PATRONOUS LESSONS
The rest of the Christmas holidays went in a really fast pace. Ron was a bit annoyed at the girls for some time as according to him, there could be nothing wrong with the broomstick. But at last, he came around with the fact that, safety was important. They spent the holidays were spent in playing in snow, chess completing homework and doing research to help Hagrid in his case. The holidays were less eventful than the last two but enjoyable. All in all, they were glad when the rest of the school returned shortly after New Year, and Gryffindor Tower became crowded and noisy again. Wood sought Natasha out on the night before term started.
"Had a good Christmas?" he said, and then, without waiting for an answer, he sat down, lowered his voice, and said, "I've been, doing some thinking over Christmas, Natasha. After last match, you know. If the Dementors come to the next one...I mean...we can't afford you to - well -"
Wood broke off, looking awkward.
"I'm working on it," said Natasha quickly. "Professor Lupin said he'd train me to ward off the Dementors. We should be starting this week. He said he'd have time after Christmas. You can have faith on me."
"Ah," said Wood, his expression clearing. "I know that, I can count on you. I really didn't want to lose you as Seeker, Natasha. And have you ordered a new broom yet?"
"No," said Natasha. "But-"
"What! You'd better get a move on, you know - you can't ride that Shooting Star against Ravenclaw!"
"She got a Firebolt for Christmas," said Ron.
"A Firebolt? No! Seriously? A - a real Firebolt?"
"Don't get excited, Oliver," said Natasha gloomily. "I haven't got it anymore. " And she explained all about how she suspected that the broom might be cursed.
"Jinxed? How could it be jinxed?"
"Sirius Black," Natasha said wearily. "He's supposed to be after me. So there is a chance that he might have sent it. Better safe than sorry."
Waving aside the information that a famous murderer was after his Seeker, Wood said, "But Black couldn't have bought a Firebolt! He's on the run! The whole country's on the lookout for him! How could he just walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a broomstick?"
"I know," said Natasha, "but I can't be fully sure and McGonagall will strip it fully down and see-"
Wood went pale.
"I'll go and talk to her, Natasha," he said. "I'll make her see reason...A Firebolt...a real Firebolt, on our team ...She wants Gryffindor to win as much as we do...I'll make her see sense. A Firebolt..."
"But-", before Natasha could argue, Oliver went muttering something. That evening, Natasha met Cedric.
"Hey, Cedric.", Natasha said giving him a smile.
"Hello, Natasha. Did you have a good break?", he asked.
"It was OK. I stayed at the castle along with friends.", Natasha said.
"I gathered that much. I didn't see you in the group of people who left for the train or who came back.", Cedric said.
"How was yours?", Natasha asked.
"It was a really good one, and thank you for the gift.", Cedric said with a smile, Natasha had given him a bracelet as a present and had got a small necklace from him.
"It was nothing, and I thank you too for the gift.", Natasha said.
"See you later then.", Cedric said and went to his common room.
Classes started again the next day. The last thing anyone felt like doing was spending two hours on the grounds on a raw January morning, but Hagrid had provided a bonfire full of salamanders for their enjoyment, and they spent an unusually good lesson collecting dry wood and leaves to keep the fire blazing while the flame-loving lizards scampered up and down the crumbling, white-hot logs. Arithmancy classes moved into more tougher topics, and Runes were also getting challenging. Natasha learned from Ron and Simran that, after the Christmas nonsense Professor Trelawney was even more adamant that, Natasha was going to die very soon.
It was Defense Against the Dark Arts that Natasha was keen to get to; after her conversation with Wood, she wanted to get started on her anti-Dementor lessons as soon as possible.
"Ah yes," said Lupin, when Natasha reminded him of his promise at the end of class. "Let me see...how about eight o'clock on Thursday evening? The History of Magic classroom should be large enough...I'll have to think carefully about how we're going to do this...We can't bring a real Dementor into the castle to practice on..."
"I don't think I can handle one, now sir.", Natasha said to the Professor.
"Still looks ill, doesn't he?" said Ron as they walked down the corridor, heading to dinner. "What d'you reckon's the matter with him?"
Natasha and Hermione just looked at each other knowingly. Simran noticed that and asked, "Do you both know, what is wrong with him?"
"Nope. We are as blank as you are.", Natasha said.
"What class do we have next?", Hermione asked.
