"Is Potter on a Firebolt?" Wood asked "I didn't know he had one of those"

"No, neither did I" Flint replied. He did not sound pleased at all.

Wood looked sideways at Flint "He flies very well"

They both watched the pair chasing each other around the Quidditch pitch. Harry did indeed fly well, but then again so did Ginny.

"Ha, too slow Potter" Ginny said as she reached for the snitch, her hand just about closing around the snitch when it changed direction suddenly and her hand closed on nothing.

"To much talking, Weasley" Harry said as he raced after the snitch, now with a huge lead on Ginny who had almost come to a complete stop for her catch attempt, trying to pace herself to the speed of the snitch. With the speed advantage his Firebolt gave over her Silver Arrow, she didn't stand a chance. The moment he thought that, the snitch disappeared.

Looking around he could not see it anywhere, and neither could Ginny by the way her eyes were scanning the sky. With nothing to do until it reappeared, they took to doing circuits of the Quidditch pitch, not at full speed, but fast enough for anyone watching from the bleachers to miss most of the dirty tactics that they were using on each other to put the other one off. Whilst Harry was quite a bit larger than Ginny, he soon found out that his size did not matter when her well placed elbows would strike the most sensitive parts of his torso. After the first couple of shots to his ribs he started to reply by slamming into her with his shoulder which was one thing that his size did give him an advantage with.

After one particularly brutal shoulder charge, Ginny appeared to lose her balance and slipped on her broom, falling sideways dragging her broom around and heading straight for the ground.

Harry reacted instantly, worried he might have hurt her, he raced after her only to see her right herself on her broom. Leaning forward over the broom's handle with her nose almost touching it, she sped towards the ground going faster and faster. Damn, he thought, she had obviously seen the snitch while he had been more focused on retaliating for her elbows to his ribs. He too leaned as far forward on his broom as he could, trying to make his body more aerodynamic.

While Harry's eyes were searching the ground trying to see the snitch, Ginny was weaving from side to side in front of him, blocking his view and negating his speed advantage, meaning his only choice for now was to follow her. The extra speed of his broom meant that he had no trouble keeping up with her. Suddenly she shifted her weight, not much but enough to alert Harry, just in time as it worked out. Harry watched as Ginny leant back on her broom pulling on the handle as hard as she could, a moment of panic showed on her face quickly replaced by a look of triumph as she realised that she had judged it perfectly and levelled out a matter of inches above the ground and went racing over the pitch with the bristles of her broom barely touching the turf.

Harry meanwhile was in the same predicament, but the warning she had inadvertently given with that shift of weight on her broom, and the fact that Harry was behind her meant that he had a fraction of a second more to react. He chanced a glance into the sky and was rewarded for the risk by catching a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye.

He too sat up and pulled hard on the handle of his broom, and was equally rewarded by his broom levelling out a couple of feet off the ground. This extra height gave him the opportunity to try something he had always wanted to attempt. As his broom levelled out, he instantly threw it into a banked turn to his right, the direction he had glimpsed the snitch. So instead of racing across the pitch at breakneck speed trying to get the nose of his broom to lift and get back in the air like Ginny was trying, he was doing a wide circle with his body leant over almost parallel to the ground, the robes on his right shoulder almost dragging on the turf. Once he was facing in roughly the right direction, he flipped his body upright and soared into the sky, roaring with exhilaration of a move successfully executed. And there, right in front of him, was the snitch only a few yards ahead with Ginny nowhere in sight.

Just a little bit more he thought as he took his right hand off the broom to reach for the snitch, when suddenly his danger instinct screamed at him, tearing through his feeling of triumph. Reacting instantly, Harry threw his body into a perfectly executed sloth grip roll as a bludger whizzed through the space where his head was a fraction of a second before. Not one to be dissuaded, he continued to race after the snitch. He took a split-second glance to his right to see where the bludger had gone, just in time to see George Weasley fly into the perfect position to strike the bludger, sending it back at Harry even faster than when it first almost took Harry's head off.

