Chapter 16

"The Greatest Game in the World"

Cassie had seen Harry fly on his broomstick before. In fact, she had been on that very same broomstick before and done some (she thought at the time) pretty tricky maneuvers with him. She had seen him fight, dodging curses that moved like bullets and spinning through the air to take aim at Voldemort. She thought she knew what to expect. But nothing had prepared her for watching Quidditch.

Hermione had told her she would never be able to watch cricket again after today. Cassie had laughed to herself because she personally hated cricket. But she did love to watch soccer. She immediately knew she was ruined forever for any other sport. The absolute thrilling speed and breakneck maneuvers she was watching in front of her eyes at this moment made everything else pale in comparison. It reminded her to some degree of a horse race - the riders became almost one with their brooms and it was sometimes hard to tell where one stopped and the other began. The players were weaving, dodging, advancing, spinning, freed from the bonds of gravity and exploring that freedom with every particle of their being. Cassie lowered the omnioculars and stared in complete and utter awe and amazement at the scene in front of her, caring not at all about the score or even which team was winning. All she cared about was watching them fly!

The colors were bright, almost cartoonish, and she wondered if she was imagining the entire thing. The bright green of the field, the deep blue of the sky, the red and yellow of the opposing teams all contrasted with each other, moving together and apart in a dance whose steps were more complex than she could hope to understand! Nowhere in real life could the colors be so bright and their saturations so intense. She almost pinched herself to see if she was asleep and dreaming. Certainly no one could really fly like that and ever want to come back to earth. How did they stand it? How did they finish the game and come back to solid ground? She thought that she would never look at Harry the same way again. He wasn't a boy who happened to be able to fly. He was a bird who was forced to walk around on two feet most of the time. She thought of the time he had been in London the previous summer and felt physically sick. How could he have stood giving this up?

She was so intensely involved in watching the soaring, zooming little birds in front of her that it took Hermione three times elbowing her before Cassie even noticed. She started. Then she remembered. There were other people around her and it wasn't a dream. "What?" She looked at Hermione who was giving her a wide-eyed expression.

"You're sitting with your mouth hanging open. People may wonder if it looks like you've never seen Quidditch before." Her whisper, although kind, was fairly desperate and Cassie wondered just how stunned she had actually looked. She shook her head to clear it. She needed to pay attention to what she was doing and where she was. There was too much at stake to allow herself to relax. For a moment she felt cheated.

"Sorry. I just - I just . . . I never. . ." But she didn't finish her sentence because right then she became aware of exactly what was going on over the field and she realized that for all the beauty and grace of the flying, the game was wizard sport after all and they weren't out there doing ballet. They were fighting! And fighting hard. The fact they were 50 feet in the air didn't seem to matter in the least. There were three balls she could see and apparently it was the red one that mattered because that was the one everyone was fighting over. A yellow player had it at the moment and he was speeding toward the goals on the left side of the field. And then Cassie figured out what exactly Ron did. She could see his red hair from her seat so she knew it was him. He was on his broom trying to keep the yellow player from throwing the ball through any of the rings. That seemed a near impossible task but as she watched, he managed. He caught the red ball easily and threw it to one of the girls on his team, Cassie couldn't tell who. Just then, the purpose of the black balls became painfully obvious. One of them came hurtling at a high rate of speed toward the girl holding the ball and she had to do a quick spin in the air to avoid getting smacked by it. Right behind it came one of the yellow team holding a short bat and he hit the black ball again toward the girl who was racing like the hounds of hell were chasing her toward the other end of the pitch. She tossed the ball to Ginny who was closer to the goals just before the black ball hit her broom and sent her spinning off course. Ginny sped closer to the goals and threw the red ball in as hard as she could. It slipped through the fingers of the yellow Ron-equivalent (Keeper wasn't it?) and went through the ring. Everyone around her yelled and clapped and looking around she noticed a large scoreboard that just added 10 points to the Gryffindor total. Cassie decided she must have been really out of it for a while because the score was 40 to 0. She didn't remember hearing anyone yell earlier.

