Returning to Hogwarts
The platform nine and three quarters at the magical side of kings
cross station was packed. Children and parents alike were rushing
around to get onto the scarlet train that would take them to
Hogwarts. The Weasley family kept up the tradition and was running
late, only just making the train on time.
Harry, Hermione and Ron dragged their things to a compartment on
the third carriage and stowed their luggage. Ginny went to meet her
own friends and Fred and George left to cause mayhem for any and
all first years. Ron played a game of chess by himself somehow,
Hermione started to reread her transfiguration textbook and Harry
thought about all the weird things people had been giving him about
something at Hogwarts.
It hadn't been obvious at first but everyone seemed to find the need
to remind them how much fun Hogwarts was going to be. Mr
Weasley had constantly said that we should try and make new
friends this year. Charlie had commented before they left that they
might see him at Hogwarts at some point before christmas. Percy
had been complaining about the stress on Barty Crouch because of
Hogwarts. Ludo Bagman said something about a very entertaining
year this year when they met him in diagon, he left quickly when he
saw the twins though. Even the owner of quality quidditch seemed to
be in on it, mentioning that they might be too busy at Hogwarts for
quidditch this year.
Hermione passed it off as a busy year for work and Ron was too
shocked about anything being more important than quidditch but
Harry thought something was up. There was always something
ridiculous and dangerous at Hogwarts so he guessed the world cup
wasn't going to stop that.
"Hey Harry, Ron, Hermione." Neville said from the compartment
door.
"Hey Neville, how was your summer." Harry asked.
"It was alright, Gran finally let me buy some plants to put in our
greenhouses to care for. She always said they were a waste of
money but I finally convinced her that as the heir to the house of
Longbottom I would need to learn about what is a waste and that I
can sell their products to make money for my house and learn about
business. The only problem is she has now started me on lessons
about everything to do with being a head of house." Nevilled said as
the door opened again.
"Longbottom, a head of house, what has the world come too." Malfoy
sneered from the doorway.
"Do I detect a hint of jealousy there Malfoy, to know that Neville is a
far higher rank than you. After all the Longbottoms are an Ancient
and Noble house. The Malfoy's are only rich foreigners with a
temporary set on the Wizengamot and a permanent one kissing dark
lords feet and ministers arses." Harry retorted.
"Shut up Potter, I will be head of the Ancient and Noble House of
Black and the magical house of Malfoy. That out ranks both
Longbottom and you." Malfoy sneered at them.
"I do not see the Black heir ring on your finger, without it you cannot
claim to be the heir." Harry replied.
"The Black heir ring is in the vault which will be given to my first born
son after I turn seventeen and claim the vaults as is my birthright."
"Believe what you want but the general rule is no heir ring, no heir.
Now if you would kindly leave the compartment, your presence is not
needed by your superiors Mr Malfoy." Harry said.
"My father will here about this, the house of Black will end house
Potter and Longbottom when the time comes." Malfoy turned with a
swish of his robes and left the compartment, Crabbe and Goyal on
his heels.
"I wonder if Snape gives all the Slytherins lessons in cloak swishing
or just Malfoy." Harry asked the compartment causing them to burst
into laughter.
The rest of the train ride turned rather quiet with the raging
thunderstorm that could be seen booming in the distance. Still they
read books and played chess. Just after the lunch lady came around
it started raining and by the time they reached Hogwarts it was a full
blown Lightning storm.
"Firs' years o'er here, come on firs' years o'er here." The familiar
voice of Hagrid boomed across the platform. The four made their
way to the carriages bit something stopped Harry when they got to
them.
"What is it Harry." Hermione asked.
"The carriages, what's pulling them." Harry said.
"What are you talking about, they pull themselves like always."
Hermione replied.
"No, there are two black horse things with wings, it's like a bat, horse
mix." Harry said.
"They're called thestrals, only some people can see them and others
can't. I've always been able to see them." Neville supplied.
"I guess I need to look up thestrals in the library, or better yet I can
ask Hagrid." Harry said to himself as he got on the carriage.
Fortunately they were charmed to repel the rain so the ride was dry
after a few charms. It was slow going in the thick mud that the track
had become. Lightning flashed ominously in the distance, making
people jump every time it struck.
