The Rogue Bludger
"That's not a promising start," Sirius muttered.
"At this point, I'm not sure why you were expecting one," Tonks pointed out.
"I wasn't expecting one. But it would be nice."
"Bludgers don't just go rogue," Remus stated with a frown. "And bewitching them is magic beyond most students at Hogwarts."
"What, like petrification?" Emmeline said.
"Yeah, but we don't know if a student is doing that or whatever monster is in the chamber," Kingsley reminded her. "Although, I've never heard of a snake that petrifies either."
"Either way, if this person has a snake that can petrify," Ginny shuddered at this, "then why make a bludger go rogue?" Amelia wondered, noting Ginny's reaction to her wording. Everyone shrugged.
Lockhart hadn't brought any more live demonstrations since the pixies.
"That's something at least," Emmeline muttered.
"I think I preferred the pixies," Harry grumbled. Ron laughed.
Instead, he read passages from his books to them, and sometimes reenacted some of the more dramatic bits, usually calling on Harry to help with the reenactments. So far he'd been a simple villager, a yeti and a vampire who could only eat lettuce since Lockhart dealt with him.
"An interesting solution to vampirism. Not something he would be able to manage though," Kingsley snorted.
Harry was called upon once more, this time as a werewolf.
Remus scowled in disgust.
He only went along with it because they needed him in a good mood.
"Not really. I suspect he'd still sign anything you wanted, just as an excuse to sign something," Ted snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Besides, once you leave and Hermione asks for his signature, he'll have forgotten about the whole thing," George agreed.
"You have a point," Harry complained. He wished he'd thought of that.
Lockhart had him howl as he demonstrated how he pounced on a werewolf, slammed it to the floor, holding it down with one hand.
"Absolutely not," Remus stated flatly. "That ponce did nothing of the sort. Anyone who tried that would be dead."
"No human would be strong enough to hold down a werewolf with one hand," Sirius agreed. Severus shuddered at the very idea.
"Another creature might, like a vampire, but even then, it would be a struggle," Bill put in.
"I cannot believe people actually believe this," Amelia said in disgust.
"My guess is people want to believe it. They want to believe there is some dashing hero out there that can take on werewolf and vampires, so they ignore the details to make themselves feel safer," Andromeda stated.
"Yes, people will overlook all sorts of things when it suits them," Minerva said with a dark look in Dumbledore's direction.
"Which is dangerous," Ted pointed out. "Yes, most of the students seem to know he's a fraud by now, but there are ones who don't. Ones who might now actually believe it is possible to pin down a werewolf one handed amongst all of the other ridiculous things he has done. People could well get themselves killed following his advice."
"That is a good point," Amelia murmured unhappily. It wasn't just the students, plenty of adults had thought he had done all of the things in the books. She would have to see if she could find any proof that he was a fraud and get those books taken off of the shelves.
Apparently, Lockhart put his wand to the werewolf's throat and performed the Homorphus Charm which transformed him back into a man.
"Doesn't work on werewolves. It's for animagi who get stuck in their forms," Sirius said.
He continued that it was another village that will forever remember him as the hero who saved them from monthly werewolf attacks.
"More nonsense. Even if the charm did work on werewolves, it isn't permanent. He'd turn back into a werewolf at the next full moon," Remus scoffed.
"All of this is nonsense. Although, as Miss Granger pointed out in the last chapter all myths have a basis in fact. I'd be interested to know exactly where he got the idea for this tall tale," Kingsley said with a frown.
The bell rang and Lockhart got to his feet. He gave them homework to compose a poem about his defeat of the werewolf and the best one would get the reward of a signed copy of his autobiography.
"Please tell me neither of you did that homework?" Sirius begged Harry and Ron. They grinned.
"Nope."
"You really shouldn't encourage them to not to their homework," Remus sighed. "Although in this case, that really doesn't constitute proper homework."
"I don't think anyone did it, except Hermione, and a few of the other girls who still liked him," Ron said.
"For once, I'm not sure I blame you," Hermione muttered.
The class began to leave. Harry returned to the back of the room, where Ron and Hermione were waiting. Hermione waited until everyone was gone and approached the desk. She stammered as she told him she wanted to get a book out of the library for background reading, but it was in the Restricted Section so needs a signature. She added that it would help her understand what he said in one of his books about slow acting venoms.
"That's not the worst excuse you could have come up with," Fred nodded approvingly.
"She mentioned one of his books, he'll be too busy boasting to look at what he's signing," George agreed.
Lockhart said it was possibly his very favourite book and asked if she enjoyed it. She agreed and mentioned how he trapped a ghoul with a tea strainer.
Several people rolled their eyes.
"I'd like to see him try that with our ghoul," Arthur muttered. Molly smiled slightly.
Lockhart said that nobody would mind him giving the best student in the year some extra help. He pulled out a large quill and mistook Ron look of disgust for a being impressed, saying it was nice.
Everyone snorted.
He signed the note.
The teachers, and some of the Ministry people, all groaned. They had known it was coming, but it still galled them that Lockhart so easily allowed access to the Restricted Section.
"I shall have to speak with Irma about letting me know when students are taking out books so far above their level. Even with a signature, I'd like to know so I can speak with the teacher," Minerva sighed.
"No other teacher would have given them that permission," Filius pointed out. "And Lockhart isn't here anymore."
"Yes, but who knows who Albus will hire next," Pomona put in. "It might not be a bad idea to keep an eye on what books students are taking out. Especially if they are below fifth years."
He then turned to Harry and said he was a seeker too, calling him a useful player.
"A useful player?" Fred scoffed.
"He's the youngest player in a century because he's the best," George agreed.
I'm more surprised Lockhart got himself on a broom. Surely that would ruin his hair," Remus scoffed.
"I believe he attended a tryout and was appointed seeker for a single game," Filius recalled. "He was almost hit by a bludger and never wanted to play again."
"Sounds about right," Sirius laughed.
He continued that he was asked to try for the National Squad, but he chose to dedicate his life to the eradication of the Dark Forces.
"I don't believe that is at all true," Ted scoffed.
He offered to give Harry some private training as he's happy to pass on his expertise to less able players.
"Seriously? He is calling Harry a less able player?" Charlie snorted.
"He does think everyone is less able than he is. At everything," Bill pointed out.
