Ye Olde Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Rurouni Kenshin names, etc. don't belong to me... yes, I am consciously aware of this, and yes, I swear that I am not making any money off of this story (at least not that I am aware of anywho). I don't have anything right now that you can take, anyways... Also, a lot of this is all J.K. Rowling's so I give her props. Everything you see that isn't familiar is, well, mine. Please do not use my original characters without my permission first- thank you ^_^.
Trinity Ferrell and the Heart of Darkness
First Year at Hogwarts
Chapter Six- Neville's Accident
The day Trinity dreaded more than anything had arrived. Flying Lessons with Madam Hooch followed their lunch that afternoon. Trinity barely touched her lunch, looking slightly green and afraid to throw up even though she hadn't eaten a thing that entire day.
Celeste was still moping about not making making the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Madam Pomfrey did not let her out until the next day, having to use a sleeping potion to subdue Celeste's whimpering about Quidditch. Now she sat in lunch beside her sister, nose buried in her favorite tactics book. She did not seem to acknowledge or care about her sickly looking younger sister. Finally she spoke, "You know, I can not believe this!" Celeste sat up and slammed her book hard on the table. "I know this book inside and out, I'm a great flyer, probably the best non-pro Chaser this side of the planet, not to mention the best Chaser this school has had in years! And I am not on the team because Madam Pomfrey feels that it is her duty to baby every single scratch a person gets in the place! I'm going to kill Vincent Crabbe and send the pieces of what's left of him to his mother via the tiniest owls in the Owlery!" Celeste continued ranting, using much more colorful language that Trinity knew her parents would never approve of.
When Oliver came into the Great Hall, however, Celeste quickly shut up. He smiled when he saw her and came over next to her. "Good afternoon, mind if I sit here?"
"Not at all," Celeste moved a little down the bench for him.
"So, you ready for practice today?" Oliver asked, noting her book.
"Practice? But I didn't even- I wasn't-" Celeste said quickly, surprised.
"Professor Snape told me, of all people, that you couldn't make it because of an injury. He told me, though, that you were really looking forward to playing this year, so I just figured...." His voice trailed off, spooning various things onto his plate absent-mindedly. "You were a great alternate last year, and you know your tactics better than I do, Celeste. Gryffindor would surely... be without, if you weren't on the team."
Celeste was shocked, her jaw wide open and her eyes sparkling. "You really mean it?" She asked, breathlessly.
"Of course... there is one thing... the team thought it only fair that you remain as an alternate at least for this year, though, because you did miss tryouts," Oliver said, smearing butter on a biscuit. "I hope you don't mind."
Celeste looked ready to tap dance on the table, or burst into tears of joy. Luckily the latter happened, and she wrapped Oliver into a bone-crushing bear hug, squealing with delight. "I don't care! I'm playing this year! Hooray! Hooray!" Celeste sang happily.
Oliver smiled, and resumed breathing after Celeste let go of him. She turned to Trinity. "Isn't that wonderful! I'm playing Quidditch this year! Hey, what's the matter with you? You look a little green..." Celeste paused only to take a breath. "Oh wait- you have Flying Lessons today, don't you Trin? Oh dear... and with Slytherin, I heard... Double whammy. Oh well. Madam Hooch is cool, you'll be fine. Flying is so easy! Of course, it was too easy for me in my first year. Dad already took me on a broom many times before- oh wait, I really shouldn't have told you that.... oh well, forget what I said, anyways, you'll be fine. Just listen to Madam Hooch's instructions. And if that Vincent Crabbe kid gives you any trouble, you let me know, alright?"
"You should be an auctioneer, Ferrell," Fred Weasley joked, and patted Trinity's shoulder gently. "Don't worry. Hooch is a laid-back teacher. She'll take you step by step, not all at once like your sister here. You'll get the hang of it, I mean, anyone can if George here did."
"What're you saying, Fred? It was you who flew Dad's Shooting Star into Mum's flower bed," George retorted in defense.
"Remember how red she got? She chased me all around the house!" Fred chuckled.
"Yeah," George sniggered, and the twins went to go see if their latest prank worked or not.
"You'll be okay as long as you pay attention to the professor," Hermione reassured Trinity. "Follow her instructions, and I'm sure you can't go wrong. I'm nervous too, to be honest. There isn't much about how to fly on a broom in the textbooks."
"It's not the flying, really," Trinity smiled weakly at her friend's encouragement. "I'm just... really afraid of heights."
"You'll do great," Parvati beamed. "I know it."
