Harry Potter

and the

Oracle of Four Seasons

Chapter 10

In the Eye of the Storm

by Ri-kun

"This will be our last exam to determine who the Defense Against the Dark Arts assistant is," Professor Darkholme was saying as she moved through the classroom. "This written exam will not count against your grade, however, that doesn't mean I don't expect each and every one of you to do your best."

Hermione was gripping her quill with such force that it looked as though it might snap in two. Ron was eyeing her with disgusted smirk on his face, keeping his head low to the ground so she wouldn't see him. Harry was, as usual, sandwiched between the two of them. Neither of them had said much since arriving to class, though for once, it had little to do with their moods. Hermione had spent most of her time with her head in various text books. For once, she wasn't the only one, though. Several students seemed to be taking this exam very seriously. Every Ravenclaw, including Luna Lovegood, had spent the last few precious minutes going over their notes. Only a handful didn't seem to be taking it as serious.

"One last thing you all should know," Darkholme added, standing at the front now. "You will be allowed to use your Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks during this exam."

Everyone, including Harry, raised up in shock. "The purpose of this exam isn't to determine how much you know mentally, but to test your skills on gathering and piecing together information. Many of the questions have more than one answer that will work, and none of them will be as straightforward as they seem. You will all need to spend several minutes thinking them over, so test will conclude at the end of the period. Please, take your time and do your absolute best."

Almost everyone was raking through their bags already, dumping out the contents in a desperate search for the DADA books. Harry watched as Hermione grinned triumphantly at him for a moment upon finding hers. Ron didn't bother picking any of his things back up, but simply shoved it all to the side.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione insisted.

Harry reluctantly searched through his bag, knowing already that his book wasn't there. He'd been in such a rush to get to class this morning, after spilling Pumpkin Juice all over himself. Dean and Seamus had snickered the whole time, then he'd found himself running late when he went back upstairs to change. It had been like that since his close call the night the Marauder's Map had acted all strange. His first attempt at crossbreeding in Herbology had been a complete failure, resulting in several students being sent to the Hospital Wing to have a number of Swelling Cactus quills taken out. And Neville, displaying the first signs of his old clumsiness in quite a while, had an accident while practicing non-verbal charms. His hair had grown nearly a foot long in spikes before Flitwick was able to shrink it back. Neville had apologized repeatedly afterwards, but in truth, it hadn't been all that bad. Harry had just been thinking earlier about how he wished his hair could be fixed back the way Rayne had done it. Without the Sleekeazy potion she'd used, he had no way to replicate the effect until now.

Everyone else had already started by now. Professor Darkholme was busy at her desk writing something down furiously. Without looking, Harry drew out a rather thick tomb that took up most of his space on the table. It was the Marauder's Manual.

Harry had forgotten about it by the next morning. His thoughts had been too preoccupied with trying to convince Ron and Hermione about what Malfoy might have been doing. The two of them seemed oddly disconcerned. Even Ron, who was generally the first to point the finger towards Snape, had been skeptical of Harry's theories. He might have protested more, but Hermione had been ankle-deep in an Arithmancy exam she had failed to finish. Ron had, of course, been trying to shovel too much food into his mouth at once, which left Harry alone with his thoughts.

Now, he spared a glance towards Malfoy, who was huddled down over his parchment next to the mysterious Slytherin from the train. A portion of his sleeve had been raised by accident over his left arm, and Harry leaned up, hoping for a glimpse. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but there was no sign of the Dark Mark. A layer of bandages covered the forearm, however. Harry frowned for a moment, then went back to his exam. Hermione was already on her fourth question, and biting her lower lip as she struggled to finish the lengthy answer she had begun. Ron was only on the second one, thankfully.

Harry pulled his test out and lay it across the now open book, and read through the first question, frowning.

'The theory of a cursed artifact,' it read. 'Is that the artifact must be bespelled by a significant magical power for the curse to remain effective. If, for example, a wizard were to place a Dark charm on a Muggle grandfather clock to hex anyone within listening distance when it strikes the hour, describe the type of spells that would need preparation to produce possible effects.'

It sound vague enough to Harry. He decided to skip that one and go to the next.

It didn't get better. 'Hexes can be placed within a proximity of the desired target and timed to go off. What sort of charms can be added to these hexes to produce additional results?'