Harry was already hanging upside down, there was nowhere to go. In the fraction of a second it took for the bludger to reach him, Harry made the decision to try what he had only heard of but never seen. Gripping tightly with his legs he let go of the handle allowing the top of his body to fall towards the ground leaving him hanging upside down on his broom with just the grip of his legs stopping him falling, his body being battered by the wind rushing past him as he was still flying at full speed.

It was from this position that he saw Ginny swoop in and claim the snitch, raising it in triumph.

"Potter flies very well" Oliver Wood repeated. Knowing Flint's hands were tied on selections due to house politics, Oliver needled him again "Is he trying out for seeker? He's certainly better than Higgs"

"Shove it, Wood" Marcus said as he stormed off with Oliver's laughter ringing in his ears.

"Thank you, Harry" Ginny said giving Harry a hug "It was just the sort of warmup I needed before the trial"

"That Wronski feint of yours was fantastic" Harry said "I couldn't see anything the way you were weaving like that. You almost ploughed me into the turf"

Harry had joined Daphne who had claimed some good seats in the bleachers for the Quidditch tryouts that were due to start soon. All the house tryouts were being held on the same day this year for security purposes. Hufflepuff would be up first, followed by Slytherin, then Ravenclaw, and finally Gryffindor.

Fred and George were with Ginny. "Do we get a hug too?" Fred asked his arms stretched wide as he advanced on Harry.

"Get off me you prat" Harry stopped his advance with a hand placed in the middle of Fred's chest "You almost took my head off with that bludger"

"Don't be like that, Harry" Fred said "With your reflexes you were never in any danger, it got nowhere near you"

"Just doing our job, Harry" George pointed out "Protecting our seeker"

"Which is why I don't try out for the Slytherin team" Harry said half serious "I wouldn't be able to trust the Slytherin beaters to protect me. Now if I was in Gryffindor house, I would definitely try out"

"You wouldn't stand a chance of getting the seeker position over me Potter" Ginny said "Maybe you could be in the reserve team"

"And you would have to share a dorm room with Ron" Daphne pointed out

Fred and George shared a look

"About Ron" Fred said looking at Daphne

"I don't suppose we could ask you to go easy on him tonight?" George pleaded

"Not that he doesn't deserve whatever you have planned for him"

"Just don't hurt him too badly"

"Mum would blame us somehow"

"So please Miss Daphne"

"Pretty please"

"We will see" Daphne said "Not making any promises, mind. Just keep him away from me between now and then"

"We will try" Fred said earnestly

"But he really can't help himself, he opens his mouth and his brain stops working" George added

"Or his brain stops working and he opens his mouth" Fred explained.

"Hey you two, stop mucking about and get down here." Woods yelled at the twins from the pitch "Gryffindor tryouts start soon, you need to warm up and run through the practice drills. You too Ginny, you still have to try out despite that show you just put on with Potter. As impressive as it was, no one is guaranteed a place on the team, you know that"

Oliver strode off in the direction of Angelina and Katie who were also in the in the bleachers chatting with friends. The Weasley trio quickly followed knowing that Woods wasn't joking. The last year spent on the sidelines because of the radical team selection had affected Oliver greatly. He was more determined than ever to make the most of every chance he got.

"That was some impressive flying, Harry" a voice said from behind them.

Daphne and Harry spun around.

"Mum! Dad!" Daphne exclaimed rushing to hug her mum.

Harry hugged Cyrus who said "You gave your mum quite a scare with that Wronski feint."

"What were you thinking, Harry?" Roxanne admonished him "That was incredibly dangerous"

Cyrus winked at him "She was the same when I used to play, as a beater I took my share of risks and knocks." he admitted "Although I was nowhere near being in your class. That high-speed turn coming out of the feint" Cyrus just shook his head unable to find the words. "But then again, your dad flew just the same, doing things on a broom that defied belief."

"Don't encourage him, Cyrus" Roxanne frowned at him "That hanging upside down on the broom was very dangerous, he could have hurt himself"

Daphne laughed "That was one of the least dangerous things that Harry has done this week"

"Yes, well" Cyrus said as the mood turned serious "A discussion for somewhere more private obviously"

"Especially not now" Daphne said looking to where Dumbledore was approaching them as fast as his old legs could climb the stairs of the in the bleachers.

