Chapter 7: Quidditch
The next day, he started to feel quite strange; everytime he saw Cho he felt an urge of talking to her, and something stopping him from doing it at the same time. He just hoped that he would do something about it soon. That only did one good thing: he didn't worry as much as he did before about other things.
One day he remembered about the offer of John Niffler, about the Engalnd's national Quidditch team. He thought that he should accept, because if everything was at Hogwarts, he had nothing to lose. He told Ron and Hermione about it, and their reaction was just as he expected.
"Quidditch?" asked Hermione, who didn't like the idea at all. "We have OWLs this year! When are you going to study them if you will spend time with Quidditch?"
"Hermione," Ron immediately defended Harry, "He will have Quidditch anyway! The Inter-House championship --"
"Yes, but not for a national team! That would need practice -- a lot more practice than the normal Quidditch games need for the Inter-House Cup!"
"And the OWLs are at the end of term! We have ages --"
"And ages we need," Hermione said out of her usual self. She said in a tone that wasn't her usual type. It only brought a strange feeling to Harry that something bad was happening to Hermione, too.
Hermione didn't give up even when she saw that Harry wanted to go. She still found lots of things to say -- but she couldn't do anything. Harry himself wanted so much to play like that... Except for one thing.
Harry always hated being famous -- and that would make him attract even more attention than usual. And with that, Ron would be even more jealous towards him -- as he usually was these days. Harry would have wanted to change at anytime if possible.
That night, after he managed to remain alone, he took a piece of parchment to write the letter. He needed no one to disturb him while thinking what to write to John Niffler. The only thing he didn't like was that he was too bored and sleepy, and it could affect his thoughts. And then he wrote:
I'd love to play for the England's Quidditch Team. I heard that everything's done at Hogwarts. If that is true, I'll be able to play; I won't want to lose any classes because of Quidditch. When will the practices start?
Can't wait to read the answer,
Harry Potter
After that he decided to go back to the Gryffindor tower, to get a good night's sleep.
And he didn't have to wait for long until he recieved the reply. After a lesson of Charms where he didn't think of anything else except the letter, he went to the Great Hall where the mail arrived while they were eating. He saw that Hedwig returned with a silvery letter. Harry took it and watched closely -- he was sure that the letter had to cost a lot. The writing on the letter was done with silver letters, and Harry saw that it really was silver not a silvery substance. It said,
To Mr. Harry Potter
Hogwarts
He opened the letter and took the small piece of parchment inside - this time it wasn't as expensive as the inscription on the letter was. And Harry couldn't wait to read Niffler's answer...
Dear Mr. Potter,
I am pleased to hear that you accepted my request for the Quidditch Team. The practices are done at Hogwarts, only for safety reasons, so you won't lose anything from school -- except those times when we have to take you from a lesson for a Match. We will start the practices as early as possible and the team will arrive in only a few days.
See you very soon,
John Niffler
As Ron saw the letter, he had burst out in happiness, jumping on his seat and keeping telling to Harry, "You got it! You are playing for England!" and, from that moment, in a few seconds, the entire school knew that. The only ones who weren't pleased at all because were the slytherins -- especially Malfoy.
"Potter? Playing for the National English Quidditch Team?" he asked with a superior voice.
"Well, better him than you!" said Ron still cheery. Malfoy sat on his chair and didn't look at Harry for the entire day. He seemed to not have anything to say -- he couldn't find any insults for Harry this time.
At the end of the day, they all held a grand celebration that lasted long past midnight. Fred and George brought lots of sweets from Hogsmeade, and Harry knew they must have been using the secret passage that lead to Honeydukes. And, to add fun, they presented everyone some of their latest inventions.
"See this?" Fred asked, with a grin on his mouth, "It's a pity that we have no Malfoy here to test it on." He raised a small, round piece of chocolate, and showed it to everyone. Harry and Ron saw that Hermione was quite interrested in the newest inventions, and that was quite out of her usual self. "George, would you make a sacrifice and test it on yourself?"
George stared at Fred, and that was the best answer George could give him. "Well, anyone? Then I'll have to try it on myself -- well I am already used to their effects anyway..."
He took the chocolate and hesitantly ate it. And Harry saw that it was quite nothing new, it was just their type of using different curses or jinxes on sweets. Everything that he had seen were boils on his body -- the same as a Furnunculus curse, but much weaker -- weaker than he had seen it, anyway.
He told George to give him something, and then he ate it. His skin became normal -- it had to be the counter-curse. Or, better said, counter-chocolate. Then, he continued his speech.
"This is nothing if you only eat it. But as we have discovered only two months ago -" he winked at Harry, Ron and Hermione, "- they are best used in combinations, for unexpected effects."
Harry quickly recalled the moment when Malfoy was hit by five curses at once and it rendered him unconscious. Harry's mind immediately pictured Malfoy eating some of those trick sweets in the Great Hall, where everyone could see him... and his ashamed face while he would get up and go to the Slytherin Common Room or the Hospital Wing...
