Chapter Nine

The First Two Games

November came drier than October did. The Quidditch practices had resumed their usual grueling practice routine, and Marigold was all too happy to give it a helpful prod forward.

"In two days," said Marigold in the changing rooms one Monday practice, "is the first Quidditch match of the season. Gryffindor versus Slytherin! You all know what that means, right?"

"Yeah, I may lose ten Sickles Thursday," said Natasha Skile. Everyone gave a tiny snigger. Marigold wasn't pleased.

"Skile! Take this seriously. Thursday you all need to watch the players. Chasers, watch the other Chasers speed. Slytherin has good Chasers this Year, so watch out. Beaters, see if you would be able to nail anyone at any given time. Keeper! Watch the Chasers too. Ollivander, watch Potter and Malfoy. I hear they are pretty good!"

"No one will beat Terry," said Natasha. "His broom's top of the range! A Zephryn!"

The Ravenclaws around her agreed.

"And that Ethilina Malfoy," said Alia with a curled lip and flared nostrils, "is all talk. Her head is so large she's fall face first off her broom. I just hope that those Beaters Kinsburn and Walls are able to knock her off her broom with a couple good Bludgers."

"Everyone clear?" Marigold had stood up and put her hands on her hips in a conquering way.

"I suppose so," said Walt Tanes.

"I'm good to go," said Antony Handman.

"I'm ready for anything they throw at me," said Alia very enthusiastically.

"I'll try my hardest," said Terry.

"Just watch 'em! Those two teams won't know what hit them!" shouted Natasha.

The only person who didn't say anything, was Travis. He was sitting on a bench at the furthest corner. His face was gloomy and declined.

"Norron! What's the matter?" asked Marigold.

"Huh? –- Oh! It's nothing," replied Travis. But he didn't say much else. He hadn't had a very good practice. Tried to hit a Bludger and accidentally hit himself in the back with his own club. Marigold had gotten on his back about it, and he went rather quiet afterward.

Terry and Alia hated to admit it, but they had both secretly thought that Travis wasn't that good. He didn't have very good aim, he wasn't that strong, and he was a danger to himself on a broomstick.

"Well, its almost dinner!" said Marigold. "What say we head up for a good early dinner? As a team treat?"

No one raised objections. In fact, Terry, Travis, and Alia doubled back to thank Marigold and Natasha gave her a huge hug.

"Well," said Terry. "Marigold's turning out to be alright. I think –- Oh no!"

Terry had looked up into the stands. Ethilina Malfoy and her three friends were sitting in the seats, all wearing green.

"Hey there! Skile!" shouted Jacelyn Goyle. "Where'd you get that broom? Your mommy make it for you?"

Natasha was riding a very outdated broom, but walked toward the edge of the stadium without even inclining her head.

"Oy! Ollivander," shouted Jacelyn's twin brother Paul. "Be careful. With that broom you may hit something you're going too fast."

Terry now thought that Paul Goyle was rather thick. That was the worst insult Terry had ever heard.

"Hey! Clavereaux!" This time Ethilina would grace Alia with her own brand of cheerleading. "You might want to be cautious. You may mistake the Quaffle for a Bludger, try and hit it, miss and hit Norron in the head!"

The Slytherins in the stands all guffawed. Alia's face was turning red. She had almost caught up with Terry and Travis, but turned around. She mounted his broom, grabbed a Bludger and her bat, and kicked off from the ground.

"Oh, look! I think I touched a nerve!" said Ethilina. "Come to defend your friends? Come on then, Clavereaux! Bring it on!"

Alia's face glowed with a fiery flame of rage. She placed the Bludger in front of her in midair, and before it could fly in any direction, Alia pulled her bat back and hit the Bludger with all of his might. The Bludger shot at Ethilina and her once laughing now silent friends. They all ducked as the Bludger zoomed over their heads. It hovered for a moment over the spot where Ethilina had once stood, waited, and flew back to Alia who caught it.

Ethilina made a timid glance upwards.

