Episode 490.g Bubble Guppies: Nonny Pirruccello and the Order of the Phoenix! (Part 7)

Plot
After a disastrous summer with the Mitchells, including an encounter with the Dementors, Nonny is shunned by friends upon returning to Bubblewarts, after the return of Lord Rotten Tomato and no one believes him. He starts his fifth year while new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, the Mayor refuses to teach them defensive spells while refuting Nonny's claims of the Dark Lord's return. So Nonny sets out, with Gil and Molly, to start up the D.A, Mr. Grouper's Army to battle evil forces and prepare the fellow young witches and wizards for the extraordinary journey that lies ahead.

Cast (Characters from the real movie)

 * Nonny as (Harry Potter)
 * Gil as (Ron Weasley)
 * Molly as (Hermione Granger)
 * Tobias as (Draco Malfoy)
 * Mr. Grumpfish as (Professor Severus Snape)
 * Oona as (Ginny Weasley)
 * Deema as (Luna Lovegood)
 * Rotten Tomato as (Lord Voldemort)
 * Witch as (Bellatrix Lestrange)
 * Mr. Grouper as (Professor Albus Dumbledore)
 * Frank the Tow Truck Lobster as (Sirius Black)
 * Goby as (Neville Longbottom)
 * Mrs. Grouper as (Professor Minerva McGonagall)
 * Gordon as (Cedric Diggory)
 * Jackie as (Cho Chang)
 * Mr. Langoustine as (Rubeus Hagrid)
 * The Mayor as (Dolores Umbridge)
 * Parmesan as (Lucius Malfoy)
 * Mr. Mitchell as (Vernon Dursley)
 * Sir Mulligan as (Remus Lupin)
 * Daisy as (Sybill Trelawney)
 * Miss Jenny as (Nymphadora Tonks)
 * Crabs, Lobsters, and Snails as (Other characters)

Information

 * Genres: Adventure, Family, Fantasy.
 * Rating: PG for little romance, some violence, a little cursing, a little alcohol, and many scary scenes.
 * Type of film: Fantasy.

Trivia

 * This is based on the 2007 film "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." You can read about it on Wikipedia or IMDb
 * There are regular and fanon characters. Some don't return in this movie while there are new characters too.
 * This is the sequel to "Nonny Pirruccello and the Goblet of Fire!" This story takes place a year after the fourth story.

Story
Start of Part 7.

(Scene: Room of Doors)

(Nonny, and Goby, still carrying Molly, re-emerge into the circular room of doors. Molly's X's have fades from the walls.)

Goby: Where do we go?

Nonny: I don't know...

(A door opens and Deema and Oona emerge, helping Gil walk between them.)

Nonny: What happened.

Oona: I think my ankle's broken. And somebody hit Gil with a weird spell...

(Gil laughs strangely.)

Gil: Hiyya, Nonny. (he giggles) You look funny....

(He laughs again. Oona's legs give way, and both she and Gil fall to the ground. Nonny is at Oona's side, looking concerned. She is breathing very hard.)

Deema: They hit her with something too.

(Nonny straightens.)

Nonny: We need to get out of here. Deema, can you help Oona?

(Deema moves to her side. Another door opens, and five death eaters emerge.)

Witch: There they are!

(Stunning spells rain all around them. The wounded group heads for the nearest door. Deema is blasted off her feet by a stunning spell. She and Oona tumble to the floor. Nonny has no choice but to keep running. The next stunning spell hits Goby in the back. He falls to the ground, Molly rolling away from him.)

(Scene: Room of the Veil)

(Nonny and Gil stagger into the Room of the Veil. Just as they enter, Gil is hit and falls. Nonny slips and tumbles down to the bottom of the chamber. He comes to rest by the dais of the Veil. Doors all around him burst open and Death Eaters enter, climbing down to surround him--from a safe distance. Nonny staggers up onto the dais, his wand held weakly in his hand. Blood trickles out of his mouth and down his chin. Parmesan shoves his way towards Nonny.)

Parmesan: Your race is run, Pirruccello. Hand it over.

(Nonny glances around frantically.)

Nonny: Let my friends go and I will.

