Chapter Four "The Pegasus Eggs"
Laurie found it impossibly hard to sleep after hearing Professor Tournaline talking to Reagan about the Pegasus. Why would someone do such a thing? She lay awake until the sky turned pink with the dawn, staring at the ceiling as if it held answers, but to no avail. There was no apparent reason why someone had decided to murder a Pegasus the previous night. Laurie sighed as she watched the sun begin to rise over the Atlantic Ocean. The starless night was over, and it was the first day of classes.
Apparently, Laurie was not the only one in Wave who hadn't gotten any sleep the previous night. It seemed that every single person in her house had bags under their eyes, as the First Years made their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. The room soon filled with students from Wave and Flame houses, the students from Flame house laughing at the Wave students, who seemed to be falling asleep where they sat. Laurie caught sight of Julia whispering to a pale girl and pointing at Erick. The girls were giggling behind their hands, and for some reason, this made Laurie feel a bit sick to her stomach. Julia suddenly caught Laurie looking at her and smirked at her, a look that Laurie returned all-too-eagerly.
Next to her, Sarah was doodling aimlessly on a piece of parchment, and jumped when Professor Tournaline came marching into the classroom, her long white hair flying behind her like a cape. She, too, looked exhausted, but managed to smile broadly at her class as she reached the front of the room. "Well, good morning," she greeted them, in as cheerful a voice as she could possibly muster. "Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. This is the first day of classes, so we're not going to start anything complicated or tackle any beasts today. I will, however, introduce myself and explain a little bit what this class is about. My name is Rhea Tournaline, and I have been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts for the past thirty years here. I come from a long line of Native American witches and wizards that can be traced back almost to the time when people first appeared on this continent. Not that heritage matters in today's world," she gave Julia and her friend a sharp look, and they immediately stopped giggling. "In this class, you will learn to arm yourself against the dark arts. I will introduce you to dark beasts of all sorts, but at no point will you be in danger of any permanent damage." Laurie and Sarah glanced at each other sideways, wondering about Professor Tournaline's definition of "permanent." She continued. "Second semester, I hope to teach you a thing or two about defending yourself against unfriendly curses and hexes. And I daresay we will have a few dueling lessons as well." At this, a whisper of excitement went through the class. "Are there any questions?"
Jolene raised her hand. "Are we gonna study vampires and werewolves in here?" she asked in her loud voice. The Flame students snickered.
"Eventually," Professor Tournaline answered kindly, "but as they are very rare in the Americas, we won't be studying them until the end of this semester at least."
There seemed to be no more questions, until Sarah hesitantly raised her hand. Laurie looked at her, wondering what she could possibly want to know. It apparently took Professor Tournaline by surprise too, as she called on Sarah.
"I was wondering.I mean, I know this isn't a class about magical creatures or anything, but I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about Pegasus," she said softly. Immediately the room hushed and everyone's eyes were on Professor Tournaline, who gave a deep and heavy sigh, leaning back against her desk as if talking to a colleague and not a group of students. With a faraway look in her eyes, she began.
"Pegasus are very rare and magical creatures. There aren't many places in the world that breed them, but our school does. Hopefully, you will get a chance to meet these amazing creatures. They are like horses with wings, but are much more swan-like in their other characteristics. They lay eggs rather than giving birth to live young and spend a great deal of time either swimming or flying. Naturally, they can walk on the ground like any other horse, but they're more at home in the air or in the water.
Pegasus are also very powerful creatures. Though no one is quite sure what they can do on their own, it is fact that their feathers are one of the most magically potent things in the world-when the feathers are taken from a live Pegasus, that is. The feathers have healing powers, to almost as great an extent as phoenix tears. They also make the most powerful wands in the Western Hemisphere, wands that can only be handled by the most powerful witches and wizards."
Laurie felt a bolt of shock run through her. There was a Pegasus feather in HER wand, but as she leaned to tell Sarah this, another Wave First Year, Brian Chen, asked another question.
"So, if Pegasus feathers have such great power, then why aren't there more of them available for our use?" he asked in a nasal voice.
"The Pegasus feather does something else very important. It is the Pegasus feather that holds the Pegasus' life force. One feather from a Pegasus' wing won't kill it, but once it loses all of its feathers, the Pegasus is certain to die. Now, in nature, this happens very slowly, and only when the Pegasus is very old. Pegasus keep their feathers for life, so when a feather is taken from a Pegasus, it's usually taken early on and doesn't affect the Pegasus' lifespan. There is, however, a spell, which will remove all of the Pegasus' feathers at once-the 'deplumagio' spell. It's a highly complicated spell, though, and can only be performed correctly when there is no starlight," Professor Tournaline's voice had gotten softer when she talked about the Pegasus' death. This had obviously been the spell used last night.
"Why would someone want to do that?" Ella asked without bothering to raise her hand.
"There is a potion that requires the entire plumage of thirteen Pegasus. This potion, once it touches the lips of the drinker, will cause all of the drinker's mortal enemies to die within twenty-four hours, unless the drinker dies first, which happens rather often, I'm afraid. If he survives, the drinker becomes immortal and all-powerful," Professor Tournaline explained. A weary note had come into her voice. "The last time someone came close to pulling it off was when I was in this school as a first year, fifty years ago."
Class ended on a somber note and everyone filed quietly into the hall, heading for lunch. Someone was trying to make that potion, they had all realized, and if that person succeeded, it was highly likely that people would die. More than that, Laurie couldn't help but feel that her life was one of the lives that would be in danger if this potion were completed. So lost in her own thoughts she was, that she didn't even notice Julia as she brushed by her.
"Watch it!" Julia snapped, pushing Laurie, who lost her footing and crashed to the marble floor painfully. Several Flame students who were watching started laughing at this, but Sarah and Scott stalked up to Julia.
"What do you think you're doing? She didn't even do anything!" Sarah pointed out.
"You're just trying to cause trouble!" Scott accused.
Meanwhile, Erick had reached out a hand to help Laurie up. After having assessed that she was all right, he also turned to Julia with a glare of utmost disgust. Julia was still smirking at Laurie, seemingly happy that she was the center of attention, negative, as it may have been. Laurie, too, glared at Julia.
"What was that for?" she snapped.
