Out of Mind, Out of Sight - COMPLETE!
Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2002 7:00 pm
Out of Mind, Out of Sight
*~*~*
Disclaimer: I don’t own or have any rights to the characters from the Harry Potter books. Those credits go to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury and Warner Brothers. The title is taken from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I have no rights to that either. That honor goes to the estimable Joss Whedon.Rating: PG
*****
Ginny Weasley felt like jumping up and down and waving her hands about like a lunatic in order to get the attention of the three people who had just buzzed past her, paying her absolutely no mind at all. She had to get a message to her brother Ron, from their Mum, regarding the Christmas holidays. Errol, the family owl, had just careened into her dormitory with a letter from the Burrow – the Weasley clan’s home. When she made her way out of the Gryffindor portrait hole and down the school corridors to deliver the message to her brother, she found her efforts were in vain.
Ron Weasley and his two best friends – Harry Potter and Hermione Granger – had swept past her just as she had begun to call out for them to stop. Ron and Hermione were caterwauling, as usual, and Harry was giving a somewhat futile attempt at ending the argument. The trio kept moving along, towards the Great Hall, apparently oblivious to the fact that a small redheaded figure was weaving in and out of the student traffic, trying desperately to catch up with them.
In the Great Hall, Ron, Harry and Hermione had taken their seats at the Gryffindor dining table. A few moments later, Ginny – practically wheezing from her endeavor to catch them – reached the table.
“Ron!” she gasped, out of breath.
Ron took no notice of his younger sibling. He continued his bickering with Hermione, who was shaking her head at him fervently. Harry was trying to interject some opinions regarding the squabble, but it did no good.
“RON!” shouted Ginny at her brother.
Ron turned to her for the slimmest of moments and said, “Go away, Ginny!”
Ginny felt her face heating up. “FINE!” she bellowed and stormed out of the Great Hall.
*
In the Gryffindor common room, Ginny sat cross-legged in an armchair and scowled into the immense fireplace.
It’s always ‘Go away, Ginny’ or ‘We don’t have time for you, Ginny,’ she thought moodily. You’d think I’d have given up trying to infiltrate the barrier that surrounds the super-trio by now, but no – I guess I’m too thick to get the message. She sighed forcefully. Well, I’m beginning to catch on. Message received – loud and clear – thanks for the memo.
The common room had cleared about a half hour prior, but still she sat sulking. She had noticed however, amid her moping, that the “super-trio” hadn’t returned after dinner.
What do I care? she thought huffily. They’re probably out, breaking a hundred school rules. I hope they get detention for a month!
She slunk down low in the armchair, prepared to sulk a bit more – just until she started to feel a little bit better at any rate – when she heard the portrait hole creak open. Familiar voices entered the room in low-tones. They had finally come back.
“We’ll need your cloak, Harry,” said Hermione in a whisper.
“This’ll never work,” said Ron indignantly.
“Don’t you two start again,” warned Harry quietly.
Ginny hopped out of the armchair, fully prepared to cross-examine them about whatever waywardness they were getting into that evening. She put her hands on her hips and stood before them.
“What do you think you’re up to?” she asked coolly. Oh, they can’t ignore me now! she thought smugly. Percy would have been proud.
But she might as well have been the one with an invisibility cloak on.
Harry trudged up the steps towards the boys’ dormitories – no doubt to fetch his cloak – and Ron and Hermione remained in the common room with Ginny.
Ginny groaned. “I asked you a question.” She glared at her brother. “This has gone far enough!”
Neither Ron nor Hermione gave her so much as a glance.
“This isn’t funny, Ron!” Her temper was up now. She turned to Hermione. “I’d expect as much from my stupid git of a brother, but from you?”
At that moment, Harry galloped noiselessly down the stairs, holding his cloak.
Ginny walked over to him. “Harry?” she said hopefully. Harry walked on by, showing the cloak to Ron and Hermione.
