Harry Potter and the Ring of Reduction

Chapter 20

Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw

The next five weeks were unexceptional, both at Hogwarts and in the wizarding world in general. At the same time, it was highly exceptional in one respect: there were no Death Eater attacks at all, and had been none since the executions. Triumphant sounds started coming from the Ministry anonymously, as if the executions had solved everything. Most people felt that this was just the calm before the storm, or Voldemort regrouping, gathering forces once again. Snape speculated that the injury Harry inflicted on Voldemort had motivated him to be far more cautious than before, both in his own activities and those of the Death Eaters.

A long period of unusually bad weather in January prevented most Quidditch practice. Harry suggested that students be allowed to practice flying in Rings of Reduction created especially for the purpose, but as Pansy had predicted, McGonagall vetoed the idea on the grounds that there could be no supervision. When there was a rare pleasant day, teams scrambled for the pitch. To Ron's great annoyance, three of the pleasant days in January were Wednesdays.

"I can't believe it's come to this," complained Ron on the Friday before the second Saturday of February. It was evening in the Gryffindor common room, their books spread out in front of them. "Tomorrow is the first Quidditch match, and we've only practiced five times. Five times!"

"You know what I can't believe?" said Ginny in mock outrage, mimicking Ron's tone. "That's five times you've said that this week. Five times!"

"I have not."

"No," she conceded, "but it sounded good. It's three times at least, though."

"Why do you care so much, Ron?" wondered Neville, keeping his voice down. "You practiced a lot over vacation, and the practicing you would've done wouldn't have been that relevant anyway."

Before Ron could answer, Hermione did. "It's the same reason that I'd be complaining if I could only go to the library five times in a month, even if I didn't need to that badly. It's just the idea. I think for Ron, the practicing isn't only a means to an end, it's partly the end itself."

"Never thought about it that way, really," said Ron indifferently. "I'm just glad the weather was so good when we were at the Burrow."

"Actually, the weather ends up favoring us, doesn't it?" Harry asked, looking up from his Potions text. "I mean, Neville's right, the practice wouldn't have helped that much, but the other teams'll need it. Especially Corner, if he's only had the chance to practice five times since he took over as Ravenclaw's Keeper, he's going to be in trouble."

"Seven times," corrected Ron.

Harry did a double take. "You know exactly how many times Ravenclaw practiced?"

"I asked Colin to keep track."

"First of all... why? And secondly, Colin watches the other teams practice too?"

"Just curious," said Ron, a little defensively. "And yes, he does. He practices his announcing, sees how the teams fly, he says it's like research. He promised the other teams he won't tell us about anything he sees, like helping us out on strategy."

"But he's at liberty to tell you how many times the other teams practiced," noted an amused Hermione. "And they trust him not to tell you about strategy? With a sister and a brother on the team?"

"Colin has an honest face," joked Ginny.

"Thank you, Ginny," shouted Colin, sitting halfway across the common room.

"And incredibly good hearing," she said more loudly, obviously intending to be overheard.

"Not really," he replied loudly. "It's just that thing where you hear your name, even if it's very faint, and you start listening."

"Yes, I have that too," she said. "But with Harry, it's the opposite. He hears his name, and he sticks his fingers in his ears and starts humming."

The common room exploded in laughter. As it started to die down, Neville said, "Oh, Ginny, that was very good."

"It's funny because it's true," added Ron, grinning and watching Harry for reactions.

"Um... we were talking about Quidditch, right?" asked Harry innocently.

"Yes, and you were making fun of me for being obsessive," pointed out Ron. "See what it got you."

"You're right. I'll never make fun of you again," said Harry solemnly, drawing a laugh from the others.

Ron made a put-on expression of concentration. "Well, you know, my keen sense of Legilimency is telling me that you're totally lying."

"Well, Albus told me that you're not supposed to use it for-" He stopped speaking as his pendant blinked pink. "What is it, Pansy?"

"Could you meet me in the classroom?" she asked, using the shorthand phrase for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom they had recently adopted.

"Sure, I'll be right there," he said, then shrugged as he stood.

"It must be something to do with the second years," suggested Hermione.

"Maybe they're nervous about the match tomorrow," offered Ron. "They want the advice of a grizzled veteran."

"Well, I am having to shave more and more often, but I wouldn't say I'm 'grizzled,'" joked Harry. "See you later."

A few minutes later, he walked into the classroom to see Pansy and Hedrick sitting in seats, next to each other. "Hello, Hedrick. Are you worried about the match tomorrow?"

"No, should I be?" asked a suddenly anxious Hedrick.

Harry smiled, then Pansy did. "No, but Ron was saying that maybe you had last-minute questions about Quidditch."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "I love him, Harry, but he really does go on about Quidditch. If we end up together, I'm going to have to become a fan, or I'll go crazy."

"It may get better once he's not captain of the team anymore. So, what's up?"

Pansy and Hedrick both become serious. "Hedrick had me test him," Pansy explained. "He's still at 99."

"Hedrick, I told you before, you have to be patient-"

"You try being patient when you're at 99 for over a month," interrupted Hedrick. "Sorry," he added with an embarrassed glance.

"Well, I see what you mean about the whole not-being-patient thing," joked Harry. "Seriously, I can see why you're frustrated. But it'll happen eventually-"

"Harry," said Pansy, giving him a significant look, "I... told him, told them, that you're a Legilimens. I told them what you did for Ron."

Harry's eyebrows went high as he pieced together the situation. "You want me to do with you what I did with Ron?" Looking grim, Hedrick nodded. Harry looked back at Pansy, amazed. "Pansy, I don't know where to start. I mean, he's only twelve-"

"I'm going to be thirteen next month-"

"It doesn't matter whether you're twelve or thirteen-"

"Harry," said Pansy loudly, trying to get them both to stop talking. "I wondered if this might happen, and I checked a month ago. There's no law that says you can't do Legilimens on a minor."

"Really?" asked a startled Harry.

She nodded. "If it was for bad purposes, it would be covered under the general law, that adults can't do harmful spells on minors. Now, of course, there's the law that adults can't do any spells on minors who aren't their children without their parents' consent, but you're a Hogwarts professor, and more importantly, his teacher. You can do it without his parents' consent if it's 'necessary as a learning activity.' I think you don't have to stretch it at all to say that this is that kind of a situation."

Harry felt very uncomfortable. Dumbledore had warned him that Legilimency was not a very well understood skill, and people were usually disturbed at the thought of it being done to them. The last thing he wanted was a parent complaining that Harry had done Legilimency on their child. "Hedrick, how do you think your parents would feel if I did this?"

"They wouldn't care!" insisted Hedrick.

"You mean, you have no idea whether they would care or not," corrected Harry. To Hedrick's surprised look, he tapped the side of his forehead. To Pansy, he said humorously, "You did explain everything that Legilimency does, right?"

She nodded. "Oh, yes. I spent a while on it, gave him all the warnings. Could be extremely embarrassing, you could see anything, bad memories, all that. He's a lot like Ron was, Harry. He doesn't care. I didn't just call you as soon as this came up, you know. I've been all through this with him, with them. The others say that if they were at 99 for a month, they'd want to do it, too."

Harry could understand that. He had to remind himself that he'd never had to go through that, having it be a goal he was trying to reach; it had come to him unbidden. To do justice to Hedrick's feelings, he had to try to put himself in Hedrick's position.

"Professor," said a very determined-looking Hedrick, "Okay, I don't know how my parents would feel. But I talked to them during winter vacation. They're proud that I'm this close, and proud of how you feel about me. I really do think that if they find out and aren't happy about it, it'll be at me, not at you. I'm the one that asked."

"Hedrick, I'm not hesitating because I'm afraid that your parents will be mad at me. It's because parents should be able to know-"

"Harry," Pansy interrupted him firmly. "You're worrying too much. This isn't going to hurt Hedrick. It might embarrass him, but there are some decisions that a twelve-year-old should be able to make for himself. I think this is one of them. Don't think so much, just help him. It was important to Ron, it's important to him."

Harry sighed. "I'm sorry, Hedrick. I wasn't comfortable doing this with Ron, and he was seventeen. Maybe I'm just using your age as an excuse." He turned to Pansy. "Would you keep an eye on the doors, deal with anyone who comes by? Not that I think they will, but just in case..." She nodded.

