Chapter 8
Warnings: None, Readers under 18 can read this book. It is solely fluff- nothing sexual
Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.
.❤️.
𝕴 𝖓𝖔𝖜 𝖍𝖆𝖉 three friends: Hermione, Harry, and Ronald who I now called Ron. We studied together, ate together, and visited Hagrid together. We worked together in Herbology (unless I worked alone). Ron and I had a mutual polite friendship. I still hadn't forgiven him for his harsh words with Hermione, though I knew in the end they were going to be great friends.
Once it started getting colder, Quidditch season started. Hagrid was defrosting brooms every morning and if I didn't have a class, I would bundle myself up in my jacket and boots, and brave the cold to help him. It wasn't easy work, but I felt satisfied every time that I set a defrosted broom aside. At least, until my fingers started to go numb.
I started going into the forest, speaking and learning with the centaurs, only once a week now. It was just to cold for me to go more than once.
One of the good things about having Harry and Ron as friends was that there was more laughter now. With Hermione, it was mostly studying, though I would make a few jokes, but Ron loved to make jokes, and it made my life a bit more delightful.
Three other friends that I really hadn't expected to make were Fred and George Weasley, and Lee Jordan. They wanted to know if I was smarter than Hermione, and as a challenge, they would give me a random spell they were learning in the third year, and see if I could do it. Nine times out of ten I was able to do it- after a couple of tries. If I couldn't do it, I practiced it on the side and when I finally mastered it, I would show them.
Fred and George were also on the Quidditch team and sometimes they invited me to come down after their practices, and we would race on the brooms. I loved flying, probably something I had gotten from James side of the genes, considering he had been a seeker.
My extra tutoring with Professor Flitwick was helping me learn more in class, and soon I was even ahead of Hermione. Even though I knew there wasn't really a competition, I wasn't really competing against Hermione, I had this rushing feeling that I had to know everything. And with Fred, George, and Lee's challenges, I was moving farther ahead than everyone. At least in Transfiguration and Charms.
All in all, everything was going very well. Well, except for Astronomy. I wasn't doing horribly, just an EE instead of an O grade. But that was a sore in my thumb. I hated not having all O's. I supposed I'd just have to work harder.
Everyone was getting excited for the first Quidditch game of the season. I was hyped as well. It had been leaked- though I'd known long before- that Harry was the new Gryffindor Seeker. There were mixed opinions about this new conundrum.
At the same time, I was very worried about the upcoming match because of a concerning vision that I had seen part of. I was foreseeing the broomstick that Harry was riding trying to chuck him off. Sure, in my vision Harry managed to stay on until the broom stabilized, but still, there was always the off chance that my vision wasn't right, right?
The morning of the Quidditch match, I left the Hufflepuff table to sit with the Gryffindors.
"You've got to eat some breakfast." I said to Harry, sliding him over a plate of bacon as I sat down. He just looked at it. He looked like he was going to be sick.
"I don't want anything." He said, putting his hand on the plate like he was going to push it away but didn't.
"Just a bit of toast." Hermione tried to persuade him next.
"I'm not hungry." Harry said.
"Harry you need you're strength. Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team." Seamus said, plopping ketchup on his sausages. I wrinkled my nose. What horrible taste buds.
"Thanks Seamus." Harry said dejectedly, but I laughed, hoping Harry would lighten up with humor. I grabbed my own plate of eggs and sausage and ate in front of Harry, telling him all the while about what he was missing out on. He finally choked down some toast and I felt that I had done a good job with it.
Harry soon left after to join the team. Fred walked by with George and Oliver Wood. He looked over and winked at me. I rolled my eyes and shouted, "good luck." to them. They didn't need it, they were gong to win. Of that much I was sure.
Hermione, Ron, Seamus, Neville, Dean, and I all walked out to the Quidditch stands. We were up nearly 300 feet in the air, probably higher. We sat on a wooden bench, clutching our scarves and hats around us to keep warm. My yellow and black Hufflepuff colors stood out among the gold and scarlet of Gryffindor.
I watched the players walk out onto the field. Madam Hooch was talking to them and I watched Oliver shake hands with Marcus Flint. Oliver was handsome, whereas Marcus looked a bit like a troll. Actually, thinking about it, he looked like someone that I'd known in elementary school. I think his name had been Michael or something like that.
They mounted their brooms and Madam Hooch tossed the Quaffle in the air, starting the game. The minute Angelina Johnson took the ball, Lee was jabbering away into his magical microphone in the commentator's/teacher's box.
"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor- what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too- "
"JORDAN!"
"Sorry, Professor." Jordan said dismissively. I giggled. I loved Jordan's commentary. It was good to have humor in such a fierce, tense, competitive sport.
"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve- back to Johnson and- no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes- Flint flying like an eagle up there- he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle- that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and- OUCH- that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger- Quaffle taken by the Slytherins- that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger- sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which-nice play by the Gryffindor Beater anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes-"
Suddenly Lee's voice seemed to disappear and a different voice came into my head. "Keep an eye on Quirrell, won't you Severus?"