She grabbed her omnioculars again and pointed them towards Ron's end of the field. She saw him through the lenses, looking tense but pleased. Another yellow player was racing toward him and Cassie tried to track him but couldn't, he was just moving too fast. She heard the announcer then, and realized that listening would probably really help her understand what was going on. "That's Gillingwater again with the Quaffle. Weasley is getting ready to block him. This will be Hufflepuff's sixth attempt to score. Weasley replaced Oliver Wood as Keeper three years ago and has been invaluable to the - alright, then, folks. You see why the Hufflepuffs are scoreless up to this point. And he throws the ball to his sister . . ." Ron had once again stopped the red ball and had thrown it gracefully over to Ginny who was hovering close to him. She grabbed it and raced off once more. Cassie concentrated for a minute on her face. She had had no idea how intense this game was until she saw Ginny's expression. Her eyes were squinted against the wind and she concentrated hard on dodging other players who seemed to be purposefully blocking her path. The black balls were screaming by Ginny's head but she paid them no attention, just avoiding them like she had an almost supernatural knowledge of where they were going to be. She threw the ball again but this time the yellow Keeper caught it and Ginny scowled before heading back to the middle of the field.

Another red figure flew into Cassie's line of vision. She did not know this boy but he was obviously a Beater. He hit one of the black balls hard toward the Hufflepuff goal and two yellow players, including the girl presently holding the red ball (Quaffle?), moved out of its way. She watched the Beater for a few minutes, enjoying the way he kept track of players as well as the red ball and the two black ones. His movements were efficient but powerful. The strength with which he hit the ball amazed her but she could see the power in his face as he swung and connected time and again with one or the other of his targets. This is what George and Fred did when they played? She hoped one day she could see them fly. She wondered if they were as serious about the game as their siblings were. She turned her face toward Ron again as the yellow girl (the announcer said her name was Woodview) approached the goals yet again, hoping this time she could get the Quaffle past the Gryffindor keeper. What happened next probably took no more than three seconds but as she watched it, it was almost like it was in slow motion. Ron had leaned off his broom a little bit to reach for the ball and both arms were extended so he could grab it. He was holding onto the broom with his knees and was concentrating very hard on watching the ball, determined to block it. So, when the black ball came hurtling toward him, hit by one of the yellow Beaters, he didn't even see it. He was not even aware of it until it slammed into his right arm, knocking him backward and right off the end of his broom. Cassie could see the look of shock on his face as he lost his tenuous grip on the broomstick and fell into space.

It was then Cassie realized something she had not before that split second. This game was dangerous! The players may look like dancing birds as they flew above the field, but in reality, gravity worked on them like on any other solid object and once the broom failed to keep them in the air, there was no question of what was going to happen. She looked away, not wanting to watch. It was a very long way to the ground.

Hermione bit back a scream as Ron hit the grass and she jumped up, apparently thinking she would run down to him. She had even started down the steps, practically flying herself, but to Cassie's amazement, Ron stood up. She grabbed her glasses again and focused on his face. He was very white but he put his left hand for his broom, which flew to him. She lowered the glasses because people were standing in front of Ron now and she couldn't see him anymore. Hermione had returned to her seat, standing on it, staring through her own omnioculars, trying to see what was going on, and muttering to herself.

The announcer was talking and Cassie listened, hoping she would know more than the rest of them. "Weasley looks shaken but he's standing up. Pomfrey is trying to get him to put the broom down but he's shaking his head. He's getting back on the broom. You've got to admit, he's got guts. It looks like he's going to keep playing. That's probably good as Deana Johnson who plays back-up Keeper is not really up to this intensity of play." The Gryffindors had started singing again and Cassie was amused when Colin started singing next to her ear. He didn't have a very good voice, bless his heart -- as she had heard in Defense class -- but he sang with enthusiasm.

Weasley is our King

Weasley is our King

He didn't let the Quaffle in,

Weasley is our King

Weasley can save anything,

He never leaves a single ring.

That's why Gryffindors all sing:

Weasley is our King.

Cassie laughed as the song ended a few moments later. It was a cute song, clever, and definitely hummable. Next time they sang it, she would try to join in on the chorus and maybe she could just hum loudly through the verses. Maybe that would keep Colin on key anyway which couldn't hurt.