He turned to Hedrick. "Okay, just clear your mind, try not to think about anything at all. You'll see memories come up, just let them go by, and relax. I'm just going to call up some good memories at first, to sort of warm up. Okay?"

Hedrick nodded, clearly nervous but trying not to let it show. "Okay."

Harry cast Legilimens, and called up memories of love. They involved Hedrick's parents, two people who were obviously grandparents, Harry, Pansy, and Helen. Harry raised his eyebrows slightly at the fact that it was Helen and not the others in the group, but didn't linger on the thought. He then called up feelings of friendship, and got more scenes involving the other second years, but with an emphasis on Helen.

I have a feeling I know where this is going, Harry thought. His experience with Ron would now come in handy; unlike then when he groped around blindly, he now had ideas about what to look for. He dismissed the idea of looking for feelings of violence, since Hedrick hadn't had the same experiences that Ron had. Embarrassment connected to love seemed like a much better bet, and he knew he had to explore Hedrick's feelings for Helen. He felt bad for Hedrick that he had to look, but he knew he had to.

"Okay, now I'm going to look at specific things," he told Hedrick, feeling like a doctor who tried to explain to the patient exactly what he was doing to make him more comfortable. "I'm sorry, but I have to look at-"

"I know," said Hedrick, his expression reminding Harry of how he had felt as a child, naked in a doctor's office. "It's all right."

"Did I ever mention that you're very brave?"

Despite his nervousness, Hedrick smiled. "Yes, once. But thanks."

Harry cast Legilimens again, and called up memories connected to Hedrick's feelings for Helen. One of them was when he had hugged her in the room they were in now; a few were from energy-of-love sessions, where he had focused on her in summoning feelings of love. It was very clear to Harry that Hedrick loved her. He put down his wand, reached out, and took Hedrick's hand for a few seconds, trying to communicate his feelings without words. Then he said, "I need to think for a minute."

Hedrick and Pansy were silent. Harry wondered how Hedrick could be in love at the age of twelve. Almost thirteen, he imagined Hedrick correcting him. He knew Helen was already thirteen, with a January birthday. Can people be in love at that age? he asked himself. Then he remembered that his feelings for Cho had begun at the age of thirteen, even if he was too mortified to act on them for the next two years. Maybe Hedrick's different, he thought, maybe everyone's different. Maybe focusing on love made him fall in love sooner than he would normally have. The thought crossed Harry's mind that most people would refer to Hedrick's feelings as a 'crush,' because of his age. Harry wasn't inclined to think that, because he had seen them for himself, felt how Hedrick felt. Hedrick felt a very powerful attraction to Helen, wanted to be around her, thought of her when he thought of love. Whatever a crush is, Harry thought, this didn't feel like it. But does it have anything to do with him staying at 99? He decided to look in the area that had caused Ron difficulty, feelings of embarrassment connected to love.

After a minute of searching, he stopped again. "I think this may be it," he said to Hedrick. "I think it'll be helpful to tell Pansy; as far as the situation itself, she might be more helpful than me. But if you don't want me to, I'd completely understand."

"You can tell her," said Hedrick. "But not the others, just you two."

"Of course," agreed Harry. To Pansy, he explained, "He's in love with Helen."

Pansy broke into a smile. "I thought that might be the case. I've seen how you looked at her, a couple of times." Hedrick smiled in embarrassment. "But what's the problem?"

"He hasn't told her, of course. He's... understandably nervous about the idea, and the anxiety that it causes is interfering with his ability to focus on love. If he only thinks about non-romantic love, like his family and his friends, it's okay. But she's the one he thinks of most when he thinks about love, and it always brings up that discomfort. I have to think this is what's causing him to stop at 99."

"I can really understand that," she said, looking at Hedrick sympathetically. "But there's no problem like Ron had?"

"No, there's no embarrassment about the energy of love, or love in general. Just about her."

"Not embarrassment," clarified an embarrassed Hedrick.

"No, sorry," agreed Harry. "Worry, anxiety."

"So, what should I do?"

Harry looked at Pansy for help; she looked no more sure than he. "This is the hard part, Hedrick," he admitted. "The obvious idea is that you tell her, then you'd know one way or the other, and you wouldn't have to worry about it. But obviously, it's risky; it could be very hurtful if you don't get the response you're hoping for. We're starting to get into issues more important than whether or not you can use the energy of love. I guess you don't have any idea whether she feels the same way."

Surprised, Hedrick shook his head. "Didn't you look for that when you were in there?"

"I only saw what you saw," he assured Hedrick, "and I didn't look at anything I didn't think I had to."

"Oh. No, I don't know, but I'd be amazed if she did. I know we're really young, I just... I can't help how I feel. I didn't know that this would be the problem, and now that I know it is, I still don't know what to do. I'm really scared of telling her."

Harry's heart went out to Hedrick, and he could see that Pansy's did, too. "If you don't tell her, then honestly, I don't know what you could do to change the situation. Love is really powerful, it can't be ignored. I know, I've tried," he added with a self-deprecating smile. "Strictly from an energy-of-love standpoint, telling her is the thing to do. If you don't get the answer you want, it would be really hard, but then at least you'd know, and you'd have to work out what to do from there. But of course, there are other things to consider than the energy of love. I can tell you that even if she didn't feel the same way as you, she still loves you as a friend, and would be nice about it, would try hard not to hurt you."

"But even if she doesn't want to hurt me, if she doesn't feel the same way, it'll hurt a lot," said Hedrick quietly. "I know that much."

"Yes, it will," agreed Harry. "That's why I don't want to say that you should do any particular thing. You know what the choices are; you have to be the one to decide what risks to take, what you can live with." This theme keeps coming up, thought Harry as he watched Hedrick agonize over what to do. First with Archibald over whether I would fight the executions, then when talking to Cindy about whether or not to fight Voldemort. Then he remembered what Dumbledore had said after he had returned from the Chamber of Secrets, that 'our choices define who we are.'

Just then, Hedrick looked at Harry. With a mix of queasiness and determination, he said, "Send a dog for Helen."

Harry almost asked if he was sure, but then realized that he shouldn't try to dissuade Hedrick, or give him doubts. Before he could summon the dog, however, Pansy said, "Wait a minute, it's five to nine, and they have to be back by nine." Hedrick gave her an accusatory glance. "I'm sorry, Hedrick, but I am Head Girl, I have to think about things like that."

Harry tapped his pendant. "Black," he said, and waited.

"Yes?" came Snape's voice; Hedrick gave a start.

"Professor, I'd like your permission for Hedrick and Helen to be out of Slytherin for a while after nine o'clock."

He could imagine the look on Snape's face. "For what purpose?" came the reply.

Hoping Snape would accept it, he said, "It's a class-related activity. It's important."

There was a short pause. Finally, Snape asked, "Where will they be?"

Thank goodness, thought Harry, he's going to allow it. "In the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom."

"They must be in their dormitories by eleven, and they must be supervised."

"I understand, Professor, thank you." He broke the connection, then conjured the dog, which went trotting off. Hedrick looked amazed, which didn't surprise Harry. "Hedrick, I'd rather you didn't go repeating that to people. I know everyone's speculating on why he changed. I do know why, and all I can say is that it's personal. If I were him, I wouldn't want everyone speculating about it."

"Maybe he's speculating about why you asked that," suggested Hedrick. "Thank you for not mentioning it." Harry wondered whether Hedrick would notice the connection, that both he and Snape had something they didn't want people wondering about.

"One of us has to stay," Harry said to Pansy, "but obviously we shouldn't be in the room with them. Maybe whoever stays should stay in the office, while the two of them are in the classroom. We shouldn't be able to hear them, if they keep their voices down. That should satisfy Professor Snape's idea of supervision."

"Maybe I should be the one to stay," suggested Pansy. She looked like she was thinking of saying something else, but stopped herself. Harry thought he understood: if things didn't go well, the one who remained might be asked to be involved in the conversation, and Harry wasn't sure he felt up to that.

"Sure," agreed Harry. "I'll have to wait until she gets here, of course, then I'll go back to Gryffindor Tower."