"Those poor first years, riding the lake like this." Hermione said.
"I guess it will be a very memorable first day then." Harry joked.
"They must be freezing, and what if someone falls in." Hermione
said, concern written on her face.
"I am sure they have sticking charms and weather repellent charms
on the boats. It's not like they're ordinary to begin with, they move by
themselves." Harry reminded her.
"I suppose." She mumbled and sat quietly for the rest of the journey.
They arrived at the entrance and hurried inside to avoid the rain. It
was no use of course and they got soaked again. Peeves was ever
helpful and started throwing water balloons at people. When he was
told off by Mcgonagall his defense was "They're already wet, what's
a few more drops." As he threw one right at her before fleeing as fast
as possible.
They made their way to the gryffindor table and found seats near the
middle near the other fourth years. Dean began to explain all about
the muggle water park he visited in Australia while they waited for
everyone to file in.
Eventually the first years came in and a small boy that looked
incredibly like Colin Creevy wore Hagrid's coat that trailed behind
him like a long cape. The first years were sorted and the boy, Dennis
Creevy joined Gryffindor house. Finally Dumbledore stood and
announced the beginning of the feast.
Chatter and laughter erupted along the tables as everyone dug in to
enjoy the brilliant food Hogwarts had to offer. Sadly there was no
pizza and only pumpkin juice but that could be changed another day.
"Where is the defense Professor. Lupin is gone but there's no one
new." Hermione said to the table.
"Maybe they couldn't get one." Ron suggested.
"Or Dumbledore could be teaching, he did defeat Grindelwald after
all." Dean offered.
"I suppose we will have to wait. It will be announced soon." Harry
said. Sure enough, ten minutes later dessert cleared and
Dumbledore stood again.
"Now that we are all fed and watered I have a few announcements
and reminders to give. Firstly the forbidden forest is just that,
forbidden to all students. Mr Filch has asked me to remind you of the
list of banned items that can be found on his office door. Magic is not
allowed in the corridors between classes. We have yet another staff
change this year but he appears to be mis-"
Thunder boomed loudly as lightning streaked across the enchanted
roof. A second streak of red light hit the ceiling and it went quiet once
more. Everyone turned to see that a man was at the door and had
cast the spell. The man was of average height with long brown hair
that fell from his head like a lion's mane. His face was scarred
heavily with a piece of his nose missing. His left eye was a beady
brown colour while the right was an electric blue glass eye that
moved of its own accord. As he walked up the hall to the staff table a
dull thud could be heard with every other step.
"Ah, here he is, Master Auror Alastor Moody, your new Professor of
Defense Against the Dark Arts." Dumbledore announced to a
smattering of applause from various students. Most were too
shocked about his entrance than anything else and others that such
a well known man was teaching.
"Well just two more announcements to be made, firstly the quidditch
cup is cancelled and-."
"WHAT!" Various students yelled, interrupting Dumbledore's
announcements. Dumbledore let them yell and protest for a minute
before calling for silence.
"Ah drama, always amusing. If you had let me finished, the quidditch
cup has been canceled for the year to make way for something else.
This year, for the first time in over three hundred years, Hogwarts is
hosting the Triwizard Tournament. For those of you unaware, the
tournament involves three champions, one from the three major
schools of Europe. Each champion will compete in a series of three
task, the winner will receive the Triwizard cup, one thousand
galleons and eternal fame and glory." Dumbledore informed the
assembled students. Whispers of excitement broke out across the
hall with the prospect of the tournament and who would enter.
"However due to the seriousness of the tournament and how
dangerous it will be, all contestants must be of age. That is above
the age of seventeen. Many of you may think this unfair but only the
best students will be selected and will most likely be seventh years
who are already of age." With Dumbledores addition to the
tournament many groans of disappointment sounded across the hall.
Harry even saw a few third years complain about the unfairness of it
all.
"The two other contending schools, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons
will join us on the thirtieth of October. Champions will be selected by
an impartial judge during the Halloween feast the following evening.
Now that everything is said that needs to be said, off to bed the lot of
you. You all have a big day of classes tomorrow." The tables all
stood and began to make their way out of the hall to their
dormitories.
