"Demelza, stick closer to Ginny during this formation, the gap is giving Katie the space to slot right in and snatch the Quaffle!" Harry shouted across the pitch as he observed his team rerun the practice drills. It was three days till their first game of the Invitational Tournament where the reserve teams of Puddlemere, Chudley Cannons, Tutshill Tornados and Pride of Portree would visit and play against the four Hogwarts teams. The eight teams will be separated into two groups of four and Gryffindor, they were placed with the fourth seed Hogwarts team, Hufflepuff who lost every game of the season together with Puddlemere and Chudley. From the information provided to him by Marcus and McGonagall, the most dangerous team would be Puddlemere who had his ex-captain, Oliver Wood in goal. Chudley Cannons were probably manageable and as long Gryffindor won against Hufflepuff and Chudley, they would be able to progress to the next stage as the top two teams from each group progressed.

Listening to Harry's comments, Demelza adjusted her playstyle, flying a lot closer to Ginny than before and providing better cover, allowing Ginny to get past Katie and score.

"Well well well, Mr six and zero," someone called out from below. Turning to see who was disturbing their practice session, Harry was shocked and delighted to see his ex-captain standing on the pitch, smiling brightly at him.

"Wood!" Harry exclaimed as he landed on the ground with his teammates, "What are you doing here?"

"Puddlemere are coming to have a practice session on this pitch before our game," Wood explained, "figured that I could come earlier to watch my ex-team in action and have a chat with you all."

"By watching you mean scouting don't you," Harry teased.

"Mhm," Wood said with a sly smile, "I miss you guys so much."

After embracing the entire team, Wood continued his chat with Harry.

"So Mr Captain, how's taking on the armband like?"

"Terrifying and stressful for the most part," Harry admitted, "it's really not fun for the most part but winning does feel a lot nicer."

"True true, you've done a fantastic job though," Wood commented, "six and zero in your first season, that's bloody impressive."

"I just picked up where you left off," Harry admitted, "you built the core of the team which made it a lot easier for me."

"You aren't wrong, but you have definitely done amazingly, the team looks a lot more gelled together than before," Wood continued, "and the strats I've seen you guys pull off, brilliant, you are actually a really good captain Harry."

"We will have to see next year then," Harry sighed, "half the team and most of the entire core will be gone, Angelina is actually a cheat code, losing her will mean the world."

"True, but my sources say that Ginny looks fantastic as well."

"She does, but we will have to see if she is as good as Angelina, people focus on me and call me a prodigy, she is the real prodigy here, you better watch out when you play against her in the future," Harry said.

"Trust me Harry, I know," Wood said with a pained and knowing smile, "well, I will see you on the pitch for our first game, don't disappoint me, I expect a huge game."

"I won't."

"Welcome to the first game of our Invitational Tournament! I am Lee Jordan, Hogwarts Commentator and today, I'm joined by-"

"Howell Ash!" Ash added, "Professional Commentator for the British and Irish Quidditch League, today, we will bear witness to one of the most exciting matchups of this Tournament, PUDDLEMERE UNITED RESERVES VS GRYFFINDORRR!"

Harry looked out in amazement as the grounds erupted into thunderous cheers, peeking out of the changing room, he could see a huge crowd of red in the stands. With the release of jerseys to the public, the Gryffindor jerseys were sold out almost immediately with the demand for the jersey with his name on the back being the highest in demand. Staring into the crowd in amazement, he could see that not only were the Gryffindors wearing the jersey, but many students from other houses too, all there to support their school's champions. In the stands, Harry could also see quite a few wearing the navy blue of Puddlemere United.

"Puddlemere United Reserves are touted as the strongest competitor coming into this tournament with many upcoming talents on the squad, among which is Oliver Wood, ex-Gryffindor captain who led Gryffindor to their first Housecup in many years and formed the dominant Gryffindor team we see today, today however, he is representing his boyhood club as their captain and will be looking to place Puddlemere on top of the leaderboard," Ash commentated.

