Chapter 17: Going forward
Having read the unexpected and horrifying news, Harry indeed felt as if he had been drenched in ice cold water and could no longer think of eating his breakfast at all.
Lestrange had got to Diggory, besides on the All Hallows' Eve. Of course, he had to show the whole world that there were many savage monsters out there, so that no one could feel truly safe. Out there was still enough danger ready to prey on you, practically hiding behind every bush.
Harry looked at Ron and Ginny, who had exchanged worried glances which could mean only one – They are anxious about what their mom is going to do. Hopefully, she is not going to confront Lestrange in magical duel; that would undoubtedly be a suicide.
As anxious thoughts were coursing through his mind, Harry noticed with a corner of his eye a movement at the High Table. McGonagall had stood up on her feet and now she was heading in the direction to the Ravenclaw table. There she found Luna and took her away out of the Great Hall. Harry guessed she was now following the Aurors' call to evacuate all neighbors around the Burrows. I wonder, whether I'm going to see her soon or not? Harry thought. She, at least, unlike most of Hogwarts students, didn't look up at him as some kind of superhero or didn't make any insulting comments about how he was going to name his followers.
The rest of the day was gloomy for them, their chatters soon ended, just barely started. The others at Hogwarts also seemed to be oppressed by an invisible gravity. If there could be seen a few happy faces among the students, especially among the younger ones, then the professors were indeed upset and grim. Even Professor Sprout looked gloomy at Monday's Herbology class, though she usually smiled warmly at everyone without saving streams of kind words.
Likewise, on Tuesday, Flitwick seemed unusually quiet and reserved, although he enjoyed talking lively to his students during the breaks.
Harry's only glimmer of happiness was that, as it had turned out, Luna had only been called in to help evacuate her and her father's belongings with the whole Quibbler printing machine, which Xenophilius definitely wasn't going to leave behind.
So, in the break before this lesson, Flitwick quietly talked with Luna, not paying much attention to other students. Soon everyone had gathered, and the bell announcing the start of the lesson had rung, so Flitwick with a grim face took his favorite place on the stack of books.
"Well then, the simplest part – the charm fastening – we have already dealt with, so today we are going to start the charm amplification. I suppose everyone understands how the charm fastening differs from charm amplification?" Flitwick asked as he looked around the classroom. Practically all of his students nodded more or less actively.
Professor cleared his throat and continued, "So we did the fastening using the Rite Chants by binding the magic-sustaining energy to the charmed object, making the prolonged effect of the spell which often could exceed up to ten or even hundred times the duration of unfastened spell. It wasn't too difficult to perform, right?" There sounded affirmative murmurs throughout the class.
"So, then, to amplify the spell, that is, to make the effect not longer, but more pronounced, stronger, we must bind the necessary magic energy at one exact moment. And there are two most common ways used practically how it could be achieved. Maybe somebody can name them both?" the teacher asked. When he saw Hermione's hand shooting into the air, he made a small smile.
"Please, tell me, Miss Granger," the professor urged her to tell her versions.
"It can be done using the same Rite Chants, because these Chants are able both to prolong the spells and to concentrate the power of the wizard himself," Hermione immediately said.
"That's right, a point for Gryffindor," Flitwick rewarded her. Hermione opened her mouth to add something more, but Flitwick had already given Terry his chance for answering.
"In addition to Hermione's said Rite Chants, it is possible to use the magic-binding objects that can act as accumulators of magical energy," Ravenclaw student said in his knowledgeable voice.
"Good, Mr. Boot, a point for Ravenclaw," Flitwick awarded also the student of his own House. "Now, I would like to draw your attention to why we didn't talk about the magic-binding objects in the context of charm fastening. You see, getting an item that is able to fully bind with a spell and maintain it for a long time is quite difficult, complicated, or expensive, so it's much easier to use Rite Chants, which in most cases usually turns out to be persistent enough.
Conversely, in spell amplification, the amplification is cast for a relatively short period of time, so you have to look up for very powerful and effective spelling of Rite Chants; on the contrary, using another object, living or nonliving, usually takes much less effort to gain the same level of amplification.
That is, by giving a vulgar example of the amplification of a spell, you can borrow energy from a friend for a moment, but to strengthen the spell for a whole week's exposure, you are unlikely to persuade the same friend to sit still in the same place for a week," Flitwick finished his introduction to Spell Amplification methods with a faint grin.
