Chapter 23:

Gryffindor v. Ravenclaw

The next Quidditch match was fast approaching as classes got back into full swing in the first weeks of January. The match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw was set for the first weekend of February.

The Gryffindor team all sat together to watch the match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin on the third Saturday in January. Ravenclaw had beaten Hufflepuff during their first match back in late September and thus the game that was being played on that cold January afternoon would determine who was going to be ranked last after the second set of matches had been concluded. The Gryffindor team, along with most of the rest of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, had joined with Hufflepuff in sporting Hufflepuff's Yellow and Black. It seemed that nobody outside of Slytherin house could think of any team better suited for last place than was Slytherin.

Things were looking rather bleak for Hufflepuff toward the beginning of the match, as Hufflepuff's chasers were nothing to brag about and their keeper, to put it bluntly, didn't seem like he had ever used a broom before for anything other than housecleaning. However, by the time the score had risen to 140 to 60 in favor of Slytherin, the Hufflepuff seeker, a talented third year named Doug Wilson, spotted the Snitch. Had Malfoy not been so distracted by a bludger (which had, incidentally, been accidentally sent at him by one of his own beaters) he may have been able to catch up, but as it was, the match ended 210 to 140 in favor of Hufflepuff.

The stands erupted in applause. Ron, who was currently in the habit of kissing Hermione at the slightest provocation, (probably to make up for the lost time when he should have been going out with her for the last 3 years...) took advantage of the moment. Harry gave Ginny a quick peck as he contemplated that it was too bad that she didn't wear yellow more often, as it actually suited her quite well.

At the next Quidditch practice after that match, Harry gave a quick pep-talk (he was getting much better at these).

"All right, as you've all probably worked out, if we win this match, we're in first place in the running for the cup. I think we can do it too, we've just got to practice really hard at these next to practices before the match. And we've already done one thing we can be proud of: helped put Slytherin in last in the running!" said Harry enthusiastically.

Practice went spectacularly, sa the chasers were forced to practice more and more cunning feints and maneuvers to outwit Ron who was becoming about as good as Harry remembered Oliver Wood having been. Kirke and Sloper were coming very much into their own as beaters as well, and had now practiced their aim to the point where they could knock a bludger into an unguarded goal from nearly half way across the pitch. As they walked back to the locker-rooms after the practice, Harry reflected that the Cup was nearly in Gryffindor's trophy case.

The first weekend in February came very fast as classes settled back into the normal pattern, and soon the team was eating their traditional pre-game breakfast in the great hall. As usual before a match, everbody was having a little bit of trouble getting food to settle into their slightly nervous stomachs.

"Come on you guys! You've got no reason to be nervous!" said Hary cheerfully in spite of the fact that he was nursing some pre-game jitters as well. "I think we're probably as good as the team we had during my third year, and we won the cup that year. Besides, we won the cup last year, and we've definitely made improvements since then! Last year the team was half-full of rookies for the last two matches!"

More to get Harry to stop trying to be so peppy at such an early hour than because they were actually convinced, the rest of the team obligingly shoveled some food into their mouths.

As the team was pulling on their game robes, Harry decided that a very short speech would suffice this time. "All right, you guys, you know you can win this match, just get out there and do it. No pressure though," added Harry with a grin, mostly to dispel the rumors that he knew were circulating about him "being as uptight as Wood."

Once Madam Hooch gave the order for the teams' captains to shake hands, Harry and Cho shook hands briefly. Harry was proud of himself for the fact that he felt no physical attraction to her at all as he eyed her to determine whether she was as nervous about this game as he was. From the look in her eyes, she was even more nervous than he was.

The teams mounted their brooms and the game began, and Gerald Rosser once again began with the commentary.

"Ravenclaw begins with posession, as the quaffle is carried up the field by fourth year chaser Stabley. Oooh- A bludger hit by Gryffindor's Kirke knocks the ball out of her hands. It's recovered by Chaser Weasley. She passes off immediately to Bell, who passes to Finnigan who... puts it straight past the Ravenclaw seeker after a spectacular feint. 10 - 0 Gryffindor."

