The next day, James and his friends went to their classes as usual, and to
be on the safe side, didn't pull any pranks. After their stunt they were
going to pull on Halloween, they didn't want to look like the guilty,
obvious ones.
"Wow. Today wasn't as much fun as usual," Remus stated at dinner.
"Maybe that's because you actually listened in class for once," Sirius retorted.
"Oh… right, that's how you guys get good marks…" Remus said, knowingly, "No wonder I almost fail every single time."
"Serves you right," Lily chuckled.
"So when exactly are we going to…you know…" Peter asked cautiously, not wanting to say what it was, because there were other students within hearing distance.
"Peter!" Sirius exclaimed, shooting daggers at Peter with his eyes, "Not here!"
He said this loudly enough to bring even more attention to him and his friends, so it took a minute or two for the other students to turn back to their own conversation.
"Sorry," Peter said in a small voice, hunching in fear.
When the friends were out of the Great Hall, and on their way back to the common room to get their books, Sirius said, "We'll do it after the Quidditch game tomorrow."
Everyone agreed to this arrangement, and James grinned at the thought of the match the next day. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. He couldn't wait to play, since Malfoy was on the other team as a seeker as well, and James wanted to whip Slytherin as badly as possible. Slytherin and Gryffindor had always been the main rivals at Hogwarts when it came to Quidditch, with Slytherin usually coming out as the winners. James was determined to show that Gryffindor was better than Slytherin, and he was hoping to be the one to prove it.
"You're all coming to the match tomorrow, right?" James asked.
"Does Remus like breakfast?" Sirius asked, "Of course we're coming! Why would you even ask that? Even if you didn't make the team we would go! We've gone to every Quidditch match available since we came to this school. Even the ones with Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff! And that's saying something, since they're games are usually SO boring!"
"Alright, alright. It was just a question!" James replied, raising his hands defensively, "You don't have to bite my head off!"
"Yeah, yeah…" Sirius answered, although he was smiling.
No Gryffindor could wait until the match the next day. Everyone stayed up late the night before the game, chatting excitedly about who they thought would win, and the new players, and how much better Gryffindor was than Slytherin.
At breakfast, Sirius stated the obvious, "Malfoy got onto the team because his father is rich. He's no good at Quidditch. Come to think of it, he's not good at anything… Anyways… you know James, if he catches the Snitch before you do, there's gonna be a whole lot of Gryffindors in our common room tonight that are gonna wanna bash your head through the wall…"
"Thanks so much for your unfaltering support, Sirius," James said, a greenish tinge in his face.
"Any time, James!" Sirius replied, turning back to his breakfast.
The air between the friends was quiet. Sirius, feeling he had to say something, announced, "You know James, if Malfoy catches the Snitch before you do, there's gonna be a whole lot of Gryffindors in our common room tonight that are gonna wanna detach your neck from your head and torso, and feed it to the vultures…"
"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, shocked.
"What?!?!?!?" Sirius replied.
"There are no vultures anywhere near here!" Remus stated matter-of-factly. Everyone laughed, until finally Craig stood up from the far side of the Gryffindor table, and announced, "Team! Come on!"
"I better go. See y'all later!" James said, and departed from the table.
"Ya'll? Where does he think he's from? Texas?" Lily asked.
"Texas?" Sirius repeated, dumbfounded.
"Yeah. It's in the States. My family and I visited it in the summer a couple years back. They say words like, 'y'all' and they have funny accents," Lily explained, "But they didn't think they had an accent! They thought I had an accent!"
"That's crazy! We sound exactly like you, and we don't have accents!" Peter burst out.
"Oh well. Time to get to the match," Remus said, standing up from the table.
"Yeah, we better go," Sirius said, and the four walked out of the Great Hall, and down the stone steps of the school, leading to the Quidditch pitch.
Remus, Peter, Sirius and Lily walked to the top of row of the stands, and sat, waiting anxiously for the match to start.
"It should have started by now," Sirius declared, frowning, "I wonder what's going on."
