31/07/1990
Harry, 10 Years Old
Tuesday, 31st July
Dear diary, today was a very tedious day. Xavier invited me to his birthday party, and he even invited Julius! But Dad didn't want my little brother to go because Dumbledore would also be attending, and Dad fears the headmaster might recognise Julius's magical signature and connect him to Tom. Although, thanks to the blood adoption, Julius no longer looks like Tom, his magical signature, although altered by the ritual and the adoption, still bears a slight resemblance, according to Sev and Lucy.
But Dad didn't want me to go alone, so I went with Bonny and Susan. Since Mum passed away, James no longer allows the Malfoys to attend his parties; only "light" families are invited now, despite the fact that the majority of the wealthier Lords and Ladies are from the "dark" side.
I never understood this whole light and dark thing. Everything I’ve learned and experienced in the different countries and schools we’ve visited always shows the same: magic is magic; what matters is the intention. If you want to cause harm, any spell can do it. Even Wingardium Leviosa can be dangerous. Imagine, diary, you levitate a large number of stones or debris over a group of people and then drop them: BAM! You've hurt many people, and it’s supposed to be a light spell! On the other hand, if you use the entrail-expelling curse in a controlled environment like St. Mungo's by a specialist, you can clean lethal doses of ingested poison that can’t be cleaned or purified otherwise… but noooo… “it’s a highly dark curse that only serves to cause harm.”
I don't understand, I really don't understand… Lucy says the UK has always been behind in this area compared to other countries, but it’s gotten worse since Dumbledore gained so much power by defeating Grindelwald. According to Lucy and several books I’ve read on the subject (some of which are illegal in the UK!), our country has been slowly declining. I'm even starting to consider studying at a school other than Hogwarts.
Dad loves Hogwarts for what it represented for him, despite the tough time he had because of James and his friends (and what a conversation that was! I never imagined Sirius and Remus could do such cruel things). That castle was his home, where he made true friends (like Lucy) and spent a lot of time with Mum. According to Sev, he always felt the castle was alive; even when he wanted to hide or felt lonely, he could find passages and doors he had never seen before and felt a calming presence around him.
I really want to experience that, but I'm not sure if sacrificing my education for the experience is worth it. Even my friends are considering it… well, there's still a year to decide, so I’m still thinking about it.
Where was I? Oh yes! Xavier's birthday… it was a disaster…
First of all, none of my friends were invited. Julius stayed at home with Dad, and Luna had a family dinner with the Malfoys and her parents. I like Susan, but I haven’t spent enough time with her to consider her a friend. Even so, she is very kind and tried to spend as much time with me as possible, including me in her conversation with Hannah. For a while, it was fine, but Xavier doesn’t like to share attention and tried to get us to join the group of kids who were going to play Quidditch with him.
By the way, the red-haired twins are being punished for being sorted into Slytherin and couldn’t come. Ronald kept insulting them and calling them slithering snakes and other derogatory names that I don't want to repeat. Fortunately, Xavier seemed a bit uncomfortable with everything his best friend was saying, so he managed to shut him up by talking about Quidditch. I swear if Xavier hadn't intervened so quickly, I would have cursed that Weasley.
We formed two teams. Several didn’t want to play, like Hannah, the Patil twins, and others, but eventually, the teams ended up like this:
Team 1:
- Charlie Weasley (17) - Seeker
- Xavier Potter (10) - Chaser
- Anna Potter (8) - Chaser
- Ernie Macmillan (10) - Chaser
- Ronald Weasley (10) - Keeper
- John Burke (13) - Beater
- Wilfred Fawley (11) - Beater
Team 2:
- Harry Prince (me, 10) - Seeker
- Quibus Shacklebolt (9) - Chaser
- Zain Shafiq (16) - Chaser
- Marie Egwu (8) - Chaser
- Cormac McLaggen (13) - Keeper
- Susan Bones (10) - Beater
- Charlotte Fawley (12) - Beater
The teams were chosen at random, and still, many complained. I was willing not to play because I’m not very interested in Quidditch, but Susan said she was only playing because I was on the team, and if I withdrew, she would too. Plus, Xavier looked very happy to play with me; he seemed like a happy Crup wagging his two tails every time he looked at me… so I definitely couldn’t back out of the game.
But it was horrible. McLaggen and Shafiq both wanted to be in charge. The latter said he should lead because he was on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and was the oldest. McLaggen, I don't know, I just know I couldn't stand him; he's an arrogant child who thinks he's better than everyone else. Ugh, I think he has all the bad traits of Xavier and Draco mixed together but without any of the good ones.
