Chapter 13 – Another Dose of Powers
Rachel seemed to sense that Liz really didn't want to talk about the dance ever again, so they didn't. But Liz couldn't help feeling left out of the love epidemic that always followed Valentine's Day. It made her want to kick something when she saw David and Bettie walking around holding hands.
One morning later in February, Liz told Rachel was going to stay in bed all day. "No, you're not," Rachel argued. "Flitwick is giving us a test in Charms today."
"If you were in here and I was out there, you'd say that would be all the more reason to stay here."
There was silence as Rachel tried to figure out what to say next, broken by a tapping sound. Liz ripped open the hangings and practically threw herself at the window to let in her mother's owl. Then she got back into bed and pulled together the hangings again.
Dear Elizabeth,
Hi. How are you? Valentine's Day was a few weeks ago, wasn't it? I always liked Valentine's Day, but I never had anyone to celebrate it with until my sixth year. That was when your father told me he liked me. I can still remember it. It nearly broke my heart when he graduated because I thought he'd forget about me. He never did, of course.
I miss you, Elizabeth. I hope you have a fun rest of the year.
Luna
Liz didn't feel so bad now that she knew her mother had only begun to date in her sixth year. With renewed vigor, she changed and followed Rachel to the Great Hall.
By early March, the threat of boys had dissipated. Liz was thirteen, after all; she had plenty of time to fall in love (though seeing David and Bettie together still made her feel sick). But something else had resurfaced in the pool of her mind: harnessing her powers.
The first question was where and when to try it out. Rachel would be suspicious if she skipped dinner and stayed in the dorm again. The common room was too risky; someone could come in at any moment. The only other place she could think of was the Owlery. There she could lock the door and students would think someone was sending a secret letter.
So that night after dinner, she told Rachel and Michael that she was going to the library to study. At first they offered to tag along, but she eventually convinced them not to and hurried on her way up to the Owlery.
She hadn't uttered a word more than, "I wish..." before the sensation of being watched nearly overcame her again. She had to stumble over to the window and clutch it tightly before she could stand up straight again. "Odd," she thought to herself. "I wish Luna, my owl, would come to me."
She could see the owl flying at her before the sensation came again and she felt too weak to move. Luna perched on the window and hooted concernedly, but the only thing Liz heard was her body hitting the stone cold floor.
Next thing she knew, she was in the hospital wing with Madame Lesille, the school nurse, laboring at her bedside table. "What happened?" she croaked weakly.
"Shh, now, there, there. You need your rest, Elizabeth. Just lay back..."
"How did I get here?" Liz asked.
"Your friends found you unconscious in the Owlery, dear. It was first thing this morning they brought you in."
"This morning? I was there all night?"
"Liz?" said Michael's voice from behind the curtain that separated Liz from the rest of the hospital wing. "Are you awake? Is she awake, Madame Lesille?"
"No, sit down, give her some rest."
"Please, Madame Lesille?" Rachel's voice pleaded. "We brought her in! She'd still be up there if it wasn't for us."
Madame Lesille pursed her lips and grimaced. "Fine. Talk to her. I'll just be over here, waiting to regain my authority over my patients." Rachel and Michael missed the sarcasm as they rushed over.
"What happened?" said Michael.
"I should be asking you that."
"But why were you up in the Owlery in the first place?" Rachel said.
Liz looked at Madame Lesille to make sure she wasn't listening in on their conversation, took a deep breath, and said, "Do you remember on Halloween? I tried to use my powers then, and I fainted. I really wanted to try again, you see, and I couldn't skip dinner again or you'd be worried. So last night when I said I was going to the library, I went to the Owlery to try again, but that didn't work so well. I fainted again, and now I'm here. How'd you find me?"
"Well, last night we figured you were doing some hard-core studying and we weren't that worried," said Rachel. "But when I woke up this morning and you weren't in your bed, I got Michael and we went looking for you. The librarian said you hadn't been there at all. When we finally got to the Owlery and found it was locked, we knocked and no one answered. I used that opening charm you taught us, Alohomora—"
"I didn't teach it to you. Flitwick did."
"And you thought we were paying attention?" Michael snorted, chuckling.
"Anyway, we went in and saw you, and then we brought you here. Madame Lesille sent for Professor McGonagall almost as soon as we arrived," Rachel finished.
"Professor McGonagall?" Liz repeated.
