Since the Halloween incident, my big brother has been keeping his word about not letting anyone get in-between us again. In fact, he has been constantly by my side and making me laugh whenever he can. He has been around me to the point that Draco only gets to spend time with me when I am in the common room or in the dining hall. I honestly feel bad that I haven't spent as much time with him as I used to, but I also want to spend time with my big brother. Finally, a week ago I gently inform my brother that I needed to spend time with my two friends and not just him. Surprisingly, he was understanding and allows me time to relax with my other friends. I am so happy about that not only because I can spend time with my friends but I can also get away from Ron.
Ronald Weasley, the little Weasel as I call him, absolutely does not like me at all. He was friendly at first when I met him on the train but ever since I was sorted into Slytherin, he has been acting like I was a bad person. I mean, I understand that a lot of bad people were sorted into Slytherin but that doesn't mean that we are all bad people. The Weasel has also talked bad about Draco and never apologized to Hermione. Except, even though he hasn't apologized to her, he treats Hermione like a friend and she has become friends with both my brother and Ron. I'm so happy that one of my friends have a lot more friends than just me but I also worry that she will forget about me. Every time that that worry pops into my head, I simply push it to the back of my mind and focus on the fact that she is happy.
Recently, Harry informs me about a really big discovery that he, Ron, and Hermione have found before Halloween. Apparently on the third floor, which is forbidden to students, is a giant three-headed dog that was standing on a trap door. When he tells me about the dog I instantly worry about the idea of a giant dog being in Hogwarts. I mean, a giant three-headed dog is in a school full of kids and adults sounds like trouble waiting to happen. My curiosity pushes all of those safety notions out of my head and makes me ask him what he thinks is underneath the trap door. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any clue about it and I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
I continue to think about what could be hidden underneath that trap door, and my big brother told me about that discovery a few days ago. A pair of arms hugging me from behind makes a smile grow on my face as I already know who it is. Turning around, I hold Draco in a warm hug as I push the thoughts away that are connected with the dog. My stomach makes a loud noise which makes both of us pull away from the hug; while Draco is chuckling at the noise I blush a crimson red. Taking my hand, he leads us out of the Slytherin's Commons while still laughing.
"Come on. Let's get your beast of a stomach some breakfast before it decides to eat someone," he says which makes me giggle and hide my mouth with my other hand. The rest of the walk is filled with chatter coming from other people, and I silently soak in all of the laughter. I don't know why, but when I hear laughing or squeals of delight it makes me feel happy and light-hearted.
Sighing one more time, Draco and I enter the dining hall and we went our separate ways. While he goes over to the Slytherin table, I walk over to the Gryffindor table to my friend and brother, who is sitting next to the Weasel. Inwardly rolling my eyes, I run over to Hermione and hug her from behind. I giggle and from underneath my giggles, I hear Hermione laugh. She pats my arms and I hug Harry, who isn't eating anything for some reason.
"Why aren't you eating anything, Harry?" I push that question into his head and he looks at me before turning back to the food.
"Today is my first Quidditch game," he replies and I nod my head in understanding. Making up my mind, I grab his fork and stab some egg with it before holding it up to his mouth. At first, he refuses to eat anything but finally gives in when he realizes that I'm not moving until he did eat. Giving him a smile, I give him his fork back and look over at Hermione, who gives me a high five. Before anyone can talk further, a dark shadow falls onto our little group. Turning around, I see that my head of the house is standing right behind me and is looking at me.
"Ms. Potter, will you explain to me why you are sitting at the Gryffindor table instead of Slytherin?" professor Snape drawls out while looking over at my group. Debating whether or not to talk to him through my mind, I decide to use my quill and paper because I don't think that he wants everyone to know about his ability to read minds. I mean, if everyone finds out about his ability then people will watch what they think around him and where is the fun in that. Pushing those thoughts into his mind, I pull out my notepad and quickly write out, 'I was simply wishing my brother luck on his first Quidditch match.'
"Awe, yes. Good luck today, Mr. Potter," he says and turns to look at my brother. Harry, Hermione, and Ron look at the professor with distrust in their eyes and don't reply to his words. Snape pauses for a second and then continues to speak, "Except, after proving yourself against a troll, a game of Quidditch should be easy for you then. Even if it is against Slytherin." With that being said, Professor Snape looks at me before walking down the aisle towards the teacher's table.
