The Ravenclaws were bright blue against the spring-green grass, while the Gryffindors flashed red. They milled about, waiting for Madam Jenkins to appear and start the match.
On the Ravenclaw side, a figure detached from the mass of blue, and walked over to James. It was their Quidditch Captain, Adelaide Corner, who was known as an oddball, even for a Ravenclaw. He dimly remembered that Lily had named her as one of her Ravenclaw friends, and decided to be nice.
"Hello!" she said cheerfully.
"Er, hi," James said.
"We're the Quidditch Captains!" she said in the same excited tone, though she was stating the obvious. James nodded, trying not to look at her overly happy face, instead focusing on her hair, which was a pale clementine color, like it couldn't decide between blond and red.
"I remember there was a lot of trouble putting together a Quidditch team, because many of the people in our House declared that sports were irrational and a waste of caloric intake."
James chuckled, remembering Lily's outburst that "sports are stupid."
"I have to say, I can't argue with their logic," Corner continued. "Sports were, in fact, created in early societies to train young men for hunting, and the practice is now irrelevant as we do not need to go hunting. But, I maintain that Quidditch is all about strategy." Adelaide Corner tapped her head significantly.
James nodded, surprised to find that he agreed with her. "Yeah, it is."
"Good luck," Corner said, before turning away, back towards her team.
James barely had time to register this exchange, because Madam Jenkins was striding into the Quidditch pitch. The noise of the crowd, which had until now been an excited buzz at best, escalated into a roar. James felt the adrenaline run through him as Madam Jenkins nodded, and Adelaide Corner stepped out to shake hands with him.
Her hand was soft and her grip weak, and James stared straight into her eyes, sure they would win. Irrationality and stupidity or not.
Madam Jenkins raised her wand hand, and magically magnified her voice. "Players, up into their air!"
James scrambled to his broom and kicked off a bit unsteadily, righting himself as he picked up altitude. There was just one thing he wanted to do before the match started.
While Madam Jenkins asked for fair play and honest sportsmanship during this first match of the season, James suddenly sped away from the rest of his team, heading towards the Gryffindor part of the crowd.
It was easy to spot where the seventh years were sitting, because they had a huge, rippling banner with, painted on it with such lack of skill that James was practically sure it was Sirius who had done it, the huge grinning face of none other than James Potter.
Huge letters above the monstrous face blared "Go Potter Go" in red and gold, and the whole thing was enchanted to move and flicker. Just under the left ear of the bobbing and smiling head was a very uncomfortable looking Lily. James squinted and spotted the scarf still wound around her neck.
James gestured wildly at her, pointing at his neck. She frowned and said something he couldn't hear, but he figured it must have been something angry, and decided it was all for the better that the roar was covering it.
"Will the Gryffindor Team Captain please return to his position!" Madam Jenkins boomed irritably.
"Sorry!" James said, though this was lost among the noise. Instead, he aimed his broom towards the other specks of red, and, pouring on the speed, rejoined the team.
The whistle blew and the Quaffle was off, with one of the Ravenclaw Chasers taking possession. He swerved to avoid a Bludger and dropped the Quaffle, which Fabian caught and threw at James. "PREWETT IN POSSESSION, HE PASSES TO POTTER," the commentary boomed. Mid-flight, James realized guiltily that he'd forgotten to learn the names of the other team's players.
The Chaser who had dropped the Quaffle, Jerry, (he looked like a Jerry to James) was hot on James' tail. He looked over to his left and nodded at Fabian, three obvious nods like they'd practiced, and Jerry drifted over to Fabian, expecting to intercept. Elaine Finnigan, meanwhile, was ready to catch the Quaffle with no one tailing her, and she zoomed forward, the red Quaffle hugged close to her with one arm.
James let out a deranged cackle in jubilation, glad his little plan had worked. He was sure that the smart, calculating Ravenclaws would quickly realize that he would pass to whomever he wasn't nodding towards, but it had at least worked once, and James had many more of these tricks up his sleeve.
Strategy!
Adelaide, the Seeker, was gesturing wildly towards her Keeper, Eyebrows, who seemed to look angry all the time. The Gryffindors were heading towards the Ravenclaw goal, and the blue team was grouping in front of the hoops, which was a strange strategy. Even the two Beaters had their clubs out, ready to stop Gryffindor from scoring.
"WELL THIS IS STRANGE," said the student commentator, a Slytherin girl. "RAVENCLAW HAS SEEMED TO ABANDON EVERYTHING TO HELP COVER THE GOALPOSTS. IS THIS A CLEVER STRATEGY OR DO THEY URGENTLY NEED A NEW KEEPER?"