The motion on the pitch had lost some momentum as Ron had fallen. For one thing, apparently whoever had hit that black ball (called a Bludger she figured out) toward Ron had done something wrong and Gryffindor was going to get a penalty shot. She almost found it laughable someone could commit a foul in this game. It was insanely chaotic and trying to figure out who was doing what seemed impossible. The Hufflepuffs lined up behind the Gryffindor team. Ginny had seemingly been chosen to take the shot as she had the Quaffle in her hands and was ahead of all the other players. The yellow Keeper (whose name Cassie could have sworn was Dagger) was concentrating hard on blocking Ginny's shot. He didn't succeed.

The score was then 50 to 0 which Cassie thought was a pretty sizeable lead. It dawned on her as play resumed at the same breakneck intensity as before the fall that she hadn't seen Harry. She wanted to ask Hermione what he did for the team but didn't dare as Colin was sitting right there and would certainly think it strange if she wasn't familiar enough with the game to know what Harry's position was. So, she decided she had just better find him. Maybe once she saw what he was doing, she would understand why he wasn't with all the other players. She put her glasses down and just looked around the field. He was easy to spot once she looked for him. But she could not figure out what he was doing. He was above everyone else by about 20 feet which explained why she had not seen him when she was busy concentrating on the action. But he was not looking at the red ball, the black balls, or any of the team members in particular. In fact, she would have sworn he was looking away from the action on the field. She thought for a few moments that maybe he was some type of referee or coach or something as he seemed to have that quality of aloofness toward the various players on the field. She discarded that thought, though, when she saw a yellow player, most likely a girl judging by its size, who was doing the same thing as he was. They seemed to be flying with each other, but not really. He kept glancing at her and then looked around the field again, flying right by her side. She tried to get away from him a couple of times but he would fly closer to her and she would slow down.

Cassie tried listening to the commentator but couldn't glean anything about Harry's activities from her. It was almost like Harry and this unknown girl were playing their own game that had nothing to do with the one everyone else was playing. As she looked back down at the other players, though, she realized something was going terribly wrong. As she watched, a yellow player who was announced as Ethan Bloodgood, intercepted a pass meant to go to Deana Johnson from the girl named Honey and sped off toward Ron's end of the pitch. However, instead of Ron easily catching it and sending it back toward the Gryffindors, he made an attempt to get it, wobbled on his broom, and let it slip through his fingers. Cassie then realized what must have happened earlier. The Bludger slamming into Ron's right arm had apparently hurt it enough that it was almost useless at catching the red balls that kept coming his way. As she watched for the next few minutes, the Hufflepuffs were quickly able to put three more scores on the board which tied them up at 50 each.

The announcer, who had previously been ignoring Harry and the girl completely, suddenly seemed to have developed an intense fascination with every one of their moves. "Well, it's obvious this game is up to the Seekers. And the sooner the Snitch is caught, the better for the Gryffindors, assuming of course that Potter is able to perform flawlessly as usual. Weasley is playing injured and it really shows. Potter has not, as far as I have seen, spotted the snitch yet in this game and I am sure he is feeling desperate now. Ashtoreth Zyz wants to prove her skill against him and is hoping her small size will be beneficial when it comes to the final race for the elusive prize. Zyz has played for Hufflepuff now for three years in a row, having replaced Diggory after . . ."

"Jordan!" The voice was brisk and sudden, causing Cassie to practically fall off her seat.

"Sorry, Professor. Didn't mean to bring it up."

"All right. Get back to the game." The tone was a little softer now. Both Hermione and Colin had stiffened almost imperceptibly at the name Diggory and Cassie was very curious to know the story behind it but didn't ask. She swung her glasses up to Harry again and was very surprised at the look on his face. He may not have looked like he was paying attention to any part of the game, but it was obvious he had heard, at least, the last set of comments from the announcer and it had shaken him up. He looked, well . . . she wasn't exactly sure how to interpret the expression on his face. It scared her, really.

"Zyz is a good Seeker and will certainly give Potter a run for the Snitch today. They've played against each other only one time before, but it . . . Aaah, it's been seen! I think Potter saw it first!"

"He didn't see it." Hermione made this announcement suddenly. "I can always tell when he's really seen it. He's just trying to do one of the Wonky-faint things and throw Zyz off his tail. Make her crash or something . . . Like it was her fault about Cedric. Maybe she'll figure it . . .Nope."

