Harry Potter 03 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

a spurt of flames from Malfoy’s steed’s mouth, when he realised he had forgotten his Firebolt. He fell through the air and woke with a start.
    It was a few seconds before Harry remembered that the match hadn’t taken place yet, that he was safe in bed and that the Slytherin team definitely wouldn’t be allowed to play on dragons. He was feeling very thirsty. As quietly as he could, he got out of his four-poster and went to pour himself some water from the silver jug beneath the window.
    The grounds were still and quiet. No breath of wind disturbed the treetops in the Forbidden Forest; the Whomping Willow was motionless and innocent-looking. It looked as though conditions for the match would be perfect.
    Harry set down his goblet and was about to turn back to his bed when something caught his eye. An animal of some kind was prowling across the silvery lawn.
    Harry dashed to his bedside table, snatched up his glasses and put them on, then hurried back to the window. It couldn’t be the Grim – not now – not right before the match –
    He peered out at the grounds again and, after a minute’s frantic searching, spotted it. It was skirting the edge of the Forest now … it wasn’t the Grim at all … it was a cat … Harry clutched the window-ledge in relief as he recognised the bottle-brush tail. It was only Crookshanks …
    Or was it only Crookshanks? Harry squinted, pressing his nose flat against the glass. Crookshanks seemed to have come to a halt. Harry was sure he could see something else moving in the shadow of the trees, too.
    And next moment, it had emerged: a gigantic, shaggy black dog, moving stealthily across the lawn, Crookshanks trotting at its side. Harry stared. What did this mean? If Crookshanks could see the dog as well, how could it be an omen of Harry’s death?
    ‘Ron!’ Harry hissed. ‘Ron! Wake up!’
    ‘Huh?’
    ‘I need you to tell me if you can see something!’
    ‘’S all dark, Harry,’ Ron muttered thickly. ‘What’re you on about?’
    ‘Down here –’
    Harry looked quickly back out of the window.
    Crookshanks and the dog had vanished. Harry climbed onto the window-sill to look right down into the shadows of the castle, but they weren’t there. Where had they gone?
    A loud snore told him Ron had fallen asleep again.
    *
    Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor team entered the Great Hall next day to enormous applause. Harry couldn’t help grinning broadly as he saw that both the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were clapping them, too. The Slytherin table hissed loudly as they passed. Harry noticed that Malfoy looked even paler than usual.
    Wood spent the whole of breakfast urging his team to eat, while touching nothing himself. Then he hurried them off to the pitch before anyone else had finished, so they could get an idea of the conditions. As they left the Great Hall, everyone applauded again.
    ‘Good luck, Harry!’ called Cho Chang. Harry felt himself blushing.
    ‘OK … no wind to speak of … sun’s a bit bright, that could impair your vision, watch out for it … ground’s fairly hard, good, that’ll give us a fast kick-off …’
    Wood paced the pitch, staring around with the team behind him. Finally they saw the front doors of the castle open in the distance, and the rest of the school spill onto the lawn.
    ‘Changing rooms,’ said Wood tersely.
    None of them spoke as they changed into their scarlet robes. Harry wondered if they were feeling like he was: as though he’d eaten something extremely wriggly for breakfast. In what seemed like no time at all, Wood was saying, ‘OK, it’s time, let’s go …’
    They walked out onto the pitch to a tidal wave of noise. Three-quarters of the crowd were wearing scarlet rosettes, waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion upon them or brandishing banners with slogans such as ‘GO GRYFFINDOR!’ and ‘LIONS FOR THE CUP!’ Behind the Slytherin goalposts, however, two hundred people were wearing green; the silver serpent of Slytherin glittered on their flags, and Professor Snape sat in the very front row, wearing green like everyone else, and a very grim smile.
    ‘And here are the Gryffindors!’ yelled Lee Jordan, who was acting as commentator as usual. ‘Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best side Hogwarts has seen in a good few years –’
    Lee’s comments were drowned by a tide of ‘boos’ from the Slytherin end.
    ‘And here come the Slytherin