A/N: Thank you to all those that have been reviewing. I'm open to suggestions to the story so please R/R. Thanks to my betas Shadowssongs, Rivenn, haydenrocks14, and IamSiriusgrl.

Disclaimer: I wish I could be as good as JK Rowling but I'm not. This is her stuff and not to mention the influence that this story took from various fanfics.

Chapter 32
The Second Challenge

Amid all the political chaos that was going on around Harry, the All-star team was still practicing for the second challenge that was coming up soon. The team has not been able to function as well as they did before the Christmas break because of the two major breaks in the team between Luna, Hermione, and Ron against Harry, Ginny, and Kayla. The rest of the team wasn't sure what to do so they decided to let the problem just play itself out.

Out of Ron's group, Ron was the only person playing. He played keeper for the team which in itself should not disturb the team too much because he was pretty much on his own just like Harry was on his own in the seeker position. The problem came in two forms, Ron believed that he had the most knowledge about Quidditch on the team and nobody challenged him on that but Ron thought that this automatically made him the captain so he bossed everybody around. This was fine with almost everybody on the team with the exception of Ginny who hated being told what to do. Although, everybody drew the line when Ron got out of control by demanding that people follow everything he said on the pitch.

The second problem added on to the first problem which was Hermione. She was taking an active role on the team although she was in no way going to play. Hermione started doing research on Quidditch strategy and wanted to take the role as the Coach on the team. Everybody knew about Hermione's research ability and agreed that it would be a good idea to have a coach on the sidelines to help guide the team. Hermione started to implement strategies that were so advanced that only the advanced Quidditch teams in the world used them but the Hogwarts team did not have the experience or the skill to pull off such complex plays. This upset her because it looked so easy to do on paper but performing it was another thing. The team was getting aggravated with her because she was pushing them too hard.

During practices, Harry would usually practice by himself trying to find the Snitch and running different patterns around the pitch to get reacquainted with his abilities and the limitations of his Firebolt. The Chasers were being led by Ginny who usually ended up arguing with Ron and Hermione at the end of every practice with her trying to voice the team's dislike of how Ron and Hermione were leading the team. Everybody knew that at the rate the team was going, they were going to lose the second challenge for sure.

The week of the second challenge arrived and Durmstrang's team was set to practice on the Hogwarts field all week during the afternoon so that they could get comfortable with the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. The first afternoon the two teams met with each other on the field for a friendly scrimmage game. Both teams knew that they were not going to show all of their abilities and game time strategy but felt the competition would better prepare them for the real game at the end of the week.

It turned out that Petia was going to play seeker opposite to Harry. Madame Hooch agreed to be the game official and most of the school turned out to watch the friendly match with the rest not wanting to spoil what they were going to see later that week. Once the quaffle was released, Ginny made a mad dash for the quaffle and got there first because of the speed of her F1. Ginny was soon flanked by Kayla and Susan who were going to help guard her while they headed to Durmstrang's side of the field. The bludger was flying towards Ginny then dove at the last moment where Terry was waiting and hit the bludger away towards Petia who was floating near mid field trying to search for the snitch.

Petia did not take the same approach to the game as most seekers did when playing against Harry. She was playing her own game just like Harry with the occasional glance at the other seeker just to make sure that they didn't miss something and the opposing seeker caught their mistake. Harry was floating near the Hogwarts side of the field and slowly getting higher each moment to get a better look of the field.

During Ginny's dive, she tossed the quaffle over to Susan who made for the right ring but passed to Kayla instead who scored in the left ring. The Hogwarts crowd cheered as their team scored the first goal making the score ten to nil. There was no announcer for this match so everybody had to keep their own score.

The Durmstrang chasers looked flawless in their play. They knew where each other were exactly on the field and made many passes without checking to make sure that somebody was there. They played in a spread formation with each chaser taking a slice of the field with the exception of the area in front of the rings. The Hogwarts team had a hard time keeping up with each chaser because when they bunched up or didn't stick to a chaser that they were supposed to cover, the quaffle would be passed and they would have to rush to cover where the quaffle went to.

