�The term oracle in Greek (Muggle) religion meant that a priest or priestess (usually a wizard or witch) imparted the response of a god or spirit to a human questioner. The term is also used to refer to the response itself and to a shrine built to the god in question, so that therefore every Oracle has a fixed method of Divination. Witches and wizards of the time used methods such as the motion of objects dropped in a spring, the movement of birds in flight or even the sound pattern in which leaves rustled. Muggles were exceptionally open to these broad generalizations and greedily wanted their leaves to be listened to. One wizard in particular, Heronos Gregorios, would use a clever Locomotion spell to stir the leaves into intricate designs of death omens, which would cause the owner of the leaves to gasp and faint in horror. Unbeknownst to most Muggles, the Oracle of Apollo (known as the Delphi) was used as a meeting place for traveling wizards who, under the guise of an invisibility cloak and the influence of Greek wine, would sometimes quote gibberish at passerby to make them feel as though they had received a message from the divine gods.�

Ginny stopped reading and looked at Professor Miracroix. They were in her office, which Ginny adored because it was so relaxing and uncluttered. It was nothing like the oppressive air of Trelawny�s rooms.

�Professor, have we always tainted Muggles with our tricks, do you suppose?�

Professor Miracroix made a face and sighed. �Yes, unfortunately. Even those of us who know better, have done it at one time or another.�

�So there are no Muggles that have the gift of prophecy themselves, is that it?�

Miracroix shook her head. �No, there are some. There have been a few famous ones and gone quite batty because of it. Although let me assure you, wizarding kind has tried to prove even they had a touch of wizard in them. Nostradamus was thought to have been a Squib, with a latent touch of magic that helped him in his predictions. But I�m not sure how valid that is. But the fact remains that most seers have been what they are because a wizard or witch somewhere along the line mixed with a Muggle. Perhaps it takes the two together.�

Ginny frowned in deep thought.

�You seem preoccupied today, my dear. Usually you have asked a hundred questions from the first sentence. Is there something troubling you?�

�Sometimes I wonder why I was given this ability. I mean, if it was just to help protect Harry or to save him or... whatever. Now since that�s done, I wonder if I�ll have use for it anymore.�

�Ah yes, Harry Potter. You were close to him, were you not?�

Ginny scowled. �I thought so. But now I�m not so sure anymore. Maybe I was only being foolish that Harry felt any sort of connection to... anything.�

�What does your heart tell you?�

Ginny looked at Miracroix, startled. �What do you mean, what does my heart tell me?�

�I mean, that when you look down into that quiet part of you, that part of you that is you and only you, what does it say? Does it say you were being used or does it say you were doing what had to be done?�

Ginny tried to get to that part of herself, but she came up with nothing but bitterness and sorrow.

She shook her head. �Nothing, it tells me nothing. I reckon it was all a mistake then. Just a... passing thing.�

Miracroix studied her for a moment and then, as if making up her mind about something, got up and went to her desk. Using her wand to unlock the bottom drawer, Ginny watched as she pulled out a small yellow sachet of something.

�I think you might benefit from this, Miss Weasley. It�s a sachet I want you to place under your pillow at night. I think it might help you to get to that place you need to be.�

Ginny took the small bag from her and frowned. �The place I need to be?�

�Yes. That place where you can once again be open to the power that is so desperately wanting to get out from inside you. It�s mixed with balm of Gilead, Bay Laurel and Celadine. Each plays their part in making that inner voice loud enough to hear.�

Ginny looked at the small bag in her hand and doubted it could do much of anything, but she didn�t want to hurt Miracroix�s feelings. Nodding, she slipped it into her robe pocket and picked up her book again, to continue reading.

�Let�s try something new today, Miss Weasley. Have you ever water scryed?�

�No. Trelawny said a seer needed no other device than a crystal orb and a kettle full of tea.�

Making a face, Miracroix shook her head and again went to her desk. Unlocking the side drawer, she pulled out what looked to Ginny to be a long, stone basin of some sort.

As Miracroix set it down upon the table, Ginny could make out small carvings along the side. There was a leaf, a moon, a centaur and a heart figure. Ginny reached out and felt the grooves of the stone. It felt old and worn beneath her touch. Her finger brushed over the heart carving and she felt a little spark. She glanced up at Miracroix, who was now bringing a water jug over to the table, and did it again, but this time, felt nothing.

I must have imagined it, she thought.

