Slytherin v Gryffindor
David went up to the Hospital Wing every day as the Gryffindor Quidditch team tryouts approached, asking for permission to fly again. He was anxious about whether he would be able to try out for his usual seeker position. Madam Pomfrey dropped several hints about her office being a confidential environment and David realised that she wanted to talk with him, so on the second day he gave himself a mental shake and approached her office.
"Potter," said Madam Pomfrey. "Come in." She waved him into an arm chair and sat down opposite. "You are here about your heritage," she said. "What would you like to know?"
"I was actually wondering why you kept quiet about it, Madam," said David.
"It is nobody's business but your own. I do not break confidentiality," said Madam Pomfrey stiffly. She softened slightly and said. "I found out when I healed you in your first year, that is why I kept you here rather than sending you to St Mungo's. I assumed there was a good reason for your nature not to be public. Unsure of who was 'in the know' I have not shared my knowledge with anyone. Nor will I."
"Thank you," said David. "I have been told that it's dangerous for anyone to know until I come of age."
Madam Pomfrey looked at him for a long while.
"Does anyone know, Potter? Do you have someone to help you develop your own magic and deal with the mental strain of keep this secret?"
"Yes," said David. "But their name or names are not by secret to tell."
"That's enough for me," she said. "I will help you as I may, but I suggest you try to stay out of trouble and away from the prospect of going to St Mungo's."
Madam Pomfrey finally passed David fit the day before the tryouts. After days of needing a stick to walk it was freeing to fly on a broomstick. David was confirmed as the Gryffindor seeker. The team were determined to win this year. It was their captain, Oliver Wood's, last year at Hogwarts, his last chance to win the cup. The team practiced three times a week, regardless of the weather. One evening they returned to the common room to find the occupants in a state of excitement. The first Hogsmead trip had been announced. It was scheduled for Halloween. David sat down dejectedly as all around him students were talking excitedly about the village.
Ron's rat, Scabbers, came running into the common room, down from the boys' dormitory with Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, in hot pursuit. Ron caught up the rat and held it to his chest. He kicked out at Crookshanks.
"Stop it!" shouted Hermione, picking up Crookshanks and cradling him to her chest.
"That cat's got it in for Scabbers!" said Ron. "Scabbers was here first, he's ill and he needs to be left alone by flea-bitten old moggies." Before Hermione could reply, Ron had stalked off to the boys' dormitory taking the quivering rat with him.
Ron egged on David to try to get special permission to go to Hogsmead. Hermione assumed a superior air, making it quite clear that she did not think that David should visit the village. Unfortunately Professor McGonagall agreed with Hermione and would not budge on the matter. On Halloween morning David saw his friends out of the castle and then turned back, wondering what to do while they were gone. He started walking aimlessly, thinking about the differences between Zia and wizard magic. A voice from one of the rooms he had passed called out "Harry?"
David walked back to see who had spoken and met Professor Lupin peering around his office door. "What are you doing?" asked Lupin. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"
"Hogsmead."
"Ah, why don't you come in for a cup of tea?" suggested Lupin.
"Alright, thanks," replied David awkwardly. As he entered the office David spotted a large tank of water with a Grindylow in it. He stood in front of the tank and was pleased when the Grindylow stopped pulling faces and made him a small bow. David turned around to notice Professor Lupin watching him curiously. The kettle began to whistle and Lupin produced a box of tea bags and a couple of mugs.
"Do sit down," said Lupin. "I've only got tea bags but from what I hear you'll be glad not to see any more tealeaves!" Lupin's eyes were twinkling with merriment. David blushed. "Professor McGonagall told me," explained Lupin. "You're not worried are you?"
David considered. Could he tell Professor Lupin? He plunged in. "The thing is, Professor, I saw it myself, the Grim I mean. I was looking at the tealeaves and suddenly I was falling through mists and there was this big black dog searching for me. Do you think that it might be a real premonition? It's nothing like what Professor Trelawney or the books say should happen."
Lupin regarded David thoughtfully. "A large black dog, what colour were his eyes? – never mind. Yes I think you might have 'seen' something. But just because you see a dog and the Grim is a dog, doesn't mean that the dog you are seeing is the Grim!"