"Ha! You missed, Claver –- OOF!"

A second Bludger had flew over from the over side of the stadium and had hit Ethilina right in the side of the head. They all glanced (except Ethilina who had toppled into the row behind her in the stands) to the side of the field to see Travis in the air, his bat in his hand.

Travis was a hero to the Ravenclaw Quidditch team for days afterward. He had definitely redeemed himself with Marigold.

"You showed that Malfoy girl!" she had said to him. Natasha, Walt, Antony, Terry, and Alia had all carried him back to the school chanting "Norron beat the moron!" while the Slytherins stayed behind to care for Ethilina. They knew she would never tell a soul that Travis had beaten her. Her pride was much bigger than the bruise on the side of her face.

"Well done!" said Natasha. She kissed him on the cheek and his face turned so red that you couldn't tell that Natasha had left a large lipstick mark on his cheek.

Thursday rolled around very quickly. That morning, Terry saw seven Gryffindors and seven Slytherins looking rather nervous. Three of them included James Potter, Jacelyn Goyle, and Ethilina Malfoy. Taylor Kinsburn and Michael Colphford, the two Quidditch captains, approached their teammates and the fourteen players exited the hall through the double doors.

The rest of the school soon followed. Terry, Travis, and Alia were close the front of the party and were able to sit in prime seats. They were in the same box as the teachers and were able to sit in the front row. Peragu Paleface would be commentating.

"Hello?" said Peragu into a large blue microphone. "Hello? Test. Test. Hello, Hogwarts! Today is the first Quidditch match of the Year! Gryffindor versus Slytherin! The teams are ready to go so I give you: The Gryffindor Quidditch team!"

The red cloaked players walked onto the field, brooms on their shoulders.

"Haroldman! Ronnald! Baum! Tonas! Kinsburn! Walls! And Potter! New to the team are Haroldman, Ronnald, and Potter, which are now the Gryffindor Chasers and Seeker!"

"And the Slytherin team!" Green players walked onto the field. "Goyle! Dale! Drensor! Stinsta! Richman! Colphford! And Malfoy! Goyle, Drensor, and Malfoy are all new additions to this team and are Chasers and the Seeker!"

"Now you two!" said Madam Soan who would be refereeing the match. She was speaking to Taylor Kinsburn and Michael Colphford, who were both Beaters. "I want a good game. If I award too many penalties, you two will regret it! Now, shake hands!"

Kinsburn and Colphford gripped each other's hand and tried to brake all the carpels in the others hand.

The teams mounted their brooms and took off. Tonas and Stinsta flew to either end of the field and took their places at the goal.

"Madam Soan is about to release the Quaffle, which will begin the game. And...they're...OFF! Chaser Baum catches it –- Passes to Haroldman –- Passes to Ronnald –- Back to Haroldman and –- oh! Hit by a Bludger –- Dale passes to Goyle and GOYLE SCORES!"

Terry, Travis, and Alia all snapped, stomped, and yelled in frustration. They were rooting for Gryffindor.

"Slytherin one to zero! Tonas passes to Haroldman –- Excellent save by Beater Jane Walls –- Haroldman passes to Baum –- Baum to Ronnald –- Ronnald to Haroldman –- Drensor intercepts! –- Drensor to Dale –- Passes to Goyle –- And...Ooh! That's got to smart!"

Jacelyn Goyle had been knocked fifteen feet out of the air by an excellently aimed Bludger from Taylor Kinsburn. Madam Treaten squirmed behind Terry and muttered something about "life threatening sports."

Redd Dale, a Slytherin Chaser, scored two times, bringing the score to thirty to zero.

"And no one has spotted the Snitch yet! Come on Seekers –- And Baum with the Quaffle –- He passes all the way down the field to Haroldman –- HAROLDMAN SCORES!" All the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws cheered. No one wanted to see Slytherin win.

The Gryffindors weren't doing too good. Carol Drensor scored again and tackled Rhonda Haroldman making her drop the Quaffle.