At that second, the hospital wing doors burst open. The headmistress rushed in amid a flurry of her robes. "Where is she? What happened?" she demanded.
Madame Lesille pointed a long, manicured fingernail at Liz.
"What were you doing?" McGonagall said, breathing heavily.
"I—I tried to use my powers again."
"Don't be foolish, Elizabeth! The stress involved could have killed you! It's one thing accidentally letting something slip, but this is a different matter entirely! How could you be so irrational?"
Liz sat through the lecture silently, her head drooping slightly. McGonagall breathed again and lowered her voice. "I'll let it go this time, Elizabeth, but you need to exercise the utmost caution in the future." She stood and left abruptly.
"At least you didn't get in trouble," said Michael, shrugging.
"But she did just get the mother of all lectures," Rachel pointed out.
Liz leaned back against her pillow and drank the potion Madame Lesille had just handed her.
March twenty-fourth was Liz's fourteenth birthday. She was the last of the three to turn fourteen, as Michael's birthday was in October and Rachel's was in January, but she was till older than Chris (albeit by less than a month).
That morning she awoke expecting to see her mother's owl waiting expectantly at the dormitory window. But it wasn't there. Disappointed, she went to breakfast. Throughout the whole day, it became impossible not to gaze wistfully out the window. Then at dinner, the owl landed in her mashed potatoes carrying another letter. Liz excitedly ripped it open.
Dear Elizabeth,
Happy 14th Birthday! I miss you a lot. I hope it's fun for you to be fourteen. I was fourteen when I met your father, but that was in fourth- year.
I've got to run. Write back soon!
Luna
Liz blinked. "Write back soon?" She blinked again. "Write back! Or course!" She got up suddenly, startling the owl into almost flying away. "No, I need you." She took it up to the Owlery, where she hastily scribbled on a spare scrap of parchment she had in her bag. "Take this back, okay?" she told the owl, who hooted and flew off.
Liz waited for a week for a reply to come back. The owl came to her during morning post, addressed to Miss Elizabeth Potter. Liz ignored the formality of the label and opened it up. The inside was bare and empty. It was just a blank sheet of parchment.
Liz forced her crushed dreams back down her throat, thrust the parchment into her bag, and followed Rachel and Michael to her next class.
Rachel seemed to sense that Liz really didn't want to talk about the dance ever again, so they didn't. But Liz couldn't help feeling left out of the love epidemic that always followed Valentine's Day. It made her want to kick something when she saw David and Bettie walking around holding hands.
One morning later in February, Liz told Rachel was going to stay in bed all day. "No, you're not," Rachel argued. "Flitwick is giving us a test in Charms today."
"If you were in here and I was out there, you'd say that would be all the more reason to stay here."
There was silence as Rachel tried to figure out what to say next, broken by a tapping sound. Liz ripped open the hangings and practically threw herself at the window to let in her mother's owl. Then she got back into bed and pulled together the hangings again.
Dear Elizabeth,
Hi. How are you? Valentine's Day was a few weeks ago, wasn't it? I always liked Valentine's Day, but I never had anyone to celebrate it with until my sixth year. That was when your father told me he liked me. I can still remember it. It nearly broke my heart when he graduated because I thought he'd forget about me. He never did, of course.
I miss you, Elizabeth. I hope you have a fun rest of the year.
Luna
Liz didn't feel so bad now that she knew her mother had only begun to date in her sixth year. With renewed vigor, she changed and followed Rachel to the Great Hall.
By early March, the threat of boys had dissipated. Liz was thirteen, after all; she had plenty of time to fall in love (though seeing David and Bettie together still made her feel sick). But something else had resurfaced in the pool of her mind: harnessing her powers.
The first question was where and when to try it out. Rachel would be suspicious if she skipped dinner and stayed in the dorm again. The common room was too risky; someone could come in at any moment. The only other place she could think of was the Owlery. There she could lock the door and students would think someone was sending a secret letter.
So that night after dinner, she told Rachel and Michael that she was going to the library to study. At first they offered to tag along, but she eventually convinced them not to and hurried on her way up to the Owlery.
She hadn't uttered a word more than, "I wish..." before the sensation of being watched nearly overcame her again. She had to stumble over to the window and clutch it tightly before she could stand up straight again. "Odd," she thought to herself. "I wish Luna, my owl, would come to me."
