Okay, I suck at these bar thingys... oh well, here's chapter eight of On the Wings of Change! I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does, la di da di da... Update please or might consider updating late...
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Chapter Eight- Of Mountain Trolls and Quidditch Matches
Hollis had to stuff her fist in her mouth when she saw Malfoy's look of disbelief shining on his face when he saw her and Ron walk into the Great Hall the next morning. They were extremely tired and still running slightly on shock, but they were, in a way, looking forward to their next adventure.
"He must have tipped Filch off or something," Hollis remarked casually as she sat down. They had, no doubt, figured out that Malfoy was trying to get them expelled or at least in trouble.
"Git," Ron muttered angrily. Hollis nodded in agreement.
"What do you think's hidden underneath the trapdoor, if there is one?" Ron asked through a mouthful of toast. Hollis stopped eating for a minute. She debated on telling Ron what she and Hagrid had done at Gringotts when they were in Diagon Alley.
"Actually, I had been thinking about that. Remember how I told you that Hagrid took me school shopping? Well, aside from picking up some money, we stopped at another vault, number 713 if I remember correctly. Inside was this grubby little two inch package. I think that's what down there," Hollis said in a whisper. Ron's mouth dropped open but he closed it quickly.
"It's either really dangerous or really valuable," Ron said finally after a very long pause.
"Or both," Hollis said while spooning a bit of her oatmeal.
Neither Neville nor Hermione showed any interest in the dog or the trapdoor. Hermione was downright refusing to talk to them now, and all Neville cared about was not going near that dog again.
With Hermione not speaking to them, Ron's moods were definitely a lot more cheerful. Come to think of it, Hollis's moods were a lot more cheerful now. Hermione's know-it-all attitude was irritating and Hollis found that it was better to fly off the handle as soon as she started talking to you instead of trying to tolerate her.
A couple of loud screeches caught their attention.
"Mail's here," Ron muttered before he resumed shoveling his eggs into his mouth like a ravenous wolf.
As the owl's swooped down from the rafters to deliver mail, Hollis scanned the skies hopefully. When she caught no sign of Hedwig amongst the throng of browns and blacks, she returned to her oatmeal.
However, she was slightly surprised when Ron reached across the table and shook her shoulder and pointed upwards.
There were four large Barn owls carrying a large but slender package between them. Hollis raised an eyebrow.
"Who do you think that's for?" Hollis asked.
Ron opened his mouth, as if to answer, but his answer was cut off when the four barn owls dropped the package on Hollis's plate.
Ron and Hollis looked at each other. It was a rare occasion when Hollis got a letter. Hollis getting a package was like Snape handing out sweets and being nice to the Gryffindors or, in other words, unheard of.
Hollis tore the letter open- which was a lucky thing really- and read it quickly.
DO NOT OPEN THIS PARCEL AT THE TABLE!
It contains your new Nimbus 2000 but don't tell anyone that you've been sent one or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you on the Quidditch Pitch at seven o'clock tonight.
Professor McGonagall
Hollis smiled hugely as she passed the note to Ron. Ron gave a sound that sounded eerily like a squeal and a gasp.
"A Nimbus 2000! I've never even touched one!" Ron murmured in ecstasy. Hollis got up hastily from her seat at the table and with Ron following closely at her heels, they made their way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
As if to put the icing on the cake, they met Malfoy halfway to the seventh floor.
He saw the slender package immediately and snatched it away from Hollis's hands. He felt it and then threw it back to Hollis.
"That's a broomstick. You'll be back with the Muggles for sure this time," Malfoy sneered.
Ron couldn't help himself.
"That's not just any old broom Malfoy! That's a Nimbus 2000! What have you got back at home? A Comet Two Sixty?" Ron said. Malfoy fumbled for a bit but he recovered
"What would you know? You couldn't afford half the handle!" Malfoy snapped.
"What seems to be the problem?"
It was Professor Flitwick, who was making his way back to the third floor to begin the day's lesson. Malfoy was quick to tell him the problem.
"Potter's been sent a broom, Professor," Malfoy said. Professor Flitwick smiled.
