Chapter Seven
Shattered Reputation
When Terry finally made it back to the common room that night, he told anyone who would listen, mainly Midnight as everyone had gone to bed, about what had happened. He sat on the edge of his bed, his chin in his hands and told Midnight a play-by-play of what happened.
"..then I shot off around the stadium—whooshing and zooming along—and then I caught four more walnuts and then I turned around and shot after a couple more I saw in the distance and then—"
"Terry!" shouted Travis from his bed. "I know you're excited. I am too. But, I'm asking this as a friend, mate, would you just shut up and go to bed?"
Terry scratched Midnight behind the ears and got into bed. He lay on his side, thinking about the last two hours. He made it onto the Ravenclaw house team as a Seeker. That night, he had a dreamless sleep, but in the morning, for some reason, he remembered something about flying walnuts.
Terry got up and got dressed in a hurry. He wanted to send a letter to his mother about making the team.
So, he went into the common room and went through the owl statue passageway and went to the owlery, a stuffy room with owls of all shapes and sizes. He scrawled out a short message to his mother, and sent it with a barn owl.
"You all made it on the team?" asked Gary when they told him about the prior nights' events.
"Yeah. All three of us," said Travis.
"That's great! We'll win the Quidditch Cup for sure this Year. Last Year we lost every game we played. It was horrible," Gary told them.
"Wait, who made it on the team?" asked a boy on Gary's other side.
"My brother and his two friends did, Peragu," said Gary to the boy.
"Blimey! We must have a party!" the boy leapt up and went to tell his friends. They all smiled and craned their necks to see Terry, Travis, and Alia.
"Gary, who was that?" asked Terry.
"Oh, him? That was Peragu Paleface. He's boy in my dormitory. A real trouble maker, he is."
Peragu and two other Ravenclaw second Year boys rushed out of the hall with large grins on their faces.
"Its business as usual, you two," said Alia looking at her course schedule. It was indeed. Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Herbology were on the days' agenda. In Transfiguration, they were studying the History of Famous Tranfigurers. Charms, they had started the Levitation Charms. Potions was anther grueling experience. Snape, obviously in an already bad mood, was docking points like his life depending on it.
"Kanteroff, too many goat horns! Two points from Ravenclaw. Williand, you wait until it starts steaming, not sparking! Three points from Hufflepuff!"
For this reason, Terry, Travis, and Alia all did their best to make their potions acceptable. When Snape swept over, he glared down into Terry's potion. A vein in the bridge of his nose pulsated madly. His eyes narrowed and his mouth made a horrible curl upwards. He seemed to be struggling to say something he thought were words to kill him.
"Good work, Ollivander," he eventually spat. "Much better than I would have expected. I doubt it will happen again."
Terry sat there, dumbstruck.
That night, when Terry, Travis, and Alia got back to the common room, the once pale blue room was decked out in multicolored confetti; balloons, party hats, crackers, drinks, and food were piled into the room with a large banner draped over the room saying "Congratulations New Ravenclaw Quidditch Players!" in large blue letters.
It was quite a celebration. When Alia took her first step into the common room a dozen hands seized her and yanked her inside. Travis was bombarded by Gary who showed him around to a couple six-Year Prefects.
Terry was actually asked for pictures by two girls in Alia's dormitory who introduced themselves as Michelle Bulkstrand and Hope Livecombe. Michelle was a red haired freckled girl and Hope was a white-blonde haired pretty girl. Both Hope and Michelle fought over who could put their hand on Terry's shoulder in the picture and who had to take the picture.
Once Terry could get away, he was approached by Peragu Paleface.
"You like it?" asked Peragu. He was draped in orange streamers and a lime green party hat. He was holding a tankard of butterbeer, a sweet frothy drink that Peragu had apparently nicked from a pub in the village near the castle.
"Yeah," said Terry. "It's great."
"I'm trying to outdo my distance uncles. When they were here at Hogwarts, they threw at least twenty parties. I've already taken down four parties, this being the fifth."
Terry was bewildered. "Those must be some uncles."
"Their famous," said Peragu with a mischievous smile. "They're my uncle Fred and George. They're the owners of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes: Joke of All Kinds."
"You're joking! Really?" asked Terry.
"Yeah. They're my father's sister's husband's younger brothers. I have a diagram."
Peragu departed to go give Travis a good slap on the back. Terry went off to find Alia to find her sitting on a stool in a corner looking harassed.
"Terry!" she exclaimed when she saw him. "Thank goodness I found you. I thought they would smother me."
Terry sat down in a stool next to her. "It's quite a party," said Terry taking a shifty at the party from a distance. "I wonder where Travis is."
Alia put her face in her hands with an exasperated sigh. "I don't know, but I'm not going to go look for him."