A frown adorns my pale face as I think about what he said to my brother but I decide to ignore it because that was just him being him. I can't be mad at someone who's personality is always like that and acts like that to everyone. Now, if he singles out my brother and acts like that then I would get angry. By this point though, I have gotten used to his stern and sometimes rude words but that doesn't mean they don't hurt. When I do get hurt by his words, I simply push his words away and focus on something or someone else.
"That explains the blood," Harry's words cut through my thinking, and I shake my head before focusing on what he is saying. Looking at him with confusion clouding my eyes, I hear my brunette friend ask him what he means by blood, "Here is what I am thinking: Snape was the one who let the troll out on Halloween as a distraction. He used the distraction to go up to the third floor and try to get past the three-headed dog, but the dog bit him in the leg which is why he is limping."
"Why would anyone try to get past that dog?" I ask Harry through our minds, and he looks over at me.
"Remember when we were at Gringotts and Hagrid lead us to that one vault. He took something out of it and says it was Hogwarts business," my big brother says and I nod my head while the memory of that day replays in my head. So, the object that was in the vault is being guarded by the three-headed dog and is what Snape is trying to get. I don't believe that it is Snape doing all of this though. My head of the house is a rude and stern man but a thief and murderer is something that he will never be. I say murderer because letting a troll into the school could have killed someone. Honestly, I don't know who would be behind all of this but I don't think that it is Snape. If I was someone that was trying to steal something from a school, I would try to be unnoticeable and the last person that anyone would expect to be the culprit.
"Harry?" I ask him through the link and he looks at me, "Are you sure that it is Professor Snape? I mean, Professor Snape seems to be the most obvious suspect and the one thing I learned from books, and movies are that the culprit is always the person that is the least expected."
"Well, who else could it be, sister?" he asks me but my mind draws up a blank. Shrugging my shoulders, I give Harry and Hermione one last hug before getting up and walking away towards Draco.
Right as I sit down on Draco's right, I hear the hoot of an owl and I glance up to realize that it is my brother's owl, Hedwig. The snow white owl is carrying a very long parcel that is shaped like a broomstick. She drops it in front of my brother before flying towards the teacher's table to only land next to Professor McGonagall. It seems that the head of Gryffindor gave their new seeker the newest version of the broomstick, a Nimbus 2000. Smiling at my brother's happiness, I look down at the table and start to eat my breakfast while talking to Draco, who appears to be frustrated that my brother got a broomstick.
Walking with Draco, we enter the Quidditch stadium and head towards the Slytherin side. Even though my brother is on the Gryffindor team, I decided to stay on the Slytherin side until after the game then I will either congratulate my brother or cheer him up. I flip my green and silver scarf around my shoulder and make sure that Draco has his scarf tightly around his neck.
Not even a minute later, the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams fly out on their broomsticks and zip around the field. My brother flys past me while waving and I smile while waving in return. Lee Jorden, a African-British boy, announces that this is the first Quidditch game of this season. I honestly don't know who to cheer for; I mean on the one hand, my brother is playing on one team, and on the other hand, I should be cheering for my house team. After debating for a little bit, I decide to just cheer for everyone and be happy with whoever wins.
The teams get into position and Madam Hooch, who is the teacher for flying class, steps out into the center of the field underneath all of the players. She stands next to her broom and a good-size looking chest that is filled with the balls for the game. Before opening the struggling chest, she looks at all of the players, mostly the captain of the Slytherin team, and tells them that she wants a nice clean game. After letting that sentence sink in, she kneels down and opens the chest. Two medium-sized brown balls that are called Bludgers zoom right out of the chest with a weird sound. A small gold ball that is apparently called the Snitch flies out of the chest in a very quick speed, even quicker then the Bludgers. Finally, Madam Hooch pulls out a large red ball that is named the Quaffle and throws it into the air. With the Quaffle in the air, the first official Quidditch game of the season begins.
Unlike everyone else who starts knocking at each other, Harry and the other seeker sit away from the other players and wait until they see the Snitch. Everyone starts grabbing at the Quaffle and the players with the small bats, also known as the beaters, try to hit the Bludgers at the other team. One of the female chasers on the Gryffindor team catches the Quaffle and dodges the Slytherin chasers before tossing it into one of the hoops, earning a point for her team.
