Chapter 15 ~ South Gravewitch

March first – the incident in the Divination classroom had taken place a week ago and the images that she had seen incessantly haunted her. Ani was tired of being asked to tell people's future. She was tired of being the center of attention. Everyone knew she saw something horrible that lead to Professor Trelawney's prediction, but she couldn't believe what she saw. It was just an image…just a mere nightmare. Anistasia was ready for some good news. She, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting at breakfast that morning when the Owl Post arrived. A roll of parchment was dropped in front of each Quidditch team member. Ani picked her's up and read:

Ms. Willow,

On March 7, at 2 in the afternoon, Professors Lauren Wall and Carol Jane Roberts along with Madam Hooch will assist you and your teammates to America. You will travel there by Portkey – the safest and fastest way. You will travel back by Portkey as well.

There is also the matter of a pre-tournament ball that South Gravewitch is holding. You may ask somebody to be your date. If they agree to go with you, they will accompany the team (if they are not on the team) to the tournament. You are required to wear your dress robes to the ball.

I wish you luck. Bring us back a trophy!

                                                            Headmaster Albus Dumbledore

Ani rolled up her parchment and turned to Harry. Before she could say a word, Harry said:

"Will you go to the ball with me?"

Ani smiled, "I would love to, but I am going with Draco."

"Ani, that's not even funny," he said.

"I know, but you asked a very stupid question. Will I go to the ball with you? Of course," she exclaimed, then sighed, "I have never traveled by Portkey before. I can't wait."

Harry forced a weak smile upon his face, "I have traveled by Portkey before and, believe me, its not that great."

Harry turned around and Hermione leaned over to Anistasia and whispered, "Last year in the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, the Triwizard Cup had been turned into a Portkey that transported Harry and Cedric Diggory to the graveyard in Little Hangleton where Lord Voldemort's father is buried. Cedric was killed and Lord Voldemort came back to power that night. That is why Harry isn't head over heels in love with the idea of traveling by Portkey."

Anistasia was shocked by this news. She couldn't believe Harry hadn't told her about that. The bell rang and Anistasia caught up with Harry.

"How come you never told me," she asked.

"About what?"

"About last year. The Triwizard Tournament and the incident in the churchyard."

"I don't like people to pity me," Harry replied, "I don't want people to go 'poor Harry' and pat me on the back. I also don't want to go back there, to that night, that feeling of anguish and anger. Though I will, sooner or later, go back to that night, to that same scene once again to fight Voldemort for what's rightfully mine."

"What is that, Harry?"

"My parents."

With that, he walked into the gate around Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures class.


It was almost four in the afternoon. For almost two hours, the Quidditch team, their dates and their teachers had trudged through the snow-covered countryside. To name just a few couples, Marcus Flint was with a seventh year Slytherin girl, Chris (short for Christina) Riddle, Angelina was with Ron, George had asked Katie to the ball, Draco had, surprisingly asked Ginny to accompany him to the ball, Fred was going with Hermione and, of course, Harry was going with Anistasia.

"Lauren, are you sure that we haven't passed the Portkey?"

Professor Roberts looked as though she was ready to collapse. Harry looked over at Anistasia.

"Are you okay," he asked.

"Isn't there an easier way," Ani replied.

"Just think of this as physical training. We will get something out of this. It will strengthen our bodies, sharpen our senses ----"

"Give us frostbite and drain our energy," Ani interrupted, "I swear, Harry, you are way too positive sometimes."

"And you are way too negative," Harry exclaimed.

Anistasia looked ahead. There was nothing but white, spotless snow. It made her feel as though she were in a dream…an endless dream. She looked back down at her feet and closed her eyes…and the images came back. Those dark, terrible images that had been haunting her since that day in Divination. Every day, they were becoming stronger and clearer.

"No," she exclaimed as she opened her eyes.

"Anistasia, its okay," Harry whispered as the rest of the Quidditch team gathered around them, "Come on, I'll carry you."

Ani whimpered a little as Harry scooped her up into his warm arms and out of the cold, wet snow.

"Are you sure you want to carry her," Professor Wall asked him, "I can have her levitate beside you ---"

"No," Harry said, quite clearly, "I've got her."

Anistasia wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and lay her head on his shoulder, "Harry…"

"Shhh…quiet. You have exhausted yourself. Go to sleep. I'll wake you once we get to the Portkey."

