Chapter 41
The First Rehearsal
"Settle down, everyone…please take your seats," Professor Snape announced the following Monday at precisely seven o'clock. All of Hogwarts seemed to be filtering through the auditorium doors…Harry walked in with Hermione, holding her hand and carrying his script in the other.
Professor McGonagall stood off to the side, talking very seriously to Erin and Jess, because they were in charge of lighting and special effects.
Harry and Hermione joined Ron, Lavender, Ginny, Neville, Seamus and Dean in the front section, and watched with amusement as Snape paced back and forth. "SETTLE DOWN!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, and the auditorium became silent at once. "Thank you. Now…welcome to the first rehearsal of our musical. I trust you have been reading through your scripts," he added, and there was a murmer of contempt rustling through the crowd.
"Rehearsals will be held this time each week till opening night on the Easter holiday. That gives us three solid months of preparation, and if you have even the least bit of competency, I expect we will be able to accomplish a well-rounded performance by then." He stared at them, just as Fred and George Weasley burst through the doors, making their way quickly down the isles. "You're late," he told the twins, who sat down in the middle.
"Sorry, sir," Fred replied, out-of-breath. "Got caught by Peeves."
Snape aimed his wand at him. "It won't happen again," he sneered, and George raised an eyebrow.
"Now," Snape continued. "All leads, please come up here, so everyone can have a good look at you."
Hermione blew out her breath, and followed her friends, Lavender excluded as she was a dancer, onto the stage. Cho and Harry glanced at each other and quickly turned away again. It was hard to believe he'd ever had such a crush on her. Sure, she was beautiful, but it was Hermione he'd always cared about.
"Good, god. Why not introduce yourselves, then. Tell us your names, the house you belong to, and the role you've received." He clapped his hands, and one by one, they rattled off the information.
"Thank you. Tonight's rehearsal will be a reading night. All extras may leave…just remember to report according to the schedule in your scripts. Leads, remain here, so we can begin reading through the first act. Ah, and…Miss Brown and Miss McShannan, I'll need to see the both of you up on the stage immediately."
Erin and Jess squeaked in fear…they were deathly afraid of Snape, but, with encouragement from Professor McGonagall, made their way timidly to the stage.
"You will be working with the special effects. Am I correct?" he asked, and Erin opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. She stood rigid with fear, her skin turning ghastly white.
"Yes, sir," Jess answered for her. Snape nodded in understanding.
"Good. And has Professor McGonagall explained what your duties will be?"
Jess clasped her hands behind her back, and stood up straight. "Yes. She said we were to follow a specific set of instructions from the Theatrical Magic spell book, and only use the spells that she has marked. Only when given further notice are we to change anything, sir."
Snape narrowed his eyes. "Good. You will be operating from up there." He pointed to a box far above the auditorium, near the rim of the curtains. Jess gulped, and fiddled with the hem of her robes.
"Yes, sir."
"Here is your specified schedule," he added, and handed a paper to Jess. He handed one to Erin, who immediately dropped it, and, embarrassed, scrambled to pick it up from the floor. "That will be all. You may go."
Jess pulled a practically petrified Erin off of the stage, with a bit of difficulty. When they left the auditorium after the crowd of extras, Snape ordered the leads to sit in a circle on the stage. For the remainder of the hour and a half, they read through the first act, trying to be dramatic as possible.
They worked on the auction scene first, where Harry's character was supposed to be an old gentleman by that point in time. Dean was the auctioneer, who was shouting bids.
"…sold! Your number, sir? Thank you. Lot 667, then, ladies and gentlemen…a papier mache musical box in the shape of a barrel organ. Attached, the figure of a monkey in Persian robes, playing the symbols. This item, discovered in the vaults of the theater, still in working order, ladies and gentlmen! Showing here!"
Harry glanced at Hermione, who was watching Dean intently, though she herself was not quite a participant in this particular scene.
"May I commence at fifteen francs? Fifteen, thank you. Yes, twenty francs from you, sir, thank you very much. Madame Giry?" Ginny had raised her hand gingerly, and had her eyes on Harry. "Madame Giry, twenty five, thank you, Madame. Twenty five I am bid. Do I hear thirty?" Harry raised his hand, feeling stupid. Judging from the script, he wondered if he would have to take a dose of old age potion. There wouldn't be anyway he could pull off an old man looking as he did. Though sometimes, he did feel like one. "And at thirty five? No? All right, selling at thirty francs, then. Thirty once, thirty twice, sold! To the Vicomte de Chagny. Thank you, sir."
Snape pointed at the script. "Potter, you're supposed to sing in the background, here," he said, and Harry gulped.
"What?" he asked. "That line, there?"
"Let's hear what you sound like, then."
Harry, feeling distinctly humiliated, tried to ignore the smug smirk of Malfoy across the stage from him, and a nudge of encouragement from Hermione helped.