"On the other side of the pitch lies the recently crowned champions of the Interhouse Championship, Gryffindor!" Lee announced, "Led by captain Harry Potter, they went on a flawless six to zero run this year, dominating every game they play, key players to note are Harry Potter who boasts an excellent five snitch catches this season, adding to his tally of ten catches in twelve games, one of the most impressive records in Hogwarts' history, another player to note would be Angelina Johnson, arguably the most promising Chaser that Hogwarts has produced in the last seven years, she has been the top scorer in the league for the past three seasons and have been setting personal records every season, rumours are that many scouts are attending the games for this tournament to potentially sign her to their reserves or even their starting team, she will be a joy to watch in the air."

"And with that, let's begin the game, from Team Gryffindor, their Chaser trio, KATIE BELL! ALICIA SPINNET! AND THE ONE AND ONLY, ANGELINA JOHNSON!"

Harry's Chasers took to the sky one by one as Ash called out their names before joining together for some theatrics much to the crowd's enjoyment.

"The dynamic duo of beaters, FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!"

Fred and George similarly took to the skies when Lee called out their names, setting off a multitude of fireworks and leaving a trail of gold behind them as they flew up into the sky to join the chasers.

"Their younger brother and the keeper of the season, RON WEASLEY!"

Taking to the sky as well, Ron went up in a simple yet confident way, looking excited for the new challenge. Knowing Ron well enough, he knew that Ron wanted to show that he was as good if not better than Wood through this game, something that Harry truly believed was possible.

"LAST BUT NOT LEAST," Lee shouted, "THE STAR SEEKER, HARRY POTTER!"

Exploding into the sky like he always did, the crowd erupted into thunderous cheers for him. Keeping his introduction as simple as possible, Harry circled the stadium much to the crowd's delight.

As the commentators announced the Puddlemere United players, Harry felt his confidence increase as he watched them take to the skies, from his observation, they didn't look the most comfortable and confident, largely due to it being their first time in such a large stadium filled with mostly opposition fans. Wood however, looked as focused and confident as Harry always remembered, travelling to the centre of the pitch where Madam Hooch was, they both gave each other a bright smile, facing another captain was one thing, facing your ex-captain and your successor, that was a different level of excitement.

"I expect a clean game from both of you," Madam Hooch said, "this is being broadcasted to the world through the Wireless so the audience will form their impressions of you through this game, understood?"

"Understood," Harry and Wood both replied.

"Good, captains, shake hands."

"Give me you all today Harry," Wood said as their hands connected.

"I was never going to go easy on you," Harry smiled, "besides, we would still win regardless, your players seem a little nervous."

"They will need to warm up to the crowd," Wood replied confidently, "regardless of whether we win, I just want a good game."

"That we can provide," Harry replied as they released their firm handshake.

"Good luck Harry."

"You too Wood."

"The captains have shaken their hands, this means only one thing," Lee added, "THE INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT BEGINS!"

When the quaffle was released, Angelina and the Puddlemere Chaser immediately made a mad dash for it, Angelina however, reached there first, guarding the quaffle well and in the process, giving the Chaser a hard but legal knock, sending him off course. Without hesitation, Angelina made her trademark dash down the middle, this time however, Alicia was with her on her left as a guard while Harry was on the right with Katie somewhat behind. Attempting to break the attack formation, the Puddlemere Beater shot a Bludger straight at them while the other Chaser prepared for the snatch. Fred however, got in just in time, hitting the Bludger away.

"EXCELLENT DEFENCE FROM FRED WEASLEY!" Lee announced, "Quick reactions to protect the attacking formation, Johnson is left unopposed to the goal…"

With the defence falling apart with the failed bludger, Harry broke off formation and flew straight at the opposing chaser who was about to go in for the defence, successfully diverting her and slowing her down. Alicia did something similar, using her physical power to hold off the chaser.

