14
By Amadeus
Author's Note: Wow this is great! I've checked around and not many people get this many reviews so fast. I'm going to have to install a thanks section at the end to reward all of you. I'm glad you like it so far, and I promise to try to get to the action as soon as possible. Please continue to R/R!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his surrounding characters are the property of JK Rowling
Chapter 2: Quidditch Cake
"Uncle Vernon…nearly…caught me…" managed Harry between gasps. He recovered quickly however under the concerned eyes of Mrs. Weasley and the others.
"It's all right dear, you're safe now," came the comforting voice of Mrs. Weasley. "Why don't you go upstairs and get a good night's rest. You can tell us all about it in the morning."
Harry suddenly realized how tired he was and yawned as he began to head up the steps to Ron's room. Only Ron followed as he trudged up the stairs while the rest of them stayed below whispering quickly in excited voices with words Harry couldn't hear. When he reached the room he plopped down on the bed and fell immediately into a deep dreamless sleep.
* * * * * * *
When Harry woke that morning Ron had already left the room. Harry groggily got up and dressed and began to head down the stairs stretching his arms and yawning widely as he descended. He entered the kitchen expecting to find Ron and the Weasleys sitting at the table eating breakfast when…
"SURPRISE!!" Harry jumped and woke from his stupor very quickly, his eyes wide. It took his face several seconds to go from a look of complete shock to one of absolute joy.
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Haaaarryyyy, Happy Birthday to you!" The whole group laughed as Fred and George Weasley added a very drawn out "And Many Moooore". Harry was ecstatic. Everyone was there. All of the Weasleys had shown up, even Bill and Charlie from their jobs. Remus Lupin and Hagrid were there too. Neville and even Hermione had come.
"We saved the best present for last Harry," stated Ron. He laughed. "We got you a dog!"
A very familiar large black dog walked out from its hiding place behind the rest of the Weasleys.
"Sirius!"
The dog transformed into the smiling figure of Harry's godfather. Harry took a quick look around the room to make sure there were no surprised faces. There were nothing but smiles. Even Neville seemed to know Sirius. It was the happiest day of Harry's life. His friends, his family surrounding him as it should be. Nothing could ruin such a wonderful day. Or so he thought.
Brunch was held outside in order to accommodate the large number of guests. Harry saw that Mrs. Weasley had truly outdone herself as he looked at the feast before him. Pancakes, French toast, Belgian waffles, sausage and bacon among other delicious looking treats were piled high on the table in front of him.
But nothing could have prepared him for the truly gargantuous cake at the end of the table which was shaped like a miniature quidditch pitch. There were three goal posts to each side, and even the balls were present. He could plainly see the tiny quaffle and bludgers and for an instant Harry was sure he had seen a miniature golden snitch zoom by. It was amazing.
"Isn't it great?" said Ron following Harry's gaze. "Everyone chipped in to help make it. Fred and George mostly. They're bound to make a fortune with an invention like this. And here's the best part." Ron pointed. Harry suddenly noticed 15 figurines he had not seen before. There appeared to be two teams, or so the colors indicated, and one referee. "And we have the perfect number!" exclaimed Ron. Harry nodded as he counted 15 people, including himself, around the table. Everyone seemed to eat amazingly fast, obviously looking forward to "dessert".
When everyone had finished eating, they gathered around the cake while Fred and George explained the ingeniousness of their design.
"Fred and I have long despised the rule that one should not play with one's food so we made an exception," explained George, "As you can see there are fourteen players and a referee. We will use our wands to guide the players throughout the pitch, and the players will follow you're guide. Other than that the regular quidditch rules apply. As the referee can not play, he decides the terms and teams.
Neville looked a bit sulky lowering his gaze toward the ground. "I'm not very good at quidditch. I guess I'll be the referee"
Percy, the walking, talking rule book, however, had different plans. "I think I would prefer to be referee. It seems a bit more professional."
Fred and George sniggered. "Leave it to Percy to make a quidditch cake a professional occupation." Harry and the others (except Percy) chortled at this and tried to hide their laughter.
Harry turned to address Percy and Neville. "Nonsense to both of you. As it's MY cake I will be the ref. The teams… the Weasley children versus the rest. The terms… the winning team eats first. Ladies and Gentleman pick your captains and ready your teams."
The two teams excitedly huddled together. The young Weasleys' pick for captain was quite obvious: Charlie. Charlie would play seeker, Ron keeper, Fred and George beaters, and Ginny, Percy, and Bill would play as Chasers. They would play with red figureens.
