Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Slayer, The Avatar And The Guardian Of Light
Chapter 87 - Whispers In The Dark
Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 2nd October 2001 AD
Country: Britain - Scotland
Location: Hogwarts - Gryffindor Sixth Year Girls Dormitory
Time: Night
Three days later, Gryffindor Sixth Year Girls Dormitory, midnight.
Hermione was restless, she has been since the kidnapping, everyone kept badgering her about her new power, power
that under other circumstances she would have been ecstatic about, but right now she just wished Adam and Ginny
were back so that things were back to normal.
Her class work particularly in Charms, Transfiguration and DADA had been a nightmare; in Charms they had been
having a revision lesson, when asked to summon a feather by Professor Flitwick she had ended up in the Hospital
Wing with the remains of the feather protruding from her stomach where it had imbedded itself at high speed.
The next time she had tried to summon the feather it exploded instead which although it wasn't really an
improvement from the spells point of view, at least meant that she hadn't ended up in bandages.
She rolled over and starred at the pulsating staff which according to McGonagall was hers until Adam's return.
"This is all your fault." she whispered.
She had observed that the pulses had grown fainter over the last couple of days, which she took as not being a good
sign.
Sleep finally claimed her and she began the dream that had repeated itself every night since the incident.
The dream begins:
She's wearing a long simple sleeveless white night gown, which is strange for a start as she doesn't own one.
She's in a large set of gardens bordering some steep cliffs; from what she can see of the rock it appeared to be
white like the cliffs of Dover but the surroundings was far too green for it to be England.
She walks to the edge and looks down at the sea crashing against the cliff base.
"Don't get too close." a voice behind her warns.
She turns and sees a large shallow pond in the middle of the gardens which given the fact that they were near some
very high cliffs was also very unusual. On the near edge of the lake was a solitary willow tree whose vines hung
out over the lakes waters and the lawn creating a secret area concealed by its leaves.
Under it only just visible through the veil of foliage sits a man.
He was about the same height as Adam (around six feet tall), had curly brown slightly reddish hair which was
slightly longer than normal so that it hung around his face, he also has blue eyes and is wearing a black shirt,
tie, trousers and shoes along with a black business coat. Exactly what Adam had been wearing the first time they
met.
"You don't want to cross that line....trust me."
"Who are you?" she asks walking towards him.
"I have many names....but in this case I am The Messenger....The Guide."
"The guide to what?" she asks as she reaches him, pulling aside the vines so she can see him clearly.
"The guide to what you must do....to the choices you have." he says gesturing to the cliffs.
She turns; on the cliff edge sits a peregrine falcon of pure white and a phoenix in the same colours as the
Headmasters.
The falcon turns to her, it bows and she bows back.
A black peregrine falcon appears near her and moves rapidly towards the birds on the cliff.
The white falcon spreads its wings to her and cries out.
To her surprise its wings disappear before its darker counterpart reaches it; they turn into a mass of feathers, a
third of which move towards her.
She thinks about moving out of their way but feels that wherever she goes they will follow her.
They reach Hermione and reform on her back as wings, wings easily big enough to allow her to fly giving her the
appearance of an angel; the rest of the feathers fly off to either side of her.
Again she looks around to see where the other feathers had gone only to find herself standing next to two more
animals, one on either side of her each about five meters away.
This time a unicorn and an otter.
The rest of the feathers reach the unicorn and the otter, they like with her reform on their backs as wings.
The winged otter turns to her and bows and she bows back.
She hears a loud hiss; turning back to the cliff she sees that a large black snake has joined the black falcon in
front of its white and now wingless counterpart.
The snake and black falcon move at the phoenix, fangs and talons drawn.
The wingless falcon moves in front of the phoenix protectively, it lets out a piercing cry.
The otter and unicorn look up and see the wingless falcon under attack, they both turn to look behind them and call
out.
