As it turned out, Date Night didn't happen.
Just as they were about to begin, everyone on the Quidditch teams received owls. They all knew something was up--because it was almost Easter, and the Quidditch season hadn't started yet.
All the Captains received the same note.
Quidditch Captain
You well know that we haven't started the Quidditch season yet. Well, that's because of the Year of Differences.
This year, we are going to have a Quidditch Tournament. It will be a week- long event where no classes will be held, the week right after Spring Break.
Round One will last three days. The schedule is as follows:
Day One: Gryffindor vs Slytherin
Day Two: Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff
Day Three: The losing team of Day One against The losing team of Day Two
You will be contacted about Round Two if your team makes it in.
Remind your team about this schedule and remember to be training hard!
Oliver Wood
All of the Quidditch Captains reminded their teams, and, being that some had their special room as a Quidditch stadium, they practiced there.
Harry and Cristy were the Captains for Gryffindor. They immediately sent out owls saying they would meet them at the special house at 9:00 AM the following day, for Harry had his special room as a Quidditch stadium. The practice would last 12 complete hours, until 9:00 PM
Hermione and George Weasley were the Captains for Hufflepuff. Because they couldn't all practice, they booked the field for the next day from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM. (It was a weekend) They too sent letters out to everyone on the team, and everyone was okay with the practice time.
Ron and Lorena were the Captains for Ravenclaw. Neither of them had their special room as a Quidditch field, however. So they asked Cristy if anyone would be using her field, and, as she wouldn't be, she said they would be most welcome to use her field. They were going to be on the field from 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM
Fred Weasley and Megan were Captains for Slytherin. Again, neither of them had a Quidditch pitch or stadium for their special room. Crystal lent them hers though, for she wanted it to be tested by a House team. They booked practice from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
At the Slytherin practice the next day, everyone received brooms: the latest version of the Comet series, a Comet Three Hundred.
At the Ravenclaw practice the next day, everyone received the broom that Ron had picked out--the latest version of the Cleansweep series, a Cleansweep Eight.
At the Hufflepuff practice the next day, they too received their new brooms- -the new version of the Nimbus series, a Nimbus Two Thousand and Two.
And at the Gryffindor practice the next day, everyone (except Harry) received their new brooms--a Firebolt. Harry already had one, so he didn't need a new one for the year.
As practices went by, everyone was enjoying themselves. Spring Break would be in one week, and after that the Quidditch Tournament would start. All the teams were training hard.
Finally, the day before Round One began, a Saturday, Dumbledore stood up at the feast. Everyone went silent before he spoke.
"This year, as some of you already know, we are having a Quidditch Tournament. All the Quidditch teams have been practicing very hard, and I don't doubt that this tournament will be a good one.
"All of the teams have been continuously practicing the past couple of weeks. Each team has chosen a broom mascot for their team.
"The Slytherin team picked up seven Comet Three Hundreds."
The Slytherin table erupted with applause.
"The Ravenclaw team picked their brooms as Cleansweep Eights."
The Ravenclaws clapped for their team.
"The Hufflepuff team chose Nimbus Two Thousand and Twos."
The Hufflepuff table stared at Hermione and George Weasley before they too erupted with applause. They thought this was the best broom that any of the Houses had chosen. Boy, were they wrong.
"And Gryffindor picked up Firebolts for everyone."
The Gryffindors stared at Harry and Cristy. The Firebolt was the most expensive and best broom in the world! They stood up and applauded for their team, in which almost all of the members were beaming.
"Tomorrow, Round One of this year's Quidditch Tournament will begin. You will sit in your house bleachers. Tomorrow's game is Gryffindor against Slytherin. Monday's game will be Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff. On Tuesday, the losing teams of these two games will go against each other. Whichever team loses this round will be out of the Tournament. I now ask for the Quidditch teams of each House to stand up so your team will see you."
The team members of each team stood up. At the Gryffindor table, Draco, Cho, Cristy, Lavendar Brown, Ginny, Padma Patil, and Harry stood up.
