Chapter Nine – Quidditch

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became ice grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows, defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit-fur gloves and enormous beaverskin boots.

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the House Championship.

Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret. But the news that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harry didn't know which was worse—people telling him he'd be brilliant or people telling him they'd be running around underneath him, holding a mattress.

It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermione as a friend. He didn't know how he'd have got through all his homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. Evy had leant Harry her own copy of Quidditch Through the Ages, which he ended up loving. Harry learnt that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.

Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry, Evy and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll and she was much nicer for it. Evy and Hermione, in particular, had become fast friends, becoming an inseparable group. The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the four of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire which could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping. They moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?"

It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry showed him; it was a library copy as he had given Evy's back to her.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me."

"You've just made that rule up!" Evy said, exasperated. "So people seriously can't study outside?"

Snape snarled at her. "Five points from Gryffindor."

Evy scowled after him as he limped away. "And only because it was a Quidditch book, he obviously doesn't like you being on the team..."

"I'll show him tomorrow when we beat Slytherin," Harry muttered angrily. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.

The four of them sat in the noisy common room that evening. Hermione was checking their Charms homework for them but would never let them copy hers ('How will you learn?') but by asking her to read it through they got the right answers anyway.

"I need to take my mind off my nerves," Harry muttered, standing up. "I'm going to ask Snape if I can have Quidditch of the Ages back."

"Rather you than me," Evy said.

"I'm hoping to catch him in the staff room, he can't refuse if there are other teachers listening," Harry said hopefully.

The look the three of them told him otherwise but he still left boldly to get his book back.

"Honestly, he's acting like you Hermione, all of this trouble over a library book," Ron sighed as Hermione scowled at him.

Evy laughed, and then pitched an idea to her friends. "Do you think it'd be a nice surprise if we made Harry a banner for the match tomorrow?"

Hermione's eyes lit up at the idea. "That's a great idea Evy! Dean is wonderful at drawing so we could ask him to do something?"

"I'm liking this," Ron added. "Hermione, do you think you could cast a charm on it too? So the drawing could flash, or something?"

Evy smiled at Hermione's surprised face. "That's...a clever idea Ron!"

"You look surprised," Ron said, smiling nevertheless.

"What can we use as a banner though?" Evy asked, as Ron called Dean Thomas over.

"Scabbers ruined a sheet in our dormitory, we could use that?" Ron suggested, looking pleased when Hermione beamed at his ideas.

They asked Dean for his help, to which he agreed with enthusiasm; he left to get started on it.

A little while later Harry re-joined. Evy wondered why he was sprinting back to them.

"You'll never guess what I just saw," he said breathlessly. "You remember earlier that Snape was limping? Well I just caught him showing Filch his mangled leg and he asked how are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once? You know what this means? He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween!"

"So that's where he was going when we saw him?" Evy asked, astounded. "You know what this also means? He's after whatever that dog is guarding!"

Harry nodded. "I'd bet my own broomstick that he let the troll in, to create a diversion!"

Hermione's eyes were wide. "No—he wouldn't," she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly, Hermione," Ron snapped, repeating himself from earlier, making Evy chuckle once more, "you think all teachers are saints or something. I'm with Harry; I wouldn't put anything past Snape."

"Me too," Evy agreed. "So what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"

Evy went to bed, her head still buzzing with her own question. She hoped Harry was emptying his mind of such thoughts as he needed some sleep for the Quidditch match tomorrow.

The next morning dawned very bright and cold. Evy and Hermione walked down to the Great Hall together, as they chatted about the impending match.

"This is your first match, I suppose?" Evy said excitedly. "You'll love it Hermione, I promise—there's nothing better than the atmosphere of a great game of Quidditch!"

"I can't wait to finally see Harry in action," Hermione agreed as they entered the Great Hall, the smell of fried sausages and the sound of cheerful chatter hitting them as they did so.

Evy sat next to her best friend, who looked extremely pale. "Are you alright Harry?" Evy asked in concern.

"No," he muttered back to her. "I feel terrible."

