(no subject)
Stuff and things to share from HP and Asoiaf
The Onion Knight sailing on some mission for Stannis, maybe when he tries to gather the Stormlords, or later. Davos still looks a bit shabby as looks his ship, because deep down he'll always feel like that boy from Flea Bottom. Also I tried to make him look content and calm on where he's most comfortable, sailing. Oh and Davos sewed the onion on a sail, like on his sigil
Stained Glass window, Coldhands with heart tree, ravens and elk. The tree has almost no leaves because Winter is coming and Coldhands' face is hidden because we don't really know who he is.
Prompt was to visualize the inner conflict of a good character.
Dumbledore in a Deathly Hallows shaped window, with Aberforth and Ariana on one side and Grindelwald on the other.
Prologue
Business had not been good the past weeks. An extremely cold November had followed a grim October and customers were inclined to stay at home rather than going out to have a drink in the Hogs Head.
Only a few habitual customers sat at the bar, so Aberforth wasn't surprised to have Mundugus, heavily wrapped in a thick cloak, sitting at his bar.
"C'mon Ab, serve me another one!" Mundugus shouted, pointing at his empty fire whisky glass. "One to warm me up before my trip into the forest."
Aberforth only shook his head. "Must be mad to go into the Forest with that weather. Not even Hagrid likes to go there when it looks like there's a snow storm coming up."
"Yeah, but that's the best part. Nobody to find things one doesn't want to be found, if you get my meaning..." Mundugus grinned. "I've got a nice delivery of cauldrons I need to store somewhere and well, since you don't want to-"
"Dung, you're a old friend and a good customer, but I don't want your stuff in my pub." With a frown Aberforth poured him another glass of firewhiskey. "And you should keep sober if you're going in the forest. Nasty stuff out there, I've heard stories lately I didn't like a bit."
"Don't worry Aberforth, the forest and I are old friends." Mundugus drank up and walked to the door. "See you Aberforth!" he greeted and left the pub.
Leaving Hogsmeade behind, he entered the Forbidden Forest. Even with the warming effect of the Firewhiskey and his thick cloak, the chill seemed to get to his bones. "Nasty November this year. Haven't felt that bad for years, ever since the Dementors were on the lose." he muttered to himself. The ice cold wind made eerie sounds in the dark trees and the shadows seemed to move menacingly around him and suddenly Mundugus was in a hurry to get to the place where he had stored his merchandise.
A crack made him jump. With an unsteady hand he took out his wand. "Someone there?" he called. "Dammit, Dung, you're losing your nerve now." Nervously he looked around. "A fox probably." Slowly he continued, farther into the dark forest.
When the attack came, he didn't even hear it. Silently the thing rose behind him and only the silver gleam made Mundugus turn around. "What -" but he didn't have the time to finish. The Other rose a glowing sword and with a single stroke, opened his throat.
Nobody saw him dying. And nobody saw him rising again, with eyes blue as ice.
Albus
Not for the first time Albus wished he had listened to his uncle Ron and not taken Divination in his third year. It had been his curiosity to find out more about prophecies like the well known ones about his father that had made him take this class, but he was already regretting it.
Nothing ever made sense, the tea leaves didn't tell anything, the crystal balls remained stubbornly misty and to boot the way from the Slytherin common room in the dungeons to the classroom in the tower was so far that he already had been late twice. These late comings had led to his first detention in Divination (for Prof. Trelawney claimed that he had interrupted the aura of clairvoyance by busting in late), to which he reluctantly went now.
"Detention with Trelawney?" His friend Scorpius had been sympathetic. "You'll probably just have polish her teacups or so."
It was still going to be one big waste of time. And he would miss Quidditch practice too. It was bad enough that he never had won a match against Gryffindor, something that his brother James would not let him forget easily, especially after scoring five times into the goalposts he, Albus, was supposed to be guarding.
With an increasing bad mood he climbed up the ladder and entered Prof. Trelawneys office.
She was sitting on her armchair, motionless, staring out of the window with eyes wide open.
"Prof. Trelawney?" Albus approached slowly. "Are you feeling all right?" She did not look at him, or acknowledge his presence. As he got next to her, suddenly she spoke, with a harsh voice he had never heard before.
"The cold winds are rising. A cold never known before by mankind. And from the forest they will come, with ice and snow and storms. None will withstand them. An army of dead will follow them with blind eyes like ice. The last bastion will stand alone and winter will never end."
Suddenly she grasped Albus' arm.
"This winter will never end. When the last bastion falls, winter will last forever."
Alarmed, Albus stepped back - Prof. Trelawney looked at him with a demented look on her face, yet did not seem to see him at all. Slowly he retreated to the door and left, walking quickly to his common room.
"Back already? Told you, it wasn't going to be much" Scorpius greeted him cheerfully, but noticing Albus expression he asked "What's wrong?"
Quickly Albus told his friend what had happened.
"So, I'm pretty sure that's what my dad talked about. He said once that Trelawney had a weird voice when she made the prophecy to him." he concluded.
