PART I
The rays of moonlight shone through the gaps in between the curtains pulls, illuminating the boy’s dormitory like a shiny diamond ring. The four poster beds were placed around the room, the Gryffindor emblems hanging proudly from the walls. The low snoozing of the boys sleeping was defeated by the loud, heavy snores of Ron Weasley who slept in a crooked, awkward position. The wind howled outside, rattling the window panes.
The room was rather cluttered. Clothes, books and sweet wrappers were scattered across the wooden floor giving the dormitory a classic schoolboy charm. The desks were piled with towering stacks of books along with empty inkwells and broken quills. Their trunks were left wide open, their possessions hanging out from the sides like an overflowing bucket of water.
Harry Potter was in a twilight state of mind, moving slowly by the waking world, half way into unconsciousness. His head was buried in his pillow, nothing to be seen but half of his long nose, his left eye and messy jet-black hair which stuck up at the back.
Across the room by Seamus Finnegan’s bunk was a soft toy, a cymbal-banging monkey with beady, lifeless eyes and a terrifying smile that would scare the living daylights out of any child. A fine purchase of Mr. Finnegan’s from Zonko’s Joke Shop. It sat still, its expression and motion inanimate, cold and disturbing. Then, by itself, its arms slowly moved apart and then smashed the cymbals together. Nobody moved or awoke from their sleep. It began to pick up speed, clapping faster and harder by the second. Pages, posters and notes on the notice boards began to flap about as if a gush of wind had entered the room. The oil lanterns flickered on and off, the ham radio buzzing to a feedback frequency. Ron groaned as he rolled around in his bunk.
‘’Shut up Fred!’’ he groaned, snoring directly after.
Books began to open, pages flapping rapidly as the monkey continued to bang harder and faster. An unnatural breeze that felt cold yet, somewhat warm engulfed the room, almost everything inanimate moving about the place eerily.
Neville awoke, quickly sitting up, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. He looked around the room to find that everything was completely normal and that it must have been a dream that everything had just started moving. He turned his head around to see that the rest of the boys were fast asleep. His lazy, tired eyes closed again as he flung back down to his pillow, immediately falling asleep.
For a while, nothing happened. The room was silent and still. The only sound to be heard was the wind outside, not even Ron’s snoring. And all that could be seen was the parts of the room the moon had lit up. Everything was normal.
Then, all sound was drained out of the room and everything began to move about again but in complete and utter silence. The chilling breeze returned caressing Harry’s skin softly and ruffling his hair. His eyes suddenly opened and he sat up in the bed.
The door leading down to the common room was half open. Bright shining light was seeping through, illuminating the entire dormitory. It created flares of light across the sleeping room, waking nobody but Harry himself.
He rubbed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing. He didn’t take his eye off of the light as he reached for his glasses. He crookedly placed them on his face and slowly slipped out from beneath the covers. His ears ached as the pressure in the room increased, as if he were hundreds of miles up in the air. He walked towards the door, the hairs standing on the back of his neck as his mouth hung open. He was scared but his curiosity got the better of him. He looked around the room at the moving objects, the books flapping, the monkey banging, the sheets caught in a draft and the lights struggling to turn on. He tried to say something but he could hear nothing but his own muffled voice.
He approached the door, the incredibly bright light leaking into the room. He flung it wide open to see, rather be blinded by nothing but brightness and a loud droning horn that sounded like a ship. Harry’s heart was pounding through his chest as his breathing became more and more panicked. He backed away, not blinking an eye.
Then, the light vanished, the dormitory returned to normal and all sound was back.
Harry had no idea what he just saw. An expression of pure shock and awe was on his face. He licked his lips, feeling the dryness of his mouth, letting out a heavy sigh.
‘’What was that?’’ he wondered.
There was no way that he could possibly go to bed. He wanted to find out what the light was so he scurried to his trunk and pulled out his invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map. As he stepped into his shoes and crept towards the door, he wondered if he should wake Ron. He decided not to because there wasn’t enough time to wait for him.
He left the boys dormitory and swiftly ran down the spiral staircase. His breathing was paced and adrenaline shot through his body. He ran out into the dark common room to see an energy orb of white light floating around, leaving wisps of light trailing behind. It moved gracefully, like a ghost. Harry’s eyes watered just to look at it because it was simply dazzling. The orb then zoomed around the room twice, Harry’s eyes following it as it did so. It then raced through the portrait hole leaving the common room pitch black.
‘’Lumos,’’ mumbled Harry.
The tip of his wand ignited a bright blue light. He moved through the common room, his heart pounded by the nanosecond, wondering why he was following the strange light. He didn’t know where it would take him, perhaps somewhere dangerous? He did not know but that didn’t stop him.
He climbed out through the portrait hole. The Fat Lady caused a scene by protesting against Harry’s ‘rule-breaking’. She rambled loudly about how disrespectful it was to dishonour the schools noble Headmaster and how Harry would soon get caught. He knew it was useless trying to shut her up so he threw his invisibility cloak over himself.
‘’Oh,’’ said the Fat Lady, shocked and a little startled, ‘’where did you go?’’
Harry walked through the corridors, hidden from view like a cat burglar slithering about the place. He wondered what time it was and he wondered if he had lost the strange orb of light. He tapped the Marauders Map with his wand whispering, ‘’I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.’’ Black ink began to spread across the old piece of parchment, forming a perfect map of Hogwarts.
Suddenly his eye was caught by the footsteps donning the name tag of Argus Filch, rapidly approaching where Harry was standing. His heart skipped a beat as a lump formed in his throat. He looked up ahead seeing nothing but darkness yet Filch was nearing him. He dimmed his wand and backed up against the wall, covering his mouth, daring not to breathe. He could hear the footsteps echoing louder and louder, along with the deep sultry purring of Mrs. Norris, Filches faithful cat.
‘’What is it my love?’’ muttered Filch.
The cat meowed as it brushed up against the wall towards Harry. Her big red eyes and fixed expression gave the cat a demonic demeanour. Harry had a strong urge to kick the cat if it came any closer.
Then, Filches dirty old face loomed out of the darkness, his watery eyes bulging as he looked at where Harry stood suspiciously. His heavy breathing unnerved him and he was thankful that there was a cloak between them because he didn’t fancy smelling his breath. All he could do was stay still until he went away.
Filches upper lip curled as he reached out towards Harry with his hand. He ducked down, ruffling his cloak in the process. Filch looked confused as he looked into the empty space. He also looked a little disappointed that he hadn’t caught any students out of bed yet. His right eye twitched as he grunted and turned away.
‘’Come Mrs. Norris,’’ he grumbled.
However Mrs. Norris did not follow as she scratched on Harry’s cloak, knowing that he was there for definite.
Harry panicked, knowing he couldn’t say anything or he would be detected so he gave Mrs. Norris a good hard kick, something he had wanted to do for years. She leapt into the air, hissing with fright and defence. Harry got up and ran the opposite direction as fast as he could, not able to see a thing due to the darkness.
It wasn’t long before he was out of Filches radius. He took a deep breath and decided it was best to go back to bed. He was about to give up but then his eye caught the white trail of the orb going in the opposite direction. His heart began to pound again as he followed the light. It streamed around the castle corridors, jeering Harry on, wanting him to follow it. He had a strong urge to speak to it but he couldn’t or he’d he heard for sure.
The orb of light swerved around a corner and sped up leaving Harry falling behind.
‘’Wait!’’ cried Harry, covering his mouth as he realised that he had just shouted.
The orb flew through a suit of armour, passing through the thick wall behind it. Harry ran up to the suit, cursing himself for being so stupid. He was already feeling regretful for following the light. He knew he had to get straight back to the common room before he was discovered out of bed.
Then, he was distracted by something else. The bright light shone from behind the iron suit. He didn’t know why but he took his cloak off and looked behind the armour, seeing nothing but blinding light. He moved the suit to the side with great difficultly, stepping into a bright lit passage he had never been through before. He covered his eyes from the light with his arm as he walked through the tunnel.
‘’Who are you?’’ he said. ‘’What are you?’’
The blinding light dimmed down and a young girl appeared out of nowhere. Harry stepped back, alarmed at the sudden appearance. She was pale, blonde-haired, and beautiful, dressed in full Slytherin uniform. She was smiling innocently at Harry as she walked towards him. He was completely lost for words as his mouth hung open at this sudden vision of beauty.
‘’W-Who are you?’’ asked Harry.
‘’I am you as you are me, together,’’ she said softly.
Her voice was so soft it was hypnotic. Harry’s mind was swimming, feeling bewitched because of the girls contagious voice. She approached him, standing very close and staring straight into his eyes. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to say. He found it difficult to look into her eyes so he looked down, his eyes drawn to an emerald diamond amulet, draped around her swan-like neck, shimmering and glowing in the bright light.
She leaned in closer, forcing Harry to look into her deep green eyes. She placed her hand on his cheek and pressed her soft lips against his. He then felt a jolt shoot through is body, penetrating his very heart to the ends of his fingers and toes. They broke apart, leaving Harry in a paralytic state, gasping for air. The girl just watched him as he fell to the dusty ground, falling, falling and falling. He had blacked out.
***
‘’So, let me get this straight -,’’ said Hermione, ‘’ — last night you awoke to a bright shining light in YOUR bedroom, nobody was woken but you and you unwittingly followed it through the castle corridors, out of bed, breaking at least ten different rules, and almost getting caught by Filch. You followed this ‘’light’’ through a secret passage and you encountered what?’’
‘’A woman -,’’ said Harry, ‘’ — she was young and was — she was err dressed in uniform and then she — she kissed me!’’
‘’Harry that sounds absolutely ludicrous!’’ stated Hermione. ‘’Are you sure you weren’t just dreaming the typical boys fantasy? You were in bed after all!’’
‘’Hermione, something happened last night that I can’t explain and if you won’t believe me then I don’t know who will!’’ said Harry.
Hermione gave a weary sigh, leaning on the table with her elbows.
‘’Look, it’s been a long day. I have loads of homework and study to do and it is important that you do the same,’’ said Hermione. ‘’It is important that you don’t dwell and these sort of things in an exam year.’’
‘’Don’t dwell?!’’ said Harry, not believing his ears. ‘’Hermione, I don’t even remember going back to the common room last night!’’
Hermione didn’t say anything back. She just looked down at her food plate, not in any mood to eat. Harry exhaled a deep calming breath.
‘’I’m going back there tonight you know,’’ he muttered, not looking at Hermione, playing with a pillar of salt.
‘’No you are not!’’ she said strictly.
‘’Yes I am,’’ replied Harry.
‘’No, you are not!’’ repeated Hermione fiercely.
That night, as the sky turned pink and the sun began to sink down behind the tall Scottish mountains, Harry snuck out of the common room just as curfew started. He threw his invisibility cloak over his body and carried his trusty Marauders Map under his arm.
Night rapidly engulfed day into darkness as stars began to scatter across the dark navy sky, the sun vanishing below the horizon. The corridors became chilled and breezy. Harry’s breathing fogged up his round glasses from the warmth beneath the cloak. He walked briskly, keeping his eye constantly between where he was walking and the map. Luckily, there was nobody to be seen and he arrived outside the same suit of armour from the night before.
He looked up at the intimidating armour, its empty shell causing the hairs to stand on the back of his neck as it looked down lifelessly upon him. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as his excitement soared. He stepped up on the platform, awkwardly moving behind the armour and climbing through a small hole. The secret tunnel was dark, dusty and very dirty in comparison to the blinding light before.
‘’Lumos,’’ muttered Harry, his wand igniting the blue aluminous light.
He took off the cloak and moved through the passage way, his excitement and fear escalating more by each step. His breathing became more strained as he inhaled excessive amounts of dust. He walked for a few moments reaching a presumed dead end. His heart sank with great disappointment as he realised the passage was just an old shortcut to the Ravenclaw tower entrance.
He opened his map to see that the tunnel was displayed on it. He decided to give in for the night, cursing himself and everything for not getting any answers. Who was the mysterious girl? Why did she kiss him? Was she real? Was it a dream? And why did she lead him here? He tried to rack his brains to remember what happened after she kissed him.
‘’Think Harry, THINK!’’ he said to himself over and over but it was useless. There was no way that he could ever discover what happened. It was like trying to remember what it was like before he was even born. He gave a weary, disappointed sigh and decided to go back to the common room to do his homework.
As he walked through the dusty tunnel, a lightening jolt penetrated his entire body from head to toe. He dropped his map and wand to the ground, feeling his body beginning to tingle and shake. He began to breathe rapidly as he broke out in cold sweats. He fell sideways against the stony tunnel wall, trying to keep himself standing.
After that, he couldn’t remember a single thing.
***
The next morning Harry awoke on the cold, hard dusty ground of the tunnel. He groaned, feeling his body ache and his insides gurgling. It took him a few minutes to pick himself up. His head was pounding painfully. He straightened his glasses and dusted himself off. He couldn’t even bring himself to think about what had happened as he trudged through the tunnel, wobbling as he walked feeling a sharp ringing in his ear.
As he approached the suit of armour he stopped in his tracks to hear the hustle and bustle of students on the corridor. He was late for class! He threw his cloak over himself, climbed through the passage and stumbled like a drunken man out onto the corridor. Nobody could see him but he bumped into people leaving them frightened and confused.
‘’Buzz off Peeves!’’ snapped Pavarti as Harry walked straight into her.
‘’Sorry,’’ he said lowly as he walked around them.
Pavarti looked astounded as she could have sworn that Peeves had said sorry to her.
Harry was bewildered as he walked through the wedged corridors confused and distraught. Then, he saw Hermione walking up ahead, alone. He chased after her, knocking over an innocent first year girl in the process. He caught up with Hermione and whispered in her ear.
‘’Don’t panic, it’s only me, Harry,’’ he said. ‘’I’ve got the cloak on. Follow me to the courtyard!’’
‘’Harry?’’ she whispered back. ‘’What on earth are you doing? Why weren’t you at your classes this morning?’’
‘’It doesn’t matter!’’ snapped Harry. ‘’Follow me!’’
‘’I don’t even know where you are!’’ said Hermione, trying to keep her face as normal as possible despite the fact that she appeared to be talking to no one.
The two went out onto the empty courtyard and he whipped his cloak off, looking around to see if anyone saw him.
‘’Harry, this is gone beyond a joke! What is the meaning of all this?’’ asked Hermione who seemed to suddenly take on the role of a concerned mother.
‘’It happened again last night!’’ said Harry. ‘’I went to the tunnel but I didn’t find anything. Then — then I passed out and I woke up, b-back there!’’
‘’Harry, calm down!’’ said Hermione, looking a little frightened.
Harry quietened down, suddenly realising how crazy he sounded. Hermione looked scared but her expression was quickly replaced with concern.
‘’Look, I believe you. I never said I didn’t but we can’t talk about this right now. Its three o’clock and I need to get to my last class of the day,’’ said Hermione.
‘’But you -,’’
‘’And you should contact all of the teachers explaining why you didn’t show up today!’’ said Hermione, cutting off Harry mid sentence.
She then left for her last class, leaving Harry looking rugged, exhausted and untidy by himself in the courtyard. He began to wonder why Hermione was acting so strangely. She had become incredibly stressed over the O.W.L.S which weren’t even on for nearly eight months. She spent all of her time doing her homework in the common room and when she wasn’t doing that she was in the library studying until dark. Harry couldn’t help but think why this mystery didn’t excite her as they usually did. Then again she did say she’d speak to him later.
He left the courtyard, making his way back to the common room and dreading the process of explaining to his teachers why he was absent all day. Then his mind drifted to the girl who kissed him. It made him feel frustrated and annoyed that he didn’t know anything about her or what even happened. He let himself fall onto the comfy couch by the fire in the common room. He closed his eyes and continued to think about the situation. Why did he pass out two nights in a row and why was it driving him insane. He drifted into an easy sleep, gently snoring against the crackling of the fire.
‘’Where the bloody hell were you all day?’’ said the voice of Ron.
Harry jumped. An electric sensation jolting in the very pit of his stomach as he did so. He was startled by Ron’s sudden appearance, his eye caught by the clock atop the mantle. It was six o’clock already and he only closed his eyes for a few minutes.
‘’Wha — s-sorry what did you say?’’ asked Harry confusedly.
‘’Where were you today?’’ he repeated. ‘’And last night, and the night before!’’
‘’I was — err — I was -,’’ Harry couldn’t think of anything to say. He didn’t want to go through the entire story with Ron so suddenly. ‘’ — I was at Hagrid’s.’’
‘’Hagrid’s?!’’ Ron blurted. ‘’What were you doing staying at Hagrid’s?’’
‘’Look it doesn’t matter Ron, he needed help with something and well I — I can’t really say!’’ said Harry, beginning to boil under the pressure.
Ron looked at Harry as if he had two heads.
‘’You alright mate? You don’t seem to be yourself?’’ he said concernedly.
Harry sighed as he stood up and stretched.
‘’I’m fine, just a little sick,’’ he lied.
He knew Ron didn’t buy it but it gave him the message clearly.
‘’Well you’re gonna have to not be sick for the next two hours because the Gryffindor tryouts are on!’’ said Ron.
‘’What?!’’ bellowed Harry. ‘’I completely forgot!’’
‘’How could you forget when you’re the bloody captain?!’’ said Ron.
‘’It doesn’t matter!’’ snapped Harry. ‘’We have to get down to the pitch right now!’’
Ron nodded, ‘’Yeah, good idea!’’
Harry was beating himself up inside as he and Ron made their way to the Quidditch pitch. How could he possibly forget? Then again, his mind was set on more important matters over the past few days. He carried his gear bag over his shoulder and kept his Firebolt underneath his arm.
There was an easy, gentle breeze in the air and the sky was a shade of murky white as clouds gathered around the castle. Harry thought it to be suitable weather for flying and within fifteen minutes he kicked up off the ground, soaring into the air, zooming in and around the tower stands like a free bird. His team followed him as they flew dozens of laps around the field. He was supposed to be testing their speed but he was much too occupied with his own personal enjoyment as he rose high up into the air. He climbed several feet, higher and higher into the air as he sped up, his team trailing with difficulty behind him. He zoomed up as high as his broom could take him, then letting him fall back down towards the earth along with the rest of the team. They all screamed with joy as thrill pumped adrenalin into their bodies. For a moment it felt like play time but as soon as they reached the pitch once again, Harry ordered a test for keepers.
It wasn’t long before he decided who would join his team. Ginny Weasley and Demelza Robins replaced Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet as Chasers along with Cormac McLaggen and Dean Thomas as beaters, Harry as seeker and Ron Weasley as keeper. He was happy with his choices as he made his way back to the common room later that evening. He chatted to Ron about his plans for the team as they trudged up the stone steps along the mountainside and over the wooden bridge. Ron was starving so he went to the Great Hall for some tea however Harry decided to continue his way back to the common room.
He walked with a slight smile of satisfaction but it quickly vanished as his mind returned to the incidents the previous nights. The dark dreary day came to a close as night began to drown out the remainder of the day as the sun sunk down. It became dark very, very quickly and Harry began to feel an odd sensation spread throughout his body. He began to walk faster as he entered the corridors. He began to panic, breaking into a sharp run down the corridor. He quickly noticed that the faster he ran the more the tingly sensation accelerated. It penetrated his entire body, from the pit of his stomach to the very top of his head to his toes. He knew that he had to try not to pass out this time.
Stumbling into the abandoned girls lavatory, Harry groaned as the sensation reached its peak. He thought he was about to black out but he didn’t. He dropped his gear and broom to the ground, beginning to feel dizzy and sick. He looked down at his hand to see that his skin appeared to be melting.
‘’No,’’ he gasped.
He watched the hair on his arms suck itself back into his body as his skin smoothened all over. He nearly fainted, falling down on his hands and knees. His hands were shrinking yet his fingers were growing longer and slenderer, his nails sharpening too.
‘’What is this magic?!’’ he groaned.
For a moment he thought he was changing into a monster but it quickly became evident that he was not. His muscle vanished from his legs, arms, stomach and chest, shrinking away until he was bony and frail. His pelvis began to expand out, hugging his pants tightly against his growing behind. Layers of thin fat formed around his legs and arms, covering all the areas of a female body. His stomach pressed inwards, as if an invisible corset was strapped on making it hard for him to breathe. His tummy began thin and curved along with his hips and behind.
‘’No more!’’ he roared.
He twisted his neck around as it lengthened, his shoulders shrinking and his chest expanding. He attempted to stand up, instead leaning against the sink, bent double and gripping his sides. Two mounds grew on his chest, forming a pair of perky breasts.
He couldn’t remember a thing after that.
***
Harry’s eyes slowly flickered open. He took a deep breath through his nose. His head was thumping painfully once again and for a quick moment he thought he was in the common room but he was not. He had passed out on the cold, metal grates that surrounded the sink island in the abandoned girl’s lavatory. It took him a moment to gather his thoughts as he splashed his face with water.
‘’Am I going crazy?’’ he asked his reflection. ‘’Or did I turn into a — ‘’. Harry shook his head. ‘’I couldn’t have,’’ he whispered to himself.
Then, he realised that he had probably missed classes yet again! He picked up his stuff and raced out onto the corridor to see that it was empty. The sun was just rising, casting rays of light through the stained glass windows. He sighed with relief yet again and headed back to the common room.
He was nearly at the Fat Lady portrait when he bumped into the last person he wanted to see, Professor Snape. His lip curled into a devious grin as his eyes lay lifeless and black.
‘’Hello Potter, returning from somewhere after the long night?’’ he said coldly.
He had completely caught Harry off guard and he had no excuses prepared whatsoever. He just shrugged lazily and broke eye contact.
‘’Tell me,’’ said Snape, ‘’were where you for my class yesterday?’’
‘’I was ill,’’ lied Harry. ‘’I didn’t go to any classes all day because I was sick.’’
Snape’s eyes widened.
‘’Oh really?’’ he said sarcastically. ‘’And can you explain why Madam Pomfrey already explained to me that you hadn’t seen her?’’
‘’Maybe I didn’t want medical attention,’’ said Harry, beginning to boil over as he stared back into Snape’s black eyes. ‘’All I needed was bed rest. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready for school.’’
Harry tried to get past Snape but he stepped aside.
‘’Truancy is a serious crime here at Hogwarts Potter!’’ snarled Snape. ‘’I suppose you and your father didn’t realise that!’’
‘’Don’t you dare -,’’ started Harry.
‘’You’re just like him, lazy, arrogant and nothing but trouble -,’’
Harry had a powerful urge to curse Snape at that moment but he restricted himself from doing so.
‘’Fifty points from Gryffindor,’’ he sneered. ‘’And on top of that you can have detention in my office this Saturday night!’’
‘’But sir you don’t — ‘’
‘’Don’t question my authority Potter,’’ he snarled. ‘’You’re lucky Dumbledore hasn’t heard of his perfect poster boy deciding to not attend classes. I’m sure he’d be very, very disappointed if he found out.’’
And then Snape whipped his cloak and swerved around Harry like a dark ghost, gliding down the corridor. Harry was left standing there, his fists clenched, his head pounding and confusing thoughts swirling about in his mind.
For Harry, the next eight hours of school was torture. He was so tired that he felt himself doze off a few times during Transfiguration and he forgot half of his supplies. ‘’What is wrong with you today?’’ whispered Hermione to Harry during potions. He didn’t reply and just shrugged. And to top it off because he didn’t make it back to the common room he wasn’t able to do any of his homework therefore receiving several detentions from his teachers. The day wore on very slowly but surely. Harry was itching to tell Hermione everything about what he remembered from the night before. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Ron though because he felt embarrassed about the incident.
As soon as Harry finished his dinner in the great hall, he left Ron, Neville and Seamus to go find Hermione. There was no doubt that her head was stuck in some book within the library on the fourth floor. He walked through the large wooden doors into the huge expansive library. It was eerily quiet and there was little to be heard but coughing and distant echoed footsteps. He looked around the study area to find Hermione hunched over a book, her eyes darting back and over the page by the second. Her hair was frizzed and bushy which signified her stress. He walked briskly towards her sat down on the chair beside her.
‘’Hermione,’’ he whispered.
She jumped as Harry startled her from her reading.
‘’What?’’ she said, looking annoyed.
‘’It happened again last night but this time I remember more, much more,’’ said Harry, feeling a little excited.
‘’Oh Harry maybe you’re just a sleep walker!’’ said Hermione, turning her head back to her reading.
‘’Shhh!’’ hushed Madam Pince.
‘’Sorry!’’ said Hermione, turning red as she looked over her shoulder.
Madam Pince pursed her lips, her eyes piercing and strict as she turned back to push her trolley
‘’Harry, I know I promised I’d talk to you about it last night but you didn’t even show up!’’ stated Hermione.
‘’Exactly,’’ said Harry, ‘’because something really strange happened!’’
Hermione closed her book and turned to Harry.
‘’I’m listening,’’ she whispered softly.
For the second time that day, Harry was put on the spot. He didn’t know how to phrase it properly. It was bizarre. It was strange and he couldn’t form the words to explain it so he just blurted it out
‘’I turned into a girl Hermione!’’
There was a brief silence, followed by laughter from Hermione.
‘’What?’’ she laughed.
But the colour soon vanished from her face as she looked into Harry’s eyes. She knew he was telling the truth. He seemed to be very serious.
‘’Harry — h-how is that even -,’’
‘’I don’t know,’’ said Harry a little more clearly in using his words. ‘’I think it has to do something with the girl from the last night!’’
‘’Harry I — Did somebody slip you polyjuice or —‘’
‘’No Hermione, listen to me!’’ said Harry, loudly cutting across her.
It was a miracle that Pince didn’t kick them both out because they were talking rather loudly now. Hermione’s face turned a sickly pale.
‘’What is it?’’ asked Harry.
‘’Meet me in the common room tonight before dark,’’ she said, leaning in close.
‘’Why can’t we — ‘’
‘’If tonight is like the last few nights you will pass out again -,’’ said Hermione, ‘’ — and you might even change!’’
Harry stood up and threw his bag over his shoulder.
‘’Don’t tell Ron,’’ he whispered.
Hermione looked up at him, her eyes bulging. She knew how Harry felt about the situation.
‘’Fine,’’ she said softly.
‘’And Hermione —,’’ Harry added, ‘’thanks for helping me.’’
Harry sat anxiously in the common room, his eye constantly on the clock upon the mantle. He kept shuffling in his seat, impatiently awaiting Hermione’s arrival. The dormitories were quite full because a storm raged outside so the entire castle was wedged with students. Ron talked consistently, not realising that there was something wrong with his friend. Harry was most certainly not in the mood for chatting. It took short while for Ron to cop that something was bothering Harry so he did the comforting thing and offered him a pie from his bowl. Harry just shook his head, muttering, ‘’I’m not hungry.’’
‘’What’s up with you mate?’’ he asked after swallowing a pie. ‘’You’re not yourself the past few days?’’
‘’I’m fine Ron,’’ Harry mumbled. ‘’I’m just — I’m just fine.’’
He looked up at the clock again. He had been sitting in the noisy common room for over two hours.
‘’Come on Hermione. Where are you?’’ he said under his breath.
He feared that if she didn’t show up, he’d have to run off by himself again.
Finally, after excessive amounts of sitting around waiting on Harry’s behalf, Hermione arrived, clenching a pile of books to her chest and looking exhausted. She plonked her stuff down on the coffee table in front of the fire. She looked at Harry and mouthed, ‘’let’s go!’’. He nodded back at her, looking at Ron from the corner of his eye. He stood up and looked at the clock to see that it was nearly seven o’clock. He didn’t have much time, so he left the common room with Hermione.
‘’Where are yooh bodth gowing?’’ said Ron, his mouth filled with pie.
‘’We’ll be back soon Ron,’’ said Hermione, grabbing her coat.
Ron got up and followed them out the door and through the portrait of the fat lady to see them walking away briskly away from him. He stared at them innocently like a child left behind as the cold stab of jealousy dawned upon his face. His brow arched down, his ears turned pink, and his eyes looked hurt and tearful. He turned around and vanished back through the passage as the canvas door closed.
Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione waited in the abandoned girl’s lavatory. They just stood staring at each other nervously and anxiously.
‘’It’ll be soon. It’s always around this time!’’ stated Harry.
Suddenly, a loud splash echoed across the lavatory as Moaning Myrtle soared out of her toilet, flooding the stall and seeping out onto the ground. She wailed and howled like a banshee as she zoomed around the sink island, screeching so loud that she’d break a pane of glass.
‘’Potter and Granger sitting in the loo doing what they shouldn’t do!’’ she sang mischievously. ‘’Well, well Harry you do look, - different from what I saw last night,’’ she said as she floated around the sink station.
Hermione looked confused as she looked at Harry.
‘’It was here, last night, where - where I changed,’’ said Harry moodily.
‘’Not being a naughty boy playing with polyjuice potion again Harry?’’ said Myrtle softly as she glided around Harry, eyeing him from head to toe.
‘’No I — Hang on? How do you know that I transformed — ‘’
‘’ - Into a girl?’’ finished Myrtle. ‘’Oh I saw you Harry. You were screaming your head off, writhing around the soaked floor like a little confused fish. It was awful but now your back so -,’’
‘’Do you know anything about this?’’ asked Hermione.
‘’Well if it’s not polyjuice then I have no idea what happened to poor Harry last night,’’ replied Myrtle, grinning rather psychotically.
Suddenly, the sharp tingly sensation spread throughout Harry’s body. This time more aggressively than ever. He gripped his sides, bent double and straining to not scream his head off.
‘’Harry!’’ screeched Hermione, running to aid him.
‘’No, don’t touch!’’ bellowed Harry, gritting teeth in pain.
Hermione stood back, her chest moving in and out as she breathed rapidly with panic and fear.
His body began to change. His skin bubbled all over as it became softer, hairless and delicate. His muscle shrank away leaving him look like a skeleton before thin layers of fat inflated around his hips, behind and arms. He howled like a wolf as his shoulders dropped, decreasing rapidly in broadness. His hands shrunk, his fingers grew longer and slenderer, his nails sharpening like a cat. His gasped as his stomach pressed inwards, forming an elegant feminine frame.
Hermione was near tears as she covered his open mouth with her hands, trying to follow Harry’s orders to not touch him. Myrtle zoomed around the bathroom howling and wailing tragically before finally diving into a toilet, creating a huge watery splash.
