Bones to Bones

Bones to Bones

Chapter 7: Quafflehog

Ashtur

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As October turned into November, Susan found that the regular DA meetings were one of the highlights of her week. All of her earlier concerns about security and the risk of expulsion were long forgotten, as Umbridge seemed totally unaware of what was going on under her nose. November also meant that it was nearly time for the first Quidditch game, and one Friday night, the common room was abuzz with excitement over the game against Ravenclaw the next morning.

"I'm telling you, we can take the Quidditch Cup this year!" crowed Zacharias. "With Potter and the Weasel twins disqualified..."

"Weasley, not Weasel," interrupted Ernie. "They aren't that bad you know, you can at least call them by their real name."

"Not that bad? How can you stick up for them, you know they have it in for me!" protested Zacharias.

"Like you haven't egged them on. Anyway Zacharias, It's good to see you're ready to play, but don't you think you should actually go out and win the games first?" asked Ernie.

Susan sighed as she listened to the discussion. Zacharias had been like this ever since the previous weekend, when Professor Umbridge had shocked the school by gutting the Gryffindor team. Susan was no Quidditch expert, but she suspected that getting past Slytherin and Ravenclaw would prove to be much more difficult than Zacharias was saying.

Finally, tired of all the Quidditch talk, Susan stood up and said, "Well, I'm going to call it a night. Good night all." As Susan trudged up the stairs, she looked back to see Hannah following her.

"You know," Hannah said, "I'm still not sure why you keep avoiding having Zacharias as a partner in the DA meetings."

Susan looked at Hannah in disbelief. "Why in the world do you think I'd want him as a partner?"

"Just think about it Susan, it would give you a perfect excuse to spend an uninterrupted hour hexing him, and no one would be the wiser!" Hannah giggled.

"Oh, I'm sure he'd find it romantic somehow. I don't think I'll take that risk. Besides, I don't mind teaming with Terry."

"Is there something you want to tell me?" asked Hannah with a wicked smile as they walked into their dorm room.

"Yeah, I do want to tell you something. Find a new subject, you've worn that one out this month," answered Susan with her own smile. "Or am I going to have to start asking about Ernie?" Susan didn't get a chance to see more than a hint of Hannah's blush before a pillow hit her square in the face.

Before going to bed, Susan decided to work on her letter to Aunt Amelia.

Dear Aunt Amelia,

I know that you like to say that boring is good, because it means that nothing bad has happened, but sometimes, boring is just boring. Oh, things aren't going badly, but it's just the usual rut. I never had any idea how much work we would have this year. Sometimes it seems that class and study are the only things we get to do. I haven't even gotten to read anything other than a textbook in a month!

Umbridge's attacks on Potter are getting even worse. Last Saturday in the Gryffindor versus Slytherin game, Potter and one of the Weasley twins attacked Malfoy. I never did hear what he did, but knowing that bloody Malfoy, I'm sure that he deserved whatever he got! Well, anyway, Professor Umbridge decided to ban Potter and both Weasley twins from playing Quidditch ever again! I mean, sure they should have gotten in trouble, but to ban them for life? If I didn't know better, I'd think that she was just doing whatever she could to make Potter's life miserable. He doesn't deserve it. He's kind of quiet, but really, he's pretty nice.

Tomorrow is our first Quidditch game of the year. I don't know how we'll do, with all new players, but it will be nice to get away from the books, even for a few hours. Say hi to Mum and Dad, and I'm glad you'll be having Christmas Dinner with us this year.

Love,

Susan

The next morning dawned clear and cold. It was one of those mornings that seemed all the colder because the sky was bright and clear. Susan fervently hoped that the game would be over quickly, because she didn't fancy sitting in the stands all day long in the cold.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's a fine day for Quidditch! Today's game is between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff!"

Susan looked up to the platform where Professor McGonagall sat next to the Quidditch commentator, Lee Jordan. Susan hadn't really been sure who he was until she joined the DA. Truth be told, she hadn't known most of the people in DA beforehand.

"This is the first game of the season for both of these teams, and it will be an important game for both teams, especially after the foul, disgusting punishment laid on the Gryffindor team last..."

Susan was used to Professor McGonagall having to interrupt during the commentary, but looking up at them, she was surprised to see McGonagall's expression was one of concern, not of anger as she put her hand over Lee's mouth.

"Anyway, Hufflepuff has a tough task ahead of them ladies and gentlemen! Ravenclaw is fielding a tough, experienced side, led by their captain Roger Davies, and their star Seeker, Cho Chang! On the other hand, Hufflepuff captain Tim Summerby has been forced to put together a whole new side for this year. Down on the pitch, Madam Hooch is ready to start the game!"

Susan considered herself a casual fan of the sport. She knew that goals were worth ten points, and that the Snitch would end the game, and was worth one hundred fifty points, but beyond that she was a bit unsure. It was a fun, exciting sport to watch, but she'd never seen any point in trying to figure out what a Dopplebeater Defense or Porskoff Ploy was.

"And they're off. Davies has the Quaffle, and a neat pass to Bradley. One of the Hufflepuff beaters, Sampson I think, just missed him badly. Bradley drops the quaffle, no, it's a pass to Chambers who was coming up underneath him. Chambers shoots! Goal for Ravenclaw!"

Susan groaned with the rest of the Hufflepuff crowd as the first points of the game went against them. Still, she couldn't help but be amused though by the commentary. It was always funny how ordinary Lee's commentary was when neither Gryffindor nor Slytherin were in the game.