It was one of the first times when Harry enjoyed the attention -- maybe because his name wasn't spoken continuously by everyone. Even if the celebration was held because of him, the entire attention was placed on Fred and George, and Harry was thankful.
They all went to bed after three o'clock, wondering if they could wake up in the morning for next day's lessons.
The first class they had was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Harry was reminded of Mrs. Figg, who he couldn't ever compare to a witch. When the Dursleys sent him to her house, she was forcing him to look at pictures of her cats, and her house smelled like cabbage. Except for those few things, Harry was quite well-treated at her house. She was allowing him to watch TV, she was giving him cakes to eat... after all, it wasn't unbelievable.
And she had to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher... who else could it be? There was no one new except her at the staff table.
When they entered the classroom, she wasn't there yet. The Gryffindors were waiting anxiously to see how her lessons were, and what they would learn. When she entered, the entire class turned quiet. Harry saw that she was looking at him while she was walking to her desk.
"Good morning," was the first thing she said, "I am Arabella Figg, and I will teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."
"Only this year?" Ron asked in Harry's ear, but she heard it.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley, Only this year. I am here to teach you about dark arts and how to protect against them. I have been working to deal with Dark Arts for a long time, and when I was informed that you weren't briefed too much about them I wondered if you shouldn't have known how to deal with Dark Wizards, especially now that Voldemort is back."
Harry listened carefully and noticed that everyone flinched. It reminded him that most people didn't say Voldemort's name, and it came surprisingly that Mrs. Figg wsan't one of those who were only afraid of a name -- aftre all, Dumbledore was right. The fear of the name increased the fear of the person itself.
"The first lesson will be only an introduction," she briefed them before telling them to open their copies of "Dark Forces: Counter-curses" at page 1. Harry looked around, and saw that most of the things were covered in the first chapter of the Dark Book of Dark Arts. But even though the first lesson seemed boring, the further ones seemed as interresting as Moody's and Lupin's classes were.
After talking about why the Dark Arts were used that much by Death Eaters, which were only known things from the Dark Book, she told the students that they were easy to do but they required something special in the caster -- a desire to do evil things. Harry was sure that it wasn't very good to allow the Slytherins take classes like that, but he had nothing to tell anyone -- especially a teacher. But he supposed that even the teachers knew that.
At the end of the lesson, before allowing the students to go out, she told them more about what they will do. "I won't teach you how to use the Dark Arts, and I am sure that you won't need them. The only thing you need to know is how to defend against them in case that some Death Eater is hunting you. Because we here do not teach you how to attack anyone, to become murderers; we are here to teach you how to NOT become like that. So the thing you need most is how to defend yourselves. As I said earlier, using the Dark Arts only makes a person become evil -- and would any of you, who are in Gryffindor, want that?"
Harry noticed that she didn't seem to like the slytherins too much either.
They all left the classroom. Even if the lesson was mostly about history, and there was no practice, the class was great. Most of the students knew almost nothing from all what she told them, and even Harry, who already knew everything from the Dark Book of Dark Arts, seemed to enjoy the lesson. Harry couldn't not notice that Mrs. Figg smiled at him when he exited the classroom, and he knew it was a friendly, we-meet-again smile.
At the evening, Harry was surprised to see someone enter the Gryffindor Tower while Harry was playing some chess with Fred, who was unsuccesfully cheating. Harry looked at the person, and he was accompanied by Dumbledore.
"Harry!" he shouted in the noise, calling him. "You've got company!"
Harry immediately realized who the person had to be -- he was none other than John Niffler. He had turned his back to Fred ("Harry! Don't leave me like that, I could've beaten you!") and ran to Dumbledore and Niffler.
"I am John Niffler, Harry. Nice to meet you."
"Good evening," Harry replied without knowing what else to say.
"We should go to the Quidditch Pitch... I will show you who the other team members are, and because it isn't dark yet, I'll want to watch him do some things on his broom -- I heard you have already got a Firebolt?" he asked, anxious to see Harry in the air.
"Yes."
"Well, then, Come!"
Harry followed. Dumbledore walked with them all the way, and the news seemed to spread very fast throughout the school. There were lots of students who were cheering Harry(but even he didn't know why, because he wasn't playing yet). From all those students, only one attracted his attention. Cho.
He was looking at her, she seemed quite anxious to come and see what would happen -- everyone was, but Harry only cared for her -- and then, Dumbledore, as if he knew what Harry was thinking about, spoke.
"Miss Chang, I am sure you may like to come to see this evening's practice," he said. Cho turned red, and she nodded to Dumbledore.
Harry felt something in his stomach, and, hoping that he didn't blush, he wanted to say something; he didn't know what exactly, so he stood silenced. Fortunately, by the look on the other's faces, he didn't blush at all, and he was thankful.
