Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Chapter 11 - Quidditch
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Chapter 11
Quidditch
As the days pass, the weather becomes cold. It is November. Quidditch season has begun! Harry has been training very hard. On Saturday, he is going to play his first game. Gryffindor will be playing Slytherin. If Gryffindor wins, they will be in second place in the house championship.
Harry is glad that he and Hermione are good friends now. He has very little time during the week to study because of all the extra Quidditch training he has been doing. And she helps him a lot with his homework. But Harry is having difficulty finishing his homework for Snape’s class. And the last thing he wants is for Snape to hate him even more. Harry decides he will try to talk to Snape and explain why he is late turning in his homework.
Harry decides to go to the teachers’ lounge to talk to Snape. Hopefully he will be nicer to Harry if there are other teachers around. “Good luck!” says Ron, who is relaxing in the common room with him, “you’re going to need it!” Harry goes down to the teachers’ lounge and knocks on the door. No one answers.
He knocks again. Nothing. Harry thinks it is strange that there are no teachers in the teachers’ lounge. It is always full of teachers between classes. He pushes the door open just a little bit and looks inside. Snape is in the room, and he is with Filch! Snape is sitting on a chair and holding his leg out. It is injured and bloody. Filch is putting bandages around it.
“I can’t believe he bit me!” Snape is saying. “How are you supposed to look at all three heads at the same time?” Harry tries to shut the door quietly, but… “POTTER!” Snape’s face has an angry look on it as he stands up quickly to hide his leg. Harry is terrified! “I just wondered if I could talk to you about my homewo...” “GET OUT! OUT!”
When Harry returns to the common room he tells Ron and Hermione what he has seen. “You know what that means,” says Harry. “Snape had an encounter with the three-headed dog on Halloween! That’s where he was going when we saw him - to try to get through the trap door under the dog.” “And he probably let the troll in too, to make a diversion!” says Ron. “I wonder what the dog is hiding?” asks Harry before they all go to sleep for the night.
That night Harry can’t sleep. It’s not because Neville is snoring - it’s because he has so many questions flying around inside his head. He needs to sleep because his first Quidditch game is in a few hours. But Harry can’t forget the look on Snape’s face when he saw his leg. Finally, Harry is able to fall asleep. He does not sleep well at all.
The next morning is bright and cold. The whole school is excited about the Quidditch match today. And by eleven o’clock, the stadium is full of students and teachers. Many students have binoculars to be able to see all the exciting moments of the match. Ron, Hermione and Neville find seats on the top row of the stands. They have an amazing view of the whole field.
Finally, the two teams come out of the locker rooms and onto the field. The stadium is filled with loud cheers and whistles! Madam Hooch is refereeing. She is considered one of the strictest refs in the sport. She stands in the middle of the field, waiting for the two teams to form around her. She is holding her broom in her hand.
As Harry stands on the field with his team, he feels very nervous about his first game. The players on the other team look very big and strong. The Slytherin Captain looks like he has some troll blood in him. But he can see his friends high in the stands. They are cheering for him. This gives him more confidence.
“Now,” Madam Hooch screams, “I want a fair game from all of you.” Harry notices that she is speaking more to the Slytherin Captain than to Gryffindor’s Captain. “Mount your broomsticks, please.” Madam Hooch continues. Harry climbs onto his Nimbus Two Thousand. “Wait for my whistle!” screams Madam Hooch. Then she puts a shiny silver whistle into her mouth and blows hard - scrreeeeeee! The players rise high into the air on their brooms. The game has begun!
“And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor - what an excellent Chaser she is!” the commentator of the game shouts. “Oh no! Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint steals the Quaffle. Off he goes. Flint flying like an eagle up there. It looks good for Flint… he goes for a goal and it’s… What a save by Gryffindor Keeper Oliver Wood. Gryffindor takes control!”
The game goes back and forth. First Gryffindor has control, then Slytherin takes the Quaffle. The Weasley twins work together to cause chaos with the Bludgers until… “Angelina Johnson is back in control of the Quaffle. There’s a clear field ahead of her… off she goes, like a speeding bullet. Wow, that was close - almost caught by a Bludger… she’s heading towards the goal posts… Slytherin Keeper Bletchley makes a move to block - misses - GRYFFINDOR SCORES!”
The stadium erupts in cheers for Gryffindor and boos from Slytherin! Suddenly Hagrid appears in the stands next to Ron and the other children from Gryffindor. “Make some room for me, would you!” yells Hagrid. The children squeeze closer to make some space. “There’s no sign of the Snitch yet, is there?”
“Not yet,” answers Ron. “There’s not much for Harry to do until it appears.” Hagrid takes out some binoculars and focuses on Harry. “He’s keeping out of trouble for now, and that’s good,” says Hagrid. High above them, Harry is sitting on his broom. He is watching the development of the game and keeping an eye out for the Snitch. This is part of Oliver Wood’s game plan. “Keep out of the way until you see the Snitch,” Wood tells Harry before the game. “We don’t want you attacked before you have to be.”
