Solieyu seemed to be one of the few people left awake. Not only awake, but taking notes, to boot. Deciding to ask his friend WHY he was bothering after class had ended, Harry continued his look-about.Terry Boot, on the other side of the room, was whispering animatedly to Gary Haskit. Probably about their ridiculous journey to the center of the school that they had been plotting.
And Tonks...
Tonks was beside Harry, fast asleep. Her currently-long, red hair was falling about her face in a way that made her look anything but the energetic prank-planning girl that she was. Harry couldn't help but smile at her for a moment. The weekend was drawing ever closer and with it, his first lesson at trying to change his features around. With any luck - and Harry's had been pretty good as of late, fame and fangirls aside.
That morning, during breakfast, Tonks had tried to pry more information out of Fred and George Weasley about which prank from The List that they were planning on doing. But it had been to no avail. The redheads were keeping their lips firmly sealed on the subject. As she and Harry had left the Great Hall, she had to scowl at the twins' younger brother, who had started to trail after them.
They had met up with Solieyu on their way to the History of Magic classroom. When asked why he hadn't been at breakfast, Solieyu had said that he hadn't felt well that morning and had gone to see Madam Pomfrey. Indeed, Harry had remembered seeing one empty bed when he had gotten up. Solieyu stated that he was feeling much better now that he was out of the hospital wing. He looked it, too. There was a bit more color in his usually pale face.
And so they had entered the History of Magic classroom as an awake and alert trio.
Now one was asleep, one was still awake and alert, and one - Harry - was in-between the other two - not quite fully awake and yet not feeling the pulls of the sandman, inviting him into slumberland.
He jumped, therefore, when the bell went off, signalling the end of the class. Professor Binns abruptly stopped speaking, probably in the middle of a sentence, and floated off through the blackboard that was behind him.
The students who were still awake began waking up those that had fallen asleep. Harry gave Tonks a soft shake, calling her name. It took awhile, as Tonks usually was a deep sleeper, but he got her to open her eyes. "S'about time." He said once this happened. "I've been trying to wake you up for a bit. Class is over. S'almost lunch time!"
"Nn...food...hungee Tonks." Said Tonks in a very groggy voice. She tried laying her head back on the table in front of her, but Harry refused to let her.
After nearly a minute more of prodding and shaking, Tonks was awake enough to stand and walk, though she wasn't very happy.
"You interrupted a perfectly nice dream!" She said with a hmph.
"What were you dreaming about?" Harry asked as he gathered his books.
"Never you mind." Said Tonks, turning away.
Harry blinked, but shrugged it off and looked toward Solieyu, who had been patiently waiting for his friends to get themselves up and out of class. "So what'd you find so interesting, anyway? You looked almost like you were enjoying yourself."
Solieyu coughed, a small smile on his face. "Well," he began, "Someone has to stay awake and take notes, right? It wouldn't do if everyone in class slept and no one took notes - we'd all fail. And besides, the potion that Madam Pomfrey gave me gives me more energy than I'm used to. I figured that it couldn't hurt if I was the one taking notes this time."
"And we all thank you for it, I'm sure." Harry said, grinning as the trio headed out of the classroom. "You good an' awake now, Tonks? I don't want you running into walls or falling down any stairs."
"M'awake enough." Grumbled the girl, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, which were a pale green at the moment.
"If you say so." Harry replied, rolling his eyes. "Come on, food's waiting for us."
"Fooood..." Tonks said, smiling sleepily.
"Always works." Harry stage-whispered aside to Solieyu. He got a swat on the arm from Tonks for his efforts.
Entering the Great Hall, the trio headed for their usual spots at the
end of the Ravenclaw Table. But the three had barely gotten their
plates and goblets in order before a high-pitched scream eminated from
somewhere in the direction of the Entrance Hall. A few seconds later,
Fred and George came rushing into the room, laughing themselves silly. One spotted Harry's group, tugging the other over.
"I'm just guessing, but am I to assume that you two were behind that scream just now?" Solieyu asked, eyebrow raised.
At this, the twins both snorted and doubled over in laughter again. They weren't able to breathe properly enough to explain what had happened when it all became clear.
Draco Malfoy, his hair spiked up in a brilliant, rainbow-colored
mohawk, stormed in. His face was a purple to rival Vernon Dursley's,
and his robes were just as rainbow-colored as his hair. To say that
he walked would have been misleading. Rather, he was waddling, as
the giant, red clown shoes on his feet didn't take very well to
normal walking.
