Chapter 9: Aftermath and Quidditch

"Wait, how are you so good at magic? And why do you hide it?", I heard Hermione's voice as I went up the stairs.

" Oh you know, just practice," I said as I turned towards them.

Hermione's face said that she didn't find the answer satisfactory.

"Don't believe him, Hermione, no one can get that good in just two months. I bet he has been taught since he's been 5 or 6 years. Some parents hire private tutor for the kids, so they can have a headscarf at Hogwarts, but my mum says it's not good for children to learn magic before they are eleven." Said Ron to Hermione.

"What are you talking about? I came from an orphanage and didn't even know magic existed till a few months ago." I said.

"Don't believe me if don't want to, it's not like I care," I added after seeing their dumbfounded face.

"Well, it's getting late, I will be going now," I said and left.

When I reached the dorm, all the boys in my year were waiting for me.

"Where were you?, we thought that the troll got you." Michael Corner asked a little angry.

"Don't worry I was with the Professors, I got separated in all the panic but Professors found me and sent me here. By the way they got the troll, if you are wondering", I explained.

They got very excited over the news.

"Did you see it?, What did it look like?", Terry asked

"Yes, I saw it, it was terrifying to look at. It was twelve feet…", I described the troll in detail.

"Wish, I could have seen it", Anthony said wistfully and others nodded.

I avoided getting into details of what happened and they didn't ask me, probably thinking, I would have nothing to do with defeating it. I prefer it that way because I like the status quo we have and didn't want to change their behavior towards me.

***

Quidditch season is going to start in a week. First game will be Gryffindor vs Slytherin. Students has a special crazy for Quidditch, wherever you go, there are talks of Quidditch, especially of Harry who is the youngest seeker in a hundred years. There are may contrasting opinions on this, some think that he will be big flop while others think that he is so good that national is scouting him.

Nothing much changed after the Halloween. There were many rumors going around that some first years including me faced troll. I think portraits and paintings were responsible for it, since there was no one else than us four who witnessed it and teachers wouldn't say what happened to anyone. People seem to think that Harry Potter defeated the troll. I was also pestered by some people of my house as to what happened. I just avoided the topic saying that we got incredibly lucky and teachers forbade us to say anything.

My dorm mates confronted me again about the incident.

"Why didn't you tell us that you saw the troll when it was still roaming the castle? We thought you saw it after it was already knocked down. Did Harry Potter really defeat it?" Kevin asked me.

" You know, Professors told us not say anything. I will just say that Potter showed remarkable courage and bravery when we came across the troll but we got incredibly lucky, that's all", I said, again avoiding the details.

On the second thought one thing changed, I noticed the professors seem to treat me a little differently. Before I used to sit quietly in a corner, not particularly interacting with the class but now teachers would ask me to answer a question, even when I didn't raise my hand. Even Snape who usually didn't say anything to me before, now gives me a curt nod of approval whenever I submit a well made potion.

Of all these attention, the attention I was genuinely dreading was the attention of Quirell, but fortunately it didn't come. There was no change in his behavior towards me. I guess Voldemort has bigger concerns than some student doing magic of above his years like stealing sorcerer's stone, killing unicorns, try getting his body back. You know, the usual woes of a fallen dark lords.

One more fortunate thing happened was the golden trio finally formed. I was a little afraid that my meddling might have changed the dynamics, but I was relieved when I saw the three of them sitting together at the Gryffindor table chatting.

Finally the day came for the Quidditch season's first game came. Honestly these people are acting too crazy for this game. In my opinion this game has too many faults. In the end, winning or losing usually depends on which team's seeker catches the snitch, making every other player's efforts throughout the game moot. I think making the snitch worth one hundred and fifty points is too much. No one team can get a lead of one hundred fifty points unless the disparity in skills is too much, even then the match should go long enough for one team to take that lead.

Personally, to make this game make more sense I would make the snitch worth only 50 points and every player should be able to do everything. Like in football (European), a defender can score a goal or a striker can defend. In the same anyone can catch the snitch if they see it and a seeker can also score through a Quaffle, even the beaters can score if they get the opportunity. Final thing would be to make it a limited time game. Instead of finishing the game when the snitch is caught, until the time remains, the snitch can be caught multiple times throughout the game after giving it a minute of head start each time it's caught. Whoever has more points at the end of the time wins.

This would make the game more exciting and every player will get equal opportunity to make contributions to the game. Alas these are just my thoughts. Maybe if I get to a big enough position in the Wizarding world, I will be able to make some changes to the rules.

The game went exactly as the books described. It ended with Harry swallowing the snitch after almost dying because of his uncontrollable broom that was being jinxed by Quirell. I didn't pay much attention to the game because I was practicing my Occlumency during the game. If I have to complete the second step by the end of the year, I can't waste my time of this senseless game.

A few days before Christmas Holidays, as I was reading in the Library, I saw the Golden trio enter it chatting excitedly about something.

'They must be searching for Nicholas Flamel', I thought and got back into my book.

But then I heard shuffling of feet in front my table. I looked up and them staring at me.

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AN: I know, it's a small chapter, but I've been busy with some work.