12Catching Time
Disclaim Her:Obviously, I don't own Harry Potter. Otherwise, the books would have differed greatly in book four. *cue Hiddleston laugh* Ehehehe.
Author's Note: I ran out of my mostly edited pre-written chapters, so I spent a while trying to change some parts of this.
I'd also like to thank the several story & favorite alerts I received from readers! I was starting to wonder whether anyone was reading this and was even just considering not posting any more. But you guys gave me the motivation to get this chapter out! :D
I know I had promised on my last chapter that this would be out the next day. . Well, a lot of changes recently happened this past summer and year. And with that came the reduction of visible time on the computer. So I have not had many large time blocks to type this out... I actually had to type out most of this on my phone, and email it to myself so that I could upload it quickly.
Alternately, I had to make up excuses to use the computer and often found myself vidding rather than fic-working. I lead an alternate life of a fangirl as a YouTube vidder. I make fan videos in several fandoms; including Sherlock BBC, The Dark Knight Rises, and (most recently) Avengers. Apparently, they really loved my new Loki/Tony Stark videos and I got caught up in making some more. It gets addictive.
So, I'm sorry I sometimes put vidding ahead of this fic. Not to mention the multiple plot bunnies that held me captive several times. I, uh, got really inspired by the Avengers and started writing/planning a fic. AND then another plot hit me over the head for a Sherlock Holmes 2009/Thor movie fic. And then after I wrote a couple of scenes for that, got hit by another short possible ficlet for Harry Potter. And then, another Harry Potter fic that I thought up during finals in May, begged me to write more for it, so I planned that one out.
Strangely enough, none of my plans include a main character OC, quite possibly because I have learned to feel more confident or assured that I wouldn't screw up characterizations. Or maybe, my many years of fanfic reading has rubbed off on me. Maybe this story has been a bit of a warmup, years in the making, to prepare me and flex my writing/author skills...
Anyways, back to Catching Time stuff.
I was rereading the other chapters and caught a few typos (maybe 1 or 2). I get really meticulous about that, but I guess the keyboard was wonky. Or maybe a sign I should try to get a beta?
So.. calling out any betas interested in helping me out with possibly this story and most likely the jumble of upcoming Avengers (including events from Iron Man/Thor/Captain America), Sherlock Holmes 2009, Sherlock BBC, and Harry Potter (mostly slash) fanfics?
Umm, yep that's it.
On to the story:
The story really gets moving on this chapter; it's like a rollercoaster heading towards the bottom. Er, maybe that's the wrong analogy but you get the idea right? Everything before this was just setting the scene, only to have it completely change in chapter 5. This is just leading up to it. Enjoy the ride.
||||||C|||||||T|||||||||||Chapter Four: Whirlwind researchElizabeth arrived at the library slightly out of breath, having run from the Great Hall to the library. As it was the first day back from summer holiday, the library had few students within its hushed walls. She passed by the librarian's desk with greatly reduced speed, wary of Pince's wrath. Then she felt a glare burning into her and she saw the great bird of prey herself.
Madam Pince eyed her distrustfully as if expecting her to go on a book burning rampage. Just because of that one incident with the Weasley twins in their seventh year, her third year, she was painted with the same black brush. The Head Girl sniffed, slightly insulted by the librarian's continuing grudge. She carried on past the gimlet gaze of the vulture-like witch at her desk and began looking for the correct section to start her search in.
The front of the library held the most popularly used sections such as newer editions of books for Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Potions. Others, decidedly more ancient and obscure, were removed from the high traffic areas and resided deep within the depths of the library. Quite close to the Restricted Section, in fact.
As she passed more and more shelves, the aisles progressively became more and more disorganized and haphazard; as if someone had not been by to maintain them in a while. The shelves towered over her rather ominously and the windows appeared to not let in as much light. Finally, Elizabeth read a tarnished gold label on the shelf that read Divination/Other.
Obviously the Wizarding World was not ruled by logic. Oh no, that would make things a little too easy for everyone.
The witch took several promising tomes and made her way to a dusty table nearby. As she dropped them on the table, dust went flying and she inhaled some, causing her to sneeze loudly in the dead silent library.
Well, it looks like I've got my work cut out for me. I'd better get started before my free period ends…
As she looked through yet another dry book about divination, Elizabeth realized she was no closer to finding out more about prophecies as Harry was to finding his inner coward. She had gone through a great pile of large books without any real results. A shocking majority of the dusty divination books read as if their author were not presently in their rational mind.
