Chapter 10
It was two weeks before Christmas, but despite the snow flurries outside Harry and Morgain often ate breakfast in the snidget tent. They hadn't made this arrangement intentionally. Harry loved to watch these creatures and felt it enhanced his ability to catch the snitch by following the real thing with his eye. Morgain felt less homesick surrounded by birds native to her island, in addition to the warm tropical climate magically maintained in the tent. Despite the accidental beginnings of this ritual the two of them enjoyed each other's company for their morning meal.
"So, how are you keeping up in potions?" Harry asked, despite the fact he knew she was near the top of the class.
"Fairly well. I don't like the way Snape yells at poor Neville, it gives me half a mind to do something nasty to the old man."
"He's been like that since first year."
"I don't understand. Neville is incredible in Herbology and HOME class, not to mention being among the few who can apparate already. Why should Snape pick on him?"
Harry thought about it for a while, and was pleased to remember how far Neville had progressed since first year. He really was shaping up to be a formidable wizard, despite everything. Before Harry could come up with a theory about Snape's general nastiness the tent flap was nudged open and two school owls hopped through covered in snow. One bore a letter for Harry, the other Morgain, but each with the same content.
"Dear HOME students, I hope that the seeds you planted have by now reached maturity. Please bring them to class this afternoon along with your dragon hide gloves. We will be meeting in Green House number one at the usual time.
Sincerely, G. Carrington "
"I wonder what this is all about?" Morgain questioned out loud.
"You know her, it could be anything" sighed Harry buckling his heavy wool cloak and steeling his resolve to embark into the harsh cold. "I've got Transfiguration next, how about you?" He asked, holding open the flap so she could go first, partly out of chivalry, partly because he wanted to be warm as long as possible. "Charms." She said something else but the bitter wind whipped the sound away before it could reach his ears. Harry turned to ask her to repeat it but she was gone. Scanning the grounds quickly the only other black cloak in sight was floating through the air toward the castle.
Harry ran after the hovering cloak and only caught up with it at the front door. There Morgain was thanking the Gray Lady with a respectful curtsy before the ghostly figure floated away.
"What on earth just happened?" Harry gasped out of breath from exertion and shock.
"What? Oh, she was kind enough to offer transportation and I took it that's all. Didn't Genevieve tell you that ghost travel was possible last year?" Morgain said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"She said something about it I guess, but never got into particulars." Harry opened the door for Morgain to go into the castle and shut it behind himself.
"It's a fairly efficient mode of transportation where I come from, but gets rather cold. Though in this weather it's hard to tell the difference." She laughed reservedly hoping to shrug off the whole event and as Harry didn't want to be late for transfiguration he decided to put it on the growing list of things to ask her about when she was in a more revealing mood.
"See you in HOME class then, I guess." Harry waved behind him climbing the stairs to the transfiguration classroom.
************************
Harry was rather good at apparating by now, at least in theory. Although he'd only had the opportunity to do it once in Hogsmeade, every time they practiced in class he got a prickly feeling that told him he would have succeeded had there not been so many anti-apparation spells around. The class also worked on transfiguring furniture into animals and back again. It was hard work and no one seemed to make a good job of it, though McGonagall said it would take some time to master.
Before Care of Magical Creatures Harry and the other Gryffindor HOME students ran up to their dormitory to grab their plants and gloves. On the way down to the Snidget tent Harry spotted Nearly Headless Nick and considered asking him for a lift the rest of the way, but reconsidered when he realized he wasn't entirely sure how it was accomplished. Ghosts aren't supposed to be able to move things, he kept thinking to himself. They don't affect small stuff, let alone a whole person.
"Harry, are you alright?" Ron nudged him in the ribs to get his attention.
"What. Oh, yes just thinking that's all." Harry thought about asking Hermione about it, after all if she didn't know surely she could find something in the library. Eventually he decided against it, because he couldn't decide how to describe it believably.
Harry worked with the snidgets, which mostly included watching them and recording his observations. Along with pruning some of the flowers with magic from behind the white chalk line, all in all a very enjoyable experience.
*********************
Three O'Clock took it's time rolling around that afternoon and Harry was glad he was already outside in Care of Magical Creatures and had only a short distance to walk to the greenhouses. Genevieve was there clearing a large work space and rinsing out nine white buckets. Once everyone was gathered she stopped bustling around the room to address them.
