A/N: Sorry about the wait, I was having major problems with my email and
sending/receiving attachments. As I said in my other story, I'm giving
story recommendations, and I'd like some in return. This chapter's: the
'Amulet of Time' quartet.
~~~~Harry's POV~~~~~
Harry woke up early the next morning, since he knew he had an appointment on the Quidditch pitch with Professor Snape. No doubt the man had deliberately chosen the time to irritate him, and he was determined not to be late. Unfortunately, he was not quite early enough - they had five minutes to wake up properly, dress and get down there. He only hoped that Mark was fast.
"Wake up Mark!" Harry said, conjuring a wet sponge above his young cousin's face early - too early - the next morning. Fortunately, Mark woke up without needing the extra help and tumbled out of bed with his eyes still shut, much to Harry's amusement. Coming awake instantly was a talent he sometimes wished he had, but he knew better than to jump out without checking first for pranks/traps/ambushes/stray chocolate frogs from the previous night. After all, he was a Gryffindor, a boy, and had been there at the same time as the Weasley twins - not a good combination.
"Quidditch!" Mark exclaimed, remembering the reason he was being woken up at that unearthly hour of the morning. "Harry! Where's my shirt?"
"Here," Harry replied calmly, chucking it at him and pulling on his own Quidditch robes. In no time at all, they were running down and out, both looking forward to the session.
Snape was waiting for them in the shadow of the Slytherin stands. Harry was surprised to see that instead of his customary black robes, the ones that made him look suspiciously like an overgrown bat or vampire, he was wearing a set of Slytherin Quidditch robes. Really, he shouldn't have been too surprised - a player of Snape's standard would certainly have been on his house's team.
"Good morning sir," Harry said politely. The last thing he wanted was for Snape to get it into his head that he was insulting him and cancel the training.
"Good morning Mr Potter, Mr Evans. Shall we begin?"
"Sure. Which broom would you like sir? If you want, use the Firebolt again."
"Thank you Potter. You have a Snitch in your possession, I assume?"
Harry grinned and pulled the tiny golden snitch out of his pocket. Glancing apologetically at Snape, he turned to Mark to explain what was happening.
"This is the Snitch. The Seekers, one on each team, have to catch it, and that's what ends the game. You also get points. I play Seeker normally, so this is my job."
"Come on Potter, he'll understand if we show him. Its hardly a difficult concept."
Harry shrugged at Mark, stepped forwards and released the Snitch. They waited while it sped away, then they took off and raced after it. In and out of the goalposts, up and down, around, behind the stands it led them while Mark watched, awestruck, from below. At last, by soaring through one of the circular goals rather than swerving to miss it, Harry got a hand to the Snitch and they pulled to a halt in mid-air, pausing for breath before returning to the ground.
"Wow Harry! That was amazing!" Mark exclaimed. "You were so fast. . Will I ever be able to fly like that?"
"I am sure that you will if Potter keeps working with you," Snape said, then strode away, back towards the dungeons. Harry stared unbelievingly after him. Had he just paid him a compliment? Were his ears deceiving him, or had he just been acknowledged as a good player and an excellent coach?
"Well," he said, bringing himself back down to Earth. "Let's go and have breakfast, Mark. Your dad might have had time to owl you, although we did send your letter off a bit late."
"Okay. So, what do the other players do?"
"You know that there is one Seeker on each team, and their job is to catch the Snitch. Seekers are usually small, light and good flyers - you need to be since it's essentially a race. Then there are two Beaters per team. They carry bats, they're kind of like baseball bats, and keep the Bludgers away from the other players on their team. There are two Bludgers - they're small black balls - and they try and hit you. Beaters tend to be bigger and stronger than Seekers. There's one other ball in play: the Quaffle. That's the ball that you score goals with. There are three players on a team that try to score and they're called Chasers. The goal hoops are guarded by a Keeper. Understand that?"
"Uh . . ."
"Don't worry, you'll pick it up as we go along. I'll show you the other balls sometime."
"I guess," Mark said, a bit disappointed that he didn't know it straight away. He'd thought it was more like football but it actually sounded much more complicated. "What do you think will be for breakfast? I'm starved."
Harry laughed.
"Whatever you want, pretty much. Cereal, toast, bread, bacon, eggs. . ."
"Wow. But there aren't that many of us here, are there? Why go to so much trouble?"
"The house elves do all the cooking, and they actually enjoy it. They provide a large range of food for the school - when everyone's here someone's sure to eat it - and I guess that they look at what we eat in the holidays and provide what they think we'll need."
"Professor Snape told me about house elves. He said they were annoying, pestering little creatures that could never do anything right."
"He's wrong there. I know one of the house elves, Dobby. He works here at Hogwarts now, and he's helped me out a few times. He saved my entire defense group last year, going against one of the teachers to do it. Actually, I guess that might be why Snape doesn't like them. Dobby likes me much better than any of them, except possibly Dumbledore, and so he's a security risk."