Evy placed a hand on his arm. "It's only natural to feel nervous, but you'll be fine." Harry smiled at her encouraging words and placed his hand over hers, squeezing it tightly. Evy noticed Harry had not touched his food. "You've got to eat some breakfast."

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.

"I'm not hungry."

"Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get nobbled by the other team."

"Thanks, Seamus," said Harry, as he watched Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.

"Not helping," Evy said, glaring at her other best friend who was now tucking into his sausages.

Just before eleven o'clock Evy, Ron and Hermione joined the rest of the school in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. They stood by Neville, Seamus and Dean up in the top row, as Seamus wrapped an arm around Evy in an air of excitement over the impending game. Dean presented his banner to them; it said Potter for President and there was an amazing drawing of a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Hermione performed the tricky charm quickly so that the paint flashed different colours.

"Thank you so much you guys, it looks incredible," Evy smiled happily. "Harry's going to love it!"

The crowd quietened slightly as Madam Hooch, the referee, stood in the centre of the pitch, her broom in her hand, seemingly waiting for the two teams. They were not waiting for long as the cheers soon erupted; the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams were walking out onto the pitch and stopped in front of Madam Hooch.

Evy had her eyes fixed on Harry and notice him relax slightly at the sight of their banner; maybe it made him feel a little braver.

"Blimey, look at that guy," Ron muttered. Evy followed his eyes and saw the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint, a fifth-year. Evy would have sworn he had some troll blood in him.

The players mounted their brooms as Evy felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around she saw her brother Gideon, his friends, her cousin Ryan and his friends. They all huddled in together.

"Oh hey guys," Evy greeted, as Ron and Hermione did the same.

"How's Harry feeling?" asked Ryan, rubbing his arms up and down Evy's to keep her warm.

"Terrible," Evy laughed. "I'm sure he'll be alright once the game gets going."

"We just bumped into Will," Gideon added, referring to their Ravenclaw cousin.

"Oh yeah? Who's he supporting?" Evy teased.

"Gryffindor of course. Nobody ever supports Slytherin, except, of course, the Slytherins."

A loud blast from Madam Hooch's silver whistle told them the game had begun. Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air.

"They're off!" said one of Ryan's friends.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor—what an excellent chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too—"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

The Weasley Twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall. Evy smiled as she heard his voice; he was funny in his own right and one of the Twins had told her that he had a crush on Angelina.

"And 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—back to Johnson, and—no, Slytherin have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes—Flint flying like an eagle up there—he's going to sc—no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and Gryffindor take the Quaffle—that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and—OUCH—that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger—Quaffle taken by Slytherin—that's Adrian Pucey speeding off towards the goalposts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger—sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which—nice play by the Gryffindor beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes—she's really flying—dodges a speeding Bludger—the goalposts are ahead—come on, now, Angelina—Keeper Bletchley dives—misses—GRYFFINDOR SCORE!"

Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!"

Evy, Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them.

"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars round his neck. "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet."

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skywards at the speck that was Harry. Evy could not agree more.

"I suppose he's keeping out of the way until he catches sight of the snitch," Evy wondered aloud. "He doesn't want to get himself attacked before he has to."

"All part of Wood's game plan I expect," said Gideon.

Evy sighed in relief as a Bludger, or more like a cannon ball, narrowly missed smashing into Harry who had smartly dodged out of the way, with Fred beating the Bludger furiously back towards Flint.

"Slytherin in possession," Lee was saying. "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys and Chaser Bell and speeds towards the—wait a moment—was that the Snitch?"

Evy's heart skipped as Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his ear. Most importantly, Harry had seen it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downwards after the streak of gold. Slytherin seeker Terence Higgs had seen it too. Neck and neck they hurtled towards the Snitch—all the chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in mid-air to watch.

Harry was faster than Higgs; Evy watched as he put on an extra spurt of speed but—WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below—Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose and Harry's broom span off course, Harry holding on for dear life.

"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.

Evy slapped a hand to her forehead, barely able to watch. Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goalposts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.

