From 804ae4b5cdb4c354b725415ab0a70b35d0644102 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: ThrawnCA Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2024 21:27:33 +1000 Subject: [PATCH] adjust chapter 21 - Remove some section breaks based on Royal Road version - Make punctuation better match RR - Add emphasis to spell incantations - Avoid repeated 'and' --- src/OEBPS/Chapter21.xhtml | 58 ++++++--------------------------------- 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 50 deletions(-) diff --git a/src/OEBPS/Chapter21.xhtml b/src/OEBPS/Chapter21.xhtml index 1a80e88..f4a93d8 100644 --- a/src/OEBPS/Chapter21.xhtml +++ b/src/OEBPS/Chapter21.xhtml @@ -29,9 +29,6 @@

“Hey,” Harry objected, “you don’t have to—” He shut his mouth when Luna smoothed her robes and then flopped down in Neville’s lap. “Never mind – Luna, thanks!” Harry suppressed a grin at the expression frozen on Neville’s face. As he sat down, Harry noticed Ginny was stifling a giggle as well.

Harry scratched his head and tried to organize his thoughts. “Look, Percy and I have come to a bit of an understanding. So let’s not do anything to muck it up, yeah?” He addressed that mainly toward the twins and Ron, but he noticed Ginny nodding as well, a small smile on her lips. He looked around and noticed most of the Gryffindors were drifting away to attend to their own schoolwork, now that the excitement seemed to be over. “Since we’re all here, we should also, er, practise our homework, you know.”

With that, they all pulled out a book, but soon their eyes were closed rather than open as they began their Occlumency exercises. Harry tested each of them, noting their progress. Ron was a bit steadier and even Ginny was beginning to show some resistance to him. Hermione was frowning and turning her head slightly from time to time, so it seemed like she was testing their friends as well.

- - -

Harry had given some thought to what he would do as his friends began to master Occlumency. He could tell them everything individually when their defences grew sure. But the people who were still somewhat open would likely feel excluded to some extent. While those feelings might motivate them to work harder, Harry was loath to do anything that would make his friends feel uncomfortable around himself or each other. There was also the likelihood that they would feel betrayed when they discovered the truth about him and his manipulations. Bad enough if they decided that they didn’t want anything to do with him after that, but to lose them one by one as he told them would be worse. It would also make it harder for them if half of them suddenly hated Harry and couldn’t tell the rest of them why.

Besides, it also delayed the inevitable and gave him a little more time with them. After all he’d been through, was a little more time so much to ask?

Harry shook his head to clear it of morbid thoughts. They’d still be alive, and that was why he’d come back, wasn’t it? Better Ginny married to Michael Corner or Dean Thomas than lying in that ruined courtyard, tortured to death because of his stupidity. Better to see Ron and Hermione married and making their own lives than dead following Harry on his fool’s crusade. Luna and Neville might even have a chance together in this timeline, provided he didn’t screw things up too badly. Even if he died taking Voldemort with him, he’d leave behind a much better and happier world. The important thing was making sure the prophecy was fulfilled with Voldemort’s destruction. Whatever happened after that would happen. His part would be done and he could rest.

@@ -53,10 +50,7 @@

Hermione got a sick look on her face. “Harry, that’s horrible!”

“Would you honestly put it past people like Draco’s family to bribe the Ministry to guarantee they got his money?”

Hermione looked like she was on the verge of tears as she shook her head.

-
- -
-

Harry felt like a heel for asking Hermione to waste her time on the fruitless search, so he and Ron got together with the twins a few nights before her birthday and sent the fourth year students off to Hogsmeade. Harry provided a small stack of galleons and Ron provided a dire threat that he would personally thrash the two of them if her gift was pranked in any way, shape or form. Neville was walking by and offered to help with the thrashing – his pounding of Malfoy had given the formerly shy boy a little bit of a swagger when he walked. That of course disappeared when Luna was around. She seemed to make him very nervous for some reason.

