Chapter 15: Identity
Kentarre really had no idea what to expect. The chances of things going exactly as she hoped were slim to none. Add this to the fact that she had no clue how to calm some of Harry's similar fears, and Kentarre's nerves were fit to be tied. But she was still going to go through with it. *There are thousands of people who would never forgive me if I didn't try.* Right now, she couldn't think of anything that would make her change her mind.
So, as she prepared for bed, she attempted to clear her thoughts of all doubts. *I have to believe this will work, or I can't expect Harry to.* She summoned a light from her palm, and focused her energy into a small trickle. The ball of luminescence rose into the air in front of Kentarre's face, warming her skin like the first morning rays and casting shadows around her hair. *There's only one more thing to do before bed.*
Kentarre leaned over and reached over to the bedside table and found a piece of parchment and a quill. She composed a short letter to her warriors stationed out in the woods, giving orders, explanations, and updates. Then she rose, went to the window, and gave a low, multi-toned whistle. A few seconds passed, and then the barely audible sound of wings in flight reached her ears. Nemesis glided up to the sill, a dark shadow in the late twilight. Kentarre let him in, stroked his back, and then tied the rolled message around his ankle. He nuzzled her cheek briefly, and then was off.
She watched him go, feeling her doubts growing again and then quickly dispersing them. She continued to stare out of the open window for a while, absorbed in her own thoughts. That is, until she saw a small, distant but unmistakeable streak of red light slash across the sky and then fade.
Immediately, she came out of her reverie. *What in Kelohra's name was that?!* She stared for a moment in disbelief as she realized what it was she had seen. And as she came to this realization, her astonishment quickly transformed into shocked anger. *I told him to stay put, no matter what happened!* she wanted to scream. Her fists coiled and uncoiled themselves rapidly as Kentarre resisted her sudden overwhelming urge to throw something heavy as far as she could.
Her adrenaline had all but burned itself out when she had her next coherent thought. *I'd better not go,* she told herself firmly. *If I leave now...* Her eyes left the scene at the window briefly as her thoughts flicked to the black-haired boy in the next dormitory. *No. I'll see about this tomorrow. Later. When I'm in a better mood. And he had better consider himself lucky that I don't come after him now.*
She went to sleep thinking something along the same lines, with her hands gripping the coverlet.
Harry didn't know how he managed to wake up on time. He remembered lying down, intending to sleep for only a few hours, and that was exactly what he had done. He even still had his clothes on. He rose and pulled on his robes, trying to shake the sleep cloud from his head.
He did not see Kentarre at all when he got outside. The instant chill made him shiver and wrap himself tightly in his robe, wishing he had brought his cloak. He made his way around the castle to the place where the Whomping Willow, covered in snow and looking frozen in time in the deep, still night air. He found the designated tree, but Kentarre was still nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, there came a whooshing sound from overhead. Harry looked up--and nearly jumped out of his skin when Kentarre landed about two feet from where he stood. "Don't do that!" he cried, attempting to keep his voice down. It didn't work.
Kentarre placed a finger on her lips. "Follow me," she said quietly, and then she began to walk into the forest. Harry did as he was bidden, trying to make as little noise as possible without knowing why. *It's not like anybody's going to hear us,* he reminded himself, but that eerie feeling that a million eyes were watching him didn't go away.
It was a few minutes before Harry realized where she was taking him, and by that time his nerves had reached a tinny tenseness that he felt all through him. Nerves weren't new to Harry; he had been even more high-strung than this just last year, when Voldemort had come his closest to killing Harry just after Harry had witnessed the Dark Lord's rebirth. However, that time he had understood what would happen if he did not stop Voldemort from doing what he intended.
Kentarre came to an abrupt stop just before the pair of them reached the clearing, still out of sight from whoever might be occupying it. She turned to look Harry full in the face for a moment before speaking. "I'm not going to prolong this. But I want you to know that no matter what happens, I will be forever in your debt for your dedication even this far."
Harry didn't trust himself to reply, so he merely nodded solemnly. Kentarre did the same, and with a wan smile in his direction, the two of them entered the clearing.
Immediately, Kentarre's stance changed. She stiffened and balled her hands into fists. Harry leaned forward to see the expression on her face, and he saw that she stared straight ahead, her jaw working. And, as he followed her gaze, he saw why.
There was a man standing not far off whom Harry had never seen before. His hair was long and brown--it might have looked reddish in daylight. He was lean but muscled, and his face was pale and narrow. His eyes were solemn, dignified. The rest of the warriors were standing behind him, watching the two of them.
For a moment, no one spoke. But then Nazo interrupted the silence. "Welcome, Kelohr," he said, bending to touch the ground with his knee. The others jerkily did the same, none showing less reverence, just more wariness.
Suddenly, Kentarre spoke. "I told you to stay no matter what. What... possessed you to disobey?"
The man was not phazed. "I wouldn't call it disobeying. I think following my gut feeling that something was wrong would be closer to the truth."
"I don't care what you call it, Roathl. You are here when I told you to stay. I told you where I was going and what I planned to do. Isn't that enough?"
"Under any other circumstances, it would be. But you know who you're dealing with, and I know what you think of him. I know you, Kentarre, and I wanted to make sure you weren't planning to do anything you might regret later."
"Well, if you know me, you know that I rarely regret anything I do. I've thought this through very thoroughly. And you still haven't explained your reason for being here."
Roathl sighed. "Very well. I sensed your battle with Learst."
Kentarre inhaled slowly. "You saw it?"
He nodded. "When I first realized what I was seeing, I thought immediately that it was going to be a short battle. But then I realized that something was different about Learst."
"Something's different, all right. He's had Kaeru make him human."
Roathl began to mutter under his breath in some language that Harry couldn't place. He knew he had heard Kentarre use it before, though, and it sounded distinctly like swear words.
Once he had finished, he looked back up at Kentarre. "How long have you known about this?"
"Since I arrived at Hogwarts this summer."
Roathl nodded. "What has he told you?"
Kentarre smirked. "Nothing that I couldn't have figured out for myself. The man is insufferable, but he is very good at keeping his mouth shut."
Roathl also gave a wry smile. "So what have you planned to do about it?"
"Well, you actually caught me in the act. I was just about to initiate the crucial point."
"Which is?"
"I'm going to transfer my kel to the boy here." She inclined her head toward Harry.
Roathl was silent for a minute or so. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, licked his lips, and tried again. "You're sure about this?"
She nodded. "Sure enough to try it."
"Then you've considered what could happen if it doesn't work, or something goes wrong."
