Harry Potter and the Dreamer of Fears

Chapter 20 - The Dreamer of Fears

The rest of the week passed by in such a whirlwind that Harry could not believe when he opened his eyes that it was Saturday already and the first Quidditch game of the school year...Gryffindor against Slytherin.  And it couldn't have been a more beautiful day: sunny skies, and rolling puffy clouds.

He remembered that Angelina had scheduled Quidditch practice at least twice each day, one in the early morning hours, the other, at night when the Slytherins were done using the field.  They had practiced different maneuvers and strategies, with Angelina changing a lot of the different famous formations to suit her own purposes.  Harry had to admit that he was excited about the match as he wanted a distraction from the recent events but he also kept himself aware to the fact of a possible attack occurring during the game.

"Harry!  Wake up!" Ron pulled his curtains apart and grinned as he sat up, smiling too.

"I'm up, I'm up," he replied as Ron, already changed into his robes, dashed downstairs and moments later he heard Ron talking with his brothers about the match and how nervous he was.

"You'll do fine Ron, we believe in you," either Fred or George, Harry couldn't tell by their voices, replied.

He got up, stretched slightly, and quickly changed into his robes.  He headed downstairs where Ron had lost his grin and was hopping on one foot to the other, looking extremely nervous.  Hermione was trying to calm him down and was raising her wand, prepared to cast the Tranquilizing Charm on him.

"Ron," Harry placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder and smiled slightly as his friend turned to him, "calm down. You'll do fine.  At least you're not a Seeker and don't have to duck through all the Bludgers and Chasers trying to knock you off the broom so their Seeker can find the Snitch.  All you have to worry about is the goals and the Quaffle."

"Easy for you to say," Ron huffed, but he had calmed down enough.

"Come on, breakfast," Harry followed after Fred and George who were chatting with Angelina, Katie, and Alicia about last minute strategies as they exited the portrait.

Suiting up in their uniforms of red and yellow, Harry adjusted the forearm pads and checked his wrist pads.  Everything was secure and he felt ready.  Just then, Angelina came around from the girl's side of the locker room.

"Ahh!  A girl!  Get away!" George mockingly held up a towel to hide himself and Harry rolled his eyes at the twin's antics.

"Oh stop it guys...boys will always be boys," Angelina muttered, shaking her head as her ponytail bounced in back of her head.

"And what is that supposed to mean, my little Angel?" Fred grinned teasing their captain until she huffed a sigh of exasperation and turned around, heading back to the girl's side of the locker rooms.

"If you guys are ready and could stop clowning around, meet us by the entrance," she called back just as Harry picked up his Firebolt and followed after her.

"Hey, Harry, wait up!" Ron called after him, carrying his Nimbus 2000 after him, all polished up and trimmed to maximize its speed settings.

They all converged to the entrance to the Quidditch pitch from the locker rooms, the dull roar of the stands muffled by the wooden doors and Angelina faced them, her face shining and nervous.  "Okay guys," she started, rubbing her gloved hands together, "this it.  The first game.  We are so going to cream those Slytherins down into the field."

That brought on cheers by the rest of the team.

"Fred, George, remember what you've got to do during this first game.  Run interference if Harry sees the Snitch.  Ron, you are going to be spectacular out there, I know you will be.  Alicia, Katie, us trio girls are the Three Musketeers in the field.  Remember my signals."

"Uh...question...what's the Three Musketeers?" Fred asked and Angelina shook her head, smiling.

"Muggle thing.  I'll tell you after this victory has been sealed," she placed her hand in the middle of their huddle, "now...we will win the House Cup this year."

Harry placed his hand along with the rest of the team and cheered as they all broke away at the same time.  He mounted his broom and following Katie, sped out of the locker room and up high into the Quidditch pitch.

The roar of the crowd was deafening to his ears as he zoomed around, feeling the wind breeze by his hair, ruffling it.  It felt good to fly and he circled the stadium several times, listening to the crowd and Lee Jordan's commentary.

"Welcome to the first game of the brand new school year!  It's Gryffindor versus Slytherin!"

There were some amounts of boos coming from the Gryffindor side as they tried to boo down the Slytherins and Harry spotted Hermione, sitting with a black dog-Snuffles-- and Hagrid.  What surprised him was that Cho was sitting next to Hermione, pointing and talking to Morgan about something.  She looked up and waved to him and he sheepishly waved back.

Looking around he saw that some Aurors, whose faces he recognized, were sitting among the crowd, looking pleased at the start of the match and worried at the same time.  He hope that nothing would happen during this game...but then again he never knew what could happen...

