Chapter 7: Hogsmeade and Quidditch
Disclaimer: This is the song that never ends! It goes on and on my friends! If you've seen the previous verse than you shall know, I don't own Harry Potter or Bioshock!
Edited 25/2/2017: Added a bit more to the beginning to try and convey Elizabeths views at the beginning.
Elizabeth DeWitt... Witch extraordinaire.
At least that's what some of the school had taken to referring to her as. She hated the title. It was a lie; it was a title to a fake claim to fame. She was no more an extraordinary Witch, more like an excellent stage magician.
The rumours spread that she had used combat magic to defeat the Troll when she had done nothing of the sort. Both Hermione and Ron had agreed to stay quiet and Harry was suspicious of what had happened though he didn't press for information.
In fact, he didn't speak to her much at the moment.
She thought back to Halloween and how Harry had looked crushed at the disapproving look she had given him. She didn't want to but what he had done had been completely out of line. She couldn't help how she felt about that and now he was avoiding her. "I didn't want that to happen." She said to the reflection in her mirror. "I don't know what to do." She muttered, continuing to brush her hair as she thought about the situation, he had been in the wrong… She had to follow procedure, there were enough people that considered her friendship with Harry as playing favourites and she wasn't going to give them ammunition by not punishing Harry for what he had done. It was done for the right reason but it was too far for the situation, she couldn't let it slide. Shifting her thoughts back to the present as she continued to brush her hair, she was glad she had grown it out, she liked it with the ponytail more than the short hair that she had before. Today was the Hogsmeade Weekend, in the end, she could find no reason as to completely deny the request that Flint had made to join him in Hogsmeade as he had asked politely and had actually backed off after she had said she'd think about it.
Who knows, perhaps he would be more sociable and less like a creep in a more... relaxed environment. She shuddered, already she knew this was a bad idea. A very bad idea but she had agreed and she kept her word wherever possible. She left the room, walking down the corridor, heading towards the Great Hall where she said she'd meet Flint, she looked around, noticing people were watching her again. No doubt Flint had bragged to everyone that he was spending the day with the Assistant. She turned the corner, out of the corner of her eyes she saw Harry looking at her sadly before he turned away, walking off towards the Common Room. Outside of class it had essentially been the same all the way through, if she entered any area he was in, he left. If he ran into her in the corridor, he'd turn around and walk away without saying a word. "Damn it Harry." She muttered under her breath, she wanted to go after him and apologise for making him feel so bad but at the same time, it wasn't her fault! She did what she had to do as set by the rules. She had asked him to keep an eye on things, not punch Ron Weasley. She didn't want to give him detention either for the little fight because part of her agreed with Harry, Ron did deserve punishment for his actions, he had hurt another student and been completely horrible because of it. But she wasn't going to apologise for her actions, she did what she had to do.
She stopped the thoughts again, thinking about the situation as a whole. Could she have been a bit more tactful with her punishment? She had practically called him out in front of his year mates and seemed to contradict herself with what she had asked him to do. Mentally cursing she realised just how it must have looked to him. "I'll try and speak to him after this trip." Elizabeth commented in resignation, knowing that she would have to swallow her pride and probably apologise for the action.
Though the Troll incident was quickly shaping him up. Ron had taken it upon himself to keep an eye on Hermione, they still bickered and argued but there was a lot less hostility and it was seemingly more playful than anything else. He was learning and so was she from the experience that they had shared. Neither of them had come to her yet to talk about what had happened, she knew they would soon enough but for now, they were content to keep it quiet. She walked down the stairs to the Entrance Hall, Flint was standing to one side with several other Slytherin students who she thought were seventh years that she didn't know, two women and another guy. "Miss DeWitt." Flint greeted, taking her hand as she walked over and kissing it in greeting. Again, it creeped her out slightly with him lingering a bit longer than he should have but she didn't say anything.
"I think in this situation you can call me Elizabeth." She said politely as he let go.
"Then please, call me Marcus," He said and then pointed towards the other three. "I don't think you've met them yet, this is Byron Miller, that's Sylvia Melville and Gertrude Meads." He introduced, pointing to each of them individually.
"I haven't met them yet, nice to meet you." She admitted and greeted as the four started walking out of the Castle, making the trek towards Hogsmeade, it was largely done in silence and while Elizabeth was more than willing to just walk in quiet she was also not wanting to make too bad of an impression on three who she had just met. "So what subjects are you studying?" She asked, trying to find a topic to talk about as they walked.
"Ugh we're not really going to be talking about school are we?" Sylvia said in a bored tone, Elizabeth shrugged, already she could tell that it was going to be quite a long day if this was how an attempt to start conversation went.
"I was making idle chatter. no one else seemed to want to talk." She said with a slight shrug, more than happy to slip into the quietness that the group seemed to be stewing in. A sideways glance to Flint and she could see the glare he was giving Sylvia.
"Be nice, Sylvia." Gertrude spoke, looking at Elizabeth almost condescendingly. "It must be difficult for someone who spends all their time helping teach the first years to turn off from that work." She continued dismissively and Elizabeth laughed.
"I think you'll find it a lot easier than you think. The last thing any of the Professors wants to talk about when they're off duty is work." Elizabeth retorted before continuing. "I wasn't just asking about classes to ask about work, if you had said what your classes were, I could have asked about interests, about what you want to do in the future, about friends you have in the classes, about hobbies and career options that you want to follow. So many questions and topics can come from a simple question." Elizabeth explained with a smile, listing a few of the possibilities that she could immediately think of that could spin from one question.
"She has a point." Gertrude grudgingly admitted.
"I'm studying Care of Magical Creatures," Bryon started, ignoring the glare that Sylvia gave him and continued talking to Elizabeth. "I've always liked dealing with different creatures and I want to take care of them after leaving here." He explained excitedly.
"Have you dealt with anything dangerous yet?" She asked curiously.
