Chapter 26 – Fun and Games

As much as Harry wanted to devote time to the many mysteries he found surrounding himself, he couldn't. Snakes in the dungeons could – would have to – wait; Draco was strange, but also stuck at school. Not only did Harry have a full set of lessons to attend, he needed to practise for the upcoming second round of the speed race, and on top of that Hooch was putting on hazard training. That would have been enough to be getting on with, but Harry had Duelling Club with Flitwick, and extra sparring practise with Tracey.

It was almost enough to make him regret some of his choices.

But only almost.

After all, Harry felt like flying was a thrill like none other he'd ever had, and duelling was the best test of his abilities outside of actual combat. No, what Harry regretted was not having a Time-Turner so he could get more hours in and still muck around with his friends.

"You are going to come and watch the Charms Club demonstrational after lessons tomorrow, aren't you, Harry?" Daphne said on Thursday evening as they all sat around the study desks in the Common Room doing homework. "I know you're very busy but I think it would do you some good to relax for a little while." She paused. "You don't have to, but…"

"What she means is," Millicent said, interrupting, "she wants you to, and she'll be upset if you don't."

"I, er—" said Harry. He'd been about to decline – politely – but he thought the better of it. Daphne had been there to watch all of Harry's events, and even if the Charms Club demonstrational wasn't technically speaking a Triwizard Tournament event, it would be churlish to decline.

And Tracey was making eyes at him from behind Daphne, so he knew declining the invitation was the wrong thing to do, socially speaking.

"Of course I'll come," Harry said instead. "What is it you're demonstrating?"

"Summoner's Court," Daphne said. "It's a team competition between the three schools. Just a little bit of fun. Miss Evergloam arranged it."

Harry nodded.

They'd played games on the Summoner's Court before, of course. Most often during Charms lessons, but Harry knew some students played recreationally. And Charms Club was always putting on little competitions between students – although Harry didn't usually participate. Not his sort of thing.

Not the most exciting thing to watch, either, in Harry's opinion… but that was beside the point.

"What time is it?"

"Oh, just after lessons. It shouldn't go on long—it's not like your events!" Daphne said. "But we—Charms Club, I mean—were a bit worried no one would come. Can you imagine?"

"Nobody would ever skip Summoner's Court," drawled Blaise. "So there's nothing at all to worry about. There'll be crowds all the way to Hogsmeade, I bet."

Harry ignored Blaise.

"That would be embarrassing," Harry said. "Don't worry—I'll be there. I'll ask Ernie and Justin and Susan to come, too."

"Bones is in Charms Club with me, actually," Daphne said, "so they'll probably be there anyway! But thank you so much—you can be really sweet sometimes! Now, who's got an answer for Vector's last problem? I can't figure out whether I need…"

And that was the rest of Harry's night. They spent the remainder of the evening, right up to curfew, working on homework together.

The next day, even though Daphne had said they were probably already going, Harry checked in with Ernie too. It was the least he could do. Daphne had been right, of course, but Harry felt better for asking. After lessons he joined the rest of his friends as they trudged out onto the grounds, past the fountain garden, and towards the Summoner's Court for the Charms Club demonstrational.

The Charms Club members – from first to fifth year – were already there, arranged a neat column in front of the platform that served as the game area. Their counterparts from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were in attendance, too, sorted into columns of their own. The spectators, a mixed group of students from all three schools as well as a handful of teachers and other staff, were directed to form a circle around the Summoner's Court platform. Harry and his friends from Slytherin took up a spot near to the Hufflepuffs.

Looking around, Harry thought the demonstrational reasonably well attended. Not quite heaving, mind, but there were enough people there that no one should have been embarrassed at the turnout. None of the three headmasters were there, but Harry recognised Durmstrang's flying instructor and the duelling teacher from Beauxbatons along with Flitwick and Miss Evergloam.

"Good afternoon, everybody!" said Miss Evergloam, her voice magically enhanced. She stumbled through greetings in German and French, then went back to English. She sounded a bit nervous to Harry. Not quite her usual bubbly self.

The crowd, Harry assumed.

