Witnessing Snape being beaten by a woman probably thirty years younger than
him. The hall rang with the cheers of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw
students. The Slytherins stormed off to their common room.
"Zelda," said McGonagall, stopping her. "I have never before seen a dueling performance quite like that before! Your magic is absolutely astounding!! May I ask, which school you attended?"
"Well, actually, I was home taught. By my nursemaid, Impa," Zelda answered.
"Ah."
"But Minerva, I was just wondering if I could go see Professor Koke. You know, Link, I mean."
McGonagall smiled. "He will be fine my dear, but it'll be all right if you go and visit him."
"Thank you. And could you possibly point me in the direction of the hospital wing? I'm not quite sure where to go."
"I shall take you there Zelda," McGonagall responded. "I have to go see Madame Pomfrey about something anyway."
The two teachers set off in direction of the hospital wing. McGonagall opened the doors, and Madame Pomfrey walked up to them.
"Can I be of any service to you?" she asked.
"Yes," McGonagall answered. "Zelda here would like to visit Link, and I'd like to have a word with you about.something."
"Koke is over there," Pomfrey said to Zelda, gesturing towards him. "Come over here to my office, Professor McGonagall."
Zelda walked in the direction that Madame Pomfrey had pointed to. She sat down on a chair next to Link. He looked up at her.
"Well, how'd you do, Zel?"
"A lot better than you did," Zelda laughed. "I think Snape is obsessed with that Stupefy spell, though. He tried using it on me every chance he could. Fortunately, it seemed that I was better prepared than you were."
Link managed to laugh. "I wonder if Snape is at all embarrassed."
"They'll probably be bringing him in soon." Zelda grasped Link's hand, then quickly dropped it.
"I wish you could see your face right now, Zelda," Link whispered.
"Why, what's wrong with it?" she asked, frowning slightly.
"It's beautiful."
Zelda completely melted, forcing herself to look into Link's eyes. She gently brushed some hairs out of his face, subconsciously stroking his cheek in the process.
"Zelda, I wish I could just."
"I-I've got to go," Zelda interjected, standing up. "Sorry." She quickly walked away, determined not to let a single tear fall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Two days later, Harry ran excitedly outside with Ron. He was finally going to be able to fly again. As soon as they reached the Quidditch field, Harry mounted his Firebolt and zoomed off.
"Hey, Harry!" Alica called. "Get on down here, will you? We don't have time to fool around; some people have come to try out!"
Reluctantly, Harry landed his broom. He walked up to Ron, who was standing uneasily next to Alicia and Katie Brown.
"Okay," announced Alica. "First, we have Colin and Derek Creevy trying out for the Beater positions."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Those two couldn't hit a bludger if their lives depended on it," he muttered to Ron. They both chuckled softly.
"Here," said Katie, giving each Creevy brother a bat. "We're going to let loose the bludgers, start flying, and you two are to make sure we don't get hit. Got it?"
"Yup," answered Colin.
"What's a bludger?" Derek whispered to his brother, who nudged him.
"All right, go!" shouted Alicia. The players mounted into the air, except Katie, who released the bludgers.
To make a long story short, disaster followed. Neither of the Creevy brothers managed to hit a bludger even once. Ron nearly got hit by one, at which Alicia told them to get off the field.
Later that evening, all positions had been filled. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnagin became the new Beaters, and Ginny was given the honor of replacing Angelina.
"Wow, this is so exciting!" Ginny squealed, as she headed back to the castle with Ron and Harry. "I can't wait until practice next week!"
"Same here," said Harry. Quidditch was one of the major reasons that he loved going to Hogwarts.
"I hope our first match'll be against Slytherin," Ron said. "I can't wait to see how our new team plays in a game! Finnagin and Thomas can beat those dumbheads Crabbe and Goyle to a pulp any day!"
"You're not joking," Ginny laughed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh look, here comes the mail," said Hermione the next morning at breakfast. Sure enough, hundreds of owls swooped through the windows at Hogwarts, dropping letters addressed to their owners.
"Hey, there's Hedwig," Ginny observed. A snowy white owl flew down to their table and dropped an envelope in front of Harry. She nibbled a bit at his toast, then headed off towards the owlery.
