Foreshadowing the Unexpected

Chapter 13 - Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw

No one ever achieved greatness by playing it safe. --Harry Gray

Word quickly got around the school that Connor and his friends had been the ones to jinx Rupert Dursley into saying "I want my mummy!" every time anyone uttered his name. Connor found himself having to constantly tell people that he didn't know how to do the charm, and that, no, he couldn't teach it to them.

The word around school was also that Rupert had gone to Snape to complain about said jinx, and had been told that if he was foolish enough to let a few Gryffindors jinx him right out in an open corridor, he deserved what he got. Connor suspected the only thing that had saved him from Snape's wrath was the unicorn hair he had gotten from Connor's cloak two days before.

On Friday, Connor found himself concentrating more on his notes about the Quidditch plays that he, Quentin and Amanda were going to try during the game tomorrow than on his Divination lesson. It wasn't until he reached Defence Against the Dark Arts that he remembered that some of the students had not yet faced the boggart.

"We have a different boggart today," Professor Lupin told them all as they settled into their seats. "The one we used before was, unfortunately, destroyed during a class yesterday."

Connor looked over at Quentin to see that he looked nervous, but not panic-stricken. Connor was surprised, actually, that he hadn't been overly teased about his boggart experience, but was not going to complain about it. Perhaps anyone in the mood to tease him was afraid of being forced to say, "I want my mummy!" as Rupert had.

The same trunk was sitting at the front of the room as before, and Ms Grayson and Professor Lupin stood calmly, ignoring it.

"Today we're going to finish our practical lesson with this new boggart," Lupin said cheerfully. "Those of you who have not yet had a chance to face it will do so today. I hope all of you are prepared."

"Would everyone please stand?" Ms Grayson asked the class. "I'm going to arrange the desks just like last time. I would like those of you who have already faced the boggart to stand to the left of the room, and those who have yet to tackle it to position yourselves on the left."

There was a scramble of students and desks shifting around; soon the trunk had been levitated into place and Professor Lupin was asking for a volunteer to begin. A Gryffindor girl raised her hand and stepped forward timidly.

"Excellent, Cleo," Lupin encouraged as the girl took her place. "Ten points to Gryffindor! Ready?"

Cleo nodded, and kept her eyes on the trunk as Ms Grayson flicked her wand to open the lid. Again a shadowy figure emerged, taking the shape of a humungous troll. Foul-smelling and carrying a large club, it let out a bellow and raised the knobbly club high above its head.

"Riddikulus!" Cleo said in a strong voice.

The troll suddenly brought down the club on his own head, and proceeded to beat himself with his own weapon.

The class laughed appreciatively, and Lupin called out, "Daniel! You next!"

Daniel White, who had teased Connor during their last Defence class, stumbled forward. With a loud crack! the boggart took form of a rotted corpse, which smelled almost as bad as the troll had. Connor swallowed reflexively against it, his lip turning up in disgust to see putrid flesh barely clinging to decayed bone.

"Riddickulus!" Daniel cried, and the zombie fell to pieces on the floor, apparently no longer threatening.

"Good!" Lupin said. "Mary! Forward!"

Mary Pye stepped forward to face her fear.

Crack! A ferociously snapping dog foamed at the mouth and barked viciously.

"Riddikulus!" Mary said quickly, and a purple miniature poodle said yipping playfully before them.

After Mary, it was Quentin's turn. He approached the miniature poodle, with a look of trepidation.

Crack!

Vanessa Malfoy stood before them all, wearing prison robes, her hands in iron shackles. "Help me, Quentin!" the boggart cried with Vanessa's voice. "Don't let them take me away!"

Quentin looked wild-eyed for a moment before pointing his wand at her, saying, "Riddikulus!"

There were cheers and whistles as Vanessa Malfoy was suddenly divested of her prison robes, and stood in front of the class in a green bra and knickers, though her hands were still bound. "Quentin! Help me!" she cried again.

"Riddikulus!" Quentin said again through gritted teeth, obviously not finding the image of his nearly-naked sister in front of a class full of students amusing.

Crack! Vanessa was gone, and in her place was Quentin's father, also in prison robes and shackles.

This time Quentin set his expression with determination and shouted, "Riddikulus!"

