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Victoire
"Welcome to the Gryffindor Seeker trials!" Siobhan grinned at the small crowd of students that stood before her, shivering from the cold. Victoire stood next to her Gryffindor teammates, who were all wearing their scarlet and gold robes. "I'm Siobhan, as you know, this is Victoire Weasley, Demelza Gray, and Lara Padmore, our Chasers. Fred, c'mon, Fred, Weasley is our first Beater, and Irving Padmore is our second Beater, but I, uh, don't know where he is. Anyways, we need a Seeker that will fit well with our team, so that's, uh, what we're here to do!" She clapped her hands together, which made some of the second years and third years in the group jump. Victoire took a good look at the lot of them. All the Gryffindors that turned up for the trials held brooms of varying quality and shot nervous looks to each other. They all wore cloaks of thick material and dragon-hide gloves covered their hands, yet each and every of them shivered from the brisk wind that overcame them. It was rather odd for the cold to hit them this early in October, but the entire school was too busy wrapping themselves up and lighting fires to notice.
"Now, laps, if you would!" Siobhan announced, and the group of Gryffindors rose up from the green pitch and into the darkening sky. Victoire could see who was cut out for Seeker and who wasn't. Some of them clearly hadn't spent much time on a broom. A girl started twirling, so much so that she spiraled down towards the pitch, landing heavily on her right arm. Another boy's broom jerked around so much that he ended up ramming headfirst into the wooden stands, which caused several fourth year girls to shriek out loud as he landed among them.
"This is going spectacularly well, isn't it?" Fred muttered to her, as they watched two boys run into each other and fall flat on the pitch, creating a dull thud that could be heard around the grounds. Siobhan rushed over to pull all those who had fallen in the direction of the hospital wing, though some of them wandered off in different directions, clearly dizzy. After half an hour more, the Gryffindor team found themselves four potential Seekers, all of whom flew fairly well. They looped around the pitch one more time before Siobhan called them down. It was an odd mix: two of them were bold-faced fifth year girls who gripped their brooms like scepters, one of them was a golden-haired third year boy who looked incredibly confused, and the fourth one was James Potter, whom Victoire snuck a little wave at. He grinned back.
"Since there are four of you, I'm just going to have you go one at a time, and the person who gets the Snitch the fastest will get the job. Got it?" Siobhan shivered as a burst of cold wind burst through them, but powered through it as she gripped the Golden Snitch in one of her gloved hands. "You, you're going first." She pointed to one of the fifth years, who mounted her broom and kicked off. Siobhan released the Snitch into the air, and the golden sphere twinkled before disappearing from sight within seconds. The girl played fairly well. Her eyes followed the Snitch around the pitch until she swooped between the largest goalpost and leaned over the edge of her broomstick and grabbed at the flying, golden orb. She caught it, but barely. Fred shook his head as the team checked the time. The girl had taken about twelve minutes to get the Snitch, which was good, but not quite good enough. If this had been a real match, and they had needed to get the Snitch quickly, they would have been annihilated. Demelza and Lara gave Victoire a look that said this girl wasn't what they needed. The second fifth year kicked off, and she kept swerving far too much to the left. The Snitch looped circles around her leg, but she didn't seem to notice. After ten minutes, she finally caught it, but, again, the team shared a look that said everything: her flying abilities weren't cut out for Seeker. The third year boy looped around in the field in dizzying circles and ended up falling face first into the emerald grass of the pitch, while the Snitch flew near the stands. Siobhan looked incredibly frustrated as she escorted him into the castle, and the rest of the team stared right at their last hope. James Potter, looking confident as ever, kicked up off the ground and flew a lap around the field, which made a group of girls in the stands cheer loudly. Siobhan grunted, frustrated, then let out the Snitch. Within a minute, two at most, he gripped the Golden Snitch triumphantly in his hand. He threw both of his fists up into the air, which only caused the girls in the stands to clap and cheer even louder. To prove himself even further or to impress the girls in the stands, he let the Snitch out from his hand and caught it, again within a minute or two. The groups' cheers echoed through the sky, and James winked at them. Victoire wanted to let out a laugh, but from the disgruntled look on Siobhan's face, she decided against it. As he came to the ground, Siobhan whispered a hurried thanks and goodbye to all of the other candidates. The two of them stalked back to the castle, one of the girls shooting dirty looks in Siobhan's direction.
