Chapter Four – My Reluctance to Reveal All
The gardens of Silverwater were so well decorated that it was breathtaking. Being here was like heavenly bliss. The flower beds and the grass were very well tended for by Eyebrows the caretaker, thus keeping them looking very rich and vibrant in colour. Various water features also adorned the garden, releasing the soothing, relaxing (and urine-inducing) sound of running water, which gave the garden a heavenly atmosphere.
Heavenly atmosphere? I must have been crazy.
That morning my fellow inmates and I congregated underneath the beech tree with Dr Bell. She told all of us in the form of small memos much like the ones from the Ministry of Magic that we were to meet her there at ten o'clock sharp. Apparently she wanted to try something new.
While we waited for Vasco to get out of bed, my eyes wandered all over the garden and then landed abruptly on the barbed-wire fence. That was when I was rudely reminded that there was no escaping Silverwater. Not only was it surrounded by a barb-wired fence but it was surrounded by jinxes so that like Hogwarts, you couldn't Apparate or Disapparate inside or out. Yep, there was no escaping Silverwater.
"I'm here!"
Vasco could be heard from a large distance as he approached our group with his fists pummelled in the air. "Vasco has entered the building."
"Oh please!" Regan groaned, rolling her eyes. "Can you say the word 'twat'?" She ran a hand through her thick black hair in utter frustration.
"Shut up Zabini," Vasco snapped before plonking himself down next to me. "If anyone's a twat, it's you."
"Oh-."
"Don't start this again!" Dr Bell cried. She raised her hands to stem of the flow of the argument. She then placed her hands on the clipboard and pulled a quill out of her pocket. I watched intently as she balanced it on its nib and waved her wand. The quill immediately began rushing from side to side.
"Why don't you just buy a Quick Quotes Quill?" asked Regan.
"This is a more accurate way of recording whatever we say," Dr Bell replied as she cast the parchment lengthening spell. "Now, welcome to the first Group Session. This method seemed to be working well in the William Mangold ward so I decided to try it with you lot. Since there aren't many of you I thought this would work rather effectively. Now, I'm going to go around the circle and pass this roll of toilet paper. I want you to take as much paper as you need as if you were actually going to the toilet. Do you understand?"
Dr Bell dug into her pocket of her white coat and pulled out a roll of toilet paper. The roll was passed to Jai, Amelie Vega, Regan, Liv, Vasco and then finally me. Anybody who knew me would know that I would use liberal amounts of toilet paper. Thus, that was how much I took.
"Excellent,' said Dr Bell. "Now, I want you to divide the toilet paper into squares."
So we did.
"Great. Now, using each square, I want to you state one fact about yourselves. If you have ten you then state ten facts, and so on."
I had thirty squares.
"Mr Vasconcelos, may we start with you?"
"Okay … uh, my name is Vasco and I'm Muggleborn," Vasco stated each fact as he placed each toilet paper square on the grass in front of him. "One time I wanted to turn on the radio because I wanted to listen to some tunes … and then I realised that it was my shoe. That's all – Oh! And my cat is called Pickles."
I swore I heard Regan say, 'Idiot' under her breath.
"Thankyou Mr Vasconcelos," said Dr Bell. "Miss Hunter?"
"Uh, okay. Um, my name is Olivia Hunter, but you can call me Liv. I'm sixteen years old and I'm supposed to be in sixth year but – well, as you can see I'm here. Uh, I'm a Hufflepuff and … uh … I live in Kent."
Dr Bell nodded her head and turned to Regan.
"My name is Regan Zabini, Hogwarts student in Slytherin house. I'm here in Silverwater because I set fire to my boyfriend's house and cat. I was named after one of King Lear's daughters in Shakespeare's play of the same name. My mother loved Muggle literature, despite being a Muggle hater."
"Thankyou Miss Zabini," said Dr Bell. "You see, the purpose of this particular exercise is to explore avenues we hadn't come across before."
"We already know this about each other," Regan said in a bored tone.
"I didn't know you were named after Ronald Reagan," Vasco said.
"I already knew you were bloody stupid!" Regan shot back. "It's not even pronounced the same way!"
If Vasco was hurt by what she had said, he didn't show any signs of hurt feelings. He carried on as if everything was normal.
"Thankyou Miss Zabini and Mr Vasconcelos. Miss Vega?"
