- Chapter 12 -
Gryffindorks
With November came not only freezing cold, but also the first Quidditch match of the year. For some reason that Marcus Flint couldn't fathom, it had been seen as a good idea by the faculty to place the most competitive match as the first of the season. Harry suddenly found himself unable to walk around the school without a guard of older students, thanks to Flint, who seemed to be taking no chances with his secret weapon of a Seeker.
Well, he had supposed to have been a secret weapon at any rate. Apparently, the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain had taken to hanging out of windows overlooking the pitch with a set of almost-binoculars, called 'Omnioculars', and had been observing some of Harry's flying skills. Harry had been quite proud when the Ravenclaw seeker, Lexi Hatton, had been heard to complain about the extra training sessions her captain was forcing on her. Flint, however had compensated by giving Harry one-on-one training sessions. He had even faced down Camélia in a near-duel in the common room for who could monopolise Harry's time. In the end, the Head Boy, Terence Higgs had had to come down to mediate between the two lest the entire common room be destroyed.
Not that Harry had been happy with Terence's end compromise. Marcus would train him during weekends for the next two weeks, up until the morning of the match, but Harry would have to spend Sunday mornings with Camélia dancing after they had played. He supposed that if they won the match then it might just be worth it.
Professor Snape had apparently argued the Headmaster into dipping into the Slytherin team funds to buy a broom for Harry. It had arrived one morning before breakfast in the Professor's office. Draco and Blaise had insisted that it was a brilliant broom, but Harry honestly couldn't tell whether a Nimbus 2000 was any good.
The weeks leading up to the match found the relationship between Gryffindor and Slytherin much more antagonistic than usual. Harry was grateful that Professor Flitwick had finally gotten round to teaching them the Protego charm, as he seemed to be making use of it more and more often. He had taken to sticking with larger groups, after the single occasion that a group of Gryffindors had found he, Blaise and Draco walking alone to the library.
Thankfully, more Slytherin students had been around the corner and had gathered with the three first years to help them, and the Gryffindors had backed off when a group of Ravenclaw first years, led by Hermione Granger had joined them too. Harry had still had to go to the hospital wing with antlers, however. After that, Harry made sure he was with groups of older students, not wanting to risk the possibility of a more serious hex that would spoil his chances for the match.
In lessons things weren't much better either. In Magical Sports, Harry was careful to avoid being on a broom much, not wanting to showcase his skills to the opposing House, and Astronomy was often filled with Gryffindors making cruel jokes about running around the Quidditch pitch with a mattress for when he (undoubtedly) fell off of his broom. At meals, Harry was careful to sit nearer to the Professor's high table, where any hexes thrown would be obvious to the staff.
There were, however, good things about being on the Quidditch team. A few of the older girls and one particularly artistic boy had been spending time in the common room making large banners, and altering clothing. Harry had seen that they had scarves and had altered their own cloaks with each of the players names on them, and witty comments to do with their position on the team. Flint had Chase me, Captain. Miles Bletchley had Keep me near, dear. Adrian Pucey, Let me Chase, darling. Peregrine Derrick, Beating his bludger alone (apparently, he had upset one of the girls). Charles Warrington had Chased me into bed (he had seemingly done so rather well). Jacob Blishwick, What a large stick to beat me with, honey. Harry was rather surprised to see one for him there too - Seek my snitch anytime, hero!
- HBP - HBP - HBP - HBP - HBP -
The night before the match, Harry couldn't sleep. He tossed, and turned, before finally climbing out of bed, not realising how much he had hoped that one of the others would be awake until he saw the darkness and heard the heavy breathing and snores. He sighed, pulled out his thick black dressing gown and headed upstairs to the common room. His watch read half past one, and he hoped that there would still be someone he knew awake.
Unfortunately, when Harry entered the common room, it was empty. He stifled a sigh and headed over to the nearest fire, curling himself into an armchair and revelling in the warmth. He heard the entrance slide open, and so wasn't too surprised at the body that deposited itself in the chair next to his. They sat in silence for a few minutes, the other boy seemingly trying to think what to say.
