Chapter Twenty One
Term Three was considerably more stressful - Cho and Hermione had NEWTs examinations looming, which although they were as well prepared as anybody could be, indeed as they could be as the very best students Hogwarts had produced in some years. Hermione was only just edging ahead as Dux of the school, many of their marks were identical due to the fact that they had been partnered for all of their assessments, and having worked through all of their homework side by side.
The Third Term Quidditch roster was less busy than the previous two terms, it was not a Round Robin, but a finals series based on the results of the previous matches. The Term Three Finals Series Fixture was played out as follows:
Slytherin v Hufflepuff, with Slytherin gaining their first win of the year.
Hufflepuff v Ravenclaw, with Ravenclaw taking the honours.
Gryffindor v Slytherin, with Gryffindor confirming their position of second best Quidditch team at Hogwarts, with a resounding win.
Those results produced a Grand Final to be played between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, one final battle for the chance at glory - for the Dumbledore Cup.
On that day, the eagerly anticipated Grand Final Day, almost all of the students were dressed in either Ravenclaw Blue and Silver or Gryffindor Maroon and Gold as they jostled along in a migration of students from the Great Hall to the Quidditch Pitch. There was great excitement and much attention given to the comparisons between the two best Seekers, upon which, there was general consensus, the game would be won on the shoulders of either one or the other.
Ravenclaw had won every match of the year, and Cho Chang had caught the Snitch in every single game. Most students and other interested parties thought that it was highly likely, indeed almost certain, that as competent a Seeker as Ginny Weasley was, that Chang would not be beaten. Of course Gryffindor students and supporters were hopeful, their chance for glory lay with Ginny Weasley, and she had been so close on many occasions.
The spectator stands were packed to the gills, every student was present for this momentous occasion, the very first Grand Final in the history of Hogwarts Quidditch - the first competition that was played for a prize that was rewarded separately to the House Championship - the Dumbledore Cup! Photographs were taken of each player as they stepped onto the pitch, the teams were both photographed and then both teams were photographed together, along with the Headmaster and Madam Hooch.
At least one representative, frequently several, from almost all of the professional teams and their Selectors were present they were present to watch Cho Chang of course, obviously the most successful player of the group, but there was also much interest in Ginny Weasley. Of course, they would have to wait another year for her to become available. Weasley had been outplayed by Chang in each of their meetings this year but the contest had not been an easy one, in fact Weasley was the only student to have given Chang any trouble at all.
In fact she had given the Seeker considerable trouble! Not one of Chang's wins against Weasley had been easy or foreseeable, all had been a mighty struggle. Selectors were interested in on field success, statistics and wins, of course, but they were interested in other important elements as well. A demonstrated understanding of their role, a team player, a communicator, good sportsmanship, leadership and commitment to the team and Chang had demonstrated these personal qualities over the course of the year.
Win, lose or draw today, a number of Selectors had been authorised, nay aggressively encouraged, to make the necessary offers to secure Chang as a professional Seeker for their Team. Tentative enquiries had been made toward the end of the Second Term and the beginning of the Third Term but Cho had held them off, saying she would be in a position to consider firm offers after the Grand Final.
Except for Charlie Weasley, who was working somewhere in Eastern Europe, the rest of the Weasley family were present, all seated together, wearing the old Gryffindor colours. They were all experiencing an excited anticipation, ready to celebrate Ginny's success across the year, this competition was her brainchild after all! They didn't need her to win the cup to find her successful, but they were hopeful that she would win today, regardless.
Cho greeted George with a hug, although they had not seen each other for two years, if you don't count the possibility that they may or may not have passed one another during the Battle of Hogwarts, which neither of them did. But a number of letters, of a rather personal nature, had passed between them of late and an agreement reached, which led them to feeling unusually close to each other.
The Chang family were also present, seated in the same spectator stands, next to the Weasley family in fact. Cho's po po, her mother and father, each comfortably seated. They too, were excited, but were less given to public displays of frivolous cheering, they had been given Ravenclaw hats and scarves to show their support for Cho and the Ravenclaw team. Photographers were able to get some good shots of both families and Penelope was already stringing sentences together for several articles that would be published over night.
Ginny and Cho went together to the stands where their families were seated before the teams had been formally presented, they introduced each other to their family and the families to each other, at least now they could, hopefully, become more friendly during the game. They had all been invited back to the castle for the feast after the game and the girls were anticipating telling their families of their relationship over the summer, and hoped that if they knew each other and liked each other already, the transition might be smoother.
The Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall, made her way onto the pitch, she waved her wand and a small stage, with a microphone appeared, she strode confidently up the wooden steps at the side. She walked across the stage and stood before the microphone and waited for the silence to grow, to swell, throughout the entire sporting arena.
"Welcome, all of you, to this momentous occasion. This year, at Hogwarts, for the first time in our Quidditch history, a new proposal was suggested. Sixth year student, Prefect Ginny Weasley and seventh year, Head Girl Cho Chang presented the Round Robin Fixtures which have played out in Terms One and Two. The results of those matches were used to create the finals fixture for Term Three, which gives us this outcome - Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw in this Quidditch Grand Final."
Spectators and students all cheered in anticipation, the Headmaster allowed the exuberant celebrations to play out for a few moments, "This Tournament has drawn much attention from all quarters of the magical community. The Ministry of Magic," The headmaster indicated their private box and the spectators applauded, "The Professional Quidditch industry," she indicated their box and more clapping was offered.
"Members of the community from Diagon Alley," Professor McGonagall pointed again, "the community of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts alumni," more pointing and clapping, "and friends and family of our match players of the day! Win, lose or draw today - we can all agree that this Tournament has been a great success. It has enabled Quidditch lovers the opportunity to play more games throughout the year and it has created opportunities for involvement of all students and InterHouse relations."
"It is for their contribution to the spirit of Hogwarts, I would like to take this opportunity to present Miss Weasley and Miss Chang with Special Awards for Services to the School. Ginny, Cho? Please come up," Both students were caught completely by surprise, the applause and cheering was so loud it was disconcerting. This was so totally unexpected, someone one their teams took their brooms and several hands pushed them in their backs toward the stage.
Cho pushed Ginny up the stairs ahead of her, it had been her idea after all. The Headmaster looked at them with a rare smile of pure joy, and perhaps pride as well, she reached out her hands to draw them forward. She reached into her little coin pocket in her robes and withdrew two silver Hogwarts pins, she gently pinned one to the Quidditch players robes of each girl. Stepping away from the microphone, she said quietly, "These pins represent the personalised trophies which now reside in the Trophy Room. Thank you for your valuable contribution to our school. Good luck, today."
Within minutes, the Headmaster had dissolved her stage and vacated the pitch. Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and gesticulating for the Team Captains to present forthwith, Ginny and Chrissie Berry, the Ravenclaw Captain, came before Madam Hooch, the match referee, to receive the final formal instructions. "Shake hands," commanded Madam Hooch, "And I want a nice clean game, all of you," she eyed all of the team members as they came onto the pitch.
Cho flew straight up over the height of the Goal Rings, the rest of the players followed her, pulling up level with the Goal Rings, Ginny and Berry waited for Madam Hooch to release the Quaffle, which she did as she blew her whistle. At the shrill sound, the women pushed off the ground and tapped the Quaffle up and into the circle of play, Ginny passed the ball straight to one of her Chasers and then zoomed straight through the group and went up to join Cho floating away above the state of play.
"Hey, Weasley, nice pin," said Cho.
"Hey, Chang, thanks, you too. Good luck today,"
"Good luck to you too,"
"You look very attractive today, by the way," said Ginny, and she immediately flew to the other side of the pitch, she could hear Cho laughing behind her. It was true that Cho did look very pretty today, she had styled her thick, straight black hair differently; a thin braid at each temple pulled back into the knot at the back of her head.
Cho looked happy, her eyes were shining, she was smiling easily despite her nervousness caused by having her family present and all the extra attention - Grand Finals and School Pins with Selectors, photographers and reporters. Ginny was prepared to give the game everything she had, and she was hopeful of finally managing a win, in this, their final game together. Cho flew over to join her and they divided their efforts between watching their teams battle for the Quaffle, goal attempts, avoiding Bludgers, not letting the other get too far away and keeping watch for the Snitch.
The players on both teams were clearly nervous, the Ravenclaw players were overly aggressive and their throws and catches were less accurate whilst the Gryffindor players were less able to transition from their attack formation to their defense positions. Ginny didn't immediately begin correcting them, she was a rather relaxed Captain overall, she would not hesitate to give guidance or more direct instructions but she preferred to give them some time to adjust to the unusual circumstances of additional hype and pressure, rather than start barking at them as though they were playing poorly.
