"Alright everyone, welcome back to our Slytherin study group sessions. Today we're going to be covering the Engorgement charm," Gemma Farley, their sixth year girls prefect, said as she sat down at the table. The second years were all gathered around.
"My essay is complete, do I have to stay?" Draco asked.
"Let me see your essay," Gemma said, holding out her hand.
Draco handed her a scroll of parchment with a put out expression on his face.
Gemma unrolled the parchment and quickly read it, her eyes darting back and forth as she read. "It's passable, though I would include more theory if you want to get a better grade. Are you sure you don't want to stay? We're practicing as well as working on essays," Gemma said, handing Draco back the scroll.
"I know how to do an Engorgement charm," Draco said, pulling out his wand and pointing it at one of the apples on the table. "Engorgio."
The apple swelled to five times its original size.
"Alright then. Does anyone else have their essays done and wants to leave?" Gemma asked as Draco stalked away.
Rachel had her essay done, and she knew Millie and Theo had done theirs as well, but she saw no reason to miss a review, especially one conducted by Gemma.
"Okay, good. These study sessions are so that you can get out of class assistance from an upper year. We all want you to do well," Gemma said when no one spoke up. "Who can tell me the etymology of the Engorgement charm?"
Theo, Millie, Pansy, and Daphne all put their hands up.
"Good," Gemma said. "Pansy, how about you?"
"This one is easy because engorge is the same in latin as it is in English. It means to swell with fluid, or to eat a lot," Pansy said, smiling.
"That's right. For the definition of eating a lot, that part is actually old French, with en meaning into and gorge meaning throat. That led to engorgier, which means to eat to excess," Gemma explained. "Now, there are a couple of things to keep in mind with the Engorgement charm. Things can only get so big before they'll explode, and I can tell you from experience, that can get really messy. Don't use it on flames or fire either. Also, be really careful using it on animals. In general, I suggest not to. I know you haven't covered the Shrinking charm yet, but that will be next. Okay, who can demonstrate the wand movement? Millie, go ahead."
"It's pretty straightforward. Aim at what you want to get bigger, make a small vertical line, make a circle around your object, and when you reach the top make another vertical line," Millie said, using her wand to demonstrate.
"That's right, good job," Gemma said. "So, for your essays, it's pretty straightforward. Write about the etymology, write about the invention and the theory, and give some examples of things you could and shouldn't use Engorgement charms on. Any questions before we move on to practicing?"
"How was it invented?" Goyle asked.
"There's a small section on that in your book, but to summarize, in 1792 John Burke was a farmer whose orchard had a bad year. The fruit were too small to use for anything but jams and he knew they wouldn't sell for much at the market. He took them into his shed and started trying to make them bigger, but he also was eating them while he worked. He kept working and kept eating for three days and nights until he got very sick. Burke woke from a fever dream and told his wife he knew what to do. That's when he invented the Engorgement charm and sold the biggest fruit anyone had seen at the market," Gemma said.
Rachel thought that fit well with the history of other charms and spells they'd studied. Somehow magic never seemed to be invented through careful study and planning.
"So I got some apples from the kitchen for you to practice on. Try not to explode any of them, and I'll shrink them for you once you've swelled them," Gemma said as she passed out apples from the pile on the table.
Rachel focused on her apple and readied her wand. "Engorgio," she said quietly. Her apple swelled to several times its original size.
"Reducio," she said, using her wand to turn her apple back into its normal size. Their study group had gone ahead and studied the Shrinking charm in advance so they could practice.
"Reducio," Theo said, his own apple returning to normal as well.
"I see that you're ahead of us," Gemma said, watching them.
"Not by much," Theo said. "We're doing Shrinking charms next week."
"I'm glad you're keeping on top of things, but don't push yourselves too hard. And promise me you'll be very careful and never experiment with spells or potions on your own. Always have someone there who can go get help if things go wrong," Gemma said, her expression uncharacteristically serious.
"We always do," Millie said.
"Good," Gemma said, nodding at them before turning her attention to the other second years.
They practiced swelling and shrinking their apples several more times before Gemma called the study session to an end. "Show me your essays by tomorrow night if you want feedback. Rachel, can you stay for a moment?"
Rachel remained in her chair while the other second years wandered around the common room or went back to their dorms.
