Edmund was basically bouncing around the whole field, flying lessons were coming around the corner and he just couldn't contain his energy. He watched as their flying teacher arrived, her short grey hair made her noticeable but the most intimidating about her were her sharp yellow eyes, piercing you like eagles. She called out to them to get a move one and Edmund smiled brightly.
"Up!" Edmund commanded and the broom flew up into his hand. He watched the rest as they were attempting to command their brooms up, Hermione's broom rolled over on the ground, Neville's broom just twitched a little. "You sound too afraid, Neville." Edmund whispered over to his friend.
"That's because I am, Ed." Neville said, his voice shook a little at even the thought of flying around on a broom. "You've done this before, right?" Edmund nodded as he watched over at Draco, the Malfoy was scowling at their Professor who had corrected him for holding the broom wrong. They all mounted the broom and kicked off at the sound of her whistle.
Edmund could see how nervous Neville actually was in the way that the boy was fidgeting something in his pocket, trying to hide it away for safekeeping. Edmund hovered closer to the Hufflepuff, wanting to warn him about keeping his hand on the broom and say some motivational words and such, but his eyes widened as he saw Neville suddenly take off into the air.
For a moment, Edmund just gaped at the boy. He leant forward, wanting to go up and help Neville down but he was grounded by the hand that tapped his broomstick. Madam Hooch gave him a sharp look and Edmund immediately stopped, along with his heart when he saw that Neville was starting to slide off of his broom. "Madam-" He called out but it had already happened. The hand that tapped his broomstick was taken away immediately and she ran over to Neville's moaning body, she leant over to take a look at him. "A broken wrist," The woman muttered, "Come one, up you get." She ordered and turned to the rest of the class as Neville got up from the ground. "None of you move while I take this boy up to the hospital wing!" She exclaimed, "You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."
Edmund gaped over at Neville with a worried expression painted over his face as he saw Neville's cheeks turning a deep red of all the crying, clutching at his wrist in pain. He followed them with his eyes as they walked over to the hospital wing. He was so distracted and worried over Neville that he hadn't noticed that Malfoy was laughing. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." The Rememberball glittered in the sun as Malfoy held it up to the sun.
"Give that here, Malfoy." Harry said, quietly. Everyone quieted down to watch and Malfoy gave them all a nasty smile. Edmund snapped out of his stupor when he saw a flash of blonde hair fly away in front of him, the Rememberball reflecting in the light, in the tight grip of his hands.
"What the bloody-" Edmund muttered as he pulled his broomstick back to him, he climbed up into the air, not caring about any protests the class were having. He wasn't about to let Neville get bullied by Draco, someone he considers a friend of his.
Edmund had to blink a lot to keep his eyes from drying out as he flew throughout the sky and after the Gryffindor and Slytherin. "Draco, stop!" Edmund called out, one more he pulled back on his broomstick and climbed to hover beside Draco, who looked conflicted. "Why-" Edmund started but was interrupted as Harry was suddenly hovering right beside them.
"Catch it if you can, then!" Draco shouted as he drew his arm back and launched the glass ball high into the air. The ball was headed towards the ground, most likely breaking if it were to touch the ground at such a speed. Immediately, Edmund had set off after it, leaving the two boys to stare at him.
"Go back to the rest!" Edmund called out as he followed after the Rememberball. "I'll throw it!" He exclaimed. Harry seemed to listen to him despite him being wary of Edmund, alongside Ron. "Madam Hooch is coming!" He added once he saw a single speck of grey hair in the distance.
Edmund looked down to see how high up he was but paled as soon as he noticed that he was hovering right above the greenhouses, the occupied greenhouses. "Oh bloody hell." He muttered and saw the reflection of him as he looked under, he had a weak smile on his face when he noticed a whole class looking up at him. He was glad that he wasn't a girl who wore skirts. Harry was at the end of the field and Edmund stretched his arm back and launched it in his direction. "Get down here, young man." A disappointed voice called out and Edmund winced at the tone. Edmund pushed his broomstick down, as he slowly descended onto the ground and smoothly landed.
