30 The Golden Trio was Broken
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"Have you ordered a new broom yet?" Oliver asked, knowing that Harry's last broom had been destroyed after his encounter with the Fighting Willow.
"Not yet," Harry replied sadly, thinking of his broom being taken away by the Professors.
"What?! You better get one soon, you know you won't be able to ride that broken broom in the next match against Corvinal!!!" the Captain exclaimed.
"I'll be better than I was against Hufflepuff, I want to make it up to the team," Harry was still a little depressed because the accident in the last match had cost them the victory.
"We know it wasn't your fault, Harry," the team captain tried to comfort the young wizard.
"He got a Firebolt for Christmas," Ron said, interrupting the conversation by throwing a bomb at the Gryffindor captain's feet.
The new Firebolt broom was the dream of every Quidditch player.
The information Ron gave was something that surprised Oliver.
"A Firebolt? No! Really? A Firebolt? Really?" he asked excitedly.
"Don't get too excited," Harry said dejectedly. "It's not with me anymore. It was confiscated," Harry began to explain everything about the Firebolt and how it had been controlled.
"Was it bewitched? How could it have been enchanted?" Oliver asked incredulously, since having someone with a Firebolt in the team would increase the chances of winning by a large margin.
"They think it was Sirius Black," Harry said wearily.
"It's Hermione who thinks that," the red-haired boy said disgustedly. "It was all her fault," he cursed.
"They say he's after me. So McGonagall thought she could have sent me the broom," Harry explained.
Ignoring the information that a notorious assassin was after his catcher, and thinking more about the capacity of the broom, Oliver said, "But Black couldn't have bought a Firebolt! He's on the run!".
"That's what I told the teachers," commented Ron, "the whole country's looking for him! How could I just walk into Quality Articles for Quidditch and buy a broom?" the redhead was still angry, even though the broom wasn't his.
"I know, but McGonagall still wants to take it apart," Harry reminded him despondently.
Oliver turned pale, already seeing his chances of victory slipping through his fingers. "I'll talk to her, Harry," he promised.
"You don't have to, you could get into trouble," Harry said worriedly, not wanting his captain to suffer for complaining to the teacher.
"Leave it Harry, maybe he'll understand," Ron was only interested in getting his broom back.
"I'll make her listen to reason... it's a Firebolt... a real Firebolt, for our team..." Wood was already lost in his thoughts of victory when Harry flew away on his broomstick and managed to get the Golden Snitch.
"I know she wants Gryffindor to win as much as we do," the redhead said, knowing that the teacher was a huge Quidditch fan, despite her serious appearance.
"I'll make her see the absurdity of it. A Firebolt," Wood was already planning how to convince the Head of Gryffindor to release the broom for Harry's use.
All right, but you won't have to do much," Harry agreed, still unsure of what to do.
*****
Lessons resumed the next day.
The last thing the students wanted to do was spend two hours outside on a cold January morning.
But Hagrid had built a bonfire full of salamanders, much to the delight of the students, who spent the hour running around collecting wood and dry leaves to keep the fire going while the flame-loving creatures climbed up and down the heat-soaked logs.
Harry and Ron were still not speaking to Hermione, which the half giant did not fail to notice.
"What happened between you two?" he asked them, pointing at Hermione.
"Hermione's just upset," Ron was the first to speak, and as usual there weren't any good words coming out of his mouth.
"Nothing Hagrid, just Hermione telling Professor McGonagall something she didn't have to," Harry tried to lighten the mood, but he still thought what Hermione had done was wrong.
Hagrid thought for a moment, he knew Hermione wasn't a bad girl. "Maybe she's not, she should just be thinking about your safety," he defended her.
"Huuum... I doubt it," Ron wasn't convinced. "She only did it because she's an annoying, obnoxious know-it-all."
"Don't talk down to her, Ron, you're still going to need her help," Harry reminded him, always going to Hermione for help with his homework.
"Not at all! I don't need her, she just made you lose your broom," Ron spat out his venom.
"I hope you two can talk again," Hagrid didn't want to interrupt, but his heart sank when he saw that Hermione was alone.
Without Harry and Ron to talk to, she seemed lonely, with no other friends to pass the time with.
Hagrid had other things to worry about, so he decided to leave the problems to the youngsters themselves.
What am I going to do with this little boy?" he thought of the little animal Professor Nathaniel had entrusted to his care.
Hagrid had looked after Fluffy and many other animals, but a snow leopard was rare in these parts.
And the wizard had only given him one to look after because of Hagrid's skill with magical animals.
The lesson ended with Hagrid lost in thought, and the students moved on to the next lesson.
"What's up Hagrid?" Lorenzo asked as he saw the half-giant, still slightly distracted by the fire, with part of his trousers on fire. "Your trousers... on fire."
"Oh! Yes!" Hagrid used his large hands to extinguish the fire as if it were nothing. "What are you doing here, Lorenzo?" he asked.
"I was just passing Hermione to talk about the Bicuspid case, but she wouldn't stop, she looked like she was crying," the Italian boy said.
"Hmm! I think she had another fight with Ron and Harry," the half giant explained.
"Does she need help?" Lorenzo said worriedly, as he had a bit of a crush on the Gryffindor girl.
"I really don't know, Lorenzo, but I think you should go after her," Hagrid suggested to the boy.
"All right! See you, Hagrid," the boy stormed off in Hermione's direction, forgetting to tell the half giant what he'd come to talk about in the first place.
*****
The first Divination lesson of the new term was much less fun than the one with Hagrid and the salamanders.
Professor Sibyl was now beginning to teach the class Palmistry.
During the lesson, as she helped the students, she wasted no time in telling Harry that he had the shortest lifeline she had ever seen in her life.
But it was the Defence Against the Dark Arts class that Harry was looking forward to.
After his conversation with Oliver, Harry wanted to start the Anti-Dementor classes as soon as possible.
"Oh, that's right," said Lupin, who was now feeling better after being interrogated by Snape and Dumbledore.
When Harry reminded him of his promise at the end of the lesson.
"Let's see, we have to wait a while for Professor Nathaniel to arrive," Lupin said, but there was a strange tone in his voice.
For Nathaniel was responsible for his and Sirius' capture.
The two were held in the Hogwarts dungeons for a few days.
"The History of Magic classroom must be big for that... I'll have to think long and hard about how we're going to do this and discuss it with Professor Winter-Heart," commented the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
"We can't bring a real dementor into the castle to practise," Nathaniel's voice said from the doorway.
"Oh yes, of course we can't," Lupin agreed, surprised by Nathaniel's arrival.
"How's the treatment Lupin? You look ill," Nathaniel asked, already knowing what the other teacher had been through in the dungeons.
Lupin shook with anger at the question, "Whose fault is that?" his gaze showed his thoughts. "I'm better, thank you for your concern."
"Are you ill, Professor?" Harry asked worriedly.
"I'm fine Harry, don't worry," Lupin reassured his friend's son.
"We have a few things to sort out with the Headmaster, so the lessons will be quick at the moment," Nathaniel explained. "Professor Lupin will be teaching you wand movements."
"Yes Harry, familiarise yourself with the wand movement first," Lupin pulled out his own wand and demonstrated the movement of the spell to the young wizard.
"Like this?" Harry asked excitedly, wondering when he would be able to use the spell to defeat the Dementors that were making him sleep so much.
"You're on the right track, now practise," Nathaniel commented. "Meet me in the History of Magic classroom at half past eight in the evening," he walked to the door to leave the room.
"You're doing well Harry, we'll study more in the evening," Lupin said as he praised the boy and left through the door with Nathaniel.
"Thank you," Harry thanked him.
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