Chapter 4
Harry and Sonja stood in the middle of the quidditch supply store in Diagon Alley. McGonagall had elected to wait outside, claiming the mixture of smells from the polish kits bothered her.
"So which one did you plan on getting?" Sonja asked as she inspected one of the new Cleansweeps.
"I talked to Ron and he recommended one of the new Cleansweeps, or the new model of the Nimbus." Harry said as he shifted to look at the Nimbus 2000. "He said the Cleansweeps were more durable, but the Nimbus was faster and more maneuverable."
"Then as Seekers, I think the Nimbus is what we need." Sonja replied as she stepped up next to Harry.
"Doesn't this defeat the purpose of being on separate teams?" Harry asked as they both walked to the counter to place their broom orders.
"Not in my mind." Sonja replied. "See the way I look at it, is you and I are quidditch rivals, or will be soon. Equipment doesn't matter as much as the skill of the one using it, so if we want to truly test ourselves, we should use the same gear, that way, the one who wins, is more skilled."
"That makes sense." Harry said before falling silent for a few seconds. "I never thanked you for helping with Malfoy."
"Don't worry overmuch about it." Sonja replied as she started filling out the order form. "Malfoy is just a schoolyard bully, and I hate people like him." She said as she quickly finished and handed an extra form to Harry. "Friends?" She asked as she held out her hand.
"Yeah. I'd like that." Harry replied as he took the form and shook Sonja's hand.
The next two weeks passed rapidly, and the first years grew acclimated to their new life at Hogwarts. Soon it was time for their first spell in charms.
"One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation, or the ability to make objects fly." Professor Flitwick said as he lectured from the top of a stack of books. "The incantation is Wingardium Leviosa. And don't forget the swish and flick movement we've been practicing."
The room was filled with murmured incantations as the students gave their first spell a shot. Nearly all of the students failed completely, and none managed to make their feather float for more than a second or two. Tonks didn't even attempt the spell, instead choosing to read ahead with Professor Flitwick's permission. "Ron! Stop. You're going to put an eye out like that." Hermione said. "Beside's, you're not even saying it right."
"Then you do it if you're so clever!" Ron retorted.
"Fine then." Hermione said as she drew her wand and performed the motions. "Wingardium Leviosa." She said, causing the feather in front of the two to float away from the table and into the air.
"Well done Miss Granger! Ten points to Gryffindor!" The short charms professor said excitedly. There was a sudden flash of light and heat from Harry's table and his partner, Seamus, set their feather violently aflame.
"Professor, I think we need another feather over here." Harry said. Meanwhile, Sonja and Bellatrix were taking turns skimming their feather along the table top, trying to mask their success as they giggled at Seamus' mistake.
Later
Harry, Tonks, and Ron were walking to the great hall for lunch as Ron was complaining about Hermione.
"Honestly, she's such a know it all. No wonder she doesn't have any friends." The red haired boy said.
Harry looked at his friend in shock before Hermione brushed passed them, looking upset. "I think she heard you." Harry said, causing Ron to look decidedly uncomfortable.
"That wasn't very nice." Sonja said coldly as she brushed by Ron on her way after Hermione.
"I can't believe you would say something like that!" Tonks exclaimed. "You red headed git!" She shouted before storming off, followed rapidly by Harry, who tossed an apologetic look over his shoulder.
Dinner
Harry sat between Tonks and Ron at the table, trying to get Tonks to calm down, while Ron attempted to think of a way to apologize for how firmly he had lodged his foot in his mouth.
Suddenly the doors to the great hall burst open and Professor Quirrell sprinted in. He slid to a stop in the middle of the room. "Troll! In the dungeons!" He shouted. "Thought you should know." He finished calmly before fainting dead away.
The students began to panic as they all headed for the doors. Dumbledore stood and shouted for silence, and was ignored. Seeing drastic action was required to prevent a riot, Dumbledore raised his wand and shot a firecracker into the air, creating a deafening bang. The students all quieted down and turned to the head table.
