Chapter 16: Fifth Year- Quidditch
The first Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin was fast approaching. As usual the tension throughout the school was at boiling point. The thought of getting back in the air and royally thrashing Malfoy again was even more uplifting than the knowledge that Harry and a significant portion of the student body was practicing illegal Defence against the Dark Arts right under Umbridge's nose.
As Harry strolled into the Great Hall for lunch he repressed a smile. Seated all around him were reminders of the DA. Everyone had improved so much in the last few sessions. Neville had managed to disarm Hermione the other night and the glow of pride still hadn't left his face.
Harry dropped onto the seat beside his round faced friend. "Hey Neville, have you seen Ron?"
Neville shook his head. "Sorry, he was gone when I got up." Suddenly Neville's eyes refocused over his head and look of shocked horror settled over his features. Harry spun in his seat and he imagined that the same look of horror was on his face too.
Ron had just entered the Great Hall with Hermione in tow. The red head's face and arms were covered in boils and he looked stuck halfway between livid and mortified. Judging by the way he was walking Harry had to guess that that the boils weren't confined to the visible skin.
"What happened?" Harry asked as Ron looked morosely at the seat next to Harry. Hermione spared Ron a sympathetic look.
"Malfoy." Ron muttered gloomily and seated himself very warily.
Harry grimaced and looked over at the Slytherin table. Malfoy was seated in the middle with his back to them. Judging by the laughter from the other students around him Malfoy was giving his rendition of his attack on Ron. Nasty little fights with hexes were becoming increasingly common between members of the two Quidditch teams.
Only with Umbridge firmly on the side of the Slytherins the Gryffindors had to either be almost unbearably sneaky about taking revenge or they just had to put up with the hexes. Alicia and Katie had both already been up to the Hospital Wing and several other Gryffindor and Slytherin students, who weren't even on the teams, had also been admitted or treated by Madame Pomfrey. Apparently now Ron was going to join those ranks.
"Git." Harry replied and downed the last of his orange juice. "Come on you should go to the Hospital Wing, it shouldn't take Madame Pomfrey long to fix that." Harry motioned to Ron's boil covered body.
Grimacing as he got to his feet Ron shot a death glare in Malfoy's direction. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly all this animosity really isn't helpful. Remember what the Sorting Hat said, we need to stand united."
Harry and Ron exchanged an understanding glance and just agreed with her. As much as Harry was happy to work with the Ravenclaw's and the Hufflepuff students, many of whom had since joined the DA, the Slytherin's were a whole other story. Harry just had no interest in ever working with them at all.
When they arrived at the Hospital Wing after a slow walk due to Ron's increasing discomfort, the room was quiet. There was someone with dark brown hair asleep in a bed on the other side of the room, however all the other beds were clean and empty their white sheets so bright in the morning sunlight that they were almost painful to look at. Madame Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen. As the three of them walked further into the Hospital Wing Hermione gave a cry of delight and surprise. Harry and Ron turned to follow her line of sight.
Straightening from his position mixing something in a bowl over a little crackling flame was Merlin. The dark haired sorcerer beamed at them. "Hello, what are you all doing up here?" Merlin removed the bowl from the flame and strolled over with his hands in his pockets. As he wove through the beds and approached them Merlin's eyebrows rose in interest and Ron shifted in irritation. "What happened?" Merlin asked Ron.
"Malfoy." Ron growled. "That's what happened."
Merlin was grinning broadly. "Sit down." He chuckled gesturing towards the nearest neatly made bed. The sorcerer hurried towards a nearby cupboard and began rummaging inside.
"What are you doing up here?" Hermione asked curiously as Merlin approached them again with several glass vials full of multicoloured liquid and a mug.
Merlin began to set up on the bedside table. "Dumbledore asked me to help Madame Pomfrey out for the week. Apparently Quidditch makes you lot a bit competitive." Harry watched in amazement as the sorcerer's hands moved swiftly and confidently over the mug, adding a drop of this and a little more of that. "Back in Camelot my guardian was the court physician so I learnt a lot about healing herbs and potions from him. It always came in handy when the knights got knocked about." Apparently he had noticed the three of them staring.
"Oh..." Hermione said quietly.
Ron was frowning. "I thought you didn't know any modern magic?" he muttered moodily, rubbing at a new boil on his arm.
