Chapter VII: The Halloween Dance
Author's note: I was so excited when I got my first review. Thank you sWeETLuvLygUrL. Please, keep reading.
The next day's lessons were continually disturbed by the excitement of the dance. The younger girl's who weren't invited day dreamed and talked of how wonderful the dance could have been. The girl's who were asked rubbed it in the other girls' faces.
"Seamus Finnigan asked me to the dance even though I'm only a third year," a girl announced in Ginny's Transfiguration class. "It's funny to me that some fifth year girls haven't even been asked."
Ginny and Amilia glared at her.
After Transfiguration, Ginny and Amilia headed toward the Gryffindor common room. The fact that Ginny hadn't been asked didn't really bother her. She was more upset at the fact that Harry was going with Cho Chang. Amilia was devastated because she wasn't asked.
When Ginny and Amilia reached the common room, they found several people getting ready for the dance. The one's that weren't were moping around, playing wizard's chess or some other thing to keep their minds off the fact that they couldn't go.
"Oh, come on," Ginny said loudly. "It's just a dance. I mean, there's always next year."
A few heads turned toward her but then looked away.
Ginny and Amilia sat at a table next to the fire with Hermione.
"I see you aren't all stressed because of the dance," Ginny voiced to Hermione.
"I don't need to be," Hermione told her. "I am all ready and I have a date."
Ginny sat tall in her seat to look down at Hermione's dress robes.
"You look nice, Hermione," Amilia complimented.
"Thank you," She blushed. "Would you like some tea? It calms the nerves."
Amilia and Ginny accepted and drank their tea.
Harry and Ron came down the steps wearing their dress robes. Ginny sat her chin on her folded arms and looked away. Harry and Ron came up to the table they were at.
"Is that tea?" Harry asked urgently, breathing hard.
"Nervous, are you?" Hermione asked.
"A little," Harry breathed, pouring himself some tea.
He took a large gulp from his cup. Ron, Hermione, Amilia, and Ginny watched him as his Adams apple bobbed with his gulping.
"You're going to choke on that if you aren't careful," Ginny pointed out.
Harry set his cup down and took a deep breath. Ginny watched him intently as he brushed off his dress robes and started talking to Ron.
"Wish me luck," Ginny could barely hear Harry whispered to Ron.
"Good luck," Ron said as Harry walked passed him.
Hermione stood up and put her hand on Ron's shoulder. He looked at her and smiled.
"Let's be off," He said to Hermione.
Hermione nodded.
"Have a good time," Ginny called to them as the three crawled through the portrait hole.
Amilia turned to Ginny, saying, "So, what do you want to do?"
Ginny eyed Harry's tea cup.
"Ginny?" Amilia asked, waving a hand in front of her face.
Without answering Amilia, Ginny snatched the tea cup and ran up stairs to her room. Amilia followed Ginny, bewildered. Ginny set the cup down on her bedside table. Amilia sat on her bed and watched as she drained the cup.
"Ginny, what are you doing?" Amilia asked a note of concern in her voice.
"I am going to read Harry's tealeaves," Ginny explained, holding the cup in her left hand, as if she were about to drink from it.
"You're insane," Amilia commented. "What can this possibly accomplish?"
"Something is going on that nobody realizes," Ginny told her, peering into the current section of the cup. "Cho isn't who she appears to be."
"Oh, come off it!" Amilia exclaimed. "There's nothing evil about Cho. You're just jealous because Harry Potter is taking her to the dance and not you."
Ginny ignored her and asked, "Could you get out my copy of Unfogging the Future and interpret these signs for me?"
Amilia reluctantly went over to Ginny's chest and pulled out Unfogging the Future. Turning to the tealeaves chapter, she sat next to Ginny.
Ginny cleared her mind and then stared down into the cup, focusing her eyes on the brown mush.
"An anchor," She whispered.
Amilia wrote the word "anchor" on a piece of parchment.
"A vase," she went on, Amilia writing everything she said down. "The flag...a mouse...a cat standing with the snake...the broken necklace... a finger that is lowered..."
Ginny turned the cup slightly and looked at the opposite side as the handle. This was the future side of the cup. Ginny held the cup close to her nose.
