What's a Quidditch?

By Saturday morning, news that a first-year Gryffindor student had killed a troll had circulated throughout the entire school. Rose remain oblivious to this fact, but Hermione hadn't. She noticed other students whispering and looking her way during breakfast, but couldn't tell if they were looking at her or at Rose.

Fortunately for Hermione, of equal importance to many students was the first Quidditch match of the season. It was between Gryffindor and Slytherin, which made it Harry's first game as Seeker. Madame Pomfrey had even allowed Ron to leave the Hospital Wing to watch the match, although that might have been due in part to him no longer being injured.

"What is Quidditch?" asked Sally-Anne on their way to the Quidditch Pitch.

"It's a sport that you play on a broom," Ronald explained. "There are three Chasers that pass around the Quaffle, that's the red ball, and they try to score on the other team. Then there are two Beaters that keep the Bludgers off the other players. Those are the black balls that fly around and try to knock people off their brooms."

"What?!" Hermione practically shrieked. "They try to knock the players off of their brooms?!"

"Yeah," Ronald replied simply. "Anyway, then there's the Keeper that tries to stop the other team from scoring, and then there's the Seeker. That's what position Harry's playing. The Seeker tries to catch the Golden Snitch, and if he does, it will end the match and score 150 points for the team!"

"Wow," Sally-Anne replied. "How much is each goal worth?"

"Ten points."

"So that means that the Seeker scores the equivalent of 15 goals when they catch the Snitch," Hermione said.

"Yeah," Ron said. "It's a lot of fun! I play at home with my brothers all the time!"

"I'll take your word for it," Hermione said. "I guess I'm just not one for flying."

"Harry's so lucky to get to play as a first-year. They never let first-years play!"

"Well, yeah," Rose said. "He's a PC! PCs always get treated specially! It's how the story progresses! Can't have a story without events! Duh!"

Ron looked at Hermione and Sally-Anne. "Does she ever make sense?"

Hermione sighed. "Spend enough time around her, Ron, and she starts to."

Ron looked at Rose, who grinned back at him and nodded.

The Gryffindors took their seats, and shortly after, the match began.

As Madame Hooch blew her whistle, fourteen students kicked off from the ground, flying into the air.

Hermione was already a little shaky about flying, and watching the players fly at such high speeds was not helping. They would fly straight up, or dodge down, or spin around in midair.

She glanced over and saw Rose writing something in her notebook. Hermione stole a glance at the notebook, and realized that she couldn't read what was written in it.

"It's Celestial," Rose said, not looking up from her notebook. "Otherwise known as the Language of the Angels. It was easier to write in Celestial than Ignan, which was my original idea."

"How many languages do you know?" Hermione asked.

"All of them," Rose replied, still not looking up.

"How is that possible?"

"Tongues, and occasionally comprehend languages." She looked up. "If only I could just cast permanency, then I could just keep comprehend languages on me all the time." Rose's eyes grew wider, and she struck herself in the forehead. "Duh! I can cast permanency! Why don't I do that now while my brain still works?" Her wand appeared in her hand, and she tapped herself with it. "Comprehend Languages." She tapped herself a second time, muttering, "Permanency."

"Okay, so what did that do?" asked Hermione as Rose's wand vanished.

"Now all I need to do is touch something, and I can understand it!"

"How long does that charm last?"

"Forever! That's why it's called permanency. It's permanent!"

"Can you do that to anyone?"

"Sadly, no. That particular use only allows me to use it on myself. If you'd like, there are uses of it that work on other people!"

"Like what?" asked Hermione, interested.

"Blindsight, air breathing, low-light vision, invisibility, telepathic bond, scent…"

"I'm going to stop you there before we get too far from sanity."

"Suit yourself!" Rose said, returning to her notebook.

"I don't know, I guess I was just hoping for something like the bracelet."

"How's that been treating you?" Rose asked, still looking at her notebook. "Still getting headaches?"

"It's not so bad," Hermione said. "I still can't believe that I can just touch a book and read it."

"You can touch a book and read it?!" exclaimed Ron. "Like the whole thing?!"

Hermione nodded hesitantly.

