Eshu 2: The Invisible Wall

Chapter 4 – Lollies and Lunatics

***

The weeks slipped by Kit like a child playing tag, a colorful blur of classes and homework. There were essays and quizzes and a few brief meetings of the JBS when Kit and Ellie could drag Verity from her books.

Defense Against the Dark Arts continued to be the most interesting class, with Professor Lupin bringing in a new dark device for them to study each week. Sometimes they studied the devices themselves and sometimes they practiced spells on them, but certainly class was never boring. Kit wished the same could be said about Care of Magical Creatures. For some reason they were still studying flobberworms. Kit was certain she was going to need therapy after having to listen to the flobberworms for this long. Selective listening worked on most creatures, like a giant on-off switch in her head, but flobberworms didn’t know the meaning of off. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t block out their phlegmy voices and pompous chatter.

Excitement wrapped around the second years as Halloween approached. The Halloween feast was one of Kit’s favorite things about fall in the castle. Her stomach growled just thinking about the lovely piles of sweets and giant punch bowls filled with pumpkin juice. Kit and her dorm mates had decided not to do anything special with their appearances. Last year’s disaster with the bats stood out starkly in Kit’s memory. She had spelled little silver spiders into her hair and the giant bats decorating the hall had decided they’d make the perfect Halloween dinner. Professor McGonagall had blasted the bats away from Kit before they’d hurt her. Even so, it wasn’t an experience she wanted to repeat. Plain black robes would do quite nicely.

Ellie, of course, couldn’t resist doing a little something. “Witch hats or wolf heads?” she asked, holding up two sets of earrings.

The tiny witch hats glowed green and little sparkles clung to their brims. On the other hand, the wolf heads were snapping and snarling. Kit frowned at them, making a face. “Definitely witch hats. Where did you get those awful wolf earrings?”

Ellie looked at the wolves appraisingly. “Same shop as the hats. I think they’re very Halloweeny.”

“Yeah, if you’re into monsters. Which last time I checked you aren’t,” Kit said.

Ellie laughed. “Course I’m not, but what’s the harm in some fun little earrings? They won’t hurt you, look-” She pressed a finger against one of the wolves’ muzzles and it stilled instantly. “Built in anti-biting charm. Now if monsters came with those I might like them a bit more. You should think about getting one for Puck, he could use it.”

“Heard that,” Puck snarled from Kit’s bed. “Eat those earrings for you later,” he threatened.

Kit choked on a laugh and had to feign coughing as Ellie looked at her enquiringly.

“Go with the witch hats,” Kit said again. Ellie sighed and put the wolves back into her jewelry box.

“Would you like a pair? I have last year’s pumpkins…” Ellie drawled, jiggling the pumpkin earrings in her palm enticingly.

“No thanks,” Kit said. “The only pumpkins I want are the pasties I plan on eating tonight. That and about a million pounds of candy.”

“I’ll have to roll you back to the dorm!” Ellie said, laughing.

“Merlin willing.”

Kit scooped Puck off her bed and dropped him in his pouch. He’d been eyeing Ellie’s jewelry box and Kit decided leaving him in the dorm wasn’t an option.

The great hall was decked out in its usual Halloween finery. Streamers chased one another lazily across the ceiling, dodging bats and tiny glowing orbs. Below, students laughed and talked, shoving one another playfully as they settled in at the tables. Kit and Ellie joined the other second year girls at the Hufflepuff table.

“The worst part,” Merrilee said as they sat down, “is the waiting. I skipped lunch so I’d have room for all those sweets but if they don’t get here soon I’ll start gnawing on the table!”

Annemette glared disapprovingly. Soon enough the tables were filled with delectable treats and everyone stopped talking for a few minutes as they piled their plates high.

“Haven’t seen the Dementors lately. Do you think they’ve cleared off, then?” Merrilee asked. “I’ll be glad if they have.” She gave a dramatic shudder. “I get chills just thinking of the nasty things.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Annemette said. “They’re guarding the entrances, so of course you haven’t seen them. How often do you wander down to the main gates? Honestly.”

“Not all the entrances,” Kit said, thinking of the Sett.

