AEU Chapter 13

'The origins and conception of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are lost to the ages, with no surviving records, paintings or prophesies from that period in Scottish history (1).

What is clear however was that a school for the magically gifted of Great Britain and the surrounding islands was sorely needed, as it was about this time that Muggles began truly to attack and destroy magic and its practitioners, due to (amongst other things) the rising power of Christianity among the populace.

The Wizards Council was presented with a grand scale building plan for a great school of magic that could be built far away from prying Muggle eyes (2) by a group of highly gifted and celebrated warlocks that were of course to become renown worldwide as the founders of Hogwarts.

Academics agree that Godric Gryffindor found the exact mountain on which the school would be built, and the various quarries that existed further down the mountain ranges at the time provided more than enough high quality stone with which to build a school to last the ages (and to withstand the tremendous pressures of housing many hundreds of adolescent magical wielders).

All founders were agreed upon that the magical population would one day require a very large school with which to house all of its children, hence the castle having its impressive size and scope. In the short term, most of Magical Europe used Hogwarts for a time before constructing their own projects to a similar design. Yet Hogwarts, bar some low level disagreements from the continent, remained the finest example of both learning and craftsmanship in the world. To this day, under the management of Albus Dumbledore, the school continues to shine as one of the world's finest.

Exactly how long the four witches and wizards worked upon the powerful rune wards that were to be enchanted into every single brick, stone and log (3) that went into the construction is unknown, but eyewitnesses report on the large armies of house elves, goblins and rune crafters used to enhance the defences of the castle, making it impervious to whatever damage an out of control youngster could commit, whilst also safe guarding the future generations from the dark forces that ever circle around places of power.

The wards themselves are unrivalled in all the world, better than anything either man or goblin has come up with since, and surpass those of the British Ministry of Magic or the Prison of Azkaban (4). It is an interesting fact that the wards were worked upon long after the school itself was completed, with the founders tinkering and adding to their strength until each met their death. Salazar Slytherin was the exception, as he had mysteriously disappeared many years before. The tradition of each headmaster and headmistress adding their own protections to the castle are thought to originate from this practice.

A notable feature-'

Harry was interrupted from his reading by his captain Oliver Wood ordering him to bed before the Quidditch match tomorrow. He regretfully shut Hogwarts: A History before thanking Hermione for letting him borrow it. The castle felt more like home than he had ever felt at the Dursleys, leading him to want to know more about the swooping spires and high walls of the castle.

Whilst Harry valued exploring the castle itself to learn more about its secrets, a bit of background knowledge could always help, especially as there appeared to be no set map of Hogwarts, what with the walls, the stairs and even the rooms sometimes changing around. From everything he had read and learnt so far, the castle seemed to thrum with energy with perhaps even the wisp of life itself.

Regardless, he had not been able to read too far into the book for his work load had tripled within the past few weeks with teachers cracking the whip to ensure their Christmas tests WOULD be passed at ALL costs.

Quidditch practices had also begun in earnest, proving to Harry that he was right to be afraid that first years usually were not allowed onto the house teams. The training was brutal and Oliver Wood had shown himself to be an obsessive task master dedicated to dragging Gryffindor's sorry arse to first place in the Championship if it killed him and everyone on the team to do it.

Harry was loving the flying side of things. The snitch played right into his hands often, the bludgers were easily swatted away by the Weasley twins who chatted away banally to each other and to him about several matters, such as exactly how to get a toilet seat past Filch to post home. Harry suggested enlisting the help of Peeves to distract the caretaker, possibly by flinging Mrs. Norris into the Black Lake. They chortled at this as they hit both bludgers in perfect sync without looking.

Unfortunately, Wood had also made every member of the team exercise their bodies on the ground to make sure that they were stronger than the other teams in every way. Harry wondered about that. As a Seeker, the lighter he was the better for his play, but he was also honest enough with himself to know that if he were playing a competitive nonmagical sport right now, he would want to be in much better shape than he was. Apparently, the best Seekers were lithe and muscled, just not developing the overly large arms and chest that the Keepers and the Beaters tended to have. Not that he would get anything like that without years of training, at least according to Wood.

After two weeks of waking up cursing the captain's name multiple times whilst massaging his sore muscles, Harry was looking forward to the first match in order to reassure himself that the pain was worth just a little something.

He was nervous however; McGonagall had let it be known in no uncertain terms to Oliver that Snape was becoming insufferable about his winning streak in the school championship.

