The Race

As the others were deliberating over who would be the champion of each team, Harry motioned for Ron and Hermione to follow him, leading them to the Gryffindor House dressing room. They found the door open. He sent them in saying, "You can watch from the observation deck but please remain inside. I don't want anyone to accuse me of distracting them."

Hermione wasn't going to go inside the dressing room willingly but Ron pulled her in, "Come on, Hermione! I've always wanted to see the inside of the Gryffindor Change room and the twins told me that the observation deck has a great view. We'll also be well hidden in case some teacher comes this way."

Hermione followed him inside, closing the door behind her. She immediately took a place on the deck and began observing. But Ron was looking around, in awe of the place. Back on the ground, the teams were arguing among themselves, trying to choose who would represent them. It was a difficult task because the maze looked really exciting and everyone wanted to do this.

The chosen champions for the teams were Adrian, Cho Chang, Gwendolyn Shaw and Oliver Wood. Harry wanted to go himself but Adrian reminded him that he had got the last round and now he should give someone else a chance to shine and sit this one out. The same was with Cedric and the twins. Wood was already grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of the race while Gwen looked determined to prove that the Harpies would indeed make a good choice by picking her up for their reserve team starting next year.

The maze was laid out in front of them, lit up in a multitude of colours inviting them to go through it. Those who were to sit out were miffed at the thought of having to miss the experience which it promised to be. The maze showed a lot of twists and turns, ups and downs and it was going to be a nerve wracking experience to go through it. What Harry didn't know nor did any of the other players was that the maze was sentient. It would play tricks upon the players and make it more difficult for them to navigate through it. They would find out later.

At a small blast from Appleby's wand, four brooms rose into the air, and with another blast they sped forward, cutting through the air. As the last one was inside the maze, it made a belching sound as if it had just swallowed something. As they watched, the entrance of the maze was obstructed by a door which appeared out of nowhere. Cedric asked Harry, "is the maze supposed to make sounds like that or do what it is doing, Potter-Black?"

As far as Harry knew, the maze wasn't supposed to do anything like that. He had ordered a maze but nothing like this. He realized old Gambol had just pulled one on him. He had added his own evil twist to the maze but Harry wasn't about to admit that to Cedric. Confidently, he said, "It's a magical maze, Cedric. If it doesn't do anything unexpected then What's the fun in that?"

Cedric scowled, "I just hope no harm comes to them or things will go badly for all of us."

From her vantage point in the stands, McGonagall was leaning forward in her seat with her omnioculars pressed firmly to her eyes. Dumbledore sat next to her, looking on as impassive as ever, but a careful observer would notice that he had his wand held at the ready.

The twins said nothing. They were busy studying the maze and what went into making it. The twins were not very theoretical but they liked to experiment with everything that they were taught. They loved the practical aspect more. One of them would work out the principle and other the magic behind it. One of their desires was to invent new magical stuff. They were diligently learning everything they could for that purpose. Often they bought prank items just to study them and what went into making them. One could say they were inventors of a sort though it was equally true that they were wicked quidditch players.

In the maze, as the racers sped forward, suddenly the walls started contracting; threatening to wedge the racers between them. Everyone pushed their brooms to the extreme to escape before the walls closed in. The passage got narrower with every moment that passed making most of them sweat but they had almost reached the end. This was just the first leg of the maze but McGonagall was zoomed right in on the action. Suddenly the passage stopped contracting and returned to its previous breadth but not before it flashed red once. That had happened when Cho Chang's broom tail had brushed against a wall. When the walls stopped contracting, Oliver Wood was in the lead with Gwen and Adrian in hot pursuit. Cho was taking up the rear. The walls had started to contract to force the participants to start competing rather than flying together through it.

As they neared the end of the corridor they were in, all the exits suddenly slammed shut. There was no obvious way for them to go on. As they pulled up on their brooms to bring them to a halt and avoid crashing into the walls, Adrian turned his broom upwards and sped fast towards an exit that had just opened. Gwen was the next to catch on and follow him. Oliver pulled his broom around to head for the exit too but touched the wall in his haste to make the turn. The wall flashed red in response. Cho was still behind Oliver, but she made a clean turn.