More students were trying to come with them, But Harry(and Dumledore) didn't allow them; after all, not everyone was Cho.
Dumbledore left them at the castle gates. From there, the only ones who were walking were Niffler, Harry and Cho.
"Y - You are a great Quidditch Player," Cho told him.
"I never knew that it will reach as far as this," Harry answered sincerely.
"I saw you playing... I even played against you," Cho continued still walking. "I think you will do a lot of practice for the world cup..."
Harry didn't think at that before. The world cup...
"I - I bet that no other seeker at Hogwarts will be able to be even half as good as you."
Harry didn't say anything at that. He felt very good while talking to Cho, especially about Quidditch, and they kept talking about possible moves that he had to practice, until they reached the pitch, where the other players were waiting to meet Harry.
"This is Harry," Hiffer told the other team members just when they set foot on the Quidditch Pitch. "I know that he is a better seeker than our previous one, because I've seen him flying... and we'll see him today as well."
Harry wondered if it was that easy for him to do as needed to please everyone. Even if it was, it didn't look easy at all, and he had nothing to do then wait and see what exactly the team was expecting from him. He just wanted to do his best... to impress them with his skills...
Harry wondered why he thought about that, because it was out of his usual usual type. Harry just ignored it.
"And, Harry, if you are in our team, you would be sure that you'll be the Gryffindor captain."
"Me?" Harry asked. "I ... I have no idea what to do as a captain!"
"Oh come on, Harry! You have been to three cups already... you only could take the example of Oliver Wood, who will be playing in our team, too, but only next year -- when our keeper, Lusk, will leave."
"I won't be able to do it," Harry continued speaking quite afraid of doing a thing like that,
Cho wanted to say something for some time, and after all, she spit it out, "If you aren't a good captain, then no one is." He had rarely talked to Cho, actually it was the second time he ever did it. But he didn't know how he would feel when doing it...
That shut his mouth, and from then he had just kept for himself evverything. At that moment, all he had to do was to fly a little to show the team what he could do -- or maybe more things than just fly?
"Well, for this evening, I don't want you to do many things. Just... have you got your broom?"
"It's in my dormitory." But he knew what to do; he just had to repeat what he did in his first task of the Triwizard Tournament. "But it's not a problem. Accio Firebolt!" he said raising his wand in the air, and concentrating on the Firebolt and its possible location -- but nothing came. "Accio Firebolt!" he said, this time louder. But still, this had no effect. Was it something only from his mind? Was the firebolt somewhere else than where he thought it was? Was he weaker? Or, maybe, he was just too tired to do a complicated spell like that? "One more try," he said, and then he shouted, "ACCIO FIREBOLT!"
After a few seconds, he saw the firebolt zooming to him from a window in the Gryffindor Tower. The other team members were looking at Harry with a vrey amazed face, and it gave Harry a strange feeling.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Well... how could you do that?" a team member asked.
"Do what?"
"Bring the firebolt from that far!"
"What's miraculous in this?" Harry asked, "I've done this before -- and even easier... on the first try..."
"I am sure that only very skilled wizards would be able to summon something from that far... I wonder if I am able to do something like it." He looked at the others, who nodded.
"Oh, forget it!" Harry told them, and he mounted his firebolt. "What do I have to do?"
"Er... I haven't thought of this," Niffler told him, "But I would try you in catching the Snitch... especially now, that it is dark --"
"Are you mad? Catch the Snitch on the dark?" Harry asked surprised.
"Well, others have done it before... If you won't cath it, you'll do the Accio Snitch spell before anyone --"
"It's not possible," Harry told them dully. "At least I knew where the Firebolt was. But, summon a Snitch that could be anywhere --"
"Not anywhere, Harry. It's on the field, and I am sure that anyone could do it. Even I can."
"Oh, ok," Harry answered quite annoyed, "Release the Snitch."
Niffler took a box which contained the four Quidditch Balls, and he took the little golden Snitch in his fingers. "Start!" he said, throwing the ball high in air, and Harry immediately lost it from his sight.
Harry sped up to reach a likeable height and then looked around. The team was looking at him, and so did Cho. He tried to look back up, and searched slowly and carefully for the little Snitch, taking his mind off everything... it was much easier to catch the Snitch while having a clear mind.
The sky was turning darker and darker with every passing minute. It was quite late for searching in the air for the Snitch, and he thought of telling the others that he would try it tomorrow -- but what would they say? That he wasn't good enough? No, he wouldn't accept that... so he still had to try -- even if it was getting really dark and the small ball wasn't glittering golden as it was in midday. He had done it on the night before, but it didn't look that hard to do...
Time passed fast while in the air. Harry really liked the feeling of flying, relaxing as it was... something told him to stay in the air more, to not find the Snitch until he would get bored of it, but then he saw something moving in the darkness. Small and fast, the Snitch was flying in the distant darkness.
