Harry Potter and the Locket of Trinity: Chapter Nine
"Halloween H2O"
A/N: Time sure flies when you're, erm. writing a Harry Potter story?? Well, I'm quite pleased to see that my little review number box has upgraded from a mere seven to a whopping NINE!! AAAAAAHHHH, that's grand, thanks bundles to Anonymous Luza and BloodRedSword.
Hey, btw, RedSword, how's my summary doin now?
* * * * * It felt like no time at all had passed, when all of a sudden, it was time for the Halloween feast. The night before, a notice had been posted in the Gryffindor Common Room, saying that the first trip into Hogsmede was to be Halloween morning also.
"I can actually go this year, too. Without the aide of the invisibility cloak." Harry said in passing to his friends after reading the notice.
"Good, it's about time," Ron replied. "I was getting sick of talking to thin air every time we went on a trip. People were probably thinking I was a nutter."
"Oh no Ron, we've thought that for a long time now." Trinny teased.
"Ha, ha, very funny. Especially coming from you." Ron retorted lamely, frowning at his own horrible comeback. Trinny just grinned broadly, declaring her superiority, and walked back to their homework station at the biggest table in the common room, which also doubled as a chessboard.
Hermione was tackling an essay Professor Wood assigned them on vampire hunting habits, and was already two pieces of parchment over. " 'Moine, relax already. I hope you know the way to a man's heart is NOT by writing to it." Ron remarked, seating himself beside her at the table.
Hermione smirked mockingly. "Oh shut up. I'm merely concerned for my grade. It's due next week, don't you think you should get started on it now?"
"What's the point?" Ron argued. "He never reads them anyways, I could write about quidditch and he wouldn't notice. Actually, if the guy's anything like his little brother, he'd probably grade me higher for it."
"Jealous because girls think he's remotely handsome, are we?" Hermione shot back, clearly hurt. "I happen to think Professor Wood's an excellent teacher."
"Oh, come off of it Hermione, the man's an imbecile. He's worse than Lockhart and twice as thick. All we've been assigned this year are essays and bookwork, nothing practical at all! Personally, I think he'd be sacked if he didn't have his looks going for him and the girls fawning all over him."
Hermione gasped. Ron had gone too far, in her eyes. "And I assume you're mature enough to handle those practical assignments, aren't you?"
"Yup. I could beat that prat in a Wizard's duel any day." retorted Ron.
"Only if Dumbledore himself were your second," countered Hermione. "Then he could take over when you were blasted to oblivion!"
"I resent that!" shouted Ron, standing up and throwing his chair out behind him.
"I resent you!" Hermione replied viciously, doing the same.
In seconds both of them had their wands out and it was apparent that a duel was beginning. "Aren't you going to stop them?" Trinny asked Harry worriedly.
"Nah, they'll be fine." Harry answered, gazing at the battle with a bemused expression.
Hermione and Ron were circling each other, a wide ring of spectators forming around them. Hermione was the first to act. She both flicked her wand towards Ron and shouted "Expelliarmus" at once, so the redhead didn't have time to respond. The spell hit him in the gut and sent him flying backwards into a group of squealing first-years.
Groaning, Ron rolled over and shook himself. Hermione looked a bit apprehensive, wondering if she had caused him any real harm or not. Taking advantage of a moment when she was off her guard, Ron launched a Tickling Charm at Hermione. Immediately she doubled over in hysterics, and Ron pulled himself to his feet, grinning proudly.
He walked casually over to her where she was paralyzed with laughter, and stuck out his hand to help her up. Hermione lifted her wand hand, and for a second it looked as if she might be conceding to let him help her up, which was a sign of defeat. But when the girl's wand touched Ron's fingertips, a stream of small black spiders streamed from her wand in torrents, covering his body.
"AAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!" Ron bellowed, spinning around in a little dance frantically trying to rid himself of the creatures who seemed to be burrowing down his pants. His severe arachnophobia wasn't helping his plight much, either.
Right when Harry considered it necessary to step in no matter how much he was enjoying this, Ron began shrieking, "All right, I give, I give, just get these bloody things OFF OF ME!!!"
