Harry Potter and the Quidditch Island

Birds in the Night

Harry woke Monday morning, well-rested and ready to start flying. It was another gorgeous day, which only added to Harry's high spirits. He waited for Terry to get dressed before heading down to the cafeteria.

When he walked through the door, Harry's heart sank. Ron looked as he had the first week of training: he was sitting at the table, slouched over. He wasn't asleep, however, but was reading from a large brown leather book. He smiled tiredly as Harry and Terry joined him.

"Were the house-elves giving you trouble again this morning?" Harry asked sympathetically. He had honestly believed that they had changed their ways. To his surprise, however, Ron shook his head.

"No, they were perfect," Ron replied as he closed the large book. "I was up at five again, but there was nothing for me to do! The house-elves were already cooking and cleaning, so I went to the library and got a book while they worked. Shouldn't have though," he said as he rubbed his eyes. "It's too early in the morning to read writing this small."

Harry pulled the book over to himself and read the title: Quidditch Controversies: Why Some Wizards Want it Banned. He looked at Ron, stunned.

"This things huge!" He flipped through the pages, which were covered in tiny print and very complicated drawings. "What are you reading it for?"

Ron shrugged.

"It's interesting to see what other people think of Quidditch."

"Now who sounds like Hermione," Harry scoffed, pushing the book away from him as a plate of bacon flew over to the table.

Ron shrugged as he took a piece. Without warning, he dropped his fork and it clattered noisily on his plate.

"What's wrong," Terry asked, setting down his own fork and eyeing the bacon suspiciously.

"The house-elves are working now, right?" Ron said, a smile forming on his face. "Do you know what this means?" Harry shook his head and looked at Terry, who appeared just as bewildered as he did. "I get to sleep in!" Ron exclaimed happily. Harry smiled back, a little less enthusiastically than Ron; he didn't consider getting up at seven thirty sleeping in.

As the breakfast tables were being cleared, Swan walked into the room. He waited for silence, which didn't take very long.

"I have another short announcement before you begin," he said tersely. "Chasers and Keepers are to meet on the pitch today; you will be practicing together. Seekers, please assemble yourselves at the back of the manor, and Coach Jiggs will meet you there shortly. Beaters, you are to meet you coach in the front hall: he will be directing you to your training room inside the manor once he is ready. That will be all." He turned and left.

"No way," Hawk exclaimed, breaking the silence that Swan had created. "We're outside in a hurricane all week and he chooses today to teach us theory!"

There were a few laughs from the people around him, but none from the Beaters, who were all looking downcast at the prospect of wasting such a beautiful day inside. Harry had no time to feel sorry for them, however, as he saw Logan waving at him as he and Patch headed for the door. Saying quick goodbyes to his friends, Harry rushed off after them.

Logan and Patch already had their brooms with them, so they waited as Harry ran upstairs to retrieve his Firebolt before setting out behind the manor. Logan and Patch, Harry noticed, both seemed excited to be out flying again after a week of dismal weather.

"Good morning," Jiggs said brightly as they joined him at the edge of the forest. He was holding a small wooden box under his arm.

"No kidding," Logan replied and they walked over.

"I've arranged a little activity for you this morning that should take you until lunch time to complete," Jiggs told them. "In this box are three Snitches. I'm going to let them out, and you'll have to find them. But there's a catch," he added, noticing the confused looks on their faces. "These Snitches aren't only going to stick to the pitch. They're going to be flying through the forest as well."

"How are we going to find them in all of the trees?" Patch asked, looking skeptically at the looming wood in front of them.

"Well you'll just have to make use of what we learned about Snitches in my little lecture," Jiggs replied, his eyes twinkling. "I want you to run fifteen laps around the manor first though, just to get warmed up. Otherwise, Kitimer will have my head."

Once they had completed their laps, Harry and the other Seekers lined up in front of Jiggs and mounted their brooms, waiting for the signal to kick off. Harry paused a moment to check his posture, and was amazed to see that it was perfect. Feeling extremely pleased with himself, he turned to Jiggs, who had one hand under the box and the other on the lid, preparing to open it.

"Now, once I open this box," he said, "the Snitches are going to fly out and into the forest. We're going to give them a thirty-second head start before setting off after them. Ready?"

Harry, Patch and Logan nodded as they kicked off and hovered in the air. Jiggs opened the box and out flew three small golden Snitches. They paused for a moment before flying off to the left and into the shadows of the trees. Once the thirty seconds had elapsed, Logan and Patch both soared off in the direction of the Snitches. Harry prepared to fly off after them, but he paused, thinking back to the lesson, thinking back to Jiggs' description of the Snidget. He had said that they were smart and very elusive...used to being hunted...Harry furrowed his brow, thinking hard. What if they had all flown to the left just to lead them in the wrong direction? Maybe the Snitches flew right just after they entered the trees. That would throw the flyers off course, and it definitely seemed like the thing a Snitch would do. Instead of flying to the left, after Patch and Logan, Harry flew straight forward into the trees.

