Discovery

09.

The next morning was the first Quidditch match of the season. Gryffindor was playing Hufflepuff, since Malfoy still claimed to be "injured".

Ron, Hermione, and I made our way into the stands. It was pouring rain, and I could hear thunder in the distance. At this moment I was very glad I didn't play Quidditch.

"Why would anyone ever want to play in these conditions?" I thought aloud. "That's insane!"

"Well, Quidditch takes a little insanity." Ron replied. We huddled under umbrellas, preparing to watch the match.

The two teams emerged, and the team Captains shook hands. I saw Oliver Wood, Gryffindor Captain, but I didn't know who the Hufflepuff Captain was.

"Who's Hufflepuff's Captain?" I asked Ron.

"Cedric Diggory. He's a Seeker too, and he's in fifth year."

Everyone mounted their brooms and rose into the air. Harry was swerving a little in the heavy wind, and I didn't understand how anyone could see anything with the rain coming down this heavy.

"His glasses!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed. I gave her a puzzled look. "Harry's glasses! He's not going to be able to see if he's wearing them in the rain!" she explained.

"He's not going to be able to see without them either. He's quite blind, Hermione." I told her.

"I know that! But I think I know a spell that can help!" she darted off and Ron and I exchanged confused expressions.

Almost immediately after Hermione ran off, there was a whistle, and Gryffindor descended to the ground. But the time out was short-lived, moments later they all resumed playing and Hermione ran back.

"Impervius!" she blurted out. "It's a spell to repel water!"

There was an abrupt flash of lightning, and it made everyone jump. I finally spotted my sister, scoring a goal for the Gryffindor team.

"Look!" Ron shouted. "Diggory spotted the Snitch!" I squinted, trying to make out Cedric Diggory through the buckets of rain plunging from the sky. As I tried to spot the Hufflepuff Seeker, everything suddenly got very cold.

"Uh oh, you guys! Look!" Hermione tapped my shoulder and pointed in the other direction. I followed her finger and noticed tons of dementors swarming around Harry.

More and more dementors hovered around Harry. There looked to be hundreds of them. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as I came to a realization.

"Guys! He's going to fall!" I screamed. I was right, Harry went limp and I watched in horror as he plummeted to the ground.

***

"Lucky the ground was so soft." Fred said as we stood around Harry's bed in the Hospital Wing.

"I thought he was dead for sure." Miranda chimed in. I glared at her. "What?"

Harry's eyes suddenly shot open, and my worries were alleviated knowing that he was alive.

"Harry!" Fred said. "How're you feeling?"

"What happened?" Harry asked while sitting up, which shocked everyone.

"You fell off," Fred explained. "Must've been— what— fifty feet?"

"We thought you'd died," said Alicia, who was the Reserve Chaser.

"But the match," said Harry. "What happened? Are we doing a replay?" No one said anything.

"Someone needs to tell him." Miranda said indifferently. Harry seemed to come to a state of realization at this point.