Chapter 13: The Silent Attack
When he woke up the next day, he saw that the only one in the room left was Ron. It was nothing unusual, because they stood in the library long after midnight. Harry got up and he prepared himself for another lesson-free day, because it was Sunday. One thing that came to his mind was something he completely forgot. That was Quidditch. He knew he would be the captain for the gryffindor, so he had to do the hard job in everything. First, they were short one player, because Wood finished school two years ago. Second, he didn't do any practice yet, and he never gave a thought about it in the past.
Ron woike up shortly after, and the both of them went downstairs to see if they missed breakfast. Fortunately, it did not finish yet. They were surprised to see that Hermione and Cho were not in the Great Hall.
"Meybe they're searching for that damn spell," Ron gave his opinion.
"Nope," said Harry. "Look, here they come."
Hermione and Cho entered the Great Hall that moment. They seemed to wake up a little later than they had to. Still, there was only one thing that really disturbed Harry...
He didn't know about Cho, but he was sure something unusual was happening to Hermione. She was never late for breakfast or class, and a few hours of reading after midnight couldn't make her come that late to breakfast.
After the breakfast, Harry realized at last that from that morning, something was disturbing Ron very hard. There was something eating him, it was obvious, because he was in a quite bad mood. Thinking that Ron was his best friend, Harry asked him what was happening with him.
"Oh, it's nothing..." was Ron's reply. Harry didn't know why but he was sure that that would be Ron's answer.
"Yes it is, Ron!" said Harry, not giving up. "I know you too well to see if something is eating you."
"No, Harry, nothing's eating me..." he said, looking at the floor.
As they were walking up the stairs, heading to the Gryffindor Common room, Hermione joined them soon after they left the Great Hall.
"I guess we will go today to the library again," she told Harry in a final voice.
"WHAT?" Ron blowed up when he heard that. "No! No way. I'm not coming."
Ron's face was starting to burn with anger. That only made Harry think that there really was something bothering him, because only in that case he would get that angry.
"Ok, Ron, I understand," said Harry. He just hoped that he would manage to calm Ron, and secondly, to make him tell them what happened that made him that sad.
"Yes, No one told you to come, just if you want," continued Hermione, catching the point. She didn't know what Harry had in mind, but she understood that he was playing something.
"Yeah, sure," said Ron. "I wouldn't have come anyway."
Ron started walking faster, but he didn't go on the stairs that lead to the Gryffindor Common Room. "I'll talk to him to see what is up with him", said Hermione in Harry's ear, and she sped herself a bit too. Harry remained alone on his way to the Common Room, where he wanted to think about what he could write in a letter to Sirius.
Alone in the Gryffindor fifth year dormitory, Harry lay on his bed, looking at the ceiling. He couldn't imagine what to write to Sirius, there were not many things he could say. His fear of turning dark was very bothering, but it seemed so stupid... What would Sirius reply at something like that? And how would his letter sound? 'Dear Sirius, I just fear that I'm becoming dark. I almost attacked Ron and I saw myself dark in one of my Divination classes.' That would sound so stupid. But there was one thing he could write of -- the Shadow of Darkness...
He looked around for a piece of parchment and a quill. Having in mind the idea of the letter, he started writing.
Dear Sirius,
He paused a few moments to give a thought about how he would start the letter. Was it good to start with his worries? Yes, why not; nothing bad could happen.
I am currently looking for a dark spell that no book writes about. Nobody knows about it and we spend many hours in the library searching for it. Voldemort is supposed to use this spell on me, I know it, one of my friends heard Malfoy talking to his two brainless friends. Its name is the Shadow of Darkness.
We even searched the Restricted secion for it. Nothing. We thought that Malfoy invented it just to scare me, but something inside me says that it really exists and I know I am in danger.
He was disturbed by Hermione, who entered the dormitory with a serious face. There really was something bad.
"Harry, Ron didn't want to tell me his troubles."
"Why?"
"I guess he doesn't want to make us feel bad, too. I don't know exactly what's up with him. He wouldn't tell me. The only thing he did was to tell me off and to tell me to leave him alone."
"Hermione, this is enough. I know it is something really bad, I haven't seen him so upset before." Harry thought about his third year where Hermione's cat was blamed for eating Ron's rat, Scabbers. Of course it didn't, but Ron and Hermione didn't want to talk to each other for quite some time.