Harry noticed a sudden movement beside him, and Hermione's hand once again had shot up in the air. "Professor, but what kind of magical objects are there commonly used in the spell amplification and are they really effective? As far as I have read, however, the most effective method is the correct formulation of Rite Chants combined with a momentary borrowed energy from another magical creature or wizard," Hermione wanted to know, and Harry guessed that she was eagerly awaiting the professor's answer, because this was exactly what they had been occupied with for the last week – they had put together their magic power and had tried out the most effective Rite Chants from the books, but without any noticeable success.
"In general, I agree with that. Of course, various mythical objects with unusual magical abilities have been known for a long time. I suppose that using such objects could create really wondrous magical effects. For example, I could say that the legendary Elder Wand is a typical example of spell amplification; I assume that during its production process, there have been fastened its ability to amplify magic many times over, so it's already amplifying greatly every charm whenever it is cast. There are also often used parts of magical living organisms. But if you haven't been able to hunt down any specifically magical creature or haven't found any unusually energetic plant, of course, you can still try to mix a more or less magically active substance, but usually if you need just to boost the spell for a short moment, I would suggest you the method of borrowing the magical energy from one or a few of your friends, that is, from any kind of magical beings. Anyway, thank you for your question, Miss Granger," Flitwick looked kindly at the girl and then continued to outline todays and the whole trimester plans for teaching amplifying Rite Chants. However, Harry noticed that Hermione was listening to the professor with only half of her attention now since she whispered to herself, "Of course, the potions," and was now making new plans for their own task.
After having practiced the amplified Lumos version, the students slowly flowed out of the classroom, and Hermione once again run in her usual sprinting pace to the library excitingly.
"Hermione, please, could you just explain it once in a lifetime what you've come up with?" Ron asked, gasping for breath lightly, when the girl had finally stopped at the huge shelves of the library and was now searching for something.
"Wait a minute, please. I'll tell you everything right away," Hermione interrupted him, not paying any additional attention to him, and soon she took out a book with hard covers. She rushed to the table, put the book on it, sat down on a chair, and opened the book.
"Harry, maybe you have any idea what she's doing right now?" Ron asked as he leaned a bit closer to Harry. Harry just shook his head as he twisted his lower lip.
While Hermione was flipping through the pages of the book for a moment, the young men heard the harsh voice of Madam Pince sounding in the distance, "Have you come here again to make that awful noise? This is a library, for God's sake, not some kind of Exploding Snap Club! Do be silent or get out of here!" Harry shot his head sideways – his Ravenclaw classmates had just arrived in the library, afore having talked vigorously about something. Madam Pince was able to drop on everyone for even the tiniest of violations, but fortunately Harry and his group of friends hadn't annoyed this angry harpy this year.
"So," Hermione finally spoke as she had found the page she was looking for and Harry instantly turned his gaze to her. On the page, he saw just a picture of a bubbling cauldron, like the ones in the beginner's textbook on potions. "What Flitwick said – it made me finally think about the way how we could actually find Ravenclaw's Diadem. And we can do that by amplifying the Locator Spell with our own power, as well as with Rite Chants, combining them with the Essence of Magic."
"The Essence of Magic? Is that something similar like when we were mixing all those things in Slughorn's classes for the past few months? You want to make the essence of the magic energy?" Ron asked half incredulously.
"Exactly, Ron. Because with our own power and inept Rite Chants, I and Harry couldn't get anything even close to what we need. If we could master the basics of the amplification in Flitwick's classes and could combine it with spell-amplifying potion, it could work," Hermione said, happily, as she announced her grandiose plan. "And this potion book gives tips on how to brew such the Essence we need."
Hermione's discovery filled Harry with joy, and Ron's grumpiness also diminished. Apparently, the idea that they might still be able to eradicate the root of evil, gave them hope and strength.
But having a great thought and a potions book didn't solve anything right on the spot. There was a reason why such an essence wasn't included even in the school program of the seventh year of Hogwarts – if you didn't own any especially magically items, its brewing was very difficult, because you needed to create your own magical energy-sustaining items that could later be embedded into the essence. Such a nasty work required a great deal of energy and patience to actually make its effect powerful enough.
