Disclaimer: See Chapter 9
Chapter 10! Yay! I made my goal!
Sunday at twelve noon, the three racers stood at the foot of the great stone steps leading up to Hogwarts' massive front doors. Parvati's hands twisted nervously around her broom's handle, although her face was calm and confident. Millicent looked threatening, as usual. Kiki looked as if she was trying to keep from laughing.
Millicent stepped away from the others toward the lake, then turned to face them. "Here's the course. First we go halfway across the lake on the left side and pick up a red ribbon. Then straight across to the other side to get a yellow ribbon. Then the far shore, closest to the station, where we'll get a green ribbon. Then straight back across the lake and finish here. First one back with all three ribbons is the winner; if you don't have all three you're disqualified. Understand?" The others nodded.
"Ready-steady-GO!"
Millicent and Parvati Patil took off at once, angling upward over the lake. Kiki hadn't yet moved. Rather than kick off of the ground, she simply nodded her head, at which her broom started slowly straight up. On the way up, she took note of the flying styles of her adversaries. Parvati Patil liked to open up the throttle slowly and take the broom gradually to maximum speed. Millicent took her broom right to top speed at once, even at the risk of losing control.
By now, Kiki was as high up as the others, who were halfway to the first checkpoint. She smiled to herself, leaned forward and said one word: "Go." The broom lurched forward, closing the gap between her and the other girls in no time at all.
The watcher at the first checkpoint (where the flyers were supposed to grab a red ribbon) was past amazement when she saw Kiki and her homemade broom catch up to, then pass, the others as if they were statues. Kiki had enough of a lead to coast to a full stop and ask for a ribbon.
The watcher, a third-year Ravenclaw student named Cho Chang, stood dazed, her mouth hanging open, before she remembered herself and handed Kiki a ribbon. Kiki took it, thanked her, rose up gently, then seemed to vanish as she sped to the opposite shore.
Cho Chang had forgotten the others for a moment, until she heard the yelling. Parvati Patil wasn't slowing in her approach. Cho Chang shut her eyes and held the ribbons straight up over her head. Patil scratched the back of Cho Chang's hand while making a flying grab for the ribbon. As for Millicent, flying in last place, she pulled Cho Chang up into the air by the wrist, took a ribbon, then let her fall into the lake.
Directly opposite, Pansy Parkinson was waiting on a rock with the yellow ribbons. Not many girls outside Slytherin (and only a few in it) liked Pansy, who was always planning her life, boasting about what she would do, where she would live and (mostly) what she would buy. Lately she'd seemed to target Draco Malfoy as suitably ambitious marriage material, even though they still had five more years at Hogwarts.
Kiki pulled to a stop in front of Pansy. Before she could ask, Pansy held out a yellow ribbon, but, just as Kiki reached for it, Pansy let it go and it fluttered toward the lake.
Maybe Pansy had worked it out earlier with Millicent Bulstrode to buy Millicent some time if she needed it; maybe it was her own idea. Kiki had to grab at the fluttering ribbon several times, but managed to catch it before it hit the lake. Then, with her lead cut but still intact, she sped off toward the dock.
Millicent and Parvati weren't even close to catching up to Kiki, in spite of Pansy's trick. While Millicent was collecting her yellow ribbon, Kiki was getting the green ribbon at the dock from Parvati's twin sister Padma. (Parvati had insisted on Padma being one of the ribbon-bearers as a condition of the race.) Not wanting to waste any time, even though she had a substantial lead, Kiki took off at once back toward Hogwarts.
That was when Millicent performed the Summoning Spell.
The night before, Millicent had gone down to the broom closet where Kiki kept her broom, per school rules. It stood out from the others, of course, being the only homemade broom on campus. Millicent had brought a screwdriver and some screws, just a bit shorter than the width of the broom- handle. She drove the screws in until the wood just started to crack. She then snuck back to Slytherin, hoping that in the morning Kiki would still be so angry or nervous or preoccupied that she wouldn't notice the damage.
