An unseasonal blast of heavy snow dominated behaviour in the castle for the next few weeks. In charms Professor Flitwick taught a range of fire charms, which were not only elegant and powerful, but warming too. Professor McGonagall taught them to transfigure baskets into burning braziers. Her lessons started off cold and ended warmer than anyone considered possible - only Neville had failed to create a brazier of some sort, instead simply setting his basket on fire. It was spectacular, but in the end he spent most of the lesson using a dustpan and brush to sweep up the ash. In Defence against the Dark Arts, Professor Lupin, now returned after his unexplained illness, cancelled the essay on werewolves that Professor Snape had set and began to teach them about salamanders, which Harry and Ron were also covering in Care of Magical Creatures. Herbology lessons were bitterly cold, and most of them were spent wrapping the plants in heated blankets to stop them from mulching. The cold seemed to soften even Professor Snape's icy heart, as he replaced a long theory lesson with a practical session, which they all took advantage of to stand near their simmering cauldrons. Snape may have insisted he was doing this because their brewing was woeful, but Draco felt differently. The only lessons where making heat played no role were Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Here, constrained by the purely theoretical nature of the subjects, they sat and shivered. Draco and Hermione were once more sitting next to each other-very much so, as everyone was huddling as close to their partners as possible to try and stay warm while the Professor prowled the room at double her normal pace, presumably trying to keep warm herself.
The cold weather also put back Hagrid's setting up of the cricket nets, a great shame in Draco's opinion, because he couldn't wait to get out and once more enjoy the sound of leather on willow.
That opportunity soon came however. Almost as soon as the snows had arrived they went again, Winter's final throw of the dice inevitably defeated by the onset of Spring. The trees were beginning to come out in leaf and the plants were blooming. The air outside was filled with the smell of fresh cut grass as Hagrid turned the area where the nets would be set up from a luscious meadow into a bald, stubbly lawn, perfect for cricket. Soon several large uprights were firmly mounted in the ground and Hagrid was hanging the nets from them. No sooner had he finished then the Gryffindor team were heading out for the first practice of the season.
'Right guys, rules are this. You get the guy in the nets out, he has to come out and the next person is in, Malfoy and me are in first. Have a warm up whilst we pad up.' Lee Jordan ordered. As soon as Draco had donned his protective equipment he boldly strode into the nearest net. What could the bowlers do to him? Who knew, but he was well protected and keen to try his new bat.
The first ball came flying down, a fast ball, straight from the hand of a seventh year whose name Draco couldn't remember. It was going wide. Draco took a great step forward and drove the ball straight out of the net. Up and up it went. Was he going to be caught out? No, surely it had gone too far. It had. The ball touched the ground a good long way from anyone and the seventh year had to go on a run after it. That felt good. The next ball came down, bowled by Towler. It was spinning like blue fury and Draco wasn't going to take any risks. He knew how to play spin, just get the foot to the pitch of the ball and place the bat in the way, a simple forward defensive. The ball ricocheted off of the bat straight into the ground in front of him, good, he'd survived that ball. The session went on, and in the other net a succession of batsman came and went. No-one could bowl Draco out though. He punished every ball that went wide of the stumps by smacking it powerfully for what in a match would have been six runs. Those that were on line, he played carefully to keep the ball from hitting his wicket. Towler came in to bowl for the umpteenth time today. This time, he bowled a slower ball. Draco didn't notice this however. He stepped forward to where the ball would pitch and played a forward defensive. The ball didn't arrive at the bat when he expected it to though. It arrived just after he had played his shot, passing underneath his bat- the slower ball had worked! It had beaten Draco's defences. Would it hit the stumps? Surely it must. Yes, it had, the off bail had gone flying down to the back of the net and Draco's vigil ended.
Taking off his helmet, he began to walk out of the nets. That was that, time for someone else to have a go. As the next batsman went in, Draco sat next to his bag and started to take off his pads and other gear. That had been tough. Just as he was about to stand up to have a bowl Lee Jordan came over.
'Bloody hell, Draco, is that bat nothing but a sweet spot? You were hitting it all over the place! I might have to stick you higher up the order if you think you can bat like that in a match.'
'Thanks. Which net do you want me to bowl in?'
'Oh, take your pick.' Lee said and Draco did.
It had been a while since Draco had bowled. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed it. A few quick stretches to stop the shoulders going and he would be up. Taking one of the old balls from the team bucket, he gripped it, one finger down either side of the seam. A nice quick trot up to the crease, over with the arm and release. Draco's momentum carried him forward a few paces as the ball went rapidly down the pitch. There was the sound of a bat swishing through the air, just before Draco heard the sound of doom; the ball had hit the wickets and the bails had come off - in fact, middle stump was clean out of the ground - and he had bowled Rogerson. The fifth year didn't seem too happy about this, but walked nonetheless. That was the only ball that took a wicket for Draco that day - for some reason the batsmen played very cautiously to him after that - and by the end of the session he was exhausted.
