Chapter 22
It was not long after that the Gryffindors finished up their final matches and the Hufflepuff 7th Years were left to duel. Most of the other groups had returned back to the castle, Harry, Ron, Hermione and the rest of those to duel remained. Katherine by now was pacing, she was unsettled, and Professor Flitwick had informed her than she was in standby. That meant that she would be going in next. Katherine looked desperately up to Meredith, but the girl gave no look of recognition, just coldly looked down on the field. Katherine's eyes traveled over to Snape who was yawning and then her eyes moved onto the wolf. Aconite had sat up and was gazing out over the field intently, or at least gave the appearance of. The wolf yawned and briefly wagged its tail before it flopped back across Snape's lap. Snape snorted and shoved Aconite off, he had had enough of the wolf shoving herself into him constantly when it got bored. Aconite stretched and circled and then sat down, continuing to watch with intense eyes. Katherine frowned and turned back to Harry, Ron and Hermione, she gave a wave grinning.
She jerked a bit when she heard her name being called out and the name of a fellow Hufflepuff, Victoria Franklin. Franklin was a placid looking girl; she had long dark hair that fell way past her waist. Katherine smiled faintly, they knew each other, but that did not make it any easier to prepare herself for the duel ahead. Katherine shrugged away her feelings of doubt and walked with pride into the area. Victoria looked to Katherine, and when it came to shaking hands, Victoria paused staring before clasping Katherine's hand into her own. Soon the match was under way. Victoria called out the first attack, "Aqualis". Katherine instead of countering the attack with a traditional flame spell she dove out of the way, rolling and jumping to her feet. She called out a challenge, "Come on, keep it up! I'd like a little warm up before I play!" Victoria huffed and repeated the spell, trying to get just ahead of Katherine to soak the boastful girl, but always Katherine seemed to jump away or dodge with such graceful ease. Victoria stamped her foot and called out, "Aqualis Superior"! Out of the wand flooded water that slowly maneuvered itself into a whirlpool. Katherine stumbled a bit and grinned up. Her cloak, uniform, and entire self was soaked. She bore the same challenge in her eyes; she called out, "Refugere." And the whirlpool moved closer to Victoria making the girl loose her footing. Victoria caught herself before she completely fell, but the water still splashed up, soaking her clothing as well. Katherine has had enough playing around, she stepped foreword into the water and pointed her wand at the rapidly swirling blue pool. "Exaresco" was the spell she called and the water begun to dry out, to be rapidly sucked into the ground and disappearing. Katherine bore a smile, "We end this now, it has been a good match Miss Franklin." She closed her eyes and conjured up concentration. Then without warning she lifted her wand to the sky and called "Patronus", out of her wand came a swirling silver mist that rapidly moved upwards and then formed into the figure of a bird, a bird of prey. The misty falcon let out a silent shriek and dove at Victoria, passing through the girl and dissipating. Victoria was smiling rather stupidly as she fell to her knees, ending the match. The barrier fell around them and the last of the silvery mist disappeared. Katherine forced a smile and steadied herself; the Patronus spell always left its user a bit off few a few minutes afterward. She reached into a pocket in her soaked cloak and pulled out a soggy wrapper, unwrapping it and popping the contents into her mouth. It was chocolate, which always helped to stop the dizziness after such a spell.
Hermione ran over, smiling and congratulating the older student. Katherine grinned and playfully rubbed the top of Hermione's head.
"That was a wonderful Patronus attack!" Hermione complimented.
Katherine nodded, "Yeh, I guess it was an okay match.." she paused, "You guys all ready to head in?"
Ron grinned gratefully, "Yes!"
As they started off, Harry was staring at Katherine hard. Thoughts were running through his mind, but one stood out in particular, Katherine's protector was a hawk.
Meanwhile, Katherine's eyes were up on the bleachers, Meredith had disappeared. She looked back over her shoulder, most of the students were all starting back for the castle, the faculty tagged along behind, making sure everyone got in. Snape was walking away from the other teachers, dragging along a playful looking Aconite who was bounding around at the end of her line because Flitwick was teasing her again. Professor Snape jerked the chain, and Aconite heeled, but her tail still stood high and her feet were like springs, prancing across the grass. Katherine couldn't help but giggle at the sight, but she stopped when Hermione took notice.
"Something funny?" Hermione asked.
Katherine shrugged, "Not really."
Ron pulled out some Every Flavor Beans and beamed, "We ought to celebrate, come on, have one."
Only Harry did not seem to be interested in celebrating, he was too lost in thought. Images of the Patronus echoed back in his mind. Everything was connected somehow; he just needed to figure out how and why. He was jostled out of thought when Ron clapped him on the back. Harry gave a smile and fixed his glasses, choosing a bean from Ron's hand. It was bright blue, he popped it into his mouth and almost gagged, it was paper flavored.
