Where we discover who the visitors at Gryffindor's training are... and where students are taking a break from a very intense first week.
SUSAN VIII
Dear Mother,
Dear Father,
As you asked me, I'm writing to you at the end of this first week of the term. Aside from the heavy workload our teachers are giving us, everything is going very well. I am fine, safe, and happy. We even have an Auror as a teacher, you realize it?
Today, the practices of the school's choir are going to resume. I can't wait to sing again with my friends. Hannah is excited too. And Quidditch also resumed. The Firebolt you built already had an opportunity to shine again at Hogwarts, Father. (But please don't send me the equivalent of a book as a response like last time.)
I assure you, I feel great. I'll write to you again on the next weekend.
I love you.
Susan
She folded her letter and attached it, then proceeded to write a similar note for her aunt, which she also folded and attached.
They were early on Saturday morning in the Hufflepuff common room. Very few people had woken up yet. In her year, Susan was pretty sure she was the first one up. Only one week had been completed in the new term, and many of her classmates already looked exhausted. She didn't dare to imagine how they would look fare the O.W.L.s would truly approach.
As Susan walked through the castle and out in the fields towards the owlery, she pondered on what she wrote for her family. She wasn't being entirely honest in those letters. A part of her remained worried at all times given that Lord Voldemort was back. But more than that, more than their huge workload, it was the behaviour of many students that bothered her. Although it didn't reach the same level as for Harry, Susan sometimes heard whispers behind her back when she travelled through Hogwarts. That was what she got for being the girlfriend of the boy that both the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet depicted as an unstable liar. She still couldn't believe that so many people took for granted everything that was said in the newspapers. Wayne and Megan had not changed their minds about Harry, and Susan didn't speak to them anymore. She was fed up by how people proved to be ignorant and stupid, simply because they didn't want to believe something could be true.
Another thing that caused her some discomfort, though it was relatively minor in comparison, was the Auror teaching them who she mentioned in the letter she just wrote. That Auror happened to be Lily Evans Potter, the Mother Who Lived, and the mother of her boyfriend who happened to be teaching them this year. Susan barely had any significant interaction with the woman since she and Harry started seeing each other. She felt uncertain about what to do when this woman, who was one of the few people who managed to survive Lord Voldemort, was around, even more so when Susan found herself in the company of her son.
But it was mostly the general atmosphere in the school that troubled and upset Susan. The poor weather of the first week didn't help either. And although her relationship with Harry caused her some additional issues, she wouldn't renounce it for anything in the world. In fact, being with Harry reassured her. Even being in his presence, even if he didn't say a single word, made her feel better. There had even been highlights during this week, such as when both Ernie and Hannah declared loudly during their first Herbology lesson that they believed Harry when he said that Voldemort had returned. This had shut down any Hufflepuff and Gryffindor in the greenhouse at this moment who were hostile to Harry.
As she walked under the sun of Scotland, approaching the owlery, Susan felt this day should go well. The Choir was resuming its activities this morning, and she also had the Gryffindor's Quidditch practice to see this afternoon. She had not gone to their try-outs yesterday evening, choosing to complete as much homework as she could so her Saturday would be almost free. She preferred to miss the try-outs, where her boyfriend would not get to fly much, to attend their first practice this afternoon, where she would get to see Harry fly more often. Susan was usually not a fan of watching Quidditch practices, but she thought that she ought to attend Harry's first practice of the year.
When Susan walked into the owlery, her eyes were welcomed by the sight of dozens of owls perched or flying around. Susan never had her own owl. Her family had its owl, and her parents thought it sufficed. Truth be told, Susan was never particularly attracted to animals, and when arriving to Hogwarts, she didn't want one more than that. Although as the years went on, she had sometimes wished to have one, especially after the many morning's shows of owls filling the Great Hall.
As she tried to choose an owl to transport her letters, or whether she should choose two owls, one to deliver her parents' letter and the other for her aunt's, a snowy one soared down and perched herself kindly on Susan's shoulder.
"Hey. Hi, Hedwig."