"Ah, yes! Professor McGonagall was telling me all about the special circumstances. And what make is it?" he asked politely.
"A Nimbus 2000, sir," Hollis replied. Professor Flitwick clapped his hands and laughed a bell like laugh.
"Very good, very good… well off you go!" Flitwick said cheerfully before waddling away. Malfoy only stared open mouthed at them and Flitwick's retreating form before stalking away.
Hollis and Ron hurried up to Gryffindor Tower as quickly as they could before they burst into laughter.
"That was brilliant! Did you see his face?" Ron said through a fit of giggles. Hollis nodded, too overcome by laughter to say much.
"So you think that's a reward for breaking the rules?"
The huffy voice came from none other than Hermione Granger who was looking at them with a look of utter disdain.
Hollis, who had now recovered from her giggles, didn't answer with words. She only gave her a look. Of course she didn't think this was a reward for breaking the rules. She had thought that she had seen the end of her Hogwarts education. She didn't expect to be put on the Quidditch Team.
Ron, however, was taking this statement not as seriously as Hollis was.
"What, you're talking to us again? Don't start because it was doing us so much good," Ron said angrily. Hermione only sniffed and stomped away. Hollis gave Ron a look but Ron looked anywhere and everywhere except Hollis's eyes.
"Come on. We can go up to the Girl's Dormitories for now. But if you tell anyone about this, I'll strangle you," Hollis warned. Ron nodded eagerly.
Hollis went up the stairs first, knowing that if Ron did, the stairs would slip out from underneath him.
They were greeted by Artemus who had apparently just gotten back from the grounds judging from the dew on her paws. Hollis scratched her ears before Artemus dashed away again once again.
Ron and Hollis unwrapped the broomstick. It rolled out onto Hollis's bed and she felt her mouth drop open.
"Wow," she said quietly. She looked at Ron who was looking like he was on Cloud Nine.
Hollis had to admit, even though she knew nothing about brooms, it was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen. It was a deep mahogany, polished and stained to perfection. All of its twigs in the tail were perfectly straight and neat. The handle was glossy and its make was embossed in spindly gold lettering.
"I don't know about you, but I, personally, can't wait to ride this thing," Hollis said in earnest.
Ron was still on Cloud Nine.
***
Hollis found it was increasingly hard to pay attention to her classes that day. Her mind kept drifting back to the dormitory, or, if you wanted to be specific, her trunk where her new broomstick was locked.
For a while, it seemed like the school day wouldn't end. When dinner finally rolled around, Hollis was nearly trembling with excitement. When the clock read five of seven, Hollis bid Ron goodbye and he flashed a smile and a thumbs up.
She managed to find her way to the pitch, even through the darkness. The stadium itself was jaw dropping. Hundreds of seats were elevated sky high in tall, tower- like stands. Three golden hoops that looked eerily like the plastic sticks that Muggles used to blow bubbles with were on each end of the field, save for the fact that they were fifty feet high.
Oliver Wood was not there yet. Hollis looked around, all of a sudden feeling very nervous. She decided to take an experimental ride on the Nimbus, just let off her nerves.
She recalled how to mount the broomstick and how to kick off. The rest she did instinctually.
She raced around the pitch, feeling extremely happy, near euphoric. Though she had flown before, this was nothing compared to what she was doing now. Fred and George were right. The school brooms were slow. The Nimbus, however, was something completely different. It was absolutely amazing and the Nimbus seemed to obey her slightest touch.
A rough voice broke through her giddy haze.
"Hey, Potter! Come down!" Wood called, his voice sounding far away.
Hollis looked down and saw the broad shouldered fifteen year old she had met earlier in the week. He was carrying a large crate under his arm. She turned expertly and brought the broom down into a dive. She landed lightly on the ground.
Wood looked very impressed. "That's very good. I see what McGonagall meant now. You are a natural," Wood said sounding just as euphoric as Hollis had been moments ago. Wood, not giving her time to say thanks, cut to the chase.
"Alright, I'm going to teach you the basics tonight and then you'll be joining the team for practice three times a week. I'll give you a schedule tomorrow or the next day. Now, Quidditch is easy to understand though understanding it and playing it are two different ball games, no pun intended. There are seven players on each side. Three of these players are called Chasers," Wood started, going slow for Hollis's sake.
