A Halliwell at Hogwarts: The Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter Love Story)

V - Halloween With Surprise

Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Persephone, Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.

Harry filled Ron and Persephone in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It must be something really valuable" said Ron.

"Or really dangerous" added Persephone.

"Or both," said Harry.

But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. Hermione didn't even want to talk about the trapdoor with Persephone.

"Come on Mione!" Persephone had complained to Hermione the same night, "You cannot tell me you're not even the slightest curious about what's inside that trapdoor!"

"No, I'm not and neither should you!"

"Hey... that's asking the impossible from me. Being curious is in my nature, Mione."

"Well, your nature is going to get you expelled if you don't control it and I don't want that!"

"Oh, that's sweet, Mione—"

"Now sleep!" Hermione had concluded.

Hermione was mad at them, but whilst she was still being friendly with Persephone, now she refused to speak to Harry and Ron. The two didn't really care and all they wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.

As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by two long, thin packages carried each by six large screech owls. The owls soared down and dropped the two packages right in front of her and Harry, knocking his bacon and her toast to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter between the two parcels.

Persephone ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:

"DO NOT OPEN THE PARCES AT THE TABLE.

They contains your new Nimbus Two Thousands, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you two tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session."

Persephone and Harry had difficulty hiding their glee as they handed the note to Ron to read.

"Nimbus Two Thousands!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."

They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomsticks in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it, while Persephone hugged hers protectively glaring at Crabbe and Goyle as if saying 'Touch it and you'll regret it'.

"Those are broomsticks," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, Halliwell, first years aren't allowed them."

Ron couldn't resist it.

"They're not any old broomsticks," he said, "they're Nimbus Two Thousands. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."