Untitled Part 21
Hermione plowed her way back to Hagrid's cabin throughtwo feet of snow on Sunday morning. Harry and Ronwanted to go with her, but their mountain of homework hadreached an alarming height again, so they grudginglyremained in the common room, trying to ignore the gleefulshouts drifting up from the grounds outside, wherestudents were enjoying themselves skating on the frozenlake, tobogganing, and worst of all, bewitching snowballs tozoom up to Gryffindor Tower and rap hard on the windows.
"Oy!" bellowed Ron, finally losing patience and stickinghis head out of the window, "I am a prefect and if one moresnowball hits this window — OUCH!"
He withdrew his head sharply, his face covered in snow.
"It's Fred and George," he said bitterly, slamming thewindow behind him. "Gits ..."
Hermione returned from Hagrid's just before lunch,shivering slightly, her robes damp to the knees.
"So?" said Ron, looking up when she entered. "Got all hislessons planned for him?"
"Well, I tried," she said dully, sinking into a chair besideHarry. She pulled out her wand and gave it a complicatedlittle wave so that hot air streamed out of the tip; she thenpointed this at her robes, which began to steam as theydried out. "He wasn't even there when I arrived, I wasknocking for at least half an hour. And then he camestumping out of the forest —"
Harry groaned. The Forbidden Forest was teeming withthe kind of creatures most likely to get Hagrid the sack."What's he keeping in there? Did he say?" asked Harry.
"No," said Hermione miserably. "He says he wants themto be a surprise. I tried to explain about Umbridge, but hejust doesn't get it. He kept saying nobody in their rightmind would rather study knarls than chimaeras — oh Idon't think he's got a chimaera," she added at the appalledlook on Harry and Ron's faces, "but that's not for lack oftrying from what he said about how hard it is to get eggs. ...I don't know how many times I told him he'd be better offfollowing Grubbly-Plank's plan, I honestly don't think helistened to half of what I said. He's in a bit of a funny mood,you know. He still won't say how he got all those injuries. ..."
Hagrid's reappearance at the staff table at breakfast nextday was not greeted by enthusiasm from all students. Some,like Fred, George, and Lee, roared with delight andsprinted up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepufftables to wring Hagrid's enormous hand; others, likeParvati and Lavender, exchanged gloomy looks and shooktheir heads. Harry knew that many of them preferredProfessor Grubbly-Plank's lessons, and the worst of it wasthat a very small, unbiased part of him knew that they hadgood reason: Grubbly-Plank's idea of an interesting classwas not one where there was a risk that somebody mighthave their head ripped off.
It was with a certain amount of apprehension that Harry,Ron, and Hermione headed down to Hagrid's on Tuesday,heavily muffled against the cold. Harry was worried, notonly about what Hagrid might have decided to teach them,but also about how the rest of the class, particularly Malfoyand his cronies, would behave if Umbridge was watchingthem.
However, the High Inquisitor was nowhere to be seen asthey struggled through the snow toward Hagrid, who stoodwaiting for them on the edge of the forest. He did notpresent a reassuring sight; the bruises that had beenpurple on Saturday night were now tinged with green andyellow and some of his cuts still seemed to be bleeding.Harry could not understand this: Had Hagrid perhaps beenattacked by some creature whose venom prevented thewounds it inflicted from healing? As though to complete theominous picture, Hagrid was carrying what looked like halfa dead cow over his shoulder.
"We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid called happily tothe approaching students, jerking his head back at the darktrees behind him. "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they preferthe dark. ..."
"What prefers the dark?" Harry heard Malfoy say sharplyto Crabbe and Goyle, a trace of panic in his voice. "What didhe say prefers the dark — did you hear?"
Harry remembered the only occasion on which Malfoyhad entered the forest before now; he had not been verybrave then either. He smiled to himself; after the Quidditchmatch anything that caused Malfoy discomfort was all rightwith him.
"Ready?" said Hagrid happily, looking around at the class."Right, well, I've bin savin' a trip inter the forest fer yer fifthyear. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in theirnatural habitat. Now, what we're studyin' today is prettyrare, I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britain who'smanaged ter train 'em —"
"And you're sure they're trained, are you?" said Malfoy,the panic in his voice even more pronounced now. "Only itwouldn't be the first time you'd brought wild stuff to class,would it?"
The Slytherins murmured agreement and a fewGryffindors looked as though they thought Malfoy had a fairpoint too.
" 'Course they're trained," said Hagrid, scowling andhoisting the dead cow a little higher on his shoulder."So what happened to your face, then?" demandedMalfoy.
"Mind yer own business!" said Hagrid, angrily. "Now ifyeh've finished askin' stupid questions, follow me!"
He turned and strode straight into the forest. Nobodyseemed much disposed to follow. Harry glanced at Ron andHermione, who sighed but nodded, and the three of themset off after Hagrid, leading the rest of the class.
