Chapter 7: The First Match
Clara's success in Charms Club and Antigone's position on the house quidditch team briefly made the pair famous in the following weeks. While Antigone basked in the attention (she particularly enjoyed the glares she received from her Slytherin relatives), Clara felt undeserving of the praise she was given. Her momentary achievement with the Glowing Charm could have easily belonged to anyone else, and it wasn't as though she had accomplished something other wizards before her had not.
The week following the first Charms Club meeting, Clara was stopped in the Great Hall by Rose, who told her how impressed she was with her adeptness at Charms.
"I can see why you're a Ravenclaw now," Rose had said with a wink, before tugging on Clara's blonde hair, "But seriously, little light, from what I hear, that's a charm most seventh years struggle with. Mum and Dad are going to be so proud."
"Oh Rose, don't tell them, please," Clara begged, "I don't want them to have high expectations. It's only the first month of school. I could be, um, a one-hit wonder or whatever they call it…"
"I rather doubt that, but if you'd prefer it, I won't tell them," Rose told her to her relief.
Flitwick had not been so discreet, however, and excitedly persuaded Clara to demonstrate the Glowing Charm in their Charms Class. She felt as though her cheeks were glowing as brightly as her charmed pencil case.
She was very relieved, therefore, when the week of the first quidditch match rolled around and the attention of nearly every Ravenclaw was focused on their superb new Quidditch team. Those who had seen the group practice spoke of how remarkable they seemed to be flying this year. In the first match against Hufflepuff they were the heavy favorite, though this fact did little to quell Antigone's growing nerves.
The morning of the match Antigone was as flighty as a parakeet, jumping at every sudden clang of the breakfast dishes in the Great Hall. When Whitney asked her to pass the waffles she broke into a panic and claimed she didn't have the quaffle and she had not realized it was her job to bring it to the match.
While Clara tried to keep her friend calm by distracting her with slightly exaggerated stories her sister had told about the books in the library's restricted section, she became distracted herself when a small owl fluttered down on her plate during the Owl Post.
"Pigetta!" she exclaimed, reaching out to let the tiny owl hop into her palm so she could untie the letter from her leg. She had sent Antigone's owl, Tori, when she had sent her parents letters in the past so she was surprised to see her family's small owl.
"Excuse me, what did you call that owl?" J.R. asked, having just choked on his eggs at her outburst.
"Oh, right," Clara blushed briefly, "She's my parent's owl, my dad named her after his first one, Pigwidgeon, who was also this size. Don't ask me why, I have no idea."
Her friends laughed, but J.R. said smiling, "Far be it from me to question a member of the Trio."
Clara blushed again, but was too curious about her letter to care too much. She gave Pigetta a pat and proceeded to open the envelope.
Clara,
I hope classes have been going well, we haven't heard from you in a week or so, so Dad is beginning to worry. I'm writing to let you know that your father and I, along with Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry, will be visiting Hogwarts the weekend of Halloween, which is also the weekend of Rose and Hugo's quidditch match. We are meeting with the Headmistress but will be sure to set aside a large part of our day to visit with you and your friends, if you'd like us to that is. Enjoy your weekend, Dad says to be sure to tell you that he hopes Ravenclaw wins the match today.
Love,
Mum
Clara could not believe that so much time had passed since she had written her parents. She had been so caught up in her lessons and dodging the attention she had earned from her success in Charms Club that she had forgotten to send them any news. Halloween weekend was two weeks away, and she was suddenly elated at the thought of seeing her parents so much earlier than the Christmas holidays.
"Is your family well?" Antigone asked in a much higher pitch than usual. Clara had nearly forgotten about her nerve-wracked friend.
"Very well, they're coming for a visit in a couple weeks actually! I can't wait for you to meet them," Clara said, and Antigone's anguished grimace returned.
"I don't know if they'd want to meet me, I'm a Malfoy."
"Don't be silly! They're not prejudiced," Clara assured her, knowing her mother would not make a liar out of her but hoping sincerely that her father could look past his old rivalries if he were to meet Antigone.
"Will you walk down to the pitch with me? I want to get there early so I can check my broom," Antigone said as they rose from the breakfast table.
