It was a fine and breezy Saturday when the students enjoyed their third Hogsmeade visit of the year. Maya and her friends finally decided to check out the Shrieking Shack, supposedly the most haunted dwelling in Britain. They had to climb a slope to reach it, and soon enough Maya was panting. Draco was telling them about Buckbeak's hearing, which had taken place the day before. 'I should receive word from my father any time now. He was at the hearing to tell them about my arm and how I couldn't use it for three months' he said. Vincent and Gregory sniggered, but Maya was done with this topic and just pretended she was too tired to speak. 'I wish I could hear that moron trying to defend himself, ha. That Hippogriff's as good as dead, mark my words… oh, hello there, Weasley' Draco went on, suddenly catching sight of Ron, who was leaning on the fence. In the distance, Maya spotted the Shrieking Shack at last; even in daylight it was rather creepy, with its boarded windows and overgrown garden. Draco too looked at the crumbling house behind Ron. 'Suppose you'd love to live there, wouldn't you, Weasley? So you'd finally have your own bedroom?' Draco sneered.
'Shut up, Malfoy!' Ron said angrily, clenching his fists.
'You know, Weasley, I've been wondering about something. They say crime doesn't pay, so does your father's current job make him a criminal?' Draco continued. Vincent and Gregory roared with laughter, and even Maya's mouth inadvertently curled into a smile. 'We were just discussing your friend Hagrid and that foul beast of his. D'you think he'll cry when they cut off his Hippogriff's…'
Splat! Suddenly Draco's head jerked forwards when what seemed like a handful of mud hit the back of his head. Maya gasped in shock, and quickly drew back when more sludge was thrown their way. It hit Vincent and Gregory square in the face, causing them to hop furiously on the spot, trying to rub it out of their eyes. Maya decided to put her vast duelling expertise to use and cast a Shield Charm around her. A magical barrier now surrounded her and even though her mastery of this complex spell was far from perfect, no amount of mud was going to penetrate it. Ron had doubled up with laughter and Vincent started towards him, but suddenly he stumbled… and then they all saw Harry's face floating in mid-air. Draco let out a yell and immediately ran back down the hill, towards the castle, with Vincent and Gregory at his heels. Harry's scared face disappeared again, but the damage was done.
'Oh Harry, I don't know what you're playing at or how you managed to sneak past the Dementors considering they can supposedly see through Invisibility Cloaks, but you're in so much trouble now!' Maya said, failing to completely hide her glee. The somewhat feeble barrier around her wore off, and she watched how Ron too dashed away. Suddenly, Maya was all alone. Trying hard to process just what had happened, she made her solitary way back down the slope towards the village. A million thoughts ran through her head. Draco would obviously tell a teacher, and it was too late to stop him even if she had wanted to, which she was not at all sure about. Harry, famous he might be, should face the consequences for his rule breaking too. By the time Maya had reached the village, she decided that it was all fine; there was no way they would be expelling the saintly Harry Potter. They might, on the other hand, take a significant amount of points from Gryffindor. That would definitely be a big win for Slytherin, considering they were currently in a neck and neck race for the House Cup. Now, if she, an ordinary Slytherin, had done something like that, she might as well have started packing now.
It turned out that Draco had told Professor Snape about the sticky situation at the Shrieking Shack, but when the Slytherins walked to the Great Hall for dinner that evening they found the huge Gryffindor hourglass tallying the house points to be unchanged. What was more, Maya spotted Harry innocently enjoying his food at the Gryffindor table. 'That Potter! Always worming his way out of punishment!' Draco spat angrily as they sat down.
'Don't worry, his time will come' Maya said bitterly. She too strongly felt that Harry's actions should at the very least have cost Gryffindor some points. Slytherin, for example, had lost as many as fifty points for that Dementor prank, which for all it accomplished might as well not have happened. Hogwarts favouritism at its finest, as far as Maya was concerned.
