The Phoenix Prophecy

Chapter Seventeen: The Return

Monday – Late Evening - July 21^st

Gretchen: 11:00 PM

Ron’s revelation that he had felt as if he had been asleep for a long time matched my own recollections of the events that had transpired since we witnessed the destruction of the regulator. This by itself would have meant nothing special were it not for the fact that as a little girl I had suffered from nightmares in which I would be buried alive after falling from a great height. During these nightmares, which had started shortly after I was placed in the orphanage and lasted until I was sent to Beauxbatons, I would be trapped in total darkness or blinding white light. I had almost completely forgotten about them because it had been so long since the last one. When Ron mentioned his feelings about our recovery period, I was suddenly overcome with a sense of ‘déjà vu’ that brought those nightmares rushing back upon me.

I too had the vague feeling that a pair of women watched over me for an extended period of time. I was terribly frustrated that no matter how hard I tried, I could not associate a face with either of the women. The best that I could manage was a sensation that the women had red hair. There was nothing vivid about my dreams while I was recovering. It seemed as if I had floated in a brightly lit mist, drifting in and out of consciousness, for the entire dream. However, two snippets of conversation that I had overheard did manage to bury themselves in my mind. One was that we had to be sent back because our task was not yet completed—whatever that was.

The other fragment of conversation had something to do with a baby. I was uncertain as to whether this baby had anything to do with me or not. That uncertainty added to my growing sense of unease, as I had felt slightly nauseous since supper. Normally my stomach never bothered me. I could eat anything and not get sick. Thinking back to when I got sick earlier today I wondered if there was some kind of connection to how sensitive my stomach had become and the baby the women were talking about. My hand involuntarily found its way down to my tummy. ‘Was I pregnant? Was the baby the women referred to, growing inside me?’ Right at this moment, I couldn’t decide if I should be happy or scared.

I could feel a sense of panic starting to rise within me. I always felt this way whenever something happened to me that I could not explain. I decided to change the subject before my subconscious fears really got loose.

“What is to become of Cetus and his brother and sister now that the aging spell has been broken?” I asked, turning my attention to the others while trying to shake off a sudden chill that caused goose bumps to break out over most of my body.

“The elves freed them from the confines of the meeting chamber,” Harry replied cautiously as he and Hermione exchanged questioning glances.

“Harry, what is it that you are trying hard not to tell Ron and me?” I asked sensing his hesitation.

“Gawain’s island has been destroyed,” Harry began and then launched into a fairly detailed explanation of what happened after Ron and I were transported off the island.

When Harry told us how Nicole’s mom had refused to have anything to do with her, tears began streaming down Nicole’s face. Nicole was lying between Hermione and me. I rolled away from Ron and gathered Nicole to me. How she managed to not burst out crying as Harry continued with his story I’ll never know, but she didn’t. I know that I didn’t have all the facts, but I couldn’t help thinking that Nicole was going to be much better off with the Blyths. Martha would never abandon one of her own. Hell, she wouldn’t abandon anyone in need. Thinking of Martha and how much I loved her eased the anguish I felt for Nicole. In time, I was sure that Nicole’s heartache would subside and be replaced with Martha’s love.

After Harry—with Hermione’s help—finished telling us everything that had happened, no one spoke for what seemed like a long time. Finally, Alec, who was lying between his two sisters directly opposite Nicole, broke the silence.

“It’s a shame that the island was destroyed. There are a great many things that I would like to know about it. Dangerous as it was, it was still fascinating.”

“Too right you are, Alec,” Harry replied. “As it is, we will have to settle for whatever Gawain and Athene wrote down in their chronicles of the island.”

“Unless…” Harry began thoughtfully.

“Unless what?” Hermione asked, looking at him inquisitively.

“Maybe there is something to be learned from Gawain’s pensieve. That is, if Professor Dumbledore will use it.”

“It’s too bad we still don’t have the ancient cult wand, that might be useful as well,” Hermione added.

“I had completely forgotten about that,” Alec said, suddenly looking thoughtful.