The Great Hall burst into laughter when the students caught sight of the Slytherin. Fred and George collapsed to the ground in giggles.
"Number
Forty-Eight!" Tonks exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I thought
you weren't going to do the first prank until this weekend,
though!"
"We...we couldn't help it!" Wheezed George between laughs. "We...we came downstairs and...and he and Ron were arguing with each other!" Taking a deep breath, he continued, "Hated each other ever since Diagon Alley. Met up in Flourish and Blotts. Malfoy was having kittens over something, too. Hey, I bet it was 'cause he just got knocked on his arse, now that I think about it! ...Anyway, he and Ron got into a fight there... and you know Malfoy, sniping whenever he can..."
"Family's not exactly wealthy." Fred chimed in. "And Malfoy knows it. So now, Ron and Malfoy start in whenever they cross paths..."
"We overheard him talking about our mother this time." George continued with a tsk and a shake of his head. "Annnnd we 'slipped,' that's all."
"No need to make excuses to us." Harry said, biting at his lip to try and keep from cracking up, as well. Malfoy had waddled himself over to the Slytherin table to try and find an older student who could change him back to normal. It was very amusing to see the cross of a punk rocker and a clown yelling at someone. Especially when that someone had a soft, drawling voice.
Tonks, who had no problems with giggling herself stupid, was doing just that. "You two... you two are brilliant!" She gasped out.
"Yes, we think so." Fred said, smiling proudly.
"And we're still planning another for this weekend. We'll just need to pick out another one, that's all. Shouldn't take but a minute!" Exclaimed George, jabbing the air with a finger.
"Ahh, you guys are a great antidote to the boredom of History of Magic, you know that?" Harry said, still trying not to dissolve into laughter.
"Having Binns first thing in the morning. Shouldn't be allowed!" George said.
"You two aren't worried about getting into trouble?" Asked Solieyu, who had kept his composure (though he was grinning) through the whole event.
"Nawww." George said. "We've done loads worse than this. The staff's used to it! In fact, we haven't done much of anything so far this year. Probably had some of 'em worried."
"Shame that Snape's not around. I'd love seein' the look on that greasy-haired git's face." Fred added.
"You realize how many points you'd lose your house, though." Solieyu said. "Right?"
"Of course... but we always make 'em back, eventually." Fred said. "We keep track of how many we lose, see. Then we break even before the end of the year."
"Even got a handful more, last year." George added.
At that moment, another Gryffindor came bursting into the Great Hall, looking quite out of breath. He scanned the crowd for a moment, found who he was looking for, and ran over to the twins. "Get movin'! Snape's on his way and he's mad! Someone went back to tell him!"
Fred and George nodded, saluted Harry and Tonks, then turned and dashed off, hollering a "Thanks, Lee!" over their shoulders as they left.
Lee, meanwhile, looked to the trio, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "So you guys are who they got that list from?"
"Yup!" Said Tonks.
"None other." Said Harry.
Lee rolled his eyes. "I'll know who to blame, then, if we lose the House Cup this year. Damn, there's Snape! Seeya!"
And with that, Lee walked as calmly and innocently as he could back to the Gryffindor table, taking a seat beside a girl with very bushy hair.
Snape, meanwhile, was looking towards his house's table with a mixture of horror, outrage, and shock on his face. Muttering something under his breath, the potions master stalked over toward Draco Malfoy. Draco had just tried pulling out his wand to hex Goyle, who had stepped on his foot, but only succeeded in whipping out a giant, squeaky mallet. He looked completely baffled when it was all the way out. So baffled, in fact, that he didn't notice Snape standing directly behind him until he pulled the mallet back, still wanting to hit Goyle for what he had done...
...And bashed his head of house square in the face. The mallet let out a happy "WHISH!" of air when it came in contact with Snape. Draco, not expecting something to stop his arm, turned around to yell at whoever was stupid enough to get so close to him...and stopped dead, gaping up at Snape, who looked just short of being outright livid. Snape grabbed his own wand quickly, aimed it at various parts of Draco, and turned his hair, outfit, and wand back to normal. He then grabbed the boy by the wrist and proceeded to drag him out of the Great Hall.
Draco protested and apologized the entire way.
