The Fifth House
Disclaimer: I think we ALL know what I'm about to type, so I just won't type it because we're all being so psychic today…
Author's Note: It's Spring Break for Starry {and other people, too}! This means, I can update more! I haven't been able to update in a while. I'm so sorry about that, by the way. But I'll be home a lot the next week, so I'll be updating a lot more. Do y'all remember when I updated three days in a row? That was cool, but I haven't had a lot of time to do that lately.
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Review.
R something….
Curtains Up!
Chapter Twenty
Swish.
Harry loved the sound of flying broomsticks. They made such a beautiful sound when they were speeding through the air.
It was difficult, however, to concentrate on the beauty of Quidditch when he was still trying to get used to the new pitch. It wasn't new, exactly, but it was new to Harry.
The pitch was very different from the other one indeed. It appeared much older than the other. The stands were carved into sides of something like a canyon, and they were decorated differently. First of all, the other pitch's stands had fabric with the house colors on the sides. This pitch's stands were painted with each house's colors. There were also paintings of each house's mascot on each set of stands.
The setting of the pitch itself was also different. The other pitch had been on what Harry had formerly thought to be a vacant field, but turned out to be a cemetery. It was next to the school, on completely flat ground.
This field, however, was atop a mountain. The stands rose high around the pitch, making the actual pitch something like a canyon that just happened to be sitting on a mountain. This gave the snitch many more places to hide, so it would be harder to catch.
The Gryffindor team was scrimmaging the Ravenclaws. They had never scrimmaged before; this time Dumbledore wanted the teams to get used to the pitch. After Harry's team's scrimmage, the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs would go up against each other.
However, tryouts still had not been held, so it was a practice game on difficult terms. The Ravenclaw team needed a new chaser, the Gryffindor team a new keeper, the Slytherins a new chaser and beater, and the Hufflepuffs a new seeker. The teams had thought it pointless to play under such conditions, but Dumbledore had insisted on scrimmages before tryouts.
It was a hard game. The Gryffindors had no one to block the goalposts, so everyone had to try to block them. It seemed that six people who had never been keepers would be able to fill the keeper spot satisfactorily, but none of them would ever be as good as Oliver Wood.
The Ravenclaws had to make due with just two chasers tossing the quaffle to each other. The Hufflepuffs had to use one of their chasers as a seeker. This chaser was reluctant though; it seemed no one wanted the spot of seeker out of respect to their previous one, Cedric Diggory. The Slytherins possibly had it the worst: they had to use two chasers and only one beater.
Regardless, the practice games still went smoothly.
Well, as smoothly as anything could get with Terces lurking.
Harry had thought he saw the snitch go into one of the cracks on the side of the canyon, so he went to find it. He was amazed to find that he could fit through the crack, and he was perhaps even more amazed at what he found inside it.
Inside the crack, there was another set of stands. It was much, much smaller; maybe fitting only ten people. Harry was above these stands only a little, because otherwise he would crash into the ceiling. It was some sort of cave. These seats were also painted. They were painted violet and an opaline color, with a painting of a wolf.
Harry faced to area that he entered from. It must have been some kind of magic that made this happen, but you could see through the stone to the pitch. You could actually watch the game through the canyon walls.
It was the perfect setup. No one would know that they were there; whoever sat here could watch the match in secret.
But Harry knew perfectly well who had sat there.
Harry saw the snitch hiding near one of the cracks along the cave walls, and he flew over and grabbed it. After taking one last look around the secret stands, he flew out of the cave and back onto the pitch, to end the scrimmage.
It was the perfect setup for what happened next to become the perfect corruption.
* * * *
Eleanor Branstone walked quickly to her dorm. She didn't want anyone to here her or know she was there.
There had been way too much on her mind lately. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore: her homework, her friends, her family.
Her family. If anyone ever found out about them, there would be absolutely nothing she could ever do to stop it. People would know who they had been, and once they found out, Eleanor would never be able to live it down.
She arrived at the entrance to the Hufflepuff dormitories. She'd always thought the entrance was well concealed. It was a large oriental rug that was black and yellow and hung on the wall.