"No…I have a bad feeling about this…Dumbledore does, too, I know he does. We need to go back to the school…the safe school where the Headmaster can protect you…"

"You are hallucinating, love. Now shush," he said, though there was a tremble in his voice.

Ani didn't say another word as she sat in Harry's arms. For another hour Harry walked with the team. Anistasia could feel him becoming gradually weaker.

"Harry, I think I can walk now."

He shook his head, "Its alright. Get your rest. We are almost ---"

"Here," Madam Hooch exclaimed.

The team gathered around Madam Hooch. In front of her lay a log, partially covered in snow.

"Grab onto your luggage…"

Harry reluctantly put Ani on the ground but never let go of one of her hands. The team scrambled around, looking for their luggage and grabbing hold of their brooms. Once everyone had everything, Madam Hooch continued with her instructions.

"Make sure you all have one hand free and on the count of three we will all touch the Portkey. One…" Harry's hand gripped Anistasia's tighter, "Two," everyone leaned forward, getting ready to touch, "Three!"

Almost twenty hands shot out at the same time and touched the Portkey. Harry felt a familiar pulling sensation behind his navel. Once they were off in a blur of color and light, Harry could feel his shoulders hitting Ani's and Fred's. Harry closed his eyes, hoping that nothing had gone wrong this time. He hoped that when he opened his eyes again, he would be in ---

"America," Anistasia gasped.

Harry opened his eyes. The sky was a bright blue, not black and cloudy. The grass was a wonderful springy green color and gravestone free. With all of the clothes he had on, he felt that it was unbearably hot for March. The headmaster of the school appeared.

"Need a hand?"

Professor wall looked up and smiled, "Michelle! It is so nice to see you again!"

The team got to its feet and faced the headmaster.

"Good morning. I am Headmaster Michelle Farmer. Welcome to South Gravewitch."

Harry stepped forward, relieved to see the smiling face, "I am Harry Potter, Seeker and Captain of this team. We are honored to be here and, quite frankly, can't wait to see the rest of this place."

Headmaster Farmer smiled, "Mr. Potter! A wonderful surprise! Please, if you will, right this way and I will introduce you to our team."

The Quidditch team, with their brooms, followed the headmaster to the Pitch. Once they entered, they saw robes of a deep forest green up in the air. The headmaster sent a stream of purple sparks into the air and one of the teammates called his team together. Once they had assembled before the Hogwarts team, a tall, blonde haired, blue eyes guy made his was to the front.

"I am Robert McGuire, but I am also known as Spike. I am the Keeper of this team as well as the captain."

Harry smiled, "I am Harry Potter, the Seeker."

The two of them shook hands.

"Lunch is about to start," Headmaster Farmer informed them, "Shall we go up to the school?"

            The teams nodded and as they made their way to the school, the Hogwarts players made note of their surroundings. All over the campus there were dragons roaming the grounds. Unicorns galloped freely over the green grass, their manes and tails swinging gently as they passed.

"This is nothing like Hogwarts," Anistasia whispered to Harry, "Everything here is so…happy and peaceful."

"That is what every first year says when they come," one of the South Gravewitch team members said to her, "but behind all of this happiness, thee is a terrible history. My name is Seri Abbott, the Head Chaser."

"I am Anistasia, the Keeper, and this is my boyfriend, the Captain and the Seeker, Harry Potter."

"Nice to meet you both, especially you, Mr. Potter. Even though America didn't have the terrible honor of holding Lord Voldemort within its borders, we had Death Eaters, which carried the power and the air of him. We are so terribly grateful to you for those Death Eaters are a part of this terrible history I was speaking of."

Harry blushed, "I didn't do anything, really. I was just a baby. It was his own fault that the spell backfired."

Ani gasped, "You spoke his name! Are you not afraid?"

"Afraid," Seri exclaimed, "Afraid of what?"

"I don't know, but many people in Britain call him he-who-must-not-be-named or you-know-who. Never by his real name – well, only by a few people. However, now that…oh, never mind. I am sure that you already know."

Seri leaned closer to Ani, "What do I know?"

"He's back."

Seri backed up and screamed. That caused both of the Quidditch teams to turn back at her, as well as the four teachers. They gathered around her.

"How dare you come upon this campus carrying such evil thoughts," Seri exclaimed, "I daresay, be rid of them!"