"Smith has the Quaffle now, he's bringing it up the left side. Oh! Nice roll to avoid the Bludger! Fancy bit of flying there, never knew he had it in him! Thought all he knew how to do was run his mouth!"

"Okay, so much for normal commentary," Susan thought, not at all surprised that Zacharias had managed to get on Lee's bad side. Lee did always hang around with the Weasley twins after all. Susan groaned as Zacharias took a wild shot that flew past the goal.

As the game wore on, it was clear that it was going to be a difficult day for Hufflepuff. The Ravenclaw Chasers played together very well, with crisp passes that rarely went astray, and their Beaters were consistently able to break up the Hufflepuff offense with well aimed Bludgers. The only highlight seemed to be Zacharias, who was showing a surprising level of skill, as feinted left and then threw the Quaffle past the out of position Ravenclaw Keeper for his fourth goal of the game.

"Neat piece of work there by Smith! That makes the score one hundred thirty to fifty, in Ravenclaw's favor. If Hufflepuff wants to have a chance in this game, they best hope that Summerby catches the Snitch soon! He's off! He must see the Snitch! Chang is after it too! She's closer though, it looks like it will be an easy Ravenclaw win today folks! Chang closes in on the Snitch! NO! Chang misses the Snitch! She caught up to it well, but just didn't grab it! Tough break for Ravenclaw, as the Snitch is out of sight again!"

The Hufflepuff section cheered, as they had been convinced that the game was over. Susan leaned over to Hannah and said "You know, amazingly enough, Zacharias isn't half bad!"

"Tell me about it. I wouldn't have expected it myself, but he is doing well."

After that, the Hufflepuff highlights were few and far between. Zacharias managed two more goals, and the other Chasers managed two more of their own as well. That was the good news. Unfortunately, the Ravenclaws were piling up even more points, and soon they led by more than the all important one hundred fifty points. On two occasions, Tim managed to block Cho from the Snitch, prolonging the game, though honestly, Susan didn't think that Cho was flying that well. She really seemed sluggish up there. Eventually, when the Ravenclaws were up by two hundred seventy points, Tim caught the Snitch himself, evidently to bring the misery to an end.

It was a dispirited group of Hufflepuffs who gathered in the common room later that afternoon. Tim had flopped into an armchair, his face distraught. Looking around, it seemed to Susan that the game had taken the energy out of pretty much everyone. Justin and Ernie were sitting in a corner pretending to make progress on a potions essay, while Kit Ellsington was listlessly pulling her pet knarl out of the potted plant next to her chair. The only person who seemed to be showing any signs of life at all was Zacharias, who was demonstrating his best moves of the game with his hands in front of a rapt group of first years.

Susan sat down with Justin and Ernie, pulling her Ancient Runes homework out with a groan.

"Problem?" asked Justin.

"Oh, this is just a fussy little bit of translation. Did I ever tell you that I hate pronouns?"

"Why? What did they ever do to you?"

"Ha ha. Very funny. I notice you aren't even taking Runes," Susan said, pulling her books to one side to make room for Hannah who had her own pile of homework in her arms.

Justin was about to answer when they were interrupted by a commotion at the other end of the room. Tim was in front of Zacharias, his face turning bright red.

"Smith, what are you doing? All of your bragging and posing, you would think we had won!" roared Tim.

"Well, I did my part!" Zacharias yelled back. "I played pretty well after all!"

"Oh? You think you played well?" Tim turned around, and said something to one of the seventh years that was standing nearby. He handed Tim a set of Omnioculars. Tim took the Omnioculars and tapped them with his wand, and they projected a replay of the game onto the wall.

Tim ran the images on the wall at a greatly increased speed until a moment later, Zacharias' first try at goal was on the wall for all to see. "Look at this Smith! There are two Chasers and the Keeper between you and the goals!" Tim pointed at one of the other Hufflepuff Chasers with his wand. "If you had passed it back here, we could have reversed the Quaffle and Mike could have gotten a good shot at the far goal! But, no! You have to be a bloody Quafflehog and try to score on your own."

Susan watched in stunned disbelief, as Zacharias seemed to deflate in front of everyone. Why in the world would Tim do this to Zacharias in front of the entire common room? If he needed to be coached, do it in private, or at least in practice! Tim didn't seem to be inclined to let up on Zacharias though.

"Here! Look at this one Smith. Same sort of thing, you go charging in near the boundary and do one of your fancy loop de loops! Too bad you dropped the Quaffle halfway through the loop! Chambers just scooped it right up and they had an easy three on none break! Terry didn't have a chance in goal! I'm tempted to throw you off the team right now Smith! We play as a team! Seven players playing together! You get the idea! Together! This is your only warning. Shape up or else. I'd rather go out with only two Chasers than have you play like this again!"

Tim waved his wand fiercely in the air, and the images of the game faded away. Zacharias had lost all of the color in his face and his shoulders were slumped as he turned around. For just an instant, he made eye contact with Susan, and then turned away, fleeing up towards the boy's dormitory. Susan watched sadly as he left, shaking her head.

"Don't tell me you actually feel sorry for that git?" asked Hannah.

"Why not?"

"Why not? This is Zacharias Smith we are talking about here. That's why," said Hannah.

"So? Yeah, he is a real pain at times, but he's not that bad. Besides..."

"Besides what? Don't tell me you have a crush on him," said Hannah incredulously.

"Doesn't your mind ever go anywhere other than boys? Don't you get it? He finally thought he found something he was really good at. He finally had something to feel good about in himself. Then he had it ripped away. Haven't you ever been there?"

When Hannah just shook her head in confusion, Susan said "Lucky you," and then turned back to her translation.