Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "An Inconvenient Truth" by old-crow. After third year, Amelia Bones decides to investigate what happened to Harry Potter, discovering the truth about his home life. Harry/Susan.
Chapter 21 - I've Got the Power!
Monday, January 4, 1995, Morning.
The first day of classes for the spring term meant that everyone was very preoccupied at breakfast. Some were excited to start classes again. Some were bemoaning the fact that the holidays were over. Some were still asleep, only going through the motions of eating breakfast. Others, including Jasmine, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny, were focused on the Daily Prophet article about Hagrid's giant ancestry. All in all, it was a fairly normal start-of-term breakfast.
No one paid any attention to the owl that flew down to the Ravenclaw table and landed in front of Fleur Delacour. Even if they had, they couldn't have known how much she had been looking forward to receiving this response from her family, nor the chain of events it would set in motion, nor how it would ultimately help cause major changes not only in Britain's magical community, but also and magical communities around the world.
Not even Fleur was aware of any of that. All she cared about was the fact that she was finally going to get some answers to questions that had been plaguing her almost since she arrived at Hogwarts. By the time she found enough privacy later that morning to read it, though, she was both disappointed and intrigued.
She was disappointed because she didn't get any of the answers she had been expecting. According to her mother and grandmother, all the evidence and observations she described did indeed point to a powerful connection at work between the two witches. They did not, however, explain what this connection was or how they knew it.
Fleur was intrigued because of the great interest that her mother and grandmother showed in the two witches. In fact, they sounded almost desperate that Fleur contact the girls and make time to talk to them about their connection. She was also instructed to give the two English witches a basic overview of the veela history and customs — including some facts that were normally kept secret and never revealed to outsiders.
If I didn't know better, Fleur mused to herself, I'd almost think that Maman and Grandmere were preparing to come here to meet those two themselves. But why are they so interested? Why are these two English witches so special? Ah, well, I guess the only way to find out is to take the time to talk to them, just as I've been told to do.
Jasmine and Hermione unconsciously drew closer together as their first Herbology lesson of the spring term wound down. In the past, lessons with the Hufflepuffs had typically been pleasant because the 'Puffs themselves were pleasant and easygoing — certainly nothing like the Slytherins. Last term, however, saw that change because the general hostility towards Jasmine was much worse than average among students in Helga's house. Hufflepuffs resented the fact that their own champion, Cedric Diggory, was being upstaged by a Gryffindor, and Jasmine couldn't really blame them.
That was last term, though. Today, the 'Puffs were all acting... oddly. They weren't throwing off the same hostile vibes and glares that Jasmine and Hermione had become accustomed to, but they weren't acting friendly, either. Neither witch could quite put their finger on what the looks they were getting meant, but the change made them nervous, which was why they stayed close to each other. Despite not having been the target of Hufflepuff hostility last term, Neville still recognized that his two friends were uneasy, so he tried to keep an eye out for trouble.
As they were leaving at the end of the lesson, the three Gryffindors were approached by two of the Hufflepuffs who had been giving them funny looks: Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. "Potter?" Susan asked. "Can we talk to you for a minute?"
Neville and Hermione shifted just a bit closer to Jasmine as she responded cooly, "I suppose. What do you want, Bones?"
Flinching at the tone, and not unaware of how the other two became protective of Jasmine, Susan fidgeted, exchanged looks with Hannah, and kept staring at her shoes. Finally, she began, "Hannah and I wanted to apologize for how we've treated you and for thinking that you cheated to get into the Tournament. We don't think that anymore. In fact, we haven't really thought that for a little while now."
Surprised by the sudden apology, but still not in a very forgiving mood, Jasmine responded, "Why?"
Confused, Hannah asked, "Why what?"
"Why are you apologizing?" Jasmine clarified, without softening her tone. "And why are you apologizing now if, as you say, you changed your minds about me a while ago?"
Looking uncomfortable, Susan tried to explain, "Because it's the right thing to do. We should have done it last month, if not sooner, but at first we were too embarrassed at what we had done. As time went on, we became even more ashamed at not having acted sooner. Eventually it became easier to ignore what we had done, even though it wasn't fair to you."
