Quidditch Commotion

"Eli!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried to Eli's bedside.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not bad." Eli offered them the last box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and took out a Chocolate Frog for himself.

"Just feels like a troll took a swing at me."

Eli shifted. He was mostly weak, and he missed the Centaur tribe's restorative potions terribly. With one of those, he would already be up and about.

"No, Eli. I think if a troll had hit you, you wouldn't be feeling anything at all."

"Oh, that was a terrible joke."

Ron had contradicted Hermione without thinking again, though the joke really wasn't funny.

Hermione merely rolled her eyes at him. The two of them weren't nearly as hostile toward each other as before.

Eli watched the three of them getting along so much better and felt relieved. After facing death together against the troll, they had clearly forged a real friendship.

Hermione came to Eli's bedside with a solemn expression. She pressed her lips together. "Eli, I want to apologize to all of you properly. I shouldn't have been so stubborn yesterday. I shouldn't have..." And on she went.

The young witch looked ready to launch into a formal apology speech. Eli felt a headache coming on.

"All right, all right. No need to be so formal, is there? Come on, rub my shoulders."

Eli grinned smugly.

Hermione blushed scarlet. The apology she had rehearsed all night vanished from her mind.

"You don't have to do that, Hermione. We're all friends. We were partly at fault yesterday too, but everyone's all right now. We should talk about something happier."

Kindhearted Harry came to the rescue just in time, and the hopelessly blunt Ron chimed in.

"Exactly. As long as you don't give a speech, we'll be happy."

Eli shot him an odd look. Ron really had no tact at all.

Hermione glared at Ron and refused to acknowledge him.

"Eli, do you know you're a hero now? You fought a troll!"

Ron was so excited he nearly sprayed Eli with spit.

"Yes, Ron's told everyone he's met. At this rate, people will think he's the one who fought the troll."

Harry exposed Ron without mercy, leaving him red-faced.

Eli wiped his face. With Ron's big mouth, there was no doubt he was famous now.

If he hadn't needed to save them, he would never have wanted this much attention.

But what was done was done. He might as well go with it.

Eli opened his Chocolate Frog. The wizard card inside showed Dumbledore.

"Oh, look. I got Dumbledore."

He passed the card around.

"Actually, I've already got several of him."

Ron was something of a card collector himself. He had shown off his collection before.

"I didn't even know Dumbledore had done so much. He defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald, discovered the twelve uses of dragon blood, and was friends with Nicolas Flamel."

Harry read Dumbledore's achievements off the card.

"So what are the twelve uses of dragon blood?"

"Fry it, roast it, boil it..."

Eli rattled off his answer and earned a round of eye rolls.

Drawn by the pile of snacks, Ron began picking through them like Dumbledore himself.

"Hey, Draco sent you a present too."

Ron held up an elegantly wrapped box. It looked expensive.

Eli took it. A note was stuck to the top, with no well-wishes, just one name: Draco Malfoy.

That was just like the proud little brat. He had sent a gift, then made a point of attaching his name while pretending to be aloof.

Eli couldn't help smiling. At least the guy had a heart.

Inside the box were chocolates, and they looked far from cheap.

Eli tried one. Mm, it really was good.

"Is Madam Pomfrey not here? Has it occurred to you that you're disturbing the patient's rest?"

The moment Harry and Ron heard that rich voice, they both stiffened.

"Hello, Professor."

Eli tried to sit up.

"If it's difficult, there's no need to make a show of it."

Snape took out a bottle and handed it to Eli. "A restorative potion. Drink it."

Eli took the potion sheepishly and drank it.

Snape couldn't even do a good deed without making a cutting remark.

Snape turned to the three frightened children. Impatience was written all over his face. "Does Mr Potter think he's already guaranteed victory over the Slytherin team? Ah, but you have always been arrogant."

Harry stood there, uncomfortable from head to toe. He wanted to argue but didn't dare.

Snape's arrival had cast a gloom over the entire Hospital Wing.

"Is there a Quidditch match coming up?"

Eli was lost. He had been unconscious for one night, yet it felt as though he had missed a century.

"It starts today," Hermione replied.

"Thank you for the reminder, Miss Know-It-All. Good luck to you all."

