"Do watch where you're going, Potter, Grindelwald!"

"Sorry, Professor --"

"I've just been looking for you in the Gryffindor common room, Potter. Well, here it is, we've done everything we could think of, and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it at all -- you've got a very good friend somewhere, Potter..."

Johnny and Harry's jaw dropped. She was holding out his Firebolt, and it looked as magnificent as ever.

"I can have it back?" Harry said weakly. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," said Professor McGonagall, and she was actually smiling. "I daresay you'll need to get the feel of it before Saturday's match, won't you? And Potter -- do try and win, won't you? Or we'll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape and Mr. Grindelwald was kind enough to remind me only last night..."

Johnny smiled innocently at Professor McGonagall, who was amused yet pained at the same time.

Speechless, Harry carried the Firebolt back upstairs toward Gryffindor Tower. As he turned a corner, he saw Ron dashing toward him, grinning from ear to ear.

"She gave it to you? Excellent! Listen, can I still have a go on it? Tomorrow?"

"Yeah...anything..." said Harry, his heart lighter than it had been in a month.

"You know, you should make up with Hermione... She was only trying to help..." Johnny said, folding his arms and glaring at both boys.

"Yeah, all right," said Ron. "She's in the common room now working -- for a change."

"Oddsbodkins," said Harry to Sir Cadogan, who looked extremely disappointed and reluctantly swung forward to let them into the common room. There was a sudden, excited murmur as every head turned and the next moment, Harry was surrounded by people exclaiming over his Firebolt.

"Where'd you get it, Harry?"

"Will you let me have a go?"

"Have you ridden it yet, Harry?"

"Ravenclaw'll have no chance, they're all on Cleansweep Sevens!"

"Can I just hold it, Harry?"

After ten minutes or so, during which the Firebolt was passed around and admired from every angle, the crowd dispersed and Harry and Ron had a clear view of Hermione and Johnny, the only people who hadn't rushed over to them, Hermione bent over her work and carefully avoiding their eyes, Johnny helping her with her work. Harry and Ron approached her table and at last, she looked up.

"I got it back," said Harry, grinning at her and holding up the Firebolt.

"See, Hermione? There wasn't anything wrong with it!" said Ron.

"Well -- there might have been!" said Hermione. "I mean, at least you know now that it's safe!"

"Yeah, I suppose so," said Harry. "I'd better put it upstairs."

"I'll take it!" said Ron eagerly. "I've got to give Scabbers his rat tonic."

He took the Firebolt and, holding it as if it were made of glass, carried it away up the boys' staircase.

"Can I sit down, then?" Harry asked Hermione and Johnny.

"I suppose so," said Hermione, moving a great stack of parchment off a chair.

"How are you getting through all this stuff?" Harry asked them, knowing Johnny was taking almost the same amount of classes as them.

"Oh, well -- you know -- working hard," said Johnny. Close-up, Harry saw that they both looked almost as tired as Lupin.

"Why don't you just drop a couple of subjects?" Harry asked, watching her lifting books as she searched for her rune dictionary.

"I couldn't do that!" said Hermione, looking scandalised.

"I've talked with Snape," Johnny said. "I'm dropping Divination, Arithmancy and Muggle Studies soon."

"Arithmancy looks terrible," said Harry, picking up a very complicated-looking number chart.

"Oh no, it's wonderful!" said Hermione earnestly. "It's my favorite subject! It's --"

But exactly what was wonderful about Arithmancy, they never found out. At that precise moment, a strangled yell echoed down the boys' staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder -- and then Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bedsheet.

"LOOK!" he bellowed, striding over to their table. "LOOK!" he yelled, shaking the sheets in Hermione and Johnny's face.

"Ron, what --?"

Johnny stood in front of Hermione protectively, glaring at Ron.

"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!"

Johnny looked down at the sheet Ron was holding. There was something red on it. Something that looked horribly like --

"BLOOD!" Ron yelled into the stunned silence. "HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"

"N -- no," said Hermione in a trembling voice.

Ron threw something down onto Hermione's rune translation. Johnny, Hermione and Harry leaned forward. Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several long, ginger and black cat hairs.

