Chapter 21
HARRY POTTER
Usually, Harry would be far more excited for a Quidditch game, but this time his entire week had been spent reading and re-reading the Daily Prophet, much like many others at the school as he tried to follow each and ever piece of news about his so-called Godfather.
The trial was set to begin in a few days, and Harry was much excited about the prospect of having a semblance of family again. Professor Lupin's revelations had been a surprise, and for the first time since he had stepped into the wizarding world, he felt a sense of belonging and hope as he excitedly looked forward to the day of Sirius's trial.
And all of this tied back to one person.
And much to his surprise, it was not the Headmaster, not was it any other adult of great influence or repute.
No, all this was somehow tied down to the boy flying on a Nimbus 2001 infront of him—Cassius Malfoy.
And the Malfoys were now as famous as him when he had first started the school, as the news about Lucius Malfoy being on the run dominated the Prophet, with further investigation and progress being made against him with every passing day.
Draco had been much more well-behaved ever since the news had come out, and the absence of his lackeys provided him little protection from all the enemies he had made over the years. And a part of him was a bit happy at seeing him brought down, but on the other hand, Cassius Malfoy had been quitter, the boy had almost vanished into the backdrop, as he rarely made a public appearance.
Ron gloated about the whole affair, like most of the Gryffindor House, though Harry was less enthused than them, especially when it came to Cassius Malfoy, much like Hermione, who did not like Ron's gloating at all.
Because, they both knew the truth. Her, more so than him, that Cassius Malfoy was somehow connected to the capture of Peter Pettigrew and her godfather's acquittal.
He did not know how, but Harry had quite an instinct about these things, and the way Hermione had reacted to a few of his words had been answering enough that the black-haired Malfoy twin was indeed connected to this entire matter.
"Ok, everyone, I want a nice clean game," Madam Hooch ordered as she flew back, and they gripped their broomsticks tightly.
"Remember the plan, Harry. REMEMBER THE PLAN!" shouted their captain, Wood, from behind, as Harry nodded.
The Ravenclaw had been a mediocre team before Cassius had joined them, and now they were ahead of them in the championship, and if Gryffindor were to have even a chance at winning it all, they needed to win this game.
He zoned out the crowd and the commentary and just as Madam Hooch blew her whistle, he pushed his broom forward as he raced straight at the opposition's seeker.
And yet, much to his surprise, the blitz that the Gryffindor had been expecting never came as much to the surprise of everyone in the crowd, the Ravenclaw team adopted a defensive formation.
"AND WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? THE RAVENCLAW TEAM HAS GONE ON THE DEFENSIVE!" as Angelina and the rest tried to score with the Quaffle, the Ravenclaw defence proved itself to be quite a well-drawn-out plan, as he realized that they had changed their tactics.
The boy in question flew above them and circled the grounds as a regular seeker would. As the game continued, Harry chose to do the same and followed after him.
He saw the boy eye him as the game continued below them as a standard Quidditch game would, and the score was neck and neck, with Gryffindor a few points ahead as they both circled the skies.
And then it happened, as Harry saw him blur, as Cassius Malfoy whipped through the skies, and Harry did not follow him, thinking that this was a feint or a ploy, but then his eyes caught a hint of a golden ball.
"HE HAS SEEN IT! CASSIUS MALFOY HAS SEEN THE SNITCH!" and harry whipped through the skies as well, cursing himself for he had already lost one game to a Malfoy, and he had no intentions of losing another one, but just as he was about to follow after him, he was forced to get out of the dive as bludger was shot in his way.
"AND WHAT IS THIS!" he heard Dean's screams.
"The RAVENCLAW BEATERS HAVE SET THEIR SIGHTS ON THE GRYFFINDOR SEEKER!" and suddenly, Harry found himself the target of the two beasts, as the buldgers and bats came in his direction like a storm.
He tried to weave through them, but the Ravenclaw team had completely abandoned the defence and were putting both bodies and Buldgers in his way, forcing him to slow down.
And while he was forced to carve out his way through all the traffic, Cassius Malfoy was pushing his broom to the limit, showing the pace of his upgraded Nimbus as he blurred through the skies.
"AND IT IS OVER PEOPLE!"
