Chapter 7: S.C.A.T.
"I can't believe you convinced me to go to this..." Draco muttered the next evening. Pansy, Harry, and Draco stood outside the door to the classroom where S.C.A.T. met every Sunday evening.
"To late to turn back now mate," Harry said, as Pansy ignored Draco's remarks and pushed open the door. The smell of sweet cinnamon incense hit Harry like a ten ton truck. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, and looked around. The room was pleasantly warm, and covered in soft poofs, chairs, couches, and cushions. Several students sat around already, waiting for the class to begin. Harry noticed Zacharias Smith sitting on a poofy couch, his arm around a pretty Gryffindor fifth-year girl. He looked almost like a king, sitting there at the head of the class, surveying everyone.
"Looks like Zacharias DOES appeal to females..." Pansy said as she, Draco, and Harry took a seat on three poofs to the left of the classroom.
"Yeah right, I bet he paid her," Draco said, stifling a laugh. The classroom slowly began to fill up, and soon there were roughly seventy kids inside.
"Draco, I thought you said nobody was in this club..." Harry said, raising his eyebrows.
"I um... lied?" Draco said, biting his lip. Pansy raised her eyebrows. "You made me come here!" Draco said frantically, crossing his arms. Harry laughed.
"Chill out mate," Harry said, slapping Draco's back.
"Yeah, we came here to meditate not hyperventilate," Pansy said with a laugh. Draco scowled and muttered something Harry couldn't hear.
"Hello Harry," said a dreamy voice in his ear. Harry whirled to face Luna Lovegood, who had taken a seat on the poof next to him.
"Oh, hello Luna," Harry said smiling.
"Your first S.C.A.T. class? Well I'm sure you'll like it," Luna said, crossing her legs and breathing deeply. "Zacharias and Professor Riddle do a splendid job of making us all feel relaxed,"
"Did you just say Professor Ri...!" Draco nearly shouted, but was broken off by someone clearing their throat.
"Good evening class!" said a silky voice from the doorway of the classroom. Professor Riddle stood there, his piercing eyes looking over the students. He swished to the front of the classroom and stood beside Zacharias. "I see we have some new faces," He said, nodding at several kids around the room.
"You knew... you KNEW! I can't believe this Pansy..." Harry heard Draco shooting angrily at Pansy.
"What? What is the problem Draco?" Pansy shot back, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible.
"Pansy it's RIDDLE, every girl in the school's FANTASY. This is obviously the only reason you came here. Why you dragged me and Harry I don't know," Draco murmered angrily.
"That is NOT why we came here and you know it," Pansy hissed. Draco smirked.
"Yeah, and Riddle isn't the most gorgeous guy on the planet," Draco hissed back.
"I AM NOT HERE FOR HIM, DRACO!" Pansy shouted, standing up quickly, her face turning red. Everyone turned to look at Pansy and Draco. Realizing she had just shouted, Pansy sunk back down to her poof, her face a deep crimson. Several snickers ran through the classroom.
"And that is why S.C.A.T. is such a wonderful place to come! To get all your anger out in a non-violent way," Riddle said, arcing his eyebrows and looking at Pansy. "But, I'm sorry Miss Parkinson, the shouting as exertion class isn't for several more weeks. I'm afraid we're still on scents and relaxation," Riddle said smoothly.
"S - sorry Professor. It won't happen again," Pansy murmured, her face becoming redder.
"No problem. Now, onto the various scents we have here," Riddle said, turning to Zacharias and conjuring up a tray with several sticks of incense balanced on it. "President Smith will kindly light the various scents while the rest of you go into the silent sight level. For those of you who don't remember how to get there... just lean back, breathe IN through your nose and out through your mouth, close your eyes, and relax every part of your body bit by bit," Riddle instructed. Draco sighed angrily, and Pansy shot him an angry look out of the corner of her still red-tainted face. Harry just shrugged and leaned back on his poof.
He closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly. The room became deathly silent, and Harry became lost in thought. The first scent that came to him was lemony smelling, and almost immediately sprials of yellow flew through Harry's minds eye. At first he thought it was somewhat like the sun... but then he realized it was the snitch! And there he was, flying across the pitch to catch it! The crowd was in the background cheering, but he could not hear them. It was just him and the small yellow spiral. His hands were nearly to it when all of a sudden the world went black, as if someone had hit a giant switch. The smell of licorice faded into Harry's senses, and he saw himself standing in the dark on a dirt path, looking back and fourth. At one end was Draco, Pansy, Hogwarts castle, and the rest of his friends. At the other was pitch blackness. They beckoned for Harry to come, but he hesitated. He wanted to see what was in the blackness. But before he could make up his mind the scene exploded in a bright white light, and the smell of vanilla filled him. Harry felt giddy all of a sudden, and he watched himself pull at least ten back flips across the empty white plain. All of a sudden Susan Bones appeared in front of him, smiling. Harry stopped, and blushed. She began to speak, but Harry could hear no words. Then she reached toward him and gently stroked his face, but he couldn't feel a thing. Harry was about to speak, when all of a sudden the vast white plain turned into the deep blue ocean, and Susan was lost beneath it while Harry stood on top, the smell of sea salt filling his lungs. He looked around him, frantically trying to find her, but it was just blue water as far as the eye could see. He called her name, but could not hear himself yelling. He turned about, this way and that, until all of a sudden an island appeared. On its sandy shores stood Ron and Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom. They all seemed to be in a panic, and were motioning towards him with great worry, but he couldn't hear them. He started towards them, but before he could get farther, he sunk into the ocean and was lost in the blinding darkness...