+

Harry felt like a heel for asking Hermione to waste her time on the fruitless search, so he and Ron got together with the twins a few nights before her birthday and sent the fourth year students off to Hogsmeade. Harry provided a small stack of galleons and Ron provided a dire threat that he would personally thrash the two of them if her gift was pranked in any way, shape, or form. Neville was walking by and offered to help with the thrashing – his pounding of Malfoy had given the formerly shy boy a little bit of a swagger when he walked. That of course disappeared when Luna was around. She seemed to make him very nervous for some reason.

The twins winked mysteriously and disappeared soon afterward. Harry knew they were using the Marauder’s Map and the secret passage into Honeydukes, so he wasn’t really worried about them getting caught. He didn’t really want to loan them his invisibility cloak. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get it back and letting those pranksters know about it was like showing a pyromaniac where the napalm and matches were stored.

He and Ron were a little nervous as they waited for Fred and George to return. Sometimes their sense of the appropriate was a bit – off. When they waltzed into the common room, their grins made Harry’s stomach drop. One of them nonchalantly tossed a small box to Ron.

“There. Now let’s see if we’ve earned a beating, oh brother of mine,” Fred chirped.

@@ -70,9 +64,6 @@

“Do you know who they were?” Ron asked.

“No,” Fred said shaking his head. “Just their nicknames, Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail.”

Harry was tempted for a moment to just tell them that one of their heroes was locked up in Azkaban and then stand back. On the other hand, the Ministry might need that prison again some day.

-
- -

Ginny and Luna made a card to go with the gift that all of them signed. Ron and Neville felt like they should have contributed more, until Harry pointed out the key role their dire threats played in keeping the twins from buying a locket that turned into a rubber chicken.

Of course, Harry wasn’t above manoeuvring things so that Ron was sitting next to Hermione in the common room when Harry nudged the boy and passed him the box with the card.

Ron looked horrified when she opened the locket and promptly burst into tears. He hesitantly patted her arm and assured her if she hated it they could get her something else – he was sure the twins had kept the receipt. Ron yelped when she suddenly grabbed him around the neck in a tight hug.

@@ -90,9 +81,6 @@

Hermione had a stricken look on her face. “Ron, I didn’t mean it, not seriously. I was just teasing you back.”

Ron shrugged and smiled faintly. “I know, but I didn’t want there to be any doubt either. You don’t have to buy our friendship, you know.”

Hermione just stared at him. Eventually Harry got a little uncomfortable and turned away, coughing discreetly.

-
- -

After dinner the next day, Ginny cornered Harry in the hallway outside the Gryffindor common room.

“That was very nice what you did,” she said.

“What I did?”

@@ -104,7 +92,7 @@

Harry grinned, a little sheepishly. Trust Ginny to pick up on that.

“Why are you trying to fix Hermione up with my brother, of all people?”

Harry’s heart skipped a beat. He wondered how transparent his manoeuvring was. How long until everyone else started noticing? How long until he was forced to answer some very uncomfortable questions. Harry fidgeted with the neck of his robes, trying not to imagine a noose. “Ron isn’t that bad,” he said, playing for time.

-

Ginny frowned up at him. “It’s not that, I mean, you two are the smartest out of us. I was just wondering why you didn’t – well—” she trailed off, embarrassed to state the obvious conclusion.

+

Ginny frowned up at him. “It’s not that, I mean, you two are the smartest out of us. I was just wondering why you didn’t – well —” she trailed off, embarrassed to state the obvious conclusion.

I can’t believe I’m having this conversation, Harry mused as his face burned hot and cold.

“Well I hear you and Luna are doing quite well,” he replied.

Why did I just say that? he wondered.

@@ -144,15 +132,9 @@

Was fate some vindictive harridan that resented his meddling? Was she going to respond by making things go to hell even faster this time around? For the first time in a while, Harry began to entertain the possibility that he really might lose. He wondered if there was any way he could just take his friends and leave the country, maybe emigrate to the United States or Australia… some place they’d never heard of Voldemort or the damn Prophecy. Of course it would be almost impossible to persuade all the Weasleys to leave the country. Not to mention Hermione’s parents, Neville’s Gran, and Luna’s father. Could he leave Hagrid and the Hogwarts staff to their fates? Did the students outside of Gryffindor not deserve to escape their fate as well?

