Ch.16 - Sixth Year in Hogwarts (2)

When the school term resumed, Alex had become more elusive. It was rare for the students to find him outside of class. He was always staying in his dorm room alone. His birthday was coming up and his friends were starting to worry.

He was finally cornered by Clay and Katie who wanted to celebrate his birthday, but, he excused himself and asked them to leave him alone for at least a week. When asked why he just told them to trust him. His friends respected his decision. Alex had always been able to take care of himself, so they didn't press him.

Alex was actually very busy doing some last-minute arithmancy calculations for a ritual he had been planning. He had been researching this particular ritual ever since last term. He had all the things he needed for the ritual, all of which were just mundane everyday things.

On the eve of the 24th of January, his 17th birthday, he snuck out of Hogwarts and went to the Forbidden Forest, to the spot where he had died before. Alex had never believed that time was just reversed for him. He was convinced that the life he was living was merely the continuation of his existence. To him, it was, in fact, his 33rd birthday. [AN: He was 27 when he died.]

With a simple flick of his wand, he cleared a circular area of the grass and weeds with a fire spell. After the vegetation was burned off, he cleared the area of all the ashes and debris with a flick of his wand. Another quick spell work and a symbol of an equilateral triangle was inscribed on the ground.

On the corner of the triangle that pointed East, he placed a candle and lit it. On the North-West corner, a simple rock the size of his fist. And on the South-West corner, a metal cup filled with water from the lake.

He sat cross-legged at the centre of the triangle, hands partly raised to the side with thumbs touching the middle finger. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He went over the details of the ritual in his mind for the last time.

The ritual he devised was largely based on his understanding of the ancient beliefs regarding the cosmic order and the magical power of the number three. Past, present, future. Heaven, earth, hell. Earth, water, fire. Father, mother, child. The number three could be seen anywhere in the universe. Three plus one equals four, a complete cycle. Therefore, finding one's place within three anchors would make one closer to a perfect being.

That was the theory anyway. He couldn't be sure of how the ritual would turn out. However, he felt that it was the time to be bold. He started chanting the words of an incantation while stirring the power within him.

"I call upon the rising Fire, who Taketh to himself the brightness of the stars, seizing glory from those who sleep, to shine over me."

The fire on the candle became larger, more vibrant. He could practically feel the warmth coming from it.

"I call upon the giving Waters, whose Floods send us balm, bearing rule over precious things, to flow through me."

The water in the cup started overflowing as if there was a spring inside the cup.

"I call upon the enduring Earth, that Mounts over the tribes that thou has cradled, protector of the kingdom of the pious, to stand under me"

The rock started vibrating. The ground around it rose to form a small mound with the rock on top.

He repeated the words over and over while going deeper into his meditation. The ritual he was doing was meant to help him truly look within himself, to see the source of his magic. It was his hope that learning the nature of his magic would allow him to get stronger in time. Using the guidance of the elements, he wished to better understand the inner workings of his magic.

Although he was interested in making himself powerful through rituals, he didn't want to become like the Dark Lord. He still remembered the raw power which Voldemort displayed with a single spell that had broken down the Hogwarts defences. However, based on his current knowledge of rituals, he knew that the Dark Lord had probably sacrificed many aspects himself to gain his power. His ritual, however, was not asking for power. He merely wanted to understand something he already possessed.

And then, he found it, or them. There were two orbs floating there in the place where his magic sprung forth, perhaps the very container of his soul if the magical theory books he read were to be believed. The two orbs were orbiting one another like a pair of twin stars, constantly pushing and pulling at each other. One was a crystalized orb with a soft blue light coming from within. This was his magical core, he understood this from how the magic felt. It was stable and dependable. The other was an orb made of fire and it was powerful and wild.

He was mesmerized by the fiery orb. He felt a great temptation to reach for it, but he stopped himself. It was dangerous and it hungered for his life, he knew this for certain. It seemed familiar like he had seen it before. But how exactly could he recognize a ball of fire, he thought.

And then, he came to the realization. He almost broke his trance with the shock. The fiery orb that he was looking at was the cursed flame of a Fiendfyre. And not just any of its kind, it was the same Fiendfyre that he used out of desperation while fighting against a whole army of Death Eaters before he died. It was the same Fiendfyre that killed a lot of Death Eaters, werewolves, giants, acrumantulas, and perhaps Voldemort himself. And most importantly, it was the fire that killed his previous self.

For some reason, the fire came along with him to this alternate reality. He didn't understand how it could be possible for a magical fire to be contained within himself, but it did happen.

When he came out of his meditation, the candle had burned out, the water in the cup had all spilt, and the rock had eroded to sand. After checking the time, he realized that he had been in a trance for over 2 hours.

