Chapter III
Gryffindor Carina
"It's got to be Gargarin, I know it is," Harry told Ron as they both walked together in the courtyard. "There's something fishy about her. Hermione said she had the same nightmares every night when she was in Durmstrang. Now she has the same dreams with Gargarin now at Hogwarts."
"You might be right, Harry," Ron answered as he closely examined the single jelly bean his brother George wanted him to taste. "But, if you haven't completely forgotten, we also unfairly judged Snape the same way, even though he keeps loathing us all the time."
"So, we still need proof before we tell Dumbledore, that's what you're saying?"
"Yeah, there might be something else in Hogwarts besides Gargarin that might be lurking around that we don't know of," Ron said. He chanced upon Colin Creevey and gave the single jellybean to him. Colin was too happy to get it from Harry's best friend that he threw it in his mouth right away and munched it.
"Gee, thanks! Sherbet Lemon!" Colin said aloud.
Ron waited for something to explode as the gullible boy walked away from them. He was a little disappointed when nothing out of the ordinary happened. "See, Harry? I even feel bad about suspecting my very own brother of trying to put a joke on me" Ron said in guilty tone. "And I like Sherbet Lemon."
"Yeah, I get your point." Harry smirked. He again turned serious. "I had to ask Professor McGonagall to let Hermione sleep in the hospital wing tonight, at least Madam Pomfrey will be there in case she'll get screaming again."
"And what did Hermione say about your idea?" asked Ron, quickly adding "I knew she shouldn't have got into a relationship with anyone outside Hogwarts…"
"No, I know Hermione only graciously accepted Krum's invitation to her during the summer, but nothing more than that. I reckon they broke up when we were leaving Hogwarts for summer vacation."
Harry noticed Ron was relieved.
"Well, she insisted it was quite unnecessary to use the hospital wing, but thanked me for the idea, and Professor McGonagall had a talk with her that made her feel better, you know, girl stuff, I reckon. She'll sleep in the dormitory as usual."
"Do you believe she'll have the same nightmares again, Harry? You know I'm getting more worried about her…"
"I just hope she doesn't, Ron. I just hope she doesn't."
Harry was happy to hear Ron's last remark. At last, he thought, that Ron is gradually feeling less indifferent to Hermione.
Just as Harry had hoped, Hermione didn't have any nightmares for the next three nights, but he did, and each time he managed not to wake up screaming. Ron, though hardly keeping his eyes open, listened attentively and even made his own theories that sometimes got out of whack. The only thing that bothered Harry is that even though he already knew what to do against the hooded figure when he was awake, he couldn't do it properly in his dream, and Hermione kept falling. It was bizarre having the same dream three nights in row, and he had to figure out what it meant, or if it were a premonition, the big question was, when would it happen?
It was already almost the crack of dawn this time, and feeling not sleepy anymore, he washed himself up and got into his uniform to take an early morning stroll around the grounds. He sat down on the damp stone steps of the castle to watch the new sun's rays shine across the morning sky, and he allowed himself to plunge deep in thought about his best friend, who was thankfully still sound asleep up the Gryffindor tower.
"I'm surprised to see you up a little too early today, Harry," Dumbledore softly said behind him.
Harry quickly stood up and spun around to see Dumbledore who was standing up straight watching the sunrise in the horizon. "Oh, good morning, Professor," greeted Harry. "I didn't know you were behind me."
"I was standing behind you longer than you think." Dumbledore's eyes now twinkled as he smiled at Harry. "As you were, Harry. May I sit down beside you?"
"Of course, professor…"
Dumbledore went down a few steps and sat down beside Harry. "Ah, beautiful, isn't it?" Dumbledore said. Both of them watched the brightening sky for a couple of minutes, and Harry started to talk. "Professor, do you believe in premonitions?"
"Dreams sometimes manifest things differently to every other person, Harry. It is up to you how you would be able to interpret it." Harry looked up at Dumbledore and he didn't quite get what he meant.
