CHAPTER 7 – QUIDDITCH HAVOC
Winter was over. Spring was near. The trio had their last fun under the snow and enjoyed themselves plucking the frozen icicles stuck on their house dorm window sills. Max the dog had wallowed on the snow and licked on icicles long enough to be eager for spring to come. Salem the cat was glad that spring was coming; the harsh winter forced him to constantly bask in the heat of the fireplace. Slipper the snake finally got out of hibernation from under Rach’s bed.
Now that spring was here, the trio was bickering about what mates they will get for their pets. As they always say, spring is the season of prosperity and offspring-making. While they discussed, Harry and Ron came to them.
“Hey, girls! You seemed happy and gay! Can’t wait for spring?”
“Hi, Harry,” the trio greeted him in unison. Then Jude said, “We’re just discussing about getting our pets a mate.”
“You have plenty of time to think for that later,” Harry chuckled. “Guess what? It’s Quidditch season again. You’re going to in for a blast. You can see how exciting the game will be once it’s here. I’m definitely going to win the Quidditch cup again.”
“Quidditch?” the trio asked in unison again.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You have no idea about it yet. It’s quite hard to explain. You’ll understand later when the game starts. I’m sure you’ll have a good time watching it. You can consider making it into the team next year if you want.”
“Why next year? Why not this year?” Becka asked.
“Quidditch is only for second years and above. You’re still learning broomstick flying this year, so, sorry to burst your bubble, girls,” Ron replied apologetically. The girls pouted, feeling quite disappointed.
“Don’t worry, girls. Next year is not that long. Cheer up!” Harry grinned.
“Of all the games, the first game has to refereed by that stupid Prof. Snape! Harry, I pity you,” Ron sighed as he patted Harry’s shoulder. Jude glared secretly at Ron, not liking to call her house teacher ‘stupid’. Ron noticed and quickly explained himself.
“No offence, Jude, but you know how he favours your house. We Gryffindors are going to have a hard time with him around. The nerve of him lat year! He fouled us for no reason in particular! That was so lame! Everyone’s playing fair and square and yet he fouled us! Sorry, Jude my sweet, but I can’t seem to like that teacher.”
Jude decided to put his complaints aside. Secretly, she looked forward to see Prof. Snape refreeing the game. She wanted to make sure he was wearing the new robes again, just every other day during Potions. She wanted to stare at his every feature and admire him as much as she can, especially his eyes. She missed those eyes.
“Light,” Jude came back to reality when she heard Draco calling her. Draco gave her a warning look and called her to come to him through eye-contact.
“Sorry, guys,” Jude said as she left her friends, “I gotta split.”
“Humph! That Draco Malfoy!” Ron grumbled grudgingly. “One day, just one day, I’ll give him a good boot at his…”
“Alright, alright, Ron. No point complaining over him. Come on, girls, let me show you the Quidditch equipment,” Harry offered. Rach and Becka were only too eager to go.
“What have I told you about being with them?” Draco said in a very hostile voice as soon as Jude was near enough. He took her arm and dragged her well away from them.
“I was with my girlfriends, Senior Malfoy,” Jude said as she wriggled her arm out of Draco’s arms. “They came by themselves. My girlfriends are like my friends since primary school. It’s not a crime to be with old friends now, is it?”
“We are Slytherins. We do not cling on to the past and dwindle around other house students, even if they are our childhood playmates. We have to look at the future if we ever want to be ahead of everyone else.”
“Do we have to be so hostile to everybody, Senior Malfoy? I’ve seen better ways to compete with other people than being complete Ice Queens and Ice Kings over them.”
“You are to address me as ‘Draco’ from now on, and I expect you to support our team for the Quidditch game this spring,” Draco was obviously ignoring Jude’s complaints, “I’m playing for our team. Do you know about Quidditch?”
“I have been informed,” Jude sighed at Draco’s arrogance.
“Good. You have been alert. That’s a good progress. Remember, you’re a Slytherin, and you expect to be the best. Now, give me a good luck kiss.”
“Eew! No way! I have a bone to pick with you for stealing a kiss on my cheek last Christmas! There is no way I’m gonna kiss you! I don’t even like you…”
Draco cut her complaining short by kissing her again on the cheek before grinning and said, “I’m a Malfoy. I always get what I want.”
Jude didn’t even have time to protest as Draco walked away quickly, swishing his robes as he went.
There was a huge crowd of people sitting and cheering in their audience seat, hollering their house names. Lee Jordan was the game commentary (as usual) with Prof. McGonagalle beside him. The game was between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors. As these two houses were traditionally worst enemies, Slytherin supporters and Gryffindor supporters can be seen jeering and booing at each other almost all the time.