Anistasia recoiled, "I…I didn't mean any harm by what I said. It is just the truth. He is. He is back. We must all be aware of this – be aware that danger can strike at any moment…"

Anistasia continued to back up as a whirlwind of air picked up around her. Her eyes began to turn black and dark shadows cast upon her face made her features change. Her voice grew dark and raspy…

"He will be back and when he comes, he will take his only son with him by any means possible even if it means death. His son will join his father in a means to conquer and maintain evil victory over all…"

            Both of the teams stared at her in complete horror. The wind stopped and she turned back to normal as she fainted upon the ground. Harry didn't run to her side like he had all of those other times she had fainted. This was too much for him to bear. He was skeptical about Professor Trelawney's predictions, but this one he was ready to believe – but what exactly was she talking about? Professor Wall tried to wake her, but she didn't wake.

"Mobilicorps," she said and Anistasia's body began to float in mid-air.

Professor Wall and Anistasia were soon out of sight.

"Come, students," Headmaster Farmer exclaimed, "This way!"

As the teams reached the castle, Harry could see a moat surrounding it, guarding it from trespassers. The bridge was up, seeing that most of everybody was inside. The headmaster said a spell that released the bridge and she led everybody over it. The inside of the castle looked like a castle in all of the fairy tales. It looked like one of the grand castles that held the royal families. The entrance hall was grand with marble floors and marble staircases on each side of the hall, leading up to the second floor. A South Gravewitch coat of arms hung on the wall between the two staircases. The two Quidditch teams walked along the halls and up the staircase to the second floor. Headmaster Farmer soon stopped in front of two huge stain glass doors that lead into the dining hall. Harry could hear quiet talking coming from inside.

"You are about to enter the dining hall. There is an eighth table, which was added this morning after breakfast, adjacent to the head table, which all of you will sit at. Follow me in."

Headmaster Farmer opened the two doors. Professor Roberts, Coach Wood and Madam Hooch followed her. The two teams followed behind. Inside, there were eight tables and one head table. The ceiling was made of thick glass, which the afternoon sun was shining in through. South Gravewitch and Hogwarts flags lined the walls of the hall.

"Attention! Attention all! I would like to introduce to you all the Hogwarts Quidditch team, who came here from England."

The hall burst into applause and the headmaster whispered to the two teams, "Please, take a seat."

The South Gravewitch team led the Hogwarts students to an empty table. They sat and Headmaster Farmer continued her announcements.

"I would like to remind you all of the ball taking place tonight in the ballroom on the ground floor which will begin at seven. As a special surprise, the rest of today's classes have been canceled as well as tomorrow's."

"Wow, this must be a huge event for them," Marcus whispered to Chris.

"Without any further a due whatsoever, lunch shall begin," Headmaster Farmer exclaimed.

A line of about twelve well dressed house elves filed into the hall. One of them walked up to the Quidditch table.

"What will it be, my dears," she squeaked, though in a kind, gentle way.

"You guys may order first," Spike said to Harry.

"Um…" he stuttered, "well I…what do you have?"

"Cheeseburgers, French fries, pizza, chips of all kinds, dips to go with the chips, soda, water and milkshakes."

Harry's mind drew a blank, "Uh…I hope you don't mind me asking, but – what?"

"I am sorry, Matilda. Allow me to go first," Spike said, "I'll have one cheeseburger, hold the onions, curly fries with extra salt and ketchup. To drink I will have a root beer. Add a side of sour cream and onion chips."

Matilda, the house elf nodded and turned to Harry.

"I'll have…what he's having," Harry declared, still a bit confused.

The rest of the Hogwarts team had the same. Once Matilda had all of the orders, she went back into the kitchens.

"Spike, what did I just order," Harry asked.

"Pure, All American grub, my friend," he replied, "Its so sweet, dude. Take my word for it – no other country makes better food."

"Tell me, Spike," Hermione began, "Do your house elves get paid?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," he replied, "A Galleon a month."

Hermione gasped, "Our house elves don't. I think they should, though. All they do is work in the kitchens and clean during the night and while we are in classes. They are never seen, even at meal times. After Dumbledore says a few words, food magically pops up onto the table. Hardly anyone knows about the house elves. I tried to start a House Elf Liberation Front, but nobody wanted to join. It was a complete disgrace ----"

"So, Seri," Harry began, as Fred stuffed a roll in Hermione's mouth, "What were you saying about the terrible history of this school?"

