Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

After the three of them had chatted for a while, Cho Chang found their compartment, just as expected. At Cedric's invitation, she joined them. Once they'd exchanged a few polite questions about how their holidays had gone, Avada's misfortune began—

They were all talking about Quidditch.

Avada was somewhat interested in broomstick technology, but he had absolutely no desire to play Quidditch. For one thing, his athletic ability wasn't particularly impressive. For another, the sport's ridiculous rules and even more ridiculous enforcement were enough to put him off it entirely.

Had they ever seen a sport where a player who barely participated in the action could end the match at any time?

Had they ever seen a sport with unlimited overtime and absurdly low penalties for fouling?

That was Quidditch.

So even though a sport involving competition in three-dimensional space was certainly exciting and entertaining to watch, Avada was content to enjoy it as a spectator. As for playing it himself or passionately supporting a team, he'd pass.

Still, from their conversation, he learned that Baron and Cho both planned to try out for their house Quidditch teams now that they were entering their second year. He'd have to go watch.

"Wait, Baron, I just remembered—you said your family has a Nimbus 2000, right? You didn't bring it with you, did you?"

They were talking about the Quidditch tryouts when Cho suddenly turned to Baron, looking horrified.

"What's with that look?"

Baron laughed at her expression. "Don't worry. I'm not so ridiculous that I'd bring the world's top-of-the-line broom to a school match. That'd be way too unfair. Besides, my skills aren't good enough to get the most out of a Nimbus 2000. It'd be a waste, even if I had one."

Avada's lips curled. Sounds like someone's taking a jab at the Chosen One.

"Thank you for that."

Cho gave a wry smile. "Even the richest players only bring a Nimbus 1700 at most. If you actually showed up with a Nimbus 2000, then... Whoa!"

She suddenly shrieked and jumped to her feet, startling the other three.

"What happened?!"

Avada and Baron instantly sprang back and drew their wands, staring warily at Cho, who was standing on her seat, still visibly shaken.

Cedric glanced at the two of them, hesitated, then reached for his wand without drawing it. Instead, he moved a little closer to Cho. "What happened, Cho?"

"I don't know," Cho said, her voice still rather shrill. "My ankle suddenly felt something cold and slimy..."

All three frowned and bent down to check beneath the seats for anything that might have caused that sensation. Under Cho's seat, they found a large toad, sitting motionless in the corner.

"Someone's pet toad must have wandered in here."

Avada had been distracted just before, so he'd only now noticed the red patch of life force beneath Cho's feet through his Magic Sense. He cast a Levitation Charm and floated the toad in front of him. He had no desire to touch the thing.

Keeping the toad suspended with the charm as he moved, he opened the compartment door. "You can keep chatting. I'll see if I can find the toad's owner. If not, I'll hand it over to a Prefect."

"Okay, thanks."

Avada nodded and left the compartment.

If I'm right, this is Neville Longbottom's toad. I can't believe I ran into him.

After a quiet sigh to himself, he guided the toad into the corridor and knocked on compartment doors one by one, asking about its owner while the toad stared around in confusion. He had no idea where Neville was, so this was the only way.

"Sorry, did any of you lose a toad? Oh, Shabi, you're here too?"

"You're trying out for Quidditch? That's great! I'll definitely come watch. Good luck."

"Excuse me, has anyone here lost a toad? Sorry to bother you."

"Sorry to interrupt. Is this your toad? Hey, what are you doing?"

Inside the compartment he'd just opened, two boys sat facing each other, while a girl stood with her back to him near the doorway. One of the boys, a redhead, had placed a rat on the snack-covered table and was pointing his wand at it...

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Avada marveled inwardly. He'd never imagined he'd get to witness this scene in person.

Still, he remembered that Neville had already visited before Hermione met Harry and Ron. He hadn't run into Neville earlier, though... Maybe they'd passed each other outside one of the compartments.

"Oh, this must be Neville's toad! Thanks so much."

The bushy-haired girl—Hermione Granger—happily took the toad, which was still floating in midair, and nodded her thanks to Avada. Then she explained, "They're trying to make a rat change color. I was just about to watch..."

Avada glanced at the rat. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, but he turned to the two boys without changing expression and smiled. "Fancy seeing you again, Harry. And you must be Ronald Weasley—Ron, right?"

"Hi."

Ron naturally remembered Avada's face, and his brothers had mentioned Avada's name, too. He turned to greet him. "I was just about to cast a spell on this rat. Want to watch?"

"Gladly."

Avada smiled and took the seat beside Harry. Hermione sat down beside Ron. Ron then waved his wand, cleared his throat, and recited:

"Sunshine, daisies, sweet cream, make this stupid fat rat turn yellow!"

Nothing happened, of course.

"Are you sure that's really a spell?" Hermione asked. "It doesn't seem very good, does it? I tried a few simple spells at home just to practice, and they all worked. At home, I..."

"Wait,"

Avada interrupted Hermione, quite unlike himself, and smiled at Ron. "Don't be discouraged. There's just something wrong with the way you're saying it. Let me show you how to do it properly."

With Hermione, Harry, and Ron watching curiously, he drew his wand and pointed it at the rat. In a solemn, reverent voice, he intoned:

"O holy sunshine, beautiful daisies, sweet and fragrant cream, bring your power down upon the body of this stupid, fat rat, and let it take on your colors!"

A moment later, under the trio's expectant or astonished gazes, the rat really did turn yellow!

"How is that possible?!"

Harry and Ron marveled at Avada's elegant Color-Changing Charm, while Hermione furrowed her brow, puzzling over something that nearly overturned the view of the magical world she'd only recently formed. It took her quite a while to react. "I've got it!"

"There was too long a gap between you finishing the incantation and the spell taking effect. That means that ridiculous rhyme wasn't what turned the rat yellow at all!"

"You used a Non-verbal Spell, didn't you?"

She looked at Avada triumphantly, as though to say she'd seen through his trick.

"You figured it out?"

Avada was genuinely surprised this time. He knew Hermione was well-read, but he hadn't expected her to have learned about Non-verbal Spells before even starting school!

He turned to Ron, who was looking a little aggrieved, and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I was just joking around. You won't be able to manage a Color-Changing Charm yet. You'll have to wait until at least the second half of first year. And your rat should return to normal in about five minutes. Well, I should go. My friends are waiting for me."

He got up, said goodbye to the three of them, and left the compartment. Once outside, the corners of his mouth lifted despite himself.

Hermione Granger was clever, but unfortunately, not clever enough.

While reciting that string of "prayer," he'd secretly cast a Tracking Charm on Peter Pettigrew, then used the Non-verbal Spell to change the rat's color.

The Tracking Charm lasted three months. During that time, all he had to do was find an opportunity to get close to Peter and refresh it to keep it going. That would ensure Peter's movements stayed under his watch. Even after they left Hogwarts and the Marauder's Map stopped working, he'd still be able to sense Peter's location.

He would have liked to tell him his real name, but unfortunately, Peter had another purpose in Avada's plans.

Thanks to Serious Profiteer for the tip!