Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling
Chapter 10—The Tournaments
Charlie thought the evening was over after he kicked Linda out of his room. Then he remembered what he'd promised her. Oh shit, he thought. What exactly did I say? What made it worse was that he wasn't drunk when he told her that she could ask him anything and he would tell you everything she wanted to know. Well, that ain't going to happen. He'll figure a way out of that mess later.
The noise in the hallway still hadn't died down. He could hear voices and laughter and wondered how any of the other players could get any sleep. One more of day of this shit, he thought. He laughed at himself; it used to be him making all that noise, now he was wondering when they would shut the fuck up and let the old people sleep.
There was a desperate knock on his door. Before he could decide whether or not to ignore it, he heard a voice, "Charlie," it said. "It's Lee. You awake?"
Charlie opened the door and found Lee West leaning against the door. He fell into his room. "Sorry," he said. He sounded very drunk. "Jason has a girl in our room and there were these kids running all over the place. I think they were chasing me."
"And you led them here? Thanks." Charlie said irritably.
"Nice room," he said, distracted. "You mind if I sleep here tonight?" He was already taking off his shoes as he fell into the couch, and within seconds, he began to snore.
"Sure," he deadpanned. "Make yourself at home."
With the noise from outside and Lee's snoring, Charlie realized he wouldn't get any sleep any time soon. Looking at the time, he sighed heavily. He covered his head with his pillow and threw a silencing hex at Lee.
He woke up automatically at 5 o'clock. Lee had fallen on the floor and was covered with his light jacket. Charlie nudged him with his foot and told him he could sleep in his bed. Without missing a beat Lee shrugged off his shirt and crawled into Charlie's bed. Within seconds he was snoring softly.
Charlie went into his bathroom and took a quick shower. He wrapped a towel low around his waist and was drying his hair when he came out of the bathroom. Before he could react, he realized that someone was in his room and was taking a picture of him coming out of the bathroom. He was sure that the photographer managed to get a picture of him half naked with Lee, bare chested sleeping in his bed.
Oh great, Charlie thought. That's going to make the papers.
He dressed hurriedly and grabbed his broom and was on the practice pitch by 6 o'clock. Not even Coach Popov was there, but he showed up minutes later. Charlie was also surprised to see several of the seeker-campers, including Marshall Lemmons, waiting for him. He grinned and told them just to enjoy the quiet. All he was going to do was fly. The kids followed him into the air and for the next hour they flew silently, enough the moment as much as Charlie.
After he landed, he wished everyone good luck in the day's tournament and headed off to the dining facility where he found Jordan, Joanna, and Lee sitting around reading the morning newspaper. Charlie slapped the back of Lee's head.
"Did you by any chance open my door while I was in the shower this morning?"
Lee looked at him, thinking hard. He was still slightly hung over from the night before. "Uh, I don't think so. Maybe," he said.
Charlie rolled his eyes and said, "Shit. It looks like we're going to have to announce our engagement soon."
Lee looked at him blankly; not understanding, but Jordan and Joanna caught on and began laughing gleefully.
"What?" he asked dumbly.
They were interrupted by the announcement of the tournament schedule. Eight teams would play single elimination. A tournament champion would be named as well as the most valuable players. There would be a two hour time limit and some games might end without capturing the Golden Snitch. The teams competing were The Austin Americans (Alicia), Killer Flyers (Jordan), Texas Unicorns (Joanna), Dodgers (Jason), Flying Aces (Lee), Salem Cats (Ryan), Cannon Balls (Iris), and Dragon Wranglers (Charlie). The most valuable players would be decided by the referees, who happened to be the Reds coaches.
Charlie was sure that the coaches were looking for potential players; at least he hoped so. He had seen some incredibly talented youngsters play. There were two pitches; the practice pitch and the Reds' official Quidditch Pitch where the teams played their games.
The first four teams to play first were Austin Americans versus Killer Flyers and on the practice pitch, the Texas Unicorns against the Dodgers. The other four teams watched the games, along with family and friends.
Coach Popov was refereeing the game in the Reds stadium while Evan Brinkley refereed in the practice pitch. By a coin toss, Joanna and Jason's team were playing in the Reds' stadium. It was much more comfortable in the official pitch's seating area that Charlie chose to watch Joanna's game instead of Jordan's. Of course the Wrangler stayed with Charlie.
"Who are we rooting for?" Tamara Smith asked.
Charlie shrugged. "Either team. Just watch them play and enjoy the game."
"I hope we get this pitch," another player said.
"Me, too," Charlie said. "You guys excited?"
"I'm really nervous," said one of the beaters.
"Don't be nervous. Just play your best. My adrenaline starts pumping the minute I get in the air."
"Do you get nervous?" Marshall asked. He was clearly getting anxious.
Charlie shook his head. "Not nervous, just excited."
"I've never played with this many people watching," Marshall said.
"You won't even notice them once the game starts. I promise." He assured him.
