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HARRY POTTER AND THE JADE DRAGON
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Chapter XXV
Robert's Decision
Wistful, away
from my friends and kin,
Through mist and fog I float
With the sail that bears me toward Lo-Yang.
In Yangzhou trees linger bell-notes of evening,
Marking the day and the place of our parting
When shall we meet again and where?
Destiny is a boat on the waves,
Bearing us to and fro, beyond our will.
~ Wei Ying-Wu, Tang
Dynasty
Harry
found it difficult to settle back to normal school life, now that
the mystery of Liu Pei's
scroll and the Plateau had been solved. Robert, who had been relatively
vocal during the past
few weeks, now lapsed back into his usual silent self. Shan, too,
seemed quieter. She began
to spend more of her time doing her assignments, but sometimes
seemed to be staring at her
parchment as if her mind was elsewhere. Harry suspected that she
was thinking about her
parents.
Ron was still feeling worried about Pixie, who continued to
visit Snape's office, doing whatever
chores he gave her. Snape had also begun to bully her mercilessly
in class. All the most cutting
remarks were reserved for her, and she found herself being ordered
to stay back after class,
not a few times, to repeat the lesson because her potion had been
unsatisfactory.
Pixie, who could occasionally be hot-tempered, took all the
bullying quietly. She generally
appeared to be her usual carefree self, but was now spending less
time with Parvati and Lavendar,
and more with Ron, doing her beloved carving while he did his
homework. She had started work
on a block of crystal, and seemed to be shaping it into the form
of a bird with her wand. She had
also begun carving a lump of fine, pale green jade, which Harry
suspected was to be a gift for Ron,
for she only worked on it when he wasn't around.
Malfoy and some of the other students were still making annoying
remarks about Shan and Harry.
Shan generally ignored them, but Harry couldn't help feeling uncomfortable.
It was hard to tell what
Robert was thinking; Harry was tempted to have a talk with him,
and let him know that all the silly
remarks and teasing were baseless, but he still wasn't sure if
Sang Nila had been correct. Perhaps
Robert really only cared for Shan as a cousin, and might laugh
at Harry if he were to suggest
otherwise.
---------* * *----------
Pixie had been having a bad fifteen minutes of it. She had been
spending those minutes grinding
dried earthworms to powder, and every time she looked up, Snape
was staring at her with that
awful glitter in his eyes.
Finally, he came over to where she was sitting, and stood there, looking down at her.
"Miss Pei," he said, "You have been coming here,
three times a week, one to two hours a day,
for the past two weeks. I find it difficult to comprehend why
a student totally inept at the art of
potion-making should display such diligence. Perhaps it is time
that you enlightened me."
Pixie looked down at the powdered earthworms on the table.
"I don't know why I'm here," she muttered, rather
resentfully. "I know you don't like me, and I
don't like you either."
She stopped, unsure of what she wanted to say. She glanced
at Snape, and saw that he was
staring at her with a faint sneer on his face. She lowered her
eyes to the table again.
"I don't know why I keep coming here," she repeated,
sulkily. "I just feel that there's something
I'm supposed to learn here. Something that you're supposed to
teach me."
Snape's eyes narrowed, and a sardonic expression came over his face.
"Indeed," he said coldly. He glanced at a table by
the wall, on which a box of new potions
ingredients was sitting. "I shall make use of your presence
here, then. Your esteemed Potions
teacher has sent me a fresh supply of ingredients for her project.
I expect you to spend no less
than two hours a day in here, helping me prepare the ingredients,
after which you will assist me
in the testing."
He gestured at her to go over to the table, and her heart sank
when she looked into the box : a
large proportion of the ingredients were dragon bones.
She began going to the office every day from then on, and besides
grinding the bones, Snape
generally managed to find other unpleasant tasks for her to perform.
She had to slice dead bats
open, extract their intestines and brains, and then add preservatives
to them and store them away.
She had to remove the eyes of river crabs and place them in a
jar, remove the stones from the
gizzards of birds, extract the poison from centipedes, and cut
up hyenas' galls. Ron and Harry
became used to seeing her come back from Snape's office with her
robes stained with bat blood,
and she sometimes looked tired in the morning because she had
woken up in the middle of the
night after dreaming that she was surrounded by jars of eyes,
all staring at her.