Annemette shook her head, clearly catching Kit’s meaning. “Well they wouldn’t be guarding that, would they? It’s a secret.”

Kit shrugged and went back to her pumpkin pasties.

The evening passed in a haze of laughter and extreme sugar highs. Ellie was helpless with giggles by the time they left the Great Hall. She’d eaten one too many snicker-snaps and Kit had to help her, wheezing with laughter herself, down to the dorms. They’d barely crossed the entrance, however, when a Prefect materialized in front of them.

“Back to the Great Hall, everyone,” the girl said, looking flustered.

“What-” Ellie gasped between continued chuckles. Several others echoed her question and no one seemed inclined to move.

The Prefect glared at them. “I said back to the Great Hall, right now! Headmaster’s orders.”

With a bewildered mutter the students slowly began to shift and turn, moving back out into the hall. The order, repeated in incredulous tones, rippled out through the crowd of Hufflepuffs as more students arrived at the common room entry and were forced to turn around.

The Great Hall was a confusion of students and raised voices when they reached it. Kit heard one girl sobbing hysterically nearby, “We’ll all be murdered in our beds.”

“What’s with her?” Ellie asked, staring at the girl. Kit shrugged. Not knowing what else to do she began to move toward the Hufflepuff table. Already the Great Hall had been cleaned and there was no sign that just fifteen minutes before a feast had taken place. Not one streamer was left. The room felt colder for it, and Kit shivered. Whatever was happening, it couldn’t be good.

Verity forced her way over to the two of them through the crowd. Her lips were pressed tight and she was clutching one of her ever present books to her chest. Before Verity could say anything Professors McGonagall and Flitwick began closing the doors to the Great Hall. Ellie watched them apprehensively with her mouth hanging open. Professor Dumbledore stood near the front of the room and he raised his hands for silence.

“The teachers and I,” Professor Dumbledore said, “need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I’m afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the Prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge.” He paused for a moment as though he’d lost his train of thought.

Every student seemed suspended in time, waiting for his next words. Waiting to find out why they’d been herded into the Great Hall.

“Oh, yes, you’ll be needing …” the Headmaster waved his wand and the house tables were suddenly stacked against the walls. With another flick of his wrist sleeping bags, like giant purple caterpillars, covered the floor. Kit yelped and leapt back from where one had appeared just in front of her, its fluffy top falling over her shoe. “Sleep well,” Professor Dumbledore said before he walked out and left the students gaping after him.

“Saying precious little, isn’t he?” Verity said acidly. She pointed at a group of Gryffindors whispering furiously. “They know something.”

“How can you tell?” Ellie asked with a glance at the Gryffindors. Kit noticed Spencer and Brennan among the group in question.

“Well, they aren’t asking anyone else questions for one thing,” Verity said. “And for another … let’s just say that, lately, if something happens, you can bet Gryffindor’s involved in some way. That lot get into more trouble. Suppose it’s that whole bravery thing – they go running off inviting disaster.”

“Well if they do know what’s going on, I’m going to find out,” Ellie said, moving in Spencer’s direction with a determined jut to her chin. Kit was close on her heels.

“Spencer,” Ellie called when they were a few feet away. He looked up in surprise and broke away from the group with a muttered exclamation. “What’s going on?” Ellie asked.

Spencer looked pale and his hair was mussed as though he’d been pulling on it. “Sirius Black’s attacked The Fat Lady. Left her in tatters.”

“Black attacked someone? Here? In the castle?” Ellie said, her voice gaining volume on each word. Spencer shushed her looking around.

“Not so loud, El, you’ll cause a panic. No, no The Fat Lady is the portrait that guards Gryffindor tower. Black shredded it when she wouldn’t let him in.”

Ellie gasped, clutching at Spencer’s arm. “He’s here? Why isn’t someone doing something? There’s a lunatic after us all and no one’s doing anything!”

“Ellie, calm down,” Spencer said, grabbing her shoulders and squeezing. “The teachers are doing something. They’ve gathered us here, haven’t they? They’re obviously trying to find Black.”

“What if they don’t?” Ellie said, sounding tearful. “What if he sneaks into Hufflepuff tonight and murders us?”