She felt a rising sense of frustration starting to build up inside her and angrily waved her wand for the books to return where they belonged. Had most of the authors been drunk off their heads? she wondered spitefully. There was absolutely nothing she found besides total rubbish.
That's it, she thought angrily, fed up with her progress.
And then strode purposefully towards the very back of the library. Ignoring the sign, her step quickened into a run for the entrance and, with a flying leap, she vaulted over the velvet rope separating the Restricted Section from the rest of the library. She sped through the aisles of the forbidden section. Immediately,she began reading the spines, knowing she did not have much time until the 'vulture' made her rounds.
Elizabeth saw that dreadful book that Hermione had told her about; the one where it 'dared not speak' of Horcruxes. And then spied many a blood drenched tome chained to the shelf. She shuddered to think about what it might have done to make it necessary for it to remain imprisoned there.
And then-
Elizabeth detected a slim,silver volume tucked on top of the shelved books. It wasn't even shelved properly. Almost as if someone had left it there and had not bothered to put it back in its proper place. She imagined a shadowy figure,standing right where she was right now, perhaps centuries ago, movements frantic and being fearful of discovery, and sticking the book there, out of place as it was.
She examined the book carefully and did not find the title of the book. Nor an author or other identifying characteristics.
Strange...she thought.
It was with a wary hand that she flipped to the contents of the book. One could never be careful enough; the books in the Restricted Section were infamous for causing violent ends to the disturbers of their rather dubious peace. She turned many blank pages until she came to a page with a single word on it: FUTURE.
Elizabeth felt a strange crawling sensation run up her spine. She became strangely disturbed by the seemingly innocuous occurrence. Who would print a book with so many blank pages at its inception? And then after so many pages, might place just a single word on a page? With no clear reason?
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
And why had she seen it so quickly? Usually research took hours, but how was it that she was able to find a book that held possibly all the answers to her questions.
Her suspicions rose even higher. This occurrence was highly suspicious. There was definitely something going on beyond her understanding.
Something big. And she was just caught in the circumstances; just barely catching a glimpse.
Just realizing that something was driving her to some point, some unknown purpose.
And this, the book in her path, was the first move; like in some real world game of chess. And she was a pawn in the game. The piece sent forward to do the bidding without even knowing. But now she knew. All because of the prophecy. Which opened her eyes to things she would normally overlook. And she was going to try her damnedest to stay a step ahead when she could. She was brought out of her resolute musings by the strange shuffling noise of someone passing by. The witch looked around with wide eyes, the fear of being caught running through her.
When she determined that it was just another student passing by, Elizabeth turned the page of the book that had caused her to wander into such thoughts. The next page had a single heading as the name of the first chapter. And it was named as such: "Prophecies".
Her brow creased in consternation. Another puzzling occurrence to add to her already strange day. And with that, she was another step behind who or what, exactly, had made such machinations.
Aware of how little time she had remaining, she read on in the chapter:
Prophecies are rather fickle predictions. They have been told for eons upon eons and perhaps since the beginning of time itself. And with the creation of prophecies came the need for those to tell them to the masses. Thus Seers were born with their mystical powers of having the ability to speak of the future. They were held (by those untouched by the forces) to be blessed by the Gods, as one Norse text proclaims. That was a time of unexplained occurrences and unsolved mysteries that were taken to be something not quite normal, but something awe-inspiring, nothing resembling anything negative. However, this period of harmony was not to remain.
As the times changed, so did the common people's (muggles) perception of these Seers. The witches and wizards serving as a conduit for Fate's voice were no longer seen as great phenomenons. Or even as blessed ones. Common people began to hunt down and persecute Seers for their , as their gifts were brought on by Seeing the Future, these witches and Wizards could not control the onset of a prophecy, and were especially vulnerable at that time, which led to increasing numbers of capture (and later, disposal) of Seers as compared to regular witches and most popular method of disposal of Seers in the medieval times was, of course, the burning at the stake. Non-magicals also appeared to favor this method with regular, non-Seer, magical persons. One often remembers the 'sugar-coated' versions of this time in Magical history. Stories of eccentric witches and wizards allowing themselves to be caught (such as Wendelin the Weird) were promulgated throughout the Wizarding public. These almost-children's tales seemed to imply that such widespread persecution was merely ineffectual because of magic like the Flame-Freezing charm. Not so. In fact, these accounts seem to gloss over the fact that when one was captured as an accused practitioner of 'witchcraft', one was almost certainly relieved of everything in their possession. Witches and Wizards' useful magical objects and relics that could have been used to save their life, were in the hands of their captors and thus useless. Their wand? Equally useless and away from their person, leaving the wizard helpless to the torture of the Muggles. However, some wizards and witches had been brought up more traditionally and had the ability to use wand-less magic. Of course, this was usually limited to small charms and hexes, depending on their power level and strength. It was only the wandless magic using Magicals and lucky few who had managed to keep their wand (and not have it react badly to the bonfire, as wands in that time were not so finely crafted) and escape on their own. The unlucky majority was subjected to a grisly end. Other methods were employed for the disposal of captured witches and wizards, such as gibbeting (where the victim was put in a cage and then suspended above ground to die of thirst), and (specifically used on wizards, as they viewed this to be indecent for witches) being hanged, drawn and quartered. Throughout the ages, thecommon people have pursued things of which they do not know of and thus fearthem.