They walked for about ten minutes until they reached aplace where the trees stood so closely together that it wasas dark as twilight and there was no snow on the ground atall. Hagrid deposited his half a cow with a grunt on theground, stepped back, and turned to face his class again,most of whom were creeping toward him from tree to tree,peering around nervously as though expecting to be setupon at any moment.
"Gather roun', gather roun'," said Hagrid encouragingly."Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat but I'mgoin' ter give 'em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter knowit's me. ..."
He turned, shook his shaggy head to get the hair out ofhis face, and gave an odd, shrieking cry that echoedthrough the dark trees like the call of some monstrous bird.Nobody laughed; most of them looked too scared to make asound.
Hagrid gave the shrieking cry again. A minute passed inwhich the class continued to peer nervously over theirshoulders and around trees for a first glimpse of whateverit was that was coming. And then, as Hagrid shook his hairback for a third time and expanded his enormous chest,Harry nudged Ron and pointed into the black spacebetween two gnarled yew trees.
A pair of blank, white, shining eyes were growing largerthrough the gloom and a moment later the dragonish face,neck, and then skeletal body of a great, black, winged horseemerged from the darkness. It looked around at the classfor a few seconds, swishing its long black tail, then bowedits head and began to tear flesh from the dead cow with itspointed fangs.
A great wave of relief broke over Harry. Here at last wasproof that he had not imagined these creatures, that theywere real: Hagrid knew about them too. He looked eagerlyat Ron, but Ron was still staring around into the trees andafter a few seconds he whispered, "Why doesn't Hagrid callagain?"
Most of the rest of the class were wearing expressions asconfused and nervously expectant as Ron's and were stillgazing everywhere but at the horse standing feet fromthem. There were only two other people who seemed to beable to see them: a stringy Slytherin boy standing justbehind Goyle was watching the horse eating with anexpression of great distaste on his face, and Neville, whoseeyes were following the swishing progress of the long blacktail.
"Oh, an' here comes another one!" said Hagrid proudly, asa second black horse appeared out of the dark trees, foldedits leathery wings closer to its body, and dipped its head togorge on the meat. "Now ... put yer hands up, who can see'em?"
Immensely pleased to feel that he was at last going tounderstand the mystery of these horses, Harry raised hishand. Hagrid nodded at him.
"Yeah ... yeah, I knew you'd be able ter, Harry," he saidseriously. "An' you too, Neville, eh? An' —"
"Excuse me," said Malfoy in a sneering voice, "but whatexactly are we supposed to be seeing?"
For answer, Hagrid pointed at the cow carcass on theground. The whole class stared at it for a few seconds, thenseveral people gasped and Parvati squealed. Harryunderstood why: Bits of flesh stripping themselves awayfrom the bones and vanishing into thin air had to look veryodd indeed.
"What's doing it?" Parvati demanded in a terrified voice,retreating behind the nearest tree. "What's eating it?"
"Thestrals," said Hagrid proudly and Hermione gave asoft "oh!" of comprehension at Harry's shoulder. "Hogwartshas got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows — ?"
"But they're really, really unlucky!" interrupted Parvati,looking alarmed. "They're supposed to bring all sorts ofhorrible misfortune on people who see them. ProfessorTrelawney told me once —"
"No, no, no," said Hagrid, chuckling, "tha's jus'superstition, that is, they aren' unlucky, they're dead cleveran' useful! 'Course, this lot don' get a lot o' work, it's mainlyjus' pullin' the school carriages unless Dumbledore's takin'a long journey an' don' want ter Apparate — an' here'sanother couple, look —"
Two more horses came quietly out of the trees, one ofthem passing very close to Parvati, who shivered andpressed herself closer to the tree, saying, "I think I feltsomething, I think it's near me!"
"Don' worry, it won' hurt yeh," said Hagrid patiently."Righ', now, who can tell me why some o' you can see theman' some can't?"
Hermione raised her hand.
"Go on then," said Hagrid, beaming at her.
"The only people who can see thestrals," she said, "arepeople who have seen death."
"Tha's exactly right," said Hagrid solemnly, "ten points terGryffindor. Now, thestrals —"
"Hem, hem."Professor Umbridge had arrived. She was standing a fewfeet away from Harry, wearing her green hat and cloakagain, her clipboard at the ready. Hagrid, who had neverheard Umbridge's fake cough before, was gazing in someconcern at the closest thestral, evidently under theimpression that it had made the sound.
"Hem, hem."
"Oh hello!" Hagrid said, smiling, having located thesource of the noise.
"You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning?"said Umbridge, in the same loud, slow voice she had usedwith him earlier, as though she was addressing somebodyboth foreign and very slow. "Telling you that I would beinspecting your lesson?"
