Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 26: Quidditch & Mayhem Again

7 November 1992

As the crowd roared in excitement, the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams met in the center of the pitch to shake hands before the start of the first game of the season. Draco spent a few minutes studying Jim Potter, his rival Seeker. The boy seemed incredibly tense and yet also rather exhausted, with obvious bags under his eyes. He also seemed to ignore Draco completely and instead fixed all his attention on Harry who was barely paying his brother any mind at all. After demanding (with little hope of compliance) a "good clean game," Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and the two teams took to the air. Jim flew up high above the other players before finally noticing that Draco was following him instead of Harry.

"What are you doing up here, Malfoy?" Jim said contemptuously.

"Looking for the Golden Snitch, Potter. It's what Seekers do."

Jim laughed. "So Flint decided to swap you and Harry after his fiasco last September?"

"Oh no," said Draco easily. "I've always been the Seeker, and your brother's always been a Chaser. We just thought it would be fun to switch during that pick-up game. You know – for a laugh."

And then, Draco smiled at the Boy-Who-Lived.

He'd actually been put out the night before when Harry had stood him in front of a bathroom mirror for twenty minutes and made him practice a certain kind of smile, one that Harry said would communicate a message of "I know something you don't know." But seeing the expression of dread that slowly spread over Jim Potter's face suddenly gave Draco a new appreciation for Harry's skill at psychological warfare. For the first time, Draco actually knew what it felt like to be on Team Harry.

Down below, the well-oiled Gryffindor scoring machine – Spinnet, Johnson and Bell – was racing towards the Slytherin goal. Near the goal post, Bell took the lead, performing her specialty fake-out maneuver to get Keeper Miles Bletchley to veer left before hurling the Quaffle through the right goal. And for a second it seemed like it would work as it usually did ... until Bletchley suddenly veered in the opposite direction and slipped into blocking position just as she let go of the ball. It was almost as if he was anticipating the play. Even more surprising to Bell was the way Bletchley casually knocked the Quaffle straight down into the waiting arms of Adrian Pucey who had already circled around into position to catch it and take off. Pucey flew down the field like a rocket, weaving around Peregrine Derrick who expertly batted a Bludger away and into Spinnet's path forcing her to abandon pursuit. Pucey handed the Quaffle off to Flint who threw it down the field to Harry Potter, and the Second Year immediately took off towards the Gryffindor goals. Oliver Wood readied himself to block, but to his shock, Harry threw the Quaffle back over his shoulder without even looking and then veered off. Pucey was already sweeping round and up in a fast arc to catch it, and he threw the ball through the opposite goal post before Wood could reposition itself.

Up in the announcer's booth, Lee Jordan was so astonished by the Slytherins' teamwork that he couldn't think of anything insulting to say. Oliver Wood was completely gobsmacked at a perfectly executed play that would have made a professional Quidditch scout sit up and take notice, while high above the stadium, Jim Potter was just as amazed.

"... the hell?" he muttered quietly to himself.

"What? Did we score or something?" said Draco amiably. "I've been concentrating too hard on spotting the Snitch to notice the regular game play. It's quite challenging, you know. Why the Snitch might as well be invisible!"

Jim turned to scowl at him. "What did you say?"

"I said the Snitch is hard to spot from up here. What did you think I said?" And then, Draco smiled at Jim again.