Harry Potter and the Ancient Order

Chpt. 10. Choke

Care of Magical Creatures wasn't what Harry expected. Nor was it like any class Hagrid ever instructed. When they arrived at Hagrid's hut that morning, they noticed a large blackboard set up next to the griffin paddock. Xander was already there talking to Hagrid. Instead of moving on to another creature right away like he told Harry, Hagrid instead chose to have an instructional lesson. For the entire lesson, he had the class take notes on Tasslehoff, adding what he had learned from Xander, and even asking Xander to fill in facts where he wasn't sure. After half an hour of writing on the blackboard and students complaining they couldn't read what he was writing, Hagrid turned the notes over to Xander, who had much neater, very tight handwriting.

"They were once used as guardians at ancient temples," Xander was speaking as he was writing, "as they can be more vicious than dragons when inclined to. This post was taken from them, however, when they refused to allow even the caretakers of the temple to enter, mauling everyone on sight. In Egypt, they were replaced by the Sphinx."

"What, now we have to be taught by Muggles, too?" Malfoy was sneering, refusing to take any notes once Xander began his lecture.

"You heard what Dumbledore said," Hermione retorted. "He knows a lot more than most of us and we can learn a lot from him. I thought that now you've got your badge back you would at least own up to the responsibility of it."

"I oughta shave the mane off that griffin, see what he thinks about that," Malfoy said, with a dreamy sort of look in his eyes.

"You can try, Malfoy," Xander said loudly, and all heads turned to Malfoy. "But I doubt you'd get within ten yards of him. He'd maul you before you-"

Xander stopped short as Tasslehoff charged Malfoy, causing him to cower on the spot. Managing to grab the free-flying tie-off around the griffin's neck, Xander quickly wrapped it around his arm and dug his heels in so deeply he was nearly sitting on the ground. Hagrid came over and wrapped his enormous hand on the reign, and Tasslehoff stopped.

"My point proven," Xander said, not losing his instructional tone of voice. "They know when a human holds malice towards them and attack as such."

"All righ' lesson's over!" Hagrid called out, tying the griffin around a tree. "No homework this week!"

Harry was relieved at this, as his first week had piled him with enough work to last him until Halloween. Malfoy quickly regained his composure after the attempted attack and began threatening to have Xander expelled and Hagrid fired.

"So, how's it feel," Xander said airily, walking up behind Malfoy, "knowing that you owe your life to me?"

"I owe you nothing," Malfoy said in a standoffish tone. "If anything, you and that great hairy oaf should be shipped out. That animal's a menace."

"Had you listened," Xander snapped, "You'd have known to keep your lips shut. Next time, I'll let him finish the job. I'd like to see your ministry try to put him down."

"We'll see," Malfoy said. "We'll just see," and he stalked off with Crabbe and Goyle in tow.

Professor Flitwick had apparently forgiven Harry and Ron for their misuse of Translating Charms and was in a much better mood. He even agreed to use their punishment essays as advance work on their O.W.L., much to the delight of the class. Harry was relieved that he now had at least a small portion of the dreaded qualifying test finished. Professor Flitwick again spent much of the class talking with Xander off in a corner of the library while everyone else set about researching magical languages, their assignment for the next month being to find the word "speak" in as many different languages as possible. Hermione irritated much of the class as she had a full roll of parchment full of translations by the end of the period.

Krum plunged head-on into wand construction, saying that they couldn't properly defend themselves if they didn't know the strengths of their individual wands. Again, Xander spent a portion of the classes filling in as instructor, as Krum was still having difficulty with his English and left the more complicated explanations to be explained by Xander. Harry wasn't sure who impressed him more: Krum for his overall knowledge, or Xander for his intelligence and ability to explain complex matters so that everyone could understand. Even Neville was able to keep up with the lectures.

Snape refused outright to allow a student to aid in his instruction, instead ordering Xander to brew many difficult potions, then taking points off from Gryffindor for "showing off". Soon, Snape apparently had enough of Xander proving that he could perform whatever was thrown at him, and allowed Xander to perform his own experiments during classes.

Angelina had ordered Quidditch practices daily, as did every other team captain. It was difficult trying to squeeze all of these practices in and share the pitch, but they somehow managed. Even Ron was out there working on his game, even though he was technically only a reserve. Xander agreed to work with Ron to keep him sharp and improve his game. Harry had to agree that Ron improved drastically over the course of two weeks, and even thought that he was better than Dean by the time the first match neared. Angelina was pleased with Ron's efforts, but refused outright to change her line-up, stating that she refused to waste two weeks of work by making the change. This only seemed to push Dean farther, and by the end of the second week, he transformed himself into an admirable keeper.