"That doesn't make it less ridiculous," Percy said.
Harry made an indistinct noise in his throat and then hurried off after Ron and Hermione. He commented that Lockhart didn't even looked, at the book they wanted.
"Idiot," Pomona grumbled.
Ron stated that this was because he is a brainless git.
"Very true," Sirius nodded.
"A brainless git who endangered the students. Allowing them access to a book of advanced potions they plan on brewing unsupervised," Andromeda stated grimly. "All sorts of things could go wrong."
Hermione said that he wasn't a brainless git and half ran to the library.
Hermione blushed.
They got to the library and dropped their voices so as not to draw the attention of Madam Pince, who is described as looking like an underfed vulture.
Several people snorted with laughter.
She asked about the book they wanted suspiciously as she tried to take the note. Hermione wouldn't let go, saying she wanted to keep it.
"Urgh, really?" Sirius groaned.
"He'll sign anything. He practically forced signatures on you whether you want them or not," Neville said.
"Yeah," Hermione sighed.
Ron wrenched it from her and gave it to Madam Pince, saying they would get her another one.
"Didn't you get your books signed in Diagon Alley anyway?" Percy wondered.
"Yes," she admitted, looking at the floor.
The librarian held the note up, looking for a forgery.
Severus shot a dark look at Draco. He hadn't forgotten the forged note to give the team permission to practice. Draco winced.
The note passed the test. She stalked away and returned a few minutes later with a large, mouldy looking book.
"Lovely," Neville muttered.
"It was disgusting. But not as disgusting as the potions inside," Ron told him.
Hermione put it carefully into her bag and they left, trying not to walk too quickly or look too guilty.
"Knowing you three, I'm sure you looking guilty as sin," Fred laughed.
"Thankfully, nobody saw us," Hermione said. "So it didn't matter either way."
"And technically, you weren't guilty. You did have a signed note," Bill smirked.
"Yeah, except it would have been difficult to explain why we had that book to any other teacher," Harry pointed out.
"Good point," Charlie laughed.
Five minutes later, they were barricaded in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom once again. Ron objected, but Hermione pointed out it was the last place anyone in their right mind would go, guaranteeing their privacy.
"That's kind of true, except the attack happened right outside, meaning Filch will be out there a lot. He might well notice an odd smell or something if you brew a potion nearby," Remus pointed out.
"I didn't think of that, but there really wasn't anywhere else that we knew about to brew secretly," Hermione reminded him.
"Yeah, good point," Sirius admitted. "And you don't have the map to use one of the passageways," he added quietly.
Myrtle was crying in her stall, but they were ignoring her, and she them.
"I guess that works," Tonks chuckled.
"You tune it out eventually," Harry admitted.
"Yeah. Eventually," Ron muttered.
Hermione opened the book carefully, and they bent over the damp spotted pages. It was clear from a glance why it belonged in the Restricted Section. Some of the potions had particularly gruesome effects and there were some very unpleasant illustrations, including a man who seemed to have been turned inside out and a witch sprouting several extra pairs of arms out of her head.
"Yuck," Neville wrinkled his nose.
"Why would you even make a potion that turned you inside out?" Ginny wondered.
"Would that kill you?" Hermione asked.
"Not instantly, no. It has one or two uses, but none of them are legal," Severus informed them.
"I wonder why," George said sarcastically.
Hermione located the Polyjuice Potion which was decorated with images of people halfway through transforming. Harry hoped the artist had imagined the look of pain on their faces.
"They did not," Severus stated.
"We noticed," Harry muttered quietly.
"It worked then?" Sirius asked in an excited undertone.
"It's Hermione. Of course, it worked," Harry smirked.
She said it's the most complicated potion she had ever seen.
"I should hope so, considering it's a sixth year one," Bill snorted. "And even then, you never actually make it."
"Although, I believe that it because of the time it takes to brew," Andromeda put in. "Otherwise, it would be a potion to brew as it teaches some valuable lessons about brewing and timings."
She listed off some ingredients required, saying they would be in the student store cupboard. Then she noted it required powdered horn of a Bicorn and shredded skin of a Boomslang. She said they would both be tricky to get as well as a bit of whoever they want to change into. Ron stated he would drink nothing with Crabbe's toenails in.
"Oh! Eww! Thanks for that image, Ron!" Neville complained.
"It doesn't have to be toenails. In fact, I don't know why you would ever use that," Tonks laughed. "Hair is most common."
"That's only a little better," Ginny muttered.
Hermione continued as though she hadn't heard him.
"Of course she did," Sirius laughed.
She stated that they don't have to worry about that yet as they add those bits last.
"Still good to have a plan," Remus told her.
"I know. But, honestly, I figured the other two main ones would be the problem. We needed to sort those out first. Hair is relatively easy to obtain compared to those."
"Fair point," Emmeline conceded.
Ron turned to Harry, who had another worry. He pointed out how much they are going to have to steal as shredded skin of a Boomslang is definitely not in the student's cupboard. He asks if they are going to break into Snape's private stores, saying he doesn't know if it's a good idea.
"It most certainly is not," Severus said silkily.
Hermione shut the book with a snap. She said if they were going to chicken out, fine, she didn't want to break rules, but she thinks threatening muggleborns is far worse than brewing a difficult potion.
"While you have a point, I don't think it's the difficulty there are quite so worried about. If either of them get caught, Snape will try to have them both expelled," Kingsley reminded her.
"Especially after what Dumbledore said, and then the howler, I'd be pretty hesitant to go stealing from Snape too," Charlie agreed.
Hermione continued that if they don't want to find out if it's Malfoy, she'll go straight back to Madam Pince and hand the book back. Ron commented that he never thought he'd see the day when she was convincing them to break rules.
"Good point. You've come so far from being expelled is worse than death," George teased.
"If anything, you're turning into a bad influence on the boys," Tonks agreed with a chuckle.
"They don't need any bad influences to break rules," Severus drawled. "They do that plenty by themselves." Harry would have argued, but he wasn't exactly wrong. Of course, he usually broke the rules while trying to do the right thing, like saving Hogwarts, but he couldn't deny he did break them rather often.
"Hermione is scared, and I don't blame her. A cat has been petrified and a message was left threatening every muggleborn in the school. After everything that happened the year before, I don't blame her for not feeling safe, even at Hogwarts," Ted put in.