"And now?" Jasmine asked.
Taking a deep breath, Susan said, "Last night, Cedric gave our entire house a real bollicking over how we've all treated you. He insisted that you hadn't cheated, that you never wanted to be in this tournament, and that you didn't deserve the hostility you've been getting. He made Hannah and me feel even worse than we already did, but he also made us face how awful we've been for not apologizing sooner. So, here we are."
Jasmine's face softened a bit and Hermione spoke up, saying, "Are you here as representatives of your house?"
"No," Hannah said, shaking her head. "We're only speaking for ourselves. Others will hopefully come around too, but of course some won't be able to let go of their resentment."
"Also," Susan added, "we don't expect you to instantly forgive us or anything like that. We hope you will eventually, but we know we have to earn it, and simply saying 'sorry' isn't enough. That's why we'll make a point of telling others about our change of heart and that we've apologized. It's the least we can do to demonstrate we're sorry. If there is anything else we can do, just tell us." Both Hufflepuff witches had hopeful but nervous smiles on their faces, looking for some sign that their olive branch was being accepted.
Neville and Hermione looked at Jasmine, waiting to take their cue from her. Jasmine kept looking from Susan to Hannah and back again, trying to discern how sincere they were. Finally coming to a decision, she said, "You're right, I can't instantly forgive and forget. But I am willing to try. Believe it or not, I completely understand why Hufflepuffs would resent me: you don't deserve having someone take attention away from Cedric. That doesn't justify how people have acted, but I understand the feeling behind it. Also, we didn't know each other well before, so it's not hard to see why you might suspect me of cheating. You didn't have much that would tell you otherwise."
"So maybe we should correct that," interjected Neville. The witches all gave him a questioning look, so he went on, "If knowing each other better could have prevented all the hostility, then the solution is, well, to start getting to know each other better. Right?"
Susan smiled and said, "That's a great idea. Any suggestions?"
"Starting small would be easiest," Hermione offered. "How about meeting once or twice a week for studying and a little general conversation?"
"Hufflepuffs already have regular study group meetings," said Hanna, "but we can make time to just meet with you. How about Tuesdays and Thursdays after dinner? Maybe for an hour or two? That would fit our schedule best."
As it turned out, those times worked best for the Gryffindors as well. Before they parted, Jasmine decided to take one more decisive step towards reconciliation. Susan and Hannah had swallowed their pride enough to apologize, so she could do something similar. Stepping forward, she held out her hand and said, "Hi, I'm Jasmine Potter. No fancy titles or anything like that. Just Jasmine." Susan's and Hannah's faces both brightened, and they went along with it, introducing themselves not only to Jasmine but the others as well.
Monday, January 4, 1995, Late Morning.
Muttering to herself as they walked through the castle to lunch, Jasmine was in an especially foul mood. "I can't believe Malfoy," she repeated to Neville and Hermione for the umpteenth time.
"I know, Jasmine," Hermione responded patiently, "Malfoy was being his usual, horrid self. But why didn't you talk back like you started doing recently?"
Jasmine stopped abruptly and said peevishly, "With all the stuff happening in the last few days, when have I had time to — " She broke off abruptly and reined in her temper with a visible effort. "Sorry. Didn't mean to snap at you. I appreciate," she tried again, "that you think my devastating wit comes so effortlessly to me, but I'm afraid it takes some time to come up with the best ones," she finished with a self-mocking grin. "Of course, if you'd just let me hex the snot out of him..."
Before Hermione could answer, they all heard someone call out to them from a nearby alcove. When they peered into the shadows, they could make out the form of Fleur Delacour. Confused but curious, they decided to walk over to see what she could want. The last time the French champion had talked to Jasmine, she had called her a "leetle girl," so she wasn't expecting much from this second encounter.
"Excusez moi, but I would like to talk to you two," Fleur said, motioning to the two witches, "in private. When would be a good time and place to meet?"
