INCEPTION.

Chapter Nine - Quidditch Match.

That night, Dumbledore sent all of the students from every House to sleep in the Great Hall.

The teachers searched the whole castle for any signs of Sirius Black but there wasn't a single trace of him.

The next few days, the school talked about nothing else but Black.

We were honestly very worried for Harry.

We knew Sirius Black was out looking for him, but we always assumed that it was the least of our worries as long as we never left school grounds.

But now that the unthinkable happened and Black managed to break into the school, Harry was under heavy vigilance.

He would be escorted from class to class by Professors, and I could tell it was embarrassing for him.

We were in the Common Room, sitting at our usual spot in front of the fireplace with the exception of Hermione who was at one of the tables, getting started on her mountain of homework. She looked like she was on the verge of tears but none of us dared to interrupt her, because we'd get snapped at if we did.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team was surrounding us. They were having a team meeting because Oliver Wood, the Captain of the team, came bearing bad news.

"We're not playing Slytherin. We're playing Hufflepuff instead." Oliver announced agitatedly, pacing back and forth in front of us as his eyes darted rapidly to each of his teammate's faces.

"Why?" chorused the team, and Ron— who was deeply invested.

"The excuse is that Slytherin's Seeker's arm is still injured. But I know that they canceled because they don't want to play in this weather. It'll damage their chances." Oliver was grinding his teeth now.

My eyes scanned out the window and saw that it was pouring outside. The weather had been rainy for a few days now, with no indication of change anytime soon.

"There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm! He's faking it." Harry replied furiously.

Ron grunted in agreement, nodding viciously.

"I know, but we can't prove it. And we've been practicing moves thinking we'd play Slytherin, and instead, it's Hufflepuff. Their technique is quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker— Cedric Diggory."

I jumped slightly in my seat at the mention of his name.

The whole sports-talk bored me a bit but I was suddenly very alert.

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie giggled when they heard Cedric's name. They were the girls who played for the Gryffindor team, and by the looks of it, were crushing on Cedric just as many others were.

"What?" asked Oliver, frowning at the girls' abrupt, lighthearted behavior.

They suddenly glanced at me.

"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" Angelina asked Oliver. Her eyes still on me.

"Strong and silent," added Katie, also looking in my direction and started to giggle again.

I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as I sank further into the couch.

I wonder if I made it obvious that I liked Cedric whenever he talked to me.

I mean, there had to be a reason as to why the girls seemed to direct their teasing about him to me.

"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," Fred said impatiently. "You shouldn't be worried, Oliver. Hufflepuffs are pushovers. The last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in five minutes, remember?"