Short Phoenix Quotes

Grace’s gaze skimmed over her, taking in the various marks of possession that decorated her flesh. “Well, short of having ‘Property of Trey Coleman’ tattooed on your forehead, he couldn’t have made it any clearer that he considered you his, could he?

Name.” It was a demand this time, not a question... “Fuck you.” “Good name. I like it. Easy to remember. Mind if I call you Fuck for short?

Xav tugged Yves off me and handed me the call button. “You’ll be needing this, Phee, when my irritating little squirt of a brother bothers you again. Just press and the nurses will come running. One of them looks like a pro-wrestler, so she’ll make short work of him.

It is, perhaps, a better thing to be valued only as an object of passion than never to be valued at all. I had never been so absolutely the mysterious other. I had become a kind of phoenix, a fabulous beast; I was an outlandish jewel.

Anyway . . . we’ve decided we don’t care about getting into trouble anymore.” “Have you ever?” asked Hermione. “’Course we have,” said George. “Never been expelled, have we?” “We’ve always known where to draw the line,” said Fred. “We might have put a toe across it occasionally,” said George. “But we’ve always stopped short of causing real mayhem,” said Fred.

technical debt’ that is not being paid down. It comes from taking shortcuts, which may make sense in the short-term. But like financial debt, the compounding interest costs grow over time. If an organization doesn’t pay down its technical debt, every calorie in the organization can be spent just paying interest, in the form of unplanned work.

The truth is, I am a person who is meant to stay home and read books, maybe have a nice dinner, and then put myself to bed. That is the life I’m built for. It’s all about the setting. When I’m out in public, it’s as if my system gets overwhelmed and instantaneously short-circuits. I turned the phoenix into ashes, by accident, in small ways, all the time.

We are all animals of this planet. We are all creatures. And nonhuman animals experience pain sensations just like we do. They too are strong, intelligent, industrious, mobile, and evolutional. They too are capable of growth and adaptation. Like us, firsthand foremost, they are earthlings. And like us, they are surviving. Like us they also seek their own comfort rather than discomfort. And like us they express degrees of emotion. In short like us, they are alive.

if I was a painter, and was to paint the American Eagle, how should I do it?...I should want to draw it like a Bat, for its short-sightedness; like a Bantam. for its bragging; like a Magpie, for its honesty; like a Peacock, for its vanity; like an Ostrich, for putting its head in the mud, and thinking nobody sees it -' ...'And like a Phoenix, for its power of springing from the ashes of its faults and vices, and soaring up anew into the sky!

Our lives were short, brutal, and would never have enough music.

You stayed a short while, but you made me want to write about love, not heartbreak, again. Thank you.

Every moment we wait, we get closer to being too late.

Professor Umbridge stood up. She was so short that this did not make a great deal of difference, but her fussy, simpering demeanour had given place to a hard fury that made her broad, flabby face look oddly sinister. ‘Potter has no chance whatsoever of becoming an Auror!’ Professor McGonagall got to her feet, too, and in her case this was a much more impressive move; she towered over Professor Umbridge. ‘Potter,’ she said in ringing tones, ‘I will assist you to become an Auror if it is the last thing I do! If I have to coach you nightly, I will make sure you achieve the required results!

Ron dragged himself up to bed shortly after this. Out of respect for his feelings, Harry waited a while before going up to the dormitory himself, so that Ron could pretend to be asleep if he wanted to. Sure enough, when Harry finally entered the room Ron was snoring a little too loudly to be entirely plausible.

Long after the celebrations were over, as she was fixing him a late-night snack in her lodge—their lodge, she asked without looking at him, “Are you sure you’re okay with being a member of both packs? I mean, you don’t feel like you’ve betrayed Trey?” It would be stupid, but she could understand it. From his seat at the kitchen table, he replied, “Hmm.” He had no idea what she’d asked. Come on, did she really expect him to understand a word she said when she was strolling around in nothing but a tank top and a pair of boy shorts? It was one of the hottest things ever and gave him little peaks of that ass he loved. It didn’t matter that he’d been inside her only twenty minutes ago. He could never get enough of her. Confused by his response, she looked over her shoulder . . . and rolled her eyes. “Could you stop ogling my ass for just one second?” “Hmm.

He would give them both three days to purge the other from their system. Three days to quench the fire raging between them. Three days.

I invited Onyx to be my plus one. Of course she was all in when I added that Grandma A had a massive swimming pool and was within a short driving distance to a two-story bookstore.