Each question was worse than the last. The more he read, the bigger the knot in his stomach seemed to grow. It looked as though Harry wasn't going to become Professor Darkholme's new assistant after all. It would have been more work than he could have handled, anyway. Still, he had wondered for a few moments while Hermione studied what extra benefits Darkholme had meant.

Frustrated, Harry crumpled a part of his test parchment, revealing a top line of the Marauder's Manual underneath. Curious, Harry pulled his test away and read a few of the lines there. Most of the page was written in a very tidy scribble that reminded him of how Ginny usually wrote. Scanning the page, he flipped over to the next and was shocked to find something written that answered one of the questions on the test. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Harry quickly copied what he'd found down.

There was nothing helpful for the next several questions, unfortunately. Lucky for Harry, it didn't look like anyone had gotten very far with Professor Darkholme's exam yet. Even Hermione seemed to have run into a difficult snag, and was scratching her bushy hair furiously. Thinking about how Hermione might handle this, Harry checked to see if the Manual had an index.

Before long, he had everything he needed. There wasn't enough time for him to scan every single page, but Harry still knew enough of what he'd found to answer all the questions now. The book had been divided up into different sections based on every subject taught at Hogwarts. The same tidy scribbling was on every page. It looked as though whichever Marauder had written it had covered everything he could ever hope to know. Harry wondered for a moment as he went down the test page, writing all the information he could find in, if it was Lupin's handwriting he was looking at. It seemed likely, though he couldn't remember what the former Defense teacher's scrawl looked like now.

Having the book excited Harry now. He couldn't believe it had taken him this long to go through it! Just knowing his father had been a part of this, had left him something else he could hold physically in his hands, made him swell up with pride. He wondered briefly if this was cheating, but then, Professor Darkholme was letting everyone use their Defense books. Of course, this wasn't the same thing, but surely the information could have been found in there, as well.

Harry finished ahead of everyone, including Hermione, who watched with an undisguised open mouth as he sauntered up to Professor Darkholme's desk with his parchment in hand. After turning it in, he immediately went back to his seat and flipped through the book some more. Hermione noticed the book he was reading, and peered over his shoulder.

"Harry!" she hissed, loudly. "That's cheating!"

"Shhh!" he whispered back at her, holding a finger over his lips.

Hermione kept on looking, which caused Ron to sneak a peek as well. "We aren't supposed to cover that until next year!" she went on. "And I've never even heard of that wand technique. Where did you find this?!"

"I'll tell you later," he promised, pointing up to the front where Darkholme sat. "Do you want us to get into trouble?"

The threat of punishment was enough to get Hermione to back off, though she glanced over to where Harry sat reading every so often still, scowling like the book distastfully. Harry had to admit to finding the situation funny. It was perhaps the first time in history that Hermione had met a book she didn't like. Ron, meanwhile, was watching Harry pour over it's secrets morosely, sneaking glances at it's pages for help whenever possible. When the bell finally rang, no one else had finish their tests yet. Harry stood up to leave, noting how Professor Darkholme gave a nod in his direction favorably, with Ron and Hermione quick on their feet after him.

"Fess up!" Ron demanded, once they were out of the classroom. "Where did you find it?"

"In a corridor down on the second floor," he said at once. "There was a portrait of my parents, and Remus and Sirius as well. The Map told me how to open it, and it was there inside this compartment in the wall. That was a couple of nights ago, the same night I caught Malfoy out of the Slytherin dungeon with Snape."

"Lucky you weren't caught, then," Ron said gravely. "How did you know to look there, though?"

"The Map told me. I don't know how, but it suddenly pointed towards that place." Even Hermione found this interesting now, and she ceased to glare at him furiously.

"The Marauder's Map?" she asked, intrigued. "Why would it do something like that now?"

Harry shrugged. "Like I said, the Map suddenly started pointing me towards that place. It was almost like it wanted me to go there."

"Maybe it was a message?" Ron offered. "Maybe... one of the Marauders left it there in the Map to appear when it felt like you were ready. Shame you didn't share it with us earlier. Mind you, Darkholme's test was brutal. I sure could've used help with some of the answers!"

"I didn't look inside it 'till today! Look, I'm sorry I didn't let you have a peek, but Darkholme might have seen one of us, and then we'd all have been in trouble."

"Harry, you cheated! Don't you realize what this means? Ron and I are prefects! We have to go to Darkholme and tell her what you did."

