Mia Potter was the other Potter. Looking almost identical to her mother, she was a force to be reckoned with. But there was only one person who could reckon with her, and his name was Draco Malfoy.
In which the youngest Potter twin finds herself fa...
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But when she reached the part where the golden beam of light had connected her and Voldemort's wands, she found her throat obstructed. She tried to keep talking, but the memories of what had come out of Voldemort's wand were flooding into her mind. She could see Cedric emerging, see the old man, Bertha Jorkins, her father, her mother. . . .
She was glad when Lupin broke the silence.
"The wands connected?" he said, looking from Mia to Dumbledore. "Why?"
Mia looked up at Dumbledore again, on whose face there was an arrested look.
"Priori Incantatem," he muttered.
His eyes gazed into Mia's and it was almost as though an invisible beam of understanding shot between them.
"The Reverse Spell effect?" said Lupin sharply.
"Exactly," said Dumbledore. "Mia's wand and Voldemort's wand share cores. Each of them contains a feather from the tail of the same phoenix. This phoenix, in fact," he added, and he pointed at the scarlet-and-gold bird, perching peacefully on Mia's knee.
"My wand's feather came from Fawkes?" Mia said, amazed.
"Yes," said Dumbledore. "Mr. Ollivander wrote to tell me you had bought the second wand, the moment you left his shop four years ago."
"So what happens when a wand meets its brother?" said Sirius.
"They will not work properly against each other," said Dumbledore. "If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle, a very rare effect will take place. One of the wands will force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed, in reverse. The most recent first, and then those which preceded it. . . ."
He looked interrogatively at Mia, and Mia nodded.
"Which means," said Dumbledore slowly, his eyes upon Mia's face, "that some form of Cedric must have reappeared." Mia nodded again.
"Diggory came back to life?" said Lupin sharply.
"No spell can reawaken the dead," said Dumbledore heavily. "All that would have happened is a kind of reverse echo. A shadow of the living Cedric would have emerged from the wand, am I correct, Mia?"
"He spoke to me," Mia said. She was suddenly shaking again. "The, the ghost Cedric, or whatever he was, spoke."
"An echo," said Dumbledore, "which retained Cedric's appearance and character. I am guessing other such forms appeared, less recent victims of Voldemort's wand."
"An old man," Mia said, her throat still constricted. "Bertha Jorkins. And. . . "
"Your parents?" said Dumbledore quietly. Mia nodded. Lupin's grip on Mia's shoulder was now so tight it was painful.
"The last murders the wand performed," said Dumbledore, nodding. "In reverse order. More would have appeared, of course, had you maintained the connection. Very well, Mia, these echoes, these shadows, what did they do?"
Mia described how the figures that had emerged from the wand had prowled the edges of the golden web, how Voldemort had seemed to fear them, how the shadow of Mia's mother had told her what to do, how Cedric's had made its final request.
At this point, Mia found she could not continue. She looked around at Lupin and saw that he had his face in his hands.
Mia suddenly became aware that Fawkes was resting its beautiful head against Mia's injured arm, and thick, pearly tears were falling from its eyes onto the wound left by Wormtail. The pain vanished. The skin mended. Her arm was repaired.
"I will say it again," said Dumbledore as the phoenix rose into the air and resettled itself upon the perch beside the door. "You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight. Mia. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it, and you have now given us all we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace. Lupin, would you like to stay with her?"
Lupin nodded and stood up and the three walked out of the office and down a flight of stairs to the hospital wing.
When Dumbledore pushed open the door. Mia saw Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Harry, Ron, Hermione and a giant shaggy black dog grouped around a harassed-looking Madam Pomfrey. They appeared to be demanding to know where Mia was and what had happened to him. All of them whipped around as Mia, Dumbledore, and the black dog entered, and Mrs. Weasley let out a kind of muffled scream.
"Mia! Oh Mia!"
She started to hurry toward her, but Dumbledore moved between them.
"Molly," he said, holding up a hand, "please listen to me for a moment. Mia has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. She has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If he would like you all to stay with him," he added, looking around at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Bill too, "you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening. "
Mrs. Weasley nodded. She was very white. She rounded on Harry, Ron, Hermione, Bill and Lupin as though they were being noisy, and hissed, "Did you hear? She needs quiet!"
"Headmaster," said Madam Pomfrey, staring at the great black dog that was Sirius, "may I ask what. . . .?"
"This dog will be remaining with both Mia and Harry for a while," said Dumbledore simply. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained. Mia, I will wait while you get into bed."
Mia felt an inexpressible sense of gratitude to Dumbledore for asking the others not to question her. It wasn't as though she didn't want them there. But the thought of explaining it all over again, the idea of reliving it one more time, was more than she could stand.
"I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with Fudge, Mia," said Dumbledore. "I would like you to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school." He left.
As Madam Pomfrey led Mia to a nearby bed, she caught sight of the real Moody lying motionless in a bed at the far end of the room. His wooden leg and magical eye were lying on the bedside table.
"Is he okay?" Mia asked.
"He'll be fine," said Madam Pomfrey, giving Mia some pyjamas and pulling screens around him. She took off her robes, pulled on the pyjamas, and got into bed. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Bill, Mrs. Weasley, Lupin and the black dog came around the screen and settled themselves in chairs on either side of her. Harry, Ron and Hermione were looking at her almost cautiously, as though scared of her.
"I'm fine," she told them. "Just tired."
Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears as she smoothed her bed-covers unnecessarily. Madam Pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, returned holding a small bottle of some purple potion and a goblet.
"You'll need to drink all of this Mia," she said. "It's a potion for dreamless sleep."
Mia took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. She felt herself becoming drowsy at once. Everything around her became hazy, the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at her in a friendly way through the screen around her bed. Her body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feather mattress. Before she could finish the potion, before she could say another word, her exhaustion had carried her off to sleep.