Following their gaze Hermione sees that behind each animal is a white cloud which seems to be made up of other
animals, she only sees these animals briefly, the odd head, leg, tail as it emerges before disappearing back into
the clouds.
She turns to the man under the tree.
"Why are those animals inside a cloud?"
He looks at her.
"Because at the moment they are not important, they will go where they are directed, what is important is what is
in front of you."
She senses that he is not going to tell her any more.
She turns back to see that the otter and the unicorn are now running at the falcon with the cloud creatures
following them.
The falcon is now fighting to protect the phoenix.
It is not winning, the whiteness of its feathers fades slightly, it reminds her of the light from the staff.
Time slows the white falcon collapses under the combined attacks from both assailants.
The attackers move in for one final assault.
The otter and unicorn are almost at the scene of the battle.
"Selflessly the flightless bird defends its friends." says the figure behind her, distracting her from the scene.
She turns to see him standing about a meter from her.
"It will fight until death, it will defend what it has sworn to protect."
"Is there no way to save it?" she asks.
"Only the otter and the unicorn can save the falcon.
Only they can give the falcon back its wings."
"I....I don't understand."
"Without the falcon all hope is lost,
Without the falcon all will die,
The wolf will die,
The dog will die,
All will die."
"I don't understand, what do you mean?"
"Only the otter and the unicorn can save the falcon.
Only they can give the falcon back its wings."
"I don't understand, please explain."
The figure moves towards her .
"Only the otter and the unicorn can save the falcon.
Only they can give the falcon back its wings."
The figure is right in front of her, less than a foot in front of her face; he is getting louder and harsher with
each word.
"Please explain, please." she was becoming emotional, there must be a way she can save the falcon, there must.
"ONLY THE OTTER AND THE UNICORN." he shouts in her face.
"PLEASE....Please." she sobs, falling to the grass in tears.
He kneels down in front of her and raises her chin the harshness has gone from his face.
Wait....this was different, it should have ended there, it always ends there.
"You haven't got much time....only the otter and the unicorn." he says comfortingly as though it is the answer to
everything.
"What does it mean?....Who are they?....Please tell me." she pleads sobbing.
He looks into her eyes.
"The otter."
She snaps awake sweating and breathing heavily.
She makes no move for several minutes before making her decision.
She gets out of bed, pulls on her dressing gown and heads out of the dorm, down into the Common Room.
"Hermione?" says a surprised yet drowsy voice.
She turns to see Colin Creevey drag himself out of one of the armchairs in front of the fire.
"What's wrong?" he asks concerned.
She considers ignoring him, but realises she could really use some company.
"I'll tell you on the way." she informs him before proceeding out of the portrait hole receiving a grumble from the
Fat Lady.
Colin runs to catch up.
"What's wrong?" he repeats
"I'll tell you when we get there," she replies "What were you doing by the fire Colin?"
He slows slightly; she turns to look at him.
"Colin?"
"I was....I was thinking about my brother." he replied with his head lowered "I keep hoping that....that he's not
really dead and that I just imagined it or something."
She feels so sorry for him, she had never had siblings but she could imagine what it would be like if she were to
loose Harry or Ron.
She walks up to him and gives him a comforting hug, much to the surprise of the smaller boy.
"I do hope I'm not interrupting?" a voice from behind them asks, making them jump.
They turn to see Buffy standing behind them; she looks like she hasn't slept for days.
"Professor are you alright?" Hermione asks.
"I'm a night's person I don't sleep well, I was hoping a run would tire me out but nope, still as fidgety as a
ferret and....Hey....stop trying to change the subject. Why are you two out of bed this late?"
"I was going to see Professor McGonagall." Hermione replies, this comes as a surprise to Colin.
"Well let's go and see her then." Buffy suggests before turning to the mourning brother "Colin, why don't you go
back to bed, try and get some sleep."
"Yes Professor." He nods, before heading back in the direction they came.