Scorpius looked worried. "Maybe you should tell the headmaster? Or Prof. Zabini?"
"I don't know. I reckon I'll write my dad. You're coming with me?" Albus didn't want to waste another minute, for the words and behaviour of Prof. Trelawney had left him profoundly uneasy.
"Sure, let's go." Albus quickly wrote down what happened on a parchment and they left for the Owlery. But when they arrived, they were greeted by deafening shrieks. All the Owls were hiding in their cages, screaming in panic and refusing to come out.
Albus and Scorpius exchanged a bewildered look. Scorpius shrugged "Well maybe it's the weather? I wouldn't fancy to fly in a snowstorm myself, to be honest."
"they will come with ice and snow and storms...". Remembering Trelawneys words and the strange behaviour of the Owls made a chill go up Albus' neck.
"You know what? I'm going to tell a teacher. I don't think Prof. Zabini will take me seriously, but maybe Prof. Longbottom will."
With another word he left for the staff room.
Prof. Longbottom
Albus Potter's story had left him with more disquiet than he had shown the boy. Even if he didn't give much credit to the subject of Divination, he had lived a war that had been Foreseen and he had seen the Room of Prophecies in the Ministry and even had been almost featured in one.
And there was no denying that this autumn was being grim. He already had lost a few plants in the Greenhouses and was constantly forced to enhance the warming charms in them to prevent more plants from dying. In addition, Hagrid had reported that the creatures in the Forest seemed to be unusually agitated lately. Unicorns had been seen fleeing from inside the Forest and the some Centaurs had already left completely, with no explanation but some cryptic comments of upcoming doom (not that Hagrid gave this much importance, he claimed that they constantly were saying things like that).
He resolved to see Headmaster Flitwick. On his way to the Headmaster's office he encountered Filch, who looked uncommonly pleased.
"Looks like we're finally rid of him, Professor." Filch said with a toothless grin. "Peeves is gone! Haven't seen him for weeks!"
"Well, that's good Mr Filch." Neville replied politely. "I expect that'll mean a great relief to you." But as he continued, Filch's announcement left him thoughtful. Poltergeists were not supposed to leave their castles and Peeves was not accustomed to hide for longer than a day.
"Wingardium Leviosa" he told the gargoyles, a password Flitwick had established in memory to the first charm he ever taught Harry Potter.
The Headmaster's office was empty. Neville frowned. He couldn't recall the headmaster telling the staff that he had to leave. There was ash on the carpet in front of the fireplace, as if Flitwick had used Floo powder recently, but other than this the office looked neat like always.
He looked out of the window, at the huge snow storm that seemed to be forming over the Forbidden Forest and his unease increased.
"I better go and warn Hagrid to come into the castle." Neville thought and left.
James Sirius
"Hey James, still up for it?" Fred, a dark skinned boy with unusual red hair grinned.
James had lost a bet against his cousin Fred and now he had to go to the forest getting some unicorn hair.
"Sure mate! Piece of cake!" James grinned back. "Got my cloak and my map! I'll be back in an hour! Save some fire whiskey for me!" Putting on his invisibility cloak he left to the castle grounds into the snow storm.
James didn't like the cold as a general rule. For once, it meant less Quidditch practice (or at least getting frozen to the bone) and on the other hand his frequent trips into the Forest were becoming more and more uncomfortable. And today the weather was being particularly nasty.
"Dammit, why on earth do I bet against Fred?" he mumbled, shuddering. "At least those unicorn hairs should be close by."
Looking around wearily he arrived at the border of the Forest. The branches cracked loudly under the storm and the snow blasted into his face. Cursing James pulled out his wand and entered the forest.
A silver gleam further away caught his attention. "Excellent, that'll be it. Grab the hair and getting out of here as soon as possible-" Excited he went towards the source of faint light he expected to be a bunch of unicorn hair, but the dark figure in front of it made him stop.
"Hey! Who are you?" The figure turned around and the last thing James saw were a pair of blue eyes, cold as ice.
Prof. Longbottom
Something wasn't right and the deserted office of the Headmaster only had increased his bad feeling. He had gone down to Hagrid’s, fighting his way through the snow storm but had found the Hut empty. Back in his office he decided to talk to Hannah, knowing that his wife usually had the ability of making him see things more clearly.
He took out some Floo powder, threw it into the fireplace and called "Leaky Cauldron".
The fire turned green and - nothing. No answer from the other side. Neville put his head into the fire and a sudden rush of cold air caught him full in his face. What he could see from the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron was darkness and snow. Cold wind blew and then -
And then the fire went out. At the last moment Neville withdrew his head and panting fell back in his office.
Before he could react, several students stormed into his office, first of them Fred Weasley, looking afraid.
"Prof. Longbottom! James is missing! He went to the Grounds and has been gone for hours!"
Still trying to recover from the shock of seeing his home deserted, he stood up.
"Missing? Where did he go exactly?"