"Yeah, we'll be there for you, Trinity," Lavender added.
"Thanks, guys," Trinity said softly.
Her stomach still churned, but her friends' encouragement helped greatly ease her worries.
As lunch ended and they got up to leave, Howie rushed over from Ravenclaw's table over to her. "You going to be okay, Trin?" Howie asked, worried.
"I hope so," Trinity gave him a weak smile. "I'm not sure though."
"You'll do great, I know it," Howie said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "My class isn't far from yours. I'll walk with you, okay?"
Trinity smiled at him, genuinely this time. "That would help a lot, thank you, Howie."
He grinned. "You're welcome. What else are friends for?"
Suddenly Draco Malfoy came up, flanked by his two usual companions. "We have Flying Lessons together... so I was wondering if we could walk together?" he asked, smiling sweetly.
"Uh... sure, why not? Let's all go," Trinity said, and Howie rolled his eyes.
Draco smiled until he saw that she meant that Howie, too, would be walking with them. "I forgot something at my table, actually," Draco said quickly. "I'll just go and grab it, okay? I'll see you in class, Trinity. Perhaps the two of us could walk together to Potions tomorrow."
"Uh, sure. See ya, Draco," Trinity said, puzzled by Draco's sudden change of heart.
She was not disappointed, though, as she did not want him to know about her fear of heights. She didn't notice that as Howie and her headed out of the Great Hall Draco was teasing Neville, nor did she notice Draco's angry scowl shot at Howie.
It was a clear and cool day, perfect for flying- or at least for everyone else. The broomsticks- all twenty of them- were lined up, and the Slytherins were already there. After a long pep talk from Howie, Trinity was finally ready to tackle this. Or so she had thought, because ever since he left his words were becoming more and more distant, and her fear was returning. Hermione flashed her an encouraging smile, and Trinity smiled nervously back. Madam Hooch arrived a moment later, too soon for Trinity.
With short gray hair and sharp yellow eyes, Madam Hooch strode over, her cloak floating in the breeze. "Well, what are you waiting for?" She barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
They all obeyed, her tone not one to be messed with. Trinity took the broom between Hermione's and Parvati's.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch loudly, "and say 'Up!'"
"UP!" Everyone shouted in unison.
Something like relief washed over Trinity when at first her broom lay motionless on the ground. She watched as a few other students' brooms laid still like hers, while a few others rolled around on the ground. A few people even got it up at the first command, like Harry Potter's. Draco's broom hesitated at first, then shot up into his hand. Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender's brooms rolled around on the ground, but finally came up. Neville's did not move at all.
"Up!" Trinity repeated when she noticed Madam Hooch's disapproving looks.
Her broom rolled over once, then shot up into her hand. Madam Hooch gave her an approving smile, and Trinity felt much better. Perhaps she could pull this off. She next demonstrated proper mounting, and scolded Draco and told him he'd been mounting wrong for years. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," Madam Hooch began. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle- three- two-"
Trinity saw what happened next, and knew what would happen even before Neville's feet left the ground.
Her vision, of him falling... falling....
She squeezed her eyes shut, hearing the commotion around her. "Come back, boy!" Madam Hooch shouted.
Gasps and cries of surprise from the Gryffindors, and then-
WHAM!
The sickening crack and thud of Neville landing in a heap, face down in the grass.
Trinity opened her eyes, shaking in terror. Once again, her prediction came horribly true.
"Broken wrist," Madam Hooch muttered, bending over Neville and looking as pale as he did. "Come on, boy- it's all right, up you get." She turned around to face the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwart's before you can say 'Quidditch!' Come on, dear."
Trinity could hear her heart pounding in her chest, and breathed a sigh of relief as Madam Hooch led a sobbing Neville off toward the school. She was so scared that he had died....
As soon as Madam Hooch was far away, Draco burst out laughing. At first Trinity thought he was relieved that Neville was okay, laughing to break the tension. How wrong she was.
"Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherins laughed.
"Shut up, Malfoy," Parvati snapped irritably at him.
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" A pug-faced Slytherin girl that Trinity didn't know teased back. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."
"Hey look, it's the git's Rememberall," Draco scooped the glass ball off the ground. "Too bad the dummy didn't have this, maybe then he would have remembered to land on his fat ass."
Trinity couldn't take it anymore. The shock of her predictions always overwhelmed her, shaking her to the core. While the madness continued, Trinity silently slipped off and began running blindly away from the grounds, so many thoughts running through her head.
