The Next Dance

THE NEXT DANCE

BY AERIE22

CHAPTER TEN

BEATER

"So, where do you want to go tonight?" Parvati asked with a smile as the food magically appeared on their plates.

Harry looked up and smirked. "The Astronomy Tower?" he whispered mischievously.

Parvati gave him a pinch and giggled. "Not on a Hogsmeade weekend, you pervert."

Harry gave her a mock pout. "But think of how empty to Tower would be tonight," he whispered into her ear.

She leaned back with an arched eyebrow. "We are going to Hogsmeade. I intend to have fun tonight," she said with a toss of her head. "Of course, we may be able to fit in a quick kiss or two afterwards...if you're good," she said, fighting a smile.

Harry was about to respond when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Kevin Entwhistle peering down at him uncertainly. "Uhhh...excuse me, Harry," he said with a slightly anxious look. "Moody talked to me today about something, well, to help you out with a project with the first years."

Harry knew Kevin from Charms and Transfiguration classes the Gryffindors shared with the Ravenclaws. In a House full of odd ducks, Entwhistle stood out as being at least seemingly a normal, reasonably friendly guy. And he was a chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, although not a particularly skilled one. He brushed his thatch of brown hair nervously.

Harry nodded. "I've been helping out some of the younger Gryffindors with basic defensive spells, hexes and jinxes."

Entwhistle pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah, Moody told me. And some of our first years were asking about that. Terry got a little distracted...well, he sent them over to Mandy and me. She didn't think it was a good idea, but Moody pulled me aside and asked me to talk to you."

Harry nodded. "Well, I guess we could get together. Moody also mentioned Morag and...what's her name? Amy?"

Entwhistle frowned. "Hattan? The fourth Year?" he asked in surprise.

Harry nodded.

Kevin sighed and shrugged. "You going to Hogsmeade?"

Harry nodded.

Kevin shrugged. "Maybe we'll see you at the Three Broomsticks."

Harry nodded. "I guess. I'm going to try to get the back tables."

Kevin frowned. "Near the kitchens? The ones past the loo?"

Harry nodded. "They're pretty private. This is all between us, okay?"

Kevin nodded and turned, almost running into Ernie Macmillan. "You here about Moody, too?" Ernie asked.

Kevin nodded. "You, too?"

Ernie gave him a smile. "Yep."

Kevin tilted his head in acknowledgement and began to move toward the Ravenclaw table.

"Nice talking to you, Kevin," Parvati said in a sarcastic voice.

Kevin froze and turned to nod before scurrying off. Harry turned in surprise to stare at Parvati. Then he remembered hearing about her now legendary screaming fit at Entwhistle in the stairwells when they broke up last year.

Harry then turned to Ernie to see the usually casually confident Hufflepuff shifting as uncomfortably as Entwhistle had been, running his fingers through his wavy, sandy blond hair, just as Entwhistle had done. "Yeah, Harry. Moody said we should get together. When's good for you?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess I'm meeting the Ravenclaws tonight at the Three Broomsticks. You and Hannah going?"

Ernie shifted with a sudden worried look on his face. "Well, I was thinking maybe staying in...but Hannah wants to go and she doesn't like to go alone...I guess."

Harry gave a small frown at the way Ernie was acting but gave a quick nod. "Yeah. The back tables if they're available."

The Hufflepuff nodded absently. "Okay. See you there."

As Ernie moved to leave, Harry got a sudden smile. "Oh, an Ernie? Have a couple firewhiskeys on me," he said with a smirk.

Suddenly, Ernie smiled. "I will if you do," he said with a laugh. "Can't have only one hangover on the pitch tomorrow."

Harry laughed. He was looking forward to Gryffindors' match against the Hufflepuffs the next day. They had smooth flying chasers and their seeker, Mike Gillespie, was one of the best flyers at Hogwarts. But he wondered about their beaters. Ernie was nearly as tall as Ron but wider, and Wayne Hopkins was the biggest and strongest student he knew. Not that this would make them a good beater team. Neither were the ideal size or build to be really good flyers. Fred and George were a little smaller, much faster and much more experienced. It would be an interesting match.

Suddenly, he felt Parvati give him a gentle elbow in the ribs. "I thought you wanted to be alone with me tonight," she said with a mischievous grin. "I didn't realize I would be with the king holding court tonight."

Harry gave her a puzzled look. "But...I..."

Parvati erupted into giggles.

Harry's face suddenly softened. "I only feel like a king when I'm around you," he whispered.

Parvati looked at him and smiled, blushing.

* * *

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm. "This is so exciting," she said with eyes wide and glistening.

Because of the incident with Draco, Dumbledore insisted that all students use the coaches rather than to walk the two miles into Hogsmeade. Harry and Parvati had strolled around Hogsmeade, with Harry buying a large sack full of assorted candy at Honeydukes to share with the first and second years who were left behind. But otherwise, they spent their time strolling, arms around each other, just window shopping, content to be in each other's company.

Finally, they made their way to the Three Broomsticks. The pub was full of students, but suddenly they saw Ron jump up and wave them over to a corner where there was some room. "Oy, Harry! We saved you the spot!" he called out.

Harry could see Ron and Hermione, along with Seamus and Lavender sitting at a table. Harry frowned a little. He was getting a little tired of Seamus's humor.

Suddenly, Seamus turned back to Ron. "...so my Uncle Will tells the constable he's crazy. But the constable says 'open to door to your garage.' So my uncle does, and there was the police car. He was so pissed the night before that he didn't realize he'd driven the police car home by mistake. The constable was so embarrassed by the whole thing, he didn't even give my uncle a citation."

Ron and Lavender roared in laughter, but Hermione merely rolled her eyes as Harry slid in beside her as Parvati sat next to Lavender. Hermione leaned forward. "Seamus? Your uncle wouldn't be named Will Hunting, would it?"

Seamus didn't blink. "No. Will Shaw. My ma's brother," he said with a conspiratorial smile.

Hermione leaned over to Harry. "No wonder he's so full of funny stories," she whispered in his ear. "He's telling old jokes and tall tales from Muggle comedians and movies that no one in the wizarding world has heard before."

Harry smiled and shook his head as Lavender winked at Parvati and she and Seamus got up. "I hear the Wizengamot is meeting here tonight," Seamus said with a smirk and grabbed Lavender around the waist as the two wandered off to find a table more at the center of things.

