Tales From The Quidditch Pitch

A Fanfiction Story by: Christopher Goss

Rebuilding Saga

Episode 1: Departure

"AND WHITTEN PASSES TO HAMIL! HAMIL TO HARTFORD! SCORE! HARTFORD SCORES!" Screamed the announcer excitedly. "LANKFORD HAS TAKEN A 40 POINT LEAD OVER TOP SEEDED BURMECIA IN LESS THAN TWO MINUTES!"

Christopher Hamil high fived Ryan Hartford. They were both Chasers for the Lankford Cannons. Christopher Hamil had brown hair with blue eyes. He was relatively thin and very fast. Ryan Hartford had sandy colored hair with gray eyes. The two had made quite a pair that season.

"Good pass, Hamil," said Ryan, smirking. "We should have this game in the bag."

The game went on.

Christopher drowned out the commentary now. He sped along after the Burmecian Chaser who had the Quaffle, ducked to avoid a Bludger, and then tackled the opposing Chaser who dropped the ball. Mason Whitten recovered it.

"AND LANKFORD HAS THE BALL AGAIN!" The roar of the crowd was deafening. Mason nodded to Ryan and Christopher, and the three flew together with Mason leading the charge to the opposite end of the pitch. Mason threw the Quaffle at the last second-

"AND WHITTEN SCORES! BURMECIA'S GOAL KEEPING HAS GOT TO IMPROVE IF THEY WANT TO WIN THIS GAME! FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW, THIS IS A MUST WIN GAME FOR LANKFORD AND BURMECIA WHO CAN GET PROMOTED TO LEAGUE A WITH A VICTORY HERE TODAY! AND WITH 50 POINTS LANKFORD LOOKS PRIMED TO DO JUST THAT!"

It had been a good season for Lankford. They had finished the regular season with a 18-8 record, making the Playoffs with three other teams. The only teams to advance to League A were the teams who won their Playoff matches, so only two teams advanced at the end of each season. Of course, the bottom two teams from League A are then relegated to League B.

A few minutes later, the tide had turned. Burmecia scored 3 unanswered goals to give Lankford only a 20 point lead. The game's pace was quick. And soon Christopher found himself with the ball. He glanced around to see what their Seeker, the one tasked with finding the Golden Snitch, was up to. Her name was Rachel. It didn't seem like she was having any luck just yet.

Unfortunately due to his lapse in concentration, a Bludger collided with his forehead, nearly knocking him off his Broomstick. A throbbing pain filled his head. He dropped the Quaffle and Burmecia gained possession, scoring another goal.

"AND BURMECIA HAS SCORED AGAIN! THE GAME IS 50-40 WITH LANKFORD CLINGING TO A NARROW LEAD! THIS GAME IS FANTASTIC! NEITHER SEEKER SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO FIND THE GOLDEN SNITCH YET! WHO WILL MAKE LEAGUE A? WILL IT BE THE MIGHTY BURMECIAN DRAGONS OR THE LANKFORD CANNONS?"

Ryan Hartford sped over to Christopher Hamil, Quaffle in hand. "Dude, you really need to pay better attention!"

"I know! Sorry!" Christopher shouted.

"HARTFORD PASSES TO WHITTEN, WHITTEN GETS HIT WITH A BLUDGER THANKS TO THE OPPOSING BEATER AND DROPS THE BALL! BURMECIA AGAIN GAINS POSSESSION! OH NO! LANKFORD'S BEATER, MARTIN, SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES A BLUDGER AT THE BURMECIAN CHASER! LANKFORD WITH POSSESSION AGAIN! AND HARTFORD ZOOMS DOWN THE FIELD! REALLY FINE PLAYER HE IS! HE LED THE LEAGUE WITH 1460 POINTS DURING THE REGULAR SEASON SETTING A SINGLE SEASON RECORD! WILL HE SCORE? YES! HARTFORD BEATS THE KEEPER! AND LANKFORD FINALLY SCORES AGAIN GIVING THEM A 60-40 LEAD!"

The crowd roared their approval once again. This was pretty much a home game for the Lankford Cannons. Chris was happy. And then the stadium fell deathly silent. There wasn't even a whisper. He paused on his broomstick in midair and looked around confused. The other players had stopped as well. But while his team looked crestfallen, the Burmecian Dragons looked ecstatic. And he didn't have to wait long to learn why-

"BURMECIA HAS RECOVERED THE SNITCH! THIS GAME IS OVER! BURMECIA WINS 190 TO 60! BURMECIA WILL PLAY IN LEAGUE A NEXT SEASON WHILE LANKFORD WILL REMAIN IN LEAGUE B! UNFORTUNATE LOSS FOR THE LANKFORD CANNONS WHO WERE ALREADY ELIMINATED FROM THE ROSE CUP!"

