A/N: Howdy! Yep, I'm back, and here's another chapter...enjoy! ;-D
Disclaimer: Most of it is property of J.K. Rowling the supreme ruler/dictator of everything!
Dedication: All my reviewers once again- you guys are what keeps me writing! Oh, and Ashley, I hope you didn't hurt yourself by nearly falling out of your chair. Lol, it wasn't that shocking, was it? OK, maybe it was, but I do try to update as much as possible! Blame my workload...
Harry Potter and the Crystal of Dreams.
The exam week cast a shadow of silence and solemnity over the school, dampening any form of high spirits whatsoever. The fifth years were finding things exceptionally tough as they reached the peak of all the pressure that the teachers had placed on them for the entire year, and they certainly didn't envy the seventh years, who (including Fred and George) were under about twice the strain. However, the twins and Lee didn't seem to be showing it as much, still managing to charm a sign reading 'KICK ME' in glittering capitals to follow Snape around and to blow up Filch's broom closet with Dungbombs, causing a smell so bad that people found it hard to breath in the entrance hall for the entire day.
And that was just on the beginning Monday.
The gang emerged from their Transfiguration exam last thing on Monday, as worn out and despondent as the rest of their class after the two and a half hour exam. Not only was there a theory paper, filled with a good twenty pages of difficult questions, but the practical task of turning a cushion into a cat was horrible.
"Well," Shannon said carefully. "At least my cat was unique."
"What happened?" Harry asked, thinking of his own cat, furred in plush red velvet.
Shannon grimaced. "Have you seen a cat with tassels for claws?"
"No."
"Let's just say that I don't think McGonagall will forget it in a while."
That day had also heralded a Defense Against the Dark Arts paper on several Dark magic tools, as well as revisions on creatures and other topics from the four years before this one. Harry's mind had been a seething, confused mass of werewolves, strange crystals and curses. He was already dreading the next few days.
History of Magic was no big surprise- they had about an hour and a half to complete an essay on the formation of the Ministry of Magic, expected to be at least six feet long.
"Six feet!" Seamus moaned afterwards. "I don't think my hand's ever going to be the same again!" Several agreed readily.
Care of Magical Creatures was one of the easier tests, with an hour to care for a Krup/Tebo cross each as well as a short theory paper. As Hagrid knew little about this species he'd invented, the questions were very simple and they all completed them very quickly. And Charms, with their test on temporary infatuation spells, turned out to be the funniest when Neville accidentally put his spell on Trevor the toad. It had to be the only time Trevor hadn't been keen on hopping away on a bid for freedom, Harry decided when he saw the fight the animal gave when Flitwick tried to remove him from the classroom.
Their moods were soon sobered during the Potions exam, when Snape called upon them to concoct a 'Disorientation Draught'- something the fifth years were certain that he'd just invented to spite them. And when they had to test them on each other...it seemed that Harry had overdone his potion in nerves when Hermione looked ready to faint any second and had to visit the hospital wing immediately after the exam as Snape refused to provide any antidote for anyone.
The girls emerged from their Arithmancy room first thing on Thursday morning, and Harry was sure he'd never seen Shannon looked so shell shocked in all the time he'd known her. Hermione was white-faced in the aftermath of nerves as well, and they both refused to speak of the exam past the words, 'number charts'.
"Wish I'd never taken this stupid subject," Shannon muttered, then shook her fist at the ceiling. "Damn you, Frankie!" She then proceeded to flee from the scene of the exam, gaining some very weird looks from passers by.
The last exam for Ron, Shannon and Harry was Divination again, whilst Hermione headed for Ancient Runes. The students were called up one at a time alphabetically to the attic-like room for a one-on-one Tarot reading assessment. Each student seemed to have about five minutes to do this, and so the trio had a good while to check through their textbooks for a quick revision. As her surname was Parks, Shannon was the first of the three to be called up.
"Wish me luck." she observed grimly before she climbed the ladder through the trapdoor. The boys waited with baited breath until she eventually emerged again, looking quite relieved.
"Thank god that's all over." she told them as Parvati went up. "Whoohoo!" She punched the air in triumph. "No more O.W.L.s!"
