But, soft: behold! lo where it comes again!
I'll cross it, though it blast me. Stay, illusion!
If thou hast any sound, or use a voice.
Speak to me.

—William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Chapter Four

The first real dip in Holly's enthusiasm for Hogwarts occurred in the second week on classes, when she and her friends woke up one morning to find a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday, and it seemed that Slytherin House would be joining them. Holly had not really wanted to learn to fly, and hadn't realized that it would be mandatory. She gave a groan.

"Great," Holly said to Lavender darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Pansy Parkinson."

Parvati patted her on the shoulder. "You might not make a fool of yourself. Maybe you'll be a good flyer."

"Wait, you mean there is something that Holly Potter isn't good at? Perish the thought," Lavender said, laughing.

Holly scowled. Flying on a broomstick didn't sound anything like riding on the back of an Abraxan. She had liked doing that, but there had been an element of safety in it, as there was a saddle and a living, clever animal to do the flying for her. This, this would be different. It would just be her and a broom, and Holly didn't think that brooms could do her thinking for her.

It seemed as though everyone was talking about flying too. Malfoy, the annoying boy from their Potions class, talked about it all the time. He was a stuck-up kid, who reminded her far too much of Dudley. Loudly, and in a voice that carried, he told anyone who would listen about how he thought it was a crime that first years weren't allowed brooms, and told long stories of him flying about the countryside, narrowly evading Muggles in helicopters. (Though he pronounced them hee-lee-copters—something that made Holly snicker every time).

The real problem was, Malfoy wasn't the only one. Ron and Seamus were always talking about flying, and they spoke in such a way that it seemed neither of them had done much else as children. Parvati said this accounted for their dismal showings in classes so far. Holly was just thankful that neither of her friends seemed that interested in the upcoming lesson. Parvati loved Quidditch, but had no interest in playing herself, so she approached the upcoming lesson with a certain calm. Lavender didn't care about flying at all, though she had plenty of experience with it, and tried to change the subject whenever it was brought up. She told Holly that her brother was mad for it, but Lavender had been forced to play him in two-man Quidditch growing up and this had left her a distinct distaste for it.

Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, as apparently his grandmother had forbade him from touching one. His nervousness was rather apparent when he said the word 'flying.' When Dean, who seemed rather excited for the upcoming lesson, had asked why his father had never taught him, Neville had gotten very quiet and said his dad worked a lot.

And then there was Hermione. She seemed almost as nervous about flying as Holly and Neville were, but she was showing it much more. There was an annoyance to her as well, as this was something that could not be read or learned from a book, not that Hermione hadn't tried. Her new trick had been to take Quidditch Through the Ages out from the library, and she spent all her time boring them with stupid flying tips at breakfast on Thursday. Neville was hanging onto her every word, but the rest of the Gryffindors were glad when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail.

A little barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother, along with a letter from his father. Neville got letters from his dad a lot, always white envelopes written in a bold, black script, but Neville never read them at the table. He always tucked them into his pocket, and acted as though nothing had happened at all. Neville did this now, putting the letter into his robes, but the package he opened excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, filled with white steam.

"It's a Remembrall!" he said. "Gran knows I forget things—this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and it turns red—oh," his face fell as the Remembrall's smoke turned scarlet, "if you've forgotten something."

Holly patted Neville on the shoulder, causing the boy to smile at her.

At three-thirty that afternoon, the first year Gryffindors departed the castle and went out onto the grounds for their flying lesson. It was a clear day, and Parvati pointed out a shape in the clouds that looked like a tiger. Lavender laughed, and said it looked like a deer. It looked like no such thing, Holly informed them primly. It was clearly a dog.

The three girls hopped about, following behind the rest of the students as they walked across the grass. Their lesson was to take place on the smooth flat grass opposite the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were dancing and waving at them from the distance. Holly thought the forest didn't look scary at all, and wondered why it was forbidden.

The other students from Slytherin House were already there, as were twenty broomsticks on the ground, laid out in two even rows. They didn't seem all that safe, and some of them even had twigs sticking out unevenly. Soon, the Flying Instructor arrived. Her name was Madam Hooch, and she had short grey hair, and bright yellow eyes that seemed to see everything.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Holly looked at her broom, and sighed. It was old and looked shifty.

"Stick out you right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"

"UP!" everyone shouted.