"Oh yeah," said Hagrid brightly. "Glad yeh found the placeall righ'! Well, as you can see — or, I dunno — can you?We're doin' thestrals today —"
"I'm sorry?" said Umbridge loudly, cupping her handaround her ear and frowning. "What did you say?"
Hagrid looked a little confused.
"Er — thestrals!" he said loudly. "Big — er — wingedhorses, yeh know!"
He flapped his gigantic arms hopefully. ProfessorUmbridge raised her eyebrows at him and muttered as shemade a note on her clipboard, " 'has ... to ... resort ... to ...crude ... sign ... language ...' "
"Well ... anyway ..." said Hagrid, turning back to the classand looking slightly flustered. "Erm ... what was I sayin'?"
" 'Appears ... to ... have ... poor ... short ... term ...memory ...' " muttered Umbridge, loudly enough foreveryone to hear her. Draco Malfoy looked as thoughChristmas had come a month early; Hermione, on the otherhand, had turned scarlet with suppressed rage.
"Oh yeah," said Hagrid, throwing an uneasy glance atUmbridge's clipboard, but plowing on valiantly. "Yeah, I wasgonna tell yeh how come we got a herd. Yeah, so, westarted off with a male an' five females. This one," he pattedthe first horse to have appeared, "name o' Tenebrus, he'smy special favorite, firs' one born here in the forest —"
"Are you aware," Umbridge said loudly, interrupting him,"that the Ministry of Magic has classified thestrals as'dangerous'?"
Harry's heart sank like a stone, but Hagrid merelychuckled.
"Thestrals aren' dangerous! All righ, they might take abite outta you if yeh really annoy them —"
" 'Shows ... signs ... of ... pleasure ... at ... idea ... of ...violence ... ' " muttered Umbridge, scribbling on herclipboard again.
"No — come on!" said Hagrid, looking a little anxious now."I mean, a dog'll bite if yeh bait it, won' it — but thestralshave jus' got a bad reputation because o' the death thing —people used ter think they were bad omens, didn' they? Jus'didn' understand, did they?"
Umbridge did not answer; she finished writing her lastnote, then looked up at Hagrid and said, again very loudlyand slowly, "Please continue teaching as usual. I am goingto walk" — she mimed walking — Malfoy and PansyParkinson were having silent fits of laughter — "among thestudents" — she pointed around at individual members ofthe class — "and ask them questions." She pointed at hermouth to indicate talking.
Hagrid stared at her, clearly at a complete loss tounderstand why she was acting as though he did notunderstand normal English. Hermione had tears of fury inher eyes now.
"You hag, you evil hag!" she whispered, as Umbridgewalked toward Pansy Parkinson. "I know what you're doing,you awful, twisted, vicious —"
"Erm ... anyway," said Hagrid, clearly struggling to regainthe flow of his lesson, "so — thestrals. Yeah. Well, there'sloads o' good stuff abou' them. ..."
"Do you find," said Professor Umbridge in a ringing voiceto Pansy Parkinson, "that you are able to understandProfessor Hagrid when he talks?"
Just like Hermione, Pansy had tears in her eyes, but thesewere tears of laughter; indeed, her answer was almostincoherent because she was trying to suppress her giggles."No ... because ... well ... it sounds ... like grunting a lot ofthe time. ..."
Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard. The few unbruisedbits of Hagrid's face flushed, but he tried to act as thoughhe had not heard Pansy's answer.
"Er ... yeah ... good stuff abou' thestrals. Well, oncethey're tamed, like this lot, yeh'll never be lost again.'Mazin' senses o' direction, jus' tell 'em where yeh want tergo —"
"Assuming they can understand you, of course," saidMalfoy loudly, and Pansy Parkinson collapsed in a fit ofrenewed giggles. Professor Umbridge smiled indulgently atthem and then turned to Neville.
"You can see the thestrals, Longbottom, can you?" shesaid.
Neville nodded.
"Whom did you see die?" she asked, her tone indifferent.
"My ... my grandad," said Neville.
"And what do you think of them?" she said, waving herstubby hand at the horses, who by now had stripped a greatdeal of the carcass down to bone.
"Erm," said Neville nervously, with a glance at Hagrid."Well, they're ... er ... okay. ..."
" 'Students ... are ... too ... intimidated ... to ... admit ...they ... are ... frightened. ...' " muttered Umbridge, makinganother note on her clipboard.
"No!" said Neville, looking upset, "no, I'm not scared ofthem — !"
"It's quite all right," said Umbridge, patting Neville on theshoulder with what she evidently intended to be anunderstanding smile, though it looked more like a leer toHarry. "Well, Hagrid," she turned to look up at him again,speaking once more in that loud, slow voice, "I think I'vegot enough to be getting along with. ... You will receive" —she mimed taking something from the air in front of her —"the results of your inspection" — she pointed at theclipboard — "in ten days' time." She held up ten stubbylittle fingers, then, her smile wider and more toadlike thanever before beneath her green hat, she bustled from theirmidst, leaving Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson in fits oflaughter, Hermione actually shaking with fury, and Nevillelooking confused and upset.