He was cleaning the area to remove all the trace of himself when he heard the steps of a centaur. His left hand twitched and something small and quick had flown away from inside his sleeves.

Then, he heard a deep voice from behind him. "You shouldn't be here, wizard."

Alex turned around and saw a blacked skinned male centaur standing there.

"I won't ask again. Leave now," said the centaur who took out his bow with his left hand.

Alex was irked at the attitude of the centaur. "Wherever I go is none of your concern, centaur. And the moment you notch an arrow to your bow will be the moment you die. This is your only warning," said Alex half-mockingly.

The centaur was incensed. How bold for a wizard to come in centaur territory and even suggest that his arrows were slower than a wizard's spellcasting, he thought. He looked at the wizard and by impulse, he had taken out an arrow from his quiver.

Before the centaur could draw the bow, he heard a swish and he felt a slight push on his chest. He looked down and saw a gaping hole where his heart should be. Before he could fully realized what happened, he collapsed and darkness was all he saw. He died with a confused expression on his face.

Alex could only stare at the corpse of the centaur. He didn't even learn his name and he had killed him. The moment he heard the footsteps of another centaur, he simply had to make a small gesture with his left hand and his enchanted dagger had flown out of his sleeves toward a small bush where it could remain hidden.

With his improvements to the dagger, it was faster than a crossbow bolt and as silent as a whisper. When the centaur made a move he made another quick movement with his left hand and the dagger flew from where it hid straight into the chest of the centaur. The dagger had come out from the other side with a line of blood behind it. It had pierced the centaur as if it didn't meet any obstacle in its path.

Another centaur had arrived. This time it was one with blond hair and tanned complexion. Alex was ready to attack once again if ever he needed to.

"Stay your weapon. I've seen what happened. My name is Firenze and the one you've killed is called Bane. Let us end the hostility with this," said the blonde-haired centaur.

"I warned him fairly, he forced me to act. I will leave you to tend to your brethren" said Alex.

"Wait, I have to tell you something. Bane may be arrogant, but, he is one of the few centaurs that have actually chosen to foresee their own death. He was not supposed to die anytime soon. You've managed to change that

Centaurs' predictions have been wrong before. But when I look at you, the stars, they tell me nothing. It is a curious thing. "

Alex didn't bother saying anything. He had also tried to predict his far future and failed to see anything. Even Prof. Trelawney never mentioned him in one of her ramblings. He left the forest and sneaked back inside Hogwarts.

A few weeks later and it was time for their quidditch match against Slytherin. Alex was talking to his teammates before the game.

"All right. It's the last game of the season. The Slytherin team has also won their other two games. And if we want the Cup, we have to win with over 120 points.

"Beaters, one of you will always remain by our goals to help our Keepers. Coordinate with one another to intercept the Quaffle. Chasers, stay within the passing range of one another all the time. Every time we got the ball, we attack with all we have. I will be joining the offensive when I have the chance. Everyone got that?"

"Yes sir!" said his teammates.

His team was a well-oiled machine. All the training had paid off.

When the match started, the Slytherin team got possession of the ball. They went on the offensive with little resistance as only one Beater was chasing after them. They didn't expect that the other Beater was already by the goal post.

It was a sudden pincer attack, the Chaser holding the quaffle was forced to pass the ball to avoid a tackle from his front and back. But the Beaters of Hufflepuff reacted quickly. They had been trained to follow the quaffle and not the player.

They successfully intercepted the ball. A few short passes and one of their Chasers had possession of the ball. He was on the offensive with the other Chaser flying on a parallel path. They dived low, using the gravity to boost their acceleration.

The leading Chaser went on an attack vector only to pass the ball to the other Chaser when he got close to the opponent's goals. The Slytherin Keeper had expected the move as he adjusts his position in anticipation of the attack.

When the quaffle was thrown, it had missed the goals. The Keeper didn't even have to intercept the shot. But the play was not over yet. Alex was there to receive the quaffle. He didn't even bother to catch it as he just punched the ball toward the goal on the left side. With him on the team, the Hufflepuff had three Chasers practically.

The Keeper was speechless. Hufflepuff had taken the first point.

The game went on and Alex was always moving about. He was always ready to help with the action. He had developed a reputation with his dynamic style of play as a Seeker that only a few players in the world were able to execute successfully. Some professional team scouts were there to see him in action.

Slytherin was fighting hard as well. The lead had changed sides at least ten times in the last half hour. The players were beginning to show some exhaustion as the game got even more heated up.

Frustrated at how the game was turning out, Angus Travers had dived toward Alex when he saw the player's back was turned to him. But unexpectedly, Alex had managed to dodge with an agile spin not unlike how a matador avoiding a charging bull.

