The Difference One Choice Makes
3rd March 1994
Harry was breathing heavily as he stumbled back slightly, feeling drained from his latest encounter with a Boggart Dementor.
Professor Mcgonagall, who had just shut the Boggart back in the large trunk looked at him with great concern that he was pushing himself too hard.
She was helping him learn and practice the Patronus Charm in one of the empty classrooms using a Boggart that Mr Filch had found in one of his store cupboards.
Only as each private lesson took place, Harry felt like he was making little to no progress with the charm.
"Perhaps we should leave it there Potter?" said Professor Mcgonagall as she handed Harry a piece of Honeydukes chocolate.
Harry bit into the chocolate feeling his strength return before he shook his head.
"Just one more time, I can't give up now" said Harry seriously.
Professor Mcgonagall sighed.
"Potter… any more and you'll start to drain your magical core" said Professor Mcgonagall.
Harry got himself into position.
"Just one more attempt… please Professor?" said Harry in a strong voice looking at her with a determined look burning in his eyes.
Everything was silent between the two before.
"One more go then… but then that's it" said Professor Mcgonagall sternly as she moved to the side of the closed trunk ready to open it again.
Harry nodded to her with his wand pointed at the trunk and the chosen memory of playing on the beach with his Parent's and Siblings when on holiday in the Caribbean three years ago firmly in his mind.
Having visual confirmation that he was ready, Professor Mcgonagall pulled the lid off of the trunk causing the Boggart Dementor to rise out of the trunk.
"Expecto Patronum!" shouted Harry with no success.
Professor Mcgonagall kept her eyes on the situation ready to step in and help.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" shouted Harry twirling his wand in a circular motion as the intensity and focus burned through his veins
Professor Mcgonagall looked on in shock as a white incorporeal Patronus emerged from Harry's wand forming a barrier between himself and the Boggart Dementor pushing it back.
"I don't believe it" thought Professor Mcgonagall in shock that a Third Year was using such a complex spell.
Harry stepped forwards using his Patronus shield to force the Boggart Dementor down into the trunk.
Once it was inside Professor Mcgonagall slammed the lid shut and locked it as Harry stumbled back slightly suffering from slight exhaustion.
"That was incredible Mr Potter… performing that spell as a Third Year" said Professor Mcgonagall in shock.
Harry was breathing heavily as he tried to recover his strength but managed to nod at her.
"Eat this and get your strength back" said Professor Mcgonagall quickly walking towards him and handing him another piece of Honeydukes chocolate.
Harry eagerly bit into the chocolate trying to get his strength back, still feeling immensely proud at having cast a Patronus Charm to successfully repel a Boggart Dementor.
"It looks like I don't have to teach you anything else… while a real Dementor is a lot worse, just remember what I taught you the next time you come under attack" said Professor Mcgonagall seriously.
She waved her wand silently conjuring a leather armchair for him.
"Take a seat and get your strength back, then you can go" said Professor Mcgonagall softly.
Harry collapsed into the armchair with a thankful look on his face.
6th March 1994
Harry was sat next to the Weasley Twins in the Gryffindor tent listening to Wood give them their usual Oliver Wood motivational speech, which as usual seemed to drone on and on with little sign of ending.
"We might be in last place… and thanks to Slytherin annihilating Hufflepuff last week, the top of the Cup standings is very close with Slytherin leading the way on 390 points and Ravenclaw just behind them on 370 points while we're in last place with only 90 points, so unless we can get at least 300 points in this match alone we'll have a chance, albeit a very little chance of winning the Quidditch Cup this year, and we'd be going into our game against Slytherin looking to win by a potentially even bigger amount of points" said Wood in a more serious tone of voice.
He took a deep breath.
"Alright girls… do you remember the tactics we tried the other day?" said Wood turning to Katie, Angelina and Katie who by this point looked bored at their Captain's words.
Fred groaned.
"Come on Oliver, we've been through this more than enough times, lets just get out there" said Fred cutting Wood off before he could continue.
Wood looked at all of them who looked rather frustrated with him before nodding.
"Very well… but are we all absolutely clear on the tactics?" said Wood.
"Yes!" they all chorused.
Wood sighed.
