Shockingly, I made the Gryffindor team this year, replacing one of the old chasers who'd left. I felt a little guilty at first since Alicia Spinnet had also been gearing to be bumped up from reserves, but she took it in stride and outright admitted that I was the cleaner flyer and that my goal scoring was more accurate. I was smaller too, easier to get through the defences, which played in my favour since Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell were both taller than me. Happy with my success, I joined practice three times a week whilst also balancing everything else on my plate, and soon enough time had just flown away and it was Halloween. At first everything had seemed normal, the feast as delicious as always, hundreds of carved pumpkins floating in the air until all at once, Professor Quirrell had burst through the doors of the great hall, rushed up to Dumbledore and someone, his voice had carried as he panted.
"Troll…in the dungeons…thought you ought to know." Immediately I scowled at Fred and George, suspecting that they might have decided to pull a seriously unwise joke, but they were just as shocked and horrified as everyone else, and soon enough everyone was screaming. Students started to run, making me groan. Does this mean we have to skip dessert? It's just one troll and it's all the way in the dungeon. Last thing we should be doing is making noise and drawing it's attention here. Besides, with all the teachers around and the only way a troll to fit it's way in here through the main doors, it's not like we're actually in any danger.
In the flurry and confusion, Dumbledore sent sparks up from his wand which exploded, forcing everyone to turn to him as he spoke gravely but quietly, utterly calm in the present situation. "Prefects, lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately." Percy immediately sprang into action, the first of all the prefects to take charge as everyone hurried to follow him as he spoke confidently and directed us all back up into the common room where we were to wait for further instructions.
The rest of the feast was brought up to us to finish instead of in the Great Hall, and I found this an acceptable compromise, however after a while of glancing around, I noticed a couple of people were missing. "Hey Fred, George, where's Ron? And Harry? I haven't seen them at all." It had been a while since the troll had been announced, and for a moment we all started to panic until the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open to reveal them both, dusty and seemingly a little shaken, but otherwise okay. Now there's a couple of misfits having done something against the rules if ever I saw them. Now that I think about it, that smart but mouthy girl in their year was also of similar state, but I hadn't noticed her come in.
Once they were inside, I grabbed two plates, filled them with food then went over to the two boys, forcing the food into their hands then folded my arms. "And where exactly where you two?"
"Um…bathroom?" Ron offered weakly, ears turning a dark shade of pink as I arched an eyebrow, looking them both up and down before grinning.
"Tell me everything once this lot clears out. I'll bet it's a brilliant story." Spirits lifting, Ron grinned at me rather goofily and Harry looked a little embarrassed but grateful all the same. Letting them gobble down some food in peace, I kept half an eye on them as people started to wander up, and once it was quiet enough Ron very eagerly told me all about how he and Harry had gone to find Hermione who hadn't known about the troll, only to come face to face with it. I thought it a brilliant story, and by the next morning several versions of it were already circulating at breakfast.
Fred and George thought it was a load of rubbish, but after discreetly asking McGonagall, she admitted that the events were true. That was a huge shock. A couple of first years taking out a full grown troll? Wicked. I was almost jealous. I guess Fred's joke about fighting a troll at the beginning of the year hadn't been far from the truth in that case. No one knew how the troll got in though, and none of the teachers would answer anymore questions about it. Most people blamed either Peeves, who neither confirmed nor denied any involvement, the Weasley twins – which of course now that I think about it is ridiculous, I mean where would they get a troll from in the first place – and then the Night Owl.
Thankfully, people pointed out that no signature had been left on scene, so soon enough people were just blaming Peeves. He seemed to be okay with it, relished it, actually. In any case, after the whole troll fiasco, the next most important part of that year was the quidditch match against Slytherin. Having been utterly humiliated by them last year, we were adamant that this time we were going to beat them, and it was very clear that Oliver was more on edge than usual. He gave his usual speech, which the twins could more or less quote off by heart whilst I gripped my broom tightly, and prayed for the best.
Weather conditions weren't great, but they could be worse, so after the whistle was given and everyone soared up into the air, Angelina seized the quaffle first for our team and shot towards the Slytherin goalposts as Lee commentated with humour and bluntness, calling Angelina attractive which earned a curt quip from McGonagall. Seeing her way was blocked, Angelina tossed the quaffle and I was there ready to catch it, both of us moving at full speed as I lay flat against my broom, feeling it press against my body as I caught the quaffle then rolled out of the way of one of the Slytherin chasers who had come hurtling towards me.
