Shifted: Book Two

Chapter Twenty Five - Final Lesson of the Year

It was finally the evening of the last day of the year before Christmas break; Umbridge's questioning ended and she seemed rather quiet on her suspicions about their entire army. They practiced almost every day and each lesson, they improved not just in skill, but in confidence and hope too.

"Our last exercise will challenge you to think and act quickly", Harry said as he presented the wooden figure in the middle of everyone as they created a circle around it.

Suddenly, the figure sped in front of Nigel on a singular wheel, and Nigel swiftly whipped out his wand.

"Diminuendo!", Nigel called out, decreasing the size of the figure into it being no taller than a Quaffle.

"Working hard is important, but there's something that matters even more: believing in yourself!", Harry reassured, walking around the room.

The figure whizzed along the polished ground, cycling into everyone's directions! They all yelled "Stupefy" and "Expelliarmus" at the object, meanwhile other students levitated their friends using the "Levicorpus" spell.

"Every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more than what we are now: students", Harry continued, applauding students and patting them on the backs.

"Amazing! Keep it up, Ginny!", Hazel exclaimed, impressed with her development over the past couple of weeks.

"If they can do it, why not us?", Hazel yelled out with a happy grin, finishing off Harry's warming speech.

Unexpectedly, the back doors opened and, for a moment, everyone believed they had been caught. That was until Luna tenderly skipped inside.

"Luna! I didn't think you would show up today", Hazel said as she approached the frail girl, shortly being followed by Harry.

"I was in the hall having some pudding, I hope you don't mind", Luna admitted before graciously walking to some other students behind them.

Hazel and Harry stood in the centre of the room, surrounded by optimistic students and magic all around them. They gazed at their surroundings in utter amazement, it was a surreal moment for the two of them. In that moment, all their worries disappeared, all their anger evaporated and all they felt was pure magic.

"This is incredible", Hazel said, scanning the room with a wide grin.

"We couldn't have done it without you", Harry admitted, now facing Hazel's happy face.

She blushed at the compliment, but she knew Harry was wrong. All of this was doable without her, she was just happy to be a part of it.

"That's not true, this wouldn't have been possible without your help", Hazel replied, playfully nudging him.

The two inhaled and exhaled as one, softly, letting the magic and distant chatter envelope around them. A few moments went by with them both stood beside in each other in complete awe, not saying a word.

"You're a lot stronger than you think, Hazel. You'll realise that soon", Harry said as he slowly moved his hand to Hazel's, timidly.

Their fingers brushed past each other as Hazel's cheeks blossomed like rouge tulips. Their hands were inches away from clasping together, but their time was up. It was the end of the day. They swiftly gathered their army around and gave a huge round of applause.