"Sure, I need to be early to save seats for J.R. and Lydia as well," Clara hazily remembered her friends mentioning needing to run up to the tower to get their scarves and asking her to save seats for them while she had been reading her parents' letter.
Clara and Antigone exited the Great Hall to a nearly empty entrance chamber. The only other student was a tall boy, most likely fourth or fifth year, wearing a Ravenclaw blue jumper. Despite this, however, Clara could not remember having ever seen him in the common room or at meals. She decided quickly that he must be a Gryffindor supporting Ravenclaw.
"Headed to the pitch?" He suddenly asked them as they neared the front door, "Do you not know the short cut yet?"
"Short cut? I've been going to the pitch for nearly a month now and I didn't know there was a short cut!" Antigone said, her anxiety now mixing with frustration and creating a desperate squawk at the end of her exclamation.
"No worries, you're lucky I'm pulling for Ravenclaw," The dark haired boy smiled – a smile that seemed oddly out of place – and gestured toward the staircases, "Take the passage behind Anne Boleyn's portrait, you'll be there in no time."
"Thanks!" Antigone called as she dragged Clara toward the staircase to the first floor. Anne Boleyn's dark portrait hung at the top and the brief queen stared at them dispassionately.
"He didn't tell us the password," Clara recollected, starting to feel doubtful. The silent, raven-haired queen did nothing to help this feeling as she practically glared down at them.
"Um, hi," Antigone began quickly, speaking to the portrait, "Would you mind letting us through? We were told you are a shortcut."
"Poor choice of words," Clara mumbled under her breath, rubbing her neck. To her great surprise, however, Anne Boleyn's portrait swung forward to reveal a narrow stone passageway.
Before Clara could protest, Antigone was pulling her along into the increasingly dark passage. Clara drew her wand and said 'Lumos', igniting the tip so they could see where they were going.
"I hope I get there in time to wax my broom handle," Antigone muttered, picking up her pace slightly.
They made two turns but never descended or felt the tunnel decline, as it should have towards the pitch. Clara felt herself growing as frantic as her friend, not to reach the quidditch pitch but to simply get out of the dark, winding passage.
"Antigone," Clara said, trying to keep her voice calm after their fifth turn, "Maybe we should go back. I don't think this is the right way…"
"Your friend is pretty smart, Persephone," His voice came from just ahead of Clara's light. While Clara froze in fear, Antigone's expression changed from one of anxiety to one of deep anger.
"You are the lowest Scorpius!" Antigone growled in rage at her brother, "You just can not stand that I am flying for Ravenclaw today! I should have known you would pull something like this. Come on Clara, we need to hurry…"
Antigone turned on her heel and made to run back in the direction they had come from, but Scorpius was not finished.
"Not so fast, sis."
Before either of them could take another step Scorpius had shouted 'Pertrificus Totalus!' and both Clara and Antigone felt their legs and arms snap to their bodies before they fell back on the hard stone floor. As the stars cleared from Clara's eyes she saw Scorpius bend down over each of them and take their wands with a sneer.
"Good luck getting to that match now. And don't bother turning me in, I'll have hidden the evidence by the time you come round," Scorpius laughed, flipping Clara's wand in his fingers. As he turned abruptly and walked back up the passageway, Clara was gripped with panic. It was not the increasing darkness or paralyzing effect of Scorpius' spell that frightened her however, it was the abduction of her wand. She felt an almost physical detachment as soon as he had taken it, and continued to feel a foreign connection to it that unnerved her.
Shallow, terrified breaths came from somewhere near Clara's right shoulder. She knew the fear Antigone had felt before was nothing compared to what they were both facing now. The darkness of the passageway was starting to feel suffocating, and the only sound was that of their short bursts of breath.
Clara started to lose track of the time they laid there in frozen silence. She tried to remember if they had ever learned how long the effects of Petrificus Totalus lasted. Though she could not close her eyes, the darkness made it seem as though she had already done so. Her mind began to wander and she was suddenly whisked into a strange vision.
It was as though she was walking down the front steps of Hogwarts towards the grounds. She couldn't see where she was, however, but she could feel it. Somehow she knew exactly where her 'vision' was taking her. The warmth of the sun was so distinct that she could almost see it's light.
