Chapter 13: Trolls and Quidditch
One hour later, Harry had the four men in full body binds, and was already interrogating them. The assault had been simple – upon apparating into the building under cloak, a small but incomplete "combat drone" had sensed their heartbeats and taken video surveillance, before deploying an anti apparition ward. The ward had been designed by the senior Goblin Ward mistresses, and Hermione had managed to modify some of the parameters. Only Grace could get in and out, although it did not matter anyway.
Harry and Hermione had silently sneaked up to the men under cloak, and let the new muscle weave do the work of delivering the amplified force. Ribcages were immediately shattered in the blink of an eye, and most of the men found themselves unable to move. One of the more physically fit men had attempted to land a punch on Hermione, by guessing her position. He soon found his arm missing and cauterized by her wrist blade, which had been summoned almost on instinct. The fist had not even touched her shields.
The armour, now in operation with the new spinal interface, obeyed fully without hesitation. Now under the threat of being punched and having their arms broken like twigs, the men explained that they were hired by Lucius Malfoy, and he expected a report at his Manor. Harry had Grace fetch some locator beacons and they were all placed in their pockets.
Time to find out where Thunder-Cunt junior and his skunk of a mother lived.
Harry finished the interrogation, by putting his compulsion on the four men - they would arrive at Malfoy Manor and the locators would be placed under their dining table or anywhere else that was discrete. Of course, Harry did not pass up on the opportunity to carry out a prank. According to Harry's instructions, the men would have to explain that Lord Black possessed a "pet manticore", and that they had barely escaped with their lives. The Manticore had told them that "man meat" and "man cock" was his "favourite delicacy." Sirius was informed about the trespassers at his now abandoned and forgotten home, and laughed for quite a while.
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, the evening dinner proceeded as usual. Some students who did not eat much, had already left. It was understood that Hogwarts students had to finish their dinner and be within their common rooms before half past nine, unless they had a library pass. Until curfew time, many students often frequented other parts of the castle, and some preferred small, quiet places to enjoy the night breeze.
Albus and Minerva were discussing the new artefacts that had quickly arrived at Hogwarts over the last two days – many of the "data slates" could be seen at the dinner table. The included multiplayer games on the device had quickly become a favourite with students. Some of the wealthier students had purchased the majority of the yearly booklist, and already had stopped lugging textbooks to class. For those books that were not available, or for students who did not want to spend additional money, pictures of their existing textbooks were perfectly fine.
Of course, many of the romantic couples were taking pictures of themselves.
Even more fascinating was that the "data slate" could take notes with a standard feather or a pen! Students could merely write on the surface of the device, and when they were done you could start a new page. Being able to edit or add text to what was written was considered a "revolutionary" feature. Students were sharing what they had captured or written, by merely touching the devices against each other. Albus was wondering which company had acquired Xeno's newspaper, and he was going to have a chit-chat with the unusual man.
"Once again Minerva, I have no idea who reached out to Xenophillius. I do know that The Storm-Lord has already reached out to the Weasleys. Could Neville be next, perhaps?"
"But, what do they want with our students Albus? These other individuals?" Minerva asked.
"I cannot say. Perhaps the same thing that the Storm-Lord wants? It seems that they are testing powerful artefacts. Keep an eye on Neville, Minerva. He is a good young man, but I do not trust the intentions of secretive men."
"I understand Albus. Anyway, we are moving the Quidditch math to the 14th. Are you excited for….."
The heavy brass door of the Great Hall, was unceremoniously slammed open and Professor Quirrell was running hysterically.
"TROOOOOOLLLLLSSSS IN THE CASTLE!"
Heads were swivelling around, as the shock registered on the faces of the students. Albus immediately stood up, and the Great Hall became deathly silent. Neville and Ronald who were having dinner at the Ravenclaw table with Luna suddenly shared one look, before the entire group ran out of the hall, at top speed. This added to the sudden tension in the room before Professor Quirrell continued:
"TROOOOOOLLLLLSSSS IN THE CASTLE!"
Then he whispered,
"thought you'd want to know…."
Then Professor Quirrell collapsed and pandemonium began as the entire hall began to scream.
"SIIIIIIIIIIIIILEEEEEEEENCE!" Dumbledore roared.
The Great Hall became silent immediately, as his voice then became far gentler and he instructed:
"Everyone will please, not panic! Now…..prefects will lead their house back to their dormitories. Teachers will follow me around the castle."
Suddenly the shouts of Percy and the other prefects were heard, as they lead their houses out of the hall. Minerva was now following the headmaster as she exclaimed, "Albus, the three of them went charging off! Albus, they could die! What was Longbottom thinking!" Minerva complained.
"I believe they are concerned about the other students. They might do some good, and I do not say this to sound cavalier. They can outrun a troll in any case?" Albus mentioned.
"Oh...…right. Yes, Albus, I didn't think about that. They are quite athletic." Minerva replied, as she realised that this was unusually true for her favourite three students.
"Precisely Minerva, if the situation becomes very dangerous they can outrun anything. Make no mistake, it is the other students who are roaming the castle, who are in far more trouble!" Albus answered as he smiled.
Neville had not even hesitated. Luna and Ronald had been right behind. They were becoming what he needed.
Neville had barked over the communicator after silencing himself, "Harry! Loose trolls in Hogwarts. We could use some help – a lot of students were missing at dinner!"
Harry and Hermione had just taken off their helmets at the workshop, after returning from the interrogation. Upon hearing the sudden panic in Neville's voice, Harry tapped Invictus' picture frame, as the old man awoke from his sleep.
"Check every hall, we are looking for trolls in Hogwarts. Call all parents in our group, Padfoot, Moony and Percy too."
Hermione and Harry immediately put their helmets on, and Harry commanded, "Gracie! Emergency lift to Hogwarts. Trolls in the bloody castle. I swear the school is a fucking bloody death trap!"
"Squak!" Grace replied before the familiar ZAP! followed. Invictus flicked through all the cameras, and could only see one troll in the castle. He called Remus and Sirius over the communicators.
"Harry, you are aware we only mapped only half of the castle right?" Hermione asked, as soon as the pair materialised at Hogwarts.
"Well, we know the other parts of the castle, we just don't have surveillance installed there. We will send the drones to the places we cannot monitor. The main corridors, we will use the cameras we already installed. Neville you guys have your dataslates on you?"
"We do. Still have our bags on. " Neville answered.
"Harry?" Percy questioned.
"Padfoot and Moony here," Sirus replied.