"That's so unfair." Ron complained as they walked. "Why shouldn't
people under seventeen be allowed to enter, I am sure I could do
fine in that tournament."
"Ron, do you know why the tournament was canceled. It was
because the last three times there was no winner, because everyone
died before the end." Hermione said.
"Yeah but Dumbledore won't let anyone die so it wouldn't matter. No
one would die no matter who entered so I wish It could have been
me. I think Fred and George are trying to get in anyway so I will see
if I can do it too. Do you want to enter as well Harry." Ron asked.
"Nope, no way, I have had more than enough adventures and
dangerous situations for a lifetime at Hogwarts. I am sitting this out
and nothing will change my mind." Harry said
"Well suit yourself, I will be entering my name and nothing will
change my mind." Ron replied.
"Fine by me, If you are so sure you won't die then go for it. If you
aren't the best choice then you won't get picked, if you do get picked
then you should survive. Now I need to go to bed." Harry said,
leaving the others in the common room to go to the dormitories.
They were on the fourth level this year and Harry needed some
sleep.
Harry slept wonderfully that night, the best he had in weeks. Sadly
his body was still accustomed to waking up at early hours of the
morning so at three o'clock Harry was wide awake. Harry thought
back to all the nightmares he had been having and hoped them
stopping would become permanent. He remembered to what Sirius
had said back after the first one.
"Point me Marauders Map." Harry whispered. His wand floated six
inches off his palm and spun to point almost straight up. Harry took
out his cloak and walked to the next floor up. "Point me Marauders
Map." Same response but slightly towards the fifth year dorms wall.
Once again Harry cast the spell on the next floor and found the wand
pointed straight across to the sixth year, boys dorm. A silencing
charm on the door in case it creaked and Harry entered the room.
He cast the locating spell and found it pointing straight to Fred's
trunk. Harry cast some detection spells on the trunk and found that
other than a feather light charm it was free of pranks.
"Of course." Harry reminded himself. It was only the first night and
he likely hadn't had time to prank his trunk yet.
Harry used his wand to open the trunk and find the map tucked in
the secret pocket in the lid. He levitated the map out and switched it
with the dummy he had created. Instead of showing a mal it simply
said that the heir had reclaimed what was rightfully theirs.
With his mission a success Harry returned to his dorm room and put
the cloak and map in his trunk. He however did not make the same
mistake as Fred and placed a few alert wards and a locking charm
on the trunk.
With nothing more to do for the morning Harry pulled out a book on
transfiguration in a duel and began to read. An hour later he put the
book down and worked on his animagus transformation. He was
planning to start from the bottom now and work his way up so the left
toes were next on his list. An hour and a half later he reclaimed the
book and read on until six thirty.
He changed into some exercise clothes he had brought in London
and left the dorm room. Curfew was released at six thirty and he
planned to do a bit of running. A few laps of the quidditch pitch and
some calisthenic exercises to start his day. He was a little behind
with his fitness after the summer's interruptions but he made do.
He finished his exercise by seven thirty and returned to the dorm for
a shower. He just entered as Dean left the bathroom.
"Where were you, you weren't in bed when I got up." he asked.
"I went for a run." Harry replied truthfully.
"A run." Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, a run, you know where you move one leg in front of the other
to move forward. Often used as a quick form of transportation or in
some cases as a form of exercise. My run was of the exercise
variety if you wanted to know." Harry said.
"Okay, you just didn't catch me as a running type of guy but suit
yourself. I however will not be joining you on these runs." Dean said
before he left to get changed.
Harry showered and got ready for the day in his new school robes.
He woke Ron before he left or else he would sleep forever and went
down to breakfast where he met Hermione and the twins.
"Good morning all." Harry greeted.
"I didn't know if you were going to manage getting up early Harry,
you seemed to sleep a lot over the summer and still looked tired."
Fred said.
"Well I was having trouble sleeping, maybe I was just home sick."
Harry replied.
"Homesick from school." George questioned.
"Well it's as good as a home I've got. My relatives are in america and
you've both seen their house." Harry answered.
"I suppose, you spend ten months of your year here and you only
had a month last year." Fred said.
