Harry Potter and the Ancient Order

Chpt. 22. Malfoy's Day in the Sun

Hogwarts was full of students again two days after Christmas, and they used the time off to their full advantage. Fred and George Weasley, Harry found out, had made quite a handsome sum of money selling their Wizard Wheezes as Christmas gifts. They confided that their sales so far this year in Hogwarts had brought in enough money to fully replenish the thousand Galleons Harry donated and then some. What they had planned for this money, however, remained secret, since Harry had nearly put on one of their Barely There hats by mistake before he could ask.

Cho made it a point to find Harry upon her return in order to thank him (Hermione insisted that Harry send her a few hand-picked flowers with his letter on Christmas Day to make up for the late letter). She told Harry that she thought it was incredibly thoughtful of him and even gave him a small kiss on the cheek, and Harry suddenly had an urge to pick all the flowers that grew on Hogwarts grounds.

Harry and Ron used the extra days off to thoroughly study Harry's present from Xander. Ron was very studious in his reading, taking notes for himself since Harry would have possession of the book during the summer holidays. Whoever wrote the book, they declared the author their new role model. It had such chapter titles as: The Best Defense is a Strong Offense, Hit Them Before They Hit You, Harmless Pranks For Harmful People, and the chapter that they read the most, Surprise Vengeance Against Pure-Bloods. This one, though not explicitly stated, was devoted purely towards Slytherins. The opening paragraph was enough to convince Harry of the author's skills:

There are always some pureblooded wizards who feel that the study of Muggle technologies is beneath them, even inferior to wizard magic. Their ignorance is a weakness to be exploited. If the proper time is taken, studying Muggle products creates a cornucopia of possible ammunition for the brave and skilled prankster. The reader must note, however, that the following procedures are not for the amateur Marauder, as they require much preparation time as well as advance planning and impeccable timing to pull off successfully.

Ron now had two columns listed on his notes; one was a supply wish-list, the other was a list of targets of which were almost exclusively Slytherins. After much debate, they finally agreed to start small and target Crabbe and Goyle for dinner that night. Turning to Harmless Pranks For Harmful People, they set to it, but not without much tutting from Hermione, who spent much of the day muttering something about overactive hormones causing the maturing process to digress. Harry and Ron sought the aid of Dean Thomas, who was easily the best artist if Gryffindor. The word unavoidably leaked out, and Harry had to swear the whole tower to silence before dinnertime came around. Not wanting to be tracked down by teachers, Ron wrote left-handed (though as untidy as his regular writing, it looked nothing like his own).

Xander, who had the most skilled hands and who claimed to have used this very prank many times in that past, offered to perform it and waited outside the Great Hall before anybody came down for dinner. He ordered everyone in Gryffindor House to come down in small groups, no sooner than three minutes apart to avoid suspicion. Finally, they all managed to make it into the Great Hall before Crabbe and Goyle entered the Great Hall. Xander entered a couple of minutes later, giving the Gryffindor table a thumbs-up.

Goyle stood up halfway through dinner, walking across the Great Hall to mooch whatever food hadn't been eaten. The more people he walked past, the more laughter broke out. Soon, the Great Hall was roaring with laughter, none harder than Harry and Ron. Professor Snape, noticing the cause of the outbreak, stalked swiftly from the head table, the swishing of his robes silencing the laughter. He tore a note off the back of Goyle, and held it up for all to see. It had a picture of Crabbe drawn on it (drawn by Dean) with his eyes bugged out and his drooling tongue wagging. Below the picture was written (in Ron's left-handed writing): Property of Vincent Crabbe, and had a long arrow pointing to Goyle's rear end. Snape's display of the picture would have been hilarious had anybody but Snape held it up.

The look Snape wore dared someone to laugh. "When I find out who did this," he announced loudly, but pretty much spoke to Harry (Snape's eyes never left Harry), "that person will be doing detention with me for the remainder of the year."

Harry fought hard to keep a straight face, and only managed because of the aura of dislike Snape was radiating in his direction. Snape tore the note in half and spun on his heels to return to the head table. As soon as his back was turned, the Hall broke out again in laughter. Snape whipped his head around with a very sour frown, and everyone stopped again. Ron buried his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing. A day spent embarrassing the Slytherin House was a day well spent in Harry's eyes.

The days leading up to the first match of the International Scholastic Quidditch Cup brought back the Quidditch buzz to Hogwarts. They would be taking on Canada in the first match, and according to Xander's scouting reports, the Canadian Seeker, Paul Kariya, was the best seeker in the tournament. Malfoy was wearing a very smug look most of the time, but whenever Kariya's name was mentioned, he lost some of his arrogance. He also appeared nervous about performing in front of over five thousand spectators, and by the time Saturday rolled around, he was very quiet indeed.

