Chapter Thirteen

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Now You See Me, Now You Don't

Thursday was one of the days the four had been looking forward to the most. The day they would start to learn the complicated art of invisibility. Harry and Ron were especially excited. Since they had both grown taller over the holidays, and it didn't seem like they would be stopping anytime soon, the invisibility cloak would soon no longer be an option. It could fit one person under it, but if both of them wanted to use it they would run the risk of being seen. It made late night trips to the kitchens much harder. On the other hand, if they could turn invisible anytime it could be used to their advantage, both when trying to escape from dangerous situations and when performing pranks. The four teens had a free period first thing after breakfast, and they were to be found in the library discussing possible uses for their soon to be acquired ability.

“ Just think of all the things we could learn,” exclaimed Hermione, “ We could sneak into the library at night if we needed to do research. We wouldn't have to worry about getting caught and losing points.”

“ Wow, `Mione, never thought I'd hear you suggesting we break the rules,” was Ron's retort.

“ Well, it's not like anyone would get hurt. And we wouldn't lose house points, so it wouldn't affect other people.”

“ True, but we could do much more fun things, like playing pranks on the Slytherins…”

“…or spying on the founders…”

“ That would be unethical!”

“…or getting food from the kitchens. What do you think Harry?”

“ Personally, I think it's time we had some fun. We've been fighting evil Dark Lords since first year, and now we're away from Voldemort I think it's time we just did what we like. There's no-one to hurt us here, and even if there was, we now have enough knowledge to deal with any threats.”

“ What are you suggesting, mate?”

“ What I'm suggesting, Ron, is that we do some pranks, play some quidditch, and just be kids for a change.”

“ Sounds good to me.”

At that moment Ginny, who had her head in her arms on the desk, began to stir. She had dozed off a while ago when the boys had been talking about quidditch. She was now shifting restlessly and muttering in her sleep. Suddenly, she sat up straight and gave a little yelp. The incident was similar to what had happened to her in Divination the other day. Must be a vision, Harry thought. Her eyes flew open and her gaze was met by concerned looks from her three friends.

“ What's up, Gin, you look like you've seen a ghost.”

“ I'm fine, Ron, it's just…”

“ Nothing. I just have a feeling something bad is going to happen tomorrow.”

Harry thought about this for a second, remembering what Simbi and Nirah had told him about her being a true Seer.

“ Ginny, was it a vision with images, like you had in Divination? Or was it a feeling, like you had in Diagon Alley when you told me to take out more money?”

“ Like Diagon Alley.”

“ Right. I think we need to look into this whole Seer thing.”

Ron and Hermione were watching the exchange, confused. They had not heard the exchange in Diagon Alley, nor did they know about her being a Seer. Harry had mentioned it to Ginny the night after her incident in Divination, but he had never told the others.

“ Harry, what are you talking about? What do you mean about my sister being a Seer?”

Harry sighed and looked at Ginny. She gave a slight nod for him to tell the others.

“ Ron, Hermione, I found out on Friday that Ginny is a true Seer. I thought there was something funny going on when we went to Diagon Alley to get our school supplies. When we got to Gringotts, she told me to take out a lot more money than I normally would, as she had a strong feeling I would need it. I trust her, so I did what she said. Then we got sent to the past for however many years we'll be stuck here. There may be times when that extra money comes in useful. When we were in Divination, Ginny had a vision. Something about a battle in the Chamber of Secrets, I think. I talked to Simbi and Nirah about it, and they told me she was a true Seer.”

The other two just stared at Harry for a few minutes in awe. Ron was pleased that his sister was special, if a little jealous. Hermione just wanted to hit the books and find out all she could about true Seers. Once they had both snapped out of their dazes, Hermione went to gather some books so they could spend the morning researching Ginny's new gift.

Two hours later the four friends hadn't found much on true Seers. From what Harry had managed to glean from Simbi and Nirah, true Seers were very rare. There were actually three types of Seer. True Seers had a very strong Inner Eye and could experience both visions and intuitive feelings. They could see things that were going to happen months or even years in advance, and their visions were much clearer. The second type were short sighted Seers. They had weak visions that only showed them things that would happen in the next few days. The third, like their old Divination professor, could only see a few minutes in advance, if at all, and had only a few true visions in their lives, which they themselves could not recall having. Ginny, being a true Seer, was of the most powerful type.

Just as they were about to give up, a whiney voice sounded from behind them.

“ Well, well, if it isn't the Mudblood scum. Studying hard, I see. You need to study hard to make up for your weak magic. Not that you could ever make up for that. No matter how hard you study, you will never be anything worthwhile.”

“ Shut up, d'Escargot.”

“ Ohhhh! The redhead has clout! My, my, how long did it take to think that one up? A week?”

“ Leave my brother alone, go and bother someone who cares.”

“ Be silent woman! How dare you speak to a man like that! You should learn to hold your tongue in front of your betters.”

“ Well when I see one of my betters, I'll bare that in mind!”

Horatio took a step towards Ginny, his hand in the air as if to strike her. Before he could reach her Harry had hit him with a very powerful disarming spell, which sent the boy hurtling back and hitting the book stacks with a sickening thump. The other three stared at the Boy-Who-Lived in fright. The first to recover has Hermione, who pointed at Harry's outstretched hand with a shaking finger.

“ Harry, you're not holding your wand.”

Harry stared at his hand in disbelief. He had just performed a very powerful wandless magic spell without even realising it.

“ I think when we go to our lesson tonight, we should tell Lady Ravenclaw about this.”

The other three nodded in agreement.

That night when the group assembled in the tower room they were impatient for the founder to arrive. They had been waiting for the lesson to arrive, but no longer for the reasons they had had that morning. Pranks and trips to the kitchen were the last things on their minds. When Lady Ravenclaw entered they all stood up and hurried over to her, Harry telling her what had happened. She listened attentively and nodded her head when he had finished.

“ How did you feel at the time?”

“ What do you mean?”

“ Before you performed the spell, what did you feel. What emotion?”

“ Anger. He was trying to hurt my friend, and I knew I just couldn't let that happen.”

“ Well, all I can tell you is that the emotion must have been very strong. Those who have never been trained in wandless magic can not normally perform such strong spells unless they are experiencing very strong emotions. Now, we will do more about this on Sunday, for now put it out of your mind and we will concentrate on invisibility. Now, I need you to imagine yourselves as transparent. You will not be able to do this very quickly. When learning this magic, you need to start with slight transparency and work your way up to full invisibility. Now, close your eyes and clear your mind…”

Three hours later the exhausted teens made their way out of the room. Harry had made the most progress, making himself slightly transparent. The others had been successful as well, but not to the degree that Harry managed. Ravenclaw believed they would be able to manage full invisibility by Christmas.