The second weekend after winter began, the Hogwarts House Cup Quidditch tournament was still in full swing.
It was Saturday. The morning match was Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, while Ravenclaw would face Slytherin that afternoon.
The morning match went about as expected. Thanks to Annie's advantage, Gryffindor crushed Hufflepuff in record time and advanced to the final with a perfect record. The afternoon match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin would decide who claimed the other spot in the final.
Although it was still lunchtime and the afternoon match wouldn't start for another two hours, some of the students in red Gryffindor robes had already begun celebrating at the Gryffindor table.
Yes, celebrating early!
After all, whether Ravenclaw or Slytherin won, both had already lost to Gryffindor. Even if one of them made it to the final, wouldn't that just mean another repeat of the same result?
So, as far as most Gryffindor students were concerned, their House was guaranteed to win this year's Quidditch House Cup. There was no suspense at all!
Except...
Some people had heard that the Headmaster was discussing possible rule changes with the Heads of the other Houses to keep the final from becoming a dull spectacle.
As for what the changes would be—whether, as some people speculated, the Snitch would be released only after a certain amount of time or Chasers would be barred from going after it until a certain point—no one knew yet.
But whatever happened, it wouldn't make any difference.
After all, the Gryffindor students figured that unless their opponents could build a lead of more than a hundred and fifty points before the Golden Snitch was released—or before they were allowed to catch it—and then maintain that lead, changing the rules wouldn't matter!
The Seekers from all three Houses had already proved as