“Are you ready?” he asked. The two nodded at him. “Let’s go, then.”
Tears started to well up in Ginny’s brown eyes.
Of all the cruel jokes to play on a person, she thought. But what if … She blinked the tears away. What if it’s not a joke? What if they really couldn’t see me?
She slipped out the portrait hole behind them and followed them down the corridor.
*
The thing about following people who are under an invisibility cloak is that it’s virtually an impossible task to do. By the time Ginny had reached the entrance hall, the unseen trio had exited through the huge doorway and were somewhere on the school grounds. When she peered out after them, however, she was totally mystified as to where they had gone. She thought it best not to follow any further, so she traipsed back up to Gryffindor Tower.
“Snow bells,” she said to the Fat Lady, followed by a yawn. It was late and she was getting extremely sleepy. The Fat Lady’s eyes opened and she droopily looked at Ginny.
“Out rather late this evening, aren’t we, dearie?”
Ginny ignored the Fat Lady’s comment and entered the common room, but then stopped abruptly in her tracks once inside.
“The Fat Lady saw me!” she gasped to herself.
“Of course she saw you,” came a voice from within the room.
“Yes, silly little sister,” said another voice. “Why wouldn’t she have seen you? You haven’t nicked Harry’s cloak, have you?” The speaker gave her a rascally grin.
“No, Fred,” said Ginny. “I haven’t nicked anything. It’s just … oh, never mind.”
“Well, you just pretend you haven’t seen us,” said George. “Were off to the kitchens. Can’t study for N.E.W.T.’s on an empty stomach, you know.”
“You two? Study?” laughed Ginny. She knew better.
When Fred and George had cavorted out of the common room, onto whatever mission of waywardness they were up to, Ginny settled down in an armchair. She was going to deal with Ron, Harry and Hermione when they returned from their secret mission. If the Fat Lady, Fred and George could see her, then certainly the others could, too. What kind of gag were they trying to pull on her? She’d have expected no less from Ron, but to have Harry and Hermione in on it was just plain odd. She was determined to get to the bottom of it, once and for all. This joke was wearing thin.
*
She must have fallen asleep, for before she knew it, sunlight was streaming in through the windows and she heard people bustling through the room, undoubtedly heading out for breakfast. She heard Hermione’s voice calling to someone from the stairway.
“Did you ever talk to your sister, Ron? Harry said she was trying to tell you something yesterday, in the Great Hall.”
“No,” said Ron. “Wonder what she wanted.”
Hermione shrugged and plopped down into a wingback beside the fireplace.
Ginny pulled herself out of the armchair and stood beside her brother. “I’ll tell you what I wanted, you brainless prat …”
But Ron had started talking to Hermione, completely unaware of Ginny’s presence.
“HEL- LO!” bellowed Ginny.
Harry had joined the group and whispered. “Sorry I’m late. Just had to send a letter off.”
And with that, Harry, followed closely by Ron and Hermione, left the common room.
Dennis Creevey, who was a year younger than Ginny, walked up and stood beside her. “I can deeply relate,” he said sympathetically.
“Deeply relate to what?” asked Ginny in an irritated tone.
“To being ignored, of course.” He gave her an understanding smile and went on to breakfast.
Ignoring a person is one thing, but this wasn’t just her brother and his friends not paying heed to her and it wasn’t a practical joke, either. They really hadn’t seen her – yet, everyone else saw her with no problem whatsoever.
*
On her way to Transfiguration, she decided she’d bounce a few questions off of Professor McGonagall after class. Perhaps she’d be able to shed some light on her interesting dilemma.
“Professor McGonagall,” Ginny said nonchalantly, as the rest of the pupils left the classroom.
“Yes, Miss Weasley,” replied McGonagall, straightening her eyeglasses. “May I help you?”
“Possibly,” said Ginny, trying to sound casual. “I was just wondering, have you ever heard of anyone coming down with a case of – erm, invisibility?”