"New on the Gryffindor team is Ron Weasley, the team's Keeper.  Riding his Nimbus 2000, Ron is sure to keep those vile Slytherins-"

"Lee!" McGonagall interjected and Lee shrugged then returned to talking.

"Those disgusting Slytherins from scoring this year!"

There was a sudden piercing whistle and Harry took his place above all the other players, while they formed a circle around Madam Hooch who had stepped out into the middle of the field, carrying the Quidditch balls trunk.  As she set the trunk down it rattled slightly and as soon as she popped it open, the black forms of the Bludgers raced upwards and out of sight.  Harry saw a glint of gold among the black forms then it was gone.  The Snitch had been released and was ready to be captured.

"Looks like the score will be evened, Potter," Draco Malfoy commented across from him and Harry narrowed his eyes as he noticed the smug look on the blonde-haired boy's face.  "What?  Don't you like my new Firebolt?" he turned slightly and Harry saw that replacing his old Nimbus 2001 was a brand new Firebolt.

"Looks like your father is low on money...perhaps spending his money elsewhere?" Harry commented as he noticed that the other team members of the Slytherins still sported their Nimbus 2001 brooms and had not gone for an upgrade.

"It doesn't matter where my father spends his money...at least I'm not like the Weasleys.  They probably scrapped some money to get themselves old models," Malfoy sneered and Harry just stared at him with hate.  There were times where Malfoy was more than insufferable and this was one of them.  "May the best Seeker grab the Snitch," Malfoy mockingly raised the tip of his broom in a salute as Madame Hooch blew her whistle and threw up the Quaffle.

"And the Quaffle is in play.  It's Angelina to Katie...back to Angelina, whom I might add is this year's captain and a very pretty seventh year girl-"

"Would you please concentrate on the game, Jordan?" McGonagall said sharply.

"Sorry, Professor.  Anyway, to Angelina...oh, she's hit from behind by Lincon and drops the Quaffle...those slimy gits..."

"Flint to Lincon, to Sheply...racing down the field.  Ha!  A Bludger from one of the Weasley's is all that's needed.  Gryffindor back in possession..."

Harry watched as the action below him continued.  He noticed that Draco had marked him from afar, but was also on the sharp look out for the Snitch, which so far hadn't been seen.  He winced as a Bludger suddenly smashed into Alicia who had been holding the Quaffle and she hung on by the crook of her elbow, slightly disoriented.  The Slytherins were fast as they blurred back down the field where Ron was waiting, ready for them.

"Come on, Ron!" he cheered for his friend as the Slytherins prepared to throw the Quaffle.

It was just a blur of a maroon red to Harry's eyes but he suddenly saw Ron fly up to the far left goal post and his hands outstretched.  The Quaffle landed neatly in his hands and Harry cheered as his friend threw it as hard as he could towards Angelina who was waiting for the Quaffle.

Suddenly something gold caught the corner of his eye and he looked up.  The Snitch was hovering there, as if undecided and Harry zoomed upwards.  He faintly heard a whoosh behind him, and suddenly Malfoy was flying next to him, his eyes on the Snitch too.

He pressed himself flat on his broom, willing it to go fast as he tried to outstrip Malfoy.  No luck as Malfoy kept right by him.  He suddenly slammed his broom against Malfoy, hoping to catch him off guard and grinned slightly as the blonde-haired boy reeled but regained his balance.

"No such luck, Potter," Malfoy said as he pulled along side him again.

Harry suddenly ducked as a black Bludger came pelting his way.  He swerved underneath the Slytherin Chaser, Lincon, and then pulled short as he lost sight of the Snitch.  Glancing around he also noticed that Malfoy had lost sight of the Snitch too and smiled faintly.  Looking down he saw Angelina, being chased by Flint and the Slytherin Beaters, who were racing towards a Bludger, ready to smash it towards her.

He made his decision quick and faking a look of pure concentration as he hoped it would fool Malfoy at the same time as he dived towards Angelina and the three other Slytherin players.    Taking a quick check as he flew down he saw that Malfoy had fallen for his ploy then focused on the space between Angelina and the Slytherin beater.  He had to time this just right...now!

Harry blurred past the beater that was just hitting a Bludger towards Angelina.

"Ohh...and Malfoy nearly gets pummeled by the beater!  Way to go Harry!  Angelina continues...she SCORES!  GRYFFINDOR SCORES TEN-ZERO!"

Harry pulled up on his broomstick just as the ground hurled towards him and rose high into the air, cheering as Angelina looked up at him and gave him a thumbs up for his interference work.