Flying in the forest proved difficult. The trees were thick and the leaves overheard cast dark shadows everywhere. Harry peered up into the leaves, squinting his eyes for a hint of gold. That would be a good place to hide...but would the Snitches hide there? Harry racked his brain again, trying to remember the psychology of the Snidget. What had Jiggs said...something along the lines of they were arrogant because of their amazing speed and agility. And they were curious; they loved being in the thick of things. Well, most of the action in the forest would be near the forest floor, wouldn't it? That was where most of the animals lived. Harry crossed his fingers as he turned his head downwards, hoping that he was right.

As he continued to fly, Harry saw a small, familiar path underneath him. His heart leapt, it was the path that Jiggs had showed to him and Ron, the path that led to the actual Snidget nest. Harry flew over the path and sped up; if the Snitches wanted somewhere to hide, surely an actual Snidget nest would be the perfect place. Soon, Harry reached the small clearing where the spindly tree held the golden birds. Slowing down, Harry approached it and peered through the branches. The Snidgets were still there, still producing their mesmerizing golden light, but there was no Snitch. Harry continued to stare at them, captivated by their beauty.

"Hey Harry, is there anything down there?" Harry was jolted back to reality by Logan's voice, which was coming from above. He looked up. Logan wasn't on his broom anymore; he was standing on a very thick branch, trying to dislodge his broomstick from between two twisted branches. He gave a great tug and stumbled backwards, almost falling out of the tree.

"Nope, nothing," Harry said quickly, rising above the small tree. He didn't want to attract any attention to the endangered birds.

"Well, I'm off then," Logan said, remounting his broom and soaring down through the trees and out of sight.

Harry continued to fly through the trees, keeping his eyes peeled for the Snitch. Once, he thought he saw something, but realized that it was just Patch's watch, reflecting in the distance. Minutes ticked by with no sign of gold in the green light of the forest. Then, up ahead, he saw something sparkling. One of the Snitches was hovering behind a branch, almost as if it wasn't sure whether to take off and fly away or keep hiding and hope that Harry didn't see it. Trying to use this to his advantage, Harry kept turning his head, pretending that he hadn't spotted the Snitch. Unfortunately, it caught onto his plan, and soared off into the leaves.

Harry rocketed upwards after it, urging his Firebolt to go faster. He couldn't have been flying for much more than an hour, and catching the Snitch early would really impress his coach. But flying after the Snitch proved difficult, as it was much smaller than he was and could fit through all of the branches. Harry ducked his head to avoid getting his eye poked out by the twigs that were protruding at odd angles. Finally, he broke through the canopy and was soaring high over the treetops. Unfortunately, he had lost the Snitch.

Harry spun on the spot, looking all around. It was much brighter up here than it was on the forest floor, making him feel like he was on an airplane that had just broken through the clouds. Squinting, he spotted the Snitch, which was hovering over a small gap in the trees. Harry accelerated forwards, and the chase had begun. The Snitch dove, and Harry dove as well. They snaked through the trees, the Snitch was always just a few feet ahead of him, and Harry couldn't go any faster, otherwise, he would probably run straight into a trunk.

As Harry continued after the Snitch, he saw something gray up head. The Snitch had led his right to the Quidditch pitch. Harry pulled up on the broom handle as the Snitch soared upwards. It flew over the risers and down to the ground. Harry followed closely behind it, skimming the dirt below. The Snitch flew back up into the sky and headed towards the Chasers that were flying back and forth between the goal posts.

"What the?" Harry had just flown right in front of Cory, who had brake on the spot to avoid a collision, but Harry didn't care. All that he was concentrating on was the Snitch. He could hear shouts from the Chasers and Keepers that were using the pitch, but he couldn't stop. Harry furrowed his brow in concentration as he dove back down towards the Snitch, which was hovering near J.P.

Harry had never seen a Snitch so desperate to get away. It led him back through a group of Chasers who were trying out a new play and then soared up and over Harry's head, making him do a back flip in the air. He twirled and circled around the Quidditch players, and then his chance. The Snitch had plummeted downwards, and there were no longer any obstacles in Harry's way. He soared downwards, speeding through the air, his eyes beginning to water from the wind pressure. The Snitch was getting closer and closer, it was just out of Harry's reach. Without thinking Harry jumped forward off his broom and caught the Snitch in midair. He somersaulted onto the ground and used his momentum to pull himself back onto his feet in a move that would have fit in at a circus. His Firebolt slowed down and flew over to him, hovering in mid air.

There was applause from the Chasers and Keepers above, who had all stopped to watch.

"Good going Harry!" He looked up and saw Jiggs hovering in the air over the very top of the risers. Grinning broadly, Harry mounted his broom and kicked off to join Jiggs.

"Those were some impressive moves," Jiggs said as Harry flew up to him. "Looks like there won't be much to teach you this week. And you picked a perfect time to show off." He pointed down to the pitch where Harry saw Head Coach Wolverwick sitting with Kitimer, the flying coach halfway up the risers and writing on clipboards. Kitimer was staring up at Harry and whispering in Wolverwick's ear.

"There's about another hour before lunch," Jiggs told Harry, looking at his watch. "You can watch the pitch if you'd like, if I'm not mistaken, that's Mr. Breazley climbing the risers over there."

"How are the others doing?" Harry asked.

