The trio finally entered the Gryffindor Common Room. Percy and his fellow prefect, Angelica Cole immediately accosted them. Cole exclaimed, "Oh good! All three of you are okay! You three had us worried when Percy told me that we were missing someone. One of us would have gone with you, but we had to make sure the Weasley twins didn't sneak off to prank someone."

Then Percy noticed Harry cradling his bandaged arm. He steered the three of them to the couch and the other Gryffindors surrounded them. The oldest Weasley present in the school, motioned to his arm, "I take it there's a story behind that?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged glances, and came to a silent agreement. Harry lied, "Yeah, we found Hermione, but the troll kind of found us, first. Got hit with some debris while it Hulked out, but luckily Madam Pomfrey said it will heal in a couple of days. Tis' but a scratch."

Dean quipped, "Oi Harry! Quit the pop culture references and give us the story straight."

Harry grumbled, "Killjoy"

He continued, "Not much happened, Ron used the Levitation Charm to float its club away and drop it on the troll's head."

Everyone cheered, and soon split up to do their own thing. Katie suddenly sidled up to the trio, "There was more to the story, wasn't there?"

Hermione asked, "She knows?"

Harry nodded in response, "She's one of the newest Hunters of Artemis. I kind of recruited her a week after McLaggen couldn't keep it in his pants. She took the news of me being a demigod pretty well. Anyway Katie, I didn't get injured because of the troll. After we knocked it out, we were on our way back when a Hellhound attacked."

Alarmed, the Second-Year whispered, "A What!?"

"Monster from the depths of Tartarus. According to Professor Dumbledore, someone opened up the Hogwarts wards and let the troll in. However, it seems that the Hellhound was lurking nearby and managed to sneak in before the wards were closed. I managed to kill it, but I got sloppy and it got a lucky bite."

She looked down in sadness, "I should have been there. You're pretty much my brother now."

He gently pat her back, "Don't blame yourself. If anything, it was my fault for being sloppy. Also, I should start training you to use a bow and arrow. They are the primary weapons of a Hunter of Artemis. Trust me, by the time I'm done with you, you'll be rivalling the Apollo kids in accuracy."

She mused, "Huh… This could actually help us in Quidditch as well. From what I observed last year, Angelina is a pretty physical player. Basically, she can muscle her way through any defence. Alicia on the other hand, is the expert at penalty shots. As for myself, Oliver mentioned that I'm light and nimble. Now with the archery training, it can maybe improve my aim, especially in open play. By the way, how early do you wake up?"

"6AM, usually for training to fight."

"I think I'll join you. Also, Quidditch season is starting next week, so you might have to wake up early for practice. Ravenclaw have already beaten Hufflepuff last week, and next week we're up against Slytherin."

Harry winced, "Yikes! Already being thrown into the snake pit in our first game, huh?"

She nodded, "Pretty much… Angelina warned me that Oliver can get pretty fanatical. I'll tell you what, you try and work out a schedule that blends the Quidditch training, your studies and our personal training."

He agreed, and the four split up to go to bed.

Over the next week or so, Harry was kept quite busy. He had to juggle his schoolwork, Quidditch practices, and training Katie. To her credit, she managed to pick up archery fairly quickly. Her improved skills also translated onto the Quidditch pitch, as her open play throws were deadly accurate, not that Oliver Wood was complaining.

As for Harry's friendship with Ron and Hermione, the girl became a lot less fanatical about school work and her rule-obsession. Thought that was largely down to the fact that the entire house staged an intervention for her.

The seniors told her in no uncertain words, that their academics were none of her business. Also, she was not allowed to check out any books unless it was related to the First-Year course. Additionally, she was not allowed to hoard the books, because her own classmates need them too. When she asked why, a Seventh Year called Deidre stepped up and flatly told her that she was almost late for her Potions submission because Hermione checked out all of the reference books from the Library.

The other seniors also had similar complaints, as well as students from other houses. That was enough to silence the girl and she looked down in shame.

Meanwhile, Ron was a little nicer to Hermione, though they still argued with each other. Soon enough, the day of Gryffindor's first match dawned. Katie was a bit nervous, as were Angelina and Alicia. To their and Oliver's surprise, Harry was fairly calm. Fred aired the question hanging over everyone's heads.

He said, "Oi! Harrykins! You seem awfully calm about it, considering its your first Quidditch match."

Harry replied, "Nah, this is just like back at summer camp where we play Capture The Flag. Except, the teams are smaller and the roles are much more defined. I'll explain everything after the match."