"Nothing too bad yet, I'm not a seventh year yet so I don't get to deal with anything too bad but we have just been studying Acromantula." He said with a slight shudder and a combined eww from both Sylvia and Gertrude.
"Huh, I guess that's what I get for assuming, I thought you were all Seventh Years." She admitted.
"Nope, only Marcus here's a seventh year," he replied, "I'm a fifth year and Sylvia and Gertrude are both Sixth Years." He explained. "I know why they really don't want to talk about class, pretty much because they're in that year between N.E.W.T studies and after O.W.L exams. To not think about what is to come and forget about the amount of hassle." Bryon explained and grimaced thinking about his own exams that were coming for him.
"So much studying, I still feel the cramps in my hand sometimes from the number of notes I took." Sylvia admitted flexing her fingers.
"Yes... notes, that's what it's called now." Gertrude replied and Sylvia gasped at the implication and Elizabeth blushed, her mind picking up what Gertrude was implying.
"Always classy aren't you Gertrude." Marcus mocked as the two girls giggled. "I apologise for those two, though they are both from Pureblood families, they haven't really learnt all the customs and how to act around proper company." Marcus spoke, his voice heavy in politeness.
Watching the interaction in curiosity, Elizabeth waved it off with a small gesture, "it's fine, I don't want people to be treading softly and pretending to be someone they're not while I'm around." She said pointedly, Flint being the main focus of the statement, "besides, don't you feel that so much formality can stifle conversation?" She asked him.
"Tradition and formality is needed to remind people that there are some that are above others in station. To let people, do what they want, when they want, would bring anarchy." Marcus argued back and Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement.
"Yes, that's fine in an official capacity, like students to a teacher, employer to employee, but what about now? you're friends aren't you?" Elizabeth questioned, glancing between the four of them. "friends should be free to speak to friends without having to stand on soap boxes to make their speeches about superiority of social standing." Elizabeth pointed out quite forcefully. "Today is one of those situations, four friends showing someone else around town as another friend." Elizabeth continued and there were a couple of nods. "So, Bryon..." She turned back to the youngest of the four. "Acromantula's, judging by the reaction from those two... they're not very nice." She continued, changing the topic immediately and Sylvia snorted in amusement.
"That's only the half of it. Giant spiders with poison that paralyzes a person." Sylvia explained knowingly. "I remember those classes. I hated them, their beady eyes, their hairy spider legs." She shuddered again, Bryon mimicking it as he thought back to his last lesson. "And there's a whole batch of them in the Forbidden Forest." She continued throwing her arms up in exasperation. "If you didn't need an excuse to avoid the place before, there's one big one to go with it." She explained as they walked through the gates, making their way into the town proper.
"So where to head first?" Bryon asked looking at the others, as the youngest he was okay deferring to them for now.
Flint was the first person to speak up, he had needed to come to Hogsmeade today to prepare some final pieces for the Quidditch Match that he was going to be in next weekend. "I need to go to Spintwitches, I need to pick up some new gear for the match." Flint said before looking at the others, specifically Elizabeth. "Unless you need to go somewhere first." He added, deferring politely to Elizabeth.
"I have no idea what there is here other than The Three Broomsticks." Elizabeth said, "with everything else a complete mystery, so show me the sights Tour Guide." She said teasingly as Flint started to lead them to the Quidditch supply store. "You have a match next weekend don't you?" Elizabeth asked Flint.
"I do, against Ravenclaw." He responded, pushing open the door, stepping in and holding it open for Elizabeth and then almost immediately letting it go after she walked in.
"And they say chivalry is dead." Sylvia muttered to Gertrude as she caught the door. Marcus ignored them making his way over to the chaser supplies, Elizabeth calmly walking after.
"I haven't actually seen a Quidditch Game yet." Elizabeth commented looking at all of the gear, "though I've read about it." She continued lifting up a pair of gloves and examining them. "I've heard it can get pretty dangerous."
"Only to those who aren't good at the game." He said smugly as he checked the quality of the gear that he was going to buy. "The Slytherin team has won the cup for the last four years and I plan to make it five this year." He said proudly, finding himself standing a bit straighter as he thought about his team.
"You'll be in for a challenge, Ravenclaw have been practicing a lot so far this year." Elizabeth explained and Flint sneered.
"You're referring to their reserve player aren't you. We already know that Potter is on the team." He responded dismissively.
"I wouldn't dismiss him out of hand, he's good, he's even drawn in a few more to try to form a reserve team for the house." She explained and Flint went to respond before stopping thoughtfully.
"It doesn't matter; the rules specifically state that they aren't allowed to substitute someone into a match if another is injured too badly to play in the game." Flint pointed out, "if they did they'd be disqualified."
"You haven't been keeping up with the announcements have you?" Bryon commented, holding a pair of goalkeeping gloves, "the heads of houses unanimously agreed to waive the rules for all the houses." He explained and Flint turned to him in shock.
"What did you say?" He asked his voice going sterner as he spoke.
"All of the Heads of House agreed, the belief that more people would get the chance to either play or try to join in case they want to pursue a career in Quidditch." Bryon continued with a shrug. "I thought you had known but just hadn't got around to planning any extra try-outs or something." Bryon said heading over the Wizard behind the counter to pay for his purchase.
"They can't do that! it's completely against the rules." Flint cursed out, "it throws everything out of organisation, how are we supposed to plan again people if we don't know who we're going to be facing?" He asked aloud and Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders, walking further into the shop to look around a bit more.
"Think of it the same way for them, they can't plan to play around your players the same way, besides, the rule is only in case of injury not just to have random people in each match. Unless of course they really do outperform the main team in practices." Elizabeth explained, examining one of the broomsticks. "Or does the thought of having an easy time against your opponents mean more to you than not having good competition?" She asked calmly, turning back to look at him. The look he gave her was one of disdain but she shrugged it off. She didn't think that an easy path through life was the best thing for this, especially for anyone wanting to try and go professional with their skills.