"I'll go see what the problem is," Remus said, trying to look brave as he walked about 10 feet, before reaching a box behind a wall of glass, where Professor McGonagall was sitting, arms crossed, looking angry. Remus walked around behind the glass, chatting briefly with Professor McGonagall with a large grin on his face.
"What are you smiling about?" Lily asked Remus curiously.
"Sebastian Whyte, last year's announcer, from Ravenclaw, didn't show up to announce the match. McGonagall pretty ticked. She said she can't start the game without the commentator," Remus explained, still grinning broadly.
"Is there more, or are you just grinning like an idiot for no apparent reason?" Sirius asked.
"Oh, there's more," Remus replied, "She wants me to commentate! ME! Can you believe that?"
"That's great, Remus!" Lily exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know!" Remus answered, giddy, "AND she said you guys could come sit in the box with us, if you want!" Remus added.
"Sure!" Peter exclaimed excitedly.
The four walked to the box, and Remus sat down in the center of the row behind the glass.
Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at his throat, and said, "Sonorus."
For a moment, Remus looked frightened at the prospect of being heard by everyone, but after a quick nudge from Lily, he got over his fears and welcomed the crowd.
"Welcome to the first match of the season! We've got Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, in what looks promising to be a very close match-up!" Remus started.
The fans cheered wildly, and this seemed to rev Remus on, causing him to get very excited.
"And now, we have the Slytherin team! First comes Quidditch captain, and Keeper, Mark Bechtel! Next we have beaters Greg Lidstrom, and Tom Salo! After them are chasers Nicole Nylander, Dave Chapman, and Becky Streit!" Remus announced, seeming quite cheerful, but for the next part, he uttered it, and everyone in crowd, except the Slytherins, who were farthest away heard, "And last, we have the Slytherin seeker, who by the way, has utterly no Quidditch talent, and the only reason he's on this team is because he bought his way on, is Lucius Malfoy!" The crowd laughed, except the Slytherins, who were jeering loudly about an announcer that couldn't even be heard.
"And now, we have the Gryffindor team!" he paused here, waiting for the exceptionally louder cheers for the Gryffindors to subside, and when they did, continued, "As Keeper and captain of the Gryffindor team, we have Craig Hopkins! And not too far away we have beaters Shane Torkiss and Mitch Rutledge! Next we have chasers Holly Tugnutt, Greg Nielson, and Simon Bullard! And last, we have one of the newest additions to the team, the amazingly talented seeker, whom the team was very lucky to find, may I introduce, James Potteerrrrrrrrr!!!!!" he let the last word drone for a few seconds, and then stopped after a stern glance from Professor McGonagall. However, the crowd cheered extremely loudly, infuriating the Slytherins, who booed loudly, and when Remus turned to look, he saw Malfoy looking practically ready to kill Remus.
But just then, Madam Hooch walked onto the field and after a very brief handshake between the two captains she blew her whistle. All fifteen brooms shot up into the air, and the game had begun.
"And they're off! It's Gryffindor Simon Bullard with the Quaffle, passes to Tugnutt, who attempts a pass across the pitch to Nielson, but the pass is intercepted by Becky Streit of Slytherin, who streaks down the pitch, and she's on a breakaway...She's gonna shoot! Whoa! Nice bludger work there by Rutledge, who hit Streit in the stomach! Lucky break there for Hopkins!" Remus shouted. Lily, Sirius, and Peter were astonished at hot incredibly fast Remus was talking. He was not usually like this. Remus turned to them, smiled, and quickly turned his head back to the game, "And the Quaffle is taken by Bullard, who passes to Nielson, to Tugnutt, back to Nielson, who diqued Bechtel, and GRYFFINDOR SCORES!!!!!! It's 10-0 Gryffindor!"
Three-quarters of the crowd were cheering and jumping up and down like mad, but the others, mainly Slytherins, were sulking in their seats, as they didn't have much to cheer about.
Not for long though. The Slytherin Chasers came back out of nowhere, and before anyone knew what exactly was happening, it was 80-10 Slytherin.