Fred flushed. "To the forest. I mean, it was only meant to be at the border -"
From the forest they will come... Terror invaded Neville.
Albus
"Students are to go back into their common rooms immediately. All classes and activities are cancelled!" The voice of Prof. Sinistra sounded clearly through the castle. Students were rushing through the corridors, commenting and speculating everywhere what had happened.
"Reckon it has something to do with that Prophecy?" Scorpius asked Albus.
"I don't know. But I don't like this. And I haven't seen James for a while. Not complaining, but it's weird" They spotted a group of teachers talking next to the main door. Albus grabbed his friend's arm. "C'mon let's find out what is going on!"
Behind an armour they hid to listen to the staff.
"Look, the Headmaster is gone! I've been to his office and Prof. Flitwick is not there." Prof. Longbottom sounded scared. "And the Leaky Cauldron, I couldn't make contact. Has anyone of you managed to talk to someone outside the castle?"
The other teachers shook their heads. "The Owls are refusing to fly, and nobody could get on a broom in this weather." Prof. Hooch commented.
"We need to find James Potter. They've told me he went to the forest." Albus froze in shock as he heard Prof. Longbottom say these words. "I couldn't find Hagrid neither so we're the only ones left."
The other teachers nodded determined. "Let's divide in pairs and search the forest for him."
Albus sat like petrified behind the armour while the teachers left. Scorpius tried to reassure him "I'm sure it's just some stupid prank again, you know your brother." But Albus knew, deep down, that it wasn't. Trelawneys words kept turning in his head.
an army of dead will follow them.... Albus suddenly felt tears in his eyes. "Scorp, I think he's, he's - "
Rose
The one thing Rose enjoyed as much as reading was standing on top of the Ravenclaw tower to watch the land below. After the rather alarming warning set by the teachers, all the Ravenclaws were debating the situation in the Common Room but Rose had gone up to her favourite spot again, from which one could see all the grounds and the Forbidden Forest.
At least, usually you could. Today angry storm clouds were surrounding the castle like an impregnable wall, massifying over the Forest like an army of black giants.
Carefully not to fall, she looked curiously at the figures walking towards the forest, two by two with ignited wands; they seemed to be searching something.
As they disappeared into the blackness of the Forest, she noticed bluish lights appearing and disappearing. Through the thunder of the storm, suddenly it seemed to her to hear screams. From top of her tower, she could see two figures reappear out of the forest, running towards the castle grounds, shooting spells at - at what?
Dark figures with blue lights in their faces were following. And they were quick. With horror, Rose saw as they reached the first two and
"NO!"
Prof. Longbottom
At first, he thought he was having a nightmare. What had supposed to be a searching mission had turned into a hunt. The wind was howling around them, whipping frozen snow into their faces and from the darkness of the forest figures emerged, followed by tall beings clad in what looked like blue white armours.
With terror he saw from afar how they reached Prof Vector and Prof Sinistra and simply slashed them, ripping their limbs from their bodies, blood spreading everywhere.
"No" he whispered. "this is not possible" He saw three others coming for him and in panick he screamed every defensive spell he knew, but no spells seemed to affect them. Running backwards, he stumbled over the roots of the trees, only barely getting up before the first of the - one of the corpses reached him and a blackened hand reached out for this throat.
"IMPEDIMENTA! PROTGEGO! INCARCEROUS! INCENDIO!! INCENDIO!" The fire made the Inferi retreat and Neville used this split second of advantage to run as fast as he could to the castle, shooting fire spells behind him and shouting "EVERYBODY BACK TO THE CASTLE! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! Desperate he ran, looking out for the other teachers, hoping they would hear him over the sound of the storm and the fight, hoping against hope that all would make it back safely.
Albus
Still in shock sitting behind the armour, he heard his cousin Rose scream - that had alarmed all the students - all of them were running now in panick towards the main entrance. Suddenly it opened and Albus saw Prof. Longbottom coming in, followed by a few other teachers, all looking injured and afraid.
"Silence!" Prof. Longbottom ordered. The students fell silent. He took a deep breath. "We're being attacked. I don't know who or why but it is clear that their destination is Hogwarts. They seem to be using inferis." He turned to the other teachers. "We have to protect the castle. And organize the protection of the students, with the Head of Houses. With Prof. Flitwick gone -.
Immediately Prof. Zabini rounded up the Slytherins. Albus felt how Scorpius was pulling him up, so they could listen to his indications. He heard the words, but didn't get their sense - for everything seemed senseless now. His brother was gone, monsters were outside and he had heard how their doom was coming. Didn't they realise? The prophecy had said nothing about how to escape it. Nothing about surviving.
He absently registered that teachers and older students had proceeded to realise protective enchantments over the castle.
But suddenly one of the seventh year students who were supervising the enchantments success from one of the windows screamed. "It's not working! They are coming!"
Pandemonioum followed. In panic all students and started to run trying to hide, while a few brave took a stand before the entrance, and in the chaos Albus heard Prof. Longbottom shouting out some desperate indications "Fire! They are afraid of fire!" but nobody seemed to register it.