Harry looked up at the ceiling, gasping as his neck lengthened into a soft swan-like state. His face softened, his nose shrunk into a cute button nose whilst his lips inflated slightly along with the smoothening of his jaw and chin. Thick lashed burst out above his widening eyes as his thick black hair unrolled down his back like a curtain. His shoulders were forced back as two mounds began to grow, stretching the chest of his school jumper and popping the shirt buttons until two perky breasts formed. His thighs continued to widen as his behind forced stuck itself out.
‘’Oh my Harry, please let me do something!’’ cried Hermione.
He stumbled onto the sink as the final touches of the transformation took place. His new long black hair hung down over his face, acting as a curtain for the horrifying reveal. His panted heavily as if he had just ran a marathon. His head was buzzing and he began to feel the effects of his new centre of gravity. He looked down, vaguely seeing breasts through his hair, feeling the sudden weight of them.
‘’Harry?’’ said Hermione, softly, approaching him closely from behind.
His heart was in his throat as he raised his shaky hands to his hair, splitting it down the middle to reveal the most pretty, girly face he had ever seen. He quickly turned, his round glasses, now too big for his smaller head, nearly falling off.
‘’That’s not me!’’ he gasped in a high pitched voice. ‘’Ahhhh!’’ he croaked. ‘’My voice — my voice! It’s — I-It sounds like a — like a -,’’
He turned back to the mirror, immediately turning away again. He couldn’t look at himself that way.
‘’Oh Harry,’’ said Hermione, not blinking an eye nor drawing a breath. ‘’Harry look at you!’’
‘’I c-can’t — I — I was hoping that it was all a dream! I hoped that last night had never happened!’’ said Harry, shocked, shaken and stirred.
He felt dizzy and overwhelmed at everything that had just happened. He stumbled back onto the sink, his behind leaning up against the porcelain.
‘’Hermione,’’ he said, shaking his head, ‘’what am I going to do?’’
‘’I-I have never seen anything like this nor have I read about it in any books before!’’ said Hermione, astounded by what she just saw. ‘’It must be some sort of curse passed on to you by that girl who kissed you the last night! This could be a newly discovered curse!’’ said Hermione excitedly.
‘’I’m glad — ‘’, Harry stopped. He still wasn’t used to his new voice, ‘’ — I’m glad that you find it so exciting!’’ he said sarcastically.
There was a silence between them, just the dripping of taps and the rain outside to be heard. Hermione examined Harry from head to toe as if he were a science experiment. He stopped leaning up against the sink and he attempted to walk, feeling as if they were his first steps all over again. He had a new feel of gravity due to his new height, body shape and chest. He kept hold of his now-to-large pants with his right hand while he felt his new thin waist with the other. He walked around the lavatory trying to get used to his new body as he stroked his hand down his arched back down to his larger buttocks.
‘’Oh my — what the?’’ he whimpered, gripping his buttocks with his smaller hands.
Hermione couldn’t help but giggle at this despite the situation being very serious.
Harry then brought his shoulders back, looking at the two lumps poking out from beneath his school jumper. He gripped his new breasts and squeezed them but stopped when his pants began to slip down his legs. He looked at his new tiny hands, his nails longer, and pointier. He felt like vomiting as he thought of staying as a girl forever but then again it was the world of magic so anything could happen. There had to be a cure. He looked over at Hermione whose smile vanished the second he looked at her. Her face returned to its worried, concerned expression.
‘’Well,’’ said Harry, ‘’what do we do now?’’
‘’Hmm, I - I think we should go to the library to find some information,’’ she said, walking closer to Harry, ‘’to see if there is such a curse in existence.’’
Harry nodded gently, still panting heavily. ‘’The restricted section?’’
Hermione nodded, looking into Harry’s eyes. Her hand slipped into her robe pocket and she drew her wand. She raised it and pointed it at Harry.
‘’W-What are you doing?’’ asked Harry in a panicky tone.
‘’You can’t go out into the school like that! Your uniform is much too large for your new physique and you need to blend in!’’ said Hermione. ‘’It’s just past seven o’clock and the corridors will be flooded with students coming back from study, look your pants are practically falling down!’’
‘’But -,’’
Before Harry could say another syllable, Hermione bellowed a spell he had never heard before. ‘’Boutiqimai!’’ she cried in a clear tone of voice.
Nothing seemed to happen until Harry’s legs were forced shut together, making him wobble on the spot.
‘’Hermione, what did you do?’’ he said angrily.
His grey trouser legs fused together, forming one tight leg. He struggled to keep his balance as it began to shorten up his ankles, over his shins, and above his knees. He looked down in awe as pleats formed around the line of the newly formed school skirt. His white shirt shrunk in size, hugging his arms, breasts and back tightly as the fabric softened into a lovely cotton blouse.
He wished that Hermione didn’t have to watch him in such an embarrassing situation. His cheeks turned scarlet as he blushed furiously.
His grey jumper shrunk in size, fitting snugly against his new bodice, chest, waist and arms. The v-neck lining expanded as the white blouse collar folded itself out around the neckline. The blouse sleeves poked out at the ends of the jumper sleeves, folding themselves out as they formed into stiff cuffs. The blouse tucked neatly into the pleated skirt as it pulled itself up over his hips, zipping itself up. His black socks turned a lighter shade of grey as they slithered up his shins, stopping right below the knees. He looked down at his runners as the laces formed into two straps, buckling themselves as a slight heel grew at the back, forming a fresh new pair of schoolgirl shows.
He couldn’t look at Hermione who seemed to be trying to look as serious as possible. He turned, his skirt flaring with him as he paced around the lavatory
‘’Come on we have to get going!’’ bellowed Hermione’s echoed voice.
He hid behind the sink island, feeling ashamed that his friend had to see him so humiliated.
‘’I’m not laughing Harry!’’ said Hermione. ‘’This is really serious and you can trust me!’’
Harry felt an odd sensation under his skirt as if his underpants were suddenly softer and snugger. His breasts pushed themselves up as a bra appeared, uncomfortably strapping itself around his shoulder blades, encasing them in padding. His round glasses also shrunk to fit his smaller head whilst a red hair-band appeared, tidying his hair back.
Harry shyly stepped out from behind the sink.
‘’You didn’t have to go to these elaborate measures!’’ he said moodily.
‘’It’s necessary for you to blend in because nobody has ever seen you before! Now come one we have to get going!’’ said Hermione urgently.
He felt a cold wave of nerves hit him as Hermione stuck her head out of the bathroom door.
‘’I should have brought the cloak,’’ mumbled Harry under his breath.
‘’You ready?’’ asked Hermione, noticing that Harry still had the lightning bolt scar. ‘’Oh no, come here!’’
She took out the hair band and put it inside her robe. She fixed Harry’s new thick shiny hair into a fringe doo, hiding the scar from all eyes. She took him by the hand and led him out of the bathroom. She let go the second they were on the corridor. Harry didn’t know what Hermione was thinking but he thought that the current scenario was disturbing for him to experience.
‘’To the library?’’ said Harry.
‘’To the library,’’ repeated Hermione, nodding.
They broke into a swift stride down the hallway. Harry, who was still not used to his new centre of gravity walked differently without knowing, his hips swayed back and forth and his arms were kept closely against his sides. The gentle breeze of the corridor felt different against his new skin as it gently gushed up his skirt. Hermione was right; a lot of the corridors were filled with students and teachers at this time of evening. Nobody paid any attention to Harry because as far as they were concerned, he was just a regular Gryffindor school girl. But then again why would they suspect a thing? To them it most certainly was not Harry Potter and nobody would guess that in a million years unless they took the glasses into account.
Harry looked around himself uncomfortably, constantly pulling at his skirt. Hermione gave him a threatening look and he stopped. They took the stairs to the fourth floor. As they approached the library doors they ran into Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas.
‘’Howya Hermione, who’s yer friend?’’ grinned Seamus cheekily.
Dean laughed uncomfortably, nudging Seamus in the ribs as if to say, ‘’Shut up you twat!’’
‘’Buzz off Seamus,’’ sighed Hermione, pushing herself by him. ‘’We’re in no mood.’’
Harry didn’t say a word, instead looking down at his shoes. He followed Hermione into the library, looking at the ground shyly, staring at nobody and feeling incredibly out of place. He looked back over his shoulder to see Dean and Seamus checking out her behind. They quickly looked away, whistling as if everything was normal, once they noticed they were caught. Harry’s cheeks turned scarlet red. He didn’t say a word. He just let the disturbing nature of everything burn up inside him.
Within a few minutes they were lurking through the tall, dark, towering book cases of the restricted section. It was a huge risk without the invisibility cloak but the library had just closed. They had no lantern but Hermione lit up her wand as they searched through various bookcases and shelves.
As they looked at a book together Harry noticed that he was now slightly smaller in height compared to Hermione. He also noted that she seemed to act more feminine with him, particularly in her mannerisms as she gently touched him on the arm when she spotted something. He didn’t want to point it out in case she got embarrassed or defensive about it. Hanging around with two boys the whole time must have left some tomboy marks on her.
They searched non-stop for two hours straight with no luck in finding what they wanted. They didn’t even get close. Harry was beginning to feel worried at the thought of the curse getting worse and maybe having to spend the rest of his life as a girl. He tried to brush the negative thoughts away from his mind but it was impossible when he was in full girl form. He hated it.
They both left the library two unhappy girls. Hermione just felt bad for Harry who was incredibly miserable. He was truly frightened deep down. He felt the emotional need to cry but he couldn’t do it in front of Hermione. She had seen enough of his embarrassment for one day. He also realised that he had nowhere to sleep for the night. He couldn’t go to the boy’s dormitory because of the protective gender charm and there were no spare beds in the girls. He then remembered the Room of Requirement. He and Hermione walked to the bare wall in silence. He thought clearly and truthfully, ‘’I really want a bed!’’ and the door suddenly appeared. He and Hermione entered the room to find a large king sized bed tucked into a bedroom set in the corner of the massive room. They walked over to it and sat on the bed together in silence for a few moments before Harry spoke.
‘’What am I going to do now?’’ he said softly, choking back his emotions with all his strength.
‘’I suppose you’ll have to go see Dumbledore tomorrow,’’ sighed Hermione. ‘’Either that or there is nothing else we can do.’’
‘’I don’t want to be —,’’ He stopped mid sentence, not wanting to finish it because he knew it sounded crazy.
‘’Don’t want to be, what?’’ said Hermione
.
Harry looked down at his body. His breasts, his long hair draped over his shoulders, his skirt and his hands. His lower lips began to tremble but he exhaled, holding back his emotional maelstrom.
‘’It’s okay,’’ whispered Hermione, ‘’let it out. It’s not good for you to keep it all locked up inside.’’
Harry shook his head. ‘’No, no I will because that means I’m giving in and I will not let this beat me! The battle has only begun!’’
Hermione slid closer to Harry and put her arm around him, squeezing him tightly.
‘’It’ll be okay,’’ she whispered. ‘’We’ll get to the bottom of this. We always do.’’
Within five minutes, Harry was under the blankets wearing a blue night gown that came with the room. He was absolutely exhausted. Hermione pulled the blanket over him more as he yawned, tucking him in. She then sat on the side of the bed like a worried mother with her sick child.
‘’Are you going to tell Ron?’’ asked Hermione.
‘’Not until I get a verdict on what’s wrong with me,’’ mumbled Harry as he closed his eyes.
‘’Okay. Tomorrow’s Saturday so sleep well, I’ll be here to wake you in the morning,’’ said Hermione as she touched Harry’s arm, ‘’Good night.’’
She then left the room, the lights turning off behind her as she walked closer to the door, leaving Harry in complete darkness. He dozed off within a matter of minutes, wondering what the next day would have in store for him.
***
Deep within the complexities of Harry’s mind, a voice called to him in a deep, sultry whisper. He tossed and turned in his bed, breaking out in cold sweats, unable to wake up. All he could see was an emerald green light, blinding his vision as the whisper grew louder and louder in his ears.
‘’Come, to me,’’ it hissed. The voice was warped, distorted, monstrous yet beautiful but the message was clear. ‘’Come to me Harry Potter, and I will make you live!’’
He woke up immediately, feeling his body ache and the dryness of the inside of his mouth. He put his hand on his chest to find it bare and flat. He sighed with relief, sat up in the bed and noticed that it was morning. He felt his head, his messy hair was back. He looked down between his legs. It was all there! But his head pounded with pain. He slid out from under the blankets to see that he was still wearing the night dress. He felt incredibly foolish and was just about to rip it off his body but he was interrupted by the doors opening. It was Hermione. She crept in and walked across the room towards Harry.
‘’Your back!’’ she smiled brightly.
‘’I was never gone,’’ he groaned as he stood up, stretching his stiff arms and legs.
Hermione looked as if she was about to burst out laughing because of Harry’s ridiculous nightwear but she contained herself. She held a brown ruck-sack in her left hand.
‘’What’s in the bag?’’ asked Harry.
Hermione reached in and pulled out a set of male clothes, Harry’s clothes. She threw them at him and smiled.
‘’Thanks,’’ he mumbled.
He finally had the pleasure of ripping off the night dress in the hope of never having to wear one again.
Hermione looked away as he put on a black hoody, blue jeans and sneakers. He felt good to be back as his male self and he was ready to go see Dumbledore. He and Hermione left the Room of Requirement and made their way across the castle. Students were spread all over the grounds enjoying their weekend.
Professor McGonagall was taking the third years to Hogsmeade and the Slytherin’s were holding their Quidditch tryouts down at the pitch. Hagrid was carrying huge logs of wood out of the forbidden forest and Thestrals flew around the castle towers invisible to the eyes of most students. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, cold but not freezing as the sun shined rays of light through the grey clouds.
Harry and Hermione stood outside the golden phoenix statue, entrance to the headmaster’s office. He began to feel nervous wondering if Dumbledore would believe him but then again why wouldn’t he? He has known and trusted Harry for years.
‘’I’ll see you later,’’ said Hermione, patting Harry on the shoulder.
Harry waited until Hermione was out of sight before uttering the password, ‘’Sherbert Lemon’’ under his breath. The golden phoenix statue began to rotate revealing a spiral stair case leading upwards to Dumbledore’s study. He climbed up the steps, one by one, his heart racing faster by the minute. He stood outside the large wooden door, raising his hand to knock.
‘’Enter,’’ said Dumbledore’s voice from behind the door.
Harry couldn’t help but smile as he turned to knob and entered the study.
The office was the same as always, bright, warm and filled with all sorts of instruments, trinkets, magical objects and decoration. The faint relaxing sound of sparkles sounded giving the room a magical atmosphere. It was truly wondrous to behold.
Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk, his hands raised and joint together, looking as wise as ever. His long white beard hung below his face, his thin lips smiling gently, his half moon spectacles perched upon his crooked nose and his bright blue eyes shone like two twinkling sapphires. He wore an old purple hat and matching robes.
‘’Ah Harry,’’ he said softly, ‘’to what do I owe the pleasure?’’
Harry didn’t know how to introduce himself with his problem so suddenly. Yet, he didn’t have to say anything. Dumbledore gestured him to take a seat in front of the desk. He sat on the cushioned chair, facing the old wizard sitting proudly yet modestly on his elaborate chair.
‘’Harry, I sense that something is troubling you,’’ said Dumbledore, looking over his spectacles with a faint smile.
‘’Sir, what I’m about to say may sound sort of strange but I — I couldn’t think of anybody else to go to,’’ he stuttered.
Dumbledore nodded for him to continue talking. Harry sighed, gritting his teeth as he racked his mind on how to put his predicament into normal words without sounding completely ridiculous.
‘’Harry whatever is troubling you I suggest you say it in the simplest of terms first,’’ said Dumbledore.
‘’Okay -,’’ sighed Harry, ‘’- the last night when I was sleeping I was awoken by something rather odd, something strange — It was a bright light, illuminating the entire dormitory, waking nobody but me s-so I followed it out into the common room -,’’ Harry looked at Dumbledore in the eyes, ‘’ — then out onto the corridors. The light guided me — to — to a secret passage -,’’
Dumbledore was listening intently; hanging on Harry’s every word as the smile slowly vanished from his face. The office suddenly became a dark gloomy place.
‘’ — it was there that a met a girl — a strange but beautiful girl who gave off a sort of — she was producing an unnatural light, l-like a ghost or something. Then she kissed me and I didn’t remember anything after that.’’
Dumbledore stood up, his face white and expressionless. Harry’s eyes followed him as he walked around the desk and towards the door, placing his hand upon a pillar.
‘’You changed, didn’t you?’’ he said darkly, ‘’into the opposite gender?’’
Harry jumped up off of the seat and walked over to Dumbledore, feeling anxious and scared yet thankful that he didn’t have to say it himself. Dumbledore’s back was turned as he wiped his face with his old withered hand. He turned and walked briskly by Harry.
‘’This is beyond anything I’ve ever imagined,’’ he said as he sat down on the steps.
‘’Sir, what exactly happened to me?’’ asked Harry worriedly, knowing that Dumbledore knew something.
It took a moment for Dumbledore to answer as he just looked at Harry, wearing an expression of care, concern and even a little fear.
‘’You were cursed,’’ he said.
‘’Cursed?’’ said Harry, beginning to feel a mixture of fright and curiosity, ‘’by — by what - by who?’’
‘’By a phantom,’’ said Dumbledore, his eyes wide open and watery.
‘’What’s a phantom?’’ asked Harry, beginning to feel scared.
‘’A phantom is an evil fragment of a dark wizards soul. When one wizard passes on he or she chooses for their essence to live on in some form,’’ said Dumbledore.
‘’What, you mean l-like a ghost?’’ said Harry.
‘’Similar in ways, yes, but they are very rare and much more dangerous. It’s a mystery how one even managed to penetrate the castle walls,’’ said Dumbledore, taking off his hat to rub his head.
Harry stood, rooted to the spot, soaking up everything Dumbledore said. He knew by the look on the old wizard’s sunken face that the worst of news was yet to come. All he could hear was his own breathing.
‘’What’s happening to me?’’ asked Harry, seeking the direct and straightforward truth.
Dumbledore looked up at Harry, his mouth open and his eyes refusing to blink.
‘’This is beyond my abilities Harry, I trust you know that, but it is near impossible to tamper with such a curse without making it worse,’’ he said seriously. ‘’It will get worse and it will take over your body, eventually shaping you into a different person.’’
Harry’s chest began to move in and out, the revelation crashing upon him like a sharp cold wave of water. He stumbled backwards onto the seat, stiff, shaken and unable to speak. It seemed that all sound was drained out of the room as he listened to his aching heart, beating and thumping expressing its deep sorrow more so than himself. Dumbledore looked down at the ground, a look of sadness dawning upon his face. Harry tried to calm his anxiety but it only seemed to get worse.
‘’Why!?’’ bellowed Harry. ‘’Who has done this to me?’’
Dumbledore shrugged and gave a weary sigh. ‘’Alas, that remains a mystery,’’ he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head sadly. ‘’All I can say is that you don’t have much time before you remain a young witch permanently.’’
‘’Oh well that’s great news!’’ said Harry sarcastically.
‘’Harry,’’ said Dumbledore, raising his voice slightly. ‘’It is essential that you don’t let this curse control your emotions. You must remain strong as you always have been. I’ve seen courage in your eyes Harry, a very valuable trait that will help you cope with the difficulties that lie ahead.’’
Harry jumped up off of his seat, fuming with anger and unable to spend another minute in the office. He wanted to be alone to think.
‘’I’ll be off now,’’ said Harry. ‘’I need to be alone.’’
Dumbledore called him before he opened the door.
‘’Harry,’’ he called, ‘’No matter who you change into, you will always be Harry Potter.’’
Harry froze, choking back his anger and rage. He looked over his shoulder and then turned to open the door. Dumbledore sat still, staring at the space where Harry had just stood.
‘’I’m so sorry Harry,’’ he hummed softly.
Harry walked briskly through the corridors, looking aggressive with in movement and expression. He felt letdown by the only one he thought could help him. He felt furious with everything that was happening to him, yet at the same time he felt the strong need to break down completely.
What’s happening to me? He thought.
He couldn’t think straight underneath the layers of anger and rage. But above all else, he felt scared. Fear, was an attribute that Harry rarely felt but even he could not comprehend the overwhelming prospect of becoming the opposite gender.
He walked into through the passage which led into the common room, the Fat Lady commenting on his weary appearance. He moved through the hall and moved into the warm cosy common room. Hermione was sitting down on the couch by the fire, sitting straight and looking stressed.
Harry stood, looking at her, wondering what she would think of him as he joined her gender for good. She looked over to see Harry standing, looking bitter and upset. He didn’t have to say anything. Hermione read him instantly and she began to tear up. She jumped up and flung her arms tightly around Harry.
‘’Oh Harry!’’ she cried. ‘’I’m so sorry!’’
They embraced each other for a few minutes, Harry listening to Hermione’s low sobbing. He was more heartbroken for her than himself.
‘’We’ll help you through it Harry,’’ she whispered.
Then, Ron entered.
‘’What’s all this then?’’ said Ron, looking outraged and hurt.
They immediately broke apart and looked at Ron, shocked. His ears and cheeks were pink with rage.
‘’I knew you two were up to something!’’ he bellowed.
Harry started, in absolutely no mood for a row with him. ‘’Ron, nothing is going on between me and -,’’
‘’No, it’s alright. You don’t have to say anything. I’ll leave you two alone. I understand,’’ he said darkly.
‘’No Ron, you don’t understand, Harry just received some bad news!’’ shouted Hermione.
‘’Oh yeah?’’ said Ron sarcastically. ‘’Its okay I’ll step aside while you two talk about it!’’
‘’Tell him Harry!’’ cried Hermione.
‘’Tell me what?!’’ bellowed Ron.
Harry looked around the room to see that almost everyone was listening in on the fight. It was as if somebody had poured cold water on his burning inards.
‘’Come on, I’ll tell you somewhere private,’’ mumbled Harry.
Harry, Ron and Hermione left the common room and walked downstairs in silence. Harry led the way whilst Ron strutted moodily behind him along with Hermione who had that same look of concern, worry and fright on her face as she did the previous night when Harry changed. The trio walked into the large, stone cobbled courtyard at the other end of the school. Not a student to be seen. Ron looked annoyed with all the secrecy but he remained curious as to what Harry had to say.
‘’So you going to tell me?’’ he said.
Harry looked at Hermione and she nodded. He took a deep breath and blurted out everything he knew and experienced from the past few days. He studied each of Ron’s reactions to parts of the story. As both he and Hermione expected, Ron was speechless. They stood in silence looking at each other. Harry breathed in and out as the length and detail of the story took it out of him. Ron’s mouth was open with shock and then it formed into a big toothy smile. The last reaction Harry and Hermione had expected. He began to chuckle.
‘’So you changed into a girl?’’ he laughed.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, shocked by Ron’s behaviour.
‘’Ron this is serious,’’ said Hermione. ‘’Harry may have to spend the rest of his life as a — as a -,’’
Hermione didn’t want to finish her sentence, noticing the look on Harry’s face.
Yet the lack of words made Harry feel like a huge weight was dropped down on his tiny glimmer of optimism and hope for a cure. He wished she had just said it rather than keep it all awkward. However, Ron stopped laughing and the smile completely vanished from his face. His cheeks turned a sickly white.
‘’You’re joking!’’ he said, trying to form a smile again. ‘’This is a joke right?’’
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, then at Ron, nodding.
‘’How is that possible?’’ said Ron.
‘’Its magic, nothing is impossible,’’ muttered Harry, feeling the silliness of the innocent remark.
‘’I dunno what to say mate! I mean — so you - so you’re going to be a girl from now on?’’ stammered Ron.
Harry nodded. ‘’It’s looking like it,’’ he said.
Ron gave a heavy breath as he felt the heavy news pile upon his back.
‘’Well don’t worry Harry, you know Hermione and I will always be here for ya,’’ he said, punching Harry’s arm.
‘’Yeah thanks,’’ said Harry, forcing a thin crooked smile.
***
That evening Harry, Ron and Hermione stood in the abandoned girl’s lavatory waiting for the sun to go down. Ron came across as so scared that he looked as if he was going to faint. Hermione however stayed calm as did Harry, he had changed twice or maybe three times, he couldn’t remember anything from the first night he was cursed.
The sun went down and disappeared over the horizon sending light plunging into darkness. Harry began to change into a girl yet again. He stood over the sink as his body shifted and changed, shrieking in a horrific roar of pain as long black hair rolled down his back. His thighs widening, his legs becoming longer and slenderer, his face softening, his eyelashes and nails growing, his chest expanding two breasts and his waist forcing itself inwards as his behind pushed itself out.
‘’We have to help him!’’ bellowed Ron.
‘’No Ron! There’s nothing we can do!’’ cried Hermione.
Within a few moments Harry stood in front of his two best friends in full girl form looking amazingly prettier than before. His long shiny black hair hung down over his shoulders, his perky breasts stuck out through his hoody, his hourglass figure, his wide hips, his dashingly pretty features that would make any boy faint. Ron looked dazed and confused but he managed to ask Harry how he felt.
‘’How do you feel mate?’’ he asked, seemingly more scared than Harry.
‘’Very different,’’ said Harry, his voice soft and feminine.
Written by Lily Florette © All characters and settings are the property of J.K. Rowling © Don't forget to post your thoughts and comments!
‘’There, look!’’
‘’Where?’’
‘’Next to Ron Weasley of course!’’
‘’Wearing the glasses? It can’t be!’’
‘’Did you see what he looks like now?’’
‘’Yeah I know, creepy isn’t it?’’
Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left the abandoned girls lavatory three weeks before. He is still a girl. People queuing outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring, gaping at the new female Harry. He wished they wouldn’t but at this point it he was used to it.
It was evident that he would probably have to spend the rest of his days as a girl unless there was a cure discovered or more information on the mysterious phantom was found. But for now Harry had to deal with the situation even if he hated being a girl. His entire outlook on life was changed by the curse, the environments felt different, and the way people treated him was slightly different. He spent a lot of time in Professor Dumbledore’s office just talking about how he felt and discussing his experiences. No matter how miserable or depressed Harry felt, Dumbledore’s nod of comfort always made him feel warm inside.
Dumbledore had it seen to that a new bed was placed in the girl’s dormitory for Harry which was difficult for him to absorb. The first night was the toughest for him; he lay awake in bed thinking, sometimes quietly sobbing himself to sleep. He felt ridiculous. The Gryffindor girls had not yet accepted him as a girl.
Hermione too found it hard to believe, it was difficult for her too but she stood beside her best friend as always. Ginny couldn’t look at Harry in the eye without turning a sickly pale colour, she found it hard to think that this new girl was Harry Potter, the boy she liked. It was very confusing for her. Harry also found that he was rapidly drifting away from Ron as he spent more time with Hermione. He missed being Harry, just Harry.
The wizarding world knew everything within a few days after Harry had fully transformed. It was the cover story of The Daily Prophet with the headline, ‘’HARRY POTTER: The Girl Who Lived!’’ Reporters fought at the school gates to get some juicy information but Dumbledore shunned them all away. Dumbledore decided that if Harry was to live any sort of normal life that he should go by a new name and be addressed as a ‘’she’’. Of course Harry hated the idea but Dumbledore was right, he had to accept the fact that he was no longer a boy. Harry was now registered as ‘’Heather Potter’’ the fifth year Gryffindor school girl. He felt as if he was being rushed into becoming a new person against his will. He was tempted to just run away from everyone and never return.
Most of the students accepted Heather quickly, maybe it was because they were told to, but Heather didn’t care. She would walk down the corridor between classes and students would stare at her as if she was a freak. When she ate in the great hall she could feel people looking at her and whispering as usual, and when she walked up the steps to the girl’s dormitory she could hear first years giggling at her from behind her back.
However bad the students gossiping was, nothing compared to what the Slytherin’s said to her, they were cruel, heartless and loved the fact that Heather was going through a bad time. Draco Malfoy took particular pleasure in jeering Heather as she walked down the corridor with Ron one day.
‘’I always knew you were fond of wearing skirts Potter but don’t you think this is taking it a bit far?’’ he jeered.
His cronies Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson laughed there heads off.
‘’Just ignore them,’’ mumbled Ron. ‘’It’s only Malfoy.’’
Heather felt as if her head was on fire, rage boiled within her, ready to explode.
‘’Where you going with your new boyfriend Potter?’’ said Malfoy, now following them.
Goyle found this hilarious as he had to lean against the wall to stop his large body from collapsing on the floor with laughter.
Heather spun around, whipping her hair and skirt and marched right up to Malfoy who was chuckling to himself. Heather pushed him feeling the huge decline of her strength for the first time. Malfoy’s smirk vanished as it formed into a cold malicious sneer.
‘’Is that all you’ve got girly?’’ he sneered. ‘’I never thought that it would be possible for you to get any weaker than what you were!’’
For the first time in five years Heather felt helpless against Malfoy and his thugs. Ron stood beside her right shoulder her telling her to ‘’leave it’’ under his breath. She tried to give the dirtiest look possible before Parkinson pushed her, falling back on her behind against the hard stone floor. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle laughed so hard that Heathers eyes welled up. Ron helped her pick up her books and stationary from the ground, also giving her hand up. She felt weak and frail as her knees shook with rage.
‘’Just bugger off Malfoy!’’ sneered Ron as he turned Heather away from Malfoy.
‘’Give her one for me Weasley!’’ laughed Crabbe.
‘’Shut up you idiot!’’ said Malfoy, punching him in the arm.
Heather walked briskly down the dark empty steps that led to the dungeons. Ron followed, calling her name after her.
‘’Are you okay?’’ he asked.
‘’Yeah I’m fine,’’ whispered Heather dabbing her eyes.
‘’You crying mate?’’ asked Ron concernedly.
‘’No, no,’’ lied Heather, unable to understand her new emotions. ‘’It’s probably just the dust.’’
‘’But there isn’t any?’’ said Ron, his eyes widening with concern for his friend.
‘’Just leave it Ron!’’ snapped Heather.
‘’Okay well — I - I better get to — err stuff to do,’’ said Ron. He walked up the few steps onto the corridor turning his head to look down at Heather. ‘’Oh yeah — and err don’t forget that we have our first Quidditch practise later, okay?’’
Heather nodded and Ron forced an awkward smile before leaving.
The day wore on like a dragged out Potions class for Heather. She continued to attend her usual classes and the teachers constantly lectured them about there O.W.L.S. Hermione was stressed as always even though the exams weren’t for another eight months.