"I wanted to see how you were doing. I heard about what happened with Lockhart the other day," Gemma said.
"I'm okay," Rachel said, feeling herself blush at the memory. Fortunately no one had made fun of her for it yet. She had thoroughly expected to be called 'lettuce head' or some other ridiculous name.
"I can't believe him. Did he really make you eat lettuce?" Gemma asked.
"He tried, but I didn't eat it," Rachel said.
"That man. If you want me to talk to Professor Snape about it, I will," Gemma offered.
"I already did," Rachel said, which was kind of true. She'd been there when her study group had talked to Professor Snape about it.
"Good. Now if only there were something Professor Snape could do about that asinine man reading his books to the class. I've heard he's doing that with every year. This is ridiculous. This is some students OWL or NEWT year," Gemma said, shaking her head. "I don't know what Professor Dumbledore was thinking."
Rachel frowned as she thought about what she'd heard about OWLs recently. "What about OWL study guides? Maybe that would help the fifth years?"
Gemma straightened in her chair. "That's not a bad idea. I mean, it's not nearly as good as having a qualified instructor, but we could get a bunch of OWL and NEWT Defense study guides for the fifth years and seventh years. And maybe the sixth years can help tutor the fifth years in Defense this year. That doesn't do anything for the seventh years, but I don't know what we can do about that. I'll discuss it with the other prefects and see if we can come up with a plan. Thanks, Rachel."
"That helped?" Rachel asked, smiling hesitantly.
"Yes, you helped," Gemma said, smiling back.
Rachel smiled. It was a strangely good feeling to have helped someone.
"Go on and be with your friends. Take a break from studying, you're not a Ravenclaw," Gemma said, getting up from her chair. "Play Gobstones or cards or something."
"Okay," Rachel said. She looked around the room and found where Millie and Theo were sitting and went join them.
Rachel sat on her bed in her dorm room with Millie's cat Midnight on her lap and slowly turned through the pages of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. She had read all the stories over the summer, but she liked to look at the pictures and imagine her parents reading her the stories when she was a baby.
Her favorite was The Fountain of Fair Fortune. It had a happy ending for all of the characters, especially because each of the characters got what they wanted without needing to sacrifice what the other characters needed. It was fair to all of them. She thought it was a little like her friends. They all helped each other when they needed it most. Rachel just wished they could have done something more to help Theo over the summer.
"Oh, here you are," Millie said as she came into the dorm room. "You found Midnight too."
"Midnight found me," Rachel said, scratching between Midnight's ears and listening to her rumbling purr.
"Midnight likes you because you pay lots of attention to her," Millie said as she unpacked her bag and started putting things away. "If I'm not careful, I'm going to have to give Midnight to you and get myself another cat."
Rachel quickly shook her head. "I don't think Professor Snape would let that happen."
"Too bad. He should really let you have a pet. Even Neville's got Trevor," Millie said, hanging up her robe and closing her wardrobe. "What are you reading?"
"The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It's my father's copy," Rachel said.
Millie came over to Rachel's bed and sat down so she could pet Midnight. "Your father's copy? How did you get that?"
Rachel closed the book and ran her thumb over the printed J Snow on the front cover. "Professor Snape got it for me. He brought me some of their things from their house. Apparently they made my parents house into a memorial of sorts," she said.
Millie leaned in and looked at the front cover. "I bet that was your father's book when he was a kid. The printing on his name is uneven, like he was young when he wrote it. My parents used to read to me from this book, but mine looked different. I wonder if the pictures are different too."
Rachel opened the book and slowly started turning the pages.
"Oh, The Wizard and the Hopping Pot. I didn't like that one. I thought it was too scary. My dad used to joke that if I listened carefully in the night I could hear the pot hopping around the town," Millie said.
"Were you scared?" Rachel asked.
"Yes! For weeks I'd come running out of my room because I thought I'd heard the pot outside. I kept telling my mom that I didn't know why the pot was after me, because I knew to be good to muggles," Millie said, giggling. "My mom had to promise me over and over the hopping pot wasn't real, and I wasn't sure I believed her."
Rachel smiled and kept turning pages. "This one is my favorite," she said when she reached The Fountain of Fair Fortune.