“Invisibility, you say?” asked McGonagall, sounding interested.
Ginny nodded.
“One of your friends hasn’t gone missing?” she inquired, putting on a strange grin.
She thinks I’m a nutter, thought Ginny.
“No,” said Ginny. “It’s just a hypothetical question. I was just curious, is all.”
“Ahhh,” said McGonagall. “I’m pleased at your inquisitiveness, then. There have been circumstances where people have been rendered invisible without even realizing it – I presume that’s what you’re curious about – invisibility due to something other than a premeditated spell and without aid of a cloak or any other enchanted article. Am I correct in this assumption?”
Ginny nodded again.
“It usually happens to a wizard or witch who lacks control of his or her powers for whatever reason – maybe someone who is still being trained, such as a student, or someone who lacks proper training all together.”
“Has anyone ever gone invisible at Hogwarts?” asked Ginny with interest.
“Not for a very long time, thank goodness,” said McGonagall, organizing her things on her desk.
“Were they invisible to everyone, or just certain people in particular?”
“As far as I can remember, to everyone.”
“And how were they able to reappear again?”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought, haven’t you?” asked McGonagall as she peered over the rim of her glasses at Ginny.
Ginny shrugged, still trying to maintain her coolness, but failing miserably at this point.
“I don’t know that they ever reappeared, to tell you the truth,” McGonagall said as she stacked a couple of volumes of books onto a small table beside her desk.
Ginny gulped, and then thanked Professor McGonagall for her time.
She wasn’t going to get all edgy over the situation right away. After all, she wasn’t invisible to everyone – just to Ron, Harry and Hermione. She started to contemplate staying out of their sight forever. It would be a little unusual to have a brother who couldn’t see her, especially on holidays. And she’d miss talking to Hermione and being able to visit with her at the Burrow. But how did she feel about Harry never seeing her again? She frowned.
It wouldn’t really make a world of difference, now would it? she thought. He barely ever saw me before.
She decided to reach deep down and find her inner bookworm. There had to be a book in the library that would prove useful. Too bad Hermione couldn’t see her – she’d be extremely helpful in this situation. It was time for a little research.
*
Ginny closed the large book in front of her forcefully, causing a cloud of dust to emit from the ancient pages of the gray-tinged volume.
Scholarly investigations are not my thing, she thought drearily.
Her research was leading her down one dead-end after another.
This is my last resort, thought Ginny, pulling a small, leather-bound book towards her on the table – the last in a large stack of books pulled out of the “Magical Mishaps” section of the library. She half-heartedly flipped through the pages, lazily skimming the words and barely noticing the illustrations. Then, a heading caught her eye – Unintentional Hexes – and under this heading was a list of curses that could be invoked without malice aforethought. She read through the list. There was the Agama Enchantment, where the victim is accidentally given a long tail and the urge to eat insects.
“Blech,” said Ginny aloud.
Then, a little farther down the list, there was the Curse of Demosthenes, rendering the sufferer the insatiable desire to give public addresses and stirring orations. She chuckled. These were ridiculous. But one of the Unintentional Hexes caught her attention – the Insignifticus Jinx. Her eyes probed the words curiously.
This jinx causes its unfortunate victims to become invisible.
Jackpot, thought Ginny triumphantly. She read on.
The spell is cast on a victim who has the misfortune of being regarded as small, insignificant or meaningless in the eyes of the curser. The state of invisibility is not permanent.
Small. Insignificant. Meaningless. All were classic ways to describe of how she – the archetypical little sister – felt in her brother’s eyes – and obviously in the eyes of his friends as well. If she had a Knut for every time she’d heard, “Go away, Ginny,” she’d be able to buy the Weasley family a sprawling manor house with money to spare.
She sighed and then noticed an asterisk at the end of the passage she’s just read. She looked to the bottom of the page and found a footnote. She read the addendum under her breath,
“See the Hex Aide for assistance with counter-curses.” She scratched her head. “What’s a Hex Aide?”
