Harry Potter and The Crestfallen Star

    The next few weeks passed swiftly by, causing much discomfort to Harry and The Order. Before long, the day of the party arrived and Ron was, unsuccessfully, trying to help.

     “You know, Harry, it’s not too late to back out now. I mean, Dumbledore probably wouldn’t mind, and if he does, just fake sick; Fred and George probably have something they could-”

     “No thanks.”

     “Well you could--”

     “I’m going, Ron,” he said, as he pulled on his dress robe.

    Harry glanced in the mirror before someone knocked on the door, prompting the boys to run down the stairs and answer it. Tonks and Gabriel stood there, she in her maroon dress robe, and Gabriel in his normal black cloak.

    “Hello, Harry!” said Tonks, stepping inside. Gabriel quietly followed.

     Harry nodded in response, “Tonks. Gabriel.”

     They made their way toward the kitchen and, spotting a plate of biscuits on the counter, Tonks asked, “May I?”

     “Have one,” waved Harry.

     She sat down and began to eat, conversing in between bites.

     “I didn‘t realize how hungry I was! Between getting things together at the Ministry and preparing for the party, I haven’t been able to get a nibble in all day.”

Eventually, Ron got caught up in the chat and began to snack as well. Before long, they all sat around, talking, and forgetting their troubles.

     “Harry?”

     “Yeah, Ron?”

     “Shouldn’t you be getting to the party?”

    At that moment, Harry felt a huge weight drop in the pit of his stomach.

     “I suppose we should,” said Tonks, getting up and straightening out her robe.

     Harry scooted to the edge of his seat as Gabriel pulled out his wand in order to perform the incantation.

     “Dumbledore said it vould be best if you stood.”

    Upon standing, Harry felt the cool tip of Gabriel’s wand gently tap his forehead. Instantly, his body began to transform. He could feel his legs shortening, his face reshaping itself, and slowly his vision began to fade into a blur. Ron sat, wide-eyed with astonishment, as Harry removed the now-useless glasses and looked at his reflection.

     “It is like looking in a mirror, no?” said Gabriel.

    Harry had to admit, he was completely taken aback by his new appearance. Every last detail of Gabriel was brilliantly duplicated.

    Tonks was impressed, “That’s almost better than any Metamorphmagus can do.”

     “How long will the spell last?” asked Harry.

     “Apparently it does not stop until I perform zee counter-curse.”

    Just then, Hedwig flew into the conference, discarding a letter and landing faithfully on Harry’s shoulder.

     “How is it that Hedwig recognizes you?” inquired Ron.

     “I don’t know,” shrugged Harry, “maybe the spell doesn‘t affect animals.”

     Tonks wasn‘t listening, seeing as she was more concerned with the letter they‘d just received.           “It’s from Moody. We should go.”

     Harry petted Hedwig appreciatively and made toward the living room.

     “See you later. And try not to be seen tonight Gabriel.” He knew this wouldn’t be much of a problem upon seeing Ron pull out his chess set. Strolling into the living room, he watched as Tonks disappeared into the fireplace. Following, he stepped up to the flames, threw in the Floo powder, and stated, “21 Luvar Square, Remington Ave.”

    When he emerged on the other side, Harry couldn’t help gazing with wonder at the Rehynold’s residence. The brilliantly lit room was covered in decorations, and the ceiling was magically elongated so that it seemed to go on forever.

     “Éclair, Harry?” asked Tonks as a floating food tray glided past.

     He’d only managed to shake his head when she grabbed his arm and began pulling him through the sea of people. Wizards and witches of all nationalities and social rank passed by, while Tonks continued to shoo them to their destination. Suddenly a man’s voice called out and they wheeled around, so fast that Harry had to grab a hold of Tonks arm in order to keep balance.

     “Nymphadora, what a pleasant surprise,” said a small, heavily bearded wizard, “I didn’t know you were coming.”

