CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: FINAL FLIGHT
Canada squinted at the book he was reading. The bright sun was illuminating the page with such ferocity that it was almost blinding. Combined with the excited buzz of conversation surrounding him, it was enough to make him give up on the book for the moment. It was an old record of wizard court cases, and he'd been flipping through trying to find those precedents Buckbeak sorely needed. In hindsight, the final Quidditch game of the year was probably a bad place for research. He sighed, stowing the book back in his bag. Kumajuhani wasted no time in jumping onto his newly-vacated lap with a muttered, "Who are you?"
"I'm Matthew," Canada said automatically. The bear sniffed at Canada's Gryffindor rosette, and after ascertaining that it wasn't edible he curled up and fell asleep. Lucky you, Canada thought to himself. There was no way he would be able to fall asleep instantly on such a bright day with such a racket.
So, sure enough, the next thing Canada was aware of was being shaken awake. "Matthew, the match is about to start, wake up!" said Justin Finch-Fletchley. Canada rubbed at his eyes and tried to shake the sleepiness out of his mind. Perhaps staying up so late studying wasn't such a good idea.
He checked his watch to see that Justin was right. If everything was on schedule, the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams should be walking onto the pitch any minute, and it showed. The chatter of the crowd was much louder, and Lee Jordan could be heard doing a sound check. Canada adjusted his glasses and sat up straighter, taking care not to dislodge the still-sleeping Kumafiyero. "Okay. Thanks, Justin," he said.
The words were barely out of his mouth when the Gryffindor team walked onto the pitch and the crowd collectively lost their minds. Canada couldn't remember the last time the ratio of cheering and booing had been so biased towards the former. Even the Ravenclaws and his fellow Hufflepuffs were eager to see Slytherin crushed. Even Zacharias Smith, the most sympathetic to Slytherin of Canada's classmates, had joined Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan and Susan Bones in holding up a huge banner emblazoned with the Gryffindor lion. Then again, that might have been pure peer pressure.
"And here are the Gryffindors!" yelled Lee Jordan. "Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best side Hogwarts has seen in a good few years-" The Slytherins all booed. Before the entire rest of the school could retaliate vocally, Lee continued. "And here come the Slytherin team, led by captain Flint. He's made some changes in the line-up and seems to be going for size rather than skill-" The Slytherins booed again, but even from this distance Canada could see that there was evidence backing Lee's claim.
The captains approached each other and presumably shook hands, then the two teams mounted their brooms and took off. The crowd cheered so loudly Canada saw quite a few people wince and cover their ears. Lee started commentating as soon as his voice could be heard over the din. "And it's Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinnet of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goalposts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no – Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing up the pitch – WHAM! – nice bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it's caught by – Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina – nice swerve around Montague – duck, Angelina, that's a bludger! – SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"
Truth be told, Canada wasn't paying that much attention to the more action-packed part of the game. He was too busy keeping an eye on Harry. He had an awful track record when it came to Quidditch-related injuries, after all. He wasn't doing very much at the moment, just hanging around or flying in circles, keeping an eye out for the Snitch. Malfoy was just following Harry around instead of looking for it himself. I guess he's finally come to terms with his skill as a Seeker, Canada thought to himself. It also meant that the one student at Hogwarts who hated Harry the most was in just the right position to hurt him. It would be completely against the rules and get him in a lot of trouble, but that hadn't stopped him before. Canada wished that the match would wrap up quickly before anyone got hurt, but he knew it was unlikely. If Gryffindor wanted to win the Cup (which they clearly did), Harry would have to wait until they were more than fifty points ahead to catch the Snitch. Canada sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was going to be a long match.
As the game wore on, there was both good news and bad news. The good news was that the Gryffindors were clearly superior in skill, getting an early lead and holding onto it. The bad news was that the Slytherins were not happy about this and reaffirming all the negative stereotypes of their house by cheating and resorting to violence. Even if Gryffindor won, the after-party might have a damper on it from half the team being in the hospital wing. Surprisingly, Harry was not the most injured. For once he was getting through a match completely unscathed. Is it Opposite Day or something? Canada wondered.