Now, with Kiki over the lake and fifty yards from the nearest shore, Millicent Summoned the screws out of the broom. They tore out at the same time, with enough force to crack the broom-handle from one end to the other.
At first, it was as if Kiki had hit a bump in the road. With the handle split and the halves slipping from side to side, it was all she could do to stay aloft; steering was almost impossible. She looked around frantically--
There! Hagrid was rowing back to the station from Hogwarts. One of the Governors, Endor St. Germain, had brought his son up for the weekend, to show him where'd he be attending school next fall. There was nothing she could do about it now; Kiki steered toward Hagrid's boat, hoping against hope that she wouldn't hit the lake first.
Hagrid, standing at the stern, didn't even see Kiki until the last second, when she suddenly went into a nose-dive toward the lake, just in front of Hagrid's boat. In that moment, though, something flashed out of the lake; one of Bubbles' tentacles pushed Kiki into the boat. Actually, into Hagrid's stomach. The blow knocked the wind out of him; he sat heavily on the rear seat, causing the boat to bob and rock as if it were in a storm at sea.
"'Ere now, wot're ye playin' at?!" Hagrid began angrily. Then he saw the broom Kiki held in her hands, completely split. Kiki just stared at it in silence. The three ribbons lay forgotten in the bilgewater of the boat. When she looked up into Hagrid's face, tears had already started down her cheeks.
"They broke it," she said quietly. "They broke it."
Kiki held herself in check until Hagrid deposited his passengers at the dock, so that they could catch the Hogwarts Express back to London. It was only after the Governor and his son had gone, and Hagrid walked back to the boat, that Kiki let go. Her face scrunched up, and she started crying, as Hagrid later described it, "as if it was her own cat wot was split up th' middle."
She cried all the way across the lake, the echo carrying from one shore to the other. When the boat landed at Hogwarts, Kiki jumped out and ran to her parents' office. She burst through the door, still clutching the destroyed broom. Kokiri rose from her desk. "What happened, Kiki?" Kiki threw the pieces at her mother's feet. "I hate this place, and I hate the people here and they hate me and look what they did to your broom!" She threw herself into a chair and started crying again. Both her parents looked at the broom, split completely up the middle. Kokiri was very quiet for a minute. Finally, in a soft, almost dead voice she asked, "I don't suppose you really had an accident?" Okino sighed. "No, this was sabotage." He pointed to the holes showing where the screws had been driven in, cracking the wood. "It broke right when I was over the middle of the lake." "You didn't fall in, did you?" Kokiri asked, her face paling a bit.
"No, I just barely made it to Hagrid's boat. He was taking someone to the station. I thought I was going to fall short, but I made it. Do we really have to stay in this awful place?"
Kokiri turned her large, serious eyes on her daughter. "Do you remember when we talked about Starting Out On Your Own, and the poem I taught you?" Kiki stared sullenly at the fire, so Kokiri went on with the opening line:
"The only words more powerful than a witch's spell."
She waited. Kiki finally turned to her mother and completed the poem:
"Is the promise that she makes to do a job and do it well."
Kokiri took both Kiki's hands in her own. Kiki had stopped crying, but Kokiri looked as if she would start any moment. "Kiki dear, I know how you feel about this place, but your father and I have already given our promises to teach here for the rest of the year. We can't just walk away. But this." She gestured toward what was left of her broom. "There's no excuse for this, especially among other witches. So I'll make you a promise. It will take me a week to make a new broom. Wait one more week after that, and, if things haven't gotten better, you can take that broom and go back to your delivery service."
Kiki thought about this promise for a long while. She finally turned to Jiji and seemed to ask him a silent question. Then she turned back to her mother. "Can we make this broom together?"
"Of course," Kokiri smiled, even though tears still threatened to pour from her eyes. This time, though, they were tears of joy at Kiki's request. "We'll need a good strong willow branch. I'm sure I saw some willows growing by the lake; the kind that won't attack us. I suppose we'd better ask the school about using a branch." ***
I'm gonna read- read- read, I'm gonna review- review- review, I'm gonna read, I'm gonna review, praise the lord.
