From the Daily Prophet of 28 August, 2000

Potter plays to empty seats

Boy Who Lived makes debut in closed-door match

By Edward Buck

CHUDLEY, England -- Chalk up a couple more marks for the 108-year-old curse of the Chudley Cannons.

In another ironic twist for the long-suffering franchise, Cannon Coliseum played host to its most historic match in a century Sunday morning and the fans who came weren't allowed inside to see it. Making the moment that much more painful for the home side was the man who made the day memorable -- Harry Potter.

The superstar Seeker and heroic conqueror of Dark lords made his highly anticipated professional Quidditch debut against the Cannons, the club that cast him off in a May transfer. Potter caught the Snitch and guided his new team, Puddlemere United, to a lopsided, 360-30 exhibition victory that will leave the two sides with very different levels of confidence heading into Saturday's season openers.

"It was a great all-around performance,…" United manager Glenn Watson told reporters as he left Cannon Coliseum after the closed-door game. "Harry didn't have the easiest time of it, but he fought hard, kept the pressure on and managed to work free to get the Snitch. I couldn't have asked for a better showing."

As no post-match news conferences were held, Potter was not available to answer questions on his first organized match of any kind since he left Hogwarts in June of 1998. However, his agents released a short message in which the Boy Who Lived expressed his pleasure at the chance to play.

"I'm delighted to have had this unique opportunity to compete on the pitch with some of the very best wizarding athletes in the world," Potter wrote. "It was a wonderful experience that made a summer of hard work worthwhile. I only regret that the Puddlemere United fans who wanted to see the match could not be there. I appreciate all the support they have given me in the last few weeks and I hope that one day I'll be able to make it up to them."

The rookie Seeker's chance to appease supporters could come as early as Saturday when Puddle U. travels to the Isle of Skye to open the season against Portree. Watson said he and his assistants expect to make the final decision on United's 20-wizard roster within the next 24 hours, and sources outside the club consider Potter certain for inclusion.

When asked about his side for the match against the Prides, the manager said, "I'm not sure, and even if I was, I wouldn't say."

But according to numerous people who saw the match, the Boy Who Lived only helped his chances Sunday as he made his long-awaited debut in Puddlemere's third and final match of the preseason.

"(Potter) flew very well," said a Cannons source, who spoke under condition of anonymity because of Chudley's rules prohibiting employees from speaking to the media about preseason activities. "I don't think he was used to facing quite as aggressive a defence as he saw today, but he handled it well enough. You could tell how strong a flier he is whenever he got free."

The match reportedly lasted a little more than two hours, thanks in large part to the game work of the Cannons' Seeker, said to be Jenny Wesley by a Puddlemere source. Though no one from the Chudley camp would confirm the player's identity and Wesley was not on the Cannons' short roster of veteran players released to the media at the start of training, the Seeker was universally cited as the lone bright spot in an otherwise disastrous outcome for her side. Sources from both sides said she kept a tight mark on Potter throughout and tried to take her Puddlemere counterpart off his game with a series of diversionary and slow-down tactics.

"Their Seeker did a nice job," Watson said. "I don't think I've ever seen that many feints and bumps in an exhibition match before. She got away with a bit of cobbing and blatching but she certainly slowed Harry down. He got her in the end though."

"She tried one too many Wronski Feints," a Cannons source said when asked about the capture. "Potter saw through the last one and went searching in the other direction as she was diving. Before she could recover, Potter had the Snitch and the match was over."

Easy capture aside, the consensus view had Potter tabbed as the star of the match.

"Harry continues to find new ways to impress us," Watson said. "Today he showed that he can handle a physical game as well as a fast-paced one. He looked far more like a player with 10 years' experience than a rookie in his first match. He was one of the best players out there."

The success must have been particularly pleasing for Potter, coming against the team he originally signed with two years ago. Chudley sold the Boy Who Lived's contract to Puddlemere for 100,000 Galleons in May, just days before he was forced to resign from the Ministry of Magic's Auror Division. Potter, who never even took part in training with the Cannons, agreed to join United a week later.

Watson denied Potter's past connections with Chudley had anything to do with the side Puddlemere fielded Sunday, saying, "I don't think Harry holds any grudge against Chudley and we certainly wouldn't intentionally do anything as a team to cause hard feelings on the part of one of our league rivals."

Instead, the Cannons' preseason strategy added to their suffering. While Puddlemere's two home preseason matches drew sell-out crowds to Nimbus Arena, Chudley has firmly held to its no-fans policy in an attempt to "defend sensitive tactical information," according to a team official.

"It took me two days of training to decide this was the match where I was going to start Harry," Watson said. "Once I knew how well he could fly and the amount of attention he was getting from the crowds and the media, I figured the private setting would take a bit of the pressure off for his first start."

That's not to say Potter's debut failed to draw notice. Several hundred fans surrounded Cannons Coliseum before the match and a few diehards tried to catch a glimpse of the action by using Levitation Charms or brooms to fly above the grandstands. When the crowd began to swell after the Wizard Wireless Network reported Potter was playing, the Magical Law Enforcement Squad was called to maintain order. Two wizards, Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe, both 20, were detained and charged with disturbing the peace.

Chudley officials declined to comment on the club's one-day climb into the professional Quidditch limelight. Cannons owner David Thomas would only say, "We're all looking forward to coming back here Saturday for our match with Caerphilly."

But Chudley, which has won just five games combined in back-to-back last-place finishes the last two years, did little Sunday that will raise hopes for the new season. United fielded a side of probable reserves and dominated all aspects of the game.

"I'm really happy with how we played," said Watson. "We were always looking for chances to go forward and we finished most of them. Alessandro (Albertini) and Angelique (Rouselle) did a particularly good job moving the Quaffle, especially when you consider they were up against a lot of Chudley's top players. Our Beaters kept the Bludgers right where we wanted them and Tamika (Simmons) was a rock in front of the goals."

Gerald Eddington and Raul Suarez were the Beaters in a Puddlemere starting line-up that played for about an hour and a half and also featured Kate Towne at Chaser. Watson, who rested his most highly regarded field players, cited Chaser Joel Feinberg for a particularly strong showing off the bench. Chudley's match squad was unavailable, though sources said several of last year's starters, including captain Gavin Pembridge, saw significant time.

That news is sure to leave Cannons supporters bracing for the likelihood of another long winter, one made doubly painful by the knowledge a potential saviour slipped away when Potter moved to Nimbus Arena.

Meanwhile, there is every reason for excitement in Puddlemere.

"That was a really encouraging performance," Watson said. "Now we've got a lot of positive momentum to carry into the season."

So does a now match-proven Harry Potter.

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Edward Buck covers the Chudley Cannons for the Daily Prophet. Owl him at thedpreporting(at)yahoo(dot)com.

A/N: First of all, credit goes to Alphie and her fic Bedtime Stories (which can be found at www(dot)sugarquill(dot)net/read(dot)php?storyid620&chapno1), for giving me an idea far too good to pass up for this chapter. If you've read her story, you'll know which one.

Also, thanks to all my Chapter 20 reviewers. You lot are the best and I really appreciate all the support. A special tip of the cap goes to amulder for correctly (well, almost correctly) predicting the two anticipated events I mentioned in my last author's note.

And, last but not least, I salute my betas R.G., Nancy and Chi for their continuing willingness to put up with me. I'm sure it can't be easy.