To this, Hermione stopped struggling with Fred and listened. Everything interested her, especially if it can teach her something.

"Oh, well…no one really speaks of it, but it all started when Death Eaters began invading the castle. They were powerful. Everyone feared them, even the headmaster who, needless to say, was let go after this incident," she began.

"Hey, look! The food is here," Spike exclaimed, clearly not wanting Seri to say any more.

The food was set in front of each of the students and Harry found that Spike was right. He took one bite and was craving for more.

"Wehafgotogeiztufaogwarz," he said through a mouthful of cheeseburger.

"I cant understand you, dude," Spike said, "That accent is going to kill me this weekend."

Harry swallowed, "I said that we have to get this stuff at Hogwarts."

Near the end of lunch, Spike noticed someone enter the hall, "Hey, who is that."

Harry looked up, his face covered in ketchup, "Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the only person that Lord Voldemort fears. He is a grand man – the greatest wizard of our time."

Ani, who was walking alongside Dumbledore, spotted Harry and the team and walked over to them.

 "Good afternoon, Mr. Potter. I see that you have a natural taste for American food. Oh, and you have a spot of ketchup just there," Dumbledore said.

Harry took his napkin and whipped where Dumbledore pointed, though found that there was more ketchup than Albus lead him on to believe. With a laugh, Dumbledore turned to the rest of the team.

"I hope you all are having a fine time here. Good luck tomorrow and have fun at the ball tonight. Yes, and even more luck to you, Quidditch team of South Gravewitch. I unfortunately, won't be here for all of tomorrow's game. Lots of things to take care of, but I am sure you all will be more than happy to fill me in on all that I will have missed."

Albus turned on his heel and joined the head table. Ani sat beside Harry and joined the teams.

"Are you feeling okay, Love," Harry asked, pulling her close.

"Yes, just fine. Headmaster Dumbledore met me in the Hospital Wing and we talked a little about the incident, which, I might add, I have no recollection of."

Harry nodded, "Here, have a bite of my cheeseburger."

 Ani smiled and ate. Lunch was over soon, and Spike led the two teams to the dorms.

"The way that this school works is that the dormitories are split up by gender and year," Spike explained to them, "We are going to enter a building. On one side of the hall there are guys dorms; on the other, girls dorms. I will give you your room assignments once we get there."

They walked through doorways and hallways; up stairs and across the hard marble floor. Finally, Spike stopped in the middle of a wide hallway with several doors on each side.

"These are the dorms. First years take residence on the first floor while seventh years are on the seventh floor. Guests are allowed a room on any floor they wish as long as they are rooming with a South Gravewitch student. There is a maximum of five people to a room. I would suggest to you, Hogwarts, that you room with a Quidditch player. I will give you all ten minutes to talk amongst yourselves," Spike said, "Come, team, to your rooms and begin preparing for the ball."

Harry turned to his team and their dates.

"All right, guys, lets see. Ron, I want you in my room. Marcus, I think it would be wise if we roomed together so we can talk things over and plan for tomorrow. Draco, you can be the second Slytherin in our room so Marcus doesn't feel outnumbered. I guess Spike will be in our room. Does that sound good to you? What floor should we get?"

"Seventh," Marcus said.

Harry nodded, "Ani, why don't you, Ginny and Hermione room on the seventh floor as well. Seri seems cool. Room with her and another South Gravewitch team member."

Anistasia nodded. Harry worked on the room plans for a few more minutes and Spike showed up to get them. Harry told him what they had decided and Spike nodded.

"Right this way, then."

Spike showed them all to their rooms saying, "A South Gravewitch Team member will be down to room with you in an hour or so."

He showed Harry to their room last and left him, Marcus, Ron and Draco alone to get ready for the ball.

"Draco," Ron began, "I have no idea why you asked my sister to this thing but I swear, if you hurt her, I will kill you faster than you can say, 'Avada Kedavra'."

Draco laughed, "You don't think I have already gotten this speech from your brothers? Even Percy sent me an owl – a Howler, to be exact – warning me of this. Don't worry, Ron. I don't want six Weasleys kicking my ass. Oh, and if you want to know why I asked her, because, quite frankly, all of the girls in Slytherin aren't anything to look at. Well, except for Chris. She's a beauty. Ginny is a beautiful girl…quite interesting, too. That's all the explanation I will give you."

"Well, you have my approval."

