From the Daily Prophet of 11 July, 2000

Nimbus Arena to open doors early

Puddlemere to sell tickets for preseason matches

By Mike Thalia

PUDDLEMERE, England -- All the fans itching to see Harry Potter on the Quidditch pitch received a reprieve Monday. They might not have to wait until September for the new Puddlemere United star's debut after all.

In response to a massive surge in ticket sales, Puddle U. announced Monday it will open its two scheduled preseason home games to the public. The move is sure to draw huge crowds to Nimbus Arena as anxious rooters hope to catch Potter's first professional game.

"This club has always received incredible support from the magical community of Puddlemere and from witches and wizards all over Britain," United manager Glenn Watson said at a news conference announcing the decision. "But this summer has been unbelievable. Half of our home matches are essentially sold out already. We wanted to thank our fans for that somehow and this seemed like the best way."

Monday's move adds games to the Nimbus Arena schedule on 12 and 19 August. And in sharp contrast to the usually gold-driven world of professional Quidditch, owner Meredith Mason's club is taking the idea of thanking its fans quite seriously. All of Puddlemere's season-ticket holders will be admitted to the matches free and all other seats will be sold at the bargain price of one Galleon.

"Quidditch is about more than making money," Mason said when asked about the reduced cost. "I believe the foundation of a successful club lies in its relationship with the community. When it was suggested we allow fans to attend these matches, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to help promote that relationship. I certainly think our wonderful supporters are more important to this club than a few extra Galleons."

Mason said she particularly hopes the low prices will attract a large number of teenage witches and wizards to Nimbus Arena. Students at Hogwarts are usually only able to attend professional games during the school's brief winter holiday.

But young fans are not going to have an easy time finding seats. Potter has seen to that.

Though it has been barely a month since the conqueror of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named elected to exchange hunting Dark wizards for hunting Snitches, he has already brought a legion of new supporters to Puddlemere. At every Quidditch League of Great Britain and Ireland stadium, United is suddenly the most sought-after attraction. Nowhere has that been more evident than at the 8,000-seat Nimbus Arena.

According to Watson, Puddlemere has sold out its home opener against Caerphilly as well as its clashes against traditional rivals Falmouth and Montrose. Only a handful tickets are still available for a trio of other games and the club has already sold almost 90 percent of all its seats for the regular season. Adding the preseason games to the calendar gives Puddle U.'s flock of new supporters two more chances to see the club play and the possibility of catching the Boy Who Lived's debut on the home pitch.

That was the motivation of LaTisha Williams, a newly converted Puddlemere fan who stood at the front of a growing line outside Nimbus Arena on Monday evening. Tickets to the two games were scheduled to go on sale at the stadium at 8 this morning.

"This is brill," said Williams, 23. "I desperately want to be there to see Harry Potter's first match. When I heard about these matches on the wireless, I came here right off so I could get a good seat. I was ready to Apparate to Portree (where United opens the season 2 September) to see Harry play, but having the first matches here is so much better."

The move to open the preseason games to spectators is unprecedented for Britain's oldest club. Though two of the league's most financially successful teams, Montrose and Wimbourne, have long held public exhibitions, Puddlemere has always played its practice matches before an empty stadium to protect team tactics from scouts from other clubs.

Despite United's past paranoia, Watson thinks the change will be beneficial.

"I don't see a reason not to break with that particular tradition," the manager said. "Why should we put so much effort into keeping our exhibitions secret when all the other teams will be watching our first match anyway? I think the experience gained by playing in front of fans in a real match situation is far more valuable than anything we will reveal."

Its new policy aside, Puddlemere is still likely to play one exhibition behind closed doors. United concludes its exhibition schedule 27 August at Chudley, and the team that sold the Boy Who Lived to Puddle U. for a reported 100,000 galleons in May appears certain to maintain its stance against admitting spectators for the contest. A Cannons official who wished to remain unidentified said Monday the club has no intention of hiring the staff necessary to oversee a public match.

But instead of another game against the perennial British cellar-dwellers, United fans will have an opportunity to see a pair of new opponents for the first time in a decade. The Lourdes Miracle and the Moose Jaw Meteorites are the scheduled visitors to Nimbus Arena on 12 and 19 August.

"We have two strong sides coming in," Watson said. "Hopefully, we will put on a good show for the fans."

Lourdes was seventh in France last year, while Moose Jaw is battling Iqaluit for the championship with three weeks to go in Canada's summer season. With the exception of the national sides from Jamaica, Eritrea, Sri Lanka and the Ukraine (which played preliminary-round games for the 1994 World Cup at Nimbus Arena), the two clubs will become the first from outside Britain to visit Puddlemere since France's St. Denis Spirits routed United, 440-40, in the first round of the 1988 European Cup. Puddle U. will see at least one more foreign squad come to town this season after qualifying for a return to European competition with its third-place league finish last winter.

However, the opponent makes little difference to United's new fans like Williams.

"Some people might want to see new teams, but I don't care one way or the other," Puddlemere's most punctual supporter said from her place at the head of the ticket line. "I'm here because I want to see Harry Potter."

It's a sentiment many rooters are likely to share.

Watson refused to speculate on when the Boy Who Lived is most likely to play during the preseason, saying, "It's too early to tell what sort of side we're going to field next month." But the Puddlemere boss has traditionally given all of his top players at least one preseason appearance.

If Watson stays with that trend, the odds are good Potter's first match will come before a sell-out crowd at Nimbus Arena.

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Mike Thalia covers Puddlemere United for the Daily Prophet. Owl him at thedpreportingyahoo.com

A/N: First of all, my sincere apologies for the long delay between chapters. I was stuck, lacking motivation and distracted all at the same time. I'll try to do better in the future but that's hardly a promise. Thanks yous go to my betas, RG, Lady Chi and Nancy, for their patient efforts; to Giulia for getting me started again; and to all of my reviewers (assuming anyone's left reading this!).