She didn't realize until it was too late that someone was ahead of her. She bumped into them, fell back and cried out, then looked up at who she had bumped into to apologize.
But suddenly, it was as if she had no voice.
She had run into none other than Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts!
~ To be continued....
Trinity Ferrell and the Heart of Darkness
First Year at Hogwarts
Chapter Six- Neville's Accident
The day Trinity dreaded more than anything had arrived. Flying Lessons with Madam Hooch followed their lunch that afternoon. Trinity barely touched her lunch, looking slightly green and afraid to throw up even though she hadn't eaten a thing that entire day.
Celeste was still moping about not making making the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Madam Pomfrey did not let her out until the next day, having to use a sleeping potion to subdue Celeste's whimpering about Quidditch. Now she sat in lunch beside her sister, nose buried in her favorite tactics book. She did not seem to acknowledge or care about her sickly looking younger sister. Finally she spoke, "You know, I can not believe this!" Celeste sat up and slammed her book hard on the table. "I know this book inside and out, I'm a great flyer, probably the best non-pro Chaser this side of the planet, not to mention the best Chaser this school has had in years! And I am not on the team because Madam Pomfrey feels that it is her duty to baby every single scratch a person gets in the place! I'm going to kill Vincent Crabbe and send the pieces of what's left of him to his mother via the tiniest owls in the Owlery!" Celeste continued ranting, using much more colorful language that Trinity knew her parents would never approve of.
When Oliver came into the Great Hall, however, Celeste quickly shut up. He smiled when he saw her and came over next to her. "Good afternoon, mind if I sit here?"
"Not at all," Celeste moved a little down the bench for him.
"So, you ready for practice today?" Oliver asked, noting her book.
"Practice? But I didn't even- I wasn't-" Celeste said quickly, surprised.
"Professor Snape told me, of all people, that you couldn't make it because of an injury. He told me, though, that you were really looking forward to playing this year, so I just figured...." His voice trailed off, spooning various things onto his plate absent-mindedly. "You were a great alternate last year, and you know your tactics better than I do, Celeste. Gryffindor would surely... be without, if you weren't on the team."
Celeste was shocked, her jaw wide open and her eyes sparkling. "You really mean it?" She asked, breathlessly.
"Of course... there is one thing... the team thought it only fair that you remain as an alternate at least for this year, though, because you did miss tryouts," Oliver said, smearing butter on a biscuit. "I hope you don't mind."
Celeste looked ready to tap dance on the table, or burst into tears of joy. Luckily the latter happened, and she wrapped Oliver into a bone-crushing bear hug, squealing with delight. "I don't care! I'm playing this year! Hooray! Hooray!" Celeste sang happily.
Oliver smiled, and resumed breathing after Celeste let go of him. She turned to Trinity. "Isn't that wonderful! I'm playing Quidditch this year! Hey, what's the matter with you? You look a little green..." Celeste paused only to take a breath. "Oh wait- you have Flying Lessons today, don't you Trin? Oh dear... and with Slytherin, I heard... Double whammy. Oh well. Madam Hooch is cool, you'll be fine. Flying is so easy! Of course, it was too easy for me in my first year. Dad already took me on a broom many times before- oh wait, I really shouldn't have told you that.... oh well, forget what I said, anyways, you'll be fine. Just listen to Madam Hooch's instructions. And if that Vincent Crabbe kid gives you any trouble, you let me know, alright?"
"You should be an auctioneer, Ferrell," Fred Weasley joked, and patted Trinity's shoulder gently. "Don't worry. Hooch is a laid-back teacher. She'll take you step by step, not all at once like your sister here. You'll get the hang of it, I mean, anyone can if George here did."
"What're you saying, Fred? It was you who flew Dad's Shooting Star into Mum's flower bed," George retorted in defense.
"Remember how red she got? She chased me all around the house!" Fred chuckled.
"Yeah," George sniggered, and the twins went to go see if their latest prank worked or not.
"You'll be okay as long as you pay attention to the professor," Hermione reassured Trinity. "Follow her instructions, and I'm sure you can't go wrong. I'm nervous too, to be honest. There isn't much about how to fly on a broom in the textbooks."
"It's not the flying, really," Trinity smiled weakly at her friend's encouragement. "I'm just... really afraid of heights."
"You'll do great," Parvati beamed. "I know it."
"Yeah, we'll be there for you, Trinity," Lavender added.
"Thanks, guys," Trinity said softly.
Her stomach still churned, but her friends' encouragement helped greatly ease her worries.
