Harry awoke the next morning to the sight of George standing over his bed, ripping off his blankets, while Fred shook Ron awake. "Up and at 'em, boys!" cried Fred. "Alicia sent us to wake you for breakfast. She wants to talk strategy once more before the match." Harry groaned and yawned. "None of that now, we need you downstairs in ten minutes. Besides, you boys have a visitor from the Ministry."
Where do they get their energy? wondered Harry. He felt still tired from the night before. The dancing had turned into a full-fledged ball during which he had danced with Cho again several times, with Ginny, in some incomprehensible line dance that took all of his concentration, and with all three chasers from the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He remembered ruefully Madam Hooch's yelp when he trod on her toes; that had been just before Fred and George had taken charge of him and tried to teach him to polka. It had just begun to make sense when Dumbledore had declared the feast over and sent them all off to bed.
Harry glanced at Ron, who looked very chipper and happy. "Stop whistling, Ron," he called. "You're getting on my nerves."
"Oh, don't be such a grouch," replied Ron good-naturedly. He rummaged through his trunk for a tee shirt. "It's a beautiful morning for Quidditch. Come on, get up."
"I think I preferred you depressed!" muttered Harry to himself but slowly he dragged himself upright and pulled on his clothes. A moment later he was glad he had, for the door burst open and Hagrid bounded into the room, followed by Percy and Arthur Weasley.
"Hey, Ron, here's a present fer yeh," boomed Hagrid.
"Dad!" cried Ron. "I didn't know you were coming!"
"Percy's got a meeting with your Headmaster later," said Mr Weasley, grinning at his son. " so we thought we'd see some Quidditch as well. Your mother sends her love and a lot of questions about socks and vests but we'll forget about those. Hello, Harry. Looking forward to the match?"
"Always do when it's Slytherin," smiled Harry. "Make sure you cheer us on!"
"Well, I'm afraid that as ministry officials, we won't actually be able to take sides, Harry" said Percy solemnly, coming forward to shake Harry's hand "although…"
"Oh, rubbish, with three of your own brothers playing?" interrupted Mr. Weasley. "Ron, we're so proud of you!"
Ron blushed and grinned. "We'd better get going," he said.
We need all the cheers we can get, Harry thought to himself as he circled the pitch an hour later, waiting for the starting whistle. The Slytherin team looked larger and stronger and altogether as menacing as he had ever seen them. Below him, Lee Jordan was starting his commentary.
"A few new faces on both sides this year" he was saying. "For Gryffindor, we have another Weasley wonder-kid, that's Ron, as Keeper, following in his brothers' footsteps. And their captain this year is an old face, Alicia Spinnet, a very pretty old face, I should say..."
"Lee!" hissed Professor McGonagall beside him.
"Just being polite, Professor! And for Slytherin, we welcome back Havelock Montague, their new captain – don't worry, Professor, I won't call him a pretty face – and their new chaser, Millicent Bulstrode; and I definitely won't be calling her a …"
The megaphone went dead for a few seconds.
"Just a little technical hitch there, folks!" piped up Lee. "Must be almost time for the whistle!"
Harry flew down to where Ron was waiting by the goalposts and gave him a thumbs-up. Draco Malfoy and Millicent Bulstrode floated past as he did so; Harry noticed with a shock that Draco was now riding a Firebolt too. That was one advantage he had lost immediately. Draco caught his eye and smirked.
"I'll give you a tip, Millie," he said loudly. "if you want to get past Weasley, just throw him a few Knuts. He'll be so busy picking them up, he won't have time to defend!
Harry put a warning hand on Ron's arm; Madam Hooch raised her whistle to her lips and with a blast and a cheer from the crowd the game began. "And they're off!" cried Jordan.
It was obvious within the first few minutes that this was to be no easy match. Montague had done his homework; Ron was Gryffindor's weakest spot and Angelina Johnson their strongest, apart from Harry. The Slytherin beaters were concentrating on boxing her in and restricting her movements. That should have left Katie and Alicia free to score, but Millicent Bulstrode was proving surprisingly effective at taking the Quaffle from them and passing it swiftly to Montague and Warrington. Ron did his best to defend but his inexperience was showing. Time and again one of the Slytherin chasers drew him to one side of the goal before quickly passing to the other, who sent the Quaffle whistling past the keeper's ear. The score, despite Angelina's efforts, was beginning to mount in Slytherin's favour; 40/40, then 60, 80, 120/40.
