“And look at Potter go! That brand new Nimbus 2000 of hers is definitely helping her out!” The commentator for the match, Lee Jordan announced in an excited voice.

Hailey’s blue hair fluttered in the breeze as she raced around the Quidditch pitch to the cheering and booing crowd below her. It was a week after all of the excitement of Hogwarts discovering it had been harbouring a dark wizard within its walls for years. 

The headmaster had been getting quite a lot of backlash from his failure to safeguard the children, as had Arthur Weasley for having had Pettigrew in his family – even as a rat – for nearly a decade without realising it. The last she had heard, he had been suspended with pay, barring an investigation.

Twisting into a barrel roll, Hailey spun and weaved through a group of her fellow Ravenclaw team mates currently attempting to get the quaffle back from Hufflepuff. Narrowly avoiding a collision, Hailey just missed intercepting the quaffle as the Hufflepuff chasers passed it amongst themselves.

“Drat,’ she muttered, pulling hard on her Nimbus for a sharp turn back towards the fast moving Quidditch players. She had been nervous and excited in equal measure to be told by her team captain, Mara, that she was to be on the team for their upcoming match. A match that was apparently not supposed to happen at all, but for some reason they had switched which teams started the Quidditch Cup. It was often Gryfindor and Slytherin, as it would’ve been, if they hadn’t changed it at the last minute. 

“Rumour has it folks, that Potter’s blue hair is because of our resident queen prankster, Dora Tonks and Potter are in a prank war. If that’s the case then Dora is definitely in the lead with that one!” 

Hailey giggled as she heard Lee’s magically amplified voice clearly over the wind rushing past her ears. She wanted to shout out that it was true, and she only kept her blue hair because she liked it, but no one would hear her. Besides she had bigger things to worry about, like helping to win her first ever Quidditch match.

As she rocketed towards the group of Chaser’s fighting over the quaffle, Hailey felt sorry for Jeb, a sixth year chaser she had replaced for this match. He had injured his arm in a magical accident, breaking several bones. While his arm was healed up already, Madam Pomfrey was worried that they were still too fragile for Quidditch and had side lined him. If it wasn’t for her Nimbus, there would have been a good chance that she would not have been placed in the team for the first match of the season. Even though Mara had assured her that she thought she was more than good enough for the opportunity on her own merit, Hailey still had her doubts.

Pushing down on her broom, Hailey dipped down to get below the group, hoping to either catch the quaffle if it was dropped or come up from below and surprise them. Just as she was about to pull up and make her attack run, her broom suddenly started shuddering violently, pulling to a stop so fast that she nearly flew off head first.

“What’s going on?” she yelled in fright, holding on for dear life as her Nimbus began bucking like a bull in a rodeo show. Clinging desperately to the handle, Hailey searched for a way out of her situation. She could sense some form of dark magic in the distance, effecting the broom, causing its magic to go wild and react like it was trying to throw her off.

A particularly rough bucking caused Hailey to slip, barely holding by her hands. She could just hear the shocked gasps from the crowd in the packed stadium around her, and Lee Jordan’s commentary over the pounding of her heart in her ears. The broom bucked again, leaving her dangling by a single hand when the other slipped. Pulse racing, she felt a second person’s magic entwining with the Nimbus’, helping to steady it a little bit, just enough for her to grab back on with her dangling hand.

After another twenty seconds of hanging on for her dear life, Hailey felt the magic interfering with her broom vanish as soon as it had appeared. With greater effort than she had thought it should have taken, she pulled herself up and seated properly, laying forwards on the broom, exhausted and sore.

“Hailey! Are you alright now?” Her team captain, Mara shouted, coming up to her side and hovering nearby.

Sitting up straight, Hailey tiredly nodded. “I think so? My broom is okay now.”

“Good, let’s go and win the match!”

Nodding, and smiling in relief, Hailey lent forward and urged her broom forward, racing to catch up with the rest of her team. 

