Chapter sixteen
The first match of the new team
/
Hermione was, after all as usually, right.
Already from afar, as Harry was going toward the edge of the Quidditch field along with her, Katie and Ron, they could see a group of impatient, noisy Gryffindors with brooms in their hands. Realizing again that he was the captain of the team and the entire organization of this event actually rested on his shoulders, Harry sighed in annoyance.
This is going to be a long morning, he thought not exactly enthusiastically.
As they slowly reached the crowd, everyone fell silent, all eyes turning to Harry. Hermione went to sit in the stands. Harry observed the crowd before him, leant his broom on the ground and took a deep breath.
"Okay, let´s start!"
/
Two hours later, ten candidates selected remained in the air on their broomsticks – two for the positions of Chasers and six for the positions of Beaters. In addition to them, however, there were also applicants for the position of Keeper. Harry was a bit taken aback by this, but he had to let Ron defend his post. He honestly hoped he could make it.
With Katie's help, who naturally remained on the team without question, they surprisingly chose Ginny and her friend Daria for the positions of Chasers. Harry figured those two had to train like crazy during the holidays, otherwise they could not have been so well matched. They also found excellent Beaters – a tall and muscular fourth-year blond student Dan Mathews, and a fifth-year student with a black hedgehog – Robert Singer. Katie pointed out that they had a natural talent and Harry had to agree with her. And he was also immensely relieved when Ron didn't let himself get flustered and defended his post with confidence.
"I just wish he´ll stay like this until the match," Katie whispered in his ear as their new team stood before them.
The first game of the season was not supposed to take place until the end of November that year. Harry scheduled their regular training sessions on weekends and Friday afternoons, which luckily suited everyone as they desperately needed to play.
Then they could finally head to lunch with relief.
/
At lunch on Tuesday, Angela took a thoughtful bite of a warm jam bun and stared intently at Draco, who was sitting across from her. After a while, it started to get on young Mr Malfoy's nerves and he glared at her.
"What is it?"
"What? Nothing," Angela tore out of her thoughts and looked down at the table.
"Yeah, sure," Draco snorted. "Spill it."
"Well… Did you find that new Chaser yet?" she asked slowly and hesitantly.
Draco propped his elbows on the table. "No. Why?"
"Hmm, I was thinking about it and… I changed my mind."
"Really?" Draco asked with a hint of irony in his voice. "Since when do you ever change your mind?"
Angela finished eating and looked at him strangely: "I changed it regarding you."
He had nothing to say to that and remained silent.
"So…" his brunette classmate continued, "I´d like to try it. To get on the team, I mean."
"And how good are you at it? Have you ever played? You said you never liked it," Draco questioned.
"That doesn't mean I can't play. All you have to do is test me like anyone else."
"Okay. That's enough for me for now.''
"Who´s the captain, anyway?"
"Me. Unfortunately."
"Why unfortunately?" she wondered.
"Because I'm going to have to shake Potter's hand," Draco growled.
Angela just rolled her eyes.
/
The rest of October and most of November were gone quickly.
Meanwhile, Harry had learned to clear his mind of any thoughts and successfully defend himself against Snape's increasingly persistent attempts to get into his head. Not to mention that he had already achieved almost flawless mind communication with Angela. He suspected that her advice and lessons had helped him a lot in Occlumency as well, and he was grateful to her for that.
It became a common knowledge that Ron and Hermione were dating and it did not cause too much of a stir either.
They did not have a moment of rest in the school lessons, and the suspiciously sunny weather outside lasted as well, although there used to be thick fogs in the mornings. The Gryffindor's frequent training was paying off and the whole team was in excellent shape. Harry was immensely relieved when he saw that the new members could get along well and no one had any problems with the others. After all, the first match with Slytherin was already behind the door...
/
"Hello everyone! I warmly welcome you on this slightly bleak November morning to the first Quidditch match of the year! Today, the old rivals will meet again after a long time – Slytherin vs. Gryffindor!" someone's boyish voice shouted all around the Quidditch Stadium, as the Gryffindor team made their final preparations to leave the locker room.
"Who's that new commentator?" Harry asked his teammates, as he pulled on his gloves.
"I think it's McTiczon, or something like that," Ginny replied. "But I know for sure he's from Hufflepuff."
"Then we can even hope he'll comment unbiased," grumbled slightly pale Ron.
"It doesn´t matter," Harry put a hand on his shoulder. "Just focus on guarding our goalposts and not on his commentary and that's it."
"That's easy for you to say," muttered his friend.
Harry observed his team in red.
"We've been great in training, so try just as hard and I´m sure we won´t embarrass ourselves," he said with an encouraging smile. "Let's go," he commanded firmly.
/
"And here they are! The Gryffindor team has just appeared with their new captain Potter in the lead! The Slytherin team is eagerly awaiting them already!" echoed through the stadium.
Harry was walking steadily toward the group in green and Madam Hooch was already approaching as well. The captain's badge on Malfoy's chest did not surprise him. He knew about his new position from Angela. But then, he looked at the others and froze in surprise. Standing in front of one Beater, leaning on the Nimbus 2001, was Angela herself, watching him with an unreadable gaze.
