Tales of Futures Past
Dealing and Facing

By Anne B. Walsh

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From Dealing with Danger, Chapter 16:

As Alexander Slytherin broke the rules early in the elder cubs' third year, to warn the Pack-parents that they should retrieve their wayward child immediately, Danger received no rhyming prophecy for that year. Instead, Sibyll Trelawney delivered a prophecy to Ron Weasley. (If I got prophecies as depressing, and as intermittent, as Trelawney does, I'd probably drink too. Just sayin'.)

On the night of the willing return to the long-abandoned prison of youth, the impossible will happen, three times over...

The night Remus willingly goes back to the Shrieking Shack, three impossible things will happen: Harry breaking a Body-Bind from the inside, Draco and Hermione casting a combined Patronus, and Danger infecting Lucius Malfoy with lycanthropy despite not being a werewolf herself. (How'd you do? I know I had at least one of them wrong.)

...souls shall join against the darkness, the faithful three will ride again, and five shall spill their blood upon the ground...

Draco and Hermione will use their twin-bond to fight the dementors (does anything our Fox's blood-dad tries ever come out like he's hoping it will?), the three Patronuses in play will have the forms of the faithful Marauders (oh yeah, stag, dog, and werewolf, kicking some arse just like old times), and five people will bleed: Draco and Hermione (again, the bond), Sirius (when a certain blond bastard who shall remain nameless kicked me in the face), Aletha (bitten by a rat), and Malfoy (bitten on the leg by a wolf... wish she hadn't in some ways, but it had more good repercussions than bad in the long run).

...revenge and mercy wreak havoc alike, as an ancient lie becomes truth...

Danger's revenge on Malfoy turns him into a werewolf, which exposes Remus's condition and leads to his losing his position as Defense professor as well as Hermione's custody suit, and Harry's mercy towards Wormtail will lead to Voldemort's resurrection (oh yeah, definitely some twenty-twenty hindsight going here, not that the ridge was much better) as Draco and Hermione, who pretended to be twins while the Pack lived in hiding in Devon, now actually are twins (which ranges from cute as the dickens to spooky as hell in practice).

...on that night the impossible shall come to pass...

(But that's practically our job at this point. Impossible deeds, done to order. Improbable flourishes extra.)

---

From Dealing with Danger, Chapter 36:

When cup is touched, the respite ends,
And lies make enemies of friends.

"Cup" in this context does not, as Remus believed, refer to the Goblet of Fire but to the Triwizard Cup, which will Portkey Harry into the infamous graveyard scene, resume the war against Voldemort, and (mostly) end Viktor Krum's friendship with Hermione by revealing what he's been (usually unwillingly) up to.

The one who strikes without the moon
Will try to change your purpose soon,

Fenrir Greyback will try to intimidate Remus into giving up his custody suit for Hermione. (Yeah, might've worked on the ridge version. Not gonna get my alpha with that stupid crap.)

And alphas tests must undergo,
All whether willingly or no;

Harry and Remus both have tasks they must undertake, although they don't want to: Remus has to endure the publicity of Hermione's custody hearing, and Harry has to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. (That was what I think people refer to as a "difficult" year. But then, all our years are difficult in their own way. It's sort of the point of having a Pack, is to get you through the difficult times without your head exploding.)

While one his brother's namesake wars,
The other schemes to open doors,
And finds the speaking treasure hid
Beneath the deepest sheltering lid.

While Harry is battling the dragon in the first task, Remus must get into the Defense teacher's office and discover the real Moody, hidden in his own trunk, to unmask the false Moody. (Our checkered pasts, my alpha's excellent nose, and my lady's potions expertise all doing us some good for once. Shame the ridge's Chronicler chickened out of the whole "you have to drink it every hour, on the hour" bit by book seven...)

But traitor fled and mystery solved,
You must not think it all resolved;

Just because the false Moody is gone, don't get cocky. (Why don't we ever listen to these things? Why?)

Two more there are, who speak you fair
But gladly'd harm you if they dare.

There are two people at Hogwarts who don't like the Pack, though they hide it. (We're sort of used to that by now, but this was a new level of not liking. Usually they stop at pranks or snide remarks.)

