C H A P T E R T H R E E
QUIDDITCH "What do you think you're doing? Second day of school and you're going to be late for it!" Nelly Griswald yelled, pulling the blanket off of Marclay. The dark haired Ravenclaw was in her pajamas and had obviously just woken up to get to breakfast on time and her classes.
Marclay glared at her as the sun shone through the high glass window that looked out across the Hogwarts grounds. "What are you talking about? Class doesn't start until ten!"
"It's nine!" Nelly said, going back over to her own four-poster and opened her trunk. "Cho left an hour ago, Bellina and Allieka left twenty minutes ago and tried waking you up." She lectured, pulling out a black robe with her name sewn across the right chest.
"I'm getting up then. Don't worry your butt off of yourself." Marclay grumbled, throwing the covers off of her and jumping onto the cold wood floor. "Messirus Bedritical!" she said waving her wand and the bed made itself in less then a second. She grabbed her robes off of her trunk and quickly dressed herself.
In minutes she was ready to go back downstairs to breakfast. To make sure she would not be late for her first Potions class, she grabbed her book and bag with the needed magical items for the class. She saw Nelly do the same quickly the two walked down to the common's room together.
As soon as she entered the room, Blake magically appeared right in front of her. "Mornin' Nelly, Marclay." he said. He leaned his head over and kissed her lightly on the nose and then took her hand. "I was wondering when you'd come down. I wanted to eat breakfast with you since I didn't get the chance yesterday."
"I'm sorry about that." Marclay said and he laughed.
"It's fine. How's Cho?" he asked, hitting the brick with his wand and letting the two girls walk out of the room before himself.
"After what happened to her yesterday you'd think she would be in with Madam Pomfrey." Marclay said. "She's fine though. Last night she was bouncing off the walls, as usual. The studying got to her again. Have they found Ginny yet? I'm dreadfully worried about the poor girl. She's only a fourth year, isn't she?"
"Yes. Her brothers are all about to have heart attacks, too. Ron wouldn't stop looking for her last night and from what I've heard those two twins keep coming up with ideas about what could have happened to her." Blake said. "Libbie told me Dumbledore's about to throw a clean one."
"I do hope they don't cancel Quidditch." Marclay said, frowning. "We have a meeting today that will probably answer all of our questions."
"I don't think they would. It's not something Madam Hooch or Dumbledore would try. I think they know that it would ruin a lot of the year. Plus, they haven't canceled classes, have they?"
"No, they haven't." Nelly stated. "But I wish they would. As much as I know he's your uncle Marclay, I hate him just the same."
"I hate him sometimes, too." Marclay corrected.
"Yes, well, at least we know he's here to help protect us from You-Know- Who." Blake said. "He used to be a Death-Eater, so he understands how they think. And I doubt he would even think of going back to them."
"No, he wouldn't. Dumbledore is helping protect him here. He wouldn't try to betray him." Marclay said.
"Hello there." the Grey Lady said as she passed by the three of them going up the stairs. She smiled and then disappeared through a wall before they could respond.
"Even the ghosts are helping to look for her." Blake said, shaking his head. "After lunch all prefects are suppose to report to McGonagall's office. She's going to start having us question our houses, make sure no one saw a thing of it happen."
They were now back on the fifth floor, going down the main stairs to the first floor. They all quickly went down the staircases, hurrying for breakfast. As they hit the fourth floor a group of Gryffindor's joined up with them. "Did you hear they think that she was taken into Hogsmeade?"
"Do you suppose anything bad will come of her?"
"She'll probably end up dead."
"She couldn't."
"It's probably some sort of joke she's making to get Potter's attention. Everyone knows she has a thing for him."
Blake rolled his eyes at the younger students making predictions on what had happened. "Go to breakfast and stop your gossiping. We don't need to hear any of it."
"Sorry 'bout that." one of them said, turning their head to look at Blake and Marclay. Seeing that the one of them was Head Boy, they quickly hurried down the steps and turned as they hit the first floor.
Blake, Marclay, and Nelly hurried into the dining hall and sat down at the back of the table. They filled their plates up and started eating, only to be interrupted by Dumbledore minutes later, tapping on a glass.
"If I may have your attention for a moment. We have a few announcements to make."
The room became instantly silent. Everyone now had their attention focused on Dumbledore. "As you know, one of our students have gone missing. We will have posters up so that those of you who don't know who she is will be able to identify her if you see her any time soon."
Marclay looked over at the Gryffindor table and saw Fred and George sitting beside each other, both in a daze. Ron sat across from them staring at the wall behind the twins. She felt sorry for them right at that moment. Never before had the Weasley twins ever been so dreary. This just took their complete image away from them. Blake suddenly nudged her in the side to make her pay attention to Dumbledore.
"As I said, classes will not be canceled." Dumbledore continued. His face was shallow and he had dark circles around his eyes. "We have Ministry workers coming to Hogwarts to help with the search. You must be in your houserooms by eight at night. No wandering and stay in groups of four or more when you go out into the halls. We can assure you, Hogwarts will be safer then it has ever been before."
"How can you say that?" George demanded, standing up and looking directly at Dumbledore. "In all of these books it says Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the Wizarding World! If it is then tell me this Dumbledore, why isn't my sister sitting here at this table like the rest of us? Who bloody took my sister? I want to know the culprit because we all know that you know who did!"
"Mister Weasley, please, settle down!" Professor McGonagall yelled, standing up and putting her fists on the table. "We have everything under control."
"Please, Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore said, putting his hand on her shoulder and forcing her to sit back down. "Mister Weasley, you are correct in knowing that someone broke into Hogwarts and we know who he is. The culprit, or how you so fondly put him was indeed Voldemort."
The entire school gasped, except the Slytherin table that seemed to act as though they knew it was coming at them. "Now, I am sure most of you are eager to get to your classes, so you are excused." Dumbledore said, sitting back down at the table.
