Chapter 27:

The Quidditch Cup

The next several weeks flew by. Slytherin obliterated Hufflepuff to land themselves with a solid second place standing in the Quidditch Cup. Gryffindor needed to score at least 210 points in their match against Ravenclaw to claim the Cup. The intervening weeks were a combination of homework, dueling club practice, and Quidditch practice. Harry was drilling the team hard, and was also putting the student body through their paces in the dueling club as well. There was little else to distract them. After the major attack on the Ministry, there had been no sign of Death Eater activity. Voldemort had been blocking off his connection to Harry with an almost reckless determination. Harry began to worry. He decided that he needed to discuss the situation with Dumbledore.

The week of the Quidditch Final, Harry walked up to Dumbledore's office. He gave the gargoyle the password, "Chocolate Humbugs." The password had been changed once again. Harry entered the office quietly to find Dumbledore writing a note. He looked up after a moment, "Hello, Harry, what can I do for you?"

"Albus, Voldemort is beginning to worry me." began Harry.

"How so, Harry?" asked Dumbledore.

Harry shrugged, "It has been too long since he has tried to do anything. He hasn't attacked anyone to our knowledge since the battle at the Ministry. He's keeping the connection between us closed off at all costs. That means that he is planning something big. The only thing that I can think of that would matter this much to his plans is an attack on Hogwarts itself."

Dumbledore nodded, "I quite agree, Harry. However, Voldemort would have to be desperate indeed to actually attack the castle."

"He's there, Professor. He knows that I am getting more powerful by the day. The longer he waits, the greater chance he has of losing. His only prayer is to attack the castle, and hope that he gets lucky." answered Harry.

"We must merely make sure that one of us is at the castle at all times." stated Dumbledore. "He will hesitate to attack if one of us is here."

Harry shook his head, "No, Professor. He will hesitate to attack if both of us are here. If one of us leaves the castle and he finds out about it, that's when he will make his move. We are going to have to cover our comings and goings very carefully. We need to maintain the illusion that both of us are in the castle at all times. I wouldn't mind having a few Aurors at the castle during the Quidditch final either. That would be the perfect time to attack. All of the students would be exposed."

"I understand. I will speak to Dawlish about some extra security at the castle during the match. Hopefully, Voldemort will hold off until after that." said Dumbledore.

"I'm going to head down to the dueling room. I guess the club should be assembled by now." Harry said as he got up and started for the door.

He stopped when he heard Dumbledore's voice ring out behind him, "Good luck in the Quidditch final, Mr. Potter. I will be cheering for Gryffindor."

Harry grinned, "I thought you were supposed to be impartial."

Dumbledore shrugged, "I'll do it quietly."

Harry laughed about this all the way down to the dueling room. He jumped up onto the platform. "This is going to be the last dueling club meeting of the year." Several protests and groans were heard throughout the hall. "I feel that it is going to be necessary for all of you to spend your extra time studying for the end of the year exams. Especially the fifth and seventh years, who are about to take their O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s respectively. We are going to try something a little different tonight. We have always dueled under ideal circumstances. Tonight, we are going to change that." Harry waved his wand, and the lights went out. "Let's see how well you defend yourselves. Tonks and I will be roving throughout the room attacking you. Be ready."

This was some lively entertainment for about an hour. Harry spent about thirty minutes afterward doing counter-curses, and then he shouted, "Dismissed. I will see you next year in the dueling club."

The students filed out and Harry walked Ginny back to Gryffindor tower. The evening passed, and then the next day dawned. After they survived the classes for the day, it was time for Quidditch practice. Harry strode out of the captain's office, "Alright, guys, here's the situation. After the way Slytherin trounced Hufflepuff, we are going to need 210 points to take the Quidditch Cup. Ravenclaw needs 390. In other words, they're out of the running unless we have a really long game and they get the Snitch. So, we don't have to really worry about their Chasers. We need to watch our own score and the Snitch. If Ravenclaw gets the Snitch or forces me to catch it too soon, Slytherin will take the Cup."

Dean piped up, "I take it that's where we come in."

Harry nodded, "I want you to hammer Cho Chang the same way you did Eleanor. Its going to be a lot more work for you this time around. Cho is an excellent seeker, and she won't be intimidated as easily as Eleanor was. You need to keep her off the Snitch long enough for Katie, Natalie, and Ginny to get at least six goals. That shouldn't be that hard considering how good they are. Ron, I'm afraid we're going to have to hang you out to dry. You'll have to take the Chasers one on one for the most part. You can handle it, though."

Ron smirked, "I did fine against Ravenclaw last year. I'll be fine on Saturday as well."

Harry grinned, "That's the spirit. Let's get to the pitch." The team ran out onto the pitch and then took to the air. The practice was excellent. Harry was beaming with pleasure as he reentered the changing rooms to get back into his Hogwart's robes. He headed up to the school with the rest of the team.

Harry spent the rest of the week either in class or helping Ginny with her homework. Harry woke up early on Saturday morning, as usual. He was ready for the match. It was time to claim his legacy as Captain of the Gryffindor team. The Quidditch Cup would be theirs for the third time in a row. A win here would guarantee the House Cup for Gryffindor. That would make five out of six years. Harry walked around the pitch and breathed in the fresh air. He walked back up to the castle to meet the team for the match.

Later that day, the Quidditch team was standing around in the changing room waiting for the match to begin. Harry looked over at Ron, "I want you to take over as captain next year."

