1.1.1 CHAPTER FOUR

"Come on!" Ron urged Hermione. "Don't you want to see Harry play Quidditch?"

No, actually I don't, Hermione wanted to reply, but instead she stood up and dragged her feet to the Quidditch field.

It was a pretty long walk, but it was all right. Hermione couldn't explain, but a moment ago she wasn't really looking forward to watching the Quidditch match, but now.

Actually. Hermione thought about it. and it wasn't really the match she was looking forward to see. It was.

Gryffindor's Seeker, Harry Potter.

Ron and Hermione found a couple of empty seats at the Gryffindor side of the field. Everyone was cheering their lungs out, especially Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean Thomas. Hermione just remained seated.

"Hey there, Hermione." Hermione looked up to see Hagrid's face. She gave him a weak smile.

"Why aren' you cheerin' for Gryffindor?" queried Hagrid. "Yeh don' wan' Slytherin to win, do yeh?"

Hermione shook her head. "Of course not, Hagrid." She jumped out of her seat and joined the others in cheering for the Gryffindor team.

"Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season!" Lee Jordan's voice was heard through the loudspeaker. "Today's match --- Gryffindor versus Slytherin!"

Everyone in the field started screaming and cheering for their teams --- including the teachers. Snape, head of the Slytherin house, was naturally rooting for the Slytherin team while McGonagall, head of the Gryffindor house, was rooting for the Gryffindor team.

The audience watched as Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint shook hands in the middle, then went off to their side of the field. Madam Hooch released the Bludgers, followed by the Snitch, then the Quaffle.

"Angelina Johnson's got the Quaffle --- just look how pretty that girl is, her hair flying in the wind, it's good she's not getting nervous."

"JORDAN!" bellowed McGonagall.

"Sorry, Professor. Oh, captain Marcus Flint has now gotten hold of the Quaffle, he's flying towards the goalposts, he throws the Quaffle, and WHOO- HOO! Wood blocked that one good! You go, Wood!"

Hermione tried to block out Lee's reckless commentary as she searched the field for Harry. Damn this game! It's hard to spot the Seeker when everyone's up in the air and passing by like lightning! she thought.

At long last, she spotted Harry circling the Ravenclaw side, searching for the Golden Snitch, closely followed by Draco Malfoy.

"Bletchley's got the Quaffle, he makes the shot, OH! Too bad, Slytherin, but captain Oliver Wood is just too much than you can handle! Now the Quaffle's with Alicia Spinnet, she approaches the goalpost, she shoots, SHE SCORES! Another ten points to Gryffindor!" Lee Jordan's enthusiastic voice bellowed. Gryffindor was now in the lead --- thirty points to ten.

Hermione saw the Snitch circle Harry, then made a dive down to the ground. Harry, eyes glued to the Snitch, followed a made a steep dive as well. So did Malfoy.

Malfoy's Nimbus Two Thousand and One had a speed close to the speed of light. Soon he caught up with Harry. With the help of the binoculars, Hermione saw Malfoy talking to Harry. Harry's eyes were still glued to the Snitch.

Slytherin was now gaining --- it was now thirty points for Gryffindor and twenty for Slytherin. Harry had to find the Snitch fast.

The Snitch made a steep climb up, and the two Seekers followed it. Harry, eyes super-glued to the Golden Snitch, didn't notice a Bludger headed his way.

"Harry, look out!" Hermione practically dived out of the Gryffindor side. "Bludger!"

Fred Weasley, hearing Hermione's cry, hurried to try and save their Seeker. But unfortunately, his Cleansweep wasn't fast enough. Harry was hit by the Bludger with total force. The impact was so strong that Harry lost his grip on his Nimbus Two Thousand. He fell twenty feet to the ground, unconcious.

"Harry!" everyone screamed. They rushed to the ground where Harry lay unconcious. Most of the Gryffindors were now crowded around their Seeker. The players, especially Wood, though they wanted to go down and see Harry, couldn't do so for the game must go on.

Malfoy, taking advantage of the commotion about Harry's accident, tailed the Snitch so much, and after a few seconds, caught it.

"Harry's now being taken to the Hospital Wing, so there's no need to worry." The enthusiasm in Lee's voice a few minutes ago was now gone. "Draco now has the Snitch, giving his team an extra one hundred and fifty points."

Madam Hooch blew her whistle. "Slytherin wins!"

The Slytherin players crowded around Malfoy and started rejoicing, while the Gryffindor team diamounted their brooms and started to head for the Hospital Wing.

Author's Notes: Wow, I can't believe I've finished this chapter so fast! I just started this a few minutes ago! Anyway, I'd like to give credit to one of the people who reviewed my work (Gary. something. sorry, I forgot his name). He gave me the idea of putting the Quidditch thing. (Actually, my original idea was to skip the Quidditch match, but with his suggestion, I figured it would be nicer and the flow of the story would be much smoother.)

Please keep on reviewing my work. (I think I'm getting better at writing. not to brag or anything. just sharing.) Your comments, remarks and suggestions are most welcome. Your reviews serve as my inspiration.

By the way, if I cannot come up with the next chapters soon, please forgive me. It seems that I will be quite busy these next weeks. Merry Christmas to all of you!