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm. "I saw Kevin Entwhistle a few minutes ago. He asked me about teaching the first and second years. So it's really happening? We're really going to teach them? This is so exciting!"

Harry nodded, returning her smile.

"Harry! Yer here!"

Harry looked up to see the normally severe face of Morag MacDougal spilt into a grin. Harry returned the smile. She was hardly the prettiest witch at Hogwarts, with a square face, and nose just a little too long and a chin that projected out. Harry thought that, when she got old, she would look like the stereotypical Muggle image of a witch. But she was pleasant and, if you could get past her thick Scot's accent, could be funny when she took it into her head to be.

Morag grabbed a chair from the opposite corner of the pub and pulled it up to their table.

Next, Ernie and Kevin appeared, carrying chairs. Following Kevin was Mandy Brocklehurst. Finally, a tall, round-faced black girl with dozens of tiny braids, each secured by little bead, and wearing a severe look on her face appeared. Harry smiled as she seemed to be wearing even more bracelets than Parvati. He had noticed her around, but she usually looked too angry and forbidding to talk to, even if she was in fourth year.

Harry nodded a greeting to the group.

Amy looked around and frowned, before Kevin stood up and gave her his chair and found another.

Parvati scooted over to the bench next to Harry as everyone moved a little closer to make room for the growing crowd around the table. Not that Parvati minded. Harry put his arm around her back as she leaned into him, smiling.

She loved being in the center of things. She knew that it really was Harry who was the focus of the group, but she didn't mind. This was about teaching the young ones how to defend themselves and she, with Harry, had been part of this from the start. And she didn't mind the little thrill she felt was Harry casually caressed her back as he said hi to the newcomers.

She noticed that, at the next table, Hannah take a seat next to Ernie as Mandy Brocklehurst grabbed Kevin Entwhistle to set himself down next to her and pull that table next to Harry's.

Parvati smiled as she now realized that she and Harry were, in effect, at the head of a on long table that contained most of the most powerful and popular students in fifth year. The only little pang in the back of her mind was Hermione, on Harry's other side, who was sitting in the bend of the bench seat and who kept grabbing Harry's arm excitedly about each new idea she seemed to come up with.

Suddenly, a new face appeared. Several people looked up at the young girl with the long, dull blond hair and the wide, gray blue eyes. "Hey, Moon," Amy said in her thick, working-class London accent. "Set down."

Harry looked up, puzzled. He knew of Luna Lovegood, but didn't really know her. She seemed to drift through the halls in a dream-like state like one of the more sedate house ghosts. But he also knew there were some Ravenclaws who didn't like her, or thought she was crazy.

Mandy frowned. "Luna, what are you doing here. This is a private party, if you don't mind," she said in a firm tone.

Luna simply nodded. "I came with Colin, but he wanted to run around taking pictures and such. He's so weird," she said in a distracted voice.

Suddenly, Amy turned to Mandy. "I told her to drop by," she said in a tone that brooked no argument. "She probably knows more charms than the lot of you."

Harry peered down at the Ravenclaw fourth year. "You know charms and defensive spells?"

Luna gave a half shrug, then bobbed her head up and down several times. She slowly pulled her wand out of the loose bun in her hair and pointed it at the table.

"Saltare," she murmured. Suddenly the salt and pepper shakers seemed to rise up off the table a tilt toward each other as if to bow. Then they began pirouetting and circling each other as if in a stately minuet.

"Finite incantatum," Mandy cried. "Luna, you know Madam Rosmerta doesn't allow students to do magic in the bar. You want us all to get thrown out?" she said in exasperation.

Luna seemed nonplussed.

Kevin chuckled and the rest of the table smiled, but Mandy seemed to grow more annoyed, glaring at the group. "I don't think having her here is a good idea," she said. "You never know what she'll do. Like on Halloween. She had jack-o-lanterns chasing us all over the common room."

Amy chuckled and Luna let out a loud laugh. "They weren't chasing you, silly," Luna cried, gasping for breath. "I just set them to drift around the room to get into the spirit for the feast."

Mandy glared at Luna. "Well, I for one, did not appreciate it when I'm busy reading a potions text to look up and see a pumpkin hovering six inches from my face."

At this point, both Luna and Amy burst into laughter and Kevin struggled to keep from chuckling at his girlfriend's distress.

Mandy's annoyance was building. "And what about your late-night jaunts into the common room after curfew? Here Professor Flitwick has one of us or another up half the night to stand watch in the common room for possible disturbances or danger, and next thing you know Luna is wandering up behind me to scare the life out of me."

Luna simply shrugged. "I wasn't trying to scare you," she said softly. "It's just that I had an idea and wanted to check it out in our house library."

Mandy glared at Luna. "At three in the morning?"

Luna simply gave her a small smile. "My daddy says that most people spend half their lives waiting for inspiration to strike, and the other half trying to find excuses to ignore inspiration when it does strike."

Harry cleared his throat. "Luna, do you know why we are here?"

Again, Luna bobbed her head up and down several times. "To teach the younger kids to defend themselves.

"And you think you can help?" Harry asked.

Again Luna nodded, but Amy cut in. "Of course she can help. She knows more than the rest of us and the young ones love her."

Then the discussion started. Mandy started asking about the propriety of students teaching students and got into a long discussion with Hermione, which gave Parvati a chance to snuggle against a relaxed Harry. She felt a sense of surprise and a little pride that the normally reserved Harry was leading the discussion, comfortably asking probing questions and offering suggestions as if he were talking Quidditch in the Gryffindor common room. But then, these weren't really strangers, for the most part. Hannah, Ernie, Mandy and Hermione were all prefects. Ron, Ernie and Kevin were on their respective Quidditch teams, and Morag and Amy were reserves on the Ravenclaw team. They all had so much in common.

But soon, the discussion turned to what the group would cover. Suddenly, the talked turned technical, with names of hexes and jinxes flying back and forth, things like leg lockers and knee bucklers, stingers and needles, ticklers and funny-bone activators.

Parvati tried to follow the discussion, but she knew she was out of her depth in Dark Arts Defense and Charms issues. Mostly, the discussion was led by Harry, Hermione and Kevin, with Ron, Ernie and Morag throwing in a comment or suggestion and the four-year, Amy Hattan, frowning or looking thoughtful by turns, and occasionally playing devil's advocate. Luna, for her part, mostly sat and listened, occasionally smiling absently or frowning in concentration. When she did speak up, everyone at the table seem to pause and look at her in surprise and, more often than not, nod or murmur 'I hadn't thought of that.' The discussion was as intense as a Quidditch debate. The only light moment came when Luna suddenly piped up about the use of a lemon squeezer hex, to the laughter and blushing of several of the girls when all the boys suddenly seemed to pale a little and cross their legs.