Calmly Hermione cupped a hand to her ear. "Come again, spider-boy?"
"I GIVE!! You were right, I was wrong, you are the supreme goddess of all. Please, just make them GO AWAY!!" Hermione obliged, tapping Ron with her wand and making the spiders disappear with a small POP and a puff of smoke.
Ron collapsed on the floor, still running his hands all over his body as if the spiders were still there. "I win." stated Hermione cheerfully, and with a chirrup of triumph she sauntered away.
"I - hate - that - girl." Ron swore through gasping breaths.
Harry, finally composing his raucous laughter enough to speak, comforted his friend. "Dunno Ron, you knew what was coming when you got into this mess."
Upon receiving a glare of death from Ron, Harry didn't press the subject. Another duel would most likely ensue, and Harry didn't want to have to see that little spider dance any time soon; his ribs needed time to heal from the bout of laughter he'd just gone through.
Twitching, Ron picked himself up off the floor and ran off to the showers, no doubt to cleanse the feel of creepy-crawlies from his body. "Wow, they must really hate each other." Trinny stated open mouthed, eyes still staring at the battle scene that was quickly being evacuated.
Harry shook his head, still smiling from the antics those two had just displayed. "Just the opposite. Things wouldn't have been nearly as interesting if they didn't care about each other so much."
Trinny stared at him in disbelief. "I'll take your word for it."
(^*^)
Ron and Hermione remained on non-speaking terms the remainder of that evening, but in the rush and excitement of the first Hogsmede trip of the year, they completely forgot to hate each other. Harry and Trinny noticed it, but they thought it best not to point this out.
After a mad scraping of every corner of his trunk for spare Knuts he might've missed, Harry finally joined his friends downstairs in the common room. There, the group of third years and older were gathered, waiting for Professor McGonagall to come and escort them out of the school and past the big wrought iron Hogwarts Entrance Gates, and on towards the all-magical settlement of Hogsmede.
"It's really that great, huh?" Trinny inquired on their way off the grounds.
"Oh my gosh, you have no idea," accented Ron, who loved nothing more than a chunk of Honeydukes best chocolate and a frothing mug of butterbeer. "There's Zonko's, the biggest wizard's joke shop on the planet. They've got teddy bears that turn into great big terrorizing menaces, and roses that squirt foul-smelling juice in the smeller's face, and chair shrinkers, and dungbombs, not to mention their exquisite array of trick candies. They even bought up some of Fred and George's Canary Creams; though I think Zonko's got the worse end of the deal if truth be told."
Trinny smiled with anticipation. "That sounds great. I'll have to get my hands of some of that trick candy."
"Forget about the trick candy, you'll have trouble enough keeping your hands off the Honeyduke's candy!" Harry laughed, mouth watering at the mere thought of their chocolate.
"CANDY?!" Trinny shrieked with glee.
Hermione nodded. "They've got enough chocolate to chase away even your worst bad day, if you know what I mean. Even a special Girl's Section with sweets targeted at relieving that sort of thing." she explained with a wink. Harry and Ron just stared straight ahead, feeling their ears turning red with the mention of the ailments of the female reproductive system.
At long last, the laborious hike paid off as Hogsmede came into view. A few excited third years who had never been there before broke into a run, but, not wanting to seem childish or uncool, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Trinny hung back. Well, that is, until Trinny squealed and grabbed Harry's hand, taking off after the children and squealing with pleasure.
She really isn't afraid of what other people think. Harry thought to himself as Trinny investigated every nook and cranny of Zonko's, amused with even the most immature gag. Both friends walked out of the shop with full sacks and lighter wallets.
After that, they hit Honeydukes, where the majority of the school had crammed themselves. Trinny was like a kid in a candy store, she was so floored by the magnitude of the sweets shop.
Well, she was a kid in a candy store, but the meaning of the metaphor wasn't lost on her.
True to her word, Hermione's foretold 'Girl's section' held some of the frilliest candies that money could buy, but Trinny held back on those. "Not quite my taste." she groaned after replacing a ballerina cookie with disgust, which was quickly picked back up by Lavender Brown along with every other pink thing on the rack. Thank God, Harry thought. I'd hate to find out that Trinity was one of those uber girly-fairies or something.
