Oliver couldn't sleep that night. There was too much adrenaline pumping
through his body. He tossed and turned, and finally got up at dawn. He
walked into the kitchen to make breakfast, but realized that he felt rather
queasy and probably wouldn't be able to eat what he made. So he decided
against breakfast. He noticed that there were quite a few letters on the
table, so he sat down and read them. They were all good luck wishes from
Harry, Fred, George, Ron, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie Bell. After that, he
took a shower and put his quidditch robes on. Then he turned on the radio
and tried to relax by listening to music. It didn't work. Finally he
decided to just apparate to the locker room. Maybe some of his teammates
would be there if they were as excited and nervous as he was.
He arrived to find all of his teammates there already. Ian and Kenneth were engaged in a lively game of wizards' chess. Leslie was a nervous wreck, pacing back and forth along one wall of the locker room. Janet, Doug and Logan were using a deck of self-shuffling cards to play poker. Oliver walked over to them and asked them to deal him in next hand. They did, and Oliver proceeded to lose the next several hands quite miserably. Luckily they weren't playing for gold, or he would have ended up several galleons in the hole. After what was really a few hours but seemed like an eternity, one of officials entered the locker room and addressed the Scottish quidditch team.
"Team, get ready to take the pitch. You will be announced in 10 minutes. Good luck today, and remember, whoever wins this match plays for the Quidditch World Cup next Saturday." Then he left. The team grabbed their broomsticks and lined up near the door that led to the pitch.
The last few hours were nothing compared to how long that next 10 minutes felt. Oliver couldn't imagine how they would feel before the match for the quidditch world cup next week if they were already this nervous. Finally, they were announced and walked out onto the pitch. This was the first time that Oliver had seen the American team. Their robes were indigo blue with white stars on the outside, and solid red on the inside. Their seeker, keeper and two of their chasers were all girls. Their beaters and one chaser were guys. Their keeper had a look of authority about her that distinguished her as their captain. He turned his attention to the referee, who was giving last minute instructions. "I want a nice fair game from all of you," the ref was saying. "Now mount your brooms." The snitch and the bludgers had already been released. The ref threw the quaffle into the air, and the game began.
Oliver flew to the goal posts as quickly as he could to defend them. Leslie had taken possession of the quaffle. She sped toward the American keeper and tried to score, but her shot was blocked. America's keeper threw the quaffle to one of their chasers. The Americans wove in and out of the Scottish team, passing the quaffle to each other despite Scotland's every effort to steal it. They took a shot, but Oliver was too quick for them and blocked it. Meanwhile, both seekers were circling above the game searching for the golden snitch. The game progressed with neither side scoring for about an hour. And then, suddenly, the American seeker began streaking vertically toward the ground. Logan saw her and was right behind her, then right beside her. They neared the ground, but neither showed any sign of stopping. Logan was looking frantically but didn't see the snitch anywhere. He realized just before he ran straight into the ground that the American seeker was just faking him out in hopes of injuring him. The American seeker pulled out of the dive right at the last second, and then shot straight back up into the air. Oliver saw what happened and his heart sank. The Americans had a superior seeker, which spelled almost certain doom for his team.
Leslie saw what happened and called a time out. Logan was disoriented but awake when his team reached him. "Logan, are you alright? Can you hear me?" asked Leslie.
"Yea I hear you. What happened to me?"
"That horrible American seeker faked you out and you hit the ground in a full dive. Can you still play?"
"Yes I think so."
"Alright, just do your best and try not to hit the ground like that again."
Their time out was over, and they mounted their brooms once again.
Both sides tried desperately to score, but it was no use. Both teams had superior keepers, and nothing was getting past them. And then about three hours into the game, the Scottish team got a huge break. Doug sent a bludger at the American keeper at the same time as Ian tried to score. She blocked the shot, but never saw the bludger coming. It hit her in the head and knocked her unconscious. She fell to the ground with a thud. Scotland's fans cheered wildly in the stands. Then, one of the female chasers suddenly assumed the same air of authority that the other girl had. "Plan B!" she yelled loud enough for the whole team to hear. She moved to the position of keeper, leaving 2 chasers. The others kept their positions.
The game progressed for another hour with no sign of the snitch and neither side scoring. And then Janet managed to take out another American player. She was aiming for a chaser, but one of the beaters got in the way. The bludger hit him in the chest. He doubled over in pain and flew to the ground. Still, the Americans didn't call a time out. "Plan C!" yelled the girl who was now playing keeper. This time, their male chaser flew to the ground, took the beater's bat from him, and flew back up into the game.
