"Today, we're practicing team coordination, not individual skill." His voice was so loud that everyone on the pitch could hear him without an Amplifying Charm. "Potter, you're responsible for finding the Golden Snitch. Everyone else, cover him. Don't let the Slytherin players get near him. I want to see your bodies between him and Malfoy."
Angelina tucked her broom beneath her arm and brushed back the hair the wind had blown loose. "Wood, Malfoy's Nimbus 2001 is faster than ours. We can't stop him."
"Even if you can't, you have to." Wood's voice rose even louder. "Block him with your bodies. Block him with your brooms. Use anything you can. As long as Potter has time to find the Golden Snitch, we have a chance to win. No—not a chance. We have to win."
Fred and George exchanged a look. Fred tossed the Bludger in his hand into the air and caught it with his bat. The ball bounced once, then again, before steadying. George rested his bat on his shoulder, tilted his head at Wood, and wore a smile that said, Are you done yet?
"What are you laughing at?" Wood looked at him.
"Nothing." George took the bat off his shoulder and spun it in his hand. "I was just thinking—after all the times we've tried to block them, when did we ever succeed?"
Wood's lips pressed into a thin line. He did not answer. He tossed the Quaffle to Angelina and turned toward the goalposts. His back was straight, but his steps were heavy, his boots making soft squelching sounds against the grass.
Harry hovered high in the air on his Nimbus 2000. The wind blew in from the Forbidden Forest, carrying the scent of pine and earth. His broom swayed gently beneath him, neither speeding up