"I know I've been hard on all of you… but it's only because I believe in you, there's not one of you in this team that I'd swap for any player" said Wood.
He took a deep breath.
"And this year is my last chance to win the Quidditch Cup… and I'd really like to win it with all of you behind me" said Wood.
"Then we'll make sure you win it Oliver mate" said George.
Harry nodded to him knowing that it would be a very difficult task to hold off on catching the Snitch until Gryffindor had scored at least 150 points, not to mention Ravenclaw would be racking up even more points to their own total whenever they scored.
"Harry, I know it will be hard to keep Chang away from the Snitch until we've amassed enough points, but please, do whatever it takes" said Wood seriously.
"I'll do what I can Oliver… but if I have no other choice than catch the Snitch then I'll have to catch it and we'll just have to hope for the best against Slytherin" said Harry.
"You've got a Firebolt Harry… Cho Chang isn't going to get anywhere near you on that thing" said Katie.
"That thing is so much faster than that Comet she uses" said Alicia.
"If that's all… then let's get out there" said Wood seriously.
They all stood up and followed Wood out of the tent towards the stadium with all seven players hoping for a miracle that would help them get within touching distance of the Quidditch Cup.
The first Quidditch Cup triumph for six of them with Wood being the only player to win the prestigious school trophy before back in his third year.
When they approached the stadium they heard the loud cheers of the Gryffindor students ringing in their ears which gave them some more motivation.
Sharing one last look between themselves they mounted their brooms and flew out onto the pitch.
They did their customary lap around the pitch before coming to a halt in the centre of the pitch.
"AND INTRODUCING THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM, EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW THESE NAMES LIKE THE BACKS OF THEIR HANDS NOW… CAPTAIN AND KEEPER OLIVER WOOD, BEATER'S FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY, CHASERS KATIE BELL, ALICIA SPINNET, AND THE LOVELY MISS ANGELINA JOHNSON, I'VE GOT YOU DOWN TO SCORE NINE GOALS BABE SO DON'T LET ME DOWN!" shouted Lee.
If looks could kill, Lee Jordan would be a dead man right now with the glare Angelina was sending his way.
"JORDAN!" shouted Professor Mcgonagall.
"AND YOUR IN FOR A REAL TREAT TODAY LADIES AND GENTLEMEN… YOU BEST BE ALERT IN THIS MATCH CHANG, WITH GRYFFINDOR'S EVER PRESENT SEEKER NOW SPORTING THE BRAND NEW FIREBOLT, WITH SPEEDS OF UP TO EIGHTY MILES AN HOUR, STATE OF THE ART AGILITY, WITH PRICES STARTING AT FIVE THOUSAND GALLEONS!" shouted Lee.
"JORDAN, STOP ADVERTISING FOR FIREBOLT'S AND FINISH THE INTRODUCTIONS!" shouted Professor Mcgonagall who must have been losing her patience with Lee Jordan.
"HARRISON POTTER!" shouted Lee as cheers erupted from around the ground.
Harry flew up so he was directly across from Cho Chang who was looking at his Firebolt with awe.
"Wow, nice broom Harry" said Cho kindly and in slight awe.
"Thanks" said Harry softly.
"Don't be afraid to knock her off her broom if it means we get the win Harry!" shouted Wood causing a few chuckles from the Gryffindor's.
Harry rolled his eyes before Cho flashed him a smile.
"You wouldn't do that would you Harry?" said Cho softly.
Harry chose not to answer her and looked down at the pitch where Madam Hooch was stood next to the ball crate and her broomstick looking up at them.
She kicked the crate open releasing the Bludgers and the Snitch before picking the Quaffle up as Lee did his customary explanation on how catching the Snitch would end the game.
Wood and the Ravenclaw Keeper Sarah Fawcett took off towards their respective ends to take their positions in front of their team's hoops.
Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle up into the air where Angelina surged forwards and caught it just before Jennifer could get a finger on it.
"Gryffindor are looking for some early points here as Angelina Johnson takes off towards the Ravenclaw Hoops… she exchanges passes with Bell and Spinnet, gets the Quaffle back and shoots… saved by Fawcett who distributes the Quaffle to Black, what an impact she's had since joining the Ravenclaw team!" shouted Lee.