"Johnson is one-on-one with Wood, shoots… SAVED! BUT HERE COMES BELL ON THE REBOUND, SCORES!"

Harry watched in amazement as Wood pulled off an outstanding save, something that Harry thought should have been a goal. Katie however, was close behind Angelina in accordance with their strategy, immediately reacting to the save and scoring the rebound, excellent start for them.

Flying up to the sky and resuming his seeker duties, Harry watched as Wood threw an excellent ball at a Chaser who attempted to take Alicia one-on-one, to the Chaser's amazement however, Alicia did not budge under the physical pressure, slowing him down so much that Katie swooped in and snatched the Quaffle, throwing it to Angelina who was already making her run down the right unmarked. One-on-one with Wood again, Angelina was able to beat him this time with an excellent feint. 20 to 0.

As the game continued, Harry was truthfully surprised at Puddlemere's skill level, while they were definitely strong, they weren't a lot stronger than Ravenclaw, their chaser line was definitely better, being much more capable at pulling off set plays which netted them a few goals, they were still subpar as compared to his, the scoreline for Gryffindor continued increasing steadily, even after Wood called a timeout at 60 to 30, the barrage of goals did not stop, it soon became 130 to 70 with Gryffindor continuing to dominate the game. By now, Harry had completely stopped getting involved with the game, understanding that their win condition was for the Puddlemere United Seeker not to catch the snitch as at this rate, they would be leading by over 150 points in no time.

Continuing his search, Harry soon saw a flash of gold on the opposite side of the pitch. Without hesitation, Harry launched into a full dash at the snitch, once again pushing his broom to the limit. The opposing Seeker, spotting the snitch as well, followed Harry into the chase with only centimetres separating them. Harry however, was slowly gaining more and more pace due to his smaller figure as compared to their Seeker, realising this, he started using his body more, trying to slow Harry down physically. Harry however, was having none of that, battling the seeker physically and surprising him with his physical power. As both got closer to the snitch, it bolted away rapidly, it however, flew straight into the wall below the stands rather than flying left or right. Both seekers continued to follow it, getting closer and closer towards the wall. Adrenaline raced through Harry's mind as he understood the win condition for this game, who blinked first, who pushed themselves to the limit. Continuing his push, they got closer and closer, metre by metre, they raced closer to impact. With only firm determination in his mind, he continued his push, fearless and completely trusting in his ability.

With only two or three metres separating them and the wall, the Puddlemere Seeker blinked, pulling out of his dash and breaking abruptly. Harry however, continued with his fingertips just a few centimetres from the snitch. With one last push, Harry wrapped his fingers around the snitch before pulling sharply up. His feet made contact with the wall as he went completely vertical and ran up the wall to slow the broom down before using all his strength to push off the wall right before he hit the stands. Performing a 360 loop, Harry found himself in the sky again and right in front of a stunned stand with the snitch in his hands. Opening his hand and raising it to the sky, the crowd erupted into thunderous celebrations.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, HARRY POTTER CAUGHT THE SNITCH METRES AWAY FROM THE WALL AND BARELY AVOIDED A DISASTROUS INJURY WHILE DOING SO!" Ash shouted with excitement.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS, 290 TO 80, ANOTHER BRILLIANT DISPLAY FROM THAT TEAM.!" Lee added.

Getting swamped by his team as he landed, he was lifted onto the twins' shoulder and paraded around the pitch with the snitch still in his hand.

"You absolute madman!" Katie shouted in excitement and laughter.

"Cho is so going to kill you for that stunt," Ron added, his face filled with joy over their first win of the tournament.

"Here she comes," Ryan gulped, pointing to Harry's right, turning to look in that direction, Harry saw an annoyed Cho storming towards him with equally annoyed Hermione and Daphne by her side. Most interestingly and frighteningly, Lupa was with them and looked pissed as well.

