Amulet of time 1: The Age of The Founders

Chapter 19: Halloween Suspicions

The day after Gallatea's birthday brought much confusion to the school. By the end of breakfast all of the students had heard about the new quidditch pitch and were wondering what it was for. They figured it was for some type of sport, judging by the stands of seats. But the six golden hoops served to confuse them further. It was also obvious that the other three founders hadn't been told about the addition to their school when Slytherin stormed in, quickly followed by Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. The other two seemed calm and accepting, but Salazar was on the warpath. He made Snape after a Gryffindor-Slytherin match seem like a teddy bear. Striding up to Rowena, he started berating her at the top of his voice.

" WHAT IS THAT?"

" What is what, Salazar?"

" DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH ME, WOMAN!"

" I am not playing games. It is a birthday gift to my daughter from one of her friends. Do you have an objection to that?"

"YES I DO! IT IS UNSIGHTLY, AND SERVES NO PRACTICAL PURPOSE."

" Nonsense, Salazar. It is a quidditch pitch."

" And may I ask what quidditch is?" Gryffindor asked.

" Quidditch is a sport played in…the place the new students are from."

" I see. And how many people here know how to play this sport, may I ask?"

Gallatea, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Ardwick put their hands up. Gryffindor looked around the room and noticed no other hands.

" My dear Rowena, it seems as if we have a new pitch to play a sport that nobody knows about. Now does anybody have a suggestion as to what we do to remedy this?"

At the Slytherin table Christabel slowly stood up. Everyone was surprised at the usually shy girl drawing so much attention to herself. It was Hufflepuff that called on her.

" You have a suggestion, my dear?"

" Well, I figured that as my friends caused the disturbance, and I am the only one of the group unfamiliar with the sport, I would be the best to speak. From what I hear, where Ron, 'Mione, Ginny and Harry are from they have teams to play this sport. I have also heard them speaking about House teams. I would suggest that as we now have the facilities, we make use of them. I propose that Harry and Ron write for us the rules of the game and how it is played, perhaps in the form of a book. These books could be distributed to the other students, and those who are interested could form House teams. We could have competitions between the House teams, as a recreational form of physical education. I have often heard Lord Slytherin complaining about the physical fitness of many students. This may be a reasonable solution."

This said the girl sat down and awaited a response. Her friends were looking at her in pride, and the founders had huddled to discuss this suggestion. The students were eagerly anticipating their response. Many of them found the idea of a sporting event appealing. After a few minutes, and many dirty looks from Slytherin, the founders turned to the students, Rowena speaking for all of them.

" It has been agreed to try this suggestion for the rest of this year. If it works out well, we may make quidditch matches a new Hogwarts tradition."

It wasn't until the start of period three that Hermione got the chance to corner Harry about the quidditch pitch. She had tried to talk to him the night before, but he had stayed close to Gallatea. She could tell he was avoiding her, and figured it was because he knew she would give him a lecture. But he couldn't avoid her forever. At the start of their free period she found him sitting in a remote corner of the library reading a Dark Arts book. Going over to him, she sat opposite him, leaned across the table, and slammed the book shut. He lifted his head and gave her an annoyed look, but didn't get to say anything before she launched into her tirade.