'Chapter 15 The Quidditch Final\r'

'â€Å"He sent me this,” Hermi ane state, holding issue the letter.\r\n waste took it. The parchment was damp, and enormous teardrops had smudged the ink so heavy(a)ly in derrieres t eyelid it was real difficult to read.\r\n h binglest Hermione, We baffled. Im each(prenominal)owed to bring him solelytocks to Hogwarts. Execution date to be fixed. Beaky has enjoyed London. I wont impart constantlyy(prenominal) the help you gave us. Hagrid â€Å"They cant do this,” verbalize gravel. â€Å"They cant. Buckbeak isnt dangerous.”\r\nâ€Å"Malfoys dads f adeptened the Committee into it,” express Hermione, wiping her eyes. â€Å"You tell apart what hes worry. Theyre a bunch of doddery old fools, and they were sc ard. T here(predicate)ll be an appeal, though, at that place al demeanors is. Only I cant claver any hope…Nothing will stand changed.”\r\nâ€Å"Yeah, it will,” give tongue to Ron fiercely. â€Å"You wont collapse to do all the build alone this time, Hermione. Ill help.”\r\nâ€Å"Oh, Ron!”\r\nHermione flung her arms round Rons neck and stone-broke pass completely. Ron, vista quite terrified, patted her very awkwardly on the top of the head. Finally, Hermione drew proscribedside(a)(predi regorgee).\r\nâ€Å"Ron, Im really, really dark-skinned ab appear Scabbers…” she sobbed.\r\nâ€Å"Oh — well — he was old,” tell Ron, olfactory propertying foring thoroughly relieved that she had let go of him. â€Å"And he was a bit occasionless. You n incessantly k at a time, Mum and pop might catch up with me an owl at a time.”\r\nThe safety mea accepteds compel on the learners since Blacks encourage fracture-in made it unrealistic for chivvy, Ron, and Hermione to go and visit Hagrid in the veritable(a)ings. Their barely adventure of talking to him was during Care of Magical Creatures lessons.\r\nHe seemed benumb with shock at the v erdict.\r\nâ€Å"Sall my fault. Got all tongue-tied. They was all sittin in that respect in black robes an I kep droppin me nones and forgettin all them dates yeh looked up fer me, Hermione. An so Lucius Malfoy stood up an utter his bit, and the Committee jus did exacly what he told em…”\r\nâ€Å"Theres stillness the appeal!” said Ron fiercely. â€Å"Dont give up notwithstanding, were working on it!”\r\nThey were locomote ratiocinationure up to the castle with the simplicity of the class. Ahead they could see Malfoy, who was walking with Crabbe and Goyle, and unbroken looking acantha, laughing derisively.\r\nâ€Å"Sno sober, Ron,” said Hagrid deplorably as they reached the castle steps. â€Å"That Committees in Lucius Malfoys pocket. Im jus gonna make incontestable the equalizer o Beakys time is the happiest hes ever had. I owe him that….”\r\nHagrid glum around and locomote back toward his cabin, his guinea pig burie d in his handkerchief.\r\nâ€Å"Look at him whine!”\r\nMalfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had been standing unless inside the castle doors, listening.\r\nâ€Å" absorb you ever seen anything quite as pathetic?” said Malfoy. â€Å"And hes supposed to be our teacher!”\r\n molest and Ron deuce made furious moves toward Malfoy, but Hermione got there get weaving — SMACK!\r\nShe had slapped Malfoy across the face with all the readiness she could muster. Malfoy staggered. raise, Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle stood flabbergasted as Hermione raised her hand again.\r\nâ€Å"Dont you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul — you evil â€â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Hermione!” said Ron weakly, and he tried to grab her hand as she swung it back.\r\nâ€Å" start up despatch, Ron!”\r\nHermione pulled fall have intercourse to the fore her wand. Malfoy stepped backward. Crabbe and Goyle looked at him for instructions, thoroughly bewildered.\r\nâ€Å"Cmon.” Malfoy muttered, and in a m notet, all three of them had disappeared into the passage office to the dungeons.\r\nâ€Å"Hermione!” Ron said again, seem twain stunned and impressed.\r\nâ€Å" chafe, youd better beat him in the Quidditch final!” Hermione said shrilly. â€Å"You just better had, because I cant stand it if Slytherin wins!”\r\nâ€Å"Were due in Charms,” said Ron, still goggling at Hermione. â€Å"Wed better go.”\r\nThey hurried up the marble st send let on miscue toward professor Flitwicks classroom.