Flying and fire
A month passed after their conversation behind the tapestry and ever since then, Leah made sure that Cory felt welcome in joining her and Gwen whenever he wanted to. She would work with him in class, invite him to eat meals with them, and sit with him in the library when the need to study became too big to ignore. She never brought up his confession to her when she was with him, and he never mentioned it again. Leah understood that it was strictly taboo and maybe because of that, the fact it was their secret and one that did not require anyone else to know, a close and happy camaraderie quickly formed between them.
If only things were so simple between Gwen and him. While she tolerated him, Gwen still found Cory trying and weak; she thought that he should stand up for himself to Masen more and leave in the middle of class, upset over their professor’s harsh words, less. Many times in the following weeks Leah found herself playing referee between her two stubborn friends, and though she’d never say it, it was beginning to draw on her last nerves.
October began and the days and nights were continuously getting cooler, meaning that the students were all forced into spending more and more of them inside, hunched over books and practicing spells in the time they could’ve been outside and enjoying themselves. Being on the top of a mountain and farther north than Toronto was, Leah had not been prepared for the quick change of seasons that Kootenay was familiar with.
It was on one of these horrible chilly evenings that the first years were scheduled for their first flying lesson, an activity that had Cory and Gwen extremely excited and Leah extremely not. She’d never been a fan of the airplanes that Muggles used to travel far distances with and she was sure that that feeling would not change when she was forced onto a broomstick she was only likely to fall off of at once.
So at three thirty, she, Gwen, and Cory went down to the grounds, all bundled up in their thick fall cloaks. The rest of the students were already there waiting and, lined up in two rows along the grass, were nearly twenty old and rather gnarled broomsticks.
The flying teacher, Madam Hooch, was a tall woman with short, grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk.
“What are you all waiting for?” she barked as she approached them. “Everyone stand by a broomstick now. Come on, before we all freeze to death!”
They followed her instructions, lining up in two long rows. Standing on either side of Leah were Cory and Gwen, and they both gave bright smiles to Leah, whom returned them only half-heartedly.
“Stick your right hand over your broom,” directed Hooch, “and say ‘up!’”
“Up!” said Leah; the old broom wobbled and rolled over a bit but remained stubbornly on the ground.
Hers wasn’t the only one that had, either. While Cory’s had jumped right up without hesitation and Gwen’s had risen slowly but surely, some hadn’t even moved. Once everyone had their brooms in their hands, Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount them without sliding off and she walked up and downs the rows, taking time in correcting their grips.
“Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle “ three “ two “ one.”
Leah kicked as hard as she could before she could better rethink her actions. Around her, her classmates and friends were doing the same.
“And lean forward!” came Hooch’s sharp voice.
Leah leaned forwards but the broomstick seemed to have a mind of its own then, because before she knew it, it was bucking up and down like a bull rider at a fair. She gripped on as tight as she could, forgetting about trying to control it, just hoping she wouldn’t fall. She could hear startled gasps from her friends and Madam Hooch calling sternly for her to, “Come down right now, young lady!”
And then she was flying away, over her gawking classmates, her eyes squeezed shut in fright, and she dared not let go because now the broom was going higher and higher until all the people looked just like little ants scurrying around far beneath her on the grass.
After it had risen several feet, the broom stabilized and Leah risked a peak downwards through her closed eyes. She carefully opened one, then the other, looking away from the sun so she could see the green grass flowing below and a tiny ramshackle hut that was nestled between the trees growing beside the calm lake, its windows gleaming from within.
It wasn’t so horrible after all, Leah mused. It was actually almost pleasant “ the wind whipping her hair; the flight; the pure exhilaration. It wasn’t something she’d wish to do every day, flying, but it definitely had its own charm.
She saw Cory and Gwen running after her on her crazy broom; Madam Hooch had fallen back minutes before, allowing the younger ones to continue the chase.
She leaned forwards warily and the broom started to fall. It did not lose its speed, however, and soon she was finding herself hurtling towards the black lake, realizing too late that she didn’t yet know how to land or turn. In one swift movement, broomstick met fluid and Leah tumbled off. As the breath escaped her lungs and the water rushed in, her mind went blank and her vision was overcome by a final, startling darkness.