At the Hufflepuff table, Tom, Lisa Turpin, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Neville Longbottom, George Weasley, Blaise Zabini, and Hermione stood up. Nott had been kicked out for not telling anyone his first name.
At the Ravenclaw table, Parvati Patil, Sally-Anne Perks, Ernie MacMillan, Ron, Crabbe, Seamus Finnigan, and Lorena stood up.
And at the Slytherin table, Pansy Parkinson, Morag MacDougal, Dean Thomas, Goyle, Fred Weasley, Hagrid, and Megan stood up.
"These are the people that will be representing your House for this year's Tournament. Give them all a round of applause."
The Hall exploded will applause, for almost everyone was clapping. However, a few were not. Some of the turned-down wishers for their house teams were not clapping.
"Bed!" Dumbledore said, and they all turned around and left the Great Hall, very loudly.
"Hello, and welcome to today's Quidditch match! The teams today are the great Gryffindor against the stinky Slytherin!"
"Jordan--try not to favor anyone this year."
"Yes, Professor."
The Gryffindor team, wearing robes of scarlet and gold, flew on their new Firebolts onto the field. From the opposite side, the Slytherins, wearing robes of green and silver, also rode onto the field on their new chosen brooms--Comet Three Hundreds.
"Here comes the Bludgers! Ouch! One just hit that Slytherin Pansy Parkinson! Oh well. Here comes the Golden Snitch. The Seekers for today's match are Harry Potter for Gryffindor (applause from the Gryffindor supporters) and Megan Newgana for Slytherin! (applause from the Slytherin supporters)
"Here it is--the Quaffle. Three....two....one...it's in play! Its Dean Thomas, oh no, sorry, its Cristy Filman of Gryffindor with the Quaffle! She passes it to Draco Malfoy, he passes it back to her. she shoots, she SCORES! Ten-zero to Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor clan erupted with applause before the Quaffle finally was put back into play.
"No, come on, Cristy, poke him! GET THAT QUAFFLE! No, its now Pansy Parkinson with the ball, but wait, Cristy stole it, poor Pansy, what, did you break a nail? Cristy heading for goal but she's hit in the leg with a Bludger! That's gotta hurt! But she's back up again and trying to retrieve the Quaffle. Slytherin heading for goal, stop them Gryffindor! Come on! Oh no! Morag MacDougal scores. Ten-ten."
Cheers erupted from Slytherins, both past and present. They had scored! But as they were not watching, Draco Malfoy went up and shot the Quaffle right through their hoops.
"Slytherin, just give up. You know that Gryffindor will crush you! AAH!" A Bludger came swooping out of nowhere and hit Lee Jordan in the arm. Madam Pomfrey rushed out and fixed it. Within that short amount of time, Gryffindor had scored twice more.
"Okay. I'm okay. So, the score is forty to ten, with Gryffindor leading. Oh! I think they've spotted the Snitch!"
Both Megan and Harry were flying downward. However, a Bludger, hit by Ginny Weasley, hit Megan. Harry turned around to make sure she was okay, and in those few precious seconds, the Snitch had vanished.
"Cho Chang of Gryffindor with the Quaffle. Ouch, hit in the arm by Slytherin Chaser Pansy Parkinson. Oh, Pansy got the full blast of it. She's falling, and yes, she's down! Slytherin now down one Chaser. YES!"
"JORDAN!"
"Sorry, Professor! Well, anyway, now Gryffindor Chaser Cho Chang with the ball again. She fake-passes it to Draco before passing it to Cristy. Cristy passes it to Draco, he takes a shot. HE SCORES! Fifty-ten to Gryffindor!"
"Slytherins are mad that Gryffindor is so much better than themselves, now they are doing anything to get the Quaffle, come on Gryffindor!"
"Slytherins heading for goal, Dean Thomas with the Quaffle, he shoots, THAT WAS DELIBERATE!"
Morag MacDougal had pushed the Gryffindor Keeper down. Padma was now out of the game.
"Penalty shot to Gryffindor!" said Oliver Wood. Cristy took the Quaffle and aimed it.
"She scores! Sixty-twenty to Gryffindor!"
