Chapter 9
Then the day of the first match of the year came.
Even in front of the other boys, I changed.
There wasn't a female changing room for the Slytherins, so I changed alongside all of them. I had the option to use the Gryffindor changing rooms if I wanted but I declined. I lived with Harry all my life. I was used to seeing him in all sorts of undress so seeing other boys wouldn't matter to me.
We had our names on the top of our lockers. We began to undress in silence, most of the boys had their backs to me as I took my top off. I was left in a sports bra before I tugged on the black, long-sleeved leotard. Then I pulled on the tight-fitting trousers before I belted it tightly enough to keep them up but not limit my movements. The boots were next before I pulled on my shirt, lined in black and green with my number on the back.
13.
I had plenty of numbers to choose from but I liked that one the most. It was the most witchy out of all of them. Harry had 7 and now I had 13.
My robes were last before I tugged my fingerless gloves on and tied my hair up.
"Everyone ready?" Montague asked as he closed his locker. "It's your first match with us. How are you feeling, Potter? Stage fright?"
"Nope!"
I was lying. I could feel my blood rushing in my ears and my heart was too fast.
I grabbed my broom from the side. I got my own broom a while ago, getting a Firebolt like Harry had. Mine was the same as his but held silver hardware and tinted slightly greener than the wood should have allowed.
Lee Jordan, the apparent spokesperson and announcer for the Hogwarts Quidditch Matches, began his introductions.
"Good morning, Hogwarts!" He called out, his voice being projected around the pitch as people cheered. "Welcome to the first match of the season! Today, we have Gryffindor versus Slytherin. What a wonderful beginning to the year. This year, we have the beauty, Angelina Johnson as Captain of Gryffindor Quidditch Team. She is also a Chaser alongside Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet. The Beaters are our beloved mischievous twins, Fred and George Weasley, with their brother, Ron being the newest Keeper. Harry Potter is still their Seeker!"
Montague nodded, "That's our cue. Let's kick some ass."
We walked out of the tent as they began to announce our names.
"Captain Graham Montague is leading his team out to the pitch, followed closely by Beaters Crabbe and Goyle and Keeper Bletchley. Rounding out the back is Draco Malfoy the Seeker!" Jordan announced as they left the tent.
"You alright?" Cassius Warrington asked me.
"Just first match nerves,"
He clasped a hand onto my shoulder, "You'll be fine. Come on."
"And lastly is Cassius Warrington, and what's this? Viktoria Potter is the newest Chaser of Slytherin!"
The whole stadium went into an uproar, loudly shouting and screaming as we reached the middle.
"Words in that Viktoria Potter has been training as the newest Chaser since trials came," Jordan smiled. "What a surprise! Potter versus Potter, albeit in different positions. Give it up for Potter's first match with us, and hopefully many more!"
We came to the middle of the pitch. I could feel Harry glaring at me but I was on the farthest side from him, a shiny silver crown badge on my chest.
Johnson and Montague shook hands before Madam Hooch let us mount our brooms. She blew her whistle and the balls were released.
"And it's Johnson, Johnson with the Quaffle," Jordan said. "And she's ducked Warrington, she's passed Montague, she's, ouch, been hit from behind by a Bludger from Crabbe. Montague catches the Quaffle, heading back up the pitch, passing to Potter as soon as George Weasley aims and hits the Bludger to the head for Montague. Potter's off with the Quaffle, dodging a bludger before passing it off to Warrington."
The thrill of the chase was here. I didn't feel anything but to the need to succeed, to chase the ball and get it through the hoops. The ball was passed back to me and I shot it through the left hoop.
"Weasley goes for a save but misses. Slytherin SCORES!" His voice echoed. "And the crowd are loving this, just listen to them, what's that they're singing?"
The game barely paused as the Slytherins stood up in their sea of green and silver, singing loudly.
"Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring,
That's why Slytherins all sing:
Weasley is our King.
Weasley was born in a bin,
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley will make sure we win,
Weasley is our King."
"Alicia has the Quaffle!" He shouted. "Come on now, Angelina. Looks like she's got just the Keeper to beat! SHE SHOOTS, SHE AHH,"
Bletchley saved the goal, and we cheered as Warrington got the Quaffle and tossed it back to me when we neared the other goals again.
"Warrington with the Quaffle, now Potter, now Warrington. They're heading for the goal, outside of Bludger range with just the Keeper ahead. Potter gets the Quaffle and is in the scoring area!"
"Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring..."
"It's the first test for the new Gryffindor Keeper, Weasley, and the new Slytherin Chaser, Potter! Which one will win out? Let's go!"
I scored again.
"That's Twenty-Nil to Slytherin. Bad luck, Ron," He tried to speak over the cheering but it wasn't working. The song Slytherins had made was echoing straight through it.
"WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN,
HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN...
WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN,
WEASLEY IS OUR KING . . ."
I continued to score twice more before I finally had to chase the Quaffle back down the pitch. I heard the new chant Slytherin was singing.
"She'll hit you with a sting,
Because she never misses the ring,
That's why we all sing,
She'll always bring us a win!"
I continued down the pitch, retrieving the Quaffle and getting the score fifty-nil to Slytherin.
"Warrington throws to Montague, Montague back to Potter. Johnson intervenes, Johnson takes the Quaffle, Johnson to Bell, this looks good. Oh, Bell's hit by a Bludger from Goyle of Slytherin and it's Potter in possession again . . ."
"There's nothing contradictory
Because we've got glory,
When we got Victory!"
It was up to Draco and Harry for when the match would finish, and with Montague and Warrington as my teammates, it wasn't hard to get the score up high enough that it didn't matter if Gryffindor got the Snitch.
It was two hundred-fifty in Slytherin's favour. I made sure to score once more to be safe when I saw the two Seekers go for the Snitch near one of the Gryffindor goals.
I aimed and shot the Quaffle through the goal as Harry reached the Snitch, a Bludger right behind him as it hit him squarely in the back. I didn't care as I cheered in victory.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the stadium erupted in shouts.
"Since we got Potter,
The game got hotter.
We'll never go softer
WHEN WE WIN THIS QUARTER,
BECAUSE WE GOT A POTTER!"
The Slytherin flew to the middle of pitch, letting up celebrate together as a group as the crowd went wild. Some were disappointed but they were overruled with the cheers from Slytherin. That's all I could hear. Just their cheering as Slytherin won and we celebrated in our glory.
"That's it. We've got victory for this game!" Montague shouted as we regrouped on the ground. "If you keep this up, we'll have to change your name, Potter."
"To what?" I laughed.
"Viktory,"
I liked the sound of that but I just smiled at that as we all walked over to Madam Hooch and the Gryffindor team.
Montague shook Johnson's hand again, shooting a grinning look to me to which Johnson just nodded.
"Good first game, Potter," She said. "You're settling alright, are you?"
"Yeah, I am," I said.
"What's this about, Viktoria?" Harry asked. "Since when were you a Quidditch player? You've never been on a broom before and suddenly you're on the team?"
"It came naturally to me, Harry, like it did you," I grinned. "Apparently, we both got Dad's Quidditch genes. I tried out like everyone else did. I didn't get special recommendations from my Head of House like you did."
"At least, I didn't buy my way on the team like others have," He gave the stink eye to Draco who rolled his eyes at that.
"How'd you like the lyrics? Clever, aren't they?" Draco said. "We wanted to add a couple more verses but we couldn't find enough rhymes to describe Weasley. There's very few words that could have fit him better than we already used. We thought using our newest member would be even better. After all, we've got Viktory Potter instead of you."
"I've caught the Snitch more times than you could ever, Malfoy,"
"Yeah, and our Potter scored more by herself than all three of your Chases combined," He smiled. "I think we win in the Potter Lottery."
He nudged me gently and almost laughed at Harry's enraged expression.
Harry came forward, grabbing my bicep tightly, "What are you thinking, Viktoria? With Slytherins? Why are you letting them win?"
"I'm not letting anyone win," I snapped. "I'm letting my team win. Let go of me."
"They're Slytherins!" He hissed, his hand tightening.
"I'm Slytherin!" I hissed back in Parseltongue, watching the surprise come over his face. He still thought he was the one special one. I had the same abilities as he did, save for the connection to Voldemort.
I ripped my arm out of his hold. When he tried to reach me again, Warrington, Montague and Bletchley stopped him, standing in front of me as quickly as possible.
"Don't embarrass yourself, Potter," Bletchley spat at him.
"That's my sister,"
"Right now, she's ours," Montague crossed his arms. "Keep your hands to yourself."
Harry scoffed, "Is that a threat?"
Harry tried to sidestep them but they stopped him again. I just watched them begin to do this shit. My brother barged into them and that started a fight, quickly adding in Ron Weasley wrestling with them. Madam Hooch was too busy with scolding one of the Beaters so she didn't see this yet.
A true wrestle came and Draco pulled on the edge of my robes.
"Come on," He said. "Before we get in trouble too. They'll get told off by Umbridge for sure."
I nodded just as Madam Hooch saw and stopped the fighting.
They were all forced away from each other, and Warrington wiped a bit of blood away from his bloodied lips, smirking at the Gryffindors. Montague and Bletchley had bloodied knuckles from fighting but Harry and Ron weren't much better.
"I've never seen behaviour like it," Madam Hooch began, "Back up to the castle, all straight to your Head of Houses' office! Go! Now!"
Harry and Ron marched off the pitch.
The three Slytherins that fought just came back with us to the castle for lunch.
