Disclaimer: All characters, events and references drawn from HP belong to J.K. Rowling, etc., respectively, everything else is my own invention.
FORESIGHT
PART THIRTEEN
"I assume you are both here to ask me about Professor Dumbledore," McGonagall spoke as soon as the two had entered her office chamber.
"I know you have many other questions as well, but please, sit down, both of you," the Professor spoke to the couple with a warm smile, motioning them to a couple of chairs already placed in front of her large desk, cluttered with endless parchments and quills, some of which were writing on their own. The two moved forward and sat down before the Headmistress, who then paused and gazed back at them, her hands clasped together.
"I think now is the right time to explain to you both a few things that neither of you have known, and as it will become clear to you, could not be divulged before now. The consequences would have simply been too dire to even think about…" she continued with a very serious expression.
"The answers you seek, however, are not quite as spectacular as you might be inclined to think. In fact, they're actually very simple, even natural," she continued.
"Harry, you know of the prophecy that Dumbledore heard in the presence of Professor Trelawney before you were born."
Harry nodded to her.
"Do you believe that it was true?"
"Well…it did happen," Harry replied, admittedly.
"Of course, Harry. But do you know how it happened?" the Professor further quizzed the dark haired teenager.
"Dumbledore told me that Voldemort had made it true by choosing to go after me when I was a baby," Harry spoke, not certain of what the Professor was driving at.
"Yes, that's part of it," McGonagall responded, "And you fulfilled the rest of it by killing him. Here is the proof - you are sitting in front of me alive and well, and Voldemort lies in a pile of ash in the same field in which he had intended to kill you. But this time was different from when he tried to kill you back when you were an infant. Do you know why?" The Professor leaned in a little towards Harry.
"Because he did not have the horcruxes to keep him alive. He was mortal again," Harry answered. The Professor gave him a stern look.
"Of course, Harry, thanks to you, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger. But what I am asking is, do you know how you killed him? Do you know how a seventeen year old wizard, though very talented and smart for his age, was able to destroy one of the most powerful dark wizards, our world has known, without a shred of magic, skill or talent?"
"I think so, Professor. It was the decision I made, wasn't it?" Harry returned.
McGonagall's face lit up with a tremendous smile.
"Very good, Harry. I continue to be impressed with your capacity to see the subtle things that others wouldn't even notice. Now what was it Professor Dumbledore told you that you possessed that was the only power able to defeat Voldemort?"
Harry looked at Hermione, feeling slightly embarrassed at the simplicity of something that he thought seemed so trite when Dumbledore had first talked to him about it. She reached out and took his hand, wanting so much to be able to know his thoughts. Harry then turned to McGonagall again.
"He said it was my 'ability to love' that was the…power the Dark Lord knew not," Harry again stated admittedly.
"Correct again. Now here is where this mystery begins to unfold. Professor Dumbledore had known of this 'power' of yours before you ever entered Hogwarts, Harry, and had learned that the prophecy would indeed come to pass because of it."
"But how?" Harry responded, his gaze joined by Hermione's at the Professor again.
"He witnessed it personally, Harry. He was there," the Professor replied almost nonchalantly. "Albus watched you destroy Lord Voldemort the other night while you and Miss Granger had been preserved."
Hermione was now shaking her head in disbelief at these words, sinking back into her chair, trying to comprehend the impossibility of it all. Harry too was astonished, but suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"It was you!" Harry exclaimed to McGonagall.
"Harry, what are you talking about?" Hermione shot at him, looking back and forth at the two as though she were going to burst.
"I thought I saw two faces smiling at me from the woods, after Voldemort was gone. I thought that one of them looked like Professor Dumbledore, but I couldn't see the other face clearly. I thought they might have been ghosts, but it was you with him! I wasn't imagining things!" Harry added excitedly.
The Professor's face again brightened with a smile.
"Quite right, Harry. You weren't imagining things. Once again, you have shown yourself very astute. Both the Professor and myself witnessed, many years ago, your confrontation with Voldemort the other night, and saw you accomplish what had seemed so impossible in the minds of many. And I must admit, that I myself was so afraid that you wouldn't do it, the way things had been going for both of you. Dumbledore, however was very confident and never once doubted the power residing in you would come out like it did. And, no, he wasn't a ghost, Hermione. He was as flesh and blood as you are right now."
"How, Professor?" Hermione responded.
"We used a very old piece of magic known as the Chronosis Charm. Quite simply, it enables one to traverse time, both forward and backward. It is similar to the Time-Turner that I gave you several years ago, Miss Granger, but far more powerful and downright dangerous if not done properly. As a matter of fact, Dumbledore used it very rarely, and that in emergencies only. But no one would question that the time at which we utilized it was an emergency of the highest order. It was not long after your parent's were murdered, Harry."
