CHAPTER 22
"I can't understand how that can come as a surprise to you!" Snapped Katie at quidditch practise. "I've been telling you all week. It's the match tomorrow."
Harry groaned and Katie glared at him. "You'd think you'd show a bit more enthusiasm." She turned to the rest of the team.
Ron hissed something in Harry's ear that he couldn't catch. "What?" Harry asked.
"I've got to tell you something." Said Ron gloomily.
"What?" Asked Harry again as they edged away from the changing rooms.
"It's about my flying." Ron said.
"What about it? It's brilliant! You're getting really good!"
"But I'm not, it's not talent."
"What do you mean?" Harry stared at Ron, not understanding.
"Well, you know that time months ago, when Dennis' club hit me, I just thought well I'm so bad at quidditch." Began Ron. "So I went to the library quickly and I found a spell to make me good at flying. It's really complex."
"There's no such spell!" Gasped Harry.
"There is." Said Ron. "So, that's why. I got rid of it though. Last night."
"But, Ron there isn't a spell like that!" Harry said, frowning at him. "Honestly there's not."
"Really?" Ron said, frowning himself. "Then I wonder what..."
"COME ON!" Roared Katie.
"She's just like a second Angelina isn't she." Ron grinned.
So they returned to the quidditch pitch. Harry realised that removing the spell, didn't stop Ron being an excellent flyer, he was just as good as ever. Ron seemed to have noticed this too, as he was in a very good mood all practise and didn't scowl when Dennis attacked him with his club, or when Ginny flew straight into him as she turned to wave at Emily.
"Alright, that was good." Said Katie when they landed. "Remember, Dennis, keep an eye on all the players in the match tomorrow, Emily, make sure you're out of charms club by 4 o clock and... What?" A mass of Slytherins had appeared.
"We were under the impression." Drawled Malfoy. "That Hufflepuff needed to practise." Harry now saw a group of yellow behind the green. "After all, they will win."
"Oh yeah?" Growled Katie, flying across to Malfoy.
"Yeah." Came a voice from behind Malfoy. It was Piers Polkiss.
"Where did Goyle go?" Katie asked, spotting Piers.
Malfoy smirked. "Well, after the fifth time of attacking a fellow player, he was thrown off the team." The mass of green vibrated with laughter. "Goyle's commentating!" The Slytherins howled with laughter again.
"But isn't that Ingrid girl commentating?" Katie asked.
"Oh, no she's not." Said Malfoy importantly. "Professor Snape told me. She's having remedial potions!" There was another roar of laughter. Malfoy wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. "Like you Potter."
Harry had not been having remedial potions with Snape last year, he was taking occlumency. Malfoy, however, thought differently. "He was!" Malfoy howled again to continued jeers from the mass of green.
Ron glared at them. "What was that Malfoy?" Katie asked as though she hadn't heard a word he had said. "Come on, let's go over our match plan for tomorrow." She tried to herd them away from the Slytherins, but Ron and Harry's feet were planted firmly in the ground. "Don't get involved." Katie hissed at them. So they decided to visit Hagrid.
"There you are!" Hagrid said gruffly as they arrived at his cabin. "I've not seen yer! Where's Hermione?"
"Sorry Hagrid," said Harry. "We've been really busy, we've come from quidditch practise."
"Ah, right." Said Hagrid sitting down. "You know, I've bin having these weird dreams."
"Like what?" Harry and Ron asked together.
"Well," began Hagrid. "Nah, it just don't feel right telling yer. It's weird it is. It's always the same voice. Hard, cold voice."
"Go on," Harry urged when he drew to a halt.
"Well, it's bin going on since Christmas. Weird dreams telling me stuff about you Harry."
"What about me?"
"Well, it's like warning me, telling me what to do."
"What do you think it could be?" Ron asked Harry in awe.
"Well, it's not just me. It's that Luna Lovegood as well. Same voice, telling her the same thing."
"What does it tell you?" Harry asked.
"I dunno really." Hagrid said looking away. "Look, I can't tell yer. You can understand that?"
Harry didn't really understand, but as they left the cabin, he couldn't help thinking that maybe it had something to do with those dreams over Christmas. Luna and Hagrid had both lost their mothers. Maybe that was linked in some way. He thought about this all evening and got into bed with his mind still on it. Eventually, he fell asleep. The room dissolved and there was darkness. Just like over Christmas. He fought round to remember what McGonnagal had said to do if it happened again. Remember, Harry told himself. It's your imagination.
