As the Eagle Flies

Chapter two

It took two hours, but finally everyone was awake and ready to go. This particular everyone consisted of Ron and Hermione Weasley with Missy, Harry and Ginny Potter with Ema and Ari. They gathered around the Potter fireplace. Standing there, it seemed to Ari that everyone had forgotten what to do. She stood there staring into the dark hearth until Harry groaned and looked at her.

"Ginny," he said. "Do you remember the first time I used floo-powder?"

Ginny laughed. "All too well, my wonder wizard, all too well..."

"Well, I think we should send someone with Ari," said Harry, glancing at over at the eleven-year-old.

"What are we doing?" asked Ari quickly.

"Floo-Powder," said Harry, realizing that Ari was in the same position he'd been in so many years ago. "It's a form of transportation. Basically you just tell the fire where you're going...erm...that is, after stepping into it, which you do after putting the powder in and then -"

"Dad, you're embarrassing yourself and confusing Ari," said Ema.

Ginny nodded thoughtfully. "Yes," she said absently, appearing not to have heard a word of the exchange next to her. "Why don't Ema and Ari go first? Incendio!"

Flames sprung up in the fireplace nearly blinding the girls.

"Here you are, Ema," said Ginny, handing over a tea pot filled with an odd substance. Ema took a pinch of the glittering powder and scattered it in the flames. Grabbing Ari by the arm, she walked into the fire.

"Ari, don't talk!" warned Harry, who was without a doubt the most worried of all the parents. Hermione and Ginny both rolled their eyes. Ari nodded, wondering what was happening. Harry's explanation really hadn't helped in the slightest.

"Diagon Alley!" shouted Ema and, quite suddenly, they were swirling in green flames, Ari was just starting to feel sick when, finally, they fell out of the fireplace into an old and dark pub.

The people in the pub looked up and then went back to their own personal businesses. After all, there was nothing extraordinary about two eleven-year-old girls tumbling out of a fireplace into a pub...

"We'd better get out of the way," Ema said, dragging Ari out of the hearth just as Missy tumbled out of it, getting to her feet and dusting herself off.

"Oof!" she said. "Move over, Em, Mum and Dad are coming now."

Sure enough, Hermione's spinning form could soon be seen; she tumbled head-over-heels out of the fire-place, getting to her feet and saying, "This is not my favorite way to travel."

Missy grinned at Ari. "Mum was Muggle-born too," she said. "And she's hardly ever traveled by floo-powder."

When they were all finally out of the fire, they headed for the exit of the pub which Ari had been informed was "The Leaky Cauldron." And, Ema had continued, "It's the gateway into Diagon Alley." This was made difficult by the fact that everyone seemed to know Ema's dad. Ari found herself being jostled this way and that as people fought to get to him.

"Harry Potter! What an honor it is! And little Ema! How sweet."

"Oh, shake my hand, Mr. Potter..."

"Autograph, sir?"

"Mr. Potter! Would you like to tell the Prophet your view on exploding yellow toads?"

"You've grown so much since last time." Ari wondered when 'last time' had been. She'd known Mr. Potter all her life and he hadn't changed one bit. Then she realized that the remark was directed at Ema.

When they finally made it out into the sunshine, Harry rolled his eyes, "You'd think I was still eleven, wouldn't you?" he said irritably, screwing up his face. He put on a high-pitched voice and said, "Oh, Mr. Potter! Would you like me to show you the way to the toilets?" Ari and Ema laughed but nobody else had heard.

They were facing a brick wall. Ari looked quizzically at Harry who grinned, his bad mood quite gone.

"Watch this," he said proudly, pulling out his wand and tapping the third brick to the left above the trash can, causing the wall to melt away into an arch leading to...

"Diagon Alley," said Ema proudly as though she personally had designed and created the long cobbled street.

Ari couldn't stop staring. She turned her head in every direction as they headed for Gringotts, the wizard bank.

"Run by Goblins, you know," announced Ema excitedly. "Lots of goblins, yeah, you'd have to be bloody mad to try and rob it. Ohhhh! There it is!"