She nibbled at Susan's ear, a gesture Susan never especially liked, but she knew that the owl did it to show her affection. Hedwig seemed to have taken a liking to Susan very quickly after she and Harry began spending time together. Susan had to admit that the owl was endearing and affectionate, and beautiful too. She had thought so since the first time she noticed the owl on a perch in Harry's apartment, years ago during summer, when she came to do her homework with him and Hannah. Hedwig always seemed very calm.
"Would you mind doing me a favor?" Susan asked the owl, showing her the letters. "I would need those to reach my parents and my aunt. They both live in London. You would be okay doing that?"
Hedwig seemed to agree as she raised her paws. Susan proceeded to attach her two letters to them.
"You'll be able to deliver both of them?" The snowy owl tilted her head to show she could. "I don't think Harry will need you today. With his mother teaching here, he will probably not have many letters to send this year. Sorry about that, by the way."
Hedwig didn't seem to be displeased. She let Susan attach the letters, then carry her and letting her off in the sky.
As Susan watched the beautiful white owl flying away, she noticed a shape coming out of the trees of the Forbidden Forest. She recognized one of the beasts that drove the coaches leading them to Hogwarts on the first day. Susan had seen them from the very beginning, in their first year, when they brought students back to Hogsmeade station for the Christmas holidays. Her friends couldn't see them, and for a long time, Susan didn't know why. It was only last year that she found out by chance who they were, by seeing an image of one in a book. They were Thestrals, winged horses who could only be seen by people who had witnessed death. Susan had not understood for a very long time why she could see them. She had never seen someone die. But at the beginning of the week, when they arrived to Hogwarts and she saw them again, she had understood later that night, while in her bed and wondering yet again why she could see them. It was because Susan had been a witness of deaths before she even born, without ever realizing it. It was the Dementors' attack in August that revealed it.
The sound of an opening door behind her caught Susan's attention, and she turned to see who the new intruder in the owlery was. The girl who stood in the doorway, a package in hand, was short, with long black hair.
"Oh," Cho Chang said when she saw Susan. "I… I didn't think anyone would be up here this early…"
"I woke up early," Susan replied. She looked at the package Cho was carrying. The Ravenclaw girl seemed to notice Susan's gaze.
"I only remembered five minutes ago that it was my mother's birthday."
"Oh. Well, good for her. I'll leave you alone."
Susan made for the exit of the owlery and walked past Cho. Just as she made it outside, the girl called her.
"Susan, excuse me, but… How is Harry doing? I didn't really have… I didn't get the chance to talk to him this week."
Susan made a face akin to a grimace before she turned towards Cho to answer her normally. "He's as good as he can be, I guess, considering the circumstances."
"Oh. Yes, I imagine. Well, I'll see how he's faring during our practice this afternoon. Thank you."
Cho turned to search for an owl into the owlery. Susan, on her side, frowned at her last words. "What do you mean? It's the Gryffindors who are training this afternoon."
This is what Harry had told her. "It is a common practice. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Our three teams are going to train together, like last year. It was Heidi's idea. You know Heidi Macavoy? She's the new captain for your house."
Susan searched her mind before answering. "I may have heard about it." Truth be told, the first week had been too busy for her to worry about anything related to Quidditch.
"Well, she went to see Angelina and Roger, and she suggested they could resume doing it. For…" Cho seemed to struggle to say something. "It was Cedric who started all that. He had the initial idea, so we thought that…"
Cho stopped saying more. She turned away to an owl who just flew down so she could attach her parcel to him.
"Yes, it's probably a good thing," Susan approved.
Cedric's death had been hard for everyone in Hufflepuff. And truth be told, Susan found it a good idea to use Quidditch to encourage coexistence rather than competition between houses. Except for the competition with Slytherins.
"I think… he might have liked it," Cho said, still turning her back on Susan, her voice a little different, as if partially strangled.
"Are you fine, Cho?" Susan asked, feeling sorry for her all of a sudden.
"As fine as I can be, I guess," she replied, her voice slightly trembling, echoing Susan's previous comments on Harry.
Susan didn't think there was much else she could do. "Have a good day, Cho. Take care of yourself."