It was also the first time he would be presented to the school at large as the Seeker of the Gryffindor side, as he had been kept secret from most everyone to ensure that he wouldn't get attacked, doped, maimed, pranked or abused by the Slytherin side or their supporters. Apparently, the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws were both keen to see someone, anyone win against Slytherin, in both the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup. These three houses then, were far more supportive of the Quidditch team when they appeared in the Great Hall. Harry entered soon after to continue the mystery of who the Seeker was.

Hermione was already there at the table and seemed to be in full panic mode for his safety, judging by the even faster pace of her voice than usual, rolling off again and again about the safety record of most Hogwarts Quidditch matches. He nodded mutely and was inwardly writhing in his stomach about the upcoming match but was also touched that she was so worried for him, even if nothing had happened yet.

Professor McGonagall had wished the team luck with one of her rare smiles before extending it to Harry as well. He gave a small grin back before concentrating on the increasingly hard task of eating sausages. Professor Snape was roving around the Slytherins, making them both ready and eager to thrash another team at flying, before he returned to the high table to talk dirt with the Gryffindor matriarch. From the looks of their conversation, if Dumbledore was not there in between them with his beard twitching in amusement, the pair would be trading fists instead of words by now.

Ron came down looking his typically disgruntled morning self before diving into bacon, eggs and brown sauce. The sight deprived Harry of his remaining appetite and earned Ron a few hard looks from students trying to enjoy the early morning quiet before most of the school came down for breakfast.

The new player sighed and stood up with the rest of the team in order to get changed. This earned him a few confused looks and sniggers from what seemed to be everywhere in the hall before the Slytherin table started laugh out loud at what Harry knew appeared to be a tiny and pathetic new member for the untested team. He gritted his teeth and carried on walking out through the doors and onto the winding path that led downhill towards the pitch.

Hermione and Ron were supressing angry remarks and hand gestures as breakfast went on and the Slytherins continue making a song and dance about the ridiculous line up Gryffindor presented to their team. They weren't perhaps the best of friends yet (or even close to that point) but today they were united in trying hard not to curse someone. The whole school looked on in amazement when Snape marched into his house's midst and told them to be respectful, before telling his team to get a move on and go change so they can go win another year's worth of Quidditch. It left the students feeling outright confused.

Why was Snape of all people telling his house to tone it down whilst also being encouraging for the first time in God knows how long?

Hermione and Ron looked at the billowing black figure who was sweeping back towards his seat. He nodded curtly at McGonagall, who looked at him in mild astonishment whilst Dumbledore's eyes, which seemed to have been focused on the enchanted ceiling for the last few minutes, twinkled with light.

Harry was close to being sick when he saw that the Seeker received fairly little protection except for basic padding on the knees and elbows, along with greaves for his wrists and feet. The Seeker apparently, had to doge everything like a mad house fly rather than be hit, whilst the keeper and the beaters not only wore full face guards but body armour that covered the majority of their playing robes. He tried not to look too jealously at Fred and George whilst they set up.

'Thanks for telling me that, guys.'

He wouldn't be wearing gloves to prevent sticking charm cheating but could bear his wand in accordance to wizarding law which he remembered both from Quidditch through the Ages and History of Magic classes. Harry finally grasped the handle of his new broom. At the first touch of the polished handle, smoothed to perfection, he remembered with a smile exactly how he had gotten this astonishing piece of magical craftsmanship.

"Er…Harry? I think someone's been in here," Ron said with an odd voice as he went into the boy's dorm.

Harry adopted a quizzical expression on his face. It was just after the headmaster had quietly told the gathered students they could return to their rooms and that the Troll had been dealt with.

"What is it Ron?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Come and have a look mate. Seems someone's Christmas has come early," Ron said, and Harry could hear the grin in his voice this time.

He rushed into the room and on his bed, next to his owl; he saw a beautiful broomstick laid out across the sheets, with a letter on top. He opened it with fumbling fingers and so read:

'Mr Potter, hopefully this letter will find you well.

This is your new broomstick for the coming season of Quidditch as the school brooms leave much to be desired. As I'm sure Mr Weasley will tell you, this is a Nimbus 2000 and the very finest broom the Nimbus Company produces (and you are not concern yourself with cost. When I informed the president of the company that James Potter's son was in need of a broomstick he donated this to you along with his encouragements).

Please do NOT treat this gift lightly and good luck in the coming match.

Professor McGonagall'

Harry Potter grinned broadly at the second real present he had ever received, placing it back next to his first: Hedwig.

Ron moaned in awe at the broomstick and Harry motioned to him to examine it, which he did with glee. Whilst Hermione smiled at the news herself, Ron seemed to truly be blown over by the event for the next few days, seeming to wish to break into song before every lesson. Quietly, Harry had confided in Hermione about the unsettling feeling he had about another person's charity, particularly as this was new to him. She listened whilst Fred and George were filled in by Ron about the exact sheen the handle of the broom had and seemed sympathetic but not, as he learned, about this feeling but at the thought he had received few gifts before.