(The Witch and several other Death Eaters drag his friends into the chamber.)

Parmesan: You are not in a position to negotiate.

(Goby struggles against the Death Eater holding him.)

Goby: Don't do it, Nonny! Don't!

Nonny: Stop, Goby!

(The Witch looks at Goby.)

Witch: Goby? Goby Imani?

(She laughs in glee.)

Witch: My dear boy, I paid your parents a visit a long time ago. We had such a time!

Goby: You put them in St. Mungos!

(The Witch beams at him.)

Witch: So, Pirruccello. Give us the Prophesy or I'll see how long it takes to crack Imani like his parents.

(Nonny is desperate.)

Goby: Don't give it to them!

(The Witch points her wand at him.)

Witch: Crucio!

(Goby howls in pain, curling up in a ball and screaming at the top of his lungs. The doors at the top of the chamber explode off their hinges. Everything stops as Sir Mulligan, Frank, the Machu Picchu ChuChu, Miss Jenny, and Dan. They blast spells at the Death Eaters. Parmesan moves to attack, but Miss Jenny disarms him. Nonny leaps off of the Dais, landing next to Goby.)

Nonny: Are you all right?

Goby: Yeah...

(He and Nonny begin making their way away from the fighting. A man grabs Nonny from behind, his large, sweaty arm around Nonny's throat.)

Death Eater: Give me the prophesy!

(Goby leaps upon his back and hits him in the face. Nonny elbows him in the ribs. The man falls away. As he falls, he strikes Nonny's hand by accident. The prophesy flies from his hand. Parmesan sees it. He raises his wand. Frank leaps into him. Both men fall the rest of the way to the lowest level of the room, landing hard. The prophesy bounces off of a step, flips down to the next level and shatters against the stone. A ghostly version of Daisy appears over the shattered golden orb, speaks something which cannot be heard over the fight, and dissolves away. Nonny and Goby seem frozen, staring at the broken pieces of the orb. Frank gets to his feet and sprints to Nonny and Goby.)

Frank: Get out of here, you two!

(He points at one of the doors.)

Frank: That will take you back out of the Department of Mysteries.

(Frank makes to go back to the fight. Nonny grabs his hand.)

Nonny: You come with us!

(Frank shakes his head.)

Frank: You're the important one, now, Nonny. I have to help the Order.

(Slowly, Nonny lets go of Frank's robe sleeve. He looks into his Godfather's eyes.)

Frank: I'll always be here for you, Nonny. Now go!

(He pushes Nonny away from him towards the door. A spell rockets past Frank's head. The Witch leaps down in front of Frank. She smiles. Frank grins.)

Frank: Hello, cousin!

(He fires a spell at her. She dodges, leaping down to the Dais on which the Veil sits. Frank leaps after. Their wands clash, blinding lights exploding from the tips. Nonny and Goby climb towards the door.)

Parmesan: Pirruccello!

(They whirl around to find Parmesan only feet away, holding his wand out at them.)

Parmesan: We may have lost the prophesy, but I can still deliver you to the Dark Lord!

(He waves his wand.)

Parmesan: Stupify!

(Nonny raises his own.)

Nonny: Protego!

(Parmesan's spell bounces away from Nonny. The door opens and Mr. Grouper, eyes blazing, enters, his wand at the ready.)

Goby: It's Mr. Grouper!

(Parmesan attempts to run, but Mr. Grouper snaps his wand out, and Parmesan is knocked over and dragged back. Mr. Grouper moves past Nonny and Goby, descending into what appears to be a war zone. He reaches the fight before the Death Eaters even know he's there. Mr. Grouper blasts two of them across the room before the rest notice. They break for the exits, but members of the Order are already there, stunning them. The Witch fires a stunning spell. Frank ducks under it, laughing.)

Frank: Is that the best you've got, cousin?

(He doesn't even see it coming. He's barely finished his sentence when the second spell strikes him in the chest. He is lifted up into the air, a look of shock upon his face. Time seems to slow for Nonny as he watches Frank's descent. And then Frank falls into the Veil, his body simply falling behind it. He does not reappear on the other side. Nonny sprints for his Godfather, but he seems to move in slow motion.)