They sat back and watched the two teams play. The Unicorns' seeker, Melanie Gotschall was excellent. It proved to be a high scoring game. The keepers allowed for 260 points. But in the end, Gotschall captured the Golden Snitch, beating the Dodgers 290 – 110. On the other pitch, the Killer Flyers beat the Austin Americans in two hours of play without capturing the Golden Snitch. The final score was 90 – 70.
There was a short break, and then the other four teams met up for the second part of the tournament. Charlie's Dragon Wranglers was pitted against the Cannonballs in the main pitch with Coach Popov officiating. Lee's team the Flying Aces had to play Ryan's Salem Cats in the practice pitch. Charlie knew that Lee despised Ryan with a passion so he knew Lee wanted his team to massacre the Cats.
Charlie had his own team to worry about. He knew his players were good, especially Marshall the seeker. Marshall still looked nervous, but no more so than the other seeker. Charlie took him aside and told him to relax and have fun.
"Do you have any other advice for me, Coach?" Marshall asked chewing on his fingernail.
"Yeah," said Charlie. "Don't fall off your broom." Marshall laughed and took to the air.
Charlie paced and encouraged his team as the game remained scoreless. He was afraid that the game would end that way, but after forty-five minutes in the air, Marshall spotted and captured the Golden Snitch. There was a hell of a fight for the snitch between the other seeker, but in the end, Marshall flew away the winner. 150 - 0.
The Cats/Aces game was a lot more physical and went the two hours without the Golden Snitch being captured. The Aces chasers and keepers played a hard fight and the final score was 120 Aces to 40 for the Cats. Lee hooted and hollered louder than the team's parents. He wanted to gloat, but he didn't. The Aces played brilliantly.
The tournament broke for lunch and the four remaining teams were slated to play beginning at one thirty. Charlie thought his Wranglers had a real shot at beating the Aces. He was most impressed with his seeker and was confident that Marshall would capture the Golden Snitch.
Joanna's team, the Texas Unicorns were to play Jordan's Killers. Charlie was glad he didn't have to pick sides on that one.
While the Wranglers were battling the Aces, the Killers and the Unicorns were in a high scoring game. Neither keeper was able to prevent the chasers from scoring. Finally with less than 10 minutes left to play, the Unicorn's seeker captured the Snitch and won the game. The chasers had scored a total of 21 times and the final score was the Texas Unicorns 300, the Killer Flyers 160.
Early in the Wrangler/Aces game, the keeper was knocked off his broom and was unable to continue playing. Tamara Smith, the chaser took over and tried to protect the goals, but the Aces scored 17 goals. Marshall sacrificed the game by capturing the Snitch, but it wasn't enough to win the game. Unbelievably the Wranglers lost by 20 points. The Aces were going to meet the Unicorns in the tournament final.
Of course Charlie was disappointed that the team lost, but he was very proud of the way they played; especially Tamara and Marshall. The team was upset, but Charlie told them how proud he was of them.
After an hour break, the final match began in the main pitch with hundreds of people watching. This game was promising to be an exciting match and would be played to regulation standards and no time limit. After the game, the campers were to pack and get ready for the awards dinner.
Charlie and Jordan were rooting for the Unicorns, of course. Joanna had proven herself to be an excellent coach. Melanie Gotschall, the Unicorn's seeker was one of the brightest and most patient seekers both Jordan and Charlie had seen.
The stands filled quickly and when the whistle blew to begin the game, the enthusiasm matched a professional game. Both coaches paced and encouraged, cheered, and yelled at their players. The teams looked to be fairly evenly matched and it promised to be a high scoring game if the prior games were any indication. Charlie and Jordan spent most of the game on their feet jumping up and down, cursing at the referee (not too loud because neither had the nerve to curse Coach Popov).
The Aces scored first and then five in a row. Stunned, the Unicorns answered the score with eight goals of their own. Charlie was sure that the Unicorns would win, but the Aces fought back with another three goals in quick succession. At the end of the first hour of play, the Aces' seeker spotted the Golden Snitch and the race was on. It was a bitterly fought contest with both seekers literally fighting for the snitch. The seekers lost sight of the Snitch, found it, then lost it again. Charlie watched as the two seekers made a dive for the ground and it looked like someone was going to crash into the ground, but they both pulled up before certain disaster could strike. Then suddenly in the blink of an eye, the Aces's seeker stopped in midair and flew over to their keeper. Smiling broadly, the Aces's seeker flew straight down toward the earth in a feint Charlie would never has guess possible by such a young person. He fell off his broom, but he was close enough to the ground that he didn't get hurt. But when he stood up, he held his hand over his head and revealed the Golden Snitch. The Aces had won the tournament 210 - 100!
That evening at the awards' dinner, Melanie Gotschall and Marshall Lemmons were named the most valuable players. Charlie was extremely proud of his team because Josh Kilmer won a title as one of the best Beaters. Lee West was named best coach and Joanna received a similar honor. Charlie received honorable mention.
The past three days was very positive experience for Charlie. He enjoyed the camp and it didn't seem like such a torturous affair. He told Paula that he would volunteer again if the team every sponsored another Quidditch camp. He completed his "community service" and now he faced the two game suspensions.
His only dread was facing Linda. He promised he would answer her questions, but never said he would answer them honestly.