Ch 11: Sweet Sixteen
Harry's training continued in the same manner through July as it had during June. On the day before Harry's birthday, his DADA professors gave him the afternoon and evening off to relax. Harry convinced Lupin and Moody to join him and the Weasleys in a spirited game of Quidditch. Opening the door to leave the kitchen, Hermione paused when Molly spoke.
"Going out to play or just to watch, dear?"
"Umm, I'll probably watch a bit later. I'm just going to take a short little walk I think," replied Hermione.
"Haven't you explored all of the trails back there yet? You go for an hour long walk everyday back there," joked Molly.
"Well, yeah, but I enjoy the fresh air and a bit of exercise, too. You know, it's nice to get away from my books for a little bit once in a while."
Arching her eyebrows, Molly replied, "Very well, just be careful out there and don't wander too far."
Hermione quickly left. "That was close," thought Hermione as she headed out to the woods in the backyard. "It's too bad we couldn't have hidden the stuff somewhere in the house. But I guess Harry was right. It was too risky that someone from the Order might have recognized what we were up to." She glanced upwards to watch the Quidditch players zooming around above her. Keeping an eye on the twins in case they accidentally sent a bludger her way, she made her way quickly to the treeline.
Once in the shade of the woods, she quickly found the area where they had set up the magical tent they had found in the basement. Muttering the password, she watched as her vision shimmered for a moment, then she could clearly see the tent. As she walked to the front and opened the flap, she thought how lucky they had been to find a set of warding stones in the house as well. These stones had enabled them to make the area immediately surrounding the tent invisible. Using the password was the only way one could discover the tent at all.
Passing inside the tent, Hermione glanced quickly at the several cauldrons that were slowly simmering. Everything looked fine so far. Passing to the far side, she sat down in a comfortable chair next to the small bookshelf containing the various books she had forced the Weasleys to collect for their project. As usual, she had insisted on learning about every possible theory and fact associated with the Animagus transformation in order to make sure it was done correctly. It was the most complex series of spells and potions she had ever encountered and she could easily understand why the attempt to become an Animagus was so strictly regulated. She quickly reviewed what still needed to be done. In a week, she would begin teaching the others the series of spells and incantations they would need to perform flawlessly for the transformations to be successful. That would give them a week to practice before the potions would be ready. The first stage would take several hours, then they would have to wait a week, before they could finish the transformation spell. If they were successful up to that point, and if each of them actually had an animal form they could assume, she was unsure how much practice each would need before they could easily and quickly transform between their human and animal forms and learn to function in their animal forms. Hopefully, they would be done before the school term started at the beginning of September. If not, it might be tougher for Ron, Hermione, and Harry to continue practicing their shapeshifting while at Hogwarts.
In the middle of her fifth rereading of The Making of an Animagus, Hermione stopped to check the time and noticed that she only had a half hour before the surprise party was scheduled to begin. She rushed quickly from the tent after marking her place in the thick tome and ran towards the house. A stray bludger nearly missed her shoulder.
"Heads up, Hermione!" shouted Fred.
"Sorry about that, Hermione," yelled George as he laughed.
"Knock if off, you gits!" boomed Harry's voice. "If you two don't watch it, she might put something nasty in the next thing you drink."
Hermione looked up at Harry and smiled as he winked. She saw the faces of the twins pale considerably.
"We're really sorry, Hermione. We were just joking, you know we wouldn't have really hit you," they both stammered at her. Instead of replying, Hermione just smiled evilly and turned back to the house. As she passed the kitchen, she saw Molly putting the finishing touches on the cake.
"It looks wonderful Molly. I'm so sorry, I should have offered to help."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you needed the break. Where are you off to?"
"Oh, I was just going to head to my room and get cleaned up a bit. You know, for the party." Hermione then turned and ran up the stairs.
"Of course, dear. For the party," Molly smiled to herself and finished in the kitchen.
Half an hour later, the twins, complaining that they were tired, convinced the rest of the players to call it a night. As they headed past the kitchen, they suggested grabbing a quick bite and Ron and Harry quickly agreed. As they entered the kitchen a deafening Happy Birthday echoed in the large room that had been magically expanded to make space for all of the guests who had come to Harry's surprise birthday party. Many of the members of the Order of the Phoenix were there, as well as Hagrid and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"`Appy Birthday Harry!" boomed Hagrid as he clenched him in a nearly bone-breaking hug.
