Chapter 18: Quidditch woes

"I got in!" Ron laughed as he ran towards Lucy who was heading to breakfast the next day. "I got in the team!" 

"Quidditch team?" Lucy asked. 

"Yeah!" Ron grinned. "I can't believe it! Can you?" 

"Oh I can..." Lucy laughed as she remembered what had happened yesterday as she spotted Angelina in the corridors as she headed down to the room of requirement: 

"Listen you," Lucy had said and confronted Angelina, stopping her in her tracks. "You better let Ron on the team." 

"Why should I do that?" Angelina had asked. 

"Because he's a good player and we desperately need a keeper. He's known how to play Quidditch all his life and has dreamt about getting on the Gryffindor team for a long time!" 

"That still isn't convincing..." 

"Why not?" 

"If he hasn't got skill, he's not getting on the team." 

"He has got skill! I saw him knocking those quaffles out the way!" 

"I still don't think he's worthy..." 

"Fine, we'll be one player short and we'll lose to Slytherin in the upcoming game. But when you leave at the end of this year and I become captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Ron will be the first one to be on my team." 

"Alright, fine. He can be on the team. But for your sake, I hope he plays well. Because if he doesn't, not only he will be off the team but you too." 

"Just play well for me, Ron, OK?" Lucy said as she snapped back to reality.

"Oh I will! I'm going to play well for everybody!" 

"Ron, stop flirting! You don't have a chance with Lucy, she's way out of your league!" Fred yelled as he ran behind the two of them, alongside George. 

"Shut up, Fred! I know who she's going out with!" Ron snapped. 

"I think we all know who she's going out with," Fred laughed and linked arms with Lucy. Lucy tugged on Fred's arm, slowing him down and let Ron and George walk into the great hall. 

"What is it?" Fred asked. 

"Why so happy?" She asked back. "It wasn't long ago when you seemed to hate me." 

"I never hated you! No, never! I would never hate you!" Fred protested. "I was just a little sad for you about what happened to Anastasia." 

Lucy nodded but then smiled. "Well, I like the Fred that's with me now...not the other one." 

"Me too," Fred laughed just as a strong force pulled them apart. 

"Boys and girls are not permitted to be between eight inches of each other!" Umbridge said. Lucy and Fred looked up to see Umbridge putting her wand away. "My, my, Miss Snape. You do seem to be landing yourself in a lot of trouble lately! In fact, both of you are." 

Lucy's hair turned the colour of Fred's hair so the two of them matched. Umbridge laughed again and a crowd of students began to form around the group. 

"Yet another rule broken!" 

"I'm sorry, what?" Lucy asked. 

"Educational decree number ninety nine." Draco said as he walked forward, standing next to Umbridge. "The usage of magic to change one's physical appearance is forbidden." 

"You're just as dimwitted as her, Malfoy!" Fred snapped. "She's a metamorphmagus! You've known that since third year!" 

"Maybe so, but it's forbidden!" Draco snapped back. 

"What's that pinned to your chest? An 'I heart Umbridge' badge?" Fred taunted. 

"As a matter of fact, it is — " Draco pointed to the badge. "Inquisitorial squad. Making sure all rules are obeyed. Prefects aren't doing their duty properly. They aren't ministry approved like we are." 

"This is just ridiculous!" Lucy spat. 

"Yes, just as ridiculous as the myth of the islands! Now, Miss Snape, I know you are in possession of a certain book that tells the tale of the knights." Umbridge said then held out her hand. "I want it." 

"You don't have the right to take that!" Shona yelled and pushed past the crowd. "That's ours! We rightfully own it! The minister even gave us one copy!" 

"The minister would never do a thing like that!" Umbridge said although she was un-sure of herself. "He does not believe in such nonsense." 

"It's not nonsense and he does belief," Snape growled as he also pushed past the crowd. "He believes every word of it. In fact, he actually came to us at the start of Lucy and McGuire's fourth year to tell us the circumstances of what was happening." 

