Hayley was trying to study. She really was. It was just that it was so blasted hot in the library, and not to mention it was humid, dusty, and she was wearing a black robe to cap it all off. Looking up from her book (Allied Goshawk's guide to Transfigurations), she shot a glance at all of her counterparts.
Gabriel was in the process of turning a yellowed page, and heaved a gigantic sigh while doing so. Her blond hair had been done up in a very high ponytail, and the sleeves of her robe had been done up, but moisture dotted her brow, and she looked positively miserable.
Robert looked clear and cool as usual, as he leafed through the contents of a very thick volume on plants. Although he made no outward sign of complaint, his face had a glossy sheen to it, and his blue eyes looked dampened with the heat of the early April sun.
Sarah was another story all together. Her black hair had been done up in a messy bun, and she was looking at a pile of books through a pair of slitted gray eyes. The apples of her cheeks were red, a sure sign of the heat, and the fact that she was obviously getting aggravated in the first place. Sarah always seemed to be mad at something, though Hayley could never figure out what.
Toying with a stand of shiny copper hair, Hayley winced. She hoped that the short-tempered dark-haired girl would spare all of them the sharp edge of her tongue. If words were razors, Sarah would have cut them all to ribbons long ago. But Sarah's words seemed to be at bay for the moment, and Hayley sighed.
The sky out the small turret window was bluer than usual. If you could touch it, Hayley thought dreamily, it would probably be smooth and cool. She did so wish she could be outside right now, enjoying the weather, instead of taking notes on how to turn teakettles into turtles. Everyone evidently felt the same way, but didn't say anything, until Sarah did it for them. Slamming her books upon the table, she stood up.
"This is ridiculous," she proclaimed, striding over to the window. She sighed and looked out at the sky as a robin flitted by. "We can study later. This is the first day that's been perfect for a while. Let's go outside." Gabriel nodded, but Robert looked up from his books and shook his head.
"I've got a Herbology test tomorrow, and I need to study. You go on ahead." Hayley stood up, and smoothed out her robes.
"Come on, Robert. We've been studying for at least an hour. Don't tell me you don't want to go outside," she said in her most coaxing voice. Hayley noticed that Robert's eyes were migrating towards the window, and his 'baby blues' had a speck of whistfulness in them Gabriel saw this, and prodded forward.
"And if you don't, Sarah and I will find all of your precious tests and use them as fire kindling." Robert held all of his aced tests sacred to his heart, and this was an endless source of entertainment for the girls.
"Oh, all right. I could use a break anyway. But afterwards, we're coming right back." Hayley clapped her hands together. Although she wouldn't prod or whine, she was very glad that Gabriel and Sarah would do so for her.
After putting back the books and deserting the library (much to Madam Pierce's relief) the foursome found themselves walking around the perimeter of the castle, without much of an objective, just chitchatting and enjoying the sunshine. Then they saw a bright pink butterfly flying towards them. On cue, Robert, Hayley and Gabriel sneezed. The butterfly landed on Sarah's nose, and wavered its wings, sending a little gust at her eyelids. Sarah laughed.
"I think you're the only person that dratted insect likes, Sarah," Hayley said a tad irritably, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. Robert grunted.
"That's not accurate. It also likes that Draco person." The butterfly (who was named Sprite) jumped off of Sarah's nose, and flew a few feet, intending for the four to follow.
"Come on, you guys!" Sarah beckoned, grabbing her robes in a handful and running off after Sprite. Gabriel, always looking for a run, followed at a sprint. Robert groaned and followed at a jog. Feeling it was too hot to run, Hayley gave a long, suffering sigh and followed at a brisk pace.
They ended up at the Quidditch field. All four teams were there, as well as other people that were just in black robes.
"Must be tryouts," Gabriel speculated. Sarah's face lit up.
"I want to try out! Where's the Slytherin team?" Gabriel pointed to a group in the far left-hand side of the field, clad in hunter green outfits. Robert, ever the sensible one, sighed.