"Okay, three Chasers," Hollis said, feeling the need to repeat Wood. Wood smiled and picked up a red, soccer ball sized ball.
"This is called the Quaffle. The Chasers toss around the Quaffle, in hopes of getting it through one of those three hoops. For every time the Quaffle goes through the hoops, the team that scores gets ten points. You get it?" Wood asked.
"Yeah, I think so. So the Chasers go around and try to score points with Quaffle," Hollis said.
"Yes, exactly. There's another player called the Keeper. Now, the Keeper is the exact opposite of the Chasers. The Keeper has to fly around and defend the hoops, to keep the other team from scoring. I'm the Keeper for Gryffindor," Wood said while gesturing to himself.
Hollis nodded. He was right. Quidditch was easy enough to understand. "Okay, so three Chasers, one Keeper, and they play with the Quaffle. Now, what are those?" Hollis asked suspiciously, pointing two one of the two jet black balls that were quivering underneath their restraints. Wood smiled wryly.
"You'd better take this," Wood said as he handed her a bat that looked something like a baseball bat only shorter.
"These are the Bludgers, and I'm going to show you what they do, but keep a good a hold on that bat. Stand back," Wood cautioned. Hollis obliged, not wanting to be in a Bludger's path.
Once Wood had released the restraint on one of the Bludgers, the thing rocketed upward. It sped back down, right towards Hollis. Acting on instinct, she swung the bat and it met the Bludger with a loud crack. It zigzagged away and Wood gave her another impressed look.
"Not bad. You could make a fair Beater. Uh oh."
The Bludger was back now and Wood met it head on. He caught it and Hollis heard the air in Wood's lungs leave his chest in a great 'whoosh'. He wrestled with the ball for a minute, and then managed to get it back into its rightful place, underneath the restraints.
"Okay, well, that was a Bludger. The Bludgers rocket around and try to knock people off their brooms. The Beaters fly around with those bats and try to protect the players from getting knocked around too much but also try to thwart the other teams by sending Bludgers their way. The Weasley Twins are our Beaters, and they are more than a match for the Bludgers. They're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves," Wood panted.
Hollis nodded, feeling slightly apprehensive now. She knew that as Seeker she wouldn't have to worry about those balls- unless the Bludgers knocked her off her broom of course- but what did she have to worry about?
"You, however, are a Seeker and Seekers don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers. All I want you to worry about is this," Wood said while pulling out a small, walnut sized ball. It was gold and it had slim, silvery fluttering wings. It was struggling against Wood's hand.
"This is the Golden Snitch and it is the most important ball in the game. It's the Seeker's job to fly around and look for the Snitch and when they do see it, catch it. But that's just the easy part. The Snitch is so small and fast that is almost near impossible to see. The Seekers are undoubtedly the most important player because if one of the Seekers catches the Snitch, their team is awarded one hundred and fifty points, so they almost always win. But not only that, when the Snitch is caught, the game is over. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. Do you get what you're supposed to do?" Wood explained.
Hollis nodded. Wood smiled again while putting the Snitch away.
"We won't practice with the Snitch tonight. It's too dark and we could lose it. But I brought these with me," Wood said while holding up a bag of Muggle golf balls. A few minutes later, they were both up in the air, Wood hurling golf balls as hard as he could in every direction. Hollis didn't miss any of them.
Even in the dark, Hollis could see the gleeful look on Wood's face as they landed.
***
It was hard to believe that Hollis had been at Hogwarts for two months. But, given how busy she was with Quidditch practice and schoolwork, maybe it wasn't so surprising. However, she was surprised at how well she fit in at Hogwarts, even with her Elemental abilities.
When the tower awoke on Halloween morning, they were greeted with the smell of cooking pumpkin and the tittering of real live bats. The Gryffindor first years were excited. Ever since the time Professor Flitwick had made Trevor, Neville's toad, fly around the classroom, they had been dying to try the levitation charm. As a Holiday treat- and because they were ready to try a Levitation Charm-, they were going to attempt to do the charm, Wingardium Leviosa.
