While it takes a few days for the first years to recover from the guilt of not noticing that their biggest PITA was missing at Halloween, for the rest of the school the feast seems to have been the trigger to start Quidditch Fever. Harry, Hermione, and the other muggleborn really don't understand the attraction after a brief explanation of the rules and scoring. Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker, finally huffs and sits down with them.
"What is it that you have against Quidditch?"
Harry sighs, "For me, it's the fact that the snitch exists. Don't get me wrong, with older broom designs I would imagine that it was a perfectly good method of ensuring the game lasted long enough to be fun. But now? I could probably catch the snitch in five minutes or less. On top of that, looking at the expected scores you'd need to have a 3-4 hour game for the rest of the teams ability to even start to matter if the two teams are closely matched. As we would say in the muggle world about a bad match up in football, 'I didn't think we were watching cricket'."
When he sees the lack of comprehension on Cedric's face he adds, "You don't know what football or cricket are do you?"
"Sorry, I don't beyond the fact that they're muggle games."
"Could you grab that small table and bring it over here? I'm just going to buy a TV and I don't think it should be near where most people study."
Once the TV is bought, Harry shows Cedric how to use it, and how to get BBC 1, "You won't see much football till the weekend as most matches play on Saturday afternoon, but the BBC has a program called Match of the Day that Vernon used to watch."
"That's fair enough, and I'll watch a game. But I think you're underestimating how hard it is to catch the snitch."
"I'm really not."
"Right, tomorrow morning you and I are going to the Quidditch pitch and I'll show you."
Harry sighs, "Fine."
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The next morning, Harry was shivering in the cold October air as he watched Cedric open a leather bound box.
"This is a practice set of Quidditch balls, the bludgers have cushioning charms on them, and the snitch can be adjusted to different difficulties. I'm going to place it on the match setting, then once you've tried to catch it, we can dial it down until you can catch it. We'll treat it the same way Hooch would in a match, so I'll release the snitch. Then you'll be allowed to take off, when I blow the whistle you can start looking for the snitch and your time will start."
Harry's pretty sure that it's a little unfair to use a broom that can do the quarter mile in less than 6 seconds, but he's making a point.
Cedric lets the snitch out, and a moment later Harry mounts his broom but otherwise doesn't go anywhere. When the whistle goes off, Harry starts discharging as he dumps magic into his broom with the intention of getting above the pitch. He leaves a coruscating streamer of light as he seems to teleport to 100' straight up. There he stops and looks around for a glint of gold from the sun reflecting off the snitch. Whenever he thinks he's seen one he dumps magic again and is there before the snitch could have gotten away. It's 6 minutes by the time he actually spots the snitch for the first, and last time, as he concentrates purely on getting to the snitch. Given the nature of his broom, this leads to the snitch seeming to remain stationary while the rest of the scenery blurs past as it twists and turns in an attempt to escape him. Almost casually he reaches out and grabs the snitch before returning to Cedric.
As he comes in to land and dismounts Cedric looks at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.
"How did you do that?"
"These brooms are flown by intent rather than physically guiding them. This one in particular is just too fast not to fly that way. The fastest this has ever been clocked was Mach 3, and the rider ran out of magic capacity before the broom did. The did that in space while wearing a space suit. The store keeper said that a couple of sages races a crystal broom verses one of these rocket brooms, and the crystal broom was faster, though they did managed to max out the rocket broom. To put it in terms that you might understand, Mach 3 would allow me to fly from here to Cornwall in less than 20 minutes. However, you'd never stay seated at that speed, as the wind flow would probably rip your arm from your socket as you're forced off the broom.
"You'd also need to be discharging the entire time, that was the trail I was leaving."
"But that's insane, why did they even make a broom like that?"
Harry laughs, "It's more a case of why wouldn't they. What you need to remember is that anyone can be given a connection to the realm of magic. People like us just have an advantage when learning about magic because magic is part of who we are. That means that Scientists and Engineers sometimes choose to become magical. Or are magical before they start their careers. You know that muggles have sent people to the moon? Well, on their world they routinely explore deep space and have trading relations with other spacefaring species. So, looked at like that, why wouldn't they see if the same principles work for magic as work for rockets?"