At somewhere inconspicuous, the trio sat together with Hermione and Ron. Jude had to pull her robes close to her neck so as not to expose her Slytherin vest. Ron sat between Jude and Becka, his heart secretly feeling like in paradise. Hermione was, obviously, jealous, but she was still quite embarrassed to show it. To make things worse for her, her archenemy Rach was also with them. Moments later, everyone was cheering when they saw the Slytherin and Gryffindor house players entering the field on their broomsticks. Jude shrank. She hoped that Draco would not see her among her friends, or she would get a total tongue-lashing from him. Of course, it was obvious that most of the people were cheering for Harry Potter. There was no doubt about it.
Jude gasped silently when Prof. Snape appeared with a whistle around his neck. His long, black (but greasy) hair fluttered behind him by the gentle breeze of spring, and so did his new robes, the one she got him for Christmas. It was the first time she saw Prof. Snape on a broomstick, and he looked so…gallant. She sighed as he swept past the crowd and into the field. His robes swished as he swerved to reach the middle of the field. Jude sighed even more.
With the blow of the whistle, the game started. The audience cheered and hollered their supports their chosen team. Ron cheered the loudest among the Gryffindors. Rach and Becka also cheered for Harry. Jude remained quite silent; she didn’t want Draco or her housemates to see her.
In the midst of all the uproar, there was suddenly a loud protest coming from the Gryffindors. Obviously, Prof. Snape was hovering over Harry and was declaring a foul. Jude sighed and shook her head weakly. She knew that Prof. Snape was a demanding teacher and always went according to the books, but he didn’t have to go this far. She didn’t expect that Ron’s tale about Prof. Snape having a personal grudge on Harry was true. She was about to join in the protests when all of a sudden she felt something cold behind her back, like someone running a block of ice on her spine. She turned around to see who it was but everyone was protesting (except the Slytherins) so much that none of them seemed to be the one doing it.
Almost as quick as lightning, she felt her whole body flung out of the audience seat. She flew headlong into the mid air and was soaring towards the field. Everyone gasped and shrieked when they saw her hit the ground like a cannon ball shot from miles away. Rach and Becka practically panicked as they pushed their way out of the audience to get down to the field. Ron and Hermione followed suite, with Ron freaking out and spluttering exclamations about Jude. Tony also shoved his way through the crowd to get to the field. The game stopped abruptly and all the players ascended to the grass below. Draco flung his broom aside and ran towards Jude faster than anyone else. Prof. Snape also walked swiftly to see her.
“Oh, for the love of Merlin, what the heck just happened?!”
“Is she dead?”
“Did you just saw her fly out of her seat?”
“Yeah, it was like she was being shot at or something!”
“Air! Air! Give her some air!”
Jude was unconscious and very pale. Her breathing was really shallow. Draco propped her head on his lap and growled at anyone who tried to come near, including her girlfriends. Prof. Snape came at last and checked her for a moment. He took her chin and turned her head side to side, scrutinizing her. Hagrid came by the last, his footsteps booming across the grass.
“Hagrid, take her to Poppy,” Prof. Snape ordered. “She might have a heavy bump on the head. She doesn’t look to good.”
“Right,” Hagrid said as he carried her in his arms. “Alright, aye! Ol’ Hagrid comin’ thru’ with an injured girl! Der ain’t nothin’ tuh see! She’s still livin’! Come on, outta da way.”
This time Rach and Becka made up their mind to follow Hagrid to the Hospital Wing.
Madame Pomfrey immediately checked through Jude. She fed her with some liquids and bandaged her head and arm, which were bleeding a little. After letting Rach and Becka take a look at Jude, Madame Pomfrey shooed them all out, insisting that she needed rest. Her girlfriends left reluctantly. When Madame Pomfrey wasn’t looking, Tony sneaked into the Hospital Wing and sat beside her bed. Jude’s slow breathing told him that she was quite OK and that she was now asleep. Tony stroked her head as he observed her more: her eyes, her nose, her lips. Those lips. He wanted to claim those lovely, enticing lips as his own. He traced them with his fingers.
He kissed her forehead instead.
Jude found herself riding on a broomstick holding a bat. She recognized it as the Beater’s bat in the Quidditch game. She was in the field, together with her Slytherin teammates. She was facing Harry’s team and beside him was Becka.
She had her fun beating the Bludgers whenever they’re incoming towards her team. None of the Bludgers escaped her eyes; she hit them with such accuracy that even Lee Jordan was raving about her non-stop. Jude never felt more exhilarated than this.
Suddenly her surroundings become very silent. Everyone looked horrified. They stopped cheering and were staring at Jude as if she was a monster. Jude looked and saw her bat covered with blood, a few strands of hair and some mashed-up flesh. She shrieked and threw the bat away. She wasn’t on her broomstick anymore, but standing in the field staring at bloodied bodies all over the place.
