Harry told Ron, Hermione and I that his scar had hurt on Saturday morning, and that he had dreamt of You Know Who and Wormtail plotting to kill someone. He also claimed that Professor Trelawney had made a real prophecy the night that Wormtail had escaped. This was worrying news, but there was very little we could do about it, and as Harry had written to Sirius about the matter, the best course of action would be to wait for his reply. Therefore, to help take our minds off it, we intended to go and play Quidditch outside, but Mum stopped us, because she had sprayed pesticide over the field we usually used. Wizarding pesticide is far stronger and more toxic than Muggle versions, so it was too dangerous for us to go there until it had dissipated.

Regardless, I still wanted to shoot some goals, so I asked if there were any alternative ways I could do so. Mum said no, but then Dad spoke up.

"I have an idea" he said

"Great, where can I go?" I asked.

"Into the village" he said.

I looked at him like he was crazy

"Umm, what?" I replied, raising one eyebrow. "Muggles live in the village dad, I can't exactly fly my broom there can I?"

"You won't be needing it" he said. "Come on, let me show you"

Ten minutes later, we were walking down the main street in Ottery St Catchpole. I was carrying a strange orange ball with black lines crossing over it, that Dad had bought out from the garage. Eventually we turned into a small clearing at an intersection of 2 roads. It was the village square, which had a few benches on either side, and a large brick wall that had some circular chalk markings on it. There were also a few small sets of concrete stairs which were fenced off at the top with metal railings.

Dad pointed at these and said "there you are"

"What exactly am I meant to be doing?" I asked. I didn't see how on earth this was anything to do with Quidditch.

"The local muggle children have a game they play here. They use small, soft cushion like objects, and they throw them from various heights and angles trying to hit those targets that are drawn on the wall. As you can see they have different points for different areas struck. Trust me, I've seen them at it "

I looked closer, and could see that small numbers, such as 20, 40, 60, all the way up to 100 were written at different heights and locations.

"You're using that ball and not a Quaffle to avoid any suspicion. Now, have a go!"

I felt slightly embarrassed that I was playing a child's game, but I decided to humour him. I started from the ground, and with my first throw I was easily able to score 20. I then tried from one of the platforms, and got a 60. After a while, I began to get into a rhythm, and I soon realised that this was actually really good chasing practice, as it required you to make accurate shots from all kinds of angles and heights. Eventually, I was so engrossed in it that I didn't notice Dad leaving, and I only stopped when the sun was starting to set. My arms ached of course, but it was well worth it. I was having so much fun with it in fact, that I came back again the next 2 days, making sure to do so when the Muggle kids weren't around, because trust me, I was not going to allow myself as a 13 year old to be playing games with a bunch of 6-10 year olds. Also, the pesticide took several days to dissipate anyway.

About halfway through the third day, I was interrupted by a voice from behind me.

"So, back again, Red?"

I caught the ball and spun around. Sitting on one of the benches to my right, was a boy. He was, simply put, blue all over. Blue hair and eyes, and matching blue clothes from top to bottom.

"Yeah I am, Blue, what about it?" I said, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

"Blue isn't my actual name, you know" he replied. He spoke with a thick northern accent.

"Neither is mine Red. It's Ginny, Ginny Weasley"

"I'm Matthew, Matthew Masterson. I just moved here a couple weeks ago. You know, you have a really good throw on you"

"Thanks" I said, then realised something that shook me. Biting my lip, I said, "Umm, how long have you been watching me?"

"Only 10 mins"

My insides relaxed

"Today that is" he said "I've spent several hours watching you in total over the last couple days"

"What?!" I blurted out

He held up his hands.

"Sorry, sorry that came out wrong, literally I've just been watching you chuck that ball around for a while, and honestly, you are fantastic. Not from this seat all the time, cause you'd have seen me sooner. Do you play basketball?"

Ok, that was awkward. Clearly this guy was at the very most half blood, because I had no idea what basketball was.

I chewed my lip, wondering what to say that wouldn't make me look stupid. He noticed my indecision, because he threw up his hands and said "Of course you do, that's a basketball you've got right there! How did I not pick that up?!"

"Uhh, yeah, of course" I said, not liking where this was going

"But then you've got to join my team!" he replied, his eyes sparkling now. "we've got a match in a couple days, and with you on our side, we'll surely win! The other team won't know what's hit them! It just so happens that we're in need of a new player too!"

"Yeah, sure, why not!" I said. I didn't know why I was agreeing to this so easily, it was like my mouth had a mind of it's own.

"Great. It's at the courts 2 streets away, tomorrow, 6pm"

"Ok"

"Come sit over here with me, if we're gonna be teammates we should get to know each other better"

My mind told me not to do so, that he was a complete stranger, and that I shouldn't trust him, but my legs also seemed to have a mind of their own, because I found myself walking over to his bench and sitting right next to him.

"So, been living here long?" he asked

"Yeah, my whole life actually" I told him

"Oh really, whereabouts?"

I bit my lip. How was I going to answer this question? I wasn't completely sure that this guy was even a wizard. I had no choice but to test it.

"Have you ever heard of Hogwarts?" I said

"No, is that another town nearby?"

Right, so he was a Muggle.

"Um, no it's just... you know what forget I said it. So, you said you've only just moved here?"

"Yeah, lived most of my life in Newcastle. My parents are on the older side though, so they wanted to move down here to Dorset, to get some more sunshine you know?"

I nodded politely

"Is life good here? I hope I didn't come all the way across the country for nothing!" he said, laughing.

"Uhh, it's ok, not the best, not the worst"

"Good"

"So, what's with the all blue then?" I asked, referring to his appearance

"I like blue. Simple as that. What are the Holyhead Harpies?"

My insides froze up. I'd been wearing Quidditch merch, in a muggle area! How could I have been so stupid? Granted, this wasn't my full replica kit, just a plain green t-shirt with the Harpies logo in the top right corner, but still, stupid! I had to think quickly.

"They are... um.. a band!" I said "Quite an obscure one. Not one you'd have heard of! That's a big interest of mine, the low ranked bands. I tend to find them more humble and honest than the megastars"

"Are they foreign, cause I like obscure music myself. Never seen them listed on the UK Charts though"

"Yeah, they're... um, Spanish!" I said "but they record their songs in English too so that more people can listen to them"

"Actually, isn't Holyhead a town in North Wales?"

"Yeah it is, but umm... that's where the lead singer is from. She had a lot of veto power on the band's decisions you know"

"Hmm, interesting. I'll have to look them up at some point"

"You do that" I said, not knowing what else to say. I was trying to think of an excuse to get out of this really uncomfortable conversation.

I looked at my watch.

"Oh god, look at the time!" I have to get home, my mum always hates it when I'm not back in time for dinner!"

I sprang to my feet.

Matthew gave me an odd look

"Ginny, it's only 4pm"

"Yeah, but uhh, we do things early in our family. We wake up at like 4am you know, go to bed at like 8pm. It's how we've done it for generations"

He was still looking at me weirdly, but he seemed to accept this.

"Ok, well it was nice meeting you Ginny"

"Yeah you too" I said, then I quickly ran away.

My oh my, was I glad to get out of that! That had to be the most awkward moment of my life, by far! I'd have to stop using the village target wall now, that was for sure. The field near the Burrow should be available again tomorrow, so no reason for me to go back to the village, no reason to see Matthew Masterson again, I thought.

Suddenly I froze, shaken, as in that moment, I remembered that I'd agreed to join his basketball team.