This brings the subject back to that of prophecies. As stated before, these powerful magical objects, once in physical orb form, are difficult subjects and objects to study. They tend to be susceptible to change and often become invalid. Some prophecies, even, are not this occurs when not all of the conditions are met exactly as stated within the words of the prophecy.
The largest inventory of prophecies in Magical Britain is located within the British Ministry of Magic in London. Secreted inthe undisclosed Department of Ministries is the famed Hall of Prophecies. This is, of course, not officially confirmed by the ministry. Trusted sources have been pieced together to form a possible explanation and perhaps a picture of the truth.
The only witches and wizards who may know of these truths are those specially selected to work on secret projects of the Ministry. They are also known as Unspeakables. Their title stems from the thought that they cannot speak of what activities or jobs they undertake in the depths of the Department of Mysteries, a possible side effect of an Unbreakable Vow or out of fear of some horror witnessed.
The Department of Mysteries is the site where it is said they study powerful, unrestrained forces and other unknown remarkable forces, should they fall to the wrong hands, have the capability to destroy the Wizarding World.
A source in the Hall of Prophecies reported that if a witch or wizard that is not involved in a prophecy (by way of who it was told to, or is about) were to touch it, a horrible fate awaits them. Only those that made the prophecy (Seers), were those present during its telling, or are those spoken about in the prophecy can bear the presence of the magical artifact without fear of negative consequences.
Even the Unspeakables who appear to work closely with the prophecies cannot touch the relics without great costs. There are manyreports of "unspecified" Ministry employees' having long term staysat London's St. Mungo's Hospital For Magical Maladies and Injuries for"classified" reasons and the Healers treating them sworn to there for months in the long-term spell damage Janus Thickey Ward,they suddenly check out and are never seen again. Further probes of investigation into this matter return nothing. It is a mystery probably as shrouded in as much speculation as the department itself.
Some say that the Head of the Unspeakables coerces their less favored members into touching the prophecies, an unethical attempt at experimentation. Others dispute that the Unspeakables use theiraddled former member to test the veil in the Death Chamber. Sending themthrough the veil might explain the lack of bodies. And more gruesome theories suggest that the workers use their damaged coworker in experimenting with human remains in the use of potions and such.
Speculation aside, what many sources proclaim that is the true work of the Unspeakables assigned to the Hall of Prophecies is simply that of pure observation. Unspeakables document when a new prophecy is made and any other details about it. They also note when there is any change in the prophecy orb, such as the orb shattering or changing colours. Typically, when a prophecy undergoes a reaction, it may mean that some event pertinent to the prophecy has occurred. Previous observations have, so far, proven that if aprophecy glows, it may well be on its path to becoming fulfilled. The colour of the glow indicates-"
Elizabeth read no more as the bell rang and startled her into dropping the book on the floor. It fell with a mutedthump at the base of the shelf. However, she did not pick it up; more pressing things were foremost in her mind. She realized that she had only a short period of time to get to the North Tower for Divination and grabbed her book bag, and, in that same instant, pushed the silver book under the shelf unknowingly. She ran out of the RestrictedSection in a hurry to get to her next class.
Unbeknownst to her, the silver booklay open and forgotten on the floor under the shelf. The paragraph she had been about to read as so:
"The colour of the glow indicates several details. This depends on one's interpretation of the color of the glow emitted by the prophecy. As one poet-Seer wrote in 1895 to explain the affair:
~White to indicate it has begun
Blue to get ready
Green to go
Yellow to guide you
Through the snow
Orange to warn you
That over you'll go
Then Red will be the Final
Now seek the Black
There's no going back. [1]~
Experts have interpreted this to mean that these colours indicate in which step to fulfillment the prophecy is currently in. The Darker the prophecy becomes; the closer it is to its completion.