"Sarah, you don't even know how to ride a broomstick. I don't think that you'll be able to make a Quidditch team." Sarah snorted, and Hayley braced herself for a wave of anger.
"You think too logically, Robert. I'm going to try out, hell or high water." Hayley swallowed.
"But you could fall and hurt yourself! You could snap your neck! Try next year, when you know how to fly!" she begged. Gabriel shook her head.
"You guys are acting like wet blankets on a fire. Smothering. If Sarah wants to try out let her. And if she snaps her neck, we can sit there and laugh." Sarah rolled her eyes in the back of her head.
"Are you going to try out, Gabby?" Gabriel asserted herself, and thrust her chest out proudly.
"Yep." She thumped a fist to her chest and continued. "For the house of Gryffindor, I will try out!" Sarah groaned.
"See you then, Gryffindor!" Sarah strode off in the direction of the green suited people. Gabriel smiled at winked at Hayley and Robert before striding off towards the crimson crowd. Hayley looked at Robert.
"Aren't you going to try out?" Robert grinned and shook his head while stubbing a foot into the soft earth.
"Nah. I'm into academics, not athletics. I'll just let the warrior women to it. What about you?" Hayley shook her head vigorously.
"No. I hate competition. It's stupid to get worked up over a bunch of brooms and flying balls." Robert nodded, understandingly.
"Wanna continue the walk? We have no other business here." Hayley nodded, and the now twosome walked off.
# # #
"Hey, guys!" Draco and the rest of his team whipped around to see Sarah, and the butterfly Sprite barreling towards them. Sarah came to a screeching halt in front of Marcus Flint.
"What do you want?" asked Flint. Sarah looked up.
"To try out for your team," she said innocently. Flint's eyebrows went up, and he snorted with laughter. It was followed by the other people of the team, and then taken up by Pansy Parkenson, who was witnessing the entire thing. Sarah's cheeks burned with hurt pride.
"Look, girl," Flint said between tears of glee, "no girl has been on the Slytherin team in years..." Sarah, who was beginning to shake in fury, cut him off.
"With you idiots being so open-minded towards it, I'm surprised!" she screamed at him. Flint stopped laughing, and stood to tower over Sarah.
"You know I could probably knock the stuffing out of you, right?" Sarah, who was on an emotional rollercoaster at the moment, stood her ground and answered.
"Probably. But I'd give you a damn good run for your money before you did it." Flint raised his eyebrows.
"Really?" he asked, voice dripping with false interest. Sarah bristled, but still kept on looking Flint in the eye.
"The strongest of the weak will always overcome the weakest of the strong," Sarah quoted angrily. Flint nodded.
"You've got spunk, Slytherin, I like that. All right. I'll humor you. I trust you know how to fly?" Sarah really didn't, but she couldn't hold her tongue.
"Probably better than you can," she snapped. Flint's eyes twinkled with something like mean amusement. Draco smacked himself over the head. He knew for a fact that Sarah couldn't fly, but he wasn't going to say anything. For the fact that he wasn't going to hurt her pride any worse, and also that she would probably knock the living daylights out of him if he dared interfere. Flint handed her a broom.
"All right, then. Let's see this great 'talent' of yours, Slytherin." Sarah gripped the broom, and had no idea what to do. So, she straddled it, and leapt into the air.
The magic of the broom caught her weight, and she was floating about three feet off the ground. In her mind, Sarah sighed with relief. At least she wouldn't make a total idiot out of herself yet. Flint's eyes glittered his amusement, and he handed Sarah a short club.
"The position that is open is Beater. You basically..."
"I'm not a moron, Flint. I know what a Beater does. I wasn't born yesterday, you know." With a slight jerk, Sarah snatched the club from his fingers, and darted up into the air. Flint released one of the bludgers, and it came towards Sarah. Summoning all of her anger, Sarah watched it approach.
"I'll show them that girls don't play Quidditch..." she said to make herself angrier. The ball came closer and closer. Switching the club to her left hand, her stronger hand, she swung.
The crack that occurred when the ball hit the club was deafening.