There was a knock on the door. "Come in," called out Lupin. Snape came through the door bearing a goblet full of smoking liquid. He looked surprised to see David and his eyes narrowed momentarily before he turned his gaze to Lupin.
"You should drink this directly," he said.
"Yes I will," agreed Lupin amiably.
Snape left and David looked questioningly at the goblet. The liquid inside it was nothing like any potion David had seen before. Lupin smiled. He lifted the goblet and made a face, "Pity it can't be sweetened," he remarked before draining the goblet in one. "That potion is the only thing that helps when I'm feeling a bit off colour. I'm very lucky that Professor Snape makes it for me. I'm not much of a potion brewer myself. So, you have a talent for Divination as well as Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Lupin. "I think that would amuse your father. James used to use Divination classes to catch up on his sleep."
"You knew my g-parents?" asked David.
Lupin did not appear to notice the slip. "Yes, I was friends with them when we were students at Hogwarts."
"I don't know much about them," said David. "Aunt Petunia wouldn't talk about them. Could you tell me about them sometime?"
Lupin looked at David for a long time before he came to a decision. "Certainly," he said. "You should know about them."
"I'd like to," said David. "Everyone tells me that I look like James but with Lily's eyes, but that's all they ever say. I don't know whether they enjoyed Quidditch or hated Potions with Professor Snape or…"
Lupin laughed. "How old do you think Professor Snape is, Harry? He was a student with us, not our teacher. But yes, they hated him and the feeling was mutual. Much like yourself and Mr Malfoy."
David made his way back to the Gryffindor common room where he waited for Ron and Hermione to return. "There you go," said Ron entering the room. "We got as much as we could carry." He dropped a shower of sweets into David's lap.
"Thanks," said David. "So where did you go?"
Ron and Hermione had gone everywhere. They were full of the delights of the village and they described them all for David.
"So what did you do?" asked Hermione at length.
"Lupin made me a cup of tea. He's got a new Grindylow."
It was soon time for the Halloween feast and the trio made their way down to the great hall. In their first year a troll had been let into the castle, during the second year feast they had discovered the petrified form of Mrs Norris, the caretaker's cat, so David had his fingers crossed that this year they would just have a feast.
The food was delicious and all went well. Afterwards the students streamed off to their houses, satisfyingly full. The trio followed their housemates but came to a standstill in the corridor outside the Gryffindor common room. It was guarded by a portrait known as the Fat Lady, but she was nowhere to be seen. Percy, full of his head-boy authority, pushed through to the front.
"Someone get Professor Dumbledore, quick!" Percy shouted. A few moments later the headmaster swept through the crowd and up to the portrait, or what was left of it. The painting that had been the Fat Lady was slashed to pieces. Canvas slithers littered the floor. Fortunately the Fat Lady herself was not to be found. Dumbledore sent Professor McGonagall and the caretaker, Argus Filch, to find the Fat Lady in the other paintings. Peeves the Poltergeist bobbed into view, enjoying the mayhem.
"Peevesie knows who done it," the Poltergeist declared flipping over and over in mid-air above their heads. Dumbledore fixed him with a stare. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black…"
All the teachers got busy immediately. The students were all escorted back to the great hall. The tables were banished to leave space for sleeping. Dumbledore conjured squashy purple sleeping bags for all the students. The staff secured the room and then went to search the castle, leaving the head boy and girl in charge.
The students awoke the next day to the news that Sirius Black had vanished without trace. There was talk of nothing else for days. The next potion lesson was a nightmare for the Gryffindors. Professor Snape had been in a foul mood with them ever since he had heard about the Boggart lesson. David and Ron got to work gathering the ingredients they needed. There was no rush for the store cupboard this lesson. The Slytherins stayed in their seats as the Gryffindors collected what they wanted. Just as David and Ron got back to their place Professor Snape waved his wand at the blackboard and the instructions vanished. Dean raised his hand to protest but a look from Snape was all it took to silence him.
The Slytherins who had been using their time to write down the instructions, sniggered at the Gryffindors. David picked up his quill and wrote down all the instructions from memory. He had been working with Severus on his memory over the summer and it was now nearly photographic as Zia's memories were meant to be. He tried to discretely hand over the instructions to the other Gryffindors.
"Potter!" said Snape picking up the instructions David had written down. "Passing notes! Detention at eight tonight in my office!"