In short, Harry was well and truly trapped.

Damnation.

-
- -
-

That night, Harry’s Occlumency exercises did little to quiet his mind. His dreams decided to play a medley of some of his subconscious’ greatest hits. He watched Cedric and Sirius die, and then Dumbledore. He watched Hermione step in front of a curse meant for Ron; he watched Ron do the same for himself. He watched Hogwarts burn and Ginny die, which was the cruellest of all; he hadn’t been there, to his eternal shame, and he couldn’t possibly have memories of that horror, but his subconscious decided to fill in the blanks. He saw her torn and battered body lying on the ground, writhing as Draco cursed her. The harsh glow from his wand cast his features in demonic relief as he lowered himself onto her…

+

That night, Harry’s Occlumency exercises did little to quiet his mind. His dreams decided to play a medley of some of his subconscious’ greatest hits. He watched Cedric and Sirius die, and then Dumbledore. He watched Hermione step in front of a curse meant for Ron; he watched Ron do the same for himself. He watched Hogwarts burn and Ginny die, which was the cruellest of all – he hadn’t been there, to his eternal shame, and he couldn’t possibly have memories of that horror, but his subconscious decided to fill in the blanks. He saw her torn and battered body lying on the ground, writhing as Draco cursed her. The harsh glow from his wand cast his features in demonic relief as he lowered himself onto her…

Harry awoke to find himself in midair, having sprung from his bed. The canopy ripped loose and was flying across the room as the duvet burst into flames. Harry bit off his scream of rage as he realized he was beyond the silencing charms placed on his bed. He barely managed to tuck his shoulder under as he fell and rolled into a crouch in the middle of the room.

Harry rose shakily to his feet and grabbed his wand off the bedside table. A wave and a muttered charm restored the duvet, and another re-attached the torn canopy. His pyjamas were soaked with sweat and Harry felt like he’d just run a marathon. It took over half an hour under the hottest shower he could stand before the shaking in his hands even started to abate.

-
- -

Hours later, Harry drove them mercilessly on the morning run. When he sparred with Ron, he nearly cracked his friend’s ribs when he was sloppy with a block. The boy glared at him as he tried to get his wind back.

“You trying to kill me, Harry?”

“You should take this seriously. It might save your life some day,” Harry growled.

@@ -161,20 +143,14 @@

Ron flinched back like he’d been slapped and Harry abruptly felt ashamed of himself.

“I’m sorry, mate. I had a very, very bad night. But I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

“Better me than the girls, Harry. I, at least, won’t hex you for it.” He cuffed Harry on the shoulder and they resumed sparring.

-
- -

Ron’s remark reminded Harry of something though. He cut the martial arts practice short and led them back out to the lake at a quick jog.

Soon they were standing on the shore as Harry gathered a small pile of stones.

-

“All right. We’re going to work on some slightly more serious spells than you’ll see in Lockhart’s classroom. The cutting charm is called ‘Diffindo’, and you use it with a whipping motion like this,” he said as he demonstrated. “Visualize a very sharp wedge of force emanating from the end of your wand. Now, to start, we’re going to practise just casting it into the water near the shore. The merpeople are out in the deep water, so we won’t risk hurting anyone. Any questions?”

+

“All right. We’re going to work on some slightly more serious spells than you’ll see in Lockhart’s classroom. The cutting charm is called ‘Diffindo’, and you use it with a whipping motion like this,” he said as he demonstrated. “Visualize a very sharp wedge of force emanating from the end of your wand. Now, to start, we’re going to practise just casting it into the water near the shore. The merpeople are out in the deep water, so we won’t risk hurting anyone. Any questions?”

“Is this what you used to kill that troll?” Ron asked.

