Chapter 14
Elle was sitting in the dining hall. It had been a few weeks since she had been dragged back to earth, and she was slowly starting to feel like herself again. She knew that nothing would ever be exactly normal, but she was starting to feel a bit better. She had even started to enjoy Sam's jokes again. When Sam had managed to explode, with a shower of multicoloured sparks, the pineapple they were trying to make dance in preparation for their charms exam, Elle even laughed. Professor Flitwick had only sighed, muttering 'another penchant for pyrotechnics' under his breath.
There was only one thing that she still didn't feel up to doing – attending the last quidditch match of the season. It was Gryffindor v. Slytherin, as was predicted, but Sam had recovered quickly from his house's loss. "We still got third place" he'd said joyfully, referring to Ravenclaw's defeat earlier in the month. They seemed to have lost their heart after the Gryffindor loss. Elle couldn't bring herself to go to the highly anticipated finals. It was just a little bit too much.
Before she said goodbye to her friends, who were all heading off to the pitch, Isidre pulled her aside to a private conversation. He was shuffling his feet, looking nervous. "I'm glad you're feeling a bit better Elle, but I know you're still sad." Elle nodded. She still couldn't talk about it without crying. "But if you can believe that stuff about not getting to pick your family about… Scorpius, can't you believe it about yourself?" He looked up at her. Elle swallowed back tears. "I'm trying" she said finally. She knew little about Isidre's family, but she guessed that there had been a reason he had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas. She looked at him firmly "I do believe it, you know - about who your family is not mattering." Isidre nodded, the unspoken message passing between them.
After her friends, amongst almost all other Hogwarts students, had headed towards the Quidditch pitch, the castle felt strangely empty. The silent brooding Elle had been looking forward to didn't seem as appealing to her after her conversation with Isidre. She knew that it had taken a lot of confidence for him to point out her own hypocrisy to her. It must have been really bothering him. He hated confrontation so much he had let Sam call him Issi for almost two weeks before admitting he 'didn't think the nickname suited him' to Elle in private.
Fumbling for an idea on what to do, with her homework already done, Hagrid's cozy cottage popped into her mind. A bit nervously, as she had never visited Hagrid alone, Elle headed off towards the small cabin tucked away at the base of the woods. Summoning her courage, she knocked on the large door twice, but received no reply. Elle realized he was probably also at the quidditch game. She cursed herself for forgetting staff were also enthusiastic supporters of the matches. Just as she was starting to head her way back up to the castle, an enormous bloodhound bounded out of the woods, tongue lagging and panting heavily. Moments later, Hagrid barged out, looking the wildest he'd ever been, bits of twigs and branches tangled in his hair and beard.
"Come on Dirk, ya' great big brute" he said, before he laid eyes on Elle. "Oh Elle! What're you doing up here?" he asked in surprise. Elle suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. "I wanted to visit, everyone else is at the big game, but I didn't fancy going…" "The game?" Hagrid asked, eyes roaming around wildly. He seemed to be in a hurry. "The quidditch finals" Elle elaborated. Hagrid then let out a string of curses that made Elle blush. "So far awa-" he started. Hagrid then looked back to her. He paused, considering something. "Elle, would you like to help me out? It's a bit of an emergency, poor lass won't let me near her" Elle wasn't exactly sure what Hagrid was asking, but she nodded all the same.
"Right. Follow me" he said, immediately turning back into the Forbidden Forest with wide strides. Elle had to jog to keep up. On through the brush they went, Hagrid not bothering to stick to the small footpaths that Isidre had favoured to get to his thestrals. Dirk, the bloodhound, trotted at Elle's side, sniffing all the while. At one point, Hagrid started veering left, and Dirk barked loudly. Hagrid immediately straightened his course. For nearly fifteen minutes the plunged into the forest, until Elle was breathless and sweaty. Finally, they entered a clearing, larger than the one Isidre had shown her, that opened up to a small inlet of the great lake. It was beautiful and calm.
On the far side of the clearing, Elle spotted a flash of white in the underbrush. Hagrid was speaking to Elle, his voice low and even. "Alright Elle, I want you to get near that bush there… that's it" he said as Elle walked forward. "Slowly now" Hagrid warned. Elle let out a sharp exhale of breath when the figure in the bushes came into clearer view. It was a unicorn. The colour was a pure white, the most beautiful animal she'd ever seen. Something was wrong, however. The unicorn was laying on her flank, drenched in sweat. When she turned to look at Elle, her eyes were wide and glassy. She whinnied but did not move as Elle approached.