"Professor Snape, you must stop brainwashing your students into this 'tale of the knights' it is completely uncalled for." Umbridge frowned. "Now, I want that book please." 

"Let me guess, this is another educational decree," Fred rolled his eyes. 

"Educational decree number one hundred and thirty three!" Draco called out proudly. "Professor Umbridge to confiscate any book which is not authorised from students." 

"Next she'll make one about having us eating oatmeal and nothing else!" Shona whined. 

"I may just ban Worthings from the school, Miss McGuire, so keep quiet!" Umbridge shrieked then she turned back to Lucy. "I shall ask again, this is your last warning. The book, please." 

"Don't give it to her!" Shona said as Lucy began un-doing her bag. 

"If you don't give it here, Miss Snape, you will receive a week worth's of detention and I may just expell you! I am in the right mind of doing so because of all the rules you have broken! Give me the book and you will have a second chance." Umbridge said sweetly. "Come on, now, be a good girl!" 

Lucy looked at her father who looked lost for words himself and then she looked at Shona who looked like she was just about ready to rip Umbridge's head off. Lucy sighed and un-did her bag and pulled out the tale of the knights. She then slowly walked forward until she was right in front of Umbridge. 

"Thank you, dear, you're finally making the right choices. I'm sure you've made your father very proud." Umbridge smiled. 

"I'm not giving it to you," Lucy said.

The smile was wiped from Umbridge's face. "Pardon me, dear?" 

"I said, I'm not giving the book to you." Lucy repeated. "This is my book and I deserve to keep it, it is not affecting my learning, you or anybody else. Therefore I am going to keep it because I need it." 

"For what?" 

"For helping me Shona and my father to defeat Lord Zuc." 

"Lord Zuc is not real, dear." 

"He is as real as you or I." Lucy said and whipped out the orb from her bag as well as the knife. "Like my souviners? I got one of them from Zuc and one of them from a basilisk. I'll give you ten points if you successfully work out which one's which." 

"Miss Snape, hand those objects to me!" Umbridge barked. 

Lucy took a deep breath and spat the words in Umbridge's face. "I don't think so!" 

Lucy turned on her heel and placed the objects back in her bag and began to walk away when every member of the Inquisitorial squad ran towards her.

But Lucy saw it coming. 

She took out her wand and spun around just as they approached her. 

"STUPEFY!" Lucy yelled at Draco who fell on his back, a few members of the squad were a little shocked but the rest began to attack Lucy. As one of them pinned Lucy on the ground she noticed that they were all Slytherins. 

"Give me that!" Crabbe yelled and took her wand out of her hand as Lucy realised that Goyle was the one that had pinned her down. 

"Nice try you too, but you want to know a secret?" Lucy asked. The two looked at each other then at Lucy. "Come closer and I'll whisper it in your ear..."

Goyle lent forward and waited for Lucy to speak when Lucy swung a punch at him and he yelled out in pain. Lucy got up and kicked Crabbe in the shin and he fell on the floor. The other members of the squad gasped and didn't dare go near Lucy. 

"Yeah! That's how Lucy fights!" Shona cheered and pumped her fist in the air. 

"MISS SNAPE!" Umbridge screamed. "DETENTION!" 

"Don't worry, I'll be there!" Lucy smiled and began to walk away when Umbridge yelled something which made her stop in her tracks. 

"AND YOU ARE BANNED FROM EVERY SINGLE QUIDDITCH GAME FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS IN HOGWARTS!" 

*      *      * 

"Now you've gone and done it!" Angelina screamed in her face. "Now we've got no seeker five minuets before the game's due to start!" 

Lucy was sat in the changing room with her school uniform on, Angelina was yelling at her as the rest of the team stood there and felt sorry for her. The Quidditch game against Gryffindor and Slytherin was due to start in five minuets and the Gryffindor team was in deep trouble.

"How could you do this to us? You're so selfish!" Angelina raged. 

"Look, it wasn't her fault! Umbridge had a right go at her and Draco's gang tried to attack her!" Fred yelled. 

