This chapter probably could've been broken down into two, but I figured I stick them together anyway.
Chapter 5: The First Answer
Over the next week, Harry, Ron and Hermione paid extra attention to Michelle's activities. At first, she didn't seem to notice. When she started taking different routes to every class however, Hermione figured she was catching on and stopped following her so much. The same could not be said for Ron and Harry. Finding out Hermione had begun to think the whole task "rather silly," they went forward with even more reckless abandon. Ron almost followed Michelle into the girl's bathroom before Harry grabbed his arm and saved him from embarrassment. Even with all their spying, the three friends were no closer to finding out why Trelawny and Michelle had met that night. Each one had their theory, but no one had come close to the truth.
Hogsmeade always provided plenty of distraction during the school term, but this weekend a huge fair would be coming to town. Craftsmen from all over Europe would be showing off their wares, while performers entertained on the main stage. Games of chance and skill were set up along a thoroughfare with prizes of all values being offered up to the winners. Michelle hadn't planned on going, but Saturday was sunny and the breeze was inviting. Reaching the tents where the craftsmen were displaying everything from broomsticks to rune stones, Michelle almost jumped seeing Harry and his friends coming directly towards her. She'd so far been able to avoid them. She went around the back of one of the tents and lifted up the canvas to slide under. Once inside, Michelle noticed this particular craftsman had a thing for weaponry. Lots and lots of weaponry actually. Most of it hung from display racks. Still trying to avoid Harry, Michelle stayed inside and began to walk around and examine the articles before her. All the swords, while amazing, were out of her price range. Reaching a nearby table, Michelle felt her stomach drop as she looked into the glass case. There in front of her was the knife she had been dreaming about! It was made of perfectly polished silver. The handle had four red stones shaped like eggs resting in it. There was some sort of inscription along the blade, but Michelle didn't recognize the language. Her fingers brushed the top of the glass as her hand moved down the image of the knife.
"Awful pretty isn't it Miss..." the man who'd been sitting in the corner finally spoke.
Michelle was startled, "Yes...yes it is. Did you make this?"
"Me? I surely did Miss. Took me about half a year to complete it."
"Is that a long time as far as knives go?"
"A bit. The funny thing was I had planned on making a sword. Then I had a dream..."
Now, Michelle was very interested. "A dream? What kind of dream?"
"I don't remember it very well. The only thing that kept coming back to me was the knife. It seemed to stick with me. Figured I was supposed to make it. Like it was a sign..."
This was almost too good to be true. "Is it for sale?" If she could buy the knife, she could study it. Find out why she had been dreaming about it.
"I'd hate to part with it. It's sort of special."
Michelle bit her lip and pulled out her money. She sat everything down on the glass. "This is all I have. It's basically my allowance for the next 5 months. Are you sure you won't sell it?"
He studied her for a moment. She seemed to be very serious about getting this knife. He had kept the sketches he'd done, so he could always make another one. There was something in her eyes; she was almost desperate. He felt sorry for her for reasons he couldn't explain.
"I tell you what. It wouldn't be right to take all your money." He reached out and grabbed half of what she'd laid before him. "I think this is fair." He took out a key and opened the glass lid. Carefully removing the knife, he went back to the corner and found the wooden box he'd made to carry the knife in. Sliding the knife inside it, he shut the box and handed it to Michelle. "Here you go Miss...I hope you'll take good care of it."
"I'll be very careful with it, you can be sure of that." She held the box up against her chest and used her jacket to hid it fro view. "By the way, what does the inscription say?"
"I don't know. I just saw the writing in my dream and copied it."
Michelle thanked the man and then left. She squinted as she went back out into the sunlight. It took a few seconds to adjust from the darkness of the tent. Michelle didn't see Harry notice her as she began to make her way back to Hogwarts. He stepped ito the tent to look at what was inside...what he saw didn't make him feel any better.
Michelle opened the trunk at the end of her bed. Moving aside some clothes, she placed the box containing the knife on the bottom. She rearranged the clothes and locked up the trunk. She grabbed her journal from her bookbag, quickly jotting down some notes. Michelle finally felt like she was getting somewhere with this vision. Taking her journal with her, she made her way to Trelawny's classroom. She ran into Snape just as she was beginning to climb through the trap door.
"I'm afraid the Professor isn't in. I just tried to find her myself." Snape's voice sounded eerie as it filled the quiet hallway.
Michelle walked over to where he stood. "Oh...I just needed to talk to her, but I suppose it can wait." She was about to leave when she remembered something. "Have you had a chance to make the potion I spoke to you about?"
Snape looked down at her. "Yes, Miss Larson. I will have the potion ready for you once you have made your final decision concerning the Aquiesence." He held her gaze, making her nervous.
