Coffee & Commentary

Coffee and Conjecture

March - 1986

"Sorry, excuse me, pardon, oops! Wotcher there!" I mumble as I make my way past a gaggle of First-Years on the spiral stairs in the center of the Ravenclaw Common Room. They giggle and gawk as I try to maintain my stability. The stack of books in my arms has severely hindered my line of vision and my balance. I push past the entrance of my dormitory and nearly trip over Dennis as I drop the bundle of quidditch playbooks onto my bed.

"Croak?" Dennis looked puzzled.

"That's what I would like to know, too." I say to him as I offer a treat as a gesture of goodwill for nearly flattening the poor toad. Tulip barely looked up from her studies. It was not uncommon for me, or anyone in our house, to be seen with an armload of books at any given moment. This time was different. This was the first time I had ever been offended by the suggestion of reading material. I sorted through the volumes splayed out in front of me.

"Chaser! There you are!" I exclaimed at the sight of the most tattered of the books that had been dumped at my feet just an hour ago.

Tulip perked up at the mention of quidditch. "Are you really thinking about joining the team?" She asked, skeptically. I shrugged.

"I wasn't giving it any serious thought until right now. After the choir auditions went downhill, I am afraid to try out for anything else. I am not much of a joiner, anyway. I would probably have more fun watching the games with Penny. I'm here to study. It seems terribly time consuming. Look at all this. I could spend the next six years here at Hogwarts studying this stuff when I should be working on curse breaking. Boys and sports seem like a distraction that I just don't need right now."

"Who said anything about boys?" She looked even more mischievous than usual as she joined me on my bed and stacked the books in order.

"What? Erm... no, no boys. I didn't... Did I say I was distracted by boys? I believe I said, that I didn't want to be distracted, that I shouldn't be distracted by anything." I stammered, knowing that I was turning more and more pink as I rambled.

Tulip smiled wildly and nodded. "So, who is the boy who definitely isn't, couldn't, and shouldn't be so distracting?" she pleaded. I knew there was not a way out of this interrogation.

"I just mean... well, the guy who gave me these books... the books... the books are large and... they are very distracting. There is a lot of material here. That's all." I tried again to divert her attention.

"So. the boy...who is not at all distracting... gave you the distracting books. Who is the boy with the distracting books?" She redirected me right where she wanted me. She was good.  

"I'm not sure, actually. I'm sure you've seen him though. He announces all the games. Brilliant with statistics. Blond. I think he's a Ravenclaw, too. He just dropped the books and left. He said I had potential to play if I read his material. A bit cocky in his abilities for someone who doesn't play the game." It struck me as a surprise that I genuinely knew nothing about him. How had he known so much about me?

"Doesn't or can't play?" she asked, "... because the boy who calls the game uses a wheelchair, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, it's... Murphy, Mc... Murphy McNully! Rumor has it, the bones in his right leg were banished in the war a few years back. I've heard all the rumors about everyone here. I've had a hand in starting some, too. Is he the not-distracting-guy?" She asked but knew didn't need to. My face gave all my secrets away. She nodded, "He's some kind of quidditch genius. Really. If he says you have potential, you have potential to be great. Take him up on the offering of books, coaching, and any other distractions he can offer. He really has an eye for talent. You could be Katriona Cassiopeia: Quidditch Star!" My mind was reeling as she went on.