"Today, the Charms Club of Hogwarts has put on a friendly little competition. Um. Thank you all—my counterparts in the other schools, I mean—for agreeing to play. The game is one everyone should already know—Summoner's Court. I'm told it's a bit different everywhere it's played, but the basic idea is really simple, so… we'll just get on with it!" Miss Evergloam said. "We've got two skill levels here—the lower years will be working with Levitation Charms, and the uppers with Summoning and Banishing Charms. For anyone who's unfamiliar, I'll just go over the rules. Um. The game is really simple—you need to get the coloured balls from where they start at the far end of the Court to one of the zones along the court. You get the most points if the ball lands in the zone closest to me. Um. You don't get any points if the ball goes over the edge. Even if you still have control over the charm. It's, um, it's really a test of your skill and finesse with charms, so… well, let's just get started."

Harry had been awful at it when they'd first started the previous year with the Levitation Charm. He'd been too aggressive, and the balls went flying off into the distance. After that, he hadn't volunteered himself during Charms lessons outside, and hadn't played recreationally, either.

But Charms Club apparently played quite often, so Harry had high hopes that the demonstrational wouldn't be too boring.

A selection of first years from Hogwarts came up to the platform first, which went about as well as Harry would have expected from first years – not very.

The Weasley girl, the one in Slytherin, stepped up for her go at it. She strode across the summoner's platform as if no one was watching, and took up a position in the middle.

"Wingardium leviosa!" she said, loud and clear, wand pointed right at one of the blue balls that represented Hogwarts. It rose up into the air with only a few wobbles, and then Weasley drew it towards herself slowly.

The problem was – which Harry knew well from his own attempts at the game – maintaining control over the Levitation Charm while manoeuvring a heavy ball into place on the platform was quite difficult. Especially for a first year without much experience in magic.

Although Weasley didn't seem to have that problem. She moved the ball steadily across the platform and brought it down slowly.

Unfortunately for Weasley, she lost control over the charm right at the end, and the ball rolled backwards into the penultimate zone.

"Oh, what a shame!" said Miss Evergloam. "Nearly a perfect cast! Well, that's a good number of points, anyway. Well done, Miss Weasley! Next up, we'll have the Durmstrang second years!"

The Durmstrang seconds years managed a lot better than the Hogwarts first years. More practise with magic in general, and Levitation Charms in particular, Harry assumed. It seemed a bit unfair to match up the first years against second years who'd been hand-selected to travel to a foreign country to participate in the Tournament, but Harry supposed it was to give them something to do with the Tournament.

It was a decent enough afternoon out on the grounds, anyway, even if it was a bit chilly in the January air.

Evergloam had mixed the various skill levels up, so it wasn't a straight go of watching first and second years fumble the balls. Some of the uppers were quite skilful in their Summoning and Banishing, achieving control Harry hadn't thought possible. Flitwick had only given a brief lesson on the Summoning Charm to his second years – as context for their forays into Banishing Charms more than anything else – but Harry had assumed a successful cast always resulted in the summoned object hurtling towards one's hand.

Apparently not.

Shafiq, the fourth-year Slytherin prefect, summoned his ball and had it roll smoothly across the platform. The uppers had to contend with all sorts of barriers – some static, some not – on their goes at the Court, but Shafiq guided the ball around each of them until it came to a perfect stop at the end. A nice outing of his skill, Harry supposed, after the disastrous round of duelling he'd suffered through.

And so the afternoon went. Various members of Charms Club, along with selected students from the other two schools, faced one another on the Summoner's Court. Someone was even keeping score, although Harry didn't find it exciting enough to care about that. It didn't count towards the Triwizard totals, anyway.

But it was nice standing about with his friends.

Eventually, it was Susan's turn at the platform.

"Some of our second years have been working really hard in Charms Club this year," Evergloam said, "and they've managed to learn the Summoning Charm well enough to give it a go here! So that's what we're going to do next."

Susan strode forward. Almost without hesitation she cast the Summoning Charm at one of the big, blue balls.

"Accio!" she said. The ball lifted from its setting and shot towards her. Harry thought she'd bungled it… until it stopped midway and dropped into a roll. It stopped just short of the final zone on the court, avoiding all of the obstacles in its way.