Hermione and Buffy exchange a sad look at seeing him like that before turning and continuing Hermione's previous
course.
When they reached the office Buffy knocked.
"I didn't realise it was so late, she'll probably be in bed by now."
"Would you be if your boss was laying almost lifeless in the Hospital Wing and everyone was looking to you for
answers." Buffy replied just before the door opened.
The Professor looked tired but she was still fully dressed and showed no signs of trying to get any sleep.
"Buffy?" she asked "Miss Granger?"
"I need to talk to you Professor," explained Hermione "It's important."
"Very well." Nodded McGonagall before opening the door and permitting them entry.
They walked to the desk and sat in the two chairs lined up in front of it.
As soon as they sat down a House Elf appeared with three mugs of hot chocolate before disappearing almost as fast.
Hermione almost jumped out of her seat when Fawkes fluttered into the room through the window and landed on the arm
of her chair.
"Do not worry Miss Granger....he will not harm you." McGonagall reassured her.
"Just a bit of a fright." she replied.
"He has taken to keeping me company for the last few days. So what do you need to tell me that could not wait until
the morning?"
Over the next fifteen minutes Hermione explained to them her dreams from the last few days.
"....I thought at first they were just dreams....but three days running is really one too many days to be a
coincidence." she finished.
"I agree." Nodded her Head of House "Unlike the Headmaster I am not normally one for believing such things but when
it comes from you Miss Granger who is of a similar opinion I am forced to agree. Do you know the meaning or
identity of any of the animals in your dream?"
"I believe that Professor Berio is the white falcon but other than that." she guessed shrugging.
"I would agree, it would seem logical." McGonagall concurred.
"Why is that logical?" Buffy asks confused
"It was the first form we ever saw him assume." Hermione explained "I don't think he does it like an Animagus as he
would not have been able to transform me as well when I was grazed by that Killing Curse."
Buffy nodded her understanding.
"We need to discover who all the other animals represent as soon as possible." Decided McGonagall "But for the time
being I suggest we all get some sleep."
Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 2nd October 2001 AD
Country: Britain - Scotland
Location: Hogwarts - Gryffindor Sixth Year Girls Dormitory
Time: Night
Three days later, Gryffindor Sixth Year Girls Dormitory, midnight.
Hermione was restless, she has been since the kidnapping, everyone kept badgering her about her new power, power
that under other circumstances she would have been ecstatic about, but right now she just wished Adam and Ginny
were back so that things were back to normal.
Her class work particularly in Charms, Transfiguration and DADA had been a nightmare; in Charms they had been
having a revision lesson, when asked to summon a feather by Professor Flitwick she had ended up in the Hospital
Wing with the remains of the feather protruding from her stomach where it had imbedded itself at high speed.
The next time she had tried to summon the feather it exploded instead which although it wasn't really an
improvement from the spells point of view, at least meant that she hadn't ended up in bandages.
She rolled over and starred at the pulsating staff which according to McGonagall was hers until Adam's return.
"This is all your fault." she whispered.
She had observed that the pulses had grown fainter over the last couple of days, which she took as not being a good
sign.
Sleep finally claimed her and she began the dream that had repeated itself every night since the incident.
The dream begins:
She's wearing a long simple sleeveless white night gown, which is strange for a start as she doesn't own one.
She's in a large set of gardens bordering some steep cliffs; from what she can see of the rock it appeared to be
white like the cliffs of Dover but the surroundings was far too green for it to be England.
She walks to the edge and looks down at the sea crashing against the cliff base.
"Don't get too close." a voice behind her warns.
She turns and sees a large shallow pond in the middle of the gardens which given the fact that they were near some
very high cliffs was also very unusual. On the near edge of the lake was a solitary willow tree whose vines hung
out over the lakes waters and the lawn creating a secret area concealed by its leaves.
Under it only just visible through the veil of foliage sits a man.