They waited a few more minutes, then Helen entered the room, looking at Harry expectantly. "Professor? Is everything okay? Did it work?" She looked at Hedrick, who was clearly even more nervous, now that she was there.

"I've done what I can," he said, standing to leave. "But it's not just a matter of knowing what it is, but also doing something about it. There's something he needs to talk to you about."

She looked at Hedrick with concern. "I'll do anything I can to help, of course," she said earnestly, obviously thinking that he needed the help of someone who had already reached 100. "But you're not staying to help?"

He shook his head. "Like I've said, I've done all I can; at this point, it's better if I'm not here." Giving Hedrick's shoulder a squeeze, he left the room. I sure hope this works out, he thought.

* * * * *

As Harry finished his breakfast the next morning, he looked down the table to see how his teammates were doing. Dennis and Andrea seemed fine, but Eric and Lydia looked nervous, especially Eric. Harry could understand why a second year would be intimidated at playing for the first time in front of people. He made eye contact with Ron, then glanced in Eric's direction. Ron nodded, walked over, and sat down next to him.

"This is really going to be interesting," said Ginny, sitting next to him. "So, still nobody knows that I have my Firebolt?"

"I don't think so, no," he answered, looking around occasionally to see if the Aurors had arrived. "Nobody's said anything, and people are used to your using a Firebolt in practice, they think it's Ron's."

"Probably they didn't notice anyway," she said, smiling. "After all, we only practiced five times."

"Seems like more than that, somehow," he chuckled. "Ah, there they are."

Neville had already stood to greet Winston, Tonks, and Cassandra; Harry assumed that, as with his and Ginny's trip to the Golden Dragon, they had gone out of their way to volunteer for this duty, especially Winston. He walked over to greet them, happy to see them even though he saw them once a week anyway, for their energy-of-love sessions.

Helen came over to hug her father. "My little girl, in her first Quidditch match," he said, with a mixture of amusement and pride.

"How are you doing?" asked Harry. "Are you nervous?"

"No, I'm not," she said. Giving him a significant look, she added, "Hedrick was nervous last night, but he's fine now."

Harry smiled, understanding her message. "That's good, I'm glad. I hope you do well."

"It's hard to say, so soon, but I think it looks hopeful," she said, pleased that he was happy.

"Oh, I think it's more than hopeful, you'll definitely beat them," said Winston confidently, unaware of the meaning of Harry and Helen's conversation. "You had all that flying practice, you'll do great."

Harry walked back to his seat; Ron took his at the same time, having returned from talking to Eric. "He'll be okay, it's just the usual nervousness," said Ron. "By the way, I've decided to have Madam Hooch read our lineup to the crowd. I was giving the rulebook a once-over in bed last night, and there's something about having to announce when you make changes in your lineup. I don't think that applies to the first match of a season, but I want to do it anyway. I don't want Corner complaining that we're doing something underhanded when you and I don't take our usual positions."

"Good idea. He'll be fit to be tied when he sees we have three Firebolts." Harry remembered how Corner had complained about him having bought Ron the Firebolt last year.

"I'll be so sorry to see that," said Ron mockingly. Harry wondered if Ron's dislike of Corner was due to Corner's having dated Ginny two years prior, or from his comments about the Firebolt. "Okay, everyone, time to go. We're up first."

They headed out to the changing rooms; the weather was overcast and cold, but rain didn't appear to be a danger. After they had changed, Ron informed the rest of the team of the lineup changes; they were stunned, especially Dennis and Andrea, who would be playing positions they had barely practiced at. As they left the changing rooms and walked to the pitch, Dennis said, "Good thing you didn't tell us a week ago, I'd have been a nervous wreck. This way, I'll only be a nervous wreck for a few minutes, until the match starts."

"Relax, Dennis, it'll be fine," Ron assured a not at all reassured Dennis. "We'll score so much it won't matter if they do a bit. Just keep cool, you'll get better as you go. And keep in mind, you can't do any worse than I did in my first go as a Keeper."

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better," said Dennis uneasily.

As Ron walked over to Madam Hooch, Harry looked up at the flags flying over the pitch; they indicated that there was very little wind. Good, he thought, the passing should be no problem. As they entered the pitch he looked up into the stands for Hermione, Neville, and Pansy, and found them in their usual place between the Gryffindor and Slytherin sections He wondered if McGonagall was going to give some kind of speech, as Dumbledore had last year, but realized that she had nothing in particular to say. She had already said that Hogsmeade days would, this year, not be held on days of Quidditch matches, as it would be something Death Eaters could predict and prepare for.

Madam Hooch spoke into a magical microphone. "Good morning. A note before the first match begins: I have been advised by Gryffindor captain Ron Weasley of changes in Gryffindor's usual lineup; he wishes to be on record as having properly advised all present of the changes, so I will read them." She gave Ron a skeptical glance, as if her time was being wasted; Harry supposed Ron had to push to convince her to read them. "The Gryffindor lineup is as follows: at Beater, Lydia Kepler and Eric Kepler. At Chaser, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, and... Harry Potter," she read, not bothering to hide the astonishment in her tone. Harry could hear the crowd murmuring, and stunned expressions on the faces of the Ravenclaw players. Recovering, Madam Hooch continued, "At Keeper, Dennis Creevey. At Seeker, Andrea Creevey. Captains, shake hands."

Suspiciously, Corner offered his hand to Ron. "What are you lot up to?"

Ron couldn't keep a smile off his face as he shook Corner's hand. "You'll be finding out very soon."

Colin began his commentary. "Welcome to another year of Quidditch, and the big news is that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley have abandoned their usual positions to join Ginny Weasley at Chaser," he said breathlessly. "One assumes this is to make full use of their outstanding Firebolt brooms. This is an enormous surprise; no one knew they were planning to do this, and they practiced at their usual positions. Whatever experience those two have at the Chaser position is something I don't know... and the action is underway. Potter zooms up and snatches the Quaffle, and immediately heads for the Ravenclaw goal. Corner barely has a chance to set up shop, and Potter shoots and scores!" shouted Colin excitedly as the crowd cheered. "Oh, my, that was amazing, he made the shot from twenty feet out, barely within the scoring area. In an audacious move, Potter is announcing that he'll take a shot from anywhere in the scoring area. Corner wasn't ready, as he wasn't expecting Potter to-intercepted! Ron tips, then catches, a pass he would never have reached if not for the Firebolt! He passes to Ginny, who races over to... wait, I believe she has a Firebolt too! Potter races alongside her, a foot away, outpacing the Ravenclaw defenders... yes, I think all three Gryffindor Chasers have Firebolts! Another surprise, and it explains further the lineup-Potter shoots again from the edge of the scoring area, and again it's in! Unbelievable! Twenty-zero Gryffindor!"

As he flew back to defend, Harry smiled, thanking Ron mentally for suggesting he practice that shot at the Burrow. It was a difficult shot, but Ron had explained that if he could make two early on, he could establish a game-long advantage over the Ravenclaw Keeper by making him go for fakes from farther out than usual.

"Corner passes to Boot, who heads downfield, Ron all over him. Ooh, there comes a Bludger from Lydia, and both Ron and Boot have to duck. Boot takes advantage of the distraction to break clear for a moment and pass to Stanton, who races toward the Gryffindor goal, Ginny covering. He approaches the scoring area, and-another steal! Potter races over, sticks an arm underneath, and pops the Quaffle loose, then grabs it! Gryffindor in possession!"

"Three," Harry heard in his head. He raced down the field, deciding to pass even if he had a clear shot.

"And Potter races down the right side of the field, Ron to his left, Ginny a few seconds behind. Yes, it's definite, all three have Firebolts, and they are leaving the Ravenclaw Chasers in the dust. Potter approaches the scoring area as Ron peels off to his right. Potter shoots, no, fakes, then passes-caught by Ginny as she enters the scoring area! Corner is hopelessly out of position responding to the fake, and Ginny takes the uncontested shot on left goal from three feet out! Oh, my, what a display! Part of the reason Corner was so totally fooled was that after the fake, Potter made a blind pass to Ginny! He didn't look, but she was right where he passed the Quaffle! Amazing!"

