Quidditch

When November rolled around, the weather became very cold. The mountains that surrounded the school even became icy grey and the lake was like chilled steel.

The ground would be covered in frost every morning and Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows when he would defrost broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch, all bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves and humongous beaver skin boots.

This was also when Quidditch season had begun. When Saturday comes, Arthur will end up in his first match after all the weeks of training. The match would be Gryffindor vs Slytherin. If Gryffindor wins, they'd move to second place in the House Championship.

Barely anyone saw Arthur play, which is because Wood decided to make him their secret weapon. However, the news that he's playing Seeker leaked somehow. And with all those who said he'd be brilliant or saying they'd run around underneath him with a mattress, he started feeling pressure, though he was able to deal with it, knowing he was good on a broom.

As David promised, he apologised to Chrys and explained why he said all those things. Apparently, his family helped him out on various things growing up. It all made him think he had to entirely depend on others, but he wanted to prove that he can do things on his own, so when Chrys helped in Charms, it got to him.

Chrys accepted his apology and ended up becoming a great friend to the two boys. She became a big help to them with their homework, giving the odd correction or two and fact checking since she's immensely knowledgeable.

Whenever Wood didn't have Arthur go through last minute Quidditch practice, he'd read Quidditch Through the Ages to calm his nerves and go over everything again.

In the book, he learned that there's seven hundred ways to commit a foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473, Seekers are normally the smallest and fastest players and that most serious accidents happened to them and also that even though people rarely died playing the sport, referees were known to have vanished and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert in Africa.

It turns out that Chrys actually was relaxed when it comes to breaking the rules, knowing that sometimes they'll just hinder from doing the right thing and is very friendly, not wanting people to be annoyed with her for being a know it all.

The day before the first Quidditch match, the three were out in the freezing courtyard during break, Chrys having conjured up a bright blue fire, which could be carried around in a jam jar. They all stood with their backs to it, getting warm when Snape was crossing the yard.

Arthur noticed immediately that he was limping. He, David and Chrys all moved closer together to block the fire from view, so sure that it wasn't allowed. This, though, attracted Snape's attention, mainly because of their guilty expressions and he limps over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he would just look for any reason to tell them off.

"What's that you've got there, Pendergast?" He asked. Arthur showed the Quidditch Through the Ages book, which Snape snatched from him.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school. Five points from Gryffindor." He sneered.

"Bloody git. He made that up." David muttered angrily. Arthur agreed with him as he watched Snape limp away.

"I hope whatever's wrong with his leg is really hurting him." He added bitterly.

The Gryffindor common room was really noisy later in the evening. The three sat next to a window, with Chrys checking over the boys' homework for Charms. Of course, she didn't let them copy what she did, reasoning that they wouldn't really learn, which they understood.

The whole time, though, Arthur felt restless. Reading Quidditch Through the Ages was able to help calm his nerves about what will come tomorrow. He isn't even afraid of Snape, he just despises him so he's just gonna go get the book back.

He got up, told David and Chrys where he's going and headed to the staff room. He hoped Snape would give him the book back, especially if there were other teachers there, since they're more reasonable, unlike Snape.

Once he reached there, he knocked on the door. There was no answer, so he knocked again. Nothing.

Thinking that Snape might've left the book in there, he may as well try so he pushed the door ajar and looked inside, only to bear witness to a horrible sight.

Snape was inside with Filch, holding his robes above his knees. What made it a horrible sight was that one of Snape's legs was bloody and mangled with Filch handing him bandages.

"Blasted thing. How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?" Snape questioned. Arthur tried to shut the door as quietly as he could but….

"PENDERGAST!" Snape's face was twisted horribly with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg.

"I was just wondering if I could get the book back."

"GET OUT! OUT!"

Arthur left without hesitation, knowing if he stayed any longer, he'd lose more house points from Gryffindor.