Merlin grinned as he handed the mug over to Ron. "Drink up, and just because I don't use wand magic doesn't mean I don't know anything about it. Besides, most of the potions that your healers use seem to be magical versions of Gaius's potions. It makes it pretty easy to learn them."
Ron gagged and made a face as he finished the mug off. "It still tastes awful." He choked.
"I haven't met many potions that taste like rainbows." Merlin pointed out as he packed up his kit with a vague wave of his hand. "You look better already."
It was true; the boils which covered Ron's skin were already beginning to fade. Ron rubbed his hands over his face. "Awesome, thanks."
"Good luck tomorrow." Merlin offered as he walked with them towards the door. "I haven't seen a Quidditch match in years and I'm looking forward to it."
The day of the match dawned bright and blustery.
Merlin arrived at the Quidditch pitch at the same time as Minerva. "Hello Emrys, looking forward to the game?" She asked eagerly.
Merlin grinned; he hadn't ever seen Minerva this animated. The normally stern witch had a flush of colour in her cheeks and a determined sparkle in her eyes. "Come along then." She said firmly and Merlin fell into step with her. Taking the stairs two at a time and re-enjoying his young body Merlin paused at the seating level to wait for Minerva to follow him up at a much more sedate pace.
As Merlin turned to find his seat he couldn't help but be impressed. The teachers stand was high in the air and allowed him a full view of the entire pitch. The goal posts were at eye level on either side of the stand. On the levels below and beside them were the student stands. They were packed. Surely every student at the school had to be standing cheering and talking together until their voices combined into a general roar of excitement.
Finding his seat beside Minerva with Lee Jordan sitting on her other side ready to commentate, Merlin stared out at the crowd with amazement. Even the great tournaments at Camelot hadn't attracted this many people.
A loud whistle sounded and Merlin peered forward to see the two teams stride purposefully out onto the field. The Gryffindors in the stands roared their delight and the teachers around Merlin clapped politely as the gold and scarlet team stepped forward. The Slytherin's did the same as their team stepped forward. The Slytherin team seemed to prefer heavy set players while the Gryffindor's seemed to primarily have lighter players. Merlin could only hope that this game wouldn't go like the training matches between the knights and their servants which its contestants so closely resembled.
As Madame Hooch's whistle sounded the players took to the air. Both teams were good, though the Slytherin's had a tendency to play dirty. Merlin watched Harry with interest. The dark haired blob in the sky was drifting rapidly high over the pitch; on the search for the snitch when something seem to distract him. It was at that point that the wind changed and blew the Slytherin's song up to the teachers' box. Merlin could feel Minerva bristle. "Honestly, Severus doesn't your house have any sense of fair play."
The head of Slytherin house, who was seated two rows in front of them next to Umbridge turned his head slightly and sneered. "I don't see anything wrong."
Merlin levelled a glare at the back of the man's head and glanced at Minerva then back out to the field. Harry was now flying faster, searching desperately for the Snitch and Merlin could see why only a moment later.
The Slytherin chasers had the Quaffle and were flying, weaving in and out of the Gryffindor chasers and the Bludgers sent their way, straight for the goal posts. Ron hovered ready at the centre ring. The Gryffindor's in the stands were cheering as loud as they could in an attempt to blot out the Slytherin's vicious singing. The Slytherin chasers shot towards Ron and then the Quaffle was hurtling through the air and sailing right between Ron's outstretched fingers.
The Gryffindor's let out a groan and Merlin felt Minerva sag in disappointment beside him. The Slytherin's however were screaming in delight and began singing even louder.
When the second Slytherin goal spun past Ron spurring their team into the lead Merlin decided it was about time to even the odds. Ron was a decent Keeper, Merlin had seen him practicing, but it was obvious that the Slytherin singing was getting to him.
Merlin had never been opposed to a little cheating if it ensured an outcome that was needed for the good of all. Turning his attention to the sea of green and silver he began to whisper the spell.
As the words trickled from his lips Merlin felt the warmth of the magic begin to well in his chest. Using actual spell words was a guaranteed way to focus his magic and ensure that what happened was exactly what he wanted to happen. After all despite his current irritation with the house it probably wasn't a good idea to permanently damage them.
