Chapter Thirteen - A Weasley-Hart Collaboration
As with any well kept secret, the whole school knew. Some students thought if Dumbledore believed her prophecies, that she was the perfect person to consult about exams or their love lives. Other preferred to gossip behind her back. That much she could deal with. The real problem were the students who taunted her; some going so far as to run in screaming about the Quidditch pitch being on fire, then howling with laughter at her panicked face.
To add to her misery, the Quidditch cup had been awarded to Slytherin, Gryffindor trailing by a mere twenty points. Everyone had soon realised the Gryffindor vs Slytherin match could have changed everything, so to add to her misery, she had to suffer the scowls of three houses and the thanks of one. The winter break couldn't have come at a better time, but as Skye returned to Hogwarts, she soon found that many Slytherins now thanked her for their lead in the House Cup.
Stirring her cold porridge, Skye barely looked up as Tabitha joined her at the table for an early breakfast. However, many others soon joined them, including Adam, Mikey, the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team, and a few choice others. There was only one conclusion Skye could come to; they were going to chuck her in the lake with the octopus.
"Looks like we're all here," Fred grinned at those gathered at the table.
"Yeah, but why are we here? I've already told you guys we asked for a rematch, but McGonagall said Dumbledore didn't want to risk it. I mean if the stadium does go on fire I'm sure the smoke won't reach us before we catch the snitch," Oliver reasoned.
"Shut up, Wood." Tabitha barked, fury in her eyes as Skye stopped stirring her porridge at the mention of a fire.
"Listen, we've got an idea. Everyone wanted a Gryffindor vs Slytherin match, right? Well, let's give them one!" George cheered.
"I guess you've got some sort of plan in mind?" Asked Charlie.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you a one time offer; a Weasley-Hart collaboration. With our evil genius combined we will pull off the ultimate plan for an after-curfew Quidditch match to ask the ultimate question; who truly won the Quidditch cup?" Tabitha declared dramatically, the smirk evident on her face as everyone's mouth dropped at the prospect.
"You're kidding," breathed Angelina.
"Nope. We got most of the details sorted out over Christmas break. We've already got routes mapped out from each common room to move students out of the grounds in groups of about twenty at regular intervals. We're hoping to designate some students good at charm work and experienced rebels to help out. We want it at the Quidditch pitch, but we had considered the Forbidden Forest." Fred began to explain.
"The Forbidden Forest? You've got to be kidding," exclaimed Mikey in a high pitched shriek.
"Calm down. The Forbidden Forest is an option, but honestly I prefer the pitch. My brother was telling me about the spells they use to conceal the Quidditch World Cup and I think with enough students from higher years on board we could replicate that. Concealment charms, noise-cancelling charms, I've even been looking at the muggle repelling charm and wondering if we can turn it into a teacher repelling charm." Tabitha's face lit up as she schemed.
"Can you do that?" Adam questioned Tabitha, wide-eyed.
"It's currently in development. That's all I'll say," she smirked.
"Ok, but I can see two major problems here. First of all, how are we going to get the brooms and the balls? Or how about the opposition? Do you seriously think this isn't going to blow up in our faces when we recruit a bunch of Slytherins?" Angelina stated bluntly.
"Like we said, everything is already planned out. As for the Slytherins, Tabitha assures us they won't back down at the challenge and then they're going to be wrapped up in this just as much as we are. Plus it's not like we'll be telling them everything." George responded.
"So, you really want to do this? March hundreds of students out of grounds after curfew, just for a Quidditch match?" Angelina asked in disbelief.
"Brilliant. When do we begin training?" Questioned Wood.
"We'll sort something out if we can get this thing off the ground. First, we need to spread the word to sixth and seventh years for spell work, the mischievous to help us smuggle students and general smart people so this actually works. No riff-raff in the early stages. Otherwise, this thing will be down the gutter before we even start." Tabitha gave each of them a piercing stare to rival McGonagall.
Soon, everyone began to disperse, loud whispers indicating to the small group left behind that their so called secret was about to become the talk of the school.
"Guys, I don't think this is such a good idea. Dumbledore wouldn't let us reschedule the match for a reason. How do you know that what I saw won't come true?" Skye's voice was stern, as much as she appreciated what they were doing for her, it really wasn't worth putting everyone's lives at risk.