Drawing them to me, I then passed back to Angelina, however our toss was intercepted by Marcus Flint, a rather imposing and grim faced fifth year. Irritated, I quickly pulled back around, but there was little I could do to catch up with him. He was practically on top of the goalposts in seconds, but thankfully Wood was there to block. He really was an excellent keeper. Feeling the thrill of flying with the cheers of our supporters, I got back to following the quaffle, dodging a bludger or two as they pelted throughout the field.
It was a rocky start, especially after Katie got hit by a bludger, but finally Angelina scored our first ten points, earning a victory cheer from our supporters as I whistled to Angelina as she soared past with a grin. The game carried on for a few minutes until Adrien Pucey, the Slytherin chaser, dropped the quaffle having seen something gold flash past his ear and Lee also noticed, questioning if it was the snitch. Harry was already in a dive, pelting for the flash of gold that I could barely make out as all chasers hung in the air to watch, seeing him fight for ground against Terence Higgs to reach the snitch first until suddenly, Flint blocked his way, making Harry spin out of control.
This earned our team a free penalty shot, though everyone was still outraged over Flint's actions, none more so than Lee Jordan who lightened my mood with his commentating. "So after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating…" McGonagall seemed to quip at him again, warning him no to be biased during the match. "I mean, after that open and revolting foul…"
"Jordan, I'm warning you!" Now loud enough to be heard over the speaker, I gave a laugh as I was given the quaffle at Wood's order, as he'd quickly glanced around and saw me to be in a better mood than Angelina or Katie, who were still angry over the Flint stunt, and therefore more likely to make the shot.
"Alright, alright. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Black…" I had easily swooped my way forwards, flashed the Slytherin keeper a grin then popped the quaffle through the hoop with no trouble at all, allowing me to shoot back off as another ten points went to Gryffindor. "…who puts it away no trouble. Great job Mia!" As I flew past the teacher's box, I gave a loop for Lee, making a face as I hung upside down like a monkey before flying off again, completely at ease.
Unfortunately the Slytherins scored a goal next, much to our displeasure, but when we began to realise that people were pointing upwards, my team all looked to see Harry prancing about on his broom. No wait, call me crazy but it looked like that broom had gone completely wild. Everyone watched with baited breath as the broomstick continued to buck and convulse, almost like it wanted to throw Harry off. Fred and George rushed to try and help, but it seemed that the broom would have none of it, going higher and higher until the twins had no choice but to circle underneath him and hope to catch him before he hit the ground. This is not how we envisioned Harry's first match. Despite Harry's predicament, I noticed that Flint had used this opportunity to start scoring, so I chased him down and smartly relieved him of the quaffle in order to take it back, giving him a sneer before darting off and keeping it out of his possession, scoring once more just as Harry seemed to get control over his broom again.
Fred and George had to break off in order to deal with the bludgers, so I flew up alongside him in order to make sure he was alright. "Still hanging in there?" I called out, pulling up alongside him.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Good, now stay that way. If that broom acts up again, don't hold on and just jump. We'll catch you or the teachers will rescue you, don't hold on and risk your life on a faulty broom!" Yelling the last bit as I started to peel away, we continued the fight over the quaffle until Harry suddenly took a dive, making us all stop and looked once more. He pulled up at the last moment, seemingly choking or gagging on something as he rolled from all fours onto his feet, popping up like a daisy before spitting out the snitch. Merlin's undies, he'd caught the snitch! In his mouth! He was waving it excitedly, beaming rather proudly as we all rushed to land around him, cheering and celebrating at our victory.
Wood looked like he was about to cry so I punched him playfully on the shoulder and we all headed back to the common room for a celebration. Winning the first match always took off the edge on things, and I was glad to eat and cheer well into the night as everyone avidly discussed the match and what had happened. None of us knew what had happened to the broom, I could only suggest that someone had been trying to jinx it, but only a teacher would have that kind of power, which only boggled us all the more.
Shrugging it off as just a fluke, we returned to our celebrations until McGonagall came to order us all into bed, barking rather sharply that she would not tolerate deliberate flouting of the rules and refused to leave until everyone had gone up. Lee, Fred, George and I all grinned at one another before going our separate ways to bed, still overwhelmed with euphoria and beaming until our faces ached.