Hogwarts Herald

Throughout Harry’s life, his main enemy has always been his cousin Dudley. While Dudley was fat and stupid and mean however, his new adversary is the exact opposite of that. Draco Malfoy is thin, good looking, and intelligent. He is also much meaner than Dudley could ever hope to be. Beyond mean, Draco Malfoy is cruel. Something Harry would learn as early on as their flying lessons together. That’s right, it’s not bad enough that they have to have potions together, but now they have flying lessons together too. Harry is positive that he will be no good at flying. He’s not very athletic after all, and he’s never been on a broom in his life. All of the wizarding family kids know all about brooms and Quidditch, and have already flown all the time. Or so they would have everyone think. The only people more frightened of flying than Harry are Neville and Hermione. Neville, because his Gran had very wisely kept his feet on the ground, and Hermione, because you just can’t learn to fly from books. No matter how much she reads about flying, that doesn’t guarantee that she will be good at it. That is a trauma that all of us bookish types (myself included) have experienced throughout the ages. No matter how good you are at all the rest of your classes, there is no promise that you are going to pass gym.

“Hermione wasn’t going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.”

While at breakfast on the day of the flying lessons, Neville receives a package from his Gran. In it is a small ball called a Remembrall. A fancy glass ball filled with white smoke. The theory is that if the holder of the ball has forgotten something, the smoke turns red. The only problem with that is then remembering what it is that you’ve forgotten. While Neville is examining his new gift, Draco and his cronies happen on the scene. Draco snatches Nevilles Remembrall and only gives it back when Professor McGonagall comes by and asks what’s going on.

Finally it’s time for their first flying lesson. The first years line up with school issued broomsticks, nervous and excited about flying. They are told to stand by their brooms and hold out their hands while calling the broom up. Much to Harrys surprise, the broom jumps right into his hand. Most of the others though, are not so fortunate. Then it’s time to straddle the broom, and kick off, GENTLY, rise off the ground a few feet, and then glide gracefully back to the earth. Neville, of course, kicks off a bit too early. And waaay too hard. He jets into the air, completely out of control, and falls off his broomstick at 20 feet in the air. Luck is on his side that all that he breaks is his wrist. Madame Hooch takes him to the infirmary with the warning that if anyone even thinks about flying while she is gone they will be out of Hogwarts “before they can say Quidditch”. Draco sees that Neville has lost his Remembrall when he fell, and quickly scoops it up. Threatning to leave it in a tree Draco flys off on his broom, and from the sky taunts Harry. Harry lets his temper get the best of him, and quickly mounts his broom to chase Malfoy.

Why would Harry do something so stupid? Why would he climb onto a broom and attempt something he has never done before, just to retrieve a mostly useless gift belonging to a boy he hardly knew? In my personal opinion, I think that he equates himself a lot with Neville. After all he has been picked on his entire life. He sees a boy who is being treated badly, and while he can stand being treated that way himself, he can’t see letting someone else be treated that way. So he does what he can. He stands up to Malfoy and decides no matter what, he is going to win this time. So, with Hermione yelling at him, he jumps onto his broomstick and chases Malfoy through the air.

Working his broom masterfully, it’s almost as though Harry was born to fly. He charges Malfoy and nearly knocks him to the ground. Draco, realizing that he doesn’t have his cronies to protect him in the air, decides to get away as best he can, by throwing Nevilles Remembrall into the air and then diving for the ground himself. Harry deftly captures the ball flying toward the ground, and lands safely, only to be caught in the act by Professor McGonagall.

The other students try to defend Harry, telling the Professor that it’s not his fault, but she’s not in the mood to hear any of it. Instead she takes Harry into the castle, in silence, and to a classroom where she asks the teacher if she may “borrow Wood for a moment.” Wood, as it turns out, is the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Professor McGonagall does a complete 180 in the privacy of an abandoned classroom, expounding to Wood how good Harry was on his broom. Marvelling that this was his first time on a broom, and at how easily and naturally he caught the Remembrall. They talk for a bit about getting him a decent broom, and how proud Harry’s father would be. James Potter, it seems, was an excellent Quidditch player.

That night at dinner Ron & Harry are talking and Ron is simply amazed. Harry is the youngest quidditch player at Hogwarts in a full century. And Wood plans on keeping it a secret. He wants Harry to startle everyone at the gate. Only other team members, including Fred & George Weasley know. Everyone’s hoping for a chance to win the Quidditch Cup with a little new blood on the team. Having lost the Quidditch Cup every year since Charlie Weasley (who was also a seeker) graduated is wearing a bit on the Gryffindors spirits. Draco, however is in high spirits anticipating the expulsion of Harry from Hogwarts. He is disappointed to find that Harry is neither leaving, nor is he afraid to still stand up to him.

In order to save face, Draco challenges Harry to a Wizards Duel at midnight. Ron and Harry both accept and agree to meet with Draco at midnighti n the trophy room. Hermione overhears the conversation and pipes up. She advises them in her best know it all ways that they can’t go wandering around in the middle of the night. If they get caught after all it will lose all of Gryffindor points, and that is very selfish. Harry and Ron let her know in no uncertain terms that it is none of her business and they’re not interested in discussing it with her.

That night, after laying in bed for awhile, they make their way down from their beds to the Gryffindor common room. Where a voice from the dark greets them. With a flick of the lamp we see it’s Hermione. Of course. She nearly told Percy what was going on, but changed her mind about it. Rather she has decided to stop them on her own. She thinks that she will be able to convice them to stay back, unfortunately she doesn’t seem to know much about 11 year old boys on a mission. She is cut off mid-lecture by them closing the portrait of the Fat Lady right in front of her. With her on the outside. And the Fat Lady nowhere to be seen. Neville too, is trapped outside the room. It seems he forgot the password and was locked outside for several hours. The four of them quietly make their way to the trophy room, only to find out how devious Malfoy really is. He is not there, but within a few minutes Filch and Mrs. Norris are. The kids know that they’ll be in loads of trouble if caught, so they try to find their way out, knocking over a suit of armor in the process. Then they run into Peeves and make him irritated so he starts bellowing out that they are there. They keep runnign until finally they come to a door. A locked door. With Filch coming closer every second, Hermione takes charge using a spell to open the door. From within the locked room they hear Peeves taunting Filch, and refusing to give him any information. Soon Peeves wanders off, leaving Filch chasing after him.

And then they see why the room they are in was locked. As it turns out it is the locked door. The one that Dumbledore warned about in the start of term banquet. And why is it locked you might ask? Well, because of the giant three headed dog of course. That seems a good reason to keep the door locked to me. The four first years stumbled out of the locked door and ran their little behinds right back up to their tower. When they did get there the Fat Lady had returned, and let them in when they gave her the password. They collapsed in the common room and started talking about the giant dog. With three heads. Hermione pointed out that the dog was standing on a trap door. It’s obviously guarding something, and Harry knows just what that something is. He doesn’t mention it to them, but he can bet that is where the package from vault 713 is now located.