Appleby was keeping count of all the fouls with the help of an Omniocular which allowed him to rewind and review each event.

As they exited that corridor, there was a green flash ahead which they knew could contain hurdles. Oliver had passed through it harmlessly when it happened. As Gwen was passing through that patch, a powerful updraft hit her. The draft of air was so strong that it tossed Gwen high into the air through a vent which was open to the sky. She had lost control of her broom for a minute but she didn't let go of it even once. She was able to get back into the maze but at the cost of making two impacts with her broom. Adrian and Cho had passed through that patch harmlessly.

Outside, everyone was sitting on the edge of their seats, curious and frightened. Their hearts had jumped into their throats when the updraft had sent Gwen clear up out of the maze. McGonagall's head bobbed up and down as she followed Wood's progress through the hurdles. Harry was internally swearing revenge on Old Gambol when they next met. The old wizard had not told him just how dangerous this maze was going to be. What Harry had in mind was a simple obstacle course but this was different. Thrilling and nail-biting but dangerous all the same.

The participants flew sometimes racing against each other, sometimes taking hard turns to avoid smashing into blocked exits. Gwen had to fly at the top of her form to make up time after her encounter with the updraft, but she didn't take long to start mixing it up with Cho again. Once they found themselves in a section of the maze where the walls were invisible with no exits or turns. Everyone lost points there. The only time the walls became visible, as they discovered, was when one of their brooms made contact with one. They floundered there for a while. Dumbledore was intrigued by this puzzle. He watched closely as they figured it out. Oliver took his time to observe where each flash occurred, then bolted to the only place he knew the exit could be. The turn lit up green for him as he approached it. McGonagall wanted to whoop for joy as wood led the way into the next section of the maze, but had to remind herself not to disrupt the race. Cho, Gwen and Adrian saw him go and followed suit. At times, they even had to show their flying skills doing complicated motions to escape some outcropping or to squeeze through a tight space. None of the obstacles were meant to harm them. Even when Adrian smashed into an obstacle at full speed, it just flashed red and crumbled away. Minerva had to remind herself not to disrupt the race. Seeing the danger, she was ready to stop the race, promise or not, student of her house or not, she wasn't going to stand by while they got hurt, but she relaxed when she understood the nature of the maze.

As the participants passed through the maze, suddenly the walls around them transformed throwing them into a corkscrew motion. They spiraled through the maze at such speeds that it made McGonagall dizzy just watching them. The corkscrew motion continued for 15 seconds during which everyone made contact with the maze and lost points. After it stopped, the participants looked wobbly and not in control of their brooms. As a keeper, Oliver had a particular gift for keeping his orientation no matter what happened. Still, he was cursing Harry for this madness, which had its place, however he was the only one who had been able to hold on to his broom and made only two impacts. Adrian had made three impacts and Cho had been dragged through it before she regained control. Gwen had entered at last and had been able to largely remain in control but she had made three impacts herself.

As they completed the corkscrew, the way forward was suddenly blocked by a wall which appeared all of a sudden. Oliver pulled up hard to stop his flight but Adrian went barreling past Oliver to smash straight through the block. Lo and behold! It was merely a trick. It looked like it was a solid block but it was not. The trick however had proved costly for Gwen for she couldn't stop her broom before she slammed into Cho's broom tail. Cho wasn't unseated but Gwen flashed a huge red.

Adrian who couldn't believe his good luck, found another block ahead of him and smashed through this one too. Unlike the last one however, this time there was a red flash. Oliver had seen it happening and had noticed a vent which led downwards. Going in a nosedive, they went through the vent one by one and this time, no one made a mistake. As they flew ahead, there was an obstacle course much more like Harry had originally asked Gambol to produce.

The obstacle course tested them thoroughly. No one escaped without making mistakes. McGonagall pumped her fist in the air as as Oliver, Gwen, Adrian then Cho emerged from the obstacle course. The maze suddenly vanished.

Harry found his voice first, "Wicked! That was amazing! What a race!"

