"Play begins as the Snitch is released... Jonesey and Brookman have a tough game ahead," James commented, as the overcast morning forced the excited students into silence. Hazy lines of maroon, strongly contrasting with the deep blue Albus had come to associate with quiet evenings curled up by the fireplace, dashed across the pitch.
He just about made out Cordelia's broad-shouldered figure, gesturing and noiselessly shouting commands to her players, hovering above the main battle for the Quaffle. "Ravenclaw - no, Gryff- no, definitely Ravenclaw, again, in possession, bloody hell, they don't make it easy to commentate, do they? Ooh, Keating, Brown and Lehmann are engrossed in a bit of a nasty argument there - yes, Dupont's just called a foul. Penalty shot for Gryffindor- what's McDonald doing with that bat?"
Professor Dupont furiously waved to one of the Ravenclaw Beaters, who appeared to be advancing on one of the Lehmanns threateningly. Rose muttered distractedly, repeatedly whispering "Don't you dare... Don't you bloody dare..." under her breath. The Ravenclaw supporters sat there in shocked silence as their player savagely clobbered one of the Gryffindor side. The red-clad students roared indignantly, yells of "Foul!" evident over the noise.
Amidst the carnage, Morgan managed to slip the Quaffle past the golden hoops twice, prompting James to shout "Twenty to zero for Gryffindor! Although I believe two more penalty shots are in order once McDonald's calmed down - it appears Dupont is asking for a time-out, ten minutes and we'll resume gameplay."
"What was that all about?!" A scandalised Orville demanded. Rose looked on, her hands covering her mouth. The Ravenclaw team took to the changing rooms, a red-faced Cordelia brandishing her fists at one of the players, likely McDonald. Professors McGonagall, Ellis and Dupont seemed to be in deep discussion, the referee nodding fervently whilst leaning forwards on his broom.
"Ooh, relationship trouble," said the third-year Ravenclaw girl Albus had seen prodding the Muggle radio in the common room every now and then. "As far as I know, but, like, it's a bit ridiculous. Especially when we want to win the House Cup this year..."
Sky shrugged his shoulders and gave Albus a sly grin. "That's about right."
Kavyansh rolled his eyes. "My God, you lot..." As Albus kept his eyes glued to the commentator stand for the duration of the ten-minute break, James read a list of products that were being recommended exclusively to Hogwarts students and to practical jokers across the Wizarding world, as a surprisingly high amount of Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes products included.
"Albus, what the hell's happening now?" He was just about to ask a confused "What?" when Kav's finger pointed at Cordelia and McDonald having a scuffle immediately below James' stand on the pitch. One girl began screaming intently at the other as the whole school scrambled for a better look.
"Well, this is most unprofessional, a brawl happening on the Hogwarts pitch! My very unofficial sources say McDonald was caught with someone in the boy's dormitory last night, but we won't say who-" James was cut off as the microphone was instantly silenced by one of the senior professors in the commentators stand realised it was still transmitting outside of Hogwarts. Undeterred by this, Albus' older brother must've cast the Amplifying Spell as his voice yelled over the cheering in the stadium.
"My sources say they had 'something' going on if you know what I mean! Deryn, get her in the chops- McGonagall, yes, I can do 'fair' and 'impartial' reporting"... Professor Dupont is on his way to separate the pair. We wouldn't want this to damage Ravenclaw's chances of winning the House Cup in June - oh, hang on, what's the Gryffindor Seeker doing now? Has gameplay technically resumed? Bloody hell, he isn't, is he?"
As a red smear zoomed past the Ravenclaw stand, the live commentary was turned back on. Albus chuckled to himself. He'd give anything to see the utterly perplexed look on Lily's face when the kitchen radio lapsed into silence and then roared into life with the sounds of the Gryffindor lot chanting "Jonesey! Jonesey! Joneseeey!"
"They can't cut the game off if he gets the Snitch; they've got penalties in play!" Rose shouted hoarsely in protest. "I'm bringing my rulebook next time if they do-"
Scorp shook his head, whooping. "JONESEY! Shut up, Rose, the game's as good as ours anyway!"
