The Weasley War
V. & IV. Change of Spleen, Change of Heart
‘Wildfire emotions’, where had he gotten those words? Well, certainly not from a book of his Aunt Hermione’s. But they kept coming back to him as he tossed and turned on his four-poster, unable to sleep, feeling like something was consuming him from inside. From the window, he could see the glow the Flame Monument cast. It always gave him a sense of calm before, but now it seemed to reflect his wildly churning guts and erratic heartbeat.
He threw off his blankets and left the dorm. If there weren’t enough bad blood already between him and his cousins he would have gone straight through the portrait hole as well. But as it was, he didn’t think losing points from wandering around the corridors after hours would help, so he stayed in the common room and plopped down on the couch nearest the fire, the same one they usually ignited with Exploding Snap or befouled with gobstones.
Someone squeaked beside him. He turned his head sharply and saw Holly peering at him from the afghan she was clutching to her face. S.J groaned inwardly. Holly, his ever-tough Holly, was crying and that was the last he wanted to handle right now, when he had an unknown First Task in two days’ time.
“Hey, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”
She only squeaked again in response. This was so entirely unlike her. All his worry and nerves left him for a moment. He turned his whole body toward her, leaning back on the couch’s armrest. In turn, she sank back on her corner and buried her face deeper in the afghan. “What happened? Are you all right?”
“I’m so sorry, S.J.” It came out muffled, but understandable enough.
“What? What are you talking about?” He tugged on the afghan and didn’t let go until he had pulled it off her grip entirely. Holly’s face was red and swollen; her eyes and nose streamed. She replaced the afghan with her hands and her robe’s collar.
“S.J, I”I entered you into the Tournament, it was me who entered you into the Tournament”it was me, I did it”I don’t know what came over me”I entered you into the Tournament”I just””
If he didn’t grab her then, she would have stuttered on into the night. “Holly, what?”
She shook her head into her hands. “I’m so sorry. I just couldn’t stand and let you not enter your name in at least. What if you deserved Championship more than your cousins and the rest of us? It wasn’t fair blocking you, just because your father’s already done it, was it? But it hit me what I’ve done, what if your cousins hate you forever? I can’t take it…and the whole school, too, how could they act like this, what can they do if you just have it in you to be Champion? I don’t get them, load of jealous berks…”
By the time Holly reached the end of her confession and rant S.J had gotten over his shock and laughed. Holly looked up from crushing her nose in her robe and stared at him.
“I’m sorry!” And then she saw that his laugh was not spiteful or sarcastic. “You’re not angry?”
He shook his head and lay down on the couch, his head on Holly’s lap, so that her swollen face was upside down in his vision. “No, how could I be? I just discovered that the Goblet hasn’t got it in for Potters. Maynard and Miguel will be safe enough next Tournament.”
Holly gaped at him, taking her afghan back to wipe again. S.J laughed. “Do you even realise what exactly you’re using as tissue?”
Just as he expected, Holly yelped and groaned at seeing her precious pashmina afghan and robe wet with her tears and nasal discharge. S.J laughed again. He couldn’t believe how light-hearted he was suddenly. He waved his wand and cleaned Holly up. She found her own wand and conjured a box of tissue.
“I’m really sorry, okay? Did you really understand what I said? You’re acting odd.”
“I’m just happy I can now tell them they should slaughter you instead.”
She thumped him on the forehead but grinned at last. “They wouldn’t dare…I hope.”
She looked so contrite and anxious S.J raised an arm to squeeze her shoulder. She leaned onto his hand. “I’m sorry, I don’t really know what’s gotten into me, doing that and taking this long to tell you. I was scared you’d”” she swallowed, “hate me.”
“I don’t think I ever could, you horrible hag.”
She thumped him again and wiped her nose, it was still running, he noticed now.
“Do you know what the First Task is yet? It’s in two days.” And she shuddered at the thought.
“McGonagall spoke to me about it this morning.”
“What did she say?” Holly sniffed.