"In the future," She went on, "a net...a hand and a bull...the candle...a dove sitting on an apple...a dog with a daisy...a tower.."
Ginny tried to focus more on the cup, but she couldn't see anything more. She blinked and shook her head.
"So what did all that mean?" Ginny asked Amilia.
Amilia looked down at her notes and then into the book.
"Well," she said, "it started with an unpleasant situation and then there is a secret admirer. Hey, that's you!"
Ginny glared at Amilia.
"The flag is impeding danger," Amilia explained.
"Harry's in danger!" Ginny shouted. "I knew it."
"His heart is stolen," Amilia continued. "There's a false friend with a nearby enemy-"
"That's Cho Chang," Ginny interrupted. "She stole his heart and she a false friend and an enemy."
Amilia gazed at Ginny and then turned back to her notes, "the broken necklace means that there is danger ahead in love-"
Ginny tried not to grin at the fact that she seemed to be right.
"He needs direction," Amilia sighed in disappointment. "That's the last of the present."
"What about the future?" Ginny asked.
Amilia turned a page in the book, "To start with, there is a trap ahead. You said there was a hand and a bull. The hand is a friend's assistance and the bull is arguing with friends. So what, is he going to argue with friends that are trying to help him?"
Ginny shrugged.
"Moving on," Amilia began, "a light for the future or help from friends."
"So the friends are going to help him even though they argued," Ginny stated confidently.
"That's nice of them," Amilia commented. "The apple means achievement and the dove is coming peace."
"That's good," Ginny said, laying on her bed. "It'll all be over soon."
"The dog and the daisy means new love with a good friend," Amilia interpreted. "Maybe that's you."
"Yeah right," Ginny muttered sarcastically.
"Last but not least, the tower," Amilia presented. "The tower is the sign of disappointment."
"Awh, poor Harry," Ginny whispered.
"Well, enough of that foolishness!" Amilia exclaimed, tossing the Unfogging the Future at the chest. "Now let's be serious."
"Serious?" Ginny asked, shocked. "This is serious. Don't you believe in divination?"
Amilia stared at Ginny.
"You can't possibly think that some mushy symbol in a cup can tell the future," Amilia said.
"Why would it be taught if it wasn't true?" Ginny asked.
Amilia stood up and began to walked toward the door.
"Wait!" Ginny called. "Let's read my cup."
"Get off it, Gin," Amilia advised. "That stuff," indicating Unfogging the Future, "only shows you what you want to see. That stuff about danger and untrustworthy friends is just in your mind."
"You read it!" Ginny pointed out.
Amilia ignored her and left the room. Ginny turned on to her stomach. Divination was not just in her mind and it wasn't foolishness. Only the weak in inner eye couldn't see the things she saw.
Ginny thought back to the prediction. Cho Chang was a false friend and a nearby enemy. She was going to set a trap for him. There was impending danger. Ginny's eyes widened.
"Harry's in danger!" She shouted, jumping off her bed.
Ginny ran down the stairs and passed Amilia.
"Hey, where ya going?" Amilia called as Ginny was halfway through the portrait hole.
Ginny continued running until she reached the Great Hall. The doors were locked, just in case someone underage wanted to sneak in. This wasn't a problem because she didn't need to go in. She just needed to watch. There was a tall window just outside the castle where she could look in at them. Ginny pushed open the main door and turned to the large window.
The Great Hall was filled with glowing pumpkins and dancing people. Pots of candy stood on tables that lined the walls. Ginny glanced around the room, hoping to see a glimpse of Harry and Cho. She couldn't see them anywhere. Ron and Hermione were dancing and laughing together in the middle of the floor.
"Ohh, it's chilly out here," Ginny heard someone say as the main doors opened.
She searched rapidly for a place to hide. There was nowhere. Cho and Harry emerged from behind the door.
Out of panic, Ginny pointed her wand at herself and whispered, "Reducio."
The world rose up around her. She was shrinking. Being now only ten inches tall, she hid behind a small plant.
"You said you were too hot in there," Harry chuckled.
"I know, but now I'm cold," Cho giggled.
