Chapter Nine
"Ready Ann?"
"N-no."
"Eat something. You need it."
"No, not hungry."
"Come on."
"No."
Mell reached over and stuffed a spoonful of cereal in my mouth. I coughed, but swallowed it. I knew I couldn't digest it though. My stomach was all upside-down and inside out, you know the feeling. Yup, it was February and the first quidditch match of the season was finally taking place. Harry was leaning over his plate, staring blankly. Sara and Mell looked a little pale, I knew I was as white as a ghost and cold as one too. My nerves have always over-reacted for anything, even it was just talking to someone I didn't know.
We were sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for breakfast. Nobody was actually eating anything, even those not on the team. Sara folded her arms on the table, looking a little green as she looked at her plate that Hermione had compiled for her, complete with fruit and oatmeal, with a glass of orange juice. Oliver Wood leaned over to her.
"You're going to want to eat that." He said. "You'll need it."
"I can't. My stomach is all butterflies."
"Nervous, eh?" He put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. The first game is a little wobbly, yes, but once ya get used to it, it's not so bad. Now, come on eat something."
Sara's face turned from green to red in a matter of seconds and she gave a tiny grin.
"Well, that's better! Quidditch is fun, believe me!" Wood smiled at her and walked out.
Sara turned and dug into her food, smirking at Mell and me. We smirked back.
All of a sudden, (time had seemed to be on a fast forward) we were in the locker room, putting on scarlet robes and gathering brooms. No, we didn't get Nimbus Two Thousands, but Harry did. I stared out the little window out into the pitch, where hundreds of students were slowly gathering. I gulped and clutched my broom. Someone came up from behind. It was Sara and Mell.
"Don't be nervous. We're in this together, right?" I nodded.
"Besides, if we win, Fred and George will have a party for all of us in the common room."
"OK, team, let's go!" Wood pushed open the doors to the screaming crowd and we flew out, encircling the field. Our opponents were Ravenclaw. They zoomed out in blurs of blue. Taking a deep breath, I gazed around the stadium. I saw Ron and Hermione waving their arms at me. I waved back, feeling a little more assure. Mike was standing up, using binoculars. He waved when he reached me. I waved back.
A whistle sounded from the ground. Madame Hooch stepped into the middle of us and looked up.
"Now I want a nice, clean game. All of you."
She took out the quaffle and (it seemed in slow motion) she threw it up in the air. Mell caught it and zoomed above the others. She threw it to Sara who raced over towards the Ravenclaw goalposts, scoring our first ten points. I cheered, punching my arm.
Sara tossed the quaffle to me, and I flew off, ducking under a passing bludger. Fred raced after me, whacking hard at the heavy ball. I made it to the Ravenclaw side and scored again.
I turned off to the other direction, my mouth wide open in shock and happiness. Then, something whistled by my head. I ducked. Whew, that was a close one, I thought as the bludger soared past me. I flew up higher, circling the game. Harry was on the other side, slowly circling above the players.
By this time, Ravenclaw had scored and it was twenty to ten. I exhaled, hoping against hope that I would find the Snitch first. Keeping my eyes peeled, I listened to the commentary from Lee Jordan.
"Quaffle thrown to Ravenclaw chaser, OH, intercepted by Gryffindor chaser, Scalzi, a new-comer to the team. One of the first, first year players in a century." Mell grinned.
"Scalzi races to Ravenclaw goalpost, GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" he yelled into the microphone. Good, I thought, thirty to ten.
Mell passed me the quaffle and I headed nervously and quickly the other side. All of a sudden, a hand whacked mine away and grabbed the quaffle. Darn it, Ravenclaw. I felt my heart sink to my feet. I slowed up and stopped right above the stands and watched the Ravenclaw team scream and yell, racing around the stadium.
I moaned, looking down. Then I saw Harry towards the ground, standing on his broom with his arm outstretched towards something gold and shiny. I gasped and covered my mouth and everyone slowed down to watch.
Then he tripped and fell forwards off his broom and the crowds yelled. He stumbled and slowly got up. We watched him curiously.
"Looks like he's gonna be sick," I muttered to myself as Harry put his hands to his stomach. He coughed and the gold something protruded from his mouth.
"YES!" I cried, shocked. Sara, Mell and I flew down to the ground, giving each other hugs and then Harry and the rest of the team. It was absolutely incredible.
Later that night, I sat finishing my homework in the common room. Harry joined me at my table.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," I smiled, "That was great today."
"Thanks, you were great too."
"Nah," I sighed, thinking about my miss and being the only one who lost the Quaffle, "I'll never be as good as the other players in this school."
"Aw, jeez," I whispered, "Dumbledore was right."
"Excuse me?" Harry said.
"Oh, nothing." But immediately I felt a little better.
"I have some news."
"What might you have?" I smiled a bit.
"Well, remember that detention Hermione and I had with Malfoy and Hagrid?"
"Yeah." That was two days ago.
