Blood Ties
Part 28
Rating, summary and such are same as before.
Note 1: Thanks for everyone's reviews! Again, my 1 week summer holiday has been waaaay busier than I have expected, and I've to delay updating the story until now. But this's gonna be a 2 parts update, hopfully it'll make it for you guys. :)
Note 2: And once again, thank you wonderful Joahn for beta-reading the story!
The celebration had been a blast until Professor McGonagall came by and ordered them to go to bed. Harry was about to go back to bed when he saw a school owl standing on his night stand, holding a letter. He quickly accepted and opened it, and smiled when he found it was from Willow. Quickly scribbling a reply, he gave it back to the school owl, and let it out from the window. The smile refused to leave his face even after he finally fell asleep.
Buffy sat on her bed, her eyes focusing on the text in front of her. Feeling a bit thirsty, she looked up, and found the bottle of water not far away. "Accio water." She picked up her wand on her nightstand and waved, but nothing happened. Frowning, Buffy pointed her wand at the bottle of water again. "Accio water!" Still, nothing.
Shaking her head, Buffy closed the book. "I must be tired." She reasoned, before putting her book and wand away, and tucked herself into bed.
What she did not notice was the faint red glow coming from her necklace.
Harry slipped out of the castle, and quickly ran towards Hagrid's hut. It was one of those secret dates he was having with Willow, and even though it was fun sometimes, the black haired Gryffindor couldn't help but hoping they did not have to sneak around like they had now. Ron, Hermione, Xander and Buffy all knew of the close relationship between himself and Willow, and Harry knew that Dawn had been helping Willow sneaking away especially since she still needed the crutches to walk, but the majority of teachers and students knew nothing except that the redhead would hang out with Gryffindors; the pair had been trying to avoid being spotted alone with each other.
Apart from the small courtyard Harry and Willow had always spent together practicing Quidditch, Hagrid's hut became their second favorite meeting place. Not only that not many other students would go there, Hagrid had never questioned the close relationship between Willow and he unlike other professors.
Reaching the hut, the smile that had been plastered on Harry's face disappeared when he saw Buffy and Hermione sitting on the rock outside the hut with Willow. When he got closer, he halted, wondering if he was seeing right: Hagrid, who was standing in the shallows of the Black Lake, had worn a hairy brown suit with a rather ugly yellow and orange tie.
"Hey." Buffy looked up and greeted the black haired boy.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, spotting the worried look on Willow's face, and immediately reached out and held her hand. "Are you okay?"
Willow nodded towards the half giant not far away. "He just came back from the hearing."
"Hearing?"
"For Buckbeak." Hermione sighed. "Malfoy had sent an official complain after Draco was hurt." She turned towards Hagrid. "You still haven't told us how it went, Hagrid."
"Well," Hagrid stared down at the rock he was holding. "I got up an' said my bit... you know, how Buckbeak was a good Hippogriff, that as long as yeh treated 'im with respect, he'd treat you the same... Then," he said bitterly. "Lucius Malfoy got up an' said how Buckbeak was a deadly dangerous beast that no teacher in their righ' mind would expose their students to..."
"And...?" Buffy promoted when Hagrid did not continued.
"He asked fer the worse... Lucius Malfoy did. An' the Committee granted it." The half giant threw the rock angrily into the water. "Buckbeak's bin sentenced ter death!"
Harry and Ron ran down the passageway towards the dungeons, made it just in time to Professor Flitwick's classroom for the Charm lesson. "You're late, boys!" Professor Flitwick said as he saw the two students. "Come along quickly! Pair up and wand out!"
The two Gryffindor sat just behind Buffy and Xander. "What are we doing today?"
"Cheering charms." Xander answered, then frowned. "I think." He turned towards the blonde sitting next to him. "Is it?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Where have you been the last five minutes?" She shook her head and turned towards Harry and Ron. "Hermione could've done with a cheering charm on her though. She is so sad these days."
"Willow too. She's still feeling guilty about Buckbeak. She thinks it's her fault that she didn't manage to persuade Malfoy not to complain." Harry said as he looked around. "Where's she?" He frowned when he couldn't find the redhead in the classroom.
"I don't know." Buffy frowned. "I haven't seen her or Hermione whole morning."
"C'mon now. Focus." Professor Flitwick ordered the gang. "Or you won't manage to pass the exam."
Harry and Ron ended up in a pair, while Buffy and Xander in another. It did not take long for Harry to get a hang on the easy charm, and even Ron and Xander managed to use it by the end of the lesson. Buffy, for some reason, could not even get a spark from her wand. "Are you alright, Buffy?" Xander asked. It was rather unusual that Buffy could not do the spell, especially when she was one of the better Charm users in third year Gryffindor.
"Maybe you're coming down with something?"
The gang spun around, and found Willow sitting there with Hermione, both of them looked a bit worst for wear. Harry immediately moved towards the redhead. "Hey."
"Harry." Willow grinned.