Parvati looked down at what was, in effect, the end of the table. She saw Mandy taking in the discussion but Hannah looking as perplexed as Parvati felt. All of a sudden it hit Parvati. She had felt happy to be the center of attention with Harry. But she wasn't really part of the spotlight when the real work was being done. Hermione, Morag, Luna and Amy were very much in the center of the discussion. But Parvati suddenly understood that, like Hannah and, to an extent Mandy, she was here more as a consort than as a player. And she began to get annoyed.

Why hadn't she paid more attention in DADA, Charms and Transfiguration? Why hadn't she talked more about this whole teaching project? And why wasn't Harry paying more attention to her to include her in the discussion. Parvati casually dropped her hand under the table and gave Harry's knee a caress. He had been listening to Ron and Kevin trade comments about which first year students were most likely to abuse any newly learned knowledge. Harry turned to her and smiled at her touch, leaning over to give her a quick peck on the cheek and the turned back to listen to Ernie talk about Hufflepuff first year-games.

Then Ron raised his mug of butterbeer to his lips, finishing it off. "Who's for another," he announced. Several students around the table nodded or raised their mugs. Parvati frowned and looked at Harry, who was scratching out notes on a parchment with what looked like a Muggle pencil.

With the break in the discussion, Ernie leaned back in his chair. "Hey, I heard a nasty rumor that somebody broke the block this year," he said with a smile. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Harry?"

Harry frowned. "No," he said flatly.

Amy perked up. "What's that? Some Quidditch thing?"

Luna grabbed her friends arm. "It's some sort of test the fifth years take. I don't know what it is, but the goal is to break a block or something," she said.

The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs looked at Harry expectantly, but he merely scowled and finished the last of his butterbeer.

Parvati leaned over to him. "Did you, Harry?"

He just continued to scowl. "It didn't count for anything," he muttered.

Parvati leaned back and held her tongue.

At that point, Mandy leaned over to face Ron and Hermione down the table. "So, you two a couple?"

Hermione started and looked back wide-eyed. "No," she answered quickly.

Ron simply shrugged and gave Mandy an inscrutable smile.

Parvati caught the exchange and gave a small smile of her own. 'That might be an interesting idea,' she thought. But those thoughts were disturbed when suddenly, Hannah caught Parvati's eye. Parvati gave her a questioning frown, but Hannah motioned with her eyes toward the bar up front. Again Parvati frowned but, after another pleading look from Hannah, Parvati shook her head uncertainly.

After one more pleading look, Hannah spoke up. "Parvati and I can get the butterbeers."

Parvati's face clouded in anger. 'So now I'm a serving wench?' she thought furiously. But Hannah's face continued to look anxious, almost desperate. Parvati signed and got up, her expression frosty, and headed to the bar.

As Parvati drew up next to Hannah, the Hufflepuff girl turned with an anxious look. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I guess you wanted to stay by Harry, but I really hoped I could talk to you for a minute or two."

Parvati raised a skeptical eyebrow, but her expression softened when she saw how troubled Hannah's face looked. "About what," she asked as the two girls took up position behind a group of Ravenclaws clamoring for more butterbeer at the bar.

Hannah looked down, uncertainly. "About boys," she muttered.

Parvati angled her head down to catch Hannah's eye. "What about boys?"

Hannah sighed. "Well, Ernie's been acting strange and I don't know what to make of it."

Parvati looked at Hannah again, puzzled. "And? I barely know Ernie. I mean, we've talked, but I only see him when he's with you."

By this time, the crowd near the bar had made some room. Parvati looked up at Helga, one of the bar maids and signaled. "Eight butterbeers," she called out over the din.

Hannah waited until Parvati turned back. "I don't know. I tried to talk to Susan and some of the girls in the dorm, but they don't know much about boys. I mean, Susan has been going out with Wayne, but he's her first boyfriend. Same with Pamela and Mike Corner. They fight all the time, but I guess that's the way the work things out. So they don't know what to tell me. And Ernie's the only boy I ever dated."

Parvati still felt at a loss. "So why me?"

Hannah looked up uncertainly as the two girls collected the butterbeers. Hannah was blushing now. "Well, you've had lots of boyfriends...so you know more about things than we do..."

Parvati blinked, suddenly furious. "What are you saying?" she snapped. "That I can't hold onto a man?" If she hadn't been carrying two mugs of butterbeer in each hand she would have had it out with Hannah right there.

Hannah blanched. "Noooo," she cried, looking appalled and close to tears. "I didn't mean...please...I'm sorry. I mean...well...you're more sophisticated."

At this point, Hannah was in such a panic and so close to tears that Parvati simply rolled her eyes and swallowed her anger. She had known Hannah since before Hogwarts and knew she was as mild a person as could be imagined. It was no mistake why Hannah was in Hufflepuff. "Set the glasses down and let's talk," Parvati ordered.

Hannah was blinking to avoid tears and gave a quick nod.

Parvati gave a quick notion with her head toward to last table in the back. It was wedged up next to the door to the kitchen, one of the few really secluded spots in the bar. It might be a favorite of lovers except that Shem, the Three Broomsticks' part-time cook, would constantly bustle awkwardly back and forth in the tight corner, often jostling people at that corner table, as he delivered orders up to the bar.

Hannah took a seat, holding her butterbeer. Parvati sat opposite in a chair where she could watch Harry and part of the rest of the table where she had been sitting only moments before. She turned to Hannah. "So talk."

Hannah took a deep breath. "Well...Ernie has been acting...strangely. Like he didn't want to come tonight, saying he had some studying to do, but saying I should go. And he keeps disappearing into the library and such. It's like he's never around."

Parvati shrugged uncertainly. "So?"

Hannah looking down at her butterbeer. "He used to always be around. Now, it's like he's never around."

Parvati nodded. "Still fooling around?"

Hannah blushed. "Well, yeah. We like to find time alone. But our favorite time was Sunday nights and now we have Sunday prefect patrols so we can't."

Parvati nodded, then leaned forward. "You slept with him yet?' she whispered.

Hannah blushed furiously and looked down. "No."

Parvati simply nodded.

Hannah looked up in renewed panic. "Do I...have to?" she whimpered.

