CHAPTER 20: AN ARM IS NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT DEBONED
The anticipation hanging in the air was palpable at breakfast on Saturday morning. It was the day of the first Quidditch match of the year, and it showed in the students. Almost the entirety of houses Gryffindor and Slytherin were obviously fixated on their teams, giving encouragements and shouting insults towards the opposing team from across the Great Hall. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, meanwhile, were busy discussing which team they'd be supporting, along with the rumours that Gryffindor's team had received new, faster brooms. More than a few students had not-so-surreptitiously walked past the Gryffindor table trying to get a peek and come back to their friends to report that the brooms looked the same as always. This was pretty much always met with a response along the lines of, 'but my friend seemed so sure about it!'
This was the atmosphere Canada found himself in. Really, he just wanted to have some pancakes, but apparently fate had decided that today was the day people actually remembered him, and remembered that he was friends with Harry, so he was constantly being asked to confirm the accuracy of the rumours once and for all. At first he tried his very best to become invisible, but that didn't seem to be working at the moment, so then he decided to pull a leaf from Japan's book: Be polite while giving an unclear answer that is neither 'yes' nor 'no'. It seemed to work, since the people asking him questions walked away looking satisfied.
Kumaneuron was enjoying the attention, at least. Once people got over the initial shock of seeing a bear at the table, they'd always give him a pat on the head at the very least. Several girls started squealing and hugging him as soon as they set eyes on him, gushing about how adorable he was. Canada couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Some of those girls were really pretty. Then he realized he was jealous of a bear and tried to squash those thoughts.
Despite all the interruptions, Canada eventually finished his breakfast. He checked his watch. 10:45 already?! Oh, maple leaf, I need to get to the pitch! He grabbed Kuma from the girl currently crushing him and hurried out of the Great Hall. The weather wasn't particularly great, and it looked like there could be a storm later, but it seemed to be a long ways off. Harry would be fine. At least, that was what Canada kept telling himself.
He made his way to the stands and spotted America, Ron and Hermione all sitting together. He hurried over to join them, saying, "Hey, guys. How's Harry?"
The three of them jumped at the sound of his voice, but relaxed almost immediately once they saw it was him. "Oh, hi, Matthew," said Ron. "He was looking pretty good last I saw him. Those broom upgrades really brought up the team's spirits."
America grinned, clapping Ron on the shoulder with enough force to send him spilling out of his seat. "Thanks, dude! The Slytherin brooms are still a bit faster, but our team can make up for that with sheer awesomeness!" He glanced at Hermione. "Oh, come on, what did I do wrong now?!"
Hermione blinked in confusion. "Huh? I didn't say anything."
America pointed at her eyes. "You've got that 'You've done something wrong and I'm disappointed in you' look."
Hermione slapped his hand away and said, "I suppose you get that look a lot, then?" America nodded and she continued, "It's just… is this whole upgrade thing actually allowed?"
America nodded again. "Yup! I talked to Professor McGonagall about it. At first she said it sounded like broom tampering, but then I pointed out that they're already allowing a huge discrepancy in broom performance by having students buy their own, which I still think is a bad idea, so really all I'm doing is evening out the playing field. She wants Gryffindor to win just as much as we do, so she told me to go for it."
This time it was Canada who blinked in confusion. "You actually asked for permission before doing something possibly against the rules?"
"Yeah, well, the whole 'it's better to ask forgiveness than permission' proverb doesn't sound quite as good when you're talking to someone who can turn you into a toad." America scanned the pitch. "So when do you think they're gonna start playing?"
His question was quickly answered as the Slytherin team walked onto the pitch. The babble of discussion among the crowd transformed into a roar. Canada's first instinct was to clap politely for the sake of good sportsmanship, but nobody else seemed to have the same idea. While the Slytherin supporters cheered, the Gryffindor supporters, who seemed to encompass three-quarters of the school, booed and hissed. Torn between his natural politeness and his dislike of the Slytherins, Canada decided to just be very quiet and hope nobody would question his reluctance to show his loyalty to the Gryffindor team. Nobody did. When Harry and co. walked out onto the pitch less than a minute later, however, he felt free to cheer and hoot and holler with everyone else. The Slytherins' booing could barely be heard over the tumult. Or maybe Canada was just going deaf from standing next to America.
