 Ravenclaw 
match, so that he could have a ride on the Firebolt after they'd 
finished. This did seem to take Ron's mind off Scabbers for a moment 
("Great! Can I try and shoot a few goals on it?") so they set off for 
the Quidditch field together. 

Madam Hooch, who was still overseeing Gryffindor practices to keep an 
eye on Harry, was just as impressed with the Firebolt as everyone else 
had been. She took it in her hands before takeoff and gave them the 
benefit of her professional opinion. 

"Look at the balance on it! If the Nimbus series has a fault, it's a 
slight list to the tail end -- you often find they develop a drag after 
a few years. They've updated the handle too, a bit slimmer than the 
Cleansweeps, reminds me of the old Silver Arrows -- a Pity they've 
stopped making them. I learned to fly on one, and a very fine old broom 
it was too...." 

She continued in this vein for some time, until Wood said, "Er -- Madam 
Hooch? Is it okay if Harry has the Firebolt back? We need to 
practice...." 

"Oh -- right -- here you are, then, Potter," said Madam Hooch. "I'll sit 
over here with Weasley...." 

She and Ron left the field to sit in the stadium, and the Gryffindor 
team gathered around Wood for his final instructions for tomorrow's 
match. 

"Harry, I've just found out who Ravenclaw is playing as Seeker. It's Cho 
Chang. She's a fourth year, and she's pretty good.... I really hoped she 
wouldn't be fit, she's had some problems with injuries...." Wood scowled 
his displeasure that Cho Chang had made a full recovery, then said, "On 
the other hand, she rides a Comet Two Sixty, which is going to look like 
a joke next to the Firebolt." He gave Harry's broom a look of fervent 
admiration, then said, "Okay, everyone, let's go -- " 

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And at long last, Harry mounted his Firebolt, and kicked off from the 
ground. 

It was better than he'd ever dreamed. The Firebolt turned with the 
lightest touch; it seemed to obey his thoughts rather than his grip; it 
sped across the field at such speed that the stadium turned into a 
green-and-gray blur; Harry turned it so sharply that Alicia Spinnet 
screamed, then he went into a perfectly controlled dive, brushing the 
grassy field with his toes before rising thirty, forty, fifty feet into 
the air again. 

"Harry, I'm letting the Snitch out!" Wood called. 

Harry turned and raced a Bludger toward the goal posts; he outstripped 
it easily, saw the Snitch dart out from behind Wood, and within ten 
seconds had caught it tightly in his hand. 

The team cheered madly. Harry let the Snitch go again, gave it a 
minute's head start, then tore after it, weaving in and out of the 
others; he spotted it lurking near Katie Bell's knee, looped her easily, 
and caught it again. 

It was the best practice ever; the team, inspired by the presence of the 
Firebolt in their midst, performed their best moves faultlessly, and by 
the time they hit the ground again, Wood didn't have a single criticism 
to make, which, as George Weasley pointed out, was a first. 

"I can't see what's going to stop us tomorrow!" said Wood. "Not unless 
-- Harry, you've sorted out your dementor problem, haven't you?" 

"Yeah," said Harry, thinking of his feeble Patronus and wishing it were 
stronger. 

"The dementors won't turn up again, Oliver. Dumbledore'd go ballistic," 
said Fred confidently. 

"Well, let's hope not," said Wood. "Anyway -- good work, everyone. Let's 
get back to the tower... turn in early --" 

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"I'm staying out for a bit; Ron wants a go on the Firebolt," Harry told 
Wood, and while the rest of the team headed off to the locker rooms, 
Harry strode over to Ron, who vaulted the barrier to the stands and came 
to meet him. Madam Hooch had fallen asleep in her seat. 

"Here you go," said Harry, handing Ron the Firebolt. 

Ron, an expression of ecstasy on his face, mounted the broom and zoomed 
off into the gathering darkness while Harry walked around the edge of 
the field, watching him. Night had fallen before Madam Hooch awoke with 
a start, told Harry and Ron off for not waking her, and insisted that 
they go back to the castle. 

Harry shouldered the Firebolt and he and Ron walked out of the shadowy 
stadium, discussing the Firebolt's superbly smooth action, its 
phenomenal acceleration, and its pinpoint turning. They were halfway 
toward the castle when Harry, glancing to his left, saw something that 
made his heart turn over -- a pair of eyes, gleaming out of the 
darkness. 

Harry stopped dead, his heart banging against his ribs. 

"What's the matter?" said Ron. 

Harry pointed. Ron pulled out his wand and muttered, "Lumos!" 