The black ball flew about forty yards away, and then came back. Sarah struck it again, and it flew farther. It came back again, and Sarah did a barrel roll to avoid it. When it came back again, Sarah whipped out her snake wand.
"Amortist!" A green strand flew out of the snake's mouth and enveloped the ball. The ball was frozen in place, and Sarah grabbed it with one hand and flew down.
The entire Slytherin team gawked. Sarah avoided all of their stares and went over to Flint, whose jaw was hanging wide open.
"I believe that this is yours," Sarah said, handing him the black ball. Flint's hands dwarfed the ball as he grabbed it. He swallowed, and spoke.
"Practices start next week, from 3:30 until 5:00. We'll have to get you your own broom and outfits as soon as possible."
Sarah's ego swelled.
# # #
The Gryffindors accepted Gabriel's want to try out better than the Slytherin team did, mostly for the sake that all of the Chasers were girls also. Since last year, the Captain and Goalkeeper, Oliver Wood had left; Gabriel was trying up against Seamus Finnigan for the position of Goalkeeper.
"Bank to your left!" was the cry from Fred Weasley. Gabriel gave the broom a slight jerk to the left. You needed reflexes to be a good Goalkeeper. Seamus may have had better knowledge of the broom than Gabriel did, but after two years of outwitting the police and running about, Gabriel had better reflexes.
"Right!" George called, and hurled the Quaffel to Gabriel's left. Cursing, she drug the broom out of its rightward course and towards the left. Flinging her arms off the handle of her broom, she stretched all the way out and gripped the red ball with the tips of her fingers, and quickly cradled it to her chest.
"Left!" Fred called, and hurled the ball to Seamus's right. He flung himself over to the right, but the ball slipped through his fingers. Gabriel smiled.
"That's one up for me," she said quietly. Fred turned back to Gabriel
"Left!" Thinking that she had him figured out, Gabriel prepared to go to the right, but he surprised her by chucking it to her left.
"For the love of crumb cake!" Gabriel cried while lunging for the ball. She caught it, but barely. Seamus raised an eyebrow.
"The love of crumb cake?" George surprised him by tossing the ball at his head, and Seamus staggered and gripped his broom as it bounced off his cranium.
"Pay attention, Goalie!" George cried. Gabriel giggled, and Katie Bell motioned them down. Gabriel was sorry to leave the air, but angled the broom into a nosedive, and jumped off it. Katie had been checking stuff off on a checklist, and when Gabriel, Seamus, Fred and George landed, she put her quill behind her ear.
"After much decision making," Gabriel scratched one of her legs with her other foot. She wished that Katie would just tell them already. "We have decided on Gabriel Gryffindor as our Goalkeeper for this year." Gabriel squealed with joy and jumped, punching the air with a triumphant fist. She remembered her manners and congratulated Seamus, but then went on celebrating. Sarah came up.
"I take it you made the team?" Draco came up behind her, and Harry, Ron and Hermione's brows furrowed. Gabriel hopped in the air excitedly.
"Yep! I'm the goalie. What about you?" Sarah was sick of watching Gabriel jump up and down like a kangaroo, so she started jumping also.
"Uh-huh. I'm a Beater." Gabriel stopped jumping, so did Sarah. Gabriel offered an arm to Sarah.
"Congrats, Yankee girl. Shall we frolic down the lane of fluffy marshmallow clouds and chocolate bunnies?" Sarah giggled and took her arm.
"Yes, ya bleatin Brit," she said with a bad English accent. Gabriel rolled her eyes and started skipping off, with Sarah in suit. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco stared after them.
You know," Ron said thoughtfully, "I think that Gabriel is missing the entire point of Gryffindor - Slytherin rivalry, if she hangs out with that Sarah chick all the time." Sprite flitted by, making Hermione, Ron and Harry sneeze. Ron cursed as he wiped his eyes on his robe.
"I hate that stupid thing!" he cried. Draco smiled as Sprite landed on his shoulder.
"Well, Weasley, maybe Sprite hates you." Harry snorted with laughter into his red Quidditch robe.
