Been too long… Sorry…
This chapter is compiled from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; chapter 9 'The Potions Master', chapter 10 'The Midnight Dual'
The letter is in bold text, the answers are in [bold text], direct quotes from Ms Rowling's books are in italics bold text, comments from the Potter gang are in [plain italics text] and words spoken and action taken by the Cullens are in plain text.
It should be noted at even if it is not in italics bold text that it did not come directly from the book or the movie even. Sometimes even what the Cullen say, I got from the book. In other words pretty much everything was inspired by the books or the movies.
Disclaimer: Ms Myers owns Edward and all, Ms Rowling owns Harry and his lot, I own the mistakes and God owns the glory.
Chapter 7 Page 4
Jacob took the paper that was in front of Nessie flipped it over. Not breaking with tradition, he too left it on the table.
"Oh, look!" cried Nessie pointing to the tree in front of her. Everyone, so intense on the letter, never noticed that the white owl had returned and was perch on a branch of the Japanese Maple.
"Wow that is one quiet bird." Jacob said, awed while the other nodded their agreement.
Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring. Harry wished they wouldn't, because he was trying to concentrate on finding his way to classes.
"He doesn't want to be stared at." Rosalie said faintly. Her brothers and sisters smirked while Emmett silently dared them to say something. None did.
There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts:
"How huge is this school?" Carlisle asked himself.
[Did you count them, Hermione? (Ron)] [No, course not, Ron. It's in – (Hermione)] [Hogwarts, A History! (Apparentlyeveryone)] wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot.
"Is this place alive?" Edward wondered.
"There should be a map of the place." Jasper said.
"Does sound as if the kids could get lost quite easily." Carlisle agreed.
The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other,
"The portraits can leave their paintings!" Alice cried.
and the coats of armor could walk.
"Probably."
The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"
"Why would they let him stay?" Esme wondered.
"There must be some lesson the kids learn dealing with him." Carlisle told her.
"Yeah, teach the kids young how to deal with an as…"
"Jacob!" Bella shouted.
"I expect your right." Carlisle added.
Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Harry and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. Filch found them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.
Filch owned a cat,
"A cat." growled the dog.
a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give the cat a good kick.
"I'll do it!" Jacob cried.
"Since when do you hate cats?" Bella asked amused.
"Oh, for about five years now."
And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words. They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout,
"Sprout!" Emmett laughed. "The teacher that teaches them about plants is called Sprout!"
where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. Easily the most boring class was History of Magic,
everyone looked at Carlisle, knowing he would not find this class boring.
which was the only one taught by a ghost.
In fact most of them wouldn't be if taught by a ghost,
Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on
but then again maybe they would.
while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.
The guys laughed while the ladies aww'ed.
Professor McGonagall was again different. Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class. She told us that transfiguration was a complex and dangerous magic
"Then aren't they a little young?" Esme worried.
and anyone messing around will leave and not be allowed back. Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time.
"Good." Esme said.
After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile.
The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire
The Cullens laughed. "Doesn't that means he doesn't know his subject matter?" Jasper pointed out.
"Hey, that's right!" Emmett agreed.
"Why would they have someone who didn't know his stuff – teach?" Edward asked.
"Good question." Jasper muttered.
he'd met in Romania
"Maybe he met the brothers." Carlisle explained. "That may be why he has false information about vampires. The Romanian brothers are responsible for a lot of the misinformation out there." Carlisle always wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt.
"Yes, but shouldn't he, being an expert, know the difference?" Edward asked him. Carlisle could help but agree.
and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather;
"He does seem to be relulent to share his experiences fully." Carlisle mused.
for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.
Harry was very relieved to find out that he wasn't miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like him, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start. [Oy! (Ron)]
"Why didn't the parents teach them?" Rosalie asked.
"I imagine that some did. But maybe learning magic before a certain age may not be safe. So parents restricted them." Carlisle speculated.
"Or maybe they just let them play at magic." Alice said. "I bet it strengthen as they age."
"And with learning." Carlisle agreed.
"It looks like they do most of their magic with a wand and they don't get their wands until age eleven." Jasper pointed out
"This Harry was doing magic without a wand." Jacob argued.
"They called that accidental magic…uncontrolled." Jasper said.