Hermione noticed the letter Harry was writing to Sirius. "Oh, what is that?"
"What?" Harry asked. "Oh, this? I'm writing a letter so Sirius."
"You haven't written to him for a long time."
"I know," Harry said, and he started thinking again about the letter. Hermione sat near him, and read his letter, while Harry continued writing.
Lately, another thing that bothers me is the multitude of things that point that I am going to turn dark. Their number increases with each passing day, and I can't think of anything else than those things. First, I predicted that in one of Trelawney's classes, and I don't think this one was rubbish, even though Trelawney predicted that she'll get an Order Of Merlin. But the prediction was mine, and it seemed so real. We did Image summoning, and these ones are so convincing. I don't think that it will ever project something that doesn't exist.
Yesterday I almost attacked Ron, and it came from an unimportant argument. I felt like wanting Revenge -- for what, I didn't know. Then, I just took my wand and summoned a snake at him. Then I came back to my senses.
It's my own conscience that tells me that something bad is going to happen, something even worse than before... What if I will really turn evil?
For now, please tell me if you know anything about the Shadow of Darkness.
That had to be the ending of the letter. He had nothing more to add, everything was clear, and he said exactly what he wanted to be said.
Looking at Hermione, Harry saw that she was uncertain and worried as well. His worries had a good reason, and it all seemed so real... If it wasn't for the Death Eater who seemed to continue walking in school. He hadn't attacked Harry in the last days, but some students heard him walking. Some wanted some help from the Ministry, but without the Minister to help them, they could do nothing. THey wanted to appoint a new Minister but they hadn't chosen yet.
"Do you think that Ron's behavior has something to do with a... kind of spell from the hiding Death Eater?" asked Hermione.
"No."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I don't know... I just know it."
"Harry, you're starting to act strange, too."
"Yes, after attacking Ron..."
"I don't mean that, but there is something else... You seem to know so many things."
"Of course. Maybe that damn Death Eater fed me with more memories and facts."
"You said you learned toe difference between the real memories and those given by someone."
"Yes."
"Well... Then does this...?"
"I don't know why I know this, but it doesn't feel like an added memory either."
Hermione didn't say anything else. They just waited for the other to say something, and then she said, "Well, let's go to find Cho and search more for the Shadow."
"No," Harry answered hastily.
"Harry! Now you really act strange!"
Harry thought a little and came to the conclusion that Hermione was right. He didn't want to do anything he would normally do, and he had so many feelings about things he had no ideas about. But then something else came to his mind. Quidditch...
"Hermione, the Quidditch season is about to start."
"Yes, I know."
"And I still didn't do anything about it."
"I noticed that. Well, right; I'll go searching anyway."
Harry didn't want to let Hermione search alone for the book, but he told himself that she was used to spend a lot of time alone in the library. And, she had Cho, too.
Harry wanted to tell everyone that the Quidditch Team would meet thursday for practise. Not to forget that they still were short one player. And about their new keeper... they had to make a competition or something; they knew no god keeper.
That day, at dinner, Harry told the Gryffidors that they had to choose a new keeper. He told everyone that he was the new Gryffindor captain, too.
"What? Weren't we the captains?" joked Fred and George in unison.
"You can be, too," Harry answered. Then something really strange came to his mind. "Maybe it will be a good idea for all of us to bring ideas as when we are all captains. It may help."
Everyone looked at Harry surprised. He was surprised himself, he didn't know how those words reached his mouth... but the idea was very good. He could still be the captain, officially, but in reality all of them could work on tactics. Harry didn't know how, anyway, he didn't have Wood's type of leading spirit.
Some Ravenclaws started talking about Harry's idea after some seconds. They seemed to like his way of thinking.
"How would that be," asked Fred.
"Strange," George answered.
"We'' meet on thursday on the Quidditch Field," said Harry. "I'll book it... for... sometimes after classes."
"Sure," said Fred. "And not to forget that we need a new keeper."
"Oh," said Harry, "Who will that be?"
It was qu8ite hard to think of anyone who could be a good keeper. He had never seen most of the Gryffidnors playing, so he knew nothing about how good they were. The only ones who he knew how they were playing were the Weasleys, and Ron wasn't that good for a keeper. Not from what Harry knew; they used to play a lot of Quidditch at the Burrow in their free time.