Ron agreed to make the potion as long as they don't use toenails. Harry asked how long it takes to make. Hermione, looking happier, opened the book again and said about a month.
"Well, that's a long time," George whistled.
"Not like we had a lot of choice," Harry shrugged.
Ron stated that Malfoy could have attacked half the muggleborns in the school by then.
"Unlikely. Whoever is doing this has only attacked one cat so far. If they attack too many people at once, it will get easier to find them," Amelia reasoned.
But Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously again, and he quickly added that it's the best plan they have so full steam ahead.
"Wise move," Sirius laughed.
However, while Hermione was checking that the coast was clear for them to leave the bathroom, Ron muttered to Harry that it would be less hassle if he knocked Malfoy off his broom the next day.
Draco scowled.
"I suppose it would probably be difficult for him to attack people while in the Hospital Wing, but Madam Pomfrey can fix pretty much anything. It would hardly solve the issue for longer than a couple of days," Tonks pointed out.
"I was desperate," Ron said with a shrug. "The potion freaked me out."
"Can't blame you for that," Remus smiled.
Harry woke early on Saturday morning and lay for a while thinking about the Quidditch match later that day. He was nervous at the thought of what Wood would say if Gryffindor lost,
"I wouldn't be so worried about what he would have said, but how much extra practise he would have made up do," George commented. He, Fred and Harry all shuddered.
"Yeah. If we weren't in class, or eating, he would have had us on the pitch," Harry agreed.
but also at the idea of facing a team mounted on the fastest racing brooms gold could buy. He had never wanted to beat Slytherin so badly.
"Well, you managed that at least. And with everything that was going on, too," Fred smiled at him.
"I'm guessing that would be the rogue bludger?" Sirius groaned.
"Quidditch doesn't stop just for a rogue bludger," Harry told him.
"Sometimes, it should," George said darkly. Neither twin had been pleased with Oliver for instructing them to leave Harry alone. Having read the last book and a bit, they understood better why Harry had insisted on carrying on and doing it all by himself, but Oliver was the captain. He had a duty to look out for his player's health. Of course, his pre-match speech hadn't helped all that much either.
After half an hour of lying there he decided to go down to breakfast early. The rest of the Gryffindor team were huddled at the long, empty table, all looking uptight and not speaking much. Just before eleven, the school started making its way down to the pitch. Ron and Hermione wished him luck and then the team got changed ready for Wood's pre-match talk. He stated that Slytherin had better brooms, but they had better people on those brooms.
"Yeah. Ollie's right," Charlie said with a grin.
Draco scowled again.
He continued that they had trained harder than before and been flying in all weathers. George interjected that it was too true, and he hadn't been properly dry since August."
Everyone chuckled at that.
Oliver ignored him, saying that they were going to make Slytherin rue the day they let the little slime Malfoy buy his way onto the team.
Narcissa scowled at the book.
"In his defence, Draco was an upgrade on Higgs, their last seeker," Harry put in. Draco shot him a grateful look. "He's just not as good as me," he added with a smirk. The grin morphed into a scowl and an eyeroll.
Chest heaving with emotion, Wood turned to Harry telling him it was up to him to show them that a Seeker has to have something more than a rich father. He tells him to get the snitch before Malfoy or die trying.
"He did not just say that to Harry self-sacrificing Potter?" Ron groaned.
"In fairness to Wood, it's a stupid thing to say, yes, but if he'd said it to any other person on the team, they wouldn't have taken him seriously," Percy put in. "And he doesn't have all the insights we do into Harry."
"Just you wait. He gets worse," Fred muttered darkly to his brother. Percy sighed.
"Of course he does."
"To be fair, I did have it mostly handled. Lockhart was the one who made it worse," Harry reminded them.
"What could Lockhart have done? Don't tell me he was refereeing or something?" Sirius asked in horror.
"No, nothing like that. You'll see," Harry told him.
"I hate that phrase."
Fred winked at Harry, saying no pressure.
"Thanks, Fred."
"Anytime."
As they walked out onto the pitch, a roar of noise greeted them; mainly cheers, because Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin beaten,
All of the Slytherins in the room sighed. They were used to it, but that didn't make it any more pleasant to hear.
The Slytherins in the crowd managed to make their boos and hisses heard. Madam Hooch got Flint and Wood to shake hands and they gave each other threatening stares, gripping rather harder than was necessary.
"Some things never change," Sirius chuckled.
"Boys," Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes.
"The girls are just as bad," Fred smirked.
Madam Hooch started the match. Harry flew higher than everyone else as he began squinting around for the snitch. Malfoy followed, calling him scarhead before shooting underneath him to show off his broom.
"Wow. Scarhead? That's all you've got?" Charlie laughed. "Ginny's been calling people worse than that since she was six."
"Excuse me!" Molly shrieked.
"Charlie!" Ginny hissed angrily.
"Come on, mum. You know how it is. She didn't say anything bad, just better insults than calling Harry 'scarhead'," Charlie said, shooting his sister a concerned look. Had Bill really had to teach her how to cast a Bat Bogey Hex? Molly glared between the two, but Arthur put a hand on her arm.
"You can't tell me you didn't call your brothers names when you were younger," he pointed out quietly. She narrowed her eyes. "I know I certainly did." After a moment she sighed.
"You're right."
Charlie shot his dad a grateful look and Arthur had to stop himself from chuckling.
"Honestly, Malfoy, calling him names and showing off -" Fred smirked.
"- one really might wonder if you're trying to flirt with out Harrikins," George said with a grin. Draco glared at both of them.
Harry couldn't reply as a bludger came pelting towards him. He narrowly avoided it, feeling it ruffle his hair as it passed.
Sirius inhaled sharply.
"Padfoot, it's just a Quidditch game. You know Madam Pomfrey can patch up anything that goes wrong," Remus reminded him quietly. Tentatively, he placed his hand on Sirius' arm, and it wasn't shaken off.
George called out that it was a close one as he streaked over, club in hand. He gave it a powerful whack towards Adrian Pucey but the bludger changed direction midair and shot at Harry again.
"So, the rogue bludger is only after you? Of course," Bill sighed.
"But why Harry? He isn't a muggleborn and so far, the only attack was on Mrs Norris. The monster doesn't seem to be after him particularly," Tonks pointed out.