Draco Malfoy was forced into the same bra and knickers that Vanessa had been in earlier and Quentin smiled with relief.

"Marvellous," Lupin chuckled. "Excellent work! And last, but not least, Gareth."

Gareth stepped toward Mr Malfoy, and there was a loud crack as a deadly looking animal suddenly crouched before the class, growling menacingly. Connor recognised the giant spotted cat from his Care of Magical Creatures text, and automatically grabbed Ivy and Zack's robes and pulled them backward.

"What is that?" one of the students near Connor asked.

"A nundu," Connor whispered. "Its breath is poisonous."

A couple of things happened at once at that point: the nundu crouched as though ready to spring at Gareth, who looked as though he might faint; Ms Grayson had stepped in between the boy and the cat; and there was a loud crack. Suddenly Ms Grayson was enveloped in a black mist, with only her feet visible.

"She gasped, and her wand clattered to the floor. It rolled to Connor's feet; he scooped it up, thinking that he should return it to her so that she could fight off the boggart, but not knowing if he should stick his hand into the black mist. What was that stuff anyway?

"Elizabeth!" Lupin exclaimed. His voice carried over the excited and confused chatter of the students.

"Remus?" Ms Grayson's voice definitely held a hint of panic in it. "Remus, I can't see!"

"Stay calm, Elizabeth!" Remus ordered, stepping forward, keeping his voice even as he gestured for everyone else to be silent.

"We should get her out of there!" Darcy Layton said, stepping forward.

The mist suddenly whipped away from Ms Grayson, and there were two loud cracks in quick succession. Suddenly there was a large full moon with eight hairy legs standing before the class. The boggart had tried to scare both Darcy and Lupin at the same time.

Darcy wisely retreated back to the side of the room, Leaving Lupin to dispatch the boggart easily back into the trunk.

Once he had latched it, Lupin turned to see Ms Grayson kneeling on the floor, trying to get her breathing under control. "I want everyone to put their desks back in order and sit down, while I take Ms Grayson to my office to rest," Professor Lupin told them while he helped Ms Grayson to her feet.

She made no argument as he led her to the staircase leading to the office and helped her to climb it.

Connor looked at his friends for a moment, and then pulled his desk back into place. When Lupin returned a few minutes later, everyone was in their seats, looking worried.

"As you all could see," the professor said, sounding a bit shaken, "Ms Grayson has a fear of blindness."

Connor looked around and saw looks of comprehension on others' faces.

"As you also witnessed, she made a potentially fatal error. What was it?" Lupin asked.

Several hands shot into the air, and Lupin pointed to Andrew Tillman.

"She dropped her wand," Andrew answered confidently.

"Correct," Lupin said. "A very dangerous thing to do when facing a boggart. What if her greatest fear had been something like that nundu? It could easily have killed her without a wand to protect herself with."

There were nods of understanding all around the room.

"Incidentally," Lupin said, "a nundu is particularly fatal, and is deemed one of the most dangerous of magical creatures. Ms Grayson intervened because the nundu's very breath is deathly - not because she doubted Gareth's ability to deal with a boggart. Five points for everyone who faced the boggart both Wednesday and today."

Several people clapped at this news, and as the bell rang, Lupin called out for them to read the next chapter in their texts before next class. As soon as the students started leaving, Connor noticed that Lupin all but flew up the stairs to his office, not waiting to see them out.

#*#*#*#

The next morning, Connor woke early with a case of nerves. He knew that if he had problems during today's match, he would be off of the team for good. He loved Quidditch; to be taken off of the team because he couldn't concentrate would be totally humiliating.

Even though it was early, he showered and got dressed in his game robes, then headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He wasn't the only one already awake. Aiden, Whitney and Rachel were all seated at the Gryffindor table, and a few of the Ravenclaw players were at their table, looking anxious as well.

"You're up early," Rachel said around a yawn as she half-heartedly stirred treacle into her porridge.

"Nerves," Connor admitted as he sat across from her. "I can never sleep on a game day."

"Doesn't seem to affect your appetite," Aiden observed as Connor piled his plate with eggs and sausages.

"I'm starving," Connor said as he poured himself some tea. "McGonagall reckons I must be growing again."

"At least it's not snowing," Whitney said, then turned and asked Connor, "Are you going to be okay for the match today?"

