CHAPTER FIVE : DIRTY PLAY
The Quidditch season would start in a month, and he did not do any practice. He had not given any thought for the practices, and he had to do the hardest things. He read some books about being a Quidditch captain, but that was only theory. It was quite hard to apply them.
He decided to start the practices after the weekend, in the morning before breakfast. He knew that later the Slytherins used the quidditch pitch. They started practices a week before Gryffindors. And that could be a good thing for them.
The weekend passed quite hard. Harry started being quite bored sometimes. Usually Fred and George cheered him up, but he did not see them these days.
Another thing was that bothering him was that his scar hurt one time. It was a slight pain, but passed as quick as it came. That brought Voldemort in Harry's mind, again. Several weeks passed from the attack on the Hogwarts castle, and he almost forgot it.
He went to the rest of the team to tell them when they will start practicing. He thought being captain wasn't so hard as he thought. He had to think of new moves, and he really wanted to try some moves he had seen at the Quidditch cup.
The team reacted as Harry did when Wood told him about the practices.
"Before the breakfast???" Fred asked.
"You are like Oliver!" Angelina told him.
The only one who did not react like that was Kevin, who knew that they had no alternative. After telling him, he went back to the common room and started to play chess with Ron. Harry never beat Ron at chess, and this time he had lost as never before. Ron beat him three times in just fifteen minutes. He was surely worrying too much about the practices he had to do two days later.
The days passed, and the time they had to start the practices have come. He went to bed quite early last night.
It was twenty-three minutes to five o'clock in the morning. He was not sleepy at all. The sleep was good. The first person to wake up for that was Kevin, because he had the dormitory really close to his own.
When he entered the sixth years' boys' dormitory, he saw that Kevin was already out of bed. He was ready to start the practice.
"Ready, Kevin?" Harry asked in a whisper.
"Ready... Are the others up?"
"I don't know... I think they are sleeping at this time..."
"Let's go now!" Kevin said and Harry nodded. "I want our practices to be good. I want to win my first match."
They left the room, and went to Fred and George. Harry was right, both of them were sleeping like rocks. Harry prodded Fred.
"Leave me alone!" he said, still sleeping.
"Fred! It's time for Quidditch practice!" George was up already. He heard them. But Fred did not show any sign of wanting to come. Then George went to him.
"If you want to wake up Fred, try this!"
"Careful not to wake anyone here!" Harry warned him because he knew that George was up to.
George got near Fred, took his wand and said "Watov!". From his wand shot a small water ball, which hit Fred into the face. He had woken up as if they shouted in his ears.
"What? It rains!" he said, after really waking up. "George, it was simpler if you just let Harry to wake me!"
They laughed silently while exiting the room.
"You wait here", Harry told the others when they were in the common room. "I'll wake up the girls... but how?" He did not want to go in the girls' dormitory. After a moment of thinking, the door opened and Angelina, Katie and Alicia stepped out of the room, half asleep, as Fred and George.
"Mornin'" Katie said while coughing.
"Come on, hurry up! We will lose time." said Harry.
They ran through the corridors, trying to avoid Snape which could be lurking around to take some points for Gryffindor. They reached the quidditch pitch. Harry wanted to do as Wood, to tell them tactics, but he had no ideas.
"I... I think we should practice today as a revision... I am not as good as Wood, but I want to get used to quidditch this year, I for one need to... remember some things I did last year, and I think you should do the same." Everyone nodded.
Everyone went out, and tried their old moves. Everyone did perfect. Harry wanted to try the Wronski Feint, but he could not remember it well, and came back to his old tactics.
It looked as Harry had a great idea to make a revision, Wood did not do that in his first practice of the season. This did a good thing to the team. Now they were as good, or even better than last term. Harry had no comment to say about them, just "Great job team... If you play like this no one will ever have a chance against us!"
They were going to the Great Hall to eat. Everyone was hungry after such a practice. Kevin Trevion did very well. He caught almost all hits from the three chasers. He looked as good as Wood himself.
The first class after that was Herbology, they were still with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Sprout gave both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff thirty points after the great job they did feeding the Zarkilles, some plants that had very nice flowers, but quite dangerous. They liked eating a finger or two, but professor Sprout took care of that.
After classes, while Harry was playing a game of chess with Hermione, and Ron was giving them hints, the portrait swung open and the person who entered was none other than Dumbledore.
"Harry! You need to come and see that..."
Harry followed Dumbledore without asking anything. Dumbledore took him to the secret eighth floor, and Harry saw that at the end of the three metal pipes on the table were three small portals.