Harry froze in his tracks. A few third years behind them were so caught off-guard that they plowed right into him, then spent several seconds just standing there in awe. "Bugger off, all of you!" Ron snapped at them. "Or it's detention for the rest of the year!"

They all ran at the same time, knocking people out of the way as they scattered in fear. Ron was grinning as he turned back towards them. "I never get tired of doing that. No wonder Percy enjoyed this job so much!"

"It's not a job, Ronald. It's a responsibility!" Hermione was livid now. "You're as bad as Harry, sometimes. We're prefects now, and that means we have a duty to the school. If somebody else had cheated, like if it were Malfoy, would you want him getting away with it?"

Harry met her demanding stare with one of his own. "I think Malfoy's got bigger things on his mind these days than worrying about becoming an assistant for the Defense Against the Dark Arts. His teacher knows more about Dark Arts than Professor Darkholme ever could. Not that either of you believe me yet!"

"Stop trying to change the subject. If you'd spend less time on worrying about what Malfoy might be up to and more time studying, you wouldn't need to worry about failing all your classes."

"Who says I'm failing?"

Hermione snorted. "Come on, Harry. You could barely keep up before when I was there taking notes for you. It's not as though you stand a better chance now!"

He was angry now, and it must have shown on his face, because Hermione took a step back. "So that's it, is it? I'm stupid and have to cheat because you're not there to give me all the answers."

She blinked. "That's not what I..."

"You really would do it, wouldn't you?" he whispered furiously. "You'd turn me in to Darkholme for cheating."

Harry turned around to look at Ron, hoping for some support, but Ron was admiring his shoes at the moment. Harry didn't let up, and finally his old friend met his eyes with a wary expression. "She doesn't kinda have a point, mate. Nothing personal or nothing, but none of us have had as easy of a time in her class as you have lately."

"What? Is that the reason why you kept peeking over my shoulder every few minutes?"

Ron resumed staring at his feet. Harry looked back and forth between them. "I can't believe this," he yelled. "I can't believe that... You think all of this has been easy for me. You think I've got everything going so well for me that, when something hard comes along, I have to cheat just so everyone else will think I'm great? Is that it?"

"Harry, none of us said..."

"Sod off, both of you."

"Harry, mate!"

But Harry was already gone. He was so angry that he'd already climbed halfway back up the Gryffindor tower before remembering his Herbology was next. It was very close, but he made it just in time. Professor Sprout was already lining up people into new pairs. Harry threw his bag down furiously and watched with a small spark of curiosity mingled in with his pounding rage.

"Hey, Harry," Neville said, coming up next to him. "Are you alright? You look a little..."

"I'm fine, Neville," he said curtly. "What's going on?"

Neville looked away sheepishly. "Well, some of the other students decided to drop Herbology after what happened before. With the Swelling quills, I mean." Neville was obviously trying to spare his feelings, but Harry was too angry at the moment to care much, and only nodded.

"Oh, but everyone asked me to tell you it was no big deal. Justin was saying how he needed a free period just to get caught up with all of his other classes. The only ones who left were the ones who weren't real serious about it, and they wanted to make sure you knew that."

"Thanks, Neville."

"Hey, I'll ask Professor Sprout if it's alright that I pair up with you. If that's okay, I mean. You were asking me before to help you with your crossbreeding project, right?"

Harry had forgotten about that until now, and suddenly felt ashamed of himself. "Thank you, Neville. I'd really appreciate that. Sorry if I'm being a prat right now. Something happened earlier."

"Sure, I understand. Do you want to talk about it?"

Harry shivered with anger, thinking of Ron and Hermione again. "Not right now. But I appreciate you helping me."

Being partnered with Neville turned out better than Harry had hoped. In addition to showing Harry the different magical plants that work well with each other, Neville was also a great source of relief for his lousy mood. The two spent the whole period while Professor Sprout hovered close by. She seemed to be keeping an extra-close eye on him today, no doubt to ensure Harry didn't try and experiment with any more plant varieties. It made him a little uncomfortable, but once Sprout saw how Neville had the situation well in hand, she left the two of them alone in favor of giving advice to a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff that had blended a Devil Snare and Blubotubber together nicely.

"Any ideas yet, Harry?" Neville asked after explaining each plant in excruciating detail.

