Hillevi had never actually heard of the Gauntlet before, though Harry's new position in the team had encouraged her to look into the sport.
Now, in bleachers filled to bursting with students and overlooking a blue sheetrock maze of hallways, walls, and glowing yellow stone, she was starting to see the appeal.
"What frequency is it on again?" Hermione wondered, fiddling with her Pokedex as Ron pulled out the retractable earbuds.
"97.1."
Sitting on her lap, Skullcrusher and Lockjaw practically bounced in glee as Sharpshot keyed in the station number, offering up one of the earbuds for Hillevi to pop in.
All five Pokemon huddled around their own earbud, eager to hear Lee Jordan's voice, just as the other Houses waited for word from their own commentators.
"Welcome, Gryffindors, to the start of the 1991 Gauntlet Season!"
Cheers went up from Gryffindor as their team stepped out onto the field, red flags waving.
"Today's contest promises to be intense, as our fighting Arcanines take on the sinister Slytherin Arboks."
Ron was already keyed up, booing at the name of their current opponents.
"Making things more interesting will be our team's Runner. Starting in his first game, the Boy-Who-Lived himself, Harry Potter!"
"Go, Harry!" Hermione shouted.
"Today's match will be taking place in the Thunder Caverns Course. As you may well know, this course pays homage to the legend of Carter Daniels, who discovered the very first Thunder Stone in Thunder Caverns here in the Avalon region. Elemental stones are one of our biggest exports, and if it were not for Daniels' discovery, Avalon would not be the envy of the world it is today."
Hillevi bit her lower lip as she felt James repress an eye roll at that, Mawile snickering on his lap.
"The course features many different opportunities for Gauntlet Captain Oliver Wood and Angelina Johnson to knock points off their starting total. There are fifteen flags, each worth ten points, scattered around for them to pick up. There are also twenty targets, worth five points, that can be shattered. Ten different Pokemon are wandering around, including an Electabuzz worth thirty points if defeated, waiting for our Dashers."
Skullcrusher and Lockjaw snapped their jaws, clearly wishing they could battle, and earned a quelling look from Sharpshot as Meatlug huffed a laugh.
"While we aren't concerned about our Dashers, Slytherin should be, with the many traps that are waiting for our Defenders to activate. Crumbling floors that lead to seven foot deep pits, sliding doors that can be used to seal passageways, and bottlenecks that could lead to ambushes."
"This is going to be a tough course." Ron admitted, leaning on the edge of his seat. "Since they can't use Flying Pokemon to monitor their progress, they're going to have to find ways to keep track of which sections they've been down."
"With so many branching paths, I think the Defenders are going to have a hard time of it." Neville agreed, making sure Flora did not eat the earbud he had set aside for her.
"That's good though, right?" Hermione voiced.
"That means Harry will have a better chance of making it to the safe zone."
"But Harry doesn't have as much experience." Hillevi pointed out, nervous. "If he gets pinned down…"
Lee Jordan's voice cut off the conversation at that point, drawing their attention back to the course.
"The Runners are making their way towards the Safe Zone near the Ravenclaw side of the field. Built to resemble the exact room Carter Daniels first chipped a Thunder Stone from the rock, our Runners will need to make it through the tunnels and open fighting zones if they hope to remove a hundred points from their score."
A scoreboard appeared above the Slytherin bleachers, showing each team had two-hundred-and-fifty points to lose, as the Gryffindor Gauntlet Team lined up at their entrance.
"And we begin in three…two…one!"
Harry split off with Katie Bell, a Second Year, and her Rapidash to traverse the many passageways, the Fire-type checking each passageway with a Flamethrower.
Watching as George, Fred and Alicia Spinnet started setting up as many traps as possible while Oliver Wood and Angelina Johnson went off in search of the Slytherin Defenders, Hillevi worried her lip as a feeling nagged at the back of her mind.
Something's not right…
The whole Gryffindor section gasped as the screen showed Katie and her Rapidash twisting around to dodge a barrage of attacks from above, the Slytherins cheering.
"NO!" Ron screamed in horror, sinking into his seat.
"What…What happened?" Hermione wondered, shocked. "They were doing so well…"
"A kill box…" The Weasley groaned. "They set up a bloody kill box."
"And what is that?" The bushy-haired girl pressed, starting to panic.
"It's the strategy that's going to cost us the match!"
Meatlug barked as the poor Rapidash stumbled about in the effects of poison, favoring a foreleg.
"What's a kill box?" Hermione repeated, this time to Neville.
"That big open area is the kill box. The Slytherins moved three of their Defenders and a Dasher to the upper corners of the area, see, right there in those tunnels. They have the high ground and can signal to each other. Anyone in there is a sitting duck."
"But we're in the lead." Hermione pointed out, gesturing to the scoreboard that Oliver and Angelina had taken off eighty points to the Slytherin's thirty. "They've only achieved three goals and taken off thirty points."