Nonny: (screaming) Frank!

(He leaps down towards the Veil, abandoning everything. Tears are streaming down his face. His wand drifts from his grasp and clatters behind him. He leaps to the lowest level and charges up to the Dais. Sir Mulligan reaches out and grabs him, holding him fast.)

Nonny: (screaming) Let me go!

(He hits at Sir Mulligan, trying to break away from him.)

Sir Mulligan: Nonny! NONNY!...he's gone...there's nothing you can do...

(Nonny hits him across the face, still struggling wildly.)

Nonny: LIAR!

(Things seem to slow down. All sound dies away for Nonny. Spells flash and explode all around, bathing the room in strange colors, mixing with the light of the blue candles. But Nonny's legs simply give out and he slumps against Sir Mulligan, who is also weeping. Nonny clenches and unclenches his fists in agony, beating them weakly against Sir Mulligan's chest.)

Nonny: No...no...no....

(Sir Mulligan bodily picks Nonny up, still weeping, and carries him away from the Dais. He lets go of Nonny and turns to help Goby. Nonny stands, dumbfounded beside him, still staring at the Veil. Dan leaps up to duel with the Witch, but she blasts him aside. Mr. Grouper turns and attempts to stop her, but she deflects the spell and leaps towards the door. Nonny watches her, and there is cold fury in his eyes. Nonny sprints after her. Sir Mulligan turns to see him leaping up after the Witch.)

Sir Mulligan: Nonny, no!

(He flies through the door after her.)

(Scene: Room of Doors)

(Nonny enters just to see the Witch escape through a doorway. He charges after her.)

(Scene: Ministry of Magic)

(Nonny sprints down the steps leading out to the Golden Fountain and the Telephone Lift. The Witch is nearly to it.)

Witch: You can't stop me, Pirruccello!

Nonny: I'LL KILL YOU!!

(He brandishes his wand.)

Nonny: Stupify!

(The Witch turns and deflects it. She fires back at him. Nonny dives behind the fountain. There is silence. Then, the slow footfalls of the Witch.)

Witch: Come out, come out, Pirruccello...

(Nonny grows more angry by the second.)

Witch: Well, well, have you come to avenge your dear Godfather?

(Nonny leaps out from behind the fountain.)

Nonny: Crucio!

(He hits her squarely in the chest. She shrieks in pain and falls to the ground, but she rolls away from him to her feet almost immediately.)

Witch: Crucio!

(Nonny leaps behind the statue of the Horse. The Witch's spell blasts the Horse's head off. It clangs away into the darkness.)

Witch: Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, Pirruccello? You have to mean it, you have to want to cause the pain in your very soul...

(She tries to outflank him, but he moves behind another statue.)

Witch: Give me the prophesy!

Nonny: Can't. It got smashed by accident!

Witch: You lie!

(Nonny laughs.)

Nonny: How's Rotten Tomato going to like that? You've failed him, and he's not very forgiving, is he?

(The Witch lets out a shriek of horror.)

Witch: Forgive me, Master! I tried, I--

(Nonny laughs again.)

Nonny: He can't hear you from here, you know!

Rotten Tomato: Can't I, Pirruccello?

(Rotten Tomato has appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointed at Nonny.)

Rotten Tomato: So, you smashed my prophesy...

(Nonny doesn't move, frozen into stillness by the horror. Rotten Tomato sneers.)

Rotten Tomato: I grow tired of you continually thwarting my plans, Nonny Pirruccello!

(He snaps his wand down.)

Rotten Tomato: Avada Kadavra!

(Green light explodes from his wand. Nonny flinches, but the statue of the golden wizard leaps down from the fountain and takes the blast full in the chest. It explodes in a thousand shards of molten metal. Rotten Tomato whirls. Mr. Grouper stands at the doorway, looking ferocious, his blue eyes blazing.)

Mr. Grouper: You should not have come here tonight, Color Monster.

Rotten Tomato: It is you who made that mistake, Mr. Grouper!

(He slashes with his wand.)

Rotten Tomato: Avada Kedavra!

