PART TWO
CHAPTER TEN: THE NIGHT OF THE YULE BALL
"There you go, your new dress robes. I also brought your old ones in case these don't fit," said Harry's mother.
She was sitting on top of his bed in the dormitory with a large parcel on her lap. She pulled out a long black cloak from softly folded paper wrapping and held it upright in front of him. It was the same nice dress robes that Mrs Weasley had bought for him in Diagon Alley the last time.
"Do you like them?" she asked.
"They're nice," said Harry with a large grin on his face. In his mind, anything that his mother was giving him was the most beautiful thing in the world.
"I promise that I won't bother you or watch you too closely or anything like that," she said hurriedly. "I'm just coming to spend some time with your father."
Harry couldn't help but smile at her fondly. It was the third time ever since she had arrived that she making this comment about her presence at the ball.
"It's fine, mom," he said with his best tone of approval.
He was actually glad that his mother would be spending Christmas at Hogwarts. It seemed like his father was avoiding him ever since the first Defence Against the Dark Arts class where he had killed the Boggart. Or perhaps it was the other way around? Had he, Harry, been avoiding his father? He wasn't sure. So far, his relationship with his father consisted only in awkward moments.
"Sirius and Audrey will be joining us as well," continued his mother. Audrey has been telling me about her dress for weeks," she added with an exasperated sigh.
"Hi, Mrs Potter!"
It was Neville. He looked very disturbed about something and almost dropped Trevor as he tripped over a parcel on the floor.
"Sorry, Nev," said Lily Potter. "I got carried away and bought Harry too many clothes again."
"It's OK," said Neville, catching Trevor and putting the toad on the box besides his bed.
"Harry," he said nervously, "Ginny wants me to tell you that she's not going to the ball with you anymore."
Neville had said the phrase quickly. He was now avoiding Harry's wide-eyed stare.
"Did she say why?" asked Mrs Potter when she saw that Harry was not having any reaction.
"I don't know. Girl's stuff. Something's wrong with her dress," said Neville. He seemed quite put off by this turn of events.
Lily Potter, however, seemed to understand something that the two boys had not grasped. She dumped the parcel on Harry's bed and picked up her handbag. She was suddenly full of activity. There was light in her eyes. Harry thought fondly that he liked her eyes best and also her smile.
"Boys, this is something for me to handle. Forget that thing about Ginny not going to the ball with you anymore, Harry. Everything shall be under control in a few minutes, I promise."
And with a quick kiss on his forehead, she stormed out of the room.
"Your mom is awesome," said Neville, sitting besides Harry.
Harry's thoughts dwelled on Ron's dress robes that were hidden under Ron's bed. Then he remembered that Ginny had also worn a dress that looked like it came from thirty years ago, which was probably the case as Mr and Mrs Weasley could not afford new robes for their five children currently attending Hogwarts. Not only did Harry have new dress robes, but he had two sets now.
At the precise moment that the idea came to his mind, Ron Weasley walked in the Common Room. He looked particularly put off.
"I shouldn't have asked her. Hermione is going to kill me when she sees what I'm wearing to the ball," he said, slumping unto his bed. "What? What are you two grinning at?"
"Ron, what size do you wear?" said Harry matter-of-factly.
In Harry's mind, the look on Ron's face when he saw himself in the mirror, a few days later, wearing proper black and white dress robes, was priceless. Harry had had to lend Ron the new dress robes because his friend was slightly taller, but his old set of robes still fitted Harry almost perfectly, and his mom had not objected to the change of plans. In fact, she had smiled at Harry in such a way that he had felt his cheeks going slightly red. Harry only wished that his father would be as proud of him as she was.
Ron, Neville and Harry walked down the staircases towards the Great Hall together, talking excitedly and laughing a little harder than they would normally have. Eleanor came rapidly to hold Neville's arm. She looked quite lovely in a navy blue dress laced in her back. Her hair was tied up with a sparkling tiara. She also looked a little older than she was, which, Harry realised, was probably her intention as she was the only second year students attending. She looked rather small and childish besides the Beaubatons young ladies and the proud Durmstrang boys.
