Chapter 26 The Footprints You Left Behind...
”Three months would pass us by,
We journeyed a difficult path.
We stumbled, we tumbled, but
we never crumbled.
I now understand the reasons why.
I am no longer foolishly blind.
When I look at the footprints you left behind,
I see deepness poignant determination intertwined.
I now understand the reasons why.
Footprints bear the weight of two people,
because you had been carrying me,
the entire time, the entire path, all this time…"
~Harry Potter~
At the sight of Dumbledore’s sudden appearance in the ward, Harry immediately scurried up and was staring in awe at what he was clutching across his chest. What was supposed to be Samantha’s body was now a motionless statue of pearly white doves, very similar to the one Ginny gave him for Christmas two years ago, of which Ron had carelessly broken back at the Burrow.
“Harry,” he patted his arm movingly. “Before you unleash your anger at me, please let me explain everything to you.”
Panting uncontrollably, Harry wiped his eyes, wrestled out of Dumbledore’s grips and put on his shirt. Dumbledore’s request for calm was eerily similar to that of last year in his office, when they talked about Sirius and the prophecy and Harry lost his temper, destroying half of his eclectic possessions in the heat of the moment.
Dumbledore gazed deeply into his eyes, seemingly probing his mind, but he cocked away defiantly as a silent protest to all the countless times he had hidden the truth from him. He was very angry to have a professor who continued to underestimate him, and who was still assuming he was too young to handle the truth despite all the experiences he had gained these past years.
Sensing his favorite student’s coldness, he lethargically paced to the bed and retrieved the doves solemnly as Harry continued to inch away frostily. For once, Dumbledore was speechless behind his tired opaque eyes; he didn’t know where to begin with regard to this fragile and complicated situation. The silence in the room was quickly driving them apart like a wedge.
“The fact that I noticed the other dove spirit finding its way back just as I was reconstructing the statue…” Dumbledore finally broke the heavy silence and gazed somberly at the open window from which the spirit entered the room, “and the way Hermione described the scene with the image of a white bird in the imaginary world last year, you must have recovered…
“Your memory of Ginny… the dream curse… and… unfortunately…
“Aria Hannibal,” he muttered tentatively. “I can sense you’ve broken through my memory charm too. I should have known… Of all people to do so, it would be you, Harry, who will possess the strength to break through my memory charms.”
Without acknowledging his choppy but accurate assertions, Harry marched bitterly to the window, his hands in balls of fists. He didn’t want Dumbledore to see his blazing eyes and repeat his screaming ways of last year at the office, even though he felt every right to tear his Headmaster apart, for casting a memory charm on him without his permission.
“Harry, since you have your memory back, do you remember the significance of this statue?” asked Dumbledore mildly.
Harry nodded lightly, suppressing the furious fire threatening to unleash itself as he kept his back solidly against the Headmaster while at the same time, recalling painfully his ruthless indifference of his reactions in front of Ginny in response to the shattered fragments at the Burrow. He could still remember her crying about them when he chased her to her doorway, only to foolishly misinterpret her agony, thinking she was in pain from being physically hurt in the Quidditch game. He now finally understood the reasons behind her tears, only that sadly, it was four months too late.
“It is an enchanted object because…” Dumbledore addressed fruitlessly to Harry’s shoulders that were beginning to heave erratically as he could now feel every drop of Ginny’s tears from that day, like spikes squeezing themselves through his windpipe. He violently opened the window to its widest to let the noise echoing from outside to mask his cries.
Dumbledore raised his voice, agonizingly pretending to not hear Harry’s suffering, hoping it would make his student feel better, “Along the way, two very pure but powerful spirits would arise, and would… reside in it, and call it their home… until…”
He had to pause. He couldn’t pretend to not notice anymore, because the boy was clearly hurting badly. The boy was too hurt to hear anything. He slowly walked towards him and placed his hand on his shoulder again, but he abruptly rejected it once more.
After waiting a few moments to let Harry gather himself, Dumbledore took a few steps back and proceeded wearily again, “Harry, you have to bear with me because it’s a little confusing. I’ll try to explain the best I can.
“A spirit that adopted the shape of a peace dove was formed when Ginny saved you from the dream curse at the church on Christmas,” Dumbledore restarted clearly.
Harry wiped his eyes, stopped his muffled cries, and turned his head slightly towards Dumbledore, wanting to listen more carefully, but he still refused to look at him. He was now replaying the images of that memorable night two years ago and the feeling of fluttering wings when he woke up from his bed naked.
“Do you recall I said… it was Ginny’s unconditional love for you that saved you from the dream curse?”
Harry nodded wordlessly.
“Amid the confusion of the curse and the dream world in a continuous state of flux, something magical took place when Ginny… made the choice to sacrifice herself to save you.