As lunch ended and they got up to leave, Howie rushed over from Ravenclaw's table over to her. "You going to be okay, Trin?" Howie asked, worried.
"I hope so," Trinity gave him a weak smile. "I'm not sure though."
"You'll do great, I know it," Howie said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "My class isn't far from yours. I'll walk with you, okay?"
Trinity smiled at him, genuinely this time. "That would help a lot, thank you, Howie."
He grinned. "You're welcome. What else are friends for?"
Suddenly Draco Malfoy came up, flanked by his two usual companions. "We have Flying Lessons together... so I was wondering if we could walk together?" he asked, smiling sweetly.
"Uh... sure, why not? Let's all go," Trinity said, and Howie rolled his eyes.
Draco smiled until he saw that she meant that Howie, too, would be walking with them. "I forgot something at my table, actually," Draco said quickly. "I'll just go and grab it, okay? I'll see you in class, Trinity. Perhaps the two of us could walk together to Potions tomorrow."
"Uh, sure. See ya, Draco," Trinity said, puzzled by Draco's sudden change of heart.
She was not disappointed, though, as she did not want him to know about her fear of heights. She didn't notice that as Howie and her headed out of the Great Hall Draco was teasing Neville, nor did she notice Draco's angry scowl shot at Howie.
It was a clear and cool day, perfect for flying- or at least for everyone else. The broomsticks- all twenty of them- were lined up, and the Slytherins were already there. After a long pep talk from Howie, Trinity was finally ready to tackle this. Or so she had thought, because ever since he left his words were becoming more and more distant, and her fear was returning. Hermione flashed her an encouraging smile, and Trinity smiled nervously back. Madam Hooch arrived a moment later, too soon for Trinity.
With short gray hair and sharp yellow eyes, Madam Hooch strode over, her cloak floating in the breeze. "Well, what are you waiting for?" She barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
They all obeyed, her tone not one to be messed with. Trinity took the broom between Hermione's and Parvati's.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch loudly, "and say 'Up!'"
"UP!" Everyone shouted in unison.
Something like relief washed over Trinity when at first her broom lay motionless on the ground. She watched as a few other students' brooms laid still like hers, while a few others rolled around on the ground. A few people even got it up at the first command, like Harry Potter's. Draco's broom hesitated at first, then shot up into his hand. Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender's brooms rolled around on the ground, but finally came up. Neville's did not move at all.
"Up!" Trinity repeated when she noticed Madam Hooch's disapproving looks.
Her broom rolled over once, then shot up into her hand. Madam Hooch gave her an approving smile, and Trinity felt much better. Perhaps she could pull this off. She next demonstrated proper mounting, and scolded Draco and told him he'd been mounting wrong for years. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," Madam Hooch began. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle- three- two-"
Trinity saw what happened next, and knew what would happen even before Neville's feet left the ground.
Her vision, of him falling... falling....
She squeezed her eyes shut, hearing the commotion around her. "Come back, boy!" Madam Hooch shouted.
Gasps and cries of surprise from the Gryffindors, and then-
WHAM!
The sickening crack and thud of Neville landing in a heap, face down in the grass.
Trinity opened her eyes, shaking in terror. Once again, her prediction came horribly true.
"Broken wrist," Madam Hooch muttered, bending over Neville and looking as pale as he did. "Come on, boy- it's all right, up you get." She turned around to face the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwart's before you can say 'Quidditch!' Come on, dear."
Trinity could hear her heart pounding in her chest, and breathed a sigh of relief as Madam Hooch led a sobbing Neville off toward the school. She was so scared that he had died....
As soon as Madam Hooch was far away, Draco burst out laughing. At first Trinity thought he was relieved that Neville was okay, laughing to break the tension. How wrong she was.
"Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherins laughed.
"Shut up, Malfoy," Parvati snapped irritably at him.
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" A pug-faced Slytherin girl that Trinity didn't know teased back. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."
"Hey look, it's the git's Rememberall," Draco scooped the glass ball off the ground. "Too bad the dummy didn't have this, maybe then he would have remembered to land on his fat ass."
Trinity couldn't take it anymore. The shock of her predictions always overwhelmed her, shaking her to the core. While the madness continued, Trinity silently slipped off and began running blindly away from the grounds, so many thoughts running through her head.
She didn't realize until it was too late that someone was ahead of her. She bumped into them, fell back and cried out, then looked up at who she had bumped into to apologize.
But suddenly, it was as if she had no voice.
She had run into none other than Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts!
~ To be continued....