A/N: Here's Chapter Four. I hope people enjoy it and don't find it boring! Like Hermione, I'm not a huge fan of sports, so I never enjoyed the Quidditch descriptions hugely - except for the Jordan/McG exchanges which always made me laugh. Therefore I haven't actually described the match that's going on in the background with any great detail. This means this chapter is mainly filler, but given our 'canonical' knowledge of M. G. McG I didn't feel I could exclude it. There's gonna be a more detailed Quidditch match towards the end of the story though, so if anyone feels they can help me with that, do shout.
Still looking for a beta...
And Minerva-fans, don't panic. Lots of Minerva coming this way soon.
Don't forget to review!
By supper time, the story of the duel had spread courtesy of Gryffindor, and the entire school was in an uproar. During the meal, the denizens of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw found themselves almost wincing from the searing glares shot across the Great Hall from the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables. Not even the meal – lusciously plump sausages, piles of creamy mash, and carefully spiced beans – succeeded in distracting the hungry students' attention.
"I don't understand," Lily Evans complained as she poured beans over her mash with a liberal hand. "I know some wizards don't like half bloods or Muggleborns because of all that pureblood tosh, but what's a 'blood traitor'?"
Meta and Remus exchanged glances, but it was Gwen Weasley, a fifth former, who answered the question.
"That's what snobs like the Malfoys and their like call people who aren't xenophobic," the girl said bitterly. "They think that the wizarding world should be kept pure from any Muggle taint, and that wizards and Muggles should have no contact at all."
"Xeno-what?"
"People who don't like outsiders," put in a blonde Ravenclaw, who'd obviously been eavesdropping from the next table.
Remus frowned. "I thought they didn't have contact, already?" he asked. He was swirling his food around his plate, but was eating little.
"Well, they gotta have some," Meta pointed out, "or Lily wouldn't be able to come."
Gwen nodded her head wisely. "Ezackly. If the Malfoys and their lot had their way, Lily wouldn't be here now."
Lily opened her green eyes very wide. "But whyever? Isn't it more dangerous to have untrained witches and wizards wandering about? F'r'instance," she added thoughtfully, "I once smashed a phonebox."
Meta, who was familiar enough with the Muggle world to understand this, spluttered. "Why?"
Lily shrugged. "It was raining. My sister and her friends were in there, making fun of me, while I was out in the wet and cold. I didn't mean to do it!"
Gwen paused, her fork halfway to her mouth. "Wait a minute. Aren't phoneboxes those red and glass things? Did anyone get hurt?"
Lily's eyes dropped. "Tuney got a bit scratched," she confessed.
"See? That's a reason why Muggleborn witches and wizards need training too.Toujours pur, my foot. Toujours stupid, more like." Gwen began shoveling forkfuls of mash into her mouth, scowling all the while.
"How'd you know what a phonebox is?" Meta asked suddenly.
Gwen's scowl faded and she grinned. "My brother, Arthur, is a Muggle nut. He's fascinated by them and their tekology. He dragged me into Muggle London over the summer so I could see."
"What d'you think's gonna happen to the boy who did the hexing?" Remus wanted to know.
Gwen raised one shoulder. "How should I know? Though I bet he'll be expelled if McGonagall gets her way. Nothing makes her madder than seeing a student get hurt."
"What was that thing that boy did that made the other one scream?"
Gwen's pretty freckled face darkened. "From what I've heard, it was the Cruciatus Curse. It's a torture curse, and one of the Unforgivables. Why, you can be sent to Azkaban for doing it!"
Remus and Meta inhaled sharply, but Lily looked puzzled, so Gwen explained further. "Azkaban's the wizard prison. It's a horrible place, out in the middle of the sea." She shuddered. "People who get sent there go mad, I've heard."
"Will that happen to the boy who did it?" Lily asked, looking appalled.
The older girl's face went hard. "Depends on whether he's of age or not," she said shortly, before deliberately turning back to her own friends, and leaving the first years to themselves.
The Gryffindor common room was a subdued place that night. Alice Diggle's face was white, and her eyes were red, whilst Sirius Black had a scowl on his face that was as dark as his name. The Prewett twins, normally the life and soul of the common room, were unusually silent and inclined to snap. The first years were rather glad when Fabian looked up at nine o'clock and announced curtly that it was time the 'firsties' were in bed.