During the rest of the match, Hailey had noticed a few people watching her in concern, including Madam Hooch and Mara, clearly worried about whatever had happened, happening again. It was only afterwards that Hailey had thought that perhaps she could have been able to eat the magic somehow, but everything had happened so quickly, she hadn’t considered it at the time.

Racing around the group of chasers fighting over the quaffle, Hailey was watching for an opportunity to rush in and grab it, when Mara suddenly managed to get her hands on it, passing it to Amy, who immediately threw it at Hailey. Stretching up high on her seat, Hailey caught it as it nearly went too high over her head. Sitting back down again, Hailey poured on the speed on her broomstick, quickly outpacing the rest of the Quidditch players, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff alike. 

Clinging to her broomstick one handed, holding the quaffle in her other, Hailey zig zagged, dodging a poorly aimed bludger by a Hufflepuff beater. Pulling up sharply to avoid a charge by the Hufflepuff keeper, Hailey threw the quaffle at the now clear centre ring. She watched in dread, her heart squeezing tightly in her chest as the squishy ball hit the edge of the ring, before slowly rolling over and through the goal. A bell ringing loudly let her know that she had been awarded ten points, and Hailey breathed out in relief as Mara and Amy rushed up to hug her in excitement. Looking over at the scoreboard, Hailey’s heart leapt for joy and excitement when she saw the golden numbers flip over from seventy to eighty. Ravenclaw was now in the lead by thirty points. 

Resetting their positions, Hufflepuff set off towards the Ravenclaw goals, attempting to avoid the chasers swarming all around them. Using her faster broom, Hailey raced past the pack, pulling in front of the lead Hufflepuff chaser, forcing him to turn sharply to avoid her. Mara took advantage of his distraction to steal the quaffle and after a half loop and barrel roll, she had taken off back towards the Hufflepuff keeper.

Chasing the chasers, Hailey veered in front of the Hufflepuff team, forcing them to break off their chase, giving Mara along with Amy, enough time to score again. Hailey had just started cheering in excitement for her team, when the two seekers flew past her, chasing the golden snitch. A brilliantly aimed bludger forced the Hufflepuff seeker to turn too far away, giving Sarah, the seventh year Ravenclaw seeker a clear run for the snitch, catching it moments later to cheers and boos from the crowd.

“What a sudden and exciting end to the first match of the year! Ravenclaw wins with a lead of ninety points!” She could hear Lee Jordan’s magically amplified voice echoing across the Quidditch pitch.

Hailey suddenly found herself surrounded by her teammates as they hugged and cheered, with tears of happiness sparkling in Mara’s eyes.

As they landed, Hailey stumbled getting off of her broom, suddenly tired and shaky all over her body.

“Oopsy daisies. Take it slow there, Potter. It would seem that we need to work on building your stamina up, little lady,” Mara said, grabbing Hailey by her arm and helping her stand up.

Blushing at being called ‘little lady’, Hailey allowed Mara to take some of her weight. Her arms in particular were practically screaming out in pain at the abuse she had put them through dangling off of the side of her broom then continuing the match. Feeling like she was made from lead, Mara practically carried her into the girls locker room amongst the cheering crowd, helping her sit and rest. Hailey sat there while her teammates all went and got changed, before leaving one by one.

“Are you alright, Hailey?” Mara asked her, concern colouring her voice.

“Yeah, just getting some of my energy back before I change,” she replied with a tired smile.

Mara hesitated for a second before answering. “Alright, but don’t take too long, if you do, I am coming back to get you.” Having said that, her team captain smiled at her before leaving the locker in her school robes.

She had just started wondering where her friends had gotten to, when Hermione and Ariana burst into the locker room, looking for her with worried expressions. 

“Oh, thank Merlin you’re okay!” Ariana said, immediately hugging her. Hailey shakily and tiredly squeezed back.

Hermione was a little slower, a little more hesitant to initiate physical contact but she hugged Hailey as well once Ariana had let go.

“You look exhausted, Hailey,” Hermione pointed out, squeezing her hand.