The entire classroom buzzed with excitement as everyone filed into the classroom.
"Now, remember the swish and flick wrist movement we've been practicing. And annunciate! You don't want to end up like Wizard Baruffio who said the wrong letter and ended up on the floor with a buffalo on his chest!" he chimed merrily.
Hollis ended up working with Seamus Finnigan. Not that was a bad thing- better than working with Neville- but Seamus had a tendency to light things on fire with his wand. Seamus smiled at her brightly. Hollis returned the smile half heartedly, slightly worried, more for the desk's sake than her own.
It wasn't as easy as it looked. Hollis had managed to make her and Seamus's feather vibrate, the top half rising off the desk but nothing more. When Seamus tried to do it nothing happened. He tried, and tried but then got so frustrated with it that he prodded the thing and set it on fire. Before Professor Flitwick could figure out what was going on, Hollis put out the fire with her notebook, sufficiently burning her fingers.
Hollis sighed when she sensed Ron's attitude.
Ron had gotten paired with Hermione and Hollis wasn't about to venture into their minds to figure out who was more angry about this arrangement. Ron's face had already taken on a beet red color and Hollis could see Hermione's eyes starting to spark dangerously.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron said, his long arms waving like a windmill.
Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed one of Ron's arms. "Stop, stop! You're going to take someone's eye out if you keep doing it like that. And you're saying it wrong! Make the 'gar' nice and long!" Hermione snapped.
"You do it then!" Ron growled angrily. Hermione sniffed and whipped out her wand.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Hermione said clearly. The class went quiet as the feather rose up and up and up…
"Well done! You see, Ms. Granger's done it!"
Ron was not very happy for the rest of class.
***
"She's a nightmare, honestly! 'Make the 'gar' nice and long'! No one can stand her and she wonders why she hasn't got any friends!" Ron vented as they exited the classroom. Hollis was just about to reprimand Ron for speaking so loud and so rudely about someone but she was cut off by someone storming past her.
It was Hermione and she was crying. Hollis rounded on Ron, her startled mood making her seem angrier than she really was.
"I think she heard you," Hollis said tartly, giving Ron a displeased look. Ron looked off to the side, looking more than a bit uncomfortable.
"Listen, I have to go to the Hospital Wing to get something for these stupid burns. Can you tell McGonagall where I am?" Hollis asked. Ron mumbled something like, 'Sure Holly' before hurrying away.
When she arrived in Transfiguration, she noticed immediately that Hermione wasn't there. Hollis handed Professor McGonagall the note Madame Pomfrey had scrawled moments earlier and quickly sat down.
She looked at Ron. He didn't meet her eyes and still looked distinctly uncomfortable. Hollis felt something papery hit the back of her neck. She grabbed it, being as quiet as possible- she did sit in the back but McGonagall had the ears of hawk- and unfolded the paper bird. She read Pavarti's flowery script:
Where's Hermione?
Hollis quickly wrote an answer back.
I don't know. I'll look for her before lunch. We have a free period then.
She sent the note back and Pavarti heaved a silent sigh when she read it. Hollis gave her a sheepish look. Pavarti shook her head and jerked it towards Ron, who had his eyes glued onto the board.
Hollis couldn't help but agree with Pavarti.
***
Hermione didn't reappear for the rest of the classes. Hollis had attempted to look for her during the free period but Wood had cornered her in the last five minutes, just as she was about to look in the Girl's Bathroom.
Hollis didn't see Hermione at lunch or the rest of the afternoon. Just as dinner started, Danny came and sat next to Hollis, which was unusual because every time Hollis was in speaking distance of Danny, he would blush profusely and refuse to talk to anybody.
"Pavarti says the Hermione's in the Girl's Bathroom. She's been there all afternoon, crying," Danny told her. Hollis made a noise that sounded like a sigh mixed with an exasperated laugh.
"Thanks, Danny. Do you think I should go… you know… fish her out?" Hollis asked.
Danny shook his head no, looking very nervous. "Pavarti also said that she wanted to be left alone, and you know how she gets when she loses her temper. She can be quite nasty," Danny said, his face slowly taking on a reddish hue.