"Just wanted an excuse to introduce you to my new friends.I see yours aren't all that great, so the invitation stands, if you ever want to join the gang. This is Alysia Riley and Vinny Carthage, both in Flame," Julia said in a singsong type of voice. The people she had introduced looked just as horrible as she. Alysia was the pale girl from Defense Against the Dark Arts. She had long, white-blonde hair and very pale blue eyes that looked almost like ice. Her skin was a porcelain color. Vinny was also pale, but his hair was black and greasy and slicked back from his face as if to make him look like a drowned rat. His skin was as pale as Alysia's and his eyes were glittering black like coal. Whereas Erick's black eyes held warmth, this boy's eyes were cold and uncaring.
"You can take back that invitation, Julia. I'm all set where I am," Laurie answered, causing Scott, Sarah and Erick to look rather proud.
"You'll change your mind soon enough. I can see it. You want to be a powerful witch, and they'll only bring you down! Stick with me and my friends.we'll get you there!" Julia said triumphantly. "Well, Erick could probably help you.could help all of us.but those Kimballs. They're no good."
"What makes them so no-good?"
"Their mother's a Squib! She can't do a single magic spell to save her life! She almost failed out of here.a disgrace to the wizarding world if I ever saw one. She might as well have been born Muggle.them too," Julia sneered at Scott and Sarah, who suddenly looked very hurt and embarrassed.
"What does that matter? My mom's a Muggle.that doesn't make me any less of a person," Laurie growled, trying to defend her friends.
"It does, if you don't know who are the right kind of friends. You stick with people like them and your Muggle side will be more prominent by the day! You'll end up blown up, just like your stupid father!" Julia cried, her words stinging Laurie like a slap across the face. Erick stepped between the two girls.
"That's enough, Julia. Get out of here before someone drops a house on you, too," he told her, in a voice that was loud enough only for Julia and Laurie to hear. Laurie held back a laugh, while Julia stammered and backed away quickly, followed by Vinny and Alysia. Watching them go, Laurie shook her head.
"I'll never understand what makes people like that. Are you two alright?" she asked Scott and Sarah. Sarah was wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
"Well.except for the fact that everyone knows about our mother now, yeah," she murmured, and Scott gave her a hug from the side.
"We might as well just leave you two alone. No one'd want to be seen with the children of a Squib," Scott sighed, and they turned to leave. Laurie ran after them.
"Wait! I don't care about that! My mom's a Muggle, you know that. I don't care if your mom's a Muggle or a Squib or the greatest witch that ever lived! You're my friends," she stated, grabbing both by the shoulders. They looked at her, seemingly unsure if they believed her. "It didn't matter to your dad. Why should it matter to me?" Laurie added.
Erick came up next to her, grinning broadly. "What have I been telling you guys? No one cares. There isn't a witch or wizard around today who isn't half-blood or less. No one cares whose parents are what. We're friends." When he said that, Laurie nodded for emphasis and Sarah managed a little smile. They ran off to a quick lunch before Herbology.
On the way to Herbology, Laurie stopped dead in her tracks when Derek called her name. She turned around to see him running at her from the History of Magic classroom, a class that Laurie would start the next year. He caught up to her and they started walking again.
"Make it fast, Derek, I have Herbology in five minutes, and I need to be in the greenhouse by then," she said, passing a group of laughing Wind Fifth Years.
"Meet me after your last class this afternoon and we'll practice flying some more. Quidditch tryouts are coming up, and you'll want to be in top form for that," he stated. "I'll meet you outside the banquet hall, alright?" Laurie nodded, then hurried to the greenhouse.
Herbology, she realized, would prove to be interesting, as half of the class had to be hurried to the hospital wing when clumsy Professor Gromoor spilled undiluted bubotuber pus on them. The rest of the class, she stated, was dismissed for the day, and Laurie found it hard not to chuckle at having such a clumsy professor. Later that afternoon, at 3:30, she made her way to the dungeon for Potions, which turned out to be her favorite subject so far. Having been quite a chemist at her old school, Laurie was able to produce a perfect sleeping draught in half the time. She flushed with pleasure when Professor Cornelius applauded for her. Ross Logan, a redhead from Wave with a mischievous smile, pretended to wipe tears of pride from his eyes, which earned him a place as guinea pig for Laurie's sleeping draught. Sure enough, it was a perfect potion, and Ross passed out within seconds.
"While there's some quiet," Professor Cornelius began, and the class chuckled quietly, "I just wanted to let you know that try-outs for the House Quidditch teams are a week from Wednesday. If you're any good at Quidditch, or even think you're any good at Quidditch, talk to your house's team captain about what positions are available. I do believe that Wave is looking for a Seeker." He grinned at Laurie, as if knowing that she would love to hold that very position.
Ross woke up, and, where Laurie would have been confused and upset about having been knocked out with a sleeping draught, he only laughed good- naturedly and said that it wasn't the first time and would not be the last. The Wave Students left the dungeon noisily discussing Quidditch and who was going to try out for what.
"I played point guard on my basketball team, back home," said Kyle Houston, a tall and skinny black boy. "Do you think that I'd be any good as Seeker?"
"Nah," Heather answered honestly. "You look more like a Chaser to me. I heard we need one of those too."
"Yeah, Seekers have to be small and fast, and, no offense, but you're a little tall for a Seeker," Kristie added. "Now, Laurie would make a great Seeker. Have you ever played Quidditch before, Laurie?"
"No." Laurie shook her head.
"Still, I'll bet you're gonna make Seeker if anyone is. Unless you're not going to try out." The way Kristie said it, not trying out sounded like a crime.
"Of course I'm going to try out. Why wouldn't I?" Laurie asked, laughing a little. "Sounds like a great way to meet new people." And before she could add any more, she heard Derek calling her name. He hurried up to the group of First Years, looking like he thought maybe he shouldn't be associating with them as a Second Year. Laurie suppressed a giggle.
"You ready to go practice? There's a lot of airspace over by Dragon Tail Lake," he stated, seeming ready to hurry away from the First Years.
"Yeah, sure," Laurie answered, laughing a little. "I just need to go get my broom." She turned to Sarah, Scott and Erick. "You guys have brooms? Wanna come fly with us?"
"Scott and I've got Comet 260s and Erick has a Nimbus 2000, I think," Sarah answered. "It's been so long since we were allowed to fly high.Muggle Protection Laws and all that."