Harry took off his dress robes and put it around Cho's shoulders. He had a suit on under his robes that made him look quite handsome in Ginny's eyes.
"Thank you," She whispered. "You're so sweet."
Harry smiled, turning a little pink. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Let's take a walk," Cho suggested. "Into the Forbidden Forest."
"What are you crazy?" Harry laughed. "We can't go in there."
Cho just nodded.
Ginny found this a little strange. First of all, why would Cho want to go into the Forbidden Forest? And second, Cho seemed so understanding when Harry refused even though it seemed she wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to buying the Thunder Hawk or going to the Magical Menagerie.
"Should we go back in?" Harry asked.
"You go ahead," Cho allowed. "I have something that I need to do before I can return to the ball."
Harry nodded, without the slightest glint of suspicion. Ginny, on the other hand, found this very suspicious. As Harry went back into Hogwarts, Cho started toward the Forbidden Forest.
Ginny tried to keep up, but she was just too small. In hopes that Cho wouldn't see her, Ginny casted "Engorio" and grew to her regular size.
Taking light and long strides, Ginny followed Cho to the Forbidden Forest. The natural noises of night seemed to camouflage her footsteps so that Cho didn't suspect she was being followed. Cho disappeared into the decrepit boughs and the contorted, hideous trees. Ginny pursued reluctantly.
The savage shadows waved with the frigid wind as Ginny came near a clearing where Cho stood. Cho was not alone, though. Someone in a dark cloak, the hood covering his face, was talking with Cho.
"Report!" the dark stranger's cold and deep voice demanded.
"Everything is going as planned," Cho told him.
Ginny slapped her hand over her mouth so that she wouldn't scream.
"He is resisting, but no more then expected," Cho explained.
"Ah, good," the dark voice said. "Potter will come to us soon."
Cho smiled maliciously.
"Continue the plan and keep me informed," he commanded.
"Yes, Master," Cho replied, bowing.
The dark figure turned away from Cho and headed into the Forbidden Forest. Ginny dashed behind the closest tree as Cho headed her way. Filing with disdain, Ginny watched Cho walk by her and continue on to the castle.
*****************
The owls flowed into the Great Hall that morning exactly on schedule. Ginny couldn't help but notice that Amilia got a letter. She wondered if it was from Amilia's mother. She had a strange feeling deep in her gut that told her that it was from her mother and it said the man's name. Ginny took a deep breath and tried to refrain from glancing down the table at Amilia. If it said what she predicted, Amilia would come and find her.
"I'm having a hard time getting use to that broom," Harry informed Ron.
"Still?" Ron exclaimed. "You should be adapted to it by now."
"Yes, and I usually adapt quickly to new brooms, but," Harry began, "I just can't keep control of it during Quidditch practice."
"That sure is odd," Ron commented. "The Thunder Hawk 300 is supposed to be the best broom. It wouldn't be the best broom if people had a hard time controlling it."
"I wish that I had brought my Firebolt," Harry sighed. "The Thunder Hawk doesn't suit me as well."
"I'm sorry that I got you to buy it," Ron apologized.
"I don't think it was you," Harry told him. "I'm not sure why I bought it."
"I'll tell you why," Ginny said under her breath. "It's because Cho batted her eyes and snapped her fingers."
"What're you mumbling about over there," Ron asked over his hot links.
"Nothing," Ginny lied.
"You've been acting strangely, Ginny," Ron told her. "What's up with you?"
"There's nothing up with me!" Ginny blurted.
"There must be?" Ron asked. "You've been freaking out all summer."
Harry just sat, watching Ginny in puzzlement.
"If you're too blind to see it then I have no business telling you!" Ginny snapped.
Ron and Harry gawked at her.
"What on Earth are you talking about?" Ron asked.
Ginny was about say that he wouldn't understand when Amilia ran up to her.
"Ginny!" She yelled with a deep urgency while holding a letter in her hand. "We absolutely must talk in private."
"Excuse me," Ginny said to Ron and Harry as she got up.
Amilia grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her off toward the Gryffindor common room. They went up to their room and sat on Amilia's bed.