"I like this one too. The pictures in your book are different than the ones I remember. Yours are more like paintings. In my book they were more like cartoons," Millie said. "I used to want to visit the Fountain of Fair Fortune. When my mom asked me what I would ask for, I'd say that I wanted the fairies to take my little sister back. I didn't like to share."
"The fairies?" Rachel asked, looking at Millie.
"You know, the fairies come and bring babies and in the morning you wake up and there is a swaddled baby in the nursery, and that's how you become a parent," Millie said.
Rachel shook her head. "For muggles, they tell children that storks bring babies."
"Why storks?" Millie asked.
"I don't know. Why fairies?" Rachel asked.
Millie shrugged. "No idea. I think it's just a thing parents say because they don't want to talk about sex."
They looked up as Daphne and Pansy entered the room.
"What are you two up to?" Daphne asked, walking over to peer at the book. "Oh, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. I haven't heard them in forever."
"My favorite was The Warlock's Hairy Heart," Pansy said, going to the other side of the bed to look.
"You would, Pansy. That's disgusting," Daphne said.
"No, it's romantic. It's a warning that you have to let yourself fall in love," Pansy said.
"If you say so. I preferred Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump. For years I wanted to be a rabbit animagus," Daphne said.
"I would like that too. Or a cat like Professor McGonagall," Rachel said.
"I'd want to be something strong, like an eagle or a tiger," Pansy said, smiling brightly.
"I'd like to be something small, like a mouse or maybe a songbird," Millie said.
"I still wouldn't mind being a rabbit. But I'd also be okay with being an owl or python," Daphne said. "It's too bad you can't choose your animagus form. What if you did all that work and then you turned into something like a duck?"
"Or a spider," Millie said, wrinkling her nose.
Rachel shivered. She didn't mind spiders in general, but she didn't want to be one. "What about a toad or a caterpillar?"
"Gross," Daphne said with a laugh. "It's so good to hear your voice, Rachel. I know you're still working on talking during class, but I'm glad you can talk with us now."
"Me too," Pansy said.
Rachel blushed. "I'm glad too."
"Rachel."
Rachel looked up from Potion Opuscule, a book on brewing techniques that she was considering checking out. "Neville?" she asked, watching as he looked around them and held his finger up to his lips.
"I have to tell you something," he whispered.
Rachel raised her eyebrows, a little confused that Neville would pick her of all people to confide in. "Okay?" she whispered back.
"On the Gryffindor notice board the prefects put up a list of birthdays that are happening in September and October. Hermione's birthday is September nineteenth," Neville whispered, looking around them again. "I think we should do something. Get her gifts and have a small party."
Rachel smiled and nodded. "That's a great idea. I didn't know it was her birthday so soon. That doesn't leave us much time. Have you told anyone else yet?"
Neville shook his head. "Just you."
"Okay. I will go find Millie, you go find Theo, and whoever finishes first should go find Luna," Rachel said, glancing around to make sure Hermione wasn't nearby. "I think Theo said he was going to the Astronomy section."
"Okay," Neville said and then he walked away, looking suspicious as he checked between the shelves before he crossed.
Rachel decided that she was going to check out Potion Opuscule and went across the library to the Defense section.
"So this is good," Millie said when she saw Rachel approaching. "I talked with David and he told me that they used Defense and You: How to Defend Yourself Against the Dark Arts as their textbook last year. I think this will help us prepare better than Professor Lockhart's books."
"That's great," Rachel said, glad Millie had found a solution to their study problem when it came to Defense. "Come with me for a moment?"
"Okay," Millie said, looking confused.
Rachel led her to the back of the shelves where they'd be able to see anyone coming. "Hermione's birthday is on the nineteenth, Neville just told me," she whispered.
"That's not much time at all," Millie whispered back. "We need a plan! Presents! Everything!"
Rachel nodded. "Neville is telling Theo. We should go tell Luna."
"I'm sure she's in the Magical Creatures section," Millie said.
They went back across the library, keeping an eye out for Hermione while they went. They did find Luna in the Magical Creatures section with a book open and her wand tucked behind her ear.
"Oh, hello. Is it time to go back to the study room already?" Luna asked.
"Not yet. Can you help us keep a secret from Hermione?" Millie whispered.
Luna looked puzzled. "A secret?"