"Drensor to Dale –- Passes to Goyle, who has just rejoined the game –- Passes to Drensor. And –- Oh! Penalty to Gryffindor."

Michael Colphford had just struck Tony Ronnald with his bat. Ronnald took the Quaffle and scored against Yardena Stinsta.

"Slytherin in procession. Goyle –- Passes to Dale –- Over to Drensor –- Throws back to Dale –- Throws to the left and over to Goyle –- GOYLE SCORES! And what's that! Potter's seen something! He's off –- Malfoy follows!"

Terry watched James and Ethilina. They were neck and neck, and with Terry's excellent vision, he saw that James had indeed seen the Golden Snitch. He followed the two Seekers with his eyes. They wove between the Chasers and Beaters, racing, challenging each other to get to the Snitch first. Ethilina rammed James hard, and he swerved off course. As he fell behind, he grabbed the tail end of Ethilina's broom, causing her to lose the Snitch too. Unfortunately, this caused a penalty to be awarded to Slytherin. Jacelyn Goyle got the Quaffle past Tonas with ease.

"Goyle passes to Dale –- Dale to Drensor –- Passes to Goyle –- Drensor again –- Dale –- And...INTERCEPTED! Baum to Ronnald!" shouted Peragu Paleface.

"Come on, Potter!" shouted Terry.

"You can do it, James!" shouted Alia. "Show that stuck up snob what's what!"

James took these messages to heart. He put on a great burst of speed that nearly knocked Ethilina off her broom. He flew aimlessly for a while, circling the stadium.

"Come on, honey!" shouted Professor Granger with a disapproving look from her husband and Professor Snape. Karinthia Potter, who was standing next to Terry, was yelling herself hoarse.

"Go for it, James!" she hollered.

The Quaffle hadn't decided where it was going to score. It merely volleyed between teams, occasionally intercepted, and volleyed some more. James was looking left and right, almost getting a crick in his neck, searching for any sign of gold.

"He's got to catch it soon!" said Alia. Travis hadn't said much. He still didn't understand Quidditch too well.

James then shot off again. He was leaning forward, his arm outstretched. His fingers were all apart and stretched as far as they could and closed suddenly. He had caught the Snitch.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" shouted Madam Soan. Three quarters of the spectators in the stands roared with euphoria.

"Potter catches the Snitch! This gains Gryffindor one-hundred-fifty points! Gryffindor wins, one-hundred-seventy to sixty!"

All the Gryffindors rushed onto the field while the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs went back to castle excited, and the Slytherins walked back, heads hung.

"It was a great game, wasn't it?" asked Alia. "I must congratulate James Potter next I see him." She glanced back at a giant red and gold mob carrying a figure above them.

"Yeah," said Terry. "He did great." He hoped when they played Hufflepuff, they didn't have such a hard time as Gryffindor did.

"Now you know what you're up against," said Marigold the next day. She took advantage of the fact Terry, Travis, and Alia had Friday afternoons off to practice.

"Yeah," replied the six other players. Marigold had been telling them about a new team move that she had gotten the idea after reading a book called Qualifications in Quidditch called the Corkscrew Roll.

"The Slytherins have some of the best Chasers I've ever seen. That Potter was a great Seeker. Gryffindor also has very good Beaters. Kinsburn was excellent!"

Natasha was staring at the chalk board without even seeing it. Antony had fallen asleep onto Walt's shoulder, who had glazed eyes. Alia was drawing pictures in the air with her wand. Terry and Travis were having a staring contest.

"Ollivander! You saw Malfoy? She wasn't afraid to play dirty. Watch out for her when we play Slytherin. I wouldn't be too worried about Potter. He played fair. All in all, the Slytherins are cheaters and the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs play fair. And I hope you lot play fair too!" said Marigold quite loudly.

Natasha jerked suddenly out of her stupor. Walt looked up quickly. Antony snapped awake. Alia's pictures disappeared and Terry and Travis looked over to Marigold once Travis had blinked.