As the last of the magic whirled out the entirety of the Slytherin house and their supporters within the student body was suddenly struck dumb. With nearly half the stadium suddenly voiceless the Quidditch teams paused in confusion. However bolstered by their opponents sudden silence the Gryffindors threw themselves into the game with gusto.
Harry drifted over the teachers stands and looked down, catching Merlin's eyes. Merlin sent the young wizard a conspiratorial wink which made Harry grin broadly and turn his attention back to the field.
Despite the loss of the Slytherin's singing Ron's nerve were apparently too far gone for him to recover into the game. Another goal slid past him and the Gryffindor team's game took on a slightly more desperate air. They knew that their chance to win was slipping away.
Harry was combing the field desperately for a sight for a glimpse of the glittering golden snitch. "Come on Potter." Minerva urged quietly, her eyes focused intently on the fluttering figure above them.
Then, just as the Slytherin's once more took possession of the Quaffle, Harry dropped into a near vertical dive. Within moments Malfoy was streaking after him, but there was no contest. Harry's broom and flying skills were far superior and before the chasers had even crossed the field Harry's fingers had closed around the tiny golden ball and the whistle was blown.
Merlin lurched to his feet and cheered along with Minerva and the rest of her house. The other teachers applauded politely, except for Snape and Umbridge who sat stiff shouldered at the front of the group.
As the players drifted towards the ground the rest of the Gryffindor team hurried over to congratulate Harry. Merlin edged his way out of the crowd of teachers, following the steady stream back down to ground level. Out of the corner of his eye Merlin noticed that Ron was walking off the pitch alone and unnoticed by the rest of his team mates.
Losing sight of the two teams as he descended Merlin hurried eagerly down, looking forward to congratulating his friends on a game well played.
However by the time he had reached ground level, Minerva at his side, the Gryffindor's were actively holding back both Fred and George Weasley. Minerva glanced at him and together they began to hurry across the ground towards the bickering teams. Madame Hooch was currently distracted dealing with one of the Slytherin Beaters and hadn't noticed the fight brewing behind her.
As they approached Merlin caught the tail end of Draco Malfoy's taunts. "...though I suppose you can't remember if your house was a hovel Potter."
Merlin saw red. In the long line of history it had been discovered that it took a great deal to truly anger the sorcerer. He got cross and grumpy and outraged, but rarely had he experienced cold blooded rage and Morgana had been involved in most of those events. Apparently the insult stung Harry as much as Merlin because the boy released Fred and threw himself at Malfoy, his face livid.
Merlin was faster. Magic could move faster than thought, faster than muscle and certainly faster than an angry teenager. The spell burst from Merlin's palm with furious accuracy, slamming into Malfoy and sending him flipping back ten feet. Picking up his pace and dropping his hand as he strode over the damp grass Merlin worked on repressing the blazing fire of anger which had burst into existence somewhere in the region of his stomach. Apparently flying students was enough to break up the fight. Harry's eyes were fixed on Merlin with a look that mingled concern and surprise. However Minerva's sharp furious tones cut through any further argument.
"Potter my office now. This is quite ridiculous. Mr. Malfoy, you will also..." However at this point Minerva was forced to trail off as the Slytherin Captain kicked his Seeker none to gently to reveal that the boy was out cold. Merlin couldn't resist a smug look, that spell could efficiently knock out sorcerers, knights and all manner of brigands, what hope did a lightweight teenager have. "Take him to the Hospital Wing." Minerva snapped.
Merlin folded his arms and levelled a cold look at Malfoy's unconscious form while Minerva returned her attention to Harry who was still looking at Merlin. "Mr. Potter, my office now."
Obviously gritting his teeth Harry passed his broom to a still fuming George and stormed back towards the castle. Merlin followed Minerva as she strode along after Harry. Just as they were leaving the pitch Merlin caught sight of Umbridge out of the corner of his eye. She was watching their departure with a look of consideration on her face.
As soon as the three of them were safely within Minerva's office the tall woman rounded on Harry. "Totally inappropriate behaviour Potter particularly given that you have only just completed a long stint of detentions. You are lucky that Emrys was able to intercept your foolishness, thank you for that by the way," she threw in Merlin's direction before continuing. "Now consider yourself lucky I am simply docking fifty house points for your foolishness."
"Hem hem." The dreaded cough set all three of them on edge as Umbridge appeared with her pseudo-politeness at the door to Minerva's office. "I thought perhaps that you would appreciate my assistance and consideration of Mr. Potter's situation."Umbridge slid the door closed behind her and turned her full attention to them.