Once gone, the Great Hall erupted into laughter once more. Tonks was pounding the table with one hand and clutching her aching stomach with the other, she was laughing so hard. And this time, Harry was inclined to join her.
"Oh, god, my stomach hurts..." Harry said as the trio left the Great Hall half an hour later.
"Mine too! Ohh, and I'm still hungry..." Tonks said, walking beside Harry and rubbing her stomach.
"That's because you spent too much time laughing and not enough eating." Solieyu said in a would-be sage voice.
"It was worth it." Harry said, grinning. "I was hoping they'd do Number Forty-Eight..."
"And when Malfoy squashed Snape in the face with the mallet... that was absolutely priceless!" Tonks said, grinning as well. "Ohh, the morning may've been boring, but lunch sure wasn't. How'd you keep from laughing, anyway, Leon? That was the funniest thing I've ever laid eyes on!"
"Just wondering how the Weasley twins were planning to top something like that, that's all." Responded Solieyu. "And besides, if I had laughed as hard as you two, I wouldn't have eaten much, either."
"You never eat much." Tonks said.
"I never need much." Solieyu replied.
"Alright, you two." Harry said. "Cut it o-- hey, look! There's Malfoy!"
Harry pointed off down a corridor (they were returning to Ravenclaw Tower to drop off their other books and supplies) at one Draco Malfoy, who looked right miffed. The blonde had his hands in his pockets and was muttering fiercely to himself as he walked, his eyes on the ground.
"Oi, Malfoy! Nice shot with that mallet!" Tonks called out. "Remind me not to be around you when you're feeling like pulling another out!"
Draco looked up sharply. His eyes immediately narrowed as they fell on Tonks, who was smiling cheerfully back at him. As he passed the group by, the blonde turned his head and hissed, "I'll get you back for that, Potter. I know it was you... it had to be you..."
"Oh?" Harry began, raising his eyebrows. "And why's that?"
Draco opened his mouth...closed it...opened it again...then growled something foul and stormed away, hands clenching tight as he did so.
"The best part is his lack of proof." Harry said with a smile once Draco was out of range. "And the twins would hopefully never carry The List around with them, so...everyone would just put it off as another one of their pranks."
"We've gotta get them something special at Christmas." Tonks said as they started walking again.
"Perhaps," Solieyu suggested, "A pair of rainbow-colored wigs?"
Harry and Tonks gaped at their friend, who raised his eyebrows and asked, "What? I can't say something amusing once in awhile?"
"And just for that, I'm adding your name to the 'from' part of the tag." Tonks said, grinning at Solieyu.
"Wonder if they even make rainbow-colored mohawk wigs..." Harry pondered aloud.
"Ah, sure they do. If they don't, you can just get 'em transfigured!" Tonks said.
"You two do realize that if you get them wigs, they'll try wearing them around the school for awhile, right?" Solieyu asked.
"I'm counting on it." Said Tonks.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
The next class on the schedule for the first-year Ravenclaws was Flying with Madam Hooch. Harry was looking forward to this class much more than he had been with History of Magic. As he, Tonks, and Solieyu made their way back from Ravenclaw Tower, students were laughing with each other and talking about the prank that the Weasley twins had played at lunch. Harry exchanged a small smile with Tonks.
Their lesson seemed to take place not far out onto the school grounds. Several of the school's brooms had been lined up in rows along the ground. Madam Hooch, a woman with short, gray hair and strangely-yellow eyes, was waiting for all of her students to arrive. Harry's group seemed to be one of the first to arrive. Off near the professor were a pair of Slytherins. Elsewhere, a lone Hufflepuff was looking around as if waiting for friends to arrive.
"This is only the one lesson, isn't it?" Asked Harry as he looked at all of the brooms.
"Yup!" Said Tonks. "Guess she's gonna do all the first years at once. Quicker that way, I suppose..."
And indeed, this seemed to be the case. As the time of the class drew nearer, more and more students from all four houses began filing out onto the grounds. Once everyone was present and accounted for, Madam Hooch cleared her throat, drawing all eyes to her.
"Well, what are you all waiting for? Everyone stand by a broomstick." She called out. "Come on, hurry up! Stick your right hand out over your broom and say 'Up!'"
Harry waited a moment before testing this out, choosing to observe a few of the other students trying to get their brooms to obey.
