A/n: Apologies for the delay on uploading this chapter. It was a rather busy Saturday for me and I haven't had time to upload to the site until now.
Chapter 19: Snitches
March 12th, 1994
Hogwarts
It was impressive how much had happened in almost three weeks.
Sirius Black being back in the public eye, and also having officially taken up the mantle of Lord Black, had done significant damage to many that were against them. The biggest was against Lucius Malfoy, who lost a lot of power and backing in the Ministry with Sirius' return, especially when he had called in the debts owed to House Black that the Malfoys had given with no expectations or repayment.
Even then, only some debts had been called in, something Sirius had said he had done to make some of the larger debtors sweat.
Still, calling in two hundred thousand galleons in debt, the lower forty percent, had done some damage. He knew that at least two families within Hogwarts were now either on the edge of or actually were now bankrupt. Even better, Sirius informed him that he had acquired three new stakes in businesses from the other loans that couldn't pay their loan's full monetary value. Harry would have felt bad for the families if it weren't for the fact Sirius had said they were lower ranked Death Eaters.
Another thing that sent waves through the magical community was Harry being officially declared as a duel-heir. Draco Malfoy had been in line for it, but the expression on his face when the Gringotts owl had delivered that notice, alongside the notice of a decreased stipend, had given Harry a new patronus memory.
There were larger ramifications to it though. With him being declared the Black Heir, a family considered part of the Traditional Faction for nearly five hundred years, meant they were likely to lose those votes, which was correct. Sirius had every intention of approaching Cyrus Greengrass to join the Neutral block, bringing both the Potter and Black votes in. Worse yet, at least for their opposition, Lucius lost more power within the Wizengamot as the Traditional Faction no longer believed in his decisions. Of course, that the Malfoy Family was no longer set to inherit the Black Family Estate and carry on the Black Legacy was another thing that burned many bridges to the man.
It was a shame that the Malfoy family still held an elected seat, but even that might change in the future.
The last thing that had sent waves was the divorce and then disownment of Bellatrix no-name, formerly Black and LeStrange, furthered by the announcement of Andromeda Tonks, as well as her husband and daughter, being welcomed back into the Black Family on the same day. The entire nation, even students at Hogwarts, had been astounded to hear such a thing. Neville was silently celebrating though, Harry could see the happiness in the boy's eyes.
Disownment was considered the worst punishment for a member of the Sacred Twenty-eight. Many agreed that the punishment was well deserved, but few others disagreed, believing Azkaban was punishment enough.
No one was brave enough to tell Sirius that in his first official Wizengamot session five days ago though.
Harry had gotten the rundown on the session. From the tone of Sirius' voice, it was all official and rather boring, like reading the 'Terms and Conditions' of a credit card agreement, but mostly nothing occurred. The biggest thing that happened was that Sirius had been welcomed in and accepted the seat for House Black while also taking the proxy for the seat for House Potter. The six votes would do damage, as they hadn't been used until now, despite Lucius' attempts to take control of the Black family's votes prematurely.
At Hogwarts, little had occurred in terms of changes to the student body, though Harry felt gazes lingering on him more and more often. Apparently, he wasn't immune to the political changes occurring, or maybe, it was the upcoming Gryffindor match against Ravenclaw. His dueling had improved though with the basis of different strategies, and the closeness within the friend group had grown some.
"Ready to head down, Harry?" Oliver asked. "Where's your broom at?"
"The pitch. Took it down there when I went for a run this morning." Harry replied easily.
"Well come on." Oliver insisted.
The two gathered the foxes and the twins, and as a group headed down to the pitch. "We've got to win this, I know there are scouts in the stands watching today."
"How'd you know that Oli?" Katie asked cheerfully.
"Puddlemere's recruiter wrote to me. He is excited to see us play." Oliver replied as he unlocked the Gryffindor locker room, stopping just inside the doorway. "What…"
"Move princess." The twins knocked him sideways, sending only a passing glance at the case resting on the bench in front of Harry's locker. The girls followed in behind them, all three freezing at the case sitting on the bench.
"What is that?" Oliver asked breathlessly.
"Who's is that?" Angelina amended in awe.