She said the password, and watched the rug slowly pull itself up to reveal a passage. She pulled the rug back down after she went under it, and then quickly-but quietly-jogged down the hidden hall.
She reached the comfortable common room, and then went down a short staircase to a door on her right. She opened it slowly and walked in.
She looked through her trunk for a few minutes before finding an old leather book. She looked around the room quickly before opening to the first page.
She read quickly over the first few pages. They showed her family history. She stopped at one page, which showed a large picture. The picture was of a rather old-looking woman, wearing a fuchsia shawl and some multi-colored jewels. The old woman in the picture was sleeping. Eleanor sighed, and then rubbed her fingers on the name below the picture, which read:
Bellacynthe Branstone
"Yes, Eleanor?" the old woman said waking up and squinting a little.
"Hello Grandmother. I need some advice," Eleanor said.
"Tell only as much as you'd like to know," Bellacynthe said. It was her most famous advice.
"Of course. I was wondering what I should do about something. I'm actually not supposed to tell what it is. But, it's just, everything is so confusing, and there is way too much. Bad things have been happening in the school, Grandmother, bad things. They've happened before, but this time they're so much worse! I just don't know what to do anymore!" Eleanor said. If anyone else had heard her saying that, it might not make sense, but Eleanor's family wasn't just anyone else.
"I understand. So you want to know what to do about everything? I know, dear, it's much harder when you have some idea of what will happen. You cannot tell if it is just your imagination getting to you, or if your powers are telling you. Our family has had this same hindrance for years. Remember that you are gifted with your powers, but sometimes they will not seem like a blessing at all.
" When it comes to determining whether it's your abilities or your imagination, just follow your eyes. Listen to your sight, pay attention to your other senses, consider you heart, and let your mind paint a picture of what will happen. If that doesn't make sense to you when thinking about what's bothering you, it is not your powers telling you this. If you feel most strongly about it in your heart, you will surely know that it is just your imagination. Eleanor, Seeing is when your mind, eyes, and other senses tell you what will occur. If your heart plays a part in it, you are not Seeing anything," Bellacynthe explained. The old woman then fell back to sleep.
"Alright then, thank you Grandmother," Eleanor said, even though she knew the old woman would not hear her.
Bellacynthe Branstone was not the best person to explain anything in explicit detail, or even make any sense about it. Eleanor didn't like to ask her for advice, but she had seemed the best person to ask at the moment.
Basically what Bellacynthe had said was that Seeing is from your mind and senses. Seeing is not affiliated with your heart, she had said. If you were to think something would happen, and you felt it most strongly in your heart, it was not Seeing, just you imagination, Bellacynthe had said. She said that you should consider you heart, but not pay attention to it.
Eleanor was a Seer-to-be. Her whole family was Seers. It was in her blood to know what would happen.
Just then, Eleanor felt a surge of power go through her body. She felt it in her mind, her eyes, her ears, her fingers, her face. Something told her, from her heart and all of these places, that Bellacynthe Branstone was not telling the truth.
* * * *
It was a few nights later, November the 15th, and Harry was just getting back to his dorm from an 11 o'clock {p.m.} detention with Snape {Harry had accidentally forgotten his potions book on a day that Snape was in a bad mood}. He got to his dorm, where there was a scroll waiting for him on his bed.
Knowing what it was, Harry walked into a closet where he opened the scroll, which jumped quickly out of his hands and unrolled by itself to reveal a door. Harry checked his watch. It was midnight.
It was midnight on the morning of November 16th; it was time for a meeting with Ray Cruz, Eleanor Branstone, Kylie D'Alessandro, and Mundungus Fletcher.
Curtains Close!
Author's Note: Yet another chapter in the saga in which we follow Harry and his friends and enemies through a tale of suspense, interest, terror, drama, and cliff-hanger chapter endings has been completed. Okay, maybe TFH {The Fifth House} isn't that great, but it's pretty okay, right?
People, I have a feeling that this story may not be done before the fifth book comes out. Please keep reading it even if the Fifth book comes out first, even though this story takes place in Harry's fifth year. You will keep reading, won't you?
Words of Wisdom: It's nice to be important, but it's always important to be nice.
~ I forget who said this, but I've heard it so many times.
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I love you all!
Ciao!
~Starry