Chapter 22
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A week has past after the incident at the Forbidden Forest. No words about it had reached the castle. Harry was glad of this. He didn't want anyone to be anxious even more. He just recently heard that a magical married couple has gone missing. It was Saturday morning at the Great Hall. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were having breakfast when the usual flocks of owl came flying through the hall. Harry look up and saw Hedwig with Sirius's reply tied on her leg. He took the letter from her. He opened it and was surprised to see that it wasn't Sirius's handwriting on the letter but Remus's.
Harry,
From what we heard, this Death Eater is not after to you,
but again we have to take necessary precautions. From now on, stay inside Hogwarts at night, and head straight to
the castle after quidditch practices. We know that Briana is there to protect you, but we really want to put
your safety first. Sirius is out right
now, but he already knows about this. So I'm the one who wrote to you. Be careful, Harry. Give our regards to Ron and Hermione.
Remus
"Well, at least, they are not mad at you," said Ron, after reading it.
"Yeah, I mean that way we can focus on things like our O.W.L.s," said Hermione.
"O.W.L.s? How can be you thinking about that now?" exclaimed Ron.
"Well, it is getting near, don't you think?" said Hermione, matter-of-factly. Ron opened his mouth to argue when Hermione hastily changed the subject, "Don't you lot have a quidditch match against the Hufflepuffs? Why don't you wear the dragon necklace that I gave you, Harry! Oh, it could be a sort of good luck charm! Although, I really believe in those things but why not?"
"Er, sure, Hermione. I'll go and get it right now," said Harry, not wanting to hurt her feelings. He stood up.
"Ooh, I'll go with you," said Ron. "I need to get my broomstick." Ron and Hermione followed Harry up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Tower. Hermione was on about how good the necklace would look on Harry.
"Oh, it's really going to match you eyes."
"Hold on, I have to tie my shoe," said Ron. He bent down to tie his shoes. They heard a rumbling noise. Hermione and Harry turned around. There was a huge cabinet sliding down the corridor.
"RON, LOOK OUT!" she exclaimed. But it was too late. There were a crash and a yell. Harry and Hermione ran to him. "Are you alright, Ron?"
"OW! I think I broke my leg!" he said. Harry looked at his leg. It was under the cupboard.
"Help me lift this up, Hermione."
"Are you crazy? That's really heavy."
"By magic, Hermione. Honestly, are you forgetting that you're a witch?"
"Oh, right," said Hermione, blushing. They lifted the cabinet out on Ron's leg, which was bleeding rapidly and is twisted in the wrong way. Harry looked at his watch. It was almost time for the match.
"Can you get up?" asked Hermione, tenderly, to Ron. He nodded. Hermione looked at Harry. "I'll take Ron to the hospital wing. Why don't you go and tell your teammates what happened. Go on, it's okay." Harry nodded and ran to the Gryffindor Tower to get his necklace. Hermione took Ron to the hospital wing. In his great hurry to get to the pitch, he bumped into the Head Boy, Adam Cunningham.
"Oof, sorry," he said hastily.
The boy smiled and said, "It's all right. Good luck at the game."
Harry thanked him and ran down to the Locker Rooms.
"There you are! Where's Ron?" asked Angelina. "We have a game in five minutes."
"Ron-cabinet-his leg-in the hospital wing-with Hermione-ran down hereā¦" he panted. They looked at him confused. Harry took a deep breath.
"When we were going to the Tower, a cabinet hit Ron and broke his leg. He's in the hospital wing getting treated right now," he said, clutching his side.
"But we have a game in less than three minutes!" exclaimed Alicia. "What are we going to do!?" They were silent for a second.
"Well, there's only one thing we can do. Seamus, dress up, you're playing for Ron," said Angelina. "Harry, dress up too. We got a game to win."
Armed with their broomstick, they walked out to the field. The whole school was waiting there.