James shook his head, trying to clear it. This was completely unexpected. What would Ravenclaw do about Bludgers with their Beaters at the goal? Then an idea formed in his mind. "Sirius! Dorcas!" he called the two Gryffindor Beaters.
They looked at him, and James could almost see the dread as they wondered what he would do now. The team captain only pointed at two small black dots whizzing around above the field.
Sirius flew up immediately, and James hoped he had understood. Dorcas followed, probably out of blind trust. Soon after, two Bludgers were whizzing towards the mass of Ravenclaws in front of the goals.
Off guard, and without their Beaters to protect them, they instinctively scattered. James crossed his fingers, looking to Elaine, who had the Quaffle. She threw her arm back and the well-aimed Quaffle soared through the middle hoop.
"LOOKS LIKE TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR…" The Slytherin girl sounded almost disappointed.
But the Ravenclaw team regrouped quickly. The three Chasers spread out into an arrow-shaped formation.
"NORDEN IN POSSESSION."
As he sped towards the Ravenclaws, James numbly realized that Norden must be Jerry. He frowned, pouring on the speed. "MCGONAGALL, STRATEGY NUMBER THREE!" James shouted at his Keeper. It was a risky move, but they could afford it if they were ahead. Besides, James couldn't see Gryffindor overtaking the three Chasers in a compact formation, especially with the head start they head.
Michael McGonagall nodded, his boyish face set. James watched anxiously, having stopped in the middle of the field. The other Chasers also stopped their wild pursuing of the Ravenclaws, and stopped in the middle of the field. Emboldened, the Ravenclaws were sure to score, and then the plan would be put into action.
"THE GRYFFINDORS HAVE JUST STOPPED! ARE THEY GIVING UP SO QUICKLY?"
McGonagall took a deep breath and ducked down, leaving the goal exposed. Luckily for Gryffindor, Jerry wasn't in possession, but another Chaser, Freckles, who threw clumsily. This was the delicate part of the plan. Michael rose up as soon as he saw Freckles' arm tense to throw, and caught the Quaffle in mid-air, tossing it to Elaine, who was closest.
She had thrown it to James, who was nearing the Ravenclaw goal before the commentator had fully registered what had happened. "GRYFFINDOR JUST… IS THAT EVEN ALLOWED?"
James smirked. It was, actually, he'd checked a rule book: the Keeper was a player too, and nothing stopped him from being in possession of the ball and passing it to a teammate.
He looked down and saw Benjy and Adelaide racing each other, head-to-head and spinning wildly out of control. He could only assume the Snitch was nearby. They suddenly changed course and came shooting upwards.
James tensed his arm and hurled the Quaffle, trying to score. He was too far away, of course, and missed, but anything would serve as a distraction by that point. Adelaide didn't even flinch. "HEY! OVER HERE!" he shouted. Now was the critical moment. The Quaffle barely mattered anymore as long as Benjy caught the Snitch.
Adelaide had lifted to a wobbly crouch, and Benjy's arm was outstretched. James could just barely see the glint of gold, then something darker zooming towards the struggling pair. Both Dorcas and the two Ravenclaw Beaters saw the oncoming Bludger, and raced towards the two Seekers.
James grimaced. It was two against one, and though Sirius had caught on quickly, he was too far behind to be of much help to Dorcas. She had to aim well and quickly to win the match. Dorcas reached the scene at the same time as the other two Beaters, and the small object was hit by three different bats, and spun out of control towards Adelaide and Benjy. The Bludger ended up striking her about the jaw and landing just under Benjy's ribs. They both faltered for a moment, Adelaide's eyes watering and Benjy struggling to breathe, but Gryffindor had the advantage since their Seeker could still see.
Benjy Fenwick closed his hand around the Snitch and James let out a breath. They'd won by pure luck. All the players landed lightly on the grass, in a sort of daze.
The commentator reflected the state of confusion. "GRYFFINDOR…WINS? WELL, WHAT A WAY TO START THE QUIDDITCH SEASON." Adelaide's jaw had a large bruise already blooming on it, and she looked on the verge of tears, while Benjy was coughing and hacking. Teachers were already gathering around the two, performing healing spells.
There was a huge party going on in the Gryffindor Common Room that James could hear from the hallway, but at the moment, that was where he least wanted to be. He found Lily in their Common Room, peacefully writing on a piece of parchment, the lucky scarf draped loosely over her knees.
"Well, you did win," she said, taking one look at James' downcast face.
"Sports are stupid," he said.
That managed to elicit a chuckle from Lily, who couldn't help but say, "I told you so."