"Professor Sprout!" Edmund recognized the voice, he turned to look at an excited Cedric Diggory. "He's just what we need!" He exclaimed.
"Need for what, Mr. Diggory." The Herbology professor inquired with a hand on her hip.
"Quidditch!" Cedric said with a grin on his face, "We could actually stand a chance now, Tonks graduated, we don't have a chaser!" He argued his case, "Please Professor, let me talk to our quidditch captain."
"How big of a chance is it that you'll win?"
"Far better than we have now," Cedric looked back at their Herbology Professor. "We haven't won anything, nearly close enough for years. This could tip our scales."
Edmund kept turning his head between the student and professor. "Take him to Miss Beatrice. I believe that she has potions with Gryffindor at this moment." Cedric grinned and patted Edmund's back.
"Let's go." Cedric led him to the dungeons and Edmund had discarded the broomstick he held in his hands to a passing classmate who was happy to bring it back. "I'm quite excited." Cedric hummed, "Do you have experience in playing quidditch already?" He asked, "Because that throwing arm you have was really good, especially on a broomstick reserved for first-years. They are faulty at best." Edmund just stuttered in his step as he answered the questions that Cedric asked him.
"I played with Draco Malfoy before we started at Hogwarts, I also played with the Weasley's, during the summers." He answered and nodded, "My broom was leaning a bit to the left, when I flew." He cringed as Cedric talked about the broom quality. Cedric raised his knuckles up to the potion's class door and knocked, softly.
"Excuse me, Professor Snape. I've gotten permission to get Beatrice from Professor Sprout." Cedric said, politely, not noticing the look that the potions master gave his nephew. Their heads turned around to look at the loud footsteps coming down the hall. Professor McGonagall and Harry were coming down the hall as well, most likely having had the same idea as Cedric.
Beatrice walked out of the classroom after getting permission from her teacher. "Beatrice, I've found our new chaser." Edmund just raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked over at the Hufflepuff Captain. "He's a natural, you should've seen him catch and throw that glass ball-"
"A Rememberball." Edmund quickly said and Cedric nodded before continuing to speak. "-of course, a Rememberball." Cedric said quickly, "You could ask Professor Sprout, she had let us come here and talk to you, besides, you know how she is. If he wasn't good at flying, she would've sent him to the Hospital Wing."
Beatrice hummed, "I see," She looked at Edmund closely, "He's built like one, you're quite tall for your age." Edmund gave her a small smile, Cedric was enthusiastically nodding beside him.
"He might be tall but he was swift and agile!" Cedric added, "He's also a bit big, but he can avoid the bludgers." Edmund grimaced, he wasn't that big, was he? Cedric reached over and pinched his arm, "He has some muscle on him."
Edmund snorted as he thought about why, it was his uncle Lupin that got him into training spouting somethings about how the body reflects on the mind, and the mind reflects onto the body. At first he didn't want to believe it but folded as soon as he was starting to be bored during the vacation. What really sealed the deal was that his Uncle Severus agreed with the other uncle.
Edmund just had to agree then.
—
It was time and the boys gaped at the revelation that Edmund would be Hufflepuff's youngest chaser. The boy with the glasses looked back over at him with a mirroring expression. At dinner the two sat together with some other houses over at the Gryffindor table.
"Blimey." Ron said and looked over at the two, "But we're first years, how can you two be quidditch players already?"
"They were impressed with our flying." Edmund answered and looked over at Neville, who was looking confused, into his red rememberball. "Is it still working?" He questioned.
"Yes, but I don't know what I forgot." He answered.
Hermione spoke up, "Quidditch is quite dangerous, you do know that right?" Harry and Edmund nodded. "My heart was seriously beating out of my chest when you two were flying off."
Edmund smiled at her, "Nothing to worry about Hermione, you'll still be able to tie my tie in the morning." He teased.
The Ravenclaw girl blushed and slapped his shoulder, "Oh you'd be in detention for improperly following the rules if it weren't for me." She retorted with a smile on her face.