‘’Eight months or not, I have to study for these exams at some stage, and you should too!’’ said Hermione.
And that’s exactly what Heather did, she studied. A thing she very rarely did as Harry. She found that her concentration level in class had improved and she actually started to show an interest in her subjects. She assumed that this was one of the very few good traits of the curse.
The day ended with Seamus being sent to the hospital wing after blowing himself up in potions, again. Heather ate in the great hall with Hermione, Ron and Luna before going to grab her newly transfigured Quidditch gear. She then walked down the pitch with Ron, Ginny and Demelza. Heather only realised that the team’s genders were now split in two, three girls and three boys.
She got dressed in the girls changing rooms before kicking up from the ground on her Firebolt. She soared upwards so high that she could see for miles around. She felt the wind caress her cheeks gently, her jet black hair whipping behind her and the air gush through her robes. She felt like Harry again. As she reached high above the Quidditch pitch stands, she looked down and let out a shrill scream. She must have been one hundred feet up in the air and it made her incredibly nervous. She clung onto her broom for her dear life.
‘’Oh my god, I’m going to fall!’’ she squealed.
‘’What do we do Har — Sorry, I mean Heather?’’ shouted Cormac, hovering in the air across from her.
‘’Uh lets s-start with a few laps around the stands shall we?’’ stuttered Heather, nervously clinging to her broom handle.
‘’Are you okay?’’ he shouted back.
Heather didn’t reply for a moment. She looked around herself, feeling the horrifying wave of fear. She swallowed it down, trying to convert her horror to courage but it failed miserably.
What’s wrong with me? She thought.
‘’You go ahead, tell the others, I’ll w-watch you all from here!’’ shouted Heather.
The rest of the team sped around the tall stands throwing a Quafel back and over to each player as they raced. Cormac seemed to lead them. Heather didn’t even watch, instead concentrating on her surroundings. She still hadn’t moved from her airspace. Was this part of the curse? Not being able to play Quitditch? It felt strange to her because of her new size and physique but the fear of heights creeped her out. She ended the practise after fifteen minutes.
‘’Great work team!’’ she said as they all gathered in a circle on ground.
‘’Great work she says?’’ said Dean mockingly, ‘’we barely did a thing!’’
‘’Look, I’m sorry but I —I don’t feel well today!’’ said Heather.
‘’Your losing your touch mate,’’ said Cormac.
Heather knew that Cormac wanted to be captain so he would do anything he could to discourage her. She was beginning to feel intimidated by her own team. Ron and Ginny just stood awkwardly and didn’t utter a word.
‘’We can’t have this happening right now Heather. What with the school tournament coming up, you need to shape up, step up your game!’’ said Demelza, the only one who didn’t say the truth in a rude manner.
‘’Ah come on lads, we all know that it’s that bloody curse that’s done it! Ever since you changed into a pansy girl!’’ said Cormac pointing at Heather.
‘’Right!’’ bellowed Ron. ‘’That’s enough out of you McLaggen!’’
‘’You know its true Weasley!’’ he mumbled.
‘’Fine!’’ shouted Heather, she ripped off her captains arm badge and threw it at Cormac’s feet. ‘’You be captain then!’’ she said tearfully before strutting off.
‘’Heather!’’ shouted Ginny after her.
She walked away feeling foolish as she choked back her tears, swearing to herself that she would not get emotional about it. She went to the dressing rooms and changed back into her grey v-neck school jumper with the Gryffindor crest embedded on the breast, white starched blouse, short dark grey skirt, grey socks and black school shoes. She flung her long, thick black hair down her back, straightened her glasses and made her way back to the common room, fuming with anger. She tried to not to dwell on the thought but it constantly poked at her mind until she reached the library. She plonked her Quidditch gear onto a desk beside Hermione creating a loud thundering echo.
‘’Are you mad?’’ whispered Hermione loudly.
Madam Pince looked startled and looked over to see what the loud noise was. She loomed over Heather and Hermione, looking very cross.
‘’What is all this racket about?’’ she whispered fiercely.
‘’Sorry Miss,’’ said Heather softly.
‘’I thought that you’d know by now that noise is strictly forbidden in the library during study hours?’’ she said looking down over her nose.
Hermione and Heather both gave looks of apology and Madam Pince left them both. Hermione watched Pince until she had disappeared back into the tall rows of bookcases with her trolley of books. Hermione turned to Heather.
‘’What has gotten into you?’’ she said.
‘’I don’t want to talk about it,’’ said Heather as she opened the book, History of Magic: O.W.L.S edition.
The two girls spent the rest of the evening studying hard while the Gryffindor Quidditch team practised with their new captain and seeker, Cormac McLaggen. Once the library closed they walked back to the common room together. The team had arrived back before them. Cormac sat smugly on the couch, proud of his new captain’s badge. Ron and Ginny jumped up off their seats to greet Heather and Hermione.
‘’Hey, don’t worry about Cormac mate,’’ said Ron lowering his voice. ‘’We’ll get you back as captain in no time.’’
Ginny however didn’t say a word to Heather, only speaking to Hermione. Heather noticed this out of the corner of her eye but ignored it as she was trying to speak to Ron.
‘’No its okay, its fine,’’ said Heather moodily. ‘’I’m fine, I did terribly today anyway. I couldn’t look down when I was up so high. It’s best for the team if I’m not part of it.’’
‘’Don’t say that mate, you’re still one of the best seekers out there,’’ said Ron reassuringly.
‘’I think that part of my life has ended,’’ said Heather, looking over Ron’s shoulder to see Cormac leaning back on the chair. ‘’Excuse me’’ she said, moving by him.
Cormac was still grinning, eyes closed and looking very pleased with himself. It annoyed Heather but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of showing her anger towards him.
‘’Cormac, I’d like to congratulate you on becoming the new Gryffindor captain,’’ she said in rather refined yet forced tone of voice. ‘’I’m sure you’ll do the team proud.’’
Cormac opened his eyes and looked into Heather’s.
‘’Thanks Heather, that is very kind of you,’’ he said as he opened his eyes. ‘’You’re a good leader who wants the best for the team and I respect that.’’
Heather was surprised with Cormac’s reaction and was a little taken aback by his sudden manners. She smiled as Cormac praised her.
‘’Thanks,’’ she said softly.
She then turned around to head to the girls dormitory but before she could leave Cormac called after her.
‘’Hey Heather - ,’’ he said, now standing.
‘’Yes?’’ she said as she turned around.
‘’, - I-I’m sorry for calling you a pansy. I didn’t mean that, I was just being stupid,’’ he said apologetically.
‘’Oh - ,’’ said Heather, taken aback yet again. ‘’, — its fine d-don’t worry about it.’’
She smiled at Cormac before leaving the common room and climbed up the stairs into the girl’s dormitory. She felt much better now that Cormac had apologised. If he were still a boy they would have probably feuded for the rest of the school year. She entered her dormitory bedroom where her cosy four poster bed was waiting, dressed and ready to be slept in. There were other girls, dressed in their pyjamas and nightgowns, talking and giggling. But the room fell silent as she entered. Heather just stood at the door, rooted to the spot as they all glared at her. She spotted Hermione among the group of girls. She slid off her side of her bed and walked over to Heather.
‘’Come on, Heather, lets sit down,’’ whispered Hermione. ‘’What are you all staring at?’’ she said looking around at all the girls.
‘’Its fine, Hermione, leave it,’’ muttered Heather under her breath.
Heather walked by Hermione, attempting to act casual whilst trying to ignore the awkward silence. She went into the bathroom to change into her night dress. She had a less girly one. It was quite plain, blue, transparent and quite short. She took off her school uniform and pulled the dress over her head. She then looked at herself in the mirror, looking pale, stiff and worn down, yet, her eyes remained the same as ever, tough and hard. She lifted up her fringe to look at her lightening bolt scar which still remained and then into her eyes, her mother’s eyes.
‘’Harry?’’ she whispered, wondering if the girl in the mirror was truly her.
There was a knock on the door.
‘’Come in,’’ said Heather softly, not taking her eyes off of her reflection.
The door creaked open and Hermione poked her head through.
‘’Can I come in?’’ she asked.
‘’Hmm hmm, yes,’’ said Heather, her voice breaking under the heavy weight of emotion.
She continued to stare into the mirror, half expecting to see her parents by her side. She looked at her bright green eyes, her button nose, her pointed chin, her long shiny jet black hair hung over her chest. She looked over her reflections shoulder to see Hermione close the bathroom door behind her back. She too was dressed and ready for bed. Heather turned around to look at her properly. They stared at each other for a few moments, in silence for words could not describe their feelings.
‘’How are you feeling?’’ asked Hermione.
Heather just nodded as she closed down the toilet lid and sat on it. Hermione remained by the door.
‘’It must be hard for you, what you’re going through,’’ said Hermione, attempting to break the silence.
Heather scoffed, ‘’Yeah I can’t even walk down the corridor without hearing people talk behind my back!’’
‘’It’s not the first time that people have —, ‘’
‘’ — Yeah I know Hermione! I know, but it’s different this time. They have a practically good reason for laughing at me!’’
‘’No one is laughing at you,’’ said Hermione reassuringly.
Heather scoffed again, ‘’My new roommates don’t seem to be too comfortable with me either.’’
‘’It will take a while for people to get used to who — what you are now, you know that,’’ said Hermione in a half raised whisper.
Heather didn’t reply. She looked away from Hermione biting her lip, her eyes shut, and tears trying to escape from her closed eyelids. She didn’t want Hermione to see her crying so she tried with all her might to choke back the tears. She heard the swift ruffling of Hermione gently walking over to her. She touched Heather on the head with her hand, running her fingers through her hair.
‘’Your hair looks a fright,’’ said Hermione in a desperate attempt to change the subject. ‘’You must try and brush it more often,’’ she said.
Heather ignored Hermione’s comment. She opened her watery eyes and stared into a trance whilst Hermione stroked her hair. Hermione picked up a hair brush and began to gently stroke Heather’s long jet-black hair. She brushed it through, pulling out tiny strings of hair and split ends.
Heather began to relax a little better as the brushing was rather comforting. She closed her eyes and said, ‘’That’s actually nice!’’.
Hermione laughed as she stroked the top of Heather’s head. She did this for a few minutes before showing Heather the mirror. Her jaw dropped as it looked much shiner, tidier and longer. Hermione draped her arms over Heathers shoulder and hugged her tight, whispering into her ear, ‘’its going to be okay, you’ll see!’’
‘’I hope so.’’
Heather lay awake in her bed that night thinking about her current situation. She had noticed that she had grown much closer than ever to Hermione since she transformed and she liked that. She thought about how she could no longer play Quidditch, which bugged her a lot. She felt that it was unfair but maybe it had something to do with the rapid body change or maybe her skill just vanished? What ever it was, it worried her a lot. She thought about Dumbledore, she wondered if he was doing something about it, like finding a cure but then again she had to help herself. She wondered if he decided to just let Heather live on as — well - Heather or would he try and get Harry back. All these questions floated around in her mind before drifting into a restless sleep. Falling, falling, falling…gone.
Everything is white, nothing to be seen but blankness. The low distorted screams of hundreds of people grew louder in Heather’s ears. Then, there was fire, burning the flesh of magic-kind and the faint whiff of smoke filled her nose. She looked around, disorientated and confused. She was naked and bare, feeling vulnerable and defenceless.
‘’Where are you?’’ screamed Heather.
Her eyes darted around the blank plains, nothing to be seen, only to be heard. She had no wand or any form of protection, naked as the day she was born. The distorted voices vanished from the airwaves, leaving everything in complete silence, almost like the vacuum of space or deep within the sea. All Heather could hear was her own panicked breathing.
This wasn’t a dream. It was a vision.
Heather looked into the distance, hazy like a barren desert, a figure hiding behind the blur. She began to run, feeling her chest jump and her behind shake as she gained speed, growing closer and closer to the figure. When she arrived to face the person, she noticed that it was herself, her male self, Harry. But he was faceless and as still as a statue. Heather didn’t know why but she asked who he was. The figure began to speak in a cold, hypnotic, whispery voice.
‘’I am Alys,’’ said the distorted voice. ‘’More commonly known as the Emerald Witch.’’
‘’Are you alive?’’ Heather asked.
‘’I am alive in you Harry Potter,’’ said Alys. ‘’I have seen your soul and it belongs to me.’’
The faceless figure began to shake its head rapidly until it was a blur. Heather stepped back, frightened and afraid. Then, suddenly, the figure had transformed into a woman with piercing green eyes. Her beauty was too strong for Heather to handle. This was Alys, the Emerald Witch.
She glided towards Heather like a ghost with her arm outstretched and a psychotic grin across her beautiful face. She leapt onto Heather, pinning her to the ground by the throat, screeching in her face as it took a demonic expression.
Gasping for air, Heather tried to force herself to wake up but she couldn’t. Alys stared into her eyes, ripping her apart from the inside out.
‘’I have seen your soul Harry Potter and it is MINE!’’ she screeched fiercely.
Heather immediately woke up, drenched in sweat and panting heavily as if she had just ran a marathon. She put her hand on her chest, breathing in and out as if she were hyperventilating. For a moment she thought she was dying but she quickly calmed down.
She never had a nightmare so clear, simple yet so terrifying. She looked around the dark room to see the rest of the girls snoozing silently. She wondered how she couldn’t have woken them. She gently slid out of bed and walked down the stairs to the common room. It was dark and the dying fire quietly crackled. She knew somebody else was down there. She would have gone back to bed but she needed to take a short walk. She walked down the rest of the stone steps and swiftly glided to the couches. She saw that the person sitting on the couch in front of the dying fire was actually Ron.
‘’Ron, what are you doing up?’’ she whispered.
‘’I couldn’t sleep,’’ he mumbled.
Odd, thought Heather. Ron was usually the heaviest sleeper in the whole of Gryffindor! She sat down beside him, knees together back straight. Just one of the many feminine mannerisms she ‘’gained’’ from the curse.
‘’Me neither,’’ she said looking into the dying fire.
They sat in silence for a while before speaking. They were both tired and it was very out of character for Ron to miss out on sleep. She didn’t want to ask why in case it was something really personal.
‘’The lads were talking about you earlier,’’ said Ron.
‘’ Well I don’t want to know what they — ‘’
‘’They said you had a great arse? Can you believe that?’’ laughed Ron.
‘’Err no, no I can’t?’’ said Heather, feeling a little disturbed.
‘’It’s a bummer about the Quitditch mate,’’ said Ron. ‘’I mean, what happened? What’s this curse doing to you?’’
Heather didn’t feel like talking about the curse.
‘’Its okay, I don’t really care about Quidditch this year,’’ lied Heather.
Ron chuckled, ‘’Even with a different face, I can still tell when you’re lying!’’
***
Hermione called Heather to get up at seven o’clock the next morning. She groaned as she climbed out of bed, her head pounding from lack of sleep.
‘’The Emerald Witch,’’ she whispered to herself, ‘’could the phantom that cursed me be part of her?’’
She knew what she had to do. She had to try and seek out as much information as possible so as to find a way to tackle the dreaded curse. But she wasn’t going to tell anyone, not yet anyway. She now had a lead to go on and she was more than a little happy to have it.
She picked up her freshly washed and folded uniform and began to undress. She first put on the white starched blouse and then went to the toilet to do her business and clean her teeth. She walked back out to see all the other girls getting dressed. For some reason Heather didn’t feel awkward at all, she just carried on as she felt normal with this. She wasn’t even aroused or fascinated by her surroundings. She then picked up her short grey pleated skirt and pulled it up her legs. She tucked the blouse inside and zipped it up the back.
Heather still couldn’t get used to skirts. She considered them a pain and couldn’t understand why girls had to wear them. Especially during the current weather, her legs would freeze even when walking down the corridor. She always felt restricted when she wore it, unable to run very fast and she always had to fix or straighten it. She also hated the fact that she now had to either cross her legs or keep her knees together when sitting down.
She sat on the bed as she pulled up her grey socks and stepped into her dark brown school shoes, strapping the buckles over. She picked up her gold and maroon stripped tie and tied it around her collar. She left it loose and kept the first button of the blouse open. She then picked up her grey school jumper with the Gryffindor crest embedded on the left breast and pulled it over her head. It still felt strange to her, having breasts, even though they weren’t huge they didn’t help her sleep any better at night. She picked up her school bag and went down to the common room to meet Hermione and Ron for another average school day at Hogwarts.
There first class was Defence against the Dark Arts with their new teacher Professor Snape. He had been juggling both Potions and Defence for the school year so far until they found a replacement for potions. She sat beside Hermione and Ron as usual, looking forward to the class somewhat, which was unusual for her. Snape burst into the classroom and shut every window with the flick of a wand. Every time he did this it always frightened and intimidated the class. He tapped the projector which lit up displaying slides of medieval texts and drawings.
‘’Turn to page two hundred and ninety six,’’ he said darkly.
Everyone opened and flicked through their books to the chapter on Banshees.
The class flew by for Heather as she was successful in answering all of Snape’s deliberately difficult questions. Like Snape always treated Hermione when she answered everything right, he accused Heather of being the new ‘’insufferable know-it all.’’ Hermione looked completely taken aback by Heather’s blossoming intelligence which seemed to grow over the past three weeks. She tried very hard to not look jealous, instead battling Heather for Snape’s attention.
As the class wore on, Heather could feel Malfoy staring at her and it made her quiver with disgust. It disturbed her.
‘’Can anyone tell me what curse is used on a banshee when they are in the middle of their ring of terror cycle?’’ Snape asked the class.
The entire class fell into a deep silence. Dean coughed and Neville squirmed in his seat nervously. Heather raised her hand first followed by Hermione’s. Snape’s eyes trailed around the room, his black eyes lifeless and uncaring. His lip curled.
‘’No one?’’ he said.
Heather and Hermione seemed to be having a competition to see whose hand could reach the highest without leaving their seat. Snape’s eyes trailed to Heather.
‘’Well, well, Mr. Pot — Sorry, I meant Ms. Potter,’’ said Snape deliberately.
The Slytherin’s started sniggering. Heather ignored them as she was trying not to break away from Snape’s intimidating stare. Snape continued to mock her.
‘’You’ve become quite the student over the past month, perhaps something to do with your sudden change of gender?’’ said Snape coldly.
The Slytherin’s tried their best to contain their laughter whilst the rest were just appalled by Snape’s inappropriate behaviour. Heather wondered what Snape had intended by his personal comment but she knew it was uncalled for so she sat sulking with her arms crossed. She wished Snape wouldn’t talk about her problems in front of the entire class but she didn’t expect better of him. He would always treat her badly, even if she looked different.
The large steel bell swung back and fourth, echoing across the castle, the clock tower chimed which meant that all classes were dismissed. The students flooded out of the dungeons, Ron and Hermione tagging alongside Heather.
‘’How, in the name of Merlin, did you get so good at every subject?’’ Hermione asked Heather.
Heather could sense jealousy so she just shrugged. The day wore on slowly but surely as they attended their usual classes, History of Magic, Potions, Transfiguration, and Study of Magical Beasts with Hagrid. Heather continued to perform excellently in each class with her hand up in the air even more times than Hermione. Ron was dumbfounded the entire time.
Once the school day had ended Heather put on her black coat and Gryffindor scarf and made her way up to the owlery, alone. It was a long cold walk, especially up the steps to the old tower which was littered with Owls. She opened the door and poked her head in. A raggy looking black owl flew around in circles at the top of the tower squawking. She recognised the owl so she called it down. The owl soared down the spine of the tower and landed on a post in front of Heather. It had a letter tied to its foot so she carefully untied it, knowing that this particular owl bites! She opened the envelope and pulled out the piece of parchment inside. She began to read.
Dear Harry,
I’m not going to bother with this Heather nonsense because that is not the name that James and Lilly gave you when you were born. I am writing this letter to inform you of a great danger approaching in your life. I don’t want you to alarm you but please meet me in the Gryffindor common room at one o’clock tonight and make sure that you’re alone.
Sirius
Heather felt like her old self as she read her godfather’s letter. He treated her as she truly was. She then left the tower with the letter tucked inside her coat. She wondered what Sirius meant by ‘’a great danger’’. She guessed that she would just have to wait until that night.
Heather then joined Hermione in the library and studied for the next two hours in silence. Ron on the other hand was off with the Quidditch team, training with their new captain. It began to hurt her deep down knowing that they were carrying on without her but books kept her mind off the matter for the rest of the evening.
That night Heather lay awake in bed, waiting, waiting for one o’clock to arrive. It seemed as if the time would never come but with a great deal of patience, it eventually did and she slipped out of bed quietly. She didn’t want Sirius to see her in a night dress so she put on a hoody and jeans. She went down the stairs and called Sirius under her breath.
‘’Sirius, Sirius..?’’ she called.
The fire spat. She turned around to see the fireplace spitting out more embers again. She ran over and knelt to see Sirius’s face form within the ashes and burning coal. His face jumped out, gasping for air and coughing.
‘’Sirius?’’ said Heather, wondering if it truly was him.
As soon as he stopped coughing he began to speak immediately.
‘’Harry? Harry, is that you?’’ he whispered.
‘’Well, yeah, sort of,’’ she whispered.
‘’Merlin’s beard, you’ve changed so much! What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into this time?’’
‘’I didn’t ask for this to happen Sirius!’’ she whispered a little louder.
‘’Shh!’’ hushed Sirius in a low voice. ‘’Now, Harry, I better get to it because I don’t have much time. What happened the night you got cursed?’’
‘’A girl, a Slytherin girl in uniform kissed me, she was — she was - ,’’ Heather didn’t want to describe the girls beauty, ‘’ - I knew she wasn’t normal because she was sort of err glowing. Dumbledore said that she was a phantom spirit from a long dead Dark Sorceress?’’ said Heather.
‘’Do you have any idea who the phantom came from?’’ asked Sirius anxiously.
Heather thought about it and wondered if she should tell him about the dream from the previous night.
‘’Well — I do have an idea but I haven’t checked it out y-yet but I had a dream — well a sort of vision last night. A woman, a woman called Alys was calling to m-me. She called herself the Emerald Witch?’’ said Heather, beginning to feel scared.
Sirius had a look of uncertainty. He groaned and asked Heather more questions.
‘’Tell me Harry, and try to think clearly. The night you were cursed, do you remember anything about the girl that kissed you?’’ asked Sirius, his voice beginning to speed up.
‘’She — she was young, beautiful, had green eyes and blonde hair. I never seen anything like her.’’
‘’Okay, this is important. Think back, was she wearing an emerald diamond pendant around her neck?’’ said Sirius, beginning to sound like an interrogator.
‘’Sirius, I don’t think I could remember -,’’
‘’THINK!’’ hissed Sirius, retaining a low voice.
Heather didn’t like Sirius’ panicked tone but she closed her eyes and cast her mind back to when the girl kissed her up against the wall. It was a sudden flashback. Harry couldn’t stop the girl from holding him as he was frozen stiff. His eyes looked down to see a green pendant draped around her swan like neck, hanging between her blouse collars. He was suddenly brought back to the present.
‘’Yes, yes I can remember now!’’ said Heather excitedly. ‘’She did have an Emerald pendant!’’
However Sirius was not excited. His ashy sunken face hung low and sad.
‘’Harry, I want you to know that this is an extremely rare occurrence in our world, to change genders by the touch of lips is simply - extraordinary — ,‘’ he said sombrely.
‘’ - Yes I know - ’’ said Heather, listening carefully.
‘’, - even though you have completely changed into a girl, Harry I fear that the worst is yet to come,’’ said Sirius keeping his sombre tone honest and pure.
‘’What do you mean?’’ asked Heather, her fear beginning to escalate.
‘’What I mean is that the Emerald Witch is dangerous Harry and that’s all I can say about her, not much is known. And seeing as her phantom roams the world cursing people, I would have no doubt that it leaves some of her darkness within the cursed,’’ whispered Sirius.
‘’What are you trying to s-say?’’ asked Heather hanging on Sirius’ every word, waiting for the truth.
Sirius sighed as he broke the bad news, ‘’a part of Emerald could be —, ‘’
‘’ - Inside me,’’ finished Heather.
There was a moments silence before one of them spoke again.
‘’Yes,’’ said Sirius darkly.
There was another smothering silence as Heather absorbed the news. It deeply disturbed her to think that something else was living inside her but then again it wouldn’t be the first time. She licked her lips and swallowed down the news with difficulty. She cleared her throat.
‘’Is there a cure?’’ she asked.
Sirius didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His expression and silence said it all. Heathers heart fell and something awful sunk down her throat and weighed down on her stomach. The entire common room suddenly began to feel much darker and colder as she received the worst news in her entire life.
‘’But this doesn’t m-make sense - I mean, why me?’’ she asked. ‘’Why is it always me?’’
‘’I wish I knew that answer as much as you do Harry, but I am nervous about these events. To think that a phantom penetrated the walls of Hogwarts is quite - disturbing,’’ said Sirius.
‘’I’m scared Sirius,’’ said Heather.
‘’I’d consider you a fool if you weren’t. Anybody in your shoes would go mad!’’ said Sirius. ‘’Now I must go, I don’t have much time left,’’ he said quickly.
‘’Wait I — ,‘’
‘’, — I have told you everything I know. I’m sorry but you should see Dumbledore more about this,’’ he said quickly. ‘’Your case requires more expert advice than mine. Goodbye Harry and take care,’’ said Sirius warmly.
His face sunk back into the ashes leaving Heather alone, staring into the quenched fire in the hope of him returning. He gave her nothing but bad news. That’s all she had been getting since her fifth year had started. She climbed the spiral stair case back up to the dormitory.
‘’Your case require more expert advice than mine,’’ repeated Sirius’ voice in her head.
Even Dumbledore couldn’t help her. She couldn’t help but cry, knowing that she had to spend the rest of her life a girl, knowing that something dark was lurking inside her ready to unleash itself like a ticking time bomb and knowing that she could do absolutely nothing about it.
***
The mountains surrounding the beautiful landscape of Hogwarts were covered in snow as winter gripped the land. Snow showers were almost constant and Christmas visits to Hogsmeade village were frequent. Three students trudged there way through the snow. Heather, Ron and Hermione covered their faces as the snow storm worsened. They were making their way back from Hogsmeade village after a freezing day out. Their arms were wrapped around there sides to keep themselves warm from the cold.
‘’How did it get this bad?!’’ roared Ron through the howling of the wind.
Neither Heather nor Hermione replied as they were too busy trying to keep warm.
‘’You think they’d have called it off for a day or two?’’ bellowed Ron.
Within another few minutes they were back inside the warm castle toasting in front of the fire. Heather took her shoes off and fell onto the couch. She wore a black winter coat and skinny jeans. Her eyes were shut as she relaxed in her own space. Suddenly somebody coughed. She opened her eyes to a camera flash.
‘’What the —, ‘’ she said.
Her vision focused as she rubbed her eyes to see Colin Creavy standing in front of her, smiling and looking as exasperated as ever.
‘’Hi Harry — I mean Heather!’’ he said, shaking with excitement.
‘’What is it Colin?’’ asked Heather still rubbing her eyes.
‘’D-Dumbledore told me to give you this!’’ he said.
Colin handed a note to her along with the newly processed photo of Heather asleep. Heather looked at the photo of her lying back with her eyes closed.
‘’Ugh I look awful!’’ she thought. ‘’Thanks Colin!’’ she said aloud.
Colin stood for a few moments just looking at Heather. Ron gave him a look as if to say ‘’get out of here!’’. He then left with his camera.
‘’Go on then, open it!’’ said Ron.
Heather opened the folded note and began to read Dumbledore’s emerald green coloured hand writing.
Dear Heather,
Meet me in my office at eight o’clock tonight. Hoping you are well.
Albus
‘’What does it say?’’ asked Hermione.
‘’It just says I have to meet him in his office tonight,’’ said Heather.
‘’What for?’’ said Ron.
‘’I don’t know, it doesn’t say,’’ said Heather.
Eight o’clock that night, Heather crept through Dumbledore’s office door to find his chair empty. The door made her jump as it slammed itself behind her. She took a deep breath of relief. Her eyes trailed around the room looking for any signs of life. She walked up to the desk and stroked the top as she walked around it. She heard a gentle chirp of a bird behind her. She turned to see Fawkes the phoenix freshly reborn as a small chick, sitting innocently on a stand. She was about to rub the phoenix before she heard a sound.
‘’If your looking for Dumbledore, he is up stairs, studying the skies,’’ said the portrait of Eoessa Sakndenberg
‘’Oh, thank you,’’ said Heather politely.
She walked up the metal spiral stair case to the astronomy tower taking each step slowly. When she reached the top she found Dumbledore looking into a telescope. The ceiling gave the illusion of billions of stars twinkling across the galaxy. Heathers eyes sparkled as she stared up at this spectacular scenery. Dumbledore looked up at Heather.
‘’Remarkable aren’t they?’’ said Dumbledore
‘’Beautiful!’’ gasped Heather in awe. ‘’But I take it that we aren’t here to discuss the stars sir?’’
Dumbledore smiled, ‘’No, no we’re not.’’
He walked over to Heather and placed his hand on her back leading her back downstairs to his office. He didn’t tell her to take a seat which probably meant that the conversation would be very brief.
‘’How are you?’’ he asked kindly.
‘’I’ve been better Sir,’’ she smiled.
Dumbledore smiled warmly.
‘’Sometimes I forget just how much you’ve grown,’’ he said softly.
‘’Oh I don’t think I’ve changed that much Sir,’’ said Heather jokingly.
‘’You’re just like you’re mother, incredibly kind, yet, your fathers spirit too lives is also evident,’’ said Dumbledore.
There was a brief silence, then, broken by Dumbledore as his face turned serious.
‘’Heather, I think it would be safer for you to stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays,’’ he said sadly. ‘’I thought it would be best if I told you this in the company of one another.’’
The words were like a dagger through her heart. She didn’t know whether to be hurt about staying in Hogwarts or the fact that Dumbledore called her Heather for the first time.
‘’But, sir, am I in danger?’’ asked Heather.
‘’Yes - ,’’ said Dumbledore grimly, ‘’ - but not from an outside force but from within yourself.’’
‘’From myself?’’ scoffed Heather.
Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and looked at her over his half moon spectacles with a look of concern on his old worn face. Heather wondered if she should tell Dumbledore about the dream she had, about the Emerald Witch.
