Note: 9/18/2015, minor editorial and misspelling corrections update.

9. Once More Into the Fray

Between her Quidditch practices and homework the next seven weeks seemed to fly by, but she still managed to visit Hagrid every Friday even if it was only for a single bowl of tea while she told him about her classes. Ron, Minie, and Nev usually accompanied her, but sometimes she visited him alone, as did they. Hagrid had never had so many visits from students, and he seemed to like it. And Harri had shown off all her witchy knickers to Hagrid and her friends. Reluctantly, Hermione had also show them her knickers. She had even shown them to Hagrid after much persuasion by Harri.

Harri still liked to show off which knickers she was wearing when they went to the Clubroom. When she was bored she would occasionally dragoon one or both of the boys to help her trap the animated creatures on one side or the other after taking off her skirt and tying her shirt above her waist. Minie still objected, but had been reduced to merely mumbling complaints and making faces. After being at first too stunned to do more than just watch her, the boys slowly got into the game, taking a hand off her hip to let a creature move from back to front, or vice versa, and sometimes using both hands to trap a creature near one hip and then scooting it to the front. Harri could hardly wait to go shopping again to get more knickers.

Malfoy returned after a two-week absence, much subdued. He still let fly with the occasional insult, but he was far more circumspect, watching more than talking. It made for quieter classes. He didn't say much to Neville or Ron, and almost seemed to be avoiding Harri. Pansy Parkinson picked up where Draco had stopped, unfortunately.

True to his word, Professor Snape had been treating Harri as he did all his Slytherin students. While Gryffindor students still bore the brunt of his wrath and the Slytherins enjoyed his compliments, Harri was in-between. She hadn't lost any points and had even earned a few, to the Slytherins everlasting astonishment.

Professor Snape's attitude to the entire class, in fact, had gone through a change. He couldn't very well treat Harri the same as his Slytherins without it looking like she was getting special treatment, something he swore he would never give the famous Harry Potter.

While he didn't start handing out points to Gryffindor students, no longer was he deducting them in wholesale batches. The first time she had asked a question he gave her detention for the same evening, and then when she arrived he had answered her question in detail and helped her with other questions she had had but had been reluctant to ask. He taught her things such as why you sometimes diced instead of slicing, how chopping was different from slicing, and why dribbling ingredients into the potion was better than just dumping them by the handful. Topics their books seemed to think the students should understand without explanations.

Thus it was that every time she had a question, she ended up with a detention that answered her question and much more besides. It was a private tutoring lesson. She made sure to pass on what she learned to her friends. She also suggested that maybe if the Professor explained these things in class there would be fewer melted cauldrons and explosions.

A week later, after three explosions and several melted cauldrons in just one hour, the professor spent the remainder of the class sneeringly demonstrating proper ingredient preparation. He also assigned a three-foot essay on why it was important to follow directions exactly, with cited examples of what could result in failing to do so. Each student also had to design and hand in a "Standard Operating Procedure" for preparing potions. Failing to follow the procedures the student designed resulted in points-loss and detentions. In the following three weeks, there were no explosions and only one cauldron melted.

For the first time in a decade, she heard from the older students, Gryffindor's were actually learning to like potions! These same upper grade students were practically green with envy at how even-handed Professor Snape was in that single First Years' class.

Fred and George even stopped by once to ask how she had managed to blackmail the abrasive professor into some semblance of fairness. She denied blackmailing him, but couldn't explain why he was acting the way he was without revealing secrets she'd rather keep. She finally told them they would have to speak with the Professor themselves if they wanted to know why he was acting different in her class from the rest. And she told them not call him a "git," "snivellus," or any other derogatory name in her hearing.

The only other highlights in that time were the two owls from her solicitor with a brief statement on her earnings, one each on September and October fifteenth and covering the previous month. Between Truckle's Trunks and Amanuensis she had cleared 2,500 galleons in royalties, after Tonks & Tonks took their ten percent. Andromeda had included a note in with the second statement about the Grand Opening sale in Hogsmeade which had been a great success. It easily had paid for the inventory sold, fixing up the building, and covering the salesclerks wages for not only October, but November as well! She'd find out in December what the actual numbers were for that grand opening.

Oddly, though, she didn't receive anything from Gringotts acknowledging the deposits. But still, that was a lot of galleons to earn while simply going to school. From what she had been able to suss out the average wizard or witch earned something like 4,000 galleons a year, and she'd made over half that in just two months!

X - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - X

Harris was amazed to wake one morning and realize that it was Halloween! She wondered how the Wizards celebrated it. Did they do like the world she grew up in and postpone all the fun parties to the weekend? Not that she had ever been to one. The closest she came to celebrating it was looking out her bedroom window to see what little she could of the costumes the kids wore as they walked on the sidewalk at the front yard while she was locked in her room. Dudley, meanwhile, went out and terrorized the little kids into giving him and his gang their candy and his parents went to a company party. They put out a bowl on a chair with a note at the bottom of the bowl saying that all the candy had been taken, with only a small amount of candy covering the paper to start the evening. They never had to worry about kids seeing lights on as TFS had permanently removed all the light bulbs from her room, and she was locked in.

Not that she really had anything to celebrate, anyway, because that was the night she became an orphan, and, she now knew, a girl. She wondered how things might have been different if she were a boy. Dudley wouldn't have been such a bully, she would have been able to play with Dudley as an equal. They would have been friends, playing pranks on each other, bickering good-naturedly like real siblings. They could have shared toys, watched TV, gone to movies, and played together. Everything would have been so different and so much better.

She shook her head. She had to concentrate. Today they were going to make things fly! Ron and Minie were paired together, and she was with Nev, again. Ron, true to form was having difficulty getting the charm to work, and Hermione was as quick as always to correct him. When he demanded, "If you're so smart, you do it!" she did, getting praise from Professor Flitwick for her success. By the end of the class, Ron was in a foul mood.

Ron, being the insensitive clod of a boy that he was, couldn't help but express his frustration with failing to do the charm by taking it out on the bossy witch who was trying to help him. "It's a miracle everyone doesn't hex her on sight, the bossy bitch," he muttered to Harri and Neville as he followed them into the crowded corridor. "Honestly, she drives me bats."

Someone knocked into Harri as they shoved past. It was Minie, and Harri wasn't startled to see tears on her face.

Harri stopped dead and turned to face Ron. "That was mean."

Ron looked a bit uncomfortable. "It's true, though, she must've noticed she's got no friends except you."

Harri, for the first time in her life, slapped a boy, hard. Several students around them, not really noticing the byplay until then, stopped and watched as the close-knit four fought in public.

Ron put his hand on his bright-red cheek.

"She's your friend, too, you bell-end. If you had bothered to listen you might have been the second person to successfully float a feather, but no, you know better, which is why you do so bad in all your classes. If it weren't for her nagging you'd be failing all your classes! Well, you miserable excuse for a wizard, if you want to remain friends with me you'd better find and apologize to her right now!" Harri turned on her heel and stormed away.

She searched all through lunch without success. It wasn't until DADA class that she heard that Minie was in the First Floor Witches' Toilet across the castle from the Great Hall. Harri had checked there twice already without seeing the witch or getting a response to her, "Are you in here Minie?" She hadn't heard any sobbing or other noises to indicate anyone was in the room at all. Harri decided to go there instead of flying class.

"Minie? Are you okay?" Harri asked as she pushed open the door to the First Floor Witches' Toilet. No response. She frowned and cast finite incantatem on the first stall, then worked her way down them until she heard someone sniffling.

"Go away."

"Nope, not gonna happen."

"Go. Away."

"Minie, let me in."

"No."

"Then I'll just sit here." Harri sat on the floor, casting a cushion charm first. No reason to be uncomfortable.

"He's right, you know," said Harri ten minutes later.

"What?" came the quiet response.

"You try too hard to help people, it comes across as irritatingly bossy. Sort of 'I know better than you, and I'm going to tell you what I know so you can see how smart I am.' You're making it seem as if you think you are superior to everyone else."

There was no answer, just a sniffle.

After another ten minutes, Harri added, "Instead of saying, 'you're doing it wrong,' use a little tact. Say, 'you've almost got it, I think all you need to do is this' and tell them what needs to change." At least that's what she had heard the salesmen say, especially when they caught their bosses doing something 'counter-productive' as they put it. "It's like, when I told you to be more confident with the broom in the flying lesson. How would you have reacted if I had marched over and said 'You're doing it all wrong. I know better than you do! Do it this way!' and embarrassed you in front of everybody?

"I like you Minie, but sometimes you are just. . . so. . . bossy! Everyone knows you're the smartest witch in our class, you get the highest grade on all the tests and all the assignements. You don't have to prove it over and over again in class. Let someone else answer the question. If the Professor asks a question, wait a moment to see if anyone else answers it first. You've already proven to the professors that you always know the right answer. Jumping up like a jack-in-the-box whenever there's a question merely makes it seem like you're an attention-whore, 'Look! Look! I know the answer and no one else does!'