Cho's injury in Herbology had seriously hampered Ravenclaw's training sessions, and the schedule was rearranged so that they played all of their matches in the last three weeks, meaning that Gryffindor played the first two, and had a long break, not playing Ravenclaw until the last week of the abbreviated season.

"So here's the schedule," Angelina said as she explained the situation. "Week one is us against Slytherin. Week two is us again versus Hufflepuff. Week three is Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Four is Ravenclaw versus Slytherin. Week five is Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff, and we finish the season against Ravenclaw."

"So each team has to play at least two weeks in a row," Harry observed.

"Right," Angelina nodded. "With the Ravenclaw seeker injured, it the fairest way. It still favors us, since we catch Slytherin and Hufflepuff before they can gel as a team, and we get Ravenclaw after they already play two weeks in a row. I see no excuse," she now had the mad glint in her eye made famous by Oliver Wood, "Why we shouldn't win the Quidditch Cup. We have by far the best team. The best seeker," Harry blushed, "The best beaters, when they're NOT GOOFING OFF!!" She had just noticed Fred and George taking turns hitting each other in the head with the quaffle.

"Yeah, yeah, the best goof-offers when they're not beating, we got it," George said in an attempt to cover up, but only drew a scowl from Angelina.

"Okay, get back up to school," Angelina said, apparently having lost the fire for a pep talk. "Bed early. We win tomorrow. No excuses."

Harry exited the locker room as quickly as possible, eager to avoid angering Angelina further. He quickly found Ron, who himself was returning from a training session with Xander, and explained the updated schedule to him.

"Well, I guess we can hope I'll make it into a game this year," he said sourly, commenting on Dean's improvement and Angelina's stance on line-up changes.

"Don't worry," Xander said good-naturedly. "He's never been game-tested. No one knows how he'll do. Slytherin's got good chasers. We'll see tomorrow."

After dinner, which consisted of much Quidditch talk, the Common Room appeared more full than usual. Nearly everyone was wishing Harry good-luck, always anxious to see him get one-up on Malfoy. It never ceased to amaze Harry exactly how unpopular Malfoy was in Gryffindor despite his own personal opinion of him. It never bothered him, only made him wonder if they all hated Malfoy so much strictly because he was Harry's sworn enemy.

Ron chatted with Hermione at length, and the two were still talking when Angelina ordered the team to bed. Harry walked over to them to say good night, and overheard Hermione speaking.

"You know you're good enough, you just got the wrong end of her decision," she was saying before she saw Harry. She stopped when she noticed him, and they both wished Harry goodnight. Harry fell asleep early that night, or rather, he thought it was early as Ron still hadn't come up to bed by the time he fell asleep.

Dean was already awake when Harry shot up out of bed, having just woken from another nightmare. It took him several minutes to remember he was in his dormitory, and his heart slowed when he realized this. Dean didn't appear to be in much better shape. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, his face pale and rocking back and forth.

"You okay?" Harry asked as he dressed.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Dean answered in a very unconvincing tone. "Just a bit of nerves, y'know? Didn't you feel them before your first match?"

Harry grinned guiltily, remembering his own difficulty five years ago. He found it very hard to eat that day, and wondered if he might just fall off his broom. "You'll be fine when you get in the air," Harry said. "You'll forget all about your nerves and'll play fine."

"Yeah," Dean said in a distant voice before falling into silence again.

Wishing to find something to put in his belly (he still found it difficult to eat the morning before a match), he found Ron and Hermione in the Great Hall already eating breakfast.

"We were wondering if you were ever going to wake up," Ron said with a smile. "Thought you might just sleep through your match."

"I'm tired enough to," Harry said, rubbing his eyes. He poured himself some orange juice in a vain attempt to wet his throat, but coughed very hard when he swallowed. Ron and Hermione knew without asking that he had another dream and thankfully didn't ask about it. Instead, Hermione took on the role of Mother Hen and tried to force some food down Harry. Dean made his way down halfway through breakfast looking as if the mere sight of food would cause his stomach to heave and was immediately lectured by Angelina .

"It's a quarter after ten already, where've you been?" she snapped as he sat down.

"I've been up for a while, just been thinking, that's all," he said in a very hurried voice.

"Try and get something to eat," Angelina ordered. "It won't do if you pass out from starvation."

