Hagrid's heart was racing as he watched helplessly as Harry was thrown back and forth in the air on his broom. The boy had become the closest thing he knew he'd feel as his own. Watching him potentially be injured or worse die tugged at his heart. He grabbed McGonagall's arm beside him who looked equally upset. She yelped slightly when he grabbed, and Hagrid loosened his grip. "Sorry, professor," he muttered. She patted his arm, reassuring him, her eyes never leaving Harry.

Suddenly, Snape, who was seated a few rows in front of them, stood angrily, cursing loudly. Minerva stood immediately as the rest of the staff followed. The bottom of Snape's robes were on fire, Bluebell flames, Hagrid noted. He was stomping wildly trying to put them out. McGonagall had climbed across the bleachers to meet him. Looking up at Harry once again, Hagrid saw, much to his relief, Harry was back on straight.

When Snape had put the flames out, McGonagall sat down beside him, her hand grasping his arm. Hagrid noticed that he rubbed her back for a second. He smiled to himself. Nobody would ever guess that the two professors were together unless they saw the few times that they exchanged small intimacies.

Turning back to the game, Hagrid watched as Harry dove towards the ground. His recently recovered heart began to beat fast again, now wondering if he was falling or purposefully moving so quickly towards the ground. Harry managed to get both feet on the ground, but his hand quickly clamped on his mouth. "He's going to be sick!" Hagrid shouted.

"Oh, Merlin," McGonagall muttered, turning away.

The rest of the staff were muttering amongst themselves in a panic. Harry heaved; Hagrid watched Madame Pomfrey begin down the stairs of the staff bleachers. When his mouth opened, cheers erupted as the golden snitch popped out. Hagrid shouted in support of Harry, seeing McGonagall tiredly waving her Quidditch flag as Snape sat looking more miserable than usual. Flitwick and Sprout were shouting; he knew they were glad to see Slytherin lose even if their respective teams hadn't won. The house rivalries ran deep among the staff.

The students were moving towards the castle, and Hagrid was eager to try and catch Harry before he met with his friends. He was proud of the boy, and he felt a tear slip down his cheek. It seemed only yesterday that he had brought Harry to Privet Drive. Now, he was a star Quidditch player. "Staff!" came the sound of the Deputy's voice over the cheering students. "May I have your attention?" Hagrid turned to see McGonagall standing on the top of a bleacher. "I would like to ask that some of you stay back for a few moments. I need to discuss something with you."

A handful of affirmations followed. "Severus, Filius, Pomona, and Hagrid please remain with me." Hagrid tried not to groan aloud. He was almost never roped in with the staff. "The rest of you, do make sure my Gryffindors haven't destroyed the castle yet." She raised an amused eyebrow.

Laughter followed as the rest of the staff filed away, and those remaining settled onto the bleachers again. Once the others had retreated, Minerva spoke. "I asked you all to remain here to discuss what happened with Mr. Potter's broom."

"It was being jinxed," Snape muttered. His face had a bigger scowl than it normally did.

"I can take a look at it if you'd like, Minerva," Filius offered.

"Why would someone want to hurt Harry?" Hagrid asked. Harry was so young, and it had been only his first match.

"Are you really that thick?" Snape asked with a bite in his voice. "Who could possibly want to hurt the Boy Who Lived, perfect as he is?"

"Enough, Severus," Minerva snapped.

As much as Hagrid knew Harry's fears of Snape were overblown, the man really was unpleasant and had a clear disdain for him. The fact that Snape had it out for him wasn't just in Harry's head. Hagrid wondered how he could hate such a young boy. For a while, he wondered if it was because Harry was the one who defeated the Dark Lord, but Snape held no animosity for any member of the order and was clearly on their side. No, his dislike of Harry was personal. He just couldn't figure out why.

"Filius, I bought the broom for Harry," McGonagall admitted. "Merlin, I checked it before I gave it to him..."

"This wasn't your fault, dear," Pomona said softly.

