Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 44: Overturned

Harry was tapping his foot nervously waiting for the introduction of the instructors. Mei had transferred from her wheelchair and was sitting on the bench next to Gemma.

"Knock off the nervous twitching, Harry! You're going to bounce me right off this bench," she hissed.

"Oh, sorry!" Harry hadn't even noticed he was doing it.

Harry could hear the man who had been arguing earlier about going home each night chatting with someone in the row behind him. He thought maybe it was the mom from the family with children. From her nervous comments, he gathered that the father had taken the children home, but he wasn't sure if she was glad her children were gone or if she was missing them—maybe both, Harry thought. Then the mother whispered to the man that there was a girl with the most beautiful iridescent fish tail sitting in the row in front of them that made Harry very worried that Mei would hear her. He didn't think that would go over well. The man seemed surprised, "What? She has a fish tail? How is that even possible?!"

Harry turned his head and tried to give them a quelling look. He was surprised when it had the effect he wanted, but then he realized that something must have been happening... maybe the instructors were coming in the room? But then a noise emerged as if from a great distance that was like a fog horn: deep and resonant.

Harry tapped Gemma's hand and whispered, "Do you see anything? I hear a horn."

She wrote, "O-L-D" space "S-H-I-P" on his palm—but the way her hand was jittering he could tell that it was more than an old ship. She was just as enthralled with what she was seeing as she had been when they were up in the owlery tower.

Aminah leaned over to Harry and whispered, "What did Gemma say?"

"She said 'old ship.'" Harry shrugged as he told Aminah. "But she seems really excited like it is so much more than that."

Gemma squeezed his hand, which made him think she'd seen what he was saying to Aminah.

Aminah asked, "Old ship like a Viking Vessel or a Spanish Galleon?"

Gemma wrote into Harry's hand, "G-A-L-L-E-O-N," and Harry whispered it to Aminah.

They sat in eager anticipation as it approached, now Harry could hear bells clanging as well. This seemed like a rather grand entrance and he wondered what it could mean for their instruction. It seemed like the wind was picking up—the whispering of the aspen leaves that Hermione had described had become more frantic. Harry shivered. He hadn't dressed for stormy mountain weather. He thought about his jumper that he had stuffed back into his staff during the train ride with Hermione and Dr. Granger that morning and wondered if he should get it out again.

After a bit, when the wind didn't relent, but seemed to be bringing in even colder air, Harry noticed that Gemma was shivering, too, and so was Aminah and he could hear Mei was cursing the cold wind under her breath.

Harry took his staff out of his pocket and summoned his jumper, his winter coat, and two of his school robes from the staff. He passed them out to his friends who were mostly grateful for them (he nearly grabbed his winter coat back from Mei when she grumbled about it's sorry state) and put on his jumper.

Gemma seemed to be getting more excited as the wind picked up and Harry was eager to know what was going on.

Harry heard someone's footsteps crunching toward the center of the amphitheater, then Healer Jordan addressed them with her amplified voice. "Thank you all for gathering this afternoon to meet our instructors for our training course. We're eagerly awaiting the arrival of our guest instructors who have traveled here from great distances."