Harry Potter And So It Begins

The day before the Professors were due to leave, Raven decides to get everyone together for one last Quidditch match. "Okay so the teams will be Harry, Ron, Susan, Ginny, Angela and the twins against Charlie, Billy, Tonks, Sasha, Holly, Laura and me." To make things fair everyone rode the new team brooms that Raven was donating to the school for each of the House Teams. He was also donating all new equipment as well as new robes. When asked why he was doing this he answered that it was to level the playing field.

The two teams took their places as both Harry and Charlie flew over head to look for the snitch. Raven and Angela were the Keepers while he and Charlie were the Seekers . Ron Ginny, Susan, Tonks, Billy and Laura were the Chasers while the twins, Sasha and Holly were the beaters. The match got off to a quick pace and even Harry had a hard time keeping track of what was happening.

The twins were struggeling with Sasha and Holly as the two women easily neutralized the younger beaters. Harry had never seen anyone handle the twins with so little effort before as the two women took themselves and the twins out of the game. The rest teens weren't fairing much better either. It was obvious that while Billy was a descent chaser it wasn't a position he played often. However, Tonks and Laura both flew like they were born on brooms. There was no wasted movement as the two women tore across the field performing maneuvers that would have many professionals asking for pointers.

As for Raven's skill as a Keeper, it be came all too appearent that while he had taught Angela everthing she knew about the game he had kept a few tricks for himself. He hadn't let a single goal by in the last hour of play and showed absolutly no signs of being the slightest bit tired. In fact Raven actually appeared to be enjoying himself as he watched Angela struggle to prevent Tonks and the others from scoring.

The the score tied at zero and his team fading fast Harry knew that the only hope he had was to catch the Golden Snitch quickly before the others started dropping. Unfortunatly for Harry by the time he caught sight of his tiny prey Charlie was already within arms reach of it. The match ended with Raven's team winning 150 to nothing and the teens slowly floating down to the ground so as to avoid crashing.

"Good game," Raven said once everyone had gathered on the ground.

"Maybe for you," Ron said tiredly. "I've never been so totaly whipped in my life."

"Neither have I," Angela added as she leaned on her broom for support. "And my team finished in last place two years in a row."

Raven laughed at them as the players walked towards their spectators. "Don't feel so down," he offered warmly. "You guys haven't been playing together for as long as we had. Though admitidly we're a bit out of practice, we had to work hard to to get our skils to that level just to compinsate for the slower brooms we had."

"If that's what you play like when you're out of practice I'd love to watch you play someone other then me when you're back on form." Ginny said once they reached the stands.

"Actually," Sasha interjected. "That's not a half bad idea." The seductive grin on her face told her friends what she was thinking.

"We've still got a couple hours till lunch," Holly added.

"What do you say Raven?" Laura asked their unoffical leader.

"What are you guys going on about?" Neville inquired.

Raven laughs as he takes a seat with the others joining suite. "You guys want to see what we were really then sit down and I'll show you." Closing his eyes he begins whispering in elven as the fingers of his right hand begin moving.

"This will be good, I promise." Charlie tells them while Tonks instructs Athos and Esmerelda to bring them some refreshments. "You'll see the greatest Quidditch match in Hogwarts history."

"The Silver Wings verses the Pride of Gryffindor." Laura informs them as the illusions appear below them on the field.

"Who were the Silver Wings?" Susan asks as she watches the two teams mount their brooms. "Wait a minute, those are Ravenclaw's colors."

"That's right," Professor McGonagall smiles. "The Silver Wings was name the other students gave to Ravenclaw's Quidditch Team. They were undefeated for four years until they played Raven and the others."

"The Pride of Gryffindor is what they called us." Tonks beamed. "We were the first team in four years that had a chance of defeating Ravenclaw."

"Of course Raven didn't want to play at first." Holly added. "He had a crush on the Captain and being the Lord of Ravenclaw didn't help any."

