A Year To Remember
By Izzy
Part 11:The Spring
"W-w-why ees eet so cold?" complained the shivering Gabrielle for the umpteenth time one day in March at lunch. Normally the others would have shushed her, but she was right. It was very cold.
"More then that," said Elaine. "It's so gloomy. For some reason I just can't seem to be cheerful." Next to them, Ginny was shivering worse then Gabrielle. "T-t-there's only one thing that's made me feel like this before, a-a-and I don't think it's that."
"Well," said Elaine. "We'd better go upstairs and get our cloaks. Flying lessons next."
"I'll c-c-come too. I've g-g-got C-c-care of Magical Creatures next."
They got up and started across the Hall-and then it happened. Ginny suddenly screamed an collapsed. "No, Tom, please no!" She cried out. "Not again!" Next second Gabrielle collapsed, completely out. Elaine looked this way and that, trying to find the source of thier distress.
Next second, it seemed, there were screams from the staff table as Professor McGonagall was lifted up by invisible hands. Suddenly Professor Flitwick lifted his wand and yelled loud enough for the entire hall to hear, "It's a Dementor! EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Silver stuff shot from his wand, and Professor McGonagall fell to the floor, unconscious. The other teachers followed, and the silver shapes illuminated a tall, hooded figure, which backed away. The teachers and thier silver figures followed it, all except for Professor Sprout, who knelt anxiously next to McGonagall.
The students moved out of the Dementor's way as it backed into the wall. The silver figures moved onto to it, they merged with each other and became a silver light which bathed it. Then the robes fell to the floor, with nothing to hold them up.
The teachers gathered around Sprout and McGonagall. "How is she?" asked Madam Hooch. "Is she-did the Dementor-" her voice trailed off, leading Elaine to suspect what might have happened was very dreadful indeed.
"I don't know," answered Sprout. "Best we get her to the Hospital Wing. If she doesn't wake up in a few hours...well, I guess that means we didn't stop it in time..."
Shortly...
"I trusted you Tom, I trusted you..." Ginny twisted about as Madam Pomfrey draped a sheet over her. "She had an especially bad reaction. But at least she'll recover." She cast an agonized look at Professor McGonagall, lying nearby. "If only there was a way to know! But nothing I can do can see if she still has her soul." She heard the doors of the Hospital Wing open, and so did not notice Gabrielle wake up.
Gabrielle felt weak, but wide awake. She pulled herself up, then saw Dumbledore enter, looking more worried then she had ever seen him.
"Albus!" started Madam Pomfrey. "Can you-"
He did not answer. Neither Pomfrey nor Gabrielle could take thier eyes off him as he knelt down. He reached into McGonagall's robes and removed her ring, which he slid onto her finger. He was already wearing his own. He took her hand and closed his eyes.
He opened them again, and said softly, "The Dementor was stopped in time. She was not Kissed."
"Thank God!" sighed Pomfrey. Then she noticed Gabrielle was awake. "Miss Delacour. Eat." She hand Gabrielle a block of chocolate, which Gabrielle obediently started into. She felt some of her strength come back. "Professor, sair," she asked, "why waire both zese attacks on Professor McGonagall?"
"That's something I'd like to know the answer to myself," he answered.
"I think whoever's responsible was trying to attack you, through her, and your mind-link." said Madam Pomfrey. "I've noticed it's unusually strong. But how would they themselves know?"
"Ze last attackair knew 'oo I was," noted Gabrielle. "Knew 'oo my seester was." She considered, and then something hit her. 'As anyzing 'appened at Beauxbatons?"
He cast a somewhat startled look at her. "Yes, something has. Voldemort's pet snake turned up over a month ago. And I should be getting back there." He exited.
Gabrielle finished off her chocolate and pulled herself out of bed. "Can I go now?"
Madam Pomfrey looked her over, then reluctently nodded. "Miss Sarpan is waiting for you outside."
Before leaving, however, Gabrielle cast an uncertain glance at Ginny, who was tossing and turning. "Just stop, please..." she moaned.
That evening...
Ginny awoke to find herself in the Hospital Wing. Two figures were sitting by her bedside. She still felt very tired.
"Evening," said Gabrielle, handing her a piece of chocolate. Ginny ate gratefully. "It's evening already?" she couldn't help asking.