Edmund laughed and nodded, "True." He admitted. Then the twin Weasley's skipped over to their table with a smile etched onto their face.
"Heard you're going to be our new seeker, Harry." Fred said, and George shook his head, "You weren't supposed to tell anyone, but now look at this!" They motioned to the makeshift group of kids. Neville smiled nervously, Susan just shrugged, Padma rolled her eyes, Hermione looking a bit sheepish and Ron grimaced at his brothers. "We're not going to tell anyone!" Harry said.
George looked over at Edmund, "Congrats on chaser! Beatrice was happy to talk about it." he nodded as he dejectedly patted the Hufflepuff's back. "Not everyone is under the same impression that you'll do as good as Harry."
Fred shuddered, "But we know that you're good." George nodded and the other twin grinned, a bit cruelly. "We have to beat you off of your broom!" He said and cheered.
"As if you could ever touch me." Edmund grinned and laughed at George and Fred's faces. The two could graze him, yes, but they never could fully throw him off of his broom.
"We'll see!" George said, "We'll definitely practise!" Fred said and rubbed his hands together before George quickly pulled him away. "We'll get you!" Fred called out before they disappeared around the corner.
Edmund whipped his head around as he heard Cedric call out his name. He smiled at the table, excusing himself and quickly walked over to the other Hufflepuffs, joining Cedric and the rest of the team. Edmund wasn't aware and didn't hear the interaction between Harry and Malfoy, or between Hermione and Padma who were talking about the duel that Draco challenged Harry to.
—
The very next day Edmund shared a look with his cousin as they both had a broomstick in front of them on the table, narrowly missing their breakfast. "From whom did you get your broom from?" Edmund asked as he walked besides Harry in the hallway.
"Professor McGonagall." Harry whispered to Edmund. "You?"
"My uncle." Professor Snape, actually, but it'd raise too many questions if he admitted that the potions professor was his uncle. "He heard and immediately sent one over." He smiled softly.
"Good for you." Harry said and continued to walk the other way as he sent a look at the person who fell into step with Edmund.
"Hey Hermione." He greeted with a smile. "Lovely morning, isn't it?"
Hermione looked over at Harry and Edmund felt his pace stutter a bit, "Yeah, it is." She replied and saw Padma. The south-asian girl quickly waved over Hermione. The witch waved back and she held a hand out in front of Edmund, stopping him in his steps.
"Here." She said and tightened his tie, and straightened it, "Like I said, you're going to get detention if Professor Snape sees you like this." She pointed out and walked over to Padma. Edmund blinked a few times and when he walked again, he was stopped once more.
"Quite cosy." Snape's voice said, unlike the monotone voice he normally has, it sounded amused. "I think that Lupin would like to hear of your blooming romance."
"R-Romance?" Edmund stuttered as he looked up at his uncle, "No romance," he shook his head, "She's just helping me with my ties, because you two always did them for me."
"You're growing up so fast already." Snape said with a concealed smile, but Edmund could see it in his eyes, "I think you skipped a step of being able to tie it on your own and over to having a girl tie it for you." His uncle teased.
Edmund blushed and smiled at the feeling of normalcy between the two, just like when he's at the house. "Uncle." He whispered, whining at the teasing that was being done. "She isn't my girlfriend."
Snape just let his lips quirk a bit before he pushed the boy into his classroom. "Come on now, Lupin." He said and the class turned to look at him.
The boy bashfully blushed at the eyes on him and sat between Harry and Hermione once more. He could feel a weird air between the two and he couldn't ignore the smug look that Draco had on his face as he looked over at Harry.
He frowned and looked over at Harry. He likes to think that they're friends, "Why is Draco looking over at us like that?" He asked.
Harry frowned, "I don't know, ask him yourself. Aren't you two friends?" He sassed back and turned to his book.
Edmund frowned and looked in his book, ignoring Draco's eyes on their bench and ignoring the look that his uncle gave him. He wondered how much longer he had to keep it a secret from Harry.