Harry didn't pause to think. He hurried towards it, and he caught it in his fist -- he couldn't remember of ever holding a Snitch like that, it was trying to get out of his fingers harder than any Snitch he had caught before... maybe this one was a professional one...
Then he felt like something wasn't as it should have been -- looking again at the Snitch, he saw that it was just a bird. Small as it was, with its thin wings, Harry didn't much blame himself for thinking that it was the Snitch -- there wasn't a big difference between them in the darkness anyway.
He had thrown it into air furiously, and kept looking for the real Snitch -- and until he had seen it there should have passed another ten minutes. Harry caught it easily, and he thought that he didn't stay that much in the air.
"You got it?" Niffler asked, looking at his golden watch. "You did it fast, only twenty-five minutes! That is fast for night, believe me -- I guess I wouldn't be able to see it in five hours! Not to mention that the seeker doesn't have just to see it -- he has to catch it..."
"Mr. Niffler," one of the team members said, "I guess he is our new seeker, right?"
"Yes, Mondrus, he is. And we'll start training him -- I guess the best day to begin in is about a week from Monday?"
"I guess so," Mondrus told him.
"Well, Harry, go to the castle. We have where to sleep..." Saying that, Niffler took his wand and said, "Come, tent!"
Something big appeared at the spot he pointed with his wand, but Harry saw that it wasn't a tent at all. That was a house, a big one(but in the huge Hogwarts Grounds it fit perfectly), with walls almost as magnificient looking as the Hogwarts' ones.
"L -- Let's go," Harry told Cho, knowing that they were the only ones to go back to the castle. She nodded, and then Harry's heart seemed to give a jolt -- it was the first time when he was alone with Cho somewhere -- thinking that they were in the castle when he asked her to the ball. But this time it was something else...
"You really think I am good enough for the captain?" he asked her while they were on their way to the castle.
"I told you, if you aren't good enough, then no one is."
"Then, I guess we have no more captains in the world," Harry said still without having enough self-confidence. "You are a good seeker, too," he told her remembering the Gryffindor Vs. Ravenclaw match in his third year -- she was quite good at it, because even with a slower broom than his, she still could cut his way while he was chasing the Snitch...
Cho almost laughed, and then said, "Oh Harry, come on! I am not even half as good as you are at Quidditch!"
They kept walking to the entrance hall, but the way was quite long. They walked in silence for a while until Cho broke the silence again.
"How did you manage to get into the team?"
"They just called me... Niffler says he saw me playing in my third year."
Harry realized that it was much easier to answer than to ask.
Cho was quite hesitant sometimes before saying something, and it looked quite hard for her to choose what to say. Harry had the feeling that she was thinking at every word. And then, she said, "How are things lately? I heard that you -- er, -- have lots of problems... lately,"
"Yes, I have... thinking of everything that happened --" but he didn't want to say more, maybe he was too boring while talking about his worries -- why not try to talk about something good?
But then she told him, "Mine too..."
"Really?" Harry wondered at first why she was sad and then he remembered. "Oh... You must have really loved him..."
Harry suddenly felt the sense of guilt for Cedric's death he felt in the summer... Cho looked at Harry and he understood that he shouldn't have said that. Or maybe it wasn't bad that he did... only that he remembered her of the event that should have made her extremely sad.
But it didn't.
"Then what are the things bothering you lately?" she asked.
"Well... er... Are you sure that you want to hear this?"
She paused a little, stopped, and looked at him. "Yes..."
Harry didn't know what to tell her, there were lots of things disturbing him. At every time of the day he felt the fear that someone may turn up and kill him on the spot, without any warning. From all the wizards, the one Voldemort hated the most was Harry -- at least that was what he thought. Then, he had no parents, and he missed them a lot; he missed not knowing how it was to be loved, how it was to have a mother and father. Then, he started telling her, "Just try to think how it is... you can't even imagine. At every time of the day, Voldemort --" Cho flinched at the name "-- may turn up and... and -- kill me. Just like he did with my parents..."
He went sad again.
"Oh, you must really miss them, don't you?" ske asked.
Harry nodded.
They entered in the castle while Harry was telling her a few things about his miserable life. He hesitated at first, but seeing that she insisted, he told her about life at the Dursleys and about the end of holiday. He added some good things here and there just to not make her think that his life only had bad things. He told her about the jokes Fred and George did, and about their pland for the joke shop. Many times they started laughing on the corridors.
They said good-bye to each other and Harry went to the Gryffindor Tower, where Harry thought Fred and George would start another party. But, they didn't, and Harry was thankful because he was too tired for something like that.
He told Ron and Hermione about the Quidditch practice, the test, and even about the bird he caught thinking that it was the Snitch. The only thing he wouldn't tell them was about Cho; he just wanted to keep it secret until it would be impossible to hide from his best friends.