“But… it wasn’t her actions or what she did to you while you were unconscious in your wet clothes that helped you that night. That alone did not save you.”
Harry’s cheeks began to blush underneath his frigid dry tears, realizing Dumbledore knew all the intimate details of what Ginny did exactly to him.
“Harry, I want you to understand that… it was the thought process behind Ginny’s decisions, her profound emotions behind her choices… that made all the difference.
“Because Ginny was truly willing to do anything for you, including sacrificing her life, there was absolutely no wavering doubt in her mind… she was adamant behind her choice…
“It was this kind of sheer and firm determination… the kind of solid determination that can only come from… pure true love for a person… that freed you from the dream world.
“Do you remember what I said in the hospital wing two years ago… about love and Dark Magic… and how the emotion of love in itself is the most powerful form of magic?”
Harry did not answer, but he could recall how Dumbledore compared Dark Magic to a house of cards and should not be feared upon, because simple good things that were taken for granted, such as friendship, sunlight, and love, could easily defeat them.
“I told you Ginny’s love for you is simply so strong… its essence countered the curse…
“Just like your mother’s love saved you from the death curse when you were a baby.”
As these words punished his eardrums, Harry’s stomach felt like someone had light a burning match and tossed it inside, letting the flame roast him to a slow and painful death. The remorse from betraying Ginny compounded exponentially.
“But I never explained… what happened after the dream curse was defeated, fearing the information would overwhelm the two of you.”
Harry grunted. As usual, Dumbledore was always hiding things from him, he thought miserably to himself.
“After… the magic essence pulled both of you out of the dream state in the chaos, it… did not dissipate. Instead, it was as powerful as ever. It had a life of its own.
“You would wake up when she was nursing your internal injuries from the fall into the frozen lake. Seeing your blinking shocked eyes, she didn’t know what to do. Not wanting to startle you, she hid herself inside the hollow dove statue that was sitting on your shelf. That’s why you might have seen visions of the wings moving.”
“She…?” asked Harry chokingly, inching around.
Dumbledore smiled because Harry had finally uttered his first word, “She is… the Samantha of today, Harry.”
Harry abruptly turned to meet Dumbledore’s warm smile that managed to immediately disarm his anger to a mellow. Seeing his willingness to open up, Dumbledore gently handed him the statue, “Yes, Harry. I guess you can say a miracle was born that Christmas night.”
“A spirit… inside?” he stared at it in disbelief, beginning to understand why Samantha knew so much about him, knowing it had accompanied him in his quarters closely the whole time, the Burrow, his uncle’s place, and the castle.
“Samantha… the entire time?” repeated Harry involuntarily.
“Inside one of them apparently,” he corrected him. “Something similar would take place and a second spirit would form a few days later, when it was your turn to save Ginny from the dream curse. It would reside in the second dove. I believe you know where I’m going with this.”
“In the desert…” Harry murmured to the images of the dream that were now appearing in his head, “A shadow of birds… flying over me just as I collapsed… into the quicksand…”
“Harry, you had the foresight to bring it to the hospital wing and rested it on Ginny just before you entered her dream state and saved her, giving the second spirit a place to stay after it pulled both of you out from the nightmare.
“It is the first time I come across such phenomenon. I never knew it was possible. Something good actually came out of the dream curse ordeal. As I said that day, they are truly magnificent.”
Harry gazed at it deeply, wanting to peer behind the pearly white porcelain, and gave it a soft curious shake, “There are… two spirits inside, because of me and Ginny… and Samantha is one of them?”
Dumbledore nodded, “To this day, I still don’t know how a little girl like Ginny was able to find such an interesting piece of magic to give you… a sculpture that could house spirits.
“It took some effort but I was able to reconstruct for them… a new home… with the fragments Sam brought me. It is good I made room for the second spirit because I had believed it would never come back…
“Samantha… or her… spirit is inside now?” asked Harry again hopefully, wanting to make sure.
“Yes,” he answered reassuringly as he sat on one of the beds. “Let me tell you more about your mentee.
“After Aria stole the second spirit, Sam would reside alone in it, until Ronald Weasley broke it. To her surprise, she survived the trauma, because… Ginny cried very hard immediately afterwards.”
“Yes, she cried,” said Harry painfully, not understanding why that was important.
“Harry, it turned out Ginny’s love was the thing that fueled Sam’s spirit, so she did not perish. From that, she understood she’ll live as long as Ginny remains in love with you. Therefore, she wanted to help the two of you get back together to ensure her survival, but as an air of a spirit there was little she could do.
“She gathered some of the shattered fragments and flew to Hogwarts, after searching the entire Burrow and found no suitable resting place for her.