Gwen growled at him, "You said it was a simple maze. This is not what I had in mind."

Harry grinned, "Yet you enjoyed it. Didn't you?"

Without waiting for her to answer, he turned to Appleby, "My worthy friend, what are the scores?"

Appleby had just finished marking them. He said, "We decided to give one hundred points apiece to everyone before the race started. Each contact with the maze cost one point. Gwendolyn made 30 contacts and scored 70 points. Adrian Pucey did slightly worse than her. He made 34 contacts scoring 66 points. Cho, you did great but that corkscrew really messed you up. Cho touched the maze 40 times for a score of 60. Oliver Wood made 25 contacts for a score of 75. Now, for finishing order, 15 points to Wood for first for a total of 90. 10 to Gwen for second place and a total of 80. 5 to Adrian for third place and a total of 71. And Cho, Sorry, no points for fourth for a total of 60. As agreed, for the purpose of our tournament, these points are to be converted at ten to one. Gwen scored 8 points, Adrian scored 7.1 which when rounded off becomes 7, Wood scored 9 and Cho Chang scored 60 which becomes 6 points. Since we had equal points in the last task, Oliver's team is now leading by two points."

With that, Harry told them that the next exciting, fun-filled event would be in two weeks. They began to disperse. He was planning to find Neville and go back to the castle when he realized there was a piece of parchment in one of his pockets that he hadn't put there. Trusting that Neville was behind it, he asked them to stop to hear some new rules. As they were all standing in a circle around him, he pulled out the piece of parchment. On the parchment was scrawled, "Dumbledore and McGonagall are in the stands. Fly to the castle and to your dorms." There was no name but it was signed as "marauder minion" which was enough to convince Harry that it was genuine.

With a look that was shared between them, they mounted their brooms and flew to the castle directly.

As Harry was entering the tower, he winked at the fat lady, "I heard the monks with the mead down in the dungeons are having a lot of fun tonight."

She giggled, "Well then I'd best make haste before they finish all the mead."

As the portrait hole closed behind Harry, he knew they were safe for tonight. The door wouldn't open unless the fat lady was there. With her being lost in an obscure painting in the dungeons, it would take quite a while to find her.

Oh Merlin! We are screwed

Neville Longbottom was sure that he was in for a nail biting adventure this evening. The event had proved to be one where he was constantly on the edge of his seat though he had more reasons than one. As was his standard procedure, he had checked the map once he was in the stands. He had not expected to see anything amiss. After a cursory glance, he was about to wipe it clean when something caught his eye. No, it wasn't Quirrell or Snape. For once, they were where they were supposed to be. Filch was also in his office. No the thing that was amiss was that he couldn't find Dumbledore in his office. Now that he thought about it, he looked more closely and realized that Dumbledore and McGonagall were together, sitting about 20 feet from him in the stands. They had chosen to sit in a dark corner where no one could see them under their disillusionment charm. Neville was shaking with fright and excitement. To be so close to the headmaster and the head of house and yet not being caught however he had to do something before McGonagall caught everyone and put them in detention.

He thanked his stars that he had kept a quill and a piece of parchment for just such an occasion and hastily scrawled a note. With the cloak on him, it was not hard to slip the note into Harry's pocket and then collect the two who had been having a free show. He had left as soon as he made sure that Harry noticed the parchment in his pocket.

Stowing the invisibility cloak, he made himself known to Ron and Hermione. It didn't take much to convince those two to come with him. They had agreed when he told them that if they didn't then they would be caught and put in detention or maybe expelled. Taking care to keep to the shadows and keep the change room between them and the two watching from the stands, they skulked back from the Quidditch pitch. He led them through a few shortcuts and abandoned corridors to reach the tower in record time. Ron and Hermione climbed up to their dorms as soon as they were in but Neville sat in the common room and waited.