Chapter 10! Yay! I made my goal!
Sunday at twelve noon, the three racers stood at the foot of the great stone steps leading up to Hogwarts' massive front doors. Parvati's hands twisted nervously around her broom's handle, although her face was calm and confident. Millicent looked threatening, as usual. Kiki looked as if she was trying to keep from laughing.
Millicent stepped away from the others toward the lake, then turned to face them. "Here's the course. First we go halfway across the lake on the left side and pick up a red ribbon. Then straight across to the other side to get a yellow ribbon. Then the far shore, closest to the station, where we'll get a green ribbon. Then straight back across the lake and finish here. First one back with all three ribbons is the winner; if you don't have all three you're disqualified. Understand?" The others nodded.
"Ready-steady-GO!"
Millicent and Parvati Patil took off at once, angling upward over the lake. Kiki hadn't yet moved. Rather than kick off of the ground, she simply nodded her head, at which her broom started slowly straight up. On the way up, she took note of the flying styles of her adversaries. Parvati Patil liked to open up the throttle slowly and take the broom gradually to maximum speed. Millicent took her broom right to top speed at once, even at the risk of losing control.
By now, Kiki was as high up as the others, who were halfway to the first checkpoint. She smiled to herself, leaned forward and said one word: "Go." The broom lurched forward, closing the gap between her and the other girls in no time at all.
The watcher at the first checkpoint (where the flyers were supposed to grab a red ribbon) was past amazement when she saw Kiki and her homemade broom catch up to, then pass, the others as if they were statues. Kiki had enough of a lead to coast to a full stop and ask for a ribbon.
The watcher, a third-year Ravenclaw student named Cho Chang, stood dazed, her mouth hanging open, before she remembered herself and handed Kiki a ribbon. Kiki took it, thanked her, rose up gently, then seemed to vanish as she sped to the opposite shore.
Cho Chang had forgotten the others for a moment, until she heard the yelling. Parvati Patil wasn't slowing in her approach. Cho Chang shut her eyes and held the ribbons straight up over her head. Patil scratched the back of Cho Chang's hand while making a flying grab for the ribbon. As for Millicent, flying in last place, she pulled Cho Chang up into the air by the wrist, took a ribbon, then let her fall into the lake.
Directly opposite, Pansy Parkinson was waiting on a rock with the yellow ribbons. Not many girls outside Slytherin (and only a few in it) liked Pansy, who was always planning her life, boasting about what she would do, where she would live and (mostly) what she would buy. Lately she'd seemed to target Draco Malfoy as suitably ambitious marriage material, even though they still had five more years at Hogwarts.
Kiki pulled to a stop in front of Pansy. Before she could ask, Pansy held out a yellow ribbon, but, just as Kiki reached for it, Pansy let it go and it fluttered toward the lake.
Maybe Pansy had worked it out earlier with Millicent Bulstrode to buy Millicent some time if she needed it; maybe it was her own idea. Kiki had to grab at the fluttering ribbon several times, but managed to catch it before it hit the lake. Then, with her lead cut but still intact, she sped off toward the dock.
Millicent and Parvati weren't even close to catching up to Kiki, in spite of Pansy's trick. While Millicent was collecting her yellow ribbon, Kiki was getting the green ribbon at the dock from Parvati's twin sister Padma. (Parvati had insisted on Padma being one of the ribbon-bearers as a condition of the race.) Not wanting to waste any time, even though she had a substantial lead, Kiki took off at once back toward Hogwarts.
That was when Millicent performed the Summoning Spell.
The night before, Millicent had gone down to the broom closet where Kiki kept her broom, per school rules. It stood out from the others, of course, being the only homemade broom on campus. Millicent had brought a screwdriver and some screws, just a bit shorter than the width of the broom- handle. She drove the screws in until the wood just started to crack. She then snuck back to Slytherin, hoping that in the morning Kiki would still be so angry or nervous or preoccupied that she wouldn't notice the damage.
