Chapter 23: The Trainman
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the compartment alone, when Hermione jumped out of her seat, opened her trunk, and grabbed the book Harry had given her for Christmas. She opened to the chapter on The Trainman, and told Harry and Ron to look over with her.
"It says here that The Trainman is split into two parts, and are identical twins. One half transports people in and out of the land of the dead, and even through it at times. He's the one that people first see when they die, and make the choice whether or not they want to be a ghost or stay in the land of the dead."
"So what are you saying? He's the one that lets people in or something?" Ron asked.
"Exactly. He's the one that gives the people the choice."
"What about his twin?"
"His twin, is the one we hear whenever someone gives a prophecy. When a 'seer'," She held up her hands, forming quotation marks with her hands, "makes a prophecy, he uses their body to project his message. That's why a seer never remembers what they say, because it is not them who say it."
"So you're saying seers aren't special people who can see the future?" Ron asked, remembering Trelawney, a smirk playing along his face.
"They're special, but not that special. A seer is only a person that has a large tie to the land of the dead. That's all."
"Hmm, let's tell Trelawney. That'll be a slap in the face, wouldn't it?" Ron said, his smirk turning into a full on grin. Hermione smiled too, and turned to Harry, asking that if they should with her eyes. She could already tell that he was saying yes.
"That would tell her to stop predicting my death so often."
They pulled into the station, and started getting out of the compartment, when Ron and Hermione fainted, falling to the ground with a thump. The door to the compartment opened, and a homeless man stepped inside the compartment, wearing about seven watches on his left wrist. He looked at them, and smiled, "Your time is almost up." Then he slung his fist into Harry's stomach, and he flew through the train wall, into the station.
Harry flew through the air, bumping into Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, "Potter, what the hell are you doing?" Malfoy asked as the man then jumped out of the hole, and landed in the middle of the street. Then a ring of fire formed around him, which then flew high into the sky, reaching the highest tip of blue, and then it disappeared, along with the homeless man.
The four of them stood up, and Harry was left without answers as to what happen. Even with Malfoy screaming for some, "POTTER! What in the blue hell is going on? You will tell me now!"
"I would tell you, Malfoy, if I had the answer to that question myself." Ron and Hermione ran out of the hole themselves, Hermione running over and wrapping her arms around Harry's neck. Malfoy scoffed, grabbing Hermione's arms, unwrapping them from around Harry, and throwing her to the ground.
"You are going to tell me, exactly, what in the blazes is going on here, right now!"
Harry turned around, looking Malfoy dead in the eye, "If you want answers, you're looking at the wrong person for them, Death Eater. I wonder, have you seen your father since his capture? How does his new home, oh, I'm sorry, cell, look to you?"
Malfoy threw a punch at Harry, which was blocked easily. Harry grabbed Malfoy's hand, jumped, twisted, and kicked Crabbe and Goyle in their faces. Those two fell down, and Harry flipped, throw Malfoy right into the scorch mark that the flame left. Harry knew he was in for a detention or two, but he didn't dare about that at the moment.
"Mr. Potter, come here now!" Professor McGonagall said, running toward the students. Harry was already starting to walk to her, when he turned to Hermione, she was still stunned, but was smiling at him. She muttered thanks to him under her breath, and he smiled back, and walked toward McGonagall again.
They walked up to the school, with McGonagall shouting at the top of her lungs at him. Harry knew it was self-defense, and also knew that fighting was against the rules, "Why did you do what you did, Potter?"
"He hurt Hermione. I did what I had to, so I could protect her."
"Ah, so it's about love, is it? Hmm, I may let you off easy. But that's only a maybe." They got to McGonagall's office, where Snape and Dumbledore were standing. Snape was looking at Harry with an utter loathing. Dumbledore had lost the twinkle in his eye, to an extent. It was still there, but not as bright.
"So, Harry, why did you just knock out three of my students?" Dumbledore asked, looking at him with, surprisingly, a smirk on his face.
"Malfoy hurt Hermione, and was trying to hurt me. I was only defending myself."
"A weeks worth of detentions won't hurt then, will it?" Snape asked, looking smug now, "Starting next week you will be serving a detention a night, with me. Cleaning an entire Dungeon. Along with Mr. Malfoy."
"You really want another fight to break out, don't you Severus?" McGonagall asked him.
"No, Mr. Potter will need an extra hand though, so Mr. Malfoy will be it. He will now go to his dormitory, without dinner."
"I don't remember you having the authority to say that, Severus."
"Since it is my student Potter decided to put on his last leg of life, then I can. Go, Mr. Potter." Harry walked out of the office, down the hall, and towards the prefect common room for the first time since December. He said the password to the statue, then his room, and lay down on his bed falling asleep instantly.