Before anyone else had a chance to add anything further, Alec took out his wand and sat up on his knees. I panicked for an instant when I thought he was pointing his wand directly at Nicole and me. Before I had a chance to do anything, a miniature image of Gawain’s island materialized between us, hovering a foot above the surface of the bed. Everyone was startled by Alec’s action and for a moment no one moved as if they could not believe what they were seeing.

“Alec, how are you doing this?” Hermione gasped, she being the first to find her voice.

“I’m not sure, Hermione. An image I received from the cult wand suddenly flashed through my mind showing me how to do this. It would seem that the cult members, or at least some of them, could project an image of the island any time they desired.”

Hermione quickly got to her knees, took out her wand, pointed it at the image of the island and closed her eyes. The image suddenly grew in size and detail.

“Harry, quick, point your wand at the image and picture an image of the island in your mind,” Hermione commanded.

Harry did as Hermione requested and after a few seconds, the image grew in size and detail so that it was easy to recognize the exterior features of the house and island.

“Hey, there are people moving about the plateau,” Nicole cried out.

“And trees. Look the plateau is covered with living trees,” I shouted as I got to my knees for a better look.

“What are you kids up to?” Sirius called out. It was impossible to miss our sudden outbursts of excitement.

“You have to see this to believe it,” Ron answered as he and Nicole got to their knees. “Come quick before it disappears.”

“Ron it isn’t going to disappear,” Alec replied, a trace of sarcasm in his voice. “The three of us are deliberately creating this image.”

“So says you,” Ron retorted. His skepticism was plainly clear in his voice.

Before Alec could reply, Sirius and the rest of the grownups approached the side of the bed. For several seconds none of them said anything, they just stared at the image. Finally, Professor Dumbledore spoke up.

“It is quite obvious that we are looking at Marcus’ island. The question other than how, is when?”

“We must be seeing the island sometime in the distant past,” Madelyn answered after she climbed up behind Harry and Hermione.

“Son, how are you doing this?” Walt asked as he and Martha gazed intently at the image of the island.

“I’m not entirely sure, dad. While we were talking, an image flashed through my mind that showed a wand projecting an image of the island. I think it must have something to do with the knowledge the three of us gained from handling the ancient cult wand.”

“Yes, I am sure you are right,” Professor Dumbledore replied quickly. “Can you manipulate the image to see inside the house?”

“I’m not sure,” Alec replied.

“Harry, Hermione, do you know how to control the image?” Professor Dumbledore asked.

“Not really Professor,” Harry answered as he continued to stare at the image.

“I think it is something from our subconscious,” Hermione began. “I don’t feel as if I am actively casting a spell. Yet I know that I am. It is all very hard to explain.”

“You are probably correct in your assumption, Hermione. With your permission, I should like to try a small experiment.”

“And what might that be, Professor?” Hermione inquired without taking her eyes off the image she was helping to create.

“I would like to place the three of you under a hypnotic spell so that I can communicate directly with your collective subconscious.”

“That would be all right with me,” Hermione replied, to which Harry and Alec voiced their consent.

After a short discussion with Walt and Martha to get their consent, Professor Dumbledore placed the three of them under a spell. Outwardly, I would not have known they were under his control except for the fact that they no longer seemed to notice that anyone else was present. For what seemed like a long time, Professor Dumbledore just stood there as if he too were under some spell. Finally, after several minutes had past, Dumbledore spoke to the rest of us.

“The image is being generated from their collective subconscious, just as Hermione suggested. However, the image is not from Mortius’ time. Notice that the people on the plateau are dressed in white robes, not the black robes of the cult. Mortius must have discovered a means of viewing events that transpired on the island before his time and imparted that ability to his wand. I will now attempt to see if our three visionaries can control what they actually project.”