Dean had once again taken the Quaffle, and he was now rushing towards the Gryffindor goal posts. "NO!" is all you heard from Lee. Slytherin fans had once again erupted with applause.
"Score is now sixty-thirty, Gryffindor leading. Gryffindor Chaser Draco Malfoy with the Quaffle, heading for goal. He shoots--and SCORES! Seventy- thirty to Gryffindor. Whoa!"
Harry had just gone into one of his specialties--a dive to the ground. He came back up with the Snitch tight in his hand.
"With a score of 220 to 30, Gryffindor wins! Slytherin stinks! Gryffindor is the best in the world! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
The Slytherin team was sitting there very unhappy, for they had just lost to Gryffindor. However, they became even more unhappy when suddenly Dean Thomas disappeared.
The following day, the teams playing were Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. However, everyone was told to attend. Lee was commentating again. One minute before this game, a surprising event happened. Dean Thomas reappeared in the crowds. When everyone asked what was going on, Dean refused to say.
"Welcome to today's Quidditch match. Today it's Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff! So far, both teams have shown extraordinary talents on the Quidditch field. I myself have been to some of their practices. And the Bludgers are up, then the Snitch, now the Quaffle is in play! Ravenclaw Chaser Ernie MacMillan heading for goal--he shoots, and yes, he gets it past Hufflepuff Keeper Blaise Zabini! Ravenclaw in lead, ten-zero."
The Ravenclaws were cheering whereas the Hufflepuffs were yelling. Ravenclaws suddenly noticed why--Hufflepuff Chaser Justin Finch-Fletchley was going for the Ravenclaw goal. As the Hufflepuff brooms were faster than the Ravenclaw ones, Justin scored. The cheers from the Hufflepuffs were drained by the "boo's of the Ravenclaws.
"The score is now ten-ten. Wait, sorry, twenty-ten! Ravenclaw just scored!"
The Ravenclaws were erupting with cheers, and were screaming so loud that only Hufflepuffs and Lee Jordan saw Lisa Turpin score three times in a row.
"Alright, the score is twenty-forty with Hufflepuff leading. Wait--what's going on?"
Ravenclaw Seeker Lorena Corena had just gone into a spectacular dive. Then Hermione (the Hufflepuff Seeker) had just noticed why. There was the Golden Snitch. It was now grasped right between Lorena's fingers. "Ravenclaw wins, 170-40."
The Ravenclaws were overjoyed. "Tomorrow, Hufflepuff will go against Slytherin! The winner will advance and the losing team will be out of the running."
The Hufflepuffs were sulking for only a minute before they looked around so they could plan what to do the next day. However, when they turned around to the Chasers, Justin Finch-Fletchley was gone.
There was one minute until the next match. Slytherin was going to be playing Hufflepuff for the remaining spot in Round Two.
George Weasley and Hermione were frantic. Justin still wasn't there. They were about to forfeit the match when Justin reappeared right next to them. Just like Dean, he refused to say what had happened. However, Hermione was just telling Justin that the game was about to start when the bell sounded. Justin grabbed his broom, which was still there from the previous day, and went out onto the field.
"Hello, and welcome to today's Quidditch match! Today we will finish Round One, and will decide which House is out of the running. Round Two will begin tomorrow. Depending on the scores will say which Houses play tomorrow and which of the semi-finalists play on Thursday.
"So far, the scores are 220 for Gryffindor and 170 for Ravenclaw. If the winner has a score above 220, then they will play Thursday against Gryffindor. If the winner is below 220, then they will play tomorrow against Ravenclaw. Now the Quaffle is in play. Hufflepuff with the Quaffle. Keeper Rubeus Hagrid blocks the Quaffle and sends it to his teammate Dean Thomas. Dean heading for goal--he shoots and scores. Ten- zero to Slytherin. Wait--what is this? Hufflepuff is coming back already. Justin Finch-Fletchley with Quaffle, and he gets it past Rubeus this time. Wait--did Hufflepuff already get the Quaffle again? Slytherin Beater Fred Weasley whacks the Bludger really hard at Hufflepuff Keeper. Hufflepuff Keeper is down now. Slytherin heading for goal, and scores. Twenty-ten to Slytherin."
