Hi, everybody. Here is the fourth chapter of this story. Thank you for the reviews and putting the story on your favourites list. Now on with the story. Happy reading.


When Harry tries to stay out of trouble

The first day of school had a timetable that Harry would have preferred not to endure. History of Magic, then Potions, Divination, which Dumbledore had insisted he took, even if he had asked if a switch was possible after the first death prediction, and finally DADA with the Ministry toad. Well, he had long practice in ignoring nuisances and people out to get a rise out of him. Ron was already groaning about the subjects on his timetable today. And Hermione couldn't help herself pouring oil into the fire by mentioning that Ron should have taken a better class once it became clear that Trelawney was a fraud in their third year.

Well, he had already taken care of switching out his DADA book for a proper one, while the teacher wouldn't be able to notice anything. Here at Hogwarts, it was simple to get this done unnoticed. History he would use to do self-study, using invisible ear plugs, simply because Hermione would complain too much about visible ones, even if his silent reading of a proper history book was much better than what the rest of the class was doing. Honestly, why couldn't the supposed best school for magic in the country hire a proper history teacher? Did Binns still get a salary?

And he knew who Umbridge was. Sirius had told him after all who had written up all those horrible laws that made life for werewolves in wizarding Britain nearly unbearable. Congratulations to a bureaucrat driving dangerous and cornered people into the waiting hands of extremists. Ironically, these same people looked down on werewolves worse than the people they would be attacking. But nobody in the government could see this. One more reason to leave the country as soon as possible. He observed how Hermione got up to head to class. Well, time to get his last year at Hogwarts started.


History, Harry had to say, had been the best class of the day. He had been left alone, could just read his book, which was a hundred times more interesting than anything Binns could ever say, and Hermione had already worked herself into an OWL frenzy by the time Potions had ended. Snape had been in great, nasty form and had driven home how unpleasant this coming year would be. Well, if he would be displeased, as he called it, with those not managing to get an A in their OWLs, then he should have taught properly. Even Harry, with his, admittedly limited, experience in what proper teachers were like, could have managed to teach up to third year by now and ensure that his students could pass their class.

Not get top grades, he wasn't an expert in Potions, but the equivalent of an E he was sure he could manage. And that sufficed for brewing common potions at home without having to buy them at an apothecary. Hermione was delusional to think that Snape would ever change, especially not over something insignificant like being and Order member. Harry knew that the subject was dangerous, had realised it in his very first Potions class when Neville got burned by the potion he managed to mess up, thanks to adding porcupine quills without taking the cauldron from the fire, but it would have been dead easy to drive that point home otherwise, like a staged accident to demonstrate what could go wrong if you messed up. No need to get a student injured for it.

The draught of peace, the potion they had to work on for this class, was tricky, but the one thing you needed to do was being precise. And that, well, Snape had never taught them how to manage that. If not for some books from Espen Alley, which Harry had bought before his third year, he would never have managed. This book series 'Guide to Potions Brewing – From Beginner to Master' was invaluable to him. The Room of Requirement had given him a different series of books, which had already been helpful, called 'Brewing 102' and contained the basics every student should know before even starting his first potion. The 'Guide' series was more detailed though and went deeper into the hows and whys of the subject. The room's books, which Harry learned, had been part of the students' book lists for ages until it was taken off it over arguments that the basic equipment of students cost too much.

It was in a history book of the development of Hogwarts where Harry learned it. About two hundred years back, first complaints about the costs of Hogwarts were voiced. While he was aware that the school wasn't cheap to attend, he hadn't had any idea of the actual numbers before he read the book. Hogwarts cost the equivalent of a highly-rated muggle secondary school. The fact that it was a boarding school played into it of course, but also the number of magical subjects offered. Before the Statute of Secrecy was enacted in 1692, mainly the wealthy families could afford sending all of their children to Hogwarts.

The less wealthy ones mainly sent their heir, and if they could manage, their spare heir to study at this highly respected school. The other children were either taught at home by their parents, or they were sent to trade schools to learn a magical profession, which included the basics of how to run a home for the witches. Actually, only the daughters of very influential and wealthy families went to Hogwarts at all for a higher education, and also to find a good match among the other students as a husband.

It also was a sign that a family had a lot of money, if they could afford sending a daughter there. Witches that graduated from Hogwarts were sought after as brides for the sons of other influential families, as they could be sure that the witch in question would be given a large dowry. And the fathers of said witches could gain a lot of power by accepting the offers of a family that stood to give them the highest benefits, be it in concerns of political alliances, business contacts or simply social standing.

