Chapter Eight - Match Against Hufflepuff

This was it. The first Quidditch match of the year – Slytherin vs Hufflepuff. Severus felt sick. The training had been brutal, and although the Slytherin Quidditch team had been practising every single day for an entire week (including four-hour sessions on Saturday and Sunday), Severus still felt unprepared. After all, they had lost against Gryffindor in the final Quidditch match of last year. But that was a different team, Severus thought. Ella, who he had realised to be an amazing Beater with an extraordinary ability to dodge Bludgers, hadn't been part of the team last year. And neither had Molly Andrews, one of the Chasers, who also had a knack for precision, particularly when aiming the Quaffle towards the hoops. And I've gotten better too, Severus added, knowing very well that however badly he performed today, it couldn't go any worse than last time when he failed to obtain the Golden Snitch.

But that didn't stop his nerves from making him shake all over, and the adrenaline pumping around his body still couldn't distract him from the fact that he felt as if he would vomit any second. This time it mattered – this time he was actually part of the team, not just standing in for Gabriella Stone. This time all the pressure was on him. This time, he had to get the Snitch.

The atmosphere was electric and wild. Despite being a match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, which did not nearly induce as much excitement as the legendary match between Slytherin and Gryffindor, all the stadium's stands were quite full, as this was the first Quidditch match of the year. This was the first chance to see if either team were really that good, and show the other two houses – Gryffindor and Ravenclaw - what they needed to look out for when they would soon have their first match.

Unsurprisingly, both the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor stands were yelling their support for Hufflepuff. Only Slytherin would ever support Slytherin, and so once again the cheers from the Slytherin stand were drowned out by the continual screams of 'Go Hufflepuff!'

The knot in Severus' stomach tightened, and he focused on looking at his measly old broom, which he had been unable to replace. Normally, Hogwarts received a fresh supply of brooms every few years, however even so the number of said brooms that mysteriously went missing was unusually high, and so it was the case that most Quidditch members who were not rich enough to buy one for themselves (most were) relied on their Head of House to ask for some more brooms from the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. Despite Slughorn's extravagant little party, the professor had completely forgotten to raise the subject of the equipment for the Quidditch team, and thus the rubbish, battered broom remained the only one at Severus' disposal. However, he might have forgotten because most Slytherins did have the money to buy their own brooms, (many of which cost thousands of Galleons) and so the question of asking for brooms had never needed to be raised before.

And so, poor Severus had to once again cope with the wretched thing, which not only was too small in size for him, but the handle also curved away at an awkward angle which made the broom ever more difficult to ride. But there was no time to think about that now – Professor Dumbledore was about to make a speech.

'Students,' he began, waiting for the last few cheers and shouts of excitement to die down before he could continue. 'Welcome to Hogwart's very first Quidditch game of the year – Slytherin vs Hufflepuff.'

The crowed once again began to cheer, but this time Professor Dumbledore didn't seem to mind, and his slight smile could be seen in the flicker of his pale blue eyes, like the reflection of light in a lake. But eventually, the cheers subsided, and once again he raised his wand to his throat and his large voice boomed across the entire stadium.

'With new teams on both sides, I am sure this match which will prove to be a very exciting one, even unpredictable, I daresay. I wish both teams the best of luck, and let the game begin!'

The referee, Rolanda Hooch, whizzed up ten feet from the ground and tossed the Quaffle upwards, so that the three other balls comprising the two Blugders and Snitch also flew into the air in response. Thus, the match had officially begun.

Like a cork exploding from a bottle of champagne, the three Chasers on both teams whooshed upwards towards the Quaffle, which temporarily distracted Severus from his target – the Snitch. The abrupt and rapid movements of the other players always seemed to preoccupy him when he actually needed to have his eyes on a tiny golden ball that was whizzing its way around the stadium. Fortunately, it appeared that Hufflepuff's Seeker had also been distracted, as the fifth-year boy had a look of utter horror on his face when Molly Andrews almost knocked him off his broom when she flew past him, armed with the Quaffle in her palm.

Right, time to concentrate, Severus thought to himself as he squinted his eyes and tried to locate that damn golden ball. He had gathered from the training sessions that you might as well fly around the stadium rather than staying in one place when you were looking for the Snitch, as it was constantly moving anyway so you'd have more chance capturing it if you were on the move too. Plus, you were less likely to be hit by an oncoming Bludger. So, Severus began to make his way around the stadium, relatively slowly, whilst the packed stands of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were roaring and shouting for Hufflepuff's Beaters to actually be useful and stop Molly Andrews, who was getting dangerously close to the hoops, from scoring ten points.