(Mr. Grouper vanishes with a swirl of his cloak and reappears between Rotten Tomato and the Witch. She tries to run, but Mr. Grouper knocks her to the ground with a stunning spell, vanishing again just as another killing curse strikes the wall and explodes, shaking the hall. He reappears close to Rotten Tomato. Mr. Grouper raises his wand and strikes. A blinding light issues forth from it, the power of it staggering. Rotten Tomato conjures a glowing, translucent shield around himself. Mr. Grouper's spell collides with it, filling the room completely with blinding light. The whole room shakes. Nonny staggers to the ground. Bits of dust and rock fall from the walls. The light fades and Rotten Tomato is unharmed.)

Rotten Tomato: You do not seek to kill me, Mr. Grouper?

Mr. Grouper: There are other ways to destroy a man, Color Monster.

Rotten Tomato: There is nothing worse than death!

Mr. Grouper: You are quite wrong, Color Monster, as you have always been.

(Rotten Tomato fires another killing curse at Mr. Grouper. Fawkes the Phoenix swoops down from above and swallows the jet of green light, exploding into flames and falling to the earth. Mr. Grouper spins, sending a constant flow of blinding light blasting from his wand, the sheer power of it shaking the hall. Rotten Tomato raises his own wand, and the light separates around him. Mr. Grouper and Rotten Tomato are surrounded by the flow of light. Mr. Grouper grits his teeth as a high wind billows his cloak around him. Rotten Tomato glares at Mr. Grouper, eyes blood-red. His wand trembles in his hand, and Rotten Tomato is slowly being forced backward by the power of the stream of light. Fear flickers in Rotten Tomato's eyes. He lets out a roar of frustration. A ring of green flame surrounds him, and he vanishes in a tongue of red-orange fire. Mr. Grouper's stream of light blasts into the wall and punches a huge, gaping hole in the wall, shaking the whole Ministry. Nonny is lifted bodily into the air and tossed into the wall from the explosion. There is a sharp crack of rock breaking, and half of the ceiling falls in. Mr. Grouper whips around his wand and Nonny is pulled from under the falling rocks. Rotten Tomato reappears on the pilinth where the statues had been.)

Nonny: Look out!

(He raised his wand, shouting a spell. The water in the pool below the statues instantly flow upward to surround Rotten Tomato in a globe of water. Rotten Tomato vanishes from within the globe of water, and it crashes back down to the pool, spilling over onto the floor.)

Nonny: Mr. Grouper!

(He stands up.)

Mr. Grouper: Stay where you are, Nonny!

(Mr. Grouper sounds frightened. Then Nonny screams. His scar simply splits open and blood spirts from it. He shrieks in agony, the pain unbearable. Nonny speaks, but it is not his voice.)

Nonny/Rotten Tomato: Kill me now, Mr. Grouper...do it, if death means nothing...

(Green flames explode from all of the fireplaces around them, and people appear as they apperate. Marty Snailer arrives too. Rotten Tomato shrieks in pain, and he appears across the room. He snatches up the unconscious body of the Witch and dissaparates in a blast of green fire. Nonny slumps to the ground. His eyes are closed, his face peaceful. Blood flows from his scar across his face to the ground.)

Mr. Grouper: Nonny!

(He runs to Nonny's side and touches his skin. He closes his eyes and whispers a spell. Nonny's eyes snap open.)

Mr. Grouper: Are you all right, Nonny?

(Nonny nods, dazed.)

Hauntsworth: Minister, I saw him! You-Know-Who! He was right there!

(Marty is standing in the middle of the room, a dazed look also on his face.)

Marty: I know...I saw him too...

(Mr. Grouper stands. Half the room gasps and draws back. Marty seems to notice him for the first time.)

Mr. Grouper: If you and your men will proceed to the Death Room, you will find several Death Eaters which I and some others have apprehended.

(Marty points at Mr. Grouper.)

Marty: Seize him!

(Mr. Grouper stands to his full height, his eyes blazing with anger.)

Mr. Grouper: Minister, you have just seen You- Know-Who in the flesh only seconds ago! It is time to come to your senses!

(Marty looks cowed.)

Mr. Grouper: If you insist on trying to arrest me, I am perfectly willing demonstrate how useless such an attempt will be.