The next day, he started to feel quite strange; everytime he saw Cho he felt an urge of talking to her, and something stopping him from doing it at the same time. He just hoped that he would do something about it soon. That only did one good thing: he didn't worry as much as he did before about other things.
One day he remembered about the offer of John Niffler, about the Engalnd's national Quidditch team. He thought that he should accept, because if everything was at Hogwarts, he had nothing to lose. He told Ron and Hermione about it, and their reaction was just as he expected.
"Quidditch?" asked Hermione, who didn't like the idea at all. "We have OWLs this year! When are you going to study them if you will spend time with Quidditch?"
"Hermione," Ron immediately defended Harry, "He will have Quidditch anyway! The Inter-House championship --"
"Yes, but not for a national team! That would need practice -- a lot more practice than the normal Quidditch games need for the Inter-House Cup!"
"And the OWLs are at the end of term! We have ages --"
"And ages we need," Hermione said out of her usual self. She said in a tone that wasn't her usual type. It only brought a strange feeling to Harry that something bad was happening to Hermione, too.
Hermione didn't give up even when she saw that Harry wanted to go. She still found lots of things to say -- but she couldn't do anything. Harry himself wanted so much to play like that... Except for one thing.
Harry always hated being famous -- and that would make him attract even more attention than usual. And with that, Ron would be even more jealous towards him -- as he usually was these days. Harry would have wanted to change at anytime if possible.
That night, after he managed to remain alone, he took a piece of parchment to write the letter. He needed no one to disturb him while thinking what to write to John Niffler. The only thing he didn't like was that he was too bored and sleepy, and it could affect his thoughts. And then he wrote:
I'd love to play for the England's Quidditch Team. I heard that everything's done at Hogwarts. If that is true, I'll be able to play; I won't want to lose any classes because of Quidditch. When will the practices start?
Can't wait to read the answer,
Harry Potter
After that he decided to go back to the Gryffindor tower, to get a good night's sleep.
And he didn't have to wait for long until he recieved the reply. After a lesson of Charms where he didn't think of anything else except the letter, he went to the Great Hall where the mail arrived while they were eating. He saw that Hedwig returned with a silvery letter. Harry took it and watched closely -- he was sure that the letter had to cost a lot. The writing on the letter was done with silver letters, and Harry saw that it really was silver not a silvery substance. It said,
To Mr. Harry Potter
Hogwarts
He opened the letter and took the small piece of parchment inside - this time it wasn't as expensive as the inscription on the letter was. And Harry couldn't wait to read Niffler's answer...
Dear Mr. Potter,
I am pleased to hear that you accepted my request for the Quidditch Team. The practices are done at Hogwarts, only for safety reasons, so you won't lose anything from school -- except those times when we have to take you from a lesson for a Match. We will start the practices as early as possible and the team will arrive in only a few days.
See you very soon,
John Niffler
As Ron saw the letter, he had burst out in happiness, jumping on his seat and keeping telling to Harry, "You got it! You are playing for England!" and, from that moment, in a few seconds, the entire school knew that. The only ones who weren't pleased at all because were the slytherins -- especially Malfoy.
"Potter? Playing for the National English Quidditch Team?" he asked with a superior voice.
"Well, better him than you!" said Ron still cheery. Malfoy sat on his chair and didn't look at Harry for the entire day. He seemed to not have anything to say -- he couldn't find any insults for Harry this time.
At the end of the day, they all held a grand celebration that lasted long past midnight. Fred and George brought lots of sweets from Hogsmeade, and Harry knew they must have been using the secret passage that lead to Honeydukes. And, to add fun, they presented everyone some of their latest inventions.
"See this?" Fred asked, with a grin on his mouth, "It's a pity that we have no Malfoy here to test it on." He raised a small, round piece of chocolate, and showed it to everyone. Harry and Ron saw that Hermione was quite interrested in the newest inventions, and that was quite out of her usual self. "George, would you make a sacrifice and test it on yourself?"
George stared at Fred, and that was the best answer George could give him. "Well, anyone? Then I'll have to try it on myself -- well I am already used to their effects anyway..."
He took the chocolate and hesitantly ate it. And Harry saw that it was quite nothing new, it was just their type of using different curses or jinxes on sweets. Everything that he had seen were boils on his body -- the same as a Furnunculus curse, but much weaker -- weaker than he had seen it, anyway.
He told George to give him something, and then he ate it. His skin became normal -- it had to be the counter-curse. Or, better said, counter-chocolate. Then, he continued his speech.
"This is nothing if you only eat it. But as we have discovered only two months ago -" he winked at Harry, Ron and Hermione, "- they are best used in combinations, for unexpected effects."
Harry quickly recalled the moment when Malfoy was hit by five curses at once and it rendered him unconscious. Harry's mind immediately pictured Malfoy eating some of those trick sweets in the Great Hall, where everyone could see him... and his ashamed face while he would get up and go to the Slytherin Common Room or the Hospital Wing...
