Owl Eyes

Owl Eyes

Chapter Nine

Master of Many Things

Teach and ye shall learn.

Learn and ye shall know.

Know and ye shall remember.

Remember and ye shall spread truth.

Truth is both an end and a beginning.

It is where you have come from.

It is who you are.

It is where you are going.

Truth is both within you and around you.

The moonlight cast shadows in the night. Things danced and reached out in the darkness. They were both fingers and toes, welcoming and cruel. The accompanying sounds eased not one's mind nor quieted one's soul.

The owl dipped low hunting a mouse. It was small prey, but the girl fed her well. Besides, she liked the taste of fresh mouse meat and it was another opportunity to hunt. As she glided, easily catching an updraft, she thought of the girl now. Perhaps she would pay her a visit. Just in front of her a white owl dove, her wings sparkling in the night's glow like the shimmer of dragon hide. The mouse was gone in an instant. The black owl flew to her girl's window, ceasing her hunt for the night.

***

I was seated on my bed pulling a brush through my long flaxen hair when there was a tap at the window. My dorm mates were sleeping but even above their restful inspirations I couldn't mistake the pleading knock of an owl begging entrance. I rose from my bed, abandoning the soft brush I had been using, atop my pillow, and crossed the cold floor in my bare feet. After I drew up the window I realized that it was my own owl who had been so patiently knocking. She flew in hooting softly and landed on my shoulder.

"Ssssssshhhhhh," I whispered. "You'll wake everyone."

She gave one long, louder hoot then settled in.

I crossed the room once more, Sapa resting contentedly on my shoulder. I sat on the bed and she shifted with a graceful hop onto my lap.

"I suppose you are here to remind me to write to my parents?"

"Hooooooooooottttttttt!"

"Shush," I replied in a harsh whisper.

I set Sapa on my bed and gathered up a quill and parchment. Then I extended my right arm just before I stepped through the door. She flew speedily toward me and landed precisely on my forearm. Once we were through the door I lowered my arm then raised it abruptly sending the dark owl into a rising spiral of the common room. I walked down the steps alone, found a seat, and waited for Sapa to land. She did not land beside me though. She must've thought it was more exciting to explore the many tables for discarded crumbs.

I wrote.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I haven't gotten any detentions lately. Sapa seems bored here because I've written so few letters. I need to remedy that, I suppose.

I've been busy with lots of things and trying to keep order around here. Hope all is well with both of you. It'd be great if you moved somewhere closer to here as it would make it easier for me to visit at the holidays. Keep me posted on your plans and do post soon.

Love, Lucinda

I hoped the reference to keeping order would lead them to believe that I meant I had attended an Order meeting. I had to be careful how much information I put in a letter in case it were to be intercepted. If they didn't get the hint I had attempted to provide perhaps they would find out about my joining by talking to Dumbledore in the fire. I didn't have much else to say but I had to respond to their letter. It was almost humorous that there was little to say since I was in a new school and had just committed my life to fighting evil no matter what it cost. One might think I had truly gone mad saying there was little to report on. It would be hard to keep my parents informed on what was really going on in my life because of the Death Eaters reading mail, and that saddened me.

I was in no mood to think on life though. I rose and approached Sapa, who was fluffing her feathers before the fire. I tied the letter to her leg and opened a window for her to take flight.

"Leave as you wish. Just make sure you are out of here before the first students wake up."

I turned and climbed the stairs to my dreams.

***

Lord Voldemort paced his study. It was a very Mugglish room. No one would ever suspect that he lived here. When he came to think of it, not even his most devoted Death Eaters knew of this particular place. He hadn't made it a point to tell them. He didn't want them disturbing his important thought processes. And, it was better if they never discovered that he owned a rather large home in a Muggle neighborhood, one that had not been willed to him. He had bought it after coming across it in a Muggle advertisement and he had never regretted it. He regretted few things that he did.

He now paced across the well-worn carpet. He came to this particular house when he wanted to think. It contained nothing from the wizarding world accept for himself, his robe, and his wand. On the desk sat a cup of coffee. You couldn't find a goblet of pumpkin juice here, and there were no house elves to fetch it. He didn't like pumpkin juice anyway. He always craved something a bit stronger. He lifted the mug and drank deeply.

The room was too peaceful. The world was the same. Too much light. Too much peace. He had to change things. It was all up to him. That old fool Dumbledore would ignite the smallest bit of dark in the world, lighting it ablaze, if he had his wish. Lord Voldemort could not let that happen.