After purchasing the 'Samplers Pack,' a very LARGE bag of candy that gave you a sample of everything Honeydukes had to offer, Trinny and Harry meandered over to The Three Broomsticks, where they met up with Ron and Hermione.
"Where have you two been? You have no idea how much fun you missed out on." Trinny asked, taking a seat next to them.
"Eh, the novelty wears off after a while. Ron and I decided to come in for a pick-me-up." Hermione replied, exchanging an embarrassed grin with her red haired partner. Harry had an idea that boredom wasn't the only factor in their deciding to come into a dark restaurant together by themselves.
"So, what'd ya get?" Ron asked, changing the subject rapidly.
Either Trinny didn't notice, or she spared her friends the discomfort of teasing them, because she dove right in to every detail of her and Harry's adventure at Hogsmede. Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled as her description went on, recalling their own first impressions of the wizarding town. Of course, Harry's first impression had occurred from underneath his Invisibility Cloak, so he hadn't experienced everything fully until now.
Before they knew it, they had ordered their fourth round of butterbeer from Rosemerta, and Professor McGonagall was motioning at them to get a move on, because it was time to head back up to the castle. "Oh." murmured Trinny with disappointment, gathering up her cloak and purse (which was now quite empty) and walking out the door with her friends.
"Don't look so sad, we'll be coming back in a couple of months." Harry comforted, with a halfway smiling expression about how crushed Trinny looked.
"Oh, I know," Trinny laughed. "But I just hated it to end, I was having so much fun."
"I know what you mean." Harry answered wistfully, as Trinny cuddled up against his cloak, seeking refuge from the cutting wind.
(^*^)
The Halloween feast was incredible, as always. Hagrid's pumpkins were the size of small cottages, with full bodies carved into them that winked and grinned, and occasionally "Boo" - ed the passersby.
Trinny and Harry were excitedly discussing what affect a dungbomb would have on Trevor, Neville's toad, if they fed it to him. "I swear to you, it'd explode!" Harry argued.
"Just because it did when you put it in a pie doesn't mean it will be the same for a living creature. I think Trevor'd smoke out of every available orifice, but combustion simply doesn't seem possibl - ooer." Trinny trailed off upon seeing the splendidly decorated Great Hall.
"Breathtaking, isn't it?" inquired Hermione, sharing the same expression as Trinny.
Dazed, the group took a seat at the Gryffindor House table, craning their necks to thoroughly investigate even the tiniest ornamentation. Live bats dive-bombed at Trinny's hat, but she didn't pull a Parvati and run screaming from the hall. In fact, she was trying to catch one before the little buggers grew nervous of her and went to find a pack of first-years to torment.
The castle ghosts did a freaky swing-dancing number to music that closely resembled nails on a chalkboard, and Harry noticed that Nearly Headless Nick was wearing a wide-brimmed black silk top hat in celebration of his Deathday.
Suddenly, Harry noticed a ghost he hadn't seen around the school before. He had a sort of greenish tint to his transparent body, and wore a blank white mask over his face. He pointed the newbie out to Ron.
Ron shrugged. "You never know the types that'll turn up at Hogwarts for Halloween. Maybe he's here for Nick's deathday party."
"Maybe." Harry answered, feeling unsure. There was something unnerving about that particular ghost's appearance. he didn't look as ancient, as dignified as his surrounding fellows. He looked like a student, actually, Harry noticed with a jolt. His robes were the very same that Harry himself was wearing at that moment, and there were tennis shoes on his feet. Interesting.
Of course, as soon as the feast began, Harry's mind was relieved of worrying about anything save for whether to choose the blueberry or raspberry tart. By the end of the meal, all thoughts of that mysterious ghost had been replaced by the desire to sleep.
"Mmm. I think that was the best meal I've ever had." remarked Trinny on their trek up to the common room.
"Uhm." Harry answered, too lazy to be bothered with civilized speech.
Harry didn't even remember changing into his pajamas or washing his face that night, but indeed he must have at some point, because he awoke snug and warm the next morning with sleep crusties in the corners of his eyes and a rumbling in his tummy.
