Chapter 37

As all the students were sleeping in the Great Hall, in sleeping bags conjured by the Headmaster, Harry learnt from Penny, who was the Head girl and also a friend that apparently Peter Pettigrew had assaulted the Portrait of the Fat Lady after she refused to allow him entry into the Gryffindor Dorms, and that all the Professors were searching the castle and the grounds for him, but Harry doubted that they would be able to find a small rat in such a large place. Harry quickly went to sleep after making a note to teach his sisters some effective spells to use in defense if they were attacked. Harry had an idea about how to keep track of his sisters if they were in danger till he finished recreating the Marauders map which should be finished by Christmas. But for that he would have to go to Knockturn Alley, which would only be possible during the next Weekend. During that time Harry would have to learn how to apparate properly in the Room of Requirements, where he could apparate to different places inside the room, but could not apparate out of the room.

The next week, Harry spent most of his time inside the ROR, practising Apparition, which he got it done within the first two hours, the rest of the time he practised doing it wandlessly, as it would be a great way to escape an unfavorable situation when he didn't have his wand with him. Harry managed to get it done by the next week.During the weekend Harry sneaked out of Hogwarts using the tunnel through the cellar of Honeydukes. Harry apparated near the entry to Knockturn Alley and after casting a strong glamour charm on himself, he covered his face with a cloak he had transfigured and after using an obscurity charm on his face he entered Borgin and Burke's and walked towards the counter to find the owner.

Borgin looked towards the new customer and didn't think much of him obscuring his face ad he got many customers who didn't want their identity to be revealed, so he just ignored it and asked, " Hello respected sir, welcome to Borgin and Burke's, how may I help you? "

Harry answered using a voice modulating charm, " I need 4 paired silver necklaces such that I can know when the persons wearing the other three necklaced are in danger. I want the best that you have, don't worry about the cost. "

Borgin removed a pair of silver chains with a locket with different animal motifs and said, " one of this pair has a series of monitoring charms on it which informs the one wearing the other chain if the person wearing the chain is in danger. And also warns the wearer if any potion is their in their food by warming up significantly and a full body shield charm is formed around the wearer when he/ she is attacked, it protects from low to mid level curses. As you said that you want four such chains, with one of them being the control chain, it will take a week to enchant them, it can be activated when a person wearing the control chain and the person wearing the other chain drop a drop of their blood on the locket of the chain, that activates the runes. The cost will be 800 galleons, I want 400 galleons in advance and you can pick it up on the next weekend. "

Harry paid up the 400 galleons and said, " my house elf will pick up the order the next weekend and pay the remaining amount. " Harry swept out of Knockturn Alley and apparated back to Hogsmeade and slipped back into Hogwarts the same way he sneaked out. Harry was satisfied that he had taken care of that issue and now he could concentrate on finishing the Map without any other disturbances as the first quidditch match of Ravenclaw was against Hufflepuff and was on the next day and so he could concentrate on other things till December as the next match was only in December. Harry decided to approach Professor Flitwick after the match about Duelling training.

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The next day found Harry despondently eating his breakfast beside Padma.

" Harry, why are you looking so depressed, I know that you love playing Quidditch. "

" Did you look outside? it looks like a storm is brewing outside. I may like Quidditch, but only an idiot looks forward to playing in a storm, I wonder how I am supposed to even spot the snitch in this weather. "

As all the Ravenclaw players got changed into their quidditch robes, the captain Roger Davies looked at all of them and said, " Guys, I want a fully fast paced game from the beginning so that we can build up an early lead. Harry, I want you to catch the snitch as soon as possible, I don't want to play any longer than absolutely necessary in this weather. So, come on boys, we haven't lost a match in two years and I want us to continue our winning streak this year too. "

With a cheer, the entire Ravenclaw team jogged onto the pitch . Davies and Wood shook hands, and both the teams took off into the air as Madam Hooch released the snitch.

" And there they go, and Davies snatches the quaffle out of the air and races off towards the Gryffindor posts, he passes it to Carmichael who feints a throw at the goalposts but passes it to Davies and Davies scores. 10 - 0 to Ravenclaw. "

Jordan announced from the Commentary box.

" Wood throws the ball to Johnson, but Potter intercepts the pass and kicks it towards the Gryffindor goalposts, and look at that go , it spins past the Gryffindor goalkeeper's outstretched hands and passes through the hoop. Potter scores! Is that even legal, can the Seeker score a goal? Well it seems that there is nothing against that in the rulebook according to Madam Hooch. "

" Look at Potter go! it seems like he has seen the snitch and is on the chase as he dodges the two bludgers hit at him by the Weasley twins and weaves in and out between the chasers and Oh my God! it is a barrel roll as he dodges another bludger and look at that dive, he dives almost vertically from 50 feet and the Gryffindor seeker Ginny Weasley is hot on his tail, and Potter stretches his hand for the snitch and look at that, Potter pulls out of his dive only two foot from the ground and Ginny Weasley crashes into the ground as she fails to pull up in time. All that fancy flying by Potter was a feint and he pulled off a flawless Wronski feint. And look at that, Potter makes use of the distraction he caused and scores twice past Wood. 40- 0 to Ravenclaw. "

Harry was on an adrenaline high as even though he couldn't see the snitch in the massive rainfall, he had managed to score thrice for Ravenclaw and had taken out the Gryffindor seeker Ginny Weasley.

