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"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with |
her," Harry reminded him. |
They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. |
"Pig snout," they said and entered. |
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that |
had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting |
for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking |
at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates. |
But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are |
some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and |
knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them. |
CHAPTER ELEVEN |
QUIDDITCH |
As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains |
around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every |
morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the |
upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled |
up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous |
beaverskin boots. |
The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry would be playing in |
his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If |
Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house |
championship. |
Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as |
their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret. But the news |
that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harry didn't know |
which was worse -- people telling him he'd be brilliant or people |
telling him they'd be running around underneath him holding a mattress. |
It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermlone as a friend. He didn't |
know how he'd have gotten through all his homework without her, what |
with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. She |
had also tent him Quidditch Through the Ages, which turned out to be a |
very interesting read. |
Harry learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a |
Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup |
match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest |
players, and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to |
them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had |
been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert. |
Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry |
and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer |
for it. The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the three of them |
were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured |
them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. |
They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape |
crossed the yard. Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping. Harry, |
Ron, and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; |
they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about |
their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen |
the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off |
anyway. |
"What's that you've got there, Potter?" |
It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry showed him. |
"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. |
"Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor." |
"He's just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped |
away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?" |
"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly. |
The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Harry, Ron, and |
Hermione sat together next to a window. Hermione was checking Harry and |
Ron's Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy ("How will |
you learn?"), but by asking her to read it through, they got the right |
answers anyway. |
Harry felt restless. He wanted Quidditch Through the Ages back, to take |
his mind off his nerves about tomorrow. Why should he be afraid of |
Snape? Getting up, he told Ron and Hermione he was going to ask Snape if |
he could have it. |
"Better you than me," they said together, but Harry had an idea that |
Snape wouldn't refuse if there were other teachers listening. |
He made his way down to the staffroom and knocked. There was no answer. |
He knocked again. Nothing. |
Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was worth a try. He pushed |
the door ajar and peered inside -- and a horrible scene met his eyes. |
Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above |
his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing |
Snape bandages. |
"Blasted thing*," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your |
eyes on all three heads at once?" |
Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but -- |
"POTTER!" |
Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to |
hide his leg. Harry gulped. |
"I just wondered if I could have my book back." |
"GET OUT! OUT!" |
Harry left, before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. He |
sprinted back upstairs. |
"Did you get it?" Ron asked as Harry joined them. "What's the matter?" |
In a low whisper, Harry told them what he'd seen. |
"You know what this means?" he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get |
past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when |
we saw him -- he's after whatever it's guarding! And Id bet my |
broomstick he let that troll in, to make a diversion!" |
Hermione's eyes were wide. |
"No -- he wouldn't, she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he |
wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe." |
"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," |
snapped Ron. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But |
what's he after? What's that dog guarding?" |
Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with the same question. Neville |
was snoring loudly, but Harry couldn't sleep. He tried to empty his mind |
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