(No one looks remotely interested in trying to arrest Mr. Grouper.)

Marty: Mr. Grouper, what the blazes happened here?

(Mr. Grouper smiles, and walks back over to Nonny, lifting him to his feet.)

Mr. Grouper: I will explain everything, Minister. Just as soon as I return Nonny to school.

(Marty (and half the crowd) turns to see Nonny for the first time.)

Marty: What's he doing here? And what's happened to him?

(Mr. Grouper taps his wand against Nonny's scar and the bleeding stops. He turns to the Minister of Magic.)

Mr. Grouper: Minister, you will order the removal of the Mayor from my school. (pause) Also, she will probably need medical attention, having had a violent encounter with some Horses earlier this evening. (pause) All Educational Decrees will be nullified and you will call off the search on Mr. Langoustine so he can return to work.

(Marty is sputtering incomprehensibly.)

Mr. Grouper: I will return here later tonight, after I have seen to Nonny. It should not take long.

(He taps the Golden horse head.)

Mr. Grouper: Portus.

(He motions Nonny over.)

Marty: Mr. Grouper, I want some answers!

Mr. Grouper: The Second War has begun, Minister.

(Nonny takes the head with Mr. Grouper, and they vanish from the Ministry of Magic.)

(Scene: Mr. Grouper's Office)

(Nonny and Mr. Grouper reappear in his office. There are shouts of welcome from the portraits.)

Mr. Grouper: Thank you...

(He takes a small baby Phoenix from his pocket and places it on Fawkes's stand. Mr. Grouper's desk has been repaired, and the Pensive rests upon it.)

Mr. Grouper: Please sit, Nonny.

(Nonny is staring at him, bitterness and sorrow evident on his face.)

Mr. Grouper: I understand how you feel, Nonny--

Nonny: No you don't!

(Mr. Grouper looks hard at him.)

Mr. Grouper: You forget that Frank was my friend too. You are not the only person on this earth capable of feelings, Nonny.

(Nonny nearly snarls at him.)

Mr. Grouper: There is no shame in feeling pain, Nonny. It is your greatest strength...

Nonny: You don't have a clue! You can't possibly know!

Mr. Grouper: What can't I know?

(Nonny grabs an instrument from one of the tables and throws it across the room.)

Mr. Grouper: This pain is part of being human, Nonny...

Nonny: (screaming) Then I don't want to be human!

(He kicks at a table, and the leg breaks, sending the whole thing crashing to the ground.)

Nonny: I don't care! I don't care!

(He begins to silently weep, tears pouring down his face. He throws over another table and falls to his knees.)

Mr. Grouper: You do care. You care so much you feel like you will bleed to death because of it.

(Nonny gets to his feet. Nonny turns and moves to the door. He yanks on the handle. The door will not open. He looks at Mr. Grouper.)

Nonny: Let me out.

Mr. Grouper: No.

(Nonny draws his wand, looking furious.)

Nonny: You can't keep me in here!

Mr. Grouper: I daresay I can. And if you actually do attack me with that wand, Nonny, I'm afraid to say you will regret it.

(Nonny is silent, breathing hard and glaring at Mr. Grouper. The Headmaster indicates the chair in front of his desk. Nonny finally sits, looking sulky.)

Mr. Grouper: It is my fault Frank died tonight. (pause) I have kept things from you, Nonny. Things that I should not have concealed. You had a right to know, but I put off telling you.

(Mr. Grouper sighs, sadly, and suddenly he seems very old.)

Mr. Grouper: Had I told you that Rotten Tomato might try to lure you down to the Department of Mysteries you would never have gone there tonight. Frank would never have gone after you. (pause) That fault lies with me. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me one day.

(Nonny stares angrily out the window.)

Mr. Grouper: Nonny, I owe you this explanation, to show you the failings of an old man.

(Nonny continues staring out the window.)

Mr. Grouper: Our explanation begins with your scar. You already know that it is a connection between you and Rotten Tomato, and that this connection goes both ways. (pause) I grew worried that Rotten Tomato would at some point discover this connection, which he did the night Mr. Gordon was attacked.

Nonny: I already know all this.

Mr. Grouper: Haven't you wondered why I haven't spoken to you, even looked at you, for months?

