It looked like, the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship. Each was so angry with the other that Harry couldn't see how they'd ever make up. Ron was enraged that Hermione had never taken Crookshanks's attempts to eat Scabbers seriously, hadn't bothered to keep a close enough watch on him, and was still trying to pretend that Crookshanks was innocent by suggesting that Ron look for Scabbers under all the boys beds. Harry pointed out that all evidence pointing to Crookshanks and Hermione lost her cool and yelled at him that 'All is my fault at first firebolt now Scabbers' and ranaway crying. After that she stopped talking with both of them, even in their mornings trainings she is practicing with Neville. Percy saw the distance but didn't comment.
Ron had taken the loss of his rat very hard indeed. "Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was" saidFred bracingly. "And he's been off-color for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly — one swallow — he probably didn’t feel a thing." "Fred!" said Ginny indignantly. All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself" said George. "He bit Goyle for us once!" Ron said miserably. "Remember, Harry?" "Yeah, that’s true" said Harry. His finest hour" said Fred, unable to keep a straight face. "Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what’s the point of moaning?"
In a last-ditch attempt to cheer Ron up, Harry persuaded him to come along to the Gryffindor team's final practice before the Ravenclaw match, so that he could have a ride on the Firebolt after they'd finished. This did seem to take Ron's mind off Scabbers for a moment "Great! Can I try and shoot a few goals on it?" so they set off for the Quidditch field together.
Madam Hooch, who was still overseeing Gryffindor practices to keep an eye on Harry, was just as impressed with the Firebolt as everyone else had been. She took it in her hands before takeoff and gave them the benefit of her professional opinion. "Look at the balance on it! If the Nimbus series has a fault, it's a slight list to the tail end — you often find they develop a drag after a few years. They've updated the handle too, a bit slimmer than the Cleansweeps, reminds me of the old Silver Arrows — a pity they've stopped making them. I learned to fly on one, and a very fine old broom it was too. . . ." She continued in this vein for some time, until Wood said, "Er — Madam Hooch? Is it okay if Harry has the Firebolt back? We need to practice. . . ." "Oh — right — here you are, then, Potter" said Madam Hooch. "I'll sit over here with Weasley. . . ." She and Ron left the field to sit in the stadium, and the Gryffindor team gathered around Wood for his final instructions for tomorrow’s match. "Harry, I've just found out who Ravenclaw is playing as Seeker. It's Cho Chang. She's a fourth year, and she's pretty good. . . . I really hoped she wouldn't be fit, she's had some problems with injuries. . . . But they've Percy and we already saw Ravenclaw can win even though other seeker caught the snitch." Wood scowled his displeasure about Ravenclaw last win against Slytherin then said, "Okay, everyone, let's go —" And at long last, Harry mounted his Firebolt, and kicked off from the ground.
It was better than he'd ever dreamed. The Firebolt turned with the lightest touch; it seemed to obey his thoughts rather than his grip; it sped across the field at such speed that the stadium turned into a green-and-gray blur; Harry turned it so sharply that Alicia Spinnet screamed, then he went into a perfectly controlled dive, brushing the grassy field with his 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 goalposts; 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.
After 1hr of practice team landed on the ground "I can't see what's going to stop us in the match this coming week!" 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 Fred confidently. "Well, let's hope not" said Wood. "Anyway — good work, everyone Girls practice hard we have one week and make sure quaffle wouldn't fall in Percy's hand in the match. Let's get back to the tower . . . turn in early —" "I'm 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 strode over to Ron.
After some practice Harry shouldered the Firebolt and he and Ron walked out of the shadowy stadium, discussing the Firebolt's superbly smooth action, its acceleration, and its pinpoint turning. They were halfway toward the castle when Harry, glancing to his left, saw something that made his heart turn over — a pair of eyes, gleaming out of the darkness. Harry stopped dead, his heart banging against his ribs.
"What's the matter?" said Ron. Harry 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?She's still letting him wander about wherever he wants — probably washing down Scabbers with a couple of birds now. . . ." Ron said furiously, chucking the stone down again.
Harry didn't say anything. He took a deep breath as relief seeped through
him; he had been sure for a moment that those eyes had belonged to the Grim.
They set off for the castle once more. Slightly ashamed of his moment of panic, Harry didn't say anything to Ron — nor did he look left or right until they had reached the well-lit entrance hall.