Harry hovered above the centre of the pitch keeping an eye out for the Snitch as well as keeping track of where Cho was in case she spotted the Snitch and he had to act fast.
He winced as Jennifer took a Bludger to the shoulder making her drop the Quaffle into the waiting arms of Katie who after catching it took off towards the Ravenclaw hoops dodging Mcmanus's Bludger as she did.
"Bell ducks under Davies who tries to block her path to the Ravenclaw hoops… she dodges another Bludger sent her way by Andrews… she's one on one with Fawcett, Bell shoots… AND SHE'S SCORED, TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" shouted Lee as the Gryffindor students erupted into cheers.
Harry clapped his hands as Katie got back into position to intercept the Quaffle again.
Forty-five minutes later…
Harry had hoped for a miracle before the match started and he could say that he had been given half of one at least.
Wherever the Snitch was located it was damn hard to spot, so hard that both Harry and Cho were having trouble even catching a glimmer of it.
While both Seekers were occupying themselves with their search for the Snitch, the rest of their teammates were doing everything they could to swing the game in their favour knowing that points were what mattered the most in this crucial match.
By the time Harry had seen the Snitch near the teacher's tower, Gryffindor were holding their 140 to 60 lead with Wood performing another stunning save to keep Ravenclaw's scoreline down.
He took off after it catching up to the Snitch rapidly causing it to increase its own speed as Cho appeared just behind him.
The two followed the Snitch as it weaved between each tower.
After a few minutes, it stopped weaving between the towers and shot down towards the ground.
Harry and Cho shot after it before the straight-line speed of Harry's Firebolt easily outpaced Cho's Comet 260 and the distance between the two started to increase.
"Oh no!" Harry heard Cho call out from behind him.
Harry turned around to her to see her looking right past him with a look of shock on her face.
He followed her eye line as his Firebolt started to slow down and his heart froze in his chest.
There was what appeared to be three Dementors were around fifteen feet in front of him looking straight at him.
Not wasting any time Harry whipped out his wand and pointed it at the three Dementors.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" shouted Harry conjuring up the image of his holiday to the Caribbean with his Parents and Siblings.
A flash of white burst from his wand as he passed the Dementor's knocking them to the floor which resulted in noises of shock, excitement and awe being heard around the stadium.
Harry put his wand away shooting after the Snitch as it started to gain some height once again, hoping that the Dementors would not come after him again.
Barely ten seconds passed before he reached out and wrapped his hand around the Snitch causing cheers to erupt from the Gryffindor students.
"AND POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH… GRYFFINDOR WIN WITH A FINAL SCORE OF 300 POINTS TO RAVENCLAW'S 70… THAT WILL MAKE FOR SOME VERY INTERESTING FINAL GAMES FOR BOTH TEAMS NEXT MONTH!" shouted Lee who then added his cheers to the noise from his fellow Gryffindors.
Returning to the ground along with the rest of his teammates, Harry saw Narcissa stood alone in the centre of the pitch looking at him with a proud yet amused look on her face.
Remembering that she was his teacher as well as his Mother for this school year Harry refrained from giving her a hug.
Nothing was going to wipe the smile off of his face though.
"I did it… I cast a Patronus to stop those Dementors" said Harry.
Narcissa smirked at him.
"That was some truly exceptional magic for a Third Year… but, about those Dementors" said Narcissa with a sort of teasing tone she would often use when cracking a joke.
"What about them?" said Harry curiously as the shock started to wear off.
"See for yourself" said Narcissa before she stroked his shoulder once and walked away from him.
As she left his line of vision, Harry saw that what he had originally thought were three Dementors were actually Lucan Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Marcus Flint disguised as Dementors no doubt intending to scare him into losing.
The four boys, with Malfoy having been sat on Flint's shoulders had been shocked when Harry cast a Patronus Charm at them sending them back to the floor in shock revealing themselves and their stupidity to the entire stadium.
While the four boys were still on the floor Harry saw a very angry Professor Mcgonagall marching towards them as her voice became audible.
