''𝘼𝙡𝙨𝙤, 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪?''
''𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱. Each team has seven players, three chasers, two beaters, one keeper and a seeker.'' Oliver then turns back to Harry and I. ''Harry, your seeker. Y/n, your chaser.'' Harry and I turned to each other with smiles before looking back at Oliver.
Oliver had woken Harry and I up early this morning, wanting to teach us as much about Quidditch as he could, before we actually played a game. He was doing pretty well so far too, telling us about how much he despises Flint.
''There are three kinds of balls.'' He goes to pick up a red ball. ''This one's called the Quaffle. Now, the chasers handle the Quaffle and try to out it through one of those three hoops.'' He points into the far distance, where the Quidditch Pitch is set, specifically at three hoops at are high above ground. ''The keeper, that's me, defends the hoops. With me so far?'' He tosses the Quaffle to Harry.
Harry throws back the Quaffle. ''I think so. What are those?'' He asks. There were three strapped down balls, squirming around.
''You better take this.'' Oliver hands me a wooden bat, as I turn it around in my hand. He bends down to undo the leather that has the ball strapped, only for it to shoot up high in the air. ''Careful now, it's comin' back.''
As the ball started making it's way back down, I gripped onto the bat and his the ball as hard as I could. Basically like when I was playing baseball with the kids around the neighborhood. When I hit the ball, it was exactly like holding a baseball bat, which ended up in the ball going in-between the swords of the statue on top of the tower.
''Eh, not bad, Granger, you'd make a fair beater. . . Uh-oh.'' The ball starts zooming back down, Oliver getting ready to catch it. It looks like he has to wrestle with the ball to get it back into the case. When he succeeds, he gets back up but is out of breath.
''What is that?'' Harry asked with wide eyes.
''It's a death trap, Harry.'' I retorted, still holding the bat.
''Mine as well be one. It's a Bludger. Nasty little buggers. But Harry, you are the seeker, and the only thing I want you to worry about is this. . .the Golden Snitch.'' Oliver holds up a small, golden ball.
''I like this ball.'' Harry commented.
''Ah, you like to now. Just wait, it's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see.''
''What do I do with it?'' Harry asked.
''Thought that bit was obvious, Harry. You catch it.'' I retorted, looking closely at the snitch.
''Granger's right. Catch it before the other teams seeker. You catch this the game is over. You catch this, Potter, and we win.''
The ball jumps out of Harry's hand, as two delicate looking wings come from either side of it. Harry let out a small 'woah' of amazement, which I had also followed with a short 'yeah'. Good thing, Harry had to catch this thing, and not me. Otherwise we'd be loosing every game. Oliver slowly took the snitch back, and put it back into the trunk.
''Alright, that's all you need to know about Quidditch. You two have classes, so I'll let you be.'' Oliver waved us off as he bent down to lock the trunk. Harry and I turned around, walking back into the castle towards Charms class.
''How crazy is this? Us, first years, getting into the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.'' Harry beamed, he did seem quite happy.
''It is quite amazing.''
''How are you not excited right now?'' Harry asked, raising a curious brow.
''Oh, I am. I've just played a lot of sports like this so I'm used to all this. Just besides the magical part, of course.'' I explained. Harry hummed and nodded his head.
''Is that Faris?'' Harry questioned, looking out beyond the courtyard to see Faris flying towards us.
''Yeah, it is.'' As Faris flew closer, I held out my arm for the eagle to land. Faris had a letter in his hand, which had my name on the front and a simple Hogwarts stamp to close the envelope. ''How about you go on ahead, eh? I'll be a minute.'' I gave Harry a sorry look.
''Alright, I'll save you a seat in Charms.'' He spoke. Turning around to run down the hall. With a sigh, I turned back to the letter that Faris had brought me. I ripped off the seal, and pulled out the parchment, which was old and torn like the one from yesterday had been. The handwriting was also the same, it just made me wonder further who this person was.
╒═════════════════════════════╕
Dear Miss. Granger,
I see you are hesitant to take up my offer. I cannot do
anything to change nor encourage your choices.