"It's Wronski feint, Hermione. Wronski." Colin sounded a little exasperated at her. But Cassie honestly could not have cared less at that moment what the thing Harry was doing was called. She just wanted to call out in shock. He was diving straight at the ground, going faster and faster, until the last moment, when he pulled the handle of his broom straight up and curved gracefully skyward again. The girl, apparently, had not figured out whatever it was Harry had done because her broom crashed hard into the ground and she fell off in an undignified heap of yellow. Cassie focused the omnioculars hard on her but she stood up, looking disgusted that she had fallen for his trick. She hopped back on her broom and a few moments later was up in the air again, watching Harry, but with a definitely warier look in her eye.

"Only a Firebolt has the ability to make those split second turns which is why Potter can . . ."

"Jordan! I've warned you before."

"Just explaining some of the finer points of the game to the students, Professor! That's my job."

"Stick to commenting on the players, not their brooms, then."

"Yes, Professor."

Through all the drama of the dive and the commentary surrounding Harry's broom, the game with the Quaffle and Bludgers had continued unabated and Cassie again wondered how the referee, apparently just the one gray-haired witch who had flown up with them originally, could possibly keep track of who was doing what to whom.

The Gryffindor Chasers were very good and the Hufflepuff Keeper was only decent. The Gryffindors had apparently managed to put another 6 goals through the hoops as the score was currently 110. Unfortunately, Ron's injury had rendered his right arm almost useless and the Chasers for Hufflepuff were taking advantage of this and shooting all their goals toward him from that side. They had gotten 8 goals past him and now had a score of 130. Hermione was agonizing every time the Quaffle even came close to Ron which meant Cassie was hearing a lot of moaning and muttering and Hermione was not explaining anything to her, even when Colin was occupied talking to Elspeth as he had been periodically over the last few minutes.

"I think all the Gryffindors are grateful Potter is their Seeker today" the announcer was saying. "He's got a near perfect record and it's obvious at least to this announcer that he'd better get the Snitch soon or the Gryffindor defense may collapse completely and make the points irrelevant." Cassie didn't know what the girl meant, but Hermione was certainly muttering that she hoped "Harry catches that bloody Snitch soon or I'm going to go down there and insist he come out. He should have gone to hospital. It's not worth it for one bloody game. But would he have listened to me, anyway? No. No. Of course not. What do I know?" By "he" Cassie assumed Hermione meant Ron, whose face was getting whiter and whiter as the game progressed.

The Gryfffindor Beaters were trying to help out now on defense and were concentrating hard on hitting Bludgers directly at opposing team members who were carrying the Quaffle, trying to keep them away from their wounded Keeper. This was only moderately successful, however, and though Ron was able to deflect at least three goal attempts, he let one more through, and the tension in the air around Cassie was almost palpable. She chanced a glance through the omnioculars at Ginny. She hadn't had the Quaffle in a while and Cassie only realized at that moment why. She was hurt, also, not nearly as bad as Ron but enough that she was trying to rest. Her nose was bloody and it looked like she had what was sure to be a beautiful black eye by the next morning. As Cassie watched, Ginny shook her head and yelled something at Honey. A moment later, she had the Quaffle in her hands again and was speeding toward the far ring and the Hufflepuff Keeper. She did a pretty fancy little spin in the air as a Bludger passed not five feet from her face and then she made a quick move to the right and as the Keeper followed to block her throw, she moved quickly left and threw the Quaffle through the nearest ring to where the Gryffindors were sitting. The stands around her erupted in applause.

"That's the first score in over five minutes by the Gryffindors who are still 20 points behind. They're exhausted and wounded. Potter has really got to find that elusive Snitch. He's seen it a few times. I've even seen it once, folks. But he hasn't been able to get to it fast enough. Hopefully this game will end soon."

"Jordan. We all know where your loyalties lie, but could you at least try to comment on the Hufflepuff team once in a while, please?"