"I'm not even playing tomorrow, and yet I'm as nervous as if it was my first match all over again," he said. Harry looked over into the dark eyes of Terence Higgs, and smiled softly.
"I'm not really nervous," Harry said after a moment. "I just want to be out there already. It's so much easier when you're on a broom, nothing else matters up there. It's just you and the broom, watching for the snitch." Terrence smirked then, a wide, smug smirk.
"You know, I'm kind of glad that I'm not playing." Terence admitted. "You should hear Marcus going on about your skills on a broom - I swear he talks as if you were born mid-air. Some of the things he says you can do… I mean, a Wronski Feint? You're eleven for gods sake, and that's a bloody professional manoeuvre. I tell you, Harry, you could go far in Quidditch, if you work at it. And with your name too… you're almost guaranteed to get signed. Just make sure to keep your name in the spotlight as much as you can." Harry hummed in agreement, staring steadfastly into the flames.
"We're going to win." Harry said into the silence of the room. "I'm going to catch the snitch, and we're going to pummel those Gryffindors."
When Harry went back to bed, he slept surprisingly well.
- HBP - HBP - HBP - HBP - HBP -
The morning of the match dawned bright and early. Harry was the last to wake, finding himself being shaken by Draco and Theo and dragged out of bed only moments before Vince, Greg and Blaise appeared with buckets of water to pour onto him. Vince and Greg threw the water onto the bed anyway, but Blaise just pouted.
"Spoilt all of our fun now," he whined the whole way to breakfast. "You're going to be the big star of Slytherin after this - couldn't you have let us made you look like a fool once?" Harry just smirked, and inwardly swore to repay both Draco and Theo for their help as soon as he could.
As they entered the Great Hall, they were met by a cacophony of loud jeering from the Gryffindor table. One or two of the nearer students threw a couple of bread rolls at Harry, which he caught easily. The group of first years all smirked.
"Thanks, I sure am hungry today," Harry called to the Gryffindors, who just scowled at him. "Guess I'll be needing all of my energy when we beat you today." When they reached the Slytherin table, the back of Harry's robes were pulled by Marcus Flint.
"The team eats together," Marcus told him, and motioned him down. Harry shrugged at his friends, and sat with the other Quidditch players. They all wore embroidered robes that had been a present from Marcus Flint's family. Their robes were the darkest green, with silver stitching on the back. Each had a silver snake wrapped around the year, the player's name and their position. When Harry had been presented with his the night before, Marcus had told him that it was a tradition that the Captain of the Slytherin team buy the robes to be worn the morning before, and the week after matches that had been won out of lessons.
Marcus had also told Harry about their Quidditch Uniform, which was apparently unlike that of any of the other Houses. Each team member put in twelve Galleons, and received proper Quidditch leathers - green, tight-fitting trousers with special padding in sensitive areas, and a padded waistcoat to be worn under the dark green t-shirt. Marcus said that the other teams wore robes, but that they were bothersome in the air, and that the padding meant that the team was less bothered by bludgers.
It was quiet as the team ate, the rest of the House leaving them to their introspective moods, and their own small talk. At a nod from Marcus the entire team stood, Harry pulled up a little by Jacob Blishwick, the seventh-year beater he had met on his first night. Automatically, they surrounded Harry, effectively shepherding him to the Quidditch pitch. They entered the changing rooms in silence, changing clothes quickly.
"Put your wand here," Marcus pointed to a deceptively small slot in the leather glove of Harry's right hand. At least the team referred to them as gloves. They were more like wrist-supports, in Harry's mind, leaving a wide portion of his palm and fingers uncovered so that he could still grip. Harry watched in amazement as the length of wood slipped into the pocket. It felt odd, knowing that his wand was there, but not physically being able to feel it.
The team, now all fully dressed, sat on the wooden benches in the changing room, leaving only Marcus still standing. His eyes flashed over each of them, and he grinned menacingly.