"And I know you're not an attention-whore, you just want the professors to know you did the work. Well, Minie, they know! You don't need to keep being the first to raise your hand. So, the next time the professor asks a question, if no one else raises their hand, then raise yours."

The door to the stall opened slightly. "You still like me?"

"Minie," Harri smiled, "Of course I like you. You're one of my friends. I trust you. Sometimes I might get mad at you and maybe I'll yell at you, but that doesn't change the fact that you're my friend. After all, I don't show my knickers to everybody, just my friends." She paused a moment, "By the way, which ones are you wearing today?"

The door opened a bit further and the bushy-haired witch looked out. Harri moved into the stall pushing open the door. she stood there awkwardly at first.

The orphan knew what she would like if their positions were reversed, but wasn't sure it would be accepted. She had only seen people do that in movies when she was at the hotel. She took a breath, stepped close, and hugged the witch.

Hermione was taller than she was by several inches. Harri stood on her tip-toes and kissed the clueless witch her on the cheek. "You're my friend, Minie, that will never change unless you want it to." They stood there for a few minutes before Minie put her arms around Harri and hugged her back. Harri discovered she really liked hugging and they stayed like that for a while. She marveled that the other girl didn't tried to grope her. Harri could have stayed like that for hours. Eventually, Minie let her go and stepped back.

"Thanks," Minie said. After a long pause, she said, "So, I'm too bossy, am I?"

Harri grinned at her, remembering a conversation she had overheard between a veteran salesman and a new hire fresh from university. She sat on the floor and crossed her legs. Minie, after pausing, did the same. Harri leaned forward and lifted up the front of Minie's skirt, the knickers were plain white with frills.

"AHHH!" Minie slammed her hands down, pulling the skirt from Harri's hand and holding it down in her lap.

"Well, I did ask what you had on today. I think you should get some witch knickers. They really are more fun."

"Haaarrrriii!" Hermione cried, "Don't do that!" She looked at the other girl, momentarily furious.

"Anyway," Harri said, ignoring the other girl's reaction, "Minie, ever met someone from a prep school?" Blinking at the sudden shift in topics, the bushy-haired witch shook her head.

"In a prep school new kids are assigned a mentor to teach them how to act in school. The mentor, an older student, is supposed to show them around and make sure they know the rules, and to correct them when they make mistakes. And those corrections always end up as something like," and Harri tried to make her voice sound deep, "You did that wrong! Here's the right way to do it! I know better than you! Do what I tell you to do! Do it that way from now on!"

Hermione frowned.

"And they do it on everything from how to tie your shoes to which colors go together to how to solve a math problem.

"As a result, prep students learn to be rude and condescending when talking with their fellow students, it's always a game of one-upmanship — I know better than you! They are always trying to show their fellow students and under-classmen that they know more than anyone else does. They graduate and always come across as being bossy, overbearing know-it-alls who spend their time looking down on everyone else for not knowing the 'correct' way to do things. Kinda like the way Slytherins act, don't you think?" Harri sighed. "If it weren't for the fact that most of them go to work for daddy or daddy's friend they'd never get a job.

"And that's exactly how you come off to everyone. If you don't get it under control, you're going to alienate the very people you want to help, and not even know what you did wrong. For anyone who has to deal with people, like a salesman, that's the kiss of death. You can't afford to talk down to your customers if you want to make a sale."

Hermione's frown deepened and she opened her mouth to say something, but Harri cut her off, "Yeah, you're not a salesman, but you are trying to fit in at Hogwarts, aren't you?"

The witch nodded.

"Then stop trying to be a Professor! People can see how smart you are, if they want your help, they'll ask. It's like I heard one man tell his son about dating girls: always give them a graceful out. Instead of asking 'Will you go out with me Friday?' say 'If you aren't busy, would you like to go out Friday?' That way, if she's not interested you don't get a flat soul-crushing rejection, you get 'Gee, I can't, I have to — and fill-in-the-blank with whatever excuse is handy.' And if she really has something else to do, and she likes you, she'll drop a hint to ask her again later. Or even suggest an alternative day.

"Of course, you're not asking any girls out, but the idea is the same. Not 'you're doing that wrong' but 'Are you having problems with that? I had trouble doing that, too, but I found that if you do this it'll work better' or 'if would you like help with that, just ask,' or 'if you're having trouble with that, I know a trick that makes it easier' and if they are interested, they'll ask for help."

Hermione nodded. The two witches got lost in their discussion on navigating the perils of being too smart. Not that Harri was too smart, but she could see what Hermione missed by being too close to the problem.

