Harry Potter and the Wyvern's Crown

Chapter 7: Hogsmeade, Halloween, and Hufflepuff Wars

At the beginning of October, the first Hogsmeade visit was announced. It was to take place a week before the Halloween ball (and masquerade), the first dance of the school year, and one that Harry and the others had attended last year for the first time. Ron was already excited about the prospects.

'Do you think I could ask her, Harry?'

Harry grinned slightly. 'Raven, you mean?'

Ron's smile was huge. 'Of course. Do you think she'd go with me?'

Harry considered. Since Raven's first day, she'd always made it clear to most of the Gryffindor males that they were to keep their distance. But her playful manner of it often persuaded the boys to keep pursuing her nonetheless. Ron, too had been one of the more active pursuers, though Dean and Seamus seemed to take up more of her time, having cousins that lived in America and attended the mysterious Salem Center Institute.

Seamus had been asked by a Hufflepuff girl, and unable to come up with a reason why he shouldn't off the top of his head (not wanting to confess he'd rather take Raven than anyone) and was taken. Dean was still wary, probably wanting to catch her off guard as Seamus had been. Ron was practically hopping now, 'Come on, Harry! You don't think my chances are that bad, do you?'

Harry smiled and said nothing. Ron was nearly furious, 'Oh, right! I get it, you want to ask her out! You think that she'd rather go with the famous Harry Potter, right?!' Harry kept his silence. 'You rat! I knew you and Cho were over! I knew...'

Cho walked up around the corner. Ron fell silent. Harry touched Cho's cheek lightly, and watched her flush. He spoke softly, 'Cho, will you come to the ball with me on Halloween?'

Cho continued to blush and nodded, 'Of course.'

Harry grinned at Ron leisurely as Cho hurried past, a look of relief and joy on her face. Harry watched her go, and caught her eye before she ran out of sight. Ron punched Harry's arm. 'You...you...'

'Well, I'm not the one jumping to conclusions.'

* * *

'Well, since both of us are free, I figured....no, no...well, I think you're beautiful, and when I see you with your mask...oh no, that's even worse!'

Hermione tapped Ron on the shoulder. 'Who are you talking to?'

Ron jumped a mile. He had to catch his breath and he bowed his head. 'I was...'

Hermione grinned, 'Practising, right?'

Ron nodded, guiltily. 'You aren't going to tell her, are you?'

'No.' Hermione glanced around the deserted hallway, 'But I would have chosen a better spot for it.' A few students brushed past, getting ready for the Hogsmeade trip, now that they had broken their fast.

Ron grinned, 'Well, I was kinda of hoping she'd come up this way, and catch me at it, and take my profound apology as the question.'

'Well, you've only got three days left.' Hermione crossed her arms, 'And frankly, I'm surprised you and Dean are still avoiding actually asking her.'

'You mean she's still free then?'

'Yes,' Hermione grinned. 'She said she wasn't going to chose until later today, while were at Hogsmeade,' Then she rolled her eyes, 'She told me I could take whomever she didn't pick. Sometimes her ego...'

Ron clapped his hands together, 'Then I still have a chance!'

Hermione gave him a scathing look, 'Yes, you do.'

Ron heard the hurt in her voice, and, frankly, was shocked by it, 'Well, why don't you have a date yet? You could owl Krum...'

Hermione crossed her arms, 'Yes, Krum. I'm so unwanted that I can't even get someone from my own school to go out with me!'

Ron touched her shoulder, 'Maybe someone's waiting for you, too.'

She looked at the floor, 'Well, then. We'd better get moving. We want to catch the carriages or we'll have to go by broom.'

* * *

Most of the senior Hogwarts students had been to Hogsmeade so many times, they found it utterly boring and skipped the trip to study. But today was a rather special occasion, and this close to Halloween, even the seventh years seemed to have come out their hidey holes.

Harry met up with Ron as he pushed his way out of the joke shop, his face locked in a wicked grin. Harry smiled, 'Found what you were looking for?'