"Alright, no need to gloat!" Ron muttered, shaking his head as she grinned at them.
After Parvati came down the ladder, it was Harry's turn. He had a hard time keeping up the mantra in his mind ('One more exam then it's all over') once the sweltering heat and strong perfumes of the classroom hit him. He walked over to the desk that Trelawney sat at, staring up at him with her outsized eyes, and seated himself in the armchair opposite her.
"Ah, Harry," she murmured airily, as she motioned to the Tarot deck to her right. "To pass this exam, you must complete a simple formation reading for yourself, and explain to me what it means. You may begin when ready."
Harry drew the cards into his hands and shuffled them a little as he remembered, before starting to lay out one of the basic formations. Eventually, he lay down the unused ones and turned over the first card. An ancient skeleton grinned up at him as it clutched an hourglass.
"It's Death," he told her. "Uh, that means change."
Slightly unerved by the realistic picture, he continued. However, the bony hands and bare teeth kept creeping into his mind, and he found concentration difficult. It was no surprise that he was glad when he was done with the last card and sat back in the chair.
"Yes, thank you my dear," Trelawney said, seeming preoccupied. Not that that was anything different- Harry had a good idea what was coming next. And if he'd ever made an accurate prediction, it was this one.
"I myself completed a reading before this exam began, and do you know what I saw?" She pulled her jangling shawl tighter around herself and peered at him in a mystical type of fear. "There will be a death soon! Within these walls!"
Harry supressed a roll of his eyes and a sarcastic comment, instead nodding and saying, "Well, there are more people waiting for their exam, so I'd better leave."
Trelawney studied him long and sadly. "It is my unfortunate duty to bear such news. Yes, you may leave."
Harry did so, and eagerly too.
After him, there was one more person until Ron's turn. Harry sat next to Shannon on the top stair of the set leading down from the Divination room as they waited for their friend to finish.
"Ever wonder why you took this up?" Shannon asked with a raised eyebrow.
He shrugged. "Sometimes, when I'm having my particularly nasty death predicted at me every two minutes."
She laughed slightly. "Surely she should know when we don't believe a word she says?"
"Evidently not." They both laughed, until it settled into a companionable silence. Shannon settled her gaze out of the window onto the sunny lawns out there, and Harry found himself looking at her, thoughts absorbed in her. He didn't notice himself moving a little closer to her...
Suddenly, there was a clatter as Ron stumbled down the ladder and jumped the last few rungs. The noise made both of them look round suddenly, and Shannon was the first to stand.
"Have fun?" she asked, in a slightly teasing tone.
Ron rolled his eyes. "I don't think she believed my answers."
"Was it the old Divination stand-by?" Harry asked, with a mock-serious expression.
The redhead grinned. "Yeah."
"And you wonder why..."
They started off towards the Ancient Runes corridor, chattering and laughing until Shannon made a noise of pain and put her hand to her head. Harry was the first to ask if she was alright.
"Yeah, I'll be OK soon." She grimaced. "Are you sure that's insence she burns in there?" This earned her a laugh. "Listen, I might go out on my broom for a while actually. Y'know, just to clear my head. I'll see you later."
The boys nodded and bid her goodbye before she set off in the opposite direction, off towards the common room and her dormitory.
*****
Shannon hummed a little tune to herself as she made her way down towards the lake, near the Forbidden Forest. For the first time in ages, she was starting to feel really happy. The exams were over and she had a while till the results came in, so for now at least she was free. She laughed quietly to herself, sighing contentedly and wondering where she should fly.
There's just so much space in the sky, she mused. Wait a moment- am I starting to sound sane?
I hope not.
By this time, she had reached the gently sloping bank of the lake closest to the Forest. At the moment, nobody was around, but they might appear later on. There was barely a moment in between when she stopped and when she mounted the broom, so eager was she to begin flying. When she kicked off and began to rise, she felt the exhilration rise in her stomach; the elation of just being able to comply to nobody's rules but her own.
So absorbed in flying was she, that Shannon Parks didn't notice the incantation hurled from the Forbidden Forest until it was too late.
*****
"Didn't she say where she was going?"