You’ve just described ‘technical debt’ that is not being paid down. It comes from taking shortcuts, which may make sense in the short-term. But like financial debt, the compounding interest costs grow over time. If an organization doesn’t pay down its technical debt, every calorie in the organization can be spent just paying interest, in the form of unplanned work.

He had chestnut brown hair that was short on the sides but longer on top and styled to look just a little messy. Behind stylish glasses with black plastic frames, his dark brown eyes appeared concerned and maybe even a little amused.

Chris assured with a soft laugh. He drew Noah a little closer, holding him a fraction tighter. “Now, let’s see if you remember what I taught you last night.” Noah hoped his feet remembered, because with Chris’ arms around him—his mind was short-circuiting.   ♦

Even by Harry’s low standards in Divination, the exam went very badly. He might as well have tried to see moving pictures on the desktop as in the stubbornly blank crystal ball; he lost his head completely during tea-leaf reading, saying it looked to him as though Professor Marchbanks would shortly be meeting a round, dark, soggy stranger, and rounded off the whole fiasco by mixing up the life and head lines on her palm and informing her that she ought to have died the previous Tuesday. ‘Well, we were always going to fail that one,’ said Ron gloomily as they ascended the marble staircase. He had just made Harry feel rather better by telling him how he had told the examiner in detail about the ugly man with a wart on his nose in his crystal ball, only to look up and realise he had been describing his examiner’s reflection.

That is the body of Chrysostom, who was unrivalled in wit, unequalled in courtesy, unapproached in gentle bearing, a phoenix in friendship, generous without limit, grave without arrogance, gay without vulgarity, and, in short, first in all that constitutes goodness and second to none in all that makes up misfortune.

I’ve got a query about your course aims,” said Hermione. Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows. “And your name is — ?” “Hermione Granger,” said Hermione. “Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully,” said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness. “Well, I don’t,” said Hermione bluntly. “There’s nothing written up there about using defensive spells.” There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned their heads to frown at the three course aims still written on the blackboard. “Using defensive spells?” Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. “Why, I can’t imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren’t expecting to be attacked during class?

good to have you back with us, Steve,” said Clara. “It’s good to be back. Anyway, did I miss anything while I was knocked out?” I asked. “Not really. Calvin and Phoenix got us through the Nether without a hitch.” “Wow, really?” “Yeah, I think we got pretty lucky,” said Devlin. “It sounds like you guys did.” Shortly after, Aarush and the other archers returned with some rabbit and chicken meat. “Look what we found,” said the archer.

In the very middle of the front row sat Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic. Fudge was a portly man who often sported a lime-green bowler hat, though today he had dispensed with it; he had dispensed, too, with the indulgent smile he had once worn when he spoke to Harry. A broad, square-jawed witch with very short grey hair sat on Fudge’s left; she wore a monocle and looked forbidding. On Fudge’s right was another witch, but she was sitting so far back on the bench that her face was in shadow.

few days ago, before his exams had finished and he had seen the vision Voldemort had planted in his mind, he would have given almost anything for the Wizarding world to know that he had been telling the truth, for them to believe that Voldemort was back and know that he was neither a liar nor mad. Now, however . . . He walked a short way around the lake, sat down on its bank, sheltered from the gaze of passersby behind a tangle of shrubs, and stared out over the gleaming water, thinking. . . . Perhaps the reason he wanted to be alone was because he had felt isolated from everybody since his talk with Dumbledore.

I didn’t practice, I didn’t bother, I could’ve stopped myself having those dreams, Hermione kept telling me to do it, if I had he’d never have been able to show me where to go, and — Sirius wouldn’t — Sirius wouldn’t —” Something was erupting inside Harry’s head: a need to justify himself, to explain — “I tried to check he’d really taken Sirius, I went to Umbridge’s office, I spoke to Kreacher in the fire, and he said Sirius wasn’t there, he said he’d gone!” “Kreacher lied,” said Dumbledore calmly. “You are not his master, he could lie to you without even needing to punish himself. Kreacher intended you to go to the Ministry of Magic.” “He — he sent me on purpose?” “Oh yes. Kreacher, I am afraid, has been serving more than one master for months.” “How?” said Harry blankly. “He hasn’t been out of Grimmauld Place for years.” “Kreacher seized his opportunity shortly before Christmas,” said Dumbledore, “when Sirius, apparently, shouted at him to ‘get out.

