Attempted Murder at the Quidditch Pitch
Now that November was in full swing, the temperatures had dropped significantly, and Harry was reminded that he… Did not function well in the cold.
He got exhausted, and nauseous, and truth be told had a terrible time every time he was outside and not wrapped in at least eight layers if the temperature was even slightly too cold.
That’s not to say that he didn’t enjoy cold weather, and that he didn’t enjoy the things that came along with it. He loved the snow, and the thick wool sweaters, and sledding with his parents, and all those fun winter activities that were full of happy memories.
But being dragged out to watch the first Quidditch game of the year was not on that list of fun activities, and Harry was absolutely not having a good time. He did not care that it was Gryffindor vs Slytherin, he did not care that two of his best friends were sports fanatics, and he certainly did not care for the cold, wet, wooden seat at the very front of the stands that his butt had been forced into, against his will, to watch fourteen people on broomsticks chase after flying balls.
“Oh stop pouting, Harry!” Draco smiled at the lump of sweaters and coats sitting on the bench next to him. “You’ll have far more fun once the game starts.”
“I’m going to lose all my fingers.” Harry muttered, pulling his mittened hands further into his sweaters. “I’ll freeze to death.”
“You act like you don’t live in London.”
“Yes. I do. But I stay inside. And read. In my Mum’s cafe. Where it’s warm, and not freezing.”
“You’ll survive.”
“If I die, it’s your fault. And Blaise’s.”
Theo snorted, although his own teeth were chattering a bit, and he shuffled closer to Harry’s side. “We’ll die together, Harry.”
“Thank you, Theo. At least someone cares.” Harry huffed, another harsh wind blowing past them and making both boys shiver. Blaise seemed to take pity on them, taking his wand out of his sleeve and waving it over them with a murmured spell. Immediately, a warmth spread over them both, and he could feel Theo’s body relaxing at his side.
He was about to open his mouth to thank his friend, when suddenly, the entire stands erupted into cheers and stood. Harry slammed his hands over his ears, the rush of noise almost giving him a headache as he watched the Quidditch players come out onto the field. Giving Theo a look, the two of them stood as well, leaning over the balcony to get a better look.
He could see the bright scarlet and emerald robes of the Gryffindor and Slytherin players, and he had to admit, the robes looked rather nice.
Blaise leaned over to him, pointing out one of the players on the Gryffindor team.
“That’s Carl Hopkins.” He explained. “He’s a last minute addition to the team.”
“The Seeker?” Harry surmised.
“Exactly. He’s completely untrained. Slytherin is going to utterly destroy them.” The smile that spread across Blaise’s face made Harry roll his eyes a bit in amusement. While both of his friends were the studious sort, they were both utter sports fanatics, unlike himself and Theo.
The booming voice of Madam Hooch pulled his attention away from Blaise and back out onto the pitch.
“Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you,” she said, once they were all gathered around her. Harry noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a sixth year. Marcus was a bit intense at times, but he was never outwardly rude.
Granted, that kindness very rarely spread to anyone outside of his own house, as Harry was fairly certain he had seen the older boy threatening a Gryffindor fifth year for bullying one of the other first years, and the look of fear on that Gryffindor’s face told Harry everything he needed to know.
“Mount your broomsticks, please.”
Most of the Gryffindor players were using what seemed to be the school broomsticks, while the Slytherin players each looked like they had their own. Draco had mentioned that the Slytherin team always had top of the line brooms, as at least one of the player’s parents would donate them when the old brooms stopped being top of the line.
He flinched a bit at the loud whistle, realizing that Madam Hooch had not removed whatever spell she’d been using to make her voice audible across the entire stadium, and with that, the game had begun.
Players were zipping about at such a speed that Harry could barely keep track of them outside of the differing uniform colors, flashes of green and red filled his vision, and he couldn’t help but watch in awe. Soon, the commentary, called out by Gryffindor’s Lee Jordan, filled the air as well.
“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.”
Harry snickered a bit, covering his mouth, and he could see Theo holding back his own chuckles. That was going to be entertaining to listen to.
“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 – she’s really flying – dodges a speeding Bludger – the goal posts are ahead – come on, now, Angelina – Keeper Bletchley dives – misses – GRYFFINDORS SCORE!”
Cheers erupted from one side of the stands, while the other, where Harry was standing, began booing and jeering. He felt another body shuffle down onto his other side, pushing Blaise away a bit, and he looked over to see a familiar head of sandy blonde hair decked out in all green.
“Hiya, Harry!” Neville beamed at him.
“Nev! Hey!” He called back, almost shouting over the voices of his housemates. “What are you doing over here?”
“Supporting my friends’ team!” He laughed back, throwing his arm over Harry’s shoulders and smiling at Theo as well, who offered his own grin back.
Cheers erupted around them, and despite not knowing quite what just happened, Harry cheered along as well.