Harry shrugged at Hermione's question. "She said she wanted to go out on her broom for a bit."
"Harry, that was at least two hours ago! Are you sure?" The prefect chewed somewhat worriedly on a lock of her curly hair.
"Yeah. I..." Harry tried to ignore the sense of dread in his stomach, which had grown thanks to Hermione's incessant questions. He shook his head. "I'm sure she's fine."
"Yeah Hermione," Ron replied. "She probably met up with the twins and went to blow up a toilet or something..."
"I don't know..." Hermione chewed her lip absently, then shook her head. "Maybe we should check. Where might she go?"
"Out on her broom?" Ron said in a sarcasticly slow way. To Harry, he said, "You'd think she'd pick it up after the first hundred times or so, wouldn't you?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at this but said nothing in reply. "I'll check the library. Harry, you look outside on the lawns. Ron, you can check the kitchens."
Ron rolled his eyes at this but didn't take much convincing. Hermione was blatantly concerned, and Harry was starting to feel the same...
So this was how, fifteen minutes later, he found himself wandering the grounds. He'd checked the Quidditch pitch, checked with Hagrid (and avoided whatever he was now breedding), and checked almost everywhere except down by the lake- which was where he was headed now. He'd encountered quite a few students, none of whom had seen Shannon, but down here it was quiet and empty. He scanned the ground and the air as he made his way closer to the water, shimmering in the early evening sun.
"Shannon!" he called. "Hey, Shan, where are you?"
Then he saw it.
A small shape further off, carelessly heaped in the grass. With a frown, he picked up sped and half-jogged towards it. He recognised it immediately.
A broomstick.
Looks a bit like Shannon's, he thought. Hmm, I wonder...
He crouched beside it to get a better view, and reached out towards it, intending to pick it up to take a closer inspection. His fingertips just brushed the smooth wooden surface of the handle...
When there was a sudden lurching in his stomach as the broom dragged Harry Potter from the ground into a confusing whirl of colour.
*****
Ooh, almost Voldie time! Review please- again, sorry for no updates lately, I have been really busy! But hopefully there'll be more soon...so please, click the button below and tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: Most of it is property of J.K. Rowling the supreme ruler/dictator of everything!
Dedication: All my reviewers once again- you guys are what keeps me writing! Oh, and Ashley, I hope you didn't hurt yourself by nearly falling out of your chair. Lol, it wasn't that shocking, was it? OK, maybe it was, but I do try to update as much as possible! Blame my workload...
Harry Potter and the Crystal of Dreams.
The exam week cast a shadow of silence and solemnity over the school, dampening any form of high spirits whatsoever. The fifth years were finding things exceptionally tough as they reached the peak of all the pressure that the teachers had placed on them for the entire year, and they certainly didn't envy the seventh years, who (including Fred and George) were under about twice the strain. However, the twins and Lee didn't seem to be showing it as much, still managing to charm a sign reading 'KICK ME' in glittering capitals to follow Snape around and to blow up Filch's broom closet with Dungbombs, causing a smell so bad that people found it hard to breath in the entrance hall for the entire day.
And that was just on the beginning Monday.
The gang emerged from their Transfiguration exam last thing on Monday, as worn out and despondent as the rest of their class after the two and a half hour exam. Not only was there a theory paper, filled with a good twenty pages of difficult questions, but the practical task of turning a cushion into a cat was horrible.
"Well," Shannon said carefully. "At least my cat was unique."
"What happened?" Harry asked, thinking of his own cat, furred in plush red velvet.
Shannon grimaced. "Have you seen a cat with tassels for claws?"
"No."
"Let's just say that I don't think McGonagall will forget it in a while."
That day had also heralded a Defense Against the Dark Arts paper on several Dark magic tools, as well as revisions on creatures and other topics from the four years before this one. Harry's mind had been a seething, confused mass of werewolves, strange crystals and curses. He was already dreading the next few days.
History of Magic was no big surprise- they had about an hour and a half to complete an essay on the formation of the Ministry of Magic, expected to be at least six feet long.
"Six feet!" Seamus moaned afterwards. "I don't think my hand's ever going to be the same again!" Several agreed readily.
