Battles with the Past

CHAPTER TWO

Inescapability

Rowena Ravenclaw stared at the two teenagers gaping rather indecorously at her. One was a tall, lithe boy with an unhealthy pallor and hair so blindingly blond that it almost hurt Rowena's eyes to look at it; the other was a shorter girl with poker-straight hair, redder than Rowena's had ever been, and a very freckled face.

They both looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen them before.

Her famous memory had recently taken a turn for the worse and the faces and names of Hogwarts students had begun to get muddled in her mind. She didn't want to hazard a guess at the names of the teenagers in front of her, in case she committed the grave offence of getting them wrong.

Collecting her senses, she said sternly, "Children, what are you doing here? The school is closed for the time being; all students are supposed to be at home."

"Surely you're not Rowena Ravenclaw," whispered the girl.

Rowena frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

The girl turned to the boy standing beside her without answering Rowena. "We can't have gone that far back," she said to him.

The boy did not take his eyes off Rowena. "If you wouldn't mind, could you tell us what year this currently is? We're a bit disoriented right now."

Rowena stared. "It is the eight hundred and sixty-third year of our Lord," she said, slowly and clearly, as though speaking to little children.

"My God," breathed Ginny, "we've gone -"

"One thousand, one hundred and thirty years into the past," finished Draco quietly, blinking at the stone floor.

Neither of them noticed all the colour immediately vanishing from Rowena's already ashen face. Her copper hair was nowhere near as vivid as Ginny's, but it nevertheless looked distinctly out of place surrounding Rowena's pallor. Her eyes, however, were blazing.

"So, you have come," she said.

"Were you expecting us?" inquired Ginny, puzzled.

"For many years," sighed Rowena. "Do the history books in your time not mention that Rowena Ravenclaw was a Seer?"

"Erm," said Ginny, distinctly uncomfortable. That was a question which Hermione Granger would be able to answer with conviction. Ginny's knowledge of history books and their contents, at best, was decidedly vague and patchy.

Rowena did not seem eager for an answer, though. She stood limply now, gazing at Draco and Ginny with a sadness so pronounced that it cut right through to Ginny's heart, though it bewildered her.

"I had Seen you both," Rowena elaborated in a sombre voice. "I know who you are. But I did not know when you would come to us." She dropped her eyes to the floor. "I had hoped it would not be soon; I even wished that the vision meant nothing, that it would never happen. But one cannot escape the future, except through death." She paused and the corners of her mouth turned down; her eyes were dull and doleful now. It was a grim face that she lifted to the teenagers. "It is time, then."

~ ~ ~

"You boys haven't seen Ginny, have you?" asked Hermione Granger of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in the Great Hall during lunch, ladling peas and baby carrots onto their plates.

"No," replied Harry. "Why?"

Ron merely shook his head, for his mouth was full to bursting with roast potatoes.

"I was supposed to give her my Potions notes from last year, but I couldn't find her anywhere."

Ron swallowed with humungous effort. "She's probably Vanishing the mouth off a little Slytherin twerp," he said with distinct pride. "Or something similar."

Hermione shot him a reproving glance. "Ron, you know that was an accident. Ginny's not like you two; she's much more tolerant. She doesn't go hexing people right and left all the time for no good reason, and she wouldn't have Vanished Malcolm Baddock's mouth if he hadn't turned her hair into strings of carrots."

At that moment, Colin Creevey collapsed next to Harry on the bench, panting.

"Hullo, Colin," said Harry automatically, hoping against hope that the other boy would go away.

"Harry - Ron - Hermione -" Colin panted at each Gryffindor.

"What's the matter, Colin?" demanded Hermione, a worried frown knitting her brows.

"It's Ginny - she's gone."

Ron dropped his fork and paled behind his freckles, thus looking startlingly pockmarked. "What d'you mean, gone?"

"Come on, I'll show you!" Colin sprang up and sprinted out of the Hall with Harry, Ron and Hermione in hot pursuit.

When Colin came to a sudden stop in the middle of a sixth-floor corridor the seventh-year trio nearly crashed into him.