Nor did things improve over the weekend. The staff were harried and cross, and all plans for Saturday and Sunday – including the tryouts for the Quidditch teams – were suspended. To add insult to injury, the weather appeared to sympathise, and it rained steadily throughout the two days, to the disgust of the students. On Sunday, the news came that Alice's brother had been moved to St Mungo's, although the girl was reassured that he was in no danger.
All in all, Meta thought as she and Lily tramped up to their dormitory on Sunday night, their first weekend at Hogwarts had been pretty miserable. The only bright spot was the letter that Mercury, the McGonagall family owl, had brought to her on Sunday from her mother. Rosa's letter, full of private jokes and her own natural warmth, had increased Meta's longing for her mother and her home, and, as a result, she was in the full throes of homesickness by Monday morning. Nor was she the only one, and it was a very irritable group of first years that trooped into Professor McGonagall's classroom for the last lesson of the day.
Meta immediately cheered up a little at the sight of the silver tabby with spectacle markings around its eyes. Lily and Remus, being uninitiated, remained grumpy as they took their places, although both did a momentary double take at the cat sitting so calmly on the teacher's desk.
"Last one of the day," Remus said as he slammed his wand and books on the desk with such violence that the old desk wobbled ominously. He was pale and looked unwell. "Not before bloody time – what?"
Meta, who'd poked him hard, glared at him, but before she could say anything more, James Potter and Sirius Black ran in. They were clearly out of breath, and James's hair was sticking out in twenty directions.
"Whew," Sirius could be heard to say as he and James sat at the back. "That was was close. The staff have been in such foul moods lately that old McGonagall'd probably turn us into toads for being – AAGH!!"
Meta snickered as her sister chose to transform at that most opportune moment. For her part, Professor McGonagall glared at the troublesome duo before saying sharply, "Hogwarts staff are not in the habit of randomly Transfiguring students, Mr Black, regardless of how much they might deserve it. Get your books out, please; before we can do any more practical work you need a better understanding of the theory behind Transfiguration."
The class groaned as they obeyed her. Without exception, they all preferreddoing magic as opposed to learning about it. Professor McGonagall, needless to add, ignored them and proceeded to drum the basic theoretical principles of Transfiguration into their heads with such thoroughness and energy that they were left mentally breathless by the time the bell went for the end of the day.
"Saved by the bell," Lily groaned in Meta's ear under cover of the pealing. "Get me out of here, please. I need coffee. Badly."
Meta grinned, but before she could say anything, Professor McGonagall was calling a halt to the scrapings and clatterings that usually accompanied the end of a lesson.
"Sit down!" she barked. "Did I say you were dismissed? Yes, Mr Rosier, I am quite aware the bell has gone. I am not deaf, whatever you may think. Now," she went on more calmly as the class subsided, "I have some good news for you. I know that last weekend was not an – er – pleasant introduction to Hogwarts. This afternoon, instead of coming straight back here for prep, you are to go the pitch to watch the Quidditch tryouts. Please note," she added severely, "that this does not mean you are excused your homework. You will simply have to make up the time yourselves later, if necessary."
The room exploded.
"Quidditch!"
"What's that?"
"Professor, can't I -?"
"Professor, why can't we take part in the tryouts?"
"Quiet!" Professor McGonagall yelled, her voice suddenly magically amplified. "Quidditch, for those of you who don't know, is the team sport of choice in the wizarding world. This afternoon you will be watching the senior tryouts, mainly for the benefit of those of you who are not familiar with the game. Tomorrow, I understand you will be having your first flying lesson with Madam Hooch. Those of you who prove yourselves proficient on a broomstick may take part in the junior tryouts on Saturday – but only if Madam Hooch permits it. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Professor," the class mumbled.
"'S'not fair," Meta heard someone grumble as they were finally dismissed. "I've been playing Quidditch since I could stay on a broom!"
"It's perfectly fair," she heard someone else retort as they left the classroom. "Lots of people haven't played before, and the Muggleborns have never even sat on a broomstick. I s'pose they don't want all of us in the hospital wing," the second speaker finished practically.
Lily turned wide eyes on Meta and Remus as soon as they were seated in the Great Hall with their tea and cake. "Broomsticks?" she gasped.
Remus nodded his head energetically, but his mouth was too full to say anything coherent.
"Fink of netbog s'only s'in the air," Meta said through her own mouthful of cake.