�Now, this my dear, is an Ewerahn, it�s for holding water. Some witches will tell you to only use fresh stream water from the forest, or others will tell you to use a mirror with water around it. Piddle-paddle, I say. All you need is a good stone, clean water, and quiet. The real power of water scrying comes from within. Do you want to give it a go?�

Ginny looked at the stone container and raised her eyebrow. �Er... sorry. But what do I do exactly?�

Miracroix smiled at her. �Close your eyes and clear your mind as well as you can. Don�t worry if it takes a few moments. Don�t think about the fact that you�re here in this office, at this school. Don�t think about the fact that you have studies later to do or dinner to eat with your friends. Let your mind travel within you and see where it goes. And then when you feel like you�re ready, open your eyes and pour the water from the jug into the stone. Do as little or as much as you like. This ewer can never overfill. As the water settles into the basin of the stone you will more than likely see shapes or images of things. Try to work through what they mean to you.�

�And what if I see nothing?�

Miracroix winked at her. �Then we try something else, Miss Weasley. This is not a one shot deal, have no fear. I have no plans on kicking you out of my rooms before your time. Minerva would be most disappointed with me, if I did.�

Ginny smiled and then did as she had been told. She closed her eyes and tried to focus her mind like Miracroix had instructed. In her mind she saw herself sitting there, like a git, her eyes closed and her hand on the handle of the water jug. Pursing her lips, she pushed the thought away and told herself to let it go. She ran through the events of the day, the sneer on Snape�s face matching the one on Louis Fagan�s, although both held different meanings. She felt the anxiety from earlier resurface and instead of pushing it away, she tried to see where it was coming from and then she saw Harry�s face in her mind. He was ... somewhere... not a place that she had been before and then she felt a calmness over take her and she opened her eyes.

She poured the water into the Ewerahn and watched as it filled. The room was gone to her and all she saw was the water in the container, rippling. She lowered the water jug and watched as the water moved gently against the stone. It seemed to move in a clockwise motion and as she peered closer, she could just make out the image of something moving underneath the surface. Frowning in concentration, Ginny peered closer, so that she was almost touching the surface with her face. It was an animal... no, a man. He was running away from something and Ginny watched as another shape appeared and even though it was without form, she knew that it was what the man was running from. She watched as the man-shape tried to get out of the way of the approaching silhouette but he faltered, falling down...

�No! Harry...no!�

The water changed and it was still, no longer moving. Ginny sat back and her surroundings came back to her. She looked at Miracroix with a frightened gaze.

�Harry�s in danger... I have to... I have to make sure he doesn�t go. He can�t go, I�m afraid he�ll go and never come back- �

Miracroix looked at her with concern. �What did you see?�

Ginny looked around her, she needed to get to the owlery, to send word to London, to make him stop whatever it was that he was doing. She stood up.

�I have to warn him, Professor Miracroix, I have to-�

�Ginny, what did you see?�

Ginny blinked at Miracroix and sat back down. �It was a man... it was Harry... and he was running, running away and then this huge.. shape just came after him and he was running but then he fell and I couldn�t help him. No one was around to help him!�

Miracroix smiled sadly at her. �Are you quite certain the danger is imminent?�

�I.. yes! No. What do you mean?�

�I was wondering if perhaps you are letting your emotions cloud your judgment here.�

�But you told me to talk about what I saw and what I saw was-� Ginny paused, suddenly doubtful. �I saw Harry running away. Like he just did from school. I saw him falter and try to fight off a dark, formless shape. It... could be anything.�

�The fact that you saw Mr. Potter running away is probably due to the fact that that is what you believe he recently did. The formless shape on the other hand...�

�It could be me,� Ginny finished, knowing the truth as she said it. She had not felt any danger that the shape itself was going to harm Harry, but she had felt danger because he was running away.

�I�m afraid I played a trick on you, Miss Weasley. Water scrying is used, not so much for its seering properties, but more so because of its ability to see within the person that is doing the seeing. I knew that whatever was bothering you would come to the surface. The formless shape however, was the tip off. Usually in cases like these, the very nature of the form itself- unknowable, unrecognizable, means it represents the seer. Sometimes the hardest thing to see is the thing we think we know the best. Ourselves.�

�So... that means I�m a great hulking shape that is chasing Harry away?�

Miracroix chuckled. �No dear, afraid not. However, it may be that certain things transpired between the two of you that caused Mr. Potter to have a reaction? Some sort of issue that he himself did not want to deal with.�

Yeah, like the fact that he�s in love with me and doesn�t want to know it, thought Ginny to herself.