Harry looked around. Hermione was coming down the stairs. She looked positively radiant in her fluffy pink dress, just like she had the last time. Ron's expression was one of outmost admiration. He offered his arm to her in a very gentlemanly fashion that was reminding Harry of Sirius's manners. Ron had most probably practiced the gesture before the ball, and Harry also suspected Sirius to have helped him. They started to make their way towards the Great Hall together to join the other fourth years. Ron mumbled something about Ginny not being ready yet.
The champions were gathering near the doorway as Professor McGonnagal was explaining to them the formalities of the Yule Ball. Eleanor looked really nervous. Fleur Delacour kept throwing her a look of outmost disapproval. "She eez too young," Harry heard Fleur comment to Professor McGonnagal. Viktor Krum, for his part, looked very content with his date even though it was not Hermione. It was actually a girl that Harry had never seen before. She was not very tall and had wavy brown hair down to the middle of her back. She wore a simple black dress and no jewellery.
"Who's that girl with Viktor Krum?" asked Harry to Dean and Pavarti.
"That's… I don't believe it!" said Dean in a surprised gasp. "That's Elissa Lord!"
"Who's Elissa Lord?" asked Harry blankly.
"Right. I forget that you don't like Quidditch."
Harry felt his temper rising at once but kept his month shut.
"Elissa Lord is Seeker for the Quidditch Canadian team. She's their new star, but she's Muggle-born. Can you believe it?"
"I don't think that being a good Quidditch player is a question of blood, Dean," said Harry irritably.
"I haven't said that at all, Harry," said Dean quickly. "I only mean, can you believe that she's with Viktor Krum, a Durmstrang? Rumour has it that Karkarov doesn't like Muggle-borns. They have a tendency to be expelled from Durmstrang rather rapidly. Get it?"
Harry's glance fell on Karkarov. He was indeed eyeing the young Elissa Lord with an expression of almost disgust. Harry wondered if Karkarov had had the same expression on his face when he had seen Hermione. Harry had never noticed it because he had been with the champions at that moment. Suddenly, he was aware that his new situation was giving him a whole new perspective on the ball.
"Here's your date, Harry," said Pavarti.
Harry turned around. Ginny was on top of the stairs and coming down carefully. All of the sudden, Harry's heart seemed to burst out of his chest.
She was wearing a long dark green dress that was trailing behind her as she walked. The sleeves were wide and opened up down to her knees. There was a golden belt at the level of her waist. She looked like a princess out of a medieval story. This was definitely not the dress that she had worn the first time, but Harry didn't care.
"It's a bit big," Ginny said, seeing the look of bewilderment on his face. She was flattening the front of her dress nervously.
"I think it's lovely," said Harry fondly.
"It's your mom's," replied Ginny. There was light on her face.
Harry took her arm under his and said timidly "you look amazing" to Ginny's ear.
The opening of the Yule Ball was exactly as he remembered it, except for the people present. At first glance, he spotted Sirius and Audrey among the teachers. Audrey looked splendid in a white and silver dress with her blond tresses pinned up sparingly. Sirius was looking more handsome than ever. Harry's parents were there as well, beaming. There was like a glow around them and Harry thought fondly that no other couple looked happier. Lily Potter was wearing a deep red dress with a really bright necklace that was sparkling like diamonds.
When the music began to play, Harry couldn't wait to dance with Ginny. After the champions had swirled twice around the dance floor, he took her hand and urged her into the center of the Hall. He could tell that she was really nervous, but a quick glance from Neville and Eleanor were enough to make her feel more comfortable.
Overall, Harry enjoyed himself a lot more at the Yule Ball this time around. Ginny and he could not stop dancing. The Weird Sisters showed up at about half pass nine and then the party just got even more fun, if that was possible. He spent the entire evening with Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny. In his mind, there was any other care in the world apart from what the next song was going to be. It was simply perfect.