He was about the same height as Adam (around six feet tall), had curly brown slightly reddish hair which was
slightly longer than normal so that it hung around his face, he also has blue eyes and is wearing a black shirt,
tie, trousers and shoes along with a black business coat. Exactly what Adam had been wearing the first time they
met.
"You don't want to cross that line....trust me."
"Who are you?" she asks walking towards him.
"I have many names....but in this case I am The Messenger....The Guide."
"The guide to what?" she asks as she reaches him, pulling aside the vines so she can see him clearly.
"The guide to what you must do....to the choices you have." he says gesturing to the cliffs.
She turns; on the cliff edge sits a peregrine falcon of pure white and a phoenix in the same colours as the
Headmasters.
The falcon turns to her, it bows and she bows back.
A black peregrine falcon appears near her and moves rapidly towards the birds on the cliff.
The white falcon spreads its wings to her and cries out.
To her surprise its wings disappear before its darker counterpart reaches it; they turn into a mass of feathers, a
third of which move towards her.
She thinks about moving out of their way but feels that wherever she goes they will follow her.
They reach Hermione and reform on her back as wings, wings easily big enough to allow her to fly giving her the
appearance of an angel; the rest of the feathers fly off to either side of her.
Again she looks around to see where the other feathers had gone only to find herself standing next to two more
animals, one on either side of her each about five meters away.
This time a unicorn and an otter.
The rest of the feathers reach the unicorn and the otter, they like with her reform on their backs as wings.
The winged otter turns to her and bows and she bows back.
She hears a loud hiss; turning back to the cliff she sees that a large black snake has joined the black falcon in
front of its white and now wingless counterpart.
The snake and black falcon move at the phoenix, fangs and talons drawn.
The wingless falcon moves in front of the phoenix protectively, it lets out a piercing cry.
The otter and unicorn look up and see the wingless falcon under attack, they both turn to look behind them and call
out.
Following their gaze Hermione sees that behind each animal is a white cloud which seems to be made up of other
animals, she only sees these animals briefly, the odd head, leg, tail as it emerges before disappearing back into
the clouds.
She turns to the man under the tree.
"Why are those animals inside a cloud?"
He looks at her.
"Because at the moment they are not important, they will go where they are directed, what is important is what is
in front of you."
She senses that he is not going to tell her any more.
She turns back to see that the otter and the unicorn are now running at the falcon with the cloud creatures
following them.
The falcon is now fighting to protect the phoenix.
It is not winning, the whiteness of its feathers fades slightly, it reminds her of the light from the staff.
Time slows the white falcon collapses under the combined attacks from both assailants.
The attackers move in for one final assault.
The otter and unicorn are almost at the scene of the battle.
"Selflessly the flightless bird defends its friends." says the figure behind her, distracting her from the scene.
She turns to see him standing about a meter from her.
"It will fight until death, it will defend what it has sworn to protect."
"Is there no way to save it?" she asks.
"Only the otter and the unicorn can save the falcon.
Only they can give the falcon back its wings."
"I....I don't understand."
"Without the falcon all hope is lost,
Without the falcon all will die,
The wolf will die,
The dog will die,
All will die."
"I don't understand, what do you mean?"
"Only the otter and the unicorn can save the falcon.
Only they can give the falcon back its wings."
"I don't understand, please explain."
The figure moves towards her .
"Only the otter and the unicorn can save the falcon.
Only they can give the falcon back its wings."
The figure is right in front of her, less than a foot in front of her face; he is getting louder and harsher with
each word.
"Please explain, please." she was becoming emotional, there must be a way she can save the falcon, there must.
"ONLY THE OTTER AND THE UNICORN." he shouts in her face.
"PLEASE....Please." she sobs, falling to the grass in tears.
He kneels down in front of her and raises her chin the harshness has gone from his face.
Wait....this was different, it should have ended there, it always ends there.
"You haven't got much time....only the otter and the unicorn." he says comfortingly as though it is the answer to
everything.