Two collisions, two clubbings, one head-grab, one elbow to the face, two illegal attacks on the Keeper, one broom-grab, and a lot of swearing from Lee later, Canada had to resist the urge to pull his own hair out. Gryffindor were only fifty points ahead, but Angelina Johnson had the Quaffle and was speeding towards the Slytherin end of the field. Just when Canada's hopes rose, almost every single member of the Slytherin team flew forward to form a blockade. But then, with a sound that reminded Canada of nothing more than the velociraptors from Jurassic Park, Harry barrelled into them at full speed and scattered them, like a magical Moses that was more into sports than liberation. Angelina made the goal, unsurprisingly since the Slytherin Keeper had been part of the blockade. It would have been very depressing if she hadn't gotten it.
Harry spun around in the air, flew to the middle of the pitch, and suddenly dived towards the ground. Canada looked at his destination and saw a flash of gold. He also saw Malfoy aiming for it as well, and much closer to it than Harry was. Canada's heart leapt to his throat. Come on, Harry, don't let that hoser win! There was a chance, at least, as Harry was gaining on him fast. Canada's hands clenched into fists as his heartbeat pounded in his ears. He tried to mentally shake himself – it's just a school tournament, it's not like the results will change the world- and failed. At least he could comfort himself by looking over at Hannah, whose eyes were almost as large as saucers as she hyperventilated into a paper bag, and feeling downright serene by comparison.
In the end, however, Harry's talent and expensive broomstick beat Malfoy's head start and slightly less expensive broomstick. As Harry rose into the air, Snitch clutched tightly in his fist, the crowd erupted into such a frenzy that for a moment Canada thought something had gone horribly wrong and the stadium had exploded. The rest of Harry's team rushed over to him to perform the first airborne group hug Canada had ever seen, and as they clumsily made their way to the ground everyone in the stands began getting to their feet and hurrying to the stairs. Canada picked up Kumazero and joined them, if only to keep from getting trampled.
The great crimson horde swarmed onto the pitch, engulfing the Gryffindor team in a sea of cheering and pats on the back. In the midst of all the celebration, Canada heard a depressingly familiar sound. It was a mixture of pained grunts, exclamations of surprise, and a voice saying, "Make way, hero coming through, 'scuse me."
Canada tapped Hannah on the shoulder. "Would you please hold Kumariri for me, eh?" he asked, holding the miraculously still sleeping bear out to her.
"All right," she said, looking very confused but still taking Kumayumi into her arms. "Why-"
Her question was interrupted by America reaching Canada and crushing him in a hug that would have likely snapped an unsuspecting polar bear cub caught in it in two. "MATT DUDE MATT MATTIE MATT BRO DUDE WE WON!" His skills of articulation depleted, America screamed incoherently into Canada's ear. Canada made eye contact with Hannah and raised an eyebrow. She nodded in silent understanding.
Canada looked back to where he remembered the team being before they were obscured by fans and saw that they'd been lifted onto the shoulders of the crowd. Canada was sure he saw Harry's gaze fall on him and America, so he smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. America noticed, too, and released Canada from his death grip to raise his arms in a V and cheered loud enough to make everyone in a five foot radius wince.
Harry and the others were carried over to Professor Dumbledore, who stood with the Quidditch Cup and a warm smile. As a sobbing Wood handed the Cup to Harry, who was looking happier than Canada had ever seen him, his vision started to get a bit blurry. He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes with his sleeve.
America noticed. "Dude, seriously?"
"I-it's just," Canada choked. "Everyone's so happy, and they've all been working so hard, a-and seeing it all pay off so… it's all just so wonderful!"
"Well, when you put it like that…" America abruptly hugged Canada again and started bawling. "You're right! The world is such a beautiful place right now!" They got a few odd looks, but Canada didn't worry about it. If everybody hadn't already noticed he and America were a bit weird, he sincerely feared for their futures.
A/N: Okay, I lost all my inspiration almost immediately after publishing that last chapter and it took a while to get it back, but we're approaching the climax now which should be really fun to write so I might be able to finish on schedule! Thank you all for being so supportive! NEXT CHAPTER: Exams and executions. See you all next time!
