Harry turned over in his four poster to face the large window in which sunlight poured through the room. He could hear birds chirping from the edge of the forest, and he sat up in bed to watch the wind brush the tops of the tall trees. It was such a beautiful day, but suddenly, Harry's stomach lurched as he remembered what today was. The Quidditch Championship match.
Wood, Gryffindor team's caption and keeper, had reminded him every day for the last two weeks, and it was starting to get annoying. Harry knew what had to happen in the match for them to win the Quidditch Cup, and he definitely felt like he was ready. He had trained extra hard for this day, and he wasn't ready for Slytherin to take that away from him. Not only that, but Draco Malfoy, Slytherin's Seeker and Harry's worst enemy, was on the team and Harry couldn't imagine the bragging rights he would gain from winning the Quidditch Cup.
Harry stretched his arms to the ceiling and blinked hard, noticing he hadn't put his glasses on yet. He rested the slightly lopsided glasses upon the bridge of his nose and began his day by putting on his robes. He looked around the dormitory and became aware that it was completely empty. He figured he would meet everyone down at the Great Hall for breakfast.
He made his way down the brightly lit corridor which was now flooded with noisy and anxious kids. As Harry walked by a group of girls, he heard one of them say, "I know they'll win today! I just know it! Besides, I heard Harry has a Firebolt! Draco might be fast on his Nimbus Two Thousand and One, but he's nothing against Harry…"
Harry grinned, remembering he owned one of the fastest brooms known to wizard kind. It had been given to him by his godfather, Sirius Black, after the tragic incident with his Nimbus Two Thousand. He slipped through the large doors leading into the Great Hall and scanned the Gryffindor table for Ron and Hermonie. He spotted them and sat beside them, apparently still grinning.
"What are you so happy about?" Hermione asked kindly.
"Oh, er, I just know we're going to win today," Harry mentioned, as he grabbed a couple large blueberry pancakes.
Hermione and Ron nodded in agreement as they also continued their meals. Harry stomach growled, but not from nervousness this time; he had just realized he was extremely hungry. He began to devour his breakfast when he saw Malfoy walking in his direction. However, he looked rather different. He wasn't being followed by Crabbe and Goyle and he wasn't wearing his normal arrogant smirk across his face. Today, he looked rather sullen. Harry saw him slump down onto the bench at the Slytherin table and begin eating as well. Harry noticed Malfoy didn't say a word as he ate. Harry suspected Malfoy knew he wasn't going to win today.
When Harry finished eating, he met up with the Quidditch team to talk about their game plan. Wood looked focused as he spoke, but he seemed very blissful. "Okay, team, Slytherin is no match for us if we play our game. Just play fast and smart and we'll get it done," Wood announced.
"Yeah, and if Slytherin gives us any trouble, we'll take care of it!" Fred and George assured the team as they raised their clubs high in the air.
"I'm sure you will," Wood agreed, "Now let's head to the locker room to get ready. There's not that much time before the match begins and I want to get some last minute practice in beforehand."
The team moaned simultaneously. We had been training Quidditch twice, sometimes three times a day, for the past two and a half weeks, and everybody was getting sick of it. Besides, nobody wanted to get tired before the game.
"Wood, maybe we shouldn't practice beforehand," Angelina Johnson commented as if speaking for the whole team.
Wood looked slightly offended and disappointed with his team but finally said, "Yes, maybe you're right. Well, let's go to the locker rooms." He beckoned for everyone to follow as he turned away to leave the Great Hall.
They entered the locker room and changed into their bright crimson Quidditch robes. Wood looked down at his wristwatch and raised his eyebrows. "Okay, it's almost time for the match. Let's make our way to the pitch," Wood called to the Gryffindor team.
Fred and George began cheering loudly as they danced out of the locker rooms. Angelina and Katie giggled and joined in with the cheering. Harry felt happiness flow through him as he stepped out onto the soft green grass. It couldn't have been a better day to play Quidditch. Then, Harry remembered he left his wand in the locker room.
Harry called ahead to Wood and shouted, "Hey, Wood, I'll meet you on the pitch, alright?" Wood nodded back to him and Harry sprinted back to the locker room.
Lying exactly where he left it was his wand. He picked it up and placed it inside his scarlet robes. He adjusted his glasses and set out once more to Quidditch pitch. The breeze was warm against his cheeks and the sky was cloudless. The sky was a bright, clear blue that was completely empty except for a few birds flying here and there.
Unexpectedly, a chill ran down Harry's spine. His body convulsed slightly and then his entire body went ice cold. The once blue sky went faintly gray, and the grounds became foggy. Harry recognized the feeling at once; it was the same exact feeling he got when he came face to face with a dementor.
Harry looked around expectantly, but to his surprise, there were no dementors as far as he could see. The coldness that filled his body became drastically worse and he suddenly felt his happiness slipping away slowly. He looked up into the sky and saw four cloaked and hooded creatures floating in his direction. A sudden gust of wind knocked him off his feet and he noticed that one of the dementors was leaning over him. It sucked in a raspy breath and Harry closed his eyes as he heard his mother screaming again. "No, not Harry! Take me instead! Please, not Harry…"
Harry tried to reach for his wand under his robes but he found he had no energy. As much as he wanted to fight back, he couldn't. The screaming continued, and all he wanted was to help his mother. He would give anything to help the voice, but he couldn't.
