**Well, more people enjoyed that than I'd expected!
This chapter was so fun to write! To all fellow authors: DO NOT skip Quidditch matches! They are incredibly fun to write!!!!
I should probably warn you lot that the end is coming. Soon. Maybe a couple more chapters. Does that upset you? I've been writing this story for months now… it makes me feel a bit empty, but fear not! We're not there yet! Hold onto your hats people – it's the Quidditch season! **
The cold woke him quicker than anything else. He shivered, and dressed in the blink of an eye with a wave of his hand.
He was glad that things like dressing were now remarkably easy, because certain other things in his life certainly were not.
Why did that blasted article have to come out the week before the first Quidditch match of the season? He shook himself and rolled gently out of bed, whereupon two long black shapes attached themselves to his neck and wrist.
"Good morning," Zedik hissed.
"Yeah," said Harry absent-mindedly. "You too. Are you coming to practise today?"
"Of course," Sleeve insisted.
Moments later, Jet-Wing the black falcon landed on the Quidditch pitch outside the changing rooms. It was five o'clock in the morning, and still quite dark, although the winter sun was rising earlier and earlier each day, for which Harry was decidedly grateful.
He grabbed his Firebolt and took off. An hour later, he noticed a speck coming towards him from the castle. He floated lazily, watching it.
~Do you spend ANY part of your life with your feet on the ground? ~
"Nah", Harry replied, as Aureus Plumeus landed on the back of his broom. "Fancy a race?"
~Hardly. ~
Harry laughed and sped off, bowling Ron into midair as he dived.
~ You're on! ~
…
They waltzed into breakfast at about half eight, Ron bent over with laughter at the rude comment Harry had just made about Professor Trelawny.
Harry ignored the stares of the school and made his way over to Gryffindor table.
"Potter! Guess what! You're in the paper again!" shrieked Malfoy as they passed.
Harry and Ron slid into place beside Hermione, with Dean, Seamus and Neville watching from the opposite side of the table. Ron was no longer laughing.
"I'm not, am I?" Harry asked Hermione. She pushed the paper towards him.
It was not front-page news. Harry leafed through it until he found what he was looking for – a small square of writing tacked onto the end of a side column.
'Boy-Who-Lived under Special Notice –
Due to the events recently come to light concerning what took place at the home of Mr and Mrs Dursley in July, Harry Potter, 15, is to be placed on the 'endangered' list of Wizarding Social Services until the aforementioned Dursley family is convicted. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School, has been consulted on this matter.'
Harry passed the paper over to Ron, feeling sick. He pushed the food Hermione offered him away.
"Endangered?" Ron exclaimed. "They make you sound like some rare species of bear, or something! Hang on – the Dursleys weren't convicted?"
"Did you even read that article yesterday?" Dean asked.
"Why should we?" Hermione replied casually, taking back the paper and ripping the author's name slowly into shreds. "It's all rubbish."
"They got bailed out," said Seamus through a mouthful of mushrooms. "Margarine Something."
"Marge," Harry corrected, lowering his head onto his arms. How could things possibly get any worse?
He realised too late that he'd jinxed it.
Harry had been receiving hate mail of varying degrees of danger every other day for two months, but most had been destroyed by a member of the faculty before it could do too much damage.
This time, the brown owl flew right into the great hall, circling. Wendy stood up and fired at it – it disappeared. The black envelope it was carrying fell to the floor, untouched.
Then it exploded.
The entire school, knowing from experience the best course of action, ducked simultaneously under the tables. Harry stayed where he was, although Ron tugged at his robes desperately.
"What do you want now?" he yelled.
"POTTER…" said the cold voice from the smoke.
"What?"
"POTTER, I'M SURPRISED AT YOU. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THIS BEFORE?"
"Go away." Actually, Harry said something a lot ruder.
"THESE MUGGLES – WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES? OH WELL. ANYWAY, I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU – WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT, HARRY?"
This threw Harry slightly off guard. "Sorry?"
"I MEAN YOU AND I BOTH KNOW YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT. NOT A LOT BETTER, OF COURSE, BUT SURELY YOU CAN BEAT A MUGGLE?"
