As Strong As We Are United
Chapter 19 – Hidden Talents
After dinner on Monday evening, Willow walked down to the dungeons to meet Snape for her first private potions lesson. She found him in his office, hunched over his desk, scrutinizing the instructions for the potion they would be making.
Willow cleared her throat loudly to call Snape's attention. "Ah, Professor Rosenberg," said Snape, looking up from the book in front of him. "On time as always. It's a shame that most students at this school do not know the meaning of the word punctuality." Snape scowled after his last comment.
Willow, however, smiled. "I think most students don't see how their classes apply to the real world. Me, on the other hand, learning this potion is directly applicable. Did that make any sense?" Willow blushed slightly, realizing that she had again begun to babble in Snape's presence.
Snape nodded. "It makes perfect sense," he replied, standing and leading Willow to his private potions lab, located behind his office. As they entered the lab, Snape explained his plan. "This is a very complex potion, which requires a great deal of time and precision. Ingredients need to be added at very specific intervals. Tonight we will do an inventory to assure that I have all the ingredients we will need. We must also schedule the necessary time to add the various ingredients. Once these tasks have been completed, we can begin work on the actual potion. Are there any questions?"
During Snape's explanation, he had unintentionally regained the hard tone that he used with his students. Willow immediately fell into the role of a young student. "No, sir," she squeaked.
Snape's features softened slightly, as he sighed deeply. "There is no reason for you to be nervous, Willow. I know that I can be. . ." Snape searched for the word, finally settling on, "intimidating."
Willow laughed. Snape raised an eyebrow. "Sorry," she said, regaining her confidence. "It's just that you being intimidating is kind of the understatement of the year. No offence, but it's hard not to see why most of the students are afraid of you." Snape smiled. Willow's eyes widened. "You want them to be afraid of you," she surmised. "But, why?"
"Fear commands respect," stated Snape.
"There are other ways to command respect," replied Willow. Snape glared at her. "And we can discuss those ways at some later time," Willow continued, worrying that she had overstepped. "We should get started on the potions prep, right?"
"Quite right," agreed Snape. "Why don't you begin inventorying the ingredients, while I work out the schedule." Snape handed Willow a list of ingredients and indicated where she could find them.
While Willow inventoried the ingredients, Snape began to work out a schedule. "Willow, are there any evenings, when you are otherwise engaged?" he asked.
Willow laughed hollowly. "It's not like I have someone special to be spending my time with. In fact, me and relationships lead to nothing but badness. Sometimes I think that I'm one of those people who are meant to just be alone." Willow looked up at Snape, who was staring at her, looking thoroughly confused. "Oh," she said. "That wasn't what you meant."
"No, it wasn't," stated Snape. He knew how she felt about being destined to be alone. He often believed that his own isolation was penance for his past sins. However, now was not the time to talk of such things. "I meant," Snape clarified, "do you have any regular obligations that I should consider in scheduling our work together."
"Right, that makes way more sense," replied Willow. "The only regular obligation I have is the students' training. I train them in wandless magic every Tuesday evening."
"How are the students doing in their training?" questioned Snape. He felt that they needed a safer topic, and he was curious as to how the students were progressing.
"I can't say much for how they're doing with Buffy, Faith, and Genevieve, but as for the wandless magic, they're progressing well. The past few weeks, I have trained them to access their own power. Tomorrow night, I will be starting them on using that power to summon objects."
"That could be a very useful skill," stated Snape.
Willow nodded. "I figure that in a fight, it's most important that they be able to retrieve a lost wand or weapon. Depending on how they develop, I might teach them a few curses later on. We'll have to see."
Willow returned her attention to her inventory. She was surprised to hear Snape practically whisper his last question. "Do you really think they can defeat the Dark Lord? They're only children."
Willow turned her attention back to Snape. "Together, they can accomplish anything," she stated with conviction. "And as for being children, when I was that age we stopped an ascension."