Harry suddenly heard a faint buzzing sound and saw the snitch flying straight upwards a few feet from him, he turned the handle of his broom upwards and took off almost vertically after the Snitch. He had almost reached within an arm's length of the snitch and stretched out his hand to catch it when he suddenly felt the intense cold he had come to associate with Dementors and looked down to see all the Dementors streaming onto the Quidditch grounds and Harry immediately flicked his wand into his hand and using an immense burst of magic cast the same magic he had used to destroy the Dementors on the Hogwarts express and was glad to see the massive silver Thunderbird burst out of his wand , cloaked in silvery lightning and race of in a blur towards the massive horde of Dementors, destroying them with zaps of massive silver lightning bolts.

Harry immediately dived down after the snitch from what seemed like a 100 feet in height.

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In the audience, James Potter, Sirius Black and their daughters were cheering like mad as they saw Harry's spectacular flying and almost jumped out of their seats when they saw the perfectly executed Wronski feint, while Lily , Susan and Amelia were covering their eyes in fear as they saw Harry's death defying stunts on his broom.

Suddenly ,the temperature plummeted as they saw a massive horde of Dementors stream onto the Quidditch grounds. Lily shrieked in fear while pointing a finger at he son who looked like he was about a 100 feet in the air and looked to be surrounded by Dementors who were slowly approaching him to feast on his soul and there were no one around to save him, when suddenly she saw what looked like massive eagle patronus burst into existence from what looked like Harry's

position and began destroying the Dementors in bursts of speed and Zaps of silvery lightning originating from its massive wings, when another massive patronus, this time a Phoenix, joined what she could now clearly see was a massive Thunderbird patronus in destroying the Dementors in bursts of silvery fire. The Phoenix patronus clearly belonged to Albus. Harry's and Albus's patronus were clearly the result of the magic Amelia and Harry had told her about, the same magic he had used on the Hogwarts express to destroy the Dementors.

Amelia cast her own bulldog patronus with James, Sirius, Remus, Lily and sone of the Professors immediately casting their own patronus spells as they saw the Patronus belonging to Albus and Harry destroy the Dementors and used their patronus to herd the remaining fleeing Dementors towards the Thunderbird and Phoenix patronus. In a few minutes all that was remaining of the Dementors was black ashes.

Amelia then saw Harry dive what was probably a 100 feet and pull up a mere 2 feet from the ground and raise his hand to the crowd with the golden snitch caught firmly in his hand.

" Would you look at that! It seems like even a hundred Dementors were not enough to stop Harry Potter from catching the Snitch. Potter catches the snitch after a spectacular 100 foot dive and Ravenclaw win the match 190 - 0. And Ravenclaw are in the lead to win their third consecutive Quidditch cup in the last three years. " Jordan announced as Harry was swarmed by his teammates in a massive hug in midair.

Harry managed to extricate himself from his teammates and made his way to his family as he was hugged by his sisters who had only one question for him, " Harry, will you teach us how to fly like you did, please? "

Harry didn't answer as he saw the disapproving looks on his mothers faces and knew that they would skin him alive if he taught his sisters to fly like him. He was saved from the need to answer, when his father James interjected, " Harry, that was incredible flying, you are better on a broom than I ever was, continue this and you will soon play for England, " he beamed at Harry.

" Yes pup, brilliant flying. I don't think even Emile Wronski could pull off the Wronski feint you performed better than you.By the way I saw Titus Jones, the coach and manager of the England Quidditch team in the stands and he seems to be coming towards us to talk to you, " Sirius remarked excitedly.

Harry turned towards the person Sirius pointed out and saw a strong middle aged man approaching them, the man stopped in front of them and said, "Mr. Potter, that was spectacular flying in the match, it has been a long time since I have seen such talented flying. We are holding trials for the English national team for this year's Quidditch world Cup, and I would like you to participate in the trials as a seeker, England could use a talented seeker like you in the English team .If you agree , I can talk to the Headmaster and arrange for you to come to Yorkshire to participate in the trials being conducted this Thursday. "

Harry was shocked , he had not expected this, and so he looked at his parents for guidance, his mother Amelia said, " Harry, I am not a great fan of Quidditch, but this is a wonderful opportunity for you, you should not squander it, I say go and participate in the Trials, and we'll see what happens after that. "

Harry nodded his head at Mr. Jones and they made an arrangement with Professor Dumbledore to provide Harry with a Portkey to reach the stadium of the English national team for the trials on Thursday morning.