"Okay, team, this is it. First match of the season, and it's going to be ours. Both our team and Gryffindors are mostly the same, with the only new players being the seekers. This means that we know we can beat them. Their Beaters and their Keeper are their strongest assets, so Perry and Jacob you'll need to be watching them as well as the Bludgers to predict what they're going to do. Charles, Adrian just make sure to keep to the same sorts of drills that we've been doing, and try not to let Bell near the Quaffle, she's fast. Miles, just do what you did last year and we'll be fine. Don't worry if you let one or two past, we'll score plenty more.
"Harry, don't worry at all. You're the stronger Seeker by far, they've got a kid called Derrick Lopes who looks as if this is his first time on a broom. Try and catch the Snitch when we're more than a hundred points above them, it'll give us a good lead for the rest of the year. We've won the cup the last couple of years, we can do it again. Let's go win." As Marcus finished speaking, Harry realised that he could hear people in the stands above them. He gulped, and stood with the rest of the team. "Okay, everybody in order. I'll go first, then Perry, Jacob, Charles, Adrian next, Miles then Harry you're last. Mount your brooms, we'll fly out." The whole team stood ready, waiting for a signal… and then Harry heard it.
"And first up, the Slytherin team!" Called a loud voice. "The captain and Chaser, Marcus Flint," at each name, the respective player flew out. "Beater Peregrine Derrick, Beater Jacob Blishwick, Chaser Charles Warrington, Chaser Adrian Pucey." Miles winked at Harry as he prepared to fly. "Keeper, Miles Bletchley and finally new Seeker Harry Potter!" Harry flew out as he heard his name, keeping his heels tucked into the broom and flying a high circle of the pitch before coming to rest a few metres above the Slytherin goal posts. The rest of the team were all in their pre-planned positions around the pitch, faces hard and eyes narrowed in concentration.
"Now the Gryffindor team!" Called the voice again. "The captain, and Keeper, Oliver Wood, Beaters Fred and George Weasley, Chasers Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, finally, new seeker Derrick Lopes." The Gryffindor team flew out in some semblance of order. The captain, then the two beaters, then the three chasers and seeker all in one. Harry snorted at the disorganization of the team.
Before he knew it, the Quaffle had been thrown into the air, and his eyes were searching for the Snitch. He flew in wide circles around the pitch, steadfastly hunting for the telltale glint. The Gryffindor Seeker flew much more erratically, ducking and diving and glancing back and forth into the crowd. Harry tried to keep half an ear on the commentary as well. It would ruin their strategy if he caught the Snitch too early.
"And Slytherin are already ahead by twenty points to nothing, those cheating basta- Sorry Professor… Flint has the Quaffle, but I don't see what the other Chasers are doing, Warrington and Pucey are down the other end of the pitch, there's no way that Flint can get through the Gryffindor Chasers… Wait! What's this? The Slytherin Seeker, Harry Potter has just swooped down and caught the Quaffle thrown up to him by Flint… he's sped past the Chasers, and dropped the ball straight into the hands of Pucey… Slytherin scores, thirty to nothing." Harry tuned out as he dodged a stray Bludger shot by one of the Weasleys. Jacob Blishwick sped around him and grinned wolfishly as he swung his bat, the Bludger only missing one of the Gryffindor Chasers by her own dumb luck.
Draco and Blaise watched on enviously from the stands. Draco's father had sent a pair of omnioculars for Draco to watch the game with. Due to Draco's penchant for re-watching goals in slow motion, he was considerably surprised to hear Blaise's terrified gasp.
"No! Harry!" his hand latched onto Draco's arm, clutching tightly to the sleeve of his robes. Draco twitched to look at Blaise, a frown on his face, only to hear Theo on his other side gasp too.
"What's wrong with Harry's broom?" Theo asked, eyes wide. "That can't be right…" Draco quickly returned his Omnioculars to real-time, and looked up at his best friend. Wordlessly, he passed them over to a near frantic Blaise.