"Open it up, mate," Ron advised.
Harry tore open the envelope. Inside he found a letter from Lupin:
"Dear Harry,
While tidying up Snuffle's house the other day, I came upon a knife similar to the one he gave you before. You know, the one with the tip you melted last year trying to open a door at the Ministry of Magic.
Enclosed in this envelope is the similar knife I found. Since I have no use for it, I hope that you will take it from me.
Best wishes, Moony"
Harry dove his hand back into the envelope. As Lupin had said, there was a knife identical to the one he had previously ruined. Not wanting anyone else to see it (besides Ron and Hermione, obviously), he pocketed it.
In Defense Against The Dark Arts that day, Professor Harkinian began showing her classes how to produce Patronus. Ever since her duel with Snape, the girls started to respect and like her (and of course, the boys only liked her more for it).
"Here, let me show you what a Patronus looks like," said Zelda to her sixth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. She stepped out from behind her desk and to the front of the classroom. Harry could just smell the scents from her hair.
"Can you smell that?" Ron asked Harry in a heavenly grin.
"'Course I can," Harry muttered back.
"Okay, here I go," Zelda said. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!" She flung her wand arm forward, and a silver orb burst out of the tip. The orb eventually took the shape of a large dragon. It bobbed its head around, as if searching for a Dementor. Upon realizing that there were none in sight, it winked at Zelda and vanished.
"Wow, that was amazing, Professor!" Padma Patil gushed. "I've always wanted to learn how to produce a Patronus!"
"Well, you're going to learn how," her teacher said. "All of you are."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night at dinner, Harry noticed that Professor Harkinian was not at the staff table. Wondering where she could be, he glanced at Snape, who was deeply in conversation with Professor Sinistra.
Then Hermione nudged Ron. "Look over there!"
Both Ron and Harry looked in the direction that Hermione was pointing to. On the other side of the hall, they could see Cho having a heated discussion with Michael. He bared his teeth at her, and she returned his infuriated expression one with fright.
"What's he doing?" Harry grumbled to no one in particular. Suddenly, Cho got up from the table and fled from the hall. Pretending not to care, Michael turned back to his own dinner.
Harry stood up. "I'm going to go see if she's okay." He quickly left the room.
"Looks like the flame is still there," Hermione sighed, turning back to her kidney pudding. "Here we go again."
After looking around outside the Ravenclaw dormitory, Harry was quite confused. Cho couldn't have gone inside already, because he'd have seen her. Then he heard it.
The sounds of screams came echoing from another room. Harry whipped around, looking in different directions. Apparently, the shrieks of agony were coming from a room below him.
Hurrying down the stairs, Harry wondered worriedly if Cho was all right. Then he realized that the screams were coming from Professor Harkinian's room, and he dashed in the direction. He flung the door open.
As Harry had thought, Zelda was crouched in the corner of the room, tears splashing down her face, her wand out. "R-r-Riddikulus!" she sputtered, still looking completely terrified. "R-Riddikulus!"
Then Harry saw the Boggart that his teacher was trying to ward off. It had taken the shape of a tall, frightening looking man. Laughing evilly, the man threw and caught three small objects in his hands-three, small golden pyramids.
"I've got them, Princess!" the man laughed. "Now that I have the Triforce, not even Link can stop me! So long, Zelda!"
"N-NO!" Zelda shouted. "Riddikulus!"
Harry bounded in front of the man. "RIDDIKULUS!" he yelled. Immediately, the green man vanished into thin air.
Still sobbing rather hard, Zelda tried to stand up. Harry quickly walked over, and helped her.
"Professor Harkinian, are you all right?" he asked her.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," she sniffed, wiping away at her eyes. "I.it was just the Boggart. I never imagined what it would turn.but then of course, they do always turn into what you fear most.Thank you, Harry."
"Your welcome," Harry said awkwardly. "But Professor.who was that man? What was he holding?"
"I'm sorry, Harry," Zelda apologized, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But I am afraid that I cannot tell you. You go on and get back to dinner." Harry was about to leave, when she stopped him once more. "But could you do just one more thing for me?"
"Sure," he answered.
"Tell Professor Koke to meet me in my office in two hours."
"All right."
"Thank you so much, Harry."
