Harry Potter and the Alucinor Dicio

Chapter 21 – The Badger

As his Quidditch match approached, Harry's excitement seem to grow out of proportion. This was it, his first match in over a year, as he hadn't played officially since the Gryffindor / Slytherin match of fifth year. Harry had practiced , of course, but nothing could beat the feeling of soaring far above a screaming crowd. Harry hadn't even had much time to practice what with everything he had gong on, which Ron grumbled about, but didn't harp on. At least Harry was seeker, and therefor he didn't really have to practice plays and strategies, as the only strategy Harry had was to catch the Snitch.

This didn't stop Ron from calling as many practices as he could in the two weeks before the game, most of which Harry had to miss, much to the rest of the teams jealousy. Harry would have infinitely preferred to be soaring over the Quidditch Pitch though, even if Ron was driving the whole team mad. The weeks seemed to pass slowly, until finally, dawn broke on Friday, February 13^th, Gryiffindor versus Hufflepuff. Classes had been canceled that day due to the match, and Harry was elated as he sat down to breakfast that morning, his day free for the first time in a while.

No sooner had Harry sat down with Hermione by his side, he was accosted by Ron across the breakfast table. Ron glared at Harry as he ate. “ Faster Harry! We need to get down to the pitch before the game and work you out! You've missed way too many practices... don't know what we're going to do...” Ron trailed off, content to just glare at Harry until he ate faster. Hermione just rolled her eyes.

“ Really Ron, it isn't as if Harry has ever not caught the snitch! .. Well aside from the time he fell off his broom, but that was on account of those nasty dementors, not his lack of skill!” Hermione staunchly defended his abilities to Ron. For his part Ron just ignored her, which Harry privately considered a vast improvement over previous years when he would snap back at her.

“ Are you done yet?!! Bloody hell Harry, we need to go! You can sit and make googily eyes at Hermione later, you know, like all day long tomorrow! She'll still be here later, but the Snitch waits for no man!!” Ron was grabbing Harry's collar as he spoke, well, bellowed really, and began dragging Harry out of the Great Hall. Harry managed a quick wave to Hermione, before Ron succeeded in pulling him out into the cold sunshine.

Harry's morning was spent chasing the snitch all over the pitch, as Ron flew around him hollering suggestions at him. When lunch time came, Ron decided he had tortured, er, trained Harry enough and Harry ran to his dorm for a quick shower before meeting Hermione down by the lake. Hermione, and the excellent girlfriend that she was, she had grabbed some extra food for Harry on her way , which Harry fell eagerly on as soon as he arrived.

“ I don't know what's got into Ron,” Harry mumbled through a mouthful of treacle tart, “ he seems even worse than Wood or Angelina to me! D'you reckon he's temporarily insane due to the game or something?” Harry questioned out loud. Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes when Harry said 'temporarily' but didn't comment other than that. After they had eaten, Harry was holding Hermione while leaning against the tree, when they both saw Rowen approaching, smiling in their direction. Upon closer inspection, Harry realized that she indeed looked better than he has seen her in weeks, and was grinning widely as she approached.

“ Harry! Hermione! Lovely day isn't it? Bit cold though, but should be good for the Quidditch, eh?” as Rowen spoke she pulled her winter cloak around her more closely. Harry watched her with concern.

“ Should you be out here? I mean you haven't been feeling top notch lately! It can't be good for you.” Harry's voice was full of concern as he spoke. He had been worried about Rowen for quite a while now, but he still hadn't had an opportunity to speak to Professor Snape about it.

“ Haven't you dropped this Harry? I was just.. tired and not 100%, but I'm fine now. Better than fine in fact!” Rowen's smile grew as she spoke. Harry heard Hermione gasp in front of him, and bolt upright.

“ Oh Merlin!! Are you..? You ARE aren't you! Oh, Rowen, I'm so happy for you!!!” As Hermione squealed all this, the look of confusion on Harry's face grew. It didn't help matters any that Rowen was grinning back at Hermione like an idiot, glancing around to see if anyone was close by.

“ Shh! I just found out-”

“ So you mean that you haven't told-”

“ No not yet, I kind of thought it would be a nice surprise for tomorrow, you know.” Rowen spoke with a dreamy smile, as Hermione sighed. Harry just looked from one to the other before shaking his head.

“ Excuse me, but could someone please the me what the bloody hell you two are talking about?!!” Harry finally exploded, sick of being left out.

“ Oh Harry, really! You haven't figured this out by now?” Hermione turned as she spoke to him. “ Rowen is pregnant!” Hermione's voice dropped to a whisper as she spoke the last part, while Harry just stared at her in shock. His mouth opened and closed but nothing came out, as he turned to stare at Rowen as if she had suddenly grown a second head.

“ You- bab- Snape?” was all Harry managed to get out for five minutes of trying.

“ Harry! It isn't as if you hate each other anymore! And of course it's Severus'!” Rowen sounded more than a little insulted by this. Harry almost fell over himself to apologize.

“ I'm sorry, I didn't mean- I'm really happy for you, I'm just- you know, an idiot!” As Harry spoke, Rowen started to smile at his horrible attempt at an apology.

