Protection In The Dungeons

The Party

    Quidditch. When I first heard the word I imagined some kind of craft, like crochet, or knitting. Imagine my surprise when I saw people flying in brooms to catch a tiny shiny ball. I sat down, in the Hufflepuff stands. Today's match was between Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

    I've never been into sports.  I don't enjoy any of them. (Unless you count chess as a sport.) I tolerate quidditch. I'd never engage in quidditch though. That's just not something I would want to do. I prefer to keep away from activities in which you could break a bone.

    I even avoid hiking if I can help it. I don't enjoy physical activity. I basically just sat down in the stands, with my hands over my ears, trying not to get overwhelmed by all the yelling and excitement. It didn't help that I had a mild migraine. I was miserable. I did cheer for Cedric when he caught the golden snitch though. (But only because it was Cedric.)

    At the end of the game, I hurried to my bed. I lay down, and just reset myself. I was tired, both physically and mentally, so I took a nap.

   "Don't touch that, Ms. Strand."

    I was in Professor Snape's office. I looked at his desk. There was a vial of some potion ingredients. Snape was mixing a potion in his cauldron.

    I wanted to touch this vial. I had no reason to touch it, but I wanted to touch the vial so bad. "Once you touch it, you have to live with the consequences for the rest of your life."

    I glared at him. "Nice try. You're not going to scare me with cryptic mumbo jumbo and a vial."

    "I'm not trying to scare you. I never try to scare anyone. That's just a bonus." He smiled at his own joke just a little. "I'm just warning you."

I gave him a long rebellious look. Cedric ran up to us. "Hey kiddo, we're going to have a party to celebrate the win at quidditch. Come on, wake up! Katria? Wake up, kiddo."

    I woke up to see Cedric standing next to my bed, a pillow raised ready to thwack me if I didn't wake up. "Jesus, Cedric! You almost hit me!"

    He gave me a mischievous grin, and hit me with the pillow lightly. I jumped up and chased him holding my own pillow. I caught up to him and gave him a good whacking. "Okay! Okay! Stop!" He said through fits of laughter.

    "You started it! Don't dish out what you can't take!" I said, giving him one last whack before putting the pillow back on my bed.

    "Anyway, we are having a party to celebrate our win against Slytherin. Come on." He grabbed my hand and pulled me down to out into the hall, and into an unused classroom where Hufflepuff decorations were hung.

    I hid slightly behind him. "Cedric?"

    "Yeah, kiddo?"

    I looked up at him, not sure if I should tell him what I was thinking. "I don't like crowds..." he looked sympathetic.

    "If you want, you can go back up to your dorm. I won't bug you again." He offered.

    I smiled at him. "Okay." I thought a moment. "I'll stay at the party for a little bit. But after that, I'll go back to my room."

    Cedric smiled at me in a comforting way. I noticed one girl with black hair, about a year older than me. She had on ravenclaw colors. She walked up to me. "That was some game, wasn't it?"

    I looked at her. "I'm not into sports. I only came to support Cedric."

    At this the girl's face kind of clouded over. "What's your relationship with Cedric?"

    I didn't understand why her face looked angry now, but I kept talking. "He's like brother. I think. I've never had a brother, so I'm not entirely sure how that would feel, but he's how I imagine a big brother to be like."

    She smiled, but it was obviously fake. "I see. Do you like him?"

    I nodded. "He's a nice person. I enjoy his coma a lot."

    She shook her head. "No, not like that. I mean... do you like like him?"

    I was very confused. "What do you mean?"

    She leaned closer to me. "Do you have a crush on Cedric?" She seemed a little hostile. Like a cat that just caught a mouse, and was trying to keep the mouse from other cats.

    I shook my head. "I'm eleven."

    She smiled at this response. "So, you don't like him romantically?"

    I nodded. The girl smiled brightly. "Okay then. Sorry."

    I smiled. "I'm Katria Strand. What's your name?" I held my hand out to shake hers.

    She took my hand reluctantly, and shook it. "Cho Chang."

    I let go of her hand, and walked off. I'm sure that the only reason she came to talk to me was to 'defend her turf' and make sure I wasn't going to 'steal' 'her' man. I rolled my eyes. Humans are so annoying, and complicated. I bumped into someone. "Sorry..."

    The boy turned around. The light glinted off his glasses for a second. His green eyes showed worry for me. "Are you okay?"

    I nodded. He held out his hand to shake mine. "I'm Harry."

    I shook his hand. "Kat."

    Harry smiled. "It's nice to meet you. Your a first year, right?"

    I nodded. "Thats right."

    He smiled. "So, are you liking Hogwarts so far?"

    "I love it here everyone-most of the people here are very nice."

    Harry nodded. "What's your favorite subject?"

    I thought a moment. "I like potions, but I'd like it more if professors Snape wasn't such a hardass."

    Harry laughed. "Yeah. He can be a jerk sometimes."

    I talked with Harry for a few minutes, but my social battery was low, so I left the party early. I saw the ginger haired girl again. She had the book in her arms.

    I watched her suspiciously. I didn't trust her at all.