The Hogwarts team spent so much time in training sessions that hardly anybody saw Xander. He constantly had a bag of ice strapped to his right shoulder, and avoided using his right arm whenever possible. He was visiting the hospital wing daily in order to heal the disgusting blisters that formed on his hands every day. Alicia forced him to the first day, as a particularly large blister burst over his dinner, nearly making everyone who witnessed it sick. Though nobody else on the team complained, Roger Davies was adamant about declaring Viktor Krum no better than a slave driver.

Friday night before the opening match, Harry and Ron were speaking to Xander about Hogwarts chances. As Alicia rubbed a muggle cream called "Icy-Hot" on Xander's shoulder, he explained that Germany and America presented the biggest challenge. Russia drew the Germans in their first match in the middle of February, and America was scheduled to play Australia the first week of April. Whichever team scored the most points in the first round would instantly advance to the Championship match in June.

Ron pulled out his Prank List. "How much of that do you have?" he asked Xander, pointing to the Icy-Hot.

"Not too much right now, but I'll be getting a ton more soon," said Xander. "I had no idea I'd get tendonitis in my shoulder so I didn't bring much with me."

"When you get more, could you let us know?" asked Ron.

"Let me see that," said Xander, reaching for Ron's list. "I can get you this, and this...and this, too," he said out loud, checking off items as he read them. "Busy couple of months ahead of you, huh?"

"If you put as much effort into your O.W.L. studies, you might just beat your brothers," huffed Hermione. She continually had her nose buried in her Study Guide and assigned herself extra work to complete over the holidays. She even tried to assign the work to Harry and Ron, but they outright refused to work over Christmas.

"Why bother?" shrugged Ron. "You're studying enough for the three of us."

"I will not be doing your exams for you, Ronald," said Hermione, her voice rising.

"What's your problem?" asked Ron, his eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hair.

"If you only tried a little harder, you wouldn't feel the pressure you do about your brothers," she retorted, slamming her book closed. "You'd know you were just as able and talented as they are, instead of always trying to prove it to yourself."

"What would you know about having older brothers?" Ron snapped, his neck going red.

Harry rolled his eyes at the upcoming argument between his two friends. They had become so commonplace that all of Gryffindor had learned to ignore them and go about their business. Harry refused to get involved and always allowed them to argue themselves into silence, as they always made up nearly immediately. He had to stifle a laugh as Xander was making very rude, insinuating gestures with his hands behind Alicia's back, directed at Ron and Hermione. Harry sat there, talking to Xander even after the rest of the Common Room emptied as his two friends continued their argument.

"I'll tell you another thing," Ron shouted, pointing a finger at Hermione's Study Guide. "If books were never invented, you wouldn't know so much!"

Hermione broke into a fit of giggles, causing Ron's expression to change from anger to confusion. "That doesn't make any sense, Ron," she said once she could talk again. "Nobody would know anything if books didn't exist."

"Why are you laughing?" asked Ron, his confused look growing deeper.

"You look so cute when you have that look on your face," she said, blushing.

Harry had about enough. "I'm going up to bed," he told them, but for all the good it did, he might as well have told the wall. Ron and Hermione were busy grinning at each other. "Um, I said, I'll just go..." he trailed off, still getting no reaction. "Look! The Heir of Slytherin!" Harry shouted suddenly, pointing to nobody. They still stood there, staring at each other.

"C'mon, let's just go," Xander said, pulling Harry by the arm. "I don't think you'll want to see what's coming next."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry as they walked up to their dorm. He had never seen his friends act like that before and didn't understand.

"When was the last time you ever saw Hermione make 'googly-eyes' at anyone?" said Xander.

Harry thought for several moments before he could answer. "Never," he said.

"And when was the last time you saw Hermione make out with anyone?" asked Xander.

Now Harry got the point. Not needing to answer this question, he went to bed, wondering when exactly Ron would be entering the dorm. He fell asleep without finding the answer to this question.

Harry felt like a fifth wheel all day Saturday. Ron and Hermione kept giving each other sidelong glances accompanied with grins anytime Harry asked Ron what time he came to bed last night. Hermione's cheeks had a constant rosy color in them all day.

Krum insisted that the team eat together for breakfast, so Harry didn't have much of a chance to speak to him. Brandy Chastain had come over to talk to Alicia, who was just as worried about her parents meeting Xander as Xander himself was.

"What have you told them about Xander?" Harry overheard Brandy asking. He tuned out the conversation, not wanting to listen to girls chatter about guys. A tap on his shoulder brightened his mood immediately.

"Hey, you," said Cho brightly. "How've you been?"

"Fine," answered Harry, gesturing to the empty seat next to him. Cho took the seat, sitting closer to Harry than she usually did. "How're your holidays going?"