"Well, I've put off telling you guys this, but here's what happened. Malfoy and I were walking along in the woods looking for an injured unicorn for Hagrid. Well, when we found it, someone was there drinking its blood. The 'someone' was hooded and I couldn't see its face. But I think it was Voldemort."
"Voldemort?" I asked, pretending to be shocked.
"Yes! We ran and a centaur rescued me, telling me that Voldemort was trying to return to his body using unicorn blood, which makes you live longer. He said Voldemort was trying to find something very valuable, something horrible that is in the very walls of Hogwarts. And I thought, well, it's gotta be the thing that the three-headed dog is guarding!"
He finished, taking a breath. I raised my eyebrows.
"Wow," was all I could say. The adventure was getting to the height of excitement and I couldn't wait for it to start.
A few days later, I was tutoring Mike on Charms in the library. Sara and Mell were talking over a book.
"Remember, it's swish and flick!" I demonstrated. "We've been doing this since the beginning of the year."
"Sorry, I'm not good at this." Mike tried again.
"The Cheering Charm is easy. Watch."
I swished and flicked and cast the cheering charm on Mell. Perhaps a little too hard.
"Wow, what a great book!" she said, grinning. "Isn't this a great book Mike? I think it is." He raised his eyebrows, looking back at me.
"Hehe, um, well, it still worked."
"You look nice today Sara. Have a jolly good day! Bwhahahaha!" and she got up dancing around.
"I think we better put her in solitary confinement for a while until she is sane." Mike said. Sara looked at him. "Well, she's not really not much different, but yeah we better." We nodded. I stood up, grabbing her wrists. Mike grabbed her by the knees and dragged to the transfigurations classroom, which was empty.
"OK, Mell, we're just gonna leave you in here for a while." I turned back to her, after grabbing a chair. She was dancing and singing.
"With a bottle o' booze in the back o' my car!" I guffawed. Mike raised his eyebrows.
"All right!" Sara exclaimed, "Let's keep her like this!"
I laughed; Sara has tried countless times to get Mell to like Elton John, but it hasn't actually worked..that is, until now.
We left Mell in the room, laughing her head off.
Coming back to the library, we saw Hermione beckoning to us.
"Come here!" she hissed. Harry and Ron had joined her. She had a huge heavy book in front of her.
"I can't believe I forgot! I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading!"
"That's light?" Ron said. She glared at him and started flipping through pages. Finding the page, she drew her index finger down the lines searching.
"Aha! Here it is!" she began reading in her head, "Yes! This is it!" She looked at us dramatically, "The thing that the three-headed dog is guarding is.the Sorcerer's Stone!"
"Ready Ann?"
"N-no."
"Eat something. You need it."
"No, not hungry."
"Come on."
"No."
Mell reached over and stuffed a spoonful of cereal in my mouth. I coughed, but swallowed it. I knew I couldn't digest it though. My stomach was all upside-down and inside out, you know the feeling. Yup, it was February and the first quidditch match of the season was finally taking place. Harry was leaning over his plate, staring blankly. Sara and Mell looked a little pale, I knew I was as white as a ghost and cold as one too. My nerves have always over-reacted for anything, even it was just talking to someone I didn't know.
We were sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for breakfast. Nobody was actually eating anything, even those not on the team. Sara folded her arms on the table, looking a little green as she looked at her plate that Hermione had compiled for her, complete with fruit and oatmeal, with a glass of orange juice. Oliver Wood leaned over to her.
"You're going to want to eat that." He said. "You'll need it."
"I can't. My stomach is all butterflies."
"Nervous, eh?" He put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. The first game is a little wobbly, yes, but once ya get used to it, it's not so bad. Now, come on eat something."
Sara's face turned from green to red in a matter of seconds and she gave a tiny grin.
"Well, that's better! Quidditch is fun, believe me!" Wood smiled at her and walked out.
Sara turned and dug into her food, smirking at Mell and me. We smirked back.
All of a sudden, (time had seemed to be on a fast forward) we were in the locker room, putting on scarlet robes and gathering brooms. No, we didn't get Nimbus Two Thousands, but Harry did. I stared out the little window out into the pitch, where hundreds of students were slowly gathering. I gulped and clutched my broom. Someone came up from behind. It was Sara and Mell.
"Don't be nervous. We're in this together, right?" I nodded.
"Besides, if we win, Fred and George will have a party for all of us in the common room."
"OK, team, let's go!" Wood pushed open the doors to the screaming crowd and we flew out, encircling the field. Our opponents were Ravenclaw. They zoomed out in blurs of blue. Taking a deep breath, I gazed around the stadium. I saw Ron and Hermione waving their arms at me. I waved back, feeling a little more assure. Mike was standing up, using binoculars. He waved when he reached me. I waved back.
A whistle sounded from the ground. Madame Hooch stepped into the middle of us and looked up.
"Now I want a nice, clean game. All of you."
She took out the quaffle and (it seemed in slow motion) she threw it up in the air. Mell caught it and zoomed above the others. She threw it to Sara who raced over towards the Ravenclaw goalposts, scoring our first ten points. I cheered, punching my arm.
