It was the first year Harry and Fleur
were spending at the Veela Enclave they have moved to, seeking a quiet
and peaceful place to live. They got their wish and Harry was quite
surprised at how quickly they were accepted as part of the community.
The women welcomed Fleur with squeals, hugs and kisses, while the
menfolk have just nodded respectfully at Harry and invited him to the
pub for a round.
Now the summer solstice has come and Harry and
Fleur were spending the day cooking and baking, preparing food for the
evening celebration. The whole Enclave was preparing, every family
taking part.
Afternoon soon came and it was time. It took quite
some effort to carry all the prepared food outside, to the edge of the
Enclave, where long tables with preserving charms were prepared, at
the edge of a forest. One smaller hut stood nearby, close to a wooden
podium, surrounded by cleared out space. Several pyres were prepared,
one rather large while others looked to be made for campfire.
Finally, it was time to begin as all the people gathered. First,
one family after the other, they entered the nearby stream,
symbolically bathing themselves. Then, maidens with wreathes of
flowers went around, carrying bowls of burning incense and feathers,
going around each person, cleansing them by smoke.
Now came the
part Harry considered a bit crazy. Everyone started clapping and
cheering and people split into groups, each going to one of the
smaller fires. One by one, they all proceeded to jump over the fire.
Thus everyone was thrice cleansed, by water, smoke and fire. For
the next part, each of the young flower crowned maidens went into the
forest and the others started trickling after them. When Harry found
one of the young priestesses, she smiled at him and bade him to choose
three herbs from the selection she had at her feet.
The
divination was a strange experience for Harry, who was used to
Trelawney’s theatrics. None of that was present here, only him,
the priestess and the nature all around. Still, in these humble
conditions, Harry felt himself watched by mysterious forces more than
whenever Trelawney predicted his future. He vowed to remember this for
as long as he could as he returned to the area of the celebration.
Now came one of the parts everyone was looking forward to, they
sat down to the tables, drank a toast to everyone’s good fortune
and started eating the delicious feast. Musicians stepped to the
podium and soon the cheerful tunes of flutes and strings, accompanied
by drums and singing kept everyone’s mood up. Several times they
took breaks, even musicians had to eat. As there was less and less
food, more people were getting up, in pairs, in groups and started
dancing to the music, who wasn’t dancing was at least clapping,
cheering and singing.
Fleur dragged Harry to the whirling mass
of people. While it seemed like nobody followed the same steps, there
were no collisions, only good cheer and laughter. As the hour grew
late, the songs became bawdier and the dancing wilder. Quite often
Harry beheld a flash of feathers as dancing was often accompanied by
significant looks, stolen kisses and gropes.
Suddenly, however,
the musicians grew silent and vacated the podium only to stand next to
it. A pair of figures, a silvery blonde woman in a dress of yellow,
red and orange and in a mask resembling the plumage of a phoenix
stepped on the podium from the right while a man in a blue, brown and
green robe, tied together with a snake-like belt, wearing a black and
blue mask, stepped on the podium from the left. The musicians started
again, slowly, while everyone started clapping.
A ritual dance
began, the masked figures circling each other and taking turns
singing. It was a dance of courting, of seduction, and as both dancers
grew more daring, the audience clapped faster and faster. As the
clapping grew into a crescendo, the man grabbed the woman while Harry
could see feathers sprouting on her shoulders. A searing kiss
followed, then both dancers took off their masks, throwing them to the
audience. The man grabbed his wife (always a married couple was chosen
for this honour), lifted her into his arms and carried her to the
nearby prepared hut. As they stepped of the podium, her wings
obscuring them from view.
Even over the sound of cheering and
loud music, Harry could hear the sounds of vigorous lovemaking and a
Veela’s triumphant screeching. The dancing grew frenetic now,
over half of the women at least sporting feathers and various couples
leaving the main group to find a secluded spot. Just as his neighbour
grabbed his laughing wife and threw her over his shoulder, Harry felt
a tug on his hand.
sLooking at Fleur and seeing her bird-like
gaze, he couldn’t resist, as she dragged him to a comfy looking
meadow, her outstretched wings tickling his nose.