Chapter 7
Ravenclaw Vs. Hufflepuff
"Are you sure"? Harry asked. "Yeah! It explains it all in the Daily Prophet, listen"! Hermione said unfolding the newspaper.
"Once again, the scientist has solved another mystery. The Crystal Ball of Fire is located at Hogwarts. Yes, you heard me, Hogwarts. The school where young boys and girls fill their own minds with spells, history of magic, divination, potions, transfiguration, and many more! We asked Dr. Davids and he said. We went step-by-step, and just last week we figured out that it was at Hogwarts. We double-checked and made sure we weren't wrong. Now we are very sure that the Crystal Ball of Fire is located at Hogwarts."
Hermione read out-loud. She put the newspaper away. "So.you mean.it's.here"? Ron stuttered. "At.Hogwarts"? Harry stuttered too. "Yes! I'm absolutely sure of it. It also says on page 4 that scientists might come to Hogwarts", Hermione added. "Why come here"? Ron asked. "How dumb are you? The scientists are coming here because the Crystal Ball of Fire is-" "Here at Hogwarts", Harry finished Hermione's sentence. "Exactly"! Hermione exclaimed. "Well anyway, we better get back to the common room", Hermione said. The three of them, walked back up to the common room, and went up to their dormitories. Ron and Harry put on their PJ's and went to bed. Harry couldn't sleep though. He lies on his bed looking blankly ahead. Maybe he should look for the Crystal Ball of Fire. How hard can it be? It's located at Hogwarts.but Hogwarts is huge, so how is he supposed to know where to start? Questions and ideas ran through his head. Suddenly, he had the urge to get out of bed right now and search for the Crystal himself. But he knew it was a stupid idea. Peeves or Filch must be lurking around, and he'd surely get caught. You know you want to go search for it, so go for it! A tiny voice at the back of his head said. I might get in trouble though. So what if you get in trouble? You DO want to see your parents again don't you? Shut-up I don't want to think about this anymore! I mean come on; you haven't seen your parents for a long time. So if you get out of bed and look for the Crystal, you might just find it. I said NO! Come ON! You big chicken. If you find it you'll get to bring your parents back to life. An argument went on and on in his head. "I said NO, and that's my final decision", Harry mumbled. And he fell asleep. "HARRY WAKE UP WE'RE LATE"! Someone yelled in Harry's ear, which made him bolt out of bed. "What? What fire"? Harry mumbled, putting his glasses on. "WE'RE LATE FOR POTIONS, SNAPE IS GOING TO KILL US"! Ron screamed. He was putting on his robes, but so far he had no luck. He had his pants on backwards, and his boxers on top of his head. "Ron look in the mirror", Harry mumbled getting dressed too. Ron took off the boxers, and put his pants the right way. Finally after 20 minutes of confusion, they finished changing. They grabbed their bags and ran to class. "Then add-" Harry, and Ron burst through the door, tumbled and fell on the floor. The Slytherins cracked and they started pointing and laughing at Ron and Harry. The Gryffindors just groaned and frowned. Harry, and Ron both looked up seeing Professor Snape standing in front of them. "Where were you"? Professor Snape snapped. "Uhh.", Harry stuttered. "We got lost", Ron made up. "10 points from Gryffindor, now get to your seat", Professor Snape snarled. Harry and Ron both got up and brushed off their pants. They walked over to where Hermione was seated. "Got lost? We've been here for 5 years! How are we supposed to get lost"? Harry whispered. "Like you had a better idea", Ron muttered unpacking his potions ingredient. "That was the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard", Harry muttered back, unpacking his potion ingredients too. "Potter, and Weasley! Explain what I just said", Professor Snape snapped at them. Neither Harry, nor Ron has heard what Professor Snape was talking about. "We don't know", Harry mumbled. "10 more points will be taken off of Gryffindor. As I was saying, today we're going to be making a Confusion Potion. You have to get hair from your partner. Scoop out the rats eyeball out of the jar I soon will be handing out. Then take a pinch of redwood and put it in the potion. Make sure it is well mixed first. Then you carefully, and I mean carefully Mr. Longbottom! You carefully take a bit of dung from a Hippogriff (the class moaned about this). Make sure your Dragon liver is carefully chopped into 20 pieces then dump it into the potion. Stir carefully again. Then add a drop of gator's blood. Your potion then should turn purple. Take a bit out of your cauldron and feed it to your partner, ask them a question like their name, and see if the potion works. If it doesn't, you'll fail, and 50 marks will be taken off. The potion should last about 5 minutes. You may start now and get into partners of three", Professor Snape said. Harry, Ron, and Hermione partnered up and started. They passed the potion test with no problem, that made Snape get mad so he took 5 more points off from Gryffindor. Finally, after an hour of pain, it was time to for Quidditch. "It's Ravenclaw versus. Hufflepuff", Hermione reminded them. "Yeah, we know", Ron said. Hermione, Ron, and Harry found seats to watch the game. The game finally started, and the chasers took off trying to get the quaffle. Harry saw Cho Chang near one of the goal posts looking for the snitch. She looked so pretty, Harry thought. He smiled to himself and suddenly went off in a daze.
