Harry Potter and The Boy Who Had No Choice

A Quidditch Match and an Unexpected Reaction

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Harry, wake up!"

Harry woke with a start, springing up in his bed at the sound of shouting. He clasped his hands over his ears and glared at his red-headed friend, who shrugged sheepishly.

"Sorry, but you were sleeping pretty soundly. I couldn't think of any other way to get you up," Ron handed Harry his glasses off of his bedside table. He took them and shoved them onto his face, the room now coming into focus.

"Did you ever think that maybe if I was sleeping soundly, I didn't want to be woken up?" Harry grumbled almost incoherently in his sleepy daze.

"Harry! We have the match today!" Ron exclaimed. Harry shot out of bed, reaching for his Quidditch robes that he'd laid out the night before.

"Bloody hell! What time is it?" he asked, running his hands through his tousled hair anxiously.

"Nearly eight."

"The match starts at nine! Why didn't you wake me sooner?" Harry hurriedly changed out of his pajamas and into his robes. He knocked his glasses off in the process, so he bent down to retrieve them. Unfortunately, Holly had woken up as well, and now she was jumping around Harry's feet, distracting him from finding his glasses.

"You should be glad I woke you at all!" Ron protested, leaning down and plucking Harry's glasses off the floor. "It's no wonder these are constantly broken, you can't seem to keep them on your face."

Harry snatched his glasses back and rushed into the bathroom, brushing his teeth and fixing his hair, to the best of his ability, as quickly as possible.

"Besides," Ron followed Harry. "You still have almost an hour before you have to be down on the pitch, that's plenty of time to eat and get ready."

The rest of the morning passed in a blur of frenzied preparation. It certainly didn't help that Harry was especially anxious about this particular match. It was the first game of the season, which always set the tone for the rest of the year; it was a match against Slytherin; and it was a match against Malfoy.

Soon enough, he was out on the Quidditch pitch, the crowd roaring around him. He'd spent the last five minute being lectured by Ginny in the locker rooms. He had to admit, she was much better at giving speeches than he ever was. Ginny was, undoubtably, a leader, and Harry knew that under her, the Gryffindor team was going to be the best they could ever be.

The Gryffindor, most of Hufflepuff, and part of the Ravenclaw stands were decked out in red and gold banners, streamers, and clothing. It was hard to pick out individuals amongst the jam packed seats (the first and last game of the Quidditch season were always the most highly attended) but Harry spotted and heard Neville and Luna screaming "Go Gryffindor!" Luna was, once again, wearing her lion hat, and Harry couldn't help but grin at the sight. As he looked closer though, he noticed that she had painted one half of her face with red and gold stripes, and the other half with silver and green. The Gryffindors around her didn't seem particularly pleased about this.

About half of Ravenclaw and all of Slytherin were adorned in silver and green attire, and Harry heard the distinct sound of booing when the Gryffindor team entered the field. Of course, the favor was returned when the Slytherin team marched on.

"Now," Madame Hooch didn't greet either team or captain, she simply launched into a commanding voice. "I don't want any funny business. Your house rivalry will not excuse any dirty tactics or strategies, is that clear?" When she said this, she pointedly looked at Greengrass and the rest of the Slytherin team. Greengrass nodded. "With that out of the way, let the match begin!"