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It looked like the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship. Each was so angry with the other that the other 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.
Hermione, meanwhile, maintained fiercely that Ron had no proof that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, that the ginger hairs might have been there since Christmas, and that Ron had been prejudiced against her cat ever since Crookshanks had landed on Ron's head in the Magical
Menagerie.
Personally, Draco was sure that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, and when he tried to point out to Hermione that the evidence all pointed that way, she lost her temper with Draco too.
"Okay, side with Ron, I knew you would!" she said shrilly. " Everything's my fault, isn't it? just leave me alone, Aishi, I've got a lot of work to do!" Aishi tried to calm her but Hermione snapped at her harry got mad but aishi calmed him down.
Ron had taken the loss of his rat very hard." Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was," said Fred 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 Aishi 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, 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 Hufflepuff team's final practice before the Ravenclaw match even Draco joined in as well so that they 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 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 Diggory 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 and Malfoy . . ." She, Draco and Ron left the field to sit in the stadium, and the Gryffindor team gathered around Cedric for his final instructions for tomorrow's match."Harry, I've just found out who Ravenclaw plays as Seeker. It's Cho Chang. She's a fourth year, and she's pretty good. . ."" And you have a pretty crush on her " Adam said making the team laugh as Cedric blushed
"On the other hand, she rides a Comet Two Sixty, which is going to look like a joke next to the Firebolt." He gave Harry's and Aishi's brooms a look of fervent admiration 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 Angela Spinner screamed, and 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. Even aishi was laughing with joy on her new broom zooming as fast as Harry. "Harry, I'm letting the Snitch out!" Cedric called.
Harry turned and raced a Bludger toward the goalposts; he outstripped it easily, saw the Snitch dart out from behind Diggory, 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 Aishi's head, looped her easily, and caught it again. then when Aishi worked with both Cedric and Angela on some chaser tricks, she was fast and amazing not missing any shots. 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, diggory didn't have a single criticism to say just amazement.
"I can't see what's going to stop us tomorrow!" said Diggory. "Not unless — Harry...Aishi, you've sorted out your dementor problem, haven't you?" "Yeah," said Harry "The dementors won't turn up again, Cedric. Percy'd go ballistic," said Adam confidently. "Well, let's hope not," said Cedric. "Anyway — good work, everyone. Let's get back to the room . . . turn in early —" "I'm staying out for a bit; Ron and Draco want a go on the Firebolts," Harry told Cedric, and while the rest of the team headed off to the locker rooms, Harry and Aishi strode over to Ron and Draco, who vaulted the barrier to the stands and came to meet him. Madam Hooch had fallen asleep in her seat.
"Here you go," said Harry, handing Ron the Firebolt and Aishi gave Draco her Firebolt. Ron and Draco, both having an expression of ecstasy on their faces, mounted the brooms and zoomed off into the gathering darkness while Harry walked around the edge of the field, watching him.
"I will have to go change first, " Aishi said heading to the locker room to change as the night had fallen. She was putting her hair into a ponytail when glancing to her left, saw something that made his heart turn over — a pair of eyes, gleaming out of the darkness. She ran out and towards the eyes till someone grabbed her arm. " aishi...where are you going ?" Draco said holding her broomstick "What's the matter?"
Aishi pointed. Draco 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. "oh it's Hermoine's cat. To be fair he looks ugly" Draco said "Well he did scare me...come here Crookshanks" Aishi said picking up the cat in her arms as it purred enjoying the scratches
"come on... let's go before your boyfriend Harry gets panicking " Aishi didn't say anything. She took a deep breath as relief seeped through her; she had been sure for a moment that those eyes had belonged to the Grim. Harry was relieved seeing her but Ron was anger to why she was holding the murdered cat. But Harry's monstrous dark gaze warned him not to say anything to upset Aishi as she let go of Crookshanks who ran up to the Gryffindor common room.
Harry and Aishi went down to breakfast the next morning with the rest of the boys in his dormitory, all of whom seemed to think the Firebolt deserved a sort of guard of honor they also did it with Aishi who was nervously chuckling. 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 was all looking thunderstruck except for Draco who gave a thumbs up.
"Did you see his face?" said Ron gleefully, looking back at Pucey. "He can't believe it! This is brilliant!" Cedric, too, was basking in the reflected glory of the Firebolt. "Put it here, Harry and Aishi," he said, laying the brooms in the middle of the table and carefully turning it so that its name faced upward. People from the Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Gryffindor tables were soon coming over to look.
Oliver Wood came over to congratulate Harry and Aishi on having acquired such a superb replacement for his Nimbus, and Percy Weasley's Ravenclaw girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, asked if she could hold the Firebolt. "Now, now, Penny, no sabotage!" said Percy heartily as she examined the Firebolt closely. "Penelope and I have got a bet on," he told the team. "Ten Galleons on the outcome of the match!"
