Chapter 28: Quidditch Match
"Here comes the famous Leo Jordon, Captain and Keeper for Gryffindor; Andrew Spinnet, Kenneth Bell and James Potter as Chasers; Sirius Black and Remus Lupin as Beaters and the gorgeous Angela Moody as Seeker." Daniel Thomas, a fifth year Gryffindor announced. He then continued with the Slytherin team with lesser enthusiasm.
"Mount your brooms, please" Madam Hooch said and gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.
Fifteen brooms from both teams rose up high, high into the air.
"The Quaffle is taken immediately by James Potter of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser the young boy is. And he's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Andrew Spinnet, who was only a reserve last year - back to Potter and no – Slytherin have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin captain Marty Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes – Flint flying like a vulture up there – he's going to sco – no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Jordon and Gryffindor taken the Quaffle – that's Chaser Kenneth Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and – OUCH – that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger – Quaffle taken by Slyterin – that's Andee Pucey speeding off towards the goalposts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger – sent his way by Sirius Black – nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Potter back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off he goes – he's really flying – dodges a speeding Bludger – the goalposts are ahead – come on, now, James – Keeper Bletchley dives – misses – GRYFFINDOR SCORES!!"
The whole Gryffindor cheers filled the cold morning air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins. Even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs cheered loudly for the Gryffindor team.
Up in the air to avoid the bludgers, the Seeker, Angela Moody, was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of hers and Jordon's game plan.
"Potter scored again – Slytherin in possession, Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, Beaters Black and Lupin and Chaser Bell and sped towards the – wait a moment – was that the Snitch??" Daniel announced as he squinted to take a better look at something glittering near the Gryffindor goalpost.
A murmur ran through the crowd as Andee Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his right ear.
Both the seekers, Angela from Gryffindor and Teddy Higgs from Slytherin saw the Snitch. In a great rush of excitement, neck and neck they hurtled towards the Snitch – all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in mid-air to watch.
Moody was faster than Higgs.
WwwwhHHhaaaMM!!
Marty Flint had blocked Moody on purpose and her broom span off course, she was holding on for dear life.
"FOUL!!" Screamed the Gryffindor crowd.
Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goalposts for Gryffindor. In all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.
"So after that obvious and revolting foul from the Slytherins – Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, so a penalty hit for Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."
The whole game had been continuing for five hours without stopping. It was one of those long games that they had since a Quidditch match cannot end until the snitch was caught.
By now, the players were getting exhausted. Even the announcer, Daniel Thomas had lost his zest from the beginning. The game went on and on for another hour with lesser and lesser scoring. The game was proceeding at a much slower pace by the sixth hour.
Suddenly Angela Moody was diving towards something. Teddy Higgs, who was rather exhausted, gave chase nevertheless.
"I've got the Snitch!!" Angela shouted to the crowd, waving the Golden Snitch above her head excitedly. Everyone jumped off their seats and cheered loudly. The lengthy game finally ended.
Daniel Thomas was happily shouting the result – Gryffindor had won by five hundred and ten points to four hundred points. The Gryffindors were waving their banners and some were waving their scarves as well.
The players returned to the grounds, exhausted, after six hours and fifty-four minutes of playing.
"James!! Sirius!! Remus!!" Lily shouted among the crowd surrounding the Gryffindor team. The three guys excused themselves and squeezed out from the packed field.
"Our longest record of Quidditch practice was six hours and I thought that was a killer." James said exhaustedly.
"That was a long game!!" Remus commented tiredly.
"You guys were brilliant!!" Lily said cheerfully.
"Let's head back to the tower!!" James said enthusiastically, having some plans going on in his head.
"Where are we heading??" Lily asked suspiciously. The septet was walking along a long stretch of deserted corridor. The girls had never wondered to this part of the castle before.
"You'll know soon enough." James said, grinning ear to ear. Sirius, Remus and Peter shared the similar expression as well.
