-Chapter Fourteen-

The Quidditch Catastrophe

Rose and Scorpius hadn't really left the spiralling staircase outside the headmaster's office; they had their ears pressed to the door when Al opened it.

Stumbling, Scorpius said defensively, "Sorry, we were just--"

Al finished for him. "Spying."

Rose went red, and said, "Just go down to bed, Al, you've had a rough day. We all have, but lately you've been having too many. Try to de-stress tomorrow at the Quidditch match; Slytherin versus Gryffindor.

There had been a few matches already this year, but now that tryouts were through the new team had plenty of time to practice. Excited, Albus said, "You're right. But I'm going to be exhausted in the morning; nightmares will keep me up."

Despite his cousin's protests, Albus left with Scorpius with the idea in his mind that he would certainly have nightmares about the tower. Half of him hoped to have these visions, so he could learn more about the tower's mystery; half of him wanted to wake up in the morning in his own bed at home, making the passed few months a long and horrible dream.

As he lay in his cool, comforter-covered bed, Albus rolled over and whispered, "Scorpius! Put a silencing charm on Mitchell so he stops snoring!" Mitchell was their fourth roomate, and Allan's best friend.

Laughing, Scorpius didn't reply; Al silently agreed that it was time to sleep, and he fell into a peaceful slumber.

A.S.P.

Al had a dreamless sleep, something he usually didn't mind. He awoke at around eleven o'clock on Saturday morning, grateful that he didn't experience any nightmares.

"Morning," called Scorpius from the other side of the dormitory. He was pulling a pine-green sweater over his head, and wore black, baggy track pants. It appeared he had doubled, or perhaps tripled his layers of socks.

"Chilly out, is it?"

Scorpius nodded. "Oh, yeah. Rose came by an hour ago for some help with Hagrid, he had a fun night in Hogsmeade, at one of the pubs. Said he needed something from his garden, but he could hardly stand up straight. So, we got him the herb, brought it to Madam Parvati and Professor Wrightmore, and they started brewing him a potion."

Grinning, Al replied, "Figures. Hagrid's hangovers are never too pleasant. He visited over the summer with Teddy…"

Albus trailed off, suddenly feeling depressed at the thought of his godfather. He sighed, and Scorpius frowned. "C'mon, Al! We're going to have a good day! Rose and I have a bet about who's going to win the match."

As they discussed Quidditch, Al put on the whool jumper his grandmother had made for him before school starter, which was emerald green to match his eyes and had a silver snake in the shape of an S on the front. He wore a pair of jeans that were an uncommon shade of blue, distinguishing them from Muggle pants.

"Let's go," he said as he pocketed his wand and did his best to brush his hair. Scorpius noticed Al's wand sticking out of his pocket. "Why'd you bring your wand? Think Sheerbourne is going to start something?"

Al shrugged. "No, just in case though. Dad says always have it on you; it could save your life, you know."

Laughing, they headed up to the first floor, then out to the yards. They were early; only about forty other students, mostly Gryffindors, were seated in the stands. From the stands, Al and Scorpius could see the tower in the distance; seeing the Dementors sent a chill up his spine.

"Albus, Scorpius," said a voice behind them. Spinning around, Al had to stifle a gasp; Professor Retskope had large bags under his eyes, which were bloodshot, and his face looked very pale. His hair wasn't in its well-kept ponytail; rather, it was a tangled mess that hung just above his shoulders. He was wearing particularily shabby clothes.

"Professor?" Asked Al, and his teacher tried his best to smile. "Seen me on better days, have you Al? I apologize; I shouldn't have showed up to a Quidditch match like this."

"Are you a fan of Quidditch?" Asked Scorpius, obviously trying to change the subject. Retskope nodded fervently. "Indeed I am. I didn't play much during my time at Hogwarts; Xander was never a flyer, and he made me join other clubs and teams instead. But I find it quite exhilarating to be on a broomstick. I'm quite a gifted Keeper, if I do say so myself."