The state of his hearing aside, the team captains seemed to have shaken hands and were mounting their brooms. The roar of the crowd died down as everyone saved up their breath for when the players took off. As soon as they kicked off, the roar returned threefold. Everyone in a twenty-yard radius of America in particular covered their ears and shot him a dirty look. Once the initial cheering died down, there seemed to be quite a bit of discussion about the suddenly increased speed of the Gryffindor brooms. The Slytherins' jaws nearly hit the ground when Angelina Johnson sped past one of their Chasers at a speed her broom had likely never hit before. As the Gryffindor team proved themselves at the very least equal to their opponents, America's grin grew wider and wider until Canada was seriously worried it would go all the way around to the back and the top of his head would fall off.
As Canada watched, though, he realized something was wrong. In the games he'd seen last year, the Bludgers would fly around and try to knock players off their brooms indiscriminately. This time, however, one of them seemed very focused on Harry… Canada nudged America and murmured, "That Bludger seems very fixated on Harry, eh."
America watched the offending ball. "Whoa, you're right. That's so not cool!" He cupped his hands around his mouth. "HARRY, THERE'S A BLUDGER AFTER YOU, DUDE!"
It was hard to tell due to the distance, but Canada thought he could hear an irritated response of, "I'd noticed!" Fred and George Weasley were crowding him, obviously trying to protect him from the stalkerish Bludger. Unfortunately, this meant that the other Bludger and Slytherin Beaters were free to wreak havoc on the Gryffindor Chasers. George seemed to make a signal towards Wood, and within a minute Madam Hooch's whistle rang out for a time out. Both teams landed, and the crowd began talking. Some were still focused on the miraculous speed increase of the Gryffindor brooms, but most were talking about the Bludger's newfound obsession with Harry. It seemed Canada wasn't the only one who'd noticed. America shouting about it probably helped. Oh, and it had started to rain. Canada adjusted his robes. Maybe he should have brought his warmer one like a lot of the others had… but it wasn't that cold… he wasn't that desensitized to cold, was he? He had plenty of warm places… or at least places that were warm during the summer…
He was vaguely aware of America, Ron and Hermione talking about something beside him, but he was kind of focused on thinking of warm places in his territory. It wouldn't be any of my territories, they're all right up North… the provinces, then… probably close to the border… don't I have some deserts? I seem to recall that nobody else really considers them deserts, though… but they're warm, aren't they? Yeah, I have desert-like places, it's not like I'm all snow all the time! Anyone who says that has clearly never been to Vancouver… so much rain… so much…
He was brought out of his reverie by the sound of cheering. Oh, the game had started up again! He felt a bit guilty that he'd spent the time out thinking about his climate rather than trying to think of what was up with that Bludger or something. Canada turned his full attention back to the game. Fred and George were now focusing on the other Bludger, while Harry was performing a series of impressive acrobatics in order to avoid his newfound stalker. Canada reached into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around his wand. He was pretty sure he knew a spell that could destroy the Bludger, and he was trying to remember the incantation when he remembered three reasons it would be a really bad idea. One: The Bludger was moving around so much he was more likely to hit some poor student sitting in the stands. Two: If he did manage to destroy it, the match would be called off and he'd probably lose points for Hufflepuff. Three: He couldn't actually remember the incantation. He released his hold on his wand.
The rest of the match was extremely nerve-wracking. Canada was vaguely aware that there was a whole game involving the Quaffle going on, but he was so focused on Harry he barely noticed. He, along with every other Gryffindor supporter, let out a groan when Harry stayed still for a moment too long and the Bludger made a very nasty-looking collision with his arm. Judging from the way he was holding it, it was clearly broken. "Do you think we should stop him? He looks hurt, eh," Canada said to America.
America didn't turn his eyes from the game. "He's still got one good hand, he can catch the Snitch! COME ON, HARRY, YOU CAN DO IT!" America's encouragement seemed to work, remarkably, because Harry had started zooming at something with a determined look on his face. That something seemed to be Malfoy. Either he'd decided to take the direct approach in dealing with the Heir of Slytherin, or…
"I think he's seen the Snitch!" Either his noticeableness from breakfast had returned, or other people had seen what he'd seen, because everyone around him started cheering encouragements for Harry. Canada thought he saw the boy's fingers close around something golden.