"LOOK! CHO CHANG SAW THE SNITCH"! Ron screamed. That snapped Harry back to reality. He watched as Cho Chang sped after the snitch. She had her hands outstretch. Harry could see a bludger chasing after her. "CHO CHANG, THE BLUDGER"! Harry suddenly stood up and yelled. Cho Chang must have heard, for she ducked and the bludger sped passed her. The crowd's cheers faded away, for Cho Chang has lost the snitch. "What was that Harry"? Ron asked. "What was what"? Harry asked. "You were helping Ravenclaw"! Ron exclaimed. "Oh.I didn't see that", Harry said pretending to be dumb. Hermione suddenly went sort of still. "I'll be right back", Hermione said rather stiffly. Hermione left. Harry saw Hermione run pass the Quidditch field and into the Forbidden Forest. Ron didn't see though, he was too busy cheering for the Hufflepuffs. "THAT SEEKER GUY IS AFTER THE SNITCH HARRY"! Ron yelled. Harry looked up and saw the seeker from Ravenclaw speeding after the snitch, he also noticed that Cho Chang was just inches behind him. She was catching up to him, and Harry could feel more excited as Cho Chang got closer to the snitch. She was now right beside the other seeker. They both had their arms out stretched. The snitch suddenly turned sharply around. Cho Chang did some sort of a cartwheel with her broomstick and tore after the snitch, while the other seeker crashed into the goal post. Cho Chang was now 1 cm away from the snitch. "AND YES! CHO CHANG GOT THE SNITCH"! Lee Jordan announced excitedly. "RAVENCLAW BEATS HUFFLEPUFF! 150-50"! The other fellow Hufflepuffs groaned and stopped cheering. But clapped for the Ravenclaws anyways. Slytherins booed, while the Gryffindors jumped out of their seats and cheered their hearts out. Ron didn't cheer for them though. "I wanted Hufflepuff to win", Ron groaned as they left the Quidditch field. "Oh", was all Harry could say. He was happy that the Ravenclaws won, and that Cho Chang caught the snitch. But Cedric could have been the one playing Quidditch right now. It wasn't completely Harry's fault, but he thought it was. He was the one who suggested that they both grabbed the trophy last year during the Triwizard Tournament. Someone bumped into him and the two fell. "Sorry", muttered Harry. "Harry"? Harry looked up and saw Cho Chang looking down at him. She had already stood up. "C-Cho", Harry stuttered getting up. "You.were f-fantastic today". "Yeah.winning a Quidditch match is one thing, but having Cedric alive again is another", Cho Chang mumbled. "Well, I got to go get changed. See ya Harry". "Bye." "She should watch where she's going", Ron muttered. "It wasn't her fault", Harry defended her. "Let's go to dinner", Ron said. The pair walked to the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Harry turned around to see Cho Chang surrounded by her friends. She didn't look as happy as she looked when Cedric was alive. Harry sighed and turned around. "Where's Hermione"? Ron asked curiously. "Dunno", Harry mumbled. Right after Harry replied, Hermione came running up to them. Her shoes all muddy, and her socks half torn. She had bits of leaves in her hair, and dirt on her left cheek. Draco walked pasted her and muttered, "nice new look you got there", and walked towards the Slytherin Table. "What happened to you"? Ron stared at Hermione wide-eyed. "Nothing, I.tripped and fell", Hermione said quickly. Ron shrugged. Dumbledore just finished talking, and food and drinks appeared. Ron helped himself to some pumpkin juice, and pork chops. He filled his plate with fried rice, and got some Liver soup. Harry did the same, but he didn't get the soup. Hermione on the other hand, didn't even touch her food. She just sat there looking blankly at the food in front of her. "Hermione what's wrong"? Harry asked. "N-nothing", Hermione said looking kind of startled. She spilt half of her pumpkin juice, and her elbow knocked her pork chop on the floor. "Are you okay? Do you feel sick"? Ron asked. "Yeah I'm feeling okay, I just feel a bit tired", Hermione mumbled. "You should eat something then, try some of those Garlic bread", Ron suggested. "No, I don't feel hungry", Hermione mumbled again. She covered her face with her hands and moaned. "Are you sure you feel okay? Maybe we should take you to the Hospital Wing", Harry suggested. "I'm feeling okay! I just feel tired so stop worrying about me"! Hermione snapped. "I'm going to go back upstairs, and get some sleep". Hermione stood up and walked out of the Great Hall. "What's wrong with her"? Ron asked. Harry shrugged and they continued eating.