"A good secret," Rachel said quietly. "It's her birthday on the nineteenth and we want to do something nice and surprise her."
Luna smiled. "A surprise party?"
"Exactly," Millie said.
"I will tell the Muahorns not to say anything to her," Luna said. "I bet Hermione would like to receive books."
"That's a good bet," Rachel said. "For last Christmas I got her a gift account at Flourish and Blotts so she could pick what she wanted."
"That's a great idea, because who knows what she's already read," Millie said.
"Are we discussing presents?" Theo whispered as he came up to them.
"I think we should get her a nice planner, she's mentioned wanting one," Neville whispered.
"And we can get her some of the colored quills like Rachel has, for color coding her notes," Theo suggested.
"And another gift account at Flourish and Blotts?" Rachel asked.
"Yes," Millie said. "Let's take care of Owl Ordering things in the Slytherin common room so she doesn't see anything. How are we going to get stuff for the party?"
"I can handle that," Theo said. "I know how to get into the kitchens and the House Elves will make food for you if you ask. Neville, watch Hermione at the Gryffindor table and see what her favorite foods are, especially desserts. Okay, now we need to break up and go different directions so Hermione doesn't see us all approaching the front desk from the same direction."
Rachel smiled. "I'm going back to the potions section and I'll come out from there in a minute or two."
"I'll stay here," Luna said, going back to her book.
They all dispersed and Rachel snuck back to the potions section and started looking at books again.
"There you are. I thought you said you were looking in potions, but I couldn't find you," Hermione said as she approached, carrying three heavy books.
"I went to Herbology for a few minutes to see what they had on the difference between valerian root and valerian sprigs," Rachel said, biting her lip after she lied.
"Oh, well, I'm just about ready. I was thinking today we should focus on Transfiguration and then tomorrow we can focus on Potions. Is that alright with you?" Hermione asked.
Rachel nodded. "That's fine."
"Good, let's go meet the others," Hermione said, leading the way back out of the book stacks.
On Saturday during lunch Rachel kept a careful eye on the Gryffindor table. She knew that Neville would stall Hermione once she was done with lunch, but she wanted to be ready so that Hermione wouldn't get suspicious.
"And Allyn Dickson of the Falcons said that I flew very smoothly. I was able to keep up with him while we were scoring goals," Draco said. "I wonder who else is going to try out for the Slytherin team."
Theo made a slight groaning sound which he quickly covered by taking a bite of his turkey sandwich.
"I think Zeek is trying out. Probably Rowle too," Blaise said.
"Nothing to worry about there," Draco said. "Rachel, are you still trying out?"
Rachel looked at Draco and then nodded. She wasn't looking forward to competing against Draco in the tryouts.
"Seeker, right? Or were you going to try for Chaser as well?" Blaise asked.
Rachel shrugged.
"Rachel would do well in either position," Millie said, coming to Rachel's rescue. "She's fast and small, which would be good for a Seeker, but she's also good with the Quaffle."
Draco nodded. "I think it's best to be open to either position anyway. No sense in limiting your options."
"I'm done," Theo said, pushing his plate away.
Rachel looked over at the Gryffindor table and sure enough Hermione and Neville were getting up.
"Me too," Millie said, shoving the last of her sandwich in her mouth.
Rachel slung her bag over her shoulder and followed Theo and Millie so that they could intercept Hermione and Neville before they left the Great Hall.
"Oh, hello," Hermione said when they reached her by the main doors. "Ready to study again?"
"Actually," Neville said, sounding a little nervous. "Before we go back to the study room, I was wondering if you could help me find some books in the library. My Gran wants me to learn more about the Longbottom family, but she wants me to do my own research."
"Sure," Hermione said. "I don't know much about genealogy, but I bet we could find some stuff in the library."
"I'm going to come with you. I wanted to look at the Defense books again. I want to make sure we have the best one for what we should be studying this year," Milile said, the left side of her mouth lifting up in a near-smile.
"And I left one of my books in my dorm room. I'm going to go get it and I'll meet you in the study room," Theo said, sounding completely normal. He didn't seem to be bothered by either nerves or anticipation.
Rachel nodded and pointed at Theo to indicate she was going with him.
"Alright. Let's aim for thirty minutes or so," Hermione said.