"An ascension?" Snape asked incredulously. "I assume you stopped it before it could occur."
Willow smiled. "Not exactly." She proceeded to explain everything that happened at her high school graduation, as they continued their work.
****************
The first week of October was flying by for the nine teens. They were all loaded with schoolwork. The first quidditch game of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, was scheduled for the coming weekend, and both Harry and Draco were working their teams hard. What little free time the teens would normally have was being taken up with assignments from Buffy, Faith, Willow, and Genevieve.
During lunch on Thursday Ron, Hermione, Harry, Draco, Dawn, and Shannon entered the small chamber behind the Great Hall for the weekly prefect meeting. When everyone was seated, Hermione glanced around the room. "Does anyone know where Ginny and Collin are?" she asked, after noticing the two empty seats and realizing that neither sixth year Gryffindor was in attendance.
"I hope nothing's wrong," commented Harry. "We have our first quidditch match this weekend." Draco looked pleased at the prospect of the Gryffindors being short two players.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Before we get sidetracked with quidditch talk, I would like to call this meeting to order." Everyone's attention turned to the head girl. She smiled and continued speaking. "The lock-in went really well last weekend. I can say that at least the seventh year girls got a chance to experience some serious inter-house socializing." Hermione, Dawn, Shannon, Padma, Hannah, and Pansy all shared small smiles, which many of the other prefects found disturbing.
"While, the seventh year girls were socializing, Pansy came up with a brilliant idea for one of our future activities," Hermione explained. "I'd like to turn the floor over to Pansy now; so, she can explain her idea."
"Thank you, Hermione," said Pansy, sounding very professional. "As you all know, the purpose of the school activities this year is to promote inter-house unity. However, the events that lead to the most excitement among the students are the inter-house quidditch games. In addition to the excitement that always surrounds quidditch games, it's the competition that really infects the students and faculty alike. Therefore I propose a special quidditch game to be played in March, when there is not a regular inter-house game."
"But will the teams be from different houses?" questioned Ernie.
Pansy smiled broadly, as did the other seventh year girls in attendance. "Each team will be composed of players from all four houses."
"So where does the drive to compete come in?" asked Draco.
"We will be playing girls against boys, a battle of the sexes," replied Pansy.
Several of the boys around the table laughed out loud. "What's so funny?" asked Shannon.
Aaron Montgomery, a sixth year Ravenclaw Chaser was the first to speak. "It's just that you girls won't stand a chance." He received several nasty looks from the girls in the room.
"What he means is that certain quidditch positions like beaters require the kind of strength that girls just can't fairly compete against," explained Ron in an attempt to prevent an all out argument.
"Excuse me," interrupted Hermione angrily. She looked at Dawn on her left and then Shannon on her right. "You do remember that Gryffindor's beaters are both women, right?"
"Oh yeah," mumbled Ron in reply.
"Well, I personally think it's a brilliant idea," interjected Draco loudly. He caught Dawn's attention and smiled at her. She returned the smile.
"Let's move on then," said Ron, regaining some control over the situation. "Shannon, would you please explain to everyone where we stand in our preparations for Halloween?"
"Sure," said Shannon, pulling out her notebook. "As you guys know, we're going to have a masked ball for Halloween. It'll be held after the traditional feast and will be open to all students fourth year and above."
"What makes this different from other balls, is that no one will be able to recognize each other. The masks are being enchanted by Professor Flitwick. Once a person puts on the mask, he or she won't be recognizable. The charm on the mask will change the tone of the person's voice and the color of their hair and dress robes. It will also prevent anyone from giving their true name."
"The masks will come off at midnight, and everyone will find out who they were hanging out with at that time. Any questions?"
Padma was the only person to ask a question. "When will we receive the masks?" she asked.
"They will be given out in the entrance hall just before the ball. Students will be asked to put them on all at the same time. That should create some confusion; so, that everyone does not wind up just spending time with their usual friends." No one else had any questions.