“She said Calasanz and Chekhov have found out about the Task and more than likely told their Champions about it.” Holly gasped in outrage. “I don’t know how, I didn’t ask. McGonagall wanted to tell me as well.”
Holly stopped mid-wipe. “Wanted to,” she echoed into her nth wad of tissue.
“Yep.”
“Because you didn’t accept it.”
“Nope.”
“Good.”
It was S.J’s turn to stare. This wasn’t the reaction he expected.
“What? I entered you into this Tournament. I would flay you alive if you cheat.” She grinned and then sneezed, unintentionally showering S.J.
“Sorry!” she cringed, crushing her nose again. S.J wiped his face on her robe. “What”” sneeze, “are you planning”” sneeze, “to do?”
“Do you have a cold? You stopped crying ages ago but your eyes and nose are still running like mad.”
“My allergy. I’m itching all over as well.” She gritted her teeth and rubbed her arms. “But I don’t know why it came now; the Squid must be way deep in the lake.” Holly was strangely allergic to all kinds of aquatic animals; she couldn’t eat, smell or even be in close proximity with them. And during the summer when the giant squid would come up in the lake, even though Holly steered clear of the lake at a mile radius, she still had reactions, which she curbed with anti-histamine potions. But now, she was unprepared. She didn’t take her potions until March.
S.J forgot the First Task again, and he was rather glad of that. He touched Holly’s forehead to make sure she wasn’t in a fever. She wasn’t. “Maybe you accidentally ate a kipper or some tuna hidden in a pie?”
She shrugged and smiled, yanking yet another wad of tissue from the box. “Maybe.”
By next morning, S.J couldn’t believe how nonchalant they had been that night.
Violent shaking was what roused him from his pleasant sleep. When he blinked his eyes open, he realised he wasn’t in his dorm, but still in the common room, the fire now nothing but embers, and dawn silvering the windows. And it was Arthur shaking him awake. Arthur and his best mate Seamus Finnegan Jr.
“What, watsamatter?” he said, groggy. He got up and blinked a moment at Arthur’s non-glacial gaze.
“S.J, look, what happened to Holly?”
S.J looked. He froze and uttered something for which Holly, his Gran and his Aunt Hermione would have cut his tongue out.
He and Holly had apparently fallen asleep in the same position they were in last night, except that Holly had leaned back on the wing of the armrest. Therefore, the vicious, thick welts stretched across her face and neck were all the more visible.
“Holly! Holly!” S.J called softly, gently shaking her. She didn’t stir. Her breathing looked laboured. Seamus clenched his jaw and then moved his hand toward Holly’s. S.J beat him to it and pushed back her robe’s sleeve. The welts were there on her arms, too, and they knew without having to check that her legs must be covered as well.
S.J swore again. He scooped Holly up into his arms and went for the portrait hole. They were halfway there when Holly moaned, bent over, and threw up all over the floor. Then she slumped back in S.J’s arms. Arthur Vanished the puddle and splatter and rushed ahead to open the portrait for them.
“Thanks, Art.”
“No problem. Go on and take her to Madam Pomfrey. I have free period until lunch; I’ll go around and tell the professors if you both miss class.”
S.J could only blink in surprise. He murmured thanks again and jogged away. Holly was surprisingly light.
And Madam Pomfrey also added to his surprise by being right there on the swinging doorway to the hospital wing. The ancient nurse looked for all the world as though she was expecting them. She swept the doors open and led him to the prepared bed. Holly’s lavender potions were even lined up on the side table.
The moment he deposited Holly on the bed, she pushed him away, changed Holly’s robes by magic and waved her wand over Holly in sharp angles and didn’t stop until a translucent purple dome enclosed his friend from head to toe like some weird dish cover.
“There. My word, Mr Potter, if you haven’t brought her in another fifteen minutes, I’d have fetched her myself from Gryffindor Tower.”
“What? You knew she’s ill?”