Just then, Travis, looking tousled flung himself out of the party.
"I—need—air" gasped Travis. He sat down also.
"So," started Alia. "We're the new Ravenclaw Quidditch players."
"Yeah," said Terry. "Cool, isn't it." This sounded rather sedate compared with exciting connotation this sentence implied.
The party started to die down by midnight. Midnight came scuttling out of the crowd and leapt into Terry's lap. He stroked her head and Alia scratched her behind the ears.
Michelle Bulkstrand and Hope Livecombe had lost their interest with Terry and started flirting with the Prefects Travis was introduced to. Midnight rushed off to the stairs toward the boys' dormitory and came down the stairs with a gold something hanging out of her mouth. Midnight had found the model Snitch Travis had given Terry for his birthday. Oddly enough, Terry had a feeling Midnight was congratulating Terry on his becoming a Seeker.
As the month progressed, the homework total increased exceedingly. Professor Granger had not been satisfied with Terry's Avis essay and asked him to redo it. The following Tuesday, Professor Dannersham taught them all an entire chapter on Famous Tranfigurers and asked the class to write a seven-inch long report on all that they had learned. Professor Ferrotte had started to teach them defense spells. They were learning the Knock Back Jinx. They class hadn't done too well and were asked to practice for homework.
All in all, Terry felt swamped. He sat in the library on Saturday afternoon looking up Falco Aesalon, the first known Animagus, Rita Skeeter, a famous Animagus reporter, Emeric Switch, author of a Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration, and all information on the Avis Charm he could.
On the Wednesday two weeks after the Quidditch tryouts, Terry, Travis, and Alia were sent owls during lunch. They all read the same.
Come the Quidditch pitch this evening. We need to start practicing.
Marigold Raymond
Six hours later, they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch and grabbed three brooms that were waiting outside the stadium for them. Once inside, they were introduced to all the players who were all in their azure robes.
"That is Walt Tanes, a Chaser," Marigold told them. An upright, mature looking boy with glasses that reminded Terry of a bird smiled. "And that is another Chaser, Natasha Skile. She's new like you, but she already knows us." A blonde girl next to Walt Tanes waved at them. "And finally, our Keeper, Antony Handman." A tall boy with a good looking face said, "Cheers," and waved.
"Everyone, this is Alia Clavereaux, our new Beater. That there is Travis Norron, our other new Beater. And this is our brand new Seeker, Terry Ollivander."
Natasha Skile's face lit up.
"Ollivander? I know that name," she said.
Terry had gotten this a lot anytime he introduced himself to people at Hogwarts. "Yeah, my dad owns a wand shop. You probably got yours from him."
"Yeah!" Natasha exclaimed. "I remember you!" said Natasha excitedly. Terry felt his face go red. "Your dad was helping me and you wondered out of this back room. Once you saw me you got all red in the face and ran." She giggled childishly.
Terry had a feeling he was deep crimson. He could feel the heat radiating off his face. Marigold took this awkward silence to bring the crowd back to her.
"So! Let's crack on, shall we?"
The all mounted their brooms and dashed off. Six of the players lined up in midair with Marigold in front of them.
"Now, since we have four new players, let's start with the basics. Now," Marigold turned to Terry, Travis, and Alia. "Clavereaux, I need you and Norron to start circling the stadium. That is one of the best Beater tactics. And be on the alert."
Alia and Travis flew off.
"Ollivander, I want you to just fly around. We will be releasing the balls soon so be on the look out for the Snitch. All right?"
"Okay," said Terry. He flew off too. He looked back to Marigold and saw she was lecturing Walt, Antony, and Natasha about what they should do. Antony departed the party to stand guarding the three round goal posts at the side of stadium nearest to the castle. Marigold sent Walt and Natasha off and they flew off toward the middle of the field.
Marigold flew down to the ground and opened a large chest Terry hadn't noticed. When the chest opened he saw a tiny glint and knew the Snitch had been released.
Then, two large black balls shot into the air and one shot at Alia. Alia flew downward as fast as she could and shot up when the Bludger had past.
Marigold flew back up to the other Chasers with the Quaffle and two wooden bats under her arm. Marigold reached into her Quidditch robes and pulled out her wand. She pointed it at her throat and said something Terry couldn't hear. But she said next you had to be extremely deaf not to hear.
"Alright, Clavereaux and Norron, come get your bats," said Marigold. Alia and Travis both went to retrieve their bats. "The Chasers and I will be trying to score on Handman! Ollivander, see how fast you can catch the Snitch. Once you have, let it go, and give it a half a minute's start and go after it again. Clavereaux and Norron, see if you can unseat anyone. Everyone clear?"
