(Regarding the last chapter and what Milo was discovering, I don't appreciate the comments telling me what I can and cannot do because of "plot." As the author, allow me to figure out what is fitting towards the plot I created since I am the one writing this series. As for interfering with Harry Potter world, there weren't Greek Gods interacting, nor was Milo Potter a part of the original series, it's called fanfiction for a reason and changes will be made to the original plot as I see fit. That's what fanfiction is about. If you have an issue with changes to canon, please, kindly go back to the seven books that J.K. Rowling wrote already. Thank you!)
While Milo believed there was some truth to his beliefs, it did seem quite far-fetched and Cedric was the first to bring him back down to Earth. After all, Cedric brought up the fair point that Milo didn't physically leave his body when it came to seeing his parents, it was his mind or perhaps his spirit that ventured to the other side when he entered the dream-like trance. It could have easily been him drooling onto his shoulder that he believed to be the tears of the late Lily Evans, and until the boy had a chance to speak with his mother again, he couldn't be sure.
He really wished that Elspeth didn't come and go so that it was easier to find her, not to mention, the times that he had ventured into the Forbidden Forest, he couldn't find Sirius at all. Perhaps she had taken him somewhere, he wasn't sure because neither one of them were around to ask. Then as he asked his godfather if he had seen the woman, he looked quite concerned as he realised he had yet to see Elspeth around the castle as well. It seemed whenever Milo was on a lead about something, the people that he needed to confide in vanished it, leaving him highly frustrated.
However, not everything was bad, with the thoughts of the dead and the limitations of interaction, Milo had something to look forward to. Harry's match against Gryffindor was coming up and Minerva had finally fully inspected the Firebolt, giving it to Harry before the match. Harry was absolutely thrilled, telling Milo that everyone in the Gryffindor Tower was begging for a ride. Not to mention, the boys had finally decided to make up with Hermione. Although that didn't go over well at all.
Unfortunately, it was well known that Hermione's cat, Crookshanks had been going after Scabbers for quite some time, one of the main reasons that Hermione and Ron had been bickering so much as of late. Ron kept telling her to keep her cat away, but apparently, it wasn't enough as Ron and Harry returned, only for Ron to find blood on his bed where he had left the rat and several long ginger hairs that definitely appeared as though they belonged to the cat. It brought the friendship to a stand-still again, and Milo could relate to Hermione with how back and forth things were.
While Harry seemed to side with Ron on the matter, Hermione found herself alone again, upset that they were blaming her for the natural actions of a cat.
"He didn't even like the rat the majority of the time," Hermione confided in Milo, one afternoon while Gryffindor was holding their last practice before the match. "Always complaining about Scabbers, calling it useless, he only started caring about him when Crookshanks showed up. But I don't understand, Crookshanks doesn't take interest in any of the other pets around the castle, not even Neville's toad. He's been around Paden and never has he even contemplated attacking him. It's just been that rat!"
Milo flinched at her tone, before clearing his throat and placing his hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, it's not your fault. The only way you could have prevented it is if you locked up Crookshanks, which wouldn't be fair to your cat, now would it?"
The large and lion-like cat seemed to agree with the boy as he settled in the boy's lap. "Honestly, the cat should have as much freedom to roam as any other animal. Unfortunately, this happened and perhaps Ron's insults about Scabbers were just a way of him covering up how he actually felt about the rat. But it's not your fault. Besides, when I was talking to Fred and George, it's been a wonder that Scabbers even lived this long. Scabbers actually lived a lot longer than any rat I know..."
"Oh, that doesn't make me feel better," Hermione groaned placing her hands over her face. "Now, my cat has killed the longest living rat."
Milo was too busy, stuck in his own thoughts about the situation, thinking over to himself, considering it had been Percy's rat before it had become Ron's rat. "That's so odd," he muttered to himself, now that he was actually thinking about it. "Rats normally live up to two to three years, but if I'm correct, Scabbers lived to be twelve...that's beyond odd, even with magic."
Magic didn't really prolong the life of ordinary creatures, cats like Crookshanks would probably live longer than the average cat due to the kneazle blood, but Scabbers was just an ordinary rat, right?
"I'm surprised he lived that long too," Hermione said, trying to keep up with Milo's train of thought, " considering the condition he was in. Missing that finger and withering away it seemed-"
"Missing a finger..."
Fudge's words came flooding back into Milo's head as he recalled the conversation taking place in the Three Broomsticks when Harry discovered who Sirius actually was to their family. "And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him... a heap of bloodstained robes and a few—a few fragments—"
"Hermione, you're amazing," Milo told her, bringing the girl to blush as she was caught off guard, "and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not Ron or Harry. No one."
He pushed himself up, making his way to the castle, in hopes of finding Remus to speak with him. There were just way too many coincidences for Milo to be comfortable with, if his theory was correct, he finally understood why Sirius had tried to break into the Gryffindor Common Room.
It wasn't to get Harry or Silas, it was to get the rat.
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Of course, when Milo needed someone, they were absolutely nowhere to be found, leaving him beyond frustrated. He didn't have the map, he didn't have the cloak, the people he needed to speak with weren't around to his inconvenience, making him want to scream out all of his frustrations. But that would cause a scene and he didn't want to do that. It seemed whenever he had figured something out, a million of other things piled on that he didn't have answers to, which created more problems.