Oliver nodded, "We'll hold you to that. Now, let's get that Quidditch Cup back into Gryffindor hands, where it belongs."

As they ate, Headmaster Dumbledore walked up and told him that he was adjusting the wards to allow for Portkey travel into the grounds. This was because, Sirius and Remus were coming to watch the game. At 11 o'clock, the seven of them trooped out of the Castle doors, ready for the first game.

Suddenly, there was a massive commotion as two figures popped out of thin air and were dumped on the ground of the courtyard. Moments later, three more figures were spat out, a few feet from them. Harry recognised all five people immediately, "Connor? Travis? Silena? What the heck are you three doing here? I was just expecting Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus!"

Silena Beauregard got up and smoothed out her jeans before glaring at the Stoll brothers. The two boys shrank in fear, and Remus explained, "I think what happened was that Sirius and I were preparing a Portkey. Then, these two stole it right from Sirius' pocket. Of course, we had another one ready, just in case of an emergency. Silena over here tagged along to fetch these two before they got up to any mischief."

She stalked over and grabbed the Stolls by the ears. She snapped, "And these two idiots caused a lot of chaos in my cabin when they replaced Drew Tanaka's shampoo with hair-removing solution. I was in a Councillor meeting when I heard her screams of rage."

Fred and George snickered, prompting Angelina and Katie to smack them. The dark-skinned girl warned, "Don't even think about it."

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned, "Right… Anyway, Sirius, Remus? Is there any way we can send them back to Camp? They weren't supposed to be here anyway."

Remus sighed, "Unfortunately, it takes a bit of time to create another Portkey. This is largely because the process is a little tedious, and we have to get approval from the Ministry of Magic. So until then, the three of them are stuck here. I was thinking, maybe they can stick around to watch the game. We'll make sure they don't get into trouble."

Soon, Harry and the Quidditch team headed to the changing rooms. Meanwhile, Silena, Connor and Travis joined Sirius, Remus, Ron and Hermione to head to the stands. In the changing room, Oliver gathered everyone after their changed into scarlet Quidditch robes. He opened his mouth and started off, "Alright lads and ladies. This is it! This is the big one…"

Just as he was about to continue his inspiring speech, the Weasley twins ruined the moment by imitating him. With a tick mark on his forehead, he snapped, "Do you mind! We were all having a moment! This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."

They headed out onto the field and all of them stood in front of their Slytherin opponents, decked in green. Madam Hooch stood between them with her hands on her hips. She gave them all a stern warning that she wanted a nice and clean game. Harry observed that most of her focus was aimed at the Slytherin contingent. He remembered Sirius' advice about the Slytherins not playing fair during his school days. Judging by the looks on captain, Marcus Flint's face, nothing had changed since then. Though he also noted that Slytherin Beater Erika Rath was focused on Hooch's words. Harry filed that piece of information away for later.

As Madam Hooch gave the call to mount their brooms, Harry clambered on his Nimbus 2000. He gave it a cursory look, just to ensure that all the enchantments that Sirius and Remus had placed, were still working fine. With a loud blast of Hooch's whistle, fifteen brooms went airborne.

In a built-in tower in the stands, commentator Lee Jordan was in his element. Though, aside from commentating, he was trying and failing to flirt with Angelina. Jordan only succeeded in getting repeated earfuls from Professor McGonagall.

Jordan excited screamed, "She's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet. A good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve. Here we go! Back to Johnson and – No! The Slytherins have pinched the Quaffle off her. Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes - Flint flying like an eagle up there - he's going to sc- nope! Stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood."

Lee continued jabbering away, "The Gryffindors take the Quaffle on the counter-attack, leading the charge is Chaser Katie Bell. OOO! Nice dive around Flint, off up the field and - OUCH - that must have hurt. She gets a Bludger to the back of the head, and the Slytherins take advantage. That's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger. Fred or George Weasley obviously didn't take too kindly to the stunt with Bell. Nice play by the Gryffindor Beater. Now its Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes. Golly! She's really flying, and she dodges a speeding Bludger, the goal posts are ahead! Come on, now, Angelina - Keeper Bletchley dives - misses - GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

Harry simply tuned out the commentary and hunted for the snitch. Within minutes, he had his eyes on it, tracking its movements. His keen eyesight was largely thanks to his time with the Hunt. However, he made no move for it. This was because Oliver had told him to wait until the Chasers had put up at least 70 points on the board. Instead, he simply opted to fly around lazily, though his eyes rarely left the Snitch. Occasionally, he would run interference, mainly using his body to redirect Quaffle passes that were out of reach of his teammates. In the build-up to the game Hermione and fellow Gryffindor Murphy McNully pored over the Quidditch rules. One of the interesting things that they discovered was that he was legally allowed to run interference, as long as his hands were not touching the Quaffle directly.