When Leah finally came to, she couldn’t move. First, she tried to lift a hand … nothing. Then she tried the other, but still nothing. Her legs were likewise bound and her head, well, her head was just plain throbbing.
There was something heavy on top of her, that much she was sure of. What it was, she had no idea. She heard barking and she felt a soft wetness on her face, reminding her of a dog’s sloppy kiss, and then a gruff, angry voice was yelling, “FANG! FANG, GERROFF! DOWN, YER GREAT, NOSY MUTT!”
And then the weight was suddenly gone. A huge, hairy face leaned over her and Leah could just discern through the tangles of greying black beard two friendly beetle-like eyes and a worried grin. Being held back with one massive hand was a large, black and drooling boarhound.
“Yeh all righ’ there?” asked the face.
But before she could answer, she heard three sets of pounding footsteps approaching: Hooch, Gwen and Cory.
“Leah!” screamed Gwen. She knelt beside Leah on the grass. “Leah, are you okay?”
Her voice came out raspy and unsure. “Yeah.” She coughed. “Yeah, I’m “ ”
“You are most definitely not fine, Andrews. Hagrid,” Hooch addressed the large, hairy man that had been leaning over Leah, “by the name of Quidditch, what happened?”
“We already know that,” said Cory, who had up until this point been pointedly looking anywhere but at the one called Hagrid. “Her broom went haywire!”
“It’s true!” seconded Gwen.
“Well … I don’t doubt it meself “ didn’t look like she knew what she were doin’ from where I was standin’,” said Hagrid. “Nearly drowned, she did.”
“I wouldn’t have “ ” Leah tried to explain weakly, but nobody was listening to her.
“She was hurtlin’ straight fer the lake. It’s jus’ lucky I was lookin’ out my window at the time. I pulled her out when I realized what was happenin’.”
Madam Hooch just clutched her chest. “Well, thank goodness you were there, Hagrid. Miss Andrews here may very well owe you her life.”
Hagrid shuffled his gigantic feet. “Nah, I dunno ‘bout that.” He looked around and, eyes landing on Cory, he gave a startled yelp, stumbled backwards and just nearly missed squashing Leah, who was just now trying to get to her shaky feet.
“Well, Gallopin’ Gargoyles “ if yer not a Weasley, I’m a hippogriff! Don’t yeh look just like ‘em!”
Cory blushed brilliantly and shot a hopeless look at Leah as he helped her up. Gwen had stayed silent all throughout Hagrid’s explanation, but now her eyes widened and she pointed at him. She gasped, “I know you! You’re Rubeus Hagrid. You were a teacher at Hogwarts! My dad has told me all about you!”
The man in question chuckled, although Leah thought he was a little too large to be properly called a man. A giant, maybe. “An’ who might you be?”
“Gwen Seward!”
“Seward, Seward … not like Lawrence Seward? Hufflepuff, tall, good wit’ animals?”
Gwen nodded excitedly. “He’s my dad!”
“Well, ain’t that sumthin’? It looks like the two of us have got ourselves sumthin’ to talk ‘bout.” He turned to Madam Hooch. “Best get Miss Andrews here up ter the hospital wing, Professor. I’m no healer, but she did almos’ drown.”
Hagrid looked softly at Cory before he turned to Gwen and Leah. “Why don’t you three come down ter tea next weekend? We can have ourselves a talk, Gwen. I want ter hear all ‘bout yer dad.”
She nodded eagerly before following Cory and Madam Hooch “ who was pulling a reluctant Leah behind her “ up to the castle.
In the school’s hospital wing, Leah sat propped up on a bed, Cory and Gwen surrounding her, while Madam Pomfrey, the resident nurse, filled a glass full with a particularly nasty looking potion.
“Drink this. It’s for the dizziness.”
“I’m not dizzy …” protested Leah tiredly for what must have been the thousandth time.
She knew it was no use saying that she was feeling just fine. She had been proclaiming the same thing for the past half hour and nobody ever believed her. And now it seemed Madam Pomfrey felt the same, for she just huffed as if to say she’d heard it all before and then some, and shoved the thick, purple potion into Leah’s hand.
“You very nearly drowned, Miss Andrews, of course you are dizzy.”