"We can beat anyone, regardless of how many there are. Slytherin are the best team in the School!" Flint snapped and Elizabeth tilted her head, looking at him curiously.
"Then you won't have any problem proving it next weekend will you?" She asked him and he nodded his head looking determined to prove himself right.
"Will you be cheering for us?" He asked and Elizabeth shook her head quickly.
"While I'm technically meant to have some level of unbiasness." She started, remembering what she had been told by McGonagall in regards to bias in the Professors and their actions towards other houses but she wasn't going to lie, she was biased in regards to this.
"You're going to cheer for Ravenclaw." He finished for her and again she nodded, "All because of Potter." He added in disgust.
"Not entirely, Harry is my friend but I was also sorted when I came here, to see where I would best fit and for a place to stay while I was here. As you can guess I was sorted into Ravenclaw and who would I be to turn my back against my house?" She asked with a smile that Flint grudgingly had to agree with. House loyalty was definitely an important thing to take into account. He turned and paid for his shopping and they exited, "Is there anywhere around here that I can get some new Quills? I've kind of worn out the ones I had," She explained and Bryon pointed out a store down the street.
"Hogsmeade has pretty much everything that Diagon Alley does, the advantage of being the only wizarding village in the UK, there isn't really any other place to go to get items than one of the stores either here of at Diagon Alley." Gertrude explained, leading group towards the store. "still, I wish there was a few more places that we could go." She admitted looking at Elizabeth. "There are places here and there that are Magical that are hidden from the Muggles but the majority of them are individual buildings, there's nothing really in England that we can really go to outside of here or the alley and be who we are."
"To hide in the shadows." Elizabeth spoke slowly, "isn't a way to live at all." She agreed with the girls, two locations that they could be themselves outside of work or small private areas was no way to live. Isolation of the communities was fine but to be contained to just a tiny location to keep safe wasn't a way to live. Part of her could understand the people lashing out at that situation. She didn't agree with it, but part of her could understand. They reached the shop and Elizabeth and Sylvia entered, the other three waiting outside as they went to get whatever bits and pieces they needed. Elizabeth walking straight to the quills, picking up about a dozen of them, already knowing she was going to go through them with ease. "Perhaps I should just start a standing order for them." She said jokingly to Sylvia who barely acknowledged her. "Did I do something to offend you?" Elizabeth asked, so far Sylvia had been standoffish to her and borderline rude and although Elizabeth wasn't that bothered by it because she hadn't asked her to join and she was already proving to be someone that Elizabeth didn't want to associate with.
Sylvia turned to her giving a slight disapproving glare. "as if you don't know." She snapped quietly, trying not to draw attention as she walked over to Elizabeth, pretending to look at the quills as she did.
"I don't actually." Elizabeth replied bluntly, picking up one of the more elegant quills, examining it as she waited for a response.
"Oh of course you don't, how could the pretty new assistant not see what's going on around her. Friends with everyone, associate of the Malfoys, how many people have to fall for you?" She hissed and Elizabeth turned to look at her blinking in surprised confusion.
"Wait... is this about Flint?" She asked and Sylvia glared harder.
"And you can't even call him by his first name! He's sniffing around you like a love lost puppy and you're not even noticing and he still chases." Sylvia almost shouted but kept herself under control with a stern look from the Sales assistant.
"I haven't called him by his first name because I don't have any interest in him. I have repeatedly tried to dissuade the approaches but as you said, he doesn't take no for an answer." Elizabeth responded in annoyance. "The only reason I'm here is because I was curious if in a less formal environment he could be a normal person and not someone so reliant on customs and attitudes that he needs to show in places like Hogwarts. And even then, he's not doing much to change my opinion of him." She finished.
"He's a great man from a great family, you just have no taste." She snapped back in response to Elizabeth, losing her temper.
"A person is shaped by their family but a great family does not guarantee a great child!" Elizabeth responded calmly, "it is their actions that determine if they will be great or mediocre or horrible, so far Flint has proven to be arrogant, insultive and rude, with just a small shade of stalker added to the mix, he has done nothing to dissuade me of these notions and just because you can't see it doesn't make it any less true." Elizabeth finished, turning around and heading over to the counter. "Just these thank you." She said politely to the clerk, as the man counted up and sorted out the price, she glanced back at Sylvia who was still glaring at her before handing the money over to the clerk. "Thank you, have a nice day."
"You too ma'am." The man replied politely as she left the store.
"You took your time to get your quills." Gertrude commented with a hint of amusement.
"I took my time, wanted to make sure I had the best quality quills. I'm going to be going through a lot of them after all." Elizabeth reminded, completely ignoring the fact that Gertrude probably knew that the argument was about to break out between the two in the store. Sylvia stepped out afterwards, a dark look flashing across her face as she looked at Elizabeth before turning back to the others and hiding it behind a facade. 'At least she can hide her feelings when she wants to.' Elizabeth thought in amusement as Bryon suggested the group head to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. With no other requests or complaints, they did, walking past another Tea Shop called Madam Puddifoots that Elizabeth was glad Marcus didn't suggest, it just gave off an aura of lovesick sappiness that she really didn't want to be near with this group of people. They entered the bar, the group making their way over to an empty booth, Sylvia and Gertrude sliding in to sit on one side, Flint letting Elizabeth sit down on the inside as he offered to get her a drink and Bryon grabbing a chair from a nearby table, sitting it at the end and sitting down. "Tea please." Elizabeth replied politely as Flint walked off, not bothering to wait to get any orders from anyone else.
"Can I get you two ladies anything?" Bryon asked politely, seeing a look of hurt on Sylvia's face and Gertrude who was still showing a mixture of amusement at how this scene was developing and slight annoyance at the blatant disrespect that Flint was showing the other people he was with.