The week was soon over, but the brew, which they were making again on the second floor in the Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom, was not even half ready. It just made their wand flinch for a brief moment before they could even finish citing the Rite Chants all together, and the energy of the small potion vial had been completely exhausted.
At the weekend their grumpy mood was slightly amused by Slughorn, who had invited the famous rock band Weird Sisters to his afternoon tea, and before farewell they played some exciting melodies to the most famous and outstanding of Hogwarts students. Besides, Harry's, Ron's, and Ginny's minds were getting busy with one particular circumstance – their first Quidditch match versus Ravenclaw was expected on next Saturday, which of course had to be treated with the utmost seriousness. Their team was a good one; in general, they needed to do their jobs and try to avoid as best from silly mistakes or failures, so Ginny tried to arrange the practices for them as often as she could, which meant that Hermione often had to work with the Essence of Magic alone. It seemed to Harry that she wasn't very happy about it, but she never protested.
Next Saturday came incredibly fast, as if someone had shortened the day by several hours. Friends were quietly eating breakfast in the Great Hall: Ron was chewing a slice of fried breakfast sausage, while Ginny shamelessly stuffed herself with jam sandwiches sipping also a pumpkin juice.
Harry felt excited, too. Even though they had been training hard since September, he hadn't played any serious Quidditch game for over a year. Everyone knew he was a brilliant Seeker, but what if his skills aren't that good anymore because of the missed year and Jodie Muller, the Captain and Seeker of Ravenclaw Quidditch team, would turn out to catch the Snitch in front of his nose?
After the breakfast was done, members of both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Quidditch teams returned to their towers to get their Quidditch equipment, which they took out of the castle to the Quidditch Changing Rooms.
The sky was mostly cloudy, a few rays of sun shining through, and the trees were swayed by a small but noticeable wind. As he walked, Harry felt the frozen grass crunching beneath his feet covered with the November frost, and the cold, autumn air cooled Harry's senses for his liking.
In the Changing Room the other members were also quieter than usual, although Ritchie usually liked to joke around during the practices and Quintia used to laugh about it overly excitedly. However, now there was a feeling of anxiousness in the air.
"So, our first game of this year has come," Ginny began her captain's speech a bit awkwardly. "We have worked hard – in the dark, in the cold and frost, but the Ravenclaw team also hadn't sat with their noses stuck in the books, and they will be ready to show their strength. So, it means we need to show them that we are better than them, if only a little bit, that's right?"
There was a murmur of approval from her team members.
"That's right! We'll be in our positions: I, Andrew, and Quintia are going to deal with the Quaffle, Ron is going to protect the hoops, Ritchie and Bruce are going to tame the Bludgers, and Harry is going to keep an eye on the Snitch. Then let's go! For the Gryffindor!" Ginny finally exclaimed excitedly as she raised her fist in the air and the team members joined with their own cheering.
Harry also felt a little bit more confident as he exclaimed, "For the Gryffindor!" As they went out to the pitch, they stopped a few steps away from Alicia, who, since she was the Flying instructor, was a referee of this game, and from the other side there were approaching the Ravenclaw team, led by Jodie Muller. The blond girl's eyes flashed with determination and perseverance, promising a fierce competition for the Gryffindor.
Meanwhile, the loud, clear, magically amplified voice of Dean Thomas sounded over the pitch, addressing all the spectators as it was saying, "It's a good day for Quidditch. I hope that I and also you, all the spectators, are going to see a fierce battle between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Quidditch teams today, because both of the teams excel with equally good players and broom equipment. Oh yes, Harry, Jodie is going to be a serious opponent; not only is she pretty and smart, but during the last season, for the very short time we had it, she proved to be also a great Seeker."
"Mr. Thomas, I advise you to speak more about the game itself, not on other matters," there sounded a scolding voice of a man in the tone very similar to McGonagall. Harry recognized that it belonged to Professor Switch, their Transfiguration professor, who was, in fact, as strict as McGonagall herself in his classes. She had indeed found a worthy replacement for her previous position.
Dean cleared his throat and continued commenting the happening on the pitch, "So, I'm focusing on the game, Professor Switch. Now the Team Captains Jodie Muller and Ginny Weasley have shaken their hands, and yeah, the GAME HAS BEGUN!" Dean finally shouted in the microphone as soon as Alicia's whistle had sounded.
