CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Gryffindor Versus Slytherin
During the days following the incident with the troll, Ellie thought of the Perelli charm often. If her father had really given her such an incredible protection charm, and she had been able to trigger it that day in the girls' bathroom, couldn't she have saved them all without Harry ever having to risk his life like that?
She wanted answers, but she barely knew the questions to ask.
Quidditch practice was getting more and more intense now that the Slytherin came was drawing nearer. Attracted as she often found herself to Oliver outside of the game, Ellie's feelings for him were often diminished by his obsessive attitude when it came to the game. It was endearing at times, but often stressful.
"I know we've got a great team," he said a few days after Halloween. "Chasers that work brilliantly together, the best Seeker I've seen, and our unbeatable Beaters…"
Fred and George smirked.
"But this is Slytherin, the toughest competition around, and we've really got to work at it if we want to win. So practice again tomorrow, two hours—three if I get any complaints."
Everyone groaned as they headed back to the locker rooms. Once she finished changing into her regular robes, Ellie took the opportunity to pull Fred and George aside to vent to them about her latest frustrations.
"Remember the thing I told you about the Perelli charm?" she asked them once they were isolated in the courtyard.
"Yeah," said Fred. "The super rare shield thing that sounds concerningly dangerous for your dad to have ever tried on you."
"But we don't know for sure that he tried it," George reminded him.
"Exactly," said Ellie. "And I want to find out."
"Well," said Fred, considering. "It's a shield that activates when you do what you love the most, right? What would that be?"
"Quidditch?" suggested George. "Music? Snogging Ollie?"
She rolled her eyes. "I don't know. I don't really get how to activate it. How unlikely is it that I get attacked in the midst of doing whatever it is I love?"
"Considering you just fought a troll, not so unlikely," George pointed out with a grin.
"Speaking of that whole weird conversation with McGonagall and Dumbledore," said Fred. "Ever find out how Snape knows your parents?"
"No. But I did learn one new tidbit of other info from Hagrid on my birthday." She launched into the story about how Hagrid had accidentally revealed something about a Philosopher's Stone when Oliver took her to his hut to see the unicorn.
"I've heard of it," said George. "Something about immortality. Think Dumbledore and his friend created it together."
"I think that's what the three-headed dog is guarding," she explained. "I mentioned it to Hermione, but she hadn't seemed to have figured it out yet. Though I may have pushed her along."
"Harry didn't tell you any of this, though?" asked Fred, frowning.
"He sort of… tried. I told him that he shouldn't tell me if he didn't want you two knowing. You know—because I tell you everything."
They stared at her in surprised silence for several seconds, then, suddenly, simultaneously hugged her so hard, she thought she might burst.
Finally, the day of the match was upon them. Ellie woke up with a frightfully nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach, wishing it could still be her birthday and that Fred and George might show up to cheer her up.
Lavender and Parvati woke up when she did and immediately went into talk mode.
"I think you'll do great," Lavender gushed. "Seriously, you have nothing to worry about. I reckon if Oliver Wood fancies you, you have to be good at Quidditch."
Ellie laughed as she laced up her sneakers. She usually preferred Vans to Converse, but they weren't ideal Quidditch shoes. "He doesn't fancy me—we're just friends."
"You don't have to be modest," said Parvati cheerfully. "We think it's great. You can go through all the awkward motions of figuring out how to date boys, then report back to us so we can become experts."
But Ellie had no interest in going through any of those awkward motions; she cared far more about learning spellcasting, broom-flying, and her own identity. She was still a kid, after all; she had the rest of her life for boys.
"You'll do great, Ellie," yawned Hermione as she, too, sat up in bed. "You seem like a born flyer. Harry, too."
Ellie and Hermione were ready first, being the two of the group that put the least effort into their appearances. As they walked to the boys' dormitory together to wish the boys luck, Hermione confided in Ellie, "I don't think it's smart—the whole Oliver thing. I just have to say it."
Ellie sighed. She was growing weary of denying this. "Doesn't matter, Hermione. It's not a thing."
"I know—and it's not you I'm judging. Just… be careful, would you? He might only be three years older than you on paper, but those are three pretty pivotal years in a kid's life. You know?"
Ellie did know, and more than that, she actually appreciated Hermione's advice. For not the first time, she was struck by how advanced Hermione was—in more ways than just her studies.
Hermione peeled off first into the first years' room when they reached the dorms, but Ellie continued into the third years'. Several of the boys in the room shrieked and hollered at her for entering while they were in their underwear, but Fred and George, who were already dressed and playing a round of magical poker, just smiled easily at her.
