Harry Potter and the Gift of Memories [Harry Potter Fan Fiction]

Chapter XXXXI: Prank and Punishment, Part I

His dragon hide boots crunched against the green grass as he walked through the Hogwarts grounds. He marveled at how comfortable the boots were, especially when compared to some of the non-magical boots he's worn before. He wondered if they had comfort charms on them.

He also enjoyed how they went with his clothes, and made a note to himself that dragon hide boots went really well with jeans and a form fitting T-shirt/jacket combination.

As he reached the Black Lake, Harry caught sight of his friends. Blaise sat cross-legged on the grass, quietly conversing with Terry about something. Daphne leaned back on her hands, yet somehow managed to keep an upright posture befitting the status as the pureblood female of a Noble House. Tracey lazily lounged on her side, using her left hand to keep her head propped up. Hannah sat next to Susan and spoke to Neville, while Hermione and Susan were having a discussion that Harry was too far away to hear. Judging from the book in Hermione's hands, Harry's personal notebook, it was likely about one of his spell modifications. Hermione was doing most of the talking, he noticed.

“Hey, Harry!”

Tracey Davis wasn't the first to notice him, but she was most definitely the first to greet him. She waved her hand over her head, shouting out his name as he walked over to them and flopped down on the grass.

“Are you alright, Harry?” asked Susan, her soft voice conveying her concern. “You look really tired.”

Harry grunted.

“Wood has been getting increasingly ardent about preparing us for our coming match with Ravenclaw.”

“You mean fanatical,” corrected Tracey, “I saw that Wood boy wandering down the hall one time muttering Quidditch plays under his breath. I've never seen anyone as obsessed as he is.”

“If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, then I don't know what is,” Daphne teased her friend dryly. Harry still sometimes wondered about the blond pureblood. Despite how she had joined their group and was now more talkative, she still rarely displayed any emotions, and her speech pattern seemed to be permanently stuck on sarcastic, like she had trouble expressing herself in such a large group. Or maybe she just didn't like showing her emotions in front of others.

Harry supposed he could understand, as he often tried to keep himself collected as well, though that had been getting increasingly difficult since coming to Hogwarts.

“I'm not that Quidditch crazy,” Tracey retorted, “yes, I think it's the most awesome sport in the entire world, but that doesn't mean I'm a hardcore fan of it. I'm more interested in the brooms.”

“So Wood is being pretty tough on you guys then?” asked Susan, ignoring the way Daphne would take snipes at Tracey and the brunette girl would respond. Harry nodded.

“He feels that we need to change things up.” Harry pushed himself into a sitting position, placing his hands on the ground behind him and using them to support his torso. “After our almost loss at the hands of your House, he's become more obsessed with training us into the ground.”

“But the only reason you guys came close to losing was because of Professor Snape, wasn't it?” Neville scratched the back of his head in honest confusion. “I mean, the Hufflepuff team was good, but we all saw how unfair Snape was being during the match.”

“Much as I dislike agreeing with him about my own house team, Neville's right,” Hannah admitted. “I might not like Quidditch very much, but even I could tell that you guys are better than my house's team.”

Harry shook his head.

“Maybe, but it was more a case of luck that we won. I was in the right position to see the Snitch and it was behind Cedric, so he hadn't even noticed before I caught it. Had he seen it at the same time as me, the match could have gone either way.”