"They also said that the accidental magic he did was exceptional." Edward added. "So Harry must have a strong talent to begin with."
Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once. Friday was our first day of potion class [Yeah, and it had to be a double class. (Harry)] [With the Slytherins (Ron)]
"And with a teacher that hates Harry." Bella added.
Just then, the mail arrived. Harry had gotten used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps. Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls.
"Aww, his owl visited him." Nessie cooed, looking at the snow white owl resting in the tree. While the others wondered how the owl knew to visit.
This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Harry's plate.
"You know, I'd find that kinda gross, if I still ate food." Alice announced. Jasper looked questioningly at her. "Owl spit." She explained simply while the others laughed at her.
Harry tore it open at once. It was a note from Hagrid inviting him to tea later that afternoon. Harry scribbled 'yes, please.' on the back of the note and send it off with Hedwig. It was lucky that Harry had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to him so far. At the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Harry — he hated him.
"But why?" Nessie cried.
Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls. Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name. But unlike Flitwick he was not pleased to have Harry in his class. He called Harry 'our new celebrity' [Like I had been seeking frame at one and a half. (Harry)] Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels. He also had a first year beginning of the term speech.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word — like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
"Well, he had me until the dunderhead part." Edward said.
More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron looked at each other with their eyebrows raised, while I desperately wanted to prove I wasn't a dunderhead but right from the start it became clear Snape wasn't going to let us prove any such thing. He began to question Harry about his potion knowledge, about things that Harry couldn't have known even if he had read the whole potion book like I did. But that didn't stop him from taunting Harry about not opening a book before class [Which I did. (Harry)] He asked Harry what he would get if he added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood.
"Powdered root of what to an infusion of what?" Jacob asked looking to Carlisle but Carlisle looked as stumped as Jacob was.
Then he asked where one would look to find a bezoar. Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter. Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. He had looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect him to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi? Then asked what the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane.
"Probably nothing." Edward said.
Again Harry answered quietly that he didn't know just as he did for all the other questions but this time he added [I couldn't believe you lasted that long. I would have gotten mad and said something stupid after the second question. (Ron)] [Well, frankly I didn't think of it until Hermione stood up. (Harry)]
"What did he say!" Emmett wanted to know.
'I think Hermione does though, why don't you try her.' A few people laughed, Seamus winked at Harry but Snape was not happy. He snapped at me to sit down, then he answered each question himself – asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. He took a point from Gryffindor House for Harry's cheek
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
"Oh, that poor boy." Esme cried.
Snape called him an idiot boy and cleared the spilled potion with a wave of his wand. Neville had added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire. Snape send Neville to the hospital then rounded on Harry asking him why he didn't stop Neville, saying Harry must have wanted to make himself look good by letting Neville get wrong and then he took another point from Gryffindor.
"What?" shouted several vampires around the table.
"That is totally unfair." Edward continued. "Harry is to do his own work and watch out for his classmate's work too?"
This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron. And warned him that Snape would use anything to give him detention.
"That sounds too true." Edward agreed.
As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. He'd lost two points for Gryffindor in his very first week —why did Snape hate him so much?
"Why does this man seem to hate Harry so much?" Esme worried.
"He's evil." Rosalie spat.
"While I agree that he seems that way, there has to be more to it." Carlisle said.
"Yeah, it only seems to be only Harry that he picking on." Edward said.
"Maybe he's jealous of the frame he sneers at." Emmett suggested.
"That could be it." Edward agreed. "But I bet there more to it."
"Isn't there always more to it?" Bella asked.
Ron told Harry to cheer up for Snape was always taking points off Fred and George. He also invited himself along to Hagrid's. [Oy! I asked if I could go! (Ron)] At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang —back." Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open. He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. Hagrid welcomed them then let go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.
"Yeah, but I bet for few seconds there Ron was scared shi…"
"Emmett!" both Bella and Esme yelled.
[You know, I thought there for a second that Fang was bounding over to eat me. (Ron)] [Well, he did lick you. Maybe you don't taste good. (Harry)] [He tastes just fine. (Hermione)]
"Oh, my gosh." whispered Bella. Emmett roared with laughter. Rosalie, Alice and Jasper were controlling themselves but barely.