However, this occurrence is only experienced first-hand and,until recently, could not be viewed any other way. Sources say that in 1925, ayoung Unspeakable attempted to manipulate a prophecy into recording its reactions. Unfortunately, the magics of Fate cannot be controlled in this way and did not take kindly to the force used. Thus, the efforts expended to change the prophecy backfired on the Unspeakable and the worker was hospitalised at St Bart's Hospital (the precedent to St. Mungo's) in London, where he later died from complications of his injuries sustained from the prophecy blast.
And yet his attempt was not one without any enough, he did cause prophecies to give an external signal of their progress, but not quite in the method the Unspeakable had desired. However, it was not of much use to the Department of Mysteries, as it alerted one of the individuals mentioned in the prophecy to the evolvement of the prophecy. A stone would appear at random (or so it seemed) to one of the witches or wizards involved with the prophecy.
The stone that participants might receive was named simply as the 'Prophecy Stone'. Characterized by a rather flat surface, the stone isembossed with a rather stylized letter 'P'. Initially, the stone appeared clearand later changed colors in accordance to the prophecy.
However, what makes this occurrence difficult to predict is the fact that the Prophecy Stone, due to the unstable nature of its creation in an accident, tends to appear sporadically. Not all prophecies on their paths to fulfillment will merit the appearance of the stone. At the time of this publication, Prophecy Stones have only been sighted three times since the mishap of the young Unspeakable, and have not been seen in forty years.
Elizabeth arrived at the North Tower quite out of breath, having run all the way from the library. Due to her haste, she was there a couple of minutes before the bell was to signal the beginning of class. As she climbed up the ladder, she inhaled the strong perfume from about and around the Divination classroom and began to cough.
Angela, who had arrived before her and was sitting on a pouf, came over to the trapdoor to help her friend up. Elizabeth thanked her wheezily. They rejoined Angela's chosen table and got their class materials out. Elizabeth tapped the cover of their required text, The Tracing of Fate, absentmindedly to unshrink it from its more easily transported form. Then she remembered what she had wanted to ask her fellow Gryffindor.
"Oh!" the witch exclaimed and when several classmates' heads turned to look around curiously, lowered her voice to a hushed tone, "Did you get checked out in the Infirmary?"
"Yeah, I did-" began Angela, but then Professor Trelawney chose that time to speak.
"Welcome, my children, to your first N.E.W.T. Divination class," Trelawney began, misty as ever. Then the professor continued in a rather floating tone, "Though I know not why these tests exist...The all-Seeing eye does not conform to the demands of an instition...it comes and goes as it pleases to those gifted with it..."
The Professor drifted off and ended her speech looking out the window, staring out to the Forbidden Forest just seen past the Quidditch Pitch. Her students shot incredulous looks at each other, while the more devoted ones simply leaned forward in their poufs, eager to find out what she was looking at, or curious to see if she was experiencing a vision. Professor Trelawney tore her gaze from the window and cast it on her students.
Suddenly, as if just noticing Elizabeth was there, Professor Trelawney gave a great start and her eyes shot open to previously unreached levels of bugged out.
"You," Professor Trelawney raised a shaking hand to point at Elizabeth, "Your aura is disturbed and fading...You have a touch of... destiny," she whispered hoarsely.
...What?
Elizabeth felt a deep worry begin to settle in her mind. Her stomach sank as she processed possible meanings of the statement. The truth and severity of her current situation began to truly sink in her head. She began to brood over the fate that was thrown at her and barely had her mind on the present, much less what Trelawney was spouting next.
She, Elizabeth Phoenix, Hogwarts Head Girl, Gryffindor, and survivor of the War (astonishing, considering just how close she had been to the front lines), was the subject of a bloody prophecy involving the Dark Tosser, who was the defeated party in a standoff between Harry and Voldemort that ended the War. How was it even possible? The psycho was long dead! And Harry made sure he couldn't return.
Unless... maybe he found some other method of immortality. Elizabeth felt pure fear run down her spine and her hair raised on her arms and the back of her neck, goosebumps taking form as well. She could imagine the dark times of the War returning and the third wave of the Dark Lord spreading like a poison through the community. And more unimaginable, unconceivable horrors could be awaiting those that fought back and survived. The Dark Lord would return more powerful and merciless than before...