Still, she gritted her teeth and persevered. Snape would watch
her as she worked doggedly, his
eyes narrowing. Finally, he snapped at her one day, asking her
about her family background.
Talking about her family wasn't Pixie's favourite topic.
"My father is a craftsman," she said shortly. "My
mother doesn't work; she's always sick. My
sisters are all married."
She stopped. Snape, who didn't look very interested, although
he had initiated the conversation,
looked up.
"Keep talking," he said, coldly.
Pixie stared at him, privately thinking he was mad. Snape was
glaring sourly at her, his hand
fingering his wand. She decided she'd rather not find out what
he would do to her if she refused.
So she talked about her father, about all the crafts he made,
and how she had picked it up from
him, and how much she liked it. She talked about her mother, who
was always ill and never had
time for her. And her sisters, who were all cleverer and more
gifted than she and yet ended up
being matchmade to their husbands and leading dull and mundane
lives. Pixie herself vowed this
would never happen to her. After a while, she stopped talking,
because Snape didn't really seem
to be listening, but the minute she did, he snapped at her to
continue.
She soon ran out of things to say, so she began to talk about
anything that came into her head,
why she disliked being at home, and that she often felt lonely
there. She doubted that Snape was
really listening, anyway. He was doing it just to wear her down.
Finally, he curtly told her to get out, because he had other
work to do and her presence in the
room bothered him. She left, wishing he would tell her that he
didn't want her to come back. Why
didn't he? She knew she could stop coming if she chose to, that
she had no obligation to continue
helping him, and yet, for some perverse reason she felt that unless
he told her to stop, she had to
keep coming.
After that day, Snape was even more unkind to her in the office,
giving her the most unsavoury
tasks, and often driving her to tears. However, for some reason,
he ceased bullying her in class.
Gone were the times she had to stay back and perfect her solutions.
Not that he was any kinder
to her, but he generally ignored her presence in the class, a
form of treatment she received with
relief and which many of the other students, especially Chee Chong,
would have been happy to
have received.
---------* * *----------
"Robert, have you got a few minutes?"
Divination was due to begin in a quarter of an hour. Harry
felt that should give him ample time to
talk to Robert.
Harry had been unable to forget the incident with the Boggart,
and the uncharacteristic anger
Robert had shown when Shan had left the room, weeping. The teasing
and comments about
Harry and Shan had continued, now often in front of Robert, for
Malfoy knew Robert would
not retaliate unless something derogatory was said about Shan.
Harry wondered whether
Malfoy suspected that Robert cared for Shan. He wondered if Hermione
had been right.
Robert persisted in looking as deadpan as ever, but Harry found
himself feeling increasingly
uncomfortable. Finally, he decided to talk things out with Robert,
and clear everything up.
Shan looked rather surprised at Harry's request, but gave them
both a smile and then went off
toward Professor Trelawney's classroom first. Harry found himself
looking at Robert, and
wondering how to begin.
Robert looked questioningly at him. He didn't take his glasses off, as Harry hoped he would.
"Er," he said, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words.
Robert waited patiently for a while, then said kindly, "Is something bothering you, Harry?"
Just say anything, thought Harry, you'll get there after a while.
"It's about Shan," he said. "All the teasing and stupid comments, from Malfoy and the others"
Robert stood and waited.
"It's just there's nothing between me and Shan,
we're just friends," said Harry, and then had
a sudden inspiration, "and I don't know how to tell her -
I'm afraid she'll get the wrong idea. I
thought maybe you could let her know, for me."
Robert looked at him for a moment, and then asked curiously, "Why don't you like Shan?"
Harry had a feeling he was treading on dangerous ground.
"It's not that I don't like her," he said quickly,
"Only she reminds me of someone else I used
to like. And that didn't turn out well. After that episode, I
don't feel ready to consider any sort
of relationship again, for a long time."
Robert seemed to be thinking.
"I know what you're trying to say, Harry," he said
at last. "But you don't need to worry. As for
the teasing, I don't think Shan really minds. She was saying -
"
He stopped, because Professor McGonagall was now coming swiftly up to them.
"Potter, did I not tell you to see me as soon as possible
about your essay?" she said sharply.
She glanced at Robert. "This will take a while, Mo; you'll
have to continue your conversation
with Potter later."
Robert promptly nodded, and went off to the Divination classroom.
Harry watched him leave,
feeling frustrated. Why, oh why must Professor McGonagall turn
up now?