If only I could coexist as peacefully with you as I do with my wolf,” Jaime said as they walked back to pack territory hand in hand. Dante frowned at her. “We coexist peacefully…when you’re not making a mess of our room and ignoring what I say.” “Maybe you could stop being a neat freak and ease off with barking orders at me.” “I resent the neat-freak statement. And I do not bark.” She snickered. “Sure you don’t, Popeye.” “And it wouldn’t kill you to use the shoe rack. I mean, it’s right by the door.” “Stop putting my CDs in chronological order, and I’ll work on the shoe rack thing.” A short pause. “How about alphabetical order?” “How about you go to therapy?” A frustrated growl escaped him. “How about I just shove my cock in your mouth? That should shut you up. Hey!” he whined when she drummed her fingers against his temple. “What’re you doing?” She shrugged. “I just felt like tapping some ass.” His mouth dropped open. Her smirk had him growling again. “Bitch.” “Jerk.” “Love you, baby.” “Love you, Popeye.

You have a long history," he said, when Lanya indicated her story was finished. "Ah, Harrier, were I to tell you a long story, we should be here for a sennight, perhaps more. Long stories are best saved for deep winter, when the days are short and time grows heavy." Lanya glanced at the sky.

They’re in Azkaban,” said Sirius shortly.

He looked a couple years older than me and was pushing six feet tall. His russet colored hair was cut short on the sides but long on top and swooped to one side in a kind of glamorous retro style.

She looked the youngest there; she had a pale heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky hair that was a violent shade of violet.

The little man in black had stopped speaking at last and resumed his seat. Harry waited for somebody else to get to their feet; he expected speeches, probably from the Minister, but nobody moved. Then several people screamed. Bright, white flames had erupted around Dumbledore’s body and the table upon which it lay: Higher and higher they rose, obscuring the body. White smoke spiraled into the air and made strange shapes: Harry thought, for one heart-stopping moment, that he saw a phoenix fly joyfully into the blue, but next second the fire had vanished. In its place was a white marble tomb, encasing Dumbledore’s body and the table on which he had rested. There were a few more cries of shock as a shower of arrows soared through the air, but they fell far short of the crowd. It was, Harry knew, the centaurs’ tribute: He saw them turn tail and disappear back into the cool trees. Likewise, the merpeople sank slowly back into the green water and were lost from view. Harry looked at Ginny, Ron, and Hermione: Ron’s face was screwed up as though the sunlight were blinding him. Hermione’s face was glazed with tears, but Ginny was no longer crying. She met Harry’s gaze with the same hard, blazing look that he had seen when she had hugged him after winning the Quidditch Cup in his absence, and he knew that at that moment they understood each other perfectly, and that when he told her what he was going to do now, she would not say, “Be careful,” or “Don’t do it,” but accept his decision, because she would not have expected

No one can ever know." It was the vow we'd made, the promise we'd sworn on. No one could ever know. But I knew and I didn't know how to un-know the very thing that had flipped my world upside down.

Anyway, if you’re fluent in IKEA, I will pay you handsomely to build this stuff for me.

It never failed to amuse him that the very thing that brought him relaxation was such a source of stress for others.

hours of watching the Ballsy Boys.

Munich Airport reminded Micah of an ant colony. It was busy, but efficient and organized.

Life is short But why do I spend my days Wondering if I'm right or I'm wrong I want to chase my dreams But I'm not too sure again Whether I'm right or I'm wrong If sometimes in the past I was told I'll become this way I would never have believed it But why is life like this Why do people want to kill others dreams Just for themselves Especially these times Which are as rare As the feather of a phoenix I sit wondering alone Am I right or wrong When I think about those moments Am I right Am I selfish I don't know Just want to go back to the past And live there forever The times we were still little No worries No guilt Little expectations for life That's because we don't know what life is I'm craving for the past Because I'm tired of the present And I'm afraid of the future I still miss the younger days Whem our smile was so beautiful But now we smile The smile is still beautiful But only because it has to Not because It is meant to I spend this night worrying alone about my future The greatest pain hidden in my heart.