As everyone seemed to shout out 'Up!' at once, a number of things happened. Ron Wesley got smashed in the face by his broomstick, which seemed to be overly eager. The boy Harry had seen on the Hogwarts Express - Neville Longbottom - seemed to have only a little better luck. His broom didn't hit him in the face, but it didn't seem to want to come all the way up, either.
Malfoy, on the other hand, seemed to have very little trouble in getting his broom to obey - something that annoyed Harry to no end.
Beside him, Tonks got her broomstick up after a few quick tries. On his other side, Solieyu's was gliding in the air a few feet above the ground. Like the boy who would be riding it, the broomstick seemed to be very calm and relaxed.
Finally looking down at his own broom, Harry finally cried, "Up!" The broom jumped into his hand at once, causing him to let out a relieved sigh.
After a bit more practice, most everyone in the class was able to get their brooms off of the ground. Though some were just barely making it.
Madam Hooch proceeded to tell the students how to mount their brooms. As she walked around, helping her class properly grip their brooms,Harry and Tonks shared a quiet chuckle - Madam Hooch had just told Draco Malfoy, who had come to class gloating about how long he'd been riding a broom, that his grip was completely wrong.
"Now then," Said Madam Hooch, walking back to where everyone could see her. "When I blow my whistle, I want you to kick off from the ground. Keep your brooms good and steady, rise up a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. Ready?"
But as soon as the whistle had been blown, Neville, who had been jumpy around his broom, pushed off entirely too hard. While most other students in the class were hovering a foot or two off of the ground, Neville was screaming straight up, higher and higher every moment.
"Come back, boy!" Shouted the professor, craning her head back to
keep an eye on the Gryffindor. But Neville continued to rise for
a bit longer. Neville's broomstick then seemed to go into a fit
of sorts, sputtering and darting about erratically. With a sudden,
hard
twist, Neville had been flung off. Harry could only stare on, mouth
open, as he saw the boy come falling back to earth. The noise
from the impact made almost everyone in class wince.
Madam Hooch rushed over to Neville's side, along with a number of
Gryffindor students, who had landed almost immediately after Neville
had shot upward. From his point of view, Harry couldn't tell who
had the whiter face - the professor, Neville, or the other Gryffindors.
He saw that Madam Hooch had said something, though he was too far away
to make out what, exactly. But a moment later, she had Neville on his
feet. The boy was clutching one of his wrists and groaning pitifully.
"None of you are to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing!" She called to the class as she escorted Neville back toward the school."You leave those brooms right where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch!'"
"Poor Neville..." Said Harry, shaking his head. "Always seems to be something or another with him..."
"Yeah, he's accident prone if ever somebody was..." Tonks said.
Harry was about to say something else when a familiar, annoying laugh filled the silence. Rolling his eyes and suppressing a groan of annoyance, Harry turned to see Malfoy laughing himself silly, smirking all the while.
"And he's in Gryffindor? The hat must have been sick." Said the blonde. "Did you see his face? Crying like a little baby..."
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Snapped one of the Gryffindor girls in attendance.
One of the Slytherin girls next to Draco shot back something snide to the Gryffindor girl, causing them both to drift away from the rest of the class in a verbal sparring match.
"Look!" Came Malfoy's voice again. "Now what have we here?"
Harry turned back to look at Malfoy, seeing him reach down and pick up a roundish object off of the ground. Draco seemed to eye it carefully for a moment before barking another laugh out. "A Remembrall! For him? What's the point? The fat little crybaby wouldn't remember what the thing was reminding him of, anyway!"
Harry exchanged a look with Tonks, who nodded. He glanced over at Solieyu, who nodded as well. It didn't matter to Harry that Neville wasn't in the same house as he was. It didn't matter that he hardly knew the boy at all. He wasn't going to stand idly by as Malfoy ran his mouth, throwing insults around like he owned the place.
Moving down a few brooms, still holding his own, Harry began, "You know, Malfoy, for someone who came into the Great Hall this morning looking like an escapee from a circus, you sure are acting tough. Or...did you forget how it felt to be laughed at? If you need to be reminded, it wouldn't take much..."
Everyone fell quiet, including the two bickering girls. Their eyes
glanced from Harry to Malfoy, who was sneering and, if only fainly,
blushing somewhat.
"Ahh, I wondered how long it would take for you to butt in." Malfoy said in his slow, drawling voice. "Sticking up for the great lump, are you?"
