Although Wood talked about stepping up their training, their post-Christmas training was only intense for the first two weeks. After that, it eased off considerably.
Harry guessed this was probably because their results in the first half of the school year had been so good.
Harry also guessed that if they lost their first match against Ravenclaw, Wood would certainly train them to death over the following week.
Fortunately, though the match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor was fiercely contested, with Ravenclaw's excellent Chasers suppressing Gryffindor for a time and building a seventy-point lead, things worked out.
Harry lived up to everyone's expectations and caught the Golden Snitch before his opponent could.
For the second match, Wood chose Ron for the starting lineup. This was at the suggestion of Angelina and the other two girls, who felt that Wood's performance in the previous match had not been as good as Ron's earlier performance.
Wood looked like a little girl who had been wronged. Despite being captain, he had no authority whatsoever in front of the three girls and could only pout and let Ron play.
After the match, however, Wood grinned like a hundred-and-sixty-five-pound child.
Because Gryffindor had won by a landslide.
Harry caught the Golden Snitch in just five minutes. During those five minutes, although the two sides' Chasers clashed more than a dozen times, Ravenclaw scored only three goals, while Gryffindor scored nine.
Only two matches stood between them and ultimate victory in the Quidditch Cup. In Wood's eyes, neither of their remaining opponents-Slytherin, whom they had beaten in their opening match, nor Hufflepuff, whom they had easily defeated afterward-counted as formidable opposition.
The inter-house Quidditch Cup seemed theirs for the taking!
"Harry, I saw Snape today. He seemed to be threatening Professor Quirrell."
After the match, Gryffindor's