Professor McGonagall kept Harry there for ten minutes, and
by the time he made it up to the
classroom, the lesson had started.
They had begun crystal-gazing, and Harry found himself sitting
near the back of the class, looking
at swirling white mist inside his crystal ball. Robert was sitting
a few tables away. He didn't seem
to be listening to what Professor Trelawney was saying; he was
staring into space, and his mind
appeared to be elsewhere. Harry wondered if he was thinking about
the conversation they'd just
had.
After a while, Professor Trelawney began to move around the
class, and Robert, seeing her
approaching, pretended to gaze intently into his crystal ball.
Professor Trelawney glided past, her bangles clinking. Robert
waited till she had moved over to
the other end of the room, and then began to idly tap his crystal
ball with his wand. Harry watched,
feeling curious. An image of Sang Nila appeared; it looked as
though he was communicating with
some of the merpeople in the lake.
Robert watched him for a while, then tapped the ball again.
Professor Flitwick appeared,
conducting one of his Charms classes. Robert placed his fingers
on one side of the ball,
and seemed to be listening to Flitwick's lesson. Then, seeing
Professor Trelawney coming
in his direction again, he tapped the ball so that swirling mist
appeared again, but continued
to place his fingers on the ball, as if still listening to the
lesson.
Harry, seeing Professor Trelawney coming over to him, quickly
fixed his attention on his own
crystal ball. When she had left, he glanced at Robert again. Robert
looked quite absorbed; his
fingers were still on his crystal ball, and whatever he was listening
to, it must have been very
interesting, for he didn't notice Professor Trelawney coming up
to him. He continued staring at
his crystal ball, even when she was standing right in front of
his table, looking down at him.
"You appear to have achieved an intimate union with your
Orb, my dear," said Professor
Trelawney. "Pray tell us, what you have Seen within its depths."
Robert didn't seem to hear her. He was still listening, and Harry thought he looked rather pale.
Professor Trelawney, perceiving that she was being ignored, frowned.
"My dear - " she began huffily, but all of a sudden,
Robert drew his fingers back with a jerk,
and the crystal ball flared brightly, and exploded into fragments.
Professor Trelawney screamed, and jumped backward with remarkable
agility. Shan gave a
cry of dismay, and hurried over to Robert. Blood was streaming
from his left hand, where
several of the glass shards had cut him.
"I'm all right, Shan," he said, using his robes to staunch the flow.
Professor Trelawney was sitting in a chair, gasping.
"An ill omen, my dears," she whispered. "Never
have I known an Orb to shatter " She
fixed her enormous eyes on Robert, and then said faintly, "I
think that we shall leave the
lesson here for today."
Shan was still making a fuss over Robert's hand. Robert repeated
firmly, "I'm fine, Shan.
I'll go see Madam Pomfrey, and let her fix it."
He made a gesture at the shards of broken glass on the floor
with his other hand, and they
flew back up onto the table into a crystal ball again. He then
picked his bag up. Shan said,
"I'll meet you in the library after that."
Robert hesitated, and glanced at Harry.
"I can't," he said. "Professor Lupin said he
wanted to see me about something. Harry can
help you out - he's already finished his essay."
He turned, and quickly left the room. Shan looked slightly
surprised, but gathered her things
and turned to look at Harry.
Harry felt rather nonplussed. Was he imagining it, or was Robert
avoiding Shan? Had Harry
given him the wrong idea? It looked as if he was trying to make
himself scarce, so that Harry
could be with Shan.
Hermione joined them as they made their way to the library.
"Is Robert all right?" she asked, looking concerned.
"Oh, it's just a small cut," said Shan cheerfully.
"He probably did it to frighten Professor
Trelawney. We finished twenty minutes early."
Harry, however, wasn't feeling as cheerful. Robert hadn't gone
to see Madam Pomfrey, or
Professor Lupin. Harry had glanced out the window a few minutes
earlier, and had seen him
making his way down to the lake. He had deliberately lied to Shan.
Why?
---------* * *----------
"I'll come soon," said Pixie, "I need to talk to
Professor Lupin for a few minutes."
Ron glanced at the parchment she was holding.
"Is that the essay on vampires that we're supposed to
do?" he asked, surprised. "But we
don't need to pass it up till next week!"
Pixie snatched the parchment away, her face slightly pink.
"Just go," she said, "I'll join you in a while."