“Of course I knew! I don’t forget a single student here, you know! And Miss Lynton’s allergy had always been unique to her and then they bring that””
Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth much like Jules did when she had let out something improper. “Oh, sorry, I almost forgot myself. Run along now, Mr Potter, Miss Lynton should be well in three days””
“Three days? Why that long? What’s wrong with her?” S.J felt winded. Holly wouldn’t be there for the First Task.
“It’s her allergy, Mr Potter””
“But it never took this long before, and there’re her anti-histamines, what’s””
“I shielded her from the allergens, that’s all I can do for now, they’re too strong for even our anti-histamines. See how her breathing’s better? The shield is also sedating her, lowering her body’s reactions. She won’t be sneezing and wheezing or vomiting at least. But the welts will stay like that so long as the allergens are in high concentration over the castle.”
“The allergens are in high concentration over the castle?” he repeated, stunned.
“Yes, very high.”
“But she’s allergic to aquatic animals, how”” It wasn’t making sense. Had the giant squid somehow mated and bred and the little ones were overfilling the grounds? He walked to the window and looked out at the lake.
He blinked. The lake was covered in a dome, not unlike the one over Holly, but this one immense and glowing silver.
Madam Pomfrey had followed him to the window. “That large, it would require at least two hundred witches and wizards to make it allergen-containing. So I just waited for you to bring Miss Lynton over so I could shield her instead. I only found out last night myself. They should’ve warned me. If they had, I wouldn’t have waited until Miss Lynton’s allergy had already been triggered. Poor lass.”
S.J was dumbstruck. With a last look at the sedated Holly and a nod to the matron, he left the infirmary.
The whole school was stirring now and getting up to breakfast, but the footfalls and chatter, both distant and near, were lost to him. His mind was whirling over what he was about to face in the lake, an aquatic animal big, strong, hideous and odious enough to render Holly unconscious until the day he could get rid of it, the day of the First Task.
***
After the Fat Lady opened for him, there was silence. At first, he didn’t notice this, but then he tripped after climbing through the portrait hole. Several hands helped him back upright.
“How’s Holly?” asked Arthur.
“What happened?” asked Cleo and Mark.
“You didn’t jinx her, did you, Jan?”
“Are you mad, Vi?”
“Are you alright, S.J?” asked Olga.
“Go on to breakfast, you lot, we’ll tell you about S.J later,” said Gideon, herding Andrey, Maynard, Miguel, Lizzie, Billy and Ellie to the portrait hole.
Many hands patted his back as the queue to the portrait hole moved again. His housemates were nodding and waving at him. And his cousins”they were surrounding him, as they always did.
They led him away from the crowded portrait hole to the same couch he and Holly had spent the night in. They looked around awkwardly, waiting until they were alone in the common room.
“I heard you last night, see.”
S.J stared at Arthur. Art looked sheepish; Olga indignant. “I’ll tell Mum and Gran about this, Art. That was too much.”
Mark and Jan sniggered.
“What are you talking about?” S.J asked finally.
“Art has placed Undetectable Imperturbable Indestructible Extendable Ears on all the chairs here, to make sure he protects Olenka’s virtue,” Vi delivered deadpan.
“Yours and Cleo’s, too,” Art grunted, flushing.
All three girls glared at him.
“You heard me and Holly here last night.”
They all assumed penitent faces.
“Sorry, S.J. Don’t know why we didn’t believe you when you said you didn’t enter.”
“Don’t know why you should tell us that, see.”
“But now we know. Sorry for not believing you.”
“And sorry for hexing you. You should hex me back, Holly’s not here””
“That’s alright, Jan, my bits survived.”
And just like that, the tension was banished from them. The Weasleys sniggered.
***
Jules met them at the doors to the Great Hall. That Leontes bloke was beside her as usual. “Gideon said Holly’s ill? What happened?”
“Her allergy.” Sirius answered, leading all of them to the Gryffindor table. As he sat down, he caught Tristan eyeing them, but this lasted only for a second. Tristan turned his glare to his porridge.
“You mean the””
“I don’t know about it, Jules, though you might.”