Physical exhaustion did not help Draco sleep that night however, there was too much on his mind. On the next day, Gryffindor would play Ravenclaw at quidditch. What would happen if the dementors made another appearance? Harry said he'd been working on it- but would it be enough? It was only at great length that Draco eventually managed to get to sleep. The next day dawned, full of events yet to happen, and it was with anxious anticipation that the entirety of Gryffindor house trudged down to that fateful pitch, where the fate of Gryffindor in the House Cup could ultimately be determined.
Lee Jordan was commentating already by the time Draco and Hermione arrived.
'...and it looks as though this is going to be an exciting match ahead of us. There will be questions being asked across the school about this one. Will Gryffindor manage to stay in the running? Or will Ravenclaw strip the chance from them? Only time will tell. Both teams have a strong line up today, unchanged from their previous matches, indeed the only change today is that of the broom of Gryffindor's seeker. You will recall the exciting events at the end of the Hufflepuff-Gryffindor match where the broomstick of Harry Potter, who I just metioned, was destroyed by the Whomping Willow in a terrifying dementor-induced accident. It has been replaced by none other than the most desirable broom...in the world. The Firebolt! It is the fastest broom in the world with a 0-150 time of..'
'JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!' Professor McGonagall suddenly boomed out through the microphone, although she sounded like she might not have needed it.
'Righty-ho Professor. Anyway, Madame Hooch is coming onto the field now to start the match. The Snitch is released. The bludgers. Now she is bending over to pick up the quaffle. She releases it into the air AND THE MATCH HAS BEGUN! A Ravenclaw chaser - I can't quite make out who - has taken the quaffle from the throw up. She's tearing towards the Gryffindor goalposts, surely this is going to be a. NO! Wood has saved it. Gryffindor have possession and Watch out for that Bludger! My, that was a close one, as a bludger nearly knocks Alicia Spinet clean off of her broom. She's hung on though and is looking ready to score. Page manages to keep it out, but Gryffindor have retaken possession, you'll have to do better than that Stretton, much better. Bell has the quaffle, passes it to Johnson, lovely girl Angelina is, who shoots. SHE SCORES! Nice one Angelina! That puts the score at ten points to nil in favour of Gryffindor. This is looking like it is going to be an exciting game. AND BELL RETAKES THE QUAFFLE. SHE SHOOTS. SHE SCORES. Twenty points to nil. Up in the air, the seekers are flying lazily about scouting for the snitch, they don't seem to have spotted it yet and neither have I!'
'This is so exciting.' Squealed Neville in the stand where Draco had just arrived.
'Not half.' A huge cheer went up as Gryffindor scored another goal. It didn't die down until the Ravenclaw captain called for a time-out by which time the score was eighty points to none. A couple of quick goals afterwards though, and Ravenclaw were back in contention, if they could keep this up they could win and win well. It all depended on who could find the snitch first, a fact Lee Jordan picked up on soon enough.
'Who is going to find the snitch? Gryffindor have a real fight on their hands if they are to retain the lead they built up so quickly. Have they overstretched themselves? Are they tiring? I don't know but Harry Potter has accelerated at such a pace! Has he seen the snitch? Chang doesn't follow, perhaps she doesn't feel that she can keep up with him, or else perhaps he's bluffing! Yes. That's it. Potter has come to a halt without catching the snitch- it was a bluff. As Potter lazily turns round Ravenclaw once more have possession BUT POTTER IS ACCELEARTING AGAIN! HAS HE SEEN THE SNITCH? We can only wait to find out. There's no way of telling from down here, he might be bluffing again. No Chang is chasing after it too. They have definitely seen something. What though? AND WHAT IS THAT? A BLACK HOODED FIGURE IS COMING ONTO THE PITCH. POTTER'S TAKEN HIS WAND OUT AND SHOT SOME WHITE SMOKY STUFF AT IT, BUT HE'S STILL GOING ON. He must have seen the Snitch. AND POTTER HAS THE SNITCH! THAT'S ALL FOLKS. THE GAME IS OVER, GRYFFINDOR WIN TWO HUNDRED AND THIRY POINTS TO THIRTY!'
The party in Gryffindor tower lasted all night, and not even Professor McGonagall could put them to bed. The party went on into the small hours of the night, when finally the consensus was for bed. It was a Monday the next day and everyone was eagerly anticipating the next match, which seemed a long way off.