And Susan walked away, leaving the other girl alone. She hoped that Cho would recover from her loss. Harry himself had not recovered from it, and Cedric was just a friend. Susan might have been traumatized by the sight of Cedric's lifeless body in June and by the attack of Dementors, but although the Thestrals might think otherwise, she never actually witnessed someone dying, and she never truly lost someone she cared about while being alive.
Susan headed directly for the Great Hall. Breakfast was already available, although few people were in the Great Hall. Only Ernie and Hannah were at the Hufflepuff table among the people she knew. She noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table and waved in their direction before sitting.
"Where were you?" Hannah asked her the moment she sat down.
"Sending letters to my parents and my aunt," she replied.
"Oh. I remember now." Susan had told Hannah about what her family asked her. "Is the weather good outside?"
"Yes. But anyway, I don't think we will spend our time outside this morning."
"No, true. But there's the Quidditch practice of this afternoon. I discussed about it with Heidi yesterday, and we're trying to get everyone in Hufflepuff to attend. For Cedric."
So Hannah was already aware of this? Thinking about it, Susan supposed she shouldn't be surprised. Hannah knew almost everything that happened within the castle.
"Are we still having our first rehearsal this morning?" Susan asked.
"Of course. And obligation to attend," she almost warned Susan.
"I wasn't planning to miss it."
"And you must also attend the Quidditch practice this afternoon."
"I was already planning to go there. Harry is participating, you know."
"Yes, it's true," Ernie confirmed. "Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, all together." He sighed. "I think it might do some good for your boyfriend, Susan. Harry didn't seem in a very good mood this week."
"How do you want him to be? He cannot make a step without someone wondering in whispers whether he's crazy."
"Yeah, I know. Yesterday, I surprised someone almost wondering out loud whether it was Harry who murdered Cedric. I was close to giving him a detention."
Susan sighed in despair and discouragement. "I doubt that we can give detentions for wondering who may have killed someone."
"That's what I told myself later." Ernie seemed discouraged too. "Being prefect is more demanding than I thought it would be. And judging by the amount of homework we got during the first week… I think we must take our studies and duties very seriously, Hannah."
"I do, Ernie," Susan's best friend assured.
"Maybe you will not have time left for the Choir, not with the O.W.L.s coming…"
"It is out of the question that I abandon the Choir," Hannah protested. "We have our first practice this morning in the Great Hall, and I don't care if this means not being able to make any homework today."
Susan was glad to hear it. She needed to think about something else after such a week, and music was one of the best distractions she knew.
During breakfast, Professor Flitwick, who led the Choir, came to see them and asked to stay in the Great Hall after breakfast. He told Susan and Hannah that since this was their fifth year in the Choir and they were among the most experienced members, they would help him to choose the people who would like to join it today.
Suddenly, a wave of owls emerged from the ceiling and began throwing packages and letters to the students. To Susan's surprise, she received one. She didn't expect her parents to write before tomorrow, to reply to her own letter. More intriguing, the letter was accompanied by the copy of a newspaper, and it was clearly not the Daily Prophet as people on black and white images were not moving.
Susan quickly read the letter from her mother, who hoped she was well and said she was awaiting impatiently for her daughter's letter, while also telling her that she sent a newspaper that might interest Susan. She unrolled the newspaper. By taking a quick look at the front page, she understood and burst into laughs.
"What? Something is funny?" Hannah asked.
"No. It's my mother. She sent me the newspaper from Quebec she reads everyday."
This was a Muggle newspaper, Le Devoir (The Duty), today's edition, September 7, 1995. On the front page, a huge title read: Une déclaration de souveraineté toute en lyrisme – Daniel Johnson accuse les souverainistes de réécrire l'histoire. (A very lyrical declaration of sovereignty – Daniel Johnson accuses sovereignists of rewriting history.)
This was another article on the upcoming referendum on which her mother worked all the time. For a moment, Susan was confused by the appearance of her mother's family name, Johnson, in the title, but then she remembered that one of the heads of the opposition movement to independence bore this family name as well. According to her mother, if they were related, this was a very distant relation. Susan supposed that she should expect her mother to send her quite a few of those articles in the upcoming weeks, as the date of the referendum approached.
