Chapter Six
The Handbook of Modern Dark Magic
Things at Hogwarts came in at such a frantic, flurrying pace that Llewellyn could hardly believe that two months had mysteriously passed. She and Harry were at a kind of stalemate truce, keeping it at a friendship kind of level but still referring to each other as boy and girl friends. It was a good place to be sitting in.
It was a cold and chilly beginning of November that reminded everyone that winter snows were on their way. The Gryffindors changed their post- Transfiguration route to go to the library for Visilio's class. Finally, after a month of discussion, they were going to look at some books on the Dark Arts in the Restricted Section.
Hermione's old bookish ways resurfaced as she entered the library, nearly skipping with joy at getting her hands on something secret, and special. The hair on Harry's neck raised as Visilio motioned the class to gather around the opening of the Restricted Section.
"Today we are finally going to be researching some books in the Restricted Section. As you know, this is a very special time for all of you, as you have not even been near the Restricted Section. Isn't that right, Irma?"
The vulture-like librarian looked ready to scavenge Visilio. "That's Madame Pince to you."
Visilio raised his hands. "So-o-or-ry."
Ron nudged Harry.
"Anyway," he continued, turning to the class. " You will need to break into groups of four or five and I will give your group a different book on beginner Dark Hexes. Each person chooses one hex from the book and a two-foot essay on when it is used and how to deflect it will be due in two weeks."
Harry, Ron, Llewellyn, and Hermione nodded at each other.
Visilio walked into the Restricted Section, visibly stiffening and slowing his pace as he scanned the dusty shelves before the class. He came to a bookcase in the back and selected five titles. He returned with the volumes and ushered the class groups towards the worktables.
"Here you go, Hexes that Harm & Curses that Kill, a rather grisly one, if I remember properly. I'll give you Dusk and Darkness; Shadows and Shades, and you guys can take the Handbook of Modern Dark Magic." Visilio handed Hermione a small black book with silver lettering and decoration. Most striking was a life-sized three-headed, striped, black and silver snake coiled on the cover with glowing green eyes. It was most eerie and beautiful at the same time. She eagerly sat down at the table, and Ron, Harry, and Llewellyn joined her.
She opened to the first page. "A Handbook of Modern Dark Magic, by Professor Pullus Grindelwald. Printed in 1901."
"Not exactly modern," commented Ron. Hermione turned the page and continued.
"History of Dark Magic, pages 7 to 132. Notable Names...Potions...oh, here, Hexes, page 376." Harry's headache worsened as she went deeper into the book, and he grimaced as he realized it was his scar burning again. He rubbed it off-handedly, hoping the throbbing pains would cease or he would get used to them and quick. "Here, Llewellyn, you can take the Stolidus Hex. Ron, you can do the Aufero Aetas Hex. Harry, you'll work on the Virga Dilabor Hex, and I will take the Esurio Infinitas Hex."
"You guys can have the book first, I'll do this next weekend," announced Harry, still absent-mindedly rubbing his forehead.
"What are you doing this week -" began Ron, then suddenly he remembered. "Hey, your first Quidditch match!"
Harry smiled. "Practices have been really good with Katie as captain. And our new Keeper, Lawrence Bone, is dynamite."
Llewellyn finally tore her eyes from the silver snake on the Handbook's cover and looked at Harry. "I've heard all about Quidditch from the moment I got here. I'm really excited, but I still haven't a clue on how to play."
"Wait right there," said Hermione. She stood up and sprinted to a shelf somewhere in the front. Scanning the titles quickly, she came to a green volume and tugged it out of the case. She returned with Quidditch through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp and handed it to Llewellyn.
"Hey, I wanna read that too," added Ron. "I'll have it when you're done."
A loud Shh! from Madame Pince silenced the group, and they copied information on their hexes quietly for the rest of the period.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday morning was strangely warm and a bit humid for the time of year. Harry ate breakfast early and got into the locker room before anyone else arrived. His headache had mercifully disappeared, but it would appear again without fail whenever that book came near him. Very odd.
Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet walked into the locker room, with rather grim faces. Harry's stomach tightened at the sight of them. He had been surprisingly calm considering it was the first game without Oliver. The new keeper, Lawrence, was a fourth-year, finally taking Harry out as the youngest. He was half-and-half, and he had been working all summer with his father for the Quidditch trials. It was apparent as he spun around the goal posts no-handedly and blocked nearly every shot by the Chasers like he was born to do it.
Lawrence walked into the room, followed by the final two members of the team, Fred and George Weasley. They were seventh-years now and Harry noticed that they goofed around less than ever. The team all changed and Katie gathered them to the front, right inside the door leading onto the pitch. She took a deep breath.
"Men -"
"And women," added Angelina, smiling.
"This is it," said George.
"The big one," said Fred.
"The one you've all been waiting for," finished Harry, grinning.
"Slytherin has a new captain, too: Adrian Pucey. Let's show them what a girl leader can do," pressed Alicia.
"Are you ready for your first game, Lawrence?" asked Katie.
"I've been ready since I sat on a broomstick when I was four," he answered steadfastly, but his paper-white face showed he felt more than a little giddy.
"Let's go already!" called Angelina. They walked onto the pitch.
"What did your first game feel like, Harry?" asked Lawrence shakily.
"Exactly like what you feel like right now," replied Harry confidently. "Don't worry! You'll do great. The other Keeper loves Starfish and Stick, and you know Angelina's made you do it a thousand times so she could score at any angle. Just keep the ball out of the hoops like you always do and we'll win, no sweat."
"Thanks." Lawrence smiled and gulped as he looked up at the stands, a lot more intimidating now they were full of people. The opposing Slytherin team in green was on the pitch already. Harry saw Malfoy, looking rather solemn instead of his usual sneering expression. He thought of Llewellyn, and peered up in the stands for a sign of any of his friends. Two redheads, Ron and Ginny, waved madly to him, and he waved back, feeling a little better.
The teams kicked off from the pitch, and Harry noticed Lawrence was shaking. He hoped that his nerves would calm down in time to block the Slytherin Chasers, who looked as if they had grown over the summer. Adrian Pucey nodded to everyone on his team and they eyed Madame Hooch hungrily, eager to snatch the Quaffle and begin the game. Katie looked around at the Gryffindors, all of them eager and ready to go. Madame Hooch blew her whistle and threw up the Quaffle.
"And the Quaffle is snatched out of the air by Adrian Pucey and passed to - wait, interception by captain Katie Bell -thrown to Angelina Johnson -Bludger nearly gets her, nice swerve -oh, she's disoriented, it looks like, yes the Quaffle has been yanked out of her grasp by Martin Higgs -going straight towards goal post -OUCH! -beautiful Bludger shot by one of the Weasleys gets Higgs and the Quaffle is dropped -nice pickup by Alicia Spinnet, Quaffle now headed towards other goal -Hawkshead formation by Gryffindor Chasers -it looks as if Keeper Gary Duluth is attempting Starfish and Stick -Bludger aimed straight at Alicia by Wilson and nearly gets her -Pass to Angelina, who moves into goal zone -Duluth is now in Starfish and Stick -come on, you can get it - GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"
Harry did a loop-the-loop high in the sky. All that practice came in handy! He came in a little closer and checked again for the Snitch, keeping an eye on Malfoy. A Bludger came pelting out of the Slytherin goal zone, but George was quicker and slammed it towards center field where the Quaffle was. "Good luck!" he called, flying down into the fray. No sign of the Snitch yet.
The Quaffle came close to the Gryffindor goal zone, Martin Higgs in possession and the other two Chasers flying close around him for protection. Lawrence tightened his grip on the broomstick with his legs and gulped as the other Chasers veered off and Higgs entered the goal zone.
The whole audience seemed to hold their breath with Lawrence as Higgs stared him down, hovering with the Quaffle and ready to shoot, for what seemed like an eternity, but was only really half a minute. Finally, he moved, and Lawrence showed his lightening-fast reflexes that only hours on hours of practice could have developed.