Both of them were silent, trying to take all of this strange information in.
"After you had been rescued on that terrible night, Professor Dumbledore and myself personally took responsibility for your safety and welfare. As you know, he sent you to your aunt and uncle's house, not simply to hide you from danger, but to protect you with the same blood that your mother had given to save your life. Albus had told you, last year, about his plan for bringing you back to your rightful life in wizarding that you were born into. But he had also become extremely interested in the power that had protected you from being killed. The power that your mother gave you in her sacrifice of herself.
"While most of the wizarding world has viewed your story from a purely external point of view, this aspect of your mother's love received very little acceptance as the explanation for the seeming impossible events that night. That is why the world has expected so much talent and greatness out of you, Harry. They only see the appearance of things in matters of importance. They just can't believe that something so 'simple' as love could bring down even the most powerful magic. However, Professor Dumbledore believed very strongly that 'love' was the key to this entire conflict and without it, there was little hope that the prophecy might be fulfilled - for the good, of course. He knew that if your mother's love could protect you and reduce Voldemort to the weakened state he had been in for so many years, then according to the prophecy it would be your capacity to love that would destroy Voldemort in the end. More specifically, your love for someone.
"Your parent's were gone, Harry. Your relatives did little to excite the strong kind of love that would be needed to stop such an evil wizard. It would be years before you would be introduced to your godfather, Sirius Black, and then of course, his death also confirmed the fears that Dumbledore had for your future. It seemed to us that there might never be anyone for whom you could display such a powerful love that it would bring the conflict to an end. Perhaps we lacked faith, Harry, but in light of the circumstances at that time, Albus and I decided to take our little 'journey' and cheat, if you will, to find out exactly what the outcome would be.
"Needless to say, we were both absolutely stunned at what transpired out in that field, but we saw the answer to our concern almost immediately, and she is sitting in the chair right next to you."
Harry and Hermione turned quickly to look at each other, curiously.
"Neither Dumbledore nor myself knew who this young woman was, who had evidently captured your heart. You were facing us and we could not see her face, even in the moonlight that night, but the way you were holding her, and the tears you shed over her, told us that she was someone very special that you would come to know and love as much as your own life. So much that you would die for her to protect her from the danger that threatened you both that night.
"It was with great eagerness, therefore, that Dumbledore and myself afterwards awaited your arrival at the school when you were of age, and we were equally anxious to know who it was that would end up making so amazing a sacrifice for you. After all, such a love is truly rare."
Harry felt Hermione's fingers press into his strongly.
"When you met Mr. Weasley and then the two of you began to hang around together with a certain young witch, we became suspicious of course, but I must admit, Miss Granger, that at first, I saw little else than a strong headed young woman who had arrived at our doorstep having already learned everything she needed to know through her books. Suffice it say, that you later proved yourself to be far more than a stale, living reminder of the rules and everything proper. And that was when Albus and I began to take more than passing interest in you and your relationship with the young Harry Potter. In fact, it was the night that Quirrell set the troll loose in the school that we came to see the potential in you of what we had witnessed in that field.
"After Harry and Ron had saved you, we saw the change in you. What was perhaps lurking under the surface all along now came out and I dare say that you yourself probably attribute that to Harry here. After that night the three of you were thick as thieves, but it was the relationship you grew to have with Mr. Potter that attracted our attention the most.
"I have been a professor at Hogwarts for many years, Miss Granger. I have seen everything under the sun within these walls. I have watched as students became the best of friends and then later the bitterest of enemies. I have seen practically every kind of flirting, every practical joke, though Ron's twin brothers have tried to prove me wrong on that account many times, and every type of romance that teenagers think is so appealing and desirable. But what we saw not only in the character of you both, but in the way you treated each other, the respect and loyalty, the implicit trust and goodness of heart, were qualities that very rarely ever rear their heads in such young pupils. It was this unique and rare friendship that had over the years convinced the Professor and myself that you both held inside the kind of love that it would take to destroy Voldemort. And from this we deduced that you were that very girl in Harry's arms on that fateful night.
"So it was, the following term, when Quirrell had 'tricked' Dumbledore into leaving the school, that Albus visited your parents, Miss Granger. He had known all along about the horcruxes and was planning to tell Harry about them, as he later did, when the time was right. But Albus believed so strongly in you, Hermione, that he began to set certain things in order, to help the both of you at a time when your need would be greatest. That is a tribute to the immense wisdom of the man. I myself wasn't entirely convinced of the matter in those early days, but under orders from my superior I did everything I could to make sure you both had what was needed for what seemed to Dumbledore an inevitable destiny. That's why, Harry, Hermione, we allowed the three of you so much liberty and ability to get by with breaking our rules. You don't think that we were blind to all the times you would sneak out to see Hagrid or run off to Hogsmeade, do you? Running a wizard's school requires more than just holding classes, you know"
Both of them smiled back at the Professor.