Dean merely picked at his plate for fifteen minutes before the team left for the Quidditch pitch. His mind just didn't seem capable of controlling his hands, and Harry head to help him put his Quidditch robes on the right way after Dean wore them backwards without noticing. Harry noticed the signs of panic setting in as Dean's eyes were watering, his pupils were dilated, and his hands just would not hold still long enough to hold his broomstick straight.

"Dean, relax," Harry tried to console him. "It's just a Quidditch match. No bigger than your try-outs. It's only the first match, no pressure, Okay?"

Dean's voice was also AWOL, and he nodded his head in response. Angelina was going over tactics once more, and Harry only half paid attention. He wondered if Ron would have been in this same state right now had he made the team, and found it a little ironic that he was helping the guy who got the position over his best friend.

Angelina was full on into her pep talk when Harry returned to the present. "We play our game, and we win. This is a simple game. You fly, you throw, you catch. Stick to the fundamentals and there's no way Slytherin can catch up."

They entered the pitch just as Lee Jordan, Fred and George's best friend, was finishing his introduction of the Slytherin team. "... and Captain Draco Malfoy at Seeker! Malfoy's by far the most experienced player for Slytherin and is looking to lead this young team deep into contention this year. And here come the Gryffindors! Defending Champs, Weasley, Weasley, Potter, Thomas, Bell, Spinnet, and Captain Angelina Johnson at chaser, also her first match as Captain as well! By far the most experienced team in Hogwarts, they returned six of seven players from the championship team of two years ago..."

Harry had to tune out Lee as Dean nearly fell backwards. Harry secretly hoped that he would remember to block the quaffle and dodge the bludgers and not the other way around. Madam Hooch, the referee, called the captains to shake hands, and Harry sniggered inwardly at the fact that Angelina was a good three inches taller than Malfoy, leaving him looking ridiculous trying to intimidate her with a stare.

"Players, mount your brooms!" Madam Hooch called out, and the crowed cheered loudly. She tossed the quaffle in the air, and Katie Bell immediately caught it and streaked toward the Slytherin goal. Harry flew up a good seventy feet before he heard Malfoy laughing loudly.

"Dean, the match has started buddy, don't you think you should defend your goal?" Lee was saying, and Harry looked down to see Dean still standing on the ground mounted on his broom and staring at nothing in particular.

"Nice keeper, Potter! What, he forget how to fly?" Malfoy was shouting in Harry's ear. Harry ignored him and risked flying back down to the ground.

"Dean!" he tried shouting to no avail. Getting desperate and hating the fact that he left Malfoy free to search for the snitch, Harry slapped Dean in the back of the head. This at least woke him up. "Get in the air!" Harry yelled at him, but too late. Slytherin had put a goal through the undefended hoop to take an early lead. Angelina was livid and called for a time out.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?!" she shouted, saliva dripping from her bottom lip. "So help me, if you're not in the air in three seconds, I'll bury you out here myself!"

Dean mounted his broom in silence and flew to the wrong end at first. Angelina nearly speared him with her broom when she got him, and finally, he was stationed in front of the Gryffindor goal. Madam Hooch awarded Slytherin a penalty shot, as Dean had spent the first three minutes of the match on the ground, and it is illegal in Quidditch for any player's feet to touch the ground during play.

Harry returned to his station twenty feet above the match and tried to make up for lost time. He was relieved by the frustrated look on Malfoy's face, and felt even better when Dean stopped the penalty shot, though he wasn't sure if it was his prowess as a keeper. The Slytherin Chaser threw the quaffle directly at Dean's head, and it bounced off into the stands resulting in much laughter from the Slytherin end.

As it turned out, this was the only save that Dean would make all day. Fred and George had their work cut out for them, trying to keep and opposing player from flying anywhere near the goal. Gryffindor's superior skill was enough to keep the match relatively close, but basically without a keeper, there was just no chance at outstripping Slytherin.

"Another goal for Slytherin, advancing their lead to 160-90. One can't help but wonder if Thomas was the right choice for keeper, as he is greatly struggling out there, and we can only speculate if we'll see Weasley out there next week," Lee was carrying on, not making much of an effort to hide the disdain in his voice. For once, the Slytherin end cheered his commentary, and Malfoy looked as if Christmas had come early.

"Unbeatable, huh?" he would shout at Harry. Malfoy was smiling so smugly that Harry wished for nothing more than to smack it right off his arrogant face. He was hovering ten feet in front of Harry apparently thinking he no longer needed to search for the snitch. "Why not put your mudblood in front of the goal, maybe her hair is big enough to stop a shot or two..."

Harry had heard enough and flew directly at Malfoy, accelerating at such a rate that he nearly fell off the back of his broom. Malfoy barely dodged the attack, and Harry's tailwind was enough to send Malfoy into a violently twisting spin that he had to struggle to recover from.

