Quidditch!...?

"C-can I have your autograph... Please?"

...

Harry lets out a deep sigh and stops in place, he'd thought that people would get the idea to leave him alone after the newspaper declared him a dark lord... Yet his fans were surprisingly obstinate in their support of him.

"What would you have me sign?" he queries, not moving an inch.

"Y-your signature h-here please!" she points at the first page, specifically the corner of it.

"Did you know a signed name can be used for a number of rituals and obscure magic? Would it surprise you to know it's one of the many components that could be used in the construction of a Voodoo doll?" he states before abruptly walking away, leaving the girl completely and utterly confused.

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"Ah, I t-t-thought you were going to b-be late." Professor Quirrel stands from his desk in the corner of the relatively large room.

"I was held up by a fan. What are we starting with?" Harry questions, dropping his bookbag next to the door.

Quirrel quirks a smile, "I thought we'd start by testing your aptitude, now allow me to-STUPEFY!" he suddenly howls, jabbing his wand and firing a magical red bolt at him.

While caught off guard, Harry manages to sidestep it, allowing the magic to splash harmlessly against the wall behind him. "I hope this is a test." he says impassively.

"It d-d-depends boy! S-show me you are w-w-worth teaching! Petrificus Totalus!" he fires yet another spell with a deft flick of his wand.

Harry doesn't move this time, instead raising a magical shield with one hand and launching a snake-like flame from the other. The spell bends around his shield and quickly slithers at Quirrel through the air, opening its 'mouth' to bite down as it reaches him.

"Aaahhyyhaa!" the Professor yelps as it bites onto his forearm and ignites his entire sleeve. Harry had thought that was the end of it, but he catches movement in his peripheral vision and hops to the side, evading the snake trying to bite his ankle.

A flick of his hand turns it to ash, but the attack almost distracts him from Quirrel's sudden lapse of screams. He turns and ducks under a gout of fire and singes the tips of some of his hair, "Are you trying to burn me?" he growls, gathering back his balance.

"F-f-fight fire with fire Mr P-Potter." he raises his sleeve and shows the absence of any actual burns, "V-very good control. I-I must say whoever t-t-taught you must be p-p-proud." he smiles genuinely.

Harry just hums noncommittally in response, "Are you finished, or shall we continue?" he questions, lighting a condensed flame in his palm.

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"Come on Harry! I've never seen a Quidditch match before, even if you don't like it it's always worth giving it a chance!" Hermione urges, pulling him up the huge stands that'd been erected for the sport.

"You're being annoying, I've got better things to do than watch idiots fly around on cleaning equipment." he grouses.

"That's not all they do! They throw what are basically flying bowling balls at each other, I know you don't like your house so wouldn't you want to see some of them get their teeth knocked out?" she pleads, 'cunningly' using his animosity against both the Gryffindor and Slytherin house against him. It was working too judging by the new speculative look on his face.

"I suppose I can try it once..." he relents, allowing himself to be escorted up to the Gryffindor stands, much to the chagrin of some of her housemates.

It hadn't even been a week since he'd agreed to study together, which apparently meant becoming 'best friends' in her eyes. Whenever their free time aligned she'd seek him out and drag him off to do something, be it things he enjoyed like spellwork and reading, or even sometimes inane things like playing cards or chess... Things she'd apparently wanted to try even since preschool.

Sometimes it was irritating, but during those times she seemed to realise and make some distance, leaving him alone to do what he wants. This suited him fine, better than he'd thought actually. A bearable person that wasn't Kali, surprising.

"What the bloody hell is he doing here!?" Ron exclaims, turning his gaze away from the pitch where the competitors were lining up against one another.

"I brought him, Ronald. There's no rule against it, I checked." she preemptively says.

"He should be over there with the other snakes!" he gesticulates widely at the opposite of the arena.

Parvati leans over and tugs on some of Ron's hair, "I vote he should stay."

"Aaagh! You crazy bint, what'd you do that for!?"

"Because you're acting like a silly git. He's not going to convert us all to Death Eaters so stop whining." she states, flashing a smile at the duo and patting the seat next to her, "Here, this your first time?"

Hermione nods, "I've been to a football match once with my dad but that was very boring..."

"No worries, I think you'll love this. It's nothing like football! Oh, here, if you're going to be sat here you might as well be dressed for it." Parvati says before dropping her Gryffindor scarf over Harry's head.

"Okay...? It's not as if I like my house anyway. Is this gonna start soon or what?"

------------------------

"Having fun...?" Harry drawls resting his cheek on his fist. The game had started and while it'd been interesting at first, he quickly realised the violence and carnage he was waiting for wouldn't come. A bludger had hit someone in the chest at maybe a hundred miles an hour, yet they barely looked hurt. A hit like that should've shattered his ribs and spine, burst his organs, or maybe even split him in half.

The bludgers seemed to have cushioning charms on them, only activating when they hit someone. He wasn't even sure who was winning, and that annoying golden insect flying nearby wasn't making it any easier to concentrate.

"Not really... You were right, this is terribly boring." Hermione sighs.