Harry woke up, standing in the middle of the Zen Garden, like he usually does. He walked over to the lake, when the doors to the garden opened, and in came Zalrot, followed by the homeless man that had punched him through the train wall earlier that day.
They were walking at him, looking smug about something, "Well, Harry. It seems that your training in either world has not paid off. Looks like we'll have to do something about that." The homeless man said, walking over to Harry, looking at his watches, "as I said, you're time is almost up."
"Who in the hell are you?"
"Me? Nobody. Just a, a spectator enjoying a ride. I am the Trainman."
"Which one?" Then he heard feet land behind him softly, as if not wanting to alert Harry to their owner's presence.
"Both of them." They both said, before each of them threw a fist at Harry. He flipped backward, kicked them both in the head, and landed on his feet. The two Trainmen passed him in midair, and crashed into the wall. Then they fell to the floor, and stood up abruptly.
"Ok, you have some skill." the first Trainman said before brushing off his clothing. The second copied the action, and started to walk at Harry again, as if he wanted to fight some more. Harry backed up, raised his fists, and brought his left foot up to his right knee, standing on one leg.
"We're not going to fight anymore. That was just a test to see if you were ready. Like we said, you're time is almost up. Follow me." Then they started floating upward again, but this time going higher then Harry had ever been in the land of the dead. When they entered a glass box, they stopped, and sat down in the seats provided.
"Welcome, to the observation deck. Only select few get to be able to come up this far. From this, you can look at everything in the Land of the Dead, from living quarters, to training centers, to even business centers, which, compared to the muggle world, is not that big."
The Trainman pressed a button on the wall, and the box started to float around the land of the dead. They were in a white void, floating around levels of a building. It was one floor stacked on top of another, going higher and higher, and then the box landed on the ground, and a hatch opened.
"I thought it was an observation deck?"
"Well, it is. But it is more like an elevator. Now, to the reason why we are all sitting here, in this box. You, boy."
"Why am I the reason."
"The prophecy of the shadow revolves around you. You're the one I lead through the seven challenges of the dead to the other door of the dead, which leads into the Temple of Green Flames."
"You're taking me?"
"Yes, I am."
"And I am the one that uses the girl to tell you what you need to do."
"Then why do I have to figure out riddles to know what is going to happen?"
"Because that is what your mind perceives what I say as. That's the way the system was set up thousands of years ago. You have to figure out what you have to do. You wouldn't be much of a hero if I told you how to do everything."
"And it seems that the boy has a nighttime visitor in the real world, and must wake up."
"Hmm, let him go. It seems that he will get an explanation anyway."
***
Harry was woken up by Ron shaking him, and Hermione whispering in his ear.
"Alright, alright, I'm up. What do you want?"
"Sirius wants to talk with us."
"What time is it?"
"Three in the morning, come on." Ron said, already walking out the door. Harry stood up, slipped on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt, and walked out of the door, holding Hermione's hand. As they walked through the common room, they past Dean fidgeting on the couch, his eyes wide open, saying, "Can't sleep, clowns will eat me."
They walked towards Sirius' office, where he was sitting at his desk, with his feet propped up on the surface. He was smoking what Harry knew as a Cuban cigar. I wonder where he got that.
"America. A friend in America gave me a few."
"Who is this friend?" Hermione asked.
"American, Muggle CIA. But that's not why I called you here today. How much do you know about the Green Flame Torch?"
"Sirius, how do you know about that?"
"Remember that tapestry you saw last year of the Black family?" Harry nodded, "Well, there is another one, just like it in that house. Behind that tapestry is a door. Behind that door is a room. In that room, is the tapestry that shows the descendents of Ursulane. I am one of those descendents."
"So, you are the one-" Harry said, before being interrupted by Sirius.
"No, that's not me. I've been putting pressure on her, but I don't think she'll listen to me. Narcissa is the one with Ursulane's piece."
"Narcissa? Narcissa Malfoy?"
"Yes. She's the one. You heard my mother's painting in the living room, right? Well, she wasn't that way all the time. My real father was a muggle-born, in fact. They both owned Grimmauld Place, and had me and Narcissa. Those first years, we grew up normal wizarding lives."
"If there is such a thing." Harry commented before motioning for Sirius to continue.
"Well, then Voldemort started his reign of terror across the country, and the people in my family started to join Voldemort. My mother was vigilantly against it, and would not turn. My father joined the Aurors and racked up over two-hundred enemy kills in self-defense.