"I can't believe I'm hungry, after all the eating I did last night." Harry mumbled, turning over in his bunk.
"I can't believe you're still sleepy, with it being almost noon!" a voice griped from below him. Harry rolled himself over and hung his head over the edge of his bunk to see Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean staring up at him.
"Well hullo to you too. C'mon, we've got a game of quidditch planned for this afternoon. That is, if you ever get out of bed." Seamus griped.
"A Quidditch game?!" Harry shrieked with fear, thinking he missed a match.
"No, no, no, not an actual game," Dean explained, to which Harry relaxed and nuzzled back into his pillow. "The girls challenged the boys to an unofficial game this afternoon. Whoever wins gets an ancient medallion to hang up in their dormitories, and the good chairs by the fire for the rest of the year."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "So I assume I'm playing?"
"No." Ron answered sarcastically.
"It's not like you're a talented seeker or anything, you know. Just the best we've had in fifty years, that's all." Neville put in.
"And I really want those good chairs. Lately the girls have stolen them for painting toenails and such." Dean prompted.
Groaning, Harry pushed himself into the sitting position. "Fine, fine, I'm getting up."
"And hurry, we've got to break in our new chasers." urged Ron.
"Who?" Harry inquired, realizing that all the house team chasers were girls, and were obviously playing for the opposing team.
Ron didn't answer, he simply waved his arms around the room. "What?" Harry asked, not quite understanding. "Give me a break, it's early and I'm tired."
Neville rolled his eyes. "Us, of course!"
A siren began going off in Harry's head. Neville was a chaser? Flying on a broomstick? ONE HUNDRED FEET IN THE AIR?! This could be really, really bad.
* * * * *
A/N: Uh-oh! Hehehe, this next chappie's gonna be FUN for me. lol, a quidditch tournament betwixt the Gryffindor boys and girls. Who's it gonna be?? The boys, with Harry's excellent seeker-esque, or the girls with their experienced chasers?? Read on, noble reviewer, for next week shalt contain those truths!
(my, I AM a drama queen, aren't I?)
Love from,
Saranimal
HaloGal5@aol.com
"Halloween H2O"
A/N: Time sure flies when you're, erm. writing a Harry Potter story?? Well, I'm quite pleased to see that my little review number box has upgraded from a mere seven to a whopping NINE!! AAAAAAHHHH, that's grand, thanks bundles to Anonymous Luza and BloodRedSword.
Hey, btw, RedSword, how's my summary doin now?
* * * * * It felt like no time at all had passed, when all of a sudden, it was time for the Halloween feast. The night before, a notice had been posted in the Gryffindor Common Room, saying that the first trip into Hogsmede was to be Halloween morning also.
"I can actually go this year, too. Without the aide of the invisibility cloak." Harry said in passing to his friends after reading the notice.
"Good, it's about time," Ron replied. "I was getting sick of talking to thin air every time we went on a trip. People were probably thinking I was a nutter."
"Oh no Ron, we've thought that for a long time now." Trinny teased.
"Ha, ha, very funny. Especially coming from you." Ron retorted lamely, frowning at his own horrible comeback. Trinny just grinned broadly, declaring her superiority, and walked back to their homework station at the biggest table in the common room, which also doubled as a chessboard.
Hermione was tackling an essay Professor Wood assigned them on vampire hunting habits, and was already two pieces of parchment over. " 'Moine, relax already. I hope you know the way to a man's heart is NOT by writing to it." Ron remarked, seating himself beside her at the table.
Hermione smirked mockingly. "Oh shut up. I'm merely concerned for my grade. It's due next week, don't you think you should get started on it now?"
"What's the point?" Ron argued. "He never reads them anyways, I could write about quidditch and he wouldn't notice. Actually, if the guy's anything like his little brother, he'd probably grade me higher for it."
"Jealous because girls think he's remotely handsome, are we?" Hermione shot back, clearly hurt. "I happen to think Professor Wood's an excellent teacher."
"Oh, come off of it Hermione, the man's an imbecile. He's worse than Lockhart and twice as thick. All we've been assigned this year are essays and bookwork, nothing practical at all! Personally, I think he'd be sacked if he didn't have his looks going for him and the girls fawning all over him."