\r\nâ€Å"Youre late, boys!” said prof Flitwick reprovingly as molest stretched the classroom door. â€Å" be become on, pronto, wands out, were experimenting with sit dispiritedisfying Charms today, weve already divided into pairs â€â€Å"\r\nstimulate and Ron hurried to a desk at the back and opened their roots. Ron looked privy him.\r\nâ€Å"Wheres Hermione gone?”\r\n waste looked around too. Hermione hadnt ent ered the classroom, yet harry knew she had been right abutting to him when he had opened the door.\r\nâ€Å"Thats weird,” said chivvy, staring(a) at Ron. â€Å"Maybe — maybe she went to the can buoy or aboutthing?”\r\nBut Hermione didnt give care up all lesson.\r\nâ€Å"She couldve done with a rejoiced Charm on her too,” said Ron as the class left for lunch, all smile broadly — the Cheering Charms had left them with a tinting of heavy(p) contentment.\r\nHermione wasnt at lunch either. By the time they had finished their apple pie, the after-effects of the Cheering Charms were eating away get through, and ravage and Ron had started to get slightly worried.\r\nâ€Å"You dont think Malfoy did something to her?” Ron said ill at ease(p)ly as they hurried upstairs toward Gryffindor Tower.\r\nThey passed the gage trolls, gave the Fat Lady the password (â€Å"Flibbertigibbet”), and scramble through the portrait hole into the com mon room.\r\nHermione was oceanted at a remand, steady asleep, her head resting on an open Arithmancy book. They went to sit lot on either side of her. Harry prodded her awake.\r\nâ€Å"Wh — what?” said Hermione, waking with a start and staring wildly around. â€Å"Is it time to go? W — which lesson have we got now?”\r\nâ€Å" forecasting, but its non for an other(a) xx minutes,” said Harry. â€Å"Hermione, why didnt you add up to Charms?”\r\nâ€Å"What? Oh no!” Hermione squeaked. â€Å"I forgot to go to Charms!”\r\nâ€Å"But how could you forget?” said Harry. â€Å"You were with us till we were right re go the classroom!”\r\nâ€Å"I dont believe it!” Hermione wailed. â€Å"Was prof Flitwick mad? Oh, it was Malfoy, I was thinking intimately him and I lost track of things!”\r\nâ€Å"You know what, Hermione?” said Ron, looking down at the enormous Arithmancy book Hermione had been using as a pillow. â€Å"I reckon youre cracking up. Youre contract to do too much.”\r\nâ€Å"No, Im not!” said Hermione, encounter her hair out of her eyes and staring hopelessly around for her bag. â€Å"I just made a mistake, thats all! Id better go and see prof Flitwick and say blueish … Ill see you in Divination!”\r\nHermione joined them at the foot of the ladder to professor Trelawneys classroom twenty minutes later, looking extremely harassed.\r\nâ€Å"I cant believe I missed Cheering Charms! And I bet they come up in our exams; professor Flitwick hinted they might!”\r\nTogether they climbed the ladder into the dim, inhibition tower room. Glowing on every sensitive-minded table was a crystal ball large of p archean white mist. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down unitedly at the same rickety table.\r\nâ€Å"I c at a timeit we werent starting crystal balls until adjoining term,” Ron muttered, casting a wary eye around for prof T relawney, in cheek she was lurking nearby.\r\nâ€Å"Dont complain, this take to bes weve finished palmistry,” Harry muttered back. â€Å"I was getting sick of her flinching every time she looked at my detainment.”\r\nâ€Å"Good day to you!” said the familiar, misty voice, and prof Trelawney made her frequent dramatic entrance out of the butts. Parvati and Lavender quivered with excitement, their faces lit by the milky sheen of their crystal ball.\r\nâ€Å"I have decided to predate the crystal ball a little earliest than I had planned,” said Professor Trelawney, sitting with her back to the fire and gazing around. â€Å"The fates have communicate me that your examination in June will concern the Orb, and I am anxious to give you sufficient practice.”\r\nHermione snorted.\r\nâ€Å"Well, honestly…the fates have informed her. Who sets the exam? She does! What an amazing prediction!” she said, not trouble to follow her voice low. Harry and Ron choked back laughs.\r\nIt was hard to tell whether Professor Trelawney had heard them as her face was hidden in shadow. She continued, however, as though she had not.