It was only when the door to the Witches' Toilets slammed open and this horrible stench came rolling in that they realized there was a problem. They stood and peeked around the stall door. When the troll stepped in they realized their problem had upgraded to a life-and-death situation — theirs!

Harri's first instinct was to be quiet and not let the troll see her while stealthily sneaking out of the door. However, Hermione's air-raid-siren volume scream, which Harri believed was heard in Hogsmeade, immediately attracted the troll's attention. Harri grabbed her friend and yanked her down to the floor as the troll swung his club. The club, which looked to have once been a very big tree, slammed through the stall walls, snapping many of them in half. Harri heard a muffled crashing sound and hoped her hearing would return before Christmas. God! What a pair of lungs that girl had!

Crowding Minie in front of her, she scuttled as fast as she could under the stall walls towards the back of the room. Heading to the door was right out as most of their cover had been destroyed. The backswing of the club took a number of the sinks on the wall opposite the toilets, shattering porcelain and breaking pipes. The troll looked around the room at the water spraying everywhere and seemed oddly happy.

Harri pointed her wand and cried, "STUPEFY!" Nothing happened, so either she did it wrong or the troll was immune to magic. The troll twitched his shoulders — ugh, they could tell it was a male, his ragged trousers didn't really hide much — and turned his attention back to her. Hermione was inhaling for another sonic blast. The door burst open behind the troll. To Harri's astonishment, Ron and Neville appeared.

Harri elbowed Minie hard in the side. "DO SOMETHING!" she yelled at the girl. Harri then tried the incarcerous spell. Ropes appeared around the troll. He didn't appear to notice them. He raised his club for another swing. The ropes snapped, they were as effective as strands of spaghetti.

Ron and Nevellie both fired off spells. The troll turned to look, noticing them for the first time. Harri charged forward. Neville started throwing debris at the troll. Harri leapt to part of a sink still attached to the wall, then jumped for the trolls arm. She scrambled up his arm to his head. She pointed her wand at his ear and yelled, "AUREM DAMNO MAGNO!" If she made sounds painfully loud maybe it would prevent the troll from hearing them over the other noise. She had seen that spell in one of her prank books.

The troll now seemed to notice her for the first time. He swung his club upwards at her. For a moment, she thought he would hit himself in the head. She slipped in avoiding the club and ended up grabbing him around the head. Her wand went up his nose.

Meanwhile, Ron and Neville had been hurling spells and debris from the floor at the troll. Ron pointed his wand at the troll's upheld club and yelled. She heard Hermione yelling something. The ringing in her ears prevented her from hearing exactly what any of them said. The massive club slowly went up, dragging the troll's hand up until he let go in surprise and watched it rise to the ceiling overhead. At the same time that Harri cried, "STUPEFY," the club came crashing down on the troll's head, narrowly missing her.

Whether it was the club, Harri's stupefy from her wand in his nose, or both, the troll tottered for a moment, and then crashed to the floor. Harri fell off and onto the floor. Harri could hear only the muffled sound of water spraying against the walls from the broken pipes. She scrambled to her feet and the four of them stared at each other.

"Did you kill it?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"I DON'T THINK SO," said Harri.

"I think he's just knocked out," said Neville. "And you don't have to yell, Harri" he said looking at her.

"I'M NOT YELLING, WHY ARE YOU WHISPERING?" Harri responded.

Ron was holding his wand up in front of his face and staring alternately at the wand, the troll, and the troll's club.

Harri retrieved her wand from the troll's nose. "ICK," she said, wiping it off as best she could on the troll's trousers. Hermione echoed her comment.

The door slammed open, startling them. All four spun around and pointed their wands at the door. Professor McGonagall burst into the room, with Snape and Quirrell close behind. Quirrell collapsed on the one toilet still intact, whimpering and clutching his heart at the sight of the troll.

Professor Snape examined the troll. Professor McGonagall was staring at the four students, her eyebrows raised. The four Gryffindor's looked at her, then at their wands. They quickly straightened and hid their wands behind their backs. Harri had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" Professor McGonagall demanded, cold fury in her voice. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Harri was speechless for a moment, then said, "TODAY IS THE DAY MY PARENTS DIED. WHY WOULD I CELEBRATE IT?"

Hermione elbowed her in the side, hard. "Sorry Professor McGonagall, I think I screamed in Harri's ear."

Harri, frowned, put her fingers in her ears and wiggled them, then yawned, hoping that would make her ears pop.