/ Line break /
Harry went down to breakfast on morning of quidditch match with his Firebolt. As Harry entered the Great Hall, heads turned in the direction of the Firebolt, and there was a good deal of excited muttering. Harry saw, with enormous satisfaction, that the Slytherin team were all looking thunderstruck.
"Did you see his face? He can't believe it! This is brilliant!" said Ron gleefully, looking back at Malfoy. Wood, too, was basking in the reflected glory of the Firebolt. "Put it here, Harry" he said, laying the broom in the middle of the table and carefully turning it so that its name faced upward. People from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were soon coming over to look. Cedric Diggory came over to congratulate Harry on having acquired such a superb replacement for his Nimbus, and Percival's Ravenclaw girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, asked if she could actually hold the Firebolt. "Now, now, Penny, no sabotage! Penelope and I have got a bet on Ten Galleons on the outcome of the match!" said Percival to the team as she examined the Firebolt closely. Penelope put the Firebolt down again, thanked Harry, and went back to her table. Percy gave a thumbs up from Ravenclaw table his Royal broom Pegasus was beside him and Harry realised most of the students are comparing both brooms.
"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" said a cold, drawling voice.
Draco Malfoy had arrived for a closer look, Crabbe and Goyle right behind him."Yeah, reckon so" said Harry casually. "Got plenty of special features, hasn't it? Shame it doesn't come with a parachute — in case you get too near a dementor" said Malfoy, eyes glittering maliciously Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. "Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy Then itcould catch the Snitch for you" said Harry.
The Gryffindor team laughed loudly. Malfoy's pale eyes narrowed, and he stalked away. They watched him rejoin the rest of the Slytherin team, who put their heads together, no doubt asking Malfoy whether Harry's broom really was a Firebolt. At a quarter to eleven, the Gryffindor team set off for the locker rooms. The weather couldn't have been more different from their match against Hufflepuff. It was a clear, cool day with a very light breeze; there would be no visibility problems this time, and Harry, though nervous, was starting to feel the excitement only a Quidditch match could bring.
"You know what we've got to do If we lose this match, were out of the running and Ravenclaw will win house cup. Just — just fly like you did in practice, and we'll be okay!" said Wood as they prepared to leave the locker rooms.
They walked out onto the field to tumultuous applause. The Ravenclaw team, dressed in blue, were already standing in the middle of the field. Their Seeker, Cho Chang, was the only girl on their team. She was shorter than Harry by about a head, and Harry couldn’t help noticing, nervous as he was, that she was extremely pretty. She smiled at Harry as the teams faced each other behind their captains, and he felt a slight lurch in the region of his stomach that he didn't think had anything to do with nerves. When Harry turned to see Percy who is wiggling his eyes at him Harry blushed.
"Wood, Davies, shake hands" Madam Hooch said briskly, and Wood shook hands with the Ravenclaw Captain. "Mount your brooms . . . on my whistle . . . three — two — one —" Harry kicked off into the air and the Firebolt zoomed higher and faster than any other broom; he soared around the stadium and began squinting around for the Snitch, listening all the while to the commentary, which was being
provided by as usual Lee Jordan.
"They're off, and the big excitement of this match is the Firebolt that Harry
Potter is flying for Gryffindor. According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship —" "Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" interrupted Professor McGonagall's voice. "Right you are, Professor — just giving a bit of background information — And we already know Percy Shafiq is playing Chaser for Ravenclaw with Pegasus which is a Royal broom" "Jordan!" "Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell of Gryffindor heading for goal .... Ahh Shafiq took the quaffle and heading for goal. . . Ah look how smooth the broom is flying." "Jordan!"
Harry streaked past Katie in the opposite direction, gazing around for a glint of gold and noticing that Cho Chang was tailing him closely. She was undoubtedly a very good flier — she kept cutting across him, forcing him to change direction.
"Show her your acceleration, Harry!" Fred yelled as he whooshed past in
pursuit of a Bludger that was aiming for Alicia. Harry urged the Firebolt forward as they rounded the Ravenclaw goalposts and Cho fell behind. Just as Wood succeeded in stopping the first goal of the match by Percy, and the Gryffindor end of the field went wild while Ravenclaw side booed a little. Harry saw the Snitch — it was close to the ground, flitting near one of the barriers. Harry dived; Cho saw what he was doing and tore after him — Harry was speeding up, excitement flooding him; dives were his speciality, he was tenfeet away — Then a Bludger, hit by one of the Ravenclaw Beaters, came pelting out of nowhere; Harry veered off course, avoiding it by an inch, and in those few, crucial seconds, the Snitch had vanished.