Penelope put the Firebolt down again, thanked Harry, and went back to her table." Harry -- make sure you win," said Percy, in an urgent whisper. "I haven't got ten Galleons. Yes, I'm coming, Penny!" And bustled off to join her in a piece of toast. "maybe I should not bet with her" Harry said chuckling
"Why do you not make bets with me?" Aishis asked "I will be more than happy you let you have every single galleon I have, my flower," Harry said to her dreamily as she giggled. "is this what was happening often?" Regulus whispered to percy. "yeah....why deja vu?" Percy Jackson asked "Yeah....and it was in my 6th year.....at least Harry is not as nuts with love confessions as his dad"
"Why do you say that?" Percy said "Oh let me tell you of the famous Valentine's Day during my year 4," Regulus said as they went to gossip and chat.
"Sure you can manage that broom, merha?" said a cold, drawling voice. Kris Puecy had arrived for a closer look, Crabbe and Coyle right behind him. "Yeah, reckon so," said Aishi casually."Got plenty of special features, hasn't it?" said Pucey, eyes glittering maliciously. "Shame it doesn't come with a parachute -- in case you get too near a dementor." Crabbe and Goyle sniggered while Harry was ready to jump.
"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to your broom Pucey," said Aishi calmly as she picked up her tea. "Then it could maybe catch the Snitch for you." That made the whole Hufflepuff team freak out at her sass. Blaise even uses airhorns as Harry pretends to faint in ron arms. "Need ice for that burn?!" Theo said
Pucey'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 him whether Harry's
broom was a Firebolt. Draco came over wearing Hufflepuff colors and high-five aishi.
At a quarter to eleven, the team set off for the locker rooms. The weather couldn't have been more different from their match against Gryffindor. It was a clear, cool day with a very light breeze; there would be no visibility problems this time, and Aishi, though nervous, was starting to feel the excitement only a Quidditch match could bring.
They could hear the rest of the school moving into the stadium beyond. Aishi took off his black school robes, removed her wand from his pocket, and stuck it inside the T-shirt she was going to wear under her Quidditch robes. She only hoped she wouldn't need it. She wondered suddenly whether Professor Lupin was in the crowd, watching as she braided her hair.
"got your wand?" Harry asked and aishi nodded "Good girl" he kissed her forehead which made her blush a bit.
"You know what we've got to do," said Cedric as they prepared to leave the locker rooms. "If we lose this match, we're out of the running. -- Just fly like you did in practice yesterday, and we'll be okay!"
They walked out onto the field to tumultuous applause. The Ravenclaw team, dressed in blue, was already standing in the middle of the field. Their Seeker, Cho Chang, was the only girl on their team. She was taller than Aishi by about a head, and Aishi couldn't help noticing, nervous as he was, that she was extremely pretty which made her conscious of her own looks as Cho smiled at Harry who rolled his eyes and boop Aishi's nose snapping her out of her thoughts.
"She is a pretty doll but you are my gorgeous goddess..." Harry whispered in her ear making a chill go down her spine "I will fall at your feet darling anytime .... anywhere... now focus on the game, okay?" "Okay," she said blushing hard
The teams faced each other behind their captains. "Diggory, Davies, shake hands," Madam Hooch said briskly, and Diggory shook hands with the Ravenclaw Captain. "Mount your brooms... on my whistle... three -- two -- one --" Harry and Aishi kicked off into the air and the Firebolt zoomed higher and faster than any other broom; Harry soared around the stadium and began squinting around for the Snitch, listening all the while to the commentary, which was being provided by the Weasley twins' friend Lee Jordan.
"They're off, and the big excitement of this match is the Firebolts that Harry Potter and Aishi Merha are 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 -- the Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and --" "Jordan!"
"Okay, okay, Hufflepuff in possession, Aishi Merha of Hufflepuff, heading for goal..." Harry streaked past Aishi in the opposite direction smiling as he winked at her, 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!" Adam yelled as he whooshed past in pursuit of a Bludger that was aiming for Angela. Harry urged the Firebolt forward as they rounded the Ravenclaw goalposts and Cho fell behind. Just as Aishi succeeded in scoring the first goal of the match, and the Gryffindor end of the field went wild, he saw it -- the Snitch 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 specialty, he was ten feet 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 Hufflepuff supporters, but much applause for their Beater from the Ravenclaw end. Anderson 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.
