Harry Potter and the Sacrifice of the Traitor

Chapter 11

At the end of the Feast, Dumbledore stood up and briefly welcomed them back. He reminded them that the Ball was tomorrow night, and advised them all to get a good night's sleep. He then dismissed them, and the room was filled with the noise of many feet tramping out of the hall and up the stairs. Luna passed Harry and his friends on the way out of the door. She smiled at him and said 'See you tomorrow night, Harry.' Harry mumbled something in reply, and then they were swept apart by the press of people.

'I hope this date is going to end better than the one with Cho, mate,' said Ron, sniggering. 'At least you'll be expecting the kiss this time.'

Harry stared at him. 'What kiss?' he said in bewilderment. They reached the common room, and Ginny said 'Butterbeer' to the Fat Lady, who swung open to let them through.

Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Oh dear,' she said. 'Harry, don't you even know it's traditional to kiss your partner at midnight on New Year's Eve? That's a Muggle tradition as well as a wizarding one.'

'Oh,' said Harry blankly. 'I suppose so, I never thought about it.' Panicky thoughts immediately flooded his mind - Luna refusing to kiss him at all, Luna refusing to stop kissing him, Luna saying that he was the worst kisser ever, and bursting into tears like Cho ...

'Harry, snap out of it!' said Ginny, smirking slightly. 'I'm sure it'll be fine.' She turned and walked briskly away towards the girls' staircase. Harry noticed Neville was looking after her with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation on his face, presumably thinking about kissing her at midnight. He felt unexpectedly annoyed all of a sudden, and changed the subject.

'Shall we go down and see Hagrid tomorrow? He said something about having a present for me back at Hogwarts, and we haven't gone to see him for ages.'

'Good idea,' said Ron cheerfully.

The next morning after breakfast, the three of them walked out of the castle, passing Professor Flitwick on the way. He seemed to be herding the twelve Christmas trees which had decorated the Great Hall back out of the castle, presumably to make room for the dancing tonight. Harry's stomach gave a lurch at the thought of dancing with Luna and Ginny, and he quickly tried to think of something else.

They reached Hagrid's cabin and banged on the door. Fang immediately started barking, and as soon as Hagrid pulled the door open, Fang rushed out and jumped up at Ron, knocking him flying.

'Oops, sorry 'bout that,' said Hagrid, pulling Ron up and off the ground altogether. 'He's very fond of you, y'know.'

They all trooped into the cabin and sat down. It was garishly decorated with clashing coloured streamers everywhere. 'Did you have a nice Christmas, Hagrid?' asked Hermione.

'All righ', thanks,' replied Hagrid. 'Blimey, I nearly forgot, I've got your present waiting for yeh outside, Harry'.

They all went back outside, and rather to Harry's surprise, Hagrid took a large slab of meat off the table and took it with them.

'Hold this, Harry, it's the best way to tame 'em,' he said, and gave a shrill cry. Harry stood holding the slimy piece of dripping meat, wondering what awful beast Hagrid had thought he would like as a gift. He could see Ron and Hermione looking around nervously, ready to back away if necessary.

Suddenly, a Thestral trotted out of the Forest, nostrils twitching hopefully.

'That's it, boy' called Hagrid. 'Come over 'ere now, come on.' The horse like creature sniffed the air, and walked slowly towards Harry. 'Harry, hold the meat out to him, but don't let him snatch it away.'

Harry, hardly able to believe his eyes, held out the slab of meat. The Thestral came right up to him, and hesitantly licked the meat. Evidently liking the taste, it grabbed it in its strong teeth and tried to pull, but Harry held on, though he would have preferred to let go. The Thestral, giving up on pulling the meat away, stood quietly nibbling at the slab.

'Now then, Harry, jus' gently pat him, go on,' said Hagrid enthusiastically. Harry reluctantly put out his other hand and touched the beast's sides. It shuddered and tossed its head, then returned to the meat.