"You 'ad a rather nasty reaction. You were tossing and turning most of ze day, yelling at someone called Tom."
"Neville was hysterical," Elaine added. "He'd be here now, but he's in detention. You see, he had Potions this afternoon-"
"And you know 'ow much trouble 'e 'as een Potions as eet ees-" Gabrielle chimed in.
"With you having nightmares in the Hospital Wing he was worse then usual, and-"
"Dean left 'ere just a beet ago, and Seamus made Olga faint, though I zink he exaggerated-"
"And Snape knew well that Neville would want nothing more then to be by your bedside tonight, so of course-"
"Anyway, Neville will be 'ere as soon as 'e can, but knowing Snape, zat's not going to be for awhile." finished Gabrielle. "So, 'oo's Tom?"
"Nobody important," said Ginny hastily. Only a limited amount of people knew the full truth of what had happened in regards to the Chamber of Secrets, and Ginny did not want the two girls who looked up to her knowing how royally she had messed up during her first year.
"'E sounded pretty important from ze way you were yelling at 'im," noted Gabrielle. "But eef you don't want 'o zell us, fine. We'll find out our own."
Oh, she didn't realize. "I highly doubt you could figure it out. So, I assume that was a Dementor?"
"It was," said Elaine. She shuddered. "It was trying to suck out Professor McGonagall's soul. It caused Gabrielle here to collapse."
"Eet ovairwhelmed me weeth memories of my mum being murdered." Gabrielle replied. "I wouldn't be surprised is 'Arry Potter 'as ze same reaction."
"He does," Ginny informed them, "I've seen it." Gabrielle looked very relieved to hear this.
"What about Professor McGonagall? Is she allright?"
"Fine. Ze Dementor deedn't suceed."
"So, anything else happen of interest while I asleep?"
"Oh yes!" said Elaine. Only then did Ginny notice that she was bursting with excitement. "Parvati came to our flying lesson today, she says I might be Seeker after you graduate! The final decision will be Dennis Creevay's, of course. He's down to be captain next year."
"I'm good friends with his brother. I'll see what I can do for you." Then she felt herself drifting off again...
"Oi, don't fall asleep, Neville should be 'ere soon-" she thought she heard Gabrielle say.
"But we play Ravenclaw tomorrow, she has to rest-" she thought she heard Elaine say.
When she woke again, it was to feel someone holding her hand. She looked up to see Neville smiling down at her. "Hi."
"Hello." It was so easy to shrug off her worries and fears, she noted, when she was like this with Neville. But there was a big one on her mind. "The Quidditch match, it-"
"Don't worry about that," he assured her. "It's only eight in the morning. Madam Pomfrey has agreed to let you out before the match. I got you some breakfast." He proffered several(smushed) slices of toast, some jam, and a flask of juice. "Raspberry jam. Your favorite. Oh, and Madam Pomfrey left you more chocolate." He pointed to a table with heaps of chocolate.
She ate hungrily. "How long have you been sitting here?" she asked between bites.
"About an hour. I came in last night but Madam Pomfrey shooed me out. That reminds me, I have something for you." He reached into the pockets of his robes. "These came just last night." He pressed a slip of parchment into her hand.
She looked at them, and her eyes flew open. "Tickets for the Quidditch World Cup in Spain!"
"We'll have to get there a week in advance, and you won't have quite a good view as you did last time, but-"
"This is wonderful, Neville! But I thought your grandmother didn't like Quidditch."
"She's got a friend in Spain who she hopes to meet. I think also she wants to inspect you." He grinned. "She's delighted so far, she calls you, 'the perfect match'. Be prepared to go really early and be inspected and dragged around Spain."
"Consider me forewarned. I still can't thank you enough-"
"You're not the one that should do the thanking Ginny," Neville said lovingly. Ginny took another piece of chocolate and leaned back. Neville had made this speech many many times, but she never tired of hearing it.
"It was when you were 15. You'd gone home for the summer a little girl that nobody noticed."
"You noticed." she reminded him.