The rest of the school were already in there, waiting for the two teams to get back from speaking to Madam Hooch.
The cheering as we came in, still in our uniforms, still a little bit sweaty with a fresh win on our shoulders.
Bletchley and Warrington came running towards Draco and me as we reached the doors before the Great Hall, Montague right behind them. They ran straight to me, picking me up with ease before settling me in their shoulders.
"That's a win for Slytherin!" Warrington shouted, jostling me on his shoulders with Bletchley.
"We got another victory!" Montague laughed as they settled me down at my seat before they all laughed it off and Draco sat across from me.
"Apparently, your brother and the Weasel got banned from Quidditch," Blaise said instantly. "Everyone knows already."
I laughed, "I'm not surprised. And none of ours got banned?"
"Nope," He snickered. "They were defending you. Even the Heads could see that."
"Good. They shouldn't get in trouble for my stupid brother's behaviour,"
"Now you think your brother's stupid?" Parkinson asked shrewdly.
"I realised it years ago, Parkinson. I live with the daft twit," I told her.
She rolled her eyes, "At least, we won."
Then she ate her lunch.
)()()(
The next coming weeks were going quickly. I was caught up with the Fourth year curriculum and finally could continue to work on my Fifth year stuff properly. I still had the extra lessons and would until exams started but they were going well.
I tried to stay away from Harry as much as possible and I succeeded on the most part.
Snow began to fall on Hogwarts in heavy troves and the fact that some of our Care of Magical Creatures lessons were outside made me scowl. I didn't like the cold much.
Hagrid carried in half a dead cow over his shoulder before addressing us all and gesturing to the dark trees behind him "We're workin' in here today! Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark..."
"What prefers the dark?" Draco asked the Aces. Blaise shrugged.
"He didn't say," He said. "But it's gotta be a carnivore. Look at the cow he's carrying."
We all walked into the forest after Hagrid, keeping close enough to not lose him. We reached the place after a few minutes and then we waited.
"Gather roun', gather roun'," Hagrid waved a hand so we would stand in a semi circle. "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat but I'm goin' ter give 'em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me. . . ."
Without even waiting for a call from Hagrid, something came propelling out of the forest, stopping barely a foot away from me. It was like a horse, a small foal with a dragonish face, long neck and a skeletal body. Black wings were folded on its back as it huffed loudly and shook its head.
A whole herd came after a few seconds when Hagrid called.
"Miss Potter, can you see 'em?" Hagrid asked. I nodded and he handed me a piece of meat. "Feed her. She's one of the younglings. Put your hands up if yah can see 'em?"
I did, so did Harry and Neville Longbottom. I was surprised to see that all three Aces could, alongside Daphne Greengrass.
"What's eating it?" Parvati Patil asked in a terrified voice.
I held out the small piece of meat to the foal, watching her quickly rip a piece off and swallow before going for more. My hand was covered in the blood of the meat and she licked bits of that off too. She nickered loudly before almost skipping over to a larger creature, most likely her parent by the way the other licked her face.
"Thestrals," Hagrid said proudly. "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows — ?"
"But they're really, really unlucky!" Patil said. "They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once —"
Hagrid shook his head, "That's just a superstition, that is, they aren' unlucky, they're dead clever an' useful! 'Course, this lot don' get a lot o' work, it's mainly jus' pullin' the school carriages unless Dumbledore's takin' a long journey an' don' want ter Apparate. Who can tell me why only some of you can see them and some can't?"
Granger raised her hand.
"The only people who can see Thestrals," she said, "are people who have seen death."
"Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, Thestrals—"
Hem hem.
It scared a lot of students, making us jump as we realised she was behind us. Umbridge stood with her clipboard again.
The foal trotted over, circled Umbridge, sneezed and the bunked her flank into the woman, startling her too. The foal's parent huffed and she came trotting right back, only stopping to nip my bloodied hand.
For the rest of the lesson, the youngling tormented Umbridge with bumps and nips and I had to try not to laugh. I petted the foal on her boney head as she forced my hand. She wasn't leaving without a pet from me apparently. I stroked her head gently, smiling at the boney creature. I surprisingly liked them and she was so adorable.
"That's Tatia," Hagrid said after Umbridge left. "The one that's been bumpin' into Professor Umbridge. Miss Potter is petting her. Come 'ere, feed 'er some more."
I did, watching her take it from my hand without an issue.
"See? They ain't aggressive," Hagrid said. "They're just not seen enough for people to understand. Can't always be seen so people get scared, creates superstitions like Miss Patil said."
)()()(
When the lesson finished and we went back inside, I heard hooves on the stone. I turned back to see the foal, Tatia, following quickly. Then her parent stuck their head into the hallway and huffed something and she went with her father.
"Someone has a stalker," Blaise laughed as we sat down for dinner.
"A Thestral of all things, yeah," I rolled my eyes.