The screaming became louder and Harry got a headache. The pain caused him to vomit and he laid there completely helpless. There was nothing he could do to stop the dementor now and he was totally alone. Professor Lupin wasn't at his side to help him this time; he was on his own. He vomited once more and he began to twitch and tremble on the ground like a fish out of water.
Meanwhile, Wood watched the team circle above him as a few of them passed the Quaffle aimlessly. Fred and George slammed one of the Bludgers back and forth. However, something seemed wrong. Silently, he counted the amount of Gryffindor players that floated in midair, and he only counted five. Then, he remembered, Harry! He was only supposed to be a minute, but he'd been gone much longer than that.
He thought for a minute. He figured Harry could take care of himself and he would be here any minute, but then bad thoughts began to run through his mind. What if Harry fell and got hurt and couldn't play? Or what if he ran into Malfoy and Malfoy beat him up? The thoughts became more ridiculous as they went through his mind, but Wood decided he couldn't wait any longer for Harry. He had to go and find him. If there wasn't anything wrong, Harry would have been back by now.
Wood raced out of the Quidditch area and the coldness rushed through his veins. He couldn't see much through the thick fog, but he could make out a dark hooded figure floating horizontally over a now motionless body. Although he felt weak, Wood sprinted over to where Harry lay. As quick as he could, he drew his wand from beneath his robes and shouted the incantation, "Expecto Patronum!"
Wood was never really any good at Patronuses, and he only asked Lupin to teach him for Harry's sake. A small puff of white smoke emerged from the tip of his wand, but all he did was gain the dementor's attention. It looked up from Harry and gradually made its way over to Wood. Realizing what he had done, Wood backpedalled and fell over, a look of sheer terror upon his face. He lifted his wand
again as if to try to stop it again. He closed his eyes and tried to think of the happiest time of his life before it was too late. The first thing he thought of was the day he got his letter telling him he was enrolled at Hogwarts, but that was too weak. Next, he remembered the time Professor Mcgonigal assigned him the Quidditch caption, but it was still too weak. But, just then, it came to him! He could use the time Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup years ago!
Wood opened his eyes to see that the dementor right in his face and about to begin its famous Kiss. He stood up shakily and steadied himself, thinking hard. Firmly, he raised his wand up at the dementor and repeated the same spell as he did seconds ago.
"Expecto Patronum!" he shouted as loud and fiercely as he could. This time, a silvery white grizzly bear appeared from his wand and it tore at the dementor with such force that the dementor was chased all the way to the Forbidden Forest. The menacing bear flashed its teeth at the edge of the forest and Wood beckoned him to come towards him. While Wood dealt with his dementor, one of the others found a liking for Harry. Wood's Patronus swatted at the dementor and it glided away, following its partner into the forest as well.
Harry lay still on the ground, his glasses askew. As Wood crawled closer to Harry's body, he noticed his eyes were shut and he was still very cold, even after all the dementors had drifted away.
"Harry? Harry! Harry, wake up! Please wake up! Please!" Wood begged aloud. Unexpectedly, tears began to slowly run down his face. He hadn't cried since his brother's death, and that was 8 years ago. Even though he was the only one who tried to save him, he felt somewhat responsible for what happened.
Wood pulled Harry upright and shook him violently. His eyelids opened but his eyes had rolled back into his head. He felt like a rag doll in Wood's arms. It felt like the end but Wood remembered the chocolate! Professor Lupin had told him that chocolate was a remedy for those who were knocked out by a dementor.
He waited patiently for the warmth to engulf him and Harry. The sky returned to its beautiful, light blue and a warm breeze blew by them. Wood regained his happiness and saw Harry blink hard. Wood smiled as Harry woke.
"Here, you need to eat this," Wood said as he handed Harry the bar of chocolate from his pocket.
"Wha-, what happened?" Harry stuttered. "Where'd the dementors go?"
"They're gone now, don't worry," Wood assured him. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, I guess," Harry mentioned. "Wait! The match! Have we missed it?"
"Oh, no!" Wood glanced at his watch. "No, it's just about time now. Let's go!"
Harry got up erratically and almost fell over again. The dementor had taken a lot of strength out of him and his headache hadn't completely gone away.
Wood started ahead of him but stopped when he noticed Harry hadn't followed. He turned around and saw Harry holding his head.
"Oi! Harry, let's go! You alright?" Wood asked from about ten yards away.
Harry stood up again and walked clumsily with Wood to the pitch. He was questioning whether he would be able to play.
As they approached, Harry could hear the audience cheering and screaming from both Slytherin and Gryffindor's end of the pitch. When they entered, he could see yellow and red flags bobbing up and down in the enormous crowd. The Slytherins held signs reading "Go Slytherin," "Harry Stinks," and "Go Get 'Em Malfoy!" Although the one sign offended him, the atmosphere of happiness took him over and he knew he was ready to play.