Harry had been able to follow so far, but was still at a loss for what to do. This was really beyond his area of expertise, even with Neville's advice. Listening to him chatter on had helped him feel better, though he was still angry with Hermione and Ron over the book. Thinking about it caused Harry to frown thoughtfully. More than likely, Neville wouldn't see using the Marauder's Manual as cheating. He couldn't remember if there'd been anything within it's pages surrounding Herbology, but it couldn't hurt to look.

Fumbling through his bag, Harry yanked out the large tomb again as Neville watched curiously over his shoulder.

"What's that, Harry?"

Harry grinned. "It's a book I found. I think it belonged to my parents."

"Cool! What's inside it?"

"I think it might have something in here about what I could use for my Herbology project," Harry told him, flipping through the index. "You won't tell Professor Sprout that I'm using it, will you?" Harry wanted to make sure Neville didn't harbor the same feelings as his other friends. As it happened, he had nothing to worry about.

"What for?" Neville shrugged. "Everyone in here uses different textbooks for reference material. I doubt Professor Sprout would care less, honestly."

"Here it is!" Harry exclaimed, pointing. "Take a look here."

Harry moved over so Neville could read, too. "Looks like it's full of stuff for old potion recipies," Neville commented. "But there's some stuff over here on this page about how to combine things together, too. Wow, Harry! Do you think maybe I could copy some of this down for later? I'd love to see how some of this might work with my Mimbulus."

"Sure thing." Neville was taking this whole business with the Manual a lot better. Harry supposed Ron and Hermione were really upset because he hadn't let either of them see it. Of course, Hermione hadn't looked as though she wanted to. If anything, she seemed more angry that the book even existed.

Harry and Neville spent the last few minutes of Herbology working together, copying page after page from the Manual, and working to get Harry started on his own project. By the time the bell rang, he had crafted together with Neville's aid a crude but effective set of seeds. The three tiny buds had been combined from a Swelling Cactus and several Monolotus Bulbs. It would take time to grow, but at least he had something worth showing now.

Neville walked with Harry back up to the castle for lunchtime. Both their stomachs were complaining loudly of the lack of food. The air around them was growing even colder, adding to the blanket of moisture covering the school grounds. After the humid atmosphere of the greenhouse, Harry found himself shivering from cold. By the time they reached the Great Hall, he was shaking all over and very grateful that someone had thought to light the fires. Of course, each of them were forced to stand still for several minutes in the entrance as Filch once again worked them over with his Dark Detector. He seemed to grow more and more despondant with each student that passed through cleanly. Once again, Filch took longer to check Harry for any hidden spells or dangerous magical items, and frowned angrily as he walked towards the smell of food.

Neither Ron nor Hermione had made it down yet, so Harry opted to sit with Neville for the time being. The Gryffindor table was practically sagging from the weight of food lying on top of it. After several mouthfuls, Harry could feel his strength returning, and the ill memories of Filch and his bitter feelings earlier faded away. By the time Ginny had joined them, he was laughing whole-heartily with everyone else. Ginny in particular was in good spirits. Harry felt a little surprised at how glad he was to see her.

"Luna was telling me earlier how you've taken Professor Darkholme's last exam," Ginny asked suddenly. "To pick her assistant, I mean. Does that mean we'll be doing the D.A. soon?"

Harry nodded over his bite of onion pie. "I guess so. Though, I think it all depends on who she picks for her assistant. She might put them in charge of it." Harry had been wondering about this for a while. The D.A. was never his idea to begin with, yet he wasn't so sure he liked the idea of someone else taking it over.

"She can't put anyone else in charge," Neville stated. "We'll protest!"

"Yeah!" several other Gryffindors added.

Harry shook his head. "Okay, guys. How about we talk about something else?" All anyone had asked him about for weeks now was when the D.A. would start back up. It was becoming annoying. Ginny immediately brought up Quidditch, and the upcoming match against Slytherin. Harry listened as several people as Colin and his brother both went on about their new status of being on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with Harry, and their chances during the match. Their last few practices had gone very well, with the Creevey brothers only messing up once. A renegade Bludger had gone straight for Ginny's head, and each of them had dive-bombed at the same time to knock it away from her. It had been a close call, but Ginny was able to roll out of it's way, leaving just enough space for Colin and Dennis to slam head-long into each other.

