The Chronicles of the Forgotten Potter

A cold breeze blew across the grounds, sending a shiver down Kat’s spine. She sat, huddled beneath a tree by the lake where she often wandered to for peace. It was a bit far off from the usual well-trodden path and fairly secluded and always quiet. It was only a few feet from the black lake’s shoreline. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft lapping of the water against the bank and the soft sound of the wind causing the leaves and the surrounding vegetation to rustle gently. She drew her cloak tighter, bringing her knees closer to her chest as she leaned her back against the rigid yet comfortable trunk as she stared out over the lake. Her gaze was distant while her thoughts and emotions were churning about inside of her mind.

She had gone to Dumbledore’s office as she had been told, her anger still boiling within her from her confrontation with Umbridge.

Flashback
It took every bit of her will power to keep her ability from revealing itself. She was absolutely infuriated as she barreled down the corridors, making her way to the familiar griffin statue that guards the headmaster’s office. She mumbled the password, barely waiting for the griffin to spring out of the way and for the stairs to begin to move. “Come in,” came the headmaster’s voice as she pushed open the door, only slowing herself in the slightest bit as she entered.

“I hear that you’ve rattled dear Professor Umbridge’s cage,” he said, looking at her over his half-moon spectacles with a twinkle of amusement in his vibrant blue eyes. He was seated at his desk, his hands folded neatly in front of him. Fawkes was perched in his usual place, eyeing her with expectantly as she approached. Usually when she was in Dumbledore’s office, she would give him a quick stroke or a quick scratch on the neck. Today, however, she was too angry to even think of showing her usual display of affection.

Kat was too infuriated to reply or even smile in return, somehow managing to maintain her control. It was almost as if Dumbledore could sense or feel the strain of her attempts to keep control over her telekinesis. His soft smile dropped into a serious expression, “You need to be careful Katherine. One lapse in concentration and you could lose control.” She was absolutely fuming, “I need to be careful? I need to be careful? She’s the one who needs to be careful, blabbing on about the ‘safe, ministry approved way’ of learning magic. Not to mention the fact that she uses every possible opportunity to make my life a living hell!”

It took a lot to get her this worked up and he was letting her vent out her frustrations and anger in a safe place. She knew that her headmaster was genuinely concerned for her, but she was too angry to rationalize. Dumbledore knew that there was far more to her power than she understood. She was already a remarkably gifted and talented witch at her young age, but there was a deeper, stronger power that would grow with age that remained fairly hidden, the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. There was more to her dreams, the potential of a greater, unknown psychic ability was overwhelming and Dumbledore knew that if Voldemort were to get his hands on her it could be disastrous.

“Katherine, you know full well what could happen if you were to lose control. It’s too dangerous for it to be out in the open. Any little slip up can put you in grave danger and I know that you are fully aware of that,” he stated in his calm, warm voice. The stern edge was enough to push his point through her angered haze. “I haven’t lost control yet, have I?” she fired back, clearly fighting a losing war, although her temper began to flair once more. “No, you haven’t, which is very good. However, the risk is too great for you to be on the edge.” Kat sighed in frustration, running a hand through her silky hair as she began to calm down. “There is only so much that the Order can do to protect you. I know that it’s hard to hide such a big part of you from the rest of the world, but you must, for your own safety,” Dumbledore continued, looking at the raven-haired girl in front of him over his half-moon glasses. She nodded in defeat, her senses and characteristic rationality returning to her as she began to cool down, “Yes, sir.”

“Good, now, how are your lessons with Professor Snape going?” he asked, adopting a slightly lighter tone. “Fine, sir,” she replied in a relatively calm voice. “Excellent. He tells me that you’re learning quickly. He’s impressed with your progress. I have asked him to also work on helping you control and better develop your gift.” Kat looked at him with a furrowed brow, “Sorry, sir, but I thought you were teaching me to control my powers?” A distant look crossed over his ancient features, “He is to be your instructor now.” He left it at that and Kat decided not to pry.
After several more moments of discussion, she left the headmaster’s office confused and somewhat flustered state.

