Chapter 5 - Fallen and Can't Get Up
They hadn't gotten and answer from Avalon about where she was the other night. She would only tell them that she was sending an owl off with a letter. Anytime one of them brought it up she would magically go deaf. Sirius attacked the Fat Lady, which frighten everyone. He wasn't found at the school, thought it was searched. All the students slept in the Great Hall. Time went on, and on the fifth of October they had Snape substituting for Lupin. Though he yelled and threatened the four-o, nothing bad happened to them.
"I can't believe Snape made us write an essay on werewolves," Ron complained, sitting in a chair of the Gryffindor common room.
"It could have been worse, if you knew what he was planning," Avalon said. "Don't fret about it any ways. We won't have to turn it in. Lupin won't want us too."
"Nonsense," Hermione said, already beginning on the essay. "I'm sure he'll up hold Professor Snape's assignment. Besides, how would you know what Snape was planning and what Professor Lupin wouldn't want?"
Avalon opened her mouth to say something, but Ron interrupted her. "Its called wishful thinking, Hermione. You should try it sometime." Hermione rolled her eyes and continued to write her essay.
Trying to change the subject Avalon turned to Harry. "So you're playing Hufflepuff tomorrow, right?" she asked him.
Harry nodded, "Yeah."
"Be careful of the weather though. Might get a bit wet and windy. Be on guard too," she advised.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Thanks. I'll try and keep that in mind. I need all the help I can't get."
Avalon laughed, "Hardly. I think your one of the best Seekers Hogwarts has seen in a long time."
"That's what we've been trying to tell him," Ron said. "Does he listen? Nooooo! Not Harry!" The group laughed.
"It's getting late," said Harry standing up. "I better get some sleep."
"Good-night Harry," Hermione said looking up for a brief second then went back to her essay.
"G'night," Ron said, suppressing a yawn.
"Sleep well," Avalon said with a small smile.
It didn't take long for Harry to fall asleep. He didn't even hear the others come in.
He had a dream. It was his last year at Hogwarts and he was in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch. He was in his uniform and holding the Quidditch Cup. He was the captain of the Gryffindor team. Everything seemed fine. Then a breeze came. Something about it seemed dark. Gently he put down the Cup and pulled out his wand.
Automatically at the tip of his wand a white ball appeared and crackled with magic. He held it out in the direction the breeze was coming from. Another wand joined his with the same white crackling ball. A dark shadow appeared. Harry didn't have time to look at the other wand's owner because the shadow came rushing towards them. They held up their wands and pointed them at the shadow, which was taking shape of a man. A very evil man Harry knew only by one name. The figure, not fully materialized, pulled out its own wand and pointed at them. The two crackling balls sped from their wands to Voldemort. One hit him, the other he deflected.
Harry woke up just as Voldemort said some curse he didn't recognize to the person next to him. He was breathing hard as he looked at his clock. 'Four- thirty in the morning, right on the dot', he thought. He closed his eyes, trying to get back to sleep, but the dark figure on the Quidditch Pitch wouldn't leave his mind.
Fifteen minutes later he got out of bed, put on his glasses, and went down to the common room. To his surprise he found Avalon sitting in a chair by the fire.
"Couldn't sleep either?" she asked stroking a large fur ball on her lap. It took him a moment to recognize Crookshanks.
"How'd you tame him? He's been after Scabbers since Hermione got him. I'm surprised to see that he's hasn't already gone for our dormitory."
She patted his head. "He'll behave, for a little while. Right Crookshanks?" The cat answered with a loud meow. "See, he'll be on his best behavior. Just for a while, of course."
Harry smiled and nodded sitting down in the chair next to her.
"Nervous?" she asked.
"Yes, and no." He sighed. "I'm not sure, actually."
"I would be." He gave her a look. "I mean, look at the weather. I was right. Windy and rainy. You better hold tight to your Nimbus or either of you, if not both, might get blown to Timbuktu."
"Yeah, I think Diggory might actually have an advantage over me today."