"Albus, we've got to go! We've got to hide in the common room! We'll be safe there!" Scorpius tried to push him, but Albus didn't move.
"It's useless Scorp. It's over. You heard her. It's over." he replied, calmly.
And then they came. Bursting through the main entrance, destroying the door with blue white swords, two tall figures clad in ice armours followed by hundreds of corpses with glowing eyes invaded the castle, ripping apart all living being in their way.
Still behind the armour, Albus saw how Prof. Longbottom had conjured somehow the sword of Gryffindor and was slashing at one of the Others, only to freeze when he saw the corpse of a woman coming towards him - a pretty woman Albus recognized as the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron - who ripped off Neville's arm like it was a straw doll and strangled him with black hands.
Like in a dream, he looked around at the killing and the slaughter, tears running down his cheeks, absurdly thinking of how he'd have liked to win only once a Quidditch game against James and how he would have loved to tell his brother how much he admired him.
When he saw James, he didn't try to defend himself. "These are not my brother's eyes" he thought, "he has brown eyes. This is not my brother."
The corpse’s finger felt cold on his throat. And then silence.
Epilogue
The ruins of Hogwarts lied still, almost peaceful in the moonlight. A thick blanket of white snow had hidden almost all the blood. And the dead would rise and walk over the earth.
The fortress had fallen. Winter would never end.
-------------------------
Essay: To chose good or evil
To determine how the traits of a House can be turned to darkness and evil, we must first determine: What is evil?
As for JKR's message here, it seems clear. Slytherin is evil. Mostly at least. Not even the much controversal second name of Harry's second son can change the fact that in the series the bad side of magic comes from Slytherin. In the series in particular, evil is portrayed through a dark wizard who promotes discrimination, supremacy of race, who can not love and has no compassion or regrets.
But that doesn't mean that evil can't exist in the core values of the other houses.
If we look at the definitions of the Houses, they are, with the exception of Hufflepuff, neither evil or good, meaning that they make no judgement on morals, just on general traits.
Evil by itself is a matter of interpretation, it does not exist in absolutes. Therefore the interpretation of evil in this essay is based on my personal views, which do not need to be everybody's.
I wil try to take real life examples, that would of course require much more in depht analysis. Also, by no means I want to offend the sensibility of persons or to belittle the seriousness of the issues I mention here.
Let's see it in detail:
Gryffindor
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
By Gryffindor, the bravest were
Prized far beyond the rest;
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name.
Bravery, daring and nerve are not values that are determined by good or evil. They just are. It's very brave to stand up for your friends, to fight for a good cause, to sacrifice yourself for your family, which is what the HP series tells us.
It is also very brave to get on a plane, take it by force and have them fly into a high building thus sacrificing your own life for what you believe in, and killing thousands of people.
To be brave might be a great value, but it all depends on what sort of cause you want to fight for, and what you are willing to do to achieve it. It's the choices and the morality that will make bravery a good thing or a tool for evil acts.
Ravenclaw
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
For Ravenclaw, the cleverest
Would always be the best
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest."
Intelligence and learning can of course go either way. The point is that learning and intelligence, progress of science and knowledge if it goes alone without a value or a goal, can go either way.
Spontaneously I think of progress of science. Amazing what science can do, if scientists employ their knowledge to a worthy goal: antibiotics, vaccines, electricity, clean water ...internet!!!
But what if knowledge has no limits? High tech weapons, genetic manipulations to eliminate traits like homosexuality, skin color? The atomic bomb? What if you use your knowledge not for a great purpose, but for destruction and death?
The choice to use knowledge and intelligence for what purpose, that is what will make them evil or good.
Hufflepuff
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
For Hufflepuff, hard workers were
Most worthy of admission
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot
And treat them just the same.
Well, that's the tough one. How can it possibly be evil to be just and fair and to promote equality and same rights for everybody? (It's probably no coincidence that Pottermore reveals the lack of dark wizards coming from Hufflepuff).
Nonetheless, even if Jesus and Ghandi were Hufflepuffs, that does not mean that all Puffs are saints. ;)
Justice and fairness without flexibility can be a double edged sword. If the interpretation of Justice means that all killers must be executed, then we'll have supporters of Death Penalty.
Take it further and if you interpret that an unborn child is a life, then women who abort will meet justice through Death penalty too.
Is this Justice? Yes, if the interpretation is that you define "a life for a life". Is it fair? Well, that unborn child never had a chance, right?
Is it right? In the authors opinion it is not. But that's only one personal morality.
And again, we are at the point where the House traits alone do not say anything about good or evil. It can go evil, if the choices and interpretations are made this way.
Conclusion
1) Evil is a matter of definition and mostly depends on what morality standards we apply.
2) The House traits alone do not define good or evil, but are mostly neutral.
3) It is the choices that define good or evil, the take on morality, what one choses to do with their intelligence, bravery or interpretation of justice that will make the acts being good or evil.