"Is this some joke?? Going to push us into some empty classroom or something??" Lily asked, trying very hard to recognize the way back to Gryffindor tower. The three sweaty and stinky guys were unusually excited about heading towards the designated location. Arabella and Stefanie were following, trying to remember the way back as well.
"Don't worry. We don't dare to trick you girls." James replied. He was trying to find a particular painting.
"I don't doubt that actually." Lily grinned. None of them had forgotten the prank that the girls did for revenge when they were in first year. They remembered that incident so clear that it seemed to have happened just yesterday.
"Aha. Here we are." James said. The guys checked the corridor to make sure that the coast was clear before James tickled the pear on a painting of a fruit bowl.
"Huh?? What are you doing??" Lily asked, rather curious when the pear wriggled a little. Suddenly the painting swing opened and revealed a large room with four long tables and many house elves.
"Welcome James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. I see that you have brought some friends along." A house elf greeted them the moment the seven climbed into the entrance quickly. The girls were still rather bewildered at the sight of over a hundred house-elves scuttling around busily.
"Hello Scooby. This is Lily, Arabella and Stefanie." James told the house elf as if they were old friends.
"Welcome Miss Lily, Miss Arabella and Miss Stefanie." Scooby said and smiled at them warmly.
"Hi Scooby." The girls chorused as they looked around the room in amazement.
"Is this the kitchen??" Lily asked intriguingly.
"That's right." James replied and then turned to Scooby. "Can we have our dinner here, Scooby??"
"Sure, James. What would you like to eat??"
"What's for dinner today??" Sirius asked. His stomach was rumbling away rather violently. A seven hour-long Quidditch match had used up all their carbohydrates and fats.
"Pasta and pizza, Sirius." Scooby answered and several house elves went to the back of the kitchen to fetch their dinners over.
"Sounds good." Lily commented as the house elves returned with plates of steaming pasta and pizzas.
"Once again, it tastes wonderful." James said in between mouthfuls from his large slice Stuff Crust Supreme Pizza. The seven of them helped themselves with their dinner in the kitchen that evening. They had to sit on the floor because the tables were used for serving the dinner at the Great Hall upstairs.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Scooby." Lily smiled at the wide-eyed house elf.
"You're very much welcome, Miss Lily." Scooby replied.
"Can we have some party food, Scooby??" James asked after he finished his five helpings of pizza and pasta. A number of house elves came over with packets of food.
"Wow. So much?? How are we going to finish them all??" Lily commented. The house-elves had brought at least a dozen packets of chips, biscuits, cookies, muffins, crackers, cakes, chocolates, several tubs of ice cream and jelly. There were a few bottles of Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, 7-Up, F&N Orange and Grape as well.
"We're going to party in the common room." James told Lily. The girls gave the guys a quizzical look. It looked like the Marauders had decided that they were going to throw a party in the common room after the match because they were very sure they would win this match.
"Thank you very much!!" The seven chorused happily as they climbed out from the painting. The painting closed behind them and they walked up towards the tower with bulging bags of foodstuff.
"Anyone knows the charm to reduce the size and weight of these packets??" James asked. He was carrying six bottles of soft drinks and it seemed to get heavier as he climbed up the staircases.
"I know. But I don't wanna say." Lily said cheekily. She had learnt the charm a year ago when she found her trunk too heavy for her. But unfortunately she could not use it in the muggle world because she was considered an underage witch.
"Please say. This is really heavy. You can carry it." James pleaded, looking at Lily with his puppy dog brown eyes.
"Nope. You guys are really weak." Lily smiled. The guys were carrying the heavy stuffs like drinks and ice cream. The girls, carrying the much lighter stuffs like paper cups and chips, were not complaining.
"Pleasy please, my dearest Lily." Sirius said, contributed himself to the puppy dog eyes group.
"Nah. You guys ought to train some muscles." Lily smiled. It was fun playing the guys.
"Lils, we had a long and tiring game just now. So pleasseee lighten our load." Remus added, looking at Lily in his puppy dog eyes.