"Hey!" Ellie whined when she saw the floating cards. "You're playing without me?"
"Not anymore," Fred pointed out as he gestured for her to join him. "Full house!"
George tossed his cards angrily across the room, then casually returned them with a flick of his wand and an "Accio cards."
"Another round?" Fred asked Ellie. "Or breakfast?"
"Breakfast. But a round after the game." As they strode out of the dorms and out of the common room, she added thoughtfully, "You know, you two are better wizards than I thought. That shield thing in the bathroom, the cards…"
"Ouch," said Fred cheerfully. "Always assumed we were pathetic idiots too stupid to learn spells, so we resorted to franks?"
"More like… better at some things than others," she corrected diplomatically.
"I wouldn't be that impressed with us if I were you," Fred said in an uncharacteristically dark tone. "Still haven't quite forgiven myself that Harry doing that ridiculous kamikaze act was what saved you in that bathroom."
His words surprised her. "Don't be silly, Fred. You guys made the shield, and helped us levitate the club. We couldn't have done it without you."
But he looked doubtful—almost mad at himself. "Just… do me a favor and don't have any more near-death experiences. Okay?"
"Okay," she said, then grinned. "But no promises when it comes to Quidditch."
Hearing Lee Jordan's voice ring out over the whole field should have been exciting, but it only added to Ellie's nerves. She glanced at Harry and was comforted by the fact that she wasn't in it alone; he looked completely panic-stricken.
"We'll be fine," Oliver assured them as they walked out onto the field. "Harry, just as we've practiced. Ellie, Angelina, Katie—keep up that teamwork and they won't stand a chance. Fred, George…" He laughed. "Well, you don't get nervous, do you? So I shouldn't bother encouraging you."
"Encourage anyway!" George insisted. "It's good for the soul."
They all laughed as they mounted their brooms and readied for kick-off.
The moment the Quaffle was thrown into the air and the whistle sounded, Ellie was overcome with the most powerful urge she had ever felt to get that ball. It was as if her life depended on it. She clutched her Cleansweep tightly with one hand as she scooped the Quaffle up with the other, than spiraled out of the onslaught of Slytherin Chasers' dives once she had it. In one swift motion, she soared upwards toward Angelina and tossed her the ball. Angelina made one final pass to Katie, who scored the goal.
"One very fast score for Gryffindor!" cheered Lee happily. "That's ten points, and a job well done to the team's new Chaser, Ellie… well, she'd hurt me if I said her name on this thing, so we'll just say Ellie."
Ellie grinned at a passing Fred as she headed back to the center of the pitch to standby for the Quaffle to be tossed back in. She didn't manage to catch it this time, but weaved to a good spot for Angelina to throw it to her. She searched for Katie to pass to, but, seeing that she was too heavily guarded, continued forward, made a move for the last goal, and shot right at the last second, managing to evade Miles Bletchley, their rather buck-toothed and ugly Keeper.
"Another, beautiful ten points to Gryffindor, scored by Ellie!" cheered Lee.
The Slytherins looked furious, but their fury didn't seem to help them; Katie caught the next Quaffle and threw it underhand to Ellie, who managed to get another goal past Bletchley using the exact strategy she'd just used.
"Not very smart, is he?" George joked as he offered her a high-five in passing.
"Gryffindor's up thirty now, and Slytherin's still at zero!" Lee announced. "Will they catch up by the time the Snitch is caught? Potter doesn't seem to have an eye on it, nor does—"
But he was interrupted by the crowd gasping as, for the first throw-in, a Slytherin caught the Quaffle.
Ellie tried to reach him, but Katie was closer. When she reached for the Quaffle, the Chaser—Adrian Pucey—knocked into her. She knocked back, clearly not liking being man-handled, but it only spurned him to knock again, even harder. Seemingly furious, Katie knocked so hard into him that he was almost unseated; this time, she tossed the Quaffle to Ellie, who shot it to Angelina, who scored.
Their winning streak continued all the way until the score hit ninety to thirty. As the Quaffle was being fetched by Hooch for the new toss-in, Ellie took a moment to search the air for Harry and see whether he had eyes on the Snitch yet. When she saw him, her heart nearly stopped.
He was on his broom near the middle of the field, but his broom was jerking about unsteadily, clearly not by his command. If he had a school broom, she might've passed it off as bad polishing, but this a brand-new Nimbus Two Thousand. It wasn't supposed to do this.
She shot back into focus when a passing Bludger nearly hit her. She gingerly plucked the Quaffle from Montague's grip, scored a goal, and turned back to Harry.