~~~~Harry's POV~~~~~
Harry woke up early the next morning, since he knew he had an appointment on the Quidditch pitch with Professor Snape. No doubt the man had deliberately chosen the time to irritate him, and he was determined not to be late. Unfortunately, he was not quite early enough - they had five minutes to wake up properly, dress and get down there. He only hoped that Mark was fast.
"Wake up Mark!" Harry said, conjuring a wet sponge above his young cousin's face early - too early - the next morning. Fortunately, Mark woke up without needing the extra help and tumbled out of bed with his eyes still shut, much to Harry's amusement. Coming awake instantly was a talent he sometimes wished he had, but he knew better than to jump out without checking first for pranks/traps/ambushes/stray chocolate frogs from the previous night. After all, he was a Gryffindor, a boy, and had been there at the same time as the Weasley twins - not a good combination.
"Quidditch!" Mark exclaimed, remembering the reason he was being woken up at that unearthly hour of the morning. "Harry! Where's my shirt?"
"Here," Harry replied calmly, chucking it at him and pulling on his own Quidditch robes. In no time at all, they were running down and out, both looking forward to the session.
Snape was waiting for them in the shadow of the Slytherin stands. Harry was surprised to see that instead of his customary black robes, the ones that made him look suspiciously like an overgrown bat or vampire, he was wearing a set of Slytherin Quidditch robes. Really, he shouldn't have been too surprised - a player of Snape's standard would certainly have been on his house's team.
"Good morning sir," Harry said politely. The last thing he wanted was for Snape to get it into his head that he was insulting him and cancel the training.
"Good morning Mr Potter, Mr Evans. Shall we begin?"
"Sure. Which broom would you like sir? If you want, use the Firebolt again."
"Thank you Potter. You have a Snitch in your possession, I assume?"
Harry grinned and pulled the tiny golden snitch out of his pocket. Glancing apologetically at Snape, he turned to Mark to explain what was happening.
"This is the Snitch. The Seekers, one on each team, have to catch it, and that's what ends the game. You also get points. I play Seeker normally, so this is my job."
"Come on Potter, he'll understand if we show him. Its hardly a difficult concept."
Harry shrugged at Mark, stepped forwards and released the Snitch. They waited while it sped away, then they took off and raced after it. In and out of the goalposts, up and down, around, behind the stands it led them while Mark watched, awestruck, from below. At last, by soaring through one of the circular goals rather than swerving to miss it, Harry got a hand to the Snitch and they pulled to a halt in mid-air, pausing for breath before returning to the ground.
"Wow Harry! That was amazing!" Mark exclaimed. "You were so fast. . Will I ever be able to fly like that?"
"I am sure that you will if Potter keeps working with you," Snape said, then strode away, back towards the dungeons. Harry stared unbelievingly after him. Had he just paid him a compliment? Were his ears deceiving him, or had he just been acknowledged as a good player and an excellent coach?
"Well," he said, bringing himself back down to Earth. "Let's go and have breakfast, Mark. Your dad might have had time to owl you, although we did send your letter off a bit late."
"Okay. So, what do the other players do?"
"You know that there is one Seeker on each team, and their job is to catch the Snitch. Seekers are usually small, light and good flyers - you need to be since it's essentially a race. Then there are two Beaters per team. They carry bats, they're kind of like baseball bats, and keep the Bludgers away from the other players on their team. There are two Bludgers - they're small black balls - and they try and hit you. Beaters tend to be bigger and stronger than Seekers. There's one other ball in play: the Quaffle. That's the ball that you score goals with. There are three players on a team that try to score and they're called Chasers. The goal hoops are guarded by a Keeper. Understand that?"
"Uh . . ."
"Don't worry, you'll pick it up as we go along. I'll show you the other balls sometime."
"I guess," Mark said, a bit disappointed that he didn't know it straight away. He'd thought it was more like football but it actually sounded much more complicated. "What do you think will be for breakfast? I'm starved."
Harry laughed.
"Whatever you want, pretty much. Cereal, toast, bread, bacon, eggs. . ."
"Wow. But there aren't that many of us here, are there? Why go to so much trouble?"
"The house elves do all the cooking, and they actually enjoy it. They provide a large range of food for the school - when everyone's here someone's sure to eat it - and I guess that they look at what we eat in the holidays and provide what they think we'll need."
"Professor Snape told me about house elves. He said they were annoying, pestering little creatures that could never do anything right."
"He's wrong there. I know one of the house elves, Dobby. He works here at Hogwarts now, and he's helped me out a few times. He saved my entire defense group last year, going against one of the teachers to do it. Actually, I guess that might be why Snape doesn't like them. Dobby likes me much better than any of them, except possibly Dumbledore, and so he's a security risk."