"The portals are healing ones", Dumbledore said. "I have no idea who created them, but I think this is the same creator as before. And - look at this." He pointed his wand at one of them, and said "Speak to me!"
The red portals turned pink, and a cold voice could be heard...
"I need to see Harry Potter!"
Harry frozen again. This could not be Voldemort... Maybe it was a Death Eater. Harry decided to walk to it, and tried to speak to the portal.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"You will meet me if you will step into the blue portal!" the voice answered. A blue portal was created at the top of the three red ones. "I give you only a hint... I am not an enemy of yours". Harry looked to Dumbledore.
"I think for precautions we will NOT allow Harry in the portal!" said Dumbledore. "Show yourself if you want to meet us".
"I will, but not now. I am not strong enough to come to you..."
"You can create a portal and you are not strong enough???" Harry asked in an unconfident voice.
"You will see me really soon..."
The blue portal disappeared. The red ones did the same thing but after a while.
"Who can be?" asked Harry.
"Who... indeed... This is a hard decision... to enter the portal or not..." Harry did not say anything. "I think you should go to the Gryffindor Tower."
Harry left the eighth floor and went to the tower, when he saw Ron.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked Ron.
"Oh, nowhere, really... I was just walking... What did Dumbledore want with you?"
"Portals. In the secret floor. I think this one who says he is at our side wants to meet me soon. StarCraft." The portrait swung open, and they stepped into the Gryffindor common room where Harry told Ron and Hermione about what happened.
The eighth floor had to be examined. Maybe that was not the only secret room. Harry wanted to do it, but not soon. He could not go at midnight because he had to do quidditch practices early in the morning.
The weeks passed really fast, every day the same things. Quidditch in the morning, breakfast, classes, then lunch, classes again and the team decided to do practices after classes too. They talked to McGonagall about that. He had no time to do anything except that. He played a little chess with Ron, he had a good time while Fred and George showed him their latest inventions - it looked like Harry helped them a lot when he gave them his Triwizard Tournament winnings.
He was really tired these days. The game against Slytherin was coming close. He managed to create some new tactics, he was getting used to being the captain. And for that he really wanted to win the cup, to prove he is good for a captain too.
He spied some of the Slytherins' trainings, and he saw their team had changed a lot. Starting with the seeker, who was not Malfoy anymore, they had another beater, maybe the others finished, and two new chasers. Everyone was doing quite well, but not as well as his team.
The slytherins did special practicing for dirty things too. They were hitting each other, after the command of one of the chasers. Looked like they were playing dirtier than last years...
He felt quite disturbed by the following game... He was not listening much in classes, he only tried to think about tactics. They started doing anti-dirty work training, what to do in case the Slytherins tried to pull them off brooms and some other things Harry had seen in the Slytherin practices.
The day before the match arrived, and Harry spied again to see any final moves. He had overheard what their team leader had to say to his team.
"Well this is it. I hope you will do as planned. These stupid Gryffindors won't have a chance. And remember that just pushing them off their brooms in not allowed. Use our tactics."
"You told us that a hundred times!" one of the players replied.
"Yes, and I will repeat until it enters your heads. So, understood, okay?" Everyone nodded and they left the pitch.
Harry was really worried about that. The slytherins found a way to knock them off their brooms in a legal mode.
"But that is impossible!" said Alicia. "How is that?"
"I have not heard their way, but you must be really careful. Have your wands at yourselves, just in case. I hope no one will need it, but you know what the slytherins are up to..."
"Right," George said, "Now let's go to bed, it's late and we cannot be sleepy at the match."
Harry nodded and they went their separate ways.
The fifth year boys' dormitory was empty when Harry entered. He was not sleepy at all, but he had to do it. The next match could not be easy at all.
"Harry get up!"
It was Kevin.
"Harry come on, we have to have breakfast and after that... you know. Now, come on, hurry!"
Harry entered the Great Hall. On the windows they could see a sunny day of October. He ate this time, he was a bit nervous about the match, but not as usual. The rest of the team looked really nervous, maybe even scared. No one knew what the slytherins used to try to win.
But they won't win, Harry thought. They could not win even with their dirty tactics. The Gryffindor team was really good now, everyone was a very good player. Even Kevin.
As the time had come, they walked to the quidditch stadium. While the teams were dressing up, the rest of the school took seats to watch the match.
"This match won't be easy", Harry started his speech, "But if everyone is careful, we won't lose. They are not good at quidditch. They are just big and solid brutes, who try to knock down anyone and break as many rules as possible."
