𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐒 ↳ 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗫 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

FIRST YEAR: Quidditch Matches and Jinxed Broomsticks

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost.

Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaverskin boots. The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry and Y/N would be playing in their first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the House Championship.

Hardly anyone had seen Harry and Y/N play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, they should be kept, well, secret. But the news that they were playing Seeker and Chaser had leaked out somehow, and Harry didn"t know which was worse — people telling them they"d be brilliant or people telling them they"d be running around underneath them holding a mattress.

"Do us a favor and whack yourself with that mattress!" Y/N had bellowed after hearing it for the hundredth time, "It might even knock sense into you, stupid prats."
It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermione as a friend. He didn"t know how he"d have gotten through all his homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. She had also lent him and Y/N Quidditch Through the Ages, which turned out to be a very interesting read.

Y/N learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473; Harry learnt that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.

Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her and Y/N from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for it. The day before Harry"s first Quidditch match the four of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar.
They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping. Harry, Ron, Y/N and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn"t be allowed.

Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape"s eye. He limped over. He hadn"t seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.

"What"s that you"ve got there, Potter?"

It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry showed him.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor. And you were reading it too, L/N? That"ll be another five points, then."

"He"s just made that rule up," Y/N muttered angrily as Snape limped away.

Harry spoke up, "Wonder what"s wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno, but I hope it"s really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.

The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat together next to a window. Hermione was checking Harry and Ron"s Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy ("How will you learn?"), but by asking her to read it through, they got the right answers anyway. Y/N was fairly good at her classes, and only asked Hermione for help when she was unsure of something (Learn from her, you two! Said Hermione)

Harry felt restless. He wanted Quidditch Through the Ages back, to take his mind off his nerves about tomorrow. Why should he be afraid of Snape? Getting up, he told Ron and Hermione he was going to ask Snape if he could have it.

"Better you than me," they said together, but Harry had an idea that Snape wouldn"t refuse if there were other teachers listening.

"Wait, I"m coming too." Y/N announced. "He took it from me too."

They made their way down to the staffroom and Y/N knocked. There was no answer. Harry knocked again. Nothing. Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was worth a try. He pushed the door ajar and peered inside — and a horrible scene met his eyes.

Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.

"Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but —

"POTTER! L/N!" Snape"s face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped.
"I just wondered if we could have our book back."

"GET OUT! OUT!"

Y/N seized Harry by the arm and they left, before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. They sprinted back upstairs.

"Did you get it?" Ron asked as Harry and Y/N joined them.

"What"s the matter?" In a low whisper, Harry told them what he"d seen.

"You know what this means?" Y/N added as he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That"s where he was going when we saw him — he"s after whatever it"s guarding! And I"d bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to make a diversion!"

Hermione"s eyes were wide.

"No — he wouldn"t," she said. "I know he"s not very nice, but he wouldn"t try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," snapped Ron. "I"m with Harry. I wouldn"t put anything past Snape. But what"s he after? What"s that dog guarding?"

Y/N went to bed with his head buzzing with the same question. Lavender was snoring loudly, but Y/N couldn"t sleep. She tried to empty his mind — she needed to sleep, she had to, they had their first Quidditch match in a few hours — but the expression on Snape"s face when she had seen his leg wasn"t easy to forget.