"I am pleased to see so many healthy plants here." She inspected each furry green shrub thoroughly. "Did you all bring your dragon hide gloves, yes.very well. Put them on." She waited a moment while her class did so.
"Professor Carrington. Shouldn't we prepare the new pot for transplanting first?" suggested Hermione.
"We would, if we were transplanting. Today, we are killing." She paused at the sharp intake of breath gave away her students shock and surprise. "I want you to grab the plant at the base firmly and squeeze and twist until it dies."
Until now, Harry had only seen the occupant of the pot as window dressing that he directed thoughts to out of boredom, but his Professors personification of it made him feel guilty when he followed the instructions. He kept turning and squeezing the helpless little growth, worried that it was squirming for its life, until a loud snap freed it from the roots. Seconds later the head of Malfoy's plant snapped off as well.
Neville and Crystal needed extra coaxing to get theirs off as both of them keep loosing their nerve. After the ninth snap Genevieve instructed them to remove their gloves and dig up the root.
All his years working with odd plants in herbology, even transplanting mandrakes that looked like tiny baby's, hadn't prepared Harry for what he would find beneath the soil. Deep in the pot the fertilizer and dirt grew slimy. Brushing the muck away he saw a fluid filled sack of some sort with something floating inside. He couldn't see what through the translucent membrane because it was cris-crossed with so many fine hairs. Harry carefully picked it up to study it closer, but had a creepy feeling it was watching him.
"Now, take it over to one of the buckets and pop it" the teacher instructed.
Easier said than done. Harry hefted his over to a bucket and tried digging his finger nails into the sack to break it, but that didn't work. Eventually he got the pen knife Sirius had given him out of his cloak pocket and carefully pricked it. Clearish gray liquid seeped slowly out until Harry widened the hole. The outer membrane fell away to reveal a slimy golden ball. A ruby at the top stared up at him. Once washed, more detail in the gold could be seen.
It was engraved with his name and several personal symbols including a lightning bolt, a stag, a star and small woodland animals. Ron's was similar; bearing his name, a bird and a bonfire. The boys were just admiring the cat and water fall design on Hermione's when Neville and Draco gasped at the same time. Draco's ball was completely smooth except for a small snake etched around an emerald, but he had been watching Neville's ball.
"What on earth?" Draco asked flabbergasted.
"Well done Mr. Longbottom" Genevieve said clapping him on the shoulder. "Well done indeed!"
Neville held up the glistening object so the others could see. Its entire surface was covered in delicate carvings depicting a multitude of scenes. A hunter, a healer, a man praying, another fighting were interwoven together with curly vines and leaves. But these vines, on closer inspection, were actually words in Latin and ancient runes. In the heart of the pattern, just like the others, was a precious stone. In this case a flawless diamond. It was truly a magnificent work of art.
Everyone stared enraptured in its beauty before Crystal asked a question.
"What are these?"
Genevieve retrieved a similar ball from her bag for a demonstration.
"These gather, focus and amplify the magic that is inside and around you. We've created these so you can feel Old Magic, making it a tangible experience." She held the ball in her fist allowing the stone to peek out between her index and middle finger. With intense concentration she pointed it at the work station and levitated it several feet into the air. She continued explaining. "They can also be used if you are too drained to do Old Magic by yourself. These are technically not categorized as wands and cannot be bought or sold as such. They are completely personal to you."
Genevieve indicated they have a go, soon empty pots were levitating all around the room as everyone got used to them.
"I know you were all thinking that Christmas would be time to relax, but you have an important assignment." Harry put down the shovel he'd been hovering to give her undivided attention, as did the others. A real assignment was something new for this class.
"I'd like you to prepare a short oral presentation to be given the first Monday after the break. Here is a list of topics each of you may sign up for, or come up with one of your own." She placed a parchment in mid air, where it hung like it was tacked to a wall. "We won't have class next week so you may use the time to prepare. I suggest you start now while you may utilize the school resources before going home for the holiday."
Genevieve then started to clean up the room while nine pairs of eyes scanned the floating parchment. Subjects ranged from the practical to the philosophical, each with a line waiting for someone to claim it.