"See for yourself," Jiggs replied, passing him a pair of binoculars that were hanging from a cord around his neck. Harry picked them up, and looked through. Instead of having a better view of the tops of the trees, the leaves seemed to have disappeared and he could now see right down to the forest floor. Patch was flying near the edge of the forest, and by twisting the knobs on the binoculars he was able to make out a Snitch hovering not too far from him. Logan was flying almost underneath them, looking very frustrated, and his Snitch was nowhere to be seen.

"Looks like Patch might be finished soon," Harry said as he handed Jiggs the binoculars back.

"All right, why don't you just sit with Ronny," Jiggs replied distractedly as he pointed the binoculars in Patch's direction. It took Harry a moment to realize whom Jiggs was talking about, as he wasn't used to using the name Ronny. As Jiggs headed off towards the edge of the forest Harry flew up over the Chasers and Keepers and joined Ron on the other side of the pitch.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked as he landed next to Ron.

"I had nothing better to do," Ron replied with a shrug. "All of the cleaning is done, and the supplies are in top condition so there isn't much use in me staying inside. I'll do some bookkeeping after lunch, but I reckon there won't be much for me to do until we actually get the team formed. What were you doing this morning?"

Harry, who was still feeling very proud of himself, could resist giving Ron a play by play account of how he had hunted down the Snitch through the trees and then into the midst of the other players. Ron listened attentively to every word.

"And the best part is Wolverwick and Kitimer were watching," Harry said proudly staring down at the two coaches. "They must have been looking over the Chaser's practice today and I just got lucky. Imagine that!"

Ron smiled and rested his head in his hands, watching as Cory sped like lightening towards the goalposts and chucked the Quaffle through the hoop. He sighed.

"You're really lucky, you know," Ron said after a while. "You've got so much opportunity here. I was looking through the piles of applications from people who wanted in...someone out there really likes you, Harry."

He sighed again and Harry turned towards the pitch as Amy Zampowick scored off the same Keeper that hadn't stopped Cory's shot. She looked over at them as though she was about to smile, but turned away quickly, remembering that she was still mad. He watched as she flew over to Cory.

About twenty minutes later, Patch joined Harry and Ron, followed shortly by Logan, who was looking severely disgruntled. He also had a large gash across his face.

"My Snitch was hiding in a bird's nest," he snarled, collapsing next to Ron. "And the mother bird wasn't too happy to see me."

Jiggs joined them soon after to inform them that lunch would be starting shortly and they would be meeting on the docks for the rest of the week.

"Oh, and if you've got a set of robes that you aren't worried about getting wet, I'd wear them. Or swimming trunks, that would be better."

"Why?" Logan asked. "Are we swimming?" But Jiggs just laughed, remounted his broom and soared over the pitch and out of sight.

As it turned out, they weren't going swimming, but they had taken over the Chasers' old practice area and were now going to be flying over the water.

"You can all swim though, can't you?" Jiggs asked them as they stood on the dock. A light breeze was blowing, making Harry feel that the Chasers had gotten a very raw deal. "Because I arranged to have the practice here for a reason. I'm going to start teaching you to some trick flying now, and some of the stuff you're about to learn you probably haven't tried before. Some of it is pretty dangerous too, and I'd rather having you falling twenty feet and getting a little wet instead of having you land on the hard pitch. Hopefully, at the end of the week, you'll be confident enough to perform these moves over solid ground. But while you're learning them it's a lot safer to do it here. Now, when you do fall, and mark my words, you will, make sure that your head and neck are poised so that you won't hurt yourselves when you land and your arms are tucked in, or they might break. Now, if you'd follow me."

"He must be joking," Logan muttered as they watched Jiggs take off. "Does he think we plan the direction that we fall?"

They followed Jiggs as he flew to a spot a ways away from the island and about twenty feet in the air. Taking out his wand, Jiggs shot a few jets of yellow sparks into the water. After waiting about thirty seconds the yellow sparks flew back out of the water, one after the other.

"Perfect," the coach said with a smile. "There's no chance that you'll hit any rocks when you fall in. Now, today I think we'll start with some simple stuff."

For the rest of the afternoon, Jiggs had them practicing what he called the 'foundation tricks,' which were the things that they'd need to be able to do so that they could perform the more complicated moves. These included things like barrel roles, loop-the-loops, flying upside down, and flying using one or no hands. Harry had already done some of these things in previous Quidditch matches, but whenever he did them, it was only for a few seconds. Doing them continuously for minutes at a time was very different.

Flying upside down was a little tricky, as he had never done this for extended periods, and the blood rushed to his head very easily. It was also hard to fly higher into the air when you were upside down, as you had to do things backwards. For instance, normally, if you want to fly higher, you would pull your broomstick upwards, but when you're upside down, you have to push it away from you. Logan was especially bad at flying upside down, and he managed to fly himself into the water. Patch got drenched when his hands became too weak to hold on and he plummeted head first into the sea. Then, just so that they would all be wet, Logan grabbed Harry around the stomach while he was upside down and threw him into the water.

