Chapter 36: 2-7: Bludger

Disclaimer: Being neither British nor Japanese, it should therefore come as no surprise that I own neither Harry Potter nor Naruto, nor anything from their respective franchises.

Rumors and speculation about the Chamber of Secrets, the Heir of Slytherin, and the attack on Mrs. Norris ran wild through the student body. Theories on the identity of the so-called Heir ranged from the understandable (like Draco Malfoy), through the tenuous (like Harry Potter), to the borderline insane (such as Queen Elizabeth the Second). Hermione had, to nobody's surprise, shared the legend of the Chamber with her housemates, and progressively more distorted retellings spread from there.

Iruka had shared what few clues they had regarding the creature they'd been chasing that night with S.E.N. and the adult Lovegoods, all of whom were now putting in what time they could reasonably spare to pore over tomes on magical creatures of various types. Unfortunately, nothing they could find so far seemed to fit even the limited profile they had.

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The first Quidditch game of the year arrived, and Iruka once more found himself in the stands. This year, the Slytherin team seemed to have supplemented their reliance on brute force and dirty play with the use of the top-of-the-line brooms with which Lucius Malfoy had apparently bought his son a place on the team. It was no wonder the boy was so insufferable, if his father spoiled him so thoroughly as to spend what had to be a sizeable chunk of money just to feed his son's schoolyard rivalry.

It had barely been ten seconds since the game began when one of the Bludgers seemed to home in on Harry, who easily evaded it before one of the Weasley twins knocked it toward Pucey on the Slytherin team. Strangely, it almost immediately changed course and again aimed for the Gryffindor Seeker. Soon both twins had assumed escort duty beside the young Potter, repeatedly smashing the Bludger away only for it to turn and make another run. Not feeling any sakki, Iruka couldn't tell whether this was an innocent (albeit dangerous) malfunction, a bit of cheating by the Slytherins, or yet another attack on his student. A scan of the stands didn't show anyone maintaining the same kind of focused contact Quirrell had used to jinx Harry's broom the previous year.

While this was going on, Iruka idly noted through the rain that had just started that the Slytherin team were making heavy use of their fancy new brooms. Their Keeper wasn't enjoying his much, its speed and acceleration being a bit too high for the short movements he needed to make and its construction too precise and delicate to use the broom itself to help block shots as other Keepers did at times. Fortunately for him, there weren't many shots for him to block, as his Beaters had unchallenged control of the Bludger that was functioning properly, and this combined with their speed allowed them to constantly disrupt the Gryffindor Chaser formation. Said Chasers also weren't getting many opportunities to steal the Quaffle, both because of their opponents' superior speed and because said opponents had almost completely stopped bothering to pass to each other. What little teamwork and guile they'd shown the previous year had been greatly degraded by their improved equipment; with nobody able to really get in their way, whoever got the Quaffle held on to it, clearly aiming to get personal credit for as many goals as possible. Fortunately for Gryffindor's keeper, they were relying almost exclusively on speed to get their shots past him, making them far more predictable, even if he was having trouble getting into position quickly enough to make use of that insight.

After several minutes of frustration and futility, Gryffindor called a time-out. "Good," Iruka commented, "hopefully they can get that Bludger looked at and working properly."

"I wouldn't bet on it," replied Filius. "Such an examination wouldn't be allowed during the game; the only way to make it happen is to end the game, which during a time-out could only happen through forfeit. Someone has, whether through cunning or blind luck, managed to sabotage the Gryffindors in a way that simply cannot be corrected during the game, leaving them forced to choose between playing it out with the added handicap or surrendering the win. Given what I know of the players involved, I strongly suspect they will take the former option."

The Ravenclaw Head's prediction proved correct, as the players once again took to the air. Gryffindor's strategy seemed to have changed, however, and Iruka intended to scold whoever came up with the idea: Harry was now flying unprotected, leading the rogue Bludger on a wild chase and leaving the rest of his team to play without its interference. He soon shot back into the area of play, leading the bludger towards the Slytherin players while exploiting his ability to outmaneuver it in order to leave his opponents briefly in its path. It was such an insane, risky tactic that Iruka could only think that Harry's Quidditch robes should be orange instead of crimson.

Harry's flight patterns suddenly changed, and it was clear that he'd spotted the Snitch and was now bearing down on it. Unfortunately, this shift in his focus kept him from paying sufficient attention to his pursuer: Just as his fingers wrapped around a glint of gold, the Snitch's bigger, angrier brother smashed into Harry's leg, which promptly bent somewhere there wasn't any joint. As the young Gryffindor spiraled down to the pitch, the Weasley twins immediately moved to corral the rogue Bludger.

Iruka reached the pitch along with many other spectators, and approached Harry just as Lockhart was apparently attempting some sort of healing spell despite the injured boy's pleas to the contrary. Moving quickly (though not so quickly as to give anything away) he grabbed his colleague's wand hand, keeping the wand within pointed away from anyone. "It really is rude to cast spells on someone without their permission, Professor. Perhaps it would be best to allow Mr. Potter to be taken to the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey's expert care?" While his smile was bland, he made sure to put enough steel in his tone to add some emphasis to his 'suggestion'.

"Well, I suppose if you and he insist. Really, I could have that fixed in a trice, save the poor lad some time and pain..." Iruka tuned out the continued blather of the fool that somehow remained perfectly-coiffed in spite of the drizzling rain.

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While Harry's broken leg was more or less fixed in under an hour, it was still a bad enough break that Madam Pomfrey had Harry stay in the Hospital Wing overnight to make sure the healing took without any complications. Before leaving him to the matron's tender mercies, Iruka made sure to scold his student for such a reckless and dangerous strategy over a school game. "If you're going to risk your life, make sure it's over something worth dying for," he told the boy.