This tired the Hogwarts team out quickly and left Ginny as the only person able to cover her target effectively enough to stop the all out assault from the Durmstrang chasers. In about half an hour into the game, Hogwarts was down 60 to 10. All the chasers knew that they were in trouble and if they were going to win then Harry better find that snitch quickly and catch it.

The Durmstrang beaters adopted the strategy of pressuring the chasers and completely ignore the seeker. They did not do this because they did not respect Harry's skills but had faith in Petia. Since this was a scrimmage game, the bludger was not aimed with dead accuracy capable by the beaters. They did hit it close enough to make the chasers panic a little or make some evasive maneuver which took them away from their target.

On the Hogwarts side, Ernie and Terry were playing the beater positions. At the start of the game, the strategy was to suppress Petia and distract her from searching for the snitch but that soon changed to slowing down the chasers so Kayla, Ginny, and Susan could keep up with the Durmstrang chasers. After giving up six goals, Ernie decided to fall back and help guard the rings with Terry flying with the chasers and deflecting the bludger from the witches.

With Ernie's help, Hogwarts only gave up two more goals and scored two more with another being scored by Kayla and one by Susan. The four goals were scored in a span of about another half an hour. Ginny was running interference to help clear the way for her teammates to score. Hermione was yelling commands in from the spectators' seat but most of which were ignored because they were too busy playing defensive strategies to prevent a humiliating defeat.

About an hour into the match, Harry spotted the snitch floating at ground level near mid field and dove for it. He was pushing his broom as fast as he could to get to the snitch because shortly after he spotted it, Petia also spotted the snitch. She was in a better position and brought her broom into a fast dive. The two of them were flying Firebolts so now it relied on who was the better flier.

During their dive, the snitch flew towards the Hogwarts side of the field so they both readjusted their course and were neck to neck when pulling out of their dives. They were now on a collision course with the ring posts but neither one of them was taking their eyes off of the snitch. Petia was slightly lighter than Harry and was able to pull a slight lead on Harry. This was all that was necessary because when both of them reached the snitch, Petia managed to grab one of the wings first and yank it towards her and pull to the left and skyward to avoid hitting the ring post. Harry turned sideways on his broom and flew between the right ring post and the middle post to avoid collision.

Petia was raising the snitch above her head when she pulled skyward and her team was cheering her on. The game ended 230 to 30 in favor of Durmstrang. Harry was shocked because he had never been beaten to the snitch when he had a chance at it. Ginny was just as surprised but held it in because she knew that he would be depressed about losing the snitch. The Hogwarts team in general was disappointed in themselves for being handed a humiliating defeat. The students that watched the match walked back with their heads down and many questioning if they should show up at the end of the week.

The two teams congratulated each other on a clean and well played match. The Durmstrang team practiced a little while longer by running some drills while the Hogwarts team went to the locker rooms depressed thinking that if Durmstrang was not playing as hard as they could today then on Saturday, it will be a massacre.

After the Quidditch match, a team meeting was called to be held in the Room of Requirement by Susan and Ernie. The only other people that seem to know what the meeting was going to be about were Michael and Terry but nobody was talking. Susan knew how to ask for the room and how to get what she needed from the room because Harry had taught her earlier in the year.

The room was set up with three long tables set up in a 'U' formation. The two side tables had three chairs each and the center table had four chairs. The chairs were large and comfortable with the room in soft comforting colors. Harry, Ginny, and Kayla sat at one of the tables with three chairs with Ron, Hermione, and Luna sitting at the table opposite of them. The four left over sat at the middle table with Susan and Ernie sitting at the middle.

Susan said "Alright, I'm sure that most of you are wondering why Ernie and me called for this meeting. The first thing we need to talk about is what went wrong today during the Quidditch match and how we can address these problems. The second thing we need to talk about is the team chemistry and how we are falling apart."

Ron said with an air of superiority "We would have won the game today if Harry wasn't beaten to the snitch by that girl. If anything, Harry was not focusing on the match."