"In the tipoff, Karl Roger catches the Quaffle – Ravenclaw in possession. A pass to Lisa Turpin – she swiftly flies past Quintia Knowlton, and the Keepers have already taken their places at their Goal Posts – Ron Weasley is getting ready for his first challenge. Turpin is ready to shoot. Owww!" Dean groaned along with the crowd of spectators as Ritchie managed to successfully hit a Bludger to the tail of Lisa Turpin's broomstick making her turn around in the air, and the Quaffle slipped out of her hands in a mid-throw.
"Ginny Weasley catches the falling Quaffle, Gryffindor in possession – Weasley rushes to the opposite side of the pitch, she dodges a Bludger, a pass to Andrew McLagor – the Gryffindor Chaser now will be close enough to make a shot – NO! Boot blocks McLagor, and Turpin intercepts the Quaffle. Ravenclaw goes to attack again," Dean continued commenting hurriedly.
Meanwhile, Harry was hovering high above the pitch and was carefully looking around. Hermione was sitting in the Gryffindor spectator seats next to Neville, and also Hagrid had come to watch the game; but the Snitch was nowhere to be seen. Jodie was flying aimlessly around, too, only a little bit lower than him, and was scouting the entire pitch – it didn't seem that she was going to chase anything now. And there was still plenty of time, because the game had just begun.
"…Boot goes for an attack – he throws – and Weasley CATCHES THE QUAFFLE! Ravenclaw doesn't get their ten points – go Quintia – Gryffindor is arranging themselves for an attack, Waters, the Gryffindor Beater, had aimed well his Bludger, McLagor has a clear path to the Ravenclaw's Goal Post, of course a pass to him, Andrew McLagor shots, but misses the hoop just by a mere inch. The points pass Gryffindor just right by their noses, too. Turpin has the Quaffle, pass to Roger, a quick flight past the Beaters, Roger throws, AND HE SCORES! The Quaffle practically touched Weasley's fingertips – and Ravenclaw has earned their first ten points!" Dean commented with enthusiasm, and the Ravenclaw spectator seats had exploded with hurray.
Harry could easily imagine how Ron was feeling now – his face was red. The most important thing for him was to keep going without giving up; if he gathered himself together, he could be a really good Keeper. He just needed to gather himself together…
"So – McLagor has the Quaffle, pass to Weasley; she avoids the enemy block; flies underneath the hoops; does a flip in the air and shots – SHE SCORES! Gryffindor evens up the score!" Dean roared, thrilled. "Did you see that? That was something spectacular!"
Harry had turned at the last second to the Ravenclaw side of the pitch and was able to see the Ginny's masterpiece. Her flying was indeed outstanding with her new Comet. And yes – the scoreboard, counting the points below the Commentator lodge, was now displaying the score 10:10. In the first half hour, the game had indeed developed quite even, and for now Alicia had no fouls to judge so far.
And so it went for the next half hour; now and then there were some things that glittered in the bright rays of the sun as it shined through the clouds, but it never was the Snitch. Then it was just a reflection of the glasses, then – of the metal plating of the broom, then – of a wristwatch. Harry saw that Jodie was getting anxious – it had been quite a while since the game had started, and it meant that the Snitch had to appear somewhere soon.
"Turpin scores; Ravenclaw is currently in the lead with 40 to 30. The game is indeed very even and exciting. It seems that today the winner is set only by the Seeker position," Dean said, "Weasley has the Quaffle, pass to Knowlton…" And the game continued on, and soon the Gryffindor team evened up the score.
When Ravenclaw scored again, Harry noticed that in the middle of the hurray, there also sounded a solid eagle screech coming from the famous Luna's hat, which was colored blue today and was decorated with an enormous, black, wing fluttering eagle.
The sun kept rising even higher in the sky up to its zenith; the clouds had begun to part, occasionally opening some holes for the dazzling sunlight. And the game continued on.
The games usually went from a few up to several hours, so it means that we still have to put a lot of effort in it. The Quidditch matches weren't among those things that would end in just five minutes. That is, if you aren't considering the second game of my first year, but as Ginny would like to say: If it's happened only once, it doesn't count… Having thought about his girlfriend, Harry made a faint smile, but then a cold chill crept over his spine as soon as his mind registered the meaning of Dean's words.