Nonny: Well, yeah, I did...

Mr. Grouper: I was worried that if Rotten Tomato discovered there was a closer relationship between us than simply between teacher and student he would use you to spy on the Order. Another mistake. (pause) Rotten Tomato showed us both tonight that his aim in possessing you would not be to destroy me, but to destroy you.

(Nonny looks at his shoes.)

Mr. Grouper: Frank told me you believed there was a snake inside of you. This was Rotten Tomato attempting to manipulate you. To protect you from this, I had you study Occlumency.

Nonny: But Mr. Grumpfish stopped giving me lessons.

Mr. Grouper: Yes. I thought he could overcome his feelings towards your father, but I was wrong. Some wounds cut too deep to be healed.

Nonny: He barely taught me, though. I always felt more open to it after the lessons. Like he was trying to open me to Rotten Tomato--

Mr. Grouper: I would trust Mr. Grumpfish with my life, Nonny. You have never recovered from your mistrust of him in your first year.

Nonny: Frank didn't trust him. Didn't believe he'd really turned to our side...

Mr. Grouper: Again, some wounds run too deep to be healed, Nonny. Mr. Grumpfish and Frank never liked each other at school. This has never changed.

(Nonny glares at the carpet.)

Mr. Grumpfish: During your Occulumency lessons, Mr. Grumpfish discovered that you were dreaming about the door in the Department of Mysteries.

Nonny: I've been dreaming about that all year, before Rotten Tomato discovered the connection.

Mr. Grouper: Yes. Rotten Tomato has been obsessed with hearing that prophesy since he returned. Because of your scar, what he was obsessed with, you were obsessed with, in the form of dreams. (pause) Once he discovered the connection, Rotten Tomato had little difficulty in manipulating you into thinking he had captured Frank.

Nonny: But I checked Grimmauld Place! Sam said--

Mr. Grouper: Sam lied. He wanted you to go to the Department of Mysteries.

Nonny: Why?

Mr. Grouper: Sam has been serving two masters for some months now.

Nonny: What?

Mr. Grouper: It appears that when Frank told him to get out, Sam thought he meant out of the house. So he went to the Black's closest relatives, the Gordons. (pause) Obviously, they questioned him. Frank had forbidden him from giving up important secrets. But Frank had neglected to mention his relationship with you. (pause) He told them how you saw him as a mixture of father and brother, and that you would move heaven and earth to save Frank. (pause) Rotten Tomato knew that making you believe he had Frank in the Department of Mysteries would force you there.

Nonny: Wait, where was Frank when I tried to contact him?

Mr. Grouper: Ah. Apparently Sam had injured Buckbeak to distract him in case you tried to contact Headquarters. Frank was tending to the wounds when you called.

Nonny: And Molly said we should be nice to Sam!

Mr. Grouper: She was quite right, Nonny. Sam is what wizards have made him. He is to be pitied, not hated.

Nonny: Frank hated him.

Mr. Grouper: He didn't hate Sam himself. Sam was a reminder to Frank of the home he had always hated.

Nonny: Yeah, he really hated that place. And you kept him locked up in there!

Mr. Grouper: I was trying to save his life!

(Mr. Grouper buries his head in his hands. Nonny is dumbfounded. The Headmaster looks up finally.)

Mr. Grouper: It is time to tell you what I should have five years ago. No doubt you have wondered why it was that I sent you there and not to a wizarding family? (pause) I did it for your protection. You were in more danger than anyone realized. Rotten Tomato was defeated, but his servants were everywhere.

(Nonny is silent.)

Mr. Grouper: I also knew that Rotten Tomato would return one day. I played to his weakness. There is an ancient magic which Rotten Tomato has always underestimated. (pause) This magic is what your mother gave you when she died. That protection would only work, however, if you were cared for by a blood relative. Your Aunt, Mrs. Mitchell.

Nonny: She never loved me.

Mr. Grouper: Perhaps not. But she took you in, however grudgingly. As long as you can call your Aunt's house your home, you are protected.

(Nonny looks away.)

Mr. Grouper: And now we come to the moment of terrible truth, the moment I have dreaded for fifteen years. The moment when I must lay another burden atop your already straining shoulders.