McGonagall had a thrilling experience with the spectacle. It was dangerous at times but she realized it was made with sufficient precautions that no one would be hurt. She had been impressed with all the fliers and was even thinking about something along the same lines for the next year. That way, they could get more options for the Quidditch teams. As soon as the event ended, Her intense, personal need to enforce the rules re-asserted itself. She was itching to lunge out of her seat and put all of them in detention. Maybe she had promised Dumbledore that she would accompany him here but that didn't extend to letting them escape. Before she could act on that thought however the students all mounted their brooms and flew towards the castle. She realized she wouldn't catch any of them tonight. Anyway, she had their names. They would soon find themselves adequately punished.

As she was going into her office, Dumbledore said to her, "I hope you enjoyed tonight's entertainment, Minerva. Please don't do anything to disrupt whatever they have planned. I don't want to leave you out of it next time."

What Exactly Is Going On?

The transfiguration lesson next day wasn't pretty for the Gryffindors. It was the first class anyone could remember where Professor McGonagall deducted so many points off the Lions. In fact, she had done the same to every house. By the time the day ended, everyone had assumed that Minerva McGonagall was having a bad day so she had taken it out on the students. Each house had lost about 50 points and yet Harry knew that this was just the warm-up.

Hermione cornered them in the library that day. Harry and Neville were working on the transfiguration homework that had been set by McGonagall. There was loads of it. They somehow knew that they were partially responsible for this.

Hermione slipped into the chair opposite Harry, giving him one of her looks saying, "Would you explain what is going on, Harry?"

Harry feigned innocence as he gestured at the pile of books and parchment in front of him, "We're trying to get through this small mountain of homework on time, Hermione."

She glared some more, "I mean about last night. What were you doing?"

Neville snorted, "You were there, weren't you? To me it looked like they were flying. Why do you even ask, Hermione?"

Hermione scowled, "You know what I mean."

Harry sighed, "Hermione, would you believe it if I told you that you saw everything? I mean there was nothing more to what we were doing except maybe we were breaking curfew. What's the problem with that?"

She huffed, "I don't believe that you were just playing."

"Hi Hagrid", said Ron, who had just spotted the gamekeeper in the library, "What are you doing here?"

Hagrid gave them a cursory wave as he walked out of the library not even responding to his question. Ron who had joined them said, "What do you reckon he was doing here? I mean what does he even read? And he didn't even answer my question."

The same question was going through Harry's mind too. Neville, who shared a look with him, stood up from his place and went to where Hagrid had been in the library. Ron accompanied him and they returned seconds later lugging armfuls of books which they unceremoniously dumped on the table. Ron said, "These books are all about dragons. You'd think he is planning to raise one."

Ron might have said it in jest but Harry felt his stomach drop in a way that it never did when he was flying. What if?!

Without saying anything he got up from the table and started walking out. They followed him out of idle curiosity straight to Hagrid's hut. It was hot outside but Hagrid had his windows and the door closed tightly.

Harry walked straight up to the door and rapped hard on it, "Hagrid! Hagrid!"

The door didn't open for several minutes perhaps out of hope that Harry would go away when it was not answered but Harry persisted. Hagrid opened the door about a minute later putting his head out of the door and said, "'aarry, I'm busy with somethin'. Can ya come back later?"

Harry refused, "No Hagrid. Let us in."

For some reason Hagrid was very reluctant but allowed them to enter in after he figured that they were not going away. They entered in and found that the hut was stifling hot. The windows were not only closed but the drapes were drawn on them too. Hagrid had also taken great care to close any cracks or visible holes. It looked like he was trying to keep the place as hot as he could manage.

Hermione said, "Please open a window, Hagrid. It's stifling in here."

Ron added, "Why is it so hot? I mean the weather outside isn't that bad."

Neville who was looking around noticed the fire in the fireplace, "Hagrid, why do you have a fire going in the middle of a summer day like this? Please open some windows before we all suffocate."

After a moment's pause he added, "And why is there a bucket in the fire?"

Harry had already noticed the bucket and realized what he was looking at. He couldn't find his voice for a few moments, doubting his own senses at what he saw there. When he was sure of what it was, his first thought was to admonish Hagrid for his foolishness. Pointing at the dragon egg, he began to ask, "Hagrid, is that…?"

Hagrid proudly nodded, "A dragon's egg? Yes, indeed. That is a dragon's egg."

