Not Potter and the Stupid Stone
Chapter 10
Laura
As November began, the weather turned cold and gray, banners and notices began popping up all over the school and the Slytherins and Gryffindors, somehow, grew even more hostile towards each other. Quidditch season had begun. One Sunday afternoon, at around eleven o'clock, most of the trooped down the muddy lawn of Hogwarts, under the dreary Scottish sky, and into the quidditch pitch. It was the first game of the season, and the most exciting, Gryffindor Vs. Slytherin. Up in the top row, behind where Noel and I stood, a few of the first-year boy Gryffindors held up a sign made from an old sheet, written upon it, in flashing paint colors: Potter for President. Noel turned around to view said banner before rolling her eyes.
"Bitt obnoxious isn't it?" She commented, "especially seeing as it has nothing to do with Quidditch."
"Well, I think it was sweet of them. They're just trying to support Harry." I replied calmly.
"If you say so." She said, very sarcastically.
On opposite sides of the field, the Slytherin and Gryffindor rivalry continued with gazes, rude remarks, and even an old shoe being propelled across the pitch. I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore everyone, and conversed with my friends nearby. However, Hermione was reading a book and Noel was still throwing stare in the direction of the banner. Needless to say, I decided to just wait in silence. Minutes later, Madame Hooch, who was the Quidditch referee as well as the flying teacher, walked onto the green field. At once, she introduced both teams, and allowed them to mount their brooms. The crowd buzzed with excitement as the silver whistle blew, I myself let out a whoop and a cheer or two. Almost immediately, the announcers began blaring, voices echoing around the field from magically enhanced speakers.
"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson-" The first voice blared.
Another voice continued his phrase, "-from Gryffindor. An excellent Chaser, and quite attractive, too."
"EDWARDS!"
Third year, Lee Jordan, and second year, Andrew Edwards, sat commentating the match. They would occasionally elbow or whisper something to the other as they attempting to make as many outrageous statements as they could. which was quite a lot, seeing as they were being closely watched by Professor McGonagall. Although it might seem odd that I know the two they were quite renowned at Hogwarts for their association with the Weasley twins. Lee was their best friend and Andrew was their protégée and future pranking successor.
"Sorry, Professor." Andrew apologized, through a rather large smile, to Professor McGonagall.
Lee didn't waste a minute, "she's really belting along up there, a quick pass to Alicia Spinnet-"
"-A good find of Wood's, as she was only a reserve last year-" Andrew continued, as they alternated narration.
"-back to Johnson and, no, the Slytherins have now taken control of the Quaffle." Lee added.
Andrew took over, "Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint takes the Quaffle and has gone off,"
"-flying like an eagle, will he score?" Lee followed the match, unsure of what was to come, "yes- No, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor's Keeper Oliver Wood."
"Gryffindor takes the Quaffle, as Chaser Katie Bell dives around Flint,"
"off the field and-"
"OUCH!" Andrew practically yelped, while continuing the dramatic commentary, "– that must have hurt, being hit in the head by a Bludger..."
"Quaffle taken by Slytherin, as Adrian Pucey speeds off towards the goalposts." Lee commented.
"But he's blocked, by a second Bludger, by George, or Fred, Weasley... Can't tell the difference-" Andrew joked.
Lee laughed, "nice play by a Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in position of the Quaffle-"
"-looking wonderful, as she goes-" Andrew said, as Professor McGonagall glared at him.
"A clear field ahead and, off she goes, really flying, dodging a speeding Bludger-" Lee added, trying to switch the tone.
"-the goalposts are ahead, come on, Angelina-" Andrew said, as he passed the mic back to Lee.
"-Keeper Bletchley dives, misses, and GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"
The Gryffindor crowd boomed, whilst I nearly screamed my voice out, with cheers and applause, as the first points of the game were scored. As the bustle continued, Hagrid soon crowded into the stands, finding space behind Ron and Hermione, nearly tearing the Potter for President banner as he maneuvered through the crowd.
"Bin watchin' from me hut." Hagrid said, pulling a pair of binoculars from his jacket. I questioned it for a moment. Who has binoculars just in their jacket? Well, Hagrid, that's who. "No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"
"Not yet." Ron replied. "Harry hasn't had much to do."
"He's kept outta trouble, though."
The crowd, including myself, continued to watch the teams soar by, occasionally switching possession. All throughout, the narration by Andrew and Lee continued. At one point, a Bludger went flying straight at Harry, only to be intercepted.
"-quick save to Gryffindor's Seeker, Potter, as Fred-" Lee commentated.
"-or George-" Andrew quickly piped.
