October 1943
"If Fleamont does not get his list onto this board within two minutes I am going to hex someone!"
Minerva chuckled quietly as she listened to Ro's raging, checking her watch for what felt like the hundredth time in the past minute. Fleamont had told the prospective Quidditch players that the new team list would be on the Gryffindor notice board by 4pm, but he was already 10 minutes late. She and Ro weren't the only ones waiting around; Larry Spencer-Moon was twiddling his thumbs nervously where he sat next to Minerva on the settee, and the fourth-year girls could be heard whispering rapidly somewhere behind her.
The tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team had been held on the first weekend in October, and although she didn't want to tempt fate Minerva was quite pleased with her performance. She'd tried out for one of the Chaser positions alongside Larry, Cleatus Weasley also from third-year, Edwin Doyle from her own year and Anthea Newton from fourth year, and as Fleamont already held one of the positions she knew that three of them were going to be disappointed. She felt the most for Ro though; she'd been one of six people to try out for the Seeker position and had been worrying almost constantly since the tryouts.
A creaking sound caught Minerva's attention, and the eyes of everybody in the Common Room darted towards the portrait hole where Fleamont was entering. Seeming to sense the tense atmosphere, he hurried over to stand in front of the fireplace and pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket.
"The Gryffindor Quidditch Team for 1943 to 1944," he began with an air of importance, "will be as follows. Our Keeper and two Beaters have not changed from last year; that's Alastor Moody as Keeper plus Ernest Lawrence and Nancy Campbell as Beaters. I will continue to play a Chaser position, but since our other two Chasers Edgar and Linda and our Seeker Marilyn graduated in the summer there have been three positions to fill."
Minerva's heart rate quickened, and she subconsciously began gripping her fingers until her knuckles turned white.
"Joining me as Chasers will be Larry Spencer-Moon and Minerva McGonagall, and our new Seeker is Rolanda Hooch."
A great cheer rose in the Common Room, punctuated by Ro's ecstatic "YES!" Minerva could feel herself grinning like a Cheshire cat as Larry was congratulated noisily by Ernest and Nancy, and it was a while before Fleamont could make himself heard again.
"I've ordered the new team robes from Madame Malkins, they should arrive in the next week." Fleamont shouted over the din, "Practises will start tomorrow night, and we're playing Slytherin first at the end of November!"
The four weeks before the first match seemed to fly by, and in a great contrast to their previous year the term so far had been relatively quiet. Professor Beery had returned to his teaching post with his head back to its correct size and shape, relieving the students of Professor Ainsley's more obscure teaching methods. To make up for the three weeks of solid theory work at the end of last year in Defence Against the Dark Arts, due to Professor Merrythought getting to grips with using her wand in her non-dominant hand, she had done nothing but spell work with the second-years since term began. Unlike Professor Kettleburn, who had a range of prosthetics he used in place of the two limbs he'd lost over the years, Professor Merrythought had simply left her wrist stump alone and did everything with only her remaining hand.
To Minerva's surprise, they hadn't been bothered even once by Abraxas Malfoy and his gang of Slytherin second-years. It crossed her mind that the reason may be because they were too occupied by Quidditch Practise of their own, but when the match day arrived and the start time drew closer she refused to let herself think about it. She hadn't mentioned it to Poppy as she was worrying about them enough already without Minerva's suspicions making it worse.
"Do you think Abraxas or any of his lot will be on their Quidditch team?" Minerva asked Ro when they were in the changing room before the match.
There was quiet for a moment before Ro replied "Could be I suppose, but who cares? We'll beat them with ease, nothing can get the Quaffle past Alastor." She buttoned up her scarlet robe with HOOCH emblazoned on the back above the number 7 and pulled her goggles over her face before turning around and asking "How do I look?"
"Like a professional." Minerva said with an excited grin, pulling her own robe over her red and gold striped jumper. She couldn't help glancing over her shoulder to look in the mirror behind her, the sight of the word MCGONAGALL written above the gold number 5 on the back filling her with pride. Together they left the changing room, but the moment they stepped out the door Poppy rushed forward and grabbed Minerva into a tight hug.
Minerva staggered back slightly under the force of Poppy's embrace. "We'll be careful, I promise!" she said as she patted Poppy's shoulder reassured
"Yeah," Ro agreed as Poppy jumped at her and wrapped her arms around Ro's neck. "Just look out there; blue sky, no wind, this is going to be a breeze! I caught the Snitch after only 10 minutes in yesterday's practise, give it half an hour tops and we'll be celebrating back in the Gryffindor Common Room."
Poppy didn't look very convinced, but she put a smile on her face before running off towards the spectator stands. Minerva and Ro joined the rest of the Team, Minerva taking her place next to Fleamont and Larry at the head of the team while Ro brought up the rear. Fleamont had given his pre-match pep talk speech at the end of yesterday's practise, so it was in silence that the Gryffindors picked up their brooms and marched onto the pitch.