Harry's hands closed into fists. I won't do it, he told himself. It's not real. I won't rise…
"OR PERHAPS NOT. YOU DO RATHER PREFER TO HIDE RATHER THAN SEEK, DON'T YOU? I REMEMBER THE LAST TIME WE MET…"
No, Harry thought. Not this time. Malfoy will tell him everything I do. I'm not going to do anything stupid, not this time.
"It's not working, Tom!" he yelled. "You're only wasting your time."
"OH, BY THE WAY. I KNOW IT WAS YOU WHO FOUND THE AURORS WHEN I TOOK THAT MUGGLE SCHOOL. WHAT A SHAME YOU ONLY MANAGED TO SAVE SO LITTLE. QUITE A FEW OF THEM DIED, YOU KNOW, SO I SUPPOSE WE CAN BLAME THAT ON YOU, AS WELL. DO YOU REMEMBER RAINBOW? SWEET LITTLE RAINBOW DARLING. SHE DIED TOO, DO YOU REMEMBER? IT WAS VERY INTERESTING, THE LOOK ON HER FACE. I WISH YOU COULD HAVE BEEN THERE TO SEE IT… BY THE WAY, HARRY, I'M COMING FOR YOU. I'LL COME FOR YOU SOON, AND THEN YOU'LL REGRET THE DAY YOU DECIDED TO MESS WITH MY PLANS. YOU'RE LIKE A GNAT IN MY EAR, HARRY. BUT YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO SAVE THEM ALL."
The voice died away, and people tentatively began to poke their heads out from under the table. The teachers still sat calmly at the head table.
Harry spat on the remains of the smoking envelope. "Oh, stop it, "he said, addressing the entire student body who were looking at him in awe and fear. "Stop being afraid. He'll get you all if you're afraid."
"Is it true?" a burly Slytherin called out. "Did you stop the attack on the school?"
"N one stopped that attack!" yelled a new voice. It was Ron, his fac red not from embarrassment but from anger. "it happened!"
Hermione dragged hi back down onto the bench
"Are you all right, Harry?" Sleeve asked from his position around Harry's neck.
"Fine," said Harry, causing everyone who hadn't been watching him in the first place to swerve his or her gaze. "Could you check the envelope, please?"
Sleeve slid off his neck amid gasps of horror, and began sniffing at the ashes with his forked tongue.
Harry left him there and resumed his breakfast, although he wasn't really hungry. "Maintain a straight face," he told himself.
Sleeve reported that the envelope had been marked by one of his brothers, and as a result he could tell that it did indeed come from Devon. Harry had discovered this marking system earlier on in the month, and had confirmed his fears that Voldemort's headquarters were now an old manor house in Devon.
After reporting his news to Dumbledore, the same news for the past week but slightly useful all the same, he made his way down to Care of Magical Creatures with Ron and Hermione.
&&&&&&&&&&&
"Sirius, you only just saw him yesterday."
"I know."
"You can't expect him to come down here everyday, what with Quidditch going on at the moment."
"I know. I just feel like I hardly know him. Before I got here we'd only met three or so times."
"He knows you through your letters."
"You keep saying that. It's really quite irritating."
The gargoyle creaked open. Sirius ducked behind a sofa. "It's only me, Sirius!"
"Harry!"
"Did you think I wasn't coming?"
"Me? No! I didn't doubt you for a second, did I Remus?"
Remus rolled his eyes.
"Well, look I can't stay – we've got practice, I just wanted to make sure you didn't think I'd forgotten you."
"Would I think that?" said Sirius, giving him a hug. "Give 'em hell, kid. Especially Malfoy."
Harry flashed him a grin as he left.
"I told you he'd come," said Sirius, flopping back into an armchair.
&&&
"Ok, team," Angelina said, sitting calmly on a bench in the changing rooms, making her easier to keep track of than their old captain, Wood, who had used to pace relentlessly.
Fred and George were sprawled on separate benches, leaving very little room for the rest of them. Harry was standing up and the three girls were squashed onto a bench together.
Luckily Fred and George seemed oblivious to the fact that Kate De Lour was eyeing them as though they were particularly interesting dung beetles that she intended to squash underfoot just because they were there.