"Alright," Amilia breathed, "this is the biggest thing ever. You weren't kidding around about Cho. I thought you were jealous. I'm sorry about it all."
"What?" Ginny exclaimed. "What did you find?"
"Mum says that that guy," Amilia began, "always wore a necklace. It has a rock on it that had an 'X' carved in it."
"Was that the charm he used to make your mum love him?" Ginny stated.
"Yes," Amilia continued. "And get this. The name of that guy was Ken Chang."
"Cho's dad?" Ginny asked.
"The very same," Amilia told her.
"So what.." Ginny began, "is Cho using this necklace to control Harry..to make him love her?"
"Maybe," Amilia said. "But why would Cho want to make Harry love her?"
"Maybe because he's brave and smart and cute and," Ginny listed, "sweet and interesting and athletic and so very wonderful."
"You really love him don't you?" Amilia gasped.
"I suppose that I do," Ginny whispered.
Amilia sighed for a second.
"Anyway," she went on, "I don't think any of those are really worth her energy. If she is as selfish as to control someone's feeling then she'd need a more benefiting reason then just because she can."
"I saw her with this man in the Forbidden Forest," Ginny explained. "She seems to be working for him."
"Who is he?" Amilia asked.
"I don't know," Ginny admitted. "We should talk to Hermione. She knows everything."
Ginny and Amilia ran down to the Gryffindor common room and found Hermione slaving over a pile of books.
"Hermione," Ginny called as she ran over to her, "we need your help."
Hermione looked up from Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Have you ever read anything about a charm that controls another's feelings?" Ginny asked.
"A charm with the Gebo sign on it," Amilia added.
Hermione looked pensive for a second, "Well, that sounds familiar. Some sort of love charm, is it?"
"Yes, exactly," Ginny and Amilia blurted together.
Hermione looked through her pile of books. She found a book called Charm your Troubles Away. Ginny couldn't help but wonder what Hermione needed that book for.
"Here it is!" She shouted.
Ginny ran over to the other side of the table to see what Hermione was seeing. It was a picture of a small stone with an "X" carved into it. It was the Gebo sign and it looked exactly like Cho's necklace.
"What's that?" Ginny asked.
"It's the Necklace of Gebo," Hermione explained. "It was originally just a sort of luck charm. It was supposed to bring harmony into any relationship. A few hundred years ago, witches and wizards put spells on them to make it so the necklace made it so any person that particular witch or wizard wanted would fall in love with him or her. It was causing quite a catastrophe. The necklaces were outlawed and destroyed."
"Not all of them?" Ginny wondered.
"All that they knew of," Hermione answered.
"But what about Amilia's mum?" Ginny asked.
"What?"
"My mum once fell for a guy because of that charm," Amilia explained.
Hermione just looked at them. Ginny wasn't sure if Hermione didn't believe them or if she was just contemplating.
"I don't think that any exist," Hermione voiced. "If it does, the spell is hundreds of years old and can't be used."
"Maybe someone made one recently," Ginny suggested.
"It's only possible if they knew where the Rune Tree is," Hermione told them.
"What's the Rune Tree?" Ginny queried.
"It's a very special tree that is said to be magic," Hermione began. "No one can make a rune charm without the tree's special powers."
"Where is the tree?" Amilia asked.
"Nobody knows," Hermione went on. "Actually, I think that I read something somewhere about it."
Hermione looked to be searching her brain.
"Oh!" She exclaimed. "I can't remember. I read it somewhere. It was a while ago, but I didn't have enough interest in the subject to retain the knowledge. I hadn't yet taken the Study of Ancient Runes. I didn't fully understand. I was going to go back and read it again, but I don't remember where I saw it. I'm sorry."
Amilia and Ginny made their way to their dormitory. It wasn't fair. They were so close to finding everything out.
"I bet if we found that Rune Tree," Ginny whispered, "everything else would reveal itself."
"Too bad we have no idea where to look!" Amilia exclaimed.
"We could always try to find the book Hermione was talking about in the library," Ginny suggested.
"What would we look for?" Amilia asked. "Just trying to find a book on the Rune Tree?"
"I suppose that's all we can do," Ginny sighed. "It's very frustrating."
