Silent Year

Please forgive me for not posting for so long! I hit writer's block, a big brick wall just loomed up in front of me! So, without further adieu, I present chapter eleven! ^_^.
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Chapter Eleven: Broken Boxes

“Little one?” these were the words whispered by Quiari when she awoke. The sun was just peering over the trees outside of the windows of the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey whisked the curtain aside, and Quiari snapped her head up to look at Madame Pomfrey. “Your other clothes were a right mess when you got here. You can borrow this.” Said Pomfrey, putting a light grey dress down onto the bed and leaving Quiari to put the dress on. Quiari did so, and found that the dress fit her perfectly. “Ah, then my estimations were correct.” Said Madame Pomfrey, looking the dress over. It had long bell sleeves that would hide Quiari’s scar, and it hung tight to Quiari’s slender figure. “If you’re really from where Albus says you’re from, you’re probably used to better.” Said Pomfrey, but Quiari smiled widely and nearly tackled the woman. Pomfrey laughed and then held Quiari at arm’s length. “Breakfast should be down in the great hall, you’ll find your little dragon there.” Said Pomfrey and Quiari smiled and hugged the woman again before turning and jogging across the room on bare feet. She made no sound as she ran down the halls, and down the stairs towards the Great Hall. The box was still right where she’d left it; no one had bothered to move it.

The doors to the Great Hall were ajar, letting light from the windows out into the Entrance Hall. Quiari headed towards the space, where a mass of black sat at different tables. She stood in the shadows, just looking in at the scene, just listening to the cheerful voices and the chatter. Dumbledore sat at the staff table, the little dragon was curled around his neck, soaking up the warmth there. Quiari took a quiet step forward, but recoiled. Too late, Dumbledore stood up and smiled at the doorway. The Great Hall went silent instantly. “It’s good to see you’re awake, Quiari.” Said Dumbledore and Quiari moved to stand in the doorway silently. All eyes turned to her, and she gripped her left arm tightly with her right hand. She kept her gaze to the ground. “Step forward, step forward, please.” Said Dumbledore and Quiari looked up before taking a couple steps forward into the sunlight in the room. The dragon squealed happily and leapt off of Dumbledore, sailing through the air. Quiari held up her arm and the dragon instantly latched hold, running up under the loose sleeves and nestling in Quiari’s cleavage. Quiari blushed before smiling down at the dragon.


“That one alerted us of your arrival.” Said Dumbledore and Quiari reached up and stroked the little dragon’s head. “But I’m curious to know what’s in that box.” Quiari straightened, bowed, and then turned and dashed lightly out of the hall.

She went over to the box and slung it onto her back, doubling over, but she still was proud. A small smile curved her lips as she entered the hall again, and she walked down the long aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. She stopped before the staff table and let the box slide off her shoulders. It hit the stone floor with a huge crash, and everyone in the hall stared in shock. “Well, how long have you been carrying this?” asked Dumbledore, and Quiari shrugged her shoulders barely and popped open the box, revealing it to be full to bursting. One side with books, the other side with very large rocks. Quiari stared into the box for a few moments before picking up one of the rocks. She’d been carrying these the entire time? “Quiari?” asked Dumbledore, but Quiari didn’t look up from the rock. Her bangs obscured her eyes from sight. She simply seemed to squeeze her hands together and the rock crumpled to dust. Dumbledore moved around the staff table, walking over to Quiari, who was still holding the air. “Are you all right?” asked Dumbledore, and Quiari’s shoulders started shaking. She still didn’t look up. “There, there; it’s all right. I’m sure the rocks got put into the box by accident.” It was apparent the rocks had been stacked neatly enough NOT to have been accidentally put in the box. Dumbledore put his hand on her shoulder, and then Quiari looked up. Her mouth was open in a smile and there were tears coming from her eyes, but there was no laughter. She was trying hard to suppress it. Her hand came up and covered her mouth, but she still sank to her knees, just staring at the box. After a few minutes of confusion, Quiari got a hold of herself. Her mouth closed, but she was still smiling widely. She stood up, picked up a book out of the box, and handed it to Dumbledore. “From Karkaroff?” Dumbledore asked, and Quiari nodded barely, her smile fading slightly.

The snow fell gently outside the library windows at Hogwarts. Quiari sat quietly at a table, reading a single book from a pile, the dragon was nestled happily in her cleavage, only her head visible. There were a few boys who would walk into the library, steal glances while getting a totally irrelevant book, and they’d try to make small chat. That was why Quiari had moved to the table in the back of the library, where no one could find her. She read quietly, until someone dashed into the library…looking for her. The black haired man who dashed in, wearing all black, cape flying out behind him, ran up to the table. He was slightly out of breath from the run.

