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At five to three, the trio 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. Cassie's nose turned up in disgust. Regina and Hope gave her their best 'be nice' glare and she struggled to control her facial expressions.
When Hope 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. "Hang on. Back, Fang." 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. Hope thought it looked cozy; Cassie looked like she wanted to bolt.
"Make yerselves at home." Hagrid told them, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Regina and started licking her ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.
"This is Regina Weasley and Cassie Malfoy." Hope told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.
"Another Weasley, eh?" Hagrid asked, glancing at Regina's freckles. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest. And Malfoy, eh?" Cassie turned around from she'd been examining the rock fireplace with a look of distaste. She plastered a smile on her face that didn't look completely fake as she looked at Hagrid.
"Hello." She greeted politely. If Hagrid had made any prior judgment about her, he seemed to be put at ease by that.
The rock cakes he served them were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but the trio pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Hope's knee and drooled all over her robes.
They were all delighted to hear Hagrid call Fitch 'that old git'.
"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her. Fitch puts her up to it."
Hope told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Regina, told her not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.
"But he seemed to really hate me." Hope insisted.
"Rubbish! Why should he?" Yet Hope noticed he didn't meet her eyes when he said that. "How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Regina in what seemed like a very deliberate change of subject. "I liked him a lot. Great with animals."
While Regina told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Hope picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.
"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
"Hagrid." Hope began, drawing the giant's attention back to her. "A Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!" She watched carefully and saw there was no doubt about it: Hagrid definitely didn't meet Hope's eyes that time. He just grunted and offered her another rock cake.
Hope read the story again, with Cassie peering over her shoulder in curiosity. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day. 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?
As the trio walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Hope thought that none of the lessons she'd had so far had given her 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 Hope?
The week after, it was announced on the Slytherin bulletin board that flying lessons would take place with the other first-years. Hope was excited for that; flying had been something she was looking forward to. Who wouldn't want to learn how to fly?
When Hope, Regina and Cassie headed onto the grounds for their first lesson, the breeze was cooling and it almost seemed like it was going to be a good day. Then they saw their newly sworn arch-enemies. Cormac was trying his best to impress Pansy with a grand story about how he once almost hit a muggle 'helli-cooper'. Pansy wasn't looking impressed, but Cormac kept talking, oblivious to it.
About thirty-five brooms were lying in neat lines on the ground in the grass. Their teacher, Madam Hooch, was watching everyone closely as they arrived. She had short, gray hair and yellow eyes like a hawk.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" She barked as she saw everyone had arrived. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
Hope glanced down at her broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. All of them seemed rather battered, but she didn't comment on it. Instead, she looked around and Regina was on one side of her and Hermes Granger was on the other. Cassie was next to Nadine Longbottom, who was quivering with nervousness.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up'!" Madam Hooch ordered from the front.
Shouts of 'up' rang out all around. Hope's broom jumped into her hand at once when she said it, but it was one of the few that did. Hermes's had simply rolled over. Looking to her other side, Hope say Regina trying again. It swung up handle first and smacked her in the nose. Hope couldn't help but laugh a bit.
"Shut up, Hope." Regina told her half-heartedly, holding her nose.
Finally, everyone had their brooms, either by getting them to fly up into their hands or by giving up and stooping down to pick them up themselves. 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. Hope and Regina were delighted when she told proud little Cormac that he'd been doing it wrong for years.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard." Madam Hooch instructed. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle... three... two..."
But Nadine, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.
"Come back, girl!" She shouted, but Nadine was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle.
Hope saw her scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw her gasp, slip sideways off the broom and... WHAM! A thud and a nasty crack later, Nadine was lying facedown on the grass in a heap. Her broomstick was still rising higher and higher and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight. Madam Hooch was bending over Nadine, her face as white as hers. Everyone gathered around them worriedly.
"Broken wrist." Hope heard Madam Hooch mutter. "Come on, girl, it's all right, up you get." She turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear." Nadine, her face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around the girl.
No sooner were they out of earshot when Pansy Parkinson started laughing. Her goons and even Cormac joined in.
"Did you see her face, the great big baby?" Pansy sneered.
"Oh, shut up, Parkinson." Parvati Patil snapped.
"Oh, sticking up for Longbottom? Is she the only friend you can make, Patil?" Pansy shot back instantly.
"Look!" Cormac leaped forward and picked up what looked like a glass ball from the grass.
"That's Nadine's Remembrall!" Hermes cried, jumping forward. "Give that to me and I'll give it back to her."
"Why should we do that?" Pansy jumped in. "Why don't we leave it somewhere she'll find it? Say... Up a tree?"
"Give it here." Hope snapped, feeling suddenly protective of the poor Longbottom girl. Also, she wasn't opposed to getting into a fight with Pansy to show her she wasn't as high and mighty as she believed herself to be.
But Cormac, shooting a look at Pansy, grabbed his broom and sped upwards. He hovered a few feet up in the air, the Remembrall glinting in his fist.
"Come and get it!" He called smugly. Hope grabbed her broom.
"No!" Hermes shouted at her. "Madam Hooch told us not to move. You'll get us all into trouble."
"Stop being so interfering, Granger." Cassie snapped, glaring daggers at Cormac in the air.
