Quidditch

Miranda Silver, Episode 2

Qui vive la pieta quando e ben morta.

(Here pity lives when it is well dead.)  â€“Dante's Inferno

            Friday morning, the owl post arrived as usual. Apollo brought Miranda a letter from her mother, telling all about how well Cassidy was doing in school, how she had made a parchment fly across the room, and all the usual things. Miranda's younger sister Cassidy was enrolled in a wizard primary school, and would come to Hogwarts when Miranda entered her 7th year. She stuck it in her bag, and pulled out her letter home. She tied it to Apollo's leg; he promptly drank all her pumpkin juice and flew off.

            "Stupid bird," she muttered. She got up and walked out to the yard. The Ravenclaws had double transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs, but Miranda wanted a little time alone before then. Breakfast wouldn't be over for another twenty minutes, giving her ample time. She strolled down the cloister, thinking to herself.

She was shaken from her reverie when she heard a deep, rather nervous and definitely fake cough beside her. She turned her head.

"Hello," he said shyly. She recognized him from herbology. He was a tall Slytherin 5th year.

"Hi," she said, still appraising him silently. "Alistair, isn't it?"

"Yeah. And you're Miranda?" he asked, trying to conceal his nervousness. "What brings you out here?"

"Just wanted some time alone before transfiguration," she replied. He looked a bit worried and embarrassed at having interrupted her, so she quickly changed the subject. "What did you think about those Wailing Willows Tuesday?"

"Oh, they were awful," he said emphatically. "I think my ears are still ringing."

"What?" she asked, pretending to be deaf. He started laughing and relaxed slightly.

"Do you play quidditch?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, I love it. I play beater for Ravenclaw," she answered. "Are you coming to the match tomorrow?"

"Of course," he said. "I hope you beat Gryffindor. They're so unbearable when they win! When they won the Cup last year, it was like they won the World Series or something."

She stopped. "What's the World Series?"

He looked rather surprised. "It's the American baseball championship," he responded. "My parents are both Muggles, and my dad loves it. He used to live in America."

"What's baseball?" she asked. He eagerly explained all the rules. It sounded to her like quidditch with more beaters.

"Sounds interesting," she commented when he was through. The bell rang summoning them to class. He walked her to the stairs in the main hall.

"Good luck tomorrow," he said.

"Thanks. Hope I see you soon," she said with a smile. He smiled back, and headed down to the dungeons.

"Oooh!"

She heard Greg, Anna, and Isis's familiar voices behind her. She walked up the stairs, pretending not to hear them.

"Good luck tomorrow," Isis mocked, in a hideous baritone.

"I hope I see you soon, my darling," said Greg, in a squealing falsetto.

"Name one of your children after me, will you?" Anna piped in.

Padma Patil joined in with mock indignation. "Shame, shame! Talking to a Slytherin boy like that! What's a matter, Ravenclaw not good enough for you?"

"I swear, I am going to kill all of you when we get to transfiguration," Miranda said without turning around.

"Turn us into something instead, we might all get extra credit," said Mitchell Nott at the top of the stairs. Miranda marched into Professor McGonagall's room, sat down, and got out her wand and quill. Greg made little kissing faces at her, but straightened up when an orange tabby entered the room. It walked briskly up to the desk and changed into an older woman with glasses in exactly the same shape as the cat's markings.

"Good morning class. Take out your texts and turn to page 145. Today we will be working on changing scrolls into journals. Your journal should have at least 25 pages for full credit, anyone who has more than 50 will receive bonus points, and those with more than 75 will receive 5 points for his or her house. Points will be taken off if your journal already has things written in it. After you show me your journal and the number of pages it has, I want you to write a two page essay about transfiguring paper products which will be due next class meeting."

She proceeded to give a short series of incredibly complicated notes on the transfiguration of written materials and to announce that there would be a test in two weeks.

"You will have to turn your textbook into a scroll which lists your name, house, and date of birth, which I will take up, grade, and turn back into a textbook, so that no one loses one," she stated briskly. Then she passed out empty scrolls for the class to work on.

Miranda managed to get 80 pages in her journal, but it kept rolling up. She seemed to be the farthest along- Anna's scroll had turned into a notebook, Mitchell's only had 10 pages, and one of the Hufflepuff's had disappeared entirely. Greg turned his on purpose to a banner than read "Miranda loves Alistair", and then snuck a new scroll out of his bag. Miranda had the last laugh, however, when his journal only had 5 pages. At the end of the class, Professor McGonagall gave Miranda full and extra credit, and awarded 5 points to Ravenclaw, even though the back cover still had a definite bend to it. The class packed up their things and went down to lunch. Miranda ate quickly and ran up to her dorm. She put on her blue and bronze quidditch robes, picked up the new Firebolt that her father had bought her over the summer, and went down to the quidditch pitch. She had a quick spin around the goal posts and a lap around the field before the rest of the team showed up.