Harry was completely shocked. Why didn't she tell him about this? He was not exactly happy to play against her, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment.
"Captains, shake your hands," Madam ordered and Harry finally focused on Malfoy standing in front of him with his trademark sneer.
For one critical moment, neither of them moved and their eyes were just piercing each other. However, when Hooch gave them a scolding look, they reached out and tried to crush each other's bones.
"Get on your brooms!" shouted Madame commandingly, putting the whistle between her lips.
Harry took one more look at Angela, who was just staring straight ahead, and then a sharp whistle was heard.
"And they're in the air!" that new commentator McTiczon almost screamed, and the sea of green and red in the stands roared.
The beginning of the match was going quite well. Katie scored twenty points and Ginny and Daria scored ten each, but then the Slytherins got to Quaffle and Ron suffered from his usual anxiety. When he had missed the fifth goal and Slytherin roared again in joy, Harry abandoned his watchful spot for Golden Snitch for a moment and flew over to cheer him on.
"Ron! Come to your senses! I believe you!"
Their somewhat red-faced Keeper nodded and looked a little more confident.
Ginny finally got to Quaffle and tried to pass it to Daria. However, Angela unexpectedly snatched it and flew back to the Gryffindor goalposts. Katie was already there, blocking her way. Angela had no one to pass on from her team, but at least she tried to take it around Katie. Quaffle was taken by Ron and he returned it to Ginny. For some time, Quaffle travelled back and forth through the air without any team scoring.
The fans were already starting to boo and encourage the players to try harder. Harry and Malfoy hovered thoughtfully over the match, constantly looking around for any glimmer of gold.
Finally, Elena from Slytherin along with Angela broke through Ron's defences and scored another ten points. Not long after, Ginny and Daria performed a manoeuvre that was mysterious even to Harry, and Quaffle flew through the Slytherin goalpost.
The match dragged on for another hour. The score was already 120 to 80 for the Gryffindor, when Harry finally caught the longed glimpse. It was just when Malfoy was being targeted by both Bludgers at the same time, so he was busy and didn't notice it. By the time he got rid of them, Harry was half the distance away from the small winged ball.
Malfoy flew after him as fast as he could, but he had no chance to catch up. Harry was about to let go of the broom with one hand when a female Slytherin with brown hair tied in a knot flew right in front of him. Their broomsticks almost collided, completely throwing Harry out of the concept. He jerked the broom to the side, and then he turned angrily. Angela was already flying toward Daria, who was holding Quaffle in her arms.
Meanwhile, the Golden Snitch disappeared.
Harry flew up again in a rage. He noticed Draco saying something to Angela with a wide grin and gritted his teeth.
It's just a game, he persuaded himself.
In the next half hour, the score hardly budged. And the Snitch was still nowhere to be seen. The sky above the stadium was slowly darkening and it was starting to drizzle. Luckily, Harry had automatically applied the Waterproof Spell on his glasses before the match and kept a close eye on his surroundings.
Suddenly, a girl's scream rang out far behind him. He turned sharply on the broom just as Daria's left hand slipped from the broom and she fell down helplessly. Above her bouncing broomstick, a pale Slytherin Beater stopped in mid-air. Screams of horror rang out from the stands. Everyone froze in horror, as they watched limp Daria falling to the ground.
Harry recovered in a split second and drew his wand at the same time as Dumbledore and Snape in the stands, but she was too low and it would have been too late for Daria if the green robe had not suddenly come to a screeching halt right beneath her.
Daria fell shocked and hard into someone's arms. The broom swung down violently beneath them, but the player immediately straightened it. Madame Hooch finally made a sharp whistle to stop the game and flew toward them. After making sure Daria was okay, Angela flew off to get her broom, which was quickly moving away by itself.
Heart pounding, Daria first held on tightly before looking at her saviour. It was none other than Draco Malfoy.
"For all dragons, Miss! Are you okay?" Madam Hooch braked sharply in the air in front of them, while the other players also slowly flew toward them as well.
"Y-yes," stammered Daria who, without recovering from one shock, immediately went into another. She felt Draco's grip all around her and she shivered.
"That was a really excellent response, Mr Malfoy," remarked rather pale Madame, and then turned to face Beater that had slammed into Daria. Harry later found out that they were both trying to avoid one of Bludgers and Daria was holding Quaffle at the same time, so she had no chance to hold on to the broom after the collision.
"I really didn't do it on purpose," grumbled the Slytherin.
"I know, Mr Cewrson," Madame nodded. "But be more careful. It could have gone very badly if it weren't for Mr Malfoy."
Angela had already flown down there with Daria's broom and she kept it right next to them with a very strange expression. Still a bit shaky, Daria moved to her Comet 11 with Draco´s and her help.
"Can you continue playing, Miss?" Madame asked with concern as everyone watched her.
"Yes," Daria stated firmly, though her shoulder tingled a bit.
"Good."
"Great! Madame Hooch signals to me that all players are ready to proceed! This is very lucky for the Gryffindor, as the unfortunate collision looked quite ominous! So let's continue!'
The players quickly flew back to their positions and the game resumed. Unfortunately, not even ten minutes later, another incident occurred.