The following day the Slytherins' moods took a definite upturn. Hagrid had lost his case and Buckbeak was going to be executed. 'Justice at last!' Draco exclaimed dramatically, 'may that Hippogriff never nearly kill innocent people again!' He high-fived Vincent and Gregory, and even Maya put up her hand, but she barely glanced up from her Transfiguration homework.
Hagrid seemed numb with shock at the verdict. He barely spoke to his class and only gave them very vague instructions. When the students walked back up to the castle after the lesson had finished, Draco kept looking back at Harry, Ron and Hermione, laughing derisively. Maya, Draco, Vincent and Gregory came to a halt just inside the castle doors. They saw Hagrid hurrying back towards his cabin, his face buried in his handkerchief. Maya stared after him and inadvertently felt sorry for him. She could not even begin to imagine how she would feel if some day she would have to say farewell to Aurelia… Draco's laughter snapped her out of it. 'Look at him blubber! Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic?'
Harry and Ron both made furious moves towards Malfoy, but Hermione beat them to it and slapped Draco around the face with all the strength she could muster. The smacking sound echoed heavily in the Entrance Hall, and everyone was completely flabbergasted. 'Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul, evil, little cockroach!' Hermione screamed, now whipping out her wand and pointing it straight at Draco's throat. Maya, Vincent and Gregory were all thoroughly bewildered and just stood there stunned, but Harry and Ron managed to calm Hermione down somewhat and she lowered her wand.
'C'mon' muttered Draco, and then he disappeared into the passageway to the dungeons. Vincent and Gregory went after him, and Maya, after casting one more astonished glance at Hermione, followed too.
Barely an hour later, Maya saw the Gryffindor trio again in Divination. Much to their shock, she sat down at their table. 'She has beauty, she has grace, she punched Draco, in the face!' she sang quietly, a broad grin spreading across her face.
'Maya, what…' Hermione started feebly, apparently utterly confused. Harry and Ron too gave her funny looks.
'Oh, trust me, Hermione, sometimes I have the same urge. You go, girl! Wow, I can still hear that smacking sound…' Maya said happily.
'No offence, Dursley, but you're the weirdest Slytherin I've ever met' Ron spoke slowly, looking at her delighted state.
'At least I am a Slytherin, Weasley' Maya said cheerfully, but then Professor Trelawney made her usual dramatic entrance out of the shadows and the students fell silent.
'I have decided to introduce the crystal ball a little earlier' the professor said, and the class looked at the crystal balls full of pearly white mist that were glowing on every table. 'Crystal-gazing is a particularly refined art. Relax and let your mind go as you peer into the orb's infinite depths…'
Maya felt extremely foolish as she stared into the crystal ball. She looked at Hermione, who seemed very annoyed. 'This is such a waste of time! I could be practising something useful…' she hissed.
'Like how to hit people? Oh wait, you already master that perfectly!' Maya said cheekily, playfully poking Hermione with her elbow.
'It's obvious what my crystal ball means. There's going to be loads of fog tonight' Ron said, and all four of them burst out laughing.
'Never knew you could be so funny, Weasley' Maya said, rather impressed with him.
'Now, really! You are disturbing the clairvoyant vibrations!' Professor Trelawney said angrily. She strode over to their table and peered into Harry's crystal ball. Sure enough, a few seconds later a dramatic scream escaped from her mouth. 'It is here! Plainer than ever before, stalking towards you, growing ever closer… the Grim!'
'Oh, please! Not that ridiculous Grim again!' Hermione said loudly, her voice booming through the silent classroom. Professor Trelawney surveyed Hermione with unmistakeable anger.
'My dear, from the moment you first arrived in my class I sensed that you did not possess the proper spirit for the fine and noble art that is Divination. You may be young in years, but the heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shrivelled as an old maid's, your soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave…' Professor Trelawney said dramatically. Ouch Maya thought, and apparently so did the rest of the class, judging by their reaction, or rather lack thereof.
'Fine!' Hermione said, getting up, knocking the crystal ball off the table, swinging her bag over her shoulder and striding over to the trapdoor. She kicked it open and before they knew it, she was gone.