"The Ravenclaw Seeker Jodie Muller suddenly accelerates herself in a fast flying. Is there really the Snitch somewhere? The Gryffindor Seeker Harry Potter seems to be oblivious, maybe it's just a Ravenclaw trick move? Boot has the Quaffle, Boot successfully avoids the Bludger, but collides with Knowlton – she reacts quickly and takes away the Quaffle – pass to McLagor."
Meanwhile, Harry had jumped back to reality, and as he turned promptly to the direction Jodie was heading, he noticed that the Snitch was hovering in the air right next to the cardboard panels of the scoreboard, which in general was halfway between the two Seekers.
Harry paid no attention to what Dean was saying any longer. The familiar and long-forgotten excitement had poured into his veins since only one thought had remained in his mind – how to be the first to get to the Snitch. He leaned forward, closer to the broom, accelerating it at the top speed. However, Jodie was a bit closer to the Snitch as it was hovering in front of either of the number 80 on the scoreboard, but Harry knew that the case was not completely lost yet. The Snitch never used to stay in one exact place for a long time, and indeed, when Jodie has been just a few feet away from it, the Snitch suddenly decided to fall downwards. Jodie just waved her hand, grabbing an empty air, but Harry had already changed his course and was now as close to the Snitch as Jodie, though the Ravenclaw girl had also recovered from her failure and had began flying down practically in free falling.
The flying Snitch almost touched the tips of the grass stalks, which had already melted their frosty hats in the sunshine. The two Seekers barely avoided hitting the ground, both awkwardly waddling and swaying shoulder-to-shoulder next to each other as they were rushing forward.
Meanwhile, Ginny had scored the ninth goal, but the hurray sounded rather bleak, since apparently all the eyes were glued to the breathtaking competition of the Seekers.
The Snitch zigzagged as it flew to place where the hoops stood on the ground, and Harry already felt joyful about this fact. His position was better, Jodie would have to avoid the stand of the middle hoop, and then nothing would stop him from catching the Snitch that had started hovering on the spot again. Just a few more feet…
But then Harry heard a Bludger, a black ball of lightning, shooting in his direction, and he hastily avoided it. Jodie also had to avoid the stands, but during this distracting moment, the Snitch had disappeared.
Harry looked up – it turned out the Bludger had been sent to him by Terry Boot as he had hit it with the tail of his broomstick. Suddenly, the clouds parted, letting through the bright rays, and in a split of second Terry's figure seemed to look like a black cloud of smoke, before Harry quickly turned away his gaze, and his vision was immediately distorted by the green areas since the sun has blinded his eyes.
At first, it seemed that he could only see just the smoky black outline of Terry's body and the green background, but after a minute of tightly blinking his eyes, his vision had more or less returned.
But Jodie was flying fast again after the Snitch and this time she was indeed much closer to it. The Snitch had flown high in the air above the hoops and was zigzagging above the pitch, now. Harry, too, threw himself after the tiny golden ball, hoping that there will go something wrong for Jodie. Maybe Ritchie or Bruce will manage to disturb her with a well-targeted Bludger. Though, she successfully avoided it, stretched out her hand to grab the tiny ball, but the Snitch suddenly fell downwards, slipping just past her fingertips.
Harry could hardly believe his luck as the ball flew right towards him. Just a few seconds, and he'll have it! He felt the blood pulsating through his ears, however, things didn't turn out as well as he had expected.
Having Quaffle in her armpit, Ginny incidentally came in the way of the Snitch, and Harry's intense gaze lost the golden ball and it appeared again nowhere. Harry confusedly looked around everywhere as the blinding had receded so far that nothing obstructed his vision, however, Harry could pull his hair out, but the Snitch was nowhere to be seen. Jodie, too, had stopped and gazed around distractedly. The Snitch was gone. Meanwhile, the Ravenclaw Keeper managed to catch the Quaffle, so the Ravenclaw spectators shouted hurray.
The game continued on for several more hours, while the sun had started to set near the treetops, and the score was still quite even – 110:130 with Ravenclaw in the lead. However, during this long period of time, the Snitch hadn't reappeared, so Harry had started to have silly thoughts about lunch and delicious pumpkin juice as he really began to feel thirsty. The rest of the team also seemed to be exhausted, and both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw scored even less and less often, until Alicia whistled, announcing that after six hour of play, everyone needs to take half-hour break.