"Let's go for it!" Erick exclaimed. "And yes, it is a Nimbus 2000. Best broom out there, I'd say. Except for the Nimbus 2001. What model do you have, Laurie?"
Laurie bit back a smile and pretended she hadn't heard Erick's question.
Ten minutes later, after her friends had gawked over her Nimbus 2001, Laurie led them to the hallway just outside the banquet hall, where Derek stood, holding his own Comet 260. Laughing and talking about the advantages of Laurie's broom over all the others, the friends headed outside towards Dragon Tail Lake.
Dragon Tail Lake was a large lake, for a lake in Massachusetts. It was about three quarters the size of the largest body of water within the state, Quabbin Reservoir, but was not on any Muggle maps. It hooked and curled around like an enormous dragon's tail, with little spikes sticking out, making for an amazing lake to fly around and explore. Willow trees drooped on either side of it, some of which would actually talk to a person who walked up to them. All in all, it was a beautiful lake, but, as they discovered upon their arrival there, it was also out-of-bounds for anyone who wanted to fly his broomstick.
"Why on earth would they do that?" Derek demanded to no one in particular. The sign was posted just below the crest of the hill that led to Dragon Tail Lake, so none of them could see the lake itself, just the sign.
"Well, let's walk over there and find out," Scott suggested, so they did. The hill did not look steep at first glance, but at first climb, one discovered that it was steep. Very steep. Yet once they reached the top, the sign made perfect sense.
Beautiful creatures were flying, walking and swimming around the lake. Squinting her eyes, Laurie gave a cry of delight. "They're Pegasus!"
That they were. Swooping around in the air with the grace of swans, the Pegasus were quite possibly the most beautiful creatures any of the friends had ever seen. They came in every color imaginable for a horse, from dapple gray to stark white. Springing from their shoulders were massive wings that matched their body color and folded neatly when the Pegasus landed in the lake for a swim. The females had dainty legs that would almost belong to a doe, while the males had strong legs that looked like those of Clydesdale horses. Laurie even thought she caught site of a few baby Pegasus, walking on the shore with their long, thin legs or trying out their wings in one of the coves.
"They're beautiful!" Sarah gasped, and the others could only nod in agreement. Suddenly a large hand clamped down on Laurie's shoulder, almost crushing her with the weight.
"What are you kids doing here with brooms?" a voice boomed, and Derek turned around, rolling his eyes.
"We didn't know the lake was closed for flying, Eli. Honest. Not until we saw the signs. And then we wondered why," he answered. The big black man's face broke into a huge grin when Derek explained that.
"They're amazing, aren't they?" he asked, starting to walk towards a large rock at the lake's shore and motioning for them to follow him. Derek, at this point, excused himself to return his borrowed broom, and stated that he would not be back. Once those who remained were all seated on the rock, Eli pointed out his favorite Pegasus, the white ones whose hooves seemed made of pure gold.
"They're my favorite creatures to take care of here. The trolls that guard the entrance are pretty nasty and the animals that come out of the forest are as frightening as anything you'd see in Europe. Once, there was a werewolf, but we got rid of him. Gave him the antidote and then sent him on his way. After his memory'd been erased, of course," Eli told them, sighing deeply. He talked very slowly, with a deep voice, and seemed, to Laurie, like an old and beloved Basset Hound.
"But the Pegasus are your favorite?" she asked.
"Yep," he answered, and then gave another sigh, this one not as contented as the previous one. "The one that died last night was a mother. She had a nest with two eggs."
"Eggs?" Erick asked, and Sarah nodded.
"Pegasus don't give birth to live young. They lay eggs like birds, but they nurse like mammals," she explained, sheepishly. "Muggle biology classes fascinated me."
"You're right, though," Eli told her. "The mother's gone, now, though, so I'm hatching the eggs in my hut. They look to be a boy and a girl, but it won't be sure until they've hatched."
"Wow, real Pegasus eggs. They're supposed to be beautiful, like moonstones or something," Scott commented.
"They are. Reflecting so many colors that sometimes I don't know what to do with them," Eli laughed loudly. "Would you be interested in seeing them sometime?"
"Serious?" Laurie and Scott asked at the same time, while Erick and Sarah looked amazed. Eli nodded, looking pleased that they'd shown such interest.
"I don't get many visitors. It's so far out of the castle, so not many people are willing to go down there and visit little ol' me," he confessed, seeming abashed. "But I'd be happy to make you some hot chocolate and cookies, if you wanted to come down and visit on Saturday."
"That would be wonderful!" Sarah declared.
"We'll come around 2:30, if that's alright with you," Scott added.
"That's perfect! That's when I take the eggs out of the incubator to turn them anyway. I'll make sure to have some cookies baked and a pot of hot chocolate all ready to drink." Eli seemed more than delighted to be having visitors, and Laurie was glad that she was one of them. She decided right then and there, as they left to put their brooms away and eat dinner, that Eli was one of her favorite people at the Institute.
The next day dawned even sunnier than the last, to Laurie's delight. She decided that once classes were over, she would go do some flying on the Quidditch field. The first class that day was Transfiguration with Jack Friday, a man right out of a 1950s detective film. He began the class by turning a violin into a humming bird before their eyes, which elicited much applause from the students. Before the class had ended, they were turning teacups into tiaras with ease.
Next was Divination, up in the castle's tower. Cleo Starlite, the Divination professor, looked like Miss Cleo from the television commercials (something which Laurie had trouble explaining to Sarah when asked) and sounded like her as well. In a low and misty voice, she began walking around, predicting all sorts of things for her students, including Julia Serpentine's death. At that point, Laurie was having a very hard time not laughing, as were many other people in the class. Leaving the room at around 1:30, Laurie made a comment to Julia that she'd better watch out, lest she find death lurking around the corner, to which Julia had no good response.
Laurie was positively itching to get on her broomstick throughout the day, and the thought of sitting through Charms class before doing so did not appeal to her in the least. She expressed her sentiments to Sarah on the way down to the classroom.
"It's not that I have anything against Charms. I just would much rather be flying," she commented. Sarah wasn't looking at her, but rather at something tagged to the door of the Charms classroom.
"Looks like you don't have to wait," she was saying, and Laurie leaned forward to read the notice.
