Back on the ground, Harry looked around at his teammates, who were staring at him with glee, making him a little unnerved. 'Why do you all look insanely happy?'

Wood stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. 'After that practice, we have no doubt you're bringing us victory this year.'

'That's a lot of pressure. I mean, I was struggling to not get hit up there.'

'Just trust us on this one, Harry, we've got every faith in you. Isn't that right, guys?'

The girls, as one, replied, 'Ahem.'

'And ladies?' he appended.

Harry watched the team nod and agree, helping him feel a little better.

'So, we'll see you back here tomorrow night for snitch training.'

Once everything was packed up, it was just the twins and Harry left making their way back to the tower where Gryffindors called home. A thought occurred to him along one of the many torch-lit corridors. 'Have you two seen what's in the third-floor corridor?'

They shook their heads. 'We've tried to go a few times,' Fred began.

'But every time, we suddenly remembered something urgent we had to do.'

'So there's a compulsion charm around and we haven't cracked which one yet.'

'But once we do, it'll be worth it.'

His mind took it in, adding his own pieces to the puzzle.

'Morning Harry, late night?' John asked.

He finished his stretch before joining him by the fireplace. 'Yeah, had a bit of work I wanted to get done.'

'On a Saturday night? Would I be better off asking who rather than what it was?'

A slight blush at the insinuation, but he recovered quickly enough. 'I forgot I promised Hermione I would help her research something today and I'd rather sleep past breakfast than make her angry. She has a "creative" mind when it comes to revenge.'

John's reply was a raised eyebrow at the ending. 'What are you two looking up?'

Harry winked. 'It's a secret.'

'Oh?'

'I'll tell you what, I'll trade. You know what I want to know.'

He looked uncomfortable as he thought about it. 'You've made this much more serious, you know that?' Harry nodded. 'Two conditions and they're not up for debate. Firstly, tell me yours first and then I'll see if it's enough to make sure you don't share mine. I know it's very Slytherin of me, but I have to make sure. Secondly, I'm going to talk to them about it on the last day of school. You're not going to get involved, but feel free to try and convince me to do it sooner.'

Much to his relief, a smile was Harry's reply. 'I was given an invisibility cloak that was my dad's. Not sure yet, but Hermione thinks it does a bit more than it should.'

'Your father's?' He slid into thoughts. 'As far as I know, they generally get worse with time. If it's that old, it should barely be more than just a cloak.'

Harry shrugged. 'It's still in perfect condition, I could not show you if you don't believe me.'

'I'm not sure if I should call it a quick wit when it takes you so long to write it down.' He chuckled at the glare he got, though it hastily melted into a grin. 'It's a little weak for a secret, but I guess if anything odd happens, I can blame you. Can I borrow your quill and parchment?'

He nodded, handing them over. A few seconds later, he got them back as well as a name.

'Just, don't lie to me. If this changes our friendship, tell me so I don't go around thinking the wrong things.' His voice hitched as he finally said, 'Please, whatever you decide, keep this between us.'

'"Life is too short for prejudice and too long for resent." Something I read and liked.'

His smile returned. 'I feel like we should be clinking pitchers of Butterbeer right about now.'

Harry stalked through the castle, a slight detour on his way to the second round of secret training. He checked no one was coming before slipping down the dark corridor. There were a handful of doors on either side before the hallway finished in a dead end. He checked each door as he went, finding dusty classrooms, until the last on the left was locked.

Jostling the handle didn't work, cementing his thought. He pushed his ear against it, focusing on anything that might be in there. That's when he heard the deep breaths and there was definitely more than one thing breathing.

Not knowing how to continue, he returned to his journey to the Quidditch pitch. He was, once again, greeted by a group of glows. Before he knew it, he found himself hurtling through the air.

He loved it. He loved the wind whipping against him; the rush of adrenaline as he watches a blurry bludger narrowly slam passed; the pull, as he swerves, threatening to throw him off. That was all forgotten as he heard a loud crunch and was lurched into a crude spin, quickly dropping.

