Harry Potter and the Ruby of Karda

Chapter 5: The Guardian of the Ruby of Karda

The next few days flew by. The fifth years quickly discovered they had no free time at all. When Prof. McGonagall was not lecturing them about how important their O.W.L.s were, she piled on additional homework. Hermione was already working feverishly, creating long study schedules when she was not reading up on arcane potions, something she wanted to do before she started her apprenticeship.

“You know that no matter how much you study, Snape’s just going to favor the Slytherins, don’t you?”, Ron asked, looking in disbelief at the size of the book Hermione was poring over.

“I just want to be prepared – you know that Snape will look for any chance to take points off Gryffindor.”, Hermione countered, and Harry had to agree that she had a point there. He himself was intensely relieved he didn’t have a Potions apprenticeship. He was almost as busy as Hermione though. Quidditch practice was four times a week, Angelina was determined that they would win the Quidditch Cup this year too, so practice was brutal. She was also very worried that they were still short a Keeper. Still, Quidditch trials were the coming weekend, and Harry knew that many Gryffindors wanted to try out.

It was Wednesday evening. They were sitting in the Gryffindor common room; Hermione had taken a break from “Almost Forgotten Potions and How to Brew Them” and had switched back to “Famous Dark Witches and Wizards of the 20^th Century” for light reading. She looked highly engrossed in her book. Ron was chatting intently to Seamus, Dean and Neville; they were making plans for their first trick against Fred and George. Harry had joined that discussion for a little bit, it was fun to think of tricks to play against the twins, even though he had his doubts they were going to be able to pull it off. Fred and George were experienced pranksters, it was going to be hard to trick them. Finally though, he had to turn and work on his Divination homework.

Harry was in the middle of reading “Unfogging the Future, Year 5” when he heard voices raised in anger. He looked up – it was from a group of first years sitting near the fire. They were all looking at Priya Manohar furiously, and one of the girls, Penny Young even had her wand out. “Go back to wherever you came from”, she said, her voice hostile, “You don’t belong in Gryffindor; you were just put here because no one knew what to do with you.”

“Yes, do leave.”, echoed a tall boy standing next to Penny. Harry thought his name was Bill Harris. “You’re not doing us any favors by being here, that’s for certain.”

Harry shot a look at Priya. She usually looked very calm, but she was looking very upset. She was pale, and she had a hunted look in her eyes. But she didn’t say anything at all. Hermione had lowered her book at the disturbance, and she shook her head. “I was afraid this might happen”, she said quietly.

“Afraid what might happen?”, Harry wanted to know.

“I heard Priya Manohar lost some points in Potions today – you know how Snape is, don’t you? But I heard she was the only Gryffindor he picked on. So finally, she said something to him, wanted to know why she was being picked on, and before anyone knew what was going on, she’d got Detention and lost 20 points for Gryffindor.”

“So what?”, Ron asked, looking up. “We have lost hundreds of points in Potions, it never caused a reaction like this.”

“Yes, well, some of the first years feel that since she wasn’t really Sorted into Gryffindor, its rather unfair when she loses points for them.”

“That’s ridiculous.”, Harry said. “She’s in Gryffindor – Prof. Dumbledore put her there.”

Parvati had heard the disturbance too, she got up, and went over to the group of first-years. “That’s enough, don’t you think?”, she said to the crowd of angry first-years. “Quiet down.”

But before anyone could say anymore, Priya spun around, and ran out of the common room. As she passed them, Harry and Ron could see that her face was streaked with tears. They looked at each other uncomfortably as Hermione got up to follow her out. “I better go see if she’s ok”, she said. “It doesn’t look like she has too many friends in Gryffindor.”

That was an understatement, Harry thought. The first years were still looking angry, and Dean Thomas had walked over to talk to them sternly. Dean had been made the other Prefect. Harry had wondered why Hermione hadn’t been made one, but she wouldn’t discuss it when he had asked her. He suspected that Hermione didn’t want to miss out on the trio’s adventures, and had therefore refused the position. But so far, Dean and Parvati had made excellent Prefects. Even though Parvati clearly didn’t trust either Prof. Manohar or her daughter, she had still tried to stop the First Years from quarrelling with Priya. And from what he could hear, Dean was giving the First Years a stiff talking to about how Gryffindors were expected to behave, and how they had failed to uphold that.