"How many plans can they possibly have?" Oliver wondered.
The Americans were now playing a defensive game. The only way they would win would be if they caught the snitch, but that was still a very real possibility. And even with two chasers gone, the Scottish team still couldn't score against the Americans. Then, the unthinkable happened. The one American chaser still in the game stole the quaffle from Kenneth and headed toward Oliver as fast as her broom would take her. She looked as though she would aim for the far left hoop, but she changed position at the last minute and shot for the far right hoop. Oliver tried but couldn't get there in time. She had scored against him. In that moment, he both hated her and admired her. He couldn't help but notice her then. She was a pretty girl, with long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and denim blue eyes. Other guys might not be able to pick her out of a crowd, but he knew that he would never forget her. She was, after all, the girl who scored against him.
It was now 6 hours into the game. The Americans were still holding their own, and their goal was still the only one scored in the whole game. Suddenly, Doug became the hero of all of Scotland. He hit a bludger straight at the American seeker, and his aim was true. He hit the seeker in the lower back, nearly unseating her from her broom. She screamed in pain and directed her broom toward the ground, trying very hard not to fall off. The Americans in the stands were booing and hissing, while Scotland's fans were almost delirious with joy.
"Now we're bound to win," thought Oliver. "They can't possibly have a backup plan for this..."
But he was wrong. Their last chaser, the girl who had scored against him, flew above the game and began searching for the snitch. They now had only a keeper, a seeker and two beaters. America's only goal was to find the snitch while protecting their seeker and keeping Scotland from scoring. And then it happened. Logan was speeding through the air as fast as his firebolt would go, his hand outstretched in front of him. The American seeker was right behind him, and then beside him. They circled the pitch side by side, both trying to catch the snitch. They were both only inches from it with their hands outstretched, and then they could nearly touch it...
The rest of the game completely stopped as everyone turned their attention to the two seekers battling each other for the snitch. They raced halfway around the pitch, and then they both stopped. The game was over. Everyone held their breath, waiting to see who had caught the golden snitch. After what was really only about two seconds but seemed like forever, the American seeker raised her hand high above her head and Oliver caught a glimpse of the snitch between her fingers. The American fans went absolutely wild in the stands, setting off Filibuster's fireworks and waving American flags. From somewhere he heard the announcer saying "USA wins! 160 to zero!"
He felt absolutely crushed. He wouldn't be playing for the Quidditch World Cup this year. The only thing he had left to look forward to was teaching at Hogwarts in about two weeks. He was suddenly very glad that he had accepted the position there.
The post-game locker room atmosphere wasn't a very happy one for the Scottish team. They were all feeling extremely disappointed in themselves. When they had all shuffled miserably into the locker room, Leslie addressed them.
"You did your best today. I couldn't have asked for more from you. We took down almost half of their team, for crying out loud! But they were extremely well prepared, and it paid off for them in the end. I just want you to know that it was a pleasure playing with you this year and that I am very proud of each of you. Well, take care in the off season everyone. I'll send you an owl in October when it's time to start practicing again." She turned to go.
"Wait!" yelled Ian and Kenneth together.
"Well, you know what they say... misery loves company," said Ian.
"And we're all miserable," Kenneth added.
"So, why don't we all head down to the pub and be miserable together? It beats being miserable alone. Besides, I bet that's where we were all heading anyhow," said Ian.
"Why don't we all change and meet back here in about 10 minutes?" suggested Janet.
The team agreed, and in 10 minutes they left the locker room together to hit the pub.
The team walked into town and went into the pub together. Like the Leaky Cauldron in London, this pub was only visible to people who were looking for it. Muggles walked past unaware that it even existed. The team chose a table in the back corner and ordered large bottles of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey all around. They were drinking and talking and having a generally good time. The pub became more and more crowded as quidditch fans looked for a place to chill after watching the game. After they had been there a while, the door to the pub opened and in walked the American team. They were all wearing matching red nylon jogging pants and blue tee-shirts with little white stars on them. There were people on either side of their captain, helping her keep her balance. Oliver remembered that she had been hit in the head with a bludger and was probably still a bit dizzy. He was amazed that she was out and about at all, considering that one time he had taken a bludger to the head and was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts for a week. Their seeker also needed help walking, seeing as she had been hit in the back. The injured beater appeared to be ok now. The Americans chose a table not too far from where the Scottish team was sitting.