His anger coursed through him like an infection in a group of sickly dairy calves. The mug in his hand shattered and the pieces scattered across the floor. He waved his wand and repaired the ruined china but it's contents he left on the light colored rug. A stain of darkness against the light, time-worn, threads of life.

He Disapparated. He needed to go where he could use his wand toward destruction and devastation. Damn the peace of the muggle world. To hell with those soundly sleeping fools! They would feel his wrath! Soon enough they would feel the touch of the great Lord Voldemort.

****

When I finally woke it was because of the sun's heat on my face. I rolled over and tried to avoid it but it was impossible. It was late and the heat could be felt even through the blankets. I crashed out of bed, a bear in an Easter parade, and thudded to the bathroom wishing I could sleep in every day. The world was in need of more holidays. Days off to sleep and play. Being at boarding school was frustrating because even when there were days off we had to attend classes most of the time. The Muggle holidays mostly weren't celebrated with the exception of a few.

When I emerged from the bathroom Harry was there to greet me. Since when did Harry get up before me?

"We're going to see Hagrid," He said. "Do'ya wanna come?"

"Sure," I mumbled in response, and stomped off to get dressed.

I had forgotten that it was the weekend!

On the way to Hagrid's cabin Ron and Hermione chattered busily about recent Death Eater activity. I realized it was an attempt at getting information on the Order and wondered if Harry did. I wasn't about to crack though. The information was secret and should remain that way. They had grown to be my close friends, even in such a short time, and I didn't want them getting caught up in the whole mess. The war was everyone's concern but not everyone had to jump right in and start fighting. Not until it was absolutely necessary. Not everyone had to worry about strategizing and other such things.

"How are ye four doin'?" Hagrid asked when we had arrived at his cabin. He was seated outside shelling crabs for some sort of animal food. "Wanna gi'me a hand with these here Sideways Crabs?"

"We can't stay long," Harry said.

Good for Harry I thought. Way to save the day. Who wanted to spend an entire day shelling crabs, anyway?

"Oh," Hagrid replied, sounding disappointed.

"I'll help," Hermione said brightly, probably after sensing Hagrids upset tone. "Ron can help too. Harry and Lucinda have an important meeting to go to."

"A meeting? Yer getting' pretty important there 'arry."

"Yeah it's a meeting with Professor Snape actually."

"Professor...What does he want with yeh?" Hagrid sounded alarmed.

"It's about, well, you know."

"Oh tha'," Hagrid went back to his work. "Well, if yeh wanna know somethin' he's one of the mos' respected duelers at Hogwarts."

"Really?" Hermione asked. "I heard Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion in his time."

"Tha' he was but ye've gotta understand, tha' was before Professor Snape came along. And when he did no one could beat 'im and there were lots who tried."

"Maybe that's why he followed You-Know-Who," Ron speculated.

"I think ther're other reasons for tha', Ron."

"Like what reasons?" Hermione asked.

"Not my place to tell yeh, Hermione."

"But-" Ron said.

"I'm not sayin' anymore 'bout it."

"We'd better get going anyway, Harry," I said.

"Yeh don wanna be late meetin' the professor." Hagrid said. "Nice seein' yeh, Lucinda, 'arry."

***

As we stepped into Professor Snape's office I began to realize the importance of our meeting with him. The room had a cramped feel to it, probably because so many bottles on shelves were crammed in such a small space. Harry had told me about the confines of Snape's office and I was rather glad I couldn't view the room's contents with my own eyes. It was warm at least. The fireplace pushed away the dampness of the dungeons. Aside from Snape's private chambers it was probably the only warm place within the Hogwart's dungeons.

"It is nice to see that you've both remembered to arrive on time," Snape said in a bitter tone.

Neither of us responded.

"We will be using the Charms' classroom."

He swept passed us and out his office door. We hurried along behind him. I moved as quickly as I could.

"Will we be dueling?" Harry asked.

"That depends on your knowledge of the subject, Mr. Potter," Snape replied.

"Knowledge?" Harry asked for clarification.

"Don't you think you've asked enough questions already?"

Snape had turned to face us. I nearly ran right into him.

When we entered the Charms classroom Snape began levitating tables out of the way. Harry, probably trying to be polite, began helping him. I waited patiently, not wanting to send one table crashing into another. Snape would hardly appreciate such a mistake and I had already blown up a potion in his class. I had to watch my step with him from now on.

"Sit," he commanded.

We did.