Care of Magical Creatures was one of the easier tests, with an hour to care for a Krup/Tebo cross each as well as a short theory paper. As Hagrid knew little about this species he'd invented, the questions were very simple and they all completed them very quickly. And Charms, with their test on temporary infatuation spells, turned out to be the funniest when Neville accidentally put his spell on Trevor the toad. It had to be the only time Trevor hadn't been keen on hopping away on a bid for freedom, Harry decided when he saw the fight the animal gave when Flitwick tried to remove him from the classroom.
Their moods were soon sobered during the Potions exam, when Snape called upon them to concoct a 'Disorientation Draught'- something the fifth years were certain that he'd just invented to spite them. And when they had to test them on each other...it seemed that Harry had overdone his potion in nerves when Hermione looked ready to faint any second and had to visit the hospital wing immediately after the exam as Snape refused to provide any antidote for anyone.
The girls emerged from their Arithmancy room first thing on Thursday morning, and Harry was sure he'd never seen Shannon looked so shell shocked in all the time he'd known her. Hermione was white-faced in the aftermath of nerves as well, and they both refused to speak of the exam past the words, 'number charts'.
"Wish I'd never taken this stupid subject," Shannon muttered, then shook her fist at the ceiling. "Damn you, Frankie!" She then proceeded to flee from the scene of the exam, gaining some very weird looks from passers by.
The last exam for Ron, Shannon and Harry was Divination again, whilst Hermione headed for Ancient Runes. The students were called up one at a time alphabetically to the attic-like room for a one-on-one Tarot reading assessment. Each student seemed to have about five minutes to do this, and so the trio had a good while to check through their textbooks for a quick revision. As her surname was Parks, Shannon was the first of the three to be called up.
"Wish me luck." she observed grimly before she climbed the ladder through the trapdoor. The boys waited with baited breath until she eventually emerged again, looking quite relieved.
"Thank god that's all over." she told them as Parvati went up. "Whoohoo!" She punched the air in triumph. "No more O.W.L.s!"
"Alright, no need to gloat!" Ron muttered, shaking his head as she grinned at them.
After Parvati came down the ladder, it was Harry's turn. He had a hard time keeping up the mantra in his mind ('One more exam then it's all over') once the sweltering heat and strong perfumes of the classroom hit him. He walked over to the desk that Trelawney sat at, staring up at him with her outsized eyes, and seated himself in the armchair opposite her.
"Ah, Harry," she murmured airily, as she motioned to the Tarot deck to her right. "To pass this exam, you must complete a simple formation reading for yourself, and explain to me what it means. You may begin when ready."
Harry drew the cards into his hands and shuffled them a little as he remembered, before starting to lay out one of the basic formations. Eventually, he lay down the unused ones and turned over the first card. An ancient skeleton grinned up at him as it clutched an hourglass.
"It's Death," he told her. "Uh, that means change."
Slightly unerved by the realistic picture, he continued. However, the bony hands and bare teeth kept creeping into his mind, and he found concentration difficult. It was no surprise that he was glad when he was done with the last card and sat back in the chair.
"Yes, thank you my dear," Trelawney said, seeming preoccupied. Not that that was anything different- Harry had a good idea what was coming next. And if he'd ever made an accurate prediction, it was this one.
"I myself completed a reading before this exam began, and do you know what I saw?" She pulled her jangling shawl tighter around herself and peered at him in a mystical type of fear. "There will be a death soon! Within these walls!"
Harry supressed a roll of his eyes and a sarcastic comment, instead nodding and saying, "Well, there are more people waiting for their exam, so I'd better leave."
Trelawney studied him long and sadly. "It is my unfortunate duty to bear such news. Yes, you may leave."
Harry did so, and eagerly too.
After him, there was one more person until Ron's turn. Harry sat next to Shannon on the top stair of the set leading down from the Divination room as they waited for their friend to finish.
"Ever wonder why you took this up?" Shannon asked with a raised eyebrow.
He shrugged. "Sometimes, when I'm having my particularly nasty death predicted at me every two minutes."
She laughed slightly. "Surely she should know when we don't believe a word she says?"