"No, but Harry had the argument with Filch, found out he was a squib, which is what led to Nick helping him and Harry getting invited to the Deathday party. That then caused him not to be at the feast and so be the one to find Mrs Norris, getting caught by none other than Filch," Charlie said thoughtfully. "Plus, all the stuff with the feast running late and everyone arriving at that corridor."
"You can't think he's being set up? Nobody could have known that Nick would help get Harry out of trouble, or that Harry would go to that party as a thank you. It's impossible," Emmeline frowned.
"It's a weird coincidence though," Kingsley said slowly.
Harry dropped quickly to avoid it, and George managed to hit it hard toward Malfoy. Once again, the Bludger swerved like a boomerang and shot at Harry's head.
"For Merlin's sake!" Sirius groaned.
Harry put on a burst of speed and zoomed toward the other end of the pitch, the bludger whistling along behind him. He wondered what was going on as bludgers never concentrated on one player like this. Their job was to try and unseat as many people as possible. Fred was waiting at the other end for him. Harry ducked as Fred swung with all his might, knocking it off course. Fred yelled 'gotcha' but he was wrong as it came back for Harry once more.
"Don't tell me nobody noticed this?" Ted asked wearily. "The same way nobody but Severus did anything about Harry's broom last year."
"A time out was called, but the match resumed," Minerva admitted. "Wood wouldn't forfeit."
"Well, maybe a teacher should have stepped in an organised a rematch, after in inquiry took place, rather than have a team forfeit for circumstances out of their control," Emmeline suggested.
"Quidditch doesn't work like that," Charlie shrugged.
"Well maybe it should!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry could have been seriously hurt."
"I was fine," Harry protested.
"Coming from you, that doesn't mean too much," Ron pointed out. "You really don't have much luck in the first game of the season, do you?"
"No. Let's hope whatever goes wrong in fourth year is easily fixable," Harry muttered back.
It started to rain. Harry didn't have a clue what was going on in the rest of the game as the rain splattered on his glasses. Eventually he heard Lee state that Slytherin were leading sixty points to zero, so clearly the new brooms were doing their jobs.
"That, and the fact that both beaters are probably a bit preoccupied helping Harry with the stupid bludger. Plus, Harry can't see well with his glasses not covered by an impervious charm. Gryffindor are essentially down three players," Charlie pointed out. "It's hardly a showing of how brilliant Slytherin are."
Draco scowled at him. "We were playing well," he snapped.
"Maybe you were, I just meant it's not a fair comparison of how good the teams were considering how handicapped the Gryffindor team is."
The mad Bludger continued doing all it could to knock Harry out of the air. Fred and George were now flying so close to him on either side that Harry could see nothing at all except their flailing arms and had no chance to look for the Snitch, let alone catch it.
"Thanks, boys," Sirius smiled gratefully.
"Couldn't let anything happen to our star player," Fred smiled, though it was slightly forced.
Fred grunted that someone had tampered with the bludger as he protected Harry once more. George tried to signal for a timeout and stop the bludger breaking Harry's nose at the same time. Wood still got the message and Madam Hooch's whistle sounded.
"Nice going," Bill told George, impressed.
Harry, Fred, and George dived for the ground, still trying to avoid the mad Bludger. Once they had landed, Wood demanded to know what was going on. He asked where Fred and George were when the bludger stopped Angelina scoring. George angrily replied that they were twenty feet above her stopping the other one murdering Harry. He stated that the Slytherins must have done something as it hadn't gone for anyone else all game.
"We wouldn't do that," Draco snorted.
"Oh yeah, cause you're so above cheating," Fred said sarcastically.
"They wouldn't have the ability to charm the bludgers to do that," Bill pointed out.
Wood pointed out that the bludgers had been locked in Madam Hooch's office since their last practice and there hadn't been anything wrong. Hooch came over, the Slytherins jeering behind her. Harry told the twins to go back to the rest of the team and leave the rogue one to him.
"Absolutely not!" Sirius and Molly yelped at the same time.
"The best thing to do was to finish the match quickly," Harry pointed out. "Give the bludger less time to hit me. And I was hardly going to wait around for Draco to catch the snitch."
"Wise choice. You'd have been waiting forever," Ron smirked.
"It's a game. Don't risk your life for a game," Tonks told him.
"Get the snitch or die trying. I'm going to strangle your captain," Sirius growled.
"Wood is lucky he's graduated," Minerva muttered to herself.
"Again, he didn't know how literally Harry would take those words," Percy defended his former dorm mate.
Fred told him not to be thick. Wood looked between the two. Alicia told him it was insane and not to let Harry deal with it on his own. She suggested an inquiry. Harry pointed out they'd have to forfeit the match and declared they weren't losing the Slytherin because of a mad bludger. George told Oliver it was his fault for telling him to get the snitch or die trying, calling it a stupid thing to say.
Several people nodded at George's statement.
"To be fair, Professor McGonagall is the one who told Harry he would be punished if she didn't think he was training hard enough last year. Harry's always been under pressure to perform well at Quidditch," Hermione reminded them. Minerva flushed.
"I hope you are aware Mr. Potter, now at the very least, that you will certainly not be punished for losing a match. Any match, but especially those in which the loss was completely outside of your control. I am quite aware of your dedication to the game and would much prefer you to put your health first, not Quidditch," she told him. Harry nodded slowly.
Sirius pulled him into a tight hug. "Nothing we can do now, let's keep reading."
Madam Hooch had joined them and asked if they were ready to resume play. Wood looked at Harry and then told the twins to leave him alone and let him deal with the bludger.
"Thanks for trying, boys," Sirius told the twins.
"I think, perhaps, you may need to consider your captains more carefully in the future," Filius said quietly to Minerva.
"Yes," she sighed. There was no arguing that Wood was an absolutely brilliant Quidditch player, but perhaps not the best captain.
The rain was falling more heavily now. They launched back into the air and bludger was immediately on his tail once more. Harry began doing all he could to avoid it, knowing he must look quite stupid.
"Who cares if you look stupid as long as you're head stays attached!" Fred exclaimed in exasperation.
"It didn't say I cared, it was just something I thought in that moment," Harry defended himself.
