AN- I need to know if you guys want Harry and Hermione together in this story even though they're not together (YET!) in the books. I think I'm planning on making Ron kinda girl crazy or something… I'm not really sure. This story seems to have it's own ideas about what's going to happen and they don't always agree with what I want to happen… Oh, well.
BTW, the little pictures ( ¿<'}}}>< ) just mean a change of scene.
H/H FOREVER!
Bye!
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But once again, Harry wasn't listening. Hermione had given him several things to think about. The foremost in his mind being what Hagrid had said…what had Hagrid said? He had said that Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide - except perhaps Hogwarts. It looked as though Harry had finally found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.
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Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by the next morning Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one. In the meantime, Harry filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.
' It's either really valuable or really dangerous,' said Ron.
' Or both,' said Harry.
But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.
Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.
Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, but she was "…such a bossy know-it-all…" as Ron so eloquently put it, that Ron saw this as an added bonus to the adventure of meeting the dog.
All Ron and Harry really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.
That morning the post arrived as usual, but six owls carrying a long thin package between them caught everyone's attention. Ron and Harry stared at the struggling owls along with everyone else, waiting to see whom the mysterious package was for. As they watched a white blur flew by the six owls screeching. Two of the owls let go in panic, flapping madly to get away as the white thing slowed down to turn for another attack. As it slowed, Harry realized it was Hedwig, looking angry and fierce.
' Hey, Harry? Isn't that Hedwig?' Ron asked incredulously, at about the same time Harry realized just that.
' Yeah, it is. But why would Hedwig attack those owls?' wondered Harry.
As Ron and Harry spoke Hedwig flew at the four owls that were still struggling not to drop the package. Hedwig screeched at them again as she approached, and the owls seemed to decide that it wasn't worth their feathers to deliver the package, so the dropped it and flew away, beating their wings as fast as they could. By this time the entire hall was watching the dogfight-taking place over their heads. Several students that were sitting below when the owls finally dropped the package leaped up to catch it, but Hedwig, in a brilliant display of aerial acrobatics, flipped over as she went by where the owls had been moments ago, and dove at the package.
Harry, who still had no idea what was going on, or why Hedwig would be acting like this, saw what she was trying to do. He didn't think that Hedwig could possibly carry a package, by herself, which had needed six school owls to deliver. All this flashed through Harry's mind as Hedwig caught up to the package, grabbed a hold of it, and… pulled up!
For some reason all of the students cheered as Hedwig rose up with the package. She had been perilously close to crashing, and it was obvious that the package was really weighing her down, but she looked almost triumphant, which was a neat trick for a creature with as little facial mobility as an owl. Some of the staff members were cheering Hedwig along with the students, who seemed to have forgotten that Hedwig had just been attacking several school owls, but as Harry glanced at the staff table to see if he would be getting into trouble for this, he saw McGonagall chuckling slightly and shaking her head.
Harry had been wondering why Hedwig was acting like this, but now he was more interested in why his very strict head of house was letting such a breach of discipline go.
Harry didn't have long to wonder, as Hedwig had glided down to Harry's spot at the Gryffindor table and dropped the long package across his lap. She alighted on Harry's shoulder, letting out contented hoot and nipping Harry's ear affectionately.
Except for the Gryffindors, the other students had sat back down to their breakfast after they saw that it was Harry Potter who had received the package after such an unusual mail delivery.
' Aren't you going to open it, Harry?' asked Ron.
' Well, I guess it must be for me… I mean, Hedwig wouldn't steal from school owls I don't think.' Muttered Harry.
' I dunno, Har,' mused Fred.
' Hedwig might… if it was for you,' continued George.
' She seems to really-'
' care for you.'
' Maybe she was…' Fred started with a grin.
' …Jealous of the other owls giving you your package!' George concluded with a laugh.
Ron and Harry just groaned at the twins' antics.
' Well I guess there's only one way to find out if its for me or not.' Said Harry, preparing to start ripping the brown paper off the odd shape.
Just as Harry grabbed the long thin end and was about to start, a letter fluttered onto the table in front of him with his name on the front. Hoping it was something about the package he had just gotten he opened it first.
DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE!