"He won't, if you don't let him. You're small, light and quick; perfect for a Seeker. Diggory is a bit bigger therefore not quite as quick. So you may be blown around a bit, but you're still quick."
Harry stared at her for a moment. "How do you know all that?'
She suddenly became very shy. "Sorry," she said in a quiet voice, "I didn't mean to-"
"No," Harry said, "How do you know so much of Quidditch?"
She smiled meekly. "My uncle, the one I live with, has all my dad's books, notes, pictures, everything practically, about Quidditch. Before I came to Hogwarts I had read them all. Just, you know, to have something of my dad in me that I can identify with."
"We have a lot in common, you know," Harry pointed out. "We both lost our parents. Both our dads were on Quidditch teams. And..."
"We both dislike Draco Malfoy," she said.
Harry asked, "Do you have an owl?"
She smiled, "Yes I do."
They continued to find similarities they had. Like they both lived with relatives after their parents die. When it came time for breakfast they left together. Sir Cadogan challenged Harry to a duel. Avalon kindly declined for them saying Sir Potter was escorting her, Lady Rastaban, and therefore currently couldn't duel.
"A noble cause indeed!" replied the knight waving his sword.
They continued to chat over porridge and toast. During that time the rest of the Gryffindor team arrived. Oliver Wood was acting very worried. Alicia finally told him to stop. Avalon told them not to worry. Fred teased her calling her their "expert".
The team left, with a semi-tired Harry, shortly afterwards to change into their scarlet uniforms. Avalon stopped him before he left the Great Hall.
"Give me your glasses," she demanded holding her hand out. Slowly he took them off and gave them to her. Not sure what she was going to do. "I hope Hermione doesn't feel too offended," she muttered. Then she took out her wand. "Impervius!" she said. "There, that will help." He thanked her and quickly left to catch up with his team. He made a mental note to thank Hermione, whom he though told Avalon about the spell.
If the weather could have gotten any worse, it did. It wasn't long before Harry was soaking. Amazingly enough he could see everything in the rain. When Wood called a timeout Hermione rushed down and explained the spell Avalon did to his glasses. Hermione said it was she would have done too. Though when he thanked her for telling Avalon she didn't seem to know what he was talking about. It didn't seem to bother her and she asked if there was anything else she could do. Harry said only unless she had a spell to keep him warm and dry; sadly she didn't. Back to the game it was.
It didn't seem long after that both he and Cedric Diggory, Seeker and captain of the Hufflepuff team, spotted the golden snitch.
"Yeah!" Wood shouted as Harry zoomed right by him.
He was a hand's grasp away from the snitch when coldness spread over him, and it wasn't because of the weather. His hand clasped over the snitch as he saw the dementors below.
After that it was darkness.
* * *
"He's going to be fine," came Madam Pomfrey's voice from the void. "Just let the boy rest."
"Keep it down," scolded Hermione.
"That was a bloody good catch though, "said Fred Weasley.
"I think he's waking up. Shh!" said Ron.
Slowly Harry opened his eyes. The people around him looked blurry. "Here," came Avalon in a soft voice. She handed him his glasses. He put them on to find the three Weasley brothers, Wood, Hermione, and Avalon standing around him. All somewhat resembling wet rats. Madam Pomfrey had apparently disappeared.
"You just missed the others, they left," Wood said. Harry assumed that he was talking about Katie and the other chasers.
"Do you remember what happened?" asked Hermione.
Harry shook his head. "No. I only remember having the snitch in my hand and then seeing the dementors on the pitch." He paused and rubbed his head. "I didn't fly into anything did I?"
"No," Avalon said in a hard voice. "Those blasted dementors came on the pitch. Seeing how you reacted on the train to them we're all relived to see you're fine." She shoved a piece of chocolate at him. "Eat this." He did, not wanting to risk her wrath.
"You should have seen Dumbledore!" Ron exclaimed. "He was furious! Don't think he likes those things too much."
"Our Quidditch expert here helped too," said George. "If you can't tell she still upset. I think she would have cursed them given the chance."
"Of course I am upset!" said Avalon, her purple eyes flashing. "Those things could have killed him!"