It looked like the end of Ron, Johnny and Hermione's friendship. Hermione and Johnny were so angry with Ron that Harry couldn't see how they'd ever make up.

Ron was enraged that Hermione and Johnny had never taken Crookshanks and Quorra's attempts to eat Scabbers seriously, hadn't bothered to keep a close enough watch on them, and was still trying to pretend that Crookshanks and Quorra were innocent by suggesting that Ron look for Scabbers under all the boys' beds. Hermione, meanwhile, maintained fiercely that Ron had no proof that Crookshanks and Quorra had eaten Scabbers, that the hairs might have been there since Christmas, and that Ron had been prejudiced against their cats.

Personally, Harry was sure that Crookshanks and Quorra had eaten Scabbers, and when he tried to point out to Johnny that the evidence all pointed that way, he lost her temper with Harry too.

"Okay, side with Ron, I knew you would!" Johnny yelled. "First the Firebolt, now Scabbers, everything's either mine or Hermione's fault, isn't it! Just leave us alone, Harry, we've got work to do!"

Ron had taken the loss of his rat very hard indeed.

"Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was," said Fred bracingly. "And he's been off-color for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly -- one  or two swallows -- he probably didn't feel a thing."

"Fred!" said Ginny indignantly.

"All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself," said George.

"He bit Goyle for us once!" Ron said miserably. "Remember, Harry?"

"Yeah, that's true," said Harry.

"His finest hour," said Fred, unable to keep a straight face. "Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what's the point of moaning?"

On the first Saturday of February, the Gryffindor Quidditch team 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.

"He fancies her," Johnny whispered in Hermione's ear as they sat up by Padma Patil and her Ravenclaw twin, Parvati.

"Wood, Davies, shake hands," Madam Hooch said briskly, and Wood shook 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 Gryffindor. According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship --"

"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" interrupted Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Right you are, Professor -- just giving a bit of background information -- the Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and --"

"Jordan!"

"Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell of Gryffindor, heading for goal..."

Harry streaked past Katie in the opposite direction, gazing around for a glint of gold and noticing that Cho Chang was tailing him closely. She was undoubtedly a very good flier -- she kept cutting across him, forcing him to change direction.

"Show her your acceleration, Harry!" Fred yelled as he whooshed past in pursuit of a Bludger that was aiming for Alicia.

Harry urged the Firebolt forward as they rounded the Ravenclaw goal posts and Cho fell behind. Just as Katie succeeded in scoring the first goal of the match, and the Gryffindor end of the field went wild, he saw it -- the Snitch was close to the ground, flitting near one of the barriers.

Harry dived; Cho saw what he was doing and tore after him -- Harry was speeding up, excitement flooding him; dives were his specialty, he was ten feet away --

Then a Bludger, hit by one of the Ravenclaw Beaters, came pelting out of nowhere; Harry veered off course, avoiding it by an inch, and in those few, crucial seconds, the Snitch had vanished.

There was a great "Ooooooh" of disappointment from the Gryffindor supporters, but much applause for their Beater from the Ravenclaw end. George Weasley vented his feelings by hitting the second Bludger directly at the offending Beater, who was forced to roll right over in midair to avoid it.

"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolt go! 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 -- balance is really noticeable in these long --"

"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"

Ravenclaw was pulling back; they had now scored three goals, which put Gryffindor only fifty points ahead -- if Cho got the Snitch before him, Ravenclaw would win. Harry dropped lower, narrowly avoiding a Ravenclaw Chaser, scanning the field frantically -- a glint of gold, a flutter of tiny wings -- the Snitch was circling the Gryffindor goal post...

Harry accelerated, eyes fixed on the speck of gold ahead -- but just then, Cho appeared out of thin air, blocking him --

"HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN!" Wood roared as Harry swerved to avoid a collision. "KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!"