'Excellent, Harry, now jus' keep patting him until he's finished eatin', then you can get to know each other,' said Hagrid, grinning widely. 'How do yeh like him, eh?'

Hermione and Ron were looking on in amazement at the spectacle of a piece of meat gradually disappearing.

'Is it one of those horse things again?' asked Ron.

'Hagrid, where is Harry supposed to keep something that size?' asked Hermione, with a certain amount of exasperation in her voice. Harry nodded fervently.

'Oh, he'll live in the Forest with the res' of the herd, o' course' said Hagrid cheerfully. 'I jus' thought that as Harry found them kind of useful last year, he migh' like a friend of his own. They're very affectionate, are Thestrals.'

The Thestral had now finished the meat and was looking searchingly at Harry, who continued to pat it while he tried to think of something to say. On the whole, he quite liked the idea, to his surprise. It was definitely better than some of the presents he had been worrying about receiving - another Skrewt, for example. He suddenly felt a wet tickly sensation near his ear - the Thestral was nuzzling his hair and clothes, looking for more meat.

'What're you going to call him then, Harry?' asked Hagrid.

Harry grinned rather weakly at Hagrid. 'I don't know; do I have to decide now?'

'Well, it's bes' if he knows his name, then he'll come if he hears yeh calling him. Make sure you've got some food on yeh though, or he migh' not come the next time yeh want him,' said Hagrid.

Hermione was still looking rather unsure about the whole idea, but Ron looked quite envious. He moved forward in Harry's direction, squinting in the general direction of the Thestral. 'How about Rover?'

'That's what you call a dog, Ron,' sighed Hermione. 'How about Blackie, they're supposed to be black aren't they?'

Harry considered this, but it was too close to Black, which of course reminded him of Sirius. 'I don't know, maybe Alex?' He wasn't sure where the name had come from, but it seemed somehow to suit the animal. The Thestral appeared to consider this, then snorted heavily, blowing Harry's hair around.

'Tha' looks like a yes to me, Harry,' laughed Hagrid.

Harry turned back to the Thestral. 'All right then Alex, it's nice to meet you. I'll come and visit again soon, ok?' Alex snorted again, then giving up on finding more meat, pulled his nose out of Harry's pocket and trotted back into the Forest.

'They're supposed to be really loyal to their friends, aren't they Hagrid?' said Hermione, finally giving up and smiling at him.

'Tha's right,' replied Hagrid as they went back inside and sat down again. 'Course, he'll do all the direction finding stuff tha' the rest o' the herd do, but if you bond with one in particular, he'll come and help out if yeh need him and give him a shout.'

The rest of the visit was rather more commonplace - they discussed how their lessons had been going, and what the prospects were like for winning the Quidditch Cup again. Eventually Hermione looked at her watch and said that they ought to be getting back to the castle.

'It'll be lunchtime soon, and then we'll need to start getting ready for the Ball,' she said.

Ron and Harry looked nervously at each other at the thought of what was in store for them tonight, but Hagrid just chuckled.

'Tha's alright, off yeh go then. I've got ter go and pick up Olympe soon anyway, she's goin' ter come along to 'elp keep an eye on you lot.'

He pushed them gently out of the door, and they trudged slowly back up. Hermione had gone back to the subject of Alex, and was telling them lots of little known facts about Thestrals, and Ron was trying to change the subject onto what was for lunch. Harry didn't say much over lunch, which was a light meal of cold meats and cheese, as there would be a Feast at the Ball. He was remembering how strange it had felt to be patting Alex - on the one hand, Thestrals inevitably reminded him of the terrible trip to the Ministry last year. On the other hand though, it was nice to have an animal of his own, who seemed to like him, and didn't mind about him being famous or anything.