The one strikes while his rival sleeps,
With magic foul within the deeps;

Krum, although technically Imperiused into doing so, didn't need much coaxing to wake Ron under the lake during the second task. (Has anyone really examined this particular plotline closely? Neenie was fourteen, people. Well, fifteen in the ridge, but still!)

The other fills the traitor's plan,
And schemes his way to end the clan
Whose dame he killed so long ago
(Her husband died by one you know).

Karkaroff will finish what the false Moody started, and in the process attempt to kill Danger as he killed her mother, the same day Lucius Malfoy killed her father. (Sometimes justice is poetic. And sometimes karma's just a bitch.)

So save and heed the fiery knight,

Help, then pay attention to, Percy Weasley—he was entirely correct in stating that he'd been fired upon by Karkaroff and that he'd seen Barty Crouch, Senior, dead. (Once again with the not listening... I swear we bring half our trouble on ourselves.)

And all you do, do for the right;
Though hero's plight you'll not forfend,
You'll still go with him to the end.

The Pack and Pride cannot stop Harry from having to face his destiny, but they can help and accompany him along the way. (And we did, and we always will. Because that's just who we are.)

---

From Facing Danger, Chapter 6:

Seek black and white, for each holds part
Of answer that will gladden heart;

Snape and Dumbledore both know something about how to keep Voldemort out of Harry's head without hurting him. (Always appreciated, gentlemen. Which term I use loosely in at least one case.)

The lion's son no harm shall take
From that which gold and red shall make.

The Heir of Gryffindor (Heirs, once that bonding was finished) will not be permanently harmed by the blood-bond. (Yeah, I generally frown on my son and my Pack-brother getting hurt by things.)

The questioner unwelcomèd
May soon depart to clear her head,
But left alone, she will remain
And undeservèd places gain.

Umbridge will leave sooner, and get less, if she is informed in clear and certain terms that she is not wanted. (Though I don't think any of us were expecting her to die. Not that we shed all that many tears for her. And just as a side note, fun little accent marks! Gotta love 'em!)

A flagging spirit must be fed;
Sing, then, O twin, of royal red,
And bring twofold rewards of glee
And necessary foolery.

Draco must compose "Weasley is Our King" to help Ron regain his spirits during the Quidditch season and make everyone happy. (Really, Alex? This gets a whole quatrain to itself? Though I suppose he likes a good song as much as anybody.)

The winter days bring sorrows all:
The once-endangered then shall fall;

Hagrid, who was once in great danger of his life from Death Eaters, will be killed during this winter. (That's one of the very few nights in my life that I'd honestly prefer to forget. It was just... yeah.)

The beast tries, as he said, to own,
And half-succeeds—but not alone.

Fenrir Greyback will try to turn Hermione, along with her friends, and will partially succeed, but only because Hermione willingly takes the werewolf curse on herself to allow Meghan to heal Ginny of the lycanthropic disease. (One brave little niece I've got. But I knew that. And it came in handy down the line, figuring out stuff about werewolves and how they happen, and quite possibly how they could be made to un-happen... and if you care to see that as a hint, I can't stop you.)

Then flame shall rise to champion's hand,
Alighting fires to cleanse the land,
For death and pain shall bring to light
The hidden, unacknowledged might.

The "power the Dark Lord knows not" will become more active in Harry following the deaths and pain suffered by the various people hurt in the resumption of the war. (It's always been there, but that really brought it out some, showed him how he could use it.)

He bows to fate, but not to yield;
He'll use it to make fair the field.

Harry accepts his connection with Voldemort, and points out to Voldemort in no uncertain terms that this is not always a good thing. (One flattened evil wizard, coming up.)

And thus the path shall be begun
Which leads unto The Man Who Won.

(I've always liked that title for my boy. So much more dignified than the original one they tagged him with. But I'm getting ahead of myself...)

---

From Facing Danger, Chapter 27:

When holly wand met wand of yew,
The endless fight began anew;

When Harry and Voldemort dueled at the Department of Mysteries, the war, and its inherent battle between good and evil, officially started again. (It'd been going for about six months before that, but let's not bog down on details, shall we?)

A third there is, with cloak and stone—
Who'd win must call them first his own.

The Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand, the Invisibility Cloak, and the Resurrection Stone. (I still think it's unfair that we never knew when we were kids that my best friend's prize possession was actually so much cooler even than we thought it was.)

But they shall come, as shall those shells
In which unhallowed spirit dwells;

The Hallows, and Voldemort's Horcruxes, will wait their turns. (Yeah, can't get ahead of ourselves. There's too much story yet to tell.)

Your task is now to other ways,
To end a spell of ancient days.
A curse once on your best-loved gift
Should start your thoughts in proper drift,
For why had hawk to take it on?
What stopped the wolf in days agone?

The spell which determines blood status, as shown when Ron, rather than Harry, had to take on the curse from Draco's glass globe, must be ended. (Can you imagine the morons I sprang from, in full power and with something like that at their command? We'd be fu... er... there's a panther glaring at me, so I'll just say we'd be in a lot of trouble. Moving on.)

But ere your thoughts can reach their peak,
The far-off Seeker must you seek.

Before the DA can fully work up their spell-breaking year, they'll need help from Viktor Krum. (Who never did figure out, as far as I know, exactly what Redwing did to his man parts.)

Do watch him, yet do not mistrust,
For justice sometimes strikes unjust—

Krum never truly intended harm to Hermione, or to any of the girls, but was caught in something too big for him, and either the usual punishment for Death Eaters or Hermione's killing him would have been too harsh for his crimes. (Yeah, that's what she says. I'd have liked to see a bit of blood, myself.)

As you shall know when winter's through,
For sorrow is not done with you.

Hagrid will die, Maya Pritchard will be turned, and Brian Li and Hermione will be hurt in the course of this winter. (Along with various and sundry other bad things, but yeah, welcome to war, how long did you say you'd been here?)

Sleep not the year's first night of care;

Be aware of trouble on the first full moon of the year. (Finally, one we paid attention to!)

Of old safekeepings now beware;

The wards on the Den may not be safe. (And one we didn't. Argh.)

For much has changed, though some's the same,
And naught's yet come of one old game.

A long time ago, Harry saw Death Eaters being sworn not to kill certain people or allow them to be killed, which was probably intended (probably, she says) to bypass the Pack-pendants' warning signal for danger of death, but nothing had happened along those lines yet. (Not that I really think we could have figured out what they were up to without a lot more information. That was impressively sneaky, and very nasty.)

Do what you must, wolf's darling kit,
And shed no tears for doing it;

Hermione must kill Greyback, and not agonize too much over the doing. (Which, credit where it's due, she didn't. I have a feeling she's had a nightmare or ten on the subject, but only her dad and mum, and possibly that twin of hers, know for sure.)

Save tears for those who hold you dear
And fall as seen by owlsight clear.

Hagrid, a Pack-friend, will die the night Hermione kills Greyback, which Luna already knew. (That girl knows loads of stuff. Now if she'd just share it every once in a while!)

So help the new-turned nymph be brave
And save the one you've power to save,

The Pack, and their friends, must help Maya fight her werewolf curse (the nymph: see earlier comments re: well-read Chronicler) and save Ginny from the effects of lycanthropy (which shouldn't have been possible, but you don't turn my girls loose on things without expecting a few miracles here and there).

For lion's line continue must
Ere elder serpent's fall to dust.

A new Heir of Gryffindor must exist before the line of Slytherin, specifically Matthias's descent, dies out. (And yes, I am permitted to inform you in this venue that this does mean we will be seeing a living Heir of Alexander's somewhere in the Dangerverse. And no, it's not Amanda Smythe. Nice try, though, and she is involved in how it works out, just not the actual Heir. Guess if you like, but trust me, you are not going to get it. I'm still not sure I get it, and I've watched it at least four times...

So, there we are. All the prophecies, lined up nice and neat for you. See anything you missed the first time through? Got any new ideas? Let me know, or our Chronicler. Just don't get on her bad side... panther claws really hurt. See you next time, and keep on reading! Oh yeah, and keep a weather eye out for those ridges we've been guiding... they should be pretty cool! We get mentioned a lot in one of them, and in the other one we actually get to show up a few times... see if you can spot us! Thanks for reading, and more of everything is coming up as fast as those little panther paws can type!)

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