Chapter 10
With September rolling into October, the weather started to get colder signifying there might be an early winter after all. The first DA meeting was scheduled for that night. Dumbledore had asked that the meetings not be made into an official club, but felt there was no need for them to keep it secret either. Therefore, anyone who wished to join was welcome. Hermione, however, insisted that the secrecy parchment still be signed by everyone. She modified a bit so to prevent people from using what they learned in their meetings to aid and assist Voldemort. Since most of the school had seen the pimple spell last year on Marietta Edgecombe, Harry felt confident he could trust everyone in the DA to have his back.
All the 6th year Gryffindors and Slytherins made their way down to Hagrid's hut for their Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Due to Hagrid still being away, they saw Charlie waiting for them instead along with a certain purple haired auror.
"Tonks! What are you doing here?" Harry asked as Ron went to greet his brother.
"I've been assigned as part of Hogwart's security," Tonks answered while sporting a grin. "Dumbledore finally got approval to have some aurors to help patrol the corridors and grounds as an extra precaution. There's about ten of us, but you most likely won't always recognize me. I'm just here right now to help Charlie with his lesson."
They continued with small talk until the rest of the students arrived. Nearly all the Slytherin's and even a few Gryffindors seemed a bit relived that Hagrid still hadn't returned. Harry had thought Charlie's classes so far had been mildly interesting but lacked the unexpected pizzazz Hagrid always seemed to bring.
"Alright everyone, follow me." Charlie said as they all walked around the hut toward the edge of the forest where they saw a wooded pen with an animal slowly grazing along the ground with its large snout.
"NO WAY!" Harry said, surprised that Hermione and a couple other Muggleborns had said nearly the same thing at the same time.
"Isn't that…" another student started to say.
"It is indeed." Charlie said cutting off the Muggleborns who looked fascinated.
Harry started laughing a bit unable to believe this animal from the children's show Sesame Street actually existed. He'd seen it a few times when he was little and was one of the few things from television he'd actually remembered. Hermione had a smile as well, not to mention most of the other Muggleborns that were in attendance."
"Everyone, this is a Snuffleupagus, albeit a small one since it's still a juvenile." The brown haired animal with a long snout and wooly mammoth type frame had everyone curious. It wasn't terribly big yet, not quite making it above Harry's shoulder.
"Wait a second." Hermione said as she raised her hand. "Are you telling me that Sesame Street copied a real magical creature for its show?"
Charlie smiled in return. "My dad let us watch the show a few times growing up on a TV he had in his shed. He said after inquiring about it at work that there were a few Muggleborn wizards working on the show and they thought it'd be a funny inside joke."
Hermione merely shook her head in disbelief. "All this time watching him on TV, he really did exist."
Charlie nodded toward Tonks. "I've asked Tonks here because a real Snuffleupagus only interacts with its opposite sex. This one here is male, so Tonks is going to go up to it. If I were to go up to it, it would simply turn around and attempt to…well, I'm sure you all know what an animal's backside does after digesting a meal."
Sporadic laughter rose from some of the students while the others had a look of disgust.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get a female here for the guys to get close to," Charlie continued, "but I just happened upon this one roaming in the forest a couple weeks ago. They're pretty common among forests, but not usually seen as they prefer to not wander too far from their nesting places. I'll return him back to the forest when the day is over. Their brown hair is often used as an ingredient for love potions."
Tonks went up to the animal and he immediately put his snout up to her smelling her making sure she wasn't a threat, and then gently wrapped his snout around her in a cuddle. The rest of the female students were soon able to go up and pat him. The Snuffleupagus seeing all the females around him started to get a bit amorous thinking he had his veritable pick of the litter. After about ten minutes, when his snout found itself wandering where it shouldn't be that the girls started backing up out of the pen. Lavender was red faced while trying to discreetly straighten out her skirt.
"Sorry about that Lavender, I guess I should have remembered that they tend to get a bit overexcited sometimes, especially the younger ones like this one is."
For the rest of the lesson, Tonks, along with one or two students taking turns, would go up to him. He was easier to control with just a couple females around rather than a dozen or more.
"Homework due next week is a two foot long essay on Snuffleupagus's and their native habits, tendencies, magical abilities, etc."
Due to this being the last class of the day, some of the students left for dinner while Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville stayed behind to talk to Charlie and Tonks. Harry looked around at the Slytherin's leaving and realized he hadn't heard one word from Malfoy the entire lesson. He had nearly forgotten he was there.
"Wonder what's up with him lately?" Harry thought. Aside from his little taunt about Hermione's hair some time ago, Malfoy had hardly said two words to any of them since. He still had that sullen 'you're beneath me so don't talk to me' type of look, but it wasn't as haughty as it used to be. Harry was about to comment on it to Hermione when Ron interrupted his chain of thought.
"So, is there any news from the Order?" Ron asked to Charlie once they were alone.
Charlie answered in the negative. "Nothing new, most of the attacks that occur are hit and runs that happen too fast for us to do anything. They're in and out in less than five minutes, doing as much damage before fleeing. Right now they're just trying to instill fear among the population and create the notion that the Ministry is ineffective. Sadly, I think it might be working."
Tonks was clearly not happy with the way things were going. "During one raid, we caught a Death Eater straggler and one of the new auror recruits accidently stepped on his wand and broke it. Needless to say, the auror was put on probation. Gah, I hate these stupid rules of tradition. If we're going to win, we need to set aside some those old antiquated notions that breaking one's wand is the unpardonable sin. If they don't have a wand, they can't fight."
"What happened with the Death Eater?" Hermione asked.
"Oh he's still incarcerated, but there are some advocate lawyers lining up to take up the case against the Ministry."
"Too bad we can't use a second wand." Ron said. I bet that would change things up a bit.
"Ron, that's impossible, no wizard has the magical core strong enough to use two wands at the same time."
"I know Hermione! I'm just saying." Ron replied a bit more harsh than necessary. "Sorry, I get cranky when I'm hungry, you know that."
"Tonks, didn't the Ministry try to fix that problem about two wands?" Charlie asked.
"Well, a few years ago when I was just starting my auror training the Unspeakables asked for some volunteer's willing to submit to some experimental spells. They were attempting to crack the second wand mystery. Only thing is, since they announced that the volunteers would be getting about a month off in paid leave, nearly every auror signed up. Even Mad-Eye tried to get in on it. The idea of a wielding two wands at once is quite appealing."
At their questioning looks as they waited for her to continue, Tonk's complied. "They estimated it would take that long for one's magical core to acclimate itself back to normal once the tests were completed."
"So what happened?" Charlie asked as he threw some apples in the Snuffleupagus's pen for him to eat.