‘’Sir, does my curse have anything to do with the Emerald Witch?’’
‘’How did you -,’’
‘’She came to me in a dream and said that she was going to take my soul,’’ interrupted Heather.
Dumbledore’s face turned white and his eyes became glassy.
‘’I spoke to your godfather too Heather, and we both agree that there is no cure to be found, yet,’’ said Dumbledore, humming sadly.
Heather put her hand over her mouth as tears rapidly welled in her eyes. She turned away from Dumbledore so he couldn’t see, chewing on her sleeve to mute herself. It was confirmed. She would never be a boy again, trapped as a girl for the rest of his days according to the wisest wizard of the age.
‘’Heather?’’ said Dumbledore softly.
She took a deep breath and after a few long moments, turned around to face him.
‘’Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’’ she asked.
‘’Because I had to search for evidence, that is why I summoned you here tonight, to tell you the truth,’’ said Dumbledore. ‘’I will never keep anything from you Heather, I hope you know that.’’
Heather looked down at her feet, tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked up after a few moments.
‘’W-What will happen to me?’’ she asked shakily.
‘’I don’t think it’s wise to tell y-, ‘’
‘’TELL ME!’’ she roared.
Dumbledore’s face fell, his mouth hanging as the pain of Heather’s shouting hurt him.
‘’The next phase of the curse is already evident in your outburst,’’ said Dumbledore through closed eyes.
Heather couldn’t face Dumbledore any longer so she stormed out of his office, running to the bathroom crying her eyes out. She bent over a sink sobbing and rubbing her eyes as her hair hung down into the sink. She felt angry at herself, she felt angry at Dumbledore and she felt angry about everything in her life. She turned on the taps and splashed her face with water. She looked up at her reflection in the cracked pane of mirror.
‘’Harry?’’ she said to herself pulling up the fringe to reveal the lightening bolt scar.
Suddenly her eye was caught by a certain part of her hair. Among her jet black, shiny long hair was a tiny white blonde streak. Her breathing became panicked as she removed it and held it up to the light. Her eyes closed tight as her hand formed into a tiny fist, clenching the little blonde hair and her teeth gritting in an unnatural rage. Something bad was happening to her.
***
November rolled on, freezing temperatures rising rapidly and eventually transcending into December and before everyone knew it, it was Christmas time. Hermione stressed over tests more than ever and Ron seemed to be practising Quidditch almost every day. Heather began to feel more comfortable as people began to accept her for who she was now, yet, the same air of uncertainty remained.
The girls in her room no longer ignored her. They even began include her in almost everything. She would find herself hanging out with a group of girls at lunchtime instead of her usual buddies and Ron was beginning to feel a little left out and rejected but she did not see this. She felt a little more comfortable in her attire as she got used to wearing a skirt every day and various other female clothing. She found herself taking wild mood swings, especially towards Ron and Hermione often hurting there feelings without meaning to. She would always apologise and tell them that she honestly didn’t know what came over her which was true. She didn’t. Blonde streaks of hair continued to show up in her hair and she had to pull them out every time. She had no idea what was happening to her hair but it could have something to do with her anger problems. She would often wake up angry and remain that way for the rest of the day.
The day came for when the holidays began. Heather had dreaded this day since Dumbledore advised her to stay at Hogwarts for safety reasons. It was very hard for her to stand on the station platform waving goodbye to Ron and Hermione as they left on the Hogwarts Express. She knew that they would they would have a wonderful Christmas with their families but it still upset her to think that she couldn’t join them.
Unfortunately she didn’t have a family and she was to spend Christmas alone for the very first time. As Heather watched the train fade away into the distance, she stood in her uniform freezing, and shaking. She had to get back inside castle. The minute she walked in through the main entrance, the school immediately felt like a ghost castle, literally. Peeves flew out of a suit of armour wailing and laughing manically.
‘’Potter is a girly girl! Potter is a girly girl! Potter is a girly girl! Potter is a girly girl! Potter is a girly girl!’’ he chanted manically.
Heather just ignored him as she didn’t take Peeves very seriously nor did many. The corridors were dead empty, not a soul wandered them. She felt so alone. Dumbledore was gone for the day so she couldn’t go see him and the only students that remained were the ones in the hospital wing. She walked back to the common room and sat in front of the fire. She stared at the ceiling, thinking deeply about many things which eventually led to her parents. She wondered what they would think of her right now. Would they be appalled or proud and accepting? She shut her eyes tight and took a deep relaxing breath. She felt the weight of the world falling off of her shoulders as she relaxed for at least an hour until she dozed off into a dreamy sleep.
The Emerald Witch walked towards her carrying a wand in her left hand. This time she was in full form, looking stunning yet dangerous.
‘’Come to me Harry, come to me and I will make you live!’’ she said coldly.
‘’No!’’ cried Heather. ‘’I’ll never give in!’’
Emerald screeched so loud that it could break a pain of glass. She ran towards Heather producing a flash of green light.
Heather awoke, breathing erratically with panic. She clenched her chest feeling her heart beat pounding uncontrollably. It took her a moment to remember where she was. She calmed down. She sat up and her eye was caught by her reflection in a tea tray. She ran over to look at herself and to her shock her hair was completely bright white blonde!
‘’Oh my — what - what is going on —, ‘’ she stammered as she grabbed her hair from each side.
She ran upstairs to the girl’s dormitory and into the bathroom to look at her reflection. Her hands covered her mouth in shock as she looked at her hair in the hand mirror. It was longer, softer, blonder and her eyes were even greener. She didn’t know whether this was a good thing or not but she looked a bit like the phantom that cursed her. It most certainly wasn’t a good thing. She began to panic as she looked around the tiny bathroom searching for something but she didn’t know what. She walked back and over repeating, ‘’what is happening to me?’’ gripping her hair tightly. She noticed that her body was even curvier and more feminine.
But then the worst thing happened as she looked down to see that her clothes were different. It was a Hogwarts uniform but the colours on the neck line were green and silver. She felt like screaming aloud as she looked at the Gryffindor lion on the crest change into a sliver serpent with the title ‘’SLYTHERIN’’ embossed in silver letters under the crest.
She looked up at her reflection again, her jaw hanging with shock and disbelief.
‘’No!’’ she gasped. Written by Lily Florette © All characters and settings are the property of J.K. Rowling © Don't forget to post your thoughts and comments!
"You are in danger, Harry Potter, but from yourself."
Confined inside the Slytherin dungeons, curled up on the black leather couch, dressed in a green and silver coloured uniform was Heather Potter, now a Slytherin, apparently. It was the worst possible thing that the curse of the Emerald Witch could have done to her. To become a member of the house she had resented for so many years was not only sickening but it upset her greatly. She felt as if she was betraying Gryffindor and couldn't bare the thought of everyone seeing her once Hogwarts started a new term after the Christmas holidays.
She immediately went to see Dumbledore after her uniform had changed, but he was no where to be found. Most of the teachers were gone for the holidays except for the few who had to keep watch on the school. However, it was unusual for Dumbledore to leave.
Professor McGonagall found poor Heather sitting in the window sill on the fourth floor, crying. She took her into her office and comforted her. It was awkward for McGonagall to see the great Harry Potter, the boy who lived, cry in front of her. But she knew that the curse would soon take a turn for the worst seeing as she had suddenly changed into a Slytherin.
Heather gathered her thoughts and soon realised knew that something serious was wrong with her. McGonagall's face said it all. No student in the history of Hogwarts had ever changed over to another house in the middle of their school career.
"Don't cry Potter-" said McGonagall concernedly, "- as soon as Professor Dumbledore returns we can see what caused this."
"What will I do? Where will I stay?" whimpered Heather.
"Well you can try the Gryffindor common room but it is unlikely that you will get by seeing as you —”
Heather stood up quickly and acknowledged McGonagall before swinging her new blonde hair around to make way for the door. As she touched the handle McGonagall spoke after her. Heather froze.
"- I'm sorry that this had to happen to you Potter, of all the people in our world."
Heather sniffed as tears began to well in her eyes yet again. She opened the door and slammed it behind her. As she strutted angrily down the corridor she looked down at her new uniform. She felt sick to be wearing the Slytherin colours so she threw her grey and green tank top off. She also tugged violently at the tie and threw it on the floor. No longer wearing the Slytherin colours, Heather approached the fat lady and uttered the password clearly.
"Sorry, but you belong to the Slytherin house therefore you cannot pass young lady!" said the Fat Lady sternly.
"No it's me, Heather! Heather Potter!" she said moving closer to the portrait.
"I don't care who you are, you clearly belong to Slytherin house so run along!" she said waving Heather away.
"No, no you don't understand it's me, Harry Potter!" she said lifting up her fringe.
The fat lady squinted to search for any scar trace but there was nothing.
"I'm sorry but if you were Harry Potter, you would have a scar, right there!" said the fat lady, pointing at Heather’s forehead.
"What do you mean —" said Heather dumbfounded.
The fat lady's face shrivelled into a threatening sneer to "go away". Heather turned around, her face gaping as her jaw hung down. Her scar was gone? That was the symbol of her old self, it made her who she was, and it was her only small trait left. She walked slowly and stiffly through the corridors, her head hanging low with shock. She walked into the girl's lavatory and splashed her face with water. She turned off the taps and looked up at her reflection. She looked as white as a ghost along with her ghostly blonde hair. She was truly transforming into a Slytherin school girl and she didn't like it one bit. She pulled up her fringe to see that her forehead was bare, no lightening bolt scar, the scar that supposedly could not be removed, gone.
"...no!" she whispered, "No, no, NO!" she bellowed. She began to feel so frustrated that she painfully punched the mirror, causing it to crack and split in two. She bent over the sink breathing heavily as her cheeks streamed tears. At this point she was sick of crying. She couldn't help it, she just felt so emotional.
"Don't cry -” whispered a cold female voice.
Heather quickly drew her wand, looking around herself for signs of life, startled and afraid.
"Who said that?" she bellowed.
She pointed her wand at each corner of the bathroom, panting heavily. Her mind was racing, pulsing and felt quite full. She stared into a dark corner, waiting for something to leap out at her.
"Revelio!" she whispered softly.
Nothing appeared to be in the room. She came to the quick conclusion that she may have imagined it.
"Don't cry Heather Potter, for tears will do you no good, soon you will be a stronger witch," said the voice.
Heather looked at every angle of the room.
"Where are you?!" she screeched. "Show yourself!"
"In your head Heather, in your mind —, ‘’ said the voice in a cold calm whisper, ‘’ — our mind!’’
Heather gulped and licked her lips to contain herself from panicking. She straightened her skirt and rolled up her blouse sleeves.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"My name is Alys," she said softly.
Heather turned and looked at the door, hoping to see somebody there, but there was no one, not a soul in sight.
"A-Are you the Emerald Witch?" asked Heather.
"No,’’ laughed the voice. ‘’We are both the Emerald Witch!’’
Heathers mind stopped pounding and the voice of Alys the Emerald Witch vanished. She stood in silence, taking in everything that she had just heard. The dripping of water echoed throughout the girl's lavatory creating a quite, eerie atmosphere. Heather turned and looked into the cracked mirror. "We are both the Emerald Witch". What did that mean? Heather began to feel disturbed knowing that something, someone was in her mind, speaking to her and reading her thoughts. She left the bathroom, dumbfounded by what had just happened. She needed to sit down and think straight. She was stunned and overwhelmed.
Heather was given the password to the Slytherin dungeons, her new dormitory, by the bloody baron who was now approachable for Slytherin information. She slowly walked down the dark, dusty steps into the large square common room. It was much darker and gloomier than the Gryffindor's bright, warm atmospheric common room. Yet it looked grander, with large pillars at each corner, draped with the Slytherin crest proudly displaying the houses cunning might. Like the Gryffindor common room, it had a large fire place with black leather couches around a coffee table. She took in the room by taking a deep breath and exhaling through her nose. She sat on the couch and crossed her legs. She burst out in tears into her hands, crying her eyes out because of her situation. First she was transformed into a girl and now she was something even worse, a Slytherin schoolgirl.
*
The sun rose over the tall green mountains as night and day collided. The sky was painted with navy, purple, reds and oranges as dawn broke the frosty cold land. Heather arose from bed as the sun came up. She yawned as she changed into her casual wear, Jeans, shirt, jumper and a pair of slip on shoes. She then went to the bathroom to wash her face. Looking in the mirror she noticed that she was starting to look more like the phantom that cursed her. She quickly brushed it away, feeling that if she got upset she wouldn't be able to concentrate on her day in library, researching the Emerald Witch, desperately seeking out new information. But she now had a name, Alys, a lead, finally. Heather kept reciting the words, "We are both the Emerald Witch!" under her breath trying to find meaning but she could only come to one conclusion, that she was possessed by inner darkness, just as Sirius and Dumbledore had predicted. She now knew this was the reason why Dumbledore kept her in school for the holidays, to monitor her.
Heather walked down the ghostly silent corridors as rays of sun shine glazed through the stained glass creating colourful rays of light in the halls as she walked by. She had never seen the school so quite yet so peaceful. Heather took the moving stairs up to the third floor. There she walked into the library where she met Madam Irma Pince who was wheeling a trolley filled with books.
"Some just can't leave this spectacular school!" she smiled warmly.
Heather forced a crooked smile as she walked by her. She made her way into the depths of the towering cases filled with thousands upon thousands of books, filled with magical information dating throughout all history. She began to browse desperately. Even though she and Hermione failed to find more information on the Emerald Witch in the library weeks before, even in the restricted section, she still held on to hope that there had to be something. She flicked through dozens of books and indexes, searching for something to go on. She looked for the name Alys in books on myths, legends, religions, beliefs and folklore but all to no prevail. She picked some random books and carried them out into the study area.
"A bit of light reading I see?" said Madam Pince as Heather plonked the books onto a desk.
"It's actually just a bit of research," said Heather, not really in the mood for chatting.
"Oh, well anything I can help you with?" she asked.
Heather froze and looked into Madam Pince's face.
"Yes actually, w-what do you know about the Emerald Witch?" asked Heather politely.
"The Emerald Witch, that rings a bell?’’ said Pince, raising her eyebrows. ‘’Have you tried looking in magical myths and folklore?" she asked.
"Yes I've checked everything Madam, but I have not found anything!" said Heather beginning to feel frustrated.
There was a brief moment of silence as Heather sat down on the wooden chair. She aggressively opened the top book of the pile and began to read. She could still feel Pince standing beside her, staring.
"Well if you like I can share what I know of Emerald?" said Pince.
Heather stopped reading and looked at Pince. Her feelings of frustration were replaced with full attention and curiosity. She nodded her head intently.
"Well the legend goes that the Emerald Witch was a powerful sorceress that lived, oh, ages before the founders of this school were even born. She was beautiful, cunning and deceiving towards Wizards alike but behind her beauty was a heart so cruel, cold and wretched that to seep into it would cause death itself - ’’ said Pince, rather enjoying the story. She continued to speak. ‘’- according to legend, it is believed that she drew her power from an emerald amulet that she wore around her neck constantly, thus she earned the title of the Emerald Witch —"
Heather cut across her, "— sorry but where is the amulet now?" she asked anxiously.
"It's nowhere because it doesn't exist, no such amulet has ever been found!" said Pince sternly.
Heathers heart sunk with disappointment as she hadn't learned anything new. Everyone seemed to only know the same old legend story. She already knew of the amulet as Sirius had already told her before. However she did learn that the amulet was the source of her power. Where was it? Was it destroyed? Could it still be out there? Did she even want to find it?
"Do you know anything else?" asked Heather.
"I'm afraid not but rumour has it that Harry — Hea — Harry Potter or whatever they call her now was cursed by Emerald herself but personally I think that's a load of nonsense!" said Pince.
Heather quickly turned back to her research, completely ignoring Madam Pince. She didn't even recognise Heather. Pince just raised her eyebrows confusedly and walked off pushing her trolley humming softly. Heather was left staring into the book filled with nothing. She didn't even know why she was bothering as the book obviously had nothing about the Emerald Witch within its pages. She wished that Hermione was with her, she felt that she didn't have the strength to search on her own. She kept reviewing everything about what she knew in her head. She was cursed by the phantom and transformed into a girl for some unknown reason.
"Why me?" she asked herself.
She knew herself that there was always a reason behind everything that had ever happened to her in her life but then again, it could be random for once. If she was to get to the bottom of this impossible mystery, she concluded that she would have to find the amulet and destroy it. But such an artefact, lost to the ages, would be impossible to find.
Dumbledore and Sirius explained that something was inside her, something dark and this was now obvious as she was hearing voices plus she also changed into a Slytherin and little to her knowledge she was rapidly becoming one not only in appearance but in personality too. As she studied, these same thoughts flowed in and out of her mind, Emerald, the amulet and her own impossible situation. She also couldn't help but constantly think about everyone's reaction when they see the great Harry Potter, not only as a girl, but as a Slytherin girl. What would Ron and Hermione think? She presumed that her life would pretty much be over.
She stayed in the library for most of the day, not eating nor leaving her desk. But she, of course found nothing. At this point she felt that she would have to let the curse take over but she wasn't there yet, not yet. Suddenly the uncomfortable, full feeling returned as her head began to pound with pain. The cold whispery voice of Alys returned.
"Study all you like Heather but your soul will always belong to me!" she said coldly.
She shut the book tearfully with a feeling of "giving up" as Alys broke her down. She then stood up, sliding the chair noisily against the ground and clenching a small pile of books to her chest. She then left the library and made her way back to the empty Slytherin dungeons, feeling defeated.
Meanwhile in the astronomy tower a meeting was taking place between Professor McGonagall, Snape and Dumbledore himself. Professor Snape stood stiffly with his arms crossed in a fixed posture with his usual pale, lifeless face as he sat in front of the Headmasters desk. Professor McGonagall sat opposite Snape looking sad and concerned. Dumbledore sat behind his desk dressed in purple sparkling robes with his long white beard tied, his half moon spectacles perched upon his crooked nose. He was in deep thought.
"What are we going to do Albus? I mean, we can't just let Potter become something that he's not!" said McGonagall.
There was silence in the room as Dumbledore stroked his beard gently.
"I agree Minerva, but in this current time I think its wise to consider that the only way we can keep up with this matter is to do nothing -, " said Dumbledore, ‘’ — for now.’’
"Do nothing?!" said McGonagall, appalled by Dumbledore's shocking words. "After all you've seen that boy go through in his short life, and now when he needs you the most, you're going to do nothing?"
"I too agree with the headmaster, it would, perhaps, be most wise to let events, unfold for themselves," said Snape.
Dumbledore nodded. "Professor Snape, seeing as Ms. Potter is now part of your house, my advice would be that you take severe caution and keep a very close watch on her."
Snape's lip curled with discomfort and his ink black eyes flickered, as he obviously did not take well to Dumbledore's mission. "Very well," he said coldly.
McGonagall sat silently knowing that she had been beaten. She was very uncomfortable with Dumbledore's plan. Snape acknowledged both McGonagall and Dumbledore before leaving the office. As the door shut behind him McGonagall and Dumbledore sat in a deafening silence, looking at each other.
"Albus, I hope you know that I care for Potter as much as you do - " said McGonagall seriously.
Dumbledore nodded.
‘’ — but I do hope you know what you’re doing!’’ finished McGonagall.
"When have I wronged you before Minerva, trust me," said Dumbledore warmly. "I foresee that Heather will come to me once the curse has taken complete hold and then — then she will be free."
McGonagall still wasn't convinced as a look of uncertainty dawned upon her face. She stood up and looked at Dumbledore straight in the eyes. She sniffed stiffly before turning for the door. As the door slammed, Dumbledore joined his hands In a prayer like stance and hummed sorrowfully.
*
For the next week Heather did nothing but bask in a pool of sorrow and fear, all alone in the Slytherin dungeons with no one to comfort her. She felt sorrowful because she knew that nothing could be done. She felt fearful because she didn't know who she was anymore. Alys continued to invade her mind, producing nightmarish dreams of villages burning under green fire, people being brutally murdered and images of Emerald herself screaming manically. She only left the dungeon once a day to eat dinner in the empty great hall. Ron had written to her but she threw the envelope aside, left unopened. She constantly felt angry, bitterness and rage towards her surroundings. Her appearance had also altered as her blonde hair was now almost white, her face thinned down to sharp cheek bones and she no longer had to wear glasses, her vision was crystal clear. Most of these changes occurred over night but they still frightened Heather as she watched herself become more and more like the phantom that cursed her. Snape started watch Heather’s every move like a hawk, often following her on her way back from the library or the great hall but nothing too major as she spent her entire time in the dungeons.
Hogwarts was literally white with snow as the clock tower chimed, ringing across the dark night mountains. Snow immediately began to fall again as Christmas day commenced. Heather sat curled up on the dungeon couch dressed in skinny jeans and a hoody. She looked at the clock and she confirmed that it was Christmas day and for the first time in weeks she finally had feelings that weren't depression, angst or rage, feelings of loneliness and neglect overcame her. She felt that she should be with Ron and Hermione but her curse restricts her from doing so. She walked over to the window sill and picked up the unopened letter that Ron had written to her.
Dear Heather,
How are you keeping? Hope you are having good holidays. I'm sorry you couldn't join us in the burrow for Christmas. Mum is sad that your not here, everyone is, but I guess Dumbledore knows what he's doing keeping you cooped up in the school. My dad personally thinks it's a mad idea. I'm not sure what else to say but I'll see you again after the holidays. Hang in there mate we are all with you!
Ron.
The letter felt like a blessing, a heart warming gesture that made Heather remember that she had friends. She clenched the letter to her chest before grabbing a quill when suddenly she was distracted by a noise. It was coming from the girl's dormitory. It was low, buzzing and eerie. She left the quill and letter down on the coffee table. She drew her wand as she slowly walked into the girl's dorm. She could see a bright green light around the corner. She moved in slowly breathing rapidly, her chest pumping in and out. She looked into the bedroom when suddenly a flash of green light blinded her. For a moment Heather thought that she had died. A memory from her childhood flashed before her eyes back to when she was just a baby boy.
"Noooo!" cried Lilly. "Take me!"
She was quickly brought back to reality, waking up on the hard wooden floor lying on her back. She was stunned, trembling, and confused by what had just happened. Her head was pounding as she sat up. It took her a few moments to get to her feet but when she did her eyes were immediately drawn to her bed where an emerald diamond amulet lay glowing in its awe. Heather's jaw dropped with shock as she slowly approached the beautiful amulet that supposedly didn't exist.
"Yessss!’’ hissed Alys. ‘’Finally!’’
Heather didn't dare touch it as she knew it was an extremely dark artefact. She immediately thought of fetching Dumbledore but something stopped her. It was the voice in her head. She knelt down at the bed and looked at the amulet closely. It was incredibly detailed with amazing silver ridges and abstract designs surrounded the eight sided diamond elegantly. How did it get there? Who sent it? Was it real? Heather didn't care, it had to be destroyed. Pince claimed that the amulet was the source of Emerald's power so it would surely kill the demon within her. She stood up and paced up and down the room nervously, never taking her eye off the amulet. She picked up her wand from the ground.
"You are thinking of destroying it, aren't you?" whispered Alys.
"I'll make my own decisions, thank you," muttered Heather.
She stopped pacing and stood at the foot of her bed, staring at the glowing amulet. She raised her wand shakily and pointed it at the emerald diamond.
"This is it, this is where it all ends, finally," thought Heather.
Alys laughed maliciously. "You won't be able to, your too weak!"
Heather's arm shook erratically as Alys pulled her mind away from the prospect of Emeralds destruction. Heather grunted as she tried to fight it but it was much too hard, Alys now had most of the control over her mind. Suddenly the amulet flew at Heathers neck fastening itself around her and before she could react she felt something penetrate her entire body. The minute the cold emerald diamond hit her skin, a feeling of dreadful depression came over her, pulsing through her body, making her face droop with sadness. The mixed feelings of rage and disgust of the world around her returned. Alys cackled screeching, "YES!" Heather looked down and tried to take off the amulet but she couldn't. Her hand shook as she tried to take it off, it was impossible, something was stopping her. She grunted as she released her hand from the powerful force of the amulet. She felt frustrated, hateful yet happy at the same time. Happy that soon she and Emerald would be one. She was completely possessed. Emerald had her now.
*
One week later. The long, scarlet red, train huffed and puffed rapidly through the tall green Scottish mountains. The weather was fearsome, deadly and loud as thunder and lightening cracked the sky in large blue streaks through the black stormy clouds. Cold showers of rain gushed through the strong winds as they dripped down the windows of each carriage. The Hogwarts Express used every bit of its steam power to push its way through the worst storm experienced by Britain in fifty years. On the train were students making there way back to school after the long two week Christmas holiday. They were all tired, cold and hungry as they waited in patience for the journey to end. Ron, Hermione, and Neville sat in a compartment alone, as they talked about their friend Heather Potter.
"So do you think it's true? I mean, that Heather is now in the Slytherin house?" said Ron.
"She can't be, she's more Gryffindor than anything!" said Neville.
"Yes, but a curse as dark and mysterious as hers, it could do anything to her! If it can permanently change ones gender, then it most certainly can with ones school house!" said Hermione.
Ron looked at Hermione who had a deep expression of worry on her face. She tended to breathe in and out when she was stressed. She didn't want to accept that her best friend could possibly be in Slytherin, the enemy of Gryffindor for many ages. Ron just blocked everything out, he didn't believe it, and he didn't want to believe it. Neville just hung his head, disappointment and sad.
"But that's never happened before in all of Hogwarts history!" said Ron.
"Well if she has changed over to Slytherin, can't the school just switch her back, I mean, the sorting hat, it put her — er him in Gryffindor in first year and that cannot possibly be reversed can it?" said Neville.
The three looked at each other. They each had many questions they would like to be answered but they just had to wait.
"Can it?" repeated Neville.
"We don't know mate, all we can do now is sit it out and wait to see if it's true," said Ron.
Heather was in fact the talking point of most students on the train as the rumour spread. Low mumblings and whispers of gossip sounded from the compartments, The Daily Prophet filling their heads with reports based on pure rumours. But of course, the Prophet was telling the ‘guessed’ truth, Heather Potter had become a Slytherin.
"Did you hear? Heather Potter is now a Slytherin?"
"Why do you keep calling her Heather you twit? It's Harry!"
"It's not possible? You think that Dumbledore would be able to do something?"
"I've heard that Dumbledore is searching for a something, to tackle the curse!"
"Well what makes Heather so special?"
"She was always Dumbledore's poster boy, if it was any other student, he would do nothing!"
"Surely Heather won't stand for being a Slytherin!"
It wasn't long before the news reached Malfoy who was sitting in a compartment with his cronies Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson, looking rather smug as he looked out the window. The expression he wore gave him an air of false superiority and elegance.
"It's an absolute disgrace!" said Malfoy disgustedly. "If what I have heard is true, Potter has indeed joined our house! This school has gone to the dogs; making a complete mockery of what us Slytherin's stand for by — by letting a Gryffindor join our house! It’s outrageous!"
"It's obviously got something to do with that 'curse' it has," said Pansy, her lip curling as if she was describing a disgusting creature.
"Yes, well I can assure you that my father will say a thing or two to Dumbledore about this. He will do everything in his power to put Potter back where he belongs!" said Malfoy.
The train chugged along over a massive stone aqueduct bridge as rain bucketed down over the beautiful landscape. Ron, Hermione and Neville sat in silence as they waited for the long journey to end. It wasn't long before everybody changed into their uniforms and robes in preparation for their arrival at Hogsmeade station. Every student was transported to the castle by the Thestral pulled carriages through the pouring rain. Their luggage was left in their dormitories to collect later. The Great Hall was soon flooding with students waiting for their start of term banquet. Professor Dumbledore stood up and tapped his glass with his wand amplifying the ringing sound across the massive hall, catching the attention of every student.
"Have you seen Heather?" whispered Ron in Hermione's ear. It took her a moment to reply before softly uttering "no" under her breath.
"Your attention please, now you are all welcome back to a new term here at Hogwarts. First I'd like to remind you all —,"
Before the Headmaster could continue, he was interrupted by the loud crashing sound of the tall doors opening at the end of the hall. Heather burst through, dressed in full Slytherin uniform, wearing a devious smirk on her face. Every student in the hall turned to the doors to see what the noise was, immediately breaking out in low chatter.
‘’Who is that?’’
‘’No, it couldn’t be!’’
‘’Who does that tramp think she is?!’’
‘’Must be a new student!’’
‘’That couldn’t be — no it can’t be!’’
‘’I think that’s Potter!’’
Dumbledore’s face dropped, disheartened to see the result of Heather’s dramatic transformation. Ron looked as if he was going to vomit his face was so pale. The silent hall started to fill with mumbling, whispering and talk as Heather casually took her seat at the Slytherin table. Dumbledore's face dropped into a slow sad expression. Heather casually walked down the aisle as if everything was normal, taking her seat at the Slytherin table.
"What do you think you're doing?" bellowed Ron, who was now standing up with his fists clenched.
‘’Ron, sit down!’’ whispered Hermione.
Heather looked over her shoulder to see who shouted.
‘’What — are you talking to me Weasley?’’ she asked confusedly.
Ron turned a sickly pale as his best friend addressed him by his surname as if he were some acquaintance or even less. The hall was in complete silence, everyone looking at Ron. Hermione was tugging at his sleeve, ordering him to sit down.
"Sit down Weasley!" ordered McGonagall.
Ron looked around the hall, then at Heather who was directing the dirtiest sneer straight into his eyes. He slowly sat down, not taking his eye off of Heather. She turned her back to him, facing the rest of the Slytherin’s who were for once lost for words.
Dumbledore searched for words, the rest of the teachers looking at him, begging for him to break the heavy silence in the hall. He opened his lips and continued the speech, the great hall, somewhat returning to normal. Although half of the room was not listening as their eyes were drawn to Heather.
Malfoy couldn't keep his eyes off of her. His eyes were fixed on her face, not glaring but staring. He wore a disturbing expression of lust as his mouth formed into a thin smile.
"I must have her," he said to Crabbe under his breath, not taking his eye off of Heather.
"What?" said Crabbe in a dopey tone of voice.
"Heather, I don't care if she used to be Saint Harry Potter, look at her!" said Malfoy.
"What's wrong with you Malfoy? Yer acting weird?" said Crabbe, arching his brow concernedly.
Malfoy broke his stare to look at Crabbe straight in the face.
