Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org
Ch3
"I'm releasing the Snitch, Harry!" Angelina bellowed from below. "Keep an eye out for it!"
Harry nodded in reply and began to fly in great circles over the Gryffindor portion of the practice field. Below him, he could feel the eyes of the Chimeral students upon him. Roger, Wei, Eric, Melody, Tess, Henry, Paige and Alex had shown up to watch the practice; Jonathan and Lillian were nowhere to be seen.
"Justin! Will you please focus?" Angelina screamed from her broom. "If this were a real match, we'd be losing badly by now!"
Harry zoomed about the field, scanning about for any trace of the shimmering, golden Snitch. Just when he thought he'd spotted it hovering near the handle of Ron's broom, he caught the sudden movement of an object flying towards him, and he immediately pulled his broom back. The heavy black shape of a Bludger zoomed past, followed by brash laughter. Harry looked up to see Jonathan, perched atop a broom, a pleased expression upon his face. Draco flew alongside him, smirking as his robes billowed about in the wind.
"Whoops." Jonathan laughed, throwing his head back with glee. He exchanged a high-five with Draco before flying off again.
"Aren't you going to get that back, Malfoy?" Harry asked, prickling all over.
"No, I'd actually prefer it if you'd go and fetch it for me, Potter." Draco replied, meeting Harry's eyes.
"Well,, I-"
"Harry! Malfoy! What's going on here?" Angelina rode up upon her broom, an angry spark in her eyes as she turned to Draco. "I signed Gryffindor up to practice here today. You all have no right to be here."
"It's really not our fault that two of your teammates were late for practice, Johnson." Draco retorted. "And we did get to the field first. If it were up to me, I wouldn't even bother sharing the field with you Gryffindors. Consider yourself lucky." With a last quick glance back at Harry, Draco turned and flew off. Harry gritted his teeth in anger and was about to chase after him when Angelina clamped her hand upon Harry's shoulder.
"No need for that, Harry." She said wearily. "C'mon, let's get back to practice."
"How come a Chimeral student is allowed to practice?" Harry asked. "If that's the case, why can't we have some new players?"
"Look, Harry, its not that simple." Angelina replied. "Besides, that boy wasn't supposed to be playing with them in the first place…I wouldn't expect less from the Slytherins."
"Right." Harry muttered. He then resumed circling the field, but found it hard to concentrate upon what he was looking for. It wasn't until thirty minutes later that he spotted the Snitch hovering by one of the goalposts, and shifting his broom, Harry dove quickly to grasp the small entity in his hand. Angelina then blew the whistle, and practice ended.
Roger and the others ran to greet Harry when he landed.
"We're really sorry about that incident with Jonathan." Eric said quickly.
"It's all right." Harry replied a bit slowly. Ron came running behind that moment, his face red with anger.
"Harry! I-I can't believe, I j-just can't-"
"It's all right, Ron." Harry said quietly, though his grip tightened about his broomstick.
"Who was that guy with Jonathan anyway?" Alex asked, scratching the back of his head. "The one with the loud voice. I could hear him all the way from here."
"Oh. That was Malfoy." Ron replied grudgingly. "He's just about the most annoying prick in the world; can't keep his mouth shut about how great he is…I'd like to put a good strong hex on him if I knew one…"
"Sounds like Jonathan to me." Tess shook her head, causing waves of orange-red hair to ripple about her shoulders.
"So where's Lillian, then?" Harry asked.
"Off flirting with some seventh years, where else?" Melody rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Plus she doesn't like Quidditch, so naturally she didn't want to come."
"You were excellent out there, Harry." Roger commented. "You've got a great eye and fast reflexes. If you went to Chimeral, I'd make sure you made the team."
"Oh. Well, thanks." Harry replied sheepishly.
"Really enjoyed watching you both play." Paige brought up. "I've always wanted to play Quidditch, but I've never been very good at flying."
"We'd be glad to teach you sometime, then." Ron said. "Or suggest someone to teach you."
Wei sniffed. "Your teams play well, I suppose…" She yawned a bit as she looked at Harry. "But I'm sure that it was just luck when you got to the Snitch before Cho."
There was a moment's uneasy silence between them, when Henry said quickly, "So then…I don't suppose there's been any news on Terry Boot?"
"Terry Boot?" Ron said. "Isn't he that fellow in Ravenclaw? I remember he got sorted with us during our first year. He plays Chaser on the team."
Harry noticed Paige's expression turn from doleful to jovial at the sound of her boyfriend's name.
"Oh my gosh!" Paige reached out to grasp onto Ron's sleeve. "You know Terry? You've got to tell me where he his…how he is…Ron, do you have any idea?"