'And how!' Ron held out his bag of goodies, 'My brothers have finally gotten a market on the side here in Hogsmeade. Great stuff. And a special ton-tongue for Dudley,' He flipped Harry the simple looking candy.

Harry laughed despite himself as they crushed into Madame Shealea's Gift Shop. 'He'd never eat it, you know. Unless the package is marked as one of his favourite candies, he simply panics now!'

Ron laughed, but was elbowed aside by a pack of third years. He awarded them a dirty look. Finding a quieter corner, Ron managed to show Harry the rest of his treats. As they were discussing the use (and potential victims) of such worthy gag-items, a familiar laugh rang out over the crowd.

Ron's head snapped up, and his face paled.

Harry tilted his head, 'What's wrong? It's just Raven being her usual noisy self.'

Ron's eyes were filled with a sudden panic, 'I was supposed to ask her to the ball today, Harry! I've no idea what to say. I promised myself that I'd ask her the first moment I saw her today and...'

He was cut off by Raven who broke through the crowd, a wicked grin on her face. She stopped in front of her housemates, her golden eyes full of mirth. 'Why, fancy meeting you two here!'

Ron stood, his mouth agape. Harry shook his head, and patted his friend on the back, 'Ron wants to ask you something.' He dodged Ron's wicked elbow and headed back into the thick of the crowd.

It hadn't been the nicest thing to do, but Ron probably wouldn't have been able to get a better opening. On a more pleasant note, he managed to bump into Cho, and they were able to share a few relatively calm moments together over a bottle of butterbeer in the tavern. Then, all hell seemed to break loose.

Ron, followed by Dean and half a dozen other Raven-fans, exploded onto the scene. They nearly stormed the tables, including the one Harry and Cho had been sitting at. Apparently they'd all been turned down by the fanciful North American. And not only that, but they'd all heard the same excuse.

Ron slammed a fist down on the table. 'And then she says 'you would have been number one on my list...''

The rest of the boys grumbled their agreement.

'And if this other guy hadn't asked me, I would have gone with you, no questions asked!'

Dean's face was still flushed. 'An' the worst part is her little, 'I do like you, you know. You're funny, and you make me smile.'

'Humph. She laughs at everything.'

Some of the guys smiled at the complaint, others (including Ron and Dean) nodded in irritated agreement. Cho rolled her eyes. Harry touched her shoulder, letting her know she could leave if she wanted to. She gave him am amused look, then addressed the crowd of disappointed guys, 'Now, I suppose, you'll have to find other girls to show her up, right?' She smiled coyly at Harry. 'Personally, I'd find the attention all of you give her a little frightening. She may be going alone, for fear a war will break out between the lot of you,' Her cool words spoken, Cho left the table.

Harry leaned back, suddenly pleased about how clear his girlfriend had made things for all of his misguided buddies. The topic was then changed to who else they could take. Not wanting to help anyone argue the fine points of why Parvati was a better choice than Lavender (mostly based on bra size), he managed to slip out of the tavern himself. Now, he had to pop into the gift shop one more time (without Ron as a distraction) and buy himself a mask.

The Gift shop was less crowded now, only a few students were around the mask shelves. They had been hand-carved and polished and, as the sign said, no two were alike. There was every kind of animal, magical and mundane, creatures of every size and shape. The shelves had to be magically stocked, Harry thought, as more than a hundred students had been getting theirs when he was here before. But the shelves were full, and the selection was plentiful. Harry found a wonderful looking Phoenix mask, completed with a plume of Phoenix feathers had had been drained of most of their magic. But they still managed to emit soft golden sparks. Harry grinned to himself as he looked in an enchanted mirror. He spoke to his double softly.

'What do you think?'

His image flicked the feathers on his side of the glass, 'A pity you didn't ask Cho what she was going to wear. It's rather extravagant...are you sure?'