\r\nâ€Å"Crystal gazing is a particularly refined art,” she said dreamily. â€Å"I do not expect any of you to See when first you peer into the Orbs infinite depths. We shall start by practicing relaxing the conscious mind and outer eyes â€â€ Ron began to snigger uncontrollably and had to stuff his clenched fist in his mouth to stifle the to-do — â€Å"so as to clear the Inner Eye and the superconscious. Perhaps, if we are lucky, some of you will see before the end of the class.”\r\nAnd so they began. Harry, at least, matt-up extremely foolish, staring blankly at the crystal ball, trying to keep his mind empty when impressions such(prenominal) as â€Å"this is thick” kept drifting across it. It didnt help that Ron kept cashiering into silent giggles and Hermione kept tutting.\r\nâ€Å"Seen anything yet?” Harry asked them after a quarter of an hours quiet crystal gazing.\r\nâ€Å"Yeah, theres a burn on this table,” said Ron, plosive consonanting. â€Å"Someones spilled their candle.”\r\nâ€Å"This is such a waste of time,” Hermione hissed. â€Å"I could be practicing something useful. I could be catching up on Cheering Charms â€â€Å"\r\nProfessor Trelawney rustled past.\r\nâ€Å"Would anyone like me to help them interpret the dark portents within their Orb?” she murmured everyplace the clinking of her bangles.\r\nâ€Å"I dont need help,” Ron whispered. â€Å"Its obvious what this means. Theres going to be slews of fog to nighttime.”\r\nBoth Harry and Hermione burst out laughing.\r\nâ€Å"Now, really!” said Professor Trelawney as everyones heads dour in their direction. Parvati and Lavender were looking scandalized. â€Å"You are deplorable the clairvoyant vibrations!” She approached their table and peered into their crystal ball. Harry matt-up his heart sinking. He was sure he knew what was flood billow —\r\nâ€Å"There is something here!” Professor Trelawney whispered, lowering her face to the ball, so that it was reflected twice in her huge glasses. â€Å"Something mournful… but what is it?”\r\nHarry was prepared to bet everything he owned, Including his Firebolt, that it wasnt good news, whatever it was. And sure decent —\r\nâ€Å"My dear,” Professor Trelawney breathed, gazing up at Harry. â€Å"It is here, plainer than ever before… my dear, shuck toward you, growing ever closer… the Gr â€â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Oh, for goodness sake!” said Hermione loudly. â€Å"Not that ridiculous bootleg again!”\r\nProfessor Trelawney raised her enormous eyes to Hermiones face. Parvati whispered something to Lavender, and they both(prenominal) glared at Hermione too. Professor Trelawney s tood up, surveying Hermione with unmistakable anger.\r\nâ€Å"I am sorry to say that from the moment you have arrived in this class my dear, it has been apparent that you do not have what the noble art of Divination requires. Indeed, I dont remember ever meeting a student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane.”\r\nThere was a moments gloss oer. Then —\r\nâ€Å"Fine!” said Hermione abruptly, getting up and cramming Unfogging the Future back into her bag. â€Å"Fine!” she repeated, swinging the bag everywhere her shoulder and almost knocking Ron away his chair. â€Å"I give up! Im leaving!”\r\nAnd to the exclusively classs amazement, Hermione strode over to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and climbed down the ladder out of sight.\r\nIt took a fewer minutes for the class to settle down again. Professor Trelawney seemed to have forget all about the Grim. She turned abruptly from Harry and Rons table, breathing sooner heavily as she tugged her gauzy shawl to a greater extent closely to her.\r\nâ€Å"Ooooo!” said Lavender suddenly, fashioning everyone start. â€Å"Ooooo, Professor Trelawney, Ive just remembered! You saw her leaving, didnt you? Didnt you, Professor? ‘Around Easter, one of our get along will collapse us forever! You said it ages ago, Professor!”\r\nProfessor Trelawney gave her a dewy smile.\r\nâ€Å"Yes, my dear, I did indeed know that neglect Granger would be leaving us. superstar hopes, however, that one might have mistaken the Signs…The Inner Eye can be a burden, you know…”\r\nLavender and Parvati looked deeply impressed, and moved over so that Professor Trelawney could join their table instead.\r\nâ€Å"Some day Hermiones having, eh?” Ron muttered to Harry, looking awed.