Chapter 10 - The Silver Wind
Professor Grayson had not been kidding about jet lag, Ginny reflected upon looking at the clock. It wasn’t even eleven, but she felt like the sun should have already set.
Still, she had accomplished plenty in that time. Her trunk was unpacked and stowed. Her clothes and things were put away, in the closet and in two of the chest’s six drawers. She had visited the student store and bought used copies of all the textbooks she didn’t have. And, she, Esmerelda, and Ashley had gone to the dining hall for breakfast. Ginny had had only a light meal at the Burrow, and a couple of sticky buns, and her excitement and fear had caused her to burn copious amounts of calories. The food was excellent: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, waffles, and more of those delightful sticky buns.
She had also gotten her robes to the laundry. They had actually once been her Hogwarts robes: since they belonged to her, they had to be returned to her. Someone had magically excised the Gryffindor house crest before doing so, leaving them plain black. Now, the wizardess in charge of the laundry waved her wand over them, and the Silver Grove crest appeared on them. Ginny was also issued a small bronze bear for one side of her collar, and a single silver pip for the other. Since Ashley had four such pips, and Esmerelda six, Ginny figured it was safe to assume that the pips indicated what year (grade, whatever) the wearer was.
After they were settled in and fed, Esmerelda went off to tend to her prefect duties, which left Ginny and Ashley to sit in the common room and talk. Ashley explained that the school had three non-teaching support staff. Miranda Stover cooked and managed the kitchen, Bryan Buffins looked after the indoor cleaning, and Lena Lathering handled the laundry. “None of them go in the halls, though. We have to see to that ourselves.”
“Why aren’t there any house-elves?” Ginny asked.
“I’m not even sure what house-elves are, so I don't know," Ashley said. "It may be mentioned in the history text. You could go get it if. . . .”
“Or she could just ask me,” a German-accented voice cut in. Ginny turned to behold the ghost of a very young man, maybe twenty-two or three when he died. “Professor Gunter Nacht,” the spectre said. “I teach History. And the answer to your question is that the American wizarding community outlawed all slavery in 1865, following the example of the muggle president, Abraham Lincoln, who was greatly admired by the wizards of the time. House elves, since they were classified as Beings, could not be owned or compelled to work without compensation. You’re the British student we were expecting, ja?”
Ginny nodded.
“Very good. When your ministry abolished slavery, they made a special allowance for house-elves. That explains why you can still have them. Does your family own any elves?”
Ginny shook her head. “Couldn’t afford one.”
Professor Nacht started to reply, but before he could, Esmerelda and Professor Grayson entered the room. “It’s 10:50, you two. Time to go meet the Silver Wind.”
When the four of them arrived, an assortment of other people were already present. Professor Chance was there, as was Red Cloud, and the support staff. Professor Nacht had followed them out and was glaring at the cloud-filtered sun. Ghosts were not fond of sunlight. There were a few other adults; Ashley pointed them out as elective teachers. Once Ginny reached the sophomore level, she would be allowed to enroll in their courses. “All four heads of hall normally ride in on the Silver Wind with the students,” she explained further. “Professor Grayson usually joins them, but I guess he was off getting you.”
Ginny checked her watch. It was 10:57, and still no sign of anything that might be called either silver or wind. “So where is it?”
“Coming. It’s never late,” Miranda the cook said serenely. A few moments, then: “There!”
Ginny looked, and saw a flare of silver far on the horizon. It grew, though, it grew fast. Soon it was a dot, then it was a lump, and then it was another bizarre contraption, obviously from the mind of another slightly demented muggle. It resembled nothing more than a blue and white ferry boat, mounted atop a huge inflatable silver rubber cushion, with a set of immense and powerful fans mounted on the back.
Professor Grayson moved over next to Ginny. “It’s called a hovercraft. It can pass over water, grass, roads, or desert sands easily. Unlike the Badger, it’s engine is magically powered. We have no railroad line out here, and no roads either. So, before the Wind was built for us, we had to use portkeys, enough for up to 512 kids, and make sure none of them led to the same place at the same time. Talk about your logistical nightmares.”
“The Wind is sooo awesome. It also takes us on school trips,” Ashley said excitedly. “It’s so cool. Got the best snack shop, and sandsurfing, and the Zip Floor, and especially the Moon Disco. I was so bummed when I found out I was going to miss it this year.”
Ginny started to ask about the activities she had described, but was interrupted by the sight of the thing stopping to put off passengers, right at the little gap where Ginny had entered the ghost town. She sidled over to Grayson. “Those are the first-ye. . . I mean, seventh-graders, right?”
“That’s right, Ginny.” The group watched at the group of nervous-looking youngsters climbed carefully down a flight of steps that emerged from the huge craft , and followed a tiny, dainty-looking Oriental wizardess through the inconspicuous little alleyway. Professor Grayson added: “The person they’re with is Professor Miyazaki, our Charms teacher. She’s also head of Wolf Hall.”
“Do they know that there’s a school here, or do they think this place is just an old. . . what’s it called again?” Ginny queried.
“Ghost town. Some undoubtedly know. Most of the older students won’t tell them, but a few do, and it gets around. In any case, once they’re inside, they’ll see the light. And once they’re sorted, their respective heads of house will take them around. You’ll see them around, but we won’t meet them properly until dinner is served.”