"What?" Nessie asked, causing Bella to throw Edward a panic look.
"I'll explain it to you when you're older." Jacob told her.
"Another one for when I'm older?"
"Yes."
"How old?'
"Six." Jacob told her.
"Six and a half." Bella said at the same time Edward said "Six and three quarters"
"Seven eights." Rosalie added.
"Older." Nessie sighed.
[Hermione, little ears. (Ginny)] [What? – oh my gosh – I didn't mean – truly I didn't mean it that way. (Hermione)] [It's o.k. (Ron)] [Oh, Ron. What are they going to think? (Hermione)] [That you love me. (Ron)] [Huh? (Harry)] [Well, she defended me without thinking and you know Hermione – she is almost always thinking so – (Ron)] [So I open my mouth and stupid stuff comes out when I think of you? (Hermione)] [Right. (Ron)]
Harry introduced Ron to Hagrid and Hagrid told him how he spent half his life chasing his twin brothers away from the forest. [More like warning me not to do the same. (Ron)] [Didn't take. Did it? (Harry)] [Nope. (Ron)] He served rock cakes with the tea, the cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes. Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git." He told them that he would like to introduce Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris to Fang [Like Mrs. Norris couldn't take Fang (Ron)] because she followed him everywhere he goes to the castle. He was sure Filch put her up to it.
Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students. Harry told him how it seemed that Snape really hated him but Hagrid disagreed, asking why should he.
"That's what I want to know." Edward said.
Yet Harry couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet his eyes when he said that and Hagrid changed the subject by asking Ron about his brother Charlie.Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet. It was about a break-in at Gringotts. How it had happen on July 31 but nothing had been taken because that vault had been emptied that same day. But they were not going tell what had been in it, so they should keep their nose out of it if they knew what good for them.
"Wow, these goblins are so polite." Nessie said.
"Isn't July 31st the day Harry was there?" Jasper asked.
Harry remembered Ron telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date. Harry realized that it happen on his birthday and told Hagrid that it could have been happening while they were there.
"Not while they were there but probably right after." Jasper spoke.
"You think it was the vault Hagrid empty too then." Edward asked him
"Yes, I do." Jasper answered.
There was no doubt about it; Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes this time. He grunted and offered him another rock cake. Harry read the story again. Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?
"And Harry thought so too." Jasper added.
As Harry and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, [What did you do with them? (Hermione)] [I know I used one for a paper weight the entire time I was at Hogwarts. (Ron)] [That's disgusting. (Hermione)] [Why? It didn't even mold. (Ron)] [Hey! I dusted that! (Ginny)] Harry thought that none of the lessons he'd had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?
"So Hagrid knows why Snape hates Harry." Esme said.
"Yes, it would seem so." Carlisle agreed with her.
"But why wouldn't he tell Harry why?"
"Maybe he felt the reason would upset Harry more."
Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy. Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday — and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.
"They're teaching them to fly a broom!" Emmett shouted.
"Of course, what did you expect they are witches after all?" Rosalie asked, puzzled
"I know, but it sounded stereotypical, I was a bit surprised." Emmett laughed.
"I bet Harry's a natural." Rosalie said, proudly.
Harry was worried about making a fool of himself in front of Malfoy but Ron told him that he didn't know if he would or not as Malfoy went on about how good he was at Quidditch but Ron bet it was all talk. He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.
Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters.
"Oh, I'm sure!" Bella huffed.
He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom.
"Wouldn't he have been in trouble for that?" Edward asked
"Maybe he did get in trouble." said Esme.
"Yeah, he's not going to mention that part." Edward agreed, amused.
Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about soccer. [Now? (Ron)] [Soon. (Hermione)]Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball
"So there is more than one ball." Jasper mused.
"How many more, I wonder." Emmett said.
"We'll know soon." Edward told them.
"I also wonder if she is delaying telling to play her husband or us." Emmett said.
"Either one, it's working." Edward said.
"Uh huh, evil." Emmett muttered.
where no one was allowed to fly. Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham soccer team, trying to make the players move. Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life,
"Isn't he from a family of wizards?" Bella asked.
because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Harry felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.