"Thank you sir. Umm, may I ask another favor?" she shifted from one foot to the next. "I need to do some research in the restricted section of the library. I was going to ask Prof. Trelawny to write a note for me, but..." She made herself stand still. "I wouldn't bother you with this, but I'd like to go in tomorrow when I know most students won't be there."
"Very well then." He used his wand to produce some paper, a quill and ink. His handwriting was precise and measured, much like his personality Michelle thought to herself.
"Thank you again sir." She took the note and put it in her pocket. She smiled lightly before going back towards the entrance to Gryffindor.
Harry caught up with Ron and Hermione as he left the tent. He told them he'd seen Michelle leaving it. Hermione thought it was silly to presume that just because the tent had weapons inside Michelle had bought one. She pointed out that Harry hadn't seen her carrying anything when she left. Harry wasn't so sure. It still unnerved him knowing she'd spent time looking around in there. He was going to have to talk to Neville later and ask him if Michelle had mentioned anything about the fair.
After all the excitement of the fair the day before, Hogwarts on a Sunday was as silent as a tomb and just as boring. Michelle was thankful for the quiet. It made doing research in the library easier. She'd gone straight to the restricted section after showing the librarian her note. Michelle started with books on weaponry. But even after several hours of searching, she couldn't find anything on her style of knife. Returning the books to the shelves, she left for the dining hall. Quickly filling her plate, she sat down alone to eat. Michelle pulled a book from her bag and began to read. Completely engrossed by her chapter, she didn't notice Malfoy sitting down in front of her.
When she didn't immediately look up, Malfoy cleared his throat to get her attention, "Hello...it's Michelle isn't it?"
"Yeah." Michelle looked at him blankly. She tried to figure out how someone could sneer and speak at the same time.
He puffed out his chest and sat up straighter. "I'm Malfoy...Draco Malfoy."
"Draino?"
He frowned, "Draco."
"Oh, sorry. Draco." She still looked at him blankly. "So, just come by to say hello?"
"Not exactly. I've noticed you in the halls between classes." He leaned in slightly, "You're very pretty..."
Now, Michelle was feeling a bit ill. "Uh...thanks." She'd noticed Malfoy too. He and his two thugs, Crabbe and Goyle, terrorized the younger kids and harrassed anyone who wasn't in their house. Malfoy always reminded her of a game show host from hell.
"I've been wanting to talk to you and get to know all about you."
"Not a lot to tell."
"Oh, I'm sure you have plenty to tell."
"You're assuming I want to tell you." She was beginning to get annoyed.
He laughed a little, his eyes roaming over her body. He placed his hand on hers. "I think I can persuade you to change your mind."
Michelle had had enough. "Let go of my hand." She began to pull away, but Malfoy grabbed her wrist. She looked down at her wrist and back at Malfoy. "I said let go."
"C'mon then, let's play rough. I like to play rough." He smiled and licked his lips.
Michelle had just decided what she was going to do to him, when suddenly another hand came down and grabbed Malfoy's wrist.
Leaning over Malfoy was Harry. He stared hard at Draco, "She said let go, Malfoy."
Draco stood so he was nose to nose with Harry, pulling Michelle's arm up with him. "Ah Potter--always trying to be the hero. Too bad you haven't had much success lately."
Harry was now seething. Michelle could sense he was seconds away from punching Draco. Focusing her gaze on their hands, she whispered under her breath. A short, but nasty bit of electricity shot through everyone's hands. They all jumped as they became disconnected. The shock was strong enough to set Harry's glasses askew and make some of Malfoy's hair stand up on end. Everyone was too startled to speak. Just as Draco began to open his mouth, Professor McGonagall walked nearby, pausing to look at them. Instead of speaking, Malfoy sneered and growled under his breath. As he returned to his table, McGonagall resumed walking.
Harry fixed his glasses, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. You?"
"Alright, my arm sorta tingles though. What just happened?"
"I don't know." She had to look away. She was a horrible liar. Michelle stared at her hand. "Sure was strange."
"Very strange." He studied her and noticed she wouldn't look him in the eye. "What did he want?"
"I'm not sure. Just being creepy as usual. He said he wanted to 'get to know me'---and may I say YUCK to that by the way..." She laughed in spite of herself. "Oh, and he gave me some stupid line about watching me and thinking I was pretty."
Finally, Harry caught her eye. "That's not stupid. You are pretty." He spoke softly, but not timidly.
Inside her head, Michelle was telling herself to look away and leave. Instead, she stood there staring right back at him. Before she even knew what she was saying, she found herself speaking.
"You're pretty too..."
Harry's brow wrinkled and then he smiled, "Excuse me?"
"Uh, handsome...not pretty...not...oh,hell...I gotta go." She quickly picked up her things and ran for the doors, almost taking Ron out as she went. Harry was perplexed, but still smiling. Things were getting very interesting.
