"CONGRATULATIONS NEW SLYTHERIN CHASER!"
"Thanks guys."
"You know, Fred and George play Quidditch too. Beaters." Ron smiled at Harry and Elizabeth
"Our job is to make sure that Harry doesn't get bloodied up too bad and that Ellie does." George chuckled "Can't make any promises that we'll save you, of course. Rough game, Quidditch."
"Brutal." Fred completed "But no one's died in years. Someone will vanish occasionally..."
"But they'll turn up in a month or two!" they shout in sync
Two hours had passed rather quickly and Elizabeth's ankle was all healed up. Professor Snape and Marcus Flint were pleased to announce that the new Slytherin Chaser would be none other than Elizabeth Rose Granger. Obviously, most first years were absolutely jealous. Usually, first years weren't allowed to be on the Quidditch team. Something else made the students even more jealous, though. Snape, just like McGonagall did for Harry, who also made it onto a Quidditch team but as a Seeker, had gotten Elizabeth a new broom as some sort of statement or reward (probably a statement towards his fellow professor). It was a Nimbus 2000 just like Harry's. Hermione thought it too dangerous for her, but that was only because she was afraid her sister would get hurt, which she most certainly would. Fred, George, Ron and Harry had gone to see her and congratulate her. It soon turned into the total opposite.
"We are so gonna knock you off your broom!" Fred shouted
"You'll never know what hit you!" George continued
"Well, I think a bludger is what will hit me, boys." Ellie chuckled
"Oh, the Slytherin princess thinks she so funny?" the Weasley twins replied
"Actually yes; I think I am pretty funny. What do you think Ronald?"
"Do not drag me into this, Elizabeth!"
Soon, the Weasley twins separated from the group and went to their next class. Hermione joined the trio, leaving her homework behind, as they made their way across the courtyard and into some sort of trophy room.
"Oh, Harry, Quidditch is great. Best game there is! And you'll be great, too!" Ron stated happily
"But I've never even played Quidditch. What if I make a fool of myself?" Harry said
"You won't make a fool of yourself. It's in your blood." Hermione butted in
The older Granger twin pointed to a rather large trophy in a glass case. Behind it, was a plaque with the names of a bunch of ex-Quidditch players. One of them was James Potter, Harry's father.
"Woah, Harry!" Elizabeth gasped "You never told me your father was a seeker!"
"I-I didn't know."
"Hey, Liz?" Ron suddenly asked "Have we showed you the common room yet?"
"What? The Gryffindor common room?"
"Yeah, she would love it!" Harry smiled
"You sure it's a good idea?" Elizabeth asked, unsure
"Personally, I don't think it wise to bring a Slytherin into the Gryffindor tower." Hermione said matter-of-factly
"Oh, lighten up Hermione!" Liz teased "It won't kill anybody!"
"Nice! Let's go then!"
Hermione rolled her eyes but followed the three others anyway. Harry and Ron lead Ellie towards the moving staircases. They climbed a few flight of stairs all while maintaining conversation. The staircases rarely moved when you were on them.
"I'm telling you, it's spooky. She knows more about you than you do." Ron spoke about Elizabeth's sister
"Who doesn't?" the chosen one replied
Suddenly, the staircase shuddered and began to move. The four of them let out a yelp; Elizabeth's louder than everyone else's.
"Bloody hell!"
"What's happening?" Harry asked
"The staircases change, remember?" Hermione reminded the boys and her sister as the staircase came to a halt
"Let's go this way."
"Before the staircase moves again." Ron agreed
The four students took a few steps towards the door that was to their right. They all opened said door and walk into a spooky, dark room. The walls weren't even lit with any torches and the only source of light came from the moon.
"Does anyone feel like... we shouldn't be here?" the raven-haired boy asked
"We're not supposed to be here." Elizabeth realized "This is the 3rd floor. It's forbidden."
Suddenly, a flame light shone on a nearby wall. At that moment, the caretaker's cat, Mrs Norris, came running in and meowed. The group jumped, startled. That cat was bad news wherever it went.
"Bugger." Elizabeth whispered "Let's go."
"It's Filch's cat!" Ron pointed out "Run!"
The group ran in the opposite direction. Unlit wall torches were fired up as they passed by them. The four children got to the end of the corridor, to a door. Harry grabbed the handle and shook it, but it was locked.
"It's locked!"
"That's it, we're done for!"
"Oh, move over!" Elizabeth sighed as she pushed through and pulled out her wand "Alohomora."
The door magically opened (A/N: See what I did there? *wink wink*) and Hermione shoved the boys inside. She followed them in and the younger twin entered last, shutting the door behind her. You could hear Filch and his cat just outside.