Kayla heatedly responded "You should talk Ron. If it wasn't for the help you were getting from the beaters, we would have been run into the ground much earlier in the game."

Ernie interrupted the ensuing argument by saying "This was what Susan was talking about earlier. This team is falling apart and the main division can be seen where everybody is being seated. We could have performed much better today if we had worked as a team."

Terry said "Without a doubt, Durmstrang is a good team. They would be difficult to beat even if we were all in our best form but we stand no chance at all with the break in this team."

Hermione responded "Everybody knows why there is a separation on this team. The three of them" she was motioning to Harry, Ginny, and Kayla "refuse to listen to orders that I was telling them. If they would just listen then we would have a better chance of winning."

Ginny responded "Why should we listen to you? Until this year, you had no interest in Quidditch and just because you read a few books about the game, it does not mean you know everything about it. If you think it is so easy to execute those professional plays then why don't you get on a broom and do it yourself?"

Hermione said "I know that the plays are difficult to execute by there is no reason why you all could not pull it off. You just refuse to listen to me especially since Harry refuses to listen to what I say."

Harry watched Hermione for a moment then said "I only follow commands that make sense. Why would I do trick plays when the other seeker is not paying attention to me? It's stupid if I did and would only be risking myself needlessly."

Luna in an airy voice responded "Why are you complaining about hurting yourself needlessly? It seems like you can't get out of a real match without getting hurt anyway."

Ginny shook her head while she said "Just because he gets hurt does not mean that he goes out and look for different ways to hurt himself. Anybody who plays Quidditch," Ginny looked pointedly at Hermione, "Knows that part of a great game and part of a great player is when you put all your heat and emotions in to the game. Harry lets the game wrap him up and that is why he is a great seeker."

Ron said "We all know how reckless Harry can get when he lets his emotions take over. That may make him a better player but that does not help the rest of us."

Harry looked at Ron and heatedly said "I may be reckless when it comes to the game but I put my heart into it and do everything I can to win. Yes, I lost the snitch today but I'm not trying to weasel my way out of it. Ron, you're the one trying to cast blame on someone else when something goes wrong. How did Durmstrang manage to score on you and don't try to blame anybody else?"

Hermione interrupted them, while glaring at Harry; she said "Don't try to blame Ron. He did all he could out there unlike you. At least Ron knows how to work as a team."

Harry heatedly said "Of course Ron knows how to work as a team because that way he can blame someone else when something doesn't go his way."

Hermione angrily responded "You should talk Harry. You're the one that has become so arrogant that you turn on everybody that has watched out for you."

Kayla stood up, learning against the table, and angrily said "You three," she was pointing to Hermione, Ron, and Luna "Know how to backstab people!"

Susan interrupted them by yelling "Enough! This is what the rest of the team thought was the problem. Hermione, Ron, Luna, Harry, Ginny, and Kayla, all six of you have been at each other's throat ever since you came back from the break. We know part of the story about how Hermione, Ron, and Luna were reporting Harry's activities to Dumbledore. This resulted in Harry, Ginny, and Kayla turning against Hermione, Ron, and Luna. Am I right?"

Harry turned to Susan saying "Yes, but there is more to that story. In summary though, that was the problem."

Ernie said "What we don't understand is how this ripped the close friendship between Harry, Hermione, and Ron apart?"

Kayla turned to Susan and Ernie when she said "There are many details being left out but Hermione, Luna, Ron, and Neville betrayed Harry. Harry saw them as his close friends but they turned on him and behind his back were reporting all his actions just because Dumbledore did not like how Harry was thinking for himself for once."

Hermione turned to Harry to say "We were just looking out for you Harry. Yes we did join the Order last year before our fifth year but it was necessary to make sure that you were safe. We didn't do this to hurt you."

Harry replied "I don't know where you all got the idea that I was trying to hide from the world after fourth year considering I was the one that kept on asking on what was going on and sending updates about myself during that summer. It was you all that were withholding information from me. I always came to you and Ron in the past when I needed help and always thought that you were helping me because you were my friends but I guess that that was not true."