"What are you trying to say?" snapped Malfoy with a threatening tone.
"N-Nothing — I - I mean — s-she does look quite err pretty?" stuttered Crabbe.
Malfoy turned back to staring at Heather as she looked at her pointed nails, bored and uninterested. He was attracted to her features. Her long blonde hair, her beautiful clear white skin, her large sparkling eyes and elegant frame left no trace of Harry whatsoever in terms of physicality. She looked the part of a pretty Slytherin school girl and Malfoy loved it.
"Pretty isn't the word Crabbe, gorgeous is what I would call her!" he smiled menacingly. "I must have her!"
As soon as the student’s stomachs were full, many began to scatter across the castle to make their way to their dormitories to go to bed. Heather had no desire to eat at all, instead sitting in silence by herself at the Slytherin table, looking satisfied with her dramatic entrance. She was one of the first to leave the banquet. Ron watched her, following her as she left the great hall. Hermione tagged along, blissfully unaware of where Ron was going.
They walked together down the corridor, Ron walking faster than Hermione as he turned the opposite direction from the Gryffindor common room.
‘’Where are you going?’’ asked Hermione.
Ron didn’t say anything, his ears turning pink with anger as he approached Heather from behind.
‘’No Ron!’’ whispered Hermione.
But it was too late. He tapped Heather on the shoulder and she stopped, turning to see who it was.
"Have you completely lost it mate?" said Ron, looking as if he were about to burst.
Hermione grabbed Ron by the arm, attempting to pull him away from the inevitable fight.
"Come on Ron! Let’s go. It is part of the curse," said Hermione tearfully through gritted teeth. ‘’There’s nothing we can do right now!’’
"NO!" bellowed Ron. "I want to know why our best friend has now turned over!"
‘’Turned over to what?!’’ said Heather, her face confused and angry.
‘’To Slytherin of course you prat!’’ said Ron.
Heather strained to think, as if she was experiencing a severe case of déjá vu. She stepped back, looking at her two friends as tears began to form in her eyes.
"You think I want this don’t you?" said Heather, showing a glimmer of her true self. ‘’I didn’t ask for this to happen Ron!’’
"No mate, there's more to it if you ask me!" said Ron, his voice rough and coarse.
"Forget the mudblood and the spare!" hissed Alys, pulling Heather's mind back under her possession.
"Let’s GO Ron! She doesn't want to talk to us!" cried Hermione.
"T-That's not true!" said Heather, feeling hurt by Hermione's comment.
"FORGET THEM!" screeched Alys, fighting for Heather’s control once again.
"I thought you were better than this!" snarled Ron.
"RON! Don't say that!" cried Hermione.
Heather stepped back a few more steps, beginning to feel like a young child watching her parents fight. She looked at both her friends fight with each other, flashes of Alys screaming at her before her eyes. She shook her head, trying to shake off the dark possession. They were beginning to attract a lot of attention as students began to listen in on the row.
"I have been trying my best to get through this and all you can do is be selfish about it!" screamed Heather.
"Stop this now! The both of you!" cried Hermione.
‘’Leave them!’’ hissed Alys.
Heather moved further away, green light flashing before her eyes. She felt as if she was in the middle of a horrible triangle of rage as three different people wanted something different from her.
‘’What is it with you?!’’ roared Ron.
Heather rapidly drew her wand and fired a spell at Ron without uttering a word, sending him hurtling across the air like an old ragdoll and slamming against the stone ground of the corridor. By now they had attracted attention from passing students.
Heather panted heavily, feeling as if cold water had been poured over her boiling rage. Hermione looked at her with shock and tearful disappointment. Ron groaned as he picked himself up, scurrying for his wand on the dusty floor. He drew his wand and fired a spell at Heather, instead hitting the corner of the wall sending exploding stone of debris falling to the floor.
Heather pushed her way by Hermione who tried to stop her by grabbing her arm.
‘’Let go of me you filthy mudblood!’’ grunted Heather.
Hermione instantly let go, a dagger stabbing her straight through her heart, crushing the powerful friendship that she believed would never end.
Ron continued to fire spells at Heather, she blocking them all, cackling manically as she walked down the corridor, approaching him closer by the second. Ron nearly fell over each time he blocked a spell, feeling the crushing force of Heather’s new power.
‘’You had enough yet?!’’ she bellowed.
‘’Have YOU had enough yet?!’’ repeated Ron fiercely.
Then, Heather gave the final blow, sending a powerful spell hurtling towards Ron, hitting him straight in the chest. He collapsed to the ground, shaking erratically. The students in the corridor all ran to his body, gathering around and panicking.
‘’Somebody get a teacher!’’ yelled a fourth year Hufflepuff girl.
Heather stood outside the circle, her chest pumping in and out as the realisation of what she had just done dawned upon her. She walked over to the crowd, pushing her way through to see Ron, writhing on the floor, his eyes rolled back in his head and his foam dripping from his mouth.
Heather’s eyes began to water as everyone looked at her, afraid and disgusted at what she had just done. Somebody pushed by her, a man dressed in all black clothing. He knelt down by Ron’s side and turned to look at Heather. Professor Snape’s face was paler than ever, his expression shocked with disbelief.
Heather turned and ran away down the hall, the water in her eyes streaming back her cold cheeks. The amulet hidden beneath her blouse began to glow as it increased its possession over her mind. Her emotional feelings and tears quickly transformed into bitterness and rage. She felt as if she hated everyone who cared for her, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore. These feelings were not her own, they were Alys' the Emerald Witch's.
***
Ron was rushed to the hospital wing that day. Madam Pomfrey was unable to explain what the spell had done to his body but Snape had a certain expertise in curing dark curses so he healed Ron with all his knowledge. Hermione waited by Ron’s bedside all night holding his hand, her eyes red and puffy from excessive crying. It was unsure when he would wake up but he was definitely going to live.
Heather couldn’t be found anywhere. She had vanished and no one was looking for her.
Professor Dumbledore and Snape stood on the balcony at the very top of the astronomy tower, looking over the grounds.
‘’Ms. Potter’s curse on the Weasley boy was rather — elite - an ancient curse sorcered only by the most advanced of magic-kind, impressive,’’ said Snape.
‘’Not impressive, worrying,’’ said Dumbledore. ‘’Such power did not come from Heather’s wand Severus, but from another source within.’’
‘’Mr. Weasley is very lucky to be alive, a poisonous curse like that could -,’’
‘’ — possibly harm other students,’’ said Dumbledore.
The sky began to darken as stars began to show amongst the orange clouds. The wind picked up on a cold chill as the two wizards in the balcony stood in silence, looking out across the mountains.
‘’This is beyond anything I could have imagined Severus,’’ said Dumbledore.
Snape turned to Dumbledore.
‘’Albus, there is still time,’’ he said reassuringly.
‘’Once the curse has taken near complete hold, Harry will come to me,’’ said Dumbledore.
‘’But how can you be sure -,’’
‘’I know he will Severus, trust me,’’ nodded Dumbledore.
‘’Don’t you think we’re hanging on the weakest of all possibilities Albus,’’ said Snape, raising his voice slightly. ‘’I mean how can you be sure that there will be any left of Potter once he comes for you?’’
‘’Don’t tell me you have come to care for the boy Severus?’’ said Dumbledore.
Snape didn’t answer, instead turning his head back towards the view in front of him. Dumbledore hummed as he looked at Snape’s pale, lifeless face.
‘’So if what you foresee doesn’t go to plan and the curse of the Emerald Witch takes Potter’s mind and body entirely, the boy will -,’’
‘’ — die,’’ said Dumbledore. ‘’Yes, he will die.’’
Meanwhile, Heather sat at the top of the owlery tower, within the sill on the very ledge, crying and clenching the emerald amulet.
‘’Don’t you see what these people are doing to you?’’ whispered Alys. ‘’They are tearing you apart.’’
‘’I can’t I — I — I can’t do it,’’ whimpered Heather.
‘’I can make you stronger and if we work together I know that we can achieve many great things,’’ said Alys softly.
‘’I don’t want power,’’ said Heather, exhausted and fatigued from the strain on her head. ‘’Just let me go back to who I was. I just want to be Harry, just Harry Potter.
***
The next day everything in Hogwarts was back to normal, somewhat. Students dragged themselves out of bed and forced themselves into their uniforms as the new school term begun. The morning was dull, grey and depressing, the clouds filled with threatening rain.
Heather climbed out of bed and groaned. She had slept holding amulet all night long so tightly that the palm of her hand was engrained with the designs on the ridges. She sat on the edge of her bed while other girls got dressed. They didn't take much notice of her presence as Slytherin girls tended to be very snobby towards new girls even if they were pure bloods. However, she did hear whispers from them talking about her behind her back but she didn't care.
The Slytherin girl's dormitory didn't seem as bright and happy as Gryffindor’s, it was darker and it definitely seeped in a more melancholic atmosphere. Heather brushed her thin blonde hair until it was dead straight and then took off her night gown and put on a pair of black tights. She then slipped into her grey skirt. She then put on her new grey and emerald jumper with the same white blouse underneath and silver and green stripped tie.
Heather learned throughout the day that Ron was still in the hospital wing and hadn’t woken up yet. Hermione passed her once on the corridor, completely ignoring her as if she didn’t exist. But behind her refusal to speak with the one who called her a mudblood was a strong feeling of pain and betrayal despite the fact they knew in her heart that her best friend would never mean to hurt her or Ron.
All of Gryffindor House felt betrayed too, for her turning over to the rival house, Harry Potter, their most proud asset, now a sleazy Slytherin. It not only sickened them but it hurt them too. Heather didn't care though, she didn't care about anything. All she cared for was herself and her amulet, the amulet that pulled her deeper into its evil as she began to wear it more often. It possessed her.
"Switching over to another house? That's never happened in the history of Hogwarts!"
"I wonder why Dumbledore isn’t doing anything."
"I reckon the real Harry Potter is dead and all of this is a cover up to some conspiracy!’’
***
Malfoy's keen interest in Heather grew more obsessive over the next few weeks. He went to great lengths in order to have contact with her. He would follow her down the corridor, admiring her hair and behind, sleazily smiling to himself. One day he bumped into her in the corridor on purpose, just so he could help her gather her books in the hope of striking up a conversation. But Heather had no interest in Malfoy. She had absolutely no interest in boys for that matter.
"I must have her!" said Malfoy. "I must have Heather Potter!"
"Alright we get it okay? You don't have to keep saying it about a hundred times a day!" snapped Pansy who was obviously feeling the cold stab of jealousy.
"Have you actually spoken to her yet?" asked Goyle.
"No, no not yet but I've got a plan!" he said, smirking as he stared over at Heather who was eating her lunch alone. "Ever heard of love potions?"
Meanwhile over at the Gryffindor table, Ron, freshly back on his feet after hospital, was too staring at Heather. He looked so pale that it seemed as if his warm spirit was sucked right out of him. Hermione looked worse, her eyes red raw and sagged. Ron and Hermione spent all their time together but they didn't speak much about the curse because it was just too hurtful. Hermione noticed Ron looking at Heather. He turned his head to her and their eyes met.
"She's not acting the same," said Hermione softly, "We need to help her."
"Yeah, well she obviously doesn't want it Hermione," mumbled Ron moodily as he raised a sausage to his mouth. ‘’You seen what she did to me!’’
‘’Yes but that wasn’t Harry,’’ stated Hermione. ‘’It was unnatural as if somebody else was in control!’’
‘’You think I don’t know that Hermione?’’ said Ron, swallowing un-chewed food down painfully.
There was a moment of silence, the noise of cutlery scraping against plates sounded across the Great Hall. Hermione exhaled a deep breath, shakily rubbing her eyes.
"I know what you're going through Ronald but this upsets me too!" said Hermione shakily.
Ron immediately sensed her sadness.
"Awh Hermione," said Ron reaching across the table to touch her arm. "It will get better, I know we can't give up on Heather!"
"I t-thought you were giving up?" said Hermione, wiping her tears.
"Nah never, I was being stupid," said Ron.
"You're always stupid!" laughed Hermione.
Ron gave a weary chuckled, deciding not to get offended.
"Since you’re all emotional, I'll let you off with that one!" smiled Ron.
Later that evening, Heather sat at the very top of the owl tower, situated on a large stone hill, far away from the castle. It was a cold, grey evening as a storm threatened to reign over the land. She sat on the window sill of the highest point of the tower, scrunched up in a ball, shivering with the cold. The wind whistled as it blew her blonde hair over her face. Owls squawked and squeaked as they glided about the building, circling the roof and flying through the windows and occasionally depositing the odd dropping. Heather, dressed in uniform, was staring at the emerald amulet as it produced a bright green light.
‘’It will soon be time,’’ whispered Alys. ‘’Our return is imminent, we must mark it properly.’’
‘’What do you have in mind?’’ asked Heather, now completely under the influence of the curses possession.
It took a moment for Alys to reply.
‘’Times like these, this year, this age is very different from a thousand years ago -,’’ said Alys softly. ‘’, and back then magical civilisations were ruled through fear - it is important to take as much as you can, to become stronger and to have enough power to make magical folk quiver when they hear our name.’’
Heather listened to the voice in her head carefully, not liking her tone as she talked.
‘’Fear, fear is essential for claiming a civilisation to oneself and in order to bring about fear, one must destroy the person that everyone has their complete faith and trust in.’’
‘’Are you suggesting the ministry?’’ asked Heather.
‘’No, we’re not interested in political assassinations,’’ said Alys. ‘’I think you know who we must rid of Heather, just say the name!’’
Heather opened her mouth, ready to say the name. She knew who must die but she couldn’t say the word. It took her a few moments to form the syllables.
‘’Dumbledore,’’ she whispered softly.
‘’Yes,’’ hissed Alys.
Something clicked inside Heather as she said the name, something odd, as if there was a voice screaming from the back of her mind. It was Harry.
‘’I c-can’t kill Dumbledore,’’ whispered Heather, pulling out of the curses mind control.
‘’WE WILL,’’ snapped Alys fiercely.
‘’I won’t!’’ cried Heather, pulling the amulet off from around her neck.
She was about to throw the amulet out the window of the tower, but she couldn’t. She was holding it out, dangling from the tips of her fingers, wishing she could let go but she couldn’t. She was leaning out way too far, dust and rocks falling from the sill below her. She grunted, straining to fight the influence of the Alys’ control. She pulled herself back inside the tower, gasping for air as she held her breath. She immediately fastened the amulet around her neck. She felt afraid without it, but as soon as she put it back on, that dark moody feeling returned.
"I don't want to be part of this anymore!" she said to herself darkly.
"Oh but you don't have a choice!" whispered Alys. "Together we will kill the headmaster, and then we shall be one!"
"I miss my friends, I - I want to go back to Gryffindor!" cried Heather.
"No! They are worthless cowards and play no part in what we are going to achieve!" snapped Alys. ‘’Don’t fail us because of weakness. You don’t strike me as somebody who gives up easily Potter so do the job and we can be one!’’
"I can't, I can't —,” stammered Heather, tears streaming down her face. ‘’, — I just c-can’t do it!’’
There was silence as Heather buried her head in her arms, crying, trying to fight away the evil thoughts. She looked up, looking tough and angry.
‘’I WON’T DO IT!’’ she screamed at the top of her lungs.
For a moment, nothing happened and the full feeling was freed from her mind. She thought she had beaten The Emerald Curse. Suddenly, the amulet chain tightened and began to squeeze tightly on her throat. She tried to pull it off as it dug into her skin but it was much too strong. She trashed about the place, gasping for air, wrenching and choking.
"The old man must DIE!’’ screamed Alys.
"Arrrrrgh!’’ croaked Heather, pleading for Alys to stop.
She started to feel woozy and her vision began to blur. She stumbled backwards, and flipped over the window ledge, plummeting towards the earth. The world seemed to dissolve around her as she slipped into a slow deathful trance. She stared up at the stormy clouds as lightening flashed. She thought it would be the last thing she'd ever see. Everything seemed to be suspended in slow motion as if she were having some spiritual experience. The amulet loosened and her breath returned, yet, she knew she was dead.
Written by Lily Florette © All characters and settings are the property of J.K. Rowling © Don't forget to post your thoughts and comments!
For a moment, nothing happened and the full feeling was freed from her mind. She thought she had beaten The Emerald Curse. Suddenly, the amulet chain tightened and began to squeeze tightly on her throat. She tried to pull it off as it dug into her skin but it was much too strong. She trashed about the place, gasping for air, wrenching and choking.
"The old man must DIE!’’ screamed Alys.
"Arrrrrgh!’’ croaked Heather, pleading for Alys to stop.
She started to feel woozy and her vision began to blur. She stumbled backwards, and flipped over the window ledge, plummeting towards the earth. The world seemed to dissolve around her as she slipped into a slow deathful trance. She stared up at the stormy clouds as lightening flashed. She thought it would be the last thing she'd ever see. Everything seemed to be suspended in slow motion as if she were having some spiritual experience. The amulet loosened and her breath returned, yet, she knew she was dead.
Then, suddenly, the voice of a young man cried out allowed.
"Aresto Momentum!" roared the voice.
Heather stopped falling, only inches from the ground. She stared down at the ground, panting with relief as she floated. She was trembling all over, shaking after the near death experience. Her heart pounded as she was turned upwards to her feet but the minute her school shoes touched the ground, she collapsed under her frail, shaking legs. She looked up into the grey sky, breathing frantically as if she were hyperventilating. The amulet beneath her blouse was thumping like an extra heart, sending pulses of emotion around her body.
Somebody ran to her side and placed her head into their arms. Heather looked to see who it was. Her vision focused in to see Draco Malfoy, looking frightened and concerned. For a moment she thought she was dreaming or perhaps dead.
"Are you alright?" he asked, looking worried and a little over protective.
"Y-Yes, t-thank you," she stuttered confusedly.
She thought she was delirious. The mere thought of Malfoy helping her was mind boggling.
"Here," said Malfoy, taking a flask from underneath his jacket. He flicked open the cap and handed it to Heather.
"T-Thanks," she said as her lips touched flask tip.
She took a mouth full of water and handed the flask back to Malfoy. She couldn't believe how nice he was to her. He seemed like a totally different person and she wondered if it was a joke or some sort of a prank. He helped her to her feet and she brushed the dust off her skirt and jumper. She felt better all of a sudden.
"W-Why?" asked Heather, taking a step back from Malfoy.
"Why what?" said Malfoy, moving closer.
"Why did you save m-me," asked Heather, feeling ever so confused. ‘’You hate me!’’
"Let’s forget that you were ever Potter for a moment," he said.
Malfoy placed his hand on Heather’s back and moved her alongside, gesturing her to walk with him. She didn’t know whether to be disturbed by his strange, alluring behaviour.
"Is this some sort of a joke -," asked Heather, ‘’ - because if it is you can tell me now.’’
"NO!’’ he snapped.
Suddenly a slight look of panic swirled about within his eyes. He looked flustered, hot under the collar and a little uncomfortable. He cleared his throat, reinstating his forced, smug smile.
‘’You seemed to have finally come to your senses Heather,’’ he smiled. ‘’By joining Slytherin you have entered a house with a grand history of some of the greatest sorcerers of all time, a house of superiors, a house of perfection,’’ he passionately.
Heather wasn’t really paying much attention to Malfoy. Rather, she was lost within his piercing gaze, yet it made her nervous. She felt as if there were butterflies in her stomach, fluttering about and tickling her. She didn’t notice but her breathing became more notable as her eyes sunk with passion.
‘’What on earth is happening to me?’’ she thought.
As they walked over the wooden footbridge towards the castle, Heather’s strange, disturbing feelings accelerated. As Malfoy spoke she began to sigh and play with her hair, nodding and giggling uncontrollably. Her feelings of hate and loathe were rapidly coated with lust and passion. She quickly threw all of her hateful feelings of her nemeses out of her head, letting the strong power of sudden infatuation take over. It was an incredibly odd feeling, something she didn’t even comprehend.
They walked through the clock tower, Malfoy putting his arm out.
"Can I walk you back to the common room Heather?" he asked politely.
Something made her think, ‘’don’t do it!’’ whereas the greater part of her mind said, ‘’do it!’’. She couldn’t help it. She linked arms with Malfoy and stared dreamily into his face. Her mind was spinning. The dangerous and complex mixture of sudden love along with the dark thoughts of Emerald transformed her completely.
"Don't forget —, ‘’ hissed Alys, “- we will accomplish self-fulfilment!"
Heather twisted her neck in order to shake Alys out of her mind. She continued to walk down the corridors, arm in arm with Draco Malfoy. Passing students gazed at them both, not believing their eyes. Some people’s mouths dropped with shock and disbelief whereas other completely ignored them both, brushing them off as a normal couple.
"What are you staring at?" snapped Malfoy, pushing a gazing first year aside.
People whispered into each other’s ears as they cut through a large group of students. They walked around a corner, ignoring everyone, Malfoy looking quite pleased. To Heather, it was just she and Malfoy, nobody else. They swiftly walked around a corner, bumping into Ron and Hermione.
It was as if everything was suddenly suspended in slow-motion. Ron’s face dropped into a horrified state as he looked at the couple. Hermione stood back, her eyes welling tearfully as if she were just told about the death of a loved one.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?!" demanded Ron.
"Heather —," said Hermione softly, shaking her head with huge disappointment.
"Out of our way Weasel bee!" sneered Malfoy.
"No! We want to know what y-you are doing linking arms with this — this, it’s Malfoy, Heather! You both hate each other!" bellowed Ron.
Hermione stepped back again, leaning up against the wall, utterly speechless.
"She can hang out with whoever she wants you bloody idiot! You can't tell her what to do!" said Malfoy, wearing his signature sneer. "She's a Slytherin now, get out of our way!’’
"Heather —," squeaked Ron, turning to Heather in the hope of her backing him.
"I — I —," she stuttered, unable to find the words.
"Come on darling, we don't have time for these losers, the common room should be empty now so maybe we could eh - ," said Malfoy.
Malfoy pushed Ron out of the way, gently tugging Heather alongside him. She turned her head and looked over her shoulder to see Ron and Hermione, watch the person they hated the most drag their best friend away by the hand. It was as if she had died to them.
***
They are standing aligned in front of her, black mist around their ankles as they stood staring. Heather felt as if she were in court about to be sentenced by the ones she loved.
"You are nothing to us!" said Hermione in a cruel tone of voice.
"What chance would you have in killing the great Albus Dumbledore, you’re too weak!" said Ron coldly.
Then a figure rose out of the mist, forming into a grand, handsome man, Sirius Black.
‘’You’ve disappointed me Heather. You truly have,’’ said Sirius, refusing to make eye contact. ‘’I can’t imagine what poor James and Lily would think of you now.’’
The comments were too much for her to handle. She tried desperately to ignore them but it was hopeless. Rage got the better of her.
"NOOOOO!" she screamed.
She rapidly drew her wand and unleashed her rage upon her loved ones by firing a spell at each of them, one by one bursting into a pile of dust. She then fell to her knee's screeching unnaturally, her hands over her ears.
"Leave me alone!" she cried. ‘’Just go away!’’
Then the mist changed to emerald green and a massive figure rose out of the distant clouds. It was the Alys the Emerald Witch. She let out demonic groans of pain and horrific roars of anger as she rose. The wind accelerated, throwing Heather off of her feet, making it hard for her to breathe as the ground thundered ferociously.
"What has Dumbledore ever done for you?’’ said Emerald’s booming voice. ‘’He let me get to you. He let you become this, foolish old man!"
Heather refused to look at Emerald, instead staring at the dust piles that used to be her friends. Then, the particles began to move across the ground, sticking and joining together. She got up and kept her wand at the ready as the dust piles combined, becoming larger and larger as they built up to form an old man with a long white beard, Dumbledore himself.
‘’Sir,’’ whispered Heather, lowering her wand.
He walked towards her, expressionless and zombie-like.
‘’I have failed you Harry,’’ he said sadly. ‘’I have failed you.’’
‘’No, Sir you don’t underst -,’’
‘’I think I do Harry,’’ he said mournfully, ‘’Just look at what you have become, weak, feeble, and frail. What would your parents have thought?"
Something exploded inside Heather. She screamed, "AVADA KEDAVRA!", and a burst of green light ignited from the tip of her wand, sending her back to reality as the spell hit the headmaster straight in the chest.
She woke up, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily. It took her a few moments to realise where she was, the Slytherin girls dormitory. She looked down to see that the amulet was flashing. Her head fell back onto her pillow. She buried her face in her hands and breathed a worried sigh. She turned in her bed and held onto her amulet. It offered her comfort and soon, she fell asleep again.
‘’I will do as you ask Emerald,’’ she whispered tearfully as she gave in to defeat.
Heather’s eyes slowly flickered open. She gasped for air as if she was just pulled out from a deep lake. It was finally morning. The light shone through the curtains creating beautiful rays of sunshine and the room felt warm and welcoming for once. She slowly lifted her sore head and sat up in the bed. Her long blonde hair was a complete mess. She looked tired and worn. She yawned as she slowly slipped out of bed. Sitting on the edge, she looked around the dormitory to see that all of the other girls were still snoozing in there four-poster beds. She stood up and wobbled a bit, feeling woozy and light headed. She took the emerald amulet out from under her night dress and looked at it. For a brief moment she thought she had lost it. She gave a great sigh of relief and clenched the pendant to her chest.
It was Saturday morning, so she wasn’t required to wear her uniform today. She went to her trunk and looked for something to wear. Most of her clothes were still ‘’Harry’’ clothes. She frowned at her favourite pair of jeans, feeling unusually repulsed at the thought of wearing them. However, she put them on, followed by a grey t-shirt and black sneakers. She looked down at her body and felt quite silly. Her old favourite outfit didn’t suit her anymore. She then had a solution. She began to rack her brains for the spell Hermione used to transfigure her uniform. She then snapped her fingers as it came to her. She picked up her wand and said lowly, yet clearly the spell, ‘’Boutiqimai!’’
Her jeans immediately tightened against her skin and pulled themselves up over her thighs, and up to her waist, hugging her curves snugly and darkening in colour. Her grey t-shirt changed to a peach colour and formed a rounded collar around the neckline, the shirt split down the middle front and buttons appeared, fastening the newly formed blouse together, the short sleeves lengthened and tightened against her arms. The peach coloured blouse then tucked itself into her newly transfigured high waisted jeans and her old runners changed into a pair of cream slip on shoes.
‘’Phew!’’ she gasped.
Heather then brushed and tied her hair back into a pony tail and crept out of the dormitory quietly, trying not to wake anyone. The amulet remained fastened around her neck, hidden under her blouse from everyone’s view. She left the Slytherin dungeons and set off down the corridors for the Great Hall. Not many students were up yet because it was quite early in the morning and the majority of them enjoyed a sleep-in on a Saturday.
She sat down at the long Slytherin table. Only a few were present and they, of course, stared at Heather. She tucked into her breakfast, trying to ignore the stares whilst crudely attempting to contain her annoyance and anger. She did not notice but Ron and Hermione walked passed her from behind, completely ignoring her. She tried to finish her breakfast quickly so she could go somewhere to be alone with the amulet to await new orders of Alys.
Suddenly, her thoughts were brought back to what happened the previous day when the amulet attempted to kill her. That didn’t stop her from protecting it. She felt comfortable with it and when she took it off, she felt cold and alone. She then began to think about Draco Malfoy. How he had heroically saved her from death and how she had immediately gained incomprehensible feelings towards him. Those feelings were suddenly gone. Yesterday she thought she was in love with him but today her ‘’love’’ had completely vanished! It confused her greatly, almost painful to think about it. She remembered holding his hand. The very thought made her shudder, almost making her gag on the toast she was eating. What was I thinking? She thought. She had no idea what had came over her and she couldn’t even bring herself to think about what she and Malfoy had done when they went back to the common room, together and alone. It made her feel physically sick.
She sat alone, finishing up the last of her breakfast, ready for a day in the library to study for the O.W.L. exams. Then, someone sat down opposite her. It was a girl, a Slytherin girl.
‘’Hi,’’ she said.
Heather, feeling surprised that someone was talking to her, swallowed her bacon painfully without chewing.
‘’You’ve probably already heard of me before but I’m Daphne Greengrass,’’ she said in a rather over-confident, cocky tone of voice.
Heather didn’t say anything and rudely ignored Daphne, returning to her food with the hope of the strange girl leaving. But she didn’t leave, even after how much Heather tried to make the situation as awkward as possible.
‘’I-I couldn’t help but notice that you and Malfoy were together yesterday,’’ said Daphne.
Heather felt as If a steaming hot bowl of water was spilled over her as her cheeks fired up ablaze.
‘’So?’’ said Heather, trying to hide her shame.
‘’So, maybe we Slytherin’s have misjudged you Potter! You seem to fit far better in our house than that — that wretched Gryffindor house!’’ said Daphne, wrinkling her nose as if she were talking about a piece of filth.
Heather didn’t like the conversation one bit. She refused to look at Daphne, instead staring at her food.
‘’What’s your point?’’ said Heather, poking a sausage around the plate, not making it an easy flowing conversation.
Daphne seemed to getting a little impatient with Heather’s carelessness.
‘’Look, what I’m saying is — is that maybe you could hang out with us? You’d be part of the schools superior clique and you would be guaranteed immediate respect and loyalty amongst your peers!’’ said Daphne, wide-eyed and passionate about what she was saying. ‘’You’d be a fool not to accept! Not many are permitted to be our friend!’’
Slytherin students had rather odd views on what friendship was. They recruited friends into groups and cliques by class, blood status and wealth. It was almost like joining the army. Heather mumbled under her breath, dismissing everything Daphne said.
‘’Do you want to come hang out with us today?’’ asked Daphne, trying to sound sweet and nice, but instead sounding mocking and annoying. ‘’It’ll be just you, me and a few others?’’
‘’Sorry I have plans,’’ muttered Heather.
‘’Plans?’’ scoffed Daphne. ‘’What plans?’’
‘’I have to go to the library,’’ said Heather.
Daphne laughed at this.
‘’The library?! Well good luck with making friends there sunshine because that place is filled with geeks and —, ‘’
‘’, - If I say yes will you go away?’’ said Heather, finally looking up at Daphne.
Daphne looked taken aback and offended. For a moment Heather thought she would attack her but her shocked face formed into a crooked smile.
‘’Excellent!’’ said Daphne. ‘’I shall see you later in the common room!’’
