Reviews are like chapsticks. You can't go wrong with too much of it.
This was what it felt like to be a star. Edward walked in front of Malfoy and behind Flint into the stadium. Tumultuous cheers rose around him. Green and silver flags were flashing all around him and Slytherins were shouting their names.
No wonder Mustang enjoyed his popularity.
Snape was sitting at the front row, wearing green and a smug smile. In Edward's book, that was equivalent to someone screaming and jumping up and down in joy.
The Gryffindors were coming into the field from the other end. Three quarters of the crowd were wearing their colours which yeah- meant that Slytherin was not popular at all.
"And here are the Gryffindors!" yelled Lee Jordan, who was acting as commentator as usual. "Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years-"
The Slytherins booed. Flint sneered. Malfoy spat on the ground. Edward side-stepped quickly to avoid it.
"And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain Flint. He's made some changes in the lineup and seems to be going for size rather than skill-"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL A SNITCH COULD SIT ON HIM AND SQUISH HIM FLAT!?" Edward screamed.
Jordan did have a point, despite a very biased and insulting one. Everyone, save for Edward and Malfoy, were humongous. They could easily be Armstrong's match for size and build.
Flint and Wood approached each other and grasped each other's hand very tightly. It looked as though each was trying to break the other's fingers.
"Mount your brooms!" said a woman with grey hair. "Three... two... one..."
The sound of her whistle was lost in the roar from the crowd as thirteen brooms rose into the air. Edward took a second to form the array and then he was in the air with everyone else.
"And it's Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinner of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no- Quaffle intercepted by Marcone, Marcone of Slytherin tearing UP the field- WHAM!- nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Marcone drops the Quaffle, it's caught by- Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina- nice swerve around Montague- duck, Angelina, that's a Bludger!- SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"
Edward zoomed dangerously close to the commentator's box and spun around so swiftly that the end of his broom smacked Jordan in his face. Was everyone a Gryffindor supporter around here?
"HEY!" Jordan shouted, but Edward had zoomed away. "The recent addition to the team, Edward Elric, the new kid, has raised his bat and OUCH! George Weasley has taken a hit! That looks painful! Quite surprising for one so small to pack up quite a hit."
Edward gritted his teeth and debated going back to stuff Jordan's mouth with old, smelly broom bristles.
"Great shot, Elric!" Flint roared and gave him a thumbs up. In doing so, he did not see where he was going and his broom hurtled into the Gryffindor girl.
"Sorry!" said Flint as the crowd below booed. "Sorry, didn't see her!"
A moment later, Weasley chucked his Beater's club at the back of Flint's head. Flint's nose smashed into the handle of his broom and began to bleed.
"What the heck, man!" Flint shouted. "It was really an accident!"
"That will do!" shrieked the grey-haired woman, zooming between then. "Penalty shot to Gryffindor for an unprovoked attack on their Chaser! Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate damage to their Chaser!"
"Come off it, Miss!" howled Weasley, but she blew her whistle and Alicia flew forward to take the penalty.
"Come on, Alicia!" yelled Jordan into the silence that had descended on the crowd. "YES! SHE'S BEATEN THE KEEPER! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"
"HEY! Aren't you commentators supposed to be impartial!" One of the Slytherins yelled.
Flint had blood all over his face and looked like something that just came out of a horror film. He guided his broom to take the penalty.
"'Course, Wood's a superb Keeper!" Jordan told the crowd as Flint waited for Madam Hooch's whistle. "Superb! Very difficult to pass- very difficult indeed- YES! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SAVED IT!"
"DAMN!" Edward cursed and his frustration, he smacked a passing bludger at one of the Weasleys. The Weasley hit the bludger back with practised ease but Edward reduced the air density underneath him and he plummeted down for a second and the bludger zoomed past him.
Weasley was looking at him in surprise.
"Whoa! Did you see that? Elric just performed a Drop! Incredible broom work for a beginner! Not even the pros can master it!"
Oops. Edward did not know how brooms were supposed to fly in this place.
"ELRIC!" Flint shouted. "Hit the damn bludger at Potter! Don't let him catch the Snitch!"
"GOTCHA!" Edward shouted back with a fierce grin.
