The first books started showing up when they sat down for breakfast on Wednesday. Wrapped in thick, brown paper, the tall stack of Advanced Charm Casting was carried by two owls at once.
Amelie had to duck as they came flying down from the top of the Great Hall, skidding across the stone floor from sheer momentum, before bumping against an unsuspecting Ravenclaw.
She apologised quickly, while trying to wrestle the package from the clearly unamused birds.
Before she had time to take stock, another one came soaring down, dropping a box onto her chest and knocking Amelie onto her backside.
By the time the onslaught was over, she had a pile of little crates and parcels stacked up on the floor next to the Hufflepuff table.
"Bit early for Christmas," Patricia joked.
Polly wiped her hands on her napkin and asked, "Do you need help carrying those?"
The small tower of text-books was almost up to Amelie's hips and, given the thickness of the tomes, obviously quite heavy.
"What do you mean 'carrying'?"
Pulling out her wand, Amelie pushed up the sleeves of her robes and cleared her throat. With a swish-and-flick she loudly said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The parcels and boxes shuddered, before slowly lifting off the ground. Amelie squinted, keeping her lips pressed together as she slowly turned and manoeuvred her cargo along.
Polly looked on blankly. "I am so dumb." Reaching for a bowl of grapes, she popped one into her mouth. "Seriously, why do we still carry anything with our hands?"
"Can't talk. Got to concentrate," Amelie groaned as she carefully took one step after another.
"Ah, right. Have fun!"
Keeping the books floating was harder than Amelie had anticipated. In addition to levitating them, she had to concentrate on keeping the different packages held together. All while slowly walking down the corridor towards the Library Wing.
She nearly fell flat on her face when something small dashed out from behind a suit of armour, followed by a blurry, orange shape.
"Argh!" Gripping her wand tightly, Amelie had to grit her teeth to maintain the levitation spell. She flinched when she pricked her bottom lip on her fangs.
With the floating assortment of books back under control, she looked to see what she had almost tripped over.
It was a big cat with untidy, ginger fur. Its beady and squashed face was turned towards her and when their eyes met, the unpleasant creature let out an angry hiss. Struggling with maintaining the charm, Amelie felt the urge to hiss back, but thankfully, the cat quickly turned tail and ran off towards the Gryffindor Tower, hot on the trail of whatever it had been chasing.
Finding the old classroom unlocked, she carefully lowered her cargo to the ground. Amelie was half-way through unpacking and organising, when Penelope walked in.
Her eyes widened at the pile of freshly-printed books. "Merlin's holey socks! How did you afford all that?"
"Uhm, my parents left me some money."
Amelie tossed some of the wrapping-paper aside. Ordering and paying by mail had been surprisingly easy. She did not want to think too hard about how the goblins had access to her vault without the key.
"Well, that takes care of that, I suppose," Penelope said, picking up and leafing through one of the volumes. "Which leaves the search for new members."
She snapped the book shut and counted on her hand. "There's the two of us, of course, and I talked to a few people in Ravenclaw. Terry Boot will definitely come, which means we'll probably also get Anthony Goldstein and Michael Corner. Although I'm not sure if Michael has the patience. He tried out for Quidditch but didn't make the cut."
Amelie shrugged. "I'm fine if people just want to only have a look first."
"Great. Moving on, Sue Li was interested, but she's taking so many elective classes, she might not have the time. Eddie Carmichael said he'd come by and he'll most likely bring his girlfriend, Natalie Fairbourne from Gryffindor."
Penelope took a breath, placing her hands on her hips. "That's all I could get. The fifth years, aside from Eddie and Natalie, are too busy with exams, the fourth years can't be arsed to put in extra work and those younger are probably too intimidated."
"I've asked around, too. Linda Chaddesley and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff said they'd be interested in joining. Also, Ginny Weasley put our new pamphlet up in the Gryffindor common room. She said she'd come, as well as Colin Creevy and Neville."
"Right, that'll be Neville Longbottom. Third year."
Penelope whistled, sounding impressed. "That's honestly way more than I had hoped for. Even if some of them bail, we might get more once the club has properly started again and word gets around."
Amelie smiled, feeling excited. Things were finally moving again and she'd be learning even more magic. Maybe she could even teach some herself.
"How are we going to let people know about the first meeting? Do we put up another notice?"
Grinning, Penelope shook her head. "No need. I actually put a Protean Charm on the pamphlets. Through it, I can change the text to show the next date for the club."
"That's amazing!"
"Well, we technically haven't learned that one yet. And I can only change some of the numbers around, not the whole text," Penelope admitted. "I hope I can get it right next time. The spell will definitely be part of the N.E.W.T.s this year."
Running quickly to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, Amelie barely managed to get there in time before the bells rang, signalling the start of the first period. Surprisingly, the rest of the class was still waiting outside.
"Is it closed?" she asked Riyan, who only shrugged in response.
A moment later, the door opened and Professor Lupin beckoned them inside.
"Come in, come in. Sorry for the delay. It took a while to conjure all these."