Victoire clapped James on the back and congratulated him, as do the other team members. Fred shared a look with Victoire that said it all: the eldest Potter may have had a touch more arrogance than necessary, but his talent was undeniably one of a kind. Well, if he wins us the Quidditch Cup, then there's nothing to complain about.
"James!" Siobhan said, grinning excitedly in his direction."Congrats, you got the job. Come to the changing room, I need to find you some Gryffindor robes." She ran off to the castle, with James hurrying behind her, still wearing a grin that went from ear to ear.
"So, that's that." Fred said, staring at the retreating figure of James Potter. "That was unexpected." Victoire stared in the same direction, feeling elated and slightly amused. Nearly half of the team is composed of Weasley children now.
"Merlin's beard, he's good." Victoire replied, and Demelza nodded, staring up at the stands where James's friends were sitting. They were talking and giggling animatedly to each other, holding books and wearing Gryffindor scarves around their necks. "But, if his little fan club is going to be there every practice, I would rather have the twirling boy." Fred sniggered as they walked in the direction of the castle to the changing rooms. The sky had completely darkened at this point, with tiny pinpricks of light from the stars brightening the night sky. A bit of misty fog covered the top of the castle, which looked both ominous and elegant in the blanket of darkness
As they entered, James was already wearing some red and gold robes that had POTTER emblazoned on the back. Siobhan tapped her wand on his shoulder, where the stitches fixed themselves and the dust disappeared. "I think that's good? Being honest, I'm not great at these kinds of spells." James nodded so exuberantly that he knocked over a stand filled with old broomsticks that the first years had used during Flying lessons.
"Welcome to the team, James." Fred clapped him on the shoulder. Demelza, Laura, and Victoire wrapped around him in a massive hug, while Siobhan grinned in his direction. "You better win us the Quidditch Cup this year, or we'll toss you off Gryffindor Tower."
"He's kidding." Victoire assured the boy, whose grin was starting to fade. "Now, are we going to celebrate, or not?"
"Eli, that's it." Siobhan slammed one of his books shut, and Eli jumped back, looking shocked to see the two of them standing in front of him. He was sitting in one of the rickety wooden chairs behind a desk that was covered in tall stacks of new textbooks and rolls of parchment tucked away in the corner of the Gryffindor common room. The rest of the Gryffindors were celebrating James's appointment as Seeker by eating food from the kitchens and butterbeers that Fred and Alexandra Jordan had nicked from somewhere (Victoire had never bothered to ask, nor did she really want to know.). "I'm Quidditch captain, and this is a party. You have to at least have some food." She energetically held out a cream puff that Eli eyed with caution.
"You've put Canary Cream in that. There's no way I'm eating it." He said, opening up the book and putting his nose in it again. "I'm not an idiot, S. And, I've got to read all this for Ancient Runes tomorrow. I don't have time to eat."
"C'mon, Eli, just have a butterbeer or something." Victoire replied, as she saw a third year abruptly sprout feathers. "You can drink it while you study for Ancient Runes."
"No." He replied simply, adjusting his glasses. "Why are we even having a party? We didn't win anything." Siobhan nearly spitted out the butterbeer she was drinking.
"We won a bloody good Seeker, that's what we won." She replied, and the two of them began to bicker, leaving Victoire the opportunity to look around the room. Fred, Lara, and Alexandra were sitting near the fire, a box of sweets sitting between them. Lily, Hugo, and the little first year named Morrigan were drinking butterbeers and giggling together at a rickety table in the corner, while Albus, James, and their friends were laughing and talking amongst each other. The rest of the Gryffindors had either taken places against the red and gold walls, or were sitting on the floor beneath the fire of the same color. All of them were talking to each other or letting out snorts at the students who randomly erupted into a canary in a puff of feathers.
