The second chapter from Parvati's perspective. Quite a long chapter, with a lot happening. If some of you still wonder why I turned Parvati into a POV, you'll find a huge part of the answer here.
Also, I now reached 500,000 words for this fanfiction!
PARVATI II
She laughed as she watched Neville running after the Chocolate Frog that just escaped his grasp. No matter it was a real toad or an enchanted sweet, Neville had all the difficulties in the world to catch it. Parvati and Lavender, along with Dean and Seamus, couldn't hold back a laughter that progressively turned uncontrollable. Neville was now looking for it under an armchair, his back turned back in the air, and Seamus was clapping hands.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP?"
The four of them immediately stopped laughing, and Neville tried to stand up at once, which resulted in him smashing the back of his head against the bottom of the armchair. They had decided to rest and relax for the last evening before their exams began, and Percy Weasley broke that spirit. Despite this, no one dared to say anything. Percy Weasley just snapped at them, sitting at his desk and working feverishly as usual. Parvati prepared for the inevitable lecture and punishment that were coming… which never came. Their Head Boy returned to his work.
Parvati blew a sigh of relief. Percy had been on edge for weeks now. He was giving the most severe punishments in Gryffindor's history each evening when a student, whether he was a first-year or a seventh-year, disturbed the peace in the common room. She and her friends were lucky to get out of this with only a shout.
"What a chance," Dean whispered. "Two days ago, he gave a full day of detention to Sophie because she practiced a spell that turned wrong. She was only practicing for her exams, but he didn't care."
"Maybe he's too busy tonight to bother about us. I mean, his N.E.W.T.s resume tomorrow," Seamus commented.
"I don't look forward to passing them," Lavender commented.
On that, Parvati completely agreed. Since she arrived at Hogwarts, she only went through two end-of-the-year examination periods. The first was during her first year and was already burdensome. Last year, exams were cancelled due to the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, probably the only good thing of that year. And now, Parvati was facing end-of-the-year exams for the second time. They would begin tomorrow, and she was already exhausted.
Parvati looked to Hermione, studying in a corner like always, Harry and Ron standing over her. Parvati was never a very assiduous student, but even she had to study around the clock for the last weeks. If their workload was already heavy in their third year, she was definitely not looking forward to her O.W.L.s.
"You know what? I think I'll be going to bed. Good night, Seamus. Good night, Dean."
Parvati went to the girls' dormitory. Lavender stayed behind, not following her. Lately, it had happened more often. Usually, Parvati and Lavender were inseparable. But the truth was, Parvati was beginning to be tired of Lavender sometimes. It had started after Christmas, and the main cause for that was Divination. Ever since the beginning of the year, Professor Trelawney kept warning her about the Basilisk and what it meant for her future. As Parvati dressed for the night, she thought about how Trelawney warned her again about her exams, saying that by the end of them, a great tragedy would befall on Parvati. She was always afraid of what tragedy might come next, and Lavender seemed excited by this. Parvati wished they could go back in time, to the day when Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup.
For a few days, the entire House of Gryffindor had been euphoric. Even the dire predictions of Professor Trelawney the following Monday could not remove Parvati's good mood. Even those who were not huge Quidditch fans, like Parvati and Lavender, were cheering all day long, as the Quidditch Cup was exposed in the common room for an entire week before it was moved to the office of Professor McGonagall. Parvati thought, not without a smile, how their Head of House, usually so serious, was rejoicing from having the Cup in her office for the first time in years. Everyone knew that their Transfiguration teacher, for how serious she was, was an unconditional Quidditch fan. But the joy brought by the victory of their team finally faded as they were forced back to prepare for the exams.
Parvati let herself drop into her bed, and quickly fell asleep. She made no dream that night, at least none that she could remember in the next morning. In fact, if she made any dream that day, it was the nightmare that exams soon proved to be. During breakfast, she and Lavender exchanged notes and opinions about the upcoming Transfiguration exam that would take place this morning. Parvati tried to see the good side of it. They would get rid of one of the most difficult examinations early, but that didn't make her less apprehensive of the exam in question. She always struggled in Transfiguration. About fifteen minutes before nine, after she and Lavender verified several things in their Transfiguration books at the last minute, they headed together to the classroom. When they arrived, a few other students were already there, including Hermione who was shaking so violently that Parvati feared she might topple her desk. Parvati was glad to not have taken as many subjects as Hermione. Sometimes she wondered if this girl was crazy.
The exam proved particularly hard, as expected, but in Parvati's mind, it was even harder than she expected. Despite this, she was mostly satisfied with the end result. When they left the classroom for lunch, tired and wanting to go back to bed, she and the other third-years compared their results, especially the final part of the exam, the most difficult, when they had to turn a teapot into a tortoise.
"I think I managed good enough," she told Lavender. "I mean, I couldn't change the color. It remained beige instead of green, and the head still looked quite like a spout, but I guess it will be okay."
"Mine still had the willow-patterned shell. Do you think that'll count against me?" Lavender asked her.
"Less than mine. Are tortoises supposed to breathe steam?" Seamus commented. He looked quite annoyed by his final result.
"I'm sure that it wasn't a tortoise that I transfigured. It looked much like a turtle," Hermione declared.
"Hermione, give yourself a break," Ron said. "You've had the best notes through the entire year, and the best results during the exam as well."
"Don't say that. I may have ruined everything."
Parvati's feelings were between exasperation and a great envy to laugh, the latter being tampered by her own uncertainty about her final result. Lunch was quick and mostly without words. Parvati reviewed some of the things they saw in Charms this year, for their exam on this subject would take place this afternoon at one o'clock. At the said hour, they were all sitting in Professor Flitwick's classroom.
"I think it is going to be fine," Lavender said. "Professor Trelawney said that I didn't have to worry about charms last Monday. That means that my exam is going to go fine."
Right now, it wasn't Trelawney that Parvati wanted to talk about. The first two hours were theoretical, but the third hour saw them test various charms they learned through the year. When Professor Flitwick told them that Cheering Charms would be tested, Lavender rejoiced.
"I'm fantastic with that one. Professor Trelawney was right, again!"
Right now, Parvati didn't want to think about Professor Trelawney and her predictions. So she turned to the first person she spotted as duos were being made for that part of the exam.
"Neville…" She then thought better. "You and Lavender could team up."
Neville seemed to be surprised. It was true that few people ever wanted to team up with him, aside from Hermione. It wasn't for nothing that the two of them were still together on her Board of Love.
"Well… Yes… If…" he stammered, but Parvati didn't let him time to finish.
"Perfect." She then went to the next person she spotted as she let Lavender deal with the partner her best friend chose for her. Harry, Ron and Hermione were discussing together. It wasn't hard to choose who to team up with.
"Harry, would you like to be with me for this part of the exam?"
