Hat-Crossed Lovers
Chapter 4
The school often did not have enough observant students to form the traditional minyan of ten worshippers, so Rebecca went to the synagogue in Hogsmeade on Friday evenings (that the synagogue's name referred to a definitely non-kosher animal had originally struck her as funny, but she had gotten used to the anomaly over the years). It was one of the few cases where a student before Third Year was allowed to go to Hogsmeade, provided they had an older student as escort, so now she was escorting two younger students.
After the formal service, the worshippers had stayed to discuss some interesting news. Hermione Granger, a Second Year girl in Gryffindor, had actually met Nicholas Flamel shortly before his death this summer. Among other things, he told her that he received the instructions for making the Philosopher's Stone from a medieval Jew. Rebecca's group was curious to know who this Jew was. Flamel had sworn not to divulge his name, so Hermione didn't know it. Was he a wizard, or a Muggle alchemist who had duplicated some spells through hard work? If he was a wizard, did he have modern descendants in the wizard world? Most importantly, had he kept a copy of the Philosopher's Stone formula, and had he passed it down to later generations? Would it be possible to find the formula? Or, given the attempted theft the previous year, would it be better to let the formula stay hidden?
Rebecca resolved to send an owl to her family with the news sometime in the coming week.
When she got back to Ravenclaw Tower, the Door actually had a riddle that might be regarded as Torah-related "What was the first palindrome?"
"Madam, I'm Adam." Rebecca refrained from pointing out that Adam and Eve, if they really existed, would not have been speaking English in the Garden of Eden. One did not want to get on the bad side of a Door, so to speak.
Meanwhile the Door opened and Rebecca walked into the Common Room. Not surprisingly, Bertie was there, and he got up as she walked in.
"Ah there you are. I was worried when you didn't come back at the usual time."
Rebecca's first reaction was to tell Bertie to mind his own business. The second was to reflect that his "minding" represented his concern for her welfare. After all, rumour had it that somebody had infiltrated the castle one night last spring, trying to steal the Philosoper's Stone. Outside the Houses, it could be dangerous at night.
"We were discussing the news after services. I'm all right. Were you looking for me for a particular reason?" As if I didn't know.
"Some of us were talking about having a study group, two o'clock Sunday. Are you interested?"
"Two o'clock? Sorry, I'm tutoring somebody at that time."
"Tutoring?"
"Ivan Howe, the new boy in Hufflepuff. He was tutored at home for the first three years, and had somc catching-up to do in Charms."
"Charms? Becky, Ivan Howe is in my Charms class. He's great at that stuff. Even knows some charms the rest of us don't."
"But == but - why did he tell me otherwise?"
Bertie lowered his voice and drew near. "Becky, you're a lovely girl. Sexy, I might even say, if you don't find that offensive. I've always been honest about how I feel about you. Apparently this Ivan Howe bloke wants time with you also, but he's much less honest about what he wants."
"Bloody hell!" Becky shouted as she caught on. Several people in the common room turned to stare at her exclamation. She turned red and lowered her voice as well. "Sorry. Ta for the warning."
"You're welcome. But about that study group—"
"No. I'm going to keep that appointment on Sunday. And I'm going to tell him what I think of HIM."
"Becky, be careful. I told you he knows some extra charms. If you get him angry, he might curse you."
"I'll bring a girl friend along. But, again, thank you for the warning."
Rebecca dropped into a chair and brooded. Thinking back on it, Ivan's mistakes had been a little obvious – how could a private tutor have failed to know the proper pronunciation of WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA, one of the first spells a wizard learnt? He had made a fool of her, and Ravenclaws in particular hated to be made to look foolish. But maybe Bertie was right that confronting him would be a bad idea. She needed to get advice from somebody a bit more objective.
She looked around for Ishtar Evans, the girl Prefect for Ravenclaw. The prefects' main purpose was to cut down on misbehaviour among the younger pupils, but they were also supposed to help the others with personal problems if asked.
She couldn't find Ishtar, but she did spot Hilda, Ishtar's roommate, and walked over to her.
"Hilda, could you tell me where Ishy is?"
"She's out," Hilda said curtly.
Out? It was nearly 11:00, and even Rebecca's late return had concerned Bertie. "When will she be back?"
"Tomorrow morning, probably."
"But where did she go?" Aside from Hogwarts and Hogmeade, there wasn't a convenient place in the area to spend the night.
"Can't exactly say."
Savitri Ramasita, who also roomed with the girls, walked up. "Hilda's being coy. Ishy's with her boyfriend. Dunno where, but you can guess what they're doing."
Rebecca guessed, and blushed at the image in her head. People seldom talked about sexual activity at Hogwarts, and it was fairly clear that people didn't do it in Ravenclaw Tower or the other Houses, not when there were too many roommates around. But where there's a will-
Rebecca gave up the notion of talking to Ishtar. But instead, knowledge of Ishtar's activities got tangled up with her suspicions about Ivan. She wanted all the more to confront the boy.
-0-0-0-0
"Hullo," said Ivan. "Um, who's your friend?"
"This is Penelope Clearwater. "She's here to make sure that I don't care too carried away." Rebecca drew out her wand and pointed it at Ivan. "You're a bloody liar, Ivan. I've talked to your classmates, and they say you're a wiz at Charms, pun unintended. Why did you lie to me? Were you trying to lure me into your bed? Pervert! I'm only 14."
"What's this about beds? I just wanted to get to know you, Rebecca. Out where I come from, it would be easy to do it, but Hogwarts makes it ridiculously difficult."
"What do you mean?"
"How can people from different house talk to each other? During classes you're supposed to be paying attention to the professor. At dinner each House is at its own table, and people think you're weird if you try to cross to another table. After dinner everybody goes to their Houses to let their hair down, and you need a password to get in. Why does it have to be that way?"
Penelope, as a Ravenclaw, took the question at face value and answered it. "I think it started with the Slytherins. They didn't want to socialize with the less-than-pure bloods at the other Houses, so they put up passwords and other barriers. And the other houses retaliated."
"Yes, that's quite likely," said Ivan. "But why should it create a barrier between a Hufflepuff boy and a Ravenclaw girl? Why is it perverse of me to want to talk to you?"
"No reason," admitted Rebecca.
"I'm sorry I lied. But I was trying to get around the system, not get around YOU."
"Let's go, Becky," said Penelope. "I think he's explained himself properly."
"No." Rebecca put down her wand, but left it pointing at Ivan. "You promised to tell me about computers, so tell me about computers. And if you dare get lovey-dovey, I'll zap you."
Ivan cleared his throat. "Computers were invented in the 1940s. In the 50 years since, they've become less expensive and easier to use-"
TO BE CONTINUED
(Author's Note: the part about Hermione and Nicholas Flamel is from an earlier fanfic that I wrote, HERMIONE GRANGER AND THE PHILOSOPHER)