"I guess we're gonna have a little contest," said Fred. That was exactly what Harry was thinking about.
"Sure... thursday after classes..." said Harry. "We will inform everyone from Gryffindor about this."
With that, Harry went back to the Common Room, took a very large piece of parchment, and wrote with huge letters:
We will choose a new Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. There will be a contest and we will choose the keeper that evening. Anyone who is interrested will want to be present thursday at six o'clock in the evening.
That seemed to be enough to attract attention of everyone who was good at Quidditch and who wanted to play for the Gryffindor Team. He didn't expect too many students to turn up, but they still needed a keeper. They needed someone that could defend against bludgers at least as good as Wood was. Harry couldn't afford to lose a Quidditch Match; Not now when he was playing for England. What would people say if something like that happened?
He didn't want to imagine it.
Not long after, several students went to read what Harry wrote. There were more then he thought that would want to be, and that could be a problem. How could they make a contest with so many contestants? He just had to wait and see how many would turn up thursday.
The next few days passed without any unexpected events. Harry just tried to forget that he was in danger; but how could he do something like that. Everything was pressing him hardly, and days were becoming even harder to live. Not once did he dream that he would be going to turn dark. He saw himself again dark in the Divination class on Monday, and he felt like re-reading the Dark Book of Dark Arts.
Ron didn't seem to give up his mood, and he was still blowing at anyone who tried to talk to him or to comfort him. No one managed to find out what was pressing him so hard, and Harry couldn't think of something like that that could happen to Ron. If Harry could live his life without so much fuss, why couldn't Ron do it? Could Ron's situation be any worse than Harry's? No one could ever tell.
The first important thing he did was to go to the Gryffindor Quidditch Keeper Selection. That was how the team called that contest, the contest that was about to start.
Everything was prepared. Harry talked to McGonagall and made sure that they wouldn't be disturbed by anyone. The current team was waiting for those who wanted to be keepers on the Quidditch Pitch. There were less than fice minutes to six, and a few students turned up. Harry was surprised to see that Ron was amongst them. He came to the selection, despite his bad mood and forgetting that he was never that good at Quidditch. Harry didn't want to make Ron feel worse with not being accepted to play the keeper position...
"Ron?" Harry asked.
"Yes?"
"You want to be keeper," Harry said more of a constatation than a question.
"Sure."
Harry was left with no words to say. He was very surprised by seeing that... Ron, a keeper? He could never see him like that. But, who knew what he really was capable of?
Shortly after, the participants were all there. They were more than twenty. There was only one question left, and Angelina Johnson was the one who asked it first --
"When can we test all of them?"
"Maybe if we'll stay here until tomorrow," Katie Bell answered.
Harry had to think something fast. He was the captain, and it was his job to make the testing as enjoyable as possible for everyone.
Then they decided that everyone in the team would look on four different students. That way, they managed to test six different keepers at one time. They only had two goal posts, so they could test only two students at one time at the goal posts. Luckily that they had many different things to test, like their flying capabilities.
That way everything could go well, and even better than they could think of. Harry insisted that he wouldn't have to test Ron, so he went to be tested by Angelina. Hary just wanted to not have anything to do with Ron -- at least he wouldn't get the blame if he wouldn't be accepted in the team.
The tests went on for about two hours. There were no big problems -- well, excluding the time when Ron managed to fall from his broom when he was hit by a well-shot quaffle from Angelina.
After that phase of the test, they decided they would choose three finalists, because all three of Ron, a sixth year and a third year did an excellent job. Harry was very surprised by Ron's performance. He could never expect that much from Ron... he thought that maybe he just wanted to much to play in the team so he really practiced a lot to get it.
"Ok, we have chosen that three of you were brought to the final test," said Harry after a short talk with the team. "Firstly, I have to mention Ronald Weasley, who, except that he hell from his broom once, performed it very good." The crowd applauded and Ron walked in front of the team. "Second is Peter Nutstone," Harry said as the third year stepped and joined Ron in waiting." Applauses could be beard from a less people than for Ron, and that was when Harry said, "And the third is Gabriel Squid." The Sixth year joined Ron and Peter and waited for the final test, which would decide on who would remain the keeper.
