Pawn of Darkness

Phoenix learned about the other students. The other Gryffindor boys besides Tam were Arlan Comfren, a solemn, dark-haired boy; Chandler Temple, who's fair hair was rivaled only by Draco Malfoy's; Jason McArdell, a mousey-haired, blue-eyed student; and Brett and Brian Avin, identical, and blond-brown haired, the only twins in Gryffindor since the legendary Beater-Prankster Weasley twins, who left the year before. All of the nine other Gryffindors were marvelous, and Phoenix gradually almost forgot all about what Riddle had asked her to do. It had turned out that History of Magic, which had only begun on the next week, was something Phoenix knew nothing about. It was infernally boring, the ghost that taught it, Professor Binns, droned on and on. He would have been wonderful as someone paid to put people in trances, but was horrible as a teacher. This had to be one of the less important aspects of magic Riddle had told her about. She had to agree.

* * * * *

On Sunday, a message was posted in the Gryffindor common room. First year's flying lessons were to be held on Thursday afternoons. They would be learning with Hufflepuff, out on the grounds.

This brought on another wave of Quidditch talk - Phoenix now thought she understood the game. Beaters knocked the ball away from their team and into the other team (hopefully), rather like that one position in American football; the Chasers scored, like the forwards and wings on a football ( AN: American soccer, this is Britain after all!) team; the Keeper acted like a goalie, and the Seeker was unlike any other player in any other sports Phoenix had ever heard of. The whole thing was played on what was like a football (AN: American soccer, again) pitch (I think they call playing fields for everything "pitches" in Britain, I live halfway around the world and have almost no clue) with goals that were like basketball hoops with the basket part rotated ninety degrees. The Chasers part of the game was a bit like American football, tossing the ball around.

Thursday afternoon was cloudy and starting to get gusty. The dark green trees on the grounds and in the Forbidden Forest rustled in a strange symphony of clattering and shaking strains. Phoenix's weather spells told her it would rain during her lesson, so she put a water repellant on her robes before she went outside, making sure to do it where nobody could see her performing the somewhat tricky enchantment.

Kara Bell was going on and on about flying. How her sister had flown, the best ways to control your broom, and so forth. Apparently Katie Bell had been one of the Chasers for quite a while and had tried to show her sister how to follow in her footsteps (or, more literally, to follow in her flight-path.)

Twenty brooms lay on the rippling green sea of grass. Kara went for the shiniest broom, Chris took one with a worn handle, and Phoenix just grabbed the broom in between the two of them, figuring it couldn't matter since all of these brooms were horribly old anyway.

A witch in Quidditch robes came out before them, standing like an army drill sergeant with short grey hair. "My name is Madam Hooch, and I will be teaching you youngsters how to fly. First things first - stand next to your broom and yell UP!" Ready, one, two, three!" "UP!" Kara, Chris, and Phoenix's brooms all leapt into their hands, as did Tam's, the Avin Twins', and three of the Hufflepuff students'.

"Just pick up your broom if it didn't come, dears, and we'll start flying. Grip the handle, and you'll rise a few feet. On my whistle again. One, two," TWEEEEEET!!!

All of the students rose up. "Very good!" yelled Madam Hooch from below, "Go a bit more, while I go and get my broom."

Phoenix watched Kara do loop-the-loops on her broom. She imitated, as did Chris. It wasn't all that hard if you concentrated and hung on well. Although Phoenix couldn't quite see how being able to do this might help in a game unless you were trying to avoid a perfectly aimed Bludger. Madam Hooch had only been gone about five minutes before the clouds burst into a flash storm. Nobody cared, really, all though all but Phoenix were getting soaked to the bone. They were having far too much fun up there.

There was only a little more time before Phoenix saw a narrow shaft of lightning headed into the lake. "Everybody get down!" she shouted, "We're prime targets for that lightning!"

All of the girls went down, but quite a few of the boys were still up in the air. "No way!" Chandler Temple called down to her, "No danger!"

Another bolt of lightning struck the trees nearby. All of the boys except Chandler came down. She would have to drag him down, most likely. She mounted her broom, eyes blazing like red coals, ready to fly through the oncoming fury of the storm to drag him down.

"Chandler, come on,!" she told him, circling alongside, "This is danger - "

People on the ground screamed. Lightning had struck a sapling right below the pair of them. Phoenix raised her wand, would she have to fight lightning? She could feel with some magical sense - the clouds were ripping - the lightning was coming - it was going to hit them -

Phoenix didn't know what she did, she felt like she was hurling part of herself and her magic against the lightning flashing toward her. She was sending sheer magic out of herself now, to push Chandler out of the way - but it was draining her, and it hurt like something was being ripped out of her--

* * * * *

It was misty and foggy. Swirling colors darted around her, she felt a floor, but saw only more fog.

Then Riddle appeared, wand raised. "Hello, Phoenix Argent," he said, voice cold and silky, "It appears you are having a little problem."

"No, I'm not having any problems, I'm just fine - " she protested weakly. "If you are 'just fine' then why haven't you brought me the Potter boy yet? I really expected better from you... Crucio!"

The pain came in the expected rush, she screamed, loud and long, until Riddle lifted the curse. "I hope that teaches you a lesson about being more prompt, Phoenix. There is a change in our plan, and you must be exactly on time.