"Yes. I know that it could go wrong, that it's never been tried before, and that if it doesn't work, it could be irreversable. But I'm prepared to deal with that when the stakes are this high."
Roathl seemed to harden. His eyes gained a look of steel, and he straightened. "Very well," he said crisply. "You intend to do this now?"
Kentarre nodded once.
"Good. Then let's get this over with."
Kentarre's face didn't smile, but, in her way, her voice did. "I'm glad you decided not to argue."
"What choice did I have? I've tried that before, and I always ended up agreeing with you. It doesn't take me very long to get used to your way of thinking anymore."
At this, Kentarre almost laughed. But her nerves wouldn't permit her. Instead, she turned to Harry. "Are you ready?"
He slowly met her gaze. Once more, that little surge of rebellion fought upwards from his stomach, but he didn't let it come out over the top. He asked himself in vain why he had gotten himself into this, but he knew at this moment that Kentarre had been lying when she said she would have picked someone else. It simply had to be him. "Let's go."
She smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, there was a shuffling noise in the underbrush coming from the direction they had come, and seconds later a rumpled Ron and a grumpy Hermione emerged from the shrubs.
The pair of them were a sight. Ron's robes were covered in leaves, and Hermione's hair all but stood on end. They were both out of breath, and Hermione was very flushed. At this, Kentarre really did laugh. Even Harry broke into a grin.
"What in blazes are you two doing out here?" Harry asked them, walking up to meet them.
Hermione replied, "Well, we couldn't... let you do this... by yourself, could we?"
"Besides," Ron put in, "We're your friends. You're supposed to invite us when something important happens."
Harry chuckled. "Come on, this isn't my birthday or anything--"
"All right, then, Harry, if you insist," Hermione said impatiently, "we're here to watch. And we're staying whether you like it or not." She put her hands on her hips and frowned sternly.
Kentarre said smoothly, "You can stay, Hermione. Both of you. In fact, I don't think I'd rather have it any other way. And this is Roathl, a friend of mine for more years than I can remember." She inclined her head toward the newcomer.
Ron absorbed this information, and then he said with a grin, "So, are we just going to stand around like sticks?"
Kentarre returned the grin. "No, actually, we were just about to get started when we were interrupted." She eyed Ron teasingly.
The redhead might have been blushing had there been more light. However, Hermione cut in. "Let's just get this over with," she said, her voice tense and not very confident. Kentarre looked at her with concern, but said nothing. Instead, she addressed the others in their language for a moment.
After she had finished, the whole lot of them moved to make a wide circle, sanctioning off their part of the clearing. Kentarre looked to Ron and Hermione. "I would ask that the two of you move out of the circle. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, if something does happen." They nodded and obliged, and Hermione tugged at Ron's sleeve. "Let's go over just behind Harry there." She pointed to a clear spot just behind the girl in yellow, the nearest they could get to Harry. Ron nodded, and they made their way over.
Roathl positioned himself just behind Kentarre and slightly to her right. As he passed her, he breathed in her ear, "Kelohra protect you."
Kentarre placed a hand on his arm and locked eyes with him. "I won't pretend I'm not glad you're here, Roathl, because I am."
He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze before stepping back to join the others.
Kentarre turned. All was ready. She was opposite the circle from Harry, and her warriors plus Roathl were stationed around them. She could see Ron and Hermione waiting anxiously outside their ring. And she knew what to do.
Kentarre lifted her face toward the sky, scanning the stars for a moment before fixing her eyes on one spot. She began to chant the words, "Te hen kel oth fruel, Kelohra te marth kre. Marth or kib ethsen, noh mair o larhc te bair kre tren! Behtia tren! Kelohra!"
Immediately, Kentarre began to emit dazzling blue light, concentrated in her hands, feet, and chest. She continued to repeat her litany, though Harry could no longer hear her voice. All around them, the warriors shifted uneasily. Harry could see a mix of astonishment and caution on Roathl's face, but he didn't have time for it to register, for right then there was a bright flash of blue light, and then Harry felt as though he were being pounded by a monstrous gale wind, which threatened to whip him off the ground. He staggered back a few feet and hit something that broke his fall and managed to keep him standing. Without realizing it, he had closed his eyes, and he now opened them, his curiosity having taken over. What he saw might have shocked him to the ground had he not been supported from behind.
Kentarre stood like a marionette on strings, her feet and arms spread and her head tilted backward. Her eyes were closed, and Harry could not see her face. The light had shot forward from her body, four small beams from her hands and feet and one large one from her chest. All of these were directed at Harry, whose eyes were streaming tears from the wind that he could not block. Somehow, his arms and legs were locked in a position similar to Kentarre's, and all he could do was receive the light and hope that it did not tear him off the ground.
Suddenly, just when Harry was thinking that the light's pressure against him would crush him, it ceased. Harry no longer felt as though the light sought to push him away, but rather to pull him forward. He took two small steps forward before he could adjust to this. He attempted to stand up straight, lest he fall over forward. It was at this point that he looked again at Kentarre.
She appeared to have gotten smaller, somehow. Her eyes had come open now, and the expression on her face was that of blind pain. Tears ran openly down her cheeks, and her eyes were raised to the sky. He no longer wished to look at her, as if in doing so, he shared whatever pain she was feeling as the light--whatever it was--continued to flow.
Almost exactly at that moment, Harry began to experience several new sensations. It was almost as if he were growing taller. He shook his head, hoping to rid himself of the strangeness, but it wouldn't leave him. He felt invigorated, refreshed, as if he had not just been forced to wake up in the wee hours of the morning for a thirty-minute trek through the forest. His entire perspective shifted more than a little, but he didn't know what to do. Images flashed through his mind, some so fast he couldn't even see them, but others clear as day: images of fields, animals, rivers, people in crowds, and, the most staggering, of flying through the air over a forest.
And lastly, Harry sensed that the light seemed to be getting brighter, if it was at all possible. It was now completely blinding to look at, and before Harry had to look away, he realized that its hyper-blue color had darkened about a shade. The shimmering sapphire power kept pouring into him, until he thought it would overwhelm him and swallow him completely.
Then, at the last second or so, the light compressed into a single beam, which stretched from Kentarre's left hand to Harry's right. Harry's hand was pulled forward to meet it--
And then it was over. Harry blinked in the sudden dim light, and it took a few seconds for the bright purple spots before him to vanish. When they did, he surveyed the clearing and spotted Kentarre. When he saw her, he gasped.
She lay prone on the ground, her limbs outstretched and unmoving. He wanted to run over, but he found that he felt almost completely numb. Roathl made it to her side first. The brown-haired man turned her over, and Harry saw her face. Her eyes were closed, but her face was not peaceful. She looked older, more tired, than he had known her.
