Chapter 2

Soon the quidditch season had begun. I couldn't wait to see Harry play on Saturday. He was a great flyer. But I already knew that. With all the extra practices Oliver was putting Harry through he struggled to keep up with his homework. Hermione and I had to help him lots but we didn't really mind. Hanging around with Harry, Ron and I has made Hermione a bit more easy going. She is not such a stickler for the rules anymore.

Hogwarts has been just as great as I imagined it would be. I, like Hermione, have been learning everything I can. Since I would probably still be here for the war, I wanted to be ready. But that is ages away. In private I started practicing some of the things that Harry learns in the future such as the stunning spell, but nothing to complicated yet. After all I am a first year. I discovered I was pretty good at charms and defense against the dark arts. Not as good as Harry obviously but still good. However, my favorite subject is transfiguration. I was good at it. Unfortunately, I was terrible at potions.

Hermione and I have been practicing the spell for fire. Which is good because she will need it at the quidditch game when Quirrell jinxes the broom.

They told me about their run in with Fluffy and the almost duel with Malfoy. I've been dying to tell them what I know but I just can't say anything. It's so frustrating.

...

Soon the morning of the quidditch game arrived. "Harry you've got to eat something!" I exclaimed. At that moment Snape limped over.

"Yes Potter, your going to need your strength. Your going up against Slytherin after all." Snape sneered and limped off.

"Of course." Harry muttered.

"What is it?" asked Hermione.

"Snape's leg. He's limping. I bet he tried to get past that three headed dog on Halloween. He must have let the troll in as a diversion!" Harry exclaimed loudly. I know he's only eleven, but does he seriously not know the meaning of discretion. I shushed him. "Not too loud," I whispered, "Everyone will hear you."

"Sorry." He muttered.

"Why would anyone go near that dog?" Asked Hermione.

"You said it was guarding something. Probably something valuable." Harry said.

"I don't think it was Snape." I said.

"What!?" Said Ron, "The guy just screams up to know good."

I tried to tell them it was Quirrell, but I couldn't. So instead I said.

"Exactly. Who would be so obvious about it! He's suppose to be smarter than that. Wouldn't it be someone less obvious." I said, trying to hint at Quirrell, "Also you know how your scar hurts sometimes?" Harry nodded and I continued. "It always hurts in Quirrell's classroom. Thats got to mean something." I was surprised I was able to say that. But I guess I was just bringing attention to what they already knew.

"That does make sense." Hermione agreed.

"I still think it's Snape." Muttered Ron.

Soon we all filed out of the hall to go to the quidditch match. After a few encouraging words, Harry went to the changing rooms and Hermione, Ron and I headed to the stands.

"And here they come!" Boomed Lee Jordan's voice after a few minutes of waiting. He introduced the players and they flew into their starting positions.

"Now I want a nice clean game, from all of you." Madam Hooch said as she looked at Flint. She released the snitch and the bludgers before throwing the quaffle into the air.

"And Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor immediately ceases the quaffle. What a great player she is, and very attractive too-"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry professor."

I couldn't help but find it funny. I mean if McGonagall really cared about Lee being biased she would have fired him. I think she secretly likes him being biased.

Anyway, the match continued. Gryffindor got in a few good goals. Then Harry saw the snitch and he was off. He dived down after the snitch followed closely buy the Slytherin seeker. Then Flint blocked Harry and made him spin away. The Gryffindors booed. "So - after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating-" Lee began.

"Jordan!" Growled Professor McGonagall. All for show of course.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul-"

"Jordan, I'm warning you-"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor."

McGonagall seemed to accept this. The penalty was taken by Alicia Spinnet, who scored, making it 30-0 with Gryffindor in the lead. I saw Harry do a few loop-the-loops in the air and I laughed at his enthusiasm. The game continued.

Then I noticed Harry's broom was out of control. "Look." I pointed it out to Hermione and Ron. Hermione lifted up her Binoculars and looked at Harry.

"Whats wrong with Harry's broom?" Hermione exclaimed. Then she turned her attention to the stands. "Snape's jinxing the broom!" She exclaimed.