“I am appalled…”, Dean finished, and the First Years finally sat back down. They were still looking resentful though.

“Dean should take points off them…”, Ginny remarked as she walked over to where Harry and Ron were sitting. “I can’t believe how hateful they are acting. More like slimy Slytherins than Gryffindors, if you ask me.”

Harry had only caught glimpses of Ginny all week, she looked exhausted, he thought. “Potions!”, Ginny remarked bitterly, answering Harry’s unspoken question. “I blew up a cauldron when I was brewing an Engorgement Potion, and Snape gave me Detention. Filch had me clean all the third floor corridors – without magic!”

Ron looked sympathetic. “Tomorrow evening’s our first Apprenticeship”, he remarked. “Hermione’s got Potions. She’s been cramming all evening for it.”

“Won’t make any difference”, Ginny said gloomily. “I swear Snape is even more horrible this year.”

Harry was about to say something, when the Portrait Hole swung open. Prof. McGonagall stepped in, and she looked absolutely livid.

“I’ve just heard something that makes me ashamed of all of you”, she said, glaring at them all. “I met Miss. Manohar in the hall; she was talking to Miss. Granger. And do you know what I overheard?” Her voice was icy. “I hear that some of you have taken it upon yourselves to decide that Miss. Manohar should not be in Gryffindor. Why, do you ask? Because the Sorting Hat couldn’t Sort her? Do you think that you know better than Prof. Dumbledore?”

“I’m going to explain something which will hopefully put rest to all this”, she continued. “There is a lot of speculation about why Miss. Manohar could not be Sorted. I have heard theories that she is a Squib, a Muggle, and even an agent of the Dark Lord! And of course, none of this is even close to the truth.”

She took a deep breath, and said quietly, “As you know, Miss. Manohar is from India, and lived there till this year. But you don’t know any more about her, and with good reason. I’m going to just say this – Miss. Manohar is a witch with enormous abilities that she has inherited from her family. She is the Guardian of an ancient Indian artifact known as the Ruby of Karda, and her powers come from the Ruby. Prof. Dumbledore believes, and I agree with him, that Miss. Manohar could not be Sorted because the magic of the Ruby interfered with the magic of the Sorting Hat. And we used our best judgement when we put her in Gryffindor.”

“That’s the end of the topic. I don’t want to hear any further discussion about Miss. Manohar’s powers, or about how she doesn’t belong here. Miss. Young and Mr. Harris, Detention for both of you, and you lose 30 points each for Gryffindor. The rest of the First Years, I have never been more ashamed of a new class than today. I will not tolerate hostility directed at any student. Is that clear?”

She glared at them all, and swept out of the common room.

…

It was breakfast the next day, and the news about Priya Manohar dominated the conversation at the various House tables. Harry had no idea how the news had spread to the other Houses, but it had, and no one could talk about anything else. Priya hadn’t returned to the common room last night, and she hadn’t come down to breakfast. Hermione was at breakfast though, and she listened with great interest to what Prof. McGonagall had said. “I had no idea she’d overheard us”, she said. “But I’m glad. I was trying to convince Priya to report them, but she didn’t want to. It’s a pity she is being targeted like this – she seemed like a nice enough kid.”

The conversation turned to discussions of the Ruby. “It must be something really powerful and dangerous.”, Ron remarked. “Prof. Trelawney warned us about it, do you remember? Maybe it was a bad idea to let someone that powerful study at Hogwarts…”

Hermione snorted. “Prof. Trelawney is a quack.”, she said. “I honestly believe that if Prof. Dumbledore and Prof. McGonagall aren’t worried about her, neither should we.”

“And Prof. Trelawney really only warned us about Prof. Manohar”, Harry said thoughtfully. “But it sounds like Priya is the one with all the power.”

They discussed it a little while more, but the owls swooping in to deliver letters distracted them. Harry had a letter from Hagrid, inviting him, Ron and Hermione to tea on Sunday, he accepted readily. After that, they all had to rush off to Transfiguration. Prof. McGonagall looked disapprovingly at them as they trailed in, they were a few minutes late, and she looked annoyed. They took their seats quickly, and she started.

“Today, we are going to talk about changing people into animals. Can anyone tell me what makes someone an Animagus? If I turn Mr. Weasley there into a raven, for example, would he be an Animagus?”