There was a great "Ooooooh" of disappointment from the Gryffindor
supporters, but much applause for their Beater from the Ravenclaw end.
George Weasley vented his feelings by hitting the second Bludger directly at
the offending Beater, who was forced to roll right over in midair to avoid it.
“Gryffindor leads by eighty points to Seventy, and Shafiq got the quaffle and look at that what a beauty the Pegasus is, and Shafiq's using it well with his stunts. . . . . . And look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn — Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision-balance is really noticeable in these long —" "JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE ON DIFFERENT BROOMS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"
Ravenclaw was now in the lead Percy had now scored three goals one after another, which put them twenty points ahead — if Cho got the Snitch before him, Ravenclaw would win, if he caught the snitch after some time even then there may be a chance Gryffindor can't win if Percy's flying is anything go by. How the heck he's flying upside down even with the Royal broom it shouldn't be possible.
Percy is flying near Angelina since she has the quaffle. Roger gave a big speech to him that they should win and he should do everything in his power. That's why Percy is trying to make goal after goal. Gryffindor team is filled with skilled players so Percy needs to score higher and needs to put 160 points difference. Percy didn't have any doubts about Cho's skills but he knew and saw Harry's flying skill and with Firebolt he was pretty sure Harry will catch the snitch. "HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN! KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!" Percy heard Wood roaring somewhere. Percy smiled he never saw a person as obsessed as Wood to Quidditch. Well maybe Nico with his obsession with happy meals.
Harry is flying twenty feet above the game. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cho following him. . . . She'd decided to mark him rather than search for the Snitch herself. . . . All right, then . . . if she wanted to tail him, she'd have to take the consequences. . . . He dived again, and Cho, thinking he'd seen the Snitch, tried to follow; Harry pulled out of the dive very sharply; she hurtled downward; he rose fast as a bullet once more, and then saw it, for the third time — the Snitch was glittering way above the field at the Ravenclaw end. He accelerated; so, many feet below, did Cho. He was winning, gaining on the Snitch with every second — then — "Oh!" screamed Cho, pointing.
Distracted, Harry looked down. Three dementors, three tall, black, hooded dementors, were looking up at him. He didn't stop to think. Plunging a hand down the neck of his robes, he
whipped out his wand and roared, "Expecto Patronum!" Something silver-white, something enormous, erupted from the end of his wand. He knew it had shot directly at the dementors but didn’t pause to watch; his mind still miraculously clear, he looked ahead — he was nearly there. He stretched out the hand still grasping his wand and just managed to close his fingers over the small, struggling Snitch.
Madam Hooch’s whistle sounded. Harry turned around in midair and saw six scarlet blurs bearing down on him; next moment, the whole team was hugging him so hard he was nearly pulled off his broom. Down below he could hear the roars of the Gryffindors in the crowd.
"That's my boy!" Wood kept yelling. Alicia, Angelina, and Katie had all
kissed Harry; Fred had him in a grip so tight Harry felt as though his head
would come off. In complete disarray, the team managed to make its way back to the ground. Harry got off his broom and looked up to see a gaggle of Gryffindor supporters sprinting onto the field, Ron in the lead. Before he knew it, he had been engulfed by the cheering crowd.
"Yes!" Ron yelled, yanking Harry's arm into the air. "Yes! Yes!" "Well done, Harry!Ten Galleons to me! Must find Penelope, excuse me —" said Percival, looking delighted. "Good for you, Harry!" roared Seamus Finnigan."Ruddy brilliant!" boomed Hagrid over the heads of the milling
Gryffindors.
Harry looked around and saw Percy who is going to locker rooms with the remaining Ravenclaw team, when Percy saw him, he gave a big grin and thumbs up and Harry gave a grin. "That was quite some Patronus" said a voice in Harry's ear. Harry turned around to see Professor Lupin, who looked both shaken and pleased. "The dementors didn't affect me at all!" Harry said excitedly. "I didn't feel a thing!" "That would be because they — er — weren't dementors. Come and see —" said Professor Lupin.
He led Harry out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the
field. "You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright" said Lupin. Harry stared. Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick too standing near her with an angry expression. "An unworthy trick! A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!" McGonagall was shouting. If anything could have set the seal on Gryffindor's victory, it was this. Ron, who had fought his way through to Harry's side, doubled up with laughter as they watched Malfoy fighting to extricate himself from the robe, Goyle's head still stuck inside it and Ravenclaws too are looking quite angry since Cho seems to be stopped midway because of the supposed Dementors.