It took Harry a bit to find his voice. "Is she... okay?"
Roathl looked up at him. "Merely unconscious, but invariably so. She will not be coming out of this anytime in the foreseeable future."
Harry could only nod. He glanced around at the other warriors and saw their worry and unease. Then his eyes found Ron and Hermione. They were both staring at him with expressions of utmost astonishment, and when their eyes met, they began to slowly walk over to him.
"Harry," Hermione said, her voice near a whisper, "Look at yourself."
Harry did, and at first he didn't see anything different. Then he noticed a mark on his right hand--identical to the one Kentarre had on her left hand. On an impulse, Harry whirled and lifted Kentarre's left sleeve. Her hand was bare, white as an aster.
Hermione gasped. "Does this mean that... you're a--"
"No." It was Nazo, walking up to them. "He's still human. He has simply been given the powers--and therefore the signia--of the Kelohr."
"But," asked Harry, "why did she pass out like that?"
Nazo shrugged. "It's hard to say. It could be that Kelohra is her life force, and her Thorosian blood is all that's sustaining her. It also could be that since Kelohra left her body, she experienced so much shock from the separation that she was unable to stay conscious. I watched her face during the transfer. It seemed that the only thing keeping her from conking was her power."
Roathl shot him a glare. "How can you just stand there and try to find an explanation? We should be attempting to move her to someplace safer."
Nazo ignored Roathl's contempt. "All right. Where can we move her?"
There was silence for a moment until Hermione said in a small voice, "Madam Pomfrey could care for her. The school nurse."
The woman in yellow with a bow strapped to her back took an alarmed step forward. "No! We can't take her there! The humans won't know how to take care of her!"
Nazo looked at her placidly. "She will be safe there. The nurse does not have to care for her--she simply has to hide her. And one of us as well."
The woman started just slightly. "One of us will stay with her? Which one?"
"Any one. We might take shifts."
Roathl carefully laid Kentarre's head back down and stood to face Nazo. "What makes you so sure that Dumbledore is so trustworthy? You've never met him, so you can't claim to know him at all!"
Nazo said coolly, "Kentarre trusted him. That's how I know."
Roathl said nothing, and his face was unreadable, hidden in darkness.
Hermione interrupted their exchange in a quiet voice, "Well, I think... we'd better get back to the castle. The sun will be rising soon."
Everyone glanced toward the lightening eastern sky, and Nazo nodded. "We'll come with you. We've got to get Kentarre to the hospital wing."
So they gathered the Kelohr in her robes and Roathl bundled her into his bulky arms. Harry had an inexplicable feeling that the man had done this before.
Harry and his friends led the way through the Forbidden Forest, saying nothing. They said a short farewell at the door of the hospital wing, and then Roathl and Nazo went inside, and the other three took the familiar route to their common room from there.
Not even Filch was up at this hour, which was a lucky stroke, because Ron just couldn't stifle his gargantuan yawns any longer. When they reached the common room, all of them were too tired to even say good night.
Malfoy awoke with a burning sensation on the right side of his head. He opened his eyes and immediately knew that Kentarre had not been lying to him. The white ceiling and curtains of the hospital wing told him this much. What they did not tell, however, was how long he had been laying here.
However, it did strike him as strange that his bed was completely shielded from sight of the rest of the wing. *Guess Hisakata arranged for no visitors. It figures that she'd be that scared I'd say something. Not like I'm not planning to. She'll pay dearly for what she did. And for what she knows.*
Malfoy heard footsteps coming his way. A few seconds later, one of the curtains was pulled back, revealing Madam Pomfrey's face. "Ah, it's about time. I was about to wonder what exactly it was you hit your head on to make you stay out that long."
"And how long was that?"
"A day and a half."
"I suppose Hisakata told you about what happened."
"Yes, she did. Something along the lines of a blind rush into a tree branch."
"Well, whatever she told you is wrong. She hit me."
"Really?"
"Don't believe me? Ask her."
The nurse gave him a skeptical look. "If you wish," she said neutrally. "Let me change your bandages."
Malfoy silently allowed her to re-gauze his head. His eyes followed her every move, and he knew she felt him watching her, for she said nothing else until, when she was leaving, she said over her shoulder, "You should be able to rejoin the classes tomorrow. Now that your awake, there's no sense in keeping you here. Your missed work was brought in by Crabbe and Goyle. It's on the table." And then she was gone.
Malfoy then saw the pile of books and parchment on the nightstand. It wasn't very substantial, but Malfoy knew that Snape would excuse him from his work anyway.
Malfoy eased his head back against the pillow. *There should be more teachers like Snape at this school,* he mused absently. *If only there was a way to get some of them fired...* Malfoy shook his head. He had been trying to do that for a long time now--five years, for some of them--and it hadn't worked yet. Dumbledore had even kept Hagrid, despite Malfoy's most concentrated efforts added to those of people who agreed with him. Last year it had almost happened.
Malfoy smiled at the memory. When the news that the bumbling oaf was a half-giant hit the wizarding papers, Malfoy couldn't have been more pleased. *It's really too bad that that Skeeter woman disappeared. She was beginning to grow on me.*
Harry couldn't have been more glad that the next day was Sunday. He rose later than any of the boys in his dorm, and when he put on his glasses he saw the time was 10:47 A.M.
He flopped back onto his pillow and let the curtain of his bed close over his hand. He stared up at the ceiling, wishing he could take a holiday from all of this. He realized then that his life at the castle had intensified beyond anything he had ever expected. Detention he could handle. Loss of points he could handle. Even a threat from Voldemort was not quite so frightening as it used to be. But having to face that threat himself, without the support from Kentarre that he had expected was, in and of itself, enough to convince him to stay in bed till the end of his days.
However, Ron would not allow that.
At that moment, that self-same redhead walked in the door. "Morning there, Harry," he said, sounding just as jovial as ever. "You coming down?"
Harry sat up. "Yeah, I'm coming. What's happening down there?"
"Well, Fred and George set off earlier, looking like they wanted to cause some havoc. Something to do with a house-elf and Angelina's new hat." Ron shrugged, but he couldn't keep the amusement completely out of his eyes.
Harry was silently pensive for a moment, and he put his palm to his hot forehead, pushing his bangs up out of his eyes. Ron looked concerned, and then he said, "Come on. You're not doing any good just sitting here."
Harry looked up at his best friend. "All right, Ron. I'm coming. Just let me get dressed, and then we'll go see what all the fuss is about."
