Chapter 12: Indian Summer - Part 1
The summer holidays passed slowly for Padma. She and Parvati spent much of their time outside in their small back garden. They sat in the sun talking and laughing more than they had done for a long time. Padma received letters from Lisa telling her about the visit she made to her grandmother in Cornwall, and Terry wrote once, saying that he was going to some Puddlemere United matches with his parents. He also reminded her to bring her back a present from India.
Three weeks into the summer holidays, Padma and her family took a Portkey to India. They were going to visit her father's sister, her Aunt Nisha who had visited at Christmas, her husband, five children and numerous other relatives. Padma was nervous when they arrived as she hadn't seen them in two years, but she was given such a warm welcome that her worries soon disappeared.
They lived in the far north of the country, not far from the Himalayas. The countryside was breathtaking; there were tall grey mountain peaks, hills carpeted with vast trees, and deep valleys with rivers snaking along their bases. Padma's family lived in a small community of wizards on one of the craggy hillsides. Their house was large and airy, built in amongst the trees and hidden from prying eyes. They lived many miles from any other houses or large towns.
One morning, when they had been there for almost two weeks, the family was sitting in the dining room eating breakfast. Hina, a cousin who was the same age as Padma and Parvati, turned to her mother.
"Would we be able to take Padma and Parvati to the Lakshmi Bazaar today?" she asked in English for the twins' benefit.
Aunt Nisha, who was today wearing a scarlet sari and numerous bangles about her wrists, glanced over to her brother. Padma's father nodded shortly, turning back to the Indian version of the Daily Prophet.
"Of course you can," Aunt Nisha said, smiling at her nieces. "Sanjiv," she said, turning to her fourteen year old son, "would you go with your sister and cousins?"
Sanjiv, who was tall with a curtain of black hair and dark eyes, nodded. Hina smiled happily, getting to her feet as her mother went to get them some money. Padma's mother beckoned her daughters over to her. She looked at them seriously.
"You must be careful," she said.
"Of course we will!" Parvati said eagerly.
Surya Patil frowned at her daughter, gripping her shoulder.
"I'm being serious," she said gravely. "Delhi is a dangerous place. There are pickpockets in all areas of the city, not just the Lakshmi Bazaar. There you must be wary of traders and the items that they sell." She paused, looking at them evenly. "Promise me that you will be careful."
Padma and Parvati nodded. Padma smiled, unable to stop the excitement building up inside her. Her mother handed her a purse filled with gold. Padma put it into the pocket of her jeans.
"Now," she said finally, "you may buy some souvenirs, but not too many. And make sure that you stay with your cousins at all times."
The twins nodded again. Their mother hugged them. When she finally let go, Padma hurried over to Sanjiv and Hina who were standing beside the open hearth in the middle of the room.
"How are we getting there?" Padma asked curiously.
"We will Floo to Shimla," Sanjiv explained. He smiled at their puzzled expressions. "It's the nearest town with a train station. There are a couple of wizarding families that my father knows living there, and we're always allowed to use their hearth. After that, we will take the train to Delhi."
Padma smiled at Parvati who looked so excited she could dance. In fact, she was shifting from foot to foot as Aunt Nisha conjured a fire in the hearth. Sanjiv took a handful of Floo powder from a bag his mother held and tossed it onto the flames, turning them emerald green. He stepped into the fire.
"Chandri House!" he cried, and in a flash of green light he was gone.
"You go next, Padma," Aunt Nisha said. She smiled encouragingly.
Padma stepped forward and took a handful of Floo powder, throwing it onto the fire. She stood in the emerald flames, feeling pleasantly warm and tickled by the fire.
"Chandri House!" she said clearly.
Suddenly it felt as if she was being sucked downwards and her world began to spin. Padma pulled her arms close to her body and moved faster, still spinning, trying to ignore the fact that her breakfast was churning in her stomach. Hearths flashed before her eyes and green whirled about her. All of a sudden she hit solid ground and stumbled forward, grateful that hands steadied her when she almost fell.
"Thanks," she said to Sanjiv.
Her older cousin smiled warmly, leading her over to a chair.
"That's fine," he said. "Sit down here, get your balance back and we'll wait for Parvati and Hina to arrive."
Padma sat down and looked around her. They stood in a courtyard that was bathed in sunlight. The open hearth was in the centre, a set of chairs and a table stood to one side and a staircase led up to the roof above. Padma watched as her sister, and then her cousin, appeared in a flash of green fire and stepped out into the courtyard.
"Mr Chandri said that his gardener would take us to the station," Sanjiv said, waiting for Parvati to brush herself down. "He's waiting outside."
He took them through a doorway and down a passageway. The elaborate paintings that hung on the walls watched them as they passed, whispering amongst themselves. Parvati glanced at a mirror that hung by the front door, straightening her hair.
"You look lovely, dear," the mirror said.
Parvati smiled. Padma rolled her eyes and they walked out to the front of the house. The house was tall and rather crooked, built of brick and with immaculately kept plants around the front door. The gardener was a small, wizened looking wizard with a lopsided turban on his head. He bowed deeply to Sanjiv and began to converse rapidly with him in Hindi. Turning, he gestured to a cart that was fastened to what Muggles called a bicycle.
