The breeze blew through his hair, cooling him down during the oppressive afternoon. The humidity made his hair stick to his forehead. It was odd for this time of year to have such heat, but weather was firmly out of his control. With a simple swish of his robe sleeve, he wiped the trickle of sweat off his face before it reached his eyes—Harry Potter’s link to the world.

As he flew on his Firebolt, a simple peace came over him. The stress of the last few months fluttered away like the edge of his robes. Quidditch practice had become a lifeline to him, and he was very grateful the life-long ban had been lifted, but he hadn’t tested his abilities in a game. But at the moment he didn’t care—he was focused on the snitch. He had caught it and released it several times already in practice, but he didn’t mind. Catching the elusive snitch was always a challenge.

Suddenly seeing a tiny shadow flitting across the ground near his own shadow twenty feet below him, Harry looked up. There it is, he thought before extending his hands and grabbing flying ball. A rush of joy pumped through his body, filling him with elation. He flew a victory lap around the pitch. He looked up at the sky. The humidity had transformed into thunderclouds; it slowly began to drizzle.

Harry soared above the pitch, feeling the air swirl around him, with the little pricks of the wind and water stinging his exposed skin. He then angled to the ground and came in for a landing—and nearly stopped in mid-air.

They were all glaring at him! The entire team was glaring at him. Really glaring! But why? What did he do? He landed in front of Ron, the new Gryffindor Quidditch captain. “Harry!” Ron said (probably loudly, seeing how wide his mouth was). “We’ve been waiting for you to come down. We’ve been calling forever.”

Ron quickly stopped talking as if he was interrupted. Harry glanced at the other team members. Ginny had interrupted her brother and now was speaking, “…maybe not forever, but Harry, we were all about to climb on our brooms and try to wake you out of you day dream. We were trying to tell you practice was over because of the thunderstorm. Didn’t you notice it was thundering?” Ginny shot him a quizzical look. Harry quickly squashed any facial expressions that might betray that, no, he didn’t hear the thunder.

Ron began speaking again. “…Harry. Go see Madam Pomfrey and get your ears cleaned or something. That was ridiculous.” The team then began walking back to the Common Room. Harry lagged back, staring at the ground, dismally thinking to himself. I can’t hear any instructions or anything. I can’t follow the Quidditch game. How will I know if I need to hold off on getting the snitch or do I just go ahead and get it? Ron is always going on about getting the snitch at the precise moment when it would be most advantageous. But how will I now it is? He says he plans to say a pre-determined word. I’ll ruin it all! Suddenly a pair of feet entered his vision. He glanced up. Ron was standing, leaning on his broom.

“Welcome back, Harry. I mean, seriously, where is your concentration today? You’ve been out in your own world since practice began. I know you like to fly, so do I, but you must remember our tactics. You messed up two plays today. You still made great catches, but in the practice scenarios, you could have gotten better scores if you had been paying attention,” scolded Ron, his face turning slightly redder.

Harry looked away ashamedly again. He looked at Ron with downcast eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I don’t know. I just haven’t been feeling right. It’s not my scar or anything or forced visions, Dumbledore’s Occlumency helps, but I feel funny.” This wasn’t a lie, but Harry still felt guilty for not telling his best friend the whole truth. Ron put a hand on Harry’s shoulder, sympathizing. “Hey, Ron,” Harry began, “I gotta go get something from Dumbledore’s office, go on ahead okay?”

Ron nodded and headed up the stairs that led to the Gryffindor tower. Harry watched him go and headed not to Dumbledore’s office, but to Snape’s. The path to the dungeon was empty as usual. Harry assumed that the Slytherins had a secret passage in the dungeon that most other students didn’t know about, since he never saw them go down this way to the their dorms. After taking the familiar route to the Potions room, Harry knocked on Professor Snape’s office door. He knocked twice and then once more in a rhythm. The door opened and Snape stood before him, with a faint flicker of surprise passing through his eyes, before being replaced the usual look of determination. Snape waved him in.

Soon words filled the air, like in all their meetings. “What can I do for you?”

Harry looked at his shoes. “I need advice.”

“I realize this. What do you need help with?”

“Quidditch,” Harry responded sullenly.

“I believe I cannot help you there. I think your friends are more apt in showing you how to fly.” Even though Harry was deaf, he heard the sarcasm in those words.

“I can’t hear instructions for the game. I mess up.”

“Ignore the instructions and just catch the snitch.”

“But I can’t do that! I do that now and Ron gets mad at me! I knew you wouldn’t understand,” Harry mumbled into his robes.

“You wanted my advice and I gave it. You may do as you wish.” The air was getting tense, as Harry realized that he had offended his teacher.

The words “Go back to your Common Tower to your Quidditch pals” were imprinted in the air. Harry quickly stood up and left the office without looking back.