"Well, erm…no…I don't know him personally…" Ron replied uneasily.
"But you've got to know what he's been up to…" Paige tugged harder at Ron's arm. "Please, he promised me he'd write but I suppose the owl got lost or something-"
"No owl gets lost that many times in a month, Paige, I keep telling you!" Henry exclaimed, prying his sister's fingers off of Ron's robes. Looking to the rest of them, he explained, "Terry stopped writing to her about a month ago, and she hasn't been getting replies to her letters. That's why she signed up to come to Hogwarts - to find Terry."
"Sounds like he's…left her." Harry thought out loud. Immediately, Paige turned on him, her lips beginning to tremble in a Cho-like manner.
"Shut-up!" She hissed in his face. "You don't know that! You don't know Terry! He'd never go off and do something like that to me, without any word! You didn't see all the good times we had together last year…he promised me he'd always be there for me! So stop assuming stupid things like that!" Fuming, she turned and ran off.
Melody sighed loudly. "…I'll go get her." She said, and sprinted off down the field.
"…Anyway," Alex blinked lazily, speaking in a casual tone of voice so that it would appear that nothing had happened, "I could go for some good eating. When's dinner?"
- -
Weeks drifted lazily by with nothing unusual occurring. Harry and Ron received yet another letter from Hermione one day at breakfast:
Dear Ron and Harry,
I've learned very much from just a month's worth of study here! The curriculum and the professors are excellent, and I wish that you both were here to experience with me. While I can't say that Chimeral's courses, whatnot are better than Hogwart's, I have to admit that it's a tight race.
The headmaster of Chimeral just received the most beautiful little Snidget. If you can't remember what that is, it's a round little bird that has a very long beak and jewel-like eyes…you can find a more detailed description in your textbooks. Anyway, the Snidget is extremely rare, and I was amazed to see that the headmaster had one…the Snidget presented to him is even more extraordinary than the typical Snidget - this one has the power of protecting its owner from harm with its song. That must be why the Headmaster constantly keeps the Snidget beside him upon his shoulder.
Of course, I was very impressed that such a small bird had such great powers…and I'm also surprised that there hasn't been an attempt by anyone to steal the bird away for themselves. But I may only be thinking this way because of all the unexpected adventures we've had together…trouble just seems to spring up wherever we go!
I hope that I will from you both soon!
Sincerely,
Hermione
"A Snidget? What in the world is that?" Ron retorted.
"Looks like this." Harry pointed in his textbook to the picture of a tiny, pretty little bird with red eyes and revolving wings. "Looks like a Snitch."
"Hmph." Ron shrugged, returning to his breakfast. "Wonder why Hermione would be so worked up over a silly little bird?"
Harry closed his textbook and drained the rest of his pumpkin juice from his glass. "C'mon then, we'd better get headed off to Transfiguration."
After Ron had cleared his plate to his satisfaction, the friends started off to their first class of the day. They were in the middle of discussing a possible strategy they could use in their impending match against Ravenclaw when Ron was nearly run over by someone darting down the hallway.
"Who in the bloody hell was that?" Harry growled, nearly tripping over his own feet as the figure pushed past several more students ahead of them. It was then that he noticed that the arm of his robes, where the person had brushed past, was coated with dark, dripping ink. Grimacing in disgust, Harry looked towards Ron, whose robes were dirtied across the side as well.
"Why does everything bad have to happen to me?" Ron groaned, picking up his book-bag to discover that his homework had been defaced with ink when the person had run past. As he struggled to recover the papers that hadn't been ruined, Harry kept his eyes upon the person running off down the hallway. He had a sneaking suspicion that the figure running off was Paige, but he wasn't completely sure. The girl ran, slipping and sliding across the marble floor, leaving dark footprints of ink everywhere.
"Is that Paige?" Ron asked, looking up. "Why in the world would she want to drown herself in ink?"
"I don't think that she did it to herself, Ron." Harry replied. He could hear Paige's sobbing and whimpering echoing down the hallway, and wondered what had happened to her.
- -
Up ahead, Harry spotted Draco laughing and chatting with his group of Slytherin friends, and winced, seeing Paige crash right through them. While hearing Draco's disgusted cry the moment he discovered his robes covered with ink was satisfying, Harry's grin faded when he heard Paige's cries.
"What do you think you're doing?" Draco snapped, circling the Chimeral student as Goyle restrained her. "I paid good money for these robes…and you had to go streaking about the halls covered head to toe in ink! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"None of your business!" Paige replied angrily through her tears. Her face was streaked with ink, as were her robes.