"Exactly, I really don't want fatty bacon for breakfast. There has to be
like some fruits and cereal somewhere right." Harry asked.
"Try further down." George offered.
"They have some cereal but Hufflepuff has a nice fruit salad over
there." Harry replied, taking his bowl to collect his breakfast. When
he returned he had some plain weetabix that he crushed up with
banana, blueberries and vanilla yoghurt.
"That looks good, don't think many go for breakfast like that often."
Ginny said when she joined them.
"Probably because I had to raid Slytherin for the yoghurt." Harry
said.
"I wonder why they don't have the same on every table like the
feasts." Hermione said aloud.
"Maybe there were never supposed to be house tables outside
feasts. Why would they restrict eating to your house anyway, it
seems stupid. I guess that in the beginning if you wanted something
on a different table you went and sat there. Maybe I can get Dobby
to send Gryffindor table some good stuff like this." Harry suggested.
"Maybe, It does seem odd to have such strict house lines to divide
us." Hermione said.
"Mr Potter, Mr Weasleys, Ms Weasley, Ms Granger. Your timetables
for the year." Professor Mcgonagall handed them each a piece of
parchment.
"Thank you Professor." They all responded as she moved along the
table.
"Double Potions followed by History." Harry read from his timetable.
"What boring morning."
"Then we have Runes and Creatures and end the day with
transfiguration." Hermione said.
"Well Ron might be in a bit of a hurry for potions, he has twenty
minutes and we know he could only eat a normal amount in that
time. Which is not enough for Ron at all." Harry joked as Ron came
skidding into the hall. He collected his timetable at the door and
loudly groaned at his first class. He found his seat and inhaled all the
food around him.
"Do you want me to grab your Potions gear for you Ron." Harry
offered.
"Thanks Harry, I'll meet you in the dungeons." Ron only made it to
potions seconds before Snape and almost lost points for huffing so
loudly.
"Potions this year is different from hears one to three in that you will
work independently." Snape began. "This year is in preparation for
your OWL's next year. Obviously your exams will not allow for a
partner to hold your hand so we will be brewing independently from
now until the end of OWL's where most will no longer take this
subject." Snape's speech went into discussing what the year would
cover and of course quizzing Harry to ensure he was not behind
despite his test scores. Turns out Harry's second place in potions
was not enough for Snape. The second half of the double period was
used to brew a simple pepper up potion.
History began to look at the giant wars of 1258 and as everyone
expected, was terribly boring. Harry couldn't focus on the information
given in the lecture with the ghosts monotone voice that could put
anyone to sleep. Instead he took notes on the general subject to find
a book on later to write proper notes. The period gave him a chance
to catch up on lost sleep.
Creatures was absolutely terrifying, Hagrid had gone above and
beyond the curriculum and bred some blast ended skrewts or
something similar. The lesson was spent finding what the things ate.
It did fit in well with the gears curriculum of caring for an
unidentifiable magical creature. There was no way to cheat the
assignment as no research on the creatures existed because they
were a new breed.
Transfiguration was a recap lesson and spent going over the years
layout. The curriculum planned to work on animate transfiguration.
Starting with inanimate to animate objects and animate to animate
which lead onto human transfigurations they began in fifth year.
Finally the day was over with only a single essay on the properties of
the pepper up potion from Snape. The real excitement for the day
was apparently Alastor Moody. Everyone who had taken part in his
class seemed to think he was great. Harry had him in two days so he
would need to wait and see.
Two days came quickly and Harry sat in the fourth floor classroom
for defense against the dark arts. The class was full of excited
students as the legendary auror entered the room.
"Quiet, my name is Alastor Moody and I am here for one year as a
favour to Dumbledore. I was an auror who joined the academy
during the start of the Grindelwald war. I apprenticed under Barron
Potter during that time and after seven years recieved a masters in
defensive magic and became a Master Auror at the end of the war. I
was an auror until 1982 when I retired to training the academy. This
year I am teaching you lot and then I am done and retiring for good."
"This year the focus is curses, their identification and their counters. I
believe in practical learning so let's begin. There are three curses
that the use of on a human being will grant you life in azkaban. Who
can tell me what they are." Moody asked the class and as usual
Hermione's hand was in the air.