They started off with a few chaser and keeper drills while the seeker and beaters discussed strategies.

"Gryffindor relies on their seeker more than anyone else," explained Greg. "The only ways to stop them are to confuse Potter or to run up the score. Cho, I want you to try and throw Potter off. Try flying close or pretending to spot the Snitch. Randa, you'll target their chasers while I protect ours. Try not to hurt them too bad, just keep them away from the goals. Got it?" he asked them. Miranda reflected inwardly on this stunning explanation of the obvious but merely nodded her acquiescence. Greg let the Snitch out and counted to ten; Cho mounted her broom and zoomed off after it. They mounted their brooms and flew up to join the chasers.

"All right then, we'll play a practice half match. I'll go down and let out the Bludgers," said Greg to the rest of the team. They all nodded in agreement. He zoomed down and unchained the unruly black orbs. They shot straight up at Miranda, who knocked them both spinning off course with her heavy beater's club.

They played until Cho caught the shimmering Snitch 5 times. Miranda and Greg easily caught and restrained the now tired bludgers.

"Great practice. Everybody put a hand in now, come on," Greg said when they were all on the ground. "On three, one- two- three-"

"EAGLES!" roared the team.

"Everybody go and have a shower, a nice supper, and a good night's sleep," said Greg. "And Randa, don't let me catch you runnin' off to the Slytherin common room tonight," he said with a wink.

"Yeah, yeah, keep on, I might accidentally slip and hit you with a bludger tomorrow," she replied deviously. The team laughed and parted company.

aaaa

"None shall pass," the Knight said imperiously as Miranda approached.

"Yeah, yeah, I know Henry," she replied.

"How does the eve find ye, m'lady?" Henry asked solicitously.

"Quite well, thank you," she said with a curtsey. "Cloak and dagger."

"Right you are," he said, stepping aside. She walked through the portal to the common room. Isis was finishing her potions essay.

"How long have we got until dinner?" she asked.

"An hour or so," Isis replied. "Why, planning to sneak off and visit Alistair?"

"I only talked to him one time!" she said indignantly. "Why is everyone making such a big deal out of it?"

"Just a bit of fun, Randa. We're your friends. It's our job to embarrass you," she said with a smile.

Miranda shook her head and walked up to her dorm. She took all her books from her bag and tossed in her school robe and a towel. She went back down the stairs, past Henry, who wished her a very pleasant evening, and walked to the 5th floor. She stood between a landscape of southern France and a painting of Rowena Ravenclaw, who nodded to her, and pressed her hand against the wall.

"Lemony clean," she said, and round hole opened in the wall. She stepped into the blue and green tiled girls' Prefect bathroom. A bronze eagle roosted on one wall; while the snake on the opposite wall was sound asleep, tongue flipping lazily in and out of its mouth. She filled the big bathtub with hot water and mounds of tiny purple lavender-scented bubbles. She took off her quidditch robe and got in.

After a few minutes of lazily soaking and thinking, a silvery white ghost appeared.

"Hello, Miranda," the Grey Lady said cheerfully.

"Hello, Maria," she responded calmly.

"Having a nice bath?" she asked politely.

"Oh yes, it's very nice. It's the best reason to be a Prefect," she said, laughing.

The Grey Lady smiled. "Well, I promised Henry I'd go and teach him to waltz, so I'd better be off."

"Why does Henry want to waltz?" she asked, confused.

"I have no idea; he probably just wants someone to pay him some attention," she responded. "Good luck tomorrow."

"Thank you," she replied as the Grey Lady went back through the wall. After a few more minutes, she picked up her towel and got out. She put her school robe on, and put her towel over her shoulders. She drained the water from the tub and stood in front of the mirror. She pulled her Self Plaiting Hair Ribbon out of her bag and tied it around her long hair, which obediently twisted itself into a perfect braid. She put everything back in her bag and walked back to the Ravenclaw common room, where Henry and the Grey Lady were indeed waltzing. He was in such high spirits that he let Miranda in without the password.

She hung up her quidditch robe and towel and went back down to the common room, where Anna and Terry were playing wizard's chess. After Terry put her in check for the 5th time of the afternoon, they went down to dinner.

They went down to the Great Hall and took their seats. Food appeared as it always did on the golden plates.