"Well I'm making it mine!" Draco sneered as his captor struggled against her restraints. "You look like an absolute fool drenched head to toe in ink, you know that? It'd be nice if that were made permanent…"
"Harry, shouldn't we do something?" Ron asked, looking to his friend. Students in the hallway had cleared out quickly, not wanting to be involved, and only Harry and Ron could do anything to prevent Paige from harm.
"You know…perhaps I should practice that new curse we learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts today…" Draco fingered the tip of his wand maliciously as he faced his victim. "You know what it is, don't you? You're in my class, you tell me what it is."
"You wouldn't dare…" Paige's large eyes widened. "Draco, you can't do this…"
"Don't you go around calling me by my first name like we're friends, you annoying little prick!" He raised his wand.
"Hey Malfoy!" Harry yelled out. "You know we're not allowed to cast spells in the hallways."
"But I'm just following your example, Potter." Draco smirked, walking over to Paige and thrusting the tip of his wand beneath her chin.
Behind Harry, Ron cleared his throat softly, and Harry did not move. Paige stared at them intently, and Ron drew a hand stealthily into his robes.
"Look, Malfoy. Leave her alone. If you send her back to Chimeral hexed, then how d'you think that'd make Dumbledore look?"
"I thought I made myself clear last year when Umbridge was still around!" Draco snapped. "I don't give a care about the stupid headmaster, and I could care less about Hogwarts - OW!"
Draco sprang backwards; hopping about in pain, and Harry was pleased to see Paige, who had withdrawn her wand from her pocket, had ignited the leg of Draco's robes on fire. Ron appeared from behind Goyle and promptly disarmed him with a terse, "Stupefy!"
While Draco was busy putting out the fire upon his robes, Harry looked up to see Wei and Eric turn the corner. Upon seeing the fight, both Chimeral students ducked behind the wall, wide-eyed.
"I'm so sick of you Potter…always getting in the way!" Draco turned, his robes smoldering, and pounced upon Harry. The two of them rolled away from the fight. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted Ron ushering Paige out of the danger and into a closet nearby. Sparks flew from the corner where Eric and Wei remained, knocking over several of the Slytherin sixth-years. Pansy Parkinson ran off down the hallway screaming, a mass of bats attacking her hair, while Goyle was knocked flat upon his back and lay unconscious. He was distracted from his observations however, when Draco began to strike him hard in the face.
In retaliation, Harry kicked his attacker off of his stomach, and scrambled to his feet. Raising his wand, he cried out the first spell he could think of: "Impedimenta!"
Draco was again thrown through the air, and he fell violently against the wall. Groaning from the impact, Draco felt about for his wand when he felt something press hard against his hand.
"Don't even think about it, Malfoy." Ron stood before him, his face triumphant and his foot upon Draco's hand. "Your cronies aren't here to save you, and you can't find your wand. You've lost!"
Draco stared up at Ron for a moment, and Harry felt the hairs along his neck stand on end.
"I guess I have then." Draco confessed in a voice very unlike his usual intonation.
"Don't listen to him, Ron." Harry warned. "Don't."
"Oh don't worry, Harry. I wouldn't believe a thing he said, even if it were an apology!" Ron turned his head to speak. "Besides, I-"
Goyle leapt out of nowhere and tackled Ron to the floor. While Draco stumbled to his feet, a satisfied smirk upon his face, Harry leaped to action, keeping his wand at the ready. When Draco slithered off into a closet in the wall and shut the door, Harry stood cautiously beside the doorway, panting hard.
"Best come out, Malfoy." He breathed. "You might as well quit, its over."
"Is it really?" Draco asked, his voice muffled in the wall. "You scare me, Potter. You've scared me so much that I've taken to hiding in a closet because of you. Are you happy now?"
"Don't give me that, Malfoy!" Harry retorted. "You don't have to play that card on me; I won't be tricked by you!"
"That's a pity…" Draco gave a loud exhale, and Harry gripped his wand harder.
"Come out, Malfoy." Harry said slowly. "For the last time…"
The door suddenly burst open, and Draco revealed himself, his gray eyes glinting with malice. In one hand he held his wand. His other arm was encircled about Paige's waist, the wand tip thrust against her face.
"So Potter…have you really won this round?" He asked, laughing. Harry glanced quickly in Paige's direction. She had a frightened expression upon her face, her wide eyes looking about the room.
"Were you the one who poured the ink on her?" Harry asked angrily.
"What are you, crazy?" Malfoy replied in an annoyed tone of voice. "If I had been the one that had done it, d'you think I would be bothering with her in the first place? She messed up my school robes and she's going to pay!"
"That sounds like a stupid reason to be bothering someone." Harry retorted. "She got a bit on everyone when she ran through the hallway."
"Shut-up, Potter, no one cares what you think!" Draco shot back.