"He's holding on," Draco reassured himself, and Theo. "He's staying on the broom." Meanwhile, Blaise frowned darkly.
"His broom is being jinxed," Blaise growled. "Fuck, this is bad."
"How would you know that? You never pay attention in Defence!" Draco asked facetiously, turning his nose up.
"My mother's fourth husband er… fell from his broom and died a few years back." Blaise's eyes wandered over to the Professors box. "It'd have to be an older student or a teacher, it's not an easy jinx. Draco, you look at the teachers with your Omnioculars, me and Theo'll see what we can get from the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, they're the closest. Whoever it is won't be moving about, they'll be still and they won't blink. Probably be muttering something too." The two other boys nodded seriously, and set about their tasks, until Draco swore fiercely.
"Professor Snape isn't blinking, or moving," He swore again, and continued staring through the Omnioculars. "Wait a second, neither is Quirrell."
"Then let's stop them both," Blaise said after a moment. "One's casting a counter. I'd guess it's Snape, but we can't be sure. If we get them both at the same time, it should work." Draco nodded in agreement, and turned to Theo.
"Theo, you go and warn Professor Flitwick, he's sitting at the bottom of the Ravenclaws. Take the Omnioculars, and show him. Blaise, you take out Quirrell, I'll get my Godfather." Draco said the last with a grim tone that worried the other boys slightly. Almost instantaneously, the three boys scrambled their way down and out of the stands, heading for their specified teachers.
Theo reached Professor Flitwick first, and explained in an undertone that he thought Harry's broom was being jinxed, and asked the diminutive Professor to keep his wand out in case his friend fell. Flitwick agreed without hesitation, and glued his eyes to the Omnioculars trained on Harry.
Draco and Blaise had raced down together, making sure to stay with each other. If they knocked out the Professor protecting Harry they would be sure to send him spiralling to the ground. With a small nudge from Draco, the pair disappeared underneath the stands, to the walkways used only when people left.
Blaise found his mark first, and he readied his wand to send a jolt to Quirrell. It took another few precious seconds for Draco to get behind Snape, his wand out too. Draco raised his free hand, and counted down from three. As his last finger dropped, the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor was thrown forwards into the crowd, and the Potions Master jumped out of his seat to douse the flames licking at the hem of his robes.
By the time the Professors had recovered themselves enough to check the walkways, Draco and Blaise were already well on their way back to the Slytherin stands.
Theo sat waiting for them, his eyes still stuck to the Omnioculars. As Draco and Blaise slid into the seats next to him he tore himself away for long enough to give them a pleased smile, and to return the Omnioculars to their owner. Draco looked up in relief, to Harry looking more confident. He passed them over to Blaise, who sighed gratefully. Draco tuned into the commentary as he watched his friend fly, a dark figure against the greying clouds.
"And it looks like Derrick Lopes, the Gryffindor Seeker has seen the Snitch, he's diving for it, but the Slytherin Seeker isn't moving," the commentator's voice reached them on the wind. Draco and Blaise exchanged a terrified glance.
"Is he…?"
"Not again!" They spluttered, only to hear a snigger from Theo.
"The Gryffindor is feinting, though he won't be able to dive as far as a Wronski." He explained, and sure enough, as Draco observed through the Omnioculars the Gryffindor Seeker pulled up twenty metres from the ground.
"Oh, and it appears that that was a feint from Lopes, pity the Slytherin didn't fall for it. The kid is either very astute, or completely dense to have missed that. Let's hope it's den- Never mind, sorry Professor." The commentator appeared to be being chastised for his bias, although by which Professor, the students weren't sure. "And Slytherin score again, bringing the totals to eighty to ten. Come on Gryffindor, put your backs into it!"
It was clear that the Gryffindor team weren't near the standard of the Slytherins, their chasers couldn't keep up with the nerve wracking moves pulled by Marcus, Charles and Adrian. Before Harry knew it, the score was one-hundred-and-twenty to ten. Time for him to find the Snitch. The crowd could visibly see Harry's posture change. He had previously been quite straight backed, flying in lazy circles near to the Gryffindor Seeker, watching his opposite player, but now he was across the other side of the pitch, flat to his broom eyes flickering over the grounds.