A beam of light fell across the grass, hit the bottom of a tree, and 
illuminated its branches; there, crouching among the budding leaves, was 
Crookshanks. 

"Get out of here!" Ron roared, and he stooped down and seized a stone 
lying on the grass, but before he could do anything else, Crookshanks 
had vanished with one swish of his long ginger tail. 

"See?" Ron said furiously, chucking the stone down again. "She's still 
letting him wander about wherever he wants -- probably washing down 
Scabbers with a couple of birds now...." 

Harry didn't say anything. He took a deep breath as relief seeped 
through him; he had been sure for a moment that those eyes had belonged 

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to the Grim. They set off for the castle once more. slightly ashamed of 
his moment of panic, Harry didn't say anything to Ron -- nor did he look 
left or right until they had reached the well-lit entrance hall. 

Harry went down to breakfast the next morning with the rest of the boys 
in his dormitory, all of whom seemed to think the Firebolt deserved a 
sort of guard of honor. As Harry entered the Great Hall, heads turned in 
the direction of the Firebolt, and there was a good deal of excited 
muttering. Harry saw, with enormous satisfaction, that the Slytherin 
team were all looking thunderstruck. 

"Did you see his face?" said Ron gleefully, looking back at Malfay. "He 
can't believe it! This is brilliant!" 

Wood, too, was basking in the reflected glory of the Firebolt. 

"Put it here, Harry," he said, laying the broom in the middle of the 
table and carefully turning it so that its name faced upward. People 
from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were soon coming over to look. 
Cedric Diggory came over to congratulate Harry on having acquired such a 
superb replacement for his Nimbus, and Percy's Ravenclaw girlfriend, 
Penelope Clearwater, asked if she could actually hold the Firebolt. 

"Now, now, Penny, no sabotage!" said Percy heartily as she examined the 
Firebolt closely. "Penelope and I have got a bet on," he told the team. 
"Ten Galleons on the outcome of the match!" 

Penelope put the Firebolt down again, thanked Harry, and went back to 
her table. 

"Harry -- make sure you win," said Percy, in an urgent whisper. "I 
haven't got ten Galleons. Yes, I'm coming, Penny!" And-he bustled off to 
join her in a piece of toast. 

"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" said a cold, drawling voice. 

Draco Malfoy had arrived for a closer look, Crabbe and Coyle right 
behind him. 

"Yeah, reckon so," said Harry casually. 

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"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it?" said Malfoy, eyes 
glittering maliciously. "Shame it doesn't come with a parachute -- in 
case you get too near a dementor." 

Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. 

"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy," said Harry. "Then 
it could catch the Snitch for you." 

The Gryffindor team laughed loudly. Malfoy's pale eyes narrowed, and he 
stalked away. They watched him rejoin the rest of the Slytherin team, 
who put their heads together, no doubt asking Malfoy whether Harry's 
broom really was a Firebolt. 

At a quarter to eleven, the Gryffindor team set off for the locker 
rooms. The weather couldn't have been more different from their match 
against Hufflepuff. It was a clear, cool day with a very light breeze; 
there would be no visibility problems this time, and Harry, though 
nervous, was starting to feel the excitement only a Quidditch match 
could bring. They could hear the rest of the school moving into the 
stadium beyond. Harry took off his black school robes, removed his wand 
from his pocket, and stuck it inside the T-shirt he was going to wear 
under his Quidditch robes. He only hoped he wouldn't need it. He 
wondered suddenly whether Professor Lupin was in the crowd, watching. 

"You know what we've got to do," said Wood as they prepared to leave the 
locker rooms. "If we lose this match, we're out of the running. just -just 
fly like you did in practice yesterday, and we'll be okay!" 

They walked out onto the field to tumultuous applause. The Ravenclaw 
team, dressed in blue, were already standing in the middle of the field. 
Their Seeker, Cho Chang, was the only girl on their team. She was 
shorter than Harry by about a head, and Harry couldn't help noticing, 
nervous as he was, that she was extremely pretty. She smiled at Harry as 
the teams faced each other behind their captains, and he felt a slight 
lurch in the region of his stomach that he didn't think had anything to 
do with nerves. 

"Wood, Davies, shake hands," Madam Hooch said briskly, and Wood shook 

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hands with the Ravenclaw Captain. 

"Mount your brooms... on my whistle... three -- two -- one --" 

Harry kicked off into the air and the Firebolt zoomed higher and faster 
than any other broom; he soared around the stadium and began squinting 
around for the Snitch, listening all the while to the commentary, which 
was being provided by the Weasley twins' friend Lee Jordan. 

"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolt that 
Harry Potter is flying for Gry