"Sure, Professor. The Hufflepuffs strategy, I think, speaks for itself. And, much as I hate to admit it, it's working. . . ." The girl stopped speaking suddenly and it was as though a thunderclap had shaken the stadium. Everyone started staring at one place above the field, close to where Ginny had thrown her last goal. Cassie stared hard at the spot through her omnioculars, trying desperately to see what this Snitch was exactly. No one had told her. Maybe it was an invisible ball or something. She certainly had never seen anything that looked remotely like something Harry would be interested in catching.

And then, so faint she almost missed it, there was a flutter and a flash of gold and Harry and the girl who had been his companion for nearly an hour and a half now were gone! They were both speeding full out toward the flash of light. The girl was fast, but Cassie had to say she had never seen anything that day faster than Harry. He was practically laying on his broom, his arm outstretched, every line of his body focused on one thing and one thing only - getting there before she did. He still had to maneuver around players, Bludgers, Beaters, and one Keeper, who looked up to see a veritable cannonball hurtling at him and quickly decided to move to safer territory. Three times the Hufflepuff Beaters sent the vicious black balls toward him but he dodged them as though they were puffs of dandelion fluff and then he was there and then his hand was open and closed and then raised over his head! And the stands erupted around her into a cacophony of sound so loud she almost put her hands over her ears.

He had, apparently, just won the game!

Everyone around her was standing on their seats, banging their feet against the metal benches as the final score was posted. 270 to 140. Gryffindor Wins! Some red and gold fireworks went off from somewhere below their seats and Cassie smiled as she recognized George's handiwork. Someone had stocked up ahead of time.

"Oh, thank heavens!" Hermione was saying. "I've got to get down there. He's so stubborn he'll probably refuse to go to hospital again! Wait till I give him a piece of my mind!" And she was off. Cassie followed her quickly, motioning Colin and Elspeth to follow her down the steps Hermione had just started down. Colin waved back, indicating she should go on without them and despite Cassie's worry about Ron and Ginny, she smiled to herself as she shoved her way through the throng of excited Gryffindors who were all trying to get down to the field. Apparently her plan had worked very well. But there would be time for savoring that particular victory later. Her foot was stepped on several times before she managed to make it through the crowd and onto the green grass. It was only at that moment that she realized how effective Hermione's warming spell had been. The air down on the field was absolutely frigid and every time she took a breath it cut into her lungs like a knife. She was grateful she hadn't had to sit through the entire game in these temperatures. She surely would have died.

She followed Hermione as quickly as she could, which wasn't very, but she didn't worry because she knew where she was going. There was a small medical tent set up on the far side of the field and both Ron and Ginny as well as several other players had congregated there. The same witch Cassie had helped out in June during the battle was busily bustling around, ascertaining injuries, putting pastes on wounds, and waving her wand around. Ron was nowhere in sight by the time the two girls arrived at the tent and Cassie figured he was probably inside. He had been the most seriously injured of any of the players and it made sense that he would need privacy as he would probably have to remove his shirt. She sincerely hoped that somehow magic would warm the place up. If not, he would be an icicle before they could get him back to the castle. Hermione was pestering the nurse as Cassie approached and she hung back a little so that the nurse wouldn't recognize her. She didn't expect her to. It had been a long time and she was very busy - both then and now. Apparently, the nurse was telling Hermione that she was not allowed to go in and see Ron. "He's fine, Miss Granger. But he's undressed and I have yet to examine him completely."

"Then how do you know he's fine? Besides, I've seen him undressed before and I . . ."

"Miss Granger!" The nurse pulled herself up to her full height. "I do not want to hear any details of your sordid liaisons with my patient. It is of no matter to me." Hermione looked confused and then suddenly realized what she had said.

"Oh! That's not what I meant . . . I mean, I . . ." But the witch had turned away, dealing with another patient and Hermione stalked back over to where Cassie was standing. Her face was bright red and she looked both annoyed and embarrassed. "That didn't go the way it was supposed to."

Cassie raised her eyebrow at her. "Yeah, I guess not. That's probably not exactly what you wanted to say to the nurse, huh?"

"No. I just meant his shirt. I'm sure it's just his shirt that's off, but I've seen him without his shirt several times. Oh, I don't even want to think of what Madame Pomfrey is going to think of me after that stupid comment. She's going to think I'm a scarlet woman as Ron calls them." She forced a grin, but was still blushing at her embarrassment. Cassie grinned at Hermione while she stomped around, beating her hands against her shoulders, apparently trying to stay warm. Cassie could empathize with that. She was half frozen already.