After reviewing patrol schedules, Ron and Hermione dismissed the group. As they entered the Great Hall, Ginny came racing up to them. "Harry," she gasped, completely out of breath. "We have a huge problem. Collin and Dennis have both come down with some muggle disease. They won't be able to play on Saturday."
"Sucks to be you, Potter," quipped Draco, as he walked past the Gryffindors.
"Mind your own business, Malfoy," Harry retorted.
Harry turned his attention back to his teammates. "Are Collin and Dennis going to be okay?" he asked Ginny.
She nodded. "They have some chicken disease. Madame Pomfrey said that muggle-born students occasionally come down with it. They'll be fine, but as long as they're contagious they are quarantined to the hospital wing. She doesn't want all the muggle-borns to catch it."
Hermione, Shannon, and Dawn had begun laughing. "I can't believe that two of our chasers are out with the chicken pox," commented Harry. Ron simply looked confused, having never heard of the disease before.
"Well," said Harry. "We're just going to have to play our two reserve chasers. There's nothing else we can do. We'll tell them tonight at practice."
Dawn glanced down at her watch. "Um, guys, we better go, or we'll all be late for class." The students all agreed and sped off to their afternoon classes.
****************
At the beginning of the Gryffindor quidditch practice that night, Harry announced to the reserve players that Collin and Dennis were quarantined to the hospital wing and would be unable to play. Semira and Euan were both excited and nervous about playing in the first game of the season. They spent the evening practicing hard.
The entire Gryffindor team spent all day Friday in a daze. Each of them was worried about the game the following morning. Harry hoped that the extended practice the previous night had been enough to get the reserve players up to speed. He really did not want to lose to Slytherin, especially with Draco Malfoy as this year's captain.
On Saturday morning, the Gryffindor team members were the first to arrive in the Great Hall. The reserve players and Hermione were there as well. Neither Semira nor Euan did much more than nibble on some dry toast. Ron looked over at the two newest players sympathetically. "I know how nerve-racking it can be before your first game," he told them. "I was a mess before mine, so much so that I didn't even realize that the girl I liked had given me a good luck kiss." Hermione blushed slightly, but only Dawn and Shannon noticed.
"You'll both do fine," Harry assured the youngest players.
"Just do what you do in practice," suggested Ginny.
"And ignore the crowd, especially the Slytherins," added Ron. A dark look came over his face, as he remembered the Slytherins singing Weasley Is Our King.
"We'll win," stated Dawn with conviction.
"Just make sure that you catch the snitch, Harry," said Shannon.
As the Great Hall began to fill with students, Harry told his team that they should head down to the changing rooms. The group stood to leave. Dawn, however, walked in the opposite direction. "Just give me one second," she called over her shoulder.
Dawn sprinted over to the Slytherin team. She put her arms around Draco and gave him a quick kiss. "For luck," she whispered. "You're going to need it."
Draco raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," he replied.
Dawn merely shrugged, before turning and sprinting back toward the Gryffindors. "Let's go," she said to her teammates.
"You really shouldn't be fraternizing with the enemy," Ron told her jokingly.
"Don't worry, Dawn. That seems to be one of his favorite lines," commented Hermione from her seat at the table. Ron turned and glared at her. "Good luck," Hermione mouthed. "I love you." Ron smiled and followed the team out of the Great Hall.
The Gryffindor team changed quickly and regrouped to hear Harry's first pep talk. "I know that you are all a bit nervous, but there really isn't any reason to be. We've all trained hard for the past month. I've been on the Gryffindor team for seven years now. We have had some great players in the past, but I can honestly say that all of you standing here today are the best team I have ever seen. We are going to win this game today. We are going to win the cup this year. Now, let's get out there and play the best quidditch game Hogwarts has ever seen."
"Aye, aye, captain," saluted Ron, Ginny, Shannon, and Dawn. Harry rolled his eyes at his friends.