Harry's eyes snapped open. He was breathing heavily, and a cold sweat had formed on his head. Draco, Pansy, and Luna were sitting up beside him, Luna and Pansy chatting and Draco scowling.
"Well that was weird," Harry said, sitting up and rubbing his head.
"That was a bloody joke. I just wasted at two hours of my time," Draco said frowning.
"Wait... two hours? We've been laying here for two hours?" Harry started, and then stopped.
"Yeah, what a waste," Draco said frowning. "If I wanted a nap I would've just gone up to my bed,"
"Ah, but Mr. Malfoy that was no nap. In fact, no one in this room actually went to sleep," Professor Riddle stood above them, smiling widely.
"Well I sure as hell didn't..." Draco muttered.
"It was just a simple method of relaxation using incense to calm the internal mind. You weren't sleeping. It's more like you were thinking with your eyes closed," Riddle said.
"But why did it feel so quick?" Harry asked, scratching his head.
"Ah, excellent question Mr. Potter," Riddle said, his eyes shining. "The subconscious is mysterious indeed. Even I do not know why things feel so quick. Perhaps you were thinking longer thoughts, but only caught a small portion of them. You did, in fact, dream in a sense, did you not?"
"Oh... yeah, I guess I was sort of dreaming," Harry said slowly.
"Hence the deeper questions in the mysteries of the human mind," Riddle said, backing up slowly. "Good night students," Riddle turned and exited through the door of the classroom. Draco snorted after Riddle had disappeared.
"Sit here for two hours and then that's the end of class. What a joke," Draco frowned.
"You didn't dream? At all?" Pansy said, astounded.
"NO! I just sat there, feeling like a bloody idiot the whole time," Draco said.
"You should've relaxed more, that's the key to this class. Relaxation..." Pansy started, but Draco stopped her.
"Yeah, relaxing in the presence of Riddle, what a dream," Draco said, standing up.
"Draco, STOP IT! I'm not in love with RIDDLE!" Pansy said. Luckily this time the classroom was nearly empty - almost all the students had left.
"Oh yeah? Then who are you in love with?" Draco said, his eyes narrowing. Pansy faltered, and the color began to rise in her cheeks.
"I... it's... NOT IMPORTANT!" Pansy said flushing, her hands tightening into fists. Draco raised his eyebrows. "God Draco, you're just so... stupid sometimes!" Pansy said, throwing up her hands and storming out of the classroom. Luna and Harry looked from the classroom door to Draco.
"Hey mate... best you cool it on the Riddle factor. I really don't think Pansy has a thing for Riddle... and if she does, what's it matter?" Harry said slowly. Draco's hands tightened and he looked down at the floor.
"I... uh... I mean, come on. It's obvious..." Draco faultered. "I... I'll see you later Harry, Luna," Draco nodded at the floor, and quickly walked out of the classroom. Harry sighed deeply.
"This same thing happened just a few days ago. I don't understand what's with him and Pansy and Riddle..." Harry said shrugging.
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think those two were an old married couple," Luna said dreamily. She turned to face Harry. "Good night, captain," she said smiling, her blue eyes shining. Luna turned and headed for the classroom door, her long blonde hair floating around her like a heavenly cloak.
"Good night... Luna," Harry faltered. And there he was, left standing in the middle of the empty classroom, feeling rather dense. He looked from the left to the right, scratched his head, shrugged, and then exited the classroom.
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The next day passed by uneventfully, and Harry was grateful to finally make it outdoors for quidditch practice later that night. He and Draco walked down to the pitch, their brooms balanced over their shoulders.
"I hope the Slytherins are out of there. I don't need Weasley's cheek this late at night," Draco said wearily. Harry shrugged, knowing that the Slytherin team would make it as difficult as possible to give up the pitch. He absentmindedly wondered why he hadn't tried to reserve the pitch earlier, but his thoughts were lost as he and Draco approached the pitch.
"Times up Weasley! Give us the pitch!" said an angry voice.
"Make me, pipsqueak," Ron's voice echoed. Draco and Harry exchanged nervous looks and quickened their pace. There, in the middle of the pitch stood a very distraught looking Zacharias Smith, flanked by a nervous Luna Lovegood. Ron Weasley, who had at least 7 or 8 inches on Zacharias, stood scowling infront of him. He was flanked by the rest of the Slytherin quidditch team.