"Alright. Well, it's her loss," Hollis sighed. Danny smiled slightly before taking his customary seat by Dean's side. And it truly was. Carved Jack-o-Lanterns broke up the table every few feet and thousands of live bats swooped jerkily around, making the floating candles flicker every once in a while.
When dinner was served, Hermione was pushed to the back of Hollis's mind. Even Ron, who had been in a strange mood all day, was acting normal again. How could they not? The food, as usual, was delicious, and the decorations were spectacular.
Hollis laughed at one of Seamus's jokes as she helped herself to a second helping of potatoes but she was cut off as the oak doors swung open noisily to reveal a terrified Professor Quirrell. His absurd purple turban was slightly lopsided, as if he had done it in a hurry, and his face was white as a sheet.
"Troll! In the dungeons! Troll, in the dungeons!" he cried, his voice ripping and breaking through, at least, three octaves.
The Hall was very still and silent. Dumbledore stood up.
"Thought you ought to know," Quirrell whispered before sinking to the floor in a dead faint.
It was silent for a minute and then there was noise that sounded like a bomb went off. All of the students were in an uproar and it took a loud explosion that sounded like a cannon and a loud 'Silence' on Dumbledore's part to quiet them.
When Dumbledore had done this, everyone froze where they were, shocked and startled to hear Dumbledore speak so loudly.
"Everyone, please, do not panic! Prefects, lead your house back the Dormitories immediately," he said in the same loud voice. It sounded vaguely like thunder rumbling.
Percy jumped into action at once. He shouted over the throng of people, herding all the first years together while simultaneously trying to keep all the upperclassmen out of trouble.
Hollis had to hand it to him. He really was in his element when it came to bossing people around.
"Alright, first years, stick together!" he yelled continually. Hollis stayed very close to Ron and Danny, who had once again appeared beside Hollis, looking faintly protective of something or someone. Then a terrible thought dawned on Hollis. She grabbed Ron's arm.
"Don't ask me how a troll could get it 'cause I don't know. They're supposed to be really stupid. I think Peeves may have let it as a joke," Ron said, taking Hollis's petrified look as one of questioning.
"No, idiot! Hermione! She doesn't know!" Hollis said quietly but earnestly.
Ron was looking uncomfortable again. He bit his lip.
"Go and warn Hermione about the troll. I'll keep Percy busy," Danny suddenly hissed. They both nodded and disappeared into a group of Hufflepuffs. They sprinted towards the Girl's Bathroom, sometimes stopping to see if either a teacher or a Prefect were following them or, worse, right in front of them.
The stopped again and stepped into a niche. Ron looked around warily but a horrid smell graced their nostrils. Hollis put the wide, billowy sleeve of her robe to her nose and mouth, her face paling significantly.
"What is that smell?" Hollis asked, her inquiry muffled, but Ron smashed his large hand across her mouth, silencing her.
He mouthed 'Percy'. Hollis then became unnaturally still.
But it wasn't Percy that passed by. It was Snape.
He stalked by, not even noticing them or the terrible smell. But Hollis didn't care about that. What was he doing? He was supposed to be down in the Dungeons with the rest of the teachers. Not heading to the third floor. Wait… the third floor…?
"What's he doing here?" Ron hissed.
"Search me," Hollis said in the same hurried tone as she ripped off Ron's hand. They sprinted to the next niche in the hallway, the smell becoming stronger. Ron's nose crinkled. Hollis felt like throwing up. The smell was a mixture of old gym socks and a public restroom, the one that no one cleans.
Ron was about to hurry off again but Hollis gripped his arm again.
"Wait… do you hear that?" Hollis said, cocking her head slightly to the left.
"Hear what…" Ron said trailing off. They both heard it now. The shuffling of gigantic footsteps and the grunts of something both very large and very stupid seemed both was very hard to miss.
Ron and Hollis looked up to the mouth of the hallway. They saw the hulking shadow of what they assumed was the troll- it could be nothing else- heading right towards… the Girls' Bathroom.
"Hermione!" Hollis yelled as she sprinted forward. Ron followed clumsily behind her. When they heard the petrified scream coming from the Girls' Bathroom, they knew that they had guessed right.