Flying with no hands was somewhat complicated as well since you had to use your legs and butt to steer the broom. Harry wasn't the only one that dragged his legs through the water before grabbing the broom with his hands and pulling himself up again. Nearing the end of the practice, Logan pushed Harry into the water again. Harry was able to get him back, though he had to jump off his broom to tackle Logan, since Logan was stronger than he, meaning that they both got wet. And, for good measure, they both threw Patch into the sea. When they all returned to the entrance hall, dripping wet and laughing, they received many puzzled stares from the other campers.

"How did you manage to get wet?" Terry asked, amazed, as a pair of house-elves began tailing Harry, wiping up the water that he was dripping into the spotless manor.

Once Harry had changed into dry robes, he and Terry entered the cafeteria. Ron was standing at the front of the cafeteria, leaning into the opening in the wall, giving instructions to a large group of house-elves who were cooking up a storm.

"Harry, no!" Ron exclaimed, marching over to him with an exasperated expression on his face. He was staring at Harry shoes, which he had forgotten to change, and were tracking mud into the cafeteria. Looking around, Harry realized that it was looking especially clean; even the old wooden tables were gleaming.

"Oh, sorry," Harry said, rushing to take off his shoes. Ron waved away the apology and clapped his hands. Instantly, two pair of house-elves appeared, one taking Harry's shoes and disappearing from sight, the other scrubbing up the muddy trail of footprints. A few moments later the first pair returned, holding Harry's shoes, which looked like they were new again.

A few of the people around them clapped, clearly impressed by the way Ron had retrained the house-elves. Ron smiled and bowed comically, waving his hands and saying 'It was nothing.'

"Well, well, what's going on here?" an icy voice behind Harry stopped the laughter. He turned to see Swan standing the threshold with an unfriendly smile on his face. He looked into the kitchen and realized what was going on. "I suppose you're proud then, Mr. Breazley, that you could get a group of house-elves, who's nature it is to serve wizards, to listen to you? Impressive..." he smirked at Ron's reddening face before leaving.

"Don't listen to him," Harry muttered as he steered the angry Ron to their table. "He's just wants to make you slip up."

It seemed, however, that Swan, and by association, Chilesworth, were the only ones who had a problem with the way Ron had managed the house-elves. Even Nurse Midley, who wasn't very fond of Ron, came up to him the next day, congratulating him on how well he had managed the elves.

It was a relief to Harry that Ron was finally getting a break after three weeks of strenuous work, because Harry didn't feel as bad when he was having fun at practice. Even though some of the moves that Jiggs wanted them to perform were difficult, it was fun nonetheless to try them, and even more fun to watch his friends try them out. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the big things that they were concentrating were a) standing up and being able to fly on their broom as if they were surfing, and b) being able to jump from their broom to someone else's. None of the Seekers really understood why this would be important to know, but as Jiggs continued to tell them, you never knew what to expect in a Quidditch match.

Both of these feats proved to be very difficult. It took them all a long time before they could manage to stand up on their brooms without falling into the water. Many times Harry lost his balance and got his legs tangled around his arms and had to wait for Jiggs to fly over and pull him back onto his broom.

"Come on guys, I thought you'd be experts at this by now," he called out as Logan resurfaced from a twenty foot plunge. "You could do it on the third floor of the obstacle course, why can't you do it now?"

Getting the brooms to actually move one you were standing on it took even longer than learning to get up, and there was a long time when Harry didn't believe that it was actually possible. Jumping to another person's broom was harder than it looked as well. They spent a good half and hour simply jumping off their brooms and into the water. But, perhaps out of sheer will to succeed, all three Seeker hopefuls mastered the difficult moves by that Thursday, and not a minute too soon, for that afternoon, Jiggs introduced a new technique to the list.

"Today, I want to teach you how to do the Wronski Feint."

Harry's ears perked up at this. Ever since he had seen Viktor Krum perform the dangerous diversion at the World Cup he had been dying to learn how to do it properly, and now he had his chance.

"Performing the Wronski Feint effectively is much harder than it looks," Jiggs continued, looking at them seriously. "I wouldn't be surprised if you aren't able to master it before Saturday. Not only do you have to be a skilled flyer, but you also have to be a talented actor. If another Seeker sees in your face that you have any hesitation about what you are doing, they'll know you're faking it and will continue to search for the Snitch, meaning that you will have just wasted precious seconds.

"Another important aspect to this tactic is just how close you get to the ground before you pull out of your dive. When performing the Wronski Feint properly, a Seeker will pull out of the dive only when his the tip of his broom is between six and eight inches from the ground. The Seeker must also be able to go from an extremely fast dive to an ascent at the same speed for the move to be effective. Knowing this, there are many other things that you must consider. First of all, posture is crucial: when you're going at such a fast speed and you're that close to the ground, you can't risk having one of your feet touch the ground, as you'd probably break it off. And you have a split second to be able to get yourself in the proper position to pull your broom up and rise in the air.

"This move is used to give yourself an advantage; you're trying to run the other Seeker into the ground and give yourself extra time to search for the Snitch. This means that the sooner you can get up off the ground the better. Being able to climb back into the air is just as important as being able to rocket downwards. And when you're flying back up, not only will you have to be going just as fast as you were when you were going down but you'll have to be able to weave your way through the action of the Chasers above. And then there's always the dramatic aspect. You've got to be convincing enough to make the other Seeker follow you down. Remember what Kitimer taught you about posture, and then there's always gravity that you have to take into account...but enough of that. Go on, try it out."