"Butterbeer for me please." Gertrude responded and then glanced at Sylvia who was still watching after Flint. "Sylvia." Gertrude muttered, gently elbowing her to bring back her focus.
"What?" She snapped out, suddenly realising where she was. "Oh, sorry Bryon, a Butterbeer for me as well." She apologised and he nodded, getting up to head over to the bar as well.
"So Elizabeth, how did you meet the Boy-Who-Lived?" Gertrude asked to make small talk.
"We kind of stumbled across each other," she started vaguely. "Just after I arrived to take the job here, I was with Professor Babbling when she went to introduce Harry to the Wizarding World." She explained with a lie that had some truth, after all she was technically there when Bathsheda had introduced the Magical World but just hadn't been conscious. She mentally cursed herself, she hated lying, she had been lied to for so long and here she was doing the exact same to other people. "I then spent a month living in the same house as him preparing to come here."
"So what's he like?" Gertrude immediately followed up.
"Stubborn and determined, if he sets his mind to something he's going to keep trying until he gets it done. He's a quick learner and definitely fits in with Ravenclaw." Elizabeth commented thoughtfully, wanting to talk a little bit about him but also keep his personal nature private, if they truly wanted to know about him they'd try to talk to him. "But please don't do any of that Boy-Who-Lived title near him. He really hates it." Elizabeth requested and Gertrude looked at her in confusion.
"Hates it? How could he hate it? he's a national hero!" Gertrude responded in shock.
"Would you like to be reminded of the murder of your parent's every time you talk to someone?" Elizabeth asked, "would you like the fact that every day you look in a mirror you see a scar that reminds you that somehow you survived something that killed so many people before you?" She asked and Gertrude opened her mouth to respond several times before stopping herself and nodding her head.
"I see what you mean. That does explain why he's a bit on the quiet side. But what about that fight on Halloween? I heard he attacked the youngest Weasley." Gertrude questioned out of curiosity.
"That situation I think has been sorted. Ron said a few things that were very out of line and Harry reacted. He has a low tolerance to bullies and will step in when he comes across it." She explained with a small bit of pride for her friend, he really was shaping up to be a good person if he was willing to fight for someone that he barely knew when she was in trouble.
"Then he might want to avoid Draco and the Slytherin first year boys." Gertrude added and then cursed herself for speaking so candidly.
"Gertrude!" Sylvia hissed and Elizabeth stayed silent as she watched the two.
"What, you've seen Malfoy in the Common Room acting so smug because of who his father is. He seems to think he's safe from all repercussions, Snape's favourite, his father on the Board of Governors and His mother friends with Elizabeth." Gertrude retorted with a derisive snort. "For a Slytherin he has all the subtlety of a brick."
"I can't say I've seen any of this. The only Slytherin first year that I've seen act so out of sorts was Blaise and even he treads carefully after that potions incident." Elizabeth added to the conversation, thinking about the interactions that Blaise had done since then, he had been subtle and hadn't been caught out with anything. The boy learnt quickly.
"Blaise has a few problems of his own and they have nothing to do with this school." Sylvia commented sending the two girls into a laughing fit.
"I think I'm missing something here." Elizabeth observed glancing between the two.
"What are they laughing about?" Flint spoke as he brought over the two drinks, a cup of tea for Elizabeth and a mug of Butterbeer for himself.
"I don't know... I made a comment about Blaise Zabini and they said something about his own problems and they just started giggling." Elizabeth explained and the two girls started laughing all over again.
"Zabini... his mother, of course." Flint spoke with an amused snort. "She's had seven husbands, each have died in mysterious circumstances and each have left her all the money in their vaults." Flint explained still chuckling.
"His mother is murdering people and you're laughing about it?" Elizabeth said, taken aback by the callousness.
"It's never been proven. Over time it's become a bit of a running joke about who she's going to try and get with next." Flint commented offhandedly.
"That's vile." Elizabeth protested in disgust.
"Well what do you want us to do about it?" Flint asked tersely, not liking the fact that she was judging them.
"There's Truth Serum! Why aren't you using that on her to get the truth?"
"She's a pureblood, laws dictate that a Pureblood from an Old Family can refuse Veriatserum and you can't prove her guilt because there is no evidence. Lack of Evidence in and of itself is not Evidence of Guilt." Flint explained and Elizabeth sighed in frustration.
"And why are Purebloods exempt from the ability to question them without fear that they're lying?" Elizabeth questioned again, the disgust evident in her voice. "Discrimination like that is what builds the hostility towards the Upper Class and fuels conflicts." Elizabeth pushed and the three went silent knowing that the argument was going to be circular. Elizabeth sighed again, looking down at her drink as Bryon sat back down seeing the uneasy tension and looking between the people.
"What did I miss?" He asked in confusion.
"Nothing." The three students replied almost instantly, Elizabeth staying silent as she was still thinking about things related to Zabini and the inherent corruption in the Ministry of Magic.
"But what if the person wasn't a Pureblood?" Elizabeth asked.
"Does it matter?" Flint asked with a dismissive gesture.
"What do you mean 'does it matter?' Of course it matters!" Elizabeth responded angrily. "Every life matters, it doesn't matter about the purity of your blood. It's an open secret that she's killing people and you all seem to know it and do nothing because she's 'pureblood' and yet you've just admitted it wouldn't be the same if it was someone who wasn't pureblood." She snapped angrily.
"I'm really confused now." Bryon muttered, having missed the conversation and only catching the aftermath. "Who is killing who?" He asked looking at the two girls.
"Zabini," Gertrude explained with a word and almost instantly Bryon understood the context of the conversation.
"Ah... Oh! OH!" He said in realisation as to why the conversation had just taken a very angry tone. "Trying to keep the peace here, but is there anything WE can do right now?" He asked Elizabeth and she frowned.
"No..." She begrudgingly admitted.