The Onion Knight sailing on some mission for Stannis, maybe when he tries to gather the Stormlords, or later. Davos still looks a bit shabby as looks his ship, because deep down he'll always feel like that boy from Flea Bottom. Also I tried to make him look content and calm on where he's most comfortable, sailing. Oh and Davos sewed the onion on a sail, like on his sigil
Stained Glass window, Coldhands with heart tree, ravens and elk. The tree has almost no leaves because Winter is coming and Coldhands' face is hidden because we don't really know who he is.
Prompt was to visualize the inner conflict of a good character.
Dumbledore in a Deathly Hallows shaped window, with Aberforth and Ariana on one side and Grindelwald on the other.
Prologue
Business had not been good the past weeks. An extremely cold November had followed a grim October and customers were inclined to stay at home rather than going out to have a drink in the Hogs Head.
Only a few habitual customers sat at the bar, so Aberforth wasn't surprised to have Mundugus, heavily wrapped in a thick cloak, sitting at his bar.
"C'mon Ab, serve me another one!" Mundugus shouted, pointing at his empty fire whisky glass. "One to warm me up before my trip into the forest."
Aberforth only shook his head. "Must be mad to go into the Forest with that weather. Not even Hagrid likes to go there when it looks like there's a snow storm coming up."
"Yeah, but that's the best part. Nobody to find things one doesn't want to be found, if you get my meaning..." Mundugus grinned. "I've got a nice delivery of cauldrons I need to store somewhere and well, since you don't want to-"
"Dung, you're a old friend and a good customer, but I don't want your stuff in my pub." With a frown Aberforth poured him another glass of firewhiskey. "And you should keep sober if you're going in the forest. Nasty stuff out there, I've heard stories lately I didn't like a bit."
"Don't worry Aberforth, the forest and I are old friends." Mundugus drank up and walked to the door. "See you Aberforth!" he greeted and left the pub.
Leaving Hogsmeade behind, he entered the Forbidden Forest. Even with the warming effect of the Firewhiskey and his thick cloak, the chill seemed to get to his bones. "Nasty November this year. Haven't felt that bad for years, ever since the Dementors were on the lose." he muttered to himself. The ice cold wind made eerie sounds in the dark trees and the shadows seemed to move menacingly around him and suddenly Mundugus was in a hurry to get to the place where he had stored his merchandise.
A crack made him jump. With an unsteady hand he took out his wand. "Someone there?" he called. "Dammit, Dung, you're losing your nerve now." Nervously he looked around. "A fox probably." Slowly he continued, farther into the dark forest.
When the attack came, he didn't even hear it. Silently the thing rose behind him and only the silver gleam made Mundugus turn around. "What -" but he didn't have the time to finish. The Other rose a glowing sword and with a single stroke, opened his throat.
Nobody saw him dying. And nobody saw him rising again, with eyes blue as ice.
Albus
Not for the first time Albus wished he had listened to his uncle Ron and not taken Divination in his third year. It had been his curiosity to find out more about prophecies like the well known ones about his father that had made him take this class, but he was already regretting it.
Nothing ever made sense, the tea leaves didn't tell anything, the crystal balls remained stubbornly misty and to boot the way from the Slytherin common room in the dungeons to the classroom in the tower was so far that he already had been late twice. These late comings had led to his first detention in Divination (for Prof. Trelawney claimed that he had interrupted the aura of clairvoyance by busting in late), to which he reluctantly went now.
"Detention with Trelawney?" His friend Scorpius had been sympathetic. "You'll probably just have polish her teacups or so."
It was still going to be one big waste of time. And he would miss Quidditch practice too. It was bad enough that he never had won a match against Gryffindor, something that his brother James would not let him forget easily, especially after scoring five times into the goalposts he, Albus, was supposed to be guarding.
With an increasing bad mood he climbed up the ladder and entered Prof. Trelawneys office.
She was sitting on her armchair, motionless, staring out of the window with eyes wide open.
"Prof. Trelawney?" Albus approached slowly. "Are you feeling all right?" She did not look at him, or acknowledge his presence. As he got next to her, suddenly she spoke, with a harsh voice he had never heard before.
"The cold winds are rising. A cold never known before by mankind. And from the forest they will come, with ice and snow and storms. None will withstand them. An army of dead will follow them with blind eyes like ice. The last bastion will stand alone and winter will never end."
Suddenly she grasped Albus' arm.
"This winter will never end. When the last bastion falls, winter will last forever."
Alarmed, Albus stepped back - Prof. Trelawney looked at him with a demented look on her face, yet did not seem to see him at all. Slowly he retreated to the door and left, walking quickly to his common room.
"Back already? Told you, it wasn't going to be much" Scorpius greeted him cheerfully, but noticing Albus expression he asked "What's wrong?"
Quickly Albus told his friend what had happened.
"So, I'm pretty sure that's what my dad talked about. He said once that Trelawney had a weird voice when she made the prophecy to him." he concluded.
