"Wake
up Harry, come on, better hurry up because I'm starving," Ron
was waking Harry up.
Harry pulled the blanket off, and put his
feet on the ground. He still remembered what happened in the meeting
last night. He recalled himself reminding the group of the
approaching Quidditch season, also, he recalled the moment where he
asked for volunteers to play the positions of chasers, beaters, and
one keeper on the team. Another thing he remembered was when he
offered them a chance of selecting a team-captain other than him, but
anyway, he got selected. Harry was completely satisfied that he'd
done his job.
Harry joined Hermione and Ron for breakfast. Having
said that he was starving, Ron grabbed three plates and filled them
with kippers, eggs, bacon, porridge, and toast. Harry was laughing at
the way Ron was stuffing a bite of every meal into his mouth, then
having it look like it was inflated to be the size of two tennis
balls. Ron found a hard time chewing the food and swallowing it.
Hermione was laughing too.
Suddenly, hooting of owls filled the
Great Hall. It was filled with owls now that usually carried
students' mails, owls that were reddish-brownish, brown, grey, and
even white. Harry had no letter or package from anyone, however, Ron
as usual got the Daily Prophet from home. Hermione had a copy of the
Daily Prophet, and then saw a small letter secured in a parcel. She
took it off Sweetum's left leg, Sweetums was her owl that she bought
in the beginning of summer. She opened the letter, read the first two
lines, and...
There was a shocking expression that filled her face. Her eyes were opened, so was her mouth.
Dear
Hermy-own-ninny,
I hope you are fine right now. I voud like to
tell you a good piece of news. I got married to a girl named Ziggy.
She's as pretty as you are. It wasn't my fault, my parents were too
concerned about me getting married; zey didn't vant to vait anymore
years. I know how you may feel now, but, I vould like to tell you
this also, you vere the best friend I haff ever had, Hermy-own-ninny,
ever since I came to 'Ogwarts to compete against Harry! Good luck.
Viktor
Krum.
When Hermione finished reading, she had a
fleeting small narrow smile on her face which vanished straight away.
She sort of looked disappointed and happy at the same time. Hermione
put the letter away, and stared at her plate, lost for actions and
words.
"Who is it from Hermione?" asked Harry, taking a
sip of pumpkin juice.
"It was from---Viktor," she sort
of hesitated, then spoke ," he told me that----he got--he got
married." Ron choked with the piece of bacon at that word, and
Harry had offered him some juice. Hermione looked at them both.
"I
know, this must be greatly shocking," began Hermione, with a
small tear dangling from her eyelashes, " he then said that I
was his best friend, ever since he came here for the tournament in
fourth year."
Harry and Ron, who were both startled by this
stunning news, stared at each other.
"Don't worry about him
Hermione, the nasty old dingbat," said Ron, furiously.
"Yeah,
don't mind him," Harry went on, "if he was able to find the
one (by that, he meant the most suitable girl), you
should---someday--I hope."
"Thanks guys," said
Hermione, now more comfortable.
Hermione smiled at them, rubbed
the tear off her face, and the three of them got out of their seats,
to attend their first lesson, Charms.
Tiny Professor Flitwick was already there when they arrived, sitting over twelve books to get a clear view of students. Now, several students appeared through the door, sixth years from Hufflepuff and sixth year Gryffindors. Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat at a table near Dean, Parvati, and Neville, their fellow Gryffindor sixth years.
"Come in class, busy lesson today," squeaked Professor Flitwick. Harry knew what this meant; whenever Flitwick said the class was going to be busy, it always was practical.
"Everyone here?"
asked Flitwick. " Right. Today, we will be learning a charm that
can be very useful, if by any chance, you were drowning. It's called
the dividing charm, and it only works with liquids, such as water.
Its function is supposed to divide the water into two groups, in
other words, separating the two."
Everybody seemed to be
intrigued and interested by that topic. Harry, Hermione, and Ron
stared at each other.
"I know this charm," whispered
Hermione to the two, " it was mentioned in the Standard Book of
Spells Grade Six, I suppose in chapter eight or nine."
"Now,
who here knows the incantation that is said to perform this spell?"
asked Flitwick clearly.
Naturally, Hermione raised her hand. So
did Ron, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and to the class's amazement,
Neville.
"Mr. Longbottom?"
"I read about it
the Standard Book of Spells, somewhere in chapters seven to nine, I
think---it's---um---Aparatuss Fluid, that's it," answered
Neville, uncertainly.
Flitwick laughed a bit.
"Close
enough my dear boy," began Flitwick, "Miss Granger, would
you kindly correct him?"
"Separatus Fluy," answered
Hermione at once.
"Excellent, ten points to Gryffindor,"
Flitwick went on, "uh...five more points for Neville having a
close enough guess."
Neville went red. Harry and Ron gave
Hermione and Neville a thumbs up.
"Right, now you know the
incantation. Beside that, we need to know the proper wand movement to
perform the charm correctly. The movement of the wand has to be
circular, and quick, everyone."
The whole class, raised their
wands, and waved it circularly and quickly, just as Professor
Flitwick had shown them.
