Chapter 8 – Exposure
"So what happened?" Hermione asked, as Harry sat next to her at the Gryffindor table. "What did Dumbledore say?"
"Did you get in trouble again?" Ron wondered.
"Surprisingly, no," Harry began. "Dumbledore just wanted to get both sides of the story. Draco immediately began kissing up and Dumbledore cut him off and pretty much ignored everything else he had to say. After that, I told him what I did, and he didn't seem upset at all. I was kind of shocked when he just let us both leave."
"You know this means more time in the library, right? I mean, there's got to be a reason why Dumbledore didn't give you detention right away for obliviating that girl twice in a row," Hermione stated.
"Well, technically it was self defense. I didn't really do anything wrong."
"That is true," Ron said, jumping in to help defend his friend.
Harry looked oddly at Ron and snapped, "How would you know? You weren't there."
"Please don't start fighting now," Hermione pleaded. "We need to protect Harry from his mystery stalker."
"Protection? Hah! I don't need any protection. Maybe a good spell to knock him flat on his feet what I see him though," Harry laughed at the thought of his friends "protecting" him.
"But you remember the events of previous years, right?" Ron asked, trying to regain Harry's support. "Without us, you never would have succeeded. We're a team. We work together."
"I guess you're right, Ron. I don't know what got into me before. We probably should stick together, just like we always have."
Just then, Hermione realized that they only had three minutes to get to their first classes, so they split up and all ran off in different directions. Luckily, Harry had to go to a special early morning Quidditch practice. He would be able to totally relax there and not worry about such things as being stalked and losing friends over silly issues.
Harry was the first one on the field that morning, although he had arrived only one minute before the practice was scheduled to start. Instead of unloading all the equipment and getting ready for practice, Harry mounted his Nimbus 2000 and took off, soaring around the sky like an eagle on a lazy summer day. He was high above the ground when a voice suddenly broke his concentration.
"Potter! What are you doing?" Angelina Johnson, the captain of Gryffindor's Quidditch team, shouted up to him as she fervently tried to keep the bludgers under control. "Come down here and help me!"
"Sorry," he said as he landed next to his captain. "The skies were so blue, and I just wanted to take off. Where are the others?"
"You know them. Always late. They probably forget that our first game is next week against Hufflepuff. You know they have a whole new team this year. Their new captain changed around the whole structure of their team."
Finally, fifteen minutes later, the rest of the team showed up, ready for practice. Angelina got upset pretty quickly though, because nobody was having a good practice. The quaffle kept falling through grasping fingers, there were many near misses with some evil bludgers, and even Harry could not keep track of the golden snitch. Something definitely was not right with the defending Quidditch Cup champion team.
After the awkward practice had ended, Harry quickly ran back to the dorm to shower and get ready for his first real class of the day, Potions. Harry actually couldn't wait for Potions today, because he knew something good was going to happen. He felt it in his gut.
Miraculously, during the previous week, Harry and Ron had convinced everyone in their Potions class, Gryffindor and Slytherin alike, to help them carry out a crazy plan. As the students filed silently into the dungeon classroom, they placed their books on the desks as they normally would do and hid themselves in various places around the dimly lit room.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all thinking the same thing, "How did we ever manage to pull this off? Even the Slytherins seemed interested in helping us for once, instead of hating us."
Incredibly, every student had arrived early for class. The balloons were all in place, hidden under an invisibility spell set by Hermione. The class waited nervously for Professor Snape, hoping against all hope that he was in a good mood today. At the stroke of ten, the heavy door slammed open and the pale-faced teacher stalked grimly into his classroom.
Just as Snape was about to open his mouth to begin the day's lecture, Hermione released the balloons, and the whole class jumped out from their hiding spots and shouted, "Happy birthday, Professor Snape!"
"Explain," was the only word that escaped his mouth when it finally opened after balloons had fallen down on him for a few minutes.