Scorpius looked worried. "Maybe you should tell the headmaster? Or Prof. Zabini?"
"I don't know. I reckon I'll write my dad. You're coming with me?" Albus didn't want to waste another minute, for the words and behaviour of Prof. Trelawney had left him profoundly uneasy.
"Sure, let's go." Albus quickly wrote down what happened on a parchment and they left for the Owlery. But when they arrived, they were greeted by deafening shrieks. All the Owls were hiding in their cages, screaming in panic and refusing to come out.
Albus and Scorpius exchanged a bewildered look. Scorpius shrugged "Well maybe it's the weather? I wouldn't fancy to fly in a snowstorm myself, to be honest."
"they will come with ice and snow and storms...". Remembering Trelawneys words and the strange behaviour of the Owls made a chill go up Albus' neck.
"You know what? I'm going to tell a teacher. I don't think Prof. Zabini will take me seriously, but maybe Prof. Longbottom will."
With another word he left for the staff room.
Prof. Longbottom
Albus Potter's story had left him with more disquiet than he had shown the boy. Even if he didn't give much credit to the subject of Divination, he had lived a war that had been Foreseen and he had seen the Room of Prophecies in the Ministry and even had been almost featured in one.
And there was no denying that this autumn was being grim. He already had lost a few plants in the Greenhouses and was constantly forced to enhance the warming charms in them to prevent more plants from dying. In addition, Hagrid had reported that the creatures in the Forest seemed to be unusually agitated lately. Unicorns had been seen fleeing from inside the Forest and the some Centaurs had already left completely, with no explanation but some cryptic comments of upcoming doom (not that Hagrid gave this much importance, he claimed that they constantly were saying things like that).
He resolved to see Headmaster Flitwick. On his way to the Headmaster's office he encountered Filch, who looked uncommonly pleased.
"Looks like we're finally rid of him, Professor." Filch said with a toothless grin. "Peeves is gone! Haven't seen him for weeks!"
"Well, that's good Mr Filch." Neville replied politely. "I expect that'll mean a great relief to you." But as he continued, Filch's announcement left him thoughtful. Poltergeists were not supposed to leave their castles and Peeves was not accustomed to hide for longer than a day.
"Wingardium Leviosa" he told the gargoyles, a password Flitwick had established in memory to the first charm he ever taught Harry Potter.
The Headmaster's office was empty. Neville frowned. He couldn't recall the headmaster telling the staff that he had to leave. There was ash on the carpet in front of the fireplace, as if Flitwick had used Floo powder recently, but other than this the office looked neat like always.
He looked out of the window, at the huge snow storm that seemed to be forming over the Forbidden Forest and his unease increased.
"I better go and warn Hagrid to come into the castle." Neville thought and left.
James Sirius
"Hey James, still up for it?" Fred, a dark skinned boy with unusual red hair grinned.
James had lost a bet against his cousin Fred and now he had to go to the forest getting some unicorn hair.
"Sure mate! Piece of cake!" James grinned back. "Got my cloak and my map! I'll be back in an hour! Save some fire whiskey for me!" Putting on his invisibility cloak he left to the castle grounds into the snow storm.
James didn't like the cold as a general rule. For once, it meant less Quidditch practice (or at least getting frozen to the bone) and on the other hand his frequent trips into the Forest were becoming more and more uncomfortable. And today the weather was being particularly nasty.
"Dammit, why on earth do I bet against Fred?" he mumbled, shuddering. "At least those unicorn hairs should be close by."
Looking around wearily he arrived at the border of the Forest. The branches cracked loudly under the storm and the snow blasted into his face. Cursing James pulled out his wand and entered the forest.
A silver gleam further away caught his attention. "Excellent, that'll be it. Grab the hair and getting out of here as soon as possible-" Excited he went towards the source of faint light he expected to be a bunch of unicorn hair, but the dark figure in front of it made him stop.
"Hey! Who are you?" The figure turned around and the last thing James saw were a pair of blue eyes, cold as ice.
Prof. Longbottom
Something wasn't right and the deserted office of the Headmaster only had increased his bad feeling. He had gone down to Hagrid’s, fighting his way through the snow storm but had found the Hut empty. Back in his office he decided to talk to Hannah, knowing that his wife usually had the ability of making him see things more clearly.
He took out some Floo powder, threw it into the fireplace and called "Leaky Cauldron".
The fire turned green and - nothing. No answer from the other side. Neville put his head into the fire and a sudden rush of cold air caught him full in his face. What he could see from the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron was darkness and snow. Cold wind blew and then -
And then the fire went out. At the last moment Neville withdrew his head and panting fell back in his office.
Before he could react, several students stormed into his office, first of them Fred Weasley, looking afraid.
"Prof. Longbottom! James is missing! He went to the Grounds and has been gone for hours!"
Still trying to recover from the shock of seeing his home deserted, he stood up.
"Missing? Where did he go exactly?"
