Harry found
it really difficult to tell Ron and Hermione about all he had heard at the
meeting. Ginny always seemed to be around and he had to keep his promise to
Dumbledore about only telling Ron and Hermione about what was discussed at the
meetings. Not that he didn’t enjoy the time he spent with Ginny. He loved it
and always wished for the time he did spend with her to go on forever but just
to give him a few moments to tell his two best friends about more of his past.
Meeting Ginny
in a private place was getting more and more difficult however. All the two of
them wanted was to meet in private but the common room was always full these
days with people studying hard for the end of term exams. It finally came to
them having to go into Hogsmeade just to get away from Filch and Peaves and
other students who were probably up to no good.
They would
often meet at the Shrieking Shack and just talk about anything and everything
until it got so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Then
they would go back to Hogwarts different ways so there would be less of a chance
that they would get caught. If one did get caught, however, they promised not to
tell on the other.
They were
never caught doing this for two reasons. The first reason was that people rarely
went near the Shrieking Shack at night and the other was that Harry always
brought his Marauder’s Map with him.
***
At the start
of term, when the whole school had returned, Dumbledore told everyone about the
untimely death of Justin Finch Fletchly. People were horrified - the Huflepuffs
even more so. Already they had lost five of their most popular students.
After a week
back at school it was time for the next Gryffindor Quidditch match. This time it
was against Ravenclaw. On the Saturday morning Harry walked down to the
Quidditch pitch along with Hermione, Aoife, Ron and Ginny. When they reached the
changing rooms Hermione and Ron whished Aoife and Harry luck and Ginny gave
Harry a kiss.
‘Don’t
worry, Harry,’ said Ron cheerfully. ‘You don’t have Lockhart to distract
you this time.’ He then started laughing and walked to the stands with
Hermione and Ginny.
Harry
didn’t mind this comment. Ron was his friend and he knew it was only a joke.
Aoife and Harry then went into the changing rooms where the rest of the team
were already except Angelina. Both of them changed into their robes.
‘Where is
she?’ Harry asked Fred.
‘Haven’t
a clue,’ he said. ‘I haven’t seen her all morning.’
‘What?’
asked Aoife in surprise. ‘What are we going to do with out her? We have no
proper tactics.’
‘The same
thing we do every time,’ said George, ‘-win! Well, nearly every time,’ he
corrected himself.
Harry
wasn’t too sure about this. Him, Aoife, Fred and George were grand – they
didn’t need tactics. But what about Katie and Alicia? They needed tactics to
score goals and they were also down a player.
It was time
to go out onto the pitch and Angelina still hadn’t come down to the stadium.
‘Come
on!’ said George. ‘Let’s play.’ He walked out of the changing room with
Fred, both seeming very confident. The rest of the team looked at each other and
slowly followed them out.
They were
greeted by an eruption of cheers from the Gryffindors and half the Hufflepuffs
(the Slytherins were naturally cheering for Ravenclaw and the Huffelpuffs were
divided in who they supported). But soon the cheering died and there was silence
as the fans saw that there were only six Gryffindors on the pitch. Madam Hooch
ran over to Fred and George and started talking to them quickly and quietly. The
rest of the team followed Harry over to the group of three.
‘Are you
sure you want to play?’ asked Madam Hooch.
‘Yes,’
said Fred assertively.
‘Your
call,’ said Madam Hooch sighing and she walked back to the middle of the
pitch. Fred turned to the team.
‘Ok, we are
one person down but that won’t change anything,’ he said. ‘Everyone just
do their best. Harry, catch that Snitch. Aoife, stop that Quaffle.’
They went to
middle of the pitch and mounted their brooms when Madam Hooch signalled them to.
Harry heard Hermione’s voice boom over the stadium.
‘We have
just received word straight from Prof. Dumbledore that Angelina Johnston,
Gryffindor captain, has been taken to the hospital wing. She will be unable to
play today’s match.’
When
Hooch’s whistle blew Harry kicked hard off the ground, as did the rest of the
players.
What happened
next Harry hadn’t expected at all. He was about fifty feet in the air and the
balls had just been released. Harry saw the bludgers go straight for Alicia and
a Ravenclaw seeker, and the Quaffle was caught by Katie. And then he saw the
snitch coming straight at him. It went straight up his sleeve and then dropped
into his hand. Madam Hooch blew the whistle. The Ravenclaws, Slytherins and half
the Hufflepuffs were booing.