“Yeah. Its hide was pretty tough though. I had to wait for Neville to get it to open its mouth before I could really hurt it.” Harry replied as he noticed Hermione frowning.

Harry had to demonstrate the wand motion a couple of times for Ginny and Luna before they were confident they had it down.

After that, as Harry led the count, they practised casting the spell at the unresisting water. As the spells discharged into the surface of the lake, small plumes of water shot into the air. Harry noticed that his spells were creating noticeably larger splashes than the others, so he began focusing less and less when he cast.

Once they were all comfortable with the spell, Harry began tossing rocks into the air in front of them as he counted. At first, none of them could strike a small, moving target. But with practice, they improved. Ginny was the first to strike a glancing blow. Then Hermione pulverized the next, followed by Ron and Neville scoring a simultaneous hit. Luna squinted fiercely, but still had problems connecting as the others improved.

-
- -

When Harry ran out of rocks, Ron and Neville helped him gather more. Hermione, however, was talking to Luna and pointing toward the Quidditch pitch. “Luna,” she asked, “how many of the goal hoops can you make out from here?”

Luna frowned at Hermione. “You can see the hoops?”

Hermione nodded and held up her fingers in front of Luna’s face. “I want you to watch my fingers and tell me when they start to get blurry.” She began to back away from the younger girl.

@@ -187,7 +163,7 @@

“I think they look rather unattractive,” Luna said as she fiddled with the string of butterbeer corks around her neck.

“Harry’s got glasses and he looks all right,” Ginny quickly reassured her.

Luna stared across the table at Ginny, cocking her head. “Harry is a boy. It’s all right if he looks unattractive.”

-

Harry opened his mouth to say something but stopped, as he didn’t have a clue as to what he could say in response. Ginny surreptitiously patted his leg under the table. Harry turned toward her, thinking just how he could tell either girl that he didn’t care if his glasses made him look unattractive, but finally just gave it up as a bad job all around.

+

Harry opened his mouth to say something but stopped, as he didn’t have a clue as to what he could say in response. Ginny surreptitiously patted his leg under the table. Harry turned toward her, wondering how he could express that he didn’t care if his glasses made him look unattractive, but finally just gave it up as a bad job all around.

Luna turned toward Neville, who appeared to be doing his best to stay out of the whole discussion. “What do you think? Do these glasses look unattractive?”

Neville frowned and swallowed. “I think they look very nice on you, Luna,” he said sincerely.

“Oh,” Luna said. She shrugged. “That’s all right then.” She patted the nervous boy on the arm and began eating her lunch. “At least it might be easier to spot a crumple-horned Snorkack if father gets the chance to travel this summer.”

@@ -195,7 +171,7 @@

Harry appreciated the distraction his friends provided him from his worries, but his sleep grew increasingly disturbed. They added spell-casting drills to their daily routine and began getting up half an hour earlier. Harry showed them a variety of nasty curses and hexes, all of which were potentially lethal or capable of knocking someone down and keeping them down.

-

As they worked together, Harry became increasingly aware of the difference between spells he cast and those his friends cast. It was especially apparent when they were casting Reducto spells into the surface of the lake. His friends’ spells were throwing up geysers of white water at the point of impact. The largest of these was over six feet tall, but Harry was matching it even while he was withholding most of his power.

+

As they worked together, Harry became increasingly aware of the difference between spells he cast and those his friends cast. It was especially apparent when they were casting Reducto spells into the surface of the lake. His friends’ spells were throwing up geysers of white water at the point of impact. The largest of these was over six feet tall, but Harry was matching it even while he was withholding most of his power.

He was pondering Healer Stanhope’s words about his MaRI test results when he started counting out loud again. Their volleys set off another set of geysers each time he counted. Evidently Ron had been trying to say something because he suddenly grabbed Harry’s shoulder. Startled, Harry accidentally pushed all his magic down his arm into the outstretched wand.