S.J had said that without any malice at all, but Jules shouted, “How dare you!” And she stormed off to join her schoolmates in the Ravenclaw table.
“She’s in a mood.” Leontes nodded at them and followed Jules.
“Who wouldn’t be in a snit, right?” Venus said, ladling porridge to their plates. “I can’t imagine how I even thought I wanted to be in the Tournament. The””
Jan, Cleo and Art all shot her a look. Vi sat down without further comment. None of them could bear to mention the First Task. But they all gave S.J eloquent nods, which he barely saw, because he could still feel this light feeling in his chest. How could he be giddy? With Holly ill and the Task now only a day away?
All throughout the day, he fought the urge to whoop or laugh or jig. It was insane and scary. His brothers and cousins all trooped with him to visit Holly after dinner. Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes at all fourteen of them but just bid them be quiet and let them all in.
“Oh, Mr Potter, take this, she shouldn’t be wearing this while under the shield. Jewellery can’t be purified enough unless melted again. Here.” She handed Holly’s grandmother’s ruby necklace to S.J, the long golden chain pooling into his palm, the simple round stone scintillating in the dim candlelight.
“It’s beautiful. Elf-wrought, not goblin-made. I’m willing to bet it has muted magic on its own. Has she never told you about it?”
“No. She just said it belonged to her maternal grandma.”
Madam Pomfrey smiled and shooed them off. “Well, maybe you should wear it, Mr Potter, so that you’ll feel Miss Lynton is with you on the First Task.”
“She thinks you’re a couple,” Maynard sniggered once they were once more out in the corridor.
“Who doesn’t?” Gideon quipped.
“They’re not?” Ellie asked, so astounded that the older cousins all laughed.
“We’re not,” S.J said, pulling the necklace over his head and tucking it inside his robes. It felt both warm and cool on his chest. He continued to peer at it inside his shirt even as they walked, so that when Art, Olga, Cleo, Mark, Vi and Jan all chorused, “Yet,” he tripped again and this time succeeded on making an intimate acquaintance with the floor.
***
On the day of the Task, Professor McGonagall made him lose his meagre breakfast by sending him a note by owl on the Gryffindor table, asking him whether he was still adamant not to be told what he was about to face that day after lunch.
She saw him throwing up, so she swooped down on him and carted him off to the hospital wing.
“Mr Potter, I’m sure your father has told you that he, too, has received help when he competed in the Tournament. This is why I’m offering you advice.”
“Th-thank you, Professor””
“Very well, the””
“”I’ll face this differently from how my father did. I think he’d be proud of me when I tell him I didn’t cheat.”
“Cheating is part of this Tournament, Potter,” McGonagall gritted out, pausing several paces away from the hospital wing’s doorway and flushing crimson. “Albus acknowledged that himself, and I am too old to be too rigid myself, not when the rival schools aren’t being fair either! We are given special privilege to preview what’s in the First Task, but none of the three of us are supposed to take it, but they did! And without telling me! It was lucky Hagrid knew, or else we’d both be going to this Task blind.”
“Professor, thank you, really, but I’ve gotten this far without knowing, what’s several hours more?”
Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and grimaced. “Just don’t die, alright? Miss Lynton and your mother will murder me, and in turn I’ll murder your father, for raising you to be so noble and upright.”
S.J laughed. His headmistress’s lips quirked in a half-smile, and then she gave his shoulder a quick squeeze and departed.
S.J was at a loss for a moment where to go. His stomach was queasy, but he doubted he’d be allowed a Calming Draught; he wasn’t raving...yet. He entered the infirmary anyway, and almost jumped when he saw Holly awake, blinking up at the ceiling and then beaming at the sight of him.
“Are you alright? Since when were you awake? I thought you’re sedated.”
She pointed to herself and gave him a thumb up. Then she pointed to her ear, pointed to him and shook her head. She couldn’t hear him. He nodded, sitting down by her bed, careful not to touch the shield.