Everyone nodded and took off.
Terry flew in a zigzag back and forth in the stadium, looking for the Snitch. He thought he saw it but it turned out it was merely Walt Tane's glasses. He flew around the stadium trying to hawk out the Snitch. After a minute or so, a large black Bludger came whizzing at him. He shot downward and he heard Alia yell "Sorry, Terry!"
Another five minutes past. Nothing. He was accidentally hit by Natasha Skile when a Bludger hit the back of her broom and sent her off course. When Terry had helped Natasha back onto her broom, he saw, twenty feet away, a tiny golden ball; the Golden Snitch. He flew zoomed after it, knocking Natasha off her broom again and she screamed after him.
Terry flattened himself against the broom handle to help himself go faster. The Snitch would make tiny twitches in different directions to avoid capture. He was four feet away and leaned forward. He was so close he could feel the wind coming off the fluttering wings of the Snitch. He tried to make his arm go further. His body started to leave the broomstick. He was only touching the broom with his legs. He made one more attempt to lean forward and
"Got it!" said Terry. Marigold looked over.
"Very good, Ollivander," said Marigold. "Now, do it again."
Terry was crestfallen. He was very proud of his capture, but Marigold had flown off again to resume play as a Chaser. So, reluctantly, he let go off the Snitch and counted to thirty. He looked around. There was no gold to be seen anymore and he set off again, looking around. In the next twenty minutes he caught the Snitch four times. Each time Marigold would give him a bit of praise and go on with her work. Around eight o'clock, Marigold called them all back to the middle of the field with a loud bang she made issue from her wand.
"That was very good, all of you. Tanes, do look to who you're passing to. When you passed to me I thought you had thought I was twelve feet to the left. Handman, don't stick to one hoop. Norron, watch you're aim. Clavereaux, try and be quicker. Ollivander, see if you can spot it earlier and go after it faster. Skile, I must ask you. When you get onto the field, don't wave to Warner Fuller. I noticed he can be a distraction to you. It's very unprofessional."
"I'm not dating him anymore, Marigold," said Natasha like she expected Marigold to know this.
"Well good! I thought he was too much a distrac—"
"I'm going out with Lloyd Connoly!" said Natasha promptly. "Warner Fuller," she whispered with a laugh.
"Overall, you all did well," stated Marigold. "I will expect you here next Saturday before lunch."
The six of the other teammates trudged back to the castle. Antony Handman leading the way with Natasha and Walt, who were talking, right behind him. Terry, Travis, and Alia were behind them all and they were chatting too.
"She's a Quidditch stickler!" exclaimed Travis when they were out of earshot of Marigold. "I thought Tanes did a perfect job of passing." Travis obviously hadn't been watching Walt because he wasn't doing a good job of passing.
"Natasha Skile sounds a lot like my cousin, Valizzia. The one I told you about," said Terry.
Just then, Natasha waved to Walt and doubled back to talk to the three first-Years.
"So," she began, "what do you think of the team?"
"They're really good!" said Alia.
"Yeah. They're great. Nice lot," said Terry.
"Is Marigold always like that?" asked Travis.
Natasha sighed. "I'm afraid not," she said. "It's just Quidditch that gets her riled up."
The four of them all went up to the common room together. As soon as Travis made it in, Gary started scolding him about how he had told Gary he had finished his homework and hadn't actually. Gary made him sit down and forced Travis to take his help. Alia went over and started talking to Michelle Bulkstrand and Hope Livecombe, who had long forgotten Terry.
Terry went and found Jim Lunomen playing Exploding Snap and joined him. He eventually had smoke coming off his eyebrows and decided to turn in, knowing what teacher he would have to face tomorrow.
The morning started off as usual. Terry got up, got dressed, and got downstairs as fast as he could to get some breakfast.
He was greeted by Alia when he first entered the Great Hall. Travis was sitting down next to her and Gary was engrossed in a book called Famous Wizards: A Guide of Moronic Feats. Right as Terry had spooned some jam onto his toast, the morning post arrived. A screech owl flew down to Travis, with a rolled piece of parchment in its claw. Travis took the parchment and gave the owl seven bronze Knuts.
"Travis!" said Alia. "Where did you get that money?"
Travis smiled. "The day I went to Diagon Alley, my parents gave me some Muggle money and I had it converted to wizard money. I can now spend and waste my money at my leisure."
It turned out the parchment was the Daily Prophet. Travis had gotten a prescription to it when he went to Diagon Alley. As soon as Travis opened it, he started to read up on Bertie Bott's 45th Anniversary, an article telling the history of Bertie Bott and how he is deciding to add two new flavors: enchilada and kipper.
Terry hadn't had anymore mail. He was expecting to have at least one more belated birthday wish. It hadn't come the previous week. But it came today.
