Mary Smith and The Three-Headed Dog

25. Bread Crumbs

"Do not ever ask a Cerberus to fetch. At least one head will always take offense."

--Rubeus Hagrid

Chapter 25: Bread Crumbs

"ARE YOU READY TO SEE A FIGHT?!"

Screams erupted from all around me as we made our way to our seats in the sixth row. We were just in time for the opening featherweight match.

"THAT WAS PATHETIC! I SAID ARE YOU READY TO GET STARTED!"

This time the stands shook with the force of stomps and screams. Errol's hand found my shoulders as he hunched himself around me and guided me through the crowd. Eventually we were able to push into our seats. As soon as Errol let go, I nearly tripped.

"внимателен." When I looked up to see who was speaking, there stood an older boy. He had reached a hand out to steady me. Not an adult like most people here. Maybe the same ages as Errol, Nicholas, and Kal.

"Sorry," I winced, standing upright. He just gave a gentle smile and turned back to the ring. What was that he had said? It got lost in the noise of the cheers around us.

"I've been waiting for this all year!" Kal giggled with a smile so wide, it almost looked like it would break his face. He and Nicholas joined in on the bleacher stomping. The air was filled with an electricity that jooosteled? me back and forth. That was wrong. I fingered a small piece of torn parchment in my pocket where I had five words with their definitions written down. I couldn't take a break on my studies. Not even today. And ESPECIALLY when I knew no good smug faced Zacharias already knew all kinds of words.

I had been receiving owls from the boys for the past week. There were no specific words that had ever said I couldn't leave the guest house, but it was an unspoken rule. So, when Kal and his smooth-talking charmer of a brother showed up. With a few words and grins, he had Mrs. Finnigan eating out of the palm of his hand, much to the annoyance of Mr. Finnigan.

We floo'd away to Kal's home where Nicholas and Errol waited. Kal slipped his older brother wizard coins- I wasn't exactly sure how much each one was worth yet, and he disappeared. "But I thought he was supposed to come with us?" I asked, curious as to where he was going.

"Trust me. You don't want my stupid brother around. He's only good for snogging girls and finding trouble."

"What's a snog?" I whispered to Nicholas, but he just laughed me away and directed me toward the floo.

So here we were. I sat in awe, my hands never fully leaving my face at any moment as I watched the two men in the ring beat each other to smithereens. Different colored lights would surround their hands and feet when they punched, kicked, blocked. At times one fighter would flip out of danger and stick a landing on the side of the cage wall feet first. "How did he do that?!" I gasped but it was lost in the jeers and cheers of the crowd.

I could feel someone watching me. I was getting to know that feeling well since attending Hogwarts and becoming a witch. Unlike recently, this didn't feel malicious. When I looked to my right, the boy I had tripped into earlier had been staring. I didn't know what to do, because he didn't look away, so I just nervously smiled and looked away. He eventually returned his attention to the fight, cheering and shouting with the rest of us.

I couldn't describe this feeling, but I was happy I came. This must be what Papa felt when he watched his college football. The energy from the crowd literally flows from the people around you and into you and out of you again. By the time the heavy weight fight was underway, my voice was hoarse from having screamed so much. I wasn't even sure who I was cheering for. I shouted any time someone did something cool. That earned me some side eyes from certain people, letting me know that the majority of the crowd clearly had a favorite.