Ron grinned, and when Harry had donned his blue jeans, a shirt, and robes, the two of them went downstairs.
They didn't meet anybody until they had nearly reached the great staircase. A few people were trickling up, but from the noise coming from below, Harry and Ron could tell that most of the students were down at the foot. They went to the balcony, and this sight met their eyes: the Entrance Hall looked spectacular. Today was the day that the Christmas decorations went up, and they were most exquisite. The ususal icicles draped both banisters of the great staircase, and holly hung from the torch brackets, along with the occasional sprig of mistletoe. A large mass of students stood a good ways from the door, and Angelina, Fred, and George were in a cleared circle. Angelina was bright red and yelling forcefully at the two red-heads, who were artfully keeping their composure.
"I don't know what possessed you to do this, Fred, but it had better--"
"Now, now," interrupted Fred, "I can't take all the credit. It was as much George's idea as it was mine." He shot George a look as if he had just paid his twin an immense compliment.
George bowed graciously. "Thank you, old boy, but that really was a grand idea you had."
Angelina cut in furiously, "I don't care whose idea it was! Just don't ever try something like this"--she brandished something at the two boys--"again!"
Harry leaned over the balcony to peer at the item. It was made of navy material, and was tattered at the edges. Harry then noticed a small figure standing just behind Angelina and looking absolutely bewildered. Harry recognized immediately one of the house-elves they had become acquainted with, whose name was Dobby. He too was holding something--something bright red and new-looking. His head was void of the tea cozy he usually wore, and after a few moments, Harry realized that the red object was the tea cozy.
Suddenly he knew why Dobby was bewildered and why Angelina was smoking at the ears. He straightened back up and laughed out loud. Ron looked at him. "What's going on, Harry?"
Harry said between spouts, "Fred and George... made Angelina's hat look like Dobby's... and Dobby's looks like Angelina's!"
Ron too began to chuckle, but then he looked back over the edge and frowned.
"What is it, Ron?"
He looked back at Harry. "How'd you see all that? I can't even tell what Dobby's holding."
Harry found it hard to be disturbed. "Dunno. Maybe my glasses are good for something after all. Anyway, where's Hermione?"
"At breakfast. When she saw what all this was about, she walked right past."
Harry laughed again, and then said, "Let's go find her."
So they did. Hermione was sitting at the table, but she wasn't eating. Her eyes were lowered, and she looked pensive. She didn't look up when they sat beside her, but merely bit her bottom lip.
"Hermione? What's up?"
Hermione slowly lifted her gaze to stare Harry in the face. "I've just had a conversation with Malfoy."
Ron said cheerily, "Well, that's enough to make anyone gloomy. What did he say?"
Hermione glanced unappreciatively at him before she said, "He told me that if we didn't tell him what was going on that he'd tell everyone what happened in the forest. I told him I didn't know what he was talking about, but he didn't seem to believe me. He told me we had until tomorrow before the news will be out."
Ron gave a low whistle. Harry muttered, "Kentarre thought something like this might happen, but she didn't say what she was going to do when it did."
Hermione looked at him sharply. "Tell Dumbledore," she hissed. "It won't hurt."
"No, Hermione. Malfoy would never let me live it down. There's got to be a way to stall him without telling him anything."
Ron brightened. "We could always use Kentarre's method."
Harry grinned widely. "You know, that--"
"Absolutely not," Hermione cut in. "You'll get in who knows what kind of trouble if you get caught injuring another student on purpose."
"Oh, come off it, Hermione, you know I was just joshing. Okay, so we need a better plan than that."
Hermione said, "Wait a minute." She leaned in closer. "I've only read about this recently, but do you remember that lesson we had in Charms about specialized Memory Charms?"
Ron and Harry exchanged a glance. "You want to use one of them on Malfoy?" Harry asked. "But I thought they were only for immediate memory. That happened two days ago. That's not immediate."
"Well, if you'll let me finish, I decided to read up on it to see what I could find. There's such a thing as a Day-Old Memory Charm, and it will work in correspondence with a formula that allows you to fill in the variables--such as how many days ago you want them to forget and how much. It's very complex, but it can't be any harder than the Polyjuice Potion."
"Or as bad-tasting," Ron muttered, and Harry agreed.
"So," asked Harry, "how do we go about learning it?"
Hermione bit her lip in thought. "Well, I don't exactly remember what the book said, but I do remember that its description was very short. It was maybe a page long."
"Well, that's comforting. Which book was it?"
"It was called--" Hermione's abrupt stop made them all look up. Snape was a few feet away and closing. His smirk was so oily, Harry was sure he could have waxed his Firebolt five times over with it. Without delay, he explained, "Professor McGonagall's owl is currently incapacitated, so I have been given the very pleasant duty of presenting you with these." He placed three pieces of folded white paper on the table in front of them and stalked away.
Ron muttered, "I've got a feeling I know what these are."
And he was right. Written on Harry's paper, in Professor McGonagall's neat hand, was the message: "Mr. Potter, Your detention has been scheduled for this Thursday, the twentieth of December, at 8:00 P.M. Please meet Mr. Filch in the Entrance Hall at said time. Signed, Professor McGonagall."
But, to their dismay, all of their detentions were on different days. "I bet this was Snape's recommendation," Harry moaned. He turned to look for the greasy-haired Potions master, but there was none to be found. "I guess he went to go gloat."
The Great Hall, like the Entrance Hall, was spruced up for the holiday. The customary seven Christmas trees lined two walls and positively dripped with garlands and baubles, all polished silver, gold, and ivory. The tablecloths were immaculate and hemmed with embroidery that depicted a long, twisting holly vine and small red and blue birds that flitted to and fro among the leaves. The floating candles that illuminated the hall were bedecked with baubles on wire that had been stuck into the wax. The baubles reflected the candlelight, sending showers of prismatic displays onto the occupants. Bright red and green ribbons graced every doorway, and matching ones trimmed the teachers' table. All in all, it was magnificent.
Harry and his friends were soon joined by others; Dean, Seamus, Parvati, and Lavender, all fellow fifth years, showed up as well and began conversing in a merry manner. They talked and laughed about this and that all through the meal; Harry thought it was the most fun he'd had at the table in a while, especially when Dean accidentally spilled his pumpkin juice all over Parvati, making her yelp and jump out of her chair. After the fact, she realized that a majority of the Great Hall was staring at her with varied amusement on their faces, and she turned tomato red and sat back down again.
When the evening was done, Harry had had so much fun that he had forgotten all about what Hermione had been about to tell them. He laughed with his friends all the way back to the common room, where he enjoyed a contented, dreamless sleep.
