Spellforged watched as Hermione taught Luna a simple warming charm. The air was chillier than he had expected, but then again it was Mid-November in Scotland. Being up in the Quidditch stands didn't help matters, nor did the darkening clouds overhead.

The warming charms actually did help, of course - just not enough to make him truly comfortable.

Erik and Astoria had walked ahead with some of the other first years, six of whom now sat in the front row under a large, blue blanket. Ravenclaw had no rooting interest in the Gryffindor/Slytherin season opening match, but house pride was important nonetheless. He did notice Astoria wearing a green scarf, likely from her sister.

A subtle feeling of warmth passed across Spellforged's shoulders, and he looked over to see Hermione casting another warming charm on his cloak.

"Thank you," he said.

"Not at all," she replied. "You seemed uncomfortable."

"He was," said Luna with a smile. "He did grow up in a warm cave, after all."

Harry looked at Hermione, before both of them started snickering at the comment. Luna just grinned.

oOoOoOoOo

Chaser adjusted the straps on his goggles, thankful that he had thought to spell them against rain. If the clouds were any indication, that would come in handy.

He had seen an obviously nervous Draco Malfoy on the path from the locker rooms, though Draco didn't see him. Probably better that way, he thought. Draco had not thought to wear goggles or headgear at all, which gave Harry an advantage - the worse the rain got, the easier it would be to outfly the slytherin. Maintaining visibility in those conditions could make or break the game, since you can't hit the goal if you can't see it.

The rest of the Gryffindor team was assembled when he arrived. Oliver Wood wanted a quick game, given the weather, but he would take a win any way he could get it. They had worked on matchups versus faster brooms, using Harry's Nimbus 2000 as a stand-in for the faster 2001's. It had helped - the lions were confident, and felt well-prepared.

It was their game to lose.

oOoOoOoOo

Catch the snitch or die trying, thought Seeker. Let me think about that one.

Chaser's suggestion of enchanted goggles was a good one - already the charmed eyewear was helping him see in the darkening afternoon. If it did rain, he'd be well protected. He knew how hard it would be to catch the snitch under normal conditions; he was not looking forward to trying in the rain.

Seeker's Wood gave almost the same speech, though here he was a little more nervous - they had not spent as much time preparing for the 2001's they'd be facing. Seeker was not worried, though - he had watched the Slytherin team in practice a week ago, and they were having trouble working as a cohesive whole.

That, too, might be a deciding factor, for the Gryffindor team was a well-drilled unit.

oOoOoOoOo

Marigold had not really wanted to watch the match today. Of all the things on her mind, who won the match was very low on the list. Having two players in her head didn't help matters, as they would probably end up giving her a play-by-play if they let their thoughts filter into the link. Sitting in the stands, watching the match, gave her a better shot at tuning them out.

It hadn't really happened, yet, except during Quirrelmort's attacks on Chaser and Seeker last year. But those had been during different matches, and so the two did not end up confusing each other. She and Rose had it lucky, in a way - there was no possibility that she would confuse one of her 'brothers' with her own internal monologue.

Lee Jordan started introductions, as the teams flew out onto the pitch for warm ups.

oOoOoOoOo

Draco Malfoy looks a little bit tentative, Rose thought.

It could easily be dismissed as nerves before his first game, of course. Or pressure from teammates, who had been upset when they realized that Malfoy buying his way onto their team might not be the benefit they thought it would be. At least one player, surely, had gone along with it in hopes of currying favor with Lord Malfoy, for them or their parents. With the house meeting, though, the calculation may have changed, and the players didn't like that one bit.

It was an odd time to be a Slytherin. No one quite knew when another shoe would drop.

Rose had almost skipped the game entirely, telling Daphne that she was tired of being on display, tired of the games. Of all people, it had been Theodore Nott, Draco's roommate, who had set her straight that morning.

"Rose," he had said. "If you don't go to the match, it will look like you realized how badly you overreached with that meeting." Before she could respond he held up a hand. "I'm not saying you did, I'm not saying you didn't. I'm saying that it will look like you regret it." He looked at her, intently. "The house supported you. So, you need to be seen to support the house."

And with that, he had walked off. The quiet boy had rarely spoken with her, but was not one of Draco's close mates, either - they ended up roommates by default, when Crabbe and Goyle took the first two-person dorm. Malfoy and Nott came next, granting Blaise Zabini the single room.

Most expected Blaise and Draco to swap after first year, but the boys had been fine with the arrangement - unlike the girls, where Daphne had spent the first half of the first year rooming with Pansy Parkinson. Rose, who did not particularly enjoy having a single room, had figured that Tracey would swap with Pansy, but when she ended up getting along with Millicent Bulstrode, it became Rose who gave Pansy the single room.

