Chapter Ten

Quidditch Trials

The next morning the common room was much quieter. Most students were either doing homework or talking amongst themselves about classes or the mysterious upcoming event. Harry met up with Hermione who was already halfway through the Defense against the Dark Arts textbook confronting the Faceless.

"I see you're up to the same old thing," he commented, slumping down in his favourite chair next to her.

"It's nothing new," Hermione responded, not bothering to look up from her book. "Where's Ron?"

"Gone down to breakfast already," Harry said, suddenly realizing how hungry he was as well, "which is where we should be. Are you ready?"

Hermione marked the page and closed the book.

"He does know that breakfast isn't served for another ten minutes, what's he doing down there already?"

"Well," Harry started, remembering how psyched Ron had been this morning, "he said he wanted to be at his best for tryouts today."

Hermione frowned.

"He's just nervous. He always eats when he's nervous," she stated as she swung the portrait hole open and stepped through.

"I see you follow his routine rather closely," Harry replied, receiving an icy look that told him to back off. "Or not…"

On the way down to the Great Hall, they passed Malfoy and his cronies, all of which were wearing wide smiles. As Harry passed by, their looks turned from ones of joy to that of revenge.

"Looking a little stressed there Potter," Malfoy sneered in Harry's direction.

"Just ignore them," Hermione advised, pulling Harry along.

"He's definitely up to something Hermione; this could be a good opport-"

Just then they rounded the corner to the staircase which led down into the entrance hall. Harry walked straight into Ginny and Dean who were locked so tightly together it looked as if they were attempting to suffocate one another. Upon realizing what had disturbed them, they quickly pulled themselves apart, Dean looked surprised.

"Harry, I thought you had already gone down to breakf-"

"No," Harry said forcefully, "just was on my way now." He caught Ginny's eye before she turned away.

Something stirred inside Harry at that moment. Maybe it was because Ginny was Ron's sister, someone Harry had seen growing up over the past years and someone he felt was almost like family now; or maybe it was something else. This feeling confused Harry and he suddenly felt like the one who should be embarrassed.

"Harry, come on," Hermione called from somewhere below, "what's so interesting up there."

"I-I um, I'll just be g-going n-now," Harry stammered, waving in the direction of Hermione's voice. He tripped over his feet as he made a hasty move towards the stairs. He looked back and caught Ginny smiling at him, or at least that's what he hoped he'd seen.

They entered the hall and Harry took a seat next to a very nervous looking Ron who still had a full plate in front of him.

"What's wrong mate?" he asked, knowing exactly what the problem was.

Ron had never lived down the performance anxiety that came with playing quidditch.

"What do you think is wrong," he groaned, pushing his plate away, "I'm a horrible keeper, I'll never make the team."

"You're a great player Ron, don't say that," Harry said unconvincingly.

Ron turned to him. Harry noticed he was looking rather green.

"I am not, don't you remember last year?"

"Yes, of course," Harry responded as he exchanged a worried look with Hermione.

Harry had almost memorized the entire Weasley is our King song the Slytherins had created last year. "I remember that you were a great keeper, you were just nervous, that's all."

"You really think so?" Ron asked, sounding slightly more cheerful.

Harry and Hermione both nodded.

"I hope you'll remember that after today," Ron said, leaning in towards his friends and lowering his voice, "have you seen who my competition is?"

He nodded his head towards the end of the table. Harry and Hermione turned to see who Ron was talking about. A large, wiry-haired seventh year boy was laughing heartily with a couple of his friends. Harry could see why Ron was feeling uneasy. This guy definitely looked like he could give Ron some competition.

"He's trying for keeper?" Harry said trying not to sound worried. He had promised Katie that he wouldn't give her special treatment because she had been on the team before or because she was his friend. He had known Ron much longer than Katie, but this was his first year as captain of the team. He had to make decisions based on what was best for the team, not to satisfy his friends.

Ron was looking at him hopefully but must've seen the concern in his eyes.

"I knew it," he groaned, pulling his plate back in front of him, "I'm done for."

"Don't think that," Harry said, giving Hermione a 'help-me-out' look.

"Just do your best," Hermione added reassuringly, "I'm positive you'll do fine."

Ron didn't look at all convinced as he stuffed an entire piece of bread into his mouth.

Snape's classroom on the third floor had a gloomier look than Harry had thought possible. Thick black curtains blocked out any trace of sunlight from the room and the small number of candles floating about made it quite difficult to make out where the chalkboard was, let alone what was written on it.