A few non-magical curses sounded below as most of the lights blinked out. His free fall slowed, an unnatural push upwards countering it. He could barely stand when his feet met ground, but he held the landing. Taking his wand out, it glowed, allowing the others to easily find him.

Surrounded, he took a last breath before dropping to the ground.

'Dammit Wood, what did I say about killing him?'

Wood flinched. 'He's still alive, isn't he?'

Harry pushed back, getting into a sitting position. The twins joined the group, sharing the angry stares directed at their captain, broken only when Harry passed up a note. 'I'm sorry I let you all down. I'll do better, if you let me.'

'I have to tell him, don't I?' They all nodded. Wood dropped down so he was crouching in front of Harry. 'Err, as you know, I wanted to keep you a secret. To make sure of that, I wanted to delay any training to right before the match and, well, make it a bit more intensive.'

He paused as two of the girls snorted, the other muttering, 'Just a bit.'

'I wasn't exactly lying yesterday when I said it was beater training yesterday. I may have not told you that we use special bludgers to train our beaters.' Wood waited while Harry jotted.

'What do you mean "special bludgers"?'

He grinned sheepishly. 'They have a few extra charms to make them fly a tiny bit faster.'

'Yeah, about twice as fast,' Fred commented.

Wood cringed. 'Uh, not quite that much, a noticeable amount though.'

'Any particular reason why?'

George took a peek. 'He's in league with the evil mastermind Ronald.'

'I'm not sure you can be a mastermind without a brain.'

'He has a good point, Fred.'

'But you're Fred, I'm George!'

'Are you sure?'

'No, I'm Fred.'

'Didn't you just say you were George?'

'Didn't you just say I was Fred?'

'Huh, well I guess there isn't a problem.'

Wood whispered, 'So help me Merlin,' as the girls just took it in good humour.

Harry tried to use what subtle differences he had picked up to distinguish the two, but found it impossible in the slight wand-light.

'Anyway,' Wood said, 'I know I'm not in a position to, but I want a favour Potter. I want you to go out there on Saturday and fly circles around Slytherin's seeker. With a crappy broom, it'll be tough, but that's why I pushed you so hard.'

Silence descended as they awaited his reply. 'Well, let's go get another broom.' Wood smirked, clapping him on the back and going over to a barely visible shed before returning with a replacement.

Once in the air, a girl asked, 'You should've told him about the bet too.'

'I agree with Katie,' Angela added.

'You too Alicia?' She nodded. 'I don't want him to know in case we lose. Even though I know we're going to win, that doesn't mean I want him to feel even worse if something goes wrong. Anyway, don't you want to see his face when we hand over the winnings?'

Rather lethargically, Harry dropped beside Hermione and picked up a plate. After a piece of toast, he started the write-up of what he learnt last night. Hermione took a few minutes to process everything he had said. 'So, you think your cloak is resistant to magic?' He nodded. 'I guess there's one easy way to test it - you can just try to levitate it or use some other spell. As for that door, well, there's gotta be a spell for unlocking doors, don't you think?'

He nodded. 'Wood wants me to focus on Quidditch right now, but don't let that stop you. Could always ask an older student if they know any.'

'Okay. I'm just a bit worried about what's behind that door, are you sure you didn't recognise it?'

Harry rolled his eyes. 'I don't remember what every animal's breathing sounds like, but I can tell you it's probably not an owl.'

'Only a few other things it could be then.'

'We are only popping in, so it shouldn't really be a problem.'

She tutted. 'It could be dangerous, even if we just looked at it before locking it back up.'

'Or it could just be a giant three-headed dog who enjoys the taste of children.'

'Don't be silly, why would the headmaster allow one of those in the school?'

Harry shrugged. 'Why would he offer to look after something that someone, who is no doubt evil, is after and keep it in a school full of kids?'