"Draco…you're going to regret this…" Paige murmured slowly. He felt her tremble beneath his grasp, and a tingle ran slowly up his spine. Uncomfortable, he tightened his hold upon his classmate.
"What are you, deaf?" Draco prodded his wand into his victim's neck. "I told you not to-"
"Potter! Malfoy! What do you think you're doing?"
Harry turned to face Professor McGonagall, tight-lipped and very angry. He tried to think of a possible explanation other than "I fought and used magic in the hallways" but couldn't think of one, and remained silent.
"I was alerted by some Chimeral students that you two were fighting." The teacher shook her head in severe disapproval. "And Malfoy, what do you think you're doing? Let the poor girl go!"
Draco released Paige with a gesture of dislike, though his eyes remained locked upon hers, his stomach churning with uneasiness. She looked weakly away, shaking.
"Anyway…the both of you look like you could use some serious medical attention…and goodness, what happened to Weasley?"
"Goyle." Harry said simply, feeling very tired.
"Well…both of you report to Madam Pomfrey's immediately…I'll try to do something for Ron." McGonagall said snippily. "An hour's detention tomorrow, in my office…and Paige, come with me…you have some explaining to do."
- -
"I'm going to pummel that Malfoy." Henry growled later that week upon the Quidditch field. The Chimeral students had again come to watch the Gryffindor's practice for their match against Ravenclaw, although this time around there were no problems with the Slytherins.
"We all want to pummel him…" Ron said gloomily. "But somehow he always gets away…"
"No one messes with my sister and gets away with it!" Henry complained angrily. "I'm sick of everyone using her and my being unable to do anything about it!" He wrenched his hands together. "Y'know why she was running down the hall crying? Because she caught that good-for-nothing Boot in the hallway, practically sucking the face off of another girl! Naturally, she confronted them, and Terry told her it was over." Henry cracked his knuckles angrily. "The next thing you know, she's running down the hallway, crying her eyes out."
"So what about the ink, then?" Ron asked.
"Some little ghoul floating about dumped a whole vat of it on her. Called himself Peeves." Melody shook her head. "Of course, that incident didn't help Paige's mood at all."
"She's been holed up in our dormitory all day…she only comes out for classes, and to eat." Tess sounded concerned. "I've got no idea of what to do…"
"The best thing to do is nothing and just let her sit it out." Wei remarked bluntly. "That's what I always did when Cho was crying over some old boyfriend of hers…she always recovered faster when I didn't console her."
"Wonder why…" Ron muttered beneath his breath.
"Anyway," Harry said in a lighter tone of voice as to change the subject, "A friend of Ron and me wrote to us recently about a Snidget your headmaster received lately. Did you hear about it?"
Eric nodded. "My friends wrote to me that the bird was extra special because its song can protect its owner from all harm."
"It's amazing, that's what it is." Roger added. "In the past, Snidgets were used instead of the Snitch in Quidditch…can't believe that now the bird's got the power of granting immortality to its owner."
"You don't suppose that anyone's got their eye on the Snidget, do you?" Ron asked. "I mean…immortality…who wouldn't want that?"
"It's a possibility." Alex shrugged. "It'd actually be nice to have something unusual happen at Chimeral…our school's much too ordinary compared to the stuff students at Hogwarts go through."
"You make that sound as if it were a good thing." Ron shook his head as the group began to walk back towards the main building." What I would give just to go one day without - ouch!"
An owl swooped down from overhead just then and dropped a letter over Ron's head. Tearing the envelope open, Harry recognized Hermione's writing:
Harry, Ron:
I'm sorry if this reaches you at a bad time, but the most interesting event has happened here at Chimeral! The headmaster has issued Snidgets to all the major wizarding schools around - and all the birds can sing the song of immortality! That means that Dumbledore himself will be receiving his own soon…watch for it!
On the other hand, apparently there have been some problems with the distribution of the birds…as I thought, there have been attacks upon the Wizards in charge of sending the Snidgets to their new homes…by Death Eaters. Though there's been no word as to how the distribution is going so far, everything appears to be fine…though don't you think it's a bit funny that Death Eaters would fail you-know-who so easily? It all sounds a bit ridiculous to me.
If you hear anything, let me know. I'll be in touch!
Love, Hermione
"Hermione's gotten in over her head with these Snidgets." Harry commented as he handed the letter to Ron.
"At least it's not like her obsession of freeing house elves." Ron grumbled.
"Wow. So all the headmasters of major wizarding schools are receiving Snidgets." Tess said. "Must be for extra defense in case you-know-who decides to strike again…"
The little group fell into silence at the mention of Lord Voldemort, and they walked in silence all the way to the Great Hall.