She pointed to her head, maimed fainting, and he understood that she was still sleepy. She pointed to him, mouthed ‘first task’, and blinked her eyes wide.
She had woken up because it was the day of his first task. He nodded again.
She smiled fondly at him, her eyes doing that sparkling trick again, and whether it was because of worry or her potions or her allergy, he couldn’t tell. He smiled back, pulled her necklace from his shirt’s collar and raised his eyebrows at her. She nodded so enthusiastically she grabbed her head in pain. He started but she giggled and lay back down.
“I love you, S.J. Good luck,” she mouthed, her eyes falling close.
He held up a hand frantically so that she’d stay with him, and he mouthed, “Love you, too. I’ll fight for you.” He even made heart gestures and pointed at her.
She scrunched her face up in mock disgust, giggled, and closed her eyes.
***
He was inside a tent, and the commentary was muted. Consequently, S.J had no idea what Jules and Tristan got up to. Neither of them returned. Jules had gone first, and then Tristan. The crowd was noisy, but their shrieks and cheers were only squeaks and hums to S.J’s ears.
Their wands had been Weighed shortly before the Task begun.
To ensure your wands are not tampered with, Mr Ollivander will join us before each Task.
Ollivander was positively immortal, S.J thought. He knew the old wizard was also the one who supplied his father and his grandfather and his great grandfather their wands. But Ollivander was sharp and quick as ever.
Redwood and unicorn hair, twelve and a half inches, the last of its kind from wandwood I gathered from my travels. You take good care of it, Mr Potter. Oh yes, I also Weighed your father’s wand before... Orishio! (Gold sparks erupted from the wand tip)
Ah, Miss Weasley, I was ever so pleased you still came to me for your wand all the way from France. Yes, maidenhair, rather unusual wood in these parts, also gathered from my travels, phoenix feather core, ten and a quarter inches, light and supple. Jessemin! (A shower of white, fragrant flowers fell on Jules)
Mr Weasley, nice to see you again. Yes, you also came to me for your wand. Well, loyalties die hard, I know. Eucalyptus, one of the famed Healing trees in the world, dragon heartstring, thirteen inches, solid but pliable... Solaria!
It was for that charm that the interior of the tent glowed as though bathed in sunlight. It was warm as well. Stifling, because of S.J’s nerves. Now that he was through reliving the Weighing of the Wands in his head, he was once more stiff, waiting for the trumpet...
“And now, Hogwarts’ own. Mr Potter! He, too, will have to retrieve a key.”
He could suddenly hear everything. The crowd was deafening. There was the trumpet blast. And there were loud splashes of water, as if something much, much bigger than the giant squid was having a tantrum on the lake.
Stands completely surrounded the banks, but as soon as he exited the tent he was blind to them, deaf to their cheers and applause, insensible to the cold lake seeping into his trousers. All his senses were riveted on the terrific sight before him.
Nine long, gleaming, scaled, green and purple necks led to nine dragonish heads at least twenty feet into the air. S.J didn’t know how long he stared. Now he understood why McGonagall was positively begging to tell him about this.
For a moment, there was nothing in his brain but a loud, insistent urge to run. But he couldn’t move. Even his heart seemed petrified. About five of the heads were bleeding; the beast was roaring and thumping its tail in the water.
A hydra. That sea serpent of Herculean legend. How had they done this? How could they do this to them?
Well, his father has faced a dragon, hadn’t he? This should be nine notches on top of that one, counting the heads S.J had to face now.
All nine heads were swooping down on him.
S.J was already running and diving into the lake.
The lake water tasted bitter in his mouth as he ingested some. He spat and continued swimming. There were plenty enough cover in the lake weeds, but there were plenty of heads looking for him as well. Curiously though, something in him seemed to repel them because whenever a head found him and approached, it would pull back with a screech.
Was it tempting him instead? He had already seen that each head had a key in a chain around its neck. How would he get one if none of the heads would go near him?
