, clutching my wand with clammy fingers. I could see that Melanie was having something of a similar reaction, as was Javier, who had for some reason registered as an Auror. Though it had been a sunny, late-spring day before we entered the forest, it looked as if night came early to the Forbidden Forest.

"You may wonder why we’ve taken you into a forest previously known as Forbidden," Professor Dumbledore commented, and, facing us, I could see that his eyes twinkled even in the gloom of the Forest. "Creatures lurk in here, and the spells you use on them can also be used on Dark wizards."

"So, people," Professor Fletcher began, "Here’s what you’re to do: With your partner, go in a direction, any direction. Mark your path with the Pathfinder charm, and after about a mile or so, come back. If you encounter anything, use one of the curses you’ve learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts. And be ready to run!"

So Ralph and I chose to go in the same direction we’d already been heading, I keeping my wand out, ready for anything to come running at me. After a few minutes of walking, each sound of a twig snapping making me jump, I felt a tug on my sleeve, and screamed.

"Gennie! It’s only me, you know!" Ralph chided, turning me to face him. "This ‘practical lesson’ will probably be considered a ‘kissing session’ by the rest of us, you know. Shall we join ‘em?"

It was all I could do to keep from kissing him then and there. But I was afraid of what might happen if I wasn’t ready with my wand at all times. So I shook my head slowly, turned around, and walked on, wand ready.

I think it took Ralph’s mind a minute to register that I wasn’t running into his arms. But, a second later, I had no time to think about him. Something dead was coming from the trees, the smell of the grave accompanying it… Something told me that it was one of my friends, but I couldn’t tell who. Suddenly, Ralph ran to my side, shouting, "Ridikkulus!" But I couldn’t notice what happened next, because I was falling, black coming before my eyes…

°

When my eyes finally opened, I found myself looking up at three worried faces, and, beginning to sit up, nearly fell off the three desks that I had been laying on. Professor Fletcher grabbed my shoulders, thus steadying me, and I asked, "What happened?"

"A boggart, Genevieve," Professor Dumbledore answered gravely.

I flushed in embarrassment. Here I was, a 7^th year with good grades in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I couldn’t even get rid of a boggart!

"Miss Dione, this is the exact reason we’re having an Auror training! It is ten times harder to defend yourself against something unexpected than it is to perform the spell on your teacher’s command; after this, you’ll be prepared for anything you’ll encounter as an Auror. And look: Here’s your friend, Melanie! Really, Genevieve, don’t worry. You’ll do much better next time."

And, sliding off the desks I had been sitting on, I went to meet Melanie and Charlie, seriously hoping that Professor Fletcher’s words would come true.

Fin