The First Match Is Coming

After a long silence in the Headmaster's Office, Professor Snape finally spoke.

"By the way, Albus, what were those black flames and ice Harley unleashed?

"Those black flames and ice were incredibly powerful. Harley had killed the Troll with just those two spells."

"I don't know." Professor Dumbledore steepled his fingers and said calmly, "Those two spells appeared suddenly when Harley was close to her eleventh birthday.

"I have some guesses about them, but I can't tell you. I can assure you, though, that they probably aren't anything bad."

Professor Snape nodded silently, then turned and swiftly left the Headmaster's Office without looking back.

Professor Dumbledore sighed again. He rose and pulled a large black book from the shelf behind him.

A row of blurred words was printed on the book: Secrets of the Darkest Art.

Dumbledore flipped through the book and stopped at a particular page.

His fingers gently brushed the page's title, "Horcrux," and he suddenly asked in a quiet voice:

"What do you think would happen to a living person used as a Horcrux if the Horcrux somehow broke?"

All the portraits in the Headmaster's Office fell silent.

They hadn't said a word since Professor McGonagall entered the office.

At Dumbledore's last question, the Headmaster's Office sank into a deathly silence.

Even Fawkes, who had been eating herbs on a nearby stand, sensed the oppressive atmosphere. He cautiously raised his head and gazed at Professor Dumbledore's back.

Dumbledore hadn't expected an answer. He simply stared out the window, lost in thought.

The next morning, Harley woke up early.

She felt something heavy on her. When she opened her eyes, Hermione's head was resting on her chest.

Harley couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of it. Hermione really was a terrible sleeper.

She reached out and pinched Hermione's nose, then tickled her chin.

At Harley's prodding, Hermione finally woke up.

"Morning... Harley..."

Hermione rolled over and ended up sprawled on top of Harley. Still bleary-eyed, she hadn't even opened her eyes all the way and mumbled sleepily.

After a while, she finally came to her senses and realized the awkward position she was in.

The girl's face turned scarlet. With one nimble roll, she scrambled out of the bed curtains, leaving even her pillow behind.

Harley laughed, but remembered that her other two roommates might still be asleep and quickly stifled her laughter.

By the time Harley had changed and finished washing up, Hermione finally peeked out from her bed curtains.

But when she saw Harley, Hermione still couldn't help trying to duck back inside.

Whenever Harley saw her looking so adorable, she couldn't resist teasing her.

"Your pillow's still in my bed. Don't forget to take it." Harley walked over to Hermione's bed curtains.

"I'm heading to the Great Hall. You should get up, too!"

As she spoke, Harley couldn't resist tipping up Hermione's chin again, then grabbed her bag and hurried out.

Hermione's face flushed again. She plunged back behind the curtains and began rolling around on the bed.

She was secretly grateful that Lavender and Parvati hadn't gotten up yet and hadn't seen any of it.

The events at the Halloween Feast had affected Hermione deeply.

At least from then on, Hermione stopped caring so much about other people's rule-breaking, which made her much more likable.

Of course, Harley thought it might not have been a change in Hermione's personality at all. Maybe she was just so attached to Harley that she no longer paid attention to anyone else's rule-breaking.

Yes, Hermione was practically inseparable from Harley now. They went to class together and to the library together.

When Harley went to Quidditch practice, Hermione sat in the stands, chin in hand, watching intently.

At first, Harley had worried a little about Hermione's mental state. But after thinking it over, she understood what had happened.

An eleven-year-old girl had endured a long stretch of cold-shouldering, then been directly called a "nightmare."

And when she had hidden in a corner to cry alone, she had also faced a mortal danger.

Then a friend had stayed by her side, comforting her and saving her life.

Afterward, that close friend had stayed up talking with her all night, helping her through the darkness.

Who wouldn't develop an unhealthy attachment to a friend after all that?

Once Harley had realized Hermione wasn't suffering from some kind of mental illness, she relaxed and focused on handling the increasingly wild "fans."

Word of how easily Harley had defeated the Troll had spread all over Hogwarts, astonishing many older students.

Thanks to Hogwarts' tradition of having a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor every year, even many adult wizards weren't that capable!

So Harley's reputation among the younger students soared once more, and she attracted even more attention.

By November, the weather had turned bitterly cold.

The Quidditch season was about to begin, so the Gryffindor Quidditch Team stepped up its training.

Harley was taking her first Quidditch Match very seriously, too.

After talking to the children of many wizarding families and reading quite a few Wizarding World periodicals, Harley had come to understand just how important Quidditch was in the Wizarding World.

There were plenty of other pastimes in the Wizarding World, such as Wizard's Chess, Exploding Snap, and Gobstones...

But Quidditch always ranked first among the Wizarding World's most popular forms of entertainment.

So once Harley had decided to show off as much as she could during the Quidditch Match and attract plenty of attention,

she devoted a great deal of energy to it.

Thanks to the abilities the Assassin had given her, Harley had an eagle's eyesight and powerful night vision, allowing her to catch the Golden Snitch quickly.

That made Harley very confident. All she needed was for the Golden Snitch not to hide in some out-of-the-way corner for the whole match.

Before long, the day of the match arrived. Gryffindor and Slytherin, old rivals, were set to face off in the first game.

Harley got up early as usual and felt she was in great shape.

Though the air outside was freezing, the sky was clear and the sun shone brightly.

After enjoying a sumptuous breakfast, Harley headed to the changing room. Hermione went the other way to prepare a banner to cheer Harley on.

In the changing room, Wood gave everyone a pep talk and declared that this was the best team he'd ever led.

Fred objected, pointing out that Wood had only become captain that year, so this was the first team he'd led.

But his twin brother George promptly clapped a hand over his mouth, as the other players were glaring daggers at them.

Wood wrapped up: "We're the best team Gryffindor has had in years, so we're going to win.

"It's time. Good luck to us."