He swam for the surface, needing air. He blinked at the autumn afternoon’s weak sunlight. The hydra was still underwater, enabling him to look around as he panted. To his right, there was another tent erected, this one open, and Jules and Tristan and the judges sat on it. Jules was white, Tristan was red, but neither of them seemed to be injured. Both of them were wrapped in thick blankets though, so S.J couldn’t be sure. He was about to dive back down in the lake when he saw it. He paused and stared.
Both Jules and Tristan wore rubies around their necks.
At that moment, three heads emerged from the water. S.J dived back down, his thoughts spinning, his free hand going to his neck. Holly’s necklace was still on him. Why were Jules and Tristan wearing same stones?
Four heads simultaneously zoomed toward him like sinister, fan-eared alligators. In his surprise, S.J pulled the pendant all the way out of his shirt. The result was immediate. The hydra heads were not yet within twelve feet of him and they retreated.
Rubies must be talismans against hydras, S.J thought. He swam around. Every time a head was in sight, it recoiled when he got near it, evading him and his spells. Now just how would he get his key when the hydras were always driven off his wand’s range? And as if he could Stun a head anyway, could he? This was a dragon times nine.
Why do they run away from rubies? It was their weakness? And why was his feeling of giddiness back? He kicked for the surface again and swallowed oxygen.
He thought of Holly, and how she could never have watched anyway even if she wasn’t sedated by her allergen shield... Something clicked in his mind.
He stopped moving, preserving his breath, lurking in the lake grass. There were no grindylows to worry him; they had probably fled from the lake for the time being. And then he saw it, one head was swooping in his direction.
S.J stared at it, his hand covering the ruby to allow the head to go nearer. Its slit-pupiled, green eyes stared back at him, its webbed ears slightly twitching, fanning the water, or perhaps sensing him, its mouth was wide in a furious grin, its brows were knitted together in concentration, or perhaps, fury.
Even before he’d done it, he knew he was wrong, this hydra head no longer had a key, but it was too late, he’d thrown the ruby necklace at the hydra; it screeched and recoiled, only to attack as the ruby sank deeper into the lake. Panicking, S.J shouted ‘Protego’, swallowing lake water and choking. The Shield Charm worked, but the force of the hydra’s sharp teeth still reached his body, bruising and cutting him.
The pain shocked him back to his senses. He Summoned the necklace non-verbally. It shot into his hand just in time, and the hydra head, which had backed off to gather momentum to strike him again like a snake, retreated and vanished. S.J swam to the surface again to get air. He was bleeding into his shirt. The crowd saw this, but before the judges could say or do anything, he dived back down.
Twice more, a head had approached him, and S.J had lurked, his hand fisted in the ruby, studying the hydra heads that approached him before opening his hand at the last second. By then he knew he was right, each head was different, one particular head was meant for him, and it will be the one he would conquer with his ruby.
The head he’d been waiting for came, it zigzagged on its merry way to him like an eel, and there was a distinct difference in its face. It didn’t look sinister at all, but almost friendly, if you could gloss over what it was. And as testimony to its jovial disposition, it had company.
S.J waited until they were a mere three feet away and then shot ‘Reducto’ to the other hydra head. It worked; the water erupted into bubbles as it screeched, some of its magic-imbued scales cracking. S.J didn’t waste time, he threw the ruby on his cheery hydra head.
This time, he threw with spot-on aim. The chain draped around the hydra’s stubby golden horns. It froze and seemed to smile at S.J, who smiled back and grabbed at the key dangling under the monster’s spiked chin.
And then he was kicking and clawing the water with all the strength and air left in him. His head broke the surface. He held up his key and wizards were immediately upon him, including his Uncle Charlie. His uncle hugged him and brought him to the open tent. Before Madam Pomfrey could strangle him in a blanket, however, he splashed back to the water and shouted, “Accio Holly’s necklace!”
The ruby plopped free of the lake and flew into his hand.