"Skye, you were the one that told me that the future is difficult to interpret and even Dumbledore admitted that he was clueless as to how your vision was supposed to become reality. But here's what I do know; you're miserable because of it. Don't get me wrong, it's not your fault, and if you ask me the entire school are being right gits, but you can't let a vision dictate your life. You can't just avoid the Quidditch pitch for the foreseeable future, can you?" Tabitha said sympathetically.
Skye hadn't attended any of the other games, thinking it would trigger her vision to become reality. Instead, she had sat alone in the library, waiting for Tabitha and Mikey to return and give her a play-by-play. Mainly, Tabitha would reenact the whole thing and Mikey would translate any technical terms that they were both sure she was making up as she went along. Her favourite being the 'Woollongong Shimmy'.
"It's like every time you step into a car; you could crash it, but most of the time that doesn't happen. We could be waiting our whole lives for that car to crash, but just think of the places we missed because we were too scared to just get in and go." Mikey persuaded her.
"But I've seen the car crash, Mikey," Skye whispered, her gaze lingering on a spot in the far distance.
"So do the people who fear it. Some of them even experience it firsthand. That still doesn't stop them and it shouldn't stop you." George added.
"Plus, I'm sure we can practise some fire-extinguishing spells, just in case," Adam chirped up, earning him an elbow in the side from Mikey.
"No, he's right. I get what you guys are saying. I shouldn't let it stop me from going about my life, but I shouldn't just ignore it. We know the car crash might be coming, so we need to make sure the seatbelts and airbags are working, okay?" Skye glanced around at her companions.
"My knowledge of cars is kind of lacking, but I think I get the point," quipped Fred.
"So, are we doing this?" George asked.
"Count me in," Skye smiled.
XxX
Soon news of the match had spread like wildfire. Students had long forgotten their last attempt, their attention enraptured by the upcoming rebellion. Of course, some students refused to get involved. Fortunately, the students deemed 'bores' by Tabitha were largely outnumbered and were well aware of the consequences if they alerted a teacher. Percy Weasley was absolutely furious, making Skye wince as he yelled at his brothers for their 'outlandish behaviour'. However, the true breakthrough for their plans had come when Tabitha's brother, Toby, had approached them.
"You know Tabby cat, I find it quite rude that I had to find out about my own sister's evil schemes from a third year." He had approached them as they exited their last class of the day.
"No idea what you're talking about," she said with a look of pure innocence causing Skye to snort.
"That's alright. Just let me know when you need help setting up a meeting with the Slytherin Quidditch Captain," he called out.
This had Skye stop to a halt, much to the annoyance of Tabitha. So far their attempts to speak with the Captain had ended up in a shouting match between him and Charlie Weasley. To say the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry ran deep was an understatement.
"You could get them on board for us?" She asked him.
"I can get everyone on board. Charlie Weasley is a good starting point to branch out to the higher years, but you need me to get them to take this seriously," he explained.
Tabitha scoffed, "and how are you going to do that?"
"By getting the Ravenclaw higher years on board. If everyone knows we're a part of this then they know that they have some of the best spell casters in this school on board. We can perform the charms you need, improve the plans on how to secure the pitch, and teach everyone some stealth charms," he offered, leaning against the corridor wall.
"He's right, Tabitha. We need him," Skye admitted.
"As if you could do all that," Tabitha retorted.
Skye grinned as she took the challenge from Tabitha as the acceptance that she needed her brother's help. From there the whole school was buzzing with excitement. Chaos spread the halls on the day that representatives from all four houses gathered, accepting to put aside their differences to pull off the greatest mischief the school had ever seen. Even the Slytherins welcomed the challenge, adamant that they would remain victorious, the pressure from their house to maintain their reputation as cunning pushing them to be at the match on their own terms.
From there everything was in place; the spell workers focussed on their charms, the Prefects prepared to chaperone their houses, and the Weasley-Hart collaboration schemed. Even the prospect of looming exams couldn't quell the student's excitement. As the trio left their last exam, the outcome of the Goblin Wars long forgotten, they could hardly contain their grins, knowing that they were about to make Hogwarts history.