A/N Wow, I'm getting through this fast. So enjoy! Thanks to Minna Radcliffe
and Bob, my first two (and only so far) reviewers. Yay!
Harry was woken early the next morning by an ecstatic Fred. "Harry, Harry, wake up!"
"'Smatter?" he asked drowsily.
"Quidditch practice! Come on."
Harry glanced at the clock: it was six in the morning and…
"Fred, it's a school day!"
Fred shrugged. "Angelina says we've got to start early. Apparently the first match is earlier then usual."
Harry was intrigued. "Is Angelina the captain?" Fred nodded. "And who's the keeper?"
"Sixth year. Someone called Tony Hencher." Harry could see Fred's dislike of the name. "So come on. We need to be down there five minutes ago."
Harry nodded and climbed out of bed. Although the morning was cold and condensation poured down the windows, the rooms were warm. He changed into his scarlet quidditch robes, found his Firebolt and raced down to the pitch where the rest of the team were waiting. Angelina looked up as he arrived.
"All right Harry? I was just telling them that we're going to have to train very hard this year. Malfoy's father's splashed out again. They've all got Nimbus 2002, but I hear that Firebolts are still better. I guess we'll soon see. Okay everyone, into the air. I want the chasers to practice the Hawkshead Attacking Formation."
Seven scarlet blurs rose high into the air followed quickly by four flying balls. Fred and George beat the bludgers for all they were worth, directly at the three Chasers. But Angelina, Alicia and Katie seemed to have been practicing; they dodged the cannon-like balls with practiced ease, swooping around the pitch in a triangle, passing the quaffle back and forth between them. They certainly gave Tony a run for his money, throwing the quaffle at one of the three hoops with the speed of lightning. Tony was excellent though, he darted around the goalposts and didn't let a single one through. He was better than Oliver Wood if that was possible. Harry had heard that Oliver had been offered a place on Puddlemere United.
Harry circled high above them looking for any sign of the snitch. He felt slightly detached from the game; although the position of Seeker was the most important, it sometimes left you on your own. But this was certainly better than nothing…
Suddenly, his heart rose as he spied a tiny glimmer of gold less than a foot above the ground. Harry pulled his broom around and dived. The wind whipped his robes backwards and he shot past the others so fast that Katie dropped the quaffle in surprise. They all stopped to watch.
Harry plunged downwards, nearer and nearer to the snitch. He reached out, straining to catch it…and was rewarded by the feel of the tiny wings beating in vain against his fingers. He pulled out of the dive less than 15cm from the ground, his feet skimming the grass. Inside the school, the bell rang to announce breakfast.
The rest of the team came down and alighted next to Harry. George grinned at him.
"Wow Harry, I've never seen anything like that! We all thought you were going to crash!" Fred was nodding.
Angelina smiled. "Good job Harry, that was the best Wronski Feint I've seen. If you can pull that off in a match we'll win for sure." She turned to berate Katie. "And if he does pull it off, keep hold of the quaffle for God's sake!" Katie stared in disbelief. "Okay team, off to breakfast." She strode away.
Fred comforted Katie. "Don't take it that bad Katie. A dive like that would have had me drop the world!" Katie nodded and smiled.
They all turned and went into breakfast. Harry found that he was ravenous after the early practice. He devoured three slices of bacon, two eggs and a hash brown in rapid succession. Ron stared at him eyes wide.
"You'd think we hadn't fed you for four weeks!"
Harry shook his head. "Quidditch practice."
Hermione looked up from the book she was reading. "Already?"
Harry nodded. "Apparently the first match is earlier than usual. So what've we got first?"
Hermione dived into her bag and pulled out her timetable. "Um…Potions." Ron groaned.
"A sunny start to a sunny day!" he said sarcastically, looking up at the ceiling which showed the overcast sky.
Potions, as usual, took place in the dungeons and, as usual, took place with the Slytherins. Harry had been right: Potions was no more fun than usual. In fact within ten minutes he had the horrible impression that it was going to be worse. The first sight that greeted their eyes as they walked in was the tall greasy man feverishly writing on the blackboard. Harry's heart sank even further as he read it.
Rules:
No talking, whispering, laughing, chuckling, smirking, squealing, shouting or any other form of noise in this class. You speak only when you are spoken to.
No running, jumping, hopping, leaping or any other form of unnecessary form of movement in this class. You move only with purpose.
No answering back or rudeness. You will do what I say, when I say.
Any infringements on the above will cause a deduction of at least 10 points from the offender.
Harry groaned inwardly; this did not look good. He glanced at Ron, whose mouth hung open in an eternal expression of disbelief. Dean and Seamus wore similar expressions. Hermione's lips were drawn up in a tight frown and Neville let out a tiny whimper which he quickly stifled with his hand.