"Headmaster, good to see you" Roxanne said as Dumbledore approached trying to gather his breath.

"How did you get in" Dumbledore's first words were far from polite. He quickly tried to change his tone "I mean, what are you doing here?"

"I think you mean, Welcome Lady Greengrass – Board of Governors member and concerned parent" Harry tried to help him out. Dumbledore flashed him a look filled with venom.

Dumbledore took a deep breath before trying again "Lord Greengrass, Lady Greengrass. What a pleasant surprise. To what to we own the pleasure of your company today?"

"Did you not receive our owl?" Cyrus said "We sent it yesterday advising that we would be visiting the school today"

"We have been having problems with the mail" Dumbledore admitted "The owls don't like the dementors much"

"Who can blame them" Roxanne said "I understand the dementors have taken to attacking students on the school grounds now"

"A slight exaggeration" Dumbledore said smoothly "There was some confusion over their duties which I soon sorted out. As you can see, they are outside the wards now, where they should be" Dumbledore vaguely waved his hands towards the distance. He couldn't actually see the dementors, but that was a good thing.

"Anyway, we are here now and will spend some time with the children" Roxanne said with a challenging look on her face daring Dumbledore to deny her that. He wisely just nodded his head.

"Of course, I am sure they will enjoy that" Dumbledore said with a forced smile.

"And we are thinking we will stay for the duelling as well" Cyrus added "Especially after some of the stories that we have heard about how the competition is being conducted"

"That will be acceptable" Dumbledore said and just stood there thinking of something else to add. They just stared at him. After a bit he just nodded and walked off.

"We should go for a walk around lake" Daphne suggested "it is such a lovely morning"

"Before we go, I just want to see something" Harry said as the siren sounded for the start of Hufflepuff's tryout session.

The Hufflepuff players started flying on to the pitch, some instantly zooming around. Others, obviously aware of the crowd that was building up, were a little hesitant. One Hufflepuff player flew onto the pitch as if he owned it before slowly starting to circle the perimeter, getting a feel for the pitch and the conditions. Sitting tall and straight on his broom, the wind blowing through his hair that was streaming behind him. He cut quite the striking figure, the epitome of an athlete in his prime.

"Well, that was certainly worth seeing" Daphne said as Cedric flew past. Laughing at the frown on Harry's face.

"Not that. This" Harry said pointing to the pitch where the final Hufflepuff player was flying on.

Unlike other players, this one was far from athletic looking, but flew well and at a fair speed. The player raced to the centre of the pitch executing two perfect barrel rolls on the way before coming to a stop, hovering in the air.

The crowd went wild, a huge cheer rang out all around the bleachers, with everyone standing and clapping. The Hufflepuffs started chanting.

"ERNIE!"

"ERNIE!"

"That was a nice gesture" Cyrus said as they along the edge of the lake, putting some distance between them and the possibility of being overheard. Dumbledore had watched them go. They could tell, even from the distance across the quidditch pitch, that he wanted to ask them where they were going.

"He is well liked" Daphne said "Loyal and friendly, the quintessential Hufflepuff"

"Very handy with his wand too, he almost had Malfoy in their duel" Harry said, unsure how much of the true story had made it outside the walls of the castle.

"We haven't heard a thing about it really, except that there was some sort of controversy leading to the Macmillan boy losing" Cyrus admitted.

"I am not surprised a memory hasn't made it out of the castle yet" Harry said "Dumbledore has the castle locked down pretty tight"

"We will take one with us" Roxanne said "Make sure it gets into the proper hands"

When they reached their usual spot behind the outcrop of boulders that protected them from being seen from the castle, Harry pulled out the marauder's map and checked there was no one lurking amongst the trees or boulders.

He drew a memory of Ernie's duel with Draco, including the aftermath, and sealed it in a memory vial, Daphne did the same. They both quickly disappeared into Cyrus' robes.

Now that they finally had some privacy, Roxanne pulled Harry into another hug "Are you alright? Those memories of the dementors scared the hell out of us. First the train and then during Creatures."

"Yes and no. The headaches only lasted a couple of hours so were gone in both cases soon after I woke up, but the aches and pains took a couple of days before they disappeared" Harry replied honestly.

