Merlin's Snake: The Philosopher's Stone

Quidditch

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 beaver skin boots. Draco had commented on this, but Faye, having spent half of her life outside, commented that these were very warm clothes, and she could be seen wearing something similar every weekend.

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry and Faye would be playing in their first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Slytherin won, they would move up into second place in the House Championship.

Hardly anyone had seen them play because Flint had decided that, as their secret weapons, they should be kept, well, secret. But the news that he was playing Seeker and she was playing Chaser had leaked out somehow, and neither Faye nor Harry knew which was worse, people telling them they'd be brilliant or people telling them they'd be running around underneath them holding mattresses.

With all the last-minute Quidditch practice Flint was making them do, it was a miracle they had any time to get their homework completed. Hermione had also lent Harry Quidditch Through the Ages, which he said had turned out to be a very interesting read, so Faye checked it out in the library.

She 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; that Chasers were usually lean and quick, but not the quickest players, and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to Seekers; 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, Faye, and Draco had saved her from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for it.

The day before their first Quidditch match the three 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 jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Faye was flipping through a rule book that she had asked Professor McGonagall for. She had already memorized half of it, having a near eidetic memory, something Hermione had figured out, but she wanted to make sure she hadn't missed anything. She glanced up and noticed at once that Snape was limping, he had taken a certain dislike to her during that first potions class, so she made sure to keep an extra eye on him. The group moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed, and even though Faye had said several times that it was they weren't willing to take the chance.

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." Faye's head snapped up.

"That's not a rule, Professor." He sneered at her.

"Are you implying that you know the rules better than I do, Miss Adder?" She glared at him in annoyance.

"I have a near Photographic Memory, Professor, I got this earlier from Professor McGonagall, who assured me that it had all the rules in it, and it was up to date. Yes, Professor. I am implying that I know the rules better than you because if you would turn to page twenty-three you would see that it states, 'Students are allowed to take books out onto the grounds, but if the book is affected by the weather the student shall be entitled to pay for its replacement, and may not be allowed to take books out onto the grounds again.' So please, Professor, return the book to Harry." They kept eye contact as Snape flung the book at Harry, finally, he turned and stalked away. She put her nose back into the rule book and continued reading it.