Chapter 9
The next morning, after a quick breakfast we made for the Quidditch pitch that was just down the hill. The first game of the year was Gryffindor versus Slytherin. The whole castle had been alight with excitement for the match. It looked like it would be an interesting game from all of the homemade signs and students that had painted faces and streamers. I had only been to a few regional Quidditch games with Uncle but this seemed different. The student sections were all separated for the game and we had to walk around half of the stadium to get to our seats.
“What’s the banner say?” Pansy asks and I look to where she is pointing.
“Potter for President.” I say with a laugh.
“We don’t even elect Presidents.” Draco mutters.
“That drawing is nice though, it looks handmade.” I say and admire the painted Lion. Why didn’t we make something like that?
“We should’ve done a banner.” Daphne says and I whip my head in her direction.
“I was just thinking that!” I smile at her as someone over the loudspeaker starts to talk.
“Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season! I’m Lee Jordan, announcer for today’s game. Slytherin versus Gryffindor!!!”
I see madam Hooch talking to the players.
“Is that a Nimbus 2000?!” I ask as I finally find Harry among the players. Where had Harry gotten a brand new broom?
“I don’t see the big deal, It’s just a broom,” Pansy said and we all turned to her. “What?”
“It’s not just a broom.” Greg said.
“It’s the broom.” Vince said immediately after in a way that reminded me of my favorite ginger twins.
“The bludgers are up...followed by the Golden Snitch. Remember, the snitch is worth 150 points. The seeker who catches the Snitch ends the game.” Lee Jordan announces as I look for Harry.
“The Quaffle is released...and the game begins!” Lee Jordan yells and the players in the sky zip past each other.
“Who's your money on?” Vincent asks Greg.
“Flint of course.”
“Think we’ll see wood on the ground?” Draco asks.
“I’m sorry, whose Wood?” I ask. Daphne turns to me.
“He’s the team captain for Gryffindor and their keeper.” I nod and look at the players again.
“He’s Scottish and has read Quidditch through ages many times but he always carries it with him. He has allergies so he really doesn’t like Herbology but I haven’t narrowed down which ones he’s allergic to-what?” She asks as we all stare at her. Well that concluded who Daphne fancies I think to myself.
“Uh, so does anyone want snacks?” I ask, trying to break the awkward silence.
“You’ll miss the game.” Draco says and looks at me, shocked that I would want to miss what was going on.
“It’s okay, it’s like Lee Jordan is screaming in my ears anyway.” I say and move to the galley walkway.
“And the quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor. What an excellent chaser that girl is and rather attractive too-“
“Jordan!” McGonagall’s voice comes through the speaker and I laugh as I make my way around some other kids who had stopped to watch the game.
“And she’s really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good friend of Oliver Wood’s- last year only a reserve. Back to Johnson and no the Slytherins have taken the quaffle. Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint flying like an eagle up there- he’s going to scor- no stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and they take back the..” My concentration was broken by someone coming into my view. Professor Flitwick, carrying some snacks.
“Emery a chilly day today isn’t it?”
“Professor, yes indeed. I’m on my way to get something warm to drink actually."
“Well then I shan’t keep you. Keep practicing your charms, I’ll see you in class.”
“Have a good day professor!”
I tuned my hearing back to the loudspeaker as I moved onwards.
“...a bludger sent his way by Fred or George Weasley can’t tell which. Angelina Johnson now in possession of the quaffle- the goal posts are ahead- come on now Angela- Keeper Bletchley dives and misses and Gryffindor scores! 10 points for Gryffindor!” The load speaker intones as I pass the Gryffindor section of the stands. I’d already gotten a few odd stares in my direction but I try to pass by quickly and quietly while listening.
“What's going on with Harry's broomstick?” I hear Hagrid say and I look over to see him Ron and Hermione looking up towards the sky.
“What’s going on?” I ask as I push past a few people.” Hermione was looking through binoculars.
“Hello Emery.”
“Hey Hagrid, Ron. Harry okay?” I ask.
“It’s his broom.” Ron said and pointed up. Harry was zagging all over the place. The sighet reminder her of Neville those few weeks ago.
“It’s Snape. He’s jinxing the broom.
“What?” I ask, quite confused.
“What do we do?” Ron asks. Hermione hands the binoculars and moves around us.
“Leave it to me.”
“I’m coming too.” There was no way that Snape was jinxing Harry, he was a teacher for Merlin’s sake. I turned back to the catwalk to follow her to find she’d ran on ahead. I had to dodge three hufflepuffs in my attempt to get to her.
“What’s all this about Snape?” I ask as I catch up.
“We think he let the troll in as a diversion so he could get past the dog. We saw him limping earlier, apparently, he went up against it last night.
“That’s mad,” I say as we duck around people. “ I know he can be unpleasant but why would he do this?” I knew Snape had looked on Harry with disdain but couldn’tfigure out why but I didn’t think he’d kill him.
“You said yourself, whatever the dog is hiding had to be what Hagrid brought to the school. Maybe he wants whatever it is for himself.”
“Maybe being the keyword there. We don’t know for sure.” I say as we run up the last of the stairs and make our way through the underparts of the benches.