"As for your question if I believe, the answer is yes. However, what you may have dreamt of now or the other night, though similar as they may seem, might or might not happen the way you have imagined it. It may be fulfilled far off differently as you might expect, or not, but at the same time, it may lead to the same result in the end as well."
"Professor, then how could I prevent it from happening? The end seems to be the same." Harry asked.
"That, Harry, is very difficult to answer. But, this is all I could only share you: Every time I see you with Ron and Hermione together, I am always convinced that I have never seen such an aura much more brilliant than you possess around yourselves than any other group of people I know in my whole life. Neither with your parents nor Lord Voldemort and all of his minions put together. Remember that, Harry, and that will help you all through," Dumbledore said as he jabbed a very gentle finger on Harry's chest where his heart was.
Harry nodded and felt good about what Dumbledore has told him regarding his friendship between Ron and Hermione. He could not deny that he valued both of his friends very much, and that Hogwarts would not be the same without any of them. But an aura the most brilliant that Dumbledore could see - now that was something special. Still, he did not quite understand how this applied to his dream. He could not fight that hooded figure whatever it was, and all the curses and hexes he wanted make to hurt it didn't seem to materialize in front of him. "And Hermione kept falling…" he kept on dreading. He remembered that the whole story does not end there. She told him about the figure trying to kill her with a dagger, but why did his dream always stop when she fell?
He was thinking so deeply that he didn't realize that the sun was fully up and Dumbledore has already left. It was already time to go the Great Hall for breakfast. There he met Ron already sitting down on the table with his twin brothers and Lee Jordan.
"Harry, where have you been?" asked Ron looking at him while blindingly putting food on his plate. "When I woke up you weren't on your bed already. I reckoned you already left and were chasing You-Know-Who with a big stick."
"Uh, I was wide awake before sunup and I took a walk," Harry said now suddenly feeling his eyes droop. He took a seat beside Ron and looked around the top of the table to see what was for breakfast.
"Hi, Harry! Hi, Ron!" called Hermione with a spring on her step as she came closer to them.
"Hi, Hermione," Harry and Ron said together. Harry continued on saying, "had a good night?" It was like some sort of a codeword now, indirectly asking Hermione if she still had the dreams. Hermione quite understood what he was asking about.
"Oh…yeah. Slept like a baby, three nights in a row, thank you," she said happily. "Did you also sleep like a baby three nights in a row, too, Harry?" she asked anxiously, her eyes opening a little widely, eyebrows raised.
"Uh, yeah," Harry lied. Hermione was visibly relieved. He did not want to make her worry again.
A little later, Carina came in the Great Hall for breakfast, still wearing her Slytherin robes. Hermione caught sight of her and they waved at each other smiling. The Slytherin table was packed with students, but when Carina sat down on her stool, it seemed as though there came a whirlwind around her when the Slytherins, at Malfoy's lead, moved as far away from her as they can, clearing five stools in each direction. Carina now looked alone with a noticeable frown in her face.
"Poor Carina," Ron said. "I reckon they really hate her, huh? For just 25 measly points."
After breakfast, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went off together towards Potions. Carina came running after them.
"Hello, can I join you?" Carina asked them.
"Oh…yes, of course," Ron and Hermione said in unison. Carina lit a smile in her face, far better than she looked back in the Great Hall. As they walked along together, Ron spoke.
"You know you don't have to feel bad about the Slytherins, Carina," he said. "You're better off with the others, really."
"Yes, they seem to have a vorld on their own, and I have made friends with the other Houses, in fact, " she replied. They didn't notice they were passing Draco Malfoy with many Slytherins along the corridor that all heard what they said.
"That's right, Lovic, and you are not welcome in our exclusive club; you, wearing the Slytherin crest, is like blasphemy," said Malfoy aloud with his arms crossed and leaning against the wall. "Correction, Weeaasel-ly, WE are better off without HER." Many Slytherins laughed.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Carina stopped on their tracks to look at Malfoy and the group of Slytherins.