"Runes.", Simran said.
"Free hour for me!", Ron said and headed towards the common room.
At eight o'clock on Thursday evening, Natasha left Gryffindor Tower for the History of Magic classroom. It was dark and empty when she arrived, but she lit the lamps with her wand and had waited only five minutes when Professor Lupin turned up, carrying a large packing case, which she heaved onto Professor Binn's desk.
"What's in that box?" said Natasha.
"Another Boggart," said Lupin, stripping off his cloak. "I've been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch's filing cabinet. It's the nearest we'll get to a real Dementor. The Boggart will turn into a Dementor when he sees you, so we'll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we're not using him; there's a cupboard under my desk he'll like. At least, I hope that your worst fear is Dementor still."
"I think so, and I am ready to face it.," said Natasha, trying to sound as though she wasn't apprehensive at all and merely glad that Lupin had found such a good substitute for a real Dementor.
"So..." Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, and indicated that Natasha should do the same. "The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Natasha - well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm."
"How does it work?", asked Natasha eagerly.
"Well, when it works correctly, It conjures up a Patronus," said Lupin, "which is a kind of anti-Dementor - a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor."
Natasha had a sudden vision of herself crouching behind a Hagrid-sized figure holding a large club. Professor Lupin continued, "The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon - hope, happiness, the desire to survive - but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can't hurt it. But I must warn you, Natasha, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it."
"What does a Patronus look like?" said Natasha curiously.
"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it."
"And how do you conjure it?"
"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory."
Natasha cast her mind about for a happy memory. She settled on the moment when she had first ridden a broomstick.
"Right," she said, trying to recall as exactly as possible the wonderful, soaring sensation of her stomach.
"The incantation is this -" Lupin cleared his throat. "Expecto patronum!"
"Expecto patronum," Natasha repeated under her breath, "expecto patronum."
"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?"
"Oh – yeah. I think I got just the one." said Natasha, quickly forcing her thoughts back to that first broom ride. "Expecto patrono - no, patronum - sorry - expecto patronum, expecto patronum"
Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of her wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas.
"Wow!" said Natasha excitedly. "definitely something happened!"
"Very good. That is pretty good for you." said Lupin, smiling. "Right, then - ready to try it on a Dementor?"
"Yes," Natasha said, gripping her wand very tightly, and moving into the middle of the deserted classroom. She tried to keep her mind on flying, but something else kept intruding...Any second now, she might hear her mother again...but she shouldn't think that, or she would hear her again, and she didn't want to...or did she? She was in a really bad situation, one part of her mind wanted to hear her mother again but the other part of her mind was telling her to perform the charm. Natasha knew that, she had to somehow do the latter.
Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled.
A Dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned toward Natasha, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak. The lamps around the classroom flickered and went out. The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently toward Natasha, drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing cold broke over her -
"Expecto patronum!" Natasha yelled. "Expecto patronum! Expecto -"
But the classroom and the Dementor were dissolving...Natasha was falling again through thick white fog, and her mother's voice was louder than ever, echoing inside her head - "Not Natasha! Not Natasha! Please - I'll do anything -"
"Stand aside - stand aside, girl -"
"Natasha!"
Natasha jerked back to life. She was lying flat on her back on the floor. The classroom lamps were alight again. She didn't have to ask what had happened.
"Sorry," she muttered, sitting up and feeling cold sweat trickling down behind her glasses. She felt really disappointed for her inability.
"Are you all right?" said Lupin.
"Yes..." Natasha pulled herself up on one of the desks and leaned against it.
"Here -" Lupin handed her a Chocolate Frog. "Eat this before we try again. I didn't expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had."
"It's getting worse," Natasha muttered, biting off the Frog's head. "I could hear her louder that time - and him – Voldemort. He was shouting at my mom to step aside."
Lupin looked paler than usual.
"Natasha, if you don't want to continue, I will more than understand -"
"I do!" said Natasha fiercely, stuffing the rest of the Chocolate Frog into her mouth. "I've got to! What if the Dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can't afford to fall off again. If we lose this game we've lost the Quidditch Cup!"
"All right then..." said Lupin. "You might want to select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to concentrate on...That one doesn't seem to have been strong enough. But I must tell you, Natasha. Your wellbeing is more important than the match."
Natasha knew, it was correct, but she knew that Wood deserved the cup and she will do anything to make him win.
