Chapter Thirteen

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin

With the start of colder weather in the month of November came the start of Quidditch season and the first match of the season that is said to be the game of the year: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Harry had increased the number of practices as the match came closer and there had been several instances of sabotage on both sides. The Slytherins tried to do harm to the Gryffindor team; however, this only caused some of the Gryffindors and others of the other houses to seek revenge against the Slytherins. All houses lost points and/or gotten detention for their actions. It took all of Harry and Hermione's strength to keep order between the houses so that these incidents could stop; however, this didn't stop others for getting revenge against the Slytherins since the Slytherins won't listen to Harry nor Hermione. There also have been some harm to the Slytherin team by some mysterious products that have been rumored to be from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but those rumors have not been confirmed and the perpetrators have not been caught yet. Harry also made sure that they had private practices so that the Slytherins wouldn't spy on them.

Malfoy had been caught several times taunting the Gryffindor team, but only had to get hit with several pranks by some mysterious pranksters that could have rivaled that of Fred and George Weasley; that is if they hadn't been using their products as the rumors go. Despite the rumors of the pranks beings pulled on the Slytherins; there have been rumors of Harry and Hermione dating. Ever since Colin took that picture; there have been rumors since the day Ron had spat at Harry and Hermione. Hermione told Harry one day that she had been asked several questions concerning the date when they were doing homework one day. The only times they were together is when they were doing homework, in class, or during their duties as Head Boy and Girl. Harry sometimes wished that the rumors would go away, but just as when the rumors were subsiding; an article in the Daily Prophet brought the rumors back. The article had arrived the day before the first Quidditch match during breakfast.

"That foul woman! How dare she write those articles again!" Hermione sad exasperatedly.

Harry looked over her shoulder and the first sentence made his stomach go into knots. On the front page was the picture that Colin had taken when he and Ron fought again in the common room.

The Most Eligible Bachelor Taken?

Harry Potter, the 'Boy Who Lived' and most eligible bachelor as said in a recent issue of Witch Weekly, is said to be taken by the young Muggle-born witch named Hermione Granger writes Rita Skeeter. The information had been given to the writer of this article by an anonymous tipster who is concerned for the 'Boy Who Lived.' Harry Potter also defeated the Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the previous year and had received the Order of Merlin, First Class as did Miss Granger. The 'Boy Who Lived' had been entitled to gain the title of Head Boy. Shouldn't the badge of the Head Boy be given to someone who shows leadership skills and not solely given to a celebrity? Miss Granger had also been given the title of Head Girl, but most of the student body has called her a 'know-it-all.' Our tipster is upset that someone who has such a high intelligence and cannot show enough leadership skills should be removed from her position so that someone else with leadership skills deserves the position. Has the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, lost his touch when he gave the badges to a celebrity and to a 'know-it-all' when there are other students who deserve the title and why are the badges given to the same students who are of the same House? The anonymous tipster is also concerned at how many hearts will the 'Boy Who Live' break after this and how many more hearts he will break after leaving Hogwarts. Harry Potter had been the Hogwarts' School champion during the Triwizard Tournament three years earlier and had won the tournament that very same year. The writer is also concerned that the 'Boy Who Lived' might have his heart broken by the Miss Granger. Miss Granger had once toyed with the feelings of him and the Bulgarian International Quidditch Seeker, Viktor Krum. Our tipster also has informed the writer that one of the friends of the 'Boy Who Lived,' Ron Weasley, had severed his friendship with him after a fight over our Muggle-born witch. Has the Muggle-born, Hermione Granger, have feelings for the 'Boy Who Lived' solely for the fact that he is a celebrity or that she secretly made him drink a Love Potion Let's just hope that there will be no more hearts broken by these two in the future which is not likely to happen.

"How dare she write those articles again and I see that she hasn't learned her lesson!" Hermione said after a growl of exasperation.