"So I see you like being in the company of Granger," Draco added as he moved closer. "True Slytherins do not last a second within a hundred feet of a Mudblood."
Harry saw Ron reach inside his robe's pockets. He grabbed Ron's arm warning him not to do anything stupid. He also saw Hermione's ears reddening, and he didn't notice that his ears were getting red, too.
"Vat did you call her?" asked Carina indignantly at Malfoy.
"You heard me right, Lovic," replied Malfoy grinning darkly. "I called Granger a Mudblood like I always want to do." He was now reaching for something in his robe's pockets.
Harry sensed that Malfoy was going to do something terrible, so he reached for his own wand, too, just in case. Malfoy turned his attention to Harry. "Potter, did you think I didn't take that incident lightly in the train back to London?" Malfoy was referring to their little duel in the Hogwarts Express that gave him tentacles growing on his face. "It's due time for payback, and I want a Mudblood to suffer for it!"
Harry froze when he saw Draco look away, take out his wand, and pointed it to Hermione. He was about to shout a curse or a hex. Harry found that he couldn't take his wand out on time, and he heard Carina scream as Draco's wand sparked ("Arnulfulo"). Ron suddenly flew in front of Hermione in the line of Draco's fire ("Nooo!!!"), the light zapping from Draco's wand hit Ron smack right in the face. Harry ran towards Ron who now lay face down on the cold floor in front of Hermione. She went down on her knees to see what has happened to Ron.
Raging, Harry raised his own wand at Malfoy and exclaimed, "Expelliarmus!" Draco's wand flew in the air and Harry caught it. Silence followed a moment as everyone looked at Malfoy who was even surprised to lose his temper so suddenly. Hermione disarmed Crabbe and Goyle with the same spell, too.
Then Carina screamed, "Shame on you, Malfoy! Trying to attack a girl! Let's see what a girl can do to you now!" Carina stood up and raised her wand and pointed it to a frightened and defenseless Malfoy and shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Malfoy was screaming in panic as his arms and legs were flipping wildly when he rose fifteen feet above the floor. "Petrificus Totalus!" Carina again bellowed, now Malfoy's arms and legs locked up together and his body straightened up rigid, his eyes open wide, still levitating up the air. "Lumos Solarem!" she snarled. A brilliant yellow light as bright as the sun whooshed from the tip of her wand to Malfoy's head, making him look like a bright flaming torch suspended in midair. The Slytherins froze in horror as Carina looked at them one by one, and they thought they saw her eyes glow a little.
Harry and Hermione now had their mouth opened wide while still holding Ron as they watched Carina in amazement, who was about 10 feet away from them. "Carina," Harry said slowly, "You can put your wand down, please. It's over."
Her wand still pointed at Malfoy above, she slowly turned her head towards Harry, and just stood there, also looking bewildered of her own undoing. At last she returned her gaze towards Malfoy and she muttered something that undid all her spells. Malfoy landed hard on the floor, resisting all who wanted to help him get up.
"Oh my!" Carina exclaimed, "Look at Ron…what's happening to him?"
Harry and Hermione were taken aback when they saw that Ron's eyes have grown five times their normal size. He looked much like a goldfish. "What…what? Why're you looking at me like that?" Ron asked them, growing anxious. No one dared to speak. It then dawned upon him. "Someone! Give me a mirror, quick! Hey, Ginny! Good, there you are! Hand me a mirror. C'mon…" He said all these very fast.
Ginny, who also witnessed the encounter, was shaking when she gave her mirror to her brother. She, like everyone else around Ron, winced when he screamed out, "BLEEAARRRGHHHH!!!!" Ron instantly fainted.
"We gotta bring Ron to the hospital wing now!" Harry said to Hermione, who was stroking Ron's hair and holding him tightly. "Carina, could you please come here and give us a hand?"