Walking into the classroom, they found that the chairs and desks had once again been moved aside. Several thick, blue sports mats were lying on the ground, covering most of the floor. To Amelie's astonishment they looked brand new, shattering her long-held cynical belief that the mats came from the factory already worn-out and ripped in places.
"Right then. We're going to be practising the Body-Bind Jinx today. At the urging of Madam Pomfrey, I've decided to add some safety-measures as opposed to how things usually go. Hopefully there'll be fewer broken noses this time," Lupin explained.
Amelie grinned and stepped closer, before slipping out of her shoes. At her side, Polly had already kicked hers off and was stepping onto the mat, eager to begin.
"Uhm, what are you doing?"
"Hm?" Amelie turned around to find Riyan giving her a confused look. Sure enough, the other students were similarly giving the thick foam-mats uncertain glances. She turned to Polly, who only shrugged.
"Getting ready, of course."
Across from them, Amelie saw Colin walking onto the mat, also with his shoes off and grinning from ear to ear.
"Ah man, I loved P.E. when we had these out. Did they let you swing from a rope and jump off during class? Our teacher always told us we weren't allowed to do that because supposedly someone broke his neck at some point."
Polly laughed, pressing her foot down into the soft surface. "No. We only had the really hard ones. Didn't stop some of the boys from trying, but they always got bruised."
Amelie turned to Riyan and explained, "They use these mats for sports in Muggle schools. Well, most of the time. The ones in my school were always torn up and they never got new ones."
Professor Lupin cleared his throat, raising a hand to ask for attention. "Your classmates do have the right idea. Please take off your shoes before stepping onto the mats. True, the mats are only conjured but you might hurt your ankles otherwise."
There was some clamouring as the others followed suit, some hopping awkwardly on one foot. Before long, they were ready to begin and Lupin explained the required wand-movements.
The mats proved to be a welcome addition, as they could attest when the first wave of students took their turn to get hit by the jinx and fell over like logs. Deciding not to show her up again, Amelie relaxed her arms and legs as Polly got ready to hit her with the spell.
As expected, her limbs snapped to her side and she grimaced as she flopped onto her side like a fish. Just for a moment, she wondered if she could break the jinx if she just tried hard enough.
Their practice session went well, at least until Joshua Sturton and Toby Lennox from Gryffindor happened to fall over at the same time, smashing their heads together; earning both of them a quick trip to the Hospital Wing and bringing an early end to the lesson.
To say that Amelie was nervous when she walked into the old classroom the next day, would be an understatement. They had cleaned up, dusting off the shelves and wiping down the desks. She had wondered why they couldn't just do it all with cleaning charms, but Penelope pointed out that there was enough residual magic to cause something unpredictable to happen if too many spells were used on rooms at Hogwarts.
Their last, but by no means least, addition was a proper sign, reading 'Charms Club' in Penelope's curvy hand-writing, they could hang next to the open door.
It wasn't long until their prospective new members were trickling in, starting with Hannah and Linda.
"Hey! Glad you could make it", Amelie greeted the other two Hufflepuffs.
Hannah whistled, raising an eyebrow. "You've been busy. Last time I had a peek in here there were dust-bunnies the size of Jackalopes."
Next to arrive were three boys from Ravenclaw. The one at the front, Terry Boot, a stocky third year with shaggy, brown hair, waved to Penelope and introduced himself to Amelie and the others. The wiry blonde at his side had to be Anthony Goldstein, since Amelie needed no introduction to see that the other boy, with gloomy, shoulder-length black hair, who didn't seem particularly thrilled to be there, was Michael Corner.
While the trio was busy chatting and browsing through Amelie's donated books, two more students walked in.
"Hello. Hope you haven't started without us," said a tall boy wearing Ravenclaw robes. The Gryffindor girl next to him waved and gave them a shy smile.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Eddie. Hey Natalie, I hope he didn't nag you too hard to come," Penelope replied with a wink.
They had barely settled in when the largest group of students arrived. As Ginny and the other two Gryffindors approached, Amelie was surprised to see Luna Lovegood among them. The second year Ravenclaw had barely stood out during their shared Transfiguration or Potions lessons, owing to the girl's mysterious tendency to seem like she was on a different planet entirely.
Ginny gave them a quiet 'hello', looking over the small crowd of mostly strangers. By contrast, Colin Creevy was as energetic and excitable as ever.
"Hey! We were almost worried we wouldn't find it, but the sign sure helped this time around," he gushed, looking around the room eagerly.
"Great. Penelope wrote it. We figured people might have a hard time getting here otherwise," Amelie said.
She mustered Colin as he kept chatting away. Aside from their first month and the period after the Basilisk had been defeated, he had spent the entire school year in the Hospital Wing. For all the exciting and frightening things that had happened to her, Polly and Riyan during that time, Amelie could hardly imagine what it would be like losing your entire first year to being petrified by a monster.
The last unknown, at least to Amelie, was Neville, the chubby-cheeked Gryffindor third year who seemed more nervous than even Linda.