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand,
but I don't want everyone knowing you've
got a broomstick or they'll all want one.
Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the
Quidditch pitch at seven o'clock for your
first training session.
Professor McGonagall
Harry was only just able to suppress a grin of delight as Ron gasped and whispered ' A Nimbus Two Thousand? I've never even touched one!'
Ron and Harry quickly left the hall before any other students could ask what the letter said and what the parcel was.
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Ron ran into someone as he and Harry left, literally.
It was Malfoy.
' Watch where you're going Weasel!' he sneered as Ron and him picked themselves up off the floor. He glared at Harry and noticed the package Harry was carrying. ' What's that?' he asked suspiciously.
' None of your business is what it is!' growled Ron, pulling Harry around Malfoy and up the stairs in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. ' Man! I can't wait to see the look on his face when you play in your first match!' he continued gleefully.
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Both Ron and Harry had a hard time keeping on task that day. They both kept zoning out in class, imagining how great it would be to finally have a chance to fly on Harry's new broom.
Ron had asked Harry if they could go out for Harry's first practice a little early so that Ron could have a chance to try out Harry's Nimbus. Of course Harry had agreed without hesitation. He had no problem with letting anyone else use his broom, especially not Ron.
Harry didn't really see what the big deal was about the Nimbus Two-Thousand. It seemed to be the same as any school broom except that it was brand new, and all of its twigs were in line, all very superficial things as far as Harry was concerned. He knew that, more than any physical aspect, it was the charms placed on a broom that decided how well it flew (Pg. 47, Quidditch Through The Ages, lines 10-14), and as far Harry could tell the charms on the Nimbus weren't too different from those on a Cleansweep.
The classes that day crawled by for Ron and Harry, but eventually the last class of the day ended and Ron and Harry scrambled to get to the Great Hall to have dinner then get ready for Harry's first practise session.
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As Ron and Harry hurried to the practise field, they talked about how great it would be to see the look on Malfoy's face when he realized that Harry had made the house Quidditch team, and even had a broom of his own when no other first year was allowed one.
They were an hour early for Harry's practise time and had the entire field to themselves.
When they arrived, Harry turned to Ron and held out the broom wordlessly.
Ron's eyes gleamed and his hand twitched as if to take the broom handle, but he just smiled and shook his head.
' No, Harry.' He said. ' You should be the first one to try it.'
Harry only grinned in response and mounted.
As soon as he did so the broom rose a few feet, taking Harry's feet off the ground, and in that one simple movement Harry could feel the energy and speed of the broom. Harry's eyes lit up behind his glasses and he grinned at Ron once more be fore off hard and rocketing straight upward.
Harry flew up and down the field a few times, the ground below seeming to be only a blur. He wasn't experience enough yet to try anything fancy, but he couldn't wait for Wood to arrive for practise. After ten minutes or so, Harry landed in front of Ron to trade places.
He opened his mouth to exclaim to Ron about how wonderful the broom was, but Ron cut him off.
' I know, Harry. It's wonderful, right?' asked Ron, chuckling. ' You should see your face right now. I can't remember seeing you grin so widely before!'
Harry had taken his glasses off and put them in a pocket on the insides of his robes after almost losing them several times. ' It is!' was all he could say with his eyes glazed over.
' Your turn now, Ron.' He said, shaking his head to clear it.
Ron's eyes were bright and he licked his lips in anticipation as he reached out for the broom.
Harry studied Ron's flying while he waited. Ron might not move nearly as fast as Harry had been, but his extra experience was apparent. Harry found himself analysing Ron's form as his friend flew up and down the field, executing a few simple tricks.
Ron's handling of the broom was quite good even if he did tend to guide it more with his legs than he strictly should, and his balance was superb. Harry knew he had read about these types of things in the Quidditch books he had looked up before, but he found that he didn't really need to consciously think about the information. It was simply there waiting for him to use it. All in all though, Harry could tell that Ron had great potential as a flyer.
Ron and Harry spent half an hour or so taking turns on the broom before Ron finally decided to head back in to complete some last minute changes on a transfiguration paper that was to be handed in the next day.
' See ya later, Harry.' He called as he walked off. ' Remember to come and tell me how it goes when you're finished!'
