Chapter 14- Gifts and Questions Answered
On Christmas morning, Lily took her time waking up. Two weeks ago, Hermione had passed out a paper to sign if anyone was staying at Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays. Lily, Becky, and Doug had signed up immediately- none of them were in a great hurry rush home. Becky's reason was that she was already home, which Lily supposed went for her, too. She felt more at home at Hogwarts than she ever had at the Dursleys. Doug's reason, probably, was because he didn't seem to like his mom that much.
Lily slowly opened her eyes and looked around, where newly fallen snow had layered itself on the windowsill in the girls' dormitory, and hers was the only bed occupied in the room. She sighed and sat up. Becky was with her father, and Doug was the only other Gryffindor in the Gryffindor house. She struggled out of bed, looking forward to the Christmas feast later that day. Becky and the others had raved about it to her for the past month.
As she walked to get some clothes out of her trunk, she hit her shin against something. She jumped back and fell onto her bed, rubbing the sore spot. Cautiously, she looked at the culprit, and was to find that it was culprits- with an "S." There was a pile of boxes at the foot of her bed on her trunk. There were more presents here for her than she had ever seen in her life!
She picked up the first and looked at it. The tag read "To: Lily From: Becky." It had been wrapped in The Daily Prophet newspaper, and she could see a bit of people and things moving in the pictures. She unwrapped it hurriedly, yet careful not to tear the paper. She realized with a start that she had become one of those people who cherished every memory.
She looked at what fell out. A SpinMaster 05. She creased her brows and looked at it curiously.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" someone behind her shouted. Lily turned and saw Becky in the doorway, with a sleepy-looking Doug behind her, rubbing his eyes and dragging behind him his blanket and pillow. He shoved past Becky and stumbled over to Lily's bed.
"'Ry Christmas," he said as he started to go back to sleep on her bed.
"Same to you, Bright Eyes," Lily retorted.
Doug sighed as he managed to sit up. He pointed at Becky, irritated. "Her fault," he explained. "She woke me up just so we could come in here and watch you open presents."
"Well, gee," Becky said sarcastically. "I'm sorry for being nice. Go on, Lily. What did you get?"
Lily held up Becky's gift to her. "What is this?" she asked.
Becky took it from her, a childish delight shining in her eyes. "It's a SpinMaster- 05 version. See, watch this." She set it on the floor and pulled a string. They watched as the SpinMaster began to spin, gaining speed as it went. It started to float into the air before it slowed down and fell to the ground. Becky shrugged. "I've never been much good with these things. Supposedly, if you do it right, it'll float up into the air. You're supposed to compete and see who can keep theirs in the air the longest. I've heard they can stay up in the air as long as an hour. So I've heard," she repeated, disgusted with how high and how long hers had stayed in the air.
"What did you get?" Lily asked.
"Stop trying to change the subject and open the others," Becky ordered.
Lily opened Doug's next. "It isn't much," Doug said with a shrug. "Just something from the muggle world. Lily ripped off the paper- yet still keeping it relatively in tact. In front of her was a copy of Sports Illustrated.
Until then, Lily hadn't realized how much she had missed the muggle world. But seeing the man on the cover playing football, she immediately changed her mind and thanked Doug until Becky rudely told her to stop and open the rest of the presents. It seemed that here, on Christmas morning, things were much as they were back with the Dursleys, except without Shelton and Pernella opening their gifts and tossing them away just as quickly.
Hermione had given her an astrology kit. If the others set it up right, Lily might never have another astrology lesson ever again- if she could talk Professor Nadim into letting her off the hook.
Ron had given her cherry bombs to throw at his nephews if Lily felt they needed it.
Neville had given her candy- Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, to be exact. They were pretty good until Doug found a mothball-flavored one.
Hagrid had given her a book about dragons and a bunch of other magical creatures.
"Open this one," Becky prodded her when Lily started to look at the pictures.
She obeyed.