Natasha thought hard and decided her feelings when Gryffindor had won the House Championship last year had definitely qualified as very happy. She gripped her wand tightly again and took up her position in the middle of the classroom.
"Ready?" said Lupin, gripping the box lid.
"Ready," said Natasha; trying hard to fill her head with happy thoughts about Gryffindor winning, and not dark thoughts about what was going to happen when the box opened.
"Go!" said Lupin, pulling off the lid. The room went icily cold and dark once more. The Dementor glided forward, drawing its breath; one rotting hand was extending toward Natasha -
"Expecto patronum!" Natasha yelled. "Expecto patronum! Expecto Pat -"
White fog obscured her senses...big, blurred shapes were moving around her...then came a new voice, a man's voice, shouting, panicking -
"Lily, take Natasha and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off -"
The sounds of someone stumbling from a room - a door bursting open - a cackle of high- pitched laughter. Natasha somehow knew that, the man shouting before was her father.
"Natasha! Natasha...wake up..."
Lupin was tapping Natasha hard on the face. This time it was a minute before Natasha understood why she was lying on a dusty classroom floor.
"I heard my dad," Natasha mumbled. "That's the first time I've ever heard him - he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it..."
Natasha suddenly realized that there were tears on her face mingling with the sweat. She bent her face as low as possible, wiping them off on her robes, pretending to do up her shoelace, so that Lupin wouldn't see. The very thing that, she remembers about her parents were their last moments were very depressing.
"You heard James?" said Lupin in a strange voice.
"Yeah..." Face dry, Natasha looked up. "Why - you didn't know my dad, did you?"
"I - I did, as a matter of fact," said Lupin. "We were friends at Hogwarts. Listen, Natasha - perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced...I shouldn't have suggested putting you through this..."
"No!" said Natasha. She got up again. "I'll have one more go! I'm not thinking of happy enough things, that's what it is...hang on..."
She racked her brains. A really, really happy memory...one that she could turn into a good, strong Patronus...
Then she remembered the moment when Cedric had asked her out. The only joy that that she had felt comparable to that, was when she had found that she was a witch. Concentrating very hard on how she had felt when she'd realized that maybe Cedric had feelings for, Natasha got to her feet and faced the packing case once more.
"Ready?" said Lupin, who looked as though he were doing this against his better judgment. "Concentrating hard? All right - go!"
He pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and the Dementor rose out of it; the room fell cold and dark -
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Natasha bellowed. "EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
The screaming inside Natasha's head had started again - except this time, it sounded as though it were coming from a badly tuned radio - softer and louder and softer again...and she could still see the Dementor...it had halted...and then a huge, silver shadow came bursting out of the end of Natasha's wand, to hover between her and the Dementor, and though Natasha's legs felt like water, she was still on her feet - though for how much longer, she wasn't sure.
"Riddikulus!" roared Lupin, springing forward.
There was a loud crack, and Natasha's cloudy Patronus vanished along with the Dementor; she sank into a chair, feeling as exhausted as if she'd just run a mile, and felt her legs shaking. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Professor Lupin forcing the Boggart back into the packing case with her wand; it had turned into a silvery orb again.
"I did it. I think I created some kind of a Patronus.", said Natasha giving the professor a weak smile.
"Excellent!" Lupin said, striding over to where Natasha sat. "Excellent, Natasha! That was definitely a start!"
"Can we have another go? Just one more go?", Natasha asked
"Not now," said Lupin firmly. "You've had enough for one night. Here -"
He handed Natasha a large bar of Honeydukes' best chocolate.
"Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. Same time next week?"
"Okay," said Natasha. She took a bite of the chocolate and watched Lupin extinguishing the lamps that had rekindled with the disappearance of the Dementor. A thought had just occurred to her. If he was really friends with her father then-
"Professor Lupin?" she said. "If you knew my dad, you must've known Sirius Black as well."
Lupin turned very quickly.
"What gives you that idea?", he said sharply.
"Nothing - I mean, I had heard that, they were friends at Hogwarts too..."
Lupin's face relaxed.
"Yes, I knew him," he said shortly. "Or I thought I did. You'd better be off, Natasha, it's getting late."