"But you've never handed anything in early before!" said Ron, looking shocked.
"Go, Ron," she said impatiently, giving him
a small push. She turned her back on him, picked
up her bag, and made her way to the front of the class, where
Lupin was keeping his books
away.
Ron stood goggling after her for a few moments, then gathered
his own things and headed
for the door.
Pixie waited till the last of the students, including Ron,
had left the class, then went up to
Lupin's desk. Lupin, looking up, seemed rather surprised to see
her.
"What is it, Pixie?"
Pixie placed the parchment on the desk.
"My vampire essay," she said, looking her most innocent. "I've finished it."
Lupin raised his eyebrows. He took the sheets of parchment,
and looked through them.
Pixie stood by, holding her breath, and still looking innocent.
Lupin put the parchment down, and looked shrewdly at her.
"You want something from me, don't you?"
Pixie returned his gaze, and suddenly found it wasn't so easy
to look innocent after all.
She went red, and looked down at the desk.
"Yes," she said, in a small voice. She peeked at
him through her eyelashes. "Professor
Lupin - Ron tells me you and Professor Snape used to go to school
together."
Lupin looked speculatively at her. "In a manner of speaking, yes."
"Well," said Pixie, letting her eyes fall to the
desk again, "I was wondering - if you could
tell me what he was like, when he was a student."
Lupin looked at Pixie for a few moments, his expression unreadable.
"Jeanne tells me you have been visiting Severus almost
every day, helping him with his
project."
Pixie nodded.
"Also, that Severus has been giving you the most unpleasant
tasks to do, and that you
have been performing all of them most admirably, without a word
of complaint."
Pixie remained silent. She looked at Lupin, hoping he would answer her question.
"I don't suppose you would care to tell me why you need this information," remarked Lupin.
Pixie flushed, and looked down at the desk. She flicked another
glance at Lupin, and saw
that his expression, though rather stern, was not hostile. She
suddenly felt an urge to tell
someone about what she had been going through, the past few weeks.
She hadn't been
able to tell anyone; she knew Ron wouldn't understand, although
he was worried about
her, and neither would Parvati, or Lavendar.
"I don't know why I keep going there," she said,
rather sullenly. "I hate Snape. And I know
he despises me. A lot of people despise me. They think I'm a silly
featherhead."
She stopped, and glanced at Lupin, and saw that he was looking slightly less stern.
"Snape doesn't seem human," she said. "Everyone
in the school hates him. He treats us as if
we're slugs. He treats me like I'm less than nothing. During my
detention, I was dying to get
out of the room. Only, Chien-Mei came in after a while"
She paused, unsure how to explain what she meant.
"Snape doesn't seem human," she repeated, "but
he almost was, while talking to Chien-Mei.
As if, he needed to tell his feelings and ideas to someone else.
And Chien-Mei seemed to
know it. She just stood there and took everything, even remarks
that were insulting to her."
She paused again, and saw that Lupin was listening intently.
"I know it sounds silly," she said. "but that
time during the detention I just felt I was
supposed to be there, for a reason that Snape was supposed
to teach me something.
But I didn't know what it was. I still don't. I keep going back,
and I still haven't found out.
I thought, maybe it's about human nature. Maybe Snape used to
be different, and something
happened that made him what he is today. So I thought, maybe you
could tell me "
She stopped, and looked at Lupin.
Lupin looked at her for a few moments, as if thinking about what she'd just said.
"So, all this started because you heard Severus talking to Jeanne."
"Yes," said Pixie hesitantly, and then added, "It
wasn't so much what they said - what he
said" she trailed off, wondering whether anything she
had said so far made any sense.
Lupin sat there quietly, waiting for her to finish.
"Not so much what he said," said Pixie, looking down at the desk, " as what he didn't say."
There was a silence for about a minute, as she stared down
at the desk, thinking about the past
few weeks and wondering why she was letting all this happen to
her. Then she looked up, and
saw that Lupin was still looking at her, and that he was smiling
kindly.
"Why don't you draw a chair up, Pixie," he said, "and I'll see what I can tell you."
---------* * *----------
Harry hadn't been imagining it. Robert was really avoiding Shan.
He was spending an
inordinately large amount of time with Sang Nila, and he seemed
troubled and preoccupied,
as if he was trying to sort something out within himself.