Blood was pounding in Hope's ears. She mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up she soared. Wind rushed through her hair, sending it billowing out behind her. Her robes whipped around her. In a rush of fierce joy she realized she'd found something she could do without being taught. Flying was easy; flying was wonderful. She pulled her broomstick up a little to take it even higher; she heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Regina.
She turned her broomstick around mid-air to face Cormac. His face fell; he hadn't expected her to know how to fly.
"Give it to me." Hope ordered, taking one hand off her broomstick handle to reach for the Remembrall.
"Knock her off her broom!" Pansy shouted from underneath them. Cormac looked down at her and Hope saw him steeling himself for something stupid.
Before he could do anything, Hope leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands. It shot toward Cormac like a javelin. He only just got out of the way in time; Hope made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping. She felt adrenaline pumping through her. No one could say she was just a celebrity; she actually knew how to do something. It felt wonderful.
Cormac looked at her for a moment and then threw the Remembrall at her like a baseball. Hope dodged it but then streaked after it as it soared towards the ground, sure to be broken upon impact. Hope was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the Remembrall. Wind whistled in her ears, mingled with the screams of the people watching below; her hair was tangling as the wind swept it back from her face. She stretched out her hand. A foot from the ground, she caught it and jerked her broom straight. She toppled gently into the grass, the Remembrall clutched safely in her hand.
"HOPE POTTER!" Her heart sank faster than she'd just dived. She spun around to face McGonagall as the professor stomped towards her. She threw the Remembrall underhand behind her back and hoped that one of her friends would catch it. "Never... in all my time... at Hogwarts..." Professor McGonagall was nearly speechless as she stood towering over Hope. Her eyes were flashing furiously behind her glasses. "How dare you... Might've broken your neck..."
"It wasn't her fault, Professor-."
"Be quiet, Miss Patil."
"But Cormac-."
"And Pansy-."
"Never mind that, Weasley, Malfoy."
"Professor-."
"Enough, Granger! Miss Potter, that was completely irresponsible. You have never been on a broom before, you could have killed yourself. That said..." Professor McGonagall sighed. "Don't let it happen again and we'll let you off on a warning. Obviously, you weren't the only one at fault here." Professor McGonagall glared past Hope.
She turned to see Pansy, her goons and Cormac ducking their heads in shame. Regina held Nadine's Remembrall in her fist, glaring at the culprits. Cassie was hiding laughter behind her hand, eyes shining with admiration. Hope smiled at her and turned back to Professor McGonagall, sobering immediately at her expression.
"If something so irresponsible happens again, I will send everyone involved straight back home! Is that clear?" Everyone nodded, even the people who had nothing to do with the incident. Professor McGonagall had a way of making everyone feel guilty. Professor McGonagall nodded stiffly at the response and looked back down at Hope, adding quieter: "You have more of your father in you than I thought, Miss Potter. He was quite the Quidditch star as well." With a ghost of a smile, Professor McGonagall walked back towards the castle.
Pansy was still complaining, loudly, that Hope should've been expelled long after the lesson had ended. As everyone walked back into the castle, Hermes Granger caught up with the girls.
"You could've been killed-." He began.
"Thanks, Professor McGonagall." Regina scoffed at him, rolling her eyes.
"I'm serious!"
"You always are. That's why you're in Ravenclaw. You people always act like you've got a stick shoved somewhere unpleasant." Cassie retorted, flipping her hair back. Her hair smacked Regina in the face and the red-head choked on it.
"Was there something you needed, Hermes?" Hope questioned, trying not to laugh at her friends.
"Yes, actually, I wanted to show you something." He informed her.
"What?"
"Come with me." He hurried off, leaving Hope little choice but to follow him. Cassie and Regina trailed suspiciously after them. He led the girls into the trophy room. Glasses cases lined the walls with house cups going back hundreds of years and a countless number of medals for quidditch teams. Hermes seemed to know exactly where he was going, because he led Hope straight to an award proclaiming the Gryffindor team the winner of the cup over a decade ago. He pointed insistently at the names and Hope peered through the glass at it. One name jumped out at her immediately: James Potter, Chaser.
"My dad was on the Quidditch team?" Hope asked, staring at the name like it was somehow magical.
"Flying is in your genes." Hermes explained.
"What, you think you're good enough to get on the Quidditch team?" A voice sneered in the doorway. The quartet turned around to see Pansy and her two goons, Crabbe and Goyle, standing there. Hope rolled her eyes.
"What do you want, Pansy?"
"I wanted to issue a challenge."
"Oh?" Hope folded her arms across her chest, waiting.
"Tonight. Wizard's duel. Wands only, no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel, I suppose?"
"Of course she has." Regina put in immediately. "I'm her second; who's yours?"
"Crabbe. Midnight all right? We'll meet right here, it's always unlocked."
When Pansy and her goons were gone, Hope immediately turned on Regina.
"I don't know any fighting spells!"
"Neither does she. Probably." Regina didn't seem very confident in that.
"Being out of bed at midnight is against the rules." Hermes protested.
"Well, letting her think I'm scared is against my rules." Hope shot back.
"You have a plan?" Cassie asked hopefully.
"If I can't hex her, I'll punch her in the nose." Hope shrugged. Cassie looked disappointed in her.
"I'll research some spells for you." She offered instead.
"You'll all get in trouble." Hermes tried to protest again.
"What do you care?" Regina asked finally. "We're not friends." She reminded him and then tugged Cassie and Hope out of the room to plan for their Wizard's Duel.
