Chapter 10 – Pranking and Quidditch Practice
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"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron said finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

"Well, it's obviously guarding something." I said.

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"It was standing on a trapdoor." I explained. "Didn't you see it?"

"No." Ron said. "We were too busy focusing on it's heads!"

I sniggered. "Wusses." 

~~~

The next day, at breakfast, the post arrived. And Snidget, Hedwig, and a few other owls came in carrying two long, thin packages between them.

When they dropped the packages on top of Harry and I, we opened the notes that were on them first, which was lucky, because they were from Professor McGonagall, and they said not to open the packages in the Great Hall, because they were our new Nimbus Two Thousands. Our new brooms!

So Ron, Harry, and I carried them excitedly into the Entrance Hall and opened them there. They were beautiful ...

"Wow!" Ron gasped.

Just then, Draco and Floppy appeared.

"First years aren't allowed broomsticks, Potter." Draco said, avoiding my eye, and looking only at Harry. Though when he looked at the brooms, he looked a little wistful. Ha! Take that, Dragon!

"Oh, but we are." I said smugly. "Youngest Seeker and Chaser in a century." 

Their eyes widened.

Then Professor Flitwick appeared out of nowhere.

"Professor! Daisy and Harry Potter have got broomsticks!" Floppy whined to him.

"Oh, yes!" Professor Flitwick said, quite cheerfully. "Youngest players on the Gryffindor Quidditch team!" And he whisked off.

They both looked furious.

"I may not be one of the youngest House players in a century, but at least I'm not a four-eyed-freak," Floppy sneered, "or a-"

But he didn't get any further. All my anger was directed at him, and suddenly, he was writhing on the ground, yelling and screaming. Again, the POWER ...

"Daisy ..." Harry said, his eyes wide. He's scared ... my brother's scared ...

At once, the screams stopped. 

"Don't EVER talk about my family like that." I hissed in a low voice at Floppy. "It might just be the last thing you ever do."

We hurried away, Draco staring after us with an unreadable expression, Floppy panting on the ground.

"What the hell was that?" Harry muttered to me. "Why was he acting like someone was torturing him?"

"I have no idea." I shrugged. 

Harry shot me a side-long glance, but nodded.

---

*Third Person*

Albus Dumbledore and Rubeus Hagrid sat in the Headmaster's office, staring into the Pensieve. Inside it, Daisy Potter was muttering, for the tenth time that hour, "I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me ... I can make them hurt if I want to ..."

Professor Dumbledore then poked the swirling silver mist inside the Pensieve with his wand, and a black haired boy of eleven rose up from the mysterious depths, and said the exact same thing Daisy said, with the exact same expression.

Professor Dumbledore had witnessed something in the Entrance Hall ... something which worried him very much, and made him call for Hagrid for his memories of the day he had met Daisy Potter.

Then the Headmaster prodded the mist inside the Pensieve again and another scene formed. 

Daisy Potter was standing over Felix Malfoy, who was writhing and screaming on the ground.

"This is very bad ..." Professor Dumbledore murmured. "Very bad indeed ... I fear he must have got further into her mind than I originally thought. This could be very dangerous, for both her and everyone else. This means, I fear," he looked up at Hagrid, "that she can be possessed, and manipulated, and much more than we can imagine. This is very, very bad ..."

He looked down at the scene again. Harry Potter was speaking to Daisy, a scared look on his face. Something swept across her face, and Felix fell limp. 

"But it is a good thing if she can stop whenever people she care about are scared, in pain or danger." Dumbledore mused. "Whenever they are weaker than whatever's going to hurt them ... she'll protect them."

He looked up at Hagrid, his eyes twinkling suddenly.

"What Emily did was both bad and good."

*Daisy*

In Potions, I was in a very annoying mood. I needed to prank someone ...

So I decided to prank Snape!

We were making a cure for itchiness. 

"What would happen if I followed the instructions in reverse order?" I asked Harry and Ron, grinning. 

"You mustn't!" Hermione said shrilly.

I ignored her.

Harry stared at me, wide eyed.

"Go on!" Ron said excitedly.

So I grinned, and set to work.

Half an hour later, and Snape was walking round all the potions.

"What," he said when he came to mine, "is this?" 

I giggled. "I did it in reverse order!"

"And why," he drawled, "did you do that, silly girl?"

I grinned. "To see what happened, of course!"

Snape raised an eyebrow. "To see what happened." He repeated. "Well, let's see. Try it." 

I stared at him. "What?"

"Try it. To see what happens." Snape sneered.

I took a deep breath. Everyone was watching. I couldn't just deny when everyone was watching, I'd look like a pansy. "Okay." 

So I tried the potion. Almost immediately, I started to itch, red patches began to appear all over my skin, and my hair stood up on end.

"Hospital wing, Potter." Snape said.

"Gladly, Professor!" I said cheerfully. "Incendio." I muttered as I passed him on the way to the door.

His robes caught on fire, and I grinned at my twin brother as I whisked out the door. 

~~~

"Yo." I fell into step beside Harry as we walked to Quidditch practice. I had come from the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey immediately reversed the effects of the potion, and told me about the many times my dad and his friends were in there.

"Hi." He said. "That was you who set Snape on fire, wasn't it?" 

"Yes!" I laughed.

"You are the best twin sister ever!" Harry laughed.

We walked out to the Quidditch pitch. Oliver Wood was already out there, waiting with a wooden crate.

"Right, twins, let's get started. Basically, Quidditch is a sport which is played on broomsticks, with seven players on a team. There are three Chasers, who handle this ball," he opened the crate and held up a football sized red ball, "and score goals with it. Harry, you'll be one of the Chasers alongside Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell. Only one Chaser is allowed in the semicircle-goal end of the pitch, to avoid Keeper fouling. All you have to do is keep the Quaffle away from the other team's Chasers, pass between your fellow Chasers, and score goals by aiming the ball through the three hoops at each end of the pitch, obviously the opposite team's. There is a Keeper, who saves goals. There are Beaters, who carry bats, and who beat the Bludgers," he indicated two struggling black balls, which were tethered to the crate by thick belts, "which fly at players, trying to knock them off their brooms, away from their own team, and at the opposing team. And then there's the Seeker, who catches the Golden Snitch." He opened a small compartment, and held up a fluttering, tiny golden ball with minute white wings. "Catching it earns your team an extra hundred-and-fifty points. It also ends the game. For this, Seekers are the lightest and the fastest, and they are generally the most targeted, so watch out." Oliver finished. "All you have to do is catch it before the other team's Seeker. It's very hard to find, though, especially in large Quidditch pitches like this. It's also very fast." He smiled happily. "You'll both be great!"

So Harry and I soared about the Quidditch pitch with Oliver, me practising catching the Snitch, and catching golf balls, and Harry practising scoring with the Quaffle. I caught every golf ball, and the Snitch every time, as Harry scored every time.

I was beginning to love Quidditch!

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