It was one of the first times when Harry enjoyed the attention -- maybe because his name wasn't spoken continuously by everyone. Even if the celebration was held because of him, the entire attention was placed on Fred and George, and Harry was thankful.
They all went to bed after three o'clock, wondering if they could wake up in the morning for next day's lessons.
The first class they had was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Harry was reminded of Mrs. Figg, who he couldn't ever compare to a witch. When the Dursleys sent him to her house, she was forcing him to look at pictures of her cats, and her house smelled like cabbage. Except for those few things, Harry was quite well-treated at her house. She was allowing him to watch TV, she was giving him cakes to eat... after all, it wasn't unbelievable.
And she had to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher... who else could it be? There was no one new except her at the staff table.
When they entered the classroom, she wasn't there yet. The Gryffindors were waiting anxiously to see how her lessons were, and what they would learn. When she entered, the entire class turned quiet. Harry saw that she was looking at him while she was walking to her desk.
"Good morning," was the first thing she said, "I am Arabella Figg, and I will teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."
"Only this year?" Ron asked in Harry's ear, but she heard it.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley, Only this year. I am here to teach you about dark arts and how to protect against them. I have been working to deal with Dark Arts for a long time, and when I was informed that you weren't briefed too much about them I wondered if you shouldn't have known how to deal with Dark Wizards, especially now that Voldemort is back."
Harry listened carefully and noticed that everyone flinched. It reminded him that most people didn't say Voldemort's name, and it came surprisingly that Mrs. Figg wsan't one of those who were only afraid of a name -- aftre all, Dumbledore was right. The fear of the name increased the fear of the person itself.
"The first lesson will be only an introduction," she briefed them before telling them to open their copies of "Dark Forces: Counter-curses" at page 1. Harry looked around, and saw that most of the things were covered in the first chapter of the Dark Book of Dark Arts. But even though the first lesson seemed boring, the further ones seemed as interresting as Moody's and Lupin's classes were.
After talking about why the Dark Arts were used that much by Death Eaters, which were only known things from the Dark Book, she told the students that they were easy to do but they required something special in the caster -- a desire to do evil things. Harry was sure that it wasn't very good to allow the Slytherins take classes like that, but he had nothing to tell anyone -- especially a teacher. But he supposed that even the teachers knew that.
At the end of the lesson, before allowing the students to go out, she told them more about what they will do. "I won't teach you how to use the Dark Arts, and I am sure that you won't need them. The only thing you need to know is how to defend against them in case that some Death Eater is hunting you. Because we here do not teach you how to attack anyone, to become murderers; we are here to teach you how to NOT become like that. So the thing you need most is how to defend yourselves. As I said earlier, using the Dark Arts only makes a person become evil -- and would any of you, who are in Gryffindor, want that?"
Harry noticed that she didn't seem to like the slytherins too much either.
They all left the classroom. Even if the lesson was mostly about history, and there was no practice, the class was great. Most of the students knew almost nothing from all what she told them, and even Harry, who already knew everything from the Dark Book of Dark Arts, seemed to enjoy the lesson. Harry couldn't not notice that Mrs. Figg smiled at him when he exited the classroom, and he knew it was a friendly, we-meet-again smile.
At the evening, Harry was surprised to see someone enter the Gryffindor Tower while Harry was playing some chess with Fred, who was unsuccesfully cheating. Harry looked at the person, and he was accompanied by Dumbledore.
"Harry!" he shouted in the noise, calling him. "You've got company!"
Harry immediately realized who the person had to be -- he was none other than John Niffler. He had turned his back to Fred ("Harry! Don't leave me like that, I could've beaten you!") and ran to Dumbledore and Niffler.
"I am John Niffler, Harry. Nice to meet you."
"Good evening," Harry replied without knowing what else to say.
"We should go to the Quidditch Pitch... I will show you who the other team members are, and because it isn't dark yet, I'll want to watch him do some things on his broom -- I heard you have already got a Firebolt?" he asked, anxious to see Harry in the air.
"Yes."
"Well, then, Come!"
Harry followed. Dumbledore walked with them all the way, and the news seemed to spread very fast throughout the school. There were lots of students who were cheering Harry(but even he didn't know why, because he wasn't playing yet). From all those students, only one attracted his attention. Cho.
He was looking at her, she seemed quite anxious to come and see what would happen -- everyone was, but Harry only cared for her -- and then, Dumbledore, as if he knew what Harry was thinking about, spoke.
"Miss Chang, I am sure you may like to come to see this evening's practice," he said. Cho turned red, and she nodded to Dumbledore.
Harry felt something in his stomach, and, hoping that he didn't blush, he wanted to say something; he didn't know what exactly, so he stood silenced. Fortunately, by the look on the other's faces, he didn't blush at all, and he was thankful.
