"Another goal for Slytherin!" I shrieked with excitement as Flint scored another goal, leaving us at a winning score of 90:30. I had let 3 out of 10 possible goals slip past, but other than those I had been playing tremendously.
However, as I looked across the pitch I found one of the bludgers headed straight towards Harry, almost as though it was aiming for him. Gasping, I watched as he tried to manoeuvre himself away from the ball, but it was no use. It was a rogue bludger; I had read about them in the library that night, but it only ever usually occurred when a spell had been placed upon it. Someone was cheating, and I wasn't about to let Slytherin win a match if it had been one of us.
"Hooch!" I called out to the referee angrily, motioning towards the ball chasing my brother. She shrugged and shook her head. "Nothing I can do about it, I'm afraid, Miss Potter!"
"Ugh!" I grunted angrily, watching as the bludger barely missed my brother and Draco Malfoy's heads. Malfoy was taunting him, and I watched as they both spotted the snitch and began flying after it.
I gasped as a bludger hurdled towards me, catching it in my hands at the last moment and throwing it over to another Slytherin player. They nodded in thanks, before heading towards the Gryffindor goal. As I glanced around the pitch, I watched my brother and Malfoy disappear beneath the stands, the ball soaring behind them as it chased my brother, out for blood.
No more than 30 seconds had passed before I watched Draco burst from the stands, his broom following in suit as he was flung from it and landed on his back. He writhed around on the floor in pain, Harry appearing only moments later as he chased after the golden snitch.
The bludger, however, was not finished with him. Reaching into my pocket, I took out my wand and aimed towards the ball. However, it was too late, for the ball had collided against Harry's arm, knocking him to the ground. But as he laid there on the floor, he had something in his hand - something shiny.
"Harry Potter has caught the snitch - Gryffindor Win!"
I bit my lip, a little disappointed that we had lost our first match. But my priority was making sure my brother was ok. Flying down towards the ground, I watched as the bludger continued to try and make contact with Harry.
"Confundo!" I shouted, aiming my wand at the bludger as a small gust of wind emitted from me, forcing the ball to the ground as I had willed it to do so. The rest of the crowd turned quiet, as I ran to my brother's side. "Harry, are you alright?"
He hissed in agony, his right arm laying limp in his lap. "No I-I think my arm is broken."
"Not to worry, Harry. I will fix that arm of yours straight away!" Gilderoy Lockhart appeared beside us, adamant that he could help.
Harry looked petrified by his remark, "No. Not you!"
The Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor scoffed in offence, "The dear boy doesn't know what he's talking about. Now this," He pulled up Harry's sleeve, causing him to wince once more. "-won't hurt a bit."
I felt a little light headed at the sight of his bone protruding underneath the skin, turning away from the crowd of gathered students for a moment.
"Brachium Immendo." I turned, watching as a flash of white light emitted from Lockhart's wand. Whatever he had conjured up, did not look right at all. Watching as he lifted my brother's arm and it turned to almost jelly, flopping back and forth like a dead animal. I struggled not to gag, covering my mouth.
"Ah, you see-now that can sometimes happen. But um...As you can see, you can no longer feel any pain. And it's very clear that the bones are not broken." Lockhart tried to defend his useless attempt at fixing my brothers arm, and I found myself struggling not to raise my voice at a teacher. Fortunately, Hagrid had managed to save me from a potential detention, "Broken!? There's no bones left!"
"Can we stop yammering and take my brother to the hospital!" I raised my voice a little, rushing over to Harry's side as I helped pick him up from the floor and we began walking in the direction of the castle. Madam Pomfrey, the nurse at Hogwarts, was angry at Lockhart's spell; stating that it would have been easier to have mended broken bones than bringing them back entirely.
I sat with Harry as she dressed his arm, and Ron and Hermione brought our brooms back from the field. I hadn't even realised I had left them there. "You know, you did really good today, Em." Harry complimented, to which I scoffed, trying to force away a smile.