"So, let's start with the recent incident, what actually happened?" Cyrus asked "Did you really order them back to the wards?"

"I did" Harry said "I have no idea why, but on reflection I think it was a Voldemort residual memory that prompted it. After all, he used the dementors for his own purposes, and from what we know he did it by sharing his thoughts with them"

"And why they obeyed maybe not a mystery" Daphne said "We would need to get it confirmed by Croaker, but we think it is because of what Harry did to the one on the train. I don't know if the memory showed it, but that one exploded due to Harry casting a spell at close range. Maybe they knew what Harry is capable of, some form of collective consciousness"

Both Cyrus and Roxanne nodded "Yes we saw that" Roxanne said

"Croaker has viewed your memories and said pretty much the same thing" Cyrus said "He said that while the collective consciousness theory could not be proved by the Ministry, those that have dealings with them believe that to be the case. And we all agree that your ability to communicate with them would be an inherited skill from Voldemort"

"So, I guess that does make me some sort of a dark lord then" Harry half joked.

"No more than you already were" Roxanne said "This ability is the same as being a parselmouth, you have a skill which you can choose to use in any way you see fit. And both times you chose to use those skills to save your school friends"

"Not sounding much like a dark lord to me" Daphne said "Anyway we could be reading too much into it, the ordering them around may just be a one off"

"Yes, it is not much of an ability anyway, either of them" Harry said "I can't hang around them too much without them draining me physically, mentally, and magically until I am on the point of passing out. What if they decide to say no next time? I can only take one out then faint"

"That is ok" says Daphne "I am really good at the Aguamenti charm, and would have you soon revived. See."

Daphne demonstrated, hitting him in the face with a spout of water. Spluttering out the water that ended up in his mouth Harry pulled out his wand and was about to retaliate when a booming voice interrupts them.

"OY! you lot, what are you doing out here"

Looking around they saw Hagrid and Fang approaching them from the direction of his hut, his voice carrying from afar.

Fang let out a bark and raced ahead of Hagrid, running flat out until he eventually skidding to a stop just in front of Daphne. Sitting down, he looked up with what appeared to be a smile on his face. Leaning a bit to one side, he raised his paw and put it in Daphne's out stretched hand. "Well hello to you too" she said pulling on one of his floppy ears with her other hand. Putting his paw down he gave another little bark.

"Mum, Dad, this is Fang" Daphne said laughing. Looking back at Fang, she held her hand in front of his nose, he watched her closely. She clicked her fingers together, causing Fang to instantly drop to the ground and attempt to roll over. He didn't quite make it, and finished stranded on his back with his legs up in the air. Daphne leaned forwards and scratched his exposed belly. "Almost" she told him "almost"

It was at this point that Hagrid finally reached them. "Get up you daft bugger" he said to Fang, looking at him lying on the ground. With a sheepish look on his face, Fang clumsily regained his feet.

"Sorry about that" He said and looked at Roxanne and Cyrus. He squinted at them until he finally remembered where he knew them from.

"Miss Black, Mister Greengrass. Good to see you again. Hope you are not skipping class together again" He said with a chuckle.

"Mum? Dad?" Daphne quirked an eyebrow at her parents.

"Just never you mind" Cyrus said before greeting Hagrid "Professor Hagrid now I believe, congratulations"

"I know, right" Hagrid said with a look of pride on his face "Who would have believed it?"

"And a pretty good one according to these two" Roxanne said.

"Yeah well, they were a great help with the first lesson" Hagrid admitted "Pity those things spoiled it. Speaking of which, you shouldn't be so far from the castle with them around, it's not safe" Hagrid looked towards the edge of the forbidden forest then back.

"We were just heading back" Cyrus reassured him.

Hagrid nodded "Probably for the best. Well, I must continue my patrol. It was good to see you again"

Hagrid turned, looking around for dementors again, before calling Fang to him and was about to walk off when Daphne called to him.

"Hagrid" Daphne said "Are you coming to watch my duel tonight?"

Hagrid's face broke into a huge smile "Wouldn't miss it for the world, Miss Greengrass" Turning, he strode off with Fang by his side.