Ch3
"I'm releasing the Snitch, Harry!" Angelina bellowed from below. "Keep an eye out for it!"
Harry nodded in reply and began to fly in great circles over the Gryffindor portion of the practice field. Below him, he could feel the eyes of the Chimeral students upon him. Roger, Wei, Eric, Melody, Tess, Henry, Paige and Alex had shown up to watch the practice; Jonathan and Lillian were nowhere to be seen.
"Justin! Will you please focus?" Angelina screamed from her broom. "If this were a real match, we'd be losing badly by now!"
Harry zoomed about the field, scanning about for any trace of the shimmering, golden Snitch. Just when he thought he'd spotted it hovering near the handle of Ron's broom, he caught the sudden movement of an object flying towards him, and he immediately pulled his broom back. The heavy black shape of a Bludger zoomed past, followed by brash laughter. Harry looked up to see Jonathan, perched atop a broom, a pleased expression upon his face. Draco flew alongside him, smirking as his robes billowed about in the wind.
"Whoops." Jonathan laughed, throwing his head back with glee. He exchanged a high-five with Draco before flying off again.
"Aren't you going to get that back, Malfoy?" Harry asked, prickling all over.
"No, I'd actually prefer it if you'd go and fetch it for me, Potter." Draco replied, meeting Harry's eyes.
"Well,, I-"
"Harry! Malfoy! What's going on here?" Angelina rode up upon her broom, an angry spark in her eyes as she turned to Draco. "I signed Gryffindor up to practice here today. You all have no right to be here."
"It's really not our fault that two of your teammates were late for practice, Johnson." Draco retorted. "And we did get to the field first. If it were up to me, I wouldn't even bother sharing the field with you Gryffindors. Consider yourself lucky." With a last quick glance back at Harry, Draco turned and flew off. Harry gritted his teeth in anger and was about to chase after him when Angelina clamped her hand upon Harry's shoulder.
"No need for that, Harry." She said wearily. "C'mon, let's get back to practice."
"How come a Chimeral student is allowed to practice?" Harry asked. "If that's the case, why can't we have some new players?"
"Look, Harry, its not that simple." Angelina replied. "Besides, that boy wasn't supposed to be playing with them in the first place…I wouldn't expect less from the Slytherins."
"Right." Harry muttered. He then resumed circling the field, but found it hard to concentrate upon what he was looking for. It wasn't until thirty minutes later that he spotted the Snitch hovering by one of the goalposts, and shifting his broom, Harry dove quickly to grasp the small entity in his hand. Angelina then blew the whistle, and practice ended.
Roger and the others ran to greet Harry when he landed.
"We're really sorry about that incident with Jonathan." Eric said quickly.
"It's all right." Harry replied a bit slowly. Ron came running behind that moment, his face red with anger.
"Harry! I-I can't believe, I j-just can't-"
"It's all right, Ron." Harry said quietly, though his grip tightened about his broomstick.
"Who was that guy with Jonathan anyway?" Alex asked, scratching the back of his head. "The one with the loud voice. I could hear him all the way from here."
"Oh. That was Malfoy." Ron replied grudgingly. "He's just about the most annoying prick in the world; can't keep his mouth shut about how great he is…I'd like to put a good strong hex on him if I knew one…"
"Sounds like Jonathan to me." Tess shook her head, causing waves of orange-red hair to ripple about her shoulders.
"So where's Lillian, then?" Harry asked.
"Off flirting with some seventh years, where else?" Melody rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Plus she doesn't like Quidditch, so naturally she didn't want to come."
"You were excellent out there, Harry." Roger commented. "You've got a great eye and fast reflexes. If you went to Chimeral, I'd make sure you made the team."
"Oh. Well, thanks." Harry replied sheepishly.
"Really enjoyed watching you both play." Paige brought up. "I've always wanted to play Quidditch, but I've never been very good at flying."
"We'd be glad to teach you sometime, then." Ron said. "Or suggest someone to teach you."
Wei sniffed. "Your teams play well, I suppose…" She yawned a bit as she looked at Harry. "But I'm sure that it was just luck when you got to the Snitch before Cho."
There was a moment's uneasy silence between them, when Henry said quickly, "So then…I don't suppose there's been any news on Terry Boot?"
"Terry Boot?" Ron said. "Isn't he that fellow in Ravenclaw? I remember he got sorted with us during our first year. He plays Chaser on the team."
Harry noticed Paige's expression turn from doleful to jovial at the sound of her boyfriend's name.
"Oh my gosh!" Paige reached out to grasp onto Ron's sleeve. "You know Terry? You've got to tell me where he his…how he is…Ron, do you have any idea?"