"-Weasley has punted it towards Chaser Pucey, who's ducked, flown past two Weasleys and Katie Bell-"
"-speeding towards the goalposts... wait. Was that the Snitch?" Andrew commented.
We watched in anticipation, as Adrian Pucey, I think, dropped the Quaffle. Both Seekers had bolted for the speck of gold that passed by the Chaser's ear. Harry was in the lead as everyone stared, transfixed on the seeker's race. Even many of the Chasers seemed to hover on the field, watching the two battle for the small orb.
All seemed in favor for Harry, before quickly, someone had slammed into him, nearly knocking him off his broom, as he clung on for dear life, with one hand.
The Snitch had disappeared from sight, whilst many angry Gryffindors yelled, as Madame Hooch shouted at Marcus Flint, who seemed to be the one in charge of creating all the madness.
Nearby, from some stands below, I heard, Dean Thomas, shouting.
"Send him the off, ref! Give 'im the red card!" He shouted.
"What in the world are you talking about, Dean?" Ron asked.
"In soccer, you get a red card for stuff like this! Sent out of the game, you are!" Dean explained.
"This isn't soccer, Dean." Noel moaned, scrubbing a hand over her face in exasperation.
Hagrid began to chime in, outraged, "he's right, though! Harry coulda fallen off 'is broom, when Flint knocked 'im ov'r."
As the game set back into course, the commentators found difficulty in not taking sides. Though Andrew was a Ravenclaw, unlike Lee, who came from Gryffindor, he, as most, showed the fellow hatred for the Slytherin house.
"So, after that obvious bit of cheating-" Lee began.
"JORDAN!"
Andrew followed, "After that revolting and fouling shot-"
"EDWARDS"
"Sorry, Professor." Lee appologized. "Alright, Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker-"
Andrew, sarcastically, continued "-which could happen to anyone, I'm sure-"
"-a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who scores easily."
"Gryffindor still in possession."
Up in the air, I began to notice something odd. Harry's broom is quickly diving all through the air, with him, seemingly, possessing no control over it. I turned to see Hagrid looking through his binoculars, as Seamus, from nearby, muttered a question.
"Did Flint do something, when he blocked him?
"Doubt it. No kid could ev'r do that, especially to a Nimbus Two Thousand." Hagrid replied, "only Dark Magic could, 'onestly."
Hermione, momentarily, snatched Hagrid's binoculars, and began to stare at the teachers' stands.
"What are you doing?" Noel questioned.
"Snape," she replied, "he's hexing the broom."
"What?" I asked, concerned.
"Here," she said, passing me the binoculars. "Look."
As I took the binoculars, I could see the rapid movement of Snape muttering something, as he stared, unblinking, at Harry. It all seemed quite obvious: Snape was hexing Harry's broom.
"What do we do?!"
"Quickly!" Noel shouted, "come with me!"
She sprinted through the back of the stands, the three of us following close behind, fighting the crowds, who's eyes were glued onto Harry floating in the sky. Hermione rushed past Noel in her worry; not even noticing when she knocked over Professor Quirrell, on her way to Snape's seat.
Hermione, reaching Snape first, muttered a spell under her breath that shot small, blue flames out and onto Snape's draped cloak. We quickly concealed ourselves, backing into the crowd, as Snape's attention was drawn to the fire. Momentarily, Snape looked away from Harry in order to extinguish the fire. Noel pointed to Harry as he swung back onto his broom, when had he fallen off, before motioned to the rest that we needed to go.
We reached our seats just in time to see Harry level himself not a foot above the pitch, one arm extended towards the snitch, which was flying just in front of him. The crowd communally leaned forward as he tumbled off of his broom and onto the pitch. I stared at Harry, who looked as though he was about to be sick. Slowly, he spat something out into his hand, and held it in the air, the golden snitch. As the crowd slowly noticed that he had caught the Snitch, the stand erupted into cheers. I cheered along, whilst the Lee and Andrew happily shouted the results, Gryffindor had won, one hundred seventy to sixty.
ar filled eyes, this time tears of joy, instead of the tears of sorrow which she had been crying in the bathroom all day, before pulling us all into a hug.
Noel
Hermione, Harry, Ron, Laura and I were walking back from the quidditch game, frantically chattering about the mess Snape had created. I noticed Hermione quietly smiling to herself as Ron repeated praised the effectiveness of her Bluebell flames.
"I knew it was him the whole time." Harry complained.
"How?" Laura asked. "I know he's supper mean and all, but a lot of people trust him."
"Yeah, Laura's right. Dumbledore trusts him." Hermione emphasized, "DUMBLEDORE."
Harry swiftly replied, "at the opening ceremony, when I looked at Snape, my scar burned."
"I guess that could mean something." I shrugged.