"Good. Everyone is here. No combat for the three of you. Your job is to break off and collect students. Neville, check on Tracey and Daphne. Remus, you are oversight tonight. Check the monitors regularly. Sirius, grab the case with all the combat drones. Grace will pick it up. Gramps, explain the particulars to the parents. Where is the troll now?"
"Section 22A. Clock Tower," Invictus answered.
"Hermione, stay under cloak and escort the three of them. Percy hold up before the Quad. I am going to deal with intruder number one." Harry replied. Hermione teleported to the trio's location under cloak via Grace and began to monitor as Neville followed Harry's orders.
"Daffy, Trace you there?" asked Neville.
"Yes?" Daphne replied as she heard the boy panting over the communication device.
"I told you deadly things roam about this school. We need you for a rescue operation, again! We have trolls roaming the school. No, I am not kidding. No, we do not know how many of them they are. You got your data slate?"
"Yes. Both of us. What do you need me to do?" Daphne asked.
"I need you to pick up all the loitering Slytherins and lead them to the dungeon. We have someone who will direct you until we get your father on the line. Trust me."
"Knowing you is exciting Neville, it really is" Tracey replied as their dataslates lit up and began to show heartbeats in the area.
"Daffy are these people? This is so cool!"
As Tracey began to examine the display on the dataslate, suddenly she began to put the pieces together.
Arthur, Molly, Cyrus, Ophelia, Reginald and Amy were all pinged, and they all answered. It didn't take too long for them to figure out that they were in a shared group call.
"Goodnight my lovely gentlefolks. This is Sirius here. We have trolls that are loose inside Hogwarts and we would like you to at least tune into the madness that is occurring. No, I am not joking." Invictus chimed.
"Did you say loose trolls? You aren't joking, right?" asked Ophelia.
"Not one bit Ms Greengrass – but Harry and Hermione are properly armed. Mr Greengrass and Mr Davis, we need both of you to assist your daughters in picking up the stray snakes and getting them back safely to their dungeon. I am sending information to your dataslates." Invictus replied. Cyrus as a political savant immediately began to suspect that the Dark Lord was working through intermediaries, as his house magic buzzed him.
So, the game was being played after all.
Albus Dumbledore had just patrolled the clock tower as they wondered if the bridge had been used by the trolls. The other teachers were currently in search teams and were communicating via patronii. As soon as he and Minerva walked back into the base of Gryffindor tower, all they witnessed was a large blue energy bolt that had completely splattered the Troll's head. They had not seen the actual event, but the illumination had been so bright that the shadow of the troll had been seen quite clearly.
Harry had nailed the troll's head with a single overcharged shot from his rifle.
By the time Albus and Minerva had arrived, all that present was a smoking body, with a head that was totally obliterated. The entire of Gryffindor house assumed that Dumbledore had killed the troll, and Percy was moving them across the courtyard on Harry's orders.
"Nothing to see here – just carry on. Straight to the tower, no sightseeing. Excellent work Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall! You need to teach me that one!" Percy replied.
Trolls were notoriously resistant to magical spells. This implied whatever the Strom-Lord was using, was ridiculously powerful. No wonder he could kill Dementors. Albus was unpleased.
Harry had arrived at the Slytherin Corridor via his jetpack. Daphne had managed to calm down other Slytherin students and was expertly leading them via her father's instructions. The troll was nearby, but it had not noticed anyone yet. Suddenly the troll for whatever reason decided to wander towards the Slytherin Dungeon. The troll was now directly in front of the common room entrance.
"Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Neville and I have some Gryffindors. We are in the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom. Luna split off to get the claws and Ronald is collecting the Badgers. Give me a minute, let me check something. I saw a slow-moving blip on the drone sensors.." Hermione explained
"Ron?" Harry asked.
"Harry, I am fine. I can see Daphne and Tracey and some snakes. We are on opposite sides of the corridor. A few classes down. Students are inside."
"Hold your position, the troll is wandering around the Slytherin common room entrance. You won't be able to break off and go to your common room. Nor will the other two." Harry replied. One minute later, all the individuals who were tuned in on the second private call that excluded Daphne and Tracey, were surprised by the sudden noise.
"GIVE ME YOUR HEAD!" a familiar voice roared. Harry suddenly switched to Hermione's camera feed.
Harry and the onlookers at home observed as Hermione used the jetpack to vertically drop downwards. Then, she peppered the troll with her Pulse-SMG. The troll was now in great pain, as the FiendFyre bolts left small, smoking holes in the creature. The damage was already severe, and the creature was already protesting on its knees. Finally, she withdrew her gauntlet blade and extended it to its full two metre length, which Harry had initially designed to cut through thick foliage for their upcoming South American mission.
Harry and the onlookers witnessed as Hermione sliced the entire troll in half, starting from the crown of the head, as she continued to descend towards the ground. The rather large beast suddenly squirted large amounts of blood, but her shields flared as the blood spurts merely slid off. In the blink of an eye, the troll was sliced like an apple, and the two halves fell apart, as the organs freely spilt out.
Hermione wasted no time in making her way over to Harry.
"Hermione got the other one. Ronald?" Harry asked.
"We are safe. The Badgers and the Slytherins are taking an alternate block." Ronald replied.
"Uncle Cyrus?" Harry asked. There was a momentary pause.
"Daphne and Tracey are safe. Also, in an unused room, two classrooms away from Ronald on the opposite side of the corridor. We are preparing to move them to the viaduct, but we saw some activity."
"Wait until we get a feed from the combat drone," Harry replied.
Luna then communicated her position, "Luna here – the claws are in Ravenclaw tower. We didn't see Hermione under her cloak, but we saw the energy blade."
"Neville here. I met up with Percy. I got all the other stray Gryffindors to the tower."
"Neville and Luna stay in your tower. We will handle the rest. Stay tuned into the comms."
"Run for your lives!" Draco Malfoy screamed as he made a beeline over the viaduct, with Gregory and Vincent close behind. The combat drone immediately picked up on the approaching troll, and Cyrus instructed his daughter to stay in the classroom. Then, the troll pulled ahead of Vincent and Gregory, and they ran off in the opposite direction and abandoned their friend. On the other hand, Theodore Nott had stepped out of the common room merely twenty seconds before, and found himself running towards Draco Malfoy.
The other troll had been wandering at the front of the Slytherin dungeon, and Theodore had ducked when the troll attempted to splatter him, with its club. He had turned a corner, and was going to meet Draco who was approaching in the opposite direction.
