Chapter 22 - The Diary and the Rogue Bludger
I woke up dead early the day after. Today was game day. Against the snakes. And I couldn't wait. I think 'Mione had a real fear that I'd actually push Draco off his broom. Obviously I wouldn't, I'm not allowed. It's a family rule and why would I go to Azkaban for that wanker. I had got the ingredients last night and we started the brewing process before we went to sleep in Myrtle's bathroom although at the moment it was hid under Hermione's bed. I surprised one of the other girls haven't smelled it, it stinks! I went to check that we'd not left anything in Myrtle's bathroom the night before, after I'd had breakfast. The place looked clean and was a ghost town, I had no idea where Moaning Myrtle was. I walked up to the mirror and started to build myself up ready for the game. We didn't have as good brooms as they did, apart from me and we would be relying on Harry for him to get the snitch. We needed a quick game. I had offered to let Harry borrow my broom but he refused. I could just imagine Oliver's speech if we lost. I can imagine the one before the match too. Both boring and bound to put me down. Realistically, our chances were 50/50, we had an awesome seeker while they had a new stupid one which could work to our advantage. Their team just didn't deserve those brooms. God I hate Lucius. What a wanker. I have never lost a game and I refuse to start now! And with that thought I had someone come running in the bathroom with a bang crying. I turned to look at Ginny and she froze.
"What's up Ginny?" I asked concerned. She didn't move, she looked terrified and I had no idea why. "Ginervra Molly Weasley, tell me what's wrong!"
"I can't!" She wailed. I tried to get close to comfort her but she backed up and hid something behind her.
"Come on, Gin. I won't tell anyone, I promise. I swear on Harry's life I won't tell anyone. Please Ginny, you're scaring me, I need to know what's making you so upset." I said in one breath. That seemed to do the trick. "Come here" I opened my arms and she came running sobbing into a hug and dropped what looked like a book behind her. "Shhh. Everything's going to be okay. You going to tell me what the book is?"
"It's a diary." She mumbled into my shoulder.
"Your diary? Are you crying because someone read your diary?" I asked.
"No. It's not my diary. I found it and it was empty so I decided to use it as a diary but then it wrote back." Ginny said pulling back to look at me with her terrified eyes.
"Let's have a look, eh?" I said smiling. "Can I write in it?" She nodded, picked it up and passed it to me while I got a quill and ink out and we both sat against the wall.
Hello. I wrote.
Hello again Ginny. It wrote back. Which of course freaked me out a little but I thought maybe someone invented it for those who had no friends and sometimes wanted someone to talk to privately. It's plausible in my opinion.
It's not Ginny.
What's your name then? And where is Ginny?
My name is Ash and Ginny is sat next to me. You scared her when you wrote back.
Hello Ash and Hello again Ginny. My name is Tom and I have been writing back to Ginny for weeks, why would she only just get scared? He had a point. I turned to Ginny.
"Why have you only just got scared?" I asked her.
"It's because I told him a secret and I was scared Tom would tell somebody." She replied looking at her feet.
"Ginny. It's a book. Who's it going to tell? Silly goose." I smiled at her reassuringly. "As long as you keep it in your room it'll be fine. Look" I continued writing.
She told you a secret and she is scared you were going to tell someone. Can you tell anyone?
I can't tell anyone. I am here alone. Tell Ginny I'm sorry I scared her.
I will do. Can you or will you harm Ginny in any way as her diary Tom?
No. It's impossible.
Then we're okay. I am going to give you back to Ginny to look after, I think she'll be okay with writing in you now. I have a Quidditch game to get to. Ginny will you put you back in her room and write in you later. Good bye Tom.
Good luck and have a nice game. Good bye Ash. Good bye Ginny. I will write you when you return. And with that I closed the diary and gave it back to Ginny.
"Told you." I smiled slightly smugly. Ginny looked much happier. "Now go put it back and you'd better be in the stands watching Gryffindor play, got it?" She nodded vigorously and scampered off. I got up after she left and made my way to the great hall to see if the three were there. They weren't so I just sat around waiting while drinking coffee. As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school started to make its way down to the Quidditch stadium, the Gryffindor team included. It was a muggy sort of day with a hint of thunder in the air. Ron and Hermione came hurrying over to wish us good luck as we entered the locker rooms. The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, then sat down to listen to Wood's usual pre-match pep talk.
"Slytherin has better brooms than us," he began. "No point denying it. But we've got better people on our brooms. We've trained harder than they have, we've been flying in all weathers..."
"Too true," muttered George Weasley. "I haven't been properly dry since August"
"...and we're going to make them rue the day they let that little bit of slime, Malfoy, buy his way onto their team." Wood continued. Chest heaving with emotion, Wood turned to Harry. "It'll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a Seeker has to have something more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we've got to win today, we've got to."
"So no pressure, Harry" said Fred, winking at him.
"God, Oliver. Aren't you nice?" I scoffed. As we walked out onto the pitch, a roar of noise greeted us; mainly cheers, because Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin beaten, but the Slytherin's in the crowd made their boos and hisses heard, too. Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher, asked Flint and Wood to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary.