A shy, timid girl with chocolate eyes and olive skin looked up from the grass and began, "I'm Amelie Vega, Hogwarts student in Ravenclaw house. I'm supposed to be in sixth year … uh … I'm at Silverwater because I am a recovering anorexic with an extreme case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I like Muggle literature, Jane Austen in particular and I come from a South American background. My dad is Ecuadorian while my mother is from Chile. I'm also Muggleborn."
"Thankyou Miss Vega."
Uh oh, it was my turn to face the music.
"Mr Nagy?"
No, not yet.
My eyes travelled to Jai, who was sitting on a large pile of blankets on the top of a collapsible chair.
"The name is Jai Nagy. Everyone knows that I'm here because of my extreme fear of germs. I went to Beauxbatons on a scholarship but I grew up here. I finished school last year… and there's nothing more to know, I suppose. I'm as boring as drying paint."
NOW it was time to face the music.
"Mr Potter?"
I took a deep breath and began; "My name is Harry Potter. I'm eighteen; I went to Hogwarts, I was in Gryffindor … uh …"
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Vasco, Regan and Liv nod encouragingly.
"Uh… my girlfriend's name is Ginny and ..."
Suddenly, I threw the toilet paper squares on the ground, sprung to my feet and ran away in the opposite direction.
"Er!" I heard Vasco bellow. "Don't be a chicken! So much for being a Gryffindor!"
"Ferdinand!" Regan cried. "Shut up!"
I ignored them. All my energy was focused on distancing myself from them as much as possible. I didn't care anymore.
When I thought I was out of eyesight of them I heaved a sigh and sat against a large tree. A few moments later, I felt someone sit beside me.
"Hi," said Liv softly. "What happened?"
"I was being a prat, like usual," I replied.
"You're not a prat," said Liv. "If word of mouth was anything to go by, you're everything but a prat."
"Yeah," I grunted. "Well, they're only seeing the surface. What do they know?"
I turned to Liv and examined her features. Like Ginny, she had vivid red hair, cute freckles across her nose and enchanting brown eyes. Unlike Ginny, Liv had a little beauty spot on her left cheek. Another difference was that Ginny was prettier – much prettier. Despite that, she reminded me of her so much that it made me realise how much I actually missed her.
"Look," said Liv as she got up. "You must be starving. Let's go get something to eat.
*************************************************
Please review
Next chapter: A Revelation
The gardens of Silverwater were so well decorated that it was breathtaking. Being here was like heavenly bliss. The flower beds and the grass were very well tended for by Eyebrows the caretaker, thus keeping them looking very rich and vibrant in colour. Various water features also adorned the garden, releasing the soothing, relaxing (and urine-inducing) sound of running water, which gave the garden a heavenly atmosphere.
Heavenly atmosphere? I must have been crazy.
That morning my fellow inmates and I congregated underneath the beech tree with Dr Bell. She told all of us in the form of small memos much like the ones from the Ministry of Magic that we were to meet her there at ten o'clock sharp. Apparently she wanted to try something new.
While we waited for Vasco to get out of bed, my eyes wandered all over the garden and then landed abruptly on the barbed-wire fence. That was when I was rudely reminded that there was no escaping Silverwater. Not only was it surrounded by a barb-wired fence but it was surrounded by jinxes so that like Hogwarts, you couldn't Apparate or Disapparate inside or out. Yep, there was no escaping Silverwater.
"I'm here!"
Vasco could be heard from a large distance as he approached our group with his fists pummelled in the air. "Vasco has entered the building."
"Oh please!" Regan groaned, rolling her eyes. "Can you say the word 'twat'?" She ran a hand through her thick black hair in utter frustration.
"Shut up Zabini," Vasco snapped before plonking himself down next to me. "If anyone's a twat, it's you."
"Oh-."
"Don't start this again!" Dr Bell cried. She raised her hands to stem of the flow of the argument. She then placed her hands on the clipboard and pulled a quill out of her pocket. I watched intently as she balanced it on its nib and waved her wand. The quill immediately began rushing from side to side.
"Why don't you just buy a Quick Quotes Quill?" asked Regan.
"This is a more accurate way of recording whatever we say," Dr Bell replied as she cast the parchment lengthening spell. "Now, welcome to the first Group Session. This method seemed to be working well in the William Mangold ward so I decided to try it with you lot. Since there aren't many of you I thought this would work rather effectively. Now, I'm going to go around the circle and pass this roll of toilet paper. I want you to take as much paper as you need as if you were actually going to the toilet. Do you understand?"