"A collector's piece in deed," he sung in a soft voice, "every detail…exactly as she said…" he paused. "will you still play when the rest of us are dead…"
Dean continued, "Lot…then: a chandelier in pieces. Some of you may recall the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera: a mystery never fully explained. We are told, ladies and gentlemen, that this is the very chandelier, which figures in the famous disaster. Our workshop have repaired it and wired parts of it for the new electric light. Perhaps we can frighten away the ghost of so many years ago, with a little…illumination. Gentlemen?"
"This is where our first set of special effects will come in, then," Snape explained. "There will be a chandelier sitting here in the center of the stage, and Miss Brown and Miss McShannen will use a spell to make the chandelier lights come to life."
An excited, "Ooooh!" went through the crowd, and Snape held up his hand.
"Next act, go on, then, wasting time is not an option here!" he ordered them to turn to the next scene in their scripts.
The rehearsal continued in that fashion, until eight thirty when Snape finally allowed them to stop reading. "Pathetic," he told them. "Absolutely pathetic. But, of course, it's the first night, and I wasn't expecting anything better."
Hermione raised her hand. "Please, sir," she began, "I thought we did all right."
"Did I ask you to speak?" Snape snarled, and she lowered her head. "No, I didn't think so. I am the director, and I am the one allowed to speak. Report to the auditorium at the same time next Monday, and we'll try again from the beginning."
Harry and Hermione scrambled to their feet, and quickly took each other's hand. "Oh, it feels so good to actually recognize you!" Hermione laughed, as Ron caught up to them.
"Snape's a git," Ron growled. "I thought I delivered my lines all right, considering I hadn't read…"
"It's Snape, isn't it?" Harry asked, squeezing Hermione's hand affectionately as they made their way towards Gryffindor tower.
"Wait up, you three!" Ginny came flying after them, panting when she finally caught up. "Sorry, I had to ask Professor Snape about costumes."
They reached the common room ten minutes later, and what they saw when they entered made Hermione shriek. "Jess!" she exclaimed, horrified. "What have you done?"
The blonde-haired girl sat at one of the tables by the fireplace, her nose buried in the Theatrical Spellbook. Beside her on the next chair, sat an enormous, brightly colored peacock, who flapped its wings wildly. "That's not Erin!" Ginny cried, covering her mouth with her hand. The rest of their housemates were watching the situation with amusement, but didn't bother to interrupt their studies.
"This is really advanced magic," Jess gasped, flipping through the pages. Lavender sat on one of the plush chairs, giving her cousin a menacing look. "I'm not quite sure what I'm doing! I was just trying some of the effects out here, and well…" she pointed to Erin.
"You should take her to the infirmary," Ginny replied. "Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall will set her right!"
Ron was laughing hysterically as he joined Lavender, who pinched his arm in warning. "What?" he asked, looking down. "It is funny, that!"
"Oh, keep your shirt on," Jess finally laughed, aiming her wand at Erin.
"Don't!" Hermione begged. "You don't know what you're…" A resounding POP filled the air, and everyone covered their eyes, not sure they wanted to see what the end result was.
"Got you!" Erin's giggles came next, and Hermione lowered her hands, finding a perfectly human-form of Erin in place of the peacock.
"You…you knew what you were doing all the time, didn't you?" she asked, and Jess beamed.
"Of course I did," she said proudly.
"Can I see that book?" Hermione added, as Harry sat down on an empty chair, feeling slightly drained. Jess handed it over, and, after sitting on Harry's lap, Hermione began flipping through the spells. She stared. "This really is very advanced magic," she gasped. "Almost N.E.W.T. level! How does Professor McGonagall expect two first years to handle this type of magic?"
Ron looked at Hermione. "If I remember correctly," he began, "you were the only first year able to make a feather fly in Flitwick's class."
"That's different," Hermione snapped, feeling Harry rub her back gently. "That was meant for our year!"
"I've always been exceptionally good at Transfiguration," Jess explained, watching as Erin levitated the table halfway towards the ceiling. "Erin's brilliant with charms. In fact…" Jess aimed her wand at Harry's head, and Hermione glared.
"You wouldn't dare…"
POP! She slowly turned around, expecting to see another giant bird sitting behind her. Instead, Harry sat where he'd always been, though on top of his head, sat a golden crown. "OW!" Harry yelped, when he tried to remove it, after Hermione told him it was all right. Jess gulped.
"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "I can make objects appear out of thin air, only they tend to er…stick to stuff."
"Have you been doing spells nonverbally?" Hermione asked, amazed, and Jess nodded.
"Yep! It's the easiest way to do it." She magically removed the crown from Harry's head, and Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Actually," Hermione replied, "nonverbal spells are quite tricky. A lot of withces and wizards have difficulty with it at first."
"Really?" Jess asked, looking extremely proud of herself at that point.
"I still can't do it very well," Harry admitted. "And I'm a sixth year."
"Haha," Jess teased, pointing at him. "I'm better than you." She grinned, and then shook her head. "Just teasing, of course."
"I'm not very good with nonverbal," Erin admitted. "Accio, Trevor!" she pointed her wand at Neville's toad, which zoomed cleanly into the palm of her hand. "But every spell I've tried out loud in charms has worked for me. I'm getting better with transfigure…" POP!
