The Saga of the Sphere

The Saga of the Sphere

Part One

Chapter Two

To: Sirius Black

From: Emily Black

Dad,

Everything's fine here at Hogwarts. It's more than fine, it's beautiful. (The castle, I mean. I'm not so sure about the teachers, especially Snape.)

I already have lots of friends, though the closest ones are a muggle-born named Hermione Granger, Melanie O'Keyfe, and Valentine Calder. Hermione and Melanie are with me in Gryffindor, though Valentine is in Ravenclaw.

This first week has been okay. It wasn't too hard to adjust to life here because of Mrs. Weasley's training. She made us sit for longer hours than the classes here and the homework she gave took much more time. The stuff here is pretty difficult to understand. When you have brainy kids like Hermione and Valentine as your friends, though, things won't be too hard.

Anyway, Harry hasn't done anything so far, though I have a nasty suspicion he's planning something. However, the fact that guys can't go in the girls' dorm but the girls can go in the boys' dorms does tip things in my favor. (Found that load of stuff out from Hermione. I wouldn't be caught dead reading something so thick like Hogwarts, A History. Really. That girl's a fanatic.)

I'm running out of ink. Can you send me some in your next letter? I recently discovered that I tend to mess things up a lot and have to rewrite tons of stuff. Send Dolly a hug and a kiss for me and tell her that apart from a small cold (from which I've recovered) I'm perfectly healthy. Of course you get a kiss, too, Sirius, so don't pout.

Love,

Emily

*

To: Mr. James Potter

From: Harry Potter

Dad,

There's not much going on around here. Love Hogwarts, it's such a cool place. I can see why you and mum talk about it all the time.

Classes are a cinch, and I'm managing to do well in Potions, even if Snape is particularly nasty to the Gryffindors. I must say, though, that he does act even nastier to Emily, though I have no idea why. I could almost feel sorry for her, if it weren't for the fact that we're at war. On our first class, he quizzed Emily on all these questions on things I haven't even heard of, and you know how I love to memorize those kinds of information.

Anyway, Emily hasn't done anything, a big relief, and I don't have any reason to do anything to her, which is kind of depressing since it would be kind of fun to have the prank war back full-scale again. Puts a little excitement in a kid's life.

Ron, Neville, and Benjy (Fenwick. Do you know him?) are getting fidgety, so I'd better finish up. Send my love to mum.

Harry

*

Emily looked outside the window at the bright sun. She itched to take a walk out there.

"Hey, Hermione, Melly, let's go out for a walk. It's absolutely gorgeous outside."

Hermione looked up. "Ooh. Come on, Melly."

Melanie, who was sitting on a couch playing one-player chess, groaned as the black bishop knocked one of her knights off the board.

"Sure. I'm losing so badly it's painful."

Emily glanced at the chess board. "You're only a knight down. Come on, let's go."

The three girls walked toward the portrait hole.

In the hallway, Emily's light blue eyes scanned the area quickly and saw Valentine's familiar face.

"Hey Valentine!"

Valentine looked up.

"We're going to take a walk outside, wanna come?"

"Sure." Valentine walked over and joined the group.

"Have you guys finished your Transfiguration essays yet?" Valentine asked, her green eyes sparkling at the excitement of discussing school subjects.

"Hermione has, the perfect little doll she is," Melanie grinned.

"Be quiet, there's nothing wrong with finishing one's work early." Hermione tried to look hurt, but the smile on her lips refused to die out.

Emily protested. "Yes, there is. To regular people, anyway."

Hermione wrinkled her nose.

"Come on, we only have an hour before dinner. Let's make good use of our time." Emily ran the last few feet and out to the lawn.

"Hey, wait for us!" Melanie shouted.

Emily turned her head, grinning. "Hurry up, you slowpokes! Last one out on the Quidditch field is a - "

Valentine saw Emily collide into someone and fall on the ground. She winced.

"Come on, let's go see if she's all right."

The two jogged towards their friend.

Emily got to her feet, and saw Harry on the ground.

"Watch where you're going," he snapped.

"Why don't you, four eyes?" she countered. Being snapped at didn't make her in a very good mood. In fact, her former bright sunshiny self all but disappeared.

The other three boys appeared. "Are you all right, Harry?" Neville said, sticking out a hand to pull him up.

