This chapter uses an idea from the list of ideas posted by a guest reviewer on August 4th and that is What if someone stopped Oliver's obsessive behavior about winning at Quidditch? This chapter contains references to the chapter A Captain's Compass.
Alicia Spinnet had had it. That is, it with her Gryffindor Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood and his maniac obsession with Quidditch and winning at Quidditch.
Alicia had not forgotten the previous year when Oliver had literally told Harry to "Get to that snitch before Malfoy or die trying," nor had she forgotten that Oliver had genuine angst over the previous season have been cancelled in the midst of the very serious Chamber of Secrets situation. She vividly remembered Oliver saying on more than one occasion that the Quidditch Cup was "A lot more important than the Chamber of Secrets business."
But it was what had happened today that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Today was why Alicia was going to talk to Oliver personally.
Gryffindor had lost to Hufflepuff when Seeker Harry Potter, distracted by the vile and vicious creatures known as dementors, had fallen off his broom and Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff had caught the snitch shortly thereafter.
Harry had fallen fifty feet from his airborne broomstick and for a few hours had actually been unconscious in the hospital wing.
Fred, George, Katie, Angelina, and Alicia had all visited Harry in the hospital wing and had been there when he woke up.
Alicia remembered crying a lot, especially since everyone had initially thought Harry had died. Alicia had been so upset and so worried about harry that she had literally been shaking.
But Oliver hadn't been there.
He remained in the showers.
While Oliver neither denied nor disputed the validity of the match and its results, Alicia had seen the look on Oliver's face when Cedric had caught the snitch. He hadn't been looking at Harry, but he clearly looked devastated when Cedric had caught the snitch. After dismounting his broom, he sobbed into his hands for a minute and a nanosecond and had then run off to the showers still sobbing.
It was obvious to Alicia that Oliver cared more about the match, the Quidditch season, and the Quidditch Cup than about what had happened to Harry.
And that wasn't okay, especially not for a team captain.
Oliver was actually still in the showers.
Alicia, deciding it was time for Oliver to get a telling off about his priorities, walked straight back to the showers after leaving the hospital wing.
Since the water was still running, Alicia took off her clothes and stepped into the showers naked, where she found a naked Oliver who was still sobbing.
Oliver was also muttering.
"M-my last y-year," rued Oliver bitterly, "Getting t-that Quidditch Cup is a l-long s-shot now."
'Oliver, that's enough," spoke up Alicia.
"I'I know I c-can't stay in h-here forevermore, b-but I'm devastated," blurted out Oliver, "T-That w-was a brutal l-loss!"
"Oliver," said Alicia, looking straight up at him, "You've become too obsessed with winning at Quidditch and too passionate about it and it's had a negative effect on you in multiple ways."
"You can never care too much about Quidditch," retorted Oliver, though his sobbing had now stopped as he and Alicia continued talking.
"Oliver, the rest of the team has just visited Harry in the hospital wing," explained Alicia.
"I don't blame Harry here," said Oliver fairly, "It's not his fault those dementors turned up."
"The point here is," said Alicia in a crystal clear voice, "You should have been there with us."
"No, I need to grieve," replied Oliver.
"Grieve?" responded Alicia incredulously, "Harry could have died and you're talking about "grieving" over a Quidditch match!? This is literally disgusting!"
"Alicia, do you know it feels to literally pour your time, body, mind, heart, and soul into something and then have it not work out for you?"
"Oliver, that is part of the problem," said Alicia seriously, "You've poured too much of yourself into Quidditch and that's resulted in you taking Quidditch too seriously."
"Quidditch is a serious business, that's just a fact," insisted Oliver in a robotic type of voice.
"When did you join the Gryffindor team?" Alicia asked Oliver.
"in second year," answered Oliver a nanosecond later, "The previous Gryffindor, Denise Deny, had graduated from Hogwarts at the end of my first year at Hogwarts. I tried out for the open Keeper position and was easily the best, so I got the position. I became Captain in my fourth year."
"Oliver," said Alicia seriously, "How obsessed were you with winning when you first joined the team?"
"I always wanted to win every match I played in, but I have become progressively more obsessed with winning each year. I think every think haven't won the Quidditch Cup has fueled me to come back more motivated the next year," explained Oliver.
"That's not an entirely bad thing. Sometimes, being motivated by failure can lead to very satisfying success. However, you can go too far. Is Quidditch fun for you?" inquired Alicia.
"It was when I first joined the team," answered Oliver matter of factly, "The reason I joined the team in the first place is because I had grown up loving Quidditch and various variations of it, both playing and watching. I was something I loved. The first two years I played I did have fun playing in the matches win or lose, because I loved the sport. Once I became captain, love evolved into passion. It was no longer fun after that because of how worried and anxious I've always been about winning since becoming captain."
"In other words, your desire to win has consumed your enjoyment of the sport you love, just as Darth Vader consumed Anikan Skywalker," recognized Alicia, "I do understand that a captain has more responsibility and will be expected to take the sport more seriously than rank and file players. But you've gone too far that way. You've made every Quidditch match the most important thing in the world and that's very unhealthy. Not to be nosy, but I have very good eyesight, and I've noticed that you tend to lose weight in the weeks leading up to a match."
"That's because I don't eat much in the weeks leading up to a match," confirmed Oliver, I'm just too nervous to eat much during those teams and I did eat more I'd vomit most of it back up out of nervousness anyways."
"That means your maniac obsession with winning at Quidditch is literally affecting your physical health and well-being," said a concerned sounding Alicia, "How do you fell during these teams."