"Charms classes today have been cancelled, as Professor Dragona is in New York City on urgent business. Enjoy the sunshine!" Laurie read aloud, and several people cheered. "Well, that settles it. I'm off to practice on the Quidditch field. I'll see you guys later!" She waved to Sarah, Scott and Erick, who were still reading the note and smiling about it. Laurie ran up to the girls' bedroom, deposited her books on her bed, and grabbed her broom. In five minutes flat, she was down on the Quidditch field. It was more amazing than she could have ever imagined. The three goals at either end of the field gleamed in the sunlight and the field itself was immaculate. Taking a deep breath, Laurie mounted her broom and pushed off the ground, enjoying fully the sensation of soaring higher and higher until the goals were little more than flecks on the field. She accelerated, flying from one end of the field to the other in seconds, then took a few nosedives, brushing the grass with her fingertips. Breathlessly, she did a few loop-de-loops above the goalposts, when she heard someone shouting below.
"Hey! You up there!" the boy was calling. He looked to be about fifteen, with curly auburn hair and gray eyes. "Come here!"
Laurie decelerated and touched her toes to the ground, right near where the boy was standing. He had a smile on his face.
"How long have you been flying?" he asked, smiling as if he knew the answer.
"Only, like, two or three weeks. I just got this broom a couple weeks ago at West Watchmaker Way," she answered, and the boy's eyes nearly fell out of his head.
"You look like you've been flying since before you could walk," he told her, sticking out his hand. "I'm Corey Oxford. What house are you in?"
"Wave. I'm a First Year," Laurie answered.
"Great! Me too. I'm captain of the House Quidditch team, and just between you and me, I think you'd make an excellent Seeker for our team. Can I expect to see you at try-outs next Wednesday.ah.I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," he paused.
"Laurie. Laurie Lacewing."
"Oh, so you're Laurie Lacewing. Can I expect to see you at try-outs next Wednesday, Laurie Lacewing?" Corey was smiling a crooked smile at her, and Laurie nodded.
"My friends are making it seem like a crime not to try out, so of course I'll be there!" she answered, matching Corey's smile.
"Great!" he answered, then looked over her shoulder. "Uh-oh. Looks like Flame's heading over here to practice. I'll see you a week from tomorrow!"
Laurie waved to Corey as he ran off towards the banquet hall, then headed up to the bedroom, where Sarah was sitting, having a deep conversation with Gruffles about his newfound kitty friend, a ginger cat named Grindylow.
"But don't you realize that a Grindylow is a water demon?" Sarah was asking him.
"Sure, but this Grindylow's a cat!" Gruffles told her matter-of- factly, and Laurie fought to keep a straight face.
The rest of the week passed with little incident. Laurie and her friends were too much looking forward to seeing Eli's Pegasus eggs on Saturday to pay much attention to Julia's snide remarks in the hallways or care that Professor Gromoor neglected to let the Flame Students' Herbology class know that they should wear earmuffs when handling baby Mandrakes, so half of them wound up in the hospital wing unconscious. By the time Saturday rolled around, the four of them were so excited to see the Pegasus eggs that they found themselves at Eli's hut an hour early. They pounded on his door excitedly, and a dog's bark sounded within. Eli opened the door slowly, looking out the window beforehand.
"You're early!" he exclaimed, holding the enormous dog back and letting them in. "I haven't even started the hot chocolate yet."
"That's alright," Erick answered. "We don't mind."
Eli's enormous grin returned and he showed them lumpy couches and chairs in which they could sit. "I finished the cookies last night, so here you go," he passed around a plate of delicious-looking molasses cookies, which were soon gone. Over the cookies, he told them of his past. Eli had been the first black student at Salem in the 1950s. He was Muggle-born, but surprised a lot of white people with his amazing powers. They'd tried to lynch him and his family once, but had not succeeded.
"That's horrible, Eli!" Laurie cried, and Eli nodded.
"Well, that's the way things were back then. Whites hated blacks and vice versa. This was before Martin Luther King and all that. People in our world aren't as much like that as Muggles.we have more important things to worry about than skin color. Still, a lot of Muggle-borns were starting to come to school here, so they weren't sure how they'd react to blacks being here as well as whites," he explained.
"So how did they react?" Erick asked.
"Better than expected. I made some real friends here, for the first time ever. White friends. I knew then that I had to come back here someday, and I'm glad I did. Let me tell you kids, Nancy Frankincense is the best headmistress this school's ever had. In fact, I." Eli broke off as something dinged behind him. "That'll be the eggs. Let me take them out for you, hang on."
He stood and walked to somewhere in the back of the hut, returning moments later with two beautiful eggs, the size of baby cradles. They were iridescent, like enormous opals or moonstones, showing off beautiful colors and trembling. A soft humming had filled the air inside the hut.
"What's that noise?" Sarah breathed, her eyes still on the beautiful Pegasus eggs.
"That's the eggs. They sing when they're taken out of the heat," Eli explained. "These ones were laid late, so they won't be ready to hatch until about December. Probably right around Christmas break."
"Well that's good then. At least you have time to get ready for the babies not having a mother," Scott piped up.
"I suppose. But it'll still be hard on me. I don't have time to take care of two infant Pegasus and all the other animals around here. But they need someone to look after them until they're big enough to look after themselves. It's a lot of work," Eli looked a bit upset. "If I don't take good enough care of them, they'll die."
"I'll help you, then," Laurie promised. Eli looked at her skeptically. "Seriously! I used to help my grandparents with the horses on their farm over the summer, and I'm sure these can't be much different. I've got lots of free time, Eli.we all do." Scott, Sarah and Erick took this as a hint that they should volunteer as well, which they did, nodding in agreement to Laurie's statement.
"We'll help you, Eli. We promise," Scott said, and Eli's eyes filled with tears.
"Well, I.that's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me since I started working here! Thank you!" He gave all four of them an enormous bear hug, then picked up the eggs and carried them back to the incubator in the back of the room. "Thanks for visiting me, but you'd probably better get back to the castle. Have a great week this week!" They waved good-bye to Eli and started back up to Wave House.
"Laurie, what are you thinking? We're not going to have time to help him with those Pegasus! We've still got classes, and if you make Seeker." Sarah was saying.
"We'll make time. Come on, let's go to dinner," Laurie stated firmly. Discussion ended.