Harry's eyes glancing quickly to the group of Gryffindors still around and meeting Dean Thomas' gaze briefly, he nodded. "That's right. Got a problem with it, do you?"
"Oh, no..." Draco said, smirking. "Not at all..."
"Give it here, Malfoy." Harry said calmly, holding out his left hand and nodding towards the Remembrall still clutched tightly by the blonde.
Malfoy looked Harry over for a moment before chuckling and shaking his head. "Now why, Potter, would I want to do that? No... I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. How about... up a tree?"
"I won't say it again, Malfoy." Harry said, narrowing his eyes.
But Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and had taken off. Harry
felt a surge of annoyance course through him. Whatever he had been
bragging about beforehand, it didn't seem to be all waffle - the
boy knew how to fly. Hovering around the top of one of the grounds'
numerous trees, Malfoy called out, "Come and get it, Potter!"
Harry scowled, rubbing at his temples for a moment before turning and looking back at Tonks and Solieyu. "Suggestions?" He asked.
"I say ya go get the prat." Tonks said, nodding.
"You could always try keeping him up there until after Madam Hooch returned. He'd get in trouble for being off the ground." Solieyu supplied with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "If you can't wait, however..."
Feeling the need to do something to stop Malfoy's arrogant laughter as he soared above, Harry looked down at his own broom. "Well, now, do you feel up to a chase?" He asked it, feeling somewhat silly about it. Surprisingly, however, the broom seemed to rattle in his hand somewhat.
"So, that's three votes for getting the ponce, is it?" Harry said under his breath as he mounted the broom.
"Harry, wait!" Came a voice from one side. Turning to look, Harry saw Dean Thomas rushing over.
"Harry, you don't have to do this..." He began, looking up at Draco.
"Yeah, I know. Only I have this thing about bullies, see..." Harry said, scowling as he moved his gaze upward again. "Hits me in a bad spot, you could say."
"Yeah, but still..."
"Look, I'll do what I can... but do me a favor. If you spot Madam Hooch coming back, yell or something, alright?"
"Yeah, sure..." Dean said, frowning slightly. "Be careful. We overheard the git talking and he claims to've been flying for a long time... we thought it was a load of rubbish, but..."
"But it looks like he knows what he's doing. Yeah, I noticed." Harry said, shaking his head and kicking off.
The broom responded wonderfully, sending him soaring up into the sky. A bit too far up, in fact. He had to tilt the front of the broom downward in order to get level with Malfoy, who was looking somewhat surprised.
"Give it here, Malfoy." Harry said again as he approached.
But Draco just snickered, tossing the Remembrall back and forth between his hands lazily. "Or what? You'll knock me off of this broom?"
"If I must." Harry replied.
"I'd like to see you--AUGH!" Draco began, not expecting Harry to suddenly lean forward and shoot right at him. Malfoy grabbed his broom and jerked it to one side just in time for Harry to soar past. Making a fluid turn, Harry tried again from another angle. Once more, Malfoy had to yank on his broom to get out of the way of the Ravenclaw boy. As they were performing this act of hit or miss, they had been steadily getting higher into the air.
"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to come to your rescue, Malfoy." Harry said with a small grin as he circled around the blonde. "It's a long way down, don't you think?"
Malfoy looked down briefly, his eyes bulging only for a moment. But it was enough to make him realize what he was doing. Looking back up at Harry, the blonde suddenly growled, "Yes, it is...certainly long enough to break this thing. Now be a good hero and catch it if you can!"
Shouting the last word, Draco gave the Remembrall a solid throw, slinging it high up into the air. Harry watched the orb fly upwards for a moment, then looked back to where Malfoy was... or, rather,where he had been. The Slytherin was now flying back down toward the ground. With another scowl, Harry locked his gaze onto the Remembrall and began to shoot upward.
Luck, as it seemed to be in most cases, just wasn't with him on this particular afternoon. The Remembrall had been thrown out more than it had been thrown up. So when Harry got up to where it should have been, it had begun its descent - right for the side of the castle. Muttering something under his breath about being forced to do something like this in front of the whole of the first years, Harry pointed the top of the broom for where he figured the orb would collided. The broom responded instantly, shooting him back down at an angle.