"You've really not had a nice time of it, have you Harry?" she said sadly before adding, "Well, you do have friends now that are going to give you things as gifts. This is a good thing, as long as you don't take either them or the gifts for granted, though I suspect you will not."

Harry nodded; this made some sort of sense.

"Oh and by the way, you should fully expect gifts this Christmas, so you might want to start shopping around for things your friends might like," she said with a smile.

"Is that a subtle hint?" he asked with a growing grin. Hermione answered with a squeeze of his hand before running off to complete her Potions homework.

That had been a while ago now and Harry was waiting for his mail orders to come back so he could wrap them. All other thoughts were quashed as the team trooped out onto the Quidditch pitch. The morning air was cold, the ground was crackling under their feet as they walked; Harry was quietly glad the ground was hard enough to allow them to kick off quicker.

Madame Hooch served as the referee and she waited for a moment, scanning both teams with her piercing gaze before indicating the captains forward to shake, or rather in their case, crush each other's hands. Wood walked away wincing slightly whilst the others mounted their brooms waiting on Hooch's whistle. The sharp pipe on the whistle sound through the stadium as all figures on the ground shot up into the air as the crowd began roaring for their respective teams. Harry's hair rustled in ever messier ways as he banked and swooped around the stadium watching for a glitter of gold. He knew from practice that the snitch could not leave that area, so it was a matter of searching his surroundings for the ball. In in the meantime however…

He rolled suddenly to avoid a bludger that went careening through the air at him, its signature whistle as it tore around the players indicative of its dangerously high speed.

"Watch yourself Harry!" Fred Weasley called at him whilst smashing the bludger into Marcus Flint's face.

The opposing sides' captain spluttered and gurgled as his face erupted with blood. He dropped like a fly down to the ground and had to be saved from a crushing landing by the referee, who motioned to the medic to see to him before leaping into the air once more.

The Slytherin side, now a man down, took an affront to this disadvantage and were extremely aggressive as a result. Despite of this, Wood pulled off some magnificent saves whilst the Chaser players ramped up five goals between them. Harry had yet to see the elusive Snitch but was hopeful he could end the game before one of the gorilla Beaters on Slytherin took exception to his being there.

In the stands, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid were cheering on the house team whilst Neville was trying not to be squashed by the jubilant people all around him. Hagrid brought out his monster sized binoculars and could easily see the tiny figure of Harry expertly flying around the pitch.

"He's in fine form today, 'aint he?" he said proudly, to no one in particular.

Hermione gasped when Harry suddenly shot downwards and then up again with a sharp motion, seemingly for no purpose.

"What's he doing?" she asked Ron, who also seemed bewildered.

Others were now watching Harry's increasingly violent broomstick motions to the point that the Weasley twins were flying over to tell him to lay off it.

Harry himself was growing increasingly frightened over the fact that his broomstick had seemingly developed a mind of its own.

"Err, Harry? You might want to take it easy mate," George said as he flew closer to Harry, only for the Nimbus to shoot away from his approaching broom.

George had seen Harry's panicked eyes however and knew that he was in trouble. His twin was already moving off in pursuit of the fleeing broomstick and its rider. The beady eye of Madame Hooch snapped to the three players moving off away from the centre of play and she took in the bucking broom and the serious air all three figures emanated.

She whistled to pause the game but before she could move to intercept Harry's broom he was thrown from it and left dangling from it. Cries and screams were heard around the stadium as the adults stood up to assist if they could. Harry clung on desperately whilst the twins tried to get him to safety.

Professor Snape took in what was happening and smirked in amusement. This was the best the would-be assassin could come up with? He swept towards the stairs that led to the pitch whilst casually tripping Professor Quirrell up and sending him sprawling into the people in front of him. Snape suddenly reversed his direction and sat back down in his seat, confident that Potter should be able to do the rest.

'Good at potions and goddammit, good at Quidditch too. His father would have been insufferable,' he thought with another flicker of a smile.

Harry was focusing now on the innate connection he had with the broom. Apart from physical manipulation such as leaning, the best Quidditch players communicated their thoughts to the broom as to where to go. Harry focused on that connection now and took note on the curious second presence influencing his broom. It was much stronger than his own and he endeavoured to concentrate on the whirling stick of death he was currently clinging onto, trying to will it to remain steady so he could get back on it.