Sara tossed the quaffle to me, and I flew off, ducking under a passing bludger. Fred raced after me, whacking hard at the heavy ball. I made it to the Ravenclaw side and scored again.
I turned off to the other direction, my mouth wide open in shock and happiness. Then, something whistled by my head. I ducked. Whew, that was a close one, I thought as the bludger soared past me. I flew up higher, circling the game. Harry was on the other side, slowly circling above the players.
By this time, Ravenclaw had scored and it was twenty to ten. I exhaled, hoping against hope that I would find the Snitch first. Keeping my eyes peeled, I listened to the commentary from Lee Jordan.
"Quaffle thrown to Ravenclaw chaser, OH, intercepted by Gryffindor chaser, Scalzi, a new-comer to the team. One of the first, first year players in a century." Mell grinned.
"Scalzi races to Ravenclaw goalpost, GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" he yelled into the microphone. Good, I thought, thirty to ten.
Mell passed me the quaffle and I headed nervously and quickly the other side. All of a sudden, a hand whacked mine away and grabbed the quaffle. Darn it, Ravenclaw. I felt my heart sink to my feet. I slowed up and stopped right above the stands and watched the Ravenclaw team scream and yell, racing around the stadium.
I moaned, looking down. Then I saw Harry towards the ground, standing on his broom with his arm outstretched towards something gold and shiny. I gasped and covered my mouth and everyone slowed down to watch.
Then he tripped and fell forwards off his broom and the crowds yelled. He stumbled and slowly got up. We watched him curiously.
"Looks like he's gonna be sick," I muttered to myself as Harry put his hands to his stomach. He coughed and the gold something protruded from his mouth.
"YES!" I cried, shocked. Sara, Mell and I flew down to the ground, giving each other hugs and then Harry and the rest of the team. It was absolutely incredible.
Later that night, I sat finishing my homework in the common room. Harry joined me at my table.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," I smiled, "That was great today."
"Thanks, you were great too."
"Nah," I sighed, thinking about my miss and being the only one who lost the Quaffle, "I'll never be as good as the other players in this school."
"Aw, jeez," I whispered, "Dumbledore was right."
"Excuse me?" Harry said.
"Oh, nothing." But immediately I felt a little better.
"I have some news."
"What might you have?" I smiled a bit.
"Well, remember that detention Hermione and I had with Malfoy and Hagrid?"
"Yeah." That was two days ago.
"Well, I've put off telling you guys this, but here's what happened. Malfoy and I were walking along in the woods looking for an injured unicorn for Hagrid. Well, when we found it, someone was there drinking its blood. The 'someone' was hooded and I couldn't see its face. But I think it was Voldemort."
"Voldemort?" I asked, pretending to be shocked.
"Yes! We ran and a centaur rescued me, telling me that Voldemort was trying to return to his body using unicorn blood, which makes you live longer. He said Voldemort was trying to find something very valuable, something horrible that is in the very walls of Hogwarts. And I thought, well, it's gotta be the thing that the three-headed dog is guarding!"
He finished, taking a breath. I raised my eyebrows.
"Wow," was all I could say. The adventure was getting to the height of excitement and I couldn't wait for it to start.
A few days later, I was tutoring Mike on Charms in the library. Sara and Mell were talking over a book.
"Remember, it's swish and flick!" I demonstrated. "We've been doing this since the beginning of the year."
"Sorry, I'm not good at this." Mike tried again.
"The Cheering Charm is easy. Watch."
I swished and flicked and cast the cheering charm on Mell. Perhaps a little too hard.
"Wow, what a great book!" she said, grinning. "Isn't this a great book Mike? I think it is." He raised his eyebrows, looking back at me.
"Hehe, um, well, it still worked."
"You look nice today Sara. Have a jolly good day! Bwhahahaha!" and she got up dancing around.
"I think we better put her in solitary confinement for a while until she is sane." Mike said. Sara looked at him. "Well, she's not really not much different, but yeah we better." We nodded. I stood up, grabbing her wrists. Mike grabbed her by the knees and dragged to the transfigurations classroom, which was empty.
"OK, Mell, we're just gonna leave you in here for a while." I turned back to her, after grabbing a chair. She was dancing and singing.
"With a bottle o' booze in the back o' my car!" I guffawed. Mike raised his eyebrows.
"All right!" Sara exclaimed, "Let's keep her like this!"
I laughed; Sara has tried countless times to get Mell to like Elton John, but it hasn't actually worked..that is, until now.
We left Mell in the room, laughing her head off.
Coming back to the library, we saw Hermione beckoning to us.
"Come here!" she hissed. Harry and Ron had joined her. She had a huge heavy book in front of her.
"I can't believe I forgot! I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading!"
"That's light?" Ron said. She glared at him and started flipping through pages. Finding the page, she drew her index finger down the lines searching.
"Aha! Here it is!" she began reading in her head, "Yes! This is it!" She looked at us dramatically, "The thing that the three-headed dog is guarding is.the Sorcerer's Stone!"