Harry stifled a grin and yawned instead. He didn't yawn much, but he made the most of it when he did.
"Thank you Harry," said Angelina, after the others had had a good laugh. "I find the anatomy of your dinner extremely interesting."
"You're not going to spend hours going through tactics, are you Angelina? We've been at it for a month already." Fred moaned.
"Fred, we haven't played a Quidditch match for over a year now, and Kate doesn't know all our stuff yet. And I'll try not to take as long as Oliver."
"Thanks a lot," said George, shifting over to make space on his bench. "Come sit here, Harry – me and Fred need protection from all these girls."
Katie Bell whacked him over the head.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"So, how was practise?"
"Short."
"You've been down there for almost three hours!"
Harry moaned and flopped down into a chair. "Tactics."
"Well," said Hermione, looking up from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Five. "No offence to Angelina, but I think it's a bit unorganised to start working on tactics a week before the match."
"We always do tactics," said Harry. "My broom is lacking exercise."
"Probably because you aren't bothered to use it when you go flying," said Hermione softly with a smile, going back to her book.
"What about you?" Harry asked. "How was Defence?"
Ron crossed his eyes. "My nose looks normal," he said. "Does it look longer to you?"
"She pulled the Pinocchio trick on you, did she?"
"The what?"
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Duck, Harry!"
Harry ducked. Wendy's fist flew over his head, and she turned to Ron, annoyed.
"Will you stop that? I am trying to conduct a lesson, here."
"It hurts when you hit people."
"It's supposed to, dung brains. Right, Harry, once more."
Harry smiled. He liked the way Wendy had of insulting people. It reminded him occasionally of Sirius chatting to Remus with use of the Blue Book or face-to-face, as they had been able to do this past month.
Sleeve and Zedik were watching him from a desk on the side of the classroom, after agreeing reluctantly with Harry some weeks before that it would not be practical for them to be hanging on to him while he practised.
Harry's hand fighting techniques were improving slowly. Too slowly. He was learning all the rudimentary stuff and it preyed on his already tired brain.
"In the end, you'll be able to do the moves without thinking," Wendy had told him. "You'll be able to concentrate on other things. For now, start focussing on me and not the wall behind me."
Harry wanted that time to come now. He knew it was ridiculous, but wasn't a guy allowed to have a little ridiculousness in his life once in a while?
&&&
Draco Malfoy was not enjoying the current week. After being voted captain this year by general consent and a lot of gold, he was suddenly starting to realise that being Quidditch captain actually involved work.
"Aren't we going to have any tactics, Draco?" Montague asked suggestively, with a half-smirk. Montague had been favourite for Quidditch captain until Draco's father had stepped in, and he let Draco know it.
Derrick and Boyle, the Beaters, had left, and it had been easy for Draco to replace them with Crabbe and Goyle. The rest of the team had been decided before the Triwizard tournament last year – Bletchley, Keeper, and Pucey, Montague and Warrington as Chasers.
Malfoy sighed. "Can't we just do what we always do? Beat them to a pulp?"
"There are rules in pulp-beating, Malfoy," Pucey reminded him.
It was going to be a long afternoon.
&&&
Harry held his broom lightly, staring up at the night sky. It was a beautiful night for flying. He only hoped that the conditions for the match would be just as good.
"Um… is that you, Harry?"
Harry turned to see Sarah Pordell standing in the doorway. He smiled at her. She didn't smile back at first – for some reason she looked more scared than usual. Harry was suddenly very conscious of the fact that he had two snakes curled around various parts of his body.
"Yes."
"I guess you, er… want lots of practice before tomorrow…"
"Yep. Angelina's nearly as bad as old Wood was, if that's possible."
She gave him a very small smile back. "He's coming to the match with Anneka."
"Yeah, I know. Angelina told me."
"I can't wait to see Anneka," she said wistfully.
Harry met her eyes. He could see her mother in those eyes. It used to scare him, but not anymore.
"Um… I was thinking of flying tonight too… but if you want to be alone that ok…"
"No!" said Harry quickly. "I'd love to fly with you!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, sure, come on. You can help me try out all those tactics Angelina's been drumming into my head."