There was a shocked silence for a bit, until it was broken by Gryffindor Lavender Brown.
'Oooo, you knew, professor! You predicted that around Easter one of our number would leave us for ever!'
Maya looked at Harry and Ron. 'Some day Hermione's having, eh?' she muttered.
In the month of March, Slytherin also managed to beat Hufflepuff in Quidditch. They were now leading the tournament by exactly two hundred points and thus could now even afford to lose the final match against Gryffindor by a small margin. The match would be played on the first Saturday after the Easter holidays, which were filled by intense studying. Even Maya was now struggling to finish all her work on time.
Both Slytherin and Gryffindor were obsessed with the upcoming Quidditch final, and rivalry between the two houses was at an all-time high. Tension was at breaking-point and a number of small scuffles broke out in the corridors. Vincent and Gregory had been instructed by Flint to trip Harry up and injure him, but Gryffindor captain Wood had countered this by telling his house that Harry should be accompanied everywhere. The whole of Gryffindor house took up the challenge enthusiastically, and the red mass glared threateningly at Maya whenever she had to pass them to get to classes. The Slytherin team were rather confident, even though Harry was riding a Firebolt. 'We got the lead already, so our main strategy will be to be very rough on their players. That way they can't get in their game and hopefully lose their heads' Draco told Maya the night before the match. Maya would rather have the Slytherin team rely on their own talent, but she self-admittedly did not know much about Quidditch, apart from the fact that it always caused a great deal of animosity between the houses.
The morning of the final it once again became crystal clear to Maya just how much Slytherin was hated by the rest of the school. When their team entered the Great Hall they found themselves booed by all of the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, while the Gryffindor team actually received cheers from the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The Slytherin team were rather nervous and Draco looked even paler than usual. Maya urged him to eat, but he hardly did.
Conditions were as good as perfect for a Quidditch match; hardly any wind and a blue sky. The entire school made its way to the stadium, buzzing excitedly all the way. Maya joined the rest of the Slytherins behind their goalposts, forming a mass of green, but three-quarters of the crowd were wearing red and waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion. She inadvertently wondered whether this rather hostile venue would impact her team's performance. When commentator Lee Jordan called out the names of the Gryffindor players, the Slytherins tried to boo them, but they barely managed to make themselves heard. It was at this exact moment that Maya suddenly had this feeling that this would not end well.
Sure enough, inspired by the overwhelming support and making full use of their impressive flying skills, Gryffindor quickly managed to take an early lead. This did not sit well with the Slytherins, who subsequently resorted to some very dirty play. They ruthlessly smashed into the Gryffindor Chasers to get possession of the Quaffle, hit the Bludgers as hard as they could towards Harry and on one occasion even the Keeper, used their clubs to hit Gryffindor players and everything else they could think of to achieve their means. Referee Madam Hooch really had her work cut out for her and desperately fought to maintain control over the match, while the Slytherins cheered at everything their team did and the rest of the stadium booed at everything their team did. Then suddenly Harry put on a huge burst of speed, hundreds of eyes following him and Draco speeding along. The crowd held its breath; the Slytherins scared, the rest excited… Harry stretched out his hand to grab the Snitch, but then in an ultimate act of desperation, Draco had grabbed hold of the Firebolt's tail and was pulling it back. The Slytherins cheered and clapped, Lee Jordan was screaming a string of insults into the megaphone and nearly the entire stadium was hissing and booing. The Slytherin team, delighted by Draco's foul, were spurred on to greater heights and promptly scored. Their dirty tactics were finally getting to the Gryffindors and suddenly Maya felt more confident. However, such was the design of Quidditch that games could randomly end, and just as the Slytherins finally felt in control of the match, Harry managed to outstrip Draco, catch the Snitch and with that claim victory for the reds. While all sorts of negative emotions ran through the Slytherins, the stadium exploded and wave upon wave of crimson supporters was pouring over the barriers onto the pitch. Even Maya, not exactly the most fervent Quidditch fan, watched it all in a state of complete shock and sorrow. It was all over, Slytherin had lost again…