When he was killed in the battle of Five Rivers Road, my mom couldn't deal with anything anymore. She was depressed for about a year, and then married a man that would finally turn her over to the dark side. He was a vile and cruel man that would beat us kids, and my mother and Narcissa turned, going to the dark. That was why I left.
But, there was a questionable doubt about Narcissa being the heir."
"Why is that?"
"Because there is another name that isn't on the black tapestry. In fact, a name that would never be on there because Dumbledore intervened. Not only did Voldemort kill James that night. He killed my brother-in-law."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Lily was my sister. And Voldemort took them both away from me without a second thought. She was a part of a much larger prophecy, which involves everyone, and everything that everyone in this world has come to love or hate. The Prophecy of the Shadow."
"What is that?" Ron asked, looking confused, "Why do we always have to be in something complex?"
"Because you three, are one of many that are involved. Your lives are, and always will be this complicated. The Prophecy of the Shadow, speaks of many people, whose lives will all intertwine to destroy evil. You three, are some of those many that are involved."
"How many people are involved directly?" Hermione inquired.
"We haven't got a full count, but roughly over two-hundred people. Some haven't been born, but the key players already have. Look, that's all that I can say right now. You two," He said pointing at Ron and Hermione, "You two go back to bed. Harry, hang back a second. I have something I want to say to you." Ron left the room, and Hermione gave Harry a soft kiss before departing out the door.
"What do you want, Sirius?"
Sirius bent down, reached into a sheath at his ankle, and pulled out a knife. The blade itself was eight inches long, one inch wide, and a centimeter thick. The handle was a little over five inches, and Sirius was twirling it around, giving Harry the handle part, while he held onto the blade.
"Take it, and keep it with you always. You'll need it sooner or later."
"Yeah, is this what you wanted me to stay back for?"
"No, there is something else." At that moment, The Trainman and Dumbledore walked into the room, and sat down on either side of Harry. Sirius sat in his desk again, and pulled out another Cuban cigar.
"We're here to talk to you about your involvement in the Prophecy of the Shadow. But before we continue, you must understand a few things."
"One" The Trainman said, before motioning for Sirius to continue.
"One, that you must understand that not everything can be said. There are things we must keep from you in order to ensure the safety of millions. Two, you cannot tell Hermione. She mustn't know yet." Sirius said, in a very serious tone.
"Why not?"
"Because however important she is to the prophecy, it is not her time to find out. She will find out when she is ready to find out."
"And who says she is not ready to find out?"
"She does. She doesn't voice that she isn't because she doesn't know what she is not ready to know. How can you tell someone you're not ready to know something when you don't know what you're not ready to know? Scire abnegare, scire amicitia, scire medius, scire perubique."
"If it's a matter of trust, I assure you-"
"We all know she is trustworthy, but she doesn't trust herself. She says she is not ready to know for the fear of being captured. There is one other thing that she doesn't trust herself to tell you, because she fears the consequences of what would happen if she does."
"And what is that?"
"There are six key players in the shadow prophecy. Three male, and three female, a perfect balance that is represented by the number of a certain gender in the group. Each male loves one of the females, and vice versa. You and Hermione are linked by that exact love. She doesn't realize that, and she's said it to herself plenty of times, aiming it at you, but she never really has understood the depth of what she says. She loves you, Harry, and has been battling herself on whether or not to tell you." The Trainman said, looking Harry dead in the eye.
"Yeah, she loves me as a friend, a brother-"
'And a lover. She loves you like no one else on this planet. That is what we have to tell you. Keep her close, and never let her go."
"I never would have done that in the first place." Harry said, "Can I go now? I need to sleep."
Sirius waved an arm up, "Yeah, go on." As the door shut, Sirius turned to the Trainman, "I don't know if that was wise."
"Wise? Maybe not. Necessary, yes."
***
Harry had started on the staircase to the prefect common room, and saw Hermione standing there, looking at him with a wanting for answers. Harry used all of his will power to stop himself from asking her, 'do you love me?' Even though he didn't believe The Trainman, he certainly made Harry think a little. All he knew, is that he loved her in the exact way they said, but he never thought it would be returned.
He never thought that he could say it again, after he knew the dangers of what the people around him were in. He knew that the ones he loved, no matter how deep, were in danger of being killed, just like Cho, like Cedric, and countless others that Harry had no idea who they were.
Hermione could sense something was wrong with Harry, by the way he carried himself. What was he thinking about? She looked at him, "Harry, what wrong?" She asked, trying to see his face. All he did was lower it even more, like he couldn't look at her, "What's wrong?"
"I- I don't know, anymore. I mean, there are so many things that I want to say, yet can't or can't get up the courage to say. Something that is too hard to say. I don't even remember how to say it anymore. I- I-" He stopped, his voice giving out, unable to say anything else.
