Chapter Seven: The Unusual Snitch
Dumbledore was waiting for them in the dining hall, and after everyone had taken their places by the tables, he cleared his throat, silencing the crowd, and said, "I have an announcement to make, a very important one." Everyone, including Harry, was excited, though at the same time anxious, as Dumbledore was speaking in a very grave tone.
"I'm sorry to say." then, using the same trick as Lupin did, and grinned widely, "we have set up a Portal leading to the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch!"
The hall burst into cheers, as if one of them had won the Quidditch World Cup. Harry was more than ecstatic. He wanted dearly to go back to playing Quidditch, after Umbridge had temporarily banned him.
"Wow!" was all Harry could say as he stepped out onto the Quidditch pitch. After Dumbledore handed back Harry's Firebolt, he swore that he could feel it quivering in anticipation of being used after months of being imprisoned. Obliging it, he immediately dressed into his Quidditch robes, got on his Firebolt, and zoomed off into the pitch, releasing his personal Snitch, then took off after giving it a minute's headstart. As he was flying, he noticed a blue flash pass by him, grabbing the snitch just inches from him. "What the.!" Harry gasped, then saw, to his surprise, that Cho was also at the air, grinning, and, to Harry's surprise, she was riding a Firebolt.
Cho said, "My parents gave it to me, as an early birthday gift before they left."
Harry replied with a praising look in his eye, "Now that one of the best Seekers in Hogwarts" - Cho blushed - "has a top-of the line broom, what say I challenge you to a one-on-one Seeking?"
"I'd be honored," said Cho, as everyone at the ground cheered.
She released the Snitch, and they both waited for three minutes, all the while chatting for a while. After the three minutes had passed, chaos broke out as the two accelerated to a speed that seemed to rend the air in their wake. They chased the Snitch as though they were playing for their lives. They seemed to have displayed a most unusual duel: the duel of Seekers. Oddly, though, Harry did not hear any cheering. Sparing a half-second's glance at the crowd below, he saw that their faces were anything but awed. They were a mixture of shock and admiration. This was probably the first time they had seen the two of them play aggressively.
Harry spotted the snitch fluttering high above the sky. That was weird, considering that Snitches never flew that high before. Immediately, he soared straight up, Cho following him when she noticed it too. But just as they were about to reach the golden orb, it dived abruptly and they had to dive also to prevent a collision. The Snitch was aware of that, and it abruptly broke off its dive, while the two Seekers followed suit. Then it disappeared.
"What the." muttered Harry, and he slowed down a bit, scanning the pitch. Suddenly, he saw it.just behind Cho. At that, Harry zoomed towards the Snitch. Cho, on the other hand looked shocked to see Harry zooming towards her, almost as if he wanted to crash into her.
Suddenly, a few feet from Cho, Harry left a mental instruction to the broom, then stood abruptly on the broom as though he was some kind of tightrope walker, then did the unexpected: he jumped and somersaulted gracefully over Cho, though he noticed for a brief millisecond that she seemed to register a mild look of surprise, and he reached for the Snitch, only to realize that it slipped through his fingers yet again. Weird, Harry thought, Snitches weren't this smart. Luckily, his broom had been waiting for him to catch his fall. Without missing a beat, Harry and Cho took off after the fleeing Snitch amidst gales of cheering from everyone watching.
It was a match that even the World Cup had never experienced. They were not only flying, they somersaulted out of their brooms whenever the Snitch was near, they flew upside down so long as they wouldn't lose eye contact with the Snitch, they crisscrossed the air like an aerial ballet, and they seemed to duel in the air with relish. And as time passed, their abilities seemed to improve, and, to the onlookers, the two seemed to read each other's minds as well as that of the Snitch's.
About three hours of amazing flying had passed when the unexpected happened. Just as Harry closed his fingers on the Snitch (it appeared to have tired of the game), Cho also grabbed it at the same time. Immediately, they stopped and descended, very much stunned.
Suddenly, the noise coming from everyone down below seemed to have magnified a thousand times over. When they got down, everyone was charging down at them and bore them up as if they won five Quidditch Cups in a row.
"Harry, Cho! You two are amazing!" yelled Hermione with awe.
Ron piped in, "Yeah, mate. How come you never showed us those moves before?"
"Uh, oh. Looks like Malfoy's in deep trouble now," the Weasley Twins said, and everyone cheered loudly at that.
"Harry, did you like the new Snitch I gave you on your birthday?" Dumbledore asked, instantly silencing everyone.
"Yeah, but how come it acted strangely? It behaved as though it read our minds." "Ah," said Dumbledore, holding up the Snitch, "this Snitch was enchanted by me.as well as the other famous Seekers in the past. They wanted to pass their knowledge to future Seekers like you and Cho. So." Dumbledore asked, "Did you two like my present." The two were speechless, but Dumbledore knew better, that words could not express the thanks Harry and Cho had. "Alright everyone, since you had a good month's worth of training, you can all have week of rest." As soon as he finished those words, the students burst out into cheers and set off to enjoy their rest time in Hogwarts.