"Harry!  Watch out!" Ron's cry just gave him enough warning for him to turn around and receive a Bludger full in the stomach.  He was nearly unseated from the force of the impact and felt all the air rushing out of him as if someone had sucker punched him.

Only by instinct did he grab the handle of his broom as he started to topple, and shook his head dizzily, the stands a bit blurry to him as he tried to regain his breath.

"FOUL!!!  I SAY FOUL FOR THE DELIBERATE ATTACK ON GRYFFINDOR SEEKER!!!"

Harry didn't hear the rest of the commentary that Lee was making a racket about as he tried to alleviate the dizziness from his system and glanced up as he gripped the broom with both his hands.

"Not so high and mighty aren't you, Potter?" Draco suddenly taunted as he stopped in front of him.  "That was for the Bludger attack...I hope you enjoyed it."

"I see you enjoyed the attack," Harry muttered through clenched teeth as he swung himself around to get enough leverage so he could jump back onto his broom.  He noticed that Malfoy was bleeding freely from a gash near his temple, done by the Bludger narrowly missing him and was satisfied that at least Malfoy didn't come out so clean.

Suddenly something gold hovered between them.  The Golden Snitch.  It flew to each of their faces and flitted around before flying off, Malfoy chasing after it.  Harry turned his head to follow the Snitch as he hopped onto his broom and shot after Malfoy.

He urged his Firebolt to give him the best speed and slowly caught up with Malfoy.  They raced towards the Slytherin goal post, pushing and bumping each other, hoping to throw the other off course so they could have an advantage on getting the Snitch.  They were unaware that almost everyone had stopped what they were doing and were watching them, the beaters circling around them, hitting the Bludgers back and forth, trying to hit the other team's Seeker.

Harry could see the Snitch now, only a few feet away.  As they edged towards it, diving and climbing, he batted Malfoy's outstretched arm away.

"Get off it, Potter," Malfoy shoved at his broom, but he clung on and pushed the blonde-haired boy.

It only started as a faint spark of pain, but he dismissed it as a side effect of him being hit by the Bludger, until a crazed look suddenly appeared on Malfoy's face and the pain suddenly exploded inside his head.  He instinctively clapped his hands to his scar, as the pain made him close his eyes and give a strangled cry of agony.

"You won't live this one Potter!" Malfoy suddenly shouted and rammed into him, his features lit up with a crazed smile and his eyes wide as saucers.

Harry windmilled his hands as he tried not to pass out from the pain and kept one hand steady on the broom as Malfoy, loosing all interest in the Snitch, kept after him.  "What the---"

"I won't let you win, Potter, not this time!" Malfoy shouted, knocking him again and again with his broom as they spiraled downwards.

Desperately holding onto his broom for dear life, Harry felt as if his head was going to explode and his body was going to be consumed with fire.  The pain from his scar radiated through all his body, making him feel dizzy, weak, tired, but most of all, it felt not like the Cruciatus Curse, but it felt foreign...like something was affecting his scar but was indirectly related to Voldemort.

He looked blearily into the stands, as all he wanted to do was to land and lie down on the cool morning grass and just let the pain ebb away into the grass.  That's when he noticed Morgan, staring at him with an intense look of concentration.  She was holding fingers to her temples as around her, Hermione, Cho and the rest of the people, including Sirius who was still in his dog form, barking madly, were shouting and looking on with horrified eyes.

Returning his gaze to Morgan, or at least surrounding her, he was assaulted with another wave of pain, this time even stronger and with a cry, he saw the grassy ground coming up to him, a small golden thing near it...then all was black as he never even felt himself hit the ground.

"Could it be, Albus?"

"You're not saying it could be the Dreamer..."

"Has to be...I mean..."

"Dreamer of Fears' telltale signature is within all these players..."

"Then, what about Harry?"

"Now, now, don't worry Madame Pomfrey..."

"These poor children..."

"I knew it...even though the attacks were psychological..."

"We should have expected that Voldemort would have allied himself with the Dreamer of Fears..."

"But then...how could that be?  Doesn't history or whatever magic was created in the times of Merlin..."

"Shh...they're still asleep..."

"Please...Albus...you have to tell their parents..."

"The Ministry will be in an uproar about this..."

"I think it's time that we call everyone to a meeting...Moody, can you spare most of your Aurors?  Minerva, please call the faculty to convene in the ante-chamber..."

"Yes, Albus..."

Harry cracked open his eyes slightly as the voices faded away and the door closed with a soft click.  Where was he?  He tried to turn his head, but it didn't work and a sudden dizziness swept over him, sending him back to the land of dreamless sleep.  The last thought he had before he passed out again was...who was the Dreamer of Fears?

                                    *                      *                      *