Caught in a dive that he wasn't at all thrilled to be in, Harry gripped the broom tightly in his right hand. As he approached the Remembrall, which was approaching Hogwarts, he extended his left hand out and leaned forward even more. The castle was rapidly approaching, but Harry was almost caught up to the Remembrall. Crying silently for just one last burst of speed from the broom, he leaned as far forward as he dared. His fingers gripped around the orb and, at the same time, he jerked the front end of the broom up and to one side sharply.
Several students below screamed as he got closer... closer. and stopped not a foot away from one of the windows on the third floor of the school. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Harry urged the broomstick back to the ground, his heart pounding in his ears. When he reached the ground, a small group of students rushed over to him, patting him on the back and congratulating him for doing something so daring. Harry, feeling annoyed at the attention, pushed away from the group and headed for Dean Thomas.
Ignoring the insults that Malfoy was now calling out, Harry lobbed Neville's Remembrall at Dean, who caught it easily.
"Keep a good grip on that thing," Harry said, running a hand back through his hair. "I don't want to do that again..."
"Thanks, Harry... that was right nice of you..." Dean said, looking over the orb for any possible cracks in its surface.
Harry shrugged, a ghost of a smile on his face. "S'what friends are for, right?"
As Harry began to turn back towards Tonks and Solieyu, however, Harry noticed that the noise from the crowd had seemed to vanish. Once he was fully around, he understood why. Madam Hooch was standing not ten feet away. Beside her was tiny Professor Flitwick, looking quite out of breath.
"Harry! Harry!" Professor Flitwick cried as he rushed over to his student. "In all my time at Hogwarts, I've never seen one of my own doing something so...so... I don't know what got into you, but you should have been more careful! You could have been hurt!"
Harry blinked, watching his head of house squeak rapidly at him. It took him a few seconds to work through all that the professor had said, it had come out so quickly.
"Come with me now, Harry, if you would. Don't worry, I've already spoken to Madam Hooch about it..." Flitwick said, turning and motioning for Harry to follow.
Looking confused, Harry handed off his broom to Solieyu, who, like Tonks beside him, was watching Harry with a somewhat worried expression on his face.
"Professor," Harry began as the two started moving away from the rest of the students. "I can explain what happened... I know I wasn't supposed to--"
"Quiet now, Harry, there's something that needs to be done about this, but - oh, you had me frightened! I had just looked out the window you nearly crashed through, you know! Right this way, please!" Professor Flitwick said, leading Harry up the main stairway once they were back inside.
Up and up they climbed, Professor Flitwick going on and on about just
how dangerous what he had done really was. Harry was beginning to wish
he had just been able to block that idiot Malfoy's snide comments
out of his mind. But then, he thought, what kind of a friend would
he be? Even if he didn't know Neville all too well, the boy seemed
nice enough. Certainly, he could use any help he could get. And,
remembering what Dudley used to do to him, Harry couldn't help but
help the smaller boy out.
"All these stairs," Professor Flitwick was saying, huffing and puffing a bit. "Not made for someone my size. Good exercise, but terrible in the mornings... now then, ah, here we are!"
Harry looked up and noted that they were outside of a classroom door. A very familiar one, in fact. Cracking the door open, Flitwick stuck his head inside. "Excuse me, Professor McGonagall? Do you think I could speak to Lynch for a moment?"
Harry raised an eyebrow. But a moment later, a lanky boy a good foot
taller than Harry emerged from the Transfiguration classroom. He had
long, sandy-blonde hair pulled into a ponytail that nearly reached
the middle of his back. His eyes were a strange shade of blue and,
currently, he was looking down at Professor Flitwick with a curious
look in them.
"Lynch, my boy, I've found you a Seeker!" Flitwick squeaked, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet and clapping his hands together excitedly.
Lynch's expression went from curious to confused. His eyes moved from Flitwick to Harry and, after a moment, realization dawned in the boy's eyes. "You're serious, Professor?" He asked, looking back to Flitwick.
"Oh, yes, yes!" Flitwick said, bouncing slightly. "An absolute natural at it! Why, I saw him catch -- what was it you caught, Harry?"
"Uh... a...a Remembrall. Belongs to Neville Longbottom..." Harry said, not quite getting where the conversation was going.
"Ah, yes! A Remembrall! How silly of me... I saw him catch a Remembrall in his hand after what had to be a fifty-foot dive! He nearly came crashing through the window I was looking out of, but managed to bring his broomstick around to a halt. It's been a good, long while since I've seen anything like it!" Professor Flitwick said.
