While Harry was no longer even interested in Quidditch, or even give the impression of being interested in Quidditch, Hermione thought it would be a good idea to at least show 'House unity' by going down to the Quidditch pitch on the first weekend of May to watch Gryffindor play their first of two matches for the shortened season. It was against their arch-enemies, Slytherin.
Harry couldn't argue, as he had been feeling a bit 'hemmed in' by the walls of the castle of late. And May had started with decently warm days, anyway. So, down to the Quidditch pitch, they went.
Because of Daphne being with them and all the Heirs plus Fleur wanting to sit together, they sat in one of the Unaligned, no specific House, tribunes to watch the match. Though he hadn't said anything to the others, Harry was actually interested in how well he'd picked Ginny Weasley to be a decent seeker for the Lions. Especially, now that she rode a decent broom; one he'd secretly organised for her.
He hadn't even taken the time to come down to the pitch when the team trained, just in case Johnson tried to rope him into something; such as training Ginny. So, this would be the first time he'd actually seen her on the broom.
The match started and it was only moments before he realised what the strategy of the Snakes would be. They had Malfoy constantly taunting her and performing dangerous moves within inches of her.
However, Harry was surprised when all she did was actively ignore him. Harry could even hear Malfoy's taunts down in the tribunes.
After Malfoy had shouted something particularly vile, Harry was surprised when he heard the voice of Professor Vector call out, amplified by a Sonorus, "Twenty points from Slytherin and a weeks detention, Mister Malfoy, for your abusive language and offensive words!"
That had Madam Hooch pause the game through a time-out for a few minutes, while the two women very publicly and angrily conferred behind a silencing charm. Eventually, even from where he was sitting, Harry could see Vector look satisfied as Hooch stomped off to restart the game, clearly unhappy.
"I wonder what that was about?" asked Daphne.
"Hooch doesn't appreciate that the rules of Hogwarts apply, even on the Quidditch pitch," replied Harry. "I can bet that Professor Vector told her, 'Just because you're on the Quidditch pitch doesn't mean you're exempt from the rules'."
Within moments of the game restarting, it appeared young Ginny had spotted the snitch, as she suddenly dived near the middle of the field. However, Harry knew she hadn't, as he'd already seen the snitch himself moments earlier over near the Slytherin goal posts.
Interested on whether she could pull it off, he watched as Ginny went into a dive, while also corkscrewing slightly; which had Malfoy, on his slightly faster Nimbus 2001 to her Nimbus 2000, hare down after her. Only a dozen feet from the ground, Ginny banked hard with a half roll and instantly and sharply pulled up.
Malfoy, moving faster and being slightly heavier - therefore needing a bigger arc to also pull it off - didn't have the room to abort that Ginny did. And ploughed into the ground at about a twenty degree angle.
Luckily for him, the ground was no longer frozen. So, he 'merely' dug a long furrow in the thoroughly drenched sod and mud.
Once he finally got back to his feet, he staggered for a few feet until one of his team-mates managed to get to him to hold him upright. It was Goyle, one of their two beaters and always a shadow to the blonde ferret.
However, the always immaculately presented boy was drenched in mud, sod and water. His game robes were a complete mess and his hair was more brown than blonde, with a whole area on one side sticking almost straight up and out.
He managed to remount his broom and carefully climbed back into the sky. However, he was no longer so keen to give young Ginny such curry.
Harry chuckled and mentally doffed his hat to the girl. He might've carried out the Wronski Feint lower to the ground than Ginny did, but it was still well-executed and served its purpose. Ginny had cleared the ground with four feet to spare.
The Gryffindors won the game by two hundred and ten points, with a good twenty percent of their points being off free penalty shots. And Ginny caught the snitch for one hundred and fifty of the rest. It also made Malfoy look like a bigger idiot when he'd thought she was 'only' trying to fake him out again, but was truly diving after the snitch. Therefore, he was nowhere near the chase when the snitch was caught.
At dinner, the Headmistress stood for a short announcement about how the rules of Hogwarts applied even on the Quidditch pitch. And said that 'Mister Malfoy's point deduction and detention would, therefore, stand'.
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