"Did he just wink at you?" Roxanne asked "What are you up to?"

"You will see, Mum" Daphne replied "You will see"

Thwack

"OW!"

Thwack

"OW!"

Tennis balls – the muggle born students in the crowd recognised the bright yellow spheres instantly.

Thwack

As one they all winced again, recalling just how much a fast-moving tennis ball could hurt when it strikes a fleshy part of the body. Brandy, as the game was called in the muggle schools. Ron will be covered with bright red welts by the end of the night, which will turn into lovely yellow and purple bruises over the coming days.

Thwack

Another one hit Ron in the chest, right next to, but not quite touching the previous one. Those that didn't wince in sympathy for Ron's pain were impressed at Daphne's accuracy.

Screaming in pain Ron managed to get a spell off, Daphne just batted it aside before narrowing her eyes…

Thwack

Another perfect shot to the chest.

Ron got off another spell. He may be in pain but the tennis balls were not debilitating, so he was still able to fight back. But again, Daphne just batted his spell aside.

Thwack

Daphne just kept going, eventually moving from aiming at his chest and started to target other parts of his body until Ron felt like his entire body was either stinging from fresh strikes, or aching from the older strikes.

It got to the point where Ron just wished it would end, but she seemed in no hurry to finish the duel, as if she was determined to prolong Ron's pain, and delay him from seeing Madame Pomfrey and her supply of pain-relieving potions. He was still gamely firing curses at Daphne whenever he could, but more in hope of landing a lucky shot. He was realistic enough to know that he was no match for her magically, nor physically as he was knackered but she looked like she could continue for hours.

To make matters worse, he now had to watch where he was stepping because he was surrounded by tennis balls, there must have been twenty or thirty on the floor up his end. Yes, he knew what they were, Fred had found one in the village once and he and George had used on him it in pretty much the same way as Daphne was, except they twins had just thrown it which hurt a lot less than what these ones did.

Suddenly Daphne stopped casting and just stared at him. Ron, while relieved the tennis ball assault was over, he was now worried what she had in mind. He just hoped she ended it quick so he could go and lay down somewhere. He raised his wand towards her but was so sore and tired by now that he couldn't even think of a spell to fire at her in the lull.

Thwack

One final tennis ball flew at him so fast he had no time to react, just like all the others. This one hit Ron in the forehead knocking him backwards He had no chance of keeping his balance, all the dodging and the strikes to his legs had made them feel like jelly. He went crashing to the floor.

Sitting up, all the spectators admired the bright red sting mark in the centre of his forehead, another great shot by Daphne. Dazed, Ron looked around, he still had his wand which he pointed at Daphne, but for the life of him he couldn't think what to do with it.

Daphne approached him and stood a little way from him with a look of great concentration on her face. Ron could see that she was whispering and her wand was making a slow circle around him. What the hell is she up to now? Why can't she just end it, she had already won as he was covered from head to toe in bruises from the tennis balls, although the ones on his arm seemed to have stopped stinging so much and now started to feel warm instead.

That's better, he thought. Maybe she had taken pity on him and was healing him.

He rolled up the sleeve of his robes to check out his left arm. There was no bruise to be seen.

"AGGHHH!"

He screamed at the top of his voice and frantically brushed at his arm.

There was no bruise to be seen because there was a bloody great spider sitting on his arm, its legs almost long enough to wrap around his wrist.

He screamed again as another spider appeared and climbed up his arm to cover the next bruise. It too latched on to his arm with its sharp little feet.

Ron shook his arm but the spiders weren't going anywhere. Panicking now, Ron went to stand up, placing his right hand on the ground to push himself up, he was horrified to feel the pointy little feet of more spiders on his hand.

Looking down he saw his worst nightmare. He was completely surrounded by spiders which confused and horrified him at the same time until he realised where they had come from. All the tennis balls had turned into spiders. Bloody big ones, some the size of his palm. And they were swarming all over him. He could feel them climbing under his robes, up the legs of his trousers, and under his shirt all over his stomach and back.

Shrieking, he leapt to his feet doing a weird sort of a jig in an attempt to dislodge the spiders with limited success.