Susan stood there on the platform smiling. It wasn't perfect – it had missed the final zone – but it was a pretty good result, Harry thought.

And, admittedly, it was better than Harry had ever managed in his attempts at the game, even just using the Levitation Charm.

"Oh, well done, Miss Bones!" said Miss Evergloam.

They alternated schools and years after that until it was Daphne's turn. Unlike Susan, Daphne was stood at the platform on the far end of the court.

"We have a second year next who's been practising all year with her Banishing Charms, so she's going to give that part of the game a go!" announced Miss Evergloam.

Once everything was sorted out, Daphne stepped forward and took up a position next to the ball she'd chosen. There were nine balls on the court, three of each colour, all mixed in together. Daphne chose the blue one in the very middle of the set.

"Depulso!" she said, brandishing her wand. The ball rolled away from the rest, but far slower than Harry was used to from a banished object. Banishment was a key part of the second year curriculum, so Harry had performed the spell several times, but in his experience it had sent things flying across the room at speed.

Daphne had far more control.

She guided the ball past the thick barrier midway through the platform, then ended the Banishing Charm just as the ball fell into place at the final zone of the platform. When Daphne saw the ball wasn't going to fall off the edge, she clasped her hands together primly and smiled, the butterfly clip in her hair flapping its wings.

Turn over, Daphne went to stand with the other members of Charms Club. The demonstrational didn't last too long after that, and it all wrapped up with more than enough time to get ready for dinner. As they walked back to the castle, Susan and Daphne joined the group.

"You did so well!" Tracey said as they walked over the exterior walkway which led to Central Hall. "I'm rubbish at Summoner's Court, but you made it look so easy!"

"We do a lot of practise in Charms Club," Susan said. "Otherwise I don't think we'd be very good at it either. Well, I wouldn't be, anyway. If you want, maybe we can have a match in the summer. It's much nicer when it's warm."

"Ooh, maybe!" said Tracey. "After the duelling, mind, since I'm so busy with that. I think I would have joined Charms Club this year if I wasn't doing that—Daph did ask, but there's just no time…"

The group kept up a conversation until they reached Central Hall with its great fountain, where Susan, Ernie, and Justin left the group.

"We've got to get to the Library," Ernie explained. "Have some last-minute Alchemy homework to do. See you after the speed race tomorrow?"

"Yeah, definitely," Harry said.

The Hufflepuffs left, and the Slytherins made their way to the dungeons from the Central Hall entrance.

"You know, that Macmillan isn't that bad once you get used to him," Blaise said on their way to the Common Room. "I used to think he was a bit… you know, but he's alright."

"Ernie's a good mate," Harry said. "We had a good afternoon at the Quidditch, didn't we, Theodore?"

But Theodore wasn't listening. He was reading that big, thick book he carried around everywhere.

"He's not listening," said Blaise. "Typical. Well, are you ready for the race tomorrow? I heard from Ludmilla that Krum's been working on some new manoeuvres…"

That drew Harry in. He'd been preparing for the second round of the speed race all week, and although the Charms Club demonstrational had been a nice diversion, was glad for the excuse to talk about flying again.

Saturday morning came, and with it, the second round of the free speed race. Six flyers had qualified for that – Krum, in first place; Harry, in second; Giovanna, in third; with two flyers from Beauxbatons in fourth and fifth place; with Draco taking the final spot in the semi-finals. Harry wasn't worried about Draco: unlike in the duelling, where Draco was actually a formidable opponent, he was the least of Harry's problems in the flying. His broom wasn't professional quality, and his skill levels hadn't improved nearly enough that year for him to compensate.

It was the others Harry had to worry about. The two from Beauxbatons, Harry knew he could beat, since he'd done it handily the first time. He just had to be aware of them.

But it was Krum Harry really wanted – needed – to beat. Krum, if left unchecked, would win the speed race. The speed race and the marathon were Krum's only flying events, and it was clear to Harry that Krum wanted to win them. Probably needed to win them, even, or it would be an embarrassment for the professional flyer. The papers would have a right time of it.

But that wasn't Harry's concern.