"UNBELIEVABLE… DESPICABLE… PRETENDING TO BE DEMENTORS IN AN EFFORT TO SCARE ONE OF YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS INTO LOSING A QUIDDITCH MATCH… I EXPECT THE HEADMASTER WILL BE WANTING TO HAVE WORDS WITH ALL FOUR OF YOU… AND HERE HE COMES NOW!" shouted Professor Mcgonagall as cheers turned to laughter around the stadium.
As Harry watched Dumbledore marching towards Professor Mcgonagall and the four boys, he was caught unaware as his teammates hoisted him up into the air to carry him out of the stadium to begin the celebrations.
13th April 1994
Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team were sat in their tent thinking about their upcoming match against Slytherin. The match that would see them lift the cup with a victory thanks to Hufflepuff getting a narrow 180 to 140 victory against Ravenclaw last week.
Even though they lost, Ravenclaw were still leading the way in the Quidditch Cup points rankings with 580 points while Gryffindor only had 390 points which meant that Gryffindor had to win this game by at least 200 points to win the Quidditch Cup.
The tensions between the two rival Houses had been running at an all-time high over the last two weeks with members of the Gryffindor Team being the victims of frequent attacks from the Slytherin Team.
Alicia Spinnet had been hit in the back with a spell that caused her eyebrows to grow down to her shoulders while she was studying in the library. Professor Snape didn't help matters by ignoring all the claims from students who saw Adrien Pucey hit her with the spell.
Wood turned to face them.
"Well, it's pretty clear after the last two weeks that the Slytherin's are doing anything they can to gain the advantage" said Wood.
"No surprises there" said Fred.
"They're only doing this because they know we can beat them, so expect their behaviour to increase tenfold in this game, be prepared for anything, understood?" said Wood.
They nodded.
"Good, now let's get out there and win that Quidditch Cup" said Wood.
"Here here" George called out.
Wood picked up his broom.
Harry and the others stood up picking up their brooms before they all left the tent.
They flew out onto the pitch to earth-shattering cheers.
"AND HERE COME THE MIGHTY LIONS, THANKS TO THEIR VICTORY AGAINST RAVENCLAW LAST MONTH, ANOTHER VICTORY TODAY WITH A SCORELINE EXCEEDING AT LEAST 200 POINTS WILL GUARANTEE THEM THE QUIDDITCH CUP, ANY LESS AND THE QUIDDITCH CUP GOES TO RAVENCLAW SO WE'RE IN FOR AN EXCITING LAST MATCH OF THE SEASON!" said Lee which resulted in an enormous amount of cheers.
Lee took a deep breath and smirked.
"BUT THE WAY I SEE IT… I DOUBT MOST OF YOU WILL DISAGREE WHEN I SAY THAT I'D HATE TO SEE THOSE FILTHY SNAKES GET THEIR GRUBBY LITTLE HANDS ON A QUIDDITCH CUP THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO LIFT!" shouted Lee which got even more cheers and jeers from the students.
"JORDAN, GET ON WITH THE INTRODUCTIONS" shouted Professor Mcgonagall.
"CAPTAIN OLIVER WOOD AS KEEPER, HARRY POTTER SHOWING ALL OF US HOW GOOD FIREBOLTS ARE AS SEEKER, FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY AS BEATERS, KATIE BELL, ALICIA SPINNET AND ANGELINA JOHNSON AS CHASERS, LOVE YOU BABY!" shouted Lee to deafening cheers around the stadium.
Harry smirked at Angelina who shook her head in disbelief.
Harry looked over to the towers above the Gryffindor's James, Narcissa, Sirius, Remus, Julia, Ted, Andromeda and Nymphadora cheering them on while to his surprise, Druella Black was stood applauding him no doubt proud of her Grandson even though she never enjoyed Quidditch when she was a student.
Harry flew into the centre of the pitch directly opposite Lucan who was looking at his Firebolt and scowling with envy.
"Jealous much Lukie-poo… Daddy obviously doesn't think highly enough of your ability to waste his money on buying you a Firebolt" said Harry laughing.
Lucan snarled.
"Shut up Potter" snarled Lucan.
Madam Hooch made Wood and Flint shake hands with the two trying to break each other's fingers.
