I'm surprised. For the 4th of July, I got an entire morning and afternoon all to myself! I managed to get another chapter in!
When the day of the first match finally came, Naruto was in a great mood. Over the past months since he got his Firebolt, he went from a boy who loved flying to one who loved Quidditch. What's not to like; it has flying balls out to get you and high speed Snitch chases!
However, Ron had lost some confidence that morning, and Slytherin's plans to capitalize on it were too underhanded. In addition to Malfoy's song, they had made silver badges with the chorus written in bold. Since he had declared Harry his Quidditch rival, Naruto made his way to the Gryffindor table, the first time in weeks.
"I can't be a good Keeper to save my life," Naruto heard Ron mumble. The pressure of both the annoying Slytherins and the hopeful Gryffindors was getting to him. Surprisingly to Naruto, Ron hadn't even touched his plate.
"That's where you're wrong," Naruto spoke up. Ron's eyes, as well as the rest of the table, turned to look at the newcomer. While a couple were, at first, upset that a Slytherin was approaching them on game day, they saw it was Naruto and were OK. However, he was also probably the only one not to jinx, curse, or otherwise mess with a Gryffindor player yet. Was he going to pull something right now, in front of all the teachers? "Lots of clouds today, great weather to see the Quaffle beg to be blocked. Good luck out there, even if you don't need it!" He then shook Ron's hand, who took Naruto's nervously. Naruto leaned in and whispered a message. "Remember what I told you a few weeks ago. If the Slytherins taunt you, it's not because you're bad, but because you're good. The more and the worse they taunt, the better you really are."
With those words, Ron gave a more lively thanks and started eating. While some Gryffindors initially were worried about what Naruto leaned in to say, they saw its effect and liked Naruto a little more. Harry then stood up in his seat. "Thanks for that Naruto. Have a good game out there as well."
Naruto took Harry's outstretched hand. "You too Quidditch Rival!" He then leaned in, like he did with Ron. However, this news depressed Harry a little. "Don't let him see the badges. You should also find a spell that will prevent Ron from hearing what they'll say on the field." With those words, Naruto gave Harry and encouraging clap on the back, and returned to his House Table. Some saw Harry's mood change slightly, and were concerned about a possible threatening. Harry, however, shrugged them off, saying they'd know what Naruto said when they got to the pitch. He didn't want to reveal Naruto's warnings about Ron when said boy was right next to him.
As Naruto returned to his side of the Great Hall, Luna was making her way to the Gryffindor Table. "Hello Naruto," she greeted airily.
"Hey Luna! Excited for today's game?" Naruto asked her. She was one of the few, if not only, friends he made with the Ravenclaws.
"Of course. I'm cheering for Gryffindor," she told him, pointing to her Lion Head hat. "Sorry Naruto, but the rest of the team tend to play rough and fowl."
"I get it," Naruto agreed. "Well, I'll see you on the field!"
"Of course Naruto," Luna agreed, with a hint of pleasure as if the thought of not seeing Naruto was silly. She then made her way over to the Gryffindor table. Almost as soon as Naruto sat down, a loud roar came from the other side of the Hall. Some Slytherins were startled, including Naruto. However, he soon realized where the roar came from, laughed, and sat down.
When breakfast was over, Naruto went down towards the field to change. Along the way, before he even exited the Hall, he saw Hermione talk cheerfully to Ron and kiss him. 'Guess that old saying was right about two people fighting.' The grounds over the past few weeks were extremely chilly, but today was a little different. Sure there was frost and overcast, but it wasn't biting cold. Ron wouldn't have to worry about frostbite while saving the hoops today.
Inside the Slytherin locker room, Naruto and the team were all changed up and ready to go out. However, Montague wanted to have a chat with the team beforehand. "Alright everyone, listen up! The Gryffindor team, as we all know, is almost unchanged. So we should all know how to play against them." Quite a few teammates cheered their agreement. "The only change is their Keeper, Ron Weasley." A couple players then shouted out that Weasley was their King. "Pucey, Warrington, and myself will be hitting him hard. Crabbe, Goyle, there's no need to take him out like we did Oliver Wood." He got two grunts in response. "Let's get out there and take them by storm!"
They lined up at the pitch entrance and got ready to fly. Naruto was standing next to his friend Adrian. "Little scared Naruto?"
"No way!" Naruto boasted, trying to mask a small amount of anxiety. "I'm ready to fly!"
"Good," Adrian complimented Naruto. "I was nervous my first game."
"How'd that go?" Naruto asked him.
"Pretty well," Adrian replied. "I'm one of the few Slytherins that doesn't fowl or cheat. Fred and George, the Gryffindor Beaters, went easy on me for that unless I had the Quaffle."