Most of the Times, Life shows us how difficult this journey is, only at Times when the sun clears we see the Sunshine, but the rain often washes away the clouds and both the clouds and the rain dampen our weary hearts, only to let us see a glimpse of a distant rainbow, once in a while. I guess it's always about the Time, the guardian of this Journey that we have to wait and persevere, that we have to remain resilient in the resolve to walk ahead, to find some way to hold on to the voyage, to not let the ship sink in the hollows of a mirage, to just live. And that is what Life is about, perhaps to know that Gloom and Melancholy is a distinct part of our journey, and actually something that occupies the most part of our journey, and it doesn't have to be a deep Grief it can simply be the mundane sorrow of carrying on this existence knowing that Life is just a short frame holding dark colours as much as the bright ones, sometimes even more of those blackness only to bring out the whites a little bit more. And while all of this goes on, somewhere our heart would know that there is One who is beyond this frame of Life and the space of Time and Cosmos; who is always holding your hand giving you the breath to walk ahead. May be He doesn't take away the blackness but throughout stays firm in your path, holding your shadow and your soul ever so gently to make you become the Light that you could only possibly be by embracing all of your Soul's journey. He doesn't perhaps change the potholes in your way, but He does ensure that even when you tumble you don't end up falling and if you do fall, He makes sure that you rise all over again from the flames of Life's fire with the fury of a phoenix. He doesn't end your suffering but lets you see that throughout your pain He is partaking in an even greater portion of it, alongside you. Simple, He doesn't let you see that He is God, because He shares your Life as a companion, walking beside you hand in hand, to make you live all that your soul had contracted before this journey began and even when He is beyond Time, He lets Time be your friend in a journey that is bound in human flesh and guarded by the tick-tock of that guardian. So when I asked my Soul, what is that troubles me the most, I heard my Soul, Smile in a safe knowledge, when I have Him, need I let my troubles concern me? My heart knew, He has already tucked my mind in the tranquil world of Life's paint-brush and a rainbow is just around the corner. A distant yet distinct rainbow. A rainbow that is churned in Love, the love that only He can provide, the Love that is always lurking on the edges of those clouds and rain, in the silhouette of a rainbow forever promised on the other side of a thunderstorm. Love & Light, always - Debatrayee

Chestnut and phoenix feather, eleven and a half inches,

happiness doesn’t depend on Ron’s goalkeeping ability.” And though Harry would rather have jumped off the Astronomy Tower than admit it to her, by the time he had watched the game the following Saturday he would have given any number of Galleons not to care about Quidditch either. The very best thing you could say about the match was that it was short; the Gryffindor spectators had to endure only twenty-two minutes of agony. It was hard to say what the worst thing was: Harry thought it was a close-run contest between Ron’s fourteenth failed save, Sloper missing the Bludger but hitting Angelina in the mouth with his bat, and Kirke shrieking and falling backward off his broom as Zacharias Smith zoomed at him carrying the Quaffle. The miracle was that Gryffindor only lost by ten points: Ginny managed to snatch the Snitch from right under

People nearly drove Silimalo phoenixes extinct...Our greed. Our short-sightedness. All for a few feathers, we almost wiped out a species. But people saved the phoenixes, too. We captured the last wild birds and brought them into captivity. We started breeding them, trying to keep the species alive. For me phoenixes are a reminder of how awful people can be... but also how much good we can do, when we put our minds to it.

The butterfly continues to sit on my hand, its tiny feet tickling my skin. I raise my hand in order to examine this most beautiful yet frail of God’s creatures. The butterfly is unafraid of me, yet I might quash its life force at any moment. That is the beauty of the butterfly. It rises from the most humble of beginnings, only to awaken one summer day and find that it has become most beautiful, most happy, in its transformation. Yet, the life of the creature that becomes a butterfly is short, most short indeed. It is only in its beauty for a very short time. The butterfly graces us with its beauty, such is its magic. Then, in a short time, that loveliness is removed from our presence.

A car is one of the biggest investments of your life. Our Phoenix car insurance policy does not only pay for collisions, but also for events such as damage, theft, and damage caused due to natural calamities, damage during transit or shipment and various other factors. Furthermore, car insurance will also safeguard you against any lawsuits that may arise from accidents. To have more information about the car insurance in Phoenix or want to get the quote just make a short call at (480) 405-4779.

in Hurricane Season, and still spends a significant amount of time there. She has worked as a newspaper reporter and a freelance journalist, and has contributed mystery short stories to a number of anthologies. She and her husband,

Season, and still spends a significant amount of time there. She has worked as a newspaper reporter and a freelance journalist, and has contributed mystery short