Parvati leaned close. "No. No! If you have to sleep with a guy to keep him, he isn't worth keeping. If he figures he can make you sleep with him to keep him, he'll figure he can make you do anything. You won't be his girlfriend anymore. You'll be his slave," she whispered urgently.

Hannah's eyes began to cloud. "I can't...I...I'm not ready for that."

Parvati reached across the table and took Hannah's hands, squeezing them in sympathy. "Maybe he is just studying," she whispered. "I hope so. But if he isn't, better you should know now, before you...well. I don't know. Talk to Susan. She'll be there for you, if I know her."

Hannah nodded morosely. "We'll see. I really...well, I used to think...him and I," she said with a sigh. "Maybe..." She simply hung her head.

Parvati gave Hannah's hands another squeeze. "Talk to him. Maybe things will turn out all right. Now let's get back."

Hannah breathed a ragged sigh. "I think I'm going back to Hogwarts," she said quietly. "Maybe Susan and Wayne...or Megan and Karen are around. Pamela and Mike are in good moods, so I guess I won't bother them," she said with a sad chuckle. "Tell Ernie..."

* * *

Parvati slid in next to Harry, who turned with a smile and gave her a bump. But Parvati merely frowned and leaned up against him, surveying the table, her eyes passing over Ernie. He seemed relaxed and was smiling at something Ron said. Then she noticed Hermione grab Harry's arm and lean over to whisper something. Something about fourth and fifth years. She shook her head crossly.

Suddenly, Ron hissed. "Slytherins," he whispered, and the table quieted.

"What the hell is this," Jack Bletchley drawled with a small smile. "A prefects meeting or a Quidditch meeting? Why wasn't I invited?"

Ron was about to make a nasty comment, but Harry leaned forward with a smile. "Quidditch? I didn't know you knew anything about Quidditch," he said with a broad smile at the long-time Slytherin keeper.

Bletchley let out a laugh along with the rest of the table. "Just you wait, Potter. We play you in March, and you'll see how much we know about Quidditch. So don't count on getting your first win of the season against us."

Harry returned the laugh. "Sure, Jack. How about our third win," raising some good-natured objections from the Ernie and the Ravenclaws at the table.

Bletchley turned to return to the rest of the seventh year Slytherins when Harry called out to him. "Hey, Jack. Remember, the red b

all is the quaffle. That's the one you should try to stop...but you can stop as many bludgers as you want," he said with a smile.

Bletchley gave him a good natured scowl and left.

Ron was looking annoyed but the rest of the table was smiling.

But Parvati frowned in thought. "What about the Slytherins?" she asked quietly.

"No way," Ron exclaimed.

Suddenly, everyone at the table turned to her. "Listen," she said in a quiet voice. "When word gets out about these lessons we're teaching, and it will, somebody's going to ask why there's no Slytherins. And if I know Snape, he'll raise hell and they'll probably force us to stop."

Kevin frowned. "Well, then we teach them in our own houses," he said in an equally quiet voice.

Harry made a face. "Maybe not. Maybe we can find someone who can get a couple trustworthy Slytherin kids in."

Ron practically jumped out of his seat. "No! No way I'm going to help a bunch of Death Eaters how to kill us," he cried.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "They aren't all Death Eaters, you know," she said in exasperation.

Harry frowned. "But can we trust anyone from Slytherin to recruit some of them?"

Parvati looked up across the table and saw Hannah gathering up her cloak to leave. "Hannah? What about Blaise?"

Hannah looked up in surprise. "Blaise?"

Parvati nodded. "Why not? You know her. I know her. We've talked. She's just like us."

Ron blinked. "The Ice Queen talks?"

Hermione gave him an elbow. "Of course she talks."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, maybe to her sister...and that Greinglass girl."

Parvati looked sharply at Ron but bit her tongue. She then turned back to Hannah. "We've known her since we were kids. She's okay."

Hannah nodded. "Well, our families all know each other and they are definitely not Death Eaters."

Parvati chuckled. "Yes. They're into fine eating, not death eating."

Harry turned to Parvati, puzzled.

She looked at Harry. "Her family owns Z's in Diagon Alley, Z's Trattoria in Portsmouth, Zabini's up in Kent somewhere, and couple of restaurants up here in the north."

Ron scowled. "The prices they charge..." he muttered.

Hannah nodded. "She's okay."

Parvati nodded. "I can talk to her."

The group looked at Parvati with new interest. "Okay," Ernie said.

"Sure," Hermione echoed with a vigorous nod.

Harry gave a more thoughtful nod. "I suppose I can talk to Millie Bulstrode, as well."

Suddenly, several people around the table cleared their throats.

Harry looked around with a puzzled expression. "What?"

Mandy Brocklehurst looked up. "There were several Bulstrodes who were Death Eaters years ago. Not her father, I don't think. But her grandfather and at least one of her uncles. I wouldn't say anything to her."

Harry started. He looked down in surprise and consternation. "She seems okay," he muttered.

Parvati leaned over. "Maybe she is. But we'd rather you didn't take the chance, okay?"

Harry gave a small nod.

Slowly, the group broke up, as Harry, Ron and Kevin wanted to get back early because of the match tomorrow. And Parvati was no longer in the mood to party. Neither was Hannah, who left as well. Without Ernie.

It was a quiet ride back to Hogwarts. Harry simply pondered the meeting and plans for teaching the younger students. But in the back of his mind, he brooded about Ernie bringing up the Stonecutter test. Sure he was a block breaker. That's how it would be recorded. But he knew in his heart that he had cheated. He recalled his conversation with Professor Dumbledore about the Earth Drawer. No, he wasn't a block breaker. He was a cheat. He lowered his head and frowned.

Hermione was mulling over the meeting, but this time, she was uncharacteristically silent. She was also a little annoyed that everyone seemed to assume she and Ron were a couple. Ron was her friend. That's all, she thought.

Ron was also silent, as he stole speculative glances at Hermione.

Hannah decided to share the coach with the two couples but simply leaned her head against the glass of the carriage, staring blankly out into the night. It was as dark as her feelings about her future with Ernie.

Parvati, on the other hand, was frowning, deep in thought. She knew that Ernie must be seeing someone else. And her heart went out to her friend.

