Quidditch Match

The Quidditch Match was today, and Harry was too nervous to eat.

"Have some bread, mate," Ron urged, seeing that Harry wasn't eating anything.

"Ron's right. You'll need a lot of energy today, so eat a little."

"I'm not hungry." Before Harry had finished speaking, Professor Snape came over.

"Good luck today, Potter. You defeated a Troll, so a Quidditch Match should be no trouble, even if your opponents are Slytherin." With that, he limped away.

"What's with the blood?" Harry had noticed the injury from last night. Snape still hadn't recovered today, and Harry was suspicious.

"Blood?"

"I think Snape used the Troll as a diversion last night and took the chance to get past the three-headed dog..." Before Harry could finish, he was interrupted again.

"Professor Snape is a good man. He wouldn't do something like that." Mia had just arrived and heard Harry making far-fetched guesses about Professor Snape.

"Mia? What brings you here?" Harry looked at his sister and the tomato juice in her hand with delight.

"I saw you couldn't eat anything, so I came over to check on you." Mia sat down beside Hermione.

"But I still think Snape..."

"Harry, Professor Snape has been very good to me. I don't think someone like that could be a bad person," Mia argued.

"He's good to you, but not to us." Ron shook his head, remembering how Snape had singled him out.

"Harry, if you're going to suspect someone, why not suspect Quirrell? He was the one who first told everyone about the Troll, wasn't he?"

Harry remembered that Mia had disliked Quirrell even before the school year began, and he had kept an eye on Quirrell for a long time afterward. "But he doesn't seem like someone who would do that, does he?" Professor Quirrell was frightened even by noises during class. How could someone like that possibly do it?

Yes, Quirrell's disguise was too good. If Mia hadn't known beforehand, she would have been fooled too.

"But!" Mia didn't want Harry to suspect Snape, because he really had been very good to her. Whenever she was hurt, he was always more concerned about her injuries than the truth, and no matter what happened, he always believed her. Knowing all this, Mia couldn't suspect him.

"All right, I won't say any more." Harry couldn't bear to see Mia like this, so he dropped the subject.

Just then, an owl flew in and dropped a parcel toward Harry, who caught it.

"Mail this early?"

"No one's ever sent us a parcel." Harry wondered if it had been delivered to the wrong person.

"Shall we open it?" Ron asked curiously.

They did just that, and the four of them unwrapped the parcel together.

"A flying broomstick?"

"This isn't just any broomstick. It's a Nimbus 2000." Ron ran his hand over the broom enviously.

"But who..." As he spoke, someone came to mind. Harry looked at Professor McGonagall, and the owl that had just delivered the parcel was right beside her. Professor McGonagall smiled at Harry, and he couldn't help smiling back.

Quidditch Pitch

When Mia arrived at the Slytherin section of the stands, Draco and the others had already saved seats.

"You're here so early?" Mia went over to Draco and took the binoculars he offered her.

"Of course. I've been looking forward to this for ages."

"Draco loves Quidditch more than anything. If first-years were allowed on the team, he'd definitely have tried out," Blaise teased.

"Hmph. I'll try out next year, and then I'll see how I measure up against Potter." Draco had plenty of complaints about Harry being allowed onto the school team as a first-year.

Mia shook her head helplessly and looked at Theodore.

"Don't you dislike noise? Why did you come?"

Theodore looked over at Draco. Mia understood. He had been dragged here.

The Quidditch Match was held around November, so it was already very cold. Mia was still cold despite wearing thick clothes and gloves. She looked around: Draco was completely focused on Quidditch and didn't feel the cold at all. Blaise probably didn't need one either, since he was busy flirting with girls. Pansy and Daphne were wearing short skirts with bare legs. Weren't they cold? But Mia didn't get along very well with those two. Theodore was dressed lightly, so Mia shared her hand warmer with her Potions partner.

"Why are you wearing so little?"

"I'm fine." Theodore took it. It was very warm.

Suddenly, the players from both teams flew out on their broomsticks, and the match began.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch Match of the term. Today, Slytherin will face Gryffindor," Lee Jordan announced through a megaphone.

"Madam Hooch steps onto the pitch to announce the start of the match!"

Madam Hooch looked up at the little snakes and lions, who were ready to go, and said, "I want today's match to be fair and exciting."

Then she looked at the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint. He wasn't one to play fair.

Madam Hooch kicked open the box and released the Bludgers and the Golden Snitch.

"The Bludgers are in the air, followed by the Golden Snitch. Remember, the Golden Snitch is worth 150 points. Once a Seeker catches it, the match is over."

The Golden Snitch flew past Harry and Terence Higgs.

Madam Hooch held the Quaffle in her hands and tossed it up.

"The Quaffle is in the air, and the match begins!"

As soon as he said it, both teams sprang into action.