Chương 19: The Yule Ball
The fact that they were secretly preparing for a war that he hoped never came to pass was often on his mind. Harry doubted he would ever be a powerful wizard in the same league as Voldemort or Dumbledore, but knew that for some strange reason that the only way Voldemort would stop trying to kill him was if he finally succeeded. And even then Riddle would probably curse his corpse a few times just for laughs. He guessed that the dark wizard's obsession with him was due to the fact that as long as he lived he was proof that Voldemort was not all powerful. Harry also wondered about the complaints regarding Dumbledore that Daphne's grandfather had.
All of the history books agreed that Dumbledore had joined the war several years before he finally faced Grindelwald on the battlefield, but what exactly was he doing during that time? No one seemed to know why he waited, but it was clear that if Dumbledore was avoiding Grindelwald then Grindelwald was also doing his best to avoid Dumbledore. Decades later in the war against Voldemort it was Dumbledore that was known as the only wizard that Voldemort feared, and yet the evil wizard was not brought down by the Headmaster but by an infant. Once again Harry felt that there was missing some key piece of information that would explain everything, but he was unable to determine what it was. He wondered what Dumbledore would say if he asked about it, but doubted that he would get a plain answer when no one else had been able to.
All of this combined to make Harry quite nervous. It was a hard thing for a fourteen year old to realize that his foreseeable future would be spent either trying to prevent a war or fighting in one, though he hoped that did not come to pass. Surely others were aware of what was happening, especially Dumbledore. But Dumbledore had done nothing to keep him out of the tournament after his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, which he could only assume was somehow related to Voldemort. In fact, the two had barely spoken to each other since then. Perhaps Harry should try and see the Professor…
For what seemed like the millionth time, Harry wished he could just have the problems that a normal teenager had.
...
Daphne yanked open the door to her bedroom in the Slytherin dorms wanting nothing more than to collapse on her bed and sleep for a few days. Ever since she had told Harry about her family history and the danger she might be in he had taken it upon himself to turn her into a one girl army. She had owled her father and told him about Harry's reaction to her story and he seemed proud of her and impressed with Harry's drive and initiative. She was somewhat surprised to find that she enjoyed their joint practices and that she was improving faster than she had ever expected. Despite her improvement, however, she was still no match for Harry who she was now convinced would have been the true Hogwarts Triwizard champion if they had allowed him to enter legitimately.
Her thoughts of sleep were suddenly disrupted when she noticed someone sitting on her bed. Daphne's wand was up and the tip glowing bright red with a spell ready to be cast when she realized that the person on her bed was not a threat at all, just her little sister Astoria. The light from her wand dimmed and she lowered it to her side, but she continued to glare at the younger witch.
"You know better than to surprise me like that, I almost hexed you." Daphne advised Astoria.
"You wouldn't hex your favorite sister would you, Daph?" Astoria answered, pretending to be perfectly innocent.
"Only sister, and maybe." Daphne responded. Astoria merely shrugged and continued to sit on the bed. Astoria looked much like a younger version of her older sister. Their face shapes were almost identical and they had similar builds, although even when they were both finished growing Daphne was destined to be a couple of inches taller than her younger sister. Some of their other features differed, such as Astoria's eyes were green while Daphne's were a dark blue and the younger Greengrass had brown hair as opposed to her sister's blond hair. Both girls were still considered quite beautiful by their peers. Daphne waited for Astoria to say something, but when a minute had passed and she hadn't Daphne sat down next to her sister and said "So, what's going on?"
"That's actually what I wanted to ask you, Daph." she said with a small smile. One other difference in the two girls was their personalities. Astoria was very talkative and outgoing and seemed to make a lot of friends, even ones from other houses who might have otherwise thought it strange to meet a Slytherin so likable. Daphne preferred to keep a few good friends and didn't really care what anyone else thought. Astoria could also be very blunt when she had something to say or ask.
"What exactly are you talking about?" Daphne asked.
"Oh a lot of things. Like where have you been disappearing to every night for the past few weeks?"
"I'm studying, Astoria. Perhaps you aren't familiar with doing that? Honestly, I hear you are scraping by with an Acceptable in Herbology." She tried her best not to look at all surprised or interested in Astoria's accusation, but mentally she was kicking herself for not being more careful.
"I'll bring the grade up by the end of the year, and quit trying to change the subject. I know you haven't been in the library."
"There are lots of places in the castle to study, it doesn't have to be done in the library you know."
"Ok, maybe so. I'll give you that one. But what about this?" Astoria motioned to the new dress that her mother had sent her to wear to the Yule Ball. Daphne had been in a rush to get to class when she had received the package and had simply left the dress on her bed. "I know this is a new dress, which could only be for the Yule Ball. But no one else seemed to think you were the least bit interested in going. So spill it, who is the lucky guy?"
"That's what this is about, you want to gossip about me?" Daphne asked incredulously.
"Well, that and at the end of his last letter to me dad wrote 'remember to listen to your sister, no matter what happens in the next few weeks'. Leading me to think something strange is going to happen in the next few weeks." Daphne sighed and shook her head, knowing that she was going to have to tell her sister something, even if she didn't want to explain everything.
"Ok Astoria, I'll tell you a little. Yes, that dress is for the Yule Ball."
"I bet mom and dad know who you are going with, don't they?" Astoria whined.
"Yes. And they approve, so you should stop worrying about that. I would tell you who I'm going with but I know how bad you are at keeping secrets." Daphne said aiming a mocking smile at her sister.
"I am not!" she responded angrily. "Fine, don't tell. Why should I care anyway?"
"You actually should." Daphne said with a sigh. "I have a feeling that after the Yule Ball our fellow Slytherins might not like me too much. I can take care of myself, but you have to let me know if anyone is giving you a hard time because of me ok?" Astoria looked at her sister with a confused expression on her face. She couldn't think of any reason for Daphne to think that, but she did trust her older sister enough to give her the benefit of the doubt. Plus, whatever was going on, seemed to have worried her parents a little as well.
"Alright Daph. But after the Yule Ball you are going to tell me everything."
"Agreed. Now get out of here, I want to sleep." Daphne said as she stood and picked up her dress in order to hang it up. Astoria nodded and left the room, wishing she could help her older sister with whatever was troubling her. Once she was gone, Daphne frowned and looked at the closed door her sibling had just walked out of. She could only guess what her house's reaction to her date with Harry Potter was going to be, but she promised herself that if anyone laid a finger on Astoria they would pay for it in a variety of painful ways. And if necessary she could always ask Harry to help she thought with a evil grin, she knew he would be happy to do it.
....
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