"N-no problem."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
DUN DUN DUN!!!! Plz review!
"Zelda," said McGonagall, stopping her. "I have never before seen a dueling performance quite like that before! Your magic is absolutely astounding!! May I ask, which school you attended?"
"Well, actually, I was home taught. By my nursemaid, Impa," Zelda answered.
"Ah."
"But Minerva, I was just wondering if I could go see Professor Koke. You know, Link, I mean."
McGonagall smiled. "He will be fine my dear, but it'll be all right if you go and visit him."
"Thank you. And could you possibly point me in the direction of the hospital wing? I'm not quite sure where to go."
"I shall take you there Zelda," McGonagall responded. "I have to go see Madame Pomfrey about something anyway."
The two teachers set off in direction of the hospital wing. McGonagall opened the doors, and Madame Pomfrey walked up to them.
"Can I be of any service to you?" she asked.
"Yes," McGonagall answered. "Zelda here would like to visit Link, and I'd like to have a word with you about.something."
"Koke is over there," Pomfrey said to Zelda, gesturing towards him. "Come over here to my office, Professor McGonagall."
Zelda walked in the direction that Madame Pomfrey had pointed to. She sat down on a chair next to Link. He looked up at her.
"Well, how'd you do, Zel?"
"A lot better than you did," Zelda laughed. "I think Snape is obsessed with that Stupefy spell, though. He tried using it on me every chance he could. Fortunately, it seemed that I was better prepared than you were."
Link managed to laugh. "I wonder if Snape is at all embarrassed."
"They'll probably be bringing him in soon." Zelda grasped Link's hand, then quickly dropped it.
"I wish you could see your face right now, Zelda," Link whispered.
"Why, what's wrong with it?" she asked, frowning slightly.
"It's beautiful."
Zelda completely melted, forcing herself to look into Link's eyes. She gently brushed some hairs out of his face, subconsciously stroking his cheek in the process.
"Zelda, I wish I could just."
"I-I've got to go," Zelda interjected, standing up. "Sorry." She quickly walked away, determined not to let a single tear fall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Two days later, Harry ran excitedly outside with Ron. He was finally going to be able to fly again. As soon as they reached the Quidditch field, Harry mounted his Firebolt and zoomed off.
"Hey, Harry!" Alica called. "Get on down here, will you? We don't have time to fool around; some people have come to try out!"
Reluctantly, Harry landed his broom. He walked up to Ron, who was standing uneasily next to Alicia and Katie Brown.
"Okay," announced Alica. "First, we have Colin and Derek Creevy trying out for the Beater positions."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Those two couldn't hit a bludger if their lives depended on it," he muttered to Ron. They both chuckled softly.
"Here," said Katie, giving each Creevy brother a bat. "We're going to let loose the bludgers, start flying, and you two are to make sure we don't get hit. Got it?"
"Yup," answered Colin.
"What's a bludger?" Derek whispered to his brother, who nudged him.
"All right, go!" shouted Alicia. The players mounted into the air, except Katie, who released the bludgers.
To make a long story short, disaster followed. Neither of the Creevy brothers managed to hit a bludger even once. Ron nearly got hit by one, at which Alicia told them to get off the field.
Later that evening, all positions had been filled. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnagin became the new Beaters, and Ginny was given the honor of replacing Angelina.
"Wow, this is so exciting!" Ginny squealed, as she headed back to the castle with Ron and Harry. "I can't wait until practice next week!"
"Same here," said Harry. Quidditch was one of the major reasons that he loved going to Hogwarts.
"I hope our first match'll be against Slytherin," Ron said. "I can't wait to see how our new team plays in a game! Finnagin and Thomas can beat those dumbheads Crabbe and Goyle to a pulp any day!"
"You're not joking," Ginny laughed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh look, here comes the mail," said Hermione the next morning at breakfast. Sure enough, hundreds of owls swooped through the windows at Hogwarts, dropping letters addressed to their owners.
"Hey, there's Hedwig," Ginny observed. A snowy white owl flew down to their table and dropped an envelope in front of Harry. She nibbled a bit at his toast, then headed off towards the owlery.
"Open it up, mate," Ron advised.