The other students could see the troll that was following Draco. Many of the Slytherins bailed out, as they considered their survival to be the most important thing. Now at least twenty snakes from various year groups had run out of the classroom. Draco had run across the area where Ronald, Daphne and Tracey were hiding, with the troll in hot pursuit - now the Slytherins were in a situation where they would be pinched off, with no escape in either direction.
"Badgers stay right here. Do not move. Greengrass, Davis run across the corridor, now!" Ronald yelled. Tracey and Daphne were now with Ronald and the random set of badgers he had collected. Daphne was angry. The Slytherins had chosen their fate.
"No, No, No why did they run? Now they are trapped! I told them to stay put! Idiots!" Daphne complained, as she was not sure how to feel. She did not particularly like the Slytherins that were in danger, but she did not want them to die either. She resigned herself, as she had tried her best to keep everyone alive. Ronald tapped his ring selector, and the communicator and silenced his voice.
"Harry?" Ronald asked.
"Keep them right there. We will handle this," he replied.
"The teachers will be here soon," Ronald answered after he unmuted himself. Tracey was looking at the silenced whispering that Ronald had just performed, and she suspected that Ronald was calling for external help. Tracey wondered if Ronald calling the Storm-Lord? Daphne was in too much of a panic to notice anything as all the Badgers whispered in the classroom. How could the data slates sense individuals? Unless that too had been designed by them?
"Hermione this is dicey – what can we do? Grace can only do mass transportation when people are still or if we have open access to the sky. I do not want to fire off any weapons in an enclosed space. We have children running around. We can't keep track of twenty people in an enclosed space!"
"What do we do Harry? Give the trolls a visual target, and give the snakes a damned show. Melee only. We don't want them running into any gunfire." Hermione answered.
Daphne and Ronald were at the door and were listening to the screaming of the Slytherins who were trapped. Suddenly out of nowhere, two voices that Daphne knew all too well, filled the air.
"Goodnight denizens of Hogwarts. We heard you had a troll problem?"
At that point Harry and Hermione uncloaked themselves, and they ran towards their targets. Daphne and Tracey poked their heads out to watch the spectacle. Soon enough, other students followed.
The Storm-Bringers were here.
Harry had entered his battle meditation and Hemione already understood her part. She would do point-to-point staged vanguard charges while Harry would attempt to use his kinetic barriers to soak up the large amounts of physical force. When the children were all clear, then Harry and Hermione would go for the troll's heads, after they put them down with magic.
Daphne and Tracey observed as the "Storm Priestess" as she merely apparated three students every second. The group of students, stood in shock as they had never seen an apparition being conducted at such a rapid speed. Hermione was a blur and in ten seconds, flat she had gotten all the students out in the corridor.
How could a person apparate in Hogwarts? That was impossible? Other wizards reasoned that she had superspeed, and that was a much better guess.
Meanwhile, Harry had summoned his deployable left arm shield. He had saved Draco and Theodore from multiple club swings. Then, Harry gripped the two students with his magic and merely tossed them away and trusted Hermione to catch them. She had already adjusted her trajectory with her jetpack, and she merely plucked the young boys mid-air as she apparated them to safety.
The Slytherins who had been rescued were now in the corridor and they were watching as the black armoured figure almost seemed impervious to physical damage. The Storm-Priestess had apparated to a distance behind the Storm-Lord and she was preparing to do something. Hermione in the heat of the moment wandlessly conjured an "Aguamenti", and a geyser-sized stream of water appeared, as all the water vapour was pulled out of the air. The water gushed and filled the floor and Harry immediately understood the play as he apparated out of the way.l Harry, on the other hand, was already letting loose.
"RAAHHHHHHHH" Harry yelled as he summoned all his lightning and he directed it, to the water. Suddenly the trolls were in immense pain as they were electrocuted. They were flat on the ground, and were screaming. The terrible and primitive, beastly moans filled the corridor, and it made the magic that was being summoned, seem ominous.
Harry slowly lumbered over to the two trolls and stood above their heads. With the aid of the muscle weave, he punched both trolls with enough force to completely splatter their skulls.
CRACK! CRACK!
Two successive squelching noises were heard, as the sound echoed throughout the entire hall. The troll skulls were splattered, and the blood spurts had painted the walls like graffiti.
Hermione had apparated back to the group of students, and her back was turned, as she looked at Harry. Draco realised that this witch had assaulted him, and he took out his wand and attempted to cast a spell. Before his hand was halfway up, the wand was already missing from his hand. Nobody had seen how fast she had moved – it was merely a blur.
"SNAP."
Hermione broke his wand and Harry apparated over to Hermione's position, fully aware of everything that had transpired through the mind link. Harry grabbed Malfoy by the neck and began to choke him.
"You would think little boy, that after we saved you from death, you would be thankful," Hermione replied, with the vocoder colouring her voice. The tone was that of an adult, chastising a young child. Draco was now harmless, as he could not cast any magic. Daphne, Tracey and the rest of students were looking on at the spectacle. Now with the advanced, upgraded armour, they looked fearsome with the weapons that were strapped to their bodies.
Guns. Lots of guns. Then the House Crests. The armour looked old fashioned and modern at the same time. The helmets were featureless and darkened and the blinking lights and robotic voice were too alien for them to understand. The group had directly observed that the Storm-Bringers were capable of flying without brooms. It was a nightmare and they looked like they dripped power. And wandless magic? Lightning and water conjuration with their hands?
Many of the children and teenagers were just properly scared.
On the other side of the Viaduct, Albus and the other teachers were now running towards the crowd that was far off in the distance, as they wondered if a student had been killed. Once again Tracey observed Ronald, and he seemed almost unamused.
So, the trio know more than they let on.
Harry continued, "You all owe me life debts. Careful what you snakes tell your parents, they may not like it much. We could demand anything as purebloods. Your parents owing the Storm-Bringers?"
Harry understood that such an admission to their pureblooded parents would easily result in severe punishment. It was more likely they would all hush it up, in the name of preserving their own skin. But even if their parents found out, so what? What had occurred today, could only put them at an advantage. Harry decided to warn the children, gently for now:
"We will be back one day. And if you choose wrongly, there will be consequences." Harry warned.
Harry and Hermione then became invisible and then Grace apparated under her cloak via Harry's instruction. Soon enough they were back in the shop, and Dumbledore had just caught an indirect glimpse of the black armour, as he began to immediately question the students.