"H-hi. Ginny mentioned the club reopening and I thought I'd just- well, I thought it might be a good idea to get some practice with charms."
His face relaxed a bit, when he saw Hannah waving at him.
Penelope explained, "It's not just revisions, Neville. We're going to be covering plenty of new ground as well. But we can definitely squeeze in something from the curriculum, too."
She turned to Luna, who had been studying the 'Weird Sisters' poster. "I'm surprised to see you here, Lovegood. You could've told me you were interested when I put up the notice in our common room."
"Oh, I do like charms, but I'm mostly here because Ginny told me I should come, since I have no friends aside from her," she explained, smiling serenely all the while.
"Err, alright then."
Penelope cleared her throat.
"Everyone, thanks for coming. Like all clubs, we are run by students for students. Based on the previous years, I've prepared a loose plan we can follow, but I also want to make sure we can include topics people are interested in."
She started speaking again, but there was suddenly another knock on the door. It opened slowly, revealing a girl poking her head in. It was one of the Hufflepuff first years Polly had spoken with during the opening feast. Racking her brain, Amelie tried to put a name to the dark-skinned girl with the long braids. She realised that she hadn't paid much attention to their own first years since the start of the term.
"Uhm, sorry?" the girl muttered. "This is the Charms Club, right?"
"Oh, yes. Come in, we were just about to get started." Penelope beckoned her inside, gesturing towards one of the free seats. "I'm Penelope, by the way."
The firstie looked around nervously and introduced herself. "I'm Rebecca. Rebecca Onai." She gave them an awkward smile and climbed onto a chair.
"Nice to meet you. Well, as I was saying, if you have a spell or a Charms topic you want to talk about, just tell me or leave me a note."
Penelope pointed at the shelf holding the donated books. "Thanks to Amelie we have all the literature we need to cover anything taught at Hogwarts and plenty that isn't."
"So are we going to try spells from O.W.L. level and the like?" Anthony Goldstein asked.
Looking around the room, it wasn't hard to see that he wasn't alone with his concerns. Neville looked all but ready to bolt for the door and even Colin's mood appeared a bit dampened.
Shaking her head, Penelope quickly explained, "Nothing that difficult just yet. The idea is to look at charms that aren't usually taught at Hogwarts, some simple, some a bit more tricky. I'm sure a lot of you have seen household spells being used at home, many of which we just pick up from watching parents or siblings cast them. But a lot of people never see charms that aren't part of the curriculum until they graduate."
She was looking, not so subtly, at Amelie and Colin.
"Since none of you can use spells at home yet, we can instead use the club to properly practise all sorts of useful charms that aren't normally taught in class. Like copying text or drying clothes."
Penelope showed them her list and started discussing possible spells to be added. As the meeting went on, people began chatting and occasionally walking up to suggest a specific charm or hex.
Off to the side, Amelie saw Ginny sitting quietly in her usual, secluded way. There was no cursed diary in her head this time around, but she still appeared preoccupied. Getting up, Amelie decided to walk over.
"I've got to hand it to you, you're far better at recruiting people than I am," she said, startling Ginny out of her thoughts.
"Oh, well, Colin and Neville could use some help catching up," Ginny explained, her voice quiet as she looked over the other Gryffindors. "And Luna was just always by herself whenever she wasn't sitting with me."
Amelie nodded and tilted her head. "Something the matter? You don't look too happy yourself."
There was a brief pause. Ginny opened her mouth and closed it again, before turning away. "It's just... I'm the reason Colin is so far behind with lessons. And you, too. I landed you both in the Hospital Wing last year."
"Ginny, that wasn't your fault. Dumbledore said that even powerful, experienced wizards fell under Voldemort's control."
Hearing the name, Ginny flinched. "But I wrote in the book. I- I told him everything and I- he..."
Amelie shook her head and put a hand on her shoulder. It wasn't hard to see that Ginny was barely holding on, her body trembling slightly.
"I'm telling you the truth. I don't blame you for what happened. Not one bit." She wrung with herself, before asking quietly, "Did you tell your brothers or your parents about this? I mean, they sounded so relieved back in the Hospital Wing."
Ginny shook her head. "The whole school was celebrating when it was over and there was too much going on at home. And then dad won the Daily Prophet Draw and we went to visit Bill in Egypt. Everyone was so happy and I just- I didn't want to talk about it."
Amelie looked up when she noticed Colin approaching.
"What's going on?" he asked, looking back and forth between them, not as chipper as his usual self.
"Ginny feels guilty because of last year," Amelie cut in, before the Weasley girl could push the issue away again. "But I already told her it wasn't her fault."
"Of course it wasn't," Colin replied quickly.
"But I almost killed you both. And I didn't- I couldn't..."
Amelie squeezed her shoulder. "Again, we don't blame you. You were as much a victim of the diary as the rest of us. You had to fight it all by yourself, but you survived."
Ginny raised her head, a slight red around her eyes as she looked from her to Colin. She nodded and, her voice barely above a whisper, uttered, "...thanks."