Snape had no interest in saying another word. He turned and left.

He had arrived in a hurry and left just as quickly, leaving four children staring at one another.

"So you're playing today, Harry?"

Eli was the first to break the silence Snape had left behind.

"Uh, yes."

Eli threw back the covers and got out of bed. "Then I can't miss the match, even if I don't know which team to cheer for."

Harry and the others jumped. Between them, they hurriedly pushed Eli back onto the bed.

Eli didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Come on, trust Snape's skill. I can move around perfectly well now!"

As a Potions Master, Snape must have brewed that potion himself. Nothing else could have worked so well.

Unable to talk Eli out of it, they prepared to leave the Hospital Wing with him.

"Oh, heavens! Who gave the patient permission to get out of bed?"

All four froze in place.

"Madam Pomfrey, I'm better now."

"Do you think I don't know how badly you overexerted yourself? Get back into bed this instant!"

Eli felt another headache coming on. This school was full of people you didn't want to cross, and Madam Pomfrey was one of them.

She was renowned for her medical skill, but even more for her near-obsessive care of her patients.

Eli had no choice but to show her the potion bottle Snape had brought. "Professor Snape gave me some medicine just now. It worked really well."

Madam Pomfrey took the bottle skeptically. "Snape? His potions are impressive, I'll give him that."

She sniffed it. Surprise flashed across her face, and she examined Eli with her wand.

"It's true. You've more or less recovered, but you still need to rest!"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey. I'll go straight back to resting after I watch the Quidditch match!"

Only after they all promised earnestly did Madam Pomfrey reluctantly let them go.

Harry went to prepare for the match, while Eli, Hermione, and Ron headed to the stands.

"Oh! Look who it is! Our hero who fought a troll!"

In the stands, the Weasley twins pointed at Eli and shouted theatrically.

They instantly drew a crowd of Gryffindors.

"It's Eli! That's Eli!"

"Wasn't his leg broken by the troll?"

"Wait, I heard it killed him..."

Eli listened to the chatter around him, his face darkening.

What were they talking about? When did I break my leg?

And that one—since when was I dead?

Just you wait until after class!

"Ron, what exactly have you been telling people?"

Eli spoke through gritted teeth to Ron beside him.

Ron was too embarrassed to lift his head.

"George, put that megaphone away!"

Eli quickly stopped George before he could shout through it.

"No, I'm Fred. He's George."

Eli walked straight up to the twins. "George, that trick doesn't work so well anymore."

The twins exchanged startled looks.

"Eli, how did you do that?"

"Even Mum can't!"

"Don't tell anyone!"

The two traded lines like a comedy double act, their timing flawless.

Eli almost suspected they had practiced in private.

The twins slung their arms around his shoulders and began whispering.

"Come on, tell us how you knew," they said in unison.

Eli gave them a smug glance. "Want to know?"

"Yeah!"

"Your magic!"

The twins looked at each other. "Our magic? What about it?"

Eli almost wondered if they were really wizards. "Your magic feels different. That's how I can tell you apart."

The twins looked even more confused. They exchanged expressive glances for a while. "You can feel it?"

"Because I'm just like you."

"I can't feel anything either!"

Eli stared at them. "You can't feel other people's magic?"

Both nodded.

They didn't look as though they were lying. Could they really not sense it?

He had heard their mother, Molly Weasley, often mixed them up too. Couldn't she sense it either?

Forget it. If he couldn't figure it out, he could always ask Snape.

"All right, I've told you how I do it. I'm off."

Eli slipped free of the twins, said goodbye, and headed for the Slytherin stands.

The Slytherins had noticed the commotion over in Gryffindor's section long ago.

They might not love adventure the way the little lions did, but a first-year wizard who could stand against a troll was certainly worth their attention.

"Hello, Eli. Glad you're out of the Hospital Wing."

"Hello, I'm..."

The Slytherins were much more restrained. They shook Eli's hand like little adults.

Eli politely returned each greeting.

By the time he made it through, his face ached from smiling.

He reached Draco's side.

Draco had clearly seen him but insisted on pretending otherwise.

"Hey, Draco."

Eli patted his shoulder. Draco visibly flinched.

