A/N: I was looking on the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team to get the team names, but the information on there had the team from the video game and Cedric Diggory, so I decided to put that Ravenclaw is going first against Slytherin, because at least some of the names were mentioned in the book.
The weather turned very cold when they entered November. The mountains around the school turned icy-gray and the lake looked like chilled steel. Every morning, the ground was covered in frost.
Every time Hailey looked out the windows of Ravenclaw Tower; the sight of the lake, mountains, and the grounds took her breath away.
She was looking down at the Quidditch field to see that Hagrid was defrosting the brooms. He was bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and he was wearing enormous beaverskin boots.
The Quidditch season had begun; Ravenclaw and Slytherin were going first.
Hailey was sure that if Ravenclaw won, they would be in second place for the House Championship, right behind Slytherin.
Hardly anyone had seen Hailey play, because Roger Davies had decided that she should be their secret weapon and decided that it should be kept secret. Somehow, the news had spread that Hailey was the Seeker for the Ravenclaw team. Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy told her that they would be under Hailey holding a mattress and some Gryffindors had told Hailey that she would be brilliant.
She was actually surprised that she managed to get through all of her homework with Roger Davies doing last minute Quidditch practices.
Hermione had lent Hailey Quidditch Through the Ages so she can read it. It was quite interesting because Hailey learned that there were seven hundred ways to commit fouls and they were all committed in a World Cup match during 1473. Since Seekers were the smallest and fastest players on the team, most serious accidents happened to them. She also learned that since death rarely occur during a game, referees were known to vanish during one and show up months later in the Sahara Desert.
The day before the first game, Hailey, Mandy, and Michael were standing in the freezing courtyard, during break. Michael used a spell that can conjure fire that can be carried in a jam jar. They had their backs to it, getting warm, when they saw Snape crossing the yard.
"Why is he limping?" Mandy whispered to Hailey.
Hailey shrugged and they squeezed in tighter, trying to make sure that they were blocking the fire, since they weren't sure if it was allowed. Apparently they looked guilty because Snape came limping over.
"What is that you got there, Potter?" Snape asked, eyeing Quidditch Through the Ages that Hailey was holding. She held the book out to show the professor. "Library books aren't allowed outside. Give it to me. Five points from Ravenclaw." He took the book from her and limped off.
"He just made that rule up," Michael said, a little angry.
"I wonder what happened to his leg," Hailey said, looking after the limping professor.
"Whatever happened to it, I hope it hurts," Mandy muttered, crossing her arms.
The Ravenclaw common room was strangely quiet. The Ravenclaws were busy with homework problems or practicing wand movements or whatever it was that they were doing. Mandy, Michael, and Hailey had exchanged Charms homework, trying to make corrections or compare the others' answers.
"Why did you write 'silver' down? I don't recall colours being in the lesson." Michael told Mandy, holding the parchment closer to his face, and squinting at it.
Hailey was feeling restless. She wanted to get up and move around. She looked at the others and stood up. Her two friends looked up at her.
"Where are you going?" Mandy asked.
"I'm going to get my book back. Do any of you want to come with me?" Hailey asked.
Mandy looked at the parchment. "I'm trying to figure out what this word is. All I can make out is, 'bleh' and the rest of it is incoherent."
Michael shook his head, "Better you than me."
Hailey nodded and then left the common room. She went down the spiral staircase, wondering what to do. It's possible that Professor Snape would give her book back if there were other professors around, so she can go to the staff-room, and see if it was there. If he wasn't in the staff-room, then she can try the Potions room, which she didn't want to go to.
She got to the staff-room and knocked on the door. There wasn't any answer, so she tried one more time and again, there wasn't an answer.
Maybe he left it in there, she thought and opened the door.
She saw that Filch and Snape were in there, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees where one of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages and Hailey thought the sight was horrifying.
She realized that Snape was talking, "How can you keep an eye on all three heads at once?" Hailey backed up and tried to close the door as quietly as she can. "Potter!"
Hailey looked over to see that Snape's robes were now hiding his leg and he looked furious. She tried to look as if she hadn't seen a thing and smiled. "I was wondering if I can have my book back."