All of which is to say that Theodore Nott remained a bit of an enigma. But he was well-liked among the older slytherins, and his advice made sense. So here she was, sitting underneath a green blanket with Tracey and Daphne, half-heartedly cheering for a seeker she openly despised. Oh, cruel fate, she mused.

Quiet, you, came Marigold's voice over the link. Ten galleons we win.

Rose chuckled, getting a look from Daphne. I'd bet you, but you'd never pay up.

oOoOoOoOo

Hermione looked over at Marigold. "What's so funny?"

Marigold shook her head, pointing at Lee Jordan in an attempt at covering her reaction. The boy had already been scolded by Professor McGonagall for his descriptions of the Slytherin team, especially their new seeker. "Lee is in good form this year," she said.

Hermione shrugged. "He'd better be careful, though, or they'll get someone else."

Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and the game was on. The players dispersed across the field, and the Slytherin chasers were already putting in an attempt on Oliver Wood. Meanwhile, Draco and Alicia were flying high above the pitch, waiting for the snitch to appear.

oOoOoOoOo

"Alright there, Scarhead?" shouted Draco Malfoy, as he flew past Seeker. Before he could respond, a bludger came straight at him, forcing Seeker to roll his broom. The bludger should have flown straight up for a ways, before gravity slowed it - but instead, Seeker watched in horror as it stopped dead in mid air.

Oh, Merlin.

Seeker banked down and to the left, allowing the bludger to pass harmlessly by. George Weasley caught it with his bat, sending it toward Draco - only to see it change direction in mid air once more.

"We've got a rogue bludger!" He shouted.

oOoOoOoOo

Chaser avoided the bludger with a sloth grip roll, dodging for what had to be the third time. And as before, the thing changed direction in mid air. Again it whizzed toward Harry Potter.

"Keep going!" he shouted to Angelina Johnson. "I'm going to let it chase me, maybe break up their seeker's route. Give Alicia a better shot."

"We'll be a chaser short!" his teammate argued.

"Yeah, but the twins can handle one bludger easily - I'll have the other one. Go!" He gathered his speed, seeing the bludger coming at him again. His Nimbus could outrun a full-speed bludger, but only just. He'd have to get creative.

Not to alarm anyone, he sent to the link, but I've got a bludger chasing after me.

oOoOoOoOo

Me, too, Rose heard Seeker's voice in her mind, and could tell that he was agitated. A rogue bludger could do that.

Bludgers do go bad, occasionally. She thought.

Yeah, but why both mine and Chaser's? Asked Seeker. And even then, the bludger would chase the position, not the player. So if his bludger is not chasing his seeker, then it's chasing him. SHIT! Rose pictured him making another tight escape.

"If it's not chasing the position, it's chasing the player…" she muttered to herself. What is going on?

oOoOoOoOo

Marigold heard the chatter on the link, and started tracking the bludgers in her game. Both seemed ordinary, to her unschooled eyes. She watched as one of the twins sent a bludger toward Flint, who barely dodged - but missed what would have been an easy catch in the process, sending the quaffle into the air.

What if it's chasing the player? Asked Marigold, idly. She wasn't sure quite what she meant, exactly, but the thought was forming. On a whim, she muttered the incantation for mage sight.

Quite a few of her fellow lions had a soft, green glow - probably warming charms, she realized. Her own cloak had the same, thanks to Hermione. The brooms were a bright orange, as was the quaffle. She could not see the snitch, but now realized why mage sight was banned in quidditch play - if you could make the snitch light up by tracking its magic, then you could catch it easily.

Bludgers were easy to see as well. A glowing orange orb flew past the Slytherin keeper, narrowly missing his shoulder. Now if she could only find the other one….

Across the pitch, near the Slytherin stands, a purple bludger stopped in mid air.

It's not tracking the players, thought Marigold, as she stood. It's tracking us!

oOoOoOoOo

Luna saw the change in Spellforged's demeanor before he did, and began looking around. The game seemed to be progressing normally. Though the commentary could use some work, she thought.

Spellforged stood, his eyes fixed on the pitch. She saw his hand twist in a goblin gesture, and wondered what spell he had just cast. Then she heard his muttered curse, and decided he had used mage sight. Which meant….

"Harry, what's the matter?" she asked.

The Ravenclaw stands were maybe half full - the weather had scared some of their housemates away, with studying being the second leading cause of missed Quidditch. Spellforged had plenty of room.

"Luna," he said. "I want you to go sit with Hermione."

Hermione looked over at the sound of her name, and saw Luna hopping over the benches to sit next to her. Spellforged was now on his own in the back row of the box.

"What's going on?" asked Hermione. Luna smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright, Hermione, Harry's just having a panic attack. The Wrackspurts are swarming around him." And through him, she thought, wondering how that worked, exactly.