"I'll be fine. Lupin's going to go through my Occlumency with me to make sure my mind's as clear as can be before the match. I'll do it about an hour before game time, and I should be just fine."

Quentin and Ivy arrived at the table a minute later still looking a bit sleepy, and Amanda came in a few minutes after them.

Connor looked over at the Ravenclaw table and counted the heads of everyone in blue robes, and noted that all but one of their players was up early as well.

"Are you three sure you know what you're doing out there?" Whitney's Chasers huddled together to go over their planned strategies again. "I don't want you all in the hospital wing in the middle of the game."

"We're sure," Quentin said firmly. "It'll be brilliant."

Before too long, the entire Great Hall was full of excited students. Rachel and Ivy both looked a little green. This would the first real game either of them had played in, and they were looking increasingly nervous as the time approached for them to play.

"Are you ready, Connor?"

Connor turned in his seat to see Professor Lupin standing behind him.

"Yes," Connor said, and stood. "I was thinking that the best place would be the Gryffindor changing rooms, just in case it takes longer than I expect."

Lupin agreed, and Whitney approved as well.

"We'll see you in an hour, when we come in to kit up," She said.

Almost hour later, Professor Lupin broke his connection with Connor and they both opened their eyes to see the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team looking at them curiously.

"How long have all of you been standing there?" Connor asked, feeling mildly embarrassed and self-conscious.

"Only a couple of minutes," Ivy assured him. "Are you finished, then?"

Connor's mind felt clear and he had no trouble focusing, even though he knew that the stands outside were rapidly filling with students eager to see the match.

Once Whitney seemed satisfied that he was telling the truth, Lupin excused himself to take a seat in the stands. The team strapped on all of their protective padding while waiting for Whitney's usual pep talk, which was delayed when Madam O'Leary strode into the room and announced that Ravenclaw had opted to replace one of their Chasers with a reserve player.

"Which one?" Whitney asked suspiciously.

"Lawrence Swann is being replaced by Francine Lowery," Madam O'Leary said.

"She's a fourth year, isn't she?" Whitney asked.

"She is," Madam O'Leary confirmed. "I'll give you five extra minutes to discuss any changes Gryffindor may want to make, but I expect you out on the pitch no later than five past ten."

Whitney waited until Madam O'Leary had left before turning to her team. "Do any of you know anything about Lowery?"

"She's in my Transfiguration class," Aiden said. "I don't know much else. She's wasn't on their team last year."

"Well, they're clearly trying to throw us off balance with this, which means they're worried," Whitney surmised. "I say we go along as planned."

Rachel suddenly swallowed, burped, and bolted from the room, to be heard retching loudly from the nearby loo. She returned with a little more colour in her cheeks, and an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, "nerves."

When team was ready, they grabbed their brooms and walked out onto the pitch. The roar of the crowd was deafening, and Connor grinned at the large section above him that were all waving red and gold banners and cheering for Gryffindor.

His head was still clear, and there wasn't even a hint of unwanted interference as Connor followed his teammates to the centre of the pitch to meet the other team.

Ravenclaw Beater and Captain Athene Theodopolis stepped forward to shake hands with Whitney.

At the signal from Madam O'Leary, both teams mounted their brooms and kicked off into the air to take position.

Connor hovered over the pitch, focusing intently on the Quaffle in Madam O'Leary's hands. He didn't try to track the Bludgers or the Snitch as they were released, but felt the Snitch buzz past his ear for a second before it vanished.

The Gryffindor Chasers had spent hours going over plays, plans and contingencies for this game. Connor's nerves jangled for a moment as Madam O'Leary tossed the Quaffle into the air and began the game.

The ball rose between Amanda and Francine, and play began.

Connor blinked at how quickly Lowery nipped the ball from in front of Amanda's face and took off toward Gryffindor's goal posts, but didn't think twice about bring his broom around and giving chase.

They had practiced this. Ravenclaw's other two Chasers, Miriam Sundstrom and Stephanie Booth, flanked Lowery as they raced toward the scoring area. Connor caught up with them easily, and flew his broom up beside Sundstrom, while Amanda flew up beside Booth. Quentin flew above Lowery; Ivy and Aiden took their places above and below the knot of players, doing their best to repel the Bludgers.

