Harry knew Dumbledore had a great many things to deal with. After all, Voldemort had fully returned, the Ministry of Magic was constantly holding him back, and there was the Order of the Phoenix... But no one wanted to be ignored.
That brief conversation with Dumbledore had released the resentment Harry had built up from being ignored by him, and his outlook had changed slightly as well.
The recent Dumbledore's Army meetings, Umbridge's misfortunes, and the usefulness of the Skiving Snackbox had made life fairly pleasant for Harry lately.
It was just that Dumbledore apparently had not managed to persuade Albert, while Hermione had made no progress whatsoever in studying the "Advanced Occlumency Guide." Before they knew it, the end of October had arrived.
The match between the Gryffindor Team and the Slytherin Team was fast approaching.
The only fly in the ointment was Ron's ability. His nerves were far too poor, and he simply could not perform at his usual level. He was doing terribly in training and could not compare with Wood, Harry's former captain. Although Ron was working hard to improve his Quidditch skills, Harry knew full well that if Ron could not overcome his mental barrier, he would become Gryffindor Team's weak point.
Even as his friend, Harry could not make excuses for him.
Still, Harry remained rather optimistic about the upcoming match. After all, they had never lost to the Slytherin Team before.
The Slytherin Team clearly knew that too. Years of defeat had infuriated them. They had never believed they could lose to the Gryffindor Team, and so whenever a match between the two Houses approached, unpleasant conflicts would always arise.
This time, not only would their Head of House, Professor Snape, favor them, but the arrival of High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge had given