Harry was flying around looking for the Snitch while keeping an eye on Cho to make sure that she didn't spot it before he did. He also kept an ear out for the commentary to make sure that the rest of the game wasn't going badly enough that he would have to call a time-out to talk strategy. However, it seemed that his team had everything pretty much under control, the score quickly increasing to 40-10 in Gryffindor's favor.

Harry saw the Snitch across the field. It was closer to Cho than it was to him, but he wagered that he could still make it there before she could, especially given that it would take at least a second or two for her to see the snitch once she realized what he was diving at and then to set her course toward it. So he began a dive. Cho's eyes flickered toward him and then began to serach frantically for the snitch. By the time she was about 10 feet away from it, coming from below, he was a scant three feet above it. Unfortunately, at that moment, a bludger hit Harry's broom, knocking him off course so that his hand passed six inches to the right of his outstreched fingers. Cho was still three feet below the snitch when Harry, who had yet to regain control of his still diving broom, ran into her.

They collided and were carried a few feet down by the superior momentum of Harry's broom before both managed to regain control of their courses. By this time, the snitch was well out of sight. Harry was largely disappointed by this turn of events, but was glad that at least Cho hadn't come up with the snitch, and he was also slightly appeased by the fact that his team had scored another goal while all this had been going on, so that the score was 50-10 in Gryffindor's favor.

By the time the score had increased to 100-30 in Gryffindor's interest, the Ravenclaw fans seemed to be getting rather quiet. Slytherin was still booing vigorously every time Gryffindor got a goal, but this was more out of hatred for Gryffindor than support for Ravenclaw. The Hufflepuff fans were mostly rooting for Gryffindor, returning the favor of Gryffindor rooting for them during last match, and hoping that the team that had dealt them their only loss of the season so far would get their come-uppance.

Ron was working spectacularly as keeper, seeming to be able to guard all three goals at once. Kirke and Sloper seemed not to have missed a trick since the bludger that had prevented Harry from catching the Snitch, and Ginny, Seamus, and Amy were working together like a well-oiled machine.

By about forty minutes into the game, the score was 220-60 in Gryffindor's favor, and Hufflepuff had been unable to score any points in the last five minutes, during which time Gryffindor team had scored 4 goals.

At just that moment, Harry saw a familiar gold glint hovering four feet to the left of Cho's knee, which had apparently been as yet unnoticed by her (the glint, not the knee. She had been fully aware of her knee. Took great pride in it, actually). He immediately sprang into action, diving down and in the opposite direction as the Snitch was hovering, hoping to draw Cho's attention away. However, before Cho followed him, she gave a quick glance in the opposite direction. Apparently, she had been expecting the use of a feint and would not go blindly into a dive. Well, she wasn't in Ravenclaw for no reason, then, Harry thought bitterly, as she quickly turned in the correct direction and effortlessly grabbed the Snitch.

The final score, however, was 220 to 210 in Gryffindor's favor. Cho had apparently realized that her team was not going to catch up, and decided, instead of risking Harry getting the Snitch and winning the match by over 300 points, that she would opt for a smaller margin that would still allow a Ravenclaw victory in the tournament provided that Ravenclaw won the next match against Slytherin if Hufflepuff beat Gryffindor badly enough.

Harry steered his broom to the ground feeling very put out. It took him a moment before he remembered why the rest of Gryffindor house was cheering.

"Harry, why do you look so down?" asked Amy Bell, curiously.

"That's the first time I ever didn't retrieve the snitch... except for that time when the dementors distracted me. I almost let you guys down," he said.

"Don't be stupid," said Ron simply.

"Look, that Snitch was completely out of your reach, and you almost got her off of it with that feint," registered Seamus.

"Besides, you'd've had the Snitch ten minutes into the game if that hadn't been the one particular moment when one of the bludgers got away from us," said Sloper.

"Yeah, b'sides, you didn't let us down at all... As captain you've been responsible for organizing this team and making sure we've got everything down. Wood was glad about the victories you won even if he did let a few quaffles past him during a game!" said Ginny.

"All right, fine! You've convinced me. It doesn't matter that I missed the Snitch. Now, is anybody up for a party in the Gryffindor common room?" asked Harry, convinced that he had somehow come across the best team a Quidditch captain could ask for.

A/N: All right, just had to get in the next Quidditch match before developing the plot any further... Next chapter: Harry gets good enough at Occlumency to start practicing Legilimancy.