On the night of Friday, October 8th, 2021, at 9 P.M. Hogwarts time, Navarro, Bruce, Wilma, and Lily all met up on the sloping lawns for their weekly interhouse team meeting.
Navarro had brought a large yellow bag with four Nimbus Two Thousand Broomsticks in it. "Tonight, is my turn to decide what we do during our meeting. As I love flying, I figured we could play some various broom games. "
"That sounds fun," cooed Lily eagerly.
"Agreed," smiled Wilma, "Playing broom games sounds like a pleasant way for us to spend the evening together."
"It's too dark to play Quidditch," said Bruce doubtfully, looking up at the night sky.
"That's part of the point," piped up Navarro, "Quidditch isn't the only boom game. I want to introduce you three to some of the others. But, first, how about just a broom race. I'll set the bag down to mark a finish line and we will stand one hundred feet from the bag, and all take off at the same nanosecond."
Next nanosecond, Navarro took the four Nimbus Two Thousand broomsticks out of the bag and handed one each to Bruce, Wilma, and Lily. He then set the bag down on the sloping lawn and the four of them stood one hundred feet away from the finish line.
Navarro, Bruce, Wilma, and Lily all stood in a position as though preparing to mount their brooms.
"How high should we fly?" asked Lily, "That's something we need to agree on if we're going to have a fair race."
"You're right Lily," realized Navarro, "Thank you for catching that. I'd say fifty feet airborne is reasonable.'
"Agreed," chorused Bruce, Wilma, and Lily.
"Then let's get to it," instructed Navarro.
"Tell us when to take off then," said Bruce simply.
"One the count of three," called out Navarro, "One, two, three."
The instant the word "three" had left Navarro's lips, Navarro, Bruce, Wilma, and Lily all kicked up from ground hard and soared up into the air. They rose to a height of fifty feet airborne and flew the one hundred feet to the finish line.
Lily was the clear cut winner, followed by Navarro, then Wilma, with Bruce clearly bringing up the rear.
"Wow," you're fast Lils!" observed Wilma.
"I'm not surprised," interjected Navarro, "I've seen her speed when I've watched her play Quidditch. I wish she was in Hufflepuff. We'd have ourselves a few Quidditch Cups in recent years if she was."
"Being a midget helps Lily in a competition like this," said Bruce matter of factly, "She's quite lightweight and aerodynamic."
"Mom and dad are both great Quidditch players and great fliers, " said Lily proudly, "I suppose I inherited some of my talent on a broom from them."
"The Quidditch pitch is even named after your dad," smiled Navarro, "Lily, congratulations on winning our broom race, but I have a suspicion that this next game will be more up Bruce's alley."
"Does it involve strength rather than speed?" inquired Bruce.
"Indeed," confirmed Navarro, "We're going to play Shuntbumps. Shuntbumps is a simple game where we will all take off on our brooms. The object of Shuntbumps is to knock other players off their brooms. Whoever is the last remaining player on his or her broom is the winner."
So, Navarro, Bruce, Wilma, and Lily all took off again.
This time, the muscular Bruce dominated.
A minute into the game, Bruce knocked Lily off of her broom with the force of an out of control truck hitting a brick wall.
"I got you, midget!" smirked Bruce as Lily fell.
Navarro and Wilma had attempted to knock each other off their brooms, but both managed to stay on.
Once Lily was eliminated, Bruce targeted Wilma and managed to hit her at just the right angle to make her fall.
"Veteran triumphs over rookie!" grinned Bruce, referring to himself being a seventh year vs Wilma being a first year.
In the end it came down to Bruce vs Navarro for the win.
While it took Bruce a few attempts, he eventually defeated Navarro as well.
"I'm the King of Shuntbumps!" exclaimed Bruce.
"That you are, " agreed Navarro.
"The midget had no chance against me in this game!" declared Bruce.
Lily squirmed. She was hating being called a midget more and more all the time but being ever the classy person she was, she didn't utter a syllable of complaint.
"None of us did," said Wilma crisply.
"Bruce, Wilma, and Lily, please wait here," requested Navarro, "I need to go get something for the next game."
Bruce, Wilma, and Lily all nodded.
Navarro left and returned a few minutes and a few nanoseconds later with a large white bag containing four yellow paddles with black handles as well as well as a a colorful collection of water balloons.
Navarro handed one of the paddles each to Bruce, Wilma, and Lily and said, "We're going to play a broom game called Bonkers. The object of Bonkers is to swat the water balloons at the opposing players. When a water balloon hits an opponent, it will pop and spray them with water. Whoever is the driest when all the water balloons have been popped is the winner. Oh, and Bonkers is played naked.
Navarro, Bruce, Wilma, and Lily took off their clothes and stood naked.
Navarro released the water balloons into the air and told the other three, "Take off."
Once they were all in the air, they had too much fun to think much about keeping score.
They would all scream in triumph when they hit an opponent, but they would also giggle in delight when they got hit themselves.
It was good mindless fun, and they didn't realize how long this game actually took to complete.
When all the water balloons were gone and Navarro, Bruce, Wilma, and Lily all landed, they were all pretty wet. It was impossible to tell who was wettest or driest.
"It's impossible to tell who won, " said Navarro matter of factly, "And that's the whole idea here. This is a game that is just played for fun. It's impossible to determine a winner without keeping score while the game is in progress and that's very difficult to do."
"So?" wondered Bruce, "How old are the broom games we played tonight?"
"Shuntbumps dates to the ancient broom games of the tenth and eleventh centuries," replied Navarro, "It is mainly played by children today. Bonkers, on the other hand, is much more modern. The game is known to have been devised in 1987 by the witch Wanda Wet. "
"Cool," smiled Lily.
When 11 P.M. came, Navarro said, "Remember, Bruce, it is your turn next to decide what we do. It was a pleasure playing broom games with you three."
They all exchanged goodbyes, and Lily went to her room feeling delighted to have had such a fun evening.
This interhouse team thing was going pretty well for her. She was meeting people, making friends, and having fun all at the same time.
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