"Maybe it's a good thing then." Rosalie agreed with Neville's grandmother if he had a lot of accidents on the ground maybe being in the air with only a broom stick holding him up wasn't a good idea.
Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book — not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called Quidditch Through the Ages. [You thought the tips were stupid? (Ginny)] [Well, yeah. (Ron)][Kind of. (Harry)] [Why did you listen then? (Hermione)]Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail. Harry hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course. Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table. [I wonder if mommy dearest made those sweets herself or if she brought them. (Ginny)][Of course not! Dobby did them. (Hermione)] [Made them, packaged them, put them on an owl and send it on its way. (Harry)] [True, he probably even thought of doing it himself. (Hermione)]
"Who is Dobby?" Alice asked.
"Probably their servant." Edward told her offhand.
"Yeah, but how would he know the name of Malfoy's servant?"
"Maybe they're friends now." Bella suggested.
"Nah!" most of her siblings disagreed.
"With the git?" her daughter asked her shocked.
"Well, maybe not." laughed Bella.
A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke. It was a Remembrall, it turns red when you've forgotten something.
"What good is that? It would be red all the time." Rosalie explained her reasoning. "Humans are always forgetting something."
And soon as Neville picked it up it turned red. Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand. Harry and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash. She was told by Neville that Malfoy had taken his Remembrall.Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table. Just looking he told her.
At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left. Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk. She barked at us to step up to a broom, stick out our right hand and say 'UP', so we did.
"Then what happen?" Emmett asked, excited.
Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but it was one of the few that did. Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground. [What did yours do, Ron? (Ginny)] [Shut up, Harry (Ron)] [It – ha – swung up and bopped him in the nose than lay flat again. (Harry)]Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.
"Gleesh, there even a correct way to hold on to a broom?" Emmett laughed. "They have to teach them everything."
We were to kick off from the ground hard, keeping our brooms steady, rise a few feet then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly but
"Oh dear, what happen?" Esme worried about these kids now just as she worried about her own.
Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips and was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle — twelve feet — twenty feet, his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, he gasp, slip sideways off the broom and — WHAM — a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay face down on the grass in a heap.
"Oh, that poor boy!" Esme cried. "And don't any of you laugh!" She glared at each of her children. She saw a lot of bright eyes but each one either had their lips pressed tightly together or had bitten their lip to stop the laughter from escaping.
His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.
"So a broom can fly without a rider." Carlisle mused. "I wonder if a non-magic creature can fly one?"
[A magical present must be in contact with the broom to begin a flight and to control the direction and speed of the broom.]
Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his. He had broken his wrist. She told us that we are not to move until she got back or we would be out of Hogwarts before any of us could say 'Quidditch'. Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him. No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter. The other Slytherins joined in. Most of Gryffindors tried to stick up for Neville but were teased for their effort. Malfoy had found Neville's Remembrall where it had fallen out his pocket onto the grass. It glittered in the sun
"Like us!"
As he held it up. Everyone stopped talking when Harry told Malfoy quietly to give it to him. Malfoy refused
"Of course." Rosalie sneered.
and smiled nastily. Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He planned to leave the Remembrall in a tree for Neville to find. He wasn't lying by the way he could fly well. Hovering near the top most branches of an oak he taunted Harry to come and get it. Harry grabbed his broom. Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him — and in a rush of fierce joy he realized he'd found something he could do without being taught — this was easy, this was wonderful.
"I knew he would be a good flyer!" Edward cheered.
He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron. He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned. [Yeah, Malfoy knew you had never been on a broom before. He didn't expect you to get off the ground, let alone fly well. (Ron)] Harry told him to give it to him or he would knock Malfoy off his broom. Malfoy tried not to but he did look worried. Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping. [No Crabbe or Goyle up there to save him I told him. (Harry)] [Oh, I'm sure the same thought struck him. (Ron)] Shouting to catch it if he can, he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground. Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down — next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball — wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching — he stretched out his hand — a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.
The people around the table cheered.
That was when we heard the shout and realize Professor McGonagall was running toward us shouting Harry's name and how never in all her time at Hogwarts – but we didn't find out what because she couldn't seem to find the words. His heart sank faster than he'd just dived. He got to his feet, trembling. Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously. We tried to defend Harry, explain what Malfoy had done but she wouldn't let us, just told Harry to follow her.
