Disclaimer: I own nothing! My characters are the extended Dolan family, the
Americans witches and wizard, and everything about Hound's Hollow. I'm just
a broke college student who writes for fun and to pass time between
classes. I only own my Pointe Shoes.
The next day, Glendon, Cora, Harry, Ashley, Meghan, Danny, and Gillian, the latter four had spent the night at Hound's Tooth, were up bright and early. Each of them looked supremely nervous about the day's Quiddich game.
"Cora, who are we playing? You never told me," Harry asked his cousin.
"Our team, the Hounds, is playing the first place team the Bogton Banshees," Cora answered.
"They're the best team in the league," added Glendon.
"No, Glendon, we're the best team in the league. They've just won one more game than we did and they cheated to win anyway," Meghan said.
"Cheated?" Harry asked.
"It wasn't against us. It was against the Middlebrook Muddogs and we're not sure how they did it in the first place," Danny answered.
"What kinds of brooms do all of you ride?" Harry asked, changing the subject.
Then, he added, "I have a Firebolt."
"Way cool! Me, too," exclaimed Cora.
"Nimbus 2001 over here," Gillian called
"I have a Mercury," Danny said.
"Ashley and I have Hermes," Meghan added.
"Mercury? Hermes? I've never heard of those kinds of brooms," Harry questioned.
"They're Americans brands, akin to the Firebolt in speed and power. The Mercury is the male version of the Hermes," explained Ashley, in her usual quiet voice.
"How are brooms male and female made?" Harry asked, never hearing anything like this.
"The male brooms are a little heavier than the female brooms. It adds to the stability of the broom," Ashley explained.
The members of the team began leaving the table in dribs and drabs, with Ashley leaving first.
"Does she always leave first?" Harry asked, Cora and Glendon.
They were the only three left since Danny, Meghan, and Gillian had gone soon after Ashley. They were hoping to catch up with her.
"Yeah, she likes to get to the field early and get everything set up for the game," Glendon answered.
Before the three wizards left, Harry ran upstairs and got his broom.
"Alright, let's go," Harry said.
He followed Cora and Glendon to the Quiddich pitch.
When the Quiddich team left, the rest of the wizards, and Patrick's guests, came downstairs.
"Look at this mess. These kids can't clean up after themselves," Anne complained, looking at the pile of dishes in the sink.
"Mom, they're nervous. They probably wanted to get to the field right away," Patrick told his mother.
"What does it matter? They're going to get destroyed by the Banshees," Conner, offhandedly, said.
"You know what, you've bad mouth the Hounds for long enough. You're not coming today," Patrick told his son.
"Good, I didn't want to come anyway," he said, going back upstairs.
Kathleen gave her husband a dirty look and followed her son upstairs.
"I don't know what you put up with her, Patrick," Daisy said, with a smile.
The group sat down to a very large breakfast.
"We're all going today, right?" Patrick asked.
He knew Chris and Daisy, as well as James and Lily, we anxious to see their children play Quiddich for the first time. He wasn't sure about the rest of them.
"I don't know. Do we have time to see a Quiddich match, Mr. Lupin?" Sirius asked, laughing.
"My wife and I were planning on going anyway, Mr. Black. Gilly's on the team, remember," Lupin replied, laughing.
Since James came back, the three wizards were back to their old tricks. Madison just shook her head in silent abdication of her husband's new found attitude.
Patrick, then, looked to his guests.
"You know what guys, you're coming with up. I can promise you that you've never seen anything like this anywhere in Middle Earth," Patrick said.
The group seemed to agree with Patrick's course of action.
"Um, Patrick, is it going to be ok for us to out like this?" Niphredil asked, referring to their unusual mode of dress.
"We'll dig something out for all of you to wear," Patrick replied, realizing that their clothing would get them stared at and make for uncomfortable questions.
Meanwhile, Harry, Cora, and Glendon arrived at the Quiddich Pitch. They were met by Kevin, the Quiddich coach, and his young daughters, Siobhan and Kelly Anne. The two sisters played for the Junior team and would be attending Hogwarts in the fall.