Hermione slapped a hand against her forehead, as a peacock once again sat in Erin's spot. Jess plucked a feather from the bird, who gave an irritated squawk, and then aimed her wand back at it. POP! Erin appeared again, folding her arms tightly across her chest.
"What was that for?" she snapped, and Jess held up a feather.
"Now I have a peacock quill!" she exclaimed, delighted. "I've always wanted one!"
Erin scowled. "Couldn't you have transfigured one of your own hairs into a feather?" Erin asked, annoyed, and Jess raised her arms.
"Oh, get over it," she said huffily.
Lavender started to say something, but Ron nudged her. "Don't," he said, and she shook her head. "Excuse me," Lavender growled, "I have work to do, and I need to do it in peace and quiet."
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, and Lavender sighed.
"Up to our dormitory."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Ron asked, and she nodded, kissing him.
"Yes, once I get away from these two." She jabbed her thumb in Jess and Erin's direction. The little girls watched with amusement as Lavender gathered her school things, and stomped up the steps to the sixth year girl's dormitory.
"You really shouldn't take magic so lightly," Hermione told them, once Lavender was out of earshot.
"We're just having fun," Jess pouted, shutting her book, and watching as Harry kissed Hermione gently on the lips. After a moment of awkward silence, Jess and Erin looked at one another.
"You know," Jess continued, as Harry and Hermione broke apart again. "Erin and I were thinking about what you told us last week."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, pulling her Arithmancy book out of her knapsack. "Mmmhmmm?" she opened to the chapter Professor Vector assigned them to read that night, and closed her eyes as Harry massaged her shoulders.
"You're right," Jess added, "About men not being so bad when they get older. In fact, we want yours!"
Hermione dropped the book at once, and stared at them. "What?" she asked, and Erin giggled.
"Harry's really perfect," she said, "and very handsome, too. We were wondering if you would let us try him on for size."
Harry laughed. "I'm not that perfect," he insisted.
"Excuse me?" Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"Just to see if we like him or not," Jess added. "We think an experiment like this would be a good thing for us."
"You're not borrowing Harry," Hermione snapped. "We've been through too much together for me to give him up to anybody."
Clearly, Jess and Erin hadn't expected Hermione to get his upset over the matter, and they looked at each other worriedly. "It's been a hard summer and year," Harry told them. "It's a sensitive subject. Hey," Harry told Hermione, noticing the tears in her eyes. "Hermione, are you all right?"
"I have to…Harry, I'll talk to you tomorrow," she whispered, and quickly gave him a kiss.
"Hermione, we were just kidding you know," Erin told the older witch as she gathered her things, and, crying softly, hurried up the steps. "Oh dear," she added softly as they heard the sixth year dormitory shut.
"Oh, I feel like a git," Jess muttered, lowering her head. "I ought to go and apologize. I didn't mean to make her cry."
"You're…never going to get better, are you, Harry?" Erin asked, understanding why Hermione had gotten so upset at the prospect of someone wanting to take Harry from her. It had already happened before.
"I don't know," Harry admitted.
"What a mess we've made tonight," Erin told Jess, who was biting her lip.
"She'll be fine," Harry told them. "Snape was being hard on us at rehearsal, so she's hurt more easily. I would let her be until tomorrow."
The younger girls nodded. "We really do like you, Harry," Jess told him. "Obviously not like that, because you're too old for us."
Harry chuckled. "You're too young to be thinking about boys anyway," he said. "I didn't even start noticing girls until my fourth year, and it was still rather er…awkward. I didn't start dating Hermione till my fifth year. You have plenty of time."
Erin smiled. "Thanks, Harry." She wet her lips, and looked down at her parchment.
A loud snore came from Ron, and everyone turned to stare at him, just as the portrait hole opened, and the twins came through. "Oh," Jess announced. "Look what the dog dragged in!" she nudged Erin, and both of them aimed their wands at Fred and George. POP.
Everyone stared…now instead of one giant peacock, there were two, identical, slightly smaller ones. "There you are," Jess said, pointing. "Erin, you can have a peacock quill, too."
Harry nudged Ron's arm, and, after his friend gave a grunt, Ron opened his eyes. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, as Erin plucked a colorful feather from one of the peacocks.
POP! Fred and George reappeared, looking disgruntled. "Blimey," Fred cried. "What'd we do?"
"Were born," Jess added, sticking out her tongue. "And you were late."
"In case you liked to know," George added,
"We were in the kitchens."
"Fetching extra food that we'd like to share with you, but…"
"Obviously we're underappreciated."
Jess and Erin raised eyebrows at each other. "Oh!" they exclaimed in unison. "What did you get?"
"Ah ah," Fred told them, shaking his finger. "Not after that display."
"All right, all right," Jess growled. "We were just messing around."
"We're sorry," Erin promised, and soon, the twins displayed their finds, and the common room returned to normal again. Or, somewhat.