CHAPTER 11 – THE TRUTH
Rach and Becka’s eyes began to glow at its own colour—Rach a cold blue and Becka a fiery red. They both laid their hands onto Jude’s burning body and chanted something gibberish. None of the teachers understood what they were chanting, but they knew it’s something to do with easing the fire. Both of them were in a daze. They weren’t aware of their surroundings. Their only intention was to save Jude before she gets burnt into a crisp.
A blue aura from Rach’s hands and a red one from Becka’s streamed out and engulfed Jude, slowing down the fire bit by bit. Gradually the fire stopped, leaving Jude’s body red and scalding. Jude was unconscious, her breathing really slow. Rach and Becka fell out of their daze, catching their breaths. They were surprised themselves at what they just did.
“Did I just do that?” Becka asked, looking at her hands. “I can’t believe this!”
“What’s happening to us? We’re like suddenly turning into super witches or something!” Rach exclaimed.
“Is she alright now?” The duo looked up, surprised to see that Prof. Dumbledore was also present all this while, including Prof. McGonagalle and Harry. Again, Prof. Snape took his robe and wrapped it around Jude’s naked red, hot body. Everyone was obviously shocked at what they have seen. Harry was practically stupefied.
“What’s going on here?” Rach demanded, unable to keep this uneasy, tiresome question she had kept all the while ever since she stepped into Hogwarts for the first time. “What happened to Jude? What just happened to me and Becka? What is wrong with the three of us?!”
“Calm down, Rachel. All will be explained. Let’s take your friend to the Hospital Wing first. She really needs a very serious treatment.” Prof. Dumbledore said kindly as he signaled Prof. Snape to carry Jude to the Hospital Wing.
“How is she doing, Poppy?” Prof. Dumbledore asked, concerned.
“She’s doing fine for now. I’ve rubbed some extra cold cream on her. She’s much cooler now,” Madame Pomfrey replied.
Rach and Becka elbowed their way among the grown-ups to take a look at Jude. She was right; Jude was doing fine. Her colour has restored and her body was glowing whitish-blue, like neon lights. Becka wanted to touch her but was slapped on the hand by Madame Pomfrey.
“Don’t touch her! The cream is very cold. You don’t want to get your hand stuck on her skin!” Madame Pomfrey turned to Prof. Dumbledore and said, “She was really seriously burnt. I was surprised that her skin didn’t melt or something. I didn’t think she would survive.”
“She’s a fighter, that Judith.” Prof. Dumbledore replied admiringly.
“Sir, what’s wrong with her? Why is she constantly on fire?” Rach asked, her eyes showing much determination to know what was going on.
“Yeah! What’s all this stuff about the Dark, Black and Cold Witch? Who is this You-Know-Who guy?” Becka demanded. “You said we are special, but as far as I’m concerned we’re no different than any other students in this school! What does all this have to do with us?”
Rach could see that the teachers and the medi-witch were staring at them with such solemn eyes and feel the tense aura among them. Becka couldn’t care less.
“I even heard that our Muggle parents are not our parents at all. We were never Muggle-born, weren’t we? I’m not going to stop asking you until I get some answers!”
Finally Prof. Dumbledore sighed and said, “Since you girls have been having a head-start about things and so determined to know more, I might as well tell you. Sit down, girls.”
Rach and Becka took a chair and sat down. They listened attentively to what the old Headmaster had to say, not wanting to miss even one word.
“About these Witches, they go way back. Way back before they were born. It was the time when the You-Know-Who, or his real name Voldemort, ruled. You see, it was prophesied that these 3 special Witches are the key into guiding The Boy Who Lived to fight against Voldemort.”
“So his name is actually Voldemort? Now that’s much easier to call him,” Becka said, satisfied to know the real name of the Dark Lord.
“These Witches are essential,” Prof. Dumbledore continued. “They have to exist in order to entirely defeat and kill Voldemort. If you’re wondering who The Boy Who Lived is, here he is, Harry James Potter.”
“You’re The Boy Who Lived?” Rach exclaimed, surprised. “I heard my parents saying that you’ve survived an evil wizard’s curse, but I didn’t expect that you actually were the victim of Voldemort!”
“It’s a gift and a burden,” Harry replied sadly. “You don’t know how it feels to receive unnecessary fame.”
“These Witches are the bearer of Harry’s heir. It was prophesied that the heir of The Boy Who Lived will be the ones who will wipe out Voldemort entirely from the face of the earth once and for all. These Witches are also known as The Ones.”
“Wait a second,” Rach said, recalling something Hagrid said when they first came to Hogwarts. “You don’t mean to tell me that…we are The Ones?”
“That’s right, Rachel. You, Rebecca and Judith are the legendary Ones. You, Rachel, are the Cold Witch – the calm and collected One. You, Rebecca, are the Dark Witch – the courageous and witty One. And Judith is the Black Witch – the dark and mysterious One. She’s the strongest and most powerful among you girls, but she hasn’t learned to control that power yet, unfortunately.”
Becka finally found her voice after being silent for so long, “We…We are the 3 Witches?! Shut up, man! That is so impossible! You mean we have to have sex with Harry and bear his child?! That is so sick! I’m too young for this!”