Gwen chuckled amusedly from her seat on one side of the bed when she caught sight of Leah’s long, suffering look. “Leah, just take it.”
Cory was more sympathetic. He patted her hand a couple of times in a friendly and comforting way.
Leah tipped the glass up to her lips and downed the entire thing at once with a shuddering grimace. “Ergh … it tastes nasty too!”
Madam Pomfrey clicked her tongue disapprovingly and Gwen just giggled some more. Gwen was enjoying her so-called friend’s pain a little too much, thought Leah grumpily, so she stared hard at the other girl to let her know that, but Gwen appeared to have gone temporarily blind and pretended not to notice.
Pomfrey left soon after and Leah leaned back on her pillow. “I so shouldn’t have gone to class today,” she moaned.
“Why do you think your broom acted like that?” asked Cory, frowning.
As soon as Cory spoke up, Gwen’s answering tone turned harsh and mean. “They’re old,” she interjected. “They’re not perfect! Not exactly up to special Weasley standards, now, are they.”
“Gwen!” Leah gasped.
Cory stood to his feet, his eyes aflame with fury. “What do you mean by that?”
“You know what I mean,” answered Gwen, matching his stance, her arms crossed over her chest so tightly they looked like a pretzel.
“Well, I have no clue, so tell me!”
“No. I shouldn’t have to.”
“Guys …” pleaded Leah. But they were too focused on their argument and once again, she was left forgotten. It was getting rather annoying.
“Tell me, Gwen!”
“Why don’t you tell me how Hagrid knows your last name if you’re not from England!” shouted Gwen.
Cory looked shocked. His jaw fell open and he spluttered for words for a moment before saying, “He knew the Weasleys, he didn’t know me. He said I look like a Weasley.”
“Exactly,” said a triumphant Gwen. “My dad told me once that Hagrid was the Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts! You said on the train that you were from Romania, that you’d never been to England, and that you weren’t related to the Weasleys who knew Harry Potter! But those Weasleys knew Hagrid, so how did he know that you’re a Weasley too!”
“He “ he didn’t …”
“Yes, he did!”
“No, no he didn’t “”
“Yes!”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“Both of you, SHUT UP!”
A ringing silence filled the air. The bickering couple stopped their pointless tirade, exchanged gob smacked expressions with each other, and then stared wordlessly at Leah who had only then realized, a moment too late, that it had been she who had screamed those words.
“Can’t you “ can’t you guys get along for just once?” she said after a long time of them not saying anything. “Please. I don’t think I’m asking too much. Just … just for once?”
Cory closed his open jaw and Gwen’s expression softened considerably. Gwen unwound her arms and Cory hung his head. Together they mumbled a nearly inaudible apology.
“Sorry, Leah.”
“Yeah, sorry, Leah.”
Finally feeling like she could breathe again, Leah whispered, “Thank you. Now, somebody please tell me why it’s so important whether Cory is, or is not, related to the Weasleys who knew Hagrid. What’s so special about them? Why does it matter?”
On cue, Gwen and Cory’s faces grew dark, like a shadow had passed over them. Gwen said, “Because they knew Harry Potter.”
“And who is Harry Potter?”
Gwen started chuckling, as if the idea that Leah did not know was mad. Cory sent her a sharp look and replied, “Not is … was. Harry Potter was the Chosen One.”
“What?” Leah could feel her nose scrunch up in her confusion.
He sat down on the edge of her bed, gazing down fixedly at his swinging feet. Leah remembered the truth he had disclosed to her weeks ago and wondered whether he was searching for guidance, or maybe answers, in those swaying shoes.
“My dad refuses to talk about it,” he sighed, “at least to me. But I’ve heard a few things over the years and from what I can tell, it’s not a nice story. He won’t allow me to read any books on it either, so what I know isn’t much.”
“My dad gets all sullen whenever somebody talks about the second war,” said Gwen sadly.