The new potions master, however, appeared to have extremely good hearing. He dropped the chalk and whirled around. "Who was that?" he thundered. The class shrivelled. Malfoy smirked.
"It was Longbottom sir."
Professor Ignia fixed Neville with a glare that would have raised the dead. "Longbottom!" he screeched. His face was strangely reminiscent of a beetroot. "Ten points from Gryffindor." Behind his back Malfoy smirked again. Ignia whirled around. "And twenty from Slytherin. Now to your seats!"
Harry had to keep himself from laughing at Malfoy's disbelieving stare. It seemed that the new Potions teacher favoured Slytherin no more than he did Gryffindor. They moved to their seats quickly, Malfoy faster than anyone, anxious not to lose more points.
The rest of the lessons continued in much the same fashion. Every single unwanted noise or movement drew points from the relevant house. By the end of the lesson the Gryffindors were left with pages of hastily scrawled notes, three extra text books, sore eyes and fifty less points. The Slytherins had fared no better: they had lost sixty.
The entire class left the dungeons in a dejected state, muttering bitterly.
"It's not fair, he shouldn't be able to do that!" shrieked Pansy Parkinson. "Snape never did that. Ignia's beastly. I want Snape back!"
Harry privately thought much the same. He didn't like Ignia anymore than the others.
The next period was Care of Magical Creatures. Although Harry was immensely relieved to see Hagrid, he couldn't help shudder at the thought of another lesson with the Slytherins.
All thoughts of the previous lesson, however, were pushed out of his mind when he saw the magnificent specimen that Hagrid had collected. A sparkling white bird, the size of a swan, rested passively on Hagrid's mammoth arm. Not only the plumage was white: the gently curved beak gleamed innocently white in the now-emerging sun and even the talons that gripped Hagrid's sleeve were the purest white. When the bird opened an eyelid to reveal a pink iris, Harry knew that the bird was albino.
Hagrid beamed at them as they formed a circle around him. For once, even the Slytherin's were quiet. Hagrid waited until they were all assembled before speaking.
"Now this 'ere," he indicated the bird, "is a Caladrius. Very powerfully magic beasts. Also very vicious if yer give 'em 'alf a chance. Now, does anyone know what it can do?"
Not to anyone's surprise, it was Hermione's hand that shot into the air. "The Caladrius has the ability, thought to be unique, of taking an illness from someone and then flying to the sun where the illness is burnt away."
Hagrid nodded, pleased. "Take ten points. But there's one thing yer missed out 'Mione." Hermione frowned. Malfoy gave a smug smile. "If the Caladrius looks away, the person will die." Hermione blinked. It seemed that her textbooks hadn't informed her of that point.
For the rest of the lesson, the class petted the Caladrius, with varying degrees of trepidation. Hagrid hovered around them doling out pieces of information every now and then. Harry didn't get a chance to talk to him until the end of the lesson.
When the bell had gone the class dispersed slowly and made their way back up to the castle. Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed behind and helped Hagrid release the bird back into the forest. They managed, but not without a fair amount of difficulty.
"Hagrid?" Harry asked.
"Yeah?"
"What did you do with Madame Maxime over the holidays?"
Hagrid paused and looked at Harry closely. "We went to the Alps. Had to extend the 'and of friendship to the giants."
Hermione bit her lip. "And did they accept?"
Hagrid's face clouded slightly. "Course they did."
Hermione's face lit up and she gave a large sigh of relief. Ron looked up at the castle.
"Come on, we're late for lunch."
Hermione and Ron turned and made their way back up to the castle. Harry lingered for a brief second and gave Hagrid a worried glance. Hagrid nodded grimly. Harry turned and left.
Hagrid's lie may have calmed Hermione and Ron but Harry had seen right through it and Hagrid's nod had confirmed his suspicions. The giants had not accepted the hand of friendship; evidently the bitterness of past years had not worn off. No wonder Dumbledore had looked so strained last night. With the refusal of the giants and the prospect of the Dementors releasing Azkaban, any man would be worried. Not for the first time Harry cursed Fudge's ignorance. *That man's going to get us all killed*.
Harry trudged up to the castle disconsolately. His mood was not improved when Hermione informed him joyfully that his next lesson was Divination: he didn't feel particularly like having his death predicted again for the umpteenth time…
A/N okay folks, there you have it. The third chapter! Three chapters all up in one day. Phew! wipes sweat from forehead and peels square eyes from the computer screen And, yes I do have a life besides writing!
So, you've probably figured that the Caladrius is gonna be pretty be important later on (save someone's life maybe? HINT HINT The fact that it looks away if it sees death is also important.)
In the next chapter, Prof. Trelawney makes a strange prediction…and Harry had another dream…
So bye for now, thanks for reading and maybe if I write in capital letters you'll REVIEW! Thank you. Constructive criticism is also appreciated.
