This is the first Quidditch match I've ever seen and I'm finally getting why people want to fly in this place. It's exciting for sure, though personally I'm happier watching other people do it than trying to do it myself.
"And Slytherin SCORE! A fantastic goal by Skye Michaels taking advantage of Gregson's right hoop, a notorious weak-spot for the Gryffindor goalie." The Slytherin side is going crazy! We're jumping up and down and cheering and whooping and I can't believe it! We're thirty points up already and no Gryffindor Chaser's going to get past Tony. I can hear Scorpius on my left shouting team stats that plainly point to the superiority of the Slytherin side, and Hector and Louis are jumping up and down chanting at the tops of their voices.
"WE ARE GREEN BUT NOT WITH ENVY, BET YOU WISH YOU HAD A TONY! GO! GO! SLYTHERIN GO!"
I'm just starting to think that now I'm at Hogwarts I might just get to see Slytherin return to the glory days of House Cup triumph and Quidditch glory, when a single scarlet figure dives through the action at giddying speed.
"Don't get carried away Slytherin it looks like POTTER'S SEEN THE SNITCH!"
But he's not the only one, ahead of him Billy is streaking towards what looks like a tiny golden bird, but Potter gains on him with every foot of air covered.
"Potter is riding the new Nimbus2100, a retake on the model that earned his father legendary status years ago, and Which Broomstick was not lying about that acceleration, look at him fly!" James Potter had become nothing but a scarlet bullet streaking through the air. "Potter and Kellermann are neck and neck, and the Snitch seems to be leading them on a merry dance around this stadium!" The Golden ball had gone into a high speed circuit around the stands followed closely by the two Seekers and action in the middle of the pitch had frozen entirely as the two teams watched the action with their mouths hanging open. "Potter draws ahead, he reaches out, and THE SNITCH CHANGES DIRECTION, POTTER TURNS, KELLERMANN'S OUT! HE REACHES FORWARD, THERE'S NO ONE BUT POTTER! AND HE'S COUGHT THE SNITCH!" The stands on three sides erupt into cheers and screams of joy, while the Slytherin side watch Billy regain control of his broomstick and come to a halt his head hanging listlessly. As Potter swerved to follow the Snitch his tail had caught Billy's broomstick and sent him into a spin leaving Potter free to claim victory. "The final score stands at one-hundred and fifty points to thirty! Bad luck Slytherin!"
Older Slytherins are already heading for the staircases, too familiar with this result to be too disappointed, but we stand frozen watching Tony gather his team, pat Billy heavily on the back with his giant hand, and shake each of his team members by the hand.
"What broom does Billy have?" I ask Scorpius, even though I know Billy it's never occurred to me to ask before.
"An old Nimbus2001 he found in the Slytherin broom cupboard, I think it was one of the ones my Grandfather gave to the team about twenty-five years ago." His voice is hollow. "He's flying an antique."
"Why doesn't he ask his parents for a new broom?" Bentley asks, I laugh at first before I realise he's serious, then I cough and answer.
"He's an Orphan, Louis."
"Oh." Bentley's cheeks flush crimson.
"Couldn't we raise some funds through the house? Get him a new broom?" Hector's brows are knitted as he sits with his head in his hands. The Slytherin stands are now empty apart from us, while the rest of the houses take their time descending, beginning the party on the pitch.
"Most of our house are Orphans or really poor, it's not exactly easy for Deathlings or Slytherins to get good jobs these days, let alone those of us who are both." I say sullenly, I'd heard Tony talking about this to Emery while they were cleaning out the Pollyjuice Cauldrons.
"Come on." Scorpius says, and we all get to our feet. "We may as well get back and have a go at our Charms essay. Vincent, Library?" His voice has an odd ring to it and I nod once. We leave the others behind us in our haste to gain some distance and hurry back to ground level and along the path that skirts the stadium on the lake side. I can tell he's got something to tell me and it's not until we're well clear of the stands and in the middle of the sloping lawns that he starts.
"I wrote to my father asking him about secret rooms and he's told me about one at North Tower on the ground level. He said it was an ideal meeting place because it can be got at from below via the dungeons, from above and from the level, so there are three possible approaches. He said it might still be in use by older students, so to watch it for a couple of days before setting anything up, and that he's got a couple of other ideas if that one isn't alright."
"You told your father about our plans?" I say dumbfounded.
"Not exactly, I asked if there was a secret room I could go to to practice spells and carry out experiments." I grin my relief.
"How come older students use this room?"
"They used to use it, I don't know if they still do, and I don't know. I suppose they have a lot of practice to do for exams." He shrugs. "Who cares? If it's a good place then problem solved!"
"Does the room have a name?"
"The Room of Runes."
"Nice." I say, we hurry up to the great oak doors, curl around to the right and almost immediately descend into the dungeons.
A group of Gryffindor third years are loitering by the door to the Great Hall and one of them shouts out, "Yer slither back into your hole Slytherins!" As we disappear into the gloom.