Hermione gasped. Ron had gone too far, in her eyes. "And I assume you're mature enough to handle those practical assignments, aren't you?"
"Yup. I could beat that prat in a Wizard's duel any day." retorted Ron.
"Only if Dumbledore himself were your second," countered Hermione. "Then he could take over when you were blasted to oblivion!"
"I resent that!" shouted Ron, standing up and throwing his chair out behind him.
"I resent you!" Hermione replied viciously, doing the same.
In seconds both of them had their wands out and it was apparent that a duel was beginning. "Aren't you going to stop them?" Trinny asked Harry worriedly.
"Nah, they'll be fine." Harry answered, gazing at the battle with a bemused expression.
Hermione and Ron were circling each other, a wide ring of spectators forming around them. Hermione was the first to act. She both flicked her wand towards Ron and shouted "Expelliarmus" at once, so the redhead didn't have time to respond. The spell hit him in the gut and sent him flying backwards into a group of squealing first-years.
Groaning, Ron rolled over and shook himself. Hermione looked a bit apprehensive, wondering if she had caused him any real harm or not. Taking advantage of a moment when she was off her guard, Ron launched a Tickling Charm at Hermione. Immediately she doubled over in hysterics, and Ron pulled himself to his feet, grinning proudly.
He walked casually over to her where she was paralyzed with laughter, and stuck out his hand to help her up. Hermione lifted her wand hand, and for a second it looked as if she might be conceding to let him help her up, which was a sign of defeat. But when the girl's wand touched Ron's fingertips, a stream of small black spiders streamed from her wand in torrents, covering his body.
"AAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!" Ron bellowed, spinning around in a little dance frantically trying to rid himself of the creatures who seemed to be burrowing down his pants. His severe arachnophobia wasn't helping his plight much, either.
Right when Harry considered it necessary to step in no matter how much he was enjoying this, Ron began shrieking, "All right, I give, I give, just get these bloody things OFF OF ME!!!"
Calmly Hermione cupped a hand to her ear. "Come again, spider-boy?"
"I GIVE!! You were right, I was wrong, you are the supreme goddess of all. Please, just make them GO AWAY!!" Hermione obliged, tapping Ron with her wand and making the spiders disappear with a small POP and a puff of smoke.
Ron collapsed on the floor, still running his hands all over his body as if the spiders were still there. "I win." stated Hermione cheerfully, and with a chirrup of triumph she sauntered away.
"I - hate - that - girl." Ron swore through gasping breaths.
Harry, finally composing his raucous laughter enough to speak, comforted his friend. "Dunno Ron, you knew what was coming when you got into this mess."
Upon receiving a glare of death from Ron, Harry didn't press the subject. Another duel would most likely ensue, and Harry didn't want to have to see that little spider dance any time soon; his ribs needed time to heal from the bout of laughter he'd just gone through.
Twitching, Ron picked himself up off the floor and ran off to the showers, no doubt to cleanse the feel of creepy-crawlies from his body. "Wow, they must really hate each other." Trinny stated open mouthed, eyes still staring at the battle scene that was quickly being evacuated.
Harry shook his head, still smiling from the antics those two had just displayed. "Just the opposite. Things wouldn't have been nearly as interesting if they didn't care about each other so much."
Trinny stared at him in disbelief. "I'll take your word for it."
(^*^)
Ron and Hermione remained on non-speaking terms the remainder of that evening, but in the rush and excitement of the first Hogsmede trip of the year, they completely forgot to hate each other. Harry and Trinny noticed it, but they thought it best not to point this out.
After a mad scraping of every corner of his trunk for spare Knuts he might've missed, Harry finally joined his friends downstairs in the common room. There, the group of third years and older were gathered, waiting for Professor McGonagall to come and escort them out of the school and past the big wrought iron Hogwarts Entrance Gates, and on towards the all-magical settlement of Hogsmede.
"It's really that great, huh?" Trinny inquired on their way off the grounds.