"It's all about their Runner." Ron moaned, gesturing to the Slytherin Runner and Defender. "They're stopping Harry from getting to the safe zone. They'll focus their attacks on Katie and Harry, and let their Runner get through with ease!"
"I wouldn't count on that." James voiced, the impression of a smile on his face as Hillevi straightened, eyes wide.
"He's through! Harry made it through!"
While everyone had been focused on poor Katie, no one had realized Harry himself had not entered the 'kill box' and instead worked his way up the field and behind the Slytherins into another tunnel, shutting the door behind him.
He was in the last third of the course, heading down a curving narrow tunnel and rock shelves-
Then Marcus Flint and his Graveler cut him off, and Sharpshot growled in time with Mawile's disgusted snort as the Rock-type tucked itself into a Rollout to chase Harry and Eevee back down the tunnel.
Everyone screamed for the First Year to drop into the ditch made by the rock shelves and save himself from being crushed, but Hillevi realized how bad of an idea that would be.
While the maneuver would prevent him from being crushed by Graveler, she suspected Flint was well aware of this, and that would be the end.
Instead, Harry used one of the shelves to go up, grabbing onto the cloth that hung over the arena and bracing his legs against the wall as the pair thundered past and down the final curve of tunnel.
A smile broke out across her face as Harry dropped down and Eevee hit a panel, closing a door on Flint while Harry grabbed a flag to knock off a few more points and took off towards the finish line.
"I don't believe it! The judges are debating, folks. They're trying to determine if Harry Potter broke the rules with that maneuver, but I will tell you, even if he did, that will go down as one of the most cunning moves ever performed at Hogwarts!"
James shook his head at that, eyeing the judge's box as Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall argued fiercely.
"The rules clearly state that a Pokemon or a trainer can not cut or damage the roof of the arena." Professor Flitwick declared, overriding all of the commentators. "It says nothing about clinging to it. By a ruling of six to one, the move is legal and the match may continue!"
The Slytherins sank back with displeased hisses as Gryffindor exploded with glee.
"He's going to make it!" Hermione shouted.
"The Slytherin Runner is too far behind, he'll never catch up!" Ron agreed, pumping a fist into the air.
Hillevi fell quiet as that nagging feeling returned tenfold, the hair along her arms tingling and Meatlug letting out a low moan-
A high-pitched whine filled the air, the whole arena covering their ears, and Hillevi curled over her Pokemon as a Magnemite appeared, ringed by an electromagnetic field and screeching.
Then, just as suddenly as the Pokemon had appeared, it went quiet.
The younglings had barely quieted before explosions shook the tunnels, throwing Harry down and forcing him to crawl towards the safe zone as the whole course rattled around him like a snow globe.
"Harry!"
He was almost there when a wall gave way, a horde of Voltorb rolling free and glowing-
"HARRY!"
Her scream was lost in the ensuing blast, the bleachers rattling with the force, and Hillevi moved.
Three flashes of light recalled her little Dragons before she lunged over the seats, Meatlug and Sharpshot already in place on their girl's shoulders as the tiny Valhallan cleared the bleachers and jumped the protective railing.
A well-timed Flamethrower slowed their descent enough for Hillevi to hit the ground and roll safely, already running towards the epicenter with no thought to what exactly she was doing.
"Meatlug! Search!"
The Aron leapt right onto the mountain of rubble, bounding across, as Hillevi circled around the broken sheetrock and fainted Voltorb to where the so-called safe zone stood on the other side.
With the accuracy and efficiency of long practice, Meatlug tore into the blockage with Dig, making a clear path to Harry and Eevee for Hillevi to scramble into as the professors and James approached the scene.
Taking in the nasty gash on his head and the burns on his hands, the Valhallan checked for a pulse, noting that Eevee was unconscious but otherwise unharmed, tucked under the boy's body.
A steady heartbeat thrummed against her fingertips, and Sharpshot leapt from her shoulder as the reddish-brunette pulled out gauze and burn salve, efficiently doctoring Harry's wounds as Meatlug cleared away the debris, heedless of the growing audience.
Toothless thrummed against her heart, a growing storm.
Whoever did this was going to regret it.
Once all the facts were laid out, Hillevi did not have a single doubt in her mind that something was going on.
Mister Silph being in Galahad City only days before the school term began, Hagrid picking up a mysterious package that day, the Pokemon Center being robbed that very night; four Golurk getting into the castle undetected, Tiny asleep in a third floor classroom…
And now a Magnemite, which had no place in the Thunder Caverns course, showing up with such a build-up of electromagnetic energy that a whole horde of Voltorb self-destructed just as Harry was reaching the safe zone?
There was no way all of that could just be a coincidence.
Hermione gleefully threw herself into researching Nicholas Silph, dragging everyone along with, and James amusedly followed along, Houndoom snickering in glee.
Life was a whirlwind of class and practice and research and training and Pokemon, with hardly a chance to breathe, but Hillevi barely noticed.
In those two months, hanging out with friends and sharing stories, she felt…normal.
It was all she ever wanted.