𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒-ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 ℙ𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣❥

𝐏𝐎𝐀 𝟏𝟎

And at long last, Emily mounted her Firebolt, and kicked off from the ground.

It was better than she'd ever dreamed.

The Firebolt turned with the lightest touch; it seemed to obey her thoughts rather than her grip; it sped across the field at such speed that the stadium turned into a green-and-gray blur; Emily turned it so sharply that Alicia Spinnet screamed, then she went into a perfectly controlled dive, brushing the grassy field with her toes before rising thirty, forty, fifty feet into the air again.

"Harry, I'm letting the Snitch out!" Wood called.

Harry turned and raced a Bludger toward the goal posts; he outstripped it easily, saw the Snitch dart out from behind Wood, and within ten seconds had caught it tightly in his hand.

The team cheered madly. Harry let the Snitch go again, gave it a minute's head start, then tore after it, weaving in and out of the others; he spotted it lurking near Emily's knee, looped her easily, and caught it again. "Show offf!" Emily shouted.

It was the best practice ever; the team, inspired by the presence of the Firebolts in their midst, performed their best moves faultlessly, and by the time they hit the ground again, Wood didn't have a single criticism to make, which, as George Weasley pointed out, was a first.

"I can't see what's going to stop us tomorrow!" said Wood. "Not unless, Harry, you've sorted out your Dementor problem, haven't you?"

"Yeah," said Harry, thinking of his feeble Patronus and wishing it were stronger.

"The Dementors won't turn up again, Oliver. Dumbledore'd go ballistic," said Ethan confidently.

"Well, let's hope not," said Wood. "Anyway, good work, everyone. Let's get back to the tower... turn in early..."

"Me and Em are staying out for a bit; Ron wants a go on the Firebolt," Harry told Wood, and while the rest of the team headed off to the locker rooms, Harry and Emily strode over to Ron, who vaulted the barrier to the stands and came to meet them. Madam Hooch had fallen asleep in her seat.

"Here you go," said Emily, handing Ron the Firebolt.

Ron, an expression of ecstasy on his face, mounted the broom and zoomed off into the gathering darkness while Harry and Emily walked around the edge of the field, watching him.

Night had fallen before Madam Hooch awoke with a start, told Emily, Harry and Ron off for not waking her, and insisted that they go back to the castle.

Emily shouldered the Firebolt and she, Harry and Ron walked out of the shadowy stadium, discussing the Firebolt's superbly smooth action, its phenomenal acceleration, and its pinpoint turning.

They were halfway toward the castle when Emily, glancing to her left, saw something that made her heart turn over, two pairs of eyes, gleaming out of the darkness.

Emily stopped dead, her heart banging against her ribs.

"What's the matter?" said Harry.

Emily pointed. Ron pulled out his wand and muttered, "Lumos!"

A beam of light fell across the grass, hit the bottom of a tree, and illuminated its branches; there, crouching among the budding leaves, was Crookshanks.

"Get out of here!" Ron roared, and he stooped down and seized a stone lying on the grass, but before he could do anything else, Crookshanks had vanished with one swish of his long ginger tail.

"See?" Ron said furiously, chucking the stone down again. "She's still letting him wander about wherever he wants, probably washing down Scabbers with a couple of birds now..."