"Oh my gosh, you have no idea," accented Ron, who loved nothing more than a chunk of Honeydukes best chocolate and a frothing mug of butterbeer. "There's Zonko's, the biggest wizard's joke shop on the planet. They've got teddy bears that turn into great big terrorizing menaces, and roses that squirt foul-smelling juice in the smeller's face, and chair shrinkers, and dungbombs, not to mention their exquisite array of trick candies. They even bought up some of Fred and George's Canary Creams; though I think Zonko's got the worse end of the deal if truth be told."
Trinny smiled with anticipation. "That sounds great. I'll have to get my hands of some of that trick candy."
"Forget about the trick candy, you'll have trouble enough keeping your hands off the Honeyduke's candy!" Harry laughed, mouth watering at the mere thought of their chocolate.
"CANDY?!" Trinny shrieked with glee.
Hermione nodded. "They've got enough chocolate to chase away even your worst bad day, if you know what I mean. Even a special Girl's Section with sweets targeted at relieving that sort of thing." she explained with a wink. Harry and Ron just stared straight ahead, feeling their ears turning red with the mention of the ailments of the female reproductive system.
At long last, the laborious hike paid off as Hogsmede came into view. A few excited third years who had never been there before broke into a run, but, not wanting to seem childish or uncool, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Trinny hung back. Well, that is, until Trinny squealed and grabbed Harry's hand, taking off after the children and squealing with pleasure.
She really isn't afraid of what other people think. Harry thought to himself as Trinny investigated every nook and cranny of Zonko's, amused with even the most immature gag. Both friends walked out of the shop with full sacks and lighter wallets.
After that, they hit Honeydukes, where the majority of the school had crammed themselves. Trinny was like a kid in a candy store, she was so floored by the magnitude of the sweets shop.
Well, she was a kid in a candy store, but the meaning of the metaphor wasn't lost on her.
True to her word, Hermione's foretold 'Girl's section' held some of the frilliest candies that money could buy, but Trinny held back on those. "Not quite my taste." she groaned after replacing a ballerina cookie with disgust, which was quickly picked back up by Lavender Brown along with every other pink thing on the rack. Thank God, Harry thought. I'd hate to find out that Trinity was one of those uber girly-fairies or something.
After purchasing the 'Samplers Pack,' a very LARGE bag of candy that gave you a sample of everything Honeydukes had to offer, Trinny and Harry meandered over to The Three Broomsticks, where they met up with Ron and Hermione.
"Where have you two been? You have no idea how much fun you missed out on." Trinny asked, taking a seat next to them.
"Eh, the novelty wears off after a while. Ron and I decided to come in for a pick-me-up." Hermione replied, exchanging an embarrassed grin with her red haired partner. Harry had an idea that boredom wasn't the only factor in their deciding to come into a dark restaurant together by themselves.
"So, what'd ya get?" Ron asked, changing the subject rapidly.
Either Trinny didn't notice, or she spared her friends the discomfort of teasing them, because she dove right in to every detail of her and Harry's adventure at Hogsmede. Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled as her description went on, recalling their own first impressions of the wizarding town. Of course, Harry's first impression had occurred from underneath his Invisibility Cloak, so he hadn't experienced everything fully until now.
Before they knew it, they had ordered their fourth round of butterbeer from Rosemerta, and Professor McGonagall was motioning at them to get a move on, because it was time to head back up to the castle. "Oh." murmured Trinny with disappointment, gathering up her cloak and purse (which was now quite empty) and walking out the door with her friends.
"Don't look so sad, we'll be coming back in a couple of months." Harry comforted, with a halfway smiling expression about how crushed Trinny looked.
"Oh, I know," Trinny laughed. "But I just hated it to end, I was having so much fun."
"I know what you mean." Harry answered wistfully, as Trinny cuddled up against his cloak, seeking refuge from the cutting wind.
(^*^)
The Halloween feast was incredible, as always. Hagrid's pumpkins were the size of small cottages, with full bodies carved into them that winked and grinned, and occasionally "Boo" - ed the passersby.
Trinny and Harry were excitedly discussing what affect a dungbomb would have on Trevor, Neville's toad, if they fed it to him. "I swear to you, it'd explode!" Harry argued.