"Man, if its this hard to try to get her to date me, I would hate to know what might happen if I asked her to marry me," Draco exclaimed. Ron glowered in his direction and he added quickly, "Not that I was going to or anything. Just saying…he, he."

Ron laughed and continued to get ready for the ball. Soon, it was half past six. Harry left to run across the hall to get Anistasia.

"Harry," Hermione exclaimed when she had answered the door in silver, silk dress robes, "Anistasia isn't quite ready yet. Here, have a seat."

Harry sat on a couch and Hermione continued, "Listen, I think there's something up with this school we need to check out. I went down to the library earlier and grabbed the book, The History of South Gravewitch School of Magic. It's relatively thick, but not thicker than Hogwarts: A History," she said, pulling a book from the table between them and sat it in her lap, "but I managed to find something here that has a meaning to us. Listen to this: 'In the mid-1970's, during Lord Voldemort's rein of power, a gathering of a hundred or so Death Eaters invaded the school, which was then named Ravengriff School of Witchcraft, and managed to take it over. They killed anyone who attempted to stop them. Once they had cleared the school of unworthy wizards (Mudbloods and rebels), the Death Eaters turned the castle into a school for Dark Arts. They cast an unbreakable barrier around the school allowing no one in and no one out. For over two years, young magicians were taught the all of the Dark Magic known to man, including the Unforgivable Curses. Once they proved themselves worthy, they would be tattooed with the Dark Mark and sent out to serve Lord Voldemort.

"There was one child that never made a sound and always did what she was told to do, even when the school was being transformed from good to evil right before her eyes. Rose Gravewitch was a fourth year when the invasion began. Even though her school was going from good to evil, she never fought against it nor raised an argument. At least, no one noticed that she was. She soon became a favorite of the Head Death eater and he began courting her. Rose led him on, even in front of her love and Charms Professor Jonathan Pierce. Both Jonathan and she knew that this was a perfect way to unleash their plan. About a year after this evil reined over the school, Jonathan was caught planning against the Death Eaters and was killed in the top room o the East Tower. Rose recovered most of the plans that the Death Eaters never found and continued her love's work. The night before she was to be dubbed a fellow Death Eater, the Head Death Eater, Justin Reed caught her in that very room her love was killed. She convinced him that she was destroying the documents that she had recovered and he believed her. He began seducing her, but learned that her intentions were unworthy when he stumbled upon a document with her handwriting, and decided to kill her. It turns out that both Justin and Rose muttered 'Avada Kedavra' at the same time, causing a rare effect and turning them both to dust.

"With the loss of their leader, the other Death Eaters fled and the school was soon re-named South Gravewitch.'

"Later, a journal that Rose was keeping was found. It was written in some kind of unknown language. Some of it was deciphered. Some of the interesting parts state that she knew her death was coming and she knew what would become of the school after her death, but details were never given. It goes on, but that is the part that really means anything."

Harry looked up at Hermione as she closed the book, "That's a very nice piece of history, but what are we supposed to do with it?"

"We aren't targeting much of this history, just the part about the East Tower. It is said that the three souls still haunt that room. What you, Ani, Ron and I are going to do is conduct a séance."

"Yes, but how it is going to help us?"

"Ani says that her visions keep becoming stronger, which has been evident through the past week. It seems as though this is the strongest it has ever been. I think that with all of the fortune telling and spirit-summoning objects that she bought from Hogsmade, we can find out what these visions mean, exactly. If we don't, it could mean trouble. The four of us are going to go up to that room at a quarter past eleven so we can be ready when it comes midnight."

"The ball ends at eleven. We might get caught trying to get up there after the ball," Harry exclaimed, "why must we be ready at midnight? Why can't we do the séance at ten thirty?"

"Are you crazy, Harry," she asked, "We all can't just leave the ball. We might stir up too much attention. We have to start going up there after the ball. As for why we must do it at midnight, I am sure you have heard all of the horror stories about ghosts and things coming out when the clock strikes midnight. A séance will work best when it is midnight. That is when all of the witches and wizards do it. Lets just hope, Harry, that you brought your invisibility cloak. We will be needing it seeing that we have no idea what roams these corridors."

Harry nodded, "Lucky for us, I did."

Their conversation was ended abruptly as Anistasia entered the room wearing royal purple silk dress robes. Harry proudly escorted her to the ballroom. As they danced, he put the thought of tonight's adventures aside.