Amelie returned her smile. "See? No need to crawl under a rock. And if anyone else tries to give you trouble, just use that Bat-Bogey Hex I've heard so much about."
For the first time since they had returned to Hogwarts, Amelie saw Ginny laugh.
Looking towards Penelope, Colin raised an eyebrow and quipped, "Incidentally, isn't it funny how almost all the people you attacked ended up here in the club?"
Ginny grimaced and Amelie had to hold herself back from whacking him in the head with a book.
Seeing the others practising their spells was a hilarious spectacle. Almost everyone seemed to have their own little spin on things. Where Natalie gracefully summoned a tennis ball to fly into her hand, Hannah propelled it rapidly through the air, before snatching it up at the last moment.
Colin was eager to try his hand at it and Amelie briefly wrestled with herself as she considered warning him. In the end, she decided that nothing would beat a little bit of percussive education when exploring new spells. Besides, it was worth it for watching Ginny holding her sides with laughter as he launched the ball directly into his face.
Across the room, Penelope was helping Terry and his friends with Locking- and Unlocking Charms on an old, wooden box.
Before she knew it, their time was over and the group was splitting up to go back to their separate houses. Amelie followed Hannah, Linda and Rebecca, still talking about the spells they had succeeded in trying out.
"It's actually easier when there isn't a teacher looking over your shoulder," Linda said happily as they stepped through the tunnel and into the common room.
The others were busy doing homework or lounging around on the various arm-chairs and sofas. As Amelie walked up, she was happy to see that Polly was already back from practise.
"So, how did it go? Did you blow up the Library Wing?"
Amelie rolled her eyes. "Not everyone has your level of 'enthusiasm', Polly. It actually went really well. There's more people than I would've expected."
Digging her parchment and books out of the infinite depths of her school-bag, she sat down and got started on her own assignments.
The minutes passed and the air around their little corner of the common room was only filled with the sound of quills scraping on paper. Amelie looked up from her wobbly script, mustering Polly and Riyan who were absorbed in their homework.
"We actually had Luna join us, too," she offered. "I don't think I've actually talked to her since the boat-ride before our Sorting."
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Heard she's still a bit loony." Chewing on his quill, Riyan barely looked up from his paper on transforming mice into tea-cups.
The conversation once again died off and Amelie sighed. Perhaps tomorrow.
The Charms Club continued well on its track and, thanks to Penelope keeping a tight leash on the likes of Michael and Colin, accidents were kept to a minimum. The hair-lightening spell Terry had tried out on himself was eventually dispelled by Professor Flitwick, but not after nearly half the school had been blinded by Terry's glowing scalp.
Ginny's demonstration of the Bat-Bogey Hex was well-received, even by Colin who had volunteered as a target.
Hufflepuff's match against Slytherin was drawing closer and Polly's frequent absence from the common room finally made Amelie grit her teeth and return to the Quidditch pitch to watch her training sessions. The travelling cloak was a godsend against the wind and the rain drizzling on them, often more sideways than downwards.
Polly's nervousness came to a peak on the morning of the game. It was a foggy, wet Saturday with the kind of damp chill that was harder to bear than freezing snow. Trudging down to the Great Hall for breakfast, Amelie had to all but force the bowl of oatmeal down Polly's throat so she wouldn't play on an empty stomach.
"It's all over. What was I thinking..."
"Come now," Amelie offered, giving her an encouraging slap on the shoulder that almost sent her friend stumbling, "Don't think too much about it. Just get on your broom and it will all work out."
Polly soon followed the rest of the team out to the pitch to get dressed and warmed up. Seeing her chance to get away from the breakfast table early, Amelie told the others she would reserve them some seats, before leaving the hall as well.
Despite leaving early, Amelie managed to not be the first person on the stands. A few individual students were already seated, some huddled around small, enchanted fires in jars or cauldrons.
With less than half an hour left, the benches around her were finally starting to fill up. Riyan and the others soon joined them, complaining about the weather every step of the way.
Up and down the stands, students were trickling in, but the atmosphere remained subdued. The last game against Slytherin was likely still on people's minds and few, if anyone, seemed to expect this one to end differently.
Down on the field, both teams were warming up.
"It's a shame we have to play Slytherin now," Bernard mumbled from in between Riyan and Gareth.
Amelie leaned forward and asked, "Why's that?"
"Malfoy's still pretending to be injured, so they subbed in Terrence Higgs instead. Normally, playing against a substitute would be an advantage, but Malfoy's not a good Seeker. The only games they've won were no thanks to him."
Nodding, she let her gaze wander over the Slytherin team and sure enough, they were one blonde third year short of their usual line-up. To her surprise, Amelie noticed Lucian, who was speaking to Marcus Flint. She looked up and soon spotted Cecilia, wrapped in her robes and wearing a green scarf, near the other Slytherin students.
It appeared as if she had seen her as well. Raising her hand, Amelie gave her Astronomy partner a wave. After looking around for a moment, Cecilia awkwardly waved back.
"Hey Amelie, no fraternising with the enemy," Riyan jeered.