The stands broke out into a deafening cheer as the Gryffindor team found themselves out of the running for the Quidditch Championship.
"CASSIUS MALFOY HAS THE SNITCH! AND THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE SHORTEST MATCHES OF THE YEAR!"
And his heart sank as he saw the Ravenclaw stand scream in victory as groans came from the opposite side, as he began to run his shoulder where the bludger had hit him.
"THE GRYFFINDOR CHASERS PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT! BUT IT WAS NOT ENOUGH! RAVENCLAW'S STRATEGY HAS SHOWN ITS MAGIC, AND THEY TAKE THE VICTORY 170 to 70!"
And they all descended to the grounds as the whole team got dejected, for with this match, they had been knocked out of the tournament.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT HARRY!" Wood screamed as he came after him as he folded upon himself.
"I am sorry, but the pla..." and the guilt came crashing down, as he saw Wood's swollen face.
"Forget the plan. You were distracted throughout the game. You let hi....'
"HEY! HEY!" and it was the twins who came in between him and the captain as they pushed the flushed boy away.
"Calm down, Wood. It's just a game," Fred added, and Harry really did not know if it was Fred or George.
"Yeah, mate. And it was you who had us practicing all those complex counter maneuvers when they just did not use their new formation at all," the other one added.
But Wood's frustration was evident, much like the rest of the team, for this had been his last chance of winning a championship, and now it was all gone.
The boy shook his head and headed towards the locker room as the Ravenclaw team descended and began to shake their hands.
Ravenclaw had played differently from their expectations. Wood and Angelina had devised special formations and counters to their complex Seeker plays, and had the team practise them over the weeks, and yet the Ravenclaw team had abandoned their usual strategy and had gone for a more traditional approach.
And much to his surprise, Harry was not as devastated by this loss as he had been for Slytherin one, and he shook hands with the Ravenclaw team until he was face to face with one Cassius Malfoy.
"It was a good game," the boy said as Harry nodded, as the words slipped out of his mouth.
"Why did you do it?" and the boy frowned at his question.
"What?" he asked.
"I mean, why did you change your tactics?" he asked, and the boy's eyes widened as he answered.
"Well, Gryffindor's Chasers are no joke, and Wood is a damn good Keeper," he answered, much to his surprise as Angeline perked up behind him.
"There was no way for us to outscore your team, and so the only way we could win this was to catch the Snitch early, and well, that was our plan," and it made sense. They had used the same tactic against Slytherin early last year.
"We just had to hold on, until I saw the Snitch, and then it was up to the beaters to help me out a bit so I could finish the job. Thankfully, the Golden ball just came into my view quite early," and it was Angelina who cut in.
"Damn you all! Do you have any idea just what kind of complex formations Wood had us practising because of you," she chided as the boy simply shrugged.
"Well, I apologize for ruining your plans," he said as she shrugged.
"Nah, it is fine," and she then shook his hand, as she whispered.
"Now, you better make sure that you defeat Slytherin in the finals," and the boy chukled.
"I will try..."
"Cassius!"
"HARRY!"
He turned to the side and saw a small group rushing towards them both, one that included two Slytherins and two Gryffindors.
And much to Harry's surprise, only Ron was wearing a Gryffindor scarf.
"Man, that was an awful game. What happened out there?" his friend asked him as Harry watched Hermione jump towards the black-haired Malfoy twin.
"You won! You are going to the finals!"
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HERMIONE GRANGER
The match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw served up to its potential, and for the first time in many days, the conversation at dinner time did not revolve around the Malfoys or Sirius Black. The whole school was abuzz about the probable matchup for the Final of the Quidditch tournament.
With their victory against Gryffindor, Ravenclaw had made their place in the finals, and Slytherin was set to face Hufflepuff the next week, and it was easy to predict the outcome of that match.
And so, the final was probably going to be between Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
After the match, they gathered once more for their practical lesson, as Cassius helped them in their journey of learning a patronus. The day passed, and now it was Sunday, and they were allowed to leave for Hogsmeade.
She was ready to leave for the village, much like the rest of the class, but not before she had talked with Professor McGonagall.