"WHOOOOOOO WE WOOOON!" America wasn't alone in cheering, but as always he was the most noticeable. All around the stadium Gryffindor supporters cheered while the Slytherins looked as if Christmas had been cancelled. Canada considered feeling bad for them, but he was focused on Harry, who seemed to be crashing to the ground. Everyone else was too busy cheering to notice.
As soon as Lee Jordan announced the Gryffindor victory, there was a mad rush to reach the pitch. Apparently everyone else had noticed that Harry wasn't getting back up. Well, this is a school for magic, I'm sure his arm can be fixed quickly, Canada said to himself as he struggled to remain by America's side. His brother had a way of clearing a crowd. Perhaps they were pushed aside by his overinflated ego. Canada sniggered at the thought of America being surrounded by a bubble of pure arrogance, the people around him being pushed away.
Eventually they all made it to the pitch to see a sight that made Canada's blood run cold. Professor Lockhart, Glinda the Sparkly Wizard himself, was kneeling next to Harry, holding his broken arm and pointing his wand at it. "HEY, GET AWAY FROM HIM, GLINDA!" America shouted. Lockhart didn't seem to notice, and there was a flash of light. Canada gasped as the arm suddenly gained all the solidity of an empty latex glove.
"Ah," said Lockhart, clearly trying his best to rally himself. "Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind. So, Harry, just toddle up to the Hospital Wing – ah, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Mr. Jones, would you escort him? – and Madam Pomfrey will be able to – er – tidy you up a bit." Harry stood up with his eyes closed, clearly not wanting to see what Lockhart had done to him. When he opened them, the look on his face made Canada wish he had a camera before berating himself for being so insensitive.
As the four of them escorted Harry back to the castle, America said brightly, "Okay, so, your arm just got deboned. That's kinda bad. But look on the bright side, dudes! We won the match, and my upgrades totally worked without anyone exploding! I count that as a victory for our heroes!"
"Wait, you weren't joking about the whole exploding thing?!"
A/N: I'm still dealing with a bit of writer's block, but I'm getting better! HUGS FOR EVERYONE! \(^-^)/ Don't worry, everyone, I'm fine! Things will hopefully be back on schedule. Now for Q&A! To RussianMochi: That never even occurred to me. Well, the twins are planning on going home for the holidays, so they won't actually need to drink it. I might have them bring it up now that you mention it, though. To Berlin: Hetalia panels? Where can I find these? I must know. Pig... COMMANDS me... sorry, random obscure Invader Zim reference. That happens sometimes. Aaanywaaay, yeah, 1st person really allows you to get into their head more. I'm using 3rd person here mostly because that's what's used in the source material, and also because it helps differentiate narrators when you switch POVs. And, ah, feels... FEEEELSSSS! For some reason suddenly I'm thinking of Journey, because that ending gave me ALL THE FEELS! If any of you have a PS3, you should play it. It only takes, like, two hours at most, but it's so beautiful and emotional. Without being too spoilerish, I will just say that I've never seen a better use of the vibrate function in the controller. Moving on. Russia and Germany are great, too, as I said I love all of the characters to bits. And yeah, GerIta is wonderful. REMEMBER GERMANY! REMEMBER YOUR LOST LOVE! FrUK is good for if you want a relationship where you don't know if they're going to slap each other or kiss. I'm not really into the incest stuff, too, but I can understand it. And Germano? Hmm, might explain why Romano's so intent on keeping Germany and Veneziano away from each other... I don't really know anyone else IRL who watches Hetalia, so I don't know anyone who ships them. Thanks for the compliment. I really just wanted to get that chapter out of the way. It was about five hundred words shorter than I would have liked, but I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, maybe blindfolding America would work. I dunno. My response to your review was just as meandering as the actual review. Happy holidays to you too! To Actual God: I'm glad you liked that line. I imagine that anyone who deals with America as much as Canada does has mastered the art of muffling their screams of frustration. And I think the Golden Trio are a bit suspicious of them already, but those suspicions have gone to the back of their minds in the face of the Chamber of Secrets and Quidditch and schoolwork and stuff. And having one of the Nations barge in during dinner would be pretty funny. I've got some plans regarding that... heheheh... oh, ignore my evil chuckles, it just happens sometimes. All right, that's that. I really need to stop making such long Author's Notes. I hope you all enjoy your Christmas break! NEXT CHAPTER: England receives some more bad news. See you all next time!