Shortly after lunch, Hermione disappeared upstairs, telling them she had to start getting ready. Harry, Ron and Neville, who had joined them at lunch, sat around the common room chatting and playing Exploding Snap and Gobstones most of the afternoon. Eventually they decided they ought to start getting ready themselves, and self-consciously went upstairs, where they found Seamus and Dean starting to get ready as well. Ron looked a lot better than he had two years ago, with his elegant tailored dress robes, and Harry was very pleased he had talked him into accepting the present. He quickly pulled off his own robes and got the dress robes out of his trunk. He made a desperate effort to get his hair under control, which failed miserably. He then remembered the magical comb he had got for his birthday, and used that, which helped to some extent.

They checked their images in the mirror in the corner of the room, which made unhelpful suggestions about how they might improve their looks. Harry and Ron were wearing the robes they had bought in Diagon Alley; Harry's were black trimmed with dark green, and Ron's were dark blue trimmed with a paler blue. Neville was wearing plainly cut dark red robes. For a moment Harry thought Dean and Seamus had also done their shopping together - Seamus was wearing emerald green with a golden pattern threaded through them, and Dean was wearing almost identical robes with a silver pattern. However, the horrified looks they gave each other when they saw each others' robes told him this was just an accident. Harry and Neville stifled laughs, and Ron said, 'It's really true then, friends do start to look alike after a while!' He ducked to avoid the brush Seamus hurled at him, and they left the room, laughing.

Parvati and Lavender were waiting for them in the common room. Parvati was wearing bright scarlet robes with a frilly hem, and Lavender was wearing robes which shimmered purple and gold, with a large bow in her hair to match. They giggled madly when they caught sight of Seamus and Dean as well. The boys shot each other looks that clearly said that they would be spending the Ball at opposite ends of the Great Hall, took their partners by the arm, and left the room.

'Where's Hermione and Ginny then?' said Ron, looking around at the rapidly emptying room. Just then, Harry spotted them coming down the stairs. Ginny was in front, wearing long dark green flowing robes, and the hair ribbon Luna had bought her, which was flashing alternatively green and red. She didn't seem too happy about it flashing red, as it clashed with her long flaming red hair. Harry found himself wishing Luna hadn't asked him to the Ball after all, then shook himself mentally, reminding himself that he had decided to avoid any emotional involvements that would put people in greater danger. He looked around, hoping Ron hadn't seen him goggling at his sister, but Ron was clearly speechless, transfixed by the sight of Hermione as she came down the stairs and smiled rather shyly at them. She was wearing mid blue robes of some floating material, and there were golden sparkles flying over the surface of the robes and occasionally flowing off the bottom of them to lie behind her like a trail of stars, before slowly disappearing. The robes were very thin and sleeveless, and she had draped the scarf Ron had given her over her shoulders. She had clearly been using the Sleekeazy's Hair Potion again, as her hair was up in the intricate style she had used two years ago.

'Wow, Hermione, you look great!' said Harry. 'And so do you, Ginny!' he added hastily, as she looked rather crestfallen. Neville was goggling at Ginny in much the same way that Ron was goggling at Hermione. The girls took their escorts by the arms, and left through the portrait hole. Harry followed them down to the Great Hall, where Luna had agreed to wait for him. He suddenly wondered whether she would be wearing something eccentric, like robes with carrots on them or some equally unusual style. When he walked into the Hall though, he immediately spotted her. She was wearing perfectly ordinary robes with long flowing sleeves, in the exact shade of dark green his robes were trimmed in. He rather suspected Hermione had been giving her inside information. He walked towards her, suddenly very conscious of his feet, and trying not to trip over them. The others had all disappeared, so he smiled nervously and took her arm.

