Chapter Twenty-Three

Slytherin Versus Gryffindor

For the next few weeks, Harry was busier than ever. Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw easily in their first Quidditch match after the holidays. Harry and Tabitha continued Occlumency and their one-on-one DA practice sessions, and the DA met every week in Charlie and Tabitha's flat. After the members left, Harry would tell Tabitha how everyone was progressing so they could plan the following week's lesson.

Harry had almost forgotten about the article in the Daily Prophet about Tabitha and Sirius until that first DA meeting. If the Prophet was printing any more stories about the supposed Black alliance against the Ministry, Hermione wasn't saying anything, and Tabitha never mentioned it during all the time Harry spent with her in the evening.

It wasn't until the end of February that Harry heard about it again. It was a Saturday morning, and most of the students hadn't come down to breakfast yet. Hermione was eating a piece of toast when the owls came in to deliver mail and one dropped a Daily Prophet right onto her, knocking the toast from her hand and into a jug of milk.

"Oh, dar-- oh, no!" she cried.

"It's fine," Ron said, fishing the toast out of the milk. "Just a bit soggy now."

"No, not the toast-- look!"

Ginny moved closer to Hermione, and Ron and Harry leaned over the table to read the paper in Hermione's hand. "Oh, no," Ron murmured.

The front page screamed, Ministry Has Proof Blacks Behind Christmastime Attack!

Hermione began reading the article out loud,

"The Daily Prophet first reported over two months ago

that Azkaban fugitive Sirius Black was the prime suspect

in the attack on the Ministry of Magic that left eighteen

dead and thirteen wounded. Due to lack of evidence, the

Ministry was forced to put aside the investigation. Now,

Minister Cornelius Fudge tells the Prophet in an exclusive

interview that the Ministry has received information linking

Black, as well as his daughter, Dark Arts expert and Hog-

warts professor Tabitha McNoira, to the brutal attack.

Narcissa Malfoy, Black's cousin, told the Prophet that her

niece, injured Auror Nymphadora Tonks, fingered Black

and McNoira in the attacks while she was still recovering

at St. Mungo's. 'I thought dear Nymphadora was out of

her head,' Mrs. Malfoy sniffled to the Prophet. 'My son

Draco and I were so worried about her. But last week,

while Draco was doing some voluntary clean-up around

Hogwarts, he came across a letter addressed to Tabitha

from my cousin Sirius.' Mrs. Malfoy went on to say that

the letter detailed how and when Black and McNoira would

attack. The Ministry has stepped up efforts to find Black,

who is believed to be hiding out with the help of his daughter.

The Ministry has also said it will look into claims that Hog-

warts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Black's godson,

Harry Potter, played a part in the attack. In the meantime,

the Ministry has demanded that Dumbledore remove

Professor McNoira from her post until this matter is re-

solved. 'I don't want that monster teaching my son and

his classmates,' Mrs. Malfoy said."

Hermione threw the paper down. "Rubbish!" she cried. They looked up to the staff table, where Tabitha was furiously jabbing at Charlie's newspaper. Around the Great Hall, the handful of students who regularly received the Prophet were finishing the story. Some were members of the DA, who looked over at Harry, horrified. Most of the others were Slytherins, who were laughing and patting Malfoy on the back.

A moment later, a fresh swarm of owls flew into the Great Hall. Students just coming in for breakfast watched curiously as the owls dropped letters onto Dumbledore and Tabitha.

A few moments later, bright red Howlers began exploding in their laps, screaming their messages for all to hear.

"--WILL NOT TEACH MY CHILDREN-- "

"--SHOULD BE ASHAMED TO HAVE HIRED SUCH A HORRID-- "

"--ARRESTED AT ONCE! GET HER OUT OF HOG-- "

"--COME TO HOGWARTS MYSELF TO GET RID OF YO-- "

Tabitha threw the growing pile of letters to the ground and ran from the Great Hall, Charlie following close behind. Harry saw Malfoy smirking.

"Look at him," Harry growled. "I could just--"

"Harry," Ginny said warningly.

"Let's get out of here before I start getting Howlers about my supposed part in the attack," Harry said. He and his friends stared menacingly at Malfoy as they left. Malfoy just smirked, faint yellow traces of a bruise still encircling his right eye.

They went up to Tabitha and Charlie's flat. Tabitha was pacing around the sitting room, shaking with fury.

"I could punch him myself, the little beast!" she was yelling. "Making up some letter between me and my father … the Malfoys know perfectly well that Dad is dead. They--oh, you don't think they actually have a letter? Something Narcissa fabricated?"

"No," Charlie said. "I don't think they've gone that far. You-Know-Who's got the Ministry playing out of his hand, and the Ministry has always controlled the Prophet. It says whatever the Ministry tells it to, and I'll bet Fudge isn't blinking these days unless You-Know-Who approves it first."

"Tabitha, Dumbledore won't let you be shoved out--" Harry said.

"And why not? You heard those Howlers; the parents want me out, and they're only going to keep sending letters saying so."

"But members of the DA know you're innocent!" Harry cried. "They'll convince their parents--"

"What? What does the DA know?" Tabitha said sharply.