Harvest Laws Reap what you sow ________________ Nurturing the seed of Magic ___________ Preparing groundwork ______________ Human Habitat What is a wizards true home __________ Interdependence between Magic, Muggles and Mother Earth _______________ Responsibilities toward our fellow and lesser creatures ____________ Most magical places on Earth _________ How humans/creatures mark themselves and others _____________ Importance of family to survival _____________
Neville was the first to ascribe his name to the parchment next to #2, followed by Crystal who chose #3. Hermione thought #5 sounded the most involved and quickly snatched it for herself, while Morgain signed next to #6. By the time the quill made it to Harry's hand only options 1 and 8 were left. Not entirely sure what "reaping what you sow" meant he became intrigued with the idea of marks so that became his assignment.
******************
After dinner Hermione went straight to the library eager to do research for the presentation, and Ron went along for help. He'd chosen the most magical places on Earth because it sounded the easiest but gave in to Hermione's teasing that it may be harder than he thought.
Ginny, Harry and Morgain ate slowly and talked about what had just come out of the pots.
"They are so pretty." Ginny was looking as hers while keeping it inside her school bag, so as not to parade it around. Hers featured a unicorn eating grass by a stream while several birds flew over head.
"They are remarkable, Neville's blew me away though" said Morgain with a sigh.
"Oooh, that was amazing. I wonder what all those words were." Ginny got a dreamy look in her eye just thinking about it. "And that diamond, it was huge. I just don't understand how they were engraved so beautifully while under all that dirt." Harry was at ease just listening and eating while the girls talked.
"I'm sure they were magic seeds that responded to how much we talked to them, or maybe what we told them while they were growing" Morgain hypothesized. "But I'm glad Genevieve clarified they are not actually wands, I was beginning to worry."
"Worry, why?" Harry asked.
"Because Genevieve's not allowed to use a wand of course" answered Morgain as if this were obvious.
"She can't use a wand, why?" It was Ginny's turn to ask.
"Because of what she is. It's your ministry's law, some restriction against the use of wands by creatures." Harry leaned forward confused.
"But she's not a creature, she's.she's.Genevieve."
"Of mostly boggart descent. She is, for all intents and purposes, a creature and therefore prohibited from wielding a wand. I was worried that if it was a wand the ministry would arrest her."
Harry thought about it for a moment and though it seemed to make sense intellectually he found it hard to accept emotionally. So, he did the one thing he could think of to verify all of this. Go to the library to ask Hermione.
**************************
"I agree with you Harry. Never thought of it that way and it's sort of hard to believe, but it makes sense." Hermione was tumbling the ideas around in her head hoping to smooth them out. "And if she's more creature than human it would explain why she's had to do the things she's done, her family too." Harry knew the ideas were still rough because Hermione's sentences were usually so well thought out, but at the moment they became a rambling string of seemingly unrelated thoughts. "I mean with her serving your family, and knowing ghosts and understanding nature and the way the ministry has always treated her like a house elf and her rapport with the house elves for that matter, not to mention the issues for the trial last year and legality to kill her on sight before she was pardoned and."
"Are you going to throw a period in that run-on anytime soon?" Ron chided her. She threw him a menacing glare before retreating into the stacks.
"So what do you think Ron?" asked Harry.
"I say, what does it matter? Whatever the classification she's still who she is." Ron shrugged back the urge to recite the lecture Harry had given him last year in regard to not judging the giants by what they are. Harry appreciated what was left unsaid, as much as what his friend did tell him.
"You're right. It's just odd, thinking you know a person to find out they are not really a person."
"She is a person, the way you and I think about it, just not according to the ministry. They can be a little slow on the uptake, but maybe they'll come around someday." Ron added with wisdom beyond his years.
"Of course, you're spot on. I don't know why I let it bother me. She's wonderful, I've always liked her and Sirius likes her.hey do you think the ministry will freak if they tried to get married?"
Hermione came around the corner carrying a large tome entitled 'creature rights', and interrupted.
"Probably not. It says here that a wizard once got married to a mermaid."
"Really?" Harry and Ron forgot their question in favor of 'The Tepid Tails of Mermaid Love'.
"The relationship didn't work out because of the whole living underwater thing, but the ministry didn't stop it."