"Sprite? What kind of name is that?" Sprite flicked its wings angrily, and Harry went into another bout of sneezing.
After that, there was no more discussions about Sprite's name.
# # #
Hayley and Robert were enjoying a peaceful walk around the lake, watching the Giant Squid wave it's tentacles about in the sunshine. Robert looked at his watch.
"Where are the other two at? It's almost time for the next class." Hayley shrugged and watched a fluffy white cloud drift by in the sky.
"I suppose still at the Quidditch field....Oh wait. Here they are." Robert squinted and saw Sarah and Gabriel, with interlocked forearms and skipping gaily through the grass. Robert raised his red eyebrows.
"I guess that means that the results of that experience was positive?" Hayley just stared. Finally the other two girls came to a skipping halt in front of Robert and Hayley.
"We made the Quidditch teams!" they cried at the same time. Robert smiled and was about to say something, but then, a gray castle with a black background passed over his eyes for a flicker of time. The other three must have seen it two, because Sarah and Gabriel stopped smiling, and Hayley's lip trembled for a moment. Gabriel looked up.
"Did you guys-"
A bell rang, and in the scampering of trying to get back to the school on time, the conversation that would have taken place, was forgotten.
# # #
Robert and Alex sprinted up the fifth out of seven flights of stairs to Professor Trelawney's turret classroom. Robert didn't particularly like this class, in fact, he loathed it, but as he had had no say in his class schedule (he had come in late and all of the good classes had been taken), he had no choice in the matter. Gripping the handrail firmly, Robert forced his burning muscles to carry him up the last flight of stairs.
"We're...almost...there..." panted Alex, dragging his bookbag behind him. Finally, they vaulted up onto the landing, and collapsed for a moment. Summoning all of his strength, Robert leapt up and grabbed the knotted, golden rope that opened the door to Professor Trelawney's domain. The silvery rope ladder appeared, and the twosome scampered up the magical ladder.
The entire class turned to stare at them as they flung themselves up onto the wooden floor. Robert's ears turned pinker than they already were when their classmates stared, but then was swamped by the thick, smoky, tea-laced, sickly-sweet scent that always hung in the room like an invisible cloud. Robert felt himself becoming nauseated.
Alex dragged him off to a dark blue pouf that was swathed in some oriental-looking fabric. Just as Robert sank into it, Professor Trelawney made her usual dramatic entrance.
"Today," she said in her misty, far-off voice, "we will be working with the material objects from the divine realms; Tarot cards." Robert let his head hit his fist. This class was so stupid.
Professor Trelawney passed out a black velvet box to each pair of students, Robert and Alex getting one that was particularly dusty.
"Use the books inside to find what the cards mean to you," she said dreamily. "And remember my children, to open your eyes past the logic of your worlds, and See!" Considering how Robert was all logic, he found this very funny indeed. Alex picked up the box and blew off a layer of dirt.
"You're going first," he ordered. Robert opened his mouth to protest, but Alex cut him off. "Nuh-uh. I was the one that had the palm reading last week, and that was enough for me." Robert smiled and thought of the day when Trelawney called Alex up in front of the class to read his palm. Poor Alex was totally humiliated when she told the entire class about his secret crush on Allison Mayor. Of course, he denied the whole thing. Robert decided to humor him.
"Oh, all right," he agreed sullenly. Alex grinned and handed him the deck of cards, which were backed with black, and had intricate golden designs on them. They reeked with age and shimmered with pale magic. Alex picked up the book and started reading the 'How to' section.
"Err, to find your inner spirit, no, what the? Ummm, okay, here it is. Shuffle the cards from your right hand to your left, thinking of your question - I guess you have to have a question - as you do so." Robert looked at the cards and started to shuffle them. His mind sorted through multiple questions, before the castle flashed before his vision again.
All right, then, Tarot cards, Robert thought. If you're so great and future predicting tell me what the heck this castle is. Robert finished shuffling the cards.
Alex took them, and started laying them all out on the small coffee table in front of them. They were perfectly square cards, divided into fours at the corners, like wedges of pie. Each pie-shaped wedge had half of a picture on it. When all of the cards were lain out, Alex picked up the book again.