"Hermione, you told her to keep silent for a year since you caught her and she might have gotten the information elsewhere," Harry pointed out and she gave him a furtive look until Harry could tell by the look on her face that she had caught on what he had said when they looked at each other.

"You don't think that Malfoy had a hand in this?"

"I don't know but I think so. Remember what happened to Colin when he came in all bloodied up?" Hermione nodded.

"Malfoy must have gotten the information and stole the picture from Colin just to make the two of us look bad. I just hope that we don't get anymore hate mail again."

The article couldn't come at the worst possible time. Harry tried to talk Ron again but Ron had kept his distance from Harry. The Slytherins could be heard quoting the article by Rita Skeeter and some of the Slytherins, which included Malfoy, tried to make it worse than it already was.

Harry had met Rita Skeeter during the Triwizard Tournament and she had written terrible articles about Harry and one that concerned Hermione. Rita Skeeter is a reporter for the Daily Prophet and an unregistered Animagus, a wizard who can turn into an animal at will, and had been caught by Hermione at the end of their fourth year. Hermione, including Harry, had hoped that Rita Skeeter could keep her quill to herself for the next year, but that didn't seem to work since it had been over two years since they had heard from her. Rita Skeeter had not been aloud on the grounds at Hogwarts and Harry nor Hermione had seen anything out of the ordinary concerning this callous reporter who only cares for what the readers wanted to hear. Rita Skeeter had not only written terrible articles about Harry, but also about Hagrid being half-giant. The only other time they had heard from her is when Hermione had forced Rita Skeeter to do an interview with Harry over what happened when Voldemort came back at the end of his fourth year. Rita Skeeter didn't seem to happy with it but it was the only article that she had done that didn't make him or anyone else feel bad.

Harry woke up the next morning after a quick breakfast to check the conditions of the Pitch with his Firebolt with him. There had been a light rain during the early morning and that added to the dew that was already on the ground. The distant roar of thunder could be heard and Harry knew that this match would be difficult with the coming rain. Harry exited the Pitch and met Hermione, who seemed to have been waiting for him.

"Is everything alright, Harry?" she ask sounding concerned.

"I'm fine, but a little nervous over my first match as captain," he replied.

"You'll do just fine, Harry, and I think you might need this," she pulled out a pair of safety goggles.

Harry recognized them as the ones that he had received from her for Christmas the previous year. They were charmed to repel all foreign substances that came into contact with them. Harry was glad that Hermione thought of bringing them to him since he will need them for the match in case of rain. They made it back to the castle just as the light drizzle slowly became a downpour.

After the team had finished breakfast, they left for the Pitch as they crossed the grounds in the heavy rain. They changed out of their wet robes and into their uniforms. Harry removed his glasses and put on his safety goggles that Hermione had given to him earlier. He now was surprised at how much Hermione would do to get him something that he could use during a game of Quidditch without worrying about his glasses shattering by a Bludger to the head.

Harry gave them a very short pep talk and reminded them of their tactics during the match. They left in single file with Harry leading them as they entered the Pitch and into the torrential downpour. Despite the downpour, Harry could make out the colors the spectators wore. Three-fourths of the crowd wore scarlet red as they shouted 'GO, GO, GRYFFINDOR!' while the last fourth wore serpent green.

The team made their way towards the center of the pitch as they met the Slytherin team and Madam Hooch, a woman with the eyes of a hawk. Harry could tell that the Slytherin team all were big and thick with Malfoy the only one that was not thick. Harry was not surprised that their were no girls on the team.

"Captains shake hands," Madam Hooch ordered and Harry and Malfoy both approached each other.

They both gripped each others hands as if they were trying to crush the other's as they kept stern at the other's face. They both returned back to their respective teams and prepared for the coming match.

"On my whistle, one, two, three," she blew her whistle and she kicked open a trunk that released three ball as she used her wand to toss the red ball into the air.