Snape now looked enraged and Hailey wondered why smiling was the wrong thing to do. "Get out! Out!"
Hailey backed up and nearly ran into the doorway as she sprinted out of the room before Snape could remove more points from Ravenclaw.
She wasn't sure how she ran up the stairs without tripping and she managed to squeeze through the door before it closed on her. She sprinted past Grant Page, who seemed a little confused to see that Hailey was running. She threw herself on the chair that she had been sitting in, breathing heavily. Mandy and Michael looked up at her sudden appearance.
"Did you get your book back?" Mandy asked.
"No," Hailey said. She rubbed her face and told them about what she had seen. After she finished, she looked at the other two. "I think he tried stealing what the Cerberus is guarding and I bet you both that he set the troll loose as a distraction."
"He's not a nice person, but I'm sure he wouldn't steal something that Dumbledore is protecting." Michael stated, looking at the two girls.
"Oh, come on. Not all teachers are saints like you think them to," Mandy snapped at Michael. "I agree with Hailey. Whatever the Cerberus is protecting, it must be very valuable, highly powerful, or something else like that. Whatever it is, he wants to get his hands on it. You need to tell Ron this and see what he thinks about it."
Hailey nodded and wondered what it was that the Cerberus is protecting.
The next morning, when Hailey walked into the Great Hall, she smelt fried sausages and heard the excited chattering of the first Quidditch match. She saw Hermione and Ron at the Gryffindor table and walked over to them.
"Good luck, Hailey," Fred and George said to her as she walked by them.
She stopped walking and smiled at them, "Thanks." She went to Hermione and Ron. She sat down next to Ron and was across from Seamus Finnigan. She told the two Gryffindors on what happened last night.
Hermione told her the same thing as Michael told her and Ron agreed with Hailey that Snape might be after Dumbledore is keeping hidden. Ron grabbed some bacon and held a slice to Hailey, "You need to eat."
"I'm good," Hailey replied, shaking her head, and rested her arms on table. She looked at the other Gryffindors, who seemed a little surprised that she was there. Percy was giving her a strange look every now and then, possibly wondering why she was sitting there.
"Just a bit of toast," Hermione stated, holding a slice of toast out to Hailey.
"I'm not hungry," the Ravenclaw said as she looked at Hermione.
"You need your strength, since Seekers always get clobbered by the other team," Seamus Finnigan told her.
"Thanks, Seamus." Hailey replied dryly, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.
At eleven, it seemed like everyone was in the stands around the Quidditch pitch, with many students having binoculars. Even though the stands were high, she was sure that it would be difficult to see the game.
Hailey and the rest of the team had changed into their blue and bronze Quidditch robes in the locker room.
Roger Davies cleared his voice for silence, "all right men," He glanced at Hailey, "and woman…" Hailey was feeling jittery, knowing that this was going to be some sort of pep talk. "We're going to crush our opponents into the dirt. Not literally, but it certainly won't hurt to try. I can feel that we're going to win this game." He looked at them, as if threatening them to win.
Jeremy Stretton, the sixth year Chaser, leaned towards Hailey and whispered, "Our previous captain always said the exact same thing. It didn't work."
"Okay," Hailey replied, nodding. She wasn't sure who the previous captain was, but at least her teammates seemed like they could poke fun at themselves over losing constantly.
They went to the field, hearing loud cheers, and Hailey was feeling like she was going to fall down. Madam Hooch was standing in between the two teams, being the referee. Hailey looked around seeing that Ron and Hermione were sitting next to Neville, Seamus, and Dean. They had created a banner with a red bed sheet that looked like it had been chewed on. It said Potter for President in paint that was changing colours and Hailey knew that Hermione had performed a charm on it to make the paint change colours.
Hailey looked around in the stands to find Mandy and Michael. She noticed that some older Ravenclaws had a blue bed sheet with a painted Eagle on it that was flapping its wings. Jeremy nudged her to get her to pay attention.