She was angry at Ernie. Parvati had known Hannah since they attended the exclusive Little Wizards and Witches school. As daughters of merchants, they hadn't opted for normal wizarding primary schools and, unlike some of the wizarding gentry, hadn't gone the private tutoring route. Parvati still remembered the pretty pink-faced girl in the blond pigtails who always used to have an armful of flowers, accompanied more often than not by dirty hands from digging in meadows surrounding the school in search of her precious blossoms.

And now this precious, naive young girl was about to face her first real romantic heartbreak. Parvati stole a glance at Hannah, who had turned out to be a beautiful young woman, but one who retained the innocence of her childhood. And again her anger flared at Ernie.

Then she turned to Harry. He was so sweet. Could he ever do that? 'No,' she thought. He was a decent boy...man. But did that mean they would always be together? She had seen the looks other girls had given him. She saw how possessive Hermione could be about his company even after all that had happened. Could he be tempted away? And what would Parvati do to keep him?

Parvati sighed and leaned up against Harry and joined Hannah in staring out of the window into the darkness beyond.

* * *

"Exciting match, eh?"

Harry glanced up from his search for the snitch to see Mike Gillespie hovering next to him. "Oh, shut up," he said with a smile.

It actually wasn't all that exciting of a match so far. It had been for the first half hour or so. The Hufflepuff Quidditch team's plays were not elaborate, but their chasers were good fliers and their moves well-coordinated. And this was the first match for the Gryffindor keeper, Cecil Huddleston, and it had taken him at least a half hour to get over his nerves and find his stride. In that time, he had yielded nine goals, giving the hysterically cheering Hufflepuffs a 90-80 lead.

But the speed and stamina of the Gryffindor team began to pay off just as Huddleston started to lift his play to Hogwarts standards. The elegant Hufflepuff charges began to loose some of their flourish as their chasers began to tire.

The Gryffindors, on the other hand, relied more on speed and agility and a certain measure of free-lance initiative in their charges. So, if a chaser tired, she could hold back for a charge to catch her breath and let the other two take the play.

Harry chuckled. Oliver Wood would have a fit that Angelina, as center chaser, wasn't calling one elaborate formation after another for each charge. It was a product of Angelina's hectic schedule as Head Girl that she encouraged free-lancing among the experienced chaser line, rather than spending inordinate amounts of time planning and then drilling them endlessly on set plays. And, of course, she had little choice over set plays with Fred and George. As beaters, their positions didn't lend themselves to set plays. Neither did their personalities. She drew the line, however, when Fred and George started vying for which beater could score the most 'goals' with bludgers in practice matches.

Which left the status of the match weighing heavily in Gryffindor's favor. After nearly three hours, the score now stood at 290-160. Harry paused and unobtrusively removed his left-hand glove to rub his eyes. He was developing a headache from his endless search for the elusive snitch.

"Hey, Mike," he said with a grin. "You sure you didn't catch the damn thing and decide not to mention it to anyone?"

Gillespie laughed. "Sure," he replied. "Got it right here."

Harry chuckled. He liked Mike Gillespie. The sixth-year Hufflepuff had been a chaser during Harry's third year and had developed into a very good flyer. Unlike Malfoy, he didn't shadow Harry like some vulture, tailing and watching the rival seeker, relying on rough play and the speed of his broom when the snitch was spotted. And he didn't have the desperate flying style of Cho Chang as she rode racetrack or figure-eight patterns at top speed in a frantic search for the snitch.

Instead, Gillespie would swoop and swerve all over the pitch in seemingly random patterns, as if he were merely out enjoying himself on the broom instead of being locked in a hard-fought match. And he would occasionally fly up to Harry to chat amiably, all the while watching for any move in case Harry spotted the golden orb.

Harry was disconcerted at first. He had never chatted with anyone during a match, although he enjoyed talking with, teasing and chasing and being chased by Ginny during practices. But Harry shook his head. Gillespie's personality and demeanor could also be a tactic, distracting him from his search.

Harry nodded to Gillespie and the rival seekers began their separate searches again.

Harry watched below as Lee Jordan made another hysterical call of a Gryffindor goal, this time my Alicia Spinnet, who was playing the match of her life, with 14 goals. It was now 300-160.

Harry sighed as he began his search again. It was the absolutely worst conditions for a seeker. The sky was heavily overcast and there very little wind. The darkness made the snitch difficult to see. And the lack of wind meant that the snitch could hover unseen in one place for extended periods of time without being blown around in erratic patterns in the sky. And there was no rain, which at least would have made it glisten in what little light was available.

The length of the match was having its effect on Harry. Outside of the headache he was beginning to feel from eyestrain, he was getting bored. He tried to break it up by trying some aerobatics while searching. But that had gotten old after the first hour. So he tried buzzing the stands a few times just for fun.

And, in allowing his mind to wander. he noticed something odd. Draco Malfoy was not in the stands. It took him a while until he saw a strange figure by the lake. There was Malfoy, seeming to be digging up the mud by the lake and carrying it off toward the Forbidden Forest. Harry shook his head. 'Malfoy has truly gone mental, now,' he thought to himself, and returned his attention to the match.

It was 20 minutes later, well into the fourth hour of the match that Harry finally spotted the snitch. Dodging a misaimed bludger, he swooped in to make the snatch near the base of the goal Huddleston was now more than adequately defending. The Gryffindors in the crowd cheered loudly, almost in relief that it was finally over. The Hufflepuffs sighed in disappointment. The Ravenclaws and Slytherins remaining in the crowd made little noise and simply rose to leave. Harry's snatch didn't win the match. It merely ended it. The final score: 510-170, the highest score for a Hogwarts Quidditch match in 23 years and the largest margin of victory in 28 years.

* * *

Fred and George were sprawled on their stomachs in exhaustion on the table in the boys' section of the Gryffindor locker room. Ron and Theo Kastelides, the substitute keeper, were doing their best to massage the twins' aching shoulders. Cecil Huddleston was simply stretched out on the floor. Harry had the presence of mind to at least throw down a towel as Huddleston seemed to collapse in a heap. Severino Velazquez, Steve Shaunessy and Mike Burwasher, the other male substitutes on the team, simply sat around in amazement at the toll the match had taken on the team.

Harry stretched out on his back on a bench in front of his locker. He managed, at least, to have a towel wrapped around his middle after his hot shower. He had his arm flung over his eyes as he felt the headache with full force now.

"Anyone need a massage?" Ginny shouted from around the corner with a laugh.

"Sure, Gin," Velazquez shouted back. "You can massage me anytime."

"Shut up, Snape," Ron snarled. "That's my sister."