"And Gryffindor captain Craig Hopkins is calling for a time-out. No doubt giving his team a wake-up call," Remus stated, shaking his head.
Five minutes later, the teams were back in the air, and James was trying very hard indeed to look for the Snitch. The one time James saw it, Greg Lidstrom had sent a Bludger right by his head, a narrow miss, and the Snitch was gone.
Wait, what's that? James thought, turning his head quickly, spotting a golden glint from the corner of his eye. The Snitch! James thought.
"It looks as though James Potter has seen the Snitch! But wait, so has Lucius Malfoy! They're neck-and-neck, flying towards the Gryffindor goalposts at breakneck speeds! Who will get it?" Remus shouted.
The crowd was on their feet, craning their necks to see what was happening. Play between the rest of the teams had stopped, and everyone was watching Malfoy and James, desperately trying to beat the other to the golden ball.
Almost there, James thought to himself. He thrust his hand forward, as did Malfoy. It's all a matter of luck, now, James thought, as the Snitch drew nearer.
They were nearing the Snitch, they were almost there...They were going...going...
"They've gone past it!" Remus announced to the anticipated stadium, "Wait...if they've gone past it, then where is it?"
The crowd was very confused. But no one was more confused than Malfoy and James.
"What the hell is going on?" Malfoy yelled.
"I dun-" James started to say, but was interrupted by movement under his robes, "What the-?"
The Snitch had somehow gone up his sleeve as him and Malfoy were racing. The golden ball was squirming underneath his robes, searching for an exit.
Malfoy was shocked. He appeared to be frozen on his broom, staring at James as James tried to release the Snitch. Suddenly Malfoy lunged for James, attacking his robes, attempting to reach for the Snitch. Even if it meant knocking James off of his broom.
The rest of the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams were trying to get James and Malfoy apart.
The crowd was having trouble seeing what exactly was happening. Remus was just as confused as ever.
Suddenly, the audience saw a small golden ball fly from out of the crowd of Quidditch players, and were yelling excitedly.
"Look! It's the Snitch!" Remus shouted.
Malfoy and James somehow got out from the center of the herd of players, and were again fighting to get the Snitch.
"Who's got it?" Remus yelped, craning his neck to see who had gotten the Snitch.
Malfoy and James somehow got out from the center of the herd of players, and were again fighting to get the Snitch.
"Who's got it?" Remus yelped, craning his neck to see who had gotten the Snitch.
James veered away from Malfoy with a look of triumph on his face.
"James Potter has gotten the Snitch! It's all over! Gryffindor has won!" Remus shouted excitedly. You could barely hear him though, because of the reaction of the crowd.
Most were cheering and whooping as loud as humanly possible, while others were booing and swearing, also very loudly.
The Gryffindor team was also cheering, and flew to the ground, grins plastered on their faces, and engulfed James in a group hug when their feet touched the earth.
While Peter and Remus were cheering, Lily and Sirius started dancing around in circles, beyond joy.
"Look at Malfoy!" Remus said suddenly, causing not only his friends, but practically everyone in the stadium to turn and look at the Slytherin.
Lucius Malfoy was sulking on the Quidditch pitch, weeping, trying to be subtle so as people wouldnt notice.
But thanks to Remus, everyone did, and the laughing was uncontrollable.
"No one's gonna forget that any time soon," Sirius commented through peals of laughter, as Malfoy ran to the Slytherin change rooms, trying to hide his face.
"Who's that?" Lily asked suddenly.
"Who's who?" Sirius questioned.
"There! By the Gryffindor change rooms!" Lily shouted.
They all turned and looked, and saw a figure, all in black, exiting the change rooms, and walking quickly to the lake.
"Beats me," Remus answered.
Several people in the stands turned to look at him, confused, but then Professor McGonagall, whom the friends had forgotten was even there, pointed her wand at Remus' throat, muttered something no one could hear, and the next time Remus said something, it was in his usual tone and volume of voice.
"He looked suspicious to me," Lily said.
"Who looked suspicious to you?" Sirius asked, confused.
"The figure!" Lily answered impatiently.