The students only went to trade school until they were fifteen, ending with a watered-down version of the OWLs in selected subjects, next to the different subjects that were more in line of preparing for a craft being taught, and after that, those chosen to learn a profession were taken on as apprentices and the others went to work in simple jobs or helped with farms at home.

It was easy to understand, as the separation between muggle and wizarding world happened before the industrialisation began. Cities hadn't been as large back then as they were today, and most people lived in rural areas, where farming was the most important profession to feed all mouths in a family.

While poor families got support in sending their children here, it was limited. If a family had just one child, they didn't have problems, except in affording all the equipment for the school at once. School tuition depended on how the child did at school in those days. First year was free of charge for those families, while all others paid half of the price of what was demanded in second year. In second year, they had to pay half of the price of others in that year and then their performance decided if they could stay or had to leave. It was done to at least teach all children the basics of control over their magic. After that, the children had to prove that they were worthy to stay at Hogwarts instead of being sent to the trade schools. For example, a student that achieved the equivalent of A's in all of his classes would be sent away after ensuring proper knowledge of how to call upon his or her magic.

It wasn't seen as good enough to stay at an elite school. E's were the minimal requirement to stay, if you couldn't pay the full price for a year, which started from third year on, when the electives were chosen. It was also then that the tuition rose again by fifty percent, simply because electives would now be added. And here only those families that saw a great benefit in having their children educated at Hogwarts chose that option, instead of sending them to a trade school. After all, those students from rich families that had trouble keeping up at Hogwarts would also drag the family name down, should the fail certain subjects.

Harry had found out that O's were given for getting ninety percent and more in a subject, E's meant seventy-five to eighty-nine percent and A's sixty to seventy-four percent. This way, the school weeded out those not willing to either invest the effort needed to excel in their classes or were too stupid to do it. And for those that came from simple families that often didn't even teach their children reading, writing and calculating, the trade schools were much better suited, as they included those subjects next to the magical curriculum.

You simply couldn't be considerate of every student if you had to get through a large number of magical topics until the OWLs, not to mention the following NEWTs. And even the children that weren't that smart and came from wealthier wizarding families were taught reading and writing at least before they were eleven.

This system held up the separation between rich and poor, but it still gave all magical children a much better base to live their lives than the muggles did at the same time. And for several years after the separation it stayed that way. Mainly in modern times things were different.

Back to the discussion about costs for Hogwarts. Due to lack of interbreeding with muggles, incest, as Harry knew it being called by muggles, became more prevalent in magical families. You could only marry wizards and witches in your own country for so long without marrying too close to your own family line. Especially if you also kept the choice of partners to a certain financially affluent group. That caused the number of squib births to rise exponentially. Not to mention the pureblood supremacists that refused to marry non-purebloods. It also lowered the level of magic that the students could use, which made keeping up the level of education at Hogwarts more difficult and subjects were taken from the curriculum, as they didn't have enough students anymore that could manage the requirements.

With less children capable of using magic being born, the trade schools shrunk as well. First their number was reduced, at the beginning there were five trade schools in all of Great Britain, until only one of them remained. Incoming muggleborns also protested the treatment they got, claiming that they were as good as the ones from the wealthier magical families. And it proved true in more cases than before, as the general education for muggle children had improved since the concept of separating by results had been established in the wizarding world. While there was no law that forced parents to send their children to school, most families still did so, simply because it was easier than educating them at home. In Harry's case, his aunt would have had to deal with visits from officials to frequently make sure that she was teaching him properly. And that she wouldn't accept in her normal life. Thus, Harry was sent to primary school like all other children in Little Whinging.

This system ensured that the muggleborns managed to remain at Hogwarts more often, but most of them still couldn't afford the full school fees. From second year on, there was a set amount of money that the school demanded to educate the children. While second year was affordable for all families, even the poor ones, from third year on it changed. The fee included full boarding, education in up to twelve subjects in the years three to five, a large part of supplies for the subjects, like ingredients for Potions or items to be transfigured in Transfiguration and health care in case you were injured or sick.