The Gryffindors looked at each other before Jasmine answered, "What is this about, exactly?"
Fleur seemed very reluctant to say anything, then looked around before responding, "It eez very private and personal — for you two." She clearly emphasized the last two words while looking into Jasmine's and Hermione's eyes.
Hermione started to get upset and demanded, "What do you know? How do you.…"
"Peace!" Fleur said quickly, holding up her empty hands. "I am veela and we can see...connections between people. I know zis eez very personal and I might be able to 'elp. But zis is not ze place to talk of such zings."
Calmer now, Hermione nodded, then looked at Jasmine. "Saturday? Our room?" Jasmine agreed, then so did Neville.
"Non," Fleur said quickly when she saw Neville nod his head. "Zis is only for you two. For ze witches. Some of what I 'ave to say is usually kept zecret among ze veela. It eez enough zat I am telling you. I cannot tell a wizard."
Even more curious now than they were before, Jasmine and Hermione agreed. Neville looked unhappy about the idea of leaving either of his two friends alone with someone they knew so little about, but Hermione laid a reassuring hand on his arm and he relaxed. "Meet us at the end of lunch outside the Great Hall," Hermione said. "We'll take you someplace private where we can talk."
"Zank you," Fleur responded. "You won't regret zis." She then trotted off, constantly looking around to see if she was being watched.
"That was... bizarre," Neville said.
"True," Jasmine replied. "But potentially interesting."
"Maybe," Neville conceded, "but are you sure you want to meet with her alone? We don't know anything about her."
"I wouldn't worry too much," Jasmine said. "There are two of us, and you'll know where we are if something happens."
"We need to learn more about veela before we go into that meeting," Hermione added. Both her friends could only nod their heads in agreement.
Tuesday, January 5, 1995, Morning.
While leaving breakfast on the second morning of spring term classes, Jasmine, Hermione, and Neville were stopped by Cedric Diggory, who wanted to talk to them.
"This is turning into a pattern," Jasmine muttered as they stepped away from the Great Hall doors.
"What?" Diggory asked, a confused look on his face.
"Nothing," Jasmine insisted with a shake of her head. "Never mind. What can we do for you?" Jasmine and Hermione were much less stiff with Diggory than they had been with the two Hufflepuff witches the previous day. That was partly because of what he had said to his house and partly because he himself had never bad-mouthed them, at least as far as they knew. He hadn't gone out of his way to be friendly, but unlike so many he hadn't been overtly hostile, either.
Cedric looked at the three younger students, unsure about what was going on with them, but he decided to forge ahead with his original plan. "Potter," he said, "have you solved your egg yet? If not, I can help with some advice.…"
"It's OK, Diggory," Jasmine replied quickly. "We put it under water and we got the clue."
"Excellent," Cedric said with a relieved smile. "Just in case you hadn't heard, I told off most of my house the other day about the way they've been treating you. It really wasn't right. I had previously tried talking to a few people privately, but it wasn't doing any good. So I called a big meeting and yelled. It seemed to help."
"Yes, it did," Hermione said. "Thanks. We appreciate it."
Cedric smiled broadly again and turned to go, but he stopped dead when Jasmine asked, "Who do you think they are going to take for you?"
"What?" Cedric asked, even more confused now than he was before.
"Who are they going to take?" Jasmine repeated. "Who's your heart's greatest treasure?"
"Wh-who?" Cedric asked, going pale as a sheet. "You mean, they intend to take a person? But the clue talks about 'what,' not about 'who'!"
"That's true, Diggory," Hermione responded, "but objects can be hidden. People, especially students, can be easily found. What's more, people are more precious than material goods, aren't they?"
Cedric gaped as he recognized the truth behind that argument. "Are you sure?" he finally asked, his voice almost a whisper.
"No," Jasmine admitted. "There's no way to be sure. But can you afford to take the chance? Can you afford to leave someone you treasure at risk?"
"Surely there wouldn't be any real risk, would there?" Cedric objected.
"No real risk?" Neville scoffed. "This is the same school that let a basilisk run around unchecked for nearly a year."