"Very mentally worn out due to the pressure," admitted Oliver.
"So, your physical and mental well-being are both being negatively affected by your obsession with winning the Quidditch Cup," noted Alicia, "This obsession has also turned you into a worse person. You didn't care that students, including Harry's Bestie, were petrified last year because you were too busy sulking over the Quidditch season being cancelled. And today, you cared more about losing the match and having your chances at winning a Quidditch Cup than you did about Harry literally almost dying today. Oliver, you need to get your priorities in order."
Alicia maintained a soft demeanor and voice tone during this conversation and Oliver could tell Alicia felt genuinely concerned.
"Oliver," suggested Alicia quietly, "Let's try to put you in other people's shoes and see how you would feel. How would you feel if your BFF were petrified?"
Oliver said slowly and quietly, "I would be very upset, though I'd also be grateful they were not dead and could be revived with Mandrakes."
"How would then feel," inquired Alicia slowly, "If you were a rank and file Quidditch player and your captain said or made clear that they cared more about the Quidditch Season than about your Bestie being petrified?"
"I'd feel hurt by his or her insensitivity towards my Bestie."
"And how you feel if you feel fifty feet from an airborne broomstick and your captain cared more about losing the match than about your well-being."
"That would sting me to the core," Oliver had to admit.
"That's how I would feel if I were Harry right now. Harry won't be as bothered by it because he's got much bigger things on his plate with Sirius Black after him and the dementors forcing him to relive Voldemort killing his parents, but you get the point."
"I have been caring about all of you only as players and not as people and that is wrong," acknowledged Oliver.
"Oliver," said Alicia kindly, "Please get out of this shower and put your Quidditch Robes back on. I want to take you down to the Quidditch pitch."
Oliver and Alicia both exited the shower and put their Quidditch robes back on and walked together to the Quidditch pitch.
In the hysteria of what had happened to Harry, the crate of balls had not been put away after the match.
Alicia opened it and took out only the quaffle.
"Oliver, let's play a game of one on one Quidditch without keeping score. I will aim for the south hoops, and you can aim for the north hoops. Let's just play for ten minutes without keeping score.
Oliver and Alicia were very evenly matched. Both were able to score on each other at times and both were able to stop each other at times.
When the ten minutes were up, Alica piped up, "I don't know who won and that's the way I wanted it."
"I don't know either," said Oliver bluntly, "It was fun playing against you though. You're a good match and a good challenge for me without being an impossible opponent."
"The point was that it was supposed to be fun," smiled Alicia, "I know our school matches have to be taken somewhat seriously and that keeping score is the point in those. But I still think you should try to have more fun with Quidditch instead of making it so serious all the time. That doesn't mean goofing around. But try to recapture that joy and love of the sport that led you to join the team in the first place. And if you aren't taking things TOO seriously, you'll feel better from not wearing yourself out mentally and you'll be in better shape from eating proper amounts of food."
After a minute and a nanosecond of peaceful silence, Oliver said, "My burning drive to win sucked the joy out of Quidditch for me. I will try to take a more relaxed attitude towards it going forward. Honestly, that one on one game helped drive home that point to me more effectively than your words."
"Which is why I wanted to do it," smiled Alicia, "I remember you telling the rest of the team off in first year for the way we were treating Harry under the premise that a true team sticks together and supports each other through thick and thin. It's time for you to follow your own advice and support Harry."
"I never blamed him-" began Oliver.
"You weren't unfair to him in that sense," accepted Alicia, "But you should show that you care about Harry the person and not just the Quidditch player by visiting him in the hospital and checking on him. The team is planning to visit him again tomorrow morning and you should join us then."
"Yes, I need to show Harry that I care about him as a person," agreed Oliver.
The next morning, the entire team, Oliver included, visited Harry.
"Hello, Harry," spoke Oliver first.
"I'm sorry Oliver-"began Harry apologetically but Oliver forestalled him.
"Harry, I don't blame you in the slightest, it's not your fault those dementors turned up. "
Harry had an immense look of relief come across his face at that.
"Harry," continued Oliver, "I would like to take this moment to apologize to you for not being here with the rest of the team yesterday. I was sulking in the showers because I was upset about the match. I cared more about the match than about your well-being and that's not okay."
"Oliver," said Harry graciously, "I accept your apology. I can easily give you a mulligan on this, I don't forget that when the rest of the team treated me like horse shit after I lost those house points in first year, you were the one who talked to them and got them to treat me like a person again. Having said that, you need to lighten up a bit. You're too tense when it comes to Quidditch. Not to be an interfering asshole, but I've noticed how stressed out and physically unwell you tend to look as matches approach."
"That's what Alicia told me yesterday," revealed Oliver, "She tracked me down in the showers and gave me a much needed talking to about my misplaced priorities. She pointed out how my obsession with winning the Quidditch Cup was negatively affecting my well-being. She also explained the importance of seeing you all as people and not just players and caring about you as such. She also took me back to the Quidditch pitch to play a ten minute game of one on one without keeping score to get across a point about keeping the fun and joy in it."
"Alicia Spinnet is kind and caring," observed Harry, "Listen to her. She wants what's best for you and for all of us."
"I've been doing myself and my teammates a great disservice by taking Quidditch TOO seriously. I promise to loosen up in the future."
Harry, Fred, George, Katie, Angelina, and Alicia smiled at Oliver.
He wasn't a bad person. He was a very good person who had lost perspective.
Now, he had been brought to his senses.
Now, he would take Quidditch less seriously, have more fun with it, pay more attention to his health and well-being, and see and treat his teammates as people and not just players and care about them as such.
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