They had reached a snow white building, on the door there was a long poem which had something to do with not stealing, though nobody really stopped to read it.

What a waste of time, thought Ari, referring in her mind to the making of the poem, not to the reading of it.

While Ginny stayed to help Ari with exchanging her money, the other families went down to their vaults.

"I always hate this part," groaned Hermione.

Missy laughed again. "Then you shouldn't have married a pure-blood wizard, should you?"

Hermione pulled her hair playfully. "Come on, Ema, we do have to get some money at some point today." Ema groaned just like Hermione and climbed in the small cart. And they were off. The cart twisted and turned every which way, plummeting and circling. And flying, and exploding, thought Ema. She somehow managed to keep up her natural sarcasm even through feeling as though she was about to retch. Finally, they reached the Weasley's vault.

"Remember when this vault was completely empty?" Ron asked Harry with a grin.

Harry blushed, remembering all too well when Ron's family's vault was bare when his was full. Now Ron, a successful member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had turned his family's old vault around for himself, his brothers and for his parents ("Saves time and money," he'd explained to Harry, "not to have separate vaults when we don't need them. Well, apparently Percy does, but he doesn't count." Harry still didn't get it). Next, they went zooming down to the Potter's vault.

"Ema, I know I shouldn't trust you with any money at all, but here you go," Harry said.

He filled a small bag with gold and silver and thrust it at her. "If you buy anything crazy and then not have enough money for your school things I'll...I'll...well, you'll just have to make do without them," he finished lamely, desperately wishing he'd thought up a threat beforehand.

~

While all this was going on down below, Ari was waiting nervously, fingering her money.

"Ari, no need to worry," Ginny reassured her. Or perhaps it would be better to say that Ginny tried to reassure her for Ari was not in the least reassured. The Goblin serving them had a long nose which sprouted quantities of white hair and very long fingers. He looked rather unpleasant.

"Yes?" he said as they moved forward after a ruffled looking wizard left, stuffing large sapphires into his pockets.

"We need to exchange some Muggle money," said Ginny, unafraid, pushing Ari forward.

"How much?" asked the Goblin, leering at Ari.

Ari blushed. She hadn't counted her money. "Um...ninety pounds," she said finally, silently thanking her mother for giving her such a generous amount.

"Hand it over," said the Goblin.

Ari complied and was handed a bag filled with gold, silver, and bronze. Ginny motioned for her to come along and Ari thought she'd never moved so fast in her life; all she wanted was to get away from that Goblin.

~

"Okay, all you kids head off to Madam Malkin's for your robes; we'll go to Flourish and Blotts and get your books. Meet outside Florean Fortescue's and we'll get ice-cream before we get your other things," Hermione instructed the kids bossily.

Ron stared at her. "You haven't changed one bit since the day we met you on the Hogwarts Express," he said as the three girls walked off.

Hermione looked at him indignantly, "I'd think you would've noticed some change, seeing as how you hated me from when we first met on the Hogwarts Express to Halloween of that year. And if you're just noticing my personality now after having spent all your life since you were eleven with me, I think you need to be a bit more bloody observant." Ron went red and muttered something incoherent. Hermione kissed him, laughing slightly.

"Awww, how sweet." Ema had come back to relieve her mother of her supplies list.

"Shut up, Em," said all four adults together. The five of them burst into laughter.

"Ron's right though, Hermione," Harry said, still laughing as Ema trotted away. "You still manage to stump Ron, and you have been doing that the same way since our first year."

"Shut up, Harry," snapped Ron.

~

Meanwhile, the girls had shuffled nervously into Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions and were standing uncertainly by the door.

"Hogwarts, dears?" the plump witch said to them. She had a bouncy, falsely cheery voice that adults can often develop. The girls nodded mutely.

"Come on back, got another young lady being fitted right now," the witch continued, as though they were three-years-old. They followed her to the back and Ema stood up on a stool and glanced at the other girl who was standing on the other stool. Ema stared.

"This is exactly how our dads met," she snapped by way of greeting. The girl looked taken aback and then recognition dawned on her.

"Well, if it isn't little Miss Famous."