****************
Buffy, Charlie, Willow, and Oz climbed up to the top of the faculty bleachers, chatting happily. "I'm psyched to finally see a game, after all the quidditch talk from the kids," commented Oz.
"I just hope Gryffindor wins," stated Willow. "I have a small wager on the game against Professor Snape."
"I can't believe you're gambling, Will," Buffy commented.
Willow blushed. "I feel sort of bad about betting against Draco, but with Dawnie on the Gryffindor team I have to support them."
"Quite right," came a man's voice from behind them. The group turned to see Giles sitting with Narcissa, Faith, Robin, Wesley, and Cat.
"We also have a bit of a wager against each other," explained Narcissa.
Buffy, Charlie, Willow, and Oz took empty seats just behind the others. "What are you doing here, Giles?" Buffy asked.
"I have some Council business to discuss with you after the game," Giles replied. Buffy looked worried. "It's nothing serious," added Giles.
"It's a shame that Spike and Genevieve can't be here," commented Wesley.
Buffy pulled a pair of omnioculars from her pocket. "I promised to record the game; so, they can watch it later. Spike is dying to see Dawnie play."
The players entered the pitch. Suddenly the booming voice of the commentator Owen Cauldwell, a fourth year Hufflepuff, quieted the crowd. "Today's match, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, promises to be an exciting one. The Gryffindor team enters the pitch. Playing today are: Abercrombie, Crawford, Patil, Summers, Weasley, and Weasley. They're lead by their team captain and seeker, Harry Potter. Also, entering the pitch are the Slytherin team: Baddock, Crabbe, Flint, Goyle, Nott, and Prichard. They are lead by their team captain and chaser, Draco Malfoy."
"Since when is Draco a chaser? I thought he was the seeker," said Faith loudly. The other faculty members looked equally confused.
"He told me that he was going to be doing something different this year," explained Narcissa. "Though he never told me specifically what that would be."
****************
Down on the pitch, Harry spun around and glared at Dawn. "Did you know about this?" he hissed.
Dawn shook her head. "This is the first I've heard of it, but it makes sense. He's been weirdly secretive about the team this year."
Ron was looking ill. "What's the matter with you?" Harry asked. Ron could only shake his head in reply. He had never thought that Draco would take his advice seriously.
"Captains, shake hands," ordered Madame Hooch. Harry and Draco stepped forward and extended their hands. Locking stares, they shook quickly.
"Mount your brooms," commanded Madame Hooch. Both teams kicked off into the air, as Madame Hooch released the bludgers, quaffle, and snitch.
"And Gryffindor has possession. Weasley passes to Abercrombie, who passes back to Weasley who passes to Patil. Interception by Malfoy. And Slytherin in possession. Malfoy passes to Flint, back to Malfoy. He shoots. Saved by Gryffindor keeper Ron Weasley."
Ron sighed in relief. Draco had almost succeeded in scoring the first goal of the game. Ron threw the quaffle to Semira Patil.
"Gryffindor back in possession. Patil passes to Weasley. Intercepted again by Malfoy." The Gryffindors in the crowd all groaned. "Malfoy to Flint, back to Malfoy. Malfoy passes to Pritchard. Pritchard shoots. No, he faked. Malfoy has the quaffle. He shoots. Scores. Slytherin in the lead ten-zero."
"Slytherin still in possession. Flint passes to Prichard, back to Flint. Intercepted by Gryffindor chaser Ginny Weasley. Weasley passes to Patil. No, a bludger by Crabbe forces her off-course. Malfoy catches the quaffle, passes it Prichard. Back to Malfoy. And, he scores. 20-0 Slytherin."
Slytherin managed to score several more goals in a matter of as many minutes. Only a half hour into the game and Slytherin was leading 70 to 10. Draco had real talent as a chaser. So, did Daniel Flint, who was following in his older brother's footsteps. To make matters worse, Gryffindors reserve chasers, while good, just did not have enough real game experience.
