Marauders' Godson Book 3: Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter Three

The next morning, Edward was woken very loudly by a familiar voice.

"EDDY!"

Edward's eyes shot open and he found Onyx barely a foot away, grinning at him. He yelped and leaped backward, hitting his head on the wall.

"Onnie, don't do that," came Ruby's voice. As he rubbed his head, he looked around to see Ruby and Topaz smirking behind their brother.

"Don't call me 'Onnie!'" Onyx snapped.

Harry groaned in the other bed and put his pillow over his face. "Go away."

"Nope!" Ruby grinned, yanking the pillow out of Harry's hands. "It's ten o'clock, Harry, we've been here for an hour."

Harry just groaned again, squinting in the light.

"We can buy Quuuuuuuuiiiiiiidiiiiitch suplies," she sang.

"All right, I'm up," Harry complained, making Topaz and Edward chuckle and Onyx snicker.

The next few days passed without Edward being able to tell Harry about Black, which was fine by him. Harry was happy anyway, arguing with Ruby and Onyx about what Quidditch team was the best, or which animal would be the best pet (Ruby won that one). He had managed to tell Topaz -- he needed the intelligent boy to help him protect Harry, Ruby, and Onyx -- on the fourth day of their stay, but he was dreading the moment when he would explain to Harry why Black had escaped....

They spent their days buying school supplies, doing homework (at Edward's and Topaz's insistence), eating at cafes for lunch and dinner, and sitting on the lawn outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor eating free ice cream sundaes.

The five of them had also refilled their bags with galleons, sickles, and knuts from their vaults, and with Edward's and Topaz's guidance, the other three didn't spend them all at once. They persuaded Onyx not to buy a solid gold set of Gobstones and had to drag Ruby away from a moving model of the galaxy in a huge glass ball. The thing Edward and Topaz had the hardest time making the three of them not waste their money for came a week after their stay.

A crowd had gathered around Quality Quidditch Supplies, murmurs of excitement and awe running through them. Onyx, Ruby, and Harry stopped when they saw the crowd, making Topaz and Edward stop, too, exchanging frowns.

"Wonder what all the fuss is about," Ruby remarked.

"Let's go see!" said Onyx. He and Harry began shoving through the crowd, and Ruby, Topaz, and Edward quickly followed.

They found the two boys staring slack-jawed at a magnificent-looking broom in the window. Ruby's jaw dropped as well. Edward and Topaz exchanged exasperated glances as Harry began to read the description aloud:

The Firebolt

This state-of-the-art racing broom sports a stream-lined, superfine handle of ash, treated with a diamond-hard polish and hand-numbered with its own registration number. Each individually selected birch twig in the broomtail has been honed to aerodynamic perfection, giving the Firebolt unsurpassable balance and pinpoint precision. The Firebolt has an acceleration of 150 miles per hour in ten seconds and incorporates an unbreakable Braking Charm. Price on Request.

"'Pinpoint precision,'" Ruby said dreamily.

"'Price on request,'" Topaz said sharply. "I don't know about you, but it will probably be thousands of galleons."

"It is!" said a wizard behind them. "Irish International Side's just put in an order for seven of these beauties! And they're favorites for the World Cup!"