Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
The Second Son
At this time in November, the first years had learned the levitation charm and the wand-lighting charm. We were halfway through the unlocking charm with the goal to finish it before December. That way there would be time to teach the munchkins the fire-making spell before the holidays. Because Flitwick still thought eleven-year-olds and fire were a wise combination.
Following Flitwick's lesson plan, the students were instructed to form groups and practice the spell together as Flitwick and I supervised. As was typical, the Hufflepuffs stuck with the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors with the Gryffindors. All except for little Dennis Creevey who may have bought into Lord Flint's speech from last week a bit too much.
"That was a good one, Cauldwell", Dennis complimented his Hufflepuff partner as the little padlock they were practicing on shimmered in the light of Cauldwell's magic. But, most notably, remained locked.
Cauldwell's nose scrunched and his forehead wrinkled as he stared at Dennis with suspicion. Should he be offended? Or was Dennis just an idiot? "My spell didn't work", he pointed out.
"No", Dennis agreed; bouncing in his seat. "But your wand movement was good. Way better than mine".
I bit my lip to keep from snickering. Because that wasn't true. Anything kinetic, Dennis took too like a baby bird who instinctually knew how to fly. Flicking his wrist, waving his arm, and getting the right angles; Dennis only needed to see it once before he could copy it. When it came to spell casting, it was his enunciation and intentions he needed to work on.
From the other side of the room, Flitwick sang Kevin Whitby's praises as he successfully sprung up his padlock for the third time in a row. "You've been practicing Whitby. I can tell. Five points to Hufflepuff!"
Dennis didn't seem to notice Cauldwell's wary look as he readied his wand to take his turn. He was still only for the brief moment it took for him to use magic. Dennis sat with a straight spine as he drew an S in the air; holding his wand like it was a pencil. "Alohomora", Dennis said at the same time; over-enunciating the LOH part. Something he started doing after both Flitwick and I lectured him about mumbling his incantations.
Blue light glimmered around the padlock for a second before it had the desired effect. As if someone had just twisted a key, the top part of the lock swung free like a cabinet door that didn't have a latch. Pleased but trying not to show it, Dennis shrugged. "I got lucky. You're still better than me, Cauldwell".
Cauldwell was smart enough not to buy it. "What do you want, Creevey?" He asked; voice dripping with annoyed apprehension.
Dennis beamed at the other boy; nearly blinding him as his whole face lit up. "Let's be friends", Dennis said; leaning towards Cauldwell eagerly. "You can join YUP and then you can be friends with Quirke and Baddock too. They're in Ravenclaw and Slytherin. We don't have a Hufflepuff in our group yet. I think you'd fit in great".
Cauldwell leaned away from Dennis with an affronted expression. I'd do the same if someone tried to befriend me just because of my house. But before he could tell off the overly-enthused Gryffindor, I stepped in. "You're both improving", I complimented before using magic myself. "Colloportus", I cast; drawing sharp corners with my wand to re-lock the padlock.
Like a bloodhound that wasn't currently busy instructing Nigel Wolpert and Jimmy Peakes, Flitwick called out from the side of the classroom, "Nonverbal magic only, Weasley".
A muscle in my left cheek twitched as Dennis and Cauldwell waited for me to engage with them more. After the first few extra lessons I had with Flitwick, he banned me from using incantations for any spell I learned before my fifth year. "Nonverbal magic is the best way to fully master control", Flitwick had claimed. And now, he refused to let me forget it. Even when we were busy teaching a class.
"It was a teachable moment", I called back; glancing over my shoulder in the direction of the charms master. As if that was a perfectly acceptable reason to break the nonverbal magic rule. And it kind of was. The first years would have to learn the locking charm eventually. Seeing it in practice could only help.
But Flitwick shook his head at me before returning his focus to his first-year students. It was enough to tell me he didn't agree. Damn. That meant there was going to be extra reading in my future.
"Anyway", I said; turning back to Cauldwell and Dennis. "Cauldwell, your pronunciation is excellent. You just need to relax your wand grip. Dennis, you were successful this time. So, try to think about what was different from this attempt from all the others".
Both boys nodded; seemingly deciding to not discuss Dennis' offer of friendship when I was taking the time to give them feedback. And just so Dennis couldn't untactfully pursue a Hufflepuff for his friend group further, I kept going. "But it's not just being able to cast spells that matter. Who remembers where the unlocking charm was first discovered?"
"Africa", Cauldwell piped up. He answered without even needing to refer to his class notes.
"Good", I praised. With the end of term approaching, Flitwick was already working on designing the end-of-term exam and I knew the origins of the unlocking charm would be included. "Who brought the charm back to Britain?"
"Oh!" Dennis just about exploded as his hand shot up into the air. Despite the fact that I was only talking to the two of them.
"Yes, Dennis", I said; giving him the floor as a muscle in my cheek continue to twitch.
"It was that Elsrickle chap. The one that robbed all those houses in London until the anti-alohomora charm was invented". Dennis couldn't talk fast enough. It was like he was perpetually stuck in fast-forward mode.