They spent hours on the Quidditch field. Once again, Harry was surprised by just how quick a learner Sarah was. When they were both totally exhausted they came back to earth.
"That was fun," Harry panted.
"Yes," Sarah admitted, biting her lip. "Well – good luck in the match."
"Thanks," Harry grinned.
She scuttled off for Gryffindor common room. Harry showered, then followed in her footsteps until he came to the tower. Everyone was in bed, it was so late.
But not everyone was asleep.
"Have a good time?" said a voice when Harry closed the door to the dormitory behind him.
"Ron!" Harry hissed. "Don't scare me like that!"
Ron chuckled, and waited for him to get into bed. Sleeve and Zedik crawled off him and onto the end of the cover.
"Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"You know what I said back in the Great Hall?"
"Which? You said quite a few things."
"About not being scared, because Voldemort will get you if you're scared."
"Yes."
"I didn't mean it."
"I know."
"I probably gave some first-years nightmares."
Ron threw a pillow at Harry. "Get some sleep, won't you? Quidditch tomorrow."
"Whatever. I wish I could talk to Snuffles right now."
"Go to sleep!"
"Yeah, ok."
There was a brief pause.
"Harry?"
"Mmm?"
"Can I have my pillow back?"
&&&
Dumbledore drew an old hand across his eyes, flicking for the thousandth time through the worn pages of Harry's elusive diary.
He'd been through every single book he could find and still he could not find an answer. The evidence was needed – he had to condemn the Dursleys no matter what – even if only by a Muggle court.
He was almost positive by now that the words were Parseltongue, but Parseltongue was not a written language. Snakes had to hands to write with, after all. He thought back to the first night he had tried to decipher the riddle.
The weird, italic letters curled around each other, not in straight lines but round and about the page. Yet it looked neat. One of the pages, near the end, was splattered in blood.
What was he supposed to do, after all? He remembered the poem Sybil Trelawny had written for Harry's first birthday. It had quite upset Lily.
'This little babe,
So few days old
Has come to rifle Satan's fold
All hell doth at his presence quake
Though he himself for cold do shake
For in this weak unarmed wise,
The gates of Hell he will surprise.
With tears he fights,
And wins the field
His naked breast stands for a shield
His martial ensigns Cold and Need
And feeble flesh his warrior's steed.'*
And it had come true, more than once, Dumbledore remembered, his mind tracing the years for the hundredth time – he seemed to do nothing else nowadays.
Suddenly, all at once, he was hit with an idea.
&&&
"All right team," said Angelina, pacing madly in such an obvious repetition of Oliver Wood that the girls had their hands stuffed in their mouths.
She stopped suddenly. "I don't know why he did it," she said. "It doesn't help in the slightest. Ok – you know what to do. Let's go."
They stepped out onto the Quidditch team to roars of approval from every house but Slytherin, who had started throwing things in preference to booing, which by now must seem like a very soft pastime to them.
"And it's the Gryffindor line-up stepping onto the pitch!" Lee Jordan's magnified voice boomed. "Captain Johnson, Bell, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, Potter and new Keeper de Loor."
"It's de Leur," Kate protested under her breath, somehow managing to make every member of the team hear her all the same.
"Er – sorry, that's de Leur," said Lee, rustling a piece of parchment next to the microphone. "And here come the Slytherins – Captain Malfoy, Montague, Pucey, Warrington, Crabbe, Goyle and Bletchley."
His words were nearly drowned out by the crowd, who stamped their feet on the floor in a deadly rhythm.
"And the crowd seems very enthusiastic to start – so there are the two captains – don't hold on too long Angelina, you could get fleas…"
"Jordan!"
"Sorry Professor," said Lee, out of habit.
Angelina and Malfoy shook hands. Malfoy gave Harry a little smirk before mounting his broom.
"And – there's the whistle – they're off! And Pucey's got the Quaffle, passes to Warrington, Warrington's up the pitch – he shoots - what an excellent save by new Keeper Kate de Leur – I can see this kid's set herself up all right!"