To train against Krum and his tricks, Harry had managed to convince Ernie to get up into the air on his Nimbus to replicate the situations Krum had put Harry into. They'd even swapped, with Harry on the Nimbus and Ernie on the Firebolt, so Harry could try out his counters against a faster broom.

So as Harry stood at the starting line, broom in hand, that's what he went over. Ways to stop Krum gaining a lead. Methods to cut his lead down if he did get one. Tricks, even, to gain an advantage.

Or at least that's what he tried to do. In practise, he was distracted by the others at the starting podium.

"You were very tricky last time, Potter," said the French girl. Autry, Harry thought her name was. Something Autry. It felt rude to ask. "But this time, I'm ready."

"I hope so," Harry said. "Otherwise you'll lose."

Harry wasn't quite so blasé about her chances as he appeared, though. She rode a Firebolt, and quite well – it would be foolish to completely disregard her skills. But she wasn't as much of a threat as Krum.

"Bit of fire in this one, isn't there?" said her colleague from Beauxbatons. Something Serrano, Harry remembered. "You're lucky you've got the skills to back up all this talk," he said, smiling. "It's not so bad if you beat me in this—speed racing is kid's stuff. See us again in the hazards, yeah?" He nodded towards Harry's broom. "That Firebolt of yours won't be nearly as good in the K-stack."

Well, that was fair enough. Harry looked over his competitors again and realised Serrano was right. Giovanna and Serrano would all be much more dangerous in the hazard races. Those brooms were just too agile.

But that was a problem for another month.

"Good luck, anyway," Harry said. "I mean it. Last week was a good race—there were parts I did think I was going to lose to you."

"Maybe this week you will," said Autry. She shrugged. "I 'ope so."

By then, the officials had come around to set up the Whizzers, so the conversation ended there. Within minutes Bagman was providing his introductory commentary, and Harry focused on that.

"…second round of the free speed race!" Bagman was saying. "We've whittled down the competitors from the twelve who started last week to just six—and after today, there'll be just three of them making their way to the finals next week! So, let's get racing, shall we?" Bagman paused for effect. "On my count! Three, two, one—GO!"

Harry mounted his broom and shot into the sky. The speed course wasn't quite the same as the first week's, going through some different parts of the castle and starting in a different direction, but it was simple enough. It wound away from the stands, over the Forbidden Forest, and around the inner Hogwarts wall to start.

Easy enough.

It didn't even go into the Forest, which Harry thought would have been better. More exciting, anyway.

He climbed higher to meet the first of the markers where it hung in the sky, motionless. As always, Krum was at the head of the pack. This time, though, Harry moved into second place easily. He knew the limitations of the Hayami, at least as they pertained to the speed race, and he could outfly its riders. Autry was a little more worrisome, but…

Harry shot through the first marker just behind Krum, then aimed for the second, the third. There was nothing especially tricky about the start of the course, just a straightforward approach to the markers as they led away from the stands.

Harry glanced ahead. Krum was only just in front. The markers over the Forest rotated gently, almost leisurely. Harry kept one eye on Krum as he considered the approach. He slowed. He'd need to time it right, so he didn't clip the edges on the way in, but…

Giovanna shot past. Then Serrano. Both on Hayami '94s.

They wouldn't need to consider the approach quite so much. They even made it past Krum, who'd – similarly – had to slow down to avoid clipping the marker edge.

But that was Harry's chance.

He coaxed his broom forward, accelerated, and sped past Krum as close to the other flyer as was humanly possible.

For the first time, Krum was at the back of the pack.

Or not quite. Autry was just behind, and Draco trailed behind the faster brooms. But Krum was fourth. That was close enough Harry felt hopeful for the rest of the race.

He shot off after Giovanna and Serrano. The markers went over the tops of the tallest trees in the Forest, before dipping down to kiss the old stones of the Hogsmeade road. The descent would be the hardest part there – for the Firebolt, anyway – so Harry needed to maintain speed until the very last moment.

Through a marker.

Harry dipped down, cleared another.

