Chapter 4 – The Match

Submitted: Monday 23 Jan 2012

Please let me know what you think of this chapter.

Harry woke up late on Saturday and made his way down to the sitting room. This Saturday was no different than any other Saturday in the past few months. He found Hermione and Ron in their usual places. Ron's head rested on his chest and he was quietly snoring. Hermione was lying on the couch with her head propped up on Ron's leg and her nose buried in one of Dumbledore's journals. A few feet away was a desk covered in notes and a plate of biscuits. Harry made his way to the tea service and once he confirmed the tea was still warm he poured himself a cup.

"You should try the butter biscuits, Harry," Hermione observed without looking up. "They are incredible."

"Any progress?" Harry asked.

"I read through the entire journal from 1918 and didn't find a thing. I'm reading 1919 now." Hermione sat up as Harry plopped down into an overstuffed chair, "He really was brilliant, Harry. Dumbledore was beginning to explore how magic could theoretically relate to nuclear mechanics and how an understanding of Muggle physics could allow a wizard to perform even more powerful magic."

"Blimey, Hermione. What are you talking about?"

"Harry, you'd really find it fascinating if you only understood...The whole reason he had begun to focus on Transfiguration was that he was interested in transforming particles on an atomic and subatomic level."

"Huh?"

Hermione sucked in her cheeks, "Really Harry? This is basic physics. How can we discuss this if you don't even know what atoms are?" Hermione spent the next twenty minutes explaining that all things were made of atoms and that all atoms had three basic building blocks. "I really can't believe that you didn't learn this already," Hermione lamented as she finished.

"I never read books outside of our lessons," Harry answered defensively. "I was interested in being a wizard – not a physician."

Hermione gaped at Harry but then chose to ignore his mistake, "Well, I've decided to attend Cambridge beginning with the Lent Term," Hermione replied. "I asked around and the Ministry is going to help me with admission. I've been assured I can sit whatever lessons I'd like provided I'm qualified. Only a few lessons at first but I will add a full slate if I find that I am able."

Harry wasn't shocked. Leave it to Hermione to want to attend more school, "The Ministry will let you do that? Won't it affect your position?"

Hermione smirked, "My guess is that they agreed to it for that very reason. There are those under the delusion that this will distract me and keep me from setting my department on its ear. Little do they know..."

Eventually the conversation died down and Hermione returned to her reading while Harry reviewed a ledger that had been provided by Gringotts. Harry could review his vault holdings, the value of each of his investments and how profitable they were on a daily, monthly or yearly basis. The numbers would magically adjust...some every few minutes...some every few hours. Harry imagined that if he cared he could become mesmerised as the amount of Galleons gradually rose in his vault account – and on the ledger in front of him. Ron had more than once watched the ledger in awe and commented, "Have you actually watched this? It's as if they are just pouring bags of Galleons into your vault."

"Harry!" Hermione's excitement shook him out of his bored stupor. Ron shook awake as well.

"What?" asked both wizards at once.

"I think I found it - what Dumbledore was referring to." Hermione began to read aloud:

30 May 1919

Yesterday Eddington finally confirmed Einstein's prediction that light bends. This is truly fantastic. I had already begun experiments with how to use these new insights magically as far back as 1916 (see journal). I have also begun experiments in magic on a very small scale. I have become fascinated by subatomic structure and how I might be able to Transfigure individual atoms into gold. Nicolas Flamel...

Harry interrupted Hermione confused, "What does this have to do with Hecate?"

Hermione flushed, "Oh, sorry. That's further down. I was reading the entire entry."

I recently purchased a book that reminded me of Gellert. Greek Myths and the Events that Shaped Them. Gellert and I had discussed tracking down ancient artefacts of Greece once we had obtained the Deathly Hallows. One such set of ancient Greece was the Girdle belonging to Aphrodite, the Necklace to her daughter Harmonia and the Bow that had belonged to her son Eros – all fashioned by the great wizard smith Haephestus. Gellert used to make jokes about finding the bow and randomly firing arrows at Muggles throughout Muggle England. He'd point to obvious opposites walking the streets and draw an invisible drawstring with a mischievous smile and ask "what if?"

According to book, the Necklace of Harmonia might still be hidden away. So many other artefacts were passed down from mother to daughter or father to son and have disappeared. The necklace was a gift to the daughter of the witch Aphrodite by her husband. This gift held a veiled curse as he had found out that Aphrodite had been unfaithful with a wizard by the name of Ares and that the child Harmonia actually belonged to her lover. According to the legend, any woman wearing it would remain eternally young and beautiful. The reality was that it often brought great misfortune to its owner.

The book refers over and over again to an ancient temple that offers hints and clues to the whereabouts of this necklace. It doesn't say specifically the name of the temple but by the descriptions offered I'm quite certain the hints meant something to someone. I expect to have some time during the upcoming holiday and barring something unexpected I'd like to make the trip...