"—a nice fair game, all of you." Madam Hooch was saying, but she seemed to be speaking to Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, who was a fifth year. Hailey wasn't sure, but she thought that Marcus Flint might have a bit of troll blood in his veins. "Mount your brooms, please."
They did as they were told and Madam Hooch blew on a silver whistle. Fifteen broomsticks immediately rose high in the air.
"And the Quaffle is immediately taken by Randolph Burrow of Ravenclaw," Lee Jordan said. The Weasley Twins' friend was doing commentary for Quidditch.
Hailey stayed high in the air watching the game down below and looking around for the Golden Snitch.
"A neat pass to Jeremy Stretton—back to Burrow and—no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle. Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes—flying like an eagle up there—he's going to sc—no, stopped by a nice move by Ravenclaw Keeper Grant Page and the Ravenclaws take the Quaffle. The Ravenclaws take the Quaffle and that's Chaser Roger Davies of Ravenclaw—nice dive around Flint, off up around and—ouch!"
Hailey winced at the sight of Roger Davies getting hit in the back of the head by a Bludger.
Apparently Lee Jordan had the same thought, "—that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger—"
Hailey looked down to see that Roger Davies was getting his bearings back, before he went back in the game.
"—speeding off toward the goalpost, but he's blocked by a second Bludger sent his way by Jason Samuels—Burrow is back in possession of the Quaffle—"
Hailey noticed Hagrid was in the Gryffindor stands sitting with Ron and Hermione. It looked like Hagrid had his own pair of binoculars.
"—Ravenclaw scores—"
The Ravenclaws cheered loudly and Hailey decided to do two loop-the-loops to shake off the jitteriness she was feeling. She saw that a Bludger was coming right at her and she flew out of the way.
Duncan Inglebee, a fourth year Beater came after it, and hit it to Marcus Flint. He looked at Hailey, "are you all right?"
Hailey nodded and Duncan went back in the game. She looked around for the Snitch.
"—dodges two Bludgers, the Ravenclaw Beaters, and Chaser Davies—wait a moment—is that the Snitch?"
Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle and looked over at the Snitch that was right by his left ear.
Hailey was so excited, she dived for the Snitch, but unfortunately the Slytherin Seeker, Terrance Higgs, had seen it too. The both of them were neck and neck as they chased after it.
Hailey was sure she was faster than Terrence and she could see the fluttering golden ball, darting up ahead. She put on an extra spurt of speed and then something crashed into her. She spun off course and she held on tightly to her broom so she wouldn't fall off.
The Ravenclaws were shouting "foul" and Madam Hooch had spoken angrily to Marcus Flint. Whatever was said, resulted in Ravenclaw getting a free shot, and Lee Jordan had called it a disgusting display of cheating.
Hailey dodged another Bludger, but her broomstick suddenly lurched. The broomstick lurched again as if it was trying to buck her off, but she knew that broomsticks don't buck its riders off. She tried to turn to Roger Davies to ask him to call for a time-out, but the broom didn't turn.
It started zigzagging around and making violent swishing movements as if it was trying to throw her off. She held on tightly with both hands and her knees.
"Slytherin in possession—Flint with the Quaffle—passes Davies—passes Stretton—hit in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose—only joking Professor—Slytherins score—oh no…"
The Slytherins cheered and it seemed like no one was noticing that she was rising higher in the air, with the broom jerking and twitching along the way.
Mandy was looking through the binoculars, "I don't know what Hailey is doing. If this is some sort of plan that she ca—oh no! It looks like she lost control of her broom, but she couldn't have…"
Students noticed what was going on with Hailey and started pointing up at her, since her broom was rolling over, with Hailey managing to hold on. The broom gave a jerk and she was now holding on with one hand.
"Flint must have jinxed it when he blocked her," Michael said, looking up at Hailey.
"No," Mandy said. "Flint couldn't have used a spell since he doesn't have a wand and wandless magic is very hard to do. You know that." Michael took the binoculars away from her and started looking in the stands. Mandy looked at him, "What are you doing?" She looked up at Hailey on the broomstick and cringed. "Please don't fall," she whispered.