"Ms-" He asked, pointing to Hermione.
"Granger, Hermione Granger. The unforgivable curses will give
anyone who uses them immediate life in azkaban." Hermione
answered
"And who can give me their names, Mr-" He pointed to Ron who
raised his hand.
"Weasley, Ron Weasley. My dad told me about one, the imperius
curse." Ron said.
"Yes, yes, we had a bit of trouble with that in the last war. The
imperius curse gives the caster complete control of the victim to do
as they please. It can be fought and shaken off but the signs of
someone under the imperius are hard to find. The signs are there
though, in the eyes, someone who knows what to look for could see
it." He pulled a large spider from a glass jar and cast the curse
"Imerio."
The spider immediately went still before it started doing cartwheels
across the classroom. He made it jump on Parvati's head and on
Rons desk, causing everyone to laugh loudly. Harry did not laugh
though, it was not funny that the spider had no control over its life at
that point.
"You think it is funny do you, should I make him drown himself next,
jump out the window, murder all his family, lock him in a cafe
forever." Moody said and all laughter stopped immediately.
"Alright, next curse, Longbottom what's the next one." Moody asked
Neville.
"Er, th-the cr-cruciatus curse s-sir." Neville stuttered.
"Yes, the torture curse is a very nasty one. causes unbearable pain
to the victim and prolonged exposure can cause nerve and brain
damage." He pulled out the next spider and cast the curse without a
second's hesitation. The spider flipped onto its back and curled its
legs tight to its body, shaking in pain.
Neville was faring no better, the grip he had on the desk had turned
his knuckles white and his face wasn't far behind.
"Stop." Hermione yelled. "Stop, can't you see what it is doing to him,
we get its effects." she yelled.
"Yes, yes, that is the cruciatus curse. Potter, what's our final curse."
Moody asked.
"The killing curse. But if you are going to show us with another
spider, kill the one you tortured. It doesn't need to suffer any longer."
Harry said.
"Of course, you are the expert on the curse Potter, being the only
one to survive it. Avada Kedavra." There was a flash of green and
Harry jumped slightly in his seat.
"Scared of that one are you Potter." Draco Malfoy's voice drawled
from the back of the class.
"The first two words I remember set me on edge a bit. It isn't a
pleasant memory to have in my head. I am just glad there is no
maniacal laughter." Harry replied flatly, the entire class was dead
silent at his words. The bell rang and the class slowly dispersed.
Harry quickly came to regret saying that. By dinner the entire school
was discussing Harry's earliest memory. There were various
reactions to it, some saying it was fake and only for attention, others
taking pity on Harry for having such a memory. One brave second
year even asked for a recount of the whole story. He was promptly
told to piss off or Harry's first may be his last, Harry was very touchy
on the subject of that night.
The next day after lunch was the Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth
years second DADA period for the year. Most were either excited or
scared about what could happen after such an intense first lesson.
"Today we will be continuing on the unforgivable curses, mainly the
imperius. We briefly touched on the effects of the curse and how to
spot it but today we will work on how to fight it. Unlike the other two,
the imperius curse can be fought off by someone of strong will and
mind. I don't expect any of you to be capable of throwing it off but it
is important to know what it feels like to know what you are fighting.
So today I will place each of you under the curse and you will
attempt to fight it off. First on the roll then, Ms Brown to the front."
Moody beckoned the girl to stand in front of him. He muttered the
curse and a wisp of grey smoke enveloped her.
The effect was immediate, Lavenders eyes glazed over, a smile
crept onto her face and she sighed with happiness. Suddenly she
was taking a few steps back before running between the tables. She
performed a cartwheel, followed by a backwards handspring and a
full backflip with textbook technique. Moody ended the curse and she
breathed the smoke back out before looking around confused.
"As you can see I had complete control, Ms Brown have you ever
done gymnastics." Moody asked.
"No, I was terrible at it when I was younger." She replied with a
blush.
"What does this show us about the curse." Moody asked the class,
nobody seemed to know but Harry slowly raised his hand.
"It doesn't matter about the victims capabilities. You have complete
control over them and can make them do anything or at least attempt
to. You could make her run endlessly until her body collapsed with
complete exhaustion." Harry answered.