"No amount of puppy dog eyes you give me will I change my mind. C'mon, we're nearly there." Lily said as she climbed the moving staircases two at a time.
"C'mon you guys, I think you can go faster than this." Arabella added and run up a flight of steps with two large bulging bags. Stefanie ran up the staircase equally fast although she was holding two large bags of biscuits. Lily had secretly charmed the loads that the girls were carrying to make them feather-light.
"Seriously, I think Lils is right about you guys being weak. Hurry up. Three more flights to go." Stefanie said and dashed up the steps without much effort.
"Girls." The three guys muttered and climbed up two steps at a time silently.
"Too bad Hogwarts doesn't have escalators or elevators." Lily said, grinning. It was rather tedious to climb so many flights of steps after a heavy dinner and a long day.
"What are escuvators and elelators??" James asked curiously.
"Escalators are staircases with the steps moving by itself. Elevators are containers that brings carry us up and down many levels without climbing any steps." Lily told the questioning James, Sirius and Stefanie.
"They're muggle inventions." Arabella added helpfully, looking at their confused expressions.
"Too bad we don't have them in Hogwarts, they sure reduce the time we spent climbing staircases." Remus said. He had frequent muggle shopping centers when he was younger. He knew practically everything about muggles. That was one of the reasons why he excelled in Muggle Studies. He scored better than Lily and Arabella, who had lived in the muggle world all their lives.
"You're really good with muggle inventions." Stefanie complimented sincerely.
"I see muggle inventions from a wizard point of view, unlike Lils and Bell who sees them as a daily necessity." Remus said modestly.
"Alright, here we are." Lily said and she said the password 'quidditch cup' to the Pink Lady. Leo thought it was inspiring to use it as a password to motivated everyone to aim towards that.
"We're trying to see them from a witch's point of view. But not too successful, that's all." Arabella, second to reach the portrait, told Remus who was a flight of steps behind her.
"No one back from dinner yet. Let's do a little decorations to the common room." James grinned devilishly.
"More detentions coming up!!" Lily agreed as she transfigured some muggle balloons from the magical bags they were using.
"Haha. You call this balloons??" Sirius laughed at the oddly shaped and appeared deflated transfigured balloon.
"Let me do it." James said as he corrected the deflated and deformed balloon back to normal round balloons. They had played with all sorts of balloons back at Remus' house way back in the summer holidays.
"We need some music!!" Lily suggested. They had finished decorating the common room until it looked like a party place with dance floor and all. Joey and Samantha were the first to return to the common room and had joined in the fun. They were fun-loving girls, but more towards the studious side.
"WWN!!" Stefanie exclaimed and she 'accio' her portable wizarding radio down from her dormitory. They had been moving the furniture around the common room and cleared a large portion in the center of the room into a dance floor.
"Let me make the wall sound proof." James commented and cast a spell on the entrance and windows.
"Everything settled??" Lily asked as Sirius was adjusting the volume till full blast.
"Yeah!! We can get the party going!!" James shouted from the loud music. By now, most of the students had returned from dinner. Some started eating the snacks they had brought up. The Marauders and the third-year girls were the first to hit the dance floor. The song Dancing Queen was blasting from the radio at the corner.
Within ten minutes, most of the students were dancing away, all schoolwork stress forgotten.
"Wanna bet that McGonagall won't be coming in until twelve tonight??" James shouted with an I-know-something-which-you-don't-know look.
"How would you know anyway??" Lily shouted back, knowing the familiar expression on James too well.
"I'm James the Great one."
"Yeah, right."
"There's the prefects and Head boy and Girl meeting tonight actually." Remus said at the top of his voice. They had gone to ask the seventh-year prefect Leo the night before. He had supported the idea totally but he could not participate because that was against the school rule. He wanted to keep his prefect badge. All he said that he had agreed to drag the meeting longer for the Gryffindor prefects and try to delay McGonagall from coming over.
"No wonder. We should have parties like this in the common room more often." Lily shouted to James agreeing.
