A/N: Last chapter before I leave! Enjoy. I'll try to have another one when I get back.
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Chapter Four: In which there is a game of Quidditch
- February 7, 1945 -
~~~
From his position on his broomstick high above the Quidditch pitch, Gryffindor's Seeker, fourth-year Gordon "Pooky" Dayton could see almost everything going on in the game except the location of the Golden Snitch. The tiny gold ball was being exceptionally elusive today, probably because of the cold weather; it had been known to do that before. Ravenclaw's Seeker, Ronny Buchanen, hadn't spotted it yet, either, even though the game had been going on for almost ten minutes. Gryffindor was ahead 60-20, but that would change if Ronny caught the Snitch.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gordon stole a glance at Gryffindor's outstanding Chaser trio, consisting of fourth-year Anna "Squeaks" Patterson, fifth-year Joshua "Frog" Pauli, and seventh-year captain Minerva "Ace" McGonagall. All the members of the team had nicknames, but no one was sure why. They just did, and that was good enough for them. The Chasers were moving the Quaffle downfield yet again, led by Minerva, who was quite possibly the best Quidditch player in the school. As they approached the goal, she tossed the Quaffle back to Joshua, who faked back to her and tossed to Anna instead. Anna threw at the goal, but what looked like a shot right at it turned out to be another pass, this time to Minerva, who was in position behind the goal. Ravenclaw didn't have a chance.
Gordon smiled to himself and went back to looking for the Snitch. Suddenly, Ronny's expression changed. For a moment, Gordon thought he'd spied the Snitch, but quickly ruled that out because he looked scared. "Look out!" Ravenclaw's Seeker shouted, and ducked.
Ronny's warning came just a fraction of a second too late. A Bludger struck Gordon in the back on the head, and the last thing he remembered before he slipped into unconsciousness was falling.
Downfield, Minerva saw Gordon fall off his broomstick, and fear gripped her heart. She broke out of formation and began flying toward him, hoping she could catch him in time. She seized him by the collar of his robes less than ten feet above the ground and yelled for a time out. By the time she landed on the snow-covered ground, the rest of Gryffindor's Quidditch team had descended around them. The referee, Professor Dorrenbacher, was close behind. "Back up!" Dorrenbacher shouted as he jumped off his broom. "Give him some air!"
All the team members except Minerva backed away from Gordon. Dorrenbacher knelt down in the snow next to them. "He's unconscious," Minerva said. "Alive, but unconscious."
"We've got to get him to the hospital wing," Dorrenbacher said. Even as he spoke, the school nurse, Madam Tyburski, was running toward them. Dorrenbacher looked at Minerva. "You're not going to have a Seeker this game, Miss McGonagall."
"No Seeker?" Joshua asked. "What are we going to do?"
"Well, you can forfeit, or you can-"
"We're not going to forfeit," Minerva interrupted. "We're going to keep playing."
"'Keep playing'?" repeated one of the two Beaters, a seventh-year named Kyle "Shark" Thresher. "Without Pooky? What's the point?"
Minerva stood up and walked over to him. Kyle was six feet four inches tall, weighed almost three hundred pounds, and didn't have an ounce of fat on him. Five foot seven, one hundred twenty pound Minerva was little more than a twig next to him, but under her gaze, he felt as big and strong as a mouse. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years," she said sternly, "and we are not going to lose the match over a little thing like this."
"Ace, we don't have a Seeker," said the Keeper, fifth-year Ingrid "Flash" Miklos. "We've got a good team, but without a Seeker, it's hopeless."
"There's no way we can win now," said Anna.
Minerva sighed and looked at the only team member who hadn't spoken yet, their second Beater, a sixth-year named Martin "Tiny" Blumethal. Martin was two inches taller than Kyle and just as brawny. "Care to offer an opinion, Tiny?" she asked.
Martin bit his lip and stared at the ground. He, like Kyle, was afraid of her, even though he could easily break her in half.
"We can do this," Minerva said as Dorrenbacher and Tyburski carried Gordon off the field. "We've got three great Chasers, an excellent Keeper, and the best two Beaters Hogwarts has seen in decades. All we have to do is score a hundred and twenty points before Buchanen catches the Snitch without letting them score anything."