—
He had three training sessions a week with his quidditch team, to be honest, he enjoyed it. It gave him a feeling of fulfilment but it also made him rather tired. Bless his housemates from his year that they started a study club amongst them.
It was easier to talk and compare notes with everyone. Doing their homework together was rather nice as well. Their classes were getting increasingly more advanced since they've moved on from the basics, Edmund was starting to have to study.
Edmund was still having a grand time winning points for the house whenever he casted a spell correctly.
Professor Flitwick wanted to try something new, as in putting different houses together in pairs. Edmund looked over at Neville with wide eyes. They normally had their usual pairs but this would completely change the dynamics, immediately he connected his eyes with Hermione and the two nodded at each other.
"I shall call out the pairs!"
Their faces fell as they realised that they won't even have a choice in who their partner will be.
"Miss Bones, you'll be paired up with Miss Patil." The two looked at each other and smiled, they immediately walked over to a desk and sat together.
And the list went on, "Boot, you're with Goyle. Brown, you're with Longbottom." Lavender cringed a bit and Edmund frowned, "Davis, you're with Finnigan." they moved to sit together, neither of them aren't talking to one another. "Granger, you're with Weasley."
He saw Ron cringe and he wondered what happened between the two of them. He thought that they were friends. As friendly as the Weasley could be though. "Hopkins, you're with Malfoy. Parkinson, with MacDougal and I believe that'll leave me with Lupin and Potter. Go ahead and take your seat."
Edmund sat next to Harry, behind Ron and Hermione. He didn't really know what to think of his seating, while his cousin probably isn't the most fond of him at the moment, he'd rather have sat with Hermione.
She's always keeping him focused on his work. Something that he appreciates. He was fidgeting with his necklace as he thought about the holiday. Halloween, the Hufflepuff common room smelled incredible as the fresh smell of pumpkin pie went through the room.
Edmund is excited for Christmas if it smelled so good already at Halloween. He leant over to Harry, "Are they fighting?" He questioned and frowned at the two in front of them.
"I don't know who's more angry at who." Harry answered truthfully. Edmund hummed and looked at Ron. He didn't really know what to think of the boy, he had been quite rude ever since the match they had.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too."
Edmund had his feather up in the air without a problem, Ron however, couldn't say the same thing. At the next table, he wasn't having much more luck. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his arms like a windmill.
He watched as Hermione snapped and corrected him. "You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Her feather rose up into the air and hovered above their heads.
As the class was over, Edmund walked over to Neville and Susan. The three walked over to the Ravenclaws who were walking behind the group of Gryffindors, "It's no wonder no-one can stand her, she's a nightmare, honestly." he heard Ron say and Edmund's breath hitched as he looked over at Hermione.
He stretched his hand out towards her shoulder but she quickly pushed herself past the Gryffindors and Edmund watched as she walked away. Pushing past his friends, he stood in front of Harry and Ron. "You should apologise." He said.
"I haven't done anything wrong." Ron said.
"Nothing wrong?" Edmund repeated and poked his chest with a finger, "You've just insulted her, saying that she has no friends."
"Yeah!" Padma spoke up, "That was awfully cruel to say of you, Weasley." She said and Bones nodded from beside her.
"You better apologise to her in class, Weasley." Edmund wasn't quick to anger but he really hated when someone was being unreasonably mean. He glared at the ginger and he looked behind to see an amused Malfoy.
"What are you smiling at, Draco?" He called him out, "I haven't gotten to you yet!" Draco had been tormenting Neville, it would be a sneer or a leg locking curse. Draco blinked and his smile faltered, the blonde quickly motioned to his group of Slytherins and they pushed past the rest of the class. Edmund turned to look back at Weasley and dusted off his shoulder, "Apologise next class to her." He said quietly and walked away.
"Bloody scary, aren't they, Hufflepuffs. Didn't see that coming." He heard Ron mutter as they walked through the corridors and into their next class. Concern spread through Edmund as he saw the doors close, he shared a look with Padma and they nodded at each other.