A snowy-owl came zooming in through the upper windows of the hall and flew down to Terry with one flap of its wings. Clamped in its beak was a small package and a note. He recognized the handwriting.
"It's Fraton! Fraton sent me a present!" exclaimed Terry happily.
Terry took the package and the note and read the note first.
Dear Bro,
Sorry this is coming late. Work has me swamped. Anyway, I got a letter from mum yesterday. Well done on making the Quidditch team! I had a feeling my forcing you to play would come in handy. I hope you're enjoying Hogwarts; I did when I was there. Give Snape a good kick from me.
Happy belated birthday!
Fraton
"I had a feeling I would be getting something from him soon," said Terry now going for the package. He ripped open the box to show two folded pieces of paper. He opened it and it said:
Zephryn Broom Company
This certificate shows that Terry Ollivander is now the proud owner of a Zephryn Twenty-Seven. This broom has the ability to fly at speeds of over 100 miles per hour; it has easy turning, stops on a Sickle, and go can as high as 150 kilometers. The handle is made of 100 mahogany and the tail consists of the finest ebony. This was given to the recipient by Fraton Ollivander . Aerus Zephryn himself wishes that the recipient of this broomstick is very happy with it and will use it with pleasure.
© The Zephryn Broom Company, 2009
"I don't believe it!" shouted Alia. "A Zephryn! They're top of the range. Open the next letter."
So Terry did.
Give the certificate to Professor Granger. She can get the broom for you. Hope you really enjoy it!
Fraton
"You are one lucky person," said Alia. "I've been begging my parents for a Zephryn forever. They won't break."
"When are we going to next see Professor Granger?" asked Terry. He wanted to get his broomstick as soon as possible.
"We have her right after Transfiguration today," said Travis who wanted to get involved in the conversation.
"I'll give it to her then."
Marigold, who had heard the word "broom", came rushing over. "Did one of you just get a broom?"
"Yeah," said Travis. "Terry did."
Marigold's face lit with the light given off by a child who discovered a huge present under the Christmas tree. "What type, Terry? What type?" Her tone became more excited, more urgent. She sat down between Travis and Terry and stared Terry straight in the eye.
"A Zephryn Twenty-Seven," Terry told Marigold.
"You must use that broom in the Quidditch Cup matches!" exclaimed Marigold. "It'll be our secret weapon. We'll be unstop able."
Just as Terry was thinking that nothing could go wrong today, a very unwanted guest swept down the aisle between the Slytherin and the Ravenclaw tables.
"So, anyway, Jacelyn. Father's just wrote me and said that the manor was broken into. Nothing was taken, of course, but father now has the Ministry breathing now his neck. He have some artifacts that father doesn't think the Ministry would like"
It was Ethilina Malfoy. She was talking to her black haired friend, Jacelyn Goyle. Ethilina spotted the four Ravenclaws gathered around the box and went to investigate.
"What do we have here? Was Ollivander sent a Galleon and no one has ever seen one? Shiny, aren't they?"
Marigold stood up. "As a matter of fact, Terry was just sent a broom."
Ethilina smiled. All the Ravenclaws were confused.
"Well, I didn't think that that Irriate woman needed helpbut if Ollivander's parents insist"
Alia stood up now. "He got a racing broom. A Zephryn Twenty-Seven. Didn't you say you were still riding a Nimbus Thousand And One?"
Ethilina turned red. "I just hope that during the Summer, Ollivander has a place to go. His parent's probably had to sell his house, if you can even call it a house." Ethilina turned on her heel and walked toward the large doors to the Entrance Hall. Jacelyn followed her.
Marigold rounded on Terry. "When we play Slytherin, I want you to take her down!" Marigold rushed off and found Natasha Skile to tell her the good news.
Transfiguration was another difficult class. They were turning boxes into large spiders and then had to change them back.
"I wonder how soon Professor Granger can get my broom. Achnefors!" said Terry has he made is tiny music box sprout eight hairy legs. "Stupid thing! Achnefors!" The box made its complete transformation. "That's the sixth time that's happened."
"I dunno," said Travis. "Depends where it is located. Quadrasinsum!" His spider turned into a large metal toolbox.
The bell rang and everyone packed up their wands and they made their way to the third floor.
Once again, they were the first ones to be in the classroom. Professor Granger hadn't been there yet so they sat down and started to chat.
"Oo," said Alia, "I can't wait to see the look on Ethilina's face when she sees you on that broom, Terry. She'll have a fit."
Alia's mood only increased over the next half hour during charms. Ethilina would shoot nasty looks over to Terry, Travis, and Alia and would mouth insults at them. That day, the class was working on Drying Charms, charms to dry wet clothing, books, and other things like that. Professor Granger gave them all random things that she had dipped into a tub of water.
