The prophecy
Lily
Lily stood outside the infirmary. In her arms, she carried a small bag filled with cookies, a bagel and a scented candle.
She turned her head to Remus, who was standing next to her. He smirked at her and nodded his head towards the entrance.
‘Come on, then. You can't stand here forever.’
Lily nodded slowly before taking a step towards the door. Just before she went in, she turned to Remus, a helpless expression on her face.
‘I'm not sure that was such a good idea anymore...’
Remus just shook his head. He looked at her expectingly. Lily sighed dramatically.
‘All right.’
Determined, she opened the door and stepped inside. But as soon as the door closed behind her, all her confidence vanished.
Lily didn't know how long she had been standing around in the entrance hall when a voice suddenly snapped her out of her thoughts. Lily flinched slightly. How embarrassing.
Evan Rosier was standing in front of her, looking at her questioningly.
‘Can I help you?’
Lily stood up straight. Pull yourself together. She smiled at Evan.
‘Do you know where Pandora is? I have something for her.’
Lily held up the bag and shook it slightly to get her point across. Evan began to grin and gave her a knowing look. He pointed down the corridor.
‘You'll find her in the third room, to the left. She'll be pleased.’
Lily thanked him and made her way to the room. As she stood in front of the door, nervousness gripped her (again).
Lily was about to turn round, but then she imagined Remus' disapproving look and gave herself a jolt. She knocked on the door. Lily heard noise from inside before the door opened.
Pandora stood in front of her, her hair braided back. She looked tired. When she saw Lily, she began to smile. Lily felt a blush creep up her neck. Pandora was still standing in front of her, smiling.
‘Lily! What a wonderful surprise. How are you?’
It took Lily a moment to remember why she was actually here. Hesitantly, she held out the bag to Pandora.
‘I have a little present for you. Because you’re working so much.’
Pandora seemed surprised when she took the bag. She looked inside with a smile.
Her eyes immediately widened and she began to giggle. She actually giggled. Lily felt like she could melt, right there and then.
Pandora looked at her, still with a big smile on her face.
‘Thank you so much Lily! You're fantastic!’
In one swift movement, she wrapped her arms around Lily. It took a few embarrassing seconds for Lily to hug Pandora back. As Pandora leaned back, Lily took a deep breath. Oh, gods.
At that moment, they heard someone striding down the corridor. Evan was coming towards them with quick steps. He smirked at Pandora, who began to blush in response.
‘I hate to disturb you, but there seems to be a commotion. Minerva's calling all the campers to the Big House.’
He gave Pandora one last teasing look before turning and walking towards the exit. Pandora threw Lily an apologetic smile.
‘Ignore him. He's just being an idiot.’
That elicited a smile from Lily. She pointed down the corridor.
‘Maybe we should be on our way. It seems to be something important.’
Pandora nodded and together they walked to the Big House. Once there, Lily's eyes fell on Remus, who sent her a thumbs-up after seeing the two girls together. Lily gave him a quick wave.
Pandora looked at her curiously. She pointed forwards.
‘What do you think this is about?’
But before Lily could answer, Minerva began to speak.
‘My dear campers! I know it's unusual that I have to call you together here so often! But today's topic is an important one, so I require your undivided attention.’
Lily exchanged a worried look with Remus before Minerva continued her speech.
‘I had a conversation with the Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis this morning; Mary McDonald. What I'm going to say next may worry some of you, but I assure you that we have everything under control.’
Now Lily was really worried. Pandora gave her a questioning look. The whole camp waited anxiously for Minerva's next words. She looked round once before continuing.
‘We have reason to believe that the great prophecy is about to come true.’
Immediately, the campers began to whisper. Lily looked over at Remus in shock, who wore the same expression.
Minerva tried to calm the crowd down again, which she managed to do after a few seconds.
‘I know that this news is worrying, but we will overcome this situation too. For those who are not familiar with the great prophecy, you will hear it immediately.’
To Lily's discomfort, the Oracle stepped out from behind Minerva.
The Oracle of Delphi had been the source of prophecy in Camp Halfblood for centuries. As a result, the Oracle was an old corpse, wearing colourful clothes and looking as if a gust of wind could turn it to dust.
Lily had always found the Oracle creepy.
A few years ago they had tried to transfer the Oracle's spirit to a new soul, but it had gone horribly wrong. Apparently there was a curse on the spirit. Rumour has it, the girl to which the soul should have been transfered to, went insane. Poor girl.
As the oracle stood in front of the crowd, Lily felt a shiver run down her spine. Now came the scary part. The oracle's eyes began to glow green and green smoke began to pour from its mouth. Then it began to speak in a deep, booming voice.