A whistling in Harry's ear told him the bludger had just missed him again. He turned right over and sped in the opposite direction. A Harry was forced to do a stupid twirl to avoid a bludger, Malfoy called out, asking if he was training for the ballet.
"Ballet on a broomstick?" Hermione asked, eyebrows raised. "His agility in the air will have absolutely no bearing on his ability to dance."
"Yeah, Malfoy, if you're going to insult Harry, at least make sure your insult makes sense," George teased.
"You'd think, with all the effort you clearly put into getting Harry to notice you, you'd have better insults," Fred agreed with a smirk. Draco glared at them both. They just gave him identical, evil grins that made him hide a shudder.
As he glared back at Malfoy in hatred, he saw the Golden Snitch. It was hovering inches above Malfoy's left ear, and Malfoy, who was busy laughing at Harry, hadn't seen it.
Draco groaned and hid his face in his hands. Everyone else smirked.
For an agonizing moment, Harry hung in midair, not daring to speed toward Malfoy in case he looked up and saw the Snitch.
"NO!" Sirius yelled. "Don't sit still!"
"Yeah. I got that," Harry winced.
WHAM.
"Wham?" Sirius asked urgently.
"Broken arm. Nothing too bad," Harry assured him. "Hurt a lot, but easy to fix." Sirius settled down slightly. He didn't like Harry getting hurt, at all, but he did know that injuries were part and parcel of Quidditch. While it wasn't usual circumstances given the bludger, a broken arm wasn't all that bad in the scheme of things. Especially considering it could have been a lot worse. Harry didn't mention Lockhart making things a lot more complicated.
He had stayed still a second too long. The bludger had hit him at last and Harry felt his arm break at the elbow.
All the Quidditch players winced in sympathy.
Dimly, dazed by the searing pain in his arm, he slid sideways on his rain drenched broom, one knee still crooked over it, his right arm dangling useless at his side.
"You didn't fall off?" Sirius asked anxiously.
"No. Course not," Harry grinned.
The bludger came pelting back for a second attack, this time aiming at his face. Harry swerved out of the way, one idea firmly lodged in his numb brain: get to Malfoy.
"Shut it!" Harry warned the twins before either of them could even open their mouths. The pouted at him.
Through a haze of rain and pain he dived for the shimmering, sneering face below him and saw its eyes widen with fear: Malfoy thought Harry was attacking him.
"You were flying directly at me," Draco pointed out.
"Well, you should have noticed the snitch next to your face then," Harry grinned at him. Draco glared at the floor.
He careened out of Harry's way. Harry made a wild snatch, and felt his fingers close on the snitch, while he gripped the broom with only his legs.
"YES!" All of the Gryffindors in the room cheered loudly.
He could hear a yell from the crowd below as he headed straight for the ground, trying hard not to pass out. He hit the mud, rolling off his broom, and noticed his arm was hanging at a very odd angle. He focused on the snitch in his good hand, commented that they had won and then fainted.
"At least you got to the ground first that time," Fred muttered.
"It was a brilliant catch," George said. "But we were just glad you were mostly ok."
"Well, until the git got there," Fred added grimly.
When he came around, he was still lying on the field, but now someone was leaning over him. He saw a glitter of teeth.
"Oh no!" Sirius groaned. Then he remembered Harry saying something about Lockhart making it worse. "What did he do?"
"Nothing good," Harry muttered angrily.
Harry moaned out not him and Lockhart told the crowd that he didn't know what he was saying.
"Oh, he knew perfectly well what he was saying," Ron said angrily.
"Where were the other teachers?" Remus wondered.
"I was having a word with Mr. Jordan," Minerva admitted.
He stated that he would fix Harry's arm. Harry protested, saying he'd keep it like that. He tried to sit up, but the pain was terrible. A familiar clicking sounded nearby and he loudly told Colin he didn't want a photo of this.
"That boy!" Minerva cried in exasperation.
"Honestly, that kid needs to learn some boundaries," Charlie huffed.
"He did. Eventually," Harry said.
Lockhart told him to lie back and that it was a simple charm he'd used countless times.
"The boy has already said no. Just send him to the hospital wing," Pomona grumbled.
Harry asked why he couldn't just go to the hospital wing. Wood told Lockhart that he really should. He was grinning despite Harry's injury and told him it had been a great catch.
"Not the time, Wood," Charlie rolled his eyes.
"At least his first comment was to agree Harry should go to the hospital wing, not about the catch. "That's improvement for Wood," Fred noted.
"You know it's bad when Harry volunteers to go to the hospital wing," Hermione muttered.
Through the thicket of legs around him, Harry spotted Fred and George Weasley, wrestling the rogue bludger into a box. It was still putting up a terrific fight.
"Even now? It didn't try and attack Harry during the timeout though," Kingsley said with a frown.
"Oh, it wasn't trying to get to Harry in particular then, it just didn't want to go back into the box," George told him. "Moreso than usual."
"Madam Hooch was already trying to cast diagnostics on it, which is why she wasn't with Harry," Fred added.
Lockhart told people to stand back. Harry protested once more but Lockhart was already twirling his wand.
"Honestly, does he not understand the word 'no'!?" Sirius growled.
"I doubt it," Remus muttered, just as angrily. Even without Harry's comment, they both knew Lockhart would do nothing to improve the situation.
A strange and unpleasant sensation started at Harry's shoulder and spread all the way down to his fingertips. It felt as though his arm was being deflated.
"Deflated?" Amelia raised an eyebrow.
"What spell did he use?" Kingsley asked.
"Er…not sure. I wasn't paying much attention," Harry admitted. "I don't think he said anything."
"So, he attempted wordless magic when he can't even perform a simple freezing charm on pixies?" Sirius asked in outrage.
"That requires a great deal of mental focus, no wonder it went wrong," Remus sighed.
"Even if he hadn't done it wordlessly, it would have gone wrong," Charlie pointed out scornfully.
"True. But it's often harder to fix mistakes with wordless magic," Bill said.
"It was an easy enough fix. Just a really unpleasant one," Harry stated.
He didn't dare look at what was happening. He had shut his eyes and turned his face away from his arm, but his worst fears were realized as the people above him gasped and Colin Creevey began clicking away madly.
"I'm gonna strangle that kid," Sirius muttered.
His arm didn't hurt anymore, but neither did it feel remotely like an arm.