The other team members exchanged a look of confusion among themselves. "And you make it sound so simple," said Anna.
"This is what we're going to do," Minerva said. She looked at Ingrid. "Flash, you've really got to step it up. Nothing can get by, you got it? NOTHING."
Ingrid nodded.
Minerva looked at Joshua and Anna next. "Squeaks, Frog, you two handle the Quaffle." She then turned her gaze to the Beaters. "Shark, Tiny, you two act as an escort for them. Don't let anyone get close. When we're on defense, I want Squeaks helping out at the goal and Frog trying to get the Quaffle back. Beaters, you just do your thing."
"What are you doing, Ace?" asked Martin.
She took a deep breath, then said, "I'll play Chaser until Buchanen sees the Snitch, and then I'm going to chase it."
By now, the team was beginning to think their captain had lost it. "Are you crazy?" Joshua exclaimed.
She nodded. "Yes, I am. My plan is to chase the Snitch and keep Buchanen from catching it."
"Is that allowed?" asked Kyle.
"As long as I don't touch it or Buchanen, yes, it's allowed. I don't think it's been done before, but it's not breaking any rules that I am aware of." She looked at each of the members of the team individually. "We can do this. It's going to be hard, but we can do it. Just believe."
Dorrenbacher was making his way back to the pitch.
"What say, team?" she asked. "In or out?"
"In, of course," said Ingrid. "What's wrong with you, Ace?"
"Yeah," agreed Martin. "You said that like we had a choice or something."
Minerva smiled. Back was the Gryffindor Quidditch team she knew and loved. "That's more like it. Let's do this!"
Dorrenbacher walked up to them. "He'll be fine, but he won't be playing this game," he told them. "Have you come to a decision?"
She nodded. "We have, Professor Dorrenbacher. We're going to keep playing."
Dorrenbacher almost looked impressed. "Very well, then. Gryffindor, you've got posession."
"Remember the plan, team," Minerva called as they mounted their broomsticks and rose into the air. Dorrenbacher gave her the Quaffle, and at the sound of his whistle, the game resumed.
As planned, the two Beaters escorted the Chasers down the field, whacking Bludgers at anyone who dared to get close. As they drew toward the goal, Kyle sent a Bludger flying at Vince Christophe, Ravenclaw's Keeper. One of Ravenclaw's Beaters flew up to hit it out of the way, and while that was going on, Joshua made an easy goal. Seventy-twenty, Gryffindor.
"Good job, Frog!" Minerva called. "Squeaks, downfield!"
Anna nodded and shot off toward the Gryffindor goal. Minerva and Joshua set to the task of stealing back the Quaffle. Ravenclaw didn't get halfway downfield before Minerva intercepted a pass. She raced toward the Ravenclaw goal, Joshua and the Ravenclaw Chasers right behind her. She faked a shot at the goal, and passed back to Joshua instead. Christophe fell for the fake, and Joshua scored easily.
"We're doing it, Gryffindor!" Minerva yelled. "Ten more!"
Ravenclaw got a little bit farther downfield that time, but one of their Chasers had the Quaffle knocked out of his hands by a Bludger courtesy of Martin Blumethal. Anna caught it, and the two Gryffindor Beaters flew in front of her as she shot toward the Ravenclaw goal. Christophe was ready for any tricks Gryffindor might try to pull this time. Anna shot at the goal, but he caught it and threw it to one of his Chasers. What he didn't expect, though, was for Minerva to intercept it and take a shot of her own. This one was good, and Gryffindor was up by seventy. Nine more goals.
The crowd was thoroughly enjoying the game. Everyone had expected Gryffindor to give up when they lost their Seeker, and instead, they started playing harder than ever. They were still trying to win. It was crazy. Even some of the Ravenclaws were cheering for Gryffindor. They might go down, but if they did, they would go down fighting.
Gryffindor managed to score three more goals in the five minutes before Ronny Buchanen finally saw the Snitch. They were up by a hundred now, and had to score six more goals without letting Ravenclaw score any if they expected to win. "Minerva! Up there!" Joshua called when he saw Ronny take off. "He sees the Snitch!"
Minerva nodded and broke out of formation. "Just keep doing what you're doing!" she called to her team as she raced to catch up with Ronny.