The ream seemed now better. Everyone mounted their brooms, and Madam Hooch let the balls out.
It was a pleasure to fly again. It relaxed Harry a lot. But he did not have time for relaxing. He had to find the Snitch before the Slytherins did too much damage.
The weather was sunny, quite hot for November. A clear day, with no clouds in the sky. Lee Jordan was the commentator again. Harry was not attentive to what he said at the beginning. Now he started to listen.
"Alicia Spinnet has the quaffle. Good pass to Katie, over the slytherin brute -" McGonagall slapped him on the face. " Sorry, professor, that is the truth. Oh, slytherin in possession now... A good pass to Madface, who is now charging to the goal posts, Kevin should be good enough for that... No, he wasn't... Slytherin scores... Ten - Zero for Slytherin.
Harry felt himself angry. That was the first match when he was a captain and the team did not do it well...
"The quaffle is at Spinnet now. What is she doing? She hit George Weasley in his face with the quaffle! What is happening? Madface has the quaffle again. Long pass to Elsig. Trevion was fooled with a move - and slytherin scores..." Lee sighed.
Harry had to find the snitch. The slytherins could not be as good as that... There was something dirty... Harry saw the slytherin seeker looking around. He had not seen the Snitch. Neither did Harry, who started flying around the stadium to look for it.
"Bell. Spinnet. Long pass to Bell again. Johnson. She passes to Bell. What? It can't be. Bell passed the quaffle do Madface. Very fast flying there - Slytherin scores... Thirty - zero to slytherin."
Harry knew there was something dirty here. He had not seen the Snitch yet. The slytherins scored another four goals, bringing the score to seventy-zero.
"Bell flies very well... Manages to fool any slytherin... And... She lets the Quaffle in midair! What is that?"
That was happening. Madface caught the quaffle in midair and Kevin did not even try to stop it. That was not a normal match... The Snitch had to be there somewhere. And -
There it was. A small golden ball was flying quite close to him. Harry rushed to get it, and instantly...
"Stop! Do not get the Snitch!" he heard a distant voice.
"Get it!" another voice answered over the first one.
"Stop! Right now!!!"
"Don't stop... You have to win the match!"
"TURN BACK!"
Harry turned back. The voices stopped. He understood now exactly why the gryffindor were playing like that. Someone was using the Imperius curse on them!
Harry had a plan instantly. He had to see who casted the spell, so instead of calling for a time-out, he looked for the Snitch. It disappeared.
"Harry Potter suddenly turned back while flying to the Snitch! That is... impossible! There is something unusual here... Elsig scores. One hundred-zero to slytherin! There is a really dirty play from the slytherins!" McGonagall took the magical megaphone from Lee.
"The game is dirtier than ever", she continued the speech. "Bell passes to Angelina. Good flying there... Angelina shoots - oh, my, passed to Elsig! The game is not normal. Those cheating slytherins done something!"
Harry, still looking for the Snitch, started laughing. He never expected to hear such things from professor McGonagall. Then, he saw it again. The Snitch was near Madface, who was trying to tell the slytherin seeker to take it.
Harry did a very fast turn, and charged towards the Snitch...
And then he saw it. Madface was pointing his wand at him, under his robes, so no one would see. He muttered something that was surely "Imperio" after the movements of the lips...
"Hit Angelina Johnson! Hit her!" the imperius voice said.
"It will be a better thing to get the Snitch", a second voice answered. Harry was charging to the Snitch.
"Run away or Madface will kill you!"
"Never!"
Then Madface charged towards Harry, and hit him in the head with his broom.
"Foul!" McGonagall could be heard from the stands. "Attack on the Gryffindor captain!"
McGonagall was looking really angry. Madam Hooch was sure this was not good. And Alicia shot the quaffle through their own goal posts - It was one hundred to zero for Slytherin. Harry still was controlled by the Imperius curse, he had no time to look for the Snitch, he had to fight the curse.
Harry could not notice what was happening on the stadium. But then, the imperius curse stopped and the rest of the team came to him.
"I do not know what we were doing!" said Katie, "I can't even remember what I've done there..."
"Neither can I", said George.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"Slytherin won with three hundred points to zero! We haven't lost like this in our life! I think there was no quidditch match with such a score!"
Everyone fell silent. Madam Hooch was calling them. The slytherins were really pleased. Harry knew what stopped them from winning. The slytherins were using an unforgivable curse on the gryffindors. For that, they should receive a lifetime imprisonment into Azkaban. Harry had to tell the team exactly what happened.
"I know exactly how dirty they played! They should instantly go to Azkaban..."
