Chapter 35: Contradict the accusations on Snape
I wasn't expecting what I saw when I looked at where Harry was. He was still on his broom, but it looked like the broom was trying to throw him off.
The movements were very sudden, and without a firm grip on the broom, anyone would fall.
"Mary, if I give you the signal, could you use the slowing charm Arresto Momentum?"
"Arresto Momentum. Okay, I got it."
It wasn't a complicated charm to learn, so with Mary's talent, simply giving her the name of the spell was enough for her to master it.
"Let's find the person who put a curse on Harry's broom."
I used my binoculars to scan the stadium, trying to figure out who was responsible.
"Snape is casting the spell."
By the time I understood what Hermione was saying, she had already left.
When I pointed my binoculars at the place where Professor Snape was, I could see him staring at Harry while reciting an incantation.
Having a hard time believing that Professor Snape could be the culprit, I tried to read his lips to understand his incantation.
I was so focused that I didn't hear what was happening around me until I finally deciphered the meaning of his incantation.
"Professor Snape is using a counter-curse to save Harry."
That's when Snape's cloak caught fire, and I knew it was Hermione's doing.
'It's useless, he's not the culprit.'
But I was amazed when Harry's broom returned to normal.
Without hesitation, I used my binoculars again to try to see if the real culprit had also lost their focus during this distraction.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find the culprit because all the teachers had rolled their eyes, and I also saw Quirrell get up, probably after falling out of fear.
'Either the culprit is a teacher, or they were thwarted by something, or they decided to stop before we could accuse a teacher.'
My mind kept generating theories, and these three seemed the most plausible.
"You can look now, Neville. Harry's no longer in danger."
I turned my head to Ron, who was reassuring Neville, as he didn't want to witness the awful scene.
"Watch what he's doing."
Harry could be seen diving towards the ground at full speed, and when I looked at where he was headed, I saw the Golden Snitch near the ground.
Finally, Harry caught the Golden Snitch in his mouth, and the Gryffindor team won.
When I found Hermione, I explained that Professor Snape was not the culprit.
"I know what it means to cast a curse. You have to look at your target while muttering the spell."
"You're right, but what Professor Snape was doing was casting a counter-curse that only weakened the effects of the broom but didn't stop it."
I explained my three theories about the culprit, and she believed me.. She left with Harry and Ron, promising to tell them it wasn't Professor Snape, but she said there was little chance they'd believe her because they're stubborn.
I headed to the Room of Requirement with Marie to start studying, as usual.
"Harry was still amazing, managing to stay on that wobbly broom that tried to throw him off."
"Indeed, now we need to find the culprit and understand why they wanted to harm Harry."
"Maybe they were a fan of Voldy."
"It's possible, but it could also be someone jealous of his popularity. It's less likely, but we shouldn't rule it out until proven otherwise."
"Should we ask Professor Snape if he knows who the culprit might be?"
"No, I don't think he would tell us. If the person is really dangerous and hasn't been caught, we could die, and it's not Professor Snape's style to put students at risk."
"We must investigate carefully without being discovered, and if it becomes too dangerous, we'll stop."
"Agreed."