Without warning, she felt a sword going through her body. No, it wasn’t a sword. It was more like a frozen icicles the size of a stool. It went through her back and jutted out of her abdomen. Blood splattered at all directions, staining her robes. She choked, more blood gurgled out of her throat and mouth. She fell back and suddenly found herself falling down into an endless pit of darkness. She saw Prof. Snape above her as she fell, staring at her with those cold, tunnel-dark eyes. She held out her hand to him but he made no attempt to catch it. He just hovered there, watching her fall. Jude burst into tears and let out an ear-piercing scream:
“Prof. Snape, help me! Please, help me!! PROF. SNAPE~~!!!”
“Judith! Judith! Wake up! It’s me, Tony!”
Jude opened her eyes. She found her cheeks drenched with salty tears. She saw Tony gazing at her with a pair of worried eyes. Madame Pomfrey was at her bed, gasping for breath. She was surprised to see Tony there but Jude was her main priority.
“Everyone…Everyone died! I killed them! I was stabbed! It hurts so bad…Prof. Snape was there! He…he could’ve saved me! God, I’m falling!! Prof. Snape~!!”
“It’s OK, Judith, it’s OK! Nothing’s wrong with you. You’re not falling. Everyone’s still alive. It’s just a nightmare. You’re OK.”
Jude stopped screaming. She was gasping for breath and crying like a wounded animal. Tony hugged her close to him, comforting her and stroking her back. He hushed her when her whimpers turned to wails. He had never seen Jude like this before. ‘What did she dream?’ he thought anxiously.
“Oh, Severus! What are you doing here?”
Tony turned when Madame Pomfrey exclaimed in surprise. There, at the door, stood Prof. Snape. The cold statue that constantly spite Jude and tortured her night after night in their secret practices. The emotionless teacher who gave her nothing but endless demands and cold remarks. Tony glared at him, hugging Jude protectively.
Jude stared blankly at Prof. Snape. He stood there as cold as usual, his greasy hair as black as his robes. Those eyes, those tunnel-dark eyes. She couldn’t get enough of them. Almost quite suddenly, she broke herself free from Tony’s arms and rushed to the cold professor, burying her face into his dark robes and hugging him tight. She sobbed terribly and whispered over and over again, “Why didn’t you save me, Prof. Snape…? I called for you…I was falling…falling so fast…Why didn’t you save me…?”
Severus Snape was at lost of words. He listened to the desperate whispers of his house student. He didn’t expect someone who woke up from a nightmare to react this way. He never felt so trusted like this before.
He couldn’t explain it. The game was over. The Quidditch game resumed as planned and the Slytherin team has won the first match. He was about to get a drink when he felt this uncanny tugging feeling. An aura that stuck on him like a leech, begging him to go to the Hospital Wing. A vision of red blood flashed through his eyes and before he could think about what he saw, he found himself guided by his feet towards the Hospital Wing.
Slowly, he took Jude’s shoulders and said, “It’s only a dream, Light. Stop crying. You’ll be the disgrace of the Slytherins if ever anyone caught you like this. Go on, back to bed. Stop crying.”
He led Jude back to bed and laid her down, ordering her to sleep. After making sure she closed her eyes, he walked away swiftly, his robes swished as he went. He didn’t attempt to stay longer; he just left without a word. Madame Pomfrey told Tony to go and let Jude rest. Tony obliged, glaring darkly at the disappearing Prof. Snape as he left.
“That was so scary, I tell you,” Ron exclaimed. “I thought she was a goner!”
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Becka and Rach were sitting together at the Gryffindor Quidditch team room discussing about Jude’s sudden accident. Harry wasn’t too upset about losing the game; he was more worried about Jude.
“She really flew out of her seat into the field. I was so damn scared that she would break her neck and…” Becka didn’t want to say the unimaginable.
“She’ll be alright,” Hermione said, half confidently. “She has the heart of a lion and a spirit of a warrior. She’ll pull through. I’m sure of it, I guess.”
Rach got up slowly and fingered one of the flowers in a vase on the coach’s table. Suddenly the flower turned from its original yellow-orange colour slowly into blood-red, then to black. Minutes later, it burst into flames and wilted into ashes in her hand. Rach gasped silently and looked behind her to see if anyone noticed this. Luckily, they were too engrossed in discussing about Jude to pay attention to her.
Rach seen scenes like these in scary movies on TV back in the Muggle world. It was a form of prediction. A sign.
She turned skywards to see the clouds moving rapidly by the sudden strong wind as the sun began to set. She sighed uneasily and whispered, “What will become of us?”
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