"Exactly, so if someone seems to be doing something that they
shouldn't be capable of it could be the imperius. Next up, Ms
Bulstrode."
The class continued in the same fashion, Bulstrode did a graceful
ballet dance, Crabbe followed with a break dance. Tracey Davis
behaved like a cat and Seamus a dog. Goyal acted the part of a
woman drinking tea and Hermione moved around like a monkey.
Daphne Greengrass did some push-ups with a clap behind her back
with each and then one handed.
Neville did a small hip hop dance and Malfoy grunted around the
class like a gorilla. Theodore Nott behaved like an infant and crawled
across the ground and sucked on his thumb. Pansy Parkinson
dragged her bum on the ground like a cat and Pavarti walked up and
down the class on her hands. The lesson so far had been enjoyable
for everyone except right after someone's embarrassing performing.
"Mr Potter, you're up next. Lets see if you're immune to just the one
unforgivable or is it all three." Moody said, Harry wished he hadn't
said that.
As soon as the curse was cast Harry felt peace and happiness flood
his mind. Harry hadn't felt so relaxed and hally in forever and was
more than happy to enjoy it. Until he felt Moody's presence, it felt
foreign and was ruining Harry's peaceful feelings.
"Jump on the desk." It whispered gently to him. "Go on, jump on the
desk and do a dance."
Harry was happy though, why would he jump on the desk and listen
to this intruder when he was happy where he was.
"Hurry up, do it now, jump. JUMP." The voice yelled in his head but
Harry did not jump, instead he jumped up and spun around to sit on
the desk instead. He looked Moody right in the eyes, fake and real
and said firmly "No, I would rather not dance on the desk."
"Well done Potter, the first to fight it off." Moody congratulated him.
"Thirty points to Gryffindor, Mr Thomas up you come."
Dean was made to get on the desk and dance and ended with a nice
flip off it to the ground. Ron pranced like a ballerina and Blaise Zabini
rounded out the lesson with another gymnastics performance.
By lunch half the school was whispering about Harry's new found
immunity to the unforgivable curses. By dinner the rest of the school
joined them and rumors naturally developed into outrageous stories.
Harry's favourite was that the curse bounced off of him and he was
in control of Moody for the rest of the lesson making him to stupid
things.
"I wonder if I will ever complete the set." Harry joked at breakfast the
next morning. "I would hold a record, first person to survive all three
unforgivable curses."
"Harry." Hermione berated him, hitting him on the shoulder. "What a
horrible thing to say, why would anyone want to be hit be all three
curses."
"I never said I want to, I said I wonder if I will ever. Knowing my
record for getting into trouble I wouldn't put it past me to somehow
get hit with it." Harry said, thinking back to the close call at the world
cup.
"Well don't say that again, the unforgivable curses are not something
to joke about." She replied.
"Man I am glad Dobby could get this stuff sent to our table." Harry
said as he ate his bowl of cereal, fruit and yoghurt. "Too bad we
couldn't get pizza for dinner.
Harry had been spending his spare time productively since he got
the map back. He had been planning his first prank on the entire
school. It had taken a while for him to get it right and the potion was
a pain to brew in secret but he had gotten it to work. The piece of
resistance for his prank however, was the message to the twins at
the end.
Harry sat at the dinner table on the twenty fifth of september and
happily ate the treacle tart for dessert. Only it wasn't normal treacle
tart. Across the hall everyone was transforming slightly and it varied
between everyone.
Some had the mouth of a duck and were quacking endlessly. Others
were barking dogs, a few cats around the hall and many pigs.
Hermione looked horrified at her new cat face. Harry had turned into
a lion face and was giving some mighty roars.
Dumbledore now had the face of a goat and mcgonagall was a dog.
Snape looked like a very overgrown bat. Behind the staff table
fireworks erupted and burst in a shower of colourful sparks. When
the colours settled a message had been left floating.
Dear fellow pranksters.
I, the Marauders heir,
challenge you to a prank battle.
All pranks must occur at dinner and effect the
entire school population, staff are optional.
All pranks must wear off before classes begin again the next day or
after the weekend.
All pranks must be signed by your chosen name so we can identify
who to credit the prank with.