"Anyway," Hermione continued, "Harri didn't feel like celebrating tonight."

Harri gave the Professor as cold a look as she could.

"I was keeping her company while we wandered around. We stopped in here for a minute to use the facilities. Suddenly this," the bushy-haired witch pointed at the troll, "troll burst in and we were fighting for our lives. If Ron and Neville hadn't come in when they did we'd be dead."

The three students were staring at Hermione as if she had grown a second head. Hermione was telling a lie? To a Professor?

Ron recovered first, saying, "Yeah, we were headed to the dorm when I thought I saw Hermione and Harri at the end of the hall. We knew they didn't know about the troll because they weren't at their seats in the Great Hall. The prefects were way ahead of us, so Neville and I ran down to tell them to go to the dorm. But then we saw the troll go into the Witches' Toilet. I thought we'd run to tell our Prefects about seeing the troll, because that was more important. But then we heard a scream and realized that was where the girls were, so we rushed in to help."

Professor McGonagall looked at her four errant students, two who were drenched. Her expression changing from fury to merely upset. "Well, I must say you have the luck of the Irish — not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. Five points to Gryffindor for each of you. I will inform Professor Dumbledore of this. If you're not hurt. . . . you are unhurt, correct?" They nodded. "You'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower," the professor continued. "Students are finishing the feast in their Houses."

They were halfway to their dorm when Ron spoke up. "Right." He stopped on the staircase looking up at the two witches. He took a deep breath, "Hermione, I'm sorry. Sometimes I can be a right git, and today was one of them."

Hermione stared down at him, then gave a curt nod. "Okay." She turned to continue up the stairs, but turned back, "Thanks for coming to save us." She then went on up the stairs.

Ron mumbled, "you're welcome," and followed.

Neville and Harri just looked at each other, amazed at Ron apologizing. Their friendship had turned a corner.

And Harri's wand needed cleaning. She still had it in hand, not wanting any of the troll snot to get in her wand holster to do who knew what in damage to it. And the ringing in her ears had finally subsided. Who knew Minie could hit the volume of an air-raid siren?

X - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - X

The next day, Friday, Professor Snape was waiting in the classroom, sitting behind his desk, as the students filed in. They could tell just by his expression that it was not going to be a good day and even the Slytherins were subdued and quiet.

By now, even Hermione had admitted that their "found" potions book was superior to the standard text and she had diligently copied all the notations and "improvements" to her book. They had worked out a system where they rotated in teaming with Neville. Even with the new S.O.P.s the students designed Neville was still a hazard in the Potions room. He could help prepare a passable potion as long as his partner kept a sharp eye on where Neville's hands were and what they were about to do.

Professor Snape, seeing the advantages of fewer melted cauldrons and explosions allowed them to maintain their rotation. And Neville's confidence was growing as each successfully completed potion demonstrated that, yes, he could do things right if he was careful.

Today was a bit nerve-wracking, but the four made it through to the end with potions that earned, if not praise, at least not condemnations. Harri noticed that the professor seemed to be limping as he moved around the room.

After announcing their assignments and dismissing the class, the potions Professor added, "Miss Potter, I need to speak with you."

Harri grabbed her stuff and walked over to Professor Snape's desk and stood there waiting as he finished making notes on a parchment. As soon as the last student left the classroom, he put down his quill and looked at her, no sneer, just a blank expression. The classroom door silently swung shut.

"Miss Potter, I paid a visit to your — relatives. They were quite unpleasant."

Harri nodded, she could easily believe that, and wondered where he was headed with this.

"I can assure you that they will never again treat you with anything but the utmost respect."

Harri stared at him, stunned. She finally asked, "What did you do?"

He returned her stare levelly, no sneering, just a calm placid expression, as if he were relaying the weather forecast, "That is neither here nor there, suffice to say that they will not strike you or force you to do anything like they used to do. They might ask you to help with the household chores, but you are free to say no. They will ensure that you always have sufficient food and drink, as well as clothing or anything else you may require. They will not interfere with your studies or hinder your activities."

Harri stared at him, mind blank, unable to think of what to say until. . . "What of the hotel?"

His expression hardened slightly. "The. . . Muggles. . . whom you met at that hotel have been arrested and charged with the crime of child molestation over the last few weeks."

Harri began to breathe quickly, starting to panic. They had learned about her at the hotel room, soon everyone would know.

"Relax, child," Professor Snape ordered, scoffing, "Did you really think you were the only one those Muggles abused?" He snorted. "For most of them you were merely one among many. They do not remember you, now, however, so they can never tell anyone about you." He studied her carefully as she slowly brought herself back under control.