More students were trying to come with them, But Harry(and Dumledore) didn't allow them; after all, not everyone was Cho.
Dumbledore left them at the castle gates. From there, the only ones who were walking were Niffler, Harry and Cho.
"Y - You are a great Quidditch Player," Cho told him.
"I never knew that it will reach as far as this," Harry answered sincerely.
"I saw you playing... I even played against you," Cho continued still walking. "I think you will do a lot of practice for the world cup..."
Harry didn't think at that before. The world cup...
"I - I bet that no other seeker at Hogwarts will be able to be even half as good as you."
Harry didn't say anything at that. He felt very good while talking to Cho, especially about Quidditch, and they kept talking about possible moves that he had to practice, until they reached the pitch, where the other players were waiting to meet Harry.
"This is Harry," Hiffer told the other team members just when they set foot on the Quidditch Pitch. "I know that he is a better seeker than our previous one, because I've seen him flying... and we'll see him today as well."
Harry wondered if it was that easy for him to do as needed to please everyone. Even if it was, it didn't look easy at all, and he had nothing to do then wait and see what exactly the team was expecting from him. He just wanted to do his best... to impress them with his skills...
Harry wondered why he thought about that, because it was out of his usual usual type. Harry just ignored it.
"And, Harry, if you are in our team, you would be sure that you'll be the Gryffindor captain."
"Me?" Harry asked. "I ... I have no idea what to do as a captain!"
"Oh come on, Harry! You have been to three cups already... you only could take the example of Oliver Wood, who will be playing in our team, too, but only next year -- when our keeper, Lusk, will leave."
"I won't be able to do it," Harry continued speaking quite afraid of doing a thing like that,
Cho wanted to say something for some time, and after all, she spit it out, "If you aren't a good captain, then no one is." He had rarely talked to Cho, actually it was the second time he ever did it. But he didn't know how he would feel when doing it...
That shut his mouth, and from then he had just kept for himself evverything. At that moment, all he had to do was to fly a little to show the team what he could do -- or maybe more things than just fly?
"Well, for this evening, I don't want you to do many things. Just... have you got your broom?"
"It's in my dormitory." But he knew what to do; he just had to repeat what he did in his first task of the Triwizard Tournament. "But it's not a problem. Accio Firebolt!" he said raising his wand in the air, and concentrating on the Firebolt and its possible location -- but nothing came. "Accio Firebolt!" he said, this time louder. But still, this had no effect. Was it something only from his mind? Was the firebolt somewhere else than where he thought it was? Was he weaker? Or, maybe, he was just too tired to do a complicated spell like that? "One more try," he said, and then he shouted, "ACCIO FIREBOLT!"
After a few seconds, he saw the firebolt zooming to him from a window in the Gryffindor Tower. The other team members were looking at Harry with a vrey amazed face, and it gave Harry a strange feeling.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Well... how could you do that?" a team member asked.
"Do what?"
"Bring the firebolt from that far!"
"What's miraculous in this?" Harry asked, "I've done this before -- and even easier... on the first try..."
"I am sure that only very skilled wizards would be able to summon something from that far... I wonder if I am able to do something like it." He looked at the others, who nodded.
"Oh, forget it!" Harry told them, and he mounted his firebolt. "What do I have to do?"
"Er... I haven't thought of this," Niffler told him, "But I would try you in catching the Snitch... especially now, that it is dark --"
"Are you mad? Catch the Snitch on the dark?" Harry asked surprised.
"Well, others have done it before... If you won't cath it, you'll do the Accio Snitch spell before anyone --"
"It's not possible," Harry told them dully. "At least I knew where the Firebolt was. But, summon a Snitch that could be anywhere --"
"Not anywhere, Harry. It's on the field, and I am sure that anyone could do it. Even I can."
"Oh, ok," Harry answered quite annoyed, "Release the Snitch."
Niffler took a box which contained the four Quidditch Balls, and he took the little golden Snitch in his fingers. "Start!" he said, throwing the ball high in air, and Harry immediately lost it from his sight.
Harry sped up to reach a likeable height and then looked around. The team was looking at him, and so did Cho. He tried to look back up, and searched slowly and carefully for the little Snitch, taking his mind off everything... it was much easier to catch the Snitch while having a clear mind.
The sky was turning darker and darker with every passing minute. It was quite late for searching in the air for the Snitch, and he thought of telling the others that he would try it tomorrow -- but what would they say? That he wasn't good enough? No, he wouldn't accept that... so he still had to try -- even if it was getting really dark and the small ball wasn't glittering golden as it was in midday. He had done it on the night before, but it didn't look that hard to do...
Time passed fast while in the air. Harry really liked the feeling of flying, relaxing as it was... something told him to stay in the air more, to not find the Snitch until he would get bored of it, but then he saw something moving in the darkness. Small and fast, the Snitch was flying in the distant darkness.