“All three schools in a tie!” said the disembodied, commentating heard all over the school, mere minutes later. “The Champions all finished a minute within the hour allotted for the First Task. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, all standing at a hundred and fifty points at the First Task. Their Champions have shown courage and aptitude in facing the unknown, victorious over the Scamander Clone of the Sea Serpent of Cromer.”
***
“Please meet with me in the greenhouse opposite your lake.
A.T.W”
“You received the same note?” Jules asked S.J as they joined each other at the entrance hall.
S.J nodded. “This is Tristan, right? What’s the ‘A’ for? And how are you?”
Jules had, like S.J, been nearly cut in half by one of the hydra heads. She shrugged and patted a fist to her tummy to show she was perfectly fine. “Holly better now?”
“Yes, all her welts are gone, but Madam Pomfrey will keep her at the infirmary and under the shield until a good wind blows away all allergen from the hydra in the air.”
“Well, she should be out tomorrow, the wind’s right nasty already.” Jules pulled her scarf higher and tighter.
It was dusk, dinner was about to be served, and they were having quite a party in Gryffindor Tower when the terse note arrived. S.J was curious. This was the first ever letter any of them had received from their estranged cousin.
The greenhouse directly opposite the lake was locked. It was hardly ever open, as it belonged to Professor McGonagall. But they saw Tristan sitting inside. S.J exchanged a look with Jules and pushed open the door. There were black wrought-iron chairs around a black grille table. Tristan got to his feet as they entered, and then nodded his head in invitation toward them to join him at the garden set.
“Mum has talked about talking with ‘Minerva’ in this place,” Jules said companionably, smiling at Tristan and raising her eyebrows at S.J, prompting him to say something friendly as well.
“Still, it’s better in the common room. Would you like to join us there?”
Tristan looked taken aback. “I” No, thank you. Er, I only wrote you because”did you notice we were all wearing rubies this afternoon?”
Jules fidgeted. “Madam Calasanz made me wear it. I didn’t ask her to, but she actually told me the First Task is a hydra.”
“What’s the connection?”
Tristan looked at S.J. “Your Headmistress didn’t explain it to you when she gave you the ruby?”
“She didn’t give me this!” S.J pulled the necklace to show them. “This is Holly’s. My best friend. Madam Pomfrey gave it to me because Holly can’t wear it under the shield. Her allergy to aquatic animals had been triggered by the hydra, see, and she’s been in an anti-allergen shield since two nights ago. I must say”” he nudged Jules fondly and in sympathy with his elbow, “Professor McGonagall did want to warn me too about the hydra, but unlike Madam Calasanz, she gave me a chance to say no, and I said no.”
Tristan began to speak very fast. “Master Chekhov wants me to win this Tournament, and though he can be very strict, it doesn’t seem to apply to following the rules of this Tournament. He gave me the ruby and asked me what I’ve been feeling within the last twenty-four hours. Not knowing what he was about, I told him I was rather in a doleful mood, which was nothing unusual anyway. That was when he told me I should trap the hydra head which seems to reflect my emotion. The ruby, representing fire and rock, which we know were both used by Herakles and Iolaus to defeat it, would protect me from the other heads, but it can paralyze the hydra head whose disposition I had mimicked.”
“Uh, well, thanks for telling us, Tristan.” S.J said, bewildered. Jules looked not any wiser either.
Tristan took a deep breath and stood up to leave. S.J and Jules exchanged another look and followed him out of the greenhouse. As they paused there outside the glass walls, Tristan took another deep breath. He also flushed a deep crimson. “We’re family. I came to promise you that I won’t cheat from here on. We should fight this contest fairly.”
“Agreed, cousin!” Jules said instantly, smiling.
“Yeah, me, too. No cheating at all.”
That was all they said. They did nothing at all. Tristan only nodded. S.J only grinned. Jules hid her wide smile with her scarf. So they had no idea at all why the glass walls behind them suddenly crashed and shattered.
