CHAPTER 5 – HEARTS A-BLOOMIN’ MORE
“You’re late, Light.”
“Sorry, sir, but, for your information, it’s not easy getting here.”
It was true. Although she had settled in Hogwarts for two months now, she still wasn’t used to finding her way alone around the castle, especially when the stairs were alive and moving and when the paintings across the hall and corridors were actually talking and all, which really freaked her out. Peeves, the school poltergeist, was also much of a nuisance when he bugged her with falling objects and loud noises. She even almost ran into Argus Filch and his annoying Mrs. Norris. If it weren’t the knight in one of the paintings, Sir Cardigan, she would’ve still been lost. The knight was pretty interesting though, with his vanity and all.
“Sit down, Light, while we wait for the others to arrive,” Prof. Snape ordered.
“The others?” Jude was curious.
“There are two more teachers who will join us,” Becka whispered.
“Where were you anyway, Jude?” Rach asked, sitting closer to her.
“Three words,” Jude raised three fingers. “Stairs. Paintings. Peeves.”
“Oh, that bad, huh?” Rach grinned. Jude nodded. Becka giggled.
After a long while, two shadowy figures appeared. The trio heard the two figures saying “Lumos” and their wands lit. They could their faces much clearer now. There were two men: one was the DADA teacher Remus Lupin and another one whom they didn’t know. He had very wild hair, which reminded Jude of Tasuki from the Fushigi Yuugi comic book. He was quite clean, as if he washed himself just enough for this gathering. He was slightly tanned and looked very wild indeed, almost like a hooligan or someone who just escaped from prison. But despite all that, he was strikingly handsome. So handsome that it almost contradicted with his wildness.
That was when the trio noticed that that man and Prof. Snape were pretty hostile to each other. They gave each other a very venomous look before focusing onto the trio. Prof. Lupin smiled at the girls in his suave way.
“All present? Good. I’m glad you’re all here,” Prof. Lupin said sweetly and then gestured the handsome man to come forward. “Girls, let me introduce to you, this is Sirius Black. He’s sort of an old friend of Hogwarts and just so happens to be Harry Potter’s godfather.”
“How do you do?” Sirius greeted and smiled his best smile. “Pleased to meet the three of you.”
Prof. Snape stepped up in front of all the men, much to Sirius’ great contempt, and said, “Do you know why you’re here, girls?”
“Uhh…no,” the trio said in unison.
“As you can see, there have been a lot of weird incidents here and most of them are related to you three. Do you still remember what Prof. Dumbledore said about you girls being special?”
The trio nodded their heads.
“That’s because you are. You three are the only ones being chosen in your very inconspicuous country called Borneo to be here. No one in your country had the privilege of studying here. In fact, of all the Asian countries, you’re the only ones.”
“Come on, Severus, cut the chase and let’s start already,” Sirius groaned, which earned him a cold glare from Prof. Snape.
“If you do not wish to stay, you can just leave, Black,” Prof. Snape hissed in a very cold tone, his hand dangerously on his wand. Sirius was getting ready to get his when Prof. Lupin came between them.
“Come, come now, Sirius, Severus. There’s no need for childish fight,” Prof. Lupin tried to calm them down, then turned to the trio and said, “Girls, the reason you’re here is because Prof. Dumbledore gave us perfect instructions to train you girls on more in-depth issues on magic. The things you’ve learnt in school are just basic things for your every wizardry-day life. The things we are going to teach you are essential for your future.”
“Our future? You mean, after finished studying in this school, we’re still going to hang around in this place, never to return?” Becka asked.
“Well, I wouldn’t put it that way, girls, but the fact is, you’re not who you think you are now. You’re never going fit in the Muggle world anymore. This is going to be your life from now on.”
It took quite a while for the trio to take it in. Not normal kids anymore? To be forever stuck in a world far from existence and be apart from their normal daily lives? This wasn’t just a fairy tale anymore. This was real. That explains all the mysterious goings-on, well, for now.
“So…what’s our lesson for tonight?” Jude was the first to comprehend the whole issue.
“Glad you understand,” Prof. Lupin smiled in relief. “Tonight, our first lesson will be about flying.”
“Flying? The broomstick flying or the other kind of flying?” Rach asked.