"He's right Weasley, get off the pitch," Harry said, quickly rushing to Zacharias' aide.
"Oh well if it isn't Potty? Well I better bugger off then," Ron said smirking. The other Slytherins guffawed.
"Come on Weasley, it's our turn to practice. Get off the pitch," Draco said, his eyes narrowing.
"Ooh, the blood traitor says to GO so we better GO!" Ron said. "Whatever GryffinDORKS. You can have the pitch, but we'll be the ones with the quidditch cup at the end of the season," Ron smirked, and walked by Harry on his way out, making sure to bump shoulders rather roughly. The rest of the Slytherins followed him out. Harry let out a sigh, and leaned on his broom. Susan, Vincent, and Gregory walked into the pitch and stood beside the rest of their team without Harry noticing.
"All right you lot, start warming up. Take some laps around the pitch," Harry said, motioning above him. Zacharias, Luna, Draco, Vincent, and Gregory took off. Harry hadn't expected to see them, so he whirled around and came face to face with Susan.
"Hi," she said slowly.
"Oh. Hey," Harry said. He scratched his head nervously, and looked from his broom to the ground and back to Susan.
"I just wanted to tell you that... uh... um... I'll get along fine with Zacharias," Susan said quickly, looking up at Harry.
"Oh. Okay, great," Harry said, clapping his hands together. Susan nodded, and then took off into the air on her broom. Harry blinked. What the bloody hell was that all about? Harry thought. He shrugged and took off into the air to fly alongside his teammates.
After the warm up Harry had Vincent and Gregory hit bludgers while the rest of the team practiced dodging. Zacharias and Luna managed to dodge every bludger with ease, and he was pleased that he had picked them. But when they tried to practice scoring on Draco...
"No Luna, the correct technique is as follows," Zacharias said to her. He arced back and sent the quaffle flying towards Draco at an alarming rate. Draco managed to knock the quaffle away, but just barely. He was almost knocked off his broom in the process.
"Zacharias, you don't need to show me how to shoot a quaffle. I already know how!" Luna said indignantly.
"Oh yeah? Then prove it!" Zacharias said, raising his eyebrows. Luna frowned, and took a quaffle in her hands, and threw it at Draco. He managed to block Luna's too, but he didn't get almost knocked off his broom. Zacharias smirked.
"Just because I'm not out to kill the keeper doesn't mean I can't throw the quaffle," Luna said angrily.
"Let's just hope I don't cut you from the team next year," Zacharias said, rolling his eyes. Luna looked like she was about to haul off and punch Zacharias right off his broom, but she turned and flew across the field, as far away from Zacharias as she could get.
"Hey, Zachie, quit picking on her!" Susan said, flying over to Zacharias.
"What do you mean picking? I was just giving her some tips..." Zacharias said innocently.
"Well your tips suck," Susan said, looking Zacharias up and down.
"Oh, like you're any better?" Zacharias shot back.
"Well, seeing as I've been on the team a lot longer than you, yeah I think so," Susan said, her eyes narrowing.
"But you didn't make captain, did you?" Zacharias said, a triumphant smirk on his face.
"Neither did you," Susan said plainly. Zacharias frowned, his smirk disappearing.
"Well... I will!" He said airily, turning and flying away from Susan, busying himself with throwing quaffles at Draco. Susan just rolled her eyes, and Harry flew over.
"I thought you were going to get along fine with Zacharias," Harry said jokingly.
"Oh I am," Susan said smiling airily.
"You are?" Harry said, sounding a bit surprised.
"Yeah. I didn't punch his face in or knock him off his broom, so I'd say I'm getting along with him splendidly," Susan said, smiling innocently and throwing a quaffle toward Draco. Harry laughed.
"Well in that case, keep it up. You and him will be best friends in no time," he joked. Susan laughed, and threw another quaffle.
"For sure. Pretty soon we'll just be like two peas in a pod. Like… uh… peanut butter and jelly!" Susan said. She glanced across the field to Zacharias, who was showing off by trying to throw two quaffles at once. Luna sat scowling on her broom, looking from her quaffle to Zacharias. "Uh oh... I think she's gonna peg him!" Susan said, quickly flying off towards Luna. Harry laughed again, and leaned back on his broom. So it looked like it would be Luna and Zacharias at each other's throats and Susan keeping the peace... but neither of the girls liked Zacharias. How convenient. Well, maybe he'd change.
"No, no Luna not like that! You're supposed to continue flying! Don't stop or they'll hit you with a BLUDGER!" Harry heard Zacharias yelling frantically. Harry shook his head. Or maybe not... Despite Zacharias' control issues, Harry was still sure he had made the right choice. He was confident his team would do well and maybe win the cup... If they didn't kill each other first!
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Hey hope you liked this chappie! I'm getting to the better parts slowly but surley, so hang in there! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE R&R! It means a lot! Thankies!