Compared to what muggle schools offered, the price was justified. And the good students could reduce their fees. In case you managed to keep all your grades to E's, you could request a reduction of your fees by twenty percent. For half of your grades O's and the rest at least E's, you got thirty-five percent reduction and if you actually managed to get straight O's, you could cut them down to fifty percent. It was a system the founders themselves had established to not turn away really talented students. And back in their time there were also programs that allowed those students to earn money at the side by working for either the school or some businesses down in Hogsmeade to afford the remaining part easier. The best students could also apply for scholarships, which were funded by a foundation paid for by money that Gryffindor and Ravenclaw invested. The interest was enough to allow two students each year to go through Hogwarts without having to pay.

Harry knew that this program was only open to those that couldn't afford tuition otherwise, next to orphans that didn't have access to their family money yet. Though the latter ones got different support that had to be paid back in the end.

Then the war against Grindelwald took place. It changed the whole political and economic situation of wizarding Europe. It also killed off many wizarding families, meaning the trade schools had even less candidates to attend them. While Great Britain had been spared for the most part, their limited gene pool did the same as the war did. The last trade school of wizarding Britain was closed in 1950, when Hogwarts got the mandate to educate all magical children up to at least their OWL year, when only the best would be accepted into their NEWT classes. It was a compromise and the Ministry channelled the funds that had previously been given to the trade school to Hogwarts to make up for the added number of students.

But it meant that the school now had to calculate carefully what to spend the money it got for. Some could be managed by changing the diet of the students. It wasn't as varied as before anymore, while still supplying them with the needed nutrients and energy for classes. Better food was limited to the feasts, special occasions. Then the classes for each student were cut down. Before, each student would have thirty-two class periods each week in their first two years here, meaning four class periods for the eight subjects taught, the same ones as these days, minus magical theory, which was integrated into the other classes. Now the first and second-years only had three class periods in the main subjects and two in Astronomy and History of Magic. Meaning, they had nineteen class periods overall.

The teachers substituted the class time with longer homework essays to still give the children to education they needed. Though, and here Harry had to shake his head, the level of education severely varied, depending on how much the students did for their essays.

From third year to fifth year, the students had three class periods in their electives added to their schedule, meaning those that added the maximum number possible, without a time-turner being employed, had twenty-eight class periods. Back when the cut was made after second year, it had normally been thirty-seven with three subjects being chosen on top of previous ones. Magical Theory, Astronomy and History of Magic had been cut back to two class periods to give the students the chance to take three additional subjects if they wanted to. Because the electives all had three class periods per week and each student had to select one foreign language per year to study, meaning an additional two class periods per week. It only stressed that Hogwarts was meant to be an elite school that demanded much from the students.

But with the trade schools being gone, this concept couldn't be kept up anymore, simply because there were too many students to teach, and the budget of parents that now had to send their children to Hogwarts if they wanted them to have a decent education, was extremely strained. Meaning, things that the parents had to buy were kept to the absolute minimum. How Lockhart had managed to be allowed putting seven expensive books onto the list was not understandable in that context. But probably because otherwise the school wouldn't have had a DADA teacher. Assistant positions were cut from the budget as well, meaning the teachers had much more work and less time for themselves.

Overall, the loss of the last trade school hadn't done wizarding Britain any favours. With the old system, people like the Weasleys would have sent their two oldest sons to Hogwarts and Percy would have managed to gain one of the coveted scholarships, as he had been an excellent student. But the twins, Ron and Ginny would have gone to the trade school. Though perhaps the twins and Ginny might have been good enough for scholarships as well or they could at least have managed to reduce their fees to sixty-five percent. Harry knew that they were smart after all. For the Weasleys' finances it would have been much better in any case.

But the cuts to the equipment meant that books like 'Brewing 102' were not kept on the lists and the teachers were meant to at least inform the classes about them at the beginning of a school year to give them the choice to get them to supplement their normal school books. Harry knew that Professor McGonagall had a very simple approach to that problem. The school had a list of books to supplement the studies of the children that all parents could request via owl free of charge. Then the deputy headmistress would send the current one and the families could decide which subjects would need additional books.

For muggleborns she delivered the list herself and explained the situation to the parents. Of course, not the reasons behind it, but that the Board of Governors had decided to leave the choice to the parents, as they didn't want to force them to spend large amounts of money for private books for the children, when the use of the school's library was free of charge. Problem with that was just that many books were outdated and biased. And the really useful ones, like the 'Guide to Potions Brewing' series, weren't there at all. At least not in the normal section. The restricted section had one copy of the first tome of the series, but it was too expensive to be allowed in the normal section, even if the contents weren't dangerous in any way. The Potions guild refused to have many copies printed and only Potions masters got their own ones. No wonder that Great Britain lacked decent potions brewers. The 'Brewing 102' book was there, but only two copies, which normally were regularly borrowed by Ravenclaws. Impossible to get it.