Spellforged, for his part, watched the purple bludger. It had not acted out of the ordinary - yet. Then he saw it stop in mid air, and sighed.

oOoOoOoOo

"Colin!" Marigold shouted. The first year whipped his head around, surprised that she had called his name.

"Yeah, Marigold?" he asked.

"Go get Professor McGonagall. They need to stop the match."

Colin's eyes grew wide, but he listened to her and went down the stairs to the walkway. Anyone else, he would have questioned. But not the girl-who-lived.

The purple bludger had made it halfway across the pitch, before a beater got to it. She hadn't even seen who, if she were honest. Again, it was knocked toward a goal, and again it changed direction in midair.

Then it shot toward her.

oOoOoOoOo

Rose stood up from her seat. The Slytherin stands were closer to full, but still had several empty rows available. She stepped back, climbing to the next row up.

"Rose, what are you doing?" asked Daphne. Getting a better view wasn't unusual, depending on the match, but Rose didn't care about the game. So what was she doing?

"Daphne, in a few moments, a bludger is going to come after me. I'm going to try to dodge, but I'm going to need you to get me to Madam Pomfrey if I don't."

"What?!"

"It'll be fine. I need you to send someone to get Snape. He's going to want to halt the match." Rose saw the bludger get batted back into play - and dared not take her eyes off of it.

At the back of her mind, she started planning the wonderful things she would do to Dobby when she got her hands on the house elf.

oOoOoOoOo

Spellforged watched the Gryffindor team score a goal with a complicated play involving all three of their chasers. It was a brilliant score, but it also cleared the middle of the pitch. The bludger, still glowing purple with house elf magic, shot straight for the Ravenclaw stands.

Some of the older students caught sight of it, and rose. It was aimed above their heads, however, at the second year in the top row.

As the bludger passed the railing, Spellforged dove down between the benches. He had guessed correctly - the bludger couldn't make that sort of stop. Splinters flew as it blasted through the back railing as if it were paper. Another blast, further down the railing, signalled the bludger's return trip through the stands. Before it could strike, however, Spellforged heard a whistle.

All balls froze, as they were designed to do.

Cautiously, mindful of the bludger floating over him, Spellforged stood. By this point, Professor Flitwick had arrived, his wand out and scanning. He detected the elf magic, but could not identify a source. That's alright, thought Spellforged. I know who did this.

oOoOoOoOo

At the back of her mind, Marigold could hear Chaser and Seeker avoiding their bludgers. She was more worried about her own, however.

Hers had shot past in a high arc, before dropping out of the sky like a meteor. It had punched a neat hole in the seat she had vacated, causing Ron and Hermione to back away frantically. Instead of coming back up, however, it shot through the Gryffindor banner on the front edge of the stands.

The purple bludger hovered in front of the Gryffindor stands, as if it were gloating that it had found her so easily. It came forward ten feet before the whistle stopped it dead.

oOoOoOoOo

Snape was waving his wand around the bludger, still floating where it had been when the whistle blew. Rose was talking with Daphne and Tracey, with Astoria standing nearby, a worried look on her face.

"I have no idea, guys. Could it be someone angry with me over Halloween? Maybe." Rose shrugged. "I can't control that."

"Yeah, but you called out Malfoy over words, how angry do they think you'd be over something like this?" asked Tracey.

A good point, she thought. A cheer came over the link from Seeker, coupled with a sharp pain in her arm. That can't be good.

Screwed up my arm, replied Seeker. But got the damn snitch. And the bludgers stop when the game ends.

oOoOoOoOo

Good for you, thought Chaser. But I can't exactly end the game, can I?

He almost felt like he was running a seeker drill, or playing chase-and-catch with his father. Instead of flying his patterns and working plays with the other chasers, he was reduced to looping overhead. He could not even spot the snitch for the seeker, since she was at this moment flying low.

Chaser had, so far, been able to outpace the rogue bludger. But every time he turned, every time he changed course, the bludger simply homed in on him - making a clean strike just a matter of time.

He was flying near the VIP box when he realized his mistake. In all the excitement, in all the chatter over the link, Chaser had completely forgotten about the second bludger.

It came from below, almost strafing the stadium wall. He leaned hard to his left, but in doing so the tail of his broom flared out to the right - and caught the bludger. It was a solid hit, and the bristle end of the broom was obliterated. The handle had just enough support for an emergency, but not much else, and down he went.

The question was not whether he would crash, but where. Looking over, he decided not to stick around to find out. With a kick, he let go of the broom.

Marigold's shouted curse told him how much of his panic had gone through the link. Then he realized how much more they were about to get - for when he looked down, he realized that he was going to miss the stands by a little more than a foot.

Reaching out his hand, he tried to bring himself closer to the rail. He had no wand, no real training in wandless magic - all he had was panic and hope.

