Chapter 8: England versus the United States of America

Ferguson grabbed the Quaffle immediately; he streaked up the pitch towards the US goalposts, passed quickly to Jones, who passed to Cowton.

"Kate Cowton has the Quaffle and – what's this?" shouted the announcer. "Cutler hasn't reached her goalposts yet, Cowton shoots – SHE SCORES! Brilliant long-range shot from Cowton, in just ten seconds!"

Harry jumped up and cheered along with the rest of the England supporters, but the American fans were looking dejected. They, as the announcer roared, had just conceded the fifth fastest goal in World Cup history and weren't happy about it.

"So England are ten points ahead!" boomed the announcer. Tracey Cutler throws the ball out, but it's intercepted by Martin Jones, he passes to captain Timothy Ferguson, he's advancing quickly on the goal – OUCH!"

Ferguson had just been hit by a Bludger batted at him by the US Beater Sommerfield. He dropped the Quaffle – it was intercepted by Pugh who rushed up the pitch with it.

"Excellent roll!" shouted the announcer, as Pugh dodged a Bludger hit at him by Kitty Guest. "Passes to Prestwood, back to Pugh, to Haden – she misses it! Intercepted by Timmy Ferguson, and you can see why he's the captain, he advancing on Cutler, he shoots – no, it was a dummy, he passes back to Cowton – she scores again! Twenty-nil to England!"

Harry checked his watch. They had been playing for just two minutes. He looked through his Omnioculars – Maximus Brankovitch and Francesca Venables were both peering around for the Snitch.

"And it's back to Haden, to Prestwood, he dodges a Bludger – coming at him by it's own accord, that one – and the other Bludger's just been hit at him by David Parry, but it's hit back by Russell – and Prestwood's dropped it! Caught by Jones for England …"

There were no more goals for the next five minutes, though England came close twice: the first shop missed and the second was saved. Harry took a sip of his Butterbeer and a lick of his ice cream – he had been so fascinated he hadn't touched them. They weren't the best Quidditch players he'd seen, but they weren't bad.

"And Cowton has the ball again, she's going to shoot – "

PHEEP! Ricky Herbert gave a blast on his whistle – Mark Pugh had deliberately collided with Kate Cowton, knocking her off her broom. Harry noticed Wood shaking his gloved fist.

"And it's a penalty to England but they can't seem to decide who's taking it – ah, Ferguson's being a good sport, he's letting Cowton have it, can she make it three goals? YES SHE CAN! THIRTY-ZERO!"

Harry cheered loudly and sloshed Butterbeer over the front of his robes – he dried them with a simple spell.

"And the United States have the Quaffle again, it's Haden, Prestwood, Pugh, Haden, Prestwood, Haden, Sommerfield stops the Bludger, Haden testing Keeper Wood for the first time, this is his international debut, can he save it – brilliant Starfish!"

Wood had pulled off the complicated Starfish and Stick move, hanging off his broom by one foot and one hand, and saved the shot, the Quaffle bouncing off his stomach and out to Jones.

"Go on Oliver!" shouted Ron loudly, causing the short, elderly wizard next to him to leapt sideways onto his tall, thin friend who shouted "OY! What d'ya think ya playin' at?"

In the next thirty minutes Wood made three more excellent saves, and Ferguson and Jones scored once each for England.

"LOOK AT BRANKOVITCH!" yelled the announcer – a blur of white and blue was speeding towards the ground, Venables following closely on her Nimbus 2500, her brown hair flying out behind her, Harry focused his Omnioculars, he could see the Snitch …

CRASH! A well-aimed Bludger from Parry hit Brankovitch in the arm, the Beater cheered; Venables hit Brankovitch at full speed and veered backwards. Meanwhile, Prestwood had the Quaffle, he shot …

"Save it!" roared George, but it was too late, Wood had let in America's first goal of the game and the other side of the stadium exploded with cheers.

"It's not that bad, we're still forty points ahead and to let in one goal in forty minutes is pretty good going for someone on his debut," said Remus. "As long as Venables gets the Snitch soon, we'll win."