But more Milo thought about it, he was beginning to become half-crazed. If Scabbers was who Milo thought him to be, as all the evidence was pointing to, if Crookshanks had actually managed to kill and eat the rat, then all evidence was gone. But that didn't make sense in Milo's head either, especially since an animagus couldn't maintain their form in death, so if he was dead, there would have been a grown man in Ron's bed, instead of blood because Crookshanks wouldn't have been able to eat all of that, even on a good and hungry day. He wouldn't have been able to dispose of the body.
But if Crookshanks did kill and eat the rat, it was just that, a simple rat, with an incredibly long lifespan. However, it just didn't make sense, Crookshanks was constantly going after the rat, and not after other small creatures. Kneazles were known to be incredibly intelligent.
Oh, how Milo wished he was ready for his animagus form so that he could actually communicate with Crookshanks. But there was still a ways to go and the only thing Milo had in that moment was a bitter taste of Mandrake Leaf in his mouth as he was preparing to attend Harry's match. Cedric and the majority of the Hufflepuff team were going to observe as well, along with Heidi and Max.
Despite her post-breakup, Max seemed to be in good spirits, spending the majority of her time in Heidi's company, but while she seemed to be fairing well, Milo was still concerned for Matt as the girl didn't seem to be sharing a mutual response. The morning of the match, Milo made his way over to the Slytherin table and sat across from the girl. It certainly earned him some looks, mainly from Pansy and her group of friends that began to whisper.
"Matt?" When she didn't respond right away, he reached out his hand and placed it over the girl's, trying to get her to be alert to her surroundings. Slowly, but surely, she raised her head and looked across the table at him.
"Milo!" She forced a smile on her face but it was too late, Milo had seen enough to know that she wasn't doing as well as Max. "How are you?"
"I could ask you the same, Matt," Milo told her. "You're not looking very well, are you alright?"
"Who me?" She pointed to herself. "Well, of course, I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Matt...."
Immediately, she looked away from him, her eyes focusing on the table before she only spoke in a whisper. "You know, she's only setting herself up for failure," she said and before Milo could ask what she was talking about, she continued. "She's setting herself up for failure because she's not even sure if Heidi feels that way. Heidi's never shown an interest before and if she thinks it's just going to happen like that...she's going to get hurt."
Milo stared at the girl for a second before it clicked inside of his head. "You mean, Max....and Heidi...Heidi and Max?"
He had been so busy focusing on so many other problems, that he had completely neglected what was going on with his friends. He just assumed that things weren't working out between Maxine and Matilda and that the girls had decided to just go their separate ways and possibly maintain a friendship. But maybe things were more complicated than he anticipated. So did that mean Max liked Heidi, and Matt didn't want to see Max get hurt because she wasn't even sure if Heidi liked girls in that sense?
Milo came to the conclusion that he really needed to be there for his friends more. While he had made plans to sit with Cedric and the rest of the team during the match, Milo decided that his friendship with Matt needed some serious attention.
"We should sit together, during the match," he suggested, bringing Matt to look at him in surprise.
"Really, but what about-"
"It's fine," he reassured her, "beside it'll be fun. When's the last time you and I have hung out? The answer is, it's been too long, Matt."
While Cedric understood perfectly, Max seemed to be a bit awkward when Milo announced that he was going to be joining Matt for the match. However, the girl didn't say anything against it. As Milo walked with Matt to the stands, she seemed to be in better spirits, now that it was just the two of them.
"You've seemed to be a busy bee this term, Milo," she said, "what's new with you?"
If only he could tell her everything, but instead, he gave a shrug of his shoulders. "Nothing much," he answered.
"Milo Potter, you dare to lie straight to my face," she laughed. "Nothing much? So, when were you planning on telling me about you and Cedric?"
Milo started choking on the air he had been inhaling at the moment, leaving Matt to pat him on the back roughly. "How...how did you...what...did Max-"
"No one needed to tell me, Milo, it was pretty obvious. I see the way Cedric looks at you and I see the way you look at him. Trust me, I figured it out without anyone telling me. So, how long has it been?"
The quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw was an important one for Gryffindor because if they lost, they would be out of the running for the cup. Milo could see his mother looking quite anxious, next to the commentator's box as she was monitoring Lee. She had to keep reminding the boy that he was there to announce what was going on in the game and not focus all of his attention on Harry's new broom.
Cho Chang and Harry were the seekers of the game and as soon as the match started, it seemed the two were going to be quite matched. Mainly because it looked like Harry was left stunned to be in the presence of a pretty girl.
"HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN!"Milo heard Oliver Wood yell at one point. "KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!"
"What a captain," Matt snorted.
Milo shook his head, slightly agreeing with Oliver, mainly because it was pretty obvious by the exchanging of grins that the Seekers appeared to be flirting with each other in the air. Leaving Harry to miss out on the snitch.
However, that wasn't the only distraction that seemed to make its way onto the pitch. Cho let out a scream, pointing in one direction. Milo turned his head, in time to see three hooded figures take to the pitch. Milo could see his brother's thought process as Harry pulled out his wand and aimed it at the three believing they were dementors.
His older brother was up on his feet in a matter of seconds, trying to prevent it from happening.
"Harry, no-"
"Expecto Patronum!"
A cast of bright light emitted from the tip of Harry's wand, striking the three figures back roughly. Everyone seemed to be stunned by the patronus, but Milo was shaking his head.
Since when did Dementors wear trousers and trainers?