Almost as soon as the words exited his mouth, half of the students exited the room. Blake suddenly stood up and went to the teachers table along with all of the other Head's of Houses. As the dining hall started to empty more and more, Marclay looked at the plate of food that was still more then halfway full. "I'm going to class now, I'll meet you there, Nelly."
"I'll go with you. I'd rather not eat. I don't feel so good." Nelly replied, pushing her plate away from her.
The two of them picked up their Potions equipment and walked out of the dining hall. They walked down to the dungeon and walked into the room. Almost as soon as the door closed behind them, it flew open and Professor Snape came bounding in. As usual, he went to the front of the class and looked down at everyone. "As review from last year I would like all of you to go over your medicine potions. If you need any help signal me and I will come. At the end of class I will poison your partner with Gritsfet."
Marclay watched him walk over to his desk and start going over various papers. She looked at Nelly and the two took out their needed ingredients. They started to brew the potion and were done in thirty minutes, the exact time it was suppose to take. Ten minutes later, Professor Snape came walking around. He poisoned Marclay and Nelly gave her the potion.
It worked, just as their potions always did and he excused the two of them. As they made their way back to the common's room, Marclay stopped. "I'd better be early for the Quidditch meeting then late. I'll see you later today."
"All right, and watch your back." Nelly said cautiously. The two departed and Marclay went along the sixth floor corridor to Madam Hooch's office.
She walked inside to see no one there and sat in a seat. She took out her Potions book and started reading through it, knowing that soon the other captains would come pouring in. Being perfectly right, less then ten minutes later the three others were seated in the office awaiting Madam Hooch.
She came walking in, her robes swaying back and forth as she put her broom up against a wall. "Good to see that you're all early for a change." she said. "Now, let's begin. Practice for Quidditch will be held on Mondays for Gryffindor, Tuesdays for Hufflepuff, Thursday Ravenclaw, and Fridays Slytherin." Madam Hooch said to the four captains. She looked over them one by one. Her eyes first landed on George Weasley. How he had managed to convince her to be a captain this year she didn't understand.
He looked disgraceful to her, his blackened mouth, messy hair. The boy was hardly going to make it though the year. Although, she felt a slight dose of pity for him after what had gone on the last day for him and his family. She then looked over at Sarah Leavlie, Hufflepuff's captain. She also had the same blackened mouth. "What happened to the two of you?"
"We ate some gum drops with ink in them." he replied, slouching in his seat. "It was nothing."
She watched him carefully, one of his evil smiles didn't even land on his face. She then looked at the others. "I take it under good notice that the rest of you will be watching yourselves? We are lucky to even be able to play Quidditch. If you don't watch your teams then it might as well be considered over. Dumbledore is a very stubborn man, but he has his soft side. You're lucky on that. Practices will start tomorrow and the first game will be in two weeks. Slytherin versus Gryffindor."
"Why do you even announce it?" George blurted out. "Every year it's always the same. Gryffindor versus Slytherin, same old, same old. Why isn't it ever Hufflepuff against Slytherin? Or Ravenclaw against Gryffindor?"
"It's the rules. Those teams go against each other and that's that." Madam Hooch said, looking at George over her glasses. "If you have anything else to say then say it before I turn you into a mushroom."
A grin jumped upon Sarah Leavily's face. "You wouldn't dare."
"She wouldn't."
"Do you think she would?"
"Never!"
Madam Hooch looked at the other three students looking at each other with their eyes wide.
"No, I wouldn't. You know teachers aren't allowed to cast spells on their students." Madam Hooch said, turning back towards George. "Now, if you have any disagreements I suggest that you start practicing Mr. Weasley-"
"But Mad-eye did last year!" Kellie declared.
Madam Hooch looked at her, a small smirk on her face. "Did he now? You must realize Miss Jasc that Moody is a very talented wizard and he can uncast spells and hexes better then many Wizards of his age." said Madam Hooch. "Now, as I was going to say- You'd better practice Weasley, for if you don't I'm sure you'll end up on the bottom."
"I'm the best Beater you've ever seen!" George said. "And so is Fred. No Bludger can get past us."
"And what makes you think that?" Marclay asked, jumping up out of her seat and glaring at him. She had her hands on her hips, and her elbows back. "I've seen you get hit in the head and off your broom more then once. I've not been hit off in three years."
"Your just experiencing a run of luck." he said, jumping out of his and coming towards her.
As he came within a foot of her, Kellie was out of her seat behind Marclay. "Weasley, you just have your brother to protect you."
"Sit down the whole lot of you." Madam Hooch ordered, walking over to them. Sarah, a Keeper, sat in her seat staring bewildered at the three of them. "NOW!"
George, not being in the least fazed, let the anger boil over. "How dare YOU insult me?" he yelled, looking over at her. "You're just a lousy Slytherin. None of you have any talent, for those who did left four years ago!"
"Shut up, George." Marclay said, her eyebrows scrunching up in frustration. "If anyone's lousy it's you."
"Diggle, you just think you're high and mighty because of your prefect self, don't you?" he asked, turning towards her. "Well you're not. You just have the money and power. You're dad buys you your popularity and success, just like his dad did for hi-"
Slap!
Her face was bright red from anger, almost matching his hair. Tears had started to fall from her eyes as he let the insults pour from his mouth. Kellie had shut him up by her flat palm. The two girls knew each other from Marclay's visits to the Jasc's house, but had never really talked. This kept them on each other's sides, and George the minority of the fight.
"Weasley if I hear another word out of your mouth-"
"SHUT UP THE WHOLE LOT OF YOU!" Madam Hooch yelled above their chatter. They all stopped and looked at her, their eyes wide. "Thank you. Now take your seats, we have a meeting to finish. You should all know not be acting in such a manner, especially with what's been going on."
"Sorry, Madam Hooch." Marclay said.
"Won't happen again." Kellie said, sitting down.
George went right to his seat and sat, staring blankly at Madam Hooch as though someone had hexed him.
