Harry Potter and the Second Chance

Chapter Eight - The Quidditch Match

After the incident in the bathroom, Hermione was officially one of the group. Although unspoken, it was clear how deep her gratitude ran. And ours, too, for saving us from McGonagall's wrath.

"Come on, Harry. You have to eat!" I told him.

"She's right. You need your strength for today." Hermione agreed.

"I'm not hungry."

"You need to lighten up, mate. You're going to do great!" Ron reassured him.

Professor Snape walked up behind Harry. "Good luck today, Potter. Then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll, a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you. Even if it is against Slytherin."

As he walked away, we noticed he had a slight limp in his step.

"That explains the blood." Harry said.

"I saw it too." I told them.

"What blood?" Hermione asked.

"Last night, I think Snape let in the troll as a diversion so he could get past that three headed dog." Harry started.

"Only, he got bit. That's why he's limping." I finished.

"Exactly!"

"But why would anyone go near that dog?" Ron asked.

"It's simple, really. The thing that Hagrid took out of the vault, that day you went to Gringott's with him, Harry." I said.

"So you're saying-" Hermione started.

"That's what the dog's guarding. That's what Snape wants." Harry finished.

Suddenly, an owl hooted and started flying in, carrying with it an enormous package.

"Isn't it a bit early for mail?" I asked as the bird dropped the cargo in front of Harry.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's open it!" Ron said. We all started tearing into the package. When we finished, a shiny new broomstick was hovering slightly over the table.

"It's a broomstick." Harry stated the obvious.

"But who would send you a broomstick, Harry?" Hermione asked. Looking at the teacher's table, I saw Harry's owl land next to McGonagall. I caught my friends' eyes and nodded my head toward Professor McGonagall, who was smiling slightly.

---

"Hello, Hagrid!" I greeted the giant man as Hermione, Ron, and I scooted into three seats.

"Hullo there, Eleaner! And Ron, and 'Ermione! How've ye been?" Hagrid asked.

"Well, thank you." Hermione replied.

"Hello! Welcome to Hogwart's first Quidditch game of the season! Today's game: Slytherin versus Gryffindor! The players take their positions as Madame Hooch steps onto the field to begin the game!" Lee Jordan's, Hogwart's very own sports announcer, voice boomed across the field.

"Now, I want a nice, fair game... from all of you!" She said, throwing the quaffle up into the air.

"Fat chance of that." I said to Ron, who laughed.

"Yeah, seriously. I don't thing Slytherin has ever been either 'nice' nor 'fair'." He replied.

The game went on for a bit, with Gryffindor scoring twice, before things started going wrong.

"Did Flint just take that beater's club?" Ron asked me. Before I had time to answer, Flint had hit Oliver Wood with a flying bludger.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Hermione shouted.