"Just because it did when you put it in a pie doesn't mean it will be the same for a living creature. I think Trevor'd smoke out of every available orifice, but combustion simply doesn't seem possibl - ooer." Trinny trailed off upon seeing the splendidly decorated Great Hall.
"Breathtaking, isn't it?" inquired Hermione, sharing the same expression as Trinny.
Dazed, the group took a seat at the Gryffindor House table, craning their necks to thoroughly investigate even the tiniest ornamentation. Live bats dive-bombed at Trinny's hat, but she didn't pull a Parvati and run screaming from the hall. In fact, she was trying to catch one before the little buggers grew nervous of her and went to find a pack of first-years to torment.
The castle ghosts did a freaky swing-dancing number to music that closely resembled nails on a chalkboard, and Harry noticed that Nearly Headless Nick was wearing a wide-brimmed black silk top hat in celebration of his Deathday.
Suddenly, Harry noticed a ghost he hadn't seen around the school before. He had a sort of greenish tint to his transparent body, and wore a blank white mask over his face. He pointed the newbie out to Ron.
Ron shrugged. "You never know the types that'll turn up at Hogwarts for Halloween. Maybe he's here for Nick's deathday party."
"Maybe." Harry answered, feeling unsure. There was something unnerving about that particular ghost's appearance. he didn't look as ancient, as dignified as his surrounding fellows. He looked like a student, actually, Harry noticed with a jolt. His robes were the very same that Harry himself was wearing at that moment, and there were tennis shoes on his feet. Interesting.
Of course, as soon as the feast began, Harry's mind was relieved of worrying about anything save for whether to choose the blueberry or raspberry tart. By the end of the meal, all thoughts of that mysterious ghost had been replaced by the desire to sleep.
"Mmm. I think that was the best meal I've ever had." remarked Trinny on their trek up to the common room.
"Uhm." Harry answered, too lazy to be bothered with civilized speech.
Harry didn't even remember changing into his pajamas or washing his face that night, but indeed he must have at some point, because he awoke snug and warm the next morning with sleep crusties in the corners of his eyes and a rumbling in his tummy.
"I can't believe I'm hungry, after all the eating I did last night." Harry mumbled, turning over in his bunk.
"I can't believe you're still sleepy, with it being almost noon!" a voice griped from below him. Harry rolled himself over and hung his head over the edge of his bunk to see Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean staring up at him.
"Well hullo to you too. C'mon, we've got a game of quidditch planned for this afternoon. That is, if you ever get out of bed." Seamus griped.
"A Quidditch game?!" Harry shrieked with fear, thinking he missed a match.
"No, no, no, not an actual game," Dean explained, to which Harry relaxed and nuzzled back into his pillow. "The girls challenged the boys to an unofficial game this afternoon. Whoever wins gets an ancient medallion to hang up in their dormitories, and the good chairs by the fire for the rest of the year."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "So I assume I'm playing?"
"No." Ron answered sarcastically.
"It's not like you're a talented seeker or anything, you know. Just the best we've had in fifty years, that's all." Neville put in.
"And I really want those good chairs. Lately the girls have stolen them for painting toenails and such." Dean prompted.
Groaning, Harry pushed himself into the sitting position. "Fine, fine, I'm getting up."
"And hurry, we've got to break in our new chasers." urged Ron.
"Who?" Harry inquired, realizing that all the house team chasers were girls, and were obviously playing for the opposing team.
Ron didn't answer, he simply waved his arms around the room. "What?" Harry asked, not quite understanding. "Give me a break, it's early and I'm tired."
Neville rolled his eyes. "Us, of course!"
A siren began going off in Harry's head. Neville was a chaser? Flying on a broomstick? ONE HUNDRED FEET IN THE AIR?! This could be really, really bad.
* * * * *
A/N: Uh-oh! Hehehe, this next chappie's gonna be FUN for me. lol, a quidditch tournament betwixt the Gryffindor boys and girls. Who's it gonna be?? The boys, with Harry's excellent seeker-esque, or the girls with their experienced chasers?? Read on, noble reviewer, for next week shalt contain those truths!
(my, I AM a drama queen, aren't I?)
Love from,
Saranimal
HaloGal5@aol.com