Without further ado, they followed Jiggs out across the water so that they could begin to practice their important move. Harry's heart began to race in his chest and he became thoroughly excited. Looking over, he could see the same kind of excitement in Logan and Patch's faces. They both looked very determined.

"Alright, why don't you line yourselves up facing away from the manor," Jiggs said, "with about, oh, let's say ten feet between you. On the count of three, I want to see your best attempt at a Wronski Feint. Keep in mind all of the things I told you. Right then, ready? Three...two...one...GO!"

Harry dove towards the water. On either side of him, Logan and Patch were doing the same. Harry's face was screwed up in concentration, trying to look as though he had just found the Snitch. The water was getting closer...fifteen feet...ten feet...his knuckles were white, holding onto the broomstick. Seven feet...get ready...four feet...almost there...three feet, two, one...

Harry started to pull up on the broom handle but before he knew it his mouth was filling with water. His Firebolt continued its dive and in the split second that he had spent preparing to pull up he had broke through the surface of the waves and was soaring down into the sea. By the time he had actually pulled the broom up and pointed it towards the sky he was six feet underwater.

Firebolts, as Harry soon learned, did not move very quickly underwater, so he was forced to jump off and swim to the surface. As soon as his head was out of the water, Harry gasped for air, but choked on the water that was already in his mouth. Coughing hard, Harry looked around. To his relief, he saw Logan swimming ten feet away from him, spitting seaweed out of his mouth. Patch resurfaced a few seconds later, looking very angry with himself. Fifty-feet above them, Jiggs was laughing hysterically. Someone else was laughing too. Turning to the dock, Harry's heart sank when he saw the photographer that was documenting the events at their training camp. He was laughing louder than Jiggs, and the purple smoke that was wafting behind him confirmed Harry's suspicions: that he had taken a handful of pictures of the Seekers flying themselves into the water.

Harry swam over to his broomstick, which had floated up and was hovering a few inches above the sea. He pulled himself out in the same manner that a swimmer pulls himself out of a pool and then flew up to join Jiggs, who was still laughing like a maniac.

"What're you laughing at?" Logan asked bitterly once they had all joined their coach.

"I'm sorry," he laughed, wiping a tear from his eye. "It's not you, er, well, I guess it kind of is, but it's nothing personal. I always laugh the first time my Seekers try out the Wronski Feint, because every group I've had does the exact same thing. Frankly, I would have been amazed if one of you had pulled it off properly. Now, I think the main problem that all of you have is that you're concentrating on too many things at once. Start by perfecting the dive and pulling out of it without worrying about how close you come to the water. Then you can work on your speed and how convincing you look when you're doing it."

Understanding Jiggs' instructions was much harder than actually performing the moves, and Harry had flown himself into the water many more times before the day was over.

"Ok, I think we should probably go in now," Jiggs told them an hour earlier than they would usually head in. "It would be best not to overexert yourselves today."

It was obvious that Jiggs had stopped the lesson because the Seekers were getting very discouraged, but Harry was glad to go in anyways. None of them had performed the Wronski Feint successfully the way that Jiggs had described it. Patch had come the closest to actually performing the dangerous move, but he had had more of an incentive than simply impressing Jiggs: a pair of Grindylow had just come out of the water, obviously angered by the broomsticks that kept splashing into their territory, and had tried to claw his eyes out. Patch pulled out of his dive just in time to save his vision, but unfortunately wasn't able to do it again.

"Do you guys just want to head off to the cafeteria?" Logan asked as he wrung out the sleeves of his robes. He took out his wand and tapped the heavy front doors of the manor, which creaked open slowly.

"No thanks," Harry replied, rubbing the water out of his eyes. "I'm beat, I think I'm going to go have a nap."

Harry trudged up the stairs, his shoes squeaking as he went. He was feeling very discouraged by the fact that he wasn't able to do a proper Wronski Feint. He was also very tired, and surprisingly, very thirsty, as most of the lesson had been spent swimming in the cold waters. As he took off his wet robes and changed into dry ones, Harry noticed that a dark cloud was traveling across the sky, blocking out the already setting sun. He poured himself a large glass of water from the water pitcher on his bedside table and drank heartily, watching the dark cloud with a worried expression on his face. If it started raining again, it would seriously complicate their training lessons. He didn't have much time to concern himself with the weather, though, as he fell asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.

Harry was having a very strange dream. He was staring out his window at a pair of crows that had just landed on his windowsill. They were cawing softly, calling him outside.

"No, I can't go right now," Harry was saying. "I can't play right now I have to practice my flying or I won't make the second cut."

Now a snake was creeping up the side of the manor and through the open window. It began to wrap itself around Harry's stomach, nipping his sides playfully.

"Stop it, stop it that tickles!" Harry laughed as the snake continued to slither around him. "All right, but only for a few minutes, Ron will be mad if they cut me."

