CHAPTER 8 – SUMMER HOLIDAYS & BACK AGAIN
Quidditch seasons have ended and the exams were on. The trio spent most of their time in the library studying for the coming exams, only that Jude was totally separated from them. Draco had him by his side and constantly trying to ‘mould’ her into perfection, but occasionally, Jude would sneak up to her girlfriends and sit between them to study. Jude hasn’t lost her blundering attitude yet, even after that scary incident in the Quidditch game. She accidentally went into the restricted section and opened one of the restricted books in the shelves. The book immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream and she received a sound scolding from the librarian Madam Pince and Draco.
They’ve tried their best during the exams. There was a lot of writing and skill-performing. Jude was finally able to prepare a potion without any accidents. Becka actually succeeded in levitating a book without levitating the teacher. Rach, the genius, went through everything in just a synch.
When the results were out, Jude and Becka survived. They passed all the tests, although not with the flying colours as they hoped for. Rach was the Top Student of Hogwarts, defeating Hermione by 5 marks in the overall subjects. Everyone was surprised at how the competition went between the two smartest students in Hogwarts. Her Ravenclaw housemates congratulated her elaborately. Hermione was filed with jealousy and anger but she shook Rach’s hand anyway, just to keep her cool.
“Congratulations to you, Rachel,” Hermione said through gritted teeth.
“Thanks,” Rach replied nonchalantly. “My condolences to you too.”
Hermione would’ve laid a curse on her if Rach hadn’t sped off in a jiffy. Harry laughed at their antics. Meanwhile, Draco went up to Jude and said, “You didn’t do as well as I expected, Light. Not very encouraging.”
“Mind your own business, Draco. I’ve tried my best. If it’s not good enough for you, that’s your problem,” Jude huffed, determined to ignore him just for once.
“Don’t give me that tone, Light. You’re not doing well enough. Just because you had a sick spell last Quidditch season doesn’t mean you can take yourself easily forever.”
“I don’t even care about what you’re trying to tell me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have another test to take.”
“The exams are over. Why on earth would you want to take more tests?”
“Why on earth should you care?” Jude gave him a sideways glance before walking away.
The trio sat together on the grassy field waiting for Prof. Snape, Prof. Lupin and Sirius Black to appear. Finally, after waiting for quite a while, they came, with Prof. Snape and Prof. Lupin in front and Sirius following at the back. The trio greeted them and Prof. Lupin and Sirius greeted back. Prof. Snape only nodded.
“Ready for your final test, girls?” Prof. Lupin asked.
“Just get it over with, sir,” Becka said impatiently.
So the test began. First it was the flying, which Jude had finally mastered without becoming a human inferno, then it was the wand-less levitation, that Becka had barely passed, and finally it was the art of animagus, which the students of Hogwarts will ever get to learn only during their 7th year. Jude successfully turned into a black falcon; Becka, with much effort, turned into a sleek cat and Rach turned into a cute round hamster.
“Very nice!” Prof. Lupin said as he picked Rach the hamster up into his palm. “I didn’t know you could turn into such a cute little fellow like this.”
“Yeah, Rebecca,” Sirius said as he carried Becka the cat in his arms. “You may be my enemy species, but you turned out to be pretty likeable.”
“It’s hard to believe that anyone would ever like you,” Prof. Snape said coldly as he let Jude the falcon fly up onto his arm, “when you are such a total freak of nature. Unless that person is a dunderhead just like you.”
“Is that a challenge, Severus?” Sirius growled , his throat rumbled like a dog.
“Temper, temper. I wouldn’t dream of wasting my spells on you.”
“Stop it, men,” Prof. Lupin tried to stop them from starting World War III, “don’t fight in front of your students. OK, girls, you can turn back to your original selves now.”
The trio got out of their hands and changed back to their full human bodies. They caught their breath for a while. It was obvious that if you’re not used to doing animagus, it might drain your strength away.
“Good work, girls. You have passed your training test. You can do better, but now, this’ll do. Happy summer holidays. When you come back, there’ll be more practices to come.”
The trio found it hard to believe that they have returned to their old home in Sabah. For this term, Ravenclaw actually got first with 444 points, thanks to Rach, followed by Slytherin (305 points), Gryffindor (273 points) and finally Hufflepuff (158 points). It was totally different from the past house performance.
At their return to their country, their parents still did not offer an explanation about their willingness to let them study in Hogwarts. They didn’t even try to explain how did they get their Christmas presents or where did they get it from, since they were living in a Muggle world. The only explanation they gave them was that “they just got it” and “they’re just happy with the way their children are, no matter what”.