When breakfast was over, Ernie left for the library while Hannah and Susan remained behind, with some members of the Choir from last year. A few had left Hogwarts and some previous members seemed to have decided to not return, so they needed to refill the ranks. Those who had been part of the Choir for less than four years, which meant almost everybody, had to participate to the auditions again. This was a rule Flitwick applied since the very beginning. This was actually the first year when Susan and Hannah didn't need to audition.
They were about a dozen from last year's Choir to be present, and less than half of them would not have to audition today. In addition, there were about twenty new applicants. Flitwick spoke to all of them when the rest of the school was gone and the Great Hall was for them.
"Welcome everybody," he said jovially. "Welcome to the auditions of the Hogwarts Choir. I am glad to see there are so many of you today. Don't be stressed for today. The auditions of the Choir are pretty simple. I call your name, you walk forward, and you sing the song of your choice. We have a gramophone here to play the disk of your choice, if you brought any, and a collection of disks you can choose from if you didn't bring anything. You can also choose to sing a capella. There is no established standard to get accepted into the Choir. In fact, we accept almost everybody. These auditions are mostly to ensure you know how to sing and that you feel good to perform in front of a large group of people. Because I must warn you, we are going to sing in front of all Hogwarts, and sometimes for even larger publics. Ask those from last year about the Quidditch match when we performed right before Viktor Krum arrived on the pitch."
Susan felt a little wave of both excitement and apprehension go through the small crowd of students who were present. She saw herself back in first year, feeling exactly the same. Susan had to overcome her fear of initially singing alone under the watchful eyes of dozens of students only listening to her. Her apprehension back then had not been helped by the fact she had sung a Muggle song, The Old Ways by Loreena McKennitt, in front of an entirely wizard audience, and that she was only the second one to sing right after Hannah because of their family names.
"This is mostly to give you a first experience and to ensure you have the basics," Flitwick resumed. "See today as a day to have fun before the real work begins next week. Our elder members, please excuse me," he added while turning for an instant towards Susan, Hannah and the others who would audition the people, "will give you their impressions after you sang."
Someone raised his hand. "Professor, what if we brought compact disks? Can we run them?"
"You're lucky, young man, this gramophone is special and handles those disks. Though I wouldn't suggest you to play it very often within Hogwarts. The magical waves could eventually destroy the technology within your disk. Now, please place yourself behind the line." Their professor made a bright line appear on the floor at this moment, and the auditioners moved back to stand behind it. Susan, Hannah and the other veterans of the Choir took place on benches Flitwick arranged behind him to face the people they would audition.
Flitwick then called forward the first student, a small boy of eleven who Susan recognized to be one of the new Hufflepuffs the Sorting Hat chose earlier this week. He gave a vinyl record to Professor Flitwick, who had it positioned on the gramophone right away and asked the small boy to prepare. Susan felt pity for him. He was a first-year who just arrived at Hogwarts, and he was asked to sing first. He was clearly intimidated by all those older students waiting for him to sing. Susan sent him an encouraging smile, trying to make him understand he had nothing to fear from them.
"The poor boy," Hannah whispered to her. "He's from a Muggle family. No one in his relatives ever came to Hogwarts."
This wouldn't help to make him feel more confident. Still, Flitwick asked him whether he was ready, and he nodded very quickly. The gramophone started running, and the song began. The melody at the beginning was telling something to Susan, though she didn't recognize it right away. Then the boy began to sing in his very high-pitched voice.
Susan now recognized it. Although the voice of the singer was very different from that of this little boy, she remembered hearing it years ago. It was strange to hear it with such a high-pitched voice.
When the music faded, people applauded politely.
"Very good, young man," Flitwick said appreciatively as he took some notes on a parchment next to him. "You are accepted into the choir. I will ask the veterans give you their opinion on your performance. See it as a first opportunity to learn from ancients. Miss Abbott, would you like to begin?"
Hannah stood up. "This happens to be one of my old favourite songs," she began. Now Susan remembered when she first heard it. It was back when the album of the same name was released, before she came to Hogwarts, and Hannah made her listen to songs right when she bought it. "You sing it well, but you struggle to hold the musical notes, and you struggle with the tonality of the highest ones. These are things I think you should work on over the year."