"Ba-ba-basilisk?" Cedric stammered in horror. "That really was a basilisk? I thought people were just, you know, telling stories..."
"Down, Neville," Jasmine said under her breath. "Don't break the poor boy." Turning back to Cedric, she continued, "Diggory, we're going to be researching ways to protect anyone who might be taken as a hostage. We recommend you do the same."
When Cedric nodded, Jasmine continued, "If you'd like, we can meet in a couple of weeks to compare notes. We may be competitors, but if hostages are taken then it's not about us anymore, it's about protecting the people we care about. That's more important than winning any tournament, yeah?"
Cedric looked at Jasmine as if he'd never seen her before. "Yeah," he said slowly, nodding his head. "You're absolutely right. Thanks for saying that. What about the other two champions?"
"We'll talk to them over the next week," Jasmine responded. "We should have plenty of time to figure something out."
"Right," Cedric said. He held out his hand to shake with Jasmine. "Thanks, Potter, you're really alright."
"Thanks, and it's Jasmine," she replied.
"And it's Cedric," he said back, smiling. "See you later."
After he had walked away, Hermione turned to Jasmine and said, "That was a really good idea, Jas."
"Thanks," Jasmine answered as they resumed their walk to History of Magic. "I started thinking about it after we talked to Fleur yesterday. If she turns out to be OK, then maybe we'll have a civil relationship or better with all the champions, which means we may all be able to work together. Cedric will, obviously. I'll bet Viktor will, too. That just leaves Fleur."
Neville nodded in understanding. "Good plan," he said. "If you four work together, you stand a better chance of rescuing any hostages without anyone getting hurt."
"Exactly," Jasmine said. "I never wanted to be in this stupid tournament to begin with, so not winning doesn't matter to me. I'll happily sacrifice all my points in exchange for protecting innocent bystanders who also didn't volunteer to be part of this."
As they turned the first corner, they almost ran into Mad-Eye Moody, who seemed to be standing there as if waiting for someone. "So, Potter," he said, "figured out the egg have you," making it clear that he must have been listening to their conversation with Cedric.
"Uh, yes, Professor Moody," Jasmine answered a little nervously.
"Good job, then," he said, "and good job on trying to work with Cedric, too. You do Hogwarts proud." With that, he stomped off, his wooden leg clacking against the stone floor and his magical eye spinning wildly.
"He creeps me out," Hermione said quietly.
"You're not the only one," Jasmine responded as Neville nodded his head in agreement.
Tuesday, January 5, 1995, Late Morning.
The first Transfiguration class of the spring term was interesting, to say the least. Their lesson was on the Ebublio jinx, a jinx which created a bubble around the target. As Professor McGonagall explained, this jinx fell under the category of transfiguration because the bubble was created out of nothing, making it a form of conjuration which was a subset of transfiguration.
According to Professor McGonagall, a properly cast Ebublio jinx would create a bubble large enough to encompass the entire target, permeable enough to allow them to breathe, durable enough to last at least an hour, and strong enough to not break through physical force alone — it would require either a magical spell or magically enhanced physical strength to break it. How much power or strength was required depended on the power of the caster.
Jasmine, Hermione, and Neville all recognized the potential value this spell had in a fight and thus the potential value to Jasmine in the tournament — including possibly during the second task, if the spell could be made to work under water. This made them all especially eager to learn how to do this spell properly as fast as possible.
The results, at least for Jasmine and Hermione, exceeded all expectations.
Whereas most students got misshapen bubbles at best, all of which were easily popped, Jasmine and Hermione successfully created large, strong bubbles around their transfigured mice almost from their first attempts.
"Excellent work, Miss Granger and Miss Potter," Professor McGonagall said as she came by their table to check their progress. "Five points each to Gryffindor for being the first to get the spell right."
"Professor," Hermione said in a low voice, "does this spell work only in the open air, or can it be used... in other environments?"