"Everyone will remain calm." Dumbledore instructed firmly. "Prefects, lead your houses to you dorms. Teachers will accompany me to the dungeons." He said as he stood and lead the teachers out a side door.
"Gryffindors! This way." Percy shouted as he led the rest of the house back to the dorms.
Half way back to their room, Harry had a light bulb moment. "Hermione!" He exclaimed as he grabbed Ron and pulled him up short.
"What?" Ron asked.
"She doesn't know about the troll!" Harry said as he took off down the hall toward the girl's bathroom. Ron took off after him. Several second later, Tonks looked back for her friend, only to find the dark haired wizard missing.
Bathroom
Sonja sighed as she held the bushy haired witch. It had taken forever, but she had finally calmed down. "Feeling better?"
"A bit." Hermione said with a sniff. "Why does Ron have to be such a git?" She asked.
"He's a boy." Sonja replied. "They sometimes can't help but put their foot in their mouths. It's what they do. That's why they need us. To keep them from making themselves into bigger fools." She finished as a loud shuffling thump sounded from the hall. "Now what do you suppose that was?" She asked as the noise repeated itself.
"Sounds like footsteps." Hermione replied as she pulled away from Sonja. "But if it is, it's gotta be huge." She said just as the ten foot mountain troll pushed the door open and stepped in the room.
Both witches and troll stared at the other for several moments, each waiting for something to happen. Sonja went for her wand, and the troll brought its club over and down, intending to smash the two girls. Abandoning the wand idea, Sonja settled for tackling Hermione out of the way as the medium sized tree the troll used as a club smashed several floor tiles and destroyed the two end stalls. Sonja rolled off Hermione and came back to her feet with her wand out.
"Get behind me!" She shouted as she pointed to a bit of rubble. "Wingardium Leviosa!" She shouted before slicing her wand across, sending the small stone speeding into the troll's knee, causing it to howl in pain and hop on one foot as it clutched at it's hurting knee. Unfortunately, the stupid beast remained between the witches and the door, preventing them from simply running.
The door burst open and Harry barged in followed by Ron just as the troll recovered and swung again. Hermione drew her wand and, using the same spell as Sonja, slid the dark haired witch several feet to the side, safely out of the path of the troll's swing. Ron crouched and grabbed a piece of floor tile and threw it, hitting the troll in the side of the head.
Sonja scoffed at Ron's action. "Are you a wizard or not?" She shouted as she used the levitation charm to rip a sink from the wall and smash it into the side of the troll's head. "Use your bloody wand!" She shouted as Harry copied her and they both smashed the troll in the head with rubble from the floor. The troll stood stunned for a moment before raising its club once more. When it brought its hand around, the club remained suspended where it was, in line with Ron's wand.
McGonagall burst into the room just in time to see Ron flick his wand down and knock the troll out with its own club. The aged Transfiguration professor stared in shock as she clutched at her heart. "What happened here?" She shouted.
"Well, Ron had said something unkind to Hermione earlier today, so I was here trying to calm her down." Sonja began.
"I realized that neither of them knew of the troll in the castle, so Ron and I came to warn them. We figured it was safe with the troll being in the dungeons and all." Harry cut in.
"Obviously we were wrong." Ron finished up. "But at least we handled it and no one was hurt."
"But how?" Snape asked as he limped into the room. Somehow, Harry thought his ever present sneer was softer this time, and colored with pain. "How is it that four first years, who have only been taught one spell, managed to beat a mountain troll without injury?"
Harry and Ron both pointed at Sonja. "She came up with the idea to use the levitation charm to beat it with rubble." Ron said. "Worked alright so Harry and I joined in."
"Well regardless, you all could have died." Professor McGonagall snapped. "Ten points from Gryffindor for your misguided comments Mister Weasley." She continued. "Five points awarded to all of you for your quick thinking and quick action, but mostly for dumb luck."McGonagall finished. "Now return to your dorms."