"Cho, I can explain-" Harry tried to say as the twins lowered him.

"Merlin's beard you are actually an idiot," Cho said as stormed up towards him as Lupa howled in agreement, "what if you failed your vertical rise!"

"But I didn't- Ow!" Harry tried to protest before Cho kicked him in the shin.

"First you fight Voldemort and go unconscious for days and now you decide to fly straight into a wall, you are such an idiot."

"I won't do it again, I promise."

"We all know that that's an empty promise," Daphne snorted which the girls nodded in agreement to while Lupa howled in agreement.

"True, I will try to never do that again," Harry said again before getting kicked in the shin by Cho again.

"Fine fine, I won't, I promise," Harry protested again, thankfully, this seemingly satisfied Cho as her aggression suddenly vanished.

"That was still an impressive win wasn't it?" Harry added.

"It was," Cho admitted before glaring at Harry again, "but it should have been a disaster with you in Hospital Wing with broken bones."

"I didn't, that's the point," Harry said with a playful smile.

"Thank god it didn't, otherwise I will actually kill you this time," Cho glared.

"Whatever, let's go and celebrate now shall we?"

"You still have a press conference dummy," Cho reminded him

"For fuck sake," Harry cursed, "later then, there will be a celebration in the Gryffindor common room."

"Meet you there then," Cho nodded in agreement.

"Why do you think that McGonagall wants us at her office?" Harry asked the group curiously.

It was a peaceful Monday morning after their third win in the tournament. After starting his reserve team and breezing through Hufflepuff, courtesy to an awe-inspiring performance from Ginny who somehow managed to play two positions amazingly during the game, starting as a seeker where she almost caught the snitch but ended up getting fouled by Zacharias when he held her broom back through holding its tail. She then transitioned to the Chaser role and scored seventy points for them before Harry caught the winning snitch, winning the game 340 to 100, another dominant display from Gryffindor despite starting the reserve team. The next game against Chudley went similarly to the Puddlemere United game with Angelina once again performing stunningly and Harry catching the snitch. The most surprising event however, was Ron's performance during the game which impressed Harry so much that he was convinced that he was better than Wood ever was during his Hogwarts career. Facing his favourite team, Ron made a stunning eleven saves, preventing Chudley from getting more than sixty points with the game ending 330 to 60. The team celebrated Ron's performance by lifting him up and parading him around the pitch much to his embarrassment. Harry however, could see that he was enjoying his moment of glory, something that he rarely got.

"No idea," Cho replied. Professor (aka future headmistress) McGonagall had called Harry, Cho, Hermione and Daphne to her office during breakfast. None of them knew the reason but they suspected it had something to do with either Harry or the prefects. Knocking on her door, Harry opened her door and entered together with the other three.

"Good afternoon Minnie," Harry said which McGonagall snorted at, while Harry technically should not call her that in front of anyone as per their agreement, McGonagall probably figured that the other three knew about this name already.

"Good afternoon you four, take a seat please," McGonagall replied, inviting them to sit on the four comfortable seats in front of her table.

"Why did you call the four of us here Professor?" Hermione asked, worried, "Did we do something wrong?"

"No Hermione, matter of fact, the reason why you four are here is that you four have done amazingly as students and prefects this year," McGonagall, much to their surprise, "Firstly, Hermione, you have done amazingly as a prefect this year, enforcing the school rules very well and supporting your fellow housemates passionately, you are truly the perfect role model for a prefect."

Harry didn't need to look and he already knew that Hermione was flushing brightly under all these praises. Hermione might be stubborn all the time, but one thing she cannot resist is McGonagall's praises.

"Ms Greengrass, you have also gone above and beyond what a prefect should do, your role in the drastic changes and improvement to Slytherin house is one to be commended, you have done something that many batches before you have failed to do, change the Slytherin house for the better and improve inter-house relations, something that many Professors including myself have thought that it was impossible but here you are proving us wrong."