"It can be used almost anywhere, Miss Granger," came the reply, "though it's most easily cast in the open air. Other environments usually require more power and concentration, because those bubbles are usually cast with the intention of having the air automatically refreshed, like with the bubble head charm." The small, quick smile that accompanied this answer told Hermione that this jinx hadn't been chosen for the day's lesson for purely pedagogical reasons.
"Now, the bubble can be eliminated with any number of concussive or piercing hexes and curses, but that wouldn't be very good for your mice. A simple Finite will also do the trick, though it must be cast with more power than the original bubble was created with. I'll take care of it this time so I can get a sense for how solid your bubbles are." With that, Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at Hermione's bubble and said "Finite Incantatem!"
Nothing happened.
Professor McGonagall blinked a couple of times then tried the same with Jasmine's bubble.
Again, nothing happened.
Raising an eyebrow, she said, "It looks like your bubbles are too strong for a weak Finite. Surprising, but excellent work. Take another five points each." Professor McGonagall then repeated the spell, but this time a brighter light surged from her wand.
Hermione's bubble flickered slightly, but that was all. Jasmine's bubble stubbornly refused to react.
Professor McGonagall raised both eyebrows now and started to look concerned. Focusing herself, she repeated the spell, speaking more firmly than before and causing a significantly brighter light to come out and hit the target bubble. Hermione's bubble flickered and disappeared, allowing the mouse to make a break for it. Jasmine's bubble flickered for a couple of seconds before finally, almost grudgingly, disappearing, and her mouse seemed too scared to try to run.
Fortunately, most of the rest of the students had been more concerned with their own work to notice what was going on. Before moving to the next table, Professor McGonagall told them quietly, "Read for the rest of the lesson and see me afterwards."
Jasmine and Hermione gave each other a worried glance, wondering what they had done and why McGonagall looked so concerned.
After the lesson was over and the rest of the class had left, Professor McGonagall closed, locked, and silenced the door. She then gave the two young witches an appraising look. "What you did today... you should not have been able to do. It's not just that you got the spell right the first time. That's unusual, but not impossible for good students. No, what I mean is the strength of the spells you cast. Did either of you consciously put a lot of power behind the spells when you cast them? Did either of you feel a little tired or drained afterwards?
Jasmine and Hermione both shook their heads. "What do you mean, the strength of our spells?" Hermione asked.
"When I first tried to dispel your bubbles," Professor McGonagall explained, "I used a low-power Finite. That should have been enough for any bubble created by an average student at your level. Next I used a medium-power Finite. That should have been enough for an advanced student at your level or most students up through seventh year. Finally I used a very strong Finite — not the most powerful I could cast, but a strong one nonetheless. It was a near thing that it worked, too, especially on your bubble, Miss Potter."
Their professor studied them thoughtfully before continuing, "Looking at your faces right now, I find myself wondering if this isn't really news to either of you. Tell me, what do you know?"
Looking a bit embarrassed, Jasmine said, "Well, before the hols I thought that some of my spells were coming out a bit stronger. I wasn't sure, though. It was happening only just before last term ended, and as you know I was very distracted by other things."
Hermione jumped in at this point, saying, "Neville, Ginny, and I noticed that she seemed to have more power when... well, when it looked like she was going to destroy a classroom in a bout of anger-induced accidental magic."
McGonagall gaped at this news and sat down heavily in the nearest chair.
"We weren't sure what was going on," Hermione hastened to add, "So we were going to keep an eye on Jasmine and the spells she cast to see if there was indeed a noticeable increase in power. I wouldn't have said so today, merely because we both got the spell right the first time, but I guess I would have been wrong."
Jasmine added, "Now that you mention that, I wonder if perhaps I was putting more power behind my spells before the holidays than I realized. Maybe there were cases where it simply wasn't obvious to either of us?" Hermione nodded in agreement at that idea, then both witches noticed that their professor was still silent... silent and in a bit of shock.
"Professor?" Jasmine asked tentatively.
"Tell me," McGonagall finally got out, "what do you mean by 'almost destroyed a classroom'?"
"Well," Jasmine started, "we meet in an unused classroom to train and practice. I got some potentially bad news and we went there to discuss it. I lost my temper and..."
