Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter20

The Pre-Christmas Wind-Down

They were released from the Hospital Wing the following Tuesday, rather like Neville had been, and had a run-in with the Slytherins at the start of Care of Magical Creatures.

"Well, well, I never! The Mudblood missing lessons!" drawled Malfoy. "Come to think of it, at least you had the common sense to miss this lesson yesterday. An utter waste of time!"

"Casses-toi!"

"Yeh, Malfoy," Evan added, "get bent!"

"Well I never! She has a voice! The weak link in the family! Even Harry Potter has the spurious magical talent to produce some form of Patronus. But not the Fairy Mary!"

"Ahh! Now I see what this is about!" Hermione spat. "Not too happy about the Punishment Dumbledore gave you, and so you're trying to take it out on us! Well, people in Glass Houses, Malfoy, shouldn't throw stones! As I remember, you, as yet, haven't produced a corporeal Patronus! In fact, I remember, whilst you were inside with the others, you decided that you'd see what was going on! A few little Stags appear and you are wetting your pants, literally! Then a little old Snake appears and you promptly keel over in a dead faint and give yourself a concussion! At least Marie had the common sense to do what Dumbledore had told us to do, and watched from a distance!"

"Hmm! I see! That's how we're playing are we!" Malfoy continued, a malicious glint to his voice now. "I notice that you didn't take any notice of the fact that Potter fainted too. And yet you are taking every pain to protect him from this conversation! Should Weasely here be worried?" Hermione blushed violently.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Malfoy!" Ron said in a low, calm voice. "That was his Snake! AND his Stags! If the estimates are correct, there would have been close to a thousand Stags, not including that Snake. Most people would have trouble keeping two Patroni running simultaneously. I hope that word isn't too big for you or any of your friends here, Malfoy. It means at exactly the same time." An angry tinge of red arose in Malfoy's cheeks. "Keeping one Patronus up and running is exhausting to begin with and that is without a Dementor present, never mind eight thousand! Eight thousand Dementors, which Harry, single-handedly practically destroyed, never mind repelled! And as for Hermione sticking up for Harry, I'd like to see Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott stick up for you now and again, never mind Parkinson, Bullstrode, and Zabini! It's called friendship Malfoy! You might want to try it some time!"

"Well!" Malfoy tried to smile, still looking ruffled. "We've heard from everyone now, except the fourth Potter. What does the one called Nettle Year say?"

"Vell," Natalia said, smiling slowly. "Furstly, my name is Natalia. Secondly, I am the second Potter. Harry is being the fourth. And thurdly, DELITRIVOX!" she cried, raising her wand to above head-height and levelling it at him with a vertical zigzag motion. A flash of turquoise light exuded from her wand and hit him square in the chest.

"..." Malfoy opened his mouth in what was clearly an attempt to speak, but found that he couldn't.

"Ah, now, Mister Malfoy," Evan said in a mock teacher-like tone. "You might be curious as to the reason you are unable to speak. My dear, intelligent, and I must also say exceedingly beautiful sister," Now it was Natalia's turn to blush. "Has employed a simple but effective silencing curse. It was, I am sure your father would know, used in the times of Voldemort," here Malfoy shuddered. "To keep people silent, unable to spill out information in a fit of temper when under interrogation. It is not exactly dark magic, although it is taught in Dark Arts classes at Durmstrang. Now the peculiarity of this particular spell is that it removes all of the cells of the vocal chords, save for a few. Just enough to reproduce it at a later date. You can take elixirs to enhance the rapidity of re-growth, but it'll still be a week before you will have full use of your voice box again. That is if you can find someone to brew the enhancing potions for you. I doubt that Madame Pomfrey will have some. You might be interested to know that, as well as being taught at Durmstrang, it is used there, as punishment for students with bad attitudes. The ultimate punishment, because it automatically requires the students to catch up their wand work, because, whilst they are unable to speak, they are unable to perform magic. Not bad, eh!"

Malfoy, who had been growing increasingly redder as Evan had been speaking, suddenly lost his cool and lunged for him, not noticing the enormous shadow, looming behind him, which promptly levitated him off his feet.