Merlin straightened his shoulders and pushed away from Minerva's desk where he had been leaning. The last coal of anger was still glowing in his chest and Merlin was in no mood to deal with someone as obnoxiously horrid as Umbridge. She hated anyone who wasn't a wizard in the same way that Uther had hated anything with magic and Morgana had hated anything related to Arthur. Why couldn't people just get along? Why did everyone have to think themselves right? Why every time the world managed to find a happy balance did some half-witted power hungry anarchist come along and ruin everything?
At that point it was probably a good thing that Minerva stepped forward, glaring down her nose at the smaller woman. "No thank you Dolores, I am perfectly capable of dealing with my own students."
"Really Minerva, because...and please excuse if I misheard, but I thought I heard you say that you were docking points. Really Mr. Potter's actions in attacking another student unprovoked require at minimum a detention and more appropriately a complete ban on all future Quidditch events." Umbridge smiled sweetly around at the three of them. Harry's face had fallen his expression flicking back and forth between fury at Umbridge and terrified horror that he would never be able to play Quidditch again.
Minerva's eyes narrowed coldly. "No harm was done to Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter's actions were certainly not unprovoked, though that does little to excuse them."
"Mr. Malfoy is unconscious." Umbridge pointed out.
Merlin figured that he should own up to that one. "That was me, not Harry." He pointed out, only years of careful servitude preventing his real feelings from seeping into his voice. "He'll wake up with a bit of a headache, but I thought it was preferable to a broken nose. Though given his comments it would be no more than he deserved."
For the first time in several weeks Umbridge actually looked at him. Merlin had long since perfected the art of blending into the background. Working as Arthur's servant and then as a wandering old man meant that he needed not to be noticed. In the last few months here at Hogwarts he had employed all of his 'invisibility' skills to preventing Umbridge from taking notice of him. He had essentially become a part of the furniture. Now however, protecting Harry from this horrid woman required that Merlin put himself in the line of fire. Fine, far better than losing Harry to the Ministry and it corruption.
"Precisely, now Dolores if you don't mind it is my place to discipline my students." Minerva pointed out with a definite tone of 'leave now and I will spare you'.
Umbridge didn't get the message. Instead she reached into her bag and removed a piece of parchment. "Actually Professor it is mine. You see the Ministry has become aware of certain levels of favouritism among the staff and believes that a more level-headed influence is required to ensure that all students are treated fairly. As such I believe that Mr. Potter will be banned from Quidditch permanently." Harry's face dropped further and his gaze drifted towards the floor.
The last of Merlin's control snapped. He stepped forward, unconsciously allowing his magic to permeate the very air around him. "Level-headed, if anyone is biased against students it is you Dolores Umbridge." Merlin snarled. The parchment on Minerva's desk began to smoke and Harry and Minerva both took a very large instinctive step backward. Umbridge's smile slipped and a flash of apprehension danced through her eyes.
"How dare..."
"How dare I?" Merlin growled. "You are one of the most bigoted people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter..."
Merlin probably would have continued and let Umbridge know not only what he thought of her, but exactly what he was capable of doing to her. Fortunately Minerva had maintained a clear head. "Emrys!" she exclaimed firmly, only the faintest hitch in her tone. Merlin stopped and looked at her, breathing a little heavily.
Minerva nodded firmly. "Mr. Potter you will return to the common room. Dolores I believe it would be best if we involved Professor Dumbledore in this discussion. Emrys, thank you for your assistance but I believe it would be best if you continued on with your tasks for today." It was clearly an offer to get out of Umbridge's way before she decided to take more of an interest than his outburst had already encouraged.
Nodding stiffly Merlin herded Harry out of the room.
"Merlin?" Harry's voice was very quiet and more than a little concerned.
Certain that he wasn't in the right frame of mind to deal with Harry or his concerns Merlin forced a stiff smile onto his face and looked down at his friend. "I'll see you later Harry, good match." With that he stalked off, intent on finding some carnivorous blackberries to fight with.
Oh yeah. Angry Merlin is pissed. That last scene was freaking fun to write so I hope you all enjoyed it.
The next chapter could be a while, probably at least two weeks. I'm moving house and it's kind of eating up what little time I have between uni.