*********************
It was two weeks before Christmas, but despite the snow flurries outside Harry and Morgain often ate breakfast in the snidget tent. They hadn't made this arrangement intentionally. Harry loved to watch these creatures and felt it enhanced his ability to catch the snitch by following the real thing with his eye. Morgain felt less homesick surrounded by birds native to her island, in addition to the warm tropical climate magically maintained in the tent. Despite the accidental beginnings of this ritual the two of them enjoyed each other's company for their morning meal.
"So, how are you keeping up in potions?" Harry asked, despite the fact he knew she was near the top of the class.
"Fairly well. I don't like the way Snape yells at poor Neville, it gives me half a mind to do something nasty to the old man."
"He's been like that since first year."
"I don't understand. Neville is incredible in Herbology and HOME class, not to mention being among the few who can apparate already. Why should Snape pick on him?"
Harry thought about it for a while, and was pleased to remember how far Neville had progressed since first year. He really was shaping up to be a formidable wizard, despite everything. Before Harry could come up with a theory about Snape's general nastiness the tent flap was nudged open and two school owls hopped through covered in snow. One bore a letter for Harry, the other Morgain, but each with the same content.
"Dear HOME students, I hope that the seeds you planted have by now reached maturity. Please bring them to class this afternoon along with your dragon hide gloves. We will be meeting in Green House number one at the usual time.
Sincerely, G. Carrington "
"I wonder what this is all about?" Morgain questioned out loud.
"You know her, it could be anything" sighed Harry buckling his heavy wool cloak and steeling his resolve to embark into the harsh cold. "I've got Transfiguration next, how about you?" He asked, holding open the flap so she could go first, partly out of chivalry, partly because he wanted to be warm as long as possible. "Charms." She said something else but the bitter wind whipped the sound away before it could reach his ears. Harry turned to ask her to repeat it but she was gone. Scanning the grounds quickly the only other black cloak in sight was floating through the air toward the castle.
Harry ran after the hovering cloak and only caught up with it at the front door. There Morgain was thanking the Gray Lady with a respectful curtsy before the ghostly figure floated away.
"What on earth just happened?" Harry gasped out of breath from exertion and shock.
"What? Oh, she was kind enough to offer transportation and I took it that's all. Didn't Genevieve tell you that ghost travel was possible last year?" Morgain said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"She said something about it I guess, but never got into particulars." Harry opened the door for Morgain to go into the castle and shut it behind himself.
"It's a fairly efficient mode of transportation where I come from, but gets rather cold. Though in this weather it's hard to tell the difference." She laughed reservedly hoping to shrug off the whole event and as Harry didn't want to be late for transfiguration he decided to put it on the growing list of things to ask her about when she was in a more revealing mood.
"See you in HOME class then, I guess." Harry waved behind him climbing the stairs to the transfiguration classroom.
************************
Harry was rather good at apparating by now, at least in theory. Although he'd only had the opportunity to do it once in Hogsmeade, every time they practiced in class he got a prickly feeling that told him he would have succeeded had there not been so many anti-apparation spells around. The class also worked on transfiguring furniture into animals and back again. It was hard work and no one seemed to make a good job of it, though McGonagall said it would take some time to master.
Before Care of Magical Creatures Harry and the other Gryffindor HOME students ran up to their dormitory to grab their plants and gloves. On the way down to the Snidget tent Harry spotted Nearly Headless Nick and considered asking him for a lift the rest of the way, but reconsidered when he realized he wasn't entirely sure how it was accomplished. Ghosts aren't supposed to be able to move things, he kept thinking to himself. They don't affect small stuff, let alone a whole person.
"Harry, are you alright?" Ron nudged him in the ribs to get his attention.
"What. Oh, yes just thinking that's all." Harry thought about asking Hermione about it, after all if she didn't know surely she could find something in the library. Eventually he decided against it, because he couldn't decide how to describe it believably.
Harry worked with the snidgets, which mostly included watching them and recording his observations. Along with pruning some of the flowers with magic from behind the white chalk line, all in all a very enjoyable experience.
*********************
Three O'Clock took it's time rolling around that afternoon and Harry was glad he was already outside in Care of Magical Creatures and had only a short distance to walk to the greenhouses. Genevieve was there clearing a large work space and rinsing out nine white buckets. Once everyone was gathered she stopped bustling around the room to address them.