"We wanted after our first match versus Ravenclaw. Remus said that if we've a party after every match, it would ruin all the fun. So we saved it especially after we win the house cup. That is more worth of a celebration."
"It's a great party, isn't it??" Sirius shouted to James and Lily. It was blasting Uptown Girl now. Everyone in the Gryffindor common room were dancing rather wildly especially the fourth-years and above. The younger ones were not so expressive.
"You guys are brilliant!!" Samantha complimented James and Sirius loudly. James and Sirus gave her their charming Marauders' smile, but to Lily, she called it the egoistic smirk.
The Marauders were popular among the Gryffindors. They were the only one in history of Gryffindor students that dared to break rules and defy the orders like no tomorrow. They were also the first to go against Slytherins openly in Great Hall and during lessons. Most of the first and second years girls from all houses adored and admired the Marauders but they were just not interested in girls. Lily, Arabella and Stefanie secretly joked that the guys might be gays. The four guys do behaved a little bit gay-like sometimes.
After three hours of vigorous partying, most of them were tired and some had gathered around and helped themselves with the snacks. Some couples were dancing to the slower songs that were on air. The seven of them had been switching partner song after song, dancing with partners from first-year to seventh-year.
WWN was having a party songs weekend and it had fitted their party theme totally. Currently a slow I Knew I Loved You were blasting. James was back dancing with Lily; Sirus with Arabella; Remus with Stefane and Peter with Gracie.
"It was great, wasn't it??" James said, grinning at another successful rule-breaking attempt.
"Yupz. I had lots of fun."
"It's fun only when the Marauders are around."
"Yeah, right. I can't see why."
"Of course you're right. We're the dare-doers."
"It would be fun if this can go on all night."
"We thought so too. But unfortunately there're no possible charm we can prevent McGonagall from coming in. We thought of tripping her or body-binding her, but that was nearly impossible."
"The prefects are back. I think their meeting had ended."
"I noticed that. Leo and Angela are not back though."
"Perhaps it's just the seventh-year prefects."
"Or perhaps they're holding McGonagall back for our sake?? They're really noble!!"
"I thought you were kidding when you said Leo was in your little conspiracy!!"
"We weren't. There was really such a conspiracy."
"Well, detentions for sure."
"I don't mind."
"This gonna give you at least two weeks, I believe."
"Fine by me. I only have three hundred and sixty nine so far."
"You actually counted??"
"There isn't a need to. Filch had been reminding us constantly in our detentions with him."
"A drawer of detention letters for the Marauders."
"By next year, he can dedicate a drawer to me."
"You're serious??"
"I'm not Sirius."
"Not that."
"Then what??"
"Never mind."
"Song end. Let's change partner."
"Okie dokes." Lily said she walked over to Remus while James walked towards Gracie.
The next song was Right Here Waiting.
"How was your dance with James??"
"How was your dance with Stefanie??"
"I asked you first."
"I merely replied with a question."
"That's very smart of you."
"Thank you." Both of them chuckled at their little joke.
"Great party, isn't it??"
"Definitely. I think I had danced with every single guy in Gryffindor tonight."
"Did all of them tell you that you're gorgeous??"
"I don't think so. But I think you told all your partners that they're gorgeous."
"No way am I going to tell James or Sirus or Peter that I think they're gorgeous." Remus pretended to exclaim rather shockingly. The four guys had their first dance with one another. It was not exactly a solo dance but the four of them had stood in a circular manner and started the dance together.
"I meant female partners." Lily laughed at his small-pretended outburst.
"No, you're the only one."
"You sure know a number of pick-up lines for your tender age."
"I learn pretty fast."
"I noticed." The song ended. Since the deejay was speaking, all of them took a break and went for a drink.
"Hey gorgeous, let's dance." James exclaimed and invited a laughing Samantha to the dance floor. The song blasting now was One In A Million.
"C'mon Lils." Sirius led Lily back to the dance floor. She had not even finished her drink. Andrew Spinnet had approached Arabella and invited her for a dance.