Hermione cut in, saying, "The walls of the classroom rumbled, and we could almost see the power rolling off Jasmine. I... well... I had to kiss her to interrupt whatever cycle of anger she had going on. As a matter of fact, now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder if I absorbed a little of the magic she had built up, because I felt a bit stronger for a while after."
Professor McGonagall shook her head then rested it in one of her hands for a few moments.
When she looked back at her students, she could tell they didn't understand her distress. "First," she explained, "no one should have enough power to cause any walls in this castle to shudder or rumble. The walls are too thick, too old, and imbued with too much magic. I suppose the Headmaster might be able to if he were to really let loose, but the fact that you might be able to do so — and in a fit of accidental magic which you shouldn't be having anymore — is both astounding and disturbing."
"Second," she continued, "that both of you can direct so much power in a conscious, deliberate manner like you did earlier during the lesson is also astonishing. I shouldn't have trouble dispelling any spell you could cast, but I did. If you're this powerful as fourth years, what will you be like as seventh years? Finally, you only talk about Miss Potter having displayed extra power, but it's clear that you, Miss Granger, have similar power. Did you not notice anything before?"
Hermione's eyes widened at that question — she had been so focused on Jasmine that she completely forgot that the earlier lesson had revealed her to be about as powerful herself. "No, professor," she answered, "I haven't noticed anything like that."
"And do you think that it's a coincidence that this is happening to both of you? Now?" their professor asked.
Now Jasmine's eyes widened and she asked, "I... I don't know. What do you think?"
Taking a deep breath, Professor McGonagall said, "I'm not sure, but that's not actually the biggest issue facing us. Most important is that this extra power creates a problem. Two problems, actually. The amount of power you can bring to bear means that you will more easily get what you want out of a spell, even if you don't quite perform the incantation or wand movements correctly. The first problem, then, is academic: this encourages laziness. If you don't get the details right, you may not even notice; and if you do, you may not feel the need to fix things because you are getting the results you want."
"The second problem," she continued, "is that of safety. Your extra power means that if anything goes wrong, it can go wrong in much, much worse ways — ways that you won't easily be able to fix if you don't know how." She paused for a moment to think, then went on, "The academic problem can be fixed if you pay closer attention to the details of your spell casting. I think I can rely on you, Miss Granger, to take care of that?" Hermione nodded vigorously.
"Good," McGonagall said, "that's one down. Safety will be harder to deal with. I'm afraid that I don't want you casting spells unsupervised — not even spells you already know well." Both younger witches started to protest before McGonagall put up her hand to stop them. "I'm sorry, but it's for your own protection and for the protection of others. You could seriously injure yourselves or another student with an overpowered and miscast spell. However, I realize that you do need to practice — both for your classes and for the tournament. I will offer to supervise you, but we'll need to set a schedule. We could perhaps have a more flexible schedule if you're willing to allow another teacher to help, like Professor Flitwick."
Jasmine and Hermione were mollified to learn that they wouldn't lose practice and training time entirely, though it was a disappointment that they'd be restricted on when they could do it. "OK, we'll do that," Jasmine said. "And we'll think about asking Professor Flitwick to help us as well. Right now, we mostly train and practice after dinner, two or three evenings a week. We'll increase that as the second task approaches."
Professor McGonagall nodded at that. "I should be able to accommodate you. I can bring work of my own, too — I don't need to be hanging over your shoulders and very second, just be available in case something goes wrong. And now that I think of it, Professor Flitwick might know of a way to control how much power you use — he used to be a dueling master, and if I'm not mistaken, the best duelists can reduce or increase spell power to achieve different effects. If he can teach you any of that, you might soon not need supervision."
Both witches brightened at that idea and resolved to discuss bringing Professor Flitwick into at least some of their confidence soon. "Just how much can or should we tell him, professor?" Hermione asked.