"I'm sure it was no one. Forget about it," Sirius attempted to assure Lily.
But Lily wasn't so sure.
"Wow. Today wasn't as much fun as usual," Remus stated at dinner.
"Maybe that's because you actually listened in class for once," Sirius retorted.
"Oh… right, that's how you guys get good marks…" Remus said, knowingly, "No wonder I almost fail every single time."
"Serves you right," Lily chuckled.
"So when exactly are we going to…you know…" Peter asked cautiously, not wanting to say what it was, because there were other students within hearing distance.
"Peter!" Sirius exclaimed, shooting daggers at Peter with his eyes, "Not here!"
He said this loudly enough to bring even more attention to him and his friends, so it took a minute or two for the other students to turn back to their own conversation.
"Sorry," Peter said in a small voice, hunching in fear.
When the friends were out of the Great Hall, and on their way back to the common room to get their books, Sirius said, "We'll do it after the Quidditch game tomorrow."
Everyone agreed to this arrangement, and James grinned at the thought of the match the next day. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. He couldn't wait to play, since Malfoy was on the other team as a seeker as well, and James wanted to whip Slytherin as badly as possible. Slytherin and Gryffindor had always been the main rivals at Hogwarts when it came to Quidditch, with Slytherin usually coming out as the winners. James was determined to show that Gryffindor was better than Slytherin, and he was hoping to be the one to prove it.
"You're all coming to the match tomorrow, right?" James asked.
"Does Remus like breakfast?" Sirius asked, "Of course we're coming! Why would you even ask that? Even if you didn't make the team we would go! We've gone to every Quidditch match available since we came to this school. Even the ones with Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff! And that's saying something, since they're games are usually SO boring!"
"Alright, alright. It was just a question!" James replied, raising his hands defensively, "You don't have to bite my head off!"
"Yeah, yeah…" Sirius answered, although he was smiling.
No Gryffindor could wait until the match the next day. Everyone stayed up late the night before the game, chatting excitedly about who they thought would win, and the new players, and how much better Gryffindor was than Slytherin.
At breakfast, Sirius stated the obvious, "Malfoy got onto the team because his father is rich. He's no good at Quidditch. Come to think of it, he's not good at anything… Anyways… you know James, if he catches the Snitch before you do, there's gonna be a whole lot of Gryffindors in our common room tonight that are gonna wanna bash your head through the wall…"
"Thanks so much for your unfaltering support, Sirius," James said, a greenish tinge in his face.
"Any time, James!" Sirius replied, turning back to his breakfast.
The air between the friends was quiet. Sirius, feeling he had to say something, announced, "You know James, if Malfoy catches the Snitch before you do, there's gonna be a whole lot of Gryffindors in our common room tonight that are gonna wanna detach your neck from your head and torso, and feed it to the vultures…"
"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, shocked.
"What?!?!?!?" Sirius replied.
"There are no vultures anywhere near here!" Remus stated matter-of-factly. Everyone laughed, until finally Craig stood up from the far side of the Gryffindor table, and announced, "Team! Come on!"
"I better go. See y'all later!" James said, and departed from the table.
"Ya'll? Where does he think he's from? Texas?" Lily asked.
"Texas?" Sirius repeated, dumbfounded.
"Yeah. It's in the States. My family and I visited it in the summer a couple years back. They say words like, 'y'all' and they have funny accents," Lily explained, "But they didn't think they had an accent! They thought I had an accent!"
"That's crazy! We sound exactly like you, and we don't have accents!" Peter burst out.
"Oh well. Time to get to the match," Remus said, standing up from the table.
"Yeah, we better go," Sirius said, and the four walked out of the Great Hall, and down the stone steps of the school, leading to the Quidditch pitch.
Remus, Peter, Sirius and Lily walked to the top of row of the stands, and sat, waiting anxiously for the match to start.
"It should have started by now," Sirius declared, frowning, "I wonder what's going on."
"I'll go see what the problem is," Remus said, trying to look brave as he walked about 10 feet, before reaching a box behind a wall of glass, where Professor McGonagall was sitting, arms crossed, looking angry. Remus walked around behind the glass, chatting briefly with Professor McGonagall with a large grin on his face.