I gave a start, hearing the words in my head. It was Dumbledore's voice. I wasn't exactly sure who he was talking to, but I looked over at the teacher's stands. They were all too far away to make out if Quirrell was doing anything or not.
Who was Severus? It had to be the first name of one of the teachers. I thought about the name long and hard, trying to put a face to the name. Hadn't Dad mentioned the name Severus in one of his letters to me?
Ron and Hermione's voices broke my thought process, "Hagrid!"
I glanced up and smiled at Hagrid who was trying to sit down on the small benches. I scooted over, bumping into Dean, and Hermione also scooted over, closer to me. Ron scooted the other way so Hagrid was between the two of them.
"Bin watchin' from me hut," Hagrid said, patting a large pair of binoculars. "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the snitch yet, eh?"
Ron went to answer him and I tapped Hagrid on the arm, "Can I borrow the binoculars for a moment?"
He handed them to me and I looked over at the teachers stands. Snape looked tense and bored at the same time. His black hair curtained his face so that he had a good view of Quirrell out of the corner of his eye. He was the one whose first name was Severus. Severus. Severus Snape. I smiled, it had a nice ring to it. Then, I got back to business.
McGonagall was sitting closely to Lee in case she ever needed to grab the mic out of his hands. Quirrell looked nervous, his eyes darting around. Dumbledore wasn't even in the stands so I wasn't entirely sure if he was even talking about now or later. Or for what. Why did someone- Professor Snape- need to keep an eye on Quirrell? Did Dumbledore suspect Quirrell had gone after the stone? If so, why hadn't he done anything about it? What did Dumbledore know?
"Slytherin in possession," Lee continued, "Chaser Pucey ducks two bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the- wait a moment- was that the snitch?"
Adrian dropped the Quaffle, distracted by the flash of gold that flitted past his ear. Harry must've seen it as well because he dived down after it. The Slytherin chaser, I forget his name, chased after the snitch as well. I clutched Hermione's arm as Harry gained on the snitch until-
WHAM! I yelled out with the rest of the Gryffindors in rage as Marcus Flint flew in front of Harry's broom. Harry smashed into him, and his broom spun off course. I could tell Harry was holding on for dear life. Or maybe I could just feel it.
"Foul!" The Gryffindors around me were screaming.
Madam Hooch was speaking very angrily with Flint but I looked away, distracted by Dean Thomas who was shouting, "Send him off ref! Red Card!"
"What are you talking about, Dean?" Ron asked, confused though I knew exactly what Dean was talking about.
"Red card!" Dean spit out furiously, waving his hands like a maniac. "In soccer you get shown the red card and you're out of the game."
"But this isn't soccer, Dean!" Ron said, exasperated. Ron had a point too. After all, this was Quidditch. The player's could get away with murder and they'd still be on the team- at least until after the game was over. You couldn't just have the players off the team (unless, you know, the games went on for longer than a day). Hagrid started arguing for Dean's side, but I listened in to Lee instead.
"So- after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating-"
"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall growled.
"I mean, after that open and revolting foul-"
"Jordan, I'm warning you-"
I couldn't help but laugh at Lee and Professor McGonagall, even though I knew something even worse was coming up for Harry. I kept darting my eyes upward, trying to see when it would happen. Somehow, I knew that I would know before it happened.
"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor in possession." Lee says sarcastically and I grin, though I kept my laughs in this time.
I kept my eyes on Harry now, the minute he was going to dodge that bludger. . . and he dodged the bludger. I tightened my grip on Hermione's arm. He looked like he was doing Muggle bull riding, just on a really skinny bull. It kept bouncing him up and down. Looking through the binoculars, I saw his knuckles were white from gripping it so hard.
Hagrid grabbed the binoculars from my hands and looked through them, pointed up towards Harry. "Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing. If I didn't know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom. . .but he can't have. . ."
I took the binoculars back and watched as his broom started doing barrel rolls, over and over until finally, Harry fell, hanging from the broom with only one hand.
"Did something happen when Flint block him?" Seamus asked in a loud whisper.
"Really need to work on your whispering skills Seamus." I retorted out of the side of my mouth.
"Can't have. Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic- no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand." Hagrid said, his voice shaken.
Hermione grabbed the binoculars from my hands and I gritted my teeth. Didn't anyone understand that there was this word called 'please'?
"What are you doing?" Ron asked, looking very gray-faced.
"I knew it," Hermione gasped, "Snape-look."
Ron looked through the binoculars and passed them back to Hermione who handed them back to me. I pressed them quickly to my eyes and looked at the teachers stands. Snape was muttering under his breath, his eyes locked on Harry's broom. I moved the binoculars up where Quirrell was also sitting, in the same pose as Snape. His eyes, locked on Harry and his mouth moving. Obviously, he wasn't stuttering.
"He's doing something- jinxing the broom." Hermione said, apparently not having noticed Quirrell.
"What should we do?" Ron moaned.
"Leave it to me." Hermione said, squirming her way past people in their seats.