"Well, erm…no…I don't know him personally…" Ron replied uneasily.
"But you've got to know what he's been up to…" Paige tugged harder at Ron's arm. "Please, he promised me he'd write but I suppose the owl got lost or something-"
"No owl gets lost that many times in a month, Paige, I keep telling you!" Henry exclaimed, prying his sister's fingers off of Ron's robes. Looking to the rest of them, he explained, "Terry stopped writing to her about a month ago, and she hasn't been getting replies to her letters. That's why she signed up to come to Hogwarts - to find Terry."
"Sounds like he's…left her." Harry thought out loud. Immediately, Paige turned on him, her lips beginning to tremble in a Cho-like manner.
"Shut-up!" She hissed in his face. "You don't know that! You don't know Terry! He'd never go off and do something like that to me, without any word! You didn't see all the good times we had together last year…he promised me he'd always be there for me! So stop assuming stupid things like that!" Fuming, she turned and ran off.
Melody sighed loudly. "…I'll go get her." She said, and sprinted off down the field.
"…Anyway," Alex blinked lazily, speaking in a casual tone of voice so that it would appear that nothing had happened, "I could go for some good eating. When's dinner?"
- -
Weeks drifted lazily by with nothing unusual occurring. Harry and Ron received yet another letter from Hermione one day at breakfast:
Dear Ron and Harry,
I've learned very much from just a month's worth of study here! The curriculum and the professors are excellent, and I wish that you both were here to experience with me. While I can't say that Chimeral's courses, whatnot are better than Hogwart's, I have to admit that it's a tight race.
The headmaster of Chimeral just received the most beautiful little Snidget. If you can't remember what that is, it's a round little bird that has a very long beak and jewel-like eyes…you can find a more detailed description in your textbooks. Anyway, the Snidget is extremely rare, and I was amazed to see that the headmaster had one…the Snidget presented to him is even more extraordinary than the typical Snidget - this one has the power of protecting its owner from harm with its song. That must be why the Headmaster constantly keeps the Snidget beside him upon his shoulder.
Of course, I was very impressed that such a small bird had such great powers…and I'm also surprised that there hasn't been an attempt by anyone to steal the bird away for themselves. But I may only be thinking this way because of all the unexpected adventures we've had together…trouble just seems to spring up wherever we go!
I hope that I will from you both soon!
Sincerely,
Hermione
"A Snidget? What in the world is that?" Ron retorted.
"Looks like this." Harry pointed in his textbook to the picture of a tiny, pretty little bird with red eyes and revolving wings. "Looks like a Snitch."
"Hmph." Ron shrugged, returning to his breakfast. "Wonder why Hermione would be so worked up over a silly little bird?"
Harry closed his textbook and drained the rest of his pumpkin juice from his glass. "C'mon then, we'd better get headed off to Transfiguration."
After Ron had cleared his plate to his satisfaction, the friends started off to their first class of the day. They were in the middle of discussing a possible strategy they could use in their impending match against Ravenclaw when Ron was nearly run over by someone darting down the hallway.
"Who in the bloody hell was that?" Harry growled, nearly tripping over his own feet as the figure pushed past several more students ahead of them. It was then that he noticed that the arm of his robes, where the person had brushed past, was coated with dark, dripping ink. Grimacing in disgust, Harry looked towards Ron, whose robes were dirtied across the side as well.
"Why does everything bad have to happen to me?" Ron groaned, picking up his book-bag to discover that his homework had been defaced with ink when the person had run past. As he struggled to recover the papers that hadn't been ruined, Harry kept his eyes upon the person running off down the hallway. He had a sneaking suspicion that the figure running off was Paige, but he wasn't completely sure. The girl ran, slipping and sliding across the marble floor, leaving dark footprints of ink everywhere.
"Is that Paige?" Ron asked, looking up. "Why in the world would she want to drown herself in ink?"
"I don't think that she did it to herself, Ron." Harry replied. He could hear Paige's sobbing and whimpering echoing down the hallway, and wondered what had happened to her.
- -
Up ahead, Harry spotted Draco laughing and chatting with his group of Slytherin friends, and winced, seeing Paige crash right through them. While hearing Draco's disgusted cry the moment he discovered his robes covered with ink was satisfying, Harry's grin faded when he heard Paige's cries.
"What do you think you're doing?" Draco snapped, circling the Chimeral student as Goyle restrained her. "I paid good money for these robes…and you had to go streaking about the halls covered head to toe in ink! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"None of your business!" Paige replied angrily through her tears. Her face was streaked with ink, as were her robes.