The wood bucked hard in Harry’s grip and the light that flew toward the lake seemed to be almost a solid mass. There was a loud thump as a column of water two feet wide and over thirty feet tall exploded upward from the surface of the lake. Harry barely had time to close his eyes before they were drenched with cold, fishy-smelling water. Someone let out a squeal and he was sure he heard a fairly vile curse or two.

When he’d knuckled the muddy water out of his eyes, Harry saw stunned fish begin floating belly up in the agitated water. He turned toward Ron, who was blinking rapidly. Hermione looked shocked, but Ginny was red-faced from holding back either laughter or tears.

@@ -207,16 +183,10 @@

Harry nervously scanned the Daily Prophet each morning at breakfast, but the only word his daily ritual yielded about Sirius consisted of vague rumours and alleged appearances in the unlikeliest of places. Harry had yet to read a “Black Sighting” that didn’t sound like a complete hoax.

On the other hand, Molly wrote that Aurors had stopped by The Burrow several times, supposedly to interview her and Arthur. However, they seemed to be more interested in looking around the house than talking to anyone. Molly also saw several new faces in the village when she went to do her shopping.

Harry was also interviewed by several Ministry officials at the school, though Professor McGonagall insisted on attending these meetings in her capacity as his Head of House. Though he didn’t think it truly necessary, Harry was amused to observe the quelling effect his stern protector had on the Auror who was evidently assigned the role of ‘bad cop’. It certainly didn’t help when Minerva reminded the man that he’d gotten much lower marks in her classes than Harry.

-

After they left, Harry thanked her politely and informed her that if she ever wanted to hold a workshop on how to discreetly intimidate people that she could easily fill the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall’s thin lips did not curl when she raised an arched eyebrow, but she did say, “Indeed,” with a hint of warmth.

-
- -
+

After they left, Harry thanked her politely and informed her that if she ever wanted to hold a workshop on how to discreetly intimidate people that she could easily fill the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall’s thin lips did not curl when she raised an arched eyebrow, but she did say “Indeed,” with a hint of warmth.

October brought damp and chilly weather, forcing them to bundle up for their morning exercises. Hermione found a water-repelling charm in the library that made her extremely popular with her classmates.

Harry was especially grateful for her discovery as he returned from Quidditch practice the first weekend of the month. The new brooms were the only bright spot in the day. Oliver’s enthusiasm was not dampened by the elements, and so he drove them mercilessly. Harry was secretly amused to note that they were practising just as hard as they had in his previous reality, when they hadn’t won the Quidditch Cup his first year.

He did try and talk his friends out of escorting him to and from practice, but Ron was having none of it. Ron was convinced that Draco and his cronies were just biding their time. Harry would have argued that he was going to extremes, but he knew that in the future that sort of thinking would be necessary, so he bit his tongue.

-
- -

As they re-entered the castle, Harry saw Nearly Headless Nick drift by muttering to himself and the Boy Who Lived remembered the events that led to him attending the Gryffindor house ghost’s Deathday Party.

Having no great desire to smell a lot of rotting food, or obtain proof that Mr. Filch was a squib, Harry stopped dead in his tracks and quickly cleaned himself using the Scourgify charm. Harry nodded toward Mrs. Norris, who’d just rounded the corner, and directed his friends to clean themselves up before the cantankerous caretaker caught up with his cat. He directed a few cleansing charms at the water puddled on the floor as well.

When Argus rounded the corner, he found a lot of slightly damp students standing on a suspiciously clean section of flagstones. The bitter old man heartily disapproved of any sort of cleaning magic as effeminate and dishonest. Cleanliness should only be obtained by hard work, he claimed, and he didn’t hesitate to punish anyone he found using spells to speed things up. He really despised house elves, Harry knew, no matter that their efforts were the only thing that allowed Hogwarts to function as it did. Fortunately, the man’s lack of magical ability also made it difficult for him to punish anyone when the offence didn’t happen right in front of him. So he merely scowled as he brushed past them.

@@ -225,9 +195,6 @@

“Ronald!” Hermione sniffed. “I thought having your own cat would give you a little more empathy for other people’s pets.”