It was then Susan's turn to make her comments. "I must agree with Hannah's comments. Your voice is often trembling. You struggle to maintain it constant. But you don't have to worry. We all had similar problems when we first joined the choir, and we got help from the senior members. This is what we will do with you as well. Work with you. Welcome to the choir."
The other veterans all gave their own specific comments. Some were barely critical, complimenting him on his qualities. Susan wondered whether she should have taken this approach to making comments. They were in a choir. Competition and excellence were not absolutes. This was supposed to be entertaining first and foremost. But others proved even more critical, and less supportive than Susan and Hannah were. One seemed to not know what to say. Susan suspected that he had never heard this song before.
The next student to audition was a girl. She sang one of Celestina Watbeck's bestseller. Within the wizarding world, she was Susan's favourite artist. She had never been particularly attracted to the style of the Weird Sisters. However, Celestina had not been her favourite singer in a very long time. The one thing Susan regretted about the cultural sphere of the wizarding world was that it was very limited, because of the small wizarding population of Great Britain. As a result, once you knew Celestina Warbeck and the Weird Sisters, you knew almost all musical artists in Great Britain if you limited yourself to wizards. That had led Susan and Hannah very early to explore Muggle music. They even encouraged Professor Flitwick to include Muggle artists and songs into their shows when they joined the Choir.
The following boy also sang something from Celestina Warbeck. Comments were richer with those songs, all veterans obviously knowing them very well unlike Muggle songs. The first three auditioners were all in first year, but the next one came from Ravenclaw and was in her fourth year. The girl had hair as dark as coal with brown eyes. When the disk she brought began to play, Susan was almost surprised to hear a flute playing. It only took her a moment to recognize the song. She smiled while thinking how her mother would have enjoyed hearing a Canadian song. When it was over, Hannah congratulated the girl right away.
"This is not an easy song to perform, but you did quite well. You need to better manage variations of tones. But you have great potential, that is very obvious."
The girl from Ravenclaw smiled brightly. Then it was Susan's turn to provide her comments.
"First, I want to tell you…"
"Are you Susan Bones?" the girl interrupted her before she could go further. Susan was taken aback. Veterans of the choir were not supposed to be interrupted while giving their views during the auditions.
"Yes, I am," she confirmed.
"Then you can keep your opinions for yourself. They do not interest me."
Susan frowned. The girl, first very positive with Hannah, showed hostility towards Susan.
"Miss, you must accept the comments from senior members of this choir," Flitwick said, still kindly but with a certain level of warning in his voice.
"Sorry, Professor Flitwick, but… Do you know that this girl is dating a crazy guy who thinks dead people are coming back to life?"
Susan sighed internally. Now she knew why this girl looked hostile. "I'm afraid this is not relevant to what we're doing today," Susan declared as if she didn't care. "We're discussing music, not politics."
"I'm not interested in anything this girl has to say," the Ravenclaw repeated. "Not coming from a crazy girl dating a crazy guy who probably murdered Cedric Diggory."
Susan was outraged and furious right away. She could take it when people treated Harry of liar, but to accuse him of actually killing Cedric…
"You take those words away right now," Hannah snapped, standing up before Susan could.
"Why should I? We all know it's the truth," the girl retorted vehemently.
"You see this badge?" Hannah pointed her prefect badge on her chest. "If you want to avoid a detention, I advise you to apologize right away for what you said. I will not tolerate any lack of respect for Cedric's memory, and even less lack of respect and insult towards another student."
"This is not going to be necessary, Miss Abbott," Flitwick then intervened. He then turned his attention back to the Ravenclaw girl. "Miss, you're going to apologize to Miss Bones right away and promise to never hold such language again. If not, then I'm afraid your place is not in this choir."
The girl seemed to hesitate. She looked between Flitwick, Hannah, Susan and the other students. Susan felt a general hostility towards the girl within the Great Hall. Finally, she turned to Professor Flitwick. "I'm sorry, Professor. It will never happen again," she let go.
"Not to me, Miss. It is to Miss Bones that you must apologize."
Reluctantly, the girl turned to Susan and, between her teeth, she apologized. "I'm sorry."
"And you promise it will never happen again," Flitwick added.