Harry was lucky that his parents, like many others that fought in the war, had put his whole Hogwarts tuition into an education vault, one that would release the needed tuition for a year at the beginning of each year. The vault would be closed once Harry ended his education and any possible remaining money would be sent back to the Potter family vault. After all, it was possible that a student couldn't continue on NEWT level, simply because he didn't achieve the needed grades. Most subjects required an E at the least to continue. This way, as Harry also had his personal trust vault, next to his mother's vault, he didn't have to worry about not making it through Hogwarts without having to worry about money.

Not that after the basilisk sale he would ever have to, but at the time, his parents couldn't have calculated for something that earned Harry lots of money during his time at school happening. Harry had decided to send an anonymous gift of five sets of the whole series 'Guide to Potions Brewing' to Madam Pince after he was gone from Great Britain. This way, the students would at least get a better chance at passing Potions classes and it would anger Snape, who couldn't teach properly. And he would insist that the books were placed in the normal section of the library. Perhaps he could also put a spell to ensure that on the books before he sent them. Less probable that anybody interfered then.


DADA had proven to be horrible. Divination always was, but he had already written off that class after his first lesson and not being allowed to switch to Runes. Hypocritical when you considered that the school had allowed Hermione to take all classes with a time-turner and he only wanted to switch one after the first lesson at that. But no, the headmaster had to meddle. Thankfully, the Room of Requirement had given Harry all he needed to excel in both Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. It still irked him that Dumbledore had essentially attempted to sabotage Harry's education in visible ways. Ron and Hermione were the invisible ones. And according to the Hogwarts charter, any student was entitled to switching electives until the beginning of fourth year, if the student could pass the end-of-year exams in the class he wanted to take. When the first class of Runes hadn't even taken place yet at the time, it would have been simple to simply add him to Professor Babbling's class.

The new DADA teacher proved that she was as unpleasant as Sirius had told him. She was bigoted, treated the students as if they were small children that didn't understand anything and tried to pass on Ministry propaganda, mainly that Voldemort wasn't back. Harry didn't let her get a rise out of him. When asked later on, he told Ron, who was close to exploding, that he knew where Umbridge came from and that he had been warned to not play into Fudge's hands by acting out. It was much harder to call Harry a lunatic when he didn't behave like one.

And, while he didn't tell the other two, he was counting down the time he had to remain at Hogwarts. Once he had the OWLs, his full plan would unfold and then bye-bye stupid backwards magical society. He wouldn't become a martyr. Let Dumbledore clean up the mess he created on his own. After all, if Dumbledore had actually cared for his students more instead of his plans, there wouldn't have been as many that willingly followed Voldemort as there were. A good headmaster would also keep up discipline, not allow a certain group he favoured or didn't want to anger to do as they wanted. Children needed limits to grow up properly, next to support. Harry had got many books on child psychology from the room.

Perhaps he would also work around the interest of the Ministry in keeping the students stupid, with the paranoid bastard at the top believing that Dumbledore was raising his own private army at the school. It was actually the opposite. Dumbledore feared being replaced by a more competent candidate, so none of the teachers could be too knowledgeable in their subjects or in general organisation. That way he could stay in his position and influence how the country would be run once the students left school. But the other students, as idiotic most may be, needed to be able to defend themselves from normal attacks. And right now, the best they could hope for was besting common dark creatures, thanks to the one year Remus had taught.

Remus had taught that part in years three to five when he had been the DADA teacher, simply because the previous two had totally neglected it. While the fourth and fifth-years might have needed other things as well, there was a large part in the OWLs that covered dealing with dark creatures. It was something the Ministry fully acknowledged to have been known by all students. Which meant, thanks to Quirrell and Lockhart, the curriculum of the respective years had to be adjusted to give the students all they needed to know for the OWLs. Harry's year had actually profited from the fake Moody. After all, he had to play the old ex-auror properly to not tip off others to his act. Thus, he had taught them all kinds of advanced spells and how to fight against the kind of curses the Death Eaters liked to use. Ironic in the end, as he was one of the most fanatical Death Eaters himself.