The page in the book started to rustle, as if a sudden breeze had arisen, causing it to move – but she was in the library. There was no wind. She looked to the table on her right. Lisa Turpin, who was sitting with a group of Ravenclaw fifth years, glanced up from her schoolwork to see what the noise was. The phantom page flipped over and settled down silently. Lisa looked away, burying her nose back in her Arithmancy textbook.
On the new page, there was an illustration of a stern little witch wearing wire-rimmed glasses. She reminded Ginny very much of Professor McGonagall. The illustration stirred to life as the witch adjusted her spectacles to see Ginny better.
“What do you need assistance with, child?” asked the witch in a shrill voice.
“Shhh,” spat Mandy Brocklehurst in an aggravated tone. She was sitting across from Lisa at the Ravenclaw table.
“Hold on,” whispered Ginny to the book. “I’ll check you out.”
Ginny made her way over towards Madam Pince, the librarian, as the Ravenclaw girls scowled at her reprovingly. She checked out the book and headed out of the library, and back up to Gryffindor Tower.
*
Ginny slipped back into the Gryffindor common room and up to her dormitory. Thankfully, her roommates were all elsewhere, enabling her to sit down on her bed with her library book.
She opened the book to the page with the Hex Aide witch and watched as the illustration came to life.
“Er … hello,” said Ginny. She had never asked an enchanted illustration for help before, and wasn’t exactly sure of the procedure.
“What do you need assistance with, child?” The witch repeated her earlier question in the same high-pitched voice.
“I need some information on a counter-curse,” said Ginny.
“Which heading does your curse fall under, please?” asked the witch, with her thin eyebrows raised.
“Unintentional Hexes,” answered Ginny.
“Tut-tut,” said the witch. “Those inadvertent ones can sometimes be thorny little blighters. Which curse?”
“Er … the Insignifticus Jinx,” said Ginny softly.
“Hmm, gone invisible, have you?” asked the witch. “Pity when that happens.”
“Can you tell me the counter-curse, please?” asked Ginny, who was not particularly in the mood for the illustration’s not-so-kindhearted remarks.
“Ah, yes – the counter-curse.” The witch pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and began to recite as if she were reading straight from the book itself, “The antidote for the Insignifticus Jinx is for the curser to discover that the injured party is no so meaningless as he or she might have thought, but someone who plays an important part in the curser’s life.”
“But what if there are three cursers?” asked Ginny.
“Impossible,” replied the witch.
“It’s not impossible,” said Ginny defiantly. “I am invisible to three different people.”
“Oh,” said the witch. “Side-effect of the curse then. The other two must have been in proximity to the curser when the Insignifticus was inflicted. I told you these things could be thorny …”
“How am I supposed to have my brother – I’m bloody well sure it’s his blooming fault this happened – how am I supposed to have him find my existence all of a sudden meaningful?”
“How should I know?” the witch asked loftily. “All I do is tell you the counter-curses. I’m not in the business of giving advice.” Her illustration suddenly went inanimate.
“Great lot of help she was!” said Ginny in exasperation, slamming closed the book.
*
Ginny had leaned back into her pillow sulkily. She kicked the library book off her bed in frustration as she heard a knock at her dormitory door.
Go away, she thought. She had no desire to open the door and speak to anyone.
“I thought I heard something,” said a voice from behind the closed door. “Ginny! Are you in there?” the voice called.
Hermione. Just as Ginny was about to get up from her bed, Hermione’s voice whispered “Alohomora!” and the door to the dormitory swung open. Hermione crept in, followed by Ron and Harry.
Several thoughts popped into Ginny’s brain. One was the shocking consideration that Harry Potter was actually standing in her bedroom. Another was the astonishing realization that Hermione would break into her room after only knocking once.
“I’m really worried,” said Hermione. “I’ve never gone this long without seeing her. She must be skipping meals. I haven’t seen her in the Great Hall since …”
“Well, she’s obviously not here,” said Ron, glancing around the room.