"You are asking to leave Divination and Muggle Studies?" the Professor asked. She had given it all much thought, but her decision had been made for quite some time.
Yet she had hesitated from speaking about it to the Professor, knowing that doing so would mean handing her back the 'time-turner', and she wished to hold on to it for some time—for until she had made the offer to Cassius.
And now she knew of his answer.
She had guessed that he knew of it; he had let it slip in a conversation. When she had offered him the chance to make things right regarding Peter Pettigrew, the way his eyes had narrowed at the pendant had only confirmed her suspicion that he understood exactly what she was offering.
Yet he denied the chance, cementing in her heart that he was a better person than people realized.
"Yes," she said to the Professor, who raised a brow as she looked at her through those thin, metallic frames.
"That is highly surprising, Miss Granger, I remember you being extremely enthusiastic about taking all the electives," and she had been once, but her time with Cassius and his friends had opened her eyes to another aspect of magic, about exploration and practical aspects of Magic that she had not paid much attention to before.
"I was, but I have realized that there is more to magic than just theory, and I wish to explore the more practical and unique part of the magic," she answered truthfully as she slowly unclipped the 'time-turner' from her neck and removed it.
"And I have realised that both Divination and Muggle Studies have little new to offer to me," and the Transfiguration Professor leaned back in her chair as she hummed, looking sharply at her.
"Practical, you say," she repeated tersely as Hermione nodded and put the time turner on the table.
"Well, it is a good approach, Miss Granger. It seems your new friendships are showing their influence on you," the older woman smiled.
"Well, I will talk to Albus and see if he would be willing to let you take the exams for these two subjects. But I will inform the two professors of your decision," and she smiled at the woman as she stood up.
"Thank you, Professor," and just as she was about to leave, there was a knock on her office door as the Professor called out from the desk.
"Who is it?"
"Professor, it's me, Harry." As the door opened, she saw an excited Harry walk into her office.
"Yes, what can I do for you, Mr. Potter?" she asked.
"Professor, it's about the Hogsmeade trip..." Harry seemed quite excited as she saw the transfiguration professor frown.
"As I told you before..."
"No, Professor, I received this in the mail today...." and with that, she saw her friend reach into his pocket as he passed out a piece of paper to her.
"And what is thi..." but she saw her stop, as soon as she opened the piece of paper, as her eyes widened.
After a second of silence, she sharply looked at Harry.
"You better be sure that this is not some prank, Mr. Potter, because if it is, I will make sure that you never get out of detention," she warned a bit tersely as Hermione chose to stay back and watch what was happening.
"It's not Professor, you can ask Ron. He was there when this came in the mail," and she saw her thinking.
"Wait here, and let me talk to the Headmaster about this," she said, standing up and leaving her office as Hermione asked Harry.
"What was that?" she asked.
"It was a letter from Sirius," and her eyes widened at the mention of that name.
"Giving me permission as my guardian to visit Hogsmeade..."
0000
Late into the night, one young Auror found herself standing beside the Head of the DMLE.
"What am I doing here again?" asked the young Nymphadora Tonks, as Amelia Bones raised an eyebrow.
"Did they not tell you anything?" she asked, and the girl shook her head as the Head of the DMLE rubbed her forehead.
"Those idiots," she cursed as she pushed up her glasses.
"Well, you are here because you were named," and she frowned.
"Name by who..." and suddenly the space infront of them cracked, as two bodies appeared infront of them as Nymphadora Tonks quickly whipped out her wand, but stopped as she recognized one of them.
"Dad?" she asked with surprise as Ted Tonks raised a brow as he looked at her.
"Really?" he asked as he looked at the thin, smelly man beside him, who looked like a hippy muggle.
"She was the only one I could trust," and her father shook her head as the Head of the DMLE stepped forward.
"By him," she answered, and suddenly, it all clicked together as she recognized that face.
"You are Sirius Black..." she gasped as she gripped her wand a bit more tightly as the dishevelled man gave her a nod.
"So, you finally recognize me. I must say you do look quite like Andy, Nymphadora. " Of course, she knew that he was her mother's cousin, yet even in this crucial moment, her body reacted on instinct as she retorted quickly.
"Do not call me Nymphadora..."
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