Harry Potter 05 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

your bats and a Bludger. Ron, get up to the goalposts. Harry, release the Snitch when I say so. We’re going to aim for Ron’s goal, obviously.’
    Harry zoomed off after the twins to fetch the Snitch.
    ‘Ron’s making a right pig’s ear of things, isn’t he?’ muttered George, as the three of them landed at the crate containing the balls and opened it to extract one of the Bludgers and the Snitch.
    ‘He’s just nervous,’ said Harry, ‘he was fine when I was practising with him this morning.’
    ‘Yeah, well, I hope he hasn’t peaked too soon,’ said Fred gloomily.
    They returned to the air. When Angelina blew her whistle, Harry released the Snitch and Fred and George let fly the Bludger. From that moment on, Harry was barely aware of what the others were doing. It was his job to recapture the tiny fluttering golden ball that was worth a hundred and fifty points to the Seeker’s team and doing so required enormous speed and skill. He accelerated, rolling and swerving in and out of the Chasers, the warm autumn air whipping his face, and the distant yells of the Slytherins so much meaningless roaring in his ears … but too soon, the whistle brought him to a halt again.
    ‘Stop – stop – STOP!’ screamed Angelina. ‘Ron – you’re not covering your middle post!’
    Harry looked round at Ron, who was hovering in front of the left-hand hoop, leaving the other two completely unprotected.
    ‘Oh … sorry …’
    ‘You keep shifting around while you’re watching the Chasers!’ said Angelina. ‘Either stay in centre position until you have to move to defend a hoop, or else circle the hoops, but don’t drift vaguely off to one side, that’s how you let in the last three goals!’
    ‘Sorry …’ Ron repeated, his red face shining like a beacon against the bright blue sky.
    ‘And Katie, can’t you do something about that nosebleed?’
    ‘It’s just getting worse!’ said Katie thickly, attempting to stem the flow with her sleeve.
    Harry glanced round at Fred, who was looking anxious and checking his pockets. He saw Fred pull out something purple, examine it for a second and then look round at Katie, evidently horror-struck.
    ‘Well, let’s try again,’ said Angelina. She was ignoring the Slytherins, who had now set up a chant of ‘Gryffindor are losers, Gryffindor are losers,’ but there was a certain rigidity about her seat on the broom nevertheless.
    This time they had been flying for barely three minutes when Angelina’s whistle sounded. Harry, who had just sighted the Snitch circling the opposite goalpost, pulled up feeling distinctly aggrieved.
    ‘What now?’ he said impatiently to Alicia, who was nearest.
    ‘Katie,’ she said shortly.
    Harry turned and saw Angelina, Fred and George all flying as fast as they could towards Katie. Harry and Alicia sped towards her, too. It was plain that Angelina had stopped training just in time; Katie was now chalk white and covered in blood.
    ‘She needs the hospital wing,’ said Angelina.
    ‘We’ll take her,’ said Fred. ‘She – er – might have swallowed a Blood Blisterpod by mistake –’
    ‘Well, there’s no point continuing with no Beaters and a Chaser gone,’ said Angelina glumly as Fred and George zoomed off towards the castle supporting Katie between them. ‘Come on, let’s go and get changed.’
    The Slytherins continued to chant as they trailed back into the changing rooms.
    ‘How was practice?’ asked Hermione rather coolly half an hour later, as Harry and Ron climbed through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room.
    ‘It was –’ Harry began.
    ‘Completely lousy,’ said Ron in a hollow voice, sinking into a chair beside Hermione. She looked up at Ron and her frostiness seemed to melt.
    ‘Well, it was only your first one,’ she said consolingly, ‘it’s bound to take time to –’
    ‘Who said it was me who made it lousy?’ snapped Ron.
    ‘No one,’ said Hermione, looking taken aback, ‘I thought –’
    ‘You thought I was bound to be rubbish?’
    ‘No, of course I didn’t! Look, you said it was lousy so I just –’
    ‘I’m going to get started on some homework,’ said Ron angrily and stomped off to the staircase to the boys’ dormitories and vanished from sight. Hermione turned to Harry.
    ‘ Was he lousy?’
    ‘No,’ said Harry loyally.
    Hermione raised her eyebrows.
    ‘Well, I suppose he could’ve played better,’ Harry muttered, ‘but it was only the first training