"That thing you did," asked Fred, "was it the same thing Professor Lupin did on the train?"
"What thing?" asked Harry.
Hermione answered for Fred. "When Avalon and Dumbledore rushed on the pitch. Both had silver things coming out of their wands, similar to the one Lupin did on the train to scare them off. And don't forget to thank Hagrid for catching you. It was a good thing that he came down too."
"And you won the game for us!" Wood pointed out.
"All right, that's enough," Madam Pomfrey said coming over to the group. "Let Mister Potter get some rest." She turned to Avalon. "Miss Rastaban, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office." Avalon nodded and promptly left. Madam Pomfrey managed to chase the others away.
Harry didn't leave the medical wing till dinnertime. Quickly he found Hermione and Ron eating with Ginny Weasley. Avalon wasn't to be seen.
"Look who's all better!" said Draco from the Slytherin table. "Help me! The scary ol' dementors are here." His voice went high and he put a hand to his forehead to look distressed.
"Ignore him," cautioned Hermione.
Harry looked around one more time for Avalon. Surely she would be here to make sure he was all right. Wouldn't she? "Where's Avalon," he asked after he took a drink from his goblet.
Ron shrugged, "Don't know. Haven't seen her since she went off to Dumbledore's office." They looked up where their headmaster usually sat. He was there. "You don't think she got into trouble or anything?"
"I heard," said Ginny Weasley, "that she wasn't suppose to do that silver thing on the pitch or something."
"Who told you that?" Ron asked his sister. She just shrugged and went back to eating.
Avalon didn't show up for the rest of dinner.
Ron, Hermione, and Harry went back to the common room afterwards. She wasn't there either. They decided to do homework and wait for her. By ten o'clock they were playing wizards chess. When twelve o'clock rolled around Harry and Hermione decided to go to bed.
"I'm going to stay up," said Ron petting Scabbers. Thankfully Crookshanks was nowhere about. "I'll just make sure she's all right."
"Don't forget to scold her and put her on restriction, Father," Hermione teased.
"Night Ron," Harry said as he yawned.
They hadn't gotten and answer from Avalon about where she was the other night. She would only tell them that she was sending an owl off with a letter. Anytime one of them brought it up she would magically go deaf. Sirius attacked the Fat Lady, which frighten everyone. He wasn't found at the school, thought it was searched. All the students slept in the Great Hall. Time went on, and on the fifth of October they had Snape substituting for Lupin. Though he yelled and threatened the four-o, nothing bad happened to them.
"I can't believe Snape made us write an essay on werewolves," Ron complained, sitting in a chair of the Gryffindor common room.
"It could have been worse, if you knew what he was planning," Avalon said. "Don't fret about it any ways. We won't have to turn it in. Lupin won't want us too."
"Nonsense," Hermione said, already beginning on the essay. "I'm sure he'll up hold Professor Snape's assignment. Besides, how would you know what Snape was planning and what Professor Lupin wouldn't want?"
Avalon opened her mouth to say something, but Ron interrupted her. "Its called wishful thinking, Hermione. You should try it sometime." Hermione rolled her eyes and continued to write her essay.
Trying to change the subject Avalon turned to Harry. "So you're playing Hufflepuff tomorrow, right?" she asked him.
Harry nodded, "Yeah."
"Be careful of the weather though. Might get a bit wet and windy. Be on guard too," she advised.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Thanks. I'll try and keep that in mind. I need all the help I can't get."
Avalon laughed, "Hardly. I think your one of the best Seekers Hogwarts has seen in a long time."
"That's what we've been trying to tell him," Ron said. "Does he listen? Nooooo! Not Harry!" The group laughed.
"It's getting late," said Harry standing up. "I better get some sleep."
"Good-night Harry," Hermione said looking up for a brief second then went back to her essay.
"G'night," Ron said, suppressing a yawn.
"Sleep well," Avalon said with a small smile.
It didn't take long for Harry to fall asleep. He didn't even hear the others come in.