Magical feedback rang in their ears as the megaphone up near the teachers' seats was turned on with the tap of Lee Jordan's wand. Clearing his throat, he stepped up.
"Good morning everyone and welcome to the first match of this season. And man, they couldn't have picked a worse day. I tried to call in sick, but unfortunately Madam Pomfrey lives in the same castle as the rest of us, so good luck trying to fake it, also-"
Professor McGonagall could be seen speaking to him, looking visibly unamused.
"Ah, right, the game, yes. Sooo, we might be in for a surprise today, folks, since Slytherin has to play without their usual Seeker and over on the Hufflepuff side Diggory has thrown together an entirely new team. As they say, all bets are off on how this will turn out. Incidentally, betting is still open, just give Fred and George Weasley a holler and they'll-"
The megaphone was once again turned away from him and after a few sharp words from McGonagall, Lee returned to reading out the players on each team.
It wasn't hard to see that the atmosphere on the pitch was tense. Cedric and the rest of the players in canary-yellow were in a tight huddle. Only when Madam Hooch walked onto the field did they break up and take their positions. The Bludgers and Snitch were freed from their box and quickly dispersed across the playing field. Holding the Quaffle, Hooch gave both captains another look, before throwing the ball high into the air and blowing her whistle.
"And they're off!"
Amelie watched Polly corkscrew upwards with a speed that, even from so far away, made her stomach turn. The Slytherin players quickly surged forward and seized the ball, before making a rush towards the Hufflepuff goal-rings.
"Montague takes the Quaffle, dodging a Bludger from O'Flaherty as he races to score an early lead. He passes to Warrington and he- wait, what happened?"
A streak of yellow had slashed through the space between the two Chasers and where Warrington expected to receive the Quaffle, he only caught empty air. He and Montague pulled hard on the handles of their brooms, while the Slytherin captain shouted at them. There, flying at break-neck speed towards the middle of the field, was Polly, clutching the large, red ball to her side.
"It's McKinsey! One of Hufflepuff's newest additions went through Slytherin's defences like a knife through a Flobberworm! The ruthless push we're used to seeing falters on the first step as Flint and Derrick rush to head her off!"
Eyes glued to Polly's blurry shape, far up in the air, Amelie was close to sliding out of her seat. Her teeth were clenched as she watched the burly Slytherin sixth years closing in on her from both sides.
"It's getting dangerous for McKinsey and she- yes, there it is! Pass to MacAvoy and the veteran Hufflepuff Chaser leaves Flint in the dust! Pass to Preece! He's making a dash for the goals! Aims and- what is- pass to MacAvoy again and- GOAL! Hufflepuff takes the lead with an amazing back-and-forth play!"
Amelie jumped to her feet and cheered, drowned out by the rest of her house who had watched the sudden reversal in the game with their mouths open. The shouts and whistles spread quickly to the other stands, where the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws joined in.
No sooner had the ball returned to play, then Montague and Flint shot forward again, pressing the Hufflepuff defence ruthlessly. Bludgers rained down on them as they made a run to even the score.
"Slytherin going in hard! They're not going to take this lightly! Flint almost takes a Bludger to the head! Not sure why he dodged, there'd be nothing to damage the-..."
Lee was once again cut off by McGonagall as she snapped at him. Meanwhile, Amelie felt herself tensing up as she watched the trio of Slytherin Chasers pushing towards the goal in a wide front.
"Ahem, as I was saying. Flint and Montague moving up through the centre and right! Montague passes to Warringt- bloody hell! It's McKinsey again! Are we sure she hasn't learned to Apparate?!"
Once again, Polly swooped in to intercept the carelessly long pass being thrown between the two Slytherins. Heidi and Malcolm were directly behind her, while Maxine O'Flaherty and the new Hufflepuff Beater, Anthony Rickett, were smashing the Bludgers towards Flint and his teammates, cutting off their approach.
"What a counter! McKinsey's snatching them up left and right! Where is Flint's 'possession and dominance' strategy they used so effectively last season?! McKinsey passes to Preece, back to McKinsey, to MacAvoy! Preece and- he scores! Another one for the boys and girls in yellow!"
Down in the stands, Amelie was close to screaming herself hoarse. She looked over to Riyan who was shouting too, staring at the game in amazement.
He leaned towards her and yelled, over the roaring of the crowd, "They don't know what to do! Their passes are too long, but they've always won that way! Cedric must've known they could steal the Quaffle if they tried cutting through the middle!"
The game continued and even as the stands calmed down, they still erupted into cheers again every time Hufflepuff managed to outmanoeuvre their opponents. Forced to play closer together, Slytherin visibly lost their forward momentum and despite managing to score goals of their own, the Hufflepuff lead slowly grew out of reach.
The cold and damp was all but forgotten as Amelie and the others cheered every score and groaned at every Slytherin counter. Even Patricia, usually even less excited for Quidditch and flying than Amelie, was shouting over the noise and the wind, pointing and flailing.
