It looked like the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship. Each was so angry with the other that Rigel couldn't see how they'd ever makeup.
Ron was enraged that Hermione had never taken Crookshanks's attempts to eat Scabbersseriously, hadn't bothered to keep a close enough watch on him, and was still trying to pretend that Crookshanks was innocent by suggesting that Ron look for Scabbers under all the boys. Hermione, meanwhile, maintained fiercely that Ron had no proof that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, that the ginger hairs might have been there since Christmas, and that Ron had been prejudiced against her cat ever since Crookshanks had landed on Ron's head in the MagicalMenagerie.
Personally, he was surprised that scabbers decided to kick the bucket, for a rat of twelve years, it lived surprisingly long.
Thankfully, Quidditch's practices kept them away from the arguments. The Firebolts were amazing. It was better than he'd ever dreamed. The Firebolt turned with the lightest touch; it seemed to obey his thoughts rather than the grip; it sped across the field at such speed that the stadium turned into a green-and-gray blur.
It was the best practice ever; the team, inspired by the presence of the Firebolts in their midst, performed their best moves faultlessly, and by the time we hit the ground again, Wood didn't have a single criticism to make, which, as George pointed out, was a first.
"I can't see what's going to stop us tomorrow!" Wood grinned. "Not unless - Harry, you've sorted out your dementor problem, haven't you?"
"Yeah," said Harry with a little concern. His Patronus wasn't very strong yet.
"Dont worry, if you need help just yell alright," Rigel said.
"Alright." Harry smiled.
When Harry and Rigel went down to breakfast the next morning with the rest of the boys in his dormitory, all of whom seemed to think the Firebolt deserved a sort of guard of honor. As they entered the great hall, heads turned in the direction of the Firebolts, and there was a good deal of excited muttering. Rigel saw, with enormous satisfaction, that the Slytherin team were all looking thunderstruck.
"Did you see his face?" said Harry gleefully, looking back at Malfoy. "He can't believe it! This is brilliant!"
Wood, too, was basking in the reflected glory of the Firebolts.
"Put it here, boys and lady," he said, laying the brooms in the middle of the table and carefully. People from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were soon coming over to look. Cedric Diggory came over to congratulate the twins on having acquired such a superb replacement for their nimbus, and Percy's Ravenclaw girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, asked if she could actually hold one of the Firebolts.
"Now, now, Penny, no sabotage!" said Percy heartily as she examined the Firebolt closely." Penelope and I have got a bet on," he told the team. "Ten Galleons on the outcome of the match!"
Penelope put the Firebolt down again, thanked them, and went back to her table.
"Harry — make sure you win," said Percy, in an urgent whisper. "I haven't got ten Galleons. Yes, I'm coming, Penny!"
And he bustled off to join her in a piece of toast.
"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" said a cold, drawling voice.
Draco Malfoy had arrived for a closer look, Crabbe, and Coyle right behind him.
"Yeah, reckon so," said Harry casually.
"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it?" said Malfoy, eyes glittering maliciously. "Shame it doesn't come with a parachute – in case you get too near a dementor."
"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy," Eliza retorted. "Then for the first time ever you could catch the Snitch for you and honor your family."
The Gryffindor team laughed loudly. Draco turned slightly pink and stalked away.
At a quarter to eleven, the Gryffindor team set off for the locker rooms. The weather couldna have been more different from their match against Hufflepuff. It was a clear, cool day with a very light breeze; there would be no visibility problems this time. They could hear the rest of the school moving into the stadium beyond. Everyone changed their black robes to the Quidditch robes, and Rigel removed his wand from the pocket and stuck it inside the T-shirt he was going to wear under the Quidditch robes. Just in case.
"You know what we've got to do," said Wood as they prepared to leave the locker rooms. "If we lose this match, we're out of the running, just — just fly as you did in practice yesterday, and we'll be okay!"
They walked out onto the field to tumultuous applause. The Ravenclaw team, dressed in blue, were already standing in the middle of the field. Their Seeker, Cho Chang, was the only girl on their team. She was short, even shorter than Eliza and that was saying something.
"Wood, Davies, shake hands," Madam Hooch said briskly, and Wood shook hands with the Ravenclaw Captain.
"Mount your brooms... on my whistle... three — two — one —"
Rigel kicked off into the air and the Firebolt zoomed higher and faster than any other broom; he soared around the stadium and grabbed the quaffle speeding towards the Slytherin posts, listening all the while to the commentary, which was being provided by the Weasley twins' friend Lee Jordan.
"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolts that the Potter twins and Black are flying for Gryffindor. According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship —"
"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" interrupted ProfessorMcGonagall's voice.
"Right you are, Professor — just giving a bit of background information — the Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and —"
"Jordan!"
"Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Eliza Potter of Gryffindor, heading for goal..."
She scored. Roger Davies went for the goal but was saved by Wood. Then Rigel scored thrice followed by two goals each by Angelina and Eliza putting the score at 80-0
"Show her your acceleration, Harry!" Fred yelled as he whooshed past in pursuit of a Bludger that was aiming for Rigel.
"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolt go! Harry Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn — Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt'sprecision — balance is really noticeable in these long —"
"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"
Ravenclaw was pulling back; they had now scored three goals, which put Gryffindor only fifty points ahead — if Cho got the Snitch before him, Ravenclaw would win.