"Well I'm making it mine!" Draco sneered as his captor struggled against her restraints. "You look like an absolute fool drenched head to toe in ink, you know that? It'd be nice if that were made permanent…"
"Harry, shouldn't we do something?" Ron asked, looking to his friend. Students in the hallway had cleared out quickly, not wanting to be involved, and only Harry and Ron could do anything to prevent Paige from harm.
"You know…perhaps I should practice that new curse we learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts today…" Draco fingered the tip of his wand maliciously as he faced his victim. "You know what it is, don't you? You're in my class, you tell me what it is."
"You wouldn't dare…" Paige's large eyes widened. "Draco, you can't do this…"
"Don't you go around calling me by my first name like we're friends, you annoying little prick!" He raised his wand.
"Hey Malfoy!" Harry yelled out. "You know we're not allowed to cast spells in the hallways."
"But I'm just following your example, Potter." Draco smirked, walking over to Paige and thrusting the tip of his wand beneath her chin.
Behind Harry, Ron cleared his throat softly, and Harry did not move. Paige stared at them intently, and Ron drew a hand stealthily into his robes.
"Look, Malfoy. Leave her alone. If you send her back to Chimeral hexed, then how d'you think that'd make Dumbledore look?"
"I thought I made myself clear last year when Umbridge was still around!" Draco snapped. "I don't give a care about the stupid headmaster, and I could care less about Hogwarts - OW!"
Draco sprang backwards; hopping about in pain, and Harry was pleased to see Paige, who had withdrawn her wand from her pocket, had ignited the leg of Draco's robes on fire. Ron appeared from behind Goyle and promptly disarmed him with a terse, "Stupefy!"
While Draco was busy putting out the fire upon his robes, Harry looked up to see Wei and Eric turn the corner. Upon seeing the fight, both Chimeral students ducked behind the wall, wide-eyed.
"I'm so sick of you Potter…always getting in the way!" Draco turned, his robes smoldering, and pounced upon Harry. The two of them rolled away from the fight. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted Ron ushering Paige out of the danger and into a closet nearby. Sparks flew from the corner where Eric and Wei remained, knocking over several of the Slytherin sixth-years. Pansy Parkinson ran off down the hallway screaming, a mass of bats attacking her hair, while Goyle was knocked flat upon his back and lay unconscious. He was distracted from his observations however, when Draco began to strike him hard in the face.
In retaliation, Harry kicked his attacker off of his stomach, and scrambled to his feet. Raising his wand, he cried out the first spell he could think of: "Impedimenta!"
Draco was again thrown through the air, and he fell violently against the wall. Groaning from the impact, Draco felt about for his wand when he felt something press hard against his hand.
"Don't even think about it, Malfoy." Ron stood before him, his face triumphant and his foot upon Draco's hand. "Your cronies aren't here to save you, and you can't find your wand. You've lost!"
Draco stared up at Ron for a moment, and Harry felt the hairs along his neck stand on end.
"I guess I have then." Draco confessed in a voice very unlike his usual intonation.
"Don't listen to him, Ron." Harry warned. "Don't."
"Oh don't worry, Harry. I wouldn't believe a thing he said, even if it were an apology!" Ron turned his head to speak. "Besides, I-"
Goyle leapt out of nowhere and tackled Ron to the floor. While Draco stumbled to his feet, a satisfied smirk upon his face, Harry leaped to action, keeping his wand at the ready. When Draco slithered off into a closet in the wall and shut the door, Harry stood cautiously beside the doorway, panting hard.
"Best come out, Malfoy." He breathed. "You might as well quit, its over."
"Is it really?" Draco asked, his voice muffled in the wall. "You scare me, Potter. You've scared me so much that I've taken to hiding in a closet because of you. Are you happy now?"
"Don't give me that, Malfoy!" Harry retorted. "You don't have to play that card on me; I won't be tricked by you!"
"That's a pity…" Draco gave a loud exhale, and Harry gripped his wand harder.
"Come out, Malfoy." Harry said slowly. "For the last time…"
The door suddenly burst open, and Draco revealed himself, his gray eyes glinting with malice. In one hand he held his wand. His other arm was encircled about Paige's waist, the wand tip thrust against her face.
"So Potter…have you really won this round?" He asked, laughing. Harry glanced quickly in Paige's direction. She had a frightened expression upon her face, her wide eyes looking about the room.
"Were you the one who poured the ink on her?" Harry asked angrily.
"What are you, crazy?" Malfoy replied in an annoyed tone of voice. "If I had been the one that had done it, d'you think I would be bothering with her in the first place? She messed up my school robes and she's going to pay!"
"That sounds like a stupid reason to be bothering someone." Harry retorted. "She got a bit on everyone when she ran through the hallway."
"Shut-up, Potter, no one cares what you think!" Draco shot back.