Harry raised his hand, he actually knew this one, and of course, Hermione’s hand was raised too. “Yes, Mr.Potter?”

“An Animagus can turn himself or herself into an animal”, he said. “Most wizards and witches can change other people into animals, only an Animagus can change himself.”

“Good. A point for Gryffindor.”, Prof. McGonagall said. “Now, I am going to show you how to change someone into a raven. Watch closely. Miss. Granger, how about you?” Saying that, she took out her wand, aimed it at a bemused Hermione and uttered a spell. A jet black raven stood where Hermione had been. She quickly changed Hermione back, and divided them up into pairs to practice. “Don’t worry”, she said, as they looked apprehensive. “I am right here to correct the effects of any unfortunate transfigurations.”

That didn’t reassure Harry at all. Thankfully, Ron was his partner, but he felt sorry for Hermione, who was partnering Neville. Neville looked extremely nervous, Harry could tell he wasn’t looking forward to try and change Hermione to anything.

The results of their attempts at Transfiguration were hilarious, though. Ron’s first attempt had given Harry a beak instead of a nose, but that was it. Harry’s own attempt wasn’t much better, Ron looked unchanged, but could only crow, he couldn’t talk. Neville had really concentrated though, and he had done better than both Harry and Ron, he had transfigured Hermione’s hands into wings, so she couldn’t even attempt to Transfigure Neville. Around the room, strange effects had resulted. Seamus had partnered with Dean, and was covered with black feathers as a result. Dean was just as badly off, he was standing on claws instead of feat. Lavender and Parvati had not made any headway at all, Harry suspected they were nervous about the results and hadn’t tried very hard. Prof. McGonagall looked like she was trying not to laugh, her lips were twitching, as she quickly waved her wand, correcting their mishaps.

“Read up on the theory of Transfiguring someone into an animal as Homework”, she said, “and practice turning a mouse into a raven. Mr. Filch has a supply of mice you can practice on. And remember, no practicing on your classmates.”

After what they agreed was an excellent Transfiguration class, they made their way to their first Herbology class of the year. Prof. Sprout looked cheerful, she was chatting animatedly with the Hufflepuffs who where there waiting for them.

“Good morning”, she said briskly. “We have a lot to learn this year, so let’s get going. We are going to be working in Greenhouse 4 today.”

Harry had never even heard of a fourth greenhouse, evidently neither had anyone else. Neville bravely asked about it. “It is new”, Prof. Sprout said, “we built it over the holidays. Prof. Manohar brought us some seedlings, we now have several rare plants from India housed there, as well as some very dangerous plants that some of the other teachers here have found in their travels. Harry exchanged glances with Ron and Hermione. He had a feeling that Hagrid had contributed, he must have found many unusual plants in his travels up North to visit the giants over the summer.

They quickly got to work. Prof. Sprout was teaching them about a plant that was prized in India, the tulsi. “Some strains of it are available everywhere”, she said, “We know it as Basil. But the Indian Wizards and Witches grow a strain of it that is one of the most powerful restoratives I’ve ever seen. Prof. Snape and I have been working on discovering what we can do with it. We have brewed several powerful potions that cure a variety of magical conditions. Very exciting work – and those of you who are doing Herbology Apprenticeships will be helping us with this. However, today, we are going to attempt to create a more powerful restorative than either mandrakes or tulsi by grafting tulsi onto a mandrake plant. Earmuffs on, please.”

They put the earmuffs on, and got to work. Prof. Sprout showed them how to make a cut in the Mandrake plants, and graft the tulsi onto them. It was tiring work; the tulsi plant was very delicate and had to be treated extremely carefully. Harry’s plant wilted under rough handling, Prof. Sprout looked displeased, but she gave him another. They were all glad when the class was over, and it was time for lunch.

The fifth years were both excited and apprehensive at lunch, for after lunch, they would go to their first apprenticeship. Hermione was looking extremely nervous, they could tell she wasn’t looking forward to spending the next four hours in the Potions dungeon. Fred and George had only looked gloomy when she asked them how it was; their apprenticeship had been that morning. Ron wasn’t looking forward to Divination either; ‘I’ll only fall asleep, then she’d be all mad at me”, he said, not looking happy at all. Harry was excited though. If his Transfiguration apprenticeship was anything like his class that morning, he would have nothing to complain about.