"Gryffindor in possession, no, Slytherin in possession- no! Gryffindor back in possession and it's Katie Bell, Katie Bell for Gryffindor with the Quaffle, she's streaking up the field- THAT WAS DELIBERATE!"
Montague, a Slytherin Chaser, had swerved in front of Bell, and instead of seizing the Quaffle had grabbed her head. Bell cart wheeled in the air, managed to stay on her broom, but dropped the Quaffle.
The whistle rang out again as the referee soared over to Montague and began shouting at him. A minute later, Bell had put another penalty past the Slytherin Seeker.
"THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING-"
"Jordan, if you can't commentate in an unbiased way-"
"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!"
Edward saw Harry suddenly narrowed his eyes in concentration and sped off towards the Slytherin end.
Not so fast. Edward intercepted the bludger Weasley was trying to hit in a way he was not supposed to because the crowd oohed. Who cares anyway.
Edward raised his bat and swung hard. The heavy ball shot towards Harry and hit his broom in the tail. The hit unbalanced him and Harry let out a yell in surprise as he tried to balance himself. Edward directed the air currents to propel himself towards the other bludger and smacked it as hard as he could.
The bludger grazed Harry's elbow and there was a moment of disorientation and Harry lost sight of the Snitch.
"Good job!" Flint yelled.
"And it's Gryffindor in possession again, as Johnson takes the Quaffle- Flint alongside her- poke him in the eye, Angelina!- it was a joke, Professor, it was a joke– oh no- Flint in possession, Flint flying toward the Gryffindor goal posts, come on now, Wood, save-!"
Jordan swore into the microphone and Edward heard the microphone being wrested away by McGonagall.
"Sorry, Professor, sorry! Won't happen again! So, Gryffindor in the lead, thirty points to ten, and Gryffindor in possession."
It felt like war. Dirty and vicious. Bole hit Bell with his club and tried to say he had thought she was a Bludger. Edward thought it was a valid reason.
Weasley elbowed Bole in the face and the referee awarded both teams penalties which made the score forty-ten to Gryffindor.
Bell scored again. Fifty-ten.
And Derrick aimed the bludger at Wood.
"YOU DO NOT ATTACK THE KEEPER UNLESS THE QUAFFLE IS WITHIN THE SCORING AREA!" the referee shrieked Derrick. "Gryffindor penalty!"
And Bell scored. Sixty-ten. Moments later, Weasley pelted a Bludger at Flint, knocking the Quaffle out of his hands. Bell seized it and put it through the Slytherin goal- seventy-ten.
Edward saw it before Harry did. A sparkle of gold.
There were no bludgers nearby and there was not enough time.
A new transmutation circle formed in his mind and Edward released the air pressure around him.
Jordan was shouting something about Edward's fabulous broomwork and the crowds were going crazy. Edward just felt stupid for letting himself drop to his death.
He swerved up just in time to catch a bludger with his bat and flung it at Harry.
The ball was only a minor distraction, however, as Harry dodged it perfectly and continued his spurt towards the golden ball.
Malfoy, who was tailing him, lurched forward and grabbed the end of Harry's broom until the Snitch disappeared.
Edward hoped that Harry did not use the broom to sweep away cobwebs and cockroach poo for Malfoy's sake.
"Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I've never seen such tactics." The referee screeched, shooting up to where Malfoy was sliding back onto his broom. His hair was windblown and his face was pale after pulling such a dangerous stunt.
"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" Jordan was howling into the megaphone, dancing out of Professor McGonagall's reach. "YOU FILTHY, CHEATING B-"
Bell took Gryffindor's penalty, but she missed by several feet. The Gryffindor team was losing concentration and the Slytherins were picking up speed.
"Slytherin in possession, Slytherin heading for goal- Montague scores-" Lee groaned. "Seventy- twenty to Gryffindor..."
"Derrick's bludger hits! Ouch! Angelina Johnson drops the Quaffle! Weasley intercepts the bludger and-"
The warning came too late. Edward glanced around to see the heavy metal ball pelting straight at him.
Fervently, Edward hoped that Al would not to write Death by Broomstick or Death by Ball. Although Death by 30 kilograms of metal did sound pretty cool and exciting.