Now, with Kiki over the lake and fifty yards from the nearest shore, Millicent Summoned the screws out of the broom. They tore out at the same time, with enough force to crack the broom-handle from one end to the other.
At first, it was as if Kiki had hit a bump in the road. With the handle split and the halves slipping from side to side, it was all she could do to stay aloft; steering was almost impossible. She looked around frantically--
There! Hagrid was rowing back to the station from Hogwarts. One of the Governors, Endor St. Germain, had brought his son up for the weekend, to show him where'd he be attending school next fall. There was nothing she could do about it now; Kiki steered toward Hagrid's boat, hoping against hope that she wouldn't hit the lake first.
Hagrid, standing at the stern, didn't even see Kiki until the last second, when she suddenly went into a nose-dive toward the lake, just in front of Hagrid's boat. In that moment, though, something flashed out of the lake; one of Bubbles' tentacles pushed Kiki into the boat. Actually, into Hagrid's stomach. The blow knocked the wind out of him; he sat heavily on the rear seat, causing the boat to bob and rock as if it were in a storm at sea.
"'Ere now, wot're ye playin' at?!" Hagrid began angrily. Then he saw the broom Kiki held in her hands, completely split. Kiki just stared at it in silence. The three ribbons lay forgotten in the bilgewater of the boat. When she looked up into Hagrid's face, tears had already started down her cheeks.
"They broke it," she said quietly. "They broke it."
Kiki held herself in check until Hagrid deposited his passengers at the dock, so that they could catch the Hogwarts Express back to London. It was only after the Governor and his son had gone, and Hagrid walked back to the boat, that Kiki let go. Her face scrunched up, and she started crying, as Hagrid later described it, "as if it was her own cat wot was split up th' middle."
She cried all the way across the lake, the echo carrying from one shore to the other. When the boat landed at Hogwarts, Kiki jumped out and ran to her parents' office. She burst through the door, still clutching the destroyed broom. Kokiri rose from her desk. "What happened, Kiki?" Kiki threw the pieces at her mother's feet. "I hate this place, and I hate the people here and they hate me and look what they did to your broom!" She threw herself into a chair and started crying again. Both her parents looked at the broom, split completely up the middle. Kokiri was very quiet for a minute. Finally, in a soft, almost dead voice she asked, "I don't suppose you really had an accident?" Okino sighed. "No, this was sabotage." He pointed to the holes showing where the screws had been driven in, cracking the wood. "It broke right when I was over the middle of the lake." "You didn't fall in, did you?" Kokiri asked, her face paling a bit.
"No, I just barely made it to Hagrid's boat. He was taking someone to the station. I thought I was going to fall short, but I made it. Do we really have to stay in this awful place?"
Kokiri turned her large, serious eyes on her daughter. "Do you remember when we talked about Starting Out On Your Own, and the poem I taught you?" Kiki stared sullenly at the fire, so Kokiri went on with the opening line:
"The only words more powerful than a witch's spell."
She waited. Kiki finally turned to her mother and completed the poem:
"Is the promise that she makes to do a job and do it well."
Kokiri took both Kiki's hands in her own. Kiki had stopped crying, but Kokiri looked as if she would start any moment. "Kiki dear, I know how you feel about this place, but your father and I have already given our promises to teach here for the rest of the year. We can't just walk away. But this." She gestured toward what was left of her broom. "There's no excuse for this, especially among other witches. So I'll make you a promise. It will take me a week to make a new broom. Wait one more week after that, and, if things haven't gotten better, you can take that broom and go back to your delivery service."
Kiki thought about this promise for a long while. She finally turned to Jiji and seemed to ask him a silent question. Then she turned back to her mother. "Can we make this broom together?"
"Of course," Kokiri smiled, even though tears still threatened to pour from her eyes. This time, though, they were tears of joy at Kiki's request. "We'll need a good strong willow branch. I'm sure I saw some willows growing by the lake; the kind that won't attack us. I suppose we'd better ask the school about using a branch." ***
I'm gonna read- read- read, I'm gonna review- review- review, I'm gonna read, I'm gonna review, praise the lord.