"Everyone's already in their locker rooms. Make sure you hurry because the captain wants to talk to all of you before the game," Kevin said.
Since the players were expected to wear everyday clothing under their Quiddich robes, there was one locker room.
Upon entering the crowded locker room, the three wizards found most of their teammates already dressed.
Each robe was cream colored with black trim and a vicious looking black hound on the front. The player's name and number could be found on the back of the robe. Harry put his robe and pads on and scanned the names and number on the back of every robe.
He knew he was number seven, since he had asked for that number. He read the rest of the names and numbers to himself.
"A. O'Shea 45, M. O'Shea 11, Lupin 31, Dolan 3, McIntyre 48, Callaghan 13," he mumbled to himself.
The entire locker room seemed to be on edge, waiting for the captain to arrive.
Suddenly, Ashley jumped up on one of the benches that line the areas in front of the lockers.
It was then Harry noticed the large, black letter "C" on the front of her robe.
"She's the captain," Harry said, incredulously.
She seemed to quiet for the job.
"Yup and a darn good one, too," Danny said.
She banged on the lockers to get the team's attention.
"Listen up guys! I just want to say that we've had a great season and each and every one of us had something to be proud of. We're not the first place team we wanted to be but we're in contention. So what, prior to this year, we've finished is last or next to last place! Throw out the fact that we haven't won the Quiddich championship in like 30 years! Ignore the fact that last year, under Conner, we lost every home game last season! I know we all want to go to the final four but we have to concentrate on today's team. Now, let's go out there and fly!" Ashley said jumping off her bench.
"Hands in!" Meghan called.
Each wizard put their right hand in the center of the circle and held their broom in their left.
"Remember, no one comes into out house and..." started Ashley.
"Pushes us around!'" called the rest of the team, including Harry who had been told of this tradition by Cora.
They entered the waiting area, just off the field.
"They're going to introduce the other team first," Glendon said.
"Who does the announcing?" Harry asked.
"Kevin the Quiddich coach and his friend, Mike," Gillian replied.
The team got quiet and listened to the announcement of their opponents.
"Let's give a Hound's Hollow welcome to the defending champion, Bogton Banshees," called Mike to a chorus of boos. "Introducing the Banshees starting line-up: Seeker, number two Lauren Gallagher, Keeper, number fifty-one, Eileen Gallagher, Beaters, number eleven, Chipper Sheffield and, number twenty-five, Jason Jones, Chasers, number twenty-one, Thomas Maddox, number ninety-nine, Greg Glavine, and, number five, captain Angelo Gallagher," announced Kevin to an even louder chorus of boos.
"And now, here are your Hound's Hollow Hounds!" called Mike.
The crowd erupted, screaming as loud as they could.
When they had quieted down, Kevin announced, "Here's today's Hound's line- up: Seeker, number seven, Hogwart's own Harry Potter! Keeper, number three, Cora "The Block" Dolan! Beaters, the meanest swingers in Hound's Hollow, number eleven, Meghan O'Shea, and, number thirteen, Danny Callaghan. Chasers, number thirty-one, the everyone's favorite wolf, Gillian Lupin, number forty-eight, Glendon "Lefty" McIntyre, and the first female captain of the Hounds, Ashley O'Shea!"
The team flew onto the field, basking in the adulation of the masses.
The referee was announced as being Harry's flying instructor Madame Hooch.
"I guess they really want this to be a fair match," Meghan whispered to the team.
"Why?" asked Harry.
"That team cheats like no body's business," Glendon replied.
"Captains, please shake hands. I want a good clean game," Madame Hooch said.
Ashley stepped up and held out her hand to the Banshee's captain, Angelo. He was a very tall; broad shouldered, and had curly black hair. The Hound's captain looked very tiny compared to him. He held out his hand but ran it through his hair instead of shaking Ashley's hand. The crowd yelled their displeasure at this action.
"On my whistle," Madame Hooch said, after Ashley and Angelo had mounted their brooms.