"If you want to go, you may go, but no one stops you from staying to watch," said George for the crowd to hear. Very few students left, mainly those who were very sad because they failed the test. The team wanted for Ron to go first, and he was told to show them something he could do with the broom, something that could help him in a game. They tested Peter and Gabriel, too, and they decided that at the first test, Ron was the winner.
Then, they had to practice against chasers. Angelina, Katie and Alicia flew in the air with a quaffle and tested each of Ron, Peter and Gabriel's skills as a keeper.
Much to Ron's dismay, he didn't perform that good at this test, and they decided that Peter was the best at keeping the quaffle out-of-posts. They did a few more tests, testing them on how they throw the quaffle to a chaser from the team, and then they were tested on the stability.
The Gryffindor new Keeper was already chosen and with no problems. Alicia started explaining to the crowd...
"After our tests, which have been quite difficult to arrange, we have managed to decide on our new keeper." Half of the crowd was eyeing Ron, ready to applause him when Alicia said that he was the new keeper...
But that moment never came.
"Our new keeper is Peter Nutstone," Alicia said in a final tone. There were no applauds, everyone was surprised.
"Who?" some asked.
"Peter Nutstone, you heard right. He was the best, and all the team voted him as the best on the field. Even though Ronald Weasley knows a few tactics, he is not that good as a keeper... Peter deserves to be our new keeper."
An 'ohh' could be heard from the crowd, and then Harry found something to add.
"We all miss Oliver Wood, I guess we won't ever have a keeper as good as him. We'll just wait and see." Peter gave Harry an annoyed look.
"Damn it," Ron said, before he started walking very fast to the castle. They could hear him muttering, "So much in vain, everything gone". Harry felt very sorry for Ron, but that was not bringing any comfort. It wasn't enough that Ron was in a bad mood and no one knew why, that was all he needed to become even more grumpy.
"Well, we have to congratulate our new keeper," said Harry, trying not to think about Ron at all -- but that wasn't so easy to do. Ron was his best friend -- and something was going really wrong. Did it have anything to do with the Death Eater? Or maybe with Voldemort himself?
"Congratulations!" said Fred and George, and soon after that the entie crowd got out of the shock and went to normal, wanting to talk to Peter about how did he feel about being chosen in the team as a keeper. He was only in his third year, he was quite smaller than the other participants, but Harry knew that he was a lot better than Ron or Gabriel. He wasn't that solid but he seemed to be a lot more capable -- he had what was needed to become a good keeper. He had good reflexes, he could fly fast in order to catch the quaffle, and Harry had the feeling that he could hear the quaffle flying even when he was with his back at it.
The crowd started talking back to the Hogwarts castle. It was becoming quite late, it was more than nine o'clock. It took so much time to test everyone, and even though they were there for better than three hours, it didn't seem that long. Harry was quite pleased because he had a good keeper in the team, maybe not as good as Wood, but still good. Forgetting Ron's behavior Harry started celebrating the arrival of their new keeper with the other Gryffindors.
As they were heading slowly to the castle, a second year yelled, "There! Look!"
He pointed a finger to a black spot moving in the distance. It was coming from the Forbidden Forest itself... looking more carefully, Harry saw that it was no animal. It had a human shape, a human wearing a big cloak covering his entire body. "A Lethifold!" another child screamed, but he was calmed down only a few seconds after.
"It can't be a Lethifold, they don't live only at tropical zones," explained a seventh year.
"What's a Lethifold?" Harry asked.
"A very dangerous creature. Them most dangerous creature on the earth," the seventh year explained. "It has a shape of a cloak and --"
But he was stopped soon by Harry, who was carefully looking at the moving figure. It was a hooded wizard, that was for sure. He was hurrying to them, not saying a word. "Wait," Harry said making the entire crowd stop and wait for further orders.
Everyone happened so fast. The cloaked figure raised its hand when it was at a distance of about 100 feet. His hand became the source of a strong white light, and Harry could see that he had a wand in its hand. When he pointed his wand at the crowd, he seemed to create a very strong jet of white light with a gray outline that gained an enormous speed. Harry couldn't see more, the jet the wizard sent hit a person in the crowd, pushing Harry several feet distance from where he was, and when he fell, after the shock of hitting the ground, he started breathing heavily. Not long after that, he was knocked out, just like everyone around him.