"Colin, what -" began Harry, but Colin cut him off.

"Look!" Colin pointed at something glinting just ahead of them.

Hermione gasped and ran over to the scene of the accident; Harry, Colin and a trembling Ron stumbled closer slowly.

A black and gold cupboard lay on its side in a pool of broken glass and splinters of wood. In front of it was an expensive-looking satchel; a trail of books led away from it to an old, well-worn book bag.

Hermione picked up a book with a tattered cover and opened it. "It's Ginny's Potions book," she said, her voice quavering.

"This isn't Ginny's." Ron nudged the satchel with his shoe and a glossy, intact book fell out. Just as he bent to pick it up, his eyes landed on the name written in neat, cursive handwriting at the top right corner of the cover, and he jumped away from it. "Ugh! That's Malfoy's Advanced Charms book!"

"Draco Malfoy's?" queried Hermione.

Harry rolled his eyes. "As opposed to all the other seventh-year Malfoys we know, it being such a popular surname and all."

"But - but - how do Draco Malfoy's books relate to Ginny's?"

"And what is that?" Colin indicated the broken cabinet.

"Why, it's a Vanishing Cabinet!" exclaimed Hermione. "They're extremely difficult to make and very rare. They can transport you from one place to another, so long as there's another Cabinet wherever you want to end up. I had no idea Hogwarts had one."

"Really? That's bad," said Ron. "If there's something you don't know about Hogwarts, it most likely has Dark Magic in it."

"But Dumbledore wouldn't allow anything with Dark Magic to be inside Hogwarts," Harry stated with conviction.

"Unless Dumbledore didn't know it had Dark Magic in it," added Hermione nervously.

A tense silence wove around the teenagers, which Ron ventured to break with, "I am going to kill him."

"Not Dumbledore!" cried Hermione, shocked.

"Of course not," snapped Ron. "Bloody Malfoy! If he's done anything to my sister, I'll -"

"Ron, calm down," interrupted Hermione, laying a hand on his arm. "If Malfoy had done anything to Ginny, he wouldn't have left his things lying around at the scene of the crime. Obviously, whatever happened to Ginny involved him too, and I think it's safe to assume it had something to do with this Vanishing Cabinet."

Harry, who had been silent during this short interchange, suddenly spoke up. "I think we should go tell Dumbledore about this. Either way he needs to know."

Hermione gathered the spilled books - Ron took Ginny's things from Hermione, who was the only one willing to carry Draco's - and they all trooped up to the headmaster's office on the seventh floor with Harry leading the way.

~ ~ ~

"Time for what?" demanded Draco, as he and Ginny followed Rowena through ninth century Hogwarts.

"The end," said Rowena, staring straight ahead, her shoes making no noise on the stone floor.

"The end of what?" asked Ginny uneasily.

"Harmony, my child. Peace does not last long. Someone always wants more than they already have."

Draco saw Ginny give him a pointed look and was slightly discomfited by it. "Could you possibly be more specific about all this? Why is Hogwarts closed? It's not the end of the school year yet. And why are we here in the first place?"

"Hush." Rowena stopped in front of a closed door and looked both ways of the corridor before plucking her wand out of her sleeve and unlocking the door. "In here."

The room within was small and square, sparingly decorated but covered wall-to-wall with books of varying sizes and subjects. In fact, the only visible decorative item was an unornamented tapestry featuring four people: two men, one dark and the other pale, and two women, a red-head and a blonde.

Rowena conjured two straight-backed wooden chairs and lowered herself into her own behind her paper-strewn desk, clasping her hands on it. "Hogwarts is closed because it is not safe for students to be here right now. I will be honest with you - a student has died. We cannot allow that to happen again."

"What has been happening?" whispered Ginny.

Rowena looked at her clasped hands. "Once we were united - Godric, Helga, Salazar and I. I thought we all had the same goals: to educate, to improve young minds, to change the wizarding world for the better." She closed her eyes. "I was wrong. From the very beginning our purposes for founding this school were different, and now those discrepancies divide us."