After Angelina’s goal, Harry feels more confident. But he is still nervous - he can’t see any sign of the Snitch! “That was a close call! Potter is almost bludgeoned by the Bludger!” yells the commentator. “Now Slytherin are in possession of the Quaffle! The Weasley Chasers are chasing, but it looks like they might be too late - wait a minute… is that the Snitch?”
Harry sees it. Full of excitement he dives down like a flash of lighting, straight towards the Snitch! But Slytherin’s Seeker, Terence Higgs, has also seen it, too. The race is on. All the other players on the teams appear to have forgotten about the game. They are all watching what is about to happen!
Harry is faster than Higgs. He can see the little round ball and the flapping wings. It is just in front of him. He leans forward and gains some extra speed. “Oh, no! Potter did not see that coming! The Bludger has knocked him off course and he has lost control! The Snitch has escaped! It looks like Higgs has lost the Snitch, too, in all the confusion! What a match we have today, folks!!”
Suddenly, as Harry is dodging another Bludger, it happens. He begins to lose control of his broom! It begins to move in erratic motions, up and down, and side to side. He almost falls! He holds on tightly to the broom with both hands and both knees. He feels like he is gaining control again when…
“What’s going on with Potter? It looks like he has lost all control of his broomstick! He’s zigzagging towards the Forbidden Forest! What on earth is going on? This is a great opportunity for Slytherin, if Potter can’t get back into the game!”
“What is Harry thinking?” asks Hagrid, as he looks at Harry through his binoculars. “Has he lost control of his broom? How has that happened? That’s a Nimbus 2000!” Suddenly people all over the stands are pointing up at Harry. He is going higher and higher into the air. Now his broom is rolling over like a spinning wheel! The crowd gasps in surprise and fear!
“The only thing that can interfere with a broomstick is Dark magic,” says Hagrid seriously, “especially a Nimbus 2000!” Hermione suddenly grabs Hagrid’s binoculars from Hagrid’s hands. She does not look up at Harry. She starts looking into the crowd. “What are you looking for? Harry’s up there!” says Ron, confused. “I knew it!” yells Hermione, “Snape - look!”
“I think he’s cursing the broom. Look at his mouth moving - he’s casting a Dark spell on Harry’s broom!” “What should we do?” asks Ron. “I know what to do,” says Hermione. Hermione runs quickly through the rows to the other side of the stands. In her rush, she accidentally pushes Professor Quirrell out of his seat! She finally arrives behind Snape’s seat.
She takes out her wand and whispers some words. Blue flames shoot from her wand onto the bottom of Snape’s robes. They quickly begin to burn. Hermione looks up at Harry. Harry is hanging from his broom! He is about to fall! People begin to notice the flames on Snape’s robes. Hermione runs quickly back to her seat. The flames are enough to distract Snape.
“Look at that! What an amazing recovery! Potter is back on his broom and back in control! Look at him go! He’s off! He’s moving straight for the ground! He’s going too fast - he’s going to crash!” Just before he is about to crash into the gound, Harry suddenly pulls up on his broom! He jumps off his broom and he rolls safely onto the grass. He is covering his mouth, like he is going to vomit.
He stands up and coughs. Something flies out of his mouth and into his hand. “I’ve got the Snitch!” he shouts. He holds the Snitch high above his head. “It’s over, everyone! What an amazing turn of events!! Potter has literally swallowed the Snitch! What a historic moment in Quidditch! Gryffindor wins!!”
After the game, the Slytherin team files an official complaint to Madam Hooch - technically, they say, Harry never “caught” the Snitch - he swallowed it! But Madam Hooch ignores the complaint. Gryffindor is named winner, and is now in second place. But Harry hears none of this. He and Ron and Hermione are at Hagrid’s house, enjoying a cup of strong tea.
“It was Snape,” Ron explains to Harry. “Hermione saw him cursing your broomstick. He never took his eyes off you the whole time.” Hagrid protests, “That’s nonsense, Weasley. Why would Snape try to hurt Harry?” Harry decides to tell Hagrid the truth. “I discovered something about Snape,” he tells Hagrid. “He tried to go past the three-headed dog and get through the trapdoor. It happened on Halloween. The dog bit him. I heard him talk about it. We think he was trying to steal whatever the dog is guarding.”
Hagrid drops his tea cup. “How do you know about Fluffy?” he asks in surprise. “Fluffy?” says Harry. “Yeah,” continues Hagrid, “Fluffy’s mine. I leant him to Dumbledore so he could guard the…” Harry looks at Hagrid with anticipation, “Guard the what?” he asks. “Oh, I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth! Don’t ask me any more questions about anything,” says Hagrid, angry at himself. “It’s all very top secret, you know.” “But Snape is trying to steal it!” says Harry.
“I’m telling you you’re all wrong!” yells Hagrid. “Snape would never do anything to hurt a student. Now stop asking questions! Forget about Fluffy and the trapdoor. And anyway, all of that is between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel…” Hagrid stops talking suddenly. “Aha!” says Harry, “so there is more to this story! Hagrid, who is Nicolas Flamel?” Hagrid is furious with himself…