It was nearly midnight when they finally left the dance floor to get some drinks.
"Nev? May I introduze you to somevon?" asked a deep voice with an unmistakable accent.
It was Viktor Krum. He was holding the hand of Elissa Lord. She looked very shy but kept her eyes on the group that she was approaching.
"Err… Sure," answered Neville uneasily. He had obviously recognised the Canadian Seeker because he was wearing the same look of admiration as Dean had.
"This is Elissa Lord," said Krum fondly. "She thinks zat you fly very vell, Nev."
"Everyone calls me Sissi," she replied timidly, taking Neville's hand in greeting. Then she added: "You should play Quidditch, Nev, but I expect everyone's told you that already."
She was blushing slightly. She must be nervous among all those strangers, Harry thought, but she was hiding it well.
"Only the Slytherins don't want him to play Quidditch," added Ron happily, clapping Neville on the back.
"I guess I fly well…" said Neville uncomfortably. "Not bad, anyway…"
Harry realised at Neville's tone that he should change the topic of the conversation at once.
"What school do you go to?" he asked Elissa, dragging the conversation unto himself.
"Beowulf College," she replied. "It's on the St.Lawrence River, in the Province of Quebec, but I only go there part time."
"How can you be studying magic only part time?" asked Harry. He was genuinely interested by this new notion.
"I'm Muggle-born. My parents didn't want me to learn magic. They don't really understand… Anyway, I go to Muggle school during the week and to Beowulf on week-ends and during summer break."
"My parents wanted me to do that as well," said Hermione understandingly.
Ron was staring at her in disbelief.
"I think that what really convinced them that I should learn magic was when I blew up my dad's computer," explained Hermione. "I hate computers," she added for the profit of Elissa.
"Me too," Harry and Elissa said in unison.
Hermione's glance darted back to Harry.
"How would you know, Harry? You're from a family of wizards that never used computers. You don't even know what it is."
"Err… I just imagined…" said Harry vaguely. He couldn't tell them that he had been the victim of Dudley's frustration when his cousin's computer had somehow failed halfway through a game.
"What convinced my parents," Elissa started to say to get passed the awkward moment, "was when I flew up to the ceiling and couldn't get down for a full day. I love flying," she added dreamily.
Viktor Krum took her arm fondly.
"You've seen the first task?" asked Neville suddenly catching on.
"Yes I did." Then, seeing the same look of curiosity on everyone's face, she explained: "I know it's not regular. I asked Mr Crouch and he couldn't say no. He wants me to take part in one of those summer internship at the Ministry next year when I'm finished at Beowulf. I think that Sirius talked him into it. He says that I should become an Auror."
"Sirius Black?" enquired Ginny, echoing Harry's thoughts.
"Yes. I think that they've put him in charge of recruitment. Do you know him?"
All the stares turned to Harry.
"He's my godfather," he answered blankly.
"Wow," said Elissa. "You're lucky."
There were a few other questions that Harry wanted to ask her, but Viktor Krum was starting to pull her towards the dance floor.
"Shall ve dance?" Krum said in his deep voice. He was staring intently into Elissa's eyes.
The Weird Sisters had begun a slow ballad that Harry recognised as the last of the evening. Ron and Hermione were already making their way towards the dance floor. Harry saw Cho and Cedric do the same from the corner of his eye.
"Where's Eleanor?" asked Neville suddenly as Harry was taking up Ginny's arm. He had decided to follow the lead of Krum and Elissa. This was the dance that he had been waiting for. The words of the song were now filling the Hall: "This is your final chance." It felt like the singer was speaking to Harry directly.
"I don't know," said Ginny. "I haven't seen her since the Weird Sisters showed up."
Neville was looking around nervously. He seemed to have completely forgotten about Viktor Krum and Elissa Lord, or about all the people present at the Yule Ball altogether.