"Are you sure"? Harry asked. "Yeah! It explains it all in the Daily Prophet, listen"! Hermione said unfolding the newspaper.
"Once again, the scientist has solved another mystery. The Crystal Ball of Fire is located at Hogwarts. Yes, you heard me, Hogwarts. The school where young boys and girls fill their own minds with spells, history of magic, divination, potions, transfiguration, and many more! We asked Dr. Davids and he said. We went step-by-step, and just last week we figured out that it was at Hogwarts. We double-checked and made sure we weren't wrong. Now we are very sure that the Crystal Ball of Fire is located at Hogwarts."
Hermione read out-loud. She put the newspaper away. "So.you mean.it's.here"? Ron stuttered. "At.Hogwarts"? Harry stuttered too. "Yes! I'm absolutely sure of it. It also says on page 4 that scientists might come to Hogwarts", Hermione added. "Why come here"? Ron asked. "How dumb are you? The scientists are coming here because the Crystal Ball of Fire is-" "Here at Hogwarts", Harry finished Hermione's sentence. "Exactly"! Hermione exclaimed. "Well anyway, we better get back to the common room", Hermione said. The three of them, walked back up to the common room, and went up to their dormitories. Ron and Harry put on their PJ's and went to bed. Harry couldn't sleep though. He lies on his bed looking blankly ahead. Maybe he should look for the Crystal Ball of Fire. How hard can it be? It's located at Hogwarts.but Hogwarts is huge, so how is he supposed to know where to start? Questions and ideas ran through his head. Suddenly, he had the urge to get out of bed right now and search for the Crystal himself. But he knew it was a stupid idea. Peeves or Filch must be lurking around, and he'd surely get caught. You know you want to go search for it, so go for it! A tiny voice at the back of his head said. I might get in trouble though. So what if you get in trouble? You DO want to see your parents again don't you? Shut-up I don't want to think about this anymore! I mean come on; you haven't seen your parents for a long time. So if you get out of bed and look for the Crystal, you might just find it. I said NO! Come ON! You big chicken. If you find it you'll get to bring your parents back to life. An argument went on and on in his head. "I said NO, and that's my final decision", Harry mumbled. And he fell asleep. "HARRY WAKE UP WE'RE LATE"! Someone yelled in Harry's ear, which made him bolt out of bed. "What? What fire"? Harry mumbled, putting his glasses on. "WE'RE LATE FOR POTIONS, SNAPE IS GOING TO KILL US"! Ron screamed. He was putting on his robes, but so far he had no luck. He had his pants on backwards, and his boxers on top of his head. "Ron look in the mirror", Harry mumbled getting dressed too. Ron took off the boxers, and put his pants the right way. Finally after 20 minutes of confusion, they finished changing. They grabbed their bags and ran to class. "Then add-" Harry, and Ron burst through the door, tumbled and fell on the floor. The Slytherins cracked and they started pointing and laughing at Ron and Harry. The Gryffindors just groaned and frowned. Harry, and Ron both looked up seeing Professor Snape standing in front of them. "Where were you"? Professor Snape snapped. "Uhh.", Harry stuttered. "We got lost", Ron made up. "10 points from Gryffindor, now get to your seat", Professor Snape snarled. Harry and Ron both got up and brushed off their pants. They walked over to where Hermione was seated. "Got lost? We've been here for 5 years! How are we supposed to get lost"? Harry whispered. "Like you had a better idea", Ron muttered unpacking his potions ingredient. "That was the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard", Harry muttered back, unpacking his potion ingredients too. "Potter, and Weasley! Explain what I just said", Professor Snape snapped at them. Neither Harry, nor Ron has heard what Professor Snape was talking about. "We don't know", Harry mumbled. "10 more points will be taken off of Gryffindor. As I was saying, today we're going to be making a Confusion Potion. You have to get hair from your partner. Scoop out the rats eyeball out of the jar I soon will be handing out. Then take a pinch of redwood and put it in the potion. Make sure it is well mixed first. Then you carefully, and I mean carefully Mr. Longbottom! You carefully take a bit of dung from a Hippogriff (the class moaned about this). Make sure your Dragon liver is carefully chopped into 20 pieces then dump it into the potion. Stir carefully again. Then add a drop of gator's blood. Your potion then should turn purple. Take a bit out of your cauldron and feed it to your partner, ask them a question like their name, and see if the potion works. If it doesn't, you'll fail, and 50 marks will be taken off. The potion should last about 5 minutes. You may start now and get into partners of three", Professor Snape said. Harry, Ron, and Hermione partnered up and started. They passed the potion test with no problem, that made Snape get mad so he took 5 more points off from Gryffindor. Finally, after an hour of pain, it was time to for Quidditch. "It's Ravenclaw versus. Hufflepuff", Hermione reminded them. "Yeah, we know", Ron said. Hermione, Ron, and Harry found seats to watch the game. The game finally started, and the chasers took off trying to get the quaffle. Harry saw Cho Chang near one of the goal posts looking for the snitch. She looked so pretty, Harry thought. He smiled to himself and suddenly went off in a daze.
