The situation was this: while Hagrid was still searching hard through the crowd for Hector and the others, Harry had been the first to spot the Golden Snitch. Thrilled, he dived down on his Nimbus 2000, chasing the flash of golden light. Right behind him was the Slytherin Seeker, Terence Higgs. The Seekers had abandoned their scuffle and suddenly found themselves transformed into front-row spectators right there on the pitch, instantly draining the tension from the atmosphere. Everyone watched the two figures darting across the sky.
The superiority of the Nimbus 2000 quickly became apparent. The Cleansweep Seven ridden by Higgs not only fell short of the Nimbus in straight-line acceleration, but its aerial maneuverability was also completely incomparable to Harry's. Harry soon left Higgs far behind. He could already see the Golden Snitch not far ahead—a tiny golden sphere darting back and forth on fluttering wings. It seemed to sense Harry behind it and picked up speed once more.
Seeing that Harry was about to end the match, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint naturally wasn't going to sit back and wait to lose. Spurring his broom, he took advantage of the distraction and charged fiercely at Harry.
Chapter 28