Harry goes down to the great hall with the rest of the boys in his dorm, as they head down to breakfast. They felt that his Firebolt deserved a sort of guard. So, Harry enters the great hall while carrying his Firebolt. Heads turn towards the Firebolt as they murmur excitedly to each other. Harry couldn't help but smile as he spots everyone at the Slytherin table looking shocked at his Firebolt. Ron looks at Malfoy, then turns back to Harry and grins, "Did you see his face? He can't believe it! This is brilliant!" Oliver was also basking in the glory of the Firebolt as he said, "Put it here, Harry." Harry sets the broom down in the middle of the Gryffindor table. He carefully turns the handle so that the name, Firebolt, faced upwards. People from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff table came over to look. A boy name Cedric Diggory, who was the Hufflepuff seeker, congratulated Harry on finding a great replacement for his Nimbus. Percy's girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, who was a Ravenclaw, asked if she could actually hold it! Percy said, smiling, "Now, now, Penelope, No sabotage." Percy said to the team, "10 galleons on the outcome of the match!" Penelope puts the Firebolt back down on the table and thanks Harry for letting her see it. As she leaves for her table, Percy whispers, "Harry, make sure you win. I haven't got 10 galleons." Snape smiles proudly at Harry from the staff table. He was so happy that he got Harry that broomstick. He had no regrets whatsoever. He spots Malfoy going over to look at the broom with Crabbe and Goyle. Snape groans slightly as he mutters, "Not again...." As Malfoy said, "Sure you can manage that broom, Snape?" Snape comes down from the staff table and quietly works his way over to Malfoy. Harry spots Snape sweeping towards them from the corner of his eyes. He eyes go back to Malfoy and said in a casual manner, "Yeah, I reckon so." Malfoy smirks, "Got plenty of special features, hasn't it. Shame it doesn't come with a parachute. You know, in case you get too near a dementor." Crabbe and Goyle snicker in response. Harry retorts, "Pity you can't attach an extra arm to your, Malfoy. Then it could catch the snitch for you." Snape chuckles to himself as he thought, 'Nicely done, Harry.' The Gryffindor team laughed loudly at Harry's retort. Malfoy's eyes narrow as he glares at Harry. Before he could retort back, Snape had reached them and said, "That is enough, Mr. Malfoy. Return to your table and take Crabbe and Goyle with you." Malfoy whirls around to find Snape standing there, staring right at him with his arm crossed. Malfoy glares at Snape and said, "Come on Crabbe, Goyle." Malfoy stalks back to the Slytherin table with Crabble and Goyle. Harry watches as Malfoy talks with the Slytherin Quidditch team. Harry looks at his dad and said, "Thanks, dad." Snape smirks, "You handled that very well, Harry. Well done. I have definitely rubbed off on you." Harry chuckles and said, "Yeah, seems like it, dad." Ron grins in spite of himself. Snape said, "Good luck in your match, Harry." Harry smiles, "Thanks dad, I'm going to need it." Snape smiles and squeezes Harry's shoulder in reassurance. Harry smiles as Snape lets go and heads back up to the staff table. At a quarter to 11am, the Gryffindor team heads off to the locker rooms on the Quidditch pitch. It was a clear, cool day and there was a light breeze. It was a perfect day to play Quidditch. As Harry changed into his Quidditch robes, he hears the rest of the school walk into the stadium, talking excitedly. He puts his wand inside the t-shirt he was going to wear under his Quidditch robes. He hoped he wouldn't need it, but after the dementors attacked him in his last match, he wanted to be prepared. Oliver said nervously, "You know what we've got to do. If we lose this match, then we're out of the running for the Quidditch cup. Just.... Just fly like you did in practice yesterday and we'll be okay." The Gryffindor Quidditch team grabbed their brooms and flew out onto the field, as the crowd cheered for them. The Ravenclaw Quidditch team were already on the field. Their seeker, Cho Chang, was the only girl on team. She was shorter than Harry, by a head. Harry thought, 'She may be pretty, but it's not going to stop me from catching that snitch. We have got to win this match!' Cho smiles at Harry. Harry smiles back in return, to be polite.