When he woke up the next day, he saw that the only one in the room left was Ron. It was nothing unusual, because they stood in the library long after midnight. Harry got up and he prepared himself for another lesson-free day, because it was Sunday. One thing that came to his mind was something he completely forgot. That was Quidditch. He knew he would be the captain for the gryffindor, so he had to do the hard job in everything. First, they were short one player, because Wood finished school two years ago. Second, he didn't do any practice yet, and he never gave a thought about it in the past.
Ron woike up shortly after, and the both of them went downstairs to see if they missed breakfast. Fortunately, it did not finish yet. They were surprised to see that Hermione and Cho were not in the Great Hall.
"Meybe they're searching for that damn spell," Ron gave his opinion.
"Nope," said Harry. "Look, here they come."
Hermione and Cho entered the Great Hall that moment. They seemed to wake up a little later than they had to. Still, there was only one thing that really disturbed Harry...
He didn't know about Cho, but he was sure something unusual was happening to Hermione. She was never late for breakfast or class, and a few hours of reading after midnight couldn't make her come that late to breakfast.
After the breakfast, Harry realized at last that from that morning, something was disturbing Ron very hard. There was something eating him, it was obvious, because he was in a quite bad mood. Thinking that Ron was his best friend, Harry asked him what was happening with him.
"Oh, it's nothing..." was Ron's reply. Harry didn't know why but he was sure that that would be Ron's answer.
"Yes it is, Ron!" said Harry, not giving up. "I know you too well to see if something is eating you."
"No, Harry, nothing's eating me..." he said, looking at the floor.
As they were walking up the stairs, heading to the Gryffindor Common room, Hermione joined them soon after they left the Great Hall.
"I guess we will go today to the library again," she told Harry in a final voice.
"WHAT?" Ron blowed up when he heard that. "No! No way. I'm not coming."
Ron's face was starting to burn with anger. That only made Harry think that there really was something bothering him, because only in that case he would get that angry.
"Ok, Ron, I understand," said Harry. He just hoped that he would manage to calm Ron, and secondly, to make him tell them what happened that made him that sad.
"Yes, No one told you to come, just if you want," continued Hermione, catching the point. She didn't know what Harry had in mind, but she understood that he was playing something.
"Yeah, sure," said Ron. "I wouldn't have come anyway."
Ron started walking faster, but he didn't go on the stairs that lead to the Gryffindor Common Room. "I'll talk to him to see what is up with him", said Hermione in Harry's ear, and she sped herself a bit too. Harry remained alone on his way to the Common Room, where he wanted to think about what he could write in a letter to Sirius.
Alone in the Gryffindor fifth year dormitory, Harry lay on his bed, looking at the ceiling. He couldn't imagine what to write to Sirius, there were not many things he could say. His fear of turning dark was very bothering, but it seemed so stupid... What would Sirius reply at something like that? And how would his letter sound? 'Dear Sirius, I just fear that I'm becoming dark. I almost attacked Ron and I saw myself dark in one of my Divination classes.' That would sound so stupid. But there was one thing he could write of -- the Shadow of Darkness...
He looked around for a piece of parchment and a quill. Having in mind the idea of the letter, he started writing.
Dear Sirius,
He paused a few moments to give a thought about how he would start the letter. Was it good to start with his worries? Yes, why not; nothing bad could happen.
I am currently looking for a dark spell that no book writes about. Nobody knows about it and we spend many hours in the library searching for it. Voldemort is supposed to use this spell on me, I know it, one of my friends heard Malfoy talking to his two brainless friends. Its name is the Shadow of Darkness.
We even searched the Restricted secion for it. Nothing. We thought that Malfoy invented it just to scare me, but something inside me says that it really exists and I know I am in danger.
He was disturbed by Hermione, who entered the dormitory with a serious face. There really was something bad.
"Harry, Ron didn't want to tell me his troubles."
"Why?"
"I guess he doesn't want to make us feel bad, too. I don't know exactly what's up with him. He wouldn't tell me. The only thing he did was to tell me off and to tell me to leave him alone."
"Hermione, this is enough. I know it is something really bad, I haven't seen him so upset before." Harry thought about his third year where Hermione's cat was blamed for eating Ron's rat, Scabbers. Of course it didn't, but Ron and Hermione didn't want to talk to each other for quite some time.