"Can I use that broom for the next game?"
"No, but you can buy one of my duplicate common brooms if you want, they work out to 300 Simoleans, which would be around 60g. It can get you up to around 300mph, and will do a quarter mile in around 10 seconds. That's F1 car speeds." – Seeing Cedric's blank look Harry adds – "Stupidly fast, just not so fast that you'd kill yourself. Look, just give it ago yourself. Just remember to discharge if you're going to really push it."
Harry takes a pink broom out of his inventory and hands it to Cedric. Cedric carefully mounts the broom, as it's faster than the super mops, so he doesn't want to find out what it feels like to be dragged along. Once there he starts to discharge before focusing on the top of the goals. He can feel that this isn't anywhere close to as fast as Harry's broom, but it still beats the pants out of anything else he's ridden. Unbidden, he swears as the broom comes to a halt, "Oh shit that's fast." Then, with a whoop of joy, he starts to put the broom through some seeker drills. He notes that he can't do some of the things he could do with a manual broom. Which will limit the ways he can help the chasers, but the shear power he can push through the broom probably makes that a moot point. By the time he comes in to land Harry has joined his friends in the stands.
Landing in the stands he dismounts, "60g you said?"
"Yep, or 5g a month for a year if that would be easier."
"If my father agrees, would it be ok to put it straight into your vault?"
"Sure, I've got the number written down somewhere in my room."
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Up in a classroom Quirrell looks out at the Quidditch pitch.
"It seems that the boy isn't interested in the sport master."
"I see, never the less he was only going to be a target of opportunity. If it succeeded then the uproar would have allowed us time to investigate the corridor. Time we didn't have at Halloween."
"What should we do master?"
"See if you can get one of those brooms that he was riding, it will make our task over Christmas easier. Also take the oaf to the pub and see if you can get him to spill about what he's left on the third floor."
"Yes Master."
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Cedric got a letter from his father a few days before the first match of the season saying that he'd allow it, though Cedric would need to sell his old broom at Christmas.
Daphne replied to her fathers letter detailing only the things that had happened in the school, as well as her reasoning for joining Hufflepuff. Namely meeting Harry and Hermione on the train and getting to know them and their familiars.
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Most, but not all of the school turn out to see the first Quidditch match of the year between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The only exceptions are those in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff that just aren't that interested. Harry and Hermione are joined in the Hufflepuff common room with a couple of NEWT and OWL students, and 2 or three others from the different years. Harry and Hermione both cook up some Mac & Cheese in different cauldrons, with Harry talking Hermione how to do it, as it's something that she's never done before. Once that's done for the people that are out in the cold, Hermione sits down next to Harry as they study their respective magical tomes from the Realm of Magic.
At the end of the match the rest of the house comes into the common room talking about how Slytherin won the match, however Professor Tonks called a forfeit due to her teams behaviour. Which means that Gryffindor gets the win. The main thrust of the conversation seems to be around why Tonks called the forfeit. Amongst the NEWT students, the running theory is that the unofficial motto of Slytherin house 'Don't get caught' is back in full force. As such given just how dirty the game was, and how many penalties were awarded against Slytherin they pretty much only won because the Gryffindor Seeker is absolutely rubbish.
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Ron stares at the ceiling as he's held in place by magical restraints so that his ribs and spine can heal properly. With nothing to do except stare, he is in the unusual situation where he has no choice but to think about things. After all, there's only so much sleeping he can do with the mad itching sensation inside him. No matter how he rationalises things, his mind can't get away from the conversation that he overheard the second night he was here.
"You here to dose Mr Weasley?"
"Yes, poor thing."
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't hear? The DOCMC managed to interview what was left of the troll after the dragons were finished with it. Do you know why it even went to that room?"
"No, do tell?"
"Mr Weasley had had himself a mini feast, only he wore most of it and the Troll could smell the food."