"Are you all serious about this game!" yelled Marigold.

"We are serious, Marigold! We just moderate ourselves like normal people," said Natasha with an exasperated look on her face.

"You lot need to breathe Quidditch! You need to live, breathe, sleep, and eat Quidditch!"

"If I were to try and eat Quidditch," said Natasha, "I'd choke."

Marigold was in a bad mood with her teammates for a week afterward. She was short and curt with each of them until Natasha promised that the evening before their first match she would bathe in Quidditch right after she ate it with a side of gravy.

"Really silly when you think of it," said Alia the weekend before the match. "Being rude to your teammates just because they aren't as serious about the sport as you are."

"Yeah. Tell you what, go tell Marigold that. I promise that I'll visit you in St. Mungo's on weekends," said Terry. He knew that Alia would be a bloody pulp on the floor if she were to say that to Marigold.

"She is a little overzealous about Quidditch," said Travis.

"A little?" said Alia. "I bet, right now, she's kicking herself for not including "marry" on her list of things to do with Quidditch."

Five minutes later, they were up in the library reading up on curses, jinxes, and hexes. Terry had soon lost his attraction for charms. He had already learned quite a few already, and he wanted to know how to get one up on Ethilina.

"Look at this! Jelly-Leg Jinx! It makes your opponent do a sort of jig because his legs are all wobbly," said Terry.

"This looks interesting. The Disarming Charm. Knocks the wand right out of your opponent's hand."

"I like this one. A Flipping Jinx. Knocks the opponent right off their feet," said Alia.

The three of them were throughly engrossed in their books. They eventually checked out the books and used Professor Granger's empty classroom to practice. They practiced the spells on each other. They practiced Disarming first. Terry was able to Disarm Alia ten times, Alia Disarmed Travis five times, and Travis was able to get the wand out of Terry's hand twice.

"Come on, Travis. Concentrate," said Alia.

"I'm trying!" said Travis. "Expelliarmus!" The spell missed and flew through an open window. They heard the snap of tree branches and the fluttering of birds. Travis' spell had hit a large pine tree outside the window.

"Concentrate, Travis! Concentrate!"

"Expelliarmus!" bellowed Travis. The jet of red light flew through the air, struck Terry in the hand, and his wand was stripped away from him with an invisible forceful hand.

"Well done!" said Alia. She was clapping as Travis smiled broadly and Terry retrieved his wand.

"You know what? We should start practicing dueling," said Terry. "It might be fun."

"Yes, we should. I had an Uncle Certon who was a dueler. He really enjoyed his job. We can go to Mr Fulton and get some more hex, jinx, and curse books. I saw there is even a dueling section. There were tons of books."

So, half-an-hour later, they had found an empty classroom without any furniture in the way after going to the library to find more books. They spent some time looking up as many curses and hexes as possible. After another half-an-hour, they decided to face off. Terry and Alia would be fighting. They had lain out mats, just in case.

"It says here in The Deluxe Dueling Handbook that you bow to each other first," said Travis.

And so Terry snapped his hands to his sides and bent over. Alia bowed nice and low with her hands twirling.

"Now, you duel!" said Travis.

Terry and Alia pointed their wands at each other.

"Let's make this quite clear," said Alia. "This is not a proper duel, so we aren't really trying to hurt each other. Any major injury is an accident."

"Alright."

"Duel, I said," said Travis.

"Tarantallegra!" shouted Terry.

"Noenaeris!" shouted Alia.

A jet of yellow light flew from Terry's wand and a jet of blue from Alia's. Alia's legs started to jerk uncontrollably and Terry had his legs picked off the ground and he fell flat onto his stomach.

"Yugh!" grunted Terry when he hit his mat.

Alia pulled out her wand. "Finite Incantatem!" Her legs stopped jerking and she was able to stand. Terry stood up with some difficulty.

"What was that?" asked Terry.

"A Flipping Jinx. I read it in Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed. You used a Jelly-Leg Jinx? It was a powerful spell. I commend you."