As he sprinted back to the common room, all that he could think about was that Snape was talking about the three headed dog in the forbidden corridor on the third floor.

"Well, did you get it- Whoa, what's wrong?" David asked once Arthur made it back, seeing his shocked face.

Quietly, he told them what he had seen.

"This means that he tried getting past that three headed dog on Hallowe'en! We saw him heading to the third floor. He must be after what that dog's guarding. I'm willing to bet he let that troll in to be a diversion." He then theorised, making Chrys' eyes widen.

"But-but why would he bother trying to steal something Dumbledore is trying to keep safe?" She questioned.

"Who knows, but I still wouldn't put anything past that greasy haired git. Just what is he after? What is that dog guarding?" David replied.

Despite the fact that tomorrow is the Quidditch match, that many questions are racing in his head and remembering Snape's expression when he saw his bloodied leg, Arthur found himself being able to sleep with ease, probably because he was somewhat exhausted.

The next morning was bright and cold, which was expected. The Great Hall was filled with the delicious smell of fried sausages and bacon and there was cheerful chatter from everyone looking forward to what they hope will be a good Quidditch match.

"Just remember to focus solely on finding the Snitch." David said to Arthur, who was in the middle of having breakfast as a way to deal with his nerves of playing in front of everyone in an hour's time.

"Also, you need to avoid the Beaters and Bludgers in particular. Slytherin will play dirty any chance they have." Mike said as he joined the trio. It honestly didn't surprise Arthur that Slytherin would play dirty.

By eleven o'clock, the entire school were all in the seats and stands around the Quidditch pitch. A lot of students had binoculars as well, wanting to get a good look when the game starts.

David and Chrys joined Mike, Neville, Seamus and Dean, the West Ham fan in the top row of seats. As a surprise for Arthur, they painted a large banner on a sheet that Scabbers had ruined. It said Arthur Pendergast: The Blazing Seeker and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done both a large Gryffindor lion and a dragon underneath. The dragon was clearly a reference to King Arthur, whose last name is Pendragon. Chrys even performed a tricky charm that made the paint flash different colours.

Meanwhile, in the changing rooms, Arthur and the whole team started changing into their scarlet Quidditch uniforms (Slytherin playing in green) and Arthur's robes had the number seven on it.

Wood then cleared his throat to silence everyone.

"Okay, men."

"And women." said Angelina Johnson, one of the three female Chasers in the team. Arthur liked her a lot. He always noticed how she and Jack were, noting the chemistry the two had between each other.

"And women. This is it." Wood agreed.

"The big one." Jack nodded.

"What we've been waiting for." Kevin backed his twin.

"This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it." Wood said, glaring at everyone as though he was saying 'or else'.

"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."

Arthur followed behind Jack and Kevin out of the changing room, so glad his legs weren't giving way, and walked onto the pitch where loud cheering rang the air.

Madam Hooch was going to referee the match. She stood in the middle of the pitch, waiting for both teams, broom in hand.

"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you." She said once everyone gathered around her. She seemed to speak specifically to the Slytherin captain, a fifth year named Marcus Flint, who Arthur thought looked a lot like a human troll and had big teeth.

Out of the corner of his eye, he turned and saw the banner that read Arthur Pendergast: The Blazing Seeker and his heart skipped a beat, feeling more driven. And seeing the dragon instantly made him think of King Arthur.

"Mount your brooms, please."

Arthur did just that instantly and when Hooch gave a loud blast with her silver whistle, fifteen brooms all rose up, getting higher and higher in the air. And then they were off.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor. What an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too-"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

That was Lee Jordan doing the commentary, being closely watched by McGonagall.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve, back to Johnson, no, Slytherin have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes. Flint flying like an eagle up there, he's going to sc-no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and Gryffindor take the Quaffle, that's Chaser Katie 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 Slytherin, that's Adrian Pucey speeding off towards the goalposts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger, sent his way by Kevin Merlon, his longer hair gives him away, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes, she's really flying, dodges a speeding Bludger, the goalposts are ahead. Come on, now, Angelina. Keeper Bletchley dives, misses, GRYFFINDOR SCORE!"