“What do the rest of us do during the Sorting?”
“Whatever you want,” Esmerelda explained. “Mostly, it’s a time for us to renew old acquaintences. We haven’t seen each other for almost three months, after all.”
The titanic hovercraft had finished deploying its younger cargo, and it eased itself forward, stopping in front of the school, and opened its doors a second time. Immediately, a tide of young people surged out. A few wore robes, black or dark blue or dark gray; most were in everyday clothes. Esmerelda greeted a group of older kids, and Professor Grayson headed over to a tall, stylish-looking wizardess who wore a beret instead of the more traditional pointed hat. Most of the newcomers went past them. Trainilg the group was a squat, slightly chubby wizard in rumpled yellow robes. He was dragging two students by the arms. Both were in uniform, which indicated that one was a fourth year, the other a second.
Ashley hurried over to the trio and addressed the second-year, a tall and slender girl with chin-length light brown hair and clear light green eyes. “Irma! You’re not in trouble already, are you?”
“What’s going on?” Professor Chance asked, striding up.
“I found these two dueling with each other,” the rumpled teacher said. “They were with another kid, a first year. He was crying. Said she. . .” (he shook the fourth-year) “. . . was hassling him.”
“What about Miss Reeves here?”
“She poked her nose in, I guess. Not a surprise, she took enough of the same last year. But you know the rules.”
“Yes, I do.” Professor Chance addressed the two students. “All right. What happened? And if I think either of you are lying, we’ll go straight to my office.”
The other student said nothing, knowing that one way or another, a lie would ultimately be detected and would get her into even more hot water. Irma spoke for both of them. “I saw her with this first-year. She was threatening him with her wand, calling him mudblood, muggle scum, and some other things. I told her to pick on someone who could fight back. She tried to hex me, I evaded it and disarmed her. She ran and grabbed up her wand again. That was when Professor Stephanovich caught us.”
Professor Chance turned to the other student. “Is this true.”
A long silence, then the older girl nodded, anger blazing in her eyes.
“Very well. First, Miss Reeves. Normally, duelling without permission is at least three hours worth of detention. But you were obviously acting in self-defense, and you fought to disarm only, so I’ll let it slide. Nettlebank, we’ve talked about this before, haven’t we?” Professor Chance added, now addressing the other student, and in a much colder tone. “Care to explain why you’re still engaging in this disgusting behavior?”
Nettlebank squared her shoulders. “My dad said I shouldn’t put up with scum like that. He said I needed to help the other kids drive them all out before they could get a footho. . . .”
“Well, after your punishment is ended, you can write him a letter and ask him to give you better advice in the future,” Professor Chance said, her sweet tone in no way disguising her anger. Her wand had already been in her hand. Now, she raised it. “CANIMORPHEUS!”
Nettlebank screamed, then blurred and shrank and fell to all fours. And then she was gone, and there was only a mangy-looking dog, staring bewilderedly up at the group.
Professor Chance addressed the animal. “Next time, Nettlebank, it’ll be a slug. Now SCAT!” She send a tiny burst of electricity from her wand, and the dog yipped and scuttled off.
Casually, apparently oblivious to the stares of Ginny and several stragglers, the Silver Grove headmistress sheathed her wand and headed for her office. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be sorting the seventh-graders.”
* * * * * * *
“What’s up, Ginny?” Ashley asked as the two of them headed down the hall to their room. “You look. . . I dunno. Kind of bummed.”
“I just saw our headmistress punish a kid by turning her into a dog,” Ginny said flatly. “How should I feel?”
Amanda made a disgusted sound. “You don’t know Nettlebank. She was one of the worst last year. I think we’d all be better off if Chance just let her stay that way for good. Unfortunately, she’ll turn her back in a couple of days, most likely.”
“It won’t harm her, will it?”
“Nah, not permanently. But it’s no picnic. She turned me into a duck last year when I got out of line. And trust me, being a duck’s no fun.”
Ginny shook her head as she vaulted up to her bunk and got out her Defense text. She was beginning to see why Silver Grove’s reputation was as bad as it was.
There was a knock on their door. “Enter,” Ashley said.
Esmerelda entered the room, flanked by Irma. Both of them looked grim. “It’s started already,” Esmerelda said flatly.
“What’s started?”
“A little girl in the opening class. Muggle-born. Some of the older kids got her alone on the Wind and started tormenting her, and this time, no one came around to help. She was in hysterics before they arrived here. She wants to go home. Refuses to change her mind, even after we got her calmed down.”
“What’s gonna happen to her?” Ginny asked.
Esmerelda sighed. “She’s been obliviated. Her parents will be too, and their memories will be carefully modified. None of them will ever know that the wizarding community exists.”
Ginny stared at the floor. She remembered how excited she had been on her first trip to Hogwarts. She tried to imagine what it would have been like to be terrorized on her very first trip there, to see her hopes and dreams turn rancid and ugly, to be hurt so deeply that the only way out was to run away without even learning a spell.
“Still think Chance was too hard on Nettlebank?” Ashley asked. Ginny had no answer to that.