Laurie found it impossibly hard to sleep after hearing Professor Tournaline talking to Reagan about the Pegasus. Why would someone do such a thing? She lay awake until the sky turned pink with the dawn, staring at the ceiling as if it held answers, but to no avail. There was no apparent reason why someone had decided to murder a Pegasus the previous night. Laurie sighed as she watched the sun begin to rise over the Atlantic Ocean. The starless night was over, and it was the first day of classes.
Apparently, Laurie was not the only one in Wave who hadn't gotten any sleep the previous night. It seemed that every single person in her house had bags under their eyes, as the First Years made their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. The room soon filled with students from Wave and Flame houses, the students from Flame house laughing at the Wave students, who seemed to be falling asleep where they sat. Laurie caught sight of Julia whispering to a pale girl and pointing at Erick. The girls were giggling behind their hands, and for some reason, this made Laurie feel a bit sick to her stomach. Julia suddenly caught Laurie looking at her and smirked at her, a look that Laurie returned all-too-eagerly.
Next to her, Sarah was doodling aimlessly on a piece of parchment, and jumped when Professor Tournaline came marching into the classroom, her long white hair flying behind her like a cape. She, too, looked exhausted, but managed to smile broadly at her class as she reached the front of the room. "Well, good morning," she greeted them, in as cheerful a voice as she could possibly muster. "Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. This is the first day of classes, so we're not going to start anything complicated or tackle any beasts today. I will, however, introduce myself and explain a little bit what this class is about. My name is Rhea Tournaline, and I have been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts for the past thirty years here. I come from a long line of Native American witches and wizards that can be traced back almost to the time when people first appeared on this continent. Not that heritage matters in today's world," she gave Julia and her friend a sharp look, and they immediately stopped giggling. "In this class, you will learn to arm yourself against the dark arts. I will introduce you to dark beasts of all sorts, but at no point will you be in danger of any permanent damage." Laurie and Sarah glanced at each other sideways, wondering about Professor Tournaline's definition of "permanent." She continued. "Second semester, I hope to teach you a thing or two about defending yourself against unfriendly curses and hexes. And I daresay we will have a few dueling lessons as well." At this, a whisper of excitement went through the class. "Are there any questions?"
Jolene raised her hand. "Are we gonna study vampires and werewolves in here?" she asked in her loud voice. The Flame students snickered.
"Eventually," Professor Tournaline answered kindly, "but as they are very rare in the Americas, we won't be studying them until the end of this semester at least."
There seemed to be no more questions, until Sarah hesitantly raised her hand. Laurie looked at her, wondering what she could possibly want to know. It apparently took Professor Tournaline by surprise too, as she called on Sarah.
"I was wondering.I mean, I know this isn't a class about magical creatures or anything, but I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about Pegasus," she said softly. Immediately the room hushed and everyone's eyes were on Professor Tournaline, who gave a deep and heavy sigh, leaning back against her desk as if talking to a colleague and not a group of students. With a faraway look in her eyes, she began.
"Pegasus are very rare and magical creatures. There aren't many places in the world that breed them, but our school does. Hopefully, you will get a chance to meet these amazing creatures. They are like horses with wings, but are much more swan-like in their other characteristics. They lay eggs rather than giving birth to live young and spend a great deal of time either swimming or flying. Naturally, they can walk on the ground like any other horse, but they're more at home in the air or in the water.
Pegasus are also very powerful creatures. Though no one is quite sure what they can do on their own, it is fact that their feathers are one of the most magically potent things in the world-when the feathers are taken from a live Pegasus, that is. The feathers have healing powers, to almost as great an extent as phoenix tears. They also make the most powerful wands in the Western Hemisphere, wands that can only be handled by the most powerful witches and wizards."
Laurie felt a bolt of shock run through her. There was a Pegasus feather in HER wand, but as she leaned to tell Sarah this, another Wave First Year, Brian Chen, asked another question.
"So, if Pegasus feathers have such great power, then why aren't there more of them available for our use?" he asked in a nasal voice.
"The Pegasus feather does something else very important. It is the Pegasus feather that holds the Pegasus' life force. One feather from a Pegasus' wing won't kill it, but once it loses all of its feathers, the Pegasus is certain to die. Now, in nature, this happens very slowly, and only when the Pegasus is very old. Pegasus keep their feathers for life, so when a feather is taken from a Pegasus, it's usually taken early on and doesn't affect the Pegasus' lifespan. There is, however, a spell, which will remove all of the Pegasus' feathers at once-the 'deplumagio' spell. It's a highly complicated spell, though, and can only be performed correctly when there is no starlight," Professor Tournaline's voice had gotten softer when she talked about the Pegasus' death. This had obviously been the spell used last night.
"Why would someone want to do that?" Ella asked without bothering to raise her hand.
"There is a potion that requires the entire plumage of thirteen Pegasus. This potion, once it touches the lips of the drinker, will cause all of the drinker's mortal enemies to die within twenty-four hours, unless the drinker dies first, which happens rather often, I'm afraid. If he survives, the drinker becomes immortal and all-powerful," Professor Tournaline explained. A weary note had come into her voice. "The last time someone came close to pulling it off was when I was in this school as a first year, fifty years ago."
Class ended on a somber note and everyone filed quietly into the hall, heading for lunch. Someone was trying to make that potion, they had all realized, and if that person succeeded, it was highly likely that people would die. More than that, Laurie couldn't help but feel that her life was one of the lives that would be in danger if this potion were completed. So lost in her own thoughts she was, that she didn't even notice Julia as she brushed by her.
"Watch it!" Julia snapped, pushing Laurie, who lost her footing and crashed to the marble floor painfully. Several Flame students who were watching started laughing at this, but Sarah and Scott stalked up to Julia.
"What do you think you're doing? She didn't even do anything!" Sarah pointed out.
"You're just trying to cause trouble!" Scott accused.
Meanwhile, Erick had reached out a hand to help Laurie up. After having assessed that she was all right, he also turned to Julia with a glare of utmost disgust. Julia was still smirking at Laurie, seemingly happy that she was the center of attention, negative, as it may have been. Laurie, too, glared at Julia.
"What was that for?" she snapped.