“Don’t be thick,” Spencer said with a snort. “What’s Black going to want with a waterworks like you? I hear he’s after Harry Potter.”

“How do you know?” Ellie demanded, stamping a foot. “He’s mad isn’t he? How do you know what he’d do? And you won’t be calling me a waterworks when you have to explain to Mum how you let some maniac gut me in my bed!”

“No one’s going to gut you,” Spencer said, rolling his eyes. “Honestly, El, the world’s about more than just you.”

“How did Sirius Black get in the castle?” Kit asked, before the two descended to outright brawling.

Spencer shrugged. “No idea. Maybe he Apparated.” Without another word he turned and made his way back to his friends. Ellie stared after him.

Suddenly the Head Boy was shouting at them all, his face red as an apple. “The lights are going out now! I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!”

Verity shook her head and gave the boy a pitying look. “Yeah, that’ll work. Come on.” She grabbed Kit’s arm and dragged her toward some sleeping bags. Verity glared at a couple of first years that had been making for the same set and they quickly turned around to find another corner to sleep in. Ellie followed Kit, seemingly in shock. The three girls settled on their sleeping bags next to the far wall. Overhead the Gryffindor banner hung, its golden lion glinting in the torch light. Kit wondered if Verity had chosen the area because it was set apart from the main body of students or because it was neither Hufflepuff nor Slytherin territory. Neutral ground so to speak.

A Slytherin Prefect passed by them and sent a narrow look at Verity, lips tightening in disapproval. “No talking you lot,” he growled before moving on.

Verity sniffed. “Right. Like we’re all going to lie down like good little boys and girls and drift off to sleep. There’s a murderer in the castle, but never mind that.” She rolled onto her side, looking at Kit and Ellie. “What do you reckon?”

“About what?” Ellie said, still sounding dazed.

Verity sighed. “Sirius Black! Do you think he’s really after Potter? Or is that just another rumor? The teachers are pretty nervous or they wouldn’t have us all sleeping in here.”

“I don’t know if he is after Harry Potter or not,” Kit said, starring up at the stars visible in the Great Hall ceiling. “But it doesn’t really matter, I suppose. He killed a load of people last time. I think he’ll kill a load more now too. Especially if they get in his way. Look what he did to that portrait.”

Verity nodded. “My thoughts exactly. If we want to stay in one piece-” at this Ellie nodded fervently “-I suggest we stay away from the Gryffindors. They breed trouble like mad old ladies breed kneazles.”

Kit frowned at her but let it pass. What were kneazles? “It’s not like we were hanging out with them a lot anyway,” Kit said.

Verity shrugged. “Yeah, well these days even a bit may be too much. Listen Ellie, I know Spencer’s your brother and all but … well there’s no easy way to put this. He’s just as mad as the rest of them. He’d going running off into trouble in a heartbeat, best not tag along.”

Ellie looked confused but she nodded all the same. Another Prefect circled by them and they were forced to fall silent. The Prefect lingered so long that finally Kit stopped trying to fight the exhaustion pulling at her and surrendered to sleep.

***

There was a permanent buzz in the air over the following week as every one speculated about Siruis Black and how he’d gained entry to the castle. Despite Dumbledore’s less than informative speech and the fact that none of the teachers were saying anything either, everyone knew that Sirius Black had broken into Hogwarts Halloween night. Why was the bigger question, and one no one seemed able to answer.

“Maybe,” Jynx ventured over dinner Friday evening, “he was trying to get back into his old house. Maybe he was lonely for it or something. Tikali Bashira told me that he used to be in Gryffindor.”

“And how does Tikali know that?” Annemette said, sneering.

“She looked it up in the library,” Jynx said. “There are records in there of every student that’s ever attended this school and what house they were in.”

“Right,” Annemette shot back. “Sirius Black was homesick for his old house, so he thought he’d just nip in for a visit. Have you been using that wand on yourself? Blasted away a few brain cells?”

Before Jynx could defend herself, or Kit could give in to the urge to smack Annemette, Merrilee and Calliope hurried up, looking excited.

