We had settled into a routine – breakfast, classes, lunch, more classes, then dinner – and honestly, I loved being at Hogwarts. Anything was preferable to life with the Dursleys. One day, walking with Harry, Ron, and Hermione toward the Quidditch pitch for our flying lesson with Madam Hooch, I felt a surge of optimism.
Madam Hooch stood with her arms crossed, explaining the basics. “And to get your broom, you say ‘Up!’”
A chorus of “Up!” erupted, and mine was the first to respond, lifting into my hand. Harry’s followed quickly, then Malfoy’s, who positioned himself directly opposite me.
After mounting our brooms, Madam Hooch began a countdown. “3… 2…”
Then Neville Longbottom lost control. His broom shot upwards, spiraling wildly. A few moments later, he tumbled to the ground, clutching his wrist in pain. A cold fear gripped me. What if that happened to me?
“Oh, my, a broken wrist!” Madam Hooch exclaimed, her yellow eyes fierce. “Absolutely no one is to leave this ground until I return, or you will be expelled before I can say Quidditch.”
Draco Malfoy retrieved something from the ground and took off, soaring into the air. Harry immediately followed, and I decided to do the same. I pushed off with my legs and started zooming over my peers.
“Ha! Catch this, Potter!” Malfoy yelled, tossing a small ball into the air.
I chased after it, accelerating on my broom. My eyes locked onto the ball, and I extended my hand, snatching it swiftly from the air. Victorious, I landed smoothly, handing the ball to Harry. He tapped my shoulder, and I turned to face Professor McGonagall. Her eyebrows were knitted together, her expression terrifyingly stern.
“You two are coming with me!” she snapped, grabbing my arm and pulling Harry and me toward the castle.
Fear flooded me. What if we were expelled? Sent back to the Dursleys? I couldn’t bear the thought.
Professor McGonagall stopped before a classroom. “Professor Quirrell, may I please have Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint?”
Professor Quirrell nodded, and two boys emerged from the classroom.
“Boys, I may have just found your new Seekers for Quidditch,” Professor McGonagall said excitedly.
The Slytherin boy glanced at me, while the Gryffindor looked at Harry.
“So we’re not expelled?” I blurted out, excitement bubbling in my voice.
“Of course not,” Professor McGonagall said happily. “I haven’t seen flying that perfect on the first try since your father.”
~~~
I took a deep breath. It was almost time for my first Quidditch match – Slytherin versus Gryffindor. That meant playing against my brother. I smoothed down my green uniform, grabbed my broom, and walked onto the bright Quidditch field. The rest of my team followed, and soon everyone was out of the locker rooms. As we walked towards the center of the field to meet Madam Hooch and the Gryffindor team, I scanned the stands. There, on the Slytherin side, was Star, holding a sign that read, “Go Y/n!”
“I want a nice, clean match,” Madam Hooch said. We mounted our brooms, and she tossed the Quaffle into the air. Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain, had explained all the different balls and how to score points. As a Seeker, my job was to find the Golden Snitch – a small, hard-to-find golden ball.
I flew up above the other players, searching for the Snitch. A tiny, golden flash caught my eye, and I darted after it. Harry saw it too, and we were both chasing after it.
His broom began jerking erratically, nearly causing him to fall twice. I tried to get closer to help, but the unpredictable movements made it too dangerous.
The Snitch zoomed directly in front of my face, and with a swift reflex, I snatched it. Harry’s broom stopped jerking soon after, and we flew down to Madam Hooch, who ended the game when I showed her the Snitch. The Slytherin team had won.
~~~
It was now May, but strange things were happening at Hogwarts. Harry believed he knew the cause, and he woke me up late at night, dragging me into one of the hallways. Soon, we were nearly dead because of a three-headed dog named Fluffy.
The dog was sleeping peacefully when we entered. The four of us – me, Harry, Hermione, and Ron – worked together to move a paw from over a trap door. We began to descend through the door, but suddenly the music stopped, and Fluffy awoke, ready to kill us.
The ladder retracted, and we fell into a pit filled with thick vines. They quickly wrapped around us, constricting our bodies like ropes.
“What is this?” I shouted at Hermione.
“Uhm… oh! It’ Devil’s Snare! Relax, and it’ll let you go,” she yelled. She and I relaxed, breathing deeply to calm our nerves.
“Harry and Ron, calm down!”
Harry relaxed and fell next to me.
“Ron, you need to relax!”
Ron ignored us, continuing to writhe and shriek in a desperate attempt to escape the vines.
“Devil’s Snare, it hates the sun!” Hermione said, looking at me.
“Lumos Maxima!” I shouted, pointing my wand at the vines. A brilliant light shot from it, and the plants disintegrated immediately. Ron fell into the chamber we now stood in.
“Hermione! That was amazing!” I said excitedly.
“It was all you, Y/n!” Hermione replied.
We smiled, walking into the next room. I opened the door first and looked up, surprised to see a bunch of keys flying around. Harry grabbed a broom from against the wall and handed it to me. I mounted the broom and flew up, searching for a key that might work. Some flew away from me, moving at different speeds.
“This is a really big keyhole,” Ron shouted up at me. “Find a big key!”
I looked around for a key that seemed large, and found a bright blue one with a damaged wing. I raced after it and grabbed it quickly before descending. Other keys began pelting after us, and we slammed the door shut just as they hit it.
“What is this?” I said, looking around at the dark room we were now in. A giant checkered pattern covered the floors, and huge, lifesize statues were placed on the board.
“I think it’s a large version of Wizards’ Chess!” Ron said with wide eyes. “Okay, Hermione, go to that spot, Harry, over there, and Y/n, go over there please.”
I walked to my spot and watched as Ron began to play the chess match, commanding the pieces with his voice. He played with immense skill; this obviously wasn’t his first time playing.
Ron moved the knight, his piece, forward, and suddenly a sword stabbed through his statue, throwing him to the floor. Hermione dashed over to him while the statues cleared the board.
“Is Ron okay?” I asked loudly.
“I don’t know,” Hermione answered. “Go! I’m going to stay with Ron.”
I turned to Harry, and he nodded. We entered the next room. The first difference was the light, it was extremely bright in the room. Orange light lit up the walls, and a shiny mirror stood behind Professor Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Professor Quirrell turned around, facing us. He grabbed the turban around his head and began unwrapping it, revealing a hideous face on the back of his head.
“I am Lord Voldemort,” he said. “I will end you two, your pathetic twins, after I steal the Philosopher’s Stone and arise again.”
Professor Quirrell ran towards us, and I noticed Harry touched his pocket. I held out my hands to protect myself from the oncoming attack from the professor, but as soon as my hands touched him, he started screaming in agony.
I opened my eyes, shocked to see him writhing in pain. Pieces of his face and body were falling off, as if he were a wilted flower petal that had just been crushed.
Soon, he had completely dissolved, leaving a pile of robes.
I looked at Harry and saw him passed out on the floor. Then, I saw two of him, and two mirrors, and then they were spinning. I rocked back and forth, then suddenly, I was on the ground, too.