“Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them”and then, the opportunity to choose.”
-C. Wright Mills
Harry went back to the Common Room because he knew that no one would be there, since everyone else was in class. I like having time to myself. Maybe others don’t, but I need time to be alone. Harry lay down on a couch by the fire. He stared at the stone ceiling, and exhaled loudly. He closed his eyes; trying to think of something he could do with the time he had.
I could… do nothing. Just lay here until people show up. Oh, I know! I haven’t written Ron and Hermione in a week. I’ll do that, and then…practice Quidditch! Harry opened his eyes and went to the dormitory to get his box of parchment.
Once he was at his bed, quill in hand, he began to write.
Humorous & Cleverly,
I just wanted to catch up with you mates. Tell me what you think about the last letter sent about my father and that professor. Plus, I also have something else to tell you, as well. Draco and I were exploring the school on Saturday night. We were the ones that screamed and awoke Filch. We broke into a room that was in the forbidden third floor corridor. But we didn’t mean to. I was just trying to prove to him that I could find a better room than his, but anyway, we came across the room. And in the room was another door, so we decided to see what was through that door, so when we opened it we saw a three-headed dog in the room. We screamed and ran out. But I think I remember seeing a lock on the floor. Tell me what you two think. Also today at breakfast I saw you two looking at the Daily Prophet, so I’m guessing you’ve seen the article about vault 713 that was burglarized. Well, before Hagrid took me to Hogwarts, he first took me to Gringotts and I remember him taking something out of that vault. Today I went to see Hagrid and he mentioned, regrettably I might add, that what he took was something called the Sorcerer’s Stone. Have you ever heard of it? When he was taking the stone from the vault, he had said it was “Hogwarts business.” I haven’t told Draco about the stone yet, but we talked over the fact that Hagrid had taken something and he had guessed that whatever Hagrid had taken is here at Hogwarts. Do you think that the stone could be here at Hogwarts?
Courageous
PS-Hagrid told me the three-headed dogs name is Fluffy. If you think that’s odd, then your right. You didn’t see it, but it was definitely not fluffy.
Harry finished writing, but knew that he couldn’t send the letter now because they were in class. He would have to the Owlry later. He put the letter in his robes. Harry opened his trunk and grabbed his Nimbus 2000. On Monday morning, while others were receiving the Daily Prophet, he had gotten it.
He knew that there would be no Quidditch teams on the field, so he went to there as fast as possible. He wanted to be able to spend as much time as he could practicing before class ended and other students started walking around. And by the time class ended for dinner, Harry would be starving from the exercise.
When Harry got to the field he saw that he wasn’t alone. He saw that the Gryffindor Seeker, who was a third year, was on the field, already flying around. Harry didn’t know his name, but he had the Golden Snitch out and was trying to catch it. Maybe I should leave. But I did want to practice. I could ask him to give me some time with the Snitch. Yeah, I’ll do that.
Harry got on his broom and went up to where the other Seeker was. “Hey!” Harry yelled. Harry’s hair flew up when the Gryffindor Seeker flew swiftly over. Harry saw that he had short blond hair. “Could I get some time with the Snitch? I was hoping I could get some practice before dinner,” said Harry.
“I got a better idea. Do you want to compete for the Snitch? We’ll let it go and then try to beat each other to find it. Every time you or I catch it, it’ll be 10 points. Whoever catches it the most times before the bell rings for dinner, wins,” said the Seeker.
“Yeah, alright,” said Harry, who was now full of adrenaline now, ready for the chase.
“Okay. I’ll let it go. One… two… three…” He let go of the Snitch and they saw it fly away. “Wait a minute so that we don’t know where it is. Ready?”
“Always,” said Harry. They both flew off in different directions, trying to find the Snitch. After about ten minutes of flying around, Harry saw it. He looked to see if the Gryffindor had spotted it, too, but he hadn’t. Harry flew swiftly to the Snitch, and after chasing it for a while he finally caught it. “I got it!” Harry had a huge smile on his face.
The other Seeker turned around, his face covered in a look of amazement. “Bloody hell! How did you…? I didn’t even hear you fly around!” said the Gryffindor Seeker.
“I got 10 points. Want to go again?” asked Harry, very pleased with himself.
“Of course! The bell hasn’t rung yet. This time lets wait a little longer to go chasing after it,” said the Seeker. He wasn’t very thrilled that Harry, a first year, had beaten him to getting the Snitch.
“Fine. One… two… three…” They again watched it fly away.
“We can go now,” said the Seeker, after two minutes. It took a long time for Harry to spot the Snitch, but this time the Gryffindor Seeker was too quick for him. They were both reaching for it, but the other seeker had longer arms, so he got it. “Yes! Ten points for me, too.”
They kept going for an hour until they both had 50 points. In ten minutes the bell would ring ending the last class of the day. But Harry and the other seeker were still searching for the Snitch. Eventually they both heard the bell ring. “Lets keep going. The last catch will be worth 20 points,” said Harry.
“Brilliant idea!” said the Seeker. Harry and the Gryffindor Seeker didn’t know this, but people saw them and were now watching on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw the Snitch, but the other Seeker saw it, too. They both raced for it, pushing each other out of the way, and each reaching one hand for it. They both were equally away from the Snitch, but then the Snitch went directly downward. Harry dove for it, the Gryffindor didn’t. He maneuvered his broom downward, grabbed it, and then turned his broom back horizontally before hitting the ground.
Harry heard students on the ground cheering for him. Harry heard someone much like Zabini yelling, “Go Harry!” Harry heard the Gryffindor come up to him. He held out his hand.
“Good game. We should do it again. My name’s Ackley Leven,” said the Seeker.
“Yeah, it was fun. My name’s Harry Potter.”
“Oh, Blimey! I didn’t realize I was playing against someone famous. Nice to meet you,” said Leven. They shook hands, and Harry liked the fact that he didn’t look up at his scar, like so many others have done.
“Nice to meet you, too. Well, see you on the field,” said Harry, cheerfully. He brought his broom down to the ground. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and realized he still had the Snitch in his left hand. He returned it to the trunk that held all the other Quidditch balls, before walking over to Draco and Zabini. He saw some other Slytherins behind them talking.
“I saw you catch the Snitch, Harry. You really are amazing at Quidditch,” said Zabini.
“Thanks. Were you watching the whole time?” asked Harry.
“Not the whole time, but we came around the corner and saw you and the Gryffindor flying around. I like the part when you dove for the Snitch,” said Draco, impressed, but he tried not to show it.
“Yeah, me too!” said Zabini. They started walking back toward the castle and towards the Slytherin Common Room. But then Harry remembered he wanted to send the letter for Hermione and Ron.
“Oh, I forgot. I wanted to send a letter to someone. I’ll meet you two in the Great Hall,” said Harry, running off to the Owlry, broom in hand.
Harry got to the Owlry out of breath and even more sweaty than he already was. He sent the letter off with Hedwig, and then he ran back downstairs to his dormitory to change. Harry knew that he probably smelled really bad, so he decided to take a quick shower, and then headed to the Great Hall before he starved.
“Where did you go? Home and back?” asked Draco, sarcastically as he ate his mashed potatoes.
“What are you talking about?” asked Harry, pouring anything close to him into his cup.
“You took a long time to send a letter, that’s all,” said Draco.
“Oh, because I didn’t just send a letter. I took a shower because I smelled really bad. Problem?” Harry asked, turning to give him a look.
“No. Just wondering,” said Draco, who turned to look at his food.
“Good because I want to talk to you.”
“About?”
“What we talked about this morning at breakfast,” said Harry. Harry saw Draco give him a confused look, so he lowered his voice and said, “Hagrid. The vault. Mysterious object.”
“Yeah? What about it?” asked Draco, his mouth full.
“Well, this afternoon since I had no classes, I went to talk to Hagrid, and he told me what the object was,” said Harry. He grabbed for some food.
“He just came out and told you what the object was?” asked Draco, incredulously.
“Well, no. He kind of said it without realizing, and regretted it afterwards.”
“Oh. Well, what did he say the object was?”
“The Sorcerer’s Stone,” said Harry, in a whisper.
“The Sorcerer’s Stone?!” said Draco. He hadn’t said it in a whisper, but he hadn’t shouted it either, but when Harry turned to look at the High Table, he found one of the teachers giving him a look: Snape.
“Will you be quiet?” said Harry, in a whisper turning back to Draco. “No one can know that we know about the stone.”
“Okay,” said Draco. “But do you know what the Sorcerer’s Stone is?”
“No, but I didn’t know you knew,” said Harry.
“Yeah, I know what it is. I heard my father talking about it once, but that was years ago. Anyway, this stone can make anyone immortal.”
“Immortal?” asked Harry, curiously.
“Yeah,” said Draco, as he nodded.
“Why was your father talking about the stone?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t hear the whole conversation. But mind you, I was about seven,” said Draco.
“Well, do you remember who your father was talking to?”
“I never saw his face because I was listening from the other room, but later my father just told me he was an ‘old friend,’” said Draco.
“Oh. Earlier you thought that the object Hagrid had taken was here at Hogwarts. Do you think that the stone could be here?”
“It could. Hogwarts is very protected,” said Draco, speaking at a normal tone again.
“Protected?”
“Well, yeah. There are all kinds of spells on the school to protect it,” said Draco.
“Protect it from what?”
“More like who. Protect it from people of other schools trying to get in, and from Muggles.”
“From Muggles. Why would you need to protect Hogwarts from Muggles? They are just Muggles, after all,” said Harry.
“Okay. Maybe not protect it from Muggles, but to make sure they don’t get in. I heard that when a muggle sees Hogwarts it looks like ruins or something of that sort.”
“I never knew that,” said Harry, as he turned to his food once more.
Harry returned to the Common Room with Draco. After some time, he saw Hedwig come over to him carrying a letter.
A/N: I know that Harry is amazing at Quidditch and he should have caught the Snitch every time, but I decided to let the Leven get a chance. Besides, Harry is only a first year he’ll get better. REVIEW!!!!!
PS-If you've been continually reading this story and enjoy is very much, you can check out Recollections or Black Beginnings. Two other things created by yours truly.