"Mine." Harry strode past them, popping open the locker and grabbing his padding and gloves, "A gift from my godfather at Yule. I take it that you know what it is?"
"If that is a Firebolt resting in the Limited Edition and highly expensive case that they make, I expect you to never lose a snitch." Oliver said excitedly. Harry nodded, causing their captain to grin. "Sweet merlin."
"I know." Harry grinned, "I can't wait to actually fly on it today."
Once everyone had adorned their gear, Oliver gave his traditional last minute strategy talk, before his normal speech. It ended with a worship-like glance towards Harry's broom. "And with the best broom in the world, I expect this to be in the bag."
A whistle blew, the warning as Ravenclaw was addressed first so they all lined up, before each of them were called out once more. "Captain and all-star Keeper Wood, Chaser Bell, Chaser Spinnet, Chaser Johnson, Beater Weasley, Beater Weasley, annnnddd Seakerrrrr Potterrrrr!"
Harry strode out confidently, the brand new and polished Firebolt resting in his right hand leisurely. It didn't go unnoticed when Hooch gave her normal talk about the match being clean, freezing for a moment as she saw the wording and lettering on the handle.
"And the match is off!" Lee's voice rang out over the clear field. "Today is promising to be an interesting match. Several scouts from not just the minor league but also the major league are in our guest stands to watch the all-star team Gryffindor House has made."
Harry rocketed off the ground at Hooch's whistle, relishing the feeling of the wind against his face as he pushed the broom in a nearly vertical ascension. "Merlin Potter is moving fast. I've never seen him move with such… He has a new broom!"
Harry heard his sudden switch to following the game for a moment as he leveled out just a dozen feet above the rings, overlooking the field. "Possession Spinnet, passing to Bell. Oooh, close hit from Davis, but he missed the quaffle. Bell passes to Johnson who kicks the quaffle between Davis and Burrow, Spinnet catches and shoots… Score Gryffindor!"
"Potter has a new broom, as I was saying. Are you able to tell what it is, McGonagall?" The teacher in question shook her head.
Harry grinned at the sudden idea coming to his mind, turning the broom towards the announcer booth before pushing full speed as Page, the Ravenclaw Keeper, tossed the quaffle back to Davis.
"Possession to Davi- Potter!" Lee screeched in an undignified manner.
He felt every eye turn towards him as he pulled on the broom, it's state of the art breaking kicking in as he turned right, leaving the left side of the broom visible only a foot away from the two announcers, both gasping and ignoring one of the twins nearly unseating Burrow with a bludger.
"Potter has a Firebolt!" Lee whispered, the microphone carrying it across the pitch.
For a moment, every play stopped, before Harry pulled and forced another acceleration, the chasers beginning to play once more. Burrow attempted a pass, but Harry intercepted it in the last moment before Davis could grab it, tossing it to Angelina.
"Potter interferes! Johnson takes the quaffle from Potter, dodges a bludger, roll-passes to Spinnet. She shoots… Score! Twenty nil to Gryffindor!"
Cheers erupted once more at the score. Harry ignored it, leaning back enough that the haphazardly aimed bludger missed by several inches as he floated, looking for the snitch.
The match progressed past the twenty minute mark, then thirty, then forty. Only once had the snitch been seen, and Harry and Cho Chang had both been forced to abandon chase at the two bludgers launched at them. It cost the Ravenclaw team another ten points as Katie scored her third goal, and the teams twelfth goal, leaving the score 120-0.
Oliver had been on point with his blocking, and Harry had no doubt that the scouts were watching him.
It was approaching the hour-forty mark when Harry was searching the pitch. Cho was looking worse for wear after falling to a feint a few minutes prior that led her crashing into the cloth hanging from a set of stands, while Harry was only grinning, high on adrenaline and excitement as they floated from one end of the pitch to the other. They had scored another nine times to Ravenclaw's first and second score. At this point, it mattered little on who caught the snitch, Gryffindor had won already, but it wasn't official until the snitch was found.
Said snitch that Harry just so happened to spot floating within the Ravenclaw's right goal hoop, nearly perfectly centered and taunting him easily.
