Not many people knew about the small girl that lived in the cupboard under the stairs. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon liked it that way.
Harriet Euphemia Potter had incredibly messy hair and bright green eyes. The only thing she liked about her appe...
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As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows, defrosting broomstick on the Quidditch pitch, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit-fur gloves and enormous beaverskin boots.
The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harriet would be playing in her 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 Harriet play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harriet should be kept, well, secret. But the news that she was playing seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harriet didn't know which was worse—people telling her she'd be brilliant or people telling her she'd be brilliant or people telling her they'd be running around underneath her, holding a mattress.
It was really lucky that Harriet now had Hermione as a friend. She didn't know how she'd have got through all her homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. She had also lent her Quidditch Through the Ages, which turned out to be a very interesting read.
Harriet 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, the Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players and that more serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them, that although people really died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.
Hermione had become a little more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll and she was much nicer for it. She had even started smiling at them at breakfast.
The day before Harriet's first Quidditch match the three of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and Hermione had conjured them up a bright blue fire which could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harriet noticed at once that Snape was limping.
Harriet, Ron 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. Harriet showed him.
"Library books are not to be taken outside of school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."
"He's just made that rule up," Harriet muttered angrily as Snape limped away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"
"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him." said Ron bitterly.