Snape motioned for Sonja to accompany him as McGonagall lead Harry, Ron, and Hermione away. As the three teens shuffled back to their dorm behind their head of house, Ron glanced over at Hermione.
"I'm sorry for earlier." Ron said. "I didn't mean it. You do have friends. Me and Harry." He said.
Hermione smiled. "Thank you." She said quietly as they stepped into their common room.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN POTTER?" A female voice exploded as soon as Harry stepped into the portrait hole.
"N…Now Tonks, I can explain…"
"I take my eyes off you for a second… One damn second!" Tonks raged as her hair cycled to a vibrant red and the smell of ash filled the air around her. "And you vanish! Gone to fight some troll!" She said as she stepped right up to him.
"I didn't mean to fight it… It just kinda happened." Harry said meekly.
"It always seems to just happen with you." Tonks hissed as she poked him in the chest.
"Harry just kiss her and get it over with!" Seamus snarked from across the room.
Harry immediately flushed a deep red while Tonks spun and whipped her wand from the holster she wore on her wrist.
"Nymphadora Tonks!" Professor McGonagall shouted, having spun around at Seamus' comment. "Put your wand away this instant!"
"Damn…" Tonks muttered as she slipped her wand back up her sleeve. "Forgot she was here…"
"You and Mister Potter both have detention this Friday with Mister Filch." McGonagall said. Harry opened his mouth to retort, only to have the professor cut him off. "You will be going as well because of your earlier actions. You didn't think just taking points would be all that happened did you?" Harry closed his mouth with a snap, deciding not to mention that Ron was with him, as she had seemed to forget. "Now off to bed with all of you."
"Your first name is Nyphadora?" Harry asked in a whisper as he slipped next to Tonks as they walked across the common room.
"If you're smart, you'll forget you ever heard it." Tonks replied.
"I like it." Harry replied simply as he and Tonks split and headed for their separate dorms. If Harry had looked back, he might have caught Tonks staring at his back with a light blush, quickly hidden due to her metamorph abilities.
"You're lucky Seamus." Harry said as they climbed the stairs to their dorm. "If Professor McGonagall hadn't been there, Tonks would have hexed you with extreme prejudice." He commented, making Seamus pale.
Dungeons
Snape was escorting Sonja back to the Slytherin dorms when he suddenly stopped and pulled her into his office. "Miss Uchiha, what I am about to ask you may sound a bit odd, but are you friends with Potter?"
"In a manner of speaking, I guess you could say that. Why?" Sonja replied confused.
"Because I made a promise. One that I intend to keep, but am finding difficult to do on my own." Snape explained. "You see, out young Mister Potter is the target of a man. A very dangerous man, that many believe to be dead."
"Well if he's dead what does Harry have to worry about?" Sonja asked.
"I said that they believe him dead." Snape said placing emphasis on believe. "Not that he is. The man was once known as the Dark Lord. I called him master once." Snape said quietly. "But no longer. The problem is, while he may be physically dead, Lord Voldemort has ways to return to life. I'm not sure exactly how, but I do know that, when he does he will come after Potter. What I want you to do for me, is to remain close to Potter. Be his friend and keep an eye on him when I can't."
"Why is this so important to you? If you don't mind my asking sir. Besides, you seem to hate him." Sonja inquired.
"The way I act toward Potter is an unfortunate necessity. I cannot explain more now, but believe me when I say I wish it was not. And this is important to me because I already failed my best and only friend by allowing Voldemort to kill his parents." Snape explained. "I can't, and won't, fail again. Can you do this for me?"
"I don't see why not." Sonja replied. "He's a nice enough guy. And besides, hanging around him might be fun, if tonight is anything to go by."
Snape opened to door to his office and motioned Sonja out into the hall. "Yes his father had the innate ability to attract trouble too. He seems just as adept at handling it as his father was." The potions master said as he resumed escorting Sonja back to the dorm. "Oh and Miss Uchiha." Snape began, pausing in his walk. "You will serve detention with Mister Filch this Friday for you part in tonight's proceedings." He said.