He didn't think it was the same though. There was no voice. He was standing in pure darkness though. Dared he take a step? "Harry Potter," said a voice. A cold, hard voice. Eerie in a way. "So long have I waited for you..." The voice came again. "I have some tasks for you... If you do not obey, the consequence is drastic... More than drastic. You shall not tell anyone what you hear, obey me Harry Potter. You must go to the shrieking shack... NOW!" The darkness subsided. Harry woke up. Had he just experienced what Hagrid had? It was still dark. He leapt out of bed.
"Hey, Harry where're you going." Muttered Ron.
This seemed to jerk Harry to his senses. He was surprised to find himself out of bed and heading for the door. "Oh, nowhere. I must have just had an odd dream." He got back into bed. What had happened? He closed his eyes, but didn't fall asleep. He found himself thinking about the match against Hufflepuff the next day. He got up very early in the morning and went down to the great hall. To his surprise it was not empty. Katie Bell, Dennis Creevy and William Shakklebolt were up, eating their breakfast.
"Hi Harry." Said William as he sat down opposite them.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked them, almost sleepily. It wasn't yet seven-o clock. He hadn't expected them to be up.
"I couldn't sleep." Said Denis quietly. "So I went down to the common room and Katie and William were there talking, so we went to breakfast.
"It's not until the afternoon, so we can practise first." Said Katie cheerfully. "Only if Ginny and Emily are up. They don't normally emerge until around nine! I bet Hufflepuff will be practising too, so we need to get to the pitch as soon as possible. "Summerby is the seeker, he's not much good, but he's got a bluebottle. It's not very fast, but it is reliable."
"Right." Said Harry poking at his sausages with his fork. He wasn't feeling very hungry anymore.
"This is ridiculous." Snapped Katie twenty minutes later. They had all finished their breakfast and Ginny, Emily or Ron still hadn't appeared. "I'm going to wake them up. They know it's the match today." She left the great hall.
"It's not nice weather." Said Dennis.
"Well it is January!" Grinned William.
"Yeah, but it's almost February." Argued Dennis.
"It's still January." Insisted William. Harry turned away. The Great Hall was starting to fill up.
Katie returned five minutes later followed by a sleepy looking Ginny and Emily, then Ron who grinned at Harry and came to sit at the table. "There's no time." Snapped Katie. "I overheard the Hufflepuffs talking. They're practising early this morning too."
"I won't be long." Said Ron and began eating. Ginny and Emily did the same, while Katie stood behind them, arms folded and checking her watch every few seconds.
Eventually, they left the castle. But it was too late. Even at a distance from the quidditch pitch they could see seven yellow blurs in the air. "Thanks." Spat Katie, glaring at Ron, Ginny and Emily who were all looking very guilty. "We're not going to get a chance to practise now! It's a Hogsmeade visit today!"
"Yippee!" Yelled Dennis. Katie glared at him. Dennis smiled at her. "I don't think we need another practise." He said. "I don't want one. I've been looking forward to going to Hogsmeade for ages!" He waltzed off towards the castle.
"Fine." Snapped Katie. "All of you, make sure you're back by four."
Harry had forgotten about the Hogsmeade trip. Half an hour later, he, Ron and Hermione were heading into Hogsmeade. "Where shall we go?" Ron asked when they reached the centre of the village.
"How about the shrieking shack?" Hermione asked. Ron groaned, but the shrieking shack brought something back to Harry he couldn't quite remember. "Or the quill shop?" Hermione suggested. Ron groaned louder. "Fine." Hermione snapped. "Can you think of something better?"
"Zonkos!" Said Ron at once.
"It's not there." Muttered Harry. It was true; there was a gaggle of students outside the now empty building where zonkos had been. They edged nearer and read the sign.
'Transferring to Diagon alley.' The sign read. Ron frowned. "I bet it's because of Fred and George." He said.
"How about going into the three broomsticks for a butterbeer?" Hermione said, she didn't seem particularly interested in the zonkos sign.
"Yeah, ok." Said Ron at last so the three of them headed there. It was very busy. They managed to get a table though, and Harry spotted Bagman sitting at a table in the corner with... Fred and George!
"Hey Ron!" Harry hissed and pointed over at them.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked Fred and George sitting down at their table.
"Bagman's getting us premises." Grinned George.
"Might be boys, might be." Grinned Ludo Bagman. "Actually the chances now are very high. Zonkos left, so you could try and buy the premises from them."
Fred and George punched the air. That was obviously what they had been hoping for. Harry noticed a bunch of Hogwarts students staring at Fred and George and pointing them out to others. Fred caught sight of them and waved.
"I'd better be going, I'm a busy man." He said getting to his feet and leaving a small tip for the waitress.