"Hop on!" Hina said, clambering up onto the cart.
Padma followed suit and sat on the back, her legs hanging over the back. The gardener sat on the bicycle and said a word in Hindi. The bicycle's wheels started turning without him pedalling, but he rested his feet on the pedals and held on tightly to the handlebars.
"Why does he do that?" Padma asked curiously.
"Muggles would find it unusual if they saw a bicycle rolling along of its own accord," Hina explained as they rumbled down a narrow street. "This way he's able to use magic and not arouse any suspicion."
Padma nodded. She saw that it made sense; most of the Muggles that they passed were riding these contraptions and by the gardener pretending to pedal, he managed not to stand out in a crowd. It was another clever way of blending in. They eventually reached a main road, and they pulled onto it, narrowly missing a car. After a fifteen minute journey, the gardener pulled up outside a low building.
"This is it," Sanjiv said.
Padma jumped off the back of the cart and stood beside her twin. Sanjiv thanked the gardener in Hindi and took them onto the platform of the station. Padma may have thought that Platform 9¾ was busy, but she'd never seen anywhere as crowded as this station. The train was long, stretching out of sight around the corner, and Padma could hardly move as they pushed their way towards the carriages. What she found most unusual was that many people were clambering up onto the roofs of the carriages and clinging onto the engine.
"Why do they do that?" she asked Sanjiv as they searched for a free compartment.
"What?" he asked. "You mean ride on the outside of the train?" Padma nodded. "It's cheaper than paying for a seat inside," he explained. "It also means that the Muggle government can run fewer trains."
They found an empty compartment and sat down inside, sliding the door closed behind them. Parvati slumped back, fanning herself with a hand while watching a fly buzz around the ceiling. It was small and stuffy, and Padma struggled to open the windows to allow a slight breeze inside. Sanjiv disappeared for a while and returned with bottles of water.
Padma drank some and glanced out of the window as they started to pull away from the station.
"What's your school like?" she asked Hina.
Her cousin's face lit up and she scraped her hair behind her ear, sitting forward on her seat.
"It's amazing!" she said breathlessly. "It's called the Krishna Academy of Wizardry and is somewhere in the mountains to the far north, settled in a deep valley, though I don't know where exactly as it is Unplottable. It's only two floors but it spreads all through the valley, and there are open courtyards filled with plants." She paused. Padma listened, enthralled. "There is no glass in the windows because of the heat in the summer, but there are shutters for the rainy season. We study the stars up on the roof at night, and we often go up to the mountains to watch the phoenixes that live there."
Padma smiled, lost in her cousin's words.
"It sounds amazing," she said, "and so different from Hogwarts."
"Tell me about your school," Hina prompted.
o0o
Padma and Parvati talked about Hogwarts for at least half an hour, describing it in as much detail as they could. For the rest of the two hour journey they talked about their lessons, favourite music and hobbies. The countryside changed into industrial buildings, and then transformed into the tall, modern buildings of New Delhi. Sanjiv looked out of the window as they started to slow down.
"We're here," he said. "Come on."
As the train ground to a halt, Padma and Parvati followed their cousins out of the train and onto the platform. It was bustling with people; they cried out to each other in a myriad of languages, jostled their way to the exits and hauled their luggage around, and Padma even saw a man with a monkey perched upon his shoulder. Sanjiv led them down a set of steps and out onto the street.
New Delhi was bustling and Padma was hit by so many different sights and sounds at the same time. Sanjiv stuck out his hand and a Muggle vehicle pulled up. It was brightly coloured with two bench seats underneath a canvas roof, and there was what Padma was sure was called a motorcycle attached to it.
"What's this?" Parvati asked, clambering onto the seat next to Padma.
"An auto-rickshaw," Hina said. "You'd better hold on tight."
Padma soon found out why her cousin had said this. The ride was a hair-raising experience as the driver wove in and out of traffic, seemingly unconcerned about either his own safety or that of his passengers. Parvati screamed and clung onto her twin's arm as they swerved to avoid a cow that was standing serenely in the middle of the road.
"This is worse than the Knight Bus!" she said, looking rather green.
Padma nodded, yet again able to feel her breakfast churning in her stomach. Eventually they pulled up in a narrow road that was lined with different stalls selling everything from mounds of spices to antiques and watches. Padma helped her sister stumble from the rickshaw as Sanjiv paid the driver with some Muggle money.
"This way," Sanjiv said shortly.
They followed him a little was along the narrow road, stopping next to an old, crumbling wall that was carved with intricate designs on the top. It was flanked by a cobbler's stall on one side and another antique stall on the other, and was covered with posters of brightly clothed Muggles who looked out onto the street.
"Follow my lead," Sanjiv said.
He stepped up to the wall and leant up against it, looking both ways as the Muggles passed by him in crowds. Suddenly he slipped through the wall and out of sight. Padma tried not to stare and she nudged Parvati with her elbow.
"It's just like the barrier between the platforms at Kings Cross!" she hissed.
Padma walked over to the wall, passing the path of an old man carrying a crate of chickens under one arm, and she put her hand on the wall, pretending to examine one of the posters. She took a deep breath and stepped through it, gasping at what she saw on the other side.