Connor eased his broom over into Sundstrom's, forcing her to crowd over toward Lowery. On the other side, Connor knew that Amanda was forcing Booth over toward Lowery as well. Connor glanced up to see that Quentin was flying above and ahead, just has he was supposed to be, and then rammed into Sundstrom none too gently.

Sundstrom, predictably, rammed back, using her left foot to kick out at Connor's broom, throwing them both off course. On the other side, Connor knew that Amanda was similarly provoking Booth. As soon as Lowery was freed from the vice of people, she put on a spurt of speed, clearly intending to attempt to score.

There was a gasp from the crowd as Quentin suddenly appeared in front of Lowery, having dropped vertically in mid-air while keeping his broom horizontal. Lowery screamed at the sudden appearance of a body in front of her, dropped the Quaffle and raised her arms to shield her head.

Quentin, his job complete, dropped even further, then rolled upside down for a moment to avoid a collision, while Amanda scooped up the fallen Quaffle and turned back the other way.

The crowd cheered loudly, but Connor only really heard it for a moment as he brought his broom around and prepared to fend off the Ravenclaw Chasers who were trying to regain possession of the Quaffle.

Connor could see that Ivy and Aiden had Stephanie Booth busy with a pair of Bludgers, while Lowery and Miriam were doing their best to intercept the Quaffle that Amanda and Quentin were passing back and forth.

Connor placed himself under Miriam, then brought his broom up from beneath her, forcing her away from Amanda. He had barely enough time to pull his broom to the right to avoid being in the scoring area while Amanda made her attempt.

"And Gryffindor scores first!" The announcer proclaimed as Connor ducked a Bludger.

The Quaffle was put back into play and Quentin didn't waste any time in putting his newly practiced moves to work as he sped along beside Booth, who had possession of the Quaffle, preventing her from passing it to her team mates. Connor worked to keep Miriam from going to her teammate's rescue, and grunted as he received a kick to his shins for his efforts.

Normally Connor wouldn't be rough with a girl. However, this was Quidditch, and he was playing to win. He thanked the powers that be for his protective padding, and threw all of his weight sideways, driving his shoulder against Miriam's, hard. She slipped sideways a bit on her broom, and was just distracted enough to miss the pass that Booth had barely managed to throw her way. Amanda was there to intercept, and all brooms headed back in the direction of Ravenclaw's goal posts.

Connor neatly caught the Quaffle as Amanda tossed it to him, and sped forward toward the scoring area. At the last moment, he dove toward the ground, where Quentin was waiting; and Connor handed the ball off to see Quentin shoot upward and score a goal.

After thirty minutes of lively play in which Quentin performed a lot of aerial acrobatics to confuse the other team, and Ravenclaw scored twice against Rachel -- who was otherwise doing a fine job of defending the hoops, Ravenclaw called a time-out. Connor dropped to the ground out of breath but elated with their successes so far.

Whitney was all smiles as the team gathered around, and said, "Right - they've seen what you can do on that broom now, Quentin, so you're going to be their main target. I'm going to bet that they are going to get a lot more aggressive after this, so be on the lookout. Ivy and Aiden - you two will need to be on the look out in particular, because so far their Beaters haven't been overly forceful. There's still been no sign of the Snitch, but when it comes out, don't stop playing. Just keep on what you're doing, and we'll win this."

The team nodded in agreement, and put their hands together in the centre of their huddle and shouted, "Gryffindor!" just as the whistle signalled that the time-out was over.

Connor mounted his broom once more, ignoring the very faint buzzing that was beginning to intrude at the back of his mind. He would not let it interfere with this game!

Gryffindor got possession of the Quaffle immediately as play resumed. The Ravenclaw team did exactly as Whitney had predicted: their Beaters were now doing their level best to knock Bludgers at Connor, Quentin and Amanda, while their Chasers were doing their best to knock the Gryffindors off balance or off of their brooms.

That was fine by Connor; he didn't mind playing rough. He sped up to fly beside Francine Lowery, and wasn't surprised when she kicked at his broom handle, making Connor wobble a bit in the air. Connor held steady, and when he saw a Quaffle being passed to Lowery, he simply flew right into her side, snatching the Quaffle out of the air where Lowery had just been flying.