"Yum, steak, my favorite," said Terry. Halfway through dinner, Feral Shada, a Slytherin prefect, approached her.

"Prefects' meeting after dinner tomorrow," she said lazily. "History of Magic classroom, seven o'clock."

"All right, I'll be there," Miranda responded. She turned to go.

"Oh, yeah, Silver- best of luck with the match... and Alistair," she said evilly.

"News certainly travels fast around here," she said after Feral returned to the Slytherin table. She cast her eyes over the Slytherin table. Seeing Alistair, she smiled. He smiled back, and she immediately saw his friends, including Draco, looking at her. He turned red as they started in on him.

aaaa

      Miranda awoke fully rested from a deep and dreamless sleep. As there was no point in coming back, she pulled on her quidditch robe, braided her hair, grabbed her bag and books, and walked down to the common room. She was hard at work on an arithmancy assignment when the rest of the house walked in from breakfast.

            Jennifer, a 3rd year girl, shared her table. Miranda helped her with a particularly tricky potions assignment. She finished her arithmancy and her own potions essay, and wrote her report for transfiguration. She helped a completely confused first year boy turn a quill into a pencil- the trouble seemed to be that he didn't know what a pencil looked like- and assisted a 2nd year in studying for a History of Magic test.

            After this completely boring but very fulfilling few hours, she left the common room. Just as she passed by the entrance to the Slytherin common room, Alistair emerged.

            "Hi!" she said with a smile.

            They walked, exploring the school at random and talking. They eventually ended up in the Great Hall, just in time for lunch. They said goodbye and went to their tables.

            Miranda sat down between Greg and Isis. "Shut up," she said, bending over her soup bowl.

aaaa

            The weather was perfect for quidditch. There was a slight breeze, and barely a cloud in the sky. After a quick pep talk, the Ravenclaw team walked out on to the pitch. The captains shook hands, Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and they were off. Miranda could see Isis and Anna occasionally flashing the "Miranda Loves Alistair" sign, but she wasn't paying any attention. After some particularly devastating bludger hits on both sides and some excellent work by the keepers, the score stood 100 to 90, Gryffindor. Out of nowhere, she saw a glint of gold beside her ear. She made a split second decision, and sped off after it.

            "CHO!" she shouted over the din of the crowd. She followed the Snitch until the seeker reached her. Then, somehow, with incredible precision, she hit the Snitch with her beater's club. Spiraling, temporarily confused, the Snitch flew right into Cho's open hands.

            The crowd erupted in cheers. They had done it. Ravenclaw beat Gryffindor. Five blue and bronze figures surrounded her. They flew, en masse, back down. She could see the Gryffindor captain arguing with Madam Hooch about how Snitch interference was against the rules, but she waved him off. Miranda could tell she was just as excited.

            At dinner, the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables burst into applause as the team entered. Students she didn't even know were patting her on the back and complementing her moves. The Gryffindor table was uncharacteristically silent, and as usual, the Hufflepuffs sided with them. Alistair met her on the way to the prefects' meeting and congratulated her with a furtive kiss on the cheek, which made her nearly as happy as winning the match did.

            She entered the History of Magic classroom and took a seat. Professor Dumbledore greeted them, congratulated the Ravenclaw prefects, and gave a short speech about their responsibilities, duties, and not hogging the bathrooms. Then each house head gave their prefects a few words of advice.

            Professor Flitwick stood up on a box. "If Henry gives you trouble, just be polite to him. It's quite lonely being a suit of armor, you know."

            Professor McGonagall took her turn. "Leniency may make friends, but it doesn't make life any easier."

            Professor Sprout took the floor with her usual energy. "Remember to help the other students. It can be hard at Hogwarts away from your family."

            Professor Snape finally had his say. "Rule breakers were meant to be punished. Be ruthless."

            Miranda practically sprinted out of the room and back to the Ravenclaw common room. "Cloak and dagger!" she breathlessly said to Henry, who stepped aside, congratulating her.

            A raucous party was in full swing. There were all kinds of sweets, food snuck in from the house elves, games of Exploding Snap, and people everywhere. Someone had hung the "Miranda Loves Alistair" sign over the fireplace under a gigantic "Eagles for the Cup" banner. The celebration went on until midnight, when Miranda forced everyone up stairs. In her room, Miranda dressed for bed, wrote a letter to her parents, and crawled into bed. As she drew the curtains and snuggled in next to Bastet, she thought things couldn't get any better.

aaaa

      She woke up with a start. She had a new dream, a warning dream. Her mind was made up. She was going to stop it.

            Whatever it was.

            She fell immediately back to sleep.