Many of the Slytherin students began to walk forward towards their common room entrance, after the commotion had died down. Both of the troll heads were completely crushed in, almost as if somebody had stepped on some fruit. There were many hush-hush meetings among the students who were rescued, later that night. They had unanimously decided that they would mention nothing. Corporal punishment was common in the magical world. Many of them would receive severe beatings at least.
A life debt was considered something that allowed a person to hold dominion over another.
Many of the children of the darker houses began to wonder what to do now – it seemed that Daphne Greengrass had been correct, as they realised that they could have been killed with utter impunity. As Slytherins, they understood power when they saw it.
There was nothing that they could do. But the Dark Lord could probably kill them?
Draco's usual group had been in the common room during the spectacle, and he and Theodore decided that he would say nothing about their near-death encounter. Crabbe and Goyle had managed to slip into the common room after the affair was over, and they were not aware of anything. As far as Draco was concerned, he broke his wand in an accident, and he had been in the library when the trolls had entered the classroom.
"Our parents will be unpleased that we owe life debts to strangers. It is a great shame on our houses. No, we will not say anything or you understand the consequences. The Dark Lord will personally finish them, he will return!" Draco explained to the others who had been rescued.
There were silent nods throughout the crowd.
Albus spent the rest night drawing memories out of the Hufflepuff students, via silent application of the mind arts. He did not want to take a chance with the Slytherin students as the darker children would call for a blood war if he was discovered. Albus was curious to see how the Storm Lord had dealt with the trolls.
The armour looked far more refined – now there was some black layer that was present. The Storm-Priestess was far quicker than the Storm-Lord. Her ability to apparate quickly inside Hogwarts? Was it the same type of modified apparition that the Storm Lord had used at Azkaban? And to wandlessly summon water? Many adult wizards could not conjure that kind of power with a wand!
The Storm-Lord seemed even more comfortable with his lightning – it looked far more focused and far less wild. It was being consciously controlled. Most surprising was the crack in the floor that the Storm-Lord had made, after Albus had disposed of the bodies. His punches had cracked the concrete behind the troll's head. Cracked the Hogwarts floor.
Albus was initially convinced that some type of unknown ritual had been undertaken to possess that type of unatural strength. Then he considered that the young man was known for taking magic and implementing it into his armour. The boy could produce a Patronus, so no - he was not playing with the Dark Arts.
Albus realised that the armour probably amplified his strength.
He would ask Alex, his consultant if that idea was being trialled in the muggle world. And if that was the case, now this was even more concerning. Rituals were ever applied to one person at a time, and they often offered one specific power. A person could do multiple rituals by balancing the attributes. But the Storm-Lord? He could equip anybody with fearsome ability. What could twenty people do with strength, shields, the ability to fly and ranged weapons? And all of that with magical capability that surpassed Grindelwald?
His ingenuity and brilliance were what made him dangerous. He could outthink everyone, because he was apparently, muggle educated to a high degree. And so was the Storm-Priestess? This, he would have to confirm.
Albus already understood that while he was easily the most powerful wizard in the world, the Storm Bringers were the most lethal combination of magic and weaponry.
"Alright parents, the kiddies are safe. Not a child was harmed and I did not castigate anybody too much. I will catch up with you lot later, I need a hot cup of tea." Harry replied.
Hermione raised her eyebrows, as Mipsy handled the tea for both of them - he was not drinking any caffeine tonight. Harry only drank tea when he was absolutely upset. He was greeted with various combinations of "Goodnight" as he sat down next to Hermione in the workshop. Ophelia and Amy stayed on:
"Thank you for looking after Tracey," Amy replied.
"Thank you for looking after my daughter. Harry, was this the doing of….Moldypants?" Ophelia asked.
"Yes. He is roaming about Hogwarts as a fragment. I will visit you and tell you more tomorrow. I didn't expect him to make such an open move. He isn't a danger to anyone yet, nor is he in his full form. He likes to work in the shadows. I am happy that we managed to stay at the top of the situation. As you can see, this business gets messy rather quickly. Who knows maybe a cockatrice might attack the school next?"
Both women laughed, as they understood that humour was a coping mechanism for the young man.
"Well, Aunty Ophie and Aunty Amy…night night."
Harry then hanged up.
"They were brilliant tonight Ophie! I understand why they are dangerous. I think I preferred to hear only what occurred, I did not want to see the killing. I can't believe it…is…him?" Amy wondered.
"They saved many lives tonight. Cyrus suspected that much – the Dark Lord is working through other people. Perhaps an attack on Albus indirectly? It makes perfect sense, Amy!"
"What if all of this happened and we were not informed?"
"What if Harry and Hermione were not who they were, tonight? No, Amy, we have the lucky end of the deal, but there is a burden that we must bear. Tonight was uncomfortable for us as parents. We are right to be concerned about the things that are happening at Hogwarts."
"You can say that again!" Amy replied.
Neville, Luna and Ronald were congratulated for their excellent work. Daphne was asking her father some deeper questions, while Tracey was waiting for her conversation with her father, to be over.
"Father, how did you know where to send me?" Daphne asked. "How could the data slate sense people? Do you know the manufacturer? That isn't an advertised feature?"
"I cannot say. Under oath. You will find out after Christmas. But trust me, I can say that this secret that I hold for now, is cause for celebration. Much has transpired." Cyrus replied.
"Oh alright, as long as they are good people. It was nice for you to guide me, Father. It was comforting. Dumbledore will want to speak to us, again. Yes, I will stare at the floor."
"Good girl. So proud of you. Ronald will give both of you trinkets to wear that will deny the headmaster access to your memories. They hide themselves too, so your housemates will not notice. You will wear them, and ask no questions for now. Time for shut-eye, dearest daughter."
"Goodnight Father," Daphne replied before she ended the call. She was surprised to see Tracey checking the dormitory door before she took off the communicator. Daphne took her device and disconnected it from her ears, as Tracey began to wind her clock.
"Daffy. I figured out exactly what is going on. Haven't you caught on yet?"
"Not really, Trace?"
"Okay so….the trio know so much magic because they are friends with the Storm-Lord and the Storm-Priestess. That is where these communicators and the data slates came from! They could send information to it because they invented it! Did you see their armour? The Storm-Lord's armour can conjure some type of shield. And that is not the standard shield spell, it is something else! So how hard is it to make this data slate?"
Daphne thought about the suggestion, and suddenly it made perfect sense.
"Are we allied with them Trace?" Daphne asked.
"I think so, too! These days my parents ask little to no probing questions. They already know what we are doing. The trio, I think speak to him and her all the time. I think we ate their birthday food. Remember we got food from Neville's chic friend? The girl who was the sister of his special friend?"