\r\nâ€Å"Yeah…”\r\nHarry glanced into the crystal ball but saw nonentity but swirling white mist. Had Professor Trelawney really seen the Grim again? Would he? The last thing he needed was another near-fatal accident, with the Quidditch final drawing ever nearer.\r\nThe Easter holidays were not exactly relaxing. The third long time had never had so much preparedness. Neville Longbottom seemed close to a nervous collapse, and he wasnt the only one.\r\nâ€Å"Call this a holiday!” Seamus Finnigan roared at the common room one afternoon. â€Å"The exams are ages away, whatre they playing at?”\r\nBut null had as much to do as Hermione. blush without Divination, she was taking to a greater extent subjects than anybody else. She was usually last to leave the common room at night, first to arrive at the library the next morning; she had shadows like Lupins under her eyes, and seemed constantly close to tears.\r\nRon had taken over responsibility for Buckbeaks appeal. When he wasnt doing his own work, he was poring over enormously thick volumes with names like The enchiridion of Hippogriff Psychology and Fowl or Foul? A Study of Hippogriff Brutalit y. He was so absorbed, he even forgot to be grand to Crookshanks.\r\nHarry, meanwhile, had to fit in his homework around Quidditch practice every day, not to summon endless discussions of tactics with timberland. The Gryffindor-Slytherin consort would take place on the first Saturday after the Easter holidays. Slytherin was atomic number 82 the tournament by exactly two light advance points. This meant (as timberland constantly reminded his aggroup) that they needed to win the scar by to a greater extent than that amount to win the Cup. It besides meant that the burden of winning fell largely on Harry, because capturing the stigmatize was worth one hundred and cubic decimetre points.\r\nâ€Å"So you must catch it only if were more(prenominal) than fifty points up,” Wood told Harry constantly. â€Å"Only if were more than fifty points up, Harry, or we win the compeer but lose the Cup. Youve got that, Havent you? You must catch the fail only if were â€â€Š"\r\nâ€Å"I KNOW, OLIVER!” Harry yelled.\r\nThe whole of Gryffindor support was haunt with the coming match. Gryffindor hadnt won the Quidditch Cup since the legendary Charlie Weasley (Rons second oldest brother) had been Seeker. But Harry doubted whether any of them, even Wood, precious to win as much as he did. The enmity between Harry and Malfoy was at its highest point ever. Malfoy was still smarting about the mud-throwing incident in Hogsmeade and was even more furious that Harry had in some way wormed his way out of punishment. Harry hadnt forgotten Malfoys attempt to sabotage him in the match against Ravenclaw, but it was the enumerate of Buckbeak that made him most determined to beat Malfoy in comportment of the entire school.\r\nNever, in anyones memory, had a match approached in such a highly supercharged atmosphere. By the time the holidays were over, tension between the two aggroups and their Houses was at the breaking point. A number of small scuffles brok e out in the corridors, culminating in a nasty incident in which a Gryffindor after part year and a Slytherin sixth year terminate up in the hospital wing with leeks sprouting out of their ears.\r\nHarry was having a particularly bad time of it. He couldnt walk to class without Slytherins cohesive out their legs and trying to trip him up; Crabbe and Goyle kept popping up wherever he went, and slouching away looking disappointed when they saw him surrounded by people. Wood had given instructions that Harry should be accompanied everywhere he went, in case the Slytherins tried to put down him out of action. The whole of Gryffindor House took up the challenge enthusiastically, so that it was impossible for Harry to get to classes on time because he was surrounded by a vast, chattering company. Harry was more concerned for his Firebolts safety than his own. When he wasnt degraded it, he locked it securely in his trunk and frequently speed back up to Gryffindor Tower at break tim es to check that it was still there.\r\nAll usual pursuits were abandoned in the Gryffindor common room the night before the match. Even Hermione had put down her books.\r\nâ€Å"I cant work, I cant concentrate,” she said nervously.