Though Cauldwell didn't seem to have any problem following him. "Elsrickle learned the unlocking charm from a sorcerer in Africa", he agreed. "But no one knows who the sorcerer was. Which is sad because that means he doesn't get credit for it. Even though he should".
"Good", I said again. "Keep all that in mind. You'll need it for the test".
"There's going to be a test?" Dennis asked. His voice shot up into a high pitch and his eyes grew comically wide.
Meanwhile, Cauldwell's eyes narrowed as he frowned at Dennis. "We're in school. There's always going to be a test".
There were perks to being Flitwick's teaching assistant; unlimited access to the restricted section, use of his classroom when it was unoccupied, foreknowledge of things to come (whether that be an assignment or something going on with the staff), and the opportunity to pick Flitwick's brain whenever the need arose. The perk I found myself using most often was access to his classroom.
"Okay", I said to the small gathering we organized. Adrian stood on my left; already looking tired. To my right were Fred and George. In each of their arms was a stack of books. Fred's stack came from Flitwick's private collection (another perk I was taking advantage of), while George's armload came from the library. Across from us, Hermione eyed the books with impatience. Slightly, less keen by equaling anxiousness was Harry and Ron framing her sides. "We're all in agreement. Team Harry and Team Adrian are going to work together to make sure neither one of them dies in this tournament".
George snorted at my wording while Adrian muttered under his breath, "When did we form teams?"
Across from me, Ron rolled his eyes. "We don't need you", he stated. "Harry will win whatever this first task is. No problem". After guest speaker Lord Flint, Ron stopped being such a prat to his best friend. Something Harry was very grateful for, even if the change didn't happen overnight. It started with begrudging admittance that Harry wasn't the type to seek attention. Something that was easier for Ron to see once YUP's rhetoric was clearly stated that Harry's name coming out of the goblet was an attack against Harry's wellbeing. From there, the boys started eating meals together again and complaining about Snape. And Now Ron was being stubbornly loyal and fully believed Harry was going to win the whole bloody tournament.
"How about we just focus on making sure no one dies", I countered.
"No one's going to die", Ron argued.
"What? So, you're good at divination now?"
Ron rolled his eyes. "No one's good at divination. But it doesn't take a-"
"I think we should work together". Harry jumped in before Ron could really get going. It's just as well. I enjoyed pushing Ron's buttons a little too much. Which made it difficult to stay on task when the opportunity presented itself. "I don't want anyone getting hurt and this way Adrian and I can help each other". Harry explained his head slightly bowed. While he had found his voice sometime last year… I think. He was still working on his delivery.
"And we'll help too", Hermione chimed in; staring Ron down with narrowed eyes. "Unity, and loyalty. Remember?"
"Hear-hear", Fred and George chimed in sync. Fed up with carrying the stacks of books for so long, they marched over to the closest desk and dropped their armloads down with a loud thump.
"Now let's get started", Fred said turning to face all of us with George following his lead. "We don't want to be here all night".
"Fred and I need to see a man about his cat", George elaborated. Though only barely.
Distracted, I turned to my fellow triplets with a frown. "You're going to prank Filch without me?"
"Just setting the groundwork, Holls", Fred said; ignoring the disapproving stares of Hermione and Adrian.
"You have a role in the final act. We promise", George said.
So… they had a plan that included me but they weren't going to tell me about it? That didn't sound good. "If you're planning on me being bait, you better-"
"The first task", Adrian interrupted; his tone seeped in annoyance. "Can we please stay on topic?"
Harry nodded his agreement. Ron did not. "We don't even know what the first task is going to be", he pointed out. "So how are all these books going to help?" Ron asked as he approached the desk Fred and George stood by.
"We're studying, of course", Hermione scoffed as Ron studied the spines of the books and ran his fingers over their titles. "The more spells Harry and Adrian know the better their chances".
Ron shook his head in disagreement. "But all these books are about dragons".
"What?" Hermione asked before anyone else could say anything. Her eyebrows nearly touched in the middle they were so slanted. She wore her expression as a frown; unhappy her assumption had been proven false.
"Surprise", I said as Harry looked around the classroom with an unsure expression. "The first task is dragons".
Harry winced while Fred, George, and Adrian just looked bored. "How do you know that?" Ron demanded to know as he turned away from the books to face me fully. His biggest mistake was choosing to stay within reaching distance of Fred and George. Honestly, you'd Ron would have learned something the weeks he spent engulfed in Fred and George's brotherly attention. Unless… he secretly liked their efforts to rile him up. There was a thought to explore for another time.
"Charlie wrote us", Fred lied as he shrugged an arm over Ron's shoulders and reached up to mess his hair. Well, sort of. Charlie did write. But he hadn't said anything about dragons. Not that it wasn't a difficult leap to make.
"Just after Halloween", George added as he leaned back and did nothing as Ron made poor attempts of escaping Fred. "The dragons are coming from his reserve".
"He's going to be here soon", I said. "Charlie was asked to take care of the dragons and make sure none of them eat a student. When he gets here, we can ask what works best against a dragon. But until then we need to make sure you know as many dragon-effective spells as you can".
"Why didn't he write me?" Ron wanted to know.
At the same time, Hermione exclaimed, "That's cheating!"