Kyle sent a Bludger flying at Ronny, causing the Ravenclaw Seeker to swerve off his course to avoid being hit. The distraction bought Minerva enough time to close the distance between the two of them and get in front of the Snitch. If Ronny expected to get it, he was going to have to get past her.
Minerva had never played Seeker before, and had no idea just how difficult it was. The Snitch was never easy to catch, and today, it was being more unpredictable than ever. It went to the left, then back to the right, then down, up and left, and then reversed direction completely. She pulled a hairpin turn and continued chasing the Snitch. Ronny didn't react as quickly, and he fell further behind.
Out of the corner of her eye, Minerva stole a glance at the scoreboard. Gryffindor had scored again. Five more. Only five more...
Ronny was starting to gain back some distance. The Snitch went up. Minerva went up, too, and so did Ronny. They were almost a hundred feet above the ground before the Snitch went down again. It started zigzagging, and then, went into a spiral. Minerva was starting to get dizzy, but she knew she had to stay focused. If Ronny caught the Snitch before Gryffindor reached a hundred and eighty points, it was over.
"ANNA PATTERSON SCORES!" yelled the commentator, a fourth-year Hufflepuff named Sheena Carver. "One hundred forty to twenty, Gryffindor!"
The Snitch was going up again, and now, it was nearly level with the stands. They were going by the Slytherins, who were cheering as loud as they could. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Alastor Moody roared. "Nice flying, Minnie baby!"
Minerva couldn't help smiling a little. She and Alastor had always been flirty with each other. Paul didn't care at all, and Arabella minded even less. She quickly focused all her attention on the Snitch again and followed it as it dove back down toward the ground. Suddenly, a Ravenclaw Beater placed himself in her path, and she had to swerve to miss him. As a result, both she and Ronny lost sight of the Snitch.
Gryffindor's score had gone up to a hundred fifty, thanks to another goal by Anna. Three more goals, and the game was theirs. Ravenclaw could see their chance for victory getting smaller and smaller. They had only taken two shots at the goal since Gryffindor stepped it up, and neither one got past Ingrid. If Gryffindor kept going at their current rate, nothing could stop them from winning.
Minerva saw the Snitch again and took off. Ronny was right behind her. Ravenclaw would win if he got the Snitch before Gryffindor scored two more goals, and that seemed to motivate him. The Snitch, in turn, had decided to be more obnoxious than ever. It went into an upward spiral, then turned completely around and plummetted downward. The ground was coming up fast, but she couldn't afford to put safety first. Not when they were so close to winning.
The Snitch was just inches off the ground before it went back up again, this time at an angle. The crowd gasped Minerva and Ronny pulled up just in time, and then cheered when Joshua scored another goal for Gryffindor. Minerva leaned forward on her broomstick, trying to get as much speed as possible. Ronny could still catch the Snitch and win the game for Ravenclaw. She wasn't going to let that happen. Not after all this.
The Snitch changed direction again, forcing the two players in pursuit to pull another hairpin turn. Minerva, as the more experienced player, managed to pull a tighter turn than Ronny, and that gave her a little bit more distance. She ducked a Bludger, then followed the Snitch as it zigzagged back and forth at an upward angle. Ronny was still behind, but he was gaining.
"Joshua Pauli for Gryffindor!" Sheena Carver said. "Another ten points to Gryffindor, putting them exactly one hundred fifty points ahead of Ravenclaw! If Buchanen gets around McGonagall and catches the Snitch, we'll have a tie game!"
He's not going to get around me, Minerva thought to herself, not yet, anyway, and there will be no tie.
Kyle knocked a Bludger toward the Ravenclaw Chaser carrying the Quaffle. One of the Ravenclaw Beaters appeared and sent it flying toward Joshua and Anna, who were coming up fast. Martin was ready, though, and he whacked the Bludger back at the trio of Ravenclaws. It hit the lead Chaser in the hands, and he dropped the Quaffle. Another Ravenclaw tried to get it, but she was too slow. Joshua now had the Quaffle, and he and Anna were racing back toward the goal.