"Then although we're aware how slanted the rules of the Wizarding World are, we can't get worked up about them because it won't make any difference to what is going on." He stated and Elizabeth let out a small harrumph of distaste, focusing on her cup of tea as the Purebloods she was sat with shared a look of frustration.
"If this is what your 'tradition' means to be a Pureblood then perhaps the people from non-magical parents are right to fight the tradition so aggressively." She said, lifting her cup of tea up and taking a drink, holding the cup in both hands as she looked at their reactions. The comment had struck a nerve.
"You don't know our traditions, you're not even from here." Gertrude said angrily. "How dare you judge us like this." She snapped and Elizabeth didn't say anything, continuing to calmly drink her drink. "You yourself have admitted you know nothing about this world and here you are passing judgement about what we're like."
"Because for everything that I hear that is good about the Magical World I keep hearing two points that counter it that show a level of prejudice and corruption that would put the racial segregation of the Muggle World to shame." She criticised knowing full well what that racial tension could cause having lived through it in Columbia, having seen the deaths that had been caused when tension finally hit a level that caused everything to snap. "Look into the Muggle History, look at what they've done to people of different races and cultures and you tell me how you're better than them?" She pushed the topic forward forcefully.
"We are better because we have magic. We can do things that they can only dream about." Flint said dismissively and Elizabeth sighed again, throwing her hands up in frustration.
"This is a circular argument that won't actually go anywhere!" She said in frustration, "you refuse to listen and won't listen without facts in front of you. If I get you some books that talk about some of the things that Muggles have done in the last hundred years will you at least give it a chance to look and see what I'm talking about?" She questioned and begrudgingly, more in hoping that she was going to drop the topic, Flint nodded his head. "Good, I'll get them to you after your match. Don't want to distract you from that now." She said, smiling at him, glad he was at least willing to think about the situation instead of continuing on his complete dismissal of it.
The rest of the afternoon continued relatively quietly though there was an underlying tension to everything. Her derision of what they felt was a key component of their culture, Purebloods being elevated above everyone else regardless of the effort or skill they had towards something.
They returned to the School sometime in the mid-afternoon, Elizabeth hadn't really paid much attention, responding politely when spoken to but otherwise quite content just to walk around the stores, take a look at some of the books that the Wizarding World considered fantasy and even bought a copy of an interesting child's story. The Tales of Beedle the Bard had caught her eye in the bookshop and a simple flick through showed there to be several fairy tales. She added it to the small pile of books that she had bought and then they had returned to Hogwarts. Upon arrival she had excused herself from the group, thanking them for the tour and proceeding to head towards her own room to drop off the purchases.
"Miss DeWitt." She stopped as she heard a voice call her name and turned around, looking to see Draco Malfoy walking towards her. "I finally found you." He said happily and she smiled, the others may have said that he had been arrogant in the common room out of her sight but until he started showing that to her face, she was going to treat him as he was treating her.
"Draco, how are you? It's been a little while." She said, juggling the bags that she had, the book bag starting to hurt her shoulder a little bit.
"I'm good, I've been busy with homework so I haven't been out of the Common Room much." Draco said and idly she wondered how much of that was the truth. She wouldn't claim that he was copying other people's homework but as she did more and more marking of his work she had noticed a few patterns that cropped up in other people's work. Not enough to confirm anything but enough to raise suspicion for her to look closer at future papers. "Can I help you with those?" He asked politely, gesturing to the bags.
"Thank you but I'm ok, I'm going to drop them off in a second. What did you need Draco?" She asked and he brought himself back onto what he had come to speak to her about.
"The Malfoy family is holding a Yuletide Ball this year and my Mother asked me to extend an invite to you personally. She would appreciate it if you came to the party. She even extends the invite to Pot... Harry." He said almost referring to Harry by his last name but caught himself.
"I'm flattered for the invite Draco, I'll have a think about it and let you know. Do you want me to ask Harry for you or do you want to do it?" She asked curiously, she knew the two while not really friends were interacting on a fairly neutral level, neither wanting to start a conflict with the other.
"Would you invite him; I do not think he'd be willing to listen to me." He admitted and Elizabeth nodded her head.
"I'll do it shortly, he's been avoiding me for the last couple of days but I've got to find him later, there's something I need to speak to him about." She added thoughtfully, thinking about the last few days and how he had practically run off in a different direction to her. It had been slightly amusing at first but now it was starting to get annoying.
"How he could ever run away from such a beautiful lady like yourself I have no idea." Draco commented politely, a slight pink tinge on his face as he realised what he had said.
Elizabeth smiled, chuckling slightly as she reached over with her free hand and ruffled his hair. "Draco, you're going to be quite the charmer when you grow up." She said sweetly and then waved to him. "I better go put these things back. Talk to you later?" She asked and he nodded.
"You could join me at the Slytherin Table?" He suggested. Elizabeth looked thoughtful for a moment, before shaking her head.
"I don't think that's going to be a good idea, I've just spent the day in Hogsmeade with Mr Flint and a group of his friends, I don't think they're too happy with me after I questioned a few things." She responded evasively and Draco let out a disappointed sigh before saying goodbye and walking away. She returned to the task at hand, dropping off her bags before either her fingers fell off from how she was holding them or the handles of the bags snapped. She arrived back at her room, said the password to the portrait and the door swung up. She walked in and stopped, there slumped over at her desk asleep was Harry. There were bags under his eyes that she hadn't noticed before, the fact he hadn't been sleeping well was plainly obvious now as she looked at him. She put her bags down on the floor by her bed and walked over gently shaking him. "Harry." She called, shaking him again "come on Harry time to wake up." She called again. He grunted in annoyance batting her hand away as he tried to continue sleeping. "Wake up Harry or I'll pour water over your head." She warned him, shaking him again.
"I'm sleeping." He mumbled under his breath in protest, slowly starting to shift and wake up, yawning as he moved.