As the students filed in, Harry and Ron took a seat next to Hermione who had already taken her book out and was looking rather flustered.

"We've got so much homework in Runes!" she exclaimed receiving absolutely no reaction from her two friends.

Harry knew that Hermione was always one to fret over marks. However, if she was worried about a workload, he was sure it wouldn't be something he would want to have.

"Shame," Ron yawned.

Hermione scowled at him.

"Just you wait, I'm sure Snape will have loads for us."

No soon had the words exited her mouth, Snape entered the room slamming the door shut behind him, causing everyone in the room to straighten up in their seats.

"I have not asked for books to be taken out," he hissed, causing a sudden roar of noise as books were closed and placed back in bags throughout the room, "I have something to explain and I wish to have your full attention."

He walked to the front of the class, waited for the few slower students (Neville Longbottom being one of them) to put their books away, the turned to face them.

"You have now had five teachers in this subject, I believe," he started, brushing a piece of hair from his face, "and I'm sure each of them have had their own methods and priorities. I'm surprised that with all this confusion, so many of you have managed to scrape an O.W.L in this subject. I will be even more surprised," he added, glaring at Neville, who was having trouble keeping all his books in his bag, "if this many of you can keep up with the N.E.W.T work, which will be much more advanced."

At this point, Snape started towards the back of the room.

"The Dark Arts are an ever-changing, ever-evolving monster with unimaginable wit and intelligence," he said, lowering his voice. Harry thought he saw a gleam of admiration in Snape's eyes as he said this. "No matter if you slay the monster, it will always return, more powerful and clever than before."

By this point most of the class had joined in Harry's feeling of discomfort. It was one thing to respect the Dark Arts, but to come into a Defense against the Dark Arts class and speak of them almost lovingly, seemed rather suspicious.

Snape must've noticed this, for he raised his voice and turned away from the veil of the curtains he had been staring through.

"That is why your defenses," he said, strolling toward the front of the class again, "must be as clever and ever-changing as the Arts you wish to undo."

When he had reached the front of the room, he turned back towards them, once again having to wipe a greasy length of hair from his face.

"I take it you are all novices in the use of non-verbal spell casting. Can anyone tell me what the benefit of using non-verbal spells is?"

After looking over the room more than twice and seeing that Hermione's was the only hand in the air, he sighed.

"Alright then, Miss Granger, please explain the benefits."

"Using non-verbal spells denies your opponents the benefits of knowing which type of spell you're about to cast," Hermione stated, "giving you a split second advantage."

"An answer repeated almost word-for-word from The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Six," Snape said dismissively, "but an essentially correct one. The use of non-verbal spells gives the user an advantage. Casting a non-verbal spell is not a simple task to perform, and not every wizard is able to do it. It requires a combination of mind power and concentration," he added, firing a malicious look in Harry's direction, "that some of us seem to, lack."

A few of the Slytherins sniggered at the comment as Harry clenched his fists in his lap.

"In any case," Snape explained menacingly, "we will be practicing this method throughout the year and will begin today by dividing into pairs. One student will attempt to jinx the other without speaking. The other student will in turn, attempt to block the jinx without speaking."

The class then divided into pairs. Harry, who had paired up with Ron, had decided that he would be the one to block the jinx. After a few tries, Harry noticed that most of the class was cheating. Most people were just muttering spells under their breath. Others, including Ron, were actually making an honest attempt and turning purple in the face with concentration.

Hermione had jinxed Neville without speaking on her first attempt-in fact she had made it look rather easy.

"H-how'd you do that?" Ron asked, looking as if he was about to pass out.

"I-um… I've been studying during summer," she responded looking nervous.

Harry looked at her astonished. For someone who had received an 'exceeds expectations' on her O.W.L, this was an incredible accomplishment. Hermione stood there however, as if it was the most common thing in the world.

Harry opened his mouth to say something; she had a look Harry had seen her wear a lot during their third year, a look that meant she was hiding something. As he began his sentence though, Snape walked up.

"You need to concentrate harder Longbottom," he said turning towards Harry, "like this."

Snape aimed his wand at Harry but before anything could happen Harry yelled protego!

His shield charm was surprisingly large and knocked Snape off balance. Straightening himself, Snape looked at Harry with an all too familiar rage.

"Have you forgotten Potter," he snarled through his yellow teeth, "that we are practicing non-verbal spells."

"Yes sir," Harry responded, with a sarcastic emphasis on the latter word.

"Well then try using them," Snape retorted before turning away from the group, "and ten points from Gryffindor, for disobeying instructions."