The Snitch went into another downward plunge, leveled out about thirty feet above the ground, and started flying in a circle. The crowd was cheering louder than ever. Joshua passed to Anna. She passed back to him. Martin hit a Bludger toward Christophe. While he was distracted by that, Anna flew behind the goal. Joshua made it look like he was shooting, but in actuality, it was a pass to Anna, who now had a clear shot at the goal.
Suddenly, a Bludger struck Minerva in the rib cage. It hit her with such force that she lost her grip on her broomstick and fell off. She landed hard on the snowy ground, but the gasps from the crowd quickly turned to cheers when Anna scored. Half a second later, Ronny caught the Snitch, and the sound of Dorrenbacher's whistle signalled the end of the game. Minerva didn't know it was possible to be in so much pain and be so happy at the same time.
"Buchanen catches the Snitch!" yelled Sheena. "Final score is Ravenclaw one hundred seventy, Gryffindor one hundred eighty! GRYFFINDOR WINS!!!"
Minerva felt something in her throat, covered her mouth, and started to cough. When she pulled her hand away after the coughing fit ended, she noticed that it was covered with blood. Not even the excitement from winning could cover up the pain now, and she realized that she probably had a few broken ribs. At any rate, coughing up blood wasn't a good sign.
The rest of her team quickly surrounded her. "Way to fly, Ace!" said Ingrid. "That was amazing!"
"Thanks," Minerva said through clenched teeth. "All of you were incredible. How do you feel?"
"Exhausted," said Joshua, and everyone except Minerva laughed. None of them had ever played so hard in their lives.
Anna was the first to notice that Minerva was injured. "You all right, Ace?"
"No," Minerva replied. "I think I broke some ribs."
Almost on cue, Madam Tyburski arrived, followed closely by Dorrenbacher, Dumbledore, and Dippet. "Out of the way!" Madam Tyburski yelled. The Gryffindor Quidditch team scattered, allowing the nurse to get through. She dropped to her knees next to the injured player and began to assess the damages. "Broken ribs, all right," she confirmed. "Must have torn the lung tissue. This isn't good."
Minerva briefly made eye contact with Dumbledore. She had never seen him so worried. She found it in her to smile at him, and that seemed to make him relax a little bit. Dippet took notice of this and glanced at Dumbledore out of the corner of his eye, but made no comment.
Ravenclaw's captain, a fifth-year Chaser named Andrew Castaneda, flew down to see what all the commotion was about. "What's going on?" he asked.
"She broke her rib," Martin explained.
"Three of them, from the looks of it," said Madam Tyburski.
"Good game, Cass," Minerva managed to say.
"You too, Mac," Castaneda returned, nodding his head respectfully.
"No talking!" Madam Tyburski ordered Minerva. "Come on, we've got to get her to the hospital wing. I can fix the bones just fine out here, but it's the internal bleeding that I'm worried about."
Dippet reached into his robes, pulled out a small vial, and handed it to the nurse. "Here," he said. "It's a sleeping potion. It'll knock her out if she takes all of it, and then we'll be able to move her."
Madam Tyburski thanked him and administered the potion to her patient.
Dumbledore looked at the headmaster and said, "Do you always carry around sleeping potion?"
"Of course. Don't you?" He smiled. "Actually, it's not for me. It's for... never mind." He turned and started to walk away.
"Armando..."
Dippet stopped walking and looked at him. "Fine. It's... it's for Indira, actually. But don't tell her. She doesn't know."
Now Dumbledore was just confused. "What do you mean?"
Dippet motioned for Dumbledore to follow, and the two of them began to walk back toward Hogwarts. Once he was sure no one else could hear him, Dippet answered Dumbledore's question. "I've been slipping a few drops into her drink at dinner every night for years," he explained. "She... doesn't sleep well."
"How do you know?" He was almost certain Indira didn't confide in him, or anyone, for that matter.
"I have my ways. No more questions." He quickened his pace, and Dumbledore fell behind.
Dumbledore wasn't used to Dippet acting so mysterious. "Do you know something about her the rest of us don't?"
Dippet glanced over his shoulder and said, "I told you, no more questions. Please, I've told you too much already. No one must know that I know, especially Indira."
He didn't understand. He figured Indira had secrets - after all, who didn't? - but he never imagined that anyone else knew about them. And why didn't Dippet want anyone to know that he knew? Something was going on, and he was determined to find out what.
