The next day was the day of the Slytherin versus Gryffindor quidditch match, Harry had been wished good luck by Daphne, Tracy and Blaise. He made his way over to the Slytherin locker room and got changed into his uniform, he picked up his nimbus 2000 which he had received from Professor Snape and made his way to the team meeting.
"Potter" Flint, the quidditch team captain said "what happened to your face?"
"Crabbe and Goyle's fists" Harry answered "but I gave them mine in exchange so it's fair"
"I don't really care as long as it doesn't affect your game"
"You're such a caring person" Harry said sarcastically "makes you wonder why everyone thinks Slytherin's are heartless bastards"
....
Soon they left and arrived in the field, Flint shook hands with Oliver Wood, the opposing captain. Although shaking hands wasn't an accurate description compared to trying to crush each other's hands, after that everyone got on top of their brooms and lifted into the air.
Madam Hooch brought out a box with the quaffles, bludgers and snitch. First she released the snitch which flew up and hovered in front of Harry for a second before going to the Gryffindor seeker and hovering in her face for a second, and then it disappeared.
The Gryffindor seeker was a second year names Rachel, Harry had never seen her fly but she did fit the seeker build with her small and thin body. The whole team got ready for the match to start, Madam Hooch laid out the rules and everyone waited. The bludgers flew into the air, followed by the quaffle and the game began.
The Gryffindor chasers got to the quaffle first, and flew straight to the Slytherin's post with the Slytherin's chasers following. Harry and Rachel had both began looking around for the snitch, both hoping to spot it before the other one.
"And Angelina Johnson scores! Ten points to Gryffindor!" Came the magically amplified voice of Jordan lee, the quidditch commentator.
The game kept going on, Harry tuned everything else out and kept scanning the field for the snitch, he was tempted to use magic to speed things up but decided that he didn't want to cheat, the same could not be said for the rest of the team who were stretching the rules to the fullest and hitting everyone just enough to be allowed but not enough to break a rule. They did occasionally break rules but none of them looked ashamed, some were a bit sad but more likely because they were caught.
As Harry was scanning, he noticed that Rachel occasionally glanced at him to see if he had discovered the location of the snitch yet. He was brought out of his thoughts when his broom suddenly decided to go on autopilot and began moving all about on its own. It started bucking and moving in any direction it could with the hope of throwing Harry off.
Fortunately Harry had quickly gotten over his surprise and held on, he tightened his grip as much as he could. Everyone looked at him with shock and bewilderment, whereas Daphne and Tracy and Blaise were concerned and panicked.
"What the hell is happening to him?!" Daphne shouted
"Maybe he lost control of his broom" Blaise suggested
"Have you seen Harry fly? No way he'd lose control" Tracy replied "must be something wrong with his broom"
Quirrell was particularly pleased with himself, his curse would soon throw the Potter brat off that broom and to his doom. Unfortunately for him Snape had begun a counter curse and was trying to stop him, but Quirrell wasn't afraid, he had the dark lord on his side.
He was brought out of his thoughts when Snapes cloak had caught fire, Snape jumped to his feet in an attempt to put it out and knocked Quirrell over, breaking his eye contact. Quirrell looked up and saw Potter had regained control of his broom, this was bad, his master would be angry.
Harry had no time to think about what happened to his broom as he saw Rachel going for the snitch; he zoomed after her and flew right next to her. They both began racing for the snitch, they were neck and neck and both were getting closer.
Harry was tempted to hit her like the other Slytherin's would have done, but he decided not to. He'd win this game with skill, not violence. The two dived when the snitch did, they looked at each other, before focusing on the ground. They sped up slightly, but then the ground got closer, Rachel decided to pull up.
Unfortunately for her, Harry decided to keep going, he continued chasing the snitch and barley pulled up in time to avoid crashing into the ground. He was flying straight after the snitch and had opted to go for a standing position on his broom, he was getting closer. He reached out, in a second or two he would have caught the golden ball, he reached and he fell.
He landed on the ground, his broom rolled away, every eye was on him. He got back to his feet, when he began coughing.
"I think he's going to be sick" Tracy whispered to her friends
Harry opened his mouth and the snitch popped right out and into his hands, Harry held it high up and the cheers began. The Slytherin crowd cheered and screamed, Tracy the resident quidditch fan had jumped to her feet and began clapping. Blaise shook his head in amusement and also began clapping, so did Daphne even though she vowed to make Harry pay for worrying her.
....
After the quidditch match Harry had to endure much praise from his house, Daphne and friends had asked him what happened to his broom and he told them he didn't know and he would ask somebody about it.
The next day Harry was cornered by Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Adrian Potter when he went to the library so his homework. Harry mentally groaned when the three came over, they walked right up to him and were looking particularly pleased with themselves.
"Hey Harry" Adrian said
"Why do you look so happy?" Harry asked "Found a damsel that needs rescuing?"
"We wanted to talk to you, in private, it's important. Can we go somewhere else where we won't get overheard?"
"Fine" Harry sighed "Meet me by the lake in ten minutes"
"Why ten minutes?" Ron asked
"Because I estimate it will take two to three minutes for me to finish my homework and two to one minutes to pack everything away then four or five minutes to get to the lake. Plenty of time for you though, now go on."
The three didn't look particularly happy at being dismissed but left the library, Harry got to the lake ten minutes later and looked at the three who looked back at him.
"Now" Harry said "what do you want?"
"Well, we wanted to thank you again" Hermione spoke "for saving us from Malfoy and his goons"
"Lovely, but I doubt you wanted a private conversation just for that"
"No" Adrian shook his head "we wanted to let you know that Snape was the one jinxing your broom"
"Snape?" Harry raised an eyebrow
"Yes, Snape" Adrian nodded
"It's true" Hermione said "we saw him, he was making eye contact with your broom, I know a spell when I see one and he wasn't blinking."
"What proof do you have that it was him?" Harry asked
"Didn't you hear her?" Ron interrupted "She just told you that Snape was using a spell to kick you off your broom"
"No, she told me that Snape was using a spell" Harry replied "for all we know he could have been using the counter curse to whoever did use the spell"
"No" Hermione shook her head "when we set him on fire, it stopped and..."
"Wait" Harry interrupted "you set him on fire? And you actually just admitted that?"
"Look, we were saving your life" Adrian said "you should be thanking us"
"Fine, thanks, now you actually set him on fire? What kind of lunatics are you?"
"Would you have preferred to have died?" Hermione glared at him
"I would have preferred you tell McGonagall or someone else and they could have confirmed it. But look, I appreciate the effort and your honesty. I don't think Snape did it however, but thanks again." Harry turned around and began walking away.
"Hey" Adrian called out and Harry stopped and looked back at them "that's it?"
"Yes" Harry nodded "unless you have anything else you need to tell me about?" The three all began looking at each other "I'm guessing you do have something to tell me, what is it?"
"It's Snape" Adrian said eventually "we think that he's trying to break into the third floor corridor"
"May I ask why you think that?" Harry asked
....
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