Both Harry and Ron made rude hand gestures behind their backs as Snape walked away.

"I did it!" Neville shouted suddenly.

Harry and Ron looked over to see that Neville had begun sprouting leaves from his ears. Hermione had obviously reflected his jinx back at him. Still looking rather uneasy, she muttered the counter-curse before congratulating him.

The afternoon sun was unusually warm for September as Harry and a very nervous looking Ron made for the quidditch pitch followed closely by Hermione who was reciting every possible confidence boosting story she could remember about Ron's quidditch ability in an attempt to raise his spirits. After a few minutes, Harry was beginning to feel just as nervous as Ron about having to choose between the other competition and his friend and was getting rather annoyed with Hermione's speech.

"Oh, he's heard enough," He exclaimed quickly, trudging on ahead towards the large group of people who had turned up to try out.

"I was just trying to keep him from throwing up," Hermione said, sounding hurt.

"Thanks for that," Ron murmured as Hermione veered towards the stands to watch.

Whatever Katie had done after Harry had only given her a day's notice, she must've done perfectly. After sorting the group of people which turned out to be almost double the number that Harry had guessed as he was approaching, most of which Harry could tell had only come to see what he'd be like as captain, he decided to start things off with a simple lap around the pitch.

It turned out to be a great idea. The first group, consisting mainly of first years that looked as if they had just finished their first flying lesson, was terrible. The two kids who actually managed to make it past the goal posts at the other end of the pitch without crashing into it, collided halfway back, resulting in a trip to see Mrs. Pomfrey for one of them.

The second group was just as bad as the first. All of them managed to make it around the pitch with only slight complications, but the lap took nearly two minutes, far too long to have any decent chance in a quidditch match. The third group was actually a bunch of Ravenclaw players who laughed as Harry yelled at them to tryout for their own house.

By this point, Harry was getting quite annoyed and was starting to seriously consider canceling the tryouts and just asking Dean Thomas to fill the vacant chaser position left by Angelina Johnson.

"If there is anyone else here who isn't in Gryffindor," Harry proclaimed angrily, "Please leave the pitch or at least get on the stands."

A dozen giggling girls waved at Harry, walked over to the stands and took up position next to Hermione.

The last group consisted of a fair number of older people as well as a few people Harry recognized. As predicted, Landon Diggory had shown up, surprisingly sporting a wonderfully crafted Nimbus Two-Thousand and One and the stalky, wiry-haired boy Harry had seen that morning in the great hall was there as well. When he saw Harry looking at him, he walked over and stuck out his hand.

"Pleased to meet you Harry," the large boy said in a gruff tone, "name's Cormac McLaggen, I'm a keeper."

Harry got the sudden feeling that this guy wasn't expecting to have to tryout. McLaggen gave off aura of confidence that was unnerving. He was glad Ron was already waiting over by Hermione; one sentence from this guy would probably send him over the edge.

"How come you didn't try out last year?" Harry asked wondering what kind of response he would get.

"I was in the hospital wing last year, ate a pound of Doxy eggs for a bet," McLaggen boasted as if being stupid was the manliest thing in the world.

"Oh, right then," Harry said quietly, "have fun then."

"It's not about fun Harry, it's about winning."

Harry was almost glad McLaggen couldn't see the expression on his face; he was already taking off. The last group took off and started around the pitch. As expected, Katie, Ron, and Cormac took there time and looked to be rather bored. Harry was surprised to see how well Landon was flying. Halfway around the pitch, he caught up with the rest of the group and by the time they were nearing the end of the lap, Landon had taken the lead.

"Okay, that's just fine," Harry said as the group approached, "chasers, if you'll just-"

Suddenly Landon took off with blinding speed. Harry had to duck as the boy rushed past him. Several gasps escaped the crowd who were now watching in awe. Harry watched in amazement as Landon completed a second lap in an amount of time Harry had almost thought impossible. It was clear that this kid knew how to fly. Whoever said he was good wasn't lying.

The rest of the group rushed up to compliment the youngster as he landed. Harry walked up looking annoyed.

"I said one lap Landon, not two."

Landon looked at the ground.

"Sorry, it's just that it takes a couple laps for me to get warmed up…"

"Well, that wasn't necessary," Harry said, trying to hide the fact that he was just as impressed as everyone else, "you flew good enough in your first lap. You're trying out for chaser I take it?"

"Well, actually," Landon said quietly before looking up at Harry, "I was hoping to try for seeker."