The moment that they're free, they were going to look and ask around to find the curly-haired girl. He quickly started to glare holes into the back of Ron's head. His perspective on people has been changing, Draco wasn't the person who he thought that he was, it disappointed him a bit, but on the other side he understood that his parents aren't the best influence.
They had class until the afternoon, it wasn't until he and Padma asked her twin sister if she knew by the feast. "Oh, she's been crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone." Parvati said, "What happened?"
"Ron was being a bloke." Padma said and looked over at the ginger who sat a few seats away from the Gryffindor Patil, she shook her head and took in a breath.
"He's been on quite the rampage lately. Always ranting about Hermione." Parvati hummed.
Padma and Edmund shared a look of exasperation. "He's a bit dramatic."
"Doesn't like being one upped." Padma added.
Edmund squinted, not sure if he saw Harry cringe at their words. He saw that Ron was staring at them though. He glared at the ginger and turned around to Padma. "We should get her some food." He said quietly.
"And something to drink."
He gave her a weak smile, "Maybe a copy of our notes." Padma giggled softly and reached over to the food and put some in a napkin. Edmund had the goblet with water in his hand as they started to walk towards the big doors.
As they reached the door, it flew open, Professor Quirrel sprinted into the hall, turban askew and terror etched across his face. The two stopped in their steps as they looked at the Professor. "Troll." Quirrel breathed out, "In the dungeons, I thought you'd ought to know." Then the man sank into the floor, fainting.
He shared a look with Padma and the hall was empty. Their attention turned to the noise of firecrackers. Dumbledore held his wand up, purple lights and snapping sounds coming out of it. "Prefects," He said, loudly, "Lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
"What, no-" Edmund started and watched as Padma was quickly taken away by her prefect. They shared a panicked look and Padma rambled by her prefect about Hermione. Before he realised it, he was swept up in a wave of yellow, the goblet of water was lost on the ground, pushed out of his hand in the wave of panicking students.
He reached out to the closest thing he could see, he grasped Harry and Ron's arms. "Hermione." He breathed out. He looked up to see the Ravenclaws gone.
"What about her?" Ron questioned, shrugging Edmund's hand off of his arm.
"She doesn't know." Harry said, realising it. The boy must have heard it from Lavender how Hermione was in the toilets. Edmund grasped Ron's arm again and he pulled them down a deserted corridor. They quickly hurried off towards the girls' bathroom. With footsteps sounding in the hall, he pulled them behind a large stone griffin. Edmund knew that sneaking around wasn't very Hufflepuff like, but the Sorting Hat happened to be right, he had a few Gryffindor qualities. Frowning, he watched his uncle walk around and disappear from their view.
"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"
Edmund blinked a few times in confusion. "He's heading for the third floor," Harry stated, but Ron held his hand up.
"Can you smell something?" Harry sniffed.
Edmund cringed, "I'm smelling too much." He said, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. Then his other senses picked up a grunting and shuffling sound.
In horror, the three looked at the end of the hallway. A twelve feet tall, troll, with dull skin and a lumpy body appeared and the smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long. The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside.
The troll reached down and slowly slouched into the room. They moved to peek around the corner and saw that the keys were still in. "We could lock it in." Harry suggested.
"Good idea," said Ron nervously.
"But what if someone is in there?" Edmund countered, his wand held tightly in his hand. They hadn't noticed what room it actually was. With the door closed and a dry mouth, he reached out and banged on the door, "Anyone in there?!" He asked loudly.
"Go awa-" He could hear a girl's voice from the otherside, but her words quickly turned into a scream. He kicked in the door and looked around, his wand in his hand and prepared to attack.
Hermione was shrinked up against the wall, looking pale and panicked. The troll was inching closer to her, knocking the sinks off of the wall as he walked. Edmund held his wand up and shouted out the words, "Petrificus totalus!" He casted and the troll stopped for a moment.
He kept his wand up, struggling with keeping the spell intact. "Quick!" Ron said and motioned for her to come to their side. Hermione scrambled up and over to them before the spell broke.
