Chapter 8: Quidditch: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin

"Hello" – Normal Speech

'Hello' – Normal Thought

"Hello" – Non-Human Speech

'Hello' – Non-Human Thought

DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter or Naruto franchises. Nor do I own the rights to Hogwarts Mystery. Wish I did though.

It had been a few days since Josh told the others about his past, or at least what he could remember. It had taken them time to process this information. Once they did, they began to get used to him randomly talking to animals or refilling his cup of water without needing the pitchers, simple stuff that didn't grab anyone else's attention.

Now though today was different. It was the first Quidditch game of the season, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Harry had received a Nimbus 2000 racing broom from Professor McGonagall the previous day, much to the surprise of everyone sitting in the hall. But even the excitement of the new broom didn't stop him from being nervous. It would be his first time playing the sport, and he was nervous about being a complete idiot in the air.

"Come on, Harry," Josh said, looking rather exasperated, "You need your strength for today's game. Eat up, man," "I'm not hungry," Harry replied. He looked over to the teacher's table and noticed that Professor Snape was walking with a limp. Josh noticed where Harry's attention was and asked, "Wonder what's up with his leg?" "Don't know," Ron replied, "But, whatever it is, I hope it's hurting him," "Listen, guys," Harry said in a hushed tone, "I think he used the troll as a distraction to try and get to the third floor. But the dog saw this and bit him, thinking he was after what it was guarding," "I don't know, Harry," Josh replied "I know you don't like him, but don't you think that sounds a little off? Why would he want to go anywhere near that thing? He doesn't seem the type to think himself above Professor Dumbledore," "He does have a point," Naruto said, "But it is off that maybe he would want to be near it," Harry then had a sudden realization, "Listen. Josh, Naruto, do you guys remember when we were in Gringotts? Hagrid took us to that vault and took that small package. Then it gets reported that that vault was emptied the same day we were there. After that, Snape tries to get past that dog on Halloween," "Wait," Hermione said, cutting Harry off, "You're saying that…," "That's what the dog's guarding. That's what Snape is after," Harry finished. They decided to table this thought for later as Wood came to tell Harry it was time to head to the pitch.

Everyone headed out to go to the Quidditch stadium outside the castle and soon it was packed with students buzzing with excitement, waiting for the two teams to emerge. Meanwhile, inside the tunnel, Wood gave his usual speech about how this would be their year, and soon both teams mounted their brooms and zoomed off into the air. Awaiting them in the air was Madame Hooch, who warned both sides about playing fair. She released the snitch, then the bludgers. The snitch disappeared and the bludgers flew around the arena. Finally, the quaffle was up and the match was underway. Lee Jordan, a Gryffindor, was on commentary, "Angelina Johnson is off with the quaffle. She sees an opening and gets through! She shoots… AND SCORES! TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR AS ANGELINA SAILS IT PAST THE SLYTHERIN KEEPER!" The Gryffindors went wild in celebration, which only grew as Katie Bell, another Gryffindor chaser, scored on the Slytherin keeper.

Soon after, the Slytherin team decided to start using foul play and got some points and control of the game. As this was going on Harry, who was patrolling the skies for the snitch, noticed a flash of gold near the grass and lunged after it. Suddenly he felt a jolt in his broom as it began to shake him to and fro to dismount him. "What's going on with his broom?" asked Hagrid, who saw Harry through the binoculars. Hermione took the binoculars and started looking towards the stands. She paused and exclaimed, "It's Snape! He's jinxing Harry's broom!" "What?!" Ron exclaimed, "What are we going to do?" "Leave it to us," Naruto replied, and he and Hermione set off to the teacher's stands. They sneak under the stands and Hermione sets Snape's robes on fire, after which they quickly leave.

While they set off to help Harry, Josh noticed something rather odd. "Gimme those, Ron," he said pointing to the binoculars. Ron obliged and Josh peered through them. 'And what do we have here,' he thought to himself as he found what he was looking for. He then noticed the fire on Snape's robes, "Well that's one way to stop it," he said as he gave the binoculars back to Ron.

Naruto and Hermione made it back as soon as Harry regained control of his broom. But Harry quickly dived as he had seen the snitch once again. He and the snitch were a few feet off the ground when all of a sudden, Harry was on his hands and knees looking like he was going to puke. The crowd grew concerned when he coughed out what was in his mouth until they saw what it was, the snitch. "HE'S GOT THE SNITCH! HARRY POTTER GETS GRYFFINDOR 150 POINTS FOR CATCHING THE SNITCH!" Lee Jordan yelled. A whistle rang through the air as Madame Hooch declared Gryffindor the winner. The Gryffindors cheered and ran onto the field and hoisted Harry on their shoulders. Harry through all of this wore a proud smile on his face.