Then up, up, up…

And down. A frenetic zigzag through the markers around the Forest's trees, and then finally, he dropped into a steep dive. He caught up to Serrano, shot past him through the marker right at the bottom… and then jerked his broom handle upwards to cruise forward, parallel to the ground. Giovanna was ahead.

Krum gaining.

Up ahead the markers continued along the Hogsmeade road until it met the inner wall. That was where Giovanna would have the best advantage, Harry knew. The markers went along the top of the wall, but also along both sides. The Firebolt would have to slow down to avoid collisions, but the Hayami… well, that was what it was made for. So Harry pushed his broom forwards.

If could just crowd Giovanna out, get her to veer away so Harry could just—

Krum came hurtling past. Like a streak of Bulgarian lightning he shot past Harry, who jerked the broom upwards to avoid a collision. He kept going right at Giovanna, gaining ground until she did a pirouette to avoid him.

Krum tackled the markers along the wall, but by then Harry had to look away. Focus on his own broom.

Krum had sent him off course. He could recover, but Serrano was right on his tail, and Autry had caught up. He'd need some careful flying to…

Serrano came past. He zipped along the top of the wall, dipping down to either side when the markers dictated, leaving Harry far behind.

"Shit," Harry swore. He couldn't afford to take his time. He pushed his broom forward faster than he'd have liked. Three markers along the top of the wall, stationary. He cleared them. Then dipped down to the inner side of the wall, cleared another two… and then up, up, up and looped around to go through the next. It went like that along the inner wall until it looped back around the to gatehouse.

Harry passed through each marker without a collision. Up ahead, near the lake, he saw Serrano and Giovanna trade places over the relatively simple course over the lake.

That's my chance, he thought.

He accelerated. Nought to one fifty in ten seconds… and Harry would have cleared the lake. Would have enough time to zip around the boathouse and up along the stairs to the castle…

Harry aimed his broom between Giovanna and Serrano. Not only did he want to overtake, he needed them thrown off course, too. He just needed to keep his nerve up until the last moment.

Three…

Giovanna glanced back. Moved closer to Serrano.

Two…

Serrano, checking. Maintained his speed.

One…

Harry forced himself to stay on track. They'd split. They had to.

At the very last moment, Serrano peeled off, and Giovanna dipped down.

Harry flew through the gap they left, right into the centre of the markers leading to the boathouse. He curled around and flew the wide arcs necessary to clear the markers around the boathouse and flew after Krum.

Easy, Harry thought.

The course was longer than the first round's, but not more difficult. At least, Harry didn't think so. It was just different. It wound around different towers, had spinning markers in different places, but was a speed race course all the same. The only tricky part was how they'd stuck markers in underneath bridges, or over the castle's exterior walkways, but even that was manageable with a bit of forethought.

Harry sailed past the stands again, just behind Krum, to start the second lap.

It was easier the second time. Harry knew which twists and turns he had to worry about Serrano and Giovanna, and which parts had nice, smooth sailing for the Firebolts.

Both Harry and Krum sped off at the approach to the inner wall. The markers along the tops of the Forest were no hindrance at all for either of them. Across a flat path over the Forest Harry cut across Krum, did a little loop, and snatched the first place position.

Harry pushed his broom forward. He couldn't afford a single wobble, not a moment's hesitation. Not even at the wall, where the track got loopy. He had to keep pushing forward or otherwise—

Krum shot past like a madman. Harry rolled, jerked his broom up.

Clipped the edge of a marker.

"Oh, you twat!" Harry shouted after him. That was a speed penalty there. He could make it up by forcing Krum to make one, too… but where?

Think about that later, Harry reminded himself. He had to catch up to Krum first.

And keep ahead of Serrano, Autry, and Giovanna.

Easier said than done, but…

Harry flew on. He knew he'd lost some ground along the inner wall with its twists, turns, and loops, but could make it up again over the lake. No worries there. Even though Serrano came past him at the Hayami's top speed, Harry ignored him.

Harry couldn't afford another penalty. Not so late in the game, anyway.

So long as Giovanna didn't—

Harry spun his broom as Giovanna came past.

Scratch that, he thought. Fourth place was salvageable, if he righted himself. Harry flew the rest of the course along the wall and over the lake, all the while thinking of where he could force Krum to make a penalty.