"Now, to continue, I will meet you on the field to monitor your first three practices. Then, following that, you will do it on your own, checking in to verify you are practicing." she said, glancing at the four of them. "Now, to wrap up this meeting, I have one last thing to say. We will be playing a game in March against Durmstrung. They proposed this last year during the Tournament. Though the game will be at high risk, we will have extra precautions. In January we will be holding practices and games to determine which players will be playing. Any questions?" she asked. Seeing no response, she smiled. "You're dismissed. Go immediately to your classes, only stopping in your dormitories to pick up items needed. Good-bye."
She gathered her things, nodding at them. She then walked out of the classroom, out of their site. Marclay looked over at George as she picked up her Transfiguration scroll and quill. Her eyes were still red, stating she had cried prior to that moment, yet everything else seemed perfectly fine with her.
A huff came from her throat as she stuck her head up in the air. "Street rat." she mumbled, just loud enough so he heard the words clearly. Then before he could say anything about it, she left the room.
Kellie had already left, but Sarah was just leaving for her class. The two walked out together, but then parted as they reached the staircase. Sarah went down and Marclay went up. She got halfway up the staircase before tears started to fall down her cheeks again. She collapsed onto one of the steps and covered her eyes with her hands so no one could see her tears.
Suddenly the stairs started to move to the right. She grabbed onto the stone rail and looked down. Never, not once, in her years at Hogwarts had the stairs moved when she had been on them and this frightened her. She had watched students on them while they rotated, but this was a completely different experience for her to handle. The stone beneath her was rumbling. The wall seemed to be moving up, and finally it all stopped. It was now leading up to a door that lead to the seventh floor still. She quickly hopped to her feet, eager to get off of them before they started moving again. She held the rail tightly as she took her first step onto stable ground.
"Marclay!" she stopped and turned to see George behind her, running up the stairs. As he became closer to her, she realized that the white of his eyes was red from lack of sleep, and most likely tears.
"What is it? I don't want to talk to you." she said, looking away from him.
"I-er, um- I wanted to say sorry. None of it was true. You're a good Beater, I just got carried away."
"Yes, well, some things are inexcusable. I have to go." she turned on her heel, not wanting to see his sullen face.
"I really am sorry." he said, turning and going back down the stairs. She turned on the tip of her toe and looked at him.
"That!" she called, catching his attention. He turned and looked at her, hoping she was about to forgive him. "That, I highly doubt."
She walked away, hurrying down the hall. He did the same, both going back to their houses. When she arrived she mumbled the password to the Knight and stomped through the common's room and up the stairs to her room. When she entered, she saw no one inside, she so closed the door and went to her four-poster. There she laid her head down on her pillow, letting the tears fall from her eyes.
"Marclay!" Cho called, coming into the room. She walked over to the four- poster bed and sat down next to her. "What happened?"
Marclay turned over and looked at Cho. "It's just," she said. Not wanting Cho to know the real reason she was crying, she quickly came up with a lie. "I'm just so upset with what's been going on. It scares me that You-Know- Who broke in here. It makes you wonder if we are really safe."
"It's okay, we all feel the same way. Now, come down to the common room. We need to learn about what will be happening with Quidditch this year." Cho said, pulling Marclay's hand to force her out of the bed. Marclay got to her feet and followed Cho down to the common room, wiping her tears away. She sat down in one of the chairs as all of the teams Quidditch players gathered around her.
"Tell us, we need to know what to expect!" Lisa exclaimed, sitting down in a nearby chair. Marclay forced a smile on her face and looked at the six team members around her.
"The good news is Quidditch isn't canceled. The bad news is we still only have three weeks to practice. In the spring Durmstrung will be coming here to play a game against and there will be try-outs in January to determine who will be on the team." she said, now a broad smile on her face. "Our first game will be played against Hufflepuff again."
"That was expected." Stewart Ackerly said, standing up. "I've got to go to the library, Binns gave us a bunch of homework."
As he said this Lisa, Padma, and Terry Boot jumped from their seats.
"We've all got to study." Lisa said. "We'll see you at dinner."
"Bye." Marclay said, watching them exit the common room.
"I've got to go check up on a few things." Carrie said, excusing herself up to her dorm room.
Marclay started talking to Cho about what they would be doing for their upcoming practice. The two of them laughed about how they were going to beat Hufflepuff to the ground again. They then played a game of Wizard's Chess before readying themselves for their Care of Magical Creatures class with Hagrid.
As Kellie headed back to the Slytherin common room after the Quidditch meeting, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit bad about slapping George like that. But, then again, he DID make fun of Marclay, so in a way, he deserved it! Sure, he was a Gryffindor but slapping someone- Kellie never thought she'd ever do it.
Kellie entered the dormitory and was immediately surrounded by her fellow Slytherins, all asking about what happened at the meeting and when their practices were. Kellie walked over to the center of the room and the Slytherins gathered around her, waiting for her to explain.
"Ok, I know you're all excited about the upcoming Quidditch season and I have some important news for you. First, our practice day is Friday and we only have 3 weeks to start practicing before we play our first match which is, of course, against Gryffindor."
"Why do we always play Gryffindor?" Pansy, a Chaser, asked.
"I don't know, but we'll beat them this year!" Kellie said as the Slytherins cheered.
After the noise died down, Kellie continued explaining, "Now, in March there will be a small tournament against students from Drumstrang. In January there will be tryout to see who is on the team. We need to practice no matter what the weather is like. We are going to be the best team that Hogwarts has seen in ages!"
Once again, the Slytherins cheered in delight. Kellie had gotten them pumped up and ready to practice.
"Alright, now let's go to our classes!" Kellie said as she and Bree grabbed their books they needed and left the common room. The two chatted as they walked along the corridor, going to Divination with Professor Trelawney.
"I'm so relieved that Quidditch wasn't cancelled this year!" Bree said with excitement. "I just know we'll win the Quidditch Cup! We've got to!"
Kellie nodded and replied, "Yup! We've just got to make sure that we practice and prepare. If it weren't for that Potter and his crummy Firebolt, we would beat Gryffindor every time we played them!"