In spite of this, they were shaping up to be one of the finest teams he'd ever played with. Only Ron seemed to be showing some of his earlier nerves, missing a few easy shots. Thinking of Ron made Harry look over to his left. At some point, Hermione had entered the Great Hall with him, and they now talked with each other in hushed tones. Harry watched them for a moment, and thought he overhead them say his name a few times. When Hermione looked his way, though, he pretended to have heard Ginny say something particularly interesting.

*****

The day of the match against Slytherin, something unusual happened. The sun was shining brightly when Harry awoke that morning. It was so unusual that, for the first couple of minutes, he wasn't sure what had happened to the dorm. It was far too well-lit. After crawling over towards the window, he was hit directly in the face by the morning sun. The brightness of it made him blink several times, but after that, he looked out towards the Quidditch pitch with a pleased expression.

The sunshine seemed to help brighten everyone's disposition. All of Hogwarts was brimming with excitement. Several times throughout the day, people stopped Harry in the hallway to wish him luck, and ask for an autograph. He declined on the latter part, and started keeping the Marauder's Map with him. With it, he was able to dodge around a number of large groups of students lingering wherever he normally traveled. It didn't escape his notice that many of these groups consisted largely of girls. Ginny, Neville, and Luna rose to the challenge in helping Harry evade the horde of persistant admirers by keeping a close watch between classes. It wasn't easy, particularly when Ginny came forward just before lunchtime with the news that the same group of Gryffindor girls that'd been saving him his very own compartment were conspiring to slip him a love potion. He'd spent the rest of the day avoiding them whenever possible, especially anything they might try and give him.

When the last bell rang, Harry raced out the door to retrieve his trusted Firebolt from his trunk. A set of butterflies had settled into his stomach over the last few hours, but more than that, he felt elated. His heart pounded in his chest with anticipation. For once, there was something good to look forward to! Everyone else seemed to feel the exact same way.

It wasn't hard to guess why. The news recently had not been good, and several more parents had shown up to take their children home from Hogwarts. This was met with a wave of unease from everyone, including the faculty. The two Hufflepuff students that had been pulled out at the start of the year were found murdered earlier in the week, and it looked as though their parents were the culprits. The Imperius Curse had apparently been used, and Filch was now inspecting anyone who showed up at Hogwarts to withdraw a student for any reason. It would have been bad enough at that, but the day after the event was reported, a article appeared in the Daily Prophet. The headline had caught Harry's eye immediately.

FAILURE AT HOGWARTS!

The Wizengamot was called into emergency session today at the Ministry of Magic to address what many are calling a failure of conscience at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yesterday, four parents were arrested in what many are calling the most shocking crime yet since the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Meladine and Vincent Thrump, along with Elanore and Richard Crossbolt, were taken to Azkaban prison following a thorough examination at St. Mungo's. The Imperius Curse had apparently been placed on each of them, with the intent that they withdraw both their only children from Hogwarts. Both children left under the assumption that they would be returning home. Upon safe distance from the school, however, the parents Apparated to an undisclosed location and each performed the Killing Curse, which resulted in the deaths of both.

Many are questioning how something so horrible could escape the attention of Albus Dumbledore, whom many regard as the greatest headmaster that Hogwarts has ever seen. As it happens, Albus Dumbledore had been conspiciously absent at the time. Further inquiries reveal that Dumbledore has not been seen at Hogwarts for many weeks at a time. His growing absences leave witches and wizards wondering whether he is capable of providing sufficent protection of our nation's youth.

Dumbledore certainly has much to answer for. His promises of new security and protection to all parents who expressed concern at sending their children away during these dark times have not been met. If this is just the beginning, what new horrors might await just around the corner.

Rita Skeeter, Co-Editor-in-Chief

It made Harry's blood boil, but there was nothing that could be done about it right now. Rita Skeeter had apparently netted herself a fat promotion since the interview he'd given her, but she was right about one thing, much as he might hate to admit it. Dumbledore was showing his face less and less these days. Harry had stopped searching for him up at the faculty table long ago. The absence was felt by everyone as he made his way down to the pitch from the dressing room behind his team. Even with this hanging in the air, the roar of the crowd was deafening. For once, the boos from some of the Slytherins were drown out.