"What do you mean?" asked Kevin.
"They were doing a thing... really punished by the law... They won't escape unpunished..." Everyone seemed anxious to find out what he had to say. It was a hard thing to say. "They were using the Imperius curse!"
"What?" all the team members asked. "How can that be?"
"Simply, I know how it is. I've been put under this curse many times and I know how it feels. And I have seen Madface trying to curse me... And he did it well. I was forced not to catch the Snitch twice... And when Madface saw that I could fight the curse, he tried to hit me."
"Just wait until the teachers find out!", Fred said in a low voice. "They are dead..."
"Quiet!" said Harry. He could hear what the slytherins were talking.
"I told you not to use this!"
"But they do not know what we did... It was really... well done. No one saw me while I did it."
"We think no one knows what. We were hiding our wands..."
"I think this was not a good idea at all."
"It wasn't!" said Harry approaching them. "You were so stupid so you couldn't realize I know how this curse feels better than anyone..." Every slytherin was quiet, and now frightened. "I was put under this curse four times by professor Moody and twice by Voldemort..." They looked now really scared. Some ran away. "Just you wait until Dumbledore finds out! You're all doomed, dirty slytherins..."
With that, all the Gryffindor team went to the castle. Harry did not even wait for Ron or Hermione. He went straight to Dumbledore's office. He gave the gargoyle the password, "Voldemort", and entered.
"Harry! Hello!" Dumbledore greeted him.
"I have very bad news about the quidditch match."
"I heard you had a bitter loss from the slytherins..."
"It's even worse. They could not win so easy, and we were put under the influence of the Imperius curse!"
Dumbledore looked quite normal before hearing this. After this, his smile disappeared and his face became as serious as possible.
"Harry... Are you sure?"
"Completely sure. I know how it feels, and I have seen them casting it. They hid their wands, but I saw them."
"This is not to be tolerated!" said Dumbledore, and he was angry. He looked as he did last year alter the third task when coming to Moody's office. "They will be seriously punished for that!"
Then, both of them left the office. Harry went to the common room.
"How can that be? It is impossible!" said Hermione when Harry told her and Ron what actually happened.
"It was, I've seen it myself!"
"Really, Harry, do not joke. Tell us exactly if it is one."
"IT IS NOT A JOKE!!!" he shouted at Hermione. "How can I joke on something like this? And how could we lose like that?"
"Yes, right...", she answered.
"But they should be punished by going to Azkaban!" said Ron.
"Yes, that should be, they thought no one saw them. I heard them after the match. Now imagine how angry was Dumbledore when I told him that."
Days passed without anything unusual happening. Harry did not have any quidditch practice yet, and no news were heard about the previous match. Snape seemed really angry the potions class. He took another fifty points from Gryffindor, because "None of the gryffindors managed to brew a freezing potion correctly". Some did it, but the slytherins helped Snape by putting extra ingredients in the gryffindors' potions.
The defense against the dark arts lessons became hard. Mrs. Figg told them about the imperius curse more than Moody did, and she tried to make them fight it. She gave gryffindor some points to recover after the loss in Snape's class.
Later on that day, George came to Harry with a Daily prophet in his hands.
"Harry! Look what happened this time!"
Harry looked at the article George showed him.
HOGWARTS STUDENTS HAVE GONE MAD
Tuesday, at the quidditch match between the Hogwarts' houses Gryffindor and Slytherin happened some terrible things. Seeing the Gryffindor team was really good at playing, and always won, the Slytherins decided to force their win.
And they have done it in a way that no one could have thought. They put the gryffindor team members under the affection of the Imperius curse, and the slytherin team won with three hundred points to zero.
As known, the law heavily punishes the use of the unforgivable curses, and if someone uses one of these spells on a fellow human, he should be punished by a life sentence in Azkaban.
The team was made of three sixth years, two seventh years and two fifth years. Dumbledore tried to convince the ministry to punish them in another way. He did not want students to go inside Azkaban. They were expelled from Hogwarts, and their families had to pay one hundred galleons each.
The slytherin house will not play quidditch this year.
Daily prophet special correspondent,
Arabella Figg
Harry was surprised to see the Slytherins' punishments, but that was nothing. The writer was Arabella Figg. This made him confused. But he had no time to think about that.
"We are having a party this evening!" said George after realizing Harry finished reading the article.
That evening they had a very good time. Everyone was celebrating the expulsion of the Slytherins and the match; the points did not matter. It was as if the season was restarted, because that was the first game of the season. Fred and George were again the center of attention, they had stolen some food from the kitchens and everyone went up to bed late after midnight.