The Slytherin stand too were yelling, but their shouts were of excitement and hope, as their Chaser was edging closer and closer to the hoops…

There! The Snitch, the stupid tiny bloody ball was there! Severus felt half-relieved and half-annoyed when he finally found the small golden ball at the far-right of the stadium, after a long and barely tolerable forty-seven seconds. Normally it took him less than half a minute to locate the Snitch, but for some reason he felt exhausted today and found concentrating particularly difficult. Maybe he would need to cut down on all those study sessions. If it took him almost a full minute to find the tiny ball, how long would it take him to capture it? Hours?

Of course, Hufflepuff's Seeker had by then also seen the Snitch, so Severus had no advantage. He managed to curse himself before blasting across the pitch towards the Snitch, determined to have the ball in his palm soon.

'Severus, watch out!' Someone screamed.

Having now developed the reflexes necessary for survival in a game of Quidditch, Severus jerked his body and his vexatious broom to the left and felt the cold gush of air as the Bludger whizzed past his shoulder. Meanwhile Hufflepuff's Seeker lurched in front of Severus and gained a two-metre lead in the chase for the Snitch. However, Severus barely had the time to register this before a deafening roar filled the entire stadium, followed by the announcement,

'Slytherin's Molly Andrews has just scored! Ten points to Slytherin!'

Hufflepuff's Seeker loudly groaned in response, and Severus eagerly used this as an opportunity to blast in front of him, ignoring the surge of happiness he felt. Without turning around to see how close his opponent was, Severus shuffled further along his broom and began to stretch out his arm…

'Another Bludger!' Someone cried.

Severus instinctively dodged to the right, still focusing on the Snitch that was now less than a few feet away from him. It was still very early on in the game, and he had almost captured the Snitch already! Feeling optimistic, Severus stretched out his fingers past his broom, however all of a sudden, the high-pitched sound of a whistle filled the air, and all players came to a halt.

'Foul!' Rolanda Hooch cried, holding up a yellow card. 'Elizabeth Parkinson, Hufflepuff's Chaser has been issued with a Cobbing Foul for continually elbowing her opponent in order to steal the Quaffle. The Quaffle must be handed to one of Slytherin's Chasers.'

The Slytherin stand cheered loudly, whilst many students from other stands grumbled about how the referee was being biased towards Slytherin, and that they were sure that it was the Chaser from Slytherin who was actually elbowing Elizabeth Parkison, not the other way around. Nevertheless, the whistle had caused Severus to lose sight of the Snitch, and now he had to start all over again. Thankfully, Hufflepuff's Seeker also seemed to have lost sight of the Snitch, although Severus was sure he would find it soon.

Over the next twenty minutes, Slytherin scored another one hundred and twenty points, earning many cheers from the crowd of Slytherin students. However, Hufflepuff had managed to score eighty points, and their Chasers seemed determined to score some more. Severus, meanwhile, was in the rather difficult position of having to dodge Bludgers and also keep his eye on the Snitch, which proved to be a tiring exercise, and he felt as though he could drop off his broom any minute. Twenty minutes had passed, and yet he still couldn't grab the Snitch. It seemed as though Hufflepuff's Beaters were only aiming their Bludgers at him, and not the rest of his teammates. And what on earth were Slytherin's Beaters doing? What had happened to Ella Bakersfield's amazing skills?! Hufflepuff's Seeker seemed to be doing just fine, barely having to dodge any Bludger whatsoever!

'And another ten points to Hufflepuff!' A commentator yelled, when one of Hufflepuff's Chasers, Daniel McEwan, successfully bolted the Quaffle into the hoops, much to the frustration of Sophie Evergreen, who groaned in annoyance.

With what little energy Severus had left, he once again dodged another Bludger and bolted to the left where he once again caught sight of the Snitch. He was too tired to think of his opponent who was just a couple of feet behind him; he could only focus on stretching out his hand. Come on, come on, come on. He mentally urged the Snitch to come closer to his fingers, and he was so close he could see its small golden wings. Come on, come on. So close. A few inches away.

'Hufflepuff have scored another ten points!'

Undeterred, Severus edged closer. Three inches away. Two and a half. Two. One and a half.

'Severus! A Bludger!' Again someone screamed.

But Severus was too close. One inch. A half. A quarter…

And then Severus felt himself being thrown forwards, as the Bludger crashed into the back of his broom, causing half the broom to splinter into a thousand different pieces. Severus had to swerve downwards with the front of the broom that remained intact, and crashed into the ground. But Severus didn't care about the broom. He had caught the Snitch.