I want to sweeten Shankar’s pot. Give him a reason to keep his allegiance with us. I’ve already agreed to reimburse half his fee for today’s hunt. Now let’s give him a special pass into Sector C. I know he’s still one hunt short of membership, but I’m willing to give him that free ride if it keeps him quiet. If he doesn’t have the money, we’ll work out a deal. What I want from you is to be sure he’s ready. We can’t afford screw-ups like today’s over in C.

dark?” Harry asked, still trying hard to keep his voice casual. “Did you — er — bother to ask him at all?” He glanced up just in time to see them exchanging a look that told him he was behaving just as they had feared he would. It did nothing to improve his temper. “We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on,” said Ron. “We did, mate. But he’s really busy now, we’ve only seen him twice since we came here and he didn’t have much time, he just made us swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the owls might be intercepted —” “He could still’ve kept me informed if he’d wanted to,” Harry said shortly. “You’re not telling me he doesn’t know ways to send messages without owls.” Hermione glanced at Ron and then said, “I thought that too. But he didn’t want you to know anything.” “Maybe he thinks I can’t be trusted,” said Harry, watching their expressions. “Don’t be thick,” said Ron, looking highly disconcerted. “Or that I can’t take care of myself —” “Of course he doesn’t think that!” said Hermione anxiously. “So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys’ while you two get to join in everything that’s going on here?

Air breathes Fire, Fell for Flames— Phoenix born in Flickers.

Grace’s gaze skimmed over her, taking in the various marks of possession that decorated her flesh. “Well, short of having Property of Trey Coleman tattooed on your forehead, he couldn’t have made it any clearer that he considers you his, could he?” Very true. In addition to those marks that Trey had left while they consummated the claiming, there were those that he had made during the second, third, and fourth rounds that followed through the night. There was a bite at the hollow of her throat, another on her inner wrist, a third one on the swell of her breast, and also claw marks on both upper arms—and those were only the ones that weren’t hidden beneath her black T-shirt, navy jeans, and black leather knee-high boots.

She looked, Harry thought, like somebody’s maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes.

They’ll put us up in a hotel,” a young, male voice to his right said.

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your groins, and may your arms be too short to scratch,” the demon snarled. “Good-day, halfwits.

As long as there is a spark in you, you, like a Phoenix, can rise from the ashes, get your life on track, and take it to newer and higher levels.

My – our – one stroke of good fortune was that the eavesdropper was detected only a short way into the prophecy and thrown from the building.’ ‘So he only heard –?’ ‘He heard only the beginning, the part foretelling the birth of a boy in July to parents who had thrice defied Voldemort.

I’ve long believed that to effectively manage it is not only a critical competency but a significant predictor of company performance,” he explains. “One of these days, I’d like to create a hedge fund that invests in companies, taking long positions on companies with great it organizations that help the business win, and short the companies where it lets everyone down. I think we’d make a killing. What better way is there to force the next generation of ceos to give a shit about it?

he lost his head completely during tea-leaf reading, saying it looked to him as though Professor Marchbanks would shortly be meeting a round, dark, soggy stranger, and rounded off the whole fiasco by mixing up the life and head lines on her palm and informing her that she ought to have died the previous Tuesday.

He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who had the pinched, slightly unhealthy look of someone who has grown a lot in a short space of time. His jeans were torn and dirty, his T-shirt baggy and faded, and the soles of his trainers were peeling away from the uppers.

Paul Beyerl, The Master Book of Herbalism, Phoenix Publishing, 1998 Bo Forbes, Yoga for Emotional Balance, Shambhala, 2011 Anna Franklin, The Hearth Witch’s Compendium: Magical and Natural Living for Every Day, Llewellyn, 2017 John Friedlander and Gloria Hemsher, Basic Psychic Development: A User’s Guide to Auras, Chakras, and Clairvoyance, Weiser, 2012 Malcolm Gaskill, Witchcraft: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2010 Sarah Gottesdiener, Many Moons Workbooks, 2016–2018 Karen Hamaker-Zondag, Tarot as a Way of Life: A Jungian Approach to the Tarot, Red Wheel/Weiser, 1997 Rachel Howe, Small Spells Black & White Tarot Deck Set, Discipline Press, smallspells.com

Laws can be changed,” said Fudge savagely. “Of course they can,” said Dumbledore, inclining his head. “And you certainly seem to be making many changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks since I was asked to leave Wizengamot, it has already become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic!

