Chapter 22
The Left Forearm
In contrast to her nerves about the O.W.L.'s Shayna was more then confident in her exams. There was no problem with proving what she'd learned this year, but over all the years was spooky. As a first, second, and third year she had a tendency to goof off in class, or just not take notes. This was really hurting her now that she was old enough to understand it. "You'll do fine" Warren assured her "From what I've seen you're a pretty capable witch" he added with a wink "I suggest you go to the third task and just forget about it. You know lack of fun is the leading cause of death in Hogwarts students."
"Oh that reminds me, do you wanna come and watch?" Shayna offered He walked over to a calendar and pointed to the full moon symbol on the 24th. "Sorry"
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As she had expected her exams went well, with the exception of Herbology as usual. The O.W.L.'s were only a week away now, but she was taking Warren's advise in forgetting them for tonight. Shayna was in her dorm with all the girls getting ready to go down to the Quidditch field. "Hurry girls!" Amber insisted "We have to get good seats for this one." She, of course, had been ready for nearly 20 minuets.
"We really should be studying tonight." Alana said
"You know" Shayna said warningly as she clasped her cloak "Lack of fun is the number one cause of death in Hogwarts students.
The Slytherin girls were toward the front of the throng of students heading down the darkened hill. With the help of Michelle and her friends, and Josh and Brad (who still had trouble making eye contact with Shayna) they filled the third row of the stands. Energy was running high again, lifting Shayna's spirits with them. It was one of those moments when you just sit back and think "God I love this school!"
The Weasley twins strolled up the row to Amber and Jes who, much to their dislike, were sitting by each other. "Care to place a bet goblin face?" Fred grinned "Kiss a where-wolf boys" she said with pursed lips "I'll place a bet!" Shayna called from the other side of Jes "One galleon on Potter."
Fred and George raised their identical eye brows at the exact same time, causing Michelle and her friends to go into a fit of laughter at the other end of the row. "Riddle, you do know Harry's a Gryfindor ... right?" George stammered "You gonna let me place the bet or not boys?" The twins shrugged and Shayna handed them a golden galleon.
"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the third and final task of the Tri-Wizarding Tournament" the voice of Ludo Bagman boomed over the conversations "The cup has been placed in the center of the maze you see before you. The champions will be entering at different times according to the points. Tied for first place we have Mr. Potter and Mr. Diggaroy, both of Hogwarts, they will be starting us out."
A whistle sounded and a black billboard appeared with a map of the maze drawn out in white. A red dot symbolized Potter and a yellow was Cedric, Shayna watched as the two dots grew farther and farther apart. "So" Jes screamed into Shayna's ear. It was necessary to scream or you couldn't be heard, such was the noise level in the stands. "You really think Potter's got a chance?"
Shayna had an image in her mind of Harry flanked by Cedric and Vicktor Krum. He was at least a head shorter then both of them and he looked comically skinny. She laughed to herself though no one seemed to see what she was seeing. "It was more of a bet of encouragement." she explained
"Can't see how the two of you became friends." Josh called "Not like you got anything in common. And besides he's such a dork, famous Harry Potter." "Leave him alone, he hates that he's famous." Shayna defended
"Mr. Krum of Durmstrang is entering the maze" Ludo Bagman informed them As he did so a white dot appeared on the map overhead. Amber roared with approval for Krum. "He is so gonna win this one!" she cried "Not according to Shayna" Selphie smiled
"Miss Delcour of Beauxbaton is entering the maze" and a pink dot appeared "Guys, I think Potter's a good guy, get over it!" Shayna threw her arms up There was just no explaining it to them.
No one was sure how much time had passed, the pink dot had gone down first, followed by the black. It looked like there was just no beating Hogwarts, and Shayna felt a great swell of pity for the fools who though to beat them. "What the heck are they doing!" Jes cried Shayna's attention returned to the map, the red and yellow dots were walking side by side to the cup. And then just as they had reached it, they were gone. They had both disappeared.
"What happened?"
"Is the board broken?"
"Where's they go?"
Shayna doubted it was the board, she had a sick nervous feeling her stomach. But she was being stupid, couldn't have just disappeared, could they? Amber was standing on her seat craning her neck over the crowds of confused people. Chaos loved this moment, the people behind Shayna were speaking in some other language, French maybe. The roar was numbing Shayna and she suddenly felt as though she was having a strange dream, and nothing she could do would wake her. The twitch in her arm returned, she ignored it. "Dumbledore and McGonnal are going into the maze." Amber said "So they don't even ... AHHHHH!"
Just as Amber screamed Shayna did as well, her arm seized with a cold pain. She grabbed her arm tightly, hoping the pressure would help. Amber slipped from the chair and landed on the ground.