"And you should play a little rougher," Montague spoke up. "We need players that are not just great fliers, but are also great hitters."
Adrian and Naruto would have responded, but the doors to the pitch opened wide. They mounted their brooms and shot off, doing the normal 360 degree looping entrance before taking their spots. The Chasers for both teams made a circle around center field, the beaters a square a little above them, the keepers farther back but still within the start boundaries, and the seekers up high. Naruto gave Harry a friendly wave, and he nodded back. The Bludgers and Snitch were released a good 30 seconds before the game started. Luckily, for official matches, Bludgers were charmed not to attack before the Quaffle was dropped and caught, and were lazily and randomly circling and turning on the outskirts of the field.
When the Quaffle was released, Lee Jordan started his duty as announcer. "Johnson got the Quaffle, that remarkable girl. I keep telling her that for years, but she never agreed to go out... DID NARUTO SEE THE SNITCH?!"
Harry, was was ascending and circling alongside Naruto to see better, turned and saw said boy diving at an angle towards where the chasers had caught the ball. Of course Harry would have missed looking there; the Snitch was hidden under the players! He quickly joined the dive. Since Harry had his Firebolt for years, he had much more experience than Naruto in both super fast flying and Quidditch and quickly caught up. They were side to side, picking up speed fast. However, as they got close to the ground, Naruto spun 180 degrees and pulled out of the dive.
Harry realized what happened almost as soon as Lee Jordan did. "I. Don't. BELIEVE IT! Naruto just pulled a Wronski Feint with a Sloth Roll! The Snitch wasn't there, but in the direction he rolled towards!" The direction Naruto turned towards was also the direction Harry was originally facing and flying. Naruto couldn't turn around without Harry noticing or losing speed, and that could have given Harry the advantage in a speed dive. Desperate, Harry tried to pull up and do a sharp turn. However, he lost a lot of speed doing that, and was far behind by the time he was facing the right direction. However, Harry saw Naruto with a frustrated look on his face. "Looks like that sweet move cost Naruto the Snitch! He lost sight of it during the dive, and that mistake cost him. But great show Naruto! Where are we... Alicia Spinnet has the ball, just dodged a Bludger, heading for the Slytheirn hoops. The crowd's loving all this exitement - what's that they're singing?"
The whole stadium went silent to hear said song. "Weasley cannot save a thing, he cannot block a single ring. That's why Slytherins all sing Weasley is our King! Weasley was..."
"ALICIA PASSES TO ANGELICA!" Lee started shouting. Harry, while boiling mad at the song, was grateful he was trying to cover it up. The Gryffindors were also doing their best, shouting and cheering wildly. While Harry and Naruto circled each other, looking for the Snitch, Naruto would sometimes start a dive, but break off after a second or two. Looking in the direction Naruto was facing each time, he saw a glitter of gold facial paint among the Gryffindor fans; the apparent cause of said dives.
"THE SLYTHERIN CAPTAIN MONTAGUE TAKES THE QUAFFLE, PASSES TO PUCEY. BLOCK IT RON!"
"WEASLEY CANNOT SAVE A THING! THAT'S WHY SLYTHERINS ALL SING WEASLEY IS OUR KING!"
"THAT'S IT!" Naruto roared, heading towards the Slytherin stands. Harry was surprised; he himself was so livid at the song, he didn't realize Naruto was in the same mood. Naruto looked the Slytherin audience in the eye. "If you guys want to win by Quaffle points so much, I guess you don't want me to catch the Snitch!" The threat of not getting 150 free points quieted most of the Slytherins, but some didn't hear him. "That's right! Either you stop singing, or I stop playing!" Fred, or was it George, was about ready to send a Bludger to Naruto's unsuspecting back, but he heard that and decided to instead hit it off in another direction.
Some of the Slytherins didn't believe Naruto and continued singing. Ron let in goal after goal. Then Harry saw it; the Snitch was low by the Slytherin hoops. When the crowd saw Harry dive, they knew he wasn't bluffing. The quiet Slytherins were now desperately trying to silence their still singing companions. It wasn't til Harry's chase of the Snitch made him loop back towards Naruto when the singing was finally stilled. Glad that they stopped, Naruto eagerly joined the chase, and the Snitch turned towards center field and bottom five feet. Now neck to neck, Naruto and Harry streamed shoulder to shoulder after it, neither bumping the other. When the Snitch, still moving forward, drifted past the boys to their right, which was Harry's side, Naruto dropped a little lower and did a Sloth Roll to get on Harry's other side without losing speed or altitude. However, the Snitch then turned left, and Harry, now at the advantage, got hold of the little ball.