It was not long after that the Gryffindors finished up their final matches and the Hufflepuff 7th Years were left to duel. Most of the other groups had returned back to the castle, Harry, Ron, Hermione and the rest of those to duel remained. Katherine by now was pacing, she was unsettled, and Professor Flitwick had informed her than she was in standby. That meant that she would be going in next. Katherine looked desperately up to Meredith, but the girl gave no look of recognition, just coldly looked down on the field. Katherine's eyes traveled over to Snape who was yawning and then her eyes moved onto the wolf. Aconite had sat up and was gazing out over the field intently, or at least gave the appearance of. The wolf yawned and briefly wagged its tail before it flopped back across Snape's lap. Snape snorted and shoved Aconite off, he had had enough of the wolf shoving herself into him constantly when it got bored. Aconite stretched and circled and then sat down, continuing to watch with intense eyes. Katherine frowned and turned back to Harry, Ron and Hermione, she gave a wave grinning.
She jerked a bit when she heard her name being called out and the name of a fellow Hufflepuff, Victoria Franklin. Franklin was a placid looking girl; she had long dark hair that fell way past her waist. Katherine smiled faintly, they knew each other, but that did not make it any easier to prepare herself for the duel ahead. Katherine shrugged away her feelings of doubt and walked with pride into the area. Victoria looked to Katherine, and when it came to shaking hands, Victoria paused staring before clasping Katherine's hand into her own. Soon the match was under way. Victoria called out the first attack, "Aqualis". Katherine instead of countering the attack with a traditional flame spell she dove out of the way, rolling and jumping to her feet. She called out a challenge, "Come on, keep it up! I'd like a little warm up before I play!" Victoria huffed and repeated the spell, trying to get just ahead of Katherine to soak the boastful girl, but always Katherine seemed to jump away or dodge with such graceful ease. Victoria stamped her foot and called out, "Aqualis Superior"! Out of the wand flooded water that slowly maneuvered itself into a whirlpool. Katherine stumbled a bit and grinned up. Her cloak, uniform, and entire self was soaked. She bore the same challenge in her eyes; she called out, "Refugere." And the whirlpool moved closer to Victoria making the girl loose her footing. Victoria caught herself before she completely fell, but the water still splashed up, soaking her clothing as well. Katherine has had enough playing around, she stepped foreword into the water and pointed her wand at the rapidly swirling blue pool. "Exaresco" was the spell she called and the water begun to dry out, to be rapidly sucked into the ground and disappearing. Katherine bore a smile, "We end this now, it has been a good match Miss Franklin." She closed her eyes and conjured up concentration. Then without warning she lifted her wand to the sky and called "Patronus", out of her wand came a swirling silver mist that rapidly moved upwards and then formed into the figure of a bird, a bird of prey. The misty falcon let out a silent shriek and dove at Victoria, passing through the girl and dissipating. Victoria was smiling rather stupidly as she fell to her knees, ending the match. The barrier fell around them and the last of the silvery mist disappeared. Katherine forced a smile and steadied herself; the Patronus spell always left its user a bit off few a few minutes afterward. She reached into a pocket in her soaked cloak and pulled out a soggy wrapper, unwrapping it and popping the contents into her mouth. It was chocolate, which always helped to stop the dizziness after such a spell.
Hermione ran over, smiling and congratulating the older student. Katherine grinned and playfully rubbed the top of Hermione's head.
"That was a wonderful Patronus attack!" Hermione complimented.
Katherine nodded, "Yeh, I guess it was an okay match.." she paused, "You guys all ready to head in?"
Ron grinned gratefully, "Yes!"
As they started off, Harry was staring at Katherine hard. Thoughts were running through his mind, but one stood out in particular, Katherine's protector was a hawk.
Meanwhile, Katherine's eyes were up on the bleachers, Meredith had disappeared. She looked back over her shoulder, most of the students were all starting back for the castle, the faculty tagged along behind, making sure everyone got in. Snape was walking away from the other teachers, dragging along a playful looking Aconite who was bounding around at the end of her line because Flitwick was teasing her again. Professor Snape jerked the chain, and Aconite heeled, but her tail still stood high and her feet were like springs, prancing across the grass. Katherine couldn't help but giggle at the sight, but she stopped when Hermione took notice.
"Something funny?" Hermione asked.
Katherine shrugged, "Not really."
Ron pulled out some Every Flavor Beans and beamed, "We ought to celebrate, come on, have one."
Only Harry did not seem to be interested in celebrating, he was too lost in thought. Images of the Patronus echoed back in his mind. Everything was connected somehow; he just needed to figure out how and why. He was jostled out of thought when Ron clapped him on the back. Harry gave a smile and fixed his glasses, choosing a bean from Ron's hand. It was bright blue, he popped it into his mouth and almost gagged, it was paper flavored.