Harry looked surprised, but Hermione quickly answered before he did. "It's alright. I'll team up with Ron."
And with that, Parvati found herself with Harry for the practical part of the exam. Following his victory at final match of Quidditch this year, Parvati had spent a lot of time around him until exams preparations took too much of her time. Harry was quite good at Charms, so the odds were probably in her favour if she worked with him for the last hour.
However, choosing Harry as a partner soon proved to be a double-edged sword. Professor Flitwick had them throw various spells at each other and various objects for the first forty-five minutes. Cheering Charms, the most important of the exam, took place at the end. Harry was the first one to cast it on Parvati.
"Don't miss it," Parvati almost pleaded him. Neville just cast his own on Lavender, which backfired and made Parvati's best friend inconsolable. And Neville wasn't the only one to make mistakes. Seamus succeeded in casting the spell, but with the side effect of having Dean's hair on fire, which Dean found very funny as he was under the influence of the Cheering Charm he just received.
Parvati waited in anticipation as Harry raised his wand and pointed it towards her. She tensed. Harry seemed to be focusing a lot. And then he pronounced the formula.
Immediately, Parvati felt all her worries go away. In fact, she found them so shallow, so unimportant, so stupid, that she began to giggle and couldn't stop herself. She literally forgot about the exam.
"It seems like you threw the spell too strong, Mr Potter," Professor Flitwick commented.
Parvati beamed at Harry. He had no idea how good it felt, how relieved she was to not worry about exams and everything for once. Right now, if she had been able to, she would have kissed him for that. But Professor Flitwick escorted her in a nearby room, where Parvati spent the next half-hour giggling, looking to the ceiling with an innocent smile, thinking about everything that made her happy in this world.
Half an hour later though, as the effect of the Charm receded and she realized the exam was over, when Professor Flitwick came to escort her back into the classroom, she almost lashed on Harry the moment she saw him.
"You could have been more careful," she said with an edge in her voice.
"I'm sorry. I didn't do it on purpose," Harry retorted, sounding a little impatient, which Parvati found quite irritating considering she was the one who lost nearly an hour because of his underperformed charm.
"Fine. Fine," Professor Flitwick said. The class was now empty. There was only her and Harry within. "Miss Patil, this is your turn. Once you've cast the spell, the exam will be over for both of you. Take the time you need to cast it well."
Parvati raised her wand. She tried to focus, remembering everything they wrote about Cheering Charms and their practice in class to get it right. However, her nerves were still flaring a little due to Harry's mistake. She was about to cast the spell, but then she remembered that Flitwick told her she could take all the time she wanted. So she delayed. She watched Harry getting a little impatient as he waited for the Charm to come.
"Parvati?" he asked, irritation plain in his voice.
"Let me focus," she replied with a grin.
In the end, waiting was profitable. When Parvati threw the spell, she was in a much better mood. As a result, her charm worked much better than she expected, and all traces of irritation and impatience on Harry's face left immediately.
She and Harry left the classroom together. Harry was still under the effect of the charm, which probably explained what he did as they walked out.
"I'm sorry to have misspelled my charm, Parvati."
She smiled with satisfaction. "Apologies accepted."
It was pleasant and funny to see that she managed to succeed so well, turning the impatient Harry into this, even if temporarily. Parvati laughed, thinking that probably very few girls had that kind of effect on Harry, and the boy joined her in her laughs. She soon joined Lavender who was waiting for her and left Harry alone behind.
Parvati's better mood didn't last long though. She had to revise all the evening after dinner. They had three exams planned tomorrow, including one at night, and among the three were Potions, probably the subject everyone was the less looking forward to.
When she went to sleep this night, Parvati made no dreams again. She and Lavender wished each other good luck for tomorrow before they fell asleep. They didn't have the energy or the will to chat before falling asleep.
Tuesday's morning proved to be way better than Parvati anticipated. She studied about half an hour before breakfast on Potions, but when their exam of Care of Magical Creatures took place, it proved to be quite unchallenging. Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper and their teacher, didn't seem very invested in the exam. He only gave them Flobberworms and stated that their exam was to make sure that they would live through an hour. Like everyone else, Parvati ended up doing almost nothing, as these little beasts took care of themselves very well. She ended up discussing with Lavender for the whole class, although every time her friend wanted to talk about Divination, Parvati diverted the conversation towards another topic. Dean proved quite helpful. He seemed to be engaging in every subject Parvati started. In the meantime, Malfoy and the Slytherins were sniggering on their side. After some time, Parvati realized that they were shooting gazes towards Hagrid. Harry, Ron and Hermione spent most of the class with him, and they drew daggers with their eyes towards Malfoy. Sophie and Lily ended up drawing symbols in the grass with tree branches at the end of the exam.
Care of Magical Creatures gave them a well-deserved respite, although lunch proved way more stressful. Potions was coming this afternoon, and Parvati went so far as to spend the entire lunchtime revising her potions book. Despite this, at the end of the three hours they spent in the dungeons, Parvati felt stupid, her Confusing Concoction being a failure. It was a failure for almost everybody. Even the Slytherins struggled, despite the obvious favoritism Snape gave them. Parvati suspected that it was his revenge for the Quidditch match. He had been particularly nasty after his house was defeated, especially to Harry, and she heard that he was no better with all the other players of the team.
Parvati would have given everything to go to sleep right after dinner, or to study for History of Magic that was to take place tomorrow morning. However, they had the Astronomy exam at midnight. For an entire hour, Parvati noted positions of stars. She thought that she did quite well. Astronomy and Divination were quite linked, and in her desire to understand Divination better, Parvati had looked deeper into Astronomy through the year. She was rather satisfied when she went to bed after one o'clock in the morning.
History of Magic was not as easy on Wednesday morning. Parvati barely filled half the space of her parchment. She almost snapped at Hermione when she worried aloud during lunch that she couldn't write down everything she knew about Witch Hunts and Giant Wars. Hermione had written so much on her copy that she needed to be provided with additional pieces of parchment to write everything, so Parvati didn't see how she could complain. She was a little sympathetic to Neville who said he almost couldn't remember anything of the Giant Wars during the exam and almost had to invent something.
Neville was way better during the afternoon for Herbology. Parvati swore aloud, to Lavender's and Seamus' amusement, when a plant seized her by the waist. After three hours spent in a suffocating, damp atmosphere, Parvati wanted nothing more than to head towards the common room, grab her swimming suit and dive into the Black Lake. Instead, she had to contend herself with taking a shower in Gryffindor's tower. Parvati would have liked to accompany Lavender to the Lake in fact, where her friend planned to revise Defence Against the Dark Arts and Divination, their last two exams that would take place tomorrow, on Thursday. Parvati instead went to the library to study alone. If she was to revise Divination, she preferred to not do it with Lavender right now. But finally, Parvati only revised Professor Lupin's subject. She no longer had it in her heart to revise Divination, and Professor Trelawney told them that looking into the crystal ball couldn't be learned, only experienced.