"Getting jumpy, aren't we?" said Alex.

"If I take you out, your team doesn't stand a chance," Angus said.

Alex wondered why the Slytherin always had to say exactly what he was about to do. He avoided another tackle and flew away from where the action with the quaffle was happening.

Angus had gotten hold of a Bludger and used his bat to shoot it toward Alex. He really should have led with this move. Now that Alex was wary of him, he didn't have a chance of hitting him with anything. Of course, Angus was beyond being rational at that point.

"Hufflepuff scores again!" they heard the announcer said.

Alex just smiled at Angus. Luring Beaters away was one of the basic plays that Hufflepuff had frequently used since he had joined the team. His teammates knew exactly how to take advantage of an absent Beater in the opposing team.

"Get back in position, Travers! Or you'll never play again!" said the Slytherin captain. They had gone into this game with a lead of more than a hundred in points. And now, they were in danger of losing should the other team Seeker catch the snitch. And after Angus's blunder, his frustration was solely focused on the guy.

In actuality, Alex thought that Angus had the right idea for once. With him out, the Hufflepuff stood no chance. The other team would only wait them out until their Seeker managed to catch the snitch. That was why he had been watching the Beaters extra carefully since the beginning of the game. It was also why he had mocked Angus and acted like the Slytherin Beater was doing him a favour.

Once Angus had gone back to join the hustle, Alex had spotted the Snitch, finally. He accelerated as fast as he could, not bothering to make any feint. The other Seeker was not paying much attention to him with how he was acting during the entire game.

Alex had gambled, he knew that. But, catching the snitch when his team was at least 40 points in behind would not win them the Cup, so he decided to help his team out a lot in their scoring.

He flew behind the stands where the Snitch was and started the chase there. The snitch used the structure of the stands as obstacles to hinder him. Everyone watched him chase the snitch. The other Seeker had joined the action. His teammates went on to their protective positions to make sure no Slytherin could interfere with the chase.

The Snitch had managed to get away toward the Slytherin goalposts on the pitch. Alex and the other Seeker were bumping on each other as they chase the Snitch. Once it passed the posts, it made a sharp turn to the left making the post itself an obstacle between it and the Seekers which forced its pursuers to slow down or go around the long way.

The Slytherin team had flown past the goalposts choosing to maintain his speed rather than slowing down. However, Alex had grabbed one of the posts with his left hand, and using it as an anchor, he was able to counter his inertia and he made the sharp turn.

With a newfound momentum, he lunged after the snitch while barely holding on to his broom. It almost got away from him again, but he managed to secure it with his hands.

"Hufflepuff has won the game! With 310 points for them against 160 points from the Slytherin team, Hufflepuff has secured the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup for the 5th consecutive time! Hooray for Hufflepuff! Hooray for team captain Alexander Grey, the best Hufflepuff Seeker in history! Yeah!" shouted the announcer who was actually a 4th-year Hufflepuff.

"Badgers! Badgers!…" the students chanted. It was deafening. They had just played the hardest game in the year, because of the points deficit they had to overcome for them to win. Even the Gryffindor students were joining in the chant, happy that the Slytherin team didn't win the Cup.

After the game, he was interviewed by some scouts and journalists. Asking him about his plans after Hogwarts and his story. He merely said that he would be open to play professionally, but he said that he still wasn't sure of his plans. It was pretty much the expected answer for him to give.

The Daily Prophet and the Observer even ran an article about him the following day, but only the Observer had an exclusive interview in their paper.

For the remainder of the school year, there was a celebratory atmosphere in the Hufflepuff common room. The silver cup was proudly on display. This year had been special. Alexander Grey, star Seeker, was finally the captain of the team. And he closed out the quidditch season with a dominant performance. The sixth and seventh-year students still remembered how he had turned the team around since his very first game. The younger students, however, had only known their house team as the winning team.

END OF CHAPTER

Author's Note:

Some quidditch for those fans of the game out there. Quidditch seems really amazing in paper and the movies. But, if you don't know, there is actually a real-life quidditch league. The snitch is just a guy in a tight suit with a dangling ballsack on his back. You can form your own opinions about it, but it's worth a watch. You'll be smiling one reason or another.

The words of the ritual are paraphrased from several hymns and charms found in the 'Atharva Veda,' one of the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism. I want to be clear here that I'm not a Hindu, and any reference made here is not meant to offend anyone. If you are interested at all about the Hindu script, there are several good translations that can be found on the internet, one of which can be found at ' '.

Disclaimer:

This work is not for profit. No copyright infringement intended. All recognizable characters, plot, setting, etc. are the property of J. and/or Warner Bros.