Daphne then left Heather alone to finish her breakfast. She got up and left the Great Hall to go back to the dungeons. She began to think about what she was doing; about to hang out with Slytherin’s seemed daft yet rather normal to her. She approached the wall and uttered the password, revealing a hidden passage into the dungeons. She swiftly walked in and sat herself on the black leather couches where she began to read her Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook. She could feel the amulet pulsing beneath her blouse as if it was happy. Heather sighed and looked around the dark green lit room. She looked up at the stone Slytherin crest carved into the wall above the fireplace, proudly displaying the house’s might.
‘’Don’t forget,’’ whispered Emerald. ‘’I’m with you!’’
Heather closed her eyes and whispered back, ‘’I know’’.
She heard movement in the room and looked over her shoulder to see Daphne enter through the passage with another person. He was Blaise Zabini, a dark handsome boy with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes. Heather stood up and turned to them both. Daphne was rather pretty for a Slytherin girl. She had long thick brunette hair that curled at the bottom, piercing green eyes, button nose, full lips and an air of elegance.
‘’Are you ready?’’ asked Daphne.
‘’Yes,’’ said Heather in a rather refined tone of voice. ‘’What are we going to do for the day?’’
‘’Well we’re going to have some fun!’’ grinned Daphne.
Heather had no idea what Daphne meant by ‘’fun’’ but she didn’t like the sound of it. The three left the Slytherin dungeons and climbed up the stairs to ground level. Heather noticed that Daphne was walking slightly ahead of her and Blaise. She watched her as she took the lead, her dislike of her increasing by the second. Daphne appeared to be the leader which bothered Heather. She wanted to be in control.
‘’I’m Blaise by the way, Blaise Zabini,’’ said Blaise, looking over at Heather as they walked.
‘’Yes, I know who you are,’’ said Heather sharply.
From the very first syllable that sounded from Blaise’s lips, Heather knew immediately that he was a pompous, preppy rich boy who was spoilt. The three walked briskly through the castle in silence for a few moments before exiting the building through the west exit
‘’Where are we going?’’ asked Heather impatiently.
‘’We going to teach someone a lesson,’’ said Daphne.
A small part of Heather highly disliked the sound of ‘’teaching somebody a lesson’’ but the greater part was a little anxious, excited and even a little lustful.
‘’So,’’ said Blaise, breaking the silence, ‘’are you and Draco going out with each other now?’’ he asked rather anxiously.
‘’What — no!’’ said Heather quickly, ‘’Why does everyone think that?’’
‘’Well to be honest, the two of you were openly holding hands in front of the whole school yesterday!’’ said Daphne, looking over her shoulder as she walked ahead.
‘’And Draco told nearly everyone about how you both snogged last night too!’’ Blaise added.
Heather’s stomach lurched and her heart skipped a beat. She stopped walking, falling behind as she felt she was about to vomit. She took a few easy breaths, attempting to calm herself.
‘’Why are you stopping?’’ snapped Daphne, whipping her hair around.
Heather couldn’t understand what came over her. She kissed Malfoy, of all people in the world. She felt as if she were in a nightmare or worse awake in hell. She quickly snapped out of it.
‘’S-Sorry,’’ she stammered, looking at the ground, confused and a little worried.
‘’Well come on then!’’ urged Daphne.
Heather looked up, nodded, and swallowed her shock and disgust of herself. She began to walk again, Daphne taking the lead. She began to think, racking her brains for what happened between her and Malfoy. It was frustrating. She guessed maybe she was just shaken after nearly plummeting to her death so she was dazed and confused.
No, that can’t be it! She thought.
But then again Malfoy did save her life. Maybe she did have feelings for him now. But to have them so suddenly was baffling to think about. Yet, she felt nothing towards him at that moment. There had to be something behind it. What happened to her?
‘’I — I don’t know what to say?’’ said Heather, ‘’A-About Malfoy and I?’’
‘’You don’t have to say anything darling. All I can say is that I’ve never seen Draco this crazy over a girl before,’’ said Daphne, looking over her shoulder, winking with one eye.
Heather gulped down her fear and disgust. Suddenly the amulet pulsed, sending shivers all over her body. A cold feeling of seediness dawned upon her. She suddenly felt rotten inside. She felt as if she wanted to do something bad, to someone.
They walked down the green sloping hills. The air was chilled, breezy and the clouds were quite dull. They walked by Hagrid’s hut and towards the black lake. They walked over the paddocks to see a small bay by the water. An old tree was located right by the stone pebbles. Heather squinted to see two figures in the distance.
‘’Who are they?’’ she asked.
Daphne didn’t answer, nor did Blaise and Heather began to distrust her new ’friends’ already. They walked towards the lake, the figures becoming more and more focused the closer they approached them.
Heather could hear their distant voices. One was a girl who had a high pitched, dreamy type of voice with hypnotic qualities and the other was a boy with a low bumbling tone. They were Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom.
‘’Alright losers!’’ piped up Blaise, wearing a domineering expression that said kill.
Heather stood behind them as a cold wave of regret and worry dawned upon her. She could already see what was coming.
Neville, who was standing in the water with a toad in his hands, looked up, startled as an expression of fear spread across his face. Luna stopped talking and looked at Blaise and Daphne, not noticing Heather standing behind them.
‘’Hello Blaise,’’ she said innocently. ‘’Hello Daphne, have you both come here to look for Fireworts? It’s the new season and they are usually expected to be found around lake lands at this time of ye -,’’
‘’No we are not here to look for Fireworts you dimwit!’’ snapped Daphne fiercely.
Heather was amazed by how Luna could keep such a straight face despite the hurtful jabs of Daphne being thrown at her.
‘’So what are you two sad people doing down here wasting away your Saturday morning playing about in the water?’’ said Blaise in a posh tone of voice.
‘’I - I could ask you the same question!’’ stammered Neville as he gathered up all of his courage.
Blaise rapidly drew his wand and fired a spell which made Neville fall into the water. Daphne laughed manically, clapping her hands together and hopping about the place like an amused child. She drew her wand and strutted towards Luna who just stood still, holding her net in her hands. Daphne sent a spell firing from the tip of her wand, speeding towards Luna and hitting her straight in the stomach. She fell to the ground in silence, grunting as she repressed the pain.
Neville splashed about in the water as he scurried for his wand.
‘’Hang on Luna!’’ he said, water spluttering from his mouth.
Blaise raised his wand yet again.
‘’Wingardium leviosa,’’ he said clearly.
Neville was suddenly pulled out of the water upside down and levitating in thin air. Blaise moved Neville closer to his face.
Daphne continued to flick her wand at Luna, using spells that pulled tightly on her hair, pinched her skin and slapped her across the face.
Heather watched, her chest breathing in and out like a panicked child watching a terrible scene. Her mind was fighting with itself. Her conscience was telling her to help Blaise and Daphne, her mind was telling her to help them but her heart told her to help Neville and Luna.
Blaise hung Neville upside down in a humiliating position. He was laughing his head off as the water dripped from Neville’s clothes.
‘’You really are a pathetic excuse for a wizard Longbottom, you truly are!’’ chuckled Blaise.
Neville looked as if he were about to explode with rage as his breathed through his nose. He looked over Blaise’s shoulder to see Heather a few feet away, looking confused and upset.
‘’Heather!’’ he squeaked. ‘’Give us a hand will you!’’
She looked at him blankly, then at Blaise who turned, grinning evilly from ear to ear. She didn’t know what she should do. Help her real friends or gain power from the false ones. She looked over at Luna who was straining under the pain of her hair being tugged at by Daphne.
‘’Loony Luna! Loony Luna! Loony Luna Lovegood’’ sang Daphne, horribly out of tune. ‘’Come on Heather, join in on the fresh meat!’’
Heather twisted her neck as a forceful push urged her to go forward and betray her true friends. She repressed her dark thoughts as the amulet pulsed beneath her blouse.
‘’Is this really what you do for fun?’’ bellowed Heather. ‘’It’s not Neville and Luna who are sad, it’s both of you! You’re both pathetic!’’
Daphne and Blaise immediately lowered their wands. Neville landed painfully on his head and Luna slowly picked herself up from the ground. Daphne looked as if she had just been stabbed in the back several times repeatedly. Blaise looked appalled as if Heather had just said something crudely offensive.
‘’Are you really who you think you are Ms. Potter?’’ said Daphne, walking slowly towards Heather. ‘’Or are you still that scrawny, four eyed git from Gryffindor? Have you really changed or are you messing with our heads?’’
‘’Whatever,’’ said Heather, rolling her eyes and turning her back.
‘’Don’t you DARE turn your back on me Heather Potter!’’ screeched Daphne.
Heather walked away with her hands in her pockets, trying to ignore Daphne.
‘’So that’s it, you’re just going to walk away like the weak little pansy you are!’’ spat Daphne. ‘’You’ll NEVER be a true Slytherin, NEVER! You are weak Potter, weak!’’
She stopped dead in her tracks, her heart and the amulet beating as one. Something inside her clicked something alien and ugly that was not of her own state of mind. The word ‘’weak’’ offended her beyond meaning and she was willing to prove herself.
‘’Nobody calls me weak,’’ said Heather in the voice of Alys, the Emerald Witch.
Blaise and Daphne looked at one another, confused by Heather’s sudden change of voice. She stood for a few moments, rage building up inside her before whipping her blonde hair around and marching towards the bay with her hand drawn. She strutted towards Neville who looked petrified of her demonic expression. Daphne grinned from ear to ear; delighted with what she thought she had created. Luna ran to Neville in an attempt to shield him but Blaise pushed her aside.
‘’Heather, please don’t!’’ cried Neville. ‘’We’re supposed to be mates!
Harry was falling, deeper, deeper, deeper . . .
***
The school year slowly melted out of winter and transcended into a bright, warm spring. Hagrid was out and about more frequently and the Whomping Willow was glad to be rid of ice and snow. Classes continued to take place, the fifth years continued to prepare for the O.W.L.S. and the seventh years did the same for their N.E.W.T.S. Slytherin were in the lead for the Quidditch house cup and Gryffindor were leading in academic points. Visits to Hogsmeade became more frequent and practical classes moved outdoors to practise.
It was a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon. Only wisps of clouds were scattered across the deep blue sky as the sun blasted its rays of heat over the land. It was a glorious spring day and almost everyone was outside. In fact, most of Hogwarts students were given permission to visit Hogsmeade due to the good weather.
The narrow village was scattered with groups of young people buying and window shopping goods from such providers as Gladrags Wizard Wear, Honeydukes Sweet Shop, Spintwitches Sporting Goods, The Magic Neep, Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment and of course the popular Zonko’s Joke Shop.
But amongst the hustle and bustle of the shoppers, a dark figure stood inside an alleyway beside the Hogs Head, observing a group of Slytherin girls. Severus Snape’s lip curled as he stared at the blonde girl, Heather Potter. His dark lifeless eyes were fixed on her every move.
Heather’s hair was now thick, straight and big, hanging halfway down her back and over the front of her shoulders. Her eyes were now dark, mysterious and bleak. Her cheekbones are prominent, her nose be cute and her jaw, smooth and curved. Her cunning smile was deceiving, hypnotising, yet beautiful. Her neatly arranged skirt, sweater and blouse gave her the air of prim elegance and youth.
Snape’s pale face stood out in front of the dark background, his straight face sunken and expressionless. He loathed the mission Dumbledore had assigned him. Weeks of following her around were beginning to take its toll and he began to feel like there was no threat from her at all. His hummed lowly before sinking back into the shadows.
Heather looked over at the alley the second he disappeared and frowned as she could have sworn she seen somebody there. She quickly brushed it away and turned back to her Slytherin girl friends. They talked and gossiped in a circle for a few minutes before Heather finally decided that they should all go to The Three Broomsticks Inn for a drink.
Daphne was no longer the leader of the group, Heather was. Ever since the incident by the Black Lake with Luna and Neville she had gained instant respect from her Slytherin peers. But it was the first of many incidents over the past few weeks. She had undergone a radical transformation in both appearance and personality. The greater part of her was now Alys, the Emerald Witch.
She pushed open the wooden door of the pub and stepped inside to see that it was almost empty. Her eyes trailed around the room to see Ron and Hermione sitting together at the table by the bar. Hermione looked to see who was at the door and when she saw it was Heather she stood up and left along with Ron. On the way out they completely ignored Heather as if she weren’t there.
‘’There’s nobody here!’’ stated Millicent, a large beast of a girl.
‘’Not to worry, at least we have the entire place to ourselves,’’ said Daphne.
Heather walked up to the bar and ordered a round of Butterbeers. Her group of followers Daphne, Millicent, Tracey and Rebecca sat down at one of the tables. Madam Rosmerta placed six glasses of Butterbeer on the bar surface, forcing a smile, obviously not too keen of Slytherin students. She reached into her pocket to pay before a voice called Heather’s name from behind.
She turned around to see Draco Malfoy standing in his best suit looking rather dapper, yet unnervingly sleazy. Heather looked at Pansy Parkinson who was clinging to his side in a desperate attempt to try and make her jealous yet she had no need to do so. Heather was taken aback and didn’t know what to say.
‘’Err hello Malfoy,’’ said Heather.
‘’Please, call me Draco,’’ he said, his nose wrinkling as he smiled.
Malfoy reached into his pocket and placed a few coins on the bar to pay for Heather’s drinks. She immediately protested.
‘’You don’t have to -,’’
‘’But I want to,’’ he said, turning to her and staring into her eyes rather creepily.
Malfoy turned to the Madam Rosmerta and nodded. She sighed before placing all but one Butterbeer glass on a tray to carry over to the others. Heather looked over to the table to see them staring and giggling at her and Malfoy being together. When Rosmerta returned, Malfoy ordered a Firewhiskey before telling Pansy to leave them both alone. Pansy turned away, feeling the cold stab of heartbreak and jealously dawn upon her. She was the one who wanted Malfoy, she was the one who wanted his affection and she was the one who was always a girl in the first place.
Malfoy placed his hand on Heather’s back, gesturing her to sit with him in the corner. She looked over her shoulder nervously at the others to see Daphne giving a cheeky wink as if to say, ‘’you’re so in there!’’. They sat down together on a soft, cushiony couch. It took Heather a moment to realise that she was sitting in the snogging corner with Malfoy! She gulped.
‘’So I’ve been meaning to talk about us,’’ said Malfoy, ‘’about you and me.’’
Heather nearly choked on her drink, almost spluttering Butterbeer everywhere.
‘’Well there is no you and me so that must have been a weird thought process!’’ said Heather, wiping the drink from her lips.
‘’What, of course there is darling, what about that time a few weeks ago when we uh -,’’ said Malfoy, hinting at their apparent intimacy.
‘’I don’t want to think about that if you don’t mind!’’ said Heather, gulping down the Butterbeer as fast as she could. ‘’I wasn’t thinking straight. I nearly died I guess I — I just wasn’t in the correct state of mind.’’
Malfoy scoffed and shook his head.
‘’Is that what you were thinking when you and I were in the common room snog -,’’
‘’PLEASE!’’ snapped Heather, cringing with her eyes shut tight. ‘’Please stop going on about that!’’
Malfoy had an expression on his face as if he were trying to squeeze all of his anger down his throat. Heather gulped down the rest of the Butterbeer and slammed the glass down on the table.
‘’Look, you have to understand we have history going back nearly five years. We’re supposed to hate each other!’’ stated Heather.
‘’Yes but we can change that!’’ said Malfoy, trying to grip Heather’s hands. ‘’You are a different person now, I see that. You’re no longer Saint Perfect Potter, everyone knows that!’’
Heather was beginning to get a little scared of his behaviour. He seemed unable to control his lust and it was coming out in strange creepy ways.
‘’Malfoy I -,’’
‘’ — shh,’’ he hushed. ‘’Let me get us some more drinks.’’
‘’What — no — there’s no need to -,’’
He got up and walked to the bar, leaving Heather alone in the corner. She looked over to Daphne for help but all she seemed to be doing was laughing at her situation. She felt embarrassed and had a strong desire to get up and leave.
Malfoy stood at the bar with two fresh glasses of drink. He looked over his shoulder to see if anybody was looking at him. Madam Rosmerta was busying herself at the other end of the bar washing tankards. He reached into his pocket and took out a small vial of sparkling pink liquid with a label which read ‘’Amortentia: Love Potion’’. He looked anxious, nervous yet lustful at the same time as he unscrewed the cap and poured the entire vial into Heather’s glass. The Butterbeer began to bubble and fizz, eventually settling and producing a wonderful sweet scent. He then turned and sat down in the corner with Heather, placing the glasses on the table.
‘’I’ve got to go,’’ said Heather, about to stand.
‘’No, no it’s okay Heather, it’s okay!’’ said Malfoy. ‘’I get it, I know we can’t be together but we can at least be friends.’’
Heather looked at him suspiciously and then at the drinks. She sensed that something strange was going on and it wasn’t Malfoy’s weird behaviour. However she sat down again, eyeing him suspiciously. She reached out for the drink that belonged to Malfoy.
‘’Ah, t-that’s my drink there!’’ he said, quickly taking the glass away.
Heather picked up the other and looked into the liquid. It smelt different. Malfoy was shuffling in his seat anxiously waiting for her to drink. He began to get a little hot under the collar with anticipation. She looked into the glass and then noticed Malfoy’s face.
‘’You’re trying to drug me!’’ she said, wide eyed and angry.
Malfoy looked horrified as his plan fell apart before him.
‘’Love Potion! Why you sneaky little cree -,’’
In the face of panic, Malfoy rapidly produced his wand from beneath the table and gave it a swift flick. Heather’s head suddenly flung back and her hand was forced around the glass. She raised it shakily to her lips, trying with all her might to prevent it from entering her mouth. The Butterbeer slipped out of the glass and down her throat. She was choking and sputtering under the huge amounts she was forced to take in.
‘’Oi! What’s going on over there!’’ snapped Madam Rosmerta.
Malfoy panicked and attempted to cover up the situation by saying, ‘’everything is fine!’’ but Rosmerta wasn’t convinced as she approached them both angrily. Malfoy jumped to his feet, grabbed Heather by the other hand and pulled her towards the exit as she continued to gulp down the drink with her other hand. She dropped the glass on the floor, coughing and spluttering as they left the pub.
‘’Bloody kids,’’ muttered Rosmerta as she stood at the door, watching Malfoy drag Heather down the street.
Malfoy led her down an alleyway where nobody could see them. He turned to her and looked down into her eyes.
‘’How do you feel?’’ he asked.
Heather, feeling drunk and confused felt something flutter in her stomach. Her vision focused in on what she thought to be the most handsome boy she had ever seen. Suddenly, her knees began to shake as she curled her toe. She sighed in ecstacy as she stared into Malfoy’s piercing gaze.
Malfoy knew it had worked so he placed his hands on her waist and leaned in.
They were much to close for comfort.
***
Later that night, as the clock rolled over to three in the morning, something crept inside the girl’s dormitory. All of the girls were snoozing gently as the moon shone brightly through the window panes, creating rays of warm light. Heather was still smiling and the green amulet was glowing beneath her nightdress. She was in a moment of twilight, between sleep and awake.
She did not hear, but the door creaked open and two figures stepped through. One was dressed in long navy robes, had a long white beard and half moon spectacles perched upon his long crooked nose. Professor Dumbledore had an unusual fixed expression upon his old wise face. The other person was dressed in all black, had a pale, pasty face, long greasy hair and dark lifeless eyes. Professor Snape had a cold hard look on his face as he and the Headmaster walked quietly over to Heather’s bedside. They looked down over her.
‘’She looks happy,’’ whispered Dumbledore, astonished.
She could hear everything they were saying but she remained in blissful slumber as if it were a dream.
‘’Yes, effects of the curse no doubt,’’ said Snape in a low tone of voice.
‘’It is hard to believe that this young lady used to be Harry Potter -,’’ said Dumbledore sadly. ‘’, - I can no longer see the boy who lived - ’’
Snape curled his lip with resent.
‘’ — but in time, she will become a very great threat to everything we hold most dear,’’ said Dumbledore.
Heather continued to smile under the dreamy effects of Love Potion and sleep.
‘’Headmaster, I’ll do it,’’ said Snape.
‘’No Severus, this is something that an old wizard with plenty of hardship and life experience must deal with,’’ said Dumbledore softly.
They looked at each other for a moment. Dumbledore’s eyes were watery and his upper lip twitched. Snape’s mouth hung slightly open and his eyes were inky black. They then both then looked upon Heather who was still smiling warmly.
‘’There must be another way,’’ urged Snape, his voice breaking.
‘’I’m afraid this is just as hard for me as it is for you, Severus,’’ said Dumbledore shakily. ‘’You cannot deny that you have grown to care for the boy.’’
Snape didn’t reply, rather something flickered in his eye as if Dumbledore had just tugged on something he held very close to his heart. The Headmaster nodded at Snape’s apparent reaction of affection and then turned back to look at Heather. His breathing trembled as he reached into his robes and produced his wand, his hand shaking.
‘’Be brave Harry, be brave.’’
Written by Lily Florette © All characters and settings are the property of J.K. Rowling © Don't forget to post your thoughts and comments!
*Gasp!*
Heather quickly sat upright in her bed, panting heavily. She was completely drenched in sweat from head to toe. The amulet beneath her night dress was glowing brighter than ever, pulsing and pounding like a beating heart against her chest. She placed her hand on her chest as she tried to catch up with her breath. For a moment she thought she was hyperventilating. Then, she thought she was dying.
‘’Oh no,’’ gasped Heather. ‘’No, no, no!’’
She thought she’d never get enough oxygen into her lungs as it took her about five minutes to catch her breath. It was a miracle that none of the other girls were woken up.
What had just happened? She thought.
What she had just woken up from wasn’t a dream, it was real, and it felt real. But she was still alive. Her mind was racing, asking itself a thousand questions by the second. Her heart was beating rapidly and she was trembling beneath the blankets. She looked around to see if she woken anybody.
‘’Why?’’ she asked herself, hoping for Emerald to answer.
Dumbledore wanted, or has to kill her. She now knew what had happened. She had just seen the future, an impossible future. But he would never kill anyone, would he? The vision felt so real as if it had already happened. She placed his hand on her forehead, feeling it boil like a pot on a stove. She slowly slipped out from beneath the stuffy blankets and walked over to the window. The room was lit with yellow and orange rays of light shining through.
It was dawn.
‘’Dumbledore is going to kill me,’’ she said under her breath.
She then turned around.
‘’He wouldn’t,’’ she said shaking her head.
The cold eerie hiss of a woman crept up behind her. Heather froze, wide eyed and unable to move.
‘’You know it to be true,’’ whispered Alys softly.
Heather felt as if Alys was right behind her, leaning over her shoulder and whispering into her ear. She could even feel her hair, trickling against her cheek and her gentle breath caressing her skin.
‘’Why should I believe you,’’ said Heather. ‘’Everything you have told so far is lies!’’
The amulet pulsed, sending waves of possessive energy all over her body. Alys didn’t reply for a moment.
‘’You are a strange wizard Harry Potter,’’ she said coolly.
Heather didn’t reply, fearing that if she turned her head that she would see something horrifying. She felt Alys’ disappear over her shoulder.
Then, she walked around Heather eyeing her from head to toe. She was beautiful, alluring, yet, frightening all at once. She retained an eerie glow making the room chilled and ominous. Heather let out a gasp of relief as she laid eyes on the Emerald Witch walking around her.
‘’You don’t act like a wizard,’’ she said softly. ‘’You refuse to excel your powers, accept your fate and — yes, you are very unusual Mr. Potter.’’
‘’I have no concern for power,’’ said Heather, feeling her blood beginning to boil.
‘’Oh I think you have, I can feel it swelling up inside you. It converges you,’’ said Alys. ‘’Makes you feel . . . predominant.’’
‘’Dumbledore would never do such a thing!’’ shot Heather, beginning to feel reassured of her faith in the Headmaster.
Alys chuckled as she continued to circle Heather. For a few moments she said nothing.
‘’I have something else to show you,’’ she hummed softly. ‘’Would you like to see it?’’
Something horrible was writing within Heather’s stomach, rattling its cage, desperate to be unleashed upon Alys.
‘’I have had enough of your trickery!’’ spat Heather through gritted teeth.
‘’Oh you’ll like this one,’’ said Alys, sounding so very happy with herself. She leaned into Heather’s ear and whispered. ‘’What if I could show you more of the future?’’
Alys backed away from Heather and sunk into a dark mist which formed around the dormitory. A loud droning horn shook the room to its very foundations as dust fell from the ceiling. Heather could feel something inside her head, moving about and pounding her brain with sharp fiery forks. She placed her hands on her head.
‘’No, no, stop, STOP!’’ she cried.
‘’Know you’re fate, know what will become of this world!’’ roared Alys violently.
Images of Hogwarts aflame in green flashed before her eyes. Dumbledore leading an army of wizards and witches circled about his mind; horrible visions of Ron and Hermione lying dead in the mud at the castle gates tore at her mind. It was as if Alys was unlocked the part of her brain which contained her fears.
‘’I will not look!’’ she protested as raised her hands over her eyes.
Then everything stopped as of somebody clicked their fingers. The dormitory returned to normal and oddly nobody was awoken. Heather wondered if it was all in her head.
‘’I’ll never turn!’’ said Heather, hoping for Alys to reply.
It took a moment before the cold whisper breathed down her back.
‘’Very well then,’’ said Alys calmly. ‘’But what I’m right about Dumbledore, what if these visions are true and you are wrong?’’
‘’If it comes to that then I’m going down with you,’’ said Heather calmly. ‘’You cannot tempt me with power and glory. You have failed Emerald. I am a wizard. Not a pawn in your little game.’’
Alys’ face wrinkled up into a cold sneer as she looked at Heather straight in the eyes.
‘’You have already performed extraordinary magic with what I’ve given you. There is no denying that you could’ve hexed the Weasley boy so. You have been given a special gift Harry but you refuse to use it,’’ said Alys coldly. ‘’How very foolish.’’
Heather stopped for a moment to think. Alys’ temptation had no effect on her beliefs but it did make her wonder about her new powers. The duel with Ron a few weeks ago was a prime example of Emerald’s destructive strength.
‘’You cannot deny that what you have foreseen is true. I have given you the chance to carry out the deed alone but I think now it’s only right that I take control of this troubling matter,’’ said Alys. ‘’You have been a good and admirable wizard Harry Potter but if you refuse to kill Dumbledore then I’m afraid I have no choice. You’re death is imminent.’’
There was a few moments silence between them. For a moment Heather thought Alys was actually being sympathetic but it seemed that she couldn’t say anything sincere without a death threat attached at the end of her sentence. She actually felt scared and Alys felt this too.
‘’Such a pity,’’ said Alys softly. ‘’You would have made a great sorceress.’’
She then vanished, leaving Heather standing alone in the sleeping girl’s dormitory. She felt transfixed and somewhat frightened. Her mouth was bone dry and her eyes were wide and emotional. She could hear her heart pound, as if it were inside her ears, reminding her that it was still there.
‘’You’re death is imminent.’’
The sentence continued to repeat itself in her mind until she shook her head and licked her dry cracked lips.
‘’Who the bloody hell were you talking to?!’’ said Daphne, sitting up in her bed.
Heather glared at Daphne, breathing in and out heavily like a swelling dragon.
‘’None of your business,’’ she said darkly.
***
Funny, Alys’ possession often put the taste of ivy in her mouth. Her joints often seized and her muscles felt oddly strong yet stiff at the same time.
Heather sat inside the window staring across at the tall green mountains. She spotted Fawkes circling over the Forbidden Forest crowing loudly. The sky seemed to be tinted with red as if an apocalypse was over the horizon.
‘’You do know don’t you?’’ echoed Alys voice in her mind. ‘’The longer you sit about the closer your death is.’’
She closed her eyes, willing Alys to the back of her mind. She began to think about Ron and Hermione. What were they doing right now? Had they accepted what their best friend had become, a monster, and a broken shadow of her former self.
She could feel her eyes welling up. The rays of sunlight glistened against her tears as it illuminated her pale sunken face.
***
Heather strutted down the corridor looking incredibly miserable. She moved down the Grand Staircase, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for her stair to move around. When it connected to her platform, she walked briskly down the stair, entering a side corridor on the third floor.
Suddenly, something stabbed her into her chest. Or so she thought. A horrible stinging sensation engulfed her entire body. She felt as if several daggers were stuck in her. She grunted with pain, clenching her chest and squeezing her eyes shut in agony. She looked around for support, leaning up against the empty corridor hall in order to restrain herself from falling. The pain accelerated, reaching to the point of Heather letting out a horrible scream. For a moment she thought she was dying, then, the pain slowly died down.
She was left gasping for air.
‘’What the -,’’ she said breathlessly.
She looked around, her hand still on her chest as it puffed in and out. After a few moments of relieving herself, Heather felt a little weaker as she tried to walk. Her knee’s shook as she walked down the hall. She stumbled sideways up against a suit of armour causing a loud crash to echo. Everything went black for a moment, her vision focusing back to a complete blur.
She was disorientated and confused, trying to stand again but the stabbing pain returned to her chest. She moved up against the wall with one hand supporting her. She groaned in pain as she backed up against the wall, sliding down until her behind hit the ground.
‘’What is this Emerald,’’ she said, gritting her teeth and spewing saliva violently, ‘’another part of the curse yeah?’’
Emerald didn’t reply. She was left there on her own to deal with the sheer pain crashing down upon her. Yet, after a few moments the stabbing sensations vanished. She sat on the ground, exhausted and sweating. She looked down to see that something between her breasts was glowing, the amulet. She reached in to pull it out but she couldn’t. It wouldn’t budge as it bound itself to her skin.
‘’Come on Emerald, don’t get all silent with me now!’’ she said.
Emerald didn’t reply. Panic began to set in followed by frustration as she picked herself up from the ground. It was a miracle that nobody had found her. She looked around and continued to walk down the corridor. She suddenly felt very weak, as if somebody had sucked all of the energy from her body. She cursed Emerald for not replying to her when she wanted to.
She needed to be alone to think. Her eyes darted from each end of the corridor to the other as she walked in slow steady steps, feeling her legs shaking under the strain of standing. What was happening to her? Her knees nearly buckled beneath her several times as she kept her left hand on the wall.
She felt really old.
She decided to open the next door on the corridor, hoping with all her heart that it would be empty. She gained a little energy as she approached the arched wooden door, lifted the latch and pushed it open. The hinges creaked loudly across the empty classroom.