~~~
Chapter Four: In which there is a game of Quidditch
- February 7, 1945 -
~~~
From his position on his broomstick high above the Quidditch pitch, Gryffindor's Seeker, fourth-year Gordon "Pooky" Dayton could see almost everything going on in the game except the location of the Golden Snitch. The tiny gold ball was being exceptionally elusive today, probably because of the cold weather; it had been known to do that before. Ravenclaw's Seeker, Ronny Buchanen, hadn't spotted it yet, either, even though the game had been going on for almost ten minutes. Gryffindor was ahead 60-20, but that would change if Ronny caught the Snitch.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gordon stole a glance at Gryffindor's outstanding Chaser trio, consisting of fourth-year Anna "Squeaks" Patterson, fifth-year Joshua "Frog" Pauli, and seventh-year captain Minerva "Ace" McGonagall. All the members of the team had nicknames, but no one was sure why. They just did, and that was good enough for them. The Chasers were moving the Quaffle downfield yet again, led by Minerva, who was quite possibly the best Quidditch player in the school. As they approached the goal, she tossed the Quaffle back to Joshua, who faked back to her and tossed to Anna instead. Anna threw at the goal, but what looked like a shot right at it turned out to be another pass, this time to Minerva, who was in position behind the goal. Ravenclaw didn't have a chance.
Gordon smiled to himself and went back to looking for the Snitch. Suddenly, Ronny's expression changed. For a moment, Gordon thought he'd spied the Snitch, but quickly ruled that out because he looked scared. "Look out!" Ravenclaw's Seeker shouted, and ducked.
Ronny's warning came just a fraction of a second too late. A Bludger struck Gordon in the back on the head, and the last thing he remembered before he slipped into unconsciousness was falling.
Downfield, Minerva saw Gordon fall off his broomstick, and fear gripped her heart. She broke out of formation and began flying toward him, hoping she could catch him in time. She seized him by the collar of his robes less than ten feet above the ground and yelled for a time out. By the time she landed on the snow-covered ground, the rest of Gryffindor's Quidditch team had descended around them. The referee, Professor Dorrenbacher, was close behind. "Back up!" Dorrenbacher shouted as he jumped off his broom. "Give him some air!"
All the team members except Minerva backed away from Gordon. Dorrenbacher knelt down in the snow next to them. "He's unconscious," Minerva said. "Alive, but unconscious."
"We've got to get him to the hospital wing," Dorrenbacher said. Even as he spoke, the school nurse, Madam Tyburski, was running toward them. Dorrenbacher looked at Minerva. "You're not going to have a Seeker this game, Miss McGonagall."
"No Seeker?" Joshua asked. "What are we going to do?"
"Well, you can forfeit, or you can-"
"We're not going to forfeit," Minerva interrupted. "We're going to keep playing."
"'Keep playing'?" repeated one of the two Beaters, a seventh-year named Kyle "Shark" Thresher. "Without Pooky? What's the point?"
Minerva stood up and walked over to him. Kyle was six feet four inches tall, weighed almost three hundred pounds, and didn't have an ounce of fat on him. Five foot seven, one hundred twenty pound Minerva was little more than a twig next to him, but under her gaze, he felt as big and strong as a mouse. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years," she said sternly, "and we are not going to lose the match over a little thing like this."
"Ace, we don't have a Seeker," said the Keeper, fifth-year Ingrid "Flash" Miklos. "We've got a good team, but without a Seeker, it's hopeless."
"There's no way we can win now," said Anna.
Minerva sighed and looked at the only team member who hadn't spoken yet, their second Beater, a sixth-year named Martin "Tiny" Blumethal. Martin was two inches taller than Kyle and just as brawny. "Care to offer an opinion, Tiny?" she asked.
Martin bit his lip and stared at the ground. He, like Kyle, was afraid of her, even though he could easily break her in half.
"We can do this," Minerva said as Dorrenbacher and Tyburski carried Gordon off the field. "We've got three great Chasers, an excellent Keeper, and the best two Beaters Hogwarts has seen in decades. All we have to do is score a hundred and twenty points before Buchanen catches the Snitch without letting them score anything."