Natasha left the classroom, walking along the corridor and around a corner, then took a detour behind a suit of armor and sank down on its plinth to finish her chocolate, wishing she hadn't mentioned Black, as Lupin was obviously not keen on the subject. Then Natasha's thoughts wandered back to her mother and father ...
She felt drained and strangely empty, even though she was so full of chocolate. Terrible though it was to hear her parents' last moments replayed inside her head, these were the only times Natasha had heard their voices since she was a very small child. She knew, she had to erase all those thoughts if she had to produce a full Patronus. She made a mental note to research more about the topic in the Library.
She stood up, crammed the last bit of chocolate into her mouth, and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. Her friends were waiting for her eagerly at the common room to know how the training had gone. When she entered the common room, Hermione asked, "How was the lesson Natasha."
"Give her a moment to breathe, Hermione.", Simran said.
"Yeah, I am sure that she must be tired after the lesson.", Ron nodded and said.
Natasha went and sat in the nearest chair. It was already around nine thirty, so the common room was empty as the other students had already left for bed.
"It was not good. I mean, he thought me well but the charm is a pretty difficult one.", Natasha admitted.
"What was it called?", Hermione asked curiously.
"Its called Patronus charm. It is supposed to produce some kind of guardian that can repel the dementors.", Natasha said.
"Interesting. But what do you mean, by guardian?", Simran asked.
"It seems the form it takes, depends on person to person.", Natasha said and explained everything that happened in the class.
"So, its not a completely disappointing class.", Ron said. "You were at least able to repel the dementor for a little while."
"Now, I just hope that I will master the charm by the time of our Ravenclaw match.", Natasha said.
Ravenclaw played Slytherin a week after the start of term. Slytherin won, though narrowly. According to Wood, this was good news for Gryffindor, who would take second place if they beat Ravenclaw too. He therefore increased the number of team practices to five a week. This meant that with Lupin's anti-Dementor classes, which in themselves were more draining than six Quidditch practices, Natasha had just one night a week to do all her homework. Even so, she was not showing the strain nearly as much as Hermione, whose immense workload finally seemed to be getting to her. Every night, without fail, Hermione was to be seen in a corner of the common room, several tables spread with books, Arithmancy charts, rune dictionaries, diagrams of Muggles lifting heavy objects, and file upon file of extensive notes, Natasha also joined her in the subjects that both of them had together. Simran also joined them to do Runes homework.
"How's she doing it?" Ron muttered Simran one evening as Simran sat finishing a nasty essay for Divination. Simran looked up. Hermione was barely visible behind a tottering pile of books, with Natasha next to her. They both were doing to Arithmancy homework.
"Doing what?"
"Getting to all her classes!" Ron said. "I mean, she and Simran are obviously doing her Arithmancy homework and Natasha had mentioned that, it was given yesterday. They were going on about yesterday's lesson, but Hermione can't've been there, because she was with us in Care of Magical Creatures! And Ernie McMillan told me she's never missed a Muggle Studies class, but half of them are at the same time as Divination, and she's never missed one of them either!"
"I think she will tell us eventually. Maybe she was told not to tell anyone.", Simran said while dipping the quill with ink.
"But we are her friends!", Ron protested.
"Vow's are not to be broken, Ron.", Simran said seriously. Ron just nodded.
Natasha was solving some complex problem which was literally breaking her head. She didn't want anyone to interrupt her except for Hermione who was also doing the same. Two seconds later, however, she was interrupted by Wood.
"Bad news, Natasha. I've just been to see Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. She - er - got a bit shirty with me. Told me I'd got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told her I didn't care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch first." Wood shook his head in disbelief. "Honestly, the way she was yelling at me...you'd think I'd said something terrible. Then I asked her how much longer she was going to keep it..." He screwed up his face and imitated Professor McGonagall's severe voice. "As long as necessary, Wood"...I reckon it's time you ordered a new broom, Natasha. There's an order form at the back of Which Broomstick...you could get a Nimbus Two Thousand and One, like Malfoy's got."
Natasha was completely thunderstruck by the fact that, Oliver said that he didn't care much about her well being as long as she catches the snitch. She first looked at Hermione, who also had a look of disbelief.
"Unlike you Oliver, I do care about my health.", Natasha said angrily that the whole common room could hear and just sat down without saying another word.
Wood gave a completely shocked look and retreated slowly. Natasha was in a really foul mood for the rest of her homework that she made many mistakes. Hermione helped her with the mistakes and she gave a look of understanding.
