Chapter 103: Chapter 103 : Whispers of Hogwarts
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The door of Lockhart's office opened then, the noise of creaking wood startling him; Adrian exited the office looking beyond relieved, Lockhart ushering him out, smiling as he claimed that time flew when you were enjoying yourself. None of them seemed the least frightened and Harry immediately knew that neither his brother nor the DADA professor had heard the voice. Harry gulped and tried to calm his nerves. He had been falling asleep right before he heard the voice after all and ghosts in Hogwarts could go through walls… He shook any grim thoughts away; he just needed to catch up with his sleep. For the moment however, he settled for catching up with his brother who was already leaving, cursing Lockhart under his breath.
"Pssst!" Harry called his brother, making him jump in fear.
"Don't do that!" Adrian complained when a chuckling Harry lifted the cloak slightly so that his brother could slide in. "What are you doing here, Harry?"
"I couldn't sleep and I figured, after hours in the same room as Lockhart, you could do with a visit to the kitchens."
"You have a point there."
"I know." They walked carefully towards the kitchens where a group of excited house elves flooded them with all the food they could ever eat. Harry thanked them politely, his brother catching his attention. Adrian was looking at the numerous elves around the room, almost as if he expected to spot a specific one amongst them. But as soon as it came, the look was gone and Adrian turned his full attention to a caramel éclair. Harry just shook his head, thinking he was imagining things again and that he was long overdue for a good night's sleep. The two brothers laughed quietly all the way back to the Gryffindor tower at Adrian's recount of his detention.
The days passed almost quietly; all September and the greater part of October had to offer Harry in terms of hardship was his Quidditch training. Wood was beyond angry that Slytherin had secured seven Nimbus Two Thousand and One broomsticks for their games and was trying to make up for the fact with having his team double their training. Harry wouldn't particularly mind hadn't it been for the fact that autumn had brought an unusual amount of rain that year. As it was, half the times a practice was over he was covered in mud. Adrian, who, as a replacement had to get some training himself, was grumbling silently about the treatment they underwent while Harry had become quite an expert in mud-removing spells of all sorts.
Harry was returning from one of his practices one afternoon when he met his brother, still covered in mud -the replacement team had finished their practice an hour ago while Harry, being the only Seeker Gryffindor had, Oliver not being pleased with any of the understudies, had been forced to stay under the rain for a bit longer- conversing with Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost.
"Hey, Harry!" Adrian called his twin from the corridor where Nick had just departed. "Did you shower already?" The hazel eyed boy asked, making Harry roll his eyes.
"No, but I happen to be a wizard." And with a flick of his wand and an incantation, his brother's robes were mud-free too. Adrian smiled.
"You're getting good with those spells."
"For once brother, I'd rather I didn't." Harry answered. "Was that Nearly Headless Nick you were talking to back there?"
"Yep! You won't believe what happened…" Adrian started narrating how Nearly Headless Nick had problems being admitted to the Headless Hunters, how Filch had caught him for dripping mud all over the floor, how there was a strong possibility that the genitor was a Squib and how he had come to be invited to Sir Nicholas's deathday party.
"A deathday party?" Harry asked confused. "Who would someone celebrate their own death?"
"Got me there, but I promised to go." He looked at his brother with a smile. "Say, Harry…"
"Nope, not happening." The green eyed wizard stated, correctly guessing his brother was trying to have him tag-along on Halloween. "I've been waiting for the feast for weeks and besides, I don't fancy staying in the same room with a large amount of ghosts that could float through me at any given time. I'll pass; Ron and Hermione might want to come though." Adrian huffed.
"Fine! But if we end up having a blast…"
"I'll bow to your higher intelligence." Harry finished his sentence, dramatically bowing to emphasize his point. Adrian chuckled at his brother's display and pushed him playfully on the shoulder.
"Race you to the common room!" The hazel eyed boy proclaimed, speeding off. Harry just chuckled and run to catch up with him.
The next evening found an exhausted Harry in Severus's office. The potions master was listening to him complain about Oliver's tendencies of slave-driving with a smile on his face.
"And I swear, he thinks he's training Vratsa Vultures or something! Maybe even the British national team!" Harry exclaimed sulking over his cup of hot chocolate.
"First of, with how the national team's been playing lately, that could be an idea."
"Thanks." Harry commented drily.
"What?" Severus asked smirking. "Oh, come on! How bad can Wood be?"
"We're practicing almost every day, under pouring rain." Harry stated. "Even Professor McGonagall -and you know how much she likes having that Cup in her office- had to tell him to lay back a little." Severus's eyebrows rose in surprise; Minerva really loved having the Quidditch Cup in her office.
"And why has he been going so hard on the team this year?"
"It's those bloody brooms Malfoy went and bought for Slytherin." Harry explained sighing. "Oliver's convinced he has to gain back any type of advantage we had through training."
"Are those broomsticks that good?" Severus asked confused. He was mad at Malfoy for buying his way into the team, but there wasn't much he could do without blowing his cover. Still, he hadn't read or heard anything too exciting about the new Nimbus model.
"That's the thing; they're not!" Harry said forcefully. "They out-speed the Two Thousand model only by five miles per hour and their design is pretty much the same; if any modification has been made, it concerns the long distance travels settings. And I've told Wood as much but did he listen? No, because, apparently, what do I know?" Yeah, what do you know? Severus thought sarcastically. You just seem to have a knack at designing racing broomsticks is all.
"But why would Nimbus Co. produce a model so similar to its last?" Severus asked after some consideration. "Makes no sense; they made their reputation based on every model being much better than the last."
"There's been a rumor flying around that the Comet Trading Company has been trying to launch a model for the Quidditch World Cup in two years and the Nimbus Racing Broom Co. has been trying to beat them to it; they launched the Two Thousand and One model in haste as most of their efforts were focused elsewhere." Harry stated.
"And you know that how?" The potions master asked intrigued; the boy never failed to amaze him.
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