Mr Spinnet, who was refereeing as per usual, instructed Fleamont and the Slytherin Captain Edward Nott to shake hands before blowing his whistle. All fourteen players mounted their brooms and started to hover lightly as the Snitch was released, followed by the two Bludgers. All eyes were on the Quaffle as Mr Spinnet raised it into the air, and the moment it left his hand everyone shot forwards. As she dove towards the Quaffle, Minerva saw Ro darting into the air out of the corner of her eye to presumably follow the Snitch, Slytherin's seeker Owle Bullock right on her tail.
"And Slytherin Chaser Lament has control of the Quaffle," squeaked the voice from the Commentary box; Minerva stole a glance upwards to see the sixth-year Ravenclaw Fillius Flitwick behind the magical megaphone. "He passes to Lestrange and nears the scoring hoops, but Gryffindor's long-standing Keeper Moody stops the Quaffle!"
Minerva had been closely flanking Lestrange all the while Slytherin had been in possession, but the moment Alastor caught the Quaffle she darted between him and Lament and held out a hand in signal. Alastor tossed the Quaffle to her and she caught it under one arm before soaring towards the Slytherin end of the pitch, diving steeply as two Slytherin players shot towards her and trying not to smile too much as she heard them collide painfully above her. She narrowly missed a Bludger that had been shot towards her by Orion Black, tossing the Quaffle at Larry before rolling sharply out of the way. Twisting back upright, she flew between Larry and Lament as they neared the scoring hoops and held her breath as Larry passed to Fleamont who lobbed the Quaffle at the hoop.
Frustrated shouts were heard all around as the Quaffle bounced off the foot of the Slytherin keeper straight into Lestrange's arms, and Minerva groaned as she recognised the face of Slytherin's keeper. She countered Abraxas Malfoy's smirk with a disgusted leer before turning around and following the Quaffle's progress back up the pitch.
The first goal of the match went to Slytherin as Lament shot the Quaffle right above Alastor's head, and before Minerva knew it Slytherin were somehow 50 points ahead of Gryffindor's zero. Ernest vented his anger by smashing the nearest bludger with his bat, a shocked look appearing on his face when he hit the third Slytherin Chaser right in the stomach and she plummeted off her broom and fell several feet before righting herself just above the ground.
Ernest's unexpected attack seemed to bring about a turning point in the match, though somehow it went even less in Gryffindor's favour. Alastor was under constant attack from the two Bludgers, meaning he had to concentrate on saving his own neck rather than the Quaffle, and his swearing increased in both volume and viciousness with each goal he let in. A single goal from Fleamont brought the total up to 90-10 to Slytherin, but the cheers from the Gryffindor supporters down in the stands were short-lived as Lament seized the Quaffle. As Lament zoomed past her and lifted the Quaffle, Minerva swooped in front of him just as he threw it to Lestrange, caught it, and carried on towards the scoring hoop. As Abraxas dove to intercept her shoot, Minerva threw the Quaffle upwards and shouted in delight when it soared through the hoop.
"That's 90-20 to Slytherin, and Spencer-Moon in possession of the Quaffle." Flitwick reported. The Slytherin Chasers flew menacingly towards him as he turned back towards the scoring hoop, but a reckless dive from Fleamont sent them all scattering. Minerva was getting her hopes up for another goal when a Bludger appeared from nowhere and knocked into the tail of his broom. The Quaffle dropped downwards like a stone and straight into Fleamont's arms; he tossed it up to Minerva and she flew towards the hoops to try and score.
Confusion crossed her mind when she registered that she couldn't see where Abraxas was, though her question was answered moments later when she felt a heavy weight crash into her left side. Minerva was forced to let go of the Quaffle to save herself from falling after Abraxas' barging attack, but shrill whistle reassured her that Spinnet had seen the foul.
Fleamont took the penalty shoot, pumping a fist into the air when Abraxas failed to stop him from scoring. Larry caught the Quaffle from Lestrange who had taken possession after the penalty; he passed it to Minerva but as she flew towards the scoring hoops she was slammed into a second time. This time the attacker was the burly Captain Nott himself, his much larger weight knocking her clean off her broom and left her hanging on with just one hand gripping her Comet 180.
Ignoring the collective gasp that sounded from all around the stadium and panting with the effort, Minerva heaved herself back into the broomstick just in time to see Gryffindor Beater Nancy Campbell take a crashing blow to her upper back from a Bludger. She wasn't as lucky as Minerva had been, plummeting downwards and hitting the ground with a quiet groan. Minerva took her own penalty awarded for Nott's collision, but was blocked yet again by an increasingly smug Abraxas. Hissing in frustration, she went to follow Lament and the Quaffle back up the pitch but the words "Hooch dives for the Snitch with Bullock in fierce pursuit!" from the commentary box caught her attention.