Even at a distance and looking for the snitch, Harry could see that Fred and George were becoming frustrated. Finally George swung his bat and sent a bludger straight at Millicent. It hit her full in the stomach and the Slytherin supporters' cheers turned to howls of outrage. Madam Hooch swiftly awarded a penalty and in a moment, Slytherin were even further ahead.
Alicia called a time-out as Montague and his team crowded round to congratulate Millicent on her goal.
"Calm down, that isn't going to get us anywhere" she hissed at the Beaters. "We need to defend, not commit fouls." She glanced at Ron, still anxiously circling the posts. "Give the Keeper more support, this isn't an ideal first match for him. Harry, for goodness sake, grab that Snitch!" She motioned everyone back into position as play resumed.
Harry flew around the Slytherin end of the pitch, one eye open for the Snitch, the other on Draco who was at the opposite extreme. Below him there was a cheer as Ron, urged on by George, managed to save a long curling throw from Montague.
We can still win this, he told himself, scanning the skies, when suddenly he caught a gleam far below him in the long grass by the Gryffindor goalposts, almost directly under the Slytherin seeker. Draco hadn't seen it; he was too busy shouting encouragement to Millicent, who seemed to have Katie in an armlock. The rest of the teams had crowded round.
"Well," Lee Jordan was saying, "There are over 700 ways to commit a foul in Quidditch! Keep an eye on the Green team, people, for a practical demonstration!"
If I go straight for it, Draco'll see the Snitch and grab it, Harry said to himself – I have to draw him away. He shot forward over the knot of struggling players and the Snitch itself. Draco swung his broom up to intercept, a panicky look on his face.
In his mind's eye, Harry could see the little gold ball just behind and below him. He drove his broomstick straight at Draco, making him gasp and dodge and then, just as Cho had shown him, he flipped over backwards, barrelled round, and in an instant was under the knot of players, chasing the Snitch. The crowd gasped and cheered and Lee cried, "It's showtime!" Draco swung his own broom round and followed, the new Firebolt easily keeping up.
Now the two of them were little more than three feet above the ground, Harry barely in front of Draco, and the fleeing Snitch hardly any way in front of them. Draco leant forward, and for a moment Harry thought he was going to catch the Snitch, but instead he drove his shoulder full into his opponent. Harry kept his balance and forced his broom ahead. Again Draco accelerated and rode into him. Harry clutched at his glasses; another shove might force him off and the blurred grass underneath him was making his head spin. It was time for another of Cho's tricks. As Draco swerved to strike him for the third time, he rolled away and upside down. Now the snitch seemed to be above him and he scooped it up with a cry of relief. Skyward, at his feet, he saw Draco's mouth open wide with surprise as the force of his own shove carried him over. He flailed wildly, catching his toe on the pitch. The Firebolt drove into the ground and Draco flew off, somersaulting across the grass until he came to a stop in a heap.
For a heartstopping moment he lay still. Then, as the boos of the Slytherin crowd rang in Harry's ears, Draco staggered to his feet and shook his head. Madam Hooch landed next to him and put her arm round his shoulders.
"We win!" cried Alicia as the rest of the Gryffindor team crowded round and saw the Snitch still grasped in Harry's hand.
Madam Hooch came up to them talking to Montague. "No bones broken," she was saying cheerfully. "And, no, Montague, he wasn't fouled. It's a Gryffindor win."
Montague scowled. "Are you telling me that that ...poncing around... is legal on a Quidditch pitch?" he spat, glaring at Harry.
"Oh, give up, Montague," bellowed Lee, who had come over to congratulate Fred and George.
Cho Chang suddenly materialised and grabbed Harry around the waist. "You were great!" she said. "I can't believe you did a backflip during a match. I've never dared do that!"
"But it was all right to do that, wasn't it?" Harry asked her anxiously. Madam Hooch and Montague were still arguing over a copy of Quidditch: Rules and Regulations.