Kentarre really had no idea what to expect. The chances of things going exactly as she hoped were slim to none. Add this to the fact that she had no clue how to calm some of Harry's similar fears, and Kentarre's nerves were fit to be tied. But she was still going to go through with it. *There are thousands of people who would never forgive me if I didn't try.* Right now, she couldn't think of anything that would make her change her mind.
So, as she prepared for bed, she attempted to clear her thoughts of all doubts. *I have to believe this will work, or I can't expect Harry to.* She summoned a light from her palm, and focused her energy into a small trickle. The ball of luminescence rose into the air in front of Kentarre's face, warming her skin like the first morning rays and casting shadows around her hair. *There's only one more thing to do before bed.*
Kentarre leaned over and reached over to the bedside table and found a piece of parchment and a quill. She composed a short letter to her warriors stationed out in the woods, giving orders, explanations, and updates. Then she rose, went to the window, and gave a low, multi-toned whistle. A few seconds passed, and then the barely audible sound of wings in flight reached her ears. Nemesis glided up to the sill, a dark shadow in the late twilight. Kentarre let him in, stroked his back, and then tied the rolled message around his ankle. He nuzzled her cheek briefly, and then was off.
She watched him go, feeling her doubts growing again and then quickly dispersing them. She continued to stare out of the open window for a while, absorbed in her own thoughts. That is, until she saw a small, distant but unmistakeable streak of red light slash across the sky and then fade.
Immediately, she came out of her reverie. *What in Kelohra's name was that?!* She stared for a moment in disbelief as she realized what it was she had seen. And as she came to this realization, her astonishment quickly transformed into shocked anger. *I told him to stay put, no matter what happened!* she wanted to scream. Her fists coiled and uncoiled themselves rapidly as Kentarre resisted her sudden overwhelming urge to throw something heavy as far as she could.
Her adrenaline had all but burned itself out when she had her next coherent thought. *I'd better not go,* she told herself firmly. *If I leave now...* Her eyes left the scene at the window briefly as her thoughts flicked to the black-haired boy in the next dormitory. *No. I'll see about this tomorrow. Later. When I'm in a better mood. And he had better consider himself lucky that I don't come after him now.*
She went to sleep thinking something along the same lines, with her hands gripping the coverlet.
Harry didn't know how he managed to wake up on time. He remembered lying down, intending to sleep for only a few hours, and that was exactly what he had done. He even still had his clothes on. He rose and pulled on his robes, trying to shake the sleep cloud from his head.
He did not see Kentarre at all when he got outside. The instant chill made him shiver and wrap himself tightly in his robe, wishing he had brought his cloak. He made his way around the castle to the place where the Whomping Willow, covered in snow and looking frozen in time in the deep, still night air. He found the designated tree, but Kentarre was still nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, there came a whooshing sound from overhead. Harry looked up--and nearly jumped out of his skin when Kentarre landed about two feet from where he stood. "Don't do that!" he cried, attempting to keep his voice down. It didn't work.
Kentarre placed a finger on her lips. "Follow me," she said quietly, and then she began to walk into the forest. Harry did as he was bidden, trying to make as little noise as possible without knowing why. *It's not like anybody's going to hear us,* he reminded himself, but that eerie feeling that a million eyes were watching him didn't go away.
It was a few minutes before Harry realized where she was taking him, and by that time his nerves had reached a tinny tenseness that he felt all through him. Nerves weren't new to Harry; he had been even more high-strung than this just last year, when Voldemort had come his closest to killing Harry just after Harry had witnessed the Dark Lord's rebirth. However, that time he had understood what would happen if he did not stop Voldemort from doing what he intended.
Kentarre came to an abrupt stop just before the pair of them reached the clearing, still out of sight from whoever might be occupying it. She turned to look Harry full in the face for a moment before speaking. "I'm not going to prolong this. But I want you to know that no matter what happens, I will be forever in your debt for your dedication even this far."
Harry didn't trust himself to reply, so he merely nodded solemnly. Kentarre did the same, and with a wan smile in his direction, the two of them entered the clearing.
Immediately, Kentarre's stance changed. She stiffened and balled her hands into fists. Harry leaned forward to see the expression on her face, and he saw that she stared straight ahead, her jaw working. And, as he followed her gaze, he saw why.
There was a man standing not far off whom Harry had never seen before. His hair was long and brown--it might have looked reddish in daylight. He was lean but muscled, and his face was pale and narrow. His eyes were solemn, dignified. The rest of the warriors were standing behind him, watching the two of them.
For a moment, no one spoke. But then Nazo interrupted the silence. "Welcome, Kelohr," he said, bending to touch the ground with his knee. The others jerkily did the same, none showing less reverence, just more wariness.
Suddenly, Kentarre spoke. "I told you to stay no matter what. What... possessed you to disobey?"
The man was not phazed. "I wouldn't call it disobeying. I think following my gut feeling that something was wrong would be closer to the truth."
"I don't care what you call it, Roathl. You are here when I told you to stay. I told you where I was going and what I planned to do. Isn't that enough?"
"Under any other circumstances, it would be. But you know who you're dealing with, and I know what you think of him. I know you, Kentarre, and I wanted to make sure you weren't planning to do anything you might regret later."
"Well, if you know me, you know that I rarely regret anything I do. I've thought this through very thoroughly. And you still haven't explained your reason for being here."
Roathl sighed. "Very well. I sensed your battle with Learst."
Kentarre inhaled slowly. "You saw it?"
He nodded. "When I first realized what I was seeing, I thought immediately that it was going to be a short battle. But then I realized that something was different about Learst."
"Something's different, all right. He's had Kaeru make him human."
Roathl began to mutter under his breath in some language that Harry couldn't place. He knew he had heard Kentarre use it before, though, and it sounded distinctly like swear words.
Once he had finished, he looked back up at Kentarre. "How long have you known about this?"
"Since I arrived at Hogwarts this summer."
Roathl nodded. "What has he told you?"
Kentarre smirked. "Nothing that I couldn't have figured out for myself. The man is insufferable, but he is very good at keeping his mouth shut."
Roathl also gave a wry smile. "So what have you planned to do about it?"
"Well, you actually caught me in the act. I was just about to initiate the crucial point."
"Which is?"
"I'm going to transfer my kel to the boy here." She inclined her head toward Harry.
Roathl was silent for a minute or so. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, licked his lips, and tried again. "You're sure about this?"
She nodded. "Sure enough to try it."
"Then you've considered what could happen if it doesn't work, or something goes wrong."