The other team members exchanged a look of confusion among themselves. "And you make it sound so simple," said Anna.
"This is what we're going to do," Minerva said. She looked at Ingrid. "Flash, you've really got to step it up. Nothing can get by, you got it? NOTHING."
Ingrid nodded.
Minerva looked at Joshua and Anna next. "Squeaks, Frog, you two handle the Quaffle." She then turned her gaze to the Beaters. "Shark, Tiny, you two act as an escort for them. Don't let anyone get close. When we're on defense, I want Squeaks helping out at the goal and Frog trying to get the Quaffle back. Beaters, you just do your thing."
"What are you doing, Ace?" asked Martin.
She took a deep breath, then said, "I'll play Chaser until Buchanen sees the Snitch, and then I'm going to chase it."
By now, the team was beginning to think their captain had lost it. "Are you crazy?" Joshua exclaimed.
She nodded. "Yes, I am. My plan is to chase the Snitch and keep Buchanen from catching it."
"Is that allowed?" asked Kyle.
"As long as I don't touch it or Buchanen, yes, it's allowed. I don't think it's been done before, but it's not breaking any rules that I am aware of." She looked at each of the members of the team individually. "We can do this. It's going to be hard, but we can do it. Just believe."
Dorrenbacher was making his way back to the pitch.
"What say, team?" she asked. "In or out?"
"In, of course," said Ingrid. "What's wrong with you, Ace?"
"Yeah," agreed Martin. "You said that like we had a choice or something."
Minerva smiled. Back was the Gryffindor Quidditch team she knew and loved. "That's more like it. Let's do this!"
Dorrenbacher walked up to them. "He'll be fine, but he won't be playing this game," he told them. "Have you come to a decision?"
She nodded. "We have, Professor Dorrenbacher. We're going to keep playing."
Dorrenbacher almost looked impressed. "Very well, then. Gryffindor, you've got posession."
"Remember the plan, team," Minerva called as they mounted their broomsticks and rose into the air. Dorrenbacher gave her the Quaffle, and at the sound of his whistle, the game resumed.
As planned, the two Beaters escorted the Chasers down the field, whacking Bludgers at anyone who dared to get close. As they drew toward the goal, Kyle sent a Bludger flying at Vince Christophe, Ravenclaw's Keeper. One of Ravenclaw's Beaters flew up to hit it out of the way, and while that was going on, Joshua made an easy goal. Seventy-twenty, Gryffindor.
"Good job, Frog!" Minerva called. "Squeaks, downfield!"
Anna nodded and shot off toward the Gryffindor goal. Minerva and Joshua set to the task of stealing back the Quaffle. Ravenclaw didn't get halfway downfield before Minerva intercepted a pass. She raced toward the Ravenclaw goal, Joshua and the Ravenclaw Chasers right behind her. She faked a shot at the goal, and passed back to Joshua instead. Christophe fell for the fake, and Joshua scored easily.
"We're doing it, Gryffindor!" Minerva yelled. "Ten more!"
Ravenclaw got a little bit farther downfield that time, but one of their Chasers had the Quaffle knocked out of his hands by a Bludger courtesy of Martin Blumethal. Anna caught it, and the two Gryffindor Beaters flew in front of her as she shot toward the Ravenclaw goal. Christophe was ready for any tricks Gryffindor might try to pull this time. Anna shot at the goal, but he caught it and threw it to one of his Chasers. What he didn't expect, though, was for Minerva to intercept it and take a shot of her own. This one was good, and Gryffindor was up by seventy. Nine more goals.
The crowd was thoroughly enjoying the game. Everyone had expected Gryffindor to give up when they lost their Seeker, and instead, they started playing harder than ever. They were still trying to win. It was crazy. Even some of the Ravenclaws were cheering for Gryffindor. They might go down, but if they did, they would go down fighting.
Gryffindor managed to score three more goals in the five minutes before Ronny Buchanen finally saw the Snitch. They were up by a hundred now, and had to score six more goals without letting Ravenclaw score any if they expected to win. "Minerva! Up there!" Joshua called when he saw Ronny take off. "He sees the Snitch!"
Minerva nodded and broke out of formation. "Just keep doing what you're doing!" she called to her team as she raced to catch up with Ronny.