McGonagall didn't answer immediately, but after thinking she said, "I'm not sure, to be honest. He's no fan of bigotry in the magical community, but he is also part goblin, and goblins can be very conservative — at least within their own society, I believe. They don't think much of wizards and witches in general, so they might not even care what we do in our private lives. I'll have to think about it — you're right to ask, because if he does supervise you, he might end up suspecting something... especially if the extra power is in any way connected to your relationship."
Jasmine and Hermione turned and stared at each other, both reminded of what Fleur had said the previous day and wondering if perhaps she knew what was going on with them.
Suddenly Hermione remembered something. "Now that you mention it," she said, clearly worried now, "the goblins might know more about us than we realize."
"What do you mean?" McGonagall asked in puzzlement.
"Well," Hermione began, "they didn't seem surprised when the two of us went to the bank last week, though I didn't think about it at the time. More importantly, I think the account manager saw my ring when he gave me the copy of the letter Gringotts sent to Jasmine."
"What?" Jasmine asked, a bit upset.
"Yeah," Hermione responded, "He looked closely at my hand, then at yours. I found it odd because I thought these rings would be invisible to everyone."
"And you didn't think to say anything?" Jasmine asked, now more upset.
"I'm sorry!" Hermione said, both embarrassed and defensive. "At the time you weren't paying attention, and then later I got distracted because of our concerns about who's reading your mail."
Jasmine sighed irritably and said, "Oh, all right. But that's pretty important."
"Wait a minute!" McGonagall called out. "I'm lost. What rings are you two talking about?"
Jasmine held out her left hand and scrunched up her face, causing a ring to appear. "I got Hermione a ring from the Potter heirloom vault," she explained. "It had a matching wizard's ring, but the goblins reforged it into a witch's ring. Show her, Hermione."
Hermione held out her hand, and an exact duplicate of Jasmine's appeared on her ring finger, though without any visible sign of effort on her part.
Minerva McGonagall gasped when she saw the rings side-by-side. The two younger witches interpreted that as a sign that she was impressed by the rings; she was, but her gasp was due to the fact that she recognized the significance of the rings and therefore knew what they were meant for. "And... and why did you give Miss Granger this ring, if I may ask?"
"Well, I gave it as a promise ring on Christmas. So it was sort of a Christmas present, but not really because it's more important than that," the auburn-haired witch explained as she gazed happily at her ring. "So I put it on her finger and made my promise. Then she did the same."
"Did... did anything unusual happen?" McGonagall asked, not sure she wanted to know.
"Yes," Hermione answered. "There was a bright, magical glow each time, like when you and Neville took those oaths. We assumed that was a sign that Magic was accepting our promises, just like Magic accepted your oath." The bushy-haired witch looked uncertain suddenly. "Is that not right? Is that not what happened?"
Swallowing thickly, the Transfiguration professor answered, "No, you are correct. That was Magic's acceptance."
"Oh, good," Hermione responded, happy again.
"You two should get going so you don't miss lunch," McGonagall said as she slowly made her way back to her desk. "Before I forget, Miss Granger, please bring that book with you when you come on Sunday."
After the two younger witches were gone, she sat heavily in her chair and held her head in her hands. "What am I supposed to do now?" she muttered quietly to herself. "They're amazingly in sync with each other, they're showing signs of increased power, and now I find that they are wearing old Potter family pledge rings — rings that indicate that Magic itself is accepting them as a couple!"
Shaking her head, she leaned back in her chair. "And if I'm right about what all of this means, I can't say a thing about it to them because it's impossible to say that Jasmine and Hermione have a s-s-s-s-... ugh!"
McGonagall shook her head in annoyance. Well, it looks like I was right about what sort of bond they have, she thought to herself. I'm surprised that something like this is happening with two people who are so young, but if I remember correctly, the process speeds up their developing maturity a bit and will prevent them from doing anything until they are ready. Some people might have trouble accepting it, but I'm sure their gender will cause far more complaints than their age...
Tuesday, January 5, 1995, Early Evening.
The first study group meeting with Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot of Hufflepuff was predictably awkward. First, there wasn't much to study since it was only the second day of classes, which mainly left the fourth year students to socialize. Second, it was a bit disconcerting for them to try to get to know students that they'd had three and a half years of classes with already but, for some reason, hadn't bothered to get to know before.