Umbridge had only let them read the book and bluntly told them that they wouldn't be learning any kind of spells in class. Good thing he was far advanced in all his classes, so he didn't need her teachings to manage his important exams at the end of the year.


Dumbledore listened to the reports of his staff, the ones that weren't at the side of Fudge that meant. Meaning, basically everybody but Umbridge. The woman was a nuisance, but in case it was needed, he could easily neutralise her. She would only cause the students problems, but it helped him in keeping their general level of education low. And people that didn't have all the information didn't rebel against his ruling of the school. While he currently couldn't pull as many strings at the Ministry as before, it was only temporary. Once his warning about Voldemort was proven right, when he was ready to step into the open with his plans, people would flock to him once more. And their belief in him would be stronger than ever before. Some adversary for at most a year wouldn't harm him at all.

Losing his two positions had actually given him more free time to get some things done that he couldn't do before. And, like with everything else, he would get them back once Voldemort's return was confirmed to the public. He also knew that his way of handling politics wouldn't be gone while he was gone from his positions. He had educated nearly all the ones that directed the Wizengamot and ICW these days. They may not know it, but his idea of how things should be done, had influenced most of them, meaning drastic changes of things wouldn't happen. And those that did, well, he could change them once he was back.

Severus reported no change in the behaviour of Harry, which was good. The boy had seemingly found a book about brewing basics in the library sometime in his first year and ever since he had brewed decent but not spectacular potions. Severus didn't like it, but he could punish Gryffindor enough by riling Ron Weasley up or scaring Neville Longbottom. To keep his spy happy, he sacrificed that much. And animosity if you overcame it only made you harder. It would be good for both boys.

Minerva told him that Umbridge was trying to get students to spy for her, telling her about all kinds of illicit behaviour of other students, mainly from families that weren't on the side of the Minister. So far, this only worked with the Death Eater children, who knew that it was only a question of time until Voldemort would move openly, and they would reap the benefits of being on his side. Most students felt insulted by the way she treated them and wouldn't talk to her at all. That was good, as he knew that the Death Eater children would have helped Umbridge in any way they could, simply to disturb his grip on the castle. Umbridge was meant to distract his working against Voldemort, the idea behind it being that she would keep him too busy keeping the school under his control. If only they knew that he had too tight a net on things to be easily dispatched.

Lucius should have learned it when he had Ginny Weasley open the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbledore always came back to the school, where he reigned supreme. A few months of absence wouldn't do enough to turn the students that counted against him. Those that had the influence in the wizarding world, not just the Ministry.

Other teachers informed him about their observations. While not all of them were fully his supporters, all of them detested that an unqualified woman was sent to destroy the education of their students. To control their actions. It would only make Fudge's fall harder once Dumbledore could act properly again.

He gave the teachers instructions on how to deal with the actions of Umbridge, mainly warning the students to keep their heads down and not antagonize her. It wasn't worth Fudge interfering more at the moment to protect the students. There were limits to what a teacher could do during detention after all. And what didn't kill you made you harder and he could state that his hands were tied with the way the Minister had it out for him. It wasn't true, but it was all a calculated move. And if Umbridge went too far, he could out her actions and make Fudge take the fall for it.


Harry knew that it was a bad idea to let Ron play Quidditch against Slytherin. He was a nervous wreck under pressure. And while he might have some talent, it wouldn't do him any good against the tactics of the Slytherins, which would certainly be thought up by Malfoy, who was a pro at getting under Ron's skin. Harry wouldn't stand for Malfoy making a mess out of the Quidditch match. Quidditch was decided on the pitch, not by outside influence. Well, he had the perfect way to thwart the annoying blonde's newest scheme.

Not to mention give the Gryffindor team a much better chance for the Quidditch Cup. He wanted to win that thing for a last time. His teammates, except for the unpleasant episode in first year, which had only driven home that when helping a friend, because he counted Hagrid as such, you had to make sure to cover your back in any way possible, had had his back. Well, a learning experience. But during the heir of Slytherin debacle the team had stood by him and they did too during the Tournament. And except for Wood graduating, this was still the same team he had started with four years ago. Angelina deserved a good time as captain and Ron wouldn't bring it.

Thus, he had decided to circumvent that problem. He brewed a simple, but strong, sleeping potion that was third-year level in the subject. Hermione had used the same one on the muffins for Crabbe and Goyle when they needed their hair to use for polyjuice potion to interrogate Malfoy. Everybody would suspect one of the Slytherins slipping Ron the potion before the match to take out Gryffindor's keeper to force them to either forfeit or play with an inexperienced replacement. Their bad that Harry knew an excellent keeper that had just been an idiot during the try-outs and been at the hospital wing, suffering from doxy egg poisoning.