"What's wrong you guys?" Selphie asked, her olive skin gone pale
"It's my arm" Amber whined extending her left arm
"Me too" Shayna nodded
"Well" Josh said pulling back Amber's sleeve "let's have a look." As he did this Shayna pulled back her own, and there it was clear as day, glowing red then subsiding into black. A skull with a snake coming from its mouth. "The dark mark" Josh said obviously impressed
There was a tugging at Shayna's robes that kept Shayna from thinking about what this could mean. It was one of the first years, Nikki if she wasn't mistaken. "It's Michelle" she said timidly "She's hurt or something, she can't get up, and she's twitching." Moving through the chaos that was so thick she was too sure where she was, Shayna followed Nikki down the row.
At the very end there was a tight semi-circle of shrieking first years. "Michelle what's wrong ... Michelle!" one of them cried tears of fear spilling over Shayna pushed her aside hastily. Little Michelle was on the ground in a ball, having some sort of seizure, whaling at the top of her tiny lungs. She bent down and put a hand on her, this stopped the thrashing but she kept on crying. Upon closer inspection Shayna understood, well a little bit. Little Michelle was holding the inside of her left forearm. "Shayna!" she cried "Help me ... please make it stop hurting! Don't let him come for me again!"
Something very bad was going on and Shayna was too lost in the sea of panicking people to think this one out. She collected Michelle in her arms and started down to the field. All she had to do was find Severus and it would be o.k.
"Shayna wait up!" Jes cried She, Amber, Josh, and Alana the other girls were stepping on toes following after her Jes pulled ahead the rest and once she was at Shayna's side she stopped waiting. "Severus!" she cried spotting him at last "What's going on?" Severus's sallow skin was pale and the proud owner of beads of sweat. It made her very nervous, if Snape was loosing it like this something was really wrong. "The Headmaster thinks some one turned the cup into a portkey. But we haven't a clue as to where it took them."
She dropped Michelle slowly, she wasn't sobbing as hard, but her skin was a pale shade of blue. Shayna pulled back her sleeve and thrust her left forearm under his crooked nose. "No Severus" she almost commanded "What's going on?" He looked at her gravely, clasping his left forearm as well. "Severus!" McGonnal cried before Snape could speak "Come quick, Moody's taken Harry."
Snape took a deep breath and regained his cool demeanor, but Shayna could see an unspeakable fear in his tunnel like eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but swallowed it. With no more then a pleadingly sorrowful look he walked away with McGonnal.
In contrast to her nerves about the O.W.L.'s Shayna was more then confident in her exams. There was no problem with proving what she'd learned this year, but over all the years was spooky. As a first, second, and third year she had a tendency to goof off in class, or just not take notes. This was really hurting her now that she was old enough to understand it. "You'll do fine" Warren assured her "From what I've seen you're a pretty capable witch" he added with a wink "I suggest you go to the third task and just forget about it. You know lack of fun is the leading cause of death in Hogwarts students."
"Oh that reminds me, do you wanna come and watch?" Shayna offered He walked over to a calendar and pointed to the full moon symbol on the 24th. "Sorry"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As she had expected her exams went well, with the exception of Herbology as usual. The O.W.L.'s were only a week away now, but she was taking Warren's advise in forgetting them for tonight. Shayna was in her dorm with all the girls getting ready to go down to the Quidditch field. "Hurry girls!" Amber insisted "We have to get good seats for this one." She, of course, had been ready for nearly 20 minuets.
"We really should be studying tonight." Alana said
"You know" Shayna said warningly as she clasped her cloak "Lack of fun is the number one cause of death in Hogwarts students.
The Slytherin girls were toward the front of the throng of students heading down the darkened hill. With the help of Michelle and her friends, and Josh and Brad (who still had trouble making eye contact with Shayna) they filled the third row of the stands. Energy was running high again, lifting Shayna's spirits with them. It was one of those moments when you just sit back and think "God I love this school!"
The Weasley twins strolled up the row to Amber and Jes who, much to their dislike, were sitting by each other. "Care to place a bet goblin face?" Fred grinned "Kiss a where-wolf boys" she said with pursed lips "I'll place a bet!" Shayna called from the other side of Jes "One galleon on Potter."
Fred and George raised their identical eye brows at the exact same time, causing Michelle and her friends to go into a fit of laughter at the other end of the row. "Riddle, you do know Harry's a Gryfindor ... right?" George stammered "You gonna let me place the bet or not boys?" The twins shrugged and Shayna handed them a golden galleon.
"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the third and final task of the Tri-Wizarding Tournament" the voice of Ludo Bagman boomed over the conversations "The cup has been placed in the center of the maze you see before you. The champions will be entering at different times according to the points. Tied for first place we have Mr. Potter and Mr. Diggaroy, both of Hogwarts, they will be starting us out."