"Draco…you're going to regret this…" Paige murmured slowly. He felt her tremble beneath his grasp, and a tingle ran slowly up his spine. Uncomfortable, he tightened his hold upon his classmate.
"What are you, deaf?" Draco prodded his wand into his victim's neck. "I told you not to-"
"Potter! Malfoy! What do you think you're doing?"
Harry turned to face Professor McGonagall, tight-lipped and very angry. He tried to think of a possible explanation other than "I fought and used magic in the hallways" but couldn't think of one, and remained silent.
"I was alerted by some Chimeral students that you two were fighting." The teacher shook her head in severe disapproval. "And Malfoy, what do you think you're doing? Let the poor girl go!"
Draco released Paige with a gesture of dislike, though his eyes remained locked upon hers, his stomach churning with uneasiness. She looked weakly away, shaking.
"Anyway…the both of you look like you could use some serious medical attention…and goodness, what happened to Weasley?"
"Goyle." Harry said simply, feeling very tired.
"Well…both of you report to Madam Pomfrey's immediately…I'll try to do something for Ron." McGonagall said snippily. "An hour's detention tomorrow, in my office…and Paige, come with me…you have some explaining to do."
- -
"I'm going to pummel that Malfoy." Henry growled later that week upon the Quidditch field. The Chimeral students had again come to watch the Gryffindor's practice for their match against Ravenclaw, although this time around there were no problems with the Slytherins.
"We all want to pummel him…" Ron said gloomily. "But somehow he always gets away…"
"No one messes with my sister and gets away with it!" Henry complained angrily. "I'm sick of everyone using her and my being unable to do anything about it!" He wrenched his hands together. "Y'know why she was running down the hall crying? Because she caught that good-for-nothing Boot in the hallway, practically sucking the face off of another girl! Naturally, she confronted them, and Terry told her it was over." Henry cracked his knuckles angrily. "The next thing you know, she's running down the hallway, crying her eyes out."
"So what about the ink, then?" Ron asked.
"Some little ghoul floating about dumped a whole vat of it on her. Called himself Peeves." Melody shook her head. "Of course, that incident didn't help Paige's mood at all."
"She's been holed up in our dormitory all day…she only comes out for classes, and to eat." Tess sounded concerned. "I've got no idea of what to do…"
"The best thing to do is nothing and just let her sit it out." Wei remarked bluntly. "That's what I always did when Cho was crying over some old boyfriend of hers…she always recovered faster when I didn't console her."
"Wonder why…" Ron muttered beneath his breath.
"Anyway," Harry said in a lighter tone of voice as to change the subject, "A friend of Ron and me wrote to us recently about a Snidget your headmaster received lately. Did you hear about it?"
Eric nodded. "My friends wrote to me that the bird was extra special because its song can protect its owner from all harm."
"It's amazing, that's what it is." Roger added. "In the past, Snidgets were used instead of the Snitch in Quidditch…can't believe that now the bird's got the power of granting immortality to its owner."
"You don't suppose that anyone's got their eye on the Snidget, do you?" Ron asked. "I mean…immortality…who wouldn't want that?"
"It's a possibility." Alex shrugged. "It'd actually be nice to have something unusual happen at Chimeral…our school's much too ordinary compared to the stuff students at Hogwarts go through."
"You make that sound as if it were a good thing." Ron shook his head as the group began to walk back towards the main building." What I would give just to go one day without - ouch!"
An owl swooped down from overhead just then and dropped a letter over Ron's head. Tearing the envelope open, Harry recognized Hermione's writing:
Harry, Ron:
I'm sorry if this reaches you at a bad time, but the most interesting event has happened here at Chimeral! The headmaster has issued Snidgets to all the major wizarding schools around - and all the birds can sing the song of immortality! That means that Dumbledore himself will be receiving his own soon…watch for it!
On the other hand, apparently there have been some problems with the distribution of the birds…as I thought, there have been attacks upon the Wizards in charge of sending the Snidgets to their new homes…by Death Eaters. Though there's been no word as to how the distribution is going so far, everything appears to be fine…though don't you think it's a bit funny that Death Eaters would fail you-know-who so easily? It all sounds a bit ridiculous to me.
If you hear anything, let me know. I'll be in touch!
Love, Hermione
"Hermione's gotten in over her head with these Snidgets." Harry commented as he handed the letter to Ron.
"At least it's not like her obsession of freeing house elves." Ron grumbled.
"Wow. So all the headmasters of major wizarding schools are receiving Snidgets." Tess said. "Must be for extra defense in case you-know-who decides to strike again…"
The little group fell into silence at the mention of Lord Voldemort, and they walked in silence all the way to the Great Hall.