"You what?"
"I don't know anymore. I just don't know." He said, grabbing her hand and putting it on his heart. That was when she knew what he was saying, and how hard it was for him to say. But, they didn't need words, they never did. They always understood each other by just a glance or a touch. They always knew.
"I love you too."
***
Sirius was walking down the hall, side by side with Dumbledore, "What about his powers? What will the Green Flame Torch do to them?"
"The Green Flame Torch is the power of the magical world, so I think that it will amplify his psionic powers. The torch itself doesn't give him anything new according to abilities, none more then he already has, but it will help him defeat Voldemort."
"What about the Shadow Master? Isn't he the main threat here?"
"The Shadow Master is too weak to do anything at the moment. Since he was trapped millions of years ago, his power hasn't started building yet. But there is nothing Harry, Hermione, or the four others can do at the moment about him. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"You better hope we're able to cross it without thousands of Shadow Soldiers stopping us straight in our tracks."
"With the Cult still alive, those soldiers can never surface onto the planet. What you have to remember, is that Voldemort has one plan, and a back plan to that one, and a backup plan to the backup plan. He's very thorough in what he does, and he rarely makes a mistake."
"But he does make them."
"Correct. What we have to do is find those mistakes, and exploit them. Use them to our advantage."
"What about the Shadow Master?"
"He's only made one, and exploiting that is nearly impossible. By the clock, I say we have a little over eight years before he surfaces again, and it will be somewhere in the United States. He's angry at one poor soul in particular, and he lives somewhere in the northern Midwest of the country."
"What makes him so special?"
"He's the leader. The one that had so much heart to defeat the Shadow Master, that he led the six souls that trapped him in a shadow lock into the fires of hell to do it." Sirius nodded, and branched off into the opposite hallway, heading for his quarters. He stepped inside, seeing a picture that sat on his mantle, of the woman he lost fifteen years ago.
"Oh, Marzia, we need you so much right now. You wouldn't believe how much, in fact." He said, picking up the picture, and holding it in his hands. Marzia, a woman he knew from school was staring back at him. My fiancé. He said to himself in his mind, and set it down again. He then changed, got into bed, and went to sleep.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Sup y'all! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Now, in light of the Holiday season, and being that it is Christmas (Posted on December 25th), I decided that I should give you some kind of gift for the holidays, and what better way then a preview of what is yet to come, or a few previews! These are for everyone except Amynoelle, whom I went to the reindeer stalls for her specially made present. j/k
Preview One:
"Well, what a surprise, brother." said a voice that Ron recognized as Percy. He swiveled around quickly, aiming the tip of his wand at Percy's nose.
"Save it. You're no brother of mine."
"Here to help out Potter, eh? Well, I applaud your attitude. If you have a death wish, I'll be happy to accommodate you!"
Preview Two:
"Good evening, my fellow Americans
I, the President of the United States, formally ask the Congress declare a state of war on a world that does not exist to the eyes of most people. Things that we have called myth and legend are as real as the hand you use to pick up a dinner fork. These things are Wizards and Witches. They are hidden among us, among our towns, our villages, and everywhere. People you know could be these people, and the dangers of this are too terrible to contemplate.
Just a week ago, this world had a machine built that had the power to destroy this entire world. Granted, this machine came from our own design, but it's schematic was scheduled for destruction two years ago, before the Wizarding World's top agents stole it from Langley, and gave it to one of their special government organizations, know as, The Death Eaters. These people used another government sector, known as the Cult of Shadows, to build this evil monstrosity.
I give the people of the United States, as well as the entire world, to revolt against these wizards. They have declared war on us by building that weapon that crashed into the Middle East just a week prior to now, killing people within a one-hundred and eighty square mile radius. Now I urge the people of the world to take any action deemed necessary to save your lands. They've started a war, and I will finish it. Thank you."
And President Fowler grabbed a pen, and signed a document that would take away the power the wizarding world had of freedom. It was now their time to fight not only one enemy, but two. They didn't want to fight the world, but it seems that fighting the world was the only thing that could be done to survive the terrible horrors that were yet to come for the people of the Wizarding World.
I hope you enjoyed those previews! Now, I have a shout-out to people out there:
Amynoelle- I know I give one to her most of the time, but I'm going to do it again. She just released a very nice little Christmas fic a couple of days ago called 'Please Come Home for Christmas'. It's a very nice, and at the expense of sounding girly, very sweet, little fic that you must read at once! I wish her a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
And thank you to everyone else who has read this fic! Enjoy the next chapter, Chapter 24: Azkaban's Destruction.