The Quidditch season would start in a month, and he did not do any practice. He had not given any thought for the practices, and he had to do the hardest things. He read some books about being a Quidditch captain, but that was only theory. It was quite hard to apply them.
He decided to start the practices after the weekend, in the morning before breakfast. He knew that later the Slytherins used the quidditch pitch. They started practices a week before Gryffindors. And that could be a good thing for them.
The weekend passed quite hard. Harry started being quite bored sometimes. Usually Fred and George cheered him up, but he did not see them these days.
Another thing was that bothering him was that his scar hurt one time. It was a slight pain, but passed as quick as it came. That brought Voldemort in Harry's mind, again. Several weeks passed from the attack on the Hogwarts castle, and he almost forgot it.
He went to the rest of the team to tell them when they will start practicing. He thought being captain wasn't so hard as he thought. He had to think of new moves, and he really wanted to try some moves he had seen at the Quidditch cup.
The team reacted as Harry did when Wood told him about the practices.
"Before the breakfast???" Fred asked.
"You are like Oliver!" Angelina told him.
The only one who did not react like that was Kevin, who knew that they had no alternative. After telling him, he went back to the common room and started to play chess with Ron. Harry never beat Ron at chess, and this time he had lost as never before. Ron beat him three times in just fifteen minutes. He was surely worrying too much about the practices he had to do two days later.
The days passed, and the time they had to start the practices have come. He went to bed quite early last night.
It was twenty-three minutes to five o'clock in the morning. He was not sleepy at all. The sleep was good. The first person to wake up for that was Kevin, because he had the dormitory really close to his own.
When he entered the sixth years' boys' dormitory, he saw that Kevin was already out of bed. He was ready to start the practice.
"Ready, Kevin?" Harry asked in a whisper.
"Ready... Are the others up?"
"I don't know... I think they are sleeping at this time..."
"Let's go now!" Kevin said and Harry nodded. "I want our practices to be good. I want to win my first match."
They left the room, and went to Fred and George. Harry was right, both of them were sleeping like rocks. Harry prodded Fred.
"Leave me alone!" he said, still sleeping.
"Fred! It's time for Quidditch practice!" George was up already. He heard them. But Fred did not show any sign of wanting to come. Then George went to him.
"If you want to wake up Fred, try this!"
"Careful not to wake anyone here!" Harry warned him because he knew that George was up to.
George got near Fred, took his wand and said "Watov!". From his wand shot a small water ball, which hit Fred into the face. He had woken up as if they shouted in his ears.
"What? It rains!" he said, after really waking up. "George, it was simpler if you just let Harry to wake me!"
They laughed silently while exiting the room.
"You wait here", Harry told the others when they were in the common room. "I'll wake up the girls... but how?" He did not want to go in the girls' dormitory. After a moment of thinking, the door opened and Angelina, Katie and Alicia stepped out of the room, half asleep, as Fred and George.
"Mornin'" Katie said while coughing.
"Come on, hurry up! We will lose time." said Harry.
They ran through the corridors, trying to avoid Snape which could be lurking around to take some points for Gryffindor. They reached the quidditch pitch. Harry wanted to do as Wood, to tell them tactics, but he had no ideas.
"I... I think we should practice today as a revision... I am not as good as Wood, but I want to get used to quidditch this year, I for one need to... remember some things I did last year, and I think you should do the same." Everyone nodded.
Everyone went out, and tried their old moves. Everyone did perfect. Harry wanted to try the Wronski Feint, but he could not remember it well, and came back to his old tactics.
It looked as Harry had a great idea to make a revision, Wood did not do that in his first practice of the season. This did a good thing to the team. Now they were as good, or even better than last term. Harry had no comment to say about them, just "Great job team... If you play like this no one will ever have a chance against us!"
They were going to the Great Hall to eat. Everyone was hungry after such a practice. Kevin Trevion did very well. He caught almost all hits from the three chasers. He looked as good as Wood himself.
The first class after that was Herbology, they were still with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Sprout gave both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff thirty points after the great job they did feeding the Zarkilles, some plants that had very nice flowers, but quite dangerous. They liked eating a finger or two, but professor Sprout took care of that.
After classes, while Harry was playing a game of chess with Hermione, and Ron was giving them hints, the portrait swung open and the person who entered was none other than Dumbledore.
"Harry! You need to come and see that..."
Harry followed Dumbledore without asking anything. Dumbledore took him to the secret eighth floor, and Harry saw that at the end of the three metal pipes on the table were three small portals.