"Okay," she answered. They continued with small talk for several minutes more before Cho changed the subject. "How have your dreams been lately?" she asked quietly.

"Not as bad as usual," said Harry, not wishing to inform Cho that most of his nightmares were replaced with dreams about her. "They're not as...er... powerful as they used to be. To be truthful," he added, "I haven't had a really bad one in about a month."

They continued talking as they walked out to the Quidditch pitch together. "I've been thinking," said Cho. "Have you ever read Freud?"

"Who?" said Harry, feeling very stupid.

"Sigmund Freud," Cho told him. "He was a psychologist. Over Christmas, I did some reading. He says that dreams are an interpretation of our subconscious thoughts." She paused a moment, surveying Harry, before continuing. "Harry," she said, stopping and facing him directly. "Do you secretly think that you killed Cedric?"

Harry didn't want to answer the question. Had anybody else even asked it, he wouldn't have hesitated in punching them square in the mouth. But something in Cho's eyes grabbed Harry's attention. There was no accusation in them. She was not trying to tell him how to think. She was not trying to convince him of anything. She was sincerely concerned about his answer.

"At this point, I don't know exactly how to answer that question," said Harry slowly.

"Just answer honestly," said Cho. Harry was vaguely aware that she had grabbed his hand, but he was too lost in thought to react as he normally did. "I promise, Harry, that I won't think any less of you, no matter what your answer is. After talking to you, I know the truth, even if you don't believe me when I tell you it wasn't your fault."

There was that phrase again. He grew ever more irritated every time he heard it. Not wanting to be rude to Cho, he thought he might borrow a page from Xander, and redirect the line of questioning. "You spent your entire holiday reading, just for me?" He did his best to look sweetly impressed despite the depressed feelings building up inside him.

Cho flushed slightly and took the hint. "What can I say? I worry."

They continued walking, and Harry's mood improved as he realized that Cho still hadn't let go of his hand. They found a seat next to Ron and Hermione, and sat anxiously as the match was set to begin. Harry turned to survey the stadium, and felt a bit thunderstruck himself. He had never been around such a large group of people before, unless you counted the Quidditch World Cup last year, but he was in a luxury box for that, so he didn't feel as insignificant as he did right now. He did notice that Alicia was sitting not very far away with her parents, and was pointing excitedly at Xander's frame standing at midfield as he talked to Paul Kariya before the face-off.

"They do look good in their new robes, don't they?" he heard Parvati saying. She always seemed to put more stock in the way someone appeared, including herself, prompting Xander to nickname her "Diva Parvati". The Hogwarts team wore Quidditch robes of navy blue, with the Union Jack embroidered on the back, and their names printed in red across their shoulders. Despite himself, Harry silently daydreamt about wearing those robes himself, imagining a red-lettered 'Potter' fly by in pursuit of the snitch.

"And the quaffle is released!" Lee Jordan's voice echoed off the stadium. "And Alexander Majere of England takes instant possession! He's made quite a name for himself after his spectacular performance in the Hogwarts Championship match, showing the ability to negate the skills of the best keeper Hogwarts has seen since Oliver Wood graduated two years ago..."

Harry nudged Ron in the ribs, who had turned almost purple at the kind-of compliment. Hermione teased him by tickling the back of Ron's neck, causing Ron to squirm in his seat. Harry resumed watching the match. He recalled Xander's comment about being better at defense than offense, and he was proving it. Davies and the Slytherin chaser apparently refused to play any form of defense, leaving Xander to deal with three very skilled opponents to deal with. All of the extra training sessions had sharpened his flying skills.

"You have no idea how weird it feels being on the same side as Malfoy," Harry said. "I almost don't want to take sides."

"I know," Ron nodded in agreement. "Maybe if Xander scores enough, we won't have to cheer for Malfoy."

It was a very offensive-minded game, as the beaters for both teams seemed content to just knocking the bludgers out of play rather than send them rocketing towards an opponent. Harry pointed this out to Cho, who surprised him with her answer.

"It makes sense, actually," she told him. "The offensive moves are so skilled that proper beating would only disrupt them and slow the game down. Remember what Xander said? Canadians don't play much defense, so our team doesn't have to rely on bludgers. They'd only get in the way."

He had never realized the extent of Cho's Quidditch knowledge until now. It made perfect sense after she pointed it out. He gave her an admiring smile before turning his attention back to the game.

"I've never seen anyone do the Reverse Pass so well," he overheard Angelina shouting to Katie Bell, and again he had to admit she had a point. Xander performed the complicated pass so well he made it look easy, almost effortless. It confused the Canadian chasers so well that England jumped out to an early 40-10 lead.

"Still no sign of the snitch yet," Lee was commenting. "Both seekers have had little to do so far. Of course, we've upgraded to an International Level snitch for the tournament, which is much harder to capture and is much quicker than what Hogwarts is used to seeing."

