I didn't want to know what they were doing, and I didn't bother asking myself. I was too shocked to wonder. After they finished their spooky ritual, they slowly headed back to the Forbidden Forest, but Patrick took a sharp turn back to the castle, waving a goodbye to Snape. I couldn't believe it. Patrick??
A sudden thought seized me, and I leaped from the windowsill and dashed down the dormitory stairs. I opened the door a tiny sliver, and watched as Patrick, looking flushed and not himself, climbed through the door as quietly as possible and hurried though the door and upstairs to his warm bed. A thousand thoughts creeped through my mind as I listened to the quiet, urgent sound of his footsteps fade away.
How had he gotten past Filch and the dreaded Mrs. Norris, grouchier than ever in their old ages? Was Snape really alive, or was he just a projection? What had they been doing on the Quidditch field? What did they care about Quidditch? Should I go to Dumbledore? Would James be in danger?
I suppressed a sigh of relief, for once, at John not having gotten into the team. If anything happened to James, it would be devastating to us all, to be sure, but I just couldn't bear even the thought of anything touching John. What if - I couldn't stand to think of it. I shook my head and turned my back on the now empty grounds, even my tea unsettling me.
Professor Ferrell would be hopping mad when I was half-asleep in her class the next morning, but it would only last for thirty seconds - as did all of her "moods" - and plus, I needed to think. I just couldn't sleep at all after what I had seen. I tried to turn my thoughts to the Santa Swing, Christmas presents, decorating the giant student tree, but it didn't work, any of it. I was just too shaken up.
Hey, at least it wasn't John out there, I told myself, and shuddered. That was unthinkable. He was so quiet, and nice, and playful, and sweet. It was with a shock that I realized I'd been thinking about him more and more and more as every day went by - and that I liked him tremendously. I wiped a tear from my cheek, wondering why it was there, and decided I had better at least try to sleep. I leaned back, letting my head touch the cool, soft, pillow, and closed my eyes.
The previous night's events were easily forgotten the moment I opened my eyes and saw Tori Gibbons wishing everyone a good morning. I slipped it into the back of my mind and sat up, refreshed by the sunlight.
"Thursday, everyone!! Wakey-wakey!!"
We all groaned, stretching. We could always count on Tori and her unfailing cheerfulness...that was one thing Gryffindor never, ever failed at. Next to me, Trella Longbottom yawned and pulled off her huge red comforter.
"It sure was hot last night!" she remarked, and everybody else began to chatter about how they slept. I didn't say anything, but silently started to get dressed.
At breakfast, I made sure to choose a seat right next to John - discreetly, of course. I so wished we could dance together on Christmas Eve!! But I slipped a few inquisitive glares over at Patrick Aster's chair, too. He seemed fine, clearly not vulnerable to the effects of staying up so late outside on the cold Hogwarts grounds.
I closed my eyes briefly and resolved to forget about the whole Snape thing until tonight. Turning back to my pancakes, I ate silently, wishing I had gotten more sleep last night.
Melissa, John, James, and I headed slowly up to Defense Against the Dark Arts, trying to take as much time as possible so we wouldn't have to bear much of Professor Ferrell. She was really getting on everybody's nerves, being a mad scientist one second and a sweet old lady the next. The speeds she asked us to memorize and write reports were far closer to superpowered computer capabilities than of our "feeble" human minds, and we sure did wonder a lot about her.
"Greetings, late ones," she said in a solemn, priestly tone as we entered the huge tower room. "Today we will learn new chapters of the sacred book that will enable us to bring this darkened world into the Light Spirit with our skills."
Gryffindors exchanged hopeless, wondering glances around the room, shrugging their shoulders as Professor Ferrell's tiny red beret balanced perfectly on her beehive hair. Obviously, she was in a very strange mood - darkened world? Sacred book?? Light Spirit??? But suddenly, she snapped to attention like a Muggle soldier, and fell to the ground, her beret dropping, to do one hundred fast push-ups.
