Chapter 16: The Winter Ball
They finally reached the great hall, which was already bustling with people from every house, both sitting and dancing to some music which had been zapped in by Professor McGonagall a few minutes earlier. The hall was wonderfully decorated, with not only the sky, but the walls also enchanted to look like a thick, snow-covered forest, with the stars providing a glow effect to show up the whiteness of the snow. There were tables for six people each around the outsides of the hall, and a large dance-floor in the middle. The Professors table remained at one end, and at the other was a stage large enough for a good seven person band... "Alright..." Marcus tried to calm himself as he walked to the stage. "Have fun, you'll do great..." Hermionie said to him, but he hardly noticed. Harry walked beside him, having just looked at the spells from Black. "If I were you..." He began..."I'd just zap in a load of cool gear, a great band, and go crazy. If people don't like you, at least you'll have had fun..." "Thanks Harry..." Marcus replied with a devious smile on his face, which made Harry slightly worried. Marcus stood beside the stage, and began to conjure... Guitars, drums, keyboard and bass... He also conjured a backing band to add to the illusion... Marcus smiled as he realised what he could do... "Hi everyone..." He said tentatively into the microphone he had created. Everyone cheered, not really understanding why... "We're gonna play some songs for you this evening, we hope you enjoy the show..." He moved away from the mic... Before long, the whole room was rocking along to the Neil Young classic "Rocking In The Free World", going into loud applause and cheers in each of the solos... The song ended, and everyone in the room applauded... Marcus was much more relaxed now, so he decided to get onto some slower songs. After he played two or three, he decided to play "Bed Of Roses" for Hermionie. After they finished, he spoke again... "Thank you... This next song is dedicated to Hermionie... This is called "Bed Of Roses", and it goes something like this..." The band played... Meanwhile, Ron had asked Hermionie to dance, and they took to the floor, although visibly trying to keep their distance. As Marcus sang the first verse, Hermionie began to talk to Ron. "We can't dance like this..." She said, as she pulled him closer. Ron felt nervous, but appeared more comfortable at this distance. They continued to move closer as the song approached the solo, and by the time Marcus had sung the middle section they were almost as close as Harry and Cho... Marcus played the solo brilliantly, but Ron and Hermionie hardly seemed to notice, as they stared into each others eyes and leaned towards each other. Harry realised what was going to happen, but was too far away to do anything about it... Ron was going to kiss Hermionie... Thankfully, they got shaken out of the moment they were sinking into by the power chords struck by Marcus, half way through the last verse. Ron and Hermionie went back to dancing farther apart, and at the end of the song, sat down at their table. After a few more love-songs, Marcus said goodbye to the band, and sang solo for a while. Firstly, an electric guitar instrumental, then more acoustic songs... Finally, he laid down his guitar, and asked the Professors to re-instate the music they had conjured earlier. However, Ron stopped them, and took a seat at the piano... He asked Marcus to play one more song with him, ("Always", by Bon Jovi) and they began... Ron singing and playing piano, Marcus on guitar... Ron wasn't as good a singer as Marcus was, but managed to hold his own as he sang... Both Cho and Harry noticed that Ron's eyes never left Hermionie throughout the entire song, but they thought that Marcus would be okay with it, since his eyes were also fixed on Hermionie, so he wouldn't have noticed Ron. Hermionie on the other hand, had noticed both of them, and was doing her best to avoid blushing and also to avoid eye contact. The rest of the evening past without incident, with everyone dancing with everyone else, and Harry's invention of five-some dancing, which got some laughs, but looked very stupid to the onlookers... Just as the night was coming to a close, Viktor Krum and five of his friends crashed the party... Marcus stepped towards them, but was flanked by Harry and Ron, and the nine of them stepped outside the castle... Viktor spoke... "You tricked me Greenstone... You knew we were leaving tomorrow morning... I say we fight here and now..." "You're going down..." Ron blurted out, enticing evil glares from Krum and his buddies. "He's right Vick." Marcus stated. "Bring it on... No magic, just bare knuckles..." "See you in hell..." Krum stated. "Harry, you take the three on the left, Ron, you take the one on the far right, I'll take Krum and the other one..." Marcus ordered, and without waiting for a response they charged... The next thing Ron saw was the ceiling