Harry chuckled to himself at how excited Colin was getting, but then he supposed it was very unusual, and the crowd had cheered mightily at the goal as well. He raced back toward the Gryffindor goal to help out on defense, where Ron was smothering Boot as best he could. Boot advanced, holding onto the Quaffle tightly, and entered the scoring area, Ron still with him.

"...Boot moves forward, Ron staying in front of him. Ron can get in Boot's way, but can't use his hands in the scoring area. Boot feints right, goes left, Ron briefly goes for the fake, then heads back, but Boot has a clear shot and he scores! Through the left hoop, and Dennis was very much out of position; I think Ron's body obstructed Dennis's view of Boot, and he couldn't position himself properly.

"Thirty-ten Gryffindor, Dennis passes out to Ginny, who passes to Potter, leading him by a few feet with the pass; he speeds up and catches it. Oh, my, halfway down the field and they're already ahead of two of the three Ravenclaw Chasers, who are going to have a very hard time being a factor on defense. Potter heads in down the center, fakes a shot on the left goal as Corner goes for the fake, another blind pass to Ginny! She enters the scoring area as Potter leaves it, and shoots and scores! She put it into the left goal as Corner was scrambling to recover from the fake!

"I don't know how Potter is doing that blind passing, but clearly it's extremely effective. Normally once you're in the scoring area you have to take a shot, or turn and pass, by which time the Keeper has a chance to reposition himself. Potter's blind passing takes away that time, and an off-balance Keeper is simply no match for an approaching Firebolt-Corner hurls the Quaffle halfway down the pitch, intercepted by Ginny! That was a risky throw, and she takes it and heads to the Ravenclaw end. She approaches the scoring area, fakes a pass to Potter on her left and instead passes to Ron on her right, her pass leading him into the scoring area. Ron flies in at an angle, almost parallel to the goals, Corner staying with him, Ron stops! Corner flies a few feet too far, and Ron has an easy five-foot shot into the center hoop! Fifty-ten Gryffindor! That maneuver probably wouldn't work against an experienced Keeper, but Corner moved from Chaser to Keeper when he became captain, and due to the January rain wasn't able to practice as much as he surely would have preferred."

Ravenclaw missed their next shot on goal, then made the one after that, while Ginny scored two more goals, again from blind passes from Harry, making the score seventy-twenty. Corner called for a timeout, and flew down to talk to Madam Hooch; Ron did as well when he saw Corner do it. Colin interrupted his commentary as the three flew over to where he was sitting, and hovered for a minute. Then they flew away, Ron shaking his head.

Colin resumed his commentary. "I have been requested by Ravenclaw captain Michael Corner, through Madam Hooch, to omit from my commentary any positional references; it seems that Corner believes that my commentary is aiding Potter in making his blind passes. I must say that I personally don't think that's the case, as my positional references are usually very general. However, I'll do as he asks, and try to omit words like 'behind, left, right, below,' and so forth." There was some chuckling throughout the crowd, as well as on the pitch. "I see Potter and Ron smiling, so I must assume that they think this will have no effect. The match resumes, Ravenclaw in possession. Boot to Stanton, who passes to an open Berenson, Berenson advances on the Gryffindor-another steal! Ginny punches the Quaffle out of Berenson's grip from behind, and Ron zooms over to catch it before a surprised Berenson can.

"Ginny, Ron, and Potter race down the field, already past the Ravenclaw Chasers, who were caught by surprise. Ginny passes ahead to Ron, then slows down, hmmm, maybe I shouldn't say that either. Ron to Potter, who enters the scoring area, fakes a blind pass and scores! He just blew right by Corner, who... well, I was going to say isn't having a good match, but that's not fair. Gryffindor has such a huge advantage due to their Firebolts that I doubt a highly experienced Keeper would do much better. Gryffindor has eight shots on goal and eight goals; they have clearly devised strategies to put their Firebolts to maximum advantage. The big surprise here is Potter, who we already knew was an excellent flier, but turns out to be very good at shooting and passing as well."

Over the next five minutes, Gryffindor scored five more goals, three of them by Ginny off of blind passes from Harry. Harry smiled to himself as he heard Colin make two separate references to how effective the blind passing was continuing to be; Colin was apparently annoyed at Corner's request, as if Corner were suggesting that Colin was deliberately assisting Gryffindor.

"Gryffindor with the Quaffle, Ginny to Ron, Ron to Potter. Potter advances, into the scoring area, and puts on a burst of speed and scores! He just passed Corner, flying at an angle to the left, and put it through the left hoop after he was by Corner. Corner seems to not know which way to move, confronted by excellent Chasers on the fastest brooms money can buy, and almost no defensive help whatsoever.

"Boot takes it down the pitch, Ginny on him. He's into the scoring area, and shoots from twenty feet out! Dennis had no chance to block it, but it just missed, hitting the upper part of the hoop. A very nice shot there from Terry Boot, he almost had it. Dennis passes to Ginny, who passes off to Potter, who... ah, okay, I think we know how it's working. Potter down the pitch quickly, into the scoring area, blind pass to Ginny who comes in and puts it through the left hoop, and it's one hundred fifty to forty Gryffindor. As I was about to say, after Ginny passed to Potter, she looked at her hand. My guess is that that's how they're doing the blind passing: she tells him on her hand where she'll be, using their Joining of Hands. Very ingenious. Boot passes to Stanton... wait a minute, Corner calls for timeout again."

What now, thought Harry, deciding to join Ron in seeing what Corner had to say to Madam Hooch this time. "What is it, Mr. Corner?" she asked, as Terry joined them.

"I want to protest, and ask that Gryffindor forfeit the match," said Corner; Harry and Ron gaped at each other, wondering what Corner was talking about. "Potter and Ginny Weasley are signaling each other in an illegal way."

"It is not illegal," said Ron, a little more loudly than necessary. "Tell me where in the rules it says that."

"The rules say you can't communicate in any way other than speaking, or signals," argued Corner.

"No, they don't say that," retorted Ron. "They say that 'no device shall be used for the purpose of communicating.' The Joining of Hands is not a 'device.'"

"For the purposes of this match, it is," shot back Corner. "And you'd do a lot better in classes if you studied your textbooks as well as you apparently study the rulebook."

Harry was taken aback at Corner's attitude. "Hey, what's your problem?"

"If you want to make this personal, that's fine," said Ron belligerently. "But the Joining of Hands isn't a 'device,' it's more like an ability."

"Madam Hooch?" asked Corner, ignoring Ron.

She thought for a moment, then gave an answer. "The rules make no specific mention of the Joining of Hands; I assume that this would have been specifically outlawed if it was intended that it not be used for this purpose. I find that the Joining of Hands is not a 'device.' Resume your positions, please."

Harry and Ron exchanged satisfied grins, but Corner didn't move. "In that case, I want to protest the match on the grounds that the rule against magical enhancement of the players has been broken."

"Oh, come on," said Ron disbelievingly, before Madam Hooch could respond. "You've got to be kidding. That's just to stop people from doing things like taking Polyjuice Potion before a match to get a better body. It doesn't apply to this."

"The rules don't say that it doesn't apply to this," said Corner. "They just say players can't be enhanced to improve their Quidditch performance."

"The rules say," replied Ron with growing annoyance, "that the enhancements that are illegal are 'those affecting speed, strength, agility, accuracy, or other enhancements specifically intended to be of advantage for Quidditch.' The Joining of Hands is obviously not in any of those categories."

"Yes, it is," said Corner. "The last one."

Astonished, Harry spoke. "Are you saying that Ginny and I had the Joining of Hands done specifically so we could use it for Quidditch?"

Corner glared back at Harry, but didn't respond. Madam Hooch prompted him. "Is that your contention, Mr. Corner?"

"Yes," Corner replied, not looking at Harry, Ron, or Ginny, who had just joined the group.

Harry was flabbergasted; he just couldn't believe Corner would say such a thing. "Have you read about the Joining of Hands?" he challenged Corner angrily. "Do you even know what it is? You must not, if you would say something like that."

"Mr. Corner," said Madam Hooch sternly, "I find that the Joining of Hands is not an enhancement designed to be of advantage for Quidditch, and I suggest that you not make any further challenges until you find a clear violation of the rules. Play will resume-"

"Just a moment, please," Harry interrupted her. He turned to Ginny. "Ginny, take over at Seeker, Andrea will take your Chaser spot. And don't look at your hand anymore."