'I, uh...' Hermione took a few minutes trying to think up a sensible offer, but nothing came to mind.

'Are you ready, Potter?' Wood asked.

Time had flown by and the last few days seemed closer to minutes than hours in Harry's mind. He nodded, gripping his broom tighter. The billowing announcement from Lee pulsed through the changing room. After a final nod between each other, they set into a line: Wood first, followed by the three chasers, then the two beaters and Harry last.

Emerging onto the pitch, he couldn't believe his eyes. He had seen the stands before, but there was something amazingly different about them now they were practically bursting at the seams from the bubbly crowd.

At first, he thought there were a lot more Gryffindors than Slytherins, but he quickly realised the other two houses were there cheering in red and gold. He pondered whether a select few people were there as he wasn't sure if Quidditch was their thing.

Beside them, the Slytherin team was also leading out. Despite being weary of their size, he was quite pleased at the look of shock and confusion on the team as, for the first time, they discovered who the secret seeker was.

He was aware of names being announced and the crowd responding, but the vicious heartbeats kept him on thoughts of flying. Hooch began talking, but he didn't care.

The whistled sounded.

A handful of seconds went passed and already he was as high as he dared. Looking down, he could make out the individual players and, more importantly, the blurs that were the bludgers. Wood had warned him that there was a good chance Flint would set the beaters on him, trying to take out the unknown.

That's why he grinned when he dived. The wind screeched passed as he picked up speed, doing his best to circle the pair of muscle-bound, bat-wielding beaters. It turns out Wood's prediction was spot on as one got pelted at him.

Compared to the bludgers he was used to, it was easy to slip to the side, making it look like a near-miss even though he could have put at least a metre between them. He found it odd that now, of all times, he thought about how much Hermione was going to scream at him after watching two or three hours of nearly being smacked in the face.

Then again, he was supposed to end this as soon as possible. Pulling up, he began the first of what would be countless courses across the pitch. He was, strangely, disappointed at how boring it was due to the twins doing well at keeping the bludgers firing at the Slytherins.

However, it did become interesting after an hour and a half, a few snitch sightings and countless, effortless dodges. At first it was a small humming and he thought that the broom might just want him to slow down a little, but it kept getting worse.

That's when he spotted the snitch not too far away, hovering above and between two stands - it was seemingly waiting for someone to notice it.

Deciding that it would be hard enough to get anyone's attention, he focused himself on the single goal. Almost as if it knew what was coming, the snitch began a long, descending arc. A final breath and the literally shaken Harry began his half-controlled hurtle towards the ground.

A few picked up on his dive, word hurriedly spreading. A smaller group commented on the peculiar flightpath.

He struggled to keep his arms firm, but so far his aim was true. The distance between the golden smear and him shrunk. A last-ditch attempt at freedom began with the snitch dropping till it skimmed the grass, but Harry kept close, staying slightly higher to make sure he didn't peg into the ground.

Somewhere behind him, Harry knew the Slytherin seeker was hastily gaining thanks to a much better broom than his own. This was it and he knew it. Another grin spread as the recklessness of what he was about to do settled in.

The whole stadium held their breath as they watched the young seeker dive off his broom, his right hand swiping at the air, his other arm stretching out protectively and cracking while he collided with the floor.

Everyone watched as he seemingly lifelessly rolled across the floor, tumbling like a rag-doll.

Lee, using his omnocular, zoomed in on Harry's hand. 'Potter has the snitch! Gryffindor three-hundred and sixty, Slytherin one-hundred and ninety, Gryffindor win!'

'Harry?' He opened his eyes and they immediately darted to his hand. Hermione tutted. 'Yes, you caught it.' His fingers uncurled and there it was, sitting there. 'Madam Pomfrey tried to remove it, but even when unconscious you're awfully stubborn, did you know that?'