Author's note: I was so excited when I got my first review. Thank you sWeETLuvLygUrL. Please, keep reading.
The next day's lessons were continually disturbed by the excitement of the dance. The younger girl's who weren't invited day dreamed and talked of how wonderful the dance could have been. The girl's who were asked rubbed it in the other girls' faces.
"Seamus Finnigan asked me to the dance even though I'm only a third year," a girl announced in Ginny's Transfiguration class. "It's funny to me that some fifth year girls haven't even been asked."
Ginny and Amilia glared at her.
After Transfiguration, Ginny and Amilia headed toward the Gryffindor common room. The fact that Ginny hadn't been asked didn't really bother her. She was more upset at the fact that Harry was going with Cho Chang. Amilia was devastated because she wasn't asked.
When Ginny and Amilia reached the common room, they found several people getting ready for the dance. The one's that weren't were moping around, playing wizard's chess or some other thing to keep their minds off the fact that they couldn't go.
"Oh, come on," Ginny said loudly. "It's just a dance. I mean, there's always next year."
A few heads turned toward her but then looked away.
Ginny and Amilia sat at a table next to the fire with Hermione.
"I see you aren't all stressed because of the dance," Ginny voiced to Hermione.
"I don't need to be," Hermione told her. "I am all ready and I have a date."
Ginny sat tall in her seat to look down at Hermione's dress robes.
"You look nice, Hermione," Amilia complimented.
"Thank you," She blushed. "Would you like some tea? It calms the nerves."
Amilia and Ginny accepted and drank their tea.
Harry and Ron came down the steps wearing their dress robes. Ginny sat her chin on her folded arms and looked away. Harry and Ron came up to the table they were at.
"Is that tea?" Harry asked urgently, breathing hard.
"Nervous, are you?" Hermione asked.
"A little," Harry breathed, pouring himself some tea.
He took a large gulp from his cup. Ron, Hermione, Amilia, and Ginny watched him as his Adams apple bobbed with his gulping.
"You're going to choke on that if you aren't careful," Ginny pointed out.
Harry set his cup down and took a deep breath. Ginny watched him intently as he brushed off his dress robes and started talking to Ron.
"Wish me luck," Ginny could barely hear Harry whispered to Ron.
"Good luck," Ron said as Harry walked passed him.
Hermione stood up and put her hand on Ron's shoulder. He looked at her and smiled.
"Let's be off," He said to Hermione.
Hermione nodded.
"Have a good time," Ginny called to them as the three crawled through the portrait hole.
Amilia turned to Ginny, saying, "So, what do you want to do?"
Ginny eyed Harry's tea cup.
"Ginny?" Amilia asked, waving a hand in front of her face.
Without answering Amilia, Ginny snatched the tea cup and ran up stairs to her room. Amilia followed Ginny, bewildered. Ginny set the cup down on her bedside table. Amilia sat on her bed and watched as she drained the cup.
"Ginny, what are you doing?" Amilia asked a note of concern in her voice.
"I am going to read Harry's tealeaves," Ginny explained, holding the cup in her left hand, as if she were about to drink from it.
"You're insane," Amilia commented. "What can this possibly accomplish?"
"Something is going on that nobody realizes," Ginny told her, peering into the current section of the cup. "Cho isn't who she appears to be."
"Oh, come off it!" Amilia exclaimed. "There's nothing evil about Cho. You're just jealous because Harry Potter is taking her to the dance and not you."
Ginny ignored her and asked, "Could you get out my copy of Unfogging the Future and interpret these signs for me?"
Amilia reluctantly went over to Ginny's chest and pulled out Unfogging the Future. Turning to the tealeaves chapter, she sat next to Ginny.
Ginny cleared her mind and then stared down into the cup, focusing her eyes on the brown mush.
"An anchor," She whispered.
Amilia wrote the word "anchor" on a piece of parchment.
"A vase," she went on, Amilia writing everything she said down. "The flag...a mouse...a cat standing with the snake...the broken necklace... a finger that is lowered..."
Ginny turned the cup slightly and looked at the opposite side as the handle. This was the future side of the cup. Ginny held the cup close to her nose.