Harry nervously scanned the pitch for the snitch, trying not to focus on the fact that the Slytherin chasers were trouncing the Gryffindor chasers. He was so focused on searching for the snitch, that he was almost hit by a bludger sent by Goyle. "Sorry," shouted Shannon as she flew behind him, to hit the bludger back toward the Slytherin chasers.
"That's it," yelled Harry. "Time-out." He used his hands to form a T. Madame Hooch blew her whistle.
The Gryffindor team landed at the base of the Slytherin goals to find a very irate Harry. "What is going on out there?" he asked. The team was silent. No one met his eye.
Harry sighed. "Does anyone know why Malfoy suddenly realized he could play chaser?" Harry turned his attention to Ron. "And how it is that he keeps managing to fake you out?"
Ron turned a deep shade of red. "That's kinda my fault."
Harry took a deep breath to calm himself. "And how is it kinda your fault?"
"We practiced together this summer at the Burrow. And, while I was practicing keeper moves with him, I might have mentioned that he would make an awesome chaser." Ron said the last part of this very fast, but Harry still managed to hear ever word.
"What the hell were you thinking, Weasley?" Harry bellowed. At that exact moment, he did not need to pretend to be angry with his best friend. The anger was very real.
"Inter-house unity," mumbled Ron unconvincingly.
"Screw inter-house unity. We need to win this game," yelled Harry.
Shannon laid her hand gently on his shoulder. "Yelling isn't going to help. We need a plan."
Harry took several deep, calming breaths. "Okay. Semira and Euan, if either of you get the quaffle, I want you to pass it to Ginny." He turned to Ginny. "Gin, scoring is going to be totally up to you." Ginny nodded. "Shannon and Dawn, I want you to focus on hitting as many bludgers as possible at Malfoy. To paraphrase Wood – Dawn, don't be a lady. Knock him off his broom if you have to. Ron, don't let Malfoy shake your confidence. It may be time to try some of those new moves you've been working on. And, I'm going to try my damnedest to catch the snitch as quickly as possible. Now, go."
The team again took to the air. "And that's the whistle. Slytherin still in possession. Malfoy passes Flint. Nice bludger from Summers. Gryffindor back in possession. Weasley shoots, and Nott blocks. The scores still 70-10 Slytherin."
"Malfoy has the quaffle. Another bludger forces him off course. Nice move Crawford. Slytherin still has the quaffle. Malfoy avoids another bludger from Summers. He closes in on the goal, shoots. And, save by Weasley."
"Weasley tosses the quaffle to Weasley. She passes to Patil, back to Weasley. Weasley shoots. Score. Gryffindor 20-70."
"Gryffindor in possession. Malfoy intercepts. Is that? Yes, it is. The Slytherin chasers are flying in a Hawkshead Attack Formation. Malfoy shoots and scores – 80-20."
The Slytherins were no longer scoring as easily, but they were still doing much better than Gryffindor. Harry and the Slytherin seeker, a fourth year named Baddock, were still circling the pitch to no avail. Harry could feel his heart sinking further, each time he heard Owen announce another goal for Slytherin. "100-20. . . 110-20. . . 140-30."
Finally, as Owen announced another goal for Slytherin, who were now winning 190-50, Harry saw a glint of gold just to the right of Ron. Baddock was at the other end of the pitch. Harry bent forward and soared toward the snitch.
Ron's full attention was on Draco, who again had possession of the quaffle. Draco threw the quaffle toward the goal at Ron's far left. Ron nearly threw himself off his broom to make the save. Unfortunately, he managed to crash hard into Harry. The quaffle slipped through the goal, just as both boys fell from their brooms.
Dawn and Draco, who were the closest, both went into steep dives in hopes of catching the falling players. Draco caught Ron by the back of the robes only feet from the ground. Dawn managed to get under Harry about ten feet from the ground, but instead of grabbing her broom, he twisted in midair, knocking Dawn off her broom as well. Fortunately the impact slowed his descent, and Dawn was not too badly hurt when she hit the muddy ground with Harry on top of her.