She blew her whistle and the match began.
It was a brutal match with the Banshee's trying to cheat at every turn. It seemed that they were out to get the smaller Hounds.
Halfway through the match, Ashley had to call for a time out. Though her team was winning by fifty points, she was worried about the physical shape of her team.
The group landed on the side lines and Ashley took stock of her team. Meghan and Danny looked to be in relatively good shape.
Meghan called for Madame Hooch to come over.
"My club's broken and I can't find my spare," she told the ref.
The Hogwarts teacher took the club from Meghan and repaired it with a simple spell.
She handed the club back to Meghan.
"Thanks," the younger wizard said.
Harry looked a little askew but that was to be expected for a seeker. They were a constant target on the field.
Cora had gone over to the Medi-Wizard to get her nosebleed stopped. She had blocked a shot with the Quaffle but took a bludger to the face.
Danny and Gillian seemed to be nursing a couple of bruises.
Ashley, herself, had some bruises but she was otherwise fine.
"Look guys," Ashley started, "We need to get the Snitch and keep them from scoring. Alright, here's what we're going to do. Meghan, you're going to fly with Harry but stay out of his way. Danny, you make sure Cora doesn't take another shot in the face like that. By the way, where were you two for that? Gillian, Glendon and I are going to play a little game of keep away with the Quaffle."
The team nodded their agreement and put their hands in.
"Remember, no one comes in out house and...." she started.
"Pushes us around!" the rest of the team called. The Hound's took to the air again.
The team couldn't believe it but, then again, neither to the crowd. The Hound's had won and were going to the finals. Harry, just after the time out, had gone after the Snitch. He and the Banshee Seeker, Lauren, entered dangerous looking nose dives with Harry coming up with the Snitch. The Hound's all landed and piled on top of Harry. The whole stadium kept cheering. The team didn't even bother going back to the locker room. They met their family and friends outside the stadium in their dirty robes.
The dirty Quiddich team ran into the arms of their waiting parents. There was a lot of shouting and yelling on everyone's part.
"Team party, my house, right now," Mrs. O'Shea said.
The team took their party down to the Ministry House.
The next day, Glendon, Cora, Harry, Ashley, Meghan, Danny, and Gillian, the latter four had spent the night at Hound's Tooth, were up bright and early. Each of them looked supremely nervous about the day's Quiddich game.
"Cora, who are we playing? You never told me," Harry asked his cousin.
"Our team, the Hounds, is playing the first place team the Bogton Banshees," Cora answered.
"They're the best team in the league," added Glendon.
"No, Glendon, we're the best team in the league. They've just won one more game than we did and they cheated to win anyway," Meghan said.
"Cheated?" Harry asked.
"It wasn't against us. It was against the Middlebrook Muddogs and we're not sure how they did it in the first place," Danny answered.
"What kinds of brooms do all of you ride?" Harry asked, changing the subject.
Then, he added, "I have a Firebolt."
"Way cool! Me, too," exclaimed Cora.
"Nimbus 2001 over here," Gillian called
"I have a Mercury," Danny said.
"Ashley and I have Hermes," Meghan added.
"Mercury? Hermes? I've never heard of those kinds of brooms," Harry questioned.
"They're Americans brands, akin to the Firebolt in speed and power. The Mercury is the male version of the Hermes," explained Ashley, in her usual quiet voice.
"How are brooms male and female made?" Harry asked, never hearing anything like this.
"The male brooms are a little heavier than the female brooms. It adds to the stability of the broom," Ashley explained.
The members of the team began leaving the table in dribs and drabs, with Ashley leaving first.
"Does she always leave first?" Harry asked, Cora and Glendon.
They were the only three left since Danny, Meghan, and Gillian had gone soon after Ashley. They were hoping to catch up with her.
"Yeah, she likes to get to the field early and get everything set up for the game," Glendon answered.
Before the three wizards left, Harry ran upstairs and got his broom.
"Alright, let's go," Harry said.
He followed Cora and Glendon to the Quiddich pitch.
