The attack on Jessica Hawthorne, Hermione Granger, and Penelope Clearwater had shaken everyone at Hogwarts to their core. They couldn't believe three students had been petrified at the same time. The castle didn't feel as safe anymore, nor was it as fun. The rules were much stricter — students were being escorted to and from classes, there was an earlier curfew, and clubs and team practices and games had gotten postponed indefinitely.
Bethany Faye and Alista Greene felt like they had lost a puzzle piece as the days went by. They had been best friends with Jessica since they first entered Hogwarts, and though the two of them were close as well, it just felt as if the whole dynamic of their friendship had been thrown off now that their trio had temporarily become a pair. On most days, they either spent it bickering like cats and dogs or complaining that they missed Jessica.
Oliver Wood wasn't doing any better. He felt terrible about what happened to Jessica. He knew it wasn't his fault per se, but he always wondered if things would've happened differently if he didn't pick a fight with her. He was positive that if they hadn't argued, he would've walked back to the Gryffindor Tower with her. But that didn't happen, and now she was as still as a statue and missing out on a large chunk of her fifth year. Not having Quidditch to take Oliver's mind off of things made it even worse. The sport was the one thing that both excited and calmed him down, and he couldn't even have that to keep him sane because of all the restrictions that were put up to keep the rest of the student body safe from whatever monster was hiding underneath the school.
For the first week after Jessica's petrification, Oliver, Bethany, and Alista visited her at the hospital wing daily. It was strange seeing her look so frozen while her face showed a shocked expression. However, they soon had to accept that there really wasn't going to be any improvement in her state until Professor Sprout's mandrakes were fully grown.
"She really isn't going to change any time soon," Bethany sighed sadly after Madam Pomfrey made a side comment about how they were there every single day.
"You're right," Alista admitted. "I suppose we can still visit her once in a while... but until the mandrakes are grown, there's nothing we can do by sitting around here everyday."
Oliver wanted to protest and say that of course he knew that she wasn't going to show any signs of improvement just like that. But that didn't stop him from wanting to see her and just keep her company, even if she wasn't aware of it. However, Oliver didn't want to sound stupid, nor did he want Bethany and Alista to realize that perhaps he did care for Jessica a bit more than friends would — not that he would ever say that out loud.
"We have Charms in a while, Wood, so we have to get going," Bethany told him, already picking up her bag. "Are you coming?"
Oliver had Transfiguration as well, but there was no harm in spending a few more minutes there.
"I'll head out in a while," he replied. Bethany and Alista sent Jessica one last look before making their way out of the hospital wing, leaving Oliver alone by the girl's side. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. What am I even doing? he wondered. Is it creepy that I'm just waiting around here for nothing? It's not like she can even hear me if I talk to her.
A few minutes ticked by, and he gave in. He had to go to class or McGonagall would kill him, especially since they were supposed to be escorted by the professors at all times and he had only managed to escape their grasp by finishing his lunch early with Bethany and Alista to go to the hospital wing. As he contemplated finally getting up to his feet, a pair of footsteps caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder and was mildly surprised to see Terence Higgs walk in. Oliver straightened up in his seat and narrowed his eyes at him.
"What're you doing here?"
"Easy, Wood. Just wanted to see if Hawthorne's okay," said Terence, his hands shoved into the pockets of his robes.
"Well, nothing's changed since that day, so..."
"Yeah, I sort of figured." There was an awkward pause. "So, how exactly did she... you know, get petrified?"
"It happened before the game last week."
"Why was she alone before the match?" Terence said curiously. Back when he was still on the Slytherin Quidditch Team, he and his teammates would walk together to the pitch and they didn't even like one another, so he wondered why the chummy and cliquish Gryffindors didn't do that.
"She had to get her broom back in the dorm," Oliver mumbled, feeling guilty all over again for not accompanying her. Terence could easily read his face and sighed. Something obviously happened between them that was making Oliver look that way.
"Look, Wood. I don't know what the deal is with you and Hawthorne, but you better fix it once she wakes up," he rolled his eyes. "I didn't give up just for this to happen."
Oliver stared at the Slytherin boy, completely bewildered by his words. What did he mean by 'give up'? Was this some game to him?