“But she’s been here,” observed Harry. “Look – there’s her book bag. And on the floor – a library book.”
Harry walked over beside Ginny’s bed and stooped down to retrieve the book. Ginny’s breath caught in her throat as he stood next to the bed and read the title of the book aloud.
“Calamities of the Magically Inclined … why is she reading this?” A distressed look settled into his bright green eyes.
“I dunno,” said Ron, looking around the room. “But Claire Hodgkin has horrible taste in décor.” He scrunched his nose up in disgust at the purple and fuchsia paisley-printed quilt on Claire’s bed.
“You stupid git!” shouted Ginny to Ron. She turned to Harry, who was still standing next to her bed, holding the library book and looking at it thoughtfully. “Oh, Harry! Please see me!”
“Would you please take this seriously, Ron?” asked Hermione. “What if something’s wrong?”
“What could be wrong with Ginny not wanting to tag along anymore?” asked Ron.
“Ugh,” said Ginny, as she punched her pillow in frustration. “I’ll be like this forever.”
“What was that?” asked Harry suddenly.
“What was what?” inquired Hermione.
“That noise,” said Harry, turning to look at Ginny’s bed.
“I didn’t hear anything,” said Ron.
“As if you were listening,” said Hermione, scowling at him. “But I didn’t hear anything either.”
“He heard me punch my pillow,” breathed Ginny. She pummeled the pillow again, this time harder.
“There it was again!” exclaimed Harry.
“I heard it that time!” said Hermione excitedly.
“It came from her bed,” said Harry, pointing right at Ginny.
“You’re both barking mad,” said Ron. He looked at the bed nervously, though. “Maybe it’s a ghost,” he added uneasily.
“Answer once if you’re a ghost,” called out Hermione boldly. “Twice if you’re not."
“If I had a better sense of humor about this situation, I could really have fun with this,” said Ginny with a chuckle. “But as it is, I’m fed up with being invisible.” She pounded her pillow twice.
“Not a ghost,” said Harry. “Then what are you?”
Ginny didn’t know how many times to pound to answer that question. “I’m the little sister of the most irritating, insufferable, irksome brother on the planet, Harry,” she said, knowing full well he couldn’t hear her voice. “And he’s your best friend, so could you do me the favor of knocking some sense into his hollow head?”
“Let me hold that book, Harry,” said Hermione, reaching for the library book. He handed it to her and she sat at the foot of Claire Hodgkin’s bed, examining it closely.
“Oh, this is going to take all night, isn’t it?” asked Ron, collapsing beside her.
Hermione turned to him and thwacked the leather-bound book on his head.
“Good one, Hermione!” laughed Ginny. “I owe you one!”
“Oww,” moaned Ron, rubbing his head gingerly. “What did you do that for?”
Hermione glowered at him and raised the book again. “As if you had to ask.”
Ron raised his hands defensively and said, “All right! All right! I know when I’ve been defeated.”
Harry laughed quietly and said, so only Ginny was able to hear him, “Sure you do.”
Ginny smiled warmly at Harry. “Why can’t you see me?” she asked him desperately.
“At great risk of getting walloped again, I’ve just got to ask,” said Ron. “What are we going to say if any of the girls come back?”
“We could ask them where Ginny’s been, numbskull,” replied Hermione. “Do you really not care where your sister is?”
“I’d care if there were anything to care about,” said Ron.
Thwack! Hermione smacked him again.
Ginny couldn’t help it – none of them could hear her anyhow. She roared with laughter. Ron’s face had turned beet red and he looked as if he were going to start steaming like one of Madam Pomfrey’s patients who had just taken a double-dose of Pepper-Up Potion.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Ron moaned as he massaged the twice-injured part of his head. “If Ginny was in any real trouble, I’d care.”
Hermione crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.
“I would!” he said, his voice cracking.