Similarly, Harry could tell that Daphne was blushing brightly as well, she however, had a small smug smile on her face, something that is to be expected from a Slytherin like her.

"Ms Chang, you have similarly exposed the toxicity within Ravenclaw house itself, leading it in its change for the better and at the same time, being promoted to a Ravenclaw prefect and being one of the best ones in the school."

Harry clenched Cho's hand tightly in support and encouragement as McGonagall delivered her praises, something that Harry knew meant a lot to Cho as well.

"Last but not least, Harry, you have done more than what an average student would be able to do during the lifetime at Hogwarts, where do I even start, becoming a prefect and being a major part of the change in Slytherin, being an excellent role model and mentor for the first-years who have shared with me how much you have helped them settle into this school, you have also led the entire Hogwarts Quidditch scene, being the main reason for the explosion in popularity for the Interhouse Championship and being the face for it, you have done so much this year that you truly amaze me in too many ways to count," McGonagall said with a soft smile on her face. Harry himself felt immensely grateful for McGonagall's praises, over the course of this year, their bond had grown so much that she felt more than a mentor to him and instead, felt more like a mother figure at Hogwarts for me. Taking into account that Mrs Weasley was at Hogwarts as well, it is very telling how close they were now.

"We are here today because I want to seek your advice about how to improve our school environment," McGonagall continued, "as most of you would know and have felt, our school culture has been to say the least, subpar as of recently, while Albus was an excellent Headmaster, I can't help but to feel that at times, he has neglected certain aspects of the school culture, leading to students getting more distant than ever, something that I intend to change and the best way to do so is through seeking advice from the students themselves."

"So you want us to give you advice on how to improve the school as a whole?" Harry clarified, slightly stunned at this request.

"Indeed Harry."

"Well, personally," Harry started, "I reckon the main thing resulting in the divide is the lack of interaction between the different houses, we do share lessons with different houses but most of the time, we would just sit with our Housemates, like before this year, I only had friends from Gryffindor and a girlfriend from Ravenclaw."

"Indeed," McGonagall replied, deep in thought, "how do you four propose that we fix that."

"Well… I reckon you would just have to give students more opportunities to communicate with each other, for our group, the Slytherins joined because of the bond Daphne and I formed through prefect duties, Luna joined our group mainly because Cho befriended her, I think the main thing would be to give everyone opportunities to talk to different houses," Harry added.

"I agree with Harry," Daphne added, "I've never talked to Harry throughout our previous four years in the school despite being in the same classes, prefect duties just gave us that opportunity to talk and we found out that we liked each other company a lot, one thing led to another, Blaise and Tracey also joined our group and we became close like that."

"Interesting, suggestions for such opportunities?"

"I think next year's Interschool Quidditch Tournament is a fantastic opportunity," Cho replied, "students from different levels and houses will come together and train which can build stronger bonds with each other, all you really need is two people from two different groups to grow close for both groups to grow closer as a whole and improve the interhouse relations."

"We can also have more recreational events together I reckon," Harry continued, "like recreational Quidditch matches where different students can come together and just play for fun, we can potentially create a small tournament every now and then where students come together and form teams together with students they meet from other houses during the recreational games to compete."

"We can also have student-to-student mentoring," Hermione added, "in our group for example, Harry and I are the best at Transfiguration so we help everyone else with Transfiguration, same thing with Cho for Charms, Daphne for Potions and Neville for Herbology, if we can recreate this on a larger scale, pairing different students up to help each other, we can potentially form better bonds."

"We can probably have more school events as well," Cho said, "the Yule Ball is the best example, so many students went with students from other houses and talked to other students from other houses during the course of it, I mean that's how Harry and I got to know each other and that has brought us so far, we can have more of those, like a yearly Christmas Ball or party and an end-of-term one as well."

"Excellent ideas, I will take all of them into consideration," said a rather pleased McGonagall, "I have more to discuss with you four, let's continue shall we?