After another goal, the first one scored by Polly herself, Amelie saw Lucian fly up to Marcus Flint. She couldn't hear what he was shouting towards his captain, but Flint grabbed him by the front of his robes and screamed in his face. Things were not looking good for the team in green and throughout the whole affair, Cedric was circling far above.
There had been no sign of the Snitch so far, allowing the score to climb into the triple digits, with Polly and the team now sixty points ahead. Slytherin was closing ranks and would fly in a triangle formation to force their way through, but more often than not they would be forced to scatter under the pressure of the Bludgers.
"It's a slug-fest on the pitch, folks! Warrington passes to Flint! Pass to Montague! But there's McKinsey rushing in like a hornet ready to ruin their picnic! Montague passes back to Warrington, but he didn't expect it and drops the Quaffle! MacAvoy takes advantage and she's off! Will we- and what's that?! Diggory is going into a dive!"
As one, the assembled Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws jumped to their feet when they saw Cedric plunging downwards, arm outstretched.
Amelie saw a faint, golden shimmer just above the ground. It was zipping along fast enough to uproot some of the grass. Raising her hands to her mouth, she joined in shouting and cheering for the Hufflepuff captain as he rushed to catch the little ball; Terence Higgs only a broom-length behind him.
Pulling up at the last second, he rolled sideways and his outstretched fist closed around the fluttering golden sphere. The pitch erupted with a deafening roar as Lee announced Hufflepuff's victory.
Screaming at the top of her voice, Amelie lunged and wrapped her arms around Riyan who could only stare towards the field, grinning in stunned disbelief.
Looking at the Hufflepuff common room, one might have thought they had won the Quidditch Cup already. From the moment Cedric and the rest of the team had staggered out of their changing rooms, they had been surrounded by a loud, cheering bubble of students. Most of them from Hufflepuff, but with quite a few Gryffindors and Ravenclaws among them.
Polly appeared as if in a daze, nodding and smiling as people larger than her slapped her on the shoulder and dragged her along.
With some effort, Amelie managed to fight her way through the crowd to reach her best friend, slinging her arms around her neck.
"You did it! That was unbelievable!"
Polly broke out of her stupor, flashing a wide grin as she hugged Amelie back.
Another round of cheers broke out when some of the older students picked Cedric up and carried him on their shoulders. The celebration lasted well into the night as plates full of food seemed to magically appear from the nearby kitchens, along with flasks of pumpkin juice and Butterbeer.
Professor Sprout joined them at close to midnight to get the situation back under control and, despite a generous bribe of strudel and ice-cream, she sent them to their dorms an hour later.
The following morning, after her roommates had recovered from their food hangovers, Amelie sat down with them to let Polly gush in detail about the game. Walking to the library after lunch, they were surprised to find other students stopping to congratulate the newly minted Hufflepuff Chaser on her victory. Polly found herself taken aback by her sudden popularity, awkwardly shaking hands with a few excited first years.
"Now that you've made it big, I hope you don't forget us little people who helped you on the way," Riyan joked as they walked into the library and went to look for a free table to do their homework.
Polly scoffed. "You should've seen Cedric. They were waiting outside his dorm this morning. And his fan-club more than doubled in size, I reckon."
"Poor Cedric," Riyan sighed dramatically, "I can't imagine what he must go through, being the most popular boy in school."
They sat down and while rifling through her bag, Polly muttered, "Seriously though, he's a great guy. After the game he talked to us, saying how we wouldn't have won without all of us working together and such."
Amelie laughed, asking, "So does that mean he'll actually let you have a few days off from training now?"
"Pff, as if! We're only getting started," Polly exclaimed, grinning eagerly.
Taking out her quill, Amelie laughed along with her, but she felt a sting in her chest nonetheless.
The euphoric high of Hufflepuff's first Quidditch victory in years persisted well into the next week. The losing team, on the other hand, took it far less gracefully and there were soon reports of small scuffles between older Slytherin and Hufflepuff students.
It culminated in an incident on Tuesday that landed Graham Montague and Maxine O'Flaherty in the Hospital Wing. Detentions were handed out to both, despite multiple witnesses stating that Montague had attacked first, after getting into an argument and insulting the muggleborn Beater.
The next Astronomy lesson was notably more tense, as both sides of the class tried to avoid getting near the other. Stuck in the middle, Amelie found herself working quietly with Cecilia, who was scribbling away undisturbed.
The silence gnawed at Amelie and so she carefully tried to break the ice after a good twenty minutes.
"How's your brother doing? He played really well on Saturday," she offered, peeking at her project partner, checking for her reaction.
Cecilia shrugged. "He's fine."
"Well, that's good. The important thing is everyone had fu-"
"He punched Flint in the face after the match and quit the team," the Slytherin added.
Amelie stared at her, mouth hanging open.
"It doesn't matter," Cecilia muttered quietly. "Things have been bad for a while now and the game was just the final straw. I'm... glad he's not around Flint and those others anymore."
She appeared almost happy with the result, scribbling away on their star-chart while Amelie fumbled for a response.
"Sorry, I didn't know. What about his friends there?"