"In the future," She went on, "a net...a hand and a bull...the candle...a dove sitting on an apple...a dog with a daisy...a tower.."
Ginny tried to focus more on the cup, but she couldn't see anything more. She blinked and shook her head.
"So what did all that mean?" Ginny asked Amilia.
Amilia looked down at her notes and then into the book.
"Well," she said, "it started with an unpleasant situation and then there is a secret admirer. Hey, that's you!"
Ginny glared at Amilia.
"The flag is impeding danger," Amilia explained.
"Harry's in danger!" Ginny shouted. "I knew it."
"His heart is stolen," Amilia continued. "There's a false friend with a nearby enemy-"
"That's Cho Chang," Ginny interrupted. "She stole his heart and she a false friend and an enemy."
Amilia gazed at Ginny and then turned back to her notes, "the broken necklace means that there is danger ahead in love-"
Ginny tried not to grin at the fact that she seemed to be right.
"He needs direction," Amilia sighed in disappointment. "That's the last of the present."
"What about the future?" Ginny asked.
Amilia turned a page in the book, "To start with, there is a trap ahead. You said there was a hand and a bull. The hand is a friend's assistance and the bull is arguing with friends. So what, is he going to argue with friends that are trying to help him?"
Ginny shrugged.
"Moving on," Amilia began, "a light for the future or help from friends."
"So the friends are going to help him even though they argued," Ginny stated confidently.
"That's nice of them," Amilia commented. "The apple means achievement and the dove is coming peace."
"That's good," Ginny said, laying on her bed. "It'll all be over soon."
"The dog and the daisy means new love with a good friend," Amilia interpreted. "Maybe that's you."
"Yeah right," Ginny muttered sarcastically.
"Last but not least, the tower," Amilia presented. "The tower is the sign of disappointment."
"Awh, poor Harry," Ginny whispered.
"Well, enough of that foolishness!" Amilia exclaimed, tossing the Unfogging the Future at the chest. "Now let's be serious."
"Serious?" Ginny asked, shocked. "This is serious. Don't you believe in divination?"
Amilia stared at Ginny.
"You can't possibly think that some mushy symbol in a cup can tell the future," Amilia said.
"Why would it be taught if it wasn't true?" Ginny asked.
Amilia stood up and began to walked toward the door.
"Wait!" Ginny called. "Let's read my cup."
"Get off it, Gin," Amilia advised. "That stuff," indicating Unfogging the Future, "only shows you what you want to see. That stuff about danger and untrustworthy friends is just in your mind."
"You read it!" Ginny pointed out.
Amilia ignored her and left the room. Ginny turned on to her stomach. Divination was not just in her mind and it wasn't foolishness. Only the weak in inner eye couldn't see the things she saw.
Ginny thought back to the prediction. Cho Chang was a false friend and a nearby enemy. She was going to set a trap for him. There was impending danger. Ginny's eyes widened.
"Harry's in danger!" She shouted, jumping off her bed.
Ginny ran down the stairs and passed Amilia.
"Hey, where ya going?" Amilia called as Ginny was halfway through the portrait hole.
Ginny continued running until she reached the Great Hall. The doors were locked, just in case someone underage wanted to sneak in. This wasn't a problem because she didn't need to go in. She just needed to watch. There was a tall window just outside the castle where she could look in at them. Ginny pushed open the main door and turned to the large window.
The Great Hall was filled with glowing pumpkins and dancing people. Pots of candy stood on tables that lined the walls. Ginny glanced around the room, hoping to see a glimpse of Harry and Cho. She couldn't see them anywhere. Ron and Hermione were dancing and laughing together in the middle of the floor.
"Ohh, it's chilly out here," Ginny heard someone say as the main doors opened.
She searched rapidly for a place to hide. There was nowhere. Cho and Harry emerged from behind the door.
Out of panic, Ginny pointed her wand at herself and whispered, "Reducio."
The world rose up around her. She was shrinking. Being now only ten inches tall, she hid behind a small plant.
"You said you were too hot in there," Harry chuckled.
"I know, but now I'm cold," Cho giggled.