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mister Weasley," Velazquez responded in a Spanish accented version of Snape's drawl.

The group chuckled.

Ginny poked her head around the lockers. "Girls on deck," she called

Madam Hooch knocked on the corner of the row of lockers. "Everybody decent?"

There was a couple murmurs, and Hooch walked into the boys' area. She eyed Fred and George. "You two. You want to at least make the effort to cover your skinny behinds?"

Ron and Theo tossed towels across the twins bare bottoms. Fred and George didn't react.

"Well, at least I should be thankful you two decided not to be gentlemen and demonstrate your shortcomings by standing when a lady entered the room," Hooch said with a chuckle.

George managed to grunt. The noise coming from Fred sounded more like a snore.

"Okay, any injuries?" Hooch said in a less playful tone.

"I think my entire body's broken," Huddleston muttered.

Hooch sat down on a bench over the exhausted keeper. "That was a heck of a match you played out there, Cecil," she said quietly. "Tell me, just tired, or are you sore?"

The third year sighed. "My back is sore. My arms, too."

Hooch waved her wand the length of Huddleston's body. He felt a sudden warmth infuse his muscles and they seemed to relax.

"That will hold you for a while," Hooch said. "You'll be sore tomorrow, but not as sore as you would be." She turned to the twins. "You two?"

George simply nodded. Fred didn't react.

Hooch performed the same muscle relaxing spell on Fred and George. Slowly, the twins rose to a sitting position and began to reach for their clothes.

Hooch now turned to Harry. "You okay?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Shoulders mostly. And I've got a splitting headache."

Hooch nodded and did the muscle relaxing spell on Harry. Then she touched her wand to the side of her robe to reveal a pocket. She reached in a removed a vial and a shot glass. "Harry, here's a potion that will help your headache. It will make you sleepy, so it would be best for someone to walk you back to the Gryffindor tower. It's best that you sleep a couple hours for it to work best. Sorry if you miss the party."

Harry nodded as he removed his arm from his face. His eyes were half shut and looked bloodshot. "I never got a headache after a game before," he said as he reached for the potion.

Hooch snorted. "Your matches never lasted this long."

"Is that unusual? A headache?"

Hooch smiled softly. "Harry, who are the best seekers in the world?

Harry shrugged as he swallowed the potion, making a face. "I don't know. Viktor Krum of the Bulgarian National Team, Desmond Walpole of the Tutshill Tornados, Aiden Lynch from the Irish Team, Glynnis Gryffiths from the Holyhead Harpies, maybe Kaz Katzmarek of the Midwitch Cuckoos."

Hooch nodded. "And, excepting Krum, what do they all have in common?"

Harry looked at her, bleary-eyed. "I don't know. They all fly Firebolts?"

Hooch snorted. "Lynch flies a custom modified Nimbus 2K. You know that."

Harry nodded.

Hooch watched Harry. "You never noticed?"

Harry shrugged.

Hooch shook her head. "They all wear glasses. And I'll bet Krum wears charmed contact lenses."

Harry widened his eyes. "Really? That's right, they do."

Hooch nodded. "Harry, there's a theory that the best seekers are able to use their eyes and glasses magically to give them a clarity of vision that those without glasses don't enjoy. You know your Quidditch history, don't you."

Harry nodded.

"Didn't you ever hear of the Shackleton controversy?"

Harry frowned. "Yeah. It was over a hundred years ago. They wanted to ban him."

Hooch nodded. "You know why?"

Harry frowned. "They said he was cheating, using unauthorized equipment."

"And that equipment was?"

Harry blinked. "Seeing devices?"

Hooch smiled. "Harry, he wore glasses. He was one of the first Quidditch players to wear glasses, and he turned out to be a prodigy. And everyone assumed it was because it was his glasses. But he showed that he had been nearsighted since he was a child. So the controversy ended. But every couple decades, the issue comes up again--about banning seekers who wear glasses. The problem is that most of the best do wear them, so the pressure against such a move is usually overwhelming."

Harry had now put his glasses back on a stared at her. "Like me?"

Hooch nodded. "That's why you've got to expect headaches after long games. No one knows for sure how it works, whether it's magical or simply control of your eye muscles, but you are able to use your eyes unlike people who don't wear glasses. It may be something you developed when you were young, before your wore glasses, trying to focus on things that seemed blurred, that gave you the muscle control, the ability to use your glasses in this way."

Harry sighed. "Isn't that like cheating?"

Hooch shook her head. "No, Harry. Very few can do what you or the other top seekers can do. So don't you worry about it."

Harry nodded. 'Just another way I've been cheating,' he thought. Feeling as very tired as he did, he forgot about the strange sight of Draco Malfoy hauling mud into the forbidden forest.

* * *

Sirius checked his reflection in the plate glass of the storefront. The walk from The Leakey Cauldron into Muggle London was not far. Only five or six blocks. He was not a stranger to Muggle London, but neither did he think himself a native. And he wasn't fully used to Muggle clothing, at least of this sort. He checked and smiled at the fact that he had gotten his tie knotted evenly. He chuckled to himself. He hadn't worn a tie since his Hogwarts days a half a lifetime ago.

He turned the corner and spied the old painted wooden sign swinging gently in the evening breeze. 'The Glorious First of June' looked as if it had been around these two hundred years since Admiral Howe defeated the French at Ushant. He shook his head and took the three stone steps to the entrance of the restaurant, wondering why Shane wanted to meet here.

As the maitre d' led him to the table, he looked around. Of course. Nautical setting. And he noticed the smell of seafood and the enticing dishes that had already been served to other customers. But he didn't see Shane. He frowned. He was on time, for once, as Shane had insisted. So where was his host.

Suddenly, the Maitre d' stopped and indicated his seat. Sirius blinked as a woman with long dark hair turned around and smiled. Not Shane. It was the sister. 'What was her name?'

"I hope you remember me," she said quietly. "I'm Lakshmi, Shanmukha's sister."

As Sirius settled in, he looked at her closely. She was attractive. Not as pretty as her two younger sisters. And she didn't have the willowy figure Parvati and Padma had apparently inherited from their tall but small-boned father. She had a fuller, more curvy figure which Sirius couldn't help but admire. But she was wearing a rather severely tailored blue business suit with a white frilly blouse and a blue and yellow patterned scarf.

Sirius turned on his most charming smile. "Is Shane coming? Or are we being set up?" he said with a wolfish grin.