"The portals are healing ones", Dumbledore said. "I have no idea who created them, but I think this is the same creator as before. And - look at this." He pointed his wand at one of them, and said "Speak to me!"
The red portals turned pink, and a cold voice could be heard...
"I need to see Harry Potter!"
Harry frozen again. This could not be Voldemort... Maybe it was a Death Eater. Harry decided to walk to it, and tried to speak to the portal.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"You will meet me if you will step into the blue portal!" the voice answered. A blue portal was created at the top of the three red ones. "I give you only a hint... I am not an enemy of yours". Harry looked to Dumbledore.
"I think for precautions we will NOT allow Harry in the portal!" said Dumbledore. "Show yourself if you want to meet us".
"I will, but not now. I am not strong enough to come to you..."
"You can create a portal and you are not strong enough???" Harry asked in an unconfident voice.
"You will see me really soon..."
The blue portal disappeared. The red ones did the same thing but after a while.
"Who can be?" asked Harry.
"Who... indeed... This is a hard decision... to enter the portal or not..." Harry did not say anything. "I think you should go to the Gryffindor Tower."
Harry left the eighth floor and went to the tower, when he saw Ron.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked Ron.
"Oh, nowhere, really... I was just walking... What did Dumbledore want with you?"
"Portals. In the secret floor. I think this one who says he is at our side wants to meet me soon. StarCraft." The portrait swung open, and they stepped into the Gryffindor common room where Harry told Ron and Hermione about what happened.
The eighth floor had to be examined. Maybe that was not the only secret room. Harry wanted to do it, but not soon. He could not go at midnight because he had to do quidditch practices early in the morning.
The weeks passed really fast, every day the same things. Quidditch in the morning, breakfast, classes, then lunch, classes again and the team decided to do practices after classes too. They talked to McGonagall about that. He had no time to do anything except that. He played a little chess with Ron, he had a good time while Fred and George showed him their latest inventions - it looked like Harry helped them a lot when he gave them his Triwizard Tournament winnings.
He was really tired these days. The game against Slytherin was coming close. He managed to create some new tactics, he was getting used to being the captain. And for that he really wanted to win the cup, to prove he is good for a captain too.
He spied some of the Slytherins' trainings, and he saw their team had changed a lot. Starting with the seeker, who was not Malfoy anymore, they had another beater, maybe the others finished, and two new chasers. Everyone was doing quite well, but not as well as his team.
The slytherins did special practicing for dirty things too. They were hitting each other, after the command of one of the chasers. Looked like they were playing dirtier than last years...
He felt quite disturbed by the following game... He was not listening much in classes, he only tried to think about tactics. They started doing anti-dirty work training, what to do in case the Slytherins tried to pull them off brooms and some other things Harry had seen in the Slytherin practices.
The day before the match arrived, and Harry spied again to see any final moves. He had overheard what their team leader had to say to his team.
"Well this is it. I hope you will do as planned. These stupid Gryffindors won't have a chance. And remember that just pushing them off their brooms in not allowed. Use our tactics."
"You told us that a hundred times!" one of the players replied.
"Yes, and I will repeat until it enters your heads. So, understood, okay?" Everyone nodded and they left the pitch.
Harry was really worried about that. The slytherins found a way to knock them off their brooms in a legal mode.
"But that is impossible!" said Alicia. "How is that?"
"I have not heard their way, but you must be really careful. Have your wands at yourselves, just in case. I hope no one will need it, but you know what the slytherins are up to..."
"Right," George said, "Now let's go to bed, it's late and we cannot be sleepy at the match."
Harry nodded and they went their separate ways.
The fifth year boys' dormitory was empty when Harry entered. He was not sleepy at all, but he had to do it. The next match could not be easy at all.
"Harry get up!"
It was Kevin.
"Harry come on, we have to have breakfast and after that... you know. Now, come on, hurry!"
Harry entered the Great Hall. On the windows they could see a sunny day of October. He ate this time, he was a bit nervous about the match, but not as usual. The rest of the team looked really nervous, maybe even scared. No one knew what the slytherins used to try to win.
But they won't win, Harry thought. They could not win even with their dirty tactics. The Gryffindor team was really good now, everyone was a very good player. Even Kevin.
As the time had come, they walked to the quidditch stadium. While the teams were dressing up, the rest of the school took seats to watch the match.
"This match won't be easy", Harry started his speech, "But if everyone is careful, we won't lose. They are not good at quidditch. They are just big and solid brutes, who try to knock down anyone and break as many rules as possible."
The ream seemed now better. Everyone mounted their brooms, and Madam Hooch let the balls out.