"Alohomora?" Ron asked, his voice barely above a whisper
"Standard book of spells, Chapter 7." Hermione replied for her sister
"Filch is gone." Liz stated
"Probably thinks this door's locked." Ron said
"It was locked." the older Granger twin said irritated
"And for good reason..." Harry says
Ron, Hermione and Elizabeth slowly turned to stand with Harry. In front of them was a massive, sleeping three headed dog. Hearing the four kids' voices, said dog began to wake. It growled, yawned, and growled some more when it noticed the intruders. The group yelled together and bolted, running out of the door. They turned quickly to shut the door and battle against the dog that was probably trying to eat them. Eventually, they got the door shut and ran to the Gryffindor common room. The common room was a circular room full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where the usual school notices could be posted. A window looked out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominated one wall. The walls were decorated with scarlet tapestries that depicted witches and wizards, but also various animals. The four friends took a seat in front of the fireplace.
"What do they think they're doing? Keeping a thing like that locked up in a school." Ron complained, scared out of his wits
"You don't use your eyes, do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?" Hermione asked
"I wasn't looking at its feet!" Elizabeth shouted "I was a bit preoccupied with its heads. Or maybe you didn't notice, there were three!"
"It was standing on a trap door. Which means it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something."
"Guarding something?" Harry voiced
"That's right. Now, if you three don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed... or worse, expelled!" Hermione said and walked up the stairs towards the girl's dorms
"She needs to sort out her priorities!" Ron said exasperated
Harry and Elizabeth nodded. The three talked for a while until curfew drew nearer. Elizabeth bid the boys goodnight and made her way back to her own common room, putting on her pyjamas and going straight to bed all while ignoring Rachel and Daphne's unpleasant glares. Soon she fell asleep, Aslan curled up against her neck, wondering what the three headed dog could possibly be guarding on the third floor. The next day, Liz was excused from her classes for the sole purpose of learning about Quidditch. She went to the Quidditch pitch to meet Harry and this Oliver Wood kid. Marcus Flint was supposed to tell her all about Quidditch today, but he had gotten detention with a teacher so Harry had asked Oliver if he could show them both. He surprisingly agreed. When Ellie arrived, Harry and Oliver were just opening a suitcase. It contained three balls of different sizes.
"Quidditch is easy enough to understand. Each time has seven players; three chasers - like Elizabeth - two beaters, one keeper and a seeker... that's you." Wood said, pointing to Harry "There are three kinds of balls."
He picked up a relatively large and red one.
"This one's called the Quaffle. Now, Granger, you and the other chasers handle the Quaffle and try to put it through one of those three hoops. That scores you ten points." Oliver said, pointing to the three rings at the end of the Pitch "The keeper, that's me, defends the hoops. With me so far?"
"I think so. What are those?" Harry said, pointing to two squirming chained down balls
"You better take these." Wood said
He handed Elizabeth and Harry a small bat each. The Gryffindor team Captain then bent down and released one ball. With an angry growl, it flew off into the air. The three players watched it soar. Then, the ball came whizzing down towards Elizabeth, who cracked at it with the bat. The ball soared off through a statue.
"Eh, not bad, Granger, you'd make a fair beater..." Wood complimented "Uh-oh."
The ball zoomed back down, this time towards Oliver who grabbed it, wriggling to get it back into the box. He eventually succeeded and tied it down, now breathless.
"Bludger. Nasty little buggers." the older boy said "Elizabeth you have to be extra careful with these. The beaters like to send bludgers towards the chasers to prevent them from scoring points. Now, Harry, the only ball I want you to worry about is this... the Golden Snitch."
Oliver handed Harry a walnut sized golden ball. Both new Quidditch players stared at it in awe.
"I like this ball." Harry chuckled
"Ah, you like it now. Just wait. It's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see."
"What do you do with it?" Elizabeth asked
"You catch it... before the other team's seeker. You catch this, the game is over."
The ball fluttered out two delicate wings and jumped into the air. Harry kept an eye on it and so did Elizabeth, but the former found it easier to see. The two thanked Oliver for the information and headed back towards the castle to muse about the sport and tell each other that their teams sucked. In a teasing manner, obviously.
It was a few weeks later, and Elizabeth had been going to all the Quidditch practices. Surprisingly, no one complained about her and her mudblood-ness. Liz also decided she'd eat lunch at her own table with Millicent for once. Today was Hallowe'en and a few students sported costumes when they weren't in class. Liz decided she'd wear black, a pair of cat ears and a tail; no muss, no fuss. Millicent chose to wear something silly. Apparently going as a dragon was her best idea. Most Gryffindors embraced the idea of Hallowe'en; the Weasley twins even went as far as being Peter Pan and his Shadow, a muggle classic. Unfortunately, most of the Slytherins didn't participate. The only ones who did donned simple costumes. Draco Malfoy was one of those students; he simply put on some fangs and cape, and voila! A vampire. The Hallowe'en feast was incredible though. Food was piled on the table and in Ellie's plate. Still, no one knew how she ate that much. All was going well until a large noise sounded, causing the entire hall to go silent. Professor Quirrel, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, came running into the center of the Great Hall, screaming his head off.
"TROLL IN THE D-DUNGEONS! T-TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS."
And then... he fainted.
