Prologue
The pale light of dawn had barely reached Hogwarts castle that already someone was up and about in Gryffindor tower. That someone seemed, if not excited, at least in a state of frantic nervousness, and after walking out of his dormitory, circled around the Common Room two or three times before he remembered exactly what he had set off to do. He ran back up the way he had come, up the stairs to the boys' dormitory and opened the fourth years' door cautiously.
He peered inside and seemed to hesitate for a moment, but finally stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He was no sooner inside that he found himself flat on the ground, having tripped on what was undoubtedly an invisible rope tied in between the two beds nearest to the door, and attacked by half a dozen pairs of bewitched pyjamas that jumped on him all at once and started wrestling him towards the door.
After a few minutes of a surprisingly violent struggle coming from a few pairs of old pyjamas, struggle which didn't seem to have bothered the sleeping inhabitants of the room in the least, their victim managed to blast his assailants across the room with his wand long enough to get up and scamper towards the door. Panting, he reached the doorknob and was about to turn it when a sign with brightly coloured letters hanging on the door caught his attention:
"Not until seven o'clock, Oliver - a Quidditch player needs proper rest."
Wood let out a frustrated cry and slammed the door behind him - not one second too early: the pyjamas were up again and pounding furiously on the door from the inside. Wood stayed in front of the door a few minutes, as much to keep the pyjamas from further pursuing him as to catch his breath. When everything was calm once again inside the room, Wood let go of the doorknob and turned around to throw one last disgusted look at his two beaters' room, when another sign appeared on the door that made his cheeks go red with fury and embarrassment:
"We warned you! (and not for the first time)"
The pale light of dawn had barely reached Hogwarts castle that already someone was up and about in Gryffindor tower. That someone seemed, if not excited, at least in a state of frantic nervousness, and after walking out of his dormitory, circled around the Common Room two or three times before he remembered exactly what he had set off to do. He ran back up the way he had come, up the stairs to the boys' dormitory and opened the fourth years' door cautiously.
He peered inside and seemed to hesitate for a moment, but finally stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He was no sooner inside that he found himself flat on the ground, having tripped on what was undoubtedly an invisible rope tied in between the two beds nearest to the door, and attacked by half a dozen pairs of bewitched pyjamas that jumped on him all at once and started wrestling him towards the door.
After a few minutes of a surprisingly violent struggle coming from a few pairs of old pyjamas, struggle which didn't seem to have bothered the sleeping inhabitants of the room in the least, their victim managed to blast his assailants across the room with his wand long enough to get up and scamper towards the door. Panting, he reached the doorknob and was about to turn it when a sign with brightly coloured letters hanging on the door caught his attention:
"Not until seven o'clock, Oliver - a Quidditch player needs proper rest."
Wood let out a frustrated cry and slammed the door behind him - not one second too early: the pyjamas were up again and pounding furiously on the door from the inside. Wood stayed in front of the door a few minutes, as much to keep the pyjamas from further pursuing him as to catch his breath. When everything was calm once again inside the room, Wood let go of the doorknob and turned around to throw one last disgusted look at his two beaters' room, when another sign appeared on the door that made his cheeks go red with fury and embarrassment:
"We warned you! (and not for the first time)"