Disclaimer: I don't own HP, I only own Evan and Iris.
Chapter Five
Gilderoy Lockhart
The following morning seemed to arrive too quickly for most students' tastes. Poor Neville was tasked with getting Evan and Ron out of bed and dressed in time for the quintet to have a proper breakfast and get their timetables, not an easy feat. The five second years hurried to breakfast and served themselves, the girls and Neville pointedly choosing seats that made it easier to keep from witnessing Ron's lack of table manners. Professor McGonagall had scolded him about it several times last year, but he simply ignored her. Lavender and Parvati were so disgusted by Ron's disgusting eating habits that they deliberately sat on the other end of the table to keep from having to see it.
Aludra, Susan and Neville would've done the same if it wouldn't have caused more issues with the redhaired boy.
Aludra served herself some pancakes with fruit and had just tucked in when the owls came swooping in.
"Oh no," Evan whispered in a horrified voice. Aludra looked up and winced as she recognized the Potters' owl, Hooter, flying towards them with a red envelope clutched in his talons. Apparently Lady Potter was angrier about the car than Evan had expected.
"EVAN JAMES POTTER! HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?! WHAT IN THE NAME OF MOTHER MAGIC WERE YOU THINKING? NO, YOU CLEARLY WEREN'T THINKING AT ALL, WERE YOU? HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW I FELT WHEN THE AURORS SHOWED UP ANNOUNCING YOU WERE MISSING? I THOUGHT YOU'D BEEN KIDNAPPED! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED! YOU NEARLY EXPOSED MAGIC! SIRIUS LOST AN ENTIRE DAY OF WORK, SEARCHING FOR YOU, AND HAD TO SPEND HOURS SORTING OUT THE AFTERMATH AND FILING THE PARCHMENTWORK! MUGGLES SAW YOU, AND MINISTER FUDGE HAD TO CONTACT THE MUGGLE MINISTER AND GET HIM TO HELP GIVE A COVER STORY BECAUSE THE MINISTRY COULDN'T TELL WHO'D SEEN YOU! YOU HAD BETTER SEND SIRIUS AND THE MINISTER A SINCERE AND COURTEOUS APOLOGY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE YOU CAUSED THEM! THERE HAD BETTER BE NO MORE STUNTS THIS YEAR YOUNG MAN, OR I'M TAKING YOU STRAIGHT HOME! THAT IS A PROMISE!"
The Howler tore itself into pieces and fell into Evan's food. He looked shaken, and Aludra reached over to pat his shoulder comfortingly.
"You okay?" She asked lowly, feeling bad for him, despite her continuing annoyance towards his actions. The humiliation of receiving a Howler was intense, and most parents didn't do it because of that. She could practically feel his embarrassment.
"I can't believe she actually sent me a Howler," he moaned softly.
"She's not the only one," Susan announced, pointing towards Errol, who was struggling to make his way to Ron, his own red envelope in his claws.
The girls and Neville quickly covered their ears protectively as Molly Weasley's strident voice filled the Great Hall.
"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR?I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU! YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE, AURORS ALL OVER THE STATION LOOKING FOR YOU BOYS!
WE SPENT ALL DAY WORRIED SICK UNTIL WE GOT A LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT! I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND EVAN COULD BOTH HAVE DIED! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!"
The two boys sat low in their chairs, trying hard not to be noticed, for the rest of the breakfast. Thankfully, soon after Ron's Howler ended the Heads of House came down and began passing out the timetables.
"Thanks Gra-ah Professor," Aludra corrected her quickly. Her grandmother gave her a small smile and tilted her head as she continued passing out the timetables.
"Oh good," Neville beamed. "Herbology first."
"With Hufflepuff again," Susan added with a smile. She'd gotten close to Hannah Abbot over the past year, to the point where Hannah was probably her third best friend, behind Aludra and Neville.
"So I take it we're being abandoned for Hannah then?" Aludra teased with a grin.