Harry took off his dress robes and put it around Cho's shoulders. He had a suit on under his robes that made him look quite handsome in Ginny's eyes.
"Thank you," She whispered. "You're so sweet."
Harry smiled, turning a little pink. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Let's take a walk," Cho suggested. "Into the Forbidden Forest."
"What are you crazy?" Harry laughed. "We can't go in there."
Cho just nodded.
Ginny found this a little strange. First of all, why would Cho want to go into the Forbidden Forest? And second, Cho seemed so understanding when Harry refused even though it seemed she wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to buying the Thunder Hawk or going to the Magical Menagerie.
"Should we go back in?" Harry asked.
"You go ahead," Cho allowed. "I have something that I need to do before I can return to the ball."
Harry nodded, without the slightest glint of suspicion. Ginny, on the other hand, found this very suspicious. As Harry went back into Hogwarts, Cho started toward the Forbidden Forest.
Ginny tried to keep up, but she was just too small. In hopes that Cho wouldn't see her, Ginny casted "Engorio" and grew to her regular size.
Taking light and long strides, Ginny followed Cho to the Forbidden Forest. The natural noises of night seemed to camouflage her footsteps so that Cho didn't suspect she was being followed. Cho disappeared into the decrepit boughs and the contorted, hideous trees. Ginny pursued reluctantly.
The savage shadows waved with the frigid wind as Ginny came near a clearing where Cho stood. Cho was not alone, though. Someone in a dark cloak, the hood covering his face, was talking with Cho.
"Report!" the dark stranger's cold and deep voice demanded.
"Everything is going as planned," Cho told him.
Ginny slapped her hand over her mouth so that she wouldn't scream.
"He is resisting, but no more then expected," Cho explained.
"Ah, good," the dark voice said. "Potter will come to us soon."
Cho smiled maliciously.
"Continue the plan and keep me informed," he commanded.
"Yes, Master," Cho replied, bowing.
The dark figure turned away from Cho and headed into the Forbidden Forest. Ginny dashed behind the closest tree as Cho headed her way. Filing with disdain, Ginny watched Cho walk by her and continue on to the castle.
*****************
The owls flowed into the Great Hall that morning exactly on schedule. Ginny couldn't help but notice that Amilia got a letter. She wondered if it was from Amilia's mother. She had a strange feeling deep in her gut that told her that it was from her mother and it said the man's name. Ginny took a deep breath and tried to refrain from glancing down the table at Amilia. If it said what she predicted, Amilia would come and find her.
"I'm having a hard time getting use to that broom," Harry informed Ron.
"Still?" Ron exclaimed. "You should be adapted to it by now."
"Yes, and I usually adapt quickly to new brooms, but," Harry began, "I just can't keep control of it during Quidditch practice."
"That sure is odd," Ron commented. "The Thunder Hawk 300 is supposed to be the best broom. It wouldn't be the best broom if people had a hard time controlling it."
"I wish that I had brought my Firebolt," Harry sighed. "The Thunder Hawk doesn't suit me as well."
"I'm sorry that I got you to buy it," Ron apologized.
"I don't think it was you," Harry told him. "I'm not sure why I bought it."
"I'll tell you why," Ginny said under her breath. "It's because Cho batted her eyes and snapped her fingers."
"What're you mumbling about over there," Ron asked over his hot links.
"Nothing," Ginny lied.
"You've been acting strangely, Ginny," Ron told her. "What's up with you?"
"There's nothing up with me!" Ginny blurted.
"There must be?" Ron asked. "You've been freaking out all summer."
Harry just sat, watching Ginny in puzzlement.
"If you're too blind to see it then I have no business telling you!" Ginny snapped.
Ron and Harry gawked at her.
"What on Earth are you talking about?" Ron asked.
Ginny was about say that he wouldn't understand when Amilia ran up to her.
"Ginny!" She yelled with a deep urgency while holding a letter in her hand. "We absolutely must talk in private."
"Excuse me," Ginny said to Ron and Harry as she got up.
Amilia grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her off toward the Gryffindor common room. They went up to their room and sat on Amilia's bed.