(Nonny stares into his blue eyes.)

Mr. Grouper: Do you remember your first year here? When you lay in the hospital wing fresh from your confrontation with Rotten Tomato?

(Nonny nods.)

Mr. Grouper: Do you remember what you asked me that night?

Nonny: I asked you why Rotten Tomato tried to kill me.

Mr. Grouper: Yes. I decided not to tell you then. After all, eleven was too young for such burdens. The same went for twelve. But I was running out of excuses by thirteen and fourteen. Do you see the flaw in my plan yet?

(Nonny shakes his head.)

Mr. Grouper: I cared about you too much. I became more concerned with your happiness and well-being than with the truth and the lives it could save. That was my greatest mistake. It was exactly what Rotten Tomato expects from us fools who love. (pause) But I could not bear to tell you. I have watched you pass through greater trials than any other student in the history of this school, and I could not bear to add another one, the greatest one of all.

(He looks at Nonny, sympathy and regret etched on his face.)

Mr. Grouper: You have no idea the pain it causes me to tell it to you, even now. But unfortunately, I must.

Nonny: I don't understand, Mr. Grouper.

(Mr. Grouper sighs again.)

Mr. Grouper: The reason Rotten Tomato tried to kill you is because of a prophesy made just before your birth. By attempting to kill you, he believed he was fulfilling the terms of the prophesy. Rotten Tomato's mistake was that he had not heard the entire prophesy. (pause) That is the weapon we have been guarding, and which he has been so desperately seeking: the knowledge of how to destroy you.

(Nonny sighs this time. He looks at the floor.)

Nonny: Mr. Grouper, why am I so important to him?

(Nonny hangs his head.)

Mr. Grouper: An excellent question, Nonny. The answer lies in the prophesy.

Nonny: Sir, it got smashed.

Mr. Grouper: That was not the only place the Prophesy is preserved.

(Mr. Grouper raises his wand to his temple and extracts a memory, placing it in the pensive. He waves his wand over it. The ghostly image of Daisy rises from the bowl.)

Daisy: "The One with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches....Born to those who have thrise defied him, born as the Seventh Month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have a power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives....The One with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the Seventh Month dies..."

(The image of Daisy fades. Nonny looks staggered.)

Nonny: I'm not sure I understand all that, sir...

Mr. Grouper: It means that the only person with a chance of defeating Rotten Tomato was born at the end of July to parents who had resisted him three times before.

Nonny: And...it means me?

Mr. Grouper: Interestingly, there were two boys whom the prophesy could have been referring to. You and Goby Imani.

Nonny: So it's not necessarily me, sir?

Mr. Grouper: You forget the next qualification of the prophesy. The Dark Lord will mark this boy as his equal. (pause) In giving you that scar, Rotten Tomato did so. I'm afraid that the prophesy is most certainly referring to you.

Nonny: What if he chose wrong?

Mr. Grouper: He chose the child he believed to be the more dangerous. He chose the "half-blood" wizard because he saw some of himself in you. (pause) He tried to kill you and instead gave you the power and the future to destroy him.

Nonny: Why didn't he wait? Why attack when we were babies?

Mr. Grouper: Rotten Tomato had an informant listening to my meeting with Daisy. Fortunately he was discovered before he could hear the entire prophesy. Rotten Tomato had to act immediately, he didn't know the rest of the prophesy. All he knew was that he had to destroy the child who would grow to be a threat to his power.

Nonny: But I don't have any special powers.

(Mr. Grouper is silent for a moment.)

Mr. Grouper: There is a room in the Department of Mysteries which is kept locked at all times. It contains a force so wonderful and yet terrible that it is greater than death itself. It is that power which you have incredible amounts of and of which Rotten Tomato has none.

Nonny: What is it, sir?

Mr. Grouper: This power drove you to save Frank tonight. It kept Rotten Tomato from possessing you, he cannot bear to touch it. (pause) In the end, it was your heart and not your head that saved you.

(Nonny looks away.)

Mr. Grouper: There is only the end of the prophesy which we haven't addressed. It states: neither can live while the other survives.