Up and around the boathouse. Along the winding stair that led to the castle interior. Up and around the tower, do a little loop and…

There, Harry thought. Under one of the castle's exterior walkways were a set of markers, each one a different size to the last. There, underneath that bridge, Harry reckoned he could make Krum collide with a marker.

He just had to get aggressive.

He'd passed Giovanna, left her behind at the boathouse. Harry was within touching distance of Krum's broom tail.

But that wasn't close enough. Krum would have to slow down to pass under the bridge. Harry needed to be more of a madman than Krum was, and keep at top speed.

Harry pushed forward.

Mere seconds until they reached the bridge.

He angled his broom upwards just a touch. Flew closer to Krum.

Krum corrected course, moved just far enough away from Harry they couldn't collide.

Harry moved closer.

Krum tilted away.

Harry followed.

Krum would break first. Harry knew it. He had to – even if Krum was mad enough to take the hit, which Harry thought he was, he'd have the professional contract to worry about. He couldn't risk an injury for something like the speed race.

So Harry stuck at it. He inched closer and closer as they neared the bridge where the markers narrowed…

And Krum broke at the last second. Veered to the right, passing right through the marker's edge as Harry sailed through its middle.

Harry didn't stop to celebrate. Instead, he moved on. There were still tricky parts of the course left to navigate, and with Krum having made a penalty too, there was everything to play for. Harry kept pushing forwards, mindful that Krum was only fractions of a second behind him.

The two flyers cleared the second lap more or less at the same time. Behind them, Harry was dimly aware of Giovanna and Autry fighting for third place.

Harry kept pace with Krum. Most of the markers on the course were wide enough to fit two flyers at once, so Harry intended to stick to Krum like a Stickfast Hex.

He managed it too. Stuck right close to Krum along the Forest treetops, maintained his speed along the Hogsmeade road and even around the inner walls. The jerky zigzag around the boathouse was trickier, but having flown it twice already, Harry managed.

Under the bridge, where the markers narrowed, Krum even slowed down. Harry went right past. From there it wasn't quite smooth sailing, as the course was windy and tricky and looped around several towers, but it easier than trying to trick Krum into a penalty.

Harry relaxed a little after that. He kept glancing back at Krum, kept flying a blocking pattern to prevent the Bulgarian Seeker from gaining a lead, but wasn't as worried as he'd started out. He'd taken the lead. Sustained a lead over a great big section of castle, even. If he could keep it up—

Autry and Krum both came hurtling towards Harry at the Firebolt's top speed of one hundred and fifty miles an hour.

There was nothing to do but coax his own Firebolt forward. Keep his nerve. Never waver. No hesitation. Only unceasing, relentless motion.

Don't think. Just do.

If Harry could maintain top speed – if he didn't make any sharp turns, didn't dip up or down – he could win. The last stretch back to the stands was simple enough. Standard array of markers, some stationary and some not. All of a basic size. Just a pleasant afternoon's flight over the grounds.

Harry could do that. Ignore the crowd. Ignore the Whizzer as it followed him. Even ignore the mad Bulgarian and the determined French woman hot on his tail.

And definitely ignore the pretty Italian girl following them.

Harry zipped through a marker, then another – then another. He made good time, coaxed every last bit of speed from his Firebolt. A good wizard learned from his broom – and a good broom learned from its wizard. Harry knew he could push the Firebolt to the very edge of its technical specifications. Knew he could round the corner tight enough to maintain speed, knew, even that—

Shit shit shit! Too wide!

Harry pulled in tighter, slowed just a touch… and allowed Krum and Autry to catch up. They flew almost as a trio, mere fractions of an inch between them.

Only seconds left in the course. Harry could see the stands. Could hear Bagman. Tuned it out anyway. There was no way he was going to come third. Second was pushing it.

Four markers left. Each one wobbled erratically, seemingly without pattern or method. Too narrow for all three flyers to fit through, Harry knew someone would have to break.

It wouldn't be him.

But how do I…? Harry wondered.

