Chapter 13: Storm Brewing
The Easter holidays came upon them faster than they realized possible. After their meeting with the unicorn Amaranth, they had excitedly gone back to their routine of dueling practice and wand work, yet none of them noticed any major differences, with the exception of Ron. He was the first to show any signs of Amaranth's blessing manifesting. They'd been trying out shield charms, when Ron managed one almost perfectly, though it didn't last long. The one effort left him panting for a few minutes, but with continued practice, he was able to hold it for just a little longer.
Harry was the next discover his blessing. In Charms, Professor Flitwick had them reviewing all the spell he had them gone over in class so far. When Harry had cast his lumos spell, nearly the whole class had been temporarily blinded by its brilliance, and the tiny part-goblin professor had toppled off his desk.
Hermione, Daphne, and Susan all began experimenting with different types of magic, but so far had no luck in a manifestation. Neville had chosen a different tactic and had seemed to immersed himself even further into his study of herbology, though he did still practice with them all at to keep up with them in the duel ring.
When the Easter holiday came upon them, they found themselves with two whole weeks. The first few days, they had met in the Dragon clubroom to work on their homework, but they soon found themselves crowded by the older student, studying either for their O.W.L.s or their N.E.W.T.s. With their homework finished and the clubroom occupied, they took to hanging out in Summer's Breeze's den. The qilin had taken to experimenting with potions and various herbs. More often than not, they would enter into her den to find strange clouds of vapors wafting from the potions room. Multiple cauldrons would be set aside on low burning fires to simmer. When asked about them, all she would say is she was testing several ideas she was testing out. At least two of them were potions concerning animagi, though she wasn't too optimistic about results.
Harry spent much time in the practice room. While his supercharged lumos spell was an obvious way Amaranth's blessing was showing within him, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than a simple light. After a couple days, he could control the intensity of the light that was summoned. And yet…he couldn't shake the feeling there was something more. A piece that he was missing, and he wondered if it was due to him just not yet knowing the right spell.
It was after one of these sessions that Harry had entered the common area to join the others, that Susan asked a question that should have been asked in hindsight. She had just sipped from a glass of pumpkin juice, provided by a more than happy Deek who had taken to bringing them snacks and Summer's Breeze food, when she asked, "So who exactly is this 'sage' fellow? I hear you and Summer's Breeze mention him from time to time. I get that he's your boss, Breeze, but how does he relate to Harry?"
The qilin opened an eye from where she lay curled on her favorite cushion to cast a leveled appraising look at the auburn haired girl. She swept her eye over to where Daphne sat. The blonde had a pastry halfway to her mouth, frozen by the question. She slowly finished taking her bite and put the pastry back down on her plate as she chewed.
The qilin moved her head to focus both eyes on Harry. "Have we really not cleared that up? I was under the impression you had explained it all to them."
Harry blinked back at her. "I thought we had discussed this when we all cleared the air about being on the same side against Voldemort."
"Voldemort." Summer's breeze said slowly, sounding out each syllable. "Ridiculous name. Could either mean 'flight of death' or 'theft of death'."
"You're stalling, Breeze." Hermione said. "Is this another of those you know a lot but can't tell us much things?"
"Not entirely." The qilin replied. "More of a 'Im trying to figure out a simple way of answering a complex question' thing. To be short: the Sage is my boss. The one I answer too. The one my whole clan of qilin all look to as leader. Guide. The Sage is but one of many. All have given up their identities, memories, to become the Sage of a particular part of Knowledge. A Sage is what he is. A Sage is who he is. As for how he relates to Harry, it's the same as how the Sage relates to you: a boy named Tom Riddle. Years ago, Riddle discovered a secret and used what he found to meet the Sage. A deal was struck, which led to you all being here. Myself included." She paused. "Or maybe I would be here regardless. Possibly not interacting with you, but chronicling the events."
"You've mentioned that before." Neville piped up. "Does that mean you've been watching everything we do?"
"Pretty much." The qilin replied. She gestured to one of the shelves, where a book sat next to a bottle of ink and a quill. "That's what I've written so far. Nothing too invasive. Just a telling of what I've witnessed so far. Details are a bit lacking at the start. Mainly because I was keeping myself detached. Just an observer. Not anymore, though. Now I've gotten to know you all." Summer's Breeze chuckled.
"It's mostly all from Harry's perspective." Hermione said. She had gotten up to pick up the book to flip through it.
"Wait…so you really have been writing out all our interactions?" Daphne asked.
"Not just our personal intersections. I've been chronicling the main details, so to speak. It's done quite often for major events and those seen as the focus. Normally you simply wouldn't be aware of our presence. But I am curious." And she turned her attention to Hermione. "I know you especially have spent quite some time and effort looking into old wizard myths and legends for your own answers. Have you found anything?"