Lynch looked back to Harry, slowly sizing him up this time. His head began nodding slowly as he did so, a grin forming on his face. Harry saw that he was missing one of his canine teeth. "Have you ever seen a Quidditch match?" He asked Harry.
"No... I've read a bit about it, but... well, I haven't known about being a wizard for very long..." Harry admitted.
"Steven Lynch here is the captain of the Ravenclaw team!" Flitwick chimed in, smiling back and forth at his students.
"Well... I'll fill you in on anything you need to know. Blimey, it's like he was built for it, too. He's small and pretty thin... he's got to be fast!" Lynch said, his voice beginning to rise to that of the professor's in excitement. "Oh, but we'd need to get something that could utilize that frame of his, Professor..."
"I'll speak to Albus about it... Hopefully we can get around that first-year rule, eh? Oh, I would like to see the Cup back with us this year... didn't even make the finals last year." Flitwick said, shaking his head.
Lynch winced. "Yes, our team wasn't up to par last year, was it? Birman said he wasn't coming back this year, though, and Phiski graduated... we'll be better this year, Professor. I promise! And with Potter on the team..."
"We'll get the Cup back from Slytherin for sure!" Flitwick said, squeakily. "Professor Snape would be fit to be tied!"
Harry watched their conversation go back and forth, his mind slowly beginning to work out what was going on. Feeling more than a bit thick for not being able to work it out sooner, he opened his mouth and asked, "Wait, wait... I thought first-years couldn't..."
"That's what we'll be trying to get around!" Professor Flitwick said with a solemn nod. "Oh, I know Albus will let you fly, Harry! It's going to be wonderful!"
"So...I'm... I'm going to be..."
"Part of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team? If we play our cards right!" Said Lynch with an almost feral grin... or as feral as one could look with a missing canine tooth.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"...That's..."
"No way! You can't be serious!"
Solieyu looked speechless. Tonks was practically bouncing in her seat at the Ravenclaw table. It was dinnertime, and Harry had just finished explaining why Flitwick had pulled him out of the remainder of their Flying class.
"First years are never allowed on house teams!" Tonks bounced. "You've gotta be the youngest--"
"--In a century. Yes, Flitwick told me. Then Steven told me. About a dozen times, in fact." Harry said, looking up the table. Steven Lynch was having a hushed, yet rapid conversation with a girl that looked to be around his age.
"Aw, Malfoy's gonna have kittens, Harry!" Tonks said, grinning. "That it's his fault you're on the team'll only make it worse!"
"I start training next week." Harry said, biting down a laugh. "Only don't tell anyone. Lynch seems to want to use me as a hidden weapon or something..."
"Right! Won't tell a soul! Right, Leon? ...Leon?" Tonks said, turning toward the boy, who looked a bit on the ill side. "Oi, you alright?"
"What? Oh, yes, I'm fine. Just feeling a bit sick to my stomach, I'm afraid. I think I should go see Madam Pomfrey again, perhaps..." Said Solieyu, rubbing at his forehead with a hand.
"You're too pale for your own good. Go on, before me an' Harry hafta
carry you up! Can you get there alright on your own?" Tonks asked,
tilting her head.
Solieyu smiled wanly as he stood. When he didn't wobble, he nodded to her. "I should be fine. I'm sorry for breaking off on you two like this. Especially with the good news. Congratulations Harry, really."
"Don't worry about it. We can't have you getting sick or something and missing my first game, can we?" Harry said, grinning slightly.
"Indeed we can't." Solieyu agreed. The boy turned and headed out of the Great Hall then, rubbing at his stomach slightly.
"I hope he's alright. Seems way too weak for his own good." Tonks said, watching him go.
"Yeah... I don't want to be rude and ask why he's always acting strangely, but... well, I guess I'm sort of curious." Harry admitted.
The two began eating again. But after a few minutes of relative silence, someone from up the table called his name loudly and yelled for him to 'Think fast!'
Harry looked up, only barely managing to shoot a hand up and grab something that had been thrown at him. His fingers sank into the object and, taking a look at it, he saw it to be a bread roll. Looking outright baffled, Harry looked back up the table and saw Lynch grinning that half-feral grin of his again. On the opposite side of the table from him, a chunky-looking boy was staring at him with widened eyes.
Tonks slung a roll back up the table, beaning Lynch in the side of the head. Harry stifled a snort.
