Chapter Twenty-Three: Death Eater's Son
Over the next few weeks, Harry began to concentrate on Quidditch. Having practiced every position with John, Harry found it much easier to fly through the plays in attempts to capture the Golden Snitch. With his trusty Firebolt, Harry had no trouble ensnaring the Snitch. Harry was pleased to see that the two returning beaters, Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper, had improved over the summer. They both now knew which team to aim the bludgers at. After practicing with Harry, Ron had also improved, though he was still easily discouraged. Ginny made the transition to chaser flawlessly. The two returning chasers, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet, were both in top form. Unlike their last captain, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell was much more relaxed and casual in her training style. She knew the old plays in and out and declined to create new plays when the current ones worked fine.
"Harry?" said a voice that shook Harry from his thoughts.
"Sorry, what?" asked Harry.
"I said, 'Ready for the match against Slytherin on Saturday?'" asked Ron.
"Yeah, it should be a great match. Sorry about not answering, I was lost in my thoughts," said Harry.
"Thoughts on what?" inquired Ron.
"How many times have you heard anything from Malfoy?" asked Harry.
"You know, you're right. He hasn't insulted you, me or Ron's family once this year," commented Hermione, "Do you think he's too afraid of picking a fight with you if you have the Guard behind you?"
"No, it's something else, I can feel it. If I walk past him and his friends, he just drops his head and walks as fast as he can away. Guess he's not that good of a rat, huh?" remarked Harry.
"Hey, forget about him, just think, we've got DA tonight," said Ron.
"That is true. I've been thinking about adding some members of DA to the Guard. I suppose that I'll allow fifth years and up to join, preferably sixth years as we'll be more comfortable with them," said Harry, "If you look at it, there are only two fifth years and one seventh year, all the rest are sixth years."
"You know, now that I think about it, you're right. We seem to have stuck with our own, in a sense," said Hermione, "So how will you choose who is suitable to join?"
"I guess I'll put it through two rounds. I'll choose people who I believe will be advantageous to us. Then, you guys will be able to contest any appointments. I'll factor in a few things in my decision, of course, but there are just minor details," said Harry, "I'd like to do it tonight and only once. I don't want to be spending my weekends training recruits."
"That sounds reasonable," said Hermione, "What about Dumbledore? Should he be allowed a vote?"
"During tonight's meeting, I'll lead them to his office as if they're in trouble, just to put them on edge. He will ultimately have the final say," responded Harry.
That night, Harry changed into his white robes but asked the others not to so as to keep the identities of the composition of the Guard a secret. Tonight, he would be the "only" Guard member representative. As the club reviewed Patroni, Harry slowly called students out into the hall. Soon, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Lavender Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil, Lisa Turpin, Terry Boot, and Anthony Goldstein were lined up outside the Room of Requirement. Harry paced in front of them wearing his gravest look.
'Any objections?'
Silence
Harry took it as an okay.
"Follow me," said Harry in a disappointing voice as he marched the eight to Dumbledore's office, "Chewy Caramel."
The gargoyle moved aside and Harry pointed them up the stairs as he followed the last person up.
"Ah, yes, you've brought them," said Dumbledore as they entered, "I trust there were no objections to the punishment?"
"No, sir, not a one," said Harry as the eight exchanged nervous glances.
"For being the type of students that you are, you have been chosen," said Dumbledore as he waved his wand, "You shall need a new set of robes."
Murmurs began amongst the group as they were adorned in their new uniforms.
"Welcome… to the Phoenix Guard," said Dumbledore, "I'm sure that you all have no idea of what I am talking about, so I shall make it simple: you eight have been chosen to join the ranks of an elite student… battalion, shall we say. Now, the duties that are involved in this are simple: to protect Hogwarts from any form of attack, from an external force or internal. Now, Harry and I ask that you not use your powers for vindictive reasons, only when absolutely necessary. Harry?"