Shan, of course, noticed it after a while, and began to look
upset and confused. Finally, one
day after class, Harry heard her asking Robert if she could borrow
one of his essays.
Robert hesitated, then said something in Chinese.
Shan looked surprised, then replied, rather heatedly, also in Chinese.
Harry felt around in his pocket for the Translator. He had
begun to carry it around again, for
he had the feeling that Shan and Robert were going to talk things
out sooner or later, and
although it was eavesdropping, Harry really wanted to know whether
he had given Robert
the wrong message the other day. If so, he was going to step in
and clear everything up once
and for all.
" - you can't always rely on me, Shan. What happens when I'm not around?"
"I don't always rely on you. It's only homework, for goodness sake!"
"It isn't only homework. I see it now I shouldn't
have stuck next to you all this time. That
took away all the chances you had of making other really close
friends - "
"Don't change the subject, Robert. I'm only asking you
for an essay. What's happening? Are
you angry with me? Don't deny it - you've been avoiding me!"
"I'm giving you a chance to mix around more," said
Robert. "This exchange programme has
opened my eyes."
"I don't want to mix around more!" said Shan angrily.
"I'm the one who'll decide who I want
to spend time with, not you!"
Robert was silent for a moment. Harry had the impression he
was fighting with something
within himself. Finally, he spoke, almost as if he had to force
the words out.
"I've been doing some thinking," he said. "I've decided - I'm going to Shao-Lin."
Shan turned very pale. "What?"
Robert wasn't looking at her.
"I'm going to apply for Shao-Lin," he repeated.
Shan looked slightly distraught. "Why?"
Robert hesitated, and glanced at Harry.
"I don't know," he said. "I just have to."
"You're pulling my leg, aren't you?" said Shan. "You're
angry about something I've done,
aren't you? What is it?"
"Nothing," said Robert. His voice was shaking slightly.
"I'm not angry with you, Shan. And
I'm not joking; I've made up my mind."
Shan's face was white.
"I don't believe it," she said flatly. "Something else has happened; tell me the truth, Robert."
She reached a hand out to grasp his arm, but Robert suddenly
drew back, as if he was afraid
of her touch.
"This is as hard for me as it is for you," he said
tightly. "Just trust me, Shan. I've made the right
decision."
He abruptly turned, and went off. Shan stood there, staring
after him, till he disappeared round
a corner, and then sat down on a nearby chair, looking stunned.
Harry hesitated, then sat down next to her.
She seemed close to tears. A tear did trickle down her cheek,
but she angrily dashed it away,
and shook her head, as if she wanted to clear her mind.
Harry looked uncertainly at her. "Are you all right?"
"No," said Shan, shortly. Then she seemed to pull
herself together somewhat, and looked at
Harry.
"Sorry, Harry," she said. "I still can't believe
what I just heard." She fell silent, staring moodily
at the floor.
Harry didn't care whether they knew he had the Translator on
or not. He wanted to find out
what was wrong.
"I don't understand, Shan," he said. "Why don't
you want Robert to go to Shao-Lin? It's a
famous school - from what I've heard, a lot of students would
literally cut their arms off, to
have a chance to go there."
Shan gave a small sigh.
"You don't know, Harry," she said, sounding bitter,
"The training at Shao-Lin lasts ten years.
He can't come back home, during that time. We can't go there to
visit him. No letters, no
communication with the outside world. Ten years!"
So that's the reason, thought Harry.
"But - it's Robert's choice, isn't it?" he said cautiously. "It's his future."
"There's no future for him in Shao-Lin!" said Shan, unreasonably. "I don't want him to go!"
Harry was quiet for a moment, then decided to mention something
that had been in his
thoughts for some time.
"But you knew it would happen, didn't you?"
Shan turned her head, and looked at him.
"It's obvious - to me, anyway - that the two of you care
a lot for each other," said Harry.
"But both of you keep holding back. And I've been wondering
why. It's because of this,
isn't it? You guessed that something like this would happen, one
day."
Shan was silent for a few minutes, thinking.
"You're right, Harry," she said at last, softly,
"It has always been in my mind, that he'd leave,
one day." Her voice shook slightly. "It's just - I didn't
expect it to happen so soon."
"Ten years will pass before you know it," said Harry,
although he didn't believe this, himself.
To a teenager, ten years seemed a very long time indeed. "You'll
see him again after that."
Shan refused to be comforted.