     “Hello, Jasper,” said Tonks, shaking his hand; Harry noted the slight irritation in her voice, most likely because of the use of her first name.

    “And who may I ask are you, sir?” asked Jasper, suspiciously eyeing Harry.

     “What? Oh, yes, I’m Ha-Gabriel Mercöut,” said Harry.

     “Yes, well, nice to meet you,” remarked Jasper, shaking his hand, and then turning back to Tonks.

     “So have you heard of the Wizengamot’s problem wi-”

    Harry took this opportunity to mentally slip away from the conversation and look around. Some people stood around chatting, while others danced away to the sound of the jazz band. He watched as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley whizzed past; finally knowing where Fred and George had inherited their dancing abilities. He watched, amused for a while, before a familiar, pale, pointed face caught his attention. Draco Malfoy and his companion had just arrived at the party. He knew this was only going to make the evening worse, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw next. The woman standing alongside Draco was none other than Cho Chang. At once, old feelings of loathe and jealously hit him and just as he began to move, Jasper’s voice cut right into his thoughts.

     “Oh dear, Tonks, I’m terribly sorry! I’m afraid that I’m ruining your evening with all this ministry talk. Your poor date looks like he’s about ready to jink himself sick!”

     “Jasper, it’s inevitable at these gatherings! Plus, Gabriel’s not my date, he’s just a friend visiting from France.”

     “France! How wonderful! Me and my family went on a holiday there and we loved it! Say, Gabriel, De quelle partie de France vous sont-ils? Strasbourg? Nantes? Paris?”

    Harry felt his cheeks start to heat up, the only French words he knew were Bonjour, aimer, and l'ananas, two of which he didn’t even know what they meant.     

     “Er- l’ana-”

     “Hello Jasper, Tonks, Gabriel,” interrupted Kingsley, who had just walked over.

     Harry looked up at Kingsley with the deepest gratitude, causing Tonks to snort with laughter.

     “Kingsley, it’s been ages since I’ve seen you,” started Jasper.

    Collecting herself, Tonks rolled her eyes at Jasper when someone yelled out, “The Minister is here!”

     Almost simultaneously, the band ceased to play and a thousand whispers broke out among the crowd, as someone hastily shoved their way through the crowd. Finally reaching the stage, Eugene Rehynols, a tiny, squirrelly man, jumped onto it and wiped the sweat off his brow.

     “Well, hello everyone! I’m delighted to see you all here. Now, with all the drinks and the music, I’m hoping we haven’t forgotten whom this party is for. After everything many of us, as long time ministry workers, have been through, it’ll be a breath of fresh air to welcome a new leader. So it is my pleasure to introduce you to your new minister, Adrius Hadley!

     The room fell silent as a tall man with glasses and greying hair took centre stage. He stood for a moment, staring at them all, before beginning his speech.

     “Breath of fresh air, I like that. Thank you Eugene.”

     Harry saw Eugene smile, and listening to this man speak somehow made him feel eleven years old again, sitting at Hogwarts for the first time….

     “It really is quite sad what happened to Cornelius,” whispered Jasper, snapping him out of his memory.

    Annoyed, Harry could no longer stand this party, “I’ve got to get out of here,” he thought.

    Glancing at Kingsley, he said, “I’m going to the toilet,” fully intending to go anywhere but there. Passing the ice sculptures and revolving champagne pyramid, Harry searched around for the Weasleys, but instead came face to face with Draco and Cho. Harry didn’t like how Draco turned and looked about, as if sensing him, so he quickly crept behind the stairwell, only to stumble into a hidden room. Picking himself up and straightening his robe, he rubbed his eyes and looked around. A desk, cluttered with books and papers, stood in the middle of the room, and hanging on the walls were vintage portraits of muggle musicians. The room, Harry decided, was definitely Rehynol’s office, though he questioned the portraits. With a growing curiosity, he began to look at the various scribbled notes and scattered candy wrappers, when he felt the spine-tingling sense of being watched.