"CRUMMY! Kellie, the Firebolt is top of the line model! How do you expect to get any better than that?" Bree exclaimed as she pulled down the stairs that led up to Professor Trelawney's room.
Kellie smiled and replied, "Just wait 'til Christmas, Bree. You'll see."
Bree gave her a curious look but decided to drop it, knowing that Kellie would tell her when she was ready. The two friends sat down on a few cushiony chairs next to each other and continued with their chatter until Professor Trelawney entered the room.
"Good afternoon class! Today we will be studying tea leaves. I will be giving each of you a cup of tea and you will look into it and tell me what you see. This is a bit of a touch up of last years work but I think it is a good way to start the year!"
Kellie rolled her eyes. Everyone knew that Professor Trelawney was crazy. She was always predicting deaths and other such nonsense- most of which didn't even come true.
She gave Kellie and Bree a cup and filled it with tea. Kellie looked into the cup, only seeing dark liquid swirling about and sniggered.
'This whole class is a waste of time,' she thought.
"Oooh! Professor! What does this mean?" another Slytherin named Blaise asked.
Professor Trelawney came over to her and looked in. "You, my dear, will have bad luck in the upcoming weeks. Oh and next class, please try not to be late for it seems you will have a mishap in the halls."
Blaise's eyes widened and Kellie and Bree laughed.
The class flew by and before they knew it, it was time for the Slytherins to go to Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid out on the Hogwarts grounds. They had all gathered out on the grass with the Gryffindors (Ron looking unusually glum) and Hagrid was about to explain what they were going to do for the day when all of the sudden they heard this load BANG! which caused the whole class to jump about a foot in the air. Kellie's eyes immediately went to the air and she let out a small scream. Placing her hand over her mouth and using her free one, she pointed towards the sky. The rest of the class looked up, wondering what was going on and they all gasped at what they saw hovering above the Forbidden Forest.
The Dark Mark had appeared once more.
"E-Everyone inside! Quickly now! Follow me!" Hagrid yelled as the class followed him into the Great Hall, having to run to keep up with the giants long strides.
The students entered the Great Hall where they met Dumbledore, the other teachers, and the whole school seated at their House tables obviously waiting for a meeting of some sort. Kellie and her fellow Slytherins went to sit at their table as the Gryffindors went to theirs. All eyes were on Dumbledore who seemed to look deeply worried and afraid.
"Never, in all my years, has the Dark Mark ever shown up this close to Hogwarts. I know that this is a troubled time for everyone but I must ask that you remain calm. We will be keeping you here tonight inside the Great Hall until we search the school and make sure it is safe to return to your dormitories," Dumbledore explained.
"You don't think You-Know-Who's here do you?" a Hufflepuff girl asked.
"At this point I cannot say yes or no. It is likely that he could very well be in the school halls, roaming about, but that chance is slim. Just stay calm and perhaps we should have a nice, warm meal."
Plates and goblets had suddenly appeared in front of everyone and food covered the tables.
Kellie merely stared down at her plate, face full of worry and head full of thoughts. Bree tried to eat a little, but stopped because she complained she felt too sick to eat.
As soon as everyone was done eating, the students all got up from their seats as Dumbledore swished his wand and the tables disappeared. With another swish of his wand, hundreds of large, fluffy sleeping bags appeared all over the room. Kellie, Bree, and Draco chose three that were all in a row next to each other. Kellie sat down and brought her knees to her chest. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment.
She looked around the room, observing how everyone was dealing with this horrible news. She saw Dumbledore talk to Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Flitwick, each other their faces looking stern and worried. Mr. Filch was walking around with his cat, Mrs. Norris, observing everyone and making sure everyone was here. Fred, George, and Ron Weasley were seated together, trying to hold a conversation going. Kellie decide to get up and apologize to George for hitting him earlier that day.
She walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"What do you want, Jasc?" he greeted.
"I need to talk to you. In private, please," Kellie said, leading George away from the small group.
"What is it?" George asked.
"It's about what happened at the Quidditch meeting. I just wanted to say sorry. I've never hit anyone, because it's just not my nature to. I know you're probably thinking, 'Oh she's a Slytherin. She's just like the others. Cruel and cold-hearted.' but it's not true. I really am sorry about that and, well, even though I'm a Slytherin, I want to be friends, George."
George stared at her for a few moments, probably trying to figure out if this was a joke.
Finally, he replied, "Do you mean it?"
"Every word," Kellie said.
"All is forgiven. Just, please, don't do it again. You have a hard hit, Kellie. No wonder you're a Beater."
Kellie smiled and blushed a little then replied, "Thanks. And I won't do it again."
She turned and started to walk away but stopped to tell him one more thing. "By the way, George, that ink on your mouth doesn't do a thing for you!"
With this said, she turned and walked back to her sleeping bag and sat down next to Draco and Bree again.
"I bet they will cancel Quidditch now!" Bree said with a frown.
"I know. It's not fair! We had practices coming up and everything!" Kellie said.
"Well, maybe they won't cancel it. There's always a chance," Draco added.
"You're right. What use is it sitting here worrying when we don't even know if its going to happen or not?" Kellie said with a small smile.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait it out and see what happens," Bree said.
Kellie nodded and lay back in her sleeping bag. She heard Dumbledore's voice ring out through the hall, "Lights out in 10 minutes!" She climbed inside her sleeping bag and lay on her stomach, watching everyone scramble to a spot. Her eyes fell once again on Harry, who was watching her, too. She gave him a smile hoping to get one in return, but all he did was look at her then turn away to talk to Hermione.
Kellie frowned then rolled over to face Draco. The lights went off and everything was dark with the exception of a few candles floating around by the ceiling.
"Draco?" Kellie whispered.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Do you reckon we're safe?" she asked him.
"I wish I knew, but I don't. Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll be ok."
Kellie sighed and rolled over onto her back. She stared at the ceiling for a while before falling asleep thinking about Voldemort and how safe they really were at Hogwarts.