Edmund heaved and the troll turned around, obviously mad as it started to wave his club around at the toilets, his eyes widened and he quickly uttered the most recent spell they had learned. "Flipendo!" The troll was pushed back against the bathroom wall, the club falling on top of his hand and rolling onto the ground in front of them.
There was a moment of silence before it leant forwards and dropped down to the ground. Face down. Ron, for extra security, uttered out the charm correctly and levitated the club above its head, letting it drop down once more, knocking it out for a bit longer. They hope.
"Is it dead?" Hermione broke the dead silence that hung in the bathroom. The chaotic screams and spells forgotten.
"I don't think so." Edmund said and took a step closer. The three stood behind him, not taking a single step closer to the knocked-out troll. A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the four look up at the door.
For the silence to be so great, there must've been a whole bunch of noise. A short moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear.
Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Snape bent over the troll and looked up at Edmund, angrily. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry.
He had never seen his uncle so mad before.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed." her eyes then looked over at Edmund. He slowly pocketed his wand.
"Why aren't you in your dormitory?" She asked all of them. Then a small voice came out of the shadows.
"Please, Professor McGonagall." Hermione spoke up, "They were looking for me."
"Miss Granger!"
"I went looking for the troll because I-I thought I could deal with it on my own," She took in a breath and tearily smiled at Professor McGonagall. "Because I've read all about them."
Edmund blinked a few times and looked over at Hermione, was she telling a lie, to a teacher. "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Edmund came and froze it, and when it broke free. He casted it into the wall." She motioned to the wall, cracks along the tiles showing the impact the pushed troll had. "Ron then knocked it out again." The troll snorted and Edmund jumped a bit.
"Well," McGonagall started, "In that case..." the transfiguration professor continued. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?" Hermione hung her head. All of the three boys were speechless. If Hermione didn't follow the rules down to the letter, then it wouldn't be Hermione. But there she was, pretending she had broken the rules, just to get them out of trouble.
His uncle spoke up, standing up straight and looked down at the girl. "Miss Granger, ten points will be taken from Ravenclaw for this," The other teacher continued, "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd make your way to the Ravenclaw tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."
Hermione looked at Edmund and left, walking right out of the door.
Then McGonagall turned to the three of them. "You are all very lucky, not many could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll." She said, "You each win five points for your respective houses. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this, you may go."
The three moved to walk out of the door, but Edmund was caught by the arm. His uncle held his arm closely and pulled him back into the room. "Quite the accomplishment." He said and looked down at him. "Full body-binding curse?" He questioned.
Edmund nodded, "Just like we practised." He smiled at his uncle. The man let go of his arm and the corners of his lips quirked up. He could see by the posture and the microscopic smile, that his uncle was proud.
"You've been teaching him second year spells?" McGonagall spoke up.
Snape raised his eyebrow and his smile faltered, "I think that Lupin had rather gotten a bit too excited to teach Theseus here."
McGonagall let out an amused breath and shook her head, "That man." She looked at the first-year student. "The difference is rather uncanny." She hummed, "The panic on your face, it looked as if your father was looking at me after I had caught him. The same goes for Potter." Edmund smiled softly but Snape grimaced. He knew that his uncle had a bad past with his dead uncle. The passive aggressive conversations with Harry in the potions class had proven it right that Uncle Sev still hasn't moved on from it.
He was dismissed and he quickly walked down the stairs and into the corridor of the Hufflepuff entrance. Tapping the barrels and humming the tune of Hufflepuff the doors flew open and Susan ran over, pulling him in a hug.
"You bloody git!" She exclaimed and punched his shoulder, "Do you know how worried we were?" She said. Neville put a comforting hand on her shoulder, he felt comfortable in the common room. Outside of the room, there were constant judging eyes on him. But the common room was his safe place.
"Let's just get him something to eat first, he can explain what happened after." Neville said and Edmund quickly walked over to a seat, sitting down. He filled his plate with food and smiled at the two.