Harry edged closer to Autry, tried to shake her confidence, make her wobble. She didn't. Instead, Autry edged her own Firebolt closer to Harry.

Harry ducked down, then flew a loop up across Krum and Autry's path. They both veered off, and Harry zipped away into the lead. He couldn't afford to glance back. He kept at it. Sailed through one wobbling marker.

Three left.

Krum was gaining. The bastard was just too good, had too much experience on a broom. He could seemingly right himself from every mistake – little and large – to get right back up Harry's arse within fractions of a second. Maddening.

Harry jerked his broom left, dipped down, then did a little loop into Krum's path. Blocked him. Nipped through the second of the markers, flew a wobbly, jerky line towards the next. Glanced back.

Krum was gaining.

Within moments Krum was at the nose of Harry's broom, close enough Harry could smell him. But Harry couldn't afford to move. Kept right where he was, aimed right at the next marker. Only two left, and then someone would win.

No, Harry would win. He'd worked much too hard to—

Autry came barrelling towards Harry and Krum, aimed right between them. Harry veered off left, while Krum went right.

But Autry flew wide. Couldn't execute a proper turn, and from behind her, Giovanna hurtled towards the finish line while her competitors on faster brooms floundered in the sky.

As much as Harry wanted to swear and curse at Autry for costing him the race, he didn't. Instead he wrestled his broom into position and coaxed every last bit of speed from it to clear the remaining markers, Krum right behind him.

He crossed the finish line… moments after Giovanna. Milliseconds before Krum. Mere heartbeats before Autry.

"Now that's a thrilling finish!" Bagman said as the four flyers crossed the finish line. "Not even seconds in it! What a race! We'll need to count the penalties to figure out winners for this one—it's close! Oho! What a finish!"

Seconds later, Serrano finished the course. About a minute after that Draco landed his broom, and the race was officially over. Except for the counting, but Harry knew he hadn't won. Come second, yes; he and Krum had totted up the same number of penalties, and Harry had finished just ahead. That was a clear second place – unless Autry had managed to go around the course without a single foul, which Harry thought unlikely. Giovanna, though… she'd probably done that. Snagged the first finish and probably the first place, too.

After what felt like an eternity Bagman announced the scores.

"Well, I think we've all worked it out by now," he shouted over the crowd, "but we'll make the announcement anyway. Taking first place in the second round of the free speed race, with zero fouls, is Giovanna Fantoni of Durmstang! What an upset! In second place—and only just—with one foul is Harry Potter of Hogwarts! Amazing! And—I never thought I'd say this today, but here we are—in third place with one foul, Viktor Krum of Durmstrang! What a day, folks! They'll be talking about this one for years, I bet…"

Bagman continued after that, but Harry didn't pay attention. He wanted to congratulate Giovanna. Needed to speak with Krum after what was a frankly insane race. Even wanted to offer his commiserations to Autry… despite her little trick being the reason he came second instead of first.

While Bagman prattled on the competitors talked amongst themselves. Except Draco, who'd already gone, but that was Draco, and Harry found he didn't care.

"Congratulations, Giovanna," Harry said. "That was really close—you came out of nowhere."

"I vas too concerned vith you, Potter," Krum said. "You are so mad, so reckless, that I did not think about the girls. And it vas my downfall."

"Mine, too," said Harry. He turned towards Autry. "That last manoeuvre was brave—shame it didn't work out for you."

"C'est la vie," said Autry. "In life, you try and do not always win. But this was a good race. I 'ope the 'azard goes better for me, but this was fun. Wasn't it?"

"Very," agreed Harry. "I'm glad I got through to the finals, but it was good flying against you." He offered her his hand to shake.

She took it.

"Fifth place isn't the worst," Serrano said after a few moments. "Got through to the semis, anyway. Not a bad showing. We'll see how I do in the hazards next, then. Good luck in the finals, you three," he said, nodding towards Giovanna, Harry, and Krum. "You're a good bunch of flyers."

"Thanks," Harry mumbled.

"I am looking forward to flying against you again," Krum said. "You are a bold flyer."

"What he means, Harry," said Giovanna, "is that you're just as crazy as he is." She paused. "But that's what makes it fun, I suppose."