Alia and Terry took their positions again. They rose their wands, and Travis gave them the okay to continue.

"Rictusempra!" shouted Terry. The spell hit Alia and she fell forward. She was on the floor, laughing.

"That –- was –- very –- clev –- er –-,Terry," said Alia from the floor. The spell wore off after a while. She got up and hollered:

"Iflictumper!" Terry was hit right in the diaphragm. He was tossed backwards and landed hard on his back.

"Overturning Hex," said Alia, twirling her wand between her fingers.

"I think we better stop," said Travis who had helped Terry to his feet. "We have Quidditch in two days."

Two days later, instead of a Gryffindors and Slytherins being nervous like they had been earlier in the month, the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs were all jittery. Terry, Travis, and Alia couldn't eat a thing for fear that the butterflies invading their stomachs would force the food up again.

Once eleven o'clock rolled around, Marigold got up from her seat and moved down the table to where her teammates were congregated.

She told them to get down to the changing rooms where they all pulled on their Quidditch robes.

"Well, team," she said. "It's time. Remember, the Hufflepuffs don't have very good Chasers, but their Seeker is pretty good. Ollivander, watch out for her. Tanes and Skile, if you can get as many goals as possible and Ollivander, if you would catch the Snitch early, we will definitely have a chance."

They filed out of the changing rooms and onto the field.

Peragu Paleface's voice rang out through the field.

"Coming into the stadium now are Raymond! Tanes! Skile! Handman! Clavereaux! Norron! And Ollivander! Skile, Clavereaux, Norron, and Ollivander and now the new Beaters and Seeker!"

The crowd applauded the Ravenclaw team as players in canary yellow walked out of the changing rooms at the other side of the field.

"And now the Hufflepuffs have joined us! They consist of Renfield! Solt! Blecman! Dansure! Gatric! Abberly! And Jantile! The new additions to the team are Renfield, Solt, Blecman, and Abberly as the new Chasers and Beater."

Marigold and the Hufflepuff captain Harold Gatric shook hands, but without the menacing looks Kinsburn and Colphford gave each other in the previous match. The two teams took off into the air.

"On Madam Soan's whistle!" said Peragu.

"Three...two...ONE!" Madam Soan blew her whistle and threw the Quaffle into the air.

"And...Raymond with the Quaffle –- Passes over Tanes –- Over to Skile –- Skile passes to Tanes –- Tanes dodges a Bludger and passes the Quaffle to..OH! Tackled by Hufflepuff Chaser Morgan Solt –- You dirty little –- Oh! Sorry –- Renfield with the Quaffle –- Passes to Blecman –- Blecman approaches the goal and SCORES! That makes the score ten to zero."

Terry zoomed around the stadium, looking for any chance of seeing the Snitch before Jantile. He made it to one end of the pitch, made a sharp swerve, and was now facing the side where Solt was scoring.

"And scores, bring the tally to twenty to zero. Blast! Anyway, point to Hufflepuff. Tanes takes possession –- Passes to Skile –- Over to Raymond –- Dodges Blecman –- Passes down the field to Tanes –- Tanes turns and he...is taken down!"

Terry continued to circle the pitch. He would occasionally pass Alia or Travis and say "Alright, there?" Once he made it half way around the stadium and crossed over. On about his third pass over, something came and rammed him hard in the chest. Hufflepuff Beater, Vincent Abberly, had hit him with a Bludger.

"Oo! Ravenclaw Seeker Terry Ollivander hit by a Bludger," Terry heard Peragu say as he tried to regain his breath.

"Terry! Are you alright!" asked Alia, flying over to him.

"Yeah," gasped Terry. "I –- I'm –- fine. Go on –- playing."

The part of Terry's chest where his sternum was positioned throbbed. He was having trouble gripping the handle of his broom. He was fearing he would just slide off the side and fall fifty feet to most certain death or injury.

"Alright," said Alia, turning her broom around. "But watch yourself." She zoomed off.

"Maybe if you had been there..."said Terry in a tiny voice.