“Slytherin’s pulled out of the match tomorrow,” Merrilee burst out, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Kit frowned at her. “Uh, and that’s a good thing why?”

“Because Hufflepuff is playing instead,” Calliope offered. She settled onto one of the benches. “We actually have a decent team this year and a chance at the cup.”

Kit looked at her funny. “I didn’t know you were into Quidditch?”

“Oh yeah,” Calliope said with a wave of her hand, “I follow the Harpies outside school. My family has been supporting them since the team formed. It’s just there’s been nothing to support here. I mean Hufflepuff hasn’t won a match in … well longer than I want to think about.”

“But that,” Merrilee said, taking a seat herself, “is all going to change tomorrow. I’ve got a good feeling about it.”

“Aren’t we playing Gryffindor?” Ellie asked.

“Yeah,” Calliope said.

“Which means I can expect Spencer over here at any –” Ellie broke off as Spencer showed up and bopped her playfully on the head. He shoved her over and slid in next to her on the seat.

“Thought I’d offer my sympathies in advance for tomorrow’s slaughter,” Spencer said.

Ellie turned her back on him. “Do you hear something?” she asked Kit.

Kit peered around Ellie and stuck her tongue out at Spencer. “With all that hot air you should be floating up on the ceiling by now.”

Spencer frowned. “Just being friendly. Now really girls, don’t get your hopes up. We’ve got Harry bloody Potter and the best damn team this school has ever seen. Assuming your team even shows up on the pitch, given the lovely weather.” He waved a hand at the black sky reflected in the Great Hall ceiling. Outside Kit could hear the wind howling and battering at the windows, trying to drive Hogwarts down into the lake.

Ellie whipped around. “Hufflepuffs aren’t afraid of a little rain,” she insisted.

Spencer laughed. “A little rain? Look outside sis, it’s a monsoon. There’s enough water pouring down out there to drown the school.”

“I’m sure our team can swim,” Calliope interjected with a sour look. “Don’t you have someplace to be? Dung bombs to throw or cauldrons to explode?”

Spencer got to his feet, puffing out his chest slightly. “Now that you mention it, I believe I do have a bit of mayhem to wreak. Catch you ladies later,” he said to Kit and Ellie with a wink. “Don’t forget your brollies and swimsuits tomorrow,” he added. “I’ll bring hankies for you.”

Ellie glared. “He’s such a prat. Sports mad. He acts like he’s been breathing Quidditch since we were born when the git only heard about the bloody game last year!”

Kit shrugged. “The whole school’s Quidditch mad.”

“Not the whole school,” Annemette said with a sniff. “Some of us prefer a bit of dignity.”

“How did you get in this house?” Kit asked. “No, honestly,” she added when Annemette looked ready to hit her. “You’ve got all the charm of a Slytherin and the social skills of a Ravenclaw. Hardworking? Okay, maybe. Loyal? To what? Not your housemates for sure. True? Again, couldn’t say. Just? Well that I’d have to argue with. Makes me think that hat was drunk when it sorted us.”

Annemette got up and left the table, giving Kit a deadly look.

“Did you have to?” Merrilee asked with a sigh. “Now we’ll have to put up with her acting like a martyr for a week.”

“Yeah, but maybe she’ll shut up for once,” Ellie said. “Kit had every right to say those things. Annemette is awful. She’s always got her nose in the air, especially around Kit and me.”

“Some people are just really touchy about the pure-blood thing,” Jynx said. “Most of us know it’s stupid and a witch is a witch. But there’re some families that will never believe that. If you don’t come with a pedigree and great-great-granddaddy’s wand…” She shrugged. “Just ignore her.”

“That’s rich,” Calliope said, looking at the Great Hall doors where Annemette had just disappeared. “She’s a half-blood. So what’s she got to be snotty about? Her blood’s just as muddy as theirs.”

“Hey,” Kit said.

Calliope blushed. “Sorry. Didn’t mean anything by it. You know I like you and Ellie. My family may be pure-blood but we’re not a bunch of Muggle-haters.”

“Weren’t we talking Quidditch?” Merrilee said, apparently trying to steer the conversation into safer waters.