Hollis and Ron both ran right into the bathroom, without hesitation. They saw Hermione, looking terrified and pale, cowering underneath the porcelain sinks. But even more alarming was the troll itself. It was gray and its skin was lumpy and looked two sizes too large for the troll. It had a small head shaped like a coconut and it had long gorilla like arms. And in those arms was a club the size of a small tree.
Hollis acted more on instinct than she did thought. She ignored Ron's look of wonder as she clenched her hand into a fist and she felt the familiar fire encase her hands. She used her other hand to blow air past the troll's face as well as small fire balls to confuse it. There might as well been a draft in the place. It didn't notice a thing.
"Confuse it!" Hollis said desperately to Ron as she abandoned her powers to use a piece of the debris that littered the floor. Ron didn't delay any longer. They hurled the pieces of wood with all of their might but the troll still didn't notice anything. Hollis pulled out her wand but she suddenly realized that Flipendo wasn't going to do much.
At a loss of what else to do, Hollis did something that was probably the best and worst thing to do. She took a running jump- jumping higher than expected- and fastened her arms around the troll's neck. It didn't notice her hanging there, but even a Mountain Troll will notice if you stick a long piece of wood up its nose.
The troll shook its head and had somehow managed to grab Hollis's leg and swing her forward. Hollis's glasses flew off her face. She wasn't sure where they landed. All of the blood rushed to Hollis's head.
"Do something!" Hollis cried just as she pulled herself up, out of the club's way as the troll swung it in a pained frenzy. Hollis barely noticed Hermione's gasps and screams.
"What?" Ron asked helplessly.
"Anything! Hurry up!"
Hollis barely heard Hermione say to Ron timidly, 'swish and flick'. She was too busy hoisting herself upwards every time the troll swung its club at her face.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The troll started and then stopped, mystified. Hollis squinted and saw the club suspended in midair. She smiled in spite of herself. The club came back down and hit the troll on the head with a loud 'clunk'. The troll dropped Hollis, and the world righted itself. Hollis scurried backwards, being sure to grab her glasses, just as the troll teetered backwards. She felt Ron's strong arms pull her backwards just as the troll fell flat on its face.
Hermione came out from under the sinks, slowly, as if she wasn't sure of the troll's well being.
"Is it… dead?" she asked, her voice shaking.
Hollis shook her head as she put on her glasses. The lenses were cracked. "I think it's just knocked out," she said just as she got up and pulled her wand out of the troll's nose.
Something gluey and gray fell off of it great clumps. "Ew. Troll boogers," she said in disgust, wiping her wand off on the troll's ripped trousers.
Footsteps filled their ears. She, Hermione and Ron looked at each other. They hadn't realized the amount of noise they had been making. Moments later, Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell were in the bathroom with them and the troll. Hollis looked around, trying to avoid the teachers' stares and this led to her sight landing on Snape's leg. Her eyes widened. It was bloody. Snape noticed her stare and quickly pulled his robe around it.
"Oh!" McGonagall said, clasping a hand to her heart. She rounded on them in an instant.
"Explain yourselves both of you!" she stuttered angrily. Hermione peered out bravely as Hollis and Ron floundered for an excuse.
"It's my fault Professor. I had heard about the troll and went off on my own, thinking I could handle it. I was wrong. If Holly and Ron hadn't found me, I'd probably be dead," Hermione said smoothly, with the right amount of guiltiness to make the lie more probable. Hollis and Ron tried to morph their faces to make it look like she was telling the truth, but it was hard, given the irony of he situation. Hermione telling a lie to a teacher? Laughable. No, impossible.
"Well in that case, I am very disappointed in you Miss Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for you serious lack of judgment," McGonagall said severely. Hermione hung her head.
"As for you two, I hope you realize at how fortunate you are. Not many first year students can take on a fully grown Mountain Troll and live to tell the tail. Five points will be awarded to each of you," McGonagall said before leaving. She mumbled something else to Snape but they didn't catch it. Quirrell smiled nervously.
"You should go. It might wake up," he stuttered.
All three of them left very quickly.