of the medical wing. He got up out of the bed, put his feet on the floor, and threw up violently... Harry and Marcus were already there with Hermionie and Cho, and the six Durmstrang guys were on the other side of the room... "Did we take them out?" Ron asked hopefully... Harry and Marcus walked over to him and sat with him on the bed... "Well..." Harry started... "Hell yes!" Marcus broke in... "We nailed them..." He continued as Cho and Hermionie joined them... "Not really..." Cho explained... "You got knocked out with the first punch, but after that, Harry knocked out of the Durmstrang guys, breaking his fist... Then kicked another one's jaw, breaking it in three places... When the third Durmstrang guy saw what was going on he started to run, but tripped over you and hit his head on a rock... Marcus took out the fourth Durmstrang guy with a head-butt, hence the huge bruise there..." She pointed at Marcus's head, which had indeed grown larger and blacker than previously... "And he was in a slugging match with Krum when we came along with Hagrid... Needless to say, the sight of Hagrid with fists at the ready was a good incentive to stop..." Hermionie finished the story... "Good... We won..." Ron said... "Hold onto that thought..." Harry said as Dumbledore came into the room. He didn't look happy. In fact Harry felt quite scared of him. Somehow he felt that he wasn't going to burst into a smile and congratulate them on their fighting skills. He stared at the three guys for a few moments. "I should expel you..." He stated... Harry feared that that was exactly what he was going to do... "Unfortunately, I can't expel Harry Potter, and since all of your punishments must be equal, that means I cannot expel any of you. However, before you start to congratulate yourselves, know this... Each of your guardians have been Owled about this... You are also banned from going to Hogsmeade until next year and I am taking 100 points from Gryffindor for each of you... Finally, it pains me to do this, but you are all withdrawn from the both house and school Quidditch teams until further notice..." With that, the great Headmaster turned and left... The five students stared at each other. This was monumental... Gryffindor had effectively lost the house cup... It would be impossible to investigate the disappearance of the Ravenclaw girls... They would be receiving Howlers for the rest of the month, if not for two months... And worst of all, they would not play Quidditch again that year...
They finally reached the great hall, which was already bustling with people from every house, both sitting and dancing to some music which had been zapped in by Professor McGonagall a few minutes earlier. The hall was wonderfully decorated, with not only the sky, but the walls also enchanted to look like a thick, snow-covered forest, with the stars providing a glow effect to show up the whiteness of the snow. There were tables for six people each around the outsides of the hall, and a large dance-floor in the middle. The Professors table remained at one end, and at the other was a stage large enough for a good seven person band... "Alright..." Marcus tried to calm himself as he walked to the stage. "Have fun, you'll do great..." Hermionie said to him, but he hardly noticed. Harry walked beside him, having just looked at the spells from Black. "If I were you..." He began..."I'd just zap in a load of cool gear, a great band, and go crazy. If people don't like you, at least you'll have had fun..." "Thanks Harry..." Marcus replied with a devious smile on his face, which made Harry slightly worried. Marcus stood beside the stage, and began to conjure... Guitars, drums, keyboard and bass... He also conjured a backing band to add to the illusion... Marcus smiled as he realised what he could do... "Hi everyone..." He said tentatively into the microphone he had created. Everyone cheered, not really understanding why... "We're gonna play some songs for you this evening, we hope you enjoy the show..." He moved away from the mic... Before long, the whole room was rocking along to the Neil Young classic "Rocking In The Free World", going into loud applause and cheers in each of the solos... The song ended, and everyone in the room applauded... Marcus was much more relaxed now, so he decided to get onto some slower songs. After he played two or three, he decided to play "Bed Of Roses" for Hermionie. After they finished, he spoke again... "Thank you... This next song is dedicated to Hermionie... This is called "Bed Of Roses", and it goes something like this..." The band played... Meanwhile, Ron had asked Hermionie to dance, and they took to the floor, although visibly trying to keep their distance. As Marcus sang the first verse, Hermionie began to talk to Ron. "We can't dance like this..." She said, as she pulled him closer. Ron felt nervous, but appeared more comfortable at this distance. They continued to move closer as the song approached the solo, and