Fred grinned at George. "Why aren't you at Diagon alley?" Hermione asked them, sitting down in the seat Bagman had been occupying.
"We came to talk to Bagman, and there's no point with everyone at Hogwarts." Said Fred. "But we'll be getting more gold with new premises."
They left the three broomsticks half an hour later, when they had finished their butterbeers and let Hermione drag them round the stationary shop. When Harry next checked his watch, it was three thirty. So they quickly bought some bertie botts every flavour beans and fizzing whizzbees, then left Hogsmeade.
Katie was already at the pitch, waiting for them. The rest of the team was also there. Harry and Ron changed quickly and when they emerged from the changing rooms, most of the stands were full. "There's so many people watching!" Gasped Dennis.
"We'll be ok" Said Katie firmly. "I'm so glad they've stopped that silly song. Harry knew she was talking about the 'Weasley is our king' chant. Harry mounted his broom and heard Madam Hooch blow her whistle.
"Er, they're off..." Came Goyle's boring and unenthusiastic voice. "Er, yeah, well... Enditon's got the big red thing, and..." The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors in the stands were laughing as Goyle unaware they he was the centre of humour bluntly went on. "Yeah, well Creevey has just hit one of the black balls over and oh yeah, it hit Smith." Now the Slytherins were laughing, while the Hufflepuffs groaned as Zacharias Smith clutched his arm, where the bludger had hit it. "I think he's alright." Continued Goyle. "Oh, it's ten zero to Gryffindor..." Katie had scored. The Gryffindor stands erupted. "And that Hufflepuff guy with the brown hair has just hit a... oh, are those the bludgers?" Harry turned to see who the Hufflepuff guy with brown hair was. He couldn't believe McGonnagal had got Goyle to commentate. Hufflepuff scored. It appeared Goyle hadn't noticed because there was no commentary. The Hufflepuff roared angrily at Goyle. "Oh, Hufflepuff scores." He grunted at last.
"Is this some kind of joke!" Laughed Ron as Harry came up his end. "Ahhhh!" The quaffle came whizzing at him, but he saved it.
"Oh blast!" Snapped Hannah Abbot who had thrown the quaffle.
"Weasley blocks the hoop." Grunted Goyle.
After six more scores from Gryffindor, the score was 70 to ten. "Well done!" Harry shouted at Emily as he flew past her. Ginny scored twice more; the Hufflepuff keeper was getting very annoyed and looked as though he would burst when Katie scored.
"100 to 10." Said Goyle. "Hufflepuff scores, 100 to 20."
Ron had been so busy laughing at Goyle that he didn't see the quaffle come up his end. Gryffindor scored three more times. Ron blocked twice more, and Emily scored again, making the score 140 to 20.
"Hufflepuff's hopeless!" Said Ginny as she flew past with the quaffle. William sent another bludger, but Summerby ducked just in time.
Harry had not yet seen the snitch. He let out a gasp of horror. Summerby was racing towards the Gryffindor goalpost. Harry turned; there was the snitch! He would never catch up! He forced his broom round and soared towards the snitch. He was gaining speed... but too late. Summerby had caught the snitch. Harry felt his heart sink. He had lost! The Hufflepuff seeker turned to grin at the stands; he was flying straight to Harry at quite a fast speed for a bluebottle. "Harry!" Yelled Ginny, Harry turned, but Summerby flew straight into him. Harry felt himself slide of his broom and fall to the ground.
"Harry!" Came seven voices. He opened his eyes. He was in the hospital wing. How had he got here? There was a strong pain in his left arm.
"Shhhh," came Madam Pompfrey's voice. "No, this shouldn't take long to fix."
Harry remembered. They had lost. It all came flooding back to him. "You fell 50 feet!" Said Ginny. "I got your broomstick." She held up his firebolt. Harry looked round. The whole of the Gryffindor quidditch team and Hermione was there.
"You should have heard Goyle when you fell!" Laughed Ron. "He goes – timberrr..." The Gryffindor quidditch team all laughed, but Hermione glared at them.
Harry was surprised how fast Madam Pompfrey could mend broken bones, because half an hour later, he, Ron and Hermione were in the Gryffindor common room. Harry was still feeling miserable about loosing the match, but as the rest of the team reminded him, they were only 30 points off.
Ginny came and sat down at their table. She fumbled in her robes for something, then pulled out a note with an untidy scrawl on it, that Harry recognised to be Hagrid's handwriting.
Meet me at the cabin as soon as possible. It's important!
Harry frowned at it. It was getting dark, and why would Hagrid want to meet them now? "We'd better go." Said Hermione. So Harry dashed up the stairs to get his invisibility cloak and five minutes later, they were in the South wing of the second floor corridor.
