Chapter 37 - INTER HOUSE QUIDDITCH CUP

Harry POV

There was one more week left in school and the Quidditch finals for the Inter House Quidditch Cup was today! We were heading to the final for the house cup! On my new broom, the Firebolt, we beat Ravenclaw 160 - 10. Sirius was coming today to watch as well! Although I was a bit annoyed that Oliver had insisted I be escorted everywhere I go, I reluctantly agreed to put him at ease.

Even though I could take care of myself pretty well.

He was right though as we were going against Slytherin, our rivals, in the Quidditch Final. There were many attempts to try to get me, but Daphne and I thwarted them easily. After arriving at the changing rooms, Daphne gave me a quick kiss before going up to the stands to join Hermione and Tracey. Oliver did his standard break down of Slytherin's fouling tactics and strategy.

"Alright everyone, let's build an early lead and get off to a good start. We want to end the game fast and avoid their dirty tactics, the longer the game drags out, the worse it will be for us. Slytherin may get in unseen fouls that will be devastating for us if the game drags on… So… Harry, you need to catch to snitch quickly".

I nodded and grasped my Firebolt tightly in my hands.

"Fred and George, the second Harry sees the snitch, you cover for him and drop out of the offensive line in protecting our chasers. We will divert everything to protect Harry and end the game, got it?"

"Yes sir!" said both twins in unison as they cheekily saluted to Oliver.

We then left and got onto our brooms waiting for the announcer to call us out onto the pitch. Lee, the announcer for the games, started off with introducing the Slytherin team before shouting our names out. I watched as he called each of my teammates one by one.

This was it! Our chance to win the cup!

They then shot out of the room one by one until it was only me left.

"-And Ladies and Gentlemen, with his brand new broom! The Firebolt! The youngest seeker of the century! It is Harry Potter!"

I shot out onto the field, my hair flying back from the sheer speed I was going at. The crowd roared as I cycled around. I could hear boos from the Slytherins for me having a Firebolt. I passed Sirius and Professor Lupin as they sat at the teacher's section together. Sirius then gave me a wave and a wide grin. I gave him a cheeky salute like how the twins did with Oliver and flew off to my starting position as a seeker. I looked over and saw Malfoy in front of me. Unlike with Cho Chang or Cedric Diggory, we did not exchange polite nods of acknowledgment.

Obviously…

"The Cup is as good as mine Scarhead, might as well refund that broom of yours".

I shot back immediately, "Tell me that when you actually catch the snitch for once in your life Malfoy".

Malfoy reddened and was about to retort when the Bludgers flew up and snitch whizzed off.

"The Bludgers are up! Followed by the golden snitch!" yelled Lee.

The crowd went silent as Madam Hooch held out the Quaffle. The anticipation and hype for the match were through the roof.

"3… 2… 1…"

Hooch then blew her whistle and tossed the Quaffle high up into the air. The crowd roared as the match started. This time Katie stole the starting possession. I then noticed Fred and George, after sending a quick Bludgers to give Katie some separation, along with Angelina and Alicia quickly fell into line with Katie. They were going in an arrowhead formation directly at the Slytherin hoops for the starting possession!

How aggressive!

When Oliver said that we were going to start off aggressive and try to win the game fast, I was not expecting this. Knowing most likely that Katie had given the Quaffle to Angelina, she acted as a decoy, spearheading the arrow formation. I saw them make their run and instantly veered off to pretend that I had seen the snitch.

"OHHH, WHAT AN OPENING POSSESSION BY KATIE BELL, THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM ARE ON THE OFFENSIVE! THEY ARE MAKING A RUN FOR THE SLYTHERIN HOOPS! OH! IT SEEMS LIKE POTTER MIGHT HAVE SEEN THE SNITCH! THAT WAS SURE FAST! THE SLYTHERIN BEATERS HAVE GOT TO MAKE A CHOICE! POTTER OR THE FIRST GOAL! NO DOUBT GRYFFINDOR WILL SCORE ANYWAY!" yelled Lee.

I then heard, what I think was, Mcgonagall's voice on the speakerphone a bit, chastising Lee. It seemed that I was the bigger threat, the Slytherin beaters sent two Bludgers straight at me. I easily dodged both of these Bludgers by doing an extreme dive to dodge the first one, then pulled up quickly after to dodge the second. This gave the team a clean opening for Gryffindor to score!

"THE FIVE GRYFFINDOR'S ARE APPROACHING THE SLYTHERIN'S HOOPS! IT SEEMS LIKE BELL IS GOING FOR THE SHOT… OH WAIT! SHE WAS A DECOY! ANGELINA JOHNSON SCORES! 10 POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL ARROWHEAD FORMATION GOAL! THAT'S HOW WE DO IT IN GRYFFINDOR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

Then I heard Mcgonagall loud and clear this time.

"MR. JORDAN!" screeched Mcgonagall.

"SORRY PROFESSOR!" said Lee.

The chasers along with the twins cycled back to get ready to defend. The crowd roared as they soared back in the same formation. I slowed down and took up a high position in the sky, known as the seeker's perch, where it would be easy to look across the entire field and spot the snitch.

"WHAT AN INTERCEPT! ALICIA SPINNET HAS TAKEN THE QUAFFLE! SLYTHERIN'S PLAY HAS BEEN BROKEN UP! SHE IS CHARGING AT THE SLYTHERIN HOOPS NOW!... AND… SCORES! ANOTHER 10 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR! THEY LEAD SLYTHERIN 20 -0!"

At the corner of my eye, I saw a Bludger approaching me. I moved quickly to dodge to only find Malfoy rushing towards me.