Carina nodded and started walking towards them, extending her hands. But she stopped on her tracks midway and could not get nearer to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. She was shaking her head. "Carina," asked Harry impatiently, "What's keeping you? C'mon!" Still, she didn't get nearer. Neville, behind a phalanx of black robes, got through and said, "I'll do it, Harry. I'll help you."
At last Harry, Neville, and Hermione, carried Ron off towards the hospital wing leaving the swelling crowd behind them. Harry looked back towards Carina who was still standing there with her shoulders slouched. "It's okay, It's okay," mouthed Harry to her from afar, and he saw Carina just standing there staring blankly their way.
"Got us our excuse slips from Professor McGonagall!" announced Hermione happily as she entered the hospital wing. "This should give us an hour from classes - that means we're clear from Potions for the day!" Harry was sitting beside the bed of Ron, who was writhing and groaning in pain. Harry had rarely seen Hermione this glad to be absent from a class before. Madam Pomfrey did not give Ron anything to take and she said his eyes would return to normal in half an hour.
"C'mon, now, Ron," Hermione said, amused at his act. "It's not even supposed to hurt! Malfoy only gave you an Arnulfulus charm. It's useful for magnifying things, but it gives a funny look to whoever wears it. I looked it up in the library on the way back here."
"Oh, is that so, Hermione?" Ron bolted up, suddenly forgetting the "pain". His eyes were now only twice the normal size. "Well maybe I shouldn't have stood up between you and Malfoy to let you have these eyes instead," he said, pointing fore finger back at his eyes while his large eyelids were flapping.
Hermione melted. "Oh, sorry. I really forgot to thank you, Ron. I wanted to tell you that was a very noble and heroic thing you did for me back there; I'll never forget it - my hero," she said as she gently kissed Ron in the cheek. Ron blushed and he slowly sank back under his blanket saying, "Er, it's all right, Hermione, I just felt that was the right thing to do…"
It was an awkward situation for a moment so Harry quickly changed the subject. "What trouble d'you reckon Carina is in now? I mean, she used excessive spells against Malfoy who didn't have a wand anymore…though he deserved more of it." Harry said.
"Yeah, poor Carina," Hermione replied, pursing her lips. "We gotta remember to thank her for what she did for us. I reckon Professor McGonagall is howling at her right at this very moment. The worst that might happen is that she might get suspended for what she did, but I reckon that's too harsh. Fifty to a hundred points from Slytherin is about it. Maybe not…hmmm. Almost of the spells they did were charms, though. Carina did the only single curse - the total body bind."
Harry looked at Ron whose face was now smiling, his eyes staring blankly on the opposite wall, as if he was reminded of something. "A knut for your thoughts, Ron," Harry said.
"Oh…it's nothing important, really…just a little silly thought, though…" Ron replied. "I mean, the spells she used …Wingardium Leviosa, Petrificus Totalus, Lumos Solarem…blimey, they're your favorite spells, Hermione." He let that sink in.
Hermione looked puzzled. "So, what about it, Ron? What are you trying to say?"
"I reckon Ron might be saying you have a fan walking around Hogwarts," Harry said to her, grinning. "Doesn't she, Ron?"
"Elementary, my dear Watson," Ron seemed to be pleased with his cognitive skills, though he surprised himself how he could have coined that last phrase.
"I don't see any relevance to that on what's happened, to tell you the truth, Ron and Harry," Hermione said, scowling. She took off a long strand of hair that got lost in her mouth. "That's just silly," She added and then turned to Ron. "You said it yourself, Ron - silly."
"Well, Ron probably has a point," Harry said quickly. "Well, don't you find it odd that all what's happening so far involves a lot about you, Hermione? Or maybe…nah. I think you're right, we're probably just imagining it - could be freak coincidences."