It was a pleasure to fly again. It relaxed Harry a lot. But he did not have time for relaxing. He had to find the Snitch before the Slytherins did too much damage.
The weather was sunny, quite hot for November. A clear day, with no clouds in the sky. Lee Jordan was the commentator again. Harry was not attentive to what he said at the beginning. Now he started to listen.
"Alicia Spinnet has the quaffle. Good pass to Katie, over the slytherin brute -" McGonagall slapped him on the face. " Sorry, professor, that is the truth. Oh, slytherin in possession now... A good pass to Madface, who is now charging to the goal posts, Kevin should be good enough for that... No, he wasn't... Slytherin scores... Ten - Zero for Slytherin.
Harry felt himself angry. That was the first match when he was a captain and the team did not do it well...
"The quaffle is at Spinnet now. What is she doing? She hit George Weasley in his face with the quaffle! What is happening? Madface has the quaffle again. Long pass to Elsig. Trevion was fooled with a move - and slytherin scores..." Lee sighed.
Harry had to find the snitch. The slytherins could not be as good as that... There was something dirty... Harry saw the slytherin seeker looking around. He had not seen the Snitch. Neither did Harry, who started flying around the stadium to look for it.
"Bell. Spinnet. Long pass to Bell again. Johnson. She passes to Bell. What? It can't be. Bell passed the quaffle do Madface. Very fast flying there - Slytherin scores... Thirty - zero to slytherin."
Harry knew there was something dirty here. He had not seen the Snitch yet. The slytherins scored another four goals, bringing the score to seventy-zero.
"Bell flies very well... Manages to fool any slytherin... And... She lets the Quaffle in midair! What is that?"
That was happening. Madface caught the quaffle in midair and Kevin did not even try to stop it. That was not a normal match... The Snitch had to be there somewhere. And -
There it was. A small golden ball was flying quite close to him. Harry rushed to get it, and instantly...
"Stop! Do not get the Snitch!" he heard a distant voice.
"Get it!" another voice answered over the first one.
"Stop! Right now!!!"
"Don't stop... You have to win the match!"
"TURN BACK!"
Harry turned back. The voices stopped. He understood now exactly why the gryffindor were playing like that. Someone was using the Imperius curse on them!
Harry had a plan instantly. He had to see who casted the spell, so instead of calling for a time-out, he looked for the Snitch. It disappeared.
"Harry Potter suddenly turned back while flying to the Snitch! That is... impossible! There is something unusual here... Elsig scores. One hundred-zero to slytherin! There is a really dirty play from the slytherins!" McGonagall took the magical megaphone from Lee.
"The game is dirtier than ever", she continued the speech. "Bell passes to Angelina. Good flying there... Angelina shoots - oh, my, passed to Elsig! The game is not normal. Those cheating slytherins done something!"
Harry, still looking for the Snitch, started laughing. He never expected to hear such things from professor McGonagall. Then, he saw it again. The Snitch was near Madface, who was trying to tell the slytherin seeker to take it.
Harry did a very fast turn, and charged towards the Snitch...
And then he saw it. Madface was pointing his wand at him, under his robes, so no one would see. He muttered something that was surely "Imperio" after the movements of the lips...
"Hit Angelina Johnson! Hit her!" the imperius voice said.
"It will be a better thing to get the Snitch", a second voice answered. Harry was charging to the Snitch.
"Run away or Madface will kill you!"
"Never!"
Then Madface charged towards Harry, and hit him in the head with his broom.
"Foul!" McGonagall could be heard from the stands. "Attack on the Gryffindor captain!"
McGonagall was looking really angry. Madam Hooch was sure this was not good. And Alicia shot the quaffle through their own goal posts - It was one hundred to zero for Slytherin. Harry still was controlled by the Imperius curse, he had no time to look for the Snitch, he had to fight the curse.
Harry could not notice what was happening on the stadium. But then, the imperius curse stopped and the rest of the team came to him.
"I do not know what we were doing!" said Katie, "I can't even remember what I've done there..."
"Neither can I", said George.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"Slytherin won with three hundred points to zero! We haven't lost like this in our life! I think there was no quidditch match with such a score!"
Everyone fell silent. Madam Hooch was calling them. The slytherins were really pleased. Harry knew what stopped them from winning. The slytherins were using an unforgivable curse on the gryffindors. For that, they should receive a lifetime imprisonment into Azkaban. Harry had to tell the team exactly what happened.
"I know exactly how dirty they played! They should instantly go to Azkaban..."
"What do you mean?" asked Kevin.