Hooch said, "Wood, Davies, shake hands." Oliver and the Ravenclaw Captain shook hands. Hooch said, "Mount your brooms!" Both teams mount their brooms as Hooch continues, "On my whistle! 3.... 2.... 1...." Hooch blows her whistle and both teams kick off from the ground. They fly up into the air, ready to play. Harry's broom zoomed higher and faster than any of the other brooms the team used! Hooch releases all 4 balls for the game to begin. Harry starts looking around for the snitch, while listening to the commentary. Lee Jordan, who was friends with Fred and George was doing the commentary. Lee said, "They're off! The big excitement of this match is the Firebolt that Harry Snape is flying for Gryffindor! According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national team, at this year's World Championship!" McGonagall said, "Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" Lee said, "Right you are, Professor. I was just giving a bit of background information. The Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and...." McGonagall shouts, "Jordan!" Lee said, "Okay, okay, Gryffindor is in possession. Kate Bell of Gryffindor is heading for the\ goal!" Harry flies past Katie, going in the opposite direction, looking for the snitch. Harry notices that Cho Chang was following him closely. She was a very good flyer. She kept cutting him off, making him change direction. Fred yelled, "Show her your acceleration, Harry!" As he flies past, chasing a bludger that was heading for Alicia. Harry nods and makes his broom move faster as they go around the Ravenclaw goal posts. Cho falls behind as Katie scored their first goal of the match. The Gryffindors watching the match went wild! Harry spots the snitch close to the ground, flying around one of the barriers. Harry dives towards the ground. Cho sees what he's doing, and goes after him. Harry speeds up, feeling excited. Dives were his speciality. He was 10 feet away, when a bludger, that was hit by one of the Ravenclaw beaters, came out of nowhere! Harry had to go off course just to avoid it! In those few seconds, the snitch had vanished. There was a collection of Ooooooh from the Gryffindor supporters, but there was much applause for the Ravenclaw beater from the Ravenclaw supporters. George Weasley, vented his feelings by hitting the bludger directly at the Ravenclaw beater. The Ravenclaw beater had to roll over in mid air to avoid getting hit! Lee said, "Gryffindor leads by 80 points to 0. Look at that Firebolt go! Snape'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...." McGonagall cuts Lee off as she shouts, "JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS?! GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!" Ravenclaw has now scored 3 goals, which puts them at 30 points. That put Gryffindor 50 points ahead of Ravenclaw in the match. If Cho got the snitch before he did, Ravenclaw would win the match. Harry had to find that snitch! Harry drops lower, scanning the field madly, looking for the snitch. Harry spots a glint of gold with tiny wings.... It was the snitch! The snitch was flying around the Gryffindor goal posts! Harry speeds up on his broom, his eyes fixed on the snitch! Cho comes out of nowhere, blocking him! Harry swerves to avoid colliding with her. Oliver roared, "HARRY! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN! KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!" Harry looks over at Cho, she was grinning. The snitch had vanished once again. Harry flies upwards, until he was 20 feet above the game. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Cho following him. Harry thought, 'Ok, if she's deciding to follow me instead of looking for the snitch herself, then so be it. She will have to take the consequences.' Harry dives once again. Cho, thinking that Harry saw the snitch again, follows him. Harry pulls out sharply out of the dive. Cho ends up hurtling towards the ground, as Harry rises as fast as a bullet. Harry spots the snitch for the 3rd time. The snitch was above the field at the Ravenclaw end! Harry starts to speed up, so did Cho just several feet below him. He was gaining on the snitch, until Cho screamed, "Oh!" She points down to the ground. Harry looks down and spots 3 tall and hooded dementors! And all 3 were looking up at him! Harry immediately pulls out his wand as he thought of Snape. Harry points his wand at the dementors and roared, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A snake patronus bursts from his wand and and heads straight for the dementors. Harry looks back up quickly, to see how close he was to the snitch. Harry pockets his wand and stretches his hand out towards the snitch. He feels his hand close around the snitch as it struggles against his hand. He has caught this snitch! Hooch blows her whistle as he lands on the ground. Harry turns around to see 6 scarlet blurs coming at him. The next thing Harry knew, the whole team was hugging him. Harry could hear the Gryffindors roaring as they cheered for their team's victory. Oliver said, "That's my boy!" Angelina, Alicia and Kate kissed Harry on the cheek! Fred was hugging him so tight, that it felt as if his head would pop off! Harry looks around to see all the Gryffindor supporters, with Ron leading, running onto the field! Before he could do or say anything, he was engulfed by the cheering crowd!