That night, Parvati woke up with a jump, breathing heavily. She covered her eyes, from which tears were coming out. She stifled a sob and decided to take her diary and to head for the common room. To her surprise, there were people there, mostly older students. They were probably the ones who were going through their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. She took a seat apart and wrote down what she dreamed about. She had seen a dragon with three heads, spitting red, black and green flames. There were people it was burning, but she couldn't distinguish their faces. Then she saw a hippogriff attacking her and tearing through her heart. Parvati wondered why she dreamed of these things. She had not seen a dragon with her own eyes since she was eight-years-old, and the last time she saw hippogriffs was at the beginning of the year, when Malfoy got his fake injury because he wasn't listening to Hagrid. Parvati tossed all this aside. She needed to get back to sleep to be rested tomorrow.
Parvati was tired the next morning. Despite this, the exam of the morning proved to be quite funny. Professor Lupin had arranged an obstacle course with all the creatures they faced since the beginning of the year. No theory, only practice. Everyone was excited, and even those who failed at one step or another enjoyed the exam.
Sophie was the unluckiest of all when she was burned at the very beginning by Grindylows. Lavender managed to get past them without trouble, but ended up being caught by Red Caps. Ron sunk deep into marshes when the Hinkypunk made him lose his way, and Seamus, Lavender and Lily suffered the same fate. The Slytherins, who always mocked Professor Lupin's teachings, proved to be the worst of all. Among the Hufflepuffs, the girl with red hair, Susan, managed to get through all the obstacles despite struggling at various places. The only other student who did better was Harry, who easily went through all the obstacles and got full marks at the end. Ernie Macmillan lost points to the Red Caps, Wayne Hopkins with the Grindylow, Hannah Abbott when one of her legs got stuck in the marshes, although she managed to get out without needing help. The latter also failed when she faced her Boggart. As for Hermione, she succeeded at all steps, until she reached the Boggart. She left the old trunk where she disappeared a minute later and came out screaming. She said that Professor McGonagall told her she failed everything, and Parvati struggled like many others to not laugh without control.
Parvati's course did not go without problems. One of her sleeves was burned by a Grindylow, a Red Cap caught one of her feet once, and she almost got lost in the marshes. And then, she entered the trunk to face the Boggart. Parvati felt prepared. She already defeated the mummy once. She could do it again. However, when she came face to face with the Boggart, it wasn't a mummy that she faced. Instead, she came face to face with a horrible, gigantic serpent. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out of it. She couldn't think about anything funny to turn it into. In despair, she thought about what she did the first time.
"Riddikulus!"
The fangs of the serpent turned into shawls, and soon the snake coughed as if he couldn't breathe. Despite this, Parvati could barely laugh. She ran away and got out of the trunk.
"Not bad, Parvati," Professor Lupin commented while clapping. "But you haven't completely defeated the Boggart. You get seventeen on twenty all the same."
Parvati was relieved. This was a very good score. Now there was only Divination left.
During lunch, Parvati spoke to no one. The exam she dreaded the most was approaching. She envied people like Harry or Hermione who didn't have to go through this exam. The exam would concern the Orb. Parvati managed to see things inside in the past, but rarely, and according to Professor Trelawney, it never bode anything good. When they finally headed for the Divination Tower, Parvati's heart was pounding fast, and she wished she could follow Harry to Ancient Runes or, even better, Hermione to Muggle Studies. Instead, a few minutes later, she was waiting with her friends and other students in the stairs leading to the classroom.
No one dared to say what they saw in the Orb, and in fact Parvati didn't really care. She only wanted to go through this exam and be done with it. The weather was good today. She could grab her swimsuit and head for the lake with Lavender as soon as this was over. However, fate seemed to be against her once more. One by one, everyone was called by Professor Trelawney. Lavender was among the first ones and came back beaming. Dean, Seamus, Neville, they all went. It was down to Parvati and Ronald in the end as a Ravenclaw student was with Trelawney.
"Have you really ever seen anything in a crystal ball?" Ron asked her out of nowhere.
"Yes," she replied, shaking. Why couldn't they already be done with this?
"Lucky." By the sound of his voice, Parvati felt that he didn't believe her.
"I did see something," she insisted.
Ron blew in the air. "I'm not sure if it really matters in this exam."
Parvati was quite irritated with him. Couldn't he be more serious with Divination, at least for the exam? The Ravenclaw came out, and like all the others, he refused to tell them anything.
"Ronald Weasley," Trelawney's voice called.
Parvati looked in despair as she witnessed Ron climbing the ladder. She was now alone, and certain to be the next one picked. Her heart was racing, and her breathing quickened. She tried to remember everything that would be useful for this exam, but it provided little help, for it wasn't the prospect of failing the exam that terrified Parvati the most. In fact, she was afraid of what she might see in the orb, or what Professor Trelawney would see.
When Parvati chose Divination as one of her elective subjects last year, she was very excited. In fact, she was the one who pushed so hard for her and Lavender to choose this subject. Parvati and her best friend had decided to take exactly the same classes. Lavender had some reservations about this subject. She had heard rumors that gave a bad reputation to this course. Lavender believed it might be funniest to take Muggle Studies and to learn so much about them.
Parvati, on her side, didn't share her best friend's relative enthusiasm. She and her twin sister Padma had grown in an environment surrounded by Muggles, in London. Her parents made them attend a primary school for Muggles before they went to Hogwarts, so Parvati was already quite knowledgeable about them, and she couldn't find much interest in listening to a professor telling them about how electricity was vital for people without magical powers.
Today, Parvati thought she might have been better off if she had yielded to Lavender's opinion last year. She wouldn't have had to spend each Monday morning hearing Professor Trelawney predicting her death and unending suffering. But the worst was that Parvati was still interested by Divination, if only to understand what was waiting for her in the future. She wished that she had Professor Trelawney's ability to see into the future, to foresee what was going to happen. Maybe this way she would be able to avoid the fate that Trelawney predicted for her. Sadly, so far, Parvati didn't prove very able to see any future. At the same time, she was as much willing to see the future than she was afraid of it.
The trapdoor opened, causing Parvati to jump in surprise. Ronald came out of there.
"And?" Parvati asked, febrile while the read-headed boy was still coming down.
"And what?" Ron asked.
"What… How did it go?"
"Rubbish… I made up stuff… Good luck."
And with that, Ronald Weasley walked away. Parvati was now really alone. Lavender was already gone. They agreed to meet at the Black Lake once this exam was over. Parvati had told her she wanted to be alone before the exam, something that Lavender didn't seem to understand. As much as Parvati loved her best friend, Lavender didn't know what it was to always be afraid of the next horrible prediction you would receive.
