Chapter 3: Quidditch
Madam Hooch had retired two years earlier in my sixth year, and Oliver Wood had taken her place. The energetic young wizard enjoyed his job as flying teacher and quidditch referee. He had tried out for the Chudley Cannons as soon as he'd graduated, but they told him to keep practicing and come back in a few years. When he wasn't teaching first years to fly, he was playing or studying the sport.
I approached him one Saturday morning in early October on the quidditch field.
"Ho, Oliver!" I cried, my broomstick in my hand.
"Hullo, Alex," he replied, looking up from his own broom. "Fine day for a game, wouldn't you say?"
"Lovely. I was wondering if you could help me." I stopped walking as I reached him. "I'm a bit rusty on my flying, you see. Could you spare a couple of minutes?"
"Sure, I'd love to help," he answered. "But I must say, practice is the best way to improve."
I smiled. "That's what I'm here for." I swung a leg over my broomstick and kicked off from the ground.
Oliver grinned and joined me in the air. "First let me see what you can do."
"All right." I was only a few feet off the ground, so I flew a little higher. Cautiously I eased myself forward and jerkily turned from side to side. I could see Oliver out of the corner of my eye trying not to laugh.
"I'm not that bad," I said, stopping and turning to face him.
"I know. I'm sorry. Why don't you follow me around for a few minutes to get the feel of it back?"
For the next ten minutes I followed him slowly around in the air. He led me through turns and ups and downs and arounds until I was fairly confident in my flying ability again. Then we played tag for a little while, which ended up being more of me chasing him around while he easily evaded me, but it was fun anyway.
"Much better," he said, halting and turning to me.
"Thanks, I feel a lot better about it," I replied, sitting more at ease.
"So are you enjoying being a teacher here at Hogwarts?" he asked, slowly circling down to the ground.
I followed. "I like it alright. It is kind of weird, though, since I went to school here."
"I know what you mean. It must be really odd to be teaching your friends. But it is nice to have new classes. I wish they'd have had ancient language classes while I was here."
"I'd be happy to teach you in my spare time," I offered.
"Yeah? I'm really only interested in Greek." He walked over to the sideline and sat in a sunny patch between two of the stands. I followed and sat next to him.
"That's cool. We can work on weekends or after classes."
"Or both."
"Or both."
***
Halloween came stormy yet cheery. The great hall was festooned with glowing pumpkins, floating candles and live bats. Thunder and lightning raced across the enchanted ceiling. It was as breathtaking as ever. The smell of baking pumpkin pies had been wafting through the castle all day.
I attended the feast in new orange and black robes I'd picked up in Hogsmeade. I entered the hall, ducking out of the way of a few stray bats.
"Hey Al--Professor Baretto! Happy Halloween!" Alayna called as I passed the Gryffindor table.
"You too!" I replied over the noise of the feasting students. I made my way to the front of the hall. Oliver Wood had saved me a seat, and he hailed me over to him.
"Happy Halloween, Alex," he said as I sat next to him.
"Happy Halloween." I grabbed a goblet of pumpkin juice and toasted with him. A large crack of thunder sounded overhead and I ducked.
"I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow," Oliver said glancing up. "I mean, you know, first quidditch match of the season and all."
Ah, yes. Quidditch. It always came back down to that. In any case, I hoped it would be a bit dryer, too. The first match was the next day, and it was Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor. Whoever won would pull the lead in the house cup competition. Of course, I as a teacher was supposed to remain impartial, but deep down I still felt a little loyalty for my old house.
The next day indeed was dryer than Halloween, if somewhat overcast. It was gray and gloomy but not a drop fell, and everyone was excited. I sat up in one of the stands on the Ravenclaw side, carefully dressed in impartial colors.
"Welcome to the first quidditch match of the season!" announced a third year Hufflepuff doing commentary. His name was Josh McGovern "Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor on this cheerfully cloudy day." The crowd roared.
"And here come our players now!" McGovern continued. "For Gryffindor the chasers are James Smith, Miranda Gutshall and Nimoüe Linden! Keeper is played by Andrew Needle! Their beaters are Erin Marks and Kyle Lynch! And making his debut as seeker, Jeremy Waer!" The Gryffindor side erupted in cheers as the new seeker stepped onto the field. The Ravenclaw side clapped politely.
"For Ravenclaw, we have Rich Ilmári for keeper! Sam Anderson, Renna Dinucchi and Dean Manning are the chasers! As beaters we have Mári and José Rodriguez. And their seeker of three years, Eric Bryce!" It was our turn to scream at the top of our lungs as the players came onto the field.
Oliver Wood stood in the center of the fourteen players. "On my whistle"--he paused to throw a wink in my direction--"three, two, one, go!" He blew his whistle and fifteen people took to the air.
"And right away Dinucchi's got the quaffle. She dodges a blugder from Lynch and--oh! hit by one from Marks. Smith gets off with the quaffle and scored for Gryffindor! The score is now 10-0, Gryffindor. Linden gets the quaffle for Gryffindor and zooms down the center of the field, shoots, nice save by Ilmári! Manning takes the ball...score for Ravenclaw!" Our side cheered loudly.
Two hours and a lot of points later, Eric Bryce caught the snitch and won the game, 300 to 250. Ravenclaw won the first quidditch match of the season.
Disclaimer: Once again (or is it still?) I do not claim any ownership to J.K. Rowling's people, places or ideas.
A/N: Chapter three done. Hope ya liked it. R/R, will ya? I enjoy writing this, and I'll enjoy it a lot more once I know you enjoy reading it. Comments? Suggestions? Complaints? Well review and tell me about it!!!! Or you could always write me at [1]lainey_marie_03@hotmail.com. See y'all next chapter. Happy fan fictioning!