"Listen!" Hissed Hermione.
"A likely story! Going for a walk? At this hour?" It was Filch's wheezy tones. The three of them hurried round the corner to find Filch and Anna Chang.
"I'll go back to bed then." Said Anna and turned.
"You will not!" Snapped Filch. "I need to write a criminal record on..."
"Is it a crime to walk?" Said Anna sounding exasperated.
"It is at 11 at night." Said Filch, now sounding determined.
Anna however closed her eyes and seemed to be in deep thought.
"If you think that's going to get you out of it, you've got another think coming!" Spat Filch.
Anna opened her eyes, but when she spoke, she had a deep strong voice, quite unlike her own. "This is not worthwhile my time. I need you to tell me... Where is Dumbledore?"
Filch froze, like a fox facing a huntsman. "What's that?" He asked, voice shaking slightly.
"WHERE IS DUMBLEDORE." Bellowed Anna still in the same deep, strong voice.
"I... I don't know... he might have gone out or something." Stammered Filch, almost cowering before an eleven-year-old girl.
"Indeed?" Boomed Anna. "I do not think you are telling the truth!"
"It seems that way... but if I were to tell you..." Filch was now backing away from Anna.
Anna glared at him and continued walking, but she was headed straight at Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry dashed towards the other end of the corridor to stop her bumping into them. Ron and Hermione however, seemed to have not recovered from the shock and stayed where they were. So the invisibility cloak did not move with Harry as he ran...
"Harry?" Exclaimed Anna in her usual voice. "I was looking for you. I needed to ask you. Where is Dumbledore's office?"
"Why?" Harry asked frowning at her.
"I need to see him about something." Said Anna innocently.
"Oh yeah?" Said Harry who had become rather wary of Anna after what he had just seen. "He's out."
"Oh." Said Anna. "Thanks Harry." She began heading up to the Hufflepuff common room, but she turned and stared at Harry. "Can you tell me, for when he comes back?"
"Er, no. No one really knows." Said Harry.
"Really." Said Anna as though she knew that Harry wasn't telling the truth."
"Yes." Said Harry firmly. Anna smiled at him and vanished upstairs. Harry concealed himself under the invisibility cloak in case Filch came round the corner. They headed down to Hagrid's cabin in silence.
When they arrived, they could hear Hagrid talking to someone. "Should we go in?" Hermione asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, he told us to meet him." Said Ron.
"But if there's someone in there with him, then maybe..."
But Harry had already knocked on the door. "Jus' coming!" Called Hagrid and moments later, he appeared in the doorway.
"Who were you talking to?" Harry asked him.
"Oh, yer that's what I wanted to tell you about. You can come in."
Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the cabin to come face to face with... "Firenze?" Harry whispered more to Hagrid than to Firenze himself.
To Harry's surprise however, it was Firenze who answered. "Hagrid kindly decided to take me in, after I was attacked by the others."
"Where have you been?" Harry asked him.
"I've been hiding out in the Hogwarts grounds. Of course, Dumbledore said I could stay, but a school's no place for the likes of me." Firenze said knowingly.
"But you belong in the forest." Hermione said rather nervously.
"You try telling the other centaurs that." Said Firenze bitterly.
"Well then, we will." Said Hermione.
"I'd be surprised if you came back alive." Muttered Firenze.
"Well, if Hagrid came with us..." Hermione began.
"Hagrid? The centaurs will never respond to anything Hagrid says. He defended me last year. He is no longer welcome."
"Well, if we talk to them..." Hermione tried again.
"You could try, but you'll have no luck. They will not obey a human, they consider themselves above such things."
"Well," said Hermione thoughtfully, "if we had something against them..."
"Oh, don't use magic." Warned Firenze.
"No, I mean... is there anything they're scared of?"
"Scared? Well we don't like... unusual things."
"Like what?" Harry asked, racking his brain to think of something that could be classified as 'unusual'. The giant squid at once came to his mind, but how could they reason with a giant squid, and persuade it to leave the lake, and enter a forest so a centaur could have its natural habitat back. No chance.
"Well," Said Firenze, "non humans."
"But they must be used to non humans! They're in the forbidden forest!" Said Ron.
"Well, can you think of anything that is a non human and doesn't live in the forbidden forest? Something that will be glad to come?" Harry could not think of anything, nor, by his expression, could Ron.
"Oh!" Exclaimed Hermione. "A house elf!"
A/N: Well if U like long chapters you'll B happy!! :-D (Well longer than usual!) KEEP REVIEWING and THANKYOU to everyone who has!! I'll update soon... bye!