Harry returned to the Room of Requirements to get his head screwed straight again and also to complete a task he should have completed long ago. He immediately requested for the room where everything is hidden and after searching for a few hours, found the Diadem on the head of a bust of an ugly warlock. Harry immediately used a glass vial he had with him containing basilisk venom and poured two drops of it on the Diadem , ignoring the whispers Harry could feel coming from the Horcrux to try it on as it promised endless knowledge, but Harry ignored the strong compulsion charm Voldemort placed on it and with an earsplitting screech ,black smoke burst out of the Diadem and Harry vanished the traces of Basilisk venom from the smoking remains of the Diadem and sent Rosey to store the destroyed Diadem in his Gringotts vault.

Harry returned to the Ravenclaw common room with a sense of accomplishment as he had managed to destroy two of Voldemort's horcruxes.

Harry quickly went to sleep ignoring the party going on in the Ravenclaw common room as he was very tired.

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The next day, Harry found himself in Dumbledore's office as he had been asked to report to the Headmaster's office by Professor McGonagall.

Harry stroked Fawkes feathers as he crooned and then sat in a chair, as Dumbledore said, " Harry, it's good to see you. I called you to discuss the repercussions of both of us destroying all the Dementors the Ministry had under its employment to guard Azkaban. With the attack by the Dementors on the students as witnessed by everyone, the Ministry can't take any action against us but, I fear that we have made an enemy of the minister of magic, as I guess that he now has to massively increase the budget of the DMLE to cover for the loss of the Dementors and train new aurors. I believe this goes against everything that his advisor Lucius Malfoy wants as it was most probably on his suggestion that Fudge has been decreasing the budget of the DMLE over the years."

"Anyway, I was happy to talk with Mr. Jones and you can use my office on Thursday morning to floor over to the English national team stadium in Yorkshire. "

Harry just smiled and said, " well, it's not like I was a fan of the Minister of Magic, in my opinion he is a moron. Anyway, thank you for agreeing to let me attend the Trials for the English national team. "

Harry took his leave and left after scratching Fawkes feathers one final time.

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Thursday morning found Harry in the Yorkshire stadium, having flooed over to the Coach's office from Professor Dumbledore's office.

Harry stood with the 40 other candidates competing for the spot of seeker. The coach looked at them and said, " there will be three rounds in the trials. First round will be an obstacle course, the fastest 20 flyers will be made to perform different manouevers while flying at top speed and the best five will have to compete with each other to catch the maximum amount of snitches out of ten snitches released with two bludgers trying to knock you off from your brooms."

" Come on guys, get on your brooms and lets start the first round, " he blew a whistle starting the obstacle course and Harry flew at his top speed through various obstacles like hoops and barriers at different heights and finished first. He saw that fifteen flyers had crashed at various obstacles and were eliminated.

On the second round ,Harry was the only one who performed all the moves called out by the coach like a sloth grip roll, a barrel roll, dives from various heights etc., flawlessly at full speed.

As the five remaining flyers including Harry took off into the sky to catch as many of the ten snitches as possible, he immediately crashed two of the flyers into the ground by deceiving them with a Wronski feint and immediately rised into the sky almost vertically at 90° and caught a snitch and caught another two through daring dives at full speed from very high altitudes. Another flyer crashed as he followed Harry in a very steep dive but Harry beat him to the snitch and pulled up just a few feet from the ground and chased off after another snitch but the one following him could not pull up in time and crashed into the ground and was eliminated. Harry caught another two snitches before crashing the one remaining flyer other than him with the help of a Wronski feint. "

Harry caught a total of seven snitches and the coach approached him as he got off his broom and said, "Excellent flying, kid. You got yourself the seeker spot, keep flying like that and we might just win the Quidditch world Cup. You can return to Hogwarts using the Floo connection in my office. I will send you the dates of team practice for the World Cup. There will be a total of 128 teams participating. Each match will be a knockout match and you have to win seven continuous matches to win the World Cup. "

Harry returned to Hogwarts in a state of Euphoria, he flooed into Dumbledore's office and found Professor Dumbledore as well as Professor McGonagall in the Headmaster's office.

Looking at Harry, Professor McGonagall asked, " So, Mr. Potter, how did the seeker trials go? "

Harry smirked and said, " Well Professor, you are looking at the newest seeker of the English National Quidditch team. "

Accepting the enthusiastic congrats from both the Professors, especially McGonagall who was a Quidditch fanatic, Harry returned to his dorm and called his Mom on the communication mirror.

His mom Lily answered the mirror and seeing the broad smile on his face, she smilingly said, " Hello sweetheart, seeing the wide smile on his face, can I assume that you got selected? "

Harry just laughed out aloud and nodded his head rapidly.

" Congratulations sweetie! I will inform your father as soon as he cones home. You take of yourself. "

Harry deactivated the mirror call and slept for a while as he was tired. By the evening, the news that he was selected as the Seeker for the English national Quidditch squad for the Quidditch World Cup had spread all over the castle and he spent most of his time accepting congrats from his classmates and friends or ignore glares from jealous prats like Draco, Neville and Ron.

His sisters were even more excited than him at the thought of him playing Quidditch internationally. He received mirror calls from his family at night to congratulate him on his selection and his mom Amelia hinted at a present for him for getting selected as well as for destroying the Dementors and inadvertently causing Fudge to increase the budget for her department, the DMLE.