"And we're off with Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor in possession," Harry could hear Seamus Finnigan commentating below as Harry looked for the minuscule Golden Snitch. Harry took one last look at Malfoy before he started his look for the Snitch.

"She passes it to Simpson: OUCH nice Bludger hit by Crabbe; intercepted by Majors and passes it to Daniels; who-- NO! Intercepted by Weasley who passes to Smith; back to Simpson; to Weasley; to Smith who shoots-- SHE SCORES!"

The crowd below erupted into cheers as Gryffindor scored. It was now starting to get more difficult to hear Seamus' voice since the rain now drowned out his voice and the wind started begin to moan and howl as it echoed throughout the Pitch. Harry could see clearly with his safety goggles on, but it proved difficult to see in front of him since it now turned darker as the storm began to take a turn for the worse.

Harry ran into Malfoy after Gryffindor score three more times. They look at each other with extreme hatred as they circled each other like vultures do when they find a rotting corpse. They only broke their gaze from each other when a Bludger came at them. Harry was barely able to dodge it and the Bludger hit Malfoy's broom as it knocked Malfoy a short distance from Harry as he tried to regain control of his broom.

Then Harry saw it, the Golden Snitch, as it zoomed towards the ground. Harry took the opportunity to go after the Snitch as Malfoy tried to regain control of his broom. The Snitch was now level to the ground as it zoomed towards the goal post. Harry felt his hands grasp the cold, wet Snitch as Madam Hooch's whistle blew. Harry felt something hard hit him on the side of the face and he didn't even feel that he hit one of the goal posts as he was knocked off-course as he succumbed to darkness.

Harry groggily woke up in the middle of the night to find out that he was in the hospital wing. He tried to sit up but his entire body felt like it was made of lead. He felt that someone was holding his hand, but he couldn't see since it was dark or the fact that his glasses were removed from his face. He tried to squeeze whoever's hand that was holding his but he couldn't as if his body couldn't function properly. He heard the person groan next to him and he somehow knew who it was.

"Hermione?" he said weakly.

"What? Harry? I'm so glad that you are okay!" she replied in a low and terrified voice as she came over to peer at him so that he could see her.

"What happened and why are you doing here?" he tried to sound angry at her but it didn't come out that way.

"Well," she began, "we did win and after you caught the Golden Snitch. You were hit by a Bludger just before you hit one of the goal posts. We don't know who hit that Bludger at you and I was scared that you could have died after taking two hits to the head."

"I bet that it was the Slytherins and why are you doing here? You know that Filch will give you detention for this."

"I couldn't sleep with you in the hospital wing after what happened. So I snuck into your dorm and took your Invisibility Cloak and made my way down here."

The Invisibility Cloak, a silvery cloak that felt like it was woven with water, is something that Harry had inherited from his father, James, and it had always proved useful to Harry and friends when they had to do something that was against the rules. Harry had only used it when it was necessary and he hadn't used it last year. However, the Invisibility Cloak only makes the user invisible and it cannot make the user impervious to the sounds they make or by bumping into someone.

"You better get back to the common room before Madam Pomfrey or worse, Filch, sees you here."

"Harry, I don't want to leave you like this, but I know better than to be out of bounds during the night. I'll see you in the morning," she kissed him on the forehead before she pulled on the Cloak and she vanishes from sight. Harry could almost distinctly hear her footsteps as she left the room before he felt himself fall asleep.

Harry woke up sometime during midday to be greeted by Hermione. She was beaming at him as he returned her smile. Madam Pomfrey had came in when she saw that Harry was awake. She came out with his lunch as she gave him a look over before he could be released.

"You may leave after you eat and I better not see you in here again," she said sternly to Harry as she left muttering about the dangers Quidditch brings.

After Harry had finished eating, Hermione helped him up to his feet. Harry still felt lightheaded as he got to his feet as Hermione held onto him to support him. After his head cleared, they left for the grounds and into the cool atmosphere for some fresh air.