Yours sincerely, The Marauders Heir.
The message hovered in the air for about thirty seconds before the
words burst in another shower of sparks. The great hall sounded like
an animal barn when everyone tried to speak about the message.
Dumbledore tried to call for quiet but could only baa like a goat.
Eventually several loud bangs burst from his wand and he wrote a
message in the air instructing everyone to return to their dorms.
Anyone who was not returned to their natural state by morning could
see Madam Pomfrey to find a cure.
The hall once again burst into baas, meows, woofs, moos and other
animal sounds as everyone left the hall to their dorms. The following
morning only Hermione needed to visit the hospital wing to reverse
some overly large front teeth from turning into a beaver. Fortunately
Madam Pomfrey did not realise that nobody was actually a beaver
and Hermione was in fact a cat instead.
Harry had steadily been improving his animagus transformation and
had now formed both feet up to just below his knees and both
forearms. The next step was rather tricky as it shifted a larger joint.
The next step would be to fully shift his lower body and grow a tail.
"Hey Potter" Cormac Mclaggen called out to him when Harry entered
the common room with Hermione and Ron.
"What is it Cormac, I have a transfiguration essay to complete."
Harry replied.
"I hope you know that next year, I will be keeping the seeker
position. Oliver told me he was annoyed Mcgonagall gave it to you
because I was better. So not you or your fancy broom are going to
take it away from me." Cormac said.
"You lost every single game, you even lost to Malfoy and he's the
worst seeker in the competition. I could beat you every time Cormac
and I will play seeker next year and Gryffindor will win the quidditch
cup." Harry retorted.
"Only because of your expensive broom. Everyone knows you have
no skill." Cormac snapped.
"I could beat you on any broom Cormac and you know it." Harry
responded.
"Fine then, I'll go find you a broom and we'll play a seeker chase.
Best of three snitches wins." Cormac Challenged.
"You're on. When do you want to lose Cormac." Harry accepted.
"Right now, the pitch is free. Unless you want to chicken out Potter,
you can use my brothers broom and I will use my new cleansweep
300. Shall we say a galleon just to make it interesting." Cormac held
out his hand
"Done, lets go." Harry shook the hand. He left to his dorm to get
changed while Cormac did the same and found the brooms. When
Harry got to the pitch Cormac was waiting with two brooms in hand.
Half of Gryffindor house were in the stands and word had travelled
quick because so wee quite a few from the other houses.
"Here you go Harry, my brothers Cleansweep 50." Cormac said as
he tossed a broom to Harry. The cleansweep 50 wasn't a proper
broom at all. It was a trainer broom with speed and height restricting
charms all over it. Harry looked at the broom with more than a little
curiosity about why his brother had one of these. If Sirius was to
believed Harry used to race around on one of these that he got for
his first birthday.
"Not going to back out now are you Harry, you said any broom."
Cormac teased.
"That's not a broom, that's a stick and some twigs." Ron protested.
"Are you sure you have the galleon to pay up when I win Cormac."
Harry replied smoothly.
"Ha, I think I might by some new gloves with my winnings." Cormac
said as he flew to the centre of the pitch.
"Harry, you can't seriously want to play him on that. Those things
can't go over ten feet and fifteen K's. It doesn't matter how good you
are you won't win." Ron whispered.
"He only said I had to use his broom. He never said I couldn't
change the enchantments on it." Harry replied with a smirk. He
pulled out his wand and cast a bunch of spells on the broom.
"Hey Cormac, are we going simple rules. First to the snitch three
times wins." Harry yelled out.
"This is a seekers challenge little Harry, anything goes. first to three
catches. Standard definition of a catch." Cormac called back as he
laughed with his friends.
"That dirty cheat, Harry this will be one brutal game of quidditch."
Ron warned him.
"He just said anything goes. That includes all the illegal charms I just
drowned his brothers broom in." Harry replied.
"Illegal charms, what do they do." Hermione asked.
"Well one of them allows me to adjust the speed with my hand like a
throttle. It also means virtually instant acceleration. You can see why
it was banned. Lots of other ones that just break safety codes and
other things." Harry explained.
"You ready Harry." Lee Jordan asked who would be officiating the
game.