Just after they finished the homework, Angelina and Alicia came to her.
"We would like to apologise on behalf of Wood, Natasha. He didn't know what he was saying.", Angelina said.
"As you know, he is a bit too serious about match sometimes.", Angelina said.
"What he said just angered me guys. It was like he cared about only winning, and not the life of his teammates.", Natasha said.
"Don't worry about that. We have made sure that, he will not say such nonsense again.", Alicia said.
"We both have made sure of that.", Angelina said. "And even the twins will support us."
"I am feeling a little better, guys. Thanks.", Natasha said with a smile, but she knew that it will take time.
During the next practise, things were awkward between Oliver and Natasha, but they started talking normally after some more practise sessions.
January faded imperceptibly into February, with no change in the bitterly cold weather. The match against Ravenclaw was drawing nearer and nearer, but Natasha still hadn't ordered a new broom. She was now asking Professor McGonagall for news of the Firebolt after every Transfiguration lesson.
"No, Ms Potter, you can't have it back yet," Professor McGonagall told her the twelfth time this happened, before she'd even opened her mouth. "We've checked for most of the usual curses, but Professor Flitwick believes the broom might be carrying a Hurling Hex. I shall tell you once we've finished checking it."
Natasha's anti-Dementor lessons were not going nearly as well as she had hoped. Several sessions on, she was able to produce an indistinct, silvery shadow every time the Boggart-Dementor approached her, but her Patronus was too feeble to drive the Dementor away. All it did was hover, like a semi-transparent cloud, draining Natasha of energy as she fought to keep it there. Natasha felt angry with herself, guilty about her secret desire to hear her parents' voices again.
"You're expecting too much of yourself," said Professor Lupin, sternly in their fourth week of practice. "For a thirteen-year-old witch, even an indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement. You aren't passing out anymore, are you?"
"I thought a Patronus would - charge the Dementors down or something," said Natasha dispiritedly. "Make them disappear. I mean, that's what I read it in books."
"The true Patronus does do that," said Lupin. "But you've achieved a great deal in a very short space of time. If the Dementors put in an appearance at your next Quidditch match, You will be able to keep them at bay long enough to get back to the ground."
"You said it's harder if there are loads of them," said Natasha.
"I have complete confidence in you," said Lupin, smiling. "Here have some butterbeer. I am sure you would have tried this before, considering that, you have gone to Hogsmeade once."
He pulled two bottles out of his briefcase.
"Butterbeer!" said Natasha, with a smile. "Yeah, I like that stuff!"
"I knew that, you will like these. James loved this.", Remus said with a smile.
"Can you tell me more about my dad?", Natasha asked hopefully. "I don't know much about him."
"I will tell you in a later time, Natasha. But I promise you that I will.", Professor Lupin said.
They drank the butterbeer in silence, until Natasha voiced something she'd been wondering for a while.
"What's under a Dementor's hood?"
Professor Lupin lowered his bottle thoughtfully.
"Hmmm ... well, the only people who really know are in no condition to tell us. You see, the Dementor lowers its hood only to use its last and worst weapon."
"What's that?"
"They call it the Dementor's Kiss," said Lupin, with a slightly twisted smile. "It's what Dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. I suppose there must be some kind of mouth under there, because they clamp their jaws upon the mouth of the victim and - and suck out his soul."
Natasha accidentally spat out a bit of butterbeer.
"What - they kill -?"
"Oh no," said Lupin. "Much worse than that. You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you'll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no...anything. There's no chance at all of recovery. You'll just exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever...lost."
"So, he becomes something close to a zombie.", Natasha commented. "Only difference being that, zombies as dead, and the person is not."
Lupin drank a little more butterbeer, then said, "That is an explanation close to the truth. It's the fate that awaits Sirius Black. It was in the Daily Prophet this morning. The Ministry have given the Dementors permission to perform it if they find him."
Natasha sat stunned for a moment at the idea of someone having their soul sucked out through their mouth. But then she thought of Black.
"He deserves it," she said suddenly.
"You think so?" said Lupin lightly. "Do you really think anyone deserves that?"
"Yes," said Natasha defiantly. "For...for some things..."