We bypass the passage to the common room, turn right again and follow a path that slopes steeply downwards. The dungeons have become more like home than any other part of the castle since term began. They stretch like a dark labyrinth throughout the foundations and staircases lead upwards at the base of each main tower so that if you know your way around you can get to almost all your classes through the dungeons. The Slytherins favour this rout because it tends to be less crowded, even if it is dark.
"My father knew a lot of secret rooms down here, but he said this one would be best because it seals itself completely, whereas the others are just hidden behind suits of armour and trick walls and things." Scorpius whispers excitedly.
"And he told us to watch it in case it's still in regular use?" I whisper back.
"Yes, but we can do that from below in the dark, the entrance is six steps from the ground floor level in the wall. If we station ourselves below in the gloom we can see what happens." I nod as we reach the base of North Tower and begin the climb. The stairs here are wide and shallow, you can get two strides in on each step. We round the corner and see the floor level out before it begins the rise to the upper levels. I wait while Scorpius counts the blocks until he turns to me, beaming. "I've got it."
"Go on then!" I say. The Castle is quiet as most people are in their common rooms after the match, voices can be heard in the corridors above but from our current position we're quite invisible and we'd have plenty of warning if someone approached. So far I approve of this room. "What do you have to do?"
"I tap this twice quickly and say Secretum."
"Do it then!" Scorpius takes out his wand and taps it twice.
"Secretum." Instead of the bricks shifting like they do in the entrance to Diagon Alley, the patch of wall behind the brick suddenly wobbles like it's made of jelly. We look at each other. Scorpius reaches out his hand and touches it. It wobbles again. He pushes his hand through and it sinks into the wall. "There's nothing on the other side." He pushes his whole arm in and then the rest of his body follows. I take a deep breath and then follow. On the other side is a room about ten foot across and entirely circular. The stones are a deep red colour and they're scored all over with black runes.
"I wonder what they say?" Scorpius says, standing near the opposite wall, gazing at them.
"I think we'd have to take up Ancient Runes to figure it out." We look around for a minute and then I say, "well so far it's perfect. Now all we have to do is watch and see if anyone still..." my voice trails off. We can hear voices on the other side of the wall, a girl and a boy are giggling.
"Secretum." Says a male voice. Two fifth or sixth year Hufflepuffs come in through the jelly-wall in what appears to be a full body embrace. Scorpius and I look at each other awkwardly and after a few moments the boy spots us and pulls his head away from the girl, "erm, aren't you two a bit young to be using this room?" He says, the girl squeals and turns around.
"We needed somewhere to practice things." Scorpius says defensively. The boy raises his eyebrows in surprise.
"Ok, well, are you done? We could use the space now."
Scorpius shrugs in my direction, "sure, this isn't going to work for us anyway."
"That's for each man to decide for himself." The boy replies and he continues to look surprised until we disappear back through the wall.
As we walk back down the staircase I say, "why did he think we were too young to be in there?"
"I don't know, he probably thinks we're too young to be doing extra practice, you know, we don't have exams yet."
"I don't think they were practicing for exams." I point out. He shrugs again and we carry on.
"So where now?"
"My father mentions one other room, it's deep in the dungeons and it's smaller, but apparently it wasn't as well known in his day so it might be forgotten by now." We're heading back towards the common room.
"Ok." I say, "It's worth a try." We walk past the stretch of wall that leads to the common room, onwards, then right down a narrow passage, "Lumos" he murmurs and light appears at the tip of his wand. Scorpius has his left arm stretched out running along the stone wall and suddenly he turns and vanishes, the tunnel goes instantly dark. I hold out my hand and feel a fissure in the stone, I can feel it, but I can't see it. I get out my wand and ignite it, but all I can see is a dark line that looks like a crack in the masonry, yet it feels big enough for me to slide through. I try, the impossible happens and I find myself in a room dimly lit by a tiny window in the roof that lets in the same green light that illuminates the common room. Scorpius is looking around excitedly.
"I don't think this one will have the same problem as the Room of Runes, the corridor out there is so dusty this place hasn't been used for years."
"It is smaller." I point out, it's between five and six feet across so it would be a squeeze.
"Big enough for one cauldron. Harry Potter and his gang made Pollyjuice Potion in a toilet cubicle."
"Ok, well I think we should try it. We've got to get going on experimental droughts if we're going to have a product by the Summer."
"Alright, it's a deal. Now, let's get back to the common room, I want to play some Chess."
"Got a date with Ferne Arden?" I ask and get an elbow in the ribs for my trouble.
Back in the common room the mood is subdued, everyone is sitting quietly getting on with their homework or reading the paper. We head over to our usual window and find Ferne standing at the glass gazing out towards where the Grindylow has finished work on his extraordinary trap and taken to lurking in the long reeds at the base of a giant boulder.
"What's it for d'you reckon?" I ask as we slump into chairs.
"It's for us." She murmurs. Scorpius and I look at one another.
"What do you mean?" He asks.
"The trap is a man-trap. The Grindylow can see us over here and is hoping to make us its prey." She turns to look at us both and we all fall about laughing.