Chapter 5: The First Answer
Over the next week, Harry, Ron and Hermione paid extra attention to Michelle's activities. At first, she didn't seem to notice. When she started taking different routes to every class however, Hermione figured she was catching on and stopped following her so much. The same could not be said for Ron and Harry. Finding out Hermione had begun to think the whole task "rather silly," they went forward with even more reckless abandon. Ron almost followed Michelle into the girl's bathroom before Harry grabbed his arm and saved him from embarrassment. Even with all their spying, the three friends were no closer to finding out why Trelawny and Michelle had met that night. Each one had their theory, but no one had come close to the truth.
Hogsmeade always provided plenty of distraction during the school term, but this weekend a huge fair would be coming to town. Craftsmen from all over Europe would be showing off their wares, while performers entertained on the main stage. Games of chance and skill were set up along a thoroughfare with prizes of all values being offered up to the winners. Michelle hadn't planned on going, but Saturday was sunny and the breeze was inviting. Reaching the tents where the craftsmen were displaying everything from broomsticks to rune stones, Michelle almost jumped seeing Harry and his friends coming directly towards her. She'd so far been able to avoid them. She went around the back of one of the tents and lifted up the canvas to slide under. Once inside, Michelle noticed this particular craftsman had a thing for weaponry. Lots and lots of weaponry actually. Most of it hung from display racks. Still trying to avoid Harry, Michelle stayed inside and began to walk around and examine the articles before her. All the swords, while amazing, were out of her price range. Reaching a nearby table, Michelle felt her stomach drop as she looked into the glass case. There in front of her was the knife she had been dreaming about! It was made of perfectly polished silver. The handle had four red stones shaped like eggs resting in it. There was some sort of inscription along the blade, but Michelle didn't recognize the language. Her fingers brushed the top of the glass as her hand moved down the image of the knife.
"Awful pretty isn't it Miss..." the man who'd been sitting in the corner finally spoke.
Michelle was startled, "Yes...yes it is. Did you make this?"
"Me? I surely did Miss. Took me about half a year to complete it."
"Is that a long time as far as knives go?"
"A bit. The funny thing was I had planned on making a sword. Then I had a dream..."
Now, Michelle was very interested. "A dream? What kind of dream?"
"I don't remember it very well. The only thing that kept coming back to me was the knife. It seemed to stick with me. Figured I was supposed to make it. Like it was a sign..."
This was almost too good to be true. "Is it for sale?" If she could buy the knife, she could study it. Find out why she had been dreaming about it.
"I'd hate to part with it. It's sort of special."
Michelle bit her lip and pulled out her money. She sat everything down on the glass. "This is all I have. It's basically my allowance for the next 5 months. Are you sure you won't sell it?"
He studied her for a moment. She seemed to be very serious about getting this knife. He had kept the sketches he'd done, so he could always make another one. There was something in her eyes; she was almost desperate. He felt sorry for her for reasons he couldn't explain.
"I tell you what. It wouldn't be right to take all your money." He reached out and grabbed half of what she'd laid before him. "I think this is fair." He took out a key and opened the glass lid. Carefully removing the knife, he went back to the corner and found the wooden box he'd made to carry the knife in. Sliding the knife inside it, he shut the box and handed it to Michelle. "Here you go Miss...I hope you'll take good care of it."
"I'll be very careful with it, you can be sure of that." She held the box up against her chest and used her jacket to hid it fro view. "By the way, what does the inscription say?"
"I don't know. I just saw the writing in my dream and copied it."
Michelle thanked the man and then left. She squinted as she went back out into the sunlight. It took a few seconds to adjust from the darkness of the tent. Michelle didn't see Harry notice her as she began to make her way back to Hogwarts. He stepped ito the tent to look at what was inside...what he saw didn't make him feel any better.
Michelle opened the trunk at the end of her bed. Moving aside some clothes, she placed the box containing the knife on the bottom. She rearranged the clothes and locked up the trunk. She grabbed her journal from her bookbag, quickly jotting down some notes. Michelle finally felt like she was getting somewhere with this vision. Taking her journal with her, she made her way to Trelawny's classroom. She ran into Snape just as she was beginning to climb through the trap door.
"I'm afraid the Professor isn't in. I just tried to find her myself." Snape's voice sounded eerie as it filled the quiet hallway.
Michelle walked over to where he stood. "Oh...I just needed to talk to her, but I suppose it can wait." She was about to leave when she remembered something. "Have you had a chance to make the potion I spoke to you about?"
Snape looked down at her. "Yes, Miss Larson. I will have the potion ready for you once you have made your final decision concerning the Aquiesence." He held her gaze, making her nervous.