"Parvati Patil."
A shudder went through Parvati's back. Summoning her courage, she climbed the ladder. She never took a step back before going to Divination, and she wouldn't begin today. She was a Gryffindor after all. She emerged in the classroom and walked straight to Professor Trelawney, who was waiting for her with a large crystal ball.
"Good day, my dear," the professor said quietly. "You are the last one today. If you would kindly gaze into the Orb…" Parvati sat down in front of the professor, the Orb remaining between them. "Take your time to tell me what you see within it…"
Parvati tried to sit as comfortably as she could. She then gazed into the Orb. In the past, she thought she saw some things within it during some classes. However, she was never sure of what she actually saw. While Trelawney often predicted the worst for her, she also told Parvati regularly that she had disposition to be a true Seer. Parvati wished she was right. She repeated to herself that if Trelawney said so, considering how her predictions always proved accurate, then this had to be true as well.
There was a reason why Parvati was sorted into Gryffindor while her sister Padma was sorted into Ravenclaw. Of the two, Parvati had always been the most turbulent and headstrong. And when she decided something, she was set on doing it. Such was the case right now. After all the anxiety building up to this moment, all of a sudden, Parvati was inhabited by an extreme desire to see something, to prove something, and she focused entirely on the task at end.
The benefit of this state of mind was that her whole mind was set to the task of seeing something in the crystal ball. The drawback was that she was growing impatient, and it required a lot of energy from her to stay idle and wait for something to appear. She waited. She waited. And she waited again.
"Well? What do you see?" the professor asked after a moment.
Parvati panicked a little. She saw nothing yet. "Please… give me some more time, Professor," she asked.
"As you wish, my dear. Take the time you need."
Parvati refocused on the Orb. But all she could see was white fog. She thought she saw a shadow from time to time, but she couldn't distinguish what it was. It disappeared the moment she caught sight of it.
She tried to decipher something in the white clouds. They were moving. Maybe there was something to interpret from all that. Their Divination book stated that a message could take various shapes inside a crystal ball, and that there were even more ways to interpret them. If only she knew how Professor Trelawney did, but their professor was very spare when it came to giving details about how she saw and interpreted the future. For example, when she predicted the tragedy that happened during the first Quidditch match of the season, which she stated she saw in a crystal ball. Professor Trelawney saw the signs, but Parvati couldn't interpret them appropriately.
She frowned all of a sudden. She was certain that she saw something in the fog of the crystal ball. She was sure. This time, it couldn't be a false impression or a trick of her mind. She really saw something.
She scrutinized the Orb. She thought she could discern some shapes. A circle. Maybe two circles. She wasn't sure. There was also something else, a thin line. No, maybe a square, below the two circles.
"I think I can see something," Parvati said, slowly, uncertainly.
"What does it resemble? Think very well," the professor ordered.
"I…" The truth was, Parvati couldn't tell what it looked like. And then she gasped.
"What did you see? Tell me."
But Parvati barely gave any attention to the interest of Professor Trelawney. She saw it. That was it. A long cylinder, curved, wavy. She kept staring at the Orb, and thought she still saw glimpses of it as it wandered in the fog, creeping its way within the white clouds that seemed to have taken a darker shade.
"Basilisk," she murmured.
She kept staring at the Orb. She saw it. This time, it wasn't Professor Trelawney who saw it. Parvati had seen it too. There was no place for denial.
"Oh, my dear," Trelawney said, very softly, as Parvati kept staring into the ball. "My dear. It seems you have witnessed your own tragic fate. Well, I will not force you to look further into it."
And it was all over. A red cloth was placed over the Orb and covered it. Parvati shook her head and looked at Trelawney who was staring at her with pity.
"You did very well, my dear. You have the potential to become a true Seer. I hope you will live long enough to develop your Inner Eye before it is too late. You may leave."
Parvati didn't react immediately. But after a moment, still shaking from her vision in the Orb, she stood up and slowly walked towards the exit. Her mind was working over what she just witnessed. Her heart raced as the remaining doubts she had, those that were instilled by the likes of Hermione, dissipated. She was promised, without any other way to explain it, to a long and painful death.
"It will happen tonight."
Parvati suddenly stopped as she was about to open the trapdoor. She recognized the voice of Professor Trelawney who spoke behind her back. However, it wasn't soft or mysterious like always. It was dry, high, strange, as if the professor had been strangling herself.
"Wha…"
Before Parvati could ask a single word, the professor continued.
"Before the full moon, blood will be shed thrice…" Parvati finally turned to look at the professor. "Death shall strike, from wood, silver and steel…"Trelawney was lying in her armchair, looking as if she was about to have a seizure. "Under the lightning's sight, the traitor will have what he wants the most… The Chase will be over… The Dark Lord will be closer than ever to his greatest desire…"
Parvati was shocked by the scene that was happening in front of her. She was still under shock after Professor Trelawney's head fell on her stomach, then snapped back into place. She then looked to Parvati and seemed surprised to see her.
"Oh, forgive me, my dear. Was there something you wanted before you left?"
Parvati remained there, as if she was Petrified.
"Is there anything wrong, my dear?" the professor asked her.
"What… What did you just say, professor?" Parvati stammered.
"I asked you if there was anything you wanted."
"No… I mean… Before that…"
Trelawney looked at her with a strange expression. "I said you could leave." The professor stood up all of a sudden and walked towards Parvati, who stepped back this time. Trelawney stopped, and she seemed surprised that Parvati was staying away from her. "You don't seem very well. Perhaps I should bring you to the hospital wing. I had to send some students there over the years. Some don't react very well when their Inner Eye opens. They can be confused, faint, or even have seizures. It's not uncommon…"
"No!" Parvati replied way faster than she would have wanted. "I'm fine. I'm… You really don't remember what you just said, professor? About what would happen tonight?"
Trelawney looked at her with an even more puzzled expression. "I didn't predict anything for tonight, my dear. You should really go to the infirmary. You must be very confused."
Parvati may be confused, yes, by what she just heard, but she didn't imagine it. Still, she said what Professor Trelawney probably wanted to hear.
"Yes. I'll… I'll go."
And she climbed down the ladder, and then ran away until she was a few corridors away from the Divination Tower. She stopped at a corner to catch her breath, wondering about what she just listened to. Did Professor Trelawney really predict something about…
Parvati shuddered at the mere thought of him. Like all wizards and witches of her age, she grew up hearing stories about the horrible things He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named committed. She hated it when Harry said his name. She didn't understand how someone could say his name, especially given that he lost someone to this man. Hearing Professor Trelawney predict something related to You-Know-Who was… traumatizing.