QUIDDITCH "What do you think you're doing? Second day of school and you're going to be late for it!" Nelly Griswald yelled, pulling the blanket off of Marclay. The dark haired Ravenclaw was in her pajamas and had obviously just woken up to get to breakfast on time and her classes.
Marclay glared at her as the sun shone through the high glass window that looked out across the Hogwarts grounds. "What are you talking about? Class doesn't start until ten!"
"It's nine!" Nelly said, going back over to her own four-poster and opened her trunk. "Cho left an hour ago, Bellina and Allieka left twenty minutes ago and tried waking you up." She lectured, pulling out a black robe with her name sewn across the right chest.
"I'm getting up then. Don't worry your butt off of yourself." Marclay grumbled, throwing the covers off of her and jumping onto the cold wood floor. "Messirus Bedritical!" she said waving her wand and the bed made itself in less then a second. She grabbed her robes off of her trunk and quickly dressed herself.
In minutes she was ready to go back downstairs to breakfast. To make sure she would not be late for her first Potions class, she grabbed her book and bag with the needed magical items for the class. She saw Nelly do the same quickly the two walked down to the common's room together.
As soon as she entered the room, Blake magically appeared right in front of her. "Mornin' Nelly, Marclay." he said. He leaned his head over and kissed her lightly on the nose and then took her hand. "I was wondering when you'd come down. I wanted to eat breakfast with you since I didn't get the chance yesterday."
"I'm sorry about that." Marclay said and he laughed.
"It's fine. How's Cho?" he asked, hitting the brick with his wand and letting the two girls walk out of the room before himself.
"After what happened to her yesterday you'd think she would be in with Madam Pomfrey." Marclay said. "She's fine though. Last night she was bouncing off the walls, as usual. The studying got to her again. Have they found Ginny yet? I'm dreadfully worried about the poor girl. She's only a fourth year, isn't she?"
"Yes. Her brothers are all about to have heart attacks, too. Ron wouldn't stop looking for her last night and from what I've heard those two twins keep coming up with ideas about what could have happened to her." Blake said. "Libbie told me Dumbledore's about to throw a clean one."
"I do hope they don't cancel Quidditch." Marclay said, frowning. "We have a meeting today that will probably answer all of our questions."
"I don't think they would. It's not something Madam Hooch or Dumbledore would try. I think they know that it would ruin a lot of the year. Plus, they haven't canceled classes, have they?"
"No, they haven't." Nelly stated. "But I wish they would. As much as I know he's your uncle Marclay, I hate him just the same."
"I hate him sometimes, too." Marclay corrected.
"Yes, well, at least we know he's here to help protect us from You-Know- Who." Blake said. "He used to be a Death-Eater, so he understands how they think. And I doubt he would even think of going back to them."
"No, he wouldn't. Dumbledore is helping protect him here. He wouldn't try to betray him." Marclay said.
"Hello there." the Grey Lady said as she passed by the three of them going up the stairs. She smiled and then disappeared through a wall before they could respond.
"Even the ghosts are helping to look for her." Blake said, shaking his head. "After lunch all prefects are suppose to report to McGonagall's office. She's going to start having us question our houses, make sure no one saw a thing of it happen."
They were now back on the fifth floor, going down the main stairs to the first floor. They all quickly went down the staircases, hurrying for breakfast. As they hit the fourth floor a group of Gryffindor's joined up with them. "Did you hear they think that she was taken into Hogsmeade?"
"Do you suppose anything bad will come of her?"
"She'll probably end up dead."
"She couldn't."
"It's probably some sort of joke she's making to get Potter's attention. Everyone knows she has a thing for him."
Blake rolled his eyes at the younger students making predictions on what had happened. "Go to breakfast and stop your gossiping. We don't need to hear any of it."
"Sorry 'bout that." one of them said, turning their head to look at Blake and Marclay. Seeing that the one of them was Head Boy, they quickly hurried down the steps and turned as they hit the first floor.
Blake, Marclay, and Nelly hurried into the dining hall and sat down at the back of the table. They filled their plates up and started eating, only to be interrupted by Dumbledore minutes later, tapping on a glass.
"If I may have your attention for a moment. We have a few announcements to make."
The room became instantly silent. Everyone now had their attention focused on Dumbledore. "As you know, one of our students have gone missing. We will have posters up so that those of you who don't know who she is will be able to identify her if you see her any time soon."
Marclay looked over at the Gryffindor table and saw Fred and George sitting beside each other, both in a daze. Ron sat across from them staring at the wall behind the twins. She felt sorry for them right at that moment. Never before had the Weasley twins ever been so dreary. This just took their complete image away from them. Blake suddenly nudged her in the side to make her pay attention to Dumbledore.
"As I said, classes will not be canceled." Dumbledore continued. His face was shallow and he had dark circles around his eyes. "We have Ministry workers coming to Hogwarts to help with the search. You must be in your houserooms by eight at night. No wandering and stay in groups of four or more when you go out into the halls. We can assure you, Hogwarts will be safer then it has ever been before."
"How can you say that?" George demanded, standing up and looking directly at Dumbledore. "In all of these books it says Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the Wizarding World! If it is then tell me this Dumbledore, why isn't my sister sitting here at this table like the rest of us? Who bloody took my sister? I want to know the culprit because we all know that you know who did!"
"Mister Weasley, please, settle down!" Professor McGonagall yelled, standing up and putting her fists on the table. "We have everything under control."
"Please, Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore said, putting his hand on her shoulder and forcing her to sit back down. "Mister Weasley, you are correct in knowing that someone broke into Hogwarts and we know who he is. The culprit, or how you so fondly put him was indeed Voldemort."
The entire school gasped, except the Slytherin table that seemed to act as though they knew it was coming at them. "Now, I am sure most of you are eager to get to your classes, so you are excused." Dumbledore said, sitting back down at the table.