Cecilia shrugged. "Don't think he had any, considering how Flint runs the team. Besides, he's still got the rest of his dorm and his classmates. He's not going to run out of things to do."
"I see." Trying to adjust her telescope, Amelie chewed on her lip, before asking, "So what about you? What do you like to do after classes?"
Hearing no response for a moment, she carefully stole a glance at her project partner, who kept dragging her quill across the page, her lips pressed together.
"Just reading stuff."
"Oh, I see."
Amelie carefully turned the small cog, trying to get Scorpio into focus.
"I mean," Cecilia grumbled, "It's not like I'm going to start collecting Gobstones or such nonsense. There's only so much you can do in this castle."
"Well, actually..." Shuffling closer, Amelie cleared her throat. "We've recently revived the Charms Club. There's quite a few people there already, but we could always use more. If you're interested, of course."
It was the world's most conspicuous sales-pitch and Amelie wouldn't have been surprised if Cecilia had rolled her eyes and tossed the scroll of parchment at her face. The moments passed so slowly and just as she was ready to back-pedal, Cecilia spoke up.
"I'll... I'll think about it."
Amelie's face broke into a wide grin and she chirped enthusiastically, "We're meeting Mondays and Thursdays in the large classroom above the library. It'll be great, I promise!"
Cecilia did roll her eyes in response to that.
Sadly there was no sign of her Astronomy partner the following afternoon, but Amelie didn't let that discourage her. Especially now when she had finally pulled off the Colour-Swapping Charm Penelope had taught them the week before. While she had actually liked making her fingernails shine in various rainbow colours, she was still glad Penelope was there to show her the counter-spell.
Amelie wasn't the only one making good progress and Neville seemed over the moon when he managed to use the Banishing Charm to send a pillow soaring across the room. From what Hannah had whispered to her, his previous attempts had nearly landed him in detention when he made Professor Flitwick fly instead.
Back in the common room, Amelie and Linda sat down with others, who were finishing up their homework. Once again, Polly was at Quidditch training and Amelie seriously considered not letting her copy her essay on the Girding Potion, just to make her notice what she was missing out on.
The days leading up to Halloween saw the castle being decorated in anticipation for the celebration on Sunday. During their last double lesson on Friday Professor Lupin let them pair up and train defensive spells at their own pace. Amelie watched proudly as Linda, after practising with Colin the previous day, cast her Shield Charms with perfect timing, much to the frustration of Patricia, whose spells bounced off harmlessly.
Lupin seemed to be content to observe from his desk, but Amelie didn't fail to notice that he was looking a bit sickly. Digging through her Astronomy notes later, she confirmed that the full moon was near.
As the third years and older students came trundling back from their first Hogsmeade trip of the school-year, Amelie contemplated asking Riyan to dump another cup of pumpkin juice onto her robes later that night, allowing her to skip having to pretend to take part in the feast. However, the display put on by the Hogwarts ghosts provided enough cover for her to carefully vanish the food from her plate.
Trekking back to the common room, Amelie didn't feel much like joining in the happy chatter. They had barely gotten changed and ready for bed, when the door to their room opened and Beatrice stepped in, looking shaken.
"Grab your wands and put on your robes or something, then get down to the common room immediately! No questions, just go!"
Before Amelie could ask what was going on, Beatrice left and they heard her repeat the message to the next room down the corridor. She exchanged a worried look with Polly, while grabbing her robes and sliding them over.
"What's going on? Did something happen?" Linda asked in a hushed tone.
Amelie shook her head. "No idea, but we better get going." She picked up her wand from the nightstand and followed the other three girls out the door.
The entire house seemed to be up, judging by the stream of students shuffling into the common room. Coming down the stairs, they bumped into Riyan and the other second year boys.
"Please don't tell me there's another Basilisk", he groaned.
Next to Amelie, Patricia let out a frustrated sigh. "Halloween. Why is it always Halloween?"
The crowd fell silent when Professor Sprout came through the entrance tunnel.
"Attention everyone! There's been an incident near the Gryffindor common room. All students are to assemble in the Great Hall." Before she could be swept up in a rising flood of nervous questions, Sprout stepped aside. "Prefects, take the lead. Haywood and I will stay behind and make sure we haven't missed anyone."
They followed Cedric into the hall they had left only an hour earlier. The Gryffindors were already there, standing in a large huddle. Word quickly spread that the portrait guarding the entrance to their common room had been attacked. It didn't take long for the name 'Sirius Black' to spread through the crowd like wildfire.
The next to arrive were the Slytherins, followed soon by the Ravenclaws. The noise rose considerably as news of the incident bounced back and forth, becoming more embellished with every minute. All talking stopped when Professor Dumbledore, flanked by Flitwick and McGonagall, walked into the Great Hall.
"The Aurors are presently performing a search of the entire castle," he announced while the teachers closed and sealed the entrances. "The staff and myself will soon join them. For your own protection, I must ask that all of you spend the night here. Prefects will be posted to stand guard and any disturbance should be reported immediately."