Harry had to stop his mouth from falling open. He hadn't expected anyone to try out for the seeker position that he had filled for the past five years. Many people had commented that Harry had been the best seeker that Hogwarts had seen in years. It was true that he was a natural and he too had made the team in his first year, but the comment still shocked him as much as everyone else. After a moment of awkward silence, Harry got an idea.

"Alright, we'll do the seeker tryouts last then."

The youngster's face lit up.

"Anyways, let's start with everyone trying out for chaser."

The group that had shown up hoping to become chasers took to the sky. Katie Bell was solid as usual, putting a handful of goals in during her tryout and Ginny came through extremely well, racking up over a dozen goals. A surprise came in the form of a girl named Demelza Robbins, who turned out to be very good at dodging bludgers as well as picking up at least five goals. In the end Katie, Ginny and Demelza were chosen by Harry as the team's chasers.

The search for two new beaters to replace Fred and George Weasley took considerably longer. Jimmy Peakes, who had managed to give Harry a nice sized goose bump on the back of his head with a wickedly powerful bludger and Ritchie Coote who demonstrated some quite accurate aim were chosen as the two new beaters. Harry was disappointed that none of them had the flair of Fred and George, but both were solid choices nonetheless.

The keeper tryouts were next and Ron's condition hadn't improved in the least. He and Cormac were the only two who had hopes of becoming the team's next keeper. Harry had Katie and Ginny take a combination of five shots at each of the hopefuls. Cormac's performance was just as Harry had predicted, flawless. He stopped the first four shots with finesse. On the fifth shot however, Cormac steered completely the wrong way and Ginny scored. Looking rather frustrated, Cormac landed next to Harry.

Ron was looking horrible and as he approached his broom Harry thought he might keel over and lose his lunch. He managed to keep it down though, and after taking to the air and circling the goal rings a few times, seemed to have gained some confidence.

Ginny and Katie began firing shots at him. Ron stopped one, two, three shots with relative ease. The fourth shot kinda fooled him a little, and he made an obviously lucky save. The fifth shot however, Ron stopped without any problems. Hermione and Ginny both cheered; Harry found it hard to keep himself from joining in the celebration as well. He didn't have to worry for long though; a rough tap on his shoulder told him that the competition wasn't exactly impressed.

"That wasn't right," McLaggen exploded, looking mighty red in the face, "his sister took it easy on him. I demand a repeat."

"I didn't take it easy on him, you big oaf," Ginny retorted, causing the large boy to huff even louder.

"Did too-"

"Did not-"

"Alright, that's enough!" Harry shouted, silencing both of them. They were both still raging, but Harry could see that they were anxious to hear his verdict. "This is my team and I will decide on what happens with it. Cormac, Ron stopped more shots than you did fair and square. I've decided to make him keeper and I suggest you deal with that decision."

McLaggen gave Harry a look that frightened him quite a bit, but he wasn't about to let that show now. He stood tall and stared Cormac down. After a moment the brutish boy groaned.

"Oh, whatever," he muttered as he stormed off the pitch.

Everyone began congratulating Ron. Hermione came rushing down from the stands beaming.

"I told you that you'd do it," she exclaimed suddenly throwing her arms around Ron.

"Thanks," Ron replied weakly, shocked by his friend's sudden gesture. Hermione quickly removed herself from him and turned pink.

"You were awesome!"

Dean Thomas came running up from behind Harry and planted a kiss on Ginny. Harry felt the same, strange feeling he had in the corridor early that day. He quickly turned his attention away from the couple to congratulate his best friend.

A sudden tug on the back of Harry's robes caused him to turn around.

Landon Diggory was standing there, broom in hand, looking expectant.

"Seeker tryout, remember?"

In the midst of all the excitement, Harry had forgotten what he had told Landon only a little while before.

Everyone suddenly hushed up and turned to face Harry. It suddenly seemed as if you could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Harry's ability as a seeker had never been challenged by anyone from his own team, let alone a first year. Given the intensity of the situation though, Harry wanted to get this over quickly.

"Alright, here's what we'll do," Harry explained as everyone listened intently, "we'll have two competitions. The first will go as follows: we'll release a single snitch and wait for the moment for both of us to see it. At that point, we'll race to see who can catch it first."

The group surrounding him seemed to know where this was going. Eyes began to light up with excitement and Harry could see people rubbing their hands together in anticipation. "The second," he continued, Landon looking poised as ever, "will be almost the same, except we'll have two snitches and we'll each be looking for our own. First one to find and capture their snitch wins that competition."