All of Gryffindor cheers in the cold air while all of Slytherin hissed and moaned.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!" Both David and Chrys squeezed together so that Hagrid had enough space to join them.

"Bin watchin' from me hut. But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?" Hagrid said, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck.

"Not yet. Arthur hasn't had much to do." David shook his head.

"He is avoiding trouble, which is good." Mike added.

Far up above, Arthur was gliding, keeping his eyes wide open, looking everywhere for the Snitch. This was part of a plan he and Wood made.

"Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch. We don't want you attacked before you have to be." Wood had told him.

When Angelina scored, Arthur decided to make some moves to express that he's glad they scored before he went back to staring to find the Snitch. He once caught a flash of gold but he knew instantly that it was a reflection from one of the Merlon's wristwatches.

Then there was a Bludger that pelted his way, but he dodged it with ease and Jack chased after it.

"Nice dodge!" He yelled as he beat the Bludger towards Flint furiously.

"Slytherin in possession. Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Merlons and Chaser Bell and speeds towards the-wait a moment, was that the Snitch?" Lee Jordan said.

A murmur started ringing through the crowd as Adrian Pucey also dropped the Quaffle, being too busy to look over his shoulder at the flash of gold that passed his left ear.

Arthur saw it the moment Jordan mentioned it. With a true rush of excitement, he dived downwards after the streak of gold. Terence Higgs, the Slytherin Seeker, saw it too. The two were neck in neck as they hurtled towards the Snitch. All of the Chasers seemed to have forgotten their roles, hanging in mid air to watch.

Because his broom was faster, Arthur was ahead, seeing the little round ball's wings fluttering. He then put on an extra spurt of speed-

WHAM! A deafening roar of pure rage echoed from every Gryffindor because Flint blocked Arthur on purpose, making his broom spin off course and hold on for dear life.

"Foul!" The Gryffindors screamed.

Hooch was talking down to Flint angrily and ordered a free shot at the goalposts for Gryffindor. The Snitch had disappeared from sight from all of this confusion.

Down in the seats, Dean started yelling for a red card.

"Dean, this ain't football!" Mike had to remind him, feeling fury at Slytherin.

"They oughta change the rules, Flint coulda knocked Arthur outta the air." Hagrid sided with Dean.

Lee Jordan, of course, didn't even bother not being objective and unbiased.

"So, after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating-"

"Jordan!" McGonagall growled.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul-"

"Jordan, I'm warning you-"

"Alright, alright. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue to play, Gryffindor still in possession."

Arthur dodged another Bludger, which was spinning dangerously past his head, when something unexpected and bad happened.

His broom suddenly gave a frightening lurch. For a second, he thought he was going to fall off so he gripped his broom tightly with both of his hands and knees.

It then happened again. It was like the broom was trying to throw him off. Arthur knew this isn't normal for brooms, especially a Nimbus Two Thousand. He tried to turn back towards the Gryffindor goalposts and try to get Wood to call a timeout but his broom was just too completely out of his control.

He wasn't able to turn it or direct it at all. It zigzagged through the air and every once in a while made violent swishing movements, almost unseating him. As this happened, Lee was still commentating.

"Slytherin in possession, Flint with the Quaffle, passes Spinnet, passes Bell, hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose. Only joking, Professor. Slytherin score, oh no…."

All of Slytherin were cheering. No one had seemed to have noticed that Arthur's broom was acting oddly. It carried him higher and higher away from the game, jerking and twitching as it did so.

"Dunno what Arthur thinks he's doing. If I didn' know any better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom… but he can't have…" Hagrid mumbled, looking through his binoculars.

That was when people pointed up at Arthur. His broom started rolling over and over, barely able to hold on. The whole crowd then gasped when his broom gave a wild jerk, making Arthur swing off it. He was now dangling for dear life from it with just one hand.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus asked.

