I went back to the castle with Hagrid, and in the hospital wing, my grandpa, Zita, Edna, and Bran were all tucked underneath the covers of their bed, awake. Madame Pompfrey was delivering potions for them to drink. Before I could walk up to them, Madame Pompfrey approached me.

"It's you again," Madame Pompfrey said. "Rollie, why do I get the feeling that you are going to make my job harder the rest of your years at Hogwarts?"

"Look at it this way. We get to see each other more often." My lips curled up into the most charming smile I could muster.

"The less I see you, the better," Madame Pompfrey said with a smirk.

"What if I came to visit you and had no ailments. Just wanted to be nice and say 'hi.' how would you feel about that?"

"That would be rather heartwarming, I suppose. But, I'm sure you didn't come to see me. Everyone here is awake, but they're still coming out of a haze. Don't worry, it's perfectly normal. They should all be 100% healthy by tomorrow morning."

"Can I see them and say hello?"

"Of course you can.” Madame Pompfrey returned over to a cart filled with beakers and jars filled with different colored liquids.

Leon sat next to Zita, Daphne next to Bran and Edna, and Magdalene talked with my grandpa.

I ran up to my grandpa and gave him the tightest hug possible. Tears streamed down my cheek.

"Rollie," he said with a jubilant, weak voice. "It's so good to see you, grandson. But don’t worry about me. I'm not as cool as your friends; you should say hello to them first.” I pulled away from the hug, his eyes were half-closed, and he had a weak smile, but he slipped out a laugh. "Magdalene told me you helped save the day. I'm so proud of you. You have no idea."

I sniffled and cleared my throat. "Gra-grandpa, your ruh-ring saved us from a dementor. You saved the day."

"We all played a part. Like a team.” My grandpa winked. "Magdalene told me about everything that happened. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Please, I'm fine right here. Go say hello to your friends.”

I nodded and gave Magdalene a hug, then I went to Bran and Edna. They both had a broad smile on their face, but their faces were sunk in and they had bags under their eyes.

Bran opened his mouth and said, "Rollie, we owe you--"

"You don't owe me anything," I said.

"Oh. I was just going to say, we owe you a cake made from our parents' bakery. But if you're too good for that, then I guess not." Bran weakly chortled.

"Sorry! I'd love a cake! But you don't have to worry about that now. Just get better."

Bran nodded. Daphne and I recounted everything to them. I even told them about my wolverine Patronus, and how proud I was I could summon one.

In the coming weeks, England's magic newspaper, The Daily Prophet, had caught wind of the story that happened at Hogwarts. They interviewed Magdalene, Agatha, and myself. Leon wanted nothing to do with being in the paper, but Daphne was given the main write-up and headline. Rightfully so. If it wasn't for her judgment and potion making, I don't know if we would've saved my grandpa, Edna, and Bran.

We were all celebrities on the castle grounds. A few kids thanked us for making Hogwarts safer, but most of them gawked and kept to themselves. It felt like we had formed our own house. Leon no longer sat at the Slytherin table during meals, neither did Agatha with Ravenclaw. Also Magdalene was always next to me. We all sat at the Hufflepuff table.

The school year wasn't over, yet we still had the Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin game and then the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor match. Not too many students cared for the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor match like they did Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff. The corridors filled with chatter if Hufflepuff would go undefeated for the first time in over two decades. Then we also had to worry about our O.W.L. But I wasn't too nervous about the exam. I was still waiting to receive a letter from the mentorship program I applied to. Although "applied to," is a bit of a stretch. I actually wrote a letter earlier in the semester to Hagrid's friend Charlie Weasley, explaining my experience with magical creatures and how I had an interest in studying dragons further. But by May, I still hadn't heard anything, which was irritating since I wanted my plans solidified for the summer. I couldn't commit to any concerts or weekends spending time with any of my friends just yet. However, Daphne would be completely unavailable for her potions camp from the last week of June until the last week of July.

On Thursday evening, the Quidditch match week, we all sat together at our Hufflepuff table.

"Part of me wants to let you win, Leon," I said.

He glared. "What are you talking about?"

"Part of me doesn't want to get the snitch because I want to repay you for saving our lives in the catacombs. You came in clutch with your Patronus," I said.

"If you don't win against Slytherin, I'll fight you. That doesn't mean I'm not going to try, but I want you to give us a good match, kick our asses if you can. You must play at your full potential. Scouts are going to be at the game, you know?"

"Hold on, how come when Leon swears the ghostly friar is nowhere to be found, huh?" I said.

"It's because Leon is cool. He gets swearing privileges," Agatha replied with her deadpan tone. Everyone at the table snickered.

"Wow, I'm a little nervous. I mean, I always dreamed of being a professional Quidditch player, but you really think that scouts are going to be at the game?" I asked.

"Well, you beat Oliver, and they're always at Oliver's games. They're undoubtedly going to be watching our match." Leon scoffed and continued eating. "Are all you Americans so clueless?" He smirked.

"I'm just getting clowned on today. It's all right, though. I'll settle it on the field."

"Settle it with Johnny and Sable first and foremost," Leon said. "They could use a taste of medicine. But don't think I'm going to sabotage the game, I'm still going to play to win, but there's not much winning that can be done as the beater."

The day the match came, Hufflepuff roared a few cheers in the locker room, and we stormed the field.

Slytherin exhibited no emotion on the other side of the field. Leon had a grin, but he was the only one.

"Attention all of you magical specimens," Agatha announced. "Professor McGonagall here has told me I need to be a bit more optimistic and cheery for my commentary. Since I don't have anything nice to say about either team, I'm just not going to say anything at all."