"I merely did a bit of investigating and discovered a few of their victims. Then I had one of them 'confess' to the Bobbies about what he had done. The entire ring collapsed as each one brought in by the Bobbies gave a complete confession and named the other culprits in an attempt to bargain for a lighter sentence he or she will not receive.

"Your uncle understands that the only reason he isn't in jail with them is because of you. And if he wants to remain out of jail, well he had better treat you as if you were one of his top clients at his business."

Harri stood there, knees shaking. She realized tears were pouring down her face.

Snape sat watching her, his face a mask that didn't betray what he was thinking or feeling.

Finally, Harri managed to whisper, "Thank you." Then she stepped close and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly, whispering over and over, "Thank you, thank you." She felt him pat her back.

She stepped back. "Thank you, sir," wiping at her cheeks and sniffling.

"You may go now, child. If you have any problems on anything, come to my office at any time of the day or night. Simply tell a portrait or any of the Hogwarts ghosts that you need to speak with me and I will meet you at my office as soon as practical. If I cannot, I will get word to you."

Harri stumbled slowly to the door. She stopped for a moment to gather her thoughts, and wipe her face again. Then she took a deep breath, stood straight, and left the classroom.

To her surprise, Minie, Ron, and Neville were all waiting in the corridor.

"Are you alright?" asked Minie, seeing that Harri had been crying.

"What did that git do?" demanded Ron, glaring at the closed door.

"Nothing, it's nothing. I'm crying because, because, because he gave me good news about my relatives." She hiccoughed. "They're gonna be nice to me from now on. No more locking me in my room without meals, no more beatings, no more punishments, no more hotel. . . ," she stopped abruptly and hiccoughed.

The other three exchanged puzzled glances.

"He said everything is fixed now. Everything is fine." She hiccoughed again. "Oh great, now I got the hiccoughs." She grinned at the others, her eyes a little bleary from the tears that were still coming out. Then she hiccoughed.

"We'd better get started on our assignment so we'll have the weekend free." And she hiccoughed, again.

Quidditch season at the school started on that Friday and the four teams stepped up their practices in preparation for the first games. The first match of the season was Gryffindor vs Slytherin. Wood had decided to keep her presence on the team a secret, which failed spectacularly as the entire school knew she was the Gryffindor Seeker within days of her getting her broom. The other students either said she would be brilliant at it or they said that Wood would need a special team just to fly around under her with a net in case she fell.

Draco was furious at her "special" treatment in getting to fly a broom when none of the other First Years could. He swore that next year he would be on the Slytherin team and would make it his personal goal to crush the Gryffindor team, especially her. "The only way you'll get on the team is if your father buys you a place on it!" had been Ron's retort.

Minie had been huge help to Harri. Between her constant assistance in homework and studying and the book she loaned Harri, Quidditch Through the Ages, Harri wasn't sure she would have survived to Sunday.

That Saturday would live forever in Harri's memory. It was a crisp, clear, cold day and she was so nervous the thought of breakfast made her blanch.

Ron and Neville tried to get her to eat something, even toast, but Harri couldn't even manage that. She was just glad that she didn't have any potions that she absolutely had to take! She was sure they would have come right back up.

The game itself, however, was just as much fun as she had expected. Once she took to the air, all her anxiety and fears disappeared. Oliver had merely told her to search for the Snitch and ignore the rest of the game, but that quickly became boring. Lee Jordan's commentary was a hoot, and, clearly, Professor McGonagall wasn't nearly as upset with him as she pretended or she would have tossed him from the announcer's booth the previous year. Idly, Harri watched the game a quarter of the way between the Gryffindor and Slytherin goal posts, glancing around searching for the Snitch at frequent intervals.

But flying was more than just floating on a broom high up in the air. Bored, she strengthened the sticking charm she was using, then waited until the Slytherins were almost at the Gryffindor goal posts. Then she tilted her broom down and blasted forward at full speed pushing the Nimbus to its best speed.

Lee was the first to notice, "Wait, has Harri seen the Snitch? She's diving almost straight down. . .." The rest of what he said she lost in the whistle of the wind past her ears as she plummeted towards the ground at breakneck speed, going faster and faster. She shot in front of the Slytherin Chaser with the Quaffle and destroyed his concentration just seconds before he threw the Quaffle. He threw the ball wildly, not even coming close to the goals.