"Do I have the pleasure to have this dance with you??" Remus was asking a blushing Joey.
"May I??" Peter asked Stefanie and she had agreed.
"So Lilykins, you're really one in a million." Sirus commented jokingly.
"What do you mean by I'm one in a million??"
"One lily in a million of flowers."
"Yeah. Spill the truth."
"One red head in a million of haired girls."
"Oh, c'mon."
"One girl in a million of females."
"Like real."
"One spitfire in a million of redheads."
"Very funny."
"You don't believe me. What more can I say??"
"You can keep quiet."
"Sirius can't keep quiet!!"
"I know that."
"Then why did you tell me to keep quiet??"
"I was suggesting."
"Very funny, Lils."
"I know."
"What do you know??"
"I know I'm funny."
"You're funny??"
"Yeah."
"How funny??"
"This funny."
"This funny??" Sirus said and he conjured
up some ice cubes in his hand and slid them into Lily's top on her back.
"Aahh!! SIRIUS BLACK!!"
"Yes??" Sirius replied innocently.
"Argh!! That's very funny." Lily exclaimed. She was laughing at his little joke instead of getting angry.
"I know. So are you." Sirus was laughing away. Lily got the ice cubes out from her tee shirt. She turned and saw James dancing with Samantha behind her. She grabbed James' shirt from the back and threw the ice cubes inside.
"Ahh!! What's that??" James exclaimed. Samantha was grinning at Lily. James shook to get rid of the ice cubes and dumped into innocent Remus' shirt.
"Aah!! James!!" Remus jumped and shook the ice cubes out vigorously. By now the three were having a literally cooled back. Remus got the ice cubes and threw into Peter's shirt. Peter jumped in shock and got rid of the ice cubes from his shirt. The nine third-years started laughing at their little joke. The rest of the Gryffindors were totally oblivious to the hysterical third-years and continued dancing at the next song It's Gonna Be Me.
They nine of them stopped their laughing and started dancing to the rhythm. As predicted by James, Professor McGonagall walked into the Gryffindor common room with Leo and Angela at midnight.
"Oops. Look." Lily hissed to the rest of them. No one else seemed to notice Professor McGonagall's sudden existence in the common room.
"We'll settle it." James said and he walked towards Professor McGonagall. The rest of the third-years followed behind to back him up.
"Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew. I believed this is your idea??" Professor McGonagall said sternly, looking around the current Gryffindor common room.
"That's right, my Professor." James replied with a bow.
"Don't you know it's against the rules??"
"Which rule??"
"Rule number two hundred and tenth, no unauthorized partying of any kind in house common room."
"We knew." James replied, although he had not even heard of that rule till this point of time.
"Then??"
"This isn't a party. It is a celebration for Gryffindor winning of house cup."
"This is considered a party."
"Celebration involves people having a good time together to celebrate for something authorized but partying means people gather together, authorized or unauthorized, getting entertained." James said wittily.
"You jolly well know that you just earned a detention for this??"
"We know this clearly. But getting a detention from the celebration of the quidditch cup is worth it."
"Ok, a week of detention."
"A night of celebrations."
"Stop now."
"You can't do that."
"Why can't I??"
"It's a crime to rob someone from their
thing."
"Yes. What do you mean??"
"You can't rob us from our happiness. That's some sort of unsaid crime."
"Well.."
"Please, Professor McGonagall, can we just party all night. Please." Lily begged at this point of time.
"Alright, just tonight."
"Thank you so much!!" The five girls rushed forward to hug the professor dramatically. Professor McGonagall was a little shocked at their sudden expression.
"Detention for the four of you on Monday night."
"No problem!!" The Marauders chorused cheerfully. Professor McGonagall shook her head and left the Gryffindor common room.
The nine third-years and the two seventh-year prefects high-fived with one another for their triumph with Professor McGonagall. They turned back to the dance floor and started dancing once again, even more wildly than before, to the song, Larger Than Life.