(Nonny slowly looks up at Mr. Grouper.)

Mr. Grouper: It is the final burden which I must place on you, Nonny.

Nonny: One of us has to kill the other...in the end.

(Mr. Grouper nods, and there are tears misting his eyes.)

Mr. Grouper: Yes.

(They sit quietly together. Mr. Grouper softly wipes a tear from his cheek.)

(Scene: Great Lake)

(Nonny sits by himself on a boulder by the side of the lake. He watches the sunset.)

Big Bad Wolf: Hello, Nonny.

(Nonny turns to see the Big Bad Wolf, a ghost, standing beside him.)

Nonny: Hey, Big Bad Wolf.

(The Big Bad Wolf looks uncomfortable.)

Big Bad Wolf: I--Well, Madam Pomfrey asked me to tell you that Molly and Gil are out of the hospital wing.

Nonny: Oh. Thanks.

(He stands and they begin to walk back to the castle together.)

Nonny: Big Bad Wolf, I was wondering about something?

(The Big Bad Wolf looks even more uncomfortable now.)

Big Bad Wolf: I've been expecting this...

Nonny: Expecting what?

Big Bad Wolf: A lot of people come to me when they've lost loved ones.

Nonny: I expect so...

(There is a silence.)

Big Bad Wolf: He's not coming back, Nonny.

(There is another silence.)

Big Bad Wolf: Few wizards choose the path I have chosen.

Nonny: Why?

Big Bad Wolf: I am neither here nor there, Nonny. Trapped between two worlds. That does not appeal to most. (pause) I know nothing of the secrets of death, Nonny. I was afraid of it. I preferred to survive as a feeble imitation of life than face the vast unknown. (pause) I often wonder if that was a wise decision.

(They approach the great doors leading to the entry hall. The Big Bad Wolf looks at Nonny.)

Big Bad Wolf: I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help, Nonny. Truly I am.

(The Big Bad Wolf vanishes through the wall into the castle. Nonny steps through the doors into the entry hall.)

(Scene: Entry Hall)

(Nonny enters.)

Molly: Nonny!

(He turns to see Molly and Gil racing down the steps towards him. Molly throws herself into Nonny's arms in a huge bear hug.)

Nonny: How are you?

Gil: Good as new, mate.

(Molly pulls herself away from Nonny and looks at him closely.)

Molly: (quietly) How are you doing, Nonny?

(Nonny pauses for a long moment, thinking.)

Nonny: Better.

Molly: Come on, let's go in to the feast.

(Nonny shakes his head.)

Nonny: You two go on. I want to be alone for a while.

(Molly nods. They turn away and begin to walk into the great hall.)

Nonny: I've got something to tell you. Something important.

(They stop and look at him again.)

Nonny: But not right now. I'm not ready.

Molly: Take your time, Nonny. We'll be here when you are.

(She smiles at him. Gil and Molly disappear into the great hall. Deema comes down the stairs carrying a stack of papers. She goes up to the notice board and attaches one of the papers to it. She turns and sees Nonny.)

Deema: Hello, Nonny.

(He walks up to her.)

Deema: It's the last night and I need to pack.

Nonny: Then why are you putting up signs?

Deema: Oh, people take my things and hide them. I don't think they like me much. Some of them call me "Dreamy Wahler."

(Nonny looks at her in pity.)

Nonny: Do you need any help looking?

Deema: Oh no. It all turns up in the end.

(She looks at him serenely.)

Deema: Frank the Tow Truck Lobster. Molly said he was your Godfather.

Nonny: Yeah. (pause) Have you ever...you know...

Deema: My mother. I was nine.

Nonny: I'm sorry.

Deema: It's okay. It's not like I'll never see her again.

Nonny: Isn't it?

Deema: Don't tell me you didn't hear them. The voices beyond the Veil?

(Nonny looks startled.)

Deema: They were just out of sight, that's all.

Nonny: You mean we'll see them again?

Deema: Of course. (pause) Things always work out, in the end.

(She smiles at him. Then she heads back up the stairs and into the feast. Nonny is left alone in the entry hall. He turns and looks into the glorious sunset. For the first time in a long time, Nonny smiles too.)

The End!