"I promise it will not happen again," the girl repeated laconically. Susan got the distinct impression this girl didn't believe a single word she said.
Hannah then whispered into Susan's ear. "I think I heard something about this girl. Her father is working for Fudge. He's part of his staff." Susan supposed it explained a lot of things.
The next student was someone in the choir last year, a third-year boy from Gryffindor. He sang something from the Weird Sisters, a song which Susan didn't recognize. That was odd, considering she thought she knew all songs from the group, even though she wasn't one of their fans. Music from this group was also not fitting as well with a choir, but Susan tried to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the boy. Hannah complimented him on his talent. When it was Susan's turn to comment, she noticed his ability to sing very fast and rhythmic songs accurately, but warned him that most of the music they sang and played in the choir was very different in nature. She was about to let the next veteran speak his mind when the boy spoke up.
"Excuse me, but… I just want to tell you that… My father and my grandfather died during the last war. And Dumbledore says that You-Know-Who is back and that he murdered Cedric Diggory, we believe him."
Susan remained frozen for a moment at this declaration, but Flitwick intervened.
"Please, everyone. We are at a repetition of the Hogwarts Choir. If you want to discuss politics or any other subject, even charms or potions, wait for the repetition to be over. In the meantime, let's focus on music."
Despite Flitwick's words, Susan felt better after hearing someone claim loudly that he believed what was actually going on in the world. The remainder of the auditions went pretty well. Only one student was rejected, and it was because he was so shy that he refused to sing in front of everyone else. Afterwards, Professor Flitwick distributed music sheets for two songs he planned to make them sing during the first term. He also asked them to suggest songs they might produce over the years, which many did. Susan herself made a few suggestions, and Flitwick told them he would take into consideration their proposals. He then offered each one of them a Butterbeer to welcome them into the Choir. This first practice ended at ten o'clock, and Susan felt better once it was over. She seized her bag and was about to go to the library.
"Miss Bones, can I have a minute with you, please?" Professor Flitwick asked as she made to leave.
Susan approached the Charms teacher. He was probably the teacher she got along the best. Flitwick led the Hogwarts Choir which Susan was a part of since her arrival at Hogwarts. He was always very kind and cordial with his students, even more with those who participated to the activities he organized outside his classroom. This created a situation where, despite being in Hufflepuff, Susan found herself closer to the Head of the Ravenclaw House. He smiled at her tenderly when she was close enough.
"Miss Bones, I hope you weren't too upset by what one of our new choristers said today."
"Oh. No, it's fine." She guessed that she would get used to it eventually. Though she wished that people ran after her only to ask her questions about Harry and their relationship like they did last year. It was bothering, but not hateful like this year.
"Good. Look, if you have problems this year, don't hesitate to ask for help. I am always available to talk."
"Thank you, Professor Flitwick."
She left after that and headed for the library. She found many students there, but not the one she was looking for. She and Harry had taken the habit of going almost automatically to the library after lessons. It was something they started to do last year, and they continued during the first week of this new term. This way, despite their heavy workload, they could still spend some time together. However, this morning, she only found Hermione sitting in a corner. She was with Ginny, the little sister of Ron.
"Hi, Hermione. Have you seen Harry?" Susan asked her.
"Hi, Susan. You will not find him here. He is on the Quidditch pitch. Training with Ron." Hermione rolled her eyes as she said so.
"I thought their practice was this afternoon," Susan replied, frowning.
"My brother thought he needed some additional practicing, and he asked Harry to help him," Ginny explained.
"Oh."
Susan wasn't sure what to think about this. They already had a practice this afternoon. Was it really necessary to also train this morning? Or even a good thing? She completed her homework with Harry for most of the week. Last time was on Thursday evening, and both couldn't manage to complete them at this moment. They received more on Friday, and since Harry attended the try-outs yesterday, he certainly couldn't begin them on this day. Susan didn't think that spending the whole morning playing Quidditch when you already had a practice in the afternoon was the best use of time. But at the same time, she could understand why they would be already fed up by this first week. Susan was tired of it too. That was why she was so happy to have a Choir's rehearsal this morning. It could take her mind out of academics for a time. Still, they had homework to do, and she didn't want to be forced to do them all tomorrow right before the next week began. Not to mention that she had to attend this afternoon's practice, so she better use the time until that. She sat down next to Hermione.