He simply grinned and her stern look slowly faded.

'If I weren't so mad at you for scaring me more than half to death, I'd be proud enough to burst.' His eyes drifted to his other arm and she cringed. 'Do you know how gross it is to see bone sticking out of an arm, because now I do.'

His chuckles hurt, but he thought them worth it. Gently, he placed the snitch onto his stomach before making a show of writing in the air. Hermione caught on and brought out a quill and parchment from her bag.

'Did I break anything when Wood hugged me?'

She smirked. 'She isn't sure, but Madam Pomfrey thinks he could have broken a rib. Speaking of Wood, he was here until a little while ago when I think it was Alicia stopped by to get him, something about collecting their winnings.'

'I wish I could have seen the Slytherins' face.'

'Lee stopped by with the team, he caught them all on his omnocular, so just ask him.' She shifted slightly, looking a bit nervous. 'Susan also came by, to check you were okay.'

He smiled, but noticed the subtle changes. 'I'm glad she did, but I'm more happy that my best friend is here with me now.'

The door to the infirmary swung open, revealing a beaming Gryffindor Quidditch team. 'Three cheers for the Boy-Who-Dived!'

Harry, and Hermione, winced at the nickname. 'It is better than the Boy-Who-Lived.' She held back the giggle that tried to escape.

'Now then Potter, we've got a little victory present for you and before you say you don't deserve or want one, too bad, because you're having it.'

'You earned it anyway, haven't seen someone go that far for the snitch in a while,' Katie added.

The twins, carrying a long, thin package between them, offered it to Harry in an overly dramatic fashion. He took it and slowly began undoing the paper, only stopping to wipe away a tear.

'Harry, are you crying?' Hermione asked.

He paused, picking up his writing utensils. 'It just reminds me of something, that's all.'

She wanted to push further, but held her tongue. The last layer unravelled, he lay the broomstick on his lap before running his good hand along it, stopping to inspect the golden etching near the end.

'Thank you all so much, I love it. Just having my own broom would have been great, but a Nimbus 2000!' They had nothing else to say, opting to give a last smile and pat on the back before leaving him to his recovery. 'The first ever present I got, that's what it reminded me of.'

She read it, wondering. 'I thought you weren't raised in the wizarding world, so why did you get a broomstick?'

'Not a broomstick, just a stick. It belonged to an old friend of mine. We would get sticks and pretend we were pirates or something having a sword fight. He found a really nice one and I would beg him to use it, but he never let me. Instead, he wrapped it up in some old newspapers and gave it to me for my seventh birthday.'

'He sounds like a good friend,' she sadly said, thinking of how much he had told her.

'He was the best I could ever hope for.'

'Feeling better?'

Harry grinned back at John, taking a seat in the near-deserted common room, as dinner was just starting. He gently propped his new broom against the chair. 'Left arm is a bit stiff, hurts to take deep breaths, otherwise fine.'

John smiled. 'That's good to hear. I didn't think Pomfrey would let you out before Monday morning. A day for all that, it must be a record.'

He shrugged. 'I can be persuasive. Did have to promise never to do that again though.'

'If you want some other stupid and crazy stunt ideas, I could push back some of my potions homework?'

'Gah, that hurt!' Harry replied after a painful laugh.

'Sorry, couldn't help myself.'

He huffed. 'That would be more believable if you looked even a little remorseful.'

'What can I say? One of us has to at least say the right things. Anyway, where's Hermione? Didn't think she would leave you alone.'

'I told her to go eat something or I would make sure I broke at least twice as many bones in my next match.'

John casually gasped. 'You dastardly fiend!'

'Again!' He clutched his side.

'I'll try to keep serious,' he said with a smirk.

Harry shook his head. 'Of course you will.'

'That does remind me though, do you know Cormac, Daniel and Jamie, second years?' Harry nodded. 'I don't know what they're planning, but if I had to guess, it's revenge for you. It's happening tonight, but I don't know who or where.'