"That foul, lying, twisting old gargoyle!" stormedHermione half an hour later, as they made their way backup to the castle through the channels they had made earlierin the snow. "You see what she's up to? It's her thing abouthalf-breeds all over again — she's trying to make outHagrid's some kind of dim-witted troll, just because he hada giantess for a mother — and oh, it's not fair, that reallywasn't a bad lesson at all — I mean, all right, if it had beenBlast-Ended Skrewts again, but thestrals are fine — in fact,for Hagrid, they're really good!"
"Umbridge said they're dangerous," said Ron.
"Well, it's like Hagrid said, they can look afterthemselves," said Hermione impatiently, "and I suppose ateacher like Grubbly-Plank wouldn't usually show them tous before N.E.W.T. level, but, well, they are very interesting,aren't they? The way some people can see them and somecan't! I wish I could."
"Do you?" Harry asked her quietly.
She looked horrorstruck.
"Oh Harry — I'm sorry — no, of course I don't — that wasa really stupid thing to say —"
"It's okay," he said quickly, "don't worry. ..."
"I'm surprised so many people could see them," said Ron. "Three in a class —"
"Yeah, Weasley, we were just wondering," said a maliciousvoice nearby. Unheard by any of them in the muffling snow,Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were walking along right behindthem. "D'you reckon if you saw someone snuff it you'd beable to see the Quaffle better?"
He, Crabbe, and Goyle roared with laughter as theypushed past on their way to the castle and then broke into achorus of "Weasley Is Our King." Ron's ears turned scarlet.
"Ignore them, just ignore them," intoned Hermione,pulling out her wand and performing the charm to producehot air again, so that she could melt them an easier paththrough the untouched snow between them and thegreenhouses.
December arrived, bringing with it more snow and apositive avalanche of homework for the fifth years. Ron andHermione's prefect duties also became more and moreonerous as Christmas approached. They were called uponto supervise the decoration of the castle ("You try puttingup tinsel when Peeves has got the other end and is trying tostrangle you with it," said Ron), to watch over first andsecond years spending their break times inside because ofthe bitter cold ("And they're cheeky little snotrags, youknow, we definitely weren't that rude when we were in firstyear," said Ron), and to patrol the corridors in shifts withArgus Filch, who suspected that the holiday spirit mightshow itself in an outbreak of wizard duels ("He's got dungfor brains, that one," said Ron furiously). They were so busythat Hermione had stopped knitting elf hats and wasfretting that she was down to her last three.
"All those poor elves I haven't set free yet, having to stayover during Christmas because there aren't enough hats!"
Harry, who had not had the heart to tell her that Dobbywas taking everything she made, bent lower over hisHistory of Magic essay. In any case, he did not want to thinkabout Christmas. For the first time in his school career, hevery much wanted to spend the holidays away fromHogwarts. Between his Quidditch ban and worry aboutwhether or not Hagrid was going to be put on probation, hefelt highly resentful toward the place at the moment. Theonly thing he really looked forward to were the D.A.meetings, and they would have to stop over the holidays, asnearly everybody in the D.A. would be spending the timewith their families. Hermione was going skiing with herparents, something that greatly amused Ron, who hadnever before heard of Muggles strapping narrow strips ofwood to their feet to slide down mountains. Ron,meanwhile, was going home to the Burrow. Harry enduredseveral days of jealousy before Ron said, in response toHarry asking how Ron was going to get home forChristmas, "But you're coming too! Didn't I say? Mumwrote and told me to invite you weeks ago!"
Hermione rolled her eyes, but Harry's spirits soared: Thethought of Christmas at the Burrow was truly wonderful,only slightly marred by Harry's guilty feeling that he wouldnot be able to spend the holiday with Sirius. He wonderedwhether he could possibly persuade Mrs. Weasley to invitehis godfather for the festivities too, but apart from the factthat he doubted whether Dumbledore would permit Siriusto leave Grimmauld Place, he could not help but feel thatMrs. Weasley might not want him; they were so often atloggerheads. Sirius had not contacted Harry at all since hislast appearance in the fire, and although Harry knew thatwith Umbridge on the constant watch it would be unwise toattempt to contact him, he did not like to think of Siriusalone in his mother's old house, perhaps pulling a lonelycracker with Kreacher.
Harry arrived early in the Room of Requirement for thelast D.A. meeting before the holidays and was very glad hehad, because when the lamps burst into light he saw thatDobby had taken it upon himself to decorate the place forChristmas. He could tell the elf had done it, because nobodyelse would have strung a hundred golden baubles from theceiling, each showing a picture of Harry's face and bearingthe legend HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS!