"Netbog?" Lily repeated, and then her face cleared. "Oh, you mean netball. But ... in the air?!"
"Don't you like being high up?" Remus asked with interest.
Lily shuddered. "I hate it, ever since Tuney and I went climbing a tree and I got stuck. When Mum called for us to come in for supper she went off and left me up there." She scowled.
"Your sister sounds like a right cat," Remus observed.
"Oy! I'm a McGonagall, 'member? I can see why getting stuck might put you off heights, though. How'd you get down again?"
"Dunno, ackshally," Lily confessed. "Just ... one minute I was up there, howling for help and so – so mad, and then the next minute I was on the ground again. Was I ever glad to be there!" She heaved a sigh and gulped down the rest of her tea.
"Done?" Meta asked. She felt she'd been patient for quite long enough. "C'mon, let's go. We don't want to be late!"
Remus and Lily followed Meta and the growing stream of students that was making its way down to the Quidditch stadium. Once there with the tryouts under way, Meta rubbed her hands with glee.
"I've been dying to see this," she said. "Both my parents played Quidditch when they were young. So did Minerva," she added, forgetting the rule about using her sister's given name in school.
Lily cast a plainly doubtful look at the older students, who were speeding through the air on their broomsticks. She winced as a Bludger headed straight for an unfortunate Ravenclaw, and then gasped as the Gryffindor keeper hung upside down on his broomstick in order to prevent the Quaffle from getting through the hoop. She turned to Meta. "Your sister did all this?!"
Meta nodded her head so vigorously that the pom-pom on her red-and-yellow hat bounced energetically. "Yep. She wasn't born old, you know. Mum said she was very good in her day."
"What did she play?" Remus asked, his eyes never leaving the game. "Agh. The Slytherin's got it... that's Evan's big brother, isn't it? He looks awfully mean...AAAGGGH. That's a foul!" he yelled, surprising Meta and Lily.
"Oy. Pipe down, pipsqueak," a Gryffindor fifth year ordered. "You're blocking my view."
Meta turned. "It's in the air," she pointed out. "How can he be blocking your view?"
The fifth former gave her a lazy grin. "'Cos I say so, of course. Now shut up...ooooooh!"
"What? What'd I miss?" Meta asked Lily frantically.
"Evan's brother got the thingy through the hoop," Lily said absently. "That's a goal, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Not that it really matters," Meta returned, her attention now fixated. The players were thoroughly warmed up, and trying to keep track of the Quaffle as the hard leather ball moved at high speeds through the air required concentration.
"Huh? But surely the team with the most goals wins?"
"Sometimes they do," Remus told her. "Depends on the Snitch."
"Snitch? What's a Snitch?!"
"Little golden ball with wings," Meta heard someone say, and she turned to see James Potter grinning at Lily. "The Snitch is worth 150 points," the boy explained, "so the team that gets it first usually wins, 'cos they have more points. They're not using the Snitch today, though. They'll trial separately for their seekers."
"How do you know?" Meta asked suspiciously. She did not trust this boy, with his mischief and arrogant charm.
James flashed her a grin of her own. "I asked Madam Hooch."
"Hmmph," said Meta. "D'you play?" she asked, deciding that she may as well be civil.
"Chaser," James told her simply.
Meta eyed him. "H'mm. You look fast enough," she said grudgingly. "What about you, Remus?"
Remus turned faintly pink and mumbled.
"Huh?"
"Nevereverbeenonabroomstick," he muttered very fast.
A whistle blew. The audience erupted in screams. The little group around Meta scowled; their conversation had distracted them and they did not know how the test match and turned out. Lily, oddly enough, was the only one able to give a verdict.
"It was a draw," she announced. "Two all."
"That wouldn't happen for real," Meta growled. "The Snitch wouldn't let it."
"At least it shows the teams are well matched," Remus pointed out.
"Hmmph," said Meta again.
"Do Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw have one like this too?" Lily asked.
"It's on now," the fifth former behind them said. "They're on the other pitch." He smirked. "We were lucky. Us and the snakes put our names down for this one first."
Meta turned to face the older boy. "Where do the junior tryouts happen?" she asked anxiously.
The fifth former shrugged. "Wherever Madam Hooch puts you. There's only two junior teams instead of four, so you only need one pitch."
"What? Why?" James sounded scandalised.