    “It’s time to get back to the party,” thought Harry, while pulling out his wand, when a strange glow caught his eye. Turning, he saw nothing but a giant portrait of Queen.

     “I definitely need to get more sleep,” he laughed. Suddenly the portrait beamed again and this time he was convinced it was real. Pointing his wand right at the band, he began to utter all the spells he knew; finally, upon saying “Alohomora”, a change happened. The portrait began to move outward, so much that Harry had to take a few steps back in order to avoid being hit, then the portrait dissolved, revealing the entrance to another room.

    Harry stepped forward into the dark hole and lit his wand. The cold room looked just like Rehynol’s office, except it was covered in cobwebs, making it appear as if it hadn’t been used in ages. Shivering, he turned and noticed a shelf full of books and broken shards of glass. Closer examination revealed that these shards of glass were actually smashed prophecies. Again, Harry felt the unnerving sensation that someone was spying on him. He searched around for the watchful eyes, but his attention was suddenly diverted to a small, brown box sitting amongst the shattered prophecies.

    He set his wand down, completely drawn to this little box, completely engulfed in the thought of what it contains. Slowly, he picked up the box and wiped the dust off. He was surprised by the weigt of the box, it was no bigger then his palm, but the box must’ve weighed at least ive pounds. Opening it, Harry saw that inside was a small, glass star, inscriptions covering every edge, and in the middle, between the five symmetrical points, lay a tiny, black ball.

     “Really just a woman’s jewel….” thought Harry, yet he knew it was much more then that. He stared down at it as is started to glow. The glow, grew bigger and bigger, until it seemed to fill the whole room. He stood, mesmerized, when a scream brought him back to his senses. Harry pocketed the box and dashed out of the office.

    The ballroom was now complete chaos. Left and Right, wizards ran about, apparating, running to their carriages, whatever they could to get away. A spell narrowly missed Harry’s head as he frantically searched for Kingsley and Tonks. He noticed a body lying facedown on the floor and ran over to see whom it was when a tall blond ran by. Trailing him, Lupin spotted Harry on the ground and asked, “Which way did he go?”

     “That way!” said Harry, pointing right.

    Lupin took off after the boy and yelled, “Harry, don’t worry about him! Go find the others.”

    Taking Lupin’s advice, Harry got up searched about unsuccessfully when a thud upstairs was heard. Sprinting up the stairs, he ran into a bedroom at the end of the hall. Kingsley, Tonks, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stood, wands out, around another immobile body lying on the floor. His intrusion caused Mrs. Weasley to breakdown into sobs.

     “Oh, Harry! We didn’t know where you were! Something, anything! Could’ve ha-”

    At that moment, Lupin burst into the room, empty-handed.

     “He got away! He can’t be far, though.”

     “It’s all right, Remus,” said Kingsley, “We caught this one.”

    He rolled the man over with his foot and Harry saw that it was one of the men at the pub during his dream.

     “Yeah, that’s him.”

     Kingsley and Lupin carried the unconscious man down the stairs while the others followed closely behind. Harry observed that the man he’d tried to help was sitting on the stage, talking with the minister. He followed Kingsley back into the living room.

     “Harry, you should get back home. We’ll stay here and continue to keep watch.”

     He almost volunteered to stay and help out but Mrs. Weasley had already given him a hug, settling the matter.

    He made it back to his house in a matter of seconds. Ron and Gabriel were still playing chess. Harry could tell Ron was in deep concentration because he didn’t look up from the board as he said, “Hey Harry.” Gabriel, however, was up in flash.

     “Vhut happened? Zid everything go okay?”

     Not really in the mood to talk, Harry lied, “Everything went fine. I’ll tell you guys what happened tomorrow. Gabriel, could we reverse the spell now? I think I’ll go ahead and head upstairs to bed.”

     Gabriel agreed, but looked disappointed. The spell reversed as quickly as it had worked and, bidding his mates goodnight, Harry made his way toward his bedroom, the tiny, brown box still secure in his pocket.