He ignored everything as he focused. He wasn't about to wait any longer for the team to tire out. He forced the broom to accelerate to near its maximum as he laid his body flush with the handle. He knew, from Ron's talking, how dangerous his next move was about to be, but it wasn't about to stop him as his speed tapered off just a bit higher than his Nimbus 2000, his body tucked in with his hand held out as Cho fell behind.
"Potter's moving fast again, showing us the Firebolt superior des- HE HAS SEEN THE SNITCH!"
Lee's voice echoed as everyone followed his progression. He saw the hoops get closer, and forced his eyes to remain open as he went through the hoop, the snitch's wing getting caught between his ring and pinky finger. Gasps and silence rang out for a moment.
"MY GOD HE FLEW THROUGH THE RING! TALK ABOUT DEATH DEFYING!" Lee's words rang out. "I DON'T SEE THE SNITCH? DID POTTER GET IT?"
Harry twisted the broom twisting back towards the pitch and fumbling with slightly shaky hands as he maneuvered the snitch to his palm without losing it. Once its wings folded in, he knew he had won. He held it up, ending the game.
The silence broke into a cacophony of sheer chaos as everyone cheered. Oliver was thrilled beyond measure as the whole team hit the ground, quickly being ambushed by the rest of the house. It took ten minutes to get back to the locker room alone, and twenty minutes later, the whole team had showered and dressed, all of them sporting damp hair as they exited to find McGonagall, Sirius, and a few other men standing there patient.
"Team, I am sure you know who these men are?" She asked. Oliver seemed to have frozen for a moment in their presence, before nodding slowly.
"Recruiters. Puddlemere's Coach Jackson Fremont, Tornado's Henry Porter, the Arrow's Steven Inglewood, and the Wasps' Bill Vance." Oliver gestured to each one for the team's sake.
"Exactly right Mister Wood." Jackson Fremont spoke happily. "I am pleased to see that you keep an eye on the National Major League."
"Now, as we are here, and not currently arguing over who is hoping to sign each of you, I bet you all have questions?" Henry Porter asked. Harry nodded slowly, glancing at Sirius' grin.
"We wish to see you all play the last two matches of the year." Fremont added. "Win, and I guarantee you will be signed to any of us. At this time though, we all honorably agreed to not attempt to sway any of you one way or another."
"Really?" Oliver seemed like an eager puppy.
"I've never seen such stunts pulled in a match, and you all only committed two fouls." Steven Inglewood spoke, "I wouldn't be surprised if the European National Team sends recruiters here for the next matches. Heir Potter's stunt to catch the snitch alone could see him signed once he is fifteen."
Oliver looked ecstatic, "We'll do our best, and that is a promise."
"I have no doubts in you all. Best of luck." Jackson Fremont said, departing. Each of the others said similar things, before they all headed towards the castle gates chatting between one another.
"Mister Wood." McGonagall's voice was stern but even, "Amazing job, all of you, but remember my rules regarding practice. And Mister Potter…"
Harry didn't wilt under the intense gaze she gave him, "Such stunts I never want to see again. Players have died messing up the Devil's Ring. However, wonderfully done, and congratulations on the Firebolt."
With that, she turned away. Her words made him feel slightly guilty for a moment, but he shrugged it off. He knew what he was doing, and while he wasn't planning on performing such a stunt again, he knew he would do it again if he must.
"Amazing job, pup." Sirius grinned, patting his back.
"Harry, party in the room. Get there when you can." Fred said. Harry nodded as they left the two behind. The two followed the team at a much slower pace, talking as they walked.
"Dumbledore isn't allowing me to stay long, but I wanted to say that Lily would have easily killed you for that stunt. McGonagall wasn't wrong when she said there have been deaths from that move." Sirius said firmly, his stern expression giving way to his thoughts, "James would've thought it brilliant. While I can't really condone it… just try to be careful, yeah?"
"Always. I knew what I was doing." Harry nodded, "I think I'll avoid that one though. That was a bit intense, even for me."
"Quidditch is intense?" Sirius shook his head fondly, "Only you would believe that a move made during Quidditch is more intense than fighting a Basilisk."
"Eh." Harry shrugged, "I'll find other ways to win the match."
"Great." Sirius seemed relieved. "See you in three weeks?"
"Of course." Harry nodded happily, excited to have somewhere to go for Spring Break. "Love you."