Harry was concerned, "There's no way Dumbledore was referring to the necklace, was he? It said the necklace brings about bad luck to the wearer. It was cursed."

"I have to think it is," Hermione thought aloud. "Maybe there is more about it in another entry. He wouldn't have brought it up if he didn't think it was useful."

Ron was still shaking the sleep away and when he stretched his feet they nearly reached Harry's a chair away, "Is this about that bird Hecate you lot go on about all the time?"

Hermione picked up a half-empty cup of now cold tea, "Ron, if you continue to sound like Seamus then you are bound to look like him soon enough."

Ron placed a nervous hand between him and Hermione's cup, "Okay, okay, okay...I surrender."


The final match fall Quidditch season was to be played this afternoon. Already the League Championship had been played and the Harpies had not been in it. Most Gryfindors had claimed when Ginny's signing had been confirmed that she'd place them at the top of the points total by end of the season. It was the new Spanish Chaser that had made the most impact though. Ginny had done well, catching nearly three quarters of the snitches during the second half of the season, but Isa was unstoppable.

Ginny had been fit in during the Summer Break.

Beginning in 1998, play began in February as it always had but with a few changes. With thirteen teams in the British and Irish Quidditch League, they all played once a week for twenty four weeks. This allowed them to play each other twice. At the end of Spring Play, as they now called it, the points were tallied. A break was taken mid-August to mid September as rarely families showed to the games – distracted by shopping and planning for school.

The second weekend after the Hogwarts Express was boarded, the league resumed with a new twist – referred to as Competitive Play. Teams had an opportunity to add players from other leagues and from Hogwarts itself...no Hogwarts students from the previous year were allowed to play until after Competitive Play began. At this point the League was separated into the Championship Division and the Points Division. Each club began with no points as the six most competitive teams played each other once. At the end of "round robin" the two teams with the most points played for the championship. Teams three and four played and teams five and six played.

The second division, the Points Division, sounded like a boring wind down to the season. Not the case. Because there were seven teams there was no Championship match. Each team played round robin through the new six week mini season. The three teams that ended on the bottom end of the division were relegated to a six team league that had recently taken legal action to be added to the British and Irish Quidditch League (BIQL). The top three teams from this second league switched places with the bottom three teams from the Points Division the following year and were allowed for at least one year to play in the superior league.

A very large sum was wagered that the Cannons would be one of the first teams moved to the Everyman's Quidditch League, or EQuaL as they liked to call themselves. Ron preferred to call them the Consortium of Really Awful Players and used the appropriate acronym for them quite often. The Cannons somehow missed being sent down to EQL by a grand total of ten points. Russ Henry pulled the snitch out of thin air in the final match and Ron celebrated the entire night following the club's miraculous tenth place finish.

The Harpies were never in any threat to be sent to EQL. They had placed third in the Championship Division as Isa set the league on fire. It was not a bad showing considering they began as the sixth entry to the Division at the end of August. Ginny was the final difference maker as she caught snitch after snitch once she was added to the team for that final stretch run. They played the final week ranked fourth but beat the third ranked club and moved up a spot in the final standings.

Which brought everyone to today. Harry was taking one last look at his broom before he and his mate stepped out for the upcoming match. He and Ron had been convinced by a young witch in the Auror Department to "do their part." She was the wife of a very high up member of the BIQL and it had been decided that the week following the Championship that a benefit match would be played between the top two rookies at each position.

Unfortunately, with the dearth of new talent due to the war, there were shortages at many positions. Harry and Ron were asked to play their positions respectively as much to sell tickets as to round out the rookie talent pool. "We'll be crushed," Ron complained. Harry was more practical if not optimistic, "They won't notice much if I miss out on the snitch – it'll be expected. You on the other hand, will probably suffer a bloodbath like has never been seen." Ron sniffed out Harry's bait and didn't bite, "Thanks Mate for your tremendous display of confidence." Just for that, Ron never bothered to inform Harry that he'd likely be facing his sister.

Until they signed the agreement that was. Even Ron was amazed at how adept the league officials were at keeping Harry's opponent out of his mind's eye until the paperwork had been completed. When the hammer fell Ron was not disappointed by the look on his mate's face. "What? Harry shouted. How come you didn't tell me?" he shouted when they let the name of his opposing seeker slip out.

"We thought you'd have known from the beginning," lied Ernest, "There's only two rookie Seekers this season and Cho was injured mid-season. Head of Community Relations for the BIQL. "It's for the children. You can't back out now." his toothy smile made Harry think of Quilvash and he had a good mind to give this wizard similar treatment. Upon further thought, Harry considered he may need to seek some help in anger management, "It's always for the children. Why can't I just donate a few Galleons and be done with it?"