The full moon was out tonight. The glowing orb burned like a silver lantern among the twinkling stars, which only made Victoire's stomach flip. It reminded her of Teddy, which in turn made her feel like a giant hole had been ripped through her. Because of that, or because of something else, she felt a strange sensation that felt like she was freezing over. The shouts and yells of Gryffindor revelers turned villainous. The beat of her heart seemed to grow louder and louder until it was the only sound she heard. Dark shadows bursted into her vision, dancing and twirling their way to make the bright common room dull and dark. A sudden urge to attack, to fight everyone in there overthrew her. She wanted to hurt Eli and Siobhan for their constant need to bicker all the time. Oh, why can't they just give it a rest?
"Victoire?" Siobhan and Eli waved their hands in front of her face, and the beating of her heart and the urge to attack and the dark shadows disappeared, and she has left with the bright interior of the Gryffindor common room. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." Victoire breathed. "Yeah, I just-just need some fresh air." She suddenly stood up and walked out of the portrait hole, leaving her two friends befuddled in her absence. Behind her, the Fat Lady yelled, "You're not supposed to be out this late! What are you doing?" She didn't look back, and instead ran down the left corridor. At this point, everybody had either gone to bed or their common room, so the corridors were relatively empty. The only sounds she heard were the voices from a portrait and the unintelligible Latin murmurings of a suit of armor. As she got frustrated with herself, she stopped right across from a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls the ballet. Victoire paced back and forth in front of it, her fingers shaking as she reached up to rub her eyes.
Nothing made sense. The dark figures and shadows across her eyes didn't make sense. The sudden urge to attack and to kill didn't make any sense. Why would she want to hurt the people that supported and encouraged her? Why would she feel the need to injure those whom she loved and cared for the most in this world? Just as her mind tried to comprehend the incomprehensible, a grand, wrought iron door appeared on the wall where she was pacing. Victoire stopped in her tracks. The door seemed imposing and terrifying, much like Hogwarts castle upon first look, but as she stared at it even more, it felt more and more inviting by the minute. Without a moment's thought to the consequences, Victoire grabbed the handle and pulled, entering into a room like nothing else she had ever seen.
The room was filled with trinkets and other objects in varying states of shabbiness from the wooden floor to the high, pointed ceiling. She walked inside, her fingers grazing over a graffitied, wooden cabinet that had several stacks of textbooks sitting on top of it. Pulling one off the stack, Victoire saw that it was from nearly a century ago and the owner of the book didn't seem to have the greatest respect for the object. Several pages were torn out, and they had doodled all over the margins. Odd drawings of headless squids and armless humans were on the first page, which made Victoire recoil in shock and put the book back down. As she headed down the row between a rather large portrait of a group of trolls and a dark cabinet, she heard a strange, echoing scream from behind her. Oddly enough, the sound disappeared just as quickly as it came. Victoire turned around in circles until she heard the noise again from the direction of the dark cabinet. A Vanishing Cabinet. Stars, I've never seen a real one before. She approached it, her fingers shaking as she reached out to pull the door of the cabinet open. Time seemed to slow down as the tips of her fingers touched the chilled surface of the delicate, metal handle.
She pulled.
But, the door didn't budge.
The scream returned, louder than ever, echoing from inside of the black cabinet. Then, complete silence. Victoire pressed her ear against the cabinet, hearing the shout grow louder, then it disappeared again. Pulling out her wand in one fluid motion, she pointed it towards the cabinet and hopefully yelled, "Finite incantatem!" In an instant, she heard a dull thud from inside the cabinet and a clicking sound that indicated the cabinet had unlocked itself was heard. She leaned forward and pulled the heavy door open to reveal a small, familiar chocolate-haired girl with half of her body missing, much like a Splinching gone wrong. Strips of flesh from her legs, arms, and torso were missing, and pints of blood seemed to pour all down her body. The dark, metal interior of the cabinet was also covered with blood stains, some of them dried already. She must have been here a while. She took one look at her bloody stomach and began to scream like a banshee.