"No, Mr Ollivander," said Professor Granger after about a half and hour. "It's Sicilus, not Siclius." Terry hadn't made his quill any drier.
"Thanks, Professor," replied Terry. He went back to his quill. "Sicilus!" A jet of warm air shot out of his wand. The tiny fibers of the feather quill quivered as the warm air went by it, drying the quill.
Mrs Irriate came in midway through the class.
"Um...Hermione? I need to see you. Peeves has destroyed a candelabra on the sixth floor and we can't find the Bloody Baron. I thought that maybe if you had a word with him..."
"Say no more, Gladys. I'll come and try and deal with Peeves. But, when I was at school here we wouldn't listen to the teachers. I trust the class can take care of themselves until the end of class."
She exited the classroom and didn't return, even after the end of class.
The bell rang right after Terry got his quill dry. He packed it up along with some notes he took during the class. He looked over at Travis who had ripped his flimsy, wet piece of parchment.
The three cronies passed Professor Granger and Mrs Irriate talking and going into a door on the third floor.
"The headmaster must tell the students that Dungbombs are simply not allowed," the caretaker croaked in her normally scratchy voice. Her greasy black and gray hair was pulled back into a matted pony-tail that she was playing with absent mindedly. "I found two in my office today. I want to ban them completely."
Professor Granger looked irritated. "Gladys, you have made that request for the last eight Years. I have told Harry and he has tried to tell the students otherwise. The students here are just too thick-headed. To tell you the truth, I think Harry enjoys them. He liked them when he was at school here."
The two of them disappeared in the door.
They made their way Great Hall. Terry sat down and Travis and Alia took root on either side of him. Terry opened his bag and took out the quill he had just dried.
"Hold on," he said. "This is Professor Granger's quill. I accidentally took it."
"Well just return it then, mate," suggested Travis.
"Now?"
"Why not?" asked Alia.
Terry stood up. "Where is Professor Granger?"
"Dunno," said Travis. "Should we just go to that door on the third floor she and Professor Irriate went down?"
"Sounds best," said Alia.
Terry said "See you in a minute" to the other to went out into the entrance hall. Terry went up the Marble Staircase and up three flights of stairs into a long stone hallway lit with torches on the wall. The walls were lined with wooded doors.
Since Terry had forgotten, he used trial and error to figure out which door Professor Granger was in. He opened one door, but no luck. And another. Then the next. And the one after that. The next couple to follow. In and out. Open and shut. No luck ever. Down the corridor. Finally, after about ten minutes of just opening doors and peaking inside, he came to the last door in the corridor. He could hear voices inside. So he knocked. No answer came to this. So he knocked again but still no one came and opened the door. He opened the door a crack to poke his head in and was surprised to hear Snape's voice.
"—So I told him I didn't trust herbut Potter is just too naive. He thinks that he shouldn't accuse her until she's actually done something. The man wouldn't let me have the key and gave it to her. I asked him why and he said that he had his reasons and—Ollivander!" Snape sneered at Terry with utter disgust and horror shining in his fathomless, black eyes.
"What do you think you are doing?" bellowed Snape.
"I—I'm looking for Professor Granger," replied Terry, slightly scared. He didn't want to get on the bad side of Snape now.
"She is in her office, Ollivander," Snape spat. "You however are out of bounds. Students are not allowed in here."
"Oh," said Terry. "I—I didn't know, sir."
"Clearly," said Snape with the utmost disgust. "I think," a cruel smile playing across his face, "this merits a good detention."
Terry's stomach plummeted. Third week into his career as a student at Hogwarts and he was already in trouble.
"I'll be back shortly, Ollivander," said Snape. He went back into the lounge and returned with a narrow slip of paper. "Now, let's see. The Arithmancy classroom hasn't been cleaned for ages. Yes, that would suffice." He handed Terry the parchment that told him that he would serve his detention on September 22.
Terry knew that he definitely didn't like Snape very much.
"What?" exclaimed Travis in indignation when Terry told him. They were on the grounds practicing spells. They had found a nice spot on the shore of the lake. Alia had climbed a beech tree, Terry was sitting on a rock, and Travis had put his feet in the water to cool them off. Each of them had books strewn around them.
"How were you supposed to know if you the staff room wasn't to be accessed by students?" asked Alia. She was shooting at a tiny flock of billywigs, blue bugs with a propeller on top and a long sting, with a Immobile Charm and watching as them fall into the lake when the propellers stopped spinning.
"I don't know," said Terry. He had been rather downtrodden since his run-in with Snape. "He was just happy he could punish me."
