Author's Notes: Once again, thank you to all the readers who checked out my story last week. And a special thanks to all the reviewers.
ProfessorChris: Yes, we already knew someone was going to fall. Of course I can't reveal who will fall at this point. The transition is a little strange, yes, but this is some of my older writing. I can't remember when I abandoned this story to continue on with my Zelda one because of writer's block, but later chapters will be of better writing quality than these chapters. However, at the moment, I am not planning on writing a direct sequel to this story, though I am having thoughts about the other Harry Potter fanfic of mine, Echoes of a Lost Past, and how I would have a sequel that would completely erase the line that separates good from evil. Still, I need to finish this story first. Thanks for the support.
Okay, last week's Monty Python reference was McGonagall mentioning in her letter that she wasn't deceased. This is a play on something seen in several episodes in Monty Python's Flying Circus where letters from "viewers" are read to the audience. Most of these notes, usually in parentheses at the end of the letter, are quite humorous in the context of what the letter says. And at least once, the note "deceased" was used in one of these letters. So there you are.
The Monty Python reference this week is like last week's: near impossible to find unless you know what you're looking for. Although I have to say this one seems way out of line in the context of the story. Happy hunting!
And I am pleased to announce that this story is up to 2,500 hits! Amazing job, guys!
And now, on with the show!
Chapter 7: One Step Closer to Victory
"I know I bet for the United States to beat the spread," Geoffrey Gryffindor began as he stepped inside the house of Number 12, Grimmauld Place on the evening of August 25, 1997 with his younger brother Gary and Harry Potter, "But I wasn't counting on them winning the Cup."
"I don't think anyone outside of the United States team and fans were counting on it," Gary responded as he closed the door of the house behind them, "I'm telling you, there will be a great amount of debauchery in the American wizarding community tonight. They will be going crazy with this."
Harry understood why everyone was so shocked at this news. The Quidditch World Cup had just ended in Madrid, Spain with the third game of the final series between the United States of America and reigning champion Ireland. With the series tied at one game each, the United States pulled off what many were already calling the biggest upset in Quidditch World Cup history as they defeated Ireland 150-140 in the championship game, led by world-class seeker Maximus Brankovitch III. According to what Harry had heard so far, the game ended on one of the most bizarre plays anyone had ever seen. He would have to read tomorrow's Daily Prophet to get the whole story of the finals.
"I hope Guinevere recorded that whole thing well, because we need to see this, along with all the English fans singing 'Jerusalem'," Geoff said as he sat down in an old chair, "And I think Harry here could pick up some tips on being a great seeker from this game."
"But I won't be playing Quidditch this year," Harry pointed out, "I won't be in school."
"True," Geoff began, "But you have to think about things farther down the road. Now, assuming you defeat Voldemort, what are you going to do in life?"
"Well, I was thinking about being an auror," Harry answered.
"An admirable, yet dangerous, selection of a career from someone for whom tragedy seems to follow closely," Gary pointed out as he left the room.
"Harry, I don't know," Geoff replied as he looked at Harry, "I don't think I see a future auror in you. Assuming you're victorious, I think you'll have done enough for our world as is. I don't think that's what you're meant for after defeating Voldemort once and for all. Have you ever considered a career in professional Quidditch?"
Harry paused for a moment to think. "Well, no, I never really thought about that," he replied, "I don't think I'm good enough to play Quidditch professionally."
"Well, for now you're right, you don't have the talent yet," Geoff agreed, "But you definitely have the potential to be an outstanding seeker from what I have seen of you. You definitely have the stuff that makes a world-class seeker, Harry Potter. You just need the proper training, which you obviously can't get for the foreseeable future. But I can get it for you when the time comes."
"Assuming I survive Voldemort, couldn't I just play for the Gryffindor Quidditch team in my next year there?" Harry asked.
"Unfortunately, no," Geoff replied, "The Hogwarts rules on school sports are clear. Only students considered between true first-years and true seventh-years are allowed to compete in official school sporting events. You could practice with the team, but technically being an eighth-year student, you cannot play against the other houses in the official games. That wouldn't help you much anymore any way at that point. I know the best seeker trainer in all England, Harry. I'll get you ready to play Quidditch for a career. Don't worry about that."
"Alright," Harry replied, "Thanks Geoff. I would appreciate all that greatly."
"Don't mention it, Harry," Geoff said, "It's about time a young man with your talent was properly indulged instead of being pushed to the side, despite your great accomplishments."
"Spoiled, you mean?" Harry asked.