\r\nThere was a great deal of noise. Fred and George Weasley were dealing with the pressure by cosmos louder and more exuberant than ever. Oliver Wood was crouched over a model of a Quidditch plain in the corner, spine little figures across it with his wand and muttering to himself Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were laughing at Freds and Georges jokes. Harry was sitting with Ron and Hermione, removed from the oculus of things, trying not to think about the next day, because every time he did, he had the horrible sensation that something very large was fighting to get out of his jut out.\r\nâ€Å"Youre going to be fine,” Hermione told him, though she looked positively terrified.\r\nâ€Å"Youve got a Firebolt!” said Ron.\r\nâ€Å"Ye ah …” said Harry, his stomach writhing.\r\nIt came as a relief when Wood suddenly stood up and yelled, â€Å"Team! Bed!”\r\nHarry slept badly. first off he dreamed that he had overslept, and that Wood was hollo, â€Å"Where were you? We had to use Neville instead!” Then he dreamed that Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherin team arrived for the match riding dragons. He was navigateing at breakneck speed, trying to avoid a spurt of flames from Malfoys steeds mouth, when he realized he had forgotten his Firebolt. He fell through the air and woke with a start.\r\nIt was a few seconds before Harry remembered that the match hadnt taken place yet, that he was safe in bed, and that the Slytherin team definitely wouldnt be allowed to play on dragons. He was feeling very thirsty. Quietly as he could, he got out of his four-poster and went to pour himself some water from the silver jug beneath the window.\r\nThe evidence were still and quiet. No breath of wind up turned the treetops in the Forbidden Forest; the Whomping Willow was tranquil and innocent-looking. It looked as though the conditions for the match would be perfect.\r\nHarry set down his goblet and was about to turn back to his bed when something caught his eye. An animal of some cast was prowling across the silvery lawn.\r\nHarry dashed to his bedside table, snatched up his glasses, and put them on, then hurried back to the window. It couldnt be the Grim — not now — not right before the match —\r\nHe peered out at the grounds again and, after a minutes frenetic searching, spotted it. It was skirting the edge of the forest now…It wasnt the Grim at all … it was a cat … Harry clutched the window ledge in relief as he recognized the bottlebrush tail. It was only Crookshanks…\r\nOr was it only Crookshanks? Harry squinted, pressing his nose straightaway against the glass. Crookshanks seemed to have come to a halt. Harry was sure he could se e something else despicable in the shadow of the trees too.\r\nAnd just then, it emerged — a grand, shaggy black dog, moving stealthily across the lawn, Crookshanks trotting at its side. Harry stared. What did this mean? If Crookshanks could see the dog as well, how could it be an omen of Harrys death?\r\nâ€Å"Ron!” Harry hissed. â€Å"Ron! Wake up!”\r\nâ€Å"Huh?”\r\nâ€Å"I need you to tell me if you can see something!”\r\nâ€Å"Sall dark, Harry,” Ron muttered thickly. â€Å"Whatre you on about?”\r\nâ€Å"Down here â€â€Å"\r\nHarry looked quickly back out of the window.\r\nCrookshanks and the dog had vanished. Harry climbed onto the windowsill to look right down into the shadows of the castle, but they werent there. Where had they gone?\r\nA loud snore told him Ron had fallen asleep again.\r\nHarry and the rest of the Gryffindor team entered the Great Hall the next day to enormous applause. Harry couldnt help grinning broadl y as he saw that both the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were applauding them too. The Slytherin table hissed loudly as they passed. Harry sight that Malfoy looked even paler than usual.\r\nWood spent the whole of eat urging his team to eat, while touching zip fastener himself. Then he hurried them off to the field before anyone else had finished, so they could get an idea of the conditions. As they left the Great Hall, everyone applauded again.\r\nâ€Å"Good luck, Harry!” called Cho. Harry felt himself blushing.\r\nâ€Å"Okay — no wind to intercommunicate of — suns a bit bright, that could impair your vision, watch out for it — grounds fairly hard, good, thatll give us a fast kickoff â€â€Å"\r\nWood paced the field, staring around with the team behind him. Finally, they saw the front doors of the castle open in the distance and the rest of the school spilling onto the lawn.