Harry mounted his broom and kicked off to the air. The Slytherin team was right behind them. Each of them sneered out towards Harry's team with looks of pure contempt, but there was something wrong. He quickly scanned their faces as Madame Hooch brought the trunk with the Quidditch balls, and realized with a jolt that Malfoy wasn't there.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle and released the balls, making Harry concentrate on the game. Ducking a Bludger that roared near his head, he took off up towards the sky and looped around, searching the ground for anything gold.

"Sorry about that, Harry!" Dennis apologized, knocking a Bludger away. "Didn't see that one earlier!"

"Focus, Dennis," he told him.

Dennis nodded at once and went back to the game, pairing up with his brother to keep the Bludgers away from Ginny and Katie. Euan Abercrombie was having a better time of keeping away from the Slytherins. His small frame and thin broomstick slipped through the larger players with ease, allowing him to score several points past the Slytherin Keeper with ease.

"Another ten points to Gryffindor," the announcer called. "That makes the score Gryffindor forty, Slytherin zero."

The boos from Slytherin reaches Harry's ears from high up, and he frowned slightly before cutting a loop towards something that turned out to be nothing but a young witch's necklace. The voice of the announcer sounded very familiar.

"Another ten points for Gryffindor," the male voice called out again. "Abercrombie takes the Quaffle and makes another play. Oh, but Crabbe snatches it away and makes a play for the Gryffindor hoops. Crabbe seems to have had trouble with handling his broom today. Hope he makes it far enough to... No! Gryffindor Chaser Ginny Weasley makes a grab for it and succeeds. Now it's Gryffindor in position again..."

Harry risked swooping down over the announcer's box. McGonagal was sitting in the spot that Dumbledore usually occupied. Next to her was a seventh year dressed in Slytherin colors. Harry recognized him as the same boy from the train again. He remembered now his name, Morgan Bloodmoon, from Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Slythern Seeker Hocum makes a dive for the ground!" Bloodmoon cried out.

Harry whirled around and saw to his shock that Bloodmoon was right. Hocum was in a precarius dive, aiming for something glittering near the ground. Whipping about, Harry plunged his Firebolt towards the same spot and roared off. It was going to be close, and Harry saw too late that he wouldn't make it in time. Changing course slightly, he angled his broom straight for Hocum's just as the Slytherin Seeker reached up with both hands. Each of their brooms rattled with the force of Harry ramming his into Hocum's. The Firebolt took most of the shock, but it was enough. Hocum nearly fell sideways off his broomstick, and had to reattach himself with both hands. When he looked up, the Snitch was long gone.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle and glared harshly towards Harry, but the damage was done. The Slytherin team was awarded a free shot at the goal, which they took and just barely got in. Ron was looking quite steamed at himself. It occured to Harry that they hadn't really spoken to one another since the arguement weeks ago. The only time they'd really seen one another was during Quidditch practice.

"A bold move by the Gryffindor Seeker, nonetheless!" Bloodmoon was calling out amidst the jeers of several Slytherins. "Slytherin is now twenty to fifty!"

Harry went back to looking for the Snitch. That had been a close call, and Hocum had nearly gotten the Snitch. They weren't nearly far enough along in points for Harry to mess up like that. He needed to keep his mind in the game. As his scanned the field for any sign of the Snitch, the sunlight overhead faded out. Confused, Harry glanced up and saw a dark cloud rolling overhead. A wild wind from the south kicked up, nearly lifting him up completely off his Firebolt.

Lightning struck across the sky, briefly lighting up the Quidditch pitch for a second. In that instant, Harry spotted where the Snitch was hiding. Rain pettled the back of his head as he shot foward towards the ground again. This time, however, Hocum was off to the side and swooped down in front of him. Jerking his broom back up, Harry missed striking Hocum by inches, and when he looked, the Snitch was gone again.

"Turnabout is fair play, I suppose," Bloodmoon remarked, wryly. "Hocum is successful in blocking the Gryffindor Seeker, so the score remains fifty to forty, with Gryffindor in the lead!"

Harry was furious, but that was nothing compared to his teammates. The Gryffindor team was now driven by this second time the Snitch had escaped his grasp, and it fueled their efforts. Ron began punching the Quaffle away each time it came anywhere near one of the three hoops, to the point that Madame Hooch threatened to call foul on him for straying too far from his position. Colin and Dennis were whacking away Bludgers towards the Slytherin team at every possible chance, sending a Chaser flying off his broom and Hocum nearly crashing right into the faculty box. It was turning into a very nasty game. Harry flew even higher in the hopes that he might spot the Snitch from up here. This game needed to end soon before someone got hurt!