"I don't like this Snape bloke," said Travis. "How can Potter keep a favorite-taking-git keep on as teacher?"
"Potter trusts him...for some strange reason," said Alia with a another flick at a billywig which plummeted to the lake and was caught by a giant tentacle that shot out of the murky water and retreated back when it caught the falling bug.
"Yeah, I guess...for some strange reason," repeated Terry as he stared intensely at absolutely nothing.
A week later, around seven o'clock, he said "good bye" to Travis and Alia and head off to the seventh floor where the Arithmancy classroom was. Mrs Irriate was already waiting for him. He went into the corridor and noticed immediately that there was a major change in the scenery. All the doors had had the large locks and chains had been removed. He was pretty sure that if he had tried to unlock a door, the doorknob would not bite him.
"Hello," said Mrs Irriate bitterly. "You must be Ollivander."
Terry nodded.
"Well, I have to go off to help Mr Litterman with his detention. Boys as thick as puffapod soup. I trust you know how to clean?"
"I suppose," said Terry nervously. He did chores at his father's wand shop so he thought this would be easy.
"You'll be scrubbing the floor, cleaning the windows, shining the doorknobs, and washing the chalk boards. Understood?"
Terry was blown back. That was a bit much. He would be here for hours.
"Yes, ma'am," said Terry. He was sorry he ever knocked on the staff room door.
"Alright. You can find me on the second floor in the girls' loo," said Mrs Irriate. After she unlocked the Arithmancy classroom, Mrs Irriate indicated a bucket of water, a bottle of Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, and some towel's, and left Terry in the hallway. He went into the classroom and took the cleaning supplies.
There was dirt caked on to the window sills, the door knobs were rusty and there were pieces of chewed Drooble's Blowing Gum on them, the floors were stained with substances Terry didn't want to know what they were, and the chalkboards were covered in chalk powder that hadn't been touched in about five Years.
Well, he thought, better get started. He took a towel and the bucket of water and began to scrub the chalkboard with the wet towel. The chalk dust came off fairly easy, but when he moved over to the windows, he had to pour drops of the mess remover onto the towel and had to wash each window five times to even show any progress. That process took about two hours, and then he had to try and clean the floors.
Tile after tile after horrible brown, dirty tile had to be scrubbed. The classroom was large so this took longer than the windows. Terry's upper arms started to feel sore. After a while of kneeling on the floor, his knees started to ache too.
How did I get myself into this? Terry asked himself. How did I ever get myself into this? It's torture.
An hour later, he heard a pitter-pattering scuttle outside the classroom. He went to the door and opened it. No one and nothing was outside. All was dark and silent , but Terry could have sworn he felt like he was being watched. Terry went back into the classroom and started work on the floor again.
After three hours of rubbing the floor, he finished and moved on to the door knobs.
Just a couple of drops of Mrs Skewer's Magical Mess Remover and the rust and gum came off just like that.
"I guess I'm finished," said Terry to the nonexistent people in the room. He came out of the classroom and closed the door behind him. He then crossed the hall and opened the door to the Grand Staircase.
On the way down the flight of stairs between the third floor and the fourth floor, Terry heard a door slam. He looked nervously around him. Terry didn't think Snape would hear him out if he found Terry in the halls around one in the morning. He leaned over the railing on the stairs and could almost see the first floor. He gasped.
A black cloaked figure was coming out of the first floor and was coming up the stairs toward him. Terry panicked. The figure had its wand out in a menacing way. Terry tried to come down the rest of the stairs and tried to get into the third floor. The door was locked. His eyes widened.
He could hear the foot steps growing closer. Should he run for it? Head up to the seventh floor and hide?
The figure was coming up the stairs between the second and third floors. The figure's head looked up and saw Terry.
"Who's there!" yelled Terry.
The figure pointed its wand at Terry. "Stupify!"
A red jet of light shot from the wand and Terry dodged it by leaping out of the way and up the stairs.
Terry had to strain his brain to remember any spell he could.
"Immobilus!" shouted Terry. The figure waved its wand casually and the spell was merely absorbed and vanished.
"Stupify! Stupify! STUPIFY!"
The three Stunner spells shot at Terry and nailed him right in the gut. Terry was knocked backwards and he hit his head against the hard surface of the staircase. His vision started to go blurry and black. Soon he couldn't make out anything. Right as his consciousness was about to drift away from him, he heard the figure's footsteps running back down the stairs.
Blurry images started to swim in front of Terry's eyes. Black and gold was really all he could see. As his eyes focused, he realized that the black and gold were the hair of Travis and Alia. They were leaning over him with worried looked on their faces.
"Terry," exclaimed an ecstatic Alia when she saw he was awake.
"Thought we lost ya, mate," said Travis.
