Harry Potter - The Accidental Animagus

Chapter 25 - Quidditch

The Quidditch rivalry continued to heat up around Harry. A lot of it came from the older Slytherins, who weren't intimidated by the Boy-Who-Lived because of the age difference. (Ironically, those Slytherins were more sensible about that than most of the rest of the school.) Many of them would make rude comments as he passed in the hall or joke about him getting knocked off his broom. They all knew how good a flier he was supposed to be, but not all of them believed it or cared.

Illicit bets on the match were changing hands all over the school, allegedly involving some of the teachers, which wouldn't have surprised anyone, considering that it was possibly the worst-kept rule in Hogwarts after "no magic in the corridors". Normally, the Weasley Twins had a corner on that market, but since they were on the Gryffindor team, they deferred to some of the older Ravenclaws to make the books. Flying even faster than the bets themselves were the rumours about just what McGonagall and Snape had wagered each other over the match, but fewer people believed those, since Snape would never do anything that carried any real risk of public humiliation.

Oliver Wood was really going over the edge, giving Harry flying tips anytime they met in the halls and insisting he be escorted everywhere so that the Slytherins couldn't knock him out of the match. Admittedly, this last bit was probably sensible, since there were so many skirmishes going on. Only a couple of people actually wound up in the Hospital Wing, but the last thing Harry needed was to get on Madam Pomfrey's bad side right before the match.

It was on Friday, the day before the match, as Harry was huddling in the frosty courtyard with Hermione, Neville, Ron, and Angelina Johnson as his escort, that they heard a certain blond boy bragging to a large gaggle of Slytherins with Marcus Flint standing over his shoulder in addition to his usual bodyguards. "I'm not worried," said Draco Malfoy in what was probably a blatant lie. "Potter may be fast on a broom, but that's no substitute for growing up with the game. Besides, you know why Gryffindor always loses-they're too honourable to do what it takes. They're almost as bad as Hufflepuff."

The other Slytherins laughed loudly at this, and Angelina decided to take matters into her own hands. Striding up to the group, she called out, "Yeah, wait till you're facing the Weasley Twins tomorrow and then try saying that, Malfoy!"

"Right, like we're gonna be scared of a team of a bunch of little third years," Marcus Flint growled out, sending Angelina a leering grin with his big snaggleteeth.

Angelina grimaced and shot back, "Yeah, well, we're not scared of a team of spoilt rich kids."

Malfoy and Theodore Nott glowered at Angelina, but Malfoy had a comeback ready: "You're just jealous because we've all got decent brooms...Say, Weasley, what are your brothers flying? Cleansweep Fives? You'd be better off selling them to a museum to make a few galleons. Merlin knows you could use it." The other Slytherins laughed again.

Ron turned very red at this. "Why you little-!" He started to run at Malfoy, but Harry and Angelina held him back while the Slytherins closed ranks around their Seeker.

"If the shoe fits, Weasley," Draco said, "although with you, maybe it doesn't."

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Neville said, to his own surprise.

"Ooo, the squib standing up for the blood traitor. Now I'm really scared."

"Neville's no squib, Malfoy," Harry said, stepping out in front. "And he's not alone, either."