"Where do I sign up?!"

Hermione pointed at Rose, who raised her hand.

"Can you–"

Ron was cut off by Sally-Anne, who screamed. The three Gryffindors looked up to see Harry's broom thrashing about with him on it. It reminded Hermione of a bucking bronco, trying to throw the Seeker off of it.

The audience began standing up, everyone trying to get a better view of what was happening in the air.

"Harry's going to get thrown off of his broom!" Ron exclaimed.

"What do we do?!" Sally-Anne asked, turning to Hermione.

"I don't know," Hermione said. "I've read about the sort of charms they've got on brooms. A lot of them are protected by patents, but it must be nearly impossible to tamper with a broom while it's in flight."

"What are you saying?" asked Ron.

"I'm saying that a student probably couldn't be doing this," Hermione replied. She looked out over the crowd, and as much as she didn't want to believe it, she found the culprit.

Professor Snape was staring straight at Harry, muttering under his breath. He was maintaining continuous, unbroken eye contact.

Hermione had read about jinxes, and that was exactly how she imagined one would look.

"It's Snape!" she gasped. "He's jinxing Harry's broom!"

"I knew it!" Ron exclaimed. "I knew Snape was evil!"

"What do we do?" Sally-Anne repeated. "I don't think anyone else sees him."

"We've got to do something!" exclaimed Ron. "Harry's going to die!"

"Hermione, what's it mean if two people are staring at Harry, muttering under their breath?"

Hermione, Ron, and Sally-Anne turned to look at Rose. She had closed her notebook, and was now looking towards the field. Unlike everyone else, she was fixated on a point towards the ground. No, not quite the ground, Hermione realized, towards the front row of stands.

"What?" asked Hermione.

"Professor Quirrell is also staring at Harry. The two of them are acting identically. They're both staring at Harry, making no reaction otherwise."

"He might be trying a counter-curse," Hermione said.

"What's a counter-curse?" asked Sally-Anne.

"It's got to be Snape!" exclaimed Ronald.

"Doubtful," Rose said.

Ron and Hermione turned to stare at Rose.

"Why?" asked Hermione sceptically.

"How long has Professor Snape been here?"

"I dunno," Ronald replied. "He was here when Bill and Charlie were here, so at least seven years."

"Which means that Professor Dumbledore has watched Professor Snape for at least seven years," Rose reasoned, nodding towards Professor Snape. "The way the Headmaster acts, I think he takes the safety of his students very seriously. Which means there's no way that Professor Dumbledore would allow Professor Snape to continue here if he thought that there were any chance that Professor Snape was a danger to the students." Rose looked over at where Professor Quirrell was standing. "Professor Quirrell, on the other hand, is new or something, and Ref can't read his mind. I'd say it's him."

The Gryffindors turned to look at Professor Quirrell. Just as Rose had said, he was also staring straight at Harry, not blinking, and muttering under his breath. Hermione turned to look at Rose.

"What if you're wrong?"

"If I'm wrong, then you've got Professor Dumbledore right over there, ready to catch him. We've also got Professor Flitwick, who must have reflexes like lightning, and can probably cast fly, or feather fall, or whatever you lot have got on Harry. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Albus, shouldn't we be doing something?" Minerva asked the Headmaster.

Unlike most of the rest of the audience, Albus was not staring at Potter, but instead he was looking across the stands at Potter's friends. They were also not watching Potter, but seemed to be talking amongst themselves. Minerva was almost certain that she saw Peta-Lorrum nod her head in some direction, but Minerva couldn't see why.

"Albus?" she repeated.

"He'll be fine," Albus replied absently. "Plans are being drawn up as we speak. Harry will be quite safe. You've nothing to worry about, Minerva."

Minerva opened her mouth to argue, then just sighed. Sometimes it felt like she was the only responsible one amongst a group of children.

"This has got to be the worst assassination attempt I've ever seen," Rose said, frowning.

"Because it's the only attempt you've ever seen?" asked Ron.

"No," Rose said simply. "Although, I guess it's not really fair to compare this to Shadow. She's a natural at stealth."

Ron stared at Rose.