Without realizing it, Parvati found herself in front of the Fat Lady. She gave the password mechanically. Inside, most people were chatting in a lively, happy way. Exams were over. Parvati should be overjoyed. But between the Basilisk she saw with her own eyes in the crystal ball and the prediction Trelawney made before she left, without seeming to remember that she actually did predict something… When Parvati thought about it, this was the first time that Professor Trelawney didn't remember predicting something. She hadn't seemed at all in her usual state when she spoke. It was as if she was in some kind of trance. She told Parvati that early Seers could experience seizures. Could experienced Seers suffer the same problems?
Parvati should have gone to the Lake to join Lavender. They would swim before dinner, maybe until the sun set on the horizon, to enjoy freedom after a mad week of exams. But she didn't feel like it. She didn't feel like doing anything right now. Instead, she set into an isolated armchair and took her diary, the one where she wrote all her dreams in detail. However, this time, she didn't write about any dream. Instead, she wrote down what Professor Trelawney just told her. To her surprise, she could copy everything, word by word, as if it was engraved into her mind. It was strange, considering that Parvati never had a very good memory.
"Hey, Parvati!" It was Dean who just addressed her. "Are you fine?"
He looked concerned all of a sudden while looking at her. She forced a smile upon her face. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just…"
"Trelawney?"
Parvati's heart had just begun to slow down. It raced again.
"She threw out her worse predictions again?"
He looked really concerned for her. She closed her personal diary where she was writing a few seconds ago. "Yes," she simply replied.
"Hey, look, Parvati. You're done with her for this year. And no one is dead, like McGonagall said at the beginning of the year. We survived to the exams."
She tried to laugh a little with him. Only, Dean didn't know what was really troubling Parvati. It wasn't a prediction of Trelawney about her this time, but something Parvati actually saw for herself, and some kind of prophecy that seemed to concern the most horrible wizard of all time.
"I'm going to the park. You want to come?" he offered. It was very tempting, but at the same time, Parvati didn't feel like it.
"Yes," she replied all the same. "Go. I'll join you later. I've got some things to do."
"Okay." He smiled to her again and patted her shoulder. He looked very awkward by doing so. And his smile had turned quite nervous as he walked away, still looking at her.
Parvati smiled sincerely this time, and even giggled for a short time. However, when her eyes landed on her diary again, any lightness left her mind. She opened it and read what Professor Trelawney told her again.
It will happen tonight.
Before the full moon, blood will be shed thrice.
Death shall strike, from wood, silver and steel.
Under the lightning's sight, the traitor will have what he wants the most.
The Chase will be over.
The Dark Lord will be closer than ever to his greatest desire.
Parvati kept staring at the words. What could this mean? In the past, Professor Trelawney did tell her things that were going to happen, but Parvati couldn't understand what they meant. The results were disastrous each time. She tried to think about what these words meant.
"I can't believe that they're going to execute Buckbeak."
The voice came from Parvati's back. She froze in place, unable to move.
"It's unfair. All that is Malfoy's fault. When I think about all the research we made to save him."
It was Hermione, then Ron who had spoken. Their voices were low, but Parvati could hear them very distinctively all the same. And she was sure of the voice who would speak next.
"There must be something we can do," Harry said, confirming her easy prediction.
"The appeal was lost. There's nothing more we can do," Hermione declared, her voice sounding as if she was strangled.
"I'm sure they didn't even care about what Hagrid said," Ron complained. "You saw the executioner with Fudge today? They had already decided. I bet they wouldn't have raised a finger if it had been Hermione or Dean or Lavender who were injured."
Parvati needed time to understand what they were talking about. But they were talking about Malfoy, an injury, and someone named Buckbeak. For a moment, she was afraid that someone was going to be executed tonight, and that this someone was a human being. But then she recalled what happened at the beginning of the year, in their first class of Care of Magical Creatures, when Malfoy insulted a hippogriff after Hagrid told them very clearly that they were not to do it. Dean had shouted quite loudly about it, blaming Malfoy for his own injury. This was also the injury that made the teams of Gryffindor and Slytherin play against each other in May rather than in November. And then she realized she had heard stories about the hippogriff being judged. Was it this? The hippogriff who attacked Malfoy was going to be executed? Parvati was horrified by this prospect. She remembered how beautiful these creatures were. Tears almost came to her eyes.
"We've got to go," Harry said. "We can't let Hagrid sit there on his own, waiting for the executioner."
"Yeah, he's right. We've got to be there for him," Ron supported. "You agree, Hermione?"
"Yes, of course. But… It is at sunset. We would never be allowed out. Especially you, Harry," the girl said, sounding worried.
"The Invisibility Cloak!" Ron shouted.
For a moment, no one said a word. Parvati herself was puzzled, but then she remembered the cloak Harry used to get her out of the boys' dormitory a few months ago.
"You think?" Hermione asked, sounding quite uncertain.
"Yes, of course. What better time to use it?" Ron insisted. "Don't you think, Harry?"
"Yes, of course. Only…" Harry's voice was troubled. "My mother…"
"Oh, Harry, please," Ronald complained. "This time, don't write to her!"
"I won't! Only… She gave me that cloak so I could…"
"Escape Pettigrew if necessary," his friend completed. "Well, we haven't seen Pettigrew since that game against Ravenclaw. It's not as if he'll be hiding behind a tree, waiting for you to come out in the park at sunset. And the cloak will keep us hidden, anyway. We will be with Hagrid the whole time."
"Okay," Harry said after a pause. "I'll bring it with me for dinner, and then we'll head for Hagrid's house after."
"We will have to be careful," Hermione said. "We must behave as if everything was normal. Let's not alert the professors."
"Especially not Remus. He knows me better than the others."
Parvati heard the three of them walking away, and even saw from the corner of the eye Hermione walk into the girls' dormitory.
Parvati was still stunned by what she listened to. Harry, Ron and Hermione were planning to go out of the castle late, when the rules strictly forbade it. And only to be with Hagrid when the hippogriff would be killed. Parvati was sad and felt it unfair that the beast was to be executed for Malfoy's blunder, but she found it stupid to go out only to comfort Hagrid.
And there was something else. Her diary was still open on her thighs.
It will happen tonight. Before the full moon, blood will be shed thrice. Death shall strike, from wood, silver and steel.
Something was going to happen tonight. People were going to die. It couldn't be more clear. Death was going to strike, and three times on top of that. Who could this be about? The hippogriff, maybe. But he was only one being. Who would be the other two? The hippogriff was to be executed at sunset, if she understood correctly. It meant that whoever else would die would probably die at the same time. Could an execution go wrong? What if the hippogriff went mad and killed other people? Now that Parvati thought about it, Malfoy was severely injured in September. A hippogriff could certainly kill. Even Hagrid said so. Parvati read the rest of the prophecy.
Under the lightning's sight, the traitor will have what he wants the most. The Chase will be over. The Dark Lord will be closer than ever to his greatest desire.
