All original characters except for references to staff of Hogwarts, Charlie Weasley, Dorcas Meadowes, and Voldermort, who were created by J.K Rowling.
Rating – G
Humour / drama
First Game of the Year or How Gryffindor began their eight year losing streak.
Ch1
The teams flew off, and under twelve seconds the Slytherins had secured their first two goals. Red gloved fists waved furiously and inappropriate insults were flung across the field while overhead the players settled themselves into battle mode.
Eyes everywhere were strained as they squinted against the bright October sunlight that illuminated the stark red scarves of Gryffindor's supporters and the brilliant green of Slytherin's all around.
In the meantime Rob O'Reilly, an enthusiastic third year from Ravenclaw had the daunting task of lightening the tense mood of the crowd.
.. bludger bashed Gryffindor's Captain Kenneth Bane on the knee showcasing one of the most (he made a deliberate pause) .. impressive mid air pirouettes in Quidditch history... ha! ha! ha! ... er, not that Bane was ever 'in' a Ballet class.. um...and there's a nice tackle from Gryffindor's Laetitia Briggs, just ducking the bludger shot from Slytherin's Agnelo Lucas....oooh! the fans are NOT happy about that one...the quaffle, as if anyone missed that, was kicked out of the hands of chaser Penelope Pater of Gryffindor by Slytherin's chaser Thomas Wrykin...
During the above commentary, I was busy watching every suspect head among the bobbing, energetic crowd before nausea set in and I had to turn away.
After a couple of deep breaths, that first faint sensation of panic which had gripped me on entering the stands began to weaken.
'He' wouldn't miss today's match, I tried to tell myself. It just isn't possible.
The first match of the year was the only topic of conversation since term began in September and it was a marveling fact that it drew everyone into the cold outdoors as few things could. If today's match could draw Argus Filch the caretaker from his sanctimonious cleaning duties to scream his lungs out with the crowds, then it stood to reason that 'he' would also be here.
The penalty goal went off side and Gryffindor gained its first point. Following the Slytherin teams earlier example, goal after goal was scored by the Gryffindor chasers as the dazed Slytherin players scrambled to make up their lost points.
A frenzy seemed to have come over Gryffindor's chaser Bane.
Apparently avenging the 'ballet' slight , he actually hit a bludger so hard that it whipped the Quaffle out of the startled hand of Slytherin chaser Raoul Mathis straight into the arms of Laetitia Briggs from Gryffindor scoring another goal.
The crowd's deafening cheer faded when Mathis (also of the hot blooded type) grabbed a beater club and rammed it against Bane's jaw resulting in a lot of blood and loose incisors. After a quick medical examination, Mathis was sent off and the next penalty goal went to Bane.
I had finished scanning two sides of the stadium by that time, but it was getting harder to concentrate on the task at hand with all the action above me. It wasn't long before I started scanning the skies.
Penelope Pater from Gryffindor scored a double goal owing to bad timing on the Slytherin keeper's part. After the first goal was scored, the disgruntled keeper violently flung the Quaffle in Pater's direction with the intention of knocking her off her broom. Thanks largely to her good reflexes, she scored a second goal much to the dismay of the Slytherins.
By the look of things, it was painfully obvious which team was going to have a Butterbeer binge at the conclusion of the match. The skies did not actually darken but the signs were visible to all by the desperate bursts of speed from the Slytherin side and the pleas for concentration on their lips. The only decent thing left was to avert my eyes from the painful scene ahead.
Just then, a sharp gasp escaped from the crowd.
I was just in time to see the Slytherin Seeker, Paris Croesus, spiral rapidly downward before halting mid air to land gently on the ground.