"Just a few obscure references. Mostly about owls, ancient lost libraries, and the speculation of forgotten knowledge. Also a few about just outright claiming the answers themselves are deliberately hidden." She answered.
"Perhaps. But I fear I've gotten a bit off topic. Easy for my kind. We very much take after our Sage in that regard. But he is very old. Older even than Amaranth. What his true age is, we do not know. What we world he hails from, we do not know. Part of that is the nature of his becoming a Sage. Another may simply be due to how long he has served Knowledge. Does that suffice for an answer, Susan?" The qilin turned back to her.
Ron frowned. "Does anyone else feel like they're living in some old myth or fairytale? A dark wizard haunting us, trying to kill our friend. A talking qilin joins our group, who works for an ancient mystical being that pops up from time to time with cryptic words and advice."
They all turned to Summer's Breeze, but she had closed her eyes again and settled back into her cushion. There was no doubt that she was ignoring them, and they knew trying to press her further would get them no where.
"So, anymore luck with figuring out that spell?" Hermione asked Harry as she began reading Summer's Breeze's chronicle
Daphne got up and read over her shoulder out of curiosity. "I might look that over at some point. It's so strange though."
"Kinda creepy." Susan muttered, eyeing the book with skepticism.
"No, I've not figured anything out, Hermione. Just that a simple light spell doesn't seem to be the complete thing. Honestly, it feels like something we all should be able to do? Like a general part of the unicorn blessing." Harry said.
"Maybe. I've not really noticed a difference, but then I've not tried to do anything special with a light spell." Neville said.
Summer's Breeze stretched and climbed to her four feet, then she went to the door to her chambers and slipped inside. The door shut with a click behind her.
"You wonder if she actually sleeps in there? Cause I've only ever seen her sleep out her on her cushion." Ron asked. He stared at the door. "Not that I want to barge into her room, or anything. Just, how do we know that's a bedroom?"
Daphne shrugged. "Probably isn't. She may do some of her potion experiments out here, but I think she's doing that just to test our own skills and maybe drop hints on what we could do better. She more than likely does all her real work behind there."
"And you're not the tiniest bit curious about what she's doing in there?" He pressed further, raising an eyebrow.
Daphne sniffed. "Of course I am! But I'm not going to disturb whatever work she's doing. She asked us not to bother her room, so I'm not going to bother it."
Ron shrugged. "Fair point. I mean, she has done a lot of work for the animagi thing. Im just curious what else she's working on in there."
"I wouldn't worry too much about whatever Summer's Breeze is up to. I'm sure she'll tell us in time." Harry said as he picked up one of Ron's books on Arithmancy.
The weekend following school resuming found them at the Quidditch pitch. Susan was dressed out in yellow and black, while Daphne sported the emerald green and silver of Slytherin. Hufflepuff versus Slytherin. It was quite evident the two girls were fans of the sport, and if the four hadn't known they were best of friends, they'd have thought them bitter enemies.
Slytherin was out for blood this game. While Charlie Weasley had kept Slytherin from taking the Quidditch Cup the past five years, they had at least been in second. Now they were at their worst, and they took to the pitch with a vengeance.
It was fifteen minutes before the first score was made for Slytherin, and it was swiftly followed by two more. Hufflepuff took this as a personal insult, managing to score four times before Slytherin could get the quaffle back into their possession. Meanwhile, Cedric Diggory circled above, keeping an eye out for the snitch and watching the Slytherin seeker. Both sides seemed to be playing the long game, and Harry wondered if they wouldn't do their best to keep it going all day.
The chasers continued their back and forth, reaching a stalemate. The game became little more than an exchange of the quaffle, the chasers on both sides trying to go high and low to get passed the other side. The bludgers were continuously being smashed towards the chasers to the point where he saw Professor McGonagal form a queue down on the field for broken noses.
And that's when Harry noticed it. The day had begun perfectly clear. Now, thick grey clouds were forming. They gathered overhead turning steadily darker. Every so often, lightning danced around them.
Slytherin had finally broken through Hufflepuff's defense and scored three more times. The score currently was one hundred and twenty to Slytherin to Hufflepuff's hundred and ten when the first raindrops fell. It began as a slight drizzle, yet within another ten minutes, it grew heavier and heavier. Around him, older students cast impervious charms on their clothes and those younger students around them. Harry bumped that spell up alongside the summoning charm on his list of spells to study next.
It was a complete downpour now. They could barely see the figures still swooping and darting in the air above them. He could just make out the voice of Lee Jordan commenting on the match. Hufflepuff one hundred and sixty to Slytherin's one hundred and fifty. One hundred and eighty to one hundred seventy. Ninety to eighty.