As soon as Hermione, Neville, and Millie were gone, Theo turned around and looked back at the tables. "Where's Luna?"
Rachel shrugged as she looked down the Ravenclaw table.
"Let's go find her, we don't have much time," Theo said.
They walked down the Ravenclaw table and finally found Luna near the front of the Great Hall, sitting by herself.
"Luna, we have to get ready for Hermione's birthday. Let's go," Theo said.
Luna stood up and smiled. "It's already time?"
"Yes, it is. Come on," Theo said, leading the way back out of the Great Hall.
They followed Theo through the entrance hall and went through a door to the left of the staircase, which led down a flight of stone steps into a stone corridor. As they walked, Rachel noticed a recurring theme in the paintings - they were all pictures of food. This must be where the kitchens were located.
"That's where the Hufflepuff common room is," Theo said, pointing at a nook with a few stacked barrels.
"And the Ravenclaw common room is in the Ravenclaw Tower," Luna added helpfully.
Theo came to a stop in front of a painting of an enormous silver fruit bowl. "All you have to do is tickle the pear," Theo said, reaching up and rubbing his fingers along the pear. The pear wiggled and laughed and then abruptly turned into a large green door handle.
"How do you know about the kitchens?" Rachel asked.
"My father told me," Theo said shortly as he opened the handle and pulled the door open.
Inside was a large room, at least as big as the Great Hall, with four long tables. Rachel supposed this was how the House Elves got the food up into the Great Hall for every meal. There were lots of pots and pans and a wide brick fireplace at the far end. Moving around the room were about two dozen of the small creatures with long ears, just like the one she'd seen at Malfoy Manor.
"Can we helps you, sir and misses?" one of the House Elves asked as she approached them.
"Yes, I came down here a few days ago to request that we have some things prepared for today. We asked for a frosted strawberry cake and six bottles of butterbeer. We also need plates and silverware" Theo explained.
"Yes, sir," the House Elf squeaked and then hurried away.
A few moments later a handful of House Elves came over to them, two carrying a silver cake holder and the other House Elves carrying the butterbeers, the plates, and the silverware.
"Heres you are, sir," the House Elf said, bowing her head after passing Rachel two of the butterbeers.
"Thank you," Theo said, accepting the cake and tucking the plates underneath.
"Thank you very much," Rachel said, sorting out the butterbeers and silverware between herself and Luna.
"You're most welcome, misses," the House Elf said, bowing again.
"Alright, let's go," Theo said.
They made their way back up to the main entrance hall, and then up the staircases and down the Defense corridor to their study room. They were relieved to find that Hermione wasn't there yet.
Theo set the cake down and started to place plates at where people usually sat, while Luna put the butterbeers and silverware at each plate. Rachel dug into her bag and took out the two wrapped presents and the envelope that contained the information for the gift account and arranged them at Hermione's place.
"Do we want to try some of the decorating spells we learned?" Theo asked.
They'd looked them up in the library a few days ago, but they hadn't had a chance to practice them yet. "Let's try," Rachel agreed.
Theo pulled out a piece of parchment from his bag and looked down at his notes. "Okay for red streamers, vexillum parvus rubrum," he said, waving his wand in an arc to demonstrate.
Rachel tried it and a red streamer came floating out of her wand and landed on the floor.
Luna said the spell and after a few tries a red streamer floated out of her wand as well.
"Great job," Rachel said, impressed that a first year who had just learned the levitation charm could do a new spell after only a few tries.
"I'm going to start putting these up using the Sticking charm. The packet of luminescent balloons is in my bag. Will one of you get it and start blowing them up?" Theo asked as he pulled a chair over to the wall to stand on it.
Luna made another streamer, smiling brightly as it flew to the floor.
"I'll do it," Rachel said. She found the packet of non-explodable luminous balloons at the bottom of Theo's bag and started blowing them up. It took a few tries to get it right, as she'd never blown up a balloon before, and then another few tries to figure out how to tie them without letting all the air back out.
Before long she had a pile of balloons in front of her and Luna was levitating the balloons and the streamers up to Theo, who was sticking them to the walls.
"It's a party," Luna said as Theo climbed down from his chair, looking a little worn out.