But, I give full respect to you and your decisions.
Feel free to write to me, anytime about anything at
all. Just use the owl that has came with the letter.
Sincerely,
The concerned citizen.
╘══════════════════════════════╛
The letter said that they had used an owl to being the letter, but Faris was the one who brought it to me.
''Where is the owl?'' I asked Faris. He looked at the sky, watching a small black dot. A medium sized owl had landed in the window in-front of me, glaring at Faris before looking back at me.
From what I collected, Faris had most likely stole the letter from the black feathered owl. Making the owl fall behind schedule and just now, finally reach me. Yet, the owl still hadn't delivered the letter to me, which seemed to disappoint him just the slightest.
''Now, what is Granger doing out in the halls?'' Came an all too familiar, snarky voice.
''What are you doing in the halls, Malfoy? Shouldn't you be in class?''
''Shouldn't you?'' He retorted. He had switched his gaze to the black feathered owl, eyeing it up and down before speaking. ''Interesting owl.''
''It's not mine.''
''Of course, because you have the oversized turkey.''
Hearing this, Faris had flown off my arm and in-front of Malfoy's face, making him stumble backwards and onto the ground. Faris glared at him, each step getting dangerously closer.
''I wouldn't insult him if I were you. He gets touchy on some topics.'' I out the letter back into the envelope, shutting it by putting some of the seal back on it. ''Also, quit writing me letters. Would you?'' I asked him, now I was glaring at him.
''Letters? Why the hell would I be sending you letters?'' He seethed, now standing in-front of me.
''You're not sending these?'' I asked, holding up the letter I had recently received.
Malfoy eyed the letter, looking at every little curve and detail.
''No. I don't.'' He spoke, crossing his arms across his chest.
''Alright, sorry for the mistake then.'' I turned on my heel, walking down the hall. Faris had flew back to the Owlery, with the black feathered owl not far behind him.
Malfoy stood on the hall, watching as I left. I didn't turn back, I didn't give him another glance nor did I stop and say anything else. I just kept walking, without a word, to Charms class. Even though he was supposed to be going the same way.
Little did my little self know, Malfoy knew exactly who the letter was from. He just didn't know when any of this would actually be a danger.
⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒
''One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation the ability to make objects fly. Uh, do you all have your feathers?'' Hermione raised her feather. ''Good. Now, uh, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing, hmm? The swish and flick. Everyone.''
''Swish and flick.'' Everyone repeated.
''Good. And enunciate. Wingardium Leviosa. Off you go then.'' Flitwick waved his hand.
Everyone had brought out their wands, holding them up over their feathers. As promised, Harry saved me a seat, in-between Ron and Seamus, with Ron in my left and Seamus on my right. When I looked over, Harry was waving his wand a little violently, same that Ron was doing but Ron looked about to break his wand.
Hermione stopped Ron, talking to him about how to do it right. Some people were not saying the incantation right, some weren't doing the wand movement right. The little percent of kids in the room who had actually done the spell correctly, had only made the feather fly about a centimeter or two in the air.
''Wingardium Levio-saaa.'' I hear Malfoy from across the room. My gaze instantly snaps in his direction, laughing as he keeps trying and trying, over and over. He might have heard me or seen my looking at him, because he had looked up, glaring directly at me.
He huffed, before raising his brows in a testing manner. Crabbe and Goyle weren't paying attention, they were too focused on their own feather, not getting into Malfoy's business for once. I gave him a smirk before clearing my throat and turning down to my feather.
''Wingardium Leviosa.'' I said, swishing and flicking my wand at the same time. The feather – thankfully – had flown into the air, all the way to the ceiling. Mine wasn't the only one though.
''Oh, well done! See here, everyone. Grangers have done it! Oh, splendid!''
I guess being smart runs in the family.
Looking back to Malfoy, he was glaring straight into my eyes, it made me a little uncomfortable, but who was I to back down from Malfoy? I glared right back at him, this went on for a while before an explosion from beside me went off. I jumped at the sudden noise, turning around to my right to see Seamus had blown up his feather.
