The Butterfly Effect

Sechs: Departure of the Chariot

Green curtains and a tangled mass of limbs being shaken awoke everyone in the Slytherin 4th year girls' dorm, or they would have, if anyone had been able to successfully accumulate an ounce of sleep. Truth be told, all four girls had been traumatized at seeing a girl not much older than them be brutally obliterated from existence. The four girls were Slytherins and had to keep a tough outward appearance, but on the inside, they were still just regular fourteen-year-old girls.

Daphne Greengrass had not shown much outward emotion at the time of the incident; the blonde Slytherin had barely joined the panic, though, inwardly, she was in shock. After the incident, the headmaster had quickly obscured the scene from view and announced that the arena was to be vacated as soon as possible without panic. Daphne, in a rare show of public emotion, cried out to and found her sister and led her away towards the common room, giving her sister comfort as she cried from the traumatic images. Daphne and her sister rarely saw eye to eye; her sister was normally sassy and cunning, but an experience such as the First Task called upon their familial bond.

The flailing limbs belonged to none other than Tracey Davis, Daphne's best and (if she was honest with herself) only friend. No words of comfort were spoken, but Daphne, Millicent, and Pansy "Puggy" Parkinson secretly looked at the top of their beds, wishing for sleep to sweep them away while being on the verge of a breakdown similar to Tracey's.

Eventually, though it took about four hours, all four girls drifted off into sleep, not finding much comfort in their dreams which held terrors catalyzed by the pain of reality.

SPACER

Breakfast in the Great Hall the next day had been the emptiest and quietest in Hogwarts history. The Slytherin table appeared plastic for the most part as most students above third year sat with a blank stare and exchanged pleasantries with forced smiles. The other three houses were a lot more expressive in their interactions. The tables were only about halfway full, consisting of people ranging from crying first years to traumatized seventh years. Curiously enough, Cedric Diggory was absent from the Hufflepuff table, along with the entirety of the Durmstrang students.

Daphne Greengrass sat flanked by her sister, who was holding her hand under the table, and Tracey, who was staring at her bacon. Daphne merely looked around the Great Hall and observed people's reactions to the previous day. She felt sorry for many of those who had been traumatized, especially the younger students. Daphne almost felt a pang of pity for the Golden Trio, who sat with their heads low.

The Great Hall went silent as the doors slammed open to reveal a teenage witch in a black dress, who entered the Hall quickly and headed towards the Gryffindor table. The only professor on duty, Professor Vector, quietly watched the unfolding scene but did not interfere as most of her fellow teachers were dismantling the arena and dealing with mail from concerned parents to help the overburdened headmaster. The girl approached Hogwarts' arguably most unfortunate student and spoke to him in a low voice. Naturally, the whole Hall was able to hear as everyone had quieted down upon the witch's entrance.

Gabrielle Delacour looked terrible. Her eyes were red enough to be seen across the hall. Her hair was very obviously undone and looked like a raven's nest. Her black dress was obviously put on in a carefree manner as it was slightly lopsided. Harry Potter looked at the girl and pulled her into a hug, which she quickly pulled away from. With tears in her eyes, she began her painful speech.

"Harry, these past few weeks have been some of the happiest I have had, but I cannot be with you anymore. In fact, I cannot be anywhere near Britain any more. The painful memory of my sister will persist as long as I get near this place. Harry, I know we didn't get to spend much time together these past weeks, but I do not regret it. My priority will always be family first. I thank you for being so patient and tolerant for me, but it is time we part ways. Goodbye Harry, please don't try to ask for me in the carriages."

With that, she ran out of the Great Hall barely restraining tears as she disappeared into the castle. Harry Potter was left dumbstruck at first, but slowly he stood up, said goodbye to his friends, and left the Great Hall with numerous eyes upon him. He did not even acknowledge the stares and trudged out of the Hall silently. This time, Daphne did feel an ounce of pity for the boy who was both traumatized and heartbroken.

SPACER

The week following the dragon incident, as most had taken to calling it, had been depressing at first but slowly morphed into routine. A memorial was held in Fleur's honor halfway throughout the week. Many students reported skeletal horses flying through the air. The dragons had been swiftly returned to Romania at the first opportunity. Classes restarted and homework once again piled up, though most teachers, except Snape, were slightly lenient. Daphne Greengrass had tried to reinstate her regular routine and read in the Quidditch stands, though most of the time she barely registered a word that she read. Luckily for her, Astoria was returning to her usual cheery albeit sassy self, which removed a burden from her shoulders.

Daphne made her way to her usual spot in the Quidditch stands and opened up her book for another day of pretending that her life was normal. The first Saturday since the incident seemed a perfect day to finally come to terms with her trauma and carry on, but Daphne's luck was never that kind to her.

She spotted a lone figure on a broomstick hovering about twenty feet from the ground. She noticed the kind of broom, a Firebolt, which left one possible identity for the broom rider. Instead of scoffing at his presence, she felt relieved that she could find a distraction and stared at him, hoping he would pull off a trick like a circus monkey. However, he just seemed to be floating in one location and toppling dangerously, which was unlike the Gryffindor seeker. (Though she was loathe to admit it, he was a classy flyer).

A glint of blue and gold caught her eye in the distance. The Beauxbatons chariot was taking off, never to return to Hogwarts. The chariot approached the Quidditch field but flew at a distance, never invading the airspace. The chariot soon became uninteresting as it flew slowly in the air, and Daphne focused her eyes on a floating broom, erratically hovering in the air without a rider. Below the broom she could see Harry Potter hurtling towards the ground, arms flailing.

Luckily for Harry, Daphne had never quite enjoyed sitting on hard bleachers, and as such, was nearly a master of the cushioning charm. A split second reaction allowed her to shoot off a spell in order to cushion the ground below Harry, minimizing his injuries. Daphne sprinted down the stairs and into the grass to check upon the boy.

At that moment, house rivalries vanished from her mind and she thought only of not seeing another person die ever again. She wasn't doing it for the Golden Boy, she was doing it for a fellow wizard. She reached him and was instantly relieved to hear him groaning; he was still alive. On closer inspection, he had broken or sprained both of his legs and he seemed bruised everywhere else. Her cushioning charm had only prevented his internal organs from collapsing in on themselves. Quickly, as there was no one around, she levitated the poor boy and raced through the Halls to seek help, but when no one was found, she raced him off to the Hospital Wing herself.

She knocked on the doors and was met with a grumpy nurse which at first said, "Listen, if it's Fred and George asking for more headache potions, forget it, I'm not helping you if you test your products on yourselves."

However, she quickly paled when she saw the boy being levitated behind the girl with pleading blue eyes. "Not again, what did he do this time?" she muttered to herself before levitating him to a bed.

She turned to the worried blonde girl and said, "Thank you for bringing him to me. He always gets hurt, but he looks more hurt than usual. This could be more complicated, but luckily the blunt force trauma did minimal damage to his insides. Any more momentum, and he would have died instantly." she said, pointing to the boy. She had cast the spell silently.

"Thank you Miss..?"

"Greengrass."

"Well thank you Miss Greengrass for bringing him in. I'll work on him right away."

Daphne nodded and walked away, slightly relieved. She had been able to save someone's life and she thanked her quick thinking. She was glad that she didn't have to see anyone else die, even if it was the most obnoxious Gryffindor possible.