"Astoria, Astoria, calm down!" Victoire said to her as she gripped the girl under her waist and knees. "I'll get you to the hospital wing." The scarlet liquid that poured down her legs and her arms had already made its way onto Victoire's robes and sweater as Astoria Grayson put one shaking hand on her shoulder.
"H-hurry, p-please." She murmured shakily before her head lolled back onto Victoire's elbows. There is nothing I can do, I'm about as useful as a muggle when it comes to healing spells.
Victoire runned out of the strange room, the door disappearing behind her, and headed in the direction of Gryffindor Tower, then down the stairs until she reached the first floor corridor. Astoria seemed to physically deteriorate in front of her, and she desperately wished she had just listened to Mum whenever she had taught healing spells. The portraits she passed yelled at her and followed her down the stairs, but she didn't pass any teachers until she found herself right outside the hospital wing.
"Miss Weasley, wha-" Professor Slughorn's eyes went wide at the sight of Astoria, and he dropped the rather large bottle of Firewhiskey that he was holding. Victoire pushed past him in an effort to get into the wing when Madam Pomfrey started shouting.
"What is this? Why are you here so late?" She demanded with her hands on her hips until she saw a limp Astoria in Victoire's arms. "Get her on the bed!" Bringing her to the closest bed, Victoire gently placed her down on the sheets, successfully turning them from pristine and clean to soaked scarlet within seconds. Madam Pomfrey grabbed a handful of potions and began to spread it across the wounds as she muttered, "Never! Never have I seen such horrible wounds! What is it with Hogwarts?"
"Miss Weasley, I dread to ask," Professor Slughorn said as he glanced at Astoria's limp body and flinched. "What happened to Miss Grayson?"
"I found her up in this weird room in the seventh floor left corridor, inside a Vanishing Cabinet." Victoire suddenly felt a burst of cold rushing up her skin, even though none of the windows were open. "Um, she was stuck, and I got her out of the Cabinet, but she was already like this when I got her out." Slughorn's eyebrows knitted together in surprise, and he rushed off down the corridor without another word. Victoire stood shakily in the doorway of the hospital wing as Madam Pomfrey continued to place strange potions and liquids onto Astoria's wounds. The girl began to gain her consciousness back, starting with the flickering of her eyes and the moving of her fingertips. She still looked as pale as a ghost and the blood continued to flow from her arms, which made her go even whiter as she gazed down at her body.
Victoire looked over at the other beds with their pristine, white sheets and hospital corners tucked in. Lana Anderson, who looked fairly normal now, was lying down in one of the beds, sleeping deeply. A large number of potions and other liquids in flasks were sitting on her night table, presumably everything that Madam Pomfrey had had her take to restore her to health. Lana looked peaceful, utterly oblivious to the tragedy occurring several beds down from her.
Slughorn returned, this time accompanied by the Headmistress herself, wearing a tartan nightgown and a cloak wrapped over her. "Goodness, it's chilly. Why am I here?" Her vague annoyance disappeared as soon as she saw Astoria on the bed, being hastily treated by Madam Pomfrey. "What happened?" She spotted Victoire, who immediately jumped into the story.
"A Vanishing Cabinet, Minerva." Slughorn whispered, his moustache twitching. "I thought we got rid of all the Vanishing Cabinets." She shook her head pitifully.
"Miss Weasley, this room, could it possibly be the Room of Requirement?" Professor McGonagall strictly asked her, to which Victoire stayed silent for a moment. She had no idea what the Room of Requirement was, but whatever room she had found Astoria in was a place where she had never been in or had even heard of.