‘Halfbloods gather, lift off at night,
What's once separated must be unite.
Worlds collide while darkness grows,
For trusted allies turn into foes.’
A murmur spread among the campers as the prophecy came to an end. Lily looked over at Remus. He looked back with a grim expression. They had both heard the prophecy before. Her attention was turned back to Minerva, who was now clapping her hands.
‘You have all already learnt that Marlenes' tree has been poisoned! It is likely that this is just the beginning of the misfortunes that await us in the near future. However, thanks to the help of the Hunters of Artemis, we have a possible solution to this problem at least.’
No one dared to speak. Everyone waited to hear what Minerva would say. She herself took a deep breath.
‘It is possible for us to reabsorb the poison that made Marlene's tree sick. But for that we need a valuable, lost object.’
Minerva paused for a moment before continuing.
‘It's the golden fleece!’
Now the campers were no longer holding back. They all started talking at once, which made it very loud. Minerva tried in vain to calm the crowd, but no one paid any attention to her.
Lily felt someone tap her. Pandora leant over to her.
‘Cover your ears!’
Lily looked at her, confused, but Pandora just nodded at her. Lily did as she was told and covered her ears. Pandora lifted her fingers to her mouth and whistled.
The sound was so loud and shrill that everyone immediately stopped talking and covered their ears. Many heads turned to Pandora in shock, but she only pointed forwards. Minerva gave her a grateful look before she began to speak again.
‘This is a very important quest, but it is not without danger. According to the prophecy, no number of demi-gods has been named, which is why I am now looking for volunteers to support this mission.’
Before she had finished speaking, two half-bloods rushed forward to join her. Sirius Black and James Potter stood next to Minerva. Sirius turned to her.
‘This mission is about saving Marlene's Tree. Marlene was our friend. That's why James and I are going on this quest.’
Minerva looked at them with a smile before patting them both on the back.
‘Agreed. And even though I appreciate your skills, you will need support.’
She looked out at the other campers. Lily had no idea what was coming over her, but she began to make her way through the crowd. When she reached the front, she stood in front of Minerva.
‘I'll sign up for the quest.’
Lily grinned at Sirius and James.
‘Besides, those two could use some brains on their team.’
James gasped dramatically as Sirius clutched his chest.
‘You wound me, Evans!’
Minerva tells them both to be quiet and smiles at Lily.
‘Thank you very much, Ms Evans. Now, I would suggest it would be beneficial to have someone with you who has some knowledge as a healer. Because it would be nice to have you all back in one piece.’
Lily noticed that Minerva sounded slightly sad. She was, after all, thousands of years old and trained demi-gods for just as long. She had probably seen her protégés not come back many times. The thought made Lily sad.
She was torn from her thoughts when a determined voice rang out.
‘I volunteer as a healer for the quest!’
All heads whirled round to the source of the voice. In the middle of the crowd stood Pandora, her head held high. She made her way to the front.
As Pandora reached them, another person burst out of the crowd. Evan had also pushed his way through. He looked at Pandora.
‘There's no way I'm letting you go on a quest alone! I'm coming too. You're not getting rid of me that easily.’
Pandora didn't waste a second before rushing up to Evan and hugging him. They whispered something, but Lily couldn't make it out.
Minerva nodded at the twins. Now there were five of them. Minerva turned to the other campers again.
‘We already have five brave heroes who have signed up for the quest. If anyone else would like to join them, please step forward!’
Nothing happened for a while until a voice was heard at the back of the crowd
‘Oh what the hell. I've got nothing better to do anyway.’
Lily couldn't believe what she was seeing in front of her. Regulus Black walked with his head held high through the crowd that parted for him. When he got to the front, he stood right next to the Rosier twins. No one dared to speak. Minerva was the first to wake from her shock. She cleared her throat.
‘Well, Mr Black, I'm sure your participation in this quest will be beneficial. Now that that's settled, there's just one thing we need to sort out. The first line of the prophecy speaks of lift off at night. This suggests that you will be leaving at night. But you probably won't be travelling by foot.’
Confused looks are exchanged. Not by foot? Lily thought about the first line. lift off. She turned to Minerva.
‘The obvious explanation would be that we should fly. But how would that work?’
Lily noticed that James and Sirius were smirking at each other. As this usually caused trouble, she decided to ignore it. Minerva looked at Lily thoughtfully.
‘You're right, Ms Evans. If anyone has any ideas on how this could be implemented, please speak out.’
And then Lily heard it. From the middle of the crowd came a familiar voice. The surrounding campers made way so that the person speaking was clearly visible. For there stood Remus Lupin, a grin on his face.
‘I think I can help with that.’