Tonks began to smile wider. "Director Bones called a halt to the volunteering and made it a random drawing. Trainees were exempt so I wasn't allowed. I heard the whole experiment was a colossal failure. One of the volunteers was nearly turned into a squib, took her over six weeks before she could even levitate something again. Honestly, I don't know if there still even researching it or have moved on to other things."
Neville blew out a sigh, "Six weeks! I doubt I could last a few days."
Ron patted him on the back, "Well, that way, you'd be able to get your Gran to wait on you day and night. That might be nice."
Neville shook his head, "Are you kidding? She'd say it'd be good for me to see how Muggles get by and make me do things by hand."
"As she should!" Hermione exclaimed, "Honestly Ron, you wouldn't last a day living in the Muggle world."
"Well, if we don't get to dinner, I won't last another minute, let's go, I'm starving." Ron moaned.
The gang said their goodbyes to Charlie and Tonks as they made their way to the Great Hall. When they were almost out of view, Harry turned back and was surprised to see that Tonks and Charlie were still talking, much closer to each other than usual. That sight made him try to remember something, but couldn't put his finger on it. He dwelt on it a bit through dinner, but gave up when dessert arrived in the form of a strawberry cheesecake.
After dinner, Harry made some last minute preparations for the DA meeting that would start soon. He liked to get to the Room of Requirement early and make sure everything was set up correctly. While he was looking down at the notes he'd made, he turned a corner too quickly causing him and the person he'd ran into to fall to the ground, causing his glasses to fall off.
"Oh, sorry, didn't see you." Harry said as he gathered his papers and realized they weren't as clear to read as he'd prefer. He looked up into the smiling face of Cho Chang dangling his glasses in front of him, a hand on her hip and a smirk on her face."
"Hi Harry. Don't worry about it. Look I've wanted to talk to you about something."
Alarm bells went off in the back of Harry's mind as he put his glasses back on. They'd had a bad breakup last spring and hadn't really talked since. He assumed she'd want to get back together judging by the way she lowered her voice in sultry romantic way.
"Uhh, now's not a good time Cho," Harry gulped. "I've got to get to the DA meeting and set things up." As he started to go, Cho put a hand on his arm and moved closer to him than he would have preferred. He recognized the superb smell of her perfume and idly wondered if there was some calming charm infused with it to make people at ease around her.
"Actually Harry, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. After what happened last year with Umbridge and her putting Veritiserum in my tea, I can't be blamed for ratting you all out can I? I would really like to be accepted back in…" Cho moved closer to Harry, who had subconsciously backed himself against the wall.
"Surely, you can arrange that…can't you? Cho batted her eyes, her voice lowering to a whisper.
Harry gulped, slowly trying to slide down the wall sideways away from her, but she countered his moves while waiting for his answer. As he tried to decide what to do, his salvation came in the form of Hermione and Susan who were coming from the library together.
"Harry! Cho, what's going on?" Harry noticed both Hermione and Susan's hands slowly inched toward their wands. Susan had taken up Luna's habit of putting it behind her ear, stating it was easier and faster to retrieve it than a pocket or a bag.
"Nothing of your concern! I was just asking Harry something." Cho said as she turned back to Harry, her body nearly pressed up to him.
"Well, whadda you say?" Cho asked as seductively as possible.
"I think that where it appears Harry's virtue is in danger, it's very much my concern!" Hermione snapped back, her wand in her hand but held down to the ground. Susan was slowly making her way to the other side of the hallway putting Cho in a crossfire should something unpleasant result in this confrontation.
Cho turned around toward Hermione, no longer smiling. "Oh that's right! Harry here can't be too far from his lovely Hermione!" She slowly strolled toward Hermione. Harry let out a sigh of relief and quietly took out his own wand.
"Speaking of Harry's virtue," Cho continued, "I doubt it's in any danger around you! I wonder what a date is like for you two. Spending those romantic evenings studying for exams and talking about which classes are your favorite?" Cho let out a small chuckle. "I bet he doesn't even know you're a girl, more like a…what is it called…a study buddy or something?"
Hermione let out a laugh. "Is that the best you can do? Insult me about my study habits? Just as well, those habits would best you in a duel any day of the week!"
"Hermione…" Harry said in a voice of warning. He didn't want this to escalate where the Head Girl gets in a duel with a Prefect.
"Anywhere, anytime!" Cho responded. "In fact…tonight at the DA meeting, winner gets a date with Harry! And I get accepted back into the DA, and you get rid of that stupid green and silver Slytherin hair!"
"Wait a second!" Harry said more forcefully this time, but neither of them was listening.
"You're on…and when I win… well, I have something special in store I've been waiting to try on you!" Hermione said with a wink and a smile that was half directed to Cho and half to Harry. Harry wanted to point out that Hermione's hair couldn't be changed, but was unable to get a word in edgewise.
Cho faltered a bit but regained her composure. "Good, I can't wait! But nobody would blame if you decided to run back to the library and cower behind a book."
As Cho brushed her way past Hermione, she turned around and looked straight at Harry. "See ya Harry! I've already got something special planned for us on our Hogsmeade trip that's coming up next month!"
After Cho turned the corner, Harry and Susan ran up to Hermione.
"Are you crazy? I don't want to get back together with her!" Harry said exasperated.
Hermione let out a big breath. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to wipe that smile off her face, but I'll win I promise. And…I won't hold you to a date or anything, I just agreed so I could duel her for once." Hermione's head face downward, but her eyes looked up at Harry with what could only be described as hope.
"No, that was the deal, and I'd be honored to go on a date with you." Harry lowered his face to Hermione's level so to see her.
"Really?" Hermione's smile grew wide as Harry put an arm around her as they slowly walked toward the DA room.
"Hermione, you're my best friend. You know I'd do anything for you, except just do me a favor. When you win, let me have some input on whatever you have planned for Cho? I might be able to give you some good ideas."
They both laughed as they made their way to the DA meeting discussing possible spells to use during the duel and what tactics Cho favored in their meetings last year.
They had forgotten that Susan was still standing there behind them. She wiped a sad tear from her eye, sighed, and slowly followed them to the meeting with her head cast down and her mind and heart feeling the acute pain of teenage angst. Her plan to ask Harry, after tonight's DA meeting, to go with her on the upcoming Hogsmeade trip just went up in flames.
"Everyone welcome to our first official DA meeting of the year!" Harry spoke to the crowd in front of him. Cheers erupted with enthusiasm, each knowing they now get to learn without fear of reprisal or lost points, ala Snape. There were only a three or four new faces added this year, but Harry hoped more would come as the year progressed. He figured once everyone connected the dots and realized that the DA had the highest O.W.L .scores last year, more people would show up. Hermione told him Dumbledore had related the news while she was staying the at the hidden beach villa over the summer.