"Hufflepuff leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolts go! Potter's and Merha's putting it through its paces now, see it turn -- Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision- balance is noticeable in these long --"
"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!" Ravenclaw was pulling back; they had now scored three goals, which put Hufflepuff only 50 points ahead due to Aishi's speed in shooting goals-- if Cho got the Snitch before him, Ravenclaw would win. Harry dropped lower, narrowly avoiding a Ravenclaw Chaser, scanning the field frantically -- a glint of gold, a flutter of tiny wings -- the Snitch was circling the Hufflepuff goalpost -- Harry accelerated, eyes fixed on the speck of gold ahead -- but just then, Cho appeared out of thin air, blocking him but Harry jumped off his broom pushing it to go under cho as he leaped over her and landed back in his broom surfing it.
" THATS MY BOY!!" Percy Jackson yelled cheering with Regulus as Krishna clapped smiling.
The Snitch had vanished again. Harry turned his Firebolt upward and was soon 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. Aishi saw it after she tossed the quaffle to Cedric.
"Oh!" screamed Cho, pointing. Aishi looked down. Three dementors, three tall, black, hooded dementors, were looking up at Harry who also noticed.
They both didn't stop to think. Plunging a hand down the neck of their robes, they both whipped out their wands and roared, "Expecto patronum!"
Something silver-white, something enormous, erupted from the end of their wands. Harry 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 canary yellow blurs bearing down on him; the 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 Hufflepuff in the crowd and the cheers of his mom and uncle.
"That's my boy!" Cedric kept yelling. Aishi had kissed Harry on the cheek; Adam 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 Hufflepuff supporters sprinting onto the field, Ron in the lead with the other boys
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!" said Percy Weasley, looking delighted. "Ten Galleons to me! Must find Penelope, excuse me --"
"Good for you, Harry!" roared Seamus Finnigan. "Ruddy brilliant!" boomed Hagrid over the heads of the milling Gryffindors. " THAT'S MY SON!!!" Percy jackson yells.
"That was quite some Patronus," said a voice in Harry's and Aishi's ears. Harry and Aishi turned around to see Professor Lupin, who looked both shaken and pleased. "The dementors didn't affect me at all!" Aishi said excitedly. "I didn't feel a thing!"
"That would be because they -- er -- weren't dementors," said Professor Lupin. "Come and see -- " He led Harry and Aishi out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the field. "You gave Mr. Pucey quite a fright," said Lupin.
Aishi stared and Harry laughed. Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Pucey, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Pucey had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall.
"An unworthy trick!" she was shouting. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Hufflepuff Seeker and Chaser! 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!"
If anything could have set the seal on victory, it was this. The golden boys, who had fought his way through to Harry's side, doubled up with laughter as they watched Pucey fighting to extricate himself from the robe, Goyle's head still stuck inside it. Draco took tons of photos.
"Come on, Harry!Aishi!" said Alex, fighting his way over. "Party! Hufflepuff room, now!" "Right," said Harry, they and the rest of the team led the way, still in their scarlet robes, out of the stadium and back up to the castle. It felt as though they had already won the Quidditch Cup; the party went on all day and well into the night. Fred and George Weasley appeared for a couple of hours and returned with armfuls of bottles of butterbeer, pumpkin fizz, and several bags full of Honeydukes sweets delivered to the Hufflepuff.
"How did you do that?" squealed Amanda Robins as George started throwing Peppermint Toads into the crowd. "With a little help from Moony, Wormtail, Hunter, Padfoot, and Prongs," Fred
muttered in Harry's ear.
The Hufflepuff partied harder than Harry had ever seen. Even the team has been thrown in the air for cheers. Aishi was caught in Harry's arms as she was tossed in the air, she giggled as he pinned her. The party ended only when Professor Sprout turned up in her tartan dressing gown and hair net at one in the morning, to insist that they all go to bed. Harry climbed the stairs to their dormitory, still carrying aishi in his arms before letting her down as they went to their respective dorms. At last, exhausted, Harry climbed into bed after changing into his normal PJs, 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 -
"HARI!WAKE UP!!"Harry woke as suddenly as though he'd been hit in the face. Disoriented
in the sudden light, he rubbed his eyes and saw Aishi in his dorm in her PJs crop sleeves top with shorts. "flower? what is wrong?! Are you okay?"
"I am fine and.....please put on a shirt," Aishi said looking away from his abs. "Later...what happened?"
" The castle is under search again. Sirius Black tried to kill Ron."
"What?!" Harry said shocked. What is his stupid godfather doing?
" Yes....come on...we all gather in the common room till the search is over. " Aishi said
"wait..." He goes to his closet, grabs a shirt of his, and puts it on her "What?" "no one is going to see what I will see in the future"
Harry got smacked in his head but that did not stop him from carrying his girl over his shoulder as they went down.