Dean, who was a football fan, yelled, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"

"This isn't football Dean," Ron reminded him. "You can't send people off in Quidditch—and what's a red card?"

But Hagrid was on Dean's side. "They oughta change the rules, Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air."

"In our Dorm, Evy, Dean has a football poster of his team, West Ham, is it? They don't even move, just stand there, you know like Harry said on the train," Ron said. "It was so weird!"

Lee was finding it difficult not to take sides. "So—after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating—"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul—"

"Jordan, I'm warning you—"

"Alright, alright. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

Evy watched as Harry dodged another Bludger, which span dangerously past his head. She frowned as he suddenly lurched, barely holding on. And then, it happened again.

"Guys..." Evy said worriedly. "Is it just me, or is Harry's broom trying to buck him off?"

"His broom looks out of control..." Ryan trailed off nervously.

"What the...?"

Harry was trying to turn it, direct it, anything but he couldn't. It was now zig-zagging through the air and every now and then was making violent swishing movements. It was almost unseating him.

Nobody else seemed to have noticed, and Lee was still commentating. "Slytherin in possession—Flint with the Quaffle—passes Spinnet—passes Bell—hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose—only joking, Professor—Slytherin score—oh no..."

The Slytherins were cheering. Evy took no notice as she watched Harry's broom carry him higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went.

"We've got to do something!" Evy cried, as people began to notice him. Suddenly they all started pointing all over the stands.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom...but he can't have..."

Evy stared in horror as the broom began to roll over and over, with Harry only just managing to hold on. She gasped along with the crowd as the broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.

"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark Magic—no kid can do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

"Well, it must be somebody here doing a bloody good job," Evy grumbled, her eyes fixed on Harry.

At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd.

"What are you doing?" Ron moaned, grey-faced.

"I knew it," Hermione gasped, but talking quietly so only Evy and Ron would hear her. "Snape—look."

Evy grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stand opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering non-stop under his breath. Evy then passed the binoculars to Ron.

"He's doing something—jinxing the broom," said Hermione.

"What should we do?" Ron asked in a panic.

"Right," Evy said angrily, but Hermione stopped her from moving.

"Leave it to me," she said and before they could say another word Hermione had disappeared. Evy took the binoculars from Ron and turned them back on Harry; his broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd were on their feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull Harry safely on to one of their brooms, but it was no good—every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell. Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.

"Come on Hermione," Evy muttered desperately.

She stared at the stands opposite, watching as Professor Quirrell was knocked headfirst into the row in front and smiling in relief when Snape jumped up, yelping as he did so. Evy had no idea what Hermione had done, but it was enough.

Harry clambered back on to his broom.

"Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.

Harry was speeding towards the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick—he hit the pitch on all fours—coughed—and something gold fell into his hand.

"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion.

"Well, no idea what happened there," Evy said casually. "But, as Hermione says, thank God that's over."

Hermione returned breathlessly. Evy pulled her into a hug. "Nice one Hermione! He's alright!"

She beamed at her. "I set Snape's robes on fire, to put him off," Hermione told them.

Ron looked extremely impressed.

The Gryffindors were celebrating, as were Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and the three of them decided to go and meet Harry by the changing rooms. Hagrid told them to meet him in his hut when they had got him.

Lee was happily shouting the result out to the stands as they made their way through the crowds. Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. They reached the changing rooms, and met Harry as he came out, showered and changed quickly. He was still shaking slightly.

"Oh Harry you scared me," Evy mumbled, hugging him. He squeezed her back.

"I'm glad to be back on the ground," Harry admitted, as they walked away from the pitch, hearing Flint howl, "He didn't catch it, he nearly swallowed it!"

"He hasn't broken any rules," Madam Hooch replied sharply.

Evy smirked at the Slytherin team as they marched past them. "Well, you can't say it wasn't a memorable first match, eh Harry?"

He laughed slightly, despite everything. "And we won!"

"Come on; let's go to Hagrid's for a strong cup of tea."

"We'll tell you what we saw too," Hermione said gravely.

A/N: Thank you for everything, readers :) I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and hopefully I'll update quicker next time.