"What does it mean?....Who are they?....Please tell me." she pleads sobbing.
He looks into her eyes.
"The otter."
She snaps awake sweating and breathing heavily.
She makes no move for several minutes before making her decision.
She gets out of bed, pulls on her dressing gown and heads out of the dorm, down into the Common Room.
"Hermione?" says a surprised yet drowsy voice.
She turns to see Colin Creevey drag himself out of one of the armchairs in front of the fire.
"What's wrong?" he asks concerned.
She considers ignoring him, but realises she could really use some company.
"I'll tell you on the way." she informs him before proceeding out of the portrait hole receiving a grumble from the
Fat Lady.
Colin runs to catch up.
"What's wrong?" he repeats
"I'll tell you when we get there," she replies "What were you doing by the fire Colin?"
He slows slightly; she turns to look at him.
"Colin?"
"I was....I was thinking about my brother." he replied with his head lowered "I keep hoping that....that he's not
really dead and that I just imagined it or something."
She feels so sorry for him, she had never had siblings but she could imagine what it would be like if she were to
loose Harry or Ron.
She walks up to him and gives him a comforting hug, much to the surprise of the smaller boy.
"I do hope I'm not interrupting?" a voice from behind them asks, making them jump.
They turn to see Buffy standing behind them; she looks like she hasn't slept for days.
"Professor are you alright?" Hermione asks.
"I'm a night's person I don't sleep well, I was hoping a run would tire me out but nope, still as fidgety as a
ferret and....Hey....stop trying to change the subject. Why are you two out of bed this late?"
"I was going to see Professor McGonagall." Hermione replies, this comes as a surprise to Colin.
"Well let's go and see her then." Buffy suggests before turning to the mourning brother "Colin, why don't you go
back to bed, try and get some sleep."
"Yes Professor." He nods, before heading back in the direction they came.
Hermione and Buffy exchange a sad look at seeing him like that before turning and continuing Hermione's previous
course.
When they reached the office Buffy knocked.
"I didn't realise it was so late, she'll probably be in bed by now."
"Would you be if your boss was laying almost lifeless in the Hospital Wing and everyone was looking to you for
answers." Buffy replied just before the door opened.
The Professor looked tired but she was still fully dressed and showed no signs of trying to get any sleep.
"Buffy?" she asked "Miss Granger?"
"I need to talk to you Professor," explained Hermione "It's important."
"Very well." Nodded McGonagall before opening the door and permitting them entry.
They walked to the desk and sat in the two chairs lined up in front of it.
As soon as they sat down a House Elf appeared with three mugs of hot chocolate before disappearing almost as fast.
Hermione almost jumped out of her seat when Fawkes fluttered into the room through the window and landed on the arm
of her chair.
"Do not worry Miss Granger....he will not harm you." McGonagall reassured her.
"Just a bit of a fright." she replied.
"He has taken to keeping me company for the last few days. So what do you need to tell me that could not wait until
the morning?"
Over the next fifteen minutes Hermione explained to them her dreams from the last few days.
"....I thought at first they were just dreams....but three days running is really one too many days to be a
coincidence." she finished.
"I agree." Nodded her Head of House "Unlike the Headmaster I am not normally one for believing such things but when
it comes from you Miss Granger who is of a similar opinion I am forced to agree. Do you know the meaning or
identity of any of the animals in your dream?"
"I believe that Professor Berio is the white falcon but other than that." she guessed shrugging.
"I would agree, it would seem logical." McGonagall concurred.
"Why is that logical?" Buffy asks confused
"It was the first form we ever saw him assume." Hermione explained "I don't think he does it like an Animagus as he
would not have been able to transform me as well when I was grazed by that Killing Curse."
Buffy nodded her understanding.
"We need to discover who all the other animals represent as soon as possible." Decided McGonagall "But for the time
being I suggest we all get some sleep."
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