Sabriel Potter smiled gleefully as she looked at her Hogwarts letter. Behind her, her mother, Ginny Potter, was gazing over her shoulder. It seemed as though this smile was the first one in days, as two days ago had been the anniversary of her father's heroic, but untimely death. Sabriel read through her Hogwarts' letter, thinking about her father's death, as she had heard the story on numerous occasions.
Harry Potter had been an Auror, a well-known one at that. Sabriel was always proud to mention her father's name, call her a name-dropper, but she was proud of him. He was the boy, well, then it was, man who lived. Harry Potter had never been defeated, as you may think. Killed by a Death Eater? Not purposely. Harry had been examining a newfound hide out of the Death Eaters. He was inspecting the area, trying to catch some Death Eaters on their way out of a meeting that Harry had heard about from a reformed Death Eater. As the Death Eaters exited, Harry took his time on trying to catch them, and make sure he didn't get hurt. However, Harry was stopped dead in his tracks of preparing for a fight when he realized that the Death Eaters were laughing excitedly as they held someone on a stretcher. The person was not dead, but simply tied down. Harry soon found out that the stretcher held his very own friend, and recent brother-in-law, Ronald Weasley. Knowing that the Death Eaters were going to try and make an exchange; Ron for Harry, Harry decided to make it easier for them. He ran as fast as he could, up to the stretcher, frantically casting charms that would undo the tight ties on the stretcher. Ron was freed, but now being cornered by the Death Eaters who had not yet noticed Harry in the pitch-black darkness. As the Death Eaters angrily pointed their wands at Ron, about to perform the Killing Curse, Harry jumped in, and got the full blast of it.
Sabriel shuddered and shook her head to free the image from her mind. Because Harry had died, the wizarding world was going through hard times, not to mention the Potter family. People were sure that You-Know-Who was stronger than he had ever been, and happy to start to seize the wizarding world for his own uses; killing more and more muggle borns every day.
"What's wrong, deary?" Sabriel's mother asked, noticing that Sabriel had winced.
"Nothing, mother, just shivering with anticipation!" Sabriel said, returning to her cheery smile, brushing the thoughts of current events and her father's death away from her mind. "Ooh, my 5th year in Hogwarts! I'm so excited, mother!"
"Perhaps you should owl your cousin Angela?" Ginny Potter asked, opening more owls that their barn owl, Rhea, had brought.
Sabriel's cousin Angela Weasley was her very best friend. Her father was the one who had informed the Potters what had happened to Harry that one night. He had become sort of like a father to Sabriel, as he had been her father's very best friend since school. He was also a very cool uncle; he played Professional Quidditch. He was the Keeper of the Chudley Cannons, and he loved to take along the Potters to most of his games, and sometimes Sabriel and Angela would attend his practices to see what it was like.
"I'll do just that, mother." Sabriel said, glancing around their small kitchen. Sabriel and her mother lived in a medium-sized flat in London, England. Sabriel got up and walked into the next room, the study/living room. Sabriel got her stationary from the large stained wood bookcase and sat down on one of the long, green couches in her living room. She put down the stationary set on the stained wood coffee table and started to write a long letter to her cousin, describing her excitement for the 5th year of Hogwarts. Finally, Sabriel finished her letter, gave it to Rhea, and watched her bird fly off, 2 letters clamped in its beak.
"What's that second letter for?" Sabriel asked.
"I'm just asking Ron about news." Ginny said, smiling at her daughter, admiring a younger, more outgoing and unique-looking picture of herself in Sabriel. Ginny fingered a lock of her daughter's fiery red hair. "-Why don't you go straighten up? I've invited Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Cousin Donnie and Cousin Angela over to eat tonight." Ginny added. Sabriel smiled. She always loved having her cousins, aunt, and uncle over for dinner. Usually they were all big eaters, so they stayed so late that they had to sleep over. Angela usually slept in Sabriel's room, Donnie and Ron slept on the couches in the living room, and Ginny slept in her usual bed, in her usual room.