'Hello Luna, you look lovely,' he said. 'Shall we go inside?' They entered the Great Hall and stopped to look at the decorations. The Hall had been transformed since that morning. The House tables had all disappeared, to be replaced with many smaller tables, much like the Yule Ball of his fourth year. The walls were covered with balloons and streamers, many of which seemed to be enchanted to fly around the room and change positions unexpectedly. The ceiling was ablaze with stars, and a light magical snow was falling, which melted away just before touching anything. Where the teachers' table usually stood was a large stage, and a group of witches and wizards were standing there tuning instruments. Harry wasn't sure, but it looked like Professor Dumbledore had hired the Weird Sisters once again. Over to one side, he saw Hagrid waving excitedly at him, dressed in his horrible hairy suit. Next to him stood Madam Maxime in what looked like a large yellow silk tent. The pair dwarfed everybody in the room, of course. Harry saw Malfoy, dressed in the same high collared black robes as last year, walking past with a giggling Pansy Parkinson on his arm, dressed in vivid turquoise frilly robes, and ducked away before he could be seen. He didn't want to start the Ball with a fight with Malfoy.

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat, and the Hall magically fell silent. 'Welcome everybody, to our New Year's Ball. And without any more interruptions, let us start the dancing!'

The band struck up a lively tune, and couples started moving onto the dance floor. Luna had said she didn't like dancing much, but she seemed to be looking hopefully in that direction. Harry still felt guilty over refusing to dance with Parvati at the previous Ball, so he asked Luna if she wanted to dance.

'Oh, I don't mind, why not?' she said dreamily, and pulled him onto the floor. It wasn't as bad as last time anyway, Harry thought, as he moved uncertainly around. A faster dance meant he could move a bit more, rather than revolving on the spot, and of course the spotlight wasn't on him this time. All the same, he was quite relieved when the music came to an end, and suggested they sit down and have a drink. Ron seemed to have got over his dislike of dancing, and seemed quite content to hug Hermione and be steered around the hall by her, his face a flaming red. Harry and Luna sat down, and were soon joined by Dean and Lavender. Harry and Dean were soon deep in a discussion of Quidditch, and it was some time before Harry noticed Lavender and Luna were not talking much to each other. He realised that they probably didn't have much in common, and tried to think of something else to talk about.

'Did you have a nice Christmas, Lavender?' he asked inanely. She seemed pleased by his attention, and embarked on a long tale of what her and her cousin had got up to at a Muggle pub on Christmas Eve, which seemed to involve a lot of giggling. Luckily, he was able to just nod and smile in the pauses, and let his mind wander. He looked out over the dance floor. In the opposite corner Seamus was dancing with Parvati, and Neville seemed to be almost glued to Ginny nearby. Harry looked around for Ron, expecting him to be scowling at Neville, but Ron seemed much too busy dancing with Hermione. They didn't appear to have sat down yet, although it looked like Hermione was getting a bit tired of trying to control Ron's wild dancing technique. Harry listened to the talk at his table with half an ear, most of his attention on Neville and Ginny. He suddenly felt that it was time he danced with her, as he had after all promised.

'Erm, would you like to dance again, Luna?' he asked her, trying not to look at Neville anymore.

'Alright, that would be nice', she said, and they got up and went back out to the dance floor. Hagrid and Madam Maxime were now dancing as well, and they passed Professor Dumbledore twirling Professor Sinistra around the floor. Harry was rather proud of himself managing to steer Luna in the right direction, and he managed to finish up next to Ginny at the end of the dance.

'Would you like to have that dance now, if it's alright with Neville and Luna?' he asked her, trying to sound casual and not as if he had a sudden desire to stomp on Neville's feet. She blushed, and agreed to the swap. Neville and Luna moved away, and Harry, suddenly blushing as well, reached out and took Ginny's hand. She looked stunning, with the green robes setting off her eyes and complementing her fiery hair. Her cheeks were flushed from the dancing, and he suddenly wondered whether he should have waited for his dance until midnight. Then the band struck up the next tune, and Harry realised to his horror that it was a slow romantic dance. It was too late though - Ginny was already snuggled tightly into his arms, a blissful smile on her face. He had just enough time to wonder what Ron was going to do to him when he saw them, and then the music swept him away.