‘Gryffindor
win!’ came Hermione’s voice over the booing and cheering.
Harry landed
on the ground as did the rest of the Gryffindor team congratulating him. Madam
Hooch walked over to them.
‘It’s
School Quidditch rules, Potter,’ she said sternly, ‘that no wand is to be
brought onto the Quidditch pitch. I don’t care what the International
Federation of Wizards say. You have enough protection from the teachers. Where
is it?’
‘In my
dormitory,’ said Harry defensively. ‘I didn’t bring it onto the pitch.’
‘Potter,
give it to me now or face the consequences later!’
‘I told you
I don’t have it!’
‘Fine! Have
it your way.’ Madam Hooch pointed her wand at Harry. ‘Accio wand!’
Nothing
happened. ‘Right, Potter, what spell did you put on it? Tell me now!’
‘I
haven’t put any spell on it. It’s up in my dormitory.’ Harry then heard a
whizzing noise coming from behind Madam Hooch. He realised what was making the
noise. ‘Well it was up in my dormitory. You may want to duck though.’
But it was
too late. The wand hit against the back of Madam Hooch’s head. There was an
eruption of laughter from the stands close by. Harry had to fight so as not to
laugh. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Madam Hooch, it was just funny to see
her hit in the back of the head and see her completely bewildered She turned her
head and saw Harry’s wand lying on the ground behind her.
Prof.
McGonagal had hurried over. ‘What’s going on here?’ she asked sternly
looking from Harry to Madam Hooch.
‘Nothing,’
replied Madam Hooch shortly. ‘Everything is in order. Gryffindor win.’
Prof.
McGonagall’s expression turned from sterness to happiness.
‘Well done,
Potter,’ she said happily. ‘I knew you would do it! We’re into the finals
now! No matter what!’
That
afternoon was spent partying in the Gryffindor common room. They hadn’t won
the cup yet but this was as good as (nearly). Fred and George had taken food
from the kitchens and they also added some of their own treats (which everyone
stayed away from). They couldn’t forget the news they had heard that morning
and Fred made a toast to Justin Finch Fletchly.
George mad a
big fuss over why Angelina hadn’t been at the game. The reason she gave was
that she had been in a duel with a girl from Ravenclaw who apparently didn’t
want Angelina to play the match. Angelina ended up losing her nose and now had a
big bandage over where it was growing back. Both girls had received detention.
At one time
Colin Creevey managed to make his way to Harry and congratulate him.
‘I got some
brilliant photos of the match,’ Colin said happily taking a wad of photos from
inside his robes. He showed them to Harry. They all seemed to be of Harry and to
Harry’s delight in each picture the pictured Harry was trying desperately to
make sure his face couldn’t be seen.
‘Aren’t
they great, Harry?’ Colin said cheerfully. ‘I’m thinking I might ask
Dumbledore to ask if I can start a newssheet for the school. I could go around
taking pictures of important things that happen.’
Harry had a
feeling that most of these photos would be pictures of him and didn’t like the
idea of people staring at him all day, even if it is just in a newssheet.
‘Sounds
great,’ Harry said not very convincingly. It was now time to get rid of Colin.
Harry hated talking to him. He wasn’t sure if his plan would work but it was
worth a try. He picked up Fred and George’s Canary Creams and offered one to
Colin.
‘Sure
thanks,’ said Colin, none the wiser, stuffing it into his mouth. As Colin grew
quickly into a large canary Harry squeezed between the people who had turned to
laugh at Colin and headed over to Ron and Hermione.
‘Saw that,
Harry,’ said Ron laughing, indicating Colin and his Canary Cream. ‘Clever
move!’
‘You should
be ashamed of yourself,’ said Hermione. ‘He only wanted a chat.’
‘He wants
to start a newssheet compiling pictures mainly of me,’ said Harry.
‘I take
that back then,’ said Hermione. ‘I know how much you would hate that.’
‘Anyone
would hate that if it were them,’ said Harry.
They partied
well into the night and only stopped when Prof. McGonagall came into tell them
to be quiet. Of course, George was able to persuade her to have a butter beer
before the party ended.