"Anyway, the envelope he left in your parent's care was intended to be given to you only at a specific time and that time was to be determined by your parents in the event that you, Miss Granger, were in trouble and there seemed to be no other way out. They agreed to Dumbledore's terms and secrecy in the matter, but I think that it was your mother, Hermione, that read a little more into the situation than Dumbledore even anticipated. I think you know what I am referring to when I say that she saw you were in trouble in more than simply being unable to find the location of the sixth horcrux. I know this because I too began to notice the trouble you were having over the course of the past year. Your behavior became peculiar even for you. I noticed your fidgeting, your temper flaring more than usual. Breaking the rules, especially as a prefect of Gryffindor, in order to get Mr. Weasley to like you. Again, I have seen it all in this place and I know when a girl is in love and trying so desperately to rid herself of it.
"Dumbledore had even become concerned over the past year with both of you and the special friendship you had together. Life as a teenager can be very trying and the pressures that both of you were under, especially you Harry, with Voldemort, seemed to be straining even the strong bond that you shared together. Though neither of us could intervene directly, Albus thought that perhaps another way might be helpful. He had always said that people generally have what they need right in front of them without realizing it and that sometimes they just need to be nudged in the right direction. It was, therefore, sometime before he died that he left me strict instructions on what I was to do in the event that you came to me with his key, Miss Granger. I was not allowed to speak with you about it, even if you asked. I was merely told to take you to the vault, personally, and give you what he had left of his knowledge about Tom Riddle and his horcruxes."
"But what about the mirror, Professor, did you know that he had placed it in that exact spot you told me to wait," Hermione asked as though a flood of pent up questions were trying to break out of her. The Professor smiled again.
"I had not even thought of it until I returned with the box to find you standing in tears before the mirror, Hermione. But when I saw what had happened, I realized that Dumbledore must have intended you see the mirror when he moved it from the dungeon into the vault. He obviously knew that what you needed, the answer you were seeking Miss Granger, was indeed right before your eyes," the Professor said while turning to look at Harry.
"So perhaps, you both might now understand that the really interesting aspect of all this is not time travel, prophecy, foresight or anything else concerning knowledge of the future. I think that what's most interesting is simply one word - timing.
"But the point I am trying to make to you both has to do with the difference between what happened on the night your parent's were killed by Voldemort, Harry, and the night you destroyed him for good. Something occurred that not even Dumbledore would have foreseen. As you know, Harry, our 'faces' disappeared not long after you looked right at us and so Albus didn't witness the one amazing thing that happened after we had departed."
The Professor turned her head to look at Hermione and Harry followed her gaze, tightening his grip on Hermione's hand.
"No one except you, Harry, has ever survived the Killing Curse...until now. And the same love that brought about Voldemort's downfall brought her back to you somehow, as you stated, because of your decision. Hermione's noble and selfless act had indeed protected you again, Harry, and if you had stood up to that vicious man and he tried to kill you, it would have destroyed him and saved your life. That's why the decision you made was so astonishing and yet it enabled you to do for Hermione what you couldn't do for your mother when she was trying to save your life. It was your sacrifice this time, Harry. It was your willingness to die that brought her back to you. I assume that is why you turned your back on Voldemort in protecting Hermione, even though you thought her to be already dead."
Harry very solemnly nodded at the Professor, then slowly turned his gaze towards Hermione. His heart ached to see the tears welling up in her eyes, as she gazed at him, hearing this information for the first time. He squeezed her hand tightly and she reciprocated, but no words seemed appropriate for what they both were feeling at the moment.
The Professor herself began to get teary eyed just looking at both of them with another heavy smile.
"I think that both of you need some time alone to think about all this and perhaps get a little rest from all the chaos in the school. But before you go, I want both of you to know that I have made arrangements with the rest of the teachers and they are all in hearty agreement that the three of you will receive a full reinstatement into Hogwarts, if you wish, that is. And we will do everything in our power to see that all three of you are able to graduate with your fellow seventh years right on time."
They both turned to look at McGonagall, thrilled at her offer.
"Thank you, Professor!" they both uttered excitedly, standing and then embracing each other with the biggest smiles they had shone in such a long time.
"Oh no, thank you. Thank you both," McGonagall spoke, with tears streaking down her own happy face.
Harry and Hermione turned and walked out into the corridor, the door to the Professor's office closing on it's own behind them. They looked at each other for eternal moments, breathing a sigh of relief, but clearly still trying to grasp the whole meaning of the incredible things that the Professor had just told them. They did need time alone to think, and Harry had been wanting to ask Hermione about something she had said to him in that field.
And he knew just the right place for both of them to go…