Higgs shot forward and threw the ball towards the right hoop, and Lawrence moved sideways and flung both of his hands out. Higgs snatched the Quaffle out of its path and swerved to the left hoop. Lawrence corkscrewed upside down - with no hands - and snatched the faked Quaffle out of the air. All this happened in the course of less than five seconds, and the stands went wild. Lawrence was positively beaming as he passed the Quaffle to Katie, who began towards the other goal post. She was stopped by Hooch's whistle and Lawrence's face fell. Was there a foul?
Harry had been watching the Higgs-Lawrence standoff along with the rest of the stadium when he noticed movement below him. Wary of Bludgers, he moved out of its path when he suddenly realized it was the Snitch itself. He looked around quickly. Everyone, including Malfoy, was entranced with what was happening at the Gryffindor goal post. Harry did a swift dive and deftly cupped the Snitch in his right hand just as Lawrence blocked the shot, and he didn't know if the crowds were cheering for him or for Lawrence. Madame Hooch saw Harry, blew her whistle, and the game was over, Gryffindor 170 to Slytherin 0.
There was a party in the common room. Ron and Ginny took over Fred and George's job of providing snacks, quickly running down a secret passageway behind a tapestry and into a coat of arms that opened up near the kitchens. The house-elves were more than willing to provide them with barrels of crisps and chocolates. They were nearly ready to bake them a five-foot sheet cake with the Gryffindor lion on it when Ron thought of Hermione and decided to refuse. Ron and Ginny came to the Fat Lady at the same time as the Quidditch team arrived, and everyone cheered either for the team or the food.
"Bloody brilliant!" someone shouted.
"People will be talking about that one for years!" commented someone else. With a strange feeling in his stomach, Harry realized that they weren't talking about him at all.
Everyone patted Lawrence on the back. "If you guard our posts like that all year, the House Cup will be ours before you can say 'Quidditch'," announced Katie beamishly.
"How in the world did you manage to learn that one?" asked Fred.
"What broom do you have, anyway?" added George.
"I didn't learn it, I just...did it." Lawrence shrugged, smiling. "And I have a really nice Nimbus 2000."
Harry suddenly found himself hating Lawrence.
"That was really, really cool!" Llewellyn appeared out of the crowd at Harry's side. "Not as cool as Quodpot 2000, of course, but that was really cool!"
"Did you see me catch the Snitch?" he asked expectantly.
"I saw you going down, that's about it. But did you see that standoff? Man! Hooch wants to get that made into an official move, the Lawrence Bone Loop, like all the other things in Quidditch Through the Ages. That's a really great book. Did you know that the Bludgers used to be called 'Blooders', and that capturing the Snitch isn't the only way to end the game, both captains can consent to end it?"
Harry didn't open his mouth; he was afraid he would either say something horrible or throw up right there because he felt so sick. He elbowed his way through the crowd and went to his dormitory alone. He was mad at Lawrence for being Lawrence, and mad at himself for being mad at Lawrence. It was an altogether strange mixture of envy and embarrassment, and he hated it. And that headache was acting up again...
He stopped himself. Why was his scar hurting? He looked around the dormitory and soon discovered the cause: the Handbook was on Ron's nightstand, along with about a foot of writing. Maybe doing schoolwork would help Harry calm down - never mind the pain.
Moving the parchment aside, he remarked again at how lifelike the silver snake was. Ignoring the stabbing pains in his head, he picked up the book.
You! the voice howled.
Harry dropped the book on the floor in surprise and alarm.
"Did you just say that?" he asked. The six green eyes glittered wickedly in the light but the book did nothing. He stared at it for a moment and picked it up again.
I knew you would be here eventually.
"Stop that!"
Harry quickly put the book on the end table and covered it with Ron's parchment. He stole another glance at it before leaving the dormitory, worried more at the moment about the Handbook than Lawrence.