This one was from Harry, and the second she undid the strings- which she thought was merely part of the wrapping, and not the wrapping itself- a puddle of water slid across her lap and lay on the floor. Lily, slightly confused, picked the "puddle" up.
"It's an Invisibility Cloak," Becky explained, both confused and excited. "Hurry and put it on- it's supposed to make you invisible. So I've heard, at least."
Lily grinned and found the opening. She slipped it over her head. Becky gasped. Doug, who had fallen asleep again, mumbled again and opened his eyes a bit. He saw Lily and shouted before falling off the bed, waving his arms wildly.
"DOUG! CALM DOWN!" Becky shouted at him. "It's JUST an Invisibility Cloak!"
"It's just her HEAD floating in midair!" he retorted, trying unsuccessfully to calm down.
Lily grinned and went over to the mirror, wondering if she was really invisible. She looked at her head, seemingly floating in midair- just as Doug had said- and gasped. She couldn't see anything below her neck. She looked down at herself and turned from the mirror, possibly thinking that her reflection was tricking her. Just to prove its innocence, the reflection of Lily stuck its tongue out at her as soon as she had turned around.
Lily looked down at the floor. Slowly, she reached to touch the floor with an invisible hand- only to hit something. She stood up slowly. She'd never seen magic like this, and she had never dreamed of becoming invisible.
"Try the hood on," Becky urged.
Lily obeyed and slipped the hood over her head as she turned. As she turned back to the mirror, her reflection immediately pulled its tongue back in and turned with her, slightly pouting. Lily finished pulling the hood over her head. Now she was completely invisible- she could see right past herself and see where Becky and Doug were goggling at the mirror.
Girl! Brownie's voice called. Take that thing off this instant and come here. You're acting like a robin, you know. Always trying to get what you can't have!
Lily sighed and took off the Cloak, explaining to Doug and Becky about Brownie as she folded it up.
They nodded, completely understanding.
Lily sat on her bed and placed her hand on her bedside table so Brownie could climb on. The spider did so quickly.
Merry Christmas, she said grumpily.
"Merry Christmas to you, too," Lily said in English so Becky and Doug could understand as well. She repeated it in Areanatu.
Don't repeat yourself, girl, Brownie said grouchily. I can understand English just as well as you can.
Although Lily doubted that greatly, she kept it to herself. Instead she asked politely, "How are you?"
What? Brownie asked.
Lily sighed and looked to Becky and Doug. They looked at each other and then left the room, apparently thinking the conversation was private. Lily hadn't meant to chase them off, but they wouldn't be able to understand the conversation anyway, so it was probably for the best.
How are you? Lily repeated in Areanatu.
Fine, thank you.
Lily's brow creased. Before she could help herself, she whispered, Manners? From you?
Yes, girl, Brownie said as she waved her arms menacingly at Lily. What? Did you think that I was rude? Lily stuttered as she tried to find a suitable yet still honest answer. Brownie finally sighed. That woman Hermione has been talking about manners in Harry's office. I knew I would pay for eavesdropping! Human manners seep in for me after being around you for so long!
What's that supposed to mean? Lily asked.
Brownie sighed again. That's what your Christmas gift is, actually. I told you about the Webs, correct?
Lily nodded.
Well, a long time ago, a spell was recorded. You know how those grown humans you spend so much time with can turn into animals of choice? Well, with this spell, you will be able to turn into a spider. After all, you do speak Areanatu.
Do I have to pick a certain word? Lily asked. If she had to pick a certain word which she could only pick to turn into a spider, she didn't know which one she would choose. It would have to be one she would only speak to turn into a spider, so it couldn't be one which she would say often...
Brownie laughed. No. You turn into a spider merely by wanting to be a spider. You turn back into a human by wanting to be a human.
Lily thanked Brownie emphatically. Imagine! She could actually turn into a spider just by simply wanting to! Then an embarrassing thought occurred to her, and she felt herself blush crimson.
When I change back, Lily asked,will I still have clothes?