She would have liked to have told Lupin about the conversation she'd overheard about Black in the Three Broomsticks, about Black betraying her mother and father, but it would have involved revealing that she'd gone to Hogsmeade without permission, and she knew Lupin wouldn't be very impressed by that. So she finished her butterbeer, thanked Lupin, and left the History of Magic classroom.
Natasha half wished that she hadn't asked what was under a Dementor's hood, the answer had been so horrible, and she was so lost in unpleasant thoughts of what it would feel like to have your soul sucked out of you that she walked headlong into Professor McGonagall halfway up the stairs.
"Do watch where you're going, Ms. Potter!"
"Sorry, Professor -"
"I've just been looking for you in the Gryffindor common room, Well, here it is, we've done everything we could think of, and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it at all - you've got a very good friend somewhere, Potter..."
Natasha's jaw dropped. She was holding out her Firebolt, and it looked as magnificent as ever.
"I can have it back?" Natasha said weakly. "It is completely safe?"
"Seriously," said Professor McGonagall, and she was actually smiling. "I daresay you'll need to get the feel of it before Saturday's match, won't you? And Potter - do try and win, won't you? Or we'll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night."
"Thank you Professor.", Natasha said with a smile.
"You are welcome, Ms. Potter.", Professor said and left.
Speechless, Natasha carried the Firebolt back upstairs toward Gryffindor Tower. As she turned a corner, she saw Ron dashing toward her, grinning from ear to ear.
"She gave it to you? Excellent! Listen, can I have a go on it? Tomorrow?", he asked.
"Yeah...anything..." said Natasha, her heart lighter than it had been in a month.
They turned into the corridor to Gryffindor Tower and saw Neville Longbottom, pleading with Sir Cadogan, who seemed to be refusing him entrance.
"I wrote them down!" Neville was saying tearfully. "But I must've dropped them somewhere!"
"A likely tale!" roared Sir Cadogan. Then, spotting Natasha and Ron: "Good even, my fine young yeomen! Come clap this loon in irons. He is trying to force entry to the chambers within!"
"Oh, shut up," said Ron as he and Natasha drew level with Neville.
"I've lost the passwords!" Neville told them miserably. "I made him tell me what passwords he was going to use this week, because he keeps changing them, and now I don't know what I've done with them!"
"Oddsbodkins," said Natasha to Sir Cadogan, who looked extremely disappointed and reluctantly swung forward to let them into the common room. There was a sudden, excited murmur as every head turned and the next moment, Natasha was surrounded by people exclaiming over her Firebolt.
"Where'd you get it, Natasha?"
"Will you let me have a go?"
"Have you ridden it yet, Natasha?"
"Ravenclaw'll have no chance, they're all on Cleansweep Sevens!"
"Can I just hold it, Natasha?"
Just then, Simran and Hermione came through the crowd and tried to control them. Natasha grinned at them and they grinned back.
"I got it back," said Natasha, grinning at her and holding up the Firebolt. "Thankfully, there is nothing wrong with the broom."
"See, Hermione? There wasn't anything wrong with it!" said Ron.
"Well - there might have been!" said Hermione. "I mean, at least you know now that it's safe!"
"Yeah, "said Natasha. "I'd better put it upstairs."
"I will come back in some time.!" said Ron eagerly. "I've got to give Scabbers his rat tonic."
The girls then went to the dormitory, and kept the broomstick in the cupboard
"The question of who sent the broom, still remains unanswered.", Simran said.
"But who could it be?", Hermione asked as they went back down,
"We many never know.", Natasha said.
At that precise moment, a strangled yell echoed down the boys' staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder - and then Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bedsheet.
"LOOK!" he bellowed, striding over to Hermione's table. "LOOK!" he yelled, shaking the sheets in her face.
"Ron, what -?"
"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!"
Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking utterly bewildered. Natasha looked down at the sheet Ron was holding. There was something red on it. Something that looked horribly like -
"BLOOD!" Ron yelled into the stunned silence. "HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"
"STOP IT RON!", Simran yelled. "Why are you shouting at Hermione for?". But Ron completely ignored her and stared at Hermione demanding an answer.
"N - no," said Hermione in a trembling voice.
Ron threw something down onto the table next to Hermione's chair. The three girls leaned forward to get a better view. Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several long, ginger cat hairs. The three girls looked at each other in utter bewilderment. It was as though Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers. At that moment, Natasha knew that Hermione was certainly in trouble.