The Handbook of Modern Dark Magic
Things at Hogwarts came in at such a frantic, flurrying pace that Llewellyn could hardly believe that two months had mysteriously passed. She and Harry were at a kind of stalemate truce, keeping it at a friendship kind of level but still referring to each other as boy and girl friends. It was a good place to be sitting in.
It was a cold and chilly beginning of November that reminded everyone that winter snows were on their way. The Gryffindors changed their post- Transfiguration route to go to the library for Visilio's class. Finally, after a month of discussion, they were going to look at some books on the Dark Arts in the Restricted Section.
Hermione's old bookish ways resurfaced as she entered the library, nearly skipping with joy at getting her hands on something secret, and special. The hair on Harry's neck raised as Visilio motioned the class to gather around the opening of the Restricted Section.
"Today we are finally going to be researching some books in the Restricted Section. As you know, this is a very special time for all of you, as you have not even been near the Restricted Section. Isn't that right, Irma?"
The vulture-like librarian looked ready to scavenge Visilio. "That's Madame Pince to you."
Visilio raised his hands. "So-o-or-ry."
Ron nudged Harry.
"Anyway," he continued, turning to the class. " You will need to break into groups of four or five and I will give your group a different book on beginner Dark Hexes. Each person chooses one hex from the book and a two-foot essay on when it is used and how to deflect it will be due in two weeks."
Harry, Ron, Llewellyn, and Hermione nodded at each other.
Visilio walked into the Restricted Section, visibly stiffening and slowing his pace as he scanned the dusty shelves before the class. He came to a bookcase in the back and selected five titles. He returned with the volumes and ushered the class groups towards the worktables.
"Here you go, Hexes that Harm & Curses that Kill, a rather grisly one, if I remember properly. I'll give you Dusk and Darkness; Shadows and Shades, and you guys can take the Handbook of Modern Dark Magic." Visilio handed Hermione a small black book with silver lettering and decoration. Most striking was a life-sized three-headed, striped, black and silver snake coiled on the cover with glowing green eyes. It was most eerie and beautiful at the same time. She eagerly sat down at the table, and Ron, Harry, and Llewellyn joined her.
She opened to the first page. "A Handbook of Modern Dark Magic, by Professor Pullus Grindelwald. Printed in 1901."
"Not exactly modern," commented Ron. Hermione turned the page and continued.
"History of Dark Magic, pages 7 to 132. Notable Names...Potions...oh, here, Hexes, page 376." Harry's headache worsened as she went deeper into the book, and he grimaced as he realized it was his scar burning again. He rubbed it off-handedly, hoping the throbbing pains would cease or he would get used to them and quick. "Here, Llewellyn, you can take the Stolidus Hex. Ron, you can do the Aufero Aetas Hex. Harry, you'll work on the Virga Dilabor Hex, and I will take the Esurio Infinitas Hex."
"You guys can have the book first, I'll do this next weekend," announced Harry, still absent-mindedly rubbing his forehead.
"What are you doing this week -" began Ron, then suddenly he remembered. "Hey, your first Quidditch match!"
Harry smiled. "Practices have been really good with Katie as captain. And our new Keeper, Lawrence Bone, is dynamite."
Llewellyn finally tore her eyes from the silver snake on the Handbook's cover and looked at Harry. "I've heard all about Quidditch from the moment I got here. I'm really excited, but I still haven't a clue on how to play."
"Wait right there," said Hermione. She stood up and sprinted to a shelf somewhere in the front. Scanning the titles quickly, she came to a green volume and tugged it out of the case. She returned with Quidditch through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp and handed it to Llewellyn.
"Hey, I wanna read that too," added Ron. "I'll have it when you're done."
A loud Shh! from Madame Pince silenced the group, and they copied information on their hexes quietly for the rest of the period.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday morning was strangely warm and a bit humid for the time of year. Harry ate breakfast early and got into the locker room before anyone else arrived. His headache had mercifully disappeared, but it would appear again without fail whenever that book came near him. Very odd.
Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet walked into the locker room, with rather grim faces. Harry's stomach tightened at the sight of them. He had been surprisingly calm considering it was the first game without Oliver. The new keeper, Lawrence, was a fourth-year, finally taking Harry out as the youngest. He was half-and-half, and he had been working all summer with his father for the Quidditch trials. It was apparent as he spun around the goal posts no-handedly and blocked nearly every shot by the Chasers like he was born to do it.
Lawrence walked into the room, followed by the final two members of the team, Fred and George Weasley. They were seventh-years now and Harry noticed that they goofed around less than ever. The team all changed and Katie gathered them to the front, right inside the door leading onto the pitch. She took a deep breath.
"Men -"
"And women," added Angelina, smiling.
"This is it," said George.
"The big one," said Fred.
"The one you've all been waiting for," finished Harry, grinning.
"Slytherin has a new captain, too: Adrian Pucey. Let's show them what a girl leader can do," pressed Alicia.
"Are you ready for your first game, Lawrence?" asked Katie.
"I've been ready since I sat on a broomstick when I was four," he answered steadfastly, but his paper-white face showed he felt more than a little giddy.
"Let's go already!" called Angelina. They walked onto the pitch.
"What did your first game feel like, Harry?" asked Lawrence shakily.
"Exactly like what you feel like right now," replied Harry confidently. "Don't worry! You'll do great. The other Keeper loves Starfish and Stick, and you know Angelina's made you do it a thousand times so she could score at any angle. Just keep the ball out of the hoops like you always do and we'll win, no sweat."
"Thanks." Lawrence smiled and gulped as he looked up at the stands, a lot more intimidating now they were full of people. The opposing Slytherin team in green was on the pitch already. Harry saw Malfoy, looking rather solemn instead of his usual sneering expression. He thought of Llewellyn, and peered up in the stands for a sign of any of his friends. Two redheads, Ron and Ginny, waved madly to him, and he waved back, feeling a little better.
The teams kicked off from the pitch, and Harry noticed Lawrence was shaking. He hoped that his nerves would calm down in time to block the Slytherin Chasers, who looked as if they had grown over the summer. Adrian Pucey nodded to everyone on his team and they eyed Madame Hooch hungrily, eager to snatch the Quaffle and begin the game. Katie looked around at the Gryffindors, all of them eager and ready to go. Madame Hooch blew her whistle and threw up the Quaffle.
"And the Quaffle is snatched out of the air by Adrian Pucey and passed to - wait, interception by captain Katie Bell -thrown to Angelina Johnson -Bludger nearly gets her, nice swerve -oh, she's disoriented, it looks like, yes the Quaffle has been yanked out of her grasp by Martin Higgs -going straight towards goal post -OUCH! -beautiful Bludger shot by one of the Weasleys gets Higgs and the Quaffle is dropped -nice pickup by Alicia Spinnet, Quaffle now headed towards other goal -Hawkshead formation by Gryffindor Chasers -it looks as if Keeper Gary Duluth is attempting Starfish and Stick -Bludger aimed straight at Alicia by Wilson and nearly gets her -Pass to Angelina, who moves into goal zone -Duluth is now in Starfish and Stick -come on, you can get it - GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"
Harry did a loop-the-loop high in the sky. All that practice came in handy! He came in a little closer and checked again for the Snitch, keeping an eye on Malfoy. A Bludger came pelting out of the Slytherin goal zone, but George was quicker and slammed it towards center field where the Quaffle was. "Good luck!" he called, flying down into the fray. No sign of the Snitch yet.
The Quaffle came close to the Gryffindor goal zone, Martin Higgs in possession and the other two Chasers flying close around him for protection. Lawrence tightened his grip on the broomstick with his legs and gulped as the other Chasers veered off and Higgs entered the goal zone.
The whole audience seemed to hold their breath with Lawrence as Higgs stared him down, hovering with the Quaffle and ready to shoot, for what seemed like an eternity, but was only really half a minute. Finally, he moved, and Lawrence showed his lightening-fast reflexes that only hours on hours of practice could have developed.