"It was a fun day, I'll admit. Until that rogue bludger came after you." I shook my head, trying to shrug the matter off. He laughed in return, "Yeah, stupid thing! I meant to ask you, have you heard anything else, recently?" He questioned quietly, looking around the room to make sure we were alone.
I frowned at his questioning, shaking my head. "No, Harry. But I don't want to talk about that night anymore."
He bit his lip, adamant he would not let the matter go so easily. "But, don't you think it's strange? That only you and me can hear it?" He pressed further.
I sighed, averting my gaze to the floor, "Of course I do! But," I paused, glancing around the room once more as I found we were completely alone. "-...I'm scared, Harry. Whatever that voice was, I don't want to hear it anymore. And if you do, please do not follow it. I have a really bad feeling." I felt my eyes begin to sting with tears a little, and I tried to prevent my body from trembling in fear.
He nodded, placing his hand over mine, "Alright, Em. I won't." The clock chimed as I glanced up to see it had turned 7pm. "You better go. I'll be alright here tonight." Harry sighed, to which I nodded, leaning over the hospital bed and giving him a small hug. "Happy Birthday." He sighed, causing me to chuckle as I made my way from the room.
"It has definitely been an eventful one, that's for sure. Goodnight!" I called out, waving goodbye as I left the hospital wing, closing the doors behind me.
"Miss Potter." I gasped at the voice, almost falling back into the wooden doors as my eyes met, "Oh God! Professor Snape," I chuckled, holding my stomach as it began to ache, "You scared me." I giggled, my broomstick having fell over on the floor as he made me jump.
The Professor knelt down, picking it up and handing to me. "My apologies, my dear." He motioned for us to walk, to which I obliged as we made our way back towards the dungeons. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company on this fine evening, Professor?" I raised my eyebrows, as he continued to stare at the hallway ahead, motionless.
"Firstly, I wanted to congratulate you on your first Quidditch match - you played exceptionally well." I nodded at his remark, "Thank you-" But he cut my sentence short abruptly, "-I wasn't finished."
Feeling a little disheartened at his sternness, I waited for him to continue. "Secondly, I wanted to know how on Earth you conjured a Confundus charm, which is only taught to Fifth Year students and above." He spat venomously.
I bit my lip nervously, sighing as my eyes finally met his angered ones. "I finished my charms book, Professor. So I went to the library to research some other spells. I thought that the more spells I could master, the better. I'm sorry if that was wrong of me." I apologised sincerely, which I believe only infuriated him more.
"Miss Potter, do you understand how reckless it would have been of you if your spell had gone wrong? Not only could you have put your brother's life in danger, but practising spells beyond your years could have put your own life in danger as well!" He raised his voice, making my throat begin to close and my eyes sting. I had never cared about being shouted at in the past, even at the orphanage. So why was it that this man's praise was all I wanted, and his criticism only affected me more and more each time I received it.
"As it is," He paused, my eyes meeting his once more before he continued, "you performed the charm unprecedentedly. For that reason, I am going to award you 20 house points." I smiled out of disbelief, about to thank Snape but he cut my sentence short, once again, pointing a finger towards me.
"However, if I ever find out that you are practising magic without supervision again, I will personally see to it that you are severely punished, do I make myself clear?" I gulped and nodded in agreement.
"Yes, Professor Snape."
He nodded finally, his face returning to its natural, emotionless state. "Good. And you will be serving detention with me every Friday evening, until Christmas half-term." Mentally scolding myself at his instruction, I nodded once more. "Yes, Professor Snape."
We had finally arrived at the brick wall leading to the Slytherin common room, Professor Snape speaking simply, "Pureblood." As the doorway opened, I tried to contain my emotions. Although, I had grown more angry with myself than my Potions Professor.
Stepping through the door, I waited for it to close behind me. "Oh! And thirdly, Miss Potter..." The Potions Master called and I turned to face him, now unable to control my emotions. "What?" I spat, raising an eyebrow expectantly.
He scoffed, a small smile making its way through his lips as he said simply, "Happy Birthday."