"Yes. I know that it could go wrong, that it's never been tried before, and that if it doesn't work, it could be irreversable. But I'm prepared to deal with that when the stakes are this high."
Roathl seemed to harden. His eyes gained a look of steel, and he straightened. "Very well," he said crisply. "You intend to do this now?"
Kentarre nodded once.
"Good. Then let's get this over with."
Kentarre's face didn't smile, but, in her way, her voice did. "I'm glad you decided not to argue."
"What choice did I have? I've tried that before, and I always ended up agreeing with you. It doesn't take me very long to get used to your way of thinking anymore."
At this, Kentarre almost laughed. But her nerves wouldn't permit her. Instead, she turned to Harry. "Are you ready?"
He slowly met her gaze. Once more, that little surge of rebellion fought upwards from his stomach, but he didn't let it come out over the top. He asked himself in vain why he had gotten himself into this, but he knew at this moment that Kentarre had been lying when she said she would have picked someone else. It simply had to be him. "Let's go."
She smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, there was a shuffling noise in the underbrush coming from the direction they had come, and seconds later a rumpled Ron and a grumpy Hermione emerged from the shrubs.
The pair of them were a sight. Ron's robes were covered in leaves, and Hermione's hair all but stood on end. They were both out of breath, and Hermione was very flushed. At this, Kentarre really did laugh. Even Harry broke into a grin.
"What in blazes are you two doing out here?" Harry asked them, walking up to meet them.
Hermione replied, "Well, we couldn't... let you do this... by yourself, could we?"
"Besides," Ron put in, "We're your friends. You're supposed to invite us when something important happens."
Harry chuckled. "Come on, this isn't my birthday or anything--"
"All right, then, Harry, if you insist," Hermione said impatiently, "we're here to watch. And we're staying whether you like it or not." She put her hands on her hips and frowned sternly.
Kentarre said smoothly, "You can stay, Hermione. Both of you. In fact, I don't think I'd rather have it any other way. And this is Roathl, a friend of mine for more years than I can remember." She inclined her head toward the newcomer.
Ron absorbed this information, and then he said with a grin, "So, are we just going to stand around like sticks?"
Kentarre returned the grin. "No, actually, we were just about to get started when we were interrupted." She eyed Ron teasingly.
The redhead might have been blushing had there been more light. However, Hermione cut in. "Let's just get this over with," she said, her voice tense and not very confident. Kentarre looked at her with concern, but said nothing. Instead, she addressed the others in their language for a moment.
After she had finished, the whole lot of them moved to make a wide circle, sanctioning off their part of the clearing. Kentarre looked to Ron and Hermione. "I would ask that the two of you move out of the circle. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, if something does happen." They nodded and obliged, and Hermione tugged at Ron's sleeve. "Let's go over just behind Harry there." She pointed to a clear spot just behind the girl in yellow, the nearest they could get to Harry. Ron nodded, and they made their way over.
Roathl positioned himself just behind Kentarre and slightly to her right. As he passed her, he breathed in her ear, "Kelohra protect you."
Kentarre placed a hand on his arm and locked eyes with him. "I won't pretend I'm not glad you're here, Roathl, because I am."
He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze before stepping back to join the others.
Kentarre turned. All was ready. She was opposite the circle from Harry, and her warriors plus Roathl were stationed around them. She could see Ron and Hermione waiting anxiously outside their ring. And she knew what to do.
Kentarre lifted her face toward the sky, scanning the stars for a moment before fixing her eyes on one spot. She began to chant the words, "Te hen kel oth fruel, Kelohra te marth kre. Marth or kib ethsen, noh mair o larhc te bair kre tren! Behtia tren! Kelohra!"
Immediately, Kentarre began to emit dazzling blue light, concentrated in her hands, feet, and chest. She continued to repeat her litany, though Harry could no longer hear her voice. All around them, the warriors shifted uneasily. Harry could see a mix of astonishment and caution on Roathl's face, but he didn't have time for it to register, for right then there was a bright flash of blue light, and then Harry felt as though he were being pounded by a monstrous gale wind, which threatened to whip him off the ground. He staggered back a few feet and hit something that broke his fall and managed to keep him standing. Without realizing it, he had closed his eyes, and he now opened them, his curiosity having taken over. What he saw might have shocked him to the ground had he not been supported from behind.
Kentarre stood like a marionette on strings, her feet and arms spread and her head tilted backward. Her eyes were closed, and Harry could not see her face. The light had shot forward from her body, four small beams from her hands and feet and one large one from her chest. All of these were directed at Harry, whose eyes were streaming tears from the wind that he could not block. Somehow, his arms and legs were locked in a position similar to Kentarre's, and all he could do was receive the light and hope that it did not tear him off the ground.
Suddenly, just when Harry was thinking that the light's pressure against him would crush him, it ceased. Harry no longer felt as though the light sought to push him away, but rather to pull him forward. He took two small steps forward before he could adjust to this. He attempted to stand up straight, lest he fall over forward. It was at this point that he looked again at Kentarre.
She appeared to have gotten smaller, somehow. Her eyes had come open now, and the expression on her face was that of blind pain. Tears ran openly down her cheeks, and her eyes were raised to the sky. He no longer wished to look at her, as if in doing so, he shared whatever pain she was feeling as the light--whatever it was--continued to flow.
Almost exactly at that moment, Harry began to experience several new sensations. It was almost as if he were growing taller. He shook his head, hoping to rid himself of the strangeness, but it wouldn't leave him. He felt invigorated, refreshed, as if he had not just been forced to wake up in the wee hours of the morning for a thirty-minute trek through the forest. His entire perspective shifted more than a little, but he didn't know what to do. Images flashed through his mind, some so fast he couldn't even see them, but others clear as day: images of fields, animals, rivers, people in crowds, and, the most staggering, of flying through the air over a forest.
And lastly, Harry sensed that the light seemed to be getting brighter, if it was at all possible. It was now completely blinding to look at, and before Harry had to look away, he realized that its hyper-blue color had darkened about a shade. The shimmering sapphire power kept pouring into him, until he thought it would overwhelm him and swallow him completely.
Then, at the last second or so, the light compressed into a single beam, which stretched from Kentarre's left hand to Harry's right. Harry's hand was pulled forward to meet it--
And then it was over. Harry blinked in the sudden dim light, and it took a few seconds for the bright purple spots before him to vanish. When they did, he surveyed the clearing and spotted Kentarre. When he saw her, he gasped.
She lay prone on the ground, her limbs outstretched and unmoving. He wanted to run over, but he found that he felt almost completely numb. Roathl made it to her side first. The brown-haired man turned her over, and Harry saw her face. Her eyes were closed, but her face was not peaceful. She looked older, more tired, than he had known her.