Higgs shot forward and threw the ball towards the right hoop, and Lawrence moved sideways and flung both of his hands out. Higgs snatched the Quaffle out of its path and swerved to the left hoop. Lawrence corkscrewed upside down - with no hands - and snatched the faked Quaffle out of the air. All this happened in the course of less than five seconds, and the stands went wild. Lawrence was positively beaming as he passed the Quaffle to Katie, who began towards the other goal post. She was stopped by Hooch's whistle and Lawrence's face fell. Was there a foul?
Harry had been watching the Higgs-Lawrence standoff along with the rest of the stadium when he noticed movement below him. Wary of Bludgers, he moved out of its path when he suddenly realized it was the Snitch itself. He looked around quickly. Everyone, including Malfoy, was entranced with what was happening at the Gryffindor goal post. Harry did a swift dive and deftly cupped the Snitch in his right hand just as Lawrence blocked the shot, and he didn't know if the crowds were cheering for him or for Lawrence. Madame Hooch saw Harry, blew her whistle, and the game was over, Gryffindor 170 to Slytherin 0.
There was a party in the common room. Ron and Ginny took over Fred and George's job of providing snacks, quickly running down a secret passageway behind a tapestry and into a coat of arms that opened up near the kitchens. The house-elves were more than willing to provide them with barrels of crisps and chocolates. They were nearly ready to bake them a five-foot sheet cake with the Gryffindor lion on it when Ron thought of Hermione and decided to refuse. Ron and Ginny came to the Fat Lady at the same time as the Quidditch team arrived, and everyone cheered either for the team or the food.
"Bloody brilliant!" someone shouted.
"People will be talking about that one for years!" commented someone else. With a strange feeling in his stomach, Harry realized that they weren't talking about him at all.
Everyone patted Lawrence on the back. "If you guard our posts like that all year, the House Cup will be ours before you can say 'Quidditch'," announced Katie beamishly.
"How in the world did you manage to learn that one?" asked Fred.
"What broom do you have, anyway?" added George.
"I didn't learn it, I just...did it." Lawrence shrugged, smiling. "And I have a really nice Nimbus 2000."
Harry suddenly found himself hating Lawrence.
"That was really, really cool!" Llewellyn appeared out of the crowd at Harry's side. "Not as cool as Quodpot 2000, of course, but that was really cool!"
"Did you see me catch the Snitch?" he asked expectantly.
"I saw you going down, that's about it. But did you see that standoff? Man! Hooch wants to get that made into an official move, the Lawrence Bone Loop, like all the other things in Quidditch Through the Ages. That's a really great book. Did you know that the Bludgers used to be called 'Blooders', and that capturing the Snitch isn't the only way to end the game, both captains can consent to end it?"
Harry didn't open his mouth; he was afraid he would either say something horrible or throw up right there because he felt so sick. He elbowed his way through the crowd and went to his dormitory alone. He was mad at Lawrence for being Lawrence, and mad at himself for being mad at Lawrence. It was an altogether strange mixture of envy and embarrassment, and he hated it. And that headache was acting up again...
He stopped himself. Why was his scar hurting? He looked around the dormitory and soon discovered the cause: the Handbook was on Ron's nightstand, along with about a foot of writing. Maybe doing schoolwork would help Harry calm down - never mind the pain.
Moving the parchment aside, he remarked again at how lifelike the silver snake was. Ignoring the stabbing pains in his head, he picked up the book.
You! the voice howled.
Harry dropped the book on the floor in surprise and alarm.
"Did you just say that?" he asked. The six green eyes glittered wickedly in the light but the book did nothing. He stared at it for a moment and picked it up again.
I knew you would be here eventually.
"Stop that!"
Harry quickly put the book on the end table and covered it with Ron's parchment. He stole another glance at it before leaving the dormitory, worried more at the moment about the Handbook than Lawrence.