The snake was lifting Harry as though he was as light as a feather. It carried him through the window and set him down on the ground. The two crows flew high above them, following them with their beady eyes. Now the snake was moving faster, still wrapped around his stomach, leading him to the back of the manor. Harry stumbled as it moved faster.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Harry said indignantly. "You don't have to pull."

The snake was now leading him down a sandy path, through a thin clump of trees to the part of the beach that Harry could see from his bedroom window. Two broomsticks were lying in the sand, and the two crows landed on either side of him. They looked up at Harry, who stared back. Then his stomach rumbled.

He rubbed his eyes and his stomach growled again. It must have been time for dinner. He stretched out his arms and prepared to get up, only to realize he was already standing.

Harry wasn't in his room. Instead, he was standing on the beach that he had been dreaming about. He looked down at his stomach. There wasn't a snake wrapped around it, instead, a thin black cord was winding itself around Harry's stomach. He looked down at where the crows were sitting and gasped.

The crows were both sprouting thick, muscular legs. If Harry hadn't seen Sirius transform from his animal form so many times, he would probably have fainted with shock right then and there. The crows were turning into people, massive people, right before his eyes. Two heads popped out of two pairs of shoulders that were just loosing their feathers, the heads of Braceb and Ogley.

"What's going on?" Harry asked loudly. Braceb and Ogley didn't answer, instead, they took the two ends of the cord that was binding Harry and fastened them to their broomsticks. The rope began to tighten painfully around his stomach.

"Should we leave now? Or wait until it gets darker?"

"We should go now, He does not like to be kept waiting."

This was the first time that Harry had heard either of them speak, and both spoke in grunts. Then, Harry realized what was going on.

"You! You're the ones Swan was worried about! You're the ones working for Volde--" but Harry didn't get a chance to finish. A second cord had just sprouted from the one that was holding him around the waist, and it began to wrap itself around Harry's mouth, gagging him so that he couldn't speak. Harry continued to fight against the cords but there was no way to get them off of him. Braceb and Ogley were both grinning stupidly at him.

At the beginning of the summer, when Harry had first found out that Voldemort might be after him, he hadn't been afraid, just angry. But now, it was as though all of the fear had been building up in a sink, and someone had just pulled the plug. Panic was washing over him as he pulled violently at the cords that bound him. He tried to shout out but all that came from his mouth were grunts, muffled by the thick cord that was gagging him. Braceb and Ogley had just kicked off the ground; the ropes around him were tightening. Frantically, Harry dug his feet into the ground, trying desperately to keep himself on the earth, but he was no match for two broomsticks. He was getting pulled into the air, over the water, being led towards Lord Voldemort...

Then, from the beach he heard shouts. Harry tried to turn around in the air but didn't get a chance; two spurts of white light flew past his shoulders and cut through the two cords that held Harry to the broomsticks. He fell with a loud and painful splash into the water. The cords in his mouth were still bound tightly to him, making it hard to draw breath. Harry kicked his legs furiously, propelling himself in the direction of the manor just as three figures arrived on the beach.

"Harry! Over here!"

"Come on, Potter, swim!"

Two figures splashed into the water, rushing in his direction. One was Ron, the other, to Harry's great surprise, was Cory, who looked almost as worried as Ron did. They waded out to his position, grabbed him under the arms and supported him back to land. Harry was trembling all over, and was hoping that Cory would think it was from the cold water.

"Get out of the way!" Harry looked up and saw Stan Swan. He had his wand raised and was pointing it at the two figures on broomsticks that were turning around and heading back towards the island.

"Come on, over here," Cory said hurriedly, leading Harry behind a clump of trees. They dropped to the ground and Cory began searching for something on the ground. A moment later he had picked up a jagged looking rock and pointed it towards Harry's head.

"Careful!" Ron said loudly.

"It's all right, I know what I'm doing." Cory put one hand on the side of Harry's head to steady it and began sawing at the cords with the other. Harry's head was now facing the beach, and he watched, still shaking as Braceb and Ogley closed in on Swan, brandishing their wands menacingly.

"We want Potter, we aren't leaving without him."

"You aren't leaving, period," Swan's crisp voice cut through the night air. "You are going to answer for your actions and explain why you--" but he stopped abruptly as Braceb and Ogley, who were still on their broomsticks, dove at him.

Harry was frozen from both fear and fascination as he watched the electrifying scene on the beach. He had never seen a battle between fully qualified wizards before. Jets of fiery light were shooting back and forth through the night and strange incantations were being bellowed back and forth. The lines on Swan's face were sharp and defined, and his eyes were blazing furiously.

"Careful! Don't cut him!" Ron's hoarse voice woke Harry from his mesmerized trance. Cory's rock scraped his face, telling him that the ropes had been sawed through. He pulled them out of his mouth and stretched his stiff jaw.

"What happened, Harry?" Ron asked in a hushed voice as he pulled at the ropes around Harry's stomach.

"I, I don't know," Harry stammered, trying to keep his voice steady. "I thought I was dreaming..." he trailed off as a thunderous bang sounded at the beach. Looking over, he saw Braceb and Ogley spinning over on their broomsticks while Swan sent white sparks into the air.