“Rebecca, watch your tongue! You are talking to a Headmaster here!” Prof. McGonagalle was annoyed at Becka for her use of language in front of Prof. Dumbledore.
“It’s alright, Minerva,” Prof. Dumbledore raised his hand to calm Prof. McGonagalle down. “It’s a normal reaction. Rebecca, you are not going to have sexual intercourse with anyone. You will still keep your virginity. What I meant by carrying Harry’s heir is that you girls are going to carry them spiritually, not physically.”
“Phew! Thank goodness!” Rach wiped off an imaginary sweat. “I wouldn’t want to imagine myself carrying a little brat in a huge bulging tummy and having to push it out like shit!”
Prof. Dumbledore chuckled and said, “Yes, Rachel. Lucky for the three of you.”
“But still,” Becka was still in doubt, “we’re going to carry a life form inside us here. Will it hurt or something?”
“Don’t worry, Rebecca. You’ll find out more about it later in time. Just remember that your role in destroying Voldemort is crucial and important.”
“Ooh! A mission! Interesting!” Rach shook with glee.
“Sir, about our parents. Who are they?” Becka asked after another momentary silence.
“Glad you asked,” Prof. Dumbledore beamed. “Well, girls, have you ever heard of the founders of this school?”
“Yes, I’ve read about them in the History of Hogwarts,” Rach said, portraying her genius look. “There’s Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. What about them?”
“You’ve been updating yourself, I see. Well, your parents are actually the heir of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Which means…”
“My ancestor is actually Godric Gryffindor and Rach’s the great-great-great-great…descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw! Wow! Our lives have been circling around the Hogwarts castle all along! Cool!” Becka beamed, feeling proud of having such legendary parents.
“Yes, you’re absolutely right.”
“Then Jude is actually the descendant of Salazar Slytherin,” Rach said, looking at the sleeping Jude.
“Well…it is a surprise that she is the descendant of Slytherin. We didn’t expect her to be that way,” Prof. Dumbledore scratched his bearded chin tentatively.
“Why would you say that?” Becka was surprised.
“Salazar has only one last heir, which is the Dark Lord. He was the last surviving heir of Salazar. There was no one else. It was confirmed even by the Ministry,” Prof. Snape said in his usual cold tone.
“But then this has to mean that…” Rach was hesitant to say it.
“Yes, unfortunately. Your friend, Judith Cecelia Light, is the daughter of Voldemort. She is the evil seed of the Dark Lord,” Prof. Dumbledore sighed in despair.
Her friends stared at Jude in trepidation. That’s impossible! Their dearest sweet friend, who wouldn’t hurt even a fly and was mostly the happy-go-lucky girl, was the daughter of a mass murderer wizard? They found it really hard to believe.
“But…But she’s so nice and kind and all that! Look at her! She’s so peaceful! She can’t be Voldemort’s daughter! That would be bull!” Becka feared for her best friend.
“Her evil was proven,” Prof. Snape said precisely. “When she was a child of 3, she murdered an entire Muggle playground of its people just because a child refused to share the swing with her. I got there almost too late. The whole place was filled with bodies barely recognizable. I had to take away from the scene and block her memory, and I made her foster parent swear to secrecy.”
“That was her?! I’ve read some old newspaper when I was in primary school about a massacre. She did all that?!” Rach exclaimed in horror.
“There is also another incident in your Muggle school. There was this girl who made her so angry…” Prof. Snape couldn’t recall the girl’s name.
“Hannah! Hannah Tan! She betrayed Jude by taking away her crush,” Becka remembered the bitter story Jude told her. “But that girl has already moved to Kuala Lumpur for further studies!”
“That’s what she thought. The truth is…she has killed the girl. Murdered her with her own powers. Mutilated her beyond recognition. I had to block her memory again and the Ministry had to alter all the witnesses’ memories in order to keep her from being caught. Her actions are enough to send her to Azkaban.”
Rach and Becka gazed sadly at their friend. Not only she had to bear with the strong powers inside her, she also had to battle the demon within her. It was scary enough to know that she was descended from an evil seed, now she had to fight that evil seed which was dying to get out. They felt ultimately sorry for her.
“Voldemort is looking for her to continue his evil legacy and he is also bent on destroying the two of you,” Prof. McGonagalle said. “That is why we had to put you three in a Muggle world and live with Muggle parents.”
“Just like me,” Harry said, “only that my Muggle family didn’t turn out to be the greatest.”
“Come along now and let your friend rest. We can talk about the rest when she’s well enough,” Prof. Dumbledore said as he got off his chair and walked out of the Hospital Wing. The rest followed suite. Prof. Snape stayed behind for a while. He waited until all of them disappeared out of sight before advancing towards Jude’s still body. He held out his hand and, carefully, moved away the fringe that was covering her closed eyes. He stared at her for a while before leaving the ward as well.
A few seconds later, Jude opened her eyes. She wasn’t unconscious at all. She had long since awakened and had heard every word Prof. Dumbledore said.
She just didn’t want to face Prof. Snape.
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