Harry Potter and the War of Souls

Chapter 15

The Last Quidditch Match

Harry slept in the next morning and didn't see anyone until lunch when Hermione slammed her books down in front of him and said, "Where were you last night?"

"Hang on," Ron said, sitting beside him. "Harry, you've got a wicked bruise on the side of your face. What happened?"

Hermione leaned over the table for a better look then let out a loud gasp. "Let's go straight to Madam Pomfrey. She'll have some bruise-healing paste for that."

"I will after lunch," Harry said. "Now we can waste time arguing about where I was or where I should be, or I can just tell you what happened."

Both Ron and Hermione apparently believed that was the better course of action, so they leaned in and Harry whispered, "I destroyed a horcrux last night. It was a Ravenclaw wand." He reached over to Hermione and gave her a nudge on the arm. "Your theory was right. The horcrux doesn't fight me."

"Well mate," Ron said lightly. "Judging from my angle at your face, it obviously does."

"Don't you see?" Harry said. "If we can get them all, I can destroy them. We can do this! One thing more. I have gillyweed, enough for all of us. Snape gave me his whole bottle."

"Snape?" Ron asked. "Is that where you were last night?"

"I would've brought you along, but he was clear that I wasn't supposed to tell you two."

"Are there other things you're involved in that we can't know about?" Hermione asked, sounding slightly put out.

Harry shook his head. "No, Hermione. At least for this exact moment in time, there are no secrets I'm keeping from you."

There was a pause when he wasn't sure if they would accept his joke, but Ron gave in first and laughed, followed later and less enthusiastically by Hermione.

"What's so funny?" Ginny asked. She sat beside Hermione and across from Harry. Harry, who had thought she was still angry with him from back at Hogsmeade, had decided to avoid her. But she was clearly behaving as if there was nothing at all wrong between them.

"Nothing's so funny," Ron said, somewhat grumpily. "Do you always intrude on people's conversations?"

"Apparently I do." Ginny turned to Harry. "Listen, I know you said you weren't doing Quidditch this year and I respect that. But I can't find anyone who'll do a decent job as seeker, so will you do Quidditch anyway?"

"You don't need me," Harry said. "You're as good a seeker as I am."

"As Hagrid would say, that's codswallop. Harry, you know you're the best we've got, and I've got to play Beater."

"Ginny, I'm sorry but I can't."

"One game. We play Slytherin in a week. Get us past them and then you can drop the team and do whatever it is you're doing this year and I'll leave you alone."

"Ginny-"

"Do it and I'll write your next History of Magic essay and clean your dorm area. But if you don't, I'll let it slip in my next letter home that you tried to get me to skiv off classes to snog you."

Harry raised an eyebrow then smiled. "One game then and that's it."
"Thanks. Practice tonight at five." She reached over to pat his hand then noticed the bruise on the side of his face. "Harry? What happened?"

"I got hit by a wall." He tried to make it come off as funny but thought instead that he sounded like a clumsy oaf.

Ginny looked at him with great concern for a moment, then said, more seriously than not, "Well, I'm sure you look better than the wall does now."

He nodded. "See you tonight."

When she had left, Hermione turned on him. "You can't start Quidditch, Harry. Not now when we're so close to really finding some answers."

"It's one game," he said. "Besides, you know I'd never turn Ginny down."

"Okay," Ron said. "But when she's cleaning your dorm area, I want to be there. You might be lying to her and everyone else about your feelings, but I know you still like her."

Harry shrugged. "And she likes Seamus now."

"No, she doesn't," Hermione said. "Not in any serious way. She's just trying to get your attention. But if you wait too long, she really will start to like him and it'll be too late for you."

"It's already too late for me," Harry said. "She's given me too many chances and I wouldn't dare ask for another."

Less than a week later, Harry found he was excited to be suiting up again for Quidditch. The team was essentially the same as it had been the year before, although Ginny had added a fifth year named Tommy Robbins as Beater. After Harry agreed to play, Ginny found it easy to persuade Ron to return as well. In practices, Ginny was tough but kind, and she was as good at Quidditch strategy as Ron was in his chess strategies. Harry decided she was certainly a better Captain than he ever was, and their best captain since Oliver Wood.

As play began, Harry quickly realized the Slytherin Seeker, although new, was no pushover. She was a fourth year named Rachel Allen who was comfortable on her broom and indistractible in her search for the snitch. She saw it several times before Harry did, although she had difficulty tracking it once she began flying toward it.

Finally, Harry caught a glimpse of the snitch near the base of the Slytherin goalpost. He dove after it, feeling extremely lucky that for once, Rachel wasn't on his tail. It was a relatively easy catch but as he wrapped his fingers around it and heard the whooping in the audience, he began looking around for Rachel.

He caught sight of her high up in the clouds and flying away from the field. At first he thought she must not know the game was over, but it wasn't that. She was heading in a very deliberate direction. Curious and somewhat suspicious, Harry raced up to follow her. As he began to close the gap between them, he realized she was chasing something she believed to be the snitch.

He was at last able to get close enough to her to yell, "It's over, Rachel. That's not the snitch." He held up his hand to show the gold ball still wrapped between his fingers.

"Nice try, Harry," she said. "But the snitch is mine."

Harry looked back and realized they had gone far from the Quidditch field. The lake was dimming behind them but still Rachel flew on, now almost entranced by what she believed to be the snitch.

"Let it go!" he yelled. "As Head Boy, I am ordering you back to Hogwarts!"

She ignored him and pushed forward until with a scream, she and then Harry both reared up their brooms and made quick turns back towards Hogwarts. For out of the clouds ahead was an army of dementors so thick they looked more like a vast rolling thundercloud than individual beings.

Harry's broom was faster and he was sure he could outrace them, but he knew if he left Rachel behind, she'd become the Dementors' next kiss, so he raced forward until he had enough distance to turn around again, yanked out his wand, and yelled, "Expecto Patronum!" The stag shot from his wand and created a shield that stopped them and gave Rachel a chance to get a fair distance away. He held it until he knew he could no longer, then broke it off and raced away. He didn't know how long they continued to pursue him, but by the time he saw the Quidditch pitch again, they were gone.

Rachel was on the ground and ran to meet him with a warm hug. "I'd have died back there without you," she said. "Who'd have thought that Harry Potter would help a Slytherin?"

He caught a glimpse of Ginny staring at him as he received the hug. She didn't look happy.

"Where's Madam Hooch?" Ron said, running up to him.

"Madam Hooch?" Harry asked.

"She flew after you and Rachel when it looked as if something was wrong." Ron looked up at the skies. "She hasn't returned."

"All students will return to the school immediately," an announcement came from above. Harry recognized it as Professor McGonagall's voice. He started onto his broom, thinking perhaps he'd be allowed to help, but she must have been watching him because she added, "This includes Prefects and Head Students."

It wasn't until later that evening when Hermione came running into the common room that they had any news at all. "They found her a few hours ago," she announced. "But I overheard Madam Pomfrey say she couldn't treat her here. They've taken Madam Hooch to St. Mungo's."

"Who'll teach us flying?" a first year sitting near the fireplace asked.

"They've already replaced her. I guess someone has a standing application for the position." Hermione tossed an anxious glance at Ron, then said, "The new flying instructor is named Viktor Krum."