"I'm fine, no thanks to her." He took Neville's hand and stood, dusting off his robes.

"Hey, I'm not the one that doesn't watch for traffic when they walk."

Emily picked a leaf off her robe. Hermione, Melanie, and Valentine reached them.

"Okay, Emily?" Hermione asked.

"I'm fine, it's only a fall." Hermione's eyes widened at the snappish remark.

Melanie sensed the tension and pulled Emily's arm, staring at her emphatically. Then, she turned to the boys.

"Uh, you guys have fun walking, okay? We'll walk on our own side of the field."

The four girls walked away, Melanie still grabbing Emily's arm.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Emily said guiltily.

"It's all right. I guess I understand."

"No, I shouldn't have snapped like that. It's just - "

"The famous Black temper," Melanie grinned.

"Thanks, Melly, for pulling me out of the would-be fight," Emily grinned wryly.

"No prob, that's what I'm here for."

"Oh my goddess." Valentine, who was pagan, had her eyes glued to the sky, "Look!"

The other three looked up.

Above them Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin, was flying on a broom, hand on a shiny object. Harry was speeding after him. Emily looked around. Neville looked desperate on the ground, and she figured the shiny thing was his.

The two boys circled the field. Harry leaned in on his broom, letting him fly faster, circling Malfoy. Even if he was her enemy, Emily had to admit that he looked pretty good on that broom.

Malfoy stopped midair, shouting something. The shiny object flew somewhere. Emily's eyes lost sight of it, but Harry's eyes didn't. He sped out of the field and toward the castle, where he jerked his broom around a statue on the tower. He caught Neville's object, did a flip midair just before he hit a window, and flew back, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

A cheer rose from around him, and Emily realized that a crowd had gathered. Neville was running toward Harry, to get his lost object back, and Ron high-fived Benjy, who whooped.

"Mr. Potter!" A stern voice shouted from behind Emily. She felt everyone around her freeze. Harry felt another wave of déjà vu as he felt his blood freeze and wondered if he'd dreamed about this before.

"Come here right now."

Emily turned around and saw Professor McGonagall standing there, her robes flying around her. It made her look more menacing.

"Excuse me, Professor, but he - " Neville began

"Silence, Longbottom. Mr. Potter, kindly get off that broomstick and come with me."

Not a bird chirped.

Stiffly, possibly even numbly, Harry swung his leg off the broomstick and followed the professor.

Everyone still on the field stood in silence for a minute.

"What's going to happen to him?" Melanie whispered.

"What did he do?" Emily asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "The rule," she said as if everyone should have known.

"What rule?" Valentine asked.

"First years aren't allowed to fly unless they've had at least two flying lessons."

"And if they don't?" Emily asked.

"I suppose they get expelled."

*

"Did you hear?"

"Yah. Isn't it so ... so ... "

"Interesting?" Hermione suggested to Melanie.

"Yah. I guess. I can't think of the word right now."

Bang.

The two jumped and looked up.

"He evades the rules and what does he get? A reward! Possibly the best reward to any Quidditch-obsessed being! Which I am sure he is! And what about the rest of us? We have to stick with plain old points to ol' pal Gryffindor!"

Emily waved her hands around as she ranted, the bag that she had slammed on the table sitting there looking quite dejected.

"Calm down, Em. You're supposed to be happy. I mean, Harry did look pretty good on that broom." Valentine had walked over and sat beside Melanie, who was across the table from Hermione and Emily.

"Exactly! All he had to do was look good! You know, the rest of us actually tries to accomplish stuff. All he does is waltz up on that broomstick, take a freakin' ride, and gets rewarded! Youngest Seeker at Hogwarts for hundreds of years! For breaking the rule that keeps us from the worst of accidents!"

"Calm down. Sit. Eat something. And for heaven's sake take your bag off of the table," Hermione commanded.

Emily did as she was told, though her eyes were still blazing.

"I just can't stand it. He always gets the rewards. He always has," she muttered, crossing her arms. She glared at her foot.

"Don't think about it," Melanie said.

"Let's talk about something else," Valentine said.

"Like what?"

"I dunno ... books?"

Emily stared at her.

"Right," Valentine said.

"Music?" Hermione suggested.

