𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐈𝐄 | 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓱 𝓟𝓸𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻

048~𝓝𝓸 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓼

Harry looked at his sister, bewildered. "What do you mean, Ellie? Are you afraid of yourself?"

"No," she murmured, shaking her head slowly. "I mean... I don't know. It's just..." She drifted off, her eyes unfocused, lost in thought. "There's another version of me, Harry. A dark version. And I'm terrified that I'm becoming her. That I already am her."

The boy frowned, trying to grasp her words. "But why would you think that? You're not like that."

"Have you never wondered who my boggart was? Have you never wondered why my greatest fear was a woman standing over your dead body?" she cried, her voice thick with anguish. "It's because that woman is me, Harry. I'm the one who would do those things. I'm the one who could do those things. And every day, it gets harder and harder to tell which one of us is real, and which one of us is the monster."

Harry was struck silent. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked into her eyes, searching for his sister, but all he saw was fear and despair. He wanted to tell her she was wrong, that she could never be like that, but he didn't know what to say.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and began again. "Do you remember our Sorting Ceremony?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He nodded, his heart heavy. "Of course I do. Why?"

"The hat took its time with me. It told me things. It said I have great power, power no one has ever had before. And it told me I would love the dark. In the end, it chose the lesser of two evils and put me in Gryffindor."

Harry felt a chill run down his spine. "I-I never knew that," he stammered.

"Of course you didn't," she replied bitterly. "Why would you?" She turned away, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. "Do you remember our first Quidditch match?"

The Potter boy nodded slowly, trying to keep his voice steady. "You... you flew like the wind. Like a bird. It was incredible. Until you... well... had a broom malfunction and fell."

Elizabeth let out a mirthless laugh. "Broom malfunction? Is that what they told you?" She turned back to face him, her eyes narrowed. "I saw a figure that day. I don't even know who or what it was. But its words still echo in my mind, as if it happened yesterday."

"You shall fall, Elizabeth Potter. Darkness is your destiny. You cannot escape your fate. You belong to the darkness. You will fall." She stopped, breathing heavily, as silent tears streamed down her cheeks. Then she looked up at her brother again. "That's what it said to me. And then I lost control of the broom and fell."

The young wizard felt a sickening realization settle in his stomach. "You think it was some sort of twisted prophecy?" he whispered.

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. It just feels like... there's something inside me, fighting to get out. And the harder I try to resist it, the harder it fights back."

Harry looked at her, his eyes wide with fear and confusion. "But... you're my sister. You can't be..."

Elizabeth shook her head slowly. "I don't know what I am anymore, Harry. I am capable of many things, horrible things. Last year I opened the Chamber of Secrets. I almost killed innocent people," she yelled.

The young wizard frowned. "That wasn't you. It was Voldemort. He was possessing you."

The witch stared at him for a long moment, her eyes searching his face. "I know, Harry. But when I opened it. When I talked to the basilisk. When I saw those poor students get petrified. I enjoyed it."

Harry felt his stomach twist in horror. "It was you, Ellie. You didn't mean it," he insisted. "It was Voldemort. He made you do it."

His sister looked away, her face pale. "Maybe. But why did it feel so good? Why did I want to open it again? And again? And again?" She shivered, as if from a chill.