Right hand held high, Harry showed off his prize with Naruto near his side. Madam Hooch, who saw the catch, signaled the end of the game. Gryffindor won by less than 100 points! Gryffindor was cheering; they won even with the Slytherin's horrible song. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were praising how well the Gryffindors and Naruto played. The Slytherins were fuming. If they had cut their song off earlier, Naruto could have caught the Snitch, which would end the game with Gryffindor having 0 points. The rest of the Gryffindor team closed in and cheered Harry. Fred and George then turned to Naruto, thanking him for standing up for their brother.
Glad the game was played relatively fairly, Naruto congratulated Harry and shook his free hand. However, mid shake, Naruto saw Crabbe wind up and a Bludger right next to him, no longer moving due to the game's end. "Harry look out!" Naruto cried, trying to drag Harry out of the way. But it was too late. A heavy blow sent the ball right into Harry's back, strong enough to knock them both off their brooms. Naruto managed to catch Harry and land safely, but Harry still had the air knocked clean out of him. Naruto suspected that Crabbe might have used chakra to enhance that blow, subconsciously or consciously, but didn't want to draw his wand in front of the teachers to check.
Mad, Naruto got back on his broom and confronted Crabbe. "What was that for?! The whistle blew, the game's over! Gryffindor won, fair and square." Madam Hooch seemed to agree, and flew in to chagrin the beater.
Montague also flew in and led Naruto away towards the locker room entrance. Naruto noticed Malfoy walk onto the field, but stayed with his captain. Still on the field, Montague turned towards his star Seeker, a little cross. "They only won because you stuck your neck out for that Weasley boy. How is that fair?"
"Because," Naruto countered, "the Slytherin stands were messing with his game! He would have blocked some of those shots if not for that horrible song! It was dirty and rotten!"
"But crowd calls are allowed," Montague answered, now mad. " 'Accidents' and other aerial bumps are also legal. We play Quidditch to its fullest, while trying to avoid fouling! Even if you're the best Seeker Slytherin had in a century, you still have lots to learn about Quidditch."
"I know enough, thank you!" Naruto said, turning back towards his Gryffindor friends. However, what he saw shocked him. Madam Hooch had drawn her wand to protect Malfoy from both Harry and George's charge, and sent them to McGonagall's office. In the stands, he saw Umbridge, with a gleeful look on her face, exit the stands and follow the boys and McGonagall back to the castle. Naruto then turned back to Montague, who had a large grin on his face. Naruto could tell he had something to do with it, even if it was mostly Malfoy's idea. "If Harry's kicked off his team for that, then I'm off this team as well! Good luck finding somebody to replace 'the best Seeker Slytherin had in a century'!" As he dismounted and marched off the field, he saw Malfoy, who had overheard that last bit, talking to Montague.
After that day's Chakra lesson, Naruto walked with Harry and his friends back to the castle. "What happened?"
"... I'm banned from Quidditch," Harry told him. "Fred and George as well."
"How can McGonagall do that!" Naruto asked. "I thought she'd take away points and give you two detentions!"
"Not McGonagall, Umbrige," Harry revealed, with a hint of anger in his voice. That name also made the other three angry. "She also confiscated our brooms!"
"Bloody hell! That's not fair!" Ron swore.
"What about Crabbe? What he did was even worse, he should be banned as well!" Hermione asked.
"But he wasn't," Harry sulked. "He only got lines!"
"Well, that'd kill him," Naruto told Harry. "Remember Ron? He's probably writing, right now, 'I must not play Quidditch like a baboon's backside.' over and over!" Remembering the train ride, Ron and Hermione laughed a little. However, their sunken mood didn't let them laugh as long as they normally would.
Snow then started falling. Rather than beautiful, it made this cold conversation chilling. Ron then spoke up. "It's all my fault. If I wasn't such a lousy Keeper, if I didn't listen to that song, then you guys wouldn't be banned."
"That's not true Ron," Harry tried to cheer him up. "You're a great Keeper. That song made Naruto and myself furious too." Said boy nodded his agreement. "You didn't make me attack Malfoy either." By this time, they reached the main entrance, and they had to take their separate paths to their Common Rooms.
In the Slytherin Common room, Montague was waiting for Naruto. "Well, did you think over what we said?"
"Yes," Naruto answered. "Harry's off his team, so I'm leaving ours." Without another word, and ignoring the sputtering captain, Naruto went to bed. Behind him, Malfoy made his way to the Quidditch Captain.
So, how did Naruto, and myself, do for this match? I now fully understand why JK Rowling doesn't like the matches; too much of the same thing. Sorry if this turns out to be one of the few matches I actually detail.
Important Review Replies: none due to no big reviews, even with 5000 views over just the past 2.5 days!
Peace out!
AnonymousGX