Obviously knowing how he felt, perhaps feeling the same way herself, she said, "I understand." With a dirty look at Corner, she flew off toward Andrea to tell her.

"Um, Harry," whispered Ron. "I am the captain here."

Harry shoved back the impulse to say that he was Head of House, so he could do what he wanted; he was angry, but knew enough not to take it out on Ron. "Do you have a problem with what I just did?"

"No," responded Ron. "Just do it through me, okay? Don't worry, I understand what you're doing. He'll regret he said that." They flew back toward the center of the pitch, where Andrea met them. "You may not get a lot of shots, Andrea," said Ron, a little apologetically. "When you have a chance for one, feel free to take it."

"I heard what happened, Ron," said Andrea. "Not to mention he insulted Colin, too. Don't worry about me, I'll try to distract their Chasers. You two have fun."

Ron grinned, but Harry's face was still angry and determined. To Harry, Ron said, "Five-three-two-four-eight."

"Five-three-two-four-eight," Harry repeated. "Got it."

Madam Hooch announced the position changes. Colin finished his account for the crowd of the conversation that had just happened on the ground; there were scattered boos, especially from the Gryffindor section, when Colin explained Corner's second challenge. "Yes, it does seem a bit much," agreed Colin, noting the crowd's reaction. "The action starts again, Ravenclaw in possession. Boot to Stanton, Andrea on Stanton, reaches in for a steal attempt and doesn't get it. Potter joins to double-team Boot, who makes it into the scoring area but can't find a clear shot, flies down and out of it, passes off to Berenson. Berenson picked up by Ron, who punches it out! Another steal! Caught by Andrea, passes to Ron, up to Potter, who turns on the speed. Potter nears the scoring area, shoots-no, fakes!-blind pass to Ron, right on target, Ron slams it through the left hoop from five feet out! Oh, my, that was done just as well as it was with Ginny. Ron threw that Quaffle quite a bit harder than it needed to be thrown, and I don't think it's too hard to guess why."

Harry focused on the match as he never had before, concentrating on defense so hard that he made two more steals on the next five Ravenclaw possessions. The next four Gryffindor possessions resulted in goals from Ron in the same way as they had before, and in the one after that, instead of passing, Harry just took the shot himself, and scored.

"That's twenty-one goals for Gryffindor, and what's more impressive, it's twenty-one goals in twenty-one possessions. No Quaffles stolen, no missed shots. The score is two hundred and ten to fifty, and now a Ravenclaw Snitch capture will not change the result of the match. If Ravenclaw is to stay in this, they have to start scoring some goals."

They did, but continued to do so at a far slower pace than Gryffindor. As the match continued, Harry wondered when Ginny or the Ravenclaw Seeker would find the Snitch, but neither did. Half an hour later, the score was Gryffindor five hundred and sixty, Ravenclaw one hundred and seventy. Harry felt as though he should be tiring, but wasn't; he continued to channel his anger into his play. He hadn't smiled for over a half hour; his expression was one of grim determination. Corner's, Harry couldn't help but notice, was one of ever-growing frustration; he had blocked only three of Gryffindor's fifty-nine shots on goal; two of Andrea's, and one of Ron's.

"And there's a goal for Andrea, her fifth of the match. As we near the forty-five minute mark, I should point out that while this has been a relatively long match by Hogwarts standards, many professional matches have lasted far longer, some as many as a few days. Dennis Creevey blocks a Stanton shot, he's having a fine match, especially considering his lack of Keeper experience, or practice. One has to wonder what Hogwarts would do if a match went on for that long; after all, students would have to attend classes on Monday, and get enough sleep. Another goal for Potter, taking the shot himself this time..."

At one hour and twelve minutes into the match, Ginny dove for the Snitch, and caught it. "And there it is, the end of the match," announced Colin. "The final score: Gryffindor nine hundred and seventy, Ravenclaw two hundred twenty." The Gryffindors flew down and met on their side of the pitch, near where they would be watching the next match. Harry congratulated everyone with pats on the back, and a hug for Ginny.

"You tired?" she asked him humorously.

"Not really," he said. "You'd think I would be."

"Still mad?"

"Less than before, but I still think he's an incredible jerk," Harry responded, speaking quietly enough that only Ginny could hear him.

"I thought about letting you two score another few hundred points off of him," said Ginny, with a malicious glint in her eyes, "but I decided to put him out of his misery. I liked the idea that while you two were doing the damage, I was the one who was in control of how long he suffered."

"So you passed up a chance to catch the Snitch," he confirmed, still keeping his voice down.

She chuckled. "I passed up five chances." He blinked in surprise. "I am a fairly good Seeker, you know."

"I know," he assured her. "Especially since you had five chances and Lillian never even had one."

"She almost had two," she said, as Colin asked Ron to join him for the post-match interview. "I tried to keep an eye on her without being too obvious about it. Two of the times I saw the Snitch, she was in the same area, and might have seen it too. Those were the times I went into dives, so she'd follow me."

"You know, most of the time, what you did would make me want to say that it was unsportsmanlike. But in this case, it makes me want to say I love you."

"I love you too," she smiled. "This stays between the six of us, of course. Anyone else asks about it, I'll lie."

"Fair enough," he agreed. They sat with their teammates on the sidelines as the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs walked onto the pitch with their brooms, and Colin started his interview.

"And the Star of the Match for the first match is Gryffindor captain Ron Weasley, whose... forty-four goals are, I think I can safely say, a new Hogwarts record. I could have picked Harry, with his twenty-three goals and remarkable passing, but, the main reason I picked you is that... I'd be willing to bet that the three of you being Chasers, and the element of surprise, was your idea. Would I be right?"

"Well, I'd like to be modest, Colin, but then I'd be lying," joked Ron. "Yes, that and having Ginny use the Joining of Hands to tell Harry her position, that was mine too. I think neither of them would have thought of using it for that."

"What do you think motivated Ravenclaw captain Michael Corner to protest that so strongly?"

Ron shrugged. "It wouldn't be fair of me to guess what he was thinking, and I'd rather not try. I will say that I don't think he thought for a second that Harry and Ginny had the Joining of Hands done so they could use it for Quidditch; that was clearly a tactic he used in hope of getting the game forfeited."

"Yes, but one could say that having Harry and Ginny use the Joining of Hands like that was a tactic as well, which made him decide to use his own tactic."

"That's true in a way," conceded Ron, "but what Harry and Ginny did wasn't directed at him personally, and you couldn't interpret it that way. What Corner said when he made that complaint was not only rude, but personally insulting of Harry and Ginny. You have to understand, they're proud of having had that done, of what it means, of their love and commitment to each other. To have someone say that it's just a Quidditch tactic... well, let's put it this way. I'm very competitive; I'll do anything I can to get an advantage. But I wouldn't say what he said, even if it wasn't about someone as obviously deserving of respect as Harry is." Ron's comment drew some scattered applause, mostly among Gryffindors, but also from the seven Slytherin second years on the field.

"So, I guess we could assume Harry was a bit upset about that," suggested Colin.

Ron laughed. "Yes, we could assume that. I mean, I was too, and so was Ginny, but Harry... well, I haven't seen him that mad for quite a while. But it obviously didn't affect his play; it made him even better, if anything. He didn't miss a single shot on goal, I think, and his passing was amazing."

"But the brooms helped, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh, absolutely. Let's be clear, they helped a huge amount. I mean, I think we would have won without them, but they gave us a really big advantage, which I did my best to make even bigger."

"Is that really fair, though?" asked Colin. "I mean, if you win the Quidditch Cup, aren't people going to wonder whether it was just because you had three Firebolts?"

"Some probably will, but the fact is that the school's rule is that private brooms can be used. If the school wanted to make sure all the brooms were equal, they could just change the rule. In the meantime, it would be stupid of us not to use the best brooms we have."

"As we saw, Ron, Harry's blind passing didn't suffer when it was you instead of Ginny. How did he know your position?"

"Every few minutes, we'd meet, and I'd give him a series of numbers, which told him where I was going to be the next few times," explained Ron. "He knew where to pass the Quaffle based on that. Having Ginny use the Joining of Hands to communicate that to Harry was a convenience, nothing more."