Hermione unfolded her arms and opened the book. “We’re not going anywhere until we figure out what’s going on … and this book is our only real clue.”
Ron nodded.
Harry stood to read over Hermione’s shoulder as she leafed through the volume. Ginny stood beside him and watched as Hermione turned the pages. As she continued to glance over his shoulder, she got an irresistible urge …
He can’t see me, she thought mischievously. She slowly brought her hand close to his face – nearly brushing her fingertips across his cheekbone.
Hermione perused chapter title after chapter title, shaking her head and muttering as she went through the book. Ginny stumbled and her hand grazed Harry’s cheek with a little more force than she’d intended.
“Oww … what was that?” he exclaimed cupping his hand over the side of his face.
“Our ghost is back,” grumbled Ron.
Hermione grinned. “I have an idea.”
She set Calamities of the Magically Inclined down on the bed and said, “Find the page.”
Brilliant! thought Ginny. I should have thought of that. She flipped to the page where the Hex Aide was located and watched as the stuffy little witch took notice.
“Hello,” Ginny told the witch.
“You again?” the witch replied. “And I see you’ve brought friends this time … can they see you?”
“What’s that?” said Ron, staring at the animated illustration. “Is she talking to you, Hermione?”
“I don’t think so,” said Hermione. “You weren’t talking to me, were you?”
“Indeed, no,” replied the witch.
“She was talking to our ghost,” said Harry, rubbing his cheek gingerly.
“There’s no ghost here,” said the witch haughtily. “You don’t think I know a ghost when I see one?”
“Well, tell us who you do see, if you don’t mind?” said Hermione.
“Two boys … two girls,” said the witch sharply. “Now, if you’d be so kind as to reshelf me if you don’t have a question that is on-topic … I’m not accustomed to pointless chit-chat with students.”
“This isn’t pointless!” shouted Ron. “We’re looking for my sister!”
“Oh, nice of you to take a little interest now,” said Ginny, her eyes rolling as she spoke.
“Well, of course I’m taking interest now,” retorted Ron. “You are my only sister…”
Harry spun around to face Ginny, as did Hermione. Ron continued to stare gawp-jawed at the Hex Aide, realizing who he’d just spoken to.
“Ginny!” exclaimed Harry. “When did you get here … I mean, you were here all along, weren’t you?”
Ginny grinned.
The Hex Aide sighed. “Another calamity averted … turn around young man,” she said to Ron. “I believe the young lady has some words for you.”
Ron turned around.
Ginny had plenty of words for Ron – and none of them fit for to fall on civilized ears – but they all became immaterial as she observed the penitent look on his freckled face.
“It was all your fault, you know?” said Ginny, scowling.
“I’m kind of getting that … yeah,” said Ron in a humble voice. “Do you forgive me, then?”
“As if I had a choice,” replied Ginny, but the grin falling across her lips told everyone in the room that she didn’t need an alternative to forgiving her git of a brother.
*
Ginny finally gave Ron the news from home regarding Christmas – Molly Weasley wanted an old-fashioned family gathering – one that included Harry and Hermione as well all of her children.
Ron and Hermione had gotten over any disagreements they’d had over the past few days and sat in front of the fireplace in the common room chatting about the usual spread Mrs. Weasley came up with for her Christmas feasts, claiming they put the Hogwarts banquets to shame.
Ginny sat in the armchair she’d moped in not too long before and twirled the end of her plait, feeling thankful to finally be seen … when she noticed that a pair of bespectacled green eyes were seeing her right at that very moment, even as she coiled a strand of red hair around her forefinger.
“What?” she finally asked, feeling very embarrassed under the weight of Harry’s stare.
“I was just thinking,” he said.
“To be commended, Harry … congratulations,” she smirked, but she noticed his cheeks were gaining an odd amount of color. “What were you thinking?” she said much more seriously.
“I was thinking how good it is to see you again.”
THE END