Ema looked stumped, but quickly regained her composure. "Nice to meet you too, Veronica, where's your sister?"

"Out buying books," said the girl lazily. "And I'm Valerie, not Veronica."

"Well, hardly a difference, is there?" snapped Ema. "I mean, you've got the same sour personalities, right?"

"I'm afraid my sister is a disgrace to the family name of Malfoy," drawled Valerie. "There's no way she'll end up a Slytherin."

Ema was surprised. "Well then," she said. "You can shut up and we'll talk to her."

Valerie laughed, "Dad wouldn't be too happy," she said derisively. "You see, he doesn't like us conversing with Mudbloods--" she nodded at Ari "--daughters of Muggle lovers--" she pointed at Ema, "--or daughters of Mudbloods," she finished, pointing at Missy, who growled like a hungry tiger. Valerie laughed again but just then the witch below her (who seemed unaware of the entire angry discussion going on above) said, "All right, dear, off you go then," and Valerie hopped off the stool.

"Well," she drawled, "see you at school then," and left the shop.

Ema swore softly.

"That little git," she hissed.

"What was so offensive?" asked Ari curiously. "I mean, she didn't seem nice, but what's so particularly bad about what she said?"

Missy hopped onto the vacant stool. "Mudblood is a really offensive term for someone with Muggle parents," she said angrily. "My mum is Muggle-born, and you're Muggle-born and she was using it against us."

"And what's wrong with liking Muggles?" asked Ari, remembering that Valerie had called Ema a daughter of a Muggle-lover.

"Nothing at all," snapped Ema and then softened. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound harsh. My granddad is obsessed with Muggles. He loves them. Muggle is to him what bloody pink bunny rabbit is to a five-year-old--"

"Em, that's disgusting," said Missy, into whose head a picture of a headless pink bunny with blood dripping out of it had just emerged...

"You know what I mean," snapped Ema. Turning back to Ari, she said, "Anyway, there are people who think that Muggles are inferior to us because they can't do magic--" she jumped off the stool, "--but the rest of us know that there's nothing they can do about it. Anyway, the Malfoys are just bad news. Don't listen to anything any of them say."

"Excuse me." Ema whipped around to see Valerie back again.

"Back again?" asked Missy scathingly. "Forgot something? Hmm...let's think, what else is wrong with us?" The girl looked bewildered, but then realization dawned on her face.

"Val was here?" she said as though it was a question though Ema thought that it didn't require an answer.

"Oh, you're Veronica," sneered Ema.

The girl shook her head. "Ronnie," she said as though correcting a teacher for the millionth time. Ema had that problem. Teachers would insist on calling her Eema. It drove her nuts.

"I was wondering, is this yours?" Ronnie asked, tentatively, holding up a silver necklace. Ema grabbed it.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"I'm really sorry about my sister," Ronnie continued in an embarrassed voice. "She's always like that. So are my parents, I can't believe I'm related to them." Ema looked at her suspiciously, but Ronnie seemed so sincere that Ema grinned. "Neither can I," she said, holding out her hand, which Ronnie shook.

"I'm Ema Potter, this is my cousin, Artemis Weasley...Missy, ouch, bloody hell, Miss, I was going to tell her! She doesn't like being called Artemis and this is my friend, Arwen DeLingues, Ari ouch! Great bloody heavens alive, you two! She doesn't like Arwen. She's Muggle-born."

"What are Muggles like?" asked Ronnie with genuine curiosity. "Erm..." Ari didn't know how to answer that. "They're just like wizards, without magic."

Ronnie smiled. "Oh. Okay. Hey do you guys want to..." but she was cut off by a harsh voice.

"Veronica!" Looking over Ronnie's shoulder, Ema could see Draco Malfoy coming towards them. "What are you doing?"

"Talking," said Ronnie shortly. "It's not against the law."

"In my house it is," said Malfoy, coming up behind her and sneering at Missy and Ema. "You're talking to two members of the Weasly-Potter-Granger clan and a Mudblood. Get out. You disgrace the family with your antics. OUT."

Ronnie ran out of the store and her father followed quickly.