"She's not going to punish him is she?" Esme asked, worried.
"He was helping a friend, he wouldn't have been punished for that." Carlisle gave her a reassuring smile and patted her hand. He didn't think this was leading to punishment but he didn't know what it was leading to.
Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle. He was going to be expelled, he just knew it.
"They wouldn't expel him." Carlisle told Esme before she could voice her concerns.
He wanted to say something to defend himself, but there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at him; he had to jog to keep up. Now he'd done it. He hadn't even lasted two weeks. He'd be packing his bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when he turned up on the doorstep? [What you doing here, boy? (Ron)] [Kicked you out of that freak school, boy. (Hermione)] [Welcome home, Harry. We missed – Nah. (Ginny)] Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to him. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her. Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore. He thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant. His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron and the others becoming wizards, while he stumped around the grounds carrying Hagrid's bag.
"Boy, he sure is pessimistic, isn't he?" Emmett laughed.
Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside. There she asked if she could borrow Wood for a moment and Harry wondered if Wood was a cane she was going to use on him.
"What! She is not – "Esme began outraged.
"No, no." Carlisle interrupted. "I'm sure they don't beat the children there."
"Especially," Emmett added, "when most could curse you back."
"Yes, there is that too." Carlisle agreed.
"Wood is capitalize, so it probably someone's name." Jacob spoke, suddenly.
"What?" Emmett asked.
"She capitalized the 'W' both times she wrote it, so it's probably a name." he explained. "yup, he is." And continued to read before anyone could speak.
But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry. Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard. "Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys. She introduced Oliver Wood to Harry, and then told Oliver that she had found him a Seeker.Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight. She told him how Harry was a natural, how this was Harry's first time on a broom and that he had caught the thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive. Harry didn't have a clue what was going on, but he didn't seem to be being expelled, and some of the feeling started coming back to his legs. [Told me that Charlie couldn't have done it (Harry)] [That's true. (Ginny)] [I don't know, Ginny. Charlie was a great player, he could have played for England. (Ron)] [But your brother wanted to chase dragons instead of golden stitches. (Harry)]
"What?" Emmett asked confused.
[Will you please stop giving them clues about what Quidditch is about! (Hermione)] [Well, when are…(Harry)] [I said SOON! (Hermione)] Wood asked Harry if he had ever seen a game and McGonagall explained that Wood was the captain of the Gryffindor team. They discussed how Harry was build for a seeker, small and light. They would [Oy! Light and speedy! (Harry)] need to get him a decent broom and the need to bend the first year rule about how they would not allowed a broom. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks…"
Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry. And told him she wanted to hear that he was training hard or she may punish after all for flying in the first place. Then she smiled at him [She smiled at you?(Ron)][Yeah?(Harry)] [Blimey, I don't think she ever once smiled at me. (Ron)] and told him how his father would have been proud and that he had been an excellent Quidditch player himself. We were shocked at dinner when Harry explained what Professor McGonagall did when she pulled him in from the grounds. Ron was so surprise that the piece of steak and kidney pie was left half way to his mouth, he had forgotten it. [That's more of a shock than Harry making the team in his first year. (Ginny)] [What? (Ron)] [You forgetting food. (Ginny)] Harry was the youngest house player in about a century. Harry started training the following week. They were hoping to keep it a secret. Fred and George Weasley came by to congratulate him and to tell him they also were on the team, beaters.
"And what are beaters?" Emmett asked, frustrated.
[And who is doing the teasing now?(Ron)] telling Harry that we were sure to win the Quidditch cup this year. Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy was asking if Harry was having a last meal before getting the train back to the muggles. Harry told him he was a lot braver now he was back on the ground with his little friends at his side. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl. Malfoy told him that he could take Harry anytime on his own. So he challenged Harry to a Wizard's duel, and then taunted him about not knowing what it was. Ron butted in saying that he was going to be Harry's second and asking who was his. After sizing up Crabbe and Goyle, he chose Crabbe and they decided to meet at midnight in the trophy room for that room was always left unlocked. Harry, of course, did not know what a Wizard's duel was and Ron had to explain what it was and that a second took over incase his wizard die.