"Oh!" screamed Cho, pointing. Rigel looked down. Three dementors, three tall, black, hooded dementors, were looking up at Harry. Rigel was about to take out his wand when something silver-white, something enormous, erupted from the end of Harry's wand. Instead of flying the dementors fell to the ground. How weird... Soon Harry caught the Snitch and Gryffindor won.
"That's my boy!" Wood kept yelling as Angelina, and Eliza had all kissed Harry while Rigel decided to give him a fist bump; Fred had him in a grip so tight Harry felt as though his head would come off. In complete disarray, the team managed to make its way back to the ground. Harry got off his broom and looked up to see a gaggle of Gryffindor supporters sprinting onto the field, Ron in the lead. Before he knew it, he had been engulfed by the cheering crowd.
"Yes!" Ron yelled, yanking Harry's arm into the air. "Yes! Yes!"
"The dementors didn't affect me at all!" Harry said excitedly when he met Lupin. "I didn't feel a thing!"
"That would be because they - er - weren't dementors," said Lupin. "Come and see - "
He led Harry Eliza and Rigel to follow out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the field.
"You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright," said Lupin.
Harry stared Rigel and Eliza, laughed.
Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and MarcusFlint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall.
"An unworthy trick!" she was shouting. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the GryffindorSeeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin each! I shall be speaking to ProfessorDumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"
"Party in Gryffindor common room everyone!" Rigel yelled
It felt as though they had already won the Quidditch Cup; the party went on all day and well into the night. Only one person wasn't joining in the festivities. Hermione, incredibly, was sitting in a corner, attempting to read an enormous book entitled Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles. Rigel broke away from the table where Fred and George had started juggling butterbeer bottles and went over to her.
"Did you even come to the match?" he asked her.
"Of course I did," said Hermione in a strangely high-pitched voice, not looking up. "And I'm very glad we won, and I think you did really well, but I need to read this by Monday."
"Come on, Hermione, come and have some food," Rigel said passing her two pumpkin pasties.
"I can't. I've still got four hundred and twenty-two pages to read!" said Hermione, now sounding slightly hysterical. "Anyway..." She glanced over at Ron too. "He doesn't want me to join in."
Rigel was about to say "Who gives a fuck?" as Ron chose that moment to say loudly, "If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten, he could have had some of those Fudge Flies. He used to really like them -"
Hermione burst into tears. Before anyone could say or do anything, she tucked the enormous book under her arm, and, still sobbing, ran toward the staircase to the girls' dormitories and out of sight.
"Can't you give her a break?" Eliza asked Ron quietly.
"No," said Ron flatly. "If she just acted like she was sorry – but she'll never admit she's wrong. She's still acting like Scabbers has gone on vacation or something."
The Gryffindor party ended only when Professor McGonagall turned up in her tartan dressing gown and hair net at one in the morning, to insist that they all go to bed. Harry and Ron climbed the stairs to their dormitory, still discussing the match. At last, exhausted, Rigel climbed intobed, twitched the hangings of his four-poster shut to block out a ray of moonlight, lay back, and felt himself almost instantly drifting off to sleep...
Rigel didn't know what woke him up but when he did he saw the face of a corpse-like man with waxy skin, yellow teeth, and long, matted hair.
His father Sirius Black.
Rigel's eyes widened and his thunderbird wand was already in his hands pointing at his father. A curse already in his mind.
"Dont move father!" Rigel practically hissed the last word.
"Rigel." He whispered. "Please you have-"
"AHH! SIRIUS BLACK!"
Somehow, his father had hit him with a wandless banishing charm on the face and his back slammed onto the window. His father ran towards the entrance of the common room.
"RIGEL!" Came Ron's panicked voice.
"S... Sirius Black." Rigel managed to make out.
They all scrambled out of bed; Harry reached the dormitory door first, and we sprinted back down the staircase. Doors opened behind them, and sleepy voices called after them.
"Who shouted?"
"What're you doing?"
The common room was lit with the glow of the dying fire, still littered with the debris from the party. It was deserted. A few of the girls had come down their staircase, pulling or, dressing gowns and yawning. Boys, too, were reappearing.
"Excellent, are we carrying on?" said Fred Weasley brightly.
"Everyone back upstairs!" said Percy, hurrying into the common room and pinning his Head Boy badge to his pajamas as he spoke.
"Perce - Sirius Black!" said Ron faintly. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Even Rigel saw!"
The common room went very still.
"Nonsense!" said Percy, looking startled. "You had too much to eat, Ron - had a nightmare -"
"I'm telling you -"
"Now, really, enough's enough!"
Professor McGonagall was back. She slammed the portrait behind her as she entered the common room and stared furiously around.
"I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"
"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" said Percy, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare -"
"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Rigel yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"
Professor McGonagall stared at him.
"Don't be ridiculous, Black!"
"Then ask Ron."
"He's a right professor!" Ron said. "Sirius Black even attacked Rigel!"
That made McGonagall pale and the deputy headmistress pushed the portrait back open and went outside. The whole common room listened with bated breath.
"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"
"Certainly, good lady!" cried Sir Cadogan.
There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room.
"You — you did?" said Professor McGonagall. "But — but the password!"
"He had 'em!" said Sir Cadogan proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"
Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk.
"Which person," she said, her voice shaking, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"
There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to fluffy slippered toes, raised his hand slowly into the air.