Lakshmi gave him a small smile. "Well, not exactly set up. I asked that Shane give me about a half hour before he shows up. And I am sure Shane believes he is helping to set us up."

Sirius's smile faded a notch and he looked at her expectantly. "So?"

Lakshmi fiddled with the napkin in her lap and then looked up at Sirius again. "You are quite the handsome man, you know, now that you are cleaned up and a little better fed."

Sirius once again turned on his best lady-killer smile.

Lakshmi returned his smile with a tentative one of her own. "My brother is quite a handsome man, as well, don't you think?"

Sirius blinked. "Uh, I guess," he said uncertainly.

Lakshmi gave a slow nod. "And the two of you have been working together recently."

Sirius glanced away, his confusion growing. 'Where was she leading to?' he thought.

She nodded again. "In bars and such. Knockturn Alley. K-land up in Kent. Rusty Bucket down around Portsmouth."

Sirius shrugged. He wasn't about to tell her he and Shane had been scouting the underworld trying to pick up the trail of Lucius Malfoy and other Death Eaters at the request of a couple members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Lakshmi gave him another small smile. "How much do you know about Shane?"

Sirius looked at her in confusion. "He's an Auror. And he's a lot better at it than I thought he was at first. He's married. He's your brother. What else?"

Lakshmi's smiled faded. "His marriage?"

Sirius shrugged. "His wife's name is Janine. He's got a young son and daughter and their expecting another one in March."

Lakshmi nodded. "Shane is my favorite brother," she said softly. "But he has a terrible weakness for the ladies. And witches seem to return this feeling. You know Janine threw him out of the house for several months about a year ago?"

Sirius blinked. "I...didn't know that."

Lakshmi nodded. "And that she'll do it again if he starts fooling around again?"

Now Sirius's eyes fluttered. "What?"

Lakshmi leaned forward. "Janine Winslow was my best friend at Hogwarts. She is the nicest person I've ever known. I introduced her to Shane. They clicked and got married a year after she graduated. But he's hurt her a few times, running around."

Sirius began to flush. 'What does that have to do with me?'

Lakshmi grabbed his forearm. "When she threatened to take his children away from him, I think he may have learned a lesson."

Sirius stared at her.

"And I won't have you helping him unlearn that lesson. Do you understand me?"

"Me?" Sirius gasped.

Lakshmi looked him directly in his eyes. "I don't want to hear you leading him, or encouraging him, to go chasing witches. Do you understand?" she hissed.

Sirius's jaw dropped. "I...I..."

Lakshmi lowered her head without breaking eye contact. "Like I said. You are an attractive man. You can chase women all you want. Just don't bring my brother along when you do."

Sirius simply stared at her and shifted uncomfortably. 'What was it about these Patil women that they seemed to have it in for me?' he thought warily.

* * *

"So you think this Fletcher character is trustworthy?' Shane asked over an after-dinner glass of Ravensblood wine.

Sirius snorted absently. "Of course not. That's why I think his information is good. He would sell out anyone. But there's no profit in selling us out. But plenty in selling out Lucius on the gold."

Shane simply nodded, then glanced over at his friend, who looked preoccupied. A quick smile spread over the Auror's face. "I think my sister likes you."

Sirius looked up quickly. "Oh, I don't know about that."

Shane smirked. "Then why did she insist on meeting you here tonight?"

Sirius shrugged

Shane nodded. He knew Lakshmi was lonely and not getting any younger. One too many bad relationships had left her wary of wizards. And he knew Sirius, for all his swagger and charm, was finding it equally difficult to find a decent woman. He had seen Sirius use his charms on the women of the nether world where they were operating, but he also knew that nothing had come of it because Sirius was too wary of close contact yet. But maybe, just maybe...

* * *

Draco brooded as he entered the Forbidden Forest. He had always been terrified of the Forest, expecting a werewolf or worse to jump out and grab him. But he had recently ignored that fear. What did it matter anymore, anyway?

And he brooded about Potter. He hated the Boy Who Lived with a passion. 'The Boy Who Had Everything was more like it,' he thought angrily.

All of a sudden, Potter was everyone's darling. Now that the wizarding world knew he had been telling the truth all along about Voldemort, everyone was fawning all over him.

And he was shagging one of the prettiest girls at Hogwarts. Draco shook his head. He had heard Potter's denials and saw that stupid piece in Witch Weekly portraying him and that Patil girl as a couple of innocents. 'Innocents my arse,' Draco thought.

And he had heard the stories about Harry moving away from his family. Draco had done his best to find out about where Potter lived during the summers, but couldn't find out anything. Even Potter's fellow Gryffindors didn't know where he lived, except maybe the Weasels and that Mudblood, and they weren't saying.

All Draco could find out was that Potter lived with some distant relatives, possibly Muggles. There was a rumor at one point that they lived in Australia, but he and his father discounted this. There was no indication that there were any wizarding Potters down under. But you never know. He snorted.

Not that it mattered, now he wasn't with them anymore. 'The Boy Who Lived' had tossed away a family who probably loved him. Probably because, as Muggles, they hadn't been sufficiently in awe of the Boy Wonder, Draco thought bitterly. So he was probably back in the wizarding world with some family who fawned over him like he was some sort of royalty.

Draco hung his head. Potter had walked away from a family who loved him, he thought. 'What I wouldn't give for a family who loved me,' he thought through bitter tears. Not some raggedy Aunt who lived in a cramped six-room flat in Diagon Alley, but a real Malfoy family. But family wasn't good enough for our boy Potter. 'Well, the Boy Who Has Everything will soon get his,' Draco thought as he approached the spot.

Draco quietly cast a spell and the small hillock disappeared and the clay and mud figure in the shape of a man appeared. He scratched his chin. 'Was it too small?' he thought. He lay down in the grass beside the figure and determined it would be a little taller than he was, but much thicker. He nodded. Not as big as Crabbe. More Goyle's size. He carefully unwrapped the package he had carried under his arm. 'Now is the time,' he thought.

Draco walked clockwise seven times around the body, reciting the incantation. The clay turned bright red, like fire. He then walked another seven times around the body, this time counterclockwise, chanting another incantation. The redness disappeared and a thin veneer of skin appeared and the clay body grew hair and nails. It slowly took on the features of a man.

Draco then knelt down and placed a piece of parchment with his name on it in the creature's mouth and bowed to the four points of the compass. The creature opened his eyes and rose slowly to its feet, looking blankly at his creator. Draco draped Goyle's robes over it and began to explain its mission, holding up a wizarding picture from last week's Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match to identify the target.

