AN: Yet another new chapter for you, enjoy!

Chapter 16 - Quidditch

"You're the bloody number 1 student in your year, you can cast fifth and sixth-year spells and you have more magic power than even some adults yet you want to become a blasted Quidditch player?! Merlin, what a waste of brains and talent! I cannot believe it!" Bellatrix yelled to the ceiling and threw her hands up exasperated.

"What would you have me do? If you think I'll be wasting my life with my nose in a book you're sorely mistaken!" Harry shouted stubbornly, not backing out in the least.

Ever since Bellatrix had taken him in, they had never had a serious argument. Until today. This was their first big fight.

After he passed the Quidditch tryouts for the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team, Bellatrix goodnaturedly warned him to not let Quidditch distract him from his studies as they were more important than some violent sport. But Harry told her that becoming a pro Quidditch player was his goal... and that led to the current conversation (yelling contest).

"It's that girl's fault, isn't it? She must've filled your head with rubbish like 'studying is for nerds' or that it's not cool."

"She's an even bigger nerd than I am, she'd never say that. And why are you bringing her into this at all? She has nothing to do with it!" he said in annoyance.

"Oh, doesn't she? You think I don't know how much time you've been spending with her as of late? Going for walks every morning, eating together at every lunch and even 'studying' together in the library." she said and made quoting signs with her fingers when she said 'studying'.

The tone of her voice made him think she was...jealous?

"I've wanted to play Quidditch even before I enrolled at Hogwarts! Fleur has nothing to do with it!" he said again, now starting to get irritated too.

He breathed in deeply and momentarily closed his eyes to reign in his anger. He had always had temper issues, even as a child in his past life, and it looked like this world's Bellatrix had a rather short fuse too.

Calming himself down, he came to sit next to her on the piano seat. They were silent for some time.

"Look, I've always wanted to go pro, ever since my first flying lesson. Didn't Dumbledore tell you how I smuggled in a broomstick last year and how I even learnt the Disillusionment Charm just so I could sneak out at night and fly?"

At her reluctant nod, he continued: "I like Fleur, she is fun to be around. We've gotten close, but she is still just a friend. She can't influence my career choice. You are more important to me than her, and I still won't let you change my mind," he said sincerely. "In fact, she is jealous of how much I talk about you. Imagine, a Veela being jealous of a woman 30 years older than her-"

*whack*

Harry rubbed the back of his head, now sore from the lightning-fast wallop.

"What did I tell you? Never speak about a lady's age!" she snapped at him.

He chuckled.

"I know that you have my best interests in mind and I understand your point. Many other boys at my age dream about being Quidditch Superstars but not even 1% of them actually get there."

Bellatrix looked at him strangely.

"Tell me, Harry, are you really 12?" she said jokingly, her anger mollified by the fact that he was mature enough to understand how slim was his chance to actually become a professional Quidditch player.

His only answer was to laugh. How could he tell her that they were actually the same age?

"Let's make a deal," he said "My first match will be against Hufflepuff, in the first week of November. Just watch me flying then. If you think that I don't have what it takes to become a pro, I will give up on it and study to become some boring Ministry worker like you. We can go even further: if I lose the snitch even once in the next 6 years, I will give up on the thought of going pro."

She slapped his arm lightly at the jab he made about her profession but ended up smiling.

"What am I going to do with you?" she said with a shake of her head. "Not losing the snitch even once in the next 6 years, do you hear yourself? I may not be big on Quidditch but everyone knows that sometimes, who catches the snitch is a matter of luck too, not just skill."

But Harry was confident to the point of arrogance when it came to his skill as a Seeker. His team may have lost matches every once in a while but he had never lost the snitch to the opponent Seeker during his career as a pro Quidditch player in his past life. He was even more proud of that feat than he was of his feats of killing a dozen Dark Lords from all over the world.

'If most pro Seekers could not keep up with me, what chance do some random children have?'

He looked straight into her eyes, filled with confidence as he said: "Just come to watch my first game. You will become a believer."

She let out a drawn-out sigh, not convinced of his overly boastful words.

"Okay... I will take you up on that deal. You show me what you can do and I-," she made a small pause, "-if it turns out that you have the potential for it, I will support you."

She stood up and left the Music Classroom while muttering to herself.

"Merlin, what a waste..."

Despite not being happy about disappointing her, Harry was realistic.

'I'm not the genius everyone thinks I am.'

He was just taking advantage of the knowledge he had amassed in his past life to look like he was outstanding among his much younger classmates. However, once the OWLs came around, his knowledge regarding magic theory and other fancy charms and pretty transfiguration spells would not be that much higher compared to the rest of his classmates. The playing field would be levelled and he would have to start taking his studies seriously too. At that point in time, he would no longer look like an extraordinary genius anymore.

That's because, in his past life, Harry had been a Quidditch player and, in the latter half of his life, a Hit-Wizard.

'I could never hope to become someone like Bella or like Hermione or Dumbledore. I'm not smart enough for that.'

He knew his limits. He had been a soldier, not a researcher. He was not cut out for that kind of work.

'Besides, I love Quidditch.'

