Chapter 8 - The Badger

Imelda took the news surprisingly well. It was Garreth that seemed more upset and disappointed.

"No Riley, you can't let one little Bludger put you off. I promise you'll enjoy it once you're out there on the pitch with your team. There's no describing the rush, hearing the crowds below cheering, the feeling is addictive."

Imelda looked intently at Garreth as he said this, and she smiled to herself.

She turned to me, "I understand Riley, you've had a lot to deal with and I'm sorry for lashing out at you. I'm sorry for also pressuring you to join, that was not fair of me."

I gave her a soft smile "No need to apologise. I will be fully supporting Slytherin at the games and cheering you on from the side-lines. That I can promise you."

Garreth interjected, "Well if Imelda plays anything like today in the practice game against Ravenclaw, you'll be cheering the Slytherin team all the way to the house cup final."

Both Imelda and I stared at Garreth. Did he just give Imelda a genuine compliment? Her cheeks started to turn crimson.

"Obviously though Gryffindor will crush Slytherin in the finals, there's no doubt about that."

He quickly corrected himself and Imelda rolled her eyes. I laughed. Quidditch season was going to be more interesting than I thought.

²

The next few weeks went by in a blur. The afternoons started to get chillier as autumn was approaching and the leaves were starting turn golden brown. With all the classwork and assignments, the sixth years were extremely busy. I hadn't even had much time to further my research. I managed to find a few books on primitive magic in the restricted section of the library, but they weren't very helpful. I was starting to lose the motivation to understand my ancient magic. The Keepers were no longer in their portraits in the Map Chamber, evidently once I had completed their trials there was no need for them to return, their purposes were fulfilled. It left me feeling frustrated as I wanted more answers.

Since I had opened up to Ominis about everything, I felt a sense of relief and dare I say, peace. I was enjoying the tranquillity of my life at Hogwarts. The Sleeping Draught potion from Sharp was also helping, the nightmares were not as frequent or vivid as they once were. I still had bad dreams every so often, but either I had become accustomed to the notion, or they were starting to subdue deep into my subconscious. I still heard the voice now and then, but it wasn't as prevalent as it once was. Perhaps Ominis was right, and it was a trauma response, as I felt like I was starting to heal. My initial Occlumency lessons with Sharp were more theoretical to start and involved a lot of meditation. Professor Sharp said I needed to prepare my mind before he would perform Legilimency on me, which basically involved breaking into my mind. Of course, I did not realise that Professor Sharp would be able to see all my inner thoughts when I agreed to these lessons. As a result, I graciously accepted the theoretical lessons and made excuses to stall the practical sessions for as long as possible. Sharp seemed satisfied with this for the time being, as I had mentioned my nightmares were no longer as menacing as they once were. I suspect that he too was not looking forward to penetrating the mind of a sixteen-year-old student.

In any case, the remainder of sixth year lessons had become even more demanding than before, as the syllabus now included non-verbal spells. Students were able to choose their own subjects in sixth year and so afforded more free periods. These free periods were to be used for studying, but we were devoting all our free time to our studies. Apparition classes were now an available elective for sixth years and almost everyone signed up. The course would only be offered after Christmas, as you had to be seventeen to take the class. Those with birthdays later in the year would have to wait for the following the course in the following year. My birthday was in the middle of June, which meant that I wouldn't be able to learn Apparition this year. Besides school, the only other thing that preoccupied everyone's minds was the return of Quidditch.

One chilly morning in the Great Hall, Poppy had obviously had a late night of studying and had fallen asleep at the table with her cereal spoon still in her mouth at breakfast. I sat down next to her and giggled, awakening her from her slumber.

"Huh? What was that Professor?" A few nearby Hufflepuffs snickered.

"Poppy, we're not in class, we're at breakfast. I'm assuming you didn't get much sleep last night?" I asked her.

"No, I haven't been getting much sleep at all. There's just so much homework with all the classes I'm taking. I've barely had time to visit Highwing and the other beasts." She signed into her cereal.