By the next morning, it turned out, Harry had company: Colin Creevey had apparently snuck out of Gryffindor Tower after curfew, and wound up petrified much like Mrs. Norris. The Gryffindor Seeker also quietly informed Iruka that he'd had another visit from Dobby during the night, the House-Elf claiming credit for both the malfunctioning barrier at King's Cross Station and the rogue bludger that had injured Harry.

After getting Harry's report on Dobby's reappearance, Iruka once again made his way to the Headmaster's office.

"It is actually something of a relief," the aged wizard said, "that this 'Dobby' was warning of the troubles we are experiencing. Better that than having both those and some other dire problem. Still, this is all most perplexing. The involvement of a House-Elf, particularly one not known to our elven staff here at Hogwarts, suggests that the instigator of these incidents is likely a member of one of the wealthier and Darker Pureblood families; the abuse suffered by the poor creature and his statements only heighten this likelihood. My best hypothesis is that Lord Voldemort somehow left one or more of his followers with instructions regarding the opening of the Chamber, possibly along with whatever 'key' might be required. Alas, it is an incomplete idea at best, and gives us nothing presently actionable."

Iruka nodded in assent. "One thing I was wondering," he asked, "Harry mentioned your reaction to the damage to Colin Creevey's camera - was there something familiar about it?"

"Indeed there was," Albus replied, "a similar incident took place during the previous opening. As with Mr. Creevey's camera, the innards of the camera held by the petrified student were catastrophically damaged."

"What were the circumstances of the other attacks? While I'm assuming that all of the victims were of so-called 'impure blood' there might be other common factors or patterns that might help us. I'm sure you and others have already looked for patterns, but with these new attacks and some fresh sets of eyes, maybe we can come up with new insights."

Dumbledore nodded, and began describing in detail the previous set of attacks: The first was in late fall, a first-year Ravenclaw girl sitting in an alcove on the third floor and looking out a window. A fourth-year Hufflepuff boy was attacked next, standing on the shore of the Black Lake near the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Third was a second-year Gryffindor boy on the second floor, looking through his camera similarly to Mr. Creevy. Fourth was a sixth-year Gryffindor girl, touching up her makeup on the sixth floor. The fifth was a seventh-year boy from Gryffindor, on the outer ramparts after curfew, who the staff suspected but could not prove was using his telescope in an attempt to peep into the windows of female students. Finally, the fatal attack on a third-year Ravenclaw girl in the same washroom outside which Mrs. Norris was attacked on Halloween. He proceeded to bring out his Pensieve and show Iruka his memories about the previous attacks, and both men looked over each remembered scene in as much detail as the medium allowed. There were no breakthroughs, but Iruka couldn't help but feel like there was a connection and he was missing it somehow.

Shaking off his frustration, the chuunin asked the next question on his mind. "When will Mr. Creevey be able to resume classes?"

The Headmaster's face fell. "Unfortunately, it may well be June before the school's crop of mandrakes is matured enough for use. Mandrake is not commonly cultivated; its primary use, the Mandrake Restorative Draught, is only truly needed for the most severe of cases. With such little demand, there is little reason for growers to take the time, effort, and risk of producing large quantities. The small supply, in turn, results in very limited availability and often rather high prices, with mandrake crops often entirely sold months before their harvest. To purchase one or more doses of the Draught, or the mandrake root required to produce it, on short notice would be quite expensive."

"Ironically, the good fortune of having mandrakes already growing in our greenhouses is actually delaying Mr. Creevey's restoration: We have a guaranteed source of mandrake at a fraction of the normal cost, and since the child is likely one of the safest people in the castle in his present state there is no urgent need to cure him of it. Further, we can already infer from the previous set of attacks that he will not likely be able to provide any information that would help in halting the current set. Hogwarts' budget is already strained as it stands, and due to the influence of blood-purists in and upon both organisations, neither the Board of Governors nor the Ministry of Magic are willing to offer up the funds. The aforementioned lack of danger also leaves those few philanthropists that do care for Muggleborns hesitant to contribute. Further complicating matters is the fact that this is unlikely to be the last such attack, given previous history, and nobody wants to set a precedent that would compel them to keep contributing additional monies to help subsequent petrification victims."

Iruka sighed. "I guess that makes sense, even if it's not a particularly pleasant kind of sense."

A/N: This was not an easy chapter to write. Trying to keep Dumbledore consistent in his portrayal without introducing major plot holes can get really, really hard sometimes.

Yes, the first petrified student Dumbledore speaks of is a reference to Harry Crow. I couldn't not. The boy with the telescope was inspired (inasmuch as it used the telescope) by 'The Sinistra Ward and the Chamber of Secrets' by Irish216, second in what is currently an ongoing (and slow-updating) 3-fic series.

Just an FYI, Chapter 25 has been tweaked again: A review from user "iluvstorys" prompted me to make clear that the ropes wrapped Iruka's entire body.

In response to guest reviewer "Schullek": I could have sworn that I read somewhere that Isolt Sayre was believed to be a Parselmouth, but unconfirmed as one, but the Harry Potter wiki confirms that she could understand snakes but not speak to them. I'll be fixing that when I post this chapter.

Fic Recommendation: "The Game of the Gods" by Limyaael - A Lord of the Rings fic, in which Morgoth keeps trying to make trouble in Middle-Earth by sending in various Mary Sues, only for Varda to destroy them by applying a bit of reality and logic.

Posted 15 July 2018

Current WIP Chapter: 63