Chapter 25 - The Dirtiest Match Ever

                                        

                                              


                              
The Dirtiest Match Ever
                              
There was a hailstorm of owls the next day when the news broke out. The replacement guards of Azkaban were being controlled by the Imperious Curse and were forced to report that their prisoners were still there. All the Death Eaters that had been captured, escaped, including several others that had less than virtuous reputations. 
                              
However, that was not the only thing that they reported. The attack on the Quidditch pitch was beneath the photos of the escaped Death Eaters. There were hundreds of owls from terrified parents demanding to know if their children were safe. Upset parents actually sent Howlers to the Head table, which Dumbledore silenced with a wave of his wand, before they emitted their message. A few hysterical parents actually showed up and demanded to see their children.
                              
Seamus's mother actually pulled him aside and whispered to him excitedly, and he looked very grave. Two mothers cried as they hugged their children and threatened to bring them home. The Heads of Houses tried to calm the fearful parents as best they could. None of the students were pulled from school, though their parents still threatened to take them.
                              
Both the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams continued to practice the rest of the week under the watchful, hawk-like eyes of Madam Hooch and the tiny Professor Flitwick. However, their presence was actually not a downside; it was an improvement. With the Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick watching, the Slytherin team could not intrude on their practice or try to take over the pitch. 
                              
As a result, however, Ron drilled them mercilessly on their new offensive strategies until they worked as a well-disciplined unit. Off the pitch, was a totally different 온라인카지노게임 altogether.
                              
With the loss of the pitch as a battleground, they stepped up their attacks in the castle. Warrington had sprouted an extra arm from his head. Ginny hit Pucey with her Bat-Bogey hex, after he called her a blood traitor. Seamus came to Katie Bell's rescue, when Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode cornered her in the hall, but the Quidditch teams were not the only ones fighting. Nott was put in detention for hexing Williams and Sloper in the Great Hall, and various scuffles and duels broke out throughout the school. Both Slytherins and Gryffindors lost so many House points that Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were both ahead of them now.
                              
Moreover, all the students developed a mental block to learn anything in their classes. Their professors desperately tried to draw their attention back to their studies, especially with the news of the breakout, but they eventually realized it was impossible. 
                              
Professor McGonagall, who did not usually allow herself to bend to the will of her students, managed to refrain from assigning homework, along with Flitwick, Sprout and Hagrid. Snape, however, showed his favoritism toward his own House more than ever before, by giving everyone but the Slytherins extra homework. Lucky for Ron, he did not have Snape for Potions. The rest of the team, however, was bogged down in a mountain of homework.
                              
Much to the entire class's surprise, Professor McGonagall burst into Snape's class and almost had it out with him right there. She somehow managed to regain her composure, but point out demanded that Snape "reconsider" his decision. Snape glared at her and then gave the Slytherins the homework, too. Snape stared intensely at Professor McGonagall, and she turned on her heel and walked swiftly out without looking back. 
                              
Though amazed that their professors come almost come to blows, they were faced with the bitter truth that they had to finish it. Without Hermione, neither Ron nor Harry could have completed their work, which Snape made them turn in on Friday under threat of a detention during the match.
                              
After a long grueling practice on Thursday night, they headed up to the castle. Ron, who had been holding up until then, was cracking under the pressure. He had been unusually quiet during practice. Both Hermione and Harry knew what was wrong with him and silently agreed to give him space. Last year, Ron froze up so much the first two matches that he let in every shot on goal, until the last game when they won the cup. Harry really hoped that it was not going to happen again.