Another Prisoner, Another Professor

If Scabbers's disappearance was a dark, heavy cloud, there was one silver lining: according to the Fat Lady, whose portrait had been reinstalled just the night before, Crookshanks had left Gryffindor Tower early in the morning and had returned in Ginny's arms just before Harry, Ron and Hermione came back from Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Harry was relieved. The Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw was approaching fast, and the last thing he needed was an enormous fight between Ron and Hermione. With Crookshanks's name cleared, however, every other pet in Gryffindor was on Ron's list of possible culprits, from Lee Jordon's tarantula to even Hedwig. Ron was most suspicious of Hermes, Percy's owl; according to Ron, Hermes sometimes tried to grab Scabbers when they were all at home at the Burrow.

"Fine, if he didn't do it, tell me where he was yesterday," Ron demanded. He and Harry were in Percy's room, while Hermione had exiled herself to the library. Harry had never been in Percy and Wood's room before; they were the only two Gryffindor boys in their year, and it seemed Wood had done most of the decorating. The walls were covered with Quidditch diagrams and posters of famous players, whereas the only thing that indicated Percy's residence was an enormous bookshelf filled with leather volumes.

"I assume he was in the Owlry," Percy snapped. "I don't keep track of his whereabouts every second of every day."

"Look, Ron, I'm really sorry about the rat," said Wood. He was lying on his stomach on his bed, which looked as though it hadn't been made in weeks. "But it's not Hermes. He'd never get in here, we haven't opened a window since October. Leave Perce alone, okay? He stayed up until one in the morning studying for N.E.W.T.s."

Harry barely heard him; he was looking at the wardrobes, wondering if one of them contained the rumored iron box that held the Firebolts. "Hey, Oliver, where are the brooms?"

"They're not here," Wood replied. "They're not even in the tower. They're in Cedric Diggory's room."

Ron stared. "They're where?"

"Cedric Diggory's room," said Wood, turning onto his side and yawning. "Who's going to look for them there?"

"You gave the Firebolts to a Hufflepuff - "

"Trust me," said Wood, "Cedric Diggory is goodness and honor - Perce, what's it called when a person is sort of the essence of a thing - "

"Personified," said Percy.

"Yeah, he's goodness and honor personified. He felt like he owed us one because of the dementor thing back in November. Besides, they lost so badly to Ravenclaw that they're pretty much out of the running for the Cup. They'd have to beat Slytherin by some huge amount of points and they'll never do it, one of their Chasers is recovering from a broken arm. Diggory gets on with Chang, but if that affected Quidditch for them, she'd never have let Hufflepuff get slaughtered - "

"Wait," said Harry. "Who's Chang?"

"The Ravenclaw Seeker," said Wood. "Cho Chang. She can do lots of flips and turns, Harry, so watch out for - "

Ron was still in shock. "You gave the brooms to a Hufflepuff, who's mates with the Ravenclaw Seeker..."

"Ron, this is Oliver you're talking to," Percy snapped. "Think for a second. Is Oliver going to do anything that would ruin Gryffindor's chances?"

"You know, I'm with you," said Ron to Harry, as they walked down the stairs to the common room. "How did Percy and Wood get so matey, anyway?"

Harry saw Cho Chang at breakfast a few days later; she was the dark-haired girl whom he'd bumped into in the corridor. She was very small, with tiny feet, and as she smiled at the girl next to her Harry saw that she had dimples. He couldn't stop looking at the way her hair moved when she turned her head. For some reason, he had a hard time thinking of her as an enemy; she looked too friendly, too -

"Yes, she's pretty," said Wood, who had noticed Harry staring. "Imagine that she's a troll if it helps you."

The Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match took place on the first Saturday in February. "Just remember, she's not going to cut you any slack," Wood said to Harry as they changed into their Quidditch robes. Harry put his wand in the pocket of the shirt he was wearing underneath; he wasn't taking any chances with the dementors. "She's friends with Diggory and she still wiped the pitch with him. And don't think we've got this match in the bag because we've got the better brooms - Diggory had a better broom than Chang and Hufflepuff still lost."

Cedric Diggory was waiting for them outside the changing rooms, carrying one end of the iron box while a friend of his carried the other. Even with a red nose and noticeably chapped lips, he was still remarkably good-looking. "The brooms are fine," he said; it seemed he was saying it more to Harry than to anyone else. "Even if I wanted to sabotage you, I couldn't get past all these locks."

"I know," Harry muttered. He had no idea why, but for some reason, it seemed he was always at his most awkward when Diggory was around. "That you don't want to sabotage us, I mean, not that you couldn't get past the locks - "

"I hope you win this one," Diggory said. "I've got another two years to win the Quidditch Cup and Cho's got another three. Besides, Gryffindor would've had the Cup last year if Quidditch hadn't been cancelled."

