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Far, far below, in the Gryffindor stands, Hermione's end of the white bedsheet labeled Potter for President fluttered down. |
"Harry! Grab my hand!" The Weasley twins had arrived. Harry reached for the one who'd spoken, but yelped as the broom jerked upwards. |
They made several more attempts, with no more success. Finally, Harry said, "This isn't going to work. Fred, circle a hundred feet down. George, three hundred. Be ready to catch me." |
The Weasley twins looked at him with wide eyes, but they nodded and dove. |
The broom was now vibrating continuously. Harry swung a little, trying to get his other hand on it, but that only loosened his hold even more. |
There was nothing for it. He looked down at the Weasley twins circling below him. |
"GERONIMO!" he yelled, mostly to warn them. |
Then Harry let go. |
Diving on his broom was always an exhilarating experience. Free fall was different. Free fall was terrifying. The wind was tearing at his robes—his heart was in his throat—he heard Fred yell, but couldn't see him—Fred's broom whipped by only a couple seconds later, far too soon, and he flailed for it, but couldn't reac... |
Fred! he realized with a jolt. He'd caught up somehow! Harry seized Fred's wrist, and Fred grabbed Harry's, and he pulled up hard, and Harry flailed out with his other hand as he felt the one on Fred's wrist slip, and found purchase on the broomstick as his toes brushed the grass, and then they were in the air again, t... |
"All right there, Harry?" Fred asked. |
"Yeah," he said, breathing deeply, looking up at the sky above them. "We have a problem, though." |
"What's that?" Fred asked. |
"I've spotted the Snitch." |
Fred grinned broadly. "Then what are you waiting for?" |
Harry let go of Fred, gripping the broom handle with both hands, and jerked it up into a steep climb. |
Harry tried to make it look like they were flying back to his Nimbus Two Thousand, but once he reached the proper altitude, he banked sharply to the right and poured on all the speed he could. |
The Snitch was the first to notice their pursuit; it zigged left, then zagged down. Lee Jordan was next, twenty seconds later. "I don't believe it! Potter and Weasley are going for the Snitch!" The other Seeker, Higgs, quickly whirled around and started climbing, but he'd been caught on the other side of the pitch and ... |
Still, Harry couldn't quite reach the Snitch. "We're too slow!" he yelled over the howling wind. |
"Well, I can't let you show me up anyway," Fred said. "Oi, George!" he yelled over his shoulder, then he threw his leg over the broom and slipped off the right side. |
Even as Harry shouted wordlessly, though, George flew up about ten feet below him, and Fred landed on his brother's broom. He must've been following behind them the whole time, and Fred had known it. "Good hunting!" George yelled, and with a wave, the Weasley twins were gone. |
"Right," Harry mumbled. He reversed his grip on Fred's broom and deftly pulled it into a roll that swung him up onto it, then accelerated as hard as he could. |
Ten feet—five feet—the Snitch dodged, but he followed it—it accelerated, but though Fred's broom was slower than Harry's Nimbus, he still kept up—it dove, but that only made Harry faster—two feet—one—it jinked right—Harry lunged—it weaved down—he followed—it actually went up his robes—he reflexively closed his knee—and... |
Harry reached down and plucked the Snitch out of his robes, then held it up high. |
"I don't understand, though," Harry said, looking into a very, very strong cup of Hagrid's tea. "Why did the Nimbus seize up?" |
"It was Snape," Neville said. |
"Rubbish," Hagrid said. |
"We saw him!" Hermione insisted. "We scanned the crowd with binoculars. He had his wand on Harry and was muttering an incantation. He was jinxing Harry's broom. And then he jinxed George's broom too!" |
"Maybe "e were castin" a counter," Hagrid said. "If the one cursin" Harry was summat stronger, "e wouldn" be able to stop "im." |
"But the jinxes stopped after I set Snape's robes on fire," Hermione said. |
"After you—what?" Harry said. |
"I snuck under the stands in the teachers" section and used my bluebell flame charm to set Snape's robes on fire," Hermione said sheepishly. |
"Wow," Harry said. "I guess you saved my life too, then. Thanks." |
Hermione blushed. "I'm only returning the favor." |
"Dumbledore trusts Snape," Hagrid said. |
But why should we? Harry didn't say. |
Neville frowned. "I guess that's true. Remember Halloween? When he asked Snape to guard that stone?" |
Hagrid dropped the teapot. "How did you hear about the Philosopher's Stone?" |
Hermione gasped. "He was guarding a Philosopher's Stone?" |
Hagrid looked furious with himself. |
"It's out of the question, Potter," McGonagall said. |
"Professor, two weeks ago, I was attacked by a troll loose in the castle. Then yesterday I was nearly thrown to my death by a Dark curse. Hogwarts isn't safe." |
"You would never have encountered that troll if you'd followed instructions," she said sharply. "And even if what you say is true, and Hermione Granger saw an upper-year student jinxing your broom, how would a knife have helped?" |
"It wouldn't have," Harry said. "But Hogwarts seems to be trying to kill me in loads of different ways, and my weapons would help me with many of them." |
"Potter," McGonagall said, taking off her glasses and rubbing her temple, "two weeks ago, you said you believed you did what was right on Halloween. Have you given that statement any thought?" |
Harry shrugged. "I still stand by it," he said. |
"Then let me explain what I had hoped you might realized on your own," she replied. "Firstly, a teacher or prefect could have handled this situation more ably. Why didn't you speak to one?" |
"I tried to tell Percy, but he cut me off," Harry said. "So I decided to stay behind in the Great Hall and wait until I could find a teacher. But by the time the Hall cleared, they were all gone." |
"I looked over the Hall as the last students were leaving. Why didn't I see you?" |
"I hid," Harry said. |
"You wanted to speak to someone, but you hid?" McGonagall asked. |
"I didn't want one of the prefects to frog-march me out without listening to me." |