Slytherin dorms
Sonja's return to the dorms was met with very little fanfare, as most of the students were more interested in attempting to question Snape about the troll.
"It has been taken care of." Snape replied coolly before leaving the common room as Sonja made a quick escape to her shared room with Bellatrix.
As soon as she entered the room, Sonja was enveloped in a tight hug. "What took you so long? You know there's a troll loose right?" Bellatrix, already dressed for bed, asked as she squeezed Sonja.
"Bella… Air…" Sonja wheezed as she slowly turned blue.
"Oh! Sorry." Bellatrix said as she released Sonja and stepped back. "Now why were you gone so long?" She asked as Sonja dressed for bed.
"I had to calm down Hermione." Sonja replied. "By the time I had her calm, the troll just happened to walk into the bathroom we were in." She continued causing Bellatrix to gasp. "I hit it with a rock using the levitation charm we were working on in class when Potter and Weasley showed up. Between the three of us, we beat the troll senseless with some readily available rubble, then the teachers showed up." Sonja finished.
"When I was your age, I would have never been able to do that." Bellatrix said in awe.
"But you forget, I'm not my age." Sonja said jokingly. "And neither are you. We're both older then we look. Now lets get some sleep. I have a match tomorrow."
"Right. Bellatrix said as she flopped onto Sonja's bed.
"Um, Bella, that's my bed." Sonja said.
"I know." Bellatrix said. "But you wake up with me in it every morning anyway, I may as well start sleeping here."
Sonja sighed in frustration before silently admitting she did sleep better next to the curly haired witch. "Fine. You can sleep with me." Sonja replied. "But do NOT tell anyone." Sonja said menacingly as she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled open the drawer on her bedside table and pulled a joint from it.
"What's that for?" Bellatrix asked.
"I fought a troll tonight." Sonja explained. "I may be experienced, but I'm technically still an eleven year old kid. I need something to calm me down before I go to sleep." She said as she snapped her fingers, creating a lighter sized flame at the tip of her index finger and lit the joint. "You want some?" She asked after taking a hit.
"Sure." Bellatrix said as she accepted the joint.
Breakfast
Harry sat staring at his plate in nervousness.
"Oh go on Harry." Ron said. "You need your strength."
"But I've never played quidditch before." Harry said glumly. "What if I embarrass myself?" He finished as he picked up a piece of toast and began to shred it.
"You won't." Hermione replied. "It's in your blood."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked.
"It means that your father was one of the best seekers that Gryffindor has ever seen." Tonks explained. "The only seeker to only miss the snitch three times at Hogwarts. Shattered the old record of six, he did."
"Really?" Harry asked as the mail arrived. He absently took a bite of toast as the owls began to drop mail to people.
"Wow." Ron said slowly as a post owl dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet in front of him. "They know more about you then you do. It's kinda creepy."
"Do you mind if I borrow that?" Tonks asked as she pointed at Ron's paper. The red haired boy made an affirmative grunt and handed her the paper as he shoveled more food onto his plate. Tonks flipped the paper open, only to gasp in shock at the headline. "Gringotts got broken into?"
"What?" Harry asked.
"Believed to be the work of as of yet unknown dark wizards or witches, the goblins of Gringotts admit to the break in on the thirty first of August, but attest that nothing was taken." Tonks began, reading directly from the paper. "The vault in question, vault seven one three was in fact emptied earlier that day."
"That's the vault Hagrid and I went to after mine." Harry said. "Whatever Hagrid took, was what they wanted. And whatever it is, is at Hogwarts now."
"Well if it's here, then it's safe." Hermione said. "This is the safest place on the planet. Now don't worry about that. You have a match in a little bit."
"Right." Harry said, feeling much better as he began to eat.
Quidditch Pitch
Harry stood next to Oliver as they waited for the doors to open. "What'cha got there Harry?" Oliver asked.