It didn't make any sense. What could be the link between He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and a hippogriff? And what chase was Trelawney talking about? Was the hippogriff being chased? And who was the traitor? Was it referring to Malfoy having what he wanted with the hippogriff's death? Was that really Draco Malfoy's greatest desire? Parvati hated this Slytherin even more than ever.
She heard a door close. She looked over her shoulder and saw Harry and Ron walking down the stairs from their dormitory. Thinking about what Trelawney said, Parvati took a decision. She couldn't let that happen again. She couldn't let a tragedy predicted by Trelawney take place once more. She stood up, and as she did so, Hermione came out of the girls' dormitory. Parvati was at the other end of the common room. She made to walk towards the group of friends, but after a few steps, she stopped after her eyes were glued to something. She opened her mouth in horror as she realized something. But Harry had already turned around to walk towards the exit with Ron and Hermione.
Parvati's gaze had stopped on Harry's forehead, and a part of Professor Trelawney's words echoed through her mind.
Under the lightning's sight, the traitor will have what he wants the most.
She looked through the window. Light was diminishing, but the sun had not set on the horizon yet. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and Parvati didn't hear anything about a coming storm. The only lightning in the school that she could think about was… on Harry's forehead. His scar.
Under the lightning's sight, the traitor will have what he wants the most.
It would happen with Harry present. There could be no other explanation.
It took quite some time for Parvati to proceed everything she just realized. This couldn't be a coincidence that the prophecy said all these things for the very night when Harry was going to witness an execution. As if someone just placed a burning stick on her bottom, she broke into a run to catch up on Harry, Ron and Hermione. However, Parvati was so afraid and confused that she lost her way, and when she arrived in the Great Hall, the three friends were already sitting together, taking their dinner.
"Parvati!"
Lavender's voice called her from the same table where they sat down. For a moment, she hesitated, but Parvati went to sit next to her friend, taking a look at Harry on the way.
"Where have you been?" Lavender asked as she sat next to her. Parvati noticed that her hair was wet. "I've been waiting for you at the Lake."
"Sorry. I… I was last for the divination exam. And I took a lot of time."
"Oh." Lavender had the tone when she was truly interested in something. "Did you see something in the Orb?" Before Parvati could answer, Lavender resumed speaking. "I saw a lot of things, you know. I saw Binky. I think he was sending me messages from beyond. And I saw the moon, you know. Well, the outline of it, but Professor Trelawney said that it was normal since this night is a full moon. Oh, and I also…"
Usually, Parvati and Lavender had very animated conversations. They often interrupted each other, in an exchange where one of them was always speaking, when it wasn't both of them. They told each other everything. But right now, Parvati's mind was occupied by something else. She kept glancing towards Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were not sitting very far away from them.
"I couldn't see anything in the crystal ball," Dean said all of a sudden. He, Seamus and Neville were sitting in front of them. "I had to make up something."
Lavender interrupted her long explanation of everything she saw in the Orb. "But… you cheated!"
"Well, Professor Trelawney didn't seem to realize it. In fact, she seemed to believe everything that I said," Dean declared, a constrained smile on his face.
"Impossible! Professor Trelawney would never fall for this."
"She told me that if I was to tell you what I saw in the ball, I would have a terrible accident," Neville informed them.
"Then say nothing, Neville!" Parvati spoke harsher than she intended.
"But what did you see, Parvati?" Lavender asked her.
For a moment, Parvati felt as if all eyes around her were staring at her. "I can't tell you. Professor Trelawney doesn't want me to."
This was only a half-truth. But for the prediction that their teacher made in her strange state, Parvati was sure that Trelawney would not want her to discuss predictions she didn't remember uttering.
"Oh. Okay. That's too bad," Lavender said.
"Hey, enough discussion about exams," Seamus said. "They're over. And we've got one last visit to Hogsmeade tomorrow."
Parvati had almost forgotten with everything that went on. "A visit to Honeydukes and all nightmares will go," Dean declared, looking at Parvati as he said so, a comforting smile on his lips.
"But no Fizzing Whizzbees this time," Lavender warned, eliciting laughter from the others. Parvati's performance at the party after their victory on Ravenclaw was remembered among Gryffindors, even to this day. And she had to admit that ever since that accident, Fizzing Whizzbees looked less succulent to her than they seemed before.
"And no Butterbeer for you, Lavender."
On that, it was Parvati who had the opportunity to laugh at Lavender's expense with the others.
"Don't you think it's a little dangerous to go to Hogsmeade?" Neville asked. "I mean, they haven't caught Pettigrew yet."
The mention of that name brought Parvati's gaze back to Harry. He, Ron and Hermione were discussing between them, but she couldn't make out what they were saying with all the chatter around.
"Don't worry about that, Neville. Pettigrew didn't show any sign of life since February," Dean said.
"And anyway, we're not the ones he's targeting," Seamus added. "So far, he seems to only have targeted Harry."
Lavender shook her head. "I don't know what I would do, if an assassin was after me all the time."
"Me neither," Neville commented.
"Come on, cheer up, people," Dean said. "You really think that Pettigrew is going to hide behind a rack full of sweets at Honeydukes?"
"He hid inside a bag," Neville reminded them.
"And onto the train too," Parvati reminded them all.
"Yeah, I remember," Seamus said. "My mother came in no time, and she used Side-Along Apparition to bring me back home." He grimaced. "Worst experience of my life."
"Worse than all the explosions you caused?" Lavender asked, a smile on her face. Seamus reddened.
"That was a long time ago," he protested.
"Sorry, Seamus. You had another goblet explode in your face only two weeks ago. You remember, while we were practicing for our Transfiguration exam," Dean said, teasing his best friend.
Dinner went on this way. Spirits were light now that exams were over, but Parvati remained worried. She had to do something about Harry, Ron and Hermione. Especially about Harry. Trelawney's predictions clearly concerned him, and it was true that with Pettigrew still free, he was far from being in safe. Parvati's heart raced with fear at the thought that this mad man may still be outside the castle, waiting for the right moment to strike. It wasn't difficult for a rat to hide somewhere after all. It proved it more than once this year.
Dean, Seamus and Neville left once they were done with dessert. Parvati, however, was still finishing the main course. It was in part because she didn't have much of an appetite, but especially because she wanted to stay at table for when Harry, Ron and Hermione would leave it, which they hadn't done yet. She got the distinct impression that they intentionally ate slowly just like she did as the table slowly emptied.
Lavender kept talking, but Parvati only listened with one ear and replied with empty words. Finally, her best friend stood up as Parvati was barely beginning dessert.
"Well, if you don't mind, I'll go back to the common room."
"Okay. Go," Parvati said distractedly.