Brownie laughed. A short distance away, Lily could hear spiders nearby also laughing. Why do you care? Brownie asked. I don't know why humans even wear those things!
Lily's face drained of its color in the time it took for a street magician to flick his or her wrist.
Brownie stopped laughing and looked up at her. Yes, girl. You will have those useless webs wrapped around you when you turn into a human again.
Lily thanked her again. You never told me what you wanted for Christmas, she pointed out.
Brownie turned around and marched off her hand, heading for the crack in the wall. Spiders have all they need, she said as she disappeared into depths of Hogwarts.
Someone knocked on the door softly.
"It's all right," Lily said. "Come in."
The door opened and Becky stuck her head through. "Time for food," she said with a grin. "Interested?"
Lily nodded emphatically and raced after Becky and Doug as they ran for the Great Hall.
She was surprised at how many people had stayed from other houses. Twelve were in Ravenclaw, six in Hufflepuff, and five in Slytherin, James being among them. All the teachers had stayed and were sitting in their usual seats at their table, but these weren't the teachers Lily usually saw in all her classes or on the grounds. They were all... happy. Jovial, even. Lily watched as Hagrid pulled a bottle of eggnog out of his pocket and took a deep sip. Hermione saw him and tried to snatch it away, laughing.
The other kids at other tables were eating like machines, stuffing as much as they could into their mouths. Lily saw the food appear on their plates and wasn't in the least surprised. It looked delicious. She grabbed a piece of roasted turkey and dug into it. Halfway through, she slowed down. The food did taste good, but it didn't taste good enough to make her or Becky and Doug eat the way the others were. Soup had eaten like that, and now he was in the infirmary-
It finally dawned on Lily. She got up and ran to the teachers' table.
Hermione and Hagrid stopped fighting over the eggnog and looked up at her.
"What is it, Lily?" Hermione asked.
"It's the Twick, Hermione," Lily said breathlessly.
"The Twick?" the older woman repeated.
Lily took a hurried frustrated sigh and explained how everyone called it the Twick because Soup had always gone around saying, "Twick or Tweat"- and the mysterious illness most certainly hadn't been a treat. Then she explained how everyone was eating just like they had on Halloween.
By the time she was through, all the teachers were listening.
Immediately, Harry started giving orders. Lily, however, was forced to miss the action when Harry told her to go with Becky and Doug back to the Gryffindor House. Lily gave another frustrated sigh and spun on her heels, slightly angry that she wouldn't be able to do more. She risked a look at the Slytherin table and saw James sipping sparkling white grape juice, unconcerned with everything going on around him.
Lily pursed her lips together and went to the Gryffindor common room with Becky and Doug.
* * *
"Hermione," Harry instructed, "you get some other teachers and round up all the kids who are eating like that. Hagrid, Neville, you two search the grounds- see if anyone's about. Malfoy, you go tell Madam Pomfrey. Ron and I and some other teachers will start the freezing spells in the infirmary. We'll have to get the spells first, but we'll meet you there."
"Harry," Hermione interrupted softly.
"Yes?"
"These are all half-bloods."
"So?"
"We'll have nearly less than a third of the school left. Especially if this happens again while the rest of the school is here. We need to find a cure."
"We'll work on it, Hermione. But right now, these kids need to get to the infirmary."
Ron cleared his throat as he rubbed his wand. "I don't know about you guys, but I think maybe it might be dangerous to let the kids come back after Christmas holidays."
Harry didn't say anything. He simply led the teachers to his office for the spell.
* * *
Lily threw off her sweater in the common room.
"There goes another group of kids to the infirmary," Doug said slowly.
"We need to do something!" Lily shouted, nearly in hysterics.
"We need a plan," Becky reminded her.
"I'm working on it," Lily said. "I know how to get to the library without being noticed, but it would take forever. Even longer to find the right book." She explained about Brownie's gift.