Homework was a bore, but the trio finished it eventually. One night, after Becka finished her essay on History of Magic, she spotted someone standing in front of her house gate. He was quite tall and sturdy, and under the moonlight, his hair was rich in dark brown colour. From the looks of his height, she guessed that he probably was a little bit older Harry.
She saw him taking out a wand and waved it around the lock of the gates. It clicked open magically and opened up by itself. Becka gaped as the boy continued advancing towards Becka’s house. He then took out a broom from behind him and flew up to Becka’s window with it. Becka’s window was opened and the boy swooped into her room through it. Becka jumped and was about to scream for help when the boy whispered a spell, “Quietus.”
Immediately, Becka couldn’t talk, not matter how she tried to yell her lungs out. The boy walked over to her and laid a finger on her lips. She could see that his eyes were a stunning pair of silver.
“Be quiet, Rebecca. Promise me you won’t yell when I release you from the spell.”
His voice was so stunningly mature and deep. She was so mesmerized by his handsome features that she was willing to do anything. She nodded. The boy chanted an anti-spell and Becka found her voice back again.
“Who…Who are you?” Becka asked, her face beginning to blush.
“It is not important,” the boy said as he set his broom against the wall. “I am here to bring you news.”
“What news?”
“You and your friends have been quite curious about your parents being very outgoing about sending you to Hogwarts, are you not?”
“Yes! Yes! How did you know?” Becka asked, surprised.
“I have my sources,” the boy replied briefly, and then said, “Do you want to know the reason why?”
“Of course I do! I mean, normal people would freak out if they ever find their kids being sent to an abnormal school, not to mention an unearthly school like this! But no, not our parents! They were so calm and collected about all this…”
“That’s because they are not your real parents.”
“Wh…What?”
“They are not of your blood relation. They are not your real parents. You three were never a Muggle-born. Not at all. You are genuine witches, not some Mudblood people always call you as.”
“Wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute here!” Becka trieds to get it straight. “You’re telling me that all our lives, we’ve been living with Muggle families, whereas our real parents are actually genuine wizards and witches?”
“Exactly,” the boy nodded.
“Sorry to burst your bubble here, but I find this very hard to believe. Us living in a foster home all along and our true parents are out there somewhere? You gotta be kidding me!”
“Suit yourself,” the boy said as he took his broom. “I’m just here to inform you about this. You can tell your friends about this if you wish to.”
Becka grabbed the boy’s sleeve and said, “Why? Why telling me all this?”
The boy stared at her with his silver eyes for a while, then said, “Because I care. And I thought this is the right thing to do. I don’t want to keep you in the dark, Rebecca.”
“How do you know my name?”
“I know all three of you and your friends’ names, Rebecca. Word spreads fast in the wizarding world. Goodbye.”
Becka tugged his sleeve even more and asked, “Please, at least tell me your name!”
After another momentary silence, he tugged his sleeve free, kissed her lightly on the forehead, and replied, “Cedric. Cedric Diggory.”
So saying, he took off into the night on his broom, leaving Becka to her thoughts. Later, Becka realized that her cheeks were redder than the reddest tomato.
Was this love at first sight?
The trio had never been so anxious to go back to school. In the Hogwarts Express, they were glad to see Tony and the Hawkins siblings again. And also Harry and his gang. Now that the trio was considered the senior status, they couldn’t wait to see what the juniors will portray in their new environment and how will they cope with the lessons. Jude was looking forward to see Prof. Snape again. The holidays were like eternity for her. It was Rach and Becka’s sentiments exactly.
At upon reaching Hogwarts, the trio had their first ride on the carriage, which was driver-less like the boats. The trio felt like home again, right at Hogwarts. They’ve never felt so happy to be back to school again. For the first time, they’ve witnessed the normal sorting session in progress. Everyone cheered and thumped their tables when a junior was sorted into their houses, which made the sorting ceremony more interesting.
It was a bad weather outside the Hogwarts castle. It was raining cats and dogs, followed by lightning and thunder. Ever since she stepped into Hogwarts, Rach felt uneasy. A bad aura had raged into Hogwarts like the wind and it seemed as if she was the only one who could feel it. It was so frighteningly strong that it almost suffocated her. The treacherous aura lingered from her to Jude to Becka and back again, very slowly, sliding in and out over her face and arms. She knew the invisible icy wind was a message, a message she has yet to understand.
