CHAPTER 6 - TRAINING
"Hiiii-yah!" I heard one of the Slytherin tributes shout as he threw a spear at a dummy with incredible force. I was stunned by this, and had a horrible feeling about these Games. You see, the only weapon I could work with was my wand; I could shoot little sparks out of the end, and my aim was almost always perfect. A wand: now that would be useful in the Games. That is, of course, if they just happen to have one just lying around somewhere…
I was deep in thought when I was suddenly interrupted by Harry.
"So, what do you want to work on first?"
"We are NOT working on anything together." I snapped back at him. How dare he even suggest we work with each other, not after what he did to me last night…
"Um, whatever. But remember, Snaymitch said we need to stick together if we want to look united."
Want to look united? Not a chance. I wish we were anything but united. I thought to myself.
No. Listen to him. Besides, you don't want to let Lupin down… The angelic side of me suggests.
But after everything he said? Now everyone sees me as a vulnerable little girl! The angry side of me argued.
I thought about this, but gave in to the fact that Lupin would be devastated if I chose to go against Snaymitch.
"Ok, fine. Let's go find a wand or something." I finally agreed.
"No." Harry caught me by the arm. "Remember, Snaymitch said to save our strengths for the training session. Then we'll show them what we've got."
"So then what do you want to do?"
Harry smiled sheepishly.
"How about the camouflage station?"
I looked at Harry, confused at why he would choose such an unpopular station.
"I am sneakier than I look," he said with a sly smile.
Oh, right, he has the Marauder's Map. I remembered. My brothers Fred and George had given it to him a few years ago. They thought I didn't know about it, but being the youngest in my family, I always find ways to get information. Simply stated, I know things.
Anyway, the Marauder's Map allowed Harry to know the whereabouts of everyone at Hogwarts, and even included a map of secret passages in and out of the castle. Then I remembered another object Harry possessed, an object that would keep him perfectly concealed without anyone seeing him…
"Well, that's not fair! You have the Invisibility Cloak, which-"
"I didn't bring along with me," Harry finished.
"Oh, yeah." I felt my cheeks grow hot.
"Ok, let's get started." Harry stated.
We went around from station to station, and halfway through I spotted a little girl peeking around the corner shyly.
"Looks like we've got a shadow," Harry whispered to me.
"Yeah. The 12 year old from Ravenclaw. What was her name again?"
"Luna."
I turned around to look at Luna. She had beautiful long, silvery-blonde hair that looked like it emitted a moonlit glow. Her eyes were huge, deep blue circles filled with fright and innocence. I quickly whipped around and tried not to think about the fact that she might be dead in a few days.
After a while, Luna started joining us at the stations, and she actually wasn't bad with weapons; she could hit the target every time with a slingshot. I couldn't bring myself to look in her eyes for more than a few seconds, and I didn't know why. Then, it suddenly hit me; her eyes had the same innocence as my brother Ron's. In fact, now that I think of it, she reminds me of Ron in so many ways. Oh, how I miss him…
We continued to go from station to station, and I saw some Slytherins laughing at Harry while he was practicing tying knots. It made me furious seeing their pleasure. I just had to do something, so I leaned over and whispered in Harry's ear.
"Psst. Hey, go throw that huge ball over there."
"What? No way. I won't be able to lift it, let alone throw it!"
"You're kidding. I've seen your strength. Remember, you managed to drive the Sword of Gryffindor into the Basilisk and killed it alone. That had to take insane strength."
"But Snaymitch said to save our strengths for the session with the Gamemakers!"
"I don't care what Snaymitch said. I can't stand to see those Slytherins laughing at you. They think you're a weakling. Now, go throw that ball over there."
He hastily agreed, and slumped over to the ball. He picked it up with a grunt, swung it around, and threw it a good 10 feet into the weapons rack, which toppled over with a loug BANG!
The Slytherins were shocked at this, and backed away in fright. A panting Harry turned to me and grinned.
I smiled back at him. I told you so.
An hour later, someone came over to tell us to come into the waiting room for our individual training sessions with the Gamemakers. I gathered up my courage, took a breath, and stepped in. I was ready.