I’ll tell you what: I’ll say yes if you agree to something.” That didn’t sound good. “What is it you want?” “I want you to drop this fantasy you have of me dressing like a sailor.” “Oh, but—” He rolled onto his back, holding up a hand to cut her off. “No, no, I am not dressing like a fucking sailor.” She pouted. “Oh, come on! After the first few times, it won’t even feel kinky anymore.” “No.” “But you’d look so—” “No.” “Can’t you at least think—?” “No.” She growled and gave him the sulkiest pout ever. “Trey does it for Taryn.” Nick felt his face scrunch up. “Jeez, Shay, I so did not need to know that.” The image came unbidden to his mind, and Nick feared it might just pop into his head whenever he was around the Alpha male in the future. Her voice turned sultry. “If you do it, I may reconsider the pole dancing scenario you had in mind.” A short pause. “I’ll think about it.” “That’s all I’m asking.

When John agrees, I thank him for his time. “Wait, one more question. Why do you believe that this product didn’t cause the failure? Did you test the change?” There’s a short silence on the phone before John replies, “No, we couldn’t test the change. There’s no test environment. Apparently, you guys requested a budget years ago, but…” I should have known.

To my surprise, Erik interrupts. “Well put, Bill. You’ve just described ‘technical debt’ that is not being paid down. It comes from taking shortcuts, which may make sense in the short-term. But like financial debt, the compounding interest costs grow over time. If an organization doesn’t pay down its technical debt, every calorie in the organization can be spent just paying interest, in the form of unplanned work.

He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who had the pinched, slightly unhealthy look of someone who has grown a lot in a short space of time. His jeans were torn and dirty, his T-shirt baggy and faded, and the soles of his trainers were peeling away from the uppers. Harry Potter’s appearance did not endear him to the neighbors, who were the sort of people who thought scruffiness ought to be punishable by law, but as he had hidden himself behind a large hydrangea bush this evening he was quite invisible to passersby. In fact, the only way he would be spotted was if his Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia stuck their heads out of the living room window and looked straight down into the flower bed below.

Though my eyes are closed, I’m aware of every single breath I take; of my bare feet sinking into the grass, gripping it gently in a caress; of the soft swaying of my body; of the breeze curling around my fingers as if it were to take my hands and invite me to walk with it for a short while; of my soul opening like a thousand Jacaranda trees in full bloom.

Does that make me a failure, not to finish school?” I asked Mom. “Maybe to some people—but you know what, Sash? The better part of wisdom is turning a failure into victory. You have to complete the transition.” I chuckled at her dramatic choice of words. “What do you mean?” “You’re almost out of the fire, Sasha. Now you have to learn what it is to be a ph—” she cut herself short. “A phoenix?” “You just have to unfold your wings and fly.

Since then many years have passed, and in those years I have often thought how strange are the ways of Fate. Set on one's waylay a single ill-considered spontaneous remark, one is led into a course of action that cannot be stopped whether one wants to or not. At the moment of departure we do not even dream of where our voyage will take us. Even when we have started we deluded ourselves for an unconscionable time that in a short while it will soon be over, and we shall be free again to do as we please. Sometimes, in forests, one meets two such paths that, although divided perhaps by a stream or ditch, seem at first sight to run parallel to one another. One imagines that whichever one chooses will lead us to the same place. However, slowly the paths diverge...and never meet again.

Anyway . . . we’ve decided we don’t care about getting into trouble anymore.” “Have you ever?” asked Hermione. “’Course we have,” said George. “Never been expelled, have we?” “We’ve always known where to draw the line,” said Fred. “We might have put a toe across it occasionally,” said George. “But we’ve always stopped short of causing real mayhem,” said Fred. “But now?” said Ron tentatively. “Well, now —” said George. “— what with Dumbledore gone —” said Fred. “— we reckon a bit of mayhem —” said George. “— is exactly what our dear new Head deserves,” said Fred. “You mustn’t!” whispered Hermione. “You really mustn’t! She’d love a reason to expel you!” “You don’t get it, Hermione, do you?” said Fred, smiling at her. “We don’t care about staying anymore. We’d walk out right now if we weren’t determined to do our bit for Dumbledore first. So anyway,” he checked his watch, “phase one is about to begin. I’d get in the Great Hall for lunch if I were you, that way the teachers will see you can’t have had anything to do with it.” “Anything to do with what?” said Hermione anxiously. “You’ll see,” said George. “Run along, now.” Fred and George turned away and disappeared in the swelling crowd descending the stairs toward lunch.