"Okay, I will!" Sabriel said, smiling big as she ran into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror, blinking her large green eyes, which she had gotten from her father. She brushed her hair with an old black comb, and got on black leather pants and a red polyester tanktop. That was when she heard the intercom in the entrance hall ring, meaning that someone was at the door, in the lobby, wanting to come up to visit.
"Who is it?" Sabriel's mother cooed into the intercom. She was answered with the eager chorus hello from Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Donnie and Angela. Sabriel rang them up, and in minutes they were knocking at the door. Sabriel ran to get the door, and received a hug from Aunt Hermione. Next, Donnie was there, with his flaming red hair, he bowed his head as a hello to her. She then received a hug from Angela, and lastly Uncle Ron.
They all sat down at the wooden dining table. Sabriel smiled as she watched her mother snap her fingers at a special beat, and suddenly all the food that Ginny Potter had prepared blossomed before their very eyes. There was a huge feast including chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli, pumpkin juice filled to the top of their goblets, and much, much, more. The family ate hungrily, pausing every so often to talk about the latest news in the wizarding world.
"Did you hear…" Ron spit out little bits of mashed potatoes as he said this, "-sorry-that the Wimbourne Wasps are taking a break from playing because too many players have injuries and there are no more people who are offering to play for them, even just for a little bit? I think that's ridiculous! Here I am, working my ass off for the whole season, mind you, and they get to take any breaks they want? I can't believe they're allowing this, I oughta go down to the idiots in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and give them a piece of my mind."
"Oh, dear, calm down…I mean, the extra practice and the extra games are just practice for you. The Wimbourne Wasps won't have those vital practices, thus you'll be able to beat them easily. Do you think they like the idea that they're getting this break? I don't think so. It's taking away their time to practice. Besides, I thought you enjoyed playing Quidditch. That is why you tried out for this team, you know. Or, that's what you told me, sweetie." Aunt Hermione said.
"-Oh, I know, I love playing Quidditch, you all know that: but the fact is that I can't stand to think of the Wimbourne Wasps sitting on their lazy asses. I saw a couple of them today: they were watching us practice! Those scumbags! But Tim didn't even notice, so technically it's not illegal. It's only illegal if the coach sees…" Ron said, rolling his eyes. "How ridiculous. When we tried to point it out to Tim, he'd look in the wrong directions and by the time he knew where they had been hiding, they had run: so there was no proof. Only what the players said. Tch. What a horrid law; only if the coach sees it…HAH!"
"I agree. That's a ridiculous law." Angela said. "But daddy…you're forgetting that if they didn't have that law then other could just lie and say they saw you and your buddies watching their whole practice, and you'd get in trouble when there is no real proof. However, the coach is trained not to be prejudice, and judged on it. Isn't there some kind of magical instrument…?"
"It's not magical, it's a muggle instrument, a pollagram," Ron said.
"That's a polygraph, honey." Hermione said.
"Oh, -er-, right." Ron said, blushing, and taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. "-So, the coaches are asked questions like, 'Would you cheat or lie about another team breaking a rule just to put your team above the rest, or get that team in trouble?' and it will see if the person is a good coach. That's why not many people are Quidditch coaches, because it's a very difficult test to pass. It's also known as the lie-detector, or something…" Ron said, informing everyone.
"That sounds interesting," Ginny said. "-Well, down at the café, Gerald keeps telling me that Falmouth Falcons played The Appleby Arrows the other day. That's my favorite team, you know." Ginny added. "-Anyway, Gerald said that the Appleby Arrows are constantly using the Wronski Feint, especially when they get hauled up in one corner by beaters. They're using it as a defensive move, so just know that when you play them next weekend…"
"Thanks, sis. That's good information that I'll be sure to tell the team about. Anyway, we're going to beat them for sure. We've been practicing like crazy, studying all their past moves, and studying our new ones. Tim's really is working us hard." Ron said proudly.
After they all finished their dinners, it was time for bed. Donnie, Angela, and Sabriel all went to bed thinking that in about 1 month they'd be in Hogwarts, their real home. Ginny, Hermione, and Ron were thinking that on that very same day, they'd be getting vital information that all of the 18 and older people of the wizarding community had to know.