\r\nâ€Å" footlocker rooms,” said Wood tersely.\r\nNone of them sp oke as they changed into their scarlet robes. Harry wondered if they were feeling like he was: as though hed eaten something extremely wriggly for breakfast. In what seemed like no time at all, Wood was saying, â€Å"Okay, its time, lets go â€â€Å"\r\nThey walked out onto the field to a tidal wave of noise. Three quarters of the crowd was exhausting scarlet travelttes, waving scarlet oarlocks with the Gryffindor lion upon them, or brandishing banners with slogans like â€Å"GO GRYFFINDOR!” and â€Å"LIONS FOR THE CUP” Behind the Slytherin tendency posts, however, two hundred people were wearing one thousand; the silver serpent of Slytherin glittered on their flags, and Professor Snape sat in the very front row, wearing chiliad like everyone else, and a very grim smile.\r\nâ€Å"And here are the Gryffindors!” yelled Lee Jordan, who was acting as commentator as usual. â€Å" mess around, toll, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. Widely ackn owledged as the surmount team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years â€â€Å"\r\nLees comments were drowned by a tide of ‘boos from the Slytherin end.\r\nâ€Å"And here come the Slytherin team, led by maitre d granitelike. Hes made some changes in the lineup and seems to be going for size rather than skill â€â€Å"\r\n much boos from the Slytherin crowd. Harry, however, thought Lee had a point. Malfoy was easily the smallest psyche On the Slytherin team; the rest of them were enormous.\r\nâ€Å"Captains, shake turn over!” said wench Hooch.\r\nFlint and Wood approached each other and grasped each others hand very tightly; it looked as though each was trying to break the others fingers.\r\nâ€Å"Mount your brooms!” said bird Hooch. â€Å"Three…two…one…”\r\nThe sound of her whistle was lost in the roar from the crowd as fourteen brooms rose into the air. Harry felt his hair fly back off his forehead; his nerves left him in th e thrill of the flight; he glanced around, saw Malfoy on his tail, and sped off in search of the Snitch.\r\nâ€Å"And its Gryffindor in will power, Alicia thread maker of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, headway straight for the Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no — Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing UP the field — bash! — nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, its caught by — Johnson, Gryffindor back in obstinance, come on, Angelina — nice tailor around Montague — duck, Angelina, thats a Bludger!?C SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!”\r\nAngelina punched the air as she soared around the end of the field; the sea of scarlet down the stairs was screaming its delight\r\nâ€Å"OUCH!”\r\nAngelina was almost propel from her broom as Marcus Flint went shattering into her.\r\nâ€Å"Sorry!” said Flint as the crowd below booed. â€Å"Sorry, didnt s ee her!”\r\nA moment later, Fred Weasley chucked his Beaters clubhouse at the back of Flints head. Flints nose smashed into the handle of his broom and began to bleed.\r\nâ€Å"That will do!” shrieked Madam Hooch, zooming between then. â€Å" penalisation shot to Gryffindor for an unprovoked bombardment on their Chaser! Penalty shot to Slytherin for knock over damage to their Chaser!”\r\nâ€Å"Come off it, Miss!” howled Fred, but Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Alicia flew transport to take the penalisation.\r\nâ€Å"Come on, Alicia!” yelled Lee into the silence that had descended on the crowd. â€Å"YES! SHES BEATEN THE KEEPER! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!”\r\nHarry turned the Firebolt sharply to watch Flint, still bleeding freely, fly forward to take the Slytherin penalty. Wood was hovering in front of the Gryffindor goal posts, his jaw clenched.\r\nâ€Å"‘Course, Woods a superb keeper!” Lee Jordan told the crowd as Flint waited for Madam Hoochs whistle. â€Å"Superb! Very difficult to pass — very difficult indeed — YES! I DONT BELIEVE IT! HES salve IT!”\r\nRelieved, Harry zoomed away, gazing around for the Snitch, but still making sure he caught every word of Lees commentary. It was demand that he hold Malfoy off the Snitch until Gryffindor was more than fifty points up —\r\nâ€Å"Gryffindor in possession, no, Slytherin in possession — no! Gryffindor back in possession and its Katie Bell, Katie Bell for Gryffindor with the Quaffle, shes streaking up the field — THAT WAS DELIBERATE!”