DOORWAYS || MARAUDERS ERA

ϟ2: THE LIESϟ

"Very well. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is coming," she told the other teachers. Sprout and Flitwick gasped; Slughorn let out a low groan. "Potter has work to do in the castle on Dumbledore's orders. We need to put in place every protection of which we are capable while Potter does what he needs to do."

"You realize, of course, that nothing we do will be able to keep out You-Know Who indefinitely?" squeaked Flitwick.

"But we can hold him up," said Professor Sprout.

"Thank you, Pomona," said Professor McGonagall. "I suggest we establish basic protection around the place, then gather our students and meet in the Great Hall. Most must be evacuated, though if any of those who are over age wish to stay and fight, I think they ought to be given the chance."

"Agreed," said Professor Sprout, already hurrying toward the door. "I shall meet you in the Great Hall in twenty minutes with my House."

And as she jogged out of sight, they could hear her muttering, "Tentacula. Devil's Snare. And Snargaluff pods . . . yes, I'd like to see the Death Eaters fighting those."

"I can act from here," said Flitwick, and although he could barely see out of it, he pointed his wand through the smashed window and started muttering incantations of great complexity. Harry heard a weird rushing noise, as though Flitwick had unleashed the power of the wind into the grounds. 

Harry turned towards Rhea and asked hurriedly, "What did Snape do to you? Did he try Legilimency on you? But you're a natural Occlumens! He has never been able to do that to you! What did he see?"

Waiting until he poured out all his worries, Rhea spoke calmly despite the fact that she felt sick after what she had seen. There he was, standing in front of her, oblivious to the fate that awaited him. "He didn't attempt Legilimency. I did."

"You did? What did you see?"

Swallowing, she said, "Nothing important. It was just a blur—he was trying his best to keep me out." She added upon Harry's look.

Harry knew she was not being truthful. The hesitance in her black eyes, her sickly pale complexion and her quivering lips spoke volumes. But there were other tasks to attend to now.

While Harry talked to Flitwick about the diadem, Rhea looked up at Professor McGonagall and said dryly, "Thank you for assisting me in injuring my ribs, Professor."

Said-professor's lips twitched in a smile and said, "You're welcome Ms. Arquette. And welcome back to Hogwarts"

Rhea smiled and suddenly a wave of nausea hit her and she remembered why she was feeling so scared and angry. Her spiking heartbeat wasn't doing wonders to her seemingly calm exterior. With her mind in an emotional haze and her entire body shaking with tremors, a single word manifesting itself in the back of her mind:

Dumbledore.

He lied. Again. He hadn't told them anything else about the hocruxes, hadn't mentioned anything about the Hallows, hadn't mentioned Snape, was in fact, a noble man.

He had hidden the fact that, Voldemort's seventh hocrux was Harry.

"Are you okay, Miss Arquette? Rhea?"

"Yes, Professor," she said absently, taking deep breaths and exhaling them in puffs to calm down her racing heart. 

Rhea suddenly felt electrocuted—not that she knew how it felt like to sustain an electric shock—for she realized something.

The connection between Harry and Rhea gave her the ability to read Harry's moods, feel what he felt, and endure any pain he felt. Similarly, Harry felt whatever Rhea felt. While this was very useful at times, it gave Rhea some other abilities that Harry had, and this often left the 'Boy Who Lived' guilty. She was a Parselmouth, and also could see the same visions Harry would witness through Voldemort's mind.