Things got even rougher, and penalties were given and taken with regularity over the next twenty minutes. The crowd was excited, and cheering or booing, making a huge noise. They went wild when Quentin hooked one of his legs around a Ravenclaw Beater's broomstick handle and used it as a pivot-point to duck under a Bludger, swinging his whole body, along with his broomstick, under the Beater.

The Beater, looking to see where Quentin had just gone, didn't spot the Bludger that hit him full force in the solar plexus.

Connor was gritting his teeth, and actually welcomed the pain of a blackened eye that Lowery's elbow helpfully gave him. It was something to help to block out the mental roar trying to intrude. He glanced down at the gauge on his broomstick handle that told him the score, seeing that Gryffindor was leading by sixty points. He prayed the Snitch would make an appearance soon, or he would be in big trouble.

"Connor! Look out!" Amanda shouted off to his right.

Connor ducked instinctively as a Bludger grazed his hair, narrowly missing him. A moment later, he was startled badly when a huge something dropped its full weight fell into his lap, then slipped off sideways, almost taking him down, too.

It took him a moment to realize that Whitney had just dropped into his lap from above, and hurriedly grabbed at her ankles as she threw herself sideways wildly. She was hanging from Connor's hands, as he held onto her legs with all of his strength, praying that he wouldn't drop her before one of the others could come to their aid. His leg muscles strained from his efforts to keep his seat as he tried not to be dragged sideways with no free hands to help him.

For a heartbeat there was complete silence. Then the crowd erupted into wild cheers and the announcer shouted, "I don't believe it! Whitney Glendale catches the Snitch! Gryffindor Win!"

Confused Connor sagged with relief when Quentin and Aiden flew up from below to grab Whitney and take her weight off of him. Connor grinned when he saw Whitney's face was flushed with victory as she waved the Snitch in the air.

"Final score: Gryffindor two-hundred sixty, Ravenclaw eighty. Snitch caught one hour, twelve minutes into the match!"

Connor barely heard the announcement over the roar in his own head, and carefully flew to the ground, into the crowd flooding onto the frozen pitch. He barely took in the sight of his Uncle Ron there, hugging Rachel and then, oddly, hugging Quentin, before he shoved his way through all of the milling bodies and into the changing room.

He dropped down onto a bench and held his aching head in his hands, taking deep breaths as he willed the pain to stop. Thoughts and feeling were overwhelming him to the point where he could hardly think. His hands, which hadn't bothered him much lately, were beginning to itch furiously.

"What a game!"

Connor groaned as Aiden tramped into the changing room, shouting exuberantly, followed by Ivy, Quentin, Amanda and most of the reserve team.

None of them noticed Connor's discomfort at first, and continued their celebrations as they shed their padding and discussed the exciting conclusion to the game.

"Hey, Connor!" Ivy said happily, seemingly uncaring that one of her fingernails had turned black from being smashed earlier in the game. "Brilliant catch! I thought Whitney was a goner!"

"Yeah Con, great catch!" Connor looked up to see Ron with his arm around Rachel, and grinning down at him. "Your dad'll be sorry he missed it!"

Connor nodded in acknowledgement, then darted into the adjoining toilet, and noisily emptied his stomach.

"I used to be sick before every game," Ron said sardonically when Connor returned to the changing room. "Are you all right?"

Connor tried to smile weakly at his uncle, but found that he pain in his head was just too much. "Headache," he croaked.

Then the world spun, and turned black.

#*#*#*#

Connor groaned when he came to, and realised that he was moving, and being shaken in the process. He groaned as the pain in his head throbbed, and opened his eyes to see Ron's concerned face.

"Don't worry, pal," Ron huffed out as he jogged with Connor in his arms. "I've got you. It's the hospital wing for you."

Connor groaned again as he comprehended the words, and heard Ron chuckle in response.

"Madam Cosgrove should just give you your own room, Con," Rachel said from somewhere off to his left. From the sound of her voice, she was jogging alongside her father as Ron carried him up to the castle.

"I just need quiet," Connor said weakly.

"It'll be quiet in the hospital wing," Ron said firmly.

They soon reached the castle, and Connor was ashamed to admit, even to himself, that he would never have made it to the hospital without help.

"Is that Connor?"

Connor heard Whitney's voice from somewhere within the hospital wing, and wondered how she had gotten here. Then he heard Rachel telling their team captain what had happened to him after the match.