"Evidently not." They both laughed, until it settled into a companionable silence. Shannon settled her gaze out of the window onto the sunny lawns out there, and Harry found himself looking at her, thoughts absorbed in her. He didn't notice himself moving a little closer to her...
Suddenly, there was a clatter as Ron stumbled down the ladder and jumped the last few rungs. The noise made both of them look round suddenly, and Shannon was the first to stand.
"Have fun?" she asked, in a slightly teasing tone.
Ron rolled his eyes. "I don't think she believed my answers."
"Was it the old Divination stand-by?" Harry asked, with a mock-serious expression.
The redhead grinned. "Yeah."
"And you wonder why..."
They started off towards the Ancient Runes corridor, chattering and laughing until Shannon made a noise of pain and put her hand to her head. Harry was the first to ask if she was alright.
"Yeah, I'll be OK soon." She grimaced. "Are you sure that's insence she burns in there?" This earned her a laugh. "Listen, I might go out on my broom for a while actually. Y'know, just to clear my head. I'll see you later."
The boys nodded and bid her goodbye before she set off in the opposite direction, off towards the common room and her dormitory.
*****
Shannon hummed a little tune to herself as she made her way down towards the lake, near the Forbidden Forest. For the first time in ages, she was starting to feel really happy. The exams were over and she had a while till the results came in, so for now at least she was free. She laughed quietly to herself, sighing contentedly and wondering where she should fly.
There's just so much space in the sky, she mused. Wait a moment- am I starting to sound sane?
I hope not.
By this time, she had reached the gently sloping bank of the lake closest to the Forest. At the moment, nobody was around, but they might appear later on. There was barely a moment in between when she stopped and when she mounted the broom, so eager was she to begin flying. When she kicked off and began to rise, she felt the exhilration rise in her stomach; the elation of just being able to comply to nobody's rules but her own.
So absorbed in flying was she, that Shannon Parks didn't notice the incantation hurled from the Forbidden Forest until it was too late.
*****
"Didn't she say where she was going?"
Harry shrugged at Hermione's question. "She said she wanted to go out on her broom for a bit."
"Harry, that was at least two hours ago! Are you sure?" The prefect chewed somewhat worriedly on a lock of her curly hair.
"Yeah. I..." Harry tried to ignore the sense of dread in his stomach, which had grown thanks to Hermione's incessant questions. He shook his head. "I'm sure she's fine."
"Yeah Hermione," Ron replied. "She probably met up with the twins and went to blow up a toilet or something..."
"I don't know..." Hermione chewed her lip absently, then shook her head. "Maybe we should check. Where might she go?"
"Out on her broom?" Ron said in a sarcasticly slow way. To Harry, he said, "You'd think she'd pick it up after the first hundred times or so, wouldn't you?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at this but said nothing in reply. "I'll check the library. Harry, you look outside on the lawns. Ron, you can check the kitchens."
Ron rolled his eyes at this but didn't take much convincing. Hermione was blatantly concerned, and Harry was starting to feel the same...
So this was how, fifteen minutes later, he found himself wandering the grounds. He'd checked the Quidditch pitch, checked with Hagrid (and avoided whatever he was now breedding), and checked almost everywhere except down by the lake- which was where he was headed now. He'd encountered quite a few students, none of whom had seen Shannon, but down here it was quiet and empty. He scanned the ground and the air as he made his way closer to the water, shimmering in the early evening sun.
"Shannon!" he called. "Hey, Shan, where are you?"
Then he saw it.
A small shape further off, carelessly heaped in the grass. With a frown, he picked up sped and half-jogged towards it. He recognised it immediately.
A broomstick.
Looks a bit like Shannon's, he thought. Hmm, I wonder...
He crouched beside it to get a better view, and reached out towards it, intending to pick it up to take a closer inspection. His fingertips just brushed the smooth wooden surface of the handle...
When there was a sudden lurching in his stomach as the broom dragged Harry Potter from the ground into a confusing whirl of colour.
*****
Ooh, almost Voldie time! Review please- again, sorry for no updates lately, I have been really busy! But hopefully there'll be more soon...so please, click the button below and tell me what you think!