She entered and slammed the door behind her. Her breathing became more repressed as she wobbled and stumbled up against the nearest desk. She sat down on the wooded floor, coughing and spluttering violently as her skin began to glimmer with sweat. She felt as if she was breaking out in some sort of a violent fever. She sat on the ground for a few minutes before taking off her school jumper. She tugged at the tie and threw it aside, sending air in and around her chest. She quickly unbuttoned the blouse and looked down at the amulet.
It was embedded into her chest, literally. Skin was beginning to grow over the rims of the octagon shaped pendant as if it were sinking into her flesh. She let out a strained yelp as she saw what was happening to her. She looked around the room to check if anybody was there, just in case. She touched the emerald diamond with her nail, doing so sent cold shivers all over her body.
A shot of pain stung her chest once again. She let out a horrible screeching roar of pain for the first time. She felt as if her heart was on fire or her lungs were being stabbed repeatedly with deadly knives. The pain died down within moments and cold sensation ran down her spine. She buried her head over her crossed arms upon her knees, panting heavily.
‘’You’re dying,’’ said a soft, hypnotic voice.
Heather quickly looked up. Emerald was sitting against one of the school desks, looking more alive and healthier than ever. However she wasn’t smiling; rather she had a look of sorrow and pity on her cool soft face. She was still only dressed in the plainest of robes but her frightening beauty was more than visible to the eye. She sighed mournfully as she stared at Heather’s tragic state.
‘’I didn’t wish for it to come to this Harry,’’ she said coolly, ‘’but seeing as you refuse my help then I’m afraid there’s nothing else I can do for you.’’
Heather felt her heart pounding fiercely in her chest as the word ’dying’ played over in her mind. She didn’t know what to say back. How does one address somebody who was slowly killing them inside? She felt as if all sound was drained out of the room, all to be heard was her heart and breathing. She felt she had known for some time that her death was imminent. And now that she knew the truth.
‘’Dying,’’ she repeated, whispering lowly.
Terror washed over her as she lay on the floor, with that funeral drum pounding inside her. All those times she had thought that it was about to happen and escaped, she had never really thought about the thing itself: her will to live had always been so much stronger than her fear of death. Yet it did not occur to her now to try to escape, to outrun Emerald, but it was impossible. One cannot outrun something that lives within.
‘’As the sun goes down tonight you will pass your body on to me and you shall embrace death. You have been a good and faithful host for me Harry Potter but as long as you are unwilling to combine your strengths with mine then I’m afraid we cannot live within the same body anymore.’’
Heather felt her fingers trembling slightly but she made an effort to control them. Her fear quickly changed, mixing with her strong emotions of sadness and upset. She felt her blood beginning to boil over as her green eyes glistened with forming tears.
‘’So that’s it,’’ she said shakily, feeling a lump forming in her throat. ‘’You’re just going to push me out of my own body and take it as your own.’’
Emerald stared blankly at Heather as if she were some incompetent child.
‘’This is what I get, my reward; to die for something evil or to change into another person,’’ said Heather, her eyes arched, aflame and tearfully angry. ‘’Some choice,’’ she added darkly. ‘’Even if I chose to become one with you it would feel like dying, everything I am and ever was would die. Some new person goes sauntering away.’’
Emerald’s expression reeked with empathy and discontent.
‘’…And I’m dead,’’ added Heather shakily.
‘’You had your choice!’’ hissed Emerald, wrinkling her nose.
‘’It’s not a choice!’’ bellowed Heather, trying to stand. ‘’It is death either way!’’
She pulled herself up on her two feet, her hands shaking with terror and asperity.
‘’Tell me, Emerald, why did you curse me? Why did you lure me out of my bed that night? Why did you HAVE to put me through ALL of this?!’’ she roared.
‘’It was a random choice, it could have been anybody that night,’’ sneered Emerald, slipping off the table and walking close to Heather, face to face.
‘’Lies!’’ bellowed Heather, her voice breaking under the heavy emotions crashing over her. ‘’That’s all everyone has told me all my life, lies, lies, lies -,’’
‘’This is all irrelevant. You have no say in this anymore!’’ said Emerald, cutting across Heather.
‘’I have spent time after time coping with things coming at me but oh yes! You had to be one of them! You had to come to Hogwarts to curse me and transform me into a — into a — a GIRL!’’ she shouted tearfully as she paced about the room, ‘’because that’s all you’ve ever been Emerald, just there, your existence, waiting for me to be born so this could happen.’’
She walked around the side of a single desk, her anger building up to dangerous limits.
‘’And what do I get? Dying. WELL IT’S NOT FAIR!’’ she screamed, flipping a desk over, crashing loudly against the stone floor.
She felt months of locked up emotions escape from her mouth as she let finally let herself free of the curses boundaries. Streams of thunderous cries were begging to be unleashed but she repressed them, held them back, afraid of what she could be capable of. Her hands were held together behind her head as she bit her lower lip tearfully. As she walked she began to feel more alive, and more aware of her own living body than ever before. Her breath came slow and deep, and her mouth and throat were completely dry. She blinked, the tear drops squeezing out between her eyelids and dripping down her pale cheeks.
‘’This cannot be fate,’’ she muttered under her breath. ‘’It wasn’t supposed to be this way.’’
A wide heinous smile formed across Emerald’s face as she watched Heather stare down at her feet, obviously terrified and trapped in complete despair.
‘’You have until sundown,’’ said Emerald coldly.
She then vanished.
Heather was left alone in the classroom, teary and fatigued. She looked around the cluttered room. Her heart was leaping against her ribs like a frantic bird. Perhaps it knew it had little time left, perhaps it was willing to fulfil a lifetimes beats before the end.
She left the empty classroom, frail and weak. She did not look back. Like rain on a cold window, thoughts of fear and anger pattered against the hard surface of the incontrovertible truth, which was that she must die. I must die. It must end. But for nothing, in embracing death she would be unleashing a dark force over the world. In staying alive and bonding with Emerald she would also be casting something evil. It was unfair. How was it that nobody could have foreseen this? How come nobody had helped her? And why should she die for something evil.
The castle was empty. Everybody was either in class or in the Great Hall feasting on dinner. She felt ghostly striding through it alone, as if she had already died. The whole place suddenly seemed to be dead and eerily still. She was thinking; thinking about Ron and Hermione. They seemed a long way away, in a far off country; she felt as if she had parted from them long ago. In some sense she had. There would be no goodbyes and no explanations, she was determined of that. This was a journey that they could not take together, and the attempts they would make to stop death from coming would be too painful to watch. Nobody could help her. There was no way.
She knew she had just one thing left to do. She had to approach somebody and warn them that The Emerald Witch would return that night. Her return would be a lethal surprise upon the school and there would be most likely chaos, destruction and death. Perhaps this was her destiny.
She descended through the castle floors, at last walking down the marble staircase into the Entrance Hall. A tiny part of her wanted to be stopped by someone, to be cared about.
As she walked around a corner, Neville bumped straight into her. He looked down to see that it was Heather. His eyes widened with fear as he took a few steps back like a frightened child.
‘’Neville, it’s me,’’ said Heather.
‘’I know it’s you and — and I don’t want any trouble Heather — p-please,’’ he gibbered.
She looked at Neville who was literally shaking. Realisation dawned upon her. What have I become? She thought. Her friend, horrified to even look at her.
‘’Neville,’’ she said softly. ‘’You have nothing to fear, It’s me, Harry,’’ she said honestly.
Neville’s frightened expression softened as his crooked, frozen posture loosened up. He tried to look at her but he couldn’t, instead staring at his shoes. Heather walked closer to him.
‘’Neville, I’m so, so sorry,’’ she said, trying to get him to look at her. ‘’I — I’ve changed but you don’t need to worry anymore because I’m back.’’
Neville looked at her, suddenly knowing that it was Harry who was speaking and not Emerald.
‘’Harry…’’ he said, a slight smile forming.
‘’Yes it’s me,’’ smiled Heather, feeling as if a warm blanket was suddenly draped around her shoulders.
‘’What a-about the — the curse?’’ asked Neville confusedly.
Heather now knew who she would warn about the return of Emerald. She knew who would be noble enough to carry the message to Dumbledore. It had to be Neville.
‘’Look, that doesn’t matter right now,’’ stated Heather seriously. ‘’I have something to tell you. It’s important.’’
Neville’s smile vanished and his face changed to a serious, soldier like expression ready for duty. Heather didn’t quite know how to warn him without mentioning her approaching death.
‘’Neville, this might sound incredibly strange but you have to trust me on this, okay?’’ said Heather.
He nodded, listening to her every word.
‘’You are not to say this to anyone before night, understand?’’
Neville nodded quickly, looking a little scared at the seriousness of Heather’s mission.
‘’Tonight, something big is going to happen, something very dangerous. I need you to go to Dumbledore straight away and I want you to warn him. Tell him to get everyone in the castle somewhere safe. Tell him that he must hide.’’
Neville continued to listen, his face becoming stiffer by the second.
‘’Tell him that this comes from me,’’ said Heather. ‘’He will understand.’’
‘’W-What does all this mean?’’ asked Neville worriedly, his beady eyes beginning to glisten.
‘’Don’t ask questions Neville, you need to trust me on this one. Just go to Dumbledore and tell him that I’ve told you.’’
‘’Why can’t you do it?’’ asked Neville, beginning to feel untrusting of Heather’s simple yet possibly dangerous task.
‘’If you don’t then Hogwarts is doomed,’’ she said darkly.
Neville looked as if he was just blown away by a powerful gust of wind. The heavy burden of responsibility fell upon his shoulders like a terrifying yet wild conscience urging him to do the noble thing.
‘’It’s vital that you go now,’’ said Heather.
Neville stood rooted to the spot stiffer than a stone statue.
‘’GO!’’ bellowed Heather.
It was as if something electric jabbed him in the behind as he broke into a run down the opposite corridor. He stopped and turned back to Heather, smiling.
‘’It’s good to have the proper you back, Harry,’’ he said, beaming from ear to ear.
Heather didn’t smile back; rather she felt her heart ache with sadness. She suddenly had an urge to go see all the ones she loved, Hermione, Ron and Ginny. She felt that she would have given all the time remaining to her for just one last look at them; but then, would she ever have the strength to stop looking? It was better like this.
Then a shot a pain engulfed her chest. She grunted, gritting her teeth and tried to oppress the pain. The amulet sunk further into her chest, making Heather feel much weaker. She leant up against the wall with one arm, breathing and choking back tears.
‘’You cannot warn them,’’ whispered Emerald. ‘’It is too late.’’
Heather closed her eyes, trying to not let Emerald in. She pushed her into the back of her mind, repressing her dark thoughts. She wasn’t going to let Emerald tamper with her last hour in this world.
She regained her strength and limped back towards the Slytherin common room. She met several students along the way. They were blissfully unaware of the excruciating pain she was in. They had no idea what was to come that night. It was strange, being the only one knowing the future. When she reached the Slytherin dungeons she met Daphne and Blaise.
‘’Where have you been all day?’’ asked Daphne suspiciously.
Heather just walked straight by her, ignoring her as if she wasn’t there. Remarkably Daphne didn’t say a word. She descended down into the dark dreary dungeons and looked around. It was so dark, depressing and melancholic. She limped over to the girl’s dormitory, her legs frail and shaking. She fell to her knees at the foot of her four poster bed in front of her trunk.
She was exhausted. Her eyes were closed shut as she breathed through her nose, listening to her heartbeat. It suddenly seemed so beautiful, life itself. She opened her eyes, feeling a little regenerated. She opened the clasps on her trunk and looked into it. Her eye was caught by a leather bound book. She picked it up and looked at the brown cover.
A tear trickled down her cheek as she opened it to see a moving photograph of her, as baby Harry smiling with her parents. She looked into her parents eyes. They seemed more alive than ever before. They seemed to feel closer to her. She turned the page to see herself, as eleven year old Harry laughing with Ron and Hermione. Her heart ached mournfully. She felt as if she never wanted to take her eyes off of the picture. She couldn’t bring herself to look through the rest of the book so she gathered up all of her courage closed it.
She grabbed her invisibility cloak and ran her fingers through the soft transparent fabric. She heard muffled footsteps so she threw it over herself. Daphne entered the room with Millicent, cursing Heather for being a ‘’stuck up, snobby cow!’’.
‘’How dare she ignore me! How dare she!’’ she kept saying.
Heather moved around the dormitory under the cloak. She didn’t feel in the slightest but angry at Daphne’s comments. She had more important matters on her mind. The cloak was, as ever, impenetrable, perfect and she reached the dungeon exit, leaving the Slytherin common room for the very last time.
She moved through the corridors stealthily, moving in and around students like a cat. It seemed the castle suddenly became more crowded, carrying on with not a care in the world. Again, she felt ghostly as she glided around the hallways. Perhaps some tiny part of her hoped to be sensed, to be seen, to be stopped but she wouldn’t allow herself.
She stepped outside into the cold evening. It was already beginning to get dark and the sun was beginning to flare. Ripples of cold undulated over Heather’s skin. She wanted to shout out to the sun, she wanted everyone to know that she was there; she wanted everyone to know what was going to happen to her. She wanted to be stopped, to be dragged back, and to be sent home…
But she was home. Hogwarts was the first and best home she had known. Many wizards and witches had all found home here…
She moved around the silent castle grounds, her breathing making the air condensate beneath the cloak. She saw Hagrid’s hut in the distance at the edge of the forest. The lights were on and there was smoke rising from the chimney. All those visits to Hagrid, and the gleam of the copper kettle on the fire, and rock cakes and giant grubs, and his great bearded face, and Ron vomiting slugs and Hermione helping him save Norbert…
She could have sworn she saw the young Ron, Hermione and Harry leaving the hut, saying goodbye to Hagrid. They were memories long echoed from the past. She shook the hallucination from her head and moved on.
She walked about the castle grounds, feeling the chill of death breathing down her neck. She could no longer control her own trembling. It was not, after all, so easy to prepare to die. Every second she breathed, the smell of the grass, the cool air on her face, was so precious: to think that people had years and years, time to waste, so much time it dragged, and she was clinging to each second. At the same time she thought that she would not be able to go on. Her anger towards Emerald was the last thing on her mind. Some would say that she was giving up but the mere fact that her killer lies within is impossible to avoid. She had to face it head on.
She looked at the Quidditch pitch in the distance. The tall, towering stands draped proudly with the house crests and colours. The sun was sinking lower, lower, lower…
The sounds of thunderous applause, cheering and stomping echoed at the back of Heather’s mind.
‘’Harry Potter has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins!’’ announced Lee Jordon, the commentator.
Heather gave a bittersweet smile as she stared at the pitch, the ghostly sounds of cheering echoing in her ears. If she was to die, she would die a Gryffindor. She let the cloak slip off of her body. She drew her wand and waved it over her Slytherin uniform. The green and silver on her tie and jumper changed to scarlet and gold. The serpent on the crest transformed into a courageous lion. The uniform tidied itself and neatened along with her pleated skirt, socks and shoes.
The stabbing pain returned to her chest once again and she moaned in pain. She nearly collapsed on the grass, bent double, she grunted as the pain slowly died down again. Breathing fast and hard, she stared down at her body. The amulet beneath her jumper and blouse had sunken further into her skin.
She gathered all of her little strength and limped painfully back towards the castle. She threw the cloak back over herself and noticed how strained her breathing had become. It felt like the walk of death, it seemed to go by so slowly yet so fast. The time was drawing closer.
She entered the castle by the west entrance hall, a part of the school not usually filled with many students. She glided around the castle corridors, taking in every precious second as if it were another year. She looked at her watch. It was near.
Then, as she walked around a corner, she found Ron and Hermione sitting down inside a window ledge with their arms around one another. Heather’s heart leapt and she stopped dead in her tracks. Hermione looked at where she was standing.
‘’Is somebody there?’’ she asked the airspace.
Heather wanted to say ‘’yes’’ so desperately but she couldn’t. If she said anything, she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to leave.
‘’Could’ve sworn I heard footsteps myself?’’ said Ron confusedly.
The two brushed it off as nothing and returned to their silence. Arm in arm, they comforted each other with warm forced smiles. It broke Heather’s heart to see that her two best friends were in so much pain, because of her. She moved quietly by them and stood, watching them both. She wanted to throw the cloak off and hug them both so badly that she didn’t care about the pain it would cause them. It was best this way.
Suddenly, the loud booming voice of Albus Dumbledore echoed across the castle, reaching every corner of the school. Every wizard, witch, goblin and elf jumped, looking around and startled by the sudden announcement.
‘’Hogwarts is threatened!’’ bellowed the thundering voice of Dumbledore. ‘’A dark force has penetrated the castle walls. Every student is to go to their dormitories immediately and remain there until further instruction!’’
His voice then drained out and there was silence. The castle was still and quite, everything suddenly changing from normal to unnatural. Not a word was uttered by anybody as they received the shocking news. Students gazed at each other, terrified. The announcement repeated once again.
Heather stood, feeling herself becoming weaker. Ron and Hermione looked at each other as the feeling of terror and shock dawned upon them.
‘’Heather,’’ they said simultaneously.
They then slid out of the ledge and broke into a sprint down the corridor leaving Heather standing alone and invisible. Her mind was racing. For a quick second she felt like acting out against this ‘’dark force’’ but then she remembered it was her who was the threat. It was all so surreal. For a moment she even forgot that she was dying.
She continued to move down the corridor, hunch backed and panting heavily. She walked out onto a hall packed with hundreds of students pushing and shoving their way to the dormitories. The loud shrieks of panic sent shivers down her spine. The sound of a hundred voices shouting and roaring caused chaos and pandemonium. The Professors, head-boys and girls tried desperately to keep order but it was impossible. It was a riot that nobody could control.
Heather turned and took a flight of stairs up onto the next floor. She opened the wooden door and stepped onto an empty corridor. The loud roars and screams of students drained out as the door slammed behind her. She was left in silence; all to be heard was the distant wind whistling. The long corridor joined onto the clock tower. She stared down the hallway which seemed to stretch on forever. She felt that it was the walk between life and death. She didn’t want to move. She felt like waiting there forever.
The amulet slipped further into her chest, causing her to wince. It should have been painful but it was not. She looked down, her eyes closed muttering to herself, ‘’don’t be afraid.’’
And she set off. She let the cloak slip off of her body as she marched mournfully towards the end of her life. There was no sound, nothing but deafening silence as she walked closer to the end of the hall. Her body and mind felt oddly disconnected now, her limbs working without conscious instruction, as if she were a passenger, not driver, in the body she was about to leave.
Then, a cruel stinging sensation engulfed her entire body. This time she fell flat on the floor, screaming and writhing, feeling as if her insides were burning and melting. She thought it would never end as the pain excelled to horrible heights. She wasn’t going to go out like this, not like a weakling. She gathered herself up and shakily stood on her two feet, her arm wrapped around her aching sides. She stumbled and slipped towards the door at the end of the hall, groaning tearfully.
The pain died down slightly as she opened the door and stepped inside the cold breezy tower. She looked up, thankful she didn’t have far to climb. She turned to the stone steps and placed her foot on the first, beginning the ascension to towards death. She walked up each step, feeling her body becoming more disconnected until she reached the large steel bell, hanging behind the cogs and gears of the gigantic clock face.
She walked around it several times, tears streaming down her cold stiff face. She placed her hand on her chest to feel the amulet. It was gone. It had sunken into her body completely. She felt her heart pounding harder than ever as if it were trying to make up for the rest of its could-have-been life. She looked down to see that her hands were emitting an emerald glow. She looked up again, trying to be brave. She limped towards the clock, facing the half hidden view of the distant mountains. Wind blew her hair back as it caressed her skin. She closed her eyes tight, waiting for it to happen.
‘’I don’t want to die,’’ she said shakily.
Her face then lit up, emitting an emerald glow like her hands. It was her choice when to die and it felt like she was on the edge of a cliff, hesitating to do something she didn’t want to die. She looked around at her body one last time then looked up, water filling her eyelids as she stared out at the sun, sinking down behind the tall green distant mountains. This is it…
Heather’s head flung back and her arms held upright like a star as streams of bright green magic burst like a cannon violently out from her hands and head. The clock tower shook, making debris and dust fall from the ceiling, rocking the very structure to its foundations. The entire castle heard as everybody’s heads turned to the tower.
All Heather could see was warm green flowing energy as her chest pounded in and out. She screamed loudly, as if she were in labour sending pulses of energy throughout her entire body. Then, in her eyes she saw memories flash before her eyes. Laughing with Ron and Hermione, hugging Sirius, Dumbledore nodding warmly to him from across the great hall, the picture of his mother and father waltzing and so suddenly, very quickly, for Harry James Potter there was nothing …
It was quicker and easier than falling asleep.
The body that used to belong to Harry was hidden behind a blinding green glow. The tower continued to rattle and the noise of falling debris was drained out by a loud horrid scream. Beams of energy flowing from her arms and head vaporised large chunks off of the stonework. The figure screamed as the light formed into mist. Emerald wailed as she took control her new body at long last.
Then, emerging from the green mist, was an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a woman, tall and elegantly thin, rising out of a green mist.
Alys, the Emerald Witch, examined her body. Her long, slender fingers caressed her own chest, her arms, her face; the emerald green eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cats, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness. She held up her hands and flexed the fingers, her expression rapt and exultant. She looked nearly the same as before bar the piercing eyes and the air of darkness that surrounded her cold merciless expression.
Dark wisps of matter floated about the green mist like fabric underwater. They were drawn to Alys’ body. They attached to her Gryffindor uniform, forming new robes and clothing around her thin body. The uniform vanished, being replaced with an ankle length jet-black dress, sleeveless and v-necked. High heeled boots, tight black corset, elbow length sleeves and a long black hooded cloak.
The green mist swept away and Alys took her first step. A slight smile formed across her face, a look of achievement, an expression of fulfilment. She had returned. She chuckled to herself, delighted that everything went to plan after so many centuries.
She walked around the steel bell, barely hanging from the hinges of the greatly damaged tower. She felt alive and in control of her own body. She no longer had to share with another, living off an engaged body like some sort of wretched parasite. She truly had returned to life.
The wind whistled eerily through the large steel clock, a complete contrast to the loud noise of destruction just moments ago. The sky was nearly dark as dusk turned into night. The moon loomed out of the dark sky as stars scattered across the deep navy sea. The entire castle was still, everyone held their breaths, waiting for something else abnormal to happen.
Alys continued to smile as her hand slipped inside her robes. She slowly drew the wand that used to belong to Harry Potter and lifted it up, admiring its simple, yet powerful capabilities. She bent it slightly and raised it to her ear.
‘’Holly,’’ she whispered. ‘’Phoenix feather.’’
She gave a toothy smile as she turned for the balcony to her right, the wind blowing against her long white hair, caressing her soft skin, filling her with new life. She walked slowly to the balcony, gripping her new wand firmly. She stepped outside, feeling a powerful gust of cold wind blow against her robes. She looked over the castle, beaming darkly from ear to ear. She raised her wand majestically and pointed it straight up, cackling manically as green lightning ignited from the tip of her wand, building up and firing up into the sky like a loud cannon ball. Her green lightening flashed amongst the dark clouds, the faint image of a face, flashing every nanosecond.
It was as if the castle had turned into an insane asylum. The atmosphere was chaotic as every living soul in the castle felt a cold stab of terror press unto them. Students became violent, punching and hexing their way through the crowds in order to get to the common room. People were wedged inside doorframes, struggling to get through as the Professors tried desperately to keep order. Dumbledore’s emergency message kept repeating, as if it were recorded, echoing throughout the corridors.
‘’Hogwarts is threatened! A dark force has penetrated the castle walls. Every student is to go to their dormitories immediately and remain there until further instruction!’’
‘’Hufflepuffs! STOP PUSHING!’’ cried Professor Sprout, caught within the mayhem.
The only house orderly enough to make it to the common room entrance was Gryffindor. Hundreds of students filled the corridors, some quivering with fear, others wanting to fight, and some simply wanting to be safe. The head-boy stood beside The Fat Lady portrait, a quick quotes quill ticking off each name of the student as they flooded into the hole rapidly. Ron and Hermione were the only two absent.
They were running; running as fast as they could towards the clock tower, skidding around corners at high speeds, panting and puffing as they gasped for air. Hermione was much faster as she sprinted up the staircase and pushed through wooden door, legging it as fast as she could down the long corridor that connected to the tower. Ron followed, exhausted and fatigued. He was carrying something in his hand.
‘’Hermione!’’ he gasped breathlessly. ‘’Look!’’
She turned to him to see that he had his hand out.
‘’What?’’ she said, raising her brow with confusion.
‘’It’s Harry’s cloak!’’ he said sacredly. ‘’I nearly tripped over it on the way here!’’
Hermione looked into Ron’s worried eyes as she prepared herself for the worst. They both stepped inside the clock tower.
It was like a ghostly ruin. The roof had been half blown off, large chunks of debris was scattered everywhere. Wind blew through the gaping holes torn in the side of the tower and dust blanketed everything solid. Hermione’s heart pounded against her chest as she looked up at the bell which was barely hanging from the latch. Ron stood by her side, his eyes wide and emotive as he stared up. Then, their hands touched. Hermione’s head turned to Ron and he nodded gently to her.
They climbed the stone steps one by one, hand in hand, fearful of what they might find at the top of the tower. Hermione’s breathing became shaky and tearful as they ascended further up the tower, coming closer by the second. They reached the top to find nothing but debris and a powerful gust of wind blowing in from the west. They walked around the eerily silent place observing every detail. Ron was the first to speak.
‘’Where is she?’’ said Ron. ‘’Where is Heather?’’
Hermione already knew what happened and it crashed upon her like an explosive wave of pain. Emerald had taken complete hold and her best friend was dead.
‘’Do you think Heath — Harry has -,’’
‘’Don’t!’’ cried Hermione.
She then ran to him and cried into his shoulder as the revelation dawned upon them both. Harry had died because of the curse. Ron wrapped his arms around her, shaking his head as he shut his eyes tightly.
‘’No!’’ he kept repeating. ‘’No, no, no! This isn’t supposed to happen!’’
Alys was elsewhere in the castle, walking down alongside the main entrance corridor with her hood up and her wand drawn. She had a look of determination on her face, a slight smile, an expression that said kill. She swept around the front courtyard loving the screaming of panicking students in the distance. Her boot heels clomped against the stone cobbled ground as she walked down a long pathway leading to the main entrance doors. She was breathing through her nose like a fiery dragon about to consume its prey.
Then, in the distance somebody was running towards her. Draco Malfoy, looking utterly petrified and panicked as he looked over his shoulder. He noticed Alys and his face formed into a wide smile of relief. Thinking she was Heather, Malfoy ran to Alys and gripped her in a tight hug. He surely signed his own death warrant.
‘’Darling, I was looking for you everywhere! We have to get inside now, the doors are closing and I don’t want to die tonight. We have to get out of here!’’ he said gasping, pulling down Alys’ hood.
He stood back, looking at Alys from head to toe, noticing that his ‘girlfriend’ wasn’t acting quite normal.
‘’W-Why are you dressed like that?’’ he stuttered as fear built up inside him.
Alys didn’t reply. She just stared at Malfoy straight in the eyes with her piercing cat-like eyes. Terror fell upon Malfoy like a cold wave of ice as he realised that the castles threat was standing in front of him. She had trapped him in a seemingly never ending gaze. Her stare horrified him but he couldn’t turn away, he wish he could but he couldn’t. Alys broke the gaze by walking by him, leaving him frozen and stiff.
When she disappeared around the corner, Malfoy gasped as he felt a strange tingling sensation engulf his entire body. He looked down to see the chest of his jumper tightening and the sides of his blonde hair growing rapidly. He let out a petrified scream of terror, echoing across the castle. His shoulders dropped in broadness and his stomach pressed in causing him to gasp for air. His thighs widened, his behind grew out and his legs grew long and slender. He raised his hands shakily to his eyes to see his hands were smaller and his nails were longer.
‘’Nooooooo!’’ he shrieked.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore was in his office, leaning up against the marble pillar beside the Pensieve, his face looking older, paler and sunken. His eyes glistened behind his half moon spectacles perched upon his long crooked nose as he stared into the basin. The image of an eleven year old Harry sitting on the stool with the sorting hat placed upon his head swirled about like dark ink liquid. He hummed mournfully as he clenched his chest, feeling that something special was lost.
The wooden door swung open, crashing against the wall as Professor Snape loomed through, his jet-black robes flaring like the wings of a bat. He was followed by Professor McGonagall who fixed herself upright and fierce. Dumbledore turned away from the Pensieve and faced them both.
‘’Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin students are being checked into their common rooms as we speak,’’ said Snape, dead and unanimated.
Dumbledore nodded and simply said, ‘’good’’
‘’However,’’ Snape added. ‘’The probability that every single student will comply by these obscure emergency procedures is and seems very unlikely.’’
Dumbledore said nothing.
‘’To hide over a thousand students away within a matter of minutes is near impossible!’’ said McGonagall, wide eyed and outraged.
McGonagall moved around the office, her eyes bulging and emotional. She looked as if she was choking back the tears, attempting to retain her tough demeanour. She faced Dumbledore in silence, Snape standing in the background. The old Headmaster looked unusually calm about the entire situation and as a result it made McGonagall feel enraged.
‘’Just look at what you have brought upon this school,’’ she said in a stiff cold tone. ‘’Because of you refusing to take action against this dark curse inflicted on the Potter boy you have sentenced Hogwarts and its inhabitants to death.’’
‘’…Minerva,’’ said Dumbledore, raising his hand slightly to speak.
‘’You were meant to protect the boy! After all he has been through you sat by and watched him slowly die by hands of this dreaded curse!’’ said McGonagall shakily.
Snape was silent, knowing that he was as much to blame as Dumbledore seeing as he once agreed with his actions in the first place. He stared into a trance, feeling alien emotions welling up inside him.
Harry Potter, dead?
‘’I trusted you. We all did because we foolishly believed in you once again Albus,’’ bellowed McGonagall. ‘’Why is it that you have waited until now, until we were barely hanging on a thread, to take action, when it was too late?!’’
She took a moment to stop and breathe as she waited for Dumbledore to say something back. But he didn’t. He stood rooted to the spot, his eyes hidden behind the glare of his spectacles. If anybody could take a guess his eyes would most certainly be watery.