"Jinxing the broom?!" Ron asked.

"What about Quirrell?" I asked. She looked over at him.

"You're right, it could be either of them!" She told me.

"We have to do something! Come on!" I said grabbing her arm and dragging her towards the teachers.

"I know," Hermione said, "I'll set Snape's robes on fire. You do the same with Quirrell." I nodded and pushed my way towards Quirrell. I discreetly took out my wand. "Lacarnum Inflamarae" I muttered as I pointed my wand at Quirrell's foot. A stream of fire shot out of my wand and caught on Quirrell's shoe. He looked down and yelled. I quickly made my way back.

Me and Hermione got back to Ron just in time to see Harry chasing the snitch near the ground. He suddenly jerked forward and rolled off his broom onto the ground. He brought his hands in front of his mouth. "It looks like he's going to be sick." Said Ron. Then Harry spit out the snitch and all the Gryffindors cheered.

"Harry Potter has caught the snitch. Gryffindor wins!" Exclaimed Lee.

Hermione, Ron and I rushed from the stands and over to Harry. "That was great, Harry!" Ron said, patting him on the back. Harry grinned at us.

...

Later that day, just after lunch, we were sitting in the corner of the Gryffindor common room. We had just sat down to discuss what happened. "We think that someone was jinxing your broom, Harry." Explained Hermione.

"What? Who?" He asked.

"Well, both Snape and Quirrell were muttering and not blinking." I said, "To maintain a curse you need to keep eye contact. That's the same with a counter curse. That means one of them was trying to kill you and the other was trying to save you."

"Or both of them could have been trying to kill you." Ron put in.

"Yes, thank you Ron." Hermione said sarcastically.

"Why would someone be trying to kill me?" Harry said, nervously.

"Harry, when you destroyed you-know-who you made a lot of enemies." Hermione delicately explained.

"It was probably Snape. He did try to get past that three headed dog!" Ron said.

"We don't know that." I said. Not being able to tell them what I knew was so frustrating.

There was a long silence. "We should go and talk to Hagrid! He might know something." Hermione said.

"That's a great idea." I said. Harry and Ron nodded.

...….…...

We arrived at Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. He opened it and smiled at us. "Come in! Come in!" He waved us inside. We all sat down at the table. "Tea?" He asked. We nodded and he put the kettle on. "So, what brings you here?" He asked us.

"Well, you know everything that's going on at this school and we were hoping you could tell us something about the three headed dog on the third floor." Ron said. Smooth Ron. Very smooth.

"Who told you about Fluffy?" Hagrid bellowed.

"Fluffy?!" Ron exclaimed, "That thing has a name."

"'Course he's got a name. He's mine. Bought 'im off an Irish fella I met down the pub. Lent 'im to Dumbledore to guard the..."

"Yes?" Harry prodded.

"No! That's top secret, that is. Strictly between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."

"Nicolas Flamel?" Hermione asked.

"No, I've said too much already." Hagrid said indicating the end of the conversation.

...

The next day on Sunday we were scouring the library for information on Nicolas Flamel. I was going to show them the right book but then I though I shouldn't. If they knew then Harry wouldn't sneak out to the restricted section of the library over the holidays. And if he didn't do that, he wouldn't find the Mirror of Erised. I decided I would show them the right book after Harry found the mirror. If he didn't know about the mirror that could effect the outcome.

Meanwhile, Hermione and I where trying to get the hang of the full body bind. It was hard but we where making progress. We where really starting to get ahead in class. I figured it was time to try some more complicated spells like the summoning or shield charms. But I couldn't do this with Hermione. Sometimes I snuck off to the room of requirement to practice. Not for too long though, otherwise they would wonder where I was. We where pretty inseparable.

Any spare moment I had, I was looking in the library for references to time travel, de-aging and curses that prevent you from saying certain things. Anything I could find that might be relevant to my situation. It's not that I don't like it here but I want to know why I'm here. Who put me in this world? Who put the curse on me? I just don't feel like I belong here. But as Dumbledore said, I must be here for a reason. And I intend to find out what that reason is.

...