Landon nodded in agreement and Harry moved towards the equipment case to grab the required snitches.

"But Harry, what if you each win a competition, what'll you do?" came the voice of Seamus Finnigan.

"Seamus, what're you doing here?" Harry asked, suddenly noticing a lot more students had arrived, including more Ravenclaws and some Hufflepuffs. Harry even saw the familiar slick blonde hair of Draco Malfoy in the stands. Apparently everyone was interested in who was going to make the Gryffindor team this year.

"Showed up with Dean, but that doesn't matter. What're you going to do if each of you wins one?" He asked again.

Harry hadn't exactly thought of that yet.

"You'll see," Harry said grabbing hold of the first snitch and activating it. "Ready Landon?"

"Definitely," Landon said, mounting his broom and smiling.

Harry released the snitch. It took off into the sky and was quickly lost in the sea of blue. Both boys kicked off and rose straight up twenty feet. The large crowd below stood in silent anticipation.

"Alright now," Harry said loudly, making sure Landon could hear him. The wind up here was much noisier than it was at ground level. "If you see the snitch first, tell me, and we'll begin the chase for it. If I see if first, I'll inform you, got it?"

Landon gave Harry a thumbs-up to tell him he understood.

The two boys didn't survey the area very long, after only a minute or so, Harry noticed the snitch circling near the middle goal ring at the opposite end of the pitch.

"Landon, can you see the snitch at the goal ring over there?" Harry called through the wind.

"I see it!" the boy exclaimed, readying himself.

"Alright then; three, two, one…go!"

Harry and Landon tore through the sky toward the other end of the pitch. The crowd below suddenly exploded with cheers of excitement.

It felt as if Harry were back in a game. It was both nerve-racking and relaxing at the same time. Landon was toe-to-toe with him, something Harry wasn't surprised by; he hadn't reached full speed on his yet. He was also sure that Landon's Nimbus Two-Thousand and One, even if modified slightly, wouldn't have the speed that his Firebolt did. As they approached the goal rings, the snitch took a sudden turn and whipped towards the bleachers to their right. Landon veered right with remarkable precision and was closing in on the snitch. Harry banked right and swooped down under Landon to pick up some speed. As Landon reached forward to grab the snitch, Harry had an idea.

He suddenly carved his Firebolt sharply upward and headed directly for Diggory's broom. Landon noticed just in the nick of time and moved out of the way. The snitch sped forward past the announcer's booth and then curving down towards the ground. Harry's heart began racing. This was his favourite scenario. The two of them would begin a dive, chasing after the snitch; it was Harry's strong point.

Both boys dropped into a dive, rocketing toward the ground at incredible speed. Harry took the lead, edging past Landon with only about fifty feet to go. Harry was closing in on the snitch. Thirty feet to go. Landon was now almost a full two feet behind Harry. Twenty feet to go. Harry stretched his hand out, ready to grab the snitch. Ten feet to go. Suddenly the snitch curved upward. This caught Harry off guard and he had to pull up with his might to avoid crashing into the ground. As he whipped past the crowd on the ground he heard gasps and cheers. Curving around, Harry's mouth dropped in awe.

Landon was rocketing upward, only feet away from the snitch, his hand outstretched. Harry shot forward with all his might. He was closing the gap, but it wouldn't be enough. Landon's hand closed around the snitch. He had won.

Mixed with disappointment and confusion, Harry lowered himself to the ground. Landon was met with a roar of cheers as he ran up to Harry.

"Did you see that Harry?" Ron exclaimed, charging up.

"Er, see what?" Harry asked, obviously guessing Landon had made a nifty move to beat Harry to the snitch.

"That kid was just screaming towards the ground, everyone thought he was a goner. Suddenly he whips around, like doing a summersault, and pushes off from the ground! It was bloody brilliant!"

"It was nothing," Landon said bashfully, "Just something Cedric was working on. I was the only person who knew about it. Said he wanted to out-dive the famous Harry Potter. I guess it works."

Harry was annoyed, impressed and suddenly full of grief all at the same time. Cedric had probably been working on the move during the summer before fourth year. He hadn't known then that the Tri-Wizard Tournament would be at held that year. A pit rose in Harry's stomach. Before it had any more time to accumulate, Landon was speaking again.

"So we have to find our own snitch now? No competition?" He asked, bringing Harry back to the present.

"Oh, yes. I'll go over and grab the other snitch. Release yours again."

Landon did as he was told and once again, the snitch took off into the sky.

Harry retrieved another snitch from the equipment case and released it. The snitch soared into the sky and was quickly lost.