Hailey grinned tiredly at her friend. “I feel exhausted, between the match and the attack on my broomstick, it’s been a tiring day.”

She had been trying to not think about it too much since it happened, but now that the game was over, and she had no other distractions to occupy her mind, Hailey couldn’t help but think about it. Someone had deliberately attempted to throw her off of her broom using some kind of magic that she didn’t know about. While someone else had worked hard to counter the first person's magic, yet another puzzle for her to ponder.

“So you knew that you had been attacked? I recognised it pretty quickly as a hex and between Ariana and I, we saw all of the signs from Professor Snape!” Hermione frowned, looking disturbed. “Why would he attempt to hurt you like that?”

Hailey shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t even be certain that it was him. Are you the reason that it stopped?”

“But, Hailey! We saw him staring at your broom, muttering under his breath constantly! He was hexing it to try and throw you off and after Hermione lit his cloak on fire to cause a distraction, it stopped,” Ariana replied.”

Running her hands through her hair, Hailey sighed. “Maybe? There were two people casting magic on my broom, I felt both of their magics competing with each other.”

Ariana and Hermione looked at each other worried before they turned back to Hailey. “What does that mean? Were they both trying to throw you off?” Ariana questioned.

“Who could the other person have been?” Hermione asked at the same time.

“Maybe another student?” Hailey said with a shrug. She had honestly been surprised that no one had seemed to really comment on her being a girl, except Snape of course, but she felt like there was more to it than that for him.

“Should we tell someone?” Ariana asked.

Hermione looked at Ariana like she had grown two heads. “Of course we should! Why wouldn’t we?”

“Well, we don’t have any proof that it was him? We only know that Hailey sensed two different people casting magic on her broom, and that it stopped when you cast the fire on Snape’s cloak. That’s not a lot to go on,” Ariana replied.

“You were adamant that it was Snape, now you aren’t too sure?” Hermione asked heatedly.

Ariana shook her head. “That’s not what I said. I said we don’t have proof, not that I didn’t think it was him.”

“Until we have proof, we can’t go to the adults,” Hailey said.

“Not even Andi?” Hermione asked.

Hailey hesitated for a moment before she shook her head. “Maybe not her either? I don’t want her to think I am just making things up. She believed me about Peter Pettigrew, but that’s because I knew he was bad. I get conflicting feelings from Professor Snape. I can’t risk Andi getting angry with me.”

She thought that Andi might believe her, and take steps to help, but she wasn’t entirely certain, and Hailey didn’t want Andi to get angry at her.

They fell silent for a moment, all of them thinking on the problem, before Hailey shrugged again with a sigh. “There isn’t much we can do about him for now, but maybe keep an eye out on him. There is another person that is more worrying for me though.”

“Professor Quirrell,” Hermione said.

“Professor Quirrell,” Hailey repeated, nodding her head. “His name has been changing, and I don’t know exactly what that means, but I know it isn’t good,” she said, shivering at the thought.

Ariana hugged her, patting her back gently. “Another person we will look out for.”

After they fell silent again, finally feeling like she had recovered enough, Hailey stood up and moved into the change room as she heard her friends start talking amongst themselves.

A very quick shower, and change into her school robes, and Hailey was feeling vastly better. Hailey heard a wolf whistle as she stepped back into the locker room she had left her friends in. Blushing, she spotted Dora, then felt silly not having thought of telling Dora what had happened.

Coming over to her, Dora immediately pulled Hailey into a hug. “Are you okay? I saw what happened with your broomstick, do we need to take it back? Or have it checked over for faulty enchantments?”

Hailey was floored at the concern and care that her sister in all but name and paperwork showed for her. Suddenly it was all too much and she burst into tears, holding her sister tight to her, feeling her warmth and care seep into Hailey’s heart.

While Hailey sobbed into Dora’s chest as the older girl held her, Hermione explained what they saw with regards to Professor Snape seeming to be hexing Hailey’s broomstick.

“Are you okay now, Hailey?” Dora asked, brushing some of Hailey’s hair out of her face.