"What are you smiling about?" Lily asked Remus curiously.
"Sebastian Whyte, last year's announcer, from Ravenclaw, didn't show up to announce the match. McGonagall pretty ticked. She said she can't start the game without the commentator," Remus explained, still grinning broadly.
"Is there more, or are you just grinning like an idiot for no apparent reason?" Sirius asked.
"Oh, there's more," Remus replied, "She wants me to commentate! ME! Can you believe that?"
"That's great, Remus!" Lily exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know!" Remus answered, giddy, "AND she said you guys could come sit in the box with us, if you want!" Remus added.
"Sure!" Peter exclaimed excitedly.
The four walked to the box, and Remus sat down in the center of the row behind the glass.
Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at his throat, and said, "Sonorus."
For a moment, Remus looked frightened at the prospect of being heard by everyone, but after a quick nudge from Lily, he got over his fears and welcomed the crowd.
"Welcome to the first match of the season! We've got Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, in what looks promising to be a very close match-up!" Remus started.
The fans cheered wildly, and this seemed to rev Remus on, causing him to get very excited.
"And now, we have the Slytherin team! First comes Quidditch captain, and Keeper, Mark Bechtel! Next we have beaters Greg Lidstrom, and Tom Salo! After them are chasers Nicole Nylander, Dave Chapman, and Becky Streit!" Remus announced, seeming quite cheerful, but for the next part, he uttered it, and everyone in crowd, except the Slytherins, who were farthest away heard, "And last, we have the Slytherin seeker, who by the way, has utterly no Quidditch talent, and the only reason he's on this team is because he bought his way on, is Lucius Malfoy!" The crowd laughed, except the Slytherins, who were jeering loudly about an announcer that couldn't even be heard.
"And now, we have the Gryffindor team!" he paused here, waiting for the exceptionally louder cheers for the Gryffindors to subside, and when they did, continued, "As Keeper and captain of the Gryffindor team, we have Craig Hopkins! And not too far away we have beaters Shane Torkiss and Mitch Rutledge! Next we have chasers Holly Tugnutt, Greg Nielson, and Simon Bullard! And last, we have one of the newest additions to the team, the amazingly talented seeker, whom the team was very lucky to find, may I introduce, James Potteerrrrrrrrr!!!!!" he let the last word drone for a few seconds, and then stopped after a stern glance from Professor McGonagall. However, the crowd cheered extremely loudly, infuriating the Slytherins, who booed loudly, and when Remus turned to look, he saw Malfoy looking practically ready to kill Remus.
But just then, Madam Hooch walked onto the field and after a very brief handshake between the two captains she blew her whistle. All fifteen brooms shot up into the air, and the game had begun.
"And they're off! It's Gryffindor Simon Bullard with the Quaffle, passes to Tugnutt, who attempts a pass across the pitch to Nielson, but the pass is intercepted by Becky Streit of Slytherin, who streaks down the pitch, and she's on a breakaway...She's gonna shoot! Whoa! Nice bludger work there by Rutledge, who hit Streit in the stomach! Lucky break there for Hopkins!" Remus shouted. Lily, Sirius, and Peter were astonished at hot incredibly fast Remus was talking. He was not usually like this. Remus turned to them, smiled, and quickly turned his head back to the game, "And the Quaffle is taken by Bullard, who passes to Nielson, to Tugnutt, back to Nielson, who diqued Bechtel, and GRYFFINDOR SCORES!!!!!! It's 10-0 Gryffindor!"
Three-quarters of the crowd were cheering and jumping up and down like mad, but the others, mainly Slytherins, were sulking in their seats, as they didn't have much to cheer about.
Not for long though. The Slytherin Chasers came back out of nowhere, and before anyone knew what exactly was happening, it was 80-10 Slytherin.
"And Gryffindor captain Craig Hopkins is calling for a time-out. No doubt giving his team a wake-up call," Remus stated, shaking his head.