References
1. mailto:lainey_marie_03@hotmail.com
Madam Hooch had retired two years earlier in my sixth year, and Oliver Wood had taken her place. The energetic young wizard enjoyed his job as flying teacher and quidditch referee. He had tried out for the Chudley Cannons as soon as he'd graduated, but they told him to keep practicing and come back in a few years. When he wasn't teaching first years to fly, he was playing or studying the sport.
I approached him one Saturday morning in early October on the quidditch field.
"Ho, Oliver!" I cried, my broomstick in my hand.
"Hullo, Alex," he replied, looking up from his own broom. "Fine day for a game, wouldn't you say?"
"Lovely. I was wondering if you could help me." I stopped walking as I reached him. "I'm a bit rusty on my flying, you see. Could you spare a couple of minutes?"
"Sure, I'd love to help," he answered. "But I must say, practice is the best way to improve."
I smiled. "That's what I'm here for." I swung a leg over my broomstick and kicked off from the ground.
Oliver grinned and joined me in the air. "First let me see what you can do."
"All right." I was only a few feet off the ground, so I flew a little higher. Cautiously I eased myself forward and jerkily turned from side to side. I could see Oliver out of the corner of my eye trying not to laugh.
"I'm not that bad," I said, stopping and turning to face him.
"I know. I'm sorry. Why don't you follow me around for a few minutes to get the feel of it back?"
For the next ten minutes I followed him slowly around in the air. He led me through turns and ups and downs and arounds until I was fairly confident in my flying ability again. Then we played tag for a little while, which ended up being more of me chasing him around while he easily evaded me, but it was fun anyway.
"Much better," he said, halting and turning to me.
"Thanks, I feel a lot better about it," I replied, sitting more at ease.
"So are you enjoying being a teacher here at Hogwarts?" he asked, slowly circling down to the ground.
I followed. "I like it alright. It is kind of weird, though, since I went to school here."
"I know what you mean. It must be really odd to be teaching your friends. But it is nice to have new classes. I wish they'd have had ancient language classes while I was here."
"I'd be happy to teach you in my spare time," I offered.
"Yeah? I'm really only interested in Greek." He walked over to the sideline and sat in a sunny patch between two of the stands. I followed and sat next to him.
"That's cool. We can work on weekends or after classes."
"Or both."
"Or both."
***
Halloween came stormy yet cheery. The great hall was festooned with glowing pumpkins, floating candles and live bats. Thunder and lightning raced across the enchanted ceiling. It was as breathtaking as ever. The smell of baking pumpkin pies had been wafting through the castle all day.
I attended the feast in new orange and black robes I'd picked up in Hogsmeade. I entered the hall, ducking out of the way of a few stray bats.
"Hey Al--Professor Baretto! Happy Halloween!" Alayna called as I passed the Gryffindor table.
"You too!" I replied over the noise of the feasting students. I made my way to the front of the hall. Oliver Wood had saved me a seat, and he hailed me over to him.
"Happy Halloween, Alex," he said as I sat next to him.
"Happy Halloween." I grabbed a goblet of pumpkin juice and toasted with him. A large crack of thunder sounded overhead and I ducked.
"I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow," Oliver said glancing up. "I mean, you know, first quidditch match of the season and all."
Ah, yes. Quidditch. It always came back down to that. In any case, I hoped it would be a bit dryer, too. The first match was the next day, and it was Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor. Whoever won would pull the lead in the house cup competition. Of course, I as a teacher was supposed to remain impartial, but deep down I still felt a little loyalty for my old house.
The next day indeed was dryer than Halloween, if somewhat overcast. It was gray and gloomy but not a drop fell, and everyone was excited. I sat up in one of the stands on the Ravenclaw side, carefully dressed in impartial colors.
"Welcome to the first quidditch match of the season!" announced a third year Hufflepuff doing commentary. His name was Josh McGovern "Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor on this cheerfully cloudy day." The crowd roared.
"And here come our players now!" McGovern continued. "For Gryffindor the chasers are James Smith, Miranda Gutshall and Nimoüe Linden! Keeper is played by Andrew Needle! Their beaters are Erin Marks and Kyle Lynch! And making his debut as seeker, Jeremy Waer!" The Gryffindor side erupted in cheers as the new seeker stepped onto the field. The Ravenclaw side clapped politely.
"For Ravenclaw, we have Rich Ilmári for keeper! Sam Anderson, Renna Dinucchi and Dean Manning are the chasers! As beaters we have Mári and José Rodriguez. And their seeker of three years, Eric Bryce!" It was our turn to scream at the top of our lungs as the players came onto the field.
Oliver Wood stood in the center of the fourteen players. "On my whistle"--he paused to throw a wink in my direction--"three, two, one, go!" He blew his whistle and fifteen people took to the air.
"And right away Dinucchi's got the quaffle. She dodges a blugder from Lynch and--oh! hit by one from Marks. Smith gets off with the quaffle and scored for Gryffindor! The score is now 10-0, Gryffindor. Linden gets the quaffle for Gryffindor and zooms down the center of the field, shoots, nice save by Ilmári! Manning takes the ball...score for Ravenclaw!" Our side cheered loudly.
Two hours and a lot of points later, Eric Bryce caught the snitch and won the game, 300 to 250. Ravenclaw won the first quidditch match of the season.
Disclaimer: Once again (or is it still?) I do not claim any ownership to J.K. Rowling's people, places or ideas.
A/N: Chapter three done. Hope ya liked it. R/R, will ya? I enjoy writing this, and I'll enjoy it a lot more once I know you enjoy reading it. Comments? Suggestions? Complaints? Well review and tell me about it!!!! Or you could always write me at [1]lainey_marie_03@hotmail.com. See y'all next chapter. Happy fan fictioning!
References
1. mailto:lainey_marie_03@hotmail.com