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Harry Potter and the Blind Seer of Durmstrang

Chapter 21

Descending the grand staircase toward the entrance hall, Harry self-consciously straightened his silk tie. It seemed that everyone around him was paired with someone, and he wondered if he would be the only person at the Yule Ball without a date. Ron had asked Lavender Brown, or rather, she had asked him, as Ron privately confessed to Harry. He seemed a bit put out by the whole thing, and Harry couldn't figure out why until they had gotten well down the stairs and were just outside the Great Hall.

"Blimey," said Ron, turning and looking upward at the top of the staircase.

"Cor," said someone else nearby. "They look like bloody royalty."

Harry looked toward the mass of people lining the grand staircase. "What is it?" he asked Ron, aside.

"Hermione," breathed Ron in enchanted tones.

"She's with Viktor Krum," said Lavender Brown snappishly, tugging on Ron's arm. He turned reluctantly and followed her into the Great Hall.

"Hello, Harry," said a voice at his elbow, just as he passed in the door.

"Luna," he said, turning to smile at her. She appeared to be alone, though with the press of people, Harry couldn't tell for sure. "Do you have a date?"

"No," she said without a trace of self-pity. "No one asked me."

Harry smiled at her again. Once inside the doorway, he stopped and turned toward her. "Luna," he said seriously, "would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Yule Ball?"

"Why yes, I think I will," she said archly, and took his arm.

"Brilliant," he said, his smile widening into a grin.

"Just so you're clear," she said a little anxiously, "I wore my Dirigible Plum earrings. Some people don't like them, but they're very good at keeping Nargles away during festive occasions."

Harry opened his mouth to say, "Impossible," but the word itself caught in his mouth. How many things had happened to him during the past year that he would have called impossible? How many people had brushed him off or underestimated him, looking only at the white cane, and not what was really possible, what was really him?

"They're beautiful," he said instead, smiling down at her face. Her hand on his arm felt soft, and it gave him a pleasant feeling somewhere deep inside.

As they stepped further into the great hall, Luna gave a little gasp of delight. "Harry, it's beautiful! All silver, with big fir trees, and it's snowing," she said happily. Harry enjoyed her delight fully as much as if he had been able to see the decorations himself; more, because she noticed things he probably would not have even bothered to look for. In a few sentences, she sketched a full picture of the winter wonderland that the Great Hall had become.

Someone bumped into him from behind. "Oops, sorry, mate," said a voice, then, "Harry!"

"Adrian," Harry replied.

"So, errr, yeah," Adrian said with a "look what I did" tone in his voice.

Harry elbowed him, then said, "Hello, Sarah." Her giggle told him he'd guessed right. "Way to go, mate," Harry whispered to Adrian.

When he had passed, Ron poked Harry in the ribs. "You know who that is, don't you, Harry?" he asked.

"Of course, why?" asked Harry.

"He's a Slytherin," said Ron in the tones he would use with a slow-witted three-year-old.

"Well, yeah?" said Harry nonchalantly. "He's all right, though."

"That bloody school exchange has sent you round the bend," said Ron, shaking his head. Harry grinned and smacked him.

The Three Weird Sisters struck up a tune, and students moved toward the dance floor.

"Do you want to dance?" Harry asked Luna.

"Not really," she replied frankly.

"Oh, okay," he said, feeling a bit relieved. He hadn't been too keen on trying to dance when he couldn't see what the others were doing, and he hadn't known what to do with his cane.

"Harry!" A booming voice next to him made him jump. "Good ter see yeh!"

"Hagrid, it's great to see you too," replied Harry enthusiastically. He turned to give Hagrid a hug around the middle. "How are you doing?"

"Well, I'm back ter teaching, you know," said Hagrid importantly.

"Yes, I'm sure your classes are…" he groped for words.

"Memorable," supplied Luna with a smile. "Hello Hagrid."

"Miss Luna. Good ter see yeh too," Hagrid replied, taking her hand politely. "Wot's that foreign school like, yeh two?" he asked curiously.

"It's very different," began Harry.

"They say it's chock full o'dark wizards," said Hagrid ominously.

"There are good wizards there too," protested Harry, thinking of Professor O'Carolan.

Luna said serenely, "knitting class is particularly delightful."

"Knitting!" snorted Hagrid. "Wot yeh need that for?"

Harry answered truthfully, "I have no idea."

Suddenly, Hagrid said, "Harry, I want t'introduce yeh to someone. This here's Professor Moody."

Someone with an uneven gait had approached them, and a gruff voice said, "Harry Potter. So glad to finally meet you. Alastair Moody's the name, though most just call me Mad-Eye, for obvious reasons." He gave a throaty chuckle, but Harry frowned slightly. Obvious to most, he supposed, but not to him.

"Nice to meet you," he said evenly, holding out his hand. It took Moody a long moment to shake it, and Harry's frown deepened at the sudden chill of tension in the air. What was wrong?

"What's the matter with ye, boy?" growled Moody with a laugh, but his tone underneath seemed both curious and worried.