"No, not spoiled," Geoff made clear, "Properly indulged. There is a difference, and a very significant one at that."
"Whatever you say," Harry replied with a shrug. He didn't really see the difference right now.
At this time, Gary walked back into the room and walked over to his brother. Geoff looked up at his brother and asked, "Did you get it?"
Gary pulled a small, shiny object out of his pocket. Harry recognized it as a key of some kind. Looking around, Harry caught sight of an object he saw when he first came to Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Hanging on the chair Geoff was sitting on was a large gold locket, one which no spell or charm would open. He saw several people trying to two years ago, but failing to do so. But now, a recent tragedy in Harry's life made him focus on the locket's design. "Is that what I think it is?" Harry asked.
Geoff turned to look at Harry and read his mind, though he was certain what Harry meant by that. "Yes, it is," Geoff said, "That is what both Regulus Black and Headmaster Dumbledore died for. That is Slytherin's locket, and inside it is a piece of Voldemort's soul that must be destroyed. And destroyed it shall be."
"What has happened with that locket?" Harry asked as Geoff picked it up from off the chair.
Geoff looked down at the locket with a look of pain in his eyes. "This locket has caused me so much pain. This locket has killed two people whom I counted among my friends," Geoff began, "Years ago, Regulus Black joined with the Death Eaters, which his family was strangely very proud of. However, soon after he joined the group, Regulus was shocked almost to death by an action ordered by Voldemort. He was never the same after that, though he never told me what Voldemort wanted. I saw he was a man who was desperate. He wanted to get out of the Death Eaters, but the only way to get out of the Death Eaters is to die. He knew that, but he also discovered Voldemort's darkest secret. He learned all about his horcruxes. From what I understand, he switched the lockets and was then killed by whatever was in that cave. But he made sure that Kreacher got me this key, the key that opens the locket. And only months ago, Dumbledore died for a substitute of this locket. But now, we have the real thing, and we have to key to open it. Are we ready to destroy this travesty of humanity?"
"I'm properly armed," Gary replied as he pulled out from under his trench coat a large assault rifle. It startled Harry to see such a weapon, even though he had seen pictures of such weapons and worse in Muggle schoolbooks. "For all we know, though, whatever is inside that locket is immune to anything we can throw at it," Gary pointed out to his brother.
"Come on Gary," Geoff said as he stood up and pulled out his wand, "What's the worst it could be?"
"A manticore," Gary replied as Harry stood up as well with his wand out, "Or a nundu, or worse than that."
Harry had read about both those creatures in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and the mention of both creatures made Harry shiver with terror that such a creature could be locked inside that locket. He knew that neither creature was easy to subdue, let alone kill. Manticores could be murderous creatures, and nundus were known to wipe out entire villages in Africa with its diseased breath. Harry didn't want to see either come out of that locket. Of course, if either did come out of the locket, he probably would be dead before he could realize what it was.
"Look, I don't think Voldemort would expect anyone to ever get this locket out of that damn cave," Geoff pointed out, "The only reason Regulus was able to get it was because he could get past Voldemort's defenses. I don't think there is anything inside this locket to defend it. It already had enough to defend it."
And with this statement, Geoff silenced his brother, who was still aiming his rifle at the locket in Geoff's left hand. "We must destroy Voldemort's horcruxes. Otherwise, he will rule this world forever, no matter what," Harry pointed out to Gary, "We have no choice. Geoff, open the locket."
Geoff nodded as he took the key in his right and pushed it into the keyhole of Slytherin's locket. Slowly, he turned the key until everyone heard a loud clicking noise. Suddenly, another sound came out of the locket. It was the chilling sound of a man screaming as if he were being stabbed to death. And then, nothing else. The locket fell silent as Geoff let it slip out of his fingers and it hit the floor, breaking it in half.
"Well, that's it for that horcrux," Geoff said as he slumped into the chair behind him, exhausted from the adrenaline that was still running through his body, "I believe that's three destroyed, am I right Harry?"
"If Voldemort made six, that's three down and three to go," Harry replied as he sat down as well, "I destroyed his diary, Dumbledore destroyed the soul in Slytherin's ring, and now you've just destroyed the horcrux inside Slytherin's locket. Now we just have to find the other three."
"Actually, I have that covered in a way," Geoff replied, "I've done some research on items that Voldemort would find significance in, and I have determined that the remaining horcruxes are most likely Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, Rowena Ravenclaw's lost necklace, and Nagini the snake."