“Crookshanks can’t stand Mrs. Norris either, Hermione. He gets along fine with the village strays, but every time he sees her he starts snarling – probably because she’s Filch’s narsty ickle spy.”

Hermione just sighed and shook her head. It was hard to disagree since Crookshanks did go out of his way to warn Mrs. Norris from coming anywhere near the Gryffindor tower. The kneazle-cross was several times the size of the other cat, so the warnings were quite effective, making Ron’s familiar very popular with the twins and other housemates.

-
- -

The Halloween Feast was quite spectacular. Hagrid’s pumpkins had grown enormous, and Professor Flitwick had proven to be quite an artist when it came to carving absolutely terrifying visages into the rinds. After a couple of first year Hufflepuff girls fainted dead away when a life-size giant’s head snapped at them, Harry concluded that animating the jack-o-lanterns had been just a bit over the top.

Of course, Harry wondered if the frightening decorations were the sole reason Luna was holding onto an even more nervous Neville’s arm.

The food was incredible, of course, but Harry found himself losing his appetite. Worrying about things he had no control over was a singularly useless occupation. Harry knew this. But he couldn’t stop himself from stewing about his godfather. He sat there staring at his plate for a few moments, and then jumped when a fork deposited a slab of rare roast beef on the plate, followed by a wedge of steak-and-kidney pie. He frowned at Ginny, who was matter-of-factly loading his plate with all of his favourite dishes.

@@ -250,14 +217,11 @@

“No pressure, Harry,” Fred said, winking. George rolled his eyes and made a face behind Oliver’s back.

Harry cracked his knuckles in an overly dramatic fashion that had the twins chuckling. “The Snitch isn’t in question. What I want to see is if I can make Draco piss himself before I catch it.”

Oliver stared at him for a long moment before echoing Harry’s feral grin. “Right. Good lad! Now let’s go, Lions!” he roared as he led them out onto the pitch.

-
- -

Without Dobby’s rogue Bludger to distract him, Harry made sure Draco had a very long afternoon. The Slytherin seeker zipped around the pitch a few times, calling Harry ‘Scarhead’ and showing off his new broom. Harry supposed he also wanted to intimidate the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw players they’d be facing later in the season. According to the grapevine, those houses were less than pleased about the Slytherins and Gryffindors receiving new brooms. Professor Flitwick was working toward cutting a similar endorsement deal with Comet, while Professor Sprout was lobbying the Board of Governors to have the Quidditch matches played on a standard set of brooms provided by the school itself. Harry didn’t really care what happened, as long as Slytherin didn’t have an overwhelming advantage.

Draco’s broom was only marginally faster than Harry’s, and the blond Seeker quite obviously couldn’t handle it well at full speed. Harry demonstrated this by diving just past the Slytherin player and then flipping over him in a quick barrel roll. Draco couldn’t stop himself from flinching back as the red-robed figure flashed past and around him. Harry hauled back on the shaft of his broom and kicked it into a standing stall so he could smirk at his furious counterpart.

“Already frightened, Malfoy? Money not doing you a lot of good up here, is it?” he sneered.

He supposed he was pushing things a little, but the vision of Draco torturing Ginny would not leave him alone. While it was technically possible that something like that had happened, it was more likely just his own fears and frustrations that were torturing him through his nightmares.

-

Harry’s expression suddenly became very keen and he spun his broom and pushed it over into a dive, flashing under Draco in an instant. The Slytherin Seeker didn’t hesitate and followed Harry in his sudden plummet. Harry waited until he was about to strike the turf before he hauled back on his broom with all his might, veering to the side as he pulled out of the suicidal dive. Blades of grass made a whirring sound as the toes of his shoes skimmed through them. Even sweeter sounds were the sudden thud and tumble as Draco hit the ground and bounced into the air.

+

Harry’s expression suddenly became very keen as he spun his broom and pushed it over into a dive, flashing under Draco in an instant. The Slytherin Seeker didn’t hesitate and followed Harry in his sudden plummet. Harry waited until he was about to strike the turf before he hauled back on his broom with all his might, veering to the side as he pulled out of the suicidal dive. Blades of grass made a whirring sound as the toes of his shoes skimmed through them. Even sweeter sounds were the sudden thud and tumble as Draco hit the ground and bounced into the air.