"Now, now, now lads! Wha' 'ave we 'ere?" It was Hagrid, and he, Harry noticed, did not look pleased. "I appreciate a good ol' fashioned fis' fight as much as the next man, but not in lessons please. Evan, that tongue o' yours! Yer father'd be righ' proud! Natalia, I never 'eard o' tha' spell, but if it shuts this kid up, as far as I'm concerned, it's a'righ' by me! Unfortunately, it ain't a'righ' by the school, so I am afraid I am gonna have to take fifty points off o' Slytherin fer Malfoy's language; Wha' 'e called 'Ermione. I don' know 'ow many times it's been said that tha' word ain' welcome in this school! An' also fer tryin' to attack a studen' with yer fists. Just the fifty fer the two like, because I'm fair, an' I never want it said otherwise! And I'm afraid I'm gonna 'ave to take thirty off o' Gryffindor, Natalia, fer your attackin' 'im. You understand?"

"Jes, Hagrid."

"And do YOU understand, Malfoy?" Malfoy, who had sparks flying from his steel-grey eyes in anger, gave a quick nod and a sigh. Hagrid set him down carefully, a hand still poised close to his shoulder. "Right, as this is the las' lesson o' the day, an' you don' need yer wands, you can come to class, and then you can take yerself off te the Hospital Wing. Understand?" Another nod. "Righ' then. Come along, all o' ye!"

Things wound down a little towards the end of term, in as much as the lessons themselves were fairly relaxed, although they were still getting an enormous amount of homework.

In the other game of the term, Ravenclaw narrowly defeated Hufflepuff, Three Hundred and Fifty to Three Hundred and Twenty, when Cho caught the Snitch after a two hundred and seventy yards chase, eighty feet up in the air. After the match, Cho had found Harry and had said, punching his arm lightly,

"If we're not careful it's going to be you and me for the cup!" to which Harry whole-heartedly replied,

"I certainly hope so!"

"That is, unless Alicia, Katy, and Angelina have any say in the matter. Our chasers don't seem to be on form at the moment!"

"You scored two-hundred, that's still twenty goals. A fairly respectable total for an hour and three quarters' match."

"Yeah, and in that same time, they scored thirty-two goals. We need to train our chasers at keeping the Quaffle away from them and getting it back when we don't have it."

"Yeah, well... okay, no, that's true! But you were fantastic!" Harry said, kicking himself for not having complemented her on her excellent broom-work already. "You ran rings around Susan."

Susan Bones, who had replaced Cedric Diggory as Seeker for Hufflepuff was quite an adept flyer, but she lacked the confidence that Harry's, Cho's and Cedric's (and to some extent, Draco Malfoy's) experience brought. Once again before the match, there was a minute of silence for Cedric. The first had been appreciated, but the Hufflepuff's wanted to pay their last respects too. When Susan's name was announced as the new Seeker, she received a rousing cheer from all houses, and she, like Harry, had struck her black armband fervently, clearly saying, "This one's for Cedric!" As well as all the usual "GO BADGERS!" and "COME ON YOU EAGLES!" banners, there were a spattering of "GOOD LUCK SUSAN!" banners flying as well. Two of these, hearteningly enough, could be found in the Ravenclaw Stand, scattered around the "Cho Chang is our Queen!" banners. Many of the crowd could be found sporting "Good Luck Susan" buttons as well. Most of the Ravenclaws could be found wearing "Cho is my Queen!" buttons. Cho was amused to note that Harry was wearing both Cho Chang and Susan Bones buttons. Indicating them to Harry, she said, feigning a look of hurt,

"Should I be worried, Young Potter, about divided loyalties?"

"N... n... n... NO!" Harry said, playing along. "She... she's in my year, and we... we have some classes together. She's a friend, that's all, I swear! You Cho, YOU are my Queen!" He dropped to his knees. "Please forgive me, oh beautiful, wise, and merciful Empress! Forgive this lowly wretch of an urchin, for ever causing you doubt!"

They both doubled up with laughter, and when Cho reached out a hand to help him up, he accidentally pulled her down with him, instead, and their laughter redoubled.