"If you lose out on twenty points today, I promise you that Gryffindor'll come to regret that in June. Anyways, where'd you come from? Last I saw, you were off with the Gryffindor firsties...?"
As Jonesey plummeted into a deep dive and Cordelia and McDonald continued tussling, rolling around on the area below the hoops, the Gryffindors went mad. "As you can hear, the lions of Hogwarts are cheering for their hero - I think he's got his fingers on the Snitch... Yes! YES! I can officially say that Gryffindor have won the match as Alun Jones catches the Snitch! One-hundred and seventy to nil!" Albus turned to his friends as the red-clad stand erupted into wild and carefree cheering.
"Look, I just fancied coming up here. I thought it'd be fun with my classmates, that's all. Brain beats brawn, after all... Anyways, there'll be a party in the common room later on if you want to join? I can show you in..."
Rose grinned. "Only if you can get me a pint of butterbeer. I've been absolutely dying to try it for ages and Dad won't let me-"
"Yeah, there's a reason for that," Scorps retorted, as Albus and Kav simultaneously sniggered. "Tell you what, I can go one better. I can get us some firewhiskey."
"Won't your Gryffindor classmates mind if we come and join you? Since we're the opposing team and all that?" Albus asked.
"Nah, it's in the name of house unity, blah, blah, blah..." As their conversation waned, his attention drifted towards the girls still wrestling on the Quidditch pitch. The Gryffindors jubilantly stamped and celebrated and nobody seemed to have noticed that they'd pulled their wands out and were attempting to duel each other. And they seemed to be succeeding as flashes of light tore away parts of the stands behind them.
Why wasn't anyone doing anything to help? Professor Dupont was the only one on the pitch and he was struggling to keep the two apart. Albus tugged Kav's sleeve, pushing him to come down the stands with him as Rose and Scorps were eagerly discussing the party and the illicit substances they were planning to consume despite being hugely underage. It seemed the school was rapidly evacuating to the safety of their common rooms before the heavens opened. And to celebrate in true Gryffindor style...
"Do you know any defensive spells that'll help?!" he said, panicking as they ran down the steps onto the pitch. He didn't want anyone to get hurt.
Kav panted behind him. "I only know one or two spells, like the Hot-Air Charm and Lumos, but they're not exactly defensive. That's off the top of my head. Al, I'm - just - not a whiz with my wand-"
As they sprinted across the grassy verges, Albus tried desperately to think of a spell that would help. Without thinking, he screamed "Tersus!" A column of fire shot out of his wand and surrounded Cordelia, whose outline seemed to be glowing. Swearing loudly to himself - was that Cordelia screaming in agony or the Gryffindors screaming in joy over their win? "Bloody genius!" he muttered to himself sarcastically. The burning fire around Cordelia appeared to lessen. A dazed Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain stepped out of it, unmarked by the raging flames. Untouched. "W-what? I don't-"
Instead, the fire had taken a vaguely human shape. And a distorted voice seemed to be emanating from it. "Qui vocavit nos. Quem elegi. Qui vocavit nos. Quem elegi..." Chanting. It made his blood run cold.
"What's it saying?" Kav shouted. Dupont had finally distracted the two girls and was checking Cordelia over on the field. McGonagall and Mullard had joined Albus and Kav in watching the fire speak its mystical language - presumably Latin, their wands outstretched and their bodies taking an automatically defensive stance. Professor Longbottom stood off to a distance, his wand firmly pointed at the creature. As the professors cast aggressive spells to destroy the fiery creature, Rose, and Scorp looked on, hesitant in what they could offer and desperate to know if anybody had been hurt.
"Potter, stop playing the genius and get out of the way!" Mullard bellowed. Suddenly, the fire figure vanished and a green orb flew towards Albus before dissipating.
McGonagall trained her wand on Albus. "Seumas, can you check Potter whilst I check for any remnants of that creature?" Mullard immediately obliged, pressing his wand to Albus' temple, where an unsettling warmth spread across his body. The Northerner frowned.