"Ten points to Gryffindor!" Lee cheers before giving them ten points. Looking up at my brother, I see him clap his hands while cheering at teammate before a Bludger wheezes past him making him lose his balance for a second. My eyes widen in surprise and realization that this sport is really dangerous. Holding my hands together tightly, I watch in fear and worry for my twin brother who almost got hit by a Bludger. As if sensing my staring, he looks over at me and gives me a reassuring smile as if telling me that he will be alright. Without being reassured about his safety, I nod my head slightly and focus on the game.
Looking at my team, I notice that the captain has the Quaffle and flies toward the Gryffindor hoops in order to score a goal. He dodges the Gryffindor chasers and ends up kicking one of their broomsticks making them fly off while spinning. I frown once I see that because that is a very mean and unnecessary thing to do. That girl could have been hurt or worse by that one action alone. As if karma is getting back at him, when he throws the Quaffle at the Gryffindor hoops, the Gryffindor keeper and captain hits the Quaffle away with his broomstick.
The two girl Gryffindor chasers start playing hot potato with the Quaffle as they dodge the towers and the two Slytherins chasing after them.One of the girls throws it at the other girl who throws it into the Slytherin hoop which earns Gryffindors another point.
"Another ten points to Gryffindor!" Lee happily says while flipping their points over so it reads twenty. This time I slightly cheer by clapping my hands excitedly because after what Flint, the captain for Slytherin, did to that one girl they deserve those ten points. Unfortunately, I am the only Slytherin who cheered for the Gryffindors because everyone else groans that they didn't receive any points yet.
A Slytherin boy has the Quaffle and throws it but they Gryffindor keeper grabs the ball before it could enter the hoop. He throws it to one of his teammates but Flint looks like he has had enough with the Gryffindor's meddling. He grabs one of the batons from his teammate and hits one of the Bludgers at the keeper for Gryffindor. Sadly, the Bludger hits the boy squarely in the chest which knocks the male unconscious and he falls of his broom. He lands flatly onto the ground and my mouth drops open. That poor, poor boy! My anger is quickly rising and I want to punch Flint in the face. He gives my brother a cruel smile with his crooked teeth before tossing the baton back to the beater. Without even realizing it, my hands clench into fists and they are shaking slightly. My anger rises even more when I hear my Slytherin peers laughing at the poor male.
Huffing, my anger is quickly reaching its boiling point and all of a sudden Flint stops flying around. He sits very still before his broomstick starts to vibrate. The vibrate quickly turns into violent jerks of movement, and Flint starts to hold onto his broom for dear life. Before anything else can happen, some movement catches my eyes that makes me look away from the jerk. The scene that catches my eye makes all of my anger quickly turn to worry when I see my brother's broomstick acting exactly like how Flint's broomstick was previously acting. Looking back at the jerk to see if his broom is still doing the same thing, I quickly notice that his broomstick is completely back to normal and he zips around the field again. Focusing back on my brother, my fear rises to a whole new level when he loses his balance and falls of his broom but thankfully he still has a firm grip on the handle. Tears spring into my eyes when I hear the rest of the Slytherin laugh at my brother, and I look over at my friend Draco to see that he is laughing as well. How can these people be so cruel as to laugh at this serious situation that could potentally really harm my brother or worse.
What feels like an eternity but really a minute or two goes by with Harry's broom still jerking around before it finally stops. Enthusiastically, I start clapping as my brother swings himself back onto his broom and starts flying off towards the Slytherin seeker who is chasing after the Snitch. Both boys start bumping into each other trying to get the other off his broom, when they notice that the Snitch dives down towards the ground. My brother and the other boy dive down and they start flying towards the ground. They keep glancing at each other seeing who will pull up first. The Slytherin seeker is the first to pull up and away while my brother pulls up just as he is about to hit the ground. Being very close to the ground, he decides that it is the smart thing thing to do which is standing up on his broom. No holding on to his broom, just his feet on the handle of the broomstick. The golden Snitch is right in front of him and he reaches out towards it but it is a little bit to far from his current position. Taking small steps closer to the Snitch, he accidently puts his foot at the very end of the broom making the broom flip forward. My big brother does a barrel roll a few times across the field before he stands up while holding onto his stomach. Big Brother starts making a gagging notion while I start to think that he is going to be sick. Instead of vomiting or something of the like, something pops out of his mouth and into his hands.