Hermione noticed the letter Harry was writing to Sirius. "Oh, what is that?"
"What?" Harry asked. "Oh, this? I'm writing a letter so Sirius."
"You haven't written to him for a long time."
"I know," Harry said, and he started thinking again about the letter. Hermione sat near him, and read his letter, while Harry continued writing.
Lately, another thing that bothers me is the multitude of things that point that I am going to turn dark. Their number increases with each passing day, and I can't think of anything else than those things. First, I predicted that in one of Trelawney's classes, and I don't think this one was rubbish, even though Trelawney predicted that she'll get an Order Of Merlin. But the prediction was mine, and it seemed so real. We did Image summoning, and these ones are so convincing. I don't think that it will ever project something that doesn't exist.
Yesterday I almost attacked Ron, and it came from an unimportant argument. I felt like wanting Revenge -- for what, I didn't know. Then, I just took my wand and summoned a snake at him. Then I came back to my senses.
It's my own conscience that tells me that something bad is going to happen, something even worse than before... What if I will really turn evil?
For now, please tell me if you know anything about the Shadow of Darkness.
That had to be the ending of the letter. He had nothing more to add, everything was clear, and he said exactly what he wanted to be said.
Looking at Hermione, Harry saw that she was uncertain and worried as well. His worries had a good reason, and it all seemed so real... If it wasn't for the Death Eater who seemed to continue walking in school. He hadn't attacked Harry in the last days, but some students heard him walking. Some wanted some help from the Ministry, but without the Minister to help them, they could do nothing. THey wanted to appoint a new Minister but they hadn't chosen yet.
"Do you think that Ron's behavior has something to do with a... kind of spell from the hiding Death Eater?" asked Hermione.
"No."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I don't know... I just know it."
"Harry, you're starting to act strange, too."
"Yes, after attacking Ron..."
"I don't mean that, but there is something else... You seem to know so many things."
"Of course. Maybe that damn Death Eater fed me with more memories and facts."
"You said you learned toe difference between the real memories and those given by someone."
"Yes."
"Well... Then does this...?"
"I don't know why I know this, but it doesn't feel like an added memory either."
Hermione didn't say anything else. They just waited for the other to say something, and then she said, "Well, let's go to find Cho and search more for the Shadow."
"No," Harry answered hastily.
"Harry! Now you really act strange!"
Harry thought a little and came to the conclusion that Hermione was right. He didn't want to do anything he would normally do, and he had so many feelings about things he had no ideas about. But then something else came to his mind. Quidditch...
"Hermione, the Quidditch season is about to start."
"Yes, I know."
"And I still didn't do anything about it."
"I noticed that. Well, right; I'll go searching anyway."
Harry didn't want to let Hermione search alone for the book, but he told himself that she was used to spend a lot of time alone in the library. And, she had Cho, too.
Harry wanted to tell everyone that the Quidditch Team would meet thursday for practise. Not to forget that they still were short one player. And about their new keeper... they had to make a competition or something; they knew no god keeper.
That day, at dinner, Harry told the Gryffidors that they had to choose a new keeper. He told everyone that he was the new Gryffindor captain, too.
"What? Weren't we the captains?" joked Fred and George in unison.
"You can be, too," Harry answered. Then something really strange came to his mind. "Maybe it will be a good idea for all of us to bring ideas as when we are all captains. It may help."
Everyone looked at Harry surprised. He was surprised himself, he didn't know how those words reached his mouth... but the idea was very good. He could still be the captain, officially, but in reality all of them could work on tactics. Harry didn't know how, anyway, he didn't have Wood's type of leading spirit.
Some Ravenclaws started talking about Harry's idea after some seconds. They seemed to like his way of thinking.
"How would that be," asked Fred.
"Strange," George answered.
"We'' meet on thursday on the Quidditch Field," said Harry. "I'll book it... for... sometimes after classes."
"Sure," said Fred. "And not to forget that we need a new keeper."
"Oh," said Harry, "Who will that be?"
It was qu8ite hard to think of anyone who could be a good keeper. He had never seen most of the Gryffidnors playing, so he knew nothing about how good they were. The only ones who he knew how they were playing were the Weasleys, and Ron wasn't that good for a keeper. Not from what Harry knew; they used to play a lot of Quidditch at the Burrow in their free time.