Harry had only just managed to get the last of them downbefore the door creaked open and Luna Lovegood entered,looking dreamy as always.
"Hello," she said vaguely, looking around at whatremained of the decorations. "These are nice, did you putthem up?"
"No," said Harry, "it was Dobby the house-elf."
"Mistletoe," said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clumpof white berries placed almost over Harry's head. Hejumped out from under it. "Good thinking," said Luna veryseriously. "It's often infested with nargles."
Harry was saved the necessity of asking what nargleswere by the arrival of Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. All threeof them were breathless and looked very cold.
"Well," said Angelina dully, pulling off her cloak andthrowing it into a corner, "we've replaced you."
"Replaced me?" said Harry blankly.
"You and Fred and George," she said impatiently. "We'vegot another Seeker!"
"Who?" said Harry quickly.
"Ginny Weasley," said Katie.
Harry gaped at her.
"Yeah, I know," said Angelina, pulling out her wand andflexing her arm. "But she's pretty good, actually. Nothing onyou, of course," she said, throwing him a very dirty look,"but as we can't have you ..."
Harry bit back the retort he was longing to utter: Did sheimagine for a second that he did not regret his expulsionfrom the team a hundred times more than she did?
"And what about the Beaters?" he asked, trying to keephis voice even.
"Andrew Kirke," said Alicia without enthusiasm, "and JackSloper. Neither of them are brilliant, but compared with therest of the idiots who turned up ..."
The arrival of Ron, Hermione, and Neville brought thisdepressing discussion to an end and within five minutes, theroom was full enough to prevent him seeing Angelina'sburning, reproachful looks.
"Okay," he said, calling them all to order. "I thought thisevening we should just go over the things we've done so far,because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there'sno point starting anything new right before a three-weekbreak —"
"We're not doing anything new?" said Zacharias Smith, ina disgruntled whisper loud enough to carry through theroom. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have come. ..."
"We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you, then," saidFred loudly.
Several people sniggered. Harry saw Cho laughing andfelt the familiar swooping sensation in his stomach, asthough he had missed a step going downstairs.
"We can practice in pairs," said Harry. "We'll start withthe Impediment Jinx, just for ten minutes, then we can getout the cushions and try Stunning again."
They all divided up obediently; Harry partnered Neville asusual. The room was soon full of intermittent cries of"Impedimenta!" People froze for a minute or so, duringwhich their partners would stare aimlessly around the roomwatching other pairs at work, then would unfreeze and taketheir turn at the jinx.
Neville had improved beyond all recognition. After awhile, when Harry had unfrozen three times in a row, hehad Neville join Ron and Hermione again so that he couldwalk around the room and watch the others. When hepassed Cho she beamed at him; he resisted the temptationto walk past her several more times.
After ten minutes on the Impediment Jinx, they laid outcushions all over the floor and started practicing Stunningagain. Space was really too confined to allow them all towork this spell at once; half the group observed the othersfor a while, then swapped over. Harry felt himself positivelyswelling with pride as he watched them all. True, Nevilledid Stun Padma Patil rather than Dean, at whom he hadbeen aiming, but it was a much closer miss than usual, andeverybody else had made enormous progress.
At the end of an hour, Harry called a halt.
"You're getting really good," he said, beaming around atthem. "When we get back from the holidays we can startdoing some of the big stuff — maybe even Patronuses."
There was a murmur of excitement. The room began toclear in the usual twos and threes; most people wishedHarry a Happy Christmas as they went. Feeling cheerful, hecollected up the cushions with Ron and Hermione andstacked them neatly away. Ron and Hermione left before hedid; he hung back a little, because Cho was still there andhe was hoping to receive a Merry Christmas from her.
"No, you go on," he heard her say to her friend Marietta,and his heart gave a jolt that seemed to take it into theregion of his Adam's apple.
He pretended to be straightening the cushion pile. Hewas quite sure they were alone now and waited for her tospeak. Instead, he heard a hearty sniff.
He turned and saw Cho standing in the middle of theroom, tears pouring down her face.
"Wha — ?"
He didn't know what to do. She was simply standingthere, crying silently.
"What's up?" he said feebly.
She shook her head and wiped her eyes on her sleeve."I'm — sorry," she said thickly. "I suppose ... it's just ...learning all this stuff. ... It just makes me ... wonderwhether ... if he'd known it all ... he'd still be alive. ..."
Harry's heart sank right back past its usual spot andsettled somewhere around his navel. He ought to haveknown. She wanted to talk about Cedric.
"He did know this stuff," Harry said heavily. "He wasreally good at it, or he could never have got to the middle ofthat maze. But if Voldemort really wants to kill you, youdon't stand a chance."
She hiccuped at the sound of Voldemort's name, butstared at Harry without flinching.
"You survived when you were just a baby," she saidquietly.