Kyle sent a Bludger flying at Ronny, causing the Ravenclaw Seeker to swerve off his course to avoid being hit. The distraction bought Minerva enough time to close the distance between the two of them and get in front of the Snitch. If Ronny expected to get it, he was going to have to get past her.
Minerva had never played Seeker before, and had no idea just how difficult it was. The Snitch was never easy to catch, and today, it was being more unpredictable than ever. It went to the left, then back to the right, then down, up and left, and then reversed direction completely. She pulled a hairpin turn and continued chasing the Snitch. Ronny didn't react as quickly, and he fell further behind.
Out of the corner of her eye, Minerva stole a glance at the scoreboard. Gryffindor had scored again. Five more. Only five more...
Ronny was starting to gain back some distance. The Snitch went up. Minerva went up, too, and so did Ronny. They were almost a hundred feet above the ground before the Snitch went down again. It started zigzagging, and then, went into a spiral. Minerva was starting to get dizzy, but she knew she had to stay focused. If Ronny caught the Snitch before Gryffindor reached a hundred and eighty points, it was over.
"ANNA PATTERSON SCORES!" yelled the commentator, a fourth-year Hufflepuff named Sheena Carver. "One hundred forty to twenty, Gryffindor!"
The Snitch was going up again, and now, it was nearly level with the stands. They were going by the Slytherins, who were cheering as loud as they could. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Alastor Moody roared. "Nice flying, Minnie baby!"
Minerva couldn't help smiling a little. She and Alastor had always been flirty with each other. Paul didn't care at all, and Arabella minded even less. She quickly focused all her attention on the Snitch again and followed it as it dove back down toward the ground. Suddenly, a Ravenclaw Beater placed himself in her path, and she had to swerve to miss him. As a result, both she and Ronny lost sight of the Snitch.
Gryffindor's score had gone up to a hundred fifty, thanks to another goal by Anna. Three more goals, and the game was theirs. Ravenclaw could see their chance for victory getting smaller and smaller. They had only taken two shots at the goal since Gryffindor stepped it up, and neither one got past Ingrid. If Gryffindor kept going at their current rate, nothing could stop them from winning.
Minerva saw the Snitch again and took off. Ronny was right behind her. Ravenclaw would win if he got the Snitch before Gryffindor scored two more goals, and that seemed to motivate him. The Snitch, in turn, had decided to be more obnoxious than ever. It went into an upward spiral, then turned completely around and plummetted downward. The ground was coming up fast, but she couldn't afford to put safety first. Not when they were so close to winning.
The Snitch was just inches off the ground before it went back up again, this time at an angle. The crowd gasped Minerva and Ronny pulled up just in time, and then cheered when Joshua scored another goal for Gryffindor. Minerva leaned forward on her broomstick, trying to get as much speed as possible. Ronny could still catch the Snitch and win the game for Ravenclaw. She wasn't going to let that happen. Not after all this.
The Snitch changed direction again, forcing the two players in pursuit to pull another hairpin turn. Minerva, as the more experienced player, managed to pull a tighter turn than Ronny, and that gave her a little bit more distance. She ducked a Bludger, then followed the Snitch as it zigzagged back and forth at an upward angle. Ronny was still behind, but he was gaining.
"Joshua Pauli for Gryffindor!" Sheena Carver said. "Another ten points to Gryffindor, putting them exactly one hundred fifty points ahead of Ravenclaw! If Buchanen gets around McGonagall and catches the Snitch, we'll have a tie game!"
He's not going to get around me, Minerva thought to herself, not yet, anyway, and there will be no tie.
Kyle knocked a Bludger toward the Ravenclaw Chaser carrying the Quaffle. One of the Ravenclaw Beaters appeared and sent it flying toward Joshua and Anna, who were coming up fast. Martin was ready, though, and he whacked the Bludger back at the trio of Ravenclaws. It hit the lead Chaser in the hands, and he dropped the Quaffle. Another Ravenclaw tried to get it, but she was too slow. Joshua now had the Quaffle, and he and Anna were racing back toward the goal.