Five minutes later, the teams were back in the air, and James was trying very hard indeed to look for the Snitch. The one time James saw it, Greg Lidstrom had sent a Bludger right by his head, a narrow miss, and the Snitch was gone.
Wait, what's that? James thought, turning his head quickly, spotting a golden glint from the corner of his eye. The Snitch! James thought.
"It looks as though James Potter has seen the Snitch! But wait, so has Lucius Malfoy! They're neck-and-neck, flying towards the Gryffindor goalposts at breakneck speeds! Who will get it?" Remus shouted.
The crowd was on their feet, craning their necks to see what was happening. Play between the rest of the teams had stopped, and everyone was watching Malfoy and James, desperately trying to beat the other to the golden ball.
Almost there, James thought to himself. He thrust his hand forward, as did Malfoy. It's all a matter of luck, now, James thought, as the Snitch drew nearer.
They were nearing the Snitch, they were almost there...They were going...going...
"They've gone past it!" Remus announced to the anticipated stadium, "Wait...if they've gone past it, then where is it?"
The crowd was very confused. But no one was more confused than Malfoy and James.
"What the hell is going on?" Malfoy yelled.
"I dun-" James started to say, but was interrupted by movement under his robes, "What the-?"
The Snitch had somehow gone up his sleeve as him and Malfoy were racing. The golden ball was squirming underneath his robes, searching for an exit.
Malfoy was shocked. He appeared to be frozen on his broom, staring at James as James tried to release the Snitch. Suddenly Malfoy lunged for James, attacking his robes, attempting to reach for the Snitch. Even if it meant knocking James off of his broom.
The rest of the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams were trying to get James and Malfoy apart.
The crowd was having trouble seeing what exactly was happening. Remus was just as confused as ever.
Suddenly, the audience saw a small golden ball fly from out of the crowd of Quidditch players, and were yelling excitedly.
"Look! It's the Snitch!" Remus shouted.
Malfoy and James somehow got out from the center of the herd of players, and were again fighting to get the Snitch.
"Who's got it?" Remus yelped, craning his neck to see who had gotten the Snitch.
Malfoy and James somehow got out from the center of the herd of players, and were again fighting to get the Snitch.
"Who's got it?" Remus yelped, craning his neck to see who had gotten the Snitch.
James veered away from Malfoy with a look of triumph on his face.
"James Potter has gotten the Snitch! It's all over! Gryffindor has won!" Remus shouted excitedly. You could barely hear him though, because of the reaction of the crowd.
Most were cheering and whooping as loud as humanly possible, while others were booing and swearing, also very loudly.
The Gryffindor team was also cheering, and flew to the ground, grins plastered on their faces, and engulfed James in a group hug when their feet touched the earth.
While Peter and Remus were cheering, Lily and Sirius started dancing around in circles, beyond joy.
"Look at Malfoy!" Remus said suddenly, causing not only his friends, but practically everyone in the stadium to turn and look at the Slytherin.
Lucius Malfoy was sulking on the Quidditch pitch, weeping, trying to be subtle so as people wouldnt notice.
But thanks to Remus, everyone did, and the laughing was uncontrollable.
"No one's gonna forget that any time soon," Sirius commented through peals of laughter, as Malfoy ran to the Slytherin change rooms, trying to hide his face.
"Who's that?" Lily asked suddenly.
"Who's who?" Sirius questioned.
"There! By the Gryffindor change rooms!" Lily shouted.
They all turned and looked, and saw a figure, all in black, exiting the change rooms, and walking quickly to the lake.
"Beats me," Remus answered.
Several people in the stands turned to look at him, confused, but then Professor McGonagall, whom the friends had forgotten was even there, pointed her wand at Remus' throat, muttered something no one could hear, and the next time Remus said something, it was in his usual tone and volume of voice.
"He looked suspicious to me," Lily said.
"Who looked suspicious to you?" Sirius asked, confused.
"The figure!" Lily answered impatiently.
"I'm sure it was no one. Forget about it," Sirius attempted to assure Lily.
But Lily wasn't so sure.