"Yeah, well," said Harry wearily, moving toward the door,"I dunno why, nor does anyone else, so it's nothing to beproud of."
"Oh don't go!" said Cho, sounding tearful again. "I'mreally sorry to get all upset like this. ... I didn't mean to. ..."
She hiccuped again. She was very pretty even when hereyes were red and puffy. Harry felt thoroughly miserable.He'd have been so pleased just with a Merry Christmas. ...
"I know it must be horrible for you," she said, moppingher eyes on her sleeve again. "Me mentioning Cedric, whenyou saw him die. ... I suppose you just want to forget aboutit. ..."
Harry did not say anything to this; it was quite true, buthe felt heartless saying it.
"You're a r-really good teacher, you know," said Cho, witha watery smile. "I've never been able to Stun anythingbefore."
"Thanks," said Harry awkwardly.
They looked at each other for a long moment. Harry felt aburning desire to run from the room and, at the same time,a complete inability to move his feet.
"Mistletoe," said Cho quietly, pointing at the ceiling overhis head.
"Yeah," said Harry. His mouth was very dry. "It's probablyfull of nargles, though."
"What are nargles?"
"No idea," said Harry. She had moved closer. His brainseemed to have been Stunned. "You'd have to ask Loony.Luna, I mean."
Cho made a funny noise halfway between a sob and alaugh. She was even nearer him now. He could havecounted the freckles on her nose.
"I really like you, Harry."
He could not think. A tingling sensation was spreadingthroughout him, paralyzing his arms, legs, and brain.
She was much too close. He could see every tear clingingto her eyelashes. ...
He returned to the common room half an hour later tofind Hermione and Ron in the best seats by the fire; nearlyeverybody else had gone to bed. Hermione was writing avery long letter; she had already filled half a roll ofparchment, which was dangling from the edge of the table.Ron was lying on the hearthrug, trying to finish hisTransfiguration homework.
"What kept you?" he asked, as Harry sank into thearmchair next to Hermione's.
Harry did not answer. He was in a state of shock. Half ofhim wanted to tell Ron and Hermione what had justhappened, but the other half wanted to take the secret withhim to the grave.
"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked, peering athim over the tip of her quill.
Harry gave a halfhearted shrug. In truth, he didn't knowwhether he was all right or not. "What's up?" said Ron,hoisting himself up on his elbow to get a clearer view ofHarry. "What's happened?"
Harry didn't quite know how to set about telling them,and still wasn't sure whether he wanted to. Just as he haddecided not to say anything, Hermione took matters out ofhis hands."Is it Cho?"
she asked in a businesslike way. "Did shecorner you after the meeting?"
Numbly surprised, Harry nodded. Ron sniggered,breaking off when Hermione caught his eye.
"So — er — what did she want?" he asked in a mockcasual voice.
"She —" Harry began, rather hoarsely; he cleared histhroat and tried again. "She — er —"
"Did you kiss?" asked Hermione briskly.
Ron sat up so fast that he sent his ink bottle flying all overthe rug. Disregarding this completely he stared avidly atHarry.
"Well?" he demanded.
Harry looked from Ron's expression of mingled curiosityand hilarity to Hermione's slight frown, and nodded.
"HA!"
Ron made a triumphant gesture with his fist and wentinto a raucous peal of laughter that made several timidlooking second years over beside the window jump. Areluctant grin spread over Harry's face as he watched Ronrolling around on the hearthrug. Hermione gave Ron a lookof deep disgust and returned to her letter.
"Well?" Ron said finally, looking up at Harry. "How wasit?"
Harry considered for a moment.
"Wet," he said truthfully.
Ron made a noise that might have indicated jubilation ordisgust, it was hard to tell.
"Because she was crying," Harry continued heavily.
"Oh," said Ron, his smile fading slightly. "Are you that badat kissing?"
"Dunno," said Harry, who hadn't considered this, andimmediately felt rather worried. "Maybe I am."
"Of course you're not," said Hermione absently, stillscribbling away at her letter.
"How do you know?" said Ron in a sharp voice.
"Because Cho spends half her time crying these days,"said Hermione vaguely. "She does it at mealtimes, in theloos, all over the place."
"You'd think a bit of kissing would cheer her up," saidRon, grinning.
"Ron," said Hermione in a dignified voice, dipping thepoint of her quill into her ink pot, "you are the mostinsensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet."
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Ron indignantly."What sort of person cries while someone's kissing them?"
"Yeah," said Harry, slightly desperately, "who does?"
Hermione looked at the pair of them with an almostpitying expression on her face.
"Don't you understand how Cho's feeling at the moment?"she asked.
"No," said Harry and Ron together.
Hermione sighed and laid down her quill.