"You will not only duel in your lessons with me, you will also learn to think," Snape began. "I know you have limited experience dueling, and Mister Potter has quite a bit of luck, but you will duel for your lives in the Order and I must prepare you. It is my duty, not to help you and baby you, but to prepare you. It is that which I will do." He began to pace the room. "I will expect you both to get in good physical condition as well. Sometimes running and ducking is the best way to escape death." He ceased his dance across the floor. "Flying is not enough Mr. Potter. You will both run by the lake each morning. Potter, you will assist Miss Lee as she runs. You will do sit-ups, pull-ups, and push-ups. You will do these on your own and I will occasionally observe you. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Yeah," Harry responded unenthusiastically.

"Very well, stand and duel. Myself against the two of you, and do be quick on your feet."

Before I had time enough to draw my wand curses were being thrown at me. I threw myself on the ground and rolled away to my right, slipping my wand from my robes as I did so. This was not going to be a friendly duel by any sense of the word.

I sprang from the hard floor and sent a disarming spell in Snape's direction. He deflected it easily and I was forced to step aside as another curse was sent my direction. It was difficult dueling with more than one person. I had trouble determining which curses were meant for me. It would take practice. I had lost my concentration and collapsed to the floor in a fit of laughter which resulted from the tickling charm. I sent the leg locker curse at Snape but he had moved in response to a curse from Harry.

Next the unexpected happened. Snape created a Snake from the end of his wand and shouted, "Protect your friend Potter. Attempt to turn the beast back on its caster. You must learn to use all of your gifts."

Professor Snape had backed up near the wall and Harry was hissing to the snake in a sort of rhythmic sing-song voice. I waited, standing as still as possible. At one point the serpent slid so close to my feet I could nearly feel him. Not knowing if it was a biting or more friendly constricting sort of snake I froze. Time passed slowly.

Finally Snape said, "I see that you are a true parselmouth Mr. Potter." With another spell there was a pop and I assumed the snake had disappeared.

The Potions Master didn't waste time though. He had started in with curses again. He disarmed Harry, who flew across the room and landed with a thud and a groan. When I turned slightly to listen and see if Harry was injured I was also disarmed. I landed more gracefully than Harry had though. There was hardly time for me to draw in a respectable breath before Snape started in on us both.

"If you pause long enough to worry about a friend in a real war you will lose your own life as well as that of your friend." He was not pleased. "You are excused. Think about how you should treat friends while fighting a battle. Consider efficiency and safety. Write me one foot on the subject and bring it to our next lesson. You must master dueling. This means mastering its curses, strategies, and knowing all there is to know about the subject. You have not applied yourselves as of yet."

He left the room.

"Are we gonna survive the year?" Harry asked.

"Of course we will," I replied brightly. "This is a challenge just like any other. We can overcome it. We can work on our essays together. I wonder if we can practice dueling outside of our lessons?"

"I think we'd need permission for that," He sighed. "I'm not sure if he'd give it to us or not. I think aside from being the Hogwarts Potions Master Snape is master of torture and he isn't very happy with us so we'd best not ask him about dueling practice."

"He may be a master of many things we don't know." I said. "Potions...he's a master spy, he seems to be a master of thoughts and strategies...who knows what else. Dueling is among his top gifts I'm sure."

"I am hardly impressed by the greasy git."

"Your feelings will change in time Harry. I can see why no one likes him but they don't see far enough into the depths of the man. They are blind."

"Them? Blind? I don't understand."

"Perhaps in time you will."

"Perhaps," Harry mused aloud. "I wonder if Hermione can help us with our essays?"

"I don't see why not. She wouldn't be writing them for us and it isn't as if we'd be letting out confidential order information. She'd learn something too. Something that could be invaluable later."

"Good then," Harry turned to leave the room, "I'll at least have her read mine before I turn it in."

"Me too"

I followed Harry out the door. We walked to the common room in silence. I thought about what I would write as I walked. Professor Snape had no intention of going easy on Harry and I during our training but it was probably best if he didn't. His diligence might save us in the end. There was no doubt in my mind that people would die in the war, but I didn't want to be one of them and I didn't want to see any of my friends fall in battle either.

Just before we went through the portrait I asked, "Did he say when our next lesson would be?"

"No, I suspect he'll owl us or keep us after class to tell us."

"I guess we'd better get cracking at those essays then."

"Well, it probably won't be until next weekend because he's got classes to teach all week."

"You never know, Harry. I want to be prepared."

"Yeah, I guess so and it'd be just like Snape to try to catch us off guard by having us meet him during the week then punishing us for not having the assignment done."