"Disbelieve her later, Ron," Hermione said.

"Right," Ron said. "We've got four of us, and two of them, so why don't we take out both of them?"

"Whatever you're gonna do, do it fast!" Sally-Anne said, looking up at Harry. The Seeker was hanging onto his broom with one hand, and slowly losing his grip.

"We can't go after Quirrell," Hermione said. "He's out in the open!"

"I'll take care of Quirrell," Rose said, her wand appearing in her hand. "I can pass undetected." She muttered something under her breath, waved her wand, and vanished.

"How did she do that?" asked Ron.

"Maaaaagic!" Rose replied in a sing-song voice. "Seriously, Cohort, how else would I do that?"

"I'll go after Snape!" Hermione said, and began to run off. "Stay here!"

"Don't have to tell me twice," muttered Ron. One of those two professors was most likely trying to kill Harry. Ron really didn't want to know what they would do to the people that stopped them.

<Serendipity has got one charge left on her, so I can just use that,> Rose pathed to Reflectesalon. <I'm not really sure how this whole 'jinxing' thing works, but he seems to need to maintain eye contact.>

<I'm not sure what spells would work for that,> Reflectesalon replied. <It is Saturday. Perhaps your brother is not busy?>

<I'll try him,> Rose replied. <Sk'lar, are you there? Eom.>

<I'm here, Rose,> came her big brother's "voice". <Are you alright? Eom.>

<Oh, I'm lovely! I need a non-damaging spell that can break eye-contact.>

There was a pause, then <Why?>

<There's no time to explain!>

Sk'lar sighed in her head. <Can't you just use a dust eggshell grenade or alchemical sun flash?>

<Sure, but I've still got a charge on Serendipity, so I want to use that up first.>

<Alright, then you'll want to use glitterdust, assuming that they can't make the Will save.>

<Thank you!>

<You're welcome. Please contact me soon.>

<Will do!> she replied quickly. <Rose out!>

<Sk'lar out.>

Rose pointed Serendipity at Professor Quirrell, and grinned. Rose knew that glitterdust was one of Sk'lar's favorite spells, right behind freezing fog and grease. It's uses were many, and it was brilliant at lower levels. She had never got a chance to use it until now. Even if he made the Will save, it would still startle him.

"Glitterdust!"

Hermione raced through the stands towards Professor Snape. She already had a plan: bluebell flame. It generated no heat, but would certainly cause a distraction that would break Snape's jinx.

Creeping up behind the Potions Master, she quietly whispered the incantation.

"Lacarnum Inflamari."

A bright blue bolt shot out of her wand and struck Professor Snape's robes. The instant the bolt hit them, the robes caught fire.

After what felt like an eternity to Hermione, Snape smelled the smoke and broke his eye contact. Now came the hard part: getting out without Snape noticing her.

Probably should've asked if Rose could make me invisible.

Hermione pulled out a jar and scooped the flames into it. She liked that about the bluebell flame; it was easily transported and could be a good source of light if necessary. Jamming the jar into her robes, she ran as fast as she could back to where her friends were sitting. Glancing over towards the front stands, she noticed that several of the people in them were covered in some sort of glitter. Many of them were clutching at their eyes, struggling to see.

Hermione looked up towards Harry and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the Seeker slowly climbing back onto his broom.

"Rose, what did you do to them?" she panted as she got back to her friends.

"Glitterdust," Rose replied, grinning. "Spectacular spell for blinding opponents. I'm a little surprised that no one made their saves, though. What about you?"

"Bluebell flame," Hermione replied, holding up the jar. "It looks like we definitely got rid of the problem for now. I just still can't believe that a teacher tried to kill him."

"We should tell Professor McGonagall after the match," Sally-Anne said.

"What if she doesn't listen?" asked Ron. "We're only first-years."

"We're her first-years," Rose said. "And if she doesn't listen, then Professor Dumbledore will."

After Harry made a diving catch for the Golden Snitch, falling off his broom in the process, the match finished with Gryffindor winning. Ron, along with most of Gryffindor house, ran out to congratulate Harry on the win. Hermione and Rose tried to get to Professor McGonagall, but were dragged off instead by Hagrid and the boys to Hagrid's hut for some tea.