“ It's alright Harry, don't hurt yourself!” she laughed before turning serious. “ But please don't say anything yet, I'm telling Severus tomorrow... I don't know what he's going to do, it isn't as if we were planning on this..” Rowen's voice trailed off nervously.

“ He'll bloody well be ecstatic about it or I'll curse him into the next century!” Harry practically shouted out.

“ Harry! Rowen can handle herself more than well enough, and she knows if she needs anything we'll be here.” Hermione admonished him softly. “ Now you need to go get changed, as the match will be starting soon. We'll be watching, alright? Don't kill yourself please!” Hermione's tone turned teasing as she allowed him to help her up. Harry gave her a quick kiss, and gave Rowen a supportive hug, before he turned and ran towards the castle to change for the game.

As Harry sat in the locker room he watched Ron walking the floor in front of them, his scarlet robes flapping behind him as he paced. Harry looked around at the faces of his teammates, Ginny, Colin and Denis, with Dean and Seamus in the back making faces at Ron as he prepared.

“ Alright, guys. We need to be at our best today! I know you are thinking that it's only Hufflepuff, but it's thinking like that that loses the Cup! We welcome Harry back, of course, but I'd better not see any of you slacking off, thinking he'll carry the game for us! I want you all at your personal best! I will accept nothing less than absolute-” Ron's voice rose as he continued on.

“Uh, Ron?” Ginny intercepted , “ It's time to go out there.”

Ron looked startled, and slightly disappointed that he wouldn't get to finish his speech. He motioned for everyone to grab their brooms and they filed out of the locker room together. Harry felt the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he walked out onto the Pitch. He watched as Ron and Zacharias Smith shook hands under Madame Hooch's watchful eye. Harry mounted his broom, waiting for the whistle, and he shot into the air upon hearing the shrill blast.

Harry began to circle around the pitch, far above the action, waiting for any sign of the snitch's golden glimmer. Harry was pleased to see how much Ron had improved since the last Game Harry had seen him play, which was the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff game of last season. Harry and Hermione had both missed Ron's final match last year, and Harry had of course missed the first game of this season as he had been unconscious at the time.

Harry glided about, keeping one eye on the play below, and one eye constantly searching for the snitch. He felt a bit like Mad Eye Moody, actually. Below him, Harry saw Ginny, Colin and Denis fly circles around the Hufflepuff Chasers. Colin and Denis especially flew extremely quickly, owing largely to their slight stature, but even better than that they played together seamlessly, able to read each other's moves instantly.

Harry couldn't even hear the commentator, a Ravenclaw third year student whom Harry didn't really know, over the amount of noise coming from the extremely large crowd. The noise only increased as Ginny scored two goals in a row, quickly followed by another three from Colin. Ron was making some stellar saves at his end, having not allowed a single Quaffle past yet.

Suddenly Harry saw a glimmer of gold by the Hufflepuff left goal post. He immediately began to dive towards the goal, speeding through the group of Chasers, narrowly missing some of them. Summerby, Hufflepuff's seeker was so far away, that it seemed impossible that Harry wouldn't get the snitch. Harry urged his Firebolt faster, feeling the wind whistle by his ears as the crowds shouts grew even louder if possible. Harry felt his broom jerk backwards suddenly, and Harry turned to see Smith hanging onto the end of Harry's broom. The crowd screamed in outrage as Madame Hooch's whistle blew.

“ Foul! That's blagging! Penalty shot to Gryiffindor!” Madame Hooch shouted above the din. The crowd, was still screaming and hissing, only slightly mollified as Ginny easily shot a goal through Hufflepuff's goal post.

In all the commotion, Harry had, of course, lost sight of the snitch. He rose above the pitch, once again circling it looking for any signs of gold. Harry barely paid attention as Denis and Ginny both scored again, bringing the score up to 110-0. Ron had thus far maintained his shut out, and this made Harry all the more eager to catch the snitch.

Harry dodged a bludger, grinning as Dean shot past him, hitting the bludger back in Hufflepuff's direction, nearly knocking Smith off his broom, Harry noted with no small amount of satisfaction. Harry continued to vigilantly search the area for the snitch. Miraculously Harry spotted it fluttering about in the middle of play. Harry once again sped towards it, as Chasers flew out of his way, especially Hufflepuff as they didn't fell Harry would actively try to avoid them at this point. The snitch dove towards the ground, and Harry followed it. Just a bit more, he thought as he plummeted towards the ground , his arm stretched out in front of him. The crowd collectively gasped as it looked like Harry would surely hit the ground. Harry only sped up, seeing the ground rushing toward him at an alarming rate. Harry felt his hand close around the struggling snitch as his other hand pulled up on his broom handle fiercely. Harry felt the tail of his broom brush the ground as he shot up in the air, the snitch clutched in his raised fist. Harry heard the crowd go wild as the final score was announced, 290-0.

As the team landed, hugging madly, the crowd surged onto the pitch cheering madly. Ron and Harry grinned at each other with pride and elation before the crowd picked both Ron and Harry up and headed towards the castle for a celebration that would surely last all night.