When the Quiddich team left, the rest of the wizards, and Patrick's guests, came downstairs.
"Look at this mess. These kids can't clean up after themselves," Anne complained, looking at the pile of dishes in the sink.
"Mom, they're nervous. They probably wanted to get to the field right away," Patrick told his mother.
"What does it matter? They're going to get destroyed by the Banshees," Conner, offhandedly, said.
"You know what, you've bad mouth the Hounds for long enough. You're not coming today," Patrick told his son.
"Good, I didn't want to come anyway," he said, going back upstairs.
Kathleen gave her husband a dirty look and followed her son upstairs.
"I don't know what you put up with her, Patrick," Daisy said, with a smile.
The group sat down to a very large breakfast.
"We're all going today, right?" Patrick asked.
He knew Chris and Daisy, as well as James and Lily, we anxious to see their children play Quiddich for the first time. He wasn't sure about the rest of them.
"I don't know. Do we have time to see a Quiddich match, Mr. Lupin?" Sirius asked, laughing.
"My wife and I were planning on going anyway, Mr. Black. Gilly's on the team, remember," Lupin replied, laughing.
Since James came back, the three wizards were back to their old tricks. Madison just shook her head in silent abdication of her husband's new found attitude.
Patrick, then, looked to his guests.
"You know what guys, you're coming with up. I can promise you that you've never seen anything like this anywhere in Middle Earth," Patrick said.
The group seemed to agree with Patrick's course of action.
"Um, Patrick, is it going to be ok for us to out like this?" Niphredil asked, referring to their unusual mode of dress.
"We'll dig something out for all of you to wear," Patrick replied, realizing that their clothing would get them stared at and make for uncomfortable questions.
Meanwhile, Harry, Cora, and Glendon arrived at the Quiddich Pitch. They were met by Kevin, the Quiddich coach, and his young daughters, Siobhan and Kelly Anne. The two sisters played for the Junior team and would be attending Hogwarts in the fall.
"Everyone's already in their locker rooms. Make sure you hurry because the captain wants to talk to all of you before the game," Kevin said.
Since the players were expected to wear everyday clothing under their Quiddich robes, there was one locker room.
Upon entering the crowded locker room, the three wizards found most of their teammates already dressed.
Each robe was cream colored with black trim and a vicious looking black hound on the front. The player's name and number could be found on the back of the robe. Harry put his robe and pads on and scanned the names and number on the back of every robe.
He knew he was number seven, since he had asked for that number. He read the rest of the names and numbers to himself.
"A. O'Shea 45, M. O'Shea 11, Lupin 31, Dolan 3, McIntyre 48, Callaghan 13," he mumbled to himself.
The entire locker room seemed to be on edge, waiting for the captain to arrive.
Suddenly, Ashley jumped up on one of the benches that line the areas in front of the lockers.
It was then Harry noticed the large, black letter "C" on the front of her robe.
"She's the captain," Harry said, incredulously.
She seemed to quiet for the job.
"Yup and a darn good one, too," Danny said.
She banged on the lockers to get the team's attention.
"Listen up guys! I just want to say that we've had a great season and each and every one of us had something to be proud of. We're not the first place team we wanted to be but we're in contention. So what, prior to this year, we've finished is last or next to last place! Throw out the fact that we haven't won the Quiddich championship in like 30 years! Ignore the fact that last year, under Conner, we lost every home game last season! I know we all want to go to the final four but we have to concentrate on today's team. Now, let's go out there and fly!" Ashley said jumping off her bench.
"Hands in!" Meghan called.
Each wizard put their right hand in the center of the circle and held their broom in their left.
"Remember, no one comes into out house and..." started Ashley.
"Pushes us around!'" called the rest of the team, including Harry who had been told of this tradition by Cora.
They entered the waiting area, just off the field.
"They're going to introduce the other team first," Glendon said.
"Who does the announcing?" Harry asked.
"Kevin the Quiddich coach and his friend, Mike," Gillian replied.
The team got quiet and listened to the announcement of their opponents.