Harry looked around the cabin for anything resembling a dragon breeder's certificate while Hermione went ballistic, "Hagrid, that's a DRAGON'S EGG! You can't have one of those! It's illegal! Where did you get a dragon's egg? What are you doing with it? Who gave it to you?"

Hagrid waved off her concerns, "Won it from a chap in the inn down in the village. Bloke looked really pleased to get rid of it. I'm trying to hatch it."

Harry continued looking. Still no sign of any breeder's certificate or dragon trainer's license for that matter. Ron said incredulously, "Hatch it?! That's just mad! The best you can hope for is that the thing will hatch! Then you'll have a dragon on your hands! They don't make good house-pets! What do you think you're going to do with it? How will you care for it? How will you keep it from wrecking the school or eating students?"

For the first time since Harry met him, the half-giant looked like he might be offended, "I'll have you lot know that I'm not the game keeper of Hogwarts for nothin'.". He pointed out two books on his table, "I've gone through every book in the library about dragons." With a look of disgust, "Most of 'em are about how ta kill 'em and chop 'em up for potions'n' the like." Then gesturing back to the books he said, "What I needed was in there. Everythin' I could ever want ter know 'bout hatchin' 'n' rasin' 'em. Noble creatures really. Very misunderstood. It'll be fine."

With inescapable logic, Hermione pointed out, "Hagrid, dragons breathe fire. You live in a wooden hut. You need to tell Dumbledore about it."

Hagrid was not persuaded, "No, I've always wanted ter raise a dragon. I'm keeping 'im. No one will know if you lot keep your mouths shut."

With that, he unceremoniously shooed them out of his hut. When they were out, Hermione asked Harry, "What are we going to do?"

Harry said firmly, "For now, we keep our mouths shut. If Dumbledore finds out about it, it'll be bad for Hagrid. He could be fired or even arrested for it."

They had reached the castle by then. As they entered the double doors, Harry caught a look from Daphne who apparently was standing there talking to Tracy but Harry understood that she was waiting for them.

He turned to the others, "I just remembered that Wood wanted to see me on the Quidditch pitch about something. I'll see you all later in the common room."

Neville understood the pretense and took his leave, "I have a question for Professor Sprout about a plant. Better to catch her before she retires for the night."

With both of them gone separate ways, Hermione turned to Ron, "Where do you think they keep disappearing off to?"

Ron grumbled, "You think too much, Hermione. They have gone where they said."

The lake

This time Daphne didn't need to prompt them to speak. As soon as they were alone, Neville spoke, "A lot has happened and you won't like most of it."

Daphne scowled, "Tell me what has happened."

Harry started, "last night, we were having the flying contest. It was a very twisted maze but it thrilled those who participated in it. As the event was going on, our minion here slipped a piece of parchment into my pocket. I noticed it when the event was over. The note informed me that Dumbledore and McGonagall were in the stadium enjoying the show. It was sufficient to shake us to the core."

Neville took up the narrative from there, "And about an hour ago, we found out that Hagrid has a dragon's egg that he's hatching it in his hut."

Daphne shrieked in fright, "WHAT?! WHERE DID HE EVEN GET A DRAGON'S EGG? HOW CAN HE RAISE A DRAGON ON THE SCHOOL GROUNDS?"

Harry said grimly, "I wish I knew. It seems suspicious to me that someone very conveniently loses a dragon's egg to him in a game of cards when it's the very thing he wants most. What I can't figure out is who would do that or why."

Daphne replied, "May be Snape did it to find a way beyond the three headed dog, you know."

Neville said, "That's a very scary thought. If Snape knows a way past the beast then it won't take him long to get to the stone."

Daphne asked Harry, "What should we do?"

Harry shook his head in resignation, "I don't know. I mean we know everything but how do we prove it? We would run the risk of losing a lot of points and even being expelled if we go to anyone with this information. Besides if we told Dumbledore about the dragon's egg, Hagrid could be sacked or even arrested. He has nothing from the ministry that gives him the right to have one. I couldn't do that to him. "

Daphne nodded, "I understand your point Harry but we have to do something about it. We just can't let Snape get the stone."