“The other kind,” Prof. Snape said with his arms folded across his chest. “One of us will train one of you. Light, you come with me.”
Jude obeyed. She saw Rach being taken by Prof. Lupin and Becka being taken by the Sirius guy. Prof. Snape faced her and said, “Alright, Light. Your first lesson will be flying. All you have to do is focus all your powers and will yourself to float off the ground. Go on. Let’s see how you can do this one.”
Jude could feel the mockery in Prof. Snape’s voice, but she refused to be intimidated by it. She closed her eyes and focused. She focused real hard and willed really hard to get off the ground. After much time spent, she still found herself on her own two feet on the snowy grass.
“Um…Prof. Snape, I…” Jude’s voice was cut short by Prof. Snape’s sharp order.
“Concentrate, Light! Focus every ounce of power in your body!”
“Beg your pardon, sir, but…that’s what I’ve been trying for the past goodness knows how many minutes ago!”
“You’re not trying hard enough. Try again.”
Prof. Snape can be really harsh and demanding sometimes. She tried again, this time she concentrated even harder. She remembered the cauldron incident. If it was anger that triggered her to perform such magic—and if it really was her who did it—she might be able to use this as her tool to fly.
Meanwhile, the others were doing pretty well. They found it quite easy to actually float a few inches off the ground for a few seconds before falling back to the ground. Prof. Lupin smiled and said to Rach, “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it? You just have to focus. Concentrate well and you can do it.”
“Gee, I didn’t know I could actually do that flying thing again,” Rach said, surprised. “After that incident, I tried to do it again but I couldn’t. I guess that was instinct.”
“Now it’s intention and will. You and your friends are different from other students in this school and you have more privilege and access to higher magic. Now, let’s do it again. Higher this time.”
Jude looked grudgingly at her girlfriends who were having so much fun floating off the ground. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She reminded herself about the day Draco made her so pissed off. She reminded herself about how betrayed she felt when her so-called best friend Hannah took the guy of her dreams away from her. The anger inside her burned and she could feel the change. She opened her eyes slightly and was happy to see herself floating a foot off the ground. She laughed out loud and cheered at her success, which was short-lived. No sooner she lifted her arms in glee, than she immediately fell back to the ground.
“Are you OK?” Becka called out, concerned. Rach asked the same.
“I’m OK. Don’t worry,” Jude replied as she rubbed her aching butt.
“Light, you must not let your mind go astray,” Prof. Snape said coldly without even as much as a concerned look on his face. “You have to channel all your powers into your mind and project them out to your will. This is not a game. Now, get up. I will not tolerate any dilly-dallying.”
Jude got up, pouting. She felt quite hurt by his words. At least her girlfriends gave her a kind word or two when things really sucked, but this teacher is ridiculous. She tried it again. This time she added another angry issue to her head: Prof. Snape’s lack of kindness.
“You really care about your friend, huh?” Sirius asked Becka after she took one last look to see if Jude was OK.
“Yeah. We’ve been pretty much best friends throughout our entire primary school years. It’s very seldom for people to see us apart.”
“I see,” Sirius replied briefly.
“You look kinda pissed at Prof. Snape just now. Childhood grudge?”
“More like a permanent war between us. He has been an archenemy to me and my friends for years now. He’s very bad grudge-holder.”
“You and your friends?” Becka was curious.
“Remus, James and I. For your information, Harry and I go way back. His father, James, was a very good friend of mine.”
“Oh, OK. That’s nice to hear,” Becka smiled.
“Holy shit, Becka! Would you look at that!!”
Becka turned to where Rach was pointing. Her eyes bulged wide open. There, above Prof. Snape’s head, was Jude. She floated in the mid air at about more than 5 feet above the ground and Prof. Snape had to look up to see her. Judging by Prof. Snape’s slight change on his face, it was obvious that he was also surprised and shocked at what he saw. Jude’s face was in a daze, as if she was oblivious about everything around her. Sirius and Prof. Lupin were equally surprised. Then, all of a sudden, Jude’s body burst into flames, turning her into a human torch.
Jude didn’t know what was going on around her. She could only feel the fire inside her body raging and burning like hell, searing through her flesh and bones. She couldn’t control it. It was so hot and torturing. She felt so horrible that she thought she was going to die there and then. Finally, after much struggle, she let out a strangled scream and fell onto the snowy grass.