Gasping for air, Harry complained, "But my birthday's not until after midnight."
"That's why they call it a surprise party, mate," laughed Ron as he punched him in the arm.
Harry gazed around at all of his well-wishers and noticed there was one prominent face missing. Moving around the room, he chatted briefly with each of his many friends as the room slowly grew colder. He noticed several people shivering slightly and Molly went to check the windows to make sure they were shut.
"Must `ave a nasty draft `ere abouts," thundered Hagrid. "Maybe we should stoke the fire a bit, eh Harry?"
A few minutes later Harry heard Molly's voice exclaim, "Why, there you are Hermione! I was wondering what had kept you. You look very lovely, dear."
"Yeah, you can say that again mum. Wow!" chipped in Fred.
"Yeah, Hermione…You're looking very fine-ay," added George.
With a frosty glare, Hermione asked coldly, "Did you boys remember to check your drinks before you started drinking them?"
As their snickering died down, they looked at their drinks and gulped loudly. The ice cubes in their drinks were melting very rapidly and the glasses were becoming rather warm. They hastily set down their drinks and moved to the opposite side of the room as Hermione. She had already turned away from them and was chatting with Hagrid.
"Oh Hermione. It's so good ter see yah again," bellowed Hagrid. "And yah seem to have melted the chill that was settlin' on the room. Ignore that pair o' dolts, but Molly was right. Yah look very pretty tonight."
Hermione blushed and curtsied slightly at Hagrid's compliment. She had changed out of her jeans and shirt into a nice dress. She had put her hair up and applied a touch of make-up. Looking up, she saw a pair of deep green eyes already looking at hers.
His throat suddenly dry, Harry rasped, "You look beautiful, Hermione, even better than at the Yule Ball," and his face reddened deeply, just as Hermione's did. "Uhh, I'm glad you could make it to the party."
"Uhh, Harry, how could I have missed it? I'm staying here for the summer."
"Yeah, I know, but you weren't here earlier and I thought…uhhh…"
"Oh, don't be silly Harry. I wouldn't have missed this party for the world!" Hermione gave Harry a huge smile.
All of a sudden the sound of about half a dozen people spitting out their drinks could be heard along with various comments. "Ahh! My mouth! Too hot!! What happened to the ice?!?" Around the room, people were hastily putting down drinks that were quickly becoming too hot to drink. Harry noticed a bead of sweat trickling down his forehead and tugged at his collar.
"Let's move away from the fire. I don't know what they put in it, but it looks more like a furnace," suggested Harry. Indeed, the flames in the fire looked like they were trying to escape the fireplace and incinerate the entire wall.
"Yes, it is certainly getting warm in here, isn't it?" Hermione replied.
"Yeah. It was a little chilly when I first arrived, but now it's like someone turned the heater on full blast," replied Hermione. As they looked around the room, they noticed they weren't the only ones looking flushed and beginning to sweat. As Molly opened the windows to let in some cooler air, she glared over at her twin sons. "If this is some kind of prank you two cooked up…" she growled.
"It's not us mum, honest. If only we could control the temperature…" they replied and then continued talking to themselves, discussing the design of several joke items they would make if they could change a room's temperature.
Soon the cake was cut and pieces were passed around. Then everyone gathered around to watch Harry open his presents. Most of his gifts from the Order were various copies of books of defense against the Dark Arts. Hagrid had given him some stonelike treacle pudding and the latest edition of the Magical Creature Encyclopedia, from Aboni to Zyleki Harvesters. Molly had knitted him another beautiful green sweater with a large H on the front and supplied a huge box of homemade fudge. Harry thanked both of them profusely.
Ron had gotten him a book explaining different strength training exercises for Seekers with several different workout programs. "Not that you really need it, Harry. You're probably the best seeker Hogwarts has ever seen. But you seem to enjoy working out in the mornings and I thought this might give you some more ideas," offered Ron helpfully.
"Thanks a lot Ron. But I'll probably need somebody to exercise with," smiled Harry.