"Surely, you'd be more comfortable sleeping in your own room rather than at the desk like this." She commented quietly as he sat up in the chair, his red bloodshot eyes from having just woken up focused on her. "What's wrong Harry? I thought everything was going okay.
"I didn't realise just how tiring the Quidditch Training would be." He admitted, yawning again and stretching his arms.
"With the way you've been avoiding me over the last week, I didn't expect you to be here sleeping when I returned." She said calmly and Harry ducked his head.
"I didn't mean to avoid you I just needed some time to think." Harry explained, "I still don't know why I acted like that with Ron, I just saw that he hurt her and... I saw red." He finished lamely before coughing. "I mean... more red than just his hair." He added jokingly.
"Heh, that was a terrible joke Harry." She said, still laughing slightly at it, the tension in the air disappearing as she returned to her bags and started to unpack the books that she had bought. "But we both know why you acted the way you did." She said with certainty. "I can tell you, but I want you to tell me." She finished, walking over to the bookcase and starting to place the books there.
"I guess... I guess he just reminded me so much of Dudley at that moment." Harry confessed slowly, hesitant to say it, he hated talking about or even acknowledging the existence of his relatives and here he was digging up the past, thinking about his time in Primary School with how Dudley would always try to bully and isolate him with his gang of friends.
"Go on." Elizabeth urged politely, knowing that he was hesitant to speak about it but knowing it wouldn't get any problems off of his chest if he didn't speak up.
"Ron in that one moment reminded me so much of Dudley. His actions reminded me of every time he made a girl cry in Primary School and got away with it, every time he hurt another kid and they were the ones that got penalized because of it. Every time that he and his friends would chase me and attack me and not get penalized for it. I couldn't stand by and let someone else be the same way as him."
"And so you fought him." Elizabeth said patiently.
"If you can call that a fight... one punch does not make a fight." He said dismissively. "Not one of my finest moments though... is it?" He asked quietly and she shook her head. "I know what I did was wrong but I couldn't just let it happen. He needed to know that there will be bad things that happen for what he does." Harry muttered clasping his hands together and leaning against his head against his thumbs, looking at Elizabeth wanting her to say something. the Silence from her was driving him mad and the fact that she was expecting him to keep talking and he wasn't sure where to go. "And I'm really beginning to feel like I'm being interrogated by the quietest interrogator ever with that look you're giving me." Harry said to Elizabeth nervously and she started laughing.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh but..." She started giggling again and Harry frowned, "sorry, sorry, just that frown, it doesn't look right on your face Harry." She commented getting herself under control. "You're a good person Harry the fact that you feel so strongly about how he acted shows you're a kind and considerate person that will defend others where he can. I was surprised to find that you were fighting. I was disappointed as well, not the reason behind your actions but the actions you took." She confessed to him. "The reasons behind your actions made me prouder than I've shown for you before." She bent down, looking him in the eyes. "Be that person Harry. Don't be the one that in an effort to stop the bullying becomes the bully instead." She asked him, taking his hands in hers. "I don't think I could remain friends with someone who did that." She said bringing his hands up and kissing them softly. He blushed at the action, turning his head and stammering slightly. "So," she said, letting go of his hands and stepping back, dusting off her robes. "Are you ready for your Quidditch game next weekend?" She asked and Harry nodded with determination.
"I doubt I'll get to play, Cho is really good, but I'm ready if they need me." He said and she smiled, ruffling his hair.
"Good, I'll be rooting for Ravenclaw all the way. you know that right?" She said happily.
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't." He responded just as cheekily.
"Give me a hand putting these books away and we'll head down to the Great Hall and have dinner, it's been a while since I've sat at the Ravenclaw table. Let's make sure they haven't forgotten me." She said and started to walk over to the bookcase.
"Why don't you ever come into the Common Room?" Harry asked as he stood up and walked over to the pile of books that sat by her bed. "The Ravenclaws won't turn you away."
"Personal choice mainly." Elizabeth admitted, taking the first book from Harry. "I'm not really a student here after all, the Common Room is for you and the other students, I'm an outsider and I want them to have a place to relax without having to watch their words with me around. Even if I promise to be just another Ravenclaw and not a staff member, they're still going to think that I could switch at any time and become the Teacher that stops them from having fun and they won't relax." Elizabeth continued, taking books one at a time from Harry and placing them on the bookshelf. "Besides, you can't have me around all the time. You need to grow, become your own man Harry."
"Still, I'd like you to come to the Common Room every now and again," Harry said slightly petulantly and she smiled at him.
"Perhaps, but it won't be a frequent thing." She said and placed the last book on the shelf. "Well then, shall we go to dinner?" Elizabeth asked leading Harry to the door. "Just so we're clear, I'm not going to find you sleeping in here all the time am I?" She asked jokingly causing him to blush again. "You're so easy to tease Harry." She said with a laugh as the door swung open the two stepping out into the corridor, the tension between the two now gone, one small hurdle cleared.
HPCVHPCVHPCV
"And another goal for Ravenclaw, they lead 20 to 10 in the early moments of the game. A great pass by chaser Stretton completely catches Pucey off guard and allows Davies to score." The voice of Lee called out to the cheers of the crowd. It was almost unanimous in which sides the crowd they were split. Slytherin cheered for Slytherin, the other three houses were all cheering for Ravenclaw.
Harry was sat down on the ground watching the gameplay, keeping an eye out for the Snitch and keeping an eye on Cho as the players continued to wiz around, the Quaffle flying in various directions as they players fought for control.
"A stiff tackle from Montague, Burrow drops the ball, Flint catches it, he's making a beeline down the side, Inglebee with the bludger but it misses." Lee Jordan continued calling the commentary as fast as he could see it, the Slytherins with possession of the ball shot down the pitch, Flint barrel rolling over the bludger, throwing the Quaffle to Montague, the wizard ducking a tackle attempt from Stretton and had to reverse direction sharply as another bludger almost took the end of his broom off. "Slytherin are showing why they've held the cup for the past several years. Come on Ravenclaw, knock them off their brooms."
