Seventh Horcrux

Harry Potter vs. Remus Lupin (Pt. 1)

Horror filled his Weasley eyes. "Why wouldn't they trust me?"

"You're the sixth son, Ron. That's easily three more sons than they need. They won't tell you a thing until you've proven yourself worthy."

He leaned forward, desperate to learn more. "How do I do that?"

I thought for a moment. "Have you tried asking? That would show that you're smart enough to know about these things."

Ron grinned, clapping me on the back. "Thanks, mate. You're the best."

A Howler chased Ron out of the Great Hall, spitting smoke and screeching.

"HOW DARE YOU ASK US ABOUT DARK MAGIC! JUST WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU DOING IN THAT SCHOOL, RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY? WHY, I SHOULD..."

I bit into a piece of bacon, contemplating the very public response. A brilliant ploy. The Weasley matriarch was cunning, indeed.

"Can we go back inside, now?" I whined.

"No," Ron said.

He had forced me to attend a Quidditch match because I owed him for the Howler incident. The intricacies of maintaining a friendship never ceased to baffle me. I'd usually not bother with such things. However, the boy's loyalty depended upon his delusion that he was my "best mate," and it would take months to break in a new Weasley.

I groaned. "But it's pouring rain!"

"So what? You're not even wet."

Hermione asked, "Why is that, anyway?"

"I'm Harry Potter," I said.

"That doesn't mean any-"

"Oh, look, the game's starting."

Hermione fell into a disgruntled but obedient silence while the players zipped about in the rain.

Quidditch, such a ridiculous game. It's entirely reliant upon the skill of the seeker, unless one team is ridiculously outmatched, in which case the seeker is superfluous.

Furthermore, the Quidditch games' points are far too tied into the House Cup, which irked me greatly during my first time as a student. There I was answering questions, acing tests, charming professors, and earning loads of points, only for one clumsy seeker to ruin our chances of winning.

I do not lose.

Therefore, I convinced the Ravenclaw and Slytherin seekers to sit on the field for a week while their chasers racked up so many points that one of our Houses would win even if the teachers blatantly cheated in favor of the others. That was the first year I won the House Cup for Slytherin and the reason that Hogwarts games are no longer allowed to last more than three days.

Pleased at my victory over foolishness, I'd cheerfully gone back to ignoring the sport.

"This is boring," I said.

Ron's face wrinkled with the effort of thinking. "What do you mean? Didn't you see that dive by Spinnet?"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure it was very nice. I didn't notice because it is pouring rain. It's also freezing out here."

Hermione asked, "Didn't you cast a warming charm?"

"Of course I cast a warming charm."

"I did, too," she said slowly. "So why is it so cold?"

I peered through the thick rain and the mist of my icy breath until I finally spotted the cloak of a dementor. I could feel misery creeping into my already frustrated mind, turning the world even dimmer than it already was.