"They brought us food from her birthday party? You mean we are food from the Storm-Priestess who we saw, earlier? " Daphne wondered.
"Correct. Her birthday food and the food from Ms Weasley's kitchen are exactly the same. Different recipe sure, but the same person cooked it. Look, I know my belly okay? I am good at sniffing ingredients and seasonings out. Ronald looked so unimpressed tonight too – it was old news for him. He spoke to them on the silenced mode, tonight. We have that feature in our communicators because they needed it to talk to their people outside of the school."
"Oh damn Trace! But wait, all of this happened recently? I can't remember anything strange happening during the holidays. Well, we will have to think carefully about things?" Daphne wondered.
"Did you notice the vibe of both of them? They have that sibling energy going. They know each other so well, that they can even guess each other's movements. Wandless magic too. They can fly. Some real Iron Man stuff there. Not that you would know, but yeah they have to be super-duper muggle and magical at the same time. Me likely!"
"How can they apparate inside Hogwarts? I can't even understand that one. Ronald was also too damned calm. I should have known!" Daphne wondered.
"So see. You were always good with magic. But when you are Neville Longbottom and company, and you are being trained by two people like that? I am beginning to suspect the exercise program that we use, is their exercise program. Imagine if you had been doing that for a long time, like for many years. Did you see the ass on the Storm-Priestess? It was armoured but you can see how nice and firm it is. As for the other one, he looked even bigger and taller. Almost like he was a fourth year dude! His arms could crush anything in this school!"
"They do look really strong, I have to admit?" Daphne giggled.
"Neville and the rest are babies. They are fucking fiiiiitttt yo! I wanna look like the Storm-Priestess!" Tracey insisted.
"It is like they are doing this for a laugh. Somehow I admire that. By the way, did you hear when she called T.C.D.M a little boy? Ha! That humiliation was so classy! I aspire to be that…elegant and powerful!"
"True. The stupid people have gone back to their usual behaviour. They were talking about how the Dark Lord will kill them. The Quidditch team also, want to jump Charlie Weasley."
"Are they aware that they can lose all the hard earned points that we acquired Trace?"
"Daffy, we aren't winning a house cup for a VERY long time. I do hope we lose. I am a far better seeker than Terence Higgs. Do you think I will get a chance next year? Please Draco will buy his way in! I have heard from other people that Charlie Weasley should go professional, so yes we are in trouble."
"Didn't we win Quidditch for a long time?" Daphne asked.
"Because of Snape – he is an unfair referee. The brooms also made a huge difference. But even the snakes knew the gryffs were better fliers. Hell, all the other three houses are better fliers. So now with the Stormbolt being cheap, they are panicking. Everybody is even."
"He must have made the broom. He is using far better stuff. He looks like he loves to fly. I heard the rumours, they had flown at close to four hundred miles per hour after we went off to the hospital?" Daphne concluded.
"By the way, now you can give the Storm Lord a good ride eh? He looked big and strong in that armour. If I was straight, I would have gotten aroused!" Tracey sniggered.
"I don't think he needs a broom ride from me, as he makes brooms and….…wait…..Oh. Tracey shut up before I strangle you!"
"Night Daffy!"
"Night Tracey, you thrice-damned annoyance!"
The next morning, Harry and Hermione had their mission debrief:
"Well – last night was okay. We did well by ourselves, but new problems have been exposed. The drones were not finished and only had sensor packages. No offensive capabilities."
"Yes, Harry but we spent a lot of time with the muscle weave. That performed admirably. The non-Newtonian shock absorbers were quite good too. So we could not have the drones ready. Look, how about we spend the rest of the year setting up proximity alarms and surveillance all over the school."
"Why didn't we apparate the trolls out of the school? The trolls had paused dead still for many moments?" Harry wondered.
"Because Harry, we had already been fighting, so we just rushed along. That was not good. We panicked. Things got messy. We had never seen a troll, we don't live in the magical world. We were expecting them to be extremely fast. I had no idea they were slowpokes?"
"Oh right. Well, that is good to know. They are kind of stupid. So mundane jokes about being a troll, have a magical basis. Who would have thought? The legend still... survived somehow?"
"No different to Dragons. But it was good that we warned the children. We will have to deal with them, and their parents eventually. Displaying our power will make them think twice."
"Maybe we can strip out the extras we added into the teleporter, and develop devices or drones that we can throw or attach to people to teleport them quickly to a predetermined spot. Maybe somewhere in the forbidden forest?" Harry suggested.
"Perhaps. We need better power storage too. Maybe we can try to explore the gems and see? Maybe we can improve them from their natural structure?"
"True Mione. We haven't revised the power storage for a long time. Everything has been building domestic items on the pieces that we already have."
"You know Harry, I was also thinking maybe if we could develop a system where mini drones can attach to wands and they snap them in half. No wand, means no magic for most plebs? Draco looked terrified when he lost his wand?"
There was a collective pause, as the implications were fully considered.
"Oh damn! That will take some fiddling to develop. That could be one of the deadliest weapons in our arsenal! Woman, what a brain you have on you!"
"Why thank you, Harry, you say the nicest things. I think we should invest in the reactor design. Yes, we have guns, but imagine an impenetrable shield being sustained by a magical reactor. With a powerful enough reactor, we could even use inefficient items liberally. The reactor is how the Lilly Potter will fly. You focus on that and the armour, and I will focus on the augmentations and getting Neville's parents sorted out with your mum"
It was the 15th of November.
It was a Saturday, and the whole school had assembled in the Quidditch Stands. There were easily 1,000 students cheering their teams on. Of course, the teams had not entered the field yet – they were preparing themselves. It was customary for the stands to fill at least a half hour before the match started. House Slytherin had tried to jump Charlie Weasley, only to see that Professor McGonagall had decided to escort the seeker. The Slytherin team changed their mind immediately, and the discussion was centered on how they could hound him or disable other players during the match. The Gryffindor quidditch team were going over some last minute plays, and Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson were somewhat confused as to why the twins were sniggering. They confronted the red-heads.
"Oi Freddie, why so much smiling?" Katie questioned.
"According to everyone else….today should be a fair match. Everybody is using Stormbolts, right? The performance should be fair…right?" George explained.
"Well, that has been an ongoing discussion. We do know that Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw will be observing us, rather carefully." Angelina answered.
"So, what about say…..if we Weasleys managed to acquire….something else to give us an advantage?"
It was at that point that the illusive Mr Snuffles Padfoot made his entrance, accompanied by Professor McGonagall.