"Proper young Ladies like me need to spend time with appropriate companions, not hooligans like you lot," Susan declared snootily, sticking her nose in the air and looking like Malfoy. They all chuckled, even Evan and Ron, who still seemed humiliated by the Howlers.
"We'd best hurry and get our things," Neville observed after glancing at his wristwatch. "We'll be late if we don't go now."
They all quickly stood and rushed back to Gryffindor Tower to collect their books, before hurrying back downstairs to the greenhouses. The second years mingled with each other, greeting their friends from the other House and exchanging stories about their summers. Several Hufflepuffs asked about the car incident, making Ron and Evan flush in embarrassment.
Professor Sprout came marching towards them from the direction of the Whomping Willow, bandages in her arms and a turquoise-robed Professor Lockhart at her heels.
Several girls giggled or sighed at the sight of Lockhart. Even Aludra and Susan, who knew he was a toad in personality, had to admire his form.
"Oh, don't, please," Neville groaned, seeing the looks in their eyes. "I'll go mad if you two turn into Lockhart fangirls!"
"Why would they be fangirls?" Evan asked incredulously. "He's a prat!"
"Yes but his hair is amazing," Aludra sighed longingly. "Anyway, Neville, don't worry. I've spoken to him enough to realize he's a fool, but it doesn't hurt to look, does it?"
"It'll hurt your dad when he learns his little girl is admiring someone and keels over from a heart attack," Neville muttered as Professor Sprout and Lockhart himself arrived.
He flashed his shining white teeth at them cheerfully. "Hello, there, everyone!" He greeted them, making Megan Jones sway and giggle. "I was just showing Professor Sprout here the correct way to attend to an injured Whomping Willow! But don't take that to mean that I know Herbology better than her! I just happened to come across several of these cases on my travels, which you can read about in my autobiography, 'Magical Me'!"
"Greenhouse Three today, chaps!" Sprout announced then, sounding a bit disgruntled. If Aludra didn't know any better, she'd think that Professor Sprout didn't like Lockhart either. That couldn't be right though, could it? Professor Sprout liked everyone.
They all headed for the greenhouse, but Lockhart strode over and wrapped an arm around Evan's shoulders in a friendly hug.
"Evan! Good to see you my boy," he cheered. "I've been wanting to speak with you."
Aludra quickly grabbed Evan's arm and pulled him away, in the direction of the greenhouse. "I'm sorry Professor, but we have class right now and Evan doesn't need another detention."
Lockhart looked disappointed for a moment but said something about busy schedules and hurried off.
"Thanks for the save," Evan muttered to her as they entered the greenhouse.
"No problem, but you won't be able to dodge him forever," she warned.
Professor Sprout's cheerful smile was once again on her face, and Aludra's suspicion was confirmed. The Herbology professor did not like Lockhart.
Professor Sprout was standing behind a trestle bench in the centre of the greenhouse. About twenty pairs of different coloured earmuffs were lying on the bench.
"We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"
To nobody's surprise, Neville's hand was first into the air. If he wasn't a Herbologist when they graduated, Aludra would eat her own hat. And she really hoped otherwise because Tonks had dared her to do that once, and it had tasted terrible and she'd nearly choked and Aunt Meda had been furious.
"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Neville. "It's used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."
"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"
Hannah Abbot answered this time. "The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," she said promptly.
"Precisely. Ten points to Hufflepuff," said Professor Sprout. "Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young."
She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in colour, were growing there in rows. Aludra knew from studying, however, that their roots looked remarkably like human beings, only they were uglier than Crabbe and Goyle combined.
"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs," said Professor Sprout.
There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy.
"When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered," said Professor Sprout. "When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs up. Right—earmuffs on."
Aludra snapped the earmuffs over her ears. They shut out sound completely. Professor Sprout put the pink, fluffy pair over her own ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard.
Aludra could see the surprise on Evan's face at the sight of the Mandrake.