“Hermione-”
“Hush.” The young witch says as we climb up the railings. We easily find Snape’s cloak as it was black. Hermione pulls out her wand and I grab her arm to physically stop her.
“We can’t prove it.” I hiss at her.
“We can’t not prove it.” She whispered and that made me hesitate. She turns back to the cloak and taps her wand to the material.
“Lacarnum Inflamarae.” She whispers and a spark ignites and Snape’s cloak catches fire.
“Sorry Professor.” I mutter then look at Hermione. “Come on then.” I whisper and we climb down the rails.
“You’re on fire man!” Someone yells and there is a commotion above. We dash out of the under part of the rafters and onto the galley walkway to see Harry standing on the ground which technically meant he was out. His hands were on his mouth like he was gonna be sick.
“Is he gonna throw up?” I ask as he then spits out the Snitch. He’d caught the snitch with his mouth? I’d never hear about that ever.
“He's got the Snitch! Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch!” Lee Jordan yells and cheers are heard all around.
“Whoo-hoo!” Hermione yells right into my ear. I see Harry raise the Snitch into the air and everyone cheers for him. He was a first year Gryffindor, playing his first game and had caught his first snitch. That boy was lucky.
“Go go, Gryffindor! Go go Gryffindor! Go go Gryffindor! Go go Gryffindor!”
“Well, tell Harry congrats for me.” I say and Hermione nods at me and I depart from her. It didn’t make sense to get snacks now, so I make my way back to the other Slytherins about ten minutes later.
“It isn’t fair, he can’t catch the Snitch with his mouth.” Greg says.
“There’s no rule against it. There was a game in Greece during the 17th century where-“
“Daph we get it, you should worry about your boyfriend.” Pansy says.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Emery, there you are. Will you come to the hospital wing with me?”
“Of course. Are you okay?”
“She’s worried about Wood.” Vincent says, rolling his eyes.
“Oh, I’ll go with you.” I nod and place a hand on Daphne’s shoulder as we turn to leave the stand and go back to the school.
“You should’ve seen it, Emery, He fell at least three stories!”
“Madam Pomfrey will fix him right up, don’t worry. He is a scot after all right?” We walk along the corridor quickly halfway there.
“What do you like about him?” I ask, trying to distract her.
“Oh. Well, his love for quidditch and he is very knowledgeable in the subject you see. He helped me find Professor Flitwick’s office the other day and he was so nice.” I smile at her while she talks about him.
“He said he usually doesn’t help Slytherins but he did anyway because I looked so lost.”
“He does sound nice.” I say.
“He does!” She smiled at me as we approached the hospital wing door. As I walk inside, I’m met with the face of Madam Pomfrey which reminded me of my conversation with Hermione.
“Madam Pomfrey, it’s good to see you again. I was wondering if it would be any trouble getting a peace draught.
“Everything alright dear?” She was a tad sympathetic.
“Yes, just feeling a bit queasy.”
“Alright, sit there. I’ll be with you in a moment.” She says and gestures to the bed. I sit down and look at Daphne.
“Now is your chance, find your boyfriend. I’ll keep watch.” I say and she nods creeping close to the other bed before Madam Pomfrey comes back. I sighed and leaned against the headboard of the bed to find they weren’t that comfortable. Minutes tick by and Madam Pomfrey comes back with a vial of the medicine.
“There you are my dear.” She says with a small smile.
“Thank you, Uh Madam Pomfrey I’ve been thinking when you healed Neville’s arm how fascinating that was. I would like to learn more about it.” I say a tad shy. In all honesty, healing magic felt different from the things we’d been learning in class and I did want to study it.
“Let’s get through your first year and perhaps next year when things calm down, I could teach you some little spells.”
“Really? That would be wonderful!” I say as she smiles and hurriedly moves to the Quidditch players after hearing one of them shout.
“Emery?” I hear someone call my name. I turn from my seat on the bed to see Fred and George rushing over, worry etched onto their faces.
“What’s wrong?” Fred asks and places a hand on my forehead.
“What are you doing in the hospital wing? You’re not ill, are you?” George asks and I shake my head.
“I swear those Slytherins!” Exclaims Fred. If I was sick, they would’ve nothing to do with it. I think to myself.
“Guys! I’m okay, just a tummy ache.” I say and wave my hands to appease them.
“Are you sure?” George asks. He looked deathly serious.
“If someone is bullying you-“ Fred starts. I place a hand on each of their shoulders.
“George, Fred. I am okay. Congrats by the way.” They smirk after that, distracted by their big win.
“It was a close one this time.”
“If it wasn’t for Harry, we’d ‘ave been toast.” They continue to talk and I edge for the door. Crazy twins. I laugh at them as I exit the hospital wing to wait for Daphne. It was nice having people other than my uncle looking out for me. I guess I could add Daphne and Hermione to that list too. I looked out of one of the hall’s many windows at the grounds. Everything would soon be snowy white.
“Did you hear, someone tried to light Snape on fire.” My ears obviously perked up at the words, wanting to hear more.
“What? Who?”
“No one knows but everyone’s looking towards Gryffindor, saying that’s how they won the match.” I frowned at that. Had Snape been trying to sabotage Harry for real? I knew from personal experience that power could make wizards do crazy unforgivable things. I shook my head as the students passed. I couldn’t judge the man without evidence.