"Yes, but I don't count, do I? And you returned a woman. The change was obvious from the second you stepped into the Great Hall. Within a month you had half the boys at Hogwarts at your feet. You could have had Titus Leeford, who everyone knew was going to suceed Cho Chang to captaincy, or Godric Pertek, the Head Boy, but you scorned them both. You went for me. Little old Neville, who didn't stand a chance next to those boys. You didn't care that I couldn't do a transfiguration without creating a monstrosity, or always forgot the trick step. You were the first person to accept me for what I am, incompetence and all. You-"
But his beautiful speech was annoyingly cut short by the entrance of Parvati into the Hospital Wing.
"She awake?"
"Yeah, she's awake," called Neville.
"You up to playing?"
"Of course I'm up to playing."
That evening...
Harry put down the report from Parvati and shook his head, trying to ignore the cheering of the Ravenclaws. "Of course she wasn't up to playing, she'd just had an encounter with a Dementor!"
"Is she all right?" Ron asked.
"Parvati thinks she'll be okay. And Ravenclaw's too far behind. We're still playing Slytherin for the cup. But we absolutely cannot let them get ahead during the entire game if we want the cup. It's too risky."
"I'm sure Slytherin won't stand a chance," Hermione assured him.
"Isn't their third Chaser weak?" asked Ron.
"Doesn't make a difference," said Harry glumly. "Parvati wrote to me last week. Millicent Bulstrode's returned to Hogwarts."
"You know, I bet they were responsible for that Dementor," said Ron. "They were trying to put Ginny out of action! And then knock off the Head of Gryffindor while they were at it!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," said Hermione, "even they wouldn't go that far...would they?"
"They would," said Ron flatly.
Just then another owl flew in, and landed in front of Terry Boot. He stopped cheering, and looked very apprehensive. "What's wrong?" Lisa asked him.
He carefully unfolded the letter. He nodded. "Passover. They've invited me to come home for the first night. They're sending me the Portkey tomorrow."
"What's wrong with that?"
"They don't know about you." he replied. "They've probably gotten me a fiancee."
"Well there's a simple solution to that. Take me with you."
"You don't realize what you're asking."
Nevertheless...
Nevertheless, she got her way, and the first night of Passover found them sitting outside the bus holding the Portkey. "Last chance to pull out."
"Forget it. Better they know sooner then later."
Then the Portkey activated, and then were both spinning.
They landed on a lawn in front of of one of the more complicated buildings Lisa had seen in her life.
A number of people were running over. A woman who Lisa recognized as Terry's mother hugged him. "Terry! Why didn't you come home for the holidays? I've missed you so much-" then she noticed Lisa. "Who's she?"
"She's-her name's Lisa. Lisa Turpin."
Mrs. Boot nodded. "Yes, you've mentioned her." She gave Lisa a friendly smile. "Come along, Miss Turpin. Everyone is welcome at the table tonight. I'll set another place out."
Very relieved, Terry and Lisa went through more introductions. "You didn't tell them," Lisa whispered to Terry, annoyed.
"If you're so keen on telling them, you tell them." he whispered.
"No, you're the family member. I'm the stranger. They should hear it from you."
They moved inside. Lisa supposed all the descendents of the ten Jewish Muggle-borns were here tonight. Amoung the people in the table she recognized several other students she had seen Terry with on occasion, including a fifth-year Gryffindor she did not know by name, Ella Cowiven, a third- year Ravenclaw, and Samuel Cowiven, a first-year Hufflepuff. She noted the ceremonial clothes that the man who introduced himself as Terry's grandfather was wearing and felt a little nervous, but Terry was wearing his Hogwarts robes, so she could only conclude she was allowed to as well.
All washed thier hands. This felt strange to Lisa, who usually cleaned herself by use of a Sanitation spell. They gathered at the large table and spoke a prayer over the wine(full goblets for the adults, which included her and Terry, a tiny amount for the children) which Lisa repeated nervously. It was spoken in Hebrew, which meant she had no idea what it meant, indeed, she barely could figure out what she was supposed to saying. She imitated the others in sipping, then felt Terry squeeze her hand under the table reassuringly.
Twigs of parsley were passed out, dipped in wine, and eaten. Then Terry's grandfather, who was obviously a figure of authority, reached towards the platter in the middle, towards a piece of some sort of bread. Taking it, he broke off a piece of it and hid it in the cushions in the back of his chair.
"The afikomen," whispered Terry to Lisa. "All the children try to steal it, and if they can hold onto it until the end of dinner, they get a present."