"What did he do?" Amelia sighed.
"Sounds like he removed all the bones instead of fixing them," Moody grunted. Harry nodded.
"Idiot," Minerva groaned.
"At least it was something simple. A large dose of skelegro and he'll be fine," Tonks said.
"Definitely unpleasant though," Remus said with a shudder. He hated that stuff.
Lockhart stated that it could happen sometimes.
"No. It really does not happen unless the one doing the spell gets it completely wrong," Andromeda rolled her eyes.
He said that the point was, the bones are no longer broken.
"Technically true, but only because there weren't any bones left," Ted stated.
Then he told Harry to head off to the hospital wing.
"Which he should have done in the first place!" Ron scowled.
"It wasn't through lack of trying," Harry reminded him.
"Stupid git," Ron muttered.
He asked Ron and Hermione to escort him and said that Madam Pomfrey would be able to tidy him up a bit.
"Tidy him up?" Minerva exploded. "Tidying him up would be fixing his break, not regrowing all of the bones in his arm."
Harry got his feet and felt oddly lopsided. He looked down at his arm and almost passed out again. His arm looked more like a flesh-coloured rubber glove.
"That sounds gross," Tonks commented.
"It really was," Harry agreed.
He tried to move his fingers. Nothing happened. He realised what Lockhart had done.
There was a lot of angry murmurs around the room.
Madam Pomfrey wasn't at all pleased.
"I wonder why?" Minerva said sarcastically.
She raged that he should have come straight to her, as she held up the limp remainder of what had been a working arm half an hour before.
"He tried, for once," Hermione sighed.
"We know, but I'm pretty sure she was angry with Lockhart, not Harry," Ron pointed out.
She said she could mend bones in a second but growing them back, she didn't finish the sentence. Harry desperately asked if she was able to. Madam Pomfrey agreed that, of course she could, but that it would be painful. She threw him some pyjamas, saying he would have to stay the night.
"Only one? That must be some sort of record for Harry," Fred teased.
"I think it actually might be," Harry said with a frown. "I think that is the shortest time I've ever stayed in the hospital wing." He had been in for days at the end of first year, and the whole weekend after the Dementor incident in third year. He supposed that at the end of third year he had only been in the hospital wing overnight as well. Although he had left for several hours to free Sirius.
"That's not comforting," Sirius muttered anxiously.
Hermione waited outside the curtain drawn around Harry's bed while Ron helped him into his pajamas. It took a while to stuff the rubbery, boneless arm into a sleeve.
Everyone winced.
Ron asked how Hermione could still up for Lockhart now. She said that anyone could make a mistake and pointed out it didn't hurt anymore.
"No, but that really isn't the point. It's going to hurt more for longer regrowing the bones," Tonks said.
"Yeah," Hermione sighed.
"Not to mention, he isn't a qualified healer and shouldn't have attempted to do anything anyway," Emmeline added.
"I'm not sure he's a qualified anything," Kingsley muttered.
Harry agreed it didn't hurt, before adding it didn't do anything else either.
"Details, details," George snickered.
As he swung himself onto the bed, his arm flapped pointlessly. Hermione and Madam Pomfrey came around the corner. The matron warned him that he was in for a rough night as regrowing bones was a nasty business. Harry thought that so was taking skelegro.
"It's vile," Tonks agreed.
"You would know best. Given how clumsy you are, it's not surprising you've had to take it plenty," Charlie grinned.
It burned his mouth and throat, causing him to cough and splutter. Madam Pomfrey retreated, tutting about dangerous sports and inept teachers. Harry gulped down some water. Ron grinned, saying that they had won though, and Malfoy had looked ready to kill.
Draco sighed.
Hermione wanted to know who fixed the bludger. Harry said they could add it to the list of questions to ask him when they've taken Polyjuice.
"You can't surely have thought baby Malfoy managed to charm a bludger?" Fred scoffed.
"Not by himself, but he might have had help," Hermione shrugged.
He added that he hoped the Polyjuice tasted better than skelegro. Ron scoffed, reminding him it would have bits of Slytherins in.
Draco and Severus both rolled their eyes at this.
The rest of the Quidditch team arrived. George told them he'd just seen Flint yelling at Malfoy for not noticing the snitch on top of his head. Malfoy didn't seem to happy.
"Hard to believe, that," Hermione said dryly.
"Yeah, he just lost his first match even with the brooms daddy gave the team," Fred sniggered, grinning gleefully.
"And was so busy yelling rubbish insults at Harry, he didn't notice the snitch right above him," George agreed.
"Boys," Molly said warningly.
They had brought cakes, sweets, and bottles of pumpkin juice. They gathered around Harry's bed and were just getting started on what promised to be a good party when Madam Pomfrey came storming over, shouting that Harry needed rest. She shooed them all out, leaving Harry alone, with no distraction from the pain.
"Honestly, Madam Pomfrey thinks rest can cure anything," Ron scoffed.
"She's a brilliant healer, but she really doesn't understand that friendly visitors help, they don't make things worse," Charlie agreed.
"Besides, it can only be, what, early afternoon? Maybe midafternoon depending how long the game took. That's plenty of time before visiting hours are over," Sirius said.
"Visiting hours are kind of optional for Madam Pomfrey," Harry muttered unhappily.
Harry woke several hours later quite suddenly in the pitch blackness and gave a small yelp of pain. His arm now felt full of large splinters. For a second, he thought that was what had woken him, but then he realised someone was sponging his forehead.
"What?" Sirius asked in surprise.
"Colin didn't sneak up in the hospital wing, did he?" Bill asked in bemusement. Harry grimaced. That's exactly what Colin had been trying to do when he'd been attacked.
"It wasn't Colin," he said.
"Was it Ginny?" Fred smirked.
"Fred!" Ginny and Molly yelled at the same time.
"No," Harry stated firmly.
He yelled at them to get off and realised it was Dobby.
"Dobby?" Everyone except the trio exclaimed in astonishment.
"Don't tell me the elf was behind the bludger?" Kingsley raised his eyebrows.
"No way," Charlie scoffed.
"He wanted to help Harry, not hurt him," Bill pointed out.
"Yeah, and how did that work for him last time? Harry almost starved to death and then got beaten up by the Willow," Emmeline reminded him.