"Come on, Harry!" said George, fighting his way over. "Party Gryffindor common room, now!" "Right" said Harry, and feeling happier than he had in ages. It felt as though they had already won the Quidditch Cup; the party went on all day and well into the night.
The Gryffindor party ended only when Professor McGonagall turned up at one in the morning, to insist that they all go to bed. Harry and Ron climbed the stairs to their dormitory, still discussing the match. At last, exhausted, Harry climbed into bed, twitched the hangings of his four-poster shut to block out a ray of moonlight, lay back, and felt himself almost instantly drifting off to sleep. . . . He had a very strange dream. He was walking through a forest, his Firebolt over his shoulder, following something silvery-white. It was winding its way through the trees ahead, and he could only catch glimpses of it between the leaves. Anxious to catch up with it, he sped up, but as he moved faster, so did his quarry. Harry broke into a run, and ahead he heard hooves gathering speed. Now he was running flat out, and ahead he could hear galloping. Then he turned a corner into a clearing and —
"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Harry woke as suddenly as though he'd been hit in the face. Disoriented in the total darkness, he fumbled with his hangings — he could hear movements around him, and Seamus Finnigan's voice from the other side of the room "What's going on?" Harry thought he heard the dormitory door slam. At last finding the divide in his curtains, he ripped them back, and at the same moment, Dean Thomas lit his lamp.
Ron was sitting up in bed, the hangings torn from one side, a look of utmost terror on his face but Harry saw Ron trying to pull his bead bracelet where his weapon is there, from what Percy said to them they can't tell and show it to anybody can only be able wield it in emergency. "Black! Sirius Black! With a knife!" "What?" "Here! Just now! Slashed the curtains! Woke me up!" "You sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?" said Dean. "Look at the curtains! I tell you, he was here!" They all scrambled out of bed; Harry reached the dormitory door first, and they sprinted back down the staircase. Doors opened behind them, and sleepy voices called after them.
"Who shouted?" "What’re you doing?" The common room was lit with the glow of the dying fire, still littered with the debris from the party. It was deserted. "Are you sure you weren’t dreaming, Ron?" "I'm telling you, I saw him!" "What's all the noise?" "Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!" A few of the girls had come down their staircase, pulling on dressing gowns and yawning. Boys, too, were reappearing.
"Everyone back upstairs!" said Percival, hurrying into the common room and pinning his Head Boy badge to his pajamas as he spoke. "Perce — Sirius Black! In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!" said Ron faintly. The common room went very still.
"Nonsense! You had too much to eat, Ron — had a nightmare —" said Percival, looking startled. "I'm telling you —" "Now, really, enough's enough! I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!" Professor McGonagall was back. She slammed the portrait behind her as she entered the common room and stared furiously around. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare — " said Percy. "IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE! PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!" Ron yelled.
Professor McGonagall stared at him and said "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?" "Ask him! — Ask him if he saw —" said Ron, pointing a shaking finger at the back of Sir Cadogan's picture. Glaring suspiciously at Ron, Professor McGonagall pushed the portrait back open and went outside. The whole common room listened with bated breath. "Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?" "Certainly, good lady!" cried Sir Cadogan. There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room. "You — you did? But — but the password!" said Professor McGonagall. "He had 'em! Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!" said Sir Cadogan proudly. Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk. "Which person, which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?" she said, her voice shaking, There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to toes, raised his hand slowly into the air.
/ Line break /
Percy woke up startled. He slept early since all Ravenclaw was sore because of their lost match, he was pretty sure Malfoy, Flint, Crabbe and Goyle will targeted to some curses by Ravenclaws. The reason he woke up is the security charms he placed on one of the passageways one eyed witch entrance to be exact, were going off. He was pretty sure none of the students or staff will use that entrance at this time of the morning. Percy quickly changed into a snake and fastly slithered to reach the passageway. When he reached third floor corridor he again felt the charms going off. He saw a big black dog enter into passageway confirming his suspicion of Sirius Black break into castle again.
He slowly followed the dog all the way into shrieking shack. Once they were in the shack, Percy quickly transformed into his former self and pointed his wand at the dog and said "Sirius Black! change back! I know you're an animagus!" The dog looked at him with fear in its grey eyes.