“She was seeking me out, hoping I will help her reunite with either you or Ginny, so she can somehow get the two of you back together, because she was aware I’m the only one that understands what she is and where she comes from.
“Of course I recognized the fragments and knew she was telling the truth. I kept telling her I believed her origins… that she wasn’t some sinister magic from Voldemort, but wanting to absolutely prove to me she was not lying, she confessed everything she knows about you.
“I guess… having spent two years as your invisible roommate, enclosed behind the porcelain with nothing to do…” Dumbledore smiled mildly, “she has the free time to pinpoint the exact location of every single razor cut on your face… or hair follicle that is on your body…”
Feeling completely violated, Harry gasped and blushed nervously at the idea that he had been studied upon by Samantha intimately the entire time without his knowledge.
“It was certainly… an intriguing conversation,” Dumbledore glimmered at Harry, who quickly looked away. “But I will say no more of what she shared with me about you…
“I am no stranger to talking to magic creatures… Fawkes and I sometimes can chat all day long.
“Anyway, she explained to me that in order for her to survive, Ginny has to continue loving you. But sadly, she was convinced you alone could not mend back the relationship. She was afraid of the possibility Ginny will eventually give up and love someone else.
"I noticed she was especially hostile with one Oliver Wood...
“At the Burrow, she found out… about you selected as mentor. From that, she devised this detailed plan to help you get back with Ginny.
“After an entire day of gobbledygook, she finally asked me to grant her the appearance of an eleven year old girl with my magic, and assign her specifically to you… to be your mentee, so she can guide you.
“I became more impressed as we talked, because she is very intelligent... her spunk… ingenuity… despite all the gibberish. She is more human than I expected. She convinced me.
“She didn’t want anyone to suspect that we know each other, so she specifically instructed me to make a mistake with her name in front of the entire school. It was very important for her that everyone, including you, to treat her normally and not know about her strange origins.
“I agreed to help her because I didn’t want such a beautiful and rare magical creation to perish, especially after Aria stole her companion… and she has helped save both of you many times. I know her intentions are good.
“I did not see any harm in her plans, but I have to admit… I was also biased at the time, because I too wanted to see you and Ginny together. Because Sam knows you two so well, she’s the perfect person for the job.
“I also know that as long as Ginny continues to love you, Sam will live. I told her I’m working on giving her a permanent human form if I can. I was confident she will stay in Hogwarts with no problems, aside from her crazy behavior… and perhaps move on to live normally like the rest of us. Her existence will not affect the balance of the human world or wizardry world.
“Judging from Sam’s vigor and energy, it is clear Ginny still loves you very much despite everything that had happened… although her gray hair and frail build… it’s a sign Ginny had suffered a lot of pain as a result of the events last year.
“Seeing this, I started having doubts, wondering if Ginny was willing to continue loving you given all the anguish. I know Sam’s lifeline will be cut the day Ginny decides to stop, so I agree with Sam… that she must start her plan immediately before it’s too late.”
Harry cut in, clutching the statue tighter, “Then why is Samantha sick… and now she is…”
“Little did she know,” Dumbledore returned to his sad expressions, “something unexpected happened immediately after you introduced yourself to her. We failed to factor this in the plan.”
Harry paced away depressingly from Dumbledore to face the window again. He needed no more explanations. He should be smart enough to know the reasons, because people he cared about always would suffer a terrible fate.
Looking outside at the snowy sidewalk despairingly, Harry noticed two people, a man playfully carrying a woman on his back as they strolled along. The streetlights illuminated the man’s deep footsteps, bearing the weight of two people, under the sunset skies.
“The emotion of love is a big part of being human,” Dumbledore mumbled.
“Sam got to know you personally over the past two years… from all your heroic admirable qualities… your hot temper… to every battle scar on your body… but… in the form of a little girl… immediately… her human emotions took over, and… the most powerful one of them all… would…
“It seized her completely,” Dumbledore stuttered, “when… she met you… that night in the hall.
“It would eventually serve as a conflict. Her feelings and affections for you began to cannibalize the lifeline that was Ginny’s love, and turn it into a ruthless fire.
“The closer you got to Ginny, the more it would hurt Sam… The deeper Sam loved you, the weaker she would get.
“It was an impossible situation, but she was determined to hold on, because she realized her plan to mend your relationship with Ginny wasn’t about her survival anymore. The goal of her plan would now change, and she will put your interests ahead of her.
“All she wanted was what is best for you. She wanted you to get back with Ginny.
“At that point, she was as human as the rest of us. To sacrifice yourself for the person you love…
“Once love starts, it’s unstoppable. She knew the end was near. The more she pushes you towards Ginny, the more she thinks about wanting you, and her love grows even more. Loving someone when you’re not supposed to…
“She weakened significantly after the flying competition. The pain of seeing you and Ginny perform was the reality she cannot afford to see.”