"Ask us another. A kid was killed a few years ago in a Quidditch match. Ever since they've been sniffy about you kids playing. You can only be on the junior team if Madam Hooch, Madam Pomfrey AND your Head of House OK it."
Lily gave Meta a nudge. "Meta'll be OK, then."
Meta snorted, but James was looking at her with something like interest. "What do you play?"
"I played Seeker when we did it at home," she said, turning red. "I might not get it here though," she added.
James looked politely sceptical. "Pull the other one. Your sister is our Head of House. From all I hear she's a bit of a Quidditch fanatic herself, she'd love you to be on it!"
"That's exactly why she mightn't," Meta returned gloomily. "The one thing everyone knows about Min – er, Professor McGonagall – is that she's nuts on being fair."
Lily nodded wisely. "She mightn't want to be accused of having pets, see," she told James in a manner that was nearly-but-not-quite patronising.
The fifth former, who had clearly listened to all this, was nodding away. "The kid has a point," he said to James. "That's exactly what McGwould do. Unless the kid is something special as a Seeker, of course. Then it 'ud be unfair to keep her off the team." He chuckled. "That'd get McGonagall's knickers in a twist all right."
Meta looked the older student up and and down. "I have a name," she said in her frostiest manner, "an' I'd rather you used it instead of calling me 'kid'. I'm only three years younger'n you. I don't remember being given yours, though?"
The fifth former blinked. "Scary, scary stuff. Uh, I'm Algie Longbottom. Algernon, really, but don't even think about calling me it!" He scowled.
Meta nodded sympathetically. "I know. I'm really 'Meleta', of all things. The McGonagalls have a thing about fancy names from ancient Rome and Greece."
"Therefore, 'Minerva'," Algie said. "Goddess of war and wisdom, and patroness of arts and crafts. Rather an odd mixture, if you ask me. What's 'Meleta'?"
Since he seemed genuinely interested, Meta told him. "She was one of the Greek Muses," she explained. "Mum tried to tell me more, but ... who cares about those old gods and goddesses anyhow?"
"Well, I think it's awfully interesting!" Lily put in. " 'Lily' is so boring, although it could have been worse, and I think 'Petunia' is just foul!"
"Is that 'Tuney'?" Remus asked.
Lily nodded. "Yep. Now I think of it," she went on, "you're like Meta, too, Remus. You have a Roman name."
Meta looked at Remus with interest. "Really?"
Remus's head dropped and it was Lily who explained. "Romulus and Remus were the twin brothers who built Rome," she began. "Their mum died, or they were dumped, I forget which, but they were brought up by a wolf."
"A wolf?" James and Meta said together.
Lily nodded her copper head. "H'mm. She fed them so they didn't die. And then they grew up and built Rome, only they argued." She frowned.
"What happened next?" James asked, intrigued.
Remus jumped up, and Meta was startled to see that he looked rather white. "I think it's time to go in!" he announced, and then stalked off. Meta noticed that Algie had also gone.
His friends exchanged glances. "What was all that about?" Meta wondered.
James shrugged. "Who knows. Remus can be moody, I've noticed. We share a dormitory, you see."
"He's right, anyhow," Lily said staunchly. "The test thingy is done, and nearly everyone's gone in. Professor McGonagall said we hadn't been excused prep, remember, so we need to go do it." She sighed. "I still have History of Magic from the other day to do as well. Ihate History of Magic!"
James grinned at her. "Don't we all. Everybody does, really. It's old Binns, see. I really don't know what they're thinking, getting a research-mad ghost to teach."
"I think having a ghost teach History is great," Lily said as they began to make their way back to Gryffindor Tower. "Much better than how Muggle schools do it. If only he was more interesting and talked of something more than those everlasting goblin wars! Still, better get started."
With that charming reminder, James and Meta had no choice but to follow her back to the common room. However, neither concentrated overly much on their prep that night, and while James managed to escape retribution the next day – like his friend Sirius, he was very bright – Meta found herself having to repeat her Potions prep, much to her annoyance. At least being busy helped the week to go faster. As promised, Saturday brought the tryouts for the junior Quidditch team, and both Meta and James, to their own delight, found themselves appointed Seeker and Chaser respectively. As there were only seven places, Gryffindor House was thrilled to form nearly a third of the junior Quidditch team, and Meta's cup ran over on Saturday night, when her sister held her back after supper to give her a rare smile and a quiet 'Well Done'.