Chapter 10
Harry sighed as he relaxed by the lake, it was Thursday afternoon and as soon as classes had ended, Harry had run off to relax away from everyone.
Throughout the week, ever since the first task, Harry had constantly been getting asked how he put up the shield that protected him. He had told them usually that it was a ward he had found in an obscure book, but that somehow made more questions erupt. He was getting really tired of all the questions so he had taken to hiding away from everyone as soon as he got the chance, getting a house-elf from the kitchens to bring him food since it had become a hassle to try and eat in the great hall with everyone asking him now.
Dumbledore had even seemed to double his efforts to get Harry alone now, coming to find him in the hallways and between classes to try and get him to ‘take a walk’ with him. Harry has been able to find an excuse each time, trying to figure out the egg puzzle was one of his biggest and another was Neville or the twins coming to save him, occasionally Luna if he was alone. Harry never knew how the girl managed to find him, but she did every time that Dumbledore was near him and would ask him to help her, greeting Dumbledore before turning to Harry with something along the lines of, “Harry, could you help me with Defense? The girls in my house are being extra nasty today. Maybe they have too many Nargles around them?”
“Potter!” Draco’s voice carried through the air, making Harry glare at the sky as he sat up, turning to the blonde Slytherin, surprised to see him alone for once.
“What do you want Malfoy?” Harry asked tiredly, standing up to face him.
“What’s wrong Potter? No longer the golden boy of Gryffindor I see?” Draco taunted, making Harry’s eye twitch.
Before Harry could hold himself back, he was in front of the Malfoy heir, gripping his shirt, eyes flashing red. “You know Malfoy, you really get on my nerves. I do hope you realize you’re the reason I’m not in Slytherin. The hat almost put me there, you know? It said I would be destined for greatness there. I told it anywhere but Slytherin though and it’s all your fault.” Harry spat, throwing him to the ground. “You were one of the first magical I ever met. My family was magic hating muggles. They tried to beat the magic out of me when I was young. You reminded me of them when we first met. Just how you would look down on others reminded me of them. If you had been a little bit nicer, we might have been friends, and I would be in Slytherin. I do hope you realize this rivalry started from you simply being rude on the train, and what it cost you.”
With that, Harry turned to the castle, walking up to go to his room, as Draco watched his receding form in mingling expressions of surprise and disbelief.
Harry looked at his team with a slight grin. He had managed to get both of the twins because of a lucky draw when the four champions had been picking their teams, along with a few other decent people to be chasers and keeper. There was Coal Fiddlewood, who was a Gryffindor a year above Harry, as one chaser. Then there was the Slytherin third year, Caden Dovetail, who was the keeper. Then there were the twins Annetta and Levi Raywood as his other two chasers, both from Durmstrang.
“Well, glad you guys made it to this impromptu quidditch tournament today. The teachers thought it was a good idea for this as well luckily as it would help school and house relations grow. Honestly, I just wanted to have fun and play some Quidditch. It’s honestly the least deadliest thing to happen to me at this point.” Harry joked, making a few chuckles come out. “So, Fred, George, you know what to do. Caden, I know you didn’t get a lot of practice but try your best, it’s okay if some get in, you’re new to this. Coal, Annetta, Levi, try to score as many points as possible. There is no pressure though, we are out here trying to have fun first and win second. Got it?” At the question he got several nods, making the raven-haired boy smile. “Good. Now let's go!” He told them, leading them out for it was their team against Cedric’s team first.
Each team would end up facing each other off and whoever had the most points at the end was the winner. There was nothing decided if someone won, as the matches were just for fun. The tournament would end up lasting the whole weekend to give the teams breaks, as they would be playing three matches altogether. So it had been decided on two matches in the morning, two in the evening, and then the last two the next day.
Harry grinned at Cedric, shaking his hand as the two met in the middle of the field. “If you want, you can call this our rematch from last year.” He told the older Hogwarts student.
Cedric chuckled lightly, shaking his head. “That is true I guess. Also, I have something to tell you after this.” Cedric told him, making Harry raise an eyebrow as they parted and got onto their brooms. Madam Hooch was there to blow her whistle, signaling the two teams to go into the air and begin.
Harry took himself up above the stands, watching below as his chasers worked together to score. He grinned, glad at the team he picked. Oh Harry wished he could have his friends from back home come to watch him play. He knew Toby, Ben, and Jeff would enjoy watching the roughness, and seeing the bludgers hit people, Puppet would too.
Speaking of bludgers, Harry was broken out of his thoughts as he narrowly dodged one heading towards him, Fred hitting it back at the other team shortly after.
Harry chuckled, wondering how big of a heart attack that would have given Masky or EJ, as they acted like the parents half the time. Hoodie would probably watch with indifference, smirking slightly at some things but that would be it. Sally would be in awe at the brooms, begging Harry to fly her around later. Helen would probably be drawing the scene, capturing it on paper. Harry had no clue as to how Slender would react to the sport. Probably the same with all other sports, distaste and doesn’t understand why people watch.
Catching a glimpse of something gold, Harry raced towards the snitch, which hid beside the Ravenclaw stands. Not a moment after, Harry could hear Cedric coming up behind him, steadily catching up.
Harry grinned, urging his Firebolt to go faster as he chased the small golden ball around the pitch, reaching out his hand when he got closer. Cedric was beside him at this point, reaching out as well for the snitch.
Harry shot down as the snitch took a sudden downwards turn, snatching it just before hitting the ground before sharply turning up, narrowly missing the ground.
“Good job Harry,” Cedric said to them as the players landed, making Harry grin at him.
“Good enough of a rematch?” Harry asked him, making the older chuckle before nodding. Harry’s team won with a score of 210 points compared to Cedric’s team of 70 points.
Harry grinned, proud of his makeshift team, as he went to rest until the next match.
Harry sighed in relief as McGonagall released them from dance lessons for the Yule ball. They ended up having to postpone the tournament because several heads of houses wanted their students, but they planned on finishing the tournament the next weekend. Harry was looking forward to going against Victor in a seeker competition, as he knew that the older wizard had to be really good if he was already on a professional team.
As Harry started to walk out of the large ballroom that the Gryffindor house had been using to practice, Harry heard Coal walk up to the professor.
“Professor? Are same-sex couples allowed to go together to the ball together?” The boy asked, looking at the Gryffindor head of house.
McGonagall seemed perplexed about the question, thinking about it for a moment. “That should be okay. I wouldn’t see a problem with that and I do not doubt that Dumbledore would either.” She finally told him, making Coal grin and nod, running off.
Harry blinked, walking back to the dorms as he thought about what he just heard.
Just who would he go with?