In the end, though, his Transfiguration apprenticeship was uneventful. Prof. McGonagall discussed the theory of the Animagus Transformation with them, and had them read up on it. Harry hoped that she would want them to learn to become Animagi, but she gave no hint of it. Ron had actually fallen asleep in Divination, but luckily for him, Prof. Trelawney hadn’t noticed. Hermione returned from Potions looking rather worried. “What, did Snape not give you enough homework?”, Ron remarked sarcastically. But she wouldn’t talk about her Apprenticeship at all.

…

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, and as Harry made his way down for breakfast, he noticed happily that many of the Gryffindors seemed to be up and intent on trying out for the spot of Keeper. He made his way onto the Quidditch field, where the rest of the team was waiting for him. “About time”, Fred remarked. “We were wondering where you were.” Angelina quickly explained how the trials would work. “Let’s try them out by year”, she said – “the higher years first. I have about thirty people wanting to try out; but I think we might have more people showing up. We three Chasers will just try to get the ball past whoever is Keeping. I want Fred, George and Harry to watch the Keepers carefully, and note down who you should think goes on the team. Madame Hooch is here too, and she said she’d keep an eye out for us. We can all compare notes afterwards.”

The trials started up. Madame Hooch thought that each of the people trying out should get at least a 10 minute trial, so Harry could see that they would be on the Quidditch field for most of the morning. Normally, he wouldn’t have had a problem with that, but they had decided last night to play their first trick on Fred and George today. Prof. McGonagall’s class had inspired them; they were going to Transfigure the twins’ robes into feather-covered ones. Hermione had done some research and found out how to add a delay into the Transfiguration spell, so Ron, Harry and Hermione had sneaked into the twin’s dorm room and Transfigured all the robes they found. They refused to let Seamus, Dean and Neville come too – figuring if someone got in trouble, it should be them.

Harry had assumed that by the time the spell took effect; the twins would be back in the Gryffindor Common Room, but if the Trials took a long time, the spell could actually take effect on the Quidditch field. Harry quickly flew over to where Ron was sitting and told him. “All the better”, Ron said cheerfully, “the more people that see Fred and George covered with feathers, the better it will be!”. He didn’t appear too troubled at the thought they might get caught, so Harry just went back to where Fred and George were watching the trials.

Only one Seventh year had wanted to try out, the twin’s friend, Lee Jordon. Harry didn’t know the four Sixth years at all, but it seemed like most of his friends were trying out. Ron had been practicing all week in his spare time, as had Seamus and Dean. Neville had never really overcome his fear of flying, but he had shown up to watch, he sat chatting animatedly to Hermione, Parvati and Lavender. In the Fourth Year, Ginny was trying out, and some of her friends had shown up to yell encouragement. There were a few other Fourth Years trying out too, as well as a bunch of Third Years. Harry also noticed a couple of Second Years, who were looking very serious and intent. He smiled to himself. The younger years took Quidditch very seriously, and some Second Years had taken to coming and watching the team practice.

And then, out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed a girl sitting quietly in the stands. It was Priya Manohar. He hadn’t seen her since the big outburst in the Common Room. She was looking her usual self today, very calm and quiet. Good for her to get out of the Castle once a while, Harry thought to himself. Its hard to stay upset on such a nice day.

Lee Jordon was good on a broomstick, but he still missed several Quaffles. The faster the Chasers seemed to fly, the more Quaffles he would let through. Harry wrote that down carefully on a piece of parchment. The twins agreed, Lee was obviously a better Commentator than Keeper.

The four Sixth years went next. One of them, Katrina Kelp blocked almost all the Quaffles directed at her, but she kept leaving the Keeper’s zone, and after noticing that, Angelina started to feint a throw to draw her out, and then scored. “And if we see it, so will the Slytherins”, Fred said grimly. However, none of the other Sixth years were anything as good as she was. Seamus went next, and after him, Ron. They were both good, but Harry could see that their reactions were rather slow. They could be easily fooled on faster broomsticks. The trials weren’t going well so far. It was looking like it would be hard work to find a new Keeper.

Angelina called a break, and landed on the ground. “What do you think?”, she asked the twins and Harry. “So far, the Kelp girl.”, George commented. “Maybe she could learn not to leave the zone so often.”