Professor Dumbledore fell silent again. During the hush that fell over us, I found myself drawn to the tiny images of the people moving about the plateau. The first thing that struck me was that they were all in pairs. Each was covered in a hooded full-length robe, which made it impossible to see anything of their bodies. I leaned in as close as I dared to try to get a better view of the robed figures. As I watched, I realized that all of the figures on the side of the plateau closest to me were moving towards one of the entranceways of the house. They were moving at a slow stately pace. There was nothing hurried about their movements. When the pair of figures I had been following reached the entranceway they pulled the hoods clocking their heads back onto their shoulders as they stepped through the doorway and disappeared from sight. For the briefest instant the tops and backs of their heads were visible. My breath caught in my throat when I realized that the two figures both had long red hair.

After several seconds, I swallowed and started breathing again. I quickly located another pair—which was the last pair on my side of the plateau—of figures and watched them closely as the reached the entranceway and entered the house. There was no mistake about it, both of these figures, like the previous two, had shinny, long red hair.

Before I had a chance to ask myself what this meant and was there any connection between these red-haired figures and the women of my dreams, the image that Harry, Hermione and Alec was generating shimmered and transfigured itself into the meeting chamber where Ron and I had discovered Cetus along with his brother and sister.

We all watched in awed silence as three streams of paired figures entered the chamber from each of the three stairways that led from the main floor of the house. The paired figures moved in a stately procession from the bottom of the stairway to the pool in the center of the chamber. At the pool’s edge, they paused and then bent over apparently to drink from the water in the pool. When the figures stood up and turned away from the pool, I was able to see their faces. They were most definitely human. One of the figures was male and the other female. I felt instantly relived and excited all at the same time. The faces of the men and women were kind and loving faces. They were not the faces of evil, twisted beings that knew neither love nor kindness. My relief was so immense that I felt like jumping for joy.

The figures arranged themselves in three concentric circles around the center of the chamber. Once the circles were complete, the men and women joined hands and began to sing. It was impossible to understand what they were singing. For one the language was completely unknown to me and their voices were so soft that I could barely hear them. The only thing that I was sure of was that this was some sort of festive song or ritual. Those figures that I could see had smiles on their faces. The singing lasted for about ten minutes and then the figures concluded the ceremony by hugging each other. It definitely felt good to see a large number of men and women sharing a happy fellowship amongst themselves. Especially after the day we had just experienced. To know that at one time the island was a place of joy and happiness did a great deal to lift the heavy burden that had settled over me during the course of the day.

While I was basking in the warmth of my newfound joy, the image flicked and was gone. Harry, Hermione and Alec collapsed on the bed without uttering a sound. Annie and Katie both cried out in fright, but before anyone else could panic, Professor Dumbledore spoke up and said that they would awaken shortly. True to his word, the three of them started stirring almost immediately.

“What happened?” Harry asked groggily, as he opened his eyes and tried to sit up.

“You passed out when I released you from the hypnotic spell,” Professor Dumbledore replied as Hermione and Alec began to stir. “It is a normal reaction to being placed under such a spell. The after effects will pass very quickly.”

“Were you able to manipulate the image we created?” Hermione asked after she got to her knees with Harry’s help.

“I’m sorry to say that I was unable to find any way to control the image,” Professor Dumbledore began. “What the rest of us saw was a recording of some ceremony that took place in the distant past. The meaning or significance of this ceremony we have no way determining from what we just witnessed. I am hopeful that Marcus and Athene will have recorded in their journals some information relevant to the ceremony and those that took part in it.”

“Then we should get started straight away,” Hermione suggested eagerly.

“That is a task that shall wait until morning,” Professor Dumbledore replied, holding up his hand to ward off any protest that Hermione might make. “Right now what you youngsters need more than anything else is a good night’s sleep. It is almost midnight. Morning will be here quick enough. Everyone will please lie down and get comfortable. I am going to place you all under a sleeping spell so that you will sleep without dreaming.”

Nicole looked lost until I patted the bed beside me. She quickly scooted next to me and buried her face in my chest. I knew that Ron did not mind my comforting Nicole as he kissed me tenderly when I turned my head in his direction. With Ron snuggled against my back and Nicole to my chest I suddenly felt very tired. The last thing I remember was Martha smiling down at me, and then the lights faded to black.