"I see," McGonagall said skeptically. "I suppose then you went to find Miss Granger. Was the troll there already?" |
"Yes," Harry said. |
"And what did you do?" |
"I threw several knives to try to pierce its heart." |
"Immediately?" McGonagall asked. |
"Yes," Harry said. "I know better than to hesitate." |
McGonagall leaned back in her chair, regarding him carefully. "Did you not consider stopping it without lethal force? For instance, distracting it and retrieving Miss Granger, or crippling it and escaping, allowing us to heal the troll and release it unharmed into the wild?" |
"If something tries to kill me and mine," Harry said, "I see nothing wrong with trying to kill it back." |
"That is not a responsible use of violence, Potter," McGonagall said. "In truth, that is the aspect of this affair that has disappointed the Headmaster the most. He told me that, during your conversation this summer, he got the impression that you'd handled violent confrontations with...those people using minimum force... |
Harry frowned. We didn't talk about that, did we? he wondered. |
She leaned forward again. "You should have asked a teacher or prefect for help; you didn't. You should have handled the troll without killing it; you didn't. And you certainly shouldn't have addressed the teachers disrespectfully, attempted to conceal weapons from us, ran out when you knew I was likely to discipline yo... |
Harry's jaw tightened. |
"If you had done any of those things, Gryffindor would have gained points on Halloween, and I might even have allowed you your weapons—or never discovered them at all. But you chose the most reckless, violent, and disrespectful course available to you. So the answer is "no', Potter. I will not make an exception to an e... |
"But Professor, the school is already full of deadly weapons. Every wand is a weapon, and every wizard can kill with one." |
"Then pull out your wand and kill me," McGonagall said. |
Harry's jaw dropped. "What?" |
"You can't, can you? Even the most precocious students are not deadly with a wand before fifth year; most could not kill until seventh year. But by that time, they've already witnessed, perhaps even suffered from, dangerous and painful accidents that have taught them to treat magic with appropriate respect. Older teena... |
"I won't say it again, Potter. You're dismissed." |
Harry left her office, hands balled into fists. Not twenty feet from the door, a silky voice called out behind him. |
"Turn out your pockets, Potter." |
Harry sighed as he turned around. This had become a once- or twice-a-day occurrence, and he was getting very tired of it. With Snape checking so frequently—and seemingly able to see into his mokeskin pouch to boot—Harry hadn't dared carry anything. Harry dully pulled everything he was carrying out of his pockets—keyrin... |
Snape looked disappointed. "You may go," he said reluctantly. |
Wordlessly, Harry left, walking in the general direction of Gryffindor Tower. Long after Snape had been left behind, he turned right instead of left, and arrived at the abandoned classroom he'd taken as a training area. |
He opened the door and saw a blur, a flash of silver, a blade plunging into a chest—the thud of a body hitting the ground— |
Hermione stood, breathing heavily, over the last in a line of five anatomical dummies. As she watched, the dummy's skin faded to match the white of the others, indicating that a real person would have bled out. |
"You're getting good at that," Harry said, and she jumped. |
"Harry!" she said. "I started practicing without you, like you said." |
"Good," he said, closing the door and picking up a dagger from a table. |
Since Snape had started harassing him, Hermione had been carrying all the weapons—one for herself, one for him. She'd also waded through the library to find the charms to control the dummies, something he was very grateful for. They were much better than shadow fighting. |
Harry looked over at the line of dummy corpses. "No blood?" |
Hermione looked down at the floor. "It's so messy..." she said. |
"It evaporates after a moment," Harry pointed out. "It's not real blood." |
She shook her head. "It's just..." |
"Disgusting?" Harry asked, and she nodded. "That's why you need to practice with it. Best to be grossed out in training so you'll be adapted to it in a fight." He drew his wand from the holster at his waist and flicked it at the dummies, saying, "Resumitote Sanguis." |
"Yes, sir," Hermione said. Ever since that first training session, she had continued to address him as "sir" in this room. He didn't think she knew she was doing it; it was apparently an ingrained reflex to anyone who was teaching her. |
Though it sounded pretty weird only a few weeks ago, Harry was beginning to like it. |
"How did things go with McGonagall?" Hermione asked. |
Harry shook his head. "Gave me a load of tripe to justify it, but she didn't even consider it." |
"Ridiculous," Hermione said. "Troll aside, that broom incident was a clear attempt on your life. You're not safe here. We're not safe here." |
Harry shrugged. "You can't count on anyone to protect you but you." |
"There has to be something we can do," Hermione said. |
"Well, I don't know what, except wait out Snape. And I bet the first time he stops checking will be a trick. Maybe more than that." |
Hermione hemmed. "Maybe there's another solution—something so you wouldn't have to break the rules." |
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. |
"I'm not quite sure yet," Hermione said, starting to get excited at the prospect. "A spell that would let you conjure one? Free conjurations are NEWT-level, but there are some easier spells for specific conjurations. Carrying something you can Transfigure quickly? Some sort of concealment charm?" |
"The mokeskin pouch already has a charm to conceal its contents," Harry said, "and that didn't stop Snape." |
Hermione frowned. "I'm still not sure how he did that," she admitted. "There's so much we should look into...maybe some research in the library..." She strode towards the door. |
Harry's voice stopped her. "Later. We haven't finished training." |
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