A moment went on, and Parvati realized that Lavender was still standing next to her. "What's going on with you? Is it what you saw in the crystal ball?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Parvati realized too late that she snapped. This wasn't her intent.
"Fine. I'll see you later."
And on that, Lavender walked away. Parvati felt horrible all of a sudden. She hadn't meant to be rude to her best friend. She and Lavender shared everything, told each other everything. They were best friends since their very first day at Hogwarts. She shook her head. She would apologize to her later. For now, she had something else to take care of.
Harry, Ronald and Hermione were still finishing, taking all their time. Parvati did as well. After a moment though, one of the girls from Hufflepuff, Hannah Abbott, approached the three friends. There were quite fewer students in the Great Hall, but despite this Parvati could not hear what Hannah told them, for she seemed to whisper. Then Harry stood up and walked away from the Gryffindor table with her. Parvati frowned. It was strange to see Harry leaving without Ron and Hermione. The three of them were always together. Taking her decision in an instant, she stood up and followed the pair from afar. She walked a little quicker as they approached the heavy doors to not lose sight of them. She was lucky as she spotted them entering a small room in the Entrance Hall at the instant she emerged into it.
In normal circumstances, Parvati's mind would have been stormed with all kinds of ideas about why Harry and Hannah went alone in an empty room, but for now her mind was set on something entirely different. So instead she approached the door carefully. She was about to look through the window in it when she heard Hannah's voice from the other side.
"Well, you see Harry, I heard someone saying that…"
"Come on, Hannah. That's stupid. Do you really think that's possible?" Harry replied. "We're talking about Professor Lupin. And he's a friend of my mother. I think I would know something like that if this was the case."
"Oh. Okay. Well, I'm sorry to have bothered you. I was just… I was just afraid that…"
"Believe me, Hannah, if there is one teacher we don't have to be afraid of in Hogwarts, it's Lupin."
Parvati then heard Hannah giggle. "Yes. You're probably right. It's a stupid thing to think. Well, I'll go then. I won't bother you any longer. I should have known anyway. That's the kind of things Malfoy would invent."
Parvati placed herself against the wall next to the door. To her great relief, when Hannah came out of the room, the door opened in Parvati's direction, keeping her hidden from Hannah when she walked out of there. Then the Hufflepuff student continued her path without looking behind. Parvati sighed in relief. She didn't like being spotted in embarrassing situations, like listening to the doors, as much as she could like what she heard through these means. Harry then came out of the room. Forgetting all about possible embarrassment, she almost jumped on him. Not literally, but she jumped in front of him to block his path.
"Harry, I've got to talk with you."
He seemed surprised for a moment. Then he regained his composure. "I'm sorry, Parvati… but I haven't finished dinner. Ron and Hermione…"
She sighed in exasperation, then grabbed Harry by the arm and dragged him inside the empty room that he and Hannah just left. Parvati closed the door behind them. "Enough games! You're going to listen to me now."
"Parvati!" He shook his arm away from her grasp. "What's going on with you?"
"Look, Harry, it's very important…"
She was interrupted as her gaze trailed off to something fluid that came out of Harry's robes. For a moment, she thought he was urinating, but then she realized that this was not something liquid, but solid, looking like water, and that she had already seen it in the past. She sighed angrily again.
"Really? You hid it under your clothes?" Harry looked at a loss of words, but anyway Parvati didn't let him time to find them. "I heard you talk with Hermione and Ronald in the common room. I know what you're planning to do. You cannot go out tonight."
"Look… This is not what you think…" Harry began.
"No! You must not go out!"
Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak, rolled it and hid it under his arm. "Parvati, we're not going out. We are just… going to wander a little in the corridors with it. That's all."
If he thought that his stupid attempt at explanation would persuade her, he was wrong. This only infuriated her. "Do you take me for an idiot?" When he didn't reply, she felt even more insulted, but again she didn't leave him much time to answer. "I heard everything you are planning to do in the common room. And you can't go outside. Not tonight."
Harry didn't answer for a moment. Then he signed angrily as well. "Why? Because Pettigrew is probably still out there, waiting for me?"
"Probably. But that's not the main reason. Today, at the Divination exam, Professor Trelawney…"
Harry rolled his eyes instantly. "Again? Parvati, when will you stop believing everything this crazy woman says?"
"She's not crazy! Everything she says comes true."
"Have you died in horrible pain yet? You heard McGonagall at the beginning of the year. She predicts someone's death every year, and no one's ever gone."
"Well… Look, I don't know for the previous years, but this year… She never said when I would die… Only that I would die horribly…"
"Yes, very accurate for a prophecy."
"Look, I'm not joking Harry. She told me that something horrible would happen tonight. That blood would be shed three times before the full moon, and that you would be there. You cannot go outside!"
Harry sighed again. "Look, Parvati. Buckbeak is going to die tonight. We just don't want Hagrid to be alone. We will be with him the whole time."
"I don't care about Hagrid. All that matters is you. You must stay inside the castle tonight. Trelawney talked about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
For a moment, he seemed taken by surprise, but he seemed to recover quite quickly. "Well, I won't. Now, excuse me, but I've got to go," he declared on a more than exasperated tone. Parvati positioned herself into his path.
"If you go, I'll run out to the Great Hall and scream what you're going to do. All the teachers will hear about it."
She sustained his gaze. Did he understand? He couldn't take any risk tonight. Parvati had not deciphered the prophecy Trelawney told her earlier this year, and this resulted in Harry getting to the infirmary because of Dementors. Parvati had watched him fall to the ground like everyone in the school. She felt guilty for months over this, and she still felt guilty for it. Now that she managed to understand Professor Trelawney's predictions, she wouldn't let Harry put his life in danger.
Still, he looked furious. But Parvati sustained his stare. Again, it wasn't for nothing that between her and Padma, she was the one to end up in Gryffindor. Back in the day she and her sister attended Muggle school, before they came to Hogwarts, there were times when they got intimidated. The two sisters were Indians, and as such they were not immune to personal attacks. Padma was always the one to hide behind someone or ask for help whenever she was mistreated, while Parvati was the one who stood and opposed the idiots who mocked them. Once, she slapped a boy hard across his face after he suggested that they came from some backwater region where people were eating… something Parvati would rather not think about. So if Harry thought that he could make her step back with a furious glare, he was in for a big surprise.
Anyway, Parvati wasn't afraid of Harry. When she first arrived at Hogwarts, she heard on the train about the fact that Harry Potter was beginning school with them. And she was excited at the news. Harry's name was known by everyone in the wizarding world. She was intrigued when he was called to be sorted and elated when he was sent into the same house as she was. She had applauded loudly like everyone else in Gryffindor as he joined their table. But the first weeks of her first year at Hogwarts showed her quite quickly that Harry was, in the end, only a boy like the others. Spending time with him in class on a daily basis quickly proved that he was a child like every one of them, and Parvati got used to him. She even got to know him a little better when he and his mother moved into the tower Parvati inhabited with her family in London, although not that much. She and Harry were not really friends, mostly class comrades. Still, she knew him well enough to know that she had nothing to fear from him, and as a Gryffindor, Parvati wouldn't shy away from him and let him go put his life in danger. She made that mistake earlier this year, and she wouldn't repeat it.
