Disclaimer: No, I don't own Harry Potter—Sorry.
Author's Notes: Well, after playing far too much FFX (which I don't own either) and watching enough of the crazed Blitzball players I decided to write this. It's centered around an OC, it has quite a bit of interaction with the main and secondary characters from the books so don't worry. I know what you're thinking—No, odds are this won't become a romance. And no, this character isn't a MS, she is just insane. Literally. But I'm sure you'll agree with me after reading. Enjoy my second HP fic, feel free to inform me of errors (any and all).
Chapter 1: Quidditch Rocks"And it looks like Bacilli has spotted the snitch!"
Judy caught a flash of something gold just on the edge of her peripheral vision; she wheeled her broom around and watched the gold blur as it shot around the Slytherin goals. She took off after it with all the speed she could manage, but the Slytherin seeker was meters closer. The only advantage she had was that he'd not spotted the bloody thing yet. She could still pass him in time.
"Bacilli's headed straight for the Slytherin goals! Malfoy's right behind her!"
Judy ignored the Slytherin seeker at all costs he would just distract her. This was her first year as a seeker and he was the second best in the school. She'd seen him play before and he was only bested by Harry Potter. Both Potter's and Malfoy's teams thought they hadn't any real competition besides each other. The matches with the Hufflepuffs and Judy's house were like practice to them. But now that she was on the team she wasn't going to make it quite as easy, the Ravenclaws' had made a risky choice in putting her on the team—after all, she was almost officially and certifiably insane.
The Ravenclaws cheered in the stands. The match had only just begun but it looked like it was going to be a good one. Quidditch matches tended to take only two routes, 1) spectacularly swift and over in a flash or 2) long, arduous, and heated competition that lasted for hours or longer. This match had the makings of the later, but if Judy had her way this would be over in no time at all.
The snitch veered off towards the teachers' box high in the stands and Judy pulled her broom into a sharp turn, nearly making both her and Malfoy 'one with the pavement' as her old Muggle friends were known for saying.
"The Ravenclaw seeker, Judy Bacilli, makes a dangerous maneuver and is headed straight after the snitch!"
Judy didn't take the time to notice the scowl on Malfoy's face nor the cheering and jeers that last move had earned her. She wanted to catch that snitch and beat the Slytherins.
"Wait! It seems that they Slytherin seeker has spotted the snitch as well—took him long enough— and he's gone after it!"
Judy swore under her breath, one of her two advantages over Malfoy just flew right out the window. At least she still knew she would still attempt stunts that no perfectly sane person would—no matter how cutthroat and determined they might have been.
"You'd better watch yourself, Ravenclaw." Malfoy flew up beside her and sneered. His voice was filled with its standard level of contempt and loathing for muggle-born and younger students, so Judy easily ignored him.
"You'd never know it, but I was a sky diver blondie." Judy replied flatly and watched the worried expressions on the teachers' faces as they barreled towards the box at rather unsafe speeds. She could almost feel the furious and dangerous look on Malfoy's face.
"They seekers, neck-and-neck, are headed right for the stands– I hope they know how to stop as well as they know how to speed up—"
Malfoy was an impressive flyer, he didn't pull himself to a halt until he could very nearly have snatched the microphone straight out from under the announcer's nose. Judy however, as we have established, would do anything to just win this one game.
The snitch shot upward just as Malfoy stopped, he didn't notice. Judy had been fixated on the small golden sphere though; she pulled up just a split second before she would have slammed broom-first into McGonagall.
"There goes the Ravenclaw seeker! Apparently she doesn't quite have the hang of the brakes yet— but she's got the snitch in her sights!"
She flew upwards at the greatest speed she could manage. But she could sense the sneer on her back as Malfoy zoomed up next to her. The two flew as fast as they could, and Judy decided just how this match was going to be won.
"Nice try, Ravenclaw!" Malfoy spat at her and swerved slightly in an attempt to knock her off her broom. Judy pulled away to avoid being hit but then Malfoy pulled ahead of her. The two kept flying straight upwards after the snitch, but the snitch was faster and the air was getting quite thin. They could barely hear the announcements concerning the match below them.
Even if they were able to the match below had come to a near standstill as the players and spectators alike watched both seekers scrape the clouds and fly higher than the birds.
Meanwhile, the air was getting incredibly thin, both seekers were light headed and having difficulty breathing. Malfoy couldn't even summon up the air to make a snide comment (and that's saying a lot). Neither of them even dared to try and knock the other off their broom, there was no help for people who fell from this high up (save divine intervention or a miracle parachute). Just as it looked like they were about to pass out and fall back towards the ground the snitch shot back down.
Malfoy had to pause and stop his broom, his reflexes slowed and momentum was more difficult to control when that high up. Judy, however, took the opportunity to put her plan into action.
'Uh, Judy—Dear. You do realize that what you're about to do could get us killed?' The little voice inside Judy's head spoke up.