"Well, maybe if you don't start too early in the morning," laughed Ron.
McGonagall had given him a thin book simply titled In Search of Stunning Seeker Strategies. The first page contained what seemed like an endless list of names. Looking over at McGonagall, she said, "Choose one." He tapped the Wronski Feint and turned the page. On one side of the page was a text describing every aspect of the movement. Most of the two pages however was dominated by a moving picture of the Wronski Feint that constantly changed, showing the reader how to perform it and how it looked from every possible angle.
"Thanks," stammered Harry.
"I expect it to be put to good use this year, Mr. Potter. But don't let me catch you neglecting your more important studies," smiled Professor McGonagall.
"But what about my lifetime ban from Quidditch?" asked Harry.
"Really, now Mr. Potter. You don't think that anything that old ba…that incompetent frau…" struggled Professor McGonagall.
"I believe what Professor McGonagall is trying to say is that the Ministry has decided to revoke a number of its most recent decrees regarding education as well as the various punishments and rules set down by the uhh…overzealous Miss Umbridge." finished Professor Dumbledore. Harry's smile was only slightly wider than that of his other friends.
"And what happened to Umbridge, Professor Dumbledore?" asked Hermione.
"Well, it seems that she will be under investigation by the Ministry for a number of unethical and illegal acts as soon as she recovers from her stay at St. Mungos," replied Dumbledore somberly. Everyone's grins widened.
Hermione mumbled, "Just what she deserves."
Everyone's attention returned to the presents. The twins' present was what appeared to be a plain leather pouch with a fairly wide opening. He looked over at them with a question in his eyes.
"That's genuine cowhide leather, Harry. We thought it would be useful for carrying around your extra quills and parchment. No sense taking up good space in a backpack with that stuff," they boomed, ignoring the odd looks from the others and the slight look of disgust from their mother.
Catching their sly wink, Harry replied, "Thanks guys, I appreciate it." He opened Dumbledore's box next. Inside he found two huge tomes. One was titled Magicking the Magical and the other was called Enchanting the Enchanted.
"I can't believe you got a copy of Magicking the Magical and Enchanting the Enchanted!" nearly screamed Hermione. "You can't find a copy of them anywhere. It's-oh-it's a wonderful gift Harry. Do you think I might be able to browse through them sometime?" A number of laughs broke out after this.
"Of course, Hermione. You can read them and then explain them to me," chuckled Harry. He then turned to Dumbledore, "Thank you very much, sir."
"I hope they will prove beneficial to you this year," replied Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes.
Harry had saved Hermione's gift for last, but didn't see another box on the table. "Oh, maybe she didn't bring one. Well, she's been very busy. I really shouldn't have expected…" he thought to himself.
"Here's my present Harry," said Hermione, as she slid a small box into Harry's hand. When their hands met, Harry swore he could feel a funny tingle as their hands brushed. Hermione looked surprised, too. The fire, which had been dying down, suddenly exploded with a loud burst of flame.
As everyone looked to see what had happened in the fireplace, Harry told Hermione thank you and began opening the box.
While everyone else was watching the fire, waiting for it to explode again, Dumbledore noticed that the table and everything on it was shaking slightly. Molly began warning the twins again about playing pranks and Harry finished opening the box, his hands trembling slightly.
"What a beautiful watch, Hermione. I love it. Thank you so much." He pulled out a beautiful silver watch with a leather band and placed it on his wrist.
"Well, it has a bunch of different functions-it has multiple alarms to help you keep track of your schedule and classes and exams, it can keep time in several different time zones, obviously you can read it at night, it's waterproof and…"
"Can it tell me what time it is right now?" asked Harry with a grin.
"Well, yes, but it can do so much more, like…"
"Well, that's what I need it for the most, I think. Thank you very much, Hermione." Suddenly aware that everyone was watching them very closely, Harry and Hermione both blushed slightly and Harry suggested they all have some more cake and see if the drinks had cooled down.
As the party sprang back to life, the twins pulled aside Harry and they began a lively discussion. Dumbledore sat thoughtfully at the end of the table, his eyes twinkling as he watched everyone at the party enjoying themselves.
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