"Did they find out why it went into the school in the first place?"
"It thought it could smell one of its family's lost cubs."
"Oh that sucks. I hope they put the poor thing out of it's misery."
"They did, doesn't help Mr Weasley though. Anyway, I need to give him his dreamless sleep."
His thoughts had been cycling around the conversation for the last week since they stopped keeping him asleep. Something to do with the poppies they use in the dreamless sleep potion. Until now he'd been able to justify other people's reactions to him as them being too sensitive. But, he couldn't deny anything about this situation. If he'd been more careful with his food, and how he wiped himself down, then the Troll would never have come into the room and he'd still be at Hogwarts. As he lay there he decided that he would be a cleaner and tidier person going forward.
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Madam Hooch sat in the Gryffindor common room with the 5-7th years after the lower years curfew. In her pocket she has two prefect badges. Percy and Sally both look absolutely terrible, the others less so. The steely gaze that had cowed the divas of the quidditch world when she was refereeing was now firmly aimed at the students in front of her.
"First of all, I've now looked through all of your records, and I am ashamed of you. You are all supposed to be an example to the younger years, and instead I find that, points and detentions given by Ex Professor Snape withstanding, you have as a group been involved in wide spread bullying disguised as pranks. There has been an abuse of power by the prefects against Slytherin House especially, though the other two houses haven't been ignored.
"Percy, Sally, as you've both only been prefects for a couple of months, I'm going to give you a second chance. Percy, I am going to warn you now, being too strict with the rules can be as much bullying as ignoring them can be. We are in the house of the brave, the courageous, the ones that charge forward when others would hesitate. But you all seem to have forgotten why we have that reputation. We do it because we believe in what we're doing, we think it's the right thing to do. Remember, I am not Professor McGonagall. I'm not juggling too many jobs to do any of them well, I teach flying, coach quidditch, and maintain the quidditch pitch and equipment. I do have time to look after things.
"I am reinstating all of the points that you have taken so far this year, and the positions for 6th and 7th year prefects are now open. Everyone that's interested, put your name on the board tomorrow morning and I will schedule you in for the rotation. I will not only be looking at your grades, but also how you carry yourselves around the school. Do you behave like a knight or a barbarian.
"Before I close this meeting I have a story to tell you, one that was told to me in my quidditch days. Percy, Sally, listen closely as it's very important.
"There was a failing quidditch team, and manager had worked out that the problems in the team were down to one of three people. Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. Now he knew that Nobody was bad off the pitch, that's why he never gave him any work around the club. So he devised a test, he placed some monitoring charms in the club lounge.
"Later that day, he approached Somebody and asked them to clean the lounge. After the Manager left, Somebody knew that Anybody could do that job, so he left it to them. However, as the evening dragged on, it fell to Nobody to do the job.
"When everybody had gone home and the Manager realised that Nobody had done the job he asked Somebody to do, he was absolutely furious. This was why the club was losing so much money on replacing equipment, Nobody was doing the Maintenance."
Her eyes raked over the students, pinning each one in turn.
"Remember this story, as this is exactly what happened at Halloween. There are copies of the prefects handbooks in the bookcase on your dorm floors. Read them, refamiliarize yourselves with your duties, and if you have any questions. In Merlin's name ask, either a more senior Prefect, or Me."
She gets up to leave and then turns around, "Oh, and do you know how I became Head of Gryffindor? I'll tell you, it's because an outsider looked at our rules and pointed out that I actually teach here. Professor McGonagall had been so tied up in work from her three jobs that she couldn't look at things properly. She is such a proper witch that Albus used it against her to trap her in three jobs, all of which were important to her, and none of which she could do well. So she sacrificed her ability to do one job well in order to do the other two to an acceptable level. So remember that sometimes responsibility is a trap, but it's also one that you will find hard to get out of once you're in it. Before you find yourselves trapped in a job that requires that you compromise your morals, really look at what's entailed, not just what they say is entailed. This is one of the lessons that being paired with Slytherins is supposed to be about. If you want to know more about how I learnt that lesson painfully, buy me a drink on a Hogsmeade weekend and I'll talk your ear off about my career and it's inglorious end."