"Did you have time to complete the homework Professor Vector gave us?" Susan asked her friend.
"I did it right before you arrived. I warn you, the solution to find at the end is very complicated."
Indeed, it proved very complicated. Susan only found it and completed her Arithmancy obligations when lunch was about to happen. The Quidditch practice was only to begin at two o'clock, so she supposed she would have time to begin something before. Susan didn't take more time than necessary for lunch and headed back to the library. She sat down to begin the Herbology essay, and was almost surprised when Harry joined her.
"Hi," he said, taking her hand and squeezing it briefly under the table.
"I thought you would still be on the Quidditch pitch," Susan said.
"Please, don't lecture me about this. Hermione gave me quite a dose."
"I'm not lecturing you. Only, you don't have much time to work before it begins."
"Angelina asked me yesterday to keep an eye on Ron, after she chose him to be our new Keeper. He says he will need a lot of practice to become a very good Keeper, so I went to the pitch to help him before this afternoon. I'm taking a little hour to do some homework before the real practice takes place. By the way, did your rehearsal went well?"
"Yes, quite good. We are quite a few to begin this year, but we can expect a few to leave during the next two months. That's what always happens. Well, I guess you couldn't start the Herbology essay."
"No. Did you start?"
"I just did. We can do it together if you want."
He agreed, and they spent the next hour into self-fertilizing shrubs. Of course, they didn't have time to finish it. Harry was forced to leave sooner to prepare. Susan only stayed a few more minutes before she left as well. Susan did expect a few people to attend the practice, but to her surprise, about a third of the Houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were present when she arrived. The portion for Hufflepuff was higher, probably more than half of them. Hannah must have done a very good job to gather troops. Susan needed some time before she finally found her best friend, who sat along with everyone within their year.
"Hey, Susan. Here!" she hailed her.
"Yes, I saw you," Susan replied, making her way through the people already sitting until she managed to squeeze herself between Hannah and Sally. "Where are the players?"
"A few are already there." Hannah pointed at the pitch, where two or three people from each team had gathered on the ground. She didn't see Harry among them. He was probably still changing.
"I have to say… I didn't expect that," Susan said. "A common practice between the three teams."
"It is Heidi who suggested it," Sally informed her about what she already knew.
"She knows, Sally," Hannah said. "Well, I think this is a good way to begin this year. The last year didn't end very well."
Susan nodded. Summer could have been better too. She looked towards Wayne and Megan. She had not exchanged a single word with them since their return to Hogwarts. Susan turned to Sally.
"Did you write to your parents yet?" Susan asked her.
"Not yet. I will do it tomorrow. My owl will be happy. He didn't have much work to do this summer," Sally explained. "I don't know how you do."
"How I do what?"
"Not have your own owl."
"My family has one. And Harry allows me to borrow Hedwig from time to time."
"Hedwig?"
"His owl. You know, the snowy one."
"Oh, yeah. I always loved this one. She's so beautiful."
"Intelligent, too. I sent her with my letters for my parents and my aunt this morning. They should receive them pretty quickly."
"Oh, that's why you weren't in the dormitory this morning when we woke up."
"Yes. I went early at the owlery."
"I don't know how you manage to get up so soon. Not after the week we just had."
"Well, I wasn't the only one. Cho Chang was there too."
"Cho Chang?" Hannah asked all of a sudden, as if interested by the conversation now.
"Yes. She was sending a gift to her mother. For her birthday."
"That early?" Hannah wondered aloud, a quizzical expression on her face. "Well, I guess she must struggle to sleep."
"Why?" Susan asked.
"Well… I believe she's been taking Cedric's death very hard. Heidi told me that when she approached Cho to organize the common practice, she almost cried the moment Heidi mentioned Cedric. And Sally surprised her crying in the toilets on Tuesday."
Sally nodded. "I knocked at her door to see how she was faring, but she shouted me to leave her alone," their friend explained.