"Okay," Harry announced, "I had some great things planned tonight, but something unexpected came up and we'll need to move a couple things for next time, but what we've got planned I think will be an excellent learning experience."
A few people had noticed Cho in the back of the room and figured she must have something to do with it. Seamus Finnegan and Luna gave her dirty looks when they came in but said nothing.
"And, we'll no longer be operating in secret since we have no inquisitor's after us!" Harry continued. A louder cheer rang out and a few rude and slanderous words directed toward Dolores Umbridge rose out from the crowd. "First, we're going to take a bit and review what we learned last year, just to freshen up those skills. Somebody set a timer to ring in an hour, that's when our unexpected lesson will be."
A huge alarm clock appeared on the wall behind Harry, courtesy of the Room of Requirement and everyone laughed when it showed Harry's face in the middle, with two large strands of his hair used for hands. Harry just rolled his eyes. He didn't need the room getting a sense of humor, but it could have been worse.
"Okay, everyone split up into groups of six or seven and we'll have the 'Ministry-Six' lead the reviews for each group?" Harry asked as he looked at his lifelong friends in the crowd for confirmation. When they nodded, everyone stood up to congregate in their respective group. Cho remained in the back unsure of where to go, but finally sauntered over to the group that held the most Ravenclaws, figuring they'd be the friendliest to her in this setting.
The next hour was spent in reviewing spells and practicing up from last year. Harry spent only half the time with his group, but asked Dean Thomas to take over while he went around to the other groups to make sure everything was going okay.
After Harry finished with the group that held Susan and Hannah, being led by Ginny Weasley, Hannah quietly looked over to Susan and asked what the matter was. Susan had seemed a bit down since they arrived at the meeting and only now had a chance to ask her about it.
"So, are you doing okay? Did you ask Harry yet?" Hannah quietly whispered while they practiced their Patronus Charms. Susan had confided in her best friend about possibly asking Harry to the next Hogsmeade trip.
"No, I never got the chance," Susan answered despondently. "Seems Cho and Hermione beat me to it." Susan grumbled when she again failed to get her Patronus to fully form. She still hadn't perfected it yet and her frustration was growing as to why her Patronus wouldn't manifest itself. She could nearly see the form, but it wouldn't quite hold. It looked like it might be a bird, but couldn't be sure.
"Harry's taking both of them?" Hannah asked a bit louder than intended, but with all the spell work being done and charms being yelled, they had no danger of being overheard.
Susan answered in an annoyed voice. "No, that's what the big surprise lesson is about. Seems Hermione and Cho got into a bit of a tussle shortly before we got here and they will duel each other. A date with Harry is one of the spoils to the victor."
Understanding dawned on Hannah's face. Harry had always been one of the more fanciable boys, and that was not even counting the whole 'Boy-Who-Lived' thing, which made him even more desirable to a number of young ladies around the school. The thing holding most girls back was one Hermione Granger, who was his best friend. Nearly everyone assumed they would end up of together and didn't want to wait around for his availability, not to mention the possibility of Hermione's wrath. It was a source of speculation how Cho had been able to secure Harry's affections last year and a couple people even suspected a minor love potion. The statement by Susan of the upcoming duel was of little surprise to Hannah and made sense as to why Cho would show up to the meeting. It appeared that she was trying to make a statement that she could best Hermione in matters of love and war, as well as redeem herself a bit from letting the secret of the DA out to Umbridge.
"Well, look at it this way, if they both kill each other, you'll be able to go to Hogsmeade with him after all." Hannah said with a smile hoping to lighten up Susan's spirits. Hannah was satisfied when she saw a wisp of a smile on Susan's face before going back to her own practicing.
When the hour wrapped up, they all gathered around to see what was next on the agenda. Harry waited until silence permeated the room. "Okay, like I said before, we have a last minute change. We are going to observe a duel between two formidable opponents."
Whispers, cheers and clapping started amongst the group. They had been able to duel quite a bit late in the term last year and were eager to get back to it.
"Everyone pay attention." Harry said trying to quiet everyone down. "Cho and Hermione have," Harry cleared his throat, "civilly agreed to duel each other, thus allowing all of us to observe, critique, and learn. I suggest you make the most of this opportunity. Afterward, we're going to discuss what worked and what didn't." Harry had put his best spin on the situation, but most were not buying it. Judging by their past history and the looks that Hermione and Cho were now giving each other now, everyone could plainly see this was anything but civil.
"So, if the room will provide a dueling arena, we will get started." Harry said aloud to nobody in particular. The room eagerly complied, providing an area of the room with glowing boundary lines as well as a medical station for each dueler. The area outside the lines had cushions and chairs for everyone watching to sit on. The glowing lines were actually force fields to keep a stray curse from striking the audience.
"Wait, who are the seconds?" Ginny yelled amongst the shuffle of everyone finding the best seat.
"Good question, who are your seconds?" Harry asked each. In the hubbub of their altercation, they both had completely forgotten.
"No seconds. I won't need one." Cho said arrogantly as if daring Hermione to anoint her own second and make her look as if she wasn't up to the task by herself.
"It's your own undoing." Hermione said with a grin before walking over to Harry for some last second advice.
"Good luck. Remember Cho favors her left side and she often bites her bottom lip before she casts a spell, giving you a split second notice." Harry whispered. Hermione nodded nervously and tried to calm her breathing. Harry walked to his seat next to Ron and Neville.
"Why didn't you tell me this was going down?" Ron asked when Harry took a seat next to him.
"It only came about as I was coming here. I didn't get a chance to," Harry replied. "If you had come with me early like I asked, you'd have seen the near cat fight for yourself."
"Well, we're about to see one now." Neville stated eagerly while watching the two girls position themselves across from each other. Ron and Neville were both sporting excited grins, along with nearly everyone else in the room.
"One last thing," Harry said to the entire DA. "I don't think any of the professors need to know about this little endeavor. They might not look kindly upon an unsupervised, unsanctioned duel. Agreed?" Everyone nodded.
"Alright then, you two begin on my mark." Harry paused a couple moments waiting for both girls to signal they were ready. After their ceremonial bows, they both nodded to Harry, who yelled "Begin."
Hermione opened with a salvo of simple spells while dodging back and forth from Cho's stunners and hexes.
"Impedimentia, Stupefy, Incarcerous!" Hermione was forgoing anything complicated so not to wear herself out too quickly, while at the same time trying to gauge Cho's style before really attacking.
"Oooohh." The crowd reacted as a burning hex singed Hermione's arm, but seemed to not affect her. The next few minutes were much the same of Hermione mainly dodging and only casting simple spells, almost in a taunting way to try and get Cho to lose her focus or temper.