"Well, obviously, she's feeling very sad, because of Cedricdying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because sheliked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can't workout who she likes best. Then she'll be feeling guilty, thinkingit's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing Harry at all,and she'll be worrying about what everyone else might sayabout her if she starts going out with Harry. And sheprobably can't work out what her feelings toward Harry areanyway, because he was the one who was with Cedric whenCedric died, so that's all very mixed up and painful. Oh, andshe's afraid she's going to be thrown off the RavenclawQuidditch team because she's been flying so badly."
A slightly stunned silence greeted the end of this speech,then Ron said, "One person can't feel all that at once, they'dexplode."
"Just because you've got the emotional range of ateaspoon doesn't mean we all have," said Hermione nastily,picking up her quill again.
"She was the one who started it," said Harry. "Iwouldn't've — she just sort of came at me — and next thingshe's crying all over me — I didn't know what to do —"
"Don't blame you, mate," said Ron, looking alarmed at thevery thought.
"You just had to be nice to her," said Hermione, looking upanxiously. "You were, weren't you?"
"Well," said Harry, an unpleasant heat creeping up hisface, "I sort of — patted her on the back a bit."
Hermione looked as though she was restraining herselffrom rolling her eyes with extreme difficulty.
"Well, I suppose it could have been worse," she said. "Areyou going to see her again?"
"I'll have to, won't I?" said Harry. "We've got D.A.meetings, haven't we?"
"You know what I mean," said Hermione impatiently.
Harry said nothing. Hermione's words opened up a wholenew vista of frightening possibilities. He tried to imaginegoing somewhere with Cho — Hogsmeade, perhaps — andbeing alone with her for hours at a time. Of course, shewould have been expecting him to ask her out after whathad just happened. ... The thought made his stomach clenchpainfully.
"Oh well," said Hermione distantly, buried in her letteronce more, "you'll have plenty of opportunities to ask her...."
"What if he doesn't want to ask her?" said Ron, who hadbeen watching Harry with an unusually shrewd expressionon his face.
"Don't be silly," said Hermione vaguely, "Harry's liked herfor ages, haven't you, Harry?"
He did not answer. Yes, he had liked Cho for ages, butwhenever he had imagined a scene involving the two ofthem it had always featured a Cho who was enjoyingherself, as opposed to a Cho who was sobbinguncontrollably into his shoulder.
"Who're you writing the novel to anyway?" Ron askedHermione, trying to read the bit of parchment now trailingon the floor. Hermione hitched it up out of sight.
"Viktor."
"Krum?"
"How many other Viktors do we know?"
Ron said nothing, but looked disgruntled. They sat insilence for another twenty minutes, Ron finishing hisTransfiguration essay with many snorts of impatience andcrossings-out, Hermione writing steadily to the very end ofthe parchment, rolling it up carefully and sealing it, andHarry staring into the fire, wishing more than anything thatSirius's head would appear there and give him some adviceabout girls. But the fire merely crackled lower and lower,until the red-hot embers crumbled into ash and, lookingaround, Harry saw that they were, yet again, the last in thecommon room.
"Well, 'night," said Hermione, yawning widely, and she setoff up the girls' staircase.
"What does she see in Krum?" Ron demanded as he andHarry climbed the boys' stairs.
"Well," said Harry, considering the matter, "I s'pose he'solder, isn't he ... and he's an international Quidditch player...."
"Yeah, but apart from that," said Ron, soundingaggravated. "I mean he's a grouchy git, isn't he?"
"Bit grouchy, yeah," said Harry, whose thoughts were stillon Cho.
They pulled off their robes and put on pajamas in silence;Dean, Seamus, and Neville were already asleep. Harry puthis glasses on his bedside table and got into bed but did notpull the hangings closed around his four-poster; instead hestared at the patch of starry sky visible through the windownext to Neville's bed. If he had known, this time last night,that in twenty-four hours' time he would have kissed ChoChang ...
" 'Night," grunted Ron, from somewhere to his right.
" 'Night," said Harry.
Maybe next time ... if there was a next time ... she'd be abit happier. He ought to have asked her out; she hadprobably been expecting it and was now really angry withhim ... or was she lying in bed, still crying about Cedric? Hedid not know what to think. Hermione's explanation hadmade it all seem more complicated rather than easier tounderstand.
That's what they should teach us here, he thought,turning over onto his side, how girls' brains work ... it'd bemore useful than Divination anyway. ...
Neville snuffled in his sleep. An owl hooted somewhereout in the night.
Harry dreamed he was back in the D.A. room. Cho wasaccusing him of luring her there under false pretenses; shesaid that he had promised her a hundred and fiftyChocolate Frog cards if she showed up. Harry protested. ...Cho shouted, "Cedric gave me loads of Chocolate Frogcards, look!" And she pulled out fistfuls of cards from insideher robes and threw them into the air, and then turned intoHermione, who said, "You did promise her, you know, Harry.... I think you'd better give her something else instead. ...How about your Firebolt?" And Harry was protesting thathe could not give Cho his Firebolt because Umbridge had it,and anyway the whole thing was ridiculous, he'd only cometo the D.A. room to put up some Christmas baubles shapedlike Dobby's head. ...