"We've already begun to sell tickets Harry. And really, there isn't a name that will carry as well as yours. This year has been so slow that we didn't sell out a single game...including the Championship. People are still recovering and Quidditch just hasn't seemed as important as late. People want to see this matchup. You might be able to return some excitement back to the sport."

And apparently they were planning to use him prominently in selling the match. Within a week, posters hung all around Diagon Alley and in wizard shops all around the Isles showing Harry and Ginny facing off. Not one mention of another participant was even bothered with. The publicity and hype of the two was so great that when the actual professionals met them in the changing rooms before the match, the reception was icy cold. A Chaser for the Tornados named Tosh said it best, "How I got paired up with you I have no idea. I could have sworn I was the top rated at my position for my year. She's going to spin you on your broom so badly that you won't know which way your flying by the second hour."

Harry was afraid of just that. He'd flown with friends in his spare time for the past two weeks. Two weeks were not enough, though, to adequately prepare against a proper Quidditch professional. Really, Harry thought to himself, no amount of time was. And Ginny was considered better than good. Even as a First Year she and Isa had lit a fire under the Harpies. In fact, there were many expecting that if she and Isa stayed at the clubhouse over the winter and trained that the Harpies would be favoured to win it all the following year.

Harry took his place on the pitch and waited for the whistle to be blown. Tosh and Reynolds, a Bat, were glaring at him. His opponents were doing the same. Ginny looked at everyone but him and took on an air of indifference. The whistle blew.

Harry was surprised that Ginny didn't take to the air quite so quickly as Harry. At Hogwarts it had been a rush to see who could get highest fastest. Ginny, though, was already watching for the snitch even now. A bludger came Harry's way and he easily ducked.

Harry chanced a glance at Ron and he seemed calm enough at the moment. Thankfully no mention of sick yet from the announcer. The announcer, in fact happened to be Lee Jordan. Already Ron had made a save but Isa had stolen the quaffle from his team and she was making a second charge at Ron. A second bludger kept Harry from seeing whether she scored or not but the roar of the crowd told him the play had been noteworthy.

This went on for an hour or so. Harry didn't bother to watch the score closely but on occasion he would get a recap and update from Lee. "Ron Weasley has made another quality save and the Blue Chasers seem rather frustrated. The only one with any success has been Isa and her six scores have the Blue Team up by forty. So far, no sign of the snitch and apparently neither Potter nor Weasley have any desire to search for it together."

In fact, from the standpoint of the hype this started as a rather boring match. The action below was enthralling with Isa making charge after charge on Weasley's red goal but Weasley would not surrender an inch. What Harry could not see from above was that the pressure was beginning to get to Ron. Finally, with the last shot of the second hour Lee had something to talk about.

Isa is charging the net once again. The Cannon Chaser, McCarney, is giving his Red team-mates fits with his handling of the quaffle. Isa picked it away from him and she is moving left – no, right – no she fakes and charges straight ahead. Ron, erm Weasley, doesn't bite on the fake. He makes a spin move and catches the quaffle with the tips of his fingers. Ohhhh...you are in for a treat. If what I see from here is correct. He's green...he's mean...he's sick! Ron Weasley is sick! The Blues are in trouble now. Weasley has stood on his head all match and now he has turned in his trademark. Oh No! Don't Ron!"

Ron had gotten sick on his hands when he caught the quaffle. Without thinking he threw the quaffle out absent-mindedly to a team mate and Tosh, seeing what happened, avoided the quaffle like the plague. Out of instinct Isa charged and caught it preparing for another chance at the goal. The slime was felt and a scream rang through the stadium like none heard before. She threw the quaffle to the ground and charged after Ron cursing at him in Spanish. The referee called time out and sick was banished from the ground and the quaffle. Lee spent the next three minutes laughing at Ron as the angry Spaniard refused to back down and continued to blast him in her native tongue. Ron looked at Tosh and shrugged askance. His team-mate laughed and replied, "I think she's asking you out." Ron, not getting the sarcasm, looked her dead in the eye and said as slow and loud as he could "I AM ALREADY WITH SOMEONE..."

The slap could be heard around the pitch and the laughter that followed would ring in Ron's ears for quite some time. It was then that Ron was most thankful that wizard matches were not televised.

Isa was issued a warning but even the referee understood this was a benefit game and it'd do no good to kick one of the stars off the pitch. Soon after, play was resumed and Harry was again looking for the snitch. He'd kept and eye on Ginny hoping she'd give it away if she saw it. As he took one last look toward her he noticed she was looking at him. Well, not quite him so much as the snitch which must have been precisely halfway between them. Seeing that he saw that she saw him seeing the snitch, she decided to make a rush for it. He too made the rush. Neither seemed concerned for safety. He could tell she had grown much quicker and agile on her broom – probably Griffith's doing.