"I can't understand how that can come as a surprise to you!" Snapped Katie at quidditch practise. "I've been telling you all week. It's the match tomorrow."
Harry groaned and Katie glared at him. "You'd think you'd show a bit more enthusiasm." She turned to the rest of the team.
Ron hissed something in Harry's ear that he couldn't catch. "What?" Harry asked.
"I've got to tell you something." Said Ron gloomily.
"What?" Asked Harry again as they edged away from the changing rooms.
"It's about my flying." Ron said.
"What about it? It's brilliant! You're getting really good!"
"But I'm not, it's not talent."
"What do you mean?" Harry stared at Ron, not understanding.
"Well, you know that time months ago, when Dennis' club hit me, I just thought well I'm so bad at quidditch." Began Ron. "So I went to the library quickly and I found a spell to make me good at flying. It's really complex."
"There's no such spell!" Gasped Harry.
"There is." Said Ron. "So, that's why. I got rid of it though. Last night."
"But, Ron there isn't a spell like that!" Harry said, frowning at him. "Honestly there's not."
"Really?" Ron said, frowning himself. "Then I wonder what..."
"COME ON!" Roared Katie.
"She's just like a second Angelina isn't she." Ron grinned.
So they returned to the quidditch pitch. Harry realised that removing the spell, didn't stop Ron being an excellent flyer, he was just as good as ever. Ron seemed to have noticed this too, as he was in a very good mood all practise and didn't scowl when Dennis attacked him with his club, or when Ginny flew straight into him as she turned to wave at Emily.
"Alright, that was good." Said Katie when they landed. "Remember, Dennis, keep an eye on all the players in the match tomorrow, Emily, make sure you're out of charms club by 4 o clock and... What?" A mass of Slytherins had appeared.
"We were under the impression." Drawled Malfoy. "That Hufflepuff needed to practise." Harry now saw a group of yellow behind the green. "After all, they will win."
"Oh yeah?" Growled Katie, flying across to Malfoy.
"Yeah." Came a voice from behind Malfoy. It was Piers Polkiss.
"Where did Goyle go?" Katie asked, spotting Piers.
Malfoy smirked. "Well, after the fifth time of attacking a fellow player, he was thrown off the team." The mass of green vibrated with laughter. "Goyle's commentating!" The Slytherins howled with laughter again.
"But isn't that Ingrid girl commentating?" Katie asked.
"Oh, no she's not." Said Malfoy importantly. "Professor Snape told me. She's having remedial potions!" There was another roar of laughter. Malfoy wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. "Like you Potter."
Harry had not been having remedial potions with Snape last year, he was taking occlumency. Malfoy, however, thought differently. "He was!" Malfoy howled again to continued jeers from the mass of green.
Ron glared at them. "What was that Malfoy?" Katie asked as though she hadn't heard a word he had said. "Come on, let's go over our match plan for tomorrow." She tried to herd them away from the Slytherins, but Ron and Harry's feet were planted firmly in the ground. "Don't get involved." Katie hissed at them. So they decided to visit Hagrid.
"There you are!" Hagrid said gruffly as they arrived at his cabin. "I've not seen yer! Where's Hermione?"
"Sorry Hagrid," said Harry. "We've been really busy, we've come from quidditch practise."
"Ah, right." Said Hagrid sitting down. "You know, I've bin having these weird dreams."
"Like what?" Harry and Ron asked together.
"Well," began Hagrid. "Nah, it just don't feel right telling yer. It's weird it is. It's always the same voice. Hard, cold voice."
"Go on," Harry urged when he drew to a halt.
"Well, it's bin going on since Christmas. Weird dreams telling me stuff about you Harry."
"What about me?"
"Well, it's like warning me, telling me what to do."
"What do you think it could be?" Ron asked Harry in awe.
"Well, it's not just me. It's that Luna Lovegood as well. Same voice, telling her the same thing."
"What does it tell you?" Harry asked.
"I dunno really." Hagrid said looking away. "Look, I can't tell yer. You can understand that?"
Harry didn't really understand, but as they left the cabin, he couldn't help thinking that maybe it had something to do with those dreams over Christmas. Luna and Hagrid had both lost their mothers. Maybe that was linked in some way. He thought about this all evening and got into bed with his mind still on it. Eventually, he fell asleep. The room dissolved and there was darkness. Just like over Christmas. He fought round to remember what McGonnagal had said to do if it happened again. Remember, Harry told himself. It's your imagination.