"Jordan…"
"And Quaffle goes to Johnson, Johnson ducks a Bludger – nice one Angelina – passes to… Bell, Bell speeding down the pitch, she shoots – she SCORES! Ten-Zero to Gryffindor!"
Harry, high in the sky, punched the air as Katie scored, causing Zedik to hiss at him from around his wrist. Malfoy zoomed up behind him.
"Wotcha, Potter."
"Get out of it, Malfoy."
"Not a chance."
"And Pucey's got the Quaffle, nice Bludger work there by Fred or George Weasley not sure which one – Quaffle falls to Spinnet, who passes to Bell – and it's back into the Slytherin goal for twenty points to Gryffindor!"
Katie and Alicia high-fived, but the Quaffle was already back in play.
"Slytherin chasers speeding up the pitch – don't know what's going on with their Beaters – it looks like they're putting those clubs to better uses by trying to kill each other with them…"
"Jordan!"
"Bludger hit towards Montague by one of the Weasleys, but Montague ducks – oh no he's going to score – look out!"
Kate took both arms off her broom and knocked the Quaffle away from the hoop and out of play. The Gryffindor spectators roared.
"And it's Johnson again," bellowed Lee, "who passes to Spinnet, who ducks a Bludger – looks like those Gorillas are back in play…"
"Jordan!"
"…speeds up the pitch towards Bell – ah no but she's intercepted by Montague who grabs the Quaffle, heading towards Gryffindor end… where's de Leur? Montague heading for goal – hang on… FOUL! FOUL! LOOK AT THE SODDING KEEPER, REF!!"
McGonagall didn't even bother to reprimand him; she was staring with open-mouthed ferocity as Crabbe held Kate around the waist, oblivious to all the injuries she inflicted upon him.
Harry zoomed down to them, intending to try out one of his new moves on Crabbe's wall-like body, but Madam Hooch got their first. Some of the words she used made Katie Bell put her hands over her ears.
"And it's TWO penalties for Gryffindor," Lee continued, as Madam Hooch blew her whistle twice. "And Angelina Johnson puts the first away, no trouble, thirty-zero – and again, Angelina!"
But Beltchley had saved. The Slytherins yelled their approval for their Keeper. Harry felt extremely inclined to remind a few of them that they hadn't got any points yet.
"And it's Montague with the Quaffle once more, ducks two Bludgers, worse luck, passes to Pucey, who passes to Warrington, back to Warrington – no! Angelina's got it, come on Angelina – LOOK OUT!"
Too late. Harry dived towards her as the Bludger knocked her clean off her broom – but she was too far away –
The crowd groaned as Angelina hit the ground and Madam Hooch blew her whistle for time out.
"Get back! Back all of you!" Hooch yelled at the Gryffindor team.
"Is she going to be okay?" Katie demanded.
"She won't be playing for a while, is my diagnosis," Hooch murmured. "She's out – stone cold."
"She's not… dead, is she?" Kate said, unwittingly sliding closer to Harry.
"Of course not, you silly girl!" Hooch snapped. Two Gryffindor volunteers came forward to float Angelina to the hospital wing.
The remaining team went into a huddle. "Now what Harry?" Fred asked.
"Me? Why me?"
Fred raised his eyebrows. "You are vice-captain, or had you forgotten?"
"Oh – right…"
"And Harry Potter takes Johnson's place as Captain!" Lee announced the crowd.
"What can we do?" Katie demanded. "There're no reserve chasers! Who are we going to find to play in the next thirty seconds?"
A light bulb lit up inside Harry's head. "Wait here!" he said quickly, and rushed off to talk to Professor McGonagall, who had come down from the commentator's box to see if everything was all right.
They watched him. "So… what's he doing?" Fred asked.
"Not a clue," said George.
Harry and McGonagall moved over to talk to Madam Hooch. There was a heated discussion during which the Slytherins started complaining that they wanted to continue the game.
Finally, Harry summoned a broom from the store cupboard with a wave of one hand –
"Did he do that without a wand or was it just my eyes?" asked Kate,
- and climbed into the stands, minutes later coming back with a small, black-haired girl trailing along behind him.
"What's this, Harry?" George asked, incredulously.
