𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐔𝐌 𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐒𝐀 - 𝐞𝐧 ✓

Chapter 7: Quidditch

The week passed fairly uneventfully and Saturday arrived sooner than expected. Harry fetched his broom, which he kept shrivelled up in his donkey hair bag. Hermione wasn't thrilled that Harry had taken it, as the Firebolt didn't actually exist yet. Without further ado, she conjured the lettering into a Nimbus 1500.

"Har-ry, Har-ry!" Hermione cheered her friend on as he raced - or flew, as the case may be - against another Seeker.

The seeker, Charlus Opperfield, was really good and also had the best broom model: a Nimbus 1500. Of course, he still didn't stand a chance against Harry, whose broom only looked like a 1500, but was actually a Firebolt.

"Op-per-field, op-per-field!" the others cheered Opperfield on. He was a tall sixth year and had golden blonde, wavy hair. He reminded Harry a little of Charlie, the second eldest of the Weasley children.

The snitch was only a few metres away from Opperfield. He held out his hand in victory. Hermione jumped up and down with excitement.

You're not going to let him get away with this, Harry told himself, you win!On the ground, James grinned at him nastily, very nastily.

Opperfield had just reached the snitch when Harry whipped his broom round and blocked Opperfield. Then he looked for the snitch, which was now flying hundreds of metres above the pitch. He raced towards it at top speed. Opperfield couldn't catch up, Harry's broom was too good. The snitch came closer and closer and just as Harry was about to catch it, it turned and hurtled towards the ground. Harry turned the broom and nosedived downwards.Hermione cheered and the others screamed. The snitch was only a metre and a half from the ground and Opperfield didn't seem to have seen it because he was still searching one of the towers.

The ground with the snitch came closer and closer. James shouted: "Spinner, you're going to die, but that's a good thing!"

Harry didn't think about dying, but clutched the snitch in a firm grip, wrenched the broom round and held up his hand triumphantly.

James was pale with rage.

"Granger, you didn't play fair, but because I'm fair, you'll make the team."

Ginny became a chaser with Marlene - James was already a chaser - and Mary became a beater with Steve O'Brien. Escera Anedred won keeper.

Hermione came up to Harry and hugged him fiercely. "I knew you could do it, Harry!"

"No problem, but come on, I'm hungry!" grinned Harry.On the way to the Great Hall, they passed the drummers. Sirius, Peter and James looked at them hostilely, Remus rather apologetically.

Harry didn't suspect anything good when the three of them pulled out their wands. Ginny had already gone ahead with the others, for a reason Harry had forgotten, so they had to face the prowlers alone. Peter was trembling, of course, nobody had forgotten their strange behaviour and the duelling experiences.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted James. Harry blocked it. He used Legilimency to get a message across to Hermione: "Let's play with them for a bit, other students should be coming soon, and then the bumpkins won't just be oh-so-great!"

Hermione nodded to Harry's astonishment.

"Well, are you too weak to defeat us together? Levicorpus!"

Non-verbally, Harry let the spell bounce back and James was swept off his feet.

"You haven't realised the seriousness yet, have you? I think you'd be able to fight better if you'd looked Voldemort in the face. I can lure him here, then you might be better."

"Expelliarmus!" shouted Sirius. Hermione blocked it.

Now Harry let some shock curses fly at Sirius. Sirius built a protective shield, but his magic was too weak to withstand Harry's. He was caught by a levicorpus and stupor. Peter was not worth mentioning, right at the beginning Harry had incapacitated him with a ptrificus totalus.

"Next time, think about what you're doing!" Hermione scolded, dismissing the boys' spells. As they made to leave, she shook her head and put a curse on all of them, making them stiffen briefly as soon as they moved. It looked like they were robots and Hermione walked on smugly. Remus laughed at his friends.

"How long does the curse last on them?" asked Harry.

"Until Remus frees them." Hermione grinned cheekily like Harry had never seen her before.