“Samantha disappeared right after she dragged me to the Quidditch fields. I was too occupied with Ginny to remember her limping,” Harry recalled shakily to the remnants of the snowy footsteps on the sidewalk as his eyes were drained of emotions except guilt.
“WAIT A MINUTE! My costume, everything that happened that night… the pair of stars that I kept seeing blinking at me…” Harry snapped his head towards Dumbledore.
Dumbledore nodded faintly to confirm Harry’s suspicions, “I was not aware of her extensive involvement to sign you up for the competition until afterwards. During your performance, she was watching you from afar, savoring her successful efforts, at the same time, on the brink of demise.
“I tried to help her that night to no avail. I suggested memory charms but…
“She would rather die than lose her feelings for you even if they were killing her.
“I suggest she stay at my office to recuperate, but she refused because she said time was running out. She wanted…” Dumbledore let his voice mute to the floor as Harry’s face contorted in pain, because he recalled seeing Sam perched in the common room staircase that early morning and he had wanted to avoid her.
“Harry, you did make her wish come true the night of the performance. Seeing Ginny in your arms made all the difference for her. She was delighted. It kept her going. I now understand it was good you made Ginny lose her shoe at the end of the routine.
“But earlier today…” Dumbledore’s voice tightened up to repress the flood of emotions in his eyes, “when she saw you go to Ginny’s room, it was… it would… seal her demise for her.
“Harry, I was at a Hogsmeade shop when to my surprise, I saw her rushing across the street underneath your cloak. I followed her because I noticed she was struggling to keep her form intact, busily holding her possessions… until…”
Dumbledore breathed deeply and furtively wiped the corner of his eye, “I said I’ll take her back to the castle, but she refused because she…
“She doesn’t want you to know… to worry about her… to be burdened with her problems. I brought her here instead.
"She forbade me from telling you the truth. But you had to know.”
“Professor,” Harry whimpered weakly, “you said… Samantha’s inside now? That means she’s alive and okay, right? She did not… perish…”
“Her human days may be over. She is very weak but she is okay… Thanks to you, Harry,” Dumbledore gazed at him proudly.
“It was the reason I rushed you here to see her, and once again, you never let me down.”
Harry looked at Dumbledore’s sparkling eyes confusedly.
“Let me tell you a story, Harry.
“There was a little girl who loves to make wishes to the stars. Almost all of her wishes though… were for the boy she loves.
“Towards the end, she tabulated all her wishes and finally realized to her delight… that all of them have come true for her.
“Indeed, she had forgotten about one very important wish she made for herself. It was one that she made every night… and it had come true for her too.
“The wish was… that she gets to stay… with her best friend forever.
“All the little girl needed was to have… just one... one very special person in this world, someone with a heart filled with love, who truly... do not want her to go.
“It’s enough to let the spiritual forces know that it’s not her time yet,” Dumbledore walked closer to Harry and placed his hand on the back of his head, stroking his hair, “because… they know a very special boy with jet-black hair and bright green eyes still needs her… for many years to come...
“They heard you loud and clear earlier.”
Harry gently returned his focus back to the snowy footsteps outside, as his mind helplessly traveled back in time, revisiting everything that had happened these past three months between him and Samantha. As the images played sequentially in his mind, his view of the snowy footsteps on the sidewalk began to blur and tremble, giving way to erratic rainbows of colors that distorted his vision. Awash with words of gratitude, his eyes grew movingly warmer, as each word would slowly formulate in both corners and bounce off his cheeks, carefully splashing themselves onto the precious statue in his hand.
“Harry, if it makes you feel any better, you’re not the only one who gets bullied by her,” Dumbledore gently turned him around and showed him his arm. There was a slight scratch.
Dumbledore hugged Harry softly, “Your mentee firmly instructed me earlier that I am to explain her sudden departure by telling the school she got kicked out of Hogwarts for sneaking to Hogsmeade.
“The rebellious disobedient… brash image that you failed to discipline as her mentor… your spoiling her and letting her temper tantrums spiral out of control, worsening as the school year progressed… it’s a cool image she’s apparently very proud of…”
The Boy Next Door by gossipweaver
Chapter Notes: ”Three months would pass us by,
We journeyed a difficult path.
We stumbled, we tumbled, but
we never crumbled.
I now understand the reasons why.
I am no longer foolishly blind.
When I look at the footprints you left behind,
I see deepness poignant determination intertwined.
I now understand the reasons why.
Footprints bear the weight of two people,
because you had been carrying me,
the entire time, the entire path, all this time…"
~Harry Potter~