"Potter's clear, Minerva. Nothing's changed, physically. Or magically. Do you think - that - looked like a daemon, in fire form? That wasn't FiendFyre."
The Headmistress turned to him after scanning the vicinity, a troubled look etched into her lined face. "Albus, what happened? What spells did you cast?"
"I-I noticed Cordelia and McDonald were still fighting and it was getting out of hand and nobody had noticed and - I just wanted to do something to help. I-I didn't mean for it to get out of hand, at all, or to set Cordelia on fire, like, that spell's not worked properly for me for a while. Is she okay? I shouted Tersus - you know, that cleaning spell? I don't know - it was the first thing that entered my head - Professor, can you tell me if Cordelia's okay?" His babble, as incoherent as it was… Was it going to make the professors doubt him?
She looked at him. Not through him, like his brother had done since he'd entered Hogwarts as a student. At him. Properly. "Professor Dupont is taking care of her but neither have sustained any injuries. They've both been extremely lucky, as talented final-year students... Now, what else happened? Did the fire creature emerge before or after you used Tersus?"
Albus held his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes and sighing in deep relief. Thank God neither of them hadn't been hurt. And that they hadn't done any damage towards each other. He imagined them to be extremely shaken after their ordeal though. "I don't know. I cursed myself for being an idiot- then it seemed to move away from her and acted of its own accord..."
"Potter, what wording did you use?" Mullard asked quietly.
Kav stepped forward. "If it's okay for me to say?" The Northerner nodded. "I think Albus called himself a genius or something."
His heart dropped. "I was being sarcastic! I-I'm not some sort of psychopath that would want to hurt Cordelia! Take my memory if you need to-"
McGonagall raised her hand. "Calm down, Mr Potter. We'll establish the full details of what happened today once everyone's less emotional, perhaps tomorrow morning? I'll send a note to everybody involved by the end of tonight confirming what time. That will give us a chance to see if there are any lasting effects - or ones that emerge after the event. If you could all go back to the castle, please? Dupont, will you lead them to the Great Hall so they can enjoy the festivities? Now, Deryn, McDonald… I would like a word with you both..."
Stowing his wand in his robes, Dupont strode in front of them. Rose looked at Albus fearfully, demanding to know "What the bloody hell happened?" in a carbon-copy imitation of her father's often-said phrase. He shook his head, looking at Kav, intending to tell her once they were back away from Kav's ears. He couldn't believe that one of the people he'd gradually grown to trust had been so quick to disavow him. Or maybe that's what it had genuinely looked like from his point of view? He made a mental note to explain the situation later to his friend. Albus felt he owed that much to him, at least, if he was to walk away believing the worst of him.
Keeping his face neutral, Mullard's eyes hardened through innumerable dealings with Dark wizards, he addressed his colleague with a low voice. "Potter's emotions got the best of him… That very much likely destabilised his control over the Tersus spell. It happens every year, Minerva." He cast his gaze over the windswept path to the castle, watching as both Ravenclaw players walked solemnly, mortified and stripped of their respective places on the Quidditch team. Potter and his friends were only slightly ahead. "He keeps his head down, that boy."
"Or...?" McGonagall queried, analysing every inch of Seumas' lined face. She knew there was something else. Mullard had been teaching long enough that his analysis of students was impeccable.
"Do you remember the Sorting? It felt like there was a soft volatility in the air. To be honest, I thought it was the increased cohort's combined abilities interacting with the castle's enchantments and so on. But it's too indistinctive yet."
Minerva adjusted her collar as the first drops of rain crept along the shoulders of her robes. "Do you think it's Potter? I'm not as sensitive to magic as you, Seumas."
"We'll see in time, but it's adding up to a worrying display of power from someone that young. Harry's mentioned the constant curiosity although... I hadn't expected to see it so keenly in Potter's eyes. Shall I ask his Head of House to keep an eye on him?" Mullard continued, a series of solutions to the problem surfacing in his mind's eye. "What about emotional dampeners? Measuring charms?"
The first frissons of an intense headache accompanied the rain as Mullard steered the way. What the bloody hell were they facing?