He tore at his robes, wrestling with them until he finally managed to get them over his head. Throwing them on the ground, he started on his shirt, tearing at the buttons which gave way letting him remove that as well, using its shredded remains to brush the spiders off his chest and stomach.

Next were his trousers which he managed to remove with surprising speed leaving him standing there in just his underwear and shoes, still screaming hysterically and frantically brushing the spiders off the parts of his body he could reach.

This time it was the audience's turn to scream, in horror. The sight of Ron's pale body, with his entire back covered in spiders and most of his legs and arms, was not for those with a weak stomach. The only place the spiders weren't covering was the space he had managed to clear on his chest where, spelt out in red welts was the word "PRAT"

Daphne admired her spell work, while it wasn't a pleasing sight seeing Ron like that, she was proud of how straight the letters were, not bad for a moving target.

A bright flash lit up the hall as Colin recorded the moment for posterity with his camera.

After a moment or two of studying Ron, Daphne took pity on the audience and put them out of their misery. She stunned Ron, who crumpled to the floor, the spiders nimbly leaping off so they didn't get caught underneath him. With the shrieking now stopped, Daphne levitated his robes back over him to cover his pasty white skin which saved the audience from such a disgusting sight. Daphne claiming Ron's wand to end the duel was the signal for the crowd to go wild. Students from every house were on their feet cheering Daphne who just stood in the middle of the piste with a shy smile on her face.

She turned to look at Professor Lupin who came onto the piste and approached Ron to ensure he would be ok.

"Miss Greengrass, if you wouldn't mind" He said gesturing towards the spiders who were surrounding Ron. Now that their part in the duel was over, they appeared to have lost interest in Ron and were just milling around watching Daphne to see what she would do next.

"Certainly Professor. Do you have a match box on you?" Daphne asked knowing from the boot camp that Remus usually carried an odd assortment of items in his robes, ready to use for demonstration purposes.

"I do, Miss Greengrass" he replied handing her the matchbox he deftly pulled from his robes.

Daphne knelt down and looked at the spiders, they were watching what she was doing with great interest. Placing the matchbox on the floor, Daphne transfigured it into a large cardboard box and looked at the nearest spider. "Thank you for helping me tonight, you guys were great. If you just want to get into the box, I will see that you get home safely"

The spider scurried up the side of the box and dropped through the open top, the others formed orderly lines and waited their turn.

"SPIDERS!" Ron was awake, revived by Remus who was now checking him over for any permanent damage. Apart from the bruising which would be fixed up in a jiffy by Madame Pomfrey, Ron was physically fine. Remus administered a calming draft before helping him to his feet and handing him over to be led away by Madame Pomfrey. He was still mumbling "spiders" and checking his body to make sure there were none on him.

Remus walked to the middle of the piste and magnified his voice before declaring "Win to Miss Greengrass. She will move in to the next round"

"Ahem" Dumbledore's equally magnified voice had everyone turning to look at Dumbledore.

"Miss Greengrass, you know you are not allowed to come to the duel armed with anything but your wand" Dumbledore's preamble let everyone know where this was going, wondering if he would really try and disqualify Daphne in favour of Ron.

"But of course, Headmaster. That would be against the rules" Daphne said with wide eyed innocence "I hope you are not suggesting that I cheated"

That was exactly what Dumbledore was thinking, but was trying to find the words to say it without voicing an actual accusation. He didn't know if she had conjured those yellow ball things and then transfigured them into spiders, but it seemed unlikely due to the sheer number of them. Conjuring just one would be beyond anything that a third year could do. So, she must have brought them with her to transfigure, a clear violation of the rules.

"Is that what you are suggesting Dumbledore" Cyrus said, getting in before Roxanne could. She would not have been so polite and it wouldn't do for a member of the Board of Governors to curse the headmaster in his own great hall. They had chosen seats within cursing distance of the headmaster for just such a situation.

"Perhaps Daphne could explain for the benefit of us all" Remus said, always the diplomat "After all it was an extraordinary display of magic"

Everyone looked at Daphne who was watching the last of the spiders climb into the cardboard box. Closing the lid, she levitated the now heavy box and walked it towards the space between the bleachers where Hagrid was standing. She was watched by everyone in the hall.