Dr Bell dug into her pocket of her white coat and pulled out a roll of toilet paper. The roll was passed to Jai, Amelie Vega, Regan, Liv, Vasco and then finally me. Anybody who knew me would know that I would use liberal amounts of toilet paper. Thus, that was how much I took.
"Excellent,' said Dr Bell. "Now, I want you to divide the toilet paper into squares."
So we did.
"Great. Now, using each square, I want to you state one fact about yourselves. If you have ten you then state ten facts, and so on."
I had thirty squares.
"Mr Vasconcelos, may we start with you?"
"Okay … uh, my name is Vasco and I'm Muggleborn," Vasco stated each fact as he placed each toilet paper square on the grass in front of him. "One time I wanted to turn on the radio because I wanted to listen to some tunes … and then I realised that it was my shoe. That's all – Oh! And my cat is called Pickles."
I swore I heard Regan say, 'Idiot' under her breath.
"Thankyou Mr Vasconcelos," said Dr Bell. "Miss Hunter?"
"Uh, okay. Um, my name is Olivia Hunter, but you can call me Liv. I'm sixteen years old and I'm supposed to be in sixth year but – well, as you can see I'm here. Uh, I'm a Hufflepuff and … uh … I live in Kent."
Dr Bell nodded her head and turned to Regan.
"My name is Regan Zabini, Hogwarts student in Slytherin house. I'm here in Silverwater because I set fire to my boyfriend's house and cat. I was named after one of King Lear's daughters in Shakespeare's play of the same name. My mother loved Muggle literature, despite being a Muggle hater."
"Thankyou Miss Zabini," said Dr Bell. "You see, the purpose of this particular exercise is to explore avenues we hadn't come across before."
"We already know this about each other," Regan said in a bored tone.
"I didn't know you were named after Ronald Reagan," Vasco said.
"I already knew you were bloody stupid!" Regan shot back. "It's not even pronounced the same way!"
If Vasco was hurt by what she had said, he didn't show any signs of hurt feelings. He carried on as if everything was normal.
"Thankyou Miss Zabini and Mr Vasconcelos. Miss Vega?"
A shy, timid girl with chocolate eyes and olive skin looked up from the grass and began, "I'm Amelie Vega, Hogwarts student in Ravenclaw house. I'm supposed to be in sixth year … uh … I'm at Silverwater because I am a recovering anorexic with an extreme case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I like Muggle literature, Jane Austen in particular and I come from a South American background. My dad is Ecuadorian while my mother is from Chile. I'm also Muggleborn."
"Thankyou Miss Vega."
Uh oh, it was my turn to face the music.
"Mr Nagy?"
No, not yet.
My eyes travelled to Jai, who was sitting on a large pile of blankets on the top of a collapsible chair.
"The name is Jai Nagy. Everyone knows that I'm here because of my extreme fear of germs. I went to Beauxbatons on a scholarship but I grew up here. I finished school last year… and there's nothing more to know, I suppose. I'm as boring as drying paint."
NOW it was time to face the music.
"Mr Potter?"
I took a deep breath and began; "My name is Harry Potter. I'm eighteen; I went to Hogwarts, I was in Gryffindor … uh …"
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Vasco, Regan and Liv nod encouragingly.
"Uh… my girlfriend's name is Ginny and ..."
Suddenly, I threw the toilet paper squares on the ground, sprung to my feet and ran away in the opposite direction.
"Er!" I heard Vasco bellow. "Don't be a chicken! So much for being a Gryffindor!"
"Ferdinand!" Regan cried. "Shut up!"
I ignored them. All my energy was focused on distancing myself from them as much as possible. I didn't care anymore.
When I thought I was out of eyesight of them I heaved a sigh and sat against a large tree. A few moments later, I felt someone sit beside me.
"Hi," said Liv softly. "What happened?"
"I was being a prat, like usual," I replied.
"You're not a prat," said Liv. "If word of mouth was anything to go by, you're everything but a prat."
"Yeah," I grunted. "Well, they're only seeing the surface. What do they know?"
I turned to Liv and examined her features. Like Ginny, she had vivid red hair, cute freckles across her nose and enchanting brown eyes. Unlike Ginny, Liv had a little beauty spot on her left cheek. Another difference was that Ginny was prettier – much prettier. Despite that, she reminded me of her so much that it made me realise how much I actually missed her.
"Look," said Liv as she got up. "You must be starving. Let's go get something to eat.
*************************************************
Please review
Next chapter: A Revelation