Angela was holding Quaffle again, heading quickly towards wary Ron. Harry saw both Slytherin Beaters fly by her side and got an uneasy feeling.
Ron was only focused on Angela, so he did not see that the two Beaters sent both Bludgers at him with a short time gap. However, Angela noticed it, stopped her flight suddenly and shouted a warning.
Ron saw two hard balls only a few meters apart and tried to avoid them. But it was too late. The first hit him hard in the stomach, sending him flying backwards on the broomstick, and the second, to Harry's horror, hit him directly in the temple.
Ron brought his full weight down on the broom and Bludgers flew away. A sharp whistle was heard again, as Ron was already staggering down. Harry immediately flew to him while above them Angela began to shout something angrily at both of her teammates. After a while, Malfoy approached them as well and calmed them down sharply.
As Harry flew all the way down, Ron had just collapsed to the ground. Madame bent down to him a moment later. The red sea of fans stormed with insults directed at Slytherin.
"What's wrong with him?" Harry breathed out worried.
"He's unconscious," Madame sighed, waving at the professor's stand. "I hope it's nothing serious."
"So, we have to keep playing without him," Katie said dejectedly behind Harry.
"Yes, unfortunately," confirmed Madame. "We'll take care of him, but the match must go on."
"So, everyone!" McTiczon yelled over the still-present uproar in the stands. "The Gryffindor team continues to play without their Keeper! Which is of course a big advantage for Slytherin! But Madame Hooch has decided to take one of the Slytherin Beaters out of the game as well, who has already caused two collisions today!"
The fans on both sides began to shout indignantly, but the game continued on the Gryffindor side in a slightly more downbeat mood. The score was 120 to 100 still for Gryffindor.
For the next two endless hours, the Slytherins stomped Gryffindor hard into the ground. Quaffle kept flying through the unguarded goalposts and the points changed rapidly. By noon, it was 260 to 120 for Slytherin. However, the green team was also starting to get tired.
The players had had enough and almost everyone from the stands watched longingly as the two Seekers circled helplessly above them.
Angela flew around Ginny and passed the ball to the dark haired Slytherin Chaser.
"Yes, as expected, the score is 270 to 120!" McTiczon reported hoarsely.
Harry flew over the Slytherin goalposts, while Malfoy was flying over the ones of Gryffindors´, when out of the corner of their eye they both caught a flash of gold at the same time. They immediately woke up from their fatigue and shot off in the direction where they spotted it. Harry knew if he caught her now it would only be a draw, but it would be a lot better than Malfoy getting her. That would be a blow to the head. He clung to the broom and focused on the fluttering ball still far ahead.
"It's here at last!" shouted McTiczon. "Our Seekers are rushing toward the coveted Snitch!"
After this comment, Angela shot a glance at the two blurred spots and then at the score. She gripped Quaffle tighter, which she had taken from Ginny a moment ago, and headed hastily to the Gryffindor goalposts again.
The Golden Snitch took a sharp turn and Malfoy and Harry almost collided. Now they were flying side by side, trying to push each other away.
"So, who will it be?! Malfoy or Potter!?" screamed McTiczon.
Katie saw Angela with Quaffle in her arms and realized what she wanted to do. In a flash, she prepared to defend the Gryffindor goalposts.
Dan – a Gryffindor Beater – flew into the path of one Bludger and blasted him with all his might behind Seekers, as far to the left as Malfoy was. Everyone was now tensely watching the even fight.
Angela saw Katie, but did not change direction at all. She continued to fly upwards toward the middle hoop.
Bludger bumped into Malfoy and he lost precious seconds behind Harry. He was about to let go of the broom with one hand. The Snitch was right in front of him.
Katie flew up to defend the middle goalpost, but Angela unexpectedly changed tactics and flew to the left, throwing Quaffle into the air.
"And Potter is already reaching out and… What's going on? The Slytherin Chaser is still trying to score, but it's not possible!"
Harry closed his palm around the small golden ball just as Slytherin burst into an incredible cheer. Under the shocked looks of everyone, Quaffle flew through the Gryffindor goalpost at the last moment.
"Yes! It's possible!" McTiczon shouted. "Potter caught the Golden Snitch, but Slytherin won by just ten points! Thanks to the new Slytherin Chaser, Slytherin won!"
Five green spots headed to Angela. The Slytherin part of stands roared excitedly and the Gryffindors were unusually quiet. Harry, sitting on a broom above it all and clutching the Snitch, which was flapping its wings helplessly, was unable to recover from the unexpected twist.
"After a really long time today, Slytherin can celebrate a victory over Gryffindor 280 to 270! It was an incredible and long game today, but I think we all enjoyed it!" added McTiczon hoarsely, finally falling silent.
The Gryffindor team slowly drifted down to the jubilant sea of green that erupted from the stands. Many Slytherins clapped the shoulders of their team, shouting enthusiastically and praising Rosier.
"Just because they beat us today doesn't mean the cup is lost," Katie said quietly.
"No, it doesn't," agreed Harry, looking at the centre of the rioting Slytherin crowd. "But I think we will be regretful about this defeat for a long time."