The rest of us decided to let them fight it out and figure out what to do among ourselves. Of all of us, Shafiq, Fawley, and I had previous experience playing, although I think no one believed me when I told them about my experience in Bulgaria. Egwu has an older brother who is a very good player, so she learned a lot from him. Quibus and Susan… well, they both know how to fly a broom, at least a little…
We were terrible. McLaggen kept leaving the goals to try and "teach" the rest of us how to play. Shafiq shouted at McLaggen to return to the goals and, being distracted, lost the Quaffle. And since McLaggen wasn’t at the goals, Anna or Xavier scored. Burke almost knocked poor Quibus off his broom, and both Fawleys didn’t take the game seriously and passed the Bludger to each other. At least they were having fun.
Surprisingly, Susan has quite a strong hit, but her aim is a bit off. Even so, she managed to hit Ronald in the stomach with a Bludger. It was funny. Of course, we were playing with children's balls, so it didn't hurt him much, but it was still funny.
In the end, we played so badly that I tried my hardest to find the Snitch as quickly as possible, and I found it! It was crazy. I managed to see it before Charlie, but he wasn’t far behind. We were neck and neck, neither of us giving in. At one point, the Snitch started to dive, and we followed it down. We were very close to the ground, but neither of us wanted to give up… I was lucky. The Snitch veered to the right at the last moment, right next to me, and I caught it!
Obviously, we lost since we hadn’t been able to score any points, but thanks to catching the Snitch, it wasn’t by much. Charlie congratulated me, and we talked about Quidditch for a while until he mentioned dragons, and we got lost in the wonderful world of those beautiful creatures. Unfortunately, that distracted me, and I didn’t notice James approaching. He started yelling at me and even tried to slap me, but Charlie stepped in the way.
The adrenaline made it hard for me to hear properly, and feeling in danger didn’t help. Thank Morgana Bonny wasn’t far and managed to get James away. From what I could understand, James was upset because I stole the attention at the end of the game. Instead of everyone praising Xavier as the best player, the kids, and even some adults, were quite surprised by my skill on the broom.
The worst was Dumbledore. He started circulating the rumour that I had taken Felix Felicis to outshine the Boy Who Lived on his birthday and that my dad had made sure I had the potion to ruin the Chosen One’s birthday. It was horrible. No one believed me when I said I hadn’t taken any potion. All the adults and some children looked at me badly and started talking badly about me and my dad.
Bonny couldn’t help me because she was busy trying to calm James. Susan stayed by my side, and Hannah also said she believed me. Charlie did too, but he had to take care of Ronald, who kept trying to hit me for being a "cheat". Quibus and Marie asked me a lot of questions, and after repeating to them for the eleventh time that I hadn’t taken any potion and letting them test by pushing me (according to them, if I fell, I wasn’t under Felix's influence), they said they believed me.
But only Susan stayed with me until the end. Hannah’s parents decided to take her home early, and the other two decided to be with their families, trying to argue with the other children about my innocence because they had “proof.”
Anna tried to come closer, but Xavier didn’t let him, which made me sad until Bonny got fed up and cast a Stupefy on James. Then they both came over and congratulated me on my excellent flying skills. Xavier said we would make Gryffindor champions together, and Anna said we’d be unstoppable when the three of us were at school.
Their words made me feel very warm, but I decided to ruin it by mentioning that I was still considering whether to go to Hogwarts next year or to another school. Xavier didn’t take it well and started demanding that I study at Hogwarts with him. Anna got sad but didn’t say anything.
I tried to defend my point of view by talking about all the academics I’d miss out on by deciding to go to Hogwarts, but Xavier wouldn’t listen. Since James was unconscious, my brother went to Dumbledore and asked him to make me study at Hogwarts.
The headmaster's brilliant eyes locked onto mine, and I felt a slight pressure on my shields, then a stronger pressure, but I managed to remember to look away. Even so, my head started hurting.
I couldn’t hear what the headmaster said to my brother, but it seemed to calm him down. Just then, Bonny came, and we were able to leave that disastrous party.
When we got home, I told Dad what happened, and Bonny filled in what I had missed. Dad wanted to press charges for defamation, but despite James’s reputation for being crazy, Dumbledore still holds a lot of power, so Bonny said there probably wasn’t much we could do.
Susan suggested sending an article to the press with proof that my body was free of Felix Felicis, so Dad called a private mediwizard, who did several tests and exams on me. All together, including Julius, we helped write an article, and Bonny made sure a reputable reporter would publish it.
In the end, a terrible day, but hey! I made new friends! At least I can be sure that Susan is a loyal friend. I have to give her something really nice for Yule since her birthday has already passed, Hannah too. I'm not sure about Quibus and Marie since I didn’t get to say goodbye. Oh! And of course, Charlie! You can’t get a better friend than one who likes dragons!
I’m tired…
Goodbye!