Harry gave his lop-sided grin, "Well, in that case, there's only one thing we can do. We'll have to start stirring up so much trouble in the castle that Snape won't have time to get to the stone."

Daphne eyed him warily, "What do you mean?"

Harry grinned, "We have yet to win the pranking competition, don't we?"

Neville mirrored an identically evil grin as he understood the implications of Harry's statement.

Daphne internally shuddered as she understood and inwardly said a prayer to the powers that be for the preservation of the castle despite what those two would resort to.

The pranking spree

The next few days, they spent as much time as they could visiting Hagrid. Hagrid was still amicable and jovial towards them but he just didn't want them around for long periods of time. The egg still sat in the bucket suspended in the fire. Any other egg would have been long since cooked and burnt to ashes by now. But this was a dragon egg. Hagrid was confident that it would hatch in a few more days. Harry knew that it was a bad idea to have a dragon so near the students but there was nothing that he could do without letting Dumbledore know. There was something they could try but not before they had asked a certain red head about it.

In the meanwhile, the other teams had started pranking people but Harry was yet to pull a big one. He felt that he needed to do something that was so magnificent that it would dwarf whatever others had planned. Part of the problem was that he didn't know much in the way of such complex magic and his support system i.e. Sirius and Remus were away. Sirius had taken a shine to his work and was having a lot of fun learning enchanting in Germany while Remus was currently in America acquiring more products and contracts for Potter Potions. Potter Potions was yet to formally open and would not do so until Remus returned for he was the one to be entrusted with this responsibility.

In desperation, Harry had turned to the Marauder's grimoire. It contained a large number of pranks which they had copied from the detention records and it was time they tried some of them.

Snape was still patrolling the third floor but they never saw him get past the beast on the map. Perhaps he didn't yet know the secret to it or perhaps there was something else which was stopping him from getting to it. Knowing that he was still not able to get past the beast was a small mercy.

Another part of their problem was Professor McGonagall. She kept a close eye on Harry and Neville and everyone who associated with him. He knew she was trying to catch them and put them in detention. He had even seen her dot on the map patrolling the corridors which led to the seventh floor in hopes of getting to the duo. On the other hand, she had deducted a lot of points from all the houses. No one was talking about the reason for her behavior but they didn't challenge her either. Albus for his own part, kept his peace. On top of all his other problems, he didn't need to add an angry McGonagall to them.

Finally an idea came to Harry from the Grimoire. It was an old prank and he had asked Remus and Sirius about it. They told him about what went into it and they decided to try it at the first opportunity. It was one that required many people at once to work in concert to pull it off. That gave Harry the chance to cash-in on his friendships which he had so carefully cultivated since the start of the year.

One night, when the twins created a diversion to keep McGonagall busy, Harry and Neville sneaked out of the tower. Wasting no time, they arrived at the Great Hall in record time where they etched some runes on the house tables. These runes were pretty simple but required that they be carefully drawn or any of them could blow up in his face. The best thing was that even a novice who had only read the Spellman's syllabary could draw them. Someone more experienced would have drawn a ward for this purpose but with their limited capabilities, this was the best they could do. They drew the rune throughout the length and breadth of the house tables and after they were done, they returned to the common room.

Next morning, something happened no one had foreseen. Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom were not talking to each other. It had actually started in the first year dorm. The boys among themselves had worked out a shower schedule. Each day one of them would get to use the shower first. This morning, it was Neville or perhaps Harry's turn. No one seemed to remember whose turn it was.

As Neville was going to the bathroom, Harry stopped him, "Neville, it's my turn today."

Neville looked crossly at him, "It's my turn. You had your turn yesterday."

"No Neville. It's my turn. Besides what difference does it make if I use the shower first?"

"Why do you have to be the one to use the shower first? We are friends, right? What difference would it make if I took the shower first?"

Harry glared at him, "Are you trying to fight me, Longbottom?"

Their dorm mates could only watch in helplessness as they followed the volley of arguments back and forth. They were unsure about whose side to take. It didn't matter anyhow. Potter and Longbottom could do what they wanted nobody would interfere.