She had a bad feeling about this. She just knew it.
After dinner, everyone retired to their respective dormitories. Rach was still feeling uneasy about the mysterious aura that came uninvited. She decided that she would tell her girlfriends about it. She found it hard to believe that she was the only one who could feel it. Even the Headmaster of Hogwarts who has better powers than her should be able to feel it, but there was no reaction on his face.
As soon as she made the decision, something invisible, like a force, wrapped her up all of a sudden. It was suffocating her, tightening itself around her body mercilessly. It was filled with evil, hatred and killer instincts. The whole ordeal lasted for 10 seconds before she dropped to the ground. The girls in the dorms rushed to her aid, concerned and worried. One of them assumed that it must be one of the boys laying a Body-Bind curse on her just to tease her, but Rach knew it wasn’t a curse. It wasn’t as simple as that. She got up painfully.
It was a warning.
A very fierce warning.
“Say that again?”
Becka, Angelica and Harry and the gang were in the common room. They weren’t sleepy yet, so they hung out at the common room to pass the time. Becka thought it would be better to break the news about her mysterious meeting with Cedric Diggory back home to Harry and the gang. After all, Harry was the Boy Who Lived and he should know someone like this. Obviously, she had caught them off-guard by that news, judging by their surprised faces.
“Are you running a fever? Should I call Madame Pomfrey?” Ron said, feeling her forehead. Becka slapped it away.
“I am not sick! This is real, guys! He actually came into my front gate, unlocked it with his wand, flew into my room with a broom and told me that Jude, Rach and I are not the real child of our parents! Could you believe that? He said I’m actually a true witch and not a Muggle-born!”
“And what was his name again?” Harry asked.
“Cedric Diggory, I guess.”
Harry and the gang looked at each other with worried eyes. They were acting really weird. Becka was curious about the sudden change of their attitude.
“Uh, Becka, are you sure he said his name was Cedric Diggory?” Ron asked, scratching his chin uneasily.
“Duh! Of course I’m sure!” Becka replied. “He said it himself, with his own mouth! I’m not dreaming this and I’m not making this up! What’s wrong with you? I thought you guys are supposed to believe this kind of stuff.”
“It’s just that…well, it’s quite impossible that he’s Cedric Diggory. I mean he could be someone posing as Cedric…” Hermione seemed as if she was hiding something.
“Why? Why is it impossible? You tell me!” Becka was beginning to get annoyed at all this.
“He’s dead, Becka,” Harry said sadly. “Cedric Diggory died last year. He was killed by the Avada Kedavra curse. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“What?”
Jude hid behind Prof. Snape’s quarterly-opened office door as she stared at Prof. Snape himself. He was sitting at his table talking to Prof. Dumbledore. They looked so solemn, as if they were talking about the end of the world. She could only catch bits and pieces of their words as they talked in hushed voices.
“The Dark Witch…destiny drawing near…”
“…Would be a disaster if Voldemort finds out…”
Voldemort? Who’s Voldemort? Jude strained her ears to listen.
“The Black Witch…getting too strong…don’t think…can hang on…”
“Watch out…the Cold Witch is important too…”
The Dark Witch? Black Witch? Cold Witch? Who the hell are they talking about? She wanted to open the door a little to get a better hearing but she leaned too near the door. She fell headlong into Prof. Snape’s office and found herself staring at Prof. Dumbledore’s feet.
“Light! What in the name of Merlin are you doing here? Eavesdropping on people, I presume,” Prof. Snape’s cold voice struck her head like a huge rock. How embarrassing to be caught like this. She’d rather drop dead.
“Judith, aren’t you supposed to be in your dorm? You’re not supposed to be here,” Prof. Dumbledore’s kind voice didn’t exactly clear the situation.
“Light, you know you are not allowed to roam around the castle in the dead of the night! That’ll be 5 points from you!”
Jude didn’t want to protest or anything. The good thing about accidentally falling into Prof. Snape’s office was she could admire him up close. His hair, greasy as usual, attracted her. His skin was so wonderfully pale. His eyes, oh, how she loved those tunnel-dark eyes. Apart from his crooked nose, Jude had never felt so enticed by such suavity portrayed on someone as gallant as Prof. Snape.
“Go back to your dorm now. Run along,” Prof. Dumbledore’s was indeed kinder, but surprisingly, she preferred Prof. Snape’s ice-cold voice than his. She walked away to her house dorm and smiled from ear to ear.
Oh, it feels so good to be back.
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