Chapter Twenty-One: Christmas Plans Disrupted

Wednesday 25th November 1994

CAN A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD TRULY PERFORM A SUMMONING CHARM?

By Riana Skettles

That was the headline of the following morning's paper. The article was not written by Rita Skeeter but she had tutored the Witch who had written it. Rita and Riana were cousins and both had wicked tongues. Riana had touched upon the fact that a fourth year student would not be able to adequately perform a summoning charm, especially one that was powerful enough to summon a broom. Riana suggested that Sirius Black had secretly done the spell for Harry enabling his 'heir' to claim his egg the fastest. Professor Flitwick, the Charms Professor, did not take the article lightly. In fact he wrote a letter before his first class explaining that the fourth years had learnt the Summoning Charm in October, giving Harry plenty of time to master the charm.

The article did not stop Sirius from venting his anger upon everyone who was related to the vile woman known as Rita Skeeter. She had been banned from writing degrading articles about him and Harry, but her cousin was not. Fortunately, Riana had not pursued the path that Rita had done. She only placed her own thoughts on how Harry Potter had gained his broom, and did not place blame upon Sirius' shoulders.

She only suggested that he had cast the spell, but to Sirius that felt like condemnation.

"Hermione, can I speak to you?" Harry sat down next to his friend as she leaned over her homework.

"Yeah, sure," Hermione said, but quickly looked down at her parchment. "Just hold on a sec."

"Sure." Harry shrugged and leaned back into the chair. Earlier that afternoon he had tried to open the Golden Egg, but all that had admitted from it had been wailing in a language that he had never heard of. It had pierced his ears, causing the drums to ring. He had succeeded in dropping the egg, and in order to close it, Harry had scrambled along the floor, snapping the egg shut as soon as he had reached it.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing," replied Hermione, laying down her quill to focus her attention upon him.

"Really?" Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Yes really! Now what do you want?"

Harry bit his lip. "The egg is incomprehensible, impossible to understand. How can I find out my task if I can't fathom out the language?"

Hermione frowned. "Hmmm, I don't know. There's no spell I can think of. Why not ask Sirius?"

"He can't help me and even if I tried to ask him, he would refuse."

"Ah," she nodded. "Teachers are not allowed to give help are they?"

"No, they're not. So, do you have any ideas?" Harry leaned forward, clasping his hands together.

"Can you get back to me on it? I'm a bit busy at the moment," she said, shuffling pieces of parchment on the table in front of her.

"When shall I get back to you?"

"Tomorrow."

"Okay, thanks," smiled Harry.

"No problem," added Hermione as she focused once more on the work she was doing.

Thursday 10th December

"I can't dance."

"You're going to have to," Sirius replied quietly.

"Why?" Harry didn't mean to raise his voice. He had been looking forward to Christmas this year. Sirius had been planning it since July, but now everything had gone wrong since he had been selected as a Triwizard champion.

Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I asked Dumbledore if he could get you out of participation of the Ball, but the Ministry say it is within the rules. Every champion must partake in the Yule Ball, and with a girl."

Harry stood up, frustrated and annoyed. "That's the worst part! How am I going to ask a girl out? I don't even know who to ask!"

Sirius leaned in thoughtfully. "I have an idea: how about Ginny Weasley?"

Harry stopped pacing. "You can't be serious."

"I am serious," his godfather smiled.

"Stop that! That joke is so old."

"I'm not joking. Asking Ginny is a serious suggestion! She's your friend, someone you know and someone you can be comfortable with."

"But….but…." He was stammering. "She's Ron's sister!"

Sirius gave him an odd look. "And that's a problem, why?"

"It just is." Harry kicked a piece of parchment that was scrolled up on the floor.

"Trust me, Harry, asking someone you already know is the best thing you can do. That way you won't make a fool of yourself when you try to ask someone who you would be less comfortable with."

"Really?" he asked dubiously.

"Trust me," winked Sirius. "I have a lot of experience."

Harry shook his head. "I really didn't want to know that."

"You wanted proof."

Harry just laughed.

The question on his mind now was could he sum up the courage to ask Ginny Weasley to the Yule Ball? And would she accept?

Now he felt worried.

To be continued...