Harry waved as his friend walked off then mounted the broom again, intending to get in some practise of his own before Wood showed up.
Harry had fully intended to go through the basic manoeuvres that most of the books had suggested for beginners, but they were simple and he soon became bored with them.
He started flying up and down the field again, this time simply enjoying the feeling of freedom, something new to him. After a while he started leaning closer and closer to his broom zooming up and down the field, faster and faster. He tried to see just how fast the broom could go, and how sharply it could turn at those speeds. The field was a large one, but Harry was moving so fast that it seemed to take only seconds from one end to the other.
As fast as he was already going, Harry was sure that he could go even faster if he could find some way of accelerating in a shorter distance. Harry slapped his forehead with his hand. Of course!
< Gravity equals acceleration and acceleration equals gravity.> he thought.
With that in mind Harry rocketed upward until he was well above even the tallest of the towers of Hogwarts. At that height he levelled off and grinned fiercely towards the ground. Then, with his stomach doing flips he pointed his broom straight down and flew towards the ground, faster than he had ever moved before!
Harry had only the approaching ground to judge his speed against; he guessed he must have been going almost one hundred miles an hour by the time he reached the tops of the Hogwarts towers. At this point he started to pull up, but as fast as he was going it would still be close.
Straining to pull the front of the broom up Harry heard someone yelling and laughing. It took him a moment to realize that it was him who was laughing! For the first time that Harry could ever remember, he was laughing and smiling. At the same time he was screaming with the exhilaration of flying so fast.
The ground was still rushing up at him, but not quite so fast as before, and by the time he reached the ground he was moving slow enough to jump off the broom and absorb the shock by crouching.
Pulling out his glasses and slipping them back on, Harry turned to pick up his broom and saw Wood, mouth hanging halfway to his knees, staring at Harry then the Nimbus, then back at Harry.
' Are you completely nuts?!!' He roared. ' What would we have done for a seeker for our first match if you had killed yourself, huh?'
Raising an eyebrow Harry asked ' What do you mean? The worst that could have happened is I might have broken my legs. I pretty sure it's possible to fly without using your legs.'
Wood just stared at Harry as if he had sprouted horns before shaking his head and muttering something about stupid gits who didn't care about winning Quidditch matches.
Oliver turned around and bent over a wooden case that Harry hadn't noticed.
' Very nice dive though, even if you did almost kill yourself.' said Wood, his eyes glinting. ' I see what McGonagall meant…you really are a natural. I don't think I've ever seen anyone move that fast on a broom. Anywho, I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week.'
He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.
' Right,' said Wood. ' Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers.'
' Three Chasers,' Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball.
' This ball's called the Quaffle,' said Wood. ' The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?'
' The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score,' Harry recited. ' So - that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?'
Wood gave Harry an odd look and opened his mouth as if to ask a question, but then thought better of it, and continued explaining the intricacies of Quidditch to Harry, who made sure to remember everything he was told. McGonagall had said that if he didn't work hard at his Quidditch training, she might remember that he hadn't been punished for the incident with Malfoy.
' This,' said Wood, reaching into the crate to pull out the final ball ' is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker. That means that although your speed will be very useful, you've also got to be agile, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages - I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep. So that's all. Any questions before we start practicing?'
Harry shook his head.
' It's getting a bit too dark to use the actual Snitch, we might lose it, so we'll use these instead.'
Wood pulled a bag of ordinary muggle golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch. He even threw a few straight at the ground.
Harry didn't miss a single one. Wood was delighted, but after half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.
' That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year,' said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. ' I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons.'
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The common room had been deserted by the time Harry got back, except for a few seventh years working on large projects, and Harry headed straight to bed.
Harry was so exhausted after his workout that he was able to ignore what he considered to be an overly soft mattress, though he was beginning to become used to it, and went right to sleep, a hint of what might have been a smile on his face.
AN- " Love is like a cancer, it kills you in the end."
Anywho, my ' Golden Rule' of fanfics is: If you read, you must review.
I follow this rule and I hope you will to. Whether you like my story or not, I WANT TO KNOW!
H/H FOREVER!
Bye!