Am I that scary?

"Oh, Eli. Glad you're out of the Hospital Wing."

"Thanks. The chocolates you sent were good."

Pride appeared on Draco's face again. "I had my father get them for me!"

Then the conversation stalled.

After a brief silence, Draco couldn't help asking, "So did you really kill the troll?"

Eli shrugged and smiled. "Unless it fell and killed itself, I did."

Envy flickered in Draco's eyes. Then he saw Eli standing with one hand in his pocket, gazing skyward at a forty-five-degree angle like he thought he was the coolest person alive, and his mouth twitched.

After all this time, the two of them finally began to grow close again. They found plenty to talk about.

Draco kept coming back to questions about the troll.

The teams soon took the field: Slytherin against Gryffindor.

They were two traditionally strong teams, representing two houses with a long-standing rivalry.

Everyone was looking forward to the clash.

Harry Potter entered as Gryffindor's Seeker on his brand-new Nimbus 2000, drawing a burst of cheers.

Only the Slytherin side stayed relatively quiet.

Harry had the best equipment. The Nimbus 2000 was the equivalent of a top-of-the-line sports car, giving him an overwhelming advantage over those older brooms.

The match began, and both teams seemed to unleash all their pent-up anger at once.

The players raced freely across the pitch on their brooms.

Gryffindor seemed to have the edge in skill. They took an early lead and scored again and again.

The Slytherins were frustrated, and Draco Malfoy kept sighing beside Eli.

Before long, the Slytherin team seemed unable to hold back any longer and turned to their traditional tactics.

When his shot was blocked, Slytherin captain Marcus Flint flew into a rage and knocked Gryffindor captain and keeper Oliver Wood off his broom with the ball.

Gasps rippled through the stands.

Only then did the Slytherins reveal their real strategy: anything goes!

Two of them boxed in a Gryffindor player and forced her into a wall.

Others tried to knock players off their brooms.

Slytherin scored again and again.

Insults poured down from the stands. Almost all three other houses were shouting at them.

The Slytherins looked pleased with themselves, but Eli covered his face.

How embarrassing!

You can't win, so you start cheating? Is this Quidditch or rugby?

Harry was anxious, but his job was to find the Golden Snitch. Once he caught it, the match would end and Gryffindor would win!

Suddenly, Harry's broom began bucking wildly like a crazed horse.

Harry hung precariously in midair. If he fell, he could easily be killed.

Eli looked toward the professors' stand. Snape was staring fixedly at Harry, muttering under his breath.

Was Snape doing this?

Not necessarily!

Quirrell, seated behind Snape, was muttering nonstop too!

Eli immediately ran off.

Draco Malfoy watched him go, baffled.

Eli slipped beneath the professors' stand.

"Hermione?" "Eli?"

They smiled at each other. Each could see what the other intended.

Hermione Granger pointed her Wand straight at the hem of Snape's robes.

"Wait, no—"

Eli was too late to stop her. Hermione had already set Snape's robes on fire.

Sorry, poor head of house. Don't blame me for not helping you; Hermione was just too fast.

The two of them took off running.

"Snape, you're on fire!"

Chaos broke out in the professors' stand. Snape sprang up and knocked Quirrell over behind him.

Harry's broom finally settled down.

The Golden Snitch appeared at last, and Harry turned to chase it.

Slytherin's Seeker spotted the Snitch too and sped after it.

The two battled for position in the air. The Slytherin Seeker kept trying to knock Harry straight off his broom.

But Harry was no pushover, and their contest grew fierce.

The Snitch turned and dropped straight down. Both Seekers dived after it.

The ground rushed closer as they gathered speed.

The Slytherin Seeker glanced nervously at Harry, but Harry showed no sign of backing down.

They were about to hit the ground!

The Slytherin Seeker finally lost his nerve and pulled up.

With his superb skill and his broom's performance, Harry managed to turn just before impact. Gasps erupted from the stands again.

Harry stood up on his broom and reached out.

Thud!

He lost his footing and fell. The stands erupted in gasps once more.

"Is he going to be sick?"

Harry clutched his chest.

"Urgh..."

He spat out the Snitch, along with a mouthful of vomit.