Harry turned and caught sight of Cho; she was grinning. The Snitch had vanished again. Harry turned his Firebolt upward and was soon twenty feet above the game. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cho following him ...She'd decided to mark him rather than search for the Snitch herself...All right, then...if she wanted to tail him, she'd have to take 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 rose fast as a bullet once more, and then saw it, for the third time -- the Snitch was glittering way above the field at the Ravenclaw end.

He accelerated; so, many feet below, did Cho. He was winning, gaining on the Snitch with every second -- then --

"Oh!" screamed Cho, pointing.

Distracted, Harry looked down.

Three Dementors, three tall, black, hooded Dementors, were looking up at him.

He didn't stop to think. Plunging a hand down the neck of his robes, he whipped out his wand and roared, "Expecto patronum!"

Something silver-white, something enormous, erupted from the end of his wand. He knew it had shot directly at the Dementors but didn't pause to watch; his mind still miraculously clear, he looked ahead -- he was nearly there. He stretched out the hand still grasping his wand and just managed to close his fingers over the small, struggling Snitch.

"That's my boy!" Wood kept yelling. Alicia, Angelina, and Katie had all kissed Harry; Fred had him in a grip so tight Harry felt as though his head would come off In complete disarray, the team managed to make its way back to the ground. Harry got off his broom and looked up to see a gaggle of Gryffindor supporters sprinting onto the field, Ron in the lead. Before he knew it, he had been engulfed by the cheering crowd. Hermione and Johnny were walking behind, Hermione slightly pleased, Johnny brooding.

"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 milling Gryffindors.

"That was quite some Patronus," said a voice in Harry's ear.

Harry turned around to see Professor Lupin, who looked both shaken and pleased.

"The Dementors didn't affect me at all!" Harry said excitedly. "I didn't feel a thing!"

"That would be because they -- er -- weren't Dementors," said Professor Lupin. "Come and see -- "

He led Harry out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the field.

"You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright," said Lupin.

Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall.

"An unworthy trick!" she was shouting. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"

"Come on, Harry!" said George, fighting his way over. "Party! Gryffindor common room, now!"

Johnny woke suddenly as though he'd been hit in the face. Disoriented in the total darkness, he fumbled with his hangings, he could hear movements around him, and Theodore Notg'svoice from the other side of the room.

"What's going on?"

Johnny thought he heard the dormitory door slam. At last finding the divide in his curtains, he ripped them back, and at the same moment, Crabbe lit his lamp.

Draco was sitting up in bed, the hangings torn from one side, a look of utmost terror on his face.

"Grindelwald! Jakob Grindelwald! With a knife!"

"What?"

"Here! Just now! Slashed the curtains! Woke me up!"

"You sure you weren't dreaming, Draco?" said Blaise.

"Look at the curtains! I tell you, he was here!"

They all scrambled out of bed; Johnny reached the dormitory door first, and they sprinted back down the staircase. Doors opened behind them, and sleepy voices called after them.

"Who shouted?"

"What're you doing?"

The common room was lit with the glow of the dying fire, It was deserted.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Draco?"

"I'm telling you, I saw him!"

"What's all the noise?"

A few of the girls had come down their staircase, pulling on dressing gowns and yawning. Boys, too, were reappearing.

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" said Graham Montague brightly. They were holding a birthday party earlier for him, despite him not wanting one

"Everyone back upstairs!" said Devon Tolkien, the Slytherin Prefect.

"Dev-- Jakob Grindelwald!" said Draco faintly. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"

The common room went very still.

"Nonsense!" said Devin, looking startled. "You had too much to eat, Draco -- had a nightmare --"

"I'm telling you --"

"Now, enough's enough!"

Professor Snape. He slammed the common room door behind him as he entered the common room and stared furiously around.

"I am delighted that you all like Mr. Montague enough to continue his birthday bash, but this is ridiculous!"

"I certainly didn't authorise this, Professor!" said Devon immediately. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! Draco here had a nightmare --"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Draco yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND JAKOB GRINDELWALD WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

Professor Snape stared at him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Draco, how could he possibly have gotten through the door?"

"Did someone, happen to leave a parchment with the passwords lying about?" Snape asked, his question being answered when murmurs broke out and everyone glanced at Emma Rookwood, a first year.