"Gryffindors…Good Afternoon. This is Mr Padfoot, and he would like to speak to you?" Minerva announced.
"Ah yes, Good afternoon. My name is Mr Padfoot Snuffles and I happen to be an executive at Peverell Industries."
The entire group was now silent.
"I know that name doesn't mean much – but Peverell Industries is the firm that designed the Stormbolt for Nimbus. We are the majority shareholder, and purchased 40 per cent of the company, recently. I am here to evaluate the broom's performance and to sponsor the Gryffindor team. More importantly, I have personally bought the Chudley Cannons recently, and we are looking to revamp and rebrand the team."
Suddenly there were excited looks on the Gryffindor's faces.
"I know you haven't changed yet, and that is very good. I have brought all brand new quidditch robes, and armour for you. We also have some lightweight helmets and they keep the wind out of your eyes. Completely bludger proof."
There was a collective moment of surprise and suddenly there was a lot of talk and questions. Sirius continued:
"Mr Weasley, Charlie that is, was also able to provide me with your sizes. Please do put them on. The Weasley twins are using our specially modified beater bats and enhanced competition thruster. If you play well, you may have an opportunity to play professionally. I know that the Cannons aren't a highly regarded team right now, but they are under new management now. My management. And they used to win a lot about a decade ago. I am hoping to recapture some of that brilliance. Do think about it….."
Now the Gryffindors were very excited. Sirius continued, "Professor, I would not mind a seat in the spectator box. I would very much like to meet the Headmaster. The company is amenable to donating towards Hogwarts."
"Oh, surely that would be deeply appreciated. Please follow me." Minerva replied as she wondered where things would go from here. Mr Padfoot seemed so familiar, and yet he did not seem aware of the bigger games being played, according to her.
The Gryffindors found the new robes and the armour to be rather unusual – gone were the large flapping pieces of cloth. The uniforms were form-fitting. And there were hardly any loose items. The armour was even more perplexing. It was rather soft?
"Charlie…what is this? Why is the armour soft? And why is the equipment so….unusual?" asked Oliver Wood as he examined Charlie's broom. Charlie had been provided with a shroud and many wooden looking caps to cover the thrust array and the black, anodised hardware. Now with everything removed, the broom with the turbine and the multiple exhaust ports looked sinister. Harry had even chosen to engrave the name "Rudra" in full Sanskrit, after asking Ved to have it double checked for correctness.
"This is the Rudra – the successor to the Storm-Bolt. It does 245 mph and has several unique features. I have the only one in my possession because I was paid to assist with the development of the Stormbolt. This is the Stormbolt's successor."
"What?" Katie replied as the entire Quidditch team gaped in amazement. Fred and George were just laughing.
"Yes, I was approached by the manufacturer. The clothes have no flapping bits because it causes drag. We will go faster if we aren't acting like a muggle parachute. Well, I don't know if you know about that, but I promise that it makes sense."
"Holy…I never thought about that! Less air resistance? Wait, is that a fecking turbine?" asked Angelina who was a muggleborn.
"Good eye. Yes, it is. Finally, the armour has a non-Newtonian fluid. It hardens only on impact and absorbs shock. The cloth is hydrophobic and it is coated to resist becoming wet. The helmets are light because they are a graphene enhanced polymer."
"Holy shit, the people who designed these things…are they wizards who know science?" asked Katie, while the others seemed confused.
"The guy builds jet engines. I got a crash course in physics over the holidays. Imagine me, a pureblood learning about thrust to weight ratio, and watching computational fluid dynamics models. It was very informative."
"What does all that mean?" asked Oliver Wood.
"It means we are using Muggle science to go faster and hit harder. Anyway, let us give the snakes a taste of their own medicine. We are superior in every way. Better talent, better equipment, but most importantly we know each other well enough. We have always been better players and the gear was the problem. Not any more. Today will be a holy day for this Quidditch team!" Charlie replied.
"Hey, I won't have to go to the hospital, if a bludger hits me in the head like my first match. The helmet is nice and padded." Oliver replied as he tried the item on his head. The others went to the changing rooms and slipped on the clothes. Harry and Hermione had chosen excellent breathable fabric that felt great on the skin. Along with the overlapping flaps, the Gryffindor team realised getting wet was no longer an issue. After the armour was strapped on, Katie punched the armour and was surprised when it suddenly became stiff under force, but otherwise allowed them a ridiculous amount of flexibility.
"This is wicked. No hard pieces of armour on the way. We might be able to volley much faster Angelina?"
"I think so. And the armour protection is all over. Charlie looks like he had a jet engine on the end of his broom, I was staring at it! Katie, we are going to wipe the floor!"
"I hope we get to play professionally. I don't care if the Cannons never won anything. But he seems to be a person who knows what he is doing. Time to make the snakes suffer!" Katie replied.
When the team had assembled, they looked brand new. Everyone had helmets, and their clothes were modern looking. There were many panels, patterns and stripes that made them look like an e-sports gaming team on brooms. The uniforms had done away with the traditional two tone colour look. This was not a coincidence because they were full of Luna's personal designs. Finally. She had included a stylised, angular looking Gryffin that was breathing amber-scarlet flames.
The Gryffindor team slowly opened the wooden door to the cheering of the entire school before they mounted their brooms and took a lap around the area. The Gryffindors were too busy supporting their team, to notice the new equipment. The shout of "Go, Go! Gryffindor" could be heard, all over the stands. The Slytherins were somewhat surprised and their chanting and cheering had died down a bit. Gryffindor's lack of long flapping cloth, and the helmets on all the Gryffindor players, looked familiar to many of the students who had been rescued.
Now many began to wonder if the Storm-Lord had outfitted Gryffindor? As the Slytherins and the Gryffindors gathered around the centre of the Quidditch Field, the snakes looked apprehensively at the new gear. Madam Hooch spoke against the backdrop of Lee Jordan's commentary. An entirely helmeted Quidditch team made it difficult for the snakes to know which lions to target.
"Now I want a nice clean game…from all of you!" the spiky-haired woman warned. As she kicked the wooden chest open, the two bludgers and the snitch began to fly about.
"The bludgers are up….followed by the golden snitch. Remember the snitch is worth 150 points. The seeker who catches the snitch ends the game." Lee Jordan commented over the magically enhanced megaphone.
Madam hooch tossed the Quaffle.
"The Quaffle is released…and the games begin." Jordan continued.