He didn't think it was the same though. There was no voice. He was standing in pure darkness though. Dared he take a step? "Harry Potter," said a voice. A cold, hard voice. Eerie in a way. "So long have I waited for you..." The voice came again. "I have some tasks for you... If you do not obey, the consequence is drastic... More than drastic. You shall not tell anyone what you hear, obey me Harry Potter. You must go to the shrieking shack... NOW!" The darkness subsided. Harry woke up. Had he just experienced what Hagrid had? It was still dark. He leapt out of bed.
"Hey, Harry where're you going." Muttered Ron.
This seemed to jerk Harry to his senses. He was surprised to find himself out of bed and heading for the door. "Oh, nowhere. I must have just had an odd dream." He got back into bed. What had happened? He closed his eyes, but didn't fall asleep. He found himself thinking about the match against Hufflepuff the next day. He got up very early in the morning and went down to the great hall. To his surprise it was not empty. Katie Bell, Dennis Creevy and William Shakklebolt were up, eating their breakfast.
"Hi Harry." Said William as he sat down opposite them.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked them, almost sleepily. It wasn't yet seven-o clock. He hadn't expected them to be up.
"I couldn't sleep." Said Denis quietly. "So I went down to the common room and Katie and William were there talking, so we went to breakfast.
"It's not until the afternoon, so we can practise first." Said Katie cheerfully. "Only if Ginny and Emily are up. They don't normally emerge until around nine! I bet Hufflepuff will be practising too, so we need to get to the pitch as soon as possible. "Summerby is the seeker, he's not much good, but he's got a bluebottle. It's not very fast, but it is reliable."
"Right." Said Harry poking at his sausages with his fork. He wasn't feeling very hungry anymore.
"This is ridiculous." Snapped Katie twenty minutes later. They had all finished their breakfast and Ginny, Emily or Ron still hadn't appeared. "I'm going to wake them up. They know it's the match today." She left the great hall.
"It's not nice weather." Said Dennis.
"Well it is January!" Grinned William.
"Yeah, but it's almost February." Argued Dennis.
"It's still January." Insisted William. Harry turned away. The Great Hall was starting to fill up.
Katie returned five minutes later followed by a sleepy looking Ginny and Emily, then Ron who grinned at Harry and came to sit at the table. "There's no time." Snapped Katie. "I overheard the Hufflepuffs talking. They're practising early this morning too."
"I won't be long." Said Ron and began eating. Ginny and Emily did the same, while Katie stood behind them, arms folded and checking her watch every few seconds.
Eventually, they left the castle. But it was too late. Even at a distance from the quidditch pitch they could see seven yellow blurs in the air. "Thanks." Spat Katie, glaring at Ron, Ginny and Emily who were all looking very guilty. "We're not going to get a chance to practise now! It's a Hogsmeade visit today!"
"Yippee!" Yelled Dennis. Katie glared at him. Dennis smiled at her. "I don't think we need another practise." He said. "I don't want one. I've been looking forward to going to Hogsmeade for ages!" He waltzed off towards the castle.
"Fine." Snapped Katie. "All of you, make sure you're back by four."
Harry had forgotten about the Hogsmeade trip. Half an hour later, he, Ron and Hermione were heading into Hogsmeade. "Where shall we go?" Ron asked when they reached the centre of the village.
"How about the shrieking shack?" Hermione asked. Ron groaned, but the shrieking shack brought something back to Harry he couldn't quite remember. "Or the quill shop?" Hermione suggested. Ron groaned louder. "Fine." Hermione snapped. "Can you think of something better?"
"Zonkos!" Said Ron at once.
"It's not there." Muttered Harry. It was true; there was a gaggle of students outside the now empty building where zonkos had been. They edged nearer and read the sign.
'Transferring to Diagon alley.' The sign read. Ron frowned. "I bet it's because of Fred and George." He said.
"How about going into the three broomsticks for a butterbeer?" Hermione said, she didn't seem particularly interested in the zonkos sign.
"Yeah, ok." Said Ron at last so the three of them headed there. It was very busy. They managed to get a table though, and Harry spotted Bagman sitting at a table in the corner with... Fred and George!
"Hey Ron!" Harry hissed and pointed over at them.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked Fred and George sitting down at their table.
"Bagman's getting us premises." Grinned George.
"Might be boys, might be." Grinned Ludo Bagman. "Actually the chances now are very high. Zonkos left, so you could try and buy the premises from them."
Fred and George punched the air. That was obviously what they had been hoping for. Harry noticed a bunch of Hogwarts students staring at Fred and George and pointing them out to others. Fred caught sight of them and waved.
"I'd better be going, I'm a busy man." He said getting to his feet and leaving a small tip for the waitress.