Madam Cosgrove hurried over to him and immediately began to run diagnostic charms on him, clucking over his black eye.

"I just need to do my Occlumency," Connor told her wearily. "Please."

She studied him for a moment, then nodded briskly and used her wand to summon screens to place around his bed, casting sound-muffling charms around them so he could concentrate.

Ron stepped into the newly formed cubicle, and helped to remove his padding, than left him alone with a wink.

Connor sighed with relief as he lay back on the pillow and closed his eyes. He envisioned his sky, but instead of the usual blue, it was gray, with dark clouds roiling through it. He was at a loss for a moment as to where to start, but then simply began pushing the clouds away one by one until they were gone, leaving the sky blue once more.

When he opened his eyes again, it was to see Ron and Professor Lupin sitting quietly beside him in the dim light.

"Hey," Connor said sleepily. "What time is it?"

"It's about six-thirty in the evening," Professor Lupin answered, sitting up straighter in his seat. "We thought you were asleep."

Connor merely shook his head in amazement.

"Are you hungry?" Ron asked, getting to his feet and stretching.

"Starved," Connor said around a huge yawn, "and tired. Was I really doing Occlumency for six hours?"

"I doubt it," Lupin replied quietly as Ron excused himself to hunt up a meal for Connor. "More than likely slipped in and out of your Occlumency as you tired, and rested for a bit without realizing it. You had us worried."

"Sorry," Connor said, looking down at the front of his robes because he didn't want to meet Lupin's gaze. "It all came crashing in on me at the end of the match, and I couldn't fight it back."

"I don't know what to say to you, Connor," Lupin admitted quietly. "The Occlumency we practiced together before the game should have done the trick. If you can't manage to play a match for more than an hour or two without doing this kind of harm to yourself, I don't see how you can stay on the team."

"No!" Connor said loudly in protest. He sounded a bit desperate as he added, "I lasted until the end. I fought it back for long enough to finish the match and get to the ground, and even when it all broke through, I didn't foresee anything related to the game! You know I didn't, or I'd be purple right now. Don't make me give it up!"

"Connor," Lupin said patiently. "I found this." Lupin held up the Animus Orb, which was currently blank. "It was in your hand when Ron brought you here. A hand that you had been scratching at again."

"I don't remember taking it out," Connor admitted in a small voice. He looked down at his hands to see that they appeared to be fine, except for a single long scratch down the top of the left one.

"I'm sure you probably don't," Lupin said. "You were in terrible shape. We put it in your hand once you were Occluding, and the Orb was an absolute tempest inside, from what we could see. We didn't let it out of your hand until we saw that the Orb was showing your mind calming down. It was very frightening."

"But I'm fine now," Connor said stubbornly.

"You were sick and couldn't even walk back to the castle on your own," Lupin pointed out bluntly. "You were unconscious for over six hours before you got yourself together enough to come out of it. It's just too much of a risk."

"Please, Uncle Remus," Connor begged. "Give me one more chance. If this happens at the next match, I'll willingly resign from the team."

"I'll write to your parents and see what they have to say about it," Lupin said tiredly. "I have to inform them anyway, since you'll be spending the night in the hospital wing. I wouldn't get my hopes up, if I were you."

Connor didn't get a chance to reply to this. Madam Cosgrove came in just then to check on him again, bearing several potions for him to drink. She also smeared his black eye with the same paste he had seen her use on Quentin before.

When she heard that Ron had gone to get Connor a meal, she warned him to eat slowly, then asked Professor Lupin to help Connor change into the pyjamas she had brought in with her.

After helping Connor out of his game robes, Lupin used a freshening charm to cleanse away some of the dried perspiration and grime from the game. It wasn't as good as a nice hot shower, but it made him feel better nonetheless.

Connor allowed himself to be urged back into bed. As he leaned into the pillows that Lupin had stacked behind him, he was shocked at how tired he was from simply standing and getting undressed. The day must have taken more of a toll on him than he realized.

Ron returned a short time later carrying a huge tray of food, which Connor dug into with enthusiasm. Once he had eaten his fill, Lupin and Ron left him to rest. He lay back on the pillows, and let sleep drag him under.

His last thought was, "Mum and Dad will never make me quit the team."