Instead of roots, a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of his head. He had pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs.
Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. Professor Sprout dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs up, and removed her own earmuffs.
"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she said calmly as though she'd just done nothing more exciting than water a begonia. "However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up.
"Four to a tray—there is a large supply of pots here—compost in the sacks over there—and be careful of the Venomous Tentacula, it's teething."
Aludra ended up with Justin and Ernie, as well as Fay Dunbar, but they had to work in silence because of the earmuffs. By the end of class everyone was dirty, sweaty and aching. Aludra and her friends (except Ron) cast a few cleaning that they'd learned from Remus over the summer, but everyone needed a shower and change of clothes before their next class. Thankfully, they had a break, probably for exactly this reason. It had been the same last year.
Afterwards, they had to go to Transfiguration, where Professor McGonagall had them work on transfiguring beetle into a button, and Aludra got ten points and a proud smile when she succeeded on her first try. Transfiguration was not Aludra's best area, that was Charms and DADA, but she was the daughter and granddaughter of three worldwide reputed Transfiguration Masters and she was probably the best in her year, hence her managing the Animagus transformation as the youngest in the history of the registry.
Neville, Susan and Evan got it soon after her, having been tutored in Transfiguration by her father during the summer.
Ron was having far worse problems. He had patched up his wand with some borrowed Spellotape, but it seemed to be damaged beyond repair. It kept crackling and sparking at odd moments, and every time Ron tried to transfigure his beetle it engulfed him in thick grey smoke that smelled of rotten eggs. Unable to see what he was doing, Ron accidentally squashed his beetle with his elbow and had to ask for a new one. Professor McGonagall wasn't pleased.
"Stupid—useless—thing—" Ron grumbled angrily as he shook his wand.
"Write home for another one," Aludra suggested as the wand let off a volley of bangs like a firecracker.
"Oh, yeah, and get another Howler back," said Ron, stuffing the now hissing wand into his bag so they could go to lunch.
"Ron, broken wands are dangerous," Neville warned. "It could backfire on you. I think your parents would prefer you tell them and stop anyone being hurt."
Ron grumbled and scowled, stomping towards the Great Hall. Aludra, Neville and Susan looked at each other and shrugged. They'd given their advice, now it was Ron's choice to take or ignore it.
They ate lunch, then began heading for their Defence class.
They were just after reaching the landing when someone ran up to them holding a camera. "H, hi!" The little blonde boy who'd been the first of the new students Sorted last night and was one of the newest Gryffindors, gasped. "I'm Colin, Colin Creevey. I was wondering, could I have a picture of Evan?"
"A picture of Evan?" Aludra echoed incredulously.
"So I can prove I've met you," said Colin Creevey eagerly, edging further forward. "I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a V-shaped scar on your cheek" (his eyes lingered on Evan's scarred left cheek) "and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures'll move." Colin drew a great shuddering breath of excitement and said, "It's amazing here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him. And it'd be really good if I had one of you"—he looked imploringly at Evan- "maybe one of your friends could take it and I could stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?"
"Colin, if your father is a muggle than he probably doesn't know who Evan is," Aludra offered, trying to fend off the younger boy as gently as she could. "There's not much point sending him a picture, is there? He won't understand."
"But I can explain it to him," Creevey said hopefully.
Aludra gave a helpless look to her friends. Susan had her book up covering her face, so Aludra suspected she was trying not to laugh, and Ron looked annoyed. Evan just looked uncomfortable, but Neville stepped forward to give it a go and driving off the young fanboy.
"How would you like it if you were going to class and someone you don't know came up asking for a picture?" He pointed out.
"But he's Evan Potter," Creevey replied eagerly. "He's famous." As if that was an excuse for being so rude.
"Look, Colin," Evan sighed, stepping forward. "I know what happened, and I'm glad Voldemort is gone, but that attack led to my twin sister dying. It's not something I like to think about, so please just leave me be."