George and Fred Weasley came in the hospital wing carrying a box of chocolate frogs. "Oi, Ron," said Fred. "We heard what happened to you and we thought we brought you something." He handed the box to Ron, who was so happy that his brothers would be so thoughtful he bit a large chunk off it, and he became more excited when he held up a collectible card exclaiming, "Hey, it's Agrippa! I've been looking for this for ages! Fanks!" Everyone was smiling for Ron.
George seemed to be craning his neck looking around for someone in the hospital beds from where he stood. "I don't see him anywhere, Fred," he hissed to his brother.
"Who are you looking for?" asked Harry curiously.
"Mr. Filch. Someone attacked him last night - he's been turned into lead," replied George.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione hung there mouths open because of the news. Not for Filch, but for the way how he was attacked.
"Well, no one is supposed to know what happened to Filch last night," Fred said as he briskly raised his eyebrows with George in an uncharacteristically serious tone of voice. "We were serving detention when we overheard Professor Dumbledore talking to Professor McGonagall that someone attacked Filch last night with a curse that turned him into lead in the Dungeons. It was strange to see most of the teachers flipping pages from heaps of books in the restricted section of the library. I reckon they were frantically looking for a reverse spell to undo it."
"So someone just transfigured him, simple as that," said Hermione. "So why can't they just transfigure him back…oh! I think they haven't found out how yet, because I remember once you transfigure a human or an animal into an inanimate object and leave him that way, it takes a special kind of charm by somebody else to return one to normal. I've read about that in the Advanced Guide to Transfiguration - Grade 7. Chapter 21."
"Yeah…maybe," George said smiling, amazed by Hermione's memory. "So, that means it will be safer for us to sneak into the kitchens at night, eh, Fred?"
"Riiigght!" Fred answered, slapping the back of George. They both walked briskly out of the hospital wing, laughing and skipping.
"They're mental, those two," Ron said. "I have a bad feeling about this. I mean, we really don't like Filch very much, but the news came as a shock to me, I admit. I don't understand why I wasn't so happy at all. D'you reckon something is starting to happen again at Hogwarts, Harry?"
"I don't know, but I think we're all dealing with someone - or something other than Voldermort," Harry replied. He did not notice Ron and Hermione flinch. "My scar isn't hurting, as if it is sort of an alarm bell or something."
"Hello," Carina said, peering from outside the hospital wing door. "Is Ron all right?"
"Yeah… I think his eyes are back to normal now," replied Harry. "Come in."
"Glad to see you Carina," said Hermione. Carina was pleased to hear Hermione say that to her. "Uh, we'd really like to thank you for standing up for us against Malfoy…although that might have given you lots of trouble for doing it."
"Please don't mention it," Carina returned, smiling. "I only got a reprimand, plus 100 points off Slytherin. Consider that as a bonus for you. They deserve more than that for sure."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione chuckled.
"Right after that little encounter," Carina added, "Professor Magonagal decided to reassign me to another house to separate me from the Slytherins. Said they didn't need the Sorting Hat since I'm a temporary student here. Vell, I was never under the Sorting Hat in the first place. I'm now in Gryffindor."
"Wow, that's cool, Carina," said Harry. Ron and Hermione were ecstatic.
"You're going to feel at home while you're in Gryffindor, Carina," Hermione said as she shook Carina's hand. "I'll introduce you to the other girls in the dormitory - you'll find them much nicer than the girls from Slytherin."
"Thank you, that vill be great," said Carina, now looking more pleased than ever. "Harry, I'm sorry I didn't have the courage to pick up Ron. I couldn't stand to see what happened to him," she added, visibly looking remorse.
"No, don't feel bad about it, Carina," Harry said. Ron and Hermione were nodding to Carina. "It's not really serious…it's just the…" Harry forgot and searched for the term inside his mind.
"Arnulfulus charm," Hermione reminded him.
"Yeah, thanks," Harry said.
"Well, I reckon our free time's up," Ron announced. "We better move along for Herbology." Soon after, the four of them went out of the hospital wing talking with each other excitedly.
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