"I did not have a crush on Shannon," Raven replied defensively. He then mutters, "It was Gloria." Everyone laughs at him as the refreshments arrive. With a quick whistle from Raven the match begins and everyone enjoys the replay of the game.

The Silver Wings' Seeker stays with Charlie for the entire game as they match eachother move for move. Fred and George soon realise just how lucky they had been, so do Susan, Ginny and Ron, as they watch Sasha and Holly not only intercept bludgers intended for their teammates but aslo reflect them to the other team's chaser.

Given the brooms used at the time, the match proceedes at a fairly descent pace as a young Raven blocks several goals before taking a matching pair of bludgers to the chest and shoulder. The older Raven winces as he recalled the hits that forced him to leave his post for a few minutes while he tended to his injures.

Raven wasn't the only one of the Gryffindor players hurt during the game. In fact at one point or another during the match everyone playing was taken out of the match for a few minutes while they tended to their wounds. By the end of the match both teams has sustained serious injuries but Gryffindor had won 450 to 300.

"That was amazing," Ginny says as the head back to the Mansion for lunch. "You guys were in almost perfect harmony."

"Who were the other two chasers?" Fred asks. "The blonde was pretty cute."

"Leslie and Lori Mcduff." Raven answered. "They were a year ahead of us. last I heard they were both married with three kids each."

Later that evening after dinner Raven and Harry are talking in Raven's room while he finishes packing for his trip in the morning. "I want you to make sure the others listen to Holly and Sasha while I'm gone. They can be a bit odd but they know what they're doing."

"I will," Harry assures him. "Just one question, Sasha is a vampire right?"

Raven laughs at the young man's observation. "Yes she is a vampire and the answer to your next question is Fae Magic."

"But how?" Harry wants to know.

"It was just before the end of our Fifth year and we were hiding from Filtch in the the Forbidden Forest. We were attacked by a group of vampires that were passing through and while we managed to destroy them, Sasha had been bitten. We notified Dumbeldore, Aunt Minerva and Poppy right away and they helped us get her here before anyone else found out. It took Laura, Rachell and I the rest of the year and half the summer to figure out how to help her."

"Who's Rachell?" Harry asks.

"Rachell Fitzpatrick," he tells Harry. "She was a Ravenclaw in our year. You'll have a chance to meet her when you get to Hogwarts."

"Why is that?" Harry inquires.

"She's taking over for History of Magic from Binns." Raven can't help but laugh at the look of surprise on Harry's face as he answers the young man's unspoken quiestion. "Yes Binns finally retired."

"Cool," Harry begins beore he catches himself. "Okay so how did you three help Sasha?" Harry asks getting back to the topic at hand.

"Her ring and pendant," Raven answers as he conjures up a picture of Sasha. He points out the silver ring with elven writting engraved along the band and set with seven tiny rainbow quartz stones. Raven then points out the silver pendent which is just a simple red stone wrapped with silver cord attached to a silver chain.

"The magic contained in those two peices of jewlery allows her to function without fear of her vampiric nature. Though creating them left me completely drained for the rest of the summer and it took me till Christmas to fully recover."

"But what are they?" Harry asked still not believing that such things could even exist.

"The ring has no actual name," Raven admits. "Its power comes from the bond that the seven of us shared and the strength of our freindship. It protects her from the sun's rays and neutralizes the bloodlust that most vampires have. The stone in the pendent is a Bloodstone and removes her need to feed on living creatures. We all donated a few drops of our own blood for the spell and anytime she feels the need to feed she just sucks on the stone and recieves all the blood she needs."

"Would these work for anyone?" Harry asks as the basics of a plan begin forming in his head. "If we could make more of these..."

"That's impossible," Raven says cutting him off. "The magic only worked because she was still a newly created Vampire that struggled to hang on to her humanity. Then there was the bound that the seven of us shared, that special freindship that very few ever actually have. Not to mention that as powerful as I was the drain still nearly killed me." Raven sighs as he shakes his head sadly. "I'm sorry Harry, it was a good idea but there are just too many things that need to happen for that kind of magic to work."