"Tonks!"
"Well! He coulda thrown anything at you!" Tonks said, defensively.
"I think that the other guy is one of our Beaters...Timothy. somethingorother. I haven't got the names of the whole team memorized yet..." Harry said.
Tonks winced, then smiled apologetically up the table at the hefty boy, who rolled his eyes at her.
"Having a last meal, Potter?" Came a certain, drawling voice. "Been kicked out, I suppose... but that's what you get for breaking the rules..."
"Acting a lot braver now that you have your goons with you, are you?" Harry said, obviously annoyed at just how often Malfoy was popping up today.
Malfoy glared at him for a moment before smiling. "I'd take you on anytime on my own." He said, his smirk falling into place. "In fact, how about tonight? A Wizard's duel. Wands only - no contact. What's wrong, Potter? Never heard of a Wizard's duel before?"
"'Course he has." Tonks scowled. "I'm his second. Gonna use one o' those two human shields as yours?"
Malfoy looked back at Crabbe and Goyle, taking into account which
was bigger. "...Yeah, Crabbe is, I suppose. Is midnight alright?
We'll meet in the trophy room - it's always unlocked..."
"Fine." Harry said, dismissively.
Seemingly satisfied, Malfoy and his cronies headed off toward the Slytherin table. Once he was out of earshot, Harry asked, "What's a Wizard's duel? And what'd you mean, you're my second?"
"Second takes over if ya die." Tonks said, shrugging. "But people only die in proper duels an' stuff. Doubt Malfoy could pluck a chicken using magic. You can't honestly be thinkin' about fightin' him, can you?"
"Of course not. Let the ponce stand around all night if he wants. I've got more important things to do than run around after hours. Besides, he'll be getting what's coming to him this weekend."Harry said, waving a hand in a vague gesture.
"That's the spirit. Besides, we need sleep tonight. Potions is tomorrow." Tonks said with a grimace.
"Don't remind me. Every time I've tried looking at Snape, it seems like he's glaring at me...no idea why." Harry said, glancing sideways up at the staff table briefly. "Just the same, I don't think I'd want to fall asleep in his class."
"Whattaya think Fred an' George are gonna choose, anyway?" Tonks asked.
"No idea. I'm almost hoping for Number Eighty-One right now. I'd really love seeing Malfoy walk around looking like he had a broom jammed up his backside." Harry said.
"Ooh, that'd be fitting, alright... Me, I was kinda hopin' for Number One-Twenty."
"One-Twenty? What, you want to see Malfoy get the infinite itching powder down the pants?"
"Too right I do." Tonks said. "He wouldn't be able to stop scratching! Everyone would think he's wrong in the head. And just think of what he'd have to go through for someone to fix it."
"Ooh, I see now..." Harry said, grinning. "...Maybe they could do both at once."
"I'd pay good money to see that."
"So would I."
"Well, we'd better get goin'...I wanna fill ya in on what happened after you left. Madam Hooch really laid into Malfoy, y'know." Tonks said as she took a final gulp of pumpkin juice.
"Really?" Harry asked, standing after he popping a final bite of apple pie into his mouth.
"Yup! She an' Flitwick seemed to pop in outta nowhere. And Malfoy looked so bloody smug when you got toted off! Guess he thought you were gettin' into trouble. Ohh, if only he knew..." Tonks trailed off.
"He'll know soon enough." Harry said, a grim smile on his face. "He'll know soon enough..."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Author's Note: On to a few short notes. I know I said it before, but I really like that people are wondering if Leon's a dark creature or not. It seems the majority has him pegged as a werewolf. Ahh, but is he or is he not? Well, saying one way or the other would ruin any surprises I might have up my sleeve, yes?
As for Tonks' lack of clumsiness... no, I didn't forget. Remember, puberty hasn't set in just yet. It'll come about with time, don't worry. There are a couple of things I have specially planned that concern her tripping up at the wrong moment, some may or may not be used in a fluff-inducing manner. Tripping and causing Harry to become a human cushion to soften the impact, for instance...
As for Harry's attitude...he's Harry Potter. He would've worked in any of the houses. He's got enough of what each house likes to have in it all rolled into one. He might not be the best at what he does, but he will go about things a bit more intelligently than he might have if placed elsewhere...
As a final note, I do hope you enjoyed Number Forty-Eight.