"Oh, nice one Granger! Impressive, most impressive!" Cho said sarcastically as she sent out another stinging hex that was meant to cause the inside of the skin to itch rather than the outside, but missed badly as she had to move out of the way from another of Hermione's low-level stunner. Hermione for her part simply smiled as she continually sidestepped Cho's spells. She decided in favor of physically moving out of the way rather than waste her magic on shielding. It was then that Harry knew she was toying with Cho. Hermione had fought grown Death Eaters more than once and this wasn't near as difficult. For the next ten minutes, it seemed that every time Cho had the advantage, Hermione would throw out a flurry of spells to force Cho on the defensive before stopping and playing the defensive game again. Hermione was just biding her time till Cho wore herself out.
"Langlock! Impedimentia! Come on Granger! Give me something." Cho was becoming frustrated that none of her spells were getting through and Harry noticed that she was panting a bit, not to mention that her spells were slowly getting weaker.
"Uh oh!" Ron had noticed it too. "I think Hermione just found her opening." He commented to Harry, and indeed she had.
Hermione took the offensive with a flurry of spells that sent Cho quickly backpedaling as she barely blocked them all in time. As Cho shifted to her left, she took a sleeping spell to the leg causing it to go numb. Desperately while falling, Cho threw out a wall illusion that blocked Hermione's view, thus giving her a few seconds to lift the curse from her leg. Cho had just recovered when two spells-a wall of electricity, followed by a sheet of icy rain came through the illusioned wall and Cho barely had time to get her defensive spell up again before they passed over her, but not before the electricity singed her hair and feet. Running left, Cho's illusion wall finally disappeared, but Hermione wasn't behind it. Cho put up another defensive spell while looking for where Hermione had disillusioned herself. After a few moments, Cho cast a bunch of leaves all over the area and immediately heard Hermione's footsteps walking along the right side of the arena. Looking at the moving leaves, Cho saw a badly spelled disillusion charm and grinned.
"Bad form Granger. Dupulso!" Cho yelled triumphantly and everyone heard the heavy thump when Hermione was thrown backwards and landed against the ground and the crunching leaves.
Cho ran up and cast the counter-charm to Hermione's disillusion and stood triumphant over her lying flat on the ground.
"I win Granger! You really need to work on your charms. That disillusion charm was pathetic!" Cho said emphatically. In her excitement she failed to notice that Hermione's hair was the brown and bushy style she'd grown up with, rather than the green and silver hair she now currently sported. Cho was about to turn to Harry to claim her prize when she did a double take. Hermione didn't move speak or do anything, but just laid there with a blank stare on her face. It was then that Cho head the sound of feet running on the leaves from behind her. She turned around, but it was too late. The real Hermione silently stunned her and Cho's world went dark. As she was falling into oblivion she groaned as she realized that the disillusioned Hermione she sent flying backwards wasn't real. The genuine article had remained stock still under a perfect disillusion charm when the leaves were cast. Cho didn't see her do it because of the wall she had cast so to buy herself.
Hermione picked up Cho's wand while still pointing her own at the knocked out girl. "Rule number one," she said aloud to the rest of the DA, "never assume anything. Rule number two, an official duel isn't over until the one supervising says it is."
"And it is over." Harry said getting up to revive Cho while the rest of the DA cheered her victory.
Hermione dropped Cho's wand and with a beaming smile, walked over the medical station where Ginny and Luna awaited to help treat her arm burn and a couple bruises.
Later than night after they had finished the DA lesson and everyone had gone to their respective houses, the four remaining Gryffindor's sat by the fireplace talking quietly.
"How did you create a perfect copy of yourself, not just an illusion, but one that was solid?" Neville asked in awe.
"It was brilliant," Ron said. "Had me completely fooled, I thought you were done for. We were closer to Cho's side, so we couldn't see what you were doing when Cho threw up the wall."
"Actually," Hermione said with a blush, unused to all the attention she was getting. "It was Cho who gave me the idea with her taunting. Her sarcastic "impressive" remark reminded me of my daddy. He's a huge Star Wars fan, always wondering what happened during the Clone Wars."
"Star what?" Ron asked, "And what's the Clone Wars?"
Ginny smiled. "I know about Star Wars, my dad and I watched it together in the shed on his Muggle box thing when I was little. Without telling mum, he would sometimes sneak me out of bed for a midnight show and we'd have ice cream together while watching it."
For a moment, Ginny seemed lost in time, a sentimental look on her face, before coming back to the present when Hermione continued. "Anyway, Cho's remark gave me the idea to use a clone copy of myself to trick her into thinking it was the real me. I used the necklace you three had given me for my birthday last month and transfigured it into a carbon copy of me." Hermione yawned obviously tuckered out from the evening's events as she took out her lovely jade necklace that had a little metal loop holding the names of all of them that went to the Ministry last spring. She hadn't taken it off since.
Hermione tucked the necklace back under her shirt before continuing. "I purposely used a poor Disillusion Charm so Cho would focus on the wrong me. I was about to run around behind her, but when she cast those leaves, I couldn't really move lest I give away my position. Fortunately she threw the fake me backwards and ran right past me when she thought she had won."
"Good thing she didn't notice that your copy had the wrong hair." Harry said with a chuckle.
Hermione's face showed a small smirk. "Yeah, I still need to work on that. Sometimes I forget how my hair has changed. I guess my memory of me still has brown hair instead."
This time Neville and Ginny both yawned loudly, and they all agreed to turn in for the night.
The next morning at breakfast was an excited affair as the duel was the main topic of conversation. The DA made sure that they kept their conversations out of any professor's ears, but Harry felt it would get back to them somehow and was a tad worried.
"Where is Hermione anyway?" Seamus asked. They had all been eager to talk to her since Cho's mood was decidedly unpleasant at the moment and no one dared approach her for further details.
"I think she decided to have a lie in." Ginny said. "Apparently she woke up more aching than she realized. I told her to go to Madam Pomfrey, but she was still thinking of an excuse to give her when I left."
Since it was Saturday, there wasn't the worry of any classes today. As a result, Harry's mind was focusing on their quidditch practice in a couple hours. The tryouts from a couple weeks ago went fairly well, and Harry was impressed with Ron's skills as captain. Besides him, Ron, and Ginny, they also still had Katie Bell on the team. The new members consisted of a brilliant second year boy, Dwight Parks, whose flying skills rivaled Harry's own, and a couple new beaters that gave Ron fits of frustration. Not many had tried out for beaters and Ron finally decided on giving a third and fourth year the job, Jimmy Peakes and Geoff Jones as they were the biggest, but only marginally less than average in hitting the bludger. Harry was brought out of his musings when Parvati commented on the fact that the Daily Prophet hadn't arrived yet. The other delivery owls were flying in, but nothing in regards to the daily news.