"What do you —"
"I'm leaving. Class is about to start."
Terence walked out of the hospital wing without another peep, and though Oliver was still wondering what in the world the boy had been talking about, he was right about class starting soon.
Oliver quickly packed up his things and stood up. He pushed his chair back to leave but stopped short when an idea popped into his head. Biting his lip, he whipped out his wand and muttered, "Orchideous."
He hoped to Merlin that his memory good enough for the spell. When a fresh bouquet of flowers popped out from the tip of his wand, Oliver carefully observed them — thankfully, they were the same ones Jessica had conjured before. This time, however, they were pink in color rather than white. He decided that was good enough and placed them in a spare vase he found from another bedside table a few feet away.
He then glanced at the clock and jumped with a start. He was late for class. After adding in a little water inside the vase using aguamenti, Oliver finally dashed out of the hospital wing.
★ ★ ★
Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever.
Those were the words found on the walls of one of Hogwart's corridors, written in blood on the night of May 29, 1993. To make matters worse, the monster was referring to a mere eleven year old girl: Ginny Weasley.
Needless to say, the entire school was on edge that night. Some were paranoid enough to think that the monster would come up to their common rooms and attack everyone there. People who were closer to Ginny — like her many brothers — were scared out of their minds for her well-being. Oliver and Carson didn't know how to reassure Percy, who wouldn't stop pacing in their dorm room and mumbling under his breath about how his little sister should've followed the rules to prevent herself from getting hurt, as well as how he could've been by her side to stop her if he had just paid more attention to her.
Fortunately, it was early the next morning that they found out Ginny was alright. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley saved her from the monster inside the Chamber of Secrets, which the school learned and spread within a matter of hours was actually a basilisk. The students and staff felt a mixture of awe, relief, and still a bit of fear even after Harry killed the creature — it was scary to think that it could've killed anyone had it properly looked into its victims' eyes, but they were also grateful that it was finally dead and would no longer harm anyone.
The halls and classrooms were buzzing with chatter the entire day. Everyone was talking about Harry Potter, of course, and how glad they were that things were back to normal even if it was almost the end of the term.
"Blimey, I still can't believe there was a basilisk inside Hogwarts," Carson said as he, Oliver, and Percy left their Potions class.
"Honestly, we're lucky everyone got away with petrifications. A basilisk is deadly in many ways — they can grow up to fifty feet long, they're poisonous, and their gaze will kill you on the spot," Percy pointed out with a shake of his head. At least he could relax now since Ginny was currently resting in the hospital wing and the culprit had finally been caught — well, killed.
"Is it too late for Quidditch season to start again?" Oliver wondered. "Maybe we can cram a few more matches in the next few weeks..."
"You should be more concerned about your classes. We have exams soon," Percy said disapprovingly.
"Speaking of exams," said Carson. "Will those who were petrified be excused? Some of them have literally missed months of school work."
Oliver didn't answer immediately and pondered on the question. Jessica had been petrified for almost two months now. He had taken Bethany and Alista's advice to not visit her daily until the mandrakes were fully grown because it would only make them more restless. However, he still saw her frequently with the excuse that he had to conjure fresh flowers for her every few days and replace the old ones by her bedside. He wasn't sure if Jessica's friends noticed, but if they did, they never mentioned it.
While he was deep in thought about Jessica, her very best friends came running down the hall and calling Oliver's name only moments later.
"Hey, Wood!"
"Wood! Wait up — oh, move over, Malfoy!"
Bethany Faye and Alista Greene were somehow able to weave through the students crowding the corridors since it was the last period of the day. They came to a stop in front of Oliver and his friends, looking ecstatic.
"Uh, yes?" Oliver asked them confusedly.
"Sprout's mandrakes are fully grown," Bethany started.
"And Madam Pomfrey's gonna use them to brew the restorative potions tonight," Alista finished.
"Wait," Oliver paused, the realization dawning on him. "So that means —"
"Jessica will be awake by tomorrow."
A/N: Short chapter but Jessica's gonna be back in the next one! I'll wrap up the events in Chamber of Secrets there and then we'll move on to Prisoner of Azkaban for the last portion of this book YAYYY I'm so excited bc things are really gonna get interesting ;)