"I guess we're gonna have a little contest," said Fred. That was exactly what Harry was thinking about.
"Sure... thursday after classes..." said Harry. "We will inform everyone from Gryffindor about this."
With that, Harry went back to the Common Room, took a very large piece of parchment, and wrote with huge letters:
We will choose a new Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. There will be a contest and we will choose the keeper that evening. Anyone who is interrested will want to be present thursday at six o'clock in the evening.
That seemed to be enough to attract attention of everyone who was good at Quidditch and who wanted to play for the Gryffindor Team. He didn't expect too many students to turn up, but they still needed a keeper. They needed someone that could defend against bludgers at least as good as Wood was. Harry couldn't afford to lose a Quidditch Match; Not now when he was playing for England. What would people say if something like that happened?
He didn't want to imagine it.
Not long after, several students went to read what Harry wrote. There were more then he thought that would want to be, and that could be a problem. How could they make a contest with so many contestants? He just had to wait and see how many would turn up thursday.
The next few days passed without any unexpected events. Harry just tried to forget that he was in danger; but how could he do something like that. Everything was pressing him hardly, and days were becoming even harder to live. Not once did he dream that he would be going to turn dark. He saw himself again dark in the Divination class on Monday, and he felt like re-reading the Dark Book of Dark Arts.
Ron didn't seem to give up his mood, and he was still blowing at anyone who tried to talk to him or to comfort him. No one managed to find out what was pressing him so hard, and Harry couldn't think of something like that that could happen to Ron. If Harry could live his life without so much fuss, why couldn't Ron do it? Could Ron's situation be any worse than Harry's? No one could ever tell.
The first important thing he did was to go to the Gryffindor Quidditch Keeper Selection. That was how the team called that contest, the contest that was about to start.
Everything was prepared. Harry talked to McGonagall and made sure that they wouldn't be disturbed by anyone. The current team was waiting for those who wanted to be keepers on the Quidditch Pitch. There were less than fice minutes to six, and a few students turned up. Harry was surprised to see that Ron was amongst them. He came to the selection, despite his bad mood and forgetting that he was never that good at Quidditch. Harry didn't want to make Ron feel worse with not being accepted to play the keeper position...
"Ron?" Harry asked.
"Yes?"
"You want to be keeper," Harry said more of a constatation than a question.
"Sure."
Harry was left with no words to say. He was very surprised by seeing that... Ron, a keeper? He could never see him like that. But, who knew what he really was capable of?
Shortly after, the participants were all there. They were more than twenty. There was only one question left, and Angelina Johnson was the one who asked it first --
"When can we test all of them?"
"Maybe if we'll stay here until tomorrow," Katie Bell answered.
Harry had to think something fast. He was the captain, and it was his job to make the testing as enjoyable as possible for everyone.
Then they decided that everyone in the team would look on four different students. That way, they managed to test six different keepers at one time. They only had two goal posts, so they could test only two students at one time at the goal posts. Luckily that they had many different things to test, like their flying capabilities.
That way everything could go well, and even better than they could think of. Harry insisted that he wouldn't have to test Ron, so he went to be tested by Angelina. Hary just wanted to not have anything to do with Ron -- at least he wouldn't get the blame if he wouldn't be accepted in the team.
The tests went on for about two hours. There were no big problems -- well, excluding the time when Ron managed to fall from his broom when he was hit by a well-shot quaffle from Angelina.
After that phase of the test, they decided they would choose three finalists, because all three of Ron, a sixth year and a third year did an excellent job. Harry was very surprised by Ron's performance. He could never expect that much from Ron... he thought that maybe he just wanted to much to play in the team so he really practiced a lot to get it.
"Ok, we have chosen that three of you were brought to the final test," said Harry after a short talk with the team. "Firstly, I have to mention Ronald Weasley, who, except that he hell from his broom once, performed it very good." The crowd applauded and Ron walked in front of the team. "Second is Peter Nutstone," Harry said as the third year stepped and joined Ron in waiting." Applauses could be beard from a less people than for Ron, and that was when Harry said, "And the third is Gabriel Squid." The Sixth year joined Ron and Peter and waited for the final test, which would decide on who would remain the keeper.