"Wireless radio." Harry replied as he finished strapping on the throat mike and poked the earbud into his left ear.
"What's it for?" Fred asked as he shouldered his beater bat.
"Dunno. I found it in my locker." He replied. "Note said it was from a friend." He finished as the door in front of them opened. As one, the Gryffindor team mounted their brooms and launched off into the stadium. Harry felt as if the world had exploded from how loud the spectators were. He started when a crackle filled the ear bud before Sonja's voice spoke.
"Well? Does the wireless work?" She asked. "If you hear me, you just have to press the button on the mike to talk."
"Yeah it works." Harry replied. "Why do I need to talk to the opposing team's seeker though?"
"I felt it would be nice." Sonja replied. "Besides, you need to be warned. The rest of the team plays dirty. So watch yourself. You aren't much of a rival if you get killed in your first match." She said as the teams took their positions in a circle above the middle of the field. Sonja and Harry hovered slightly above the rest of their teams, facing each other. Harry quirked an eyebrow in curiosity as Sonja pulled a small white stick from behind her ear and put it in her mouth before snapping her fingers a lighting it.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"I'll explain later." Sonja replied. "Your first encounter with intoxicants should not be when you're flying. Now pay attention, game's about to start." Sonja said, nodding her head toward Madame Hooch as she stepped out next to the box sitting center field.
"Now this had better be a nice clean game." She said as she glared at Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain who looked like he had some troll blood in him. After shifting her glare to each team, Madame Hooch lightly kicked the box at her feet, causing the lid to pop open. Two black balls shot out, followed by the golden snitch.
"The Bludgers are up, followed by the Golden Snitch." Lee Jordan, one of the Weasley twin's friends, announced. "Remember the Snitch is worth one hundred and fifty points and the seeker that catches it, ends the game." He continued as the snitch flew up and lapped Harry's head once as if inspecting him before doing the same to Sonja. Madame Hooch reached down and picked up the quaffle and tossed it straight up into the middle of the circled players.
All six chasers on the field lunged for the red ball, but Angelina got there first. Tucking the ball under her arm, she rolled and looped to escape the crowd. Within seconds, she was clear of the melee and streaking toward the Slytherin goal posts. Flint caught up to her and tried to ram her, only to have the lighter chaser flip into a sloth grip to dodge his charge. Angelina faked toward the right goal and dropped the quaffle behind her before kicking it into the center goal.
"Angelina Johnson scores in a brilliant break away! Ten points for Gryiffindor!"
Flint grabbed the quaffle as it fell and made for the Gryffindor goal. He ducked one bludger and kicked Alicia away as she tried to over take him. Harry missed the rest of the play as he saw Sonja take off. Glancing in front of her, Harry saw a small glint of gold and he was off, pushing his broom as fast as it would go to overtake his rival.
"Nice save by Oliver Wood! And it looks like the seekers are after something!"
Flint had just recovered the quaffle and passed it toward one of the other Slytherin chasers when Sonja and Harry blazed by. Harry, reacting to movement, backhanded the quaffle out of his way as he continued to chase down the snitch, causing the red ball to land in Katie's hands. Harry glanced back to see 'the Girls' as their chaser line was called, playing a three dimensional high speed game of hot potato to keep the quaffle out of Slytherin hands. None of the girls actually caught the ball, merely swatting it back and forth as they made their way steadily up field. Harry refocused his attention on the chase just in time to see Sonja catch a bludger to the side, sending her spinning away and leaving Harry open behind the snitch. As he reached for it, his broom suddenly lurched and bucked, as if trying to throw him.
The crowd gasped in shock as Harry's broom barrel rolled several times before jumping upward and dropping rapidly, doing it's level best to unseat the young seeker. Fred and George, seeing their young teammate in trouble, attempted to fly up and pull him onto one of their brooms, only to have his broom dodge every time they approached, each jump taking it still higher. Giving up, the twins dropped down to circle below, determined to catch Harry when he fell.