'I'll talk to them after dinner, thanks.'

He gingerly stood up, picking up his gift and dropping it off in his room before a quick change and shower. With that done, he joined the hustle and bustle of the great hall. Hermione was eager to talk and, after only having a sip of his drink, the goblet clanked against the wood. 'Are you sure?'

'Of course I am,' Hermione said, 'I saw him staring at you and chanting, it must have been him jinxing your broom.'

'Why would Snape do that though?'

She pouted. 'I'm not sure. I mean, he acts awful in potions, but he does that to most Gryffindors. He is the the head of Slytherin, so maybe he just wanted to make sure his team won?'

He shook his head. 'Wood said it has never happened before, so it must be more serious than that.' Harry looked up at the staff table. 'We did tell McGonagall that we knew about the stone, what if she or Dumbledore told Snape we knew about it?'

'You think he tried to kill you because you know about the stone? Why would he do that?'

'I'm not sure, but we can't leave it. Maybe we should actually ask him?'

A strong blush sprung up after she snorted loudly, getting more than a few stares. 'Why wouldn't it be a good idea to go talk to someone who tried to kill you?'

'You can wait outside and if he does kill me, you can go tell a teacher,or tell the twins and they can avenge my death – I think that would be a lot more fun.'

'I don't think anyone deserves that, even if they did kill you.'

Silence descended while they finished off their meal and returned to the indisputably comfy common room. Harry kept an eye out for the trio that had been brought to his attention, but as time went on, they still hadn't entered after dinner. With curfew approaching, he started asking around.

'Have you two seen Cormac, Daniel or Jamie? It's important.'

The twins looked between each other. 'Important, you say?' Harry nodded. 'We'll go ask, give us a minute.'

They disappeared up the stairs, leaving a confused Harry. True to their word, they scrambled down the stairs a minute later. 'They're waiting around near McGonagall's classroom, a couple of corridors towards the Great Hall.'

'Thanks. I'll wait until tomorrow then.' With that he went up into his dorm, wondering why they had stayed out of the common room since dinner. Armed with his cloak, he made his way back down and took up post beside the exit, waiting for a chance.

He didn't have to wait long and slipped out. Being late, the only people around were a handful of prefects who were easy enough to get passed given he was invisible.

Nearly where the twins said, he spotted one of the three boys mentioned, acting as a lookout he thought. Creeping around him, the two others were waiting a bit further up in a small alcove. 'He's coming,' Cormac whispered down to Jamie.

The two stepped out, third joining them. At the end of the hallway, a boy had rounded the corner and started walking down. He stopped when the three larger boys weren't too far ahead.

'Wh-what do you want?' he asked, Harry recognising the voice.

'No need to be scared, we just want to have a little talk,' Cormac said.

'About?'

Daniel answered, 'You know.'

The boy flinched, slinking backwards as the others stepped forwards. 'You can't outrun us and no one is around to hear you scream.'

Harry, using an alcove for cover, took off his cloak. The boy stared as Harry approached. He tapped Cormac on his shoulder. 'Potter! Did you want to join us?'

He shook his head, stepping passed them so he was between them and the boy.

'What are you doing? We're only here to teach him some manners.'

He shook his head, stretching his arms out in a protective gesture.

'Dammit Potter, we're doing this for you! He deserves it, he could've killed you!'

He shook his head, staring down Cormac until he flinched.

'Fine, see if we care.' He turned. 'Come on Silvers, Dawson.'

Harry dropped his arms once they made it passed the corner, giving his left a few rubs. Behind him, he heard the question he knew was coming, 'Why?'

'I'm not that kind of person.'

When he looked up, Harry was gone.

Cloak back on, he was making his way back, slowly so he didn't run into any of them. Lost in thought, he only noticed the cat when it loudly mewed. Despite nearly dropping the cloak in fright, he managed to stay composed.