"If you want to go, you may go, but no one stops you from staying to watch," said George for the crowd to hear. Very few students left, mainly those who were very sad because they failed the test. The team wanted for Ron to go first, and he was told to show them something he could do with the broom, something that could help him in a game. They tested Peter and Gabriel, too, and they decided that at the first test, Ron was the winner.
Then, they had to practice against chasers. Angelina, Katie and Alicia flew in the air with a quaffle and tested each of Ron, Peter and Gabriel's skills as a keeper.
Much to Ron's dismay, he didn't perform that good at this test, and they decided that Peter was the best at keeping the quaffle out-of-posts. They did a few more tests, testing them on how they throw the quaffle to a chaser from the team, and then they were tested on the stability.
The Gryffindor new Keeper was already chosen and with no problems. Alicia started explaining to the crowd...
"After our tests, which have been quite difficult to arrange, we have managed to decide on our new keeper." Half of the crowd was eyeing Ron, ready to applause him when Alicia said that he was the new keeper...
But that moment never came.
"Our new keeper is Peter Nutstone," Alicia said in a final tone. There were no applauds, everyone was surprised.
"Who?" some asked.
"Peter Nutstone, you heard right. He was the best, and all the team voted him as the best on the field. Even though Ronald Weasley knows a few tactics, he is not that good as a keeper... Peter deserves to be our new keeper."
An 'ohh' could be heard from the crowd, and then Harry found something to add.
"We all miss Oliver Wood, I guess we won't ever have a keeper as good as him. We'll just wait and see." Peter gave Harry an annoyed look.
"Damn it," Ron said, before he started walking very fast to the castle. They could hear him muttering, "So much in vain, everything gone". Harry felt very sorry for Ron, but that was not bringing any comfort. It wasn't enough that Ron was in a bad mood and no one knew why, that was all he needed to become even more grumpy.
"Well, we have to congratulate our new keeper," said Harry, trying not to think about Ron at all -- but that wasn't so easy to do. Ron was his best friend -- and something was going really wrong. Did it have anything to do with the Death Eater? Or maybe with Voldemort himself?
"Congratulations!" said Fred and George, and soon after that the entie crowd got out of the shock and went to normal, wanting to talk to Peter about how did he feel about being chosen in the team as a keeper. He was only in his third year, he was quite smaller than the other participants, but Harry knew that he was a lot better than Ron or Gabriel. He wasn't that solid but he seemed to be a lot more capable -- he had what was needed to become a good keeper. He had good reflexes, he could fly fast in order to catch the quaffle, and Harry had the feeling that he could hear the quaffle flying even when he was with his back at it.
The crowd started talking back to the Hogwarts castle. It was becoming quite late, it was more than nine o'clock. It took so much time to test everyone, and even though they were there for better than three hours, it didn't seem that long. Harry was quite pleased because he had a good keeper in the team, maybe not as good as Wood, but still good. Forgetting Ron's behavior Harry started celebrating the arrival of their new keeper with the other Gryffindors.
As they were heading slowly to the castle, a second year yelled, "There! Look!"
He pointed a finger to a black spot moving in the distance. It was coming from the Forbidden Forest itself... looking more carefully, Harry saw that it was no animal. It had a human shape, a human wearing a big cloak covering his entire body. "A Lethifold!" another child screamed, but he was calmed down only a few seconds after.
"It can't be a Lethifold, they don't live only at tropical zones," explained a seventh year.
"What's a Lethifold?" Harry asked.
"A very dangerous creature. Them most dangerous creature on the earth," the seventh year explained. "It has a shape of a cloak and --"
But he was stopped soon by Harry, who was carefully looking at the moving figure. It was a hooded wizard, that was for sure. He was hurrying to them, not saying a word. "Wait," Harry said making the entire crowd stop and wait for further orders.
Everyone happened so fast. The cloaked figure raised its hand when it was at a distance of about 100 feet. His hand became the source of a strong white light, and Harry could see that he had a wand in its hand. When he pointed his wand at the crowd, he seemed to create a very strong jet of white light with a gray outline that gained an enormous speed. Harry couldn't see more, the jet the wizard sent hit a person in the crowd, pushing Harry several feet distance from where he was, and when he fell, after the shock of hitting the ground, he started breathing heavily. Not long after that, he was knocked out, just like everyone around him.