Luv baasheep
Xx
Harry was woken early the next morning by an ecstatic Fred. "Harry, Harry, wake up!"
"'Smatter?" he asked drowsily.
"Quidditch practice! Come on."
Harry glanced at the clock: it was six in the morning and…
"Fred, it's a school day!"
Fred shrugged. "Angelina says we've got to start early. Apparently the first match is earlier then usual."
Harry was intrigued. "Is Angelina the captain?" Fred nodded. "And who's the keeper?"
"Sixth year. Someone called Tony Hencher." Harry could see Fred's dislike of the name. "So come on. We need to be down there five minutes ago."
Harry nodded and climbed out of bed. Although the morning was cold and condensation poured down the windows, the rooms were warm. He changed into his scarlet quidditch robes, found his Firebolt and raced down to the pitch where the rest of the team were waiting. Angelina looked up as he arrived.
"All right Harry? I was just telling them that we're going to have to train very hard this year. Malfoy's father's splashed out again. They've all got Nimbus 2002, but I hear that Firebolts are still better. I guess we'll soon see. Okay everyone, into the air. I want the chasers to practice the Hawkshead Attacking Formation."
Seven scarlet blurs rose high into the air followed quickly by four flying balls. Fred and George beat the bludgers for all they were worth, directly at the three Chasers. But Angelina, Alicia and Katie seemed to have been practicing; they dodged the cannon-like balls with practiced ease, swooping around the pitch in a triangle, passing the quaffle back and forth between them. They certainly gave Tony a run for his money, throwing the quaffle at one of the three hoops with the speed of lightning. Tony was excellent though, he darted around the goalposts and didn't let a single one through. He was better than Oliver Wood if that was possible. Harry had heard that Oliver had been offered a place on Puddlemere United.
Harry circled high above them looking for any sign of the snitch. He felt slightly detached from the game; although the position of Seeker was the most important, it sometimes left you on your own. But this was certainly better than nothing…
Suddenly, his heart rose as he spied a tiny glimmer of gold less than a foot above the ground. Harry pulled his broom around and dived. The wind whipped his robes backwards and he shot past the others so fast that Katie dropped the quaffle in surprise. They all stopped to watch.
Harry plunged downwards, nearer and nearer to the snitch. He reached out, straining to catch it…and was rewarded by the feel of the tiny wings beating in vain against his fingers. He pulled out of the dive less than 15cm from the ground, his feet skimming the grass. Inside the school, the bell rang to announce breakfast.
The rest of the team came down and alighted next to Harry. George grinned at him.
"Wow Harry, I've never seen anything like that! We all thought you were going to crash!" Fred was nodding.
Angelina smiled. "Good job Harry, that was the best Wronski Feint I've seen. If you can pull that off in a match we'll win for sure." She turned to berate Katie. "And if he does pull it off, keep hold of the quaffle for God's sake!" Katie stared in disbelief. "Okay team, off to breakfast." She strode away.
Fred comforted Katie. "Don't take it that bad Katie. A dive like that would have had me drop the world!" Katie nodded and smiled.
They all turned and went into breakfast. Harry found that he was ravenous after the early practice. He devoured three slices of bacon, two eggs and a hash brown in rapid succession. Ron stared at him eyes wide.
"You'd think we hadn't fed you for four weeks!"
Harry shook his head. "Quidditch practice."
Hermione looked up from the book she was reading. "Already?"
Harry nodded. "Apparently the first match is earlier than usual. So what've we got first?"
Hermione dived into her bag and pulled out her timetable. "Um…Potions." Ron groaned.
"A sunny start to a sunny day!" he said sarcastically, looking up at the ceiling which showed the overcast sky.
Potions, as usual, took place in the dungeons and, as usual, took place with the Slytherins. Harry had been right: Potions was no more fun than usual. In fact within ten minutes he had the horrible impression that it was going to be worse. The first sight that greeted their eyes as they walked in was the tall greasy man feverishly writing on the blackboard. Harry's heart sank even further as he read it.
Rules:
No talking, whispering, laughing, chuckling, smirking, squealing, shouting or any other form of noise in this class. You speak only when you are spoken to.
No running, jumping, hopping, leaping or any other form of unnecessary form of movement in this class. You move only with purpose.
No answering back or rudeness. You will do what I say, when I say.
Any infringements on the above will cause a deduction of at least 10 points from the offender.
Harry groaned inwardly; this did not look good. He glanced at Ron, whose mouth hung open in an eternal expression of disbelief. Dean and Seamus wore similar expressions. Hermione's lips were drawn up in a tight frown and Neville let out a tiny whimper which he quickly stifled with his hand.
The new potions master, however, appeared to have extremely good hearing. He dropped the chalk and whirled around. "Who was that?" he thundered. The class shrivelled. Malfoy smirked.