The dream changed. ...
His body felt smooth, powerful, and flexible. He wasgliding between shining metal bars, across dark, cold stone.... He was flat against the floor, sliding along on his belly. ...It was dark, yet he could see objects around himshimmering in strange, vibrant colors. ... He was turninghis head. ... At first glance, the corridor was empty ... but no... a man was sitting on the floor ahead, his chin droopingonto his chest, his outline gleaming in the dark. ...
Harry put out his tongue. ... He tasted the man's scent onthe air. ... He was alive but drowsing ... sitting in front of adoor at the end of the corridor ...
Harry longed to bite the man ... but he must master theimpulse. ... He had more important work to do. ...
But the man was stirring ... a silvery cloak fell from hislegs as he jumped to his feet; and Harry saw his vibrant,blurred outline towering above him, saw a wand withdrawnfrom a belt. ... He had no choice. ... He reared high from thefloor and struck once, twice, three times, plunging his fangsdeeply into the man's flesh, feeling his ribs splinter beneathhis jaws, feeling the warm gush of blood. ...
The man was yelling in pain ... then he fell silent. ... Heslumped backward against the wall. ... Blood wassplattering onto the floor. ...
His forehead hurt terribly. ... It was aching fit to burst. ...
"Harry! HARRY!"
He opened his eyes. Every inch of his body was covered inicy sweat; his bedcovers were twisted all around him like astraitjacket; he felt as though a white-hot poker was beingapplied to his forehead.
"Harry!"
Ron was standing over him looking extremely frightened.There were more figures at the foot of Harry's bed. Heclutched his head in his hands; the pain was blinding him.... He rolled right over and vomited over the edge of themattress.
"He's really ill," said a scared voice. "Should we callsomeone?"
"Harry! Harry!"
He had to tell Ron, it was very important that he tell him.... Taking great gulps of air, Harry pushed himself up in bed,willing himself not to throw up again, the pain half-blindinghim.
"Your dad," he panted, his chest heaving. "Your dad's ...been attacked. ..."
"What?" said Ron uncomprehendingly.
"Your dad! He's been bitten, it's serious, there was bloodeverywhere. ..."
"I'm going for help," said the same scared voice, andHarry heard footsteps running out of the dormitory.
"Harry, mate," said Ron uncertainly, "you ... you were justdreaming. ..."
"No!" said Harry furiously; it was crucial that Ronunderstand. "It wasn't a dream ... not an ordinary dream. ...I was there, I saw it. ... I did it. ..."
He could hear Seamus and Dean muttering but did notcare. The pain in his forehead was subsiding slightly, thoughhe was still sweating and shivering feverishly. He retchedagain and Ron leapt backward out of the way.
"Harry, you're not well," he said shakily. "Neville's gonefor help. ..."
"I'm fine!" Harry choked, wiping his mouth on hispajamas and shaking uncontrollably. "There's nothingwrong with me, it's your dad you've got to worry about —we need to find out where he is — he's bleeding like mad —I was — it was a huge snake. ..."
He tried to get out of bed but Ron pushed him back intoit; Dean and Seamus were still whispering somewherenearby. Whether one minute passed or ten, Harry did notknow; he simply sat there shaking, feeling the pain recedevery slowly from his scar. ... Then there were hurriedfootsteps coming up the stairs, and he heard Neville's voiceagain.
"Over here, Professor ..."
Professor McGonagall came hurrying into the dormitoryin her tartan dressing gown, her glasses perched lopsidedlyon the bridge of her bony nose.
"What is it, Potter? Where does it hurt?"
He had never been so pleased to see her; it was amember of the Order of the Phoenix he needed now, notsomeone fussing over him and prescribing useless potions.
"It's Ron's dad," he said, sitting up again. "He's beenattacked by a snake and it's serious, I saw it happen."
"What do you mean, you saw it happen?" said ProfessorMcGonagall, her dark eyebrows contracting.
"I don't know. ... I was asleep and then I was there. ..."
"You mean you dreamed this?"
"No!" said Harry angrily. Would none of themunderstand? "I was having a dream at first about somethingcompletely different, something stupid ... and then thisinterrupted it. It was real, I didn't imagine it, Mr. Weasleywas asleep on the floor and he was attacked by a giganticsnake, there was a load of blood, he collapsed, someone'sgot to find out where he is. ..."
Professor McGonagall was gazing at him through herlopsided spectacles as though horrified at what she wasseeing.
"I'm not lying, and I'm not mad!" Harry told her, his voicerising to a shout. "I tell you, I saw it happen!"
"I believe you, Potter," said Professor McGonagall curtly."Put on your dressing-gown — we're going to see theheadmaster."
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