"Gosh. If I had a father like that I'd...I'd...Hell, I dunno what I'd do but I wouldn't hang around with him," said Ari, horrified.

The others agreed.

~

From robe-shopping, they met up with the adults and went to The Apothecary, where they got lots of potions supplies that Ari for one found completely revolting.

Then they went to Ollivander's wand shop. As they went in, Ari felt a thrill of excitement. This was it. Now she would see if she really had the magical powers everyone had been talking about.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice making everybody jump. "Ah, Ms. Granger, oh, of course. Mrs. Weasley now. Eleven inches, holly, good wand for transfiguration, and Mr. Weasley, thirteen inches, good wand for charm work, ah and little Ginny Weasley--" Ginny rolled her eyes at Ari--"Now a Mrs. Potter. Twelve inches, yew, containing one Dragon heart-string, I seem to remember it doing a lot of hex-work. A good wand, that. And...Mr. Potter--" Harry raised his eyes to the heavens, knowing what was coming next "--Holly and phoenix tail feather...curious, curious...the wand that helped end it all....Ah! You've brought your daughters...little Miss Potter and Weasley, and...good gracious..."

"Arwen DeLingues, friend of Ema's," said Ginny quickly.

Mr. Ollivander nodded. "Come Miss Potter, let's get you measured." He bewitched a measuring tape to measure Ema in any conceivable way possible while Mr. Ollivander scurried around, yanking boxes off of shelves.

"Let's see, eleven inches, maple, good for charm work." Ema waved the wand but Mr. Ollivander yanked it away almost immediately. It seemed Ema tried every wand in the shop before: "All right, nine inches, willow, containing one phoenix tail feather."

Ema took the wand, and, feeling a warmth in her hand and waved it causing a shower of blue and bronze sparks to fly out.

"A Ravenclaw!" said Mr. Ollivander in surprise. "Well, that's breaking a line of tradition, isn't--" He stopped, dumbfounded, the blue and bronze sparks had flown together to form a giant eagle which soared around their heads and back into the wand.

"Oops," said Ema, trying to make a joke out of it.

"You-you're...you must be...but how?"

"Ollivander, you will not repeat this to anybody," said Ginny sharply, pointing her wand at him.

"Of...of course not," he stammered.

Hermione glared at him, clearly understanding Ginny's anger. Or was it merely fear? "Well, we'll know if you do and you'll regret it," she said grimly.

"V-very well," he stuttered. "Ms. DeLingues? You next. Which is your wand hand?"

Harry bent down. "Which hand do you write with?" he whispered to Ari.

"Oh, I'm left handed," said Ari quickly. Harry jumped; Hermione groaned; Ginny shook her head as if in defeat. Mr. Ollivander looked surprised though not nearly as surprised as Ari. Why had all the adults shown signs of horror at her left-handedness? Her surprise quickly changed and she felt indignant, remembering a historical novel she'd read the previous year. It had depicted the old practice of burning left-handed people, thinking they were witches. Really, she thought. They're witches and wizards themselves. What's wrong with me?

As the tape measure measured between her eyes, Mr. Ollivander climbed to the very top shelf of the shop and took down a blue box with a picture of an eagle on it. "Here," he said abruptly. "This is yours."

Ari took the wand out and felt the warmth spread down her arm. She raised the wand...

"No," said Ginny quickly. "Not now. We'll explain everything later, dear, but this is your wand, so don't worry about trying it."

Ari put the wand down but didn't lay off. "C'mon!" she whined. Usually, Ari is not a whiner but this was an exception. "I want to see if I can do it!"

"No, Ari," said Ginny firmly. Then, seeing the look on Ari's face, she relented a bit. "Later," she said soothingly. "Just not right here."

~

Ten minutes later they were walking to the Animal Menagerie. The three girls were very excited, seeming, almost, to have forgotten about the incident, but all the adults seemed tense and nervous. "Okay everyone," said Hermione in a would-be calm voice. "Run along and get your pets and don't take too long, hear?"

They all nodded and went down the aisles. Missy chose a beautiful barn owl right off the bat, called Lime. Ema shook her head. "I want an owl like Hedwig," she said in what Ari thought was an unnecessarily whiney voice.