"All right now. When all the cards are lain out, make pictures out of them by swiveling them around, and fitting the matching pieces together like pieces to a puzzle. You may connect the pieces together in any way, but you may not move any cards. Okay then." Alex and Robert started matching the pie-shaped wedges together to make diamond-shaped pictures. When they were done, Robert had three pictures out of the whole lot. A ship, a shimmering cloud of rainbow colors, and what appeared to be a dark shadow looming out over an ever darker backdrop. Alex looked at the ship first.
"Lesse here...Um, card pair number 22....Position three...Here we go. It's the Quest card." Robert looked at the intricately painted ship, which was thrashing about on some violent waves. Alex cleared his throat and began to read.
"A Quest is seeking the physical manifestation of your goal. It is a card of journey in life. A True Quest brings purpose to ones life, it will lead you outward from the known and mundane, and into the Naguel, or the unknown. On this Quest there will be challenges to overcome and obstacles to hamper your process. The True Quest itself will teach you how to conquer these challenges.
"This card signals the onset of a journey or a trip. Look to the other cards in the spread for clarification. They might point to the direction of the path that you will travel, or might point to someone monumental along the way.
"When you pull this card it is a signal to get your bearings and think about where you are in the relationship to where you want to be. It tells of a time of changes or a journey. Keep an open mind. New adventures await you." Alex looked over the edge of the book and smirked.
"What a load of crack. Well, onto the next one. Card pair number 14.." he pointed towards the card with the shadowy figure on it, and leafed through the contents of the book. While he did so, Robert swallowed. A Quest? What did that have to do with the dark castle? Alex interrupted his thoughts.
"Ick. You're not going to like this one Robert: Death." Robert swallowed, and felt the hair on his arms prickle. Alex cleared his throat and read on.
"Death is Life. The end of one this is always the beginning of another. Winter dies and becomes Spring. Death is part of the eternal cycle. Without any Death, there could be no Life.
"To truly understand your Life, you must understand your Death. Death is our only true advisor and out greatest teacher. It teaches that our body is only the vehicle of our consciousness, that we are both mortal and immortal.
"Understanding this card in a spread depends on the spread, the cards, and the question you present to the deck itself. Look to the surrounding symbols to provide the answers you seek. This card always indicates a change - but on what scale depends on the card itself." Robert felt frozen, sick and pale. Alex must have noticed, because he looked concerned.
"Robert? Are you okay? You're not taking this seriously, are you? It's just Tarot cards. What question did you ask?" Feeling suddenly cold and empty, Robert shook his head.
"I'm fine." His voice sounded distant, like Professor Trelawney often did. "Please continue." Hands shaking, Alex turned to find the meaning of the last card in Robert's spread.
"Err, position four, card pair 48....Gift of Magic." Robert blinked in confusion. A Gift of Magic? Alex cleared his throat wearily.
"Anything you perceive as a Magical Gift is one. Whatever gives you hope, courage, inspiration, or insenentive is a gift from the Spirit. A Magical Gift is something that arrives in the nick of time, when you need it most. It can be a helping hand at just the right moment, or a clue to solve your mystery.
"Magical Gifts are often received on a Quest. Should the Quest card appear in this same spread, it may be a signal that a Magical gift is forthcoming. When it appears, be assured that the path you take is the correct one. Remember to show proper thanks to the Spirit if this is the case.
"This card tells you to be open to the Spirit. The aid you need is out there; the boon you need on your journey is waiting for you. This card tells you to take heart. Things will work out, and there is no time like the present. Relax and be confident. If the path you are on is right for you, the door to success is open." Alex was shaking visibly when he put the book down. Robert had gone very pale and ghostly looking. Cold sweat dotted his forehead, and he appeared frozen and statue-like.
"Robert?" he asked nervously. Robert didn't answer. He was too deep within his own thoughts to hear. A Quest, with Death and a Gift of Magic? What did this mean? What did this have to do with the castle he kept on seeing? Why couldn't the Tarot cards be more concrete? Why couldn't they have follow up sources?