I had decided to share the Room of Requirement with Poppy, so that she too was able to visit the beasts we had rescued last year. I think I impressed her with the Vivariums. Poppy's kind nature was something that I admired, we were the unlikeliest of friends, but I viewed her like the little sister I never had.

"Perhaps you've taken too many electives? Why don't you think about dropping some?"

"Perhaps you're right, I've not been able to switch my mind off from school for a while. I even dream about homework now."

I looked around the Great Hall, taking notice of the Gryffindor students wearing their Quidditch gear, Garreth amongst them.

"I've got an idea to get your mind off of homework."

I piqued her interest as she looked up from her now soggy cereal. "Let's go watch the Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor game together. I hear that there is a secret after-party that we could attend, it could be nice to let our hair down for a bit. What do you think?"

Poppy widened her eyes.

"I totally forgot the first game is today! Who are you going to support?" She looked over at the Gryffindor table where Garreth was laughing loudly.

"Hufflepuff of course." I winked at her.

²

Everyone got dressed up in their house colours and the atmosphere in the stalls was electric.

"I bet you five galleons that Hufflepuff wins this game!" Poppy shouted over the crowds' cheers as the game was about to begin.

"I'll take that bet!" Natty said cheerfully as she approached us, holding some popcorn. "Mind if I join you?" She beckoned towards the empty seat next to us.

"Please do, Natty, I'm surprised you're not sitting with the other Gryffindors?" I noted.

"I can get a much better view of the game from here. Plus, I figured Poppy would need the emotional support when we beat Hufflepuff," she smirked.

Poppy playfully ignored her and cheered as the players entered the pitch. I could see Imelda sitting amongst the Slytherins, I knew she was eager to watch this game to gain some insight on the Gryffindor team strategies. Garreth and her had become quite close, they spoke non-stop of Quidditch and the different plays most days. It had started to become annoying. It was enough to put Ominis off Quidditch for life. He wasn't at the game, he said that he had heard enough Quidditch talk for a lifetime. Secretly I think he didn't want to dampen everyone else's mood, being unable to physically see the game, it meant that one of us would've had to recite the game for him the entire time. Apparently, Sebastian used to do this for him in the past, perhaps Ominis thought it wouldn't be the same without his friend.

Ominis and I were spending a lot of our spare time together, if not in the library studying, then mainly in the Undercroft. We pored over countless books about ancient forms of magic, trying to discover the origins of my power. When we got bored, we'd play wizards chess. Ominis taught me how to play and he won every single time. With Ominis being unable to see the chess pieces we'd verbalise each move and so he was able to memorise the pieces at play. I found it impressive, added to the strategy behind the game I couldn't believe that he was able to beat me. This had become our new normal and we spoke about poetry and all the books we had read. I would never have thought that Ominis would love the words of Shakespeare and Jane Austen, especially as they were muggle's literature.

"Riley if we only ever read literature written by our own kind, we'd have a very narrow view on life. There's so much beauty in understanding the world from an unexpected point of view."

His words resonated with me, and I felt like I was learning about this whole new side Ominis.

"Would you agree then that attending the upcoming Quidditch game, the first of the season, would provide you with a new point of view on the game itself? I'm quite the narrator if I don't say so myself." I teased.

"Absolutely not, don't be ridiculous Riley."

He smiled at my failed attempt to get him to join and called his final move on our game, "Check."

The winds were quite strong in the stalls around the pitch, I could only imagine the players struggling to hold steady on their brooms. Lucan Brattleby was commentator for the match. I was surprised how he managed to accomplish that considering he was a Gryffindor. The comments were undoubtedly bias but provided for quite a bit of entertainment.

"And on the pitch today we have the team captain for the Fluffle-Puffs, miss Adelaide Oakes!"

I could hear the groans at Lucan's commentary escaping the Hufflepuffs around me.

"Looks like Gryffindor have an excellent team selection this year, with team captain Garreth Weasley returning as seeker!" The Gryffindor's cheered and waved their banners.

"Thankfully there's not a cauldron in site so we should all be safe in today's match." Everyone was laughing and cheering.

