It's The Great Pumpkin, Harry Potter!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Harry Potter (04)

Chapter Four: The Gifts of the Pumpkin

The Gryffindor Common Room
Midnight (Halloween)

Harry drew his wand, preparing to blast the pumpkin to smithereens when he felt Hermione's hand on his, pulling his wand down. "Harry, this is Hogwarts," she said in a reasonable voice. "I doubt if You-Know-Who will be dumb enough to try to pull a stunt like that ... besides, what would he know about The Great Pumpkin?"

Harry looked at her oddly, but decided to let it go. He still kept his wand ready, however, as The Great Scarred Pumpkin (as he called it in his mind) flew majestically towards them. As it approached, their window opened (apparently magically), and the pumpkin flew in to hover a few feet above the floor of the Common Room.

The four friends stared at the pumpkin and glanced nervously at each other, none of them willing to make a move.

"Step back, guys!" Harry finally said, breaking the sudden silence. "Get behind something ... if this thing blows ..."

As Ron and Ginny huddled behind a large couch, he stepped forward - only to be stopped by Hermione. "Harry," she said in a quavering voice, "if there's something in it ..."

They stared at each other for a long moment ... and with a sudden resolution, both stepped forward and tapped the pumpkin with their wands, all the while prepared to drop to the floor (Harry positioning himself to cover her, just in case.)

Nothing happened.

The two looked at each other again, an unspoken conversation taking place through their eyes ... with a nod, Harry grabbed the top of the pumpkin and pulled it out, at the same time, lunging towards Hermione and throwing her to the floor, with his body covering her.

Nothing.

After a few seconds, Ron spoke up from behind a couch, "Harry? You can stop shagging Hermione ... I don't think it's gonna blow."

A suddenly flushed Harry Potter and a furiously blushing Hermione Granger picked themselves up off the floor. They gathered around the pumpkin ... and suddenly gasped.

Inside the pumpkin, a foot-high troll doll lay, clutching a club in one hand and ... a small House Cup in the other. As Harry pulled it out, he saw, to his surprise, that the House Cup was accurate in all respects - down to the plaque which had the words, "Gryffindor House, 1991" on it. Harry stared at it for a long moment, and silently handed it to Hermione, who was looking at it in shock.

Ginny, who had stepped up to the pumpkin, looked inside - and shrieked, jumping away from the still-floating pumpkin. Ron, who was opposite her, also took a look and, with a laugh, pulled out a long, green toy serpent wrapped around a picture frame. He silently unwound the snake from the frame - and with a huge grin lighting up his face, handed the picture to Harry.

Harry took one look at the picture - and blushed as deeply as the hair on the Weasleys heads. Ginny, who had recovered from her initial fright at seeing what she thought was a baby basilisk, grabbed the picture from Harry before he could protest. One look ... she passed the picture of Harry and Hermione hugging each other in the Great Hall to Hermione - whose blush now rivaled that of Harry Potter.

Ron, in his turn, took a look -- and pulled out three rather large, fluffy toys: a silver stag, a great black dog, and a hippogriff. Silently, he placed the toys on the table ... a pensive mood suddenly overtaking him as he looked up at Harry and Hermione. Ginny stared at the three, wondering yet again at the experiences and secrets that they shared.

Since none of them were moving, she glanced at the pumpkin -- and noticed that flames had appeared in the opening. Looking inside, she pulled out a large goblet with a red flame flickering on top ... she recognized it at once - the Goblet of Fire. With shaking hands, she carefully placed it on the table beside the other gifts.

At that moment, the flames in the Goblet turned green, casting an eerie, flickering light over the Common Room and the faces of the assembled Gryffindors ... but then, the flame flickered out, leaving in its place a rolled up parchment.

Shaken, Harry opened the parchment and started reading. He sighed, rolled the parchment up, and dropped it on the table. With a longing glance at Hermione, he slumped in a chair and covered his face with his hands. Before either of the girls could make a move, Ron snatched the parchment up - and began reading it out loud:

"Halloween 1995

Dear Harry,

The gifts of the Pumpkin are often shrouded in doubt. I imagine that you think the "gifts" given you these past few years have caused nothing but pain for you and your friends.

Know now, Harry Potter, that even the Great Pumpkin has no control over your destiny. All that has happened in the past came about not through the intervention of the Great Pumpkin, but in spite of it. That you have done well is only a mere indication of the strength and courage that lies within your heart.

Follow your heart, Harry Potter. Doing so in the past has always led to good things for you and your friends; do not allow a temporary setback to make you doubt the urgings of your heart.

Follow your heart, Harry Potter - especially now when you confront a question that lies close to your own heart and soul.

There is a time to follow your head ... but there are times to follow your heart.

Never try to treat love as an examination you can prepare for. Whatever preparation one makes cannot take into account everything that may happen. And don't try to reduce love to an intellectual exercise. In the end, feeling -- an intangible something -- actually defines it for us.

Treat love as an adventure. Nobody wants to be hurt ... no one walks in with eyes closed ... everyone wants to be sure of oneself. But how can we ever be sure unless we try?

Love is one of those intangible, undeniable things that happen -- unavoidable, except by choice.

But then ... who does not make the choice to try?

At the same time, keep in mind that sometimes, the love you hold for a person can never be realized in the usual ways. At the moment of realization, it begins to change ... away from selfishness to one of truly caring without the need for any actual return.

Love is never lost."

Ron looked at the Harry and the two girls. "It's not signed," he said, as he quietly placed the letter on the table beside the toys.

Silence greeted him. All their eyes were glazed, unfocused ... their thoughts turned within as they contemplated the words from The Great Pumpkin.