Ron scowled at Snape's back and Hermione squeezed David's hand. It was unfair, but that was expected from Snape. David had learnt quickly that the Snape at school was nothing like the Uncle Severus of the summer holiday. Malfoy sniggered; he seemed to have finally got over his life debt to David and was now as mean as he had ever been.
David presented himself after dinner for detention. Snape's door opened to admit him. "Ah, David," began Severus after the door closed. David was confused. Snape had not called him David since they had left Lions' Den. "I want you to try something. Your father was able to communicate with the castle. I want you to try to talk to Hogwarts and find out from it how Sirius Black got inside."
"Okay," said David slowly. "How do I do that?"
"I don't know," admitted Severus. "Try putting your palm flat against a wall and stretching out your magic through it into the wall."
Feeling slightly foolish, David did as he was bid. After a few attempts, placing his hand on different walls, he sighed and ceased probing with his magic, this was not working. At that point, while he was not trying, a presence appeared in his head.
"Hello Small One," said the presence.
"Are you Hogwarts?" asked David.
"Yes, Small One," said the presence, "I am Lady Hogwarts."
"Where did Sirius Black come from, my lady?" David thought at the castle. David's mind's eye travelled though the school. He spotted something moving and zoomed in. David fell over backwards, sitting down hard.
"What happened?" asked Severus helping David stand up.
"I saw the Grim again," replied David.
"What do you mean, again?" asked Severus sharply.
"I saw it, back at the beginning of term, in Divination," David explained. "A big black spectral dog searching for me. But as Professor Lupin said, just because I see a dog and the Grim is a dog, doesn't mean that I see the Grim. Perhaps I'm seeing a premonition of a pet I will have." David tried to lighten the mood but he was feeling far from convinced that he was safe.
"Are you worried?" asked Snape becoming Uncle Severus again and catching David by surprise.
"A bit," admitted David. "If it had just been Professor Trelawney I could have brushed it aside, but I saw it too when I pushed out my magic into the tealeaves."
"It probably doesn't have anything to do with Sirius Black," said Severus, almost as if he was trying to convince himself more than David. "But to be safe, I would prefer you didn't wander off on your own. Ask those friends of yours to stick with you."
David was thinking hard as he left the dungeons. Severus had appeared concerned for him. He could not reconcile the Severus of Lions' Den with the Snape of Hogwarts. What had Severus said at the end of the summer? "I have a certain image to maintain." Maybe the Hogwarts Snape was just an act. But why? Why could not the public see a caring Severus, well comparatively caring?
Professor McGonagall next saw David in his Transfiguration lesson and asked him to stay behind while the rest of the class went to lunch. She took him into her office and told him to sit down. She summoned a house elf and ordered sandwiches and pumpkin juice before turning to her student. She was still trying to get over her shock that Severus Snape of all people would be concerned about the 'Boy-Who-Lived.'
"Potter," she said. "Professor Snape has told me that you have seen the Grim in your Divination lessons – that it was not just an omen that Professor Trelawney saw."
"Yes Professor," admitted David.
"Are you worried, Potter?" David almost smiled at the question, just the same as Professor Snape's.
"A bit," said David. He took a sandwich from the plate Professor McGonagall held out to him. "But I talked to Professor Lupin and he said that just because I see a dog and the Grim is a dog, it does not follow that I am seeing the Grim."
"Very logical. Do you believe that?"
"Sort of," said David. "I just keep seeing it."
"In divination classes? Or elsewhere?"
"In class," said David decidedly. "But Hermione thinks that it was a sheep."
"I think that with the Sirius Black situation we should take more notice of this than I might otherwise," said McGonagall. "I would like your Quidditch practices to be overseen by Madam Hooch and I must impress upon you that you should not go anywhere alone. Black has shown that he can get into the castle so keep up your guard. I'll speak to the headmaster about giving you an emergency Portkey. Now I shall escort you back your next lesson and you must ask your friends to accompany you whenever you are out of Gryffindor tower."
The next day McGonagall presented David with a lion pendant charmed to be a Portkey to the headmaster's office which was the safest place in Hogwarts. All he had to do was touch it and say "Help me Hogwarts." Security was being tightened all around him and Percy Weasley was playing 'guard dog' following David around, presumably on his mother's instructions.