"She's right," Snape said slowly. His eyes were locked on McGonagall. "I was saying the counter-curse. I was trying to keep it under control."

"It was someone at the match?" McGonagall asked. There was a sense of relief in her voice.

"Yes; it had nothing to do with the broom."

"Well, thank, Merlin for that," she sighed, putting a hand on Severus's.

"Did anyone notice anyone out of the ordinary here?" came a low voice from behind them. Turning, he saw Hooch was walking down the bleachers towards them, her whistle still hanging from her neck. Her hair was disheveled, and she looked worn out.

"I didn't," McGonagall said. "But, I'm going to talk to Albus when he's back and see what he thinks we should do. I'm reluctant to allow any more matches until we resolve this."

"I agree," Filius said. "I don't want any of my Ravenclaws being hurt."

"Or my Hufflepuffs!" Pomona added.

"I think this had less to do with Quidditch and more to do with Potter," Snape said.

McGonagall turned to Hagrid. "Rubeus, have you noticed anyone suspicious around Harry?"

"No ma'am," he replied truthfully. "Nothing out of the ordinary s'far as I know."

"You spend the most time with him. If you didn't notice anything, I doubt any other members of the staff have." A silence fell over the group for a few moments, the deputy chewing her bottom lip as if she was deep in thought. By this point, most of the students had gotten back to the castle and the field was quiet. "You're all dismissed, thank you for staying. I was hoping we could figure this out this evening, but I think it's more complicated than that. Thank you, all."

Everyone nodded and began making their way out, Hagrid allowing almost everyone in front of him because his size always made him take longer. He'd blocked up stairways too many times. He was chatting with Pomona about her newest batch of herbs for Fluffy when he heard Snape say to McGonagall, "Min, wait."

In front of him, Pomona was making her way down the stairs. Hagrid stretched for a moment, saying, "I'll be a minute." He wanted to try and hear what McGonagall and Snape were saying as best he could through the tent covering the staircase. He wasn't normally one to snoop, but it was about Harry. He wanted to know as much as he could. "Need to stretch for a moment!"

Pomona laughed. "See you, Hagrid!"

When Pomona was out of sight, he tried to get close to the tent, careful not to put any weight on it. Being a half-giant made it difficult to be stealthy. "It was him, Minerva," Snape said loudly.

"Quirrell?" her voice was annoyed.

"Unless you think Filius is out there trying to kill him?" Snape asked sarcastically.

An audible sigh came from Minerva. "You've been so set on Quirrell since he arrived…Maybe you need to take a step back and-,"

"I don't need a step back from anything!" he snapped. He wasn't shouting, but he was clearly angry. "Albus knows. He bloody well knows, and he's done nothing about it. We're lucky that Quirrell is a moron!"
A long silence followed until Minerva broke it. "You have good instincts about these things, Severus."

"I know."

"I believe you. But, it still feels like my fault," she said so quietly Hagrid could barely hear.

"What?"

"The broom…Merlin, Severus, I gave it to him. You told me not to…"

"I told you not to because it would benefit your team, and I wanted to see you in Slytherin colors when we win the house cup this year" he said, sounding like he was trying to joke with her, and flirt, Hagrid noticed with a blush. "Not because I thought it was going to hurt him. It's not the broom, Min."

"He's just a child. He could have been killed…"

"He's fine," Severus replied quickly, the humor lost in his voice as quickly as it came.

"Would you stop sulking about Harry for a minute and listen?" she asked, her voice as chastising as it was with her students.

So, Snape did have it out for Harry? Hagrid sure wasn't going to tell the boy and worry him more, but the confirmation was interesting. "I'm sorry," he finally said.

"It's a student, Severus," she said. "It's a student that was in danger, and you can tell me that it wasn't the broom I bought him as much as you want, but part of me will still feel a tad responsible…"

The conversation was becoming far too emotional for Hagrid; he felt rude peeping anymore than he was. This was turning into a private moment between the two professors. As quietly as he could, he made his way down the stairs, hoping that the two professors didn't hear the creak of the wood as he scurried back to the castle.