Christopher Hamil felt numb as he descended to the ground. His team landed around him looking equally stunned. They had felt confident they would advance to League A this season, and now all that was thrown out the window.

Christopher looked at Ryan Hartford, their team captain. Meanwhile, the other team was still celebrating in the air. The crowd was silently departing Angel Field.

Ryan heaved a deep breath and looked at the team.

"We gave this one away. We gave it our all, and we lost fair and square."

"Hey, Hartford!" Shouted a voice.

They all turned around and saw the Burmecian captain walking toward them, a triumphant smirk on his face. "How long are you going to play for these losers? You're too good to remain in the B League."

"This team is fantastic. You don't have to rub in the fact that we lost, Starbolt." Leo Starbolt was the Keeper from Burmecia. He was tall, but thin. He had dark hair with even darker eyes.

"Keep thinking that Hartford and you'll never play in League A. Remember, there's always a spot for you on the Burmecian Dragons. Have fun next year." And Leo Starbolt walked away from them.

Ryan Hartford didn't respond. Chris glanced at his face and noticed the longing in his features, and that gave Chris a very bad feeling.

Later that evening, Christopher sat on a park bench gazing up at the starry sky. The sky was filled with millions of them. Lankford was a small community, so it made star gazing relatively easy. This was where he often came to think when he had a lot on his mind.

"Chris?" A tentative voice said his name. He looked over and saw that it was Vivian Mason, his best friend. She was shorter than he was by half a foot, and was bundled up in a sweater. It was a cold night.

"Hello Viv," mumbled Chris. "Tough day."

She smiled sadly, and sat beside him on the park bench.

"I heard... But it's not going to get any better."

Christopher blinked and looked over at Vivian. "What are you talking about?"

Vivian hesitated for a brief moment. Clearly whatever she had to tell him wasn't going to be easy to say nor easy for him to hear. Chris almost wanted to tell her to not say anything. To keep it to herself. But he knew he would find out eventually. He almost knew what she was going to say with a kind of morbid clarity.

"Ryan Hartford has left Lankford. He's decided to join Burmecia," Vivian intoned glumly. "But that's not all. Mason Whitten signed a two year deal with Milwaukee, an A League team."

The fact that Ryan Hartford had left was hardly surprising. He had said several times this year that he hadn't been happy with his current contract, and that he really wanted to play in the A League, but Mason leaving was a complete shock to Christopher. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. So he was their only remaining starting Chaser. He hadn't been offered a contract to join any big league team, but he wouldn't have taken a contract anyway. Lankford had been kind to him. He'd even been on their developmental team.

"So where does this leave us, exactly?"

Vivian said, "well, I don't really know. The only reason I know the two of them are leaving is because I talked with them before coming to see you." She placed a hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "Lankford isn't going to be mired in mediocrity as long as you're on the team."

Christopher grunted.

"No we're not. I'm not a premier Chaser. I never have been, I never will be. The firing power was really Ryan and Mason. We've won games without finding the Snitch because they were able to score a lot of points. Without them, what do we have? I only scored 560 points last season. Ryan scored 1460 points, and Mason scored 1200 points. They're decades ahead of me."

Vivian huffed, "well, sitting here feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to enable you to score more points. This isn't like you to give up Christopher. This isn't like you at all." She leapt to her feet and jabbed her index finger into his chest. "I came out into the bitter cold to deliver this bad news because I thought you could at least offer some sort of comfort. The rest of the team needs you. They've been shaken to their very foundation. The least you could do is offer a little more confidence in yourself and in the team. You owe them that much."

Chris blinked up at her in utter shock. Vivian was the shy type, so she never really spoke her mind like this around him. Her lecturing him was a complete surprise.

"Fine. It's not like I planned on leaving anyway." He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "I know this isn't the end of the world, but it's going to be hard moving past losses like this."

"I know Chris, believe me, I know," she said. "But I believe in you and the team. Now let's get out of this cold, okay? You need to go home. You're going to have a long off season."

Chris blinked.

"Why do you say that?"

Vivian looked at him with a smirk. "Because you're the new team captain!"