Harry had to agree. He would have loved it if Ron got a spot on the team, but Katrina Kelp was better. She hadn’t been bothered by how fast the Chasers flew at all. “But nobody is looking anywhere as good as Wood was”, he remarked.

Alicia and Katie nodded. They looked rather discouraged. “Let’s keep going, we still have the Fourth, Third and Second years to go through.”, Alicia suggested.

And they kept going. Ginny did a credible job, but she got distracted by her friends in the crowd. Harry shook his head. If she couldn’t keep her head in a trial, chances were good that she couldn’t play a game without getting distracted by the crowds.

None of the Third years were any good, and neither were the Second years. Angelina called another break, and landed. The team huddled together. “Katrina Kelp, then?”, Angelina asked, rather reluctantly. “Seems like that’s our best option…” Katie agreed, but she didn’t look happy about it either. Just then, Madame Hooch walked over and interrupted them.

“That First Year girl wants to try out”, she said. “A First Year? Which one?”, Angelina asked skeptically. She looked rather impatiently at her watch. “Ok, let’s get her over with quickly.”

Harry had in the meanwhile glanced around to see who Madame Hooch was talking about. The only first year there was Priya Manohar. “Priya Manohar?”, he asked. “I don’t even think she knows how to play, she’s lived in India her whole life. She’ll just waste our time.” That seemed cruel, Harry realized, but he was anxious for them to get back to the Common Room before Fred and George sprouted feathers.

“We have to let her try out”, Katie pointed out reasonably, which just made Harry seem churlish. They flew up as Priya took her position guarding the hoops.

There was no question about it, Priya was by far the best Keeper they had seen all day, and in fact, the best Keeper they had seen in a long time. She made the old Cleansweep 7 school broom she was flying look like a Firebolt as she weaved in and out of the hoops, stopping anything the Chasers were throwing at her. Everyone in the stands watched in astonishment as she laughed out of sheer exiliration as she stopped the Quaffles. Near him, Harry could feel the awe Fred and George felt. She seemed to have fused with her broom, and she rode it like it were an extension of herself. The trial went on, she hadn’t let a single Quaffle through. Finally, Madame Hooch blew her whistle.

Angelina landed, and for a couple of moments, no one said anything as they struggled to digest what they had seen. A small, quiet girl, her hair in two fat pigtails, had single handledly stopped anything the three Chasers had thrown at her, and she had done it without breaking a sweat. Finally, Alicia broke the silence. “I think we have a Keeper.”, she said. “I don’t think I have ever seen anyone fly as well as that.”

And so Priya was the new Gryffindor Keeper. As Ron, Hermione and Harry walked back to the Common Room, Ron was talking admiringly about Priya’s performance. It seemed like he could talk about nothing else, and neither could any one else. But strangely, Harry wasn’t very happy at all. He was very jealous of the attention Priya was getting. Everyone seemed to think that Priya was the best they had ever seen; no one seemed to remember Harry, and his many heroic captures of the Snitch. Harry was conscious of a great sinking feeling in his stomach. What if he was no longer good at Quidditch? It was the only thing he was good at, and famous for all by himself. Everyone knew him because of his scar and You-Know-Who, but Harry was proud of the fact that he was more than a famous name. What if that wasn’t true any more?

With all this going through his head, Harry wasn’t in very good a mood by the time they got back to the Common Room. He settled down quietly in a corner, not talking to Ron or Hermione, pretending to do his Potions homework. He was not even very amused when, as the clock struck 2.00, Fred and George were, with a bang, spectacularly covered with feathers. The rest of the Common Room erupted in laughter as Fred and George stared in astonishment at each other. Ron had borrowed Colin Creevey’s camera for the occasion, and he took several photos of the twins, tears of mirth rolling down his face as he did so. Fred’s clothes had transfigured to a covering of bright yellow feathers, he looked rather like a chicken. And George who had a bright green and pink covering, just looked very colorful. More laughter resulted as the twins, turning a bright red, ran up to their dorms to change, and found all their robes transfigured in a similar manner. Finally, Lee, laughing really hard, helped them Transfigure them back, but he didn’t do a very good job his first try, they changed back to normal robes, but stayed the same bright colors. It took over a quarter of an hour for the twins to successfully Transfigure their clothes back, by which time they figured that Ron and Hermione were responsible for the prank. “Good job!”, they grinned approvingly, “but you do realize we have to get back at you…” And with that, war had been declared.