Hermione said "Harry, we have always helped you since the beginning. We helped you out before Voldemort's return and all the mess with the Order. Just think about all the adventures that we went through since first year through the fourth year."

There was a long moment of silence as Harry was thinking over his first four years at Hogwarts. Harry startled everyone when he said out loud to no one in particular "I just realized something." He looked over at Ron and said "You were always spying on me weren't you. Since the beginning, you were the one that joined me in my train compartment after I met you all at platform 9 ¾. That's not so awkward except your mum acted like she didn't know which platform you were supposed to leave from. How is it that your mum didn't know which platform considering she went to Hogwarts for seven years? That's not mentioning all the times she took your brothers to the train station when they went to Hogwarts. She goes through that routine at least two times a year once to drop you all off for school and pick you all up from school. Hagrid had to leave early so he couldn't escort me onto the platform but your mother conveniently walks by at that moment talking about muggles to catch my attention then ask what platform the Hogwarts Express was located at. I guess Dumbledore had you and most of your family following his orders ever since I came back into the Wizarding World. This added on to your jealousy streak makes you more determined to spy on me. Hermione, I think idolizes Dumbledore too much and will always follow him because of his legacy. She always did recommend that I go tell Dumbledore every little thing that happens."

Susan said "Harry, are you trying to say that your friendship with Ron has always been a lie and Hermione was bound to betray you?"

Harry replied "You can ask the two of them," he motioned over to Ron and Hermione.

Everybody turned to look at Ron and Hermione and the uncomfortable silence was broken by Ernie when he asked "Is it true? Is what Harry saying true?"

Ron never had enough sense to use tact so he lost his temper and yelled "That's right! The Great Harry Potter gets everything! He is rich and famous! He can shag any girl that he wants and to prove that point just look at how many knickers that are sent to him whenever he gets his name in the papers! It was my job to keep an eye on him and that was what I did! If anything," he looked at Harry "You should be thankful that I was there to keep you from getting killed!"

Everybody froze at Ron's response. They now knew that Ron was only using Harry and because of his feelings, he was always going to stay envious to Harry. Harry sighed in defeat. He knew that there was a possibility that Ron was using him all along but didn't really want to believe it. He was now hanging on to hope that Hermione was not using him all along also. Sure, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were not friends at the time but they always worked out their problems in the past and Harry wanted to be on better terms with his two former friends again but knew they needed time apart to sort through everything. Now the truth was coming out and he was both afraid and now hurt from what Ron just said. The three of them were best friends and Ron's words cut through Harry like being hit with a Crucio on the emotional level. Harry was afraid of what Hermione was going to say but it needed to be said so in a small barely audible voice he looked at Hermione and asked "Hermione? What about you?"

Hermione was also hurt from what Ron said and felt that her friendship with Ron was also false. She knew that Harry would never betray them and would stand by her even if it meant that he would die a gruesome and torturous death. Hermione looked up with watery eyes and said "Harry, you and Ron were my first true friends and we've been through so much that not many adults would be able to compare to the three of us. I know that you would willingly die for me and I would do it for you also. If I had to make that decision today I would do it even though we are on different sides on this war and not on the best of terms. Harry you were my best friend and hopefully one day we will get back to that relationship but right now I feel that Dumbledore is the right leader to follow."

Harry was in a daze from being rejected again but at least he knew that Hermione made her decision based on what she believed and did not use him in the past. She was persuaded by Dumbledore to go up against Harry and he resolved to try to renew his relationship with her later on when the war ends or when the threat associated with Harry dies down.

Terry asked "I don't want to seem unsympathetic and all but where does that leave us as a team?"

Ginny took Harry's hand to comfort him because she knew that Ron's words hurt him and she responded on behalf of Harry. She said "I think that since now everything is out in the open we can function better as a team without emotions and words being held back anymore. Whatever happens when we play Durmstrang again will happen and all the practice we do now until this Saturday won't matter. Let's just work on strategy here."