"Thank Aragog for me please" Daphne said as Hagrid plucked the box out of the air "Tell him they were very well behaved and performed magnificently"

"You can tell him yourself at your next lesson" Hagrid said causing a sharp intake of breath by a large portion of the hall. The students from the third years Creatures class were looking especially worried.

"Just kidding" he said before their shock wore off and the protests started "Just kidding" he repeated trying to reassure them.

"You really have to work on that sense of humour of yours, Hagrid" Daphne said with a smile.

"Right you are" Hagrid said before turning and walking out of the hall with the box under his arm.

Daphne turned to face Dumbledore and explained "It was a simple matter of observation and transfiguration"

Dumbledore looked at her questioningly, wondering if she was going to make him ask again.

"I observed the spiders in the rafters of the hall last week. Upon making enquiries, I discovered that the group of young acromantulas you saw, love to come into the school and watch the magic, especially the duelling. Something their kind have done for generations "

This had everyone looking upwards, most couldn't see the actual roof due to the magic ceiling, but a few could.

"I also observed that the wards on the duelling piste did not go all the way to the ceiling, nor did they cover the ceiling." Daphne looked at Dumbledore to see if this was enough of an explanation. He still didn't seem to get it.

Daphne sighed, she would have to spell it out.

"So, during the duel, the spiders dropped down one by one in front of me, and I transfigured them into tennis balls that I gently banished to Ron, who it seems is a lousy catcher." Daphne paused as there was a smattering of laughter at that. "Of course, the transfiguration wore off soon enough. After all, I am just a third year"

"I hope that satisfies your curiosity, Headmaster" Roxanne said, her voice leaving no doubt that if he didn't agree, wands would be drawn. With Cyrus looking on eagerly, Dumbledore wondered if he would be up to the task of taking the two of them on. One talented witch or wizard at a time, no worries at all, for there was no witch or wizard alive that would be able to best him. But these two, who were extremely talented in their own right, had been together for decades honing their skills as a partnership, he wasn't so sure. A small trickle of doubt teased the back of his mind.

"And what spell did you use on the spiders to force them to drop down for you to use? Miss Greengrass" Dumbledore demanded "Not anything that would be unable to be forgiven I hope"

Gasps rang out around the crowd, did the Dumbledore just suggest that Daphne had used the Imperius curse?

Daphne held up her hand, silencing the crowd before it got out of hand at such an accusation. She waited for silence to descend again, everyone waiting for her explanation.

"I did something that would never occur to you, Headmaster" Daphne said.

"And what would that be, pray tell?" Dumbledore scoffed at the idea that she would know something he didn't.

Daphne response was simple.

"I asked them"

Remus had taken Dumbledore stunned silence at Daphne's answer as a sign that he had no further objections and confirmed Daphne's win, much to the pleasure of the crowd who let out another loud cheer. If there was one thing that united the entire school regardless of house, was the universal dislike of Ron Weasley.

By the time Dumbledore had got his wits about him, the moment had passed. Was he really that bad? he pondered. Whilst it was true that asking the spiders to participate would never have occurred to him, he thought that it was an unfair judgement, after all he held a lot of responsibility and he couldn't consult everyone on every decision he needed to make.

"Well done, dear" Cyrus said as he hugged Daphne, congratulating her on the win. "That was very creative use of transfiguration in a duel. Weasley should be glad that it was just tennis balls, your mother would not have been so kind. Although the spiders were a nice touch."

"Hush, you silly man" Roxanne reprimanded him as she too hugged Daphne "You were great. That was very well thought out, nothing that Dumbledore could really complain about while still giving the Weasley boy what he deserved. I am so proud of you"

"Do you really have to go now?" Daphne asked. She would have liked them to have stayed longer, it had only been a couple of weeks since the term started but with all that had happened it seemed longer.

"We do" Cyrus said "Wouldn't want to overstay our welcome with the old man."

They all looked turned to look at Dumbledore who was slumped in his chair, taking very little interest in what was happening around him.