"Meet our new chaser for the day, Sarah Pordell," said Harry proudly, placing one hand onto Sarah's shoulder.
The girl blushed and took the broom Harry offered her.
"Isn't she a first year?" said Alicia, doubtfully.
"Yes," said Harry. "No problem. I just pointed out that if they could bend the rules for me, they could bend the rules for her in a sticky situation."
"It's certainly sticky enough," said Fred.
"Is she good?" Kate demanded, unsubtly.
"She's brilliant," Harry said truthfully, ignoring Sarah's protests. "Brooms – everyone!"
The whistle blew.
"And play resumes – looks like Potter's managed to find a new chaser – what's her name someone? Oh – thank you Miss. Weasley – Pordell! Pordell for the Gryffindor team!"
The Gryffindors cheered. Sarah, flying close beside Harry, whispered. "I don't know if I can do this."
"Of course you can," said Harry. "Just don't be afraid."
She smiled at him – properly – and zoomed off to take her position in the centre of the pitch.
"And it's Bell steaming up the pitch, passes to Spinnet who drops to Pordell, who – look at that!"
Sarah ducked underneath Crabbe and Goyle and tossed the Quaffle one handedly up and into one of the hoops.
The players and spectators looked at her in silence for about three seconds before bursting out into cheers and boos.
"Yes!" Harry yelled.
"Think you're clever, don't you?" Malfoy hissed, zipping past him. "I'd watch out if I were you…"
"And Warrington has the Quaffle, intercepted by Spinnet, who passes to Bell – no! Intercepted by Montague, Montague with the Quaffle, owch! Hit in the stomach by a Bludger! Good on you George – or Fred, oh who cares, one of them anyway – Quaffle picked up by Pordell, who gives it another spectacular toss – YES! FORTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!!"
The Slytherins were starting to get frantic – they were all standing up now, yelling at their team members.
"Pucey with the Quaffle, passed to Montague, Warrington, Pucey again – they're heading for goal, Bludger knocked towards the Keeper by Goyle, or could be Crabbe – look out, Kate!"
Kate dove quickly, and Pucey rammed the Quaffle into one of the goals. The Slytherin stands erupted.
"Forty-Ten to Gryffindor…" Lee moaned.
The game continued in much the same way – the Slytherins doing everything in their power to stop Gryffindor scoring, and fouling Katie so thoroughly that she soon looked about to fall off her broom.
Sarah kept pulling off spectacular goals. She knew the chaser's tactics by heart since last night, and the three of them moved together like a unit, almost like the Chasers at the Quidditch World cup.
Still there was no sign of the snitch.
The score was 100-90 to Gryffindor, and the Slytherin team were starting to come together into a group, flailing out with pure muscle to cut through the Gryffindor ranks.
Harry decided it was time for a distraction.
Ron?~Yes? ~
Warn Hermione, will you?He dove.
The entire population of Hogwarts screamed. Malfoy faltered for a moment, then followed him, so fast that they were both just a blur.
Harry poured every ounce of concentration into his dive. The ground was five feet, two feet away –
He pulled his broom up sharply and sped upwards again, the tip of his broom brush the grass. He heard a thump behind him, and the Slytherins groaned.
Malfoy lay spread-eagled on the ground at very odd angles. Montague started waving for time out.
Suddenly Harry saw it. A gleam of gold twinkling in the sunlight at the other end of the pitch. He sped towards it as Montague starting whistling to get Madam Hooch's attention; she looked too shocked to raise the whistle to her lips.
It started moving but he sped after it, able to see it clearer than ever without the edge of his glasses to impede his vision.
He reached – his fingers closed –
"GRYFFINDOR WIN! HARRY POTTER GETS THE SNITCH! 250-90 TO GRYFFINDOR!"
The whistle finally blew. Six red blurs thumped into Harry, shrieking and laughing.
"Watch the snakes!" Harry tried to say, but he was laughing too hard.
Suddenly, the world did not seem like such a dark place after all.
Would you rather freeze to death…?**
*From Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols.
OK! PLEASE REVIEW! Just cos I didn't leave an enormous cliffie for once doesn't mean that I have lost my thirst for reviews! And just to show how much I love you, I'm going to do ANOTHER thanks list!!!!