"Honestly, if it was the elf, if he doesn't stop 'helping' Harry, he's going to kill him," Amelia muttered to herself.
The house-elf's goggling tennis ball eyes were peering at Harry through the darkness and a single tear was running down his nose. He miserably whispered that Harry Potter had come back to school despite Dobby warning him and warning him. He asked why Harry didn't go home when he missed the train.
"You mean, aside from the fact his relatives nearly killed him thanks to you!" Sirius snarled furiously.
"It's not like Dobby stuck around. He didn't see the results of that incident," Harry reminded him.
"Maybe he should have done," Remus said grimly. "Maybe he should have seen first-hand what he did."
"It wouldn't have helped. He would still have thought what was going on at Hogwarts was worse."
"He would have thought starving to death was better than Hogwarts?" Emmeline asked incredulously.
"The Dursleys wouldn't have actually let me die," Harry protested weakly.
"You weren't so certain of that yourself at one point," Sirius reminded him. Harry shrugged.
"I knew they wouldn't really. I was just desperate and not thinking straight."
"My concern, is what at Hogwarts is worse? Yes, petrification is very bad, but it is easily reversible with the Restorative Draught, which is fairly easily obtainable," Amelia mused. Harry had just stated that Dobby would have thought whatever was going on was definitely worse than starvation, and given that Harry knew exactly what was going on, that was a rather terrible statement.
"What if it whatever did it, wasn't supposed to petrify? Bill said thoughtfully. "What if it was supposed to kill, or permanently turn someone to stone, but something weakened the effect? Like when you get a shield charm up, but something breaks through it. The shield will still take the brunt of the spell and you get a weaker blast."
"But what could possibly have shielded Mrs Norris? Nobody was around to cast a shield charm and I doubt a simple Protego is going to help much against something designed to turn you to stone or kill you," Tonks pointed out.
"Let's just keep reading. We'll find out eventually," Ted stated.
Harry heaved himself up on his pillows and pushed Dobby's sponge away, asking what he was doing here. Then he asked how he knew he missed the train. Dobby's lip trembled and Harry became suspicious. He realized it was Dobby that stopped the barrier and the house-elf agreed.
They all shook their heads in disbelief. It was one thing to have guessed it was Dobby, it was quite another to have it confirmed. That a house-elf would go to these lengths, without their master's orders of, was unheard of, even if they excluded the events at Privet Drive, which were already extraordinary.
Dobby told him that he had hidden and watched for Harry. Then he had had to iron his hands afterwards, but he hadn't cared as long as Harry was safe.
"That's some serious devotion to someone who isn't his master," Neville said in confusion.
Dobby had never dreamed he would get to school another way.
"Really? He thought Harry would just give up and go home? That there wouldn't be some enquiry as to why Harry Potter hadn't shown up to school?" Minerva asked.
"Logic wasn't exactly Dobby's strong suit," Harry told her with a slight smile.
"Evidently," she muttered.
He was rocking backward and forward, shaking his ugly head. He told Harry that he was so shocked when he heard Harry was at school that he let his master's dinner burn and received a terrible flogging.
"That's awful!" Hermione exclaimed.
"His master was Lucius Malfoy," Harry said angrily. "Why are we surprised?"
"House-elves might not want to be free, but they deserve better than that!" Hermione said, staring at Andromeda.
"I agree, Miss Granger. As long as you understand that freeing all of the house-elves is not the way to go about helping them."
"Your best bet is to try and change the laws, to put laws in place to protect house-elves," Tonks told her.
"But even then, be prepared for a great deal of trouble enforcing it. House-elves cannot speak against their masters. If they are ordered to keep quiet, you'll have trouble proving any abuse," Andromeda stated. "I say this, not to discourage you from trying to change the law, but to help you understand the barriers you will face. And that is without those on the Wizengamot who will never vote to give house-elves a better life."
"I will find a way," Hermione declared.
"If anyone can, it's you," Ron told her. She blushed slightly.
Harry slumped back onto his pillows. He told Dobby that he almost got Ron and him expelled. Then warned him he'd better leave before Harry's bones grow back or he will strangle him.
"Harry!" Hermione glared angrily at him.
"I wasn't going to actually strangle him," Harry replied fiercely. "But I was pretty angry at all the grief he had caused."
"With good reason," Sirius scowled.
"I don't think it will matter anyway. Whatever you could do to him will be no worse than what he receives at home on a regular basis," Charlie pointed out with an angry glare at the two Malfoys.
Dobby smiled weakly and stated that he was used to death threats as he received them five times a day at home.
"Five times a day?" Hermione screeched.
"I would say it's an exaggeration, but with Lucius Malfoy, probably not," Bill muttered.
He blew his nose on a corner of the filthy pillowcase he wore, looking so pathetic that Harry felt his anger ebb away in spite of himself. He asked Dobby why he wore it. He stated it was a mark of a house-elf's enslavement and that he can only be freed if presented with clothes.
Harry smirked.
He added that the family was careful not to pass Dobby even a sock because then he would be free to leave their house forever.
Harry's smirk widened. Hermione caught his look and grinned.
"At least you freed him in the end. That was nice of you," she whispered.
"It was the least he deserved. Even if he spent the year trying to accidentally kill me."
Dobby wiped his eyes and then told Harry he must go home. He had thought that his bludger would be enough.
"It was his bludger!" Sirius yelled.
"Well, I'm still maintaining it was more Lockhart's fault," Harry said with a scowl.
"Only because you are an excellent flyer. Any less good and that bludger might have taken your head off," Fred muttered mutinously.
Harry felt his anger rising again as he asked if Dobby made the bludger try to kill him. Dobby looked shocked as he said he would never kill him.
"Really? He was shocked? What did he expect to happen if he caused a heavy ball to continuously fly at your head?" Charlie asked in bewilderment.
"I guess he was aiming for badly injured, because that so much better," Bill said sarcastically.
Dobby told him he wanted to save Harry's life and that it was better to be sent home grievously injured than remain at Hogwarts.
"Seriously?" Remus shook his head.
"He wouldn't be sent home. If it was so bad Poppy couldn't deal with it, he would go to St Mungo's and then back to Hogwarts," Andromeda pointed out.
"Well, St Mungo's is still out of Hogwarts, so I guess that still works for what Dobby wanted," Ted reminded her.