"LOOK! CHO CHANG SAW THE SNITCH"! Ron screamed. That snapped Harry back to reality. He watched as Cho Chang sped after the snitch. She had her hands outstretch. Harry could see a bludger chasing after her. "CHO CHANG, THE BLUDGER"! Harry suddenly stood up and yelled. Cho Chang must have heard, for she ducked and the bludger sped passed her. The crowd's cheers faded away, for Cho Chang has lost the snitch. "What was that Harry"? Ron asked. "What was what"? Harry asked. "You were helping Ravenclaw"! Ron exclaimed. "Oh.I didn't see that", Harry said pretending to be dumb. Hermione suddenly went sort of still. "I'll be right back", Hermione said rather stiffly. Hermione left. Harry saw Hermione run pass the Quidditch field and into the Forbidden Forest. Ron didn't see though, he was too busy cheering for the Hufflepuffs. "THAT SEEKER GUY IS AFTER THE SNITCH HARRY"! Ron yelled. Harry looked up and saw the seeker from Ravenclaw speeding after the snitch, he also noticed that Cho Chang was just inches behind him. She was catching up to him, and Harry could feel more excited as Cho Chang got closer to the snitch. She was now right beside the other seeker. They both had their arms out stretched. The snitch suddenly turned sharply around. Cho Chang did some sort of a cartwheel with her broomstick and tore after the snitch, while the other seeker crashed into the goal post. Cho Chang was now 1 cm away from the snitch. "AND YES! CHO CHANG GOT THE SNITCH"! Lee Jordan announced excitedly. "RAVENCLAW BEATS HUFFLEPUFF! 150-50"! The other fellow Hufflepuffs groaned and stopped cheering. But clapped for the Ravenclaws anyways. Slytherins booed, while the Gryffindors jumped out of their seats and cheered their hearts out. Ron didn't cheer for them though. "I wanted Hufflepuff to win", Ron groaned as they left the Quidditch field. "Oh", was all Harry could say. He was happy that the Ravenclaws won, and that Cho Chang caught the snitch. But Cedric could have been the one playing Quidditch right now. It wasn't completely Harry's fault, but he thought it was. He was the one who suggested that they both grabbed the trophy last year during the Triwizard Tournament. Someone bumped into him and the two fell. "Sorry", muttered Harry. "Harry"? Harry looked up and saw Cho Chang looking down at him. She had already stood up. "C-Cho", Harry stuttered getting up. "You.were f-fantastic today". "Yeah.winning a Quidditch match is one thing, but having Cedric alive again is another", Cho Chang mumbled. "Well, I got to go get changed. See ya Harry". "Bye." "She should watch where she's going", Ron muttered. "It wasn't her fault", Harry defended her. "Let's go to dinner", Ron said. The pair walked to the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Harry turned around to see Cho Chang surrounded by her friends. She didn't look as happy as she looked when Cedric was alive. Harry sighed and turned around. "Where's Hermione"? Ron asked curiously. "Dunno", Harry mumbled. Right after Harry replied, Hermione came running up to them. Her shoes all muddy, and her socks half torn. She had bits of leaves in her hair, and dirt on her left cheek. Draco walked pasted her and muttered, "nice new look you got there", and walked towards the Slytherin Table. "What happened to you"? Ron stared at Hermione wide-eyed. "Nothing, I.tripped and fell", Hermione said quickly. Ron shrugged. Dumbledore just finished talking, and food and drinks appeared. Ron helped himself to some pumpkin juice, and pork chops. He filled his plate with fried rice, and got some Liver soup. Harry did the same, but he didn't get the soup. Hermione on the other hand, didn't even touch her food. She just sat there looking blankly at the food in front of her. "Hermione what's wrong"? Harry asked. "N-nothing", Hermione said looking kind of startled. She spilt half of her pumpkin juice, and her elbow knocked her pork chop on the floor. "Are you okay? Do you feel sick"? Ron asked. "Yeah I'm feeling okay, I just feel a bit tired", Hermione mumbled. "You should eat something then, try some of those Garlic bread", Ron suggested. "No, I don't feel hungry", Hermione mumbled again. She covered her face with her hands and moaned. "Are you sure you feel okay? Maybe we should take you to the Hospital Wing", Harry suggested. "I'm feeling okay! I just feel tired so stop worrying about me"! Hermione snapped. "I'm going to go back upstairs, and get some sleep". Hermione stood up and walked out of the Great Hall. "What's wrong with her"? Ron asked. Harry shrugged and they continued eating.