⁂

"Hello. You wanted to see me, Professor?" Harry asked when he entered the office of the Transfiguration Professor. "Am I in trouble?"

Seated behind a simple desk, in a much more modest office than before was none other than Albus Dumbledore. Harry was still surprised whenever he thought about how the old wizard had voluntarily stepped down from his position as the Headmaster.

Dumbledore chuckled at his question.

"No trouble, no need to worry about that. Quite the opposite. Have a seat, please."

Once Harry sat on the chair in front of the desk, Dumbledore said:

"I heard about your little study group. I want to express my appreciation for the selflessness you showed by helping your fellow students pass their make-up exams. Due to your efforts, none of the second year students has been held back. You've even helped students from outside your House, showing none of the usual bias against Slytherin for example. I'd say that 50 points to Ravenclaw are the least of what you deserve."

Though unwilling at first, Harry had whole-heartedly helped and taught the children that had come to ask for his help together with Michael Corner. That he was a good teacher had been proven in his past life, in his fifth year of school when he had taught DADA to dozens of students, some of them even older than him. Helping some first years with what they were struggling with had not been a challenge at all. Even the less gifted ones like Crabbe and Goyle had managed to pass their make-up exams thanks to his teaching.

"Thank you, professor," Harry said politely. He did not really care about House Points but he had to keep up the appearances.

As for Dumbledore, he was mentally patting himself on the back for the brilliant idea that he had had last year to send Harry Potter to live with Bellatrix Black.

'He is no longer as introverted as before. He seems to have become good friends with Mr Boot and Mr Corner and he's even made a new friend in Ms Delacour. He has also helped his peers pass their exams, putting in quite a bit of time and effort for their sake. It looks like Miss Black has been very good for him. And he had been very good for her as well, I don't recall seeing her smile as much and as often before.'

All in all, the old wizard was very pleased with how things had turned out.

⁂

The Ravenclaw Quidditch Team was rather young because most of the fifth and seventh-year students chose to focus on their OWLs and NEWTs rather than on Quidditch and last year had been too short - only two months - for another generation of players to be formed. For example, the captain was only a fifth-year Chaser, Roger Davies. He and the Keeper were the oldest, in the fifth year. The rest of their teammates were all younger: Cho Chang, a third-year girl, and another boy in his fourth year were Chasers while the Beaters were two boys in their third year. As for Harry, he was the Seeker and just a second year.

The odds of the underground betting stall set up by the Weasley twins were in favour for Hufflepuff to win and by a large margin at that. Harry had purposely sent Michael with 20 galleons to bet for him on Ravenclaw's victory.

'I'm going to bankrupt them,' Harry thought to himself and giggled, not even once doubting the outcome of his match.

However, at that moment, he was the only one laughing. The captain of the team seemed almost resigned with the thought that they were going to lose. He did not even try to give his teammates a pep talk or some sort of encouragement. As for the rest of the team, they were a nervous mess seeing as more than half of them would be entering the Quidditch pitch for the first time in their lives.

"How are you not nervous?" the Asian girl asked him in a whisper while they lined up to enter the pitch.

"I was born for this."

His heart was hammering in his chest. He could not contain his excitement. He had not played a proper game of Quidditch in decades!

⁂

When he stepped on the short grass of the Quidditch pitch, the world in front of his eyes started moving as if it was a slow-motion video.

"I want a nice and clean game. Mount your brooms," he vaguely heard Madam Hooch say.

As he rose in the air on his Nimbus 2000, his hearing became muffled. The cheers of the Ravenclaws died down in his perception and he could not hear the commentary of the student holding the microphone either. He could no longer hear the outside world. The only thing he heard was his blood rushing madly through his veins, and his heart which was pumping like an engine.

He floated in one place with his broom, way above his teammates as if he was just spectating the game below. To the people in the stands, he looked scared, almost foolish. But he did not even register the crowd's jeers or Lee Jordan poking fun at him. His brain was entirely focused on the information it received from his eyes. His eyesight had become so sharp that he could even count the blades of grass 50 feet below. It was unreal, a magical feeling beyond what was taught at Hogwarts. A miracle of the human body.

Harry was very familiar with that feeling. He was in the zone.

⁂

"For Merlin's sake, Harry, what are you doing?" Bellatrix said.

Her fists were clenched anxiously and her complexion reddened in anger when she heard Lee Jordan's mocking commentary about her boy.

"Ravenclaw's new Seeker, Harry Potter, seems to be in shock. I guess one can't be good at everything. Nerds should-"

"Jordan!" McGonagall yelled.

"Sorry, Professor," he apologized insincerely.

While Bellatrix did not want Harry to have delusions of grandeur and waste his time and effort on something highly improbable like becoming a pro Quidditch player, she did not want him to become a laughing stock either. She was furious at how the students in the stands were laughing at him.

The rest of the Ravenclaw team was in shambles as well, the Hufflepuffs were piecing them apart. The score was 80-10 after just five minutes, Roger Davies being the only one to score for his team. The young Ravenclaws were completely outclassed due to their inexperience.