"Well, you see, Professor," Ron began, "the last time we were in Hogsmeade, Selena told us that today was your birthday. So we decided to celebrate with you."
"How sweet, someone actually remembered my birthday," Snape began, almost whimsically. Then there was a sudden change, back to reality, "Twenty-five points from Slytherin," he grumbled, and then paused to take a breath, "and two hundred fifty points from Gryffindor!" Snape hated taking points from his own house, but they all seemed so happy about his birthday. He just had to ruin their fun somehow.
"But professor! It's not fair!" Harry shouted. "Selena told us that you always complain about your birthday, so we were trying to give you a birthday not to complain about."
Snape turned to Harry and said, "Life isn't fair, Mr. Potter. Learn to deal with it." The angry professor then swept his wand across the whole room, removing all the balloons and decorations. He continued speaking once the room was back to its normal, bleak state of mind, "I will have to talk to Selena about this conversation you supposedly had with her. Then I will decide what else needs to be done."
Potions class had returned to its regular dismal atmosphere once again, and Snape continued to load on extra homework that seemed next to impossible to do. Not only was Professor Snape mad, the whole Slytherin class began to turn even more harshly against their Gryffindor counterparts. Harry sat at his desk and sighed.
"I should have figured something like this would happen. Hopefully Selena will be able to convince him that it was all in fun."
"Don't worry about it, Harry," Hermione whispered. "Don't let this bother you enough to mess up your Quidditch game next week."
"It won't. I'll be fine."
The whispering was stopped suddenly by a glare from Snape, and the fearless Gryffindor sixth years snapped mechanically back to attention. Nobody dared move for the duration of the lecture. The second Snape ended the class, all of the students simultaneously bolted for the door, heading for freedom.
Finally, it was the day of the Quidditch game. Every student was excited, since this was the first game of the new school year. Harry flew into the stadium next to Angelina as the teams were announced. Madam Hooch strode onto the field to start the game.
There was the usual brutality of the sport as the chasers sped around the field dodging ruthless bludgers. Harry used his usual tactic of hovering high above the other players to avoid intentional injury. He wasn't quite sure why Hufflepuff's seeker was circling so close to the ground, but he could see that she had no clue where the golden snitch was. Suddenly, a blur of gold shot past Harry's head, and he took off like a flash to catch the tiny ball.
When he finally landed, Harry waved the golden snitch high above his head in celebration. Gryffindor had won the game, one hundred eighty to thirty. Harry was surrounded in a mass of red and gold as his team joined his celebration. They traveled as a group into the locker room, still on a natural high from playing such a great game. Because of all of the celebratory comments that were made, Harry was the last player out of the room. Luckily, Ron and Hermione had not waited for him.
Surprisingly there was somebody waiting for him as he exited the changing area. Abby Bennington, the third year Hufflepuff, was patiently waiting for her hero, so she could share in the celebration.
"Hello," Harry said, startled to find Abby still hanging around.
She shyly approached him, and began to speak softly, "You played an excellent game today."
"Shouldn't you have been cheering for the other team? I mean, you are a Hufflepuff, right?"
"Well, yes, I am a Hufflepuff. But I have a secret, Harry."
"Oh really?" a shocked look came across his face. He didn't know what kind of secret this little girl could have that also involved him.
"I was the one who left those notes for you at the Great Hall. I was the one watching you."
Harry looked at the girl like she had seven eyes. He did not believe anything she was saying, but at least now had some reason to believe the strange feelings he had in Hogsmeade were real.
She continued, "Do you know why I was watching you?"
Harry shook his head, "I really don't know. Was it because you wanted to stare at my scar like everyone else?" He was getting annoyed because all he wanted was to relax in his bed and replay the Quidditch match in his head.
"No, it was nothing like that, Harry. I really admire you. I want you to know how I feel. I've watched you for almost two weeks, since the first time I really noticed you. And now, I finally feel ready to tell you…"
