Harry Potter and the Gift of Memories [Harry Potter Fan Fiction]

Chapter XXXXI: Prank and Punishment, Part I

“Again!”

Harry narrowed his eyes as he twisted both broom and body into a tight corkscrew, turning about in the opposite direction he'd been flying without losing much, if any, of his speed. He smiled when Oliver Wood, currently playing the roll of opposition Seeker so they could practice this particular play, was forced to loop around the long way because he couldn't do a corkscrew like Harry. Flying some ways away, Fred and George Weasley were doing their best to look as unsynchronized as possible.

Though still a ways off, Oliver Wood had been pushing the Quidditch team in their training as much as possible, so they would be prepared for their next match, which pit them against Ravenclaw. Many of their practices had been extended by at least an hour, and they had even begun practicing on Saturdays and Sundays, much to the protest of every player except for Oliver Wood. Even Harry was beginning to get exasperated with the man's fanaticism.

It also made him wonder if this was how Lisa saw him whenever he spoke of sparring with Master Wei. If so, he could see why she was always so aggravated. It was annoying.

As always, even when Harry's mind was a million miles away, his body still reacted to outside stimuli. When the Weasley Twins both hit the bludger toward him, timing their swings in order to perform the Dopplebeater Defense to double the force and thereby the speed the bludger flew at him, Harry waited until the very last second, before pushing himself onto his feet, then jumping over the ball as it sped by in a blur. He landed back on the broom a second later, just in time to hear the dull smacking sound of flesh being hit by a bludger.

Turning around, he was amused to see Oliver Wood holding what looked like a broken nose as he tried to keep himself from falling off his broom. Harry was actually quite impressed when the Gryffindor Quidditch captain kept a firm grip on the handle until he was four feet from the ground, before falling onto his back on the grass. Those bludgers hurt when you got hit, as Harry now knew form experience, and considering Oliver got smacked in the face, he had to at least have a minor concussion.

“You ok there, Ollie!?” asked the twins, shouting in that synchratic way only they seemed capable of doing.

Oliver Wood's left hand slowly rose into the air, where he presented them all with a thumbs up.

XoX

Quidditch practice lasted a good hour after Oliver broke his nose on a bludger. The man was very grateful that Alicia knew a healing spell that fixed his nose right up, though it did nothing for the throbbing headache the fifth year was likely experiencing. Despite what seemed to be a minor concussion, he still forced himself to practice with the rest of them. After Quidditch practice was over, Harry and the others went back to the locker rooms to clean up and get dressed.

Harry thought about using a spell to clean himself off and a freshening charm to make him smell of fresh linen, as he wanted meet his friends as soon as possible. They were likely already finished with breakfast by now. At the last moment, however, he thought better of it and decided to clean himself off the old-fashion way. While possible to magic away grime and stench, there were some things a nice hot shower could do that magic couldn't.

By the time he finished, Harry knew his friends were done with breakfast. He cast a tempus spell just in case, which only confirmed what he already knew.

Thankfully, Harry was fairly sure he could find them easily. There weren't many places they could socialize, as they were all from different houses, and it was unlikely they would choose to sit around in one of the unused classrooms. Really, the only two places they could go was the library, unlikely since it was Sunday, or outside on the Hogwarts grounds.

Harry decided that the first place he would check would be the Hogwarts ground. It was only logical since he was already outside. With this in mind, the raven-haired boy began making his way to the Black Lake.