Slytherins erupted with applause. Hufflepuffs were angry. They wanted to move on for once and kick out Slytherin! "Hufflepuff Beater Neville Longbottom hits a Bludger right at Slytherin Beater Gregory Goyle and is successful. Hufflepuff has the Quaffle. They are heading for goal--and they score! Twenty-twenty. Wait--Hufflepuff already got the Quaffle back and they score twice more! Twenty-forty to Hufflepuff!"
The Hufflepuffs in the crowd were screaming. They were beating Slytherin! However this glory didn't last long--Slytherin Chaser Dean Thomas scored twice more for Slytherin, bringing the score up to forty-forty. Hufflepuffs scored again--forty-fifty. "Wait! Slytherin Seeker Megan Newgana has seen the Snitch! She races for it--come on, Hufflepuff, Slytherin can't beat you!--but oh, no, she's got it. Slytherin wins 190 to 50.
Slytherins were cheering so loud no one even noticed when their Chaser Pansy Parkinson disappeared too.
That night, Dumbledore arose during the feast and, as always, the Great Hall went silent.
"Thank you everyone. Tomorrow we will start Round Two of this year's Quidditch Tournament. The standings right now are only that Hufflepuff is in last place. However, just for competing, we are giving you 50 House points. Tomorrow's match is going to be Slytherin against Ravenclaw. Whichever team loses will go against Gryffindor. This time, the team that is knocked out this round will still earn 75 House points. I expect even the Hufflepuffs to show up tomorrow and pick who they wish to route for. I wish all three of the remaining teams lots of luck. Bed!" Dumbledore said and everyone walked up to their dorms. Hufflepuff was upset, but they were still living.
When Harry was sleeping, an owl landed on him. It dropped off a note and left. The letter was in blood, just like the ones before he had come to school. He read the letter aloud to Draco.
POTTER!
FINE! SO YOU'VE CHOSEN TO IGNORE ME!!!
I WARNED YOU! SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR
FRIENDS!
YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE
Just as they were about to begin, everyone on the Quidditch teams received owls. They all knew something was up--because it was almost Easter, and the Quidditch season hadn't started yet.
All the Captains received the same note.
Quidditch Captain
You well know that we haven't started the Quidditch season yet. Well, that's because of the Year of Differences.
This year, we are going to have a Quidditch Tournament. It will be a week- long event where no classes will be held, the week right after Spring Break.
Round One will last three days. The schedule is as follows:
Day One: Gryffindor vs Slytherin
Day Two: Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff
Day Three: The losing team of Day One against The losing team of Day Two
You will be contacted about Round Two if your team makes it in.
Remind your team about this schedule and remember to be training hard!
Oliver Wood
All of the Quidditch Captains reminded their teams, and, being that some had their special room as a Quidditch stadium, they practiced there.
Harry and Cristy were the Captains for Gryffindor. They immediately sent out owls saying they would meet them at the special house at 9:00 AM the following day, for Harry had his special room as a Quidditch stadium. The practice would last 12 complete hours, until 9:00 PM
Hermione and George Weasley were the Captains for Hufflepuff. Because they couldn't all practice, they booked the field for the next day from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM. (It was a weekend) They too sent letters out to everyone on the team, and everyone was okay with the practice time.
Ron and Lorena were the Captains for Ravenclaw. Neither of them had their special room as a Quidditch field, however. So they asked Cristy if anyone would be using her field, and, as she wouldn't be, she said they would be most welcome to use her field. They were going to be on the field from 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM
Fred Weasley and Megan were Captains for Slytherin. Again, neither of them had a Quidditch pitch or stadium for their special room. Crystal lent them hers though, for she wanted it to be tested by a House team. They booked practice from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
At the Slytherin practice the next day, everyone received brooms: the latest version of the Comet series, a Comet Three Hundred.
At the Ravenclaw practice the next day, everyone received the broom that Ron had picked out--the latest version of the Cleansweep series, a Cleansweep Eight.