"I hope something big didn't happen, causing a delay of delivery while they write up the story." Lavender said while eating a crumpet.
Just then, a fifth year Hufflepuff yelled out loud that the Daily Prophet was destroyed a couple nights ago by You-Know-Who. Students ran over to see the paper he was holding.
Harry remembered the boy was from just outside Edinburgh, Scotland and read parts of the article from a Scottish wizarding paper called the 'The Trumpet.'
More than a few students seemed skeptical until Luna came in with a few copies of the Quibbler giving the same story. "It's true, Daddy saw it happen. Well, didn't actually see it, but helped in putting the fires out." More people started gathering around Luna and the fifth year Hufflepuff, Pete Barnes, to read the story.
"It looks like You-Know-Who had his fill of the Daily Prophet." Ron said. "Look at those pictures! The entire building is practically destroyed."
"Well, he did warn them to stop gossiping about him." Colin Creevey said from amongst the group.
"Serves them right," Seamus added. "I wonder if the Belfast Bugle has any coverage on this." Seamus had a subscription to the local paper near his hometown to keep up on local news there. He left to go check on his owl that preferred to deliver straight to his dorm.
Harry watched him go out the door to the great hall. Just as Seamus left, Malfoy entered, a bemused smile on his face. No doubt he'd heard the news of the Daily Prophet's fall. Their eyes met, and Harry's ire started to rise. Malfoy simply smirked at him before discreetly giving him a rude hand gesture and sat down to eat. Harry shook his head trying to calm himself down, noticing that after Malfoy looked away, that sallow depressed mood came upon him again.
"The Death Eaters must keep turning him down." Ginny said quietly from behind Harry, having watched the episode between the two. Evidently Harry wasn't the only one to notice that Malfoy hadn't been himself lately.
"Come on," Ginny said, "Let's see if we can get to the pitch early. I wanna try out a few moves before practice starts." They returned to their dorm to change and were just leaving their common to go down to the pitch when Hermione came running up from behind them.
"Harry! Ginny!" Hermione was panting and holding her side, her soreness still evident from the night before. She took a moment to take a breath. "Blimey, I need to start exercising more." She said under her breath. "Look at this!" She handed the parchment to Harry, who along with Ginny next to him read what was on it.
Hermione Granger-
This is to warn you— DO NOT TRUST SEVERUS SNAPE! He is a traitor to Dumbledore's Order and is in reality working against you.
DO NOT tell Dumbledore about this message-If so, it will get back to Snape, and I will not contact you again. Proceed with caution and use this information as you see fit.
The message was left unsigned. The handwriting seemed pretty neutral. Harry couldn't tell if it was written by a male or female.
"Where did you get this?" Ginny asked.
"It was resting on my bed stand when I woke up this morning. I have no idea who put it there." Hermione's face was of utter bewilderment.
"Why would whoever it is give it to you?" Harry wondered aloud.
"Well, everyone knows I'm close to you. Perhaps they knew you'd be the first person I'd tell." Hermione speculated.
"Maybe it was easier to get it into your room than Harry's." Ginny added to Hermione.
"But the only person that can get into my dorm room would be a Gryffindor girl." Hermione replied. "I don't know of any Gryffindor's that have Death Eater connections. That's even if we can trust that this note is true."
"Maybe," Harry said back, "But it's not like they're telling us anything we haven't already suspected about Snape."
"It could be a test, maybe to see if we tell Dumbledore or not. It implies that there could be more info on the way." Ginny said taking the parchment from Harry and reading it again.
"Let's adopt a wait and see attitude. We don't know if this person is a spy for us or setting a trap for us." Harry concluded.
They all agreed, but decided to get the rest of the "Ministry-Seven" together that night to talk about it. Since Susan was now a part of the group, even though she wasn't at the Ministry last spring, it was easier to say "seven" than "six plus Susan." Ron had stated the other night that it might not be long before Hannah made it "Eight" since as Susan's best friend she was naturally hanging around with them a lot more.
Hermione said she'd put the letter in a safe place in her dorm and returned back to Gryffindor tower.
Harry and Ginny decided not to tell Ron until after quidditch practice so not to distract him from his captain duties. It was a long arduous practice, but time well spent. They had their first game in two weeks against Ravenclaw, which coincidently fell on Halloween.
Returning from practice, Harry was rubbing his shoulder wondering whether he should make a trip to the hospital wing while Ron and Ginny were discussing the mysterious note Hermione received. Walking into the entrance hall, Harry had just decided that he could use a little something from Madam Pomfrey when Ron and Ginny stopped talking. Harry looked up to see the man himself Severus Snape in front of them. "It has come to my attention Potter that you are now conducting…unsupervised duels within your little club."
"Sir, I…uh…" Harry stuttered.
Snape rolled his eyes. "Amazing Potter. Your grammar skills are astonishingly on the same level as Weasley here. Now tell me, did you conduct an unsupervised duel?" Snape spoke with a bit more force in his voice.
"There was a duel sir, yes." Harry relented.
Snape nodded, happy for once to get an honest answer. "You do realize that I…am the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor in this school. And as such, it is MY duty and MY responsibility to oversee all duels to make sure that appropriate safety and precautions are made."
Harry was afraid this might happen. Despite his best efforts to tell everyone not to talk about it, keeping a secret this big was nigh impossible.
"Yes sir. It won't happen again." Harry said.
"NO, it won't," Snape reiterated. "If I hear about any more duels going on without myself or another professor supervising, I will personally see to it that your little…club…keeps their extracurricular activities confined within my classroom."
Ron was getting red in the face and wanted desperately to say something, but knew that he'd have to swallow his pride or Snape would take delight in giving him detention on the day of their quidditch match.
"To make sure you understand," Snape continued, "detention Potter…as well as Miss Granger and Miss Chang who participated in the duel. I have spoken to the other two already and they understand that if this happens again, your Prefect responsibilities will be…severely limited."
Snape stared at them for a few more seconds before moving on, the ends of his mouth curled in delight.
Ron let loose a volley of unpleasant words directed toward their professor as soon as they were out of earshot.
"At least he didn't demand to be present during our meetings or something like that." Ginny said trying to find the silver lining.
"I should have known this would happen. Keeping a secret around here is like trying to convince McGonagall to put on a tutu and perform a ballet routine." Harry grumbled.
"Well, Cho got detention as well. I'm sure as Head Girl she'll get a reprimand from Flitwick." Ron said as they approached the Fat Lady guarding their entrance to the common room.
Harry was still thinking of the note Hermione received that morning when he realized the answer to it could be in front of him. "Hey, you haven't let anyone in our common room from another house lately have you?" Harry asked the portrait guarding the entrance.