"Just wanted an excuse to introduce you to my new friends.I see yours aren't all that great, so the invitation stands, if you ever want to join the gang. This is Alysia Riley and Vinny Carthage, both in Flame," Julia said in a singsong type of voice. The people she had introduced looked just as horrible as she. Alysia was the pale girl from Defense Against the Dark Arts. She had long, white-blonde hair and very pale blue eyes that looked almost like ice. Her skin was a porcelain color. Vinny was also pale, but his hair was black and greasy and slicked back from his face as if to make him look like a drowned rat. His skin was as pale as Alysia's and his eyes were glittering black like coal. Whereas Erick's black eyes held warmth, this boy's eyes were cold and uncaring.
"You can take back that invitation, Julia. I'm all set where I am," Laurie answered, causing Scott, Sarah and Erick to look rather proud.
"You'll change your mind soon enough. I can see it. You want to be a powerful witch, and they'll only bring you down! Stick with me and my friends.we'll get you there!" Julia said triumphantly. "Well, Erick could probably help you.could help all of us.but those Kimballs. They're no good."
"What makes them so no-good?"
"Their mother's a Squib! She can't do a single magic spell to save her life! She almost failed out of here.a disgrace to the wizarding world if I ever saw one. She might as well have been born Muggle.them too," Julia sneered at Scott and Sarah, who suddenly looked very hurt and embarrassed.
"What does that matter? My mom's a Muggle.that doesn't make me any less of a person," Laurie growled, trying to defend her friends.
"It does, if you don't know who are the right kind of friends. You stick with people like them and your Muggle side will be more prominent by the day! You'll end up blown up, just like your stupid father!" Julia cried, her words stinging Laurie like a slap across the face. Erick stepped between the two girls.
"That's enough, Julia. Get out of here before someone drops a house on you, too," he told her, in a voice that was loud enough only for Julia and Laurie to hear. Laurie held back a laugh, while Julia stammered and backed away quickly, followed by Vinny and Alysia. Watching them go, Laurie shook her head.
"I'll never understand what makes people like that. Are you two alright?" she asked Scott and Sarah. Sarah was wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
"Well.except for the fact that everyone knows about our mother now, yeah," she murmured, and Scott gave her a hug from the side.
"We might as well just leave you two alone. No one'd want to be seen with the children of a Squib," Scott sighed, and they turned to leave. Laurie ran after them.
"Wait! I don't care about that! My mom's a Muggle, you know that. I don't care if your mom's a Muggle or a Squib or the greatest witch that ever lived! You're my friends," she stated, grabbing both by the shoulders. They looked at her, seemingly unsure if they believed her. "It didn't matter to your dad. Why should it matter to me?" Laurie added.
Erick came up next to her, grinning broadly. "What have I been telling you guys? No one cares. There isn't a witch or wizard around today who isn't half-blood or less. No one cares whose parents are what. We're friends." When he said that, Laurie nodded for emphasis and Sarah managed a little smile. They ran off to a quick lunch before Herbology.
On the way to Herbology, Laurie stopped dead in her tracks when Derek called her name. She turned around to see him running at her from the History of Magic classroom, a class that Laurie would start the next year. He caught up to her and they started walking again.
"Make it fast, Derek, I have Herbology in five minutes, and I need to be in the greenhouse by then," she said, passing a group of laughing Wind Fifth Years.
"Meet me after your last class this afternoon and we'll practice flying some more. Quidditch tryouts are coming up, and you'll want to be in top form for that," he stated. "I'll meet you outside the banquet hall, alright?" Laurie nodded, then hurried to the greenhouse.
Herbology, she realized, would prove to be interesting, as half of the class had to be hurried to the hospital wing when clumsy Professor Gromoor spilled undiluted bubotuber pus on them. The rest of the class, she stated, was dismissed for the day, and Laurie found it hard not to chuckle at having such a clumsy professor. Later that afternoon, at 3:30, she made her way to the dungeon for Potions, which turned out to be her favorite subject so far. Having been quite a chemist at her old school, Laurie was able to produce a perfect sleeping draught in half the time. She flushed with pleasure when Professor Cornelius applauded for her. Ross Logan, a redhead from Wave with a mischievous smile, pretended to wipe tears of pride from his eyes, which earned him a place as guinea pig for Laurie's sleeping draught. Sure enough, it was a perfect potion, and Ross passed out within seconds.
"While there's some quiet," Professor Cornelius began, and the class chuckled quietly, "I just wanted to let you know that try-outs for the House Quidditch teams are a week from Wednesday. If you're any good at Quidditch, or even think you're any good at Quidditch, talk to your house's team captain about what positions are available. I do believe that Wave is looking for a Seeker." He grinned at Laurie, as if knowing that she would love to hold that very position.
Ross woke up, and, where Laurie would have been confused and upset about having been knocked out with a sleeping draught, he only laughed good- naturedly and said that it wasn't the first time and would not be the last. The Wave Students left the dungeon noisily discussing Quidditch and who was going to try out for what.
"I played point guard on my basketball team, back home," said Kyle Houston, a tall and skinny black boy. "Do you think that I'd be any good as Seeker?"
"Nah," Heather answered honestly. "You look more like a Chaser to me. I heard we need one of those too."
"Yeah, Seekers have to be small and fast, and, no offense, but you're a little tall for a Seeker," Kristie added. "Now, Laurie would make a great Seeker. Have you ever played Quidditch before, Laurie?"
"No." Laurie shook her head.
"Still, I'll bet you're gonna make Seeker if anyone is. Unless you're not going to try out." The way Kristie said it, not trying out sounded like a crime.
"Of course I'm going to try out. Why wouldn't I?" Laurie asked, laughing a little. "Sounds like a great way to meet new people." And before she could add any more, she heard Derek calling her name. He hurried up to the group of First Years, looking like he thought maybe he shouldn't be associating with them as a Second Year. Laurie suppressed a giggle.
"You ready to go practice? There's a lot of airspace over by Dragon Tail Lake," he stated, seeming ready to hurry away from the First Years.
"Yeah, sure," Laurie answered, laughing a little. "I just need to go get my broom." She turned to Sarah, Scott and Erick. "You guys have brooms? Wanna come fly with us?"
"Scott and I've got Comet 260s and Erick has a Nimbus 2000, I think," Sarah answered. "It's been so long since we were allowed to fly high.Muggle Protection Laws and all that."