"Alright," Amilia breathed, "this is the biggest thing ever. You weren't kidding around about Cho. I thought you were jealous. I'm sorry about it all."
"What?" Ginny exclaimed. "What did you find?"
"Mum says that that guy," Amilia began, "always wore a necklace. It has a rock on it that had an 'X' carved in it."
"Was that the charm he used to make your mum love him?" Ginny stated.
"Yes," Amilia continued. "And get this. The name of that guy was Ken Chang."
"Cho's dad?" Ginny asked.
"The very same," Amilia told her.
"So what.." Ginny began, "is Cho using this necklace to control Harry..to make him love her?"
"Maybe," Amilia said. "But why would Cho want to make Harry love her?"
"Maybe because he's brave and smart and cute and," Ginny listed, "sweet and interesting and athletic and so very wonderful."
"You really love him don't you?" Amilia gasped.
"I suppose that I do," Ginny whispered.
Amilia sighed for a second.
"Anyway," she went on, "I don't think any of those are really worth her energy. If she is as selfish as to control someone's feeling then she'd need a more benefiting reason then just because she can."
"I saw her with this man in the Forbidden Forest," Ginny explained. "She seems to be working for him."
"Who is he?" Amilia asked.
"I don't know," Ginny admitted. "We should talk to Hermione. She knows everything."
Ginny and Amilia ran down to the Gryffindor common room and found Hermione slaving over a pile of books.
"Hermione," Ginny called as she ran over to her, "we need your help."
Hermione looked up from Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Have you ever read anything about a charm that controls another's feelings?" Ginny asked.
"A charm with the Gebo sign on it," Amilia added.
Hermione looked pensive for a second, "Well, that sounds familiar. Some sort of love charm, is it?"
"Yes, exactly," Ginny and Amilia blurted together.
Hermione looked through her pile of books. She found a book called Charm your Troubles Away. Ginny couldn't help but wonder what Hermione needed that book for.
"Here it is!" She shouted.
Ginny ran over to the other side of the table to see what Hermione was seeing. It was a picture of a small stone with an "X" carved into it. It was the Gebo sign and it looked exactly like Cho's necklace.
"What's that?" Ginny asked.
"It's the Necklace of Gebo," Hermione explained. "It was originally just a sort of luck charm. It was supposed to bring harmony into any relationship. A few hundred years ago, witches and wizards put spells on them to make it so the necklace made it so any person that particular witch or wizard wanted would fall in love with him or her. It was causing quite a catastrophe. The necklaces were outlawed and destroyed."
"Not all of them?" Ginny wondered.
"All that they knew of," Hermione answered.
"But what about Amilia's mum?" Ginny asked.
"What?"
"My mum once fell for a guy because of that charm," Amilia explained.
Hermione just looked at them. Ginny wasn't sure if Hermione didn't believe them or if she was just contemplating.
"I don't think that any exist," Hermione voiced. "If it does, the spell is hundreds of years old and can't be used."
"Maybe someone made one recently," Ginny suggested.
"It's only possible if they knew where the Rune Tree is," Hermione told them.
"What's the Rune Tree?" Ginny queried.
"It's a very special tree that is said to be magic," Hermione began. "No one can make a rune charm without the tree's special powers."
"Where is the tree?" Amilia asked.
"Nobody knows," Hermione went on. "Actually, I think that I read something somewhere about it."
Hermione looked to be searching her brain.
"Oh!" She exclaimed. "I can't remember. I read it somewhere. It was a while ago, but I didn't have enough interest in the subject to retain the knowledge. I hadn't yet taken the Study of Ancient Runes. I didn't fully understand. I was going to go back and read it again, but I don't remember where I saw it. I'm sorry."
Amilia and Ginny made their way to their dormitory. It wasn't fair. They were so close to finding everything out.
"I bet if we found that Rune Tree," Ginny whispered, "everything else would reveal itself."
"Too bad we have no idea where to look!" Amilia exclaimed.
"We could always try to find the book Hermione was talking about in the library," Ginny suggested.
"What would we look for?" Amilia asked. "Just trying to find a book on the Rune Tree?"
"I suppose that's all we can do," Ginny sighed. "It's very frustrating."