"So you're saying someone was jinxing my broom?" Harry asked them on the way to the hut after the others had finished explaining it.

"It was Professor Snape!" Ron blurted out.

"No 'twasn't!" shouted Hagrid. "Couldn't a been Snape!"

"He was staring straight at Harry's broom," Hermione said. "It looked an awful lot like–"

"Now see here," Hagrid interrupted. "Professor Dumbledore trusts Snape, and so do I! No way 'e was tryin' ter kill Harry!"

"Professor Qu–" Sally-Anne began.

"I don't want ter hear anymore about professors murdering students!" shouted Hagrid. "Professor Dumbledore 'andpicked each member o' the staff! He would never pick someone that would try ter 'arm any o' the students!"

"What about–" Rose tried, but she was cut off as well.

"No!"

The girls were fairly quiet after that. Hermione and Sally-Anne quietly sipped their tea, while Rose sat in the corner and drew.

"I've got something I need to do in the castle," Rose said eventually. "I'll meet you lot back at Gryffindor Tower later."

"Shouldn't we go with you?" Sally-Anne asked. "So you don't get lost?"

"I'll be fine," Rose replied. "I know my way, and I move faster on my own."

The crimson-haired girl skipped cheerfully out of the hut and up to the castle.

Quirinius needed to relax, although he knew that he certainly wouldn't be able to, not after not one, but two failures. As if Snape breathing down his neck wasn't bad enough, He was always watching Quirinius.

Quirinius knew the Potions Master was onto him. If only Snape would slip up for a moment, Quirinius would be able to figure out how to get past Snape's obstacle. That would only leave Professors Vector and Babbling, but Merlin only knew what sort of nightmares those two had cooked up.

And then there was the Peta-Lorrum girl, who had somehow managed to kill a mountain troll single-handed. If it hadn't been for her, his first plan would've gone off perfectly. No one had even asked where he had been during the troll attack; the other staff just assumed he was cowering in some dark corner. It seemed that it was only that overgrown bat Snape that suspected Quirinius of being up to something.

It wasn't going to be easy to remove Peta-Lorrum, but it might be possible. If only there were some way of getting the girl alone, isolated, where he could just kill her and make it look like an accident. He knew plenty of dark magic; he also had the world's leading expert on the subject willing to help Quirinius as long as it suited Him. How would he ever get the girl alone?

Quirinius reached his office, opened the door, and found the answer to his question sitting at his desk. No, not at his desk, on his desk, was none other than Rose Peta-Lorrum herself. Her feet were dangling over the edge as she smiled back at the professor.

Happy Birthday, me.

"Salutations, Professor Quirrell!"

"M-m-ms. P-p-peta-l-l-lorrum," Quirinius stammered, closing the door behind him. "W-w-what are you d-d-doing here?"

"I had a request to make."

"R-r-req-q-quest?"

"Yup," the crimson-haired girl replied. She hopped up on Professor Quirrell's desk, then extended her arm, pointing directly at the Defence Professor. "Tell me the whole plan!"

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Rose stood on Quirrell's desk, standing sideways to the Professor, her finger pointing at him. She looked way too proud of herself, as Quirinius attempted to process the scene in front of him.

"P-p-plan?"

"The plan to kill Harry, of course."

What?

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked the crimson-haired girl as she put her arm down.

"There's only one Harry at this school. Remember, he almost fell off of his broom today? That was really sloppy, by the way. Professor Dumbledore was right there, waiting to catch him if he fell. And that's assuming that none of his teammates could catch him, and none of the students could catch him, and none of the other professors could catch him. I mean seriously, haven't you ever killed someone before? You want to get them secluded, out of the way, and make it look like an accident."

Yes. Yes I do.

"Of course I want to know why," Peta-Lorrum said, jumping down off of Quirinius' desk. "Although, it's probably because you're working for…" She pulled out a notebook and flipped through it. Stopping on one page, she read, "Voldemort."

WHAT?

"I'm sorry?"

