Dumbledore has convinced Harry not to go looking for the Mirror of Erised again, and for the rest of the Christmas holidays the invisibility cloak stayed folded at the bottom of his trunk. Harry wishes he can forget what he's seen in the mirror as easily, but he can't. He starts having nightmares. Over and over again he dreams about his parents disappearing in a flash of green light, while a high voice cackles with laughter.
"You see, Polaris and Dumbledore were right, that mirror could drive you mad," says Ron, when Harry tells him about these dreams.
Hermione, who has come back the day before the term starts, took a different view of things. She is torn between horror at the idea of Harry being out of bed, roaming the school three nights in a row ("If Filch had caught you!"), and disappointment that he didn't find out who Nicolas Flamel is.
They have almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book. Even though Harry is sure he'd read the name somewhere. Once the term starts, they're back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry has even less time than the other two, because Quidditch practice has started again.
Wood is working the team harder than ever. Even the endless rain that has replaced the snow can't dampen his spirits. The Weasleys complain that Wood's becoming a fanatic, but Harry is on Wood's side. If they win their next match, against Hufflepuff, they will overtake Slytherin in the house championship for the first time in seven years. Quite apart from wanting to win, Harry found that he has fewer nightmares when he is tired after training.
Then, during one particularly wet and muddy practice session, Wood gives the team a bit of bad news. He is very angry with the twins, who keep dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off their brooms. "Will you stop messing around!" he yells. "That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Snape's refereeing this time, and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!"
George really falls off his broom at these words.
"Snape's refereeing?" he sputters through a mouthful of mud. "When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin."
The rest of the team land next to George to complain, too.
"It's not my fault," says Wood. "We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."
Which is all very well, thinks Harry, but he has another reason for not wanting Snape near him while he's playing Quidditch....
The rest of the team hang back to talk to one another as usual at the end of practice, but Harry heads straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where he finds Ron and Hermione playing chess while Polaris watches.
"Don't talk to me for a moment," says Ron when Harry sits down next to him, "I need to concen-" He catches sight of Harry's face. "What's the matter with you? You look terrible."
Speaking quietly so no one else can hear, Harry tells the others about Snape's sudden, sinister desire to be a Quidditch referee.
"Don't play," says Hermione at once.
"Say you're ill," says Ron.
"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggests.
"Really break your leg," says Ron.
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The Mysterious Heir
Fanfiction2 Years before Harry Potter is born, Voldemort conceives a son to take his place if he died before he reached immortality. After he is born, Voldemort enchants him to be more powerful than himself. This is the story of Polaris Cygnus Lestrange, The...