Dumbledore was waiting for them in the dining hall, and after everyone had taken their places by the tables, he cleared his throat, silencing the crowd, and said, "I have an announcement to make, a very important one." Everyone, including Harry, was excited, though at the same time anxious, as Dumbledore was speaking in a very grave tone.
"I'm sorry to say." then, using the same trick as Lupin did, and grinned widely, "we have set up a Portal leading to the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch!"
The hall burst into cheers, as if one of them had won the Quidditch World Cup. Harry was more than ecstatic. He wanted dearly to go back to playing Quidditch, after Umbridge had temporarily banned him.
"Wow!" was all Harry could say as he stepped out onto the Quidditch pitch. After Dumbledore handed back Harry's Firebolt, he swore that he could feel it quivering in anticipation of being used after months of being imprisoned. Obliging it, he immediately dressed into his Quidditch robes, got on his Firebolt, and zoomed off into the pitch, releasing his personal Snitch, then took off after giving it a minute's headstart. As he was flying, he noticed a blue flash pass by him, grabbing the snitch just inches from him. "What the.!" Harry gasped, then saw, to his surprise, that Cho was also at the air, grinning, and, to Harry's surprise, she was riding a Firebolt.
Cho said, "My parents gave it to me, as an early birthday gift before they left."
Harry replied with a praising look in his eye, "Now that one of the best Seekers in Hogwarts" - Cho blushed - "has a top-of the line broom, what say I challenge you to a one-on-one Seeking?"
"I'd be honored," said Cho, as everyone at the ground cheered.
She released the Snitch, and they both waited for three minutes, all the while chatting for a while. After the three minutes had passed, chaos broke out as the two accelerated to a speed that seemed to rend the air in their wake. They chased the Snitch as though they were playing for their lives. They seemed to have displayed a most unusual duel: the duel of Seekers. Oddly, though, Harry did not hear any cheering. Sparing a half-second's glance at the crowd below, he saw that their faces were anything but awed. They were a mixture of shock and admiration. This was probably the first time they had seen the two of them play aggressively.
Harry spotted the snitch fluttering high above the sky. That was weird, considering that Snitches never flew that high before. Immediately, he soared straight up, Cho following him when she noticed it too. But just as they were about to reach the golden orb, it dived abruptly and they had to dive also to prevent a collision. The Snitch was aware of that, and it abruptly broke off its dive, while the two Seekers followed suit. Then it disappeared.
"What the." muttered Harry, and he slowed down a bit, scanning the pitch. Suddenly, he saw it.just behind Cho. At that, Harry zoomed towards the Snitch. Cho, on the other hand looked shocked to see Harry zooming towards her, almost as if he wanted to crash into her.
Suddenly, a few feet from Cho, Harry left a mental instruction to the broom, then stood abruptly on the broom as though he was some kind of tightrope walker, then did the unexpected: he jumped and somersaulted gracefully over Cho, though he noticed for a brief millisecond that she seemed to register a mild look of surprise, and he reached for the Snitch, only to realize that it slipped through his fingers yet again. Weird, Harry thought, Snitches weren't this smart. Luckily, his broom had been waiting for him to catch his fall. Without missing a beat, Harry and Cho took off after the fleeing Snitch amidst gales of cheering from everyone watching.
It was a match that even the World Cup had never experienced. They were not only flying, they somersaulted out of their brooms whenever the Snitch was near, they flew upside down so long as they wouldn't lose eye contact with the Snitch, they crisscrossed the air like an aerial ballet, and they seemed to duel in the air with relish. And as time passed, their abilities seemed to improve, and, to the onlookers, the two seemed to read each other's minds as well as that of the Snitch's.
About three hours of amazing flying had passed when the unexpected happened. Just as Harry closed his fingers on the Snitch (it appeared to have tired of the game), Cho also grabbed it at the same time. Immediately, they stopped and descended, very much stunned.
Suddenly, the noise coming from everyone down below seemed to have magnified a thousand times over. When they got down, everyone was charging down at them and bore them up as if they won five Quidditch Cups in a row.
"Harry, Cho! You two are amazing!" yelled Hermione with awe.
Ron piped in, "Yeah, mate. How come you never showed us those moves before?"
"Uh, oh. Looks like Malfoy's in deep trouble now," the Weasley Twins said, and everyone cheered loudly at that.
"Harry, did you like the new Snitch I gave you on your birthday?" Dumbledore asked, instantly silencing everyone.
"Yeah, but how come it acted strangely? It behaved as though it read our minds." "Ah," said Dumbledore, holding up the Snitch, "this Snitch was enchanted by me.as well as the other famous Seekers in the past. They wanted to pass their knowledge to future Seekers like you and Cho. So." Dumbledore asked, "Did you two like my present." The two were speechless, but Dumbledore knew better, that words could not express the thanks Harry and Cho had. "Alright everyone, since you had a good month's worth of training, you can all have week of rest." As soon as he finished those words, the students burst out into cheers and set off to enjoy their rest time in Hogwarts.
