Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [141]
“My magic took you out before, and it will do it again,” he smirked before he shot off. So it was one of his spells that caused Harry to faint. Harry started going over in his head what Malfoy could have done, when Lee Jordan shouted,
“Gryffindor scores! Ten to nothing!” The Gryffindor stands erupted in cheers as the Quaffle quickly found its way back into the playing field, and into the game. Harry continued searching the field, looking for any sign of the Snitch. Then, he saw it. A tiny, sharp, hint of gold, right in the middle of the field. It was just hovering there unaware that it was going to be caught.
Harry leaned into his broom, and put his feet back, blasting towards the Snitch, becoming a blur. He was about fifty feet away from catching it when Malfoy saw him. He flew towards the Snitch too, just as fast as Harry.
It was soon discovered that they were on a collision course, and a very painful one at that. Harry saw Malfoy flying right towards him, on the opposite side of the field. It was a game of chicken, only on broomsticks, and whoever turned away would lose the game for the team. If Harry turned away, he would save himself a lot of pain, but it would leave the Snitch easily accessible to Malfoy. Harry continued flying, giving a sudden and quick burst of speed.
Malfoy seemed to be thinking the same way as Harry, he didn’t look any more willing to give in. He just kept flying towards the Snitch, faster and faster. Harry was now just twenty feet away from the Snitch (Malfoy’s going to move any second now), fifteen feet (come on, move!), ten feet (oh no, are we going to hit?), five feet (should I swerve?). He was close enough to see the whites of Malfoy’s eyes, when a Bludger came between them both, hitting the stationary Snitch, sending it flying all the way across the field. Fred Weasley zoomed between them as well, chasing the Bludger, giving a quick apology to Harry as he flew by. Harry and Malfoy skidded to a sudden stop, almost touching. Malfoy spat at Harry, and then he shot off. The Snitch wouldn’t be visible for a while, it wasn’t worth it to chase it now.
Harry went back to scouting the field. He flew higher up, so the entire arena would be visible. He kept an eye out for any sign of the Snitch, and when he looked over at the Gryffindor goals, he saw that Slytherin had scored.
“Ten to ten,” said Lee Jordan, not quite as enthusiastically as when Gryffindor had scored. The Slytherin crowd, however, erupted into applause and cheers. Harry even saw Tci, the Gryffindor wannabe, join in on some of the cheering this time.
The Slytherin chasers were evidently doing well; Gryffindor usually had over fifty points by now. Harry had to try and get the Snitch as soon as possible. Gryffindor wasn’t going to get up in the hundred’s anytime soon, so if Malfoy got it, they’d definitely lose.
Harry glanced over the field even harder, looking for anything even slightly golden. He got caught off guard a few times by thinking some of the golden Gryffindor flags were the Snitch, but other than that, Harry couldn’t see anything.
“Slytherin scores again,” said Lee, “Twenty to ten.”
Harry needed to find that Snitch. Just then, he had a thought: he’d improve his odds if he had more eyes. He few over to the Gryffindor goal posts where Ron was busy flying back and forth.
“Hey Harry,” he groaned, “sorry I let those last two get passed me, I-”
“It’s okay, Ron,” said Harry. “They’re just really good. I doubt even Oliver could’ve stopped them from scoring.” Ron grinned.
“What do you want?”
“I need you to help me look for the Snitch,” said Harry.
“But, if I help you look for it, who will guard the goals?”
“We can sacrifice a few points for a whopping one-hundred-fifty,” said Harry. Ron nodded, and flew a little away from his posts, scanning the area. Ron took one half of the stadium, and Harry took the other. They both got to concentrate harder on a smaller area, increasing their chances.
However, that bonus came with a