Harry looked down. "I only told them what we think, that Fudge is working for Voldemort."

"Harry. Harry, Harry." Tabitha dropped heavily into an armchair, her head in her hands. "What else do they know?" she asked.

"Nothing," Harry swore. "I told them about all the times I've faced Voldemort, and that we fought the Death Eaters last year. They know Sirius is dead and that Fudge was behind that attack at Christmas."

"Harry didn't tell them anything important," Hermione said. "They don't know about the Order, or why Norbert's here … just what they needed to know to be prepared. And if they repeat anything Harry told them with malicious intent, they … well, they won't be able to speak again for some time." She turned bright red.

"What kind of a hex did you put on that parchment?" Ron asked.

"Oh, you know … pus-filled boils on the soles of their feet, temporary, er, disappearance of the mouth …"

"Hermione!" Tabitha said.

"I was just trying to be careful!" Hermione said.

Tabitha shook her head, but she was smiling. "I suppose they're trustworthy though, eh?"

"They're scared," Hermione said. "They believe us, but I don't think they want to. Shouldn't they at least know what we're preparing them for?"

"It's all right, Hermione," Charlie said. "And Tabitha, everything will go all right. Dumbledore won't let the Ministry sack you, no matter what it takes."

Tabitha stayed in her flat for the rest of the weekend, while the Great Hall was pelted with more letters and Howlers demanding her removal. Harry wasn't sure if it was the nonstop influx of angry letters and exploding Howlers, but Dumbledore was beginning to look even more haggard than he had already been lately. Harry told himself to ask Hagrid or Tabitha if Dumbledore was all right, but with the chaos the Daily Prophet's article brought to Hogwarts, Harry barely remembered his own name, let alone to ask about Dumbledore.

A few Slytherins were sure Tabitha's absence around the castle that weekend meant she was gone already, so Malfoy's face fell when he walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts on Monday and saw Tabitha there. He scowled during the entire lesson.

Tabitha taught with renewed vigor, demonstrating the proper way to deliver a stunning spell to a dragon. She promised they would be practicing on the real thing soon with Charlie and Hagrid. She took nearly one hundred points from the Slytherins throughout the lesson for their refusal to pay attention to her. Harry saw her clenching her fists, so tightly her knuckles were turning white, but she didn't lost her cool once.

She took Harry aside after class and explained that Dumbledore had written all Hogwarts parents over the weekend and explained why he would not be sacking her.

"I'm still getting letters, of course," she said. "Lots of them. But Dumbledore won't let me go, and I'm not about to let all this get to me. Too stubborn," she smirked. "And since I can't exactly slug Malfoy ... besides his being a student, I know one well-placed punch could kill him"--Harry smiled, remembering how she'd dented that bludger-- "and as much as I hate the little worm, I'm not willing to get sent off to Azkaban for him. You'll get him on the Quidditch pitch for me?"

Harry grinned. "I don't know how much I can do, but I can tell Danny Flanagan and Jamie Doyle to send a few bludgers his way."

Gryffindor was to play Slytherin the following Saturday. The week leading up to the match was the longest in Harry's entire time at Hogwarts. Every minute, owls swooped in and out of just about every window, dropping letters all over the grounds. Some letters praised Dumbledore and Harry for their efforts to stop Lord Voldemort before he regained power; most condemned the pair for perpetuating lies that only served to frighten the community at large. And then there were the ones about the Blacks. Though he heard Howlers exploding in every corridor at all hours of the day and night, Harry could not quite get used to the irate voices screaming horrible things about Sirius and Tabitha.

Saturday finally arrived, and Harry was more determined than ever to beat Malfoy. The rest of his team, who said they believed Harry and not the Prophet or Malfoy, seemed just as determined.

There was a mixed roar when the Gryffindor team walked out onto the Quidditch pitch. Their fellow Gryffindors and most Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were cheering as loudly as they could; Harry also saw an unusually large number of non-students sitting in the stands. Parents and Hogwarts siblings from all houses were there, some of them cheering for the Gryffindor team-- and Harry-- along with their children. Others, like the Slytherins, were booing Harry and anyone else who dared look their way.

"Ignore them," Harry yelled to the rest of the team.

"They won't hurt us, will they?" Danny Flanagan said, looking terrified.

"Just hurl a bludger their way," Ron said. "I hope our beaters won't be too scared to play," he muttered to Harry.

"They'll be fine," Harry said, suddenly noticing the extra protection that had been put into place around the pitch. There were four referees stationed around the pitch on broomsticks, including Tabitha and Charlie. Over the din of the stadium, Harry could hear Norbert roaring in his keep.

"I heard Charlie telling Hagrid there's going to be extra protection around Norbert now," Ron whispered to Harry as he, too, noticed the referees flying around. "I don't think anyone's very worried that You-Know-Who knows what the Order's planning, but they can never be too careful, eh?"

Harry nodded absently. The sounds of the stadium became a dim rush in his ears when he saw Malfoy and his team stroll onto the pitch. A moment later, they were in the air and the game had begun.

