The following day, breakfast was filled with curious or startled murmurs. On the front page of the Daily Prophet, there was a photograph taken after the attack and a long, detailed article about what had transpired, from how the Death Eaters had appeared and how the Aurors and the Order had been unable to defeat them, to how a mysterious saviour had appeared who, in a matter of minutes, had saved the Alley without incurring any fatalities.
The article also recounted how this saviour had arrived in the conflict zone and had transformed into a white phoenix, and as a rather playful 'joke', the newspaper had dubbed him "The White Phoenix."
Harry had read the article just like the rest of the students and had been surprised at the sheer amount of detail they had managed to acquire. He didn't remember seeing any journalists, but if the newspaper was to be believed, there must have been at least one.
Trying to go as unnoticed as possible, despite knowing that only his friends would be able to connect the mysterious saviour with him, he ate breakfast, listening to the murmurs and assumptions about the hero. Some were downright extraordinary; weren't there a few who had gone so far as to claim that it was even Merlin reincarnated who had saved them?
For his part, the young Hufflepuff endured everything as best he could, making himself as invisible as possible. He guessed, and he was right, that as soon as a few days passed, all that excitement would be forgotten, and everyone would return to their normal activities.
He was not mistaken; after two days, practically no one was talking about what had happened, and everything seemed normal. But Harry wasn't having normal days. Ever since the incident in the Alley, he hadn't been able to have a quiet moment. He had failed to comply with the main precept of the Seers: non-intervention.
That was causing him mixed feelings. On one hand, he felt guilty for breaking the primary rule that every Seer had to follow, but on the other… On the other hand, he felt satisfied. He had prevented a massacre from taking place, and he was proud of that. He knew that if he had adhered to the policy of non-intervention, the Alley massacre would have been inevitable, and worse, for the first time, the war would have touched the students at Hogwarts with more than mere black mail.
That's how he spent the rest of his holiday, battling these conflicting feelings inwardly. Most likely, he wouldn't have said anything about what he felt if it hadn't been for his own friends when they returned to school.
"Thank you!"
Athenea hadn't even had time to greet him properly. As soon as she saw him, she had launched herself at him, hugging him tightly and thanking him again and again.
"Athenea…" Harry murmured, a little overwhelmed. "You have nothing to thank me for."
"Of course I do!" exclaimed one of the twins. "If it hadn't been for your intervention, my brother and I would be dead, and don't deny it… Those Death Eaters were going to kill us all, and you know it as well as I do."
"And how do you know it was me?" Harry asked, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
"Please, Harry!" exclaimed the other twin. "How many people are there who can transform themselves into a phoenix, and a white one at that? Give us some credit…"
"And that's not counting the powers displayed by the mysterious saviour of Diagon Alley," the other twin added. "Just the same ones we know a certain Hufflepuff friend of ours possesses."
"But…"
"But what?"
"Actually, I shouldn't have. Not that I regret it, but I shouldn't have."
"What on earth are you saying?" Jonathan asked, astonished. "Do you realise that if you hadn't, the Death Eaters would have massacred the Alley?!"
"I know, that's why I say I don't regret it. But if I obey the precept of the Seers, I shouldn't have done it. Non-intervention is our main value."
"Why don't you talk to Ginna?" Draco suggested, who until now had been very quiet and worn a guilty expression. "I'm sure she can clarify any doubts you have."
"Yes, I think I'll do that," Harry concluded, and then, looking at the blond boy, he added, "Draco, you're not your father… Don't feel guilty about it."
"Thank you, Harry," Draco said, a tremulous smile touching his lips.
A few days later, Harry found himself in his mentor's rooms, watching her unpack her luggage after the holidays. He didn't say anything, but he looked at her intently with a slightly interested expression on his face.
The Seer didn't say a word while she took her things out of the suitcases, and she didn't even look at him. If she knew that he had doubts or questions for her, she didn't acknowledge it and continued with the task at hand.
"Ginna…" Harry began, looking at her intently. "Can I ask you a question?"
"You've already asked one, but you may ask another," the woman said, eliciting an exasperated look from the boy.
"Would it be very serious for a Seer to disregard the principle of non-intervention?"
"Well…" The woman's expression became serious. "It depends on the situation. Why do you ask?"
"Not bad… it's just that I…" He began, and seeing that there was no gentle way to say it, he blurted it out suddenly. "I did not comply with it during the Christmas holidays."
"Pardon? Explain yourself."
"I had a vision," he began to explain. "I had been practising when I saw a group of Death Eaters attack Diagon Alley. Not only that, I saw that my friend Athenea was there, and they were going to kill her. Before I knew it, I was in Diagon Alley, fighting Death Eaters."
"Ahhh…" the woman chuckled. "I should have known that you were the mysterious saviour of Diagon Alley."
"Aren't you angry?"
"Angry? Why should I be?"