Slytherin had just scored two hundred when a bolt of lightning crackled through the sky. Harry saw Cedric bolt off towards one end of the field, the Slytherin keeper right behind them. Two more bolts of lightning flared around them.
The score was now tied at two hundred and ten. Cedric dove down. A bolt of lightning struck the tail of the Slytherin keeper's broom, sending him towards the ground. Madam Hooch swooped down and caught him just in time, then they heard her whistle. Cedric had caught the snitch! Final score was Hufflepuff with three hundred and sixty to Slytherin with two hundred and ten.
Harry reached for one of his friends and grabbed a hand. He led them on, following blurry shapes ahead and ducked into the Dragon Club's room. A few other members who hadn't wanted to try for the castle just yet were also there, drying off. They gathered around the fireplace, warming themselves. A few brazers had also been set up for them, no doubt by the house elves.
Harry looked for Hermione only to discover it was her hand he was holding. Her brown hair, usually so bushy, was now flat and plastered to her face. Neville was already drying off nearby when Ron stumbled through the door with Daphne and Susan.
"Where did that storm pop up from? It was so clear this morning!" Susan shivered. She quickly headed for one of the brazers, and Harry led Hermione along with. The others were quick to join them, and they grouped together, enjoying the heat and warmth. Steam wafted from them as their clothes dried.
"I think I'm going to try learning the impervious spell next. Or summoning." Harry said, rubbing feeling back into his hands.
"Not a bad idea." Hermione said. "But Susan has the right of it right now. That storm just sprang up out of nowhere." Thunder briefly shook the room. "And a thunderstorm at that."
"And from the sounds of it, it's just growing stronger." Neville said.
When the storm showed no signs of stopping, they risked running up to the castle, getting absolutely soaked. Two days later, it was still raining, and many of the teachers could be seen whispering about it in the corridors between and after classes.
Quirrel's classes had devolved into the class simply practicing spells on one another, while he paced and fretted, muttering to himself. When he didn't have them practicing, he had them reviewing their year's lessons for the end of term exams, which were coming up in about a month and a half.
Perhaps the oddest thing to note was the disappearance of Summer's Breeze. The six friends were quick to suspect her involvement in the sudden appearance of the storm as a result. As to how she had achieved this or to what end, they weren't sure, but Ron believed it had something to do with her work on their animagi project. Daphne and Hermione remained skeptical, uncertain if the qilin was truly capable of such magic, but when the storm persisted alongside the qilin's absence, they had to admit the possibility.
Harry chose to remain more neutral. Primarily due to having experienced the presence of the Sage she worked for, even if via the Dragon's Mirror, and she having a similar presence it not as strong.
Two days later, the rain finally relented. No longer was it the downpour, but had settled into a light shower. Professor Sprout could be heard complaining on how she had to continually redo the enchantments on the greenhouses to cope with all the excess water. Filch, the surly caretaker of the castle, could be heard muttering darkly, occasionally shouting at students about mud and puddles.
Hagrid had to put up a barricade around his hut to keep out the water. Filch was especially wary every time he saw the large man coming. Mrs Norris, Filch's cat, would always pop up when Hagrid entered the school to follow him around.
Harry heard some of the older students complaining about Care of Magical Creatures. With the grounds so wet, they'd take to having class in one of the old classrooms in the castle instead. Apparently, Professor Kettleburn was quite content with this turn of events. The sixth and seventh years had been studying more dangerous creatures before the rain began, and this gave him perfect excuse to postpone the lessons. Given how many limbs the man had lost, no one was quick to blame him for it. After all, most students were more than happy for excuse to not have to go out in the rain.
By the middle of the next week, the rain finally came to an end, and the sun came out once more. Parts of the school grounds were still flooded, but the water was already beginning to recede. The giant squid that lived in the lake had absolutely loved the rain enjoying the shallows more than they'd seen it all year.
Summer's Breeze finally turned back up, sneezing from a cold she had developed.
Daphne and Hermione had entered the den to find her curled up in her cushion with bloodshot eyes and a snuffling snout. At first, they had sought to confront her with questions on whether or not she was truly responsible for the storm, but they quickly quieted their voice when she winced at their rapid fire chatter.
"Yes, it was an experiment. Yes, it got a bit out of hand. However, I can mark it as something of a success." She had answered them when they gave her a moment to answer. "But I'm afraid I will be out of it for a while. I'm exhausted, and I've already had plenty of earfuls from Amaranth as well as your headmaster."
The discovery that the qilin had contact with Professor Dumbledore almost led to renewed questions, but Summer's Breeze simply turned her back and curled into herself, effectively shutting them down.
Harry suggested they leave her alone to rest and recover, something she was immensely grateful for, and they quickly fell into their routine of studying for their upcoming exams.