He sat up and looked around. He was in a white marble room with a dozen beds, six lined up on each wall. He looked on his bedside table. Candy and sweets were piled high on the table. Terry smiled.
"Where am I?" asked Terry.
"The hospital wing, Terry," said Alia. "You were hurt. Where did you expect Professor Potter to send you? Snape's classroom? Yeah, you'll get all fixed up there. Snape has a special brand of TLC."
Terry gave a nervous laugh.
They heard a door open and close and tall woman in a red dress and a white apron came hurrying over to him, her long, braided ponytail bouncing behind her.
"Ah, you're awake, Ollivander," said the woman. "Good, good."
Terry gave her a quizzical look. He didn't know her and he didn't want to be rude by asking "Who are you?" flat out so he just kind of stammered a hello.
"Oh, yes. Of course, I haven't introduced myself. I am Madam Treaten, the Hogwarts matron. I've been caring for you the last four days.
Four days? Had he been out cold that long? Had Travis and Alia been here the whole time?
"You gave us a right good scare," said Travis.
Madam Treaten was pouring a green liquid into a cup and headed it to Terry. "Drink that Ollivander. It's not poison. It's Revive-o-Live."
He gulped the liquid in one gulp, but wished he hadn't. It tasted like spoiled orange juice with a twinge of sweat from a sweat sock that hadn't been washed for five Years. He made gagging noises and contracted his face. Alia giggled.
Madam Treaten hurried off to her office leaving Terry, Travis, and Alia alone.
"So, what's been happening for the last four days?" asked Terry.
"Nothing much," admitted Alia.
"Oh!" exclaimed Travis. "There was one thing." He handed Terry a copy of the Daily Prophet.
Family Fined Five-Hundred
Basilisks, also known as the King of Serpents, have been banned from ownership ever since wizard-kind had learned what these snakes' stare is capable of doing. But, after recent Ministry of Magic raids, one of the oldest and most respected wizarding families was fined 500 Galleons for the procession of half-a-dozen Basilisk eggs.
Draco Malfoy, 37, son of the infamous Muggle torturer, Lucius Malfoy, and head of the Improper Use of Magic Office, has been leading a quiet life in the large manor his father left him with his wife, Pansy, and his daughter Ethilina. Most of us knew he had bad wizarding blood, but all had hoped it had stopped in this generation, right? You couldn't be more wrong.
Malfoy, after complaining to the Ministry about a break-in at his manor, had Ministry officials come to investigate. While Pansy Malfoy went to fetch cups of tea, the Ministry officials found a trap door in the drawing room floor. What they found wasn't pretty.
Poisons, torture devises, Dark spell books, an old black cape, a mask, some old family tree diagrams, and six unhatched Basilisk eggs.
The Malfoys were put under house arrest while members of the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were summoned.
"The eggs were still alive," said Disposal of Dangerous Creatures member, Alonius Frulbert. "They were still warm and everything."
The Malfoys claim that they "had nothing to do with them and anyone that thinks so should go live in a Muggle colony." Sources tell us that Muggles do not live in colonies and that is being investigated too.
The 500 Galleon fine is only for the Basilisk eggs by themselves. This is not including the Dark books and the torture equipment. Most would go straight to Azkaban but people who know the Malfoys and wish to be unnamed say the Malfoys probably imported the eggs from Greece illegally and that they probably bought their way out of Azkaban. Our Daily Prophet staff thinks that horrible excuses for wizard should not be allowed to walk free and should be sent to Azkaban immediately.
"Wow," said Terry astonished. He remembered Ethilina going on about how her house had been broken into and his dad had said that Lucius Malfoy had been sent to Azkaban for being a Death Eater.
"Isn't that the best?" asked Alia with her extreme happiness back again.
"I'm still confused though," said Travis. "What is a Basilisk?"
Alia stared at him. "Are you serious?"
Travis looked annoyed. He looked back at Alia. "I'm sorry I haven't been exposed to the Wizarding World for twelve Years like you lot!" His face was turning a slow and patchy pink.
"Would it kill you to pick up a book?" asked Alia. She was turning a bit red too.
"I've been busy looking up common charms! I don't think that I would have time to look into Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find–-"
"WOULD YOU LOT KEEP IT DOWN! MY PATIENTS NEED BED REST!" Madam Treaten had grown tired of Travis' and Alia's arguing. And indeed, some of the other residents of the hospital wing were sitting up to watch the two's dispute.
"Just calm down,"said Terry. He had opened a Chocolate Frog. He gulped the frog down and looked at the card. It had a picture of Mirabella Plunkett, a witch who fell in love with a merman and transfigured herself into a haddock. "Anyone want a frog?"
