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.There was a great "Ooooooh" of disappointment from the Gryffindorsupporters, but much applause for their Beater from the Ravenclaw end.George Weasley vented his feelings by hitting the second Bludgerdirectly at the offending Beater, who was forced to roll right over inmidair to avoid it."Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Fireboltgo! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn --Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision- balanceis really noticeable in these long --""JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THECOMMENTARY!"Ravenclaw was pulling back; they had now scored three goals, which putGryffindor only fifty points ahead -- if Cho got the Snitch before him,Ravenclaw would win.Harry dropped lower, narrowly avoiding a RavenclawChaser, scanning the field frantically -- a glint of gold, a flutter oftiny wings -- the Snitch was circling the Gryffindor goal post --Harry accelerated, eyes fixed on the speck of gold ahead -- but justthen, Cho appeared out of thin air, blocking him --"HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN!" Wood roared as Harry swervedto avoid a collision."KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!"Harry turned and caught sight of Cho; she was grinning.The Snitch hadvanished again.Harry turned his Firebolt upward and was soon twentyfeet above the game.Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cho followinghim.She'd decided to mark him rather than search for the Snitchherself.All right, then.if she wanted to tail him, she'd have totake the consequences.He dived again, and Cho, thinking he'd seen the Snitch, tried to follow;Harry pulled out of the dive very sharply; she hurtled downward; he rosefast as a bullet once more, and then saw it, for the third time -- theSnitch was glittering way above the field at the Ravenclaw end.He accelerated; so, many feet below, did Cho.He was winning, gaining onthe Snitch with every second -- then --"Oh!" screamed Cho, pointing.Distracted, Harry looked down.Three dementors, three tall, black, hooded dementors, were looking up athim.He didn't stop to think.Plunging a hand down the neck of his robes, hewhipped out his wand and roared, "Expecto patronum!"Something silver-white, something enormous, erupted from the end of hiswand.He knew it had shot directly at the dementors but didn't pause towatch; his mind still miraculously clear, he looked ahead -- he wasnearly there.He stretched out the hand still grasping his wand and justmanaged to close his fingers over the small, struggling Snitch.Madam Hooch's whistle sounded.Harry turned around in midair and saw sixscarlet blurs bearing down on him; next moment, the whole team washugging him so hard he was nearly pulled off his broom.Down below hecould hear the roars of the Gryffindors in the crowd."That's my boy!" Wood kept yelling.Alicia, Angelina, and Katie had allkissed Harry; Fred had him in a grip so tight Harry felt as though hishead would come off In complete disarray, the team managed to make itsway back to the ground.Harry got off his broom and looked up to see agaggle of Gryffindor supporters sprinting onto the field, Ron in thelead.Before he knew it, he had been engulfed by the cheering crowd."Yes!" Ron yelled, yanking Harry's arm into the air."Yes! Yes!""Well done, Harry!" said Percy, looking delighted."Ten Galleons to me!Must find Penelope, excuse me --""Good for you, Harry!" roared Seamus Finnigan."Ruddy brilliant!" boomed Hagrid over the heads of the millingGryffindors."That was quite some Patronus," said a voice in Harry's ear.Harry turned around to see Professor Lupin, who looked both shaken andpleased."The dementors didn't affect me at all!" Harry said excitedly."I didn'tfeel a thing!""That would be because they -- er -- weren't dementors," said ProfessorLupin."Come and see -- "He led Harry out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge ofthe field."You gave Mr.Malfoy quite a fright," said Lupin.Harry stared.Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy,Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, allstruggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes.Itlooked as though Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders.Standingover them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, wasProfessor McGonagall."An unworthy trick!" she was shouting."A low and cowardly attempt tosabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fiftypoints from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore aboutthis, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"If anything could have set the seal on Gryffindor's victory, it wasthis.Ron, who had fought his way through to Harry's side, doubled upwith laughter as they watched Malfoy fighting to extricate himself fromthe robe, Goyle's head still stuck inside it."Come on, Harry!" said George, fighting his way over."Party! Gryffindorcommon room, now!""Right," said Harry, and feeling happier than he had in ages, he and therest of the team led the way, still in their scarlet robes, out of thestadium and back up to the castle.It felt as though they had already won the Quidditch Cup; the party wenton all day and well into the night.Fred and George Weasley disappearedfor a couple of hours and returned with armfuls of bottles ofbutterbeer, pumpkin fizz, and several bags full of Honeydukes sweets."How did you do that?" squealed Angelina Johnson as George startedthrowing Peppermint Toads into the crowd."With a little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Fredmuttered in Harry's ear.Only one person wasn't joining in the festivities.Hermione, incredibly,was sitting in a corner, attempting to read an enormous book entitledHome Life and Social Habits of British Muggles.Harry broke away fromthe table where Fred and George had started juggling butterbeer bottlesand went over to her."Did you even come to the match?" he asked her."Of course I did," said Hermione in a strangely high-pitched voice, notlooking up."And I'm very glad we won, and I think you did really well,but I need to read this by Monday.""Come on, Hermione, come and have some food," Harry said, looking overat Ron and wondering whether he was in a good enough mood to bury thehatchet."I can't, Harry.I've still got four hundred and twenty-two pages toread!" said Hermione, now sounding slightly hysterical."Anyway." Sheglanced over at Ron too."He doesn't want me to join in."There was no arguing with this, as Ron chose that moment to say loudly,"If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten, he could have had some of thoseFudge Flies.He used to really like them --"Hermione burst into tears.Before Harry could say or do anything, shetucked the enormous book under her arm, and, still sobbing, ran towardthe staircase to the girls' dormitories and out of sight."Can't you give her a break?" Harry asked Ron quietly."No," said Ron flatly."If she just acted like she was sorry -- butshe'll never admit she's wrong, Hermione.She's still acting likeScabbers has gone on vacation or something [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]