Susan was thoughtful. She had the impression that Cho was about to cry this morning as well. Cedric's death had been very difficult for many people in Hogwarts, and even more in Hufflepuff. Cedric Diggory was appreciated by everybody, even by Slytherins in general. Some of them were even present in the crowds for this practice. However, although Susan had expected Cedric to be a delicate matter to discuss with Cho Chang, she didn't think the Ravenclaw's Seeker would be so much heartbroken like Hannah and Sally seemed to depict. After all, although it was normal to be sad, she and Cedric had been together for only six months.
On the other side, Susan never truly considered what it had to be to lose people you loved. Everything related to this kind of loss was more abstract than anything for her. She knew that her aunt and her parents were deeply affected when her grandparents, her uncle Edgar, his wife and her cousins were murdered. But Susan wasn't even born yet. She never knew them. And even after the Dementors brought back a buried memory of their deaths to the surface, it remained something distant to Susan. As if it belonged to a dream. A traumatic dream, but a dream nonetheless. Susan had never truly experienced the loss of someone close to her. She wondered what kind of reaction she would have had if Harry had died last June?
"Oh, here she is," Hannah said.
Susan looked on the pitch. Cho Chang indeed just walked onto the pitch… with Harry. They seemed to be discussing as they joined the others, but she and Harry went separate ways almost immediately as Harry went to talk with the other players of Gryffindor.
"She seems to be better," Sally said.
"I hope so," Hannah said. "I pity her. It must be hard to lose the boy you love."
The few players still inside the changing rooms arrived not long after. Susan noticed Angelina Johnson, Heidi Macavoy and Roger Davies discussing together, a little away from the other players of their teams. After a while, the new captain of the Hufflepuff team broke off from their small group and walked towards the crowd, facing them as she pointed her wand on her throat. When she lowered it, she spoke in a magically loud voice that everyone across the pitch could hear.
"Hello, everybody. Thank you all for coming." They heard her clearing her throat. "This was supposed to be Gryffindor's first practice of the year, but… Angelina was kind enough to let our teams participate as well." She cleared her voice again. "A few months ago… Our team lost his captain… And I lost a friend. We all lost a friend." A heavy silence followed her declaration. "He should be here with us. He should be the captain of this team, not me. I shouldn't even be here talking to you, because it was Cedric who got the idea of these common training sessions. He's the one who had the idea two years. And last year, when the Quidditch season was cancelled, he's the one who made sure they continued at the beginning of the year, to make sure we could have some Quidditch that year." She made a pause during which no one dared to speak. "I think he would have wanted us to continue this. To continue what he created. I don't know if this will be the only time this year that we will training together or if there will be more, but… For today, let's put the competition… our rivalries… Let's put all that aside. Cedric would not have wanted us to be opponents or enemies. He would have wanted all of us to be friends."
Her speech resonated across the stadium, and Susan thought she even heard a few people crying.
"Like Dumbledore said last year, let's remember Cedric. And… We shouldn't be sad when remembering him. We should be happy. We should… do what he would like us to do. Go on with our lives and enjoy it. Enjoy the same things he enjoyed. So, let's climb on our broomsticks and enjoy this practice."
She turned away, muting her voice with her wand. But before Heidi Macavoy could begin to speak with the other players, probably to give the first instructions of the practice, someone in the crowd began to applaud. Some people joined, and soon Susan and her friends joined as well. She looked at the pitch. The players were applauding too. From the corner of her eyes, Susan noticed a few students leaving the pitch. She recognized Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson, along with many of their friends among this small group of people leaving. The applauses lasted quite some time, and even Heidi joined it after an initial puzzlement.
There wasn't much particular to say about the practice that followed. Players eventually flew up and proceeded to train, repeating false games. The atmosphere, first solemn, turned more friendly as time went on, and only around five o'clock did the practice ended, when Cho Chang managed to catch the Golden Snitch right under Harry's nose. If Susan's mood and that of other students had been questionable at the beginning of the day, they were all cheerful when they went to the Great Hall to dine together this evening. For a short moment, it seemed like everyone was happy that the Sorting Hat's desire to see the houses unite was realized. It was realized through the memory of one of them who was gone.
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Next chapter: Hermione