"I-I didn't know you had a twin sister," Creevey stammered, looking caught off-guard.
"Yeah, well no one really talks about Aimee anymore," Evan muttered, turning around and beginning to walk upstairs, leaving Creevey behind looking uncertain.
Aludra gave him a small smile and squeezed his shoulder. "Welcome to Gryffindor, Colin," Neville murmured, before they all hurried off after Evan.
He was silent for a bit before bursting out. "They don't even mention her in the newer books! It's like she never existed!"
"She wasn't the Girl-Who-Lived, mate," Ron replied bluntly. "It would be like one of my brothers or me dying as a kid."
It was slightly cruel, but the truth. Amaryllis Potter was nothing more than a footnote in history to expand on how much Evan had gone through to save them all. Just an unimportant, tragic story.
Never mind that she'd been more than that to her family, that there was an album of photos of her and Evan before her death and their families' split in Aludra's father's desk. The Wixen World only cared about the Boy-Who-Lived, not the people he loved and who loved him back.
They arrived at DADA in a subdued silence, and Aludra braced herself for a terrible lesson. The man was too incompetent to tell the difference between a broomstick and a cauldron, let alone teach Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Although the combination of baby blue eyes and golden hair managed to hide his horrible personality.
When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Neville Longbottom's copy of Marauding with Monsters, and held it up to show his own face, winking portrait on the front.
"Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award—but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"
Several girls sighed, and Aludra noticed it was mostly muggleborns and half-bloods. In other words, the girls who probably hadn't had the dubious pleasure of meeting Lockhart.
"I see you all bought my book," Lockhart stated. "I'm glad. I wanted to have you buy all books, it would give you a better sense of how to escape dangerous situations, but unfortunately that would be too expensive given you have seven other books to buy and I couldn't put that on your parents. So I gave you the one that covers the broadest range of menaces instead."
Aludra couldn't help herself and discreetly rolled her eyes. He made it sound like he'd decided it generously instead of the Board insisting.
"Now, I thought we would start with a little quiz," Lockhart said brightly. "Nothing difficult, just to see how much of my books you've read. Here, everyone take a sheet."
Aludra took one glance at the questions and decided that there was no way she was going to fill it in. It would lower her IQ. Instead she took a roll of parchment out and began scribbling away.
The quiz took about half an hour and then Lockhart summoned the pages, surprising Aludra. She hadn't realized he was capable of a fourth-year spell.
Lockhart shuffled through the parchments, clicking his tongue. "Tut, tut—hardly any of you remembered that my favourite colour is lilac. I say so in chapter eight, and in Voyages with Vampires, if anyone read that too. And a few of you need to read chapter seventeen more carefully—I clearly state there, as in Wanderings with Werewolves, that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples—though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky!"
He gave them another roguish wink. Ron was now staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on his face; Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were sitting in front, were shaking with silent laughter.
"And where is Miss Black?" Lockhart called, holding up a page. Aludra raised her hand, smiling sweetly.
"Miss Black, what is this?" Lockhart asked sternly.
Aludra's smile broadened. "Oh, it's the errors I found in the book, Sir," she said angelically, knowing her father and uncle would find this story hilarious when she told them. "I thought you ought to know. You'd think your editors would be more careful. Magical creatures don't take people abusing their hospitality well."
Lockhart looked nervous for a second before smiling falsely. Aludra admired it. It was a shame his personality was worse than a toad's, because he was very handsome.
"Well, yes, thank you for warning me, Miss Black," he stated. "I'll be sure to speak with my editor about that. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wixenkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."
Everyone was quiet and nervous now, but Aludra simply hoped he hadn't actually brought something dangerous in, because no way would Lockhart be any help. On the other hand, if she or any other student was hurt, Granddad would surely fire him and then find someone competent, if less gorgeous, to teach them.
"I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low voice. "It might provoke them." As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover.
"Yes," he said dramatically. "Freshly caught Cornish pixies."