"Hedwig?" asked Ari, puzzled, examining a rabbit that was changing into a silk top-hat and back again.

"My dad's owl. She's a snowy. Oh! There!" Ema had spotted a snowy owl that was a spitting image of Hedwig except much smaller. "She's perfect!" squealed Ema. "What's she called?" she asked the salesgirl, a bored looking young woman of around eighteen. She reminded Ari forcibly of a very dead fish. That was not a compliment.

"Star Dust," said the woman in answer to Ema's question. "Goes by Star I believe."

Ari half expected her to add, "As if I care."

"Star," repeated Ema, awestruck. "She's wonderful."

Ari was still looking for the perfect animal. That was when a small mewing could be heard from her ankles. She looked down to see a tiny gray kitten staring up at her. Her heart filled with love as she picked it up. It was no more than three inches long and curled up in the palm of her hand.

"That one's a goner," said the salesgirl. "She was shrunk when she was born by some raucous teenager and she won't grow to be much longer than six inches. We were gonna put her to sleep today, but if you want her you can have her cheap. Little thing won't shut up."

"What's her name?" Ari asked, dazed.

"Shadow," replied the lady lazily. Shadow purred very loudly for a kitten of her size as Ari smiled and paid.

~

"All right, Ema. Take Ari back with you to our house, and Ari, stay there; there are some things we need to discuss."

They were back in the Leaky Cauldron and Harry was shooing the two girls into the fireplace with a worried expression on his face. For once, he wasn't the only one. Ginny looked nervous but Hermione looked as though she was about to faint.

When they arrived back in The Hollow, Ema turned abruptly to Ari saying, "What's going on?"

Ari shrugged. "I'm Muggle-born, remember?"

Ema shrugged back. "Well, I thought maybe you would know; maybe there was something in The Lord of the Rings about eagles coming out of wizards staffs."

"Shut up," said Ari, "and no, though there are eagles. May I gently suggest you read it yourself?"

"No." Ema sighed. "What is happening to us?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to be in Ravenclaw?" asked Ari, the Ever Observant, frowning. "And then Mr. Ollivander said that you were a Ravenclaw when the blue sparks shot out of your wand."

Realization dawned on Ema's face. "Of course! Blue and bronze are the Ravenclaw house colors, and the Ravenclaw Eagle is its mascot thingy. I wonder what that means."

Just then, Ginny came flying out of the chimney and across the room. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT, RON!" she shouted up the chimney. "Brothers," she added to Ari and Ema who both nodded as though they understood.

Just then, Harry came whizzing out of the fireplace, hitting the wall opposite and shouting, "Hermione!"

He turned to Ari and Ema. "Girls." Then he faltered, seeing the glares of his daughter and wife upon him, "Erm, that is to say, well, you see, that is, I mean, but then...in any case....On the other hand...But then...Um..." he went brick red and began mumbling incoherently.

"All right, all right! We get the picture," said Ginny. "Ari, Ema, please sit down, Harry, you're aloud to sit down too, I suppose, just don't talk."

"Mum, what's going on? What's wrong with an eagle coming out of my wand? What's wrong with Ari? I don't get why everyone's so upset."

"I do," said Ginny in the superior voice that Harry insisted she got from Hermione. "It's something we Aurors have been fearing for a long while now."

"Auror?" asked Ari.

"Dark wizard catcher," replied Ema. "Mum's one. Dad thought about being one but when into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (long name, huh?) they're doing a lot with House Elf Rights. Anyway, what have you all been fearing, Mum?"

"There was a prophecy written a long time ago, called The Twilight Prophecy, stating:

When the Lion has dominated the family
For many years and more
A child will be born
A child of renown
It shall be she that breaks the line
And the Eagle that will rise
While the Lion does get lost
In the frigid winter frost.
On the left shall be the One
She shall be born in the month of May
Though she will seem of humble birth
It is she that can say
That her family dates back
To the years of the Eagles Pack
And she it will be who shall guide the Eagle
Through times of dark and times of light
To a place, a place of might,
And, as darkness falls as a hidden pool
She shall catch the dark one fool.