"No way. Only powerful dark magic can do something like that, and it ain't a kid." Mike replied.

Upon hearing these words, Chrys grabbed Hagrid's binoculars and looked through the whole crowd until she gasped when spotting a particular person.

"I knew it. Look!" She whispered to David, who grabbed the binoculars and looked to see Snape in one of the tall stands. His eyes were fixed on Arthur and muttered non stop under his breath. Though he also noticed Quirrell staring hard at Arthur.

"He's jinxing the broom." Chrys said.

"What do we do?" He asked, growing worried.

"Just leave it to me." She said, bolting off. David used the binoculars to focus on Arthur. His broom vibrated so hard that it was now impossible to hang on much longer.

The crowd were on their feet, terrified as the Merlons flew up to see if they could try and pull Arthur to safety yet every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher. They decided to drop lower and circle underneath him, hoping to catch him if he fell.

Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five more times with no one noticing, taking advantage in the worst way.

"Come on, come on." David muttered, desperate for Chrys to do whatever she's going to do.

Speaking of Chrys, she fought to get to the stand where Snape was and climbed up the steps to get to where he was. She didn't even stop to say sorry when she knocked Quirrell headfirst into the row in front. Upon reaching Snape, she crouched and pulled her wand out, whispering a few chosen words. This caused bright blue flames to shoot out and onto the hem of Snape's robes.

It took him roughly thirty seconds to realise that he was on fire. A sudden yelp was all she needed to know that she'd done her job. She then scooped the fire off of him and into a little jar in her pocket before making her way back to David. Snape would never know what exactly happened.

Up in the air, it proved to be enough as Arthur was now able to get back onto his broom.

"Hey, Neville! You can look now!" David said. Neville was sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the previous five minutes.

Arthur was seen speeding towards the ground when everyone saw him clap his hand over his mouth as though he was about to throw up.

He had hit the pitch on all fours before coughing and then a golden ball fell into his hand.

"I'VE GOT THE SNITCH!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, waving his hand above his head to show that he indeed got the Snitch. This caused the game to end in confusion.

Flint complained, howling that he didn't catch it, that he nearly swallowed it, but no one listened to him as Arthur technically didn't break any rules and Lee Jordan was more than happy to shout the results, that Gryffindor had won with one hundred and seventy points against Slytherin's sixty.

After the match, the trio were at Hagrid's hut, having a cup of strong tea.

"Look, it was Snape. We both saw him. He seemed to be cursing your broomstick, muttering and not taking your eyes off of you." David explained.

"Rubbish. Why would Snape do somethin' like that?" Hagrid shrugged off.

The three all looked at each other, wordlessly agreeing that they had to come clean about something.

"I found out something about him. He was trying to get past that three headed dog at Hallowe'en. We think he was trying to steal what it's guarding." Arthur revealed. This actually made Hagrid drop the teapot.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" He asked, sounding stern.

"Fluffy?! That thing has a name?!" David questioned. What kind of a name is that for something so big and scary.

"Yeah, he's mine. Bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"

"The what?" Arthur asked when he cut himself off.

"Now, don't ask me any more. That's top secret, that is." He said gruffly.

"But Snape is trying to steal it."

"Rubbish. Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"Whether or not he's a teacher, I know a jinx when I see one. You've got to make eye contact to cast one and Snape didn't blink even once. We saw it!" Chrys argued back.

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong! I don' know why Arthur's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh, yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicholas Flamel-"

"So someone else is involved, isn't there?" Arthur cut him off, feeling like he had heard that somewhere.

Of course, Hagrid looked furious with himself for slipping that name out.

I feel like I have to say that Jack is Fred's replacement and Kevin is George's, felt like I had to clarify for those that may be confused.

And of course, we know David's weakness/flaw. I think it would be better compared to Ron's jealousy and such.