As she watched Ro fly for the Snitch, Minerva quickly worked out that if Ro caught it then she would bring Gryffindor into the lead with a 180-90 score. "Come on Ro!" she shouted; Ro was now inches away from the Snitch, holding onto the handle of her Silver Arrow with just one hand as she reached out. Only another second and she would-
CRACK
Minerva screamed as a Bludger smashed into the side of Ro's head, though her voice was drowned out by cheers from the Slytherins when Owle Bullock streamed past her and snatched the Snitch out of the air. By some miracle Ro was still clinging onto her broom, but she'd been flipped upside down and was losing height fast until Alastor zoomed in and caught her in his arms.
Professor Dumbledore was already on the pitch when Minerva landed a few feet away from Alastor and Ro, with Poppy running not far behind him. Before Minerva reached them, Professor Dumbledore had taken Ro from Alastor and laid her on a stretcher which he floated behind him out of the pitch and presumably towards the Hospital Wing.
"Are you hurt!" a voice distracted her from Professor Dumbledore, and she turned to see Poppy's anxious face looking up at her.
"I'm fine, I promise you." Minerva reassured her, taking her into a gentle hug. "Come on, let's go and see Ro."
Ro had indeed been taken up to the Hospital Wing, and when Minerva and Poppy arrived up there 10 minutes later with the rest of the Gryffindor Team and Augusta Brown she appeared to be just coming round from unconsciousness. Her goggles had been removed and a transparent, gunky paste plastered most of the left side of her face.
"What happened?" Ro asked slowly, opening her right eye a crack as she lifted her hands towards her head. "Why's my face covered in slime?"
Poppy was there in an instant, taking hold of Ro's arms and placing them gently on her stomach. "You can't touch that, it's a bruise soothing paste and needs to be there." She said firmly, "You were hit in the head with a Bludger and knocked out. How do you feel?"
"Right as rain." Ro said, pushing herself into a sitting position and making Poppy frown.
"You don't really look it." Minerva said, holding up three gloved fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Ro squinted for a moment before saying "Six." Minerva sighed with a slight smile as Ro continued "Who won the game?"
"Slytherin caught the snitch." Augusta said gloomily. "To be really honest, that game was a bit of a disaster. Alastor, what happened there with those Quaffles?"
Alastor shrugged angrily. "Those snakes had a bunch of new tactics I wasn't prepared for. Kept catching me off guard, and their Beaters were better than I expected."
"They definitely had a good aim." Larry sighed, looking across to where Nancy was laid unmoving in the next bed. "Madame Quinine said she's broken two ribs and will need a week off from practising."
"There won't be a practise next week anyway, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw have their match next weekend so have booked the pitch every evening." Alastor told him. "But Fleamont said that after that's over well be going at it full strength again."
"Where is Fleamont?" Minerva asked, looking around at the crowd surrounding Ro's bed and not finding the team Captain. She skirted around the back of the other team members to stand on the other side of the bed, but on the way her legs hit something solid and she barely saved herself from falling face-first onto the floor.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Poppy asked as she took Minerva's elbow to pull her back upright.
Minerva nodded, frowning at the ground she'd just tripped over. "I'm sure there was something there a moment ago."
"There probably was." Augusta said, sharing an exasperated glance with Alastor. She gave the air a harsh kick and Minerva took a surprised step backwards when a quiet groan sounded. "Fleamont, will you get out from under that blasted cloak?"
Another groan sounded from the invisible thing that was apparently Fleamont. "You're going to have to explain now." Alastor prompted Augusta, gesturing towards Minerva, Poppy, Ro, Larry and Ernest who were all looking as confused as Minerva felt.
Augusta sighed. "Fleamont has an invisibility cloak, something he inherited from his father, and his favourite use for it in times like these is sulking where no-one can see him. We've kept this a secret for the past six years, so would prefer it if the rest of the House didn't know."
Minerva nodded solemly, as did Poppy, Larry and Ernest. Ro on the other hand was looking very thoughtful until she grinned tiredly and said, to the laughter of everyone else, "How much d'you think he'd charge to let me use it to avoid being targeted in the next Quidditch match?"
Author's Note:
After writing this chapter, I have concluded that Quidditch is both super fun but super hard to write xD. I think this is the first chapter in the story that's been a push to finish. But it's done, and I do like it a lot. Spectacular losses are great, but rest assured there will be plenty of spectacular wins in the future!
The idea of Fleamont sulking under his invisibility cloak is another of my favourite headcanons that's come from this story. I reckon James Potter would have done it too but that's beside the point. I wanted to introduce the cloak at some point because we'll be seeing it again a few times before Fleamont and his cloak graduate at the end of third year ;)
I realise I'm moving the story quite quickly right now- second chapter on second year and we're already in late November! My reasoning is that most of second year's events will be happening past January (though Christmas will be eventful too!) so I want to get to that point fairly quickly no figured you guys would prefer skipping through the less interesting stuff over enduring several filler chapters, I know I certainly would.
Next chapter may actually include Christmas- I'll check back on my notes but you'll have to wait until the weekend to find out!