At the Hufflepuff practice the next day, they too received their new brooms- -the new version of the Nimbus series, a Nimbus Two Thousand and Two.
And at the Gryffindor practice the next day, everyone (except Harry) received their new brooms--a Firebolt. Harry already had one, so he didn't need a new one for the year.
As practices went by, everyone was enjoying themselves. Spring Break would be in one week, and after that the Quidditch Tournament would start. All the teams were training hard.
Finally, the day before Round One began, a Saturday, Dumbledore stood up at the feast. Everyone went silent before he spoke.
"This year, as some of you already know, we are having a Quidditch Tournament. All the Quidditch teams have been practicing very hard, and I don't doubt that this tournament will be a good one.
"All of the teams have been continuously practicing the past couple of weeks. Each team has chosen a broom mascot for their team.
"The Slytherin team picked up seven Comet Three Hundreds."
The Slytherin table erupted with applause.
"The Ravenclaw team picked their brooms as Cleansweep Eights."
The Ravenclaws clapped for their team.
"The Hufflepuff team chose Nimbus Two Thousand and Twos."
The Hufflepuff table stared at Hermione and George Weasley before they too erupted with applause. They thought this was the best broom that any of the Houses had chosen. Boy, were they wrong.
"And Gryffindor picked up Firebolts for everyone."
The Gryffindors stared at Harry and Cristy. The Firebolt was the most expensive and best broom in the world! They stood up and applauded for their team, in which almost all of the members were beaming.
"Tomorrow, Round One of this year's Quidditch Tournament will begin. You will sit in your house bleachers. Tomorrow's game is Gryffindor against Slytherin. Monday's game will be Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff. On Tuesday, the losing teams of these two games will go against each other. Whichever team loses this round will be out of the Tournament. I now ask for the Quidditch teams of each House to stand up so your team will see you."
The team members of each team stood up. At the Gryffindor table, Draco, Cho, Cristy, Lavendar Brown, Ginny, Padma Patil, and Harry stood up.
At the Hufflepuff table, Tom, Lisa Turpin, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Neville Longbottom, George Weasley, Blaise Zabini, and Hermione stood up. Nott had been kicked out for not telling anyone his first name.
At the Ravenclaw table, Parvati Patil, Sally-Anne Perks, Ernie MacMillan, Ron, Crabbe, Seamus Finnigan, and Lorena stood up.
And at the Slytherin table, Pansy Parkinson, Morag MacDougal, Dean Thomas, Goyle, Fred Weasley, Hagrid, and Megan stood up.
"These are the people that will be representing your House for this year's Tournament. Give them all a round of applause."
The Hall exploded will applause, for almost everyone was clapping. However, a few were not. Some of the turned-down wishers for their house teams were not clapping.
"Bed!" Dumbledore said, and they all turned around and left the Great Hall, very loudly.
"Hello, and welcome to today's Quidditch match! The teams today are the great Gryffindor against the stinky Slytherin!"
"Jordan--try not to favor anyone this year."
"Yes, Professor."
The Gryffindor team, wearing robes of scarlet and gold, flew on their new Firebolts onto the field. From the opposite side, the Slytherins, wearing robes of green and silver, also rode onto the field on their new chosen brooms--Comet Three Hundreds.
"Here comes the Bludgers! Ouch! One just hit that Slytherin Pansy Parkinson! Oh well. Here comes the Golden Snitch. The Seekers for today's match are Harry Potter for Gryffindor (applause from the Gryffindor supporters) and Megan Newgana for Slytherin! (applause from the Slytherin supporters)
"Here it is--the Quaffle. Three....two....one...it's in play! Its Dean Thomas, oh no, sorry, its Cristy Filman of Gryffindor with the Quaffle! She passes it to Draco Malfoy, he passes it back to her. she shoots, she SCORES! Ten-zero to Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor clan erupted with applause before the Quaffle finally was put back into play.
"No, come on, Cristy, poke him! GET THAT QUAFFLE! No, its now Pansy Parkinson with the ball, but wait, Cristy stole it, poor Pansy, what, did you break a nail? Cristy heading for goal but she's hit in the leg with a Bludger! That's gotta hurt! But she's back up again and trying to retrieve the Quaffle. Slytherin heading for goal, stop them Gryffindor! Come on! Oh no! Morag MacDougal scores. Ten-ten."