***
“...All three of them wore rubies, and although Mr Potter was heard Summoning his as ‘Holly’s necklace’, there is no doubt he has been advised how effective rubies are against Hydras (There are no hydras in existence, except for the bespelled and bodged Scamander clone of the famed one-headed Sea Serpent of Cromer, destroyed by Glanmore Peakes three centuries ago). Yours truly wonders what Mr Potter will say this time; will he deny that his Headmistress has helped him as he denied that he has entered the Tournament like his father before him? But before we can even seek him for an interview, news zinged around Hogwarts that the three Champions had somehow made Greenhouse 12 implode.
“A number of Weasleys confirmed that Mr Weasley of Durmstrang had sent a note to Mr Potter to come to the aforementioned greenhouse. A similar note was apparently sent to Miss Weasley, for the two cousins are reported to have gone together from Hogwarts’ entrance hall.
“Greenhouse 12 is exclusive to the Hogwarts Headmistress, so as to what occurred there, making the glass shatter into smithereens, has no witnesses. What we do know, however, is that Durmstrang is positively livid at not having the lead in the Tournament with their Champion the only one who emerged unscathed from the First Task. That Mr Weasley wanted to settle the account by good old-fashioned duelling seems plausible; however much the times has changed, Durmstrang Institute has always been known to be lenient of, and even upholding, the more ignoble aspects of wizardry. Stay tuned, dear readers, for more of the Weasley War.”
“Rubies are effective against Hydras? I didn’t know that,” said Holly from behind the screen around her bed in the hospital wing. She was dressing for breakfast, Madam Pomfrey had deemed the castle’s air freshened and cleansed of the allergens enough that morning.
“And how could she imply that you were duelling? Not to mention that thing she said about Durmstrang. That’s positively slander!”
“Don’t worry about it, Aunt Hermione will get her for this if Durmstrang doesn’t. The stories Dad tells us about her and Skeeter”” He broke of because as if on cue, an owl hooted its way to his lap from the open window. Holly emerged from the screen, startled. She stared at the letter. S.J opened it. He laughed. “It’s from Aunt Hermione.”
Juliet, S.J, Tristan,
How are you? Congratulations on getting past the Hydra. We’ve been so worried, but that’s all past now. We’re very proud of you. Be sure to write us all about it.
If you see any beetles too close to you than is usual of those bugs, catch them, place them in an Unbreakable jar, and owl it to me immediately. Also, it would do good to spread the word to your cousins and to the entire school that you have your eye out for bugs. I’ll explain when we see each other again. But I assure you that after you follow my instructions, these nasty pieces in the paper about our family will vanish from publication. I’ll be doing something about it as well.
Juliet, Sylvia looks just like you. Your dad and sisters and brother send their love. To you, too, S.J and Tristan.
Love, Mum/Aunt Hermione
He and Holly grinned at each other. “Where were we?” S.J asked as he put his arm around her shoulders and steered her out the doorway. She kissed him on the cheek. S.J grinned wider. It felt good to have her back and being able to touch her again as well!
“Rita Skeeter implying that you were duelling.”
“McGonagall thinks as much. Why else was her greenhouse blown up, see? Lucky that Jules and Tristan and me were so apparently not even the least bit mad with each other when they questioned us. Our wands acquitted us, too. We’re all flummoxed as to what happened.”
“I’ll talk to the judges about my Nana’s necklace then. Can I have it back? I miss it”thank you.” S.J transferred it to her neck himself.
“What has your Nana’s necklace got to do with it?” They resumed walking, S.J frowning at Holly in bewilderment.
“This stone is no ordinary ruby, but a Heart Stone. Gran said it can shake the earth when a heart nearby leaps from one emotion to another.”
“That happens all the time with me, Holly! And the earth never shook once. Not even a glass broke, eh? And we’ve been together since we’ve been in nappies.”
“Well, I was given this stone because I calm it. No one else can wear it except perhaps my daughter if she inherits the trait in my blood.”
“Wha””
“Either you””
“Not me!”
“”or Jules or Tristan had a rather big change of heart last night. You know, not like from happy to sad or vice versa, that’s trivial, but...convictions, that sort of thing.”