Suddenly, Harry had a thought, and the old haunted look, which Hermione, Ron and Ginny were used to, but Cho wasn't, resurfaced. Harry, whilst he was laughing, was blissfully reviewing what had just passed between him and Cho. He was down on his knees, and he pictured himself taking the hem of her robes, and scenting them, taking in her perfume. He had been doing so a lot, with his general surroundings, recently, since he had perfected the Dog Transformation the Saturday after he had left the Hospital Wing, after his duel with Hermione. He then pictured kissing the hem of her robes in mock-supplication. Then, a horrific image came, unbidden, to his mind.

Voldemort!

He was tied to the stone again. Cedric's dead body lay, again, a hundred feet away. And the Death Eaters appeared again. Each one in turn.

"Master!" they fawned in supplication, kissing the hem of Voldemort's robes.

"Master, forgive me!"

"May your loyalties never again stray!"

"Thank you, Master!"

"Harry Potter!"

Voldemort!

"Harry?"

NO!

Harry!"

Please, no!

"HARRY!"

Harry awoke from his forlorn reverie, to find himself sitting on the grass, by the lake, where they had been talking, Cho's arm around his shoulder, gently tapping his arm, she sitting next to him. Natalia, Evan, Marie, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were all looking at him, concerned. When had they arrived?

"Has he been like this a lot recently?" Natalia enquired.

"Not a lot, exactly." Hermione supplied, thoughtful. "He gets like this periodically, after what happened with Voldemort." Cho was only slightly surprised to find that she was the only one shuddering at the mention of his name. She was not even shuddering as much as usual. Was this the effect Harry had on people? She wondered. She had certainly heard the reports of what he had got up to, over the past four years, with Ron, Hermione, and, on occasion, Ginny. Did he always bring out the best in his friends? She certainly hoped so. Hermione continued, bringing Cho out of her own reverie. "I think something must have triggered off a memory or a thought. Sometimes he just seems wistful. Other times, he seems to be reliving terrible things. Any idea as to how he seemed, Cho?"

"Cedric was already dead." Harry said in a deadpan voice, startling them. They hadn't realised that he was back, as it were. "I was tied up against the Gravestone. The Death Eaters appeared, and they..."

"They kissed the hem of V-, V-, I'm sorry I can't. They kissed the hem of You Know Who's robes." Cho said quietly. Harry nodded mutely. "I'm sorry Harry. I can't even begin to imagine, what you must have gone through, that night." Harry nodded again, and she hugged him tightly, only relaxing her grip a little, when she felt him begin to hug back.

She caught Hermione's eye, and surreptitiously nodded to her. Receiving the signal she wanted, she came in close and put her arms around both Cho and Harry, and indicated quietly for the others to do the same.

When there were no more tears, Harry looked up, and his family (He had always considered the Weaselys and Hermione Family. To differentiate now he actually had a family would not only be too difficult, but pointless too.) backed away until it was just him and Cho again. He looked up into her eyes and smiled gently, appreciatively. He looked around his family and smiled gratefully at them too. They all smiled in return. A smile from Harry, after a Haunted period, was always welcomed with warmth, and no small amount of relief.

The rest of the term passed without incident, and before they knew it, lessons had finished and the Christmas Holidays were upon them. This meant only two things to the Students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Christmas Presents and the Beauxbatons Ball!

Hogwarts had never been more full. Every last student had decided to stay behind. The Beauxbatons Ball, followed the same principle of the Hogwarts Ball, that is to say, it was open to all students. Thanks to the Floo Internal Network between the schools, the schools would no longer, unless they chose to do so, have to compete against each other as concerned their entrances.

For the next few days, everyone relaxed. Revision was on nobody's mind, not even Hermione's! All anyone cared about was finishing their Christmas shopping, writing letters home to wish everyone well, and say how much they were looking forward to the Ball, and feeding bread to the Giant Squid before it took late hibernation. Giant Squids, as Hermione was quick to explain to anyone who was interested, hibernated from early January until early April so they could enjoy the snow a little, before it got too cold. Their last ink jet before hibernation is special because, if collected and stored in a pot immediately on release, along with the water in which the squid resides, the ink is self-replenishing.

Harry, however, had something further on his mind.

Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, having his breakfast, he noticed someone walk through the doors and sit down to take her breakfast. Harry gulped.

Looking up, he saw everyone glance at him, hold his eye, and smile. He nodded back at them, sighed, and gulped again.

Ginny, who had just arrived at the table, put her hand on his shoulder, and said quietly,

"Go for it Harry!" Harry put his hand on hers, nodded his thanks, sighed again, stood up, and wandered over to the Ravenclaw table.

"Hey Cho."

"Harry!" A broad grin greeted him, and a friendly flash of beautiful dark brown eyes. "How are you? Enjoying the holidays, so far?"

"Yeah," he said, feeling more than a little self-conscious. "You?"

"Oh yeah! I got an owl from my cousin yesterday. You won't believe how insanely jealous she is!"

"What about?"

"What would ANY ten year old girl be jealous about?"

"I don't know. I've never known any ten year old girls. Well, apart form Ginny, and I didn't really know her that well, then.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well, anyway, what else - Going to a big dance in France of course! Not to mention only having it at a fireplace journey away. You know that the network link is only between schools, don't you?" Harry nodded. "Well, as I say, she can't do it too, at least not until next year, and so she is insanely jealous!"

"Ah the troubles of the young and the innocent!" They both laughed heartily at this, making him feel a little more confident. "Er... Cho?"

"Mmmhhmm?"

"Speaking of the Beauxbatons Ball...?" Was it Harry's imagination, or did her ears prick up at this?

"Were we?"

"Oh..." slightly deflated.

"Don't worry, Harry, I'm just playing with you! Go on?"

"Well, I was wondering..." still lacking a bit of the confidence that their mutual laugh had inspired. "That is to say, if you're not doing anything... or perhaps, if you're not going with anyone else..." Harry felt as though his cheeks were the colour of the Gryffindor banner. "Would you, maybe..."

"Harry?" Cho asked him, holding his gaze steadily.

"Would you like to go to the Ball with me?"

"See! Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Harry simply gaped at her. She winked in return. "Harry, you're very sweet, and I..." Harry's face dropped like a stone. He had heard this stuff before, on TV, when he had been dusting the furniture that Aunt Petunia would allow him to earn his keep by cleaning, and she had been watching. The sort of line where the girl says, "You're very sweet, and I would love to go out with you, but I'm washing my hair." or other such universal feminine wisdom.

"No, no, no, it doesn't matter, forget I said anything. I'll just be going now..." he said, making to turn. Cho grabbed his arm.

"Harry, do you WANT to go to the Ball with me?"

"Yes, but you were..."

"Harry, I'll rephrase the question; do you WANT to go to the Ball with me?"

"Yes, but I... hang on! You didn't rephrase the question!"

"I know. I did it to get your attention. Harry, I know what you were thinking, but you didn't let me finish. When a girl begins a sentence with "You're very sweet," it's not necessarily a bad thing! It could just be, heaven forbid, a simple complement. Then again," she said, pondering. "After what you've told me about the Durselys, I can see why you might still find it hard taking a complement. Anyway, I'm digressing,"

"Yes," Harry put in, smiling. "Let's get back to our sheep!"

"What?"

"Ask Fleur!"

"Yes," Cho looked amused. "In any case, what I was going to say was, Harry, you are very sweet, and I really enjoyed the last dance. I would love to go to the Ball with you. Will you let girls finish their sentences in future?"

"Yes Cho!" Harry grinned, all of a sudden feeling lighter than air.

"Incidentally, speaking of Fleur, have you seen her recently? You reminded me that I want to brush up a little on what I've learned so far in her lessons. I don't want to have to rely on that translation charm of yours, too much."

"I know what you mean. We all had the same idea. Fleur spends most of the day at Beauxbatons at the moment, helping Madame Maxime with getting Beauxbatons ready to receive us. Even though there's still a week left before Christmas Eve, they really want to make a good impression on us, because of the hospitality we afforded this year and last year."

"I know, they've got a lot to live up to, haven't they!"

"Yep! But she said she'd be back about dinnertime, and she said she'd give extra lessons to those who want them, between eight and ten every night in the library. I know we're all going."