Fred grinned at George. "Why aren't you at Diagon alley?" Hermione asked them, sitting down in the seat Bagman had been occupying.
"We came to talk to Bagman, and there's no point with everyone at Hogwarts." Said Fred. "But we'll be getting more gold with new premises."
They left the three broomsticks half an hour later, when they had finished their butterbeers and let Hermione drag them round the stationary shop. When Harry next checked his watch, it was three thirty. So they quickly bought some bertie botts every flavour beans and fizzing whizzbees, then left Hogsmeade.
Katie was already at the pitch, waiting for them. The rest of the team was also there. Harry and Ron changed quickly and when they emerged from the changing rooms, most of the stands were full. "There's so many people watching!" Gasped Dennis.
"We'll be ok" Said Katie firmly. "I'm so glad they've stopped that silly song. Harry knew she was talking about the 'Weasley is our king' chant. Harry mounted his broom and heard Madam Hooch blow her whistle.
"Er, they're off..." Came Goyle's boring and unenthusiastic voice. "Er, yeah, well... Enditon's got the big red thing, and..." The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors in the stands were laughing as Goyle unaware they he was the centre of humour bluntly went on. "Yeah, well Creevey has just hit one of the black balls over and oh yeah, it hit Smith." Now the Slytherins were laughing, while the Hufflepuffs groaned as Zacharias Smith clutched his arm, where the bludger had hit it. "I think he's alright." Continued Goyle. "Oh, it's ten zero to Gryffindor..." Katie had scored. The Gryffindor stands erupted. "And that Hufflepuff guy with the brown hair has just hit a... oh, are those the bludgers?" Harry turned to see who the Hufflepuff guy with brown hair was. He couldn't believe McGonnagal had got Goyle to commentate. Hufflepuff scored. It appeared Goyle hadn't noticed because there was no commentary. The Hufflepuff roared angrily at Goyle. "Oh, Hufflepuff scores." He grunted at last.
"Is this some kind of joke!" Laughed Ron as Harry came up his end. "Ahhhh!" The quaffle came whizzing at him, but he saved it.
"Oh blast!" Snapped Hannah Abbot who had thrown the quaffle.
"Weasley blocks the hoop." Grunted Goyle.
After six more scores from Gryffindor, the score was 70 to ten. "Well done!" Harry shouted at Emily as he flew past her. Ginny scored twice more; the Hufflepuff keeper was getting very annoyed and looked as though he would burst when Katie scored.
"100 to 10." Said Goyle. "Hufflepuff scores, 100 to 20."
Ron had been so busy laughing at Goyle that he didn't see the quaffle come up his end. Gryffindor scored three more times. Ron blocked twice more, and Emily scored again, making the score 140 to 20.
"Hufflepuff's hopeless!" Said Ginny as she flew past with the quaffle. William sent another bludger, but Summerby ducked just in time.
Harry had not yet seen the snitch. He let out a gasp of horror. Summerby was racing towards the Gryffindor goalpost. Harry turned; there was the snitch! He would never catch up! He forced his broom round and soared towards the snitch. He was gaining speed... but too late. Summerby had caught the snitch. Harry felt his heart sink. He had lost! The Hufflepuff seeker turned to grin at the stands; he was flying straight to Harry at quite a fast speed for a bluebottle. "Harry!" Yelled Ginny, Harry turned, but Summerby flew straight into him. Harry felt himself slide of his broom and fall to the ground.
"Harry!" Came seven voices. He opened his eyes. He was in the hospital wing. How had he got here? There was a strong pain in his left arm.
"Shhhh," came Madam Pompfrey's voice. "No, this shouldn't take long to fix."
Harry remembered. They had lost. It all came flooding back to him. "You fell 50 feet!" Said Ginny. "I got your broomstick." She held up his firebolt. Harry looked round. The whole of the Gryffindor quidditch team and Hermione was there.
"You should have heard Goyle when you fell!" Laughed Ron. "He goes – timberrr..." The Gryffindor quidditch team all laughed, but Hermione glared at them.
Harry was surprised how fast Madam Pompfrey could mend broken bones, because half an hour later, he, Ron and Hermione were in the Gryffindor common room. Harry was still feeling miserable about loosing the match, but as the rest of the team reminded him, they were only 30 points off.
Ginny came and sat down at their table. She fumbled in her robes for something, then pulled out a note with an untidy scrawl on it, that Harry recognised to be Hagrid's handwriting.
Meet me at the cabin as soon as possible. It's important!
Harry frowned at it. It was getting dark, and why would Hagrid want to meet them now? "We'd better go." Said Hermione. So Harry dashed up the stairs to get his invisibility cloak and five minutes later, they were in the South wing of the second floor corridor.