"So, why did he move Ginny to Seeker even though Madam Hooch disallowed Corner's complaint? And if I heard properly, that was him who did that, not you, is that right?"

"Yes, he did sort of forget for a minute that I'm the captain," said Ron humorously. "But I had no problem with what he did, I would have overruled him if I had. He was making a point, that using the Joining of Hands wasn't important to what we were doing. It wasn't the kind of decision made with the idea of what was best to win the match, but it was really understandable. Who knows, maybe Corner did what he did on purpose, tried to goad Harry into not using it even though it wasn't against the rules. If so, it worked, but it didn't do any good."

"So we saw," agreed Colin. "And lastly, Ron, were you and Harry also making a point by continuing to score so much? You certainly could have eased off when you got, say, three hundred points ahead."

Ron shook his head. "Colin, sports is about going out there and doing your best, all the time. In chess, if you're hopelessly behind, you can resign, but Quidditch doesn't have that option. You play until the Snitch is caught, and as you pointed out, sometimes that takes a very long time. If we stopped doing our best, then we'd just be practicing, not playing Quidditch." Listening to Ron, Harry recalled with amusement that it had been Ron's original intention to have everyone resume their normal positions once Gryffindor got three hundred points ahead. Guess he forgot about that, thought Harry wryly.

"Thank you, Ron. The Star of the Match, Gryffindor captain Ron Weasley." The crowd applauded politely as Ron made his way over to where the rest of the team was sitting.

Harry leaned over and whispered to Ginny, "Do you think Ron knows?"

"I'm sure he at least suspects," she whispered back. "He won't mind, though, I'm sure of that."

Ron walked over and sat down, giving Harry a pat on the back. "Remind me never to tick you off, Harry."

"I don't think I need to remind you to never imply that my commitment to Ginny means nothing."

"No, I guess not," agreed Ron. "Well, at least there was a good outlet for your anger."

Sitting behind Ron, Harry, and Ginny, Lydia asked, "Do you think he really meant to imply that?"

"I don't know what he meant to imply," said Harry, "only what he did imply. I'm not sure I care what he meant. He shouldn't have said it unless he really thought it."

Madam Hooch blew the whistle, and the second match got underway. Harry watched intently, very interested to see how the Slytherin second years did. They flew well, he thought, but their lack of Quidditch experience showed, especially at the Keeper position. Hufflepuff had a potent offense last year, Harry recalled, and no changes at the Chaser position. Flying skill and superior brooms kept Slytherin in the match, but this one too went on for quite a while.

After forty-five minutes, with the score Hufflepuff two hundred ninety, Slytherin one hundred eighty, the Hufflepuff Seeker dove for the Snitch. Augustina followed her, and started to catch up, but it looked like she would be too late. At the last second, the Snitch darted up and away, and reacting quickly, Augustina flew upwards and grabbed it. Harry smiled and applauded; as was the case last year with Cho, it was with much more enthusiasm than the polite applause of his teammates.

After the interview, Harry and his teammates got up and started back to the changing rooms. "So, do you think Slytherin's going to be a threat?" Harry asked Ron.

"Not this year. With our Firebolts, we'll Banish them, but next year they'll be pretty strong."

"What do you mean, we'll 'Banish' them?" asked Dennis. Harry had been wondering the same thing.

"It's wizarding slang, I guess," said Ron, in a tone that suggested he'd never thought of it before. "It means, like, to get rid of, do away with. I meant that we'll beat them easily. Like the other teams, their only chance against us will be to get the Snitch quickly."

"Maybe you should leave Ginny at Seeker, then," said a familiar voice behind them. Harry, Ron, and Ginny turned in surprise to see Oliver Wood smiling at them, Charlie Weasley at his side.

"Oliver!" exclaimed Harry, as Oliver extended a hand. "Wow, it's good to see you. And very surprising. Did you come here just to see the match?"

Oliver nodded as he shook Ron's hand. "We were on the team together my first two years on it. Charlie persuaded me to come, not that I needed that much persuading. He said that something interesting was up, but he wouldn't tell me what it was."

Harry introduced Oliver and Charlie to the rest of the team, then said to them, "Hope we didn't bore you."

They laughed. "It was long, but it was worth watching," said Charlie. "Fred and George came too, they were sitting with us."

"Don't they have the-" started Ron.

"-shop, yes, but the match started at eight-thirty, and they don't usually open until nine-thirty, so they figured they'd have plenty of time," said Charlie with a smile. Turning to Ginny, he added, "They're convinced that you deliberately put off catching the Snitch to torture Corner, for what he said today and for what happened two years ago. They were so proud. But they did say that they intended to send you the bill for the lost profits from them opening the shop a half hour late."

Harry and Ron laughed, as Ginny rolled her eyes. "They would. I don't even think about two years ago, believe me. What he did today would be more than enough to make me want to do that, if I had."

"Not quite a denial," said Charlie, with raised eyebrows.

"As much of one as you're going to get," she responded, a little smugly. "And they could always have left early anyway."

"No, they were having too much fun," said Oliver. "They wanted to yell stuff at Corner, but they were afraid McGonagall would have them thrown out if they did. They loved it when Harry and Ron started the blind passing up again after you moved from Chaser to Seeker. They were making jokes about how Harry must have had another Joining done with Ron, on his other hand."

The whole team laughed, even Harry and Ron. "Now why didn't I think of that," chuckled Ron. "I am so devious, after all."

"I know you want to get to the changing rooms, it was a long morning for you," said Oliver, "but could you three wait for just a minute? There's something we want to ask you about." The four younger members went off to the changing rooms. Facing Harry, Ron, and Ginny, looking like he was about to make a sales pitch, Oliver said, "I was thinking about this before the match, but it seems like an even better idea now. You know I play for Puddlemere United, and you may know that I was just made the starting Keeper this season. I think my teammates would be interested, and I think it would be fun, to have a match which would basically be Puddlemere against the Weasleys. I'm imagining that Charlie would be the Seeker, Fred and George the Beaters, and maybe you three at Chaser, or Harry and Ginny at Chaser, Ron at Keeper, and someone else you choose at Chaser. If the three of you were Chasers, I could be the Keeper, and our reserve could Keep for Puddlemere. What do you think?"

Ron's eyes lit up; Harry raised his eyebrows, but had no other reaction. "That sounds brilliant!" enthused Ron. "Wouldn't that be great, Harry?"

Harry was considerably less enthusiastic, but Ron's reaction told him that he had to be careful not to be negative about it. He did like the idea of the game itself, but was concerned about the 'Harry Potter' angle. "This would just be a friendly match, right?" he asked hopefully. "Not something in a stadium with ten thousand people?"

"See, having ten thousand people there would bother Harry," Ginny said. "Nine thousand, now, that would be okay. But not ten."

Ron smiled as Harry gave Ginny a 'that's not funny' look. "Sorry, it was just a joke," she said to Harry with wounded innocence. To Charlie and Oliver, she explained, "Harry hates being a spectacle. I have a feeling that the more people know about this, the less he's going to like it."

"I'd love to play the actual match," Harry emphasized, as much for Ron's sake as his own. "I mean, we'd get killed, but it'd be great to compete against pros."

"Wait a second," protested Ron. "Okay, we'd probably lose, but I don't think we'd get 'killed.' We aren't bad. I'd Keep, I wouldn't feel comfortable at Chaser against pros, so we'd have to find another Chaser, maybe Angelina. Let's put it this way, we'd do better than Ravenclaw just did against us."

"Which isn't saying much, but maybe you're right," Harry conceded. "Well, you can go ahead and talk to them about it, see what they think."

"Just don't use Harry's name much," said Ron, to Harry's gratitude. "Just mention me prominently, tell them they'd get to practice against the legendary Gryffindor Keeper, Ron Weasley. They won't pass up the chance." Harry sighed as he realized he was being made fun of again.

"Let me ask you, Harry," said a serious Wood, "this spectacle thing, is it why you didn't go out for the Quidditch World Cup position? Because your name could be in the papers, that sort of thing?"

"My name is already in the papers, but I know what you mean." Deciding to tell Wood something to help Wood understand his sensitivity to the issue, Harry added, "Not exactly, but it's related. That guy, what was his name... Woodridge, he only wanted me on the team for the publicity, and he lied to me about it. Don't ask me how I know, I just know. He was going to put me on the team, no matter what. The reasons I told you then were true also, but I just don't want people treating me that way. If he's involved in this, I don't want any part of it."