"Um, I suppose so." She replied, and Professor McGonagall gripped her shoulder in a comforting way.
"We should be glad you were out and about at this hour, Miss Weasley. Now, if you would proceed back to the Gryffindor dormitory, I will have your Head of House come tomorrow morning and make an announcement. I would prefer if you would keep this quiet until we announce it to the entire school." McGonagall asked her.
"Professor? Would you mind if I told Eli, Siobhan, and Agatha?" Victoire asked quietly, and the Headmistress looked towards Slughorn, who grunted in a noncommittal way.
"I'm sure Mr. Wells and Miss Mor would be trustworthy enough. I would suggest being gentle with the older Miss Grayson. I do not think she will take this well." She gestured towards the doorway, and Victoire found her way out into the corridor and up the stairs onto the seventh floor. Her mind was still back in the Room of Requirement. She kept reliving the moment where she had opened the door and found Astoria lying there in a pool of blood. What if I hadn't come sooner? What if I didn't go down there?
Victoire found herself standing in front of the portrait hole as the Fat Lady surveyed her with a distrustful eye. "Why've you got blood all over yourself? Filthy!" She said scornfully, to which Victoire softly said, "Fortuna maior." She shook her head as the hole flings open, and Victoire fell into the common room. Half of the revelers had gone now, and some of the older students had hung back to grab the remaining food and drink. They shrieked in horror at the sight of Victoire soaked in blood, and one of them even ran up into his dormitory to avoid her.
"Victoire!" Siobhan squealed and recoiled at the blood. "What happened?"
"Um, Agatha. I need to talk to Agatha." She mumbled, and the chocolate-haired beauty stood up in one of the rickety, wooden chairs with a Potions book in her hand.
"What happened?" She asked gently, and Victoire felt sick just thinking about Agatha having to visit her sister in the hospital wing.
"Astoria. A-Astoria got stuck in a Vanishing Cabinet down the corridor, and I-I found her and I took her to the hospital wing a-and. . ." Victoire's voice trailed off, but Agatha went as pale as Nearly Headless Nick.
"Astoria?" Agatha replied weakly. She looked around the common room for a second before dropping the textbook and running out of the portrait hole, still in her nightgown. Siobhan pushed her hands out to stop her, but it was already too late."She got stuck in a Vanishing Cabinet?" Eli says thoughtfully, holding a stack of books in one hand.
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, Vanishing Cabinets are, well, they're considered incredibly dangerous." Eli replied, looking at the ground. "Dark Wizards used to use them, as well as highly talented Aurors. I don't understand why Hogwarts would own one."
"Why would a Vanishing Cabinet be dangerous? Aren't they just a means of transporting things from place to place?" Siobhan questioned. "I think they used to use them if Death Eaters would come calling. You know, the wizard in question would just pop into it and suddenly appear in a safe place."
"Well, if they're in perfect working condition, then they work like a charm." Eli replied matter-of-factly. "But, if they're broken, like most of them are now, they can turn into a nightmare. I read something in the Evening Prophet about people getting injured through malfunctioning Vanishing Cabinets. It's a bit like a really horrible Splinching, right?" He glanced at Victoire, who nodded gravely.
"That's what Astoria was like."
"Merlin's beard, that's horrible." Siobhan shuddered at the thought. The trio kept silent for several seconds, thinking about Splinching and Vanishing Cabinets.
"I'm going to bed." Victoire abruptly said, and she headed towards the spiral staircase that led to the girls' dormitories. Some of the other girls who were walking up to their rooms eyed her with distaste, but her mind raced too fast for her to even bother with the bloody skirt and robes she was wearing. Eli's notes on Vanishing Cabinets made her feel even worse. If they're highly dangerous objects, they wouldn't have them just lying around in Hogwarts, would they? Who put it there? And, why? Questions penetrated her mind up as she pulled off her robes and pulled on a pair of pajamas. They seemed to jab at her sides when she yanked the covers up to her chin, and they kept poking at her as she tried to fall asleep.