Kayla nodded and said "I think that the chasers are going to have to attack all day long and leave the beaters back with the keeper to help protect the rings. The chasers will fly with no protection and will need to communicate to each other when a bludger is heading their way. The seeker will need to occasionally run interference but needs to spend most of his time looking for the snitch because Petia is really good."

Nobody objected and everybody just wanted to get out of the room so everybody just nodded their agreement and the meeting was over. Most of the team left except for Harry, Ginny, and Kayla. The room changed to a large one room wood cabin with a large fireplace in the middle. There was a large comfortable sofa and two love seats on both sides of the sofa completing the square with the sofa and fireplace.

Ginny sat on Harry's lap and rested her head on his chest while Kayla looked on. Ginny asked "Are you alright?"

Harry nodded then said "Yeah, I just needed to think about a few things that's all."

Kayla asked "What are you thinking about?"

Harry said "Ron and Hermione."

Ginny said "I know that what Ron said hurt more than anything. The three of you have shared a lot of memories but one day things will get better. Hermione has always been your friend and will be again when this war is over and you two can finally sit down without the war dividing the two of you. I know that you and Hermione are still friends although you don't talk to each other. What I just said doesn't make sense when said out loud but you know what I mean."

Harry knew that Ginny was right and although he and Hermione were not on the best of terms they would risk everything for each other on the battlefield just like they would before all the drama happened. Harry gave a Ginny a kiss on the top of her head to thank her for comforting words. The trio spent the rest of the time in silence just thinking about the war, the friendships, and the Quidditch match on Saturday.

That week the team spent most of their time doing light physical practices to keep their abilities sharp but most of practice was dedicated to strategy and how to react to certain scenarios. Word got out around school about the new revelations about Harry, Hermione, and Ron's relationship. The school started to take things easier on Hermione and a few people started to talk to her again but Ron was shunned by almost everybody except for Luna, Neville, and Hermione who was trying to get Ron to see the errors of his way which erupted in a few more arguments between the two.

Saturday came around and the team was nervous about the game and hoped that it wouldn't be a total disaster like the scrimmage match. Everybody playing didn't eat very much that morning and breakfast was a large event with Durmstrang and Beauxbaton showing up to join in the meal and staying the day for the match. The Durmstrang students knew about the scrimmage match and were confident that they would easily defeat Hogwarts. The Hogwarts students were divided into two schools of thought. The first group had faith in their team that they learned from their mistakes during the scrimmage match. The second group hoped that it would be a humiliating defeat.

Later that day, during the afternoon everybody from the three schools and a few special guests were on hand to watch the Quidditch match. The two teams were out on the Quidditch pitch with Susan shaking hands with the captain of the Durmstrang team. Headmistress Maxine from Beauxbaton served as the official for the match. She spoke in English because everybody on the teams understood English. She blew her whistle and the match was under way. The announcer was Gabrielle who is Fleur's little sister that Harry rescued during the Tri-wizard tournament. Her English was a little rough and her French accent evident in everything she said.

Susan and Kayla immediately shot across the field flying in various patterns near the Durmstrang rings which forced their chasers to fall back to cover the witches. Ernie and Terry pulled back towards the right and left rings respectively with Ron guarding the middle ring. Harry shot up as high as he could and then flew as fast as he could around the Quidditch Pitch which temporarily confused Petia who was wondering what he was doing.

Ginny went for the quaffle and got to it first. The Durmstrang beaters were hitting the bludger directly at her chest but she was extremely agile and her quick reflexes helped her avoid getting hit. Ginny flew as fast as she could for the middle ring and at the last minute faked a pass to Kayla who was cutting across the right ring which distracted the Durmstrang keeper long enough so that Ginny was able to throw the quaffle into the left ring and score the first points making the score ten to nil in favor of Hogwarts. The Hogwarts crowd exploded with cheers for Ginny.