"Oh great!" said Logan and rolled his eyes. "We come here to relax and now we have to hear them gloating all night!"
The Americans were oblivious to the fact that they were sitting near the Scottish team. They all asked for different drinks and were soon chatting and having a good time. After a while the captain asked for a bottle of champagne and they had a toast.
"To us, for our magnificent victory today!" she said rather loudly.
"And for good luck in next weekend's match!" added one of their beaters.
Then they raised their glasses and then sipped their champagne. Both teams talked amongst themselves for most of the evening. After a while though, one of the Americans glanced over to where Oliver's team was sitting and recognized them. She said something to one of her teammates and glanced over again. Pretty soon the whole team was glancing over at them, and Ian noticed.
"They have some nerve, sitting there and talking about us and staring! As if we wouldn't notice!" he said indignantly.
Then the American captain got up out of her seat with some help from the uninjured beater and walked over to the Scottish team.
The Scottish team watched her approach. She was really a very pretty girl with long blonde hair and a warm smile. She stopped at their table and said "Hi, my name's Sonia. You probably guessed that I'm the captain of America's team. I just wanted to say that you guys played really well today. You were very worthy opponents, and I wouldn't have been too upset if you had won. If fact, we really weren't expecting to win. We didn't think we had a shot at getting into the semi-finals, let alone making it to the final match. We have been the underdogs the whole way through."
The Scottish team just stared at her. None of them were sure of where this was going or what they were supposed to say.
"Anyway," she continued, "because we didn't think that we were going to be in the final match, we all bought tickets for it. Obviously we have no use for them now, so we thought that maybe you guys would like to come and watch the game. If you want these tickets, they're yours." She pulled them out of her pocket and held them out for the Scottish team to see.
"Wow, that's really nice of you," said Leslie.
"Well I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Oliver. "I'll take a ticket if you don't mind."
Sonia handed him one of the seven tickets. He looked at it a minute and then looked up at her. "These are box seats!" he exclaimed. "You must have paid a fortune for them! Are you sure you want to just give them away?"
"Of course she's sure!" Logan cut in. "And I'll take one too, please."
Soon Sonia had given out all of the tickets. Scotland may have lost to the Americans, but they were all die-hard quidditch fans. They weren't about to miss the quidditch world cup match, especially when they could have box seats for free.
"Thanks for the tickets Sonia," said Leslie. "And good luck next week."
"Thank you. Enjoy your evening!" Sonia replied, and walked back to her own table, leaning on the beater for support.
He arrived to find all of his teammates there already. Ian and Kenneth were engaged in a lively game of wizards' chess. Leslie was a nervous wreck, pacing back and forth along one wall of the locker room. Janet, Doug and Logan were using a deck of self-shuffling cards to play poker. Oliver walked over to them and asked them to deal him in next hand. They did, and Oliver proceeded to lose the next several hands quite miserably. Luckily they weren't playing for gold, or he would have ended up several galleons in the hole. After what was really a few hours but seemed like an eternity, one of officials entered the locker room and addressed the Scottish quidditch team.
"Team, get ready to take the pitch. You will be announced in 10 minutes. Good luck today, and remember, whoever wins this match plays for the Quidditch World Cup next Saturday." Then he left. The team grabbed their broomsticks and lined up near the door that led to the pitch.
The last few hours were nothing compared to how long that next 10 minutes felt. Oliver couldn't imagine how they would feel before the match for the quidditch world cup next week if they were already this nervous. Finally, they were announced and walked out onto the pitch. This was the first time that Oliver had seen the American team. Their robes were indigo blue with white stars on the outside, and solid red on the inside. Their seeker, keeper and two of their chasers were all girls. Their beaters and one chaser were guys. Their keeper had a look of authority about her that distinguished her as their captain. He turned his attention to the referee, who was giving last minute instructions. "I want a nice fair game from all of you," the ref was saying. "Now mount your brooms." The snitch and the bludgers had already been released. The ref threw the quaffle into the air, and the game began.