After a momentary scamper, as all the students were now attempting to dodge each other, Angelina had already grabbed the Quaffle. She was streaking towards the Quidditch Stands, as another Slytherin forced her to veer off. After redirecting hers
elf and temporarily ducking to dodge a bludger, she flipped around the axis of her broom before…
DING!
"Angelina Johnson scores. Ten points for Gryffindor! Slytherin take possession of the Quaffle….Bletchley passes to Captain Marcus Flint!"
Angelina attempted to tackle Flint, and was kicked in the stomach. While a kick was certainly a foul, Madam Hooch had not seen anything. However, unlike his previous experiences, the new armour on Angelina completely absorbed the contact and she felt absolutely no pain.
Flint was surprised when Angelina continued to pursue him. He, therefore, decided to score, quickly. Flint then took a shot at the Gryffindor hoops, only to see Oliver Wood make a fantastic vertical flip. He then hit the Quaffle away with the thrust assembly on the broom.
Harry and Hermione who were watching on with the drone, laughed. Harry had specifically tested the Stormbolt with a sledgehammer and had strengthened every aspect of it.
"Well…I am sure he got a nice firm hit on the Quaffle!" Harry laughed.
"Oh, the brooms are performing well. Slytherin doesn't fly too well, I think the brooms have levelled out the competition?" Hermione replied.
Wood had practised that signature move with his broom for many sessions. He laughed as he realised that his old twig assembly on his previous broom could never deliver that amount of force. He looked on as the Quaffle was caught by Katie Bell.
Katie, Angelina and Alicia began their favourite game of volleying the Quaffle as they interweaved between the elevated stands that were usually frequented by teachers, parents and officials. Angelina went close to the goalpost and then put the Quaffle in the direct line of Alicia, as she smashed the Quaffle in.
"Gryffindor scores!" Lee Jordan commented.
Graham Montague had now wrestled the Quaffle away after kicking Katie in the stomach after she had intercepted a throw from the keeper - The Slytherins specialised in underhanded tactics, especially when Madam Hooch's attention was elsewhere. Montague realised some kind of advantage was conferred by their armour as he felt it stiffen under the impact. Now his toes were broken and he was already in pain. Upon attempting to score again, Wood once again blocked the attempt and passed it to Alicia who was orbiting the Gryffindor goalposts.
Flint was angry, and frankly, he had not gotten over the death of his father. Peregrine Derrick was flying close by and Flint went over to the boy, after somewhat slamming into him. He ordered Derrick to put the Gryffindor keeper out of commission.
"Take that you filthy halfblood!" Derrick yelled as he forcefully hit a bludger, with the intent to incapacitate Oliver Wood. As the bludger caught him by surprise, the errant object merely hit the armour and bounced off harmlessly. Derrick repositioned himself again and tried to hit the Gryffindor keeper off his broom. Once again the bludger bounced back.
"That is twice Derrick has tried to sabotage the Gryffindor Keeper! He is threading close to the penalty area, if he goes in it will be a foul and….."
Derrick tried again one more time but Fred who had seen what was occurring had already lined up his shot. Madam Hooch already was making her way over to call a foul, but she was some distance away. Before she could sound the whistle, Flint and Derrick had already paid the price.
Fred slowly flicked the switch on the bat to enable maximum thrust and shock absorption. He waited, as Wood nodded at him. On the third attempt that Derrick made to hammer Wood with the bludger, Wood merely headbutted the Bludger off to the side with his helmet, and Fred who was flying in at maximum velocity made a small arc and redirected the bludger at the Slytherin beater. The contact with the bat had been so powerful, that a dull thud had sounded throughout the entire Quidditch field.
"KLOCK!"
Flint and Derrick collected the bludger and both of them were now off their brooms, as they fell into the sand.
"And the Slytherin captain, Flint is now out cold. So is Derrick the Slytherin beater, after trying to incapacitate Wood at least three times! Slytherin is in a lot of trouble now! They should have taken the foul, but now they will have to work with two missing teammates!" Jordan announced.
Slytherin was whispering – this was the first time the situation was stacked against them. They would not have managed that play without their new equipment. The neutrals who often got pushed out of the Quidditch tryouts were laughing. House Slytherin was finally getting a taste of their own medicine, and it was glorious. On the other side of the pitch, Montague and Pucey were attempting to drive Charlie Weasley into an observer stand as they attempted to box him in. Charlie then surprised both Slytherins by suddenly pulling a steep vertical dive that was almost like a fighter jet. Both of the Slytherins tried to pull out of the formation at the last moment. Pucey was fine but Montague? He had collided directly into Bletchley and both of them were now on the way to meet the sand at the bottom of the goal post, fully unconscious.
"Slytherin has just lost one of their chasers and their keeper! The afternoon continues to get worse for the snakes! That is four of their seven person team, out of commission!"
House Slytherin was not cheering anymore, and their concerns were justified. That was when Higgs saw the snitch and began to chase it, and suddenly there was hope that perhaps they could win. Charlie had so much extra speed in his broom, that he merely darted across the entire field, as the superconducting turbine pushed a massive volume of air. The Slytherin realised that Charlie did not have a Stormbolt.
No, he had something far faster.
As the turbine howled, the broom almost sounded like a jet engine. No, there was no characteristic swoosh. Rather it was a thundering roar. Charlie had decided after Slytherin had flattened Gryffindor the previous year, that it was time for payback. Charlie did not attempt to grab the snitch. He merely blocked Higgs from reaching the snitch by staying in front of the young boy, in a wide space. This could not be considered a foul, and Higgs was pushing his broom to its maximum capability, but in front of the Rudra, Charlie had enough speed to spare. After all, the Rudra could accelerate much faster, and this was due to the turbine that floated in an air bearing - there was hardly any friction.
Charlie blocked the young boy for the next twenty minutes, as the Gryffindor chasers went to town on the Slytherin goalposts. With no keeper and no captain, Angelina, Alicia and Katie continued to score points rather regularly. The other Slytherins continued with discreet kicks and bludgers, but the Gryffindor armour merely absorbed the impacts harmlessly. In some cases, they tossed around the quaffle to tire out the snakes, with no intention of scoring. The Slytherins realised that the Lions were playing with them, to embarrass them. After a consistent ten points at being scored at least every minute, Charlie harmlessly pulled in front of Higgs and caught the snitch.
The final score was now 410 – 0.
"And that brings an end to the rather action packed match! Gryffindor 410 and Slytherin 0! This has to be the biggest defeat ever suffered by Slytherin in the History of Hogwarts!"
