Obliviate {Book 1--EDITING}

17. Gryffindor Vs Ravenclaw^

Ron and Hermione's friendship was essentially over. They were so angry with each other, I could hardly imagine them ever apologising. Ron was enraged Hermione hadn't controlled Crookshanks well enough, and Hermione was angry because there was no solid proof it was Crookshanks.

I was sure Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, and Harry pointed this out to Hermione, but she got really angry with him.

"Okay, side with Ron, I knew you would!" she said shrilly. "First the Firebolt, now Scabbers, everything's my fault, isn't it! Just leave me alone, Harry, I've got a lot of work to do!"

This was the exact reason I didn't tell her my opinion.

"Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was," said Cole bracing to him. The two of them had made up, which was something. "And he's been off-colour for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly -- one swallow -- he probably didn't feel a thing."

"Cole!" Alia burst out.

"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?"

In a final attempt to cheer Ron up , we invited Ron to the final practice before the match, letting him ride on the firebolt at last.

Madam Hooch-who was still keeping an eye on us in practice-was just as impressed by the Firebolt, and even gave a whole commentary on it before we started practice.

"Look at the balance on it! If the Nimbus series has a fault, it's a slight list to the tail end -- you often find they develop a drag after a few years. They've updated the handle too, a bit slimmer than the Cleansweeps, reminds me of the old Silver Arrows."

I felt offended, as my Nimbus 2000 was an amazing broomstick, representative of how good my friendship was with Draco. We were still friends, and sometimes he'd sit with me and Cole in potions (turning up late so it didn't look so obvious we were friends) and we'd go out into the grounds after dinner most nights, mostly bantering back and forth.

What did kill the mood was that Gennie was always lurking around during these moments, like an over-obsessive stalker. I wasn't sure what her problem was, but I hoped it wasn't that she was in love with Draco. A jealous Gennie was not a pretty sight.

Madam Hooch continued in this vein for some time, until Wood said, "Er -- Madam Hooch? Is it okay if Harry has the Firebolt back? We need to practice..."

Once Madam Hooch disappeared, Wood told Harry some bad news.

"Harry, the Ravenclaw seeker is Cho Chang, a fourth year, and she's pretty good as well. But her broomstick is a joke, so you'll be faster than her anyway. Right come on, let's practice!"

And at long last, we all mounted our brooms, and kicked off from the ground.

It was the best practice ever; the firebolt seemed to inspire us to do the best we could. Wood didn't even have any criticisms, which was a first.

"I can't see what's going to stop us tomorrow!" said Wood. "Not unless -- Harry, Rory you've both sorted out your Dementor problem, haven't you?"

"Yeah, sort of," I muttered thinking of my feeble Patronus and wishing it were stronger.