"We had a fight," he said blankly. "It was stupid, really. I just wanted her to cut me some slack…"
He was staring at the door impatiently. Harry tried to get Ginny to follow him, he really wanted to dance the last dance with her, but she was not responding. Her attention seemed to be fully on Neville now. Harry felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He was going to miss his final chance.
"She's just upset," Harry said to Neville encouragingly. "She'll turn up eventually." He tried to wheel Ginny towards the back of the Great Hall again.
"The teachers are patrolling the corridors," Ginny added hopefully. She had not moved.
"Yeah," agreed Neville, "but she usually runs to hide in the Greenhouses when she's upset. I hate to think that she's outside all alone. It's really late…"
Harry exchanged a glance with Ginny. He could hear the music as though it was calling him, but Ginny was already sharing Neville's worried expression and it was clear that she was not going back to the dance floor without having first found Eleanor.
"Alright," said Harry resolutely with a note of disappointment. "We can go outside and look for her."
Neville was already walking towards the Entrance Hall. Ginny was trying to comfort him as they were walking speedily away from the other students, but Neville did not even look back once on the party that they were leaving. Harry remained trailing behind, still listening to the music.
"Don't worry. We'll find her," offered Ginny.
"It's just…" Neville began to say, his voice trailing off thoughtfully, "it's all those talk about You-Know-Who wanting to catch me. All they have to do is catch El and I will come running for her. I can't help it. She's my sister."
It was very cold and dark outside. The castle's lights were casting a pale golden glow on the snow, but Harry knew that the path to the Greenhouses would be utterly dark. Ginny, Neville and Harry all said "Lumos!" as they got further away from the castle walls and the tip of their three wands became the only light to show them the way. Harry couldn't help by stare back at the castle. He could hear the music in the background slowly die away. Ginny and Neville were walking ahead of him and they didn't seem to care anymore. Ginny had transfigured her shoes into boots and was gathering her dress around her to avoid getting snow on it. It was actually a very good bit of transfiguration. The boots were completely made of fur and looked comfortable if only too big. Harry was sure that his shoes would turn into water goblets if he tried a spell like that.
"Let's split up," said Neville. "I'll take Greenhouse Three, it's bigger but that's usually where she is. Harry, you can take Greenhouse Two and Ginny, Greenhouse One. Come back here after you've finished your search."
Harry appreciated that Neville was taking charge. His mind wasn't on what he was doing, not at all. He kept watching Ginny, how beautiful she was, how elegant and full of life she looked even in the dark. The sight of her was making him feel slightly blushed.
When he reached Greenhouse Two, he wished that he was back in the Great Hall. The windows were shattered. There were broken pieces of glass everywhere. Some plants seemed to have been ripped off their pots, others had thorn leaves or their flowers were lying hopelessly on the ground. Harry raised his wand higher. Every one of his senses was on alert. Some beast had obviously been set loose on Greenhouse Two, but it was no longer here. Harry's mind was racing with many scenarios. The most plausible explanation as far as he could tell was his least favourite possibility. Lupin had said that he might be coming to school at Christmas…
Harry moved carefully and quietly along the center alley of the Greenhouse until he could see the sky through an opening in the roof. "Full moon," he thought, his heart pounding in his chest at the horror of what his mind had just concluded. He had to gather Ginny and Neville back to him. Fast.
Suddenly, the sky was illuminated in a red light. Harry recognised the sparks and the spell that came with it. Someone had shouted "Periculum!" It was coming from Greenhouse Three.
Harry ran out of Greenhouse Two as quickly as he could, tripping on his robes as he did so. Someone else screamed. It was a young girl's voice, and it was a scream of terror. The response was the cry of a werewolf. Harry froze on the spot. His fear had just been confirmed.
"Ginny!" yelled Harry instinctively.
"I'm here!" said a voice behind him.