Sirius and Prof. Lupin rushed towards Prof. Snape, trying to put out the flames with their wands but in vain. This wasn’t normal fire that can just be simply put out. Even when Jude tried to roll over the snow, the fire simply will not go out. Rach and Becka wanted to help too, but they were stopped by Sirius. Jude was already in a very bad shape and he didn’t think he would want to jeopardize more people.
Unexpectedly, Prof. Snape muttered a spell to his hands and started peeling Jude’s burning clothes, stripping her naked. He flung the fiery robes in a careless heap and went for her clothes. He stripped her down to her underwear, which, to Becka and Rach’s surprise, was a silky black. Still Jude’s body continued to burn. It was as if the fire started from inside her body. Prof. Snape then removed his robes and beat the fire with it, chanting a spell as he went.
“Come on, Lupin, Black! Don’t just stand there! Take off your robes and start beating!” Prof. Snape ordered. Prof. Lupin did as he was told. He and Sirius removed their robes and beat the flames out while they chanted their spells too. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, they put out the fire. Jude was curled up like a helpless child, sobbing and whimpering for the fire to stop burning her. Prof. Snape wrapped his robes around Jude’s naked body, covering her up.
“Hey, kid! You OK?” Sirius asked worriedly. Jude didn’t answer him. She was still crying.
“Is that a trick question, Black? Step aside,” Prof. Snape said coldly as he stood up, carrying the crying Jude in his arms. “That’ll be all for tonight, girls. Go back to your dormitories.”
“Sir, is she going to be OK?” Becka asked worriedly. “Can we come with you to check her out, or…”
“Go back, Levi. There’s nothing for you to see.”
Becka wanted to protest but Rach took her shoulder and shook her head. She sighed and followed Rach back inside the castle. Sirius and Prof. Lupin trailed behind Prof. Snape as he carried Jude and rushed quickly to the Hospital Wing. Jude buried her face close to Prof. Snape’s chest as she continued sobbing. The incident really scared her, but somehow, she felt protected and secure in Prof. Snape’s arms. She could hear Prof. Snape’s heart beating away, and a few moments later, she felt her heart throbbing in her ear and her face red and hot. She was blushing terribly.
“Oh dear, her face had gone red,” Prof. Lupin looked at Jude worriedly. “You better hurry up. She might be burning up again.”
Prof. Snape didn’t answer him, but it was obvious that he has quickened his pace. As expected, Madame Pomfrey fussed over Jude the minute she saw Prof. Snape entering the Hospital Wing. She shooed the men out and removed Prof. Snape’s robes that wrapped around her body and rubbed really cold ointment on her. But that didn’t bring down her heavy-throbbing heart, which was going almost 100 beats per second, and her blushing face. She could still feel Prof. Snape’s arms around her. The feeling felt so familiar. It felt just like the way she felt when she met her crush during primary school. Exactly the same.
‘God, I’m in love with my own house teacher!’ Jude exclaimed in her heart.
“Did you see that? Did you just see that?!” Ron exclaimed, his eyes as big as ping-pong balls.
“My stars, she really burst into flames!” Hermione exclaimed too. “And I’m positive Prof. Snape didn’t do anything. He was as surprised as the rest of them.”
“They really are The Ones, especially Jude. She is the ultimate!” Harry tried to take in everything he saw. It was too outrageous beyond compare.
“Oh, Merlin, I’m beginning to love her and Becka more!” Ron said dramatically.
On another side, Draco looked very excited. Tony was still trying to ease his shock.
“Did you just see what I saw? She is definitely going to be mine!”
“This is not happening! This is definitely so not happening!” Tony almost wheezed out his words. “Anyone would die in that circumstance!”
“Anyone but my Judith Cecelia Light! I am going to get her if it is the last thing I do!” Draco announced determinedly.
“Looks like you care a lot about that girl, don’t you, Severus?” Sirius said in a sly tone when they left the Hospital Wing.
“Of course he cares,” Remus replied. “She’s a Slytherin, his own student. Why shouldn’t he care?”
“I don’t mean care as in a teacher cares for a student type. I meant something more.”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Sirius. Severus would never go that far, right, Severus?”
Severus didn’t reply.
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