He took a seat above them, in the small section reserved for teachers; he sat beside Wrightmore, who didn't look too shocked by his appearance. On his other side, the headmaster sat speaking in a low voice to him.

"He looks dreadful, doesn't he?" Asked Rose, who was making her way up to the boys. Scorpius snorted. "You didn't get a wiff of him. Smells as if he hasn't showered in days. Poor fellow; wonder what's been happening with him."

Al focused uneasily on the pitch; it was a very gloomy day, as always, and he noticed it was the first of November. It had indeed gotten much cooler out, and the clouds darkened profusely and noticingly more around the top of the tower.

Doing the commentary for the match was a seventh year student, one of Dean Thomas's three children and his only son. He was a well-built boy in Gryffindor named Sam. Pointing his wand at his neck, Sam muttered, "Sonorus," and his voice magnified to the point of echoing around the stands, which were now almost full.

"Ladies and gentlemen, teachers and students! Welcome to yet another Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor! We've got quite a few player changes, so please join me in welcoming the Gryffindor team!

"The Captain of the team, lead Chaser and my close personal friend, Billy Corner!"

Al saw a very tall, but otherwise plain boy riding an overly-polished brookstick burst out from under the stands, skid in mid-air above the pitch and raise his arms in a sort of victory-wave. Cheers erupted from the Gryffindor side as Sam continued, "And his fellow Chasers, Marcus Kastslov and Ian Matthewson!"

More cheers; Al clapped politely while Scorpius booed and Rose slapped him on the arm. "And the Gryffindor Beaters, Fred Weasley and Richard Skemple!"

Richard had thick, shining brown hair cut in a mushroom-like style that Al snorted at. He was fairly chubby, but tossed his club from hand to hand as if it was weightless. Fred held his club in his left hand, as he was left handed, and spun it around excitedly. Albus heard his brother cheering on the other side of the pitch for their cousin.

"Yay, Fred!" Yelled Rose as she waved a red and gold flag with a lion on it. Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"…Also the only female player on the team, give it up for Maria Vellkroff! Maria was only about fourteen or fifteen; Al knew his cousin Fred fancied her. She wore her hair in long braids, and had large hazel eyes.

"And finally, please give a warm welcome to the Gryffindor team Seeker… the one and only BEN WRONSKI!!!"

He shouted Ben's name, and the whole Gryffindor side of the pitch exploded with cheers, drowning out the small amount of Slytherin boos. Al watched in awe as Wronski flew full speed out, a red and gold blur fifty feet in the air. He did a few flips and loops, then floated there high above the pitch, his square-jawed face smiling slightly at the loud welcome.

"Now, the Slytherin team! The Captain and Seeker, please welcome Kyle Bones!"

Al had been unaware that Kyle was a Seeker; he knew the boy was Captain of the Quidditch team, a prefect, and an experienced duelist, but he had no idea he was a Seeker. Kyle was very good on a broom, and he eyed Wronski as if he expected him to have the Snitch in his hand at any moment.

After introducing the rest of the team, which was almost all sixth and seventh years, Sam yelled, "Master Wood has released the Snitch, and both Bludgers… He's got the Quaffle, and they're off!"

Sam's last sentence corresponded with Wood's magically amplified whistle. The large red ball was passed from Matthewson to Corner easily, but as Corner sped up with it under his arm, two of the seventh-year Chasers from Slytherin, Nott and Tremp, sandwiched Corner and caused him to fumble the Quaffle. It fell below the three, and was caught by the third Slytherin Chaser, Devon. Devon sped up on almost a ninety degree angle, but as he attempted to pass to Tremp, Kastslov intercepted and swung around in mid-air, passing back to Corner, who scored.

"What a play!" Yelled Sam excitedly. Al watched in awe as, above all the other players, Wronski sped up and avoided a Bludger that was hit in his direction by a Slytherin Beater, who was very fat and very beefy.

"What a dodge," Al said to Scorpius as they whooted and cheered. Slytherin had scored. It was now ten-ten.