But Venables didn't get the Snitch soon. England scored four more and the USA two in the next hour and a quarter, and Brankovitch called for time out. As the players descended to the pitch, George left to get some more food and drink – they'd all finished their Butterbeer and ice cream by now.

He returned with cups of water and soup, which he gave out. "We'll get you a cake when we get home," he said to Remus. "Shall we go down and see Oliver?"

"No, they're restarting," said Harry, and sure enough, the players were gathering around the centre circle again. Herbert gave a sharp blast on his whistle and the players flew back up into the air.

Within thirty seconds Venables saw the Snitch again. She streaked towards it, Brankovitch was too far behind to catch up … and suddenly it disappeared. Venables hand went inside her robes and Herbert gave a sharp blast on his whistle.

"Snitchnip!" roared the announcer.  

"I see!" said Fred. "Look, Cutler caught the Snitch! Bet she doesn't save the penalty!"

"You can get banned for a couple of matches for that," said Remus as Cutler released the Snitch.

"Look," said Hermione. "America has got a penalty as well."

"Yeah, I think Venables swore or something," said Ron. "She looked really angry."

Ferguson took the England penalty first – he slotted the Quaffle easily into the middle goal. Then Prestwood flew up towards Wood, his arms out to intimidate the young Keeper, but Wood was alert and saved the shot easily.

"ENGLAND ONE HUNDRED, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THIRTY," roared the announcer. "And the game continues!"

After another hour of play England were ahead by one hundred and sixty points to fifty, and the players flew down for another session of time out. "Tea break," said George. "They'll be another half-hour. Fred, it's your turn to get some food."

Grudgingly, his twin brother left and returned with a full three-course meal in a paper bag. Harry thought it would take him about two hours to eat, even though the bag was quite small. However, he was about halfway through by the time the players came back to the pitch.

By seven o'clock England had scored another one hundred and ten points and the US had got another three shots past Wood. "If America catches the Snitch now, they'll lose," said Remus.

"Like Krum," sniggered Ron. However, the USA scored six to England's one in the next half-hour and, at 280-140, America was still in with a chance. Harry could see that Wood was getting tired.

Half an hour later, Harry finally finished his dinner, which had kept on replenishing itself. "I can now exclusively reveal that France has beaten Turkey by four sixty to ninety," boomed the announcer, sounding upset, "and that the winner of this game will play them in the semis." There was a groan throughout the stadium: France would be a hard side to beat.

"Look," said Fred to the group at short time later. "They've played for six hours now. They can bring on the reserves."

"How does it work?" asked Hermione.

"After six hours of play you can bring three out of seven reserves onto the pitch for your players," explained Remus. "They can play for a maximum of two hours each. Yes, they're doing it!"

Six reserves had left the sidelines, taking off their cloaks and were jogging up and down. The referee blew his whistle, and the players flew downwards to the ground. "England lead three hundred and ninety to two hundred and sixty," shouted the announcer. "And the reserves coming on: for England, Danby, George and Jenkins for Guest, Parry and Jones, and for the USA Simon, Huq and Baker for Pugh, Haden and Russell."

"Go Joey!" shouted Ron. Joey Jenkins was a Chudley Cannons player.

"I wonder why the captain's not taking off Wood," asked Remus. "He looks very tired."

"He's never played for this long at this level," said Ron.

"He's never played at this level, nitwit," said George.

England scored another goal in the next ten minutes, a penalty, and the sun was starting to set when …

"LOOK AT VENABLES!" screamed the announcer.

Harry put his Omnioculars to his eyes, Francesca Venables was streaking towards something gold, Brankovitch was following, but Venables had the faster broomstick, she was going to get there first …

"YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!"

Venables had caught the Snitch, she held it high above her head, England had won, the players were closing in on their Seeker, Brankovitch was shaking his head but he raised it and waved to the crowd …

They got back to the tents fifteen minutes later to find a letter inside the largest one. Fred picked it up and opened it. He scanned it quickly and his jubilant face fell.

"What is it?" everyone asked.

"It's Ginny," said Fred. "She's pregnant."