"Feint!" somebody cried out, and all attention was turned to the seekers. Kariya, in an attempt to shake off Malfoy, dove almost perpendicular to the ground, and only accelerated as he flew. It was the best feint Harry had seen since Krum himself. Kariya pulled out of the dive at the last minute, his feet just scraping the grass. The Hogwarts crowd "ooh'd" as Malfoy traced Kariya's path perfectly, down to the whisking of the grass. There was near riotous cheering as Malfoy continued his pursuit. Kariya noticed Malfoy still tailing him, and set off in an impressive and complicated series of twists and turns, most of which Harry thought flashy and very unnecessary. The cheering grew louder as Malfoy tracked him perfectly, and even overtook the talented Canadian.

"Amazing flying by both seekers! What a display of skill! It looks like we're in for a real treat to- Davies scores!" Lee shouted excitedly. Davies, taking full advantage of the attention drawn by the flying competition between Malfoy and Kariya, flew the length of the pitch and juked out the Canadian keeper for another England goal.

The English chasers really began to work together, keeping the quaffle out of Canadian possession, and squeezing down on them whenever they did manage to gain possession. They were just no match for the Hogwarts All Stars, and Krum's international experience was really coming out in his coaching. He continually barked out instructions, cheered his team on when they performed well, and encouraged them whenever someone made a mistake. All the while, Malfoy and Kariya continued their mini-competition.

"They're only doing it to show off," Ron said. "And you know Malfoy, he never lets anybody show him up."

But Harry noticed something that only his own Quidditch instincts could have picked up. "They're both chasing the snitch!" he cried, and all heads once again turned to watch the seekers. Keeping his own eyes on the snitch, Harry noticed the difference in the international standard golden ball. It moved so quickly it seemed unnatural. It was all he could do just to keep his eyes on the snitch, and a very small part of him was momentarily thankful he wasn't responsible for the capture.

"What's the score?" he asked Cho, too busy watching the snitch to look at the scoreboard.

"100-40, us," she shouted into his ear, barely heard over the noise of the crowd.

"I just can't bring myself to cheer for Malfoy!" shrieked Hermione, and she covered her eyes with her hands. Harry agreed, and sat quietly following the snitch with his eyes. The Slytherins in the crowd started up a chant of "Go! Go! Go!", which most of Hogwarts picked up on. Still, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cho sat silently.

At this point, Kariya had overtaken Malfoy in the pursuit by nearly a broom-length. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed Xander turn completely around and streak up the pitch after the two seekers. He couldn't believe how quickly Xander caught up to them, let alone he had managed it at all. In a blur of blue and white, Xander (who was flying directly below Kariya) swerved up and positioned his broomstick at such an angle that it slowed Kariya down. The two tangled up and went tumbling to the ground as Malfoy shot past them, the snitch more or less flying itself into his grasp than Malfoy catching it.

"Malfoy's got the snitch! England wins, 250-40!" Lee cried, and the crowd erupted into jubilant cheers. Harry noticed Alicia standing, her hands covering her mouth. Xander and Kariya had tumbled a good twenty feet to the ground, and crashed in a clustered heap of arms and legs. In the tumble that pursued, Xander rolled ten feet away from Kariya, his arm sticking out at a weird angle from his elbow. Kariya landed in a full split, but owing to his reputed Yoga training, stood up rather easily, though looking dazed.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked as they reached Xander. He was trying to move his right arm, but his elbow kept popping loudly.

"He get the snitch?" Xander winced as Alicia grabbed his arm in an attempt to hold it still.

"Yeah," said Ron, grinning. "And everyone was so impressed over Malfoy's flying."

"Pop it back in," Xander told Alicia, and she made a sick face as his elbow cracked loudly. It pointed straight once more, and she tapped it with her wand, healing the joint.

Kariya made his way over once the fogginess cleared. "Looks like you got me this time, eh?" he said to Xander. For a second, Harry thought he might pick a fight, but he noticed Kariya grinning.

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Xander. "I didn't mean to make you crash."

"All in the name of sport there, fella," said Kariya. "Oh well, we'll talk to you later, eh?" He walked off to join his team after that, stumbling every now and then and mumbling about his inner oneness splitting in two.

"Once you've changed, make sure you meet us in the Entrance Hall," Alicia said to Xander, looking over at her parents. "They were really impressed today," she whispered into his ear before joining her family. Harry didn't realize until now that Alicia had a younger sister, who looked like she might be ten or so.

"If all the matches are that exciting, I'm really going to enjoy this tournament," said Cho, who couldn't stop smiling.

"Yeah, me too," said Harry. He still couldn't help replaying Malfoy's chase in his head, only "Malfoy" was replaced by a red-lettered "Potter".