Chapter Four: Quidditch Championship
The next morning, Harry woke up and walked downstairs to the aroma of a huge breakfast sitting out on the kitchen counters. Mrs. Weasley had set out an array of different dishes along the counter top, allowing the residents of the house to serve themselves buffet style, rather than interrupting meals by passing various dishes between the guests.
Harry loaded up a plate full of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and fruit. He set it down at his seat, along with a tall glass of orange juice. He saw the Daily Prophet sitting at the end of the table. He glanced along top of the paper, looking at various articles of interest. He saw something that caught his eye.
"Ron, the Cannons did it! They're in the final!"
"What! Are you serious!"
"Yeah, right here in the Prophet. Look, a little article up here in the corner says to check page five for more details."
The two boys frantically tore open the paper to page five, and began to read the article out loud.
After a brutalizing two hours and forty-three minutes, the Chudley Cannons finally came out on top in last night's semi-final match between the Cannons and last year's champions, the Tornadoes. The match was evenly matched, with each team never gaining a strong lead. Finally, the Snitch was spotted, and the Cannons won, two hundred ninety to one hundred thirty. This is the first time since 1924 that the Cannons even made it into post-season playing, as their team has often been ridiculed as the underdog against any team they've played. However, die hard Cannon fans have often said that their team has been bouncing back in the past seven years. Now, their wait is over, as the Cannons will go on to face Puddlemere United in two weeks time.
Harry and Ron looked up as Arthur Weasley came in the door. They gave him expectant looks, and he dug his hand into his pocket. When it came back out, he was holding seven tickets. The boys were immediately out of their seats, followed closely by the twins, Ginny right behind them, with Hermione bringing up the rear. The tickets were quickly examined, and Harry was surprised to find that not only did they have sky box seats, they had somehow managed to gain access passes into the team locker rooms before and after the match.
Harry and Ron just stared at their passes in awe, looking up finally with shocked looks on their faces. Finally, Ron managed to stammer out something along the lines of "How?" Mr. Weasley had a pleased look on his face.
"Well, just so happens that the new Head of Magical Games and Sports is a old friend of mine from Hogwarts, Boyd Cleary. I got a hold of him, and told him that I had four children who played Quidditch, plus a friend who enjoyed watching. He gave me the tickets, and then I happened to mention the fact that I had the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain staying with me. When he asked who it was, I gave him your name, Harry. Well, turns out that Boyd used to be a manager for Puddlemere, and he said that Oliver Wood was always going on about you, always telling the Seeker that he was nothing compared to the great Harry Potter. That's when he threw in the locker room passes."
Harry smiled sheepishly. Sometimes, he hated being the boy who lived. However, this wasn't just because he was famous. Oliver Wood had obviously been impressed by Harry's Seeker skills, if he was comparing him to professional Quidditch players. Harry handed the pass and ticket back to Mr. Weasley, who had said he'd hang onto them for safe keeping.
The next week passed by in a flash, but the week leading up to the Quidditch final seemed to lag forever. Harry hadn't had time to notice the changes that had been made in Grimmauld Place during his absence until that time. Somehow, the awful picture of Mrs. Black had finally been removed. Also, the house elf heads had been taken down. The foyer felt much larger and more open. The walls now had pictures hanging on them. Some depicted Sirius and the other Marauders. Others depicted members of the original Order of the Phoenix in various groups. At the end of the hallway hung pictures of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and the twins, while another one had the members of the new Order in a new group picture. Harry recognized many of the members, but there were some that he hadn't met yet.
Finally, hanging at the end of the hallway, where the foyer led out into two different rooms on either side, plus to the stairway, hung a large portrait of a phoenix, its wings outstretched.
The other rooms had also been cleaned up. The parlor, which also became the assembly area, had plush chairs on one side of the room, while the other room had been cleared away to make room for a long table with chairs sitting around it.
The bedrooms had been refurbished with new beds and the like. Harry just honestly felt as though the house had finally been fixed up the way Sirius would have wanted it.