End Flashback

Kat was still puzzled by Dumbledore’s somewhat erratic behaviour. His moods had been all over the place and he had become so distant, it was just…odd. He was acting the same way towards her brother as well. Something was most definitely off and it was really beginning to bother her. She was brought from her reverie when she heard faint, muffled footsteps walk towards her and sit close beside her. She turned her head to find Neville by her side. “Hey Nev,” she said softly. “Hey,” he replied, allowing the silence that he had disrupted to return. Her gaze returned to the lake as his went from her face then followed out to where hers ended. He knew her better than to bother her when she was thinking, judging by the relatively distant look in her eyes. Her usually vibrant, green eyes were somewhat dull, the lack of sleep and recent stresses clearly taking their toll on her.

They sat there like that for a while before Neville broke the quiet once more, “How are you doing?” he asked with genuine concern. He was worried about her and she was grateful for his kindness. “I’ll live,” she sighed. “Alright, good,” he paused unsure of whether to continue or not, “I was just worried you know, I mean, I’ve never seen you blow up at a teacher like that, and, well, you had every right to. But I just wanted to check in and make sure everything was okay. I mean, you know I believe you and Harry and you know that I will always be there for support and… well, yeah.” Kat couldn’t help but smile as he finished rambling, turning her gaze to meet his, “I know you will Nev. It really means a lot.”

“You mean a lot to me,” he murmured, slapping a hand over his mouth, absolutely mortified by the words that had escaped his lips. Kat cocked her head to the side, “What did you say Neville?” He was now avoiding looking in her direction all together, a blush flooding into his cheeks, his eyes darting around in panic, eventually settling on his hands. He was trying so hard to say something else, but the words kept coming up, like uncontrollable word vomit, “I-I…I said th-that you m-mean a lot to me.”

She couldn’t find the words to speak, slightly shocked by her friend’s sudden burst of courage. Of course she wasn’t nearly as surprised as Neville was of his own spontaneous boldness, but he continued, the words pouring from his mouth without any form of a filter, “Look, I really like you Kat. You’re my best mate and I’ve known you for years. I know you better than anyone else… well except for you’re brother and Ron and Hermione and, yeah. I’ve always had a small crush on you but in third year we started to get older and I, well I started to really fancy you. But you were dating George and you seemed really happy and I was happy for you but there was always this looming feeling of jealousy and, well to be perfectly honest, I see you as way out of my league.”

“Then last year you and George broke up and then you started going out with Cedric, and I knew that there was no way in hell that I could ever hope to compete with him. You know, at the Yule Ball, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. You were just so gorgeous and you two looked perfect and I wished to Merlin that I could just be him.” Kat still couldn’t find her voice as his words continued to pour from his mouth, his eyes never leaving his hands, “Then Malfoy came into the picture and can I say that I hated seeing you with him? I mean, I could understand why most of the school thought you two were perfect for each other, but… you never even went on a real date together, it was just, well, a physical kind of thing… and I… I just… I just want to take you out on a proper date Kat. You deserve at least that, even if it is just as friends. And I completely understand if you don’t want to, but… will you go out with me?” he said, his gaze darting to hers.

He panted slightly from his long-winded speech, in total disbelief of what he had just said, ready for the eminent rejection that she would give. A small smile had found its way onto her striking features, her green eyes looking the most vibrant they had in weeks, “Yes, I’d love to go on a date with you Neville.” His face lit up and his eyes glistened happily, “Really?” She couldn’t help but chuckle a little at his excitement. He was like a little boy in a candy shop, his happiness far outweighing his shock. “Yes, really,” she smiled. “Brilliant,” he stated, absolutely thrilled. The two sat in silence for a while longer, Kat leaning her head on his shoulder, as she had often done when he was there to comfort her in the past. As they sat there, Neville was still continuing to process everything that had just happened a small, shocked smile forming on his features as the two stared out at the fairly smooth surface of the black lake in front of them.