"Mr Jordan if you can't remain unbiased then I will find someone else to do your job." McGonagall's voice interrupted over the magnified voice of Lee Jordan.
"Heh sorry professor, won't happen again." Lee Jordan replied almost as quickly, though his tone easily showed he had no intention of actually doing that. "Another narrow miss of the Bludger, Samuels has definitely been practicing and a pass back to Flint, he shoots... NO! Grant Page makes the save! A dive that almost took him off his broom but he stopped the quaffle going through."
The commentary continued but Harry tuned it out, looking around the stadium trying to spot people he knew, He could see Ron and Hermione, the two sitting with a batch of Red Heads that could only be his brothers, they were cheering just as wildly as the others though if he didn't know better, he could have sworn that Hermione had a book held in one of her hands. He laughed rolling his eyes as he continued, focusing on the Teachers Stand, seeing many of them in attendance, Snape looked bored as he sat next to Quirrel, watching the match with only mild interest. At least that was the impression he seemed to give, Harry didn't think the man knew how to turn off the mask that he had in place. "Chang is making a dive, has she seen the snitch?" Jordan called out and the Slytherin Seeker, Terence Higgs shot after her. She twisted, narrowly avoiding the poles of the goals as she tried to keep after the snitch. "Higgs is closing in but Chang is staying determined, can she reach it?" Jordan called out as Slytherin scored a goal on the distracted Ravenclaws as Higgs shot by the goal keeper to try and catch up. "Bletchley hits the bludger, it's going straight for Chang. I don't think she's seen it... CHANG LOOK OUT!" Jordan called out, breaking all pretence of being a spectator as the Bludger hit Cho in the back knocking her straight off course into the side of the stand. "She's down, I hope she's okay." Jordan spoke and Harry ran over to where she had fallen, the banners that showed the house colours having slowed her decent as she fell. "Potter is already over there, Davies has called a time out and Madam Hooch is landing to see if Chang is going to be able to complete.
Harry was already by her the moment the others landed, she was unconscious and he didn't dare move her just in case there was any serious damage.
Flitwick had made his way down from the stands just as quickly and was soon with her as Madam Hooch continued her examination. "She won't be able to continue the match." She said before looking at Flitwick, "You need to get her to the Hospital Wing, carefully, there's possible spinal damage but Madam Pomfrey should be able to get her healed up in a couple of days." Hooch explained and Flitwick nodded, conjuring a stretcher and levitating her carefully onto it.
Marcus Flint landed, "Their seeker is unable to play, do they forfeit?" He asked and Davies responded almost instantly.
"No! We don't forfeit, Harry get your broom you're on."
"The rules specifically forbid it." Flint snapped and Hooch stepped in to stop the brewing argument.
"That's not your call!" Davies snapped and Hooch turned her cool gaze onto him, stopping him in his tracks before she focused on Flint.
"While unconventional you know as well as I do that the rule in question was suspended for all matches in Hogwarts as of this year. They have a substitute and they are allowed to use it. Mr Potter, get your broom." She then turned to Davies. "The moment he gets back the match resumes, make sure you're ready. Back into the air." She barked at both of them and the two captains shot up on their brooms. Moments later, Harry was back and in the air on the broom that he had gotten from Flitwick and other professors for getting onto the team. A Nimbus 2000. Fastest broom on the market at the moment.
He shot into the air, quickly meeting up with the team before rising higher still and watching over the pitch as the game started again, he looked around, scanning the pitch for the snitch, immediately having to roll out of the way as a Bludger shot at him. "Looks like the Slytherin's already have a game plan in action, take out the Seeker so Ravenclaw have no chance to win, underhanded but clever." Jordan's commentary called out as Harry dived out of the way of yet another bludger, the Two Slytherin Beaters alternating between hitting the two bludgers at the chasers and up at Harry. He watched, a shimmer of gold near the Ravenclaw stand and dived, Higgs was closer but he was slower to react not seeing exactly where he was going. Harry made a dash for the stand and with Higgs almost completely out of position Harry would have had a straight line for the snitch.
The world spun for him, Flint slamming into him as he went for it, Harry crashing into the spectators, groaning in pain as he tried to sit himself up shaking away the stars. "Foul! Penalty for Ravenclaw." Madam Hooch called as Harry slowly dusted himself off, the world spinning a little bit as blood started to trickle from a cut on his forehead where he had caught the benches that the people sat on.
Around him he could hear people asking if he was okay, he brushed it off, not saying anything as he jumped back onto his broom and shot into the air. Ravenclaw had scored the penalty shot and already the Slytherin's were trying to even the score, darting back across the pitch, the three in position to defend themselves when the Ravenclaws struck.
Except Harry came at them from behind. Looping around had been relatively easy with the superior speed of his broom. He had gotten around and darted in the back dropping under and pulling up sharply, breaking the formation up. Flint tried to grab him as did Pucey but he twisted out of the way, Samuels and Inglebee, the two Ravenclaw beaters covering his escape as they smacked bludgers into the Slytherin chasers. "It looks like Potter didn't appreciate the attempt to turn him into a spectator, he's broken up the Slytherin assault and now he's pulling back into the air to continue the search for the Snitch." Jordan continued to cover the match, Harry leaning forward slightly on his broom as the world continued to shake slightly. the blow to his head not fully shaken off yet.
In the back of the Ravenclaw stand, Elizabeth sat, watching nervously as Harry continued to play, darting in and breaking up Slytherin manoeuvres with the advantage of speed over them but they were proving quick to adapt and the last attempt had nearly taken him out, Bole, the Slytherin Beater had pre-empted the attack when he saw Harry moving and had aimed the bludger into the area his team were flying so that Harry would almost directly fly into. She gasped as Harry narrowly avoided the bludger, swerving at the last second.