"Sure, I'll take one," said Alia, shooting one more look at Travis. She opened it and found Fulbert the Fearful inside the box.
"So, what is and Basilisk?" asked Travis again.
Knowing Alia wouldn't tell him, Terry told him. "It is a giant snake that if you look it straight in the eye, you die."
"Oh, so it –- What! The Malfoys had a –- in their drawing –- they –- Ethilina," stuttered Travis. "That's probably illegal!"
"That is illegal," said Alia through a biscuit. "You can be punished to the full extent of wizard law."
The hospital doors were flung open and Professor Potter strode majestically into the room. He glanced around and saw Terry. He came over to the side of Terry's bed, kindness and warmth written across his face.
"Good afternoon, Mr Ollivander," said Professor Potter.
"Good afternoon, Professor," said Terry. He had no clue why Professor Potter had come to see him. Maybe he made routine checks into the hospital wing to make the residents feel better.
"I'm glad to see you're well. I'm not so glad that you were even put into this state. I'm sorry that I cannot explain that attack. But, I wonder, if maybe you could inform me what exactly happened?" He was staring at Terry intently. His dazzlingly green eyes unblinking.
Terry tried to recall the events of four days ago. He told Professor Potter about his detention, about being left alone to go back to the common room, about being going down the stairs and seeing the figure, about the figure attacking him with Stunning spells.
"I tried to distract it, but nothing doing. It sort of absorbed my spell. It then hit me with three of the Stunners right into the stomach. I fell over and passed out as the figure ran away. I don't know what happened after that."
"I didn't expect you to," said Professor Potter. Alia and Travis sat on an empty bed, not taking their eyes off Terry and Professor Potter.
"Sorry," mumbled Terry, as if it was some conciliation.
"Don't be. I have learned the hard way that you don't find out much when you don't even know if you're alive or dead. Fortunately, I know what happened immediately after you passed out.
"Professor Ferrotte was the one that found you. She had heard a commotion aside her classroom on the first floor. She hurried out and saw you on the staircase. She told me that you had been there fifteen minutes. She brought you to the hospital and came to alert me. By my own methods, I had already known. Let's just say a little birdie told me. I came hurrying to here to see if you were alright. Stunners can do things other spells cannot. I once knew an old teacher of mine who was hit with four and she was in St. Mungo's for about a week."
Terry sat in silence. He now had a renewed gratitude toward Professor Ferrotte.
"Mr Norron and Mrs Clavereaux were notified and they have been here during breakfast, lunch, and after classes," continued Professor Potter. Terry shot a gratifying look toward Alia and Travis who smiled. "I have given you a pardon from your classes, you don't need to make up any work. And, I assure you, I will try my hardest to try and find the culprit behind your attack."
Professor Potter turned his head. A scratching noise had caught his, along with everyone else's, attention. They heard Madam Treaten's hurrying pace and the hospital wing's door opening.
"What are you doing here!" they heard Madam Treaten exclaim. "Be gone with you! Shoo! Shoo! Wait –- NO!" Next moment they heard a scuttling and saw Madam Treaten come in, bent over with her arms outstretched, obviously chasing something.
"Is there a problem, Remeda?" asked Professor Potter to Madam Treaten.
"I cannot allow this animal in here. It is unsanitary for the patients. I ask you to please remove it," said Professor Treaten as she straighten up to her full height.
Professor Potter looked down at the floor, took a moment to comprehend what he saw, and looked up again to Madam Treaten and said:
"It is under my jurisdiction that this animal remain here. I promise you that she is quite trained."
Terry looked bewildered. He didn't know what "animal" had come in. Maybe Ethilina Malfoy had come to scare the patients, but all was clarified when Midnight leapt onto the bed.
"But, Professor, I –-" started Madam Treaten but Professor Potter held up a hand.
"I said," he said in a loud and over-powering voice, "the cat stays."
Madam Treaten raised no objections after that. She scurried off to her office, mumbling incoherently to herself about "filthy mongrels". Terry began to stroke Midnight's head and scratched her behind the ears. She closed her eyes and inclined her head toward Terry's petting hand.
Professor Potter stood up. "Well, I must be off," he said. "I do hope you get well soon. Have some Chocolate Frogs. I always find that after a draining experience, it helps. And I see one more thing that will lighten your spirits."
Terry looked over to the bed side table and saw a long slender package with the words Zephryn Twenty-Seven written on the packaging paper. He looked over to Alia and Travis. Terry guessed that they had given the note from Fraton to Professor Granger.
"I really need to go. Good afternoon, Mr Ollivander," said Professor Potter. He walked toward the doors leading out of the hospital. As he opened the door, Terry could have sworn he saw Professor Potter turn his head and give Midnight a small and subtle wink.