"Let's go for it!" Erick exclaimed. "And yes, it is a Nimbus 2000. Best broom out there, I'd say. Except for the Nimbus 2001. What model do you have, Laurie?"
Laurie bit back a smile and pretended she hadn't heard Erick's question.
Ten minutes later, after her friends had gawked over her Nimbus 2001, Laurie led them to the hallway just outside the banquet hall, where Derek stood, holding his own Comet 260. Laughing and talking about the advantages of Laurie's broom over all the others, the friends headed outside towards Dragon Tail Lake.
Dragon Tail Lake was a large lake, for a lake in Massachusetts. It was about three quarters the size of the largest body of water within the state, Quabbin Reservoir, but was not on any Muggle maps. It hooked and curled around like an enormous dragon's tail, with little spikes sticking out, making for an amazing lake to fly around and explore. Willow trees drooped on either side of it, some of which would actually talk to a person who walked up to them. All in all, it was a beautiful lake, but, as they discovered upon their arrival there, it was also out-of-bounds for anyone who wanted to fly his broomstick.
"Why on earth would they do that?" Derek demanded to no one in particular. The sign was posted just below the crest of the hill that led to Dragon Tail Lake, so none of them could see the lake itself, just the sign.
"Well, let's walk over there and find out," Scott suggested, so they did. The hill did not look steep at first glance, but at first climb, one discovered that it was steep. Very steep. Yet once they reached the top, the sign made perfect sense.
Beautiful creatures were flying, walking and swimming around the lake. Squinting her eyes, Laurie gave a cry of delight. "They're Pegasus!"
That they were. Swooping around in the air with the grace of swans, the Pegasus were quite possibly the most beautiful creatures any of the friends had ever seen. They came in every color imaginable for a horse, from dapple gray to stark white. Springing from their shoulders were massive wings that matched their body color and folded neatly when the Pegasus landed in the lake for a swim. The females had dainty legs that would almost belong to a doe, while the males had strong legs that looked like those of Clydesdale horses. Laurie even thought she caught site of a few baby Pegasus, walking on the shore with their long, thin legs or trying out their wings in one of the coves.
"They're beautiful!" Sarah gasped, and the others could only nod in agreement. Suddenly a large hand clamped down on Laurie's shoulder, almost crushing her with the weight.
"What are you kids doing here with brooms?" a voice boomed, and Derek turned around, rolling his eyes.
"We didn't know the lake was closed for flying, Eli. Honest. Not until we saw the signs. And then we wondered why," he answered. The big black man's face broke into a huge grin when Derek explained that.
"They're amazing, aren't they?" he asked, starting to walk towards a large rock at the lake's shore and motioning for them to follow him. Derek, at this point, excused himself to return his borrowed broom, and stated that he would not be back. Once those who remained were all seated on the rock, Eli pointed out his favorite Pegasus, the white ones whose hooves seemed made of pure gold.
"They're my favorite creatures to take care of here. The trolls that guard the entrance are pretty nasty and the animals that come out of the forest are as frightening as anything you'd see in Europe. Once, there was a werewolf, but we got rid of him. Gave him the antidote and then sent him on his way. After his memory'd been erased, of course," Eli told them, sighing deeply. He talked very slowly, with a deep voice, and seemed, to Laurie, like an old and beloved Basset Hound.
"But the Pegasus are your favorite?" she asked.
"Yep," he answered, and then gave another sigh, this one not as contented as the previous one. "The one that died last night was a mother. She had a nest with two eggs."
"Eggs?" Erick asked, and Sarah nodded.
"Pegasus don't give birth to live young. They lay eggs like birds, but they nurse like mammals," she explained, sheepishly. "Muggle biology classes fascinated me."
"You're right, though," Eli told her. "The mother's gone, now, though, so I'm hatching the eggs in my hut. They look to be a boy and a girl, but it won't be sure until they've hatched."
"Wow, real Pegasus eggs. They're supposed to be beautiful, like moonstones or something," Scott commented.
"They are. Reflecting so many colors that sometimes I don't know what to do with them," Eli laughed loudly. "Would you be interested in seeing them sometime?"
"Serious?" Laurie and Scott asked at the same time, while Erick and Sarah looked amazed. Eli nodded, looking pleased that they'd shown such interest.
"I don't get many visitors. It's so far out of the castle, so not many people are willing to go down there and visit little ol' me," he confessed, seeming abashed. "But I'd be happy to make you some hot chocolate and cookies, if you wanted to come down and visit on Saturday."
"That would be wonderful!" Sarah declared.
"We'll come around 2:30, if that's alright with you," Scott added.
"That's perfect! That's when I take the eggs out of the incubator to turn them anyway. I'll make sure to have some cookies baked and a pot of hot chocolate all ready to drink." Eli seemed more than delighted to be having visitors, and Laurie was glad that she was one of them. She decided right then and there, as they left to put their brooms away and eat dinner, that Eli was one of her favorite people at the Institute.
The next day dawned even sunnier than the last, to Laurie's delight. She decided that once classes were over, she would go do some flying on the Quidditch field. The first class that day was Transfiguration with Jack Friday, a man right out of a 1950s detective film. He began the class by turning a violin into a humming bird before their eyes, which elicited much applause from the students. Before the class had ended, they were turning teacups into tiaras with ease.
Next was Divination, up in the castle's tower. Cleo Starlite, the Divination professor, looked like Miss Cleo from the television commercials (something which Laurie had trouble explaining to Sarah when asked) and sounded like her as well. In a low and misty voice, she began walking around, predicting all sorts of things for her students, including Julia Serpentine's death. At that point, Laurie was having a very hard time not laughing, as were many other people in the class. Leaving the room at around 1:30, Laurie made a comment to Julia that she'd better watch out, lest she find death lurking around the corner, to which Julia had no good response.
Laurie was positively itching to get on her broomstick throughout the day, and the thought of sitting through Charms class before doing so did not appeal to her in the least. She expressed her sentiments to Sarah on the way down to the classroom.
"It's not that I have anything against Charms. I just would much rather be flying," she commented. Sarah wasn't looking at her, but rather at something tagged to the door of the Charms classroom.
"Looks like you don't have to wait," she was saying, and Laurie leaned forward to read the notice.