Ron turned to look at him as if he were crazy, "What are you talking about?"

Harry smiled, "I want you to take over next year. If we win the Quidditch Cup with me as captain then I will have accomplished everything that I wanted to while I was at Hogwarts. It will be time for me to turn over the reins. It will be for you to lead the team to victory next year."

Ron shook his head, "You're crazy, Harry."

"No, I'm not. Now, let's go." The rest of the team lined up behind Harry and Ron and they looped out to the sound of their names being called.

"This is Owen Cauldwell. Here is the Gryffindor team. We have your keeper, Ron Weasley. Your Chasers, Katie Bell, Ginny Weasley, and Natalie McDonald. Your Beaters, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. Last but definitely not least, your captain and seeker, Harry Potter."

The team swooped around and Harry landed in the center ring. Madam Hooch walked up to Harry as did Cho Chang. "Captains shake hands."

Harry and Cho shook hands. "Good luck, Harry."

Harry nodded, "You too."

The two teams took to the air. Madam Hooch released the Bludgers and the Snitch. A moment later she threw the Quaffle up into the air and the game began. Ginny was the first to grab the Quaffle. The game was intense. The two teams battled it out on the pitch for close to an hour. The game was close. Gryffindor led 90-80, when Harry caught a glimpse of the Snitch. He was on the thing as fast as possible. Cho was too far out of position to compete with Harry for the Snitch, but she tried nonetheless. Seamus sent a Bludger her way for good measure. Harry caught the Snitch on a sweeping dive, when the Bludger that Seamus hit caught Cho in the side, and knocked Cho off her broom. Harry saw her out of the corner of his eye, and he let go of the Snitch to go racing after her just as Owen Cauldwell was announcing that Gryffindor had won the match with a score of 240-80.

Harry caught Cho inches from the ground. He landed while still holding her in his arms. She clasped him tightly as she sobbed from the terror of the experience. She grabbed Harry and planted a kiss right on his lips. Harry tensed immediately and pushed her away. One of the Ravenclaw girls came up and led Cho away. Harry looked over to Ginny to find her staring at him with a hard look on her face. Harry accepted the Quidditch Cup and held it up for the team to see. They passed it around while the Gryffindors cheered around them.

A few minutes later, Ginny stalked away from the group and Harry was forced to run to catch up with her. He laid a hand on her arm to attempt to stop her, but she jerked her arm away from him and drew her wand. She pointed it at Harry, "Just stay away from me, Harry. I saw you kiss her."

"First of all, I didn't kiss Cho, she kissed me. Second of all, if you paid any attention whatsoever, I pushed her away as soon as I could. However, if you think that I would betray you like that, maybe you should just keep walking." responded Harry coldly.

Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but no words would come out. She finally just burst into tears and threw herself onto Harry. He pulled her close to him and whispered, "I love you, Ginny, and I will always be here for you."

"I know." she sobbed. "It's just that I get jealous when I see you with other girls."

Harry smiled as he asked, "Why?"

"I'm afraid that they might steal you from me." Ginny pouted.

Harry snorted, "You've got to be kidding me. I already have the most beautiful, most talented, most wonderful, kindest, gentlest, and most interesting female at Hogwarts wrapped in my arms. Why would I ever want anyone else?"

Ginny smiled, "Oh, Harry, I love you."

A/N: One more week and Harry Potter and the Year of Discovery will be complete. I hope all of you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

Skeeter007: This one is thirty chapters long. I will be finished posting it next Sunday. The sequel will be thirty chapters as well. Expect the first chapter a week from Tuesday. Thanks for the review.

Plasterwork: That would have been a good idea, but I just couldn't figure out a way to make it believable, so I resorted to the A/N. Thanks for the review.

Maria: Three chapters to go after today. The sequel will start on the following Tuesday. Thanks for the review.

Captuniv: I'm going to give you a little hint. You unlock a door in much the same way that you lock it. That's all the hint I'm going to give. Thanks for the review.

Blip-dragon: I will keep them coming. Thanks for the review.

ExpectoPatronum0: I would have liked to be able to get the message across in the story, but I couldn't figure out how. Thanks for the review.

Jolly: It would be nice to get more, because I enjoy everyone of them. Thanks for the review.

Gryffindor_girl2002: Okay, let me take a stab at this. I can understand where the killing machine part comes in, but mindless? Harry is practically running the whole show. He definitely isn't mindless. For the rest of the review, thanks. I definitely don't hate you. I appreciate your comments.

Jeangab057: Don't expect it till Chapter 29. Thanks for the review.

Athena kitty: Not until the end of the sequel. Then, I can get rid of Fudge. Thanks for the review.

Mark-33w: I thought about that, but they would have had to dig him up, and that seemed a little off. Thanks for the review.

Azrael502: Thanks for the review.

Fair-Faye-Kahlan: I wouldn't think so. Who would expect him to have more than one form? Thanks for the review.

Blue-Eyed-Baby91090369: Yes, you do. Thanks for the review.

H-ruff: I didn't give an explanation. I've been building up his almost daily increase in power, so I gave him three Patroni to signify how powerful he was. Thanks for the review.

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Katelupin13: No. you will see in a couple of chapters. Thanks for the review.

Abigpoptart: Thank you. I try my best to please. Thanks for the review.

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John: I thought the shackles were a nice touch. Thanks for the review.

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