"I am pleased to see so many healthy plants here." She inspected each furry green shrub thoroughly. "Did you all bring your dragon hide gloves, yes.very well. Put them on." She waited a moment while her class did so.
"Professor Carrington. Shouldn't we prepare the new pot for transplanting first?" suggested Hermione.
"We would, if we were transplanting. Today, we are killing." She paused at the sharp intake of breath gave away her students shock and surprise. "I want you to grab the plant at the base firmly and squeeze and twist until it dies."
Until now, Harry had only seen the occupant of the pot as window dressing that he directed thoughts to out of boredom, but his Professors personification of it made him feel guilty when he followed the instructions. He kept turning and squeezing the helpless little growth, worried that it was squirming for its life, until a loud snap freed it from the roots. Seconds later the head of Malfoy's plant snapped off as well.
Neville and Crystal needed extra coaxing to get theirs off as both of them keep loosing their nerve. After the ninth snap Genevieve instructed them to remove their gloves and dig up the root.
All his years working with odd plants in herbology, even transplanting mandrakes that looked like tiny baby's, hadn't prepared Harry for what he would find beneath the soil. Deep in the pot the fertilizer and dirt grew slimy. Brushing the muck away he saw a fluid filled sack of some sort with something floating inside. He couldn't see what through the translucent membrane because it was cris-crossed with so many fine hairs. Harry carefully picked it up to study it closer, but had a creepy feeling it was watching him.
"Now, take it over to one of the buckets and pop it" the teacher instructed.
Easier said than done. Harry hefted his over to a bucket and tried digging his finger nails into the sack to break it, but that didn't work. Eventually he got the pen knife Sirius had given him out of his cloak pocket and carefully pricked it. Clearish gray liquid seeped slowly out until Harry widened the hole. The outer membrane fell away to reveal a slimy golden ball. A ruby at the top stared up at him. Once washed, more detail in the gold could be seen.
It was engraved with his name and several personal symbols including a lightning bolt, a stag, a star and small woodland animals. Ron's was similar; bearing his name, a bird and a bonfire. The boys were just admiring the cat and water fall design on Hermione's when Neville and Draco gasped at the same time. Draco's ball was completely smooth except for a small snake etched around an emerald, but he had been watching Neville's ball.
"What on earth?" Draco asked flabbergasted.
"Well done Mr. Longbottom" Genevieve said clapping him on the shoulder. "Well done indeed!"
Neville held up the glistening object so the others could see. Its entire surface was covered in delicate carvings depicting a multitude of scenes. A hunter, a healer, a man praying, another fighting were interwoven together with curly vines and leaves. But these vines, on closer inspection, were actually words in Latin and ancient runes. In the heart of the pattern, just like the others, was a precious stone. In this case a flawless diamond. It was truly a magnificent work of art.
Everyone stared enraptured in its beauty before Crystal asked a question.
"What are these?"
Genevieve retrieved a similar ball from her bag for a demonstration.
"These gather, focus and amplify the magic that is inside and around you. We've created these so you can feel Old Magic, making it a tangible experience." She held the ball in her fist allowing the stone to peek out between her index and middle finger. With intense concentration she pointed it at the work station and levitated it several feet into the air. She continued explaining. "They can also be used if you are too drained to do Old Magic by yourself. These are technically not categorized as wands and cannot be bought or sold as such. They are completely personal to you."
Genevieve indicated they have a go, soon empty pots were levitating all around the room as everyone got used to them.
"I know you were all thinking that Christmas would be time to relax, but you have an important assignment." Harry put down the shovel he'd been hovering to give her undivided attention, as did the others. A real assignment was something new for this class.
"I'd like you to prepare a short oral presentation to be given the first Monday after the break. Here is a list of topics each of you may sign up for, or come up with one of your own." She placed a parchment in mid air, where it hung like it was tacked to a wall. "We won't have class next week so you may use the time to prepare. I suggest you start now while you may utilize the school resources before going home for the holiday."
Genevieve then started to clean up the room while nine pairs of eyes scanned the floating parchment. Subjects ranged from the practical to the philosophical, each with a line waiting for someone to claim it.
