Chapter 36 — Rearranged Skies
Days had passed since the game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and the school began to reconvene again for what was supposed to be the next match. The Great Hall was a light with chatter; the Slytherins boasted and jeered at the Hufflepuff table.
"So... you lot against the 'Claws was because half of the Slytherins' had the flu?" Damien asked, buttering a piece of toast, glancing at Harry out of the corner of his eye, his cousin teetering back and forth, head dipping as he tried to stay awake.
"Yeah… pret… ty much… Pro… Professor McGonagall… and Wood… didn't… 'anna win… that way… Zzzzz…" Harry explained before nodding off, snoring.
"Ah, so your Head of House and some guy named Oliver didn't want to win by default, so they agreed to have the matches rearranged," Damien nodded at his cousin's words
Ron's left eyebrow rose up at hearing that. "Yeah. I guess so," he said with a bit of surprise.
"Yeh…" Harry muttered sleepily, his head beginning to sway back and forth a bit.
"... Damien. How did you… what…?" Hermione asked in sheer disbelief.
"What? I've lived with the guy for my whole life. I speak post-bad sleep Harry." Damien explained
"How many times has he not slept well?!" Ron demanded in shock, banging his fist on the table in concern, making Harry jump a bit.
"Huh?! Wuh?! Wish hoppen?!" Harry said, jolting awake before starting to fall back asleep.
"More than he should, less than you think. Though this is worse than normal," Damien answered, before poking his cousin's cheek. "Cousin? You still there?"
"Bish var vellen…" Harry grumbled, before falling face first into his bowl of porridge.
"... I'll be honest, even I didn't catch that one…" Damien replied, shaking his head in confusion.
"Maybe we should get him an exemption for the match…" Hermione said
Harry jolted up awake. "You will do no such thing!" He snapped out before passing back out, snoring like a hibernating bear.
The group sat there in silence for a whole minute after that. It took Ron clearing his throat to finally get the conversation going again.
"So… who's excited for the game?" He asked, tugging at his collar nervously while he kept an eye on Harry.
"... I am… but I'm also worried…" Hermione replied, keeping her eyes locked on Harry's sleeping form in concern.
"Meine Freunde!" a voice called out, a familiar thump-thump reaching the group's ears causing them to turn and see the smiling face of Garrett, Susan following behind him eyeing him carefully with Alejandro and Alicia in tow.
"¡Hola, mis maravillosos amigos!" Alejandro told them cheerfully.
"... Can someone speak English?!" Ron asked exasperatedly.
"Right, right. Sorry. What I said was 'Hello, my wonderful friends' in Spanish." Alejandro replied apologetically.
"... And why did you not just say that?" Damien asked, raising an eyebrow.
Alejandro shrugged in response. "I'm multicultural."
"'Und I am trying to still learn English," Garrett answered, rubbing the back of his head, an action hindered somewhat by the small flask in the hand not holding his walking stick.
"I think you're doing a good job learning it." Susan said with a smile to Garrett.
"... Thank you, Soozin," Garrett said, cringing as he could tell he mispronounced it.
"Susan," she politely corrected.
"Ah," a soft click of his tongue and an awkward close of his eyes was his response.
Before anyone could say anything more, Alicia rushed past Garrett over to Hermione. Swiftly, she sat next to her sister.
"Morning sister. What's with your friend?" Alicia asked, looking around Hermione at Harry, still face first in his food.
"He had a bad night of sleep, that's all." Hermione replied in a matter-of-fact tone, before noticing the flask in Garrett's hand. "Garrett?"
"Ja?"
"What… do you have there…?" Hermione asked in concern, only for Ron to speak up.
"Hermione, don't be nosy! If he needs something strong before the match, let him have it!" Ron replied, defending Garrett.
"Besides, it's five o' clock somewhere," Damien added.
"You're drinking Firewhisky on school grounds?!" Hermione hissed out incredulously; eyes slitted in rage, her face as red as a cherry.
"N-Nein… no… 'tis mein medicine," Garrett explained frantically, switching the flask to his other hand, carefully holding it and his walking stick, waving his free hand down placatingly.
Gently, Susan put a comforting hand on Garrett's shoulder to try and calm him down before speaking up. "Madam Pomfrey gave it to him to help him recover," She explained calmly.
"Recover from what?" Alicia asked curiously.
"He got a bit peckish in Herbology." Susan cryptically replied, before ushering Garrett along.
"Come along, little Alicia. It's time to head to our House's table," Alejandro told the younger Granger sister.
"Aww… bye, sis. By sleepy head. Bye sis's boyfriend," Alicia said as she got up from the Gryffindor table and followed behind them.
"Hey, what about me!?" Damien snapped.
"Who are you?" Alicia asked as she walked away.
Damien sat down in a huff as Hermione sat there fuming at her sister's antics. Ron swiftly went back to eating, trying to put it all behind him. Only Harry remained unphased, his head still on his tray.
Later: Outside the Quidditch Pitch
"Come on, lads! 'Puffs practice is over! Time to get to the pitch!" Oliver called out as he mounted his broom, waving his right arm like a flag to get the team's attention.
The practice pitch was then covered in a flurry of red and gold as the rest of the Gryffindor team mounted onto their brooms. Harry struggled for a second before mounting up, fighting with what energy he still had. Compared to the last match, he had even less energy to work with. But with gritted teeth and a firm grip on his broom, he took off into the crisp autumn air.
"Why do we have to form up? Today's match is supposed to be Hufflepuff and Slytherin!" Alicia Spinnet asked as the team began to fly into form.
"It is! Then we play against the winning team right after that! All the House Heads agreed to it!" Oliver explained, briefly looking back to address them, before making his broom pick up speed.
As the team flew along, Harry did his best to keep both his speed and balance. Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. Turning to look and keeping a tight grip on his broom for balance, he saw the Hufflepuff Team flying up into formation. A smile soon crept across Harry's seeing the other team fly. His happiness, however, was short-lived. Soon he was buffeted by a gust of wind and a streak of green racing by him. Frantically grabbing hold of his broom, he fought to keep himself steady before he figured out what happened.
"Watch where you're looking, four eyes!!" A familiar, taunting voice called out to him.
"Malfoy!? Watch where you're going!!" Harry yelled as he looked for him.
"Over here, Potter! Feast your eyes on this!!" Malfoy's voice called out, this time more clearly.
Harry swiftly turned to look towards Malfoy's voice. To his surprise, he was flying level only a hundred feet away from him. The rest of the Slytherin team was flying ahead of Malfoy, similarly, flying level with the Gryffindor team. But what caught his eye was the brooms they were riding. They looked brand new and were unlike any broom he had seen before.
"Like them, Potter? Nimbus 2001s! Top of the line and world class!" Malfoy said with a big grin.
"When did you get on the team?" Harry asked, his voice darkening with suspicion.
"Unlike you, I earned my way on! I wasn't handpicked because of luck!" Malfoy replied with a smirk.
"Oh, so you earned it when your papa bought your mates a fancy set of brooms, then?!" George called out.
"Watch it, Weasley #3! I didn't have to buy my way on!" Malfoy sneered, glaring at George.
"Oh, but it didn't hurt that your papa paid off you snakes, then!?" Fred snapped at him.
"Make sure you rest up, Potter! Because, after we've dealt with the Badgers, I want you at your best when we beat you! It won't be any fun otherwise!" Malfoy sneered at Harry.
Harry snarled as the Slytherin team then broke away to head to the pitch. Their brooms moving at speeds none of the Gryffindors had ever seen before. Every single member secretly hoped that they did in fact beat Hufflepuff. To let them get the glory of knocking the upstart serpents down a peg.