"Unfortunately, my brother has little idea where those horcurxes might be," Gary added as he hooked his rifle back under his trench coat, "So that is something we're going to have to figure out."
"And there is another problem," Geoff said to Harry, "Tom Riddle's Diary, without a doubt, was a horcrux. However, we have to assume that Voldemort learned of its destruction through Lucius Malfoy, who is now in custody. If Voldemort learned of that event, it is possible he created another horcrux to replace the diary."
"We have to focus on the remaining three we know exist and hope that Voldemort was overconfident," Harry responded, "The reason why he created so many horcruxes in the first place was to lessen the loss of any one of them. And he certainly hasn't learned of the ring or this locket."
"I made sure I picked up Slytherin's ring after Dumbledore's death," Geoff said, "Voldemort had no idea of that one. And Regulus was able to trick the Death Eaters and Voldemort, even in death."
"I still have the fake locket," Harry added, "Voldemort has no clue about that one, either."
Gary nodded. "So, where might we look for the three remaining items?" he asked.
"Well, they will be hidden in places which Voldemort felt held great significance to wizard history or to himself," Harry answered, "The diary was left in Lucius Malfoy's care, the ring was hidden in the Gaunt house, and the locket was in a cave where only Voldemort knows what happened."
"So, where might the other horcruxes be?" Geoff asked.
"What else is important to Voldemort's past?" Gary asked.
"Hogwarts," Harry answered, "There has to be a horcrux hidden in Hogwarts somewhere. That is the most important place to Voldemort."
"I can look around for that one soon enough," Geoff told Harry, "I know now what the presence of a horcrux feels like, so I'll be able to find it. And I know most of that castle like the back of my hand. Where else?"
"Didn't Voldemort grow up in a halfway house or something like that?" Gary asked.
"No, it was an orphanage," Harry corrected, "An orphanage in London that must have been near Vauxhall Road, I think." He recognized some of the buildings he saw in Dumbledore's memory as being in that vicinity.
"The only orphanage I know of near Vauxhall Road was condemned about a month ago," Gary responded, "I'll go check it out when I get the chance. What else?"
"Well, the only other place I can think of is the Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton," Harry said, "That is where Voldemort first killed, so there might be something there."
"Little Hangleton? That's in northern England," Geoff said, "I've got an old friend there, I'll have that checked up on."
"I'm guessing I'm going to have me meet Frank Bryce again, right?" Gary asked.
"That's right, but at your convenience, of course," Geoff replied.
"Um, Frank Bryce is dead," Harry interrupted, "He was killed by Voldemort about three years ago."
Geoff and Gary looked at Harry together with looks of utter surprise on their faces. "Oh yeah, that's right," Geoff suddenly remembered, "I completely forgot about that. Well, I guess we'll have to start from scratch on that one."
"I think we should hold off finding any of the horcruxes for the time being," Gary pointed out, "If we raise too much of a ruckus, Voldemort will realize what we're up to and counter our every move."
"Good point, my brother," Geoff replied, "We'll just have to distract him for a while by destroying his infrastructure."
"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked.
"We're going to kill some Death Eaters, and use them to send a message to Voldemort," Gary replied, "That's what we're going to do. Any objections?"
At first, Harry wanted no part of this plan. He never wanted to kill others in cold blood, which is what he was being asked to do now. But he then gave some more thought to his situation. If he was going up against Voldemort, he would have to get through his followers first. Severus Snape and the ruthless and sadistic Bellatrix Lestrange were among those followers, and that was just the beginning, as far as Harry knew. He was going to need all the help he could get to thin out their ranks before making a run at their leader. This was something he would just have to do.
"I don't look forward to this, but I suppose we really have no choice," Harry responded after a moment, "It's kill or be killed from this point until it ends."
"Yes, that is a good assessment, though I hate to put it that way," Geoff said as he stood up and walked toward Harry, "And that's why I'm going to teach you a few spells you'll need to have in your bag of tricks for the road to come. So, lets begin our training."
--
From the pages of the Daily Prophet:
UPSET OF THE MILLENNIUM!
UNITED STATES DEFEATS IRELAND IN MADRID!
In what can only be described as the upset of the millennium in Quidditch, the over achieving players from the United States of America, led by world-class seeker Maximus Brankovitch III of the Fitchburg Finches, defeated reigning champion Ireland in the third and final game of the 423rd Quidditch World Cup by the count of 150-140.