Within five minutes, the Slytherin team fouled Gryffindor three times, and Jamie Doyle was sure to return the favor by sending a bludger right at Crabbe, who was too slow to knock it away. The bludger hit him right in the chest and knocked him off his broom, but Charlie was nearby and managed to stop him from hitting the ground. He grudgingly awarded Slytherin a penalty, which Francis O'Brien blocked without a problem. After that, the game paused for a few minutes until Crabbe could lumber back onto his broom, and both Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch gave Jamie a stern talking-to about sportsmanship. When they weren't looking, Harry and Ron gave their new beater a thumbs-up.

The game only got more vicious. Once, just as Harry spotted the snitch fluttering under Ginny Weasley's broom, playing was paused again because a Slytherin chaser and Katie Bell collided mid-air, which resulted in a shouting match between the chasers on both teams.

After the fourteenth penalty of the game was awarded to Slytherin (after only fifteen minutes of playing), Madam Hooch threatened to call the match a draw and award every Gryffindor and Slytherin player a week's worth of detention. Amid jeers from the crowd, the teams promised to behave.

Five minutes later, no more fights had broken out nor penalty shots awarded; the score was sixty to forty, in Slytherin's favor. Harry had not seen the snitch since Katie's collision with the other chaser. He was distracted by the increasing roar of the spectators. He tried to drown them out. Just get the snitch, he told himself. Just get the snitch and end this game. Katie scored a goal and narrowly avoided a bludger hit by Goyle.

Malfoy was flying closer and closer to Harry as the game continued. As Ron scored another ten points for Gryffindor, evening the score, Malfoy edged even closer and whispered viciously, "What, did Weasley spend all his life savings to buy himself an ounce of talent this year?"

"Why, you want to buy some yourself?" Harry said.

"Watch it, Potter."

"Or what, you'll make up some new story for the Prophet?"

If Draco had begun to reply, Harry didn't hear it. He spotted the snitch hovering just above the ground near the Gryffindor goal posts. He sped off toward it, feeling Malfoy just behind him. The crowd was on its feet, louder than ever. Ron scored another goal before all attention turned to Harry and Malfoy.

They were shoulder-to-shoulder, the snitch just inches away. In disbelief, Harry watched as both he and Malfoy closed their fingers around the tiny gold ball, each of them grasping a different wing. They tugged it back and forth, so caught up in their struggle that they flew too low and were tossed to the ground when their broomsticks collided. Harry held onto the snitch with all his might, but so did Malfoy. As they were tossed off their brooms, they ripped the wings off the snitch and the little ball dropped to the ground, flightless.

As the rest of their teams and the referees landed around them, Harry and Malfoy untangled themselves from their robes and looked around madly for the snitch. They noticed it at the same instant, just feet away, and they dove toward it, landing in a heap.

Harry felt his fingers close around the ball as Malfoy clawed at his fist. Struggling under Malfoy, Harry raised his hand as high as he could to show that he got the snitch first. The crowd went crazy.

Harry tried to stand, but he was knocked over again when Malfoy punched him in the stomach. Hunched over, Harry couldn't see as Malfoy raised his fist to punch Harry again, nor that the rest of their teams had seen the punch as an invitation for a free-for-all. Katie Bell and Ginny Weasley were holding their own against a couple Slytherin chasers, and even Danny Flanagan, Jamie Doyle, and Francis O'Brien looked brave taking on Crabbe and Goyle.

Before Malfoy could deck Harry again, Ron hit him with a stunning spell. By the time Harry caught his breath, Ron was brawling with the Slytherin keeper and Malfoy had recovered from the stunning spell. Wands and broomsticks lay scattered around the teams, all but forgotten.

Harry launched himself at Malfoy, ready to refresh the bruise that had only just faded from Malfoy's sneering face. The snitch was at his feet, forgotten. The article from the Prophet was foremost in Harry's mind. Malfoy was going to pay this time.

All around the teams, the referees were trying to put an end to the fight, but the players were in such a tangle, the referees hardly knew where to direct their spells. And the crowd was emptying onto the field; some were content to watch the fight, others were with the referees trying to stop it, and still others saw fit to join in.

Dumbledore was ambling down to the pitch slowly. "Stop!" he yelled weakly. He held up his wand to help the referees' efforts to end the brawl.

Harry aimed well on his last punch, getting Malfoy right in the jaw. Even with his glasses hanging broken and askew from his nose, there was no mistaking what Harry saw on Malfoy's forearm as he was knocked down and his sleeves billowed up.

Malfoy covered it quickly, but Harry wasn't the only one to have seen the Dark Mark there, imprinted like an evil tattoo on Malfoy's arm. A few spectators saw it and immediately began to panic. Most of the brawling stopped. Harry heard a few students muttering, "So it is true!" People in the crowd who were too far back to see anything that was going on began to pick up on the horrified muttering among those who were watching the fight.

Just in time, Dumbledore pushed his way to where Harry and the others were. He was chalk white. Harry felt more ashamed than he ever had before. He may have just revealed that Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater, but at what price? He'd disappointed Dumbledore again. He opened his mouth to apologize to the headmaster, but Dumbledore took one more step forward and collapsed.