He was going to bump me into the Bludger!

Right before Malfoy bumped into me. I did a sloth grip roll and rolled over him. He seemed to not expect this and the momentum he generated from accelerating to charge at me continued to carry him forward. He then missed me and collided directly with the Bludger aimed at me. I couldn't help let loose a chuckle, although he probably couldn't hear it as it got lost in the wind. Malfoy screamed in pain as he got hit by the Bludger. He almost went limp and fell off his broom.

While he took his time to recover, I knew this was my chance to take him out of the game. With his vision disoriented, he will definitely chase after me if he thinks I have seen the snitch. I then shot off and dived down towards the pitch.

"OHHH, WHAT A CLEAN SLOTH GRIP ROLL BY POTTER! THE BLUDGER MEANT FOR POTTER INSTEAD HIT MALFOY! OH! IT SEEMS POTTER HAS MAYBE CAUGHT SIGHT OF THE SNITCH!"

I sneaked a glance behind my shoulder, and sure enough, Malfoy was on my tail. He was slightly shuddering on his broom, most likely from the Bludger that slammed into him.

"MALFOY IS HOT ON POTTER'S TAIL! THEY BOTH NOW TURNED INTO A SHARP DIVE, THEY ARE BOTH DIVING DOWN TOWARDS THE PITCH AND… A BEAUTIFUL WRONSKI FEINT BY POTTER! MALFOY HAS BROKEN HIS BROOM AND CRASHED HARD! SLYTHERIN'S SEEKER MIGHT BE OUT FOR THE REST OF THE GAME!"

Right before breaking into a dive, I reached out and swiped at the air and fumbling slightly, pretending that I missed swiping the snitch. I then broke into an abrupt dive downwards, as if the snitch dodged and went down. Malfoy followed me, accelerating with me heading down towards the grass on the field. Right before hitting the ground, I pulled up and hit the brakes. The hedges of my broom just nicking the grass on the field. I then accelerated and shot back towards the sky. Malfoy didn't even change or deviate in the slightest from his flight path, he just screamed and crashed hard onto the pitch, breaking his broom. I then cycled around the pitch, trying to spot the snitch.

Where is that little bugger?

I glanced at the score and saw that it was 50 - 40.

Damn it is close!

I looked over at Oliver and saw he was sitting shakily on his broom.

He must have taken a Bludger or two! Blast it! I need to end this now!

Then for a brief moment, I saw it, a whisk of gold passing by the tower that all the teaching staff sat in. I took off immediately to try and catch the snitch. I needed to end the game before the fouls started to escalate. The Slytherin beaters tried to knock me out but couldn't do much as Malfoy was out of the game. There was no additional pressure, not like there had been any from Malfoy, on me to dodge the incoming Bludgers while chasing the snitch. I was zoning on the snitch fast. I reached out my arm just as the snitch and I dived at the same direction and swiped madly at it. My fingers then clasped around the golden ball.

"HE'S DONE IT! HARRY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! THE HOUSE CUP BELONGS TO GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

The crowd erupted into a frenzy of cheers. I circled around on my Firebolt, showing the snitch. I stopped in front of Daphne and the others and waved at them before stopping in front of Sirius and Remus and giving them a wave as well. I shot back down onto the pitch where I was mobbed by the team as they screamed in joy. Oliver then hoisted up the cup and the sound around the Quidditch pitch reached a crescendo as it became louder and louder. I then looked around and saw people starting to bolt over towards us from the stands.

After the thrilling victory, I left the celebration party in the common room early to meet up with Daphne in the Room of Requirement. When I entered the Room, this time, of Daphne's choice, I saw the Parthenon in the distance.

We were in Greece!

I then looked around next to me and saw a very cozy and quiet cafe like setting on a rooftop that overlooked the city.

"This is amazing Daph! How did you know of this place?"

She nervously responded.

"Oh… I did some research of nice dating spots in the muggle world after you made the view of Paris last time. I thought… you might like it".

I then leaned over and initiated the kiss. After we broke apart, I whispered in her ear.

"I love it".

We then sat down and began to eat. She congratulated me on winning the House Cup and we talked about Quidditch for a bit before the topic of summer holidays came up.

"If you need any help Harry, you can always come around to my place! Just write and owl me! Hedwig is more than welcomed".

"Hahaha, it is okay Daph, the Dursley's are not that bad anymore, once I tricked them with wandless magic… but I am not going back there anymore".

"What?"

"Yeah… Since Sirius is now free, he is my legal guardian, I am going to be living with him from now on".

"Oh Harry! That is wonderful!"

"Yeah! You might be able to come around now since I am with Sirius".

She beamed at me. We then talked about all sorts of things, from Animagi to Malfoy's broken broom. Eventually, it was time to head back before curfew, Daphne gave me a good night's kiss before leaving. I then did a quick recap of this year.

What a year! So much happened… from finding out Sirius was innocent… to learning of Moldy short's Horcruxes.

I grinned and headed back to my dorm. I would enjoy the last week here before coming back next year.

Doran's Ring -

And that is it guys! This is the end for Harry's Third Year! I am brainstorming ideas and thinking of a title currently for the next part. As you guys know, the events of the Tri-Wizard Tournament will be taking place in Harry's Fourth Year. I hope that everyone has enjoyed the story so far. I hope you guys will remain patient with me as it might take a while for me to get out the sequel to this story. I have midterm tests coming up soon xD! I will also be going through all the reviews again to see what you guys think and what to improve on. Thank you guys so much for all the reviews and support! I will see you all in the next part of the story!

*** Next part of the story is out! The next story part is called Trial by Fire, True Heir of Godric Gryffindor!***