"You're sure?" Wood asked, surprised. "Damn... he did seem excited, but I thought it was because I told him you were really good. Don't worry, I'll keep it low-key, just suggest it as a friendly match. I don't even know for sure that they'd want to, I just think they might."

Harry still couldn't help but wonder if his presence in the match would be what would attract the players' interest, but then he realized that this kind of thing was bound to happen all his life, and he had to try to be less sensitive about it. He had started checking Wood with Legilimens as soon as the subject had come up, but Wood had not lied about anything, to Harry's relief.

"Let us know, okay?" he asked Wood. "It sounds great." They chatted for a few more minutes, and Charlie and Wood congratulated them again on the day's match. The three continued on to the changing rooms.

Harry wondered if Ron was upset at him for his lack of enthusiasm. "I'm sorry, Ron," he said. "It's just that-"

Ron waved off his apology. "It's okay. I realized when you mentioned Woodridge, maybe this is a smaller version of that. If they're interested, it'll probably be mostly because of you. I mean, I still want to do it, but if it gets to be a big thing, you can change your mind, if you wouldn't be comfortable."

"Thanks," said Harry. "But I hope that doesn't happen. It would be cool."

"Cooler than giving Corner what he deserved?" asked a smiling Ron. Harry smiled back, and didn't answer.

By the time Harry had showered and changed, it was time for lunch, which he and Neville ate with the Aurors. Due to the Quidditch match on Saturday and Neville's Potions commitment on Sunday afternoon, their weekly Auror training session was split into two half-days, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

After he returned and had dinner, he had a Legilimency session with Hermione. They each practiced for a half hour; as part of her practice viewing memories, to Harry's surprise, she decided to call up Quidditch-related memories, including memories of that day's match.

She smiled at him after they finished. "You know that I don't care about Quidditch, but when I see your memories of it, it makes me want to take it up. You enjoy it so much, it seems really appealing when I see it through your eyes."

"Maybe a week before the N.E.W.T.s, I should view your memories of studying, and I would feel the same way you do," he joked

She laughed. "I don't think so, somehow. But today, you weren't enjoying it so much, after Corner's complaint. It seemed like more of a... grim satisfaction."

"Or, like Schadenfreude?"

"A little, yes, but not that I blame you at all, obviously. I had never thought of the idea of getting revenge through sports, but you did basically that."

"Is that why you chose those memories?" he asked.

She nodded. "I just wondered what it felt like for you. By the way, the phoenixes were kind of... disturbed, I guess. They both went off to their natural habitat, wherever that is, and tried not to focus on your feelings too much. I got some impressions from Flora while that was going on."

"Now I feel kind of bad. When I get like that, I don't think about how it affects Fawkes."

"He understands, Harry," she assured him. "He knows you're human, that you will get angry sometimes. It's just that, you know phoenixes have a low tolerance for this sort of thing. It's why they're so selective about who they choose, and why people as young as us aren't usually chosen. We'll probably both get angry a lot less when we're in our thirties and forties, which is when people are usually chosen."

Curious, he asked, "Do you try not to get angry, for Flora's sake?"

"Yes, I really do try," she said. "When I get really angry or sad, I try to control it if I can, and sometimes I ask for Flora's help. She sends me positive feelings, but she also understands that sometimes I just have to be angry, or sad. But at least she can help me not dwell on it any more than I have to. I really don't want her to be uncomfortable, and so I do what I can."

"I should do that. I just never thought of it," he said, now feeling bad that he hadn't.

"By the way, Mandy and Terry talked to me for a while in the library. Did you know that they're kind of a couple, by the way?" Harry shook his head. "Apparently, they started seeing each other over vacation. Anyway, they were talking about Michael. Terry, being on the team with him, had a chance to talk to him a little after the match, not that Michael was really in the mood to talk. He's been in a pretty bad way since the match."

"After what we just talked about," he said with a small, rueful smile, "I find myself trying not to have the feeling of satisfaction that I normally would be having."

"I can understand that," she said sympathetically. "Most of this is their speculation, because he hasn't talked much. They're both sure that he doesn't really think you had the Joining done for that reason, it's just so absurd. They think it was partly a game tactic, like Ron said, but more because he was embarrassed."

"Embarrassed? What did he have to be embarrassed about? Because we were winning?"

"Not that exactly, but because he was being made to look bad. Maybe it's a little like how Ron felt during his first Quidditch match-"

"Yeah, well, nobody was chanting 'Corner Is Our King' today," Harry pointed out.

"I did say 'a little like,' I know it's not exactly the same. Nobody was trying to make him look bad. I just mean that Terry felt that Michael was embarrassed that you three were scoring off him so easily. He hadn't had that much practice at Keeper because of the weather, and then you three come up with this. Mandy thinks it was partly anger from embarrassment, and partly fear at the thought of what he knew would happen, which did happen, that it would just go on. His emotions just got carried away, and he reacted... a little like panic, I guess, where you just want it to stop as soon as possible, you don't care how. I really think that he did what he did not so much because he wanted to win, but just because he didn't want to go through the humiliation of being scored off of constantly."

"And then Ginny made him go through it anyway," mused Harry, still not feeling any sympathy for Corner.

Clearly noticing, Hermione added, "It's not like you weren't entitled to your feelings too, of course. What he said was extremely insulting, they know that. Terry said he kind of cringed when Michael said that. They just wanted me to know that they thought it wasn't... quite so personal as it sounded."

"Sounded pretty personal," grunted Harry, unconvinced. "Why did they tell you all this, anyway? Why not me?"

"Partly because you weren't around, but mainly because they were afraid you'd still be angry, and they wanted to let you know this, but they didn't want you to take it out on them. They didn't want you to think they were sticking up for Michael; they really weren't defending what he did. They happened to be with me in the library anyway, so they just told me what they thought, and I could tell you if I wanted. I think they just hope you won't hold it against Michael for a long time, for something that happened in the emotion of the moment."

Harry sighed a little; he didn't want to even think about forgiving Corner, though he knew he should. "Well, if he wants to apologize, I'll listen," he said reluctantly. "But he really should apologize to both of us."

"He may not," she warned him. "Some people find that very difficult."

"Well, I won't be holding my breath," he said. "I don't really care if he does anyway, I never liked him that much personally. Not that he ever did anything to me, just... I don't know, his personality rubs me the wrong way."

"I do see what you mean," she agreed. "He's self-confident, a little too much at times; he can come off as belligerent."

"Like Malfoy, without the evil," Harry suggested.

"Or the prejudice, or other nasty bits, maybe. A little like that, just in that way only." At the end of Hermione's sentence, Harry's pendant blinked pink. Harry answered it; Pansy asked if she could see him. "Now is okay," said Hermione, knowing that Pansy could hear her over Harry's pendant. "We were almost done." Pansy signed off, and Hermione added, "You probably didn't care to hear about the Michael situation anyway."

"Not really," agreed Harry. "I'd just as soon be angry at him."

"Again, that's understandable, but... I hate to mention this, Harry, but I feel like I should. Remember fifth year, that thing you said to Ron, about his Keeping... you were emotional, you said something insulting because of that. You can see how it could happen."

"I wish I could deny that you had a point, but you do," said Harry uncomfortably. "Funny how I'd just rather be angry."

"It's probably because you feel righteous. He was in the wrong, it's natural for you to feel that way, and unnatural to try to empathize with him. I'm not saying you should, but... it's just something to think about."

"It's what Albus would have done, for sure," he acknowledged. "Well, thanks, anyway."

She left, and he thought about it for a minute, until Pansy arrived. Sitting down, she said, "Wow, I just had this strong feeling of... nostalgia, I guess. The last time you and I sat in these chairs was... last March, almost a year ago."

"You were still under cover, trying to figure out how Malfoy was going to try to kill me... and now, he's dead. Things sure do change."

"For the better, definitely," said Pansy fervently. "It's strange, to think of how much time I used to spend with him. And unpleasant, so I think I won't," she added wryly. "I wanted to tell you about last night."