He was being jinxed; there was no other explanation. Half of the audience looked pleased; the other half looked infuriated. She searched the stands for Ron and Hermione and was relieved to see that Hermione was clearly on a mission somewhere.
She wanted to do something—a shield charm, maybe, or some sort of magic that might protect him—but she didn't want to risk costing the game for the Gryffindors, and anyway, she hadn't exactly mastered any shield charms yet. So, with breath held, she waited for Hermione to come through.
She didn't have to wait too much longer, though it did get worse before it got better—to the point that he was clinging to the broom with one hand. Another minute or two, and his jinx was lifted and he swung back onto his broom.
She glanced at Montague and Flint, two of the Slytherin Chasers. They were up to something, she could tell—had sneers on their faces, and were looking straight at Angelina, who had the Quaffle in her arm again.
Ellie flew over to Katie, who hadn't noticed. "They're up to something!"
Katie glanced at the Chasers, who were inching up to Angelina. "Come on, then!" she shouted back, and she and Ellie zoomed over to them. Montague and Flint were closing in on Angelina, but no sooner had they positioned themselves at either of her sides than Ellie and Katie flew at them from behind, bumping them hard.
"Dive!" Ellie shouted at Angelina, who swooped downward and then back up, then tossed the Quaffle to Ellie, who threw long and scored a goal.
Unfortunately, saving Angelina and scoring the goal had distracted them from the Slytherins' next sketchy move: directing a Bludger straight at Oliver, who crashed painfully to the ground.
The Gryffindors had a huge lead, but with Oliver down for the count, they weren't going to keep it for long. Ellie scanned the field for Harry and gasped with relief when she saw that he was after the Snitch. He was gathering speed, and—
"Go, Harry, go!" she shouted excitedly.
Her heart sank when she saw him crashing to the ground, but from the way Lee Jordan reacted, it didn't sound quite like things were over.
"Wait," Lee was saying. "He's sort of retching—is it possible that—that—"
The crowd gasped as something unexpected came out of Harry's mouth: a little, gold ball with wings. It was the Snitch.
"He's got it!" cried Lee joyously. "Harry Potter has caught the snitch and won the game for Gryffindor!"
The twins zoomed over to Ellie at that, and they all touched down to the ground in an entanglement of arms and hugs.
They spent most of the rest of the day in the Gryffindor common room, celebrating. Harry was treated like a king, and the rest of the team as close to it. They also made a brief trip to the hospital wing to check on Oliver after his fall. He was ecstatic about the win, of course, and wasn't banged up too badly.
The next morning, Ellie slipped into the twins' room again. She was overjoyed by their victory, and she found that spending time with the twins was the best way to ensure that the joy stuck.
All of the boys were asleep when she arrived, much to her delight—she'd been trying to catch the twins in their pyjamas all year. Fred was in green plaid pants and a Bertie Botts tee, and George was in blue plaid pants with a Chocolate Frogs tee. Even their pyjamas were in sync.
"You guys are so lame," she teased as she sat on Fred's legs.
Fred grumbled something incoherent while seemingly still asleep, then shot out of bed with a yelp when he realized she was there.
"Not fair!" George sputtered from the other bed. "Little warning next time? You're lucky we're dressed."
Lee shot him a look from his own bed, where he had just awoken, too. "Are you implying you sometimes sleep in the nude?"
"He's implying she should have warned us," grumbled Fred, who, looked more amused than angry. He glanced at Ellie and asked, "What's so important, anyway?"
She shrugged. "Nothing, really. Figured we could get some practice in. Maybe try and do a Christmas concert?"
"A concert?" repeated Lee interestedly. "You mean, like, school-sanctioned?"
"Ginny would have a fit if we didn't include her," George warned. "She's been writing to us all term, warning us not to ever perform without her. She's been practicing from home—irritating Mum and Dad half to death, I reckon."
Ellie grinned, pleased to hear it. She made a mental note to write more to Ginny herself.
"Worth a try," said Fred. "Get some practicing in this morning, then go and beg McGonagall to let us play in the Great Hall—with Ginny—for the Christmas feast? It's not like there are all that many students around at Christmas, anyway."
She had been right, she decided as she smiled back at the twins. Coming to them had ensured that the joy stuck. "Sounds like a plan."
Christmas concert at Hogwarts? Sounds like fun, doesn't it? We'll have two parts to the Christmas chapters, same as Halloween, with lots of fun and action packed in. Please remember to leave a review if you're enjoying the story, and thanks for reading!