\r\nMontague, a Slytherin Chaser, had swerved in front of Katie, and instead of seizing the Quaffle had grabbed her head. Katie cart-wheeled in the air, managed to bear on on her broom, but dropped the Quaffle.\r\nMadam Hoochs whistle rang out again as she soared over to Montague and began shouting at him. A minute later, Katie had put another penalty past the Slytherin Seek er.\r\nâ€Å"THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING â€â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Jordan, if you cant commentate in an unbiased way â€â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Im telling it like it is, Professor!”\r\nHarry felt a huge bump around of excitement. He had seen the Snitch — it was shimmering at the foot of one of the Gryffindor goal posts — but he mustnt catch it yet — and if Malfoy saw it —\r\nFaking a look of sudden concentration, Harry pulled his Firebolt around and sped off toward the Slytherin end — it worked. Malfoy went haring after him, all the way thinking Harry had seen the Snitch there…\r\nWHOOSH.\r\nOne of the Bludgers came streaking past Harrys right ear, hit by the gigantic Slytherin Beater, Derrick. Then again…\r\nWHOOSH.\r\nThe second Bludger grazed Harrys elbow. The other Beater, body, was closing in.\r\nHarry had a fleeting glance of bole and Derrick zooming toward him, clubs raised — He turned the Firebolt up at th e last second, and Bole and Derrick collided with a dysphemistic crunch.\r\nâ€Å"Ha haaa!” yelled Lee Jordan as the Slytherin Beaters lurched away from each other, clutching their heads. â€Å"Too bad, boys! Youll need to get up earlier than that to beat a Firebolt! And its Gryffindor in possession again, as Johnson takes the Quaffle — Flint alongside her — poke him in the eye, Angelina! — it was a joke, Professor, it was a joke — oh no — Flint in possession, Flint flying toward the Gryffindor goal posts, come on now, Wood, save â€!”\r\nBut Flint had scored; there was an eruption of cheers from the Slytherin end, and Lee swore so badly that Professor McGonagall tried to tug the magical megaphone away from him.\r\nâ€Å"Sorry, Professor, sorry! Wont happen again! So, Gryffindor in the lead, thirty points to ten, and Gryffindor in possession â€â€Å"\r\nIt was turning into the dirtiest game Harry had ever played in. Enraged that Gr yffindor had taken such an early lead, the Slytherins were rapidly resorting to any means to take the Quaffle. Bole hit Alicia with his club and tried to say hed thought she was a Bludger. George Weasley elbowed Bole in the face in retaliation. Madam Hooch awarded both teams penalties, and Wood pulled off another spectacular save, making the score forty-ten to Gryffindor.\r\nThe Snitch had disappeared again. Malfoy was still keeping close to Harry as he soared over the match, looking around for it once Gryffindor was fifty points ahead —\r\nKatie scored. Fifty-ten. Fred and George Weasley were swooping around her, clubs raised, in case any of the Slytherins were thinking of revenge. Bole and Derrick took advantage of Freds and Georges absence seizure to aim both Bludgers at Wood; they caught him in the stomach, one after the other, and he rolled over in the air, clutching his broom, completely winded.\r\nMadam Hooch was beside herself —\r\nâ€Å"YOU DO NOT ATTACK THE KE EPER UNLESS THE QUAFFLE IS WITHIN THE scaling AREA!” she shrieked at Bole and Derrick. â€Å"Gryffindor penalty!”\r\nAnd Angelina scored. Sixty-ten. Moments later, Fred Weasley pelted a Bludger at Warrington, knocking the Quaffle out of his hands; Alicia seized it and put it through the Slytherin goal — seventy-ten.\r\nThe Gryffindor crowd below was screaming itself hoarse — Gryffindor was sixty points in the lead, and if Harry caught the Snitch now, the Cup was theirs. Harry could almost feel hundreds of eyes following him as he soared around the field, high above the rest of the game, with Malfoy speeding along behind him.\r\nAnd then he saw it. The Snitch was sparkling twenty feet above him.\r\nHarry put on a huge burst of speed; the wind was roaring in his ears; he stretched out his hand, but suddenly, the Firebolt was slowing down —\r\nHorrified, he looked around. Malfoy had thrown himself forward, grabbed hold of the Firebolts tail, and was pull ing it back.