Starry skies and Gardenias

Chapter 85

The rain was still pelting down, and it seemed that Gryffindor would play its first patch in the storm again. 

Isabella was in a very irky mood. 

She had stopped taking the sleeping draught now, and that only caused her dreams to become vague. She was no longer seeing Harry and his adventures, but she would see glimpses of that blurred street. All the dreams ended with a loud screech and the bright white light. And result in a massive headache. 

The teachers seemed to love giving away homework left, right and centre. 

Isabella was planning of withdrawing her contract with Witch Weekly, but then decided not to when she saw the money that was flown in. . .Goodness, she was becoming materialistic. 
Bullshit. Money is everything and she loved money.
. . .Alright, this was getting out of hand. She should really take a good nap.

"The post is cursed," Isabella heard a piece of conversation from the Gryffindor table as she sat down for breakfast, a bit late that morning.

"Not one professor lasted more than a year," the boy was saying. 

"Cursed?" another girl, a first-year squeaked. "People haven't got hurt, have they?"

"Not really," the older boy assured her. 

Isabella stifled a yawn and poured herself some coffee. Is this how adults felt? Tired all the time? 

She had Care of Magical Creatures that morning. Professor Kettleburn's happy-go-lucky personality was going to hit her like a truck today. Wonder what he had in store for the class that day. . .

"Morning, morning," Kettleburn said brightly. 

When Isabella stepped over a spot, she noticed that Kettleburn had cast a spell to keep the rain away and the spot the class was standing at was quite dry. 

"Bowtruckles," Kettleburn said once everyone had assembled near him. "Just a revision from last year,"

Isabella relaxed considerably. It was only a revision. Nothing much this time. 

As the period progressed, the rain grew heavier and Professor Kettleburn had to cut the class off halfway and send the students back to the castle before they got caught in a storm.

"We will be playing in the storm again," James told the team in the locker rooms. "Andy, Chris, first time in the storm right? Don't worry. We'll pull through,"

"As long as you don't fly off your broom," Sirius added.

"Or crash into a player you didn't see coming," Arthur shrugged.

"Or slip off your broom," Marlene said. "It gets were slippery and with all the water and wind in your face, it is a nightmare,"

"The Quaffle tends to be very hard to grab during rains," James told the chasers. "Wear your gloves out a bit if there are new. Don't want you losing the Quaffle,"

"Arthur is in charge of Izzy, since Sirius is going to be at the goalposts. Not one single bludger near her, got it?" James continued. 

"Got it," Arthur said, looking up from his beater's bat.

"The conditions are going to be very difficult, so Izzy catch the snitch as soon as you can," James told her.

Isabella nodded.