Almost as soon as the words exited his mouth, half of the students exited the room. Blake suddenly stood up and went to the teachers table along with all of the other Head's of Houses. As the dining hall started to empty more and more, Marclay looked at the plate of food that was still more then halfway full. "I'm going to class now, I'll meet you there, Nelly."
"I'll go with you. I'd rather not eat. I don't feel so good." Nelly replied, pushing her plate away from her.
The two of them picked up their Potions equipment and walked out of the dining hall. They walked down to the dungeon and walked into the room. Almost as soon as the door closed behind them, it flew open and Professor Snape came bounding in. As usual, he went to the front of the class and looked down at everyone. "As review from last year I would like all of you to go over your medicine potions. If you need any help signal me and I will come. At the end of class I will poison your partner with Gritsfet."
Marclay watched him walk over to his desk and start going over various papers. She looked at Nelly and the two took out their needed ingredients. They started to brew the potion and were done in thirty minutes, the exact time it was suppose to take. Ten minutes later, Professor Snape came walking around. He poisoned Marclay and Nelly gave her the potion.
It worked, just as their potions always did and he excused the two of them. As they made their way back to the common's room, Marclay stopped. "I'd better be early for the Quidditch meeting then late. I'll see you later today."
"All right, and watch your back." Nelly said cautiously. The two departed and Marclay went along the sixth floor corridor to Madam Hooch's office.
She walked inside to see no one there and sat in a seat. She took out her Potions book and started reading through it, knowing that soon the other captains would come pouring in. Being perfectly right, less then ten minutes later the three others were seated in the office awaiting Madam Hooch.
She came walking in, her robes swaying back and forth as she put her broom up against a wall. "Good to see that you're all early for a change." she said. "Now, let's begin. Practice for Quidditch will be held on Mondays for Gryffindor, Tuesdays for Hufflepuff, Thursday Ravenclaw, and Fridays Slytherin." Madam Hooch said to the four captains. She looked over them one by one. Her eyes first landed on George Weasley. How he had managed to convince her to be a captain this year she didn't understand.
He looked disgraceful to her, his blackened mouth, messy hair. The boy was hardly going to make it though the year. Although, she felt a slight dose of pity for him after what had gone on the last day for him and his family. She then looked over at Sarah Leavlie, Hufflepuff's captain. She also had the same blackened mouth. "What happened to the two of you?"
"We ate some gum drops with ink in them." he replied, slouching in his seat. "It was nothing."
She watched him carefully, one of his evil smiles didn't even land on his face. She then looked at the others. "I take it under good notice that the rest of you will be watching yourselves? We are lucky to even be able to play Quidditch. If you don't watch your teams then it might as well be considered over. Dumbledore is a very stubborn man, but he has his soft side. You're lucky on that. Practices will start tomorrow and the first game will be in two weeks. Slytherin versus Gryffindor."
"Why do you even announce it?" George blurted out. "Every year it's always the same. Gryffindor versus Slytherin, same old, same old. Why isn't it ever Hufflepuff against Slytherin? Or Ravenclaw against Gryffindor?"
"It's the rules. Those teams go against each other and that's that." Madam Hooch said, looking at George over her glasses. "If you have anything else to say then say it before I turn you into a mushroom."
A grin jumped upon Sarah Leavily's face. "You wouldn't dare."
"She wouldn't."
"Do you think she would?"
"Never!"
Madam Hooch looked at the other three students looking at each other with their eyes wide.
"No, I wouldn't. You know teachers aren't allowed to cast spells on their students." Madam Hooch said, turning back towards George. "Now, if you have any disagreements I suggest that you start practicing Mr. Weasley-"
"But Mad-eye did last year!" Kellie declared.
Madam Hooch looked at her, a small smirk on her face. "Did he now? You must realize Miss Jasc that Moody is a very talented wizard and he can uncast spells and hexes better then many Wizards of his age." said Madam Hooch. "Now, as I was going to say- You'd better practice Weasley, for if you don't I'm sure you'll end up on the bottom."
"I'm the best Beater you've ever seen!" George said. "And so is Fred. No Bludger can get past us."
"And what makes you think that?" Marclay asked, jumping up out of her seat and glaring at him. She had her hands on her hips, and her elbows back. "I've seen you get hit in the head and off your broom more then once. I've not been hit off in three years."
"Your just experiencing a run of luck." he said, jumping out of his and coming towards her.
As he came within a foot of her, Kellie was out of her seat behind Marclay. "Weasley, you just have your brother to protect you."
"Sit down the whole lot of you." Madam Hooch ordered, walking over to them. Sarah, a Keeper, sat in her seat staring bewildered at the three of them. "NOW!"
George, not being in the least fazed, let the anger boil over. "How dare YOU insult me?" he yelled, looking over at her. "You're just a lousy Slytherin. None of you have any talent, for those who did left four years ago!"
"Shut up, George." Marclay said, her eyebrows scrunching up in frustration. "If anyone's lousy it's you."
"Diggle, you just think you're high and mighty because of your prefect self, don't you?" he asked, turning towards her. "Well you're not. You just have the money and power. You're dad buys you your popularity and success, just like his dad did for hi-"
Slap!
Her face was bright red from anger, almost matching his hair. Tears had started to fall from her eyes as he let the insults pour from his mouth. Kellie had shut him up by her flat palm. The two girls knew each other from Marclay's visits to the Jasc's house, but had never really talked. This kept them on each other's sides, and George the minority of the fight.
"Weasley if I hear another word out of your mouth-"
"SHUT UP THE WHOLE LOT OF YOU!" Madam Hooch yelled above their chatter. They all stopped and looked at her, their eyes wide. "Thank you. Now take your seats, we have a meeting to finish. You should all know not be acting in such a manner, especially with what's been going on."
"Sorry, Madam Hooch." Marclay said.
"Won't happen again." Kellie said, sitting down.
George went right to his seat and sat, staring blankly at Madam Hooch as though someone had hexed him.