"Listen!" Hissed Hermione.
"A likely story! Going for a walk? At this hour?" It was Filch's wheezy tones. The three of them hurried round the corner to find Filch and Anna Chang.
"I'll go back to bed then." Said Anna and turned.
"You will not!" Snapped Filch. "I need to write a criminal record on..."
"Is it a crime to walk?" Said Anna sounding exasperated.
"It is at 11 at night." Said Filch, now sounding determined.
Anna however closed her eyes and seemed to be in deep thought.
"If you think that's going to get you out of it, you've got another think coming!" Spat Filch.
Anna opened her eyes, but when she spoke, she had a deep strong voice, quite unlike her own. "This is not worthwhile my time. I need you to tell me... Where is Dumbledore?"
Filch froze, like a fox facing a huntsman. "What's that?" He asked, voice shaking slightly.
"WHERE IS DUMBLEDORE." Bellowed Anna still in the same deep, strong voice.
"I... I don't know... he might have gone out or something." Stammered Filch, almost cowering before an eleven-year-old girl.
"Indeed?" Boomed Anna. "I do not think you are telling the truth!"
"It seems that way... but if I were to tell you..." Filch was now backing away from Anna.
Anna glared at him and continued walking, but she was headed straight at Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry dashed towards the other end of the corridor to stop her bumping into them. Ron and Hermione however, seemed to have not recovered from the shock and stayed where they were. So the invisibility cloak did not move with Harry as he ran...
"Harry?" Exclaimed Anna in her usual voice. "I was looking for you. I needed to ask you. Where is Dumbledore's office?"
"Why?" Harry asked frowning at her.
"I need to see him about something." Said Anna innocently.
"Oh yeah?" Said Harry who had become rather wary of Anna after what he had just seen. "He's out."
"Oh." Said Anna. "Thanks Harry." She began heading up to the Hufflepuff common room, but she turned and stared at Harry. "Can you tell me, for when he comes back?"
"Er, no. No one really knows." Said Harry.
"Really." Said Anna as though she knew that Harry wasn't telling the truth."
"Yes." Said Harry firmly. Anna smiled at him and vanished upstairs. Harry concealed himself under the invisibility cloak in case Filch came round the corner. They headed down to Hagrid's cabin in silence.
When they arrived, they could hear Hagrid talking to someone. "Should we go in?" Hermione asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, he told us to meet him." Said Ron.
"But if there's someone in there with him, then maybe..."
But Harry had already knocked on the door. "Jus' coming!" Called Hagrid and moments later, he appeared in the doorway.
"Who were you talking to?" Harry asked him.
"Oh, yer that's what I wanted to tell you about. You can come in."
Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the cabin to come face to face with... "Firenze?" Harry whispered more to Hagrid than to Firenze himself.
To Harry's surprise however, it was Firenze who answered. "Hagrid kindly decided to take me in, after I was attacked by the others."
"Where have you been?" Harry asked him.
"I've been hiding out in the Hogwarts grounds. Of course, Dumbledore said I could stay, but a school's no place for the likes of me." Firenze said knowingly.
"But you belong in the forest." Hermione said rather nervously.
"You try telling the other centaurs that." Said Firenze bitterly.
"Well then, we will." Said Hermione.
"I'd be surprised if you came back alive." Muttered Firenze.
"Well, if Hagrid came with us..." Hermione began.
"Hagrid? The centaurs will never respond to anything Hagrid says. He defended me last year. He is no longer welcome."
"Well, if we talk to them..." Hermione tried again.
"You could try, but you'll have no luck. They will not obey a human, they consider themselves above such things."
"Well," said Hermione thoughtfully, "if we had something against them..."
"Oh, don't use magic." Warned Firenze.
"No, I mean... is there anything they're scared of?"
"Scared? Well we don't like... unusual things."
"Like what?" Harry asked, racking his brain to think of something that could be classified as 'unusual'. The giant squid at once came to his mind, but how could they reason with a giant squid, and persuade it to leave the lake, and enter a forest so a centaur could have its natural habitat back. No chance.
"Well," Said Firenze, "non humans."
"But they must be used to non humans! They're in the forbidden forest!" Said Ron.
"Well, can you think of anything that is a non human and doesn't live in the forbidden forest? Something that will be glad to come?" Harry could not think of anything, nor, by his expression, could Ron.
"Oh!" Exclaimed Hermione. "A house elf!"
A/N: Well if U like long chapters you'll B happy!! :-D (Well longer than usual!) KEEP REVIEWING and THANKYOU to everyone who has!! I'll update soon... bye!