He started moving slower on his broom. All the players around him were cheetahs compared to the speed Terry was going.

Who knew a Bludger could do so much damage? he thought to himself.

As he was cruising around the stadium, directly under the staff box in the stands, Terry saw, maybe twenty feet away, a tiny flicker of gold as the sun hitting a shiny ball and silver wings. The Golden Snitch was hovering right underneath Harold Gatric, the Hufflepuff Captain and Beater.

He continued to cruise, as not to bring attention to himself. If Janet Jantile were to see him darting off after something, she would know what he was doing. So, he kept on going slowly toward the Snitch.

Don't go anywhere, said a voice in his head. Don't shoot off and I have to go find you again. But, sure enough, when he was five feet away, the Snitch changed its mind and flew off to the other side of the field.

He would never be able to catch it this way. He'd have to hope that if Jantile were to catch it, Ravenclaw would be at least one-hundred-sixty points higher than Hufflepuff. His ribs hurt. He thought that maybe something had broken.

He chanced an attempt to go a bit faster. It didn't hurt at all. (At least, it didn't make it worse) He went even faster. Then faster. And then faster still. His chest didn't get any worse, and his chances of catching the Snitch before Jantile got better.

When Terry had put on his last acceleration attempt, he saw the true power of a Zephryn Twenty-Seven. It was a downright fast broom. Faster than he had ever seen. He went off in the direction of where the Snitch had been.

Sure enough, the Snitch had come to rest in the air by the middle Hufflepuff goal post. He started to go even faster. The wind whipped his face. Strands of blurry golden yellow where flashing in front of his face because his hair was flying everywhere.

He was ten feet away when the Snitch made another turncoat decision. It flew off in the opposite direction, but Terry was ready for it. The Zephryn made sharp turns easy and smooth. He made a quick about face and pursed the Snitch. The Snitch zigzagged back and forth, weaving through the other thirteen players, making a tiny pattern in its flight.

From above, an unwanted visitor literally dropped in on Terry and the Snitch. Jantile had noticed Terry and was in hot pursuit of the Snitch along side Terry. Terry tried to go faster, but Jantile would just mimic him.

They were flying close to the ground. They was no shaking Jantile off. Terry couldn't think of any way to lose her without losing the Snitch. When he and Jantile made a wide turn to face the other end of the field, and idea struck him like the Bludger had.

Terry slowly pushed himself off his broom, and came to stand on it. He was having trouble balancing, but he had to stay on for just another moment, or else his plan would be ruined. So, with great courage and wit, Terry shoved his feet from his broom, and flew through the air. He started to fall, but he was falling right where he wanted to: right over the Snitch.

When Terry hit the ground, he realized his plan had worked. Under his stomach, he felt the fluttering of wings. He had the Snitch.

"An amazing catch made by Terry Ollivander, Ravenclaw Seeker. Jumped from a moving broom to catch the Snitch. The score now is 200 to 40! Ravenclaw wins!"

Back at the Ravenclaw common room, no one could leave Terry alone. He had been a house hero. Peragu had once again stolen treats from the kitchens. Travis and Alia were so happy to have one. Marigold Raymond had told Terry she was thinking of writing her parents and seeing if they would adopt Terry. Michelle Bulkstrand and Hope Livecombe had suddenly thought Terry was the center of the universe like they had at Terry, Travis, Alia's party for making the team. They wanted pictures and autographs and they didn't go away until Alia shooed them off.

"They just follow fads," Alia informed Terry. "They used to wear dragon hide back in 2013. Imagine, dragon skin dresses. They must have looked like total berks."

Terry was just about to snigger, when five different pairs of hands came from the large mob in the middle of the room and grabbed Terry by the shoulder and jerked him into the crowd. He was bombarded with questions to recap the match from his perspective. He would shoot glances over to Travis or Alia, plainly looking for a good outlet to try and exit. Unfortunately, every time he tried to break away, more people would grab him and bring him back.