Then it dawned on her. She was seeing light, but it wasn't the sun. The darkness of the narrow corridor was steadily growing brighter. Beside her, Antigone gave a short gasp, as they both realized someone was coming for them.
"Clara?" A familiar voice called. Their rescuer was nearly upon them. Clara felt the light of the wand fall upon them before she heard her cousin gasp.
"Oh! Clara!" Lily Potter exclaimed, hurrying to kneel over them. She flicked her wand and muttered, "Ennervate, enervate."
"Lily!" Clara choked out as she sat up, immediately embracing the older girl, "How did you find us?"
"My dad's old map," she replied quickly, glancing at Antigone. Clara knew the one she was referring to, it showed the location of anyone in Hogwarts and its existence was not known to anyone outside of their family.
"Has the match already started?" Antigone asked frantically, not questioning Lily's response about the map.
"No, I don't think so," Lily replied, "Everyone was just going down when I… when I found you."
"I better hurry," she said, brushing off her quidditch robes and setting off back up the passage, "Thank you Lily!"
Clara and Lily followed her back through the dim corridor. Antigone did not have a wand to light her way back, but Clara was sure the darkness didn't faze her as she hurried to make it to her first match. Her footsteps ahead of them grew fainter and fainter.
"She's pretty nice for a Malfoy," Lily commented when they could no longer hear her footsteps.
"How did you know to look for us on the map?" Clara asked her cousin now that they were alone. They were nearly to the portrait entrance, but Clara could not hear the bustle of students on the other side and deduced that everyone must be at the pitch.
Lily blushed a Weasley blush before responding.
"Well, Rose and I have been… curious… about how you've been since sorting," Lily replied, and rushed her next comment to assure Clara, "Not because we don't think you like Ravenclaw, but just because we want to be sure you're alright. We hardly check the map anymore; we know you have a good group of friends, Malfoy included. Still can't believe she's a Ravenclaw though."
"Kind of like a Weasley being a Ravenclaw, huh?" Clara raised an eyebrow at her cousin, who smiled sheepishly, "And I can't complain about you checking up on me, if you hadn't been then Antigone and I would still be frozen back there in that dark tunnel."
Lily walked with Clara the whole way to the pitch, where the match had just started. Clara said goodbye to her cousin in the stands and hurried to find J.R. She could see Antigone had made it and was streaking brilliantly past the stands with the quaffle in her hand. She noticed the scoreboard already read 30-0 in favor of Ravenclaw.
"Where have you been?" J.R. asked as soon as she reached him.
"We got held up," She replied, "I'll tell you after the match."
As they cheered on Ravenclaw, Clara couldn't help but feel like she was not fully present, a part of her continued to pull her in the direction of the forest, urging her to seek something out. She could not put a name to the feeling, but she knew that if she did not pursue it then she would suffer consequences.
"Wow! Antigone is flying great!" J.R. commented at one point. Clara realized she had not been watching the match for quite a long time, as the score was now Ravenclaw 140, Hufflepuff 30.
"Yes, excellent, is that her second goal now?" Clara asked, trying to keep her voice casual. J.R. looked at her in surprise. She could tell by the way his eyebrows knitted together that he was trying to figure out what was wrong with her.
"Are you alright, Clara?" He asked quietly, "What really held you and Antigone up?"
Clara knew she should tell him, it wasn't the confrontation with Scorpius that was really troubling her anyway. It was this uncontrollable desire to seek something out in the forest.
"Well Scorpius tricked us and sent us down a fake shortcut," She explained quickly, "He petrificused us and took our wands…"
A sudden realization struck Clara. Scorpius had told them he was going to hide their wands so they could not pin the attack on him. That was what was calling to her, her wand!
"Hello! Clara?!" J.R. shook her shoulder gently, mounting fear visible in his eyes, "You just stop after telling me Malfoy attacked you and took your wand?! What happened, did he hurt you or Antigone?"
"Oh! No, sorry, I just realized why I've been so distracted is all," Clara said quickly, touched by his concern, "my cousin Lily found us and we're fine. But he hid our wands. I think I know where."
"How do you know?" He asked. Clara bit her lip, realized just how strange, even in the magical world, it was to admit you could sense something.
"I, well, I just have this feeling."