"Alright Elle, that's very good" Hagrid encouraged, his voice still unnaturally calm. "This little lass needs some help, do you see her baby?" Elle let out a small gasp. The unicorn was in labour, but something had gone wrong. The hind legs seemed to be coming out first. "Can you help her, Elle?" Hagrid asked. Elle nodded. The was the most amazing animal she had ever seen. She would do anything she could to help her.
Hagrid continued to give Elle quiet instructions, as Elle reached around and tried to move the baby unicorn (foal? Elle thought briefly, before trying to refocus on the task at hand). After an indeterminate amount of time, the baby (foal, Elle decided) was finally born. The small body lay limp on the soft grass of the forest, surrounded by the small patches of snow still holding on in the early spring. The unicorn immediately turned to the body, licking it all over. After a few tense seconds, the foal started to stir. Elle let out a sigh of relief.
Hagrid came over cautiously. The unicorn whinnied but allowed him to approach. He inspected the unicorn and the foal, Elle stepping away. Finally, he leaned back, grinning broadly. "A healthy filly. Good job, Elle" he said, clapping her so hard on the back her knees started to buckle. "That was a tough spot." They walked back to Hagrid's cottage more slowly, to Elle's relief.
Once they were near the comfort of the roaring fire of Hagrid's hearth, Elle was bubbling with questions. "Was that a real unicorn?" Elle asked. Hagrid grunted in confirmation, leaning over his kettle. "Why wouldn't she let you go near her?" Hagrid sat next to Elle, pouring a steaming stream of tea into her chipped mug. "Unicorns are skittish around men on the best of days" Hagrid said. "They barely tolerate me. The mum is a young one to begin with, doesn't trust easily. And she was stressed, it was too much for her. She kept trying to run away from me, it was tiring her out and she was already exhausted. They're much calmer around girls, especially young ones." Elle nodded, feeling special. "Why didn't the foal have a horn?" Elle asked. Hagrid smiled at Elle, his small dark eyes crinkling around the corners. "Don't come in until they're about two" he said.
Elle continued to ask Hagrid everything she could about unicorns. "You like magical creatures, don't ya?" Hagrid asked finally, once the fire was down to the coals and Elle's tea was ice cold. Elle nodded. "I like the forest in general. It's so beautiful. I don't know why really, I just feel like I belong in there." Hagrid smiled at her warmly. "The history of the forest is older than Hogwarts, you know. Most of the creatures have lived there so long, there are old wives' tales about them, even. Like for example, it used to be said that the first unicorns of the forest were born from pregnant horses who were the only witnesses to the death of an innocent witch." Elle looked at him in surprise. "But unicorns are so… pure" Elle said. "Hmmph" replied Hagrid. "Some of the prettiest creatures in the forest are the most dangerous, and the ugliest the sweetest." Elle remembered vaguely Rose's warning about Hagrid's proclivity for dangerous creatures, and nodded to him, though she didn't fully believe it.
"Tell ya what, Elle. You did a great job helping me out today, but I can't give you house points meself, because I'm not a professor." Hagrid grabbed a grubby piece of parchment from the depths of his large overcoat, which had an overabundance of pockets. After rummaging around for a few more seconds, he produced a quill (amongst a handful of what looked like dried beetles, and a few crumbly dog treats) and scratched a few words onto the parchment in messy handwriting. "Just go up to the castle and give this to the first professor you see, they'll give your house some points for your help." Elle took the parchment gratefully. Though she would have helped Hagrid regardless, she couldn't say no to some extra points. Depending on who won the match today, and the score, Ravenclaw may fall into second place to Slytherin in the race for the house cup.
Eagerly, Elle headed up to the castle, her head still swimming from her exciting afternoon. Before she could find a professor however, she ran into Albus. The game must be over. She realized she had been at Hagrid's for quite a while, because the sun was starting to set, and darkness was gathering. "There you are!" said Albus, looking surly. "We've been looking for you all over. Where have you been?" Elle shrugged. "I was just visiting Hagrid's. Who won the match?" "Slytherin, but that's not important. We were worried about you, Elle." Elle's eye narrowed. "Why?" she asked. "You know why, Elle" Albus replied, sighing. Elle looked at him coldly. "No, I don't." she said, suddenly annoyed.