The weather worsened as the first Quidditch match approached. Gryffindor were playing Slytherin. The day before the match David was running late from a strategy meeting and walked into Defence Against the Dark Arts apologising to Professor Lupin. But Lupin was not there, Snape was.
"You're late Potter. Ten minutes late, so shall we say ten points from Gryffindor? Sit down." David sat down thinking of scorpions and pretend scorpions. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," continued Professor Snape. "Professor Lupin is indisposed. He has not left any record of what you are studying so…"
"Please Professor," said Hermione. "We've done Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas and Grindylows. We're about to start…"
"Be quiet," said Snape coldly. "I did not ask for information." He flicked through their textbook stopping at the last chapter. "Today we will discuss werewolves. Page 394. Who can tell me how to distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" he gazed around the room, fixing on David. "Potter, do you know?"
"The snout of the werewolf…"
"So our celebrity has deigned to open a book before class. How unexpected. Take out your quills and make notes on werewolves from the textbook. I expect an essay from each of you about how to recognise and kill werewolves. To be handed in to me by Monday morning."
The next day was the first Quidditch match of the season. David woke early to work on his essay before breakfast. Severus would expect a lot from him. If the team won and they had a party in the common room then he would not have much time to work on it. They were going to win. By breakfast time the skies were grey and it was raining hard.
As they staggered out onto the pitch there was thunder and lightning. David was glad to kick off from the mud and into the air. The rain was so hard he could not see much, barely able to tell team mate from opposition. How was he going to catch the snitch now? Then he had a thought. Muggle cars use wipers to get rid of rain from the windscreen. David conjured a pair of wipers for his Quidditch goggles. That was much better. A blast of thunder coincided with a flash of lightning and then Madam Hooch's whistle blew, signalling a time out. The Gryffindor team gathered under a large umbrella.
"Those are interesting additions," George remarked looking at David's goggles.
"Brilliant idea," agreed Fred, conjuring some of his own.
"We're fifty points up," declared Oliver. "Just get the snitch soon Harry. I don't want to be here all night – we'll get hypothermia!" The team parted and David flew up above the pitch. He wheeled around looking for the snitch. He spotted it, right next to the middle Slytherin goal hoop, and better still, Malfoy, the Slytherin seeker, had his back to it. David flew off, keeping low over his broom to reduce the air resistance. David swooped down, now with Malfoy in pursuit, and caught the snitch. The crowd cheered and David started a victory lap.
Suddenly the wind stopped roaring, as if he had gone deaf. It was bitterly cold. David's hands felt numb and his broomstick slipped between them. David fell from his broom, barely conscious of what was happening except out of the corner of his eye he saw a large black dog. Then there was screaming.
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry."
"Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside, now."
Then David knew no more.
David came to himself thinking how warm and dry it was, and how quiet. Nobody was screaming here. "What happened?" he croaked opening his eyes. Someone passed him his glasses. David put them on. The team, still muddy and wet from the match were crowding his bedside with Ron and Hermione.
"You fell off," said Fred, "just after you caught the snitch. The Dementors came to the match and you got too close to them. Dumbledore was livid. Party in the common room as soon as you are released from here." David smiled.
"There is one other thing Harry," said Ron gingerly coming forward with a bundle in his arms. "Your broomstick got blown away when you fell… It, well, it hit the Whomping Willow." He lowered his bundle onto the bed. It was a collection of twigs. The Whomping Willow had not liked being attacked by a broomstick. The Gryffindor Quidditch team departed, leaving Ron and Hermione with David.
"Why so glum?" Hermione asked. "I know you liked the broomstick but it's not the end of the world, it can be replaced."
"That's not it," replied David. "I, er, I saw the Grim again. Just before the screaming, just before I fell."
"What screaming?" asked Hermione.
"The Dementors, they make you relive your worst memories over and over. When they get near to me I can hear Lily being murdered. Sacrificing herself to save me."
"Oh Harry," said Hermione, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "Oh Harry."
Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping David in the Hospital Wing for the rest of the weekend. He had a whole stream of visitors, but his broken broomstick was at his side, a constant reminder of how the Dementors affected him. Professor Lupin had repelled the Dementor on the train, so perhaps he could teach David to fight them too. What if they showed up at another game, and that time he fell off before catching the snitch?