"On Easter, you must bring Potter. I will meet you at the Manor as was planned before, at some point earlier than seven o' clock in the evening. You will wake now, to be cared for whatever you did to yourself to put you in a state I could reach you in." He dissolved slowly, and when he was completely gone, Phoenix awoke.

She was in the hospital ward at school, in a crisp bed with drawn curtains.

Phoenix's mind and body awoke with a jolt. What had happened to Chandler? What had happened to her? She felt fine, maybe whatever her spell had done had drained her.

* * * * *

Phoenix woke up when Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, came bustling in. "What happened?" Phoenix asked the bustling matron, "Is everyone fine?"

"Oh! You're awake! Yes, everyone is fine, although I don't know how you managed to just force Mr. Temple away like that. Madam Hooch saw lightning streaking straight for yourself and that Temple boy and then saw him pushed out of the way. You were knocked out, and Mr. Temple fell off his broom as well. The rest of the class is fine, if a little shaken. Personally, I see no reason why you shouldn't get up and go."

"Great. Er - where're my clothes?"

"On the table there, change behind the curtains. You can leave when you finish dressing, and take care." Madam Pomfrey walked out of the room.

Phoenix knew she had been thinking about something before she fell asleep. Ah - Riddle. Easter was a long way away. She'd have plenty of time.

All of the first years were waiting nervously in the Gryffindor common room. Liz and Kara looked like they had been crying, Chandler looked overcome with guilt, and Tam was looking horrified and shocked. She felt sorry for Tam, who looked the most pathetic of the lot.

"Phoenix!" Chris yelled, jumping up from a loveseat she was sharing with Kara, "You're all right!" She hugged Phoenix ecstatically.

Phoenix wrestled Chris off her, laughing at her friend's antics at her return. "I'm fine, Madam Pomfrey says there isn't any harm done."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Phoenix, I really was an idiot!" Chandler cried, "I'm really sorry, really really really sorry. Is there any way I can make it up to--"

"It's fine, Chandler. I wasn't hurt so it doesn't matter. Its just something friends would do for each other." That word had more magic than any other. Friend.

* * * * *

The first Quidditch match of the season was on October first, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Phoenix rather wanted to see the game played (she was certainly hearing enough about it!) and was curious to see how the teams performed. She knew Draco played as the Slytherin Seeker, and Harry Potter played as Gryffindor's Seeker, but didn't know who else played what on the pitch.

The first was completely the opposite of the day Phoenix's class had been out flying. The sky was an aquamarine sea, the cropped grass sparkled with a bit of morning dew. There was a light breeze that would be just enough to keep the heat down outside.

"And here come the player!" roared a Hufflepuff girl with a large purple microphone. "Slytherin, in green," here there was a loud cheer from a group of people on the north side of the pitch, "and Gryffindor in red, defending Cup Champions for two years running!" The Slytherin supporters were drowned out in a roar of support from everyone else in the school that didn't like Slytherins (which was everybody but the Slytherins, and Phoenix still hadn't figured out why everyone hated them yet, although she expected she'd find out soon enough.)

"On the Slytherin team, Puecy, Gram, Nott, Orknei, Cranston, Lizans, and Malfoy!" (A cheer from the Slytherins here). "And the Gryffindors - Weasley, Weasley, Wea - oh wait, those two are gone now, umm, Creevey, McDonald, Anderson, Rose, and Potter!" (Again, cheering Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, drowned the Slytherins out and, of course, Gryffindors, Phoenix and her friends included.)

Madam Hooch the flying instructor (who had been rather watchful of Chandler during the class's following lessons) sounded her whistle and the players rose.

"Gryffindor in possession - Great Scott that Weasley girl can fly! - and, wait a minute - Gryffindor scores! First score of the season, by Miss Ginny Weasley! Doing a victory lap - foul! Puecy slams into Weasley, Madam Hooch shouting her head off, and a penalty shot for Gryffindor. Gryffindor scores...I think we know how this match is going to turn out, don't we all?" The majority of the crowed cheered, and the stands started erupting in cries of "Gryffindor, Gryffindor!" and "Lions Forever!"

Phoenix watched this with an amused eye. The game looked simple, although looks could be decieving. The players certainly did practice a lot.

The Gryffindor Chasers, Ginny Weasley, Eliza Rose, and Natalie McDonald, had led the game by 70-30 when the game got dirty. Draco Malfoy grabbed the end of Eliza's broom, and then the Seeker tossed the Quaffle to Ginny Weasley before doing a 180 and slapping Draco with a crack that filled the stadium. This act got more applause than Natalie McDonald scoring a moment later.

The rest of the game had small burst of cheating on the Slytherin side (with retaliations from the Gryffindors, Eliza Rose took every chance she could to knock the Slytherins senseless when they fouled her. Draco cheated most often. He was a giant prat, she thought to herself, grabbing brooms and hair and heads. Once he had grabbed Ryan Anderson's robes and ripped a huge part of the back off (here many girls in the crowd had swooned, and many of the Slytherins had laughed) and Gryffindor had been given a penalty and Draco was given a bill for new robes. Just forty minutes later, it was obvious why the rest of the school despised Slytherins.

The score was 170-70 when Potter caught the Snitch for a landslide victory of 220-70. The boy with the microphone was giddily shouting the results.

Cheering and clapping the Gryffindors were waved off the field (Eliza, the girl who kept getting fouled and fighting back was surrounded immediately by cheering friends). The boos couldn't be heard, but Phoenix knew they were there somewhere.

Quidditch was a rather interesting game.