"Much better," Emily brightened. "Did you hear the Weird Sisters' new song? It's awesome!"

*

Emily, Hermione, Melanie, and Valentine all walked down the hall to lunch on a lazy Saturday.

"I'm bored," Emily said suddenly.

"That was random," Valentine replied.

"No kidding," Melanie said.

"Let's talk about - "

"Ack. So much talking." Emily complained.

"Let's sing!" she suggested brightly.

"Oh no," Hermione groaned.

"Row, row, row your boat - "

"Gently down the stream!" Valentine was picking up on Emily's hyperness.

"Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily - "

"Life is but a dream!" The two of then skipped down the hall, singing all the way down.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves - "

"Everybody's nerves - "

"NOO!!!!" Melanie clapped her hands over her ears.

*

Harry, Ron, Benjy, and Neville walked toward the Great Hall. They were silent.

"I'm bored," Ron said.

Harry tried to think of something to do. He was bored, too. The excitement of the first few weeks at Hogwarts had died down and there didn't seem to be much to do.

Neville looked around. "Is that singing?"

Harry, Benjy, and Ron listened. Harry recognized one of the voices.

He grinned. "I have an idea."

He pulled out his wand.

*

"Everybody's nerves - "

"Everybody's nerves - "

"I know a song that - aah!"

Emily stopped suddenly, sliding down to the floor.

"Ow," she moaned.

Valentine stopped next to her.

"Are you okay, Em?"

"Sure."

Emily sat up, rubbing her head.

Hermione and Melanie caught up to them.

"Are you two okay?"

"Yah, we're fine."

Emily reached out her hands gingerly, like someone pretending to be blind.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

Emily's fingers reached out, but nothing was there. Bolder, she extended her hands even farther.

"That's funny," she muttered.

She stood, and ventured so far as walking around the hallway.

"It's not there anymore."

"What's not there anymore?" Melanie asked.

"There was something there, like an invisible wall."

The other three girls glanced at each other skeptically.

The hair on the back of Emily's neck prickled. Someone was watching them. Her eyes narrowed. The only person that she had ever felt watching her was near.

"Harry James Potter, you come out right now!!!" She bellowed.

*

Harry stifled a laugh as he watched Emily slam into his nice invisible wall. He, Ron, Benjy, and Neville were under his invisibility cloak that James had given to Harry the day he left for Hogwarts.

Ron's shoulders were shaking from laughter. They watched the girls puzzle things out.

When Emily bellowed out Harry's name, he was disappointed. She was getting good at this.

She even looked in their direction, and stared in Harry's face.

"If you have your invisibility cloak on, take it off right now!"

Harry sighed, disappointed. She was getting way too good at this. But he didn't pull the invisibility cloak off. Let her think he wasn't here.

When he didn't, Emily shrugged nonchalantly. She shifted her weight and edged closer to where she thought Harry was. She turned sideways to him and punched her hand out, stretching and yawning. Her hand made contact.

"Ow!" Harry rubbed his chest.

"Did you say something?" Emily asked her friends. Ha, she thought.

Hermione shook her head, frowning.

"Oh well. Come on, let's go."

The other girls, still confused, followed Emily.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves - " Valentine began.

"Everybody's nerves - "

Melanie and Hermione groaned.

*

To: Mr. and Mrs. Calder

From: Valentine Calder

Mom and Dad,

Everything's fine here at Hogwarts. The first month passed by with a flash. Everything's winding down now as we've been getting used to the pace here. How's everything at home? I've made lots of friends, I keep up with my schoolwork, all that good stuff. The first Quidditch game's coming up, and I'm very excited. Did you hear about Harry Potter? Well, he's the first first-year on the team since, like, forever.

Love you lots,

Valentine

*

To: Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy

From: Draco Malfoy

Mom and Dad,

Everything's fine here at Hogwarts. Hope things at the house are fine. How's grandma and grandpa? Harry and I hit it off just wonderfully here the first few weeks.

Yeah, right.

Well, I have made friends, in case you were wondering. Potions is my favorite subject. Snape is really good to us Slytherins.

Can you believe it? That Potter git got on the Quidditch team! I'm looking forward to the first Quidditch game, anyway. Potter's going to get creamed.

Got to get back to my Transfiguration essay.

Draco