Harry nodded, 'You're right. Something more...simple, I think.'

'That's a good idea,' his double called to him. Harry set the wooden mask aside, and a grin spread across his face as he spotted another. He put it on and his double nodded.

'This one suits you best. Perfect for the occasion...and you don't sparkle.'

Harry whirled around, crashing into another customer. He was donning a mask as well, it was polished a bronzy wood and carved delicately into the shape of an eagle. Harry backed up, 'I'm sorry.'

A soft voice called back from behind the mask, 'Don't worry about it.'

Harry turned and removed his mask, but the other strange boy had left, leaving Harry to wonder who he had been.

* * *

'What do you mean, 'they switched'?' Ron's voice had gotten quite loud.

Mrs. Pomfrey narrowed her eyes at Ron as Harry shook his head, feeling sick to his stomach. Four days from today (which was Halloween) Gryffindor had been scheduled to play the Hufflepuff team. But due to an unfortunate accident, their Seeker had been badly hurt by a misguided curse. Because of that, they had been forced to switch with another team. The Ravenclaws had declined, and the Slytherins were all too willing to take their place.

Harry shook his head, 'Why don't they have a Seeker-in-training?'

Pomfrey smiled, 'Why don't you?'

Harry sighed, 'I never found the time to train one.'

The older woman nodded, 'Exactly my point. They were lucky to find such a talented young girl after Cedric died, but after this cursing, she's lucky she's all in one piece.'

Ron's curiosity was peaked, 'What happened?'

'Oh, simple female foolishness,' The matron waved a hand in the air, 'She and a Slytherin girl were fighting over some boy...push came to shove, and she ended up with rather painful boils, which (if we hadn't caught them right away) may have developed into full-fledged leprosy. The Slytherin girl is out for some time as well...several of her bones were elongated right out of her skin...not pleasant to look at.'

Ron winced. But Harry was still in a state of shock. Due to mid-terms and the upcoming ball, the practices had been minimized. Only an hour each day (rather than the two or three he really preferred) would suffice to beat the rather sluggish Hufflepuff team. Cedric Diggory had been the team captain as well as Seeker, when Voldemort took his life in an unexpected attack during Harry's 4^th year. Because of that, They had been the last team during his fifth year, and thought they had another year under their belt, the team was still filled with inexperienced players, half of them muggle-raised (and therefore unable to practice during the summer months). But the Slytherins were hard, fast and strong. They played to destroy the other team first, get points second. And with Malfoy on a Fireball Two, Harry's chance of getting the snitch in a standoff was horribly poor.

Harry finally nodded, 'Yes. Thank you for the warning, Mrs. Pomfrey.'

The older woman smiled, 'You're quite welcome.'

Harry didn't feel all that welcome.

* * *

Gathering the team for a meeting was harder than Harry had first anticipated. While finding Devin and Matthew (the two beaters) had been simple, the girls were all hiding in their dorm. They were all preparing for the masquerade, and didn't want anyone to see them before they were ready. Finally, Harry's shouts that if they didn't come, he would call a forfeit, drew them out. Raven was first, followed close behind by the three Chasers (all of whom were in different states of preparedness). Raven also looked the least sulky.

Alicia crossed her arms, 'So what's so fired important, Potter? This had better not be a 'go to bed early because were having a three hour practice starting at 5 in the morning' thing. Because if it is, I will personally curse you from here to next Tuesday!'

Harry's face flushed, 'That's not the main issue here,' he sighed, 'The Hufflepuffs have lost their seeker, and they've traded places with the Slytherins.'

Angelina (who had been setting her hair with her wand) shook her head, 'You must be kidding!'

Katie, too, was upset. 'We haven't prepared for them!'

Devin and Matt looked grim. Raven, however, seemed a little confused, 'They aren't that good are they?'

Angelina raised an eyebrow, curling another lock around her wand and holding it in place. 'They aren't? Did you miss the game?'

Raven shook her head no, 'What's wrong with them?'