Harry didn't pause to think. He hurried towards it, and he caught it in his fist -- he couldn't remember of ever holding a Snitch like that, it was trying to get out of his fingers harder than any Snitch he had caught before... maybe this one was a professional one...
Then he felt like something wasn't as it should have been -- looking again at the Snitch, he saw that it was just a bird. Small as it was, with its thin wings, Harry didn't much blame himself for thinking that it was the Snitch -- there wasn't a big difference between them in the darkness anyway.
He had thrown it into air furiously, and kept looking for the real Snitch -- and until he had seen it there should have passed another ten minutes. Harry caught it easily, and he thought that he didn't stay that much in the air.
"You got it?" Niffler asked, looking at his golden watch. "You did it fast, only twenty-five minutes! That is fast for night, believe me -- I guess I wouldn't be able to see it in five hours! Not to mention that the seeker doesn't have just to see it -- he has to catch it..."
"Mr. Niffler," one of the team members said, "I guess he is our new seeker, right?"
"Yes, Mondrus, he is. And we'll start training him -- I guess the best day to begin in is about a week from Monday?"
"I guess so," Mondrus told him.
"Well, Harry, go to the castle. We have where to sleep..." Saying that, Niffler took his wand and said, "Come, tent!"
Something big appeared at the spot he pointed with his wand, but Harry saw that it wasn't a tent at all. That was a house, a big one(but in the huge Hogwarts Grounds it fit perfectly), with walls almost as magnificient looking as the Hogwarts' ones.
"L -- Let's go," Harry told Cho, knowing that they were the only ones to go back to the castle. She nodded, and then Harry's heart seemed to give a jolt -- it was the first time when he was alone with Cho somewhere -- thinking that they were in the castle when he asked her to the ball. But this time it was something else...
"You really think I am good enough for the captain?" he asked her while they were on their way to the castle.
"I told you, if you aren't good enough, then no one is."
"Then, I guess we have no more captains in the world," Harry said still without having enough self-confidence. "You are a good seeker, too," he told her remembering the Gryffindor Vs. Ravenclaw match in his third year -- she was quite good at it, because even with a slower broom than his, she still could cut his way while he was chasing the Snitch...
Cho almost laughed, and then said, "Oh Harry, come on! I am not even half as good as you are at Quidditch!"
They kept walking to the entrance hall, but the way was quite long. They walked in silence for a while until Cho broke the silence again.
"How did you manage to get into the team?"
"They just called me... Niffler says he saw me playing in my third year."
Harry realized that it was much easier to answer than to ask.
Cho was quite hesitant sometimes before saying something, and it looked quite hard for her to choose what to say. Harry had the feeling that she was thinking at every word. And then, she said, "How are things lately? I heard that you -- er, -- have lots of problems... lately,"
"Yes, I have... thinking of everything that happened --" but he didn't want to say more, maybe he was too boring while talking about his worries -- why not try to talk about something good?
But then she told him, "Mine too..."
"Really?" Harry wondered at first why she was sad and then he remembered. "Oh... You must have really loved him..."
Harry suddenly felt the sense of guilt for Cedric's death he felt in the summer... Cho looked at Harry and he understood that he shouldn't have said that. Or maybe it wasn't bad that he did... only that he remembered her of the event that should have made her extremely sad.
But it didn't.
"Then what are the things bothering you lately?" she asked.
"Well... er... Are you sure that you want to hear this?"
She paused a little, stopped, and looked at him. "Yes..."
Harry didn't know what to tell her, there were lots of things disturbing him. At every time of the day he felt the fear that someone may turn up and kill him on the spot, without any warning. From all the wizards, the one Voldemort hated the most was Harry -- at least that was what he thought. Then, he had no parents, and he missed them a lot; he missed not knowing how it was to be loved, how it was to have a mother and father. Then, he started telling her, "Just try to think how it is... you can't even imagine. At every time of the day, Voldemort --" Cho flinched at the name "-- may turn up and... and -- kill me. Just like he did with my parents..."
He went sad again.
"Oh, you must really miss them, don't you?" ske asked.
Harry nodded.
They entered in the castle while Harry was telling her a few things about his miserable life. He hesitated at first, but seeing that she insisted, he told her about life at the Dursleys and about the end of holiday. He added some good things here and there just to not make her think that his life only had bad things. He told her about the jokes Fred and George did, and about their pland for the joke shop. Many times they started laughing on the corridors.
They said good-bye to each other and Harry went to the Gryffindor Tower, where Harry thought Fred and George would start another party. But, they didn't, and Harry was thankful because he was too tired for something like that.
He told Ron and Hermione about the Quidditch practice, the test, and even about the bird he caught thinking that it was the Snitch. The only thing he wouldn't tell them was about Cho; he just wanted to keep it secret until it would be impossible to hide from his best friends.