He stepped around it, but it sniffed and set itself back on his track. 'What is it Mrs Norris?' said the croaky voice of Filch. Making a decision, Harry set off at a run, hoping the cat wouldn't follow him, but he wasn't that lucky.

Not paying attention to where he was going, he found himself at a dead end, the cat still hot on his heels and the distant ramblings of Filch. Looking around, there were some doors. He grasped the nearest one, desperately hoping it was open.

A click and it opened. Inside, the stale air nearly made him wretch, but he held it back and silently closed the door. He pressed his ear against it. Mrs Norris purred on the other side and he heard Filch's footsteps.

'Come now Mrs Norris, I have to go check the second floor toilets.' Harry let out a long breath, Filch leaving with a hissing cat. Turning around to check the room he ended up in, he became aware that he wasn't alone.

'Wait, what? A giant, two-headed cat?' Harry nodded. 'I... don't know what to say.' Hermione could merely stare at the early morning reading material she had laid in front of her.

'Seems I wasn't far off with my three-headed dog suggestion.'

Rather than comfort her, she seemed even more depressed by the reminder. 'At least it should be safe.' She would have gone on, but Harry stopped her, pointing to her side.

'Erm, hi.'

'What do you want?' she asked, annoyance in her voice.

He gulped, hastily saying, 'I wanted to apologise for what I said.'

Harry smiled while Hermione, still in shock, replied, 'Thank you.' A very embarrassed Ron took that as his cue to leave, going back over to the sofa where the other first-year boys he normally spent his time were. 'You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?'

'I have a thought, but not sure. He's quite a big fan of Quidditch.'

'You think he was just apologising to me so you would talk to him?'

'Like I said, I'm not sure. He did seem like he really was sorry though, maybe someone else pointed out how stupid he was acting.'

Her eyes narrowed. 'Do you think he is going to act like he did again?'

He shrugged. 'He did what I asked him to do, so I'll talk to him. If he starts acting up, then I'll stop. Nothing more to it. Of course, if all he talks about is Quidditch, then...'

'You could always get him to talk to Wood. From what everyone says, Quidditch is all he talks about as well.'

'I'll thank you later if it works out. In the mean time, how's Neville?'

'I'm still helping him a lot, but I think his only problem is that he has no confidence. He's really into herbology though, keeps telling me about plants he grew before coming to Hogwarts. Also mentioned something about the Weasley twins asking him to grow some Asphodel.'

'I'm not the only one worried, am I?'

After some pushing from Hermione, they found an empty classroom in the afternoon. 'Wingardium leviosa!' The cloak followed her flick, shooting up before she lowered it back down. 'Well, maybe it only isn't affected by some spells?'

Harry thought it over. He picked it up and slung it over his shoulders, so just his head was visible.

'Want me to try again?' A nod then the hood came up. She repeated the incantation and movement, but nothing, as far as she could see, happened. 'Did it work?'

His head popped back into existence, shaking. 'Try a spell you can see, I'll stand in the same place.'

She nodded. 'Rictusempra!' The silver sliver of light darted across until it struck the other wall. 'Erm, did I miss?'

The hood dropped down, Harry's head floating a bit above where the charm had been.

'It... went through you?'

'I think I quite like this cloak.'

Author Notes

A little more is revealed about Harry, but is everything as straightforward as it seems? Why did Ron suddenly apologise to Hermione? Will Snape kill Harry and suffer the wrath of the Weasley twins? How does a sentient hat know when it needs to sleep?

One thing that did bother me, in canon, was that a very expensive, top-of-the-range racing broom was bought for Harry. I'm also hoping no one minds my little poke at Dumbles nor my alteration of Fluffy.

Next up, Christmas rolls around, along with the Mirror of Erised, some more character building and a few important stepping stones for later on. Overall, it should be a busy chapter.

Tweak: The final of the scene break and time addition chapters, hurrah!