"Penalty! Blatching against the Gryffindor seeker!" Madam Hooch shouted, and threatened to kick Harry out of the game if he did it again (blatching is flying toward a player with intent to collide or injure).

"Dammit, Harry!" Angelina scolded. "We can't afford any penalties! Don't let Malfoy get to you," she continued as Dean missed the save by a good ten feet.

Harry knew he shouldn't have let Malfoy instigate, but he was frustrated enough as it was. Try as he might, he just couldn't shake Malfoy off enough to catch the snitch whenever he saw it. Had he not hated him more than anything in this world right now, he might marvel at Malfoy's improved flying skills over the past year. The Slytherin stands were ecstatic, making more noise than anyone thought possible for one house to make, alternating chants of "We Want the Cup!" with "Choke, Dean, Choke!".

As the match drew on, it became clear that Dean had no business in a competitive game of Quidditch. He flew around aimlessly, was easily confused, and showed no semblance of himself as he performed in training sessions. No matter who said what, Dean just would not respond. Even Ron could be heard trying to encourage Dean to no avail.

Twenty long minutes later, Slytherin had a commanding 240-120 lead, and Harry knew that time was running out. He decided to take a page out of Viktor Krum's book and try some diversionary tactics. Trying to draw some Slytherin chasers away from the Gryffindor goal, he shot off like a rocket towards the other end of the pitch, and was pleased to see Malfoy follow. Harry's Firebolt was still too fast for Malfoy's Nimbus 2001, so Harry slowed slightly to let him catch up. In doing this, Malfoy figured out that Harry had not seen the snitch and returned to circling the pitch. With a stroke of bad luck Harry thought impossible after everything that already happened in the match, the snitch appeared right in Malfoy's flight path, and it was everything Harry could do to catch up.

"Too late, Potter!" Malfoy shouted back to Harry, who was now only five feet behind. The wings of the snitch were barely brushing Malfoy's fingertips. Seemingly out of nowhere, the quaffle fell inches from Malfoy's head, disrupting his concentration momentarily. Harry threw himself flat on his handle, not wanting to waste a moment of his advantage. Just before Harry caught up, a Slytherin chaser flew down to catch the quaffle, and the tail of his broom slapped Malfoy very hard on the side of the head. Malfoy fell off his broom, hanging on by one hand. It was a matter of seconds before Harry had the snitch firmly in his grasp.

"Potter caught it! Potter caught it!" Lee was shouting, unable to contain his excitement. "In three seconds, Potter snatches victory away from Slytherin, and Gryffindor wins, 260-240!"

Harry felt more relief than joy. That was the closest he had ever come to losing, not counting the time he passed out in mid-flight and fell off his broom. The Gryffindor team flew to the ground, congratulating and thanking Harry at the same time. George had to fly up and get Dean, who was still hovering in front of the goalposts. Angelina's anger towards Dean hadn't diminished a bit.

"You!" she said loudly, pointing at Dean. "Needless to say, you're off the team. Hand in your robes and clear out your locker."

Dean, now aware of everything that was going on, started to protest. "But we won!" he argued. "All I needed was one match-"

"You choked, plain and simple!" Angelina cut him off. "I'm not giving you another chance to do it again. I knew I should've went with Ron!"

The team returned to the locker rooms tired but satisfied. Dean took all of two minutes to clean out his locker and clear out. Angelina apologized to the team for losing her temper out on the pitch and promised that it wouldn't happen again. She released the team soon, but not before telling them that they had practice early Sunday morning, owing to the fact that they had a new keeper to train.

In a shocking display of leadership, Malfoy had waited until his team returned to the locker room to reprimand the offending chaser that cost them the match. As Harry changed after his shower, he could hear Malfoy raise his voice in irritation as the chaser argued that he hadn't seen Malfoy. Harry's feelings of bitterness returned when he overheard Malfoy congratulate his team on their performance, stating that they had single-handedly proven that Potter and Gryffindor were not unbeatable.

Angelina told Ron that he was expected out on the pitch first thing the following morning, and he was all smiles the rest of the day. He had received a significant amount of praise from many people that day for his keeper skills, even though he hadn't played one match in his life. Harry thought that Gryffindor house just might mutiny at their performance, but once the word spread that Dean was out and Ron was the new keeper, the whole of Gryffindor became a sort of Ron Weasley fan club. Harry couldn't help but be happy for his friend, who was beginning to live out the promise Harry and Hermione told him he had.