Holly's broom slowly floated up into her hand, as if it wasn't really sure that it wanted to. Looking around, she saw that Ron and Dean's brooms had jumped right into their hands, as had Victoria Frobisher's. Theirs were the few that did. Hermione's was rolling on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Lavenders had reacted much like Holly's, while Parvati's had moved by inches.

Madam Hooch showed them next how to mount their brooms so they wouldn't slide off the end, and really, Holly almost gave up when that little tidbit had been shared. The teacher then marched around, correcting their grips. Ron and Seamus had sniggered when Madam Hooch told Malfoy that he had been doing it wrong for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," their teacher said. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle—three—two—"

But before she could say 'one', Neville, pushed off hard.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville did not seem to have control of his broom. He went up and up, twelve feet, twenty feet. Parvati cried out, turning her eyes away, and Lavender's face went pale. Holly saw Neville slide off the broom, and there was a loud thud and a nasty crack when he hit the ground. His broomstick just kept going up and up, floating away like a balloon whose string was cut.

Madam Hooch looked Neville over closely, her face as white as his. "Broken wrist, come on boy—it's all right, up you get." She then turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing. You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

She led a crying Neville hobbling off, up the lawn and towards the school. Once they were out of sight, Malfoy burst into laughter.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?"

The other Slytherins joined in his jeering.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Parvati snapped, looking particularly angry.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" Pansy Parkinson jumped in. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"Better than bratty little she-snakes," Holly interjected, crossing her arms.

Pansy's fists clenched, but before she could reply, Malfoy darted forward and snatched something from the grass, crying: "Look! Longbottom lost a Remembrall. What a ponce."

"Give that here, Malfoy," Holly said quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Malfoy looked uncertain for a long moment, but then smiled nastily. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find—how about up a tree?"

"Supplanto!" Holly heard Lavender hiss beside her.

"Aestus!" the redhead added, and the two girls looked smugly at each other and watched the results unfold.

Malfoy started yelling at first, suddenly convinced that the Remembrall he was holding was very hot. It went falling from his hands, rolling along the ground towards Parvati, who stopped it with her boot. Malfoy made to follow it, but the first step he took sent him sprawling on the ground, his robe riding up his pale legs.

All the children started laughing, even the Slytherins.

Ron Weasley was bent over double, his face growing red. Looking terribly embarrassed, Malfoy stood up on shaky legs and yelled at his classmates, "Stop laughing! Stop it! Wait until I tell my father—"

"Ooh, Malfoy," Parvati said, a wicked smile lighting up her face. "Are you going to cry? Who knew you liked whiny little crybabies, Pansy?"

"Nice job, Fall Boy!" Seamus yelled out, starting another round of laughter among the kids.

"Fall Boy, Fall Boy!" they chanted, over and over, circling Draco Malfoy. The pale faced Slytherin looked as though he truly might cry then. The two gorillas—Crabbe and Goyle—that accompanied Malfoy everywhere were cracking their knuckles ominously, but there were simply too many first years there for the pair of them to seem truly frightening.

"What is going on here?"

They all turned to see Professor McGonagall standing there with her hands on her hips. She looked frustrated, but not livid, so she obviously didn't understand what she had been seeing.

Ron Weasley seemed to sense this too, for he called out, "We're waiting for Madam Hooch, Professor, and while we wait, Malfoy was just showing us all how graceful he is."

They all started snickering at that, and McGonagall pursed her lips. "All of you line up now, and I will take you through your lesson until Madam Hooch returns."

The first years spent the next half an hour flying in a circle ten feet off the ground. When it was finally done, and Madam Hooch returned and released them, Holly thankfully put down the broom and left with Lavender and Parvati as quickly as she could.

"Tell the truth," Lavender said, sending Holly a sly look. "You hated every minute of flying, didn't you?"

"Every minute?" Holly said incredulously. "Try every second."

The three girls laughed, and started climbing up the lawn towards the castle. On the way, Holly saw a little white envelope floating and being tossed about in the grass by the wind. She went chasing after it, only noticing once she picked it up that it was Neville's Father's letter. The golden wax seal upon it had come undone. She showed it to Parvati and Lavender and was just sticking it in her pocket when Hermione's voice rang out across the yard.

"I saw what you did." The three girls turned to see Hermione standing on a little mound above them. She then stomped down the small hill until she was face to face with Holly. "I ought to tell Professor McGonagall what happened," Hermione growled. "You used magic to hurt another student!"

Holly rolled her eyes. "I did not. The spell doesn't actually burn him, and maybe he is just clumsier that we thought."