"I know; Wronski's great, isn't he? I'm not surprised though; I hear his dad wouldn't even let him get a girlfriend last year. Said it would distract him from Quidditch. He's in training class all summer and he's bound for the Goblins fresh out of Hogwarts, just like his dad was."

They continued watching, anticipated and on the edge of their seats. Rose jumped gleefully when Wronski helped evade a Slytherin Chaser while looking for the Snitch. "He's not just handsome, he's good at Quidditch, too!" Scorpius gritted his teeth so loudly Al could hear it over the sudden roar of wind.

"Got bloody cold, didn't it?" Asked a Ravenclaw student below them. Scorpius and Rose didn't seem to notice; they were discussing Scorpius's Quidditch skills.

"…Oh, really, I just said he was handsome! Stop being so defensive--"

"I'm good at Quidditch, you've just never seen me play. Trust me, I'm a way better Beater than any of those idiots. You think Fatty over there can hit a Bludger?"

Before Rose could reply, something very eerie occurred; What looked like jet-black Patronuses appeared from somewhere near the tower; They were like black ghosts, their misty, smoky appearance making the hairs on Al's neck stand up.

They had a more liquid-like movement, and they floated through the air toward the two highest (and thus, closest) players to them; the two Seekers.

Wronski and Kyle shouted with fright when the large creatures appeared; they had the ability of screeching and making high-pitched, freakish sounds, unlike the normally mute Patronus produced by the average wizard. They had strange forms, too; they looked like dragons at first, but Albus soon realized they were long serpents with large bat-like wings. There were four in all.

Wood's whistle was so shrill it cut through the air louder than the noises produced by the vicious, dark creatures that had suddenly appeared. Horrified, the students and most staff fled the stands; the remaining six players on each team landed on the grass and started running. Wood mounted his broom, as he had landed briefly before the creatures had appeared, and sped up straight at Kyle and Ben.

Al, Scorpius and Rose stood up, but didn't follow the flow of running students. They watched, along with a few of the braver students around them as Wood attempted to fire a jet of red light at the closest of the serpentine monsters.

"Stunning spell," said Rose knowledgably. "Quite ineffective, as you can see, on creatures made of mist, for heaven's sake."

Behind them, O'Leary, Professor Whitby and Professor Retskope were all casting different spells at the black Patronuses. O'Leary had conjured some sort of electric-blue whip made of light from the end of his wand, which reached from the stands to the air at least forty feet. It cracked the air near the creatures, but seemed to burn up into a crip of ash when one of the creatures touched it.

Retskope roared, "Expecto Patronum!" And aimed his wand at the sky above them. Al focused his eyes to see what Retskope's Patronus was; It was the most bone chilling, but yet striking creature he had ever seen. It had to be magical; unlike his parents, who's were a stag and a horse, this was one of the rare magical creatures that only sixth or seventh year students in Care for Magical Creatures class could learn about.

It was a large cat, or at least Al thought it was. But after a moment he saw it was a combination of many creatures; it had a lion's body, but was the size of a bear. It's front calws were outstretched viciously, and it had a long, thin scorpion's tail. In the centre of its silvery main was a humanoid, demonic face; this was a face Albus could only picture in his nightmares. On its shoulders, extended out to allow it flight, were a pair of outstretched dragon wings.

Shocked, Albus turned to Rose and asked, "What is that?" She shook her head in awe. "A-- a manticore. They're native to Greece, and extremely rare. There aren't many left in the world. They're also extremely dangerous."

Scorpius gulped beside them. "You think?" He said sarcastically as the Patronus tackled one of the smoky-black creatures and it evaporated into nothingness. The Patronus wasn't done; it resume attack by striking with its silvery tail and hitting the second creature with it, causing it to vanish, too.

The final two were driven away back to the tower before the Patronus could deal with them.

Retskope dropped his wand into his inner robes, and turned to his students. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy and Miss Weasley, please return to the castle."

He then addressed the few other students who had witnessed the attack, and everyone obeyed without hesitation.