Harry fielded the question, considering the insulted look Angelina had suddenly got on her face, 'They play differently. The Hufflepuffs were no contest for us, even with new beaters. But the Slytherins aren't the nicest bunch. They're dirty players, and good at fouling without getting caught (or worse yet, fouling and getting the other team blamed). We haven't prepared any dodging or defensive tactics,' Much to his relief, Harry saw Raven nod.

'I understand,' She glanced up at Alicia, 'So, I suppose we will be having a three hour practice tomorrow morning.'

Alicia grinned at Harry who shook his head, 'I'm not risking getting myself cursed. Two hour practice, starting at six-thirty, early leave for classes.'

'Boo and double boo,' Katie pouted.

Angelina shrugged, 'It can't be helped.'

Devin punched Mark's arm, 'We can practice some of our 'real' beater moves.'

'Yes,' Harry didn't bother to ask, 'Dismissed,' Then he smiled and added, 'For those of your going to the ball, have fun and don't worry about tomorrow. Just try and actually show up on time.'

'Early to bed, early to rise, you mean,' Alicia gave him a quick look over her shoulder, then was followed by her female team mates back into the girls dorm.

* * *

The ball started off magnificently. The grand hall had been cleared of tables, and aside from the four houses' banners, devoid of it normal adornments. Tables were set towards the back with refreshments and chairs, the 'stage' where the teachers normally sat, featured a live band. Each wore a mask themselves as they played skilfully on different instruments of varying shapes and sizes. The music had an odd sense to it, considering it was magically enhanced and amplified, but strangely alluring, making one want to dance to it.

Harry spotted Cho standing with a group of Ravenclaw girls. Her deep crimson robe matched his dark green one well. Her fine featured face was covered by a soft golden mask. She'd painted her face white with red lips for the occasion. Harry walked up to her, swept her hand into his and touched his lips to it, as his mask didn't cover his mouth or chin.

Cho drew close to him with a smile, 'Harry...'

'Shall we dance?' He gallantly gestured towards the witches and wizards who were enjoying the music together or signally.

'Of course.' She allowed him to guide her to the dance floor.

A delicious ballad soon had them whirling, unaware of anything but each other. Drawn together. United. When the music finally came to a halt, Harry found himself breathless in the best way. His arm around Cho's slight waist, he looked up towards the stage.

Professors McGonagall and Sprout were on stage with the warlock band. McGonagall made the announcement.

'This will be the deciding dance for the Halloween king and queen for this year. Would everyone kindly clear the floor. If a couple are called, please come to the center.'

Harry smiled at Cho, 'We'll be dancing again. Trust me.'

Cho laughed, 'And what if we aren't, Harry? I seem to recall you don't have 'the eye'.'

Harry laughed as well.

'The Unicorn and the Fox. The Griffin and the Wolf. The Eagle and the Mysticat. The Goblin and the Phoenix. The Bat and the Drake. Please come to the dance floor together. After the music starts, if you hear your names called, please stand to the side.'

Harry squeezed Cho's shoulder as he watched the couples gather, 'Guess you were right.'

She ticked him softly, 'It doesn't matter to me. You're a wonderful dancer, Harry,' Cho smiled, 'And I bet it's because I didn't have an animal mask. Though I do say, yours suits you very well.'

'A lion?' Harry glanced down at her, 'You think I'm like a lion?'

'A smallish lion...but a lion, yes.'

Harry laughed as watched as the dancers began.

The Bat-and-Drake were closest, She the bat, he the drake. As the music began Harry smiled as the two turned and whirled together. But almost before he became enthralled with their movements, he heard the first names being called. The Fox and Unicorn were out. He barely caught a glimpse of them before the Griffin/Wolf couple took the area before he and Cho. They were taller, definite seventh years, and danced very well. Sometimes waltzing, sometimes prancing, their confidence and flair gave Harry a sense that there was undoubtedly a 'witching' style of dance that a person could learn. No wonder he'd been eliminated. Then the next names were called. The Goblin and Phoenix were gone. They stormed past Harry and Cho, and Harry was sure he heard Parvati's voice crying from behind the Phoenix mask.