When Durmstrang received the quaffle next, Kayla and Susan stayed about midfield to prepare for a quick counter attack while Ginny and her fast broom pulled back to a defensive posture. Durmstrang had a difficult time scoring at first because there was a person protecting each ring. After a quick change in strategy, they decided to fly in a 'V' formation with the two outside flyers heading on a collision course with two of the possible rings to score from. At first Ron, Terry, and Ernie would stand their ground but after a few bludgers flying their way along with some extremely close near misses at high speeds, they started to crack and the defense fell. This resulted in a tie game of ten to ten.

After Durmstrang scored, Petia went for a quick dive towards the area underneath Harry. Harry panicked and thought she saw the snitch so he went for a vertical dive. About half way down, he realized that she was trying to trick him and pulled out of the fast dive while a bludger slammed into his left hand and broke his wrist. He signaled for the team to continue to play while trying to hold in the pain but most of the team can tell that he was in extreme pain including a few spectators that were near him.

Harry was flying with only one hand on the broom as he circled the pitch to try to take his attention off the pain from his wrist. While that was going on, Susan managed to sneak behind the Durmstrang defense and scored when Kayla passed the rings up at full speed and passed it back to Ginny just as she passed the rings. Ginny was in a vertical rise at high speed which threw the keeper off and pulled him away from the rings. She was about to score but dropped the quaffle as Susan was flying straight for the rings. Susan caught the dropped quaffle and scored.

The score was twenty to ten in favor of Hogwarts. Durmstrang launched a series of quick strikes afterwards with the aid of the bludgers. The bludgers were aimed directly at the beaters on the Hogwarts side which resulted in what looked like a tennis match. Terry and Ernie were not in nearly as good shape as the two beaters from Durmstrang and wore their arms out quickly.

With Ernie and Terry worn out to the point that they could barely hold their clubs, the Hogwarts team was without protection from the bludgers. Durmstrang turned the bludgers on Ginny and spent most of her time dodging the bludgers which meant that there was close to no defense left for the rings especially since Ron was not doing so well under the pressure given Ernie and Terry were now drawn away from the rings and trying to rest their arms just enough to get back into the game to be somewhat productive.

The chasers for Durmstrang were merciless as they continually dove at Ron and after the third score in a row, Kayla and Susan were forced to pull back and play purely defensive roles. With Ginny being constantly distracted with the bludgers and Kayla and Susan playing defensive positions, Hogwarts didn't stand a chance anymore. When Susan and Kayla pulled back to defensive positions, Terry and Ernie were being substituted by Luna and Michael which wasn't much help. The only positive thing about Luna and Michael joining the game was that their arms were not feeling like rubber. Michael assisted Ron with the rings while Luna flew with Ginny to provide her with some protection.

The game was going on for about an hour now and the score was 100 to 20 in favor of Durmstrang. The feeling of déjà vu was going through the Hogwarts team and the Hogwarts students that witnessed the scrimmage game. The Durmstrang students were still cheering on their team with all their might while Beauxbaton was divided between cheering for Durmstrang which was clearly the better team and loyalty to Harry and the Hogwarts team because Harry saved one of their classmates a few years back.

At about seventy-five minutes, Harry spotted the snitch heading towards him but in horizontal flight going across the pitch. Harry was too high in the air and would require a vertical drop. Petia was out of position and would take longer to get to the snitch so she motioned for her beaters to turn the bludgers on Harry. Harry pushed his broom as fast as he could on a vertical drop with Petia going as fast as she could on an intercept course.

Harry was oblivious to the bludger heading his way and when he made it half way to the snitch, the bludger slammed into him and with his broken wrist, Harry was in the dive with only one hand on the broom. The impact was strong enough to throw Harry off his broom. The crowd shrieked at the site of Harry being hit in his right shoulder with bludger and only got louder as they saw him get separated from his broom at 100 feet in the air.

Harry was disoriented for a moment and was spinning wildly in the air. Harry held out his right hand and grimaced at the pain in his shoulder and yelled, "Accio Firebolt!" The Firebolt which was still on course in a vertical dive abruptly stopped and flew towards Harry as fast as the broom could. In mid spin, Harry saw the Firebolt speed towards him and managed to slow the spin just enough to grab the Firebolt, mount it, take control, and fly. When he managed to take control, Harry was about ten feet off the ground.