Ron yells as he waves Harry's hand in the air, "YES! YES! YES!" Percy said, "Well done, Harry! 10 galleons to me! Must find Penelope, excuse me." Seamus Finnigan said, "Good for you, Harry!" Hagrid yells, "Ruddy brilliant!" A familiar, silky voice said, "That was quite a patronus, Harry." Harry turns around to see a very amused Snape, smirking. Harry said, excitedly, "The dementors didn't affect me at all, dad! I didn't feel a thing!" Snape chuckles, "That would be, because they weren't dementors, Harry. Come and see for yourself." Snape leads Harry out of the crowd and to the edge of the field. Snape said, "You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright." He points to the ground several feet away. Harry looks to find Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Marcus Flint, in a crumpled heap on the ground. They were struggling to remove themselves from the long, hooded robes. Standing over them, with such fury on her face, was McGonagall. McGonagall yelled, "An unworthy trick! A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you and 50 points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this! Make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!" This was the icing on the cake for Harry as he laughed. Snape chuckles alongside him. Ron, who had pushed his way through the crowd, made it to Harry's side. He was doubled over with laughter, as they watched Malfoy struggling to free himself from the robes. Goyle's head was still stuck in the robes! George said, as he pushed his way through the crowd, "Come on, Harry! Party in the Gryffindor common room, now!" Harry said, "Be right there, George!" Harry turns to Snape and said, "Want to join our party, dad?" Snape smiles, "Very well. I suppose I could do with a bit of fun." Harry grins as they walk up to the castle with the crowd and up to the Gryffindor common room. It felt as if they already won the Quidditch Cup! The party went on all day and well into the night! Snape was thoroughly enjoying himself for once in his life! Fred and George disappeared for a few hours and returned with armfuls of bottles of butterbeers, punpkin fizz and several bags of Honeydukes sweets! Angelina said, "How did you do that?" Fred mutters in Harry's ear, well within earshot of Snape, "With a little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs." Snape chuckles in spite of himself. He decided to allow it just this once, since the Gryffindors truly did deserve this win. Only one person wasn't joining in the party. Hermione was sitting in a corner, reading an enormous book titled: Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles. Harry grabs a butterbeer and walks over to Hermione. Snape looks on as Harry approaches Hermione. Harry said, "Did you even come to the match?" Hermione said, "Of course I did. I'm very glad we won. I think you did very well, but I need to read this by Monday." Harry said, "Come on, Hermione. Come and have some food." Hermione said, "I can't, Harry. I've still got 420 pages to read!" She glances at Ron and adds, "Anyways, he doesn't want me to join in." Ron chooses that moment to say loudly, "If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten, he could have had some of those fudge flies. He used to really like them!" Hermione starts to cry, before Harry could say or do anything, Hermione grabs her book and runs up to the girls' dormitories. Harry said, annoyingly, "Can't you give her a break?" Ron sad, flatly, "No. If she just acted like she was sorry, but she'll never admit she was wrong, Hermione. She's still acting like Scabbers has gone on vacation or something." Harry rolls his eyes as Snape said firmly to Ron, "I suggest you leave Miss Granger alone, Mr. Weasley. Understood?" Ron said, sheepishly, "Understood, Professor." The party ended only when McGonagall showed up at 1am, to insist that everyone go to bed. She had told Snape that she couldn't believe he let the party go on for this long. Snape simply said that they deserved it and smirked. Harry said good night to Snape and went up to bed with Ron. Snape said good night to Harry, left Gryffindor Towers and went down to the dungeons. Harry climbs into his bed and shuts the hangings of his four-poster bed. Harry felt himself fall instantly to sleep, the moment his head touched the pillows.