Sighing, Hailey leaned into her sister’s gentle touch. “I’m feeling a little better now, thanks, Dora.”

“Hey, no problem, sweetie,” the older girl replied, letting her go and stepping back a little bit. Even though Dora put some distance between them, Hailey had never felt closer to her than she did just then. “I’ll send mum an owl about what happened. There probably isn’t much she can do, but at least she will know.”

Hailey hugged Dora again. “Thank you, I wasn’t sure if she would believe me or not.”

Patting her head, Hailey’s adopted sister smiled down at her. “Come on, let’s get you back up to the castle for lunch.”

Her stomach chose that time to grumble with hunger, causing Hailey to blush and Dora to grin at her before she winked and led the way out of the Ravenclaw locker room.

Hermione and Ariana didn’t leave her side for the rest of the day, with always at least one around her at any given time. Hailey enjoyed having them dote on her for the day.

That afternoon, they went for a walk to the owlery, Dora had a letter she wanted to send Andi, with input from the group over the events. Dora’s own owl was already out on a delivery, so Hailey was all too happy to lend her Olette. She felt a little guilty having ignored Olette for so long, having been busy with school and everything that had happened to her since she had arrived. Olette greeted her affectionately, nuzzling her face and making her giggle after she called her down from her perch.

“There we go, all done,” Dora said, finishing tightening the letter to Olette’s leg.

“It’s fascinating that these owls know exactly where to go to find their recipient,” Hermione commented. Idling looking around the owlery while she wrinkled her nose at the pungent smell.

Dora shrugged. “That’s magical creatures for you, able to do some amazing things. Some are even able to bypass wards and other safety measures that witches and wizards have concocted through the ages. What? Mad-Eye told,” she said as Hailey, Hermione and Ariana all looked at her.

“I suppose that does make sense that he would know such things, and it wouldn’t surprise me that wizarding arrogance would overlook anything other than their own kind of magic,” Hermione answered, surprisingly emotional on the subject. “I’ve been reading ahead in History of Magic. It’s absolutely appalling what wizardkind has done to some of the other magical beings. Not least is the House Elves.”

Hailey sighed, grimacing at being reminded that she was one such person who owned an enslaved magical being. She really needed to find a way to free Peppy that wouldn’t harm the Elf. She didn’t want to hurt her, but she didn’t want to keep her as a slave either. Perhaps she could offer to employ her. Peppy had mentioned something about an ancestral home that she had been taking care of, that would have to be worth a considerable amount of galleons to look after. Hailey was excited to get Peppy to show her the home, and wondered what she would find there about her family.

“Hailey? Hey, Hailey?”

“Hmm?” Hailey hummed, focusing on her sister as she waved a hand in her face.

“I was just asking if you wanted to hang out in the Hufflepuff house common room for a while? It’s game’s night and they have a few magical board games that they bring out.”

“Are you sure that’s wise? After Hailey just played in a winning match against your own house?” Ariana asked, just as surprised as Hailey was.

Their bushy haired friend snorted. “Come on, no one can be that serious about that, right? It’s just a game,” Hermione said, shaking her head. “What?” she asked when she noticed Hailey, Dora and Ariana all giving her strange looks.

Shaking her head, Dora looked at Hailey expectantly. “So, you in? You’re more than welcome in the common room. You won’t be the only people there that are from other houses, so there’s no worry about that.”

Looking at her friends when they looked at her, Hailey shrugged and smiled. “Sure, that sounds like it could be a lot of fun.” Plus, it would give her the opportunity to finally get Dora back for her blue hair. 

Trying not to grin too evilly at her devilish plans, Hailey helped Dora send Olette on her way, giving her one last pat and small treat of bacon that she had brought, before the bird took off.

A nervous thrill shot down her spine as she wondered how Andi would react to the letter. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Hailey smiled up at Dora, before gesturing for her to walk in front. She had other things to worry about for the moment, and tried to put her worries aside as they began the trek back down from the Owlery.