And intent. Intent for days.

Fortunately for him, all magic is intent. He felt a gentle tug, so slight he would question it later, and his hands closed on the wooden structure.

Looking up, he saw Professors Snape and Lockhart. Lockhart, for once, lacked his usual assurance - the man had every appearance of someone about to faint. Snape, on the other hand, was enraged.

"Potter!" He shouted, even as he reached down to help. "Why must you make such a spectacle of yourself?"

Chaser caught the potions master's arm in a firm grip. "Just living the dream, Professor."

Snape's reply was lost in the crowd's reactions, as Draco and Alicia were now chasing the snitch. Lockhart got a hold of himself, and grasped Harry's shoulder. Between the two professors, they got him into the stands.

Brushing himself off, Chaser looked up at the assembled faculty, his back to the pitch. "Well, that could have been worse." He said this with a grin, ignoring the looks of horror on the faces of the Professors and the Headmistress, who was even then making her way down to him.

He did not see the bludger that struck him from behind.

oOoOoOoOo

Luna saw Spellforged wince, and wondered what had happened. Perhaps he had hurt himself dodging? She filed the thought away for later. His eyes were firmly on Professor Flitwick, who was securing the bludger in a heavy crate. Had the target been a player, the game would have had to continue with the bludger. Since Spellforged was merely a spectator, however, some measures could be taken.

In this case, Madam Hooch had retrieved a replacement bludger from her office. Spellforged had volunteered to carry the 'rogue' bludger back to the castle, as he was not entirely convinced that Dobby would not just enchant one of the remaining bludgers as he had this one. Very shortly, the match would continue.

It had been an exciting few moments, everyone would later agree. But the danger had passed, now. Right?

So why, thought Luna, is Harry getting angrier?

oOoOoOoOo

Professor Snape was placing another bludger in a similar case, as Rose looked on. This one would go straight to the potions master's office, so that he could look it over after the match. There was always the possibility, however unlikely, that someone had gotten into Madam Hooch's office and tampered with the bludger. That possibility needed to be investigated.

Once the crate was gone, and with it her head of house, the match restarted with the replacement bludger. Hearing the whistle, Rose allowed herself to sit down.

oOoOoOoOo

Marigold watch the crate as it was carried away.

"That got a little scary, didn't it?" asked Colin Creevey. She hadn't even heard the first year approach.

"Yeah, it kind of did, didn't it?" said Marigold, with a smile. She leaned against the back rail, still sitting in the top row. "Most matches aren't nearly this exciting, though."

Colin laughed. "I hope not!"

He was sitting a row closer to the front, and had turned around to speak with her. They had not noticed the whistle restarting the match. Colin was looking up at the second year, when he saw her eyes grow wide. Then he found himself sliding down the bench, toppling onto the stairs.

When he stood up and looked back at Marigold, he saw her laid out against the rail, unconscious, a broken bludger beside her.

oOoOoOoOo

Rose did not feel the impact on Marigold, which was a good sign. But then the gryffindor stopped responding over the link, which said that she was down.

Cursing her own stupidity, Rose jumped to her feet. Of course, Dobby would not give up so easily.

How do you break a bludger? She asked.

With spells we know? You don't. The frustration in Spellforged's voice was clear. In match play, the balls are controlled by a central warding scheme, with the master stone at the center of the pitch. That way, they all respond when someone grabs the snitch, or the whistle blows, or whatever.

Rose was already on the stairs going down. A bludger struck the railing above her, but did not manage to drive its way through. And if I leave the pitch?

No idea. They have to have quite a range, to get as high as they do - but yes, get far enough and you'll probably be fine.

Seeker and Spellforged were both treated to a string of invective from Rose, delivered breathlessly as she ran away from the pitch. She questioned Dobby's parentage, his unsavory habits, his personal hygiene, and his innate bloodlust, before going into a long and detailed diatribe about the many things she planned to do to the sorry bastard when she got her hands on the little elf.

On a whim, she ran toward the school's broom shed, where the brooms reserved for flying lessons were kept. She heard the bludger come at her again, and ducked into a roll. The corner of the shed exploded, sending shards of wood in all directions.

The noise was followed by a hollow thump. Rose looked up, and saw the now dead bludger sitting in the grass. She watched it for a minute, her wand at the ready. When it remained still, she sighed heavily, and then rolled onto her back.

By this point, Daphne and Tracey had caught up to her. They saw their friend laying on the wet grass, chuckling to herself as if responding to some private joke.


A/N: A lot of work went in to this chapter, probably the most complex to date. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed finishing it.

Special thanks to the regulars over at the LeadVonE Discord, who gave me some good insights in just how the hell to manage this sequence.

Feedback, as always, is welcome.