She released the Bludgers and Snitch before picking the Quaffle up.
The Gryffindor's shared glances with each other nodding as they readied themselves for their most important Quidditch match so far.
She threw the Quaffle into the air before mounting her broom and shooting up into the sky to fulfil her refereeing duties.
As Katie caught the Quaffle it became clear how far the Slytherin team were prepared to go to win.
Flint flew forwards and grabbed hold of Katie by her ponytail before leaning back on his broom forcing her to do a backwards cartwheel. She managed to stay on her broom but dropped the Quaffle in the process.
Shouts were heard from the Gryffindor students as Madam Hooch blew her whistle.
"Penalty to Gryffindor!" shouted Madam Hooch.
Angelina took the penalty and scored to cheers from the Gryffindors.
"TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR, TAKE THAT YOU CHEATING SCUM!" shouted Lee.
"JORDAN!" shouted Professor Mcgonagall.
As the first twenty minutes of the match took place, Gryffindor carried on scoring points while the Slytherin's got even dirtier.
Montague tried to kick Alicia off her broom as she prepared to shoot at the Slytherin hoops with Madam Hooch awarding Gryffindor another penalty.
Katie scored the penalty giving Gryffindor a fifty to twenty lead meaning giving Harry the chance to win the Quidditch Cup if he caught the Snitch.
Barely a few minutes later Flint deliberately barged into Angelina almost knocking her off her broom while making no attempt to get the Quaffle from her.
"YOU CHEATING BAST-!" shouted Lee.
"JORDAN, FOCUS ON THE MATCH!" shouted Professor Mcgonagall who must have been working extremely hard not to join in with his raging.
Alicia missed the subsequent penalty before Fred threw his beater bat at Flint breaking his nose causing Hooch to give a rare penalty to Slytherin.
Harry smirked as Wood easily saved the penalty from Warrington before returning to his search for the Snitch noticing that Lucan was doing the same.
In retaliation, both Adrian Pucey and David Avery hit both Bludgers into Wood's stomach knocking the wind out of him.
"YOU CHEATING BASTARDS!" shouted Lee.
Professor Mcgonagall had given up on shouting at Lee and was angrily shouting and waving her fists at the Slytherin Beaters.
Ten minutes later with the score at one hundred and thirty to fifty in favour of Gryffindor, Harry spotted a glint of gold near the Slytherin hoops and took off after it.
Suddenly both Slytherin Beaters were alongside him mere inches from his broom preparing to swing their bats at him.
Harry used the breaks on his Firebolt causing them to quickly overtake him before hitting each other in the chest with their bats throwing them from their brooms to the ground with ringing thuds.
"YOUR NO MATCH FOR POTTER BOYS… I WOULD SAY HE'S JUST MADE YOU LOOK LIKE TALENTLESS IDIOTS BUT I THINK YOU DID THAT YOURSELVES!" shouted Lee as cheers and jeers erupted from the Gryffindor students as Pucey and Avery slowly got back to their feet.
Harry charged towards the Snitch which was flying towards the Gryffindor hoops.
As Harry got closer to the snitch his broom jerked underneath him which might have thrown him off if he did not have such a tight grip on the handle.
"YOU CHEATING BASTARD!" shouted Lee as boos rang out around the stadium.
Harry looked behind him to see that Lucan had grabbed hold of the tail twigs with his hand and was pulling his broom backwards.
"Sorry Malfoy, not gonna work!" shouted Harry.
He removed his right foot from the footrest and kicked Lucan's hand hard probably breaking a few fingers in the process.
Lucan screamed in pain letting go of Harry's broom holding onto his fingers.
Harry surged forwards and closed his hands around the Snitch.
"I've done it" thought Harry in shock before he raised his hand holding the Snitch high above his head for everyone to see.
"POTTER'S DONE IT, HE'S GOT THE SNITCH, GRYFFINDOR WIN BY 240 POINTS TO 60, THAT BRINGS THEIR POINTS TOTAL UP TO 630… WHICH MEANS GRYFFINDOR ARE THE CHAMPIONS!" shouted Lee as cheers erupted from all the students except the Slytherins.