"Yes, you are all welcome within our ranks. Thanks to you eight, we now total twenty, a rather nice number. Now, as a form of initiation, I'm going to perform a few spells on you. Do not worry, they are painless and have been performed on me and the others. First, Mentale Mista! You may now speak with me using your mind. I use this as a means for contacting you and calling you to my side, if needed. Second, Calla Ecce! Now, you may see through any disguise, be it an invisibility cloak, Polyjuice Potion, or any other of the like. Lastly, Calla Gauga! This allows you to assess the power levels and abilities of people around you. Since Mentale Mista allows you to talk to another person, in this case me, the combination of it with Calla Gauga allows me to see how you are all holding up if we were in battle. Now, your new uniforms: to put them on or take them off, just will them on or off. This works if you need to quickly change as they are now magically linked. Finally, I ask you all to sign these contracts. If you read them carefully, they point out the consequences of any actions I deem unjustifiable," said Harry as the eight quickly scanned and signed the contracts, "Thank you very much. Welcome to our little family. Now, this weekend, I expect you all show up to training at none o'clock at the Room of Requirements. After this weekend, you will all be official members. I suggest that you return to your common rooms, DA should be over by now."
As the new members quickly got accustomed to changing their robes, they left. Harry turned to the headmaster.
"Sir, something has been bothering me. Remember my vision at the beginning of the year when I found out that Draco would be spying on me?" asked Harry as the headmaster acknowledged him, "Well, he seems to be doing a poor job. In fact, he seems to be keeping a low profile."
"I see, well Harry, I have my suspicions as to why. Each as unlikely as the next. As Phileas pointed out last year, to me, one cannot tell a young person anything about another person. Nine times out of ten, the young one will believe himself to be right and that the other is wrong," said Dumbledore, "Anything else?"
"No, sir," said Harry as he left.
The next two days, and even training, went quickly for Harry as he anticipated the upcoming match. Before he knew it, he was changing into his Quidditch robes and heading out onto the field with his Firebolt over his shoulder.
"Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season!" yelled the magically enhanced voice of Seamus Finnegan, "Today's match is Gryffindor versus Slytherin!"
The crowd cheered as the players took their positions around Madam Hooch.
"Captains, shake hands," said Hooch as Katie and Montague shook hands. Montague looked as if he was attempting to break Katie's hand but she showed no sign of fear, "Now, I want a nice clean game, from all of you," as she threw the quaffle into the air.
Harry immediately kicked off and began to circle the field. Harry saw Katie being cut off by the keeper, so he flew as fast as he could at the keeper. His bold move paid off as the keeper was forced to change directions, giving Katie the room she needed to score the first points.
"It's 10-0, Gryffindor. Nice play by seeker, Potter, as he distracted the keeper," announced Seamus.
Harry once again began to circle the field as the game continued below him. Slytherin had taken a slim lead as Harry noticed that Malfoy was following him, move for move.
'Let's see him follow me after this.'
"Potter's gone into a dive and Malfoy is right behind him. It's a feint! Malfoy pulls out just in time. Ooh! He wasn't fast enough to miss that bludger. Nice beating by Kirke. Malfoy's out cold," announced Seamus as the crowd erupted, "What? Potter's got the snitch! Amazing! The final score is Gryffindor 170 and Slytherin 30."
As Harry had pulled out of the feint, he had seen the snitch on his right. He reached out quickly and grabbed it. After the match, Madam Hooch flew down to wake up Malfoy. Harry landed beside her and extended his hand to help Malfoy up.
"Look, I don't have time for this little petty rivalry betweens us," said Harry as Malfoy's eyes came into focus, "I couldn't care less if you believe me but I don't have time to be insulting you or cursing you every time I see you. I have bigger problems than a couple of Slytherin bullies."
Malfoy said nothing as he stalked off the field.
Harry made his way back to the locker room wondering about whether or not Malfoy had taken him seriously or not.
'Halloween's this weekend, at least then I'll be able to get my mind off things.'