"That sounds perfect! I want to improve my French, and I know some of my friends do too."

"Cool! Well, we'll see you all there tonight then!"

"See you later, Harry."

"See, Harry! That wasn't so difficult, was it?"

" That's what Cho said. No, it wasn't, and it felt great to get it off my chest. Even when I thought she was going to say 'thanks, but no thanks', I felt easier."

"That's what you've got to remember Harry. I know she likes you. I've seen you two talking together. That was never a problem. Even if she doesn't want to go out with you, you can go as friends, and still have a good time!"

"Thanks! I think?"

"You're welcome!" she said with a cheeky grin.

"What about yourself?"

"Huh?"

"Did you enjoy the Balls."

"I..." Myrtle, flushing dark silver, hid her face behind the cistern. "I never had a date for the Ball."

"So..."

"So...?"

"So... what are you going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Hannah Abbot, in Hufflepuff, told me that you've been getting around a bit." Myrtle blushed a little more, but with pleasure, this time. "She said that you've been talking to some of the girls, but mainly boys. Says that you are quite the Party Animal! So, you know what you have to do..."

"I know, but how?"

"It's easy! Just remind all the boys to save one for you!"

"What do you mean "Save one for me"?"

"Save a dance. From what I've heard, you'll have at least thirty dances lined up already! And, because you don't eat, you'll be able to last longer! The older lads will be queuing up to get in there!"

"You really think so?"

"I know it! We don't see the Hogwarts ghosts getting involved enough in the School Extracurricular Activities. You could take the lead."

"Alright Harry, I will do. On one condition, though!"

"And what wouldd that be?"

"Would you be number thirty-one?"

"It would be an honour."

"Well then, roll on the ball!"

"I must say, I agree. I don't believe it, but I am actually looking forward to this one!"

"You weren't looking forward to the previous one?"

"Not as much. I was, until I found out about Marie and Natalia. I couldn't look forward to it then, because I was just too confused."

"I can imagine."

"Myrtle?"

"Mmmhm?"

"What's it like?" Harry was sitting with his back against one of the old sinks, Myrtle was lying on her back, floating above her cubicle.

"What's what like?"

"Dying?" Myrtle flushed, then smiled gently, then flushed darker.

"I... if you don't mind my asking, Harry; Why do you ask?" This time Harry flushed.

"I don't know. It's just you're easiest to ask. I know you best of all the Hogwarts ghosts. I... If statistics are anything to go by, I should be dead four times already. I guess, what with everything that's been happening over the last six months, I want to know what it'll be like when it does happen."

"I... I don't know. I can only speak for myself, and possibly suggest what it was like for other ghosts as well. I mean, Professor Bins died in his sleep, so we don't know whether or not that was untimely..." Harry had a sudden thought, and he couldn't help himself. He burst out into a fit of laughter. "What? WHAT?" Myrtle was looking a little indignant.

"I'm sorry, Myrtle. You just reminded me of something I read in Shakespeare once. "And know that Myrtle was, from her mortal tomb, untimely ripped..."!" Harry burst into a fresh wave of laughter. Myrtle looked somewhat confused, then, as realisation dawned upon her,

"Harry, was that from Macbeth?" a slow titter rising in her throat.

"Yep!" More laughter from both sides.

They stopped, knowing full well what he had asked.

"I... it is a weird sensation. When you went to Muggle School, did you ever have a go on the Monkey Bars?"

"When I thought no one was watching."

"Well, you know when you're swinging along, and then suddenly, you feel as if your hands are being pulled off them?" Harry nodded, recalling and recounting a time when he had tried to go five at a time, and ended up cutting his chin open, on the platform at the other side. "Well it's a lot like that, although perhaps not with the bloody chin. For me it was a strange feeling, like I was being torn out of my skin, out of my body, but then I felt free. I think it must be different for each person, depending on how they die. It didn't hurt when the Basilisk killed me. I was just a little surprised. Well, actually I was a lot surprised, but you know what I mean. I... I just wish I could have seen them one last time!" She threw herself violently at Harry and began sobbing into his shoulder.

Harry stayed with her until she was calm enough to make herself remotely presentable for her evening rounds.