We were rapidly becoming very alarmed at her bizarre behavior. She was the weirdest we had ever seen her - why did Dumbledore hire such an insane teacher?? Some students, like Trella Longbottom, decided to take advantage of the situation, and pulled out other books to read, write, or catch up on homework. After watching Professor Ferrell in horror for a few minutes, I joined that crowd - I just couldn't take it. We just pretended she didn't exist as she switched from personality to personality in her own maniacal world.
One good thing did come out of that class, though: as I left and was walking through the halls on my way to Astronomy, John Weasley pulled me aside into a small, vacated classroom, and caught my hand in his.
"Jade - will you go to the Santa Swing with me?" he asked, trembling a little. I just grinned like my face would break.
"Sure!!!" I almost screamed, and he smiled warmly at me. We left then, and went our separate ways.
I told Melissa at study break, and she was thrilled.
"He really asked you?? Wow, he acted so scared, I didn't think he was going to do it," she told me, eyes aglow.
"Really?"
"Yeah...he was sure you'd say no, but I encouraged him every night, saying all you talked about any more was him."
I swatted at her, mock-angry.
"Not true!" I protested.
"But pretty close," she added, grinning. "But one more thing, Jade...you don't mind going out with a third year?"
"Why should I?"
"Well...you might get teased, and of course he'll graduate before you."
"We'll work the graduating out later, if this lasts. I can take teasing, Meliss!!" I couldn't let anything put a damper on my happiness right now.
"Glad you feel that way. Well, I gotta go research for Perene - see ya."
"'Bye."
I spent the rest of the free time I had that day in the library, reading up on all kinds of curses that could be used in connection with Quidditch. Using the speed-read-and-memorize techniques I had learned from Professor Ferrell's wild classes, I tried to learn everything I could. I knew that I just had to think of something.
Toying with different ideas, I asked a group of studying Ravenclaw fifth years if they knew of an Invisibility Cloak anywhere in the school. They gave me quizzical looks and then shrugged. I thanked them, trying to look normal and innocent, and frowned when my back was turned. That would have been useful in getting down closer to the Quidditch field to see exactly what they were doing.
I shuddered. A year ago, sneaking out from a magical school late at night (or maybe just really early in the morning!) to watch two wizards enchant a Quidditch field would seem like an impossibility, something that could only happen in a different world. But as I thought about it, I really wasin a different world. Casting spells, mixing potions, studying star charts, falling for a young wizard, drinking tea from an enchanted pot...it was all amazing, in truth, that I could be at Hogwarts. I thanked my lucky stars that I had been accepted - life was suddenly interesting!!
Back at the library at lunchtime, something new occurred to me, and I quickly checked the elf section of the spellbooks. Elves had always been good at sneaking and spying, and they must have created some spells to help them along...
Scanning the shelves, the books all seemed to be fairly modern, and I didn't think they'd help me. How to Forge aClaymore, Elven Taverns for Dummies, The Elf Stones...nahhh. But then I spotted an old, crumbling book without a cover lying on the very bottom of a stack of huge books. With some effort, I managed to pull it out and checked the side binding. Stealth and Invisibility...hmmm. VERY interesting!
I set it down on a large table, trying to be inconspicuous, and opened it to the back, the index, my best friend. I smiled in spite of myself, and checked down the list for anything that might look interesting, quill and parchment at my side to record page numbers. The book obviously contained loads of material on spying, invisibility, sound detection, and generally sneaking around. I came up with nearly a foot of page numbers to check, and ruffled through the book, crossing out anything that lost its appeal.
I worked all through my free time that day, and it was early in the morning before breakfast the next day when I finally finished going through everything and had narrowed it down to three charms that I could cast pretty easily: the Elbatcetedne Charm, the Thaetls Charm, and the Esraehe Charm. The Elbatcetedne Charm, once cast, allowed the object of enchantment to throw various "suspicious" sounds around to draw another person's attention away from the object of the charm, and the Thaetls Charm increased the object's ability to creep quietly around and fit into small spaces, making it far easier to spy on somebody - or two somebodies, in my case. The Esraehe Charm sharpened the object's senses of sound and sight so that she can detect anybody about to catch her at her work. I figured these three would do the trick, and started to gather items from the student's storage cupboard, but in small quantities so nobody would suspect anything.