He had a dream. It was his last year at Hogwarts and he was in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch. He was in his uniform and holding the Quidditch Cup. He was the captain of the Gryffindor team. Everything seemed fine. Then a breeze came. Something about it seemed dark. Gently he put down the Cup and pulled out his wand.
Automatically at the tip of his wand a white ball appeared and crackled with magic. He held it out in the direction the breeze was coming from. Another wand joined his with the same white crackling ball. A dark shadow appeared. Harry didn't have time to look at the other wand's owner because the shadow came rushing towards them. They held up their wands and pointed them at the shadow, which was taking shape of a man. A very evil man Harry knew only by one name. The figure, not fully materialized, pulled out its own wand and pointed at them. The two crackling balls sped from their wands to Voldemort. One hit him, the other he deflected.
Harry woke up just as Voldemort said some curse he didn't recognize to the person next to him. He was breathing hard as he looked at his clock. 'Four- thirty in the morning, right on the dot', he thought. He closed his eyes, trying to get back to sleep, but the dark figure on the Quidditch Pitch wouldn't leave his mind.
Fifteen minutes later he got out of bed, put on his glasses, and went down to the common room. To his surprise he found Avalon sitting in a chair by the fire.
"Couldn't sleep either?" she asked stroking a large fur ball on her lap. It took him a moment to recognize Crookshanks.
"How'd you tame him? He's been after Scabbers since Hermione got him. I'm surprised to see that he's hasn't already gone for our dormitory."
She patted his head. "He'll behave, for a little while. Right Crookshanks?" The cat answered with a loud meow. "See, he'll be on his best behavior. Just for a while, of course."
Harry smiled and nodded sitting down in the chair next to her.
"Nervous?" she asked.
"Yes, and no." He sighed. "I'm not sure, actually."
"I would be." He gave her a look. "I mean, look at the weather. I was right. Windy and rainy. You better hold tight to your Nimbus or either of you, if not both, might get blown to Timbuktu."
"Yeah, I think Diggory might actually have an advantage over me today."
"He won't, if you don't let him. You're small, light and quick; perfect for a Seeker. Diggory is a bit bigger therefore not quite as quick. So you may be blown around a bit, but you're still quick."
Harry stared at her for a moment. "How do you know all that?'
She suddenly became very shy. "Sorry," she said in a quiet voice, "I didn't mean to-"
"No," Harry said, "How do you know so much of Quidditch?"
She smiled meekly. "My uncle, the one I live with, has all my dad's books, notes, pictures, everything practically, about Quidditch. Before I came to Hogwarts I had read them all. Just, you know, to have something of my dad in me that I can identify with."
"We have a lot in common, you know," Harry pointed out. "We both lost our parents. Both our dads were on Quidditch teams. And..."
"We both dislike Draco Malfoy," she said.
Harry asked, "Do you have an owl?"
She smiled, "Yes I do."
They continued to find similarities they had. Like they both lived with relatives after their parents die. When it came time for breakfast they left together. Sir Cadogan challenged Harry to a duel. Avalon kindly declined for them saying Sir Potter was escorting her, Lady Rastaban, and therefore currently couldn't duel.
"A noble cause indeed!" replied the knight waving his sword.
They continued to chat over porridge and toast. During that time the rest of the Gryffindor team arrived. Oliver Wood was acting very worried. Alicia finally told him to stop. Avalon told them not to worry. Fred teased her calling her their "expert".
The team left, with a semi-tired Harry, shortly afterwards to change into their scarlet uniforms. Avalon stopped him before he left the Great Hall.
"Give me your glasses," she demanded holding her hand out. Slowly he took them off and gave them to her. Not sure what she was going to do. "I hope Hermione doesn't feel too offended," she muttered. Then she took out her wand. "Impervius!" she said. "There, that will help." He thanked her and quickly left to catch up with his team. He made a mental note to thank Hermione, whom he though told Avalon about the spell.
If the weather could have gotten any worse, it did. It wasn't long before Harry was soaking. Amazingly enough he could see everything in the rain. When Wood called a timeout Hermione rushed down and explained the spell Avalon did to his glasses. Hermione said it was she would have done too. Though when he thanked her for telling Avalon she didn't seem to know what he was talking about. It didn't seem to bother her and she asked if there was anything else she could do. Harry said only unless she had a spell to keep him warm and dry; sadly she didn't. Back to the game it was.