"Damnit, Harry, do something!" Bellatrix shouted. Not that her yell could be heard more than 6 feet away with all the noise around.

The crowd suddenly let out a cry when the previously frozen in his spot Harry Potter abruptly started accelerating towards the ground, almost perpendicular to it. His target? Madam Hooch!

More cries of alarm came from the students and professors in the stands. Was he trying to attack the referee? Had the pressure been too much for him? Had he gone mad?

But when Madam Hooch flew away in a hurry to dodge his charge, a glint of gold was suddenly revealed. The golden snitch had been hiding under her broom, secretly flying at the same time as her!

"Morgana's tits, how did he see the snitch from that distance, over there?!" Lee Jordan screamed into his microphone in sheer amazement.

"JORDAN! DETENTION WITH FILCH FOR THE REST OF THE SEMESTER!" McGonagall hollered like a madwoman.

But most of the students were oblivious to what was happening in the stands. They were watching the game with rapt attention: it was at its climax, the fight between the two Seekers. Whoever caught the snitch would win the game for their team!

The Hufflepuff Seeker, a sixth-year girl, desperately tried to close in the distance but she had noticed the snitch too late. She was too far away - she barely covered half the distance when the younger boy snatched the sly golden snitch from the air.

However, his speed was too great! Hundreds of people rose from their seats in both excitement and anxiety, watching how Harry Potter was only 20 feet away from the ground and still heading straight to it at a speed of over 90 miles per hour!

The cheers that exploded from the crowd when he effortlessly stopped his broom only 2 feet away from the grass were deafening. Even Bellatrix - someone who thought of Quidditch as nothing but a barbaric and violent game - was flushed with excitement and she shouted his name until her voice became hoarse.

With the golden snitch caught in between the three fingers of his left hand, Harry flew around the pitch, showing his prize to everyone.

"This! This is what I've missed the most!"

The adrenaline pumping in his veins, the euphoria, the cheering crowd, the mad fanboys and fangirls screaming his name, the excitement on his teammates' faces as they won the game, he had never experienced a more addicting feeling than that.

⁂

An hour after curfew, the party inside the Ravenclaw common room was still going strong. However, Harry did not feel that great once the adrenaline left his system and the feeling of euphoria faded away. After turning down about a dozen insistent offers from the older students that were trying to make him take a sip of Firewhisky or at least Butterbeer, Harry decided to sneak out of the tower. In his past life, it had been almost like a tradition for the entire team to get wasted after an important win. However, that was no longer possible for him. He had not touched even a drop of alcohol ever since the Weasleys died. The party suddenly lost more than half of its appeal.

He snuck out of the common room. As he walked on the castle's wide corridors alone, his first thought was to go to Bellatrix's office. However, he turned that idea down after giving it a second thought. The older woman was most likely asleep at that hour, she was a creature of habit. She almost never stood awake that late. Furthermore, the dichotomy between him and his peers gave him a sudden urge to be alone. While his housemates were celebrating without a care in the world, he could not share their innocent joy.

It was in the moments that were supposed to be the happiest that his depression always bared its fangs at him. It had been the same the previous Christmas and it was the same now too. But unlike the last time, Harry cleared his mind of all thoughts. He was not going to let himself to think about his past life and break down again. He would not allow his mind to roam free on the memory lane. His young face became as still as a dead lake and all emotion vanished from his otherwise expressive green eyes; they became blank. His thoughts, his feelings, his emotions... he occluded them all away.

Silently, he walked towards the West Tower, to the Owlery. When he reached the top of the tower, as if she could feel his inner turmoil, Hedwig flew down from her perch and landed gently on his extended forearm. She hooted at him softly but he did not say anything in return. He just petted the snowy owl gently. Even so, Hedwig continued to let out quiet hooting sounds and chirps at him, as if to comfort him.

"I can always count on you to be by my side, can't I?" he said and Hedwig barked at him happily and rubbed her head against his palm as he petted her.

He started smiling.

"What a cutiepie you are." he cooed at her and the snowy owl preened her feathers proudly at his praise.

It was while he was caressing and gurgling all kinds of nonsense at his owl that he heard a flutter of wings and another snowy owl zoomed through one of the open windows of the owlery and crashed against the stone floor painfully, splashing droplets of blood everywhere around it.

Harry jumped up to his feet and rushed at the bleeding owl on the floor urgently.

"Not good, it's bleeding a lot!" he said when he took the owl in his arms and saw how much blood was flowing from its abdominal area.

However, he suddenly lost his balance as a weight much higher than his scrawny body could support made him fall down to the floor. Under his disbelieving eyes, the owl transformed into what looked like a human being. It was not an owl, it was an Animagus!

The person that appeared instead of the owl was a rather tall and slender girl with long white-gold hair and deathly pale skin. A deep gash on her stomach was bleeding profusely.

As for her identity, she was was the kind of person one would be hard-pressed to forget. He recognized her instantly.

"...Fleur?!"

But the girl could not answer his call. Blood loss had made her lose her consciousness. She had fallen into a coma.

AN: nasty little cliffhanger, right? You don't need to thank me. kek.