Chapter Twelve
Voldemort's voice was shrieking, "Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" Quirrell lunged at Harry, knocking him clean off his feet, landing on top of him, both hands around Harry's neck.
"Master, I cannot hold him --- my hands --- my hands!"
Suddenly, more sinister than anything I'd ever heard before, the voice of Voldemort said, "Leave the boy, kill the girl."
I looked around, kind of hoping to see another girl around, but, alas, I was the only female in the whole chamber.
Quirrell, shaking violently, stood up and glared at me. I finally remembered what I'd forgotten: my sword. Not that it would have done me much good because the next second, Quirrell had whipped out his wand and pointed it at me.
Frightened, I looked at Harry, but he was lying, half-blinded by pain, on the ground. I looked back at Quirrell and before I had any time to react, a jet of bright green light shot at me and a pain unlike any I had ever felt overtook my body. I screamed in agony and fell to the ground, but when I landed I didn't hit stone, I hit . . .
A cushioned movie seat!
I looked to my left.
Laura!
I looked to my right.
Lisa!
I was back! I nearly cried I was so happy.
"So, how did you die?" Laura asked conversationally.
"Wizard's Chess," Lisa replied.
"Voldemort," I sighed. Something was poking me in the back. I reached behind me and my hand grasped something hard, and long, and wooden. "Oh, hell no!" I nearly yelled.
"What?" Lisa and Laura asked.
I showed them my wand. They just laughed.
"So that's it? It's all over? We each got a power, so we can't go into anymore books, right?" Laura said. Before Lisa or I could respond, the pre-movie previews came on the movie screen. For three hours, throughout the entire movie we had come to see, the three of us sat in complete silence, looking back on what had just happened. We had come into the theater reminiscing, and that's how we left.
Lisa and Laura's dad, who had picked us all up, dropped me off at my house. My mom let me in when I knocked on the door. All my pets greeted me as I walked in, one still hungry, one wanting to play, and one to just rub on my leg. I smiled and sat my purse down.
Later that night, as I was getting ready for bed, I stepped in front of my mirror to wash my face. As I looked at my reflection, I suddenly gasped. On my forehead, just barely visible, was a mark. A lightning mark. I took my washcloth and began scrubbing. Nothing changed, my skin just got blood red. I moaned and sat down on my toilet. I thought that once I left the book, I would never say this again, but . . .
Why me?
Later, I turned out the light in my bedroom and climbed under my covers. It suddenly seemed strange to be sleeping in such a small bed after so long in a four-poster. And nothing in my room was scarlet, how strange?
My eyes drooped shut, and I was dreaming in a matter of time.
I looked around me. There were people moving in the pictures. In the bed next to me lay someone I recognized.
"Harry?" He looked over at me and smiled.
"You're alive." I looked around again.
"Yeah," I laughed. Then I looked back at him. "So are you."
Harry nodded, and it was apparent that his thoughts were someplace else. "Dumbledore was just here," he said after a minute or two of silence. That would explain it, I thought.
"And?"
Before Harry could reply, Madam Pomfrey bustled over. Behind her, I caught a glimpse of two kids standing on tiptoe, one with bushy brown hair, and one with flaming red hair. I smiled and allowed my body to relax entirely. "Oh good, you're awake," Madam Pomfrey said as she sidled up to my bed.
"Just barely," I muttered.
"You have visitors."
"Can they come in?" Harry asked.
"Of course not, you two need your rest."
"Just five minutes."
"Absolutely not."
"You let Professor Dumbledore in . . ."
"Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite different." Then she looked down at me, and I must have looked pretty crappy because she shook her head. "You need your rest."
"I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey . . ."
Madam Pomfrey looked back at me.
"Me, too," I said defensively, though my eyelids were falling.
"Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes only."
And she let Ron and Hermione in.
"Harry! Courtney!" Hermione was grinning from ear-to-ear. "Oh, we were sure that you two were going to --- Dumbledore was so worried ---"
"The whole school's talking about it," Ron told us. "What really happened?"
As Harry tried to explain to the two of them what had happened down in the chamber, I drifted continuously in and out of consciousness, and finally gave in to the darkness.
I opened my eyes, but I was still in darkness. The space I was in felt more compact than the hospital wing. Then I heard my fan, and realized that I was no longer in Hogwarts.
I looked over at my clock. 4:30.
I moaned and turned onto my side.
That had been a strange dream. It had felt so real, the pain, everything. Had I gone back? I remembered everything, and I was now afraid to go back to sleep. I sat up in my bed and looked out my window. To my shock, I saw snow. It was covering the ground! No school! I smiled and turned on my TV.
By midday, I still couldn't shake the feeling that my dream hadn't been a dream. But soon, I remembered that I had homework to do, and that took my mind off of everything for a little while.
By 5:00, I had absolutely nothing to do, so I called Lisa. "Hello?" a man's voice came on the line.
"Is Lisa there?" I asked.
"Hold on."
A few seconds later, "Hello?"
"Lisa?"
"Yeah," Lisa replied, "hey Court."
"I had nothing else to do, so I called you."
"What's new?" We laughed.
"Well, I guess it's back to school tomorrow. This snow won't last long."
"Yeah, but I'll tell you what, this has been one hell of a weekend!"
"You're telling me," I sighed. Then I smiled to myself and said, "Lisa, let's never, ever, ever do that again."