by the time Marcus had sung the middle section they were almost as close as Harry and Cho... Marcus played the solo brilliantly, but Ron and Hermionie hardly seemed to notice, as they stared into each others eyes and leaned towards each other. Harry realised what was going to happen, but was too far away to do anything about it... Ron was going to kiss Hermionie... Thankfully, they got shaken out of the moment they were sinking into by the power chords struck by Marcus, half way through the last verse. Ron and Hermionie went back to dancing farther apart, and at the end of the song, sat down at their table. After a few more love-songs, Marcus said goodbye to the band, and sang solo for a while. Firstly, an electric guitar instrumental, then more acoustic songs... Finally, he laid down his guitar, and asked the Professors to re-instate the music they had conjured earlier. However, Ron stopped them, and took a seat at the piano... He asked Marcus to play one more song with him, ("Always", by Bon Jovi) and they began... Ron singing and playing piano, Marcus on guitar... Ron wasn't as good a singer as Marcus was, but managed to hold his own as he sang... Both Cho and Harry noticed that Ron's eyes never left Hermionie throughout the entire song, but they thought that Marcus would be okay with it, since his eyes were also fixed on Hermionie, so he wouldn't have noticed Ron. Hermionie on the other hand, had noticed both of them, and was doing her best to avoid blushing and also to avoid eye contact. The rest of the evening past without incident, with everyone dancing with everyone else, and Harry's invention of five-some dancing, which got some laughs, but looked very stupid to the onlookers... Just as the night was coming to a close, Viktor Krum and five of his friends crashed the party... Marcus stepped towards them, but was flanked by Harry and Ron, and the nine of them stepped outside the castle... Viktor spoke... "You tricked me Greenstone... You knew we were leaving tomorrow morning... I say we fight here and now..." "You're going down..." Ron blurted out, enticing evil glares from Krum and his buddies. "He's right Vick." Marcus stated. "Bring it on... No magic, just bare knuckles..." "See you in hell..." Krum stated. "Harry, you take the three on the left, Ron, you take the one on the far right, I'll take Krum and the other one..." Marcus ordered, and without waiting for a response they charged... The next thing Ron saw was the ceiling of the medical wing. He got up out of the bed, put his feet on the floor, and threw up violently... Harry and Marcus were already there with Hermionie and Cho, and the six Durmstrang guys were on the other side of the room... "Did we take them out?" Ron asked hopefully... Harry and Marcus walked over to him and sat with him on the bed... "Well..." Harry started... "Hell yes!" Marcus broke in... "We nailed them..." He continued as Cho and Hermionie joined them... "Not really..." Cho explained... "You got knocked out with the first punch, but after that, Harry knocked out of the Durmstrang guys, breaking his fist... Then kicked another one's jaw, breaking it in three places... When the third Durmstrang guy saw what was going on he started to run, but tripped over you and hit his head on a rock... Marcus took out the fourth Durmstrang guy with a head-butt, hence the huge bruise there..." She pointed at Marcus's head, which had indeed grown larger and blacker than previously... "And he was in a slugging match with Krum when we came along with Hagrid... Needless to say, the sight of Hagrid with fists at the ready was a good incentive to stop..." Hermionie finished the story... "Good... We won..." Ron said... "Hold onto that thought..." Harry said as Dumbledore came into the room. He didn't look happy. In fact Harry felt quite scared of him. Somehow he felt that he wasn't going to burst into a smile and congratulate them on their fighting skills. He stared at the three guys for a few moments. "I should expel you..." He stated... Harry feared that that was exactly what he was going to do... "Unfortunately, I can't expel Harry Potter, and since all of your punishments must be equal, that means I cannot expel any of you. However, before you start to congratulate yourselves, know this... Each of your guardians have been Owled about this... You are also banned from going to Hogsmeade until next year and I am taking 100 points from Gryffindor for each of you... Finally, it pains me to do this, but you are all withdrawn from the both house and school Quidditch teams until further notice..." With that, the great Headmaster turned and left... The five students stared at each other. This was monumental... Gryffindor had effectively lost the house cup... It would be impossible to investigate the disappearance of the Ravenclaw girls... They would be receiving Howlers for the rest of the month, if not for two months... And worst of all, they would not play Quidditch again that year...