A whistle sounded and a black billboard appeared with a map of the maze drawn out in white. A red dot symbolized Potter and a yellow was Cedric, Shayna watched as the two dots grew farther and farther apart. "So" Jes screamed into Shayna's ear. It was necessary to scream or you couldn't be heard, such was the noise level in the stands. "You really think Potter's got a chance?"
Shayna had an image in her mind of Harry flanked by Cedric and Vicktor Krum. He was at least a head shorter then both of them and he looked comically skinny. She laughed to herself though no one seemed to see what she was seeing. "It was more of a bet of encouragement." she explained
"Can't see how the two of you became friends." Josh called "Not like you got anything in common. And besides he's such a dork, famous Harry Potter." "Leave him alone, he hates that he's famous." Shayna defended
"Mr. Krum of Durmstrang is entering the maze" Ludo Bagman informed them As he did so a white dot appeared on the map overhead. Amber roared with approval for Krum. "He is so gonna win this one!" she cried "Not according to Shayna" Selphie smiled
"Miss Delcour of Beauxbaton is entering the maze" and a pink dot appeared "Guys, I think Potter's a good guy, get over it!" Shayna threw her arms up There was just no explaining it to them.
No one was sure how much time had passed, the pink dot had gone down first, followed by the black. It looked like there was just no beating Hogwarts, and Shayna felt a great swell of pity for the fools who though to beat them. "What the heck are they doing!" Jes cried Shayna's attention returned to the map, the red and yellow dots were walking side by side to the cup. And then just as they had reached it, they were gone. They had both disappeared.
"What happened?"
"Is the board broken?"
"Where's they go?"
Shayna doubted it was the board, she had a sick nervous feeling her stomach. But she was being stupid, couldn't have just disappeared, could they? Amber was standing on her seat craning her neck over the crowds of confused people. Chaos loved this moment, the people behind Shayna were speaking in some other language, French maybe. The roar was numbing Shayna and she suddenly felt as though she was having a strange dream, and nothing she could do would wake her. The twitch in her arm returned, she ignored it. "Dumbledore and McGonnal are going into the maze." Amber said "So they don't even ... AHHHHH!"
Just as Amber screamed Shayna did as well, her arm seized with a cold pain. She grabbed her arm tightly, hoping the pressure would help. Amber slipped from the chair and landed on the ground.
"What's wrong you guys?" Selphie asked, her olive skin gone pale
"It's my arm" Amber whined extending her left arm
"Me too" Shayna nodded
"Well" Josh said pulling back Amber's sleeve "let's have a look." As he did this Shayna pulled back her own, and there it was clear as day, glowing red then subsiding into black. A skull with a snake coming from its mouth. "The dark mark" Josh said obviously impressed
There was a tugging at Shayna's robes that kept Shayna from thinking about what this could mean. It was one of the first years, Nikki if she wasn't mistaken. "It's Michelle" she said timidly "She's hurt or something, she can't get up, and she's twitching." Moving through the chaos that was so thick she was too sure where she was, Shayna followed Nikki down the row.
At the very end there was a tight semi-circle of shrieking first years. "Michelle what's wrong ... Michelle!" one of them cried tears of fear spilling over Shayna pushed her aside hastily. Little Michelle was on the ground in a ball, having some sort of seizure, whaling at the top of her tiny lungs. She bent down and put a hand on her, this stopped the thrashing but she kept on crying. Upon closer inspection Shayna understood, well a little bit. Little Michelle was holding the inside of her left forearm. "Shayna!" she cried "Help me ... please make it stop hurting! Don't let him come for me again!"
Something very bad was going on and Shayna was too lost in the sea of panicking people to think this one out. She collected Michelle in her arms and started down to the field. All she had to do was find Severus and it would be o.k.
"Shayna wait up!" Jes cried She, Amber, Josh, and Alana the other girls were stepping on toes following after her Jes pulled ahead the rest and once she was at Shayna's side she stopped waiting. "Severus!" she cried spotting him at last "What's going on?" Severus's sallow skin was pale and the proud owner of beads of sweat. It made her very nervous, if Snape was loosing it like this something was really wrong. "The Headmaster thinks some one turned the cup into a portkey. But we haven't a clue as to where it took them."
She dropped Michelle slowly, she wasn't sobbing as hard, but her skin was a pale shade of blue. Shayna pulled back her sleeve and thrust her left forearm under his crooked nose. "No Severus" she almost commanded "What's going on?" He looked at her gravely, clasping his left forearm as well. "Severus!" McGonnal cried before Snape could speak "Come quick, Moody's taken Harry."
Snape took a deep breath and regained his cool demeanor, but Shayna could see an unspeakable fear in his tunnel like eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but swallowed it. With no more then a pleadingly sorrowful look he walked away with McGonnal.