Voldemort's voice was shrieking, "Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" Quirrell lunged at Harry, knocking him clean off his feet, landing on top of him, both hands around Harry's neck.
"Master, I cannot hold him --- my hands --- my hands!"
Suddenly, more sinister than anything I'd ever heard before, the voice of Voldemort said, "Leave the boy, kill the girl."
I looked around, kind of hoping to see another girl around, but, alas, I was the only female in the whole chamber.
Quirrell, shaking violently, stood up and glared at me. I finally remembered what I'd forgotten: my sword. Not that it would have done me much good because the next second, Quirrell had whipped out his wand and pointed it at me.
Frightened, I looked at Harry, but he was lying, half-blinded by pain, on the ground. I looked back at Quirrell and before I had any time to react, a jet of bright green light shot at me and a pain unlike any I had ever felt overtook my body. I screamed in agony and fell to the ground, but when I landed I didn't hit stone, I hit . . .
A cushioned movie seat!
I looked to my left.
Laura!
I looked to my right.
Lisa!
I was back! I nearly cried I was so happy.
"So, how did you die?" Laura asked conversationally.
"Wizard's Chess," Lisa replied.
"Voldemort," I sighed. Something was poking me in the back. I reached behind me and my hand grasped something hard, and long, and wooden. "Oh, hell no!" I nearly yelled.
"What?" Lisa and Laura asked.
I showed them my wand. They just laughed.
"So that's it? It's all over? We each got a power, so we can't go into anymore books, right?" Laura said. Before Lisa or I could respond, the pre-movie previews came on the movie screen. For three hours, throughout the entire movie we had come to see, the three of us sat in complete silence, looking back on what had just happened. We had come into the theater reminiscing, and that's how we left.
Lisa and Laura's dad, who had picked us all up, dropped me off at my house. My mom let me in when I knocked on the door. All my pets greeted me as I walked in, one still hungry, one wanting to play, and one to just rub on my leg. I smiled and sat my purse down.
Later that night, as I was getting ready for bed, I stepped in front of my mirror to wash my face. As I looked at my reflection, I suddenly gasped. On my forehead, just barely visible, was a mark. A lightning mark. I took my washcloth and began scrubbing. Nothing changed, my skin just got blood red. I moaned and sat down on my toilet. I thought that once I left the book, I would never say this again, but . . .
Why me?
Later, I turned out the light in my bedroom and climbed under my covers. It suddenly seemed strange to be sleeping in such a small bed after so long in a four-poster. And nothing in my room was scarlet, how strange?
My eyes drooped shut, and I was dreaming in a matter of time.
I looked around me. There were people moving in the pictures. In the bed next to me lay someone I recognized.
"Harry?" He looked over at me and smiled.
"You're alive." I looked around again.
"Yeah," I laughed. Then I looked back at him. "So are you."
Harry nodded, and it was apparent that his thoughts were someplace else. "Dumbledore was just here," he said after a minute or two of silence. That would explain it, I thought.
"And?"
Before Harry could reply, Madam Pomfrey bustled over. Behind her, I caught a glimpse of two kids standing on tiptoe, one with bushy brown hair, and one with flaming red hair. I smiled and allowed my body to relax entirely. "Oh good, you're awake," Madam Pomfrey said as she sidled up to my bed.
"Just barely," I muttered.
"You have visitors."
"Can they come in?" Harry asked.
"Of course not, you two need your rest."
"Just five minutes."
"Absolutely not."
"You let Professor Dumbledore in . . ."
"Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite different." Then she looked down at me, and I must have looked pretty crappy because she shook her head. "You need your rest."
"I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey . . ."
Madam Pomfrey looked back at me.
"Me, too," I said defensively, though my eyelids were falling.
"Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes only."
And she let Ron and Hermione in.
"Harry! Courtney!" Hermione was grinning from ear-to-ear. "Oh, we were sure that you two were going to --- Dumbledore was so worried ---"
"The whole school's talking about it," Ron told us. "What really happened?"
As Harry tried to explain to the two of them what had happened down in the chamber, I drifted continuously in and out of consciousness, and finally gave in to the darkness.
I opened my eyes, but I was still in darkness. The space I was in felt more compact than the hospital wing. Then I heard my fan, and realized that I was no longer in Hogwarts.
I looked over at my clock. 4:30.
I moaned and turned onto my side.
That had been a strange dream. It had felt so real, the pain, everything. Had I gone back? I remembered everything, and I was now afraid to go back to sleep. I sat up in my bed and looked out my window. To my shock, I saw snow. It was covering the ground! No school! I smiled and turned on my TV.
By midday, I still couldn't shake the feeling that my dream hadn't been a dream. But soon, I remembered that I had homework to do, and that took my mind off of everything for a little while.
By 5:00, I had absolutely nothing to do, so I called Lisa. "Hello?" a man's voice came on the line.
"Is Lisa there?" I asked.
"Hold on."
A few seconds later, "Hello?"
"Lisa?"
"Yeah," Lisa replied, "hey Court."
"I had nothing else to do, so I called you."
"What's new?" We laughed.
"Well, I guess it's back to school tomorrow. This snow won't last long."
"Yeah, but I'll tell you what, this has been one hell of a weekend!"
"You're telling me," I sighed. Then I smiled to myself and said, "Lisa, let's never, ever, ever do that again."