* * *

It was getting late, but Wayne Hopkins didn't care. Suppertime was the best time to book the beater cage.

He took and deep breath and closed his eyes, shuddering a little. His life had turned into a nightmare, full of guilt and fear. The only time he felt comfortable was in the beater cage or when Susan Bones was holding him.

He shook his head in wonder. Susan wasn't tall and she was small-boned, almost frail. And him? Well, maybe Dean Thomas, the fifth-year Gryffindor, and that sixth-year guy from Slytherin whose name he could never remember were taller than he was. But Wayne knew he was big. And strong. Maybe the biggest and physically strongest student at Hogwarts. He had chuckled that he was the only student that could intimidate Vincent Crabbe before Crabbe left school. Years on the family farm where he had to work in the fields without the benefit of magic had built him up to the point where he could be an American footballer or champion wrestler.

Yet only the mercurial Susan could comfort him. Only she could make him quake in fear if she took a mind to it. And, for the past month, she had been his strength.

He entered the beater cage and cast a quick illuminatus charm. He found the practice broom that hung on a charm from the ceiling. He chuckled. It was an old, battered Clean Sweep Four-B. Still serviceable, but not even good enough for first-year flying lessons.

He grabbed the spent bludger from the bottom of the spherical room and muttered the charm Madam Hooch had taught them all. He set the broom to hover and mounted it and waited as he slowly rose to the center of the small sphere. Then he let the bludger go and watched it as it headed for the irregular surface of the wall. Grabbing his beater bat he saw the bludger bounce at an odd angle and come back to him. He gave it a swat and it shot out to hit the wall just inches from where he was aiming it.

Wayne enjoyed the release of the beater cage. He wasn't a bad beater and played a decent match against the Gryffindors last Saturday. But he realized how he had been worn down by the sheer length of the match. At one point, Potter almost knocked him off his broom during a mid-air bumping episode late in the match. Wayne shook his head. 'And I must outweigh him by 60 pounds,' he thought with embarrassment. And he knew he couldn't compete against the likes of the Weasley twins in terms of stamina, not unless he built it up here in the cage. He continued to slam the bludger time after time against the walls of the cage.

Wayne Hopkins was sweating and considering increasing the bludger's speed a little when he heard a snap and the door of the cage was yanked open. "Watch it!" Hopkins called. "Active bludger."

But the figure in the doorway didn't react. Wayne turned his attention to the figure. He didn't recognize the wizard. He was of average height but very broad. And he had flat, nondescript features and a mop of unruly red brown hair that stuck out in irregular directions that would have resembled Potter's hair except for the color.

"Come on! Cage in use. Or didn't you notice."

The figure peered at Wayne's face carefully. Suddenly, it stepped down onto the curved pit floor of the cage and reached up to tip Wayne off his broom.

"What the hell?" Wayne managed to sputter before he felt a heavy blow to his midsection, knocking him off his feet. The figure reached down and grabbed Wayne's robe an hauled him to his feet as it swung again. Wayne had the presence of mind to twist and felt the hammer-like blow glance of his shoulder.

Hopkins now was in a panic. This guy was immensely strong and seemed to be looking to do serious injury. Wayne feinted and swung a solid blow at his attacker. The punch hit the attacker squarely in the jaw. It was just like when Wayne had hit that bastard Malfoy that night behind the greenhouses after Malfoy had tried to curse him. Wayne had come across Malfoy skulking around the greenhouses and confronted the little prick about what he had said about Susan. But unlike Malfoy, in this case there was no satisfying crack of bone or sharp pain in his hand from the blow. Instead, Hopkins' fist seemed to sink into the attacker's face a little, like he was punching a thick leather bag.

Hopkins staggered back against the curved surface of the cage in amazement as the attacker stopped for a moment and a seeming dent in its face seemed to rebound back to normal. The attacker then resumed its assault, swinging at Wayne but missing and slamming its fist into one of the irregular bumps on the cage's surface.

Wayne backed away, but the attacker didn't seem to react to having its hand mashed into the metal of the cage. Instead it turned and began stalking Wayne again.

Hopkins feinted again and was able to deliver a heavy blow against the attacker's midsection, again to no effect. Instead, the creature delivered his own blow to Wayne's side. Hopkins could feel his ribs crack from the blow. He gasped for breath as the attacker grabbed him and threw him to the floor of the cage, causing Wayne's head to hit one of the protrusions on the floor in a glancing blow but opening up a cut on his scalp. As the attacker loomed over the gasping and woozy Hufflepuff, Hopkins managed to shoot his foot out and topple the attacker.

Wayne looked around in a panic. He was clearly outmatched and this thing--whatever it was as it certainly was not human--was out to hurt him bad, probably kill him. Hopkins fumbled around and found his wand as his attacker regained its feet.

"Stupefy!" Hopkins screamed, putting all his magical force behind the curse.

But the creature did not react. It merely continued to advance.

Hopkins rolled quickly and painfully away from the creature's attack, but felt himself being pulled up by his robes and slammed again against the curved sides of the cage, opening up a new gash on the side of his face. He took a quick look up at the doorway, which was a good four feet above the pit of the cage where Wayne lay. He didn't think he could scramble up the small wall and out of the cage door before the creature caught him and pulled him back.

Again Wayne scrambled away from the next attack and painfully turned on his back. Then he saw his chance. The broom.

Hopkins saw the creature turn to attack him again. As it approached, Hopkins drew up his legs and kicked out painfully, catching the creature square in the chest with both feet and knocking it backward, causing it to lose its balance over one the irregularities in the floor.

Hopkins was quickly on his feet and, ignoring the excruciating pain in his side and the blood now pouring out of his scalp and face wounds, leaped up and grabbed the broom. He managed to swing a leg over the broom's handle and leaned forward. The broom began to move toward the door and, before the creature could react, Hopkins was out.

Wayne didn't bother to look back to see the creature climb out of the cage a lope away from the Quidditch pitch and into the Forbidden Forest.

Slowly and painfully, Hopkins maneuvered the broom around to the from of the castle. Luckily, it was a mild night for November and the main doors were still open. He managed to fly into the entrance and practically into a crowd of students coming out of the Great Hall after supper.

His last conscious thoughts were of the screams and curses of students as he fell, battered and bloody, off the broom and on top of several Ravenclaw boys who broke his fall.