"Besides," Parvati added. "He's just a Slytherin. Who cares?"

Hermione's hair was whipping about in the wind. "I'll tell!"

"Go ahead then, tell," Lavender said, crossing her arms. "And then you can be the one to explain to the rest of Gryffindor House why we lost points for defending a fellow lion. I bet that will make you a lot of friends, real quick."

Looking as though she might spit, Hermione stomped away in high dudgeon.

"You think she'll do it?" Parvati asked, staring after her.

Holly scoffed. "No, she's just crying wolf."

The three other girls slowly made their way back up to the castle, parting in the entrance hall, where Parvati handed Holly the Remembrall. She went off to find her sister, but Lavender accompanied Holly to the Hospital Wing. It took them a little while to find it, but after getting faulty directions from Sir Nicholas, they arrived.

The hospital wing had high bright windows, and two rows of beds with pristine, white linen. There was only one occupant in the entire place. Neville was sitting in the one closest to the matron's office, his arm in a sling and dressed in a bedgown.

"Hiya, Neville," Holly said, coming forward.

"You look better," Lavender told him, as they came over and sat on either side of him.

"I'm fine," Neville told them shyly. "Madam Pomfrey was able to mend my arm in a trice, but she wants me to stay here for a while longer before using it. I'm also waiting for my swollen ankle to heal."

"Ah," Holly said nodding. "Well, you certainly had a memorable first flying lesson. Hope it doesn't turn you off flying altogether."

Neville looked down dejectedly. "No, my dad…it's important to him that I learn to fly. He'd want me to try again."

"Did your dad get fire-called?" Lavender asked.

"No," Neville said, his eyes wide at the thought. "Not my dad or my Gran."

"Here." Holly handed him his Remembrall and his dad's letter. "The wax cracked open on its own; we didn't read it, or anything."

Neville tentatively took the letter, turning it over in his hand. He pulled out the sheets of parchment, and a small silver candy wrapper fell out of the unfolded pages. Taking a deep sigh, Neville clutched at it and reverently tucked it back within the envelope, leaving the pages with his father's words out. "Thanks," he told them.

"No problem," Holly said, wondering why on earth his father would send him a used candy wrapper in his letter.

That night, Holly was trying desperately to get to sleep, but her stomach kept growling. She was starving, as the excitement of the afternoon had led her to not eat much at supper, but she was now paying the price. Laying there, Holly tried counting sheep and the number of threads on her canopy. Her stomach growled again.

Sighing, she rolled over on her side and hissed, "Lavender!"

The blonde was a very light sleeper, and her right eye popped open. "What?"

"I'm hungry," Holly told her.

"So eat some candy," Lavender said, her voice not at all sympathetic.

"It's all gone, we ate it this last weekend, remember?" Holly sat up in her bed, dislodging Artemis from her perch atop Holly's belly. "What to come with me to find the kitchens? I've been reliably told that we'll need to get flirty with a pear to do it, but it should be fun."

Lavender yawned, closing her eyes again. "Okay, you wake Parvati."

Holly hopped out of bed, and shook the black-haired girl from her slumber. "Come on, Lavender and I are going to find the kitchens. Want to come?" Parvati gave in with less grace than Lavender, but soon all the girls were in their robes and slippers and headed for the door. Holly grabbed her wand before leaving, as did her roommates.

"I can't believe you, Holly." Hermione's voice rang out in the darkness.

"Go back to sleep, Granger," Lavender said, yawning. "We'll be back soon."

"You mustn't go wandering around the school at night," Hermione said, sitting up. "Think of all the points you'll lose for Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be."

"Hermione," Holly bit off, losing her patience. "There is another half hour before curfew is enforced. We can be back in time for it."

"No, you don't know your way!" Hermione exclaimed. "What about the House Cup? It's really very selfish of you."

"And it's really none of your business," Holly said.

"Good night," Parvati added firmly.

The three girls rushed down the stairs and out through the common room as fast as they could, lest they get stopped by an upper classman who agreed with Hermione. But, of course, they didn't and were soon happily making their way through the portrait hole.

"Where are you going?" The Fat Lady called. "Curfew is nigh!"

The girls giggled, walking down the hallway where they almost tripped over Neville. He was curled up on the floor, looking pitiful and whimpering.

"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for a half an hour. I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed."

"It's 'Pig snout,'" Holly told him.

"Thanks," he said, trotting off to the portrait.