"I wish this subject wasn't so damn foggy," he whispered. Noticing that Alex looked scared, he smiled.
"Don't worry about it, Alex. This stuff is all stupid and fake anyhow. Let's do you now." Robert rolled his eyes in the back of his head. Alex bit on the fake, and smiled with relief.
"I'm going to ask if Allison Mayor and I are going to get together!" Robert laughed along with him, but the castle was still in his mind, along with the ominous warning the Tarot cards seemed to be giving him.
# # #
While Tarot cards were transfixing Robert up in the Divination tower, Gabriel and Sarah were having a perfectly normal day down in the Potions dungeon. Gabriel was adding more black beetle legs to her Parchment-strengthening Potion, when a messenger came in, with about five slips of parchment in his right hand.
"Yes?" snapped Snape. The young boy swallowed, and held out the parchment.
"These," the boy gasped, "are from Professor Dumbledore, sir. They are the Quidditch schedules for this year." Snape took the rolls of parchment and nodded. The boy left.
Gabriel stopped counting unicorn hairs to look at the schedule, to see when the first game was. Gabriel dropped her stirrer on the ground in surprise. There, a week from today, in glossy maroon writing, were the words: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, 4:15. Gabriel stared. The biggest rivalry of the school, her first game! She caught Sarah's eyes, and they said the same thing. Sarah looked down at her schedule, which was in a shiny hunter green. Another thought crept into her mind: What if she had to hit a bludger at Gabriel? She had a strong arm, everybody said so, and she didn't want to hurt Gabriel, but she didn't want to be looked upon as a traitor by her fellow Slytherins. Draco jogged her arm with his elbow.
"Our first game! You can show Potter and his little friends that arm of yours, Sarah!" Sarah swallowed.
"Smashing," she said back to him. "And if I club someone's head in, it'll really be smashing." Sprite flitted off of Draco's shoulder, and landed in Sarah's tangle of black hair. Draco looked up from his potion.
"We'll have to get you a proper broom....My father can take care of that," he babbled on excitedly. Sarah looked at Gabriel, who was throwing unicorn hairs into her frothing potion.
"What about Gabriel? She doesn't have a broom either." Draco shrugged and started to stir his thick potion.
"The Gryffindors can scrape together funds for her own broom. That's not our problem." Sarah bit her lip, at a loss of words for once. First it was being transported here, then Gabriel, Hayley and Robert, and then the classes themselves, now it was Quidditch rivalry, and the mysterious gray castle that she kept on seeing. Sarah sighed and threw in some shimmering bahera powder into the bubbling mess of her potion. She watched the glistening particles float and dance around in the air before falling into the potion.
Would life ever be simple again?
Author's note: Well, we're getting somewhere? Did you like the Tarot reading? It's actually a real reading from a real book. Well, yes, *next* chapter, you will find out what the castle is, and you will get the details on the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. I *would* have done it this chapter, but, it was getting *way* too long as it was. Pay attention to your Tarot cards, people! Heh heh heh...
~Moxie ^_^
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I didn't make up the Tarot card set that I got Robert's reading from, I got Sarah's quote (The strongest of the weak with triumph over the weakest of the strong) from some other fanfic (not on this site!) and well, I don't own much, actually -_-....
But, however, I do own Sarah, Hayley, Robert and Gabriel, I own Alex, Essex, Alanya, and Rosemary, (I know they weren't mentioned much in this chapter, but, they will come into play later on, be patient!) I also own Sprite.
Please, *please* *please* *PLEASE* review! I need to know what you think! Suggestions are wonderful! In fact, I owe part of the plot to the next chapter to Sierra, (Luv ya, sweetie! ((you know what I mean by that, you weird people out there.))) If you have any suggestions or ideas on how the next part should go, by all means, send them to me! They will be regarded, (and probably used, as long as they don't get in the way of the plot of the storyline I have already.) I will also give you credit for the idea, if you so desire. ^_^