Remus caught him one day, and led him into the kitchen. The two sat down. "Harry, I wanted to discuss with you Sirius' will. Grimmauld Place was left to the Order, but Dumbledore is considered the rightful owner. Sirius had quite a bit of money, after selling the other four pieces of property his family owned. He left quite a bit to the Order, but the Weasley family inherited a large part, enough to make sure that the kids could get through school with new everything, plus a little bit more. I got a little bit too, enough for a bachelor to get by comfortably on for the rest of my life. You got the rest, which I took care of by putting it into your private vault."
"Thanks Remus. But I have plenty of money in my vault. I don't need anymore."
"Sirius wanted you to have it. Also, he left you the Black Family Library, with some very rare books that I don't think even the Hogwarts Library has. He was hoping that you could use them, either learning them yourself, or passing on the knowledge to the DA, if you continue down the road."
"I'm hoping to continue the DA, although it probably won't function in all of the same aspects. I have a feeling that eventually Voldemort will attack the school. It's the one bright spot in the wizarding world, a safe haven that he can't penetrate, because of the wards. If he manages to get in, it'll take time for the Aurors to get there, and the Order won't be enough to stop them. The DA will have to help take the fight to Death Eaters, and I want them to be as prepared as possible. Not only will we be learning to defend ourselves, I'm going to start teaching more combative spells, so we can be ready to fight as well."
"That's a good idea. And we've started to receive reports that Voldemort has been in contact with the vampire legions stationed in Transylvania. They can't be killed by ordinary spells. It takes actual contact with a sword in order to kill a vampire. I know you're going to be training with McClaggan when you return to school. Eventually, maybe you can pass those lessons on to the DA."
The conversation continued in that vain for a while. Finally, it was time for supper, and afterwards, Harry and the others headed upstairs for an early bedtime, because the Quidditch final was the next day.
Harry and Ron woke up early the next morning, and hurried downstairs, bedecked in black and orange. As soon as everyone was awake and had full stomachs, they Flooed to the stadium.
Harry was amazed at all of the activity. The match didn't even start until two o'clock in the afternoon, and it was barely seven-thirty. However, the stadium was abuzz with people all over the place. Some of the fans were waiting outside the gates. However, Mr. Weasley knew the guard on duty, and with the behind the scene passes, Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys were let in.
The seven of them wandered around the underneath of the stadium. All around, there were little shops set up, selling various soveniers. Harry watched as Ron bought numerous Chudley Cannons things, and he eyed a full set of robes with envy. Harry put that nugget into the back of his mind.
Mr. Weasley led the group up to their seats in the top box. Harry looked out onto the Quidditch pitch. The hoops were glistening in the bright sunlight, and Harry spotted a lone figure magically scrubbing the seats of the other side of the stadium. A second figure was down on the actual pitch, cutting down the grass to an even length.
Just then, a couple of wizards and a witch in maroon robes walked out onto the field, brooms propped up on one shoulder. One was carrying a Quaffle. Harry assumed that this was part of the Puddlemere United team, whom Ron had started referring to as the PU team. The players mounted their brooms, and took to the sky. One flew off towards the hoops, while the other two started passing the Quaffle back and forth. Harry suddenly realized that the Keeper could be no one other than Oliver Wood, the former Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, and the wizard who had given Harry his start in Quidditch.
Harry watched as Wood managed to successfully block three out of every four shots that were made against him. He could spell bad news for the Cannons.
Soon, the time had passed, and the gates had opened, with crazed fans piling into the seats. The pre-game show started up, and got all the fans on their feet. Then, the announcer announced the line up.
"Good afternoon my good witches and wizards, and welcome to this year's England Quidditch final! Today's match-up takes place between number one ranked Puddlemere United, and their opponent, the Chudley Cannons!" There was a thunderous roar from the stands, as orange and black on one side tried to cheer louder than the fans dressed in maroon and cream.
"And now, the lineups. First, for the Cannons, I give you Edgington, Beasley, Jenkins, Mehl, Percival, Yaple, and SIMONS!" Orange and black was a huge wave of excitement.
"And for Puddlemere United, I give you Wolf, Suppes, Reid, Wood, Mercer, Karlin, and GARVEY!" The maroon and cream dressed crowd was, if possible, even more excited than the Cannons fans.