And, which was the most important part in this, Cormac McLaggen had so much dirt hidden, which Harry knew all about, that he would behave and concentrate on his playing, instead of meddling with the rest of the team. Not to mention that Angelina and Alicia scared him shitless. All good conditions to make the Slytherins eat dirt.

The morning of the match Harry slipped a drugged muffin onto the plate next to Ron's seat. It was common knowledge that nothing could stop Ron from eating, not even the worst type of stress. He ate even more at those times. And taking any food from the plates around him was dangerous. Thus, there was no danger of anybody else taking the drugged muffin. And the potion would knock Ron out like a light for at least six hours. There wasn't any antidote, simply because the potion wasn't harmful, just annoying when used unplanned.

It worked perfectly. Ron ate the muffin, next to the other eight on the plate, before he suddenly fell forward, face-first, into his plate with eggs.

"Ew!" Lavender brown shrieked, "My blouse."

She had got hit from spraying eggs.

"Ron?" Hermione asked worried and shook Ron's shoulder, only to hear him snoring loudly, "How can he be asleep? Nobody falls asleep this way. There must have been a spell or potion involved. Probably a potion. He was eating breakfast after all."

"What do we do? The match is in an hour!" Angelina asked, panicking, "Oh, if this is the newest sabotage attempt of the Slytherins, I'm going to wring their necks."

"No idea, but I doubt Ron will wake up soon," Fred commented after doing a quick check on his brother with his wand.

"True, the charm detected some sleeping potion in him. Nothing bad, we use that one on one of our products, but there isn't any antidote, because it simply lets you sleep deeply. We need an immediate replacement, Angelina, or we can't play," George added.

"Shit, why does this have to happen today?" Angelina cursed, "Who could play keeper that has enough training and won't fall for the Slytherins' tricks and foul play?"

Harry decided to act.

"McLaggen, get your broom from your dorm. I saw you in that pick-up game last week and I guess you are the best chance we have to pay the Slytherins back for this stupid trick. But I warn you, none of that attitude you had in the game," Harry warned.

McLaggen nodded, knowing too well that Harry knew some pretty problematic things about him that he didn't want aired.

"Got it, Potter," He nodded and left quickly to get his broom from his dorm.

"Sure that is a good idea, Harry?" Katie asked, "Cormac isn't the most pleasant kind of player."

"He's too scared what Angelina or Alicia would do to him if he messes this up. Not to mention the twins. He would become their permanent demonstration dummy for their prank products, should he not behave," Harry stated confidently.

"True. That should keep him in line," Katie nodded happily.


The team only had to wait for fifteen minutes for their substitute keeper to arrive and they directly headed down to the locker room to give Cormac a quick run-down of the tactics they would be using during the game.

"Okay, team. This wasn't planned, but we will prove to the Slytherins that their sabotage won't win them this match. We have a great team, even if Cormac didn't train with us before. And Cormac, I want you to make those Slytherin chasers cry from frustration. They are going down today and going down hard. You aren't Wood, but you can be good when you concentrate on your job and leave the others alone. You know we are the best team Hogwarts has and we six have played together for three years now, would have been four if not for the Triwizard last year. We know how the others play. Leave things to us and just keep the hoops clean," Angelina addressed him.

"I'll do so, Captain," Cormac promised, knowing too well what the looks from the rest of the team meant.

He had to prove himself and if he didn't, he would suffer. But he knew that the matches against Slytherin always were a battle against their dirty tactics and perhaps, if he proved better than Weasley, he might take the spot from him. And he didn't want to have Angelina, Alicia, Harry, Fred and George gunning for him, and Katie was in his year, so she could make his life in classes more unpleasant. Quidditch was very important for Gryffindors after all.

Angelina gave some more instructions on how they would start off the match and then they walked out onto the pitch. Cormac had got a reserve set of robes from the twins, with Angelina quickly spelling his name onto the back. They were greeted by cheers from the Gryffindors and boos from the Slytherins.