She took a couple of wide laps, keeping clear of active play, observing her teammates and looking for the Snitch, she could identify with her players, she was also experiencing some tension across the back of her shoulders and the knot in her stomach. She was confident that as the game progressed, they would all be able to forget the extra observers, the significance of the match and would settle down and focus on the game at hand.
Cho found a gap in the game play and sank below the players to scan the lower portion of the pitch for the Snitch and Ginny followed her,
"There is so much more to think about today, isn't there?" she said.
"Stressed?" asked Cho, carefully, fully aware of Ginny's willingness and capacity for distracting her.
"I just hope you remember not to kiss me in front of everyone when I catch the Snitch!"
"I promise, Weasley, if you do catch the Snitch today, I will kiss you in front of everyone!"
Ginny burst out laughing, Cho could always give as good and she got - it was one of the things she loved most about her girlfriend.
They took a couple of circular laps, they could hear the almost deafening cheers of the onlookers as they passed, it felt pretty good and the pair grinned at each other. It was pretty awesome to play the game they loved, together and have people calling their names as they passed. The very next game Chang ever played she was going to be paid real galleons for the privilege! Something they had not actually discussed for fear of jinxing the prospect.
They could hear the crowd erupting in applause over another goal and Ginny needed to get above for another survey of the game, but she could not afford to leave Cho unattended. She thought the match was relatively even Ravenclaws six or so goals to Gryffindors four or five goals, they had only been playing for thirty or so minutes so it was a pretty active match.
Ginny did one last lap of the pitch and then rose up through the part of the pitch where there was no real action, she was taking a risk leaving Cho alone, but that was the challenge of the combined responsibility of being Captain and Seeker. She circulated a few times and was pleased with the performance of her team, she noticed Cho making her way up to her level, clearly as concerned about leaving Ginny unattended as Ginny was leaving Cho.
Ginny didn't see it, not the Snitch, or a movement or a shudder of light, but she had a sudden urge to be much lower down, she didn't think about it, she found a gap in play and applied speed, passing Cho who immediately turned and followed. Ginny zoomed downwards, eyes peeled for something, anything, "come on, come on" she whisper-groaned to herself.
Feeling Cho on her heels she turned left and slowed her speed, Cho passed her without slowing and Ginny looked in the direction she was heading and sure enough there was a sparkly movement, Ginny put her head down and sped up. She easily made up the distance and pinned herself to Cho's side, ankle to ankle, knee to knee and shoulder to shoulder, a perfect expression of a technical concept known as 'manning up'.
In desperation Ginny began leaning into Cho, slowly at first, but increasing her pressure as they came within reach, Ginny was maximising her speed which was offset by her actual contact with Cho. She just didn't know whether it was her best bet to peel off and rely on speed to secure the Snitch or to keep pushing against Cho and trying to force her off. In the end she tried for a combination, keeping pressed to her opponent and increasing her speed.
They were pressed closely together, they were flying at close to top speed, the wind was whistling so loudly in their ears, there was no cheering to be heard. Both women forgot about everything that was not the Snitch; Grand Finals, Professional contracts, front page spreads and girlfriends - it was all so much white noise compared to this - the final moment in the race for the Golden Snitch.
Not to be out done, Cho lifted her broomhandle above Ginny's and slowed her pace. The Snitch was flying merrily along like it was on a lovely sunny Sunday stroll. Cho's move forced the back of Ginny's broom to kick out, a move which Cho anticipated and took immediate advantage of. She pushed her Nimbus to maximum speed, coming over the top of Ginny's broom handle, causing her opponent to lose both speed and direction. Cho simply leaned forward, reached out and plucked the Snitch out of the air and raised it over her head.
Ginny had failed again. Grrrr. Her shoulders sagged in disappointment but she watched Cho taking her lap of honour, Ginny could not help shake her head and grin - Cho Chang really was the best Seeker she had played against. She closed her eyes momentarily and replayed the final moments of the game, her final game with Cho - the two of them pressed side by side, flying full pelt, giving no quarter in their shared pursuit of the golden fluttering ball.
Ginny gathered with her team giving Cho and the Ravenclaws a hearty round of applause, she had been beaten by the best, there was no shame in that. The Ravenclaws celebrated amongst themselves before coming down to shake the hands of the Gryffindor opponents, and Cho hugged Ginny who congratulated her heartily, "Well done, Chang, well done." Cho blinked away a couple of happy tears and they all floated down to allow Madam Hooch to complete the last formal requirements.