Harry tore open the envelope. Inside he found a letter from Lupin:
"Dear Harry,
While tidying up Snuffle's house the other day, I came upon a knife similar to the one he gave you before. You know, the one with the tip you melted last year trying to open a door at the Ministry of Magic.
Enclosed in this envelope is the similar knife I found. Since I have no use for it, I hope that you will take it from me.
Best wishes, Moony"
Harry dove his hand back into the envelope. As Lupin had said, there was a knife identical to the one he had previously ruined. Not wanting anyone else to see it (besides Ron and Hermione, obviously), he pocketed it.
In Defense Against The Dark Arts that day, Professor Harkinian began showing her classes how to produce Patronus. Ever since her duel with Snape, the girls started to respect and like her (and of course, the boys only liked her more for it).
"Here, let me show you what a Patronus looks like," said Zelda to her sixth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. She stepped out from behind her desk and to the front of the classroom. Harry could just smell the scents from her hair.
"Can you smell that?" Ron asked Harry in a heavenly grin.
"'Course I can," Harry muttered back.
"Okay, here I go," Zelda said. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!" She flung her wand arm forward, and a silver orb burst out of the tip. The orb eventually took the shape of a large dragon. It bobbed its head around, as if searching for a Dementor. Upon realizing that there were none in sight, it winked at Zelda and vanished.
"Wow, that was amazing, Professor!" Padma Patil gushed. "I've always wanted to learn how to produce a Patronus!"
"Well, you're going to learn how," her teacher said. "All of you are."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night at dinner, Harry noticed that Professor Harkinian was not at the staff table. Wondering where she could be, he glanced at Snape, who was deeply in conversation with Professor Sinistra.
Then Hermione nudged Ron. "Look over there!"
Both Ron and Harry looked in the direction that Hermione was pointing to. On the other side of the hall, they could see Cho having a heated discussion with Michael. He bared his teeth at her, and she returned his infuriated expression one with fright.
"What's he doing?" Harry grumbled to no one in particular. Suddenly, Cho got up from the table and fled from the hall. Pretending not to care, Michael turned back to his own dinner.
Harry stood up. "I'm going to go see if she's okay." He quickly left the room.
"Looks like the flame is still there," Hermione sighed, turning back to her kidney pudding. "Here we go again."
After looking around outside the Ravenclaw dormitory, Harry was quite confused. Cho couldn't have gone inside already, because he'd have seen her. Then he heard it.
The sounds of screams came echoing from another room. Harry whipped around, looking in different directions. Apparently, the shrieks of agony were coming from a room below him.
Hurrying down the stairs, Harry wondered worriedly if Cho was all right. Then he realized that the screams were coming from Professor Harkinian's room, and he dashed in the direction. He flung the door open.
As Harry had thought, Zelda was crouched in the corner of the room, tears splashing down her face, her wand out. "R-r-Riddikulus!" she sputtered, still looking completely terrified. "R-Riddikulus!"
Then Harry saw the Boggart that his teacher was trying to ward off. It had taken the shape of a tall, frightening looking man. Laughing evilly, the man threw and caught three small objects in his hands-three, small golden pyramids.
"I've got them, Princess!" the man laughed. "Now that I have the Triforce, not even Link can stop me! So long, Zelda!"
"N-NO!" Zelda shouted. "Riddikulus!"
Harry bounded in front of the man. "RIDDIKULUS!" he yelled. Immediately, the green man vanished into thin air.
Still sobbing rather hard, Zelda tried to stand up. Harry quickly walked over, and helped her.
"Professor Harkinian, are you all right?" he asked her.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," she sniffed, wiping away at her eyes. "I.it was just the Boggart. I never imagined what it would turn.but then of course, they do always turn into what you fear most.Thank you, Harry."
"Your welcome," Harry said awkwardly. "But Professor.who was that man? What was he holding?"
"I'm sorry, Harry," Zelda apologized, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But I am afraid that I cannot tell you. You go on and get back to dinner." Harry was about to leave, when she stopped him once more. "But could you do just one more thing for me?"
"Sure," he answered.
"Tell Professor Koke to meet me in my office in two hours."
"All right."
"Thank you so much, Harry."
"N-no problem."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
DUN DUN DUN!!!! Plz review!