Panic threatened to overwhelm her and she swallowed painfully, urging herself not to relapse into a panic attack, which had plagued her ever since... her parents had been murdered by the Dark Lord. Elizabeth breathed slowly in and out, attempting to stave off the panic. A memory came unbidden at her thoughts on the subject:
"The dark one... shall... be... ne' ...more..." echoed around the Room of Requirement.
But the prophecy had never said specifically Voldemort or even the Dark Lord! It could have been refering to any number of people! From a person who practiced Dark magic, to a witch or wizard with dark hair, it could be anyone. Well, that much she hoped. Because she hoped there wasn't an upcoming novice Dark Lord ready to take Voldemort's place.
Angela shot her a look, miffed at her continuing inattention, and Elizabeth guiltily turned her thoughts to the class, hearing the end of Trelawney's spiel.
"- Broaden your minds to the future!" Professor Trelawney cried, opening her arms for more emphasis and causing a great bit of jangling to be heard from her various necklaces in the process. "If you should need more guidance, consult The Tracing of the Fates!Though I know many of you may need other types of guidance for the next months..." Trelawney concluded mistily and perched herself on her chair in the front.
Elizabeth stared incomprehendingly at her professor. What were their instructions? She didn't want to raise her hand and ask, because that might set off another prediction, but also because she was the Head Girl. What kind of example would she be setting for the students?
Thankfully, Angela saved her from that fate.
"Come on, Elizabeth, where were you when she told us what to do?" Angela chided,"Head in the clouds again?"
Elizabeth mumbled something noncommital. Angela's gaze softened as she realized Trelawney bothered her friend with her prediction.
"Oh, well, I know sometimes that woman's predictions scare the hell out of me too. Don't worry about it. It'll probably turn out to be something stupid, right?" Angela said earnestly.
Elizabeth didn't have the heart nor the courage to tell Angela that her problem was a lot bigger than a silly prediction. "Yeah," she mumbled half-heartedly, " 's probably nothing..."
Angela smiled reassuringly at her and then got to business. "Today we're starting palmistry, remember?" said Angela.
Clarity suddenly came to her. Elizabeth remembered the Divination book she had skimmed through over the summer.
"Oh, right. I remember. The first couple of chapters in the book, right? It's more in depth than that pithy bit we got in third year." Elizabeth responded knowingly.
"Yes, we actually get to practice it today," confirmed Angela. They opened their books and scanned the chapters relating to palmistry. They fell into a companionable silence.
Not a bad first class, thought Elizabeth while studying a diagram in the book. Well, besides that prediction from the bat...
Just then, Angela proclaimed that she was ready for Elizabeth to give a try at reading her hand. Elizabeth had some problems distinguishing the differences between the line of fate and life, but was able to get a nod from Professor Trelawney when she passed by their table. After that was Elizabeth's turn at having her palm read by Angela. She peered at the lines on her friend's palm. Angela's brow creased faintly. Then she looked down at her book to see the a picture of the palm. And then gazed back at Elizabeth's hand perplexedly.
"Well that can't be right. Your love line looks all messed up!" Angela finally let out after examining Elizabeth's hand. "It's simply not possible for your line to -"
The bell signalling the end of classes rang and Angela was cut off mid-sentence by the din that their classmates made as they rushed down and out the trapdoor.
Professor Trelawney called out after their retreating backs, "Until next time my children!"
Elizabeth shook her head and told Angela, "Forget it. It's probably not important." And they left the overheated room hurriedly, not wanted to stay any longer with the old bat.
As the duo's footsteps receded away, Professor Trelawney woke from her ever-present stupor.
"Ah, my dear child. I fear you are quite wrong about that."
[1]: From the Septimus Heap series, quote taken specifically from "Queste".
A/N:Apologies for any formatting errors in this chapter, ff was being weird.
Phew. I've been holding on to this since September or so, actually. I had hoped that I could get to my desired stopping point but I decided I should post a shorter chappie sooner rather than longer chapter a lot later. This chapter was going to originally end on a big cliffhanger but I lost some of my notes and decided to post it now. I may be putting this story on a backburner because of the fact that its an OC story. But I do not intend to abandon it.
But while you're waiting, I will post some Avengers fic soon if any of you guys would like to check it out. Or try some of my lengthy list of favorites on my profile.
Until next time,
lyssy31