By the time Wood opened the iron box, most of the crowd had already arrived in the stands. As the team walked onto the pitch, Harry saw that the Ravenclaws were already assembled. "We're a couple of minutes behind schedule," said Madam Hooch. Cho Chang was smiling, but the rest of the Ravenclaws looked extremely annoyed. "Woods, Davies, shake hands. All right, three, two - one - "

Harry and his Firebolt shot straight up into the air; once he could see the tops of the trees in the distance, he zoomed downward and began searching for the Snitch. "Difficult match for Ravenclaw," he could hear Lee Jordan saying. "Not only were they defeated by Slytherin in their previous match, but their brooms are wildly outmatched by Gryffindor's brand-new Firebolts - "

"The commentary, Jordan!" said McGonagall.

"All right, Ravenclaw Beater Lammers sends a Bludger at Gryffindor Chaser Alicia Spinnet, narrowly misses - well done, Alicia - Spinnet passes the Quaffle to Johnson, Johnson passes to Bell, Bell flies straight at Ravenclaw's middle goal post, throws the Quaffle - Quaffle intercepted by Ravenclaw Keeper Stamoza - "

Cho Chang was circling the perimeter of the pitch, but Harry wasn't sure how much good it would do her; he stayed above the rest of the match, his eyes searching for the Snitch. Suddenly she took a sharp turn to the left and sped straight ahead, but Harry realized she was trying to fool him - he had spotted the Snitch near the Ravenclaw goal posts. He flew directly at it, but just as he was getting close he heard the familiar noise of a Bludger hurtling towards him and ducked. Cho made it to the goal posts, but by that point the Snitch had disappeared again.

"Gryffindor leading forty to twenty, Wood intercepts an attempted goal by Davies, Fred Weasley - no, wait, I think it's George - whacks a Bludger towards Ravenclaw Seeker Chang, Chang sort of somersaults around it - all right, I've got to admit, that was impressive - in the meantime, Johnson scores a goal, Spinnet retrieves Quaffle, passes to Bell, can Bell make this one - yes, Bell throws the Quaffle just past the tips of Stamoza's fingers - Gryffindor leading, sixty to twenty - "

Harry flew back and forth across the pitch five times, but the Snitch was nowhere in sight. Luckily for him, Cho Chang appeared to be having the same problem.

"Fred Weasley - yes, this time it's definitely Fred - hits a Bludger at Stamoza, Bludger grazes Stamoza's arm, he's bruised but still in action, Tast has the Quaffle - CHANG SPEEDS DIRECTLY TOWARDS POTTER, TRIES TO KNOCK HIM OFF HIS BROOM - "

Harry realized the threat just in time and zoomed upward just before Cho Chang ran into him. From twelve feet above, he looked down and she smiled. It was much easier thinking of her as an enemy now...

"Gryffindor leading ninety to forty, Stamoza's really off his game today, probably due at least in part to his arm - my sympathies, Bernie, but not really - Spinnet scores a goal, Gryffindor leading one hundred to forty, O'Neil whacks a Bludger at Bell, it hits Stamoza instead - all right, Bernie, now you really do have my sympathy - Potter speeds toward the middle of the pitch, Chang in fast pursuit - "

Harry was flying straight towards the Snitch when he saw them. Three dementors were standing on the pitch.

He grabbed his wand from his pocket and yelled, "Expecto Patronum!" Cho Chang was slightly ahead of him, but the Snitch was flying away from them, and Harry had the better broom.

"Potter's in the lead, Chang is falling behind - "

Still holding his wand in his right hand, Harry reached out and caught the Snitch with his left.

Wood was ecstatic; the minute they had both landed on the pitch, he grabbed Harry and actually picked him up, an enormous grin on his face. "We've done it!" he yelled, his eyes shining. "You did it, we're going to win the Cup, I know it - "

"Put him down before you break his ribs, Oliver," said George, and vigorously patted Harry on the back. Harry could feel his face being squashed as Katie kissed him on one cheek, Alicia kissed him on the other, and Angelina kissed him on the forehead. Fred pushed George out of the way and shook Harry's hand so hard that Harry felt as though his arm were going to come off.

Several feet away, McGonagall was shouting at the dementors - only they weren't dementors, Harry realized. They were Flint, Crabbe, and Malfoy, who was climbing off of Goyle's shoulders and trying to untangle himself from the black hooded robe. "Detention every Saturday until Easter!" McGonagall was shouting. "Suspension from all extra-curricular activities, if I can manage it! This is the most despicable, underhanded trick I have ever seen in all my years as - "

"Better her detention than mine," said a voice from behind Harry.

He turned. Professor Black had come onto the pitch, wearing his leather boots and a moth-eaten Gryffindor scarf. "Congratulations," he said, smiling. "I was sitting too far away to see what form your Patronus took, but I think it was as close to fully-formed as it's ever been."

"Really?" said Harry, pleased.

"Harry, come on!" Fred shouted; the rest of the team was leaving the pitch. "Party in the common room!"

"Wait just a second," Black said to Harry. "I've got to tell you - it looks like this is an especially bad day for the Malfoys. Not only is Draco in detention until Easter, but the Aurors just got permission to search their house and garden."

"They did?"

"Every bit of property they own," said Black. "All the way down to the secret chamber under the drawing-room floor."