"Alright then, team. This is a very important match for Gryffindor. If we lose, our chances of winning the Quidditch Cup will be shattered."
The Gryffindor Quidditch team was sitting in the changing room below the roars and cheers of the students in the stands on the Quidditch pitch. They were all very nervous, James Potter could tell. Donald, the team captain and keeper, was rubbing his hands together anxiously as he gave the team a pep talk. Both of the beaters, Marcus and Gregory, were pacing back and forth while Justin, one of the chasers, was running his hands through his hair. The two remaining chasers, Scarlett and Harva, were both fiddling with the hems of their uniforms.
James was probably the most nervous of them all, as his role in this game was vitally important. His position was seeker, which meant that he would have to look for the Golden Snitch, a tiny, winged, gold ball that zoomed and fluttered around the Quidditch pitch and was worth 150 points. Its capture meant the end of the match. The team whose seeker caught it usually won, due to the drastic increase in their score. James had always done exceptionally well as Seeker ever since the beginning of the term when he tried out for the team. But now, he was feeling like the world was on his shoulders, and it basically was, considering that this match would make or break Gryffindor's chances of winning the Quidditch Cup. They were about to go up against the Slytherin team, who usually played very unfairly.
"Well, that's all. It's about time to go outside," Donald finished his lecture, which James hadn't been listening to very closely because he was pondering how rough the match was going to be. "You lot better grab your broomsticks and prepare yourselves. This one's going to be brutal."
Real encouraging, Donald, James thought to himself. The seven apprehensive players grabbed their broomsticks and prepared to walk out onto the Quidditch pitch in front of the whole Hogwarts population. Donald opened the door and the bright sunlight that poured out from it nearly blinded them all. The moment they began to walk out of the changing room, they could hear deafening roars coming from the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs. These cheers easily drowned out the boos that were coming from the small sea of green which was the Slytherins.
Feeling as though he might be sick, James trudged to the middle of the pitch with his scarlet and gold-clad teammates. Madam Hooch, the Quidditch referee, went over a few rules that James did not hear, as he was busy scanning the crowd for his best friends, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Once he spotted them, faces painted and cheering, among the sea of scarlet and gold, he was a bit more reassured but his stomach was still doing flip-flops. Then he noticed a familiar face just to the left of his friends: Lily Evans. She was smiling down at him, and James's felt another sensation in his stomach that was different than the nervousness he had been experiencing. But when he redirected his attention back to his companions on the pitch, the anxious feeling returned.
"Now I want a clean and fair game," Madame Hooch concluded. Her yellow eyes flickered towards the Slytherin team as she said this, for she was not oblivious to their inveterate malfeasance. Donald and the ugly, burly, buck-toothed Slytherin captain shook hands forcefully.
James, almost shaking from anxiety and anticipation, mounted his broom along with the other thirteen players on the field. Immediately, Madame Hooch let out the Golden Snitch, James's goal, and the ruthless bludgers. Whistle in mouth, Madame Hooch threw the Quaffle high into the air and let out a blow. Fourteen young wizards on broomsticks zoomed into the air to begin the inevitably intense match.