Or worse!

Unfortunately, the storm was getting worse. It was now too dark to see the Quidditch pitch below. A flash of lighning blazed past, nearly throwing him. The wind was becoming unbearable, too. Resignedly, Harry began to decend his broom towards what he hoped was the pitch again. The only chance of locating the Snitch now would be if it flew down his throat. As he did, though, an idea struck him. Yanking out his wand, he removed his glasses and tapped them twice.

"Impervio!" he hissed through chattering teeth.

It was the same spell Hermione had shown him years ago. Now, at least, he could see well enough to know where the pitch was. The Firebolt's speed was actually a hazard to him with the wind blowing as hard as it was. Harry decended slowly, keeping his eyes peeled just in case.

Something red whipped past him near his head. Harry turned sharply in response, moving purely by instinct, and looped back around. There was nothing behind him, but a dark shape out the corner of his eye was escaping through a cloud bank. Another flash of red came past him, this time only missing because of a gust of wind catching his broom. The FIrebolt seemed to have a mind of it's own for a moment, and Harry fought to right it around.

This time, they weren't trying to hide. Three cloaked figures on broomsticks hovered just ahead of him. Harry couldn't see their faces, but as the wind kicked up around him, he thought he saw a lock of blonde hair under the cloak of the smallest one in the middle. There wasn't time to think on it, though, because each one of them raised a wand at once. Harry turned his broom to avoid the blasts of red sparks headed for him. They were coming after him now, one closing in fast. This one shot off something other than a Stunning spell, and the whole sky lit up for a moment while red flames danced towards him. Harry ducked out of the way, but the fire turned in response and followed him. The rain wasn't putting it out, and it was getting closer.

Up above, the big one that'd cast it was holding his wand out in concentration. Harry watched as the smallest rushed towards him, and surprisingly knocked the arm away. The flames behind him died out just as they'd reached the tail end of his broomstick. The two seemed to be arguing now, and Harry thought he heard the smaller one shouting.

"You moron! We need him alive..."

"Petrificus Totalis!"

Harry's wand was shaking so badly from the cold, it was a miracle the spell hit it's target. The larger one went rigid at once, and would have certainly fallen from the broom had his legs not been wrapped around it. The body swung back and forth like a pendelum for a moment, and the rocking motion caused his hood to fall back. Harry stared on his shock for a second, then looked back towards the pitch below.

"Impossible..." he whispered.

The smaller one was joined by the other, then. Both of them raised their wands towards Harry, who swallowed back his fear and prepared to defend himself. A flash of lightnight struck through the clouds again, and as it did, something odd happened. Harry blinked as twin bolts of blue magic flickered past him, and sent both hooded attackers flying off their brooms. For a split second, he thought it might have been a trick of the lightning, but then logic dawned on him.

Harry turned and searched the skies, but there was no sign of anyone else up here. Turning his broom, he flew as fast as he could for the ground. The match was still going on, and it looked as though Slytherin was finally catching up. Harry searched the pitch for a familiar face, and spotted it as Colin Creevey sent a Bludger towards him. Crabbe whirled out of the way clumsily, then dropped the Quaffle he was carrying right into Katie Bell's waiting hands.

Harry frowned, and through the rain, saw something fluttering just a few feet from his nose. Stunned, Harry gripped his Firebolt and took off after the Snitch, weaving in and out of the spaces between the players. Hocum tried to follow, but his bulky frame made it impossible. What followed might have been the most spectacular mid-air collision of broomsticks in Hogwarts history! Hocum wound up entangled between two very irate Slytherin beaters, who looked as though they were ready to mistake his head for a misshapen Bludger. The three bodies flew haphazardly through the air for a moment, before crashing head-long into the announcer's box.

Harry, meanwhile, grinned broadly as he felt his frigid hands close around the Snitch. Madame Hooch caught sight of him waving from down on the ground, and quickly blew her whistle.

"Gryffindor wins!" she declared.

"Harry Potter has done it again!" Bloodmoon called out, loudly. "Harry Potter succeeds once again in catching the Snitch. Gryffindor wins with an astounding two hundred and thirty to seventy!"