"Now, to continue, I will meet you on the field to monitor your first three practices. Then, following that, you will do it on your own, checking in to verify you are practicing." she said, glancing at the four of them. "Now, to wrap up this meeting, I have one last thing to say. We will be playing a game in March against Durmstrung. They proposed this last year during the Tournament. Though the game will be at high risk, we will have extra precautions. In January we will be holding practices and games to determine which players will be playing. Any questions?" she asked. Seeing no response, she smiled. "You're dismissed. Go immediately to your classes, only stopping in your dormitories to pick up items needed. Good-bye."
She gathered her things, nodding at them. She then walked out of the classroom, out of their site. Marclay looked over at George as she picked up her Transfiguration scroll and quill. Her eyes were still red, stating she had cried prior to that moment, yet everything else seemed perfectly fine with her.
A huff came from her throat as she stuck her head up in the air. "Street rat." she mumbled, just loud enough so he heard the words clearly. Then before he could say anything about it, she left the room.
Kellie had already left, but Sarah was just leaving for her class. The two walked out together, but then parted as they reached the staircase. Sarah went down and Marclay went up. She got halfway up the staircase before tears started to fall down her cheeks again. She collapsed onto one of the steps and covered her eyes with her hands so no one could see her tears.
Suddenly the stairs started to move to the right. She grabbed onto the stone rail and looked down. Never, not once, in her years at Hogwarts had the stairs moved when she had been on them and this frightened her. She had watched students on them while they rotated, but this was a completely different experience for her to handle. The stone beneath her was rumbling. The wall seemed to be moving up, and finally it all stopped. It was now leading up to a door that lead to the seventh floor still. She quickly hopped to her feet, eager to get off of them before they started moving again. She held the rail tightly as she took her first step onto stable ground.
"Marclay!" she stopped and turned to see George behind her, running up the stairs. As he became closer to her, she realized that the white of his eyes was red from lack of sleep, and most likely tears.
"What is it? I don't want to talk to you." she said, looking away from him.
"I-er, um- I wanted to say sorry. None of it was true. You're a good Beater, I just got carried away."
"Yes, well, some things are inexcusable. I have to go." she turned on her heel, not wanting to see his sullen face.
"I really am sorry." he said, turning and going back down the stairs. She turned on the tip of her toe and looked at him.
"That!" she called, catching his attention. He turned and looked at her, hoping she was about to forgive him. "That, I highly doubt."
She walked away, hurrying down the hall. He did the same, both going back to their houses. When she arrived she mumbled the password to the Knight and stomped through the common's room and up the stairs to her room. When she entered, she saw no one inside, she so closed the door and went to her four-poster. There she laid her head down on her pillow, letting the tears fall from her eyes.
"Marclay!" Cho called, coming into the room. She walked over to the four- poster bed and sat down next to her. "What happened?"
Marclay turned over and looked at Cho. "It's just," she said. Not wanting Cho to know the real reason she was crying, she quickly came up with a lie. "I'm just so upset with what's been going on. It scares me that You-Know- Who broke in here. It makes you wonder if we are really safe."
"It's okay, we all feel the same way. Now, come down to the common room. We need to learn about what will be happening with Quidditch this year." Cho said, pulling Marclay's hand to force her out of the bed. Marclay got to her feet and followed Cho down to the common room, wiping her tears away. She sat down in one of the chairs as all of the teams Quidditch players gathered around her.
"Tell us, we need to know what to expect!" Lisa exclaimed, sitting down in a nearby chair. Marclay forced a smile on her face and looked at the six team members around her.
"The good news is Quidditch isn't canceled. The bad news is we still only have three weeks to practice. In the spring Durmstrung will be coming here to play a game against and there will be try-outs in January to determine who will be on the team." she said, now a broad smile on her face. "Our first game will be played against Hufflepuff again."
"That was expected." Stewart Ackerly said, standing up. "I've got to go to the library, Binns gave us a bunch of homework."
As he said this Lisa, Padma, and Terry Boot jumped from their seats.
"We've all got to study." Lisa said. "We'll see you at dinner."
"Bye." Marclay said, watching them exit the common room.
"I've got to go check up on a few things." Carrie said, excusing herself up to her dorm room.
Marclay started talking to Cho about what they would be doing for their upcoming practice. The two of them laughed about how they were going to beat Hufflepuff to the ground again. They then played a game of Wizard's Chess before readying themselves for their Care of Magical Creatures class with Hagrid.
As Kellie headed back to the Slytherin common room after the Quidditch meeting, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit bad about slapping George like that. But, then again, he DID make fun of Marclay, so in a way, he deserved it! Sure, he was a Gryffindor but slapping someone- Kellie never thought she'd ever do it.
Kellie entered the dormitory and was immediately surrounded by her fellow Slytherins, all asking about what happened at the meeting and when their practices were. Kellie walked over to the center of the room and the Slytherins gathered around her, waiting for her to explain.
"Ok, I know you're all excited about the upcoming Quidditch season and I have some important news for you. First, our practice day is Friday and we only have 3 weeks to start practicing before we play our first match which is, of course, against Gryffindor."
"Why do we always play Gryffindor?" Pansy, a Chaser, asked.
"I don't know, but we'll beat them this year!" Kellie said as the Slytherins cheered.
After the noise died down, Kellie continued explaining, "Now, in March there will be a small tournament against students from Drumstrang. In January there will be tryout to see who is on the team. We need to practice no matter what the weather is like. We are going to be the best team that Hogwarts has seen in ages!"
Once again, the Slytherins cheered in delight. Kellie had gotten them pumped up and ready to practice.
"Alright, now let's go to our classes!" Kellie said as she and Bree grabbed their books they needed and left the common room. The two chatted as they walked along the corridor, going to Divination with Professor Trelawney.
"I'm so relieved that Quidditch wasn't cancelled this year!" Bree said with excitement. "I just know we'll win the Quidditch Cup! We've got to!"
Kellie nodded and replied, "Yup! We've just got to make sure that we practice and prepare. If it weren't for that Potter and his crummy Firebolt, we would beat Gryffindor every time we played them!"