The girls continued on, making their way down the corridor. Hogwarts at night was nothing like it was during the daytime. There was an eerie cast to the hallways and dark corners. The atmosphere didn't bother Holly and her friends, though, as they were excited and buoyed by the thrill of doing something not quite allowed. At every turn, Holly half expected to run into Filch, or his awful cat Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They made their way safely down to the ground floor, and then took the stairs to the basement.

Just as Phin had promised, there was a large painting of fruit. Holly stepped boldly up to it, and tickled the pear until it giggled and turned into a large green handle. It took all three first years to open it; the portrait heavy and cumbersome. They stepped into the kitchen, a huge vaulted room, as large as the Great Hall above it. There were numbers of pans and kettles on all sides of the rooms, and four long wooden tables that matched the ones directly above them on the floor above.

Nearly a hundred or more elves were standing around the kitchen doing various tasks, and they all smiled and bowed, touching their noses to the ground when they saw the girls. Holly had never seen a house-elf before, and she hadn't expected them to look as they did. They were all about three feet tall, with large eyes and bat-like ears. Their noses were long, and they wore little tea towels like togas, each embroidered with the Hogwarts crest. Parvati was staring at them in wonder, but Lavender seemed unsurprised by their appearance, but still grinning at the sight of the elves.

A pretty little elf with bright blue eyes came running up to them, bowing low. "How can Trixy be helping the young misses?" She had a high, squeaky voice and seemed eager to please.

"Can we get something to eat?" Holly asked.

"Anything we can do to help you, miss, anything at all!" the little elf squeaked.

"What do you reckon?" Lavender asked Holly. "Leftovers or dessert?"

"Shepard's pie and pumpkin juice for me," Holly told the elf. Lavender and Parvati both asked for biscuits and hot cocoa. The three of them then sat down at one of the tables.

Within seconds, six little elves came running over, bearing all the food for the girls on a great tea tray. The Gryffindors thanked them, and happily dug into their food. They chatted happily as they ate, and soon time got away from them. By the time they left the kitchens, the elves bowing them out and handing them snacks to put in their pockets, the girls were in violation of curfew.

Quietly, they snuck up the staircases, keeping to the shadows and ducking into alcoves whenever they heard a noise. The Gryffindors quickly learned they would get a lecture when they were seen by any of the portraits, so they tried to sneak by them as quietly as possible. Thankfully, most of them were sleeping. When they got to the third floor, the girls heard a shuffling sound nearby. "Filch!" Parvati whispered, grabbing Holly's hand. But it wasn't Filch at all.

"You!" Lavender hissed. "What are you doing here?"

It was Hermione in her bathrobe.

"I almost told Morgaine McLaggen," Hermione peevishly told them, putting her hands on her hips. "She's a prefect, and she would have brought you back."

"Come on," Holly muttered to Lavender and Parvati, stepping around Hermione.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor?" Hermione snapped, following after them. "Do you only care about yourselves? I don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup, and you'll lose us all the points I earned for knowing about Switching Spells in Transfiguration."

"So you followed us out, breaking curfew yourself just to tell us that we'll lose points, risking losing them yourself?" Lavender asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Hermione's face shifted slightly. "Well, I wasn't coming after you, really. I had waited up for you, and when curfew came and you didn't appear, I just stepped into the hall to see if you were coming, but the portrait closed behind me, and the Fat Lady was gone and I was locked out of Gryffindor Tower!"

"Hush!" Parvati whisper-shouted at her. "You'll get us caught if you keep blathering on about it."

The girls turned to take the staircase up to the fourth floor—but it was gone. It had moved, and now they had to make the long trek through the third-floor corridor by the trophy room. Hermione glared at Holly as if this was her fault. Holly shrugged, and began skipping along, making Lavender giggle as they walked. Her friend grabbed her hand and they began swinging them together. Then, just as they were all starting to relax, two yellow eyes peeped at them in the darkness.

"It's Mrs. Norris!" Hermione screeched.

"Run!" Holly said, yanking Parvati along with her other hand. The three of them sprinted down the hallway, turning corners at a fast clip, and then doubling back around again with Hermione right on their heels. They soon could hear the stomping of boots coming after them, so they went hurtling through a tapestry, accidentally finding a secret passage way that dropped them off by the Charms classroom.

"I—told—you," Hermione panted. "I—told—you."

"Yes, yes," Holly snapped. "You are oh-so-clever, and we are not. Happy now?"