"Agatha," McGonagall said with a sigh.

"Just kidding! They're both great... I guess. Please start the match."

Madame Hooch blew the whistle, and we all lifted off the ground on our brooms, and I darted through the sky, squinting for the golden snitch.

Edna took control of the match, bolting across the air, catching the quaffle, and hurling it through the hoops with ease. This happened three times in a row and we scored thirty points right away.

"Looks like her disappearance did not hold her back at all. Edna is playing to win in case that wasn't clear," Agatha said.

I flew higher up above everyone and thought about embarrassing Johnny and Sable in some fashion, but I was interrupted when a bludger blasted me on the side of the face. I spun around and saw Leon grinning.

"I followed through with my swing!" Leon winked.

"You did well!" I shouted.

An idea crossed my mind.

I dove down and chased after the bludger that bulleted away from me. I weaved around some players, and the Slytherin seeker stopped to notice what I was doing. I zoomed above the speed limit but not too much to where it was obvious. I caught Johnny in my sight just a few yards away from me, chasing after the airborne quaffle. Just before he got to it, I throttled the bludger with my fist, and it hurt my knuckles like hell, but it shot over to Johnny and struck him in the body, and he fell off his broom.

The whistle blew. Madame Hooch sent me to the penalty box for two minutes.

"It appears there's no penalty for punching a bludger," Agatha announced. "So really Madame Hooch arbitrarily made the call, but alas, Hufflepuff is down their star mohawk jock."

I thought I'd hear McGonagall scold her in the background, but she didn't say a word. I imagined her rubbing her forehead in irritation.

"With Rollie in the penalty box, the Slytherins appear to be empowered. Flying swiftly through the air, snappy passes back and forth with the quaffle, racking up forty points during Rollie's stay in the penalty box,” Agatha said.

Madame Hooch let me out of this wooden box.

“Slytherin scores from another quaffle toss by Sable,” Agatha said. “That makes 40 points by Sable. Doesn’t she have anyone else to pass to? Sheesh.”

Madame Hooch came flying down to let me out. ”I know what you're up to, Magpie. I have my eye on you. Don't disappoint your grandpa or the scouts, here again, understand?"

I gulped, and I nodded.

The Hufflepuff section roared with cheers as I flew back into the fray, hunting the golden snitch. Their seeker was squinting around in every corner, but the gleam caught my eye.

Near the Slytherin side of the field, the snitch buzzed around, zipping back and forth in the contained area. I swooped in and heard Sable's voice in the background.

"Rollie has found it! Stop him! Stop him!"

Three Slytherins dove at me and the seeker came creeping up on me. It became apparent that they practiced a play to contain me if they could. They tried blocking my path by stopping in front of me while their seeker pursued the snitch, and time was slipping away.

Holy smokes. We actually might lose.

I ducked below the first Slytherin, spun around the second person, and arched over the third. The Slytherin seeker was in arm's reach of the snitch.

The game can't end like this.

I yanked my broom forward and dropped below, squeezing in between the Slytherin seeker, and I whipped my hand out clutched the snitch.

"Not going to lie, the game held my interest better than the others I've seen this year. Congrats to the Huffle-punk seeker and their team. You've won the House Cup and went undefeated for the first time in twenty years. Congrats, yay, huzzah, and yeah, all that jazz, can I leave now?" Agatha said.

The stadium vibrated with cheers; every house was celebrating. It didn't make sense to me.

Leon flew up to me first, and he had a rare smile on his face that I had never seen before.

"Congrats, Rollie, you've had one helluva first year at Hogwarts.” Leon shook my hand and sped off.

All my teammates flew to my side, we floated back to the earth, and the entire Hufflepuff section stormed the field and hoisted me up in the air.

"Look at that. The match didn't end in injury!" I yelled to Edna. Our team hoisted Edna up in the air, and then they held up Daphne. All of us cheered and shouted at the top of our lungs.

"Oh Hufflepuff the Just and Loyal!

Always patient and unafraid of toil!

Through life may we always beee

Virtuous in our victoryyy

Forever may we cherish the yellow and black

The colors that have always had our back

Thank you Helga for uniting us all,

For when we win we'll have a ball!"

The party was carried all the way to the Hufflepuff common room. A keg of butterbeer was at the center of the couches, and Clark popped open the top with his wand, creating ten separate streams.

“Okay, now we can sing ‘We are the Champions’ by Queen!” Clark yelled. “Take it away, Magpie!”

My jaw dropped and I cracked up. I shook my head.

"C'mon, Rollie, you have to do it!" Clark yelled. Everyone else cheered in the room so loud, I didn't have a choice.

"I've paid my dues time after time..."

Everyone put their arms around each other and swayed back and forth.

"I've done my sentence but committed no crime

And bad mistakes, I've made a few

I've had my share of sand kicked in my face

But I've come through"

"And we mean to go on, and on, and on, and on"

Everyone joined in with shouting.

"We are the champions, my friends

And we'll keep on fighting till the end

We are the champions, we are the champions

No time for losers, 'cause we are the champions of the world"

We repeated the chorus over and over, screaming every lyric and I strained my vocal cords (the following day most of us lost our voice). Everyone filled their glass from the butterbeer stream and paraded around the common room. People were dancing, and some were wearing a badger mask on their heads, jumping on the tables. Daphne shot yellow and black confetti from her wand that filled the space. Bran, Edna, and Daphne all gave me a hug. Clark joined in at the last minute. It was a moment I’ll never forget.

But the school year still wasn't done.