"Love you too." Sirius split off towards the gate as Harry entered the castle.
Saying those words still seemed foreign to him, he had never had someone he truly cared for so much outside of Hermione and Ron, and neither had ever said those words to. Yet, it felt right, the man cared for him as much as he cared back.
Entering the common room, he was hit by a wave of noise. Cheers erupted as they noticed his presence, and a butterbeer was shoved into his hand within a minute as he was dragged further in. It took thirty minutes to escape to Ron, Hermione, and Neville, two of which seemed ecstatic, while one was scowling.
"What the hell were you thinking, Harry!" Hermione's voice was nearly drowned out by the celebrations. Her irate look was clear on what she was talking about, and Ron had the decency to look somewhat guilty.
"I'm sorry, Hermione. Yes, the move was dangerous and risky, but I am fine, not even a scratch from it." He spoke softly.
"You could have died!" She snapped, "Do you have any idea how we would have felt if you died?"
Harry was reminded of the girl's words just weeks ago about him being her best friend, and he felt slightly guilty. "I… I'm sorry. I'll not do that move again."
"You better not." She agreed heatedly. "I can't lose you, Harry."
He nodded, holding his arms out for a hug that she gladly accepted. It lasted until it became just a hint awkward before she let go, smiling, "Good job though, and congratulations on the scouts looking towards signing you and the team."
The tension left over the following minutes, and left for a relaxing Saturday evening all around.
March 25th, 1994
Godric's Quarters
Several spells smacked the wall of the training room, scorch marks and chips of stone flying as cutters and blasting curses met stone facade. His anger could be felt, having just left detention with Snape. Harry, for the first time, had lashed out at the bitter man for targeting him and Neville. The result had been three days of detention, twenty points lost, and a lecture on Hermione about how he had slipped off of his well-controlled behavior in ignoring the potions master over petty insults.
'And I had been doing so well.' Harry huffed.
It took a few moments to calm himself for the outburst, but once he was sure, he returned to the main study. Salazar's book had been rather interesting, it mostly covered parselmagic, wards, and blood magic, but the potions' information the man wrote in there was impressive. Sirius, through the mirrors, had talked about the warding and its uses, but most of it was still above him. Harry explained as much.
"Worry not. I'll teach you what I know this summer. I'm no Gringotts cursebreaker, but the Blacks knew a few things about wards." Sirius replied. "How are you doing?"
"Fine, I think. More tired than normal I suppose." Harry shrugged. "It's been a long day."
"Then go and get some rest. Take a few days off of using the time turner and spend time with your friends. After all, you come back next week." Sirius suggested. Harry saw the worrying expression on his face.
"I shouldn't. There's a lot riding on this, and time off is only going to slow my progress."
"Killing yourself via exhaustion isn't doing you any favors though. Tell me, what was Hermione like when she was using the DOM time turner the last time, and even this time?" Sirius asked, a hint of frustration in his voice.
Harry sighed. "Frustrated, tired, somewhat nervous."
"Exactly. Now, how are you feeling now?" Sirius asked knowingly. Harry groaned after a minute of thinking about the past few weeks. Between Flitwick's hardcore training, his own morning and night training, and regular classes, he had slipped into Hermione's pattern of running himself ragged.
"... I hate when you use logic." Harry grumbled, but he couldn't completely smother the grin tugging at his lips.
"But you love me. So what you are going to do is take this entire week off from using the time turner. No 'buts' or complaints. You won't bring it home for vacation, either. We'll train and begin refreshing your N.E.W.T. knowledge, but at a normal pace." Sirius said firmly, "Understood."
"Yes mother."
"... Are you mocking my longer hair?" Sirius asked, affronted.
"Absolutely not." Harry grinned as he stared at Sirius through the mirror, "But between you and Draco or Lucius, I can't tell who spends more galleons and time getting their hair to look so good."
"Wow. Comparing me to a Malfoy. I'll remember that." Sirius mockingly scowled, "Now off to bed, you. It's probably close to when you turned back time. Oh, and do something about your friend's over usage too."
"I'll talk to her. Goodnight Sirius." Harry said.
"Night pup."