\r\nâ€Å"You â€â€Å"\r\nHarry was angry enough to hit Malfoy, but couldnt reach — Malfoy was panting with the causal agent of holding onto the Firebolt, but his eyes were sparkling maliciously. He had achieved what hed wanted to do — the Snitch had disappeared again.\r\nâ€Å"Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! Ive never seen such tactics.” Madam Hooch screeched, barb up to where Malfoy was sliding back onto his Nimbus twain Thousand and One.\r\nâ€Å"YOU CHEATING SCUM!” Lee Jordan was wail into the megaphone, dancing out of Professor McGonagalls reach. â€Å"YOU FILTHY, CHEATING B â€â€Å"\r\nProfessor McGonagall didnt even bother to tell him off She was actually shaking her finger in Malfoys direction, her hat had fallen off, and she too was shouting furiously.\r\nAlicia took Gryffindors penalty, but she was so angry she missed by several feet. The Gryffindor team was losing concentration and the Slytherins, delighted by Malfoys fo ul on Harry, were being spurred on to greater heights.\r\nâ€Å"Slytherin in possession, Slytherin heading for goal — Montague scores â€â€ Lee groaned. â€Å"Seventy-twenty to Gryffindor…”\r\nHarry was now marking Malfoy so closely their knees kept hit each other. Harry wasnt going to let Malfoy anywhere near the Snitch….\r\nâ€Å"Get out of it, Potter!” Malfoy yelled in frustration as he tried to turn and found Harry block him.\r\nâ€Å"Angelina Johnson gets the Quaffle for Gryffindor, come on, Angelina, COME ON!”\r\nHarry looked around. any single Slytherin player apart from Malfoy was streaking up the flip over toward Angelina, including the Slytherin Keeper — they were all going to block her — Harry wheeled the Firebolt around, bent so low he was lying flat along the handle, and kicked it forward. Like a bullet, he shot toward the Slytherins.\r\nâ€Å"AAAAAAARRRGH!”\r\nThey scattered as the Firebolt zoomed t oward them; Angelinas way was clear.\r\nâ€Å"SHE SCORES! SHE SCORES! Gryffindor leads by eighty Points to twenty!”\r\nHarry, who had almost pelted headlong into the stands, skidded to a halt in midair, reversed, and zoomed back into the middle of the field.\r\nAnd then he saw something to make his heart stand still. Malfoy was diving, a look of triumph on his face — there, a few feet above the grass below, was a tiny, golden glare —\r\nHarry urged the Firebolt downward, but Malfoy was miles ahead —\r\nâ€Å"Go! Go! Go!” Harry urged his broom. He was gaining on Malfoy — Harry flattened himself to the broom handle as Bole sent a Bludger at him — he was at Malfoys ankles — he was level —\r\nHarry threw himself forward, took both hands off his broom. He knocked Malfoys arm out of the way and —\r\nâ€Å"YES!”\r\nHe pulled out of his dive, his hand in the air, and the bowl exploded. Harry soared above the crowd, an od d ringing in his ears. The tiny golden ball was held tight in his fist, beating its wings hopelessly against his fingers.\r\nThen Wood was speeding toward him, half-blinded by tears; he seized Harry around the neck and sobbed unrestrainedly into his shoulder. Harry felt two large thumps as Fred and George hit them; then Angelinas, Alicias, and Katies voices, â€Å"Weve won the Cup! Weve won the Cup!” compound together in a many-armed hug, the Gryffindor team sank, yelling hoarsely, back to earth.\r\nWave upon wave of color supporters was burbling over the barriers onto the field. Hands were raining down on their backs. Harry had a confused impression of noise and bodies pressing in on him. Then he, and the rest of the team, were hoisted onto the shoulders of the crowd. Thrust into the light, he saw Hagrid, Plastered with crimson rosettes — â€Å"Yeh beat em, Harry, yeh beat em! Wait till I tell Buckbeak!”\r\nThere was Percy, jumping up and down like a maniac, all dignity forgotten. Professor McGonagall was prick harder even than Wood, wiping her eyes with an enormous Gryffindor flag; and there, fighting their way toward Harry, were Ron and Hermione. Words failed them. They simply beamed as Harry was borne toward the stands, where Dumbledore stood waiting with the enormous Quidditch Cup.\r\nIf only there had been a Dementor around…As a sobbing Wood passed Harry the Cup, as he upraised it into the air, Harry felt he could have produced the worlds best Patronus.\r\n'