"With what happened today, I almost forgot about that," he admitted. "Helen sort of let me know this morning that everything was okay, though."

Pansy nodded. "I didn't know much of what happened last night; it was important that they have privacy, so I tried not to listen. I talked to her this afternoon, and she generally told me about it. She was very surprised; having him tell her that was the last thing she expected. She was really flattered."

"But she doesn't feel that way about him?" Harry guessed.

"It's more like she hadn't thought about it. She considered him a close friend, but she hadn't thought of anyone romantically, really. Well, she did say that all five of the girls had crushes on you last year," she said with a smile, as Harry smiled in embarrassment. "Yeah, I thought you'd react that way. It wouldn't have been hard to guess, though. Anyway, she just told him the truth, that she hadn't thought about it much. But I'll tell you, Harry, that if she hadn't thought about it much before, she sure has now. It's really powerful, to have someone feel that way about you, especially someone you already like. She was really affected, really touched. She couldn't necessarily say the same thing to him that he did to her, but she didn't throw up a stop sign, either. The way they left it was that they would consider each other 'special friends,' was the phrase she used. I think she just needs time to get used to the idea. But she is happy about it, I could really see that."

"I'm glad," said Harry, now smiling for a different reason than embarrassment. "I think that's about as much as anyone could have hoped for. It was a brave thing of him to do; she wasn't likely to just fall into his arms, like Ginny did with me."

"Well, what you did was brave anyway, because you didn't know for sure what she would say," said Pansy. "But that reminds me of something. You know that the second years heard a third-hand account of what happened with you and Ginny; I told them last year what Ron told me. But Helen and Sylvia saw it themselves, since you put the memory into the Ring of Reduction you did, and they told the others about it, about all the memories you put in there. You know, Harry, they were so honored that you put memories of them in there, Helen and Sylvia both said they were crying when they saw them. Anyway, Helen asked Hedrick last night at one point how he got up the nerve to tell her, and he said that he remembered what they'd said about what you did with Ginny. Knowing that you just charged ahead in that situation made him decide to do it."

Harry shook his head in mild disbelief, pleased at the compliment but chagrined that someone would do something so risky just because he had. "Well, if that's the most reckless thing anyone ever does because of me, I'll be grateful."

"I still prefer 'brave' to 'reckless,'" she admonished him. "It was the best thing to do anyway, and I would have just straight out told him to do it if it wasn't for the risk, and I think you would have too. If you love someone, you need to tell them."

"I'm just happy it worked out as well as it did," he said. "So, do you want to stay and talk, for old times' sake?"

She laughed. "I could talk about my low self-image, cry on your shoulder a bit. Fortunately, things are better than last year in more than one way. But I do miss talking to you, just one-on-one like we used to. So, sure, I'll stay a while. I can complain about Ron's Quidditch obsession." Harry laughed, and they ended up talking for another hour.

* * * * *

That night, Harry put on his pajamas, shut the curtains on his bed, and got under the covers. Just as he was about to look at his hand, it started tingling. "Hey," he whispered, looking at the image of her face in his hand. "Are you okay? You look kind of sad."

She shrugged, which he could tell even though he only saw her face. "I just had a talk with Hermione. She said she had the same talk with you earlier."

"Ah, about Corner," he said. "You don't feel bad about what you did, do you?"

"Hell, no," she said emphatically. Then, "Well, not bad exactly, just that it definitely fails the Dumbledore test, doesn't even come close. He would have just ignored it, decided it didn't matter."

"But he wouldn't have done it at age sixteen, I'd bet," he said. "And as you and Hermione have told me before, it's too high a standard to really use."

"That's true," she agreed. "She also told me something she said she didn't know when she talked to you. This isn't firsthand, but she heard that Corner has been saying to Ravenclaws that he's sure that I let the match go on so long on purpose, and he thinks maybe you told me to do that."

Harry laughed. "Anyone who thinks that I tell you to do things and you do them doesn't understand the way our relationship works."

"Well, you did tell me to move to Seeker, and I did it. He probably assumes it's something like that, maybe you told me on your hand later, or passed me in the air and said it quickly. I have been asked by several people today if I did that on purpose. To most people, I denied it, but Terry also asked, and I knew he was asking for Michael. I just told him that I wasn't saying, that I'd just as soon he wondered about it. Terry didn't ask anything more, he just left. After that, I decided that if Michael asks me himself, I'll tell him, you're damn right I did, and I don't regret it. He won't ask, though."

"So, what, does he think that Swanson also let the match drag on?"

"I don't think so, but Hermione also said she heard a few things about that. Apparently he was mad at her, too, for not managing to find the Snitch. Where people could hear, in the Ravenclaw common room, he complained about it. He said things like, if Cho could find it in twenty-eight seconds, surely she could find it in an hour and a half. A few other things like that, about how good Cho was, how she caught the Snitch in all three matches last year, even the one against us.

"So, an hour later, at dinner, this got back to Swanson. It turns out that while she may be only a third year, she's no wilting flower. She looked for him, found him in the common room, and gave him a piece of her mind. She told him, among other things, that she was quitting the team, and that he was welcome to bring Cho back if he loved her so much. She finished by telling him exactly where he could stick his broom."

Harry laughed out loud, then tried to keep it down for the sake of his dormitory-mates. "I shouldn't laugh, but it is funny. He deserved what he got from us, and he deserved that, too. I wonder if he's going to wake up and figure out he made a mistake, instead of trying to blame it on other people. First Colin, then you and I, then her. To me, it kind of punches a hole in Hermione's 'it was in the heat of the moment' thing. He insulted her, too, just not to her face. He really needs to calm down."

"Well, I wasn't sad earlier, just unhappy that the whole thing happened. It's nobody's fault but his, though, for sure. By the way, I wanted to say I'm sorry if that joke about the nine thousand people bothered you. I wasn't trying to make fun of you for being sensitive about that, I really do understand. I was just trying to make a joke, but I should have waited until I could find a better one."

"That's okay, I wasn't that bothered. We all know how you are, about making jokes, and how I am, about the 'look at Harry Potter' thing. We're all just being ourselves, I guess."

"Nothing wrong with that," she agreed. They talked for another ten minutes before signing off. He did his Occlumency exercises, then went to sleep.

"Hello, Albus," said Harry happily, as Dumbledore approached. "I guess you probably have some comments about what happened today."

"I will be happy to discuss anything you would like, but it will have to be another night," said Dumbledore, his expression grave. "The attack on the castle which we have long feared has just been launched."

Oh, my God, thought Harry. I have to wake up. No, wait. Very anxious, he asked Dumbledore, "What can you tell me? What's happening?"

"There is some time before they will reach Hogwarts, perhaps thirty minutes," said Dumbledore. "The attackers are as was expected: Death Eaters and non-Death Eater helpers, giants, and dementors. I do not know the quantities involved. Their speed is limited by how fast they can travel to Hogwarts while keeping the giants under magical cloaking, invisible to Muggles."

Harry wondered why they cared whether the giants were invisible to Muggles, then decided it could wait. "This must be everything he's got."

"I believe so," agreed Dumbledore. "If this battle is won decisively, it could deal a crippling blow to Voldemort."

"Then, we will," said Harry, determined. "How do they plan to get past Hogwarts' magical defenses?"

"They have re-acquired the fourth piece of the Four Corners artifact," said Dumbledore. Sensing Harry's incredulity and unasked question, he added, "How it was done is not of importance at the moment. It has not yet been deployed, I believe; they plan to do so when the giants are near Hogwarts. Deploying and activating it now might give you time to find it."

Makes sense, thought Harry. "Okay, I should go wake up."

"There is one more thing. Taking the castle is only his secondary objective; the primary one is your death. You could stay on the sidelines of the battle, but he knows you will not do so. He pins his hopes on the giants in particular. He plans to illuminate you in some way to make you a better target, but I do not know exactly how."

What's he going to do, Harry wondered, put a searchlight on me? "Okay, thanks, Albus. See you tomorrow."

Harry woke up, then bolted upright in his bed. He almost woke Ron and Neville, but decided that he had to see it for himself before he woke anyone. Fawkes hovered in the air next to his bed; Harry threw on his Aurors' robes over his pajamas, grabbed his wand, then Fawkes's tail, and was gone.