Seamus Finnigan couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.
"Yes?" He smiled at Seamus.
"Well, they're not—they're not very—dangerous, are they?" Seamus choked.
"Don't be so sure!" said Lockhart, waggling a finger annoyingly at Seamus. "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!"
The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies arguing. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making bizarre faces at the people nearest them.
"Right, then," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see what you make of them!" And he opened the cage.
It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Two of them seized Neville by the ears and began to lift him into the air, but Aludra and Susan whipped out their wands and Susan chased the pair away while Aludra used the Levitation spell to guide Neville to the floor. Then Aludra stepped back, resisting the urge to roll her eyes again when she saw Lockhart cowering beneath his desk, and waved her wand shouting "Immobilius!" A jet of blue light shot out of her wand and froze the pixies in midair, allowing the students to grab them and put them back in the cage.
Lockhart scrambled out from beneath the desk, smoothing his hair and robes. "Well done, well done. Ten points to Miss Black for her excellent spellwork, and five points each to everyone who caught a pixie. For homework, please read chapters one and two of my book and write a fifty-inch essay on them. Thank you all."
The bell rang and the annoyed students all grabbed their things and left.
Ron let out an annoyed huff as they left. "It's going to be a long year with that idiot," he groaned.
They all fully agreed.
Over the next few days, it became clear that Aludra, Susan, Neville and Ron all needed to act as lookouts for Evan to protect him from Lockhart and Colin Creevey. It seemed like every time they turned a corner, there was one of them, Colin's camera raised to take a photograph and Lockhart with a charming smile that was beginning to irritate Aludra.
Unfortunately, they couldn't protect him from Lockhart all the time. He'd taken up Evan's detentions (which Aludra thought was a cruel and unusual punishment for her grandmother to inflict on Evan, not matter what he'd done), so every night Evan spent two hours answering Lockhart's fanmail and listening to long anecdotes on how wonderful the older wizard was before traipsing back to Gryffindor Tower to finish his homework before bed.
Neither he nor Ron were particularly enjoying being back so far and they were all glad to reach the weekend, as the boys were free from detention and guarding Evan was hard, especially as Colin seemed to memorized his schedule.
Unfortunately, Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, decided to wake the whole team up at an ungodly hour for practice. He sent owls to the girl members of the team and had them peck at the window until the other girls kicked them out to get the noise to stop.
She met Evan, looking half-asleep, at the bottom of the stairs.
"Morning, Ally," he yawned at her.
"This is not morning," Aludra complained. "This is the crack of dawn, and we should be sleeping. Remind me to get my dad to send me something to spike Oliver's pumpkin juice with the next time he comes up with a bright idea like this."
"Will do," he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Merlin, I'm going to fall off my broom in mid-air at this rate."
"I'll catch you if I'm not falling too," she promised.
"Evan! Wait, Evan!"
"Oh not again," Aludra muttered under her breath as Colin Creevey rushed down the stairs and into the Common Room, his camera swinging madly around his neck and something clutched in his hand.
"I heard someone saying your name on the stairs, Evan! Look what I've got here! I've had it developed, I wanted to show you—"
Evan and Aludra looked bemusedly at the photograph Colin was brandishing under Evan's nose.
A moving, black and white Lockhart was tugging hard on an arm Aludra recognized as Evan's. She was amused to see that his photographic self was putting up a good fight and refusing to be dragged into view. As they watched, Lockhart gave up and slumped, panting, against the white edge of the picture.
Evan his picture self was pathetic.
"Will you sign it?" said Colin eagerly.
"No," said Evan flatly, glancing around to check that the room was really deserted. "Sorry, Colin, we're in a hurry—Quidditch practice—"
He climbed through the portrait hole and Aludra followed.
"Oh, wow! Wait for me! I've never watched a Quidditch game before!"
Colin scrambled through the hole after them and Aludra bit back a groan. It was way too early for this.
