Chapter 6 - The Bludger

As we made our way down to the quidditch pitch later that afternoon I felt quite nervous. I had done some quick reading during lunch about the basic rules for the game. The objective of the sport was to score more points than your opponents. There are seven players on a team, three Chasers, two Beaters, a Keeper, and a Seeker. The Chasers and the Keeper respectively score with and defend the goals against the Quaffle, which I can only assume is a ball of some sorts. The two Beaters bat the Bludgers away from their teammates and towards their opponents. I had no idea what a Bludger was, but it didn't sound pleasant, if the name was anything to go by. The Seeker locates and catches the golden snitch. I knew what this was thanks to Poppy when we rescued those snidgets last year. The capture of the golden snitch simultaneously wins the Seeker's team 150 points and ends the game. The team with the most points at the end wins. Simple right. How wrong I was.

"So, it's obviously a full contact sport and the Beaters will try to knock you off your broom with the Bludgers." Garreth had finished explaining.

"Excuse me?" I stood there dumb founded. "Who decided that was a good idea? I mean we'll be over a hundred feet up in the air, and we could potentially get knocked off our brooms?"

Imelda laughed at my confusion. "It's all part of the game Riley, but you have nothing to worry about. I've seen you manoeuvre a broom, you'll be fine."

Natty was watching from the side-lines and waved at me now and then. Perhaps she could see the despair on my face. I saw a short-haired Hufflepuff sit next to her and could only assume that Poppy had also come to watch.

"I would suggest we start you off with some drills," Imelda began, "and then-" She was interrupted by Garreth.

"Excuse me Imelda, but this is my training session, I shall decide what we do first."

Imelda folded her arms and remained silent.

"Thank you." Garreth shook his head. "So, let's start off with some drills with the Quaffle Riley."

Imelda rolled her eyes.

Garreth and I mounted our brooms, and we spent a while practicing certain movements. I was a Chaser at one stage and got a few shots past Garreth.

"Nice work Riley! Speaking as a Keeper, I can definitely say you've got some skills as a potential chaser." We then switched it up and I let almost every single one of Garreth's shots in the goals.

"So, I guess I'm not a Keeper then hey?" Garreth laughed at my jest.

Imelda shouted up from below, "Can we focus please?"

"She's a bossy one, isn't she?" Garreth said so that only I could hear.

"She is a little, but she's a good person to have in your corner." I smiled down at my friend.

We were quite high up, but I noticed in the corner of my eye a familiar red light. Ominis was making his way towards Imelda below us. I had been avoiding him since our encounter in our pyjamas this morning.

"Ok, let's try some dodging with the Bludgers now."

I was no longer focused on Garreth's training, I kept looking down at Ominis who was now engrossed in a deep conversation with Imelda. I had no doubt I was the topic of conversation, she kept looking up at me with a concerned look on her face.

"Riley keep your eyes on the Bludgers now, I'm going to aim them for you, and you need to dodge."

Garreth had released the Bludgers from below and had a bat in his hand. I watched Gareth as he took aim as one of the Bludgers approached and he swung. It was coming straight for me, and I swooped up at the last minute and it narrowly missed my head.

"Close one, now really focus."

Garreth was searching for the next Bludger.

Ominis and Imelda were still talking, they even seemed to be whispering to one another they were standing so close. What were they saying?

"Riley! Watch out!"

Too late.

I turned at the last second and saw the Bludger coming at my face. I tried to swerve out the way, but it caught the tip of my broom and sent me in spiralling motion downwards, towards the ground. I tried to regain control of the broom but before I could I saw the ground nearing and I just closed my eyes.

"Levioso!"

I opened my eyes, and my face was an inch from the ground, my broom was snapped in half and laying a few feet away. I looked up and saw Ominis had his wand pointed in my direction, his face was pale.

"Please tell me I caught her in time?" He seemed to be asking Imelda.

"Yes Ominis, she's just above the ground now."

She seemed relieved and angry at the same time. I felt myself lower slowly to the ground in the same motion of Ominis' wand.

"Riley, are you ok? I'm so sorry!"

Garreth came soaring through the sky and grabbed my arms to help me up. Both Poppy and Natty had also made their way onto the pitch.

"I'm fine, I'm sorry I took my eye off the ball."

I felt so embarrassed, everyone was watching me cautiously like I was a fragile doll about to crack. Imelda now approached me, and her anger decided to take priority over concern.

"Riley what were you doing? You could've been seriously injured. This is a serious sport, if you want to join the Slytherin team I'll need you to give one hundred percent and maintain focus. You can't be so easily distracted out there. What were you looking at anyways?"

Ominis just stood there quietly listening to my scolding.

"I-I'm sorry, I was-" I could feel my cheeks becoming flustered.

"Take it easy on her Imelda, it's only her first attempt at Quidditch." Poppy defended me.

I just looked down at my feet.

"I think I'll call it a day. I'm quite tired now."

I started to make towards the exit of the pitch, leaving my now broken broom behind me.

"Riley wait, I'm sorry," Imelda's voice trailed off behind me.

Even though Ominis couldn't see me, I could sense his head following in my direction, following the sound of my footsteps on the grass. He didn't follow, I was grateful and headed back towards the castle.

²

I decided to skip dinner as I had no desire for food, and instead made my way to the Room of Requirement. It was my sanctuary when I needed to be alone. Deek wasn't in the room when I arrived, the only company were my beasts in the Vivarium. Deek was a house-elf that Professor Weasley introduced me to, and he showed me the Room of Requirement and looked after the beasts while I was away. I groomed Highwing and gave her some treats, she seemed pleased with all the fuss. It was a nice distraction from this afternoons' events. What happened at the Quidditch pitch? How did I lose focus? Of course, it was embarrassing getting hit by that Bludger, even more embarrassing when Imelda scolded me. She's scolded me before and I always just give it back to her, it's never bothered me before. Why was it affecting me so now? Was it because Ominis was there? He saved me after all, but barely said a word. I felt quite frustrated just thinking about it. I had a feeling Ominis and Imelda were talking about me and about my most recent nightmare occurrence. I didn't need their pity, it was making me feel angry.

"This is ridiculous." I murmured to myself. Highwing clicked her beak as if she was agreeing with me. "I wish I was a hippogriff like you Highwing. Being a girl with all these feelings is very complicated. On top of that this voice that I keep hearing is unnerving me. I'm trying to understand what these nightmares mean, trying to juggle all my schoolwork, trying to distract myself by any means necessary really." I sighed as she just stared at me.

"I think I'm taking on too much, trying to avoid thinking about him." Tears started to fall down my cheeks, I couldn't hold it in anymore. "I just don't know if I can do this." I sobbed, letting all the emotions in. Memories of killing poachers, Fig's death, fighting Ranrok, they all came flooding back at once. Sebastian Sallow. His hurtful words etched into my brain Why would I listen to someone so ignorant? That night in the library when he told me goodbye, after rejecting me. He was just using me the whole time. I meant nothing to him.

After I had no cries left in me, I wiped away the tears from my face and I made my way back to the Room of Requirement. I still felt a bit dizzy after that Bludger had hit me. I needed to lie down for a bit, it had been an eventful day. I laid down on one of the sofas nearby and my mind began to drift. I know I needed to talk to someone, someone that I could be completely honest with, about everything. I wasn't going to be able to keep this all in and be able to function. Normally that would've been Sebastian, there was only one other person that I could trust so fully. I pulled out the Sleeping Draught I had collected from Professor Sharp earlier in the day and took a sip. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, and it was the first restful sleep I had since I returned to Hogwarts.