The Fat Lady became affronted at such an accusation. "I have done no such thing! I'll have you know I've been successfully guarding this common room for generations and I have never failed in my duty! The very thought is utterly ridiculous, why the nerve of asking such a question!"
"What about Sirius Black?" Ginny said, reminding the portrait of when she let Sirius in during Harry's third year when Scabbers, AKA Peter Pettigrew, was still on the loose.
"He had the proper passwords, and I'll thank you to not remind me of that man again!" The Fat Lady abruptly left her portrait in a huff, leaving all three with no way to get into their common room.
"Hey, you never opened the entrance! I thought you never failed in your DUTY!" Ron yelled to no avail.
"Great, now what?" Harry said as he slid down the wall to a sitting position to wait for someone to come out.
They sat there talking about the note and who could have warned them about Snape.
"It'll have to be a girl from Gryffindor." Ginny said. "A boy couldn't get up the stairs and I'm sure the Fat Lady hasn't let anyone else into the room."
"Besides, Hermione said it was there when she woke up." Ron added. "Anyone from another house would've been caught be Filch during the night."
"Well…" Harry said with a smile, reminding Ron that they've had their run about the castle more than once without being caught.
"Okay, than if it is someone in another house, than they had help from a Gryffindor." Ron amended.
"Maybe they gave the note to one of us to put on her bedside." Harry said.
"I guess that's possible. I'll ask around to see if anyone left any messages for Hermione." Ginny replied as they all stood up. A first year had just come out letting them into the common room.
That night, Harry found himself walking with Hermione down the seventh floor corridor. "It's my fault Harry. I'm sorry." Hermione said as the two made their way to the room of requirement to talk about the note with the rest of their group. "I would never have accepted Cho's challenge if I thought that Snape would throw a hissy fit about it. I can't believe he gave us detention!"
Harry glanced over at Hermione with raised eyebrows. "Okay" Hermione consented," I guess I can believe it, but still…"
"What did McGonagall have to say?" Harry asked curious.
Smiling Hermione replied. "She asked if I won."
Both laughing a bit, she continued. "After congratulating me, she told me that next time, come to her and she'd be happy to supervise. She did say that while duels are forbidden officially, they've been traditionally going on for generations. She refused to lift the detention though. She muttered that it might do me some good to get my hands dirty."
Harry laughed at that remark, to which Hermione lightheartedly hit him on the shoulder. "McGonagall even told me of when she was in fifth year and snuck out to the pitch to have a duel with some Hufflepuff. She said it was over a boy." Hermione finished smiling.
They were the last to arrive and saw everyone else was gathered around a fireplace in plush chairs talking quietly. Hermione took out the note and placed it on the table that was centered between them all.
"I've caught everyone up to speed. " Ron said as the two sat down.
"I asked around and all of the girls I spoke to claimed nobody had given them anything." Ginny said down-heartedly.
"I'll keep an eye on the Marauders' Map. See if anyone is skulking around the common room area or something." Harry said.
"Perhaps we could ask around among our own housemates." Susan said indicating her, Hannah and Luna. Hannah was pretty much a regular now and the rest had told her most everything that had happened thus far, including the secrets told from last summer on Harry's birthday. Susan looked around the room and got nods of approval. Luna was looking at the ceiling, which had a starry night on display for them. Without looking away, Luna responded in kind. "That's acceptable, but if I were going to deliver an important secret message, I don't think I'd trust someone else to do it. I'd want to make sure it gets there."
"How would you do it Luna?" Neville asked, looking up at the ceiling where she was still staring.
"Well," Luna pondered, "I might attempt to bribe someone to let me into their common room. But there is the problem of getting past the charms into the bedrooms, especially if I'm a boy. Perhaps I might try to develop a specialized spell." Luna took her eyes off the ceiling to look at the group around her. "To make a spell like that would take some time and experience."
The rest of the group sat there pondering and discussing possible ideas. After they'd given up as to who and how, the conversation turned toward other matters, namely quidditch. The Daily Prophet and the lack of news from Dumbledore regarding his request about the 'Chronicles of Merlin' also made the rounds. Eventually, they decided to turn in for the night.
Two weeks later the day of the big quidditch game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw arrived and they still hadn't made any headway about the note. Susan and Luna had asked around and nobody had sent Hermione a late night or early morning message. Harry hadn't seen anything on the Marauder's map, and Hermione had installed a charm to alert her should anyone enter her dorm room that wasn't supposed to. Since there were no more notes as the days wore on, they all focused on more pressing matters, namely the big match.
"…So then the runespoor says, 'No, I prefer them scrambled!'" Ron started howling in laughter while Harry, Hermione, Susan and Ginny simply looked at each other in confusion. Neville started laughing simply from Ron's reaction to his joke, which did make the others chuckle. Only Luna shrieked with laughter along with Ron, who seemed to appreciate that she was the only one who seemed to get the joke. They both started trading jokes and laughing after each one. From overhearing Luna's jokes, one would be surprised to learn that she actually was pretty funny when she let her guard down a bit. Ironically, it seemed Ron was one of the few able to do that.
The group was heading down to the pitch for the big quidditch game. The day was unusually warm for late October and everyone knew this was probably the last nice weekend they would have until spring. The first quidditch game of the year, the Halloween feast that night, and the first Hogsmeade trip next weekend had everyone feeling giddy. Naturally, there had been a few verbal sparring's between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw about the game, but nothing too unfriendly.
Harry admitted he was nervous because today was actually Halloween. "Everything bad happens to me on Halloween," Harry muttered. "Ever since I can remember and even before I can remember, for that matter."
"Rubbish." Hermione said. "I consider Halloween to be the best day of my life."
"Look." Harry responded, "My parents died on Halloween. Growing up I never got to go treat or treating, well, I got plenty of tricks from Dudley. When I was seven I…well, never mind, but even when I started Hogwarts Halloween was a curse to me."
Susan looked over at Harry when he mentioned the age of seven, knowing exactly what he was about to say and understanding why he considered it a bad day. After all, the day he got his first real friend, she moved away.
"Give one example." Hermione said determined to cheer him up before the game.
"First year, that bloody troll got loose and nearly killed you." Harry said ardently.
"And you saved my life and we became best friends from that day on! How is that terrible?" Hermione replied without a beat.
Harry sighed and nodded silently, but then continued. "Second year, the Chamber of Secrets opened, causing everyone to blame me and spurn me all year."
"Except Mrs. Norris." Hermione responded," that's almost worth it I think."
A smirk crept on Harry's face remembering Mrs. Norris being petrified all year. "Third year, Sirius tried to break into the common room. I know," Harry said before Hermione could reply to that. "He was trying to get to Pettigrew, but we didn't know that at the time and Fourth year my name comes out of the Goblet of Fire forcing me to compete."
