It was the perfect day for a Quidditch match. A soft breeze blew Harry Potter's hair, making it messier than normal, if that was possible. It felt good to fly, Harry mused. Quidditch competitions were normally stressful, but Harry was lighthearted today. He supposed that he had left his nervousness back on the ground.
Harry pulled into a steep dive, ignoring the rest of the game except to avoid being hit by bludgers and other athletes. He pulled out just a few feet away from the ground, hoping Walters had followed him. Harry quite selfishly enjoyed tricking other seekers, although Cho and Draco were now well aware of this. Neither of them seemed to follow his stunts anymore. Mark, however, was fresh blood, a new seeker for Harry to provoke. Harry didn't really want to seriously hurt Mark; he didn't have the heart to do that. Rather, he wanted him to break a few bones—nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't mend in a few minutes.
Mark had followed Harry into the dive, but from a completely different angle, where it was not as difficult. He pulled out of the dive long before Harry, realizing that the Snitch was not in sight. The dive was good practice for Mark, so he wasn't bothered by Harry's antics. If he caught the Snitch, he knew he would be a legend in Hufflepuff. Only Cedric Diggory had ever beaten Harry Potter, and everyone but Amos knew that it wasn't because Cedric was the better Seeker.
Harry returned to his usual routine of circling the Quidditch pitch. His eyes sought the Snitch, but it was still nowhere to be found. He took his attention off the Snitch for a moment to check the score. Harry was growing impatient—the snitch hadn't been sighted the entirety of the game. Gryffindor was in the lead—50 to 10. Then he saw it. A glint of gold seemed to be falling near the out of bounds line. Harry dove. It's just like the Rememberall, Harry told himself. It's falling like a normal object. This was strange behavior for the Snitch, but Harry thought nothing of it. He reached out his hand and caught—
—A goblet.
It was covered in…in…was that what it looked like? Eurgh, it was. Disgusted, Harry threw the goblet back towards the castle and began wiping his now sticky hand on his pant leg, trying desperately to get the stuff off. Suddenly he heard an uproar from the crowd. During Harry's confusion, Mark Walters had caught the Snitch. Harry's distraction had lost Gryffindor the game.
***
Harry was not alone in his misery and disappointment that day. Draco Malfoy was also going through a phase of depression. Draco's One True Love, his precious Shirley, had disappeared. It was the longest they had been apart since the day she came into his life. There was a strong ache inside his heart. Something was amiss in his life, and he knew exactly what it was. Draco needed Shirley back, but he did not know where to find her.
Draco pondered why Shirley would leave him. He thought the relationship had been mutual. Didn't Shirley feel the same way about Draco? Wasn't he good enough for her? How many other men would want Shirley? It pained Draco to picture Shirley with another guy.
Relationships with other goblets had not fulfilled Draco's desires. Shirley was the only goblet Draco could ever dream about, could ever think about. He fixed a picture of Shirley to the inside cover of each of his textbooks. It was what sustained him during those long and lonely days.
Draco spent every spare moment searching for Shirley. She was different from the other goblets. They were plain, tarnished silver, but she was magically sparkling with gold. He could see part of himself in Shirley, and that made her special. He could stare for hours at her metal, especially the way it shone in the firelight when they lay together on the Slytherin common room floor. . Shirley also had Draco's last initial engraved on the base of the goblet, as token, or so he though at the time, of their eternal bond. Every time something silver caught Draco's eye his hopes rose, and he would check eagerly to see if it was Shirley.
While walking from transfiguration to Divination the rainy Tuesday after the Quidditch match, Draco saw something gold sparkling in the corridor. His heart lurched. Shirley. He knew it had to be her. Instead of the smooth, gold metal of Shirley, he was left with a broken watch. Draco threw the watch back where he had found it. His father could buy him twenty of a better model if that was what he desired.
Back in Draco's dormitory that evening, feeling grim after yet another disappointment, his impatience finally got the better of him." Why must I search for Shirley myself? If I were home, Father would have someone else do it! Draco thought. This search is ridiculous…I shouldn't have to do it by myself.
Draco turned to Professor Snape for help in searching for Shirley. "I've had it since I was a baby," Draco explained to the professor after Potions class on Wednesday. "It once belonged to my great grandfather, and it has been passed from generation to generation of Malfoys. It is a very special goblet." It was all a lie, of course, but Draco's story seemed to soften the Potions master.
Snape recommended that Draco post notices around Hogwarts, and even said that Draco could have students turn the goblet into his office if he found it.
That day, Draco designed a notice and made numerous copies of it. In a matter of hours, he placed the flyers all over the school, showing the picture of Shirley and a description in case she decided to hide. In large print, under the picture, it read:
Goblet missing! Silver goblet, shiny, with initial M engraved at the base. If found, please return the goblet to Professor Snape's office or to Draco Malfoy. Thank you.
Little did Draco know that the rest of the school would find this an amusing joke.
On Thursday, Draco visited Professor Snape to see if anyone had turned in a goblet. Snape handed Draco a large box overfilled with goblets of every color and size. "I don't see why you continue to search for this goblet of yours," Snape told Draco. "Why can't you just buy a new one?"
Draco didn't object to the comment, or reply. What he did with his goblet was his business and his business alone. "Thank you for doing this, Professor Snape." With that, Draco took the box of goblets to his dormitory, hoping Shirley was buried within the contents of the box.