‘’Harry is not dead,’’ said Dumbledore softly. ‘’He will come through, I am certain of it and I stand by my actions as always, Minerva.’’
It was obvious that McGonagall couldn’t believe what she was hearing as her mouth hung open with shock. Yet she continued to listen.
‘’However,’’ added Dumbledore. ‘’I will take full responsibility if any living soul within the castle harmed tonight. I will face The Emerald Witch myself and I will redeem Harry to his former self.’’
‘’You assume too much Albus!’’ bellowed McGonagall. ‘’If what I’ve heard about this curse is true then I’m afraid Harry Potter has truly passed on!’’
‘’He is not DEAD!’’ bellowed Dumbledore.
He swept past Snape and McGonagall, carrying his long cloak with his two hands with a mixture of remorse, denial and duty on his face. Snape shook his head as his eyes followed Dumbledore across the room to the door.
‘’No, you can’t!’’ protested Snape.
Dumbledore turned his head before opening the door to listen to what Snape had to say.
‘’Albus, I must employ you to reconsider your options. Do not underestimate the power of Emerald. If the legend of her strength is true then I’m afraid you won’t stand much of a chance,’’ said Snape.
‘’All along we have been given a choice Severus, only one, we have no other.’’
He then left Snape and McGonagall alone in the office.
‘’I have no idea what has gotten into him recently,’’ said McGonagall. ‘’Perhaps his brilliance has long passed with time.’’
Snape didn’t say anything. He stared at the shut door Dumbledore had just walked through as if he were looking down over a cliff ready to jump but hesitant at the same time. The dust on in the air surrounding the door frame has not yet settled. He took a step forward followed by another.
‘’What are you doing Severus?’’ asked McGonagall worriedly.
‘’I’m going to help the Headmaster destroy The Emerald Witch once and for all.’’
***
Emerald stood outside the large wooden doors, towering fifteen feet above her. They were shut tight and protected by transparent magical barriers. She stood darkly, her face hidden and her wand resting snugly between her fingers. She drew her arm back as if it were an elastic slingshot, building up power within her wand. Then, a loud crash shook the very foundations of the castle as black streams of magic ignited from the tip of her wand like a canon. The forceful impact threw the huge doors off of their hinges with one swift crash, creating a large cloud of dust within the entrance hall.
She stepped inside the castle. The clomping of her heels against the stone floor bounced off of the walls creating a loud echo. The castle was almost silent. The only sound to be heard was the distant rush of students. She looked ahead through the dark musty dust. She brushed it all aside with the flick of her wand.
It was as if no soul had stepped inside the castle for thousands of years. The ghostly cries of students were eerie and a little disturbing to listen to. Alys’ eyes trailed around the castle walls, the suits the armour, the empty canvass hanging on the wall, the coat or arms engraved in stone above the Great Hall doors atop the stairs.
Alys growled under her breath as she walked up the stone steps. She waved her wand at the Great Hall doors and they opened themselves. She walked into the hall and stared straight ahead. The candles floated beneath the night sky, flickering as if everything was warm and cosy. But it most certainly was not.
She walked down the middle aisle, her heels clomping against the floor like heavy threatening boots. She reached the large windows behind the teachers table and looked up. She exhaled a massive breath of fulfilment. She was still basking in the pleasures of returning to full form. She was savouring the moment.
Then, she felt the presence of another, Albus Dumbledore. He stood at the opposite end of the hall with his wand drawn, not a shred of fear on his old worn face. Alys didn’t look over her shoulder but she knew well who was there.
‘’So you’ve come fight me?’’ said Alys coolly.
‘’If there were better circumstances then I would not battle you Emerald,’’ said Dumbledore calmly. ‘’But unfortunately you have left me with no other option.’’
Alys inhaled the presence of the old wizard as if she could feel his power swelling inside him.
‘’How does it feel to have the world atop of your weak old shoulders, Albus?’’ said Alys. ‘’To have so many people put their trust in you, to misuse your great power for the education of mudbloods and half breeds, to rest in a cradle of peace while you watch the grandeur of magical kind burn?’’
‘’You are in a different age now, Emerald,’’ said Dumbledore. ‘’A time of peace and harmony. I cannot let you tarnish that.’’
‘’Peace is a lie,’’ said Alys. ‘’You have accepted death Albus Dumbledore. I will make sure that it is quick and painless.’’
‘’I have fought your kind before and I can do it once again,’’ stated Dumbledore.
‘’Don’t be so certain!’’ snarled Alys finally turning to face him.
Something appeared from behind Dumbledore and caught him off guard. He turned and received a crashing blow to the face. He grunted in pain as he spun around. Another figure walloped him straight across the face, making him fall hard against the ground.
He rolled off of his back and looked up to see two identical Alys clones staring down upon him. They both moved close to one another and morphed into one. She raised her wand and fired the killing curse but Dumbledore vanished with a loud deafening crack.
‘’Avada Kedavra!’’ cried Alys.
She missed and the curse made a loud bang against the stone floor and Dumbledore apparated twenty feet from behind Alys. He fired a spell straight at her but she reacted and rebounded the curse right back at him. He stopped the ball of dark energy in midair and transformed it into a massive fiery phoenix with his hands. The phoenix shrieked loudly, flapping its flaming wings as it sent massive gusts of hot wind directly at Alys.
She was blown straight off of her feet and sent plummeting towards the stone wall. She crashed against the wall which sucked the very breath from her lungs. The phoenix darted directly towards her, screeching loudly as it went straight for its prey. Alys roared as she split the flaming bird in two and emerged from the flames enraged and infuriated.
Before Dumbledore could do anything else the tip of her wand ignited emerald sparks and exploded a massive stream of magic directly at the old Headmaster. He reacted by the nanosecond and fired his own identical spell, rather it was red. The two spells collided and flashed like lightening. The windows of the Great Hall shattered and imploded as the spells collided. The noise was deafening and could be heard all over the castle.
Alys’ laughed manically as she watched her spell slowly burn out Dumbledore’s. He began to look and feel unbalanced under the enormous pressure inflicted on his arm. Another wand slipped down Alys’ sleeve and into her left hand. Now with two wands, she fired her spare one up into the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. The starry night sky began to flash in green colour and spark bolts of violent thunder and lightning. The bolts smashed the remaining glass windows of the hall into tiny pieces and melted the wax candles floating in midair.
The loud brutal sounds of crashing and smashing echoed across the castle. Some cowered in fear whilst others were prepared to stand up and fight for their school. However, Ron and Hermione were not in the Gryffindor common room. They were legging it through the corridors as fast as they could.
‘’Hermione, slow down!’’ panted Ron.
The emerald bolts of lightning spread across the castle walls, creating a heavy static that threatened to kill every living thing. Ron couldn’t take his eyes off of the walls as he ran.
‘’Hermione,’’ whimpered Ron. ‘’What’s happening?’’
‘’Emerald is creating a binding force between her and the castle!’’ bellowed Hermione.
‘’Which means?’’
‘’She’s trying to turn the school on us by creating an army to oppose Dumbledore!’’ she said breathlessly. ‘’We’ve got to help!’’
Suddenly, the suits of armour began to move. They pulled their feet out of the stone floors, trailing copper wire behind as walked out onto the corridor. They were held together by the emerald force that Alys created with her second wand. Two suits of armour stepped out in front of Ron and Hermione and drew their swords and shields. Hermione screamed at first but she quickly acted by drawing her wand from her skirt. Ron did the same.
Alys’ spell was beating Dumbledore. The spell had weakened him so much that he was nearly on his knees as he stumbled from side to side. He cried in pain whilst Alys continued to cackled manically as the wizards distress.
Then, out of nowhere a loud booming voice bellowed ‘’EXPELLIARMUS!’’.
The wand pointed at Dumbledore flew out of Alys’ hand and gushed over her shoulder. She turned around to see Severus Snape standing at the hall entrance holding her wand in his left hand and his own in his right. Dumbledore gathered himself to his feet and rested his fingers once again around his own. Alys was distracted by Snape’s sudden appearance so Dumbledore fired another explosive spell towards her.
For a moment, a look of panic flashed on Alys face but then she doubled herself into two identical twins once again. Snape sent a fiery ball towards one of them but she vanished and appeared behind him, punched him across the face and retrieved her wand.
‘’Avada Kedavra!’’ cried Snape.
The lethal green spell shot over Alys’ shoulder, missing her ear only barely by a centimetre. She cackled in high pitched screech despite the fact she was almost killed outright.
‘’Is that all you’ve got?’’ she laughed.
The two broke out in a violent duel across the Great Hall whilst Dumbledore did the same.
Meanwhile, the castle was in chaos as students broke out of their dormitories to fight in the battle against the suits of armour which has turned on its own school under Alys’ evil Emerald curse. Students ran up and down the Grand Staircase, all with wands drawn, as did the portraits. The teachers tried to keep control but they knew it was useless. It was time to fight.
The suits swung swords, axes and maces at students as they fired defensive spells at them. Some missed and crashed there weaponry against the stone walls, sending massive chunks of debris across the corridors. Professor Flitwick was in the courtyard taking on three at once. To the surprise of some witnesses he raised them up in the air and crumpled each one into scrap metal as if they were made of paper.
Hermione and Ron took on theirs with great difficulty as they spent most of the time dodging the suits brutal attacks. Hermione rolled forward as the suit smashed its axe into the ground. Stuck, the suit pulled hard to wedge its weapon free from the stone ground. Hermione took advantage of the situation and bellowed ‘’BOMBARDA MAXIMA!’’ and the suit exploded into chunks of metal.
She had no time to rest as Ron was having difficulty with his own suit which was swinging its sword rapidly and swiftly like an out of control toy. All the ducking and jumping took its toll on his body as he was beginning to run short of breath. Hermione intervened.
‘’RON, DOWN!’’ she bellowed.
He turned around to see Hermione pointing her wand at where he was standing.
‘’Hermione, no!’’ he screamed.
‘’REDUCTO!’’
Ron immediately ducked down and the spell flew over his head, crashing into the chest plate of the suit and exploding into hundreds of tiny pieces. Then, there was silence. All to be heard was echoed sounds of the distant battle taking place over the rest of the castle. Ron gathered himself to his feet and looked at Hermione with his mouth hanging with shock.
Before he could say another word, the scrap metal that used to be the two suits of armour fused together by Alys’ emerald curse. Ron ran to Hermione’s side and watched the pieces of metal slide across the floor, attaching itself to the rapidly growing figure before them. Within seconds a suit of armour twice the size of the other two stood towering over them.
‘’Run?’’ suggested Ron, looking over at Hermione.
‘’Run,’’ she repeated, nodding breathlessly.
The two turned and ran away from the massive suit down the corridor. They legged it as fast as they could as the monstrous suit ran after them, swinging its mace around its masked lifeless head. The mace crashed into two large pillars which helped hold up the above floor. The ceiling fell down on top of the suit, seemingly crushing it under the enormous weight of the rock.
Ron and Hermione stopped running and turned around, panting with exhaustion. They looked at the pile of rock and stone in front of them glad that the monster was destroyed. Then, the pile moved and the suit emerged once again from the dusty debris swinging its mace.
They both sighed and continued to run away.
On the other side of the castle students had a much harder time battling the stone statues which were supposed to protect the school but Emerald’s spell had corrupted them to do her bidding. Professor McGonagall blew one of the statues to dust whilst Professor Sprout had difficulty with a suit and a stone statue at once. Hagrid wrestled a suit to the ground and violently ripped its helmet off which supposedly killed it.
A blonde haired girl in an oversized Slytherin uniform ran through the chaos covering her chest and face as if she were some sort of freak. But at that current moment nobody took notice of her. She ran into a group of busy Slytherin girls watching the violence as if it were an entertaining show put on for them. The blonde girl began shouting random gibberish about being turned into a girl by Heather Potter and how she was really Draco Malfoy.
‘’Yeah right crazy little cow!’’ said Daphne Greengrass. ‘’Now get out of our way, you’re blocking all the fun!’’
Suddenly, a suit of armour flew towards the group of girls. They all just stood there screaming and running away like cowards.
In the Great Hall, Dumbledore and Snape were fighting valiantly against the Alys clones. Alys and Snape stopped for a moment before lifting their wands simultaneously and firing the killing curse at each other. The loud crash of the spells colliding burst the ear drums of many nearby students and caused a bright white flash. The force of Emerald’s power was clearly seen as Snape struggled to keep on his feet. Alys was beaming widely from ear to ear, grinning psychotically as she felt the full strength of her long lost power. Her cat-like eyes rolled back into her head as she moved up the aisle, forcing her spell unto Snape.
The two clones morphed back into one and Alys was fighting two powerful wizards at once. Her right hand wand was focused on Dumbledore whilst the other was on Snape. Her killing curse was rapidly decreasing the power of Snape’s spell as the green streams of magic neared his wand. His face turned paler than ever as he stared at certain death straight in the face. Dumbledore broke Alys’ killing curse and turned it back on her. She dodged it with acrobatic ability as if she could see it coming at her slowly. There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air — instantaneously Snape fell to the ground, unmarked, but unmistakably dead.
Suddenly, everything seemed to be suspended in slow motion. Dumbledore watched in horror as his faithful friend fell to the ground like a ragdoll. His eyes welled up passionately as his mouth remained tight-lipped and shaken. He showed no sign of anger as he stared at Snape’s body in the distance. Alys cackled as she turned to look at the Headmaster.
‘’Did I kill your friend Dumbledore?’’ she said as if she had just made an innocent mistake. ‘’Do you want to join him? Just give in! It is useless to resist!’’
Dumbledore simply stared at her and said, ‘’Never.’’
Alys then broke into a sprint towards Dumbledore firing thundering spells at him whilst he blocked and rebounded them straight back at her but she only absorbed them. She leapt atop of the old wizard and vanished into thin air, taking the old wizard along with her.
All space ripped open with a loud bang as Alys and Dumbledore popped into existence atop the astronomy tower. She walloped him across the face and he slammed against the metal grating of balcony. He grunted as he picked himself up to his feet, the gushing wind from outside blowing his long beard sideways. Alys watched as she allowed him to stand, confident that she could knock him over again.
Meanwhile, as the battle raged on across the castle students put all they could into destroying the suits and statues. Luckily there were almost no deaths but many were seriously injured or just skimmed being killed by a thread. One poor Ravenclaw has his whole arm sliced off by an axe. Another unfortunate Gryffindor’s legs were crushed by debris and one Hufflepuff suffered the excruciating pain of the having steel lodged in her back. The sounds of banging, smashing and explosives echoed across the halls and corridors. The screams and cries of students were searing to the brain and many were suffering from hearing loss due to loudness of the steel suits exploding coupled with the cries for mercy. All of the possessed suits must have been destroyed twice over but they continued to return fiercer and stronger than ever.
Peeves flew about the castle with a war horn chanting, ‘’the suits are coming, the suits are coming!’’ over and over again like a broken record. Nearly Headless Nick floated about attempting to stab one of the suits of armour, obviously failing because of his dead state.
Professor Trelawney observed the horror from her classroom window, shaking and unable to bring herself to fight.
Cho Chang was seen being thumped across the face by one suits swift metal arm. She jumped to her feet and ultimately destroyed it with one flick of her wand.
Fred and George Weasley ran around the corridors with their wands at the ready. They ran straight past Snape’s potions store room which was left wide open. Fred stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the open door as if it were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
‘’George, come quick!’’ he bellowed.
‘’What is it Fred?’’ he said, joining his brothers side.
Fred raised his finger and pointed it at the open store room.
‘’You thinking what I’m thinking then Fred?’’ grinned George.
‘’I sure hope so George!’’ smiled Fred.
Ron and Hermione fought their way through the corridors with massive difficulty. They met up with Neville and Luna who seemed to be proving themselves as quite the fighters. The matter was increasingly getting more serious as the Auror’s office intervened and began to apparate across the castle, one by one, wands at the ready for battle.
Hedwig darted in and around the chaos searching for her master, Harry. She squawked mournfully as she glided over the battle with her yellow eyes trailing around. In the courtyard over two dozen students each took on a suit of armour to themselves. Some were thrown and flailed by the metallic monsters whilst other successfully took them down with explosive spells and curses.
‘’I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up!’’ cried McGonagall to Professor Flitwick. ‘’If Dumbledore and Snape don’t stop the Emerald Witch then there won’t be any school to go back to!’’
She, nor did anyone else know about Snape was lying dead on the Great Hall floor.
Suddenly, the roof of the castle burst open, sending chunks of wood and stone falling down upon the courtyard. The huge chunks of debris smashed into the cobbled ground as students screamed. They dodged the falling rubble and ran to find cover. Then, something massive rose out of the dusty hole in the roof. A loud droning horn shook the very foundations of the castle as a giant armoured suit titan climbed out of the gaping hole in the castle. It must have been over twenty feet tall, seven feet wide and was built up with scrap steel bound together by Emeralds hex. Some students screamed and ran away for cover from the huge titan whereas most put themselves into a brave fighting stance with their wands at the ready.
The titan swung its mace over its head and let out another loud drone that sounded like a ship horn. Many Auror’s apparated to the scene. A tall dark man dressed in purple robes, Kingsley Shacklebolt and a young woman dressed youthfully with pink hair, Nymphadora Tonks appeared out of nowhere and stared up at the titan which was beginning to take its first steps.
‘’Any suggestions?’’ said Tonks, gasping for air as she had obviously been very busy at her previous post.
‘’I suggest we get more backup,’’ said Kingsley, rubbing his sweaty bald head, ‘’and fast,’’ he added.
Inside the castle Mad-Eye Moody was facing six stone statues marching towards him. He was alone but not a shred of fear was prominent on his worn beaten face. His magical eye swirled about excitedly as he gave a hearty growl.
‘’By Merlin Dumbledore,’’ he grunted fiercely to himself. ‘’What have you been keeping from us?’’
He slammed his staff on the ground which sent a powerful force at the statues. They all lost their balance and fell to the floor like a sack of rocks. Moody then gave a quick swift of his wand and without saying a word the statues imploded into dust. Moody then coughed, turned around and limped down the corridor leading to outside to investigate all the commotion coming from the courtyard.
The titan swung its mace as it stampeded across the courtyard, smashing and crumbling the stone walls as if they were made of cardboard. It roared furiously as Tonks fired a boulder straight into its big metallic head. It swayed from side to side but it regained its balance and continued to wreck havoc on the school.
As this happened Alys and Dumbledore stood facing one another atop of the astronomy tower as the wind gushed in and out between them. The distant sounds of the battle below them were transmitted to their ears. Dumbledore looked older than ever, feeble yet strong and warrior-like. His face was blackened with blood and soot, his robes were torn and his beard had become wired. It was remarkable how he managed to keep his cool after he accidently murdered Professor Snape. Not a shred of guilt, fear and anger on his face.
Alys looked confident, cold and a little impatient as she stood in her robes, her boots and dual wands waiting to finish off the old Headmaster.
‘’Why?’’ asked Dumbledore simply as he strained in agony.
‘’Why what?!’’ snapped Alys sharply.
‘’Why -,’’ started Dumbledore, licking his lips and swallowing hard, ‘’ — why have you forsaken innocent children to this horrible fate. You should have left it between you and I to handle. There was no need to set an army on the school.’’
‘’There is only one way to get the attention of the ministry, slaughter of the innocent; once the battle is brought to me this world will burn under my powers. After centuries of being a broken soul, living off of people like some sort of — parasite!’’ spat Alys. ‘’But now, my chains have been broken and I am set free. This castle will rebuilt to become my fortress! It will begin here, tonight! The birth of a new era, one coloured in emerald!’’
‘’Yes, but I think you misunderstand me,’’ said Dumbledore. ‘’Why Harry?’’
It was as it Dumbledore and Alys were the only two people in the universe, eternally locked in a piercing gaze as the wind whistled in an unearthly fashion.
‘’I sensed much potential in him to build upon my strengths,’’ said Alys coldly. ‘’But I was wrong. He was weak, feeble and unworthy.’’
Surprisingly, Dumbledore chuckled.
‘’Do you have any idea who he was?’’ asked Dumbledore. ‘’In all those years roaming the earth did the name Harry Potter never reach your ears?’’
‘’I don’t remember much from my time as a phantom!’’ shot Alys. ‘’I was broken, a piece of what I used to be!’’
‘’And now you’re all better?’’ said Dumbledore humorously raising his brow.
He began to stroke his beard and pace up and down the room. His casual behaviour made Alys feel disgusted and frustrated She was used to frightening the life out of people but she couldn’t seem to shake this old wizard.
‘’Like I said to you before Emerald, you have brought yourself into a new age,’’ said Dumbledore.
Alys’ cat-like eyes followed Dumbledore around the room.
‘’By choosing Harry as a new body, as a host or a victim in this case you have doomed yourself Emerald,’’ smiled Dumbledore. ‘’Harry survived the killing curse by one of the darkest and most powerful wizards of all time. I’m almost certain that he can survive a matter of changing bodies.’’
‘’What has this got to do with anything?’’ shrieked Alys. ‘’Potter’s dead, I can feel it, he passed onwards!’’
‘’Maybe so,’’ hummed Dumbledore sadly. ‘’But always remember that if you are lucky enough to murder me, turn Hogwarts into your fortress and overthrow the ministry you will live the rest of your life in constant fear that Harry will return to consciousness.’’
‘’HE. IS. DEAD!’’ cried Alys at the top of her lungs. ‘’Can’t you see?! You are in denial!’’
‘’No Emerald, I am afraid that it is you in denial. Harry will return Emerald,’’ said Dumbledore. ‘’After all, he is The Boy Who Lived!’’
Alys let out a horrible shriek that would burst the eardrums of any unfortunate nearby. She lunged forward like a bat and tore into Dumbledore’s body. All to be seen between the two struggling figures was their robes flailing about as they flung over the balcony edge and they plummeted towards the earth. Dumbledore roared as he attempted to free himself from Alys’ strong grip on him but she refused. She screamed in his face as the overpowering gust blocked out all hearing. Then, a loud crack sounded and they both vanished into thin air once again.
Meanwhile, Ron was running through the corridor as fast as he could with a weeping look on his face. An army of stone statues were running after him, throwing spears and firing axes. He ran crookedly as he tried desperately to avoid the attacks. He quickly shot a curse over his shoulder.
‘’REDUCTO MAXIMA!’’
He missed.
His long skinny face was red with panic as he panted for air. He skidded around a corner and ran straight into a pretty blonde haired girl, Malfoy. She was crying her eyes out and panicking up to and beyond dangerous heights. Ron didn’t have time to ask who she was so he grabbed her hand and pulled her down the corridor as they ran for their lives. Tears streamed back Malfoy’s pale cheeks as her long blonde hair blew back like a flag, her breasts jumping and her running awkward and clumsy.
‘’What do you think you’re doing -,’’ bellowed Ron as he fired another curse over his shoulder, ‘’ - wandering down a corridor on your own?! Have you seen what’s going on?!’’
‘’Let go of me Weasley!’’ shrieked the girl.
‘’Not until you’re -,’’ Ron panted for air, ‘’ — not until you’re safe!’’
It was then that somebody growled, ‘’Get down you bloody idiots!’’
Ron dived straight onto his stomach, taking Malfoy with him. They covered their heads as a thunderous force flew over their heads and hit the army of stone statues all at once. A loud explosion threw them across the floor like two ragdolls. Malfoy’s echoed screams was all Ron could hear behind the ringing in his ear. He looked up to Mad-Eye limp towards them with his staff clomping against the stone for extra support. He gripped Ron by the scruff of the neck and lifted him to his feet.
‘’You alright son?’’ he asked.
Ron nodded as he squinted. His vision was blurred and uneven. He found it difficult to stand after the explosion.
‘’And you miss?’’ asked Mad-Eye, turning to Malfoy.
‘’Who are you calling miss your mad old git?’’ snapped Malfoy.
It was as if Ron had suddenly snapped out of his blurred daze as his head quickly turned to the blonde haired girl.
‘’Malfoy?’’ gasped Ron.
Malfoy turned red as if she had just remembered what had happened to her. She looked down at her chest before nodding sorrowfully. She looked as if she were about to cry but then her face wrinkled up into the classic Draco sneer.
‘’It was Potter!’’ she snapped. ‘’He did this to me! He made me — me — t-this!’’
Ron was suddenly reminded of Harry. If Malfoy had one he could clearly see Ron’s heart rip in two as his eyes began to water.
‘’He’s dead,’’ Ron put it simply.
The enormous titan was no longer in the courtyard, it was on the roof! It forcefully swung its mace into the side of Gryffindor tower. A huge chunk was taken from the side of the building and it began to creak due to lack of foundation. The titan let out another deafening drone before beginning to swing its mace again.
In the distant night sky a fleet of brooms flew towards the castle. They were Auror’s from the ministry.
‘’Alright men,’’ bellowed the captain of the fleet. ‘’Attack the beast centre eye!’’
They all broke apart and scattered around the castle roof, zooming in and around the titan like ants. Brooms whooshed from all angles as dozens of spells were fired at the metallic monster. It swung its arm in front of six Auror’s and they all fell off of their brooms and fell to their deaths.
It was like a fireworks display above Hogwarts as banging and flashing was targeted at the titan. But it was no use. It was much too strong. The sky began to darken as clouds gathered. A storm was coming. And fast.
Meanwhile on the massive stone aqueduct that bridged the castle to the rest of the world a loud cracking noise popped and Dumbledore and Alys apparated into existence. The dark night clouds continued to come together, blocking the bright moon from view. Suddenly, it becomes very dark as the sky rips open. The wind howled violently as rain, thunder and lightning began. The battle continued inside and outside the castle. The massive steel titan continued to pounds its mace into Gryffindor tower and the students and teachers carried on the fight against the statues.
It was Hogwarts most desperate hour.
Dumbledore picked himself up from the stone ground as the rain began to pour down upon him. He straightened up, swaying backwards due to his heavy injuries. Alys was finally starting to show signs of battle damage as her robes and clothing were ripped, her left arm was all bloodied and her face was bruised.
They didn’t say anything to one another as they began to duel once again.
Alys fired first followed by Dumbledore’s quick reaction. He blocked it. The rain was pelting down on them now as the sky flashed violently. Alys screamed as she fired the killing curse at Dumbledore but he rebounded it back onto her. She flipped sideways, dodging the rebound. She then raised her wand into the air and drew electricity from the sky. She formed a deadly orb of lightning and sent it flying at the Headmaster. He raised his hand and stopped it in mid air. He then doubled the power and sent it hurdling towards Alys’ chest. Miraculously, it hit her and she stumbled sideways.
She got back up onto her feet, infuriated as she fired dozens of spells at once. Dumbledore shielded himself with a force field conjured by the tip of his wand. Alys then summoned a huge amount of electricity from the sky and filtered it straight into her wand. Her eyes gaped psychotically as her second wand cracked open due to the huge amount of power passing through it. The lightening passed into her wand, through her body and out through her other wand pointed at Dumbledore. It charged up like a slingshot before firing the electricity at the Headmaster. The forceful lightening collided with Dumbledore’s killing curse and the entire bridge suddenly pulsed.
‘’Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeegh!’’ shrieked Alys as the electricity passed through her body.
Her hair began to float about as if she were under water. Her eyes lit up green and her veins suddenly began to glow in emerald. Her nails seemed to become longer and her teeth began to sharpen as a demonic expression formed across her once beautiful face. Horns grew out of her forehead as her height increased dramatically. Through the flashing and crashing Alys could be seen growing to an enormous eight feet.
Dumbledore didn’t stand a chance as he was too roaring, but in agony as the electricity rapidly drained out the power of his curse. The bridge began to shake and the very foundations began to crumble. The sounds of the distant battle could no longer be heard over the excruciatingly loud sounds of thunder and destruction. The bridge began to slowly collapse, rocks falling into the canyon below and vibrations pulsing through the stone.
Alys drew more and more electricity from the sky as her body transformed. She roared in what sounded like ten monstrous voices distorted and overlapped.
‘’YOU WILL BURNNNNNNN!’’ she screamed manically.
Dumbledore knew it was over. He had failed and The Emerald Witch had won. Beneath all the noise and mayhem he whispered, ‘’I’m sorry Harry. I have failed.’’
Then, everything stopped. It was as if time and space was forever suspended in a quite trance. The electricity and the battle in the castle stopped and Dumbledore fell down to his knees, weak and beaten by the force of nature as he gasped for breath.
Through the pouring rain and darkness he could see Alys standing in full demonic form looking down at her body. She then looked up to Dumbledore, her eyes completely green and expressionless. Slowly her skin began to peel and burn like ash. She didn’t scream. She could only wretch as if she could no longer breathe. Her cold echoed voice shrieked as her appearance painfully burned away.
‘’Noooooo!’’ she cried. ‘’Nooooooooooooo!’’
Her height decreased and the amulet buried in her chest began to pull itself out. Her skin burned away to horrifying screams whilst Dumbledore watched through the pouring rain. As her flesh melted another person was revealed below, Heather, before falling face down, dead.
A dark figure stood behind her. Dumbledore squinted as he tried to make out his rescuer. He had long lost his spectacles earlier in the duel. Then, over the body stepped Professor Snape holding his wand upright.
‘’It worked,’’ said Snape, not believing what he had just done.
Dumbledore didn’t say a word as he gathered himself to his feet. Rain drops poured down his old face and into his soaked wet beard as he approached Snape and the body of Heather. They both looked down on her. The curse was broken but her body still remained female, a common side effect to people dying whilst under the influence of a curse of potion. Her hair returned to its natural black and her lightning bolt scar was back, etched into her forehead, reminding people who she was.
‘’He is dead,’’ said Snape, looking as if his black inky eyes were about to finally tear up.
Dumbledore didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. He leant down at Heather’s side and touched her forehead. She was so cold, so stiff, and so lifeless. A warm tear dripped down from Dumbledore’s eye and landed next to Heather’s body. Snape, due to exhaustion and distress fell back onto a rock as disbelief engulfed his face.
The rain didn’t stop to rest for one second. It seemed colder than ever before. The battle had stopped in the castle. The titan fell from the roof and crashed onto the ground, the stone statues froze and the suits or armour collapsed.
The Emerald Witch was dead.
‘’I have failed Harry,’’ said Dumbledore under his breath. ‘’And I will never forgive myself.’’ Written by Lily Florette © All characters and settings are the property of J.K. Rowling © Don't forget to post your thoughts and comments!