"And we did it in time too," Theo said, bringing his chair back to the table and sitting down. He checked his watch. "With five minutes to spare, if Hermione's sticking to the thirty minutes she suggested."
Rachel looked around the room. It was much more modest than Draco's birthday party had been, but it also felt more real. Draco's party had been like a strange dream that had felt a little dangerous. This just felt like they were having an exciting day at home.
"And that's why I think they should teach us the Shrinking charm before the Engorgement charm," Hermione was saying as the door opened.
Rachel turned and watched as Hermione faltered as she took in the decorations.
Hermione's eyes traveled along the walls and then went to the table. "This is for me?" she asked quietly.
"Happy birthday!" they said in a messy unison, some of them speaking and some of them half-shouting.
Hermione stepped inside the room, Neville and Millie following her in and shutting the door behind her.
"You're throwing me a birthday party?" she asked, seeming stunned.
Rachel had never seen Hermione so uncertain before.
"Come sit down," Theo said. "Do you want to open presents first or have cake?"
Hermione went and sat down and the rest of them joined her around the table.
"How did you even know it was my birthday?" she asked.
"It was on the birthdays list on the Gryffindor notice board," Neville said.
"Cake or presents?" Millie asked when Hermione continued to just stare.
"Oh, presents, I guess. If that's alright?" Hermione asked.
"Of course it's alright, we offered you the choice," Millie said.
Hermione picked up the envelope and read the letter inside. "But, I could buy like ten books with this."
"We assumed you'd already have their catalogue," Theo said.
"I do," Hermione said, setting the letter aside and picking up another gift. She unwrapped the planner and the colored quills and still looked just as shocked as she had when she came into the room.
"Thank you, I don't even know what to say," Hermione said and then promptly started crying.
Rachel quickly looked to Millie and Theo. Had they gotten this wrong somehow? "Are you okay?" Rachel asked.
Hermione nodded and wiped her face. "Happy tears. I just, I've never had friends like this before. I mean, people who know me and understand me and like me anyway. I've never had a birthday party where people knew what to get me," she said, sniffling slightly. "And then you do all of this for me. Thank you."
"Of course, Hermione. We're your friends. Here, will cake make you feel better? It's strawberry," Millie said.
"Sure, we can have cake," Hermione said, laughing a little bit.
Theo took the lid off of the cake holder and revealed a beautifully frosted strawberry cake with halves of strawberries set into the sides. He dug into his bag and pulled out a box of birthday candles and set them into the top of the cake. "Here goes nothing. Incendio," he said, managing to light the candles without lighting the entire cake on fire. He pushed the cake so that it was close to Hermione.
"Make a wish and the Ourotep might grant it," Luna said.
Hermione held back her hair with one hand and leaned forward and blew the candles out.
They clapped and cheered and Hermione settled back into her seat with a bright grin.
Theo cut the cake and they each got a slice. It was delicious, though Rachel ate around the piece of strawberry. She didn't mind the flavor of strawberries, but she didn't really like the texture and the way it felt to bite into one.
"I think we should make a list in our two-way books of everyone's birthdays, that way we have advanced notice to prepare," Neville said.
"That's a good idea," Hermione said, putting her fork down and then reaching down to dig in her bag for her book.
Rachel took her book out too, though she knew that her friends all knew when her birthday was as they'd sent her presents over the summer. "Luna, what's your birthday?" she asked.
"February thirteenth," Luna said. "Can I have your strawberry if you're not going to eat it?"
"Sure," Rachel said, spearing the strawberry and passing her fork down to Luna. She wrote Luna's birthday down on their growing list.
"We have a lot to celebrate," Millie said, looking at the book. "It will be fun! People should write down what sort of cake or dessert they want too."
"I like sticky toffee pudding," Luna offered. Rachel wrote that down next to Luna's name and birthdate.
"See, I just like chocolate cake," Millie said.
"Apple strudel," Theo said with a nod.
"Brownies with chocolate pudding," Rachel said.
"Oh, nice," Millie said, smiling.
"Pumpkin pie for me, with whipped cream," Neville said.
"I do like the strawberry cake," Hermione said. "I also like creme brulee."
"I think we all just like sweets," Millie said.
Rachel smiled and drank some of her butterbeer. Parties were pretty fun, when they were the right parties.