"Thank you sir. Umm, may I ask another favor?" she shifted from one foot to the next. "I need to do some research in the restricted section of the library. I was going to ask Prof. Trelawny to write a note for me, but..." She made herself stand still. "I wouldn't bother you with this, but I'd like to go in tomorrow when I know most students won't be there."
"Very well then." He used his wand to produce some paper, a quill and ink. His handwriting was precise and measured, much like his personality Michelle thought to herself.
"Thank you again sir." She took the note and put it in her pocket. She smiled lightly before going back towards the entrance to Gryffindor.
Harry caught up with Ron and Hermione as he left the tent. He told them he'd seen Michelle leaving it. Hermione thought it was silly to presume that just because the tent had weapons inside Michelle had bought one. She pointed out that Harry hadn't seen her carrying anything when she left. Harry wasn't so sure. It still unnerved him knowing she'd spent time looking around in there. He was going to have to talk to Neville later and ask him if Michelle had mentioned anything about the fair.
After all the excitement of the fair the day before, Hogwarts on a Sunday was as silent as a tomb and just as boring. Michelle was thankful for the quiet. It made doing research in the library easier. She'd gone straight to the restricted section after showing the librarian her note. Michelle started with books on weaponry. But even after several hours of searching, she couldn't find anything on her style of knife. Returning the books to the shelves, she left for the dining hall. Quickly filling her plate, she sat down alone to eat. Michelle pulled a book from her bag and began to read. Completely engrossed by her chapter, she didn't notice Malfoy sitting down in front of her.
When she didn't immediately look up, Malfoy cleared his throat to get her attention, "Hello...it's Michelle isn't it?"
"Yeah." Michelle looked at him blankly. She tried to figure out how someone could sneer and speak at the same time.
He puffed out his chest and sat up straighter. "I'm Malfoy...Draco Malfoy."
"Draino?"
He frowned, "Draco."
"Oh, sorry. Draco." She still looked at him blankly. "So, just come by to say hello?"
"Not exactly. I've noticed you in the halls between classes." He leaned in slightly, "You're very pretty..."
Now, Michelle was feeling a bit ill. "Uh...thanks." She'd noticed Malfoy too. He and his two thugs, Crabbe and Goyle, terrorized the younger kids and harrassed anyone who wasn't in their house. Malfoy always reminded her of a game show host from hell.
"I've been wanting to talk to you and get to know all about you."
"Not a lot to tell."
"Oh, I'm sure you have plenty to tell."
"You're assuming I want to tell you." She was beginning to get annoyed.
He laughed a little, his eyes roaming over her body. He placed his hand on hers. "I think I can persuade you to change your mind."
Michelle had had enough. "Let go of my hand." She began to pull away, but Malfoy grabbed her wrist. She looked down at her wrist and back at Malfoy. "I said let go."
"C'mon then, let's play rough. I like to play rough." He smiled and licked his lips.
Michelle had just decided what she was going to do to him, when suddenly another hand came down and grabbed Malfoy's wrist.
Leaning over Malfoy was Harry. He stared hard at Draco, "She said let go, Malfoy."
Draco stood so he was nose to nose with Harry, pulling Michelle's arm up with him. "Ah Potter--always trying to be the hero. Too bad you haven't had much success lately."
Harry was now seething. Michelle could sense he was seconds away from punching Draco. Focusing her gaze on their hands, she whispered under her breath. A short, but nasty bit of electricity shot through everyone's hands. They all jumped as they became disconnected. The shock was strong enough to set Harry's glasses askew and make some of Malfoy's hair stand up on end. Everyone was too startled to speak. Just as Draco began to open his mouth, Professor McGonagall walked nearby, pausing to look at them. Instead of speaking, Malfoy sneered and growled under his breath. As he returned to his table, McGonagall resumed walking.
Harry fixed his glasses, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. You?"
"Alright, my arm sorta tingles though. What just happened?"
"I don't know." She had to look away. She was a horrible liar. Michelle stared at her hand. "Sure was strange."
"Very strange." He studied her and noticed she wouldn't look him in the eye. "What did he want?"
"I'm not sure. Just being creepy as usual. He said he wanted to 'get to know me'---and may I say YUCK to that by the way..." She laughed in spite of herself. "Oh, and he gave me some stupid line about watching me and thinking I was pretty."
Finally, Harry caught her eye. "That's not stupid. You are pretty." He spoke softly, but not timidly.
Inside her head, Michelle was telling herself to look away and leave. Instead, she stood there staring right back at him. Before she even knew what she was saying, she found herself speaking.
"You're pretty too..."
Harry's brow wrinkled and then he smiled, "Excuse me?"
"Uh, handsome...not pretty...not...oh,hell...I gotta go." She quickly picked up her things and ran for the doors, almost taking Ron out as she went. Harry was perplexed, but still smiling. Things were getting very interesting.