Fred and George were now circling below Harry, hoping to catch him if he fell as every time they'd tried to get up to him, his broom had flown higher into the air. Flint grabbed the Quaffle, scoring five times, but no one seemed to have noticed, everyone's eyes fixed on Harry's.
Why weren't the Professors doing anything? Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Sinistra. Why did none of them try anything? Only Professor Snape was doing something and he obviously was fighting Quirrell's curse. But still, why wasn't an adult doing anything? Why was it in mine and Hermione's hands? We were eleven years old! Blimey the way Wizarding school works!
I found myself following Hermione, and we ran down the steps, and then through the inner-workings of the stands. There was some uneven pathways and holes, and we had to maneuver ourselves through it quickly. Not to mention ducking under the beams that held up the stands. I really hoped they were magically reinforced because they looked rather unstable.
"Hermione!" I called after her. She just quickened her pace, and I couldn't say a word about it possibly being Quirrell, because I was gasping for breath as we ran, sprinting towards the other end where the teachers stands were.
Finally, we were under the teacher stands, directly below Snape. Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at Snape's robes. Blue flames leaped upon his clothing and I jumped back. I pointed my wand up towards Quirrell's robes, and lit them on fire while she wasn't watching.
I heard Quirrell yelp and Hermione was scooping the blue flames off of Snape's robes into a jar and then scooped the flames off Quirrell, shooting me an annoyed look. I stuck my tongue out at her behind her back. I had to cover all the bases and really, I could've scooped the fire up myself!
We hurried back to where we had been sitting before, this time I was in the lead. Hermione and I stopped, looking up to see if our job had worked out.
Harry was racing down towards the Quidditch pitch and then he pulled up into a clean straight wave. Jumping to his feet, he rode the broom like a surf-board reaching out for the golden-snitch. He moved his foot the wrong way and he fell forward, tumbling forward and doing multiple somersaults on the ground.
He swallowed the snitch, I thought calmly as the crowd gasped in horror and shock.
He had tumbled forward to where he was now sitting up. He held his hands in front of his mouth. Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth. I watched, amused, as he coughed up the golden snitch, waving it around, and getting to his feet.
Gryffindor had won one hundred and seventy points to sixty.
Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I were in Hagrid's hut where Hagrid was making tea, bustling around his tiny kitchen pulling out mugs and a kettle.
"It was Snape." Ron said to Harry, "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."
"Rubbish." Hagrid said, and I privately agreed with him. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I looked at each other. I knew, of course, Harry's theory about Snape trying to get past the three-headed dog on Halloween night. I, of course, knowing that Snape had actually stopped Quirrell from doing so, kept silent. I wasn't about to tell them since I knew (somehow for some reason) that they shouldn't know yet.
"I found out something about him. He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding." Harry said, after exchanging a look with Ron and Hermione.
Hagrid dropped the teapot. It smashed into bits on the floor, sending blue and black pottery pieces everywhere. I leapt up and pointed my wand at it. "Reparo."
"How do you know about Fluffy?" Hagrid asked, not bothering to pick up the tea pot. I levitated it back onto the table and then picked it up, and went to the sink to fill it back up with hot water. I stuck another tea bag into it, disposing of the tea bag that Fang was sniffing on the floor.
"Fluffy?" Ron asked, sounding revolted.
"That thing has a name?" Hermione squealed.
I set the kettle down to boil. I kept my face, facing away from them. There were multiple flashes happening in my mind again and I squeezed my eyes shut as a burning pain echoed in the place where my locket was set against my skin. Harry looking in the mirror, seeing our family. The red stone again. A dead unicorn. Firenze the centaur, carrying Harry on his back. (Oh, the centaurs weren't going to be happy about that). The night sky, Mars was looking bright. (That was a bad sign).
"Yeah- he's mine- bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year- I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-" Hagrid broke off quickly and I pulled the kettle off the stove, filling the mugs with boiling tea.
"Yes?" Harry asked, obviously eager to find out what Hagrid was going to say. I knew it was the red stone. . . but what was the stone called? I couldn't just tell them it was a red stone. The red stone could be anything: A ruby, dragon stone, dragon glass. . . anything! Things we didn't even know the names to! I wondered if there was a book of red things around.
"Now, don't ask me anymore. That's top secret, that is." Hagrid said gruffly, quickly taking a sip out of his large mug.
"But Snape's trying to steal it!" Harry said, trying to sound convincing. But really, I thought, eager as I was for adventure, it really wasn't our business, was it?
"Rubbish. Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothing' of the sort." Hagrid said, brushing off Harry's concerns.
"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" Hermione asked Hagrid defensively, "I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him."
I interrupted before Hagrid could. "Quirrell also wasn't taking his eyes off Harry, Hermione. How do we know that it wasn't Quirrell?"
"I'm tellin' yeh, yer both wrong!" Hagrid said before Hermione could answer me. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn try an' kill a student! Neither would Quirrell fer that matter. Now, listen to me, all four of yeh- yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicholas Flamel-"
"Aha! So there's someone called Nicholas Flamel involved, is there?" Harry said, smiling triumphantly.
I shook my head, turning away. Hagrid looked furious with himself.
⬅️➡️