"Why else would you want to kill Harry of all people?" she asked, putting away the notebook.

"I'm sorry, but I think you're confused, little girl," Quirinius said.

"Probably, but not about this," Peta-Lorrum replied. She walked towards Quirinius, who went for his wand. By the time he had pulled it, Peta-Lorrum had vanished, rose petals fluttering in her wake.

"Just know that I'm watching you, Professor Quirrell," he heard from behind him.

Quirinius spun around to see Peta-Lorrum now standing behind him. She had already opened the door, and was walking out of the room.

"And if you ever try to hurt my friends again," she added, "I'll make you regret it."

She beamed at him and left the room, leaving Quirinius staring at the now closed door.

Hermione and Sally-Anne sat in their room Sunday evening. Both girls wanted to tell their respective families about the events that had transpired over the past few days, but neither girl could think of what to tell them.

"What about… no, that wouldn't work," Hermione said for the third time.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Ah!" both girls shouted.

Not for the first time, Rose had appeared next to them out of nowhere, accompanied by fluttering rose petals.

"Rose," Hermione panted. "Why do you insist on doing that?"

"It's faster than walking," she replied simply. She looked down at the blank sheets of parchment in front of either girl. "Homework?"

Sally-Anne shook her head.

"Writing letters to home," Sally-Anne said.

"Trying to, anyway," Hermione added.

"What's the problem?"

"We can't figure out how to phrase 'A troll broke in and almost killed us' in a way that won't have our parents up in arms," Hermione said.

"Oh," Rose said. Suddenly she exclaimed, "Let's go ask Professor McGonagall! She'll know!"

Without waiting for the girls to answer, Rose began to skip off down the stairs.

The other two girls exchanged glances.

"That's actually not a bad idea," Sally-Anne said.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed.

The two girls got up and ran after their friend.

Rose led them through the castle, and before long, they were standing in front of a portrait.

"Rose, where are we?" Sally-Anne asked.

"Each of the Professors stay in an flat when they're not in their offices," Rose explained. "This one happens to be Professor McGonagall's."

"I'm sorry little girl," the man in the portrait said, "but you are mistaken. There is nothing behind my portrait."

"We are the three Muggle-born girls that were attacked by the troll Thursday night," Rose said. "We need Professor McGonagall's help with informing our families of these events."

"I would suggest that you don't," the man said. Hermione glanced down and saw the name Walter Lengert. "Muggles may have a difficult time understanding what happened."

"We appreciate your help," Hermione said, "but we'd really like to talk to Professor McGonagall."

"And I already told you, she isn't here!"

Rose rolled her eyes and walked to the portrait. Then, she walked through the portrait. A few seconds later, the portrait swung open, revealing a small flat.

"Told ya!" Rose shouted as the two girls climbed through.

"Why do you girls require my assistance?" Professor McGonagall asked them.

"Well, Ma'am," Hermione began nervously. "Sally-Anne and I were trying to write our parents, but we don't know what to write."

"I see," Professor McGonagall said. "Well, you two aren't the first Muggle-born students to have difficulty explaining our world to your parents, and I'm sure you won't be the last."

"So what do we do?" asked Sally-Anne.

"I once had a student named Lily Evans," she said. "Brilliant Gryffindor Muggle-born girl. She was finishing her time here at Hogwarts when the First Wizarding War began. Lily didn't tell her family about what was happening, and I believe that they resented her for her gifts. Mind you, her situation was not typical, as her family wasn't particularly fond of magic to begin with, but her distance only made it worse."

"But," Hermione said softly. She looked down at the ground. "I don't want to leave."

"Ms. Granger, these events aren't typical of Hogwarts. Professor Quirrell mistakenly lowered one of the wards to allow a troll to enter for a class, I believe, and forgot to restore them."

No one was really sure when Rose's notebook had made it to her hand, but she was furiously scribbling something in it.

"If it would help," Professor McGonagall continued, "I will write letters to each of your families myself, assuring them of this fact." She paused for a moment, considering her next statement. "However, I would ask that you not explain the dr–" She glanced over at Rose, who was glaring at her. "Other creature, as we still don't know what it was, or how it got here. You may do as you choose, but that is my recommendation."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Hermione and Sally-Anne said.