"It'll be really boring," Evan said quickly, but Colin ignored him, his face shining with excitement.
"You were the youngest House player in a hundred years, weren't you, Evan? Weren't you?" said Colin, trotting alongside him, Aludra on the other side wishing the boy would go away. He was a sweet kid, but exasperating and it was too early for this. "You must be brilliant. I've never flown. Is it easy? Is that your own broom? Is that the best one there is? I don't really understand Quidditch. Is it true there are four balls? And two of them fly around trying to knock people off their brooms?"
"Yes," Evan sighed heavily, clearly resigned to explaining the complicated rules of Quidditch. "They're called Bludgers. There are two Beaters on each team who carry clubs to beat the Bludgers away from their side. Fred and George Weasley are the Gryffindor Beaters."
Aludra ignored the explanation and Colin's questions, focused on not falling asleep on her feet. Really, what was Oliver thinking? None of them would be able to remember anything or stay awake at this hour.
They only shook Colin off when they reached the changing rooms; Colin calling after Evan in a piping voice, "I'll go and get a good seat, Evan!" and hurried off to the stands.
The rest of the Gryffindor team were already in the changing room. Wood was the only person who looked truly awake. Fred and George were sitting, puffy eyed and tousle haired. Evan's fellow Chasers, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, were yawning side by side opposite them. Aludra sat down and covered her mouth to keep from yawning, though she suspected Aunt Meda might forgive her for yawning in public if she knew what a hideously early hour Aludra had gotten up at.
"There you are, Aludra, Evan, what kept you?" said Wood briskly. "Now, I wanted a quick talk with you all before we actually get onto the field, because I spent the summer devising a whole new training program, which I really think will make all the difference…"
Wood was holding up a large diagram of a Quidditch field, on which were drawn many lines, arrows, and crosses in different coloured inks. He took out his wand, tapped the board, and the arrows began to wiggle over the diagram like caterpillars. As Wood launched into a speech about his new tactics, Fred's head drooped right onto George's shoulder and he began to snore.
The first board took nearly twenty minutes to explain, but there was another board under that, and a third under that one. Aludra sunk into a stupor as Wood droned on and on.
"So," said Wood, at long last, jerking Aludra from a wistful fantasy about her bed and its soft pillows and cosy blanket. "Is that clear? Any questions?"
"I've got a question, Oliver," said George, who had woken with a start. "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?"
Wood wasn't pleased.
"Now, listen here, you lot," he said, glowering at them all. "We should have won the Quidditch cup last year. We're easily the best team. But unfortunately—owing to circumstances beyond our control—"
Aludra shifted guiltily in her seat. She had been unconscious in the hospital wing for the final match of the previous year, meaning that Gryffindor had been a player short and had suffered their worst defeat in three hundred years.
Wood took a moment to regain control of himself. Their last defeat was clearly still torturing him. "So this year, we train harder than ever before… Okay, let's go and put our new theories into practice!" Wood shouted, seizing his broomstick and leading the way out of the locker rooms. Stiff legged and still yawning, his team followed.
"Did you pay attention to any of that?" Evan asked Aludra lowly.
She scoffed. "Of course not. I was dreaming of being asleep, the same way anyone of any sense would be."
"You really hate getting up early, don't you?" Evan smirked.
She shot him an annoyed look. "Are you telling me that you're happy to get up this early every Saturday for the rest of the year, and possibly next year too?"
Evan shuddered at the thought.
They had been in the locker room so long that the sun was up completely now, although remnants of mist hung over the grass in the stadium. As Aludra walked onto the field, she saw Susan, Neville and Ron sitting in the stands.
"Aren't you finished yet?" called Ron incredulously.
"Haven't even started," said Evan, looking jealously at the toast and marmalade the three of them had brought out of the Great Hall. "Wood's been teaching us new moves."