"Yes, there is no telling what mum would do if he provoked her any more" Harry said with a laugh which Cyrus joined in until they saw the look on Roxanne's face.

"We have to lots to do" Cyrus said patting his robes where the memories of Draco's duel were safely stashed.

"I have something I need to do before I go though" Roxanne said turning to Cyrus "I will meet you at Severus' office"

Roxanne headed towards the Gryffindor section of the crowd, pausing briefly before spotting the person she wanted to talk to.

"What's mum up to?" Daphne asked watching her mother make her way through the students who were milling around between matches.

"She is negotiating the purchase of some priceless artwork" Cyrus said seeing that Roxanne had found who she was looking for and had started an intense conversation with Colin. There seemed to be some disagreement over the terms for the release of the photo he took of Ron.

"You can guarantee that it is not about the money" Harry said "I bet he is trying to convince mum to let him take her photo. You know what he is like"

Indeed, they did. Colin liked to collect potential subjects so when "the mood" took him, he would always have a, well not a willing subject as such, but someone Colin had collected a favour from and had agreed to be photographed. Not that there was any shortage of volunteers, his ability to capture the essence of his subjects and produce truly exceptional images had started to gather a bit of a cult following in the school. But the one rule was you don't ask him to photograph you, you have to wait for him to ask you. The more willing the subject, the less likely he would ask.

Watching them, it seems a deal had been reached, with Roxanne pocketing the photographic plate and Colin smile signalling he got what he wanted.

Cyrus gave them both another hug "Take care you two. Let us know immediately if anything else happens. Severus has promised that you can use his floo to call any time you need to contact us"

Daphne nodded, without the two-way mirrors they had been limited to owl post which had almost ground to a halt. She had been beginning to regret the decision to give their mirror to Tori who had started her first year at Beauxbatons. The news that they could use of Professor Snapes floo came as a great relief to her.

Daphne and Harry returned to their seats in time for the fourth-year match, the last for the evening as it was an off week for the senior school competitors. The match was between Katie Bell, who was backing up from an intensive quidditch tryout, and Cho Chang who had finally returned to the school this year after missing the end of last year after the chamber incident.

Cho seemed better, a little jumpy, a little wary and untrusting, but she had reconciled with Cedric to the point they were talking to each other again. Afterall there were very few students who knew or would believe what she had gone through, and Cedric was still trying to regain his reputation after the trouble that Tonks had caused while impersonating him during his period of petrification and recovery.

The duel was a lot closer than it had any right to be as Katie was exhausted from the quidditch tryouts, Oliver insisted it be as taxing as a proper match to test everyone's fitness. Cho was a little hesitant with her casting to start with, especially when there were spells flying towards her, but it did not take her long to get into a rhythm and a lively duel was soon in progress.

"Harry, are you going to watch this?" Daphne chided Harry who was sitting with his feet up on the back of the seat in front of him with a large book open in his lap resting on his legs. He was staring intently at the book and showed no interest in the action in front of him on the piste.

"Quick, look at this" he whispered urgently pointing to something on the page in front of him. His brow was creased accentuating the frown on his face.

Daphne was worried at the tone in his voice, and quickly looked at the book. On the page he was pointing to, she saw that Harry had the marauder's map open, hidden from everyone else's view in his copy of Hogwarts, a History.

"What am I looking at?" Daphne asked in a quiet voice, staring at the map trying to get her bearings as to what part of the castle it was showing. It just showed a blank space on the map with a few other empty rooms around it. The way Harry had the map folded she still couldn't see any defining locations to determine where they were in the castle.

"Draco's quarters" Harry answered showing Daphne a little more of the map and pointing to the spot outside Draco's private Lord's quarters. The quarters themselves were showing as a blank space due to being protected by the Malfoy wards, not the Hogwarts wards that the map used. However, the corridor leading up to them was plainly visible, and there just outside the entrance was the cause of Harry's urgency.

There were two dots, very close to each other. They stayed like that for less than a minute. Suddenly they split up, one went into Draco's quarters and disappeared, the other heading down the corridor back towards the main staircase.

The labels over the dots had identified them as…

Lord Malfoy and Lord Malfoy