"What?" moaned Esme. "Children shouldn't…"
"I'm sure at this point the most they could do to each other is knock the other down at the most." Carlisle gently reassured her.
At the look on Harry's face, he quickly reassured Harry that people only die in proper duels and the most they could do was send sparks at each other.
Esme sighed in relief while Carlisle thought to himself that he had to lower his conviction of how powerful wizards really were
Harry asked what if he waved his wand and nothing happens?
"Toss it aside and punch him in the nose." Emmett suggested.
"Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested. That's when I entered the conversation and Ron [Was his usual nasty self. (Ron)] [Ron, it doesn't matter. It was before we were friends. (Hermione)] [it's does matter because what if – what if because of my attitude – we never became friends! I never would have gotten the best thing in my life. (Ron)] [Oh, Ron. (Hermione)]
"I think you can stop worrying about their marriage, Esme." Alice told her, smiling. "He knows a good thing when he gets it." Esme smiled back at her. Yes she agreed. That boy may bicker with his wife but he was never going to let her get away.
[Oy! Writing a letter here! (Harry)]
Everyone laughed.
Ron was his usual rude self. [Oy! (Ron)] [Sorry, couldn't resist. (Hermione)] I reminded them that they mustn't go wandering around the school at night, and to think of the points they would lose Gryffindor when they were caught.
"It's really none of her business." Emmett said.
"But she was looking out for them." Esme defended Hermione.
"She wasn't their friend yet." Emmett argued back. "She was just sticking her nose where it didn't belong."
"They were being selfish not thinking of their house." Esme fired back.
There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, and Harry felt he was pushing his luck, breaking another school rule today. On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness — this was his big chance to beat Malfoy face-to-face. He couldn't miss it. At half-past eleven, they pulled on their bathrobes, picked up their wands, and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, telling them that I couldn't believe that they were going to do this. I was going to go to tell Percy but
"Percy the Prefect." Emmett muttered. "Tattletale."
"Emmett!" Esme cried. "She was only eleven, alone to deal with this and she was right!"
I didn't. I hoped to stop them myself. Something didn't feel right about this. [What? Why didn't you say so at the time? (Ron)] [I didn't know what was bothering me and I – (Hermione)] [You didn't say anything until you had all the facts. (Ron)] [Well, yeah. (Hermione)] [Saved a lot of time when you dropped that habit. (Ron)] [You wouldn't have listened to my vague feelings then. (Hermione)] [No, probably not. (Harry)] Harry just ignore me and pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole. But I wasn't going to give up that easily and followed Ron through the portrait hole [Hissing at us like an angry goose. (Harry)] [Oy! (Hermione)] I didn't want Slytherin to win the house cup and I was sure they would lose all the points I earned from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells. When I realize they were not going to listen, I turned to go back inside but the portrait of the Fat Lady had gone on a night time visit and I was locked out.
"Wait," Edward said, puzzled. "The portrait had gone visiting?"
"Yeah, that's what it said." Jacob told him, rereading the last line.
"The painting can leave their canvases?" Jasper exclaimed.
"I wonder how far they could travel." Carlisle said. Another thing for Carlisle to explore but this one had caught everyone interest. The paintings were alive, well almost.
What am I going to do now I asked them and Ron told me that was my problem [BoyI was a complete prat. Wasn't I(Ron)] so I told him that I was going with them and when we got caught out they could explain that I got locked out while trying to stop them leaving. So of course Ron and I began to argue until Harry told us to shut up because he had heard something. We thought it must be Mrs. Norris.
"Who is Mrs. Norris?" Bella asked.
[Mrs. Norris is Mr. Flinch's, the Hogwarts's caretaker, cat]
"Cat?" asked Emmett.
"They're worried about being caught out by a cat?" Edward wanted to know.
"You know," Jasper began. "I'm not sure but wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of link between them."
"So the cat is his spy." Edward said.
"It's like this Filch can be in two places at once." Emmett said.
It wasn't Mrs. Norris. It was Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer. He had been out there for hours because he had trouble remembering the pass word to open the portrait door. Ron told him the password but that he would have to wait for the Fat Lady to get back.
"You know that kinda rude." Bella said.
"What?" Jacob asked her.
"Calling the painting the fat lady instead of using a name."