"Alright Landon, are you ready?" Harry asked, feeling more confident about this competition.

Harry had to tell Landon where the snitch was last time. That meant that even if Landon was a better seeker during the chase, Harry still had the advantage of spotting his snitch first.

"I'm ready Harry," Landon replied.

Harry kicked off and Landon followed suite. Rising up over the pitch, Harry could see that the sun was well into the sky, and would be setting soon. That meant it wasn't long before dinner would be served. He'd have to make this quick.

As if in answer to his thought, a golden sparkle caught Harry's eye just to the left of the bleachers. He looked back to see what Landon was doing. It was as he expected. Landon was looking around intently, certainly not picking up any leads.

Harry looked back to the bleachers and saw the snitch still circling quietly close to ground level. He took off in a flash and within ten seconds was closing in on the snitch that had decided to make a journey toward the goal rings.

As Harry's hand closed around the snitch, he looked to see a distraught Landon still high up in the sky, completely unaware of the location of his snitch. The crowd cheered as Harry raised his arm to show Landon that he had caught his snitch. Landon's shoulders slumped and he returned to the ground.

Ron and Hermione ran up and congratulated him. The rest of the crowd was equally as excited. Seamus stepped up with a grin on his face.

"So you each won a competition Harry, what're you going to do?"

Harry still hadn't really thought that he'd lose one of the competitions. But as he saw Landon approaching, a strange but exciting thought crossed his mind.

"Alright Landon, we've each won a competition so here's what's going to happen." He explained, a smile crossing his face, "We're going to have a full on race: no snitches, no seeking, nothing. Whoever wins will be the new seeker."

Landon looked a little nervous at Harry's new confidence but agreed. Little did Landon know that the plan formulating in Harry's brain was a brilliant one; one that would guarantee surprise, shock and most importantly, victories for his team this season.

"Ron, I want you to give us the countdown," Ron acknowledged and kicked off into the air, "Dean, Seamus, you guys will be the judges at the finish line, which will be right where I'm standing now."

"Okay," the two responded in unison.

"Good, that's settled then. Let's do this."

Harry and Landon kicked off and headed towards Ron at the other end of the pitch. Once they were away from the immediate crowd, Harry looked over at Landon.

"Landon, I have a proposition for you, an idea that could help Gryffindor win the quidditch cup this year. Do you want to hear it?"

The boy looked confused but moved closer to get a better understanding.

"What's the plan?"

"Well," Harry began, trying to sound as comforting as possible, "it will involve you not making the team," Landon had began moving away looking rather angry.

"I know it sounds bad, but you have to trust me, it'll work." Harry pleaded. He had to think of a way to convince Landon that his plan was worth following. "Cedric trusted me," He said suddenly, remembering the events of his fourth year that had ultimately led to the death of his newfound friend.

The boy turned back to him. Harry wasn't sure if it was the wind or not, but he could see the boy's eyes filled with tears.

"He did, I know he did. He wrote me letters," Landon said quietly. Harry could tell he was choked up. After few second, the boy nodded. "Alright, I'm in."

As the two continued down the pitch at a slower pace, Harry described the details of the plan which consisted of Landon losing the race and not making the team. Landon sounded reluctant at certain parts but agreed to everything. The race went according to plan and Harry won.

When the two boys landed after the race, Harry made an official announcement that he had won fair and square and would remain Gryffindor's seeker. Landon complained exuberantly and stormed off of the pitch. A lot of the crowd seemed disappointed but remained confident that the right choice had been made. Harry caught Malfoy whispering amongst his friends and giving him degrading looks.

"Look at him," Ron laughed as they made their way back to the school for dinner.

"He probably thinks that Harry made the wrong choice," Hermione said nervously, she then gave Harry a rather lengthy glare. "You did make the right choice, didn't you?"

"Of course I did," Harry responded confidently, "I've got everything planned out. We're going to do great this year."

They headed back into entrance Hall where Harry stopped.

"I've got to go check something out before dinner," He said, avoiding his friends' eyes, "I'll meet you guys there in a bit."

Hermione gave him a shifty glance but the crowd pouring back in from the tryouts drowned her out.

"See you in a bit," Harry heard her call as he raced up the stairs towards Gryffindor tower.

Everything was going to work out just fine, Harry kept thinking over and over as he climbed the stairs toward Professor McGonagall's office. He could guarantee his team the quidditch cup this year, as long as McGonagall agreed to let his plan work. He reached the top of the stairs, raced down the hall to her office and knocked on the door.