"I don't care if she was trampled on by hippogriffs and Merlin awoke from the dead and gave her a slap in the face! WE NEED A SEEKER!" 

"I'll be willing to play," a voice came from the entrance of the tent. Everyone turned around and saw Harry.

"There we are, Angelina, there's your seeker." George smiled. 

"Well, good luck, you lot. I've got a detention to serve." Lucy said sadly and got up, Fred gave her a hug before she left. 

She walked onto the Qudditch pitch and the Slytherin's booed at her. She rolled her eyes and began to walk back to the Hogwarts castle and up to Umbridge's office, where she sat drinking some tea with about five spoonfulls of sugar in. 

"Welcome, Miss Snape," Umbridge said as Lucy arrived. 

"Am I going to be writing lines?"

"Yes you are, same thing as last time. I would like it written one hundred times, you can request more parchment if you need it." 

"Thanks." Lucy said sourly as she sat down and picked up Umbridge's dreaded quill and began writing lines. 

She ignored the searing pain in her hands and whispered the lines to herself in her head, she was like a robot programmed to write out these lines. She had blocked out all her surroundings and forgotten everything she knew as she wrote. 

"Naughty children deserved to be punished," Umbridge said. 

"Naughty children deserved to be punished," Lucy repeated in a whisper. "Like me." 

"Just like you, Lucy Snape," another voice said and Lucy recognised it as Zuc. 

"Go away, Zuc," Lucy muttered and she looked up from her lines to find Umbridge had disappeared. 

"We're coming to get you, no where is safe now. Not even your little magic school." Zuc laughed in her head. 

"I don't care," Lucy whispered. "You can't find me, you'll never find me. Not now, you're on the islands and you can't get me." 

"Watch me," Zuc laughed and Lucy laughed with him just as someone put their hand on her shoulder. 

"Lucy!" 

"What?" Lucy asked and she looked up to find Snape standing there along with Shona. Snape removed his hand from her shoulder and looked down at the piece of parchment she had been writing on. Instead of her lines, there was the conversation she had just had with Zuc written there. 

"Now Zuc's gone and tried to control her..." Snape said worriedly. "I thought this was going to happen."

"Why, did you see it?"

"I caught glimpses of it."

"WELL IF YOU CATCH GLIMPSES OF STUFF WHY DON'T YOU TELL US!" Shona yelled but Snape whacked her on the head.

"Keep quiet! We don't want Umbridge to know we're here!" Snape hissed as Lucy got up. "Lets get out of here quickly."

Lucy, Snape and Shona exited Umbridge's office quickly and ran down the steps that lead to the defense against the dark arts classroom. They ran down to the potions classroom, Snape sat at his desk and Lucy and Shona sat in their normal seats.

"So who won the Quidditch game?" Lucy asked.

"Gryffindor," Snape said simply. "But Mr Potter and the Weasley twins got into a fight with Mr Malfoy, they were banned from playing every Quidditch game like you. But, the twins got their brooms banned from them. If Harry hadn't of been using a school broom, his would have been confiscated too."

"Poor, Harry. He became a one hit wonder," Shona sighed.

"It's a shame now Gryffindor has no seeker and no beaters." Lucy said sadly.

"Ginny Weasley might be replacing you and Harry but I don't know about Fred and George."

"Lets hope Ginny's a good player for Gryffindor's sake." She sighed. "How did Ron get on?"

"Not very well," Snape shook his head.

"The Slytherin's made a little chant for him: Weasley is our King! He always lets the quaffle in!"

"Well, that's very inventive," Lucy said sarcastically. "Things haven't been going too well for us at Hogwarts recently, have they?"

"Not really," Snape shook his head. "At least we're going home for Christmas."

"We are?" Lucy asked excitedly.

"Well, of course. We haven't gone back home for Christmas in a while."

"Will it be just us two?"

"Yes, I will not even allow McGuire to join us."

"I didn't want to go to your house anyway!" Shona yelled. "I hate Spinners end! It's horrible!"

"I hate Worthing, are we even?"

"Yeah, whatever..." Shona muttered miserably.