''I think we're going to need another feather over here, Professor.'' Harry spoke, his eyes wide as he eyes the feather.
''Really, Harry? I hadn't noticed.'" I replied sarcastically.
I looked between Seamus and Harry, both were covered in black ash from the explosion. Apparently I was too, because Seamus turned to me and started chuckling a little. I gave him a look which made him purse his lips, trying to stop his laughing, but that only encouraged me to laugh with him.
''Class dismissed!'' Flitwick announced, waving his hands as we left the room. I thought it was a little funny that he had to stand on a huge pile of books just to see the whole classroom. Putting my bag on my shoulder, I made my way out of the classroom and into the corridor, walking left and right before I had reached a bathroom.
I went in here to clean myself up of the ash that was left behind by the exploded feather. Only, that task got a little harder when there was also a group of familiar Slytherin's standing near the sinks. My head was hung low a little, not wanting to attract any attention, I walked over to the sink and turned on the water.
Cupping water into my hands, and splashing it onto my face. I looked up at the mirror, seeing I had gotten most of it off of me. I continued washing, only now washing my hands before the Slytherin's had finally turned their attention towards me.
''Granger. Funny seeing you here.'' Parkinson commented.
''Isn't it?'' I replied, raising my brow while slightly turning my head in her direction.
''Thought you'd still be out by the tree. Where I left you.'' She stated, inspecting her hands. ''You know, when I punched you pretty hard in the face.'' She clarified.
''Yeah. I remember.'' I couldn't do much, just give a forced smile and turn back to the sink. I really didn't want to be here right now, I just wanted to leave and go somewhere else but here. Anywhere else. ''I'll be going now.'' I spoke suddenly, turning around to head to the door, where my bag was sitting.
''Not so fast.'' I heard Parkinson say, before a pair of arms had grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face her. When I looked up, I saw someone who looked a little like Crabbe, but with long, black hair. ''What are you so in a rush for?'' She teased, walking around me in circles.
''To go anywhere but here.''
''Scared, Granger? Good. You should be.''
''I never said I was. You're only doing this out of pure boredom.'' I stated, shaking my head back and forth while trying to leave the one girls grasp. It was pretty hard to break though, so I was struggling the best I could.
''Maybe I am. What's it to you?'' She asked, now stopping in-front of me. ''I heard Dracy talk about you.''
''All bad things, I hope.'' I replied sarcastically with a smile and a small chuckle.
''Mostly. I saw the ring he took from your bag. He won't let me touch it, let alone let me five feet from it. It mostly sits on his nightstand looking ridiculous as it sits there. He wears it every now and then to get you mad, trying to take it back from him.'' Parkinson explained, growing closer with each little word.
''And how do you know all this? Some stalker? Remind me to never get connected with you whatsoever.''
''I have my ways. And quit calling me a stalker–''
''Or else what? I already know the line, so no need to–'' I got cut off by a harsh blow to my stomach, making me want to curl over, but I couldn't since the girl was still holding me up. I let out a long breath, regaining my strength.
''Maybe, you should keep that mouth shut. It'll get you in a lot of trouble in the near future.''
''And what do you know about my future? Are you a fortuneteller or something?'' I questioned, breathing heavily.
''I can just say that I know more things then you'll care to learn.'' She smirked, before pushing me to the side where the sinks were located, making me hit my head against it. The girl who had grabbed onto my shoulders, had let go the moment Parkinson touched me.
I groaned, curling into a ball on the floor as I grabbed my head.
''Get your shit together, Granger. Else, I'm going to end you.'' That was Parkinson's final comment before leaving out the door with her little posse of girls.
I was still in a ball on the floor, my hands latched tightly around my head. I was seething through my teeth, my eyes tightly shut. And to think, there was no way I could get a bigger headache then the one I had before. This was definitely worse.
Slowly, I propped myself up on my hands and knees, picking myself up from the floor. Some water had flooded onto the floor, since I hadn't gotten the chance to turn the faucet off when Parkinson told me I couldn't leave the bathroom. I looked into the mirror, seeing I had a huge scar from my forehead and down the side of my face.