Jynx sent her a grateful look. The five girls settled into a heated debate about Hufflepuff’s chances the following day and the rest of dinner slipped by uneventfully.

***

Kit was nearly blown back into the castle when she stepped outside the next day. The wind howled and screamed like a bad-tempered ghoul. Ellie clutched Kit’s sleeve and stumbled as the wind beat against her as well.

“Why are we going out in this again?” Ellie yelled.

Kit shrugged. “Cause everyone else in the castle will be there. And if we win, the rest of the house will never talk to us if we miss it.”

“Win? How’s is our team going to stay on the pitch in the first place? They’ll be blown to Africa. We could save some time and just head there now.”

“Come on Ellie,” Kit said with a grimace as she bent double, fighting her way toward the pitch. “The wind’s not going to kill us.” But the rain might. Just then a sheet of water flung itself down from the sky and doused Kit. She was left gasping for breath, shivering at the icy needles pummeling her.

“This whole school is mad, absolutely mad,” Ellie screeched, letting Kit’s arm go so she could cover her face.

Kit struggled determinedly on. If everyone else in the darn castle could fight through this just to watch fourteen people on brooms get blown about, so could she. She was not a quitter.

It was a bit better when they reached the stands. Nothing could stop the icy rain, but the worst of the wind was blocked at least. Kit could feel the wooden bench beneath her vibrating as the stands shook from the wind buffeting the stadium. Merrilee showed up a few minutes later with an umbrella the size of a small house. She and the umbrella were nearly lifted off the ground before she managed to drop onto the bench seat and anchor her legs under it.

“Exciting isn’t it,” Merrilee yelled over the wind and crowd.

Ellie shrugged, rolling her eyes at Kit. “This is crazy!”

“This is Quidditch,” Merrilee yelled back, laughing. “The best games always happen in bad weather!”

“Great,” Ellie said, shaking her head.

Kit just laughed and tried to see what was happening on the pitch. Below her the two teams were small blurs of color, all but obscured by the rain. It was like watching a match on the bottom of the lake. Madam Hooch must have blown the whistle to start the game, but Kit never heard it. One moment there were fourteen hazy outlines on the field, the next they were rocketing into the air, furiously chasing the Quaffle as it passed from player to player.

Commentary came in sporadic bursts. “– Diggory circles the pitch –” Boom! Thunder ripped through the stadium shaking the bleachers and rattling Kit’s teeth. “ – Bell passes to Johnson, nice catch there Katie. Oh watch out, there’s a Bludger –” The wind whipped up into a long howl and the words were lost again to the storm. An hour slipped by and still the game continued and so did the storm. The sky had turned grey and ominous, growing darker by the minute.

Ellie shivered next to Kit and clutched her scarf around her neck like a lifeline. “I’ve had it,” she yelled, pointing at the sky. “This storm’s never gonna let up and they’ll be playing through the night at this rate. Let’s go in where it’s warm. And dry!”

Kit looked at the sky as well. Perhaps Ellie was right. She didn’t fancy freezing her butt off all night, even if the rest of the school was crazy enough to do it.

“Look!” Merrilee screamed, leaping to her feet. She pointed toward the sky and Kit leapt up to. Above, Cedric Diggory was pelting down the pitch and there, just ahead of him, glittered something small and gold.

“Potter’s seen it too,” Ellie yelled, on her feet as well. “Run him off his broom, Cedric,” She shook her fist at the two players. “Get that Snitch! You can do it, Cedric. Come on!”

The two boys were racing, flying so fast they were barely discernable against the black sky. Suddenly a wave of cold, worse than anything Kit had felt so far, wrapped around them. Ellie gasped and clutched her arms, shivering. Kit looked down at the Pitch. A hundred Dementors or more stood looking up, staring hungrily at the students above them. Merrilee screamed again, only this time it wasn’t with excitement.

Kit’s eyes sharpened and she felt a hot wave rip through her. She could see the Dementors more clearly now, the folds of their cloaks, the eerie way they seemed to float just above the ground.

Ellie gasped, a small sound, but Kit heard it all the same. She whipped her head around, ready to attack whatever had come for them. Instead she saw Ellie pointing toward the sky again, one hand pressed over her mouth.