'Yeah.' Judy thought back simply.
'Just checking.' The voice squeaked and silenced itself again, and thus the instantaneous conversation ended and all the doubt in Judy's mind was suppressed.
Before she even stopped her broom to turn Judy leapt off of it like it was on fire and the apparatus shot back towards the ground faster than it normally would have, gravity allowing. Judy would have noted the shocked and horrified expression on Malfoy's face as he realized she'd just jumped off her broom but she was too busy doing a back flip that most soccer stars would have killed to complete (well, on the ground—I doubt they would have appreciated it up above the clouds) to notice.
"Here comes the Ravenclaw seeker, Judy Bacilli! Moving like she was nothing but the broom at all—Hold on! That is nothing but the broom!"
The announcer shouted as the broom flew straight into the sand kicking up a cloud of the stuff as it collided. Everyone's eyes immediately shot up and they saw Malfoy and Bacilli flying back down. Well, Malfoy was flying Judy was just showing off her skydiving abilities.
"Are you bloody insane?" Malfoy yelled at Judy as he dove down in front of her to grab the snitch.
"You'd better believe it!" Judy shouted back as Malfoy pulled away to chase after the snitch.
'Judy, I've seen your plan. It's not going to work.' The voice was back again.
"Shut up, you're throwing off my groove!" Judy shouted and the voice silenced itself.
Judy had been practicing for weeks to win this game. During that time she'd noticed the snitch they'd been using to practice with had a set pattern of movement. She tested her theory one day when trying out and managed to make it look like the snitch had intentionally flown straight into her hand, it was how she got on the team. This snitch moved differently than the other, sure, but Judy had picked up on its pattern and if her plan worked this was about to be the coolest move in all of Quidditch, if not then they'd need to call a good landscape engineer.
"Malfoy is after the snitch! There she is! Judy Bacilli, the Ravenclaw seeker! Why isn't anyone catching her?" The announcer shouted and everyone looked at one another.
Everyone ignored the game and watched Judy falling. No one would even try to catch her, when someone starts moving that fast trying to catch them would be suicide. Even attempting it was sure to break your arm at the least and maybe even snap your broom. Everyone was so worried that they hadn't even noticed Judy wasn't screaming, or unconscious. Everyone, that is, save a few of the staff.
'Shouldn't you call the broom now!' The voice sounded far more worried about the approaching grass. After all, if it weren't for air resistance they'd have reached terminal velocity by now.
"Shut up!" Judy yelled and watched as the snitch dove through the Slytherin goals with Malfoy hot on its tail. It shot to the left and so did Malfoy, but it jumped agilely to the right and flew straight towards Judy's path. The plan was going to work; hopefully she'd survive to get some glory.
"Accio Broom!" Judy shouted at the top of her lungs and the sand pit exploded as Judy's beaten up Nimbus flashed out of the ground and towards her with the same lightning speed it had shown diving down. Judy only had a second to pull this off, but if she did she'd go down in Hogwarts history.
Judy turned in the air; almost like she would have had her feet been hooked to the same board she used sky-diving that she loved, so dearly, back home. She kicked the snitch up like it was a rubber ball or perhaps a hacky-sack when it whizzed through her path and in one swift motion she caught it mid air. She leaned forward and not even half a second passed since she captured the snitch did her right arm hook onto her quickly rising broom. There was a sort of sickening and ominous snapping noise and Judy tried not to scream.
'Well, there you have it. That one sounds like you broke the bone in your upper arm and ripped a tendon. You happy?' The voice in her head sounded irritated.
"Shut up…" Judy coughed out and threw her leg over the broom, pulling herself up to a sitting position without the aid of her right arm. Malfoy stopped swiftly on his broom by pulling the front of it to the side, just as he had to avoid the teachers. He stared at her with somewhat widened eyes (which Judy took as a compliment) and was about to say something but looked as if he forgot it when he saw her arm.
There was a long silence and the game came to a total and complete halt as the players, spectators, and the irate Madam Pomfrey stared at Judy in disbelief. Then the announcer clicked his microphone on and sat for a moment trying to remember what he was going to say. The end result came out rather quietly and almost sounded like he'd seen a ghost.
"J-Judy Bacill-i caught the snitch…" He paused and took a breath. "R-ravenclaw wins…?" He stared at her, then glanced at the score, and blinked. "Ravenclaw wins!" He shouted and the crowds went absolutely insane. People jumped up in their seats hollering, cheering, clapping, and chanting. To the surprise of all (not really), a few of the stodgier teachers forgot themselves (slightly) and started applauding. Even Snape, he didn't look happy mind you but at least he didn't look like he was forcing himself (too much) for the sake of manners.
"Booya." Judy smirked at Malfoy, tossed the docile snitch up into the air, and caught it. She had the right to be smug. Of course that move she just pulled was probably going to get her suspended and the humiliation would probably force Malfoy to send a few hit men after her, but other than that—booya.