"I think we should talk to an adult about this." Hermione said, seemingly concerned. "Dumbledore would never hire someone who was going to betray him."
"Dumbledore's no god, Hermione." Ron responded. "He can make mistakes."
"I know who we can ask," Harry said, "Hagrid."
"Would he really know anything?" Hermione questioned.
"He is gatekeeper, that means he has to take care of the grounds," I thought carefully, "you would probably hear things while going all around the school fixing things."
"Yeah." Harry replied, "and Dumbledore gives him tons of jobs, so he must trust him."
"Jobs?" I questioned.
"When he took me to my vault, he also got something else, something for Dumbledore."
"Do you know what it was?" Laura asked.
"Maybe it's what that dog was guarding." I said, connecting the pieces
"I don't know," Harry said, doubtingly. "It was small, the size of a tennis ball all wrapped in brown paper?"
"What could be that valuable and that small?" Ron puzzled aloud.
"I don't know," Hermione said, "but I know who would."
In unison, we nodded. We all were thinking of the same person, I would hope.
Hagrid.
Later that day, the five of us trooped down to his hut, which was located at the edge of the grounds, practically in the forest. When we knocked on the door, we were met with loud barking - like that from a dog. Harry was just reaching for the doorknob, when the door swung open and we came face to face with a large, black, slobbering dog.
"Harry!" Hagrid said, cheerfully. "I was wondering when I would see you again, you were brilliant at the Quidditch match!"
"Thanks, Hagrid," he responded, sheepishly.
Hagrid smiled widely at Harry and commented, "your dad would have been proud to see such fine flying." Before beckoning us into the house.
Harry blushed deeply, before remembering something. "Oh, these are our friends, by the way, Noel Avery, Laura Fawley, and Hermione Granger."
"Nice to meet you," Hagrid said, inclining his head in mine, Hermione, and Laura's direction.
"Nice to meet you too," I said, awkwardly, not really sure how to respond to the question. Normally, I would have said, and a what a pleasure it is to meet you as well, but all those traditional pure blood greetings just sounded far too stuffy now.
"Harry's told us so much about you," Laura added cheerfully.
"I heard you make tea." Hermione stated, grasping for something to add to our greetings.
"Now, come on in you lot," Hagrid insisted, "It's getting a bit chilly, you can tell me what it is you want to once we're inside."
We followed Hagrid inside the cabin, I pause a bit in the doorway, staring at Hagrid's dog, I believe Ron had once told me that its name was fang, I really didn't like animals, before continuing in. Once seated around a large table in the center of the hut, we were provided with tea and rock-like cakes that were impossible to chew. Although heading to Hagrid's wasn't a bad idea, these morons forget to make any plan. So, for minutes we sat in silence, until, of course, Harry decided to be even more of an idiot.
"What was that thing you got out of the vault, you know, the you-know-what in vault you-know-where." Harry, suddenly, said.
Hagrid raised an eyebrow, "you must not go poking around in things now Harry."
"We were wondering if that's what the three headed dog was guarding." Ron asked. I could slap myself. How did they not realize that they were just spouting out all the things we weren't supposed to know?
"You mean Fluffy?" Hagrid questioned. "How did you find out about him?"
"So that's what his name is!" Ron exclaimed. I eyed him with confusion, why on earth has he been wondering about the things name. Ron simply shrugged in response; I rolled my eyes.
"I shouldn't have said that." Hagrid mumbled.
"Now we just need to find out what he's guarding." Hermione chimed.
"You lot need to leave now, and stop being so nosey." He said, irritation arising. "Whatever fluffy is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nickolas Flamel."
"So, someone named Nickolas Flamel is involved?" Laura asked.
Hagrid ignored her question, shoving us all out the door, whilst muttering under his breathe, "Should not have said that, should not have said that. I really should not have said that."
The five of us stumbled out the door, making sure to leave those awful rock cakes behind, and began walking back to school. Although it was stupid to play their cards like that, I couldn't help but respect Harry for gaining some information.
"Now we're one step closer to figuring out what's happening." Harry said, inspired.
"And stopping Snape." Ron followed.
"And I'm sure every teacher will just be dying to teach about Flamel tomorrow." I sniped.
"You think?" He asked, honestly thinking I was being serious.
"She's being sarcastic." Laura explained, patting him on the shoulder.
"Oh..." He was so sweet, but sometimes I really wondered what was going on inside that boy's head.
"Yeah, this is going to take some serious research." Hermione said, pondering the gained details.
"I just feel like I've heard the name Nickolas Flamel before." Harry trailed.
"Guess we'll just have to go to the library." I said, seeing Hermione's face light up at the thought.