It looked like he was speaking into a horn which I assumed had been magically enchanted so that his voice was heard throughout the quidditch pitch. Professor Weasley sat beside him wearing her Gryffindor colours and cheering for her team. She gave Lucan a wide-eyed look at his commentary now and then as a warning for him to reign it in. She looked like she regretted her decision in allowing Lucan to commentate.

I had never been to a live sport event of any sort really, the feeling was indescribable, and the excitement levels were only rising. The whistle blew and the players were off. There were brooms zipping past at such speeds I didn't know where to look. I focused on individual players rather, starting with Adelaide Oakes. She had the Quaffle in hand and was approaching the posts quickly. She charged her arm and aimed for the middle post, Garreth swooped in out of nowhere and swatted it out of the way. The Gryffindors clapped and whooped at their keeper. There were a few more tries by the Hufflepuffs, but eventually Gryffindor was leading with eighty points to twenty. Poppy kept cheering for her team, and shouting words of encouragement and I joined in. Lucan kept commentating on the spectacular Gryffindor's moves and completely forgot to shout out the scores and Professor Weasley had to step in a few times. My eyes focused back to Garreth as he was hovering near the posts, and he was spurring the crowd on. He seemed to glance down at where the Slytherins were sitting, and a big smile appeared on his face. Before I could follow his gaze, a Bludger came into view and Garreth saw it a second too late. It managed to hit him right in the stomach and he was completely winded. He was leaning over the front of his broom and started to descend slowly to the ground.

"Shake it off Weasley!" I heard Lucan shout over the speakers.

The Hufflepuffs around me all started shouting and pointing towards the left-hand side of the pitch. I couldn't see what they were pointing at, but at that moment their seeker, a seventh year I had never met, dived in the direction. The shouting intensified and Poppy was gripping my arm and jumping up and down with excitement. Whatever the seventh year was flying towards she obviously came into contact with, because the Hufflepuff crowd exploded with the loudest roar I'd ever heard. She flew around the stadium with a small golden ball in her hands and the cheers of hundreds of students filled the pitch.

"It's not possible-" Lucan announced disappointedly.

Professor Weasley took over as Lucan sunk his face into his hands.

"Hufflepuff have caught the golden snitch! Hufflepuff wins!"

The Hufflepuffs jumped and cheered as their fellow players landed in the centre of the pitch and embraced in a team hug. It was a spectacular moment to behold. The Gryffindors looked lost for words, but still clapped graciously. I could see Garreth towards the end of the pitch lying on the floor still trying to catch his breath, but he appeared to be ok. More peculiar was the dark-haired Slytherin girl sat beside him consoling him.

"Well done to Hufflepuff, Poppy!" Natty was smiling at her and gave her a hug. "I believe I owe you five galleons."

Poppy was beaming, "You can treat me to a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks and we'll call it even."

We were all laughing and started to exit the pitch with all the other students, whilst the Hufflepuffs continued to sing and cheer all the way back to the castle.

²

"How was the game?" Ominis was sitting on one of the comfortable sofas in the common room listening to some music and I sat beside him.

"It was amazing! Hufflepuff won and Garreth got hit by a Bludger."

Ominis laughed, "Now I didn't expect that. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

I couldn't contain the excitement in my voice.

"I wish you were there Ominis, I can't describe the energy, it's a very addictive feeling." He was smiling at me as I spoke.

"That is the beauty of sport my dear, it can unite even the most different of individuals and bring together nations in the world that are frequently divided." He was sitting back in the sofa as he spoke. "And it's a lot of fun." I smirked back at him.

"Agreed."

There were a few other students in the common room, but most had gone to get ready for the party.

"Speaking of fun, I require your assistance. Would you please accompany me to the party tonight Ominis?"

He reached for my hand but ended up touching my leg instead and I blushed.

"Ah, sorry." he withdrew his hand, "I promise I was trying for your hand there." I felt the blush creep into my cheeks.

"Yes, I would love to accompany you. Seeing as Hufflepuff won the game, that means they are to be hosting in their common room if I'm not mistaken. It's tradition that the winning team host the after-game party. Seeing as Hufflepuff have not won a game during my time at Hogwarts, I can imagine this is going to an unforgettable evening."