"We can't help you," mouthed Travis silently.

"We would if we could," mouthed Alia.

"Well, I was just flying around..." started Terry.

"'Just flying around,' he says," said Marigold Raymond. "So modest."

"Right..." continued Terry nervously. "Then, I was hit by a Bludger."

The entire crowd gasped. "Are you alright?" some asked. "Did you have to go to the hospital."

"I was fine. It just knocked the wind out of me." Terry was starting to feel claustrophobic. The mob around him was slowly closing in. "I flew around some more, and I eventually caught up with the Snitch. Janet Jantile caught up too, but I jumped from my broom and caught it."

"I don't think I've ever heard of anyone doing that before!" shouted a fourth Year boy.

"I wonder if he broke a record!" yelled his friend.

"Terry, were you trying to be cool or did my training help you?" asked Marigold. No one answered her for Terry had taken that opportunity to run from the crowd went over to Alia and Travis.

"Close one, mate," said Travis. "They were about to kill you."

"They are making a bit of a fuss," commented Alia. "It's just one Quidditch game. Notice that they're playing the most attention to Terry just because he's Seeker, no offense, Terry."

"None taken," said Terry flatly. He really didn't care if anyone called him a rude name. He just wanted to get away from the mass of people.

"Marigold is thoroughly enjoying herself," said Alia.

Terry glanced over at Marigold.

"Taught him everything he knows! That jumping routine was my idea," said Marigold. "The Falmouth Falcons have been writing my house, wanting my coaching. In two Years I may go join them."

"She's lying. She's only sixteen-Years-old," said Alia.

"Well, I don't know," said Terry. "She has this Year and the next and then she's out of Hogwarts. She may already have picked her career."

"What do you want to be, Terry?" asked Alia.

"Huh, never thought about it," replied Terry. "I kinda wanted to be a Healer like my brother."

"Well," said Alia, "I want to be a professional dueler. My Uncle Certon convinced me when he won this huge trophy. I wanted one just like it."

"Well, you did a good job Sunday," said Travis.

"Oy, Terry!" yelled someone from the crowd.

"Oh, ruddy gits," exclaimed Terry. He ran as fast as he could up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

He was safe. Safe from all the people down there insisting he get tipsy from drinking twenty-three butterbeers. Safe from Marigold trying to say she was Terry's inspiration. Safe from the loud noise and people, which he couldn't stand.

Five minutes later, Travis and Alia came up to the dormitory.

"What did they want?" asked Terry. He was sitting on his bed with Midnight, using a Levitation Charm to control the model Snitch he received from Travis and have it become a toy for Midnight.

"Pictures," said Travis sitting on his own bed. "They really are making a big deal out of this."

"They just want an excuse to have a party," said Alia sitting down next to Terry and started to pet Midnight.

"Yeah," said Terry. "I heard Peragu Paleface saying that he wanted to outdo his uncles who threw twenty parties when they were here."

"They sound like the Weasley brothers," said Alia.

"They were the Weasley brothers," told Terry. "They are some distant relative."

Alia glanced over to a grandfather clock.

"It's late. I want to go to bed. 'Night all!"

"'Night!" said Terry and Travis. Alia left the dormitory and went to her own.

"We should go to be too," said Travis. He took off his robes and donned his pajamas. Terry followed suit and climbed into bed.

He was exhausted from the day's events that he went to sleep immediately.

Terry was in the round stone room again. Seven holes in the walls with a different colored glass sphere in each. He was facing toward a hole with a black sphere and something was telling him to take it. He reached his hand forward, and like before a dark red weasel leapt out at him. This time, however, it missed. It flew right over his shoulder. Terry took out his wand and he felt a warmth. An unexplainable warmth...something like...you would feel in your happiest memory. His wand started to glow and he pointed it at the weasel. A furry thing shot out and charged the weasel down. The weasel lay on the floor, motionless. Terry looked around. On the ground, unconscious, were a lion and an eagle.

Terry woke with a start, and once again, forgot the dream with in a second.