"Is it cheating?" Fred asked as he leaned most of his weight on Ron.
"We like to think of it as making sure Harry and Pucey utilize all their resources", George explained.
Sighing to release the remainder of his patience, Adrian made his voice heard. "Potter is already at a disadvantage being underaged. If you must think about it in terms of wrong and right, think of it as evening the field". Adrian withdrew his wand from his robe pocket. "From what Holly and I have read, a dragon's weakest spots are their eyes and the underside of the joints that connects their wings to their bodies. We will begin there".
The forbidden forest is creepy no matter the time of day or the season of the year. The tree canopy was so thick and intertwined that the sun could barely be felt. In this forest, shadows grew faster than plants. And every snapped twig or rustling leaf was a bad omen. None of those facts stopped us from trapesing through the forest and chatting up a storm as if we were merely occupying the garden back home.
"I got an outstanding on my last defense essay", Ginny said as she walked in front with Charlie next to her. "It was about hinkypunks and their native habitats". Behind Ginny and Charlie were me and Ron. Behind us were Fred and George. All of us had our wands. Which made this excursion feel safer. That with the added fact we weren't going too deep. Though admittedly, being in the middle of the group felt the safest. "Professor Lupin said it was my descriptions and quotes that made my paper stand out".
"That's great, Gin", Charlie said as he gave her shoulder a nudge in comradery. "Guess you're taking after Bill and Perce, huh? Being an outstanding student and all".
Ron snorted as a particularly large stick cracked under his trainer. "Don't act like you weren't an outstanding student too. Dragonologist and all that".
Charlie shrugged and offered Ron a sheepish half smile over his shoulder. "Just in the subjects I liked", Charlie humbly shared.
"Just like us", George called out as Charlie faced forward once more.
"Only passing the classes you care about", Fred continued. "A sure-fire way to both success and happiness". The lithe in his tone made him sound way too proud of himself.
George's enthusiasm dampened. You could hear it in his voice. "Except when we do it, Mum becomes cross. But she was over the moon when Charlie did the same as us".
This time Ginny is the one to look over her shoulder. Never once did our party stop moving forward. "That's because Charlie had the sense to pass more than three OWLS".
I didn't have to turn around to see what Fred and George did in response. Having grown with them in the womb, I know George placed a hand over his heart as if he'd been pierced when he asked, "Et Tu, Ginny?"
Nor did I have to imagine Fred trying to impersonate Percy by sticking his nose up in the air. "It's quality over quantity little sister", he said with a sniff. But… that didn't make sense. I mean, that's not how good or bad grades work…
Before I could turn around or make any comment, Charlie expertly redirected us. Redirection; it wasn't something I would have recognized or appreciated before this school year. From working with Flitwick, I learned that redirection was a must-have skill. Especially when working with first years.
"It's just ahead", Charlie announced. "Wait until you see them. They're beauties. All of them. We picked the best for the tournament".
"That's not a good thing", I said as we stepped through a tree line and into a clearing. One that had already been made into a campsite/ dragon holding area. Two large, almost circus-like tents were set up on one side with a handful of dragon tamers wandering to and fro. On the other side was an enclosure warded off by thick wood posts and assumingly magic. I mean, how would wood suffice as a dragon pen if magic wasn't involved?
Ron was breathless; taken in by the mere size of the beasts before us. "What do you think?" Charlie asked as he waved to a few of his colleagues as we approached.
The four dragons weren't moving beyond the occasional twitching of their wings. They lay curled up around their nests a reasonable distance apart from each other. Each dragon had chains attached to leather bands around its legs and neck to keep them from flying off. Despite being in a clearing, it was still more dark than light. Making it difficult to make out the differences in their scales. But one was clearly red and another green.
"Chinese Fireball", Charlie pointed out to us once we were close enough. Although, Charlie looked like he would have preferred to get closer. Probably would have if it wasn't for Ginny clinging to his arm. "That one there is the Common Welsh Green. And on the other side there is the Swedish Short-Snout, and Hungarian Horntail".
"Why are they sleeping?" Ron asked as he eyed the spikes on the Horntail's tail.
"Sleeping drafts", Charlie answered without pause. "They haven't worn off yet. We're hoping it'll be a calm transition for them to wake up in a dark environment with their nests untacked. But they'll have time to settle if our plan doesn't work. That's why we decided it was best to get here early".
"Sleeping drafts?" I asked more to myself than anyone else. As Ron stepped closer to Charlie and Ginny, Fred and George took his place. George placed an arm over my shoulders while Fred put an arm around my waist. "How long did it take for it to work? Would a sleeping spell work just as well?"
"No", Charlie said; amused but shaking his head. "I'm not telling you so you can give your boyfriend a leg up".
"Brilliant", Ron perked up. "What about telling me so I can tell Harry?"
"No", Charlie repeated. Though this time with less humor. "Besides, I don't know what the champions have to do with the dragons. No one's told us anything. Just that they wanted nesting mothers".
"Huh?" George fake wondered.
"Do you think it has something to do with the eggs?" Fred asked. I dug my elbow into his side. Our acting skills were too poor to play this game.