Cheers erupted from Slytherins, both past and present. They had scored! But as they were not watching, Draco Malfoy went up and shot the Quaffle right through their hoops.
"Slytherin, just give up. You know that Gryffindor will crush you! AAH!" A Bludger came swooping out of nowhere and hit Lee Jordan in the arm. Madam Pomfrey rushed out and fixed it. Within that short amount of time, Gryffindor had scored twice more.
"Okay. I'm okay. So, the score is forty to ten, with Gryffindor leading. Oh! I think they've spotted the Snitch!"
Both Megan and Harry were flying downward. However, a Bludger, hit by Ginny Weasley, hit Megan. Harry turned around to make sure she was okay, and in those few precious seconds, the Snitch had vanished.
"Cho Chang of Gryffindor with the Quaffle. Ouch, hit in the arm by Slytherin Chaser Pansy Parkinson. Oh, Pansy got the full blast of it. She's falling, and yes, she's down! Slytherin now down one Chaser. YES!"
"JORDAN!"
"Sorry, Professor! Well, anyway, now Gryffindor Chaser Cho Chang with the ball again. She fake-passes it to Draco before passing it to Cristy. Cristy passes it to Draco, he takes a shot. HE SCORES! Fifty-ten to Gryffindor!"
"Slytherins are mad that Gryffindor is so much better than themselves, now they are doing anything to get the Quaffle, come on Gryffindor!"
"Slytherins heading for goal, Dean Thomas with the Quaffle, he shoots, THAT WAS DELIBERATE!"
Morag MacDougal had pushed the Gryffindor Keeper down. Padma was now out of the game.
"Penalty shot to Gryffindor!" said Oliver Wood. Cristy took the Quaffle and aimed it.
"She scores! Sixty-twenty to Gryffindor!"
Dean had once again taken the Quaffle, and he was now rushing towards the Gryffindor goal posts. "NO!" is all you heard from Lee. Slytherin fans had once again erupted with applause.
"Score is now sixty-thirty, Gryffindor leading. Gryffindor Chaser Draco Malfoy with the Quaffle, heading for goal. He shoots--and SCORES! Seventy- thirty to Gryffindor. Whoa!"
Harry had just gone into one of his specialties--a dive to the ground. He came back up with the Snitch tight in his hand.
"With a score of 220 to 30, Gryffindor wins! Slytherin stinks! Gryffindor is the best in the world! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
The Slytherin team was sitting there very unhappy, for they had just lost to Gryffindor. However, they became even more unhappy when suddenly Dean Thomas disappeared.
The following day, the teams playing were Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. However, everyone was told to attend. Lee was commentating again. One minute before this game, a surprising event happened. Dean Thomas reappeared in the crowds. When everyone asked what was going on, Dean refused to say.
"Welcome to today's Quidditch match. Today it's Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff! So far, both teams have shown extraordinary talents on the Quidditch field. I myself have been to some of their practices. And the Bludgers are up, then the Snitch, now the Quaffle is in play! Ravenclaw Chaser Ernie MacMillan heading for goal--he shoots, and yes, he gets it past Hufflepuff Keeper Blaise Zabini! Ravenclaw in lead, ten-zero."
The Ravenclaws were cheering whereas the Hufflepuffs were yelling. Ravenclaws suddenly noticed why--Hufflepuff Chaser Justin Finch-Fletchley was going for the Ravenclaw goal. As the Hufflepuff brooms were faster than the Ravenclaw ones, Justin scored. The cheers from the Hufflepuffs were drained by the "boo's of the Ravenclaws.
"The score is now ten-ten. Wait, sorry, twenty-ten! Ravenclaw just scored!"
The Ravenclaws were erupting with cheers, and were screaming so loud that only Hufflepuffs and Lee Jordan saw Lisa Turpin score three times in a row.
"Alright, the score is twenty-forty with Hufflepuff leading. Wait--what's going on?"