Oliver flew to the goal posts as quickly as he could to defend them. Leslie had taken possession of the quaffle. She sped toward the American keeper and tried to score, but her shot was blocked. America's keeper threw the quaffle to one of their chasers. The Americans wove in and out of the Scottish team, passing the quaffle to each other despite Scotland's every effort to steal it. They took a shot, but Oliver was too quick for them and blocked it. Meanwhile, both seekers were circling above the game searching for the golden snitch. The game progressed with neither side scoring for about an hour. And then, suddenly, the American seeker began streaking vertically toward the ground. Logan saw her and was right behind her, then right beside her. They neared the ground, but neither showed any sign of stopping. Logan was looking frantically but didn't see the snitch anywhere. He realized just before he ran straight into the ground that the American seeker was just faking him out in hopes of injuring him. The American seeker pulled out of the dive right at the last second, and then shot straight back up into the air. Oliver saw what happened and his heart sank. The Americans had a superior seeker, which spelled almost certain doom for his team.
Leslie saw what happened and called a time out. Logan was disoriented but awake when his team reached him. "Logan, are you alright? Can you hear me?" asked Leslie.
"Yea I hear you. What happened to me?"
"That horrible American seeker faked you out and you hit the ground in a full dive. Can you still play?"
"Yes I think so."
"Alright, just do your best and try not to hit the ground like that again."
Their time out was over, and they mounted their brooms once again.
Both sides tried desperately to score, but it was no use. Both teams had superior keepers, and nothing was getting past them. And then about three hours into the game, the Scottish team got a huge break. Doug sent a bludger at the American keeper at the same time as Ian tried to score. She blocked the shot, but never saw the bludger coming. It hit her in the head and knocked her unconscious. She fell to the ground with a thud. Scotland's fans cheered wildly in the stands. Then, one of the female chasers suddenly assumed the same air of authority that the other girl had. "Plan B!" she yelled loud enough for the whole team to hear. She moved to the position of keeper, leaving 2 chasers. The others kept their positions.
The game progressed for another hour with no sign of the snitch and neither side scoring. And then Janet managed to take out another American player. She was aiming for a chaser, but one of the beaters got in the way. The bludger hit him in the chest. He doubled over in pain and flew to the ground. Still, the Americans didn't call a time out. "Plan C!" yelled the girl who was now playing keeper. This time, their male chaser flew to the ground, took the beater's bat from him, and flew back up into the game.
"How many plans can they possibly have?" Oliver wondered.
The Americans were now playing a defensive game. The only way they would win would be if they caught the snitch, but that was still a very real possibility. And even with two chasers gone, the Scottish team still couldn't score against the Americans. Then, the unthinkable happened. The one American chaser still in the game stole the quaffle from Kenneth and headed toward Oliver as fast as her broom would take her. She looked as though she would aim for the far left hoop, but she changed position at the last minute and shot for the far right hoop. Oliver tried but couldn't get there in time. She had scored against him. In that moment, he both hated her and admired her. He couldn't help but notice her then. She was a pretty girl, with long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and denim blue eyes. Other guys might not be able to pick her out of a crowd, but he knew that he would never forget her. She was, after all, the girl who scored against him.
It was now 6 hours into the game. The Americans were still holding their own, and their goal was still the only one scored in the whole game. Suddenly, Doug became the hero of all of Scotland. He hit a bludger straight at the American seeker, and his aim was true. He hit the seeker in the lower back, nearly unseating her from her broom. She screamed in pain and directed her broom toward the ground, trying very hard not to fall off. The Americans in the stands were booing and hissing, while Scotland's fans were almost delirious with joy.
"Now we're bound to win," thought Oliver. "They can't possibly have a backup plan for this..."
But he was wrong. Their last chaser, the girl who had scored against him, flew above the game and began searching for the snitch. They now had only a keeper, a seeker and two beaters. America's only goal was to find the snitch while protecting their seeker and keeping Scotland from scoring. And then it happened. Logan was speeding through the air as fast as his firebolt would go, his hand outstretched in front of him. The American seeker was right behind him, and then beside him. They circled the pitch side by side, both trying to catch the snitch. They were both only inches from it with their hands outstretched, and then they could nearly touch it...
The rest of the game completely stopped as everyone turned their attention to the two seekers battling each other for the snitch. They raced halfway around the pitch, and then they both stopped. The game was over. Everyone held their breath, waiting to see who had caught the golden snitch. After what was really only about two seconds but seemed like forever, the American seeker raised her hand high above her head and Oliver caught a glimpse of the snitch between her fingers. The American fans went absolutely wild in the stands, setting off Filibuster's fireworks and waving American flags. From somewhere he heard the announcer saying "USA wins! 160 to zero!"