On the other side, Hermione was made captain for her strategy, logic and ingenuity. Hermione's team would play with the green figureens. Their strategy was obviously to try and take the lead by more than 150 points before the snitch was captured, as poor Neville was assigned the Seeker position. Hermione would be keeper, Hagrid and Sirius beaters, and Remus Lupin would join Mr. And Mrs. Weasley as chasers.
Their strategy failed. Half an hour in to the very intense, though much enjoyed, game, the score was locked at 130. Harry had added announcer to his list of jobs for the game. The teams were evenly matched except for the Seeker position. Fortunately for the green team, Charlie had yet to spot the golden snitch. Charlie had however fooled Neville with a Wronski Feint and Neville's figureen had not been able to pull up in time to avoid smashing into the pitch. But the miniature player did not smash into the ground. Rather he went right through the level of frosting and came up out of the cake covered in frosting about a foot from his entry point,having formed a small tunnel. Naturally, everyone then had to try this for a bit of fun and all 14 players and the referee were fully coated in frosting, the quidditch pitch looking much worse for the wear. Indeed it more closely resembled the maze he had entered last year than the Hogwarts quidditch pitch.
The young Weasleys would have been trouncing their green clad foes were it not for Percy, who seemed incapable of anything involving quidditch. Hagrid had been a bit of a nuisance for the green team in the beginning, not wanting to hit a bludger at anyone. But his kindness was soon replaced by determination as the Weasley twins began their usual mayhem.
The score was tied at 140 when the two seekers spotted the snitch. Neville was closer, but Charlie was faster and had caught up to him as they approached the snitch. It was a neck and neck race as both figureens stretched out their hands for the small golden ball when suddenly a black blur shot by them both and grasped the snitch.
"I WIN!" shouted Harry as the miniature referee did a victory lap around the pitch. He then went into fits of hysterical laughter as he looked at the faces of his friends.
"OH You!" Hermione had started coming after him, but Harry was laughing too hard to try to get away. She kicked him lightly in the shins and then she and the rest of them joined Harry in laughter. The laughter was short lived.
A loud screech brought their hands to their ears and their eyes to the sky to see what could have made such a horrible sound. They looked up to see a black hawk circling just above them. In its talons it held what appeared to be a rolled piece of parchment. He dropped the parcel on Harry, who caught it, but did not take his eyes from the hawk. But the hawk had done what it came to do and on a leaving note snatched the still circling figureen of the referee out of the air and snapped it in two with its powerful claws, dropping the remaining fragments to the ground as it flew off.
When it had disappeared into the distance, the groups attention turned to the parchment Harry held in his hands. Harry opened it slowly, a dull pain mounting in his forehead. As he finished opening it he gasped. At the head of what appeared to be a letter was a horrible green snake protruding from an ugly naked skull. The Dark Mark, calling sign of the Dark Lord Voldemort.
The rest of the group looked questioningly at him as he slowly read through the letter. When he was done, he threw the letter onto the table and fell back into an empty chair, his knees suddenly weakened. The others gathered around the letter to read it. The reactions were mostly similar. Sirius and Hagrid in anger, Mrs. Weasley in tears, Neville fainted, and the rest looking quite subdued.
Beneath the Dark Mark the parchment read:
Potter:
Fourteen years I suffered barely alive in the forests of some far off country when I should have been ruling the world. You will suffer worse. Say goodbye to your loved ones Potter. They won't be around much longer. Fourteen Years, Fourteen deaths to those close to you. Try to protect them if you dare. You will fail. They are mine. You are mine. There is nothing you can do. You're time is up, and so is theirs. Remember fourteen years, fourteen deaths. The first is coming.
Your Life Your Blood Your Lord,
Lord Voldemort
Author's Note: Please remember to review!!
Thanks: Skade-You were my first reviewer! Thank you! You win a prize! You're wish will at least partly come true! Crystal Music-thanks for your offer, but I'd rather not use a beta reader. I'm a bit too inconsistent with my chapter timing for that and I didn't know people cared that much about correct grammar. I'm actually a pretty good editor myself, and if I get too many complaints about grammar I'll go back and check (which I'm not really doing now) Kalingawolf- hope this chapter is "kool" enough for you. SEEKER_2000-thanks, lucky me, the title is also almost always first alphabetically. Sara- I hope you liked this chapter. I promise to get more action in soon! Oceana-Thanks I'm getting them out as fast as I can! Tina Bedina-hope you liked it! More on the way! A GIRL WHO KNOWS-happy to oblige! XELA*Lupe-me too. Dark Warrior- I appreciate it but I doubt I'm as good as some of the ones I've read. Samantha- here it is! Cg-microwaves are good, but television and computers are better. Candy-yes I believe this is going turn out as my version of the fifth book, but I'm not trying to make a guess at JK Rowling, and I'm not changing the title. Meagan-your wish is my command.