"My pleasure," Professor McGonagall replied. "Ms. Granger, you are one of the brightest students I have ever had the pleasure to teach. Ms. Perks, I have seen few Gryffindors ever display the bravery you showed against the troll. I would hate to have to give either of you up to Beauxbatons or Durmstrang."

"What about me?" asked Rose, smiling.

"You are… unique."

Rose beamed.

Among other things that I probably shouldn't say, added Minerva silently as the girls left her flat.

<Before I say anything, I just want to point out that it was not my fault,> Rose began later that night. <I was not looking for trouble… this time. Eom.>

<What'd you kill this time, Rose?> Carolina asked. <Eom.>

Rose started out by contacting her brother, but after giving him the highlights of the past few days, he brought Shadow, Bowie, and Carolina in on the conversation.

<I never said I killed anything!> Rose exclaimed defensively.

<I'm sorry, Rose, I didn't mean for it to sound like I was blaming anything on you.>

<It's alright, Carolina.>

<What did happen?> asked Sk'lar.

<Hermione was upset last week and thinking of leaving, so I figured I'd give her one of my two seashells just in case she needed it, and then on Thursday, I started hearing voices again, so I went to the Hospital Wing, and that evening I get a message from Hermione asking for help. Turns out, she and Sally-Anne found a giant, although everyone here keeps calling it a troll for some reason, but don't worry, the thing was squishy, and I took it out with no problems, but it nearly killed the girls.>

<What?> Sk'lar asked.

<Please tell me you didn't kill it,> Carolina pathed.

<It gets better,> Rose pathed bitterly. <There was a… dragon.>

<I am so sorry, Rose,> her brother pathed. <Are you alright?>

<It was also squishy and went down with only four or so hits.>

Had it been anything else, Carolina would have scolded Rose for killing not one, but two "innocent creatures". But, seeing as they all knew why Rose didn't like dragons, Carolina let it go.

<It could've been worse,> Bowie pathed. <Wait, what color was it?>

<Green.>

<See? Could've been worse.>

<It's a little disturbing that these creatures were able to enter the grounds in the first place,> Sk'lar pathed.

<Don't they have some kind of security on the place?> Alice, who had been silent until then, asked.

<ALICE!>

<Hi, Rosie!>

<Please stop shouting,> Shadow requested.

<Sorry, Shadow,> Alice pathed.

<Sorry, Sweety,> Rose replied.

<Don't call me 'Sweety',> Shadow pathed.

<Alice has got a point,> Sk'lar pathed. <Aren't there protections from incursions such as these?>

<Question,> Carolina pathed.

<Incursion means 'invasion' or 'infiltration',> Sk'lar replied.

<Thank you.>

<They've got wards set up, but one of the professors took one of them down to bring in a giant for one of his classes.>

<Wards?> Bowie asked.

<Yeah, defensive spells and the like,> Rose pathed. <I'm not really sure how they work, but it might be worth noting that this same professor attempted to kill Harry the other day.>

<Which one's Harry?> Carolina asked.

<The boy who stopped the BBEG about a decade ago.>

<One of the professors tried to kill a student?> Sk'lar asked. Rose could sense the contained rage in his voice. <And the Headmaster allowed the professor to continue teaching?>

<Sk'lar, relax,> Carolina pathed gently.

<I'm not sure he knows yet,> Rose pathed. <Besides which, it's the one position that they can't fill. I think they've got a backup for every other position except that one. The Defence Against the Dark Arts position has been filled by a different professor every year now for over twenty years. I've read that they've gone through more than one in some years. No one applies anymore.>

<That can't be a coincidence,> Shadow pathed. <Someone's offing the professors.>

<Apparently, the BBEG applied for the position, and when he didn't get it, he cursed it.>

<Can they really do that?> Carolina asked. <I mean, put a curse on a job?>

<I don't know,> Rose pathed. <There's a lot of magic here that I don't recognize, but I'm told that there are rules for the magic here, but I'd need to take a class called Arithmancy to learn them. I've read over some textbooks for it, so I'm starting to get an idea for it. It's based a lot on mathematics, so that's been fun.>

<Ugh,> Carolina, Bowie, and Alice groaned simultaneously.

