In the end, Professor McGonagall had been unable to get Ron out of the Detention Room.
The trouble was that there really did seem to be nothing wrong with Umbridge's punishment this time.
Thankfully, Gryffindor still won a resounding victory over Slytherin in the next day's match.
Although Ron's absence made things a little difficult for Gryffindor on defense, they completely overwhelmed Slytherin on offense. Gryffindor's Chaser lineup was unchanged from the one that had won the championship two years earlier.
That year, apart from Ravenclaw's Chasers, no other team had been a match for Gryffindor.
With two more years of experience, Gryffindor's Chasers, led by Angelina, had grown even stronger. Their attacks were sharper, and their coordination was better.
Add to that the twins, who had become even more nimble and unpredictable than Bludgers after switching to new broomsticks, and they were at no disadvantage in play, even though their substitute Keeper, Cormac McLaggen, was not performing particularly well.
On the contrary, Slytherin's new Beaters were terrible flyers-their new Beaters were Crabbe and Goyle, something Harry had been unable to believe right up until the match began. Although they had heard about it from the start, they had all taken it as a smokescreen from Slytherin.
But when the two fatties actually appeared on the pitch, the twins knew it was their time to shine.
Well, their Chasers, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, were considerably better than Slytherin's. As Beaters, the twins crushed the two fatties. Both sides had substitute Keepers, whose abilities were much the same.
Until a Seeker delivered the decisive blow, Gryffindor could be said to have pinned Slytherin to the ground... no, wait, they were riding broomsticks, so they were being strung up in the sky and beaten instead.
Their lead once exceeded a hundred points,