“Dumbledore needs...you…lake…” he gasped out. Quiari instantly stood up and dashed out of the library. She ran down to the entrance and dashed out into the snow, jumping on top of the now frozen slush. There, the students were gathered, all looking anxiously towards the middle of the lake. Dumbledore was standing off to the side and Quiari ran up to him. There was someone in the water. Quiari let out a breath and then stroked the little dragon’s head. It yawned and then climbed grudgingly out of her dress. She followed it to the edge of the lake, where cracks were in the ice, coming from the center, where a large hole was. Quiari scooped up the dragon and jumped out, landing on one of the segments of ice. The dragon shot ice between the cracks, sealing the ice over, and Quiari slid easily over the ice, headed for the hole in the center of the lake. The students crowded around the lake watched in amazement as she made her way to the hole in the lake. Upon arriving, Quiari slid into the water. A few seconds later and the dress surfaced.

Quiari again was curled in the fetal position, changing. Her legs became longer and the fins again draped behind her. A larges stream of air bubbles surrounded her from the large object that was plummeting down to the bottom of the lake. Quiari burst from the stream of air bubbles, swimming down into the dark depths of the lake. The water was almost as cold as it was at Durmstrang, but it seemed purer. For, when Quiari opened her eyes, she didn’t scream or snap her eyes shut again. She just kept swimming down, down, down. It was a long chase, but she finally managed to catch up with the source of the air bubbled. It was a large box, made of clear glass. And it was filling rapidly with water from holes drilled in the sides. Inside the box was a horrific sight that made Quiari’s eyes widen. There was Radu, bound and gagged, standing in the water that was slowly filling the box. Quiari swam forward and tried to punch the box, but the water’s buoyancy was too great, and she simply rebounded from the glass.

She tried again, smacking the glass with her legs.

But nothing would break it…and time was running out. Radu’s eyes were fearful, but he still pleaded with Quiari to let him be. He kept shaking his head whenever Quiari pummeled the glass box with her body. The water had now filled the box more than halfway. Radu was standing in the icy water up to his shoulders, and the two were still descending. She swam down under the box and pressed her back against it, kicking her legs. The box slowed, and then stopped, and then started back up towards the surface. It was a slow process, and the water was filling the box. Quiari grit her teeth, air bubbles escaping her lips, and she kicked her legs harder, the box moved faster, headed for the circle of light.

The box reached the top of the ice, and gravity kicked in. Quiari couldn’t push the box any further up, but it was no longer filling with water. At least, not as quickly as it had been. She pushed with all her might, but the box would lift no further. She swam down, letting the box go, and it started sinking again. She stopped couple dozen feet down in the lake and then swam upward with all her might. The box lifted from the water before she even touched it, and she shot out of the water after it, sailing through the air before hitting the ice hard, cracking it and falling through into the icy water again. She sank slightly, her body in shock from the impact on the ice, and she regained her senses enough to realize that she needed air. She swam up, letting the remaining air from her lungs, and she surfaced, taking in a giant gasp of air. She held herself above the surface of the water with her arms, her hair hanging limply in her eyes, and she looked around. There were five white cloaked figures standing in front of the box, wearing white masks. The Hogwarts students were visible through an anti-magic barrier, the blue haze in a dome over the surface of the lake. The students could see everything, but even Dumbledore’s magic couldn’t get through the force field.

“So, little one; you abandoned your post?” asked one of the figures, stepping forward. Quiari pulled herself out of the water, laying on her side and propped up on her elbow. Her legs had no more strength to them. She shook her head mutely, her pebbled skin not changing in the slightest. “Then what are you doing here?” Another figure stepped forward. This figure spoke with a deep voice, clearly a man. “We did not give you leave to come to Hogwarts.” Quiari stayed silent. The water from the box was slowly filtering back out into the lake. “But enough of that; your actions here today prove you cannot be trusted with my son.” This white cloaked figure’s cloak was held by a diamond brooch. Quiari kept her eyes level. “You are never to even look at him!” the deep voiced man shouted and pointed at Quiari, shooting a powerful spell at her as she lay vulnerable on the ice.


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Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews and I'm so grateful that you have taken the time to read this far! Thank you all! ~Nezumi-kun~