<It's not so bad,> Rose replied. <The textbooks are really boring, so I can't actually make it through any of them without using scholar's touch, but otherwise it seems interesting.>

<The simpler explanation is that someone is simply killing the professors,> Shadow pathed.

<Really?> Bowie gasped. <Ms. 'It must be this overly complicated plan' is suggesting that we go with the simple explanation?>

<I can feel Shadow glaring at you right now, Sir Scaley,> Rose pathed.

<Yeah, I'm not sure I should be alone right now,> Bowie pathed.

<Yeah, that'll help,> Rose scoffed. <She's right, though. It's possible the BBEG's followers have just been killing off the other professors, but I think this one is one of his followers.>

<Maybe that's the thing,> Alice pathed. <Maybe his people are killing off the ones that don't follow him, and the other professors are removing the ones that do follow him.>

<That makes sense.>

<How did he try to kill Harry?> asked Sk'lar.

<They don't use magic here to fly for some reason, but instead they use brooms. Weird, but I guess it's their thing. So, they have this sport called Quidditch which is designed to emphasis one player on each team, called the 'Seeker', while the other six are there for filler. Naturally, Harry was selected as Seeker, being one of the PCs. While he's up there playing the game, his broom starts trying to throw him off. Hermione, being the smart one, spots Professor Snape staring at him. She said it was probably a jinx, which sounds like some sort of concentration spell. Anyway, I see Professor Quirrell doing the same thing. I was looking for him since Ref can't read his mind, which has led me to be suspicious of him from the start. Hermione and I distract the two professors, which allowed Harry to regain control of his broom.>

<Which is why you needed to know a non-damaging spell to blind someone,> Sk'lar pathed. <Which one's the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor?>

<Professor Quirrell,> replied Rose. <Professor Snape has been here for years, and he dresses almost identically to Shadow.>

<So he walks around drawing suspicion to himself, but Professor Dumbledore doesn't fire him. Probably means that Professor Dumbledore trusts him.>

<That's what Mr. Hagrid said!>

<Which one's Mr. Hagrid?> Carolina asked.

<The Grounds Keeper. Seems to be a big fan of the Headmaster.>

<So all of this means that Professor Quirrell is most likely the guilty one,> Shadow concluded.

<Were the rest of the staff there when he tried to kill Harry?> Alice asked.

<Yup.>

<And he thought that would work?> asked Shadow. <He must be new at this whole 'evil' thing.>

<That's almost exactly what I said!> Rose exclaimed, grinning.

Carolina sighed. <You confronted him, didn't you?>

<Well, yeah! He tried to kill one of my new friends!>

<That's my girl!> Alice exclaimed.

Carolina sighed again.

<Don't give me that,> Rose pathed. <You know you love us!>

<Yes, but sometimes I feel like I'm the only responsible one among a group of children.>

<That's because you are the only responsible one among a group of children,> Bowie pathed.

<I think it's about time that we all got some rest,> Sk'lar pathed. <Rose, stay safe. Sk'lar out.>

<Try not to have too much fun without us. Alice out.>

<Take care, Rose. Bowie out.>

<Try not to kill anything else. Carolina out.>

<Sk'lar and Bowie: Will do. Alice and Carolina: No promises,> Rose pathed.

<Your Minions all say 'hi',> pathed Shadow. <And… and they think it's lonely here without you.>

<Tell them I say 'hi' back,> Rose pathed. <I miss them, and you, too, Sweety.>

<Don't call me 'Sweety'. Shadow out.>

<Rose out.>

Sally-Anne looked over at Rose, who seemed to be silently conversing with someone.

"Hey, Hermione," Sally-Anne whispered. "What's Rose doing?"

Hermione glanced over at Rose, then turned back to the dirty-blonde girl. "She's talking with her imaginary friends."

"Oh. Okay."

Sally-Anne wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing that not only did that explanation make perfect sense to her, but it seemed like a good explanation too.