Gradually, though, the ice was broken, and the students started opening up to each other. The three Gryffindors learned that Susan and Hannah had been close friends since they were very young and always spent a lot of time with each other. They also learned that Susan's parents had been killed in the last war, much like Jasmine's, and her guardian was her aunt Amelia, the director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. This more than anything helped make Susan and Jasmine feel more comfortable with each other.
The two Hufflepuffs learned that Hermione's parents were dentists and didn't really understand much about the magical world, that Neville hadn't shown any accidental magic until a late age (thus leading to some believing that he was a squib), and that Jasmine absolutely hated any special attention or titles. This unfortunately led to questions about the various rumors about what Jasmine, Hermione, and Ron had done since coming to Hogwarts.
Jasmine didn't generally like to talk about those "adventures" as if she were some sort of hero; in fact, she didn't even like to think about them if she could avoid it. At the same time, though, she couldn't find it in herself to brush the questions off completely. The point of the study group was to get to know each other and avoid misunderstandings — and what better way to do that than to replace rumors with truth? Fortunately, Hermione was willing to tell those stories, and except for when it came to the Chamber of Secrets, Jasmine only had to fill in gaps when Hermione kept downplaying her own role in events.
In the end, both groups had a much better understanding of each other and looked forward to continuing their meetings, especially once the workload got heavier and studying became more important. What Neville, Hermione, and Jasmine didn't know was that Susan and Hannah had deep connections not just with their fellow Hufflepuffs, but with most of the pureblood families in all the houses, especially other witches close to their own year.
Replacing truth with rumor for these two witches would mean that many others would also start learning the truth, causing a lot of minds to start changing...
Tuesday, January 5, 1995, Late Evening.
Sitting in the Gryffindor common room shortly before curfew, Jasmine and Hermione had gathered around a table with Neville and Ginny. "Normally I'd want to meet in our room for something like this," Jasmine started, "but this will be really short, so it didn't seem worth the trip. Sorry we didn't get a chance to tell you this stuff yesterday, Ginny, but first: do you know anything about veela?"
"I don't know much," Ginny answered, "but I do remember that a lot of the witches' magazines that my mum reads tend to say bad things about veela. Those magazines have stories on topics like how to tell if your wizard is being seduced by a veela, how to fight veela allure, and that sort of thing. They seem to blame veela for failing marriages, unfaithful wizards, you name it. But I have no idea how much of that is true or not."
"Well," Hermione said, "that at least gives us an idea of what the prejudices about veela are in magical Britain, even if it doesn't tell us anything about veela themselves."
"Why the sudden interest?" Ginny asked.
"Yesterday," Jasmine answered, "Fleur Delacour approached the three of us in one of the corridors and said she wanted to talk to me and Hermione, so we agreed to do so on Saturday. She indicated that she knew something about how the two of us are 'connected.'"
Ginny's eyes widened at hearing that.
"Earlier today," Hermione continued, "both Jasmine and I overpowered our spells in Transfiguration. Yes, both of us, not just Jasmine. Professor McGonagall noticed and talked to us about it. She's worried about us accidentally hurting ourselves or others until we get better control."
"And until then," Jasmine continued, "we aren't allowed to practice spells unsupervised."
"The important thing," Hermione added, "is that she implied that this power issue might have something to do with our connection — that it's not a coincidence that it's happening to the two of us. Since Fleur was the first to mention such a connection, and she seems to know more, this meeting with her is important."
"Thus, our questions," Jasmine finished.
"Sorry I don't know more..." Ginny said.
"That's OK," Hermione replied. "You two keep on with the research for the second task."
"Hermione and I will look into what we can find out about veela," Jasmine concluded.
After the two fourth-year witches left, Ginny and Neville looked at each other for a minute, then Neville asked, "Were... were they starting to finish each other's sentences?"
"Not exactly," Ginny replied. "Not like my brothers do." She was silent for a long moment, then added, "But you noticed that too, huh?"