"What do they get?" she asked.
"Whatever they want."
Lisa took a look at the younger children. The Gryffindor boy was probably too old, and she wasn't sure about Ella Cowiven, but other then that, it was open. The afikomen would not be behind the chair at the end of the dinner.
Then they passed out old-looking books which Terry whispered were called Haggadahs, and told the story of Passover. His grandfather began reading in Hebrew, while Lisa gratefully recieved a Haggadah and followed along the English translation, while in the back of her mind she couldn't help going over Professor Binn's account of what had "really" happened. She had admit immediately, however, the story that Haggadahs told was far more interesting then Professor Binn's lecture on the subject.
According to Professor Binns, the Jewish people had been enslaved by the Egyptians for many years when a leader emerged in the form of the wizard Moses. Along with his brother Aaron he had secretly researched and discovered many curses, including the Avada Kedavra curse, which they had decided early on to use only as a last resort. And so he had gone to the Egyptian ruler, Ramses III, and demanded thier people's freedom. When Ramses had refused, they had started using the curses. They had started with curses already well known: turning all the water in Egypt into blood and conjuring up a whole bunch of frogs. When this didn't impress Ramses, they used thier newly discovered curses, conjuring lice and flies, causing the cattle to die, hexing everyone with sores, bringing down a terrible hailstorm and encouraging the locusts that followed, and finally stopping all light. And when Ramses III still refused, they decided it was time to use Avada Kedavra.
And so they and all the other Jewish wizards of the time had spent one(persumably rather hectic)night Apparating in and out of Egyptian houses, and putting the Avada Kedavra curse on all the first-born children. But the Jewish servants had marked thier houses so they would be spared. While this was(in Lisa's opinion) a very heartless act, it suceeded in persuading Ramses III into granting the Jewish people thier freedom, and they had left Egypt, settling on the far side of the Red Sea.
Of course, as Terry had made very clear in the History of Magic class where Binns had taught this, the Jewish faith held that thier God had been responsible for all these curses, and Lisa had to admit, the whole affair seemed rather grandscale for a few wizards. One never does know, Lisa thought to herself as they laid aside the Haggadahs.
Another prayer, they washed thier hands again, and then they ate. The dishes in the first course, Terry informed Lisa, each had a symbolic meaning, and many of them were new to her. She made a mental note to learn about them if she could. After the first course, conversations started, and this seemed a prime opportunity, Lisa thought, to announce the exact nature of her relationship with Terry, and she whispered this to him. He nodded, but said nothing, and the meal went by without him speaking again. Lisa was starting to think she'd have to tell Mrs. Boot herself right before she left, and then what would they think of them?
She watched as Terry's grandfather searched for the afikomen. Sure enough, it was gone. He looked from child to child thoughtfully. He took in Samuel Cowiven's guilty face, and said, "Sam."
"Very close," replied Sam, grinning.
"Hmmm," he frowned. "I'd say it was Ella, but she's a little old..."
"Well, I won't be competition next year," said Ella, who then held up the piece of bread.
He smiled. "Very well then. What do you want?"
"I want them," and she pointed to Terry and Lisa, "to kiss for me."
Terry and Lisa stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Ah, you spotted it too," said Mrs. Boot. She was smiling. "You may be Ravenclaws, but you two can't keep secrets well. I knew there was something going the minute I saw you both."
"And you're not upset?" asked Lisa nervously. "I mean, I'm not even Jewish-"
"I was upset for a moment or so," admitted Mrs. Boot. "None of us has married outside our circle before. But then I realized that marrying inside our circle would cause problems, because most of us are already related by blood, and marrying one's cousin is out of style these days. So we will have to marry outsiders. Am I right, papa?" she addressed Terry's grandfather.
He considered briefly, then nodded. "You are right. Whenever and whoever you wish to marry, young Terry, you have our blessing. Now, I believe you and Miss Torwhat-"
"Turpin, papa," corrected Mrs. Boot.
"You and Miss Turpin owe Ella a kiss."
So Terry and Lisa kissed, making sure to give everyone a clear view.
The rest of the evening whirled by, and before Lisa knew it, she was bidding Terry's family goodbye, and she and Terry were portkeying back to Beauxbatons, heading into the bus, and falling asleep.