I knew I should do it around Christmas vacation, if anytime; as far as I knew, Snape and Patrick were still coming out every night at midnight. I'd gotten Dasher to watch for them...he didn't mind being out of his cage, and I was glad that by some happy mistake in Charms, he could now talk to me only very privately inside my brain and act like a completely intelligible person. I always knew he had hidden talents!!
Jade? he asked one day as I was mixing together ingredients. Am I interrupting you??
Not at all, I responded. He was so polite, sweet, and humble, it made me wonder sometimes!!
I just thought you should know - I, well, followed Patrick Aster to his dormitories and he's muttering to himself. I missed the first parts, but I'm beginning to understand what he means. Should I...?
Yes, relay everything he says to me, dear- and good work!! If I could hear what "Amazing Aster" was saying, it would solve my problem completely!! I wouldn't even have to worry about mixing ingredients. I paused, ladle in hand, listening intently to what he said back to me, repeating Patrick's every word.
Neborth's cause is loyal, of course, but I'm in it for the talent. I can't believe that Snape should order me around so much - he's just Neborth's servant, after all. I'm higher up than he is - a trader with Neborth. That's it. I roused Snape's Shade, and agreed to cast that Broom-Throwing Charm on the field, but after that, I'm off the hook!! Snape isn't though - guess he has reason to be grouchy around me, then. I can't understand actually wanting to stay dead, but hey, it's Snape.
I gasped, partly out of confusion, partly out of shock, partly out of horror, and partly out of disbelief. To me, it sounded like Patrick had sold his soul to the Devil - but no, he spoke of someone called Neborth, and - some of his words began to truly register in my mind.
Rouse Snape's Shade!! Meaning...bring him back from the dead as a wraith, an almost-ghost...I had to go to Dumbledore...but would he believe me?? I needed more concrete proof...
Jade? Did I do well?
Excellently, thank you, Dasher...he didn't say anything else??
No. He just left. Need me for anything else, or shall I just doze off a bit?
Sure, go ahead. One thing Dasher couldn't go without was sleep, especially when I was keeping her up through midnight to watch.
My thoughts returned to the two most worrying pieces of information Patrick had unknowingly given me - he had roused Snape's Shade in order to cast a Broom-Throwing Charm on the Quidditch field. That was my concrete evidence - I needed to check the field first. Who knows how powerful this Neborth was - maybe he had set the whole thing up, to trick me. Which still meant I needed my three Elven charms.
I sighed. I was right back where I started, a few unpleasant pangs and millions of questions added. I remembered what he had said at first..."but I'm in it for the talent." The talent...he roused the Shade, and cast the charm...for talent?? For the jokes and the stage presence and the quick wit??? I shook my head in disbelief. Whoever Neborth was, he sure did sound like a second Voldemort.
A/N: I know, I know, I'm evil for stopping it there, but hey, the plot thickens...it's about molasses now. *wink* PLEASE review, I can't wait to hear your comments!! I've really been longing to get back to my precious Jade for awhile, but I need a FAR stronger response than the one I've gotten so far for Jades 1-4. Key word: so far. If I get tons of reviews off this one...hey, the sky's the limit!! Also...Tina, I hope your claims to unrealistic friendship have vanished into thin air now...*grinz* I tried, I tried!! And Person...yes, you're missing something about the long-overdone Benny's toad debate...he said that the toad was named after his great-grandfather, and Melissa & Jade knew their history, and so they knew Benny's last name, and so they figured that his famous great-grandfather, also the famous toad-loser, must be Neville. Pretty good guess, huh?? *wink* Hope that clears things up for everyone. And also, I'm interested: any speculations on this Neborth dude?