Suddenly, the presence disappeared and Harry was in control once more. He swung his leg back over the broom and steadied himself just as the rest of the team and the ref caught up to him. Madame Hooch demanded an explanation before checking both himself and the broom. He assured her that he was not in control of the broom during the last few minutes and described what he had found when trying to control the broom himself. The woman looked at him with concern for a moment before signalled for everyone to get back into position.

"Harry, not that I'm not displeased that you aren't splattered along the ground or anything, but now would be an excellent time to catch the Snitch," Oliver Wood said as he flew back to the goal posts.

The twins each gave him a reassuring pat on the back and the Chasers all gave him a smile before shooting off to get back to the Quaffle.

The match began again in earnest with Harry even more focused on finding the Snitch. The crowd roared many times over the next half hour as many goals were scored by both sides, making the score 180-120 to Gryffindor. Either side could win if they caught the Snitch at this point and it showed in the tremendous amount of pressure apparent on the Slytherin Seeker's face.

Harry was keeping calm in accordance with his training, though his thighs were burning with exertion and the rest of his body was also exhausted. He had never flown for this long or this hard before and now understood the importance of his physical training. As he flew long loops of the pitch thinking about this thing and that, a glimmer or gold appeared just above Oliver's third goalpost.

Harry surged forward, shooting past his captain mere inches away as he flew after the dodging ball. Suddenly the other Seeker was there next to him trying to ram him off course, which worked against both as the Snitch unexpectedly changed direction and flew straight downwards towards the ground. Both boys flew straight after it into a spine tingling dive of at least 200ft before the Slytherin player chickened out about five feet from the ground and pulled up.

Harry shot down past him, pulling up only when he was mere inches from the turf, which seemed a blur of green to him at his speed.

The Snitch beckoned in front of him and he reached out his hand to snatch the tiny ball from the air, eliciting a mighty cheer from the stands as the supporters understood what had happened. His team collided with him in a hug that brought them all crashing down to earth, whilst Madam Hooch, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape hurried over to check Harry's broom.

McGonagall was beside herself, her team had won but the broom she had given to the first year had nearly thrown him off in his first outing. Harry seemed in a daze as he spotted the faces of people he knew cheering and he smiled and waved at them. Today was a good day, all things considered.

Afterwards, in an interview with the teachers in the Hospital Wing whilst being checked up on by Madame Pomfrey, it turned out that his broom had been jinxed by a person in the crowds whom Snape and Quirrell were searching for now. He was assured it would not happen again and was relieved when his friends burst in to yell their congratulations as well as their worries.

Hermione had him in a hug that many would consider a head lock (the curse of being short for his age) and Ron was sat at the end of his bed repeatedly shaking his head and saying "Blimey," over and over again.

When he told them about the jinx, Hermione interjected to say that the person must have had eye contact or must have cursed the broom beforehand. Since it was improbable that someone had made it into the secure Gryffindor tower rooms and into his trunk whilst unnoticed by all, they agreed with the teachers in that the person must have been in the crowd.

"Who could it have been though?" Ron asked curiously.

"Well, it could have been any number of people to be honest; the games are watched by parents, Hogsmeade villagers and by fans of the sport. Could have come from Europe or Asia for the match," Harry mused.

"I hope Dumbledore will improve security next time. He might even come himself to make sure it doesn't happen again," Hermione said, thoughtfully staring out of the window at the already darkening sky.

"Still, great playing there Harry," Ron said enthusiastically, grinning with the thought of them moving up to second place in the Cup already.

Harry sat back and wondered who the mysterious force was that tried to kill him. He knew it was irrational. He knew it would be unbelievable if it were true but recent events made him feel more and more like it was time to stop putting this off.

"Hermione, when we get out of here I'm going to need your help in the library," he said.

She tilted her head curiously before freezing in place when he said, "I need to find out everything the wizarding world knows about Lord Voldemort."

Cliff notes for Hogwarts: A History

1. See the 'James Curse' notes or A History of Magic for details. Suffice to say, Scotland was in poor shape politically and economically at the time.

2. This was before the settlement of Hogsmeade, which was in part, an accidental occurrence. According to oral folklore, it did in fact have something to do with a runaway pig and a stolen barrel of cider.

3. A common and long held criticism of the founders four was that they never added any enchantments to the glass that made up the windows or greenhouses. This has led to generations of hot tempers shattering said glass repeatedly, much to the amusement of other students (and the consternation of Herbology professors).

4. Both are respectively the strongest government building in the world and the strongest prison in terms of defences. The only place in this writer's knowledge that has wards greater than Hogwarts is Nuremgard, the infamous citadel that contains Gellert Grindelwald.