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"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks |
two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the -- |
wait a moment -- was that the Snitch?" |
A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too |
busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his |
left ear. |
Harry saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downward after the |
streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it, too. Neck |
and neck they hurtled toward the Snitch -all the Chasers seemed to have |
forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to |
watch. |
Harry was faster than Higgs -- he could see the little round ball, wings |
fluttering, darting up ahead - - he put on an extra spurt of speed -- |
WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below -- Marcus Flint |
had blocked Harry on purpose, and Harry's broom spun off course, Harry |
holding on for dear life. |
"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors. |
Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the |
goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the |
Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again. |
Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red |
card!" |
"What are you talking about, Dean?" said Ron. |
"Red card!" said Dean furiously. "In soccer you get shown the red card |
and you're out of the game!" |
"But this isn't soccer, Dean," Ron reminded him. |
Hagrid, however, was on Dean's side. |
"They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the |
air." |
Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides. |
"So -- after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating |
"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall. |
"I mean, after that open and revolting foul |
'Jordan, I'm warning you --" |
"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which |
could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by |
Spinner, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor |
still in possession." |
It was as Harry dodged another Bludger, which went spinning dangerously |
past his head, that it happened. His broom gave a sudden, frightening |
lurch. For a split second, he thought he was going to fall. He gripped |
the broom tightly with both his hands and knees. He'd never felt |
anything like that. |
It happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck him |
off. But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their |
riders off. Harry tried to turn back toward the Gryffindor goal- posts |
-- he had half a mind to ask Wood to call time-out -- and then he |
realized that his broom was completely out of his control. He couldn't |
turn it. He couldn't direct it at all. It was zigzagging through the |
air, and every now and then making violent swishing movements that |
almost unseated him. |
Lee was still commentating. |
"Slytherin in possession -- Flint with the Quaffle -- passes Spinnet -- |
passes Bell -- hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose |
-- only joking, Professor -- Slytherins score -- A no... |
The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Harry's |
broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying- him slowly higher, away |
from the game, jerking and twitching as it went. |
"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared through |
his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of |
his broom... but he can't have...." |
Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His |
broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to |
hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild |
jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on |
with only one hand. |
"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered. |
"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere |
with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic -- no kid could do that to |
a Nimbus Two Thousand." |
At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of |
looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd. |
"What are you doing?" moaned Ron, gray-faced. |
"I knew it," Hermione gasped, "Snape -- look." |
Ron grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands |
opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering nonstop |
under his breath. |
"He's doing something -- jinxing the broom," said Hermione. |
"What should we do?" |
"Leave it to me." |
Before Ron could say another word, Hermione had disappeared. Ron turned |
the binoculars back on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard, it was |
almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd was on |
its feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull |
Harry safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good -- every time |
they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower |
and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell. |
Marcus |
Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing. |
"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately. |
Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood, and |
was now racing along the row behind him; she didn't even stop to say |
sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in front. |
Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand, and whispered a |
few, well- chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand onto the |
hem of Snape's robes. |
It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realize that he was on fire. |
A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him |
into a little jar in her pocket, she scrambled back along the row -- |
Snape would never know what had happened. |
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