Hollis, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other then and smiled. Hermione got very close to Hollis and Hollis slung her arm around Hermione's shoulder. Ron gave a noncommittal grunt and put a hand on Hermione's shoulder.
Hollis just guessed that knocking out twelve foot trolls was one of the many ways you could make friends at Hogwarts.
***
October bled into November and all of a sudden, the weather became very cold. Frost was on the ground almost every morning and the lake had taken on the color of steel.
But the start of November marked the start of something else for Hollis. Quidditch season had begun. The first match of the season would be Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, and that meant that Hollis would be playing in her first match.
Wood wanted to keep her secret but somehow, it had leaked out. She knew that Ron and Hermione hadn't told anybody. They had been sworn to secrecy with that and Hollis's status as an Elemental. But, it had leaked out. She didn't know which was worse, people telling her that she'd be brilliant or telling her that they'd have the tissues ready.
Hollis was very glad that Hermione was friends with her and Ron now. With her help, Hollis was able to get done all of her homework, even with the extra Quidditch practice Wood was scheduling in the wake of the first game. Hermione even lent her books about Quidditch- Hollis found these engrossing- and Elemental Magic. As was expected, both Ron and Hermione had questioned her silly about her powers but Hollis, who was unsure of the strange powers herself, didn't have very many answers to give them. Hermione, of course, had gone straight to the library, then morphing the inside joke 'When in doubt, consult a book'.
But Hollis wasn't very worried about answering Ron and Hermione's questions. She was more worried about the upcoming Quidditch match. Everything was ready. Her broom was in tip-top shape, her Quidditch robes had finally come in- the last Seeker had been strangely large and the robes were simply too large for her-, and her body was physically ready for this match. But mentally? Not in a million years.
As if sensing Hollis's unease, Ron and Hermione did everything in their ability to keep Hollis's mind away from the upcoming match. And this worked quite well, until Pavarti asked her if she was nervous about Saturday.
Hermione had given Pavarti an evil look when she asked that.
***
When Saturday finally came around, Hollis could barely sit still during breakfast. Her stomach was fluttering madly and she didn't know if it could handle food at that moment.
"You've got to eat something, Holly," Hermione nagged for what had to be the millionth time.
"I'm not hungry," Hollis said shortly.
"Just a bit of toast," Hermione coaxed. Hollis shook her head no.
"You should listen to Hermione, Holly. You need to keep up your strength. Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team," Seamus said brightly.
Hollis gave him a sour look. "Thanks Seamus."
He gave her a winning smile, not noticing the sarcasm in her voice.
***
Hollis was quiet as she changed into her Quidditch Robes. Katie Bell, another new team member, smiled at her encouragingly. Hollis returned the smile somewhat. She was still too overcome with nerves to do much else.
Wood cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Okay guys. This is it, the one we've all been waiting for," Wood started.
Hollis had to snicker as Fred and George mouthed each one of Wood's words. Wood glared at the two but Hollis could see the corners of his mouth twitch upward.
"This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win today. I can feel it," Wood said, looking at them all, his gaze lingering on Hollis a second longer than the rest of them.
Somewhere out in the stands, a horn blew very loudly.
"Alright, it's time. Good luck, all of you," Wood said as they exited the locker room.
Hollis felt very small when she walked onto the Quidditch pitch. It seemed that every student in the school was crammed into the stadium, watching. Hollis saw a banner that read 'Potter for President'- something that Hermione and Ron had done as a surprise for her no doubt- and was suddenly warmed. She felt braver, more confident.
Madame Hooch was in the center of the field. She was refereeing. She held the Quaffle under her arm and the crate containing the Bludgers and the Snitch was beside her right leg.
"Captains shake hands," Madame Hooch ordered briskly. Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain, and Wood shook hands but they quickly let go.
"Now, I want a nice clean game… from all of you," Madame Hooch barked, her eyes lingering on Flint. Hollis winced. Flint looked like he could have a bit of troll blood in him.
"Mount your brooms…"
They did.
Madame Hooch blew her whistle and through the Quaffle up the same they took off. She kicked the crate and the Bludgers erupted as did the Snitch, but no one, not even the Seekers, saw it fly away.
And the game began.
95