"Look in the stands at Professor Snape." Michael said, handing the binoculars back to Mandy. "I think he's the one jinxing the broom."
Mandy looked through them at Professor Snape to see that he was staring at the broom, muttering nonstop. "What do we do?"
"I have an idea," Michael said and disappeared under the stands.
Mandy looked up at Hailey, seeing that the broom was vibrating now. She was sure Hailey could barely hold on and it looked like Duncan Inglebee and Jason Samuels were trying to grab her to pull her onto their brooms, but she just rose higher. The two boys went lower and started circling her, planning on catching her if she fell.
"Come on, Michael," Mandy whispered to herself.
Michael went along the stands, running into Hermione, who looked pale. Hermione seemed a little startled, and when she jumped back, she sent Professor Quirrell forward. It was a little startling to see that Hermione had the same idea as him. Michael made a motion to let her continue. Hermione seemed to have gotten the message and took out her wand. She crouched down and whispered some words. Bright blue flames shot out of the wand onto the hem of Snape's robes.
Michael wasn't sure how long it took, but the yelp told them that Snape noticed it. Hermione collected the fire in a little jar that, for some reason, she had in her pocket and they ran off. Michael got back in the stands with Mandy, who was looking up at Hailey.
Mandy looked at him, "What did you do?"
"Hermione beat me to it. She set Professor Snape's robes on fire," Michael said. He looked up at Hailey, who suddenly started speeding to the ground. She dropped to the ground and that was when Michael looked away, not wanting to watch. "She's going to be sick."
"I've caught the Snitch!" Hailey shouted, holding it up.
Michael looked at Mandy. "Nearly swallowing it is a kind of a boring ending."
"How do you think she was supposed to grab it?" Mandy asked, "in her shirt?"
Flint was angry about it, even though no rule was broken, so Ravenclaw won by 170 points to 60.
A few minutes later, Hailey, Ron, Michael, Mandy, and Hermione were in Hagrid's hut, where Hagrid made Hailey some strong tea. It was very cramped with five first years and a giant. Michael had the misfortune of being crammed in between Hermione and Ron on the couch, while Mandy took the couch arm and Hailey got the chair.
"It was Snape," Ron explained. "Hermione and I saw him."
"Us too," Mandy stated, motioning to Michael and her. She looked at Hailey. "He was cursing your broom. He wouldn't take his eyes off of you."
Hailey shuddered at the last sentence and looked at Mandy. "That was some poor choice of words."
"Rubbish," Hagrid said. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"
All five first-years looked at each other. Hailey looked back at Hagrid. "We think that he tried getting past the Cerberus on Halloween. We think that he tried to steal whatever it's guarding."
Hagrid dropped the tea kettle. "How do you know about Fluffy?"
Mandy tilted her head to the side, "You named it Fluffy?"
"Yes," Hagrid stated. "I bought him off a Greek chappie in the pub las' year. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the—"
"Guarding what?" Michael asked, looking excited. He would never pass up an opportunity to learn something new.
"Don't ask me anymore questions. It's top secret," Hagrid said.
"But Snape's trying to steal it," Ron stated firmly.
"Rubbish," Hagrid said. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher; he'd do nothin' of the sort."
"But why did he try and kill Hailey?" Hermione asked. The afternoon event must have changed her mind on Snape. It certainly changed Michael's mind. "I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid. I've read all about them. You've got to keep eye contact and Snape wasn't blinking at all! I—" she looked at the other three. "We all saw him!"
"I'm telling yeh, yer wrong! I don't know why Hailey's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try and kill a student!" Hagrid stated, hotly. "Now, listen to me, all five of yeh—you're meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog an' you forget what it's guardin'. That's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel—" Hagrid suddenly stopped speaking.
"Aha! So there's someone named Nicolas Flamel that's involved in all of this." Hailey said smiling, glad to have somewhere to start looking.
Hagrid looked angry at himself.
A/N: I was originally going to have Michael set Snape's robes on fire, but I felt like I was taking Hermione's moment away from her and I didn't want to do that, since I have plans for him later on in the story.