The Slytherins were now dead silent and Luna and Ronald who were standing next to Neville in the Quidditch stand were laughing.
"You know they looked for that! Derrick just had to attack Oliver?" Ronald laughed. Professor McGonagall who was a Quidditch fanatic was now grinning at Severus Snape as she said, "I hope you approve. We lions decided to use snake tactics this round. It is sometimes beneficial. But you would know better than me. Those discreet kicks did not do anything for you today?"
Snape understood that the old woman was indirectly insulting him over Lilly Potter and he held his tongue. He also considered that he could not punish any of the Quidditch players or get involved. No – he would have to continue to brew potions for Hogwarts and mark test scripts, fairly. Sirius was looking at Snape, as he realised that Harry would skin him alive, eventually. No, the joke was on the hook-nosed man.
"It was nice doing business with you Professor. They could not hurt your lions with the armour our company developed. Fully protected. So if Hooch isn't there to demand a penalty or cry foul, no sense of decency from your team Potions Master Slughorn and Potions Master Snape?" Sirius asked, with disdain in his voice. Horace winced. Then Sirius stared at Snape, and he looked back almost as if he wanted to curse Sirius, who was properly disguised.
"This match is a day I will remember. I do thank you for the gear you have provided. I hope Lucius Malfoy suffers when he hears this news. Mr Padfoot, have you come to any decisions?" asked Minerva.
"I want Charlie for the new Cannons seeker. I can see the three girls eventually playing chaser positions. I will take Wood as soon as he is finished with school too. Hogwarts has the talent for us to win the league. We just need to train them." Sirius replied.
Albus Dumbledore walked over and Professor McGonagall introduced Sirius as Mr Padfoot, the eccentric investor. Dumbledore attempted mind arts to pull information from Sirius, and all he found out was that the owner of Peverell industries had never left his lab, and communicated only by e-mail, which was a muggle technology. Nobody knew the identity of Mr Peverell, and even his voice was distorted via telephone calls. Mr Padfoot also seemed to be very proud of his kitchen, and he was hoping to expand soon. Sirius who had been alerted to the sneak mental attack smiled as he began to see how manipulative Dumbledore was, but also mused that his 'son' was way worse, when the situation required such skills.
"Well Headmaster, we will be in touch with you soon. We often look for young people to employ over the holidays. The Weasleys were contracted to test the broom at the direct instructions of my employer. They made very good coin and my boss was pleased with their insights. My employer belies that young, hard working people should be rewarded, and he has always been a man of his word."
"I see Mr Padfoot. I hope that I will eventually earn his trust. So, you are responsible for that fantastic kitchen?" Albus asked.
"In a manner of speaking. My boss has travelled the world, and he initially started the kitchen for Molly to be his chief. No different to an internal kitchen within a company. And then when he tried the meals himself, he was convinced that they could do commercial work. My boss was quite pleased when their finances improved greatly. He considers her onion soup to be a gift to the world! We do have some other products that will be co-designed with the Weasleys." Sirius replied.
"The Weasleys are good people. Will we be seeing you again?" Minerva asked.
"I cannot say. I was asked by my boss to scout for culinary talent. We regularly have competitions to diversify our offerings. I would not mind keeping the entire Hogwarts quidditch gear up to date, and handsome monthly contributions towards the school to assist with educating students." Sirius answered.
"Oh, that is wonderful. Perhaps we can speak about this much later on? I would like to get to know you better." Albus replied.
"That is agreeable. Invite your senior staff and yourself, we can have a bite to eat at the Kitchen. We have a private area where you can dine in. I however cannot give you a date as yet. I am scouting because I brought the Chudley Cannons recently. Not too much of a respectable team right now as they usually finish last in the English quidditch premiership, but I am in control now. I will be making some changes soon enough I think. They used to win, some time back. Your students will provide me with the talent."
Albus hoped that he might find something that would help to connect him to Lord Peverell, but Harry had already engineered the situation for Dumbledore to fall deeper into his trap.
As house Slytherin made their way back to the common room, there was much protest. There was open shouting and there were plans to "annihilate the Gryffindor Quidditch Team". That was when Horace Slughorn arrived and he expressed his disappointment.
"Never in my life, have I seen such a dirty Quidditch game. In my time as a young man, Slytherin held the Quidditch title year after year with an iron grip. And we never needed any nasty tactics to win. We could outfly everyone!
Kicking other players? Attempting to incapacitate the opposing keeper? We have lost enough points at the Quidditch match this evening to firmly be out of a chance to win the House Cup! Beginning next year, I am going to screen every player for myself. I am only taking the best. I am going to get my old friends to come and train you! Utterly disappointed with the lot of you!"
Tracey and Daphne then walked off to their dorm and closed the door. Tracey then began to laugh loudly and Daphne giggled.
"Haha! The snakes got a taste of their own medicine. They had far better gear than us. And they had more talent. Higgs could not even dream to keep up with whatever Charlie Weasley is packing – he has something way better than the Stormbolt."
"Hey, I have no problem with that. I want Draco to suffer! Slytherin can lose, as long as I am not the seeker!" Tracey laughed.
"I can't believe it! Without the flapping clothes, we could fly a bit faster! We were better balanced!" Angelina exclaimed.
"That broom is amazing! Can I have a go?" Katie asked.
"What exactly is in those bats?" Wood asked the twins.
"Hey! We survived being kicked! They were kicking us all afternoon and no big deal! Charlie, what is in this thing? How can it be so soft?" Angelina asked.
"Well Angie, you are a halfblood right? You will have to research non-newtonian fluids. Physics." Charlie explained.
"No hospital visits. No complaints. To answer your question Wood, the same bits that make your broom move. The material is not wood. It is a plastic polymer." Fred answered.
"So it..generates force? That is brilliant! The Ravenclaws will be easy work!" Wood replied.
"Don't get too happy yet, Wood. My brother can cause the Puffs to win. Getting through Ronald will be hard business. He has improved drastically and he is very disciplined. After we observe the match against Ravenclaw, we will see what is next? Out of nowhere his talent just started to come out?" Charlie replied as he grinned - his brother's talent was the effort of his hard work, as of recently.
As soon as the Gryffindor team arrived at the common room, there was shouting and cheering for the next hour. Fred and George who had visited the kitchen several times as they explored the castle at night time had gotten familiar with the Hogwarts elves. There was food and drink to go around. Charlie sought out Percy in the common room and said, "Tell the two overlords, thanks for their gear!"
Percy gave no acknowledgement, but later he relayed the comments to Harry and Hermione.