"And there are the reigning champions, the Gryffindors. Led by new captain Angelina Johnson, they already had to quickly find a substitute player, due to some cowardly cheating in taking the normal keeper, Ron Weasley, out with a sleeping potion," Lee Jordan informed the crowd, which led to many boos against this act, "But the lions are determined to not let that stop them. Reserve keeper Cormac McLaggen has taken over the spot. You all know the other members of the team. Chasers, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell, beaters Fred and George Weasley and seeker, our Triwizard Champion, Harry Potter!"

Cheers came from three parts of the stadium, even if Harry could see that Umbridge didn't seem happy with the reaction this fact got from the students. It was rather brilliant of Lee.

"On the other side of the pitch the Slytherin team under captain Montague has arrived. There have been several changes compared to the team from two years ago. Former Captain Flint has graduated, as did their beaters and one chaser. Seemingly the new captain went more for brute force than skill," Lee commented, only to get the expected reprimand from Professor McGonagall.

But Harry thought Lee had a point. Crabbe and Goyle were the new beaters and except for Malfoy as seeker, the others were all tall, broad and muscled. They would have to look out for foul play in form of physical interference. Well, skill topped muscles. Madam Hooch asked the captains to step forward to shake hands and Montague predictably tried crushing Angelina's hand, but she didn't even flinch. Madam Hooch reminded both captains of playing fair, fat chance with the Slytherins, even if Malfoy didn't seem pleased by the replacement keeper. Harry saw that the Slytherin team had badges with crowns on them for some reason, which read: Weasley is our King.

Seemed as if Harry had prevented their plan to do something to destabilise Ron in his performance as keeper. Too bad for Malfoy that Harry was several steps ahead of him. The players mounted their brooms and kicked off when the whistle came. Angelina quickly secured the quaffle and sped towards the Slytherin hoops.

The match was hard, but the Gryffindors showed why they had won the cup two years ago. They played very well together, and the chasers and beaters pulled of manoeuvres that had been shown during the world cup as well. Cormac was first tested five minutes into the match and he looked determined. While not a perfect save, he prevented that the quaffle went into the hoop, which caused cheers from the Gryffindor section. Harry kept Malfoy very busy. He wanted to really show the little ferret up while not committing any foul. He had worked on his timing for the Wronski Feint until the match and was eager to see Malfoy eat dirt.

He pretended to have seen the snitch and shot down, Malfoy hot on his heels. Harry made sure to keep his body between the supposed snitch and Malfoy and concentrated on getting the timing just right. Malfoy had played for two years now and he wasn't a bad flyer. Harry was just much better, even if Malfoy would loudly deny it. When there were only a few feet until the ground, Harry pulled up from the steep dive and just avoided crashing. Malfoy meanwhile, who hadn't been prepared for this trick, shot into the ground at full speed, knocking himself out.

"And Malfoy is knocked out. I can't believe it! Potter pulled off a perfect Wronski Feint, just like Viktor Krum did last year at the World Cup. The match continues though, while Professor Snape hurries to see if his seeker can continue after some medical treatment. It doesn't seem like it. He conjured a stretcher. That means, Slytherin is short a player, and a very important one at that," Lee cheerily announced, which caused McGonagall to frown, but as he didn't say anything biased, she didn't interfere.

The Slytherin team seemed determined to punish Harry for knocking their seeker out, but Fred and George were onto them, using the fact that they had to watch one player less to their advantage. Slytherin didn't give up, they were using any means to give the Gryffindors trouble and Crabbe and Goyle hit the bludgers as hard at the opponent players as possible, but the Gryffindors were used to Wood's type of training. They had had worse. In the end, Harry easily caught the snitch, winning Gryffindor the match with a total score of 310:80 and Fred beat back the bludger that Crabbe had shot at him from behind after he had caught the snitch, for which Madam Hooch was berating the Slytherin beater for blatant cheating. The Gryffindor team had dominated the match and Angelina was extremely happy that her career as captain had started this well.

The team celebrated their first victory of the season, and without Malfoy, there was nobody trying to sour it. They had played well, their reserve keeper had held about half of the attempts of Slytherin to score, which was quite remarkable, considering that he didn't have any team training before the match. Harry especially relished the sour look on Umbridge's face. She had been trying to get anything to use against him since the start of the year, but he hadn't committed one foul during the match. The Wronski feint was perfectly permitted and it was Malfoy's fault for not recognising it in time.

The team went over into the locker room to shower and then continue on to the party at their common room. Harry seriously considered knocking Ron out in some way for the next match as well. They had done much better without him.


Okay, that's it for this week. Until next.