Harvest Laws Reap what you sow ________________ Nurturing the seed of Magic ___________ Preparing groundwork ______________ Human Habitat What is a wizards true home __________ Interdependence between Magic, Muggles and Mother Earth _______________ Responsibilities toward our fellow and lesser creatures ____________ Most magical places on Earth _________ How humans/creatures mark themselves and others _____________ Importance of family to survival _____________
Neville was the first to ascribe his name to the parchment next to #2, followed by Crystal who chose #3. Hermione thought #5 sounded the most involved and quickly snatched it for herself, while Morgain signed next to #6. By the time the quill made it to Harry's hand only options 1 and 8 were left. Not entirely sure what "reaping what you sow" meant he became intrigued with the idea of marks so that became his assignment.
******************
After dinner Hermione went straight to the library eager to do research for the presentation, and Ron went along for help. He'd chosen the most magical places on Earth because it sounded the easiest but gave in to Hermione's teasing that it may be harder than he thought.
Ginny, Harry and Morgain ate slowly and talked about what had just come out of the pots.
"They are so pretty." Ginny was looking as hers while keeping it inside her school bag, so as not to parade it around. Hers featured a unicorn eating grass by a stream while several birds flew over head.
"They are remarkable, Neville's blew me away though" said Morgain with a sigh.
"Oooh, that was amazing. I wonder what all those words were." Ginny got a dreamy look in her eye just thinking about it. "And that diamond, it was huge. I just don't understand how they were engraved so beautifully while under all that dirt." Harry was at ease just listening and eating while the girls talked.
"I'm sure they were magic seeds that responded to how much we talked to them, or maybe what we told them while they were growing" Morgain hypothesized. "But I'm glad Genevieve clarified they are not actually wands, I was beginning to worry."
"Worry, why?" Harry asked.
"Because Genevieve's not allowed to use a wand of course" answered Morgain as if this were obvious.
"She can't use a wand, why?" It was Ginny's turn to ask.
"Because of what she is. It's your ministry's law, some restriction against the use of wands by creatures." Harry leaned forward confused.
"But she's not a creature, she's.she's.Genevieve."
"Of mostly boggart descent. She is, for all intents and purposes, a creature and therefore prohibited from wielding a wand. I was worried that if it was a wand the ministry would arrest her."
Harry thought about it for a moment and though it seemed to make sense intellectually he found it hard to accept emotionally. So, he did the one thing he could think of to verify all of this. Go to the library to ask Hermione.
**************************
"I agree with you Harry. Never thought of it that way and it's sort of hard to believe, but it makes sense." Hermione was tumbling the ideas around in her head hoping to smooth them out. "And if she's more creature than human it would explain why she's had to do the things she's done, her family too." Harry knew the ideas were still rough because Hermione's sentences were usually so well thought out, but at the moment they became a rambling string of seemingly unrelated thoughts. "I mean with her serving your family, and knowing ghosts and understanding nature and the way the ministry has always treated her like a house elf and her rapport with the house elves for that matter, not to mention the issues for the trial last year and legality to kill her on sight before she was pardoned and."
"Are you going to throw a period in that run-on anytime soon?" Ron chided her. She threw him a menacing glare before retreating into the stacks.
"So what do you think Ron?" asked Harry.
"I say, what does it matter? Whatever the classification she's still who she is." Ron shrugged back the urge to recite the lecture Harry had given him last year in regard to not judging the giants by what they are. Harry appreciated what was left unsaid, as much as what his friend did tell him.
"You're right. It's just odd, thinking you know a person to find out they are not really a person."
"She is a person, the way you and I think about it, just not according to the ministry. They can be a little slow on the uptake, but maybe they'll come around someday." Ron added with wisdom beyond his years.
"Of course, you're spot on. I don't know why I let it bother me. She's wonderful, I've always liked her and Sirius likes her.hey do you think the ministry will freak if they tried to get married?"
Hermione came around the corner carrying a large tome entitled 'creature rights', and interrupted.
"Probably not. It says here that a wizard once got married to a mermaid."
"Really?" Harry and Ron forgot their question in favor of 'The Tepid Tails of Mermaid Love'.
"The relationship didn't work out because of the whole living underwater thing, but the ministry didn't stop it."
*********************