It didn't seem long after that both he and Cedric Diggory, Seeker and captain of the Hufflepuff team, spotted the golden snitch.
"Yeah!" Wood shouted as Harry zoomed right by him.
He was a hand's grasp away from the snitch when coldness spread over him, and it wasn't because of the weather. His hand clasped over the snitch as he saw the dementors below.
After that it was darkness.
* * *
"He's going to be fine," came Madam Pomfrey's voice from the void. "Just let the boy rest."
"Keep it down," scolded Hermione.
"That was a bloody good catch though, "said Fred Weasley.
"I think he's waking up. Shh!" said Ron.
Slowly Harry opened his eyes. The people around him looked blurry. "Here," came Avalon in a soft voice. She handed him his glasses. He put them on to find the three Weasley brothers, Wood, Hermione, and Avalon standing around him. All somewhat resembling wet rats. Madam Pomfrey had apparently disappeared.
"You just missed the others, they left," Wood said. Harry assumed that he was talking about Katie and the other chasers.
"Do you remember what happened?" asked Hermione.
Harry shook his head. "No. I only remember having the snitch in my hand and then seeing the dementors on the pitch." He paused and rubbed his head. "I didn't fly into anything did I?"
"No," Avalon said in a hard voice. "Those blasted dementors came on the pitch. Seeing how you reacted on the train to them we're all relived to see you're fine." She shoved a piece of chocolate at him. "Eat this." He did, not wanting to risk her wrath.
"You should have seen Dumbledore!" Ron exclaimed. "He was furious! Don't think he likes those things too much."
"Our Quidditch expert here helped too," said George. "If you can't tell she still upset. I think she would have cursed them given the chance."
"Of course I am upset!" said Avalon, her purple eyes flashing. "Those things could have killed him!"
"That thing you did," asked Fred, "was it the same thing Professor Lupin did on the train?"
"What thing?" asked Harry.
Hermione answered for Fred. "When Avalon and Dumbledore rushed on the pitch. Both had silver things coming out of their wands, similar to the one Lupin did on the train to scare them off. And don't forget to thank Hagrid for catching you. It was a good thing that he came down too."
"And you won the game for us!" Wood pointed out.
"All right, that's enough," Madam Pomfrey said coming over to the group. "Let Mister Potter get some rest." She turned to Avalon. "Miss Rastaban, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office." Avalon nodded and promptly left. Madam Pomfrey managed to chase the others away.
Harry didn't leave the medical wing till dinnertime. Quickly he found Hermione and Ron eating with Ginny Weasley. Avalon wasn't to be seen.
"Look who's all better!" said Draco from the Slytherin table. "Help me! The scary ol' dementors are here." His voice went high and he put a hand to his forehead to look distressed.
"Ignore him," cautioned Hermione.
Harry looked around one more time for Avalon. Surely she would be here to make sure he was all right. Wouldn't she? "Where's Avalon," he asked after he took a drink from his goblet.
Ron shrugged, "Don't know. Haven't seen her since she went off to Dumbledore's office." They looked up where their headmaster usually sat. He was there. "You don't think she got into trouble or anything?"
"I heard," said Ginny Weasley, "that she wasn't suppose to do that silver thing on the pitch or something."
"Who told you that?" Ron asked his sister. She just shrugged and went back to eating.
Avalon didn't show up for the rest of dinner.
Ron, Hermione, and Harry went back to the common room afterwards. She wasn't there either. They decided to do homework and wait for her. By ten o'clock they were playing wizards chess. When twelve o'clock rolled around Harry and Hermione decided to go to bed.
"I'm going to stay up," said Ron petting Scabbers. Thankfully Crookshanks was nowhere about. "I'll just make sure she's all right."
"Don't forget to scold her and put her on restriction, Father," Hermione teased.
"Night Ron," Harry said as he yawned.