"Ten years is forever," she said disconsolately, a hopeless expression in her eyes.
The next few days proved to be rather uncomfortable ones. Shan
was very depressed, and
she and Robert were not speaking to each other. Harry felt rather
upset, himself. Why should
Robert suddenly decide to apply for Shao-Lin Academy? Of course,
it was a prestigious
school; but Harry couldn't help wondering if his conversation
with Robert hadn't triggered it off.
His attempt to bring Robert and Shan together had backfired. He
suspected that Robert thought
that Harry actually did like Shan, and was making himself scarce
so that Harry would have a
chance to be with her.
Hermione, noticing that Robert was always alone now, sat next
to him in class whenever she
could. The only times Robert sat with Shan was during Potions,
for Snape was still being nasty
to the Chinese students, and Robert would never allow anyone to
bully Shan. Fortunately, Snape
was concentrating most of his efforts onto Chee Chong. Harry found
himself wondering what
Robert would do to Snape if the latter ever did try to intimidate
Shan.
Even so, Robert and Shan hardly spoke to each other during
Potions, except when Robert
was giving instructions on how to prepare the solution. Shan remained
silent, but couldn't help
looking hurt and bewildered, and Robert generally avoided her
eyes. Because Snape insisted
Robert wear normal glasses during the class, Harry couldn't help
noticing that he looked as
unhappy as Shan.
Fortunately, this sorry state of affairs was slightly alleviated
by Parvati and Lavendar's suggestion
that they have an informal concert on the last night of the exchange
programme. Pixie volunteered
to play the er-hu, a Chinese musical instrument, and also
persuaded Shan to perform a Chinese
dance with her.
"I don't know how to dance," said Shan flatly, when Pixie brought the subject up.
"I'll teach you," said Pixie. "You have to do
something. There are only five of us now, and you
know Yuan-Ming won't agree to perform any item."
Shan flushed slightly at the mention of Robert's name. Seeing
there was no help for it, she agreed,
and Harry was pleased to see her practising the dance together
with Pixie; at least, it was keeping
her too busy to feel depressed.
Fatty and Chee Chong, after some discussion, decided to perform some Chinese opera.
"There's one with a King and a Concubine," said Fatty.
"I can get the costumes. I'll be the King,
and you be the Concubine."
Chee Chong looked indignant. "Why must I be the Concubine?"
"Because I say so," said Fatty. "We'll have
to prepare a potion that can make us sing. Chien-Mei
said she'd help us with it."
Parvati had decided to do a northern Indian dance. After much
cajoling and bribing, Lavendar
managed to persuade Seamus to do an Irish step dance. Dean, who
was good at art, volunteered
to do the props, and roped Robert in, because he could conjure
up practically any article that
Dean required.
---------* * *----------
Pixie had finished polishing her block of crystal, which had now
been moulded into the form
of a swallow in flight. She tucked it carefully into her robes.
This would be her last session
with Snape, and she intended to leave it behind on the table,
as a farewell gift.
Snape had not been so nasty to her lately. She had finished
preparing the ingredients for the
project, and Snape had used them to create a variety of complex
solutions. They had then
commenced on testing. Pixie sat in her usual corner in the main
office, doing the preliminary
testing on the solutions. This consisted of all sorts of tedious
routines, including dropping
charmed strips of paper into small vessels of solution, and noting
what colour they changed
into, or adding small amounts of other potions which Snape provided,
and seeing how the
solution reacted, and recording it down. These sometimes resulted
in ghastly-smelling and
potentially dangerous-looking fumes being given off, and Pixie,
alarmed, had bolted out of
the room not a few times.
Snape closeted himself in another side office, and did the
final testing there. Pixie wasn't sure
what he was doing, and decided she didn't want to know, especially
as the stream of live mice,
rats and other animals which Argus Filch kept bringing into the
side office often came out dead,
a few days later.
Pixie drew a small breath before knocking on the door of the
office. After today, she would
be free of Snape forever. He still unnerved her, and she still
disliked him, but for some reason
he had won her grudging respect.
That day's session was a short one, for the testing had been
completed and the project was over.
She spent most of the one hour there tidying up the office and
disposing of the remains of dead
rats. Finally, it was time to leave.
Pixie waited till Snape wasn't looking, then took the crystal
swallow out and hid it behind a
pile of books on the table. She then made her way over to Snape,
who was near the door.