"Fine!" Harry's abrupt word hung in the air for a moment. "Okay! I'll go back to the common room."
She sighed in relief internally. "Good."
"I'll just go and talk to Ron and Hermione. I guess you will not want them to leave the castle either."
And on that, he walked around her and pushed the door. Parvati followed him with her eyes from afar, watching him enter the Great Hall and discussing with Ron and Hermione, without being able to hear them. However, it was clear that he told both of them about her since they both looked in her direction, Ron with a furious expression similar to Harry's, and Hermione with a more worried face. Parvati knew that Hermione must be panicking at the thought of teachers learning she would be breaking rules. They left the Great Hall not long after. Harry had hidden his Invisibility Cloak under his clothes once more and kept his arms folded, in a position that was meant, now that Parvati knew, to hide the cloak. Neither of the three of them told her anything when they walked past her, but she kept following them from afar.
After climbing two stairs though, Hermione stepped away from the two boys.
"I'm going to the library. I'll try to get something to read, so I can forget about…"
And she headed in another direction. That was a very Hermione thing to do. Parvati was very well placed to know that Hermione Granger read every night before she fell asleep. She kept following Harry and Ron until they arrived at the common room. They then went through the portrait of the Fat Lady. Inside, people were either celebrating the end of their exams, but for those unlucky to still have some tomorrow, they were studying. Parvati was as a result very careful to not make much noise when she joined a group of friends that included Dean, Seamus and Lavender. She watched from the corner of the eye Harry climbing the stairs leading to the boys' dormitory. He still looked enraged. As far as Parvati was concerned, he could be enraged as much as he wanted, that didn't change anything to the fact that she probably saved his life tonight. If he wasn't happy with that, it was his problem. Boys were really stupid sometimes. And sadly, Seamus proved it once again by sprinkling water on some Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks. This resulted in an explosion that left his hair partially burned, to the greatest amusement of Lavender and Dean, until Percy fell upon them once more.
"YOU REALLY ARE THE STUPIDEST, DUMBEST, UNDISCIPLINED IDIOTS I'VE EVER SEEN!"
Parvati escaped discreetly to the girls' dormitory to avoid the worst of the Head Boy's reprimands. There, she took her Divination book Unfogging the Future. Anybody who knew her would certainly have been utterly surprised, stupefied, even horrified to see Parvati consult a school book when the exams were just over. However, this wasn't any kind of book. Parvati read the chapter about prophecies, which seemed to be what Professor Trelawney did in her presence this afternoon, trying to better understand them. However, she had to admit that the chapter didn't prove to be very helpful. It left her with more questions than answers. The phenomenon of prophecies was barely understood, and often considered as nonexistent by most wizards, according to the book. It didn't even give advice about how to interpret them. She guessed that Hermione would call that chapter a theoretical discussion about whether or not prophecies were real, or whether their predictions were ever accurate through other means than mere luck.
Parvati re-read the prophecy Trelawney told her. And then she watched outside. The sun was slowly setting on the horizon. She remembered that the hippogriff was supposed to be executed at sunset, according to what Harry, Ron and Hermione discussed. She thought about that majestic beast they saw at the beginning of the year. Parvati couldn't believe that this was already over. It felt as if it all went too quickly. She watched the sun slowly descending. She did this sometimes. She found it beautiful, and the scenery of Hogwarts was perfect to watch a sunset. She thought with a pang of guilt that it would be the last sunset of a hippogriff.
Lavender came in at this moment. "Hey, Parvati. Dean and Seamus are playing chess. And it's hilarious."
Intrigued, Parvati followed her friend. Indeed, Dean and Seamus were locked into quite a duel. They moved very quickly. As soon as one of them finished a movement, the one facing him played immediately. They seemed out of breath.
"What are you doing?" Parvati asked them, intrigued and wanting to laugh at their panting at the same time.
"Playing a fast game," Seamus said as he moved his bishop across the board.
"No more than one second to make each move," Dean explained, moving his queen.
"This is the fourth they're playing," Lavender explained in a whisper. She looked towards Percy Weasley. "We cannot do anything too noisy, so to make something interesting, Dean suggested to play chess at high speed. Seamus was not very enticed, but when Dean mocked him saying he was afraid to lose, Seamus plunged in head first. And here they are."
They were playing more frantically by the second. Finally, it was Dean who got Seamus' king.
"You're lucky to not be playing against Ron," Seamus said, out of breath. Everyone indeed knew that Ron was the best at chess.
"I'm up to the challenge," Dean countered. "Where is he?"
He was looking around, and Parvati looked around as well, but she saw no sign of Ronald Weasley. There were his two twin brothers, Fred and George, who were surprisingly working, Percy, of course, the paranoid and workaholic Head Boy, and even his little sister, Ginny. But there was no trace of Ron Weasley.
"He must be in our dormitory. I'll go get him," Seamus declared as he stood up. "You, don't move from there," he warned Dean with a finger pointed at him. Dean laughed at it.
Parvati kept looking in case she might have overlooked Ron. It could be funny to watch him play at high speed. Maybe they could even convince Harry and Hermione to try the same. It could make them forget about Hagrid and that hippogriff.
However, as Parvati kept searching the common room, she felt an uneasy feeling slowly grow inside her. Not only Ron wasn't there, but there was no trace of Harry and Hermione anywhere either.
Seamus came back from the dormitory.
"He's not there." He looked angry, probably for being deprived of the joy to see Dean being defeated at chess, but Parvati didn't care. She felt way more uneasy than before.
"Was there anyone else in the dormitory?" she asked Seamus.
"No. It's empty."
Parvati began to panic. Harry and Ron were nowhere in the common room. Without warning, she ran towards the stairs that led to the girls' dormitory, pushing everyone out of her way. She opened the door on the fly, and quickly realized that there was no one here either. What had she done? She had stayed inside the girls' dormitory for… For how long? What if Harry, Ron and Hermione found a way to get outside. It wasn't that difficult to get out of the common room unnoticed. She proved it with Harry months ago.
Just as the worst thoughts went through her mind, she saw a green light coming from the window. At the very same instant, someone screamed. Parvati's heart froze. The worst had happened.
Please review.
The journey to 500,000 woirds has been long and fantastic, and the rest of the journey through this story promise to be exciting. We are still quite far from the end. Thanks to all of you who have read, reviewed and favourited this fanfiction.
Next chapter: Lily