"Come on, we need to get out of here," Cory said, starting to pull Harry up. His face was pale and he wasn't taking his eyes off Swan.

"But, we have to help him don't we?" Harry asked, torn between running for his life and running over to help Swan. Just then, Braceb dived on his broom straight at Swan while Ogley flew past, heading for Harry's position.

"Get down!" Cory bellowed, throwing himself on top of Harry. Both he and Ron sent blue sparks at Ogley, who cart wheeled in the air and stopped. He shook himself and then sped towards them as though he had merely bumped his head. Laughing, he raised his wand, about to blast them to smithereens, but a loud shout came from the beach and suddenly, Ogley's broom was being pulled towards Swan as though it was attracted to a magnet.

Harry looked out from between Cory's arms and saw Braceb thrashing in the water, trying to get to his broom, which was drifting away. His big, bulky robes were weighing him down. Ogley was shouting at Swan. Suddenly, Swan's wand flew out of his hands and landed in the water.

"We have to help him," Harry said, trying to scramble to his feet, but Cory was holding him down.

"Don't be stupid Potter you can't do anything!"

Harry struggled against Cory but gave up; he was too strong. Helplessly he turned back to the beach.

What happened next was very confusing. Swan looked as though he was punching the air, but a giant flaming fireball shot out from the inside of his sleeve and hit Ogley with a such a force that he tumbled from his broom and into the dark waters. Braceb began shouting angrily at Ogley, and in an instant they had both disappeared into thin air.

Harry stared open mouthed at Swan, who pointed his arm towards the water and shouted 'Accio'. His wand flew out of the waves and into his hands. Swan turned on his heel and marched towards the manor.

"Follow me," he said sharply as he strode past their hiding spot. He sounded like the battle had been no more than a training session.

Harry got to his feet, stumbling over his wet robes and trying hard to stop shivering. He, Ron, and Cory followed Swan to the front doors of the manor. Swan waved his hand and the doors sprang open.

"Mr. Swan, I was just looking for you," said Wolverwick, who was walking down the stairs at the moment that the door opened. "I have--good lord man, what happened to you?" His eyes scanned Swan's muddy robes and then passed to Harry, who was dripping wet and had a red line across his face where the ropes had been.

"There's no time to explain right now," Swan said sharply. "Inform the campers that they are to stay in the cafeteria until I say they may leave. Also, tell them that no one is to enter Mr. Potter's room, or the room formally occupied by Messer's. Braceb and Ogley. Mr. Rodricks, go to the cafeteria as well, and do not breathe a word of what has happened. Breazley, take Mr. Potter to the kitchen and give him some dinner. Then go to Mr. Chilesworth's office and wait for my return." With that, he rushed up the staircase and out of sight.

"Come on," Ron said as he led Harry to the kitchen. The second they opened the door, half a dozen house-elves ran up to them, bowing and curtseying. "Harry needs dinner," Ron said shortly, and in a second a large tray laden with ham, vegetables and a goblet of pumpkin juice was rushed towards them. Tray in hand, Ron exited the kitchen with Harry right behind him, heading for Chilesworth's office.

When they had sat down, Harry started quickly on the meal. He had been so busy being terrified that he had forgotten to be hungry.

"How did you know where to find me?" Harry asked when he had scoffed down half of his meal. "I mean, thanks, but how did you know?"

"You weren't at dinner," Ron replied. "Swan came into the cafeteria, and noticed you weren't there. Logan said you were having a nap, so I went upstairs to get you but you were gone. It was really dark, so I couldn't see in the trees, but I could see the beach, and there were two broomsticks lying there. I went down and told Swan, and he asked who else was missing. It was freaky, he sounded normal but his eyes looked like they would pop out of his head. And then Cory stood up, and told Swan that he'd seen Braceb and Ogley leaving the manor before dinner. And we just ran out." Ron shuddered, and he still looked very pale. "When I saw them carrying you off like that, I almost flipped out. But did you see Swan out there? I mean, wow. He took them both on and he nearly got them too."

"So he was right then," Harry said miserably. "About Voldemort having someone on the inside. I should have been more on guard. I can't believe they almost got me. If I hadn't been so angry over being kept in the dark about everything, if I hadn't been so thickheaded, maybe--"

"Harry what are you talking about, it wasn't your fault," Ron exclaimed, shocked. "I mean, no one else knew that Braceb and Ogley, were, you know, working with You-Know-Who."

Harry stared miserably at his ham.

"They were the ones who were pulling all those pranks on me, not Cory or Hawk. Do you remember when those house-elves attacked Charlie? Did you see Braceb and Ogley yelling at them? I thought they were just sticking up for Charlie. And I saw them coming down the stairs when the Hippogriff almost tore me apart. I should have put it together."

Ron shook his head.

"Stop beating yourself up, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't," he said firmly as Harry threw down his fork. "Anyways, what I want to know is how Swan managed to do magic like that without a wand. When his fell into the water, he drove off those two Death Eaters and Summoned his wand back. How did he manage to do that? I mean, I know it's possible to do some magic without a wand but did you see that fireball? That must have needed a powerful spell, it is even possible to do that wandless?"

Harry stared thoughtfully at his peas. Then it hit him.