The Snitch went into another downward plunge, leveled out about thirty feet above the ground, and started flying in a circle. The crowd was cheering louder than ever. Joshua passed to Anna. She passed back to him. Martin hit a Bludger toward Christophe. While he was distracted by that, Anna flew behind the goal. Joshua made it look like he was shooting, but in actuality, it was a pass to Anna, who now had a clear shot at the goal.
Suddenly, a Bludger struck Minerva in the rib cage. It hit her with such force that she lost her grip on her broomstick and fell off. She landed hard on the snowy ground, but the gasps from the crowd quickly turned to cheers when Anna scored. Half a second later, Ronny caught the Snitch, and the sound of Dorrenbacher's whistle signalled the end of the game. Minerva didn't know it was possible to be in so much pain and be so happy at the same time.
"Buchanen catches the Snitch!" yelled Sheena. "Final score is Ravenclaw one hundred seventy, Gryffindor one hundred eighty! GRYFFINDOR WINS!!!"
Minerva felt something in her throat, covered her mouth, and started to cough. When she pulled her hand away after the coughing fit ended, she noticed that it was covered with blood. Not even the excitement from winning could cover up the pain now, and she realized that she probably had a few broken ribs. At any rate, coughing up blood wasn't a good sign.
The rest of her team quickly surrounded her. "Way to fly, Ace!" said Ingrid. "That was amazing!"
"Thanks," Minerva said through clenched teeth. "All of you were incredible. How do you feel?"
"Exhausted," said Joshua, and everyone except Minerva laughed. None of them had ever played so hard in their lives.
Anna was the first to notice that Minerva was injured. "You all right, Ace?"
"No," Minerva replied. "I think I broke some ribs."
Almost on cue, Madam Tyburski arrived, followed closely by Dorrenbacher, Dumbledore, and Dippet. "Out of the way!" Madam Tyburski yelled. The Gryffindor Quidditch team scattered, allowing the nurse to get through. She dropped to her knees next to the injured player and began to assess the damages. "Broken ribs, all right," she confirmed. "Must have torn the lung tissue. This isn't good."
Minerva briefly made eye contact with Dumbledore. She had never seen him so worried. She found it in her to smile at him, and that seemed to make him relax a little bit. Dippet took notice of this and glanced at Dumbledore out of the corner of his eye, but made no comment.
Ravenclaw's captain, a fifth-year Chaser named Andrew Castaneda, flew down to see what all the commotion was about. "What's going on?" he asked.
"She broke her rib," Martin explained.
"Three of them, from the looks of it," said Madam Tyburski.
"Good game, Cass," Minerva managed to say.
"You too, Mac," Castaneda returned, nodding his head respectfully.
"No talking!" Madam Tyburski ordered Minerva. "Come on, we've got to get her to the hospital wing. I can fix the bones just fine out here, but it's the internal bleeding that I'm worried about."
Dippet reached into his robes, pulled out a small vial, and handed it to the nurse. "Here," he said. "It's a sleeping potion. It'll knock her out if she takes all of it, and then we'll be able to move her."
Madam Tyburski thanked him and administered the potion to her patient.
Dumbledore looked at the headmaster and said, "Do you always carry around sleeping potion?"
"Of course. Don't you?" He smiled. "Actually, it's not for me. It's for... never mind." He turned and started to walk away.
"Armando..."
Dippet stopped walking and looked at him. "Fine. It's... it's for Indira, actually. But don't tell her. She doesn't know."
Now Dumbledore was just confused. "What do you mean?"
Dippet motioned for Dumbledore to follow, and the two of them began to walk back toward Hogwarts. Once he was sure no one else could hear him, Dippet answered Dumbledore's question. "I've been slipping a few drops into her drink at dinner every night for years," he explained. "She... doesn't sleep well."
"How do you know?" He was almost certain Indira didn't confide in him, or anyone, for that matter.
"I have my ways. No more questions." He quickened his pace, and Dumbledore fell behind.
Dumbledore wasn't used to Dippet acting so mysterious. "Do you know something about her the rest of us don't?"
Dippet glanced over his shoulder and said, "I told you, no more questions. Please, I've told you too much already. No one must know that I know, especially Indira."
He didn't understand. He figured Indira had secrets - after all, who didn't? - but he never imagined that anyone else knew about them. And why didn't Dippet want anyone to know that he knew? Something was going on, and he was determined to find out what.