“We got a score!” Draco called down to him. “Absolutely beautiful shot from Pucey!”
“Go, Adrian!” Harry shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth as the chaser flew past. He shot a grin at the younger boy, giving him a mock salute as he dove back into the game.
He felt Theo flinch a bit as a bludger shot far too close to the stands, nearly crashing into them before one of the Weasley twins batted it back into the game, his eyes wide before he flew after it, beating it further into the middle of the field and sending it straight into Marcus Flint’s face, earning a sharp ‘ooooh’ from the entire stadium.
“That looked like it was going straight for you, Harry.” Theo said quickly. Harry blinked a few times. He hadn’t noticed, truthfully, but now that his friend mentioned it…
It really did seem like that bludger was going for him.
“I’m sure it’s fine.” He quickly said, now starting to watch the bludgers more carefully.
His heart dropped into his stomach as he saw one of them- the very same one that one of the Weasley twins had just beat away from them, came flying back towards the stands.
Directly towards Harry.
Before he could even process what he was doing, he was stumbling backwards, pushing away from his friends and trying to scramble away from the rogue ball as quickly as he could before-
CRACK!
Harry felt something solid smash straight into his face, the lenses in his glasses shattering upon impact, and the sensation of falling before a second sharp pain shot through his head.
Then, he fell into a pit of darkness, the sounds of panicked screams filling the air as he sank into it.
—
Harry slowly let his eyes flutter open, a soft whine escaping him from the strength of the light above him. He didn’t know where he was, what exactly had happened, or what time it was.
He slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position, his head throbbing in such a violent way that it made him flinch and press a hand up against his forehead, digging the heel of his palm firmly against his scar.
It hurt like hell, and he felt like he was going to puke.
Distantly, he could hear a few voices, like they were in a room adjacent to the one he was in. They sounded almost warped, and a little foggy, but he could make out some of the words.
“-troll, and now, not even a week later, a student was nearly decapitated by an enchanted bludger!” A woman’s voice shouted. It sounded vaguely familiar, but Harry couldn’t quite tell who it belonged to. “This is not a good look for our school, Albus!”
Albus? Like Dumbledore? Who was yelling at Dumbledore?
“Not a good look for your school, Minerva? As it stands, Hogwarts is a near death trap.” Another woman’s voice replied, her’s far colder. “The DMLE is still investigating what happened with the troll, and what we’ve found is already bad, but now we have another near murder on your campus. That’s four in less than a month.”
“Now, now, Madam Bones.” That voice was definitely Dumbledore. “What happened to Mr. Hartford was an unfortunate, and terrifying accident. We are all thankful that he was not harmed any more than he was, and we are checking over every piece of Quidditch equipment for any more hexes or curses, as well as checking every person who had access to the equipment’s wand to see if any ill-intentioned spells were cast.”
“I still have to file an incident report, Albus.” Madam Bones said firmly. “Mr. Hartford’s parents have already been informed of what happened by Madam Pomfrey, and by worried letters from three of Mr. Hartford’s friends. While they can’t come themselves due to the nature of the school, they’re sending a proxy to act in their stead.”
“Who might that proxy be, Madam?”
“I believe they selected the Contess-”
Before he could continue eavesdropping on that conversation, he was suddenly accosted by Madam Pomfrey, who looked utterly shocked at his state of consciousness.
“Mr. Hartford! You shouldn’t be sitting up.” She chided gently, slowly helping lower him back onto the bed. “You’ve suffered quite the head injury, dear. You need to rest.”
“Is anyone… Is anyone else hurt..?” Harry sucked in a breath when his head rested against the pillow. It hurt like hell to even move, but he needed to know if any of his friends had been caught by the bludger as well.
“Thankfully, no.” Madam Pomfrey said with a smile, before the expression turned grim. “The bludger went right back to normal after it struck you, and went flying back into the game.”
“Who won?”
The medi-witch raised a brow at him, almost like she was asking if he was serious. He gave her a look back, and she relented.
“Mr. Higgs caught the snitch about five seconds after you were struck. Slytherin won, but your entire house is incredibly worried about you. You’ve had someone at your bedside at almost all hours of the day!”
Harry laughed a bit at that. “That’s nice… How long have I been out?” As he spoke, Madam Pomfrey seemed to be gathering up a few potions. She handed one to him, and after he propped himself up and read the label, which read Pain Relief, he downed it without fuss.
“Two days. We were becoming incredibly concerned, Mr. Hartford.”
“Huh. I’ve been asleep for two days?”
“Unconscious for two days. There’s a difference.” She replied, handing him another potion, which he drank as well.
“Right. Sorry.” He nodded a bit.
“Nothing to apologize for… Now, you stay there for a few minutes while I bring you something to eat, and if you’re able to keep that down for an hour, I’ll let you go back to your common room.” Madam Pomfrey smiled at him.