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In the run-up to Christmas, the entire house started to exchange plans for the year. Initially, Harry was planning on going home for Christmas so that he could actually work on his own garden for once. However, once it came out that Sally-Anne couldn't go home due to her parents not being able to take the time off to provide her the care she needed that changed. Which given that they didn't know about Shenjing properly yet, was a completely understandable concern. Understandably, she was upset that she couldn't introduce them to Shenjing, but she also knew that things were hard at home. Especially finances.
Harry looks at Sally-Anne's forlorn expression at the idea of being the only puff in the dorm before he phones Aunt Petunia.
"Hi Auntie, sorry to bother you. Yes, every thing's ok here at school. No, I was actually calling to see if you'd be ok with me sleeping at Hogwarts and bringing Sally-Anne over during the day. No, no, she's not my girlfriend, her parent's can't take the time off work so if I don't do this she'll be the only one in the dorms over Christmas. Yes, I know that's what it was like, that's why I don't want her to go through the same thing. I'll write a letter to Professor Sprout, and if she agrees we'll meet you in the Realm of Magic. Thanks auntie. How's it going with Simeon? Oh really, you do realise that he has quarters in the library. Uh huh. Uh huh. TMI much? No I didn't ask for it, it's just you've seemed much happier since then. Cool, so you've got both houses then. I'm not sure I can swing visiting Little Whinging. Yes I'll put it in the letter. I'm glad I got the interface too, I dread to think what life would have been like without it. Bye."
He puts the phone away once he's finished and turns back to Sally-Anne.
"Sally-Anne, I've just spoken to my Aunt, and I'm going to be staying here over Christmas so you won't be alone. She wants you to write to your parents and get permission to leave the school during the day during the holidays so that we can visit my home in Glimmerstone. If we can then the three of us will just be sleeping here and staying at my home the rest of the time. I'd invite you to stay, but we don't currently have enough bedrooms to sleep everyone if I did."
Justin apologies, "I'm sorry, but I'd stay if I could. However, I'm expected to go to more than a few parties over the holiday, including one at Balmoral. To be honest, I'd rather be staying here than doing that."
Daphne winces, "Ouch, sounds like my holiday. Though I'm sure that Solar is going to be paraded around my father's contacts this year."
Tracy nods, "Oh, yes. Don't forget I get to tag along to most of those functions. And Mum and Dad want to meet Kuanwei too."
Hermione shakes her head, "We're going skiing in Austria, it's usually fun but I'm going to miss everyone this year. Hey, I know that people are normally busy with family on Christmas Day. But what about Boxing Day? That's the day after Christmas for those that don't know."
Apart from Justin, everyone indicates that they day is usually free.
"Why don't we talk to L and Simeon and see if they'd let us use the Library for a Hufflepuff Christmas Party? Everyone in the house can get there and home, and we could invite Professor Sprout too."
"Let's ask the Professor to call a house meeting so that we can ask."
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A couple of days later, Sally-Anne has sent off her letter and it waiting for her parents to reply. Harry has handed his letter to Professor Sprout, and the first years as a group have explained their idea of a house party in the Library on Boxing day.
Now they're all sitting in the common room waiting for the house meeting to start. Professor Sprout enters the common room through the school entrance followed by Simeon and L.
"Good evening everyone. I'm sure that our guests need no introduction, but I'm going to do it anyway. Please welcome Sages Simeon and L. A few days ago I was approached by the first years with the idea of having a Hufflepuff Christmas party in the Library. Given that not only is it a Library, but it's also their home, I approached the Sages last night with the idea. I'll hand you over to L and Simeon."