�Harry and I had an... incident that led to him leaving the school. I thought he was just being a prat...er.. sorry, Professor. But I never stopped to think that perhaps I may have pushed him into that decision.�

But then Ginny frowned. No, that was wrong. She hadn�t done anything except tell him how she felt about him. Was it her fault it frightened him so much that he needed to put miles between them?

�What is it dear?�

�Well, that�s a bunch of crock, isn�t it? Me thinking I scared Harry off. He�s the one who made the choice to leave. He didn�t even talk to me about it, as though what I thought didn�t matter. According to him, he�s always known how I feel about him, so why did me expressing it to him, cause him to run? He�s not afraid of me so much as that he�s afraid of.... of what I mean to him.�

Miracroix clapped her hands together. �My dear, you have had a major breakthrough!�

�I have?�

�Yes! Now since your insights into what occurred in the past has been vocalized, you will now able to move forward.�

�I don�t see-�

�Oh, but don�t you? Don�t you see how this issue of Mr. Potter and his feelings for you has weighted you down, held you back? It may not be quick and easy, but I think that after you have accepted the meaning of your vision, you will begin to see that you are more than what you thought.�

Ginny considered it. She thought of how she had felt when Harry had really kissed her, how wonderful and complete that had made her feel. And then she remembered how broken she had felt when he had pushed her away. How she had thought there was something wrong with her, something within her that Harry couldn�t love. She remembered her realization later that Harry didn�t love himself, and how that had strengthened her.

�Does this mean... I�m finally getting over the mundane trifles that have been clouding my aura?�

Miracroix blinked in surprise at her. �Why whoever told you that was your problem, dear?

�Trelawny. She said I was blocking my inner eye with mundane worries.�

�Oh,� Miracroix chuckled. �Well, Sibyl is usually as intuitive as an Erkling, but this time, she may have been right. I think that after this, you may be able to put Harry Potter behind you.�

Harry waited in the outer hall to Amelia Bones�s office, with Tonks. He had read through the short file and given them his opinion. It did sound as though Draco Malfoy had decided to make a go of it in America, and was foolishly lousing it up as usual. He had to admit that thinking about getting Draco had helped him take his mind off of things.

Tonks was waiting with him, distractedly looking at the window the Magical Maintenance crew had decided to put right in the middle of the floor. Instead of showing the top of the department below them, it was lightening and storming, with tiny cracks of thunder rippling through the room. It looked as though the maintenance crew wanted another pay raise.

Tearing her eyes away, Tonks looked at him and Harry felt her eyes upon him. Stifling an urge to make her feel bad, he looked up and caught her glance.

�Harry, about yesterday. I wanted to apologize for coming down so hard on you. I...only wanted you to know I was concerned. Remus wants you to succeed very much and I reckon I wanted it as well. For his sake.�

�I should apologize to you Tonks. You were right. I was slacking off. Boot should have never been able to kick my arse like that. I�m sloppy.�

�No, you�re not,� Tonks paused. �Well, alright you are, but heck, I had to take Defensive Spells training twice before I passed, so I�m not sure why I was yelling at you.�

�Because I�m Harry Potter and of course, I should be able to defend myself in my sleep.�

Tonks nodded her head and then grinned at him. �Well, I�m not going to argue with you about that. I reckon all of us sort of expect you to exceed expectations, regardless of what�s going on around you. Or inside you.�

Before Harry could answer, the door opened and Mr. Fagan stepped out, followed by Madam Bones.

Fagan beamed at Harry. �Well, Harry, Amelia and I have discussed it and we�d like to know your answer. Will you come to America to help us?�

Harry blinked at them and then looked at Tonks. Going to America seemed like a strange concept for him. He�d never even been out of Great Britain.

�Do I have to decide right now?�

Fagan nodded. �Yes, unfortunately, I�m afraid I have to return home, we�ve had another attack, like the one that happened last month. This one didn�t make it out as well as the last one, I�m afraid. This Muggle was badly charred and is not expected to make it.�

Harry thought about leaving London. Leaving Ron, Remus and everyone else behind him. Leaving Ginny.

You�ve already done that, you git, a voice said in his head.

�My answer is yes, Mr. Fagan. I�d like to get Draco for this. And I think I�d like to see America.