Harry nodded a bit, sitting up again and closing his eyes when his head spun. He could faintly hear Madam Pomfrey walking away, and her muffled voice seemingly shooing the other voices from earlier out. He kept his eyes closed, just… Listening.
Slowly but surely, he could hear the soft humming of magic in the air again, and he let his shoulders slump from relief as Hogwarts’ voice spoke to him once again.
Hello… You are… Okay?
After a moment's hesitation, he let his own magic reach out in turn, tangling with the school’s, and he opened his mouth to speak.
“I am fine. What happened?”
Hurt… The monster hurt you. I could not protect. I am sorry.
“You did nothing wrong. It is okay.”
The monster lurks. I must protect my students.
“Who is the monster?”
He lurks. He feeds. He is death. He is pain.
“Will he hurt me?”
Yes. He will hurt everyone.
Harry’s breath caught in his throat again, and he went to speak again, but his attention was pulled away by the sight of Madam Pomfrey rapidly approaching with a tray of food, so he snapped his mouth shut again.
She offered him a polite smile, setting the tray of tomato soup and a grilled cheese in his lap.
“Don’t worry about eating all of it. I imagine you’re hungry, but pushing yourself past your limit while you’re still recovering is not something I recommend.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Harry nodded a bit, and before the medi-witch could walk away, he spoke up again. “Uhm… Madam Pomfrey?”
“Yes?”
“What were Madam Bones and Professor Dumbledore arguing about?”
She gave Harry a tight lipped smile at that, before she said, very simply.
“That’s nothing you need to worry about, dear. Just eat your lunch.”
“...Yes, ma’am.” He replied as she walked away, a frown pulling at his lips as he began to eat.
He had more questions to ask, but even an idiot could see that trying to get any more answers wasn’t going to lead anywhere. He would just have to try and find Madam Bones later, or maybe he could talk to Professor Snape, or even Professor Sinistra to see if they knew.
—
Severus had half a mind to kill Quirrell here and now.
The man had gone completely unhinged. First that bloody troll, now an attempt on a student’s life in broad daylight?
Something needed to be done.
And now.
Which was why he was storming up to Albus’office, face twisted in anger. The only reason he hadn’t already burst through the damn door, wand blazing, was because he had gone to check on Harry and his friends, who were all piled together on one sofa in the common room, completely asleep, and being carefully watched over by his prefects.
He had just needed to check and make sure they were all safe before he went on his rampage. No one could say he didn’t care about his snakes.
So, after all but screaming the password at the blasted gargoyle that guarded Albus’ office, he was finally able to look the Headmaster in the eyes, his face obviously twisted into a fearsome look judging by the raised brow the old man had on his face.
Before the headmaster could open his mouth to greet Severus, the words spilled from his own.
“Quirrell needs to be removed from the staff immediately.” He snapped. “He nearly killed Mr. Hartford.”
“Severus. How wonderful of you to visit.” Albus smiled a bit. “I am aware of your suspicions about Quirinus, but I assure you, he had nothing to do with the attack on young Harry.”
“He absolutely did, and I cannot stand by and allow him to make another attempt on my student’s life.”
“Severus. Harry is not in any danger from Quirinus.”
“Yes, he is. The bastard hexed that bludger, I just know it-”
“Severus.”
“What?”
Albus sighed, gesturing towards the chair across from him, which Severus sat in after a moment of silence.
“...Quirinus is not a danger to Harry.” He explained. “Because he will not be able to touch him.”
“He still nearly killed the boy. And three other students, or need I remind you of what happened to Miss Granger, along with Messers Weasley and Finnegan?”
“Those three students have recovered perfectly, as Harry will as well. Although I must admit, our little trio of Gryffindors have certainly become taken by the mystery of the third floor corridor since the incident.” The headmaster chuckled. “They already know about Fluffy… Although I’m sure they believe you may be the one after the stone, not Quirinus.”
Severus scowled at that.
“Yes, Harry will be fine. Although I am surprised that he has no desire to investigate the corridor… His father would have dove headfirst into something like that.”
“Harry is not James.” The potions master bit out. “He is not foolish, nor is he the type to blindly run into danger.”
“Ah. He’s more like Lily, then?” Albus asked, his eyes sparkling.
“He’s like neither of them, Albus.” Severus shook his head, looking up to see the confused expression on the old man’s face. “His muggle parents raised him well. My limited interactions with them have told me more than you would expect. He is not going to rush headlong into danger unless he has a legitimate reason for doing so. I can only imagine the boy doing something foolhardy if someone he loved dearly was at risk.”
“I see…” The headmaster nodded a bit, a small smile on his face. “Thank you, Severus. And do not fret. I’ll be keeping a very close eye on Quirinus.”
The potions master nodded a bit, standing up and walking out of the office. As he headed back down towards the dungeons, a realization dawned on him.
Albus had just weaseled information out of him without him even realizing it once again.
The bastard.