Here Be Thanks:
Wolf Moon: Well, I'm thanking you now! I must have missed you before – sorry!!!
keebler-elmo: The Dursley's got bailed out by Aunt Marge. I'm guessing she wasn't too happy about it.
NasserPotter: I wouldn't dream of giving Ron a smidgeon of Harry's glory! (grin)
PhoenixPadfoot89
Chaser1
Leah
Charma1219
magnetic-starfish
ParanoiaIn2005: I'm not very good at writing constant action – it's easier with dialogue. I'll do my best though!
princess55
SillyGillie
LoonyLoopyLisa
Iniysa
Porphyrophobic Grape
LILRKCHK
Katani Petitedra
mandie/snuffles
Dumbledore
Panthercub
Brion: You are not the only one who wants to know. It's like an ongoing mystery. Should be cleared up soon.
Senshichan14: Oooh! I like bribes! **proceeds to eat sweets, play gameboy color advanced, and advanced sp, watch the big screen tv and dvds on the dvd player, makes pizza with the pizza maker, orders around the robot maid and wins the lottery a lot.** Was there a reason for doing all this stuff? Oh yeah, to bribe me to write. Oh well, I guess I'll go play some more gameboy. (-:
Agnei Smith
gaul1
Zahri Seb Melitor: That's quite possibly the longest review I've ever got, congrats. I hate to think what it must have been like to type that out twice. Does it matter whether Benjamin was magical or muggle? He's dead. Usually it doesn't count much afterwards. (-: He he yes, poor Neville. Extremely confusing for him, I love to do that to characters. Feel free to roast all the Daily Prophet people. We hate them. He he thanks for your suggestive extract. Don't worry, I'm going to make 'the uncovering' very dramatic and important. No idea how so far but what the hell.
EriEka127
Lady FoxFire: Soon, soon.
Illusoire: Thanks for all that help. But you're right, Mouxaile is my brain child and I wouldn't change her for the world. Actually I didn't use an online dictionary – don't trust them. I used a perfectly ordinary oxford English/French dictionary and it failed me miserably. Oh well.
Naomi SilverWolf
Silver Blaze
Athenakitty
voldemortsucks18
Hrei-siesn
Lunawolf
Sunkyssed
Firebreath
Cataclysmic
Jaded Angel8
mronimusha: Yeah, sure you can use the shields idea if you want. The colour scheme thing is sort of personal though, so if you're going to use that could you please drop my name in reference to it? Thanks!
Mella deranged: Once again, everyone wants to know, it's not just you. It will be explained – eventually!
ranger2
Daisi
Wind Whisperer
Care-Bear in a Leather Jacket
A.M.bookworm247
Bumblebee Bucy
Skahducky
Apolla Zinc/Onyxia Ann Lee
MadMaddie
Theunexpecteddragon
Lady-of-the-Dragons
Alynna Lis Eachann
hermionepotter141
Ella8
Lily Skylo
Drone 233248
potter-man1: he he he.
TuxedoMac: Thanks!
Anya Wood: Just wait! (By the way that was NOT a nutty review. What has happened to your nut?) Hey! How'd you manage to review twice? I am very well, thank you, though seriously annoyed at the temperature of my room right now… brr..
crystal wolf=P
Rain Warrior
Maximum Poofy-Queen of AU
Shadow Adams
hermionepotter141
KaiserMonkey
Prd2bAmerican18
dragon lord
Lacey2
Thom Verdace
Almost Infamous
Butler
ccs rox
The Social Leper: yep.
Angelis1
emily63
Lenora
KuTiExAzNxAnGeL
Elle
read-a-holic
Illucia
Anon
Sea Chelle: I'm so glad somebody likes what I did with Hermione. I know what you mean, I was in a trio for two years, and people often get left out when people have to pair up and stuff. So many things happen in twos.
K-Black
zorro x
Thank you all soooooooo much for your reviews! Some of them were ultra long – I'm so happy! However my fingers are freezing up and it is v. hard to type… brr… way to cold in here – so, PLEASE REVIEW and see you next chapter!
~*Laterose*~
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