"We have to get back to Gryffindor Tower," Parvati said. "Before we're caught by someone else."

"Let's go," Lavender said, and they all started off. They had barely made it half a classroom length when a doorknob rattled, and Peeves the Poltergeist came shooting out of a classroom in front of them. When he saw them, he gave squeal of delight.

"Wandering around after lights out, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Now Peeves," Holly said, in a placating tone. "You wouldn't want to do that, now would you? Help Filch—I'd never believe it of you!"

Lavender seemed to grasp what Holly was trying to do, and jumped in. "Peeves would never do that! He's too clever to do that."

Peeves snickered, zooming back and forth in place. He wagged his finger at them. "Ooh, little firsties are the worsties. I know who you are, tiny witchy. Famous, you are. And now, trying to be tricksy with Peevsy."

Hermione gasped, grabbing at Parvati's arm, but Holly just laughed. "Is it working?"

Peeves snickered, turning upside down and flashing the seat of his trousers at them. "Ooh Potter, you're a rotter! A twenty second head start you get for being clever. RUN!"

They ran, and when the twenty seconds had elapsed, the girls heard the poltergeist yell, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

Holly and her roommates kept running, right to the end of the hall, where they slammed into a locked door. Pulling her willow wand from her pocket, she tapped the keyhole. "Alohomora!" Holly said in a hushed voice, and the four quickly ducked inside. They shut the door behind them, and pressed their ears against the wood, listening to the conversation in the corridor.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" It was Filch, and he sounded out of breath. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please.'"

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," Peeves replied, his voice lilting in his singsong manner.

"All right—please."

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaa!" Then could be heard the sound of Peeves flying off and Filch cursing in rage.

"He thinks this door is locked," Holly told the others. "I think we'll be okay."

"I think you spoke too soon," Parvati said in a faint voice, causing Holly to turn.

When she did, panic filled her. Holly had thought she opened the door to a classroom, but instead it was the forbidden corridor on the third floor, and now they definitely knew why it was forbidden. There, standing in the middle of it, filling the space from floor to ceiling, was a monstrous three-headed dog.

It was standing still, looking at them intently. Three sets of eyes were staring at them in confusion; three noses were sniffing them; and three drooling mouths were bearing fangs like daggers. Their sudden appearance seemed to have surprised the beast, but now that it saw just what had stepped into its home, it was getting angry and beginning to growl.

"Quick," Lavender whispered. "The food!"

The three girls reached into their pockets for the food the house-elves had given them, while Hermione opened the door behind them. Holly threw her pumpkin pasties for all she was worth, darting out of the room with Parvati and Lavender right behind her. Hermione closed the door with a slam, and they ran as fast as bullets down the corridor.

Filch must have gone off to look elsewhere, for they didn't see him anywhere, not that even Hermione cared about such things at that point. All any of them wanted was space between them and that monster, and they did not stop running until they had made it up to the seventh floor and reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their nightclothes in disarray, and their flushed, sweaty faces.

"Pig snout," Holly panted. "Pig snout."

The portrait swung forward, and they all scrambled into the common room, collapsing into the armchairs. They sat for at least ten seconds in stunned silence.

"What on earth was that monster doing in a school?" Parvati whinged eventually, hanging over the side of her chair.

"Monster?" Lavender repeated. "It wasn't that bad. Kind of cute, actually."

"You must be joking," Holly told her, rubbing at her scar. "We were nearly eaten by that beast. It was not 'cute.'"

Hermione seemed recovered now, and glared at the three of them. "You lot don't use your eyes, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"Right, and you were looking at its feet, rather than its heads because…?" Holly drawled.

"It wasn't just the floor," Hermione said impatiently. "It was standing on something, a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."

"Who cares?" Holly and Lavender said at the same time, before looking at each other and laughing.

Hermione narrowed her eyes as if they had offered her a personal insult. "Well, I am glad to see you two are pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed—or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

"Yes," Holly said sarcastically to Hermione's departing back. "Because being expelled would be so much worse than being bitten by a vicious beast."

"Where did you learn that spell, Holly?" Parvati asked after Hermione was gone.

"It was the first spell I ever learned. Professor McGonagall taught it to me."

"Unbelievable," Lavender muttered. "You live under a lucky star."

"Do you think Hermione will be all right? She was shaking." Parvati shook her head. "Poor thing, she's so obviously in shock."

"Who cares?" Holly and Lavender said in unison again.

This time, all three girls giggled.