"And the Quaffle is up, and Puddlemere United takes possession. Wolf passes to Suppes, who passes over to Reid. Reid tosses it back over to Suppes, who is hit by a Bludger from Beater Yaple. Chaser Edgington takes possession, passes to Simons, who passes it back to Beasley. Beasley shoots… and misses as Keeper Wood makes an excellent save. Wait, Simons recovers, and shoots and scores. 10-0, Chudley Cannons!"
The score was quickly evened up again, as Reid managed to score for Puddlemere United. Harry, who had brought his Omnioculars to watch the match, tried to follow the Snitch. He caught sight of it, and followed it for a good ten minutes before either one of the Seekers managed to spot it. Seeker Mercer was the first to spot it, but Mehl had the superior skill. He quickly outmaneuvered Mercer, and Harry watched as Mehl urged his broom forward, until he was right alongside the Snitch. Mehl flung his hand out, and quickly scooped up the Snitch. A loud crack rang out, signaling the end of the match.
The score had ended up two hundred ten to three hundred forty, with the Cannons winning. Harry was in awe as the Chudley Cannons walked up into the top box, to shake hands with the announcer, and Boyd Cleary, the head of the Magical Games and Sports Department. Ron had fainted upon seeing the team that close, and it was only due to Mr. Weasley's Ennervate spell that Ron got to see them up close.
As fans started clearing out, Mr. Weasley turned to the kids. "Well, what do you say we go down and congratulate them?" They all crowded into a small elevator that avoided all the other fans, and descended down into the bottom level of the stadium, below the walkway.
Ron led the charge into Chudley Cannons lockerroom. Harry instead walked off to the other direction, and found himself outside the door to Puddlemere United's lockers. He slowly walked in.
He immediately spotted Oliver Wood, who was lounging at a table, talking to Seeker Mehl of the Cannons. Harry walked up, and Oliver jumped out of his chair upon the site of the younger wizard.
"Harry! Blimey, I didn't know you were going to be here! Did you enjoy the match?"
"Yea, it was great. I'm sorry you lost. It was really close there."
"Yes, well, there's always next year. Besides, it isn't like we have to worry about the Cannons next year. Now that they've won a championship, teams will be looking to scoop up the players. They'll probably have to start reforming their team all over again within the next couple of years. Oh, by the way Harry, this is Parker Mehl. I'm sure you saw him catch the Snitch. He's a Cannon, but we met in the recruiting agency, and we've been friends ever since."
"Yes, very nice technique you had. You know, you could have ended the game a lot sooner if you had seen the Snitch earlier."
"Yea, but the Snitch wasn't exactly out in the open for people to see. I'm pretty sure Mercer and I were the first ones to see it."
"That's where you're wrong. I was watching it a good ten minutes before either one of you spotted it."
Wood laughed. "What did I tell you Parker? The kid has a way with a Snitch."
Parker laughed too. "Well, how about this. You saw the Snitch first, and probably would have snatched it too if you had been up in the air, instead of in the stands. You take the Snitch." He opened his hand to reveal the small, walnut sized ball sitting quietly in his hand.
"Really? I can have the game winning Snitch?"
"Sure, why not. Maybe it'll inspire you to go professional someday. But wait until I retire. I wouldn't want to have to go against you out there."
Harry laughed, and accepted the Snitch. As Parker pulled his hand back, Harry noticed a strange tattoo on the back of his hand. The tattoo was a Z matching the one that had been on the seal of Harry's letter from the mysterious Z.
"Hey, sorry for be nosy, but what's that tattoo mean?"
"Oh, that's private. I got it back a while ago, but it's supposed to have a secret meaning. Believe me, I wish I could tell you, but I can't. I've got to hit the showers. It was nice to meet you."
"Yea, you too. Thanks for the Snitch."
Harry turned back to Wood after Mehl had left. Wood had a puzzled look on his face. "You know, I don't think he's ever told any of us about that tattoo. It's pretty mysterious, huh?"
"Yea, it is. Well, I've got to go."
"Okay. Thanks for coming and watching."
Harry walked out of the locker room, and went to go find the Weasleys. He showed them all the game winning Snitch. Ron was very impressed. Mr. Weasley ushered them over to a Floo station, and they headed back to Grimmauld Place.