L looks at Simeon and then sighs, "Looks like I'm doing the talking then. In theory we have no problems with you using the grounds for your party. However, as it not only our home but a library, we can't allow you to have the party inside the building. If you can remember the layout of the Library, there is a back entrance by the kitchens that leads to a lawn. You can use the kitchens and the lawn, though you'll need to provide your own furniture. We can also help you get the ingredients to cook a few grand turkey meals, but I refuse to do the cooking, and I'm not going to let Simeon do the cooking either. If you can't get started, then we can get the ingredients that you'll need using the interface. But that's it. This is your party, so you'll be doing the work. Finally, if other people want to join in, you need to at least give them a chance. We get a lot of visitors, as you all know, and making friends and contacts can only be good in the long run."
Professor Sprout takes over again, "Any questions?"
One of the 4th years puts their hand up, "I've never cooked before."
L laughs, "Well, now's the perfect time to start learning. What year are you in?"
"4th year L."
"You're probably going to be around Harry here long enough to develop the interface, and one of the things you'll find with it is that it rewards hard work, and learning new things. There are downsides to the interface. After all, it's very rare that things don't cost you anything. The built-in profanity filter is one such downside. Though it can be funny getting someone else to say excretions. There's also the fact that other people can command you to do something, and it takes effort not to do that thing. There's probably others, but as I grew up with the interface I couldn't tell you what they are. Anyway, back on track, skills like cooking, gardening, and handiness will save you a lot of money in the future, and can even open up things like being able to cook ambrosia.
"I've seen no shortage of willingness for you to apply hard work into learning about magic and things that you think will help you in your small community. However, the world is far bigger than that. You've got two computers, a TV and a Stereo system here already. The people that you call muggles are already developing their own version of these and the mobile phone that you've seen Harry using. The question I have for you all is, why are you limiting yourselves? How many here have used the computers? How many have listened to the stereos? How many are attached to a Lin-Z? Only the first years, that's a shame. But the rest of you have taken advantage of technology that is advanced compared to the 'muggles' but not that advanced. After all, there's only so many ways you can display a flat image. You lot have an amazing array of different magics, magics that our world hasn't seen for nearly 2,000 years. We are learning as much from your visits as you are. However, you seem to have stagnated. Pomona, how much has the things taught here changed since you were a student?"
Professor Sprout looks a little flummoxed at being put on the spot like this, "Erm, to be honest, not a lot. I was here in the 20's and I think we learnt about the same spells and creatures. I seem to remember that Rituals was an elective then. I think the only subject that has changed appreciably is Astronomy."
"I know that magic has progressed, as I've read some of Minerva's magazines. However, the study of magic itself takes a lot of work. In our world, we've had people with actual training in analysing and categorising things in a formal and structured manner take the Rite of Ascension. It was those Scholars, Mathematicians, and Scientists that refined our magical knowledge into the schools that you've all been studying. Of course, most of that knowledge was lost, and the interface isn't good at allowing us to innovate outside what we already know. But thanks to Harry we've managed to attract a few Virtuosos and even a couple of scientists with the promise of researching something completely new. By learning here he has discovered 3 new schools of magic. I'm sure that he'll discover more as the years go on."
Simeon puts his hand on L's shoulder, "You're getting impassioned again, and we don't want you to start turning people into decorations."
L takes a deep breath, "Thank you. Sorry about that, I can get a little involved in things and then get frustrated when people can't keep up. So about the party, yes you can have it with the provisos that I outlined before my tangent."
Pomona coughs, "Right, well with the venue sorted, I will write a letter for each of you that's going home. It will explain that you have a sort of portkey that will take you to the location of the party, and I and the some of the teachers assistants will be supervising the party. It will also enable you to return home after the party. I hope to see you all there. Meeting ajorned."
As they break into their own groups, Harry turns to Hermione, "It's just occurred to me, if you're going skiing, what's going on with Xingwei?"
Hermione looks around for her familiar, "Oh, she's coming too. Mum and Dad braved the Ministry of Magic and adopted her legally. She now has muggle documents proving her birth and early education. Our first stop over Christmas is going to be the passport office so that she can get her photo taken and put into a passport before we take the plane out. Don't tell her, as it's a surprise."