Now with only three couples left it was easy to see the last pair. One in solid black, with gold accents, and a bronze eagle's mask, the other decked out in a slim pale grey robe, that hid little, with a smiling mysticat's mask. She had a shock of electric black hair, that flickered in the light between matte black with flashes of purples and blues. Never having seen Raven's hair down before, Harry almost didn't recognise her. She and her partner moved as flawlessly as the wolf/griffin pair. He smiled, wondering who the audacious Ravenclaw was that had caught Raven's eye. There'd be hell to pay, no matter who it was.

The last group was finally removed. The drake-boy had stepped on the bat-girl's foot. They were quite close to Harry and Cho and approached them. Ron's voice called out from the rusty drake's face, 'How's it going?'

Cho grinned, 'Who's your partner, Ron?'

'I am,' Hermione said hotly, 'and don't make any never mind about it. He asked me out and I accepted because I hadn't anyone better to go with.'

'Thanks,' Ron's eyes disappeared, 'So, who do you think Raven's with?'

Hermione crossed her arms, her bat ears actually making Harry smile. She looked like house elf with it on (he chose not to mention it to her, though). 'A Ravenclaw...or someone she picked up while she was here. I was sure she'd come alone...but they've been dancing most of the night.'

Harry tilted his head as the two couples danced on. Finally the song ended and they approached the front. The wolf hopped up and whispered something to McGonagall. She shook her head, 'Unfortunately, the Wolf and Griffin couple must be disqualified,' She smiled at the wolf, 'As one of our faculty was chosen to compete,' With that, the wolf revealed himself. None other than Professor Lupin. The crowd had a good laugh. He led his date away as Raven and her partner climbed up to receive their crowns.

Hermione stomped her foot. 'We might have been chosen if it weren't for Lupin!'

'We were a lost cause,' Ron assured her as McGonagall set crowns on the heads of the king and queen.

'Have you a favourite song for the last dance?'

Raven nodded, 'Yes.' Her cat-face grinned into the crowd wickedly, 'Dark Night, by Full Rookery.'

McGonagall verified with the warlocks (who seemed all too willing to play), then allowed the pair to descend, now crowned.

A sweep of energetic music flooded everyone senses. Soon people were dancing again. Harry couldn't resist taking Cho back out. The song was long, and full. By the time it ended, Harry was ready to quit. He applauded with the crowd. Everyone still mingled as soft music filtered in. Not played by the band, Harry wondered where it came from, but didn't question it. This was a night for him and Cho.

As they were dodging their way over to the refreshments stand, they ran into Hermione and Ron again. Before they even had a chance to greet one another, Raven and her date came out of the crowd, which closed in quickly behind them. Though his black cloak stood out from the others, with it's bronzy interior that flashed into sight at times, his was totally overpowered by Raven's presence, her thin figure surrounded by a whispering mist. It took Harry a second to place it, but when she came to a halt, the dewy shawl came to a rest and reformed. Mysticat fur. Her partner was silent with watchful eyes as Raven spoke in humble terms about winning the crown. Ron managed to keep Hermione from leaping down her throat (as it looked like she might) by congratulating her loudly, then asking (in as loud a voice) who the lucky man was.

Finally the eagle-boy shifted his weight. He looked up at Raven, his mask making his dark blue eyes seem very desperate, and with a graceful sweeping bow he whispered, 'I should go.'

Raven, with a sudden and all-encompassing dignity, nodded, 'I thank you for a perfect evening.'

The Eagle bowed his head then, with a snap, drew himself to his full height (a few inches taller than Harry) and slipped into the crowd, virtually unnoticed. Hermione sighed, as though she suddenly wished she'd had such a virtuoso date.

Ron snorted his contempt.