Harry asked is Dobby was going to tell him why he wanted him sent home in pieces. Dobby bemoaned that if only Harry knew. He said if he knew what Harry meant to the lowly and the enslaved. He recalled how house-elves were treated like vermin when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers. Then he added that he was still treated like vermin.
"Poor Dobby," Emmeline murmured.
"He has gone about things terribly, but regardless he doesn't deserve that," Remus agreed.
Dobby told him life had mostly improved since Voldemort's downfall and Harry shone like a beacon of hope.
Harry flushed.
"Why would house-elf treatment get better after Voldemort was destroyed?" Hermione wondered. "I mean, I'm not complaining, but it obviously didn't stop people like Lucius Malfoy from mistreating Dobby, so why would it stop other people?"
He added that terrible things are to happen at Hogwarts and Dobby cannot let him stay there with history about to repeat itself and with the Chamber open once more.
"Dobby knows about the Chamber?" Amelia's eyebrows rose.
"Well, we know that Lucius has something to do with it. So, it makes sense that Dobby would know, I guess," Kingsley muttered to her.
"It happened before?" Neville asked, wide-eyed.
"Yes," Dumbledore said gravely.
Dobby froze and then grabbed Harry's water jug to hit himself over the head. He toppled out of sight before crawling onto the bed, mumbling 'bad Dobby'. Harry said that there is a Chamber of Secrets and that it had been opened before. He demanded Dobby tell him, grabbing his wrist as his hand inched towards the jug again. He pointed out he wasn't muggleborn.
"Well, it depends how much control whoever it is has over the monster. Mrs Norris wasn't a muggleborn either," Ted pointed out.
Dobby stammered and told him not to ask more of poor Dobby.
"Honestly, I think he wants to ask less of you. Like to stop trying to help him," Fred muttered.
"Yeah. A little less of his help would go a long way," Sirius agreed angrily.
He told him that dark deeds are planned at Hogwarts, but Harry must not be there when they happen. He also tells him not to meddle as it is too dangerous.
"Fat chance of that," Severus snorted to himself.
"Especially given he's already in the process of helping Hermione brew Polyjuice potion to infiltrate the Slytherin common room and interrogate Malfoy," Ted chuckled.
"Where they will likely find that they are wrong and find some other hairbrained scheme to find out who is behind this," Emmeline added in exasperation.
Harry asked Dobby who opened it last time. Dooby pleaded, saying that he could tell. Dobby told him to go home, and Harry stated that one of his best friends is muggleborn and she'll be first in line if the Chamber has been opened.
Hermione leaned around Ron to tug Harry into a tight hug.
"Not that it did much good," Harry muttered. "You still got petrified."
"Hey, you still managed to solve it and kill the basilisk," she whispered back. He tightened his arms around her for a moment.
Dobby moaned that Harry Potter risks his life for his friends, calling him so noble and so valiant. Then states that Harry needs to save himself.
"I wish," Sirius sighed.
"You know why that is," Remus whispered to him.
"Yeah, but that doesn't make me feel any better."
Dobby suddenly froze, his bat ears quivering. Harry heard it, too. There were footsteps coming down the passageway outside. Dobby vanished and Harry slumped back on the bed. Dumbledore backed into the dormitory, wearing a dressing gown and nightcap, and carrying one end of a statue. McGonagall appeared, carrying the feet.
"Oh no. Another petrification!" Emmeline gasped.
"And a person this time, not just a cat," Kingsley added.
They put in on a bed. Dumbledore whispered to get Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall hurried past Harry's bed. He pretended to be asleep as they both came into view. Madam Pomfrey asked what happened as they bent over the statue. Dumbledore told her it was another attack and that McGonagall had found him on the stairs. McGonagall stated there were grapes next to him, they think he was coming to visit Harry.
"A male coming to visit Harry. That has to be Colin," Tonks guessed.
"Right after the match, where he was taking photos of Harry injured? That's not going to look great," Bill said worriedly. "Especially as Harry's always been kind of annoyed by Colin."
"But Harry was in the hospital wing. He can't have done it," Fred pointed out.
"Yeah. Madam Pomfrey has wards to let her know if people leave the hospital wing," Sirius said.
Harry's stomach gave a lurch. He carefully raised himself to look at that statue. It was Colin. He had his camera in his hands.
"Of course he did," George rolled his eyes.
"No, that makes no sense," Bill shook his head. "Why would he have his camera up to his face? What was he going to take a picture of, the staircase?"
"That's a very good point," Moody said with a pleased look.
"Yes. I can see why he would have it with him, but why would he have been trying to take a picture. Unless he saw his attacker?" Amelia suggested.
Madam Pomfrey asked if he was petrified, and McGonagall agreed. She added that she shuddered to think what could have happened if Albus hadn't been on his way downstairs. Dumbledore took the camera from Colin and McGonagall wondered if he got a picture of his attacker. Dumbledore opened it and a jet of steam came out. Harry could smell burnt plastic as Madam Pomfrey stated it was all melted.
"What? What could melt the plastic just by being caught on camera?" Tonks wondered.
"Well, Colin is petrified, not dead or stone so maybe the camera is what took the brunt of his attack. If it's something powerful enough to do either of those things, I think it can melt some plastic," Bill pointed out.
McGonagall asked what it meant, and he stated that it meant the Chamber is open again. Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth. McGonagall asked who. Dumbledore stated that the question wasn't who but how.
"So, you know who was doing it?" Amelia raised an eyebrow. "You knew who was petrifying students at Hogwarts and decided to do and say absolutely nothing?"
"There was no proof, and as I said, I was unsure how they could possibly be behind it," Dumbledore said. "Telling the Ministry would have achieved nothing."
"You still should have reported the petrification of students so there could be an investigation!" Amelia glared at him. "Please tell me you didn't wait for the school Mandrakes to reach maturity before restoring a student?"
"Yes. No Restorative Draught was ordered," Minerva admitted with a sigh.
"Mandrakes take months to reach maturity. You left a student, a first-year student petrified for several months to avoid what? Telling St Mungo's and the Ministry what was going on in your school?" Amelia raged. Dumbledore gave no reply.
From what Harry could see of McGonagall's face, she didn't understand better than he did.
"Done," Charlie said.
"Give it here then," Tonks sighed. He did as asked.