"Charms classes today have been cancelled, as Professor Dragona is in New York City on urgent business. Enjoy the sunshine!" Laurie read aloud, and several people cheered. "Well, that settles it. I'm off to practice on the Quidditch field. I'll see you guys later!" She waved to Sarah, Scott and Erick, who were still reading the note and smiling about it. Laurie ran up to the girls' bedroom, deposited her books on her bed, and grabbed her broom. In five minutes flat, she was down on the Quidditch field. It was more amazing than she could have ever imagined. The three goals at either end of the field gleamed in the sunlight and the field itself was immaculate. Taking a deep breath, Laurie mounted her broom and pushed off the ground, enjoying fully the sensation of soaring higher and higher until the goals were little more than flecks on the field. She accelerated, flying from one end of the field to the other in seconds, then took a few nosedives, brushing the grass with her fingertips. Breathlessly, she did a few loop-de-loops above the goalposts, when she heard someone shouting below.
"Hey! You up there!" the boy was calling. He looked to be about fifteen, with curly auburn hair and gray eyes. "Come here!"
Laurie decelerated and touched her toes to the ground, right near where the boy was standing. He had a smile on his face.
"How long have you been flying?" he asked, smiling as if he knew the answer.
"Only, like, two or three weeks. I just got this broom a couple weeks ago at West Watchmaker Way," she answered, and the boy's eyes nearly fell out of his head.
"You look like you've been flying since before you could walk," he told her, sticking out his hand. "I'm Corey Oxford. What house are you in?"
"Wave. I'm a First Year," Laurie answered.
"Great! Me too. I'm captain of the House Quidditch team, and just between you and me, I think you'd make an excellent Seeker for our team. Can I expect to see you at try-outs next Wednesday.ah.I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," he paused.
"Laurie. Laurie Lacewing."
"Oh, so you're Laurie Lacewing. Can I expect to see you at try-outs next Wednesday, Laurie Lacewing?" Corey was smiling a crooked smile at her, and Laurie nodded.
"My friends are making it seem like a crime not to try out, so of course I'll be there!" she answered, matching Corey's smile.
"Great!" he answered, then looked over her shoulder. "Uh-oh. Looks like Flame's heading over here to practice. I'll see you a week from tomorrow!"
Laurie waved to Corey as he ran off towards the banquet hall, then headed up to the bedroom, where Sarah was sitting, having a deep conversation with Gruffles about his newfound kitty friend, a ginger cat named Grindylow.
"But don't you realize that a Grindylow is a water demon?" Sarah was asking him.
"Sure, but this Grindylow's a cat!" Gruffles told her matter-of- factly, and Laurie fought to keep a straight face.
The rest of the week passed with little incident. Laurie and her friends were too much looking forward to seeing Eli's Pegasus eggs on Saturday to pay much attention to Julia's snide remarks in the hallways or care that Professor Gromoor neglected to let the Flame Students' Herbology class know that they should wear earmuffs when handling baby Mandrakes, so half of them wound up in the hospital wing unconscious. By the time Saturday rolled around, the four of them were so excited to see the Pegasus eggs that they found themselves at Eli's hut an hour early. They pounded on his door excitedly, and a dog's bark sounded within. Eli opened the door slowly, looking out the window beforehand.
"You're early!" he exclaimed, holding the enormous dog back and letting them in. "I haven't even started the hot chocolate yet."
"That's alright," Erick answered. "We don't mind."
Eli's enormous grin returned and he showed them lumpy couches and chairs in which they could sit. "I finished the cookies last night, so here you go," he passed around a plate of delicious-looking molasses cookies, which were soon gone. Over the cookies, he told them of his past. Eli had been the first black student at Salem in the 1950s. He was Muggle-born, but surprised a lot of white people with his amazing powers. They'd tried to lynch him and his family once, but had not succeeded.
"That's horrible, Eli!" Laurie cried, and Eli nodded.
"Well, that's the way things were back then. Whites hated blacks and vice versa. This was before Martin Luther King and all that. People in our world aren't as much like that as Muggles.we have more important things to worry about than skin color. Still, a lot of Muggle-borns were starting to come to school here, so they weren't sure how they'd react to blacks being here as well as whites," he explained.
"So how did they react?" Erick asked.
"Better than expected. I made some real friends here, for the first time ever. White friends. I knew then that I had to come back here someday, and I'm glad I did. Let me tell you kids, Nancy Frankincense is the best headmistress this school's ever had. In fact, I." Eli broke off as something dinged behind him. "That'll be the eggs. Let me take them out for you, hang on."
He stood and walked to somewhere in the back of the hut, returning moments later with two beautiful eggs, the size of baby cradles. They were iridescent, like enormous opals or moonstones, showing off beautiful colors and trembling. A soft humming had filled the air inside the hut.
"What's that noise?" Sarah breathed, her eyes still on the beautiful Pegasus eggs.
"That's the eggs. They sing when they're taken out of the heat," Eli explained. "These ones were laid late, so they won't be ready to hatch until about December. Probably right around Christmas break."
"Well that's good then. At least you have time to get ready for the babies not having a mother," Scott piped up.
"I suppose. But it'll still be hard on me. I don't have time to take care of two infant Pegasus and all the other animals around here. But they need someone to look after them until they're big enough to look after themselves. It's a lot of work," Eli looked a bit upset. "If I don't take good enough care of them, they'll die."
"I'll help you, then," Laurie promised. Eli looked at her skeptically. "Seriously! I used to help my grandparents with the horses on their farm over the summer, and I'm sure these can't be much different. I've got lots of free time, Eli.we all do." Scott, Sarah and Erick took this as a hint that they should volunteer as well, which they did, nodding in agreement to Laurie's statement.
"We'll help you, Eli. We promise," Scott said, and Eli's eyes filled with tears.
"Well, I.that's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me since I started working here! Thank you!" He gave all four of them an enormous bear hug, then picked up the eggs and carried them back to the incubator in the back of the room. "Thanks for visiting me, but you'd probably better get back to the castle. Have a great week this week!" They waved good-bye to Eli and started back up to Wave House.
"Laurie, what are you thinking? We're not going to have time to help him with those Pegasus! We've still got classes, and if you make Seeker." Sarah was saying.
"We'll make time. Come on, let's go to dinner," Laurie stated firmly. Discussion ended.