Just as they got near the snitch it shot out from between them with a velocity Harry had never seen before. Harry tried to miss Ginny and she did the same but he landed a glancing blow. Both twisted away spinning at odd angles but Ginny recovered more quickly and was already shooting after the snitch.

By now the crowd was watching the action up in the air rather than what was going on closer to the ground. This was what they came to see. Many had hoped to see slapping and angry words throughout the match. Only now had the couple even come within a dozen broom-lengths of each other. Harry had recovered and he saw Ginny was zig-zagging with a careful eye after the snitch. The snitch was like lightning compared to what he was used to and he realised that it was probably much faster to compensate for all of the Firebolts flown in the league. Had he listened to the weekly sports shows on the Wizard Wide Network, he'd have known that this was why the experts gave him no chance to win. He'd never encountered a snitch this fast and since his Third Year he'd always flown a superior broom to his competition. "It's no wonder he caught the snitch so many times," many experts lamented.

As the snitch began to turn back on itself it gave Harry a chance to catch up. Ginny was desperately trying to get to the snitch before Harry got within range. If he'd been able to read her mind he have known that she was desperately worried he'd out-fly her and she'd have all winter to listen to how she wasn't even as good as her old boyfriend. She'd worked so hard to make her own name and now the wizard she loved more than anything was going to unravel everything she'd worked so hard for. All of the respect she'd earned this season could easily evaporate with one mistake.

So when Harry caught up to her she couldn't help but cut her words with venom, "You couldn't stay away, could you? You had to take the opportunity to show me up?" Both were at top speed and her mouth hurt around the sides as she spoke. The snitch made a sudden dip and both flawlessly dipped with it.

"No," Harry replied defensively. His mouth hurt too and the distraction of talking made him nearly miss the snitch's sudden jerk to the right. Ginny looped under him as she turned and she took position on his right side – now holding a strong advantage over him. "Honestly I didn't know you were flying when I signed up."

He could see her eyes in his peripheral vision and they didn't believe a word he was saying. She tried to keep position on Harry but despite her superior training he was the better instinctive flyer. Unfortunately for her, all her training taught her enough to know this. Harry had always been better – he was the best. She doubted any amount of training would ever make her as good as him unless he let himself go and out of shape.

Griffiths had always said an instinctive flyer would always have the edge over superior training and she'd said since their first session that as long as Harry didn't join the league she had better natural instincts than any Seeker currently in the league. "Except Old Sellers. If he weren't so old he'd make you pay every match but he's now slowed enough that you got a fighter's chance. At one point Sellers could flat out fly. He sent Krum home crying during the European Finals about six or so years back."

Ginny was searching for ways to keep her edge. They'd never had the opportunity to fly like this during practise at Hogwarts – the snitch was too slow. Now they turned left and right and jolted up and down seamlessly with the snitch. The snitch seemed to be able to feel the energy from the crowd but the two of them were so focused on each other that they heard not a noise other than the wings of the snitch. Harry was still just out of position but at the rate the snitch was moving they had a good five minutes of flat out flying before they could get close enough for it to matter.

Thrice they'd ducked bludgers. Twice they'd ducked around scaffolding as the snitch took them near the ground. Each jerk of the snitch made them move in such a way that the crowd would have sworn that they were dancing. They weren't watching each other but they were intensely aware of each other's movements.

Both had a hand out. Both grabbed for the snitch. Both were just as close and could have gotten it. There were no bludgers to interfere. There were no sudden turns or wild gymnastics or improvisational manoeuvres. It was not caught with the mouth or the armpit or the edge of ones robe. That being said, the crowd went wild from the sheer display of skill and wild flying that they saw in that final fifteen minutes.

For a solid week the match was spoken about on the Wizard Wide Network and in pubs around wizard England. Glynnis Griffiths, the legendary seeker for the Harpies and the current manager for the Harpies could not ever recall seeing such a fascinating match and duel and she was not surprised one bit that neither of them had been criticised for their play. One writer for Quidditch Weekly went so far as to write:

Yesterday Ginny Weasley showed why she is already one of the top Seekers in professional Quidditch. Her quickness and concentration are unmatched. Oh, she has a few things to learn before being truly dominant on a match by match basis but there is no-one in professional Quidditch today that would not choose her first if building Quidditch squad. Mrs. Griffiths has outdone herself in finding and a raw Chaser and transforming her into a unique talent in little less than a year. That said, Mr. Potter has made us question why he elected not to enter the professional ranks. Were he to play Quidditch professionally, he would simply transform the sport. Congratulations to two brilliant competitors and I thank you both for providing the best Seekers' duel that this writer has ever seen.

Those that read the article did a double take when they reached the end. Nowhere...not in the headline, the introduction or the end...did it mention who actually caught the snitch or won the match.