Harri pulled up just inches from ground and shot across the pitch, losing speed until she was almost at a standstill under the Slytherin goals. The Slytherin Seeker had taken off towards Harri when she first started her dive and had overshot the Gryffindor goals as she realized Harri had been fooling her.

"A beautiful bit of interference from the Gryffindor Seeker, Harri Potter, the youngest Seeker in a century! Oliver recovers the Quaffle and passes it to Alicia Spinnet, who dodges a Bludger. . ."

Harri pulled up her broom and shot up at a steep angle, regaining her lost altitude and again cutting in front of a Slytherin Chaser and interfering in his attempt to gain the Quaffle.

Once more high above the game she looked around carefully for any sign of gold, seeing only brief flashes of reflected gold from people's watches and jewelry.

Terence Higgs, the Slytherin Seeker, glared at her, perhaps thinking he could scare her. Compared to her Uncle Vernon or Aunt 'Tunia, his glare was nothing to cause concern. Harri easily ignored him.

Then she saw it, a hint of gold at the foot of the Slytherin goal posts. She drifted sideways while pretending to look at her shoe and rubbing it with her hand, and instead getting a good look the Snitch floating just inches above the ground. She glanced over at Higgs. He was watching the game. She started dropping straight down. She waited until she was below his eye level, then flipped her broom bristles up and again dove to the ground.

The Snitch seemed to notice her and darted away from the Slytherin goals and towards the middle of the pitch.

Harri steepened her dive and tried to go faster.

"Harri's diving to the ground again, has she seen the. . . YES, there's the Snitch almost at mid-pitch on the grass. . ." Lee exclaimed.

Alerted by Jordan's announcement, the Slytherin Seeker immediately dove to intercept the Snitch. By the time he had seen the Snitch he had wasted his advantage of being closer.

The Snitch abruptly took off sideways, and both Seekers adjusted their directions to follow. The winged golden sphere reversed directions and headed back towards the Slytherin goals. Harri flipped upside down and then back upright and pulled her broom up to flatten her dive into horizontal dash to follow the Snitch. Higgs, coming in from a different direction, had to swerve to avoid a player, but still ended up almost even with Harri. The Snitch curved up in its flight and the two Seekers followed, Harri just inches ahead of Higgs. She hunched lower to her broom and tried to force a tiny bit more speed out of her broom. She reached out to grab the Snitch. . . .

WHAM! Something slammed into Harri from the side, knocking her into Higgs and causing them both to careen wildly across the pitch almost flying into the students in the stands. The Slytherin Captain had crashed into her! If not for her sticking charm, she undoubtedly would have been thrown from her broom and severely injured.

"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors as the stands erupted into rage at the blatant foul.

By the glare he was giving the older student Harri could see that Higgs was as upset as she was at his Captain's interference.

Nothing much happened for the next half-hour, except Harri twice more used her dive-bomb maneuvers to interfere with the Slytherins and help her team gain a few goals. The first time, Higgs had chased after her until he realized she has having him on, again. The second time he had merely checked out where she was headed and remained placidly floating above the pitch.

She had just returned to her normal position when she saw the Snitch again. This time it was floating almost directly over the Slytherin Seeker's head! The Slytherin had taken to staying close to her near the center of the field instead of circling it or staying over by the Slytherin goals.

She kept her eyes on the Seeker while letting her broom slowing drift over towards the Slytherin. She used her peripheral vision to make sure the Snitch didn't move.

"What do you want?" he sneered.

"Nothing," she answered, "just wondering if you've seen the Snitch."

He stared at her, insulted. "If I had seen it, I would have it! Now clear off, Muggle-born!"

She drifted a bit closer and turned to face him. He turned to face her.

"What's this?" she heard Lee say far below, "Looks like the Seekers are having a bit of a stand-off."

She grinned, and came up beside him. Now he was frowning, unsure of what she was doing. She kept her eyes on his face, as if she couldn't see the Snitch floating inches over his head. She had a feeling that if she looked directly at the Snitch it would immediately zip away.

"Are you sure you haven't seen the Snitch?" she asked keeping her eyes on his.

"Are you barmy?"

She lunged towards him, making him shy away in reflex, swiping her hand over his head. "Because, I did, and here it is." She let him see the wings fluttering between her fingers as she held the golden object. She headed down towards the announcer's booth, triumphantly holding her hand high.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT," shouted Jordan, "SHE CAUGHT THE SNITCH RIGHT OVER THE SLYTHERIN SEEKER'S HEAD!"

Flint, the Slytherin Captain, was furious and Harri could hear him screaming at Higgs even over the sound of the Gryffindor students celebrating their win! Gryffindor had won by two hundred and twenty points to ninety.