Hagrid began hesitantly, "I thought yeh knew, err, professor. Harry's well, yeh see, he's had a bit of…"

Harry snorted. "I'm blind, Professor Moody," he said wryly, tapping his cane slightly on the floor in front of him to emphasize its presence. He had assumed the entire wizarding world had been informed of this fact, but apparently not everyone paid attention.

"Is that was it is, then," said Moody with something like a roar. "I'll be danged. Well, nice to meet you, Harry." With this enigmatic statement, he moved off again, leaving Harry feeling somewhat unsettled.

By now, the music had gotten so loud, Harry almost couldn't hear himself think. The wash of sound filled the room, and he had trouble distinguishing voices or other sounds from within the tangle of noise that had spread through the room. He began to feel slightly disoriented, and the feeling made a slow knot of panic form in his stomach.

"Want to go out for a breath of air?" he asked Luna loudly.

"Yes, please," she said.

Harry led the way back out into the entrance hall, where the air seemed silent and cool in contrast to the crowded, noisy Great Hall. As if by mutual consent, though no words were exchanged, they sat side-by-side on the bottom step of the grand staircase.

Harry didn't know what to say, and the silence stretched between them, growing more and more awkward.

"Do you think…?" he began, but at the same moment, Luna spoke.

"Where were you?" she asked. "You weren't on the ship."

"Oh," Harry said. "I was…" He stopped, looking around. There was no movement near, the usual indication that people stood nearby. He listened, but heard no footsteps or fidgeting. "I found Professor O'Carolan," he said in a low, excited voice.

"That's nice," said Luna in her characteristically calm manner. "Where was he?"

"He was up in this… room," said Harry. "Off of one of the towers."

"Jamie said he would most likely be in a tower," offered Luna.

Harry smiled. "Yeah, her video games," he said.

"Why did you go looking there, right when it was time to leave?" asked Luna curiously.

"I didn't; I went to his office for a book," began Harry. "Bugger. I forgot it, too."

"So, you went for a book," prompted Luna.

"Oh, yeah, and I found this note in his office, and this little thing." Harry pulled the Hansel-And-Gretel out of his pocket where he'd slipped it after changing robes.

"What is that?" asked Luna, taking the arrow-shaped piece of metal out of his hands and turning it over in her fingers.

"It's this little gadget they sell in the Shop of Requirement in…" Harry explained, but Luna broke in.

"The Shop of Requirement?" she asked, handing him the metal triangle back.

"In Diagon Alley. I didn't know it was there either until last year. It's this shop that's only there if you need special stuff, like magnifiers or a white cane or something." Harry felt somewhat shy, explaining the shop to Luna, as if he was revealing a secret.

"Can I go there too?" she asked with interest. "I'm sure they have useful items for inventing new things, like the grimblesnatch I was making last summer."

"Err," said Harry, "I'm not sure you can see the Shop of Requirement. I guess you have to have a disability or something. I'm not sure how it works, exactly. Hagrid could see it when I was there with him."

"Will you take me sometime?" she asked.

"I guess so. Sure, why not?" he answered after a moment's pause.

"So you found that thing in his office…" Luna said, steering him back to his story.

"Yes, and it led me to where he was, or the wall outside where he was," Harry said.

"Is that what it does? Lead you to people?" she asked curiously.

"No, not usually. He'd fiddled with it, I think," said Harry.

"How did you rescue him?" she asked.

Harry felt suddenly at a loss. He hadn't told anyone but Ron and Hermione about Feliss, although of course Sirius and Lupin knew. Feliss was supposed to be a big secret, an ace in their hands that would be useful only if Voldemort did not know of his existence. Harry suddenly wondered just how many people walked around right under their noses, hidden from the world by a lifetime dedicated to being invisible.

"I-I-I'm not exactly sure," he said vaguely. "Somehow I got in to where he was, and then we were in Sirius's house."

"Sirius Black?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes, he's my godfather." Harry said this with pride.

"Oh yeah, I remember," she agreed. "That's good that you found him. He can help us fight You-Know-Who."

"Yeah," said Harry glumly. "Fight You-Know-Who."

"We'll have to, you know," said Luna seriously. "He can't be allowed to become powerful again."

"No," agreed Harry, but he felt suddenly tired and small.

As if sensing his sudden shift in mood, Luna patted his hand, which lay atop his knee. "You're not alone, you know," she said.

Harry gave her a tight-lipped smile. He didn't know whether that thought made him grateful, or more anxious.

"Harry! There you are!" shouted Ron from the doorway of the Great Hall. "I wondered where you'd gone."

"Sorry, mate," said Harry. "It was just a bit too loud in there."

Ron did not answer, and Harry, unable to read his face, felt a tingle of worry. Did Ron think he preferred Luna's company because she was an "exchanger" like him? Harry sighed. Life seemed so confusing and complicated, sometimes.

"Shall we go back in?" asked Luna, standing to her feet.

"Guess we'd better," said Harry ruefully. Maybe he could talk Ron round. He sighed, and followed Luna toward the Great Hall.

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