Neville was shouting, "Why is it always about you? Why do you get to have the best every time? Why do we have to worship you just because you have a stupid scar?"

Everyone flinched at his words and a dark shadow crossed Harry's face. He however didn't reply to Neville but left. Taking a shower after everyone had, he silently went to the Great Hall for breakfast. The house's opinion was divided about it. Half of them thought they were giving too much attention to Harry while half thought Harry was justified. As a result, for the first time Harry was not followed by his house when he came down for breakfast.

When he entered the Great Hall, he walked to the Gryffindor Table and saw Neville sitting there wedged between the twins and proceeded to take a seat at the Ravenclaw table with Isobel. She realized he was in a foul mood and asked, "What happened, Harry?"

For Daphne's benefit, who was sitting at the adjacent Slytherin table, he said rather loudly, "I had a fight with Neville bloody Longbottom."

Isobel was surprised, "Harry, Neville is your best mate. Why would he fight you?"

Harry related to her everything in detail while being conscious of the fact that others were listening in on their conversation. Daphne, in particular was straining hard to hear what was being said. As he continued, she frowned internally at the pair and fumed.

These two idiots would someday make her go insane. She knew them for years and that they were practically inseparable. They were brothers in all but blood and they had squabbled over who showered first? Would the eccentricities of the world never end? She was also worried about how she would contact them. if they were truly fighting now then there was no way that they would meet her together. She decided that she would bring them together again even if it was the last thing she did. They may not know it yet but they could not exist without each other.

At the Gryffindor table, Neville was asking the twins, "you two, who are you siding with? Me or him?"

The twins made their stand clear, Fred said, "Don't expect us to side with either one of you."

George said, "You've got that right."

Together they said, "You're both being a couple of gits."

Others said similar things however there were a few who were considering Neville Longbottom as an ally in the light of the new development. Neville was almost as popular and had the right connections with the right amount of influence. Used wisely, he would be an asset to them.

As the day passed, people saw Harry more in the company of the badgers or the eagles than the lions. More prominently, he was seen with Lisa and Michael and Susan and Ernie. Isobel was always around and ready to help him anyway he would want.

Neville was approached by many offering their friendship to him and he accepted them. Some of them even told him how his friendship with Harry was not proper and not doing him any favours. Even Neville realized that he had only become Harry Potter's shadow rather than his own person. He however kept sticking to Ron and Hermione who were being cordial to him and to Harry. Like the twins, they didn't choose any sides. With all this going on, the runes were forgotten.

This also surprised the master manipulator, the headmaster. He wouldn't have thought in a hundred years that Harry and Neville would have squabbled over something as trivial as who gets to shower first. With a sigh he realized that these children needed to grow up a lot and that judging them by his standards would not be right. He was also curious about what would happen to the plans that little Harry had made and carrying out in earnest. And perhaps with this friendship being broken, their friendship with Daphne Greengrass had also ended because he had not seen them with her either. He decided to keep watching as he was fond of doing. Sooner or later, something will happen.

Oliver, It's the Middle of the Night!

"Potter, wake up", Harry felt someone poking him to wake up. He slowly opened his eyes to find the silhouette of Oliver Wood against the shadows and muttered, "What is it, Oliver?"

"Get dressed and meet me at the Quidditch pitch in ten minutes, Potter", he ordered walking away briskly.

Harry grumbled, "Are you mental? It's not even dawn yet, Oliver."

"We need the practice, Potter. Come down in 10 minutes."

Inwardly cursing Oliver Wood, he shuffled to the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the Gryffindor team. They all looked like they had been woken up from deep sleep and were grumbling. Katie was actually sleep walking and if it were not for Alicia who was guiding her, she would have knocked herself out somewhere along the way. The twins were talking between themselves plotting ways to prank Drillmaster Wood. The only one who was exuberant about practice so early in the morning was Oliver. He even kept taunting them that they were not following him quickly enough or that they were not as excited as they should be. After all, they were going to start practicing again after almost 3 months.