Harry smiled broadly, as he raised his hand in the air, holding the snitch. Dawn pushed him off, having more concern for the blood dripping from the large gash in her right hand, than the fact that the game was over.
"Potter has the snitch. I don't believe it. Gryffindor and Slytherin have tied – 200 to 200. This is going to make for a very interesting quidditch season."
All those who had placed wagers on the game were not happy about the tie. Neither was Harry. Draco would later find that he too was disappointed, but at that moment his only concern was for Dawn. He rushed to her side, as she held out her bleeding hand. "We should get you to Madame Pomfrey," he said immediately.
Dawn shook her head in reply. "It's not actually that deep." She was looking at her hand intently. "Let's just go back to the common room; so, I can bandage it." Draco tried to argue, but Dawn would not hear it. "I've had worse. Besides, Madame Pomfrey will keep me there all night, and I don't want to waste my weekend in the hospital wing for something this stupid, when I could be spending time with a certain Slytherin chaser." Draco smiled. "And, why didn't you at least tell me? I can keep a secret you know."
"I know," replied Draco in a placating voice, as he draped his arm around his girlfriend and lead her toward the castle.
****************
Dawn and Draco entered the Scooby common room to find Giles and Narcissa talking to the faculty members. Narcissa gave Draco a quick hug, while Giles looked over Dawn's injury. "What are you to doing here?" Dawn asked.
"Not that we aren't happy to see you," added Draco with a smile.
"I was just telling everyone that the Watchers Council's new facilities are ready to open. We will be having an opening celebration on Halloween to which all the Slayer faculty are invited," explained Giles.
"Cool," said Faith. "Robin and I will definitely be there."
"As long as the masked ball here is covered for chaperones, we should all be able to make it," added Buffy.
While the adults discussed some details about the opening celebration, Shannon, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Harry, and Ron entered the common room. The team members were still wearing their quidditch robes. "There's going to be a party in the Gryffindor common room after dinner tonight," Ron told Dawn.
"Don't know why we're celebrating a tie," mumbled Harry. Shannon elbowed him hard in the ribs. He glared at her, then turned his attention to Dawn and Draco, who were seated on one of the sofas. Draco was wrapping Dawn's hand in white gauze. "I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?" asked Harry.
Dawn shook her head. "I'll be fine," she said convincingly. "It's fairly shallow, just wants to bleed a lot." She turned her attention to Draco. "We should really tape the end down; so, it doesn't unravel," she said, while inspecting the bandage.
Draco looked around for tape. "Did you bring tape down with you earlier?" he asked Dawn.
"Forgot," she said. "Well, this is as good a time as any to practice that wandless summoning charm." Dawn reached her bandaged hand toward the stairs to the girls' quarters. "Accio, tape."
The tape did not come. However, where the blood had soaked through the bandage, a ball of flickering light began to take form. Dawn went completely white, as she recognized the twisting ball of light. It looked exactly like the portal that Glory had opened using her blood, though on a much smaller scale.
"Dawnie, what is that?" asked Shannon.
"Buffy," called Dawn, her voice quivering in fear. "Giles, Willow, help."
The adults rushed over to see what was the matter. "Oh, god," said Buffy. The portal above Dawn's hand was still growing steadily.
"How to I make it stop?" Dawn asked.
"Dawnie," said Willow in a quiet voice. "Listen to me. I need you to focus on your magic."
The portal began growing faster. "It's not working," said Dawn, who was now nearly hysterical.
"Dawnie, calm down. Feel your magic and slowly dissipated it. Feel it reenter your body and spread to where it usually lies dormant." Dawn took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and did as Willow told her. When she opened her eyes, the portal was gone.
"What the bloody hell just happened?" asked Ron, putting into words what they were all thinking.