When she was done, Becky laughed. The laugh hinted that she had already lost hope about finding a cure. "If you got another gift like that one," Becky told her, "we'd be in business."
"That's it!" Lily shouted joyfully.
Becky and Doug looked at her.
"Don't you see? I wasn't done opening the presents!"
"How many presents did you get?" Doug asked as Lily raced up the stairs.
Lily's laugh floated back down to them. "A lot."
Before Becky and Doug could climb the stairs, Lily came back down, waving a sheet of parchment. "Look at this!" she shouted at them.
"What is it?" Becky asked as Lily smoothed the parchment on the table.
"It's a map. And watch this." She took out her wand and gave the map a quick tap, thinking of the spiders. Immediately, the map was zoomed into by the trio, who could suddenly see all the pipes and cracks a spider might use to get around Hogwarts.
Lily traced a path with her wand. It went from the Gryffindor House to the library.
"The teachers are all busy now," she said slowly. "The ghosts probably are, too. Which means that no one will hear the books scream- if we're lucky."
"You're forgetting something," Doug pointed out.
"What?"
"We can't turn into spiders."
Becky nodded in agreement.
Lily looked up at them. Then we can't do this, can we? I mean, they'll see us unless we're really small. Not all the ghosts are in the infirmary, I'll bet. Like I said, only if we're lucky..."
"So? Go on without us," Becky urged. "We don't mind. After all, the cure is more important."
"Are you guys sure?" Lily asked slowly. She didn't want to leave them behind, but they did have a point. She studied their faces as they nodded. They seemed to really think that she should go alone. She nodded to herself. "I'll wear my Invisibility Cloak. That way, when I'm human again, no one will be able to see me."
She went and got the Cloak, pulled on the hood. She closed her eyes and thought about spiders.
Suddenly, her eyes were wide open. She was looking up at Becky and Doug from the floor. She marveled at how much they looked like giants from down here. They were larger than three Hagrids! And if she saw Hagrid from this height... Her head spun just thinking about it.
Becky got down on hands and knees and stuck her nose in Lily's face. "Oh, there you are," she said amiably.
"That was cool," Doug said, looking at Lily in a small, slight state of shock.
Lily, who had memorized the map, crawled under the floor boards and started her way to the library.
It didn't take her nearly as long as she had thought it would. Within no time at all, she was staring up at miles of books and tables all around her. Quickly, Lily looked for Madam Pince. Not seeing her, she used the spider's sense of vibrations. No one was here. Juding from the faint vibrations, they were at least two floors away. She thought about being a human and suddenly found herself looking at the books in front of her from a normal height.
Immediately, Lily missed the feeling of being a spider. The certainty, the movements of the legs, being able to see in all directions at once. "Hearing" vibrations.
Lily sighed and walked to the Restricted Section, intent on looking back on being a spider later and getting the job done quickly.
She looked at the rows of books and finally pulled out a faded red book with a rubbed-away gold "V" at one end.
"Please don't scream," she asked quietly.
She pulled the book open, her eyes squeezed shut. Hearing nothing, she opened her eyes and looked at the book. Instantly, the book chuckled in the low voice from her dream- the voice that had killed her mother and tried to kill her father. She dropped the book and fell, scrabbling away from it as quickly as she could. Blocked against the wall, she stopped and stared at the book, which had closed itself. She breathed deeply.
"You'll never be able to help anybody if you don't find out about the cause," she told herself crossly. "Now stop sitting here like a coward and do something!"
Taking another dep breath, she crept towards the book and quickly opened it, hastily crawling backwards as she did so. She didn't hear any more laughing. Cautiously, she crawled back to the book and looked at the first page. She started to read.
A few hours later, Lily's eyes came back into focus, and she closed the book, feeling- no, knowing- that she now had the information she needed.
She put the book back in its place and walked out of the Restricted Section. She changed into a spider and went back to the Gryffindor Common room, briefly wondering if anyone would be angry that a Hogwarts first-year had found the cure for the Twick.