"Things are changing." A female voice spoke, right next to Elizabeth pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Things have changed." A male voice spoke to the side of her. She glanced and immediately confirmed her suspicion, the Lutece Twins were back.
"Things are becoming interesting." The woman's voice added and Elizabeth, already knowing who it was glanced to either side to see the Lutece twins in their usual brown clothing sitting in the stand next to her looking up at the pitch.
"Things already are interesting and knowing that you're here they're probably about to get worse." Elizabeth said with a certainty, something always happened when these two were on the scene. But at the same time she was here to see the game and they were interrupting.
"We thought you had more subtlety Elizabeth, apparently your ordeal and change in life has caused it to wither away."
"Surrounded by children who barely understand the simplest of things that they do, can you blame her for her senses becoming dulled?"
"I don't have time for word games, what do you want?" Elizabeth asked in annoyance, trying to stay focused on what was happening in case anything did happen.
"To watch a show, to see a sport."
"Don't you already know how this ends?" She asked in frustration.
"We know."
"Or we will know." Rosalind added as an afterthought to her brother's comment. "The question is what will you do when it happens."
"Are we still talking about the game?" Robert asked and Elizabeth turned to face him in confusion.
"What do you even mean? You're referring to the game and yet not?" She asked looking up to the sky as the crowd gasped. the broom Harry was riding had started to buck wildly, almost flinging him off as he tried to keep hold, dangling in the air as it swung wildly about trying to force him to let go and drop him to the ground. "This is what you were talking about weren't you?" She asked but already they were gone. "Damn them." She muttered trying to find the cause of what was causing the problem with Harry's broom.
Harry was confused and scared as he held onto his broom, he had gone for another dive to break up the newest Slytherin assault but had been stopped as his broom jerked. He looked at it in confusion, not sure what had caused that as he tried to examine it. The broom bucked again, almost throwing him off, he struggled to hold on to the broom as it bucked again throwing him into the air, his hands barely keeping a grip on it as he now hung from the broom "Something seems to be wrong with Potter's broom, it's trying to throw him off." Jordan called and the gasp of the crowd carried all the way to him up in the air. He struggled to keep his grip as the broom shifted in directions spasming around trying to get him off. The Ravenclaws reacted immediately, the chasers moving up to try and grab him but the broom pulled Harry away from them, leading him further up into the air. The Slytherin chasers though were quick to try and take advantage of it, heading out and having almost free reign on the pitch.
Hermione and Ron were watching in shock, pointing up and hastily whispering at what was going on. "A Nimbus shouldn't malfunction like this." Ron said quickly to Hermione who nodded her head.
"It looks like it's being jinxed, its moving in response to other people coming near as well." She said as she watched the broom again pull away from other people as they came close.
"Maybe they could angle it towards the lake, at least if he falls he's have a soft landing." Ron suggested as Hermione scanned the staff area. "What are you looking for?" Ron asked seeing Hermione looking at the staff section.
"Someone is jinxing his broom and it's not something a student could do." She said quickly, looking through her binoculars, "There! you need direct eye contact and to continue uttering the jinx as you're performing it. Look at Snape." Hermione said passing the binoculars to Ron.
"Snape!" Ron cried out in shock. "We need to get over there and do something." He said, quickly standing up and the two made a mad dash to escape the Gryffindor Stand.
Harry hung onto the broom with everything he could muster, his arm aching both from the shaking about and the impact into the stand, the world was still spinning slightly but he still kept his grip, he could feel his fingers hurting as he tried to keep his grip, wondering if the broom would crack under the pressure of how hard he was holding onto it. Elizabeth was watching from the stand, ready to open a tear at a moment's notice if he did fall as the rest of the Ravenclaw students were talking animatedly, a few trying to see what was causing the broom to malfunction and others panicking wondering if something else was going to happen.
Hermione and Ron arrived at the Staff box, looking up at the sky they saw Harry lose his grip, one hand falling off of the broom, "We need to Hurry." Hermione called, running into the back area that led beneath the benches where the staff were sitting. "Incendio!" She called, alighting Snape's robes.
There was no reaction at first, and Hermione was prepared to take more drastic action if needed but she didn't have to, another of the staff, smelling smoke saw that Snape's robe was on fire. "Fire!" He called out, "you're on fire!" He said again and Snape, forced to break eye contact with Harry turned quickly jumping up and trying to put out the fire.
Hermione ducked back out of the area, looking up in the sky and let out a cry as the broom bucked one last time and Harry lost his grip falling through the air. "No!" She cried out in horror as he fell.
Harry lost his grip, he flailed trying to grab it as it moved away from him or correction, as he moved away from it, dropping down, he twisted, looking down at the ground, already seeing it steadily moving closer to him.
A flicker of gold in front of him. The Snitch.
His hand snatched out and grabbed it. He may die here but at least he won the match for Ravenclaw.
Below him the ground grew closer and he closed his eyes, not wanting to see what was about to happen. Not wanting to see his death closing in on him.
He hit the ground.
TBC
Next chapter has now been done, Man I'm evil to leave you on a cliff hanger like that. Hope you enjoy and I'll see you in the next part.
This chapter was at the time the hardest one to write. I generally try to keep to already established characters but I needed more people so I looked into other Slytherin students and found a couple of people that have only ever been mentioned in passing in Slytherin House and ran with it. The Jury is still out in how much I plan to put into them or if they'll even reappear again, I can easily see them coming back and I have several ideas in mind.
There will be a bit more interaction between Elizabeth and other people in the coming chapters, especially Draco and a few of the older students as well. I just kind of want to rush through first year a bit. I have lots of plans for second year onwards but first year is just meh to write, you can only rehash them so many ways.
And if anyone knows what I've done here I'll be impressed.