“A lot of people do,” said Cory, “and for the longest time I couldn’t figure out why, because they survived, didn’t they? Unlike a lot of people. I started to listen in on conversations when my parents’ old friends would come to visit … and I picked up a few things. There was something about a prophecy, but I don’t know what it said. And some ‘Order’ that was always being mentioned. But the main thing is this: there was a boy called Harry Potter who was supposed to kill You-Know-Who and save the world, but the last time they battled “ at the ‘98 Battle of Hogwarts “ something went wrong. When Harry Potter went to meet him, he didn’t kill him, but Harry never came back out alive, either. Nobody saw or heard from them again, until a year later in 1999, when Voldemort resurfaced and attacked Hogwarts for a second time, destroying everyone he found still breathing. He won. There was no sign of Harry; he was gone. And now Europe is destined only for a horrible dictatorship under Voldemort and his followers.”
“That’s terrible,” gasped Leah.
“Yeah, it is. And the Wizarding world is terrified of when Voldemort will expand his sight to the rest of the world, because he’ll want to, one day.”
“And when he does …” Gwen’s whisper was low and forbidding. “No will stop him.”
Cory stood up and walked to the window. He looked far out into the grounds below, jaw clenched and eyes determined. Gwen watched him for a moment before turning back to Leah.
“Harry Potter defied You-Know-Who for too long and the Weasleys were right there with him all the way “ they were like family, after all. So now that Potter is dead, the Weasleys are at the top of his hit list and when he finds them, they won’t last for long.”
“Which is why it matters that Hagrid’s here. He knew the Weasleys, he knew Harry Potter, he fought against Voldemort in both wars “ he’s a liability,” Cory finished.
He didn’t turn around, he didn’t raise his voice. Leah wished he would allow her to see his face, to see how much the possibility that he was being hunted down by a dark egomaniac who named himself ‘Lord’ hurt him. Just like that day behind the tapestry after Masen’s class, Leah wanted to erase that pain for him.
He was her friend. He’d earned it.
He sat before the warm fire in his room and stared gravely into the hottest part of the flames, deep in thought. They were beautiful, those flames, in a nostalgic kind of way: bright, dancing, red … just like her hair. He remembered when he used to just lose himself for hours, running his fingers through those brilliant red locks as they lay on the grass together, happy just to be with each other.
But that was all gone from him now; had been for a long time. He cursed himself: he tried so hard not to think of those years. But the memories just kept slipping in “ as if he wasn’t already tormented enough!
Her hair was not the only forbidden thing those flames made him think of. The Sword. That was definitely not a welcome thought, not when Voldemort could sift through his memories as easily as he could sand. He had another quarter of an hour until He was back though, and so he thought of his plan, playing it over in his mind while that part of him remained his.
The plan must be a success. He didn’t know what he would do if it wasn’t.
“So, the broom … any thoughts about that?”
“No,” replied Cory. “It doesn’t make any sense at all.”
The three of them were walking hurriedly down the corridor away from the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey had finally released Leah after making them wait a full hour, forcing a promise out of her to come straight back if she started to feel any sickness at all while she listed off a bunch of symptoms and their meanings that none of them had any hope of remembering, and they were now on their way to the Great Hall to grab something to eat before dinner ended.
“I dunno,” murmured Gwen, “it kind of does. Brooms don’t usually go crazy by themselves.”
“Oi!” exclaimed Cory. “What happened to ‘they’re just old!’ ”
“No, listen to me,” she said to him. They’d turned a corner and descended two flights of stairs before she spoke again. She hesitated. “I’ve been thinking about it and, what if it wasn’t the broom?”
“What do you mean, Gwen?” asked Leah.
“You don’t think somebody cursed it, do you?” insisted Cory. His face clearly said he would not believe a word of it.
“Well, why not? It’s not unheard of! And Leah is Muggle-born. Even if prejudice isn’t allowed in Kootenay, it doesn’t mean some still don’t think it. Maybe not a student, but one of the teachers?”
“No way,” replied Cory. “McGonagall handpicked the teachers herself. They’re good people.”
“Even Masen?” Gwen snorted. “You should be the last person on Earth who’d ever think of that monster as good!”
Cory glared but didn’t say anything else, for they’d just come to the entrance of the Great Hall. They could hear the shouts of the students through the heavy doors, but all three of them could tell that there was something off in the tone of the voices. It didn’t sound like the normal, happy talking that should accompany meal times.
Cory, Gwen, and Leah all exchanged worried looks before they opened the large double doors and stepped into what could only rightly be called absolute chaos.