Fred flushed. "To the forest. I mean, it was only meant to be at the border -"
From the forest they will come... Terror invaded Neville.
Albus
"Students are to go back into their common rooms immediately. All classes and activities are cancelled!" The voice of Prof. Sinistra sounded clearly through the castle. Students were rushing through the corridors, commenting and speculating everywhere what had happened.
"Reckon it has something to do with that Prophecy?" Scorpius asked Albus.
"I don't know. But I don't like this. And I haven't seen James for a while. Not complaining, but it's weird" They spotted a group of teachers talking next to the main door. Albus grabbed his friend's arm. "C'mon let's find out what is going on!"
Behind an armour they hid to listen to the staff.
"Look, the Headmaster is gone! I've been to his office and Prof. Flitwick is not there." Prof. Longbottom sounded scared. "And the Leaky Cauldron, I couldn't make contact. Has anyone of you managed to talk to someone outside the castle?"
The other teachers shook their heads. "The Owls are refusing to fly, and nobody could get on a broom in this weather." Prof. Hooch commented.
"We need to find James Potter. They've told me he went to the forest." Albus froze in shock as he heard Prof. Longbottom say these words. "I couldn't find Hagrid neither so we're the only ones left."
The other teachers nodded determined. "Let's divide in pairs and search the forest for him."
Albus sat like petrified behind the armour while the teachers left. Scorpius tried to reassure him "I'm sure it's just some stupid prank again, you know your brother." But Albus knew, deep down, that it wasn't. Trelawneys words kept turning in his head.
an army of dead will follow them.... Albus suddenly felt tears in his eyes. "Scorp, I think he's, he's - "
Rose
The one thing Rose enjoyed as much as reading was standing on top of the Ravenclaw tower to watch the land below. After the rather alarming warning set by the teachers, all the Ravenclaws were debating the situation in the Common Room but Rose had gone up to her favourite spot again, from which one could see all the grounds and the Forbidden Forest.
At least, usually you could. Today angry storm clouds were surrounding the castle like an impregnable wall, massifying over the Forest like an army of black giants.
Carefully not to fall, she looked curiously at the figures walking towards the forest, two by two with ignited wands; they seemed to be searching something.
As they disappeared into the blackness of the Forest, she noticed bluish lights appearing and disappearing. Through the thunder of the storm, suddenly it seemed to her to hear screams. From top of her tower, she could see two figures reappear out of the forest, running towards the castle grounds, shooting spells at - at what?
Dark figures with blue lights in their faces were following. And they were quick. With horror, Rose saw as they reached the first two and
"NO!"
Prof. Longbottom
At first, he thought he was having a nightmare. What had supposed to be a searching mission had turned into a hunt. The wind was howling around them, whipping frozen snow into their faces and from the darkness of the forest figures emerged, followed by tall beings clad in what looked like blue white armours.
With terror he saw from afar how they reached Prof Vector and Prof Sinistra and simply slashed them, ripping their limbs from their bodies, blood spreading everywhere.
"No" he whispered. "this is not possible" He saw three others coming for him and in panick he screamed every defensive spell he knew, but no spells seemed to affect them. Running backwards, he stumbled over the roots of the trees, only barely getting up before the first of the - one of the corpses reached him and a blackened hand reached out for this throat.
"IMPEDIMENTA! PROTGEGO! INCARCEROUS! INCENDIO!! INCENDIO!" The fire made the Inferi retreat and Neville used this split second of advantage to run as fast as he could to the castle, shooting fire spells behind him and shouting "EVERYBODY BACK TO THE CASTLE! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! Desperate he ran, looking out for the other teachers, hoping they would hear him over the sound of the storm and the fight, hoping against hope that all would make it back safely.
Albus
Still in shock sitting behind the armour, he heard his cousin Rose scream - that had alarmed all the students - all of them were running now in panick towards the main entrance. Suddenly it opened and Albus saw Prof. Longbottom coming in, followed by a few other teachers, all looking injured and afraid.
"Silence!" Prof. Longbottom ordered. The students fell silent. He took a deep breath. "We're being attacked. I don't know who or why but it is clear that their destination is Hogwarts. They seem to be using inferis." He turned to the other teachers. "We have to protect the castle. And organize the protection of the students, with the Head of Houses. With Prof. Flitwick gone -.
Immediately Prof. Zabini rounded up the Slytherins. Albus felt how Scorpius was pulling him up, so they could listen to his indications. He heard the words, but didn't get their sense - for everything seemed senseless now. His brother was gone, monsters were outside and he had heard how their doom was coming. Didn't they realise? The prophecy had said nothing about how to escape it. Nothing about surviving.
He absently registered that teachers and older students had proceeded to realise protective enchantments over the castle.
But suddenly one of the seventh year students who were supervising the enchantments success from one of the windows screamed. "It's not working! They are coming!"
Pandemonioum followed. In panic all students and started to run trying to hide, while a few brave took a stand before the entrance, and in the chaos Albus heard Prof. Longbottom shouting out some desperate indications "Fire! They are afraid of fire!" but nobody seemed to register it.