He drew his wand and, with one sweeping motion, moved the tables and benches against the walls. With another swish, he conjured a large number of purple sleeping bags, covering every available spot on the floor.
"Sleep well," Dumbledore uttered, before leaving and closing the large doors behind him.
The exact opposite of calm and quiet descended upon the hall. People were talking over each other, wild theories flying around.
The Head Boy from Gryffindor, the oldest of the Weasleys, stepped forward and pressed his wand against his throat.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" he shouted, his voice rising above the blanket of noise. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"
Amelie felt someone tugging on her sleeve.
"Let's go," Polly mouthed.
The second year Hufflepuffs stumbled their way through the other students to try and find a clump of sleeping bags at the side of the hall that had not yet been claimed.
"Do you really think it was Sirius Black? How would he even get in here?" Riyan asked while sliding into one of the bags.
Amelie slipped into her own, noting that they seemed to have a Cushioning Charm placed on them. "No idea, but the Gryffindors sounded really certain. I heard the twins say that Peeves saw him."
"Well, there goes the rest of the school-year. Anyone want to bet who's getting taken out first?"
"Oh shut up, Bernard!" Patricia hissed, though not without casting a fleeting glance at Amelie.
The wild speculation kept going on for a while, until Weasley spoke up again.
"The lights are going out now! I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"
As if on command, the floating candles dimmed and went out, leaving the Great Hall with only the faint moonlight falling in through the high windows. Amelie blinked and her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark.
Soon, she could see as clearly as if the room were still brightly illuminated. The small pockets of whispering students were like the rushing of wind through trees. Here and there she could pick out their words, but the conversations were all the same.
Why was Sirius Black at Hogwarts and how did he get in?
Every hour, a teacher would quietly enter the hall and check up on them. Unable to sleep, Amelie would strain her ears to listen for any new information, all the while trying to ignore Polly's soft snoring from the sleeping bag next to hers.
She perked up when an unknown voice joined the teachers at the entrance.
"No sign of him. We've checked the dorms, classrooms and all connecting routes."
"What if he came in by other means, Mrs. Ogden?" Professor McGonagall asked quietly.
"I doubt it," the Auror replied. "All fireplaces have been disconnected from the Floo network and the Anti-Portkey charms are still firmly in place. And if Hogwarts' Apparition protection were compromised, we'd have far bigger problems."
McGonagall sighed. "Alright. I will inform the headmaster. Thank you."
Amelie held her breath when she heard footsteps coming closer. Through the darkness, she spied Mrs. Ogden and a man, dressed in the same Auror robes as her, walking along the side of the Great Hall. Amelie closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep when...
"Did you question Lupin?"
She lay stock-still, listening closely.
Ogden shushed the other Auror. "Not here."
They stopped at the side entrance, not far from her sleeping bag. She heard Ogden mumble a spell to unlock the doors, before stepping through and silently closing them behind her.
With sleep far from her mind, Amelie was desperate to hear more, but there was no way she could follow them unnoticed. Slipping out of her sleeping bag, she silently crept over to the door and put her head near the gap between the hinges. Concentrating carefully, she was able to hear them walking to the end of the adjacent corridor.
"...even offered to take Veritaserum," Ogden said.
"You're going to take him up on that?"
"No point. Besides, Lupin was already interviewed extensively in August, after Black broke out of his cell."
"And you don't think he opened the way for his old school friend to get into the castle?"
Amelie could feel the back of her neck prickling. Professor Lupin and Sirius Black had been friends? She frantically pushed the thought aside to keep listening in.
"We'll keep an eye on him, but so far I've seen neither motive nor opportunity. Whatever Black is doing, he's on his own."
She could hear Ogden swear under her breath.
"Curse that bastard Fungbury! This should've been his mess to clean up, Jonathan! And they didn't even fire him after that disaster with the Dementors he sent onto the train!"
"I agree," the other Auror muttered, "they should've chucked him into Black's old cell for all I care."
Ogden sighed. "No sense wasting time with him. Three months on the case and the most he came up with is some flimsy connection tying Black to the murder of that old Muggle woman in London."
"The one from the orphanage? Has Investigations even confirmed that magic was involved?"
"Supposedly someone used Vanishing Powder to remove all magical traces after they killed her and turned her office inside out. A charm would've been cleaner, but we have to assume he didn't have access to a wand."
Jonathan scoffed. "Why would Black be interested in a Muggle orphanage?"
"Who knows. Perhaps he was looking for information on something. Or someone," Ogden replied meaningfully.
There was a tense pause and Amelie strained her senses as far as she could, trying to filter out the sounds of the sleeping students in the hall and the teachers patrolling the distant corridors.
Jonathan cleared his throat. "Dumbledore's been informed, I presume?"
"In the most general of terms. I don't think Fudge is too keen on having him involved in this, even if one of his students might be a target."
Ogden sighed again, before carrying on, "If the theory is true, we have to assume that whatever Black was looking for at Bow Creek, he found it."
Amelie felt her body turning cold, heartbeat pounding in her skull and the hair on her neck standing up.
"And now he's here."