"This is one of the greatest moments of my life!" Brankovitch exclaimed to reporters on the pitch as the stands in Madrid, Spain erupted into bedlam, "This win is going to do wonders for Quidditch in America. I've always dreamed of winning this game. Ever since I was old enough to ride a broom, I saw myself here, on this stage, winning it all. But this . . . this is more than I had ever dreamed of. The reality is just overwhelming!"
The US team had a tough road to travel to the final, as they were not favored to win any of their games from the quarterfinal onward. However, they defeated continental rival Canada in straight games in the quarterfinal round, and then won the last two games of a three-game set against powerhouse Bulgaria in the semifinal to face reigning champion Ireland for the cup.
The USA team came out of the box with a surprise win in the first game of the final, defeating Ireland 460-390 in a game which the Irish team admitted they had overlooked. They did not make the same mistake in the second game, which they thoroughly dominated by the count of 560-50.
"We went down 160-0 in that game within six minutes, and I had to start playing offense and defense," Brankovitch explained of that game after it was finished, "And the Snitch didn't appear for a long while and when it did, I couldn't get it since we were down so much. I could only keep it away from Aidan Lynch for so long and he eventually got it. I have to apologize to all our fans back in the States, we really sucked out there today, but I guarantee that we will come home with the cup."
Many labeled this claim as overly optimistic, as the US team entered the third game 120-point underdogs to an Irish team that was simply unstoppable two days earlier. And that was with the assumption that a disgusted Brankovitch would catch the Snitch with his team down 270 points. With more than 120,000 screaming fans in attendance and hundreds of millions more listening over WWN worldwide, the United States came out with an unusual game plan.
"Our goal from the beginning of this game was to play solid defense, first of all, and then to burn time. Scoring was not a priority at all except for getting the Snitch when it appeared and hoping that we weren't down 150 or more when it did appear. We knew that Ireland's chasers were just too good to play their game," Brankovitch explained at the post game press conference, "And our strategy just barely worked."
After an hour and a half of tiring play, the US was down 140-0 when the Snitch appeared for the first time. For the next 30 seconds, Brankovitch and Lynch battled for position in trying to capture the small golden orb when, as the American was starting to gain the upper hand, Lynch elbowed Brankovitch in the chest. A foul would have been called for cobbing, but Brankovitch clutched his neck and dove to the pitch immediately, coughing all the way down. The other 13 players and the officials gathered around as finally Maximus coughed up the Golden Snitch. He immediately pounced on it, ending the game and the Quidditch World Cup.
Ireland protested the capture of the Snitch, but the officials would have none of it. "Lynch's action at the end of this game was completely unacceptable," head official Jose Rivera stated at the post match press conference, "He deliberately tried to knock Brankovitch off his broom when he saw that he was not going to get the Snitch. We were about to call a foul when Brankovitch half-swallowed the Golden Snitch. There is precedent for this kind of capture of the Golden Snitch, as demonstrated by Mr. Harry Potter in a Hogwarts House match in Scotland in November 1991. Mr. Potter nearly swallowed the Snitch and was at that point credited with its capture. Mr. Brankovitch captured the Snitch before a foul was called, so he was credited with the capture."
Although Ireland wanted the foul to count, the US had the right to decline, which they did, ending the game with the score United States-150, Ireland-140. The USA had beaten Ireland two games to one in the final and had won the Quidditch World Cup for the first time in the history of the cup.
--
Author's Notes: Actually, the 1997 Quidditch World Cup, according to Quidditch Through the Ages, should be the 132nd edition of the competition, not the 423rd. This discrepancy between Goblet of Fire and Quidditch Through the Ages has not been explained as of yet, as far as I am aware. Further, the Quidditch World Cup should not have occurred in 1994, but would have taken place a year earlier during the events of Prisoner of Azkaban. Again, no explanation has been given for this discrepancy.
Also out of the pages of Quidditch Through the Ages are the Fitchburg Finches, who are a rather dominant Quidditch team in the United States, winning the US Cup seven times in its history. I mention this because I happen to live in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, home of the Finches. The team used to play their home games in Coolidge Stadium in Coolidge Park, which is right down the road from my house. However, with muggles using the park more and more for their own sports, such as baseball, street hockey and soccer, the Finches decided to move away from Coolidge Stadium. They now play their home games in Coggshall Arena, hidden in the forests of Coggshall Park, and holds up to 20,000 people. They have a bitter rivalry with the Salem Sorcerers, who are based in Salem, Massachusetts.
Well, that's about all for now. Until next time, read, review, and enjoy!