Halley Wolffer

Chapter 16

Lilac Anne Stewart received the full Military honors at her funeral the following day, which was attended by most of the students and a variety of the highest ranking officials of the Irish Army.

Albion spoke for a long time about how Lilac had been a dear friend and companion for him in so many battles of the first war, and the Headmaster looked rather emotional as he described those occasions when Lilac had saved his life in action. Lilac had been a great heroine of war and an Irish patriot, and she would always be remembered by everyone that way.

Halley was proud to hear about the extraordinary courage and talents of her mother, but still, her heart was broken and she remained at the grave for a long time after everyone else had left...

The classes were canceled until further announcement, which was no surprise to anyone considering that half of the Academy's Staff had been killed in the battle. Albion called an entire Battalion of the Irish Army to install a permanent guard around the castle grounds, and meanwhile, the situation in Ireland continued to deteriorate.

Every day news would reach the Academy about mysterious murders, disappearances and fires out of control in many towns and cities, Velaydamorte getting sighted every now and then...

Lake of the Hallows looked peaceful and sad under the moon and the stars, a soft wind causing ripples in the water while Halley, sitting at the very edge of the water, stared at the horizon in total silence. She was wearing a black cloak and black ribbons in her hair, the Death Staff lying beside her on the grass.

Virginia was sitting beside Halley, holding her hand and sometimes looking up at the moon and the stars. They whispered a few words to each other, Halley would shake her head sometimes and then, not very surprised, they could hear the steps of two people approaching from behind...

"Halley" a dreamy voice said- "We were wondering if we could have a word with you, please?"

"Hello, Looney" Virginia replied, looking up at both of them- "Please try to cheer her up, she's crushed- Halley, I'll be at the courtyard if you need me..."

"Thank you" Halley replied, Virginia kissing her softly before standing up to depart.

Looney and Donald sat down at the edge of the water to each side of Halley, not sure what to say to start a conversation and cheer their friend up. The three of them remained in silence for awhile, the lights of the castle visible a good distance behind them... and then, Halley spoke at last:

"What was I thinking?" Halley sobbed, a few tears visible in her hazel eyes- "You told me not to open the Chamber, I should have listened to you, Looney- That was too dangerous, too stupid! I should have never listened to Joan."

"Halley, it was not your fault" Looney said, holding her hand- "We wanted to confess something to you- You know how we acted quite strange several days after that night? Well... We stayed at the clearing for some time after you left, and then we witnessed her coming out of the Chamber."

Halley was a little surprised to hear about that particular information, but anyway, it did not change anything for her. It was her fault that now Velaydamorte was free and all those innocent people had been killed, it was all thanks to her and who knew what was going to happen now to the Wizarding world...

"We were terrified, too scared to tell anyone about what happened that night" Donald said, throwing a few random rocks to the water- "Looney and I think that, maybe... just maybe if we had warned you, or Albion, McGregor or anyone else, we could have prevented the disaster..."

"You can stop feeling that way, because, honestly... Who would have believed you?"

"You were going to open the Chamber, one day" Looney replied- "She-the-ba... V-Velaydamorte knew that, this was going to happen one way or another... and perhaps, this is the best moment to defeat her once and for all. Halley, you are the only one that can stop her..."