~ * ~ * ~

Two days later, the Quidditch team was on the pitch again. Harry was determined to read Ron’s lips and pay attention to his instructions. His eyes were straining against the afternoon sun as he flew around the pitch. Every time Ron turned around to catch the Quaffle, Harry was mortified that he might miss an important instruction. This went on for an hour, deciphering which instructions were his and which weren’t his. Finally, Ron said the “magic” phrase, and Harry flew around, searching for the Snitch. But he had been so focused on paying attention to Ron that he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the Snitch the entire practice. He glanced furtively around the pitch, looking for the fluttering wings. His heart raced as he began to panic. Suddenly, Ginny flew up in front of him, holding the Snitch in between her fingers.

“Harry, Harry…” she began, “the snitch was so obvious today. I don’t know where you mind has been, but I caught the Snitch after it flew past Ron and me three times. I don’t know what you have been doing, but when a Chaser catches the Snitch, that usually means something is wrong with the Seeker. I know I was a Seeker last year, but still. I don’t want to be mean…” She paused, looking at the ball in her hand. When she looked up, concern was evident in her face. “Harry, you got to get out of this crazy little mood you’ve been in the last couple of practices. If you need something, just ask.” Ginny threw one more glance at him, and then flew back down to the ground. He followed.

Ron finished up practice with the normal closing remarks, but he added something. “Our first game of the year is going to be against Ravenclaw. They usually have a strong team and the team really didn’t change from last year. Only one player graduated. Harry, the seeker is still Cho Chang. Remember our strategies and wait for my mark. Keep her away from the Snitch till then. Okay? Good practice, let’s go.”

Harry didn’t stay back like last time; he went straight down to Snape’s office, not caring about his teammates for the moment. He almost ran down to his office, but when he reached the door, he just stared at it.

Snape was angry yesterday, Harry thought. I wonder whether or not he will talk to me. But with the luck that Harry was known for, the door opened. Snape looked down at Harry. Harry looked down at his shoes, stuttering, “Oh…I’m…I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t want to bother you. I…I wanted to talk to you again and apologize for yesterday…” Snape stood there for a moment and Harry wasn’t willing to look at his face. Then Snape took a step back. Harry looked up in surprise. Snape’s inviting me in? Harry questioned.

Snape sat behind his desk, with Harry sitting in his normal chair. Harry began relating what had happened in practice. Snape steepled his fingers, beforing writing in air.

“As I said yesterday, ignore the instructions and play the game. It has been successful so far. How many games have actually come down to how many points were scored before the snitch was caught?”

Harry thought a moment. “Two,” he responded. “The Quidditch World Cup and winning the Quidditch Cup third year.”

“Two out of how many games? Your strategy is efficient and effective for what you do. Now go. I have work to do.” Harry opened his mouth to respond, but the intense look given by Snape shut it again. With that, Harry went to Gryffindor Tower.

~ * ~ * ~

The whistle blew, probably causing the crowds to cheer. Harry shifted on his broom, his eyes focusing on nothing, but still being attentive to all the actions around him. Each movement on the pitch caught his attention. The minutes crawled by as Harry glanced from one direction to another, straining for glimmers of gold. During his pass over the middle of the field, a quick mass moved in the corner of his eye. He turned to it and discovered that Ravenclaw had just shot a goal. The quaffle headed towards the hoop and looked like Ravenclaw would receive its first goal of the game, but Ron quickly dropped down and blocked it. Harry would have released his celebration in previous years with a loop or a stunt, but he no longer had the luxury. He continued to gaze around the pitch with fervent determination.

The game continued with several goals for both sides, but nothing spectacular. Harry turned to face the direction of the Gryffindor hoops. He looked over at Ron, who gesticulated wildly. Instructions! thought Harry. Ron is brewing a strategy. Harry flew in closer to see what Ron had said.

Harry continued straining for the instructions Ron threw to the rest of the team. Just then, Cho Chang zoomed across his vision. She had seen the snitch! It floated near the edge of the pitch near the Hufflepuff section. Harry tried to catch up to her, but she had received a head start. But just as quickly as it appeared, it flew away.

Harry fumed at himself as he scanned the pitch for the snitch. Fool! This isn’t practice when it’s only you trying to get the snitch! There is another team here! Harry glared at the air around, causing Cho Chang to back off of Harry’s tail in fright, before glaring at her ex-boyfriend.

Your strategy is efficient and effective for what you do. Now go. The words that Snape had written earlier came back to him. Determination filling his body, Harry began to do what he did best, search for the snitch.

His eyes trained for the golden ball, he ignored the rest of the game. The wind around him began picking up. A large gust of wind blew right past him. As the wind swirled around him, a globe of gold swirled right along with it. Recognizing the snitch, Harry reached out and began chasing his prize. Cho Chang closed in on him, but he paid no attention to her. He stretched his hand and caught the smooth object with the tiny wings. A triumphant yell ripped through his mouth. He zoomed towards the ground and rolled off of his broom, giving the snitch to Madame Hooch as the Gryffindor team crowded around him, patting him on the back. Harry looked up at the clouds, a grin plastered to his face. As he looked back down, he glimpsed Snape in the seats. A slight nod of his head recognized Harry’s accomplishment, and with a swirl of his cloak, he left.