"And compete admirably you did. You tied for first!" Hermione said, purposely omitting the fact that it resulted in Cedric's death and Voldemort returning.
"And last year…" Harry stopped walking, trying to remember what happened last Halloween.
"See." Hermione said. Nothing happened last year at all. "I think it's all in your head." She lightly bonked him on the forehead while giving him another encouraging smile.
Harry sighed again and walked the rest of the way in silence, still worried about the match.
Susan sidled up to Harry when Hermione and Ginny engaged in talk about Hogsmeade next week.
"You know Harry," Susan said quietly, "I'm sorry about all your Halloween jinxes, but I hope it hasn't been all bad."
Harry looked at Susan and seeing her dark green eyes remembered that fateful day when they first met.
"No, it hasn't." Harry consented to which Susan gave a big smile.
"Hey guess what?" Susan said a moment later.
At Harry's raised eyebrows, she again spoke quietly.
"My birthmark, it's turned from a crescent shape to a circle again."
"I wonder why it does that. It doesn't hurt does it?" Harry asked as he subconsciously rubbed his scar.
"No it doesn't hurt at all, but I did say before that it happens around Halloween or my birthday. I'm hoping the circle is a good omen for Gryffindor."
Harry and Susan both laughed and started thinking what else the circle could stand for until they got to the pitch. The group split up when they reached the entrance to the locker rooms.
"Good luck Ronald!" Luna said, and then with a bit of hesitation, quickly gave him a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying off to find a seat while putting on her big lion head on that she wore last year. Many Ravenclaws were naturally upset that she was turning traitor to her own house, but kept their opinions silent. Ron simply watched her retreating back before a slight smile crept on his face and strutted into the locker room.
"You too Harry." Hermione said before giving him a hug. They stared at each other for a few seconds before slowly drifting apart and Hermione stepped back, a frown sweeping over her face. Harry looked confused before seeing that her gaze was directed behind him. The voice that stirred the air made him realize why.
"Hey Granger! Double or nothing!" Cho was walking toward the locker rooms with some of her friends and teammates. "Winner of this game gets Harry all to herself next weekend."
"Why would I agree to that? I already get him all to myself next weekend." Hermione replied, ignoring Harry's attempts to get them to stop turning him into a bet. "And that reminds me I got a spell with your name on it that I need to deliver from our last bet that I won!"
"That's why I said 'double or nothing!" Cho rolled her eyes at Hermione. "So, are you confident Harry will win today? Or should I just declare a forfeit on Gryffindor's behalf?"
Harry looked at Cho and Hermione, and noticed that there were quite few people that had surrounded them in a circle watching the 'pre-game festivities.' Seeing Hermione look at him with a waiting smile, Harry gave the smallest of consenting nods to her before looking back to Cho.
"You do know Harry's never lost a game, right?" Hermione said confidently. "Well, never lost a game in which he wasn't knocked out. So unless you're planning to cheat and send Harry to the hospital wing, then I'm in."
Hermione held her hand out and the two shook hands in a fierce grip. As the crowd slowly dispersed, the gossip about what happened spread like wildfire amongst the rest of the school.
Neville was the first to speak his concerns. "Harry, are you sure about this? I mean, not that I doubt your quidditch skills, but letting Hermione make bets on you? No offense Hermione." He quickly finished not wanting to get on her bad side.
"She's never failed me before Nev., so I have no reason to ever fail her." Harry replied to Neville not noticing the silent 'oh's and ahh's' of all the girls' still around to hear it. Right then Ron's head popped out of the locker room.
"Oy, you lot gonna play or what? Hurry up!"
"Go get `em Ginny." Hermione said as Susan stepped in to give Harry a quick hug as well as some last minute advice. "Remember, just play your game and if you need inspiration, just look to the stands." Harry grinned knowing that Susan (with Dean's illustrative help) had made some signs up to hold during the game.
As soon as the team stepped in the locker rooms, Ron's 'captain mode' kicked in. The yells and chatter from the growing crowd outside could be heard and the anxiety building in Harry was growing.
After some last minute talk about strategy, the team finally emerged from the locker room onto the pitch. Ravenclaw was already warming up with some broom exercises and warm up throws with the quaffle.
"And here comes Gryffindor!" The voice of Justin Finch-Fletchley rose above the roars and boos of the crowd. Harry smiled to himself recalling that McGonagall had finally taken a middle ground when it came to the game commentator. She had announced a couple weeks ago that tryouts for the position would be open and that only a person from a house not playing that day would be allowed to give the play by play of the game, thus removing some bias. Apparently she was tired of having to monitor what was said during the game.
Harry circled around the pitch, closing his eyes and feeling the rush of the wind and the swoops and pits he felt in his stomach that he loved so much. As he re-opened his eyes and looked around, he saw Cho on the other side of the pitch and felt a bit anxious. He knew that Cho had a personal agenda in winning, so he should expect her best game today.
Finally, the whistle blew from Madam Hooch signaling that it was time to get the game started. Harry flew down next to where Ron was meeting with Ravenclaw's captain and watched both team captains shake hands. Harry wasn't really surprised when Cho gave him a wink before taking to the air.
Justin's commentating voice took over. "And they're off! Bell takes the quaffle and throws to Weasley, who throws back to Parks, back to…ohhh…nasty bludger hit there. Ravenclaw takes control…"
Harry hovered above the action looking intently for the snitch, while keeping an eye on Cho at the same time. What action he did see made him impressed with Ron's quality as a captain. The team was playing well so far, the chasers were at least.
"Parks takes the quaffle, look at that flying, passes to Bell, she throws for a goal! No, she dropped it…wait…Weasley is right under her, it was a pass…she shoots and scores easily!"
The cheers rang up loud amongst the crowd. Harry chuckled to himself when he heard the roar of Luna's lion, much to the disgust of her fellow Ravenclaw's. Cho's face was particularly repulsed.
Despite how awful Gryffindor's beaters were playing, Ginny still scored three more times in the next ten minutes, clearly proving who the best player on the pitch was. After Dwight Parks and Katie Bell each scored to make it 60-0, Harry noticed something going on with Cho. He was about to subtly move closer to her position when she made a break for the middle of the pitch heading straight down. Harry followed right behind still not seeing the snitch, and knowing she might be feinting. As both teams chasers and seekers converged in the middle, Harry and Cho both had to go around a Ravenclaw chaser with the quaffle. Harry zoomed down gaining on Cho, but after realizing that she hadn't seen the snitch, pulled up. Cheers roared from the crowd as Ravenclaw scored their first goal. Cho's feint had been a ruse to use herself as a screen so Ravenclaw could get past the Gryffindor chasers. After five minutes, Ravenclaw had no worries about the beaters. The goal for Ravenclaw was a lucky one as it bounced off of Ron's outreached hand and banked in off the metal hoop on the far left side. Harry groaned as he knew the Ravenclaw's had a reputation of being streaky and he hoped this wasn't a momentum changer.
