Chap 29: The Battle of the Stag and Swan
"Alright guys, this is it, the game of the year," Harry said to his teammates. It was finally the day that Harry got to play against Cho again, this time, both captains with teams stronger than ever.
"You all know what to do, stick to the game plan and we will win this game," Harry said as the team cheered, "3, 2, 1! GRYFFINDOR!"
One by one, they all flew out onto the pitch, the audience cheering loudly for them. Harry looked around the new and expanded stadium, he could see a wave of red at one end and a wave of blue at the other. There was a tiny patch of green which Harry knew was Malfoy and his gang wearing their colours in protest, it was, however, so insignificant that he couldn't care. Looking at the new stands, the spectators end, and a new stand was created for visitors from outside Hogwarts who came to watch the game. It could seat around 1000 and from what Harry heard, the tickets sold out in seconds. There were plans to expand it even more for the end-of-the-year invitational tournament but for now, 1000 spectators was it. Among those, Harry saw a majority of them wearing red, there was however still a few wearing blue, supporting Ravenclaw.
Heading to the centre of the pitch, Harry smirked as he saw his girlfriend heading there as well. Harry always loved how she looked in her Ravenclaw jersey, after all, that was the first outfit Harry had ever seen her in, it was also the first time Harry ever had a crush.
"I want a clean game," Madam Hooch said, though without the firmness and strictness she normally had. The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams were very close as friends with both being very friendly with each other, largely due to their captains dating each other.
"Ready to lose?" Harry teased Cho.
"Nah, I will even the scoreline up today," Cho said, smiling at him, damn she is beautiful, he thought.
"Captains, shake hands," Madam Hooch commanded
"Good luck Psyche."
"Good luck Zhu, the winner gets to kiss the other," Cho added, making Harry chuckle.
Heading back to his end of the pitch, Harry watched as the Quaffle got released and Angelina immediately swooped it, making a run towards the goal together with Katie and Alicia by her side, Fred and George, both back from their suspension, hit the Bludger straight at the opposing Chasers, breaking their formation of a little while Katie and Alicia zoomed forward, occupying both of Chasers while Angelina went one on one with the final chaser, successfully feinting to the right which Lila fell for, giving Angelina a one on one chance, throwing with power and precision, she scored and placed Gryffindor 10 to nothing up.
Harry was uncharacteristically uninvolved with the play, flying high up the pitch to look for the snitch, from time to time, Harry would fly straight towards Cho, distracting her, after staying close to her for a while, blocking her vision and following her when she tries to move away.
"You are playing like a prick you know?" Cho said when Harry returned for the 3rd time.
"All part of the game babe," Harry smirked, Gryffindor at the moment was up 40 to 10 with Alicia scoring once while Angelina added 2 more to her goal tally. Ron was playing amazingly as well, something that was rather common these days as he had overcome his jitters after the Slytherin game, with the Hufflepuff game solidifying it, he made 2 saves, one of which was a one-on-one with Matt.
"Annoying," Cho muttered.
This pattern continued for the next 10 minutes, till the point that Cho called a timeout and placed her beaters onto Harry more. Harry understood then that Cho knew the game plan, catch the snitch as soon as possible before they got outscored, that however, was looking rough as Gryffindor was up 80 to 30, Angelina was on fire that game, adding 3 more to her goal tally while Alicia added one. While Katie still hadn't scored, she had provided 5 assists, 2 of which were pinpoint passes from far away to Angelina who capitalised on it and scored. All things considered, Gryffindor was dominating the game.
After another 5 minutes of flying, Katie finally added 1 to her goal tally while Lila added one for Ravenclaw, 90 to 40. At that moment, Harry and Cho both spotted the snitch, Harry immediately willed his broom to maximum speed, with Cho coming fast in another direction as well. The snitch, sensing their presence, suddenly flew up which both Cho and Harry adjusted to, they were now both behind the snitch, centimetres separating them, as they got even closer, the snitch suddenly stopped and dashed in the opposite direction, flying past Harry and Cho who couldn't react fast enough to catch it. They both reacted the same way, doing a loop and continuing the chase for it, Cho however, did it loop slightly cleaner and was now slightly ahead. As they headed towards the ground, Harry suddenly saw a Bludger flying towards him, reacting instinctively, Harry rolled above Cho to dodge the Bludger. To his horror, the snitch suddenly levelled out, flying horizontally to the ground. Cho, not realising that Harry was above her, flew up to follow the snitch. With a loud smack, the back of Cho's broom collided with the front of Harry's broom. Harry watched in horror as Cho was thrown up by the broom.
Harry's heart stopped as time seemingly slowed, Harry watched in slow motion as Cho began to fall towards the ground which was not far away. Reacting immediately, he violently turned his broom with it protesting against the violent change, Harry wrestled with it and shot straight towards Cho, his hand outstretched to try and catch Cho. Harry watched as Cho's hand found his, both grasping each other's hand tightly. However, the increased weight and already slow broom due to the change of directions meant that Harry was similarly heading towards the ground. Realising they would hit the ground regardless, Harry did his best to ease the impact, dropping Cho just before she hit the ground, allowing her to roll safely while Harry hit the ground with a harder impact.
Groaning but not badly hurt, Harry immediately got up and ran towards Cho was similarly on the ground, wincing in pain. Thankfully however, she did not look terribly hurt, probably just some bruises.
"MERLIN'S BEARD! POTTER BARELY CATCHES CHANG AS SHE FALLS! THEY HOWEVER WERE TOO CLOSE TO THE GROUND AND BOTH FELL ONTO THE GROUND!" Lee announced.
"Potter! Chang! Are you 2 alright?" Madam Hooch shouted, landing next to them and worriedly casting a Diagnostic Spell on the both of them. Her worry thankfully disappeared after she casted it on both of them.
"Nothing too serious, just some bruises, no concussion," she sighed in relief, "20 points to Gryffindor for outstanding bravery and saving a student from serious injury Potter, I would give both teams a 5-minute timeout, clean yourself up and decide whether you are fit to continue."
Both Harry and Cho nodded as Madam Hooch walked away, Cho then threw her arms around Harry, embracing him in a hug.
"You saved me Zhu," she said softly.
"I had to," Harry replied, embracing her tightly.
Cho broke apart and gave Harry a short kiss, both ignoring the sand on both of their lips, thankful that none had suffered a bad injury.
"Go back to your team," Cho said, "I'm still winning the game even though you saved me."
After a quick water break and assuring his team that he was fine to continue, they took to the skies again and almost immediately, Angelina shot one from range, putting them 100 to 40. After pulling off a Porskoff Ploy, Katie threw the Quaffle down to Angelina with perfect timing, Angelina scored her 6th of the game. The Ravenclaw chasers then pulled off their bread and butter, playing close together, managing to go past Angelina and Alicia, the physical jostle between Katie and Byron then led to Lila getting the Quaffle in an unideal place, being too close to Ron who manages to easily save the shot. Ron then threw the Quaffle far and long to Harry in a set play, with Harry using his broom to knock the Quaffle towards a rapidly approaching Alicia who took the Quaffle, did a barrel roll to avoid a Bludger and scored.
"WONDERFUL MOVE BY POTTER, EXTRAORDINARY BENDING OF THE RULES TO BUY TIME TO SPINNET WHO EVENTUALLY MAKES IT TO THE QUAFFLE AND SCORES 110 TO 40!" Lee announced.
20 more minutes passed without Harry or Cho catching sight of the snitch, the game however, was still intense as Gryffindor was pulling a larger and larger lead, the score was now 190 to 50 with Ravenclaw chasers struggling more and more. Harry then saw a flash of gold, Cho next to him also saw it. Looking at each other, they both nodded before both shot straight at the snitch.
Flying side to side, they physically jostled with each other, Harry had the edge physically but not by much, they continued towards the snitch which shot to the left which was on Cho's side. Harry took the wider line which allowed Cho to push him off the optimal line even more, resulting in a loss of speed for him. Harry, however, pushed his broom as hard as possible, catching up a slight bit. The snitch then zig-zagged before shooting down, catching both of them off guard as they were bracing for it to move to right or left. Harry had the better reaction, pushing his broom down earlier than Cho. As they got closer to the ground, the snitch once again changed direction, now moving horizontally to the ground before it suddenly shot up again. Harry reached out, sensing it as the right time to strike.
He was wrong.
The snitch grazed his fingertips as it shot upwards, leaving Harry in the dust. Cho on the other hand, chased straight after it, clutching the snitch into her hands.
"CHANG CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" LEE EXCLAIMED, "BUT ANGELINA SCORES ONE MORE RIGHT BEFORE SHE DOES THAT, THE SCORE IS 210 TO 200! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
Harry stared at the scoreboard in shock, realising that during the chase, they must have scored once more. Angelina then scored the final one before Cho caught the snitch, just winning them the game. His players were cheering happily, all landing and jumping onto Angelina who scored an astounding 130 points this game, single handly winning them the game, Alicia also played excellently, chipping in with 6 goals while Katie scored 2 but assisted 15 times and making many crucial interceptions. Fred and George enabled all 3 to rip the Ravenclaw's defence while Ron made 9 saves. His team truly won the game.
"Go and celebrate with them," Cho said, her expression looking a little disappointed as she still lost the game despite catching the snitch, "you built your goliath of a team, you deserve to celebrate as much as you want."
"Thanks Cho," Harry smiled, "good job with the catch."
"Oh I got lucky that you barely missed it," Cho said, "I thought you caught it for sure but it grazed your fingertips."
"Still though, 1-1," Harry said.
"I will make it 2-1 at the end of the year," Cho replied, "now, go and celebrate your win."
Needing no further persuasion, Harry flew straight to his team and joined in the celebration, feeling immense pride that he had built a team that he was sure would continue the Gryffindor Dynasty.
Heading to the press conference, they were once again greeted by many flashing lights.
"Congratulations Gryffindor team on the team," A reporter said, "your team dominated the game together, scoring 210 points also compared to the 50 points from Ravenclaw when we ignore the snitch catch, any comments on this team's ability?"
"Firstly, thank you for the congratulations, to answer your question though, I just believe that my team, with more experience and in my opinion, some of the best players Hogwarts has ever seen, is just better than other teams as long as we play at our best," Harry answered, "this is not discrediting any of the other teams, Ravenclaw themselves are excellent, but many of the teams had to go through large amounts of changes, something that I would have to deal with next year as well, I just believe that the teams were not ready for these changes and are thus struggling to compete at the highest level."
"Adding on to Harry's point," Angelina said, "I believe that for every game thus far, we have come in with a strong plan to counter the opponent's play, we have also made great adjustments mid-game to better compete."
"Mr Potter, when you say that you have to deal with the changes in your team next year, are you suggesting that you will similarly be ill-equipped to perform at your highest level next year?"
"No, we have been training up our reserve roster which will ideally replace the players leaving at the end of this season, they have been excellent and I personally believe that they will ensure that we continue to play at the highest level for seasons to come," Harry answered.
"Ms Johnson, you scored 130 points for your team today, would you say that you are the MVP today? And do you think that adding that kind of award to the inter-house tournament would be a good idea?"
"I believe that I played excellently today and if there was such an award, I think I have a good shot at winning it," Angelina replied modestly which made Harry chuckle a little, "as for adding that award, I believe that it is a good suggestion and Hogwarts can perhaps pursue that course of action."
"Ms Johnson, Ms Bell and Mr Potter, today 4 brand ambassadors for the Nimbus company flew and competed in the game, 3 on Gryffindor and 1 on Ravenclaw, all 4 of you also dominated in the game today in different ways, do you think that other companies supporting students is the way to go for the future?"
"Urm, I believe that sponsoring and helping students is the way to go for the future," Katie replied, "personally, it made me more motivated and more capable of playing at my best, providing me with an even more competitive broom that brought out the best in me, therefore yes, I believe it is the way to go."
"I agree with Katie," Angelina continued, "they have also helped organise meetings with different teams for a future contract so yes, I believe that their involvement is very important."
"I agree with both," Harry said, not needing to add anything new.
"Mr Weasley, in the past 2 games, you have performed exceptionally, making some crucial saves in both, overcoming what most call a lack of confidence in the first game, what helped you get over that lack of confidence?" A reporter asked Ron.
"My team," Ron replied, "They stuck with me through everything and encouraged me when I failed and hype me up when I did well, they really helped me build my sense of confidence."
"Last but not least, with this win, you go to the top of the standings, what do you think of your chances to lift the cup this year?"
"I believe that we will win it," Harry said confidently, "we have a great goal difference and as long as we continue to play to the level we played today, I reckon that we will win the Cup this year."
"That will be it for today Gryffindor team," Dumbledore said, escorting the team out. Heading back to the common room, they were greeted by a huge celebration, with Angelina being lifted onto Katie and Alicia's shoulders and was paraded around the room, being celebrated as a queen. Harry laughed as he saw her chug down a bottle of butterbeer with the entire room hyping her up. Looking at the corner of the room, he saw Ron and Hermione sitting on a couch together, Hermione finally dropping her book and talking with Ron. From afar, Harry could see them laughing and giggling with each other, the occasional physical contact between both of them, the small and petty arguments which started between them, they however were still smiling and laughing when they were arguing. Deciding to leave them alone, Harry silently exited the common room, making his way back to the conference room just as Ravenclaw's one ended. The Ravenclaw players greeted him warmly despite the loss, thanking him for saving their captain from a nasty injury. Harry's attention however, was on his girlfriend.
"Had a good press conference?" Harry asked.
"Mhm, I told them that I'm a better seeker than you," Cho said with a smirk.
"Did you now?"
"Well, I did not say it like that word for word, I just said that I would beat you again."
"We shall see," Harry replied, "still have quite a while before we reach that."
"Indeed, I can't wait to see Slytherin get smacked tomorrow."
"Oh I will be in the stands sitting next to Blaise when that happens, I want to see his reactions."
"He would probably be cheering Hufflepuff for the whole game."
"Definitely," Harry agreed.
"So, I owe you a kiss don't I?" Cho said.
"Mhm, you said the winner gets to kiss the other."
"This is so not fair, I caught the snitch," Cho protested.
"Well, you didn't specify the person who caught the snitch gets a kiss."
"Whatever, wanna get your kiss now?" Cho asked.
"Did I tell you before that you looked hot as fuck in your Quidditch outfit?" Harry said as he leaned in.
"Nope," Cho said softly, "are you telling me that I should wear this to the date next week?"
"Nah, you look hot in everything," Harry said before planting his lips onto Cho's.