It was indeed Ginny. She was catching on with him. She seemed to be struggling on her boots and tripping over her long dress. There was no way that she could run fast enough dressed up as she was.
"Get back to the castle!" Harry cried at once.
Ginny stopped short, unsure whether or not she should turn around.
"Get back to the castle!" repeated Harry. "Get my dad and Sirius! It's a werewolf! Turn your wand off and go! Quick! Don't let it see you!"
He saw her acknowledge what he had just said with a nod, then she wheeled around towards the castle and turned off the wand-light, and finally Harry lost sight of her in the darkness.
A high-pitched girl's scream filled the air again. There was the sound of broken glass. Harry heard a voice that was distinctly Neville call out for help. Both Eleanor and Neville must be in Greenhouse Three, concluded Harry. There was only one thing that he could do to lure the beast away.
With the best imitation of a werewolf cry that he could make, Harry yelled out twice so that the creature would hear. The sound of breaking glass stopped for a few tense seconds, then Harry saw something enormous leap in the darkness. The werewolf was coming towards him.
He ran as fast as he could, tearing his robes on the rim along the way. Once he fell on his knees and he thought that he was done for, but he picked himself up instantly and started to run again. He could hear the beast coming nearer. He could almost smell it. He wasn't fast enough to outrun a werewolf. When he got to the level of Greenhouse One, he wheeled inside it, using his wand hand to shift his course. The windows were shattered here as well. He felt the edge of a broken piece of glass cut deeply into his hand. His wand went flying off with a clang and he could not see it anymore.
Quickly, he was on his knees, patting the ground, looking for his wand. He was aware that his hand was bleeding abundantly. The werewolf would smell the fresh blood. It would be here any moment now. His eyes were getting accustomed to the darkness, but still the wand was nowhere in sight.
Suddenly, he heard a deep growling breath. The outline of the werewolf was in the doorway, and the Greenhouse had no other exit. Harry stopped moving at once and took a slow and stealthy step in a dark corner of the Greenhouse. Perhaps the beast would not see him in the dark if he kept still, but he wasn't sure. Why on earth couldn't he remember the stuff he read like Hermione?
"Wand," he whispered to himself, feeling the table besides him. "I need wand."
Instead, his hand fell on a plant and something small grabbed his finger. It was a small hand, and it wasn't letting go of him.
"What kind of plant has hands?" he thought annoyingly.
The werewolf was taking slow steps towards him, sniffing the air as it did so. It could smell him. It could smell his blood. He had to get away and fast, but his wounded hand was stuck in the grasp of a stupid plant.
Ginny was bound to show up now with Sirius and his father, thought Harry. Anytime now would be a good time. The plant was still clutching his finger. The werewolf was bent low. It was going to leap straight at him. He had nowhere to run. He had no wand. The werewolf leapt unto the table and several pots fell to the ground. He heard the sound of broken ceramic and a feeble scream coming from the plant's root. Harry recognised it at once.
"Mandrakes," he thought in a flash.
With the best grasp that he could perform with his right hand, he ceased the plant and pulled it sharp. The Mandrake root, which looked like a miniature troll, started to scream furiously. Harry's head began to swim. He was going to faint. Mandrakes could knock you out for several hours, he remembered. Harry tried to focus his darkening vision on the werewolf. At the sound of the screaming, the beast had started to rage at and slash everything within reach of its deadly arms and claws. The Mandrake's cry was affecting the werewolf, but the monster wasn't going to faint.
"Acio wand!" cried Harry, but his voice was too feeble.
He leaned on the table. His knees were weak. If he lost consciousness, the werewolf would tear him apart like it was doing to everything else.
"Acio wand!" he repeated, concentrating as best as he could. Then, against all of Harry's hopes, the wand slid across the floor and back into his right hand. With the remaining strength that he had, he pointed his wand at the beast and said "Petrificus Totalus!"
He saw the werewolf's limbs freeze as the spell hit its body square in the chest, and then Harry knew no more.