"Explain," said Ema.

"Simple, really," said Harry, in the tone even more superior than Ginny's, that Ginny insisted he got from Percy. "When the Lion has dominated the family...' all your family has been in Gryffindor, the house of the lion, '...a child shall be born; a child of renown...' well, you were born, unless I'm very much mistaken, and you're a child of renown, everybody knows about you. '...It shall be she that breaks the line, and the Eagle that will rise...' you're going to go to Ravenclaw and break the line of Gryffindors. '...While the Lion gets lost in the...winter frost...' well, I suppose that Ravenclaw will pull ahead with your help and that Gryffindor will fall behind. Then there's the paragraph about Ari.

'On the left shall be the one...' well, Ari, you're left handed. '...She shall be born in the month of May...' that I know you were, so don't even start to talk. '...Though she will seem of humble birth...her family dates back to the years of the Eagle Pack...' the Eagle Pack was the time that the four houses were first formed, and Ravenclaw chose the Eagle, her students were known as the Eagle Pack. '...And she it will be who shall guide...through times of dark and...light...' you'll have to keep Ravenclaw going even through dark times..." He stopped, not wanting to go on, but Ema seemed not to have noticed that he had skipped the last three lines.

"Enlighten me," said Ema. "Why is this bad?"

"It's not, in theory," said Ginny, shrugging, not pointing out the missing last three lines. Or perhaps not wanting to point them out. "But, you know--" she seemed to be stumbling to find the right words "--well, Ravenclaw, I mean, it's not the house you hear about all the time...and, well, the other houses, they won't like it."

"And?" said Ema, irritably. "Well..." Ginny faltered; how could she tell her own daughter how much danger she was in? "Well, just as the other houses won't like it, the other three founders didn't like it."

"Well, how will they know? They're dead and in their graves."

"That's no excuse for them," said Ginny. "Ari is in much more danger than you are, because her blood is the blood of Rowena Ravenclaw herself. She's the one they put the curse on."

"Curse?" cried Ema, her voice was rising swiftly. "What's wrong with Ari? Is it my fault? What's going on?"

"No, Ari doesn't have a curse on her; it's not your fault. It was Ravenclaw they put the curse on, and that is the reason that Ravenclaw hasn't won the house cup or the Quidditch Cup since then, as long as the other houses were still going."

"But, didn't you say that they won the Quidditch cup in Dad's first year?"

"While the other houses were still going, Ema, I was unconscious in the hospital wing," said Harry, indignantly. "We lost because of that."

"Sure you didn't just stink?" asked Ema slyly. Harry gave her the dirtiest look he could muster, but, seeing as how she just happened to be his daughter, he found this hard and it came out as a slight sneer.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said grudgingly.

"So?" asked Ema. "Why are we in danger then?"

"I've told you. Because the other houses aren't going to like this," Ginny said. But she quailed under Ema's glare. "There are other reasons as well, but there's no need for you to know them now. They won't affect you yet."

"But Mum!"

"No, Ema, you heard me. Ari, scoot along home but mind you don't tell your mum about this. It's best left private for now." Ari obeyed and walked in a state of forced calm out the door. Once it had shut behind her, however, she broke into a sprint, not stopping until she was all the way home and more.

~

"It's really not that hard," Ginny told Ema and Ari, while Hermione explained to Missy in great length how to get onto the platform. "It's just that you have to walk, run, or lean into the barrier between platforms nine and ten and you'll be there, Ari, say good-bye to your mum; I'm afraid she can't come."

Ari nodded and went over to hug her mother while Missy wheeled around and ran into the solid barrier and onto the platform.

"Right, bye then, Ari," said Ms. Parker, trying to seem casual. "Have a good time, behave, promise not to turn me into a toad and fill the garden full of snakes. That would be Fellowship of the Ring, page..."

"Okay, mum," said Ari quickly, hugging her before she could give the page number and paragraph, "I promise not to turn you into anything...unnatural." Alexa laughed and hugged her daughter, trying to hide the tears that were obscuring her vision.