"Good to go Lee." Harry replied as he mounted his broom.
"Cormac." Lee asked to which the boy nodded.
"When I blow the whistle, the game begins. We will reset here after
each catch." Lee called. He released the snitch and blew his whistle.
Cormac and the snitch raced upwards. Harry followed at the ten feet
mark and Cormacs friends burst into laughter from the crowd.
Cormac was following the snitch closely with Harry doing the same
directly beneath them. Right as Cormac was going to catch the
snitch it dived backwards and shot directly to Harry's waiting hand.
"What was that, you can't just summon the snitch. That's cheating."
Cormac yelled when he returned to the centre.
"One point to Harry, the rules were established as anything goes.
Anything you want to change Cormac." Lee asked between his
laughter.
"No snitch manipulating magic. Now lets go again, now that Potter
can't cheat." Cormac huffed. Lee's whistle blew as the snitch flew
away. Cormac took chase and Harry disappeared.
Cormac was hot on the snitch for two minutes as it raced around the
pitch, all thoughts of his competition gone. Just as Cormac was
about to grab the snitch he was shoved to the side. The snitch
slowed down and gently floated back to the centre while it struggled
to flap its wings. Cormac was about to chase it again when Harry's
disillusionment charm was cancelled and he floated back slowly with
the snitch in his hand.
"Wh-what, you can't do that, you cheated again." Cormac screamed
at Harry.
"Sorry Cormac, Harry's point, that's two nill to Harry. You only said no
snitch manipulating magic." Lee said from the ground where he had
been rolling and laughing at Cormac's misfortune.
"Fine, no magic at all. If you cast a spell you forfeit the round."
Cormac huffed, face red with embarrassment and anger.
"Anything else you want to change." Lee asked.
"No, lets go." The snitch was released and both players shot after it
this time. To Cormac's surprise, Harry was right up next to him at fifty
feet going the same speed.
The snitch darted left and right, up and down. Weaving up and down
the pitch trying to evade the two seekers on its heels. The snitch
would have been caught ages ago if not for the dirty play by both
players. If Harry was still the tiny, underfed child he was before he
would have been smoked and lost quickly. But now that he was a
good size for his age and had more muscle on him he was giving as
good as he got.
The snitch dived directly down from the top of its three hundred foot
climb. Both seekers peeled around and shot right after it at insane
speeds. The ground was getting closer and closer and it became a
game of chicken. Fifty feet, twenty five, fifteen, ten, the snitch pulled
out and leveled out. Harry pulled up and followed straight after it, just
skimming the grass with his feet.
Cormac wasn't so lucky. The nose of his broom hit the ground as he
leveled out and sent him flying off his broom. The broom snapped in
two and he went bouncing along the pitch. Harry stayed on the
snitch and caught it two seconds later.
The crowd cheered with excitement, not only had Harry beaten
Cormac three to nil, he had put him in the dirt too. Cormac's friends
ran onto the pitch to levitate him to the hospital wing and the rest
went to congratulate Harry. Harry was hoisted onto Fred and
Georges shoulders as they carried him back to the common room.
"It's not that big of a deal, why are you carrying me guys."Harry
asked the twins on their journey to Gryffindor tower, surrounded by a
group of Gryffindors.
"Cormac Mclaggen is the biggest dickhead in all of Gryffindor." Fred
started.
"He only got the position last year because he was the reserve."
George continued.
"Wood was devastated you weren't playing because that meant he
was playing." Fred followed.
"He was made reserve because he wouldn't stop nagging Oliver."
George finished.
"Yeah, he wouldn't shut up about how much better than you he was.
The fact that you beat him three to nothing when he should have
won easily means there is no way he will be picked." Katie Bell
added.
"Well you can put me down now, unless you want to carry me up
seven flights of stairs." Harry said. The twins agreed and put him
down. When Harry got back to the common room a bunch of people
cheered and patted him on the back as he made his way back to his
dorm.
Cormac was let out of the hospital two days later after having both
arms and his ankle repaired by Madam Pomfrey. He gave Harry the
galleon with head bowed in shame and slapped it into Harry's hand
before storming away. Cormac never bragged about his seeker skills
again but instead started to train for keeper because it would be the
only contestable position.