"Where did you guys come from?" Ron blinked, looking a bit surprised.
Willow and Hermione exchanged a look. "The door?" Hermione told Ron, before turning back towards the redhead Slytherin. "But I never heard that someone would be so tired that they cannot do spells?" She turned towards Buffy. "Maybe your wand is damaged?"
"May I?" Harry asked, and the blond handed him the wand. "Lumos." He waved, and the tip of the wand lighted up. "It's working." He turned the light off, and handed it back to Buffy.
Hermione looked troubled. "You should talk to a professor."
"C'mon. It's no big deal. I'm just tired." Buffy waved her hand off, even though the frown on her face deepened.
It was almost a week, and Buffy had yet to success in performing even the simplest spell. Harry was getting worried, so was the rest of the gang as they watched Buffy getting more and more worried.
Willow no longer required the crutches, but her movement was still a bit weakened. Madam Pomfrey had said it would be sometime before Willow could regain the full use of her legs. Who would have thought damages done by muggle weapons would take even longer time for a person to recover than magic induced wounds?
"Open your mind..."
The black haired boy swallowed the giggles in his throat as he watched Hermione rolled her eyes for the third time since they had entered the classroom couple minutes ago. Divination was the last lesson for the week, and the whole gang, including Willow, would go to Hagrid's after class to spend sometime with Buckbeak before it was to be put down. He sighed, and turned towards the redhead, and found the redhead playing with the edge of the paper, not at least slightly focused on the text in front of her.
"Crystal gazing is a particularly refined art." Professor Trelawney's voice bought Harry's attention back towards her. "I do not expect any of you to see when you first peer into the Orb's infinite depths. That's why I introduce the crystal ball a little earlier than I had planned; the Fates have informed me your examination in June will concern the Orb, and I am anxious to give you sufficient practice."
Hermione's snort was loud enough to be heard by half the class. "Honestly..." She rolled her eyes again. "'The Fates have informed her'? Who sets the exam? She does! What an amazing prediction!" The others giggled immediately.
Professor Trelawney either did not hear Hermione, or simply didn't care as she continued. "We shall start by practicing relaxing the conscious mind and external eyes, so as to clear the Inner Eye and the super conscious. Perhaps, if we're lucky, some of you will see before the end of the class."
Harry sighed, and stared into the milky orb in front of him, watching as the mist within moving slightly. "This is stupid..." He whispered, and turned back towards the table where Willow was sitting.
"Oh my..." The black haired boy looked up, and found the professor stood there, staring at his orb. "What do we have here..." She narrowed her eyes. "Oh dear... the Gr-"
"Oh for God's sake!" Hermione said loudly. "Not that ridiculous Grim again!"
Professor Trelawney shook her head sadly as she moved towards Hermione and took the young student's hand into her own. "My dear," she petted Hermione's hand a bit. "From the moment you first arrived in my class, I sense that you do not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination. You may be young in years, but the heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shriveled as an old maid's, you soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave..."
The whole class went silent. Hermione narrowed her eyes, looked about to explode. She stood gracefully, and without another word, swung her hand towards the orb on her table, knocking it onto the floor, before storming out of the classroom. Willow's eyes sent draggers at the professor as she stood also, her movement not as graceful as she picked up her own bag and left with Buffy who looked about to punch the professor.
Professor Trelawney looked around, confusion written all over her face. "Did I say something?"
The class finally ended. Harry followed Ron and Xander out of the classroom, listening to Ron as he complained. "Hermione has gone mental, I'm telling you."
"You can't really blame Hermione though." Xander reasoned.
"I thought you like Trelawney's class."
"I do. 'Cos she's the only one who won't say anything when you fall asleep in her class."
Harry shook his head, his eyes spotted the crystal ball that was knocked onto the floor by Hermione earlier. "I'll be right back." He said, picking up the orb and ran back into the classroom, putting it back onto the empty stand. But when his hands left the orb, the smoke inside it suddenly darken. Harry frowned and leaned in, and found himself staring at a milky face - the face of Sirius Black.
The black haired boy stumbled back, when a hand suddenly appeared and grabbed his shoulder. He turned, and found Professor Trelawney standing there, her hand shaking but refused to let go of Harry. "Professor..."
"Tonight..."
"What?"
"The dark lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out... to rejoin his master. The dark lord will rise again with his servant's aid... greater and more terrible than ever he was..." The professor's voice became harsher as she struggled to breath. "Tonight... before midnight... the servant... will set out... to rejoin... his master..."
Then, suddenly, the professor's head fell forward, and coughed. The hand on Harry's shoulder finally gone loose, and the black haired boy immediately took a step back. Professor Trelawney looked up again, and blinked when she saw Harry. "Oh, I'm so sorry, dear boy." She smiled. "The heat of the day, you know, I drifted off for a moment..."
He took another step back.
The professor frowned. "Is there anything wrong, my dear?"
Harry swallowed, shook his head, and quickly ran out of the classroom.