Harry was having a strange dream. He was dreaming that he was walking through the forest, carrying his Firebolt over his shoulder. He was following something silvery white. It was going this way and that, through the trees ahead. He could only catch glimpses of it between the leaves of the trees. Wanting to catch up to it, he speeds up, but as he moves faster, so did the silvery white object. Harry starts to run to catch up to it. He could hear the sound of hooves, galloping. As he turns a corner that leads into a clearing, he wakes up suddenly to Ron screaming. As if he was hit in the face by something. Ron screams, "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOO!" Harry opens the hanging of his four poster bed and looks around in the dark. Seamus said, "What's going on?" Harry thought he heard the dormitory door slam shut as he puts his glasses on. Dean lights his lamp, which lights up the room a little. Ron was sitting up in bed, with a look of terror on his face! His four poster bed hangings were torn from one side. Ron said, "Black! Sirius Black! With a knife!" Seamus said, "What?" Ron said, "Here! Just now! Slashed the curtains! Woke me up!" Dean said, "You sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?" Ron said, "Look at the curtains! I tell you, he was here!" All 5 boys left their beds and ran for the door. Harry reached it first and yanked the door open. They ran down the stairs to the common room, which woke up the rest of the Gryffindors. One of the Gryfffindors said, "Who shouted?" Another said, "What're you doing?" Dean said, "Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?" Ron said, "I'm telling you, I saw him!" A gryffindor said, "What's all this noise?" Another said, "Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed." Some of the students were yawning and stretching as they came down the stairs. Fred said grinning, "Excellent! Are we carrying on?" Percy arrived and said, "Everyone back upstairs!" Ron said, "Perce, Sirius Black! In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!" Everyone went quiet as Percy said, "Nonsense! You had too much to eat, Ron. You had a nightmare." Ron said, "I'm telling you...." McGonagall showed up and said, "Now really! Enough is enough!" McGonagall continues, "I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!" Percy said, "I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor! I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother, Ron, here had a nightmare!" Ron yelled, "IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE! PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!" McGonagall stares at him then said, "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley. How could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?" Ron points to the back of Sir Cadogan's picture and said, "Ask him! Ask him if he saw him!" McGonagall eyes Ron suspiciously, then pushes the portrait back open and steps outside. All of Gryffindor listens quietly. Minerva said, "Sir Cadogan, did you let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?" Sir Cadogan said, "Certainly, good lady." McGonagall said, "You.... You did? But.... But the password!" Sir Cadogan said proudly, "He had them! He had the whole week's, my lady! He read them off of a little piece of paper!" McGonagall goes back into the common room, her face pale as she said, "Which person, which abysmally foolish person, wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?" There was silence for a moment, until a terrified squeak said, "Me, Professor McGonagall." She looks around to see Neville raising his hand into the air. His entire body was shaking with fear. No one in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. The castle was being searched once again. Everyone stayed awake to see if Black was captured. McGonagall returned to the common room at dawn and told them that Black had escaped once again.
Neville was in total disgrace. McGonagall was so angry with him that she banned him from all future Hogsmeade visits. He was given detention and forbade anyone from telling him the password into Gryffindor Tower. Poor Neville had no choice but to wait outside every night for someone to let him in. All the while, the security trolls would leer at him. His grandma's punishment was worse than any of these punishments combined! 2 days after Black broke in, she sent Neville a howler. Neville's eyes widen as a huge barn owl landed in front of him, holding a red envelope in its beak. Ron said, "Run for it, Neville!" Neville didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed the envelope and ran out of the great hall, while the Slytherins laughed. The howler went off soon after. They could hear Neville's grandma shouting, saying that he had brought shame to his entire family. Harry and Ron felt very bad for Neville. There were signs of tighter security, throughout the day. Filch was going up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the wall to mouse holes. Sir Cadogan was fired and removed. He was placed back on the 7th floor. The Fat Lady returned with her portrait fully restored. Her portrait was place back where it belonged. She was still very nervous and only agreed to return, if she was given extra protection. They hired a pair of security trolls to guard her. They paced menacingly in a group, talking in grunts or comparing the sizes of their clubs. Harry couldn't help but notice that the one-eyed witch was the only one unguarded and unblocked. Harry said, "Do you reckon we should tell someone, Ron?" Ron said, "We know he's not coming in through Honeyduke's. We'd've heard if the shop had been broken into." Harry wasn't so sure about that, but didn't say anything. Ron was an instant celebrity for the first time in his life! People were going up to him asking him what happened that night. Ron was clearly enjoying the attention he was getting. He was happy to tell anyone who asked what happened. A group of 2nd year girls asked him what happened that night. Ron said, "I was asleep, and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then there was this draft.... I woke up and one side of the hangings on my bed had been pulled down.... I rolled over.... And I saw him standing over me.... like a skeleton, with loads of filthy hair.... Holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches.... And he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, and he scampered." The girls leave talking about it, as Ron said to Harry, "Why though? Why did he run?" Harry shrugs, since he was wondering the same thing. Why had Black ended up getting the wrong bed? Why didn't he make Ron go quiet? Why didn't he go after Harry? Black didn't mind murdering innocent people 12 years ago. This time, he was facing 5 13-year old boys, unarmed and asleep! Harry said, "He must've known he'd have a job getting back out of the castle once you'd yelled and woken people up. He'd've had to kill the whole House to get back through the portrait hole. Then he would've met the teachers." Ron nods in agreement as he eats. Harry resumes eating, wondering when Black will be caught. He hoped Black will be caught and soon.