"It's Slytherin, isn't it?" prompted Ginny, her face expressing disgust. "He started all this, didn't he?"

"That's right, blame the underdog," Draco shot back furiously. "You Gryffindors love to do that, as though you're all always completely blameless."

"How dare you! Slytherin was hardly the underdog!" protested Ginny. "He -"

But Rowena flew out of her chair and kneeled in front of Draco and Ginny, taking one of their hands in each of hers. "Dear children, please stop," she pleaded. "Do not fight amongst yourselves. If you, too, are divided, there is no hope for the future, or any of us."

"What d'you mean?" asked Draco guardedly. "What do we have to do with the future or anything?"

"You are the future," said Rowena quietly, standing up. "The fate of Hogwarts lies in your hands. You would not be here now if it was not up to you."

"What?!" Draco was flabbergasted. "This is ridiculous! You've picked the wrong kids for the job - or -" he scowled at Ginny, who was staring mutely at Rowena "- at least the wrong guy." He ran a hand through his hair distractedly, making it stand up at odd angles. "Where's flaming Potter when you really do need him?" he muttered. "Look, I don't do heroics; it's not my thing. You're going to have to find some other guy to be your knight."

He stood and turned to go, but before he had taken a single step a jet of blue light darted past him and was absorbed by the door.

"You will not be able to open that door," stated Rowena firmly, "with or without magic. It will only open if I command it to. You will sit back down and listen to me."

Almost defiantly, Draco took a step towards the door.

Rowena's stern, thin-lipped mouth relaxed into a faint smile. "You dare mistrust the word of a Founder? Sit down, boy, and listen to me."

Draco sighed, feeling quite aggravated, and threw himself onto the chair. "Doesn't sound like I have much of a choice, does it?" he spat.

The smile faded from Rowena's face. "You don't. Neither of you."

~ ~ ~

The headmaster's office was at the very top of one of the many towers of Hogwarts. Harry knew of two entrances to it but suspected there were more. Each of the ones he knew of were concealed behind a rather ugly stone gargoyle, which sprang aside once the correct password - usually a wizarding sweet - was said.

Harry had already tried Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizbees, Ice Mice, Jelly Slugs, Pepper Imps and Acid Pops, but the gargoyle remained quite motionless. Ron had run his hands through his flaming red hair so often that it now stood on end and Hermione was sitting on her bag, looking exasperated.

Only Colin remained persistently enthusiastic. "Try again, Harry!" he urged for the umpteenth time. "It might work this time!"

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his own hair. "Any more ideas?"

"Cockroach Clusters?" offered Ron hopefully.

"Toothflossing Stringmints?" suggested Hermione.

"Speaking of sweets," said Ron, "I wonder if Fred and George ever gave Dumbledore some of their Canary Creams -"

He jumped, startled, as the stone gargoyle silently sprang aside to reveal a spiralling staircase without banisters.

"Apparently, they did," grinned Harry, picking up his bag and stepping onto the staircase.

"Oh dear," whimpered Hermione, wobbling slightly as she glanced down, "I really don't like heights."

Ron's hand shot out and fastened on her upper arm. "I won't let you fall," he said firmly.

Harry thought it very fortunate that Ron didn't see the odd look on Hermione's face as she looked at the other boy; it strongly reminded Harry of the tremulous, adoring expression on Dobby the house-elf's face whenever the latter looked at him. Harry, however, knew too well that Ron's comprehension of girls and their emotions was no deeper than Harry's own - that is, just a little above nothing.

The staircase ended in front of a polished oak door. Harry, Ron, Hermione and a wide-eyed Colin piled onto the protruding ledge and Harry rapped the brass griffon-shaped knocker on the door.

"Enter," issued a voice from within.

Professor Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his ornately carved desk, holding a handsome red quill poised over a sheet of parchment.

"Professor," Harry addressed him, striding forward, "something strange has happened."

"Stranger than usual, you mean?" asked Dumbledore composedly.

"My sister's disappeared," blurted Ron.

"And Draco Malfoy," added Hermione, feeling that if no one was going to stand up for his rights, she might as well take it upon herself to do so.