Lucky for Harry, the snitch made a quick change in its direction and floated towards Harry. Petia quickly corrected her flight direction and flew towards where the snitch was heading. Harry focused as hard as he could on the snitch and reached the snitch while it was five feet off of the ground. Harry reached for the snitch with his left hand and yelled out a scream of pain as he grabbed the snitch and pulled it in towards him.

Petia was flying with tunnel vision at the time and reached the snitch just seconds after Harry but the two of them were flying at top speed. Harry was in too much pain to react quickly enough but Petia was using her quick reflexes to pull out after Harry took hold of the snitch. The problem was that Petia did not pull out quick enough and hit Harry in the head with her feet as she tried to avoid an accident.

This threw Harry off his broom again and landed hard on the ground. Gabrielle was yelling out Hogwarts victory until she saw Harry slam into the ground. The Hogwarts crowd was cheering and the stadium quieted down once they saw the collision in the air. The Hogwarts team minus Ron rushed down to check on Harry. Hermione was rushing down from her seat in the stands followed by Remus and Tonks. Madame Maxine was calling for the stretcher for Harry.

Ginny got to Harry first and she was yelling and sobbing, "Harry, are you fine? Speak to me Harry? Come on, you'll be fine."

Harry was barely audible when he said, "Ginny, take care of everything because I don't know how long I can stay awake."

Ginny nodded and took his right hand without lifting it because she knew of where Harry was hit by the bludger both times. Ginny whispered to Harry, "Go back to Potter Mansion where you'll be safe. I'll go find you shortly afterwards."

Harry nodded and whispered, "Home to the Phoenix," and with that he disappeared and reappeared in the infirmary of Potter Mansion. Shortly after arrival, the house elves were working on Harry.

Kayla came up to Ginny and asked, "Where did Harry go?"

Ginny gave her a look and Kayla knew that he went back home. Ginny said, "I need you to cover for us here and act like you don't know where we went, I'm going to go be with Harry." With that she rushed back to Gryffindor tower and snuck into her trunk just to make sure she was alone and used her portkey to get to Harry. Ginny stayed with Harry the entire time he was recovering but stayed out of the way as the house elves worked on healing Harry.

The crowds shrieked again and chaos broke out when they saw Harry disappear. Kayla ran damage control while Ginny left. The Order sent out search parties but had a feeling that he headed back to Potter Mansion but since they couldn't get in there they resigned to searching around Hogwarts and having a person wait at Grimmauld Place.

There was a small party that night to celebrate Hogwarts victory which had both Durmstrang and Beauxbaton present. The party ended early that evening and everybody went back to their respective dormitories or school. In the challenge between Hogwarts and Durmstrang, Hogwarts is now in the lead one to nothing with a tie.

A/N: Thank you to my reviewers. To clarify something, I was not trying to imply in this chapter that Ron was a bad keeper just that Durmstrang is that much better than Hogwarts and Hogwarts only won by luck. To respond to a few reviewers…

In the previous chapter, one of the criticisms was that I made Snape seem incompetent but in reality I just had Snape unable to solve a riddle or in his case didn't realize that there was a riddle to solve in order to open the cage. I took it from when I visited Ripley's Believe It or Not in New Orleans where there was a gate that had no lock but couldn't be opened unless you pushed down one of the support beams. If it would have been Dumbledore he wouldn't have been able to open it either. That also goes for Harry if he wasn't the one that placed that charm on the cage for the door to be lifted in order for it to open then he wouldn't have been able to open it in five minutes either.

My true intentions for Hermione are showing now. In the past people criticized that I made Hermione seem clueless and weak but in reality I have her following her convictions just like Ginny did when she followed Harry. They just happened to end up on opposite sides. Just like in any major political issue in the real world, not everybody agrees on what is right and what is wrong and that is what is going on here.