Suddenly, he dropped into a barrel roll to avoid a Bludger from Rath. Then, Harry spotted the Snitch hovering just behind Chaser Adrian Pucey. Fellow Seeker Terrence Higgs hadn't spotted it yet, as he was on the other side of the pitch. Harry began to slowly fly over to Pucey, not enough to alert Higgs, but close enough to perform a surprise attack. Unfortunately, Jordan ruined it by pointing out where the Snitch was. Higgs came to his senses and raced over, but Harry was quicker and closer.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Flint hurtling towards him. Harry dipped low at the last moment, to avoid the captain and saw a startled Flint pass over him and nearly collide with Higgs. In the ensuing melee, the Snitch pulled a Houdini and disappeared.

Then, the Slytherins upped the ante in terms of aggression. Bludgers flew wildly from Slytherin bats, forcing Fred and George to defend, occasionally going two-handed. Harry barely missed getting brained in the head, on three occasions. Just then, his broom gave a brief lurch before calming down. Harry's eyes narrowed as Sirius' warning echoed in his head once again. In the next few minutes, there was not a peep from the broom, so he assumed that the enchantments were working.

Meanwhile in the teacher's box, Quirinus Quirrell was frowning and glaring as hard as he could. He wondered, 'Why wasn't the jinx working? The Potter brat should have been bucked off ages ago. His Master was not going to be pleased with this unexpected development'. Unbeknownst to him, Severus Snape cast a wary eye on him, then looked at Harry and then settled down to watch the game. He noticed Sirius and Remus earlier and figured that those two had it under control, in case Potter was in trouble.

Just then, Alicia Spinnet scored, making Gryffindor lead 90-40. As if on cue, Harry's lazy flying ceased, and he showed off the true speed of the Nimbus 2000. Terrence Higgs was also closing in and the two were side-by-side. Higgs, a Seventh Year, assumed that since he was older and bigger, the puny Firstie would be no match for him.

However, there was one thing that Harry knew that he didn't. Harry Potter was a demigod, and he had undergone several years of training with the Hunter and at Camp Half-Blood. Hence, he built up a fair bit of muscle, not that his regular robes and Quidditch robes showed it. So, when Higgs barged sideways into him, Harry didn't budge. When Higgs did it again, Harry decided that he could give just as well as he could take it.

Harry muscled Higgs out of the way and swiped the Snitch from out of the air. Just as he did that, Lee Jordan's excited shouts filled the stadium. He hollered, "He's done it! He's got the Snitch! Potter's got the Snitch!"

Madam Hooch's whistle screech pierced through the cheers and she declared, "Gryffindor win! 240-40!"

Katie was the first one to him, and practically hugged the life out of him. Alicia and Angelina were next, followed by Oliver and the Weasley twins. When the seven landed, the rest of the Gryffindors converged on them in a giant group hug. The Stolls heartily pat him on the back, while Silena hugged him and swung him around.

As everyone walked back, Lavender asked Silena, "You and Harry seem close. Are you two…?"

The demigod blinked, "Me and Harry? Oh… No… He's like a brother to me. My siblings also treat him like a little brother."

Lavender nodded, "Also, I love your make-up! Can you give me any tips?"

Silena grinned, "I'll send you a care package soon."

Later on, Sirius and Remus activated their Portkey and took Silena and the Stolls with them.

Afterwards, in the Common Room, Ron and Hermione sidled up to Harry once the Victory party was over and there was barely anyone. Hermione asked, "So… Silena and the Stoll brothers are demigods too?"

Harry nodded, "Yep! The Stolls are the children of Hermes, God of roads, travel, gymnasiums, athletes, diplomacy, orators, thieves, commerce, trade, and invention. Hermes also the Messenger God. The Hermes kids, especially the Stolls, are also some of the biggest pranksters I've ever seen. Thanks to them, I've kind of grown a little more vigilant in my prank detection. Meanwhile, Silena is the Daughter of Aphrodite, Goddess of love, beauty, desire, passion, pleasure and fertility."

Ron mused, "No wonder Fred and George have had such a hard time trying to prank you. Also, that Silena girl was bloody gorgeous! You think she…"

Harry laughed, "You're out of your league, mate. Besides, I think she has her eye on Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus."

He mumbled, "Worth a shot."

Hermione just muttered, "Boys…"