"Let's give a Hound's Hollow welcome to the defending champion, Bogton Banshees," called Mike to a chorus of boos. "Introducing the Banshees starting line-up: Seeker, number two Lauren Gallagher, Keeper, number fifty-one, Eileen Gallagher, Beaters, number eleven, Chipper Sheffield and, number twenty-five, Jason Jones, Chasers, number twenty-one, Thomas Maddox, number ninety-nine, Greg Glavine, and, number five, captain Angelo Gallagher," announced Kevin to an even louder chorus of boos.
"And now, here are your Hound's Hollow Hounds!" called Mike.
The crowd erupted, screaming as loud as they could.
When they had quieted down, Kevin announced, "Here's today's Hound's line- up: Seeker, number seven, Hogwart's own Harry Potter! Keeper, number three, Cora "The Block" Dolan! Beaters, the meanest swingers in Hound's Hollow, number eleven, Meghan O'Shea, and, number thirteen, Danny Callaghan. Chasers, number thirty-one, the everyone's favorite wolf, Gillian Lupin, number forty-eight, Glendon "Lefty" McIntyre, and the first female captain of the Hounds, Ashley O'Shea!"
The team flew onto the field, basking in the adulation of the masses.
The referee was announced as being Harry's flying instructor Madame Hooch.
"I guess they really want this to be a fair match," Meghan whispered to the team.
"Why?" asked Harry.
"That team cheats like no body's business," Glendon replied.
"Captains, please shake hands. I want a good clean game," Madame Hooch said.
Ashley stepped up and held out her hand to the Banshee's captain, Angelo. He was a very tall; broad shouldered, and had curly black hair. The Hound's captain looked very tiny compared to him. He held out his hand but ran it through his hair instead of shaking Ashley's hand. The crowd yelled their displeasure at this action.
"On my whistle," Madame Hooch said, after Ashley and Angelo had mounted their brooms.
She blew her whistle and the match began.
It was a brutal match with the Banshee's trying to cheat at every turn. It seemed that they were out to get the smaller Hounds.
Halfway through the match, Ashley had to call for a time out. Though her team was winning by fifty points, she was worried about the physical shape of her team.
The group landed on the side lines and Ashley took stock of her team. Meghan and Danny looked to be in relatively good shape.
Meghan called for Madame Hooch to come over.
"My club's broken and I can't find my spare," she told the ref.
The Hogwarts teacher took the club from Meghan and repaired it with a simple spell.
She handed the club back to Meghan.
"Thanks," the younger wizard said.
Harry looked a little askew but that was to be expected for a seeker. They were a constant target on the field.
Cora had gone over to the Medi-Wizard to get her nosebleed stopped. She had blocked a shot with the Quaffle but took a bludger to the face.
Danny and Gillian seemed to be nursing a couple of bruises.
Ashley, herself, had some bruises but she was otherwise fine.
"Look guys," Ashley started, "We need to get the Snitch and keep them from scoring. Alright, here's what we're going to do. Meghan, you're going to fly with Harry but stay out of his way. Danny, you make sure Cora doesn't take another shot in the face like that. By the way, where were you two for that? Gillian, Glendon and I are going to play a little game of keep away with the Quaffle."
The team nodded their agreement and put their hands in.
"Remember, no one comes in out house and...." she started.
"Pushes us around!" the rest of the team called. The Hound's took to the air again.
The team couldn't believe it but, then again, neither to the crowd. The Hound's had won and were going to the finals. Harry, just after the time out, had gone after the Snitch. He and the Banshee Seeker, Lauren, entered dangerous looking nose dives with Harry coming up with the Snitch. The Hound's all landed and piled on top of Harry. The whole stadium kept cheering. The team didn't even bother going back to the locker room. They met their family and friends outside the stadium in their dirty robes.
The dirty Quiddich team ran into the arms of their waiting parents. There was a lot of shouting and yelling on everyone's part.
"Team party, my house, right now," Mrs. O'Shea said.
The team took their party down to the Ministry House.