At a motion from Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Seeker flew over towards Harry, who dropped like a rock as fast as he could. His broom was nearly vertical. Derrick Lopes swore and followed Harry as closely as he could. When Harry was a metre or two from the ground, he pulled up sharply, veering off to the left. The Gryffindor Seeker was only saved from a nasty fall by Professor Flitwick's quick spell work. Harry was oblivious to the booing from the Gryffindor stands, and to the cheering and laughter from his own House. Instead, he circled the pitch in a wide spiral.
And there it was! A flash of gold, behind one of the Weasley twins' heads, and Harry was off like a shot. The Weasley did a barrel roll to avoid being hit by one of Harry's feet, and the Gryffindors booed again, but Harry paid no attention. He followed the speck of gold around the bases of the Gryffindor hoops, and up again, dodging around a Slytherin chaser, only distantly hearing the roar as he scored.
The Snitch dipped again, skimming along close to the ground. The Gryffindor Seeker was behind him now, just a few metres away. Harry growled, and shimmied forwards on his broom, edging even closer to the Snitch. He felt his broom jerk as the Gryffindor grabbed a hold of the tail end of his broom. Harry growled at the blatant foul, but paid no heed to it, instead gripping more tightly to the broom so he couldn't fall off.
The golden ball was within reach now, but he couldn't risk letting go of the broom, it was too dangerous, and as much as Harry wanted to win, there was no way on Earth he would sacrifice himself for a game. That left him with one viable option. His mouth. Delicately, he leant himself as far forwards as he dared, broom pointing straight at the Snitch, and gave his broom one last push, and - there! He shot straight at the ball, mouth open ready, and voila!
The Gryffindor let go of his tail despondently, and Harry raised his hand to grab onto the Snitch, holding it aloft as he flew upwards, whooping with joy. He could see his friends jumping about in excitement in the stands and he grinned happily at them. Madam Hooch's whistle sounded, and the commentator counted up the final score.
"Slytherin win, with two-hundred-and-seventy points to Gryffindor's ten. Bad luck on the Gryffindor Seeker, the Slytherin bastard caught it with his teeth." The Professor didn't correct him that time, and if Harry had been listening, he'd have been sure the Professor was McGonagall, but as it was he was far too ecstatic to listen to a thing.
The Slytherin team all flew around him, patting him jovially on the back as they took a victory lap around the pitch. Marcus led them back into the changing rooms, and after around twenty minutes, when they'd all showered a few of their Housemates slipped into the rooms.
Marylin Max ran over to her fiancée, Jacob Blishwick, showering him with kisses, Charles Warrington was surrounded by a gaggle of fifth year girls, and Jess Chambers seemed to be getting very close to Marcus Flint. Peregrine Derrick had three male friends eagerly talking over the game with him, Charles Warrington and Adrain Pucey had cornered the market on sixth year girls. Harry looked around uncertainly for a minute, unsure if he should leave, until Camélia came up behind him.
"Harry, you were brilliant!" she gushed. "When you were chasing the Snitch at the end… I've never seen anyone fly like that!" Another voice chimed in, lightly joking.
"Well Camélia, that's because you've never seen me fly!" Terrence joked before turning to Harry. "You know, I'm glad I retired from the team," he admitted. "That was brilliant. I think the cup is in the bag this year." The two seventh years parted as Draco and Blaise approached, wide grins covering their worried eyes.
Draco leaned into Harry, and told him what they and Theo had done earlier. Harry frowned confusedly.
"But why would anyone want to jinx me?" He asked, then sighed to himself. "Stupid question." He paused, collecting his thoughts. "We need to see Professor Snape," Harry announced.
"But if he was the one who was jinxing you, we'll need back up," Blaise pointed out. Draco grinned widely.
"I'll Floo my father. He's a governor, he can be here as soon as we need him."