After a few more minutes and a few more blocks from Ron, Harry didn't like how the game was progressing. Ron apparently didn't either when he called a time out and started to get on the beaters' case about being in position and actually hitting the bludgers at the opposing team.
"So as we come out of the time-out," Justin's voice was heard over the loudspeaker, "Gryffindor is winning 60-10, but with the snitch being elusive, it's still anybody's game. And here comes Gryffindor with their leading scorer Ginny Weasley. You know it's just something about redheads that gets me hot. Anyone out there think I got a shot with her?"
"Justin!" McGonagall yelled as half the audience started laughing. Apparently Justin was channeling his inner Lee Jordan into his commentary. Ginny for her part took the comment well and as she passed the commentator's booth yelled loud enough so everyone could hear through the microphone, "This isn't another one of your dreams Fletchley, and so stop mentally undressing me!" The audience continued its laughter as Justin's face became as red as Ginny's hair.
"Trust me Weasley, in my dreams you and I are both undres…Owww." McGonagall had taken the initiative to not let that sentence be finished. "Anyway, as I was saying the game is about to resume. And they're off…"
Harry continued his search for the snitch and although he usually tried to avoid the Slytherin side of the crowd, he knew he needed to look in that area more closely. As Ginny scored another goal, the crowd roared. Harry was about to cheer with them when he saw a glint of light coming from the crowd that reflected in his eyes.
"Malfoy!" Harry said as he looked closer at what he was doing. At first he thought Malfoy was purposely trying to distract him by focusing a glare from the sun in his eyes, but looking closer he saw that wasn't the case. Malfoy was staring at something glinty or shiny not even paying attention to the game. Harry couldn't tell what it was but after a few more moments, Malfoy dejectedly put it in his pocket and looked up to see Harry staring at him. Typical of Malfoy he gave Harry his customary smirk and obscene hand gesture before Harry turned his attention back to the game.
Ten minutes later, the score stood at 70-30. Ravenclaw was hanging in there thanks to the ineptness of Gryffindor's beaters not playing in their defensive position, thus leaving Ron all alone when the quaffle came his way. He still was able to block most of the shots, but at the rate they were coming, only allowing three goals was quite phenomenal in Harry's opinion.
As Cho drifted past him, she shot toward the Ravenclaw's goal post. Harry turned around and followed right next to her but pulled up when he saw she was feinting again. Unfortunately, Geoff Jones fell for it, and thinking he could help out followed Cho right into the ground. Harry didn't want to be around when Ron got a hold of him asking why he following the opposing team's seeker, without a bludger to hit at her mind you, instead of playing his position like he was supposed to.
"Ohhh, Geoff Jones, Gryffindor beater is down. That's gonna hurt tomorrow. Geoff got up holding his shoulder which was obviously dislocated just from looking at him. Harry hung his head knowing they were now a man down. They didn't have any reserve beaters since no one else was good enough to play the position.
"Don't worry about it Harry. It's not like he and Jimmy are doing anything anyway. We were already playing without beaters to begin with." Ginny said as she flew up next to him while watching Geoff walk off the pitch toward Madam Pomfrey on the sidelines.
Once they started up again, Ravenclaw took to the offensive fast and quick. It was Ron's brilliant goal keeping along with the brilliant flying of Ginny and Dwight Parks that kept Gryffindor from not being blown out.
"And Katie Bell finally gets Gryffindor on the offensive…and she shoots, ohh, great block by Ravenclaw…"
Harry was once again flying near the Slytherin's and being distracted by the glint of sunlight reflecting off of whatever Malfoy was looking at again, he saw it, the snitch. It was hovering right next to the stands where Hermione, Susan, Luna, and Neville were. He actually saw it because Susan had charmed her sign with a big arrow to get Harry's attention that the snitch was right there. Unfortunately, Cho saw it at the same time. They both shot toward the side only to follow the snitch as it dove down along the stands a few feet above the grass.
"And there go the seekers, let's hope this isn't another feint! Oh, it's looking serious this time."
Harry and Cho were side by side. Cho had the edge in height by half an inch, but Harry had the edge in flying. As they were trying to outmaneuver each other, they both reached for the snitch at the same time and sadly for the snitch, it was caught between both hands.
"And they're reaching for it…who has it? Did they just high-five each other? No, they're wrestling, No, wait, it looks like they're snogging…No wait, they are wrestling for the snitch!"
Fortunately they were both only a foot off the ground and they fell of their brooms trying to wrestle the snitch out of the other's hand.
"Whoa, they're on the ground…Wow, it looks like they're…Blimey get a room guys. Ahh, did she just do what I think she did! Whoa they ARE fighting for the snitch right? Oh man, with friends like them, who needs lovers, am I right?"
Harry and Cho were still wrestling on the ground over the snitch, Harry realizing all too well what it must look like to everyone, but with his hand entwined with Cho's and the snitch between their hands, he knew he had to get the snitch all to himself or Gryffindor would lose. Cho knew the same thing and was using all her feminine wiles to get Harry to let go, which included what one might call grinding, purposely moaning in his ear, and saying things like this is how'd she hoped they end up on their date next week.
Finally Madam Hooch arrived, whistle blowing, instructing both of them to freeze. After they failed to listen for the third time, she finally got out her wand and petrified both of them so she could look to see who had the snitch. The crowd grew quiet as Madam Hooch looked at their hands slowly and carefully for a full two minutes before blowing her whistle and announcing to the crowd that it was officially a draw. They both caught it and therefore both teams are awarded 150 points.
The crowd went wild. All the Gryffindor's along with most of the Hufflepuff's streamed onto the pitch in celebration while the Ravenclaw's, Slytherin's and the remaining Hufflepuff's yelled and booed in protest.
"Unbelievable! What an ending. For the first time, both seekers get the snitch at the same time and are awarded a draw. Wow! I believe this is the first time a game has ended in this fashion! Now if only Ginny would wrestle me like…" The microfilm cut off as McGonagall didn't want Justin to finish that sentence out loud either.
Cho was incensed at the decision, insisting to Madam Hooch that she had gotten it first. But it was to no avail the Madam Hooch declared her decision was final. Harry left the pitch in celebration, his perfect record still intact.
"See Harry, I told you, Halloween is always the best day!" Hermione yelled over the crowd as she enveloped Harry in a huge hug. He smiled thinking that perhaps she was right, maybe Halloween wasn't so bad after all.