"You won, didn't you?" Cho shrugged, puzzled.
Ron thumped Harry on the back. "Well done!" they chorused to each other. Harry looked back to Montague.
"The player's body must remain in contact with the broom at all times," Madam Hooch read out. "It doesn't say which way up he has to be! Sorry, Montague, Gryffindor wins."
Snape swept up to them, his face tense and angry. "It appears we've lost, Professor," Montague told him, tight lipped.
"He didn't break any rules!" Lee yelled at him. "Sore loser!"
Montague shrugged. "No rules maybe. There is such a thing as the spirit of the game, though. Well, if he thinks it was honourable; as a Gryffindor…" He gave Harry a last hard look and stalked off with the rest of his team.
Harry was left with a faint sour taste in his mouth, not improved when Hermione suddenly appeared with Crabbe at her side.
"Great!" said Hermione, hugging him.
Crabbe suddenly stuck out a large red hand. After a moment's hesitation, Harry took it warily, one eye on Professor McGonagall who had joined the crowd around them.
"Well done!" said Crabbe abruptly, and shook his hand.
"Um… same to Millicent," replied Harry bewildered as the two left. He and Ron raised their eyebrows.
"Harry! Ron!" Mr. Weasley rushed over. "You were both wonderful!"
"I let a few in early on, didn't I though, Dad?" said Ron anxiously.
"That's the way the match was going. You made a fair few more than Wood did in his first match!" replied his father fondly. "Now let's find Percy and walk along with him. It's time for his meeting with Dumbledore!"
Hermione, now Crabbe-less, joined the group on their way up to Dumbledore's office. Ahead of them, Filch and Hagrid deposited a huge box in the center of Dumbledore's desk. Percy broke the seal with its Ministry stamp and lifted off the top. It was filled with papers.
"Everything you asked for, sir," announced Percy proudly. "We've pulled out all the records since last June, both from our offices and from our counterparts in Europe."
"Are you sure you want all of these, Professor?" asked Mr. Weasley, doubtfully. "Really, there are thousands. If you had come to London we could have done this for you very quickly. We installed our first computer last week, and Perkins has just started, ah, scanning these things into a database."
Percy rolled his eyes. "Father is a great partisan of Muggle technology," he explained as Dumbledore tried to hide a smile.
"Oh, Percy," said Arthur, "if you tried it I'm sure you'd like it. It's very much like magic, you know."
Fred nudged George. "There goes Dad, acting like a Squib again," he whispered.
George nudged him back. "There goes Percy, acting like a Head Boy again."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "No need for any of that, gentlemen; I'll sort them with my wand." He pointed it. The papers surged out of the box, reshuffled themselves in the air, then settled neatly into piles on his desk as the box floated past them into the corridor.
Arthur's face fell. "When can you have them back to us?" he asked.
"A week or two at the outside," replied Dumbledore. "Now – Did Minister Fudge receive my owl last week? And the one two weeks before that?"
Arthur nodded slowly. "He asked me to tell you that the governors are quite disturbed about it. This is a very awkward time for you to announce your retirement, what with so many things going on at the Ministry."
The bottom dropped out of Harry's stomach. It can't be! he thought in dismay. How could he do this to us – to the whole school? Ron and Hermione stared at the Headmaster, stunned. Even Percy looked uncomfortable. Dumbledore looked down at them kindly. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this," he said, "but it's true, I've made up my mind. A couple of old friends talked me into it. Really, it's about time. I'll do a little traveling, take care of some personal business, and settle down near them. I've been here at Hogwarts long enough. It's time for some new blood."
"Your staff know, don't they?" asked Arthur.
"Certainly," replied Dumbledore. "Well, in a general sense, that is. Two of the House heads have been in on the details from the beginning."
"What about your successor, sir?" asked Percy. "Professor McGonagall? Sinistra?"
"Well, I can't really talk about that here," said the Headmaster patiently. "It's all in my posts to Minister Fudge. But I wish the governors would stop dithering and accept my letter. It's now only three weeks until I depart, and I'd like to have everything settled before my roc arrives."