“Oh, that’s got to sting!” Lee Jordan announced over the enchanted megaphone. “A picture perfect Wronski Feint by Potter and a wonderful example of why little rich boys shouldn’t try to buy their way onto the pitch by Malfoy. Er, sorry, Professor,” the boy concluded, though he didn’t really sound that sorry to Harry.

Ron later told him that Professor McGonagall didn’t look all that irate, either.

Draco shakily took to the air again and Harry began circling him in a distinctly predatory fashion. The circling also meant that Harry could look past the boy and search for the Snitch in every direction without being obvious.

@@ -270,16 +234,10 @@

Derrick got a nasty grin as he struck the iron ball with a resounding smack. He waited until Harry was right next to him to maximize the damage. When Harry saw the boy’s arm begin to move, he opened the broom up the rest of the way, gaining a tiny increase in speed.

This was enough to make the Bludger brush the back of Harry’s robes instead of staving in his ribcage. There was a nasty crunching sound a moment later though. Derrick’s partner, Bole, was directly in the path of the hard-struck Bludger, and it nailed the boy dead-centre in the chest. Bole flew backwards off his broom and plummeted toward the ground before someone caught him with a levitation charm.

There was a short time out while Bole floated to the ground. Harry could see Hermione had her wand out now, and was carefully lowering the boy toward an extremely sour-looking Severus Snape. Harry carefully repressed a smile. Would Snape be forced to give her house points for this?

-
- -

After a short examination, the Potions Master stated that Bole had broken ribs and possibly a fractured sternum. Gilderoy Lockhart offered to help, using a charm he’d performed ‘dozens of times.’ Harry felt a touch of dread and tried to find a spot to land nearby. If the inept buffoon masquerading as a Defence Professor removed the bones in Bole’s chest, the boy could easily suffocate before they could get him to the castle.

Lockhart was brushing off the boy’s team-mates and rolling up his sleeves when he suddenly froze. Snape had placed the tip of his wand in the hollow underneath Lockhart’s jaw.

“My student will be attended to by an accredited healer or medi-wizard. You, Professor Lockhart, are neither of those and I will thank you to put away that wand.”

Lockhart froze in place, and then cautiously stepped back. Harry let out a relieved sigh. Snape removed his wand and gestured at the prone student. Bole’s body slowly lifted into the air and followed Professor Snape as he walked toward the castle. After they left, the Defence Professor blustered a bit about how the man was ‘obviously distraught’ over his student’s injury.

-
- -

The game soon resumed, but Derrick’s confidence was shattered after knocking out his team-mate. Fred and George dominated the Bludgers and pretty much stifled the Slytherin Chasers while Katie, Alicia, and Angelina ran up the score. Draco was hurting from his two turfings and flinched every time Harry swerved towards him. Finally, Harry saw the Snitch near mid-field and began to slowly drift in that direction. Draco was still quartering the pitch and checking near the Gryffindor goal posts when the shout went up from the crowd.

Harry was barely ten feet away when someone in the stands noticed the Snitch hovering near the ground. Easing forward as Draco hauled his broom around in a desperate bank, Harry neatly plucked the Snitch out of the air. The final score was three hundred twenty to ninety in favour of the Gryffindor Lions.

As the pitch erupted in cheers and shouts, Harry was half afraid Oliver was going to kiss him as the team landed at mid-field. Fred and George hoisted Harry up onto their shoulders to spare him such a fate. Harry found his friends standing on the bleachers and waved to them. Ron’s face was nearly purple and Ginny’s wasn’t far off. Luna had an odd smile on her face while Neville’s eyes were fixed in a glassy stare pointed somewhere off in the distance. Hermione looked like she was about to pass out from laughing, and Harry abruptly decided to look away. He probably didn’t want to know.