The team returned to the Changing Room for refreshments and snacks provided by the elves. The Chasers seemed really thirsty and starving. Ron also greedily swallowed several sandwiches one after another.
"Listen, but what if no one catches the Snitch? I hope we wouldn't have to play during the night, too, right?" Quintia asked, eating a pastry.
"Of course, we have to; only, we'll be asked to change into our pajamas after nine o'clock," Ritchie already knew the answer, and there laughed not only Quintia but other members, too.
"Our pitch is relatively small; usually one manages to catch the Snitch until the end of the day," Ginny reassured her teammates as she stuffed her mouth full with ham sandwich a second later, sipping a third glass of pumpkin juice.
"However, neither I nor Jodie have noticed that damn Snitch in those last three hours at all," Harry stated more angrily than he had intended. For the last hours, he had just flown around and watched calmly mostly Ginny's maneuvers, but also the brown haired Quintia with wide, pretty face played quite well, though Terry with his thick chestnut hair waving in the wind had often distracted both Quintia's and Ginny's moves. Also the Beaters were at their best, hitting their well-aimed Bludgers to their precise targets, once masterfully hitting away a Quaffle as Ron had confusedly rushed to protect the hoop on the wrong side. Harry was happy to see that Ron kept on going, the game was quite even, the Ravenclaw's lead was only twenty points, and it wasn't too hard for them to even it up. Now, the most important thing was to catch the Snitch – however, it seemed nowhere to be found.
"Just ten more minutes," Ginny said. "A toilet visit and then we all go out."
Ready and refreshed, Harry stood in the crowd of his teammates next to Ginny. He hugged his girlfriend around her shoulders and whispered in her ear as he leaned closer, "You know, you're a really excellent flyer today."
She smiled at him and whispered softly, "Thank you!", then she spoke to the whole team aloud. "Then, go team! Keep on going until Harry catches the Snitch. For the Gryffindor!"
Everyone called out to cheer the Gryffindor and then they rushed back to the pitch with their brooms put over their shoulders. The Ravenclaw team also returned, ready to continue the game.
Alicia blew the whistle, throwing the Quaffle in the air, which was caught by Ginny, and she hurriedly flew in the direction of the Ravenclaw Goal Posts, which stood unprotected yet. However, the Bludger disturbed the girl, and the Ravenclaw Keeper managed to take his place properly, ready to fend off any of the shots. Ginny aimed the Quaffle at the goal, and it flew past the Keeper just by the skin of the teeth, going through the middle hoop. 120 to 130. The game resumed with a fresh fierceness as the sun was setting in the trees of the Forbidden Forest.
Harry thought he'll go blind from all the intense looking, but whether he would make the Earth spin in the opposite direction, it wouldn't change the fact that this damn Snitch was nowhere to be seen. Harry returned to his well-known strategy of watching. However, long shadows began to spill over the pitch, signaling the approaching of the twilight. If they couldn't find the Snitch in the broad daylight, how are they going to do it in the dark? But the Snitch was like a needle lost in a haystack also after ten, fifteen, and thirty minutes.
Ginny had the Quaffle and was going on the attack again. Their Chasers had scored two more goals, but Terry had also managed to score one goal, so the result was evened up 140:140.
Harry's thoughts turned to Ginny – she was a really good flyer and it felt nice to hug her in the Changing Rooms. In her Quidditch uniform with protective gloves and knee pads, her cape fluttering in the wind, she didn't seem so small and fragile, but strong and self-confident. Then, as she had pulled out of his embrace, she had turned determinedly to her teammates, addressing them enthusiastically. Suddenly Harry recalled a tiny detail – when the girl had turned around, it had seemed to Harry for a split of a second that a brim of her uniform had made an odd buzzing or whizzing sound, but then he didn't have time to ask her more about it, because at that moment, they already needed to return back to the pitch.
The Snitch, of course, was nowhere to be seen like the earth had swallowed it. Or it had been swallowed by someone's pocket? Harry thought, amused.
The Snitch was last seen just a second before Ginny accidentally flew in front of it. What if it actually had stayed with her? What if it somehow got stuck in her uniform? Harry felt the blood pumping through his ears with this thought. That seemed so impossible – their uniforms didn't really have any pockets or any other place to get stuck in – and yet, why there had passed so much time since the Snitch was last seen? He had to check it.