The mirror shimmered for a moment before Sirius' image vanished. Harry sighed as he rubbed his face. Sirius' solution, while not his ideal choice, was probably for the best, especially with him beginning to lash out at the likes of Snape again. While he doubted he could take Snape in a full on duel, getting in a fight with Malfoy in his current temper could result in more than just a minor hospital wing visit for the blonde.
Donning his cloak once more, he made his way back to bed, the thoughts of how to talk with Hermione stuck on his mind.
March 26th, 1994
Abandoned Classroom
It had taken Harry the better part of a full day of thinking before he came up with a solution to Hermione and her own tiredness. Something which Neville had noticed too.
His original idea was for the three of them to corner her and ask her, but thinking on the idea, it had been a terrible one. It would have been using force and peer-pressure to get the answers, and with Hermione's admission from before it likely would have brought up less pleasant memories.
No. The idea had been binned the same time he had come up with it.
His second one was to pull something similar to what Ginny had done with the potions book, in this case, pulling the chain enough to unveil the time turner, and then question her about it, but, again, he ran into the same issue.
So now he was on plan C.
"Why did you drag me off alone?" Hermione whined, though Harry could hear that she wasn't truly upset, "I was hoping to get caught up on homework."
He sighed, drawing his Holly wand and locking and silencing the door, before taking in her appearance. He hadn't paid too much mind to it, and really hadn't realized how tired she had gotten, but there was a noticeable more frazzleness to her hair and bags under her eyes.
"I'm worried about you." He said bluntly. She frowned, but he ignored it, "Hermione. I'm far from an idiot, and though Neville hasn't quite figured it out, I know that you've been doing some either really advanced magic or using something to allow you to move back in time to attend all of your classes-"
"You what?" She cut in, looking around the room worriedly. "Harry, I can't tell anyone."
"Then it is a time turner." He surmised. "I don't even begin to want to know how Dumbledore got you one, but can you not see yourself?"
The wording had been harsh, her eyes had widened before she became self conscious and pulled into herself. He cursed himself for not having thought those words through all of the way.
"I didn't mean like that, Hermione. You look just as beautiful as ever-" Her cheeks stained red, "-But you're tired. I can see it and hear it when you talk. I get that you think you have something to prove in the magical world, but this, it can't continue. You're going to hurt yourself doing this."
"What should I do then?" She asked quietly. Harry had no doubts that there was insecurity in her tone.
"Drop Muggle Studies and Divination." Harry said bluntly. "It'd give you a normal workload, and you wouldn't need the time turner anymore."
"But I want to-"
"No." He cut in. "I know, just from the rumors, that our Divination Professor is a nut and a half, and likely an alcoholic too. As for muggle studies, you could pass the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in your sleep for them both, and you can take them even without taking the class. Stop hurting yourself like this… please."
"Harry… I don't know that I can just drop classes." She whispered. Her voice was uncertain.
"It doesn't hurt to ask… you're hurting yourself though, and I worry about you." Harry sighed, "Look, I won't tell you you have to. I can't do that."
He took a second to phrase his words, "Please just think about it. Take your week off during vacation. Don't use it, just spend time with your family and think about it, and ask McGonagall if you agree it would be best. I doubt the woman would tell you no if you told her it was too much."
She nodded uncertainly, though Harry could tell his words reached her, "Alright, and thank you. Perhaps I have been doing too much."
"Of course." He pulled her into a hug, surprising her if her small squeak was anything to go by, "Now come on. Ron and Neville will be asking questions soon."
"One thing, how'd you know it was a time turner?" She asked, pulling away before pulling the device out from her shirt.
Harry just grinned, "I looked up time magic. There isn't hardly anything on it, but there was a footnote in a book Sirius had about the existence of time turners and that the Department of Mysteries controlled the devices."
"Wow." She put her hand on her chest, feigning shock, "You researched something?"
"I've researched a lot." Harry grinned, "I learned from you though."
"Well at least I taught you how to conduct effective research, Potter. Perhaps you aren't a dunderhead after all."
Her sneer was a perfect imitation of Snape, and both of them laughed until they cried at the absurdity of it all. It took several minutes to recover themselves as every time they stopped laughing, one of them did something similar to mock Snape, causing them to fall to peals of laughter once more. They eventually calmed down and made their way from the room and back to their friends in a comfortable happiness.