"All right, ready?" asked Madam Hooch. They nodded. "Captains, shake hands." Angelina and the new Hufflepuff captain shook hands. The air around the field was tense. "Mount your brooms. On my whistle!" Her whistle blew and soon after they were on the air. Harry was flying around searching for the snitch. He felt as if someone was following him. He looked around and saw Justin Finch-Fletchley. He was the new seeker for the Hufflepuffs. Harry smiled at him, and Justin smiled back at him. Harry returned back to searching for the snitch. After a while, Harry spotted the snitch. It was lurking behind the goalposts of the Gryffindors. He picked up speed towards the goalposts. Justin closely followed him, and, finally, they were neck and neck. Harry took his hands off his broom and dove forward. He made sure that his hands gripped the snitch tightly.
"He had it! Gryffindors win 190-20! Gryffindors win! Potter had the snitch!" shouted Lee Jordan. People were filing to the field. Harry landed with his teammates. He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Professor Sullivan's. He turned around.
"Remus and Sirius were here to watch you," she said. She beckoned him to come with her. They arrived outside the field where a hooded man was with a black dog.
"Nice job, Harry. But only one thing, though, where's Ron?" asked Remus.
"Er, he's in the hospital wing. He accidentally broke his leg. So Seamus covered for him," he replied.
"Accidentally?" repeated Remus. He smiled and said, "Harry, I think you should reconsider that incident as an 'accident.'"
Harry gave him a confused look. Remus explained, "Well, when we were in Hogwarts, we would sabotage the, erm, Slytherin quidditch team before their games. But, we only have done that once," he added as he got a glare from Professor Sullivan. The dog that was Sirius went to Harry and sniffed him as a way of congratulating him.
"Nice necklace, Harry," said Remus.
"Thanks, Hermione gave it to me for my birthday," he explained.
"Really?" said Professor Sullivan, eyeing the necklace with great curiosity. "Where did she get it?"
"She got it while she was at Durmstrang with Viktor Krum. But don't tell Ron that," he added, looking at Professor Sullivan.
"Really? Interesting," she muttered, curiously. Harry was about to asked why it was so interesting when Remus said something.
"Well, we better go now. Remember, Harry, be careful," he said, sternly. The dog barked. They waved goodbye and heading out of Hogwarts. Harry and Professor Sullivan went back to the field, where people were heading back to Hogwarts.
"I'm sure you would want to visit Ron first," smiled Professor Sullivan. Harry nodded. He went inside the Locker Rooms to change. Then he went up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey let him in to visit Ron. He saw him still there with Hermione.
"Hey, did we win?" he asked as Harry approached him.
"Yeah, Seamus played for you," he replied.
"Madam Pomfrey said I have to stay here till tonight. I can go back tomorrow."
"Remus reckons it has something to do with the Slytherins."
"Remus, you mean he was there?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah, you know what, I reckon it makes sense. They always hate us. I bet Malfoy was behind that."
"But maybe it was the Hufflepuffs. They're the ones who we played against today," said Ron.
"No, I don't think so. Maybe it's Malfoy. He's always on about you should not be playing, Ron. Maybe he's jealous."
They talked for a while about the quidditch match. Ron insisted that Harry should give him detailed version of the story. Hermione grew impatient and had to drag Harry out of the hospital wing just so they can get back to the Gryffindor Tower. As soon as they got there, a crowd was gathered in front of the entrance, all of who were muttering nervously to one another.
"What's going on?" asked Hermione to a second year. The girl shrugged, but her friend said,
"Someone tried to break in the Tower without a password. Professor Dumbledore is there with Professor Sullivan." Harry and Hermione looked at each other. They inched their way through the crowd and finally were near enough to listen to what they were saying. Professor Sullivan was standing next to Professor Dumbledore and Professor Mcgonagall. She was examining the, from what Harry saw, black and charred hole on the portrait hole.
"Looks to me, they were trying to get their way through the hole. More like the Severing Charm, but was badly done," she was saying.
"Minerva, go look for the Fat Lady. Maybe she'll know who did this. Get some people to help you," said Dumbledore swiftly. Professor Mcgonagall went down the corridor quickly.
"Children, please proceed to the Great Hall," said Dumbledore to the Gryffindors. Then he said to Professor Sullivan, "Do you best to investigate this matter. I'll will come back to check on you."
The crowd bustled out to the Great Hall.
Okay, I told you there were more mysterious things. I emitted the quidditch part because I had a partial case of writer's block. And my friend still has my book four copy, so I sort of fill 'naked' without it. Anyway, that's all. Leave and review.