"It was Longbottom sir."
Professor Ignia fixed Neville with a glare that would have raised the dead. "Longbottom!" he screeched. His face was strangely reminiscent of a beetroot. "Ten points from Gryffindor." Behind his back Malfoy smirked again. Ignia whirled around. "And twenty from Slytherin. Now to your seats!"
Harry had to keep himself from laughing at Malfoy's disbelieving stare. It seemed that the new Potions teacher favoured Slytherin no more than he did Gryffindor. They moved to their seats quickly, Malfoy faster than anyone, anxious not to lose more points.
The rest of the lessons continued in much the same fashion. Every single unwanted noise or movement drew points from the relevant house. By the end of the lesson the Gryffindors were left with pages of hastily scrawled notes, three extra text books, sore eyes and fifty less points. The Slytherins had fared no better: they had lost sixty.
The entire class left the dungeons in a dejected state, muttering bitterly.
"It's not fair, he shouldn't be able to do that!" shrieked Pansy Parkinson. "Snape never did that. Ignia's beastly. I want Snape back!"
Harry privately thought much the same. He didn't like Ignia anymore than the others.
The next period was Care of Magical Creatures. Although Harry was immensely relieved to see Hagrid, he couldn't help shudder at the thought of another lesson with the Slytherins.
All thoughts of the previous lesson, however, were pushed out of his mind when he saw the magnificent specimen that Hagrid had collected. A sparkling white bird, the size of a swan, rested passively on Hagrid's mammoth arm. Not only the plumage was white: the gently curved beak gleamed innocently white in the now-emerging sun and even the talons that gripped Hagrid's sleeve were the purest white. When the bird opened an eyelid to reveal a pink iris, Harry knew that the bird was albino.
Hagrid beamed at them as they formed a circle around him. For once, even the Slytherin's were quiet. Hagrid waited until they were all assembled before speaking.
"Now this 'ere," he indicated the bird, "is a Caladrius. Very powerfully magic beasts. Also very vicious if yer give 'em 'alf a chance. Now, does anyone know what it can do?"
Not to anyone's surprise, it was Hermione's hand that shot into the air. "The Caladrius has the ability, thought to be unique, of taking an illness from someone and then flying to the sun where the illness is burnt away."
Hagrid nodded, pleased. "Take ten points. But there's one thing yer missed out 'Mione." Hermione frowned. Malfoy gave a smug smile. "If the Caladrius looks away, the person will die." Hermione blinked. It seemed that her textbooks hadn't informed her of that point.
For the rest of the lesson, the class petted the Caladrius, with varying degrees of trepidation. Hagrid hovered around them doling out pieces of information every now and then. Harry didn't get a chance to talk to him until the end of the lesson.
When the bell had gone the class dispersed slowly and made their way back up to the castle. Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed behind and helped Hagrid release the bird back into the forest. They managed, but not without a fair amount of difficulty.
"Hagrid?" Harry asked.
"Yeah?"
"What did you do with Madame Maxime over the holidays?"
Hagrid paused and looked at Harry closely. "We went to the Alps. Had to extend the 'and of friendship to the giants."
Hermione bit her lip. "And did they accept?"
Hagrid's face clouded slightly. "Course they did."
Hermione's face lit up and she gave a large sigh of relief. Ron looked up at the castle.
"Come on, we're late for lunch."
Hermione and Ron turned and made their way back up to the castle. Harry lingered for a brief second and gave Hagrid a worried glance. Hagrid nodded grimly. Harry turned and left.
Hagrid's lie may have calmed Hermione and Ron but Harry had seen right through it and Hagrid's nod had confirmed his suspicions. The giants had not accepted the hand of friendship; evidently the bitterness of past years had not worn off. No wonder Dumbledore had looked so strained last night. With the refusal of the giants and the prospect of the Dementors releasing Azkaban, any man would be worried. Not for the first time Harry cursed Fudge's ignorance. *That man's going to get us all killed*.
Harry trudged up to the castle disconsolately. His mood was not improved when Hermione informed him joyfully that his next lesson was Divination: he didn't feel particularly like having his death predicted again for the umpteenth time…
A/N okay folks, there you have it. The third chapter! Three chapters all up in one day. Phew! wipes sweat from forehead and peels square eyes from the computer screen And, yes I do have a life besides writing!
So, you've probably figured that the Caladrius is gonna be pretty be important later on (save someone's life maybe? HINT HINT The fact that it looks away if it sees death is also important.)
In the next chapter, Prof. Trelawney makes a strange prediction…and Harry had another dream…
So bye for now, thanks for reading and maybe if I write in capital letters you'll REVIEW! Thank you. Constructive criticism is also appreciated.
Luv baasheep
Xx