"Because you've been a bit dramatic lately" Albus said, throwing his hands into the air as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "My mum is probably a dark witch. How am I supposed to act!" Elle retorted, feeling angry at Albus' callousness, and embarrassed that her friends were treating her with kid gloves. "You're not stupid Elle, you don't actually believe your mum is evil. Scorpius just says you're trying to hate her, because it's too scary to admit that your mum's in real danger." Elle looked at Albus, shocked by his harsh words. Albus rubbed his neck, looking ashamed. "I think Scorpius would've put it a bit nicer than that, though." Elle wasn't in the mood to be polite. Albus's words had really stung.
"Well, the next time Scorpius feels like he knows everything about me, he should speak to me himself" she said crossly. Albus stared at her. "You really don't know why he hasn't said it to you?" Elle shrugged, her face still frowning. Albus rolled his eyes, crossing his arms "you can be so selfish sometimes Elle. You know you're not the only one getting hurt by all of this." Elle looked at Albus, confused now.
"Scorpius risked so much to help you" Albus accused, his voice raising. "He stole from his family, smuggled dark magic into the school. He bled for you, Elle. Every few days for WEEKS, he opened that stupid book and looked for your family rune. It gave him nightmares, you know. And you never even said thank you." Elle looked to her feet, waves of hot guilt overcoming her. She can't believe she hadn't even thanked Scorpius. "Instead, you had the worst possible reaction" Albus continued ranting "you freaked out about your family. Acted as if it made you and your mum evil automatically. Don't you see how that makes Scorpius feel? He's from one of the most notorious families in all of Britain! If your mum can literally run away from home and raise you in the muggle world, and you still think she's evil when you find out her family's past, what does that mean for Scorpius? He still has to stay with his grandfather over Christmas." Elle looked at Albus, dumbstruck.
"I just wish Scorpius would have said something to me…" Elle started. "Don't put this on him" Albus growled. "Scorpius has a talent for telling you what you need to hear. He knows how to get to the bottom of things. But there's one thing that he won't do, he has too much pride, and maybe too much fear. He won't beg you to care about him." Elle said down heavily onto the stone bench of the courtyard where Albus had run into her. "I've been terribly selfish" she murmured, ashamed. Albus looked at her regretfully. "I'm sorry Elle, I shouldn't have yelled." Elle nodded.
"He's right, you know" she said after a while, half laughing, half sobbing. "I am afraid for her. So afraid that if I think about it, I feel like I'll die." Albus nodded. "Scorpius is always right about these things."
As they headed up towards the castle, Elle remembered the parchment that she was still holding in her hand. "I'll meet you at dinner" she said to Albus, who raised his eyebrow. "I have to give this to a professor, I'm not running off again, honest." Albus nodded uncertainly, before heading towards the sounds of laughter and conversation that was emanating from the open doors to the great hall. Too shy to go up to the staff table during the meal, Elle opted to wait around outside the staff room. Just as she was going to give up, her stomach growling, McGonagall exited the dark wood door.
"Elle!" she said, surprised "I was just going to send for you." Elle got a sinking feeling in her chest again. McGonagall, if she noticed Elle's distress, did not comment on it. "I would like you to meet with me after your exams in June. I've started making arrangements for your living situation over the summer. I'm sorry we haven't had more meetings this year." McGonagall softened her gaze and spoke more quietly "if there had been any updates to your case, I would have contacted you immediately. Unfortunately…" she trailed off. Elle didn't need to hear the rest. "I know. Nothing's changed" she said. McGonagall nodded sadly. "I'll come to your office after potions. That's my last exam." "That would be perfect, Elle, thank you."
McGonagall had just straightened up and was about to leave when she turned to Elle again. "Was there something you wanted, Elle?" "Oh. Yeah" she replied, holding the grubby piece of parchment up, a bit embarrassed that the headmistress was about to read about her adventure. McGonagall scanned the contents of the note quickly, before smiling at Elle. There was a mix of emotions in her eyes that Elle couldn't read. "Fifty points to Ravenclaw" she announced, before turning and heading towards the dining hall. Elle couldn't believe her ears. She had never earned more than fifteen points at once before.
She raced to the large hourglasses in the hall and caught the last of the blue sapphires falling into place. She grinned. She'd just got Ravenclaw their lead back.