Kit turned. Potter had fallen from his broom and was plummeting toward the ground like a stone. Kit’s stomach lurched. He’d never survive a fall like that. Suddenly, as though in slow motion, Potter slowed and began to drift toward the ground like a feather caught in a breeze. Kit looked around in confusion. In the teacher’s box, Professor Dumbledore was on his feet looking furious. He pointed his wand at the Dementors and shot something silver at them. Kit realized, vaguely, that it was like the silver stuff that had chased off the Dementor on the train. The Dementors fell back, gliding away from the silver something that chased them. Like cattle being herded into a pen, they were pushed back outside the pitch and out of the stadium.

“Cedric’s got the Snitch. We’ve won,” Merrilee murmured from beside Kit. Kit turned, confused.

“We’ve won,” Merrilee said, wonder slowly overtaking the flat disbelief in her voice. “We’ve won!” She shouted the last, grabbing Kit by the arms and shaking her. “We won the bloody match! Hufflepuff won!”

Ellie laughed, catching the hysteria that was slowly overtaking the Hufflepuff stands. Their voices rose, louder and more exuberant that the storm. “We’ve won! We’ve won!” Complete and utter chaos broke out. The Dementors and Potter were forgotten as students rushed onto the pitch.

They surrounded the bewildered Hufflepuff team, slapping them on the back and yelling out approval. Diggory shook off his well-wishers. “There should be another match, I don’t want us to win this way,” he insisted. “This team has worked too bloody hard to only win cause Potter fainted.”

“You’d have caught the snitch anyway, Cedric. You had a lead on him,” one of the female Chasers insisted. Kit couldn’t tell which one, the rain was still pouring down, turning everything grey and indistinct.

The crowd of Hufflepuffs roared their agreement. Diggory refused to listen, he shoved his way out of the group and over to Madam Hooch. Kit could see him gesturing furiously, but Madam Hooch was shaking her head and Cedric finally gave up, his shoulders sagging. His housemates weren’t going to let him stew about it though. They snatched him up, protesting all the way, and led him right off the pitch to chants of “Huffs Win! Huffs Win! Huffs Win!”

There had never been a party as raucous and jubilant as the one that took place in the common room that evening. Professor Sprout poked her head in to smile at them and give the team a congratulatory slap on the back. It had been a very long time indeed since she’d been able to do that. Kit stuffed herself on chocolates and toffees, goodness knows where all the sweets and pastries had come from, but she supposed having your common room near the kitchens had its advantages.

Ellie laughed and chatted with everyone, positively glowing. Kit hadn’t realized how upset Ellie was about the Dementors and Black until now. It was like looking at another person. When had Ellie become so timid? Or had she always been that way and Kit had never noticed? But surely, last year’s attacks by the Monster of Slytherin had been a thousand times worse than a single break in by a lunatic this year. And Ellie hadn’t seemed to go to pieces then. Although … now that Kit thought about it perhaps Ellie had a bit. It wasn’t that Kit was brave. Quite the opposite, she had a healthy respect for keeping in one piece. But she also wasn’t a coward. Mad things might happen, but somehow, no matter how frightened she was, Kit knew that everything was going to turn out okay. Good would triumph in the end, the damsel would be saved, the world made right. And she didn’t want to live her life quaking at the thought of what bad thing might happen next.

It was a revelation that she and Ellie were so different in that respect when they had so much else in common. Kit shrugged it off. She didn’t need a mirror image for a best friend. And she’d watch over Ellie in any case. She was snapped out of her thoughts as a spiced apple came sailing through the air and narrowly missed her. It landed with a wet splat on the floor. Whoever cleaned the common room would have a job of it tonight.

“Oy! Kit, quit moping and start celebrating! We won, you know?” Merrilee called.

“Really, I hadn’t heard,” Kit muttered getting to her feet. “Oh Merrileeeeeeeeeeeee…” she drawled. Wham! A pillow caught Merrilee full in the face and Kit grinned at her. It was all over after that. The common room descended into a massive pillow fight and Kit had no time to think about lunatics and monsters or best friends. She was too busy dodging pillows and laughing.