She could see the owl flying at her before the sensation came again and she felt too weak to move. Luna perched on the window and hooted concernedly, but the only thing Liz heard was her body hitting the stone cold floor.
Next thing she knew, she was in the hospital wing with Madame Lesille, the school nurse, laboring at her bedside table. "What happened?" she croaked weakly.
"Shh, now, there, there. You need your rest, Elizabeth. Just lay back..."
"How did I get here?" Liz asked.
"Your friends found you unconscious in the Owlery, dear. It was first thing this morning they brought you in."
"This morning? I was there all night?"
"Liz?" said Michael's voice from behind the curtain that separated Liz from the rest of the hospital wing. "Are you awake? Is she awake, Madame Lesille?"
"No, sit down, give her some rest."
"Please, Madame Lesille?" Rachel's voice pleaded. "We brought her in! She'd still be up there if it wasn't for us."
Madame Lesille pursed her lips and grimaced. "Fine. Talk to her. I'll just be over here, waiting to regain my authority over my patients." Rachel and Michael missed the sarcasm as they rushed over.
"What happened?" said Michael.
"I should be asking you that."
"But why were you up in the Owlery in the first place?" Rachel said.
Liz looked at Madame Lesille to make sure she wasn't listening in on their conversation, took a deep breath, and said, "Do you remember on Halloween? I tried to use my powers then, and I fainted. I really wanted to try again, you see, and I couldn't skip dinner again or you'd be worried. So last night when I said I was going to the library, I went to the Owlery to try again, but that didn't work so well. I fainted again, and now I'm here. How'd you find me?"
"Well, last night we figured you were doing some hard-core studying and we weren't that worried," said Rachel. "But when I woke up this morning and you weren't in your bed, I got Michael and we went looking for you. The librarian said you hadn't been there at all. When we finally got to the Owlery and found it was locked, we knocked and no one answered. I used that opening charm you taught us, Alohomora—"
"I didn't teach it to you. Flitwick did."
"And you thought we were paying attention?" Michael snorted, chuckling.
"Anyway, we went in and saw you, and then we brought you here. Madame Lesille sent for Professor McGonagall almost as soon as we arrived," Rachel finished.
"Professor McGonagall?" Liz repeated.
At that second, the hospital wing doors burst open. The headmistress rushed in amid a flurry of her robes. "Where is she? What happened?" she demanded.
Madame Lesille pointed a long, manicured fingernail at Liz.
"What were you doing?" McGonagall said, breathing heavily.
"I—I tried to use my powers again."
"Don't be foolish, Elizabeth! The stress involved could have killed you! It's one thing accidentally letting something slip, but this is a different matter entirely! How could you be so irrational?"
Liz sat through the lecture silently, her head drooping slightly. McGonagall breathed again and lowered her voice. "I'll let it go this time, Elizabeth, but you need to exercise the utmost caution in the future." She stood and left abruptly.
"At least you didn't get in trouble," said Michael, shrugging.
"But she did just get the mother of all lectures," Rachel pointed out.
Liz leaned back against her pillow and drank the potion Madame Lesille had just handed her.
March twenty-fourth was Liz's fourteenth birthday. She was the last of the three to turn fourteen, as Michael's birthday was in October and Rachel's was in January, but she was till older than Chris (albeit by less than a month).
That morning she awoke expecting to see her mother's owl waiting expectantly at the dormitory window. But it wasn't there. Disappointed, she went to breakfast. Throughout the whole day, it became impossible not to gaze wistfully out the window. Then at dinner, the owl landed in her mashed potatoes carrying another letter. Liz excitedly ripped it open.
Dear Elizabeth,
Happy 14th Birthday! I miss you a lot. I hope it's fun for you to be fourteen. I was fourteen when I met your father, but that was in fourth- year.
I've got to run. Write back soon!
Luna
Liz blinked. "Write back soon?" She blinked again. "Write back! Or course!" She got up suddenly, startling the owl into almost flying away. "No, I need you." She took it up to the Owlery, where she hastily scribbled on a spare scrap of parchment she had in her bag. "Take this back, okay?" she told the owl, who hooted and flew off.
Liz waited for a week for a reply to come back. The owl came to her during morning post, addressed to Miss Elizabeth Potter. Liz ignored the formality of the label and opened it up. The inside was bare and empty. It was just a blank sheet of parchment.
Liz forced her crushed dreams back down her throat, thrust the parchment into her bag, and followed Rachel and Michael to her next class.