There were many white swans in Britain's rivers, and by law, all these beautiful creatures belonged to the Queen.
In ballet, white swans symbolized loyalty, purity, and nobility. Black swans symbolized rebellion, evil, and mystery—the "villains" sent by the devil to tempt princes.
Yet pure white swans were beautiful and fragile. Before Australia was discovered, Europeans had always believed swans were white. It was not until black swans were brought back by fleets that the era's established notions were overturned.
White swans could live in colder regions, while black swans lived in warmer ones. These two birds, so similar in appearance, had such different habits. Moreover, black swans had never undertaken long-distance migrations like their close relatives. In other words, white swans were migratory birds, while black swans were resident birds of Australia. Kangaroos might have been unable to migrate because of the sea, but why did black swans, with wings, not return north when the climate changed?
Severus looked at the white swan necklace around his neck. Before leaving that world, Pomona had still worn her own black swan necklace around hers.
A ring could be put on and taken off. Married people could pretend to be unmarried. When one person chose betrayal, wasn't the one who chose to remain faithful terribly foolish?
If marriage turned two free people into prisoners, and betrayal was treated as a matter of course, then the two would become trapped in a prisoner's dilemma, allowing suspicion and distrust to grow.
Voldemort, after returning, had become deeply suspicious. To gain his trust, Severus had killed Albus Dumbledore. Yet though the members of the Order of the Phoenix were idealists with minds of their own, they trusted one another. Iris, a newly joined member of the organization, had once told Pomona a story about the