Aludra mounted her broomstick and kicked at the ground, soaring up into the air. The cool morning air whipped her face, waking her far more effectively than Wood's long talk. It felt wonderful to be back on the Quidditch field. She'd flown over the summer, of course, but she didn't have half as much space. She soared right around the stadium at full speed, racing Fred and George.
"What's that funny clicking noise?" called Fred as they hurtled around the corner.
Aludra looked into the stands. Colin was sitting in one of the highest seats, his camera raised, taking picture after picture, the sound strangely magnified in the deserted stadium.
"Look this way, Evan! This way!" he cried shrilly.
"Who's that?" asked Fred.
"No idea," Aludra claimed, not wanting to reveal he was Evan's new little shadow and unleash the twins' taunting on her friend.
"What's going on?" said Wood, frowning, as he skimmed through the air toward them. "Why's that first year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training program."
"He's in Gryffindor," Aludra said quickly.
"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver," said George.
"What makes you say that?" Wood huffed testily.
"Because they're here in person," George replied, pointing.
Several people in green robes were walking onto the field, broomsticks in their hands.
"I don't believe it!" Wood hissed in outrage. "I booked the field for today! We'll see about this!"
Wood shot toward the ground, landing rather harder than he meant to in his anger, staggering slightly as he dismounted. The twins and Aludra followed.
"Flint!" Wood bellowed at the Slytherin Captain. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"
Marcus Flint was even larger than Wood. He had a look of trollish cunning on his face as he replied, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."
Evan, Angelina and Katie had come over, too. There were no girls on the Slytherin team, who stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the Gryffindors, leering to a man.
"But I booked the field!" snarled Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it!"
"Ah," replied Flint. "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape."
"I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker."
"You've got a new Seeker?" said Wood, distracted. "Where?"
And from behind the six large figures before them came a seventh, smaller boy, smirking all over his pale, pointed face. It was Draco Malfoy.
"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" said Fred, looking at Malfoy with dislike.
"Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Flint as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."
All seven of them held out their broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words Nimbus Two Thousand and One gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early morning sun.
"Very latest model. Only came out last month," Flint announced carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps"—he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives—"sweeps the board with them."
"Well, how unfortunate that they don't legally belong to you, then," Aludra replied with a razor-sharp smile. Malfoy's smirk faltered a hint of horror began to creep into his eyes as he realized where she was going with this. "You see, Mr. Malfoy got into a spot of financial trouble at the end of the War and made a deal with my great-grandfather, the then Lord Black, may he rest in peace. That deal was then inherited by my father when he ascended to the title. Long story short, Mr. Malfoy can't spend more than a thousand Galleons without my father's permission, which two Nimbus 2001s would cause. And I happen to know that Daddy specifically forbade him from buying more than one. As such, I imagine when he discovers that Mr. Malfoy went against the deal, he'll confiscate the brooms and sell them to regain the monies owed to him. My sincerest apologies for the Malfoys misleading you."
The Slytherins lit up with rage and turned on Malfoy, shouting and threatening him, while Aludra smirked smugly and the Gryffindors, including their friends who'd joined them when they saw the teams facing off.
"Aludra, that was brilliant," Ron exclaimed gleefully. "The look on Malfoy's face! It's true, right?"
"Oh, a hundred percent," Aludra promised. "The Malfoys are ten feet deep in debt to the Blacks, and Daddy'll take any excuse to knock Lucius Malfoy down. He hates that Aunt Cissa was forced into marriage with such a lowbred idiot. And a Frenchman at that!"
"Aunt Cissa?" Evan echoed with a wrinkled nose. "Does that mean you're Malfoy's cousin?"
"More's the pity," Aludra sighed. She turned to Wood. "We can't practice now, Oliver, not with the Slytherins hanging around. They might steal our techniques. We need to hold off and practice another time when there are no spies around."
"You're right," he grimaced. "I'll make a booking now. But we're training twice as hard next time to make up for it!"
With that, training was over and Aludra and Evan could finally go for breakfast. It had certainly been a busy week.