"Ron, do you remember what Hawk told me?" Harry said excitedly. "All of those rumours about Swan? Hawk said that an Auror, a very tall Auror said he had a wand up his sleeves at all times? Maybe it really was Swan."

"But that would have to be a very small wand...like, two or three inches long..."

"There isn't a rule that says your wand can't be small, is there?"

Ron's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but just then the door swung open and Swan marched in, followed by Chilesworth, who looked extremely upset.

"I can't believe it, in MY manor, Death Eaters!"

"That's enough, Redford," Swan said sharply, silencing him instantly. "I need you to take write a report of all the evidence that was found; I need to send a dispatch to the Ministry immediately."

Chilesworth nodded and swept over to his desk and took out a pen and a large roll of parchment.

"Tell me everything that happened, Mr. Potter. Everything they said, they did, everything since you woke this afternoon."

Harry retold what had happened to him, which wasn't very much, now that he thought about it. He had dreamt that he was being led down to the beach, only to find that it wasn't a dream. Braceb and Ogley hadn't said anything to him. Swan watched him as he spoke; his eyes burning into Harry's like hot coals. When he had finished, Swan stood up and began pacing the room.

"I see," he said finally, more to himself than anyone else. "A rather ingenious plan, even I had no idea that they were the spies. Untraceable now, I imagine those were false names, but we will try nonetheless. And unrecognizable too, after all of that Youngening Potion."

"Youngening Potion, sir?" Ron asked curiously.

"Yes, yes," Swan replied distractedly. "Youngening Potion, there were bottles of it in their room. I suspect, judging by how many bottles there were, they are in they are in their forties or fifties now. Oh, Potter, you'll have to see the nurse before you head in for the night. You were fed a large amount of Dreaming Draught."

"I was fed a lot of what, sir?"

"Dreaming Draught, it's a potion," Swan replied impatiently. "I am correct in assuming that you drank from the pitcher on your bedside table, am I not? It confused you into thinking you were dreaming. Well, I believe that you have told me all that you can. Go to the nurse's room, just to make sure that you are all right. Both of your families will be informed of what has happened tonight, so I'll ask you not to send them owls, incase yours are intercepted. And what has happened tonight is not to be spoken of in front of your campmates, understood?" He gave them a piercing stare. "I do not want the Daily Prophet hearing of this. We don't need to start a panic. Mr. Rodricks will be informed as well. Is this understood?" They both nodded and stood quickly, heading for the door.

Nurse Midley gave Harry a thorough examination before letting him leave the infirmary. Luckily, she was on good terms with Ron again, otherwise she would have kept him there overnight. However, Ron was able to coax her into letting them go.

They were in the entrance hall, heading for the stairs, when Cory met up with them. He was still very pale and, Harry noticed, he looked much younger than usual.

"Er, could I have a word?" he asked Harry uncomfortably. Ron was eyeing him suspiciously; he was still angry about what had happened on the football field.

"I'll wait here," Ron said sternly, taking a seat on the stairs. Cory shot him an angry look, but seemed to decide against starting a fight. Instead, he led Harry to a spot near the door where they wouldn't be overheard.

"Look, I'm, I'm sorry I beat you up the other day," he said quickly, as though it had taken him a while to work up the nerve to say that. Harry opened his mouth indignantly. He had hit Cory back just as hard; they had beaten each other up. He was about to point this out, but decided against it.

"I was being an idiot, I really shouldn't have," Cory continued. Harry would have loved to tell him he agreed, but again, he thought better of it.

"Why did you rush out to help me tonight?" Harry asked. That was the question that had really been on his mind.

"Well, I mean, Swan looked really worried, it looked like he could have used some extra help," he replied shiftily. "I thought I should help."

"Why are you telling me this now?" Harry asked, still suspicious. Cory pursed his lips; it was obvious that he didn't want to say what he was about to say.

"Because, well, you're a really good flyer," he answered gruffly, not looking Harry in the eyes. "I was watching you the other day, when we were all on the pitch and you were chasing that Snitch around everyone. You're really good, for a kid I mean. I went to help Swan tonight because you're probably the best Seeker we're going to get, and I'd like to win at the end of the summer. Besides, I figure that if we're going to be on the same team we might as well try to get along."

Harry stared at Cory in shock, who was now gazing intently at a picture frame from 1937. He obviously hadn't enjoyed saying what he did. But hearing this coming from Cory was one of the biggest compliments Harry could have every gotten. He couldn't help but grin.

"OK, we'll call a truce," Harry said, sticking out his hand. Cory looked at him, and then grinned himself. He shook Harry's hand.

"Well, I guess I'll go now," Cory said, straightening up. "See you tomorrow, Potter. Hope your nose gets better."

"Yeah, sorry about your tooth," Harry said back. "I hope the nurse was able to get it back in properly."

Cory grinned.

"I've got to admit, you've got a mean right hook." He turned around and headed up the stairs, two at a time.

"What was that about?" Ron asked, looking dumbfounded as Harry walked over to him, still grinning. "Don't tell me your friends with that guy?"

"Friends is such a strong word," Harry replied wisely as they climbed the stairs. "I'd call us good enemies."