"Can you cast another one of those lovely little warming charms?"

"No. Sorry. They only work if you stay in one place. Kind of like a heat lamp."

"Oh. All right." Harry waved at them as he approached Ginny who was looking thoroughly miserable sitting in one of the chairs waiting attention by the nurse. Cassie watched as he squatted down by her chair and spoke quietly to her. Ginny smiled and then winced. Her face looked pretty bad. Cassie hadn't seen her get hurt but she could imagine that it was one of those Bludgers that had hit her. Either that or another player's elbow. Cassie looked around at the students milling on the field. The Gryffindors were looking very excited and pleased. The Hufflepuffs just looked cold.

A few students were huddled together singing the little ditty that Cassie had now heard several times. Hermione laughed again as the song was carried to her on the wind.

"Why do you always laugh when you hear someone singing that song? Don't you like it?" Hermione chuckled for a minute longer, laughing even more now that Cassie had pointed it out to her. As Cassie waited for Hermione to compose herself enough to answer her question, she looked around and saw a very unwelcome sight. Draco Malfoy was crossing the field, coming almost directly at them although he wasn't really looking in her direction so she relaxed a little bit. The brief conversation the two of them had had last night at dinner had unnerved her greatly.

She tried not to look too directly at him as he might interpret her stare as an invitation when it actually was more like keeping an eye on a poisonous snake to make sure it wasn't about to strike. Finally, Hermione had gotten control of herself and was starting to tell the story.

"It's absolutely hilarious, actually. It all started in our fifth year when Ron took over as Keeper to replace Oliver Wood. He was pretty good as long as no one was looking at him. Under the eyes of every student at Hogwarts, though, he had real problems. Don't tell him I said that, please. Anyway, the Slytherins, Malfoy in particular, wrote a nasty little song to really get his goat." She laughed again. Malfoy had heard his name being used in vain obviously and had stopped about five feet behind Hermione, watching her with a sneer on his face. Cassie tried to wave to Hermione to stop telling the story, but Hermione either didn't notice or didn't sense the desperation behind the movement. "The words were all mean. But when Ron won the Quidditch cup for the Gryffindors in the last game that year, someone - and I don't know who it was, actually now that I think about it - changed the words to be nice to Ron instead. It's kind of hung on ever since. It just cracks me up, because every time we sing it, Malfoy gets a very pained look on his face . . . . and I can imagine him sitting with his little cronies and just grinding his teeth together." Cassie's eyes were slightly wide as she stared at Malfoy who now was stalking toward the two of them and Cassie wished that she could pull out her own wand and threaten him. He looked murderous.

"I don't grind my teeth, Mudblood." Hermione jumped about a mile as Draco stopped right beside her. "I just think again how absolutely pitiful your little boyfriend was that year . . . in everything . . . including the Quidditch." Hermione's brows knit together and Cassie thought that it was probably fortunate they were near the medical tent. One of them was bound to be hurt in the next few minutes.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Draco's eyes flicked toward Cassie and then back to Hermione and Cassie wanted to crawl away and wash or something. He had followed her and now there was going to be a fight. Hermione grabbed for her wand and Cassie, thinking that as a threat it might work, grabbed hers, hoping she looked like she really knew what she was doing. Draco pulled his out as well.

"I have as much of a right to be here as you do, Mudblood, maybe more." Several people were starting to gather around now and there were murmurs as the word Mudblood was spit out.

"You don't want to be hexed, Malfoy. You've had that experience before and I'm fairly sure you don't want to repeat it." To Cassie's absolute shock, Draco took a step backward. His eyes flicked toward her again and she forced herself to stay put.

"I watched Spencer sit with you and Creevey all through the match - two Mudbloods! And I wanted to ask her a question." He then turned and looked directly at Cassie. "What's it like to hang out with trash all the time, Spencer?" Cassie took a deep breath and put every bit of hatred she had for this boy into her voice.

"Your friends would know better than I. Why don't you ask them?" Draco's eyes flared a bit in surprise and then he actually grinned.

"Good one, Spencer. Good one." And he turned on his heel and left the field, heading for the castle.