"On my whistle," said Madam Hooch. "Three ... two ... one. . ." With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. Harry flew higher than any of us, squinting around for the Snitch. Madam Hooch threw the ball up and the Chaser's from both teams launched towards the quaffle. The three Slytherin Chasers got it at the same time as I did so they knocked me out of the way while one of them grabbed and sailed towards the Gryffindor goal posts with Katie and Angelina trying to catch them on their brooms. I did the same as soon as I got my bearings after Marcus Flint knocked me. I over took them and chased after Adrian Pucey who had the Quaffle. Next thing I know I had a Bludger flying towards me which I dodged but Pucey got away and was too fast for Oliver so they scored. Katie got the Quaffle then and sailed to the other goals when the chasers ganged up on her. She launched it backwards to me and I flew under the Slytherin chasers at break neck speed. They weren't far behind me and Angelina was really close so I passed to her. Seconds later a bludger hit her in her side causing her to drop the Quaffle, unfortunately I didn't get there in time. The keeper Miles Bletchley caught from under her and threw it to Flint and then they sailed towards our goals and none of us get to them in time and Oliver missed so they scored. This happened about 5 times. A bludger kept stopping us from scoring and I was just think, where the hell are Fred and George! This was when Oliver called for a time out. I flew to the team more than a little pissed off.
"What's going on?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina, Katie and Ash scoring?" asked Wood as the Gryffindor team huddled together, while Slytherin's in the crowd jeered.
"We were twenty feet above her, stopping the other Bludger from murdering Harry, Oliver," said George angrily. "Someone's fixed it... it won't leave Harry alone. It hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherin's must have done something to it."
"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then . . . ." said Wood, anxiously as Madam Hooch was walking toward us.
"Listen," said Harry as she came nearer and nearer, "with you two flying around me all the time the only way I'm going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve. Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal with the rogue one."
"Don't be thick," said Fred. "It'll take your head off." Wood was looking from Harry to the Weasley's.
"No way." I spat out angrily. "You can't let Harry deal with that thing on his own. Let's ask for an inquiry"
"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" said Harry. "And we're not losing to Slytherin just because of a crazy Bludger! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave me alone!"
"This is all your fault," George said angrily to Wood. "'Get the Snitch or die trying' what a stupid thing to tell him." Madam Hooch had joined them.
"Harry, no!" I demanded.
"Ready to resume play?" she asked Wood. Wood looked at the determined look on Harry's face.
"All right," he said. "Fred, George, you heard Harry, leave him alone and let him deal with the Bludger on his own."
"This is not a good idea at all." I grumbled as I flew off and time was called. It was 60-0 at this point. I managed to get a quaffle in and then when Flint got the Quaffle afterwards I flew into him for pay back, got the Quaffle and threw it to Angelina while battling with the other two chasers as only I could and she scored another goal. Next thing I know, the crowds where screaming with delight. Harry had caught the snitch. I was cheering for about 2 seconds when Harry started falling. Unfortunately for Harry, Lockhart slowed him from falling and got to him first.
"Oh, no, not you," Harry moaned as he came round and saw him.
"Doesn't know what he's saying," said Lockhart loudly to the anxious crowd of Gryffindors pressing around them. "Not to worry, Harry. I'm about to fix your arm."
"No!" said Harry. "I'll keep it like this, thanks..."
"Don't you think we should wait for Madam Pomfrey, Professor?" I asked carefully. I really didn't want him to do something stupid.
"Nonsense! Lie back, Harry," said Lockhart soothingly. "It's a simple charm I've used countless times."
"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" Harry asked through clenched teeth.
"He should really, Professor," said a muddy Wood, who couldn't help grinning even though his Seeker was injured. "Great catch, Harry, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say..."
"This is so your fault, Oliver." I growled at him glaring. I looked behind me and saw Fred and George wrestling with the bludger, trying to get it into the box. "And I want you to have an inquiry and find out who tampered bludger so I can beat the living shit out of them."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that Miss Hyde. Now. Stand back." said Lockhart, who was rolling up his jade-green sleeves.
"No - don't -" said Harry weakly, but Lockhart was twirling his wand and a second later had directed it straight at Harry's arm. Everyone seemed to hold their breath. Lockhart straightened out Harry's arm. It looked like was in no pain however when he let go, his arm flopped in the opposite direction to what it should have done.
"Oh my God." I whined. This is what I meant as stupid.
"Ah," said Lockhart. "Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken."
"Because he has no bones left!" I scoffed angrily.
"That's the thing to bear in mind. So, Harry, just toddle up to the hospital wing - ah, Miss Hyde, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, would you escort him? - and Madam Pomfrey will be able to - er - tidy you up a bit." He continued ignoring me. Oliver and Ron helped Harry while me and Ron helped him to the Hospital Wing.
"Madam Pomfrey is not going to be happy." I sighed.
"What an idiot." Ron stated, agreeing with me.
"It was an accident." Hermione huffed trying to argue for Lockhart.
"Hermione. Just no." I huffed back as we got to the hospital wing.
"Professor Lockhart tried to mend Harry's bones and they're not there anymore." Ron explained as soon as we saw Madam Pomfrey. We sat him on an empty bed and Madam Pomfrey inspected the arm.
"You should have come straight to me!" she raged, holding up the sad, limp remainder of what, half an hour before, had been a working arm. "I can mend bones in a second, but growing them back..."
"You will be able to, won't you?" said Harry desperately.
"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful," said Madam Pomfrey grimly, throwing Harry a pair of pyjamas. "You'll have to stay the night. You three can leave."
"Can't we stay?" Hermione asked before I had chance to.
"No. He needs to rest. Off with you, now." Madam Pomfrey dismissed us. I huffed but we said our goodbyes and left him to take horrible potions and sleep. Harry was definitely in for a rough night. I went for a shower then to the main hall for my tea before going back to the common rooms and having an early night in bed.