He felt absolutely crushed. He wouldn't be playing for the Quidditch World Cup this year. The only thing he had left to look forward to was teaching at Hogwarts in about two weeks. He was suddenly very glad that he had accepted the position there.
The post-game locker room atmosphere wasn't a very happy one for the Scottish team. They were all feeling extremely disappointed in themselves. When they had all shuffled miserably into the locker room, Leslie addressed them.
"You did your best today. I couldn't have asked for more from you. We took down almost half of their team, for crying out loud! But they were extremely well prepared, and it paid off for them in the end. I just want you to know that it was a pleasure playing with you this year and that I am very proud of each of you. Well, take care in the off season everyone. I'll send you an owl in October when it's time to start practicing again." She turned to go.
"Wait!" yelled Ian and Kenneth together.
"Well, you know what they say... misery loves company," said Ian.
"And we're all miserable," Kenneth added.
"So, why don't we all head down to the pub and be miserable together? It beats being miserable alone. Besides, I bet that's where we were all heading anyhow," said Ian.
"Why don't we all change and meet back here in about 10 minutes?" suggested Janet.
The team agreed, and in 10 minutes they left the locker room together to hit the pub.
The team walked into town and went into the pub together. Like the Leaky Cauldron in London, this pub was only visible to people who were looking for it. Muggles walked past unaware that it even existed. The team chose a table in the back corner and ordered large bottles of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey all around. They were drinking and talking and having a generally good time. The pub became more and more crowded as quidditch fans looked for a place to chill after watching the game. After they had been there a while, the door to the pub opened and in walked the American team. They were all wearing matching red nylon jogging pants and blue tee-shirts with little white stars on them. There were people on either side of their captain, helping her keep her balance. Oliver remembered that she had been hit in the head with a bludger and was probably still a bit dizzy. He was amazed that she was out and about at all, considering that one time he had taken a bludger to the head and was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts for a week. Their seeker also needed help walking, seeing as she had been hit in the back. The injured beater appeared to be ok now. The Americans chose a table not too far from where the Scottish team was sitting.
"Oh great!" said Logan and rolled his eyes. "We come here to relax and now we have to hear them gloating all night!"
The Americans were oblivious to the fact that they were sitting near the Scottish team. They all asked for different drinks and were soon chatting and having a good time. After a while the captain asked for a bottle of champagne and they had a toast.
"To us, for our magnificent victory today!" she said rather loudly.
"And for good luck in next weekend's match!" added one of their beaters.
Then they raised their glasses and then sipped their champagne. Both teams talked amongst themselves for most of the evening. After a while though, one of the Americans glanced over to where Oliver's team was sitting and recognized them. She said something to one of her teammates and glanced over again. Pretty soon the whole team was glancing over at them, and Ian noticed.
"They have some nerve, sitting there and talking about us and staring! As if we wouldn't notice!" he said indignantly.
Then the American captain got up out of her seat with some help from the uninjured beater and walked over to the Scottish team.
The Scottish team watched her approach. She was really a very pretty girl with long blonde hair and a warm smile. She stopped at their table and said "Hi, my name's Sonia. You probably guessed that I'm the captain of America's team. I just wanted to say that you guys played really well today. You were very worthy opponents, and I wouldn't have been too upset if you had won. If fact, we really weren't expecting to win. We didn't think we had a shot at getting into the semi-finals, let alone making it to the final match. We have been the underdogs the whole way through."
The Scottish team just stared at her. None of them were sure of where this was going or what they were supposed to say.
"Anyway," she continued, "because we didn't think that we were going to be in the final match, we all bought tickets for it. Obviously we have no use for them now, so we thought that maybe you guys would like to come and watch the game. If you want these tickets, they're yours." She pulled them out of her pocket and held them out for the Scottish team to see.
"Wow, that's really nice of you," said Leslie.
"Well I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Oliver. "I'll take a ticket if you don't mind."
Sonia handed him one of the seven tickets. He looked at it a minute and then looked up at her. "These are box seats!" he exclaimed. "You must have paid a fortune for them! Are you sure you want to just give them away?"
"Of course she's sure!" Logan cut in. "And I'll take one too, please."
Soon Sonia had given out all of the tickets. Scotland may have lost to the Americans, but they were all die-hard quidditch fans. They weren't about to miss the quidditch world cup match, especially when they could have box seats for free.
"Thanks for the tickets Sonia," said Leslie. "And good luck next week."
"Thank you. Enjoy your evening!" Sonia replied, and walked back to her own table, leaning on the beater for support.