Ravenclaw Seeker Lorena Corena had just gone into a spectacular dive. Then Hermione (the Hufflepuff Seeker) had just noticed why. There was the Golden Snitch. It was now grasped right between Lorena's fingers. "Ravenclaw wins, 170-40."
The Ravenclaws were overjoyed. "Tomorrow, Hufflepuff will go against Slytherin! The winner will advance and the losing team will be out of the running."
The Hufflepuffs were sulking for only a minute before they looked around so they could plan what to do the next day. However, when they turned around to the Chasers, Justin Finch-Fletchley was gone.
There was one minute until the next match. Slytherin was going to be playing Hufflepuff for the remaining spot in Round Two.
George Weasley and Hermione were frantic. Justin still wasn't there. They were about to forfeit the match when Justin reappeared right next to them. Just like Dean, he refused to say what had happened. However, Hermione was just telling Justin that the game was about to start when the bell sounded. Justin grabbed his broom, which was still there from the previous day, and went out onto the field.
"Hello, and welcome to today's Quidditch match! Today we will finish Round One, and will decide which House is out of the running. Round Two will begin tomorrow. Depending on the scores will say which Houses play tomorrow and which of the semi-finalists play on Thursday.
"So far, the scores are 220 for Gryffindor and 170 for Ravenclaw. If the winner has a score above 220, then they will play Thursday against Gryffindor. If the winner is below 220, then they will play tomorrow against Ravenclaw. Now the Quaffle is in play. Hufflepuff with the Quaffle. Keeper Rubeus Hagrid blocks the Quaffle and sends it to his teammate Dean Thomas. Dean heading for goal--he shoots and scores. Ten- zero to Slytherin. Wait--what is this? Hufflepuff is coming back already. Justin Finch-Fletchley with Quaffle, and he gets it past Rubeus this time. Wait--did Hufflepuff already get the Quaffle again? Slytherin Beater Fred Weasley whacks the Bludger really hard at Hufflepuff Keeper. Hufflepuff Keeper is down now. Slytherin heading for goal, and scores. Twenty-ten to Slytherin."
Slytherins erupted with applause. Hufflepuffs were angry. They wanted to move on for once and kick out Slytherin! "Hufflepuff Beater Neville Longbottom hits a Bludger right at Slytherin Beater Gregory Goyle and is successful. Hufflepuff has the Quaffle. They are heading for goal--and they score! Twenty-twenty. Wait--Hufflepuff already got the Quaffle back and they score twice more! Twenty-forty to Hufflepuff!"
The Hufflepuffs in the crowd were screaming. They were beating Slytherin! However this glory didn't last long--Slytherin Chaser Dean Thomas scored twice more for Slytherin, bringing the score up to forty-forty. Hufflepuffs scored again--forty-fifty. "Wait! Slytherin Seeker Megan Newgana has seen the Snitch! She races for it--come on, Hufflepuff, Slytherin can't beat you!--but oh, no, she's got it. Slytherin wins 190 to 50.
Slytherins were cheering so loud no one even noticed when their Chaser Pansy Parkinson disappeared too.
That night, Dumbledore arose during the feast and, as always, the Great Hall went silent.
"Thank you everyone. Tomorrow we will start Round Two of this year's Quidditch Tournament. The standings right now are only that Hufflepuff is in last place. However, just for competing, we are giving you 50 House points. Tomorrow's match is going to be Slytherin against Ravenclaw. Whichever team loses will go against Gryffindor. This time, the team that is knocked out this round will still earn 75 House points. I expect even the Hufflepuffs to show up tomorrow and pick who they wish to route for. I wish all three of the remaining teams lots of luck. Bed!" Dumbledore said and everyone walked up to their dorms. Hufflepuff was upset, but they were still living.
When Harry was sleeping, an owl landed on him. It dropped off a note and left. The letter was in blood, just like the ones before he had come to school. He read the letter aloud to Draco.
POTTER!
FINE! SO YOU'VE CHOSEN TO IGNORE ME!!!
I WARNED YOU! SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR
FRIENDS!
YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE