Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban Timeline
"He Holds the Moon"
ooo
Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love."
- Lao-Tzu
RAVENCLAW VERSUS HUFFLEPUFF
Tristan sat in Herbology, barely listening to a word Professor Sprout was saying about the proper ways to handle and care for a Mimbulus Mimbletonia.
A week had gone by since his fight with Luna and they still hadn't spoken a word to each other. He knew it was his own fault for lashing out like an idiot. Hoping for a chance to apologise, he had gone down to the boathouse and waited for her, but she hadn't shown that day — or the day after. He briefly considered approaching her during breakfast or lunch, only to immediately shoot down the idea. What good would it do to make a fool of himself in public?
A nudge on his shoulder snapped him back to the present. He blinked, finding Harry frowning at him. "What's the matter with you lately?"
Tristan glanced around the greenhouse. "What have we got to do again?"
"Gather stinksap from this thing," Harry explained, pointing to a small plant that resembled a cactus covered in ugly boils.
"Careful with that!" Hermione hissed before Harry's finger could touch one of the boils. "The Mimbulus Mimbletonia is very sensitive. The slightest touch and you'll be covered with stinksap."
"Bloody great," Tristan grumbled. "How do we do it without getting hit, then?"
"Gently," Hermione quipped, bumping her hip playfully against his.
He shot her a dirty look. "You're a comedian now, are you?"
"Oh quit being a grouch." She went to collect several flasks from the supply closet, then handed them out to Tristan, Harry and Ron, keeping one for herself. "It's best to hold the flask over the boils and apply a bit of pressure to squeeze out the stinksap. See?"
Dark green liquid squirted from the boil and filled at least a quarter of her glass flask. When she pulled back, an awful smell of rancid manure reached Tristan's nostrils. He pinched his nose, glaring daggers at the green liquid.
"What the hell?" Ron's voice came out very nasally as he copied Tristan's idea and pinched his freckled nose too. "Smells worse than death!"
"It's called stinksap, Ronald. What did you expect it to smell like, roses?"
"Does something that smells this foul really have the capacity to heal wounded creatures?" Tristan asked dubiously.
"You should have a whiff of Madam Pomfrey's remedies," said Harry, who was trying to squeeze the plant's boils while keeping a safe distance in case it went haywire. "Some even taste worse than they smell. Skele-Gro burned the whole way down my throat when I had to drink it last year."
"Beautification potions taste terrible too," Hermione commented.
Tristan lowered his flask. "How on earth would you know what a beautification potion tastes like?"
Both Harry and Ron also turned to Hermione expectantly. She refused to look at any of them, and her face had turned bright scarlet. "I might've tried one once for curiosity purposes. It was... an interesting experience.
"That stuff's for ugly people, not pretty girls like you," Tristan declared matter-of-factly.
"You think I'm pretty?" Hermione asked in a squeaky voice.
"Yeah," he said slowly, not really understanding why the surprise. He had always thought Hermione was pretty. It wasn't even a thought, more of a well-established fact. She had sparkly eyes and a face that lit up whenever she was passionate about something. What was there not to be pretty?
Bowing her head so her long, thick hair was partially hiding her face, Hermione mumbled a shy "thanks" and went back to the task at hand.
Ron sneered bitterly from the opposite side of their small table. "A proper Lockhart this year, aren't you Cavanaugh?"
"Not my fault I was born with irresistible charms," Tristan rebutted with a good-natured grin, elbowing Hermione to snap her out of her awkwardness. She giggled and nearly dropped her already full flask.
Scowling like a spoiled little boy, Ron grabbed the plant too harshly by the vase. As he slid it over to him, his finger grazed one of the boils by mistake and a jet slammed him square in the face, covering him with green, foul-smelling stinksap. Tristan doubled over laughing at the same time Hermione slapped a hand over her mouth in shock. Disgusted, Harry held his arm out, which had unfortunately been splashed with stinksap too.
Ron took it personally, like he did most things. He spat some of the liquid, rubbed it from his eyes, and shook his hands at Tristan, who barely had time to raise his arms to defend himself from the attack.
"Mr. Weasley!" Professor Sprout chided from the front of the greenhouse, hands on her plump waist. "Stinksap is an invaluable resource! Please do not throw it at your classmates like common water!"
"Sorry, professor!"
"I'll get you for this," Tristan warned Ron as he scoured his clothes with a spell.
They bickered and butted heads the rest of the day. Tristan wasn't sure why Ron was suddenly acting like a pain toward him, but it was getting on his nerves. The last thing he needed was having to tiptoe around Ron's fragile ego when he had his own wounded one to worry about already. He'd passed Luna in the hallway on the way to History of Magic and she hadn't even bothered to acknowledge his existence with a glance. Things were getting worse.
Later on, instead of going back to the common room with Harry, Ron and Hermione, Tristan wandered around the castle lost in thought. It was to his own surprise that he ended up outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts office. He stared at the door for a few minutes, scratching the back of his head, considering whether or not he should bother Lupin.
After much internal deliberation, he knocked.
The invitation in was almost immediate. Professor Lupin was sitting behind his large desk, quill in hand, hair falling over his eyes.
"Sorry to bother you…" Tristan said, tucking his hands nervously in his pockets.
Lupin smiled warmly. Smoothing his hair back, he gestured to the chair in front of him. "No bother at all. Do you want some tea?"
"Yes, please!"
Still smiling, Lupin walked over to his kettle. "What do I owe this visit to? Anything I can help with?"
The question gave Tristan some pause. Why did he come see Professor Lupin? It hadn't really been a conscious decision, his feet had steered him there on their own accord. But maybe it wouldn't hurt to get a little insight from someone wiser.
"You've been around a lot, haven't you, sir?"
"I'm not entirely sure how to answer that," Lupin said playfully as he returned to his seat and handed Tristan a mug. "Are you calling me an old man?"
"Not old — older," Tristan corrected quickly. Lupin made a skeptical hum while raising his mug for a sip. "Anyway… you must know lots about girls, right?"
Lupin suddenly choked on his tea. Coughing, he set the beverage aside before it spilled all over him.
Tristan eyed the man warily. "Are you okay, sir?"
"Yes, yes, I just need a second!" Lupin coughed a few more times, patting his fist lightly on his chest and sucking a deep breath in. His face eased into an incredulous smile. "If that's what brings you to my office today, I'm afraid you'll be greatly disappointed. I'd hardly consider myself an expert."
"Well—" Tristan chewed on the inside of his cheek. "You must know some things. What's the best way to apologise to a girl?"
"What have you done to Hermione this time?"
"It's not Hermione. I know how to tame that beast," Tristan added under his breath, grinning sheepishly when Lupin raised his eyebrows. "Hermione's easy to placate. This girl, though, half the time I don't understand what's going on inside her head. She's a total mystery!"
"Most girls are, it's part of their charm." Amused, Lupin sat back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the desk. "What happened? If you don't mind my asking."
Tristan sighed and had some of his earl grey tea. "She didn't say it exactly, but she thinks I'm embarrassed to be seen with her."
"And are you?"
"Of course not!"
"Then why does she think that?" Professor Lupin pressed gently.
"Because we've only spent time together when no one can see us," Tristan admitted reluctantly. "And I guess it's also because we don't really talk to each other in the hallways, but that's not entirely my fault, she doesn't talk to me either. Offering to sit with her the other day's what got me into this mess in the first place. I was only trying to be nice, I would've kept my mouth shut had I known it would end like this."
Lupin didn't respond right away, studying Tristan in a way that made him want to squirm. The man had really sharp eyes, he decided. Kind, yet keen. Sometimes he felt like his very soul was being read like a book.
"Have you considered that perhaps she is feeling insecure? Believe it or not, Tris, you are quite popular amongst your schoolmates. If you haven't known each other very long, it's possible she might be feeling a little intimidated, or even worried that you might not find her good enough to be seen as your friend."
Tristan opened and closed his mouth. "T-that's… that's ridiculous!"
"To you." Lupin's lips curved into a patient smile. "Maybe not to her. Why have you only spent time together when no one's around?"
Tristan cast his gaze nervously to the side. "No reason."
"Are you sure? Seems to me like you might be keeping her at a distance. She's obviously very clever because she's picking up on that too, and therefore it's making her react in a way to protect herself."
Shame and guilt coloured Tristan's cheeks. He kept his stare down out of fear of facing judgment from his favourite teacher.
In the prolonged silence, Lupin took his now empty mug, took Tristan's, and went to put them away. When he returned to his seat, the last remnants of sunlight shone brightly in the window behind his desk, engulfing him and turning golden the streaks of grey in his hair.
"Since you have come to me for advice, I hope you won't take offence in what I have to say."
"Okay," Tristan drawled slowly.
"A good friend," Lupin started in that warm cadence he often spoke with, "will accept all the bad, weird and quirky things about you, perhaps even grow to love them. They won't see them as flaws, only as different parts to who you are. If you want this girl to be your friend, as I understand you do, you must give her a chance to get to know you first."
It was true, Tristan thought, he had been keeping Luna at a distance. She was different than Harry and Ron, and even Hermione with whom he had always felt closest to. He wasn't sure why or how she was different, only that she was, and that brought to surface all sorts of feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt and anxiety. Truly, Luna shouldn't be the one feeling insecure. Popular as he was in the eyes of his schoolmates, Tristan had never personally considered himself much of anything. No one knew how weak he actually was; how he would sit in his room like a coward while his sister suffered at the hands of their father; how he ignored the pain and sadness in Nora's eyes and smiled when she asked him if he was all right, not because he didn't want her to worry, but because he had no idea what to say to make it all better.
If he opened up to Luna, let her glimpse into his messed up life, and she learned all those dark, shameful secrets of his, what were the odds that she would still want to be friends?
"What if she doesn't like me?" Tristan asked in a voice barely louder than a whisper.
"And what if she does?" Lupin opened a drawer in his desk, pulled out a chocolate bar and offered it to him. "You're not seriously going to let fear win, are you? Surely, as a Gryffindor, you have more dare in you than that. You should apologise and tell her how you feel."
"You make it sound so easy," Tristan grumbled, tearing one corner of the foil and chewing off a large chunk of chocolate.
"The bravest thing to do is rarely ever the easiest. If it's any consolation, I'm positive Miss Lovegood will appreciate your honesty above all."
Tristan dropped his jaw. "How did you—"
"Let's call it a lucky guess," Lupin cut in, eyes dancing with humour.
"And you let me sit here all this time talking about her without saying anything?" Tristan was genuinely impressed. "You're devious, professor."
Lupin laughed heartily, "I have my moments, or so I've been told."
Still processing, Tristan huffed a little. Then a terrifying thought suddenly popped into his head. "Please don't tell Nora," he implored, heat crawling up his neck. "She'll never let me hear the end of it!"
"I won't, don't worry," Lupin promptly reassured.
Feeling lighter and relieved, Tristan sat back and polished off the rest of his candy. When Professor Lupin pulled out an old chessboard from yet another drawer in his desk and asked if he fancied a game, he was more than happy to accept the challenge.
With Ravenclaw's match only a day away, Nora started working on the good luck ribbons she always prepared for the Quidditch team. She had made one for Caito's first match after he joined the team during his second year and since they had won by an absurd amount of point difference, soon enough the whole lot was demanding ribbons.
The ribbons were really nothing special, simple strips of blue silk embroidered with each player's individual number and a few Japanese characters for good luck that Julia had taught her. For Caito's ribbon, Nora also embroidered a tiger's head which she then charmed to life so it would roar and bare its teeth when he was out on the field. It alluded to the nickname his teammates had given him — Blue Tiger. Because of his prowess and confidence.
"All done," she said proudly, examining her work on the last ribbon.
"Let me see—" Emma snatched the ribbon and held it against the light pouring from the window beside their table. Embroidered in bronze thread, the tiger head glistened prettily over royal blue silk. "Brilliant! How come you've gotten better at it?"
"Granny Rose gave me a few pointers last Christmas. I might do one for Jules this year. Hopefully Wood won't think it's cursed."
Sitting in front of them, Liam made an unpleasant scoffing noise without looking up from Gulpalott's autobiography, which he had been reading every day religiously. "Can't believe you went through all this trouble for that clown."
"Caito's not a clown!" Nora argued with disapproval. "Besides, I've always done his good luck ribbons."
"He doesn't deserve a single thing from you," Liam muttered bitterly.
"Oh for bloody heaven's sake, Liam." Emma rolled her eyes, clearly irritated. "Grow up, will you? Stop acting like a jealous little boy."
"I'm not jealous!" Liam glared daggers at his sister, ears bright scarlet.
"You could've just told me you wanted a ribbon too. I wouldn't have minded making you one," Nora told him good-naturedly as she folded all seven ribbons neatly and saved them in her bag to hand out later.
"What would I do with a ribbon anyway? Even though they are sort of nice," he added begrudgingly under his breath, smiling a little when she tossed her head back laughing.
On the way to the dungeons for duelling club they tried to guess with whom they would get paired up next. Professor Lupin had been switching students around regularly so they could experience different styles of duelling within similar skill levels. After Percy on that first meeting, Nora had paired up with Nate Ainsworth, who put on an impressive fight, and a Gryffindor girl whose name she didn't remember anymore, but they hardly had a chance to duel properly since the switch happened near the end. She was hoping to duel Liam this time. It was always a fun challenge as he was extremely difficult to get a read on.
Caito and Andrew were still standing outside the duelling chamber when they arrived. Lucky, she thought, walking over to greet them.
"I've something for you two." Nora rummaged through her bag for each respective ribbon and handed them out when she found them. "Finished today."
"I was wondering when we'd be seeing these," said Andrew, excited.
"Don't put that on before the match!" Caito stopped him when he tried to lift his ribbon to tie around his head. "It's bad luck!"
Nora tried to stifle a laugh. "Really, Caito?"
"What? Match's tomorrow, I'm not taking any chances," he replied in all seriousness. "This is perfect, Nora. Thank you."
"I hope you win."
"Oh we will," Andrew declared, looking confident and determined. "Diggory won't know what hit him. Poor boy's way in over his head."
"Quite a looker, though, isn't he?" Emma mused out loud.
"Of course that's what stands out to you!"
Caito tugged at a curl slipping from Nora's ponytail. "Do you think he's a looker too?"
Nora raised her eyebrows. "I think he's fifteen."
"Not into younger men, then?"
His playfulness, paired with a positively charming grin, garnered him a hearty laugh from her as they entered the duelling chamber.
Inside, almost everyone had already arrived, so they didn't wait long for Professor Lupin to begin pairing people up. When Liam and Caito's names were called out together, Nora got a terrible feeling in her gut. She knew for a fact that, despite having told her he would consider talking things over with Liam, Caito never got around to it. He and Liam hadn't exchanged another word since Hogsmead. Stands to reason it was an awful idea to give them the opportunity to aim spells at each other now. It was begging for a catastrophe to happen.
She did her best to keep an eye on them while duelling Heather Tchatcham, a Slytherin girl with ugly braces. It wasn't easy. Heather had an annoying penchant for casting nasty jinxes and curses. Twice Nora had to dodge an Instant Scalping Hex and a spell that accelerated teeth growth, barely ducking down in time.
"What's the matter, Cavanaugh?" Heather taunted while flaunting her mean, metallic sneer. "Thought you were supposed to be good at this!"
Refusing to rise to the jeering, Nora deflected a blast of red light and hit Heather with a particularly strong Confundus Charm that made the girl stagger and lose grip on her wand. She sunk to her knees and scrambled around to pick it back up, but her fingers seemed to have forgotten how to work entirely.
At that very moment, across the chamber, Caito went flying backwards. He hit the wall so hard, everyone in the room heard the crunch of his body against the rock.
"I said no aggressive spells, Liam!" Professor Lupin shouted sternly. "Do that again and I will be forced to—"
Caito was back on his feet and firing at Liam before anyone could react.
Either by luck or design, the spell missed its target, hitting a corner of the room and exploding a portion of the wall. Dark grey clouds of dust rose from the rubble and shards of rock rained over four girls nearby who covered their heads with their arms and ran out of the way. Nora was shoved harshly aside by one of them as she was trying to get across.
Caito and Liam were rolling across the floor by the time the dust settled. Everyone started speaking loudly and at the same time while Professor Lupin struggled to get a handle on the unexpected chaos.
"That is enough!"
He waved his wand and immediately Caito and Liam came apart, seized by the scruff of their necks by an invincible force. That same force kept them locked into place while they caught their wind, both a complete mess, red in the face, hair sticking oddly in some places, uniforms rumpled and missing a few buttons. Liam had a busted lip, but Caito didn't look like he had faired any better despite being taller and in much better shape.
Lupin came to stand between them, studying each boy with an expression of deep-seated disappointment. "Have you any idea how utterly ridiculous the both of you look right now?" He looked from Liam to Caito, demanding an answer, getting none back. His scowl deepened. "Whatever disagreements you may have with each other, I would've expected two upstanding young men such as yourselves to know better than to solve them with your fists. I'm afraid you leave me no choice but to give you detention tonight."
"Tonight?" Caito echoed in alarm. "But, sir — the game is tomorrow!"
"Perhaps you should've thought of that earlier," Lupin replied sharply, cutting Caito off with a withering look as he opened his mouth to argue. Nora couldn't blame him; she had never seen Professor Lupin so furious. He was surprisingly stern. "What about you, Liam? Any formal complaint about your punishment you would like to issue as well?"
Liam stopped dabbing the blood off his lip with his sleeve to face Lupin, somehow managing to look both sheepish and smug at the same time. "Not really, sir, no."
"Right then." Lupin pursed his lips, glancing back and forth between Caito and Liam in silent deliberation again. "I am suspending you both from the club until next term. Hopefully, time away will help you reflect on your childish antics. As for today's meeting, I believe we should end it here. Caito, better put that wall back to how it was before you decided to blow it up…"
Everyone started gathering their things while whispering furiously. Nora spared a worried glance at Caito as he worked on fixing the ruined wall, but when she saw Emma coming up behind him, her worry settled. She knew her friend would be in good hands.
She made her way over to Liam and yanked him down by his arm, maybe a little too harshly, to check on his lip. "Let me see that—"
The cut wasn't very big and it wasn't bleeding anymore. He grumbled something under his breath about Caito that sounded very rude and unpleasant so she smacked him in the shoulder for good measure.
"Careful! I'm injured!"
"Oh, are you now? And whose fault is that?" Nora brushed a finger over his small cut, healing the wound. "There — all patched up, you big baby."
"Thanks…" Liam mumbled, working furiously to fix his crumpled uniform and dishevelled hair.
"It's not like you to lose your cool like that. What happened?"
He shrugged without looking at her. "Don't wanna talk about it."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't," he snapped, starling Nora, who shrunk back. Liam clenched his jaw. "Sorry, okay? This is between me and Caito, so just keep out of it."
Nora's brows knitted. Liam was harsh and distant to pretty much everyone, but never to her. Sometimes he spoke a little more bluntly, but he always made sure to soften his sharp words right afterwards.
When a warm hand brushed softly over her lower back, she looked up to find Professor Lupin standing next to her.
"How are you feeling, Liam? Didn't lose any teeth, did you?" His voice was full of humour now that most of the class had gone.
Liam pulled a sort of deadpan face. "Funny, sir. I think you should go check on Dearborn."
"I did," said Lupin, shaking his head with a mix of disbelief and amusement. "I'd be impressed by how well you handle yourself in a fight were I not your teacher."
Liam held his shoulders back proudly. Seemed like Professor Lupin had earned himself quite a few points in his favour with that particular observation.
"Do you know what prompted the fight?" Lupin asked Nora after Liam had walked off to collect his bag.
"Not exactly," she said with a frown. "They haven't been on good terms lately."
"Well, let me know if you need anything," he told her kindly. The hand still on her back moved up and down lightly, a brief gesture meant to give comfort, and Nora found herself smiling at him, feeling all kinds of better.
On the way to the common room neither Liam nor Emma uttered one word, to her or each other, not even to bicker. The uncomfortable silence lasted until the feast, then throughout the whole meal. Later, as she and Emma were getting ready to sleep, Nora tried to gouge her friend for answers.
"I don't understand why you're acting like this," she insisted, sitting crosslegged on her bed so she was facing Emma, who was wiping off her makeup in the mirror. "Did I do something wrong?"
Incredulous, Emma turned away from her reflection, one eye still painted. "You're joking, right? Wake up, Nora, why do you think they're fighting in the first place? It's your fault — all of it!"
"My fault?" Nora was beyond confused. "How's that?"
"Oh spare me the innocent act!" Emma whirled back around angrily, rubbing her face with a damp towel until her skin was red. "You have to see it, not even you are that thick!"
Nora narrowed her eyes at her friend, "What is that supposed to mean?"
The bathroom door opened right then. Towelling her hair, Penelope stepped out, only to freeze in the doorway upon sensing the tension in the room.
She eyed Nora and Emma warily. "Everything all right?"
Without another word, Emma brushed past Penelope into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. Nora huffed angrily. Springing off her bed, she pulled back the covers, slipped inside and waved the curtains shut around her.
"Okay…" Penelope said slowly to the silent room.
The next day the weather was even more tempestuous for the game between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff than it had been for Gryffindor and Slytherin, with stormy skies, furious wind and heavy nonstop rain.
One of the towers in the stands got struck down by a bolt of lightning during breakfast so the match had to be pushed for the afternoon while Madam Hooch and Professor McGonagall saw to resolve the problem. The delay only served to boost everybody's nerves and expectation. Tension in the air was tangible over lunchtime, especially where Caito and his teammates were sitting. He had the darkest, meanest-looking scowl on his face, which would seem out of character to anyone who didn't know Caito, but Nora knew he had an uncanny ability to shed his friendly disposition for the ruthless aggressiveness he displayed on the field. Four years now, Ravenclaw had won the Quidditch cup greatly due to his competitiveness, persistence and extraordinary leadership skills.
When it was almost time, Nora joined the crowd of students heading out to the pitch with Julia and Emma. Meanwhile Liam went back to the common room under the pretence of a headache, even though they all knew it was really because he didn't want to watch Caito play. Things between Nora and Emma were no better either. Emma was still giving Nora the cold-shoulder, and Nora had resorted to doing the same. Stuck in the middle, Julia would occasionally try to dissuade the awkward tension with jokes that neither Emma nor Nora found particularly funny. It only made the whole affair exhausting.
Outside, the thunderstorm seemed to have passed, leaving behind furious wind. Students had to grab on to their hats and scarves to keep them from flying off. In the sea of people, Nora spotted Luna sitting by herself a little further down the stands, holding tightly to a blue cap with a huge raven on top of it. She started pushing her way through the crowd despite Emma's complaints about sitting with the weird girl. She couldn't care less about Emma's judgy opinion.
Luna beamed brightly as they joined her. Such a sweet girl, Nora thought. It made perfect sense that she and Tristan would get along. Tristan loved all things different and unique.
Curiously enough, just as Nora was thinking about it, she noticed Luna's eyes sweeping past Julia and Emma to see if anyone else had come with them.
"He's probably higher on the stands," she informed Luna, who tilted her head, clearly confused. "Tristan — isn't that who you're looking for?"
"You know?" Luna asked with her grey eyes wide as saucers.
It was Nora's turn to be puzzled. "That you're friends? Of course, why wouldn't I?"
Luna didn't get a chance to respond as the crowd around them had burst into cheer. Below the stands, both teams were now crossing the field. The blue ribbons Nora had made for her team fluttered in the wind. Some wore theirs tied around their upper arms, others around their heads.
"Here they come, ladies and gentlemen," said Lee Jordan over the loud noise in the commentary box. "First time Ravenclaw's playing this year, but we all know this is the team to watch out for. Reigning champions of Hogwarts. Four cups under the belt. Will they be taking away their fifth? Only time will tell. One thing's for certain, Ravenclaw's Blue Tiger is out for blood today. Diggory better watch his back."
"Jordan's not wrong." Julia leaned over the bannister with her binoculars. "Caito looks like he's about to commit murder."
If the apprehension on Cedric Diggory's face was any indicator, the boy was thinking the same. Diggory was uncommonly big for a Seeker, very tall and broad-shouldered, however standing toe to toe with Caito as they shook hands, he still managed to look unimpressive.
Both teams mounted their brooms. Madam Hooch blew her whistle.
"There goes Dearborn, full speed for the goals! Macavoy closes in on the right. Dearborn passes to Darling, back to Dearborn again, great teamwork from Dearborn and Darling as usual. Dearborn goes to score— Ah, tough luck for the Blue Tiger!"
"A neat move from Chaser Malcom Preece as Hufflepuff takes possession. Beater Samuels is blocking Preece but he passes to Applebee. Really brilliant work from Diggory building his team this year — OH NO! Ravenclaw takes back charge with an incredible use of the Parkin Pincer! Fantastic! Roger Davis defends that Quaffle, passes to Darling, reverse pass to Dearborn... and HE SCORES! Ten points to Ravenclaw!"
The blue stands roared with passion. Nora roared right along with them.
Suddenly, an unguarded bludger came out of nowhere and collided with the side of Caito's shoulder. She brought her hands to her mouth, gasping as he flew sideways with the impact, dropping the Quaffle to grab at his shoulder.
"Shake it off!" Julia shouted fervently.
Even though there was no way he could have heard her from so high up, Caito gritted his teeth and jumped back in the game.
"Do you think he's okay?" Nora asked worriedly, willing her eyes to keep up with the speed with which he was flying.
"He's fine," Julia dismissed offhandedly. "We've seen Caito play after a bludger to the head, remember? Bloke's freaking indestructible— FOUL! Oh come on! That's blatching right there!"
Madam Hooch seemed to agree with Julia. She flew over to intervene just in time to prevent Andrew from clobbering Malcolm Preece in the nose with his elbow for body-charging into him when he was about to score. Hooch declared penalty for Ravenclaw. Andrew lined up to take it and scored brilliantly past a much too slow Herbert Fleet, Hufflepuff's Keeper.
The game became faster, more violent after those two incidents. An hour into the game and the scoreboard was 220 to 70. Hufflepuff's Chasers were spectacular, but also new and so they didn't stand a chance against Ravenclaw's well-practiced teamwork. Meanwhile, across the field, Diggory and Cho Chang had spotted the Snitch and were flying neck to neck.
"And down goes Macavoy! She's off the game and it's a penalty for Hufflepuff. Can Chaser Applebee make the shot? Ohh she misses! Davis takes the Quaffle, soars like a falcon— and is that? Could it be? Yes, yes, I believe it is! Chang catches the snitch! What a surprise, this girl! Not just a pretty face but a demon on a broom! Well, she's certainly caught my attention today—"
"JORDAN!" Professor McGonagall shouted.
"Just saying, professor! And that's it, folks — with a total of 370 points it's another astounding victory for Ravenclaw!"
Blue and bronze flags and banners waved with vigorous enthusiasm while Ravenclaw's players flew laps around the field to commemorate. Jumping up and down, Nora threw her arms around a beaming Luna.
"Guess we're partying tonight!" Emma grinned, joining in on the excitement and temporarily forgetting that she and Nora still weren't speaking to each other.
Hey, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I had a really fun writing it, especially Remus and Tristan's scene. The game was a little tough, I think it was my first time writing a Quidditch scene like that, but I enjoyed the challenge. By the way, I have a surprise planned for the next chapter. It may or may not be some fluff *wink wink*
Anyway, let me know what you guys think!