"CRUMMY! Kellie, the Firebolt is top of the line model! How do you expect to get any better than that?" Bree exclaimed as she pulled down the stairs that led up to Professor Trelawney's room.
Kellie smiled and replied, "Just wait 'til Christmas, Bree. You'll see."
Bree gave her a curious look but decided to drop it, knowing that Kellie would tell her when she was ready. The two friends sat down on a few cushiony chairs next to each other and continued with their chatter until Professor Trelawney entered the room.
"Good afternoon class! Today we will be studying tea leaves. I will be giving each of you a cup of tea and you will look into it and tell me what you see. This is a bit of a touch up of last years work but I think it is a good way to start the year!"
Kellie rolled her eyes. Everyone knew that Professor Trelawney was crazy. She was always predicting deaths and other such nonsense- most of which didn't even come true.
She gave Kellie and Bree a cup and filled it with tea. Kellie looked into the cup, only seeing dark liquid swirling about and sniggered.
'This whole class is a waste of time,' she thought.
"Oooh! Professor! What does this mean?" another Slytherin named Blaise asked.
Professor Trelawney came over to her and looked in. "You, my dear, will have bad luck in the upcoming weeks. Oh and next class, please try not to be late for it seems you will have a mishap in the halls."
Blaise's eyes widened and Kellie and Bree laughed.
The class flew by and before they knew it, it was time for the Slytherins to go to Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid out on the Hogwarts grounds. They had all gathered out on the grass with the Gryffindors (Ron looking unusually glum) and Hagrid was about to explain what they were going to do for the day when all of the sudden they heard this load BANG! which caused the whole class to jump about a foot in the air. Kellie's eyes immediately went to the air and she let out a small scream. Placing her hand over her mouth and using her free one, she pointed towards the sky. The rest of the class looked up, wondering what was going on and they all gasped at what they saw hovering above the Forbidden Forest.
The Dark Mark had appeared once more.
"E-Everyone inside! Quickly now! Follow me!" Hagrid yelled as the class followed him into the Great Hall, having to run to keep up with the giants long strides.
The students entered the Great Hall where they met Dumbledore, the other teachers, and the whole school seated at their House tables obviously waiting for a meeting of some sort. Kellie and her fellow Slytherins went to sit at their table as the Gryffindors went to theirs. All eyes were on Dumbledore who seemed to look deeply worried and afraid.
"Never, in all my years, has the Dark Mark ever shown up this close to Hogwarts. I know that this is a troubled time for everyone but I must ask that you remain calm. We will be keeping you here tonight inside the Great Hall until we search the school and make sure it is safe to return to your dormitories," Dumbledore explained.
"You don't think You-Know-Who's here do you?" a Hufflepuff girl asked.
"At this point I cannot say yes or no. It is likely that he could very well be in the school halls, roaming about, but that chance is slim. Just stay calm and perhaps we should have a nice, warm meal."
Plates and goblets had suddenly appeared in front of everyone and food covered the tables.
Kellie merely stared down at her plate, face full of worry and head full of thoughts. Bree tried to eat a little, but stopped because she complained she felt too sick to eat.
As soon as everyone was done eating, the students all got up from their seats as Dumbledore swished his wand and the tables disappeared. With another swish of his wand, hundreds of large, fluffy sleeping bags appeared all over the room. Kellie, Bree, and Draco chose three that were all in a row next to each other. Kellie sat down and brought her knees to her chest. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment.
She looked around the room, observing how everyone was dealing with this horrible news. She saw Dumbledore talk to Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Flitwick, each other their faces looking stern and worried. Mr. Filch was walking around with his cat, Mrs. Norris, observing everyone and making sure everyone was here. Fred, George, and Ron Weasley were seated together, trying to hold a conversation going. Kellie decide to get up and apologize to George for hitting him earlier that day.
She walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"What do you want, Jasc?" he greeted.
"I need to talk to you. In private, please," Kellie said, leading George away from the small group.
"What is it?" George asked.
"It's about what happened at the Quidditch meeting. I just wanted to say sorry. I've never hit anyone, because it's just not my nature to. I know you're probably thinking, 'Oh she's a Slytherin. She's just like the others. Cruel and cold-hearted.' but it's not true. I really am sorry about that and, well, even though I'm a Slytherin, I want to be friends, George."
George stared at her for a few moments, probably trying to figure out if this was a joke.
Finally, he replied, "Do you mean it?"
"Every word," Kellie said.
"All is forgiven. Just, please, don't do it again. You have a hard hit, Kellie. No wonder you're a Beater."
Kellie smiled and blushed a little then replied, "Thanks. And I won't do it again."
She turned and started to walk away but stopped to tell him one more thing. "By the way, George, that ink on your mouth doesn't do a thing for you!"
With this said, she turned and walked back to her sleeping bag and sat down next to Draco and Bree again.
"I bet they will cancel Quidditch now!" Bree said with a frown.
"I know. It's not fair! We had practices coming up and everything!" Kellie said.
"Well, maybe they won't cancel it. There's always a chance," Draco added.
"You're right. What use is it sitting here worrying when we don't even know if its going to happen or not?" Kellie said with a small smile.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait it out and see what happens," Bree said.
Kellie nodded and lay back in her sleeping bag. She heard Dumbledore's voice ring out through the hall, "Lights out in 10 minutes!" She climbed inside her sleeping bag and lay on her stomach, watching everyone scramble to a spot. Her eyes fell once again on Harry, who was watching her, too. She gave him a smile hoping to get one in return, but all he did was look at her then turn away to talk to Hermione.
Kellie frowned then rolled over to face Draco. The lights went off and everything was dark with the exception of a few candles floating around by the ceiling.
"Draco?" Kellie whispered.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Do you reckon we're safe?" she asked him.
"I wish I knew, but I don't. Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll be ok."
Kellie sighed and rolled over onto her back. She stared at the ceiling for a while before falling asleep thinking about Voldemort and how safe they really were at Hogwarts.