Chapter 11 Test Of Honor
“Professor, are you there? It’s Harry…” he knocked on Aria’s classroom door. After no one answered, he slowly went inside and closed the door.
It had been more than a week and Aria still had not restarted her classes. Harry knew she was deeply hurt when he pushed her away that night. He wanted to apologize and check that she was okay, but he also wanted to find an opportunity to explain to her how he truly felt. He simply could not let Ginny find out about this. As he peered around the quiet and deserted room, he noticed all the animal cages were empty. His reflections were staring coldly back at him from all sides. When he paced around, he discovered the floor was littered with cookies that she had made for him the night they kissed. Pieces of broken glasses from the cookie dish were scattered all over.
At the sight of this, Aria’s feelings of heartbreak began to creep into his mind again. He could still recall her cries when he ran away from her that rainy night:
”You’re hurting me…”
“I’m sorry, Aria. I’m truly sorry…” he muttered weakly. Suddenly he heard someone knocking on the door.
“Professor Hannibal, are you there? Can we come in? It’s Ginny and Hermione.”
Harry immediately bolted to the front of the room and hid behind the teacher’s desk. He could not let them know he was here.
“I really don’t like this room. It’s so chilling to see thousands of reflections of yourself. Why does she have to have all these mirrors?” Hermione questioned annoyingly as she stared across the empty room.
“Why is the floor littered with glass and cookies? And those cute animals she keeps in these cages… Hey, what happened to them? You think she eats them?” she sneered.
“Hermione! Please!” Ginny frowned. “I told you, she’s nothing like that. I thought you said you weren’t upset with her anymore.”
“Sorry. Bad joke. After seeing the way Madam Pomfrey treated her the other day, I think it’s more like I empathize with her,” Hermione said softly. “Telepaths are people too.”
“Neville overheard Dumbledore telling Hagrid he received a lot of complaints from parents about having a telepath at Hogwarts, “Ginny sighed. “Everyone hates her. They think this school is insane, having telepaths and giants as teachers…
“Remember all the hate mail Hagrid got when people found out he was a half-giant? That’s why he told Dumbledore he will support Professor Hannibal all the way.”
“Telepaths, giants, muggles, pure-bloods…I know how she’s feeling now. I still get very upset when someone calls me mudblood,” Hermione said defiantly.
Ginny nodded in agreement, “It was the way she told me about herself that night. It was as if she has nothing worthwhile in her life…no hope…no family…and when she stood up for me, Snape laughed at her and said she has no friends.”
Clenching his teeth in anger behind the desk, Harry’s hands were in balls of fists.
“That stupid Snape!” Hermione snapped bitterly as she rolled her eyes. “Of all people, he’s the one to talk… about having no friends! Like he has so many friends…”
“She did mention that there was a person in her life though. This person must be really special.”
Harry winced.
“You think it’s a man?” Hermione asked curiously.
Ginny shrugged her shoulders, “Let’s go. She’s not here. We’ll come back another time.”
After Harry heard the door closed, he waited a few minutes before climbing out of the desk. He could not be more confused with what to do after hearing what Ginny and Hermione said. But he remembered how devastated Hagrid was when he received all those hate mail and he was there as a friend to support him.
“I did promise to be her friend,” Harry said defiantly to himself. “I have to be there for her the way I did for Hagrid…as a friend…as a best friend.”
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Aria restarted her classes after another week had passed by. Once again, the four of them were grouped in the same session. This was suffocating because Ron wasn’t speaking to both Hermione and Harry. In fact, it had been like this for more than two weeks, even though Harry shared the same room with him. Harry could not remember the last time Ron was this angry. Harry was upset with him too, for punching him and refusing to listen to reason, so he gave up trying to make up with him. Occasionally, Ron would give Ginny dirty looks if she spoke to either of them. Harry would walk around eggshells with Hermione if Ron was around. Hermione, thinking she had nothing to hide, would overcompensate by being too friendly to Harry, which made Ron even more upset and jealous.
The first desk in the front was conspicuously empty, as if it was always reserved for the four of them. Ron and Harry were sitting on the aisle seats, while Ginny sat next to Ron and Hermione sat next to Harry in the middle. The animal cages were still empty. When Aria entered the classroom, Harry was glad to see that she appeared radiant and graceful again, much better than the last time he saw her at the hospital wing. Wearing her hair in a bun in her teacher robes, she looked expressionless and stern, brandishing a very threatening sword.
“Today’s lesson is the power of friendship inside our minds,” she announced loudly. “It is known that two good friends can share a telepathic link, especially in times of immediate danger, so they can help each other.”
The entire class was expressionless and quiet as she continued, “I need two volunteers for this exercise to demonstrate this power.”
Harry immediately pulled his head down. He didn’t want to participate in another humiliating exercise.
“Mr. Potter, please come up here for me.”
Harry let out a sigh, wondering why he was always the one being picked on. There were giggles in the background as he slowly trudged forward. Murmurs of Hermione’s undying love for him were echoing faintly. As he went up, he avoided looking up at Aria.
“Mr. Weasley, please come up.”
Ron reluctantly got up and went to the front, clearly maintaining his distance away from Harry. Aria handed Ron the sword.
“This is an enchanted sword that I discovered when I was in Arabia. It is an otherwise normal looking sword. However, its magical feature is that it cannot hurt the holder’s family and friends no matter how hard the holder tries…
“This feature was originated as a solution for accidental deaths due to friendly fire during the war. It is useful when you don’t want friendly fire to accidentally wound or kill your fellow soldiers in the confusion of battle…
“Mr. Weasley, please stand closer to Mr. Potter…”
The class was eerily silent and could foretell what was about to happen.
“…and point the sword directly at Mr. Potter’s heart,” Aria instructed Ron.
The entire class gasped in horror. Ginny and Hermione immediately leaped out of their seats.
“Professor, wait! You don’t understand!” Hermione shrieked desperately, her arm outstretched.
“Shh… Let him concentrate on the sword. Since they are best friends, the sword will know what to do. Everyone must remain quiet.”
She turned to Ron again, “You may begin.”
Clenching his teeth in anger and jealousy at the sight of how concerned Hermione was over Harry’s well being just now, Ron raised his sword and pointed it at him, who stood motionless and pale, with sweat all over his face. As he was staring at Ron’s blazing eyes, the tip of the blade was brushing against his school robes and was aiming for his heart. From the corner of his eye, he could see the thousands of haunting reflections of Ron pointing the sword ruthlessly at him. He quickly closed his eyes to shut out the overwhelming reflections.
“Stab his heart!” Aria demanded.
When I See Only You by gossipweaver
Chapter Notes: After having recovered from Harry’s rejection, Aria restarts her class and she has a surprise for him.