It took Harry a bit to find his voice. "Is she... okay?"
Roathl looked up at him. "Merely unconscious, but invariably so. She will not be coming out of this anytime in the foreseeable future."
Harry could only nod. He glanced around at the other warriors and saw their worry and unease. Then his eyes found Ron and Hermione. They were both staring at him with expressions of utmost astonishment, and when their eyes met, they began to slowly walk over to him.
"Harry," Hermione said, her voice near a whisper, "Look at yourself."
Harry did, and at first he didn't see anything different. Then he noticed a mark on his right hand--identical to the one Kentarre had on her left hand. On an impulse, Harry whirled and lifted Kentarre's left sleeve. Her hand was bare, white as an aster.
Hermione gasped. "Does this mean that... you're a--"
"No." It was Nazo, walking up to them. "He's still human. He has simply been given the powers--and therefore the signia--of the Kelohr."
"But," asked Harry, "why did she pass out like that?"
Nazo shrugged. "It's hard to say. It could be that Kelohra is her life force, and her Thorosian blood is all that's sustaining her. It also could be that since Kelohra left her body, she experienced so much shock from the separation that she was unable to stay conscious. I watched her face during the transfer. It seemed that the only thing keeping her from conking was her power."
Roathl shot him a glare. "How can you just stand there and try to find an explanation? We should be attempting to move her to someplace safer."
Nazo ignored Roathl's contempt. "All right. Where can we move her?"
There was silence for a moment until Hermione said in a small voice, "Madam Pomfrey could care for her. The school nurse."
The woman in yellow with a bow strapped to her back took an alarmed step forward. "No! We can't take her there! The humans won't know how to take care of her!"
Nazo looked at her placidly. "She will be safe there. The nurse does not have to care for her--she simply has to hide her. And one of us as well."
The woman started just slightly. "One of us will stay with her? Which one?"
"Any one. We might take shifts."
Roathl carefully laid Kentarre's head back down and stood to face Nazo. "What makes you so sure that Dumbledore is so trustworthy? You've never met him, so you can't claim to know him at all!"
Nazo said coolly, "Kentarre trusted him. That's how I know."
Roathl said nothing, and his face was unreadable, hidden in darkness.
Hermione interrupted their exchange in a quiet voice, "Well, I think... we'd better get back to the castle. The sun will be rising soon."
Everyone glanced toward the lightening eastern sky, and Nazo nodded. "We'll come with you. We've got to get Kentarre to the hospital wing."
So they gathered the Kelohr in her robes and Roathl bundled her into his bulky arms. Harry had an inexplicable feeling that the man had done this before.
Harry and his friends led the way through the Forbidden Forest, saying nothing. They said a short farewell at the door of the hospital wing, and then Roathl and Nazo went inside, and the other three took the familiar route to their common room from there.
Not even Filch was up at this hour, which was a lucky stroke, because Ron just couldn't stifle his gargantuan yawns any longer. When they reached the common room, all of them were too tired to even say good night.
Malfoy awoke with a burning sensation on the right side of his head. He opened his eyes and immediately knew that Kentarre had not been lying to him. The white ceiling and curtains of the hospital wing told him this much. What they did not tell, however, was how long he had been laying here.
However, it did strike him as strange that his bed was completely shielded from sight of the rest of the wing. *Guess Hisakata arranged for no visitors. It figures that she'd be that scared I'd say something. Not like I'm not planning to. She'll pay dearly for what she did. And for what she knows.*
Malfoy heard footsteps coming his way. A few seconds later, one of the curtains was pulled back, revealing Madam Pomfrey's face. "Ah, it's about time. I was about to wonder what exactly it was you hit your head on to make you stay out that long."
"And how long was that?"
"A day and a half."
"I suppose Hisakata told you about what happened."
"Yes, she did. Something along the lines of a blind rush into a tree branch."
"Well, whatever she told you is wrong. She hit me."
"Really?"
"Don't believe me? Ask her."
The nurse gave him a skeptical look. "If you wish," she said neutrally. "Let me change your bandages."
Malfoy silently allowed her to re-gauze his head. His eyes followed her every move, and he knew she felt him watching her, for she said nothing else until, when she was leaving, she said over her shoulder, "You should be able to rejoin the classes tomorrow. Now that your awake, there's no sense in keeping you here. Your missed work was brought in by Crabbe and Goyle. It's on the table." And then she was gone.
Malfoy then saw the pile of books and parchment on the nightstand. It wasn't very substantial, but Malfoy knew that Snape would excuse him from his work anyway.
Malfoy eased his head back against the pillow. *There should be more teachers like Snape at this school,* he mused absently. *If only there was a way to get some of them fired...* Malfoy shook his head. He had been trying to do that for a long time now--five years, for some of them--and it hadn't worked yet. Dumbledore had even kept Hagrid, despite Malfoy's most concentrated efforts added to those of people who agreed with him. Last year it had almost happened.
Malfoy smiled at the memory. When the news that the bumbling oaf was a half-giant hit the wizarding papers, Malfoy couldn't have been more pleased. *It's really too bad that that Skeeter woman disappeared. She was beginning to grow on me.*
Harry couldn't have been more glad that the next day was Sunday. He rose later than any of the boys in his dorm, and when he put on his glasses he saw the time was 10:47 A.M.
He flopped back onto his pillow and let the curtain of his bed close over his hand. He stared up at the ceiling, wishing he could take a holiday from all of this. He realized then that his life at the castle had intensified beyond anything he had ever expected. Detention he could handle. Loss of points he could handle. Even a threat from Voldemort was not quite so frightening as it used to be. But having to face that threat himself, without the support from Kentarre that he had expected was, in and of itself, enough to convince him to stay in bed till the end of his days.
However, Ron would not allow that.
At that moment, that self-same redhead walked in the door. "Morning there, Harry," he said, sounding just as jovial as ever. "You coming down?"
Harry sat up. "Yeah, I'm coming. What's happening down there?"
"Well, Fred and George set off earlier, looking like they wanted to cause some havoc. Something to do with a house-elf and Angelina's new hat." Ron shrugged, but he couldn't keep the amusement completely out of his eyes.
Harry was silently pensive for a moment, and he put his palm to his hot forehead, pushing his bangs up out of his eyes. Ron looked concerned, and then he said, "Come on. You're not doing any good just sitting here."
Harry looked up at his best friend. "All right, Ron. I'm coming. Just let me get dressed, and then we'll go see what all the fuss is about."