"Bugger off!" Sonja shouted as she glided over. "Your chasers are getting destroyed while you wait for him! I'll take care of it."
Fred and George looked at one another before glaring at Sonja. "If he falls. You will pay." Fred threatened before the two shot off to rejoin the game.
"Somethin's wrong with Arry's broom!" Hagrid said as he lowered the binoculars he had been using to track the messy haired wizard.
Hermione grabbed the binoculars from Hagrid and scanned the crowd rapidly. She locked onto Snape, who was staring at Harry unblinking and muttering. "It's Snape!" She hissed to Ron as she passed the binoculars over. "He's jinxing the broom!"
"What do we do?" Ron asked as he looked up at Harry in time to see his friend roll off his broom to hang from it.
"Leave it to me." Hermione said as she took off.
Harry held on as tightly as he could as the broom began to vibrate, attempting to weaken his grip and cause him to fall. He heard a crack followed by the odd noise bludgers made as they flew. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw one of the hard leather balls headed for her lower back. George attempted to intercept it, only to have the wily ball loop him. At the last second, Sonja slipped in between them and there was a loud smack of the ball meeting flesh as she caught it in her left hand and threw it away, the ball leaving a slight red streak behind it as it flew.
At that moment, Hermione reached the stands under Snape. She crept up under him behind the seating and slowly drew her wand. She pointed her wand at the edge of Snape's robes. "Lacarnum Inflamarae." She whispered, causing a spark to shoot from the end of her wand and land on Snape's robes, setting the edge aflame.
"Fire." One of the other spectators next to Snape said. "You're on fire!" He shouted, causing Snape to look down. The greasy haired teacher leaped to his feet and began to stomp at the edge of his robes, in the process, knocking Professor Quirrell down.
Above the crowd, Harry's broom stopped trying to drop him, allowing him to swing back up. Once he was seated he pressed the button on his throat mike. "How did you stop the bludger?" Harry asked as he scanned for the snitch.
"Trade secret." Sonja replied. "Can't just tell you everything about me. A girl's gotta have secrets. Otherwise we aren't half as interesting." She said as she scanned for the snitch as well. "There it is." She said before her and Harry shot off once more.
"Harry Potter is back on his broom! And the Seekers are off once more!" Lee shouted as the chaser battle raged on. The girls slipped through to score almost with impunity, only hindered by the brutality of the Slytherin chasers as they fought for possession of the quaffle. When they did get it, the one carrying in nearly always caught a bludger courtesy of the Weasleys. "The two seekers are fighting for position over something, Yes! There it is! They're after the snitch!"
Sonja pulled ahead and attempted to cut Harry off to block him, only to have the nimble Gryffindor loop her and shoot forward, leaving her behind. Both preteens launched into a dive as the snitch streaked for the ground. Halfway down, the two seekers looked at each other to see if the other would pull up. At the last instant, both seekers set their feet on their brooms and hauled back. Harry leveled out a mere foot and a half from the grass. Sonja waited a moment too long and ploughed.
As her broom handle touched the ground, Sonja launched herself forward and tucked into a ball. She rolled once as her broom cartwheeled over her. When she was up right once more, Sonja straightened her legs explosively, launching herself after her broom. She snagged it and swept it back under her, leading to the fastest recovery from a seeker unintentionally grounding in Hogwarts history. Sonja looked ahead to see Harry, balanced on his broom like a surfer, take one step too far and overbalance, tumbling from his broom. He returned to his feet slowly and heaved, almost like he was going to vomit. He opened his mouth and spat the snitch into his hand.
"Harry Potter has it!" Lee shouted. "Harry earns one hundred and fifty points for catching the snitch! Gryffindor wins!"
Sonja landed next to Harry. "Good game Potter. Although the catch was luck."
"But still a catch." Harry replied as he held up the snitch.
Saxyguy – Oh no's! Nice Snape returns! Don't worry though, it will be a while before anyone but Sonja sees that side of him, he makes too good of a plot device as an ass.