"I broke one of the main laws…"
Ginna stared at him hard for a few moments as she thought about what to say or how to say it. He was so sweet when he looked so worried, and for no reason, although of course, he didn't know that yet.
"Harry, for any Seer, the law of non-intervention is very important… Destiny is not something to be moulded to our advantage. But consider that there is another law even more important: never to endanger innocent lives. What you saw in Diagon Alley is something that any self-respecting Seer would have intervened in, but you still have to consider that with you, it's different."
"Why is it different?"
"Harry, you're a good boy, but there's something you don't know… A great destiny awaits you," the Seer said very seriously. "Tell me, have you ever wondered why you have so many powers that haven't been seen in centuries? Or why you are unable to heal yourself despite being a Healer and having no problem healing others? Or best of all… why you're a Mage, a kind of magical user who hasn't been in our society for so long that he's been almost forgotten?"
"Of course, I have wondered! But I haven't found answers."
"That's because the answers you're looking for meet the answer to your destiny. The fact that you stopped the attack on the Alley, it was something that had to happen. That you were the one who did it, it had to happen… therefore, that you ignored the rule was incongruous."
"And what is that destiny?"
"It's not time for you to know yet, and certainly not from my mouth," she laughed. "Now, how about you help me unpack my luggage, eh?"
The boy couldn't help but laugh at his mentor's last comment, so typical of her to downplay the matter and make him laugh. It was what he liked most about her, that despite all the bad things that could happen, she always greeted him with a smile on her lips and a cheerful disposition. For the moment, he hadn't seen her angry, and he would prefer not to; surely it must be terrible.
After that day, it was quite common to see the boy gazing into the water, with a little encouragement from his mentor. He had never looked into the future consciously and just because, except for a few occasions to practise, but now it was in case he saw something worth avoiding.
What he saw was very varied. For example, once he saw how a little girl stole her mother's magic wand and, playing with it, flooded the house. Other times, he saw things that were going to happen at Hogwarts; he knew what the result of the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match was going to be almost a month in advance. He had too much integrity (and a vault full of Galleons) for good money to have been made from the unofficial bets that were placed among the students.
Then, there were the times he truly searched, the times when the water showed him the horrors that Voldemort had planned against different populations, magical or Muggle, and after the initial moments of horror, with Ginna's help, he planned his counterattacks. It was not easy, but it was very satisfying.
It just so happened that Voldemort was also very reliable, and as such, his attacks always had the same approach. It was not very complicated after three or four attacks to realise his strategy and, as such, to counter it. It was even amusing to see the faces of the Death Eaters when they appeared at the scene of the attack, in their white cloaks and without letting anyone see their faces. Some were extraordinarily funny as they made a bad face and pouted as if they were small children.
Little by little, the Death Eaters who were not fast enough were captured, thus diminishing the ranks of the Dark Lord. The newspapers continued to write about the mysterious saviour, and the Ministry tried by all means to achieve a certain level of control. Although perhaps the best of all was how badly the Order of the Phoenix handled him.
Accustomed as they were to being the only opposition to the Dark Lord, it was now very difficult for them to come to terms with the idea that they had competition, and that they knew nothing about his identity. That was perhaps what they found hardest of all.
"Albus, you have to admit it," Moody told him. "We haven't acted against the Dark Lord for two months. When we get to the attacks, they have either been avoided, and we only see the phoenix disappear, or if we arrive in time, before we can do anything, he has already prevented the attack. It's faster and much more efficient than we are."
"That, without taking into account that he has all the ballots to be the one who was the subject of the prophecy," Alice Longbottom said.
"That's not true!" Lily Potter exclaimed. "It's Brian, the child of prophecy! And you know it!"
"Seriously?" the Auror asked, looking at her with slight contempt. "Is that your reason for the ostentatious favouritism towards Brian?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily retorted.
"Yes, yes, whatever you want," Moody said with a contemptuous gesture of his hand. "The thing is that Brian hasn't shown any sign of the fantastic and impressive power that the prophecy indicated… In fact, from what my Neville has explained to me, he is nothing more than an average wizard. Harry, on the other hand, has shown many more abilities and strengths than his brother… If it weren't for this stranger, I'd say it was him, the child of prophecy."
"Nonsense!" Sirius exclaimed. "We all know who is the stronger of the two brothers, don't we, Albus?"
The old man was silent for a few moments, ignoring Sirius's question. He looked into the distance without paying attention to anything or anyone, provoking the nervousness of those present.
"Albus?" Sirius asked again.
"I'm so sorry to have to say this, but Alice is right. From what I've seen at school, and my teachers agree, Brian is just an average wizard. Harry, on the other hand, has shown himself to be an exceptional wizard; not only is his comprehension greater than average, but his power and affinity for magic are far superior. If it were not for this stranger, I should be forced to say that I chose the wrong brother twelve years ago."
"What!?" James Potter exclaimed. "You said Brian was the child of prophecy! You can't have been wrong!"
"I'm human, James. I can also be wrong. Brian was not the child of prophecy."