England, Scott Wood thought, would be the best Quidditch team in the world if only all of its best players would actually play for their national team. Given that this was far from the actual situation he found himself, as the assistant coach to the national team, scouting for the 1982 World Cup months before 1978 had ever been played due to their epic incompetence in qualifying. Today was Hogwarts's last game of the year, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, with two of the top prospects playing for opposing teams.
James Potter was a chasing phenomenon, and in Scott's opinion a cut above the semi-pro near squibs that made up England's league currently. With his strike partners, fourth year Sheila Moran (who was unfortunately Irish) and sixth year Ethan Hawkins (passable but unspectacular), the Gryffindor had twice in the past two years managed to make the Snitch irrelevant. Granted they were both against a Ravenclaw team that had become a sieve after the graduation of their excellent (Scottish) keeper Marlene McKinnon, but games where Quaffle play determined the winner were few and far between. Five minutes in and they were already up 30 points up. Given enough time they would probably reach an insurmountable lead, but-
In a blur of flapping green robes the Slytherin Seeker, Regulus Black, had apparently sighted the Snitch and was rapidly ascending to –yes he could see it now- a glint twenty yards above. In his eight games since joining in his third year the fifth year player had managed to catch the Snitch each and every time. In only one of them had the game run over an hour, and for the past two years he was considered to have single-handedly prevented what had seemed like an inevitable Gryffindor dynasty. He was head and shoulders above any other England prospect at this time, and indeed he could only think of four seekers worldwide who were better, and they were all playing for the strongest teams at this year's World Cup. If he could get Regulus for England the next cycle would be- SWOOSH.
A bludger screamed at the Slytherin Seeker, forcing him to swerve and lose sight of the Snitch. The Gryffindor beater and the Slytherin Seeker glared at each other with identical grey eyes. Moran scored off a pass from Potter, putting the score at 40-0, the Gryffindor chasers wasting no time using the time bought for them by their teammate in this race for the school championship. Sirius Black was an interesting player to Scott. At his best he was Scott's leading candidate to partner with Ludo Bagman, England's only world class player as far as he was concerned, in 1982 at what was sure to be the Wasp's man's final cup. Potter, 50-0- damn that boy was good. And at his worst Sirius- (Penalty Slytherin- no hitting the Bludgers at the opposing teams keepers while the Quaffle is in the other half), well at his worst Sirius was a disciplinary nightmare. Sometimes Scott wondered if the boy even knew the rules he was regularly breaking. Still, given that their depth at Beater resembled a kiddie pool it would be worth a shot. He had four years.
Evan Rosier put the ball past the Gryffindor Keep Gwyneth Llewellyn (fifth year, Welsh, might be good if she could be trained to mind the left better), putting the score at 50-10. Rosier was another one that would bear watching. The boy regularly demonstrated impeccable ball handling technique and a real knack for the evasive maneuvers that Quidditch required, but due to a rather disappointing surrounding group of Chasers he had developed a tendency to head straight at the goal avoiding all combination plays (and speaking of combination play Llewellyn, Moran, Potter, Hawkins, Potter, Moran, Potter, Moran, Potter scores 60-10 – man that boy could be as good as the legendary Spanish chaser Golazo if he could get him and damn Moran for being Irish). Still, he had been the reason Slytherin had outscored Ravenclaw with the Quaffle and given Hufflepuff a close run (their new third year keeper, Ivy Wall, a muggleborn from Cornwall, was one to watch though, he reminded himself) Give Rosier a couple of years with a decent team and a hard-ass coach and the boy could be a solid international level chaser. Hawkins- 70-10.
Foul- unauthorized use of a Beater's bat by Black to hit opposing player Black- Scott shook his head as the Gryffindor fans started heckling the ref and the Slytherin fans wanted blood as their seeker was seen to. Penalty, Llewellyn saves. Out of the corner of his eye he sees the professors pushing through the stands to a point where a fist fight had apparently broken out. Moran 80-10. Of course, most people would find a roster for '82 including the two Blacks, Potter and Rosier absurd, but that didn't stop him. In the midst of a civil war expecting some of the brightest wizards of the generation to devote themselves to what many considered a frivolous diversion, many said, was both a waste and a delusion. Additionally putting players likely to be on opposing sides on the same team was a delusional display of optimism. If it was, then call him delusionally optimistic. Potter 90-10.
Quidditch was the one thing that most unified wizarding Britain. He hadn't been the only one to notice that there had been no hostile actions on the days of national team games for England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland or peculiarly Russia. Millicent Bagnold had been rumored to express extreme disappointment that she wouldn't be getting her summer truce because only two of those teams had qualified (Ireland and Russia). Moran 100-10. (Regulus Black fought off the Hogwarts matron who had been treating him off field and hopped onto his broom, nostrils still bleeding- the boy had fight, England needed that.) Besides, this war had already run eight years and he would bet against it running another four. Potter 110-10. (Spectacular long distance shot curling right under the top of the right hoop). He dearly wished to take his nephew Oliver to see the English team in the final in Tokyo in 1982, watching the spectacular team who symbolized the reunited nation claim the cup. Potter 120-10. (Straight through the arms of Slytherin Keeper Parkinson- goodness, that was an embarrassment, he might be better off recruiting a keeper from the Knutsworth School for Squibs than be forced to pick Parkinson). He'd be less likely to lose players, at least to the Aurors and Death Eaters, in peacetime he was sure.
