A Touch of the Evil
~~~~
Ron took a deep breath and said the spell.
“Mostrare Il Passato...”
~~~~~
I held my breath, wondering if it would actually work. At this point, we were getting quite a few stares from the others in the Great Hall, and I didn’t feel like further embarrassing ourselves by failing. I was a little worried, because as much as I love Ron, he’s still not the best with spells.
But he didn’t let me down. A few moments later, a small pink puff of smoke rose from my wand. It crept up to the middle of the room, high enough for everyone present to see. Then the smoke started to morph into a more distinct form: Parvati.
Her extremely shrill voice began to ring throughout the Hall. “Well...you know I’ve always wanted to properly date the Boy Who Lived. Though it was really cool to go to the Yule Ball with one of the champions, it still wasn’t as if we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Now that we are, I suppose he’s kind of dull like I expected. But it will be worth it if it gets me noticed.”
Harry just sat there, staring at the now-dispersing cloud. His mouth was slightly open in disbelief. The confusion on his face slowly turned to anger as he gradually angled himself so he was facing the real Parvati.
“Is that really what you think of us?” he said, giving her a look that did not allow for lies.
She remained silent.
“Well then, you’ve gotten some attention now. I hope you enjoy it, because I’m sure that it will not last long. We’re finished.”
Harry stood up mechanically and made his way out of the hall.
I figured it might be wise to follow him so he didn’t have time to stew, so I got out of my chair and did the same.
“Um...” Ron began, trying to cover up the awkward silence that had taken over the hall, “Ignore us. Really. Don’t worry about the cruel heartless person that has crushed poor Harry. Continue with your meals.”
He then exited with a flourish, his dramatic personality getting the best of him.
Later, Common Room
“Harry?” I asked tentatively as I approached his place near the fire.
“Do I know you?”
“Um, I know you’re probably a little mad at us for that, but““
“A LITTLE mad? Does this look like the face of someone who is a LITTLE mad to you?” He said this while giving me a glare that could have melted ice, had there been any to melt.
“Okay, so you’re a lot mad. But we were only doing it for your own good.”
“My own good is being humiliated in front of the entire hall?”
“Well, that might have been more for Parvati’s embarrassment““
“And you couldn’t have given me any sort of warning that you were going to do this?”
“Harry, I’m sorry, I just didn’t think that you’d go through with it if we told you. And she deserved it.”
“Maybe you’re right, but I didn’t.”
He shifted so he was no longer facing me. I took that to mean the conversation was over.
Five Minutes Later
“That didn’t quite go as well as I had planned,” I said, sitting down next to Ron just outside of the Fat Lady’s portrait.
“Oh, it worked perfectly. You’d already factored in time for Harry to want to kill us. It was a given.”
“I know, but still, I hope he doesn’t stay angry too long.”
“He won’t. He just needs time to get over the shock.”
“How insightful.”
Ron just blushed a little, and being male, very quickly changed the subject.
“So, we’ve got to do that spell in DADA tomorrow, don’t we?”
~~~~~
Monday, December 1, 1997
DADA
I’m just a tad nervous about this spell right now. (That would be the sarcasm talking. It’s more like I’m a lot nervous.) It’s nearly my turn to go and perform it. I have to win this thing. If I don’t, I won’t be able to spend a weekend in Hogsmeade, just Ron and me. And at the rate we’re going, I won’t even need an excuse to pick him. Harry simply won’t be talking to either of us yet.
Five Minutes Later
Thank Merlin that’s over. She just had me put up the shield and threw a couple of spells at it. Nothing serious, just a few well placed Jelly-Legs Jinxes. They couldn’t get through, so I think I did all right. I’m always afraid that I will completely mess it up, so I’m glad it went well.
We won’t know the winner quite yet; there’s still a couple of people that have to go. I hate waiting.
Oh, change of plans. I guess she went through the last few people quickly, because she’s ready to make the announcement.
“Class, settle down. You’ve had nearly an hour to talk, that should be sufficient for now.”
Most of the people in the room actually sat down, anxious to see who would get an extra trip to Zonko’s and Honeydukes.
“You’ve all done well, but there was one person whose shield didn’t let a single spell through.”
I had to try very hard not to squeal at that, because she had to have been talking about me. My spell was a little shaky, but it blocked everything.
“And the winner is...Miss Hermione Granger!”
There was a slightly mixed reaction. Harry just glared at me, as he had been doing for the past twenty-four hours. Ron was smiling and clapping. He probably knew he was the one I would be taking due to Harry’s recent moodiness. From the rest of the class, I got a mixture of light applause, groans, and “she’s such a know-it-all.”
But that didn’t really matter. Because I was excited enough not to care. It was actually rather amusing. The people who were groaning were the ones who probably weren’t even able to pronounce the spell in the first place. It’s their own fault, really.
Right now, I’m a little loopy. I’m going to get to spend a whole day in Hogsmeade, with Ron, alone. I don’t think the day can get much better.
Lunch
“‘Mione, that’s brilliant! You’ve won!” Ron said right after class was let out.
“Thanks,” I replied, in what I hoped was a modest voice. I’m not very good at containing my excitement when I’ve done well.
“So, who’re you going to take?” I noticed that he said this with his best puppy-dog eyes.
“I haven’t decided yet.” My voice held an obvious air of mock aloofness.
“Well, you know, Harry is mad at you right now.”
“Yes, he is. It’s a good thing that Hogsmeade isn’t for another two weeks, now isn’t it?”
I love playing with Ron’s head. He actually looked disappointed as he started eating with a frown. Ron never has a frown when there is food. I suppose I should be nice....
“I’m just kidding. I’m going to take you. Otherwise, I’d have to deal with Harry’s brooding the whole time, and I did not bust my butt off working on that spell to not have fun. So that’s that.”
He looked considerably more pleased. Yay.
TO DO:
1. Make yet another attempt to talk to Harry. Perhaps he will accept a homework bribe.
2. Go talk to Professor Pecera about whether we will be forced to have a chaperone. We did learn that defense spell, after all.
3. Observe Parvati to make sure that she was properly humiliated in the Great Hall. Being very inconspicuous, of course. And come up with additional evils if she doesn’t seem affected.
4. Talk to Ron some more about how I’m in love with him and I can’t wait to be alone with him in Hogsmeade...just kidding. I am attempting to embarrass Parvati, not myself.
5. Work on not saying things like #4 by mistake during the weekend, as I tend to babble. Like now.