Dumbledore stroked his long white beard. "Your sister - and Draco Malfoy ... how very intriguing." His eyes shot to the patched, fraying Sorting Hat, sitting atop a shelf near a window. "I had wondered ..."

Dumbledore fell silent, staring at the Hat intently.

"Sir?" Harry prompted after half a minute of silence went by.

Dumbledore jerked his head abruptly to look at him. "Oh, my apologies. I was merely reflecting on the situation."

"So what are we going to do?" queried Ron anxiously.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands on his stomach. "Nothing whatsoever."

All four teenagers gaped at the headmaster, who looked rather amused by their stunned faces.

"But - but - my sister! She's gone!" exclaimed Ron, flailing his arms.

"And Draco Malfoy," piped up Hermione.

"Hang Draco Malfoy!" snapped Ron, rounding on her. "My only sister could be dead by now! She's only sixteen!"

"Oh, Ron, don't be silly," bristled Hermione. "Ginny's perfectly capable of taking care of herself." She raised an eyebrow. "More than you were able to take care of yourself at her age. She's almost come of age, anyway."

Dumbledore nodded. "Miss Granger is quite right. Besides, Ginny and Draco are in no immediate danger."

"How can you be sure, Professor?" persisted a frowning Harry.

Dumbledore leant forward, placing his elbows on his desk and steepling his fingers. "I am more aware," he said slowly, "of the implications of the situation than any of you believe me to be. It is very possible that one or both of them may come back, but I believe they will stay until the deed is done."

"What deed?" Harry asked immediately.

Dumbledore fixed his penetrating blue gaze on Harry and held it there until the boy looked down at the floor, feeling oddly uncomfortable.

"It seems Ginny and Draco have been chosen to complete a task of great importance," said Dumbledore, still looking at Harry.

"You don't sound too sure, Professor," said Hermione, frowning.

"I admit the choice was somewhat unexpected," explicated Dumbledore, not taking his eyes off Harry. "Unusual, to say the least. But at least you three can have a break from heroics." He smiled at Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"What kind of a task is it, Professor?" burst out Colin breathlessly, and immediately blushed at his own audacity.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled kindly at him. "A task of great historical importance. I believe the lack of further information will help you all sleep soundly at night without fear or worry."

"Professor!" exclaimed Hermione excitedly. "Do you mean they've gone back in time?"

"Astute as ever, Miss Granger."

"So they did use the Vanishing Cabinet! I thought they did!" gushed Hermione. "But Professor, doesn't it simply transport people from one Cabinet to another?"

"Usually," nodded Dumbledore. "But I tuned it to time-travel -"

"You?" interrupted Ron, his ginger eyebrows threatening to vanish into his hairline.

"Yes, Mr Weasley, I. You see, it was my duty to make sure all this happened."

"But Professor, the Cabinet's broken," blurted Hermione. "The glass is smashed and -"

Dumbledore rose from his chair so suddenly that Hermione jumped backwards. "Broken?" he echoed quietly.

"Y - yes," answered Hermione in a small voice. "But - but couldn't you use a Repairing Charm to mend it?"

"A Repairing Charm will not work on a magical object as powerful as a Vanishing Cabinet," said Dumbledore gravely. "It can mend an ordinary smashed window or chair, but it won't work on an item as complex as a Vanishing Cabinet ... just like it will not work on a broken wand."

"Sir, what are you saying?" demanded Harry.

Dumbledore sat down again and sighed. "A Vanishing Cabinet is a very difficult thing to mend. T hey are extremely fragile and uncommon; few people know how to fix them properly. If this Cabinet is not mended correctly, it is very likely that Draco and Ginny will have to produce another way of returning to our time, because Vanishing Cabinets were only invented sixty years ago."

Ron frowned. "But why is that a problem?"

"I think," said an ashen-faced Hermione, her voice unsteady, "that Draco and Ginny have gone back in time beyond the twentieth century."

"They have travelled to the time of the Founders," asserted Dumbledore grimly. "The ninth century. The means to travel through time that we now normally use were not discovered until five centuries later."