"This is my last day here, so I'll say good-bye," she said, when Snape turned to look at her.
Snape regarded her for a moment, his eyes glittering coldly,
then nodded briefly and turned
away. Pixie headed for the door and quit the room, feeling rather
ruffled. Instead of the relief
she had expected to feel, there was a strange feeling of dissatisfaction
inside her, as if she had
left something undone, or some task remained that had yet to be
completed.
The rest of the afternoon was spent rehearsing for the concert,
which was to be held in the
common room, where a makeshift stage had been set up. Shan kept
dropping her dance
ribbon, and couldn't seem to understand why Pixie insisted she
take her glasses off during
the performance. Seamus, finding that he still kept tripping over
his own feet, finally asked
Robert if there was any anti-tripping spell that he knew of.
Pixie, for some reason, found that her eyes kept straying to
the portrait hole, as if she expected
someone to come in. However, the anticipated visitor finally came
in not through the portrait
hole, but through the window, in the form of a tawny owl. A bundle
was hanging from its beak,
and it was scanning the room, as if looking for someone.
Pixie's heart leapt when she saw the bundle. She felt positive
it was from Snape. The owl spied
her near the stage, and flew over. Then, it began swelling and
transforming, and Jeanne was
there instead. She gestured at Pixie to go over to a quiet corner
of the room.
"Xiao-Yan, Severus has asked me to give something to you,"
she said in Chinese, looking
solemnly at her. "It is not what you think it is; take a
good look at it."
Pixie took hold of the bundle, her heart beating slightly faster.
She unwrapped it, and then felt
her heart drop like a stone. It was the crystal swallow; Snape
had returned her gift.
She found herself winking back tears of keenly felt disappointment.
Jeanne looked at her, and
her eyes were kind.
"Look closer at the carving, Xiao-Yan," she said. "Do you see anything?"
Pixie peered at the swallow. Something inside shifted slightly;
the swallow was now hollow, and
it was filled with a clear, transparent solution.
She looked at it, puzzled, and still feeling rather hurt.
"What is it?"
"The fruit of your labour, these past few weeks,"
said Jeanne. "The end-result of the project.
Without your help, I don't think Severus could have completed
it so early."
Pixie frowned.
"What would I do with it?" she said sulkily. "I don't even know what it's for!"
Jeanne, seeing how disappointed she looked, put an arm around her.
"Hopefully, you won't need to find out," she said.
"Xiao-Yan, I found Severus holding the
swallow in his hands and looking at it when I came into the room.
When he saw me, he
filled it with the solution, and told me to return it to you."
Pixie looked at her.
"Before I left, I asked him if there was anything he wanted
me to tell you," said Jeanne. "He
was silent for a while, and then he said, 'Tell her I don't need
the swallow to remember her'."
Pixie looked at the swallow again. For some reason, she felt slightly better.
"Thanks," she said.
Jeanne smiled, and removed her arm from Pixie's shoulders.
"Go upstairs and keep it safely away, now," she said.
"And then you'd best get back to your
rehearsal."
Shan watched as Jeanne transformed into an owl again, and flew
out the window. Harry,
seeing that she was taking a break, since she couldn't practise
the dance without Pixie
anyway, came over.
"How's it coming along?"
"All right," said Shan, still looking at the window.
She was silent for a few moments, then
said hesitantly, "Harry, you know Chien-Mei's story, don't
you?"
Harry was rather surprised. "What?"
"Chien-Mei," said Shan. "How she left Russia
and came to Hogwarts; how she met Professor
Lupin."
Harry looked cautiously at her. "Yeah, I do."
Shan glanced at Robert, who was helping Dean with the props,
then quickly averted her
eyes as Robert, feeling her gaze on him, turned to look at her.
"I know I've been treating her badly," she admitted.
"Robert has been telling me for weeks
to stop it."
She paused. Harry looked at her, feeling hopeful.
"I know he's right," she said slowly. "I'm getting
there. I know there's some story behind her
coming here; Robert knows, but he won't tell me. He said I should
ask you, because you
were there."
Harry looked at her. At last, she was going to make up with
Jeanne. He knew he was the
one who could give the fairest account of Jeanne's story, besides
Lupin and Dumbledore.
Pixie and the dance rehearsal could wait; this was more important.
"It'll take a while," he said, looking around. "Why
don't we find a quiet corner somewhere,
and I'll tell you all about it."
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