The blood was still dripping down my face, but I left it. I didn't bother touching it up, cleaning it, nor even looking at it. I just walked towards the door, threw my bag over my shoulder, and left the bathroom. I really hated this girl, more then words could even muster. And for what? Why did she even hate me? Just because I'm a Gryffindor? Or because Malfoy pays attention to me more then her? An enemy more then a friend? If she even is his friend.
I had made my way to the Owlery, Faris immediately flying down and noticing the cut on the side of my face. He hopped up as close as he could, nudging the side of my face very lightly that I barely felt it.
''I'm fine, I'll live.'' I told the bird with a smile. He made a noise back at me, which I couldn't really decipher. ''I don't need you this time, where's the other owl? I want to send a letter to the stranger.'' I asked Faris, hoping he could show me.
When Faris had looked over to the windowsill that was furthest from us, I turned around to see the black feathered owl, sitting there with a fire in his eyes. Dark black feathers, with some white fur around his beak and stunning golden eyes. This owl was quite beautiful, not as great as Faris though.
Reaching into my bag, I pulled out a notebook, quill and a spare piece of parchment. I know, writing back to strangers isn't a good thing whatsoever. But with whoever this is, he made me feel a little safer here at Hogwarts. Hagrid said that Dumbledore would protect us, but I'm sure I've been beat up by Parkinson enough times to say, he only does it on certain occasions.
I set the parchment on the notebook, as a hard surface to write on. As I pull out my ink bottle and my quill, dipping the end of the quill into the ink, and starting to write.
╒═════════════════════════════╕
Dear Mr. Conspicuous,
I admit, talking to strangers is something I hadn't
intended to do in my life, whatsoever. But I'm
convinced enough that you are a little decent of a
human being.
First off, I need to know what to call you if I am to keep
writing letters about anything in particular. Because I
am not going to keep receiving letters from a person
that signs their name as 'A concerned citizen'.
Also, how do you know who I am or what I even do?
Don't tell me you stalk me, because then, that's just
messed up, and you need mental health. Like you and I
have stated, we're strangers to each other, trust issues
are no joke.
Sincerely,
Granger
╘══════════════════════════════╛
After I had written the last word – which was my last name – I folded the parchment and stuck it into a small envelope. I slowly walked over to the black feathered owl, who looked as if he had been awaiting my letter for a very long time.
Faris kept giving the owl, very intense glares, which I hadn't quite understood.
''Here.'' I handed the letter to the black feathered owl, who had turned his attention from Faris and back to me. The owl made a small noise, before snatching the letter in his beak and flying off into the sky.
Faris had landed himself on my shoulder, as I walked down from the Owlery and back towards the school. Two Hufflepuff's, who were both muggleborn, ran through he halls shouting 'Halloween!' everywhere they went.
I had almost forgot that today, was indeed, Halloween. Hermione and I would go all the time, mostly just for the candy. The lady with Buck, actually had some decent sized candy bars every year. Our parents would stay home and pass out candy to the kids who came ringing the doorbell, while Hermione and I went around the busy street.
Sadly, we aren't doing that this year. I missed the candy, running through the streets like a wild animal. It was amazing, definitely something to remember, even if the cops had to come and chill out some kids a couple of times, and if the crowds around us weren't so pleasing.
As my mind kept racing down memory lane of Halloween back at our house, my mind had skinned past the subject of the stranger letters that hadn't stopped coming since yesterday. It wasn't a smart move to write them back, yes, that I know. But, I wanted to know who this was.
Were they a student in Hogwarts, since the letters have a Hogwarts stamp? Is it a staff member? Is it even anyone who comes to Hogwarts? Criminal? Famous person? Maybe I'm just overthinking things, like I do all the time. Hermione says this a lot too, that I also overthink things and look for the worst possible outcome before thinking about the positive ones.
I can't help it, it's just what I do. I can't really teach myself to do anything different, because it's not me and it won't feel right. Maybe the stranger really is just a concerned citizen. Maybe it's Dumbledore, checking up on me to reassure me that everything will be fine.
Then again.
Why did this stranger even care about my well being?