"Albus, we've got to go! We've got to hide in the common room! We'll be safe there!" Scorpius tried to push him, but Albus didn't move.
"It's useless Scorp. It's over. You heard her. It's over." he replied, calmly.
And then they came. Bursting through the main entrance, destroying the door with blue white swords, two tall figures clad in ice armours followed by hundreds of corpses with glowing eyes invaded the castle, ripping apart all living being in their way.
Still behind the armour, Albus saw how Prof. Longbottom had conjured somehow the sword of Gryffindor and was slashing at one of the Others, only to freeze when he saw the corpse of a woman coming towards him - a pretty woman Albus recognized as the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron - who ripped off Neville's arm like it was a straw doll and strangled him with black hands.
Like in a dream, he looked around at the killing and the slaughter, tears running down his cheeks, absurdly thinking of how he'd have liked to win only once a Quidditch game against James and how he would have loved to tell his brother how much he admired him.
When he saw James, he didn't try to defend himself. "These are not my brother's eyes" he thought, "he has brown eyes. This is not my brother."
The corpse’s finger felt cold on his throat. And then silence.
Epilogue
The ruins of Hogwarts lied still, almost peaceful in the moonlight. A thick blanket of white snow had hidden almost all the blood. And the dead would rise and walk over the earth.
The fortress had fallen. Winter would never end.
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Essay: To chose good or evil
To determine how the traits of a House can be turned to darkness and evil, we must first determine: What is evil?
As for JKR's message here, it seems clear. Slytherin is evil. Mostly at least. Not even the much controversal second name of Harry's second son can change the fact that in the series the bad side of magic comes from Slytherin. In the series in particular, evil is portrayed through a dark wizard who promotes discrimination, supremacy of race, who can not love and has no compassion or regrets.
But that doesn't mean that evil can't exist in the core values of the other houses.
If we look at the definitions of the Houses, they are, with the exception of Hufflepuff, neither evil or good, meaning that they make no judgement on morals, just on general traits.
Evil by itself is a matter of interpretation, it does not exist in absolutes. Therefore the interpretation of evil in this essay is based on my personal views, which do not need to be everybody's.
I wil try to take real life examples, that would of course require much more in depht analysis. Also, by no means I want to offend the sensibility of persons or to belittle the seriousness of the issues I mention here.
Let's see it in detail:
Gryffindor
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
By Gryffindor, the bravest were
Prized far beyond the rest;
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name.
Bravery, daring and nerve are not values that are determined by good or evil. They just are. It's very brave to stand up for your friends, to fight for a good cause, to sacrifice yourself for your family, which is what the HP series tells us.
It is also very brave to get on a plane, take it by force and have them fly into a high building thus sacrificing your own life for what you believe in, and killing thousands of people.
To be brave might be a great value, but it all depends on what sort of cause you want to fight for, and what you are willing to do to achieve it. It's the choices and the morality that will make bravery a good thing or a tool for evil acts.
Ravenclaw
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
For Ravenclaw, the cleverest
Would always be the best
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest."
Intelligence and learning can of course go either way. The point is that learning and intelligence, progress of science and knowledge if it goes alone without a value or a goal, can go either way.
Spontaneously I think of progress of science. Amazing what science can do, if scientists employ their knowledge to a worthy goal: antibiotics, vaccines, electricity, clean water ...internet!!!
But what if knowledge has no limits? High tech weapons, genetic manipulations to eliminate traits like homosexuality, skin color? The atomic bomb? What if you use your knowledge not for a great purpose, but for destruction and death?
The choice to use knowledge and intelligence for what purpose, that is what will make them evil or good.
Hufflepuff
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
For Hufflepuff, hard workers were
Most worthy of admission
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot
And treat them just the same.
Well, that's the tough one. How can it possibly be evil to be just and fair and to promote equality and same rights for everybody? (It's probably no coincidence that Pottermore reveals the lack of dark wizards coming from Hufflepuff).
Nonetheless, even if Jesus and Ghandi were Hufflepuffs, that does not mean that all Puffs are saints. ;)
Justice and fairness without flexibility can be a double edged sword. If the interpretation of Justice means that all killers must be executed, then we'll have supporters of Death Penalty.
Take it further and if you interpret that an unborn child is a life, then women who abort will meet justice through Death penalty too.
Is this Justice? Yes, if the interpretation is that you define "a life for a life". Is it fair? Well, that unborn child never had a chance, right?
Is it right? In the authors opinion it is not. But that's only one personal morality.
And again, we are at the point where the House traits alone do not say anything about good or evil. It can go evil, if the choices and interpretations are made this way.
Conclusion
1) Evil is a matter of definition and mostly depends on what morality standards we apply.
2) The House traits alone do not define good or evil, but are mostly neutral.
3) It is the choices that define good or evil, the take on morality, what one choses to do with their intelligence, bravery or interpretation of justice that will make the acts being good or evil.