Harry took it upon himself to quiz Ron and Neville on potions and History of Magic, while Hermione focused on quizzing them about the charms they had learned this year, even throwing trick questions in the mix with charms they had studied ahead on.
One Saturday during a break from one of their final study sessions found them enjoying snacks Deek had graciously brought them.
"I've been thinking. It'd be nice if we could all get together to hang out this summer. Spend some more time figuring things out." Susan said as she set an empty glass down. She reached for the pitcher of water.
Harry shrugged. "I don't see why not. I'll already be hanging out with Hermione, Ron, and Neville. It'd be fun if the two of you could join."
"I was already planning on seeing Susan and Tracy Davis. Have you met her?" Daphne asked.
"I've seen her around the castle. And you've met up with her too." Neville said as he bit into an apple. "But I don't think I've actually spoken with her."
"I have." Hermione said. "She sometimes asks me questions when I'm in the library. She's really nice."
Ron frowned in thought and turned to Daphne. "Is she in on all this then?"
Daphne nodded. "She is. Though she's honestly been the 'smart one', according to my mother. She's kept her distance but has been keeping on things." She paused. "Mostly Susan and I."
"Though we've been very well behaved this term!" Susan added quickly. "Though my aunty was less mad at me than Daphne's parents were. Did I tell you guys? She mostly asked for the details of how you took down the troll. Said she thought you all showed very good teamwork."
Hermione hummed and set down her book. "I suppose we might all handle a situation like that better now. I mean, things like that are why we're practicing, aren't they?"
Daphne set her cup down. "You're quite right, Hermione. Which is why I've been wondering if we shouldn't start doing more team duels. Like a mock battle."
"Well, there is an even number of us. We could easily do three on three, or any variation." Neville said.
Susan smirked at him. "So girls versus boys?"
Hermione clicked her tongue. "More like the rest of us against Harry."
"I'm not that good!" Harry protested.
Daphne smirked at him. "Alright then. You and Hermione agains the rest of us."
"Us agains the two top students? I think we can take them." Ron said.
"Well, let's find out! We've done plenty of studying for now. Come on, I'm itching to do something!" Susan said, getting to her feet.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at Harry, who simply shrugged back at her. She hummed again. "I'm game to try it if you are."
Harry drained the last of his juice and set his cup down. "Yeah, let's give it a go."
The idea really was tempting. Working alongside someone else would be an interesting experience. Not only would he have to pay attention to multiple opponents, he would also need to watch Hermione's back.
He felt just a little trepidation as they squared off, facing down Ron, Nevill, Daphne, and Susan. "Alright, what are the rules of this mock battle?"
"If you're stunned or disarmed, you're out." Ron grinned. Harry couldn't help but grin back.
Hermione dodged as Susan sent a jinx her way, returning with a leg locker curse. Daphne circled around, attempting to disarm Harry who had sent a disarmer at Ron. Ron blocked it with a quick cast of his shield charm. The charm only lasted long enough to block Harry's disarmer, but Ron was already sending a stunner at Harry. Harry barely managed a small shield charm of his own, which shattered upon Ron's spell impacting.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daphne trip, and he quickly sent a disarmer at her.
"Protege!" Ron shouted, and a shield briefly flashed in front of the girl.
"Stupefy!" Harry shouted. His stunner hit Ron in the shoulder, and he crumpled to the floor.
"Expelliarmus!" Neville and Susan shouted at the same time from opposite sides of Harry.
Harry threw himself backwards, tripping over Daphne who was struggling to get up.
The two spells collided. Harry threw up a shield in front of himself and Daphne, which held against the resulting small blast. Harry saw Daphne's wand on the ground near him, and he quickly kicked it away. He heard Susan shout in surprise as her wand flew out of her hand as Hermione disarmed her.
"Stupefy!" Neville called out, his wand pointed at Hermione.
She tripped and the spell struck her shoulder. She crumpled to the floor.
Susan was already reviving Ron off to the side, while Daphne went to Hermione after retrieving her wand.
"Stupefy!" Neville shouted at Harry, sending another stunner.
Harry ducked beneath it and shouted back. "Expelliarmus!" Neville's wand flew from his hand, and Harry caught it. He tossed it back o Neville and they all took a moment to catch their breath as Ron and Hermione recovered.
"Blimey." Ron groaned. "Should've realized you'd try getting me out of the way first."
"Yeah." Harry panted. "It's that shield of yours."
"Speaking of, thanks for the save, Ron." Daphne said. "That was some quick work."
"Ah, it was nothing." Ron said. "Though I need to be quicker. Harry managed a real good stunner cause of it."
Neville nodded. "I think we should go again. I want to try a couple more things."
They kept at it for two hours before returning to their studying.