A minute goes by before a huge smile appears on his face before he holds up the golden Snitch. My big brother has caught the golden Snitch! He won the game! I start clapping while jumping up and down before Lee Jordan announces that the Gryffindors won the game. Madam Hooch blows her whistle and everyone, minus the Slytherins, start chanting my brother's name. A small crosses my face before I run out of the bleachers and wait in front of the changing room for my brother to appear.
Twenty minutes later, my brother appears out of the changing room in his school robes. Launching myself, I hug Harry tightly while happy tears spill down my cheeks. He laughs at my actions and hugs me just as tightly. I am so happy and proud of my brother but I am also very grateful that my brother is unharmed.
"Congratulations, big brother! I am so proud of you but I am more releaved that you are alright," I say through our minds. My happy tears quickly turn into sad tears as I think about how much he could have been hurt or worse. Hearing my crying, my brother hugs me even more tightly as he starts to rub my back.
"It's okay, sister. I am perfectly fine and I won my first game. Please, don't cry," he soothingly says and we stay like that for a few more minutes until my crying turns into hiccups. I pull away from him and smile while wiping away the last of my tears from my face. Thankfully, my tears are gone and I'm just red when Hermione, the Weasel, and Hagrid walk up to us. They all cheer for Harry and he thanks them before Hermione brings something up that is new to me. Apparently, while Harry's broom was malfunctioning, Hermione saw through her binoculars that Professor Snape was mouthing a spell while looking directly at Harry. If it is true that Harry's broom was being cursed upon, I still don't think that Snape could be the one behind this. I agree that this makes Snape very suspcious, but maybe he was simply trying to help my brother.
"Ridiculous! Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?" Hagrid says while we walk towards Hagrid's hut. I agree with Hagrid because what could Professor Snape gain from harming my brother.
"I don't know. Why would he try to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween?" Harry retorts and I sigh before focusing on the grounds of Hogwarts.
"Who told you about Fluffy?" the half-giant asks them as he looks down at them. The Weasel, of course, decides to butt into the conversation by referring to the dog as an it. Hagrid explains that Fluffly belongs to him and that he bought him off an Irish man that he met at the pub once. He lets slip that the dog is guarding something for Dumbledore before realizing that he shouldn't have said that. Hagrid tells us 'no more questions' but my brother insists that Snape is trying to steal it.
"Now, listen to me, all four of you. You are meddling with things that should not be meddled with. What Fluffy is guarding is strictly business between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel," Hagrid sternly says while looking down at us. A confused look appears on my face when I regesture that new name. Nicholas Flamel actually sounds very familiar like I read his name somewhere. Taking a mental note to look that name back up, I look around to realize that Hagrid as walked away from us and Harry is questioning who Nicholas Flamel is. The Weasel and Hermione both say that they didn't know who he is and I decide to head to the library to look up the name.
Giving my brother and Hermione a hug, I walk off to the library while avoiding every Slytherin that I come across. Honestly, I don't think that I can stand being around any Slytherins after how they reacted at the Quidditch game. Unfortunately, as I am walking down a hallway, I notice that Draco is talking to Crabbe and Goyle a few feet away from me. Sighing, I try to pretend that I didn't notice them but Draco calls out for me. Hurrying my pase, I walk another ten feet before Draco lightly grabs my arm.
"Why are you ignoring me?" he asks me and I pull my arm out of his hand. Quickly scribbling out why I am ignoring him, I hand it to him before running away until I reach the library. Sadness wells up inside me when I think about the fact that my first friend is actually someone that I don't want to be around at the moment. Pushing those thoughts away, I grab a handful of books and sit down at a table before starting to read.
By dinner time, I still haven't found anything about a Nicholas Flamel. Arriving at the dining hall, I sit by myself away from the other Slytherins. While quietly eating, I glance up and notice that Draco is with a group of people. He is talking to them and doesn't even seem to miss me. My cracks fill my heart before I quickly focusing on my food again. Tears make my sight blure but I quickly blink them away before they can fall. I will not allow for this mean people to make me cry.
When I arrived back at the Slytherin's common, I walk past Draco and go up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. Changing into pajamas, I lay in bed and think about everything that is going on. My pet raven, Nightshade is gone, my brother was almost hurt, Nicholas Flamel, and I may be down one friend after the Quidditch game. Why is it that I just got my brother back but I also lose a friend that was there for me since coming here? Why is life so cruel?