He jumped up in celebration and hugged Professor Mcgonagall catching her off guard as Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor team flew to the centre of the pitch.
Harry felt himself get mobbed by the three Chasers getting kisses on the cheek from each girl turning his cheeks as red as his uniform.
Fred and George wrapped him in a mid-air one-armed hug apiece before Wood did the same.
"Well done Potter, well done!" shouted Wood sounding relieved that he had finally won the Quidditch Cup as Captain at the last available opportunity.
Once they had finished celebrating with each other flew towards the teacher's tower and landed on it dismounting their brooms with adrenaline and excitement pumping through their veins.
Professor Mcgonagall handed the Quidditch Cup to Wood before standing next to him.
They all turned in the direction of the stadium and lifted the trophy high into the air.
Roars of "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!" and "GO, GO GRYFFINDOR!" bellowed around the stadium.
Harry and the others made their way back down to the pitch followed by Professor Mcgonagall where all of the Gryffindor's came charging onto the pitch picking them all up in the air carrying them.
Professor Mcgonagall refused to be hoisted into the air and instead joined the crowd of her students.
"Party in the Gryffindor Common Room everyone!" shouted Lee.
The rest of the students cheered as they carried the Gryffindor team off the pitch and back up to the castle.
27th April 1994
"Sit down Mr Potter" said Professor Snape who was sat at the desk in his classroom.
As Edward took the seat offered to him by his Head Of House and noticed that Professor Snape's desk which was usually tidy save for a few potions bottles and a size two cauldron, there were several leaflets and small booklets on his desk all of which were neatly placed and organised.
Most of the leaflets and booklets had been made available to the Fifth Year students in the Common Room for them to research their potential future careers though there were a few on the desk which Edward had never seen before.
Once he was comfortable in the chair Professor Snape leaned forwards on the desk.
"Have you studied the information provided to you Mr Potter?" said Professor Snape sternly.
"I have Professor" said Edward.
Professor Snape nodded.
"And what career path are you considering?" said Professor Snape testily.
Edward straightened up.
"I was considering taking a career in the Ministry Of Magic Professor" said Edward.
Professor Snape nodded with approval.
"A good choice of career, have you considered which Department you would like to join?" said Professor Snape.
"The Department of International Magical Cooperation, or the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as my second choice" said Edward.
Professor Snape looked at him with a serious look on his face.
"The Department of International Magical Cooperation only takes the best applicants Mr Potter… if you wish to work in that department then you will need to achieve as many Newts as possible, between ten and twelve ought to be enough" said Professor Snape.
He handed a leaflet to Edward which went through the duties involved with working for the Department of International Magical Cooperation.
"The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has a more… relaxed recruitment policy when it comes to the number of Newts required, most students with six or more Newts tend to be accepted for jobs in the DMLE, usually in their Administration Department" said Professor Snape.
He handed another leaflet to Edward.
"Do you have any questions about your potential career choices?" said Professor Snape testily.
Edward placed both leaflets neatly into his robe pocket.
"No Professor" said Edward politely.
Professor Snape straightened up.
"Very well" said Professor Snape.
He opened one of the drawers on his desk and pulled out a scroll of parchment unrolling it.
"As for your grades… you have a mixture of Exceeds Expectations and Outstanding grades so nothing to worry about here, the required grade to take each class at Newt level is Exceeds Expectations, so with your current grades I would expect you to achieve at least Exceeds Expectations on all of your Owl exams" said Professor Snape reading through the parchment scroll which was actually Edward's grade sheet.
Though he had initially wanted to make his Newt Potions class accessible only to students who achieved Outstanding on their Potions Owl so he would only take the best students into his class. Dumbledore had overruled him by saying that he needs to change his grade requirement and he was forced to follow the Headmasters decision.
"And what would your advice be for taking my Newt's Professor?" said Edward.
Professor Snape clasped his hands together.
"Yes… my advice would be to choose as many Newt classes as you can, it would mean more work and studying… but I know you are up to the workload required Mr Potter" said Professor Snape seriously.
Edward nodded.
"Is there anything else Professor?" said Edward.
Professor Snape rolled the scroll back up and placed it back in his desk drawer.
"You can go" said Professor Snape closing his desk drawer.