Moran 130-10. In the right side of the Slytherin end the Slytherin beaters Peasegood and Sloper (solid but unspectacular) had gotten into a bat fight with Sirius Black. Two penalties to Gryffindor and one to Slytherin, taken after the three had been sprayed with Magic Spray Healing Balm, all made 150-20. Regulus's normally calm surveyal of the pitch was starting to get frantic, his team would need him to grab the Snitch soon. Potter 160-20. Very soon. A remarkable save by Parkinson on Moran, the only one he made all game, got the crowd on their feet. Gryffindors and Slytherins were screaming their lungs out, loud enough to cause several students to cover their ears. Hawkins 170-20. If Black caught the snitch now they might go to penalties. Obviously the entire crowd had realized this, because the already impossibly loud stadium erupted. Some Ravenclaws had evidently decided now was the time to finish their homework and were headed to the castle at a brisk walk. Rosier 170-30. Make that a brisk run. A Hufflepuff prefect appeared to be trying to form his housemates into a human wall to separate the red and green crowds. Scott's eyes were glued to the pitch.
Potter had the Quaffle by the Gryffindor hoops. Regulus Black's eyes narrowed and he went into a dive, trailed by the Gryffindor Seeker Lynch (Irish, solid enough but unspectacular). Potter streaked across the field. Regulus stretched out his arm. Potter, hard shot through the middle hoop, 180-30. Black's hand closed on the snitch 180-180. Scott let out his breath, and rubbed his hands in anticipation. Hopefully his prospects could handle a penalty shoot-out, a rare occurrence that had nevertheless led to England's elimination in two previous world cups. The Hufflepuff wall had now interlocked arms and the teachers were liberally issuing detention to anyone who tried to break it.
Rosier shot left, Llewellyn dived right. 1-0. Moran lower right. 1-1. Crabbe, a rather ineffective Slytherin chaser, put it through the middle with the best shot Scott had ever seen him take. 2-1. Hawkins to the left, evading Parkinson. 2-2. Mercutio Montague, the third Slytherin chaser as well as the fourth son of a former Slytherin captain who was rumored to be on the team because of his father's influence, took a hard shot to the left that Llewellyn barely missed at a full stretch. 3-2. Lynch flew up to the spot and Wood grinned. Penalties were best of five, so if Potter wasn't going now he was obviously going last, where the pressure of the entire school championship might be on his shoulders. Lynch placed it just under the rim of the center hoop over Parkinson's head. 3-3. Sloper was up for Slytherin and went right while Llewellyn guessed left. 4-3. Sirius Black was up next for Gryffindor and shot right, the Quaffle sailing past Parkinson. Tied up at 4-4. Regulus Black came up and faked right before sending a soft lob to the left that Llewellyn stopped. Wood groaned, typical English penalty taking. Then again, on a world cup team it was unlikely that the seeker would be relied on for a clutch penalty.
The crowd quickly switched to insulting the parentage of Potter and Parkinson. Scott thought he heard a chubby boy from Gryffindor suggest something obscene about Parkinson's mum and a flobberworm. Potter grabbed the quaffle, and flew to the spot. Taking a deep breath he released a beautiful shot to the left that bounced through the hoop off the inside of the bar. It was a perfect shot, Gryffindor won. Scott's mind was racing with visions of the World Cup. No one saw who threw the first curse in the fight that would send 30 Slytherins, 25 Gryffindors, 10 Hufflepuffs, 2 Ravenclaws and 3 teachers to the infirmary, land most of the players in detention for the rest of the month and incinerate the Quidditch stands. Scott barely noticed the battle going on around him.
As fate would have it neither Potter nor Rosier, neither Sirius nor Regulus would represent England in 1982. Ethan Hawkins would, along with Ludo Bagman, a newly graduated Ivy Wall, three Ravenclaw alums and the star chaser from the east tower team at the Rookery, Britain's second best school of magic. Scott Wood took his nephew to see the team in Japan anyway. England was eliminated in the quarter-finals on penalties. Gwyneth Llewellyn played for the Holyhead Harpies for seven years and captained Wales to their first world cup qualification in '86. Sheila Moran joined the Aurors after school but quit after Voldemort disappeared to join the Irish team in qualifying. She played for Ireland until retiring after the '02 cup, winning in '94 and successfully defending in '98. She is considered one of the all-time greats along with the Spanish chaser Golazo. Lynch also played for Ireland. Scott Wood would not see England win the Cup until his nephew captained them to a win in Kuala Lumpor in 2006. There was a Potter on that team.
AN: Yeah, so first I write a Sorting Hat story. And now we have a Quidditch story. Neither of which mentions Severus Snape or Remus Lupin. I don't know why I'm doing stories about the parts of the books I have problems with and avoiding my favorite characters, but I was in a soccer/sports fan state of mind and this is what happens. And yes, the penalty shootout is pretty much structured as a soccer style shootout. Please review.
Disclaimer: I did not create a game where a single action by a single player renders the efforts of all other players irrelevant most of the time. Rather, the game of Quidditch and most of the characters playing it belong to JK Rowling.