But the hardest part was catching Ginny. The game was quick, and the Quaffle traveled fast from one player to the next, with everyone shooting from one end of the pitch to another – it wasn't easy to catch the girl at all.
Harry got close to her and opened his mouth to express his suspicions to her, but she just smiled at him and immediately rushed to help Andrew.
Harry hurried after Ginny, but at this high speed, the wind was whistling in their ears, making it impossible for him to tell her anything. Finally, after several sharp turns, Harry managed a yell so loudly that Ginny could hear him as he urged her to stop for a moment.
She stopped reluctantly in the middle of the pitch, looking warily at Lisa, who was already rushing toward Ron.
"Is there something wrong, Harry?" she asked very anxiously, really wanting to take part in the game.
"I want you to stay still, just for a moment," Harry said loudly to her and began to touch her cape.
Of course, Dean immediately had noticed it and pointed out to them in a friendly manner, "Potter, Weasley, we still have a game going on here, so you can embrace yourselves later in the evening. Turpin goes for an attack confronting Gryffindor Keeper, goal! 140 to 150, Ravenclaw in the lead."
"Really, Harry, what are you doing?" Ginny asked with a frown, as though she was worried about her boyfriend's sanity while he had pulled all her cape by his side.
Harry was now touching the corner of the cape, and indeed, its hem decorated with wide golden ribbon had been torn a bit, which was not uncommon for the uniform worn, and inside it, there was a small golden ball, fluttering its silver wings. Feeling excited, Harry almost entangled himself within the clothing until he got his hand out of the mess of the cloak properly. As soon as he had succeeded, he triumphantly raised his fist as he held tightly the Snitch in the air and yelled, "I have the Snitch! It was stuck in Ginny's cape all the time!"
Hovering in the air next to Harry, Ginny couldn't believe her own eyes. Dean, too, hadn't noticed anything about it, he just kept commenting on the Quintia's attack until there sounded Alicia's whistle.
"Referee, why? Everything was alright with Terry Boot's block. Wait a minute, Potter has caught the SNITCH! The game is over; Gryffindor wins with two hundred ninety points to one hundred and fifty! But where did the Snitch suddenly came from, it hadn't been seen for so long?" Dean was wondering at the end; however, he couldn't resist his excitement.
"Mr. Thomas, answering your question," Switch said, "I would say that Mr. Potter simply took it out of Miss Weasley's uniform, where it had apparently been stuck in a way since their last pursuit of the Snitch. Incredible indeed – what a game; but now everyone is welcome to return to Hogwarts before the night has come."
Meanwhile, the entire Gryffindor team had landed on the ground as their members hugged each other and cheered even louder and louder. Ginny also looked endlessly happy, and Harry kissed her quickly.
In the Changing Rooms, Hermione soon joined them, excitedly rushing to hug Ron, then as they had dressed in their usual black robes, the heroic Quidditch players went out of the Changing Rooms and received congratulations also from the rest of their House members.
Overwhelmed by the festivity feeling, they dragged themselves up to the Common Room and only when they sat down on the soft sofas, they did feel how truly exhausted they were, especially the Chasers, however, none of them had sleepy eyes. They still had to talk about the incredible finding of the Snitch.
"But just think about it, we were rushing there from one end of the pitch to another, but in the end of the day it turned out that for the half of the whole game, that silly Snitch was simply stuck in the hem of Ginny's cape. For half of the game!" Quintia exclaimed as she raised her palm in the air, accompanying her indignation with lively gestures.
"Think about this, Quintia, what if Harry would have never thought about that hem of the cape? I suppose, we would still be chasing the balls on the pitch like a bunch of idiots," Andrew, a simple-looking guy with short dark brown hair, objected, grinning a little bit at his teammate.
"Well, you know, I'm not even considering keeping playing in the dark, no matter how much I love Quidditch," Quintia stated.
"But who would be playing instead of you?" Bruce asked naively.
"What do you mean – who? I couldn't care less about it. Lest it be McGonagall herself," the girl replied vigorously, smoothing her puffy, dark braids with her palms.
Everyone laughed about her statement joyfully. Harry felt glad that he actually had really nice teammates this year.