Ron grinned, and when Harry had donned his blue jeans, a shirt, and robes, the two of them went downstairs.
They didn't meet anybody until they had nearly reached the great staircase. A few people were trickling up, but from the noise coming from below, Harry and Ron could tell that most of the students were down at the foot. They went to the balcony, and this sight met their eyes: the Entrance Hall looked spectacular. Today was the day that the Christmas decorations went up, and they were most exquisite. The ususal icicles draped both banisters of the great staircase, and holly hung from the torch brackets, along with the occasional sprig of mistletoe. A large mass of students stood a good ways from the door, and Angelina, Fred, and George were in a cleared circle. Angelina was bright red and yelling forcefully at the two red-heads, who were artfully keeping their composure.
"I don't know what possessed you to do this, Fred, but it had better--"
"Now, now," interrupted Fred, "I can't take all the credit. It was as much George's idea as it was mine." He shot George a look as if he had just paid his twin an immense compliment.
George bowed graciously. "Thank you, old boy, but that really was a grand idea you had."
Angelina cut in furiously, "I don't care whose idea it was! Just don't ever try something like this"--she brandished something at the two boys--"again!"
Harry leaned over the balcony to peer at the item. It was made of navy material, and was tattered at the edges. Harry then noticed a small figure standing just behind Angelina and looking absolutely bewildered. Harry recognized immediately one of the house-elves they had become acquainted with, whose name was Dobby. He too was holding something--something bright red and new-looking. His head was void of the tea cozy he usually wore, and after a few moments, Harry realized that the red object was the tea cozy.
Suddenly he knew why Dobby was bewildered and why Angelina was smoking at the ears. He straightened back up and laughed out loud. Ron looked at him. "What's going on, Harry?"
Harry said between spouts, "Fred and George... made Angelina's hat look like Dobby's... and Dobby's looks like Angelina's!"
Ron too began to chuckle, but then he looked back over the edge and frowned.
"What is it, Ron?"
He looked back at Harry. "How'd you see all that? I can't even tell what Dobby's holding."
Harry found it hard to be disturbed. "Dunno. Maybe my glasses are good for something after all. Anyway, where's Hermione?"
"At breakfast. When she saw what all this was about, she walked right past."
Harry laughed again, and then said, "Let's go find her."
So they did. Hermione was sitting at the table, but she wasn't eating. Her eyes were lowered, and she looked pensive. She didn't look up when they sat beside her, but merely bit her bottom lip.
"Hermione? What's up?"
Hermione slowly lifted her gaze to stare Harry in the face. "I've just had a conversation with Malfoy."
Ron said cheerily, "Well, that's enough to make anyone gloomy. What did he say?"
Hermione glanced unappreciatively at him before she said, "He told me that if we didn't tell him what was going on that he'd tell everyone what happened in the forest. I told him I didn't know what he was talking about, but he didn't seem to believe me. He told me we had until tomorrow before the news will be out."
Ron gave a low whistle. Harry muttered, "Kentarre thought something like this might happen, but she didn't say what she was going to do when it did."
Hermione looked at him sharply. "Tell Dumbledore," she hissed. "It won't hurt."
"No, Hermione. Malfoy would never let me live it down. There's got to be a way to stall him without telling him anything."
Ron brightened. "We could always use Kentarre's method."
Harry grinned widely. "You know, that--"
"Absolutely not," Hermione cut in. "You'll get in who knows what kind of trouble if you get caught injuring another student on purpose."
"Oh, come off it, Hermione, you know I was just joshing. Okay, so we need a better plan than that."
Hermione said, "Wait a minute." She leaned in closer. "I've only read about this recently, but do you remember that lesson we had in Charms about specialized Memory Charms?"
Ron and Harry exchanged a glance. "You want to use one of them on Malfoy?" Harry asked. "But I thought they were only for immediate memory. That happened two days ago. That's not immediate."
"Well, if you'll let me finish, I decided to read up on it to see what I could find. There's such a thing as a Day-Old Memory Charm, and it will work in correspondence with a formula that allows you to fill in the variables--such as how many days ago you want them to forget and how much. It's very complex, but it can't be any harder than the Polyjuice Potion."
"Or as bad-tasting," Ron muttered, and Harry agreed.
"So," asked Harry, "how do we go about learning it?"
Hermione bit her lip in thought. "Well, I don't exactly remember what the book said, but I do remember that its description was very short. It was maybe a page long."
"Well, that's comforting. Which book was it?"
"It was called--" Hermione's abrupt stop made them all look up. Snape was a few feet away and closing. His smirk was so oily, Harry was sure he could have waxed his Firebolt five times over with it. Without delay, he explained, "Professor McGonagall's owl is currently incapacitated, so I have been given the very pleasant duty of presenting you with these." He placed three pieces of folded white paper on the table in front of them and stalked away.
Ron muttered, "I've got a feeling I know what these are."
And he was right. Written on Harry's paper, in Professor McGonagall's neat hand, was the message: "Mr. Potter, Your detention has been scheduled for this Thursday, the twentieth of December, at 8:00 P.M. Please meet Mr. Filch in the Entrance Hall at said time. Signed, Professor McGonagall."
But, to their dismay, all of their detentions were on different days. "I bet this was Snape's recommendation," Harry moaned. He turned to look for the greasy-haired Potions master, but there was none to be found. "I guess he went to go gloat."
The Great Hall, like the Entrance Hall, was spruced up for the holiday. The customary seven Christmas trees lined two walls and positively dripped with garlands and baubles, all polished silver, gold, and ivory. The tablecloths were immaculate and hemmed with embroidery that depicted a long, twisting holly vine and small red and blue birds that flitted to and fro among the leaves. The floating candles that illuminated the hall were bedecked with baubles on wire that had been stuck into the wax. The baubles reflected the candlelight, sending showers of prismatic displays onto the occupants. Bright red and green ribbons graced every doorway, and matching ones trimmed the teachers' table. All in all, it was magnificent.
Harry and his friends were soon joined by others; Dean, Seamus, Parvati, and Lavender, all fellow fifth years, showed up as well and began conversing in a merry manner. They talked and laughed about this and that all through the meal; Harry thought it was the most fun he'd had at the table in a while, especially when Dean accidentally spilled his pumpkin juice all over Parvati, making her yelp and jump out of her chair. After the fact, she realized that a majority of the Great Hall was staring at her with varied amusement on their faces, and she turned tomato red and sat back down again.
When the evening was done, Harry had had so much fun that he had forgotten all about what Hermione had been about to tell them. He laughed with his friends all the way back to the common room, where he enjoyed a contented, dreamless sleep.