"It's probably the title of the painting." Jacob said. "Fat Lady is capitalized like a name.
"Like wood was." Emmett said.
Harry asked how his arm was and Neville told him that Madam Pomfrey mended it I about a minute. Harry was going to leave him there but Neville didn't want to be left alone, the Bloody Baron had been past twice already. Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville. And threaten us with curse of the bogies Quirrell told us about, if we got caught, after he learned it of course. [Which I never did. (Ron)] [I did. (Ginny)] [I know. (Ron)] I was going to tell that I already knew the curse but I wasn't telling him when Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward. They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room. Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet.
"It's a trap." Jasper announced
"You really think so?" Edward asked him. Jasper just nodded.
"That shows that Malfoy's true colors." Rosalie added.
The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once.
"It's a good idea to be prepared for anything." Jasper approved.
The minutes crept by. Ron thought that maybe Malfoy had chickened out. Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak — and it wasn't Malfoy. It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room muttering that they were probably hiding.
"You were right." Edward agreed with Jasper "They were set up."
"For what reason?" Jasper wondered.
"Could they be expelled for being out this late?" Emmett asked.
"Maybe," Jasper said, "but they would lose many points in any case."
"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor. The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.
"Oh, dear." Esme worried.
"RUN!" Harry yelled, and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following — they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going — they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room. We lost him or so we thought. I told them that they could have gotten into trouble and how I believed that Malfoy tricked them and that he never was going to meet them. [I thought she was probably right, but I wasn't going to tell her that.(Harry)] It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them. It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight. We begged that he not give us away but Peeves cackled and taunted us with how he should tell on us because Ickle Firsties should not be wandering around at midnight, being naughty we were. Ron last his patience and snapped but taking a swipe at Peeves this was a big mistake.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"
Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door — and it was locked. Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door, that we were done for.
"He needs to move over and let Hermione get to the door." Jasper said.
They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves's shouts. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!"
"Didn't the wand maker say that a witch wouldn't get good results using someone else's wand?" Edward asked.
"She must be a powerful witch too." Carlisle agreed.
The lock clicked and the door swung open — they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening. Filch tried to get peeves to tell him which way we went. But Peeves loves to mess with Filch more than he loves to mess with students. He wanted Filch to say please but Filch didn't want to."Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.
Emmett snorted but said nothing when the others looked at him questioningly. Jacob went back to reading after shaking his head at him.
Filch finally told him please. "NOTHING! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please" Peeves laughed.
So did the Cullens.
And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage. While we listen at the door waiting for them to leave, except for Neville he was tugging on the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe for the last minute. Harry turned around — and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare — this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far.
"Oh my God, they are in the third floor corridor aren't they?" Esme cried.
They weren't in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden. They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads.
"Three heads!" most cried. Bella thought another myth bites the dust. She didn't really understand why she continue to be surprised by each new creature, after all here she was a vampire, in a family of vampires, with a best friend who was a werewolf, reading a letter, a magical letter, from a witch that she and her vampire husband and her half vampire and half human daughter had met earlier in the year on a London street in front of a bar only the mystical could see – but a three headed dog!
Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs. It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant. Harry groped for the doorknob — between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.
"Yeah, me too." Emmett agreed.
They fell backward — Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared — all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor. The Fat Lady wanted to know where we had been but we just wanted to get into the tower. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs. It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again. [I couldn't believe, still can't what they thought they were doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school. If any dog needs exercise, that one does. (Ron)] I got my breath back and my temper and yell at them about what that dog was standing on. Harry told me he was too busy with its heads to look at the floor. I told him that it was standing on a trap door. That it was obviously guarding something. I told them as I glared at them that I hoped they were pleased with themselves because we could have been killed or worse expelled.
"This girl needs to get her priorities straight." Emmett laughed.
And I went to bed. Ron stared after me with his mouth open [He still does that. (Harry)] and told Harry that you'd think they dragged me along.But Hermione had given Harry something else to think about as he climbed back into bed. The dog was guarding something… What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide — except perhaps Hogwarts.
It looked as though Harry had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.
"Now all we need to know is what is in that grubby little package." Edward said.
a/n: I have no excuse for not updating but I hope you forgive me.