"Fabulous," complimented
Professor Flitwick, and then continued on," other than that,
there's still one missing step, probably the most important of all
the steps to do this dividing charm, you sill have to----"
He
was distracted by Anthony Giffins, a sixth year Hufflepuff, who has
raised his hand up.
"Yes?"
" I think I know the
answer, Professor. In order to complete the steps needed to perform
this charm, you need to--um----well, I think that you---yes, you need
to shut your eyes, and concentrate hard on the scene of you dividing
water or whatever liquid into two, and---that's all,"
Flitwick
and the class raised their eyebrows.
"Perfect, ten points to
Hufflepuff," said Flitwick, the Hufflepuffs were cheering, "
as Mr. Griffins has said here, you need to form a clear image in your
head. It's like you're in fact in this painting. You must really
concentrate as hard as you can to see your way through the
liquid."
Several students were bewildered. They didn't quite
understand the statement ' see your way through the liquid'.
"Now,
a clear demonstration," declared Flitwick, and he got off the
twelve thick textbooks he was standing on. He went in front of his
desk, and his hands were in a box. He had reached for a cute little
hamster. Beside it, was a water tank.
Professor Flitwick placed
the water tank on a student's table, with his help of course.
"Now,
as you all can see, this tank is full of water. I have placed a piece
of cheese in the end here. When I place the hamster inside, it will
of course start to drown. Then, I shall perform the dividing charm,
and the hamster shall easily find its dry way through the water and
reach the cheese,"
Everybody was excited.
He slowly took
the hamster from its little tail, and dropped it in the water tank.
It was struggling to get out. Then, Professor Flitwick raised his
wand. For moments, he closed his eyes, clearly painting a clear vivid
picture of dividing the water and separating it into two groups.
Then, he waved it quickly in a circular move, and squeaked :
Separatus Fluy. At once, something cool happened.
There was a
pink line forming in the middle of the water surface. It shone
brighter now. Slowly, the line has formed a division between the
whole amount of water, which was now being separated from the other
side of water. It was something the class never saw before in their
lives. The hamster was now standing on the dry bottom of the tank. It
turned around for a second, then started to move its nose, apparently
sniffing the cheese's smell. It worked within short moments; the
hamster moved towards the cheese and began to bite it.
The entire
class was now sighing. And then, the clapping began from Harry,
Hermione, and Ron's table. The clapping was now stronger. Soon, the
applause were shaking the room. Then, a minute later, the cheering
and clapping began to subside, growing less, less, and less.
"So,
has everybody seen what just happened?" asked Flitwick.
The
whole class nodded.
"Very well then, you've got the idea.
Remember, you must concentrate on forming a clear vivid detailed
picture of the division of the liquid. Later on, we'll learn similar
charms, that might even divide the liquid into fourths, sixths,
eighths, and maybe even tenths," said Flitwick.
"As for
now, you may have noticed the water tanks that are placed in the back
of this classroom. I want you all to pair up, and I will come around,
and distribute the animals and food on each pair. You are to do the
dividing charm. A maximum of seven minutes for each turn,"
Flitwick reached a huge box which contained lots of tiny animals, and
began to move around the class, distributing them on the pairs.
Harry and Hermione got a water tank, and got a yellow canary for
an animal, and some canary seeds for its food. Hermione was the first
one to try the charm. She indeed succeeded. Harry was amazed by the
awesome work.
"Very nice, that was terrific and brilliant,"
said Harry.
Hermione smiled at him, "Thank you Harry, it's
very kind of you to say that. Will you try it now?"
"Of
course," replied Harry. Then, he took the canary out of the
water tank, and waited for the water to come back to its original
state. He waited a bit more, and then placed the canary back inside.
The little bird was moving its wings, fighting its way up before it
was too late. At once, Harry began to form the clear picture in his
mind. It took him rather a few moments; he forgot that birds can't
breathe under water. Quickly, he got a perfect shot of the scene. He
raised his wand, waved it circularly, and muttered: Separatus Fluy.
It happened!
A jet of pink light came out his wand, and
travelled through the tank's wall, and into the inside. Then he saw
it; a line was slowly dividing the water into two. The left side was
separated from the right side. The canary almost drowned and died. It
didn't even go to the seed, however, it directly flapped its wings,
and flew out of the tank. Hermione caught it in the right time
though.
"Aaah, a small lapse," said Harry, sticking is
wand back in his robes.
"Good job though Harry, you were
really fantastic. When the bird flew out, I suppose it was because it
took you rather a long time to form the picture in your mind,
"
"Thanks," said Harry, smiling at her.
At
once, the bell rang, and the students were now moving out of their
places to get out. Ron, who was partnered with Lavender, returned the
guinea pig that they used as their animal to try the charm.
"Great
lesson huh? Plus, no homework!" said Ron to Harry and Hermione.
"Yeah, I guess so," answered Harry, "but will we
ever need it? I mean---why would we drown? It's not like the castle
is filled with water, is it?"
"I don't know,"
declared Hermione, "but never underestimate destiny Harry. It
may come in handy some day."
"You're right," said
Harry, and soon, they were out of the castle, heading to Care of
Magical Creatures.