The celebration party in the Gryffindor Common Room that afternoon was the first time she had ever been the center of attention. And while it made her feel warm inside to have so many people coming up and congratulating her, it also made her uncomfortable being in the limelight. She tried pointing out that the rest of the team did all the hard work of battling the Slytherins, but everyone responded by saying that the team was losing until she found the Snitch.

If a doll could dance, that night her dad would have done it on hearing the details of their game! Her mum was also pleased, but urged her to keep working on her studies with Minie and her other friends.

Sunday was a nice day, overall, as she basked in the glow of winning her very first Quidditch match. Sunday dinner, though, brought her into conflict with the twins for the first time.

Dinner started out okay, but partway through she heard several students start to laugh and giggle and then quickly suppress it. Curious, she looked up. Many students were taking surreptitious looks at the High Table, so she did, too. And stared. Professor Snape's hair had turned gold and his normally pasty skin colour had become scarlet — the Gryffindor colours.

He had already discovered his condition and by his glare she knew who to blame. She quickly turned and looked over to the twins. They were trying to act innocent — that is, they were not looking at the Professor at all and were sporting great big grins. They had pranked the Professor!

Suddenly furious, she stood up and headed for the two Weasleys. Ron, Nev, and Minie leaned backwards to look down the table at her as she stalked up the twins. Sensing her approach from their neighbors' reactions, the twins turned. She glared at them as hard as Snape was.

"Hello to our favorite firstie," said one.

"What brings you to our end of the table?" said the other.

"We need to talk. Now."

Puzzled, but seeing that she was angry, they stood and stepped over the bench seats.

"Of course, Harri."

"Your wish is our command."

She led the way out of the Great Hall. As soon as they passed through the doors and were out of sight of the rest of the students, she turned and kicked the closest twin right in the shin.

"OW!" He bent over slightly to grab his injured leg.

Before the other twin could react with more than a stare, Harri stepped over and kicked his shin just as hard. "OW!" It was his turn to grab his shin.

"What'd you do that for!" they exclaimed.

"Professor Snape is my friend," she told them, the anger plain in her voice. "You will stop pranking him just because you don't like him."

"Your friend?"

"How can you say that?"

"His only friends are in Slytherin!"

"And we prank him because he deserves it!"

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe he acts the way he does because you prank him?" she retorted.

"Nonsense, he was like this long before we arrived here!"

"The upper years will all tell you he's always been like this!"

"I don't care what he's done in the past! He's not what you think. He's my friend!"

"Really?"

"And how do you know this?"

"What has he said that makes you think he likes you?" They were very skeptical.

"He has changed my life completely, that's how! He's protected me from my relatives! I'm safe now and I won't have you attacking him because you don't like him."

"But he's always mean to us!"

"He takes points away for no reason at all, simply because he can!"

"And you egg him on with your attitude and pranks, for no reason at all but that you can!"

"He protected you?"

"From your relatives?"

She blushed. She hadn't meant to say that. "It's private, I won't say more. But I trust him with my life. And if you don't stop pranking him you won't like what I do to you! And pranking individuals to embarrass them just because you dislike them is a rotten reason to prank someone, it's juvenile, mean, and petty. A prank should be something both parties laugh at, anything else is bullying! And if you must prank someone else it should be to teach them a lesson!"

They stared at her, completely surprised at what she was saying.

"Are you challenging us to a prank war?"

"Over how we treat Snivellus Snape?"

She narrowed her eyes, "If that's what it takes, yes!"

They stared at each other in amazement as she stalked back into the Great Hall and returned to her dinner.

Her friends were horrified when she told them what she had said to the twins, especially Ron. "Oh, Merlin, you don't know what you've done. I've been their victim for years! They never give up."

"Neither do I," was her response.

"You're just going to get into trouble, Harri, don't do it," said Hermione. "And they've got loads more experience than you do. How can you hope to beat them?"

Minie had a point, though. So, after dinner, Harri asked a portrait to request that Professor Snape meet her in his office. If she was going to be doing pranks, then she needed someone who knew far more about potions than she did.

After that, she headed over to Professor Flitwicks' office. She barely managed to make it back to her dorm before curfew. She met with each of them several times over the next few days. She even visited Professor McGonagall a couple of times.

Ron wanted nothing to do with what she planned, fearing retribution from his brothers. Hermione thought pranking was just a bad idea all around. Neville decided to follow their leads, and stayed out of it. They were her friends, they would support her, but they wouldn't help her get into trouble for no good reason.