"They were doing a thing... really punished by the law... They won't escape unpunished..." Everyone seemed anxious to find out what he had to say. It was a hard thing to say. "They were using the Imperius curse!"
"What?" all the team members asked. "How can that be?"
"Simply, I know how it is. I've been put under this curse many times and I know how it feels. And I have seen Madface trying to curse me... And he did it well. I was forced not to catch the Snitch twice... And when Madface saw that I could fight the curse, he tried to hit me."
"Just wait until the teachers find out!", Fred said in a low voice. "They are dead..."
"Quiet!" said Harry. He could hear what the slytherins were talking.
"I told you not to use this!"
"But they do not know what we did... It was really... well done. No one saw me while I did it."
"We think no one knows what. We were hiding our wands..."
"I think this was not a good idea at all."
"It wasn't!" said Harry approaching them. "You were so stupid so you couldn't realize I know how this curse feels better than anyone..." Every slytherin was quiet, and now frightened. "I was put under this curse four times by professor Moody and twice by Voldemort..." They looked now really scared. Some ran away. "Just you wait until Dumbledore finds out! You're all doomed, dirty slytherins..."
With that, all the Gryffindor team went to the castle. Harry did not even wait for Ron or Hermione. He went straight to Dumbledore's office. He gave the gargoyle the password, "Voldemort", and entered.
"Harry! Hello!" Dumbledore greeted him.
"I have very bad news about the quidditch match."
"I heard you had a bitter loss from the slytherins..."
"It's even worse. They could not win so easy, and we were put under the influence of the Imperius curse!"
Dumbledore looked quite normal before hearing this. After this, his smile disappeared and his face became as serious as possible.
"Harry... Are you sure?"
"Completely sure. I know how it feels, and I have seen them casting it. They hid their wands, but I saw them."
"This is not to be tolerated!" said Dumbledore, and he was angry. He looked as he did last year alter the third task when coming to Moody's office. "They will be seriously punished for that!"
Then, both of them left the office. Harry went to the common room.
"How can that be? It is impossible!" said Hermione when Harry told her and Ron what actually happened.
"It was, I've seen it myself!"
"Really, Harry, do not joke. Tell us exactly if it is one."
"IT IS NOT A JOKE!!!" he shouted at Hermione. "How can I joke on something like this? And how could we lose like that?"
"Yes, right...", she answered.
"But they should be punished by going to Azkaban!" said Ron.
"Yes, that should be, they thought no one saw them. I heard them after the match. Now imagine how angry was Dumbledore when I told him that."
Days passed without anything unusual happening. Harry did not have any quidditch practice yet, and no news were heard about the previous match. Snape seemed really angry the potions class. He took another fifty points from Gryffindor, because "None of the gryffindors managed to brew a freezing potion correctly". Some did it, but the slytherins helped Snape by putting extra ingredients in the gryffindors' potions.
The defense against the dark arts lessons became hard. Mrs. Figg told them about the imperius curse more than Moody did, and she tried to make them fight it. She gave gryffindor some points to recover after the loss in Snape's class.
Later on that day, George came to Harry with a Daily prophet in his hands.
"Harry! Look what happened this time!"
Harry looked at the article George showed him.
HOGWARTS STUDENTS HAVE GONE MAD
Tuesday, at the quidditch match between the Hogwarts' houses Gryffindor and Slytherin happened some terrible things. Seeing the Gryffindor team was really good at playing, and always won, the Slytherins decided to force their win.
And they have done it in a way that no one could have thought. They put the gryffindor team members under the affection of the Imperius curse, and the slytherin team won with three hundred points to zero.
As known, the law heavily punishes the use of the unforgivable curses, and if someone uses one of these spells on a fellow human, he should be punished by a life sentence in Azkaban.
The team was made of three sixth years, two seventh years and two fifth years. Dumbledore tried to convince the ministry to punish them in another way. He did not want students to go inside Azkaban. They were expelled from Hogwarts, and their families had to pay one hundred galleons each.
The slytherin house will not play quidditch this year.
Daily prophet special correspondent,
Arabella Figg
Harry was surprised to see the Slytherins' punishments, but that was nothing. The writer was Arabella Figg. This made him confused. But he had no time to think about that.
"We are having a party this evening!" said George after realizing Harry finished reading the article.
That evening they had a very good time. Everyone was celebrating the expulsion of the Slytherins and the match; the points did not matter. It was as if the season was restarted, because that was the first game of the season. Fred and George were again the center of attention, they had stolen some food from the kitchens and everyone went up to bed late after midnight.