The Warning
Your children untouchable,
Protected by blood.
Safe in their noble houses
Above mire and mud.
Foolish purity.
Nothing will save little ones
From werewolves like me.
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Dark Harvest
Plucked like herbs in the autumn,
Seed pods ripened, Slytherin green
changing to brown and ash.
The first fruits of the harvest
carefully selected.
Dregs of Muggle society.
Bodies of wizards and witches
useful as ginseng roots.
Cut down like wheat,
the newly slain join corpses
bundled together, an army
of sheaves that become stocks
winnowed by Dark magic.
The chaff of humanity
eradicated by enchantment
as Inferi sink into the lake.
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Hermione's Halloween
Orange envelopes on primary school desks
Invite one, invite all, teacher says
Each child is cordially invited
to a Halloween party at the weekend
Time, place, number: response requested
Classmates chatter
Everyone wants to go
Does she?
Hermione's eyes linger on the word
that makes her answer yes
Magician
It's the "how" of magic that fascinates her
She's read loads of books on the subject,
dozens of magazine articles
to the amusement of her doting parents
They purchased a magic show suitcase
Deck of cards, props,
hat with a false bottom,
a wand
Ages seven to twelve. Hermione's eight.
She's practiced and performed
Experiments
Cognitive experiments, to be precise
Misdirection, altered perception
Fooling her parents to their delight
They offer to buy a magician costume
Hermione wants to be a witch
Black pointy hat,
Long velvet dress and cloak
Broomstick
Her bushy long hair looks good topped with a hat
She gets ready for the
Party
Remember, you can eat some sweets if you like,
Mum and Dad say when they drop her off
It's their version of have a good time
The boy greeting guests stares. She says,
Dentist parents
Sugars create acids,
decay
Hermione hands him a toothbrush and floss
Host gifts, she mutters and
Escapes
The house is huge, lavishly decorated
for Halloween, swarming with costumed
children eating, playing party games
Hermione walks straight to the back garden
The magician,
Fantastic Fauntleroy,
awaits
Golden hair, dazzling smile
Would you care to be my
Assistant?
Party guests gather around, pushing forward
Reggie, the boy she'd given floss, grins
when the magician says, Pick a card.
Queen of Hearts. Fauntleroy bites, pretends to
swallow the card,
wiggles, finds it in his
right shoe
to laughter and applause
She checks the deck. None are
Missing
Fauntleroy hands her a golden ball. Heavy?
She nods, expecting some sleight of hand
switch to the ball he will "bring to life."
He winks. Drops the ball. Stay, he commands. It floats
Delighted gasps
There are no strings. No. Strings!
Hands clap
Hermione trembles
This kind of magic is
Real
She follows directions, an automaton
Fetching props, assisting during tricks
while her mind tries to make sense of things
Why pick me? she asks after levitation
He lifts a brow. Your hat, he confides,
and it's no fun
unless someone knows my
secret
Fauntleroy bows to the audience. One last
hurrah, he cries. A grand finale
Behold the vanishing
Assistant!
Reggie checks out the magician's cabinet
No false compartments he says, smirking
as Hermione edges away
What's the matter, afraid he won't bring you back?
Terror beads on her skin like sweat drops
She tastes copper
on her tongue when she bites
her lip
I won't do it, she whispers, shaking her head,
wishing the cabinet would
Disappear
And then it does. Children gasp. Fauntleroy glares
at her before putting on a smile
Since my assistant wanted to stay
here, I made the cabinet vanish instead!
Curtsey, he orders Hermione
Fauntleroy takes
his final bow. The show's
over
Pack my equipment into that carpet bag
She obeys. Everything
Fits
Capacious Charm with Feather-light Spell, he says
They're alone in the garden. She gulps
Aversion Charm. I'm a wizard, girl
And you are a Muggle-born mucking things up
I didn't own that cabinet
It was on loan
My cousin is going to
kill me
Gilderoy—never mind,
It's best if I make you
Forget
Hermione blinks and she's in the kitchen
Reggie's mum gives her a fairy cake
I won't tell your parents if you don't
A promise and a conspiratorial wink
An image of a handsome blond man
flashes brightly
and then fades until she sees
nothing
except a dazzling white smile without a face
leaving her like